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1214051
GENEALOGY COLLEICTJON
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
3 1833 01179 5025
/jd-, d-a.<a<tuJ:zf^,
A COLLECTION OF PAPERS
READ BEFORE THE
BUCKS COUNTY
HISTORICAL SOCIETY
PUBLISHED FOR THE SOCIETY
BY
FACKENTHAL PUBLICATION FUND
1917
VOLUME IV.
EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
Dr. Henry C. Mercer Hon. Harman Yerkes
Warren S. Ely Clarence D. Hotchkiss
Dr. B. F. Fackenthal, Jr.
Press of
The Chemtcai. Publishing Co.
Easton, Pa.
5^
5^
CONTENTS
1211051
List of Illustrations viii
Officers of the Society x
PAPERS
Games and Plays of Children Ely J. Smith I
Betsy Ross and the United States Flag. .Oliver Randolph I'arry 6
The Hnlme Family of Bucks County. . . Aliss Rebecca Price 8
Union Academy of Doylestown John L. Du Bois 14
Samuel D. Ingham, Secretary of the
United States Treasury William A. Ingham 19
German Games and Plays A. Eugene Laatz 30
Address of Welcome, Riegelsville
Meeting Rev. Scott R. Wagner 35
Bucks County Historical Society; Its
Aims and Purposes Dr. Henry C. Mercer 39
Bucks County North of the Lehigh
River William J. Heller 42
Pennsylvania German Stoveplates in
Berks County B. F. Owen 50
Classification and Analyses of Stove-
plates Dr. B. F. Fackenthal, Jr 55
Excelsior Normal Institute, Carvers-
ville, Pa J. B. Walter, M. D 62
Lime-Burning Industry, Its Rise and
Decay in Bucks Warren S. Ely 69
Interesting New Hope Relics John A. Anderson 75
The Swamp of Tinicum and Nocka-
mixon Robert K. Buchrlc, Ph. D 84
Thomas Hicks, Artist, a Native of
Newtown George A. Hicks 89
Friends Old Aleeting House in liris-
tol. Pa John C. Maule 92
Industrial Growth of Bristol Borough. .Joseph R. Grundy 97
Historic Sketch of Ottsville and
\'icinity George M. Grim, M. D 103
Presbyterian Church of Tinicum at
Red Hill Warren S. Ely 108
Saint John the Baptist Church of
Haycock J. H. Fitzgerald 1 18
\\sC
iv CONTENTS
PAGE
The Indian Walk from Red Hill to
the Blue Mountains J. I. Cawley, M. D 125
Memorial Tributes to Gen. W. W. H.
Davis Harman Yerkes 132
William C. Ryan 14?
Rev. J. B. Krewson 147
Alfred Paschall I47
Dr. Henry C. Mercer 157
Home of the Paxsons, Bycot House,
England Ex-Chief Justice Edward M.
Paxson 160
Captain William Wynkoop and His
Company "A" Thaddeus S. Kenderdine 164
Selecting the Site of the County Seat. .Alfred Paschall I74
Robert Winder Johnson Oliver Hough 180
The Grier Family Miss Mary L. Du Bois 184
Grandfathers Clocks Frederick J. Shellenberger . . . 186
Pottery of the Pennsylvania Germans. .Dr. Henry C. Mercer 187
Bucks County Potters Grier Scheetz 192
Presentation of a Log House by the
Citizens of Doylestown to the
Bucks County Historical Society 197
Acceptance of the Log House Dr. Henry C. Mercer 198
Log Houses of Bucks County Col. Henry D. Paxson 204
A Century of Chairs Frederick J. Shellenberger. . . 210
Notes on Chair Bequeathed to the
Society by Will of Mrs. Blaker. .. .Frederick J. Shellenberger... 224
Penn in the County of Bucks, England. .Oliver Hough 226
Penn in the County of Bucks, England. .Miss Emily Hickey 227
Lumbering Days on the Delaware
River Thaddeus S. Kenderdine 239
Alfred Paschall, Memorial Ex-Judge Harman Yerkes. . . 253
Dr. B. F. Fackenthal, Jr 255
Our Quest for the Seckel Pear Tree. . . .Anthony M. Hance 256
The Grave of Tammany Dr. Henry C. Mercer 269
Lenni Lenape Departure from Dela-
ware River William J. Heller 271
Navigation on the Delaware and
Lehigh Rivers John A. Anderson 282
Open Fire Cooking in Bucks County. . .Dr. Henry C. Mercer 312
Cooking Shad by the Open Fire Mrs. J. E. Scott 316
Roasting on the Spit Mrs. Henry D. Paxson 320
The Art of Frying as in Olden Times. .Mrs. E. K. Preston 2^22
Pie Baking Mrs. A. Haller Gross 325
Applebutter Making as Practiced by
Our Ancestors Mrs. Laura B. Strawn 331
^t i i
CONTENTS V
PAGE
Soap ^faking of Old Mrs. Irvin M. James 334
Historic Associations of Upper
Neshaniny Valley Warren S. Ely 336
Quaker Poets Among Solebury
Friends Mrs. Hampton W. Rice 349
The Common Tinder-Box of Colonial
Days Dr. Henry C. Mercer 359
The Last of the Wild Pigeon in Bucks
County Col. Henry D. Paxson 367
Stoveplate from Batsto Furnace, New
Jersey W. L. Lathrop 382
Notes on an Indian Mortar Found at
Doylestown George MacReynolds 384
Extracting Resins from Trees in
North Carolina Charles R. Nightingale 388
The Old Spring Houses of Bucks
County Mrs. A. Haller Gross 396
Songs and Games of Children in
Bucks County Mrs. Ellsworth Kochersperger 398
Homemade Straw Hats in Solebury. . . .Lewis R. Bond 406
Emblem of Seven Stars Used in Old
Inn Signs Anthony M. Hance 409
Medical Use of Plants by Indians George Mac Reynolds 415
Historic Account of Bowman's Hill. . . . J. E. Scott, M. D 421
Early Settlement of Wrightstown
Township T. O. Atkinson 431
John Chapman First Settler of
Wrightstown Dr. Henry C. Mercer 441
Bucks County Pioneers in the Valley
of Virginia S. Gordon Smyth 447
Charcoal Burning in Buckingham
Township Frank K. Swain 467
Chief Tammany and the Lenape Stone. .M. R. Harrington 470
Former and Present Ways of Brick
Making George G. Long 474
Moravian Tile Stoves of Salem, North
Carolina Miss Adelaide L. Freas 477
Tile Stoves of the Moravians at Beth-
lehem, Pa Rev. Albert L. Oerter 479
Remarks on Tile Stoves Rev. T. M. Rights 481
Notes on the Moravian Pottery of
Doylestown Dr. Henry C. Mercer. . 482
Langhorne and Vicinity in Olden
Times Samuel C. Eastl)urn . ..t 488
Notes on the Life of Charles Albert
Fechter William R. Mercer, Jr 504
vi CONTENTS
PAGE
Grave of Rafinesque, the Great
Naturalist Anthony M. Hance Sio
The Townsend Apple, a Native of
Bucks County J. B. Walter, M. D 529
Bedminster Township Meeting Rev. Jacob M. Rush 533
Dr. B. F. Fackenthal, Jr 533
Warren S. Ely 534
Dr. Henry C. Mercer 534
Eli Wismer 535
Mrs. Henry A. James 536
Samuel Y. Godshalk 536
Rev. A. M. Fretz 536
Mennonite School and Meeting House,
with Sketch of Moritz Loeb H. W. Gross 537
Two Stoveplates Described Dr. Henry C. Mercer 540
Spinning Before the Spinning Wheel. . .W. E. Montague 542
A Horseback Ride to Mount Vernon. . .Miss Mary L. Du Bois 544
Colonial Seals of Bucks County Dr. Henry C. Mercer 546
Introduction of the Christmas Tree in
the United States Alfred F. Berlin 552
Remarks on the Christmas Tree Dr. Henry- C. Mercer 554
Dr. W^illiam E. Geil 556
Miss Mary L. Du Bois 556
Mrs. Richard Watson 556
J. B. Walter, M. D 557
Bucks County Heraldry Prof. Arthur Edwin Bye 557
President's Opening Address Dr. Henry C. Mercer 570
An Old Bakeoven in Plumstead
Township J. Kirk Leatherman . .- 572
Old Dutch Bakeovens Mrs. Edith M. Thomas 574
An Old Dutch Oven in New Britain. . .Francis von A Cabeen 576
Squirrel-Tailed Bakeoven in Bucks
County Frederic B. Jaekel 579
Discussion on Bakeovens Mrs. John Herstine 581
Mrs. William H. Slotter 581
Miss Belle Van Sant 581
Emil Peiter 582
E. W. Holbert 584
Horace T. Smith 584
R. Francis Rapp 584
Robert Bowlby 585
Inscriptions on Pottery of the Penn-
•sylvania Germans Rev. John Baer Stoudt 587
Lehigh and Delaware Division Canal
Notes R. Francis Rapp 600
Stoveplate Hunting A. H. Rice 606
CONTENTS Vll
PAGE
The Bowie and Other Knives Dr. Henry C. Mercer 612
Famous Bowie Knife, its History and
Origin Miss Lucy Leigh Bowie 616
Dedication of the Mercer Museum —
Conditions of Dr. Alercer's Gift 626
Prayer , Rev. J. B. Krewson 627
Opening Address Dr. B. F. Fackenthal, Jr 628
Presentation Address Dr. Henry C. Alercer 629
Acceptance of Museum and Col-
lection 631
Resolutions Offered by .A. Haller Gross 631
Colonial American Archaeology. . . . Dr. AL D. Learned 633
Remarks by Hon. Hampton L. Carson. . . .â– 638
Remarks by Hon. Harman Yerkes 640
Springdale, the Huffnagle Home John A. Anderson 643
The Huffnagle Mansion and Its Col-
lection Col. Henry D. Paxson 649
Thomas Wright of Dyerstown, Pa Dr. B. F. Fackenthal, Jr 661
Wooden Water Pipes L^sed in Phila-
delphia Carl C. Birkinbine 671
Last Delaware Indian in Bucks County. .Mrs. Louise Woodman 673
Colonial Trades that Survived Until
Recently E. F. Bowlby 675
Well-Sweep in the Museum of the
Society William A. Labs 679
I'resident's Annual Report for i9i6....Dr. Henry C. Mercer 682
Ingham Female Seminary in Doyles-
town Borough Miss Mary L. Du Bois 684
Rev. Paulus Van Vlecq Rev. William J. Hinke, D. D. 688
Washington at Whitemarsh Anthony M. Hance 703
Flax Seed Mills Grier Scheetz 7^5
Remarks by Dr. Henry C. Mercer ^2^
Remarks by Dr. B. F. Fackenthal, J r ^2.^
Remarks by Mrs. Stacy B. Pursel 728
Communication by Mrs. Ellen B. Thatcher 728
Survival of Ancient Hand Corn
Mills in the United States Dr. Henry C. Alercer 7-'9
Hand Corn Mill at Georgetown, South
Carolina Frank K. Swain 735
Survival of Corn Querns of an
Ancient Pattern in the Southern
United States William A. Labs 740
List of Photographs (404) Mounted
in Albums of the Bucks County
Historical Society- 745
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Dr. B. F. Fackenthal, Jr. (Portrait) Frontispiece
St. John Reformed Church of Riegelsville, Pa 38
First Casting Known to Have Been Made in America 56
Stoveplate Made at Durham Furnace (Adam und Efa — 1745) 60
View of the 1876 Durham Furnace 61
Excelsior Normal Institute, Carversville, Pa 68
Lime Kilns at Aquetong, Bucks County, Pa 74
Gen. W. W. H. Davis (Portrait) 132
Capt. William VVynkoop (Portrait) 164
Log House Presented to Bucks County Historical Society 198
Alfred Paschall (Portrait) 253
Stump of Original Seckel Pear Tree 257
Old Seckel House (Southern Exposure) 258
Old Seckel House (Northern Exposure) 259
"Centennial" Photograph of Original Seckel Pear Tree 260
Old Seckel Farm (Looking East) 261
Tablet on Monument at Trenton. Continental Army Crossing the
Delaware River 296
Drawing of Durham Boat by John A. Anderson 296
Island of Malta on the Delaware River, near McKonkey's Ferry 301
Boat on Delaware Division Canal. Successor to the Durham Boat. . . 301
Applebutter Stirring 332
Birth Place of Daniel Boone in Berks County 348
Striking Fire with the Tinder Box 359
The Last Passenger Pigeon in the L^nited States , 367
The Last Passenger Pigeon Taken in Pennsylvania 367
Albert Cooper with Blind Decoys for Trapping Pigeons 376
Spring House on Farm of Charles Kriebel 397
Shield with Seven Five-pointed Stars 410
Seven Stars Sign from Tavern in Durham Township (Two plates) . . 415
Goat Spectacles Worn at Deep Run Schoolhouse 534
Staves of Music on Blackboard at Deep Run Schoolhouse 537
Mennonite Meeting House at Deep Run, Built 1872 537
Seals Used on Official Documents in Bucks County (Three plates)
547, 549, 551
Bucks County Heraldry (Ten plates) .560 to 569
Bakeovens L^sed by Tesuque Indians in New Mexico 586
Ex-Governor Pennypacker Teaching Folklore to John Joseph Stoudt 587
Canal Boats at Lumberville after the Freshet 605
Daggers and Bowie Knives (Four on one plate) 613
ILLUSTRATIONS IX
I'AGK
Col. Rezin P. Bowie (Portrait) 617
Col. James Bowie (Portrait) 618
Original Bowie Knife and Scaljbard 6iy
T}-pe of Knife Selected by Col. Bowie to E(iuip the Texas Troops... 620
Plan of Grounds and Buildings of Bucks County Historical Society. . . 626
Museum of Bucks County Historical Society, Presented by Dr. Mercer 629
Springdale, the Hutfnagle Alansion — View from West 645
Springdale, the Huffnagle Mansion — Front View in Winter 645
Dr. Charles Huffnagle (Portrait) 649
Portrait Head, from Egj'ptian Mummy Case 650
Egyptian Tablet (White Marble) 655
The Calcutta Bull (Maha Rajah) 657
Group of Huffnagle Collection 659
Residence of Dr. Huft'nagle at Garden Reach, India 660
Axe of Indian Billy — Last of the Delaware Indians in Bucks County. . 673
Well Sweep on Farm of Mr. Rohs near Fricks P. 681
Quern or Hand Grain Mill, with Mrs. Robert Horn Grinding 730
Potter's Glaze Mill or Quern -t^t,
Hand Corn Mill or Quern of "Uncle" Billy Gridiron â– /2i7
Hand Corn Mill or Quern Used in North Carolina 741
Quern or Hand W\\\ for Hulling Rice 743
First Courthouse at Doylestown, 1812-1877 761
BUCKS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Organized November 20, 1880.
Incorporated February 23, 1885.
For Charter, Constitution and By-Laws, see Vol. I.
OFFICERS
For the Year Ending January, 1918.
President
Dr. Henry C. Mercer
Vice-Presidents
John S. WilHams J. B. Walter, M. D.
Dr. B. F. Fackenthal, Jr.
Directors
Clarence D. Hotchkiss Doylestown, Pa.
John S. Williams New Hope, Pa.
Mrs. Harman Yerkes Doylestown, Pa.
(Term expires January, 191S)
Thomas C. Knowles Yardley, Pa.
Dr. Henry C. Mercer Doylestown, Pa.
Mrs. Richard Watson Doj'lestown, Pa.
(Term expires January, 1919)
Miss Mary L. DuBois Doylestown, Pa.
Dr. B. F. Fackenthal, Jr Riegelsville, Pa.
Thaddeus S. Kenderdine Newtown, Pa.
(Term expires January, 1920)
Curator Librarian
Dr. Henry C. Mercer W'arren S. Ely
Secretary and Treasurer
Clarence D. Hotchkiss
m
Games and Plays of Children.
BY ELY J. SMITH, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, January 19, 1909.)
â– 53F1F one would make himself acquainted with the charac-
ter of a people, he must closely observe not alone
their political proclivities, their industries, their liter-
ature and plastic art, but he must look especially to
the manner and matter of their festivities on holidays ; for a
people celebrates its deepest conviction on such occasioins of mad
joy and revelry. It celebrates, in the most external way, perhaps,
the very innermost phase of its civilization. * * * jj-j ^york,
man sacrifices ease and momentary convenience for rational ends;
he adopts the social order. In play, on the other hand, he gives
full reign to individual whim or caprice." At other times, in most
situations of life, he poses in a self-conscious effort to make
others see him as he wishes to appear; in play he reveals his true
self unreservedly. A comparison and analysis of the forms in
which this revelation manifests itself will give us, therefore, a
method of identifying human characteristics under different con-
ditions.
Our first discovery will be that games, which we think are of
recent origin, may be found in substantially similar forms in the
remotest antiquity, resembling in this respect the legends of his-
tory, as of Tell, w^hich have been handed down with slight alter-
ations from one civilization to another. We shall find on one
hand ancient games which shade imperceptibly into fairy-lore or
religious rites, like the symbolic buffoonery of Hallowe'en, the
origin of which, like that of the House of Douiilas, no man may
know ; on the other hand, games of chance or skill, almost iden-
tical with those of to-day. This is not surprising, as symboHsm,
gambling, and athletic prowess, are all characteristic of primitive
peoples. In fact, the most remarkable conclusion at which we
must arrive, is the modern lack of invention in forms of amuse-
ment. It would be difficult to mention a single game of to-day in
America which is not the legitimate offspring of one played for
centuries by other races.
2 GAMES AND PLAYS OF CHIIvDRE;n
Times and manners change, but the game of ball is as popular
to-day as in the far-off ages when the Chinese represented it on
porcelain, the Greeks upon their earthen water-jars, or Tacitus
wrote of its being played in German villages in the intervals of
forays against decadent Rome. It is said that a form of the
game exists among the Esquimaux ; and we know that it has al-
ways been a favorite of the American Indian. American base-
ball, like our football, is a development of the scientific possibili-
ties of the game to the extreme limit, and is probably the best
combination of skill and science in the annals of sport. It has
its language — the jargon of the fans — comparable only to that of
the racing-stable and the prize-ring, albeit less vividly pictur-
esque. It is an outgrowth of townball (sometimes called town-
send-den), and bears little relation to English cricket, which is at
best a struggling exotic in this country. Corner-ball and "sock-
up" were common public school games until recently ; the latter
consisted in the players "choosing sides," after which one side
ranged itself along a wall, the other parallel to it at good throw-
ing distance. The first in the outer line threw the ball at the
first in the line against the wall ; if the shot struck, the next in
line threw in turn; but if it missed, the sides exchanged posi-
tions, the original attackers then receiving the fire. Tennis and
croquet are French importations, constant in popularity, La-
crosse, played for years by Indians and French-Canadians, is be-
coming increasingly popular with us. It is a swift and brilliant
game, combining a perfect exercise with marvelous individual
skill. Our football is a development, although scarcely recog-
nizable, of the English game. The great English public school
game of "fives" has curiously never been imported except in its
modified form of racquets. It consisted in striking a light ball
with the flat hand against the walls of a specially built court;
and took its name from the five fingers of the hand. The English
game of trap-ball has been ingeniously changed in America. It
was practised in England as long ago as the fourteenth century,
by placing a ball on one end of a short board pivoted in the
middle, and then striking the other end of the board with a
heavy stick, throwing the ball up in the air. Here the game is
called "tippy-cat." A small wooden rod about 4 inches long is
balanced on a step or rock, and the projecting end is struck with
GAMES AND PLAYS OF CHILDREN 3
the stick, causing it to fly viciously outward; Our game of
bowling is not bowling, but ten-pins or nine-pins. The ancient
English bowling green, which formed the center of nearly every
village, was a large, perfectly level grass-plot, like a putting-
green. A heavy ball, called the "jack," was thrown by the first
player to a certain position, the contestants tried to roll their
balls so that they would come to rest as near to it as possible, and
the counting was then done from the relative positions. There
is reason to think that marbles is a descendant of this game,
played by the children with smaller equipment than their fathers
used. In some forms of marbles the method of playing is strik-
ingly similar. The game of marbles shares with baseball the
chief devotion of Young America ; and an interesting monograph
might be written on "Marbles as an Ethical Factor in Developing
the Business Instinct in Captains of Industry." No doubt every
other boy in America, to make a conservative estimate, has been
punished for "playing for keeps;" but it is safe to say that the
whippings never hurt so much as the reproach of his mates that
he "shot cunnythumb." Played at the age when slang appeals,
the argot of the game is as a language apart. The "sport" talks
in metaphor; but the idiom of marbles is not even figurative. Mr.
Henry C. Mercer tells me that "fen dubs" is Norman French;
and there are a host of other expressions which are, at least, not
English.
Golf is not "shinny," but a "gowff" is the stick with which one
plays "shinny ;" and "shinny" as we know it, is really the Irish
game of "hurling," which has a whole literature of song and
story awaiting the Gaelic revival. Our game of hockey is prac-
tically the same, made somewhat more formal than the diversion
of Donnybrook Fair. We err, however, in calling the disk of rub-
ber which receives so much attention the "puck." The object
struck is the "shinty," the stroke is a "puck." One should there-
fore speak of "taking a puck at the shinty" to be correct.
Battledore and shuttlecock is an ancient game of which we
frequently hear. We sometimes see the game in toyshops at the
present day. It is difficult to see how it could have served as a
game for competition, and it was probably an opportunity for
individual "showing ofif" — "gallery play" — in polite circles. Our
game of quoits — or as the Scotch call it, "penny-stanes" — is the
4 GAMES AND PLAYS OF CHILDREN
direct descendant of the Greek discus and the Roman cestus. It
was a badly flung quoit which killed the young Hyacinthus ; and
one of his claims upon posterity was the prowess of this game of
Andrew Jackson. I understand that even to-day there are one or
two members of the Bucks county bar who are experts at
"pitchin' quates," so that the ancient game is being worthily up-
held.
Tag is always with us — stone-tag, and cross-tag, and wood-
tag, and various tagging games, such as "fox and geese," "pris-
oner's base," and "puss in the corner," and, last but not least,
"drop the handkerchief" and "Copenhagen." Most of these were
imported bodily from England.
"Hide and seek," — "hide 'n whoop," — is an old favorite, just
how old, we do not know. It came to us from England, but the
children of many other nations play it as we do. "Kick the
Wicket" (or "Rickey"), and "Still pond, no more moving," are
variations of the same theme; and there are games under differ-
ent names involving the finding of lost objects. One of these is
"hot buttered blue beans, please come to supper;" where one is
encouraged or discouraged by being warned "hot" or "cold," as
the case may be. It is also called "hunt the slipper." "Blind
buckie davy" is another name for "Blind man's buff." "Slip
the ruler" and "Buttony, buttony, who has the button," "Post
office," "clap in and clap out," and "spin the plate" furnish hilar-
ious amusement in farm-house gatherings on many a winter
evening. Nearly all are English, mainly from Yorkshire.
"Jackstones," "jackstraws," "mumble-peg," are quiet games of
individual skill, for summer afternoons on cool porches or under
shady trees. The "top" has never been as popular in Bucks
county, as in the cities, doubtless because smooth pavements
were more conducive to its use. English leap-frog is seldom seen
in this country except in gymnasiums, the American boy appar-
ently preferring games where there is scoring or competition.
Our game of "duck on davy" has, so far as I know, no counter-
part abroad ; it is an exciting, though somewhat dangerous game.
Each player is provided with a stone; the one who is "It" places
his upon a large rock, and the other boys, from a fixed distance
endeavor to strike it with their stones and knock it oft", when
they may run and in and recover their stones before it is re-
GAMES AND PI.AYS OF CHILDREN' 5
placed, he who is "It" trying to rei)lace it quickly enough to
catch someone in the act of moving. The "tug of war" and
"snap the whip" are occasionally seen. When I was a boy nearly
all of us had stilts, and used them considerably, but I see very
few in Doylestown, now. The doll, the jumping rope, and the
hoop are world-wide and constant in popularity.
There is a game played by smaller children called "Grandmoth-
er hippetyclink" or "Grandmammy tippy-toe," in which one,
simulating old age, knocks on the door of the "house," where
live the mother and children. Asked what she wishes, she re-
plies "a child" and a long dialogue ensues, the process finally re-
sulting in her getting all the children, which come up, concealed
behind her, on each visit. At last the mother asks, in reply to
the request for a child, "What are those behind you?" The old
woman answers, "Chickens, shoo !" and they all scamper, to begin
the game all over again. In another game different birds are
asked for, they fly away, and, being caught and brought back,
clasp their hands under their kness and are swung by the arms.
If their grip holds during the swinging they are called "good
eggs" and may play again; if it breaks they are "bad eggs" and
are thrown contemptuously aside. "London bridge is falling
down" is old and familiar; and "ring around the rosy" with its
many variations. "Playing house" is a never-failing resort
among the girls, although the principal objects seems to be to
build the house and then "go visiting." "Coming events cast their
shadows before," and it may be that this is only a prophecy of
the neglect of household duties for social triumphs of the Amer-
ican woman. The fascinating game of "Tit-tat-to," which ap-
pears by magic whenever the teacher is not looking, is probably
Chinese, and is one of the oldest of them all.
In closing, I wish to read part of a curious Act of Parliament
in relation to games. It is Act 33, Henry VIII, c. 9. The title
"A Bill for the maintaining Artillery and debarring unlawful
games" resembles one of our appropriation bills with an irrele-
vant "rider" attached; but in this case the two objects had more
in common than at first appears. It recites that "crafty persons
have invented many and sundry new and crafty games and plays,
as loggetting in the fields, slide-thrift, otherwise called shove-
goat * * * by reason whereof archery is sore decayed, and
6 BETSY ROSS AND THE UNITED STATES FLAG
daily is like to be more and more minished, and divers bowyers
and fletchers, for lack of work, gone and inhabit themselves in
Scotland, there working and teaching their games to the great
comfort of strangers and detriment of this realm. The pro-
hibited games are backgammon, tennis, dice, cards, bowls, clash,
coyting, loggetting." It will be noticed that the object was not
to discourage the vice of gambling, but to stimulate the practice
of archery; just as the Puritans did not prohibit bear-baiting be-
cause it gave pain to the bear, but because it gave pleasure to the
spectators.
Betsy Ross and the United States Flag.
BY OLIVER RANDOLPH PARRY, PHILADELPHIA, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, January 19, 1909.)
The Bucks County Historical Society is greatly indebted to Mr.
Parry for his exhaustive, painstaking and carefully prepared
paper, read before the society, containing an account of Betsy
Ross (born January i, 1752) and the history of the United States
flag, as well as of the "Flag House," 239 Arch street (old num-
ber 89), Philadelphia, where she lived and carried on her busi-
ness that of milliner, and where she made the first flag with stars
and stripes. She made this flag at the request of the flag com-
mittee who called upon her, consisting of Robert Morris and
George Ross. This committee was accompanied by George
Washington who it is claimed suggested the design of stars and
stripes.
The society is also indebted to Mr. Parry for presenting it with
a piece of the original flooring from the room or shop where the
flag was made, the only relic of its kind in existence. The authen-
ticity of this floor-board is certified to by the affidavit, bearing
date May i, 1909, of Charles M. Wallington (Philadelphia Cor-
respondent of the Commercial and Financial World of New York
City) which sets forth the fact that the floor-board was given to
him November 7, 1881, by Philip Mund who at that time owned
the house. This is the same piece of floor-board referred to by
the Philadelphia Press in its issue of September 11, 1887, and by
BETSY ROSS AND TIIIv UNITED STATES FLAG J
the Evening Bulletin in its "Penn" column of January i8, 1908.
Mr. Parry had recourse and refers to articles which appeared in
the Philadelphia Record and Evening Telegraph of Sej^tember 12,
1908. The statements made by Mr. Parry in reference to the
piece of pine flooring (6->4 inches wide by iy\ inches thick) are
also accompanied by letters from Mr. Wallington bearing date
February 20, 21 and 2'!^, and March 3, 1908.
Mr. Parry's paper also refers to the genealogy of the Clay-
pool family: saying that Betsy Ross (nee Elizabeth Griscome)
was married three times, first to John Ross ; there were no chil-
dren by this marria<ie, and it was during her first widowhood
when as Betsy Ross, she made the first flag with stars and stripes.
Her second marriage, at the age of 24 years, was to Captain
Joseph Ashburn, by which union she had two children, one dying
in infancy. Her third marriage was to John Claypool by whom
she had four children.
Mr. Parry also refers to a paper read March 14, 1870 before
the Pennsylvania Historical Society and to an article in the
Philadelphia Ledger March 15, 1870, also to publications in the
Frankford Herald of February 26, 1896, and the Philadelphia In-
quirer of December 13, 1908.
Mr. Parry's paper contains statements and copies of many af-
fidavits from the descendants of Betsy Ross, supporting the state-
ments that are made in reference to her having made the first
flag, and the incidents connected therewith. Among these is an
affidavit from her daughter, Mrs. Rachel Fletcher, bearing date
July 31. 1 87 1. Others are from her granddaughters, grandson,
great-granddaughter, nieces, nephews, grandnieces, grand-
nephews and a number from other descendants and friends.
This valuable paper was printed in full in the Bucks County
Intelligencer of March 13, and .Vpril 3, 1909 and a copy placed
in the library of the Bucks County Historical Society where it
can be seen mounted in the scrap book of the society.
The Hulme Family of Bucks County.
BY MISS REBECCA PRICE, PIIILADEEPHIA, PA.
(Hulmeville Park Me&ting, ]May 25, 1909.)
The family of Hulme from which the village of Hulmeville in
Bucks county derives its name, w^as an ancient family in Eng-
land whose history dates from William the Conqueror, and was
of Norman origin, of the name De Houlme.
The main branch of the family, Randolphus De Houlme, settled
in Lancashire, England, principally in or near Manchester, near
which the Manor of Hulme, or Hulme Hall, is situated. A
smaller branch of the family about the seventeenth century, went
into Yorkshire, near Manchester, and dropped the "u" from the
original name De Houlme, and spelled the name Holme, the
families of Manchester and Chesire retaining the "u," Hulme.
The family in America came from the Chesire family, who
settled in Tillston, Chesire, in 1630, and about the beginning of
1700 settled in Middletown township, Bucks county.
George Hulme, Sr., and his son, George Hulme, Jr., in 1705
purchased land of Robert Heaton, between Core creek and New-
town, some two hundred and more acres, for which they gave
eighty pounds. This is recorded, 9th month 12th, 1705, with
"Quit rent paid to the Chief Lord." George Hulme, Jr., bought
134 acres adjoining, of Jeremiah Scaife, conveyed to George
Hulme, Jr., "with all the ways, water courses, woods, meadows,
orchards, gardens, houses, edifices and buildings, with all the
fishing, hunting rights, etc., with a quit rent to the Chief Lord."
Deed, 12th month loth, 1712.
George Hulme, Sr., died in 1714, his son inheriting his land.
George Hulme, Jr., married Naomi Palmer, daughter of John
and Christian Palmer of Makefield township, at Falls Meeting,
loth month 2d, 1708. Their child James was born 1709, died
1709. Naomi Hulme died in 1709.
John Palmer came from Yorkshire, England, arrived in Penn-
sylvania 9th month nth, 1683, and settled in Falls township in
1704. He was possessed of a thousand acres of land in Make-
THE IIULME FAMILY OF BUCKS COUNTY 9
field township, and much land in other parts of the county. He
had fifteen children.
George Hulme, Jr., married Ruth Palmer, sister of Naomi,
and daugher of John and Christian Palmer, loth month, 1710.
Their children were Hannah, born 171 1; Naomi, born 1713;
Elanor in 1714 and John in 1722.
George Hulme, Jr., resided on his plantation near Newtown,
Middletown township, Bucks county until his death. His will,
made June 9, 1729, was signed by Joseph Kirkbride, and Thomas
Pugh. The inventory of goods and chattels is signed October 2,
1729, which will be found recorded in Doylestown, and amounts
to nearly one thousand pounds. This is independent of his real
estate.
George Hulme's daughter Hannah, married John Merrick, son
of John and Eleanor (Smith) Merrick, of Middletown township,
at Falls Meeting in 1731. His will is also recorded at Doyles-
town. They had a number of children. Robert, married Pris-
cilla Milnor; George married Rachel Van Sant, 4th month, 1759,
and Phebe Kirkbride, 5th month 18, 1768.
Naomi Hulme, daughter of George and Ruth Hulme, married
John Whitacre, at Christ Church, Philadelphia, June 24, 1734,
and afterwards moved to Virginia.
Ruth Hulme, widow of George Hulme, w^ho died in 1729,
married William Shallcross at Falls Meeting in 1732. Their
children were William, Ann who married a Clark, and Ruth who
married a Dan froth and was disowned by Friends.
George Hulme left all his property in trust to his "dear wife
Ruth," for the support and education of his children, and ap-
pointed with her, as executor, her brother Jonathan Palmer. If it
should be necessary to sell his plantation, his wife should have
one-third share, and the rest equally divided among the children.
Some years after two of his grandsons sued Ruth Shallcross for
the proper distribution of said property.
John Hulme, son of George and Ruth Hulme, married Mary
Pearson, daughter of Enoch and Margaret (Smith) Pearson, 3d
month, 1744. Their children were: Rachel, married William
Parsons. John, married Rebecca Milnor, daughter of William
Milnor, of Fallsington, in 1770. Mary, married Josiah Haines,
of Burlington, N. J. George, married Jennet Neale, of Burling-
lO THE IIULME FAMILY 0I-* BUCKS COUNTY
ton, N. J. William and Thomas both died young. Margaret,
married James Nelson, at Falls Meeting, 5th month 13th, 1787.
John Hulme located on the farm of John Watson, Surveyor, on
the York road in Buckingham on his marriage in 1744, and re-
sided there until 1759, when he removed to Philadelphia. In
1763 he and his wife Mary and five children returned to Buck-
ingham, where Mary died about 1769. He married his second
wife, Elizabeth Cutler, December 20, 1770, she was the grand-
daughter of John Cutler and Margery Hayhurst, who came from
Woodhouse, England, with his brother Edmund, wife and three
children and servants — early settlers in Middletown township.
John Cutler married Margery Hayhurst, who came to Phila-
delphia in the "Good Ship Welcome." John and Ad^argery Cutler
had three children : Elizabeth, who married William Croasdale ;
Mary, who married Daniel Palmer, and Benjamin, who married
Mary Biles, whose daughter, Elizabeth married Mahlon Hibbs ;
William, who died at sea, and Thomas, who removed to Kingston,
Jamaica.
In 1773 John Hulme Sr. removed from Buckingham to
AVrightstown. and a few years later to Falls, where his son John
Jr., had removed on his marriage in 1770.
He and his sons commenced the business of weaving, at Falls-
ington, operating several looms, and for a time, carried on cjuite
a large business, until 1796, when John Hulme, Jr., purchased
the village of Milford, Middletown township and removed there.
He established mills, built houses for his employees, and as his
sons grew up established them in business around him.
He soon became connected with the public business of the
county, and was at one time member of the Assembly. He was
the means of establishing the postoffice at Milford, the name of
which was changed by the Legislature to Hulmeville, in com-
pliment to him and his family.
He was the first president of the Bank of Bucks County located
at Hulmeville, and afterward removed to Bristol. "He was a
man of great benevolence and strict integrity, and respected by
all who knew him." His father, John Hulme, Sr., died at Fall-
sington in 1796, and his step-mother died at his house in Hulme-
ville.
The following is an extract from the memoirs of Mrs. Eliza S.
THE IIULME FAMILY OF BUCKS COUNTY II
M. Quincy, printed for the family only, of which a volume was
kindly presented to one of Mr. Hulme's descendants :
"In the autumn of 1809 Mr. and Mrs. Quincy made arrangements
similar to those of preceding years, to leave Boston for Washington.
Passing through New Jersey into Pennsylvania, they stopped for the night
at Hulmeville, a town situated on the Keshaminy, four miles from its
confluence with the Delaware river.
"In the evening Mr. Hulm.e, the chief proprietor of the place, a ven-
erable man in the plain dress of the quaker, called on Mr. Quincy, attended
by two of his sons, and informed him that he had often read his speeches,
and came to thank him for the views and principles he supported in
Congress.
"In replies to inquiries, Mr. Hulme said : 'When I purchased the site
of this village fourteen years ago, there was only one dwelling house upon
it, now there are thirty, besides workshops and a valuable set of mills,
and a stone bridge over the Neshaminy. Here I have established a
numerous family. I might have educated one of my sons as a lawyer, or
set up one as a merchant, but I have not property enough to give them all
such advantages, and I wished to make them equal, attached to each other,
and useful members of society. One of them is a coach-maker ; one a
farmer; another a miller; another a storekeeper, and another a tanner —
all masters of their respective employments, and they all assist each other.
I have been rewarded by their good conduct, and grateful affection. No
one of them envies another. We live like one family. I have never
heard a word of discontent, and my children and grandchildren are the
comforts of my old age.'
"The master of the hotel afterward said that Mr. Hulme was the
benefactor of all around him. For several years he would not allow a
public house to be opened, but received travellers in his own residence
without accepting remuneration, until the growth of the town forced him
to alter his arrangements, when he built a public house according to his
own plan, not allowing any bar room for the sale of liquor.
"The next morning Mr. and Mrs. Quincy, attended by Mr. Hulme,
went to see his mills and improvements. They were delighted with his
arrangements, and when the hour of parting came, took a reluctant leave
of their new friend, who had highly excited their admiration and respect.
Mrs. Quincy often recurred to the incident, and always said that Mr.
Hulme was one of the best men, and the most practical philosopher she
had ever met with, that, 'his virtues proved him a truly wise man.' "
I am indebted to the History of the Commoners of England
for the early history of the family ; to public records at Doyles-
town, and to the records of the Friends Monthly Meetings in the
Pennsylvania Historical Society, at Philadelphia, for other val-
uable information.
John Hulme, Jr., and Rebecca Milnor's children were : W'il-
12 THE HULME FAMII.Y OF BUCKS COUNTY
Ham, who married Rachel Knight; John, born in 1773 and died
in 1793; Samuel, married first, Mary Knight, and second, Mary
Watson ; George, married Sarah Shreve, of Burlington county,
N. J. ; Isaac, married Rebecca Shreve, of Btirlington county,
N. J.; Mary, married Joshua Gary Ganby; Amos, born in 1782
and died in 1793; Joseph, married Beulah Ganby; Rebecca, mar-
ried George Harrison; John Hulme, died in 1817, his wife, Re-
becca Milnor, in 1816.
William Hulme, the eldest son of John Hulme, Jr., and Re-
becca (Milnor) Hulme, married Rachel Knight, daughter of Jo-
seph Knight, the son of Giles Knight, who was the great-grand-
son of the famous Giles Knight, who came from England in
1682. William Hulme was the father of Rebecca Hulme Grundy,
who died in 1895, aged ninety-one years and six months, the
widow of Edmond Grundy.
Samuel Hulme, the third son of John Hulme, married, first
Mary Knight, sister of Rachel Knight, and daughter of Joseph
Knight ; and married, second, Mary Watson, widow of Marma-
duke Watson, and daughter of William Richardson, and Eliza-
beth Jenks, descendants of Thomas Jenks and Mercy Wildman.
Their son, Samuel Hulme, Jr., married Rachel Kirkbride,
daughter of John Kirkbride and Elizabeth (Story) Kirkbride,
their descendants residing in or near Philadelphia. Samuel
Hulme, Jr., died July 2^] , 1895. Rachel Hulme, his wife, died
in 1902.
George Hulme, son of John Hulme, Jr., married Sarah Shreve,
daughter of Joshua and Rebecca Shreve, of Springfield township,
Burlington county, New Jersey, moved to Mount Holly, New
Jersey. He was the father of Judge James Hulme, of Burling-
ton county, deceased. vSarah, the oldest daughter of George
Hulme, married Samuel Levis. After her decease he married
the youngest daughter, Maria Hulme, now widow of Samuel
Levis, deceased. Mrs. Maria Levis is now eighty-eight years of
age and resides in Mount Holly. Franklin B. Levis, their son, is
a prominent lawyer of Mt. Holly. George Hulme died in Mount
Holly in 1850.
Isaac Hulme and Rebecca (Shreve) Hulme's children were:
Joshua, William and Richard S.
Joshua, married Elizabeth Page Green. Their children were
THE IIUIvME FAMILY OV BUCKS COUNTY I3
Samuel Hulme, who married S. J. Howard, and resides in Tren-
ton, Howard county, Iowa; James Page Hulme, who married
Eliza Dennison, and resides in San Francisco Cal., lately of the
firm of Hulme & Hart, commission merchants, and Charles Allen
Hulme, of San Francisco, Cal.
William Hulme, married Margaret Thornton, and lived near
Bristol, Pa., now deceased.
Richard S., married Anna M. Paul, of Bensalem. Their only
child living is Annie R. Hulme, of Philadelphia, Pa. Richard
Hulme died in January, 1887.
Mary Hulme, eldest daughter of John and Rebecca (Milnor)
Hulme, married Joshua Cary Canby, son of Thomas Canby, and
their son, Joseph, married, first, Margaret Paxson, and second,
Margery Paxson, sisters, and daughters of John and Sarah Pax-
son. Their only living descendant is Joseph Canby, of Bensalem,
near Hulmeville.
Joseph Hulme, son of John and Rebecca (Milnor) Hulme,
married Beulah Cary Canby. Their descendants reside in and
near Pottsville, Pa. Their daughter, Mary, married Thomas
Hayes, w-hose son Alfred Hayes, is a prominent lawyer in Lewis-
burg, Pa. Their daughter, Elizabeth, married Samuel J. Potts.
Rebecca Hulme. youngest daughter of John and Rebecca (Mil-
nor) Hulme, married George Harrison, son of Captain John Har-
rison, of the Revolutionary army. Their children were : John
Hulme, Mary, who married James Hayes ; Robert Henry, Samuel
Hulme, who married Jennet Joyce; Edmund G., who married
Fannie Trump.
Samuel Hulme Harrison's children are : John Henry, a vet-
eran of the Civil war; Mary, who married Jesse H. Knight;
George, editor of Delatvare Advance, in Hulmeville; Jennet R. ;
S. Hulme, farmer near Hulmeville ; William Kennedy, farmer
near Hulmeville, and Edmund, the youngest son.
Edmund G. Harrison, youngest son of George and Rebecca
Hulme Harrison, married Fannie Trump. Their children are :
Charles T., who married Laura Curtis. He is in the good roads
division of the U. S. Agricultural Department ; William E., who
married Margaret Wilson, and resides in Asbury Park ; Mary
Rebecca, who married Dr. E. Huntsman ; Alice and Frances, who
reside in Hulmeville, and T. Herbert, who is studying in Europe.
Union Academy of Doylestown, Pa.
BY JOPIN L. DUBOIS, DOYLESTOWN, PA.*
(Hulmeville Park Meeting, May 25, 1909.)
At the dawn of the nineteenth century, Doylestown was com-
posed of about a dozen dwelhngs, a tavern or two, a store,
smith-shop and a weekly newspaper and among its residents were
Dr. Hugh Meredith, Enoch Harvey, Joseph Fell, George Stewart,
Nathaniel Shewell, Robert Kirkbride, Josiah Y. Shaw and Jacob
Thomas, who together with the other residents, must have fore-
seen bright prospects and the necessity for educational oppor-
tunities.
To most of these men must be ascribed the honor of founding
the first educational institution in Doylestown, which, by steady
advances, but not without difficulties, however, has become one
of the best equipped public schools in the State of Pennsylvania,
if not in the United States.
The erection of Union Academy, or Doylestown Academy, as
it was later known, was commenced in the year 1804 upon a
piece of ground donated by John Hough, but not completed that
year because of insufficiency of funds, the State coming to its
rescue with the Act of Assembly of February 11, 1805, authoriz-
ing the raising of $3,000 by lottery. This method, however, did
not accomplish the purpose, and although the building was first
occupied in 1804, it was not completed until 1809, when the
legislature made an appropriation for that purpose.
As soon as the building was ready for occupancy, which was
in July, 1804, pupils were sought and as an inducement for them
to attend, its accessibility was advanced, also the fact that "the
Bethlehem and Easton mail-stages run through the town twice
a week." At this time the principalship was offered to Rev.
Uriah DuBois, the then pastor of the Deep Run Presbyterian
Church, which he accepted. Upon moving to Doylestown, later
in the year, he entered upon his duties, becoming the first prin-
cipal of the academy.
* Son of John I,. DuBois. and great-grandson of Rev. Uriah DuBois.
UNION ACADEMY OF DOYLESTOWN, PA. I5
The founding- of this institution of learning was not tlie con-
summation of a mercenary scheme, but the result of deep and
patient planning for the well-being and advancement of the
youth of the vicinity and country at large. It was the all-absorb-
ing topic of the time, as is evidenced by the fact that as an item,
of news in the Pennsylvania Correspondent, a newspaper pub-
lished in Doylestown, by Asher Miner, it shared equal promin-
ence with such events as Burr's trial and acquittal, the impress-
ment of American seamen, which ultimately brought about the
war of 1812, exciting and momentous questions emanating from
English, French and Spanish courts, the victories and defeats in
the French and Spanish wars and Fulton's experiments with his
steamboat on the Hudson river.
Union Academy, even when first founded, was not an ordinary
country school, with opportunities only to the resident youth of
mastering the elementary branches, but was conducted with the
end in view of a high and polished education for the youth at
large. The academy's advertisement, appearing in Pennsylvania
Correspondent of September 4. 1804, bears this out, it reads:
"Course of Instruction, Latin and Greek Classics, Grammatical
Knowledge of the English and French Languages. Geography, in-
cluding Astronomy, and the use of the Globes, Oratory and the
Belles Lettres ; Practical Mathematics, and the Rudiments of Na-
tural Philosophy." also. "Editors of papers throughout this and
the adjoining States, who are inclined to promote the instruction
of youth, are recpiested to give the above article an occasional in-
sertion."
The public interest in the success and advancement of the
academy continued unabated for several years, which was rather
remarkable and unlike most events of local and general interest,
which, after the first throb of excitement has passed away and
the newness worn oiif, settles into a position of repose and gives
place to others. This continued interest was, in all jirobability,
due to the indefatigable energy of the principal, Rev. Uriah Du-
Bois, who was held in great esteem by his cotemporaries and
whose interest in anything would always be joined in by them.
To illustrate this continued interest the following excerpt from
the Pennsylvania Correspondent of May 21, 1807, is given:
"The acadcm}- established at Doylestown, which has nourished, in an
l6 UNION ACADEMY OF DOYLESTOWN, PA.
unprecedented manner, for three years in the midst of difficulties and
discouragements, without funds, or any adequate resources, is at present
happily relieved from its embarrassed and perplexed state, by the gen-
erous support of the Legislature ; and is in a fair way of becoming more
extensively useful, than it has been heretofore. * * * It is presumed,
therefore under these circumstances, that our infant institution, will from
this time assume a more dignified and distinguished appearance ; and that
under the fostering smiles of public patronage, it will rise to that emi-
nence, to which the healthiness, beauty and convenience of its_ situation,
seem naturally to entitle it, in preference to many other public seminaries."
During Mr. DtiBois' regime, public examinations, debates and
oratorical contests were of frequent occurrence and were emi-
nently popular in the community. Of this phase of his school
life, Charles Lombaert, Esq., the first pupil to attend the academy,
in a letter, specially referred and he mentions the two years
spent at the academy, as "one of the bright spots of my life."
Union Academy is not only famed as an educational institu-
tion, but as a meeting place of religious assemblies and the birth-
place of the Doylestown Presbyterian Church, the meetings of
which were held there until the erection of its own edifice in
1813. Union Academy and the Doylestown Presbyterian Church
occupied most of Mr. DuBois' time until his death, which oc-
curred September 10, 182 1, and as a summation of his life as an
instructor, the words of the Rev. Samuel Aaron, a cotemporary
and later a principal of Union Academy, are quoted :
"He has no peculiar, far-fetched modes of thinking or of teaching.
He seems to me now, to have adapted, with sound common sense, his
workmanship to such tools and materials as he had. He succeeded well,
I think in educating, that is drazving out, the powers of almost all who
had anything in them ; whether he toiled enough to fill up empty or leaky
skulls, I dare not undertake to saj^ Perhaps his greatest error as a
teacher was, the too great admiration that he showed for those who had
talents and improved them well. H this was a fault, it surely leaned to
'virtue's side.' "
Although a brilliant scholar, energetic to the extreme and
closely allied with Union Academy, Uriah DuBois' death did not
affect the progress or standing of the academy. The death of
thousands, be they exalted or humble, is but momentarily felt,
there seeming to be so many to occupy the places made vacant
thereby. But as he lived, so he died and in his prayer he must
surely have said, "May Union Academy prosper and may the in-
tell-ect of the voung always be cared for."
UNION ACADEMY OF DOYLESTOWN, PA. I7
Between the years 1821 and 1828 Union Academy was under
the principalship of Ebenezer Smith, a graduate of Yale Univer-
sity, who was assisted by George Murray, born and educated in
Scotland. Both were learned men and capable instructors and
maintained in the academy the same standard of excellence at-
tained by their predecessor. Nothing of interest, of which there
is any record, occurred during their incumbency and in fact no
mention of Union Academy is made in the town's periodical,
except than in the issue of October 6, 1821, George Murray "re-
turns his sincere thanks to the inhabitants of Doylestown for
their liberal support during the last and preceding quarter and
begs leave to inform them that last Friday he commenced another
quarter." Ebenezer Smith left the academy in 1828 and died
the following year. George Murray left in 1829, but lived to
the ripe old age of 96 years.
During the incumbency of Mr. DuBois there entered the acad-
emy, as a student, a youth of brilliant intellect, Samuel Aaron
by name, who remained several years. In 1820 he left the acad-
emy, only to return the following year as assistant to Mr. Du-
Bois. He again left and again returned, this time succeeding
Ebenezer Smith as principal. Mr. Aaron was a brilliant scholar
and an exceedingly good teacher. He dissolved his relations with
the academy in 1834 and took charge of a school at Burlington,
New Jersey. During Mr. Aaron's principalship Robert P. Du-
Bois, son of the academy's first principal, acted as assistant, he
leaving the academy to teach school in Chester county, later
studying for the ministry and receiving a call to the New London
Presbyterian Church.
In 1835 Rev. Silas M. Andrews occupied the position vacated
by Mr. Aaron and performed his duties at Union Academy to-
gether with the duties devohing upon him as pastor of the
Doylestown Presbyterian Church, of which he was pastor for al-
most fifty years. It is unnecessary to comment upon his success
as an instructor. His whole life was a brilliant success and the
halo encircling his name will be a living monument of his good
deeds.
John Robinson and Silas H. Thompson were the next prin-
cipals, the former's administration commencing in 1839 and end-
ing in 1844. and the hitter's ending in 1846.
lO UNION ACADEMY OP DOYLESTOWN, PA.
Besides being tlie meeting place of religious assemblies and the
birth-place of the Do3destown Presbyterian Church, Union Acad-
emy was the home of several organizations, namely, The Doyles-
town Library, the Academy of Natural Sciences of Bucks county,
the Doylestown Grays, Aquetong Lodge No. 193, L O. O. F.
and Doylestown Lodge No. 94, and had the honor of being the
building in which the first Fourth of July celebration took place,
during which the Declaration of Independence was read, three
orations delivered and seventeen toasts drunk. This celebration
took place July 4, 1804, after which the senior class of the acad-
emy dined at Worman's Inn.
From its founding to the year 1827, Union Academy was a
private enterprise, it becoming by the act of April 14, 1827, a
corporation with its real estate vested therein. Although the
system of schools throughout the Commonwealth was changed by
the act of April 7, 1849, and Union Academy made a public
school thereby, the title of the real estate" remained unchanged
until the year 1889, when the school directors of Doylestown
Borough, by formal resolutions and with the approval of the
court of common pleas of Bucks county, purchased the real
estate from the Board of Trustees of Union Academy, after
which purchase the old building was demolished and the present
magnificent edifice erected.
Besides the principals already named, the following acted as
teachers at the academy at dififerent times : Thomas Gibson, Mrs.
Mary Jarvis, Maria McGlauphlen, Alfred Magill, Jacob Price,
Sarah M. Kuhn, Mary Dunlap, John G. Michener, Rev. James P.
Reed, Jacob F. Byrnes, George Winslow, Rev. Samuel Nightin-
gale, Joseph Patterson, Stephen Phelps, Lewis P. Thompson and
Elias Carver.
It is said upon good authority, that four thousand pupils re-
ceived a portion of, if not their entire, school education at Union
Academy, some, after leaving, following the humbler walks of
life, many others, in after life, achieving fame and fortune. Be
that as it may, their posterity, in this great length of time, must
be legion and all must have a common interest in the old acad-
emy, which was a land-mark in Doylestown for almost a century
and which cannot be referred to to-day except as one of the
historic monuments of Bucks county.
Samuel D. Ingham, Secretary of the United States Treasury.
BY WILLIAM A. IXGIIA^I, PHILADELPHIA, PA.^
(Hulmcvillc Park Meeting, May J5, 1909.)
Jonas Ingham, the great-grandfather of Samuel Delucenna
Ingham, emigrated from England to New England in 1705, where
he remained for some time, but nothing is known of his life there.
He probably had with him some other relatives as there is a
family of that name in Connecticut from whom are descended the
Inghams of Central New York.
He probably came from Yorkshire, where the name is still to
be found. But being a member of the Society of Friends, it has
been impossible to trace his ancestry by the usual methods of
parish records and baptismal certificates.
He was by trade a fuller, and there is a tradition that after
leaving New England he operated a fulling mill at Trenton, N.
J., on an island at the mouth of the Assunpink in the Delaware
river, which island is now washed away to a mere gravel bar.
Thence he came to Bucks county with his only son Jonathan
and in 1747 Jonathan purchased the Great Spring tract in Sole-
bury township, Bucks county, from James Logan and built a
fulling mill on the stream and carried on the business of fuller
and farmer. Jonathan filled the of^ce of justice of the peace
and judge, and as a member of the colonial assembly, took an
active part in the contests of that body with the proprietors.
Jonathan had three sons'- John, Jonas and Jonathan, who re-
ceived the best education which the country afforded, but at the
same time were carefully instructed in their father's business.
They were quite dift'erent in their intellectual tastes. John the
eldest became a religious enthusiast and wrote largely on specu-
lative theology. His father was an uncomprising sectarian, and
contrary to the opinion and wishes of his other sons, particularly
the youngest, he considered the heretical doctrines promulgated
' William -\. Ingham was 82 years of age when he prepared this paper. He
was born in Bucks county, May, 1S27, and died at Philadelphia, September 23, 1913.
See also paper by Rev. D. K. Turner, Vol. I, page 450, of these transactions.
'Jonathan Ingham married Deborah Bye at Buckingham Friends Meeting in 1735.
U^6
20 SAMUEI. D. INGHAM, SECRETARY U. S. TREIASURY
in John's books to be proofs of a disordered mind and made
them the pretext for John's confinement in an insane asylum,
where he soon after died.
Jonas, the second son. manifested a decided inchnation towards
the exact sciences. He held that nothing ought to be considered
true unless demonstrated and beat every effort to overcome the
objection to this axiom in philosophy. He cultivated natural
philosophy, was an excellent mathematician and the author of
many useful inventions in mechanics. He seriously offended his
father by an unsanctioned marriage, and is supposed to have re-
moved to Bradford county, Pennsylvania, where many of his
descendants still reside. He died at the age of 82.
Jonathan, the youngest son and father of Samuel D. Ingham,
at an early age showed a strong predilection for the study of lan-
guages. He read the Greek and Latin classics and had some ac-
quaintance with Hebrew. About the age of nineteen he, like his
brothers, offended his father and left his home. He engaged as
an assistant on the farm of Dr. Paschal near Darby. The doctor
was attracted by the young man's studious habits and offered him
a situation as a student of medicine. Having completed his
medical course and having become reconciled to his father, he
was invited home and placed at the head of the establishment
instead of his brother Jonas. At the age of twenty-five, he mar-
ried Ann Welding, of Bordentown, N. J., and was soon enabled,
with the aid of his wife's dowry, to purchase the family estate.
In a short time he became a practicing physician of ability, his
practice covering a wide territory on both sides of the Delaware
river. At the same time he managed the farm and fulling mill.
He was a great athlete and there are stories told of his mowing
a swath down hill from the road to the dam, and at the bottom
plunging into the water without undressing, and of his swimming
his horse across the Delaware on a visit to a patient in N. J. He
continued his favorite pursuits, became a good Latin and Greek
scholar, a proficient in German, and tolerably versed in Hebrew,
French and Spanish. Among his manuscripts were found trans-
lations of many of the Odes of Pindar, and Theocritus and some
of the books of Fenelon, turned into English verse. He engaged
as instructor, a foreign gentleman named Anthony Delucenna,
to whom he became so much attached that he named his son
% > A
SAMUEL D. IXGIIAM, SECRETARY U. S. TREASURY 21
Samuel partly in his honor. He was a strong partisan of the
cause of the colonies in the Revolution, though he did not enter
the military service like his brother Jonas, who was an officer
in a volunteer corps. W^ien Washington's army crossed the
Delaware at Coryells' Ferry and encamped on his property, he
was active in the hospitals established there. On the close of the
Revolution he took an active part on the side of the Republican
Whigs and wrote with force and effect against what he thought
to be monarchical tendencies in certain proposed measures. He
also boldly denounced the scheme of funding the war debt for the
exclusive benefit of speculators while the poor soldier for all
his privations, sufferings and services was to be content to re-
ceive two shillings and six pence in the pound for his certificate.
To many of his neighbors, the doctor's politics were anything but
palatable, but his assailants were easily silenced by the pungent
satire of his burlesque pindarics, the only mode of retort of
which he deemed them worthy. During the prevalence of yellow
fever in Philadelphia in 1793, the doctor made a visit to the city
for the purpose of studying the new and dreaded disease. He had
scarcely returned home when hearing of its extended ravages,
and of the flight of many of the physicians, he exclaimed loudly
against the conduct of those gentleman as inhuman and a dis-
grace to the profession. He immediately returned to the cit}^
and with his friends Dr. Hutchinson and Mr. Samuel Weth-
erell, Jr., visited, advised and ministered to the sufferers in the
most infected districts. Soon after he returned home he was at-
tacked by the disease. He had strong belief in the curative power
of the water of Schooley's Mountain springs, and for that and
for the benefit of a change of air, he started for Schooley's Moun-
tain, N. J., in his farm wagon, accompanied by his wife and her
brother. On the way they were refused admission at all houses,
and he died in the wagon by the roadside at a point about a mile
west of Clinton, N. J., He died on October i, 1793, and was
buried in the neighboring graveyard of Bethlehem Presbyterian
Church. He left a widow and four sons, of whom Samuel was
the oldest, and three daughters.
Samuel D. Ingham, the special subject of this sketch, was born
September 16, 1779. His father undertook his education, and
before the boy could well read English, placed in his hands Rud-
22 SAMUEL D. INGHAM, SECRETARY U. S. TREASURY
riman's Latin Grammar. But the doctor was a very busy man,
and his son, boy-Hke, preferred play to study, so that the father's
plan of conducting the son's education was abandoned, and Sam-
uel at the age of ten was sent to a school at a distance and com-
menced the Greek grammar. After three months his father was
dissatisfied with his progress, and sent him to a school near Dur-
ham at the northern end of the county to learn German. He was
making rapid progress in German, when at the end of six weeks
the school was closed, and his father, making one more efifort in
behalf of the classics, sent him back to his Greek and Latin.
Before he attained his fourteenth year, the death of his father
seemed to terminate his course of classical studies. The various
branches of the doctor's work was interrupted and deranged and
the widow was left to care for her young children. She neces-
sarily adopted the advice of their experienced grandfather, and
the young scholar was apprenticed to a paper maker, on Penny-
pack creek, with a view to the future erection of a paper mill on
the Solebury property.
The admonition of his bereaved mother, coupled with a full
realization of his altered circumstances seemed to change him
from a pleasure loving, somewhat idle boy, into a thoughtful,
hardworking young man, and he immediately adopted that course
which he afterwards inflexibly pursued.
His new place of abode was at a mill on the Pennypack some
twenty miles from home, and about fifteen miles from Philadel-
phia. One of his first cares was to secure a share in a library
about four miles distant. Here he spent a part of every Saturday
afternoon in reading. Finding a translation of Cicero's Orations,
he ventured to refer to the original, and went through the whole
book. This was followed by a general view of the Latin clas-
sics. During the course of this probation, the derision of his
companions was avoided by a total absence of aiifection of su-
periority, a deportment of unchanged civility, and by pleading
unavoidable absence or an important engagement as an excuse
when asked to join in any scheme of frolic or mischief.
Being left to pursue his studies without interruption, he would
naturally have resumed the study of Greek, once so distasteful,
but for the arrival in the neighborhood of a teacher of mathe-
matics, John D. Craig an emigrant from Ireland, and a person of
SAMUEL D. IXGIIAM, SECRETARY U. S. TREASURY 23
great ability. An ac(|uaintance was soon formed which grew into
friendship. This strengthened young Ingham's predilection for
the exact sciences. During the summer he devoted to the school
all his spare time, and in the winter attended the teacher at his
own house. He read the best elementary treatises on mathe-
matics with their applications to mechanics, surveying, navigation,
astronomy and natural philosophy.
The unremitting application of the scholar and the unwearied
attention of the teacher combined to create a strong friendship
between them, and though separated for many years, the pupil
never forgot his preceptor. Long afterward w^hen the apprentice-
boy had become Secretary of the Treasury of the United States,
the obscure mathematician (the teacher) was appointed by Presi-
dent Jackson to a position for which he was well qualified, that of
superintendent of the patent office.
After being deprived of his instructor, young Ingham pursued
alone with untiring zeal the path he had pointed out. While
the warm months of summer permitted, he studied in a retreat he
had contrived in the midst of a thicket of laurel and green brier,
on a point of land projecting into the mill-dam, but in winter time
he was obliged to study in the midst of a numerous family.
His time being valuable, he invented an expedient to save
time. He prepared large diagrams of problems in geometry and
conic section with the demonstrations. Placing these before him
while engaged at work, he found that he could readily follow
Euclid while his hands were employed. But this devotion to
study was never allowed to interfere with his regular work.
His gt:ardian was General X'anHorn, of Zanesville, Ohio, an
intimate friend of his father. The general generously advanced
from his private funds, the means of purchasing the necessary
books. The severity of his master continually placed impediments
in his way. In order to get the books the apprentice was com-
])elled to walk to Philadelphia, a distance of sixteen miles, after
the completion of his task on Saturday afternoons. On one oc-
casion he was refused leave of absence unless he would agree
to return the same night, and he actually walked the thirty-two
miles, bringing back his quarto volume of astronomical tables be-
fore the family had retired. In the performance of this feat there
may have been a little picjue mingled with his love of learning,
3
24 SAMUI5I. D. INGHAM, SECRETARY U. S. TREASURY
but it strongly exhibits the determination of his character. These
arbitrary acts on the part of his master, were soon to terminate.
A discussion arose as to the legal right of an apprentice to a cer-
tain portion of tuition, which resulted in an amicable cancellation
of the indenture. He was now nineteen years of age. The first
year of his freedom was passed chiefly in assisting his mother at
the homestead and the second in managing a paper mill near
Bloomfield in East Jersey. Here he became acquainted with his
future wife, Miss Rebecca Dodd. On attaining his twenty-first
year he took possession of his patrimonial estate charged with
numerous legacies. The long contemplated paper mill was now
built. This was erected under his sole direction, every part of
the machinery being constructed by the ordinary workmen of the
vicinity from models which he furnished.
Having married immediately after he became of age, and taken
up his fixed residence at the family farm, his known political
sentiments secured him a cordial welcome from the Democratic-
Republicans of the neighborhood, and he was soon called upon
to represent them in the political meetings of Bucks county. He
there embraced the opportunity of defending his guardian against
aspersions and of promoting his election to congress. He was for
several years, secretary of the Democratic county meetings, was
an ardent supporter of Thomas McKean for governor of the
state, and in the same year was elected from Bucks county to
the general assembly. To this he was returned the two follow-
ing years. A project was started at this time to amend the con-
stitution of the United States by making the appointment of
judges of the supreme court for a fixed term of years, and so
rendering them dependent on the executive. In this Mr. Ing-
ham took ground in favor of an independent judiciary.
This period was remarkable as the commencement of the sys-
tem of internal improvements in Pennsylvania, which was sub-
sequently so extensively accomplished. It was also remarkable
for an unusual violence of party feeling stimulated by the per-
sonal enemies of Governor Thomas McKean. Mr. Ingham de-
clined a re-election in 1808, and remained at home, and applied
his efiforts to restoring harmony among the Republicans of his
county.
He received from the governor, unsolicited, a commission as
SAMUElv D. INGHAM, SECRETARY U. S. TREASURY 25
justice of the peace, and though retired from pohcital hfe, he was
active in local matters of public interest. Among other things,
he contributed largely to secure the erection of the Delaware
river bridge at New Hope. This was the first of the bridges
between Easton and Trenton and was a remarkable piece of en-
gineering construction.
After the declaration of war in 1812, he was elected by a ma-
jority of two thousand votes to the thirteenth congress of the
United States, and took his seat at the May session of 1813. He
became chairman of the committee on pensions and revolutionary
claims and was a member of the select committee to consider the
policy of establishing a national bank to finance the country dur-
ing the war. He introduced a resolution for a general revision
of the tarifif. This he renewed at the next session through the
committee of ways and means, which produced the report of Mr.
Dallas, the basis of the subsequent tariff law of 1816. In the
session following 1814-15, he was placed on the committee of
ways and means. The treasury department was practically va-
cant through the illness of the secretary, the loans had failed,
and when the committee commenced their labors to restore the
public credit, the finances of the Government were in the worst
possible condition. In this crisis, the appointment of Mr. Dallas
to the treasury, while it inspired confidence to the country, im-
parted to the committee an impetus which enabled it to accom-
plish the most arduous duties. With the aid of the secretary, they
rearranged the whole internal revenue system, extending its scope
considerably beyond the supplies for a peace expenditure, and the
payment of the war debt.
The state of the public finances had induced many members to
consider the subject of a legal tender. To this Mr. Ingham was
opposed, and in lieu of it he proposed in his committee, an issue
of treasury notes, not bearing interest, but liable at all times to be
funded in small sums at such a rate of interest as would with-
draw from circulation the redundant issues. This plan was
adopted by congress and became a law. The restoration of peace
prevented a trial of its general effect, but so far as it went, it
was well received, and the treasury notes fundable at seven per
cent., circulated more freely than those bearing interest. They
were in a short time all funded or reduced and withdrawn from
26 SAMUEI. D. INGHAM, SECRETARY U. S. TREASURY
circulation. The army, revenue and bank bills were the principal
measures of this session. Every inch of ground was obstinately
contested by a numerous and talented opposition, and the duties
of the several committees in charge of these measures were pecu-
liarly arduous. A contemporary writer says of Mr. Ingham:
"Having but partially cultivated the art of public speaking, Mr. Ingham
seldom ventured deeply into debate. His strength lay in the committee
room, where in investigation of facts, he was prominent. He enjoyed the
full confidence of his associates, but he did not conceal his opinions and
his frankness openly condemned some of the policies of the friends of
the administration, such as concealing from the people the actual necessi-
ties of the Government, and charging the blame for its failures upon the
opposition. He contended that the majority were responsible to the coun-
try, and this responsibility should never be unfelt or disavowed."
The labors of this session were nearly closed, and most of the
means for the next campaign were provided, when peace took
place.
Mr. Ingham had been elected to the fourteenth congress by an
increased majority. In the two succeeding sessions he continued
to serve on the committee of ways and means, which revised the
whole impost and internal revenue system, and reported the bill
for the tariff of 1816. He was also chairman of the committee
on postofhces and post roads, and as head of a select committee,
conducted a laborious investigation of the fiscal affairs of the
general postoffice. The laws relative to the postoffice were re-
vised, the rates of postage reduced, and the policy adopted of ap-
plying the entire revenues of that department to extension of mail
routes and improvement of conveyance. He was re-elected to the
fifteenth congrees without opposition, resumed his station at the
head of the postoffice committee, and as head of a select com-
mittee, assisted in regulating and fixing the compensation of the
clerks in the office, which had previously depended on caprice
or favoritism. At the close of this session he resigned his seat.
principally on account of his wife's health, and accepted the posi-
tion of prothonotary of the court of common pleas of Bucks
county, and in 1819 was appointed by Governor Findlay, secre-
tary of the commonwealth. His wife died in that year. He
spent the next two years at home, busied at his farm and paper
mill.
In 1822 he married Miss Deborah Kay Hall, of Salem, N. ].,
SAMUEL D. INGHAM, SECRETARY U. S. TREASURY 2/
and in October of that year he was elected to congress. He again
was appointed on the comniitte of ways and means, and chair-
man of the post office committee where he remained, being re-
turned to every congress until March 4, 1829.
In 1824 there was no election of a president by the people, and
the election devolved on the house of representatives. The three
highest candidates were Adams, Jackson and Clay. Adams and
Clay combined their forces and elected Adams. Hence arose the
famous charge of "Bargain and Sale" with w^iich the country
rang for the next four years. It was charged that Adams agreed
in consideration of Clay's support, to appoint Clay secretary of
state. This charge was publicly made before the election in
the house and was investigated by a committee, but whether there
was or was not a bargain prior to the ballot, as a fact Clay's votes
were cast for Adams and Adams did appoint Clay secretary of
state. The storm or rage on the part of Jackson's friends which
swept the country for the next four years, is almost incompre-
hensible in these days of political deals. We would not now call
such men "traitors to the constitution, an illegal unconstitutional
minority usurping office, etc., etc."
About this time Mr. Ingham issued a pamphlet on the "Life
and Character of John Quincy Adams," in which he showed from
speeches, letters and other public utterances, that John Quincy
Adams was at heart a monarchist. This pamphlet is alleged to
have had great influence in the next presidential campaign ( 1828)
which resulted in the election of x\ndrew Jackson.
For this, Adams never forgave Mr. Ingham. He was of a
vindictive temper and revenged himself by inserting in his diary
items of Washington gossip and scandal which were daily current.
This diary was published without revision by his son, Charles
Francis Adams, twenty years after the death of every one in-
volved.
On the arrival of General Jackson at Washington after his
election in 1828, he consulted with the members of the Pennsyl-
vania delegation and they recommended Samuel D. Ingham for
the treasury department, which recommendation was approved
by John C. Calhoun, vice president-elect, a personal friend of
Mr. Ingham of long standing. Though Mr. Ingham's preference
was for the postoffice department, he accepted the position of
28 SAMUEL D. INGHAM, SECRE^TARY U. S. TREASURY
secretary of the treasury. His associates were Martin Van Buren,
of New York, secretary of state, John H. Eaton, of Tennessee,
secretary of war, John Branch, of North Carohna, secretary of
the navy, John McPherson Berrien, of Georgia, attorney general,
WilHam T. Barry, of Kentucky, postmaster general.
When in 1831 President Jackson changed his previously an-
nounced intention not to be a candidate for re-election, being
urged thereto by some of his confidential advisers, among them
Martin VanBuren, he found in his cabinet many personal friends
of Mr. Calhoun, the vice president, a rival candidate, and not
being yet ready for open warfare which would have broken out
if he had removed only Calhoun's friends, he decided to change
his whole cabinet. This reason for the change was often men-
tioned to the writer by Mr. Ingham. But there was a great
public scandal in Washington which was made the pretext for
the change. The president tried in every way to force Wash-
ington society to recognize the wife of his bosom friend. Major
Eaton, secretary of war. This was refused by the wives of the
other secretaries, who declined to call on Mrs. Eaton, or to meet
her socially in any way and in this they were sustained by their
husbands. What this scandal was and whether true or false, is
immaterial. The fact is that it was made the pretext for the
dismissal of the cabinet.
As Mr. Ingham's successor, Louis McLane, of Maryland, was
unable immediately to take office, he remained in charge tempor-
arily during part of the summer of 1831. While staying in Wash-
ington, Major Eaton tried to fix a quarrel upon him by demand-
ing an apology and challenging him to a duel. Mr. Ingham de-
clined both and it was reported that Major Eaton sought to pro-
voke a street brawl. Mr. Ingham armed himself and went ahead
accompanied by his son. Nothing came of this and shortly after-
wards Mr. Ingham left Washington. On his returning home he
was greeted by a meeting of his constituents to whom he made
a speech, which was printed in the county newspaper. This
speech the writer has read, but has been unable to procure a
copy of it.
After Mr. Ingham's resignation from the treasury, he ceased
to take any active part in politics, but devoted his energies to his
farm, paper mill, lime-kiln and other private afifairs. He became
SAMUEL D. INGHAM, SECRETARY U. S. TREASURY 29
interested in the development of the anthracite coal fields, was
one of the founders and for a time president of the Beaver
Meadow Railroad Company, and afterwards assisted in forming
the Hazelton Coal Company. These coal interests turned his at-
tention to the Lehigh Navigation and the Delaware Division
canals, and he spent much time at Harrisburg in advocating im-
provement and in opposing injurious suggestions before the legis-
lature. He was especially earnest in opposing an outlet lock at
Black's Eddy to enable boats to pass into the head of the Dela-
ware and Raritan canal feeder, contending that this would prac-
tically dry up the canal between Black's Eddy and New Hope,
where water is lifted from the river to replenish the canal. The
opposition was successful and the site of the outlet was fixed at
New Hope, where it now is.
He also wrote much about the tariff from the point of view
of an ardent protectionist. Thus his time was fully occupied in
his private aft'airs, and in the management of the corporations
above mentioned. On one occasion he spent five months at
Beaver Meadow, writing every day to his wife, "I expect to start
for home to-morrow." As he grew older he became tired of the
long stage journey to Philadelphia, and the three days across
country to the coal fields, and decided in 1849 to remove to
Trenton. Just before his removal he spent several days in going
through his accumulation of letters, and destroyed almost every-
thing of interest. He said that he had seen so much mischief
caused by the posthumous publications of private letters, that he
could not allow his correspondence to remain. This idea seems
highly commendable, but if it had been universally practiced
where would be the materials for modern history? At any rate
I have always regretted that I was not present at this holocaust.
I might have retrieved some invaluable papers.
After his removal to Trenton he continued his activity in busi-
ness, became interested in the Mechanics Bank and, for his priv-
ate amusement, purchased an old brickyard and spent much time
in converting it into a wheat field.
He took an interest in the election in 1856, and wrote a speech
which was read at a Fremont meeting in rhiladeli)hia.
His later years were spent on a sick bed and after a long ill-
ness, during which his mind was perfectly unimpaired, and he
30 GERMAN GAMES AND PEAYS
was always cheerful, ^and though suffering, uncomplaining, he
died on June 5, i860.
He was buried in the cemetery of the Solebury Presbyterian
Church, now the Thompson INIemorial Church, which he had reg-
ularly attended during the later years of his residence at Great
Spring.
In person Mr. Ingham was of medium height, with broad
shoulders and strong. His forehead was broad and high, his
eyes rather small, light blue and keen in expression. His man-
ner was grave and dignified, though he was not without a sense
of humor. He was not a person with whom liberties could be
taken, not even by his children. Yet he was warm-hearted and
devoted to his friends. He was universally respected by his as-
sociates and passed through a long life without a strain.
His surviving family was his widow, Dr. John Howard and
Jonathan, sons by his first marriage, and Mrs. Eliza Rebecca
Hale, Mrs. Mary Louisa Emerson and William A. Ingham.
German Games and Plays.
BY A. EUGENE) EAATZ, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Hulmeville Park, Hulmeville Meeting, May 25, 1909.)
In response to the request of Mr. Mercer, I take pleasure in
presenting this paper giving an account of some of the games,
plays and folksongs of the children of Germany, but more par-
ticularly of the city of Breslau, Silesia, where I was born. These
were popular 30 years ago and are still being played and sung
there.
In making up this list I have been aided by Emil Peiter, Fred-
erick Wendts, Sr., Michael Hewser, Annie Kuentzer and Matthias
Moll. I am also indebted to Mr. Mercer for the free translations
which accompany the rhymes.
Many of these games are played by children of Pennsylvania
in exactly the same way that they are played in Germany. Among
these may be mentioned :
Stelzen laufen (Walking on Kreiseln (Spinning tops)
stilts)
Reifen springen (Jumping rope) Kugeln (Playing marbles)
Reifen treiben (Rolling hoops) Drachen fliegen (Fb'ing kites)
GERMAN GAMES AND PLAYS 3I
Like the children of America, when they cannot get scientific-
ally made hoops to roll, they substitute barrel hoops or hoops of
any other kind. The kites of Germany have a different form
from those which the boys fly here.
Kegel schiehen (Bowling) . — This game is played in Germany
with nine kegels or pins, whereas in America ten pins are used.^
Ball speilen (Playing ball). — This is played the same as in
this country, but the American games of baseball, football and
basketball were not played in Germany when I lived there.
Der Plumpsack- (The Clumsy Fellozv). — In this game the
players from a circle with their faces toward the center, and hold-
ing their hands behind them, one of the players is chosen to run
around outside of the ring carrying a rope with him and singing
"Der Plumpsack geht herum, der Plumpsack geht herum" (The
clumsy fellow is running around). He then, unknown to the
others, gives the rope to one of the players who leaves the ring
and runs around on the outside ; the one who stood next chases
after him and so on until all have hold of the rope and are chas-
ing around.
Eierspiel (Rolling Eggs). — This is an Easter game, which
was very popular in Birkenfeld, Grand Duchy of Oldenburg. It
is played by rolling eggs down a hill or terrace three or four
feet high, into holes dug into the ground or turf about three feet
from the base. These holes should be at least two feet apart, one
hole for each player. Each child has a number of colored eggs.
The child who first rolls its tgg in its hole wins the eggs of those
who have previously tried and failed.''
Der Giinsedieh (The Goose Thief). — An uneven number of
children play this game. A circle is formed, all taking hold of
hands and circle around singing :
Wer die Gans gestohlen hat, Who stole the goose?
Der ist ein Dieb, He's a thief, we'll strike him.
Wer sie aber wiederbringt, Who brought him back?
Den haben wir licb. Bully boy, we'll like him.
' Mr. Laatz evidently does not know that nine pins were formerly used in
America, and were changed to ten, to avoid some law against the game of nine pins.
^ A Plumpsack is literally a whack-bag, i. c, a piece of cloth twisted so as to be
used in striking (whacking).
' This game of egg rolling is one of the amusements of children at the White
House at Washington, D. C, on Easter mornings.
32 GERMAN GAMe;S AND PLAYS
After finishing this song they grab for partners, the odd one
left over is the goose thief, and is required to sing or say, "Da
steht der Gansedieb" (Here stands the goose thief). This was a
favorite game in Thuringia, and was played in 1894.
Boltcen schiessen {Arrow shooting ) .—This is a favorite sport
for boys in Germany, and is sometimes played by the girls. It is
played wnth a hollow tube about three feet long, made of wood,
called a Blaserohr, blow-tube, and a tack, or nail about one inch
long, covered with wool called a Boltzen or Pudelzwecken. The
Boltzen is placed in one end of the tube, and then blown through
to any target that may be selected. In Birkenfeld, in the Grand
Duchy of Oldenburg, it is played with peas, and the favorite
target is a window pane or any object made of glass.
Bohnen- spiel {Playing Beans). — Any number of children can
play this game. A circle about five inches in diameter is drawn
on a floor or on the ground, the players stand about six feet
away and endeavor with the thumb and forefinger to snap their
beans into the circle. The one whose bean is nearest the
center of the circle has the first privilege of snapping the other
beans within it, and is entitled to all snapped in. When the first
one misses the next nearest one plays, and so on until all the
beans are within the circle. Small beans of all colors are used.
Der ivanderne Thaler {The wandering dollar). — In this game
the players sit in a circle holding fast to a rope or string on
which is strung a ring, or medal with a hole in it, to represent the
wandering dollar. One of the players is chosen, by counting
out rhymes, and is then placed within the ring; the medal is
then moved on the rope from player to player while they sing :
Thaler, Thaler du must wandern, Dollar wander, dollar wander,
Von dem einen ort zum andern, Here and there and over yonder,
Ei wie schon, ei wie schon, Open fist, shut fist,
Lasst man sich die Nase drehn. And give your nose a twist.
The medal is passed along so that each player has an equal
chance of getting it in his or her hands. The one blindfolded and
within the circle must guess the one into whose hands the medal
is. If the guess is correct that one must take his or her place.
This was a favorite game in Silesia and Thuringia.
Der J^ogel Jiandler {The bird seller). — Any number of chil-
dren can play this game. They are lined up in a row and one
GERMAN GAMES AND PLAYS 33
child is selected to be the seller and another to be the buyer. The
other children represent the birds, to each one of them the name
of some bird being given. The buyer approaches to buy a
bird, the seller asks which one he wants to buy, if, for example
he chooses a nightingale, the seller will sing :
Nachtigal, Nachtigal, fliege aus, Nightingale, nightingale, fly away,
Und komme gliicklich wieder But come back safe another day.
nach Haus.
After the bird is paid for. the buyer chases after it, and if
caught it belongs to him, and the one caught becomes in turn the
buyer. If the bird is not caught, the same player must continue
as buyer.
Hlischcn in dcr Gnihc (Rabbit in the Hole). — In this game a
circle is formed, the children holding hands, and one child is
chosen to be the rabbit, goes inside of the ring, and assumes a
stooping position, jumping around in imitation of a rabbit. While
the players circle around they sing ;
Haschen in der Grube, Bunny in the hole,
Sass und schlief, Sit there and sleep;
Armes Haschen bist du krank? Poor bunny are 30U sick,
Dass du nicht mehr huepfen W'h}- can't 30U leap?
kannst?
Haschen hiipf,' Haschen hiipf.' Jump, bunny jump.
While this is being sung the rabbit endeavors to jump through
the ring. If successful another player takes his or her place.
This game was played in Thuringia, Grand Duchy of Saxe Wei-
mar.
A RIDDLE IX RHYME.
A RIDDLE IN RHYME — AXSWER IS MUSHROOM.
Es steht im W'ald ein Alannlein, Little man in the woods
Auf cinem Bcin, On one foot,
Es hat auf seinem Haupt Little cap on his head
Ein Schwartz Kiipplcin klein. Black as soot,
Sagt wer mag das Miinnlein sein. Little man, black cap,
Was da steht im W'akl allein, Down by a tree,
Mit seinem klcinen Guess what his name is
Schwartzen Kiippclein. And come tell me.
34
GERMAN GAMES AND PLAYS
CHILDREN S RHYMES.
Ein, zwei, drei, vier,
In dem Clavier,
Sitzt eine Maus,
Die muss raus.
Ich und du, Miillers Kuh,
Miillers Esel, Der bist du.
Der Sandmann ist da,
Der Sandmann ist da,
Er hat so schoenen weissen Sand,
Drum ist er auch so wohl be-
kannt !
Der Sandmann ist da.
One, two, three, four.
In the piano sits a mouse ;
Piano play, piano play.
Mouse must go away.
I and thou, Miller's cow.
Miller's donkey, that's thou.
Sandman, sandman.
Here comes the sandman,
Sand so fine and white.
He's well known to-night.
Here comes the sandman.
Sommer, Sommer, Sommer,
Ich bin ein kleiner Pommer,
Ich bin ein kleiner Gernegross,
Moechtes gern eine Pfeffernuss.
Summer, summer, summer,
I'm a little bummer,
I'm a little swell-head
And I want a gingerbread.
Ihr Kinder was spielen wir Heut,
Auf dem herrlichen Platze von
Gras,
Ich diichte wir sprangen herum,
Denn das sitzen macht triige und
dumm.
Rasch, rasch, augefasst,
Frisch herum gesprungen,
Hiibsch, hiibsch, angepasst,
Ein munterers Lied gesungen !
Play, children play,
On the grass to-day.
Don't be still it makes us dull,
Jump, jump away, quickly join
hands.
Quick, quick, join hands.
Round and round springing.
Fine ! fine ! off we go,
A jolly song singing.
The following rhyme is from Diirenstein on the Danube, Up-
per Austria, 1886. Information of Mr. Mercer.
Wiinsche, wansche, weisst was,
Hinterm ofen hookt a Haas,
Greif in Sack und gieb' mir was.
Winny, wunny, something funny
Back of the oven sits a bunny.
Grab in your bag and give me
money.
1211C51
Address of Welcome by Rev. Scott R. Wagner.
PASTOR OF ST. JOHN REFORMED CHURCH OF RIEGELSVILLE, PA.
(Ricgelsville Meeting, October s, 1909.)
Mr. President, members of the Bucks County Historical So-
ciety and their friends :
The people of the upper end of Bucks county are very much
honored by your visit here to-day, and in bidding you welcome to
our church and village,* we want you to know that there is in
our hearts the feeling of genial hospitality.
It is well known that Bucks is one of the richest if not the
very richest count}' in historical matter, of all the counties of
Pennsylvania, and your historical society has done a splendid and
monumental work through the study and research, and in the
collection and preservation of those valuable historic data. Every
man and woman, every hamlet and village, every town and city
should appreciate the splendid work that you have done and are
doing. There is to-day no class of people, even in the most re-
mote districts, in which there is any degree of pride in intelligence,
which we all claim to have some pride in, wherein there is no
glory on behalf of the interesting things that mark the way of
progress, whether in the remote district or in the center of civili-
zation; and to gather up and preserve every scrap of information
that pertains to the lives, the habits and customs, and labors of our
ancestors, whether in war or in peace, whether in domestic, indus-
trial or agricultural pursuits must be viewed not merely with re-
spect, but even with profound veneration. Therefore, on behalf
of the people of this congregation, on behalf of the people of this
village, we feel very much honored to greet you, almost the pion-
eers; and in historical research you should deserve the banner at
least in Pennsylvania for the results you have obtained.
The congregation which occupies this building, and worships
here from Sunday to Sunday, was organized in the year 1849,
and was chartered in the year 1890. Three of her former pastors
resigned and afterwards became presidents of institutions of
higher learning. Rev. Dr. Bomberger became j^resident of Ur-
sinus College at Collegeville, Pa. The Rev. Dr. Apple became
president of Franklin and Marshall College at Lancaster. The
* Ricgelsville was incorporated into a borough April 17, 1916.
36 ADDRESS OP WE;LC0ME by rev. SCOTT R. WAGNER
Rev. Dr. Aughinbaugh resigned to become president of Heidel-
berg College at Tiffin, Ohio. He returned here for the second
pastorate, and resigned a second time to become president of
Palatinate College at Meyerstown.
The congregation, as I have learned from its record, has never
numbered more than 328 members ; during part of this time, it
has fallen below 300; and yet, this small number of people have
always been very loyal to the call of its denomination in all
matters of benevolent church work. During the past 10 years
they have modestly and quietly laid upon the altar, for the work
of her church, more than $65,000.
Under the care of the congregation, there is maintained on the
campus, north of the church, a library, which is open to the
people of the village, and which contains over 4,000 volumes, and
to which are added every few months new volumes. In that
same building there is maintained under the care of this same
congregation, an academy, for the preparation of the boys and
girls of this vicinity for college. In this academy only men of
the highest qualifications for teaching have been and are at pres-
ent employed.
The stones which were used to construct this church, as well
as the academy, and the parsonage, and many other buildings in
this vicinity, are taken from Bucks county stone quarries, which
are known to you as the triassic or new red sandstone. The
terrace which the church stands upon, which extends about half
a mile to either side of the church, north and south, is without
doubt a remain of the glacial floods which washed this district
during the receding and the melting of the so-called ice age of
North America. At the lower extremity of this deposit, there
are several sand quarries opened, and there one may see and
easily study the various strata and formation of this peculiar
deposit. As you pass over the campus, on your way to luncheon
at the residence of Mr. Fackenthal to-day, you will perhaps ob-
serve two large cannon standing near the academy building.
These guns were formerly used by the Government in the Ports-
mouth navy yard, and were some years ago given to the Colonel
Croasdale post, G. A. R., which is established in this village.
Bucks county has always been loyal to the call of her country
in all military pursuits. In this respect Riegelsville and Durham
ADDRESS OF WELCOME) BY REV. SCOTT R. WAGNER 37
township have not been found wanting. If you choose to take
the time to walk through the cemetery just back of the church,
you will find that there are 46 little flags marking the last resting
places of those who responded to their country's call. Of those
46 men, two were veterans of the War of 1812; 41 served in the
War of 1861-65; O'^^ "^ t^"'^ Spanish-American war, and two in
the navy of our country. The one who served in the Spanish-
American war was the son of our efficient sexton, Mr. John E.
Buck, a veteran who served through the Civil war, and was one
of the few men who, in that great battle of Gettysburg, defended
that peculiar locality known as the "bloody angle" and one of
the very few that came out of that terrific slaughter of human
life without a mortal wound.
The hill which lies to the west of our church, is known locally
as Morgan Hill, the name undoubtedly being adopted because
just beyond the hill is the location of the birth-place of General
Daniel Morgan, of Revolutionary fame. Col. George Taylor was
a citizen of Durham township when he signed the Declaration of
Independence. As you well know we are almost in sight of the
historical Durham furnace and the old Durham cave. While at
the foot of the village, beyond the towpath, stands the old stone
house, wherein Henry Quinn wrote his book called the "Temple
of Reason."
There are many other things to which I might refer, that are
of particular interest to the people of Riegelsville, and because
of their historical association, I take it, of interest to you, who
are pursuing historical research, but time to-day forbids further
reference to those things of interest. There is one thing, how-
ever, which, in our locality your eyes will not see and your ears
will not hear; but you may find it through the ear of the soul or
your intuitive faculties. It is that genial warmth, that sincere
hospitality, that cordial welcome which beat in the hearts of the
people of Riegelsville, and which to-day, joining with the sun-
shine and God's free air, all unite in extending to you a most
cordial welcome.
When our pilgrim fathers were trying to establish at Plymouth,
that little colony from which has come much of the pride and
stock of our land, they were, as you know, frequently harrassed
by tribes of Indians. Upon one occasion, there came rushing
38
ADDRESS OF WELCOME BY REV. SCOTT R. WAGNER
through the trees a half -clad Indian. While the Puritans were
hurrying to get their arms, this Indian, upon meeting them broke
off the point of his arrow, and expressed in stammering words,
"Welcome Englishmen," one of the first speeches made on this
continent, and still one of the best.
I count it a very high privilege and a great honor, on behalf of
the congregation which worships in this place, and on behalf of
the people of this village, and on behalf of your host and hostess
to-day to say, "Welcome Bucks County Historical Society."
SAINT JOHN REFORMED CHURCH OF RIEGELSVILEE, PA.
Congregation organized in 1849. This building erected in 187.^-73.
(From photograph taken October 25, 1910.)
Bucks County Historical Society; Its Aims and Purposes.
RKPLV TO REV. SCOTT R. WAGNER'S ADDRESS OF WELCOME.
BY HENRY C. MERCER.
(Riegtisville erecting, October s, 1909.)
In part answer to Rev. Wagner's kind welcome, it might be
well to say that many of us should remember the meeting held
at Durham cave under the auspices of our kind host, Mr. B. F.
Fackenthal, Jr., on which occasion he chartered a special car to
bring us to and from Lambertville, N. J., to attend the meeting;
and still more of us should bear in mind the public spirit and
generosity with which Mr. Fackenthal has presented us with
three volumes, printed at his own expense, containing a complete
record of all our proceedings, and thereby putting us upon per-
manent record before the world. All of us who remembered
these things, can have had no question about the welcome we
would receive on going to Riegelsville to-day.
On the other hand, however, it might be questioned whether
we as an historical society are going to justify that generosity
and the generosity of other friends like Mr. Elkins, who pre-
sented us with a museum and helped us in many ways ; whether
we are practically an educational body doing useful service in
uplifting and elevating the community in which we live. Doubts
have flitted through the minds of many of us since the beginning
of the society, on occasions when practical men, successful, much-
lauded men, who have been given a high place as leaders in
newspapers and elsewhere, who have told us how superior we are
to our great-grandfathers, how much better in fact, better fed.
better housed we are than they were ; how much more rich and
powerful, i)rogressive and masterful we are in many ways than
our ancestors were, doubts have occurred to some of us lest
after all, this was a sort of dilettant proceeding, a kind of game
of croquet, or something which would fill the odd hours, perhaps,
of a man occupying more serious positions in the real concerns
of life.
4
40 BUCKS COUNTY HISTORICAI, SOCIETY
But the real answer to that sort of discouragement Hes in the
fact that the great army of human progress in its advance
tramples down corn fields in an unnecessary manner; it fre-
quently stables horses in churches, when the horses might as well
be stabled in neighboring barns ; it destroys picture galleries in a
gratuitous and wanton manner. When the French mob cap-
tured the Bastile in 1786, there was no need to destroy that ven-
erable building, which they did. Who can doubt that if the Bas-
tile had been saved, no man, woman, or child who visits France,
would have failed' to examine it from top to bottom, obtained
from its ancient walls more vivid pictures of the past than might
be gathered from the complete reading of Carlisle's French Rev-
olution.
We believe in progress, and we are optimists. We are reas-
onably convinced of the advancement of the human race, but
when the Arabs captured Alexandria, it did not help matters
to burn down one of the greatest libraries the world has ever
seen. When the Spanish got possession of Central America, it
was a very necessary matter to colonize it, and civilize it more or
less; but that did not justify the act of Bishop Zumarraga when
he got possession of all the priceless manuscripts of the ancient
priests of Yucatan that he could lay hands upon and destroyed
them in a huge bonfire. Cromwell's revolution might have suc-
ceeded just as well, without blowing up so many of the old
castles of England, and damaging so seriously so many of the
splendid Gothic cathedrals.
We all admit that it was a very necessary matter for our im-
mediate ancestors to colonize, settle and develop the United
States west of the Mississippi river, but why did they exterminate
one of the noblest animals in the new world, viz., the American
bison, or so nearly exterminate it, that a few benevolent individ-
uals at present are doing their utmost to save a small herd of
these animals on the public reservation in Montana.
We are here to protect humanity from these mistakes, and if
we do nothing better than this, we thoroughly justify our ex-
istence. If this is not education, and if this is not practical work
in that field, then the instructor of public school or the superin-
tendent of public schools, who draws his salary from the public
purse, is not a practical worker in the field of education. The
BUCKS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY 4I
fact is, we are as well justitied as any institution of learning could
be or expect to be, and we need have no fears upon this score.
But there are other doubts, somewhat nearer home, which
have passed through the minds of some of us. Are we alive ;
have we sufficient energy among ourselves to keep up the Bucks
County Historical Society? Are there a number of young men
stepping to the front, willing to read papers and do work for its
cause? So far as young men are concerned, it might be well
questioned whether the crop at present is not rather small ; but
an antiquary is not made, but born. You cannot teach a man to
be an antiquary ; nor can you teach him not to be one. He
springs up suddenly ; and if the present crop of young men does
not suffice, we may cheerfully look ahead to the incoming new
generation.
On the other hand, there is no reason w^hy we should confine
ourselves to Bucks county for active membership. Let us look
outside, and gather in workers from Boston, New York or Bal-
timore, or anywhere else, who have the leisure and interest to
help us. Let us whisper in their ears that we do not want their
money, but we want their brains. If they fail us, we have still
something in reserve, which gives us ample cause for confidence
in the future. We, as an historical society, have yet a new point
of view.
We have found out that history may be written from the
standpoint of objects, rather than from laws, legislatures, and
the proceedings of public assemblies. We have a splendid col-
lection in our museum, but has it been described ; has anyone
written about all those implements and tools, which stand for
the building up and colonization of the United States, in that
building? They have not. There is nothing on the subject in
the encyclopedias nor the histories thus far written. Therefore,
the matter is absolutely fresh, and new, and all our own. \\'hat
we want to do is to call in laborers, mechanics, artisans and
farmers of the older generations, who can look back upon their
youth and give us descriptions of what these things mean,
and get those descriptions on record. When we have done this
by means of the publication fund which we hope to start shortly,
through the sale of our present volumes of proceedings, the last
one of which is within your reach at this meeting; when in this
42 BUCKS COUNTY NORTH OF THE LEHIGH RIVER
or some other manner, we have got together a fund sufficient to
print any record of any value that comes within our reach, and
when, by this means, we call in active members from elsewhere,
and failing this, proceed to get on record these oral statements
describing the immense and very valuable collection of tools and
implements which we possess, we will have enough to distinguish
ourselves above all the other historical societies in the country.
Here then is something which should command full attention.
It is a subject in itself sufficient to keep alive ten historical
societies for the next lOO years.
We thank you. Rev. Wagner and the people of Riegelsville,
for this cordial welcome.
Bucks County North of the Lehigh River.
BY WIEEIAM J. HELLER, EASTON, PA.
(Riegelsville Meeting, October 5, 1909.)
While William Penn's famous treaty with the Indians at Shack-
amaxon created a boundary between the white man and his red
brother, the extravagant manner of surveying land in those days,
left an indefinite line for the guidance of the future settler. The
Lehigh hills designated as the northern boundary of the purchase
as entered into upon that great occasion, is a wall of hills, eight
miles in thickness and over one hundred miles in length, in which
are many fertile valleys abounding with excellent springs and
running brooks. The hardy German emigrant was quick to note
that these hills were capable of the very best cultivation and, re-
gardless of all consequences, staked his claim anywhere through-
out their length and breadth, erecting his log house wherever
there appeared a convenient supply of water. This created land-
scapes with a chaotic array of habitations and erratic roadways.
Early travelers through these hills, noted with surprising com-
ment, the fact that it made no difference how far up the slope a
settler had erected his home, the soil was just as productive as
those located lower in the valley. This peculiar feature is notice-
able even to the present day. Probably, there is no other place
on the western hemisphere where like condition exists. These
BUCKS COUNTY NORTH OF Till; LICHIGII RIVER 43
pioneer settlers were very numerous and lived in happy content-
ment long before the land officials were aware of this invasion
of the white man on Indian rights.
The Lehigh river was recognized by these pioneers as the
boundary between the white man and his red neighbor and con-
sidered their possessions as being within the bounds of the Dur-
ham tract, known as Durham township until the formation of
Northampton county, in 1752, when the northern portion took the
name of Williamstown in honor of William Penn, Jr., grandson
of the founder. Here then fringed along this west branch of
the Delaware, were these hardy frontiersmen with their rapidly
increasing numbers in plain view of the land of promise, await-
ing the day when the red man would vacate and the white man
take his place.
James Logan, who was the land agent of the Penns, was part
owner of the Durham tract and considered the northern boundary
of the tract as the line designated as Lehigh hills in the deed as
entered into at the treaty. However, he made a compromise line
four miles below the Lehigh river and refused to sell land above
that point. This line was the northern boundary of the Schu-
macher plantation, now belonging to the estate of the late Robert
S. Brown.
From the highest point in these hills, one has an extensive
view of many miles in any direction. Far to the north, like an
amethyst barrier, the Kittatinny hills seemingly mingle their
peaks with the clouds. Far to the northeast, thirty miles or more,
these hills are cut in twain by the historic Delaware. Far to the
northwest, forty miles or more, the Lehigh, known in the early
days as the west branch of the Delaware, burst through the hills,
and, meandering first to the south and then to the east, unites
with the main stream at our feet below.
This triangular territory was known for ages as the Forks —
so named by the red man — not because it was included between
two confluent rivers, but from the Indian trails forking in dif-
ferent directions after crossing the west branch, one at Yeisil-
stein's island and the other at the Buffalo ford. Afterwards, it
was known to the white settlers as the "Forks of the Delaware."
About the year 1730 and later, the fertile valleys of this land
of promise were a temptation to the settlers, an invitation to a
44 BUCKS COUNTY NORTH OF THE LEHIGH RIVER
home, but for twenty years or more, it was forbidden ground. At
this time, it was a vast treeless plain, the only vegetation to be
seen being that which fringed its numerous small streams, the
favorite hunting ground of the red man.
Midway between the two rivers, there is in the mountain, a
natural defile known as the Wind Gap through which the Indians
chased the game by burning the undergrowth between the two
rivers and despatching the game as it passed through the Gap.
Owing to the yearly destruction of the vegetable growth, it had
the appearance of a vast desert plain called by the Philadelphians,
the Drylands, and by the Jerseyites, the Barrens, and by the Hol-
landers who first explored it, Blanveldt which, in English, is
plain field.
From this high point of vantage could be seen 'way to the
south, the home of William Fry at Fry's run ; next, the ferry of
Peter Raub ; up the river, a short distance further, the settlement
of his brothers, Michael and George, the northernmost village in
the province and the stopping place of all emigrants going north-
ward, now known as Raubsville; then, the plantation of Michael
Schumacher; further northward, Phillip Meixsell on the river
bank with George Henry Seibert on the hill ; then Lawrence Mer-
kel, Balser Hess, Anthony Albright; then around the point, up
the Lehigh, John Rush ; next, Jeremiah Bast at the Buffalo ford,
now the Glendon valley; then the Reesers, Hartzells, Schencks,
Sloughs and the hundred or more families scattered 'round about.
Some of the emigrants, more adventurous than others, penetrated
the forbidden ground where they remained, apparently unmo-
lested, principally by reason of the Indians of the Forks taking
up their abode in the territory bordering on the west branch of
the Susquehanna. These venturesome people lived in perfect
peace with a few Indians who still remained within the Forks
but when emigration reached to the valleys above the Blue moun-
tains, in the country of the Minnesinks, there was a relaxation
of this peaceful tension and protests against the encroachment,
were in evidence everywhere.
For a number of years after the walking purchase, the land
officials were apprehensive of trouble and did not grant land
titles above the Lehigh until 1741. The land, however, had been
well surveyed into large tracts, many years before this period,
BUCKS COUNTY NORTH OF THR LRIIIGH RIVER 45
to Philadelphia land speculators, Wister, Page, Langhorne,
Graeme, Allen, Boone, Peters and the Penns themselves. Chief
of these was William Allen. It was he who assumed the initiative
in disposing of his rights as soon as they were acquired and be-
fore they were legally free from Indian claim. One of these
tracts Allen sold to Nicholas Depui. This was the plantation on
which Depui was living and had purchased from the Indians
nearly fifty years previous.
From 1740 to 1752, is the period when all of this territory was
a part of Bucks county. North of the mountains in the Dela-
ware valley were many people as early as 1665. This section was
vacated by the Minnesink Indians prior to 1720, they having gone
to the w-est branch of the Susquehanna. The Indians remaining
along the Delaware, from the Water Gap northward, were the
Shawnees, who were not directly concerned in the land deals as
they were only living in the province through suffrage of the
Delaware and Six Nations and with the consent of the proprie-
tary government. This was one reason why they were not in-
cluded in Cannassattoga's chastisement of 1742.
The Shawnees were forced back from the Potomac river by
white encroachment about 1720. They had four settlements in
Pennsylvania with seat of government in the largest of these,
the town and council house being located on an island in the
Delaware river above the Water Gap. Their chief man was
called "Emperor" and his name was Kakowatchy, noted as an
honest man and a good friend of the white settlers. His nearest
white neighbor was Nicholas Depew, who had a very extensive
plantation on both sides of the river.
The land office, always hungry for money, accepted applications
for land warrants from actual settlers. Anthony Lee applied for
one of his sons, Richard Henry Lee, for a tract on the Lehigh,
in 1732. Henry Antes secured 500 acres in the Irish settlement
along the Lehigh for the purpose of erecting there a mill, in
1734. Peter Knauss secured a tract on the opposite side of the
river. Thomas Smalley acquired 500 acres along Smalley's creek,
on which he built a mill in 1732. This mill is still standing in the
town of what is now Martins Creek. Martin Delametor made
application for an island in the Lehigh, in 1734, now known as
Island Park. Solomon Jennings had already settled along the
46 BUCKS COUNTY NORTH OF THE LEHIGH RIVER
Lehigh before 1728. He made apphcation and received warrant
for the 200 acres in 1736. This was the tract that he was sup-
posed to have received from Thomas Penn for his part in the
famous walking purchase. These tracts were all located below
the Blue mountains. Above these mountains, the country had
been peopled long before William Penn had received his charter
for the colony. Garret Brink lived along the upper Delaware in
1680.
As early as 1690 there was living in the same locality on both
sides of the river, the Van Campens, Van Normans, Van Ettas,
Westlakes, Schoonoven and many more under the leadership of
Schmidt, after whom, the country above the mountains took its
name Schmidtvelt, now Upper and Tower Smithfield township,
Monroe county. These ancient settlers secured their rights to
their property from the Indians, previous to the time that this
was considered as part of Bucks county.
The Minnesink Indians had already migrated from this section
to the country in the Susquehanna forks, to which place they were
later followed by many of the Shawnees. Indian ownership to
land along the Delaware was vested in rights of their king, Tapa-
winzo, who was a Fork Indian and lived at what is now Catasau-
qua. That period, now in view, was previous to the walking pur-
chase, in 1737, at which time settlement was fast being made
both below and above the Blue mountains.
Thomas Quick, in 1734, secured a hundred acres on the Match-
epecong, on which he built a corn mill. This is the present site
of Milford, Pike county. Thomas Quick was the father of Tom
Quick, the avenger, who made a vow over the body of his father
to kill one hundred Indians to avenge his murdered parent, devot-
ing his entire life to the cause, making his name a terror to all
Indians and, to this day, the name of Tom Quick is the god of
fear to all Indians on the North American continent.
One of the later comers to the Minnesink country was Daniel
Brodhead, an Indian trader, who, desiring to become a land
owner, made application for a tract of 600 acres on Analomink
creek. This was then in possession of another Indian trader,
John Mathers. Warrant for this application was granted the
same day it was received by Thomas Penn himself. Brodhead,
evidently feeling elated over his success, made another applica-
BUCKS COUNTY NORTH OF THE LEHIGH RIVER 4/
tion for 600 acres. This second tract included an island in the
river Delaware, then in possession of Nicholas Depui. Depui
had not included this island in his deal with William Allen a few
years previous. Daniel was quite up to what, in modern times,
is known as "ring- movement," and secured title to the island,
which considerably disturbed the old time plantation gentleman
of leisure, Nicholas Depui, who in turn devised a scheme to oust
Brodhead by petition to the board of property, signed by Lapa-
winzo, then king of the Delawares and the names of several other
Indians. At a meeting of the board, in March, 1737, with
Thomas Penn present, the petition was read, setting forth the
fact that Nicholas Depui had been their trusty, loving friend and
had often redressed and relieved them from the wrong done to
them by the said Brodhead and, therefore, they had given him
the same tract of land that they might have liberty to give away
what was their own without molestation and that they w'ere re-
solved that neither D. Brodhead nor any other should settle the
said land in peace except N. Depui, etc., etc. To this petition,
the names of Lapawinzo and five other Indians are subscribed.
Depui in pursuance of his petition, appeared before the board
with Lapawinzo and Corse Urum, an interpreter. Brodhead,
happening to be in Philadelphia at the time, was sent for, as was
also John Scull, to act as interpreter. The petition was distinctly
read by paragraphs and rendered into the Indian language and
thereupon Lapawinzo was asked if he knew the contents thereof.
and when it was procured from him. To this he answered that
Depui had sent for him and showed him the paper or petition and
told him that he must sign it, which he did, but the other Indians
whose names were also on the petition were not there except one
which he called his cousin. That he knew nothing of the con-
tents of the paper nor had he anything to say against Brodhead,
only that some match-coats which he had from him were not so
good as he expected. Thomas Penn, the proprietor then, through
the interpreter, told Lapawinzo that as his father, William Penn,
had always been kind to the Indians, purchased and paid for their
lands, he did not take it well that they should sell any to other
people because, as it was unjust so to do, a law of the Province
was provided to prevent the sale and render such purchases void
and, therefore, to continue the friendship that had always ex-
48 BUCKS COUNTY NORTH OF THE LEHIGH RIVER
isted between the proprietors and the Indians, it would be neces-
sary to fix the bounds of former purchases by walking out the
distances according to the deeds passed by the Indians to the late
proprietor, William Penn. To this Lapawinzo answered that it
was his desire it should be done but that some other Indians
were opposed to the walking purchase scheme, meaning Nutimus
and the Jersey Indians who had, sometime previous, settled near
the Durham iron works.
The proprietor further told Lapawinzo that, as it was the first
time he had seen him in Philadelphia, he was welcome to his
house, and, afterwards, at parting, he gave orders that a present
of Indian goods should be delivered to Lapawunzo. Perhaps
this was the time when the portrait of Lapawinzo was painted for
Thomas Penn as preparations were then being made to steal the
Forks of the Delaware from the Indians, the walking pm^chase
taking place a few months later. This, the greatest event in the
annals of Bucks county and so well told by W. J. Buck in his
"Story of the Walking Purchase." Thomas Penn, with nothing
to lose and all to gain, unmindful of the apprehension of the of-
ficials who looked after the detail of affairs, consummated the
famous land steal in the year 1737, causing a cloud of discontent
to overshadow the opening days of the last decade of Bucks
county, north of the Lehigh.
Of the many early settlers who had made their habitations in
the Forks country, only a small number of them are entered on
record as making application for land grants, the majority of
them having settled on the pre-empted land of the speculators.
The overflow of the great German exodus was noticeable in the
Forks country about 1730 and while many of these emigrants
lived in comparative isolation, others formed communities. It is
to these communities that we must look for the first historical
data north of the Lehigh and not to the lone dweller in the wilds
who lived as much in fear of the Philadelphia authorities as they
did of the Indians.
Of these communities giving precedence to those of the Hol-
landers along the upper Delaware, north of the mountain, next in
point of settlement would be the Swiss, at Egypt, now Whitehall
township, Lehigh county. The precise time when these Swiss
Reformed began settling this exceptionally fertile district will.
BUCKS COUNTY NORTH OF THE LEHIGH RIVER 49
probably, never be known. It was only the more prominent
whose names are chronicled that enables us to determine the time
of settlement. This would make it 1730 to 1732 as on record at
Egypt Reformed Church. Yet there are well defined graves at
this ancient burial ground that indicate prior dwellings in this
community. Eastward from Egypt and within the Forks were
the Scotch-Irish known as Craig's settlement which began prob-
ably, in 1733. Historians, through collateral evidence, endeavor
to establish the time as 1728. There was another Scotch-Irish
community in what is now Upper Mount Bethel township, under
the leadership of Alexander Hunter. This was known as Hun-
ter's settlement. The precise time of their arrival is not definitely
known but it was before 1733. Another community of Scotch-
Irish settled southward from this point, along the Indian trail
and bordering the Delaware river. Their main headquarters
were on Smalley's creek, now Martins creek. These were under
the leadership of James Martin. They were located here in
1730, but in what numbers, cannot be determined. Smalley, under
the name of Smedley, had already erected a mill in 1732, indi-
cating that there were people living 'roundabout or there would
be no use for a mill. This settlement may have been the Scotch-
Irish who were banished from Connecticut about 1710 and thrown
on the hands of Governor Hunter, of New York, who furnished
a location for them in the wilds beyond civilization where they
disappear from history. It is not beyond probabilty that the
name Hunter's settlement may mean this community and the
term applied as Governor Hunter's settlement in the wilds.
The next in point of arrival and of more importance than all
the others, were the Moravian pilgrims at Nazareth. Their ar-
rival here from the colony of Georgia was in 1738 and this was
the beginning of Moravianism in Pennsylvania. Their history
cannot be told better than that which is found in Bishop Lever-
ing's History of Bethlehem. The Moravians who found an asy-
lum within the confines of Bucks county, their promulgation of
the teachings of the Christ in the wilds of America, accords them
first place on the escutcheon of religious progress in the western
hemisphere.
The Spanish invasion of 1747 into the lower Delaware bay
caused the colony of Pennsylvania to make its first war prep-
50 PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN STOVEPLATES IN BERKS COUNTY
aration in defense against an enemy. The call for a volunteer
militia was responded to very patriotically by the several counties.
Bucks county, notwithstanding the fact that the greater number
of its inhabitants were Quakers and Moravians who were non-
combatants, promptly furnished its full quota of men. The first
of these to respond were the hardy Germans and the Scotch-Irish
from the valleys of the Lehigh and Delaware, in sufficient num-
bers to head the third regiment which was the first one out of
the twenty, to be formed north of Philadelphia.
These first defenders from the Forks of the Delaware, under
the leadership of Alexander Hunter, William Craig, James Mar-
tin, George Gray, Thomas Armstrong and Daniel Brodhead,
reached Philadelphia and were part of the procession of the
twenty regiments in the review. Their ensign was a blue flag
with the device of a dove flying from the cloud. Underneath
this, was a scroll, containing the Latin inscription, "A deo Vic-
toria." The army disbanded as this formidable array caused the
enemy to retreat. Several of these companies from the Forks
country, however, were retained and their services were hired
out to the Governor of New York by the Pennsylvania authori-
ties, for the purpose of strengthening the army of that colony,
in their Canadian war where they took part in the battles, at the
fall of Louisburg. Shortly after the return of these troops from
the north, political influence caused a new era to take place in the
Forks country and the mantle of jurisdiction passed from Bucks
county to that of Northampton.
Pennsylvania German Stoveplates in Berks County.
BY B. F. OWEN, READING, PA.*
(Riegelsville Meeting, October s, 1909.)
I do not know why Mr. Mercer invited me to come here to-
day to talk about stoveplates, except on the principal that "a
prophet is not without honor save in his own country." All I
know about stoveplates I obtained from him; in fact four years
* B. F. Owen died at Reading, January 17, 1917, aged 84 years.
PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN STOVEPLATES IN BERKS COUNTY 5I
ago I knew nothing about five-plate stoves, I did. however, know
there was a straight sided ten-plate stove, the kind you are all fa-
miliar with, but I now know that the five-plate stove was its prede-
cessor. I sui)pose the real object Mr. Mercer had in inviting me
is because I am an outsider ; I am free to say that I would not
appear before the Berks County Historical Society, which is com-
posed entirely of men, to discuss this subject, but you have so
many ladies present that conditions are different, they are sym-
pathetic and if I make mistakes will be too charitable to criticise
me, and even if they do I will not be here to hear it.
About four years ago, I was compelled through an unfortunate
investment to take off of the hands of a land company the re-
mains of a farm, on which there was a magnificent old colonial
mansion. As this was unoccupied my daughters conceived the
idea of spending part of the summer there. They invited quite a
number of their friends to go with them and I sent down a dozen
or fifteen cot beds to sleep on. They took cooking utensils along,
and had a jolly good time for four or five weeks. While there
they ransacked everything in the old place, and discovered among
other things, a peculiar old iron plate in the back of the fireplace.
This they hauled out and I scoured it and developed the plate
called "Marriage of Cana." In the center of the plate is the wine
glass pulpit, with a preacher in it wearing a wig, on one side is
the man coming out of a door; on the other, a woman with a bou-
quet in her hand. I offered this plate to the Berks County His-
torical Society, but they refused it, saying "What do we want
with that junk?" Not knowing what it was neither could I tell
them. Sometime after that Prof. M. D. Learned and Mr. Albert
Cook Myers came to Reading hunting material for the museum
for Founder's Day in Philadelphia. I showed them this plate, and
they said they wanted it for exhibition. They seemed to think
it had some value ; the fact is, they rejoiced over it. When the
plate was returned, with the endorsement of the Philadelphians,
our Berks County Historical Society was ready to receive it.
Sometime later Mr. Mercer came to Reading to look for stove
plates. He also rejoiced over it, which made me feel very proud
of this particular plate. Mr. Mercer w'ith his text book took me
through ])rimary, secondary, grammar and high school. I do not
think that I graduated ; at any rate I did not receive a diploma,
52 PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN STOVEPEATES IN BERKS COUNTY
but I got orders to hustle, and started out to search for stove-
plates.
The Berks County Historical Society gave an outing in 1908
at the old Moravian Meeting House in Oley township. In search-
ing through the house, I discovered an iron plate in the fire-
place; and shortly after that I went back to the house and dis-
covered three more plates, and during a third visit, I gathered up
six more all of which I purchased and sent to the Berks County
Historical Society's rooms at Reading. I went there the fourth
time to see whether there were any plates in the old bakeovens,
but that visit was unsuccessful. It seems to me that I have been
"hustling" about for plates ever since, consulting old ladies, and
trying to inspire men whom I met, asking them if they had any
stoveplates with pictures on them, or, in fact, if they had seen
any. I received many encouraging replies, but when I came to
look for the stoveplates, found that they had been sold to junk
dealers.
Elmer E. Billings felt of Adamstown, a curio collector, became
interested through me, and he told me of a complete stove that
had lately been torn out. I requested him to buy it for me, and
after a week or so, he wrote that he had purchased it and was
going to present it to the Historical Society on his own account.
I noticed a very fine plate in his yard but did not have the nerve
to ask him for that after his generosity in presenting a full stove
to the society.
I was told of a stove in Exeter township which I went to see,
and found a "Jonathan and David" plate also three pieces of a
ten-plate stove, all of these were cheerfully presented to me for
the society, and were gathered together preparatory for ship-
ment. I was therefore surprised next day to have him telephone
me that he would keep them for himself. However, I consider
that one object of my visit had been accomplished, as I had in-
terested him enough to start him in forming a collection of his
own.
Early last spring I was told, by another man whom I had
aroused, of a stoveplate in Lebanon county, and on going up there
a week ago, I was met at the door by a beautiful young woman.
On making known my errand she said : "You are Mr. Owen."
She then showed me through what was in 1752 a magnificent
PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN STOVEPLATES IN BERKS COUNTY 53
and model building, containing carved wood work of many de-
scriptions. She then took me over into the mill to show me a
stoveplate over there, which I found was a front plate. She
said there were others in the washhouse, and there I found
three. She said there is another out here in the chicken house;
there I found another front plate, and in going out of the chicken
house, I found a portion of a stoveplate leaning up against the
chicken house. I explained to her that the Historical Society had
no money ; that we wanted these stoveplates for our museum,
and there were only three ways of getting them — either as a gift,
or a deposit, or I would pay for them and present them myself.
Her brother then joined us and after I had made the same state-
ment to him, they very readily consented to deposit them. I then
gave them some account of these five-plate stoves, saying that
they had been cast at many furnaces in Eastern Pennsylvania
about 1741 to 1760, that they were not stoves at all in the sense
that we regard stoves, but simply radiators, built like a store box,
but made of cast iron, with one end open — they have a top, bottom,
end and two side plates. In one room there is built a fireplace
with an opening into another room, through this opening the
five-plate stove is projected and radiates heat into the room by
this arrangement ; one fire serves three purposes : first to warm
the room containing the fireplace ; second, to use the fireplace for
cooking and third to warm the room into which the five-plate
stove projects. It is a German idea that was brought over to
America. After 1760 the ten-plate stove became popular, and
these old five-plate stoves were thrown out and the plates used for
lower steps, to cover drains, make walks, put in the bottoms and
sides and tops of fireplaces, and some of them on tops of chim-
neys. After hearing my explanation, the young girl immediately
looked to see if there was a plate covering their chimney, but there
was none there. Her brother and I then went back to the mill to
examine more carefully the plate that was found there and while
doing so she came out and announced "There are three plates in
the kitchen fireplace." This made eleven plates in all that I
found that day. It was then about time to leave and her brother
agreed to pack and ship them to me. On my return I wrote him
a letter in which I stated, that I came to his house expecting to
find one plate and I found eleven, from which with the three
54 PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN STOVEPLATES IN BERKS COUNTY
that he said had been carried away, might possibly make three
full stoves when set up. I regretted that I did not get all of
them, but I certainly got my full share.
The Berks County Historical Society has all the stoveplates
it needs, and if we want more, I should have no difficulty in gath-
ering single plates for them ; but the great state of Pennsyl-
vania has a meagre collection, that she has no means of enlarg-
ing, and I requested him to send them to the State Museum, un-
der the same terms that he gave them to me, that they would be
considered his property and be returned to him if he ever asked
for them.
I am not going to detain you any longer. I advise all of you to
read Mr. Mercer's book, where you will find more information
than I can give you; for he is as enthusiastic on this subject as I
am. The embellishments on these stoveplates are mostly to il-
lustrate scripture scenes. Among them are Adam and Eve, Cain
and Abel, David and Jonathan, the Marriage of Cana, Joseph
and Potiphar's wife and many others. The later ones, however,
discard scripture subjects, and are illustrated by hearts and tulips,
sun dials, and very many others of that kind, but the inscriptions
on all of them are in German. Some of them have the name of
the furnace, some the initials of the proprietor of the furnace
and some have no date or name. Generally you find the date
on the front.
I have several front plates without a date and have a great
many side plates; in all, I have about fifteen plates, and a com-
plete stove. I have with me a picture of several stoveplates
(exhibiting photographs) ; you will notice they are not particularly
remarkable for their beauty. These stoves were made from at
least twenty different patterns, many of them with designs to il-
lustrate the manner and domestic economies of those early days.
They appear to have been used almost entirely by the Germans.
The Franklin stove, used mainly by the English families, was in-
vented about the same time. I never found one of these German
stoves in an English family ; neither have I ever found a Frank-
lin stove in a German family.
Classification and Analyses of Stoveplates.
BY B. F. FAC KEN THAI,, JR., RIEGEI.SVILLE, PA.
(Riegelsville, Pa., Meeting, October s, 1909.)
It would be interesting to know where these old stoveplates, to
which Mr. Owen has referred, were cast. It is a well established
fact that at that early day all castings made in Eastern Pennsyl-
vania, whether stoves, pots, pans or other articles, were made
with molten iron taken direct from the blast furnaces. The iron
was doubtless first run into ladles and then transferred to the
moulds. No castings were made at Durham except when the
blast furnace was in operation. I have not examined a colonial
stoveplate, but that shows evidence of having been cast in open
moulds, i. e. the patterns were placed in the sand with the picture
or face side down. This is indicated by the rough surfaces on
their backs which were the tops of the moulds. Into these moulds
the cast iron was poured. There was an overflow to regulate the
thickness of the castings, but this crude method was sure to pro-
duce plates that varied in thickness and consequently in weight,
even when made from the same pattern, which would not have
been so marked if they had been coped. The temperature of the
iron also doubtless controlled the weight to a small extent, and
moreover, the quality of the iron varied from day to day, some-
times it was gray and the castings soft, at other times it was quite
hard. This latter quality would not now be considered suitable for
castings — it is known as mottled and white iron — but all low sil-
icon charcoal pig iron has a tendency to chill. The different grades
of iron used for stoveplates are quite noticeable when boring them
for analyses, some are so chilled that it is with difficulty they can
be drilled.
No definite date can be fixed to show just when cast iron, as
distinct from wrought iron, was first made. Prof. B. Osann in
his book on the iron foundry states that Newmann in "Geschichte
der Metalle" (Knapp, Halle), mentions a "Massenhiitte" (blast
furnace) in existence in 131 1. Prof. Osann states that 1300 is
the time when definite information is had about cast iron made
in the blast furnace, deliberately, and not accidentally by some
other process. This was made in the Siegerland of Westphalia.^
' Information from Dr. Richard Moklcnke, Secretary of the American Foundry-
men's Association.
56 cLASSii^iCATioN AND analyse;s OF stove;plates
Dr. Rossiter W. Raymond, in his article on Iron Manufacture,
in Appleton's Encyclopaedia (Vol. IX, page 389, et seq., 1874
edition) says: "According to Verlit, cast iron was known in
Holland in the thirteenth century, and stoveplates were made
from it in Alsace in 1400. Ancient ornamental castings have been
found in Sussex, England, which have been referred by Lower
to the fourteenth century ; but Karsten says that the systematic
production of iron for foundry purposes cannot be traced with
certainty to an earlier period than the end of the fifteenth cen-
tury. According to Lower the first cast iron cannon made in Eng-
land were cast by Ralph Hogge in 1543."
The first casting known to have been made in America, was an
iron pot, made at the Saugus Iron Works, Lynn,
Mass., in 1644. This casting has been preserved,
a cut of it is shown on the margin hereof. It
weighs but 2 pounds 13 ovuices ; its capacity is
I quart less i gill ; its inside measurements are
4^ inches wide by 4^/2 inches deep.- It is not
likely, however, that a casting so difficult to make
was the first to be cast in America. Castings of
cruder workmanship were doubtless made earlier, and likely at
the same furnace.
James Logan, Penn's secretary (who at that time owned one-
fourth part of Durham), wrote that, "In 1728 there were but
four blast furnaces in Pennsylvania." One of these was certainly
Colebrookdale, built in 1720; another was Durham built in 1727.
The other two were probably Samuel Nutt's Redding furnace
(Christine-Redding) on French creek, and Sir William Keith's
furnace on Christiana creek in the present state of Delaware, or
this fourth one may have been Kurtz's furnace in Lancaster
county. Other blast furnaces followed in succeeding years but
there were never any large number of them. The operation re-
quired water-power, an ore bed and abundance of wood for
making charcoal.
If any colonial stoveplate or fireback contains the name of
any iron works other than a blast furnace, it is certain that such
name was put on as an accommodation by the blast furnace
where they were cast. The cupola for remelting cast iron (pig
^ From Dr. James M. Swank's "Iron in All Ages," second edition, page 119.
CLASSIFICATION' AND ANALYSES OF STOVEPLATES 57
iron) now in universal use, was not used and doubtless not known
in the early days of these stoveplates, and therefore the number
of places where they were made was limited by the number of
what are technically known as "blast furnaces." This was also
true of the other early castings to which reference has been made.
The Durham books show shipments of pig iron to forges in
Berks and Montgomery counties. They also show shipments of
castings, but I do not find that stoveplates were shipped to that
neighborhood. Some of the stoveplates found there may how-
ever have been cast at Durham, and many of those found in
Bucks county were cast at other eastern Pennsylvania blast fur-
naces. From May 1787 to December 1789, shipments of pig iron
were made regularly to Valentine Eckert at Moselem forge
in Berks county near Reading. Later Mr. Eckert had a blast
furnace of his own.
I have endeavored to determine, by chemical analyses, the blast
furnaces at which some of these stoveplates were made. This is
made possible by knowing the analyses of the ores used, for the
blast furnaces were usually situated at or near the ore mines, e. g.
the ores used at Durham came from the opening on Mine Hill..
This Durham ore is low in phosphorus, entirely free of copper,
and contains but a trace of manganese. This latter element, how-
ever, might have been added to the Durham iron if ores were
used from any of the near-by brown hematite ore deposits, and
these limonite ores would also increase the phosphorus ; but
there is no evidence of such ores having been used during the
Backhouse administration from 1780 to 1790. Neither is it likely
that any soft ores were used at any other of the Pennsylvania
furnaces at that early day. It is well known that the mines in
Lebanon county contain ores high in copper, and that some of
the Berks, Montgomery and Chester county mines also contain
small amounts of copper. These facts enable one, in some cases,
to determine where the castings were or were not made.
Moreover, some plates have the names of the furnaces cast on
them; this enables one to 'standardize the cast iron from which
they were made. The amount of carbons, sulphur, and silicon
in cast iron is controlled mainly by the furnace practice and is of
no value in the classification of which I am speaking.
Since the Riegelsville meeting in 1909, when the above paper
58 CLASSIFICATION AND ANALYSES OF STOVEPLATFS
was read and discussed, I have been able to get borings from a
number of firebacks and stoveplates, of which I will append the
analyses hereto.
Mr. Owen very kindly sent me borings from seven of those
referred to by him. The analyses of all show the presence of
copper, and my deduction, therefore, is that they were not made
at Durham. In all analyses given below, the following symbols
are used : — Cu. for copper ; Mn. for rhanganese ; P. for phos-
phorus ; Si. for silicon ; and S. for sulphur.
Analyses made from borings sent by Mr. B. F. Owen :
â– 131
imber
Cu.
I
.106
2
.112
3
•125
4
•034
5
.014
6
.008
7
.400
P.
Si.
s.
.136
•447
.024
.132
•353
.026
.124
•353
.026
•546
•517
.050
.492
•447
•031
.172
1. 128
.026
•152
i^io5
.026
No. I — "The Wedding Dance," date 1746. An end plate. Referred
to in Dr. Mercer's "Bible in Iron," page 58, figure 70.
No. 2 — "The Wedding." Referred to in "Bible in Iron" page 57,
figure 69.
No. 3 — "Temptation of Joseph," date 1749 — "Bible in Iron" page 46,
figure 46.
No. 4 — Part of a ten plate stove.
No. 5 — Part of a ten plate stove, different design from No. 4. Un-
dree & Company. "Bible in Iron" page III, figure 187.
No. 6 — From a complete stove referred to by Mr. Owen.
No. 7 — Marked "Retding Fornes." Note the high copper, which is
more than found in any other plate. The silicons too,
are higher in numbers 6 and 7, than in any other tests.
This would indicate an iron softer and more fluid.
There are eight firebacks in "Stenton," the home of James
Togan, Penn's Secretary, built in 1728; these are all cast from
the same pattern, although some of them are without dates and
initials. As Durham furnace began producing iron the very year
Stenton was built, and as James Togan owned one- fourth part
of Durham, he without doubt had these firebacks made at Dur-
ham. The analysis bears this out : they are free of copper, and
one only shows a trace of manganese; the phosphorus is just
what should be expected from Durham ores. One of these fire-
CLASSIFICATION AND ANALYSES OF STOVEPLATES
59
backs is shown in "Bible in Iron," page 119, figure 209. The
analyses of three of them are as follows : — -
Number
9
10
Mn.
p.
Si.
-S.
nil
.084
•73
•034
nil
.092
.68
.029
race
.092
.61
.029
A fireback, bearing date 1728, in "Graeme Park," built by Sir
William Keith, resembles in shape those in Stenton but is made
from a different pattern and was probably not made at Durham,
as the phosphorus is too high. This plate is shown in "Bible in
Iron," page 119, figure 208. The analysis is: —
Number
Cu.
Mn.
P.
Si.
II
nil
.065
.236
.96
•034
Col. Henry D. Paxson very kindly allowed me to take borings
from the stoveplates in his collection at Holicong, Pa. None of
the eleven selected can be claimed for Durham, in fact with the
exception of Nos. 12 and 13, they are all marked with the names
of other furnaces. Only one of them (No. 14,) comes within
the Durham specifications. The analyses of these eleven plates
follow : —
tnber
Cu.
Mn.
p.
Si.
s.
Figure in
"Bible in Iron'
12
.19
trace
.156
â– 52
.144
42
13
.20
trace
.124
•52
.036
53
14
nil
trace
.104
.56
036
96
15
â– 17
trace
.092
â– 47
.036
108
16
.14
trace
.116
.56
.024
112
17
.06
.066
.128
71
036
117
18
.16
trace
.056
.56
042
125
19
.17
•033
.068
38
043
127
20
•14
trace
•144
.88
047
155
21
•05
.066
.148
66
048
172
22
nil
.200
.796
58
043
181
No. 12 — Cain and Abel, 1741 — a side plate.
13 — David and Goliath — a side plate.
14 — S. F. (Samuel Flower) of 1756.
15— Despise not Old Age, J. P. and S. P. (Pots) 1758.
16 — Good for Evil of 1758 (Pots furnace).
17 — God's Well has Water aplenty, (Martic Furnace).
18 — In combangni vor Elisa (Eliza furnace).
19 — Henrich \\ ilhelm, Elizabeth furnace.
20 — Colcbrookdale Furnace, 1763. (See also No. 36 below.)
21 — Mark Bird, Hopewell Furnace.
22 — Thomas Maybury of 1767.
6o
CLASSIFICATION AND ANALYSES OF STOVEPLATES
Dr. Henry C. Mercer also
permitted me to drill his
stoveplates of which ten were
selected for analyses. Two of
these were doubtless cast at
Durham, vh: No. 30, an
Adam and Eve 1745 end plate,
and No. 32 which contains the
name of Durham furnace. It
was a great disappointment
not to find No. 25, an Adam
and Eve 1741 side plate, come
within the Durham specifica-
tions, but the presence of cop-
per excludes it, as it also does
^ ADAM UND EFA— 1745
all the others, except the two Stoveplate made at Durham Furnace.
I have pointed out. In giving the titles of these stoveplates I
have followed the nomenclature in Dr. Mercer's "Bible in Iron."
The analyses follow : —
mber
Cu.
Mn.
p.
Si.
s.
Figure in
"Bible in Iron
23
.10
nil
.308
.28
.063
34
24
.18
.066
.100
.80
.100
38
25
.20
.066
.164
•42
.063
40
26
.18
.033
.ICO
•52
.100
46
27
.14
.132
.142
.66
â– 053
54
28
.08
.132
.140
.66
.042
65
29
.04
trace
.200
•94
.032
71
30
nil
.066
.096
•42
â– 037
83
31
.19
nil
.112
.61
.063
100
32
nil
.066
.080
.85
•034
188
No. 23 — The Tenth Commandment, 1760.
24 — The Family Quarrel.
25 — Adam and Eve, 1741, side plate.
26 — Temptation of Joseph, 1749.
27 — Samson and the Lion, end plate.
28 — Coat-of-Arms of Germanj^
29 — The Swarm of Bees.
30 — Adam and Eve, 174S, end plate.
31 — The Wicked Borrower, Retding Fornes.
32 — Ten plate stove Durham (R. Backhouse).
Seven other plates tested were of the following analyses:
Where no figures are given no determinations were made :
CLASSIFICATION AND ANALYSES OF STOVKPLATES
6l
Number
Cii.
Mn.
P.
Si.
S.
Figure in
"Bible in Iron
33
34
35
36
.012
.008
.17
nil
.320
.360
.098
0.64
.082
2.204
.140
.94
.62
1.02
.042
•034
.026
.082
61
68
152
155
37
.I20
.097
.168
.029
210
38
.032
.310
.56
0.22
211
39
nil
.560
â– 540
1. 00
.067
No. 33 — End plate of 1749. Property of P. E. Wright.
34 — The Prussian Grenadiers. To Bucks County Historical
Society by Mr. Fackenthal.
35 — Martic plate of 1761. Property of Dr. Wm. T. Sharpless
of West Chester, Pa. Note the excessively high phos-
phorus. This is quite different in that respect from
any of the other plates, and suggests that it may have
been made at a New Jersey furnace out of bog ores,
which as a rule are very high in phosphoric acid.
36 — This is another Colebrookdale Furnace, 1763, side plate, the
analysis of which is quite similar to No. 20.
37 — Fireback 1734, like the one at Valley Forge. Property of
Dr. Sharpless.
38 — Fireback, John Potts, 1741. Property of George H. Potts,
Pottstown, Pa.
39 — One of 4 firebacks in the George Taylor house at Cata-
sauqua, Pa. G. T., Date 1768. The one tested is the
property of Lehigh County Historical Societj'.
DURHAM FURNACE, COMPLETED 1876, DEMOLISHED 1912.
View from the east before demolishing. (i) Engine room containing blowers and
pumps, (j) Blast-furnace stack 75 ft. high. (3) Furnace hoist. (4) Covered
stock-house. (5) Cast-house. (6) Foundry. (7) Office, with
laboratory on second story. (8) Shops 300 ft. long.
(Photograph by William F. Witte.)
Excelsior Normal Institute, Carversville, Pa.
BY J. B. WALTER, M. D., SOLEBURY, PA.*
(Riegelsville Meeting, October 5, 1909.)
The following historical sketch of the Excelsior Normal Insti-
tute at Carversville, Pa., was prepared for and read at a well-
attended meeting of its former students and teachers, held upon
the grounds of that institution September ii, 1909, to celebrate
the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the school. During
its short career as a school it was an important factor of the
educational scheme of its time, and it therefore becomes an im-
portant part of the history of our county. Although this paper
was prepared for another purpose, I have been requested to
read it before this society in order that it may become part of
its record, but as time for reading papers at this meeting is lim-
ited I will present it by title only. It can then be printed in our
proceedings. The paper is as follows :
Prior to 1859 the young people who resided in and about Car-
versville, when they had gone through the curriculum then in
vogue in the public schools, if they wished further to educate
themselves, must needs go from home to some neighboring
county or state to find an institution where their wants could be
supplied.
About the year 1858 there were a number of such young per-
sons in this vicinity and the matter of further educating their
children and the most desirable places to which they might be
sent was very naturally discussed among the parents.
In one of these conferences Mrs. Elizabeth Stover, wife of
Isaac Stover, both long since deceased, said : "Why don't we
build a school of our own and keep our children at home?"
That w'as the sensible thoughtful mother's timely hint; a seed
sown upon good ground, where it took root, sprang up and bore
abundant fruit in the Excelsior Normal Institute, the fiftieth
anniversary of the founding of which has just been observed.
Mrs. Stover's idea having found a lodgment was much dis-
cussed and very generally approved of. The neighborhood was
canvassed ; subscribers were secured and a stock company was
organized and chartered December 16, 1858, when Daniel M.
* Dr. J. B. Walter, born Aug. 30, 1S40, died August 18, 1917.
EXCELSIOR NORMAL INSTITUTE, CARVERSVILLE, PA. 63
Smyser was president judge of our courts. The petitioners were
Lukens Thomas, Samuel A. Firman, Isaac Stover, Morris h.
Fell, William R. Evans, George B. Fell and Charles Holcomb,
as substantial and enterprising a body of men as the county could
then produce. All of them are long since dead.
No time was wasted. The grounds were purchased ; founda-
tions were put down and the building, splendidly adapted to the
purpose, was pushed rapidly to completion.
In its issue of October 4, 1859, the Bucks County Intelligencer
contained the following notice :
"The large and beautiful edifice, erected during the past 'summer for
the use of the Normal School Association of Carversville, is now nearly
completed and will be entirely ready for occupancy by the 17th of October,
the time fixed upon for the opening of the institution. Meanwhile the
proprietors of the school design holding an educational meeting in the
building on the afternoon of Saturday next, the 8th inst., at 2 o'clock
and an effort will be made to please and instruct all who may favor the
occasion with their presence."
The meeting took place as advertised and your historian can
do no better than read the following extract from the local his-
tory column of the Doylestoivn Democrat of March 29, 1909, for
which he is indebted to the courtesy of Senator Webster Grim :
"The Excelsior Normal Institute for both sexes, one of Bucks county's
leading educational institutions, was in the prime of its usefulness in
1871. This school edifice, still standing, crowns a bold and graceful slope
which sweeps up from the bed of Paunaucussing creek at Carversville
and overlooks a charming sylvan scene. The building was erected in the
summer of 1859 at a cost of about $10,000. It was regarded in that day
as 'an imposing and spacious edifice that does credit to the enterprise and
liberality of its projectors.' It was built by a stock concern and the money
required was mostly subscribed by persons living in the vicinity. On
Saturday afternoon, October 8, 1859, though not quite finished, it was
thrown open to the public and dedicated at a notable reception attended
by 300 ladies and gentlemen. The ceremonies, of an informal character,
took place in the spacious assembly hall. The venerable Dr. Isaiah
Michener presided. The exercises opened with vocal and instrumental
music by several ladies and gentlemen from Freeland Seminary, Xorris-
town. The Rev. Dr. F. R. S. Hunsicker, the principal, briefly explained
the objects sought by the founding of the school and made an earnest
plea for its support. Then came the intellectual treat of the day, an
address on education by the late Attorney General George Lear, of
Doylestown. Mr. Lear at that time had been 16 years at the bar and
was in his prime as an orator. His address was a strong plea for better
64 exce;lsior normal institute, carversville, pa.
educational facilities. It was a scholarly effort, illumined with wit and
humor, and added much to the attorney's reputation as a forcible speaker.
At the conclusion of the exercises the audience dispersed into groups to
inspect the buildings and grounds, which seemed to impress all very
favorably as to their general plan. The school was opened on October 17,
of the same year, with a large number of students. It had six depart-
ments : Preparatory, in which pupils were qualified to enter college ;
normal department, for special instruction in methods of teaching; com-
mercial department, which offered advantages similar to those of the
present-day business college ; musical department ; ornamental department,
in which were taught drawing and painting, and the making of wax fruit
and flowers, fancy work and embroidery, accomplishments essential to
the finished education of a young lady of that day, and an eclectic course.
Hundreds of students graduated from this institution and some of the
ablest men in the State were its pupils. Among them were Judge D.
Newlin Fell, soon to be elevated to the chief justiceship of the supreme
court of Pennsylvania; President Judge Henry W. Scott, of Northampton
county ; Judge David J. Pancoast, Camden, N. J. ; Professor S. S. Over-
holt, for some years its principal and superintendent of Bucks county
schools i860 to 1869; former county superintendents Hugh B. Eastburn,
1870-1876; and William H. Slotter, 1887-1902, and many others who have
since become prominent citizens. The venerable Dr. Hunsicker, its first
principal and some time its proprietor, still resides at Carversville in
the enjoyment of good health in the evening of life."
And may the gods grant that this mellow twilight of his life
may yet run through many years, full of health, comfort, hap-
piness and the calm satisfaction which is too often the only
reward of those whose years are mostly spent in the service of
their fellowmen.
The foregoing report of the meeting of October 8, 1859, ac-
cords with the recollection of your historian, who was present on
that occasion. That was a red letter day for Carversville and its
people. Prior to his coming to this institution Dr. Hunsicker
was, for some years, one of the faculty of Freeland Seminary,
now Ursinus College. With large ability and ample experience
he came well equipped to perform efficiently and successfully the
arduous duties which he then assumed. He was supported by a
corps of instructors as able, industrious and efficient as ever
essayed to pilot the buoyant but erratic craft of youth through
the shoals and breakers into the haven of knowledge. These
were William W. Fell, William T. Seal, A. M. Dickie, A/Iary R.
Hampton, Lizzie H. Hunsicker, H. W. Stover, A. H. Fetterolf,
Sara E. Fell, Caroline C. Paxson and Eliza Thompson. Having
EXCELSIOR NORMAL INSTITUTE, CARVERSVILLE, PA. 05
conducted the school successfully for three years — until the
autumn of 1862 — and having had under his care during that
time, a large number of students. Dr. Hunsicker's health suc-
cumbed to the constant mental and physical strain, incident to
the thoroughly conscientious performance of his onerous duties,
and he was compelled to vacate his position as principal. He was
immediately succeeded as principal by William T. Seal. The
school continued to be well attended, there being near 200 stu-
dents upon the rolls, and under the able management of Mr. Seal
and his highly efficient corps of teachers, vis. : A. M. Dickie, G.
Passmore Betts, D. Newlin Fell (later Chief Justice Fell), W.
P. White, S. Eva Bolton, Ursula Cushman, Fanny Whitaker and
W. P. M. Todd, everything went on well and prosperously for the
pupils until the spring of 1865, when owing to a concatenation
of unfavoring circumstances, for the occurrence of which he was
not responsible. Prof. Seal retired from the principalship.
William R. Evans then, on July 24, 1865, leased the property
for the term of five years. He occupied the building as general
superintendent and employed G. Passmore Betts as principal for
the winter, and J. G. Fish in the same capacity for the summer
term of 1865-6. W. P. M. Todd, S. Eva Bolton, Mrs. Sarah Fish,
S. B. Carr, Miss Fannie Olmstead, Robert Alexander and Harry
C. Dean were instructors. The attendance in 1865-6 was 155,
which, while somewhat less than formerly, was fairly good. For
the year 1866-7, still under the general superintendence of Mr.
Evans, Samuel B. Carr was principal, and W. P. M. Todd, Rob-
ert Alexander, S. Eva Bolton, Fannie E. Olmstead and William
F. Overholt were teachers. For this year no record of attendance
is at hand, but from statements of persons conversant with the
facts and conditions it appears that the number of pupils was
considerably less than formerly. This state of affairs came
about because of a combination of circumstances not here neces-
sary to be stated. But whatever the causes the old institute
seemed to have entered upon a period of decadence.
But at this juncture Dr. Hunsicker came again ui)on the
scene, and Mr. Evans having surrendered his lease, Dr. Hun-
sicker purchased the property on November 27, 1867, and the
school was again opened under his supervision. During his last
incumbency the average yearly attendance was about 150, not
under the circumstances, by any means, a bad showini;. Then
66 EXCELSIOR NORMAL INSTITUTE, CARVERSVILEE, PA.
late in 1870 or early in 1871, (the exact date is not known), when
payment for the property came to be tendered, misunderstandings
developed due, apparently, to a state of mind which our confreres,
now upon the "wool sack," would probably label "animus." Be-
cause of this Mr. Hunsicker did not take title to the property
and again retired from the principalship. That important posi-
tion was then assumed by Simeon S. Overholt, late superin-
tendent of public schools, who conducted the school for two or
three terms, when he fell into financial chaos and disappeared,
Henry O. Harris, Esq., now of Doylestown,* who, during the
Overholt regime had been instructor in mathematics, bookkeep-
ing and French, then, in the autumn of 1872, took charge of and
conducted the school for nearly a year, when he surrendered his
post and departed. The attendance during the incumbency of
Messrs. Overholt and Harris probably did not at the greatest,
exceed 60, most of whom were day pupils. To this complexion
had it come at last. No longer did students from our own and
neighboring counties and even from our neighboring States, New
York, New Jersey, Maryland and Delaware, throng these halls
and drink in knowledge at the feet of the Gamaliels of the time.
The busy spider could, unmolested, spin his web in the dormi-
tories erst occupied by youth and beauty and these halls no longer
re-echoed the springing tread and joyous laugh of the students
released, for a time, from their daily grind of mental toil. The
exit of Mr. Harris was, so far as the Excelsior was concerned, an
"exeunt omnes." About the time or soon after the retirement
of Mr. Harris, William R. Evans purchased the property and
employed one, S. N. Walker, to conduct a school. It is under-
stood that the attendance was very small and after about six
months it was discontinued. So far as can be learned, nothing
further was done for about two years, from the spring of 1874
until 1876, when Mr. Evans made an effort to rehabilitate the
school. Martin Scheibner was made principal and the school was
opened again, but the attendance was insignificant and less than a
year demonstrated the futility of the efl:ort to revivify the once
very much alive but then hopelessly defunct Excelsior Normal
Institute.
This brief and imperfect sketch of this institution will be still
more incomplete if some reference be not made to a contem-
* Mr. Harris was born July lo, 1850; died at Doylestown, January 18, 1917.
EXCELSIOR NORMAL INSTITUTE, CARVERSVILLE, PA. 67
porary and dependent organization which, simultaneously with
the institute came to an untimely end, t'/xr. : The Baconian Liter-
ary Society.
Not the least important adjunct to an institution such as the
Excelsior is a well organized and conducted literary society.
For the purpose of organizing, a meeting of teachers and
students was held on October 29, 1859, twelve days after the
opening of the school. A committee, consisting of Rev. F. R. S.
Hunsicker, William W. Fell, Sarah E. Fell, Mary R. Hampton
and D. Newlin Fell was appointed to draft a constitution and by-
laws and report at a meeting to be held one week later. Of that
committee of five, four are still living. At the next meeting,
November 4, 1859, the report was received and adopted ; officers
were elected and appointments were made for the next meeting
and the Baconian was launched upon its successful, but all too
brief, career. Of the first seven officers of this society six are
still living. Of the 24 persons whose names appear as active
participants in these first two meetings, sixteen (two-thirds) are
still living. After 50 years that, as a matter of vital statistics,
is certainly a remarkable showing. During its existence of about
twelve years there were inscribed upon its rolls the names of
559 persons, as active members, and 80 others were accorded
honorary membership. If time and circumstance permitted, num-
erous pages might be filled with reminiscences, incidents and
stories of the hotly contested debates; of the squabbles over par-
liamentary proceedings, the felicitous remarks of the critics ;
the reams of poetry, description, etc., which saw the light in the
society paper, and the musical, elocutionary and historical pyro-
technics displayed at the society's entertainments. No one can
say for just how much forensic elocjuence and pulpit oratory
membership in that society was responsible, but, no doubt, it con-
tributed its share to the success of those who adopted the ministry
or the law as their profession. Upon those of us who tag along
in the rear of that procession the effect is not so obvious. Prob-
ably because of lack of practice we fail in glibness of speech and.
hence, remain more or less in obscurity.
The life of the Baconian depended upon the continued exist-
ence of its parent — the Excelsior. When the parent fell into "in-
nocuous desuetude" the offspring could do no otherwise than fol-
low. Both are dead. They are only a memory — a dim and fad-
68
i;xCElvSlOR NORMAI, INSTITUTE, CARVERSVILIvE, PA.
ing memory in the brains of those of us who yet Hve but who,
forty or fifty years ago, came here to quaff as deeply as we might
from the fathomless well of knowledge.
During its all too brief existence this institution played a most
important role in the history of this county but has had scant no-
tice at the hands of the county's historians. In, through, and out
from its portals passed a long procession of earnest, ardent young
men and women — presumably much more than a thousand of
them — some of whom have attained to positions of honor and
have made their mark upon the time. Many other — more than
260 of them, alas ! are asleep under the daisies.
Fifty years — forty years must show many vacant places in the
ranks of even the armies of peace. But despite the assaults of
time and the rough and tumble struggle for a livelihood, many
still survive — near half a thousand of them whose names and
abiding places are of record — and of these there are still many
who, while they face the fast descending sun and tread the down-
ward slope of life are yet erect, alert, and ready to meet cheer-
fully and bear with fortitude whatever "slings and arrows of
outrageous fortvme" fate may still have ready in her quiver.
EXCELSIOR NORMAL INSTITUTE, CARVERSVILLE, PA.
Opened 1859. Discontinued as a school 1874. Now called "Hillside" and owned
by Harry W. Worthington and his sister Miss Kizzie T. Worthington.
(Photograph by B. F. Fackenthal, Jr., Julj' 25, 1917.)
Lime Burning Industry, Its Rise and Decay in Bucks.
BY WARREN S. ELY, DOYEESTOWN, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, January i8, 19 lo.)
The history of the hme-burnnig industry in Bucks county, its
rise and decay, as a commercial and domestic industry, is deserv-
ing of a much more careful consideration than can be given it in
this brief paper.
The burning of lime for domestic use, quarried from the lime-
stone ledges in middle and upper Bucks county began with the
first settlement of these respective sections by Europeans.
In a deed from Lawrence Pearson to his brother Enoch in
1703, for a tract of land part of which is included in the little
village of Buckingham, the grantor reserves and excepts "the
privilege to get limestone from the within granted premises, for
the use of the said Lawrence and his children, their heirs and
assigns forever."
This 200 acres of land included the site of the Buckingham
hotel at the intersection of the York and Durham roads, and ex-
tended out the former road northeasterly, beyond "the pond"
which has long since disappeared, near the site of the Bucking-
ham Valley creamery, and extended southeasterly to the top of
Buckingham mountain. A long abandoned quarry hole still
marks the spot from whence the stone was quarried, but the kilns
have long since disappeared. The grant from which the privilege
was reserved, included the present Joseph Anderson farm, fifty
acres of the Broadhurst farm and a lot of village properties in-
cluding the hotel and all the properties on the southeast side of
the York road east of the Durham road.
This shows that at that early date when Buckingham was only
sparsely settled and all north of that township was a primitive
wilderness, still covered with virgin forests, the original settlers
were already interested in the production of lime. But a few
years had elapsed since this very land included in i,cxx) acres
conveyed to Richard Lundy, by Jacob Telner, was described in
the deed as "back in the woods" and was exchanged for 200
acres on the Delaware below Tullytown.
For probably over a century, lime-burning was of very little
70 LIME) BURNING INDUSTRY
importance as a commercial industry in Bucks county. The lim-
ited building operations requiring its use were far from extensive
and the demand for it as a fertilizer was merely local and largely
supplied by co-operation among the farmers or by individual pro-
duction. No long line of kilns, such as appeared in the second
quarter of the nineteenth century, were then in existence. Iso-
lated kilns were erected on the farms, often far from the ledges
where the limestone was quarried — sometimes miles away — and
the stone hauled to the kiln, either by the owner of the kiln, or
his neighbors, or both on the co-operative plan, at leisure times
as the farm work permitted. The wood necessary for its burning
was prepared in the same way ; the product above what was used
on the farm being sold to the neighbors or divided among those
who contributed in labor and material, the former being the chief
outlay as neither the rock deposit nor the wood was then con-
sidered of much value.
Born and reared in a community where, in my childhood days,
limestone-burning was a thriving and profitable industry, employ-
ing hundreds of men and a considerable outlay of capital, I re-
member distinctly my boyish inquiries of my elders how these
isolated limekilns, then already crumbling ruins in an advanced
stage of decay, came to be located miles away from any lime-
stone deposit. Cropping out of some hillside on land unavailable
for cultivation, these limekilns were a familiar sight to many
people now living, and the remnants of a number may yet be seen
in middle and upper Bucks in rugged hillsides or woodland
patches, where the demand for cultivation of the land has not
called for their demolition. Personally, I have known of a num-
ber of these kilns located on farms where there was no limestone
deposit, some of them miles distant. There was, however, a
reason for this, for these kilns were either located close to heavily
wooded districts or directly in them, and the immense amount
of wood required incurred almost as much labor in hauling as
the limestone did. Interesting reminiscences have been given
by the old men of a generation now practically gone, of nights
spent at the kiln mouth, it being necessary to feed the fire night
and day until the whole kiln of stone was burned. A limekiln,
long in use, was located on the northwestern border of our
borough (Doylestown) and gave the name to the "Limekiln
LIME BURNING INDUSTRY 7I
road," though the Hmestone had to be hauled from central Buck-
ingham. Another kiln was located a little over a mile east of the
borough, and there were several in upper Buckingham and Sole-
bury where the limestone had to be hauled for miles over hilly
roads.
Two or more important developments led to the building up
of the lime-burning industry in Bucks county, in the second
quarter of the nineteenth century. In the first place, farmers out-
side of the limestone belts were beginning to realize the benefits
obtained by an application of lime on heavy soils and farms long
fed by vegetable fertilizer alone, and scores of them came from
Plumstead, Bedminster, and New Britain to the Buckingham and
Solebury kilns for lime, making "frolics" as they were called in
those days. From a dozen to twenty farmers joined in convey-
ing the lime from the kilns to a farm — enough for a field in a
day (forty bushels per acre being the quantity usually used)
only to have the compliment returned later, either in lime-haul-
ing or other enterprises. These frolics continued to a period
within my recollection, and many a jovial crowd of farmers, often
from New Jersey, have I seen drive up to the old limekilns, un-
hitch their horses and feed them from the wagon-bed, the load-
ing of the wagons continuing meanwhile, and too often the free
circulation of "liquid refreshments" increased the joviality to a
dangerous point, leaving the men unfit to guide their teams on
the return trip over many miles of hilly and none too good roads.
Another incentive to the development of the lime-burning in-
dustry, was the discovery of anthracite coal and its adaptation to
lime-burning, doing away with the night vigils at the kilns and
stopping the rapid depletion of the forests which had become
somewhat appalling to the land owners in the limestone districts
at that period. The man who is given the credit for introducing
the use of anthracite coal in lime-burning was James Jamison,
of Buckingham, a farmer residing south of the mountain. He
was a man of much energy and enterprise and rented the kilns
of Aaron Ely just below Holicong on the present Paxson farm,
and altered them for the use of coal. He built up a large busi-
ness but was killed by a premature blast in his quarry ; his son,
Robert, and Mark Wismer, a workman, w^ere severely injured.
Another prosperous and popular lime-burning establishment
6
'J2 ivIME BURNING INDUSTRY
was on the Street road below Lahaska, many years owned by
John Walker, whose widow is still a resident of Doylestown.
The lime burned there was considered the best in the township
and farmers came from Plumstead, Bedminster and New Britain,
as well as from townships lower down the county. Henry L.
Courson succeeded Walker and made a fortune, for that day, in
burning lime.
The greatest stimulant, however, to the industry in Bucks
county was the opening of the Delaware Division of the Pennsyl-
vania canal in 1832. It brought the coal direct from the mines to
the limestone region lying along the Delaware from Easton to
New Hope, at small cost, and also furnished cheap transporta-
tion for the lime to points further south in Bucks county and
New Jersey, Extensive lines of kilns were at once erected all
along the river front in these limestone ridges.
In upper Bucks, in Springfield and Durham, from the time
of their settlement, conditions had been much the same as in
Buckingham and Solebury. Isolated kilns were located all over
this section for the purpose of supplying the local demand. They
were somewhat more numerous along the river where the demand
from New Jersey required an increased output. At Durham,
where the extensive deposits of limestone were largely used at
the furnace for the smelting of iron ore, kilns were also erected
for the burning of lime before the advent of coal or the canal.
A limekiln stood for many years in what is now the center of
Riegelsville, where the News office now stands ; and in Spring-
field, the ruins of ancient kilns may yet be seen scattered over a
wide area.
With the coming of the canal and coal, however, all was
changed; plants were greatly enlarged and new lines of kilns
erected contiguous to the canal with wharfage for loading direct
into the boats for shipment. Extensive kilns were erected near
the mouth of Durham cave and the limestone, quarried directly
from the cave itself. An extensive lime business was also carried
on at Springtown on into the '8o's, supplying the farmers in the
adjoining parts of Northampton county, and the section of
Bucks county lying westward in Mil ford and Rockhill, and south-
ward in Richland, Hilltown and Haycock. A large lime business
was carried on by Michael Uhler, of Uhlertown, in later years,
LIME BURNING INDUSTRY 73
but the kilns and quarries from which his suppHes were drawn
were in Northampton county, in fact they were located within
the present limits of the city of Easton.
In my native township of Solebury, an extensive business was
done at what was long known as Limeport, between Centre
Bridge and Phillips' Mill on the River road, where there were
two extensive plants, one of them on the Eastburn farm (still in
the name) where Phineas Kelly was the tenant in the late '30's
and until about 1850, doing a large business in supplying neigh-
boring parts of New Jersey, and shipping large quantities by boat
to South Jersey. The late George A. Cook, of New Hope, was a
clerk for Kelly, and about 1850, in partnership with Jacob East-
burn, the owner of the property, took charge of the plant, the
firm did a large and profitable business, and at the death of
Jacob Eastburn in 1863, his son, Robert, who died at Yardley
within the past two years, succeeded to his father's interest, and
was also a partner of Mr. Cook for several years, the firm having
an office and agency at Yardley, and doing a large business.
Practically no business is done at either of the Eimeport plants
at this time. In the limestone valley extending westward from
the Delaware above New Hope to the Buckingham line at La-
haska, a large amount of lime-burning was carried on until about
thirty years ago. Probably the most extensive business was done
at the kilns about the present village of x\quetong, and at the
later Stavely kilns near Canada hill, but a considerable business
was done on the Ely and Pownall tracts nearer the river. During
my boyhood days large quantities of cement were manufactured
in the latter named locality.
The advent of manufactured commercial fertilizers and the
general use of cement for building purposes, have aided in de-
stroying the lime-burning industry in Bucks county, and where a
thriving business was done a half century ago, giving employment
to a great number of men and bringing in a large revenue, most
of the kilns and quarries are entirely abandoned, and others are
burning a few kilns a year where they formerly burned hundreds.
The wisdom of farmers in entirely abandoning the use of lime
as a fertilizer is very questionable ; for a time it was probably
used to an extent beyond its real efficiency, but as an adjunct
74
I.IME BURNING INDUSTRY
in the decomposition of certain salts in vegetable matter, forming
the basis of plant food, it cannot be surpassed. Its effect as a
base to neutralize the acid condition on overfed or neglected land,
in which a vegetable matter has accumulated, is extremely ben-
eficial in producing crops.
I,IME KILNS AT AQUETONG, BUCKS COUNTY, PA.
Typical of all early lime kilns in Bucks county and eastern Pennsylvania.
(Photograph by John A. Anderson 1909)
Interesting New Hope Relics.
BY JOHN A. ANDERSON, LAMBERTVILLE, N. J.
(Doylestown Meeting, January i8, 19 lo.)
In addition to the valuable collection of implements and other
objects of historic interest belonging to the Bucks County His-
torical Society, the albums of pictures showing old time scenes
and processes are also becoming of increasing value.*
Among recent additions to these are some which seem worthy
of more than a passing notice.
THE HYDRA UEION.
The first to be mentioned is an old machine, fortunately pre-
served by the Eagle Fire Company of New Hope, which marks
a distinct phase in the evolution of fire fighting apparatus, from
the primitive bucket to the efficient steam or chemical engines
of the present day.
This machine is known as the hydraulion, a name now so far
out of use that it is not found in Webster. It consists of a
narrow box six and a half feet long, in which is a force pump
operated by levers mounted on a structure in the middle of the
box. The box is mounted on four wheels, having a tongue for
horses, under which is retained the original tongue for hand use.
The levers extend lengthwise and have cross bars by which they
are operated, by firemen standing on the ground.
This hydraulion was a part of the earliest fire apparatus of
New Hope, having been bought at the same time as the first
hand engine, in 1832. The latter was replaced by a new engine,
bought in 1864, in which year the Eagle Fire Company was
incorporated.
The ordinary use of the hydraulion was to draw water, by a
short pipe, from any convenient supply, and force it, through a
line of hose, from which it was thrown directly on the fire or
supplied to the engine which performed that office.
The two machines did not differ materially in construction,
except that the engine usually had more power, some being fitted
with levers and standing boards so arranged that a part of the
operating force stood on the box. These were called "double
* For complete list of these photographs see pages 745 et seq.
jd INTERESTING NEW HOPE RELICS
deckers" on which as many as twenty-four men could work at
once. Either machine could be used independently or at either
end of the line as circumstances required.
It is stated that the first apparatus, including this hydraulion,
was bought by New Hope and Lambertville jointly. In 1871 the
hand engine of the New Hope company was succeeded by their
first engine operated by steam, which, in turn, was superseded
by the present machine, in 1896. About 1880 the hydraulion was
taken and used without an engine, by a new company, which,
however, had but a brief existence.
For the particulars respecting the early history of the New
Hope fire apparatus the writer is indebted to Mr. Oscar A. Burd,
now of Lambertville, N. J.
In supplying water to the engine the hydraulion superseded the
bucket line of earlier days, a method which many now living can
remember. The writer recalls seeing it in use in Doylestown,
as well as in Lambertville, and, doubtless, the bucket was the
original fire apparatus.
Buckets were kept on hand by citizens and, on an alarm of
fire, were caught up and carried to the scene, where a line of
persons was formed to fill and pass them from a pump or other
source of supply. The water thus conveyed was thrown directly
on the fire, or supplied to the engine after such machine came
into use. The empty buckets were returned by another line, in
which the ladies were often willing volunteers. It is recalled
that, at a fire in Lambertville in 1861 a woman of social promi-
nence served in the bucket line, in which she was probably not
the only female. It is also recorded of a number of prominent
ladies of Easton, Pa., that they stood, at one time, in the icy
waters of the Lehigh, filling and passing buckets.
Easton had an ordinance requiring citizens to provide fire
buckets, which were usually of leather, and men called rowmen
were appointed to arrange the lines. A like requirement existed
in Philadelphia, with the further provision that each citizen
should take to the fire a sack, in which portable articles might
be cared for.
The interest of the subject may warrant a further departure
from county limits to recall some incidents which now seem
amusing.
INTERESTING NEW HOPE REI.ICS JJ
We read of the city fathers, in Philadelphia, gravely discuss-
ing the cost of buckets and "hand squirts," and of a home con-
tract for one hundred buckets and the importation of two hun-
dred and tifty from England. Also of the importation of two
hand engines which, with the one on hand, were assigned to
certain places in church yards and at street corners. In 17 ii the
Mayor of Philadelphia informs the council that in his opinion
it is "our duty to use all possible means to prevent and extinguish
fires for the future, by providing buckets, hooks, engines, &c.,"
to which the council agrees that "the board thinks such instru-
ments should be provided and the manner of doing it is referred
to the next council." Mention has also been found of the use
of hydraulions in Philadelphia and of bronze hand squirts in
London.
We find the following interesting item, respecting early Phila-
delphia methods, which, doubtless, presents a fair picture of
what occurred elsewhere, including Bucks county.
"The present manner of subduing fires presents an aspect quite differ-
ent from former doings in such cases. When there was no hose in use
and no hydrants, the scene was much more busy than now. Few or no
idlers could be seen as lookers on. They made long lines of people to
'hand along the buckets' and if the curious and idle attempted to pass,
the cry was 'fall in — fall in.' If disregarded, a bucket of water was
discharged upon them. It was quite common to see numerous women
in the ranks and it was therefore provoking to see others giving no help,
but urging their way to the fires as near as they could. Next day was a
fine affair for the boys, to look out all the buckets they knew, of their
several neighborhoods, and to carrj' them home. The street posts too,
along the streets far from the fire, could be seen capped here and there
with a stray bucket, asking for its owner."
This certainly presents a lively picture of old time methods
which gave way to the engine and the formation of volunteer
fire companies.
Philadelphia was noted for its volunteer companies and their
fights. Seldom were they brought together at a fire without much
cutting of hose and cracking of heads, although these same con-
testants, with apparatus gaily decorated and with wonderful
rivalry in display, joined peacefully enough in frequent grand
parades, to the delight of multitudes who came from far and
near to see the show.
There came, at last, a day when the volunteer system in Phila-
78 INTERESTING NEW HOPE REEICS
delphia gave place to that of a paid fire department, which event
was signalized by one final, peaceful parade of the old time
belligerents, to the number of one hundred and ten companies,
marking the going out of a system still in satisfactory use in
New Hope and many other places.
This parade took place on March 15, 1871, in which year, as
already stated, the old hand engine of the New Hope company
was superseded by steam power, and it would be difficult to find
a more efficient organization and apparatus than those of which
New Hope can now boast.
THE INDIAN FIGURE.*
We turn now to the second relic of our paper, the Indian figure
which, for nearly half a century, was a prominent and interesting
object, on a tall pole by the Logan house, in New Hope, and
which has since, for upwards of thirty years, reposed in the hay
mow of the hotel stable.
This figure, of heavy sheet iron, strengthened by bars of the
same metal, is ten feet in height, representing an Indian in war-
like attitude, with bow fully drawn. The pose and proportions
indicate a good degree of artistic skill in the designer, whose
identity the writer has been unable to discover. When taken
from their long resting place the "remains" were found to be
somewhat broken, although all the parts were there except the
rods representing the arrow and the bow strings.
A photograph of the hotel made before the removal of the
pole, shows the height of the pole and the figure to have been
considerably greater than that of the hotel and the position to
have been not far from twenty feet north of the cannon which
now guards the ferry against any adventurous foe attempting a
landing at the historic spot. As nearly as can be ascertained the
pole was twice renewed, and it was finally taken down by Tim-
othy T. Eastburn, in 1874.
Respecting the origin of the "Indian," Richard Randolph Parry
states that he has understood that it was put up in 1829. The
late Charles W. Crook at the age of 91, stated, a short time before
his death, that it was about 1828, and that the painting was done
by Samuel Moon, father of the artist Moon. Gen. Davis, in his
* Both the hydraulion and the Indian figure have since been deposited in the
museum.
INTERESTING NEW HOPE RELICS 79
History of Bucks County, states that the figure was made by
Samuel Cooper and was put up February 22, 1828. Assuming the
accuracy of the date given by Gen. Davis, it would appear, from
the selection of the birthday of the father of his country that
considerable importance was attached to the event. The wars of
the Revolution and of 1812, by which our independence was
secured and maintained, were then too recent for the patriotic
spirit they aroused to have lost its fire and we may be sure that
it found full expression in the speeches of the day. Unfortu-
nately no mention has been found of the orators of the occasion
nor of the manner of its celebration.
The original of what is now the Logan Inn was built before
the Revolution and was known as the Ferry Tavern and. so far
as the writer has been able to learn, it was not until after the
erection of the Indian pole that the name of Logan was applied
to the hotel, as well as to the figure.
Davis states that the hotel which has undergone some altera-
tions was the first ferry house and that in it was the first bank-
ing room of the New Hope Delaware Bridge Company. Also
that in 1804 the company of Capt. Samuel D. Ingham of the 31st
Regiment Bucks County Brigade, celebrated the Fourth of July
at the hotel.
As to how the figure came to be erected, it was stated by Mr.
Crook, that the idea was that of Abraham D. Myers, the land-
lord of the hotel at the time and others. Mr. Parry, however,
has understood, from his great-uncle Daniel Parry, that a Mr.
Steele was landlord at the time and was succeeded by Myers.
Mr. Parry was informed by the late William H. Murray that
the figure was paid for by private subscription and was put up
in honor of the famous Indian chief, named for James Logan.
The fact that the stream running within sight of the hotel had
borne the name, from part of it having been owned by James
Logan, may well have led to the conception of the idea.
The name of Logan is inseparably connected with the history
of Pennsylvania and of Bucks county. Upon Penn's second visit
to the province in 1699, he was accompanied by James Logan as
his secretary, who was, from that time, his constant friend and
adviser, and attained great distinction in the province, holding
8o INTERESTING NEW HOPE RELICS
many important offices and exerting great influence in the affairs
of Pennsylvania.
Logan was of Scotch descent, aUhough born in Ireland, to
which country his parents had removed. The name of his birth-
place, Lurgan, is borne by a small hamlet on the south side of
Bowman's hill, where, it is stated, there was, at one time a school
house, at which some prominent men of the county were edu-
cated.
Very soon after Logan's arrival Penn made him a grant of a
large tract in Bucks county known as "The Great Spring Tract,"
which, a few years later, Logan transferred to the Ingham
family, as ^et forth in papers in the records of our society, which
also mention the fact that the property is subject to a perpetual
ground rent which goes to the support of the library which Logan
gave to the City of Philadelphia.*
Logan's ownership of the spring and of much of the stream
therefrom, gave to both his name, until, after the change of
ownership, they became known as Ingham's. Both names have
now given place to that of Aquetong, which is said to be the
original Indian name although, whatever may be said of the last
syllable, the others hint suspiciously of a latin derivation.
There has been much question respecting the personality of
the Indian Logan. In fact, the various accounts which the writer
has been able to consult indicate that there may have been two
or more Indians who bore the name.
A well-known tradition of Stenton near Germantown, Pa.,
where James I^ogan resided, has it that a young Indian named
Wingahocking (some say Wigahockonk), becoming attached to
James Logan, proposed, after Indian fashion, to exchange names.
Mr. Logan made no objection to his name being assumed by the
Indian, but gave good reasons why he could not very well take
that of the red man, which, however, he proposed to give to a
neighboring stream. This proved acceptable and the stream has
since borne the name, although some doubt is thrown upon the
manner of its christening, by the assertion that it bore its present
designation before this changing of names.
Several accounts state that a celebrated chief of the Cayugas
named Shikellamy (spelled in different ways), named a son after
* See "Loganian Lands in Bucks County," by John L- DuBois, Vol. I, page 572.
INTERESTING NEW HOPE RELICS
James Logan which son became distinguished for qualities of a
very high order and for great love for the whites. When Logan
was living near the Ohio river he was led to take up arms against
the whites, by the unprovoked murder of some of his family.
Upon the conclusion of peace he sent to the council, which he
refused to attend, the speech which has become famous for its
eloquent pathos. This speech was much admired by Jefferson,
who asserted that neither Greek, Roman, nor modern oratory has
any passage that surpasses it.*
* SPEECH OF LOGAN THE CAYUGA INDIAN CHIEF.
There is quite a difference in this speech as reported to the Governor
of Virginia in 1754, and as published by Thomas Jefferson twenty years
later in 1774, as the following will show:
From Thomas Jefferson's "Notes
on Virginia," published 1774.
See also Hazard's Register,
Vol. XIII, pages 94 and no.
"I appeal to any white man to
say if ever he entered Logan's
cabin hungry, and he gave him
not meat; if ever he came cold
and naked, and he clothed him
not.
"During the course of our last
long and bloody war, Logan re-
mained alone in his cabin, an
advocate for peace. Such was my
love for the whites, that my coun-
trymen pointed as they passed,
and said, 'Logan is the friend of
the white men.'
"I have even thought to have
lived with you, but for the injuries
of one man. Col. Cresap, the last
spring, in cold blood and unpro-
voked, murdered all the relations
of Logan ; not even sparing my
women and children.
"There runs not a drop of my
blood in the veins of any living
creature. This called on me for
revenge — I have sought it — I have
killed many — I have fully glutted
my vengeance. For my country
I rejoice at the beams of peace.
Do not harbor a thought that
mine is the joy of fear — Logan
never felt fear — He will not turn
on his heel to save his life. Who
is there to mourn for Logan?
Not one."
From "Events in Indian History,"
published by G. Hills & Co.,
Lancaster, Pa., 1841, page 308.
Speech of Savage Lonan in a
General Assembly as it was
sent to the Governor of Vir-
ginia, Anno 1754.
"Lonan will no longer oppose
the proposed peace with the white
men. You are sensible he never
knew what fear is — that he never
turned his back in the day of
battle. No one has more love for
the white men than I have. The
war we have had with them has
been long and bloody on both
sides. Rivers of blood have run
on all parts, and yet no good has
resulted therefrom to any. I once
more repeat it — let us be at peace
with these men — I will forget our
injuries; the interest of my coun-
try demands it. I will forget, but
difficult indeed is the task ! Yes,
I will forget — that Major Rogers
cruelly and inhumanely murdered,
in their canoes, my wife, my chil-
dren, my father, my mother, and
all my kindred. This roused me
to deeds of vengeance ! I was
cruel in spite of myself. I will
die content if my country is once
more at peace ; but when Lonan
shall be no more, who alas, will
drop a tear to the memory of
Lonan ?"
82 INTERESTING NEW HOPE RELICS
Logan was killed a short time after this conclusion of peace.
In the "Annals of Buffalo Valley" is found the statement that
Shikellamy was chief of all the Iroquois on the Susquehanna,
and that "the most celebrated of his sons was Logan, the Mingo
chief, who lived near Reedsville, in Mifflin county, near a large
spring and that his name was given to the spring, and to Logan's
branch of Spring creek, Logan's path, etc."
Writers state that both Shikellamy and Logan were converted
to Christianity through the instrumentality of the Moravians.
The Historical Collections of Pensylvania mention the meet-
ing, by a traveler, with "Logan the celebrated Mingo chief," at
a spring called the "Big Spring," about six miles west of Logan's
spring. From Samuel Drake's History of the Indians, 1837, we
learn that the name of Logan "is still perpetuated among the
Indians." Thomas' Biographical Dictionary has a brief account
of Logan, stating that he was a chief of the tribe of the Cayugas,
whose original name was Tah-gah-jute, born about 1725 and
killed in a skirmish with a party of Indians in 1780, and that a
granite monument was erected to his memory in Fair Hill Ceme-
tery, near Auburn, N. Y.
In the authorities consulted are found many discrepancies in
the statements as to Logan's tribal relations. These are readily
accounted for by the fact that writers differ much in the applica-
tion of Indian names. Logan is spoken of as a "Mingo chief."
This term is sometimes applied to the whole of the Six Nations
and Cooper states that it was so used, as a term of contempt,
and represents it as so applied by his principal character.
Mention has been found of one other Indian Logan. This was
a boy of some ten years of age, taken prisoner in 1776 by Gen.
Logan, of Kentucky, Avhose name he bore, after having received
some education and being set at liberty. This Logan was also
very friendly with the whites. He was a nephew of the famous
chief Tecumseh, who was killed in our Indian warfare in the
northwest in 181 3.
To quote all the accounts of Logan would exceed the proper
limits of this paper, but a comparison of them leaves no doubt
but that the Indian who took the name of James Logan and is
known as "The Great Logan," was the son of Shikellamy referred
to. It was doubtless his prominence and his connection with
INTERESTING NEW HOPE RELICS 83
Penn's friend that led to the erection of the memorial at New
Hope.
No record has been found of the presence of Logan in Bucks
county although several accounts agree in stating that there were
many Indian settlements in Buckingham and Solebury, as well
as other parts of the county, including one, as late as 1690, at
the Great Spring, which place is stated to have been a favorite
resort of the Indians.
The spring which gave name to the Logan tract has well been
termed "Great." It has long been known as one of the most
interesting and remarkable natural features of the State, supply-
ing a large and never failing source of power to the mills below.
There has been much speculation as to whence comes the great
volume of water, gushing from beneath the roots of the large
overhanging walnut as many remember it, in its original beauty,
now concealed by a dam built around it some years ago, for utili-
tarian purposes.*
About the spring, as we have seen, the original inhabitants
pitched their primitive dwellings ; here, it is stated, the great
Teedyuscung was born ; visitors find the beauty of the spring
and its surroundings a constant source of attraction ; and, at this
spot, on July 5, 181 3, while the x\merican forces, by land and
sea, were, for the second time, in conflict with those of the
"mother country," a notable company gathered for the celebra-
tion of Independence Day.
Mr. John Ely, Jr., presided over the assembly; the Declaration
of Independence was read by the secretary, Dr. Richard R.
Corson ; and Mr. Lewis S. Coryell read the act of congress and
the proclamation of the President, declaring war with Great
Britain. An address followed, by Mr. William Sitgreaves, in
which the speaker ably set forth the conditions which justified
the resort to arms to maintain the rights of the United States as
an independent nation.
Following the address a banquet was served, prepared by Mr.
Hugh Dunn, at which a number of toasts were drunk, whether
in the pure limestone water of the spring or in something more
exhilarating, history does not disclose. One of the toasts was
to Hon. Samuel D. Ingham, the owner of the spring, near which
he was born, and one of Pennsylvania's most distinguished citi-
* For etching of Inghaiu Spring see Volume III, page 564.
84 the; swamp of tinicum and nockamixon
zens, then absent in attendance upon his duties as a member of
congress.
All these actors have passed from the stage ; the wigwams
have disappeared from about the spring; Logan and Ingham
belong to history; the "Red Man" of the latter name has gone to
the "Happy Hunting Ground;" but the sparkling waters, the
mystery of their source unsolved, and with volume undiminished,
flow on, murmuring the music of the past; and the metal figure
of our story, though rusted and broken, and long deposed from
its lofty station, remains, a mute memorial of a noble member of
a vanished race.
The Swamp of Tinicum and Nockamixon.
BY ROBERT K. BUEHRLE, PH.D., LANCASTER, PA.*
(Doylestown Meeting, January 18, 1910.)
"Let not ambition mock their useful toil,
Their homely joys and destiny obscure'
Nor grandeur hear with a disdainful smile,
The short and simple annals of the poor."
In that portion of Bucks county consisting of the greater part
of Nockamixon township and the northeastern part of Tinicum
township, lying between the Delaware river and the road leading
from Kintnerville to Revere, formerly known as Rufe's Tavern,
and continuing on down through a portion of Tinicum township
southward as far as the road leading from what was formerly
known as Headquarters, now as Sundale, to Erwinna, lies a ter-
ritory known as "the swamp." This region then, as now, is
thickly strewn with rocks of a peculiar formation, the most
famous of which are known as "the ringing rocks," (from the
characteristic sound which they emit when struck with stones,)
situated on the brow of the hill between Riegelsville and Upper
Blacks Eddy. My father, Joseph Buehrle moved with his
family in April of the year 1848 into this territory. The log
cabin which became our home was situated on a knoll in Tini-
cum township near the line that separates it from Nockamixon
township, about half a mile south of the schoolhouse now known
as Cedar Grove, but formerly called Mount Misery, in Nocka-
* Dr. Buehrle is City Superintendent of Schools, Lancaster, Pa.
THE SWAMP OF TINICUM AND NOCKAMIXON 85
mixon township. Previous to my father's arrival the log cabin
had been tenanted by a family by the name of Grey who had built
it on land belonging to a Mr. Hoffman, who now claimed it and
rented it to my father. At that time there were very few forei<;n
Germans in this region. I can recall such names as Frantz,
Steckel, Shafer, Franklin, Witman and Frueh (Fre). But from
this time forth until 1858 a steady stream of immigrants poured
in almost without exception from the Grand Duchy of Baden,
who were mostly Roman Catholic in faith. They came in such
numbers as to justify the building of a church among the rocks
in the heart of Nockamixon on the road leading to Milford, N. J.
Provision was also made for a parochial school in which the
children of the faithful were to be educated in the doctrines of
their church.
The older inhabitants among whom this German colony
settled, on the west and south were Pennsylvania Germans, on
the east English Quakers and Irishmen. I recall such names as
McCarty, Cochran and McEntee as Irish, and Williams, Pursel
and Smith among the Friends or Quakers. Among the Pennsyl-
vania Germans, the Lears, Hillpots, Frankenfields and Stovers
may be mentioned.
The German colony transformed what had been practically a
wilderness of rocks, morasses (hence the name "swamp") and
forests (therefore frequently called the "bush") into well-culti-
vated fertile lands well fenced with stones taken from the land
in the process of clearing. This process was often hastened by
what was known as a "frolic." When a frolic was proclaimed,
the neighbors would congregate soon after noon with axes, crow
bars and cant-hooks,* picks, grubbing-hoes and teams with heavy
wagons, and sleds known as "stone-sleds" and all go to work
under the direction of the owner of the field to be cleared or
fenced. This clearing of "a lot" as it was called consisted of
removing stones and rocks and stumps of trees, and building
fences. At the setting of the sun all would repair to the owner's
house to partake of a sumptuous repast freely moistened with
whiskey, very cheap before the Civil War — 8 to 10 cents a c(uart.
This beverage was also freely passed around among the "frolic-
ers" while at work during the afternoon. It was, however, not
*A cant-hook consisted of a straight bar of wood about six feet long, from near
one end depended a curved bar of iron ending in a hook.
86 THE SWAMP OF TINICUM AND NOCKAMIXON
often that any of them became so intoxicated as to be unable to
continue at work until evening. After supper a dance was often
indulged in.
Thus the woods were cut down and the soil on which they
stood converted into small farms known as lots. The log cabins
were occasionally replaced with buildings of stone ; frame houses
were rare and brick houses still rarer.
MEN AND BOYS BECAME BOATMEN ON THE CANAE.
After the opening of the Delaware Division canal in 1832, the
men and boys, almost without exception, became canal boatmen,
following the canals during navigation season, from about April
I to December 10, often entire families with the women and child-
ren would accompany the men and boys and live on the boats
during the entire season. The system of canals included the
Lehigh canal from White Haven to Easton; the Delaware Divi-
sion canal from Easton to Bristol, with an outlet lock at New
Hope, where boats were ferried across the Delaware river and
entered the Raritan canal for New Brunswick, and from there
by tow-boat to New York and other tide points. At Bristol
there is another outlet lock for boats to pass in to the Delaware
river at tide from whence they are towed to Philadelphia, Cam-
den, Wilmington and other tide points. At Easton boats were
ferried across the Delaware river and entered the Morris canal,
which runs across the state of New Jersey to New Jersey and
New York tide points, but Morris canal boats were smaller, they
rarely entered the Delaware Division canal, except to carry iron
ore to Durham iron works, and were not manned by crews from
the swamp.
The principal freight carried was anthracite coal from the
Lehigh coal fields. A large tonnage was also made up of iron
ore, pig iron, sand, lumber, and general merchandise. The boats
were usually drawn by mules, quite often by horses. At first the
boats had square fronts, and were called scows, but about 1850,
the round bows came into vogue, and the scow shape gradually
disappeared. The capacity of the boats at first was about 60
tons. This was gradually increased to 100 tons.* The families,
* In 1907 the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Co., lessees of the Delaware Division
canal, built tvifo boats of steel, but the experiment was not a success, at any rate
they discontinued building them. Later they put tugs on the canal to tow the boats
in place of mules and horses, which proved quite satisfactory.
THIi SWAMP OF TINICUM AND NOCKAMIXON 8/
when not living on the canal boat, lived on their modest little
homesteads and grew up into an industrious and vigorous race.
The women-folk, as might be expected, performed most of the
little agricultural labor, to which they had been accustomed in
"the fatherland," and acted as managers for the heavier work —
they hired such help and teams as were needed from the owners
of larger farms.
The schools chiefly attended by their children were known as
Mine-Spring, on the hill opposite Mil ford, N. J., Rapp's near
Rapp's store, Rufe's near Revere, and Mount Misery, all in
Nockamixon township and Rocky Ridge in Tinicum township.
The school term lasted four months, but the boat boys as a rule
rarely attended more than three.
Of the teachers I can recall only the names of Warford,
John M. Pursell. Brice Weaver, Algernon Walton, and John
Monaghan, an Irishman. The books were a medley — few had
readers, for almost all read from the New Testament, a verse,
one after another, in class. I can, however, remember L,indley
Murray's English Reader and the introduction to the same and
Emerson's Second and Third Class Reader. Of other books I
recall Peter Parley's First Book of History and Frost's United
States History which I often borrowed surreptitiously as far as
the master was concerned from the girl that was my older
brother's first flame. The book was passed from one side of the
school-room to the other literally behind the teacher's back.
To the best of my recollection I was the only pupil who recited
from a geography and atlas which my father had purchased
in Philadelphia in 1849. It was Mitchell's first edition. Our
spellers were Bonsall's edition of Comly's Spelling-book and
Comply 's Spelling-book itself. My arithmetic was the Columbian
Calculator bought for my brother in South Easton where we
had formerly dwelt, but most of the pupils used Rose's or Pike's
Arithmetic. The latter dealt in English money : pounds, shillings,
and pence, and was consequently not in high favor because that
currency was no longer in use, the terms vmfamiliar, and the
solution of the examples very laborious. Rose's and my Colum-
bian Calculator on the other hand contained very few examples
in British currency. I was also presented with a copy of Warren
Colburn's mental arithmetic, but my teachers had no use for it.
7
88 the; swamp oi^' tinicum and nockamixon
Spelling schools and debating societies concluded the course and
of these the latter were my better educational agencies, and I
was passionately fond of them, letting no opportunity to attend
them pass by. In penmanship our copies were set by the master —
no printed ones were seen if indeed any existed anywhere. Quills
were just going out and steel pens coming in.
Sunday Schools except at Rapp's a few months in the summer,
were unknown institutions until about 1859 or i860 when one
was opened at Rocky Ridge, of which I was superintendent in
i860 for a few months when home during vacation.
the: potte;rie;s.
Of the manufacturing industries I can recall the making of
bricks by the Danels and a pottery owned by McEntee, and one
near Kintnerville owned by Herstine. Splint and willow basket
making was also carried on and my sister knitted cotton thread
lace which she sold at from three to four cents a yard. She
was then from ten to twelve years old and my mother often
worked all day in the field for fifty cents a day. The picking
of whortleberries, blackberries, and elderberries in their season
was quite a business also.
The amusements during the summer were watermelon frolics,
battalions, and so-called Sunday School celebrations, but in the
winter, parties and frolics — dancing to the music of the violin or
the accordion were frequently held. The most eminent violinists
were William and Samuel Weaver, especially the latter, and the
artist on the accordion was Ulrich Meyer. On such occasions
the sport was often prolonged far into the next day. The usual
time for dances was New Year's day and Shrove Tuesday, known
as Fassnacht. Cider was the favorite beverage although beer was
occasionally imported. In swell affairs a clarinet and sometimes
even a band was engaged to furnish the music. This was espe-
cially the case when a ball was held at Kinter's at the annual
battalion which was otherwise known as a military review.
But with the advent of the railroad all was changed. The
boating on the canal gradually became less active; many of the
boatmen became railroad employees — engineers, firemen and
brakemen — and moved away into the towns along the railroads.
THOMAS HICKS, ARTIST, A NATIVE OF NEVVTOWX 89
their lots became merged into farms owned by those who were too
old to enter this new occupation and therefore took to farming,
and to a large extent the region is again returning to its former
wild state.
Thomas Hicks, Artist, a Native of Newtown.
BY GEORGE; a. HICKS, PHILADELPHIA, PA.
(Uoylestown Meeting, January 18, 1910.)
Thomas Hicks, son of Joseph and Jane (Bond) Hicks, was
born at Newtown, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, October 18, 1823.
According to Volume HI, second edition of the History of Bucks
county, edited by Warren S. Ely, the antiquarian and genealogist.
"The Hicks family of Bucks county descend from Pilgrim stock, their
first American progenitor being Robert Hicks, who landed at Plymouth,
Massachusetts, November 11, 1622, having sailed from London in the ship
'Fortune,' which followed the 'Mayflower,' and brought over those left
behind the two years previous by the famous vessel. The family of
Robert Hicks were natives of Gloucestershire, England, and traced their
ancestry back in an unbroken line to Sir Ellis Hicks, who was knighted
by Edward, the Black Prince, on the battlefield of Poitiers, September 9,
1356, for conspicuous bravery in capturing a stand of colors from the
French.
"Robert Hicks settled at Duxbury, Massachusetts, and died there at
an advanced age. His sons, John and Stephen, in 1642 joined an English
company which acquired by patent an extensive tract of land about
Hempstead and Flushing, Long Island. Stephen Hicks purchased several
thousand acres at Little Neck, Long Island, and erected a large mansion
where he lived to an advanced age and died without leaving male
descendants.
"John Hicks settled at Hempstead, and from him are descended the
extensive family of the name on Long Island, in New York, Philadelphia
and Bucks count}-, as well as in many other parts of the Union. He was
educated at Oxford, and was a man of intelligence and natural force of
character, and therefore soon became a leader in the youthful colony,
and took an active part in public afTairs, his name appearing in nearly all
the important transactions of the time."
Without quoting further in detail from the History of Bucks
County, it may be stated that the line to Thomas Hicks, the
artist, descended down through Thomas, only son of John Hicks,
who inherited his father's intellectual ability and became the first
90 THOMAS HICKS, ARTIST, A NATIVE OF NEWTOWN
judge of Queens county, New York, and Isaac, eldest son of the
judge by his second marriage to Mary Doughty, to Gilbert,
fourth son of Isaac and Elizabeth (Moore) Hicks. Gilbert,
fourth son of Isaac and Elizabeth (Moore) Hicks, who was born
in Queens county, New York, September 19, 1720, married Mary
Rodman, April 24, 1746, and was the ancestor of all the Bucks
county Hickses. Gilbert Hicks was a man of superior mental
ability and was a prominent justice of the peace of Bucks county.
He was the great-grandfather of Thomas Hicks. Joseph Rod-
man gave the youthful couple as a wedding present 600 acres of
land in Bensalem township, on the Neshaminy creek, which he
had lately purchased. Gilbert and Mary Rodman Hicks settled
upon this tract in 1747. They subsecjuently sold it and purchased
100 acres at what is now Eanghorne, upon which they erected a
commodious brick house in 1763, which is still standing.
Joseph Rodman Hicks, grandfather of Thomas, was Gilbert
and Mary Rodman Hicks' fifth and youngest child and was born
November 12, 1756. He married his cousin Margaret Thomas,
an approved minister among friends at Makefield meeting. They
lived in Upper Makefield township upon a farm adjoining the
meetinghouse.
Joseph, the father of Thomas Hicks, was the second of eight
children of Joseph Rodman, and Margaret (Thomas) Hicks. He
was born June 12, 1780, died October 4, 1827, married January 2,
1804, to Jane Bond, of Newtown, Bucks county and had nine
children, the seventh of whom was Thomas Hicks, the artist.
At the age of fifteen Thomas Hicks entered the employ of his
father's cousin, Edward Hicks, the eminent minister among
friends, to learn the trade of coach painting. He immediately
developed a natural talent for art, having previous to reaching
the age of 16 years painted his master's portrait from the rough
colors he found in the shop. In 1837 he entered the Pennsyl-
vania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia. The following year
he went to New York City, where he continued in the study of
art at the National Academy of Design.
His first important picture, "The Death of Abel," was ex-
hibited at the academy in 1841. He studied in Europe in 1845
to 1849, and in 1847 he painted "Italia at Rome." He possessed
talent of a particularly high order, which continued to a career
THOMAS HICKS, ARTIST, A NATIVE OF NEWTOWN 91
that made him one of the most distinguished artists of his time.
When a student he had copied a "Hunt," by Diaz, and the two
pictures stood side by side. Amy Scheffer entered the studio,
and to his own surprise confessed his inabihty to select the
original. Later at Rome he was ordered to change certain de-
tails in the dimensions of the chair in his copy of Raphael's "Pope
Julius" for the reason that the reproduction was so successful
that it was considered undesirable to have its minor features agree
with those recorded, in the archives of the collection.
Mr. Hicks studied chiefly under Couture, and the great French
master's breadth of style and powerful appreciation of humanity
were strongly reflected in his pupil's work. Some of Mr. Hicks'
portraits are among the very best productions of the country.
Indeed, there is one which would stand the contrast with the best
in art.
He was elected Academician of the National Academy of Fine
Arts, New York City, in 185 1, and was president of the Artists'
Fund Society from 1873 to 1885.
Mr. Hicks studied chiefly under Couture. He painted portraits
of Booth, Fisk, Halleck, Dr. Kane, Holmes, President Lincoln,
Longfellow, Seward, Bayard Taylor, Harriet Beecher Stowe,
Verplank and hundreds of others of America's most prominent
men and women. He also painted the famous picture — every-
where known by engravings — of the authors of the United States,
and another representing the governors of New York state.
A fine example of his work in Philadelphia is the full length
portrait of General Meade, which is noteworthy for its natural
and unconventional treatment of a military subject. The head
of General Meade on the national bank note, and one of the pic-
tures of the Century War Book, are copies of the bust of the
Hicks portrait, and in many of the Meade Grand Army Posts
throughout the country are full length photographic copies of the
same painting.
Two of his works adorn the walls of our Historical Society
building, vis.: a full length portrait of Hon. John Jay and a
smaller portrait of Martin Johnson Heed.
Thomas Hicks died at his country home "Thornwood," Tren-
ton Falls, N. Y., October 8, 1890, leaving a widow but no issue.
92 FRIENDS OLD MEETING-HOUSE IN BRISTOL, PA.
The parents of Thomas Hicks and their issue given below show
that there is none retaining the name of Hicks :
Joseph Hicks married Jane Bond. Born June 12, 1780. Mar-
ried January 2, 1804. Died October 14, 1827, and had :
Ann W., married Jonathan Heston; Charles, died unmarried;
Rachel T., married Jonathan Heston, her deceased sister's hus-
band; Margaret, died, age, i year; J^evi N., died a baby; Hannah
B., married Thomas Bond; Thomas, married Angeline King, no
issue ; Priscilla, died unmarried ; Edward L,., married Ellen Colby,
no issue living; Caroline S., married Samuel S. Owen.
Friends Old Meeting-House in Bristol, Pa.
BY JOHN C. MAUIvE, BRISTOL, PA.
(Bristol Meeting. May 24, 1910.)
While these short and simple annals of the old meeting-house
in Bristol, where this meeting is being held, the oldest, with one
exception, now standing in this part of the country, may to the
twentieth century era of hurry and bustle appear but of little
worth, it is yet well in this day to "gather up the fragments that
remain that nothing be lost," and these somewhat fragmentary
notes may shed some light upon the persevering zeal of our fore-
fathers, to which this venerable building is a monument.
Nearly all the first settlers of Buckingham, now Bristol, as well
as of other parts of the "lower end" of our county, were members
of the Society of Friends, and the writer acknowledges his obli-
gation for much of the data in this paper to the late Edwin J.
Burton, a lineal descendant of Anthony Burton, one of these
pioneers, who was greatly interested in the early records and
history of the Friends' meetings in these parts.
Meetings for worship were^^tablished about "The Falls of the
Delaware," some time before the country had received the name
of Pennsylvania, the members belonging to a Monthly Meeting
held at Burlington, dating from 1674. In 1683 a Monthly Meet-
ing was established at the house of William Biles, in what is now
known as "the manor," of which friends living at Bristol and at
Neshaminy, now Middletown, became members. The governor
FRIENDS OLD ME;ETING- HOUSE IN BRISTOL, PA. 93
and his wife, while in Pennsylvania, were members of this
Monthly Meeting. Phineas Pemberton, whose name as clerk of
the first orphans' court, frequently appears upon our early county
records, was its recorder of birth and deaths. The first Bucks
Quarterly Meeting, composed of the original Falls Monthly
Meeting, and a new one set off therefrom called Neshamine,
(now Middletown Monthly Meeting at Langhorne), was held at
the house of William Biles on the 7th of 3d month, 1684.
For nearly twenty years friends at Bristol were not allowed
any regular meeting of their own, and growing weary of being
thus deprived of religious privileges they petitioned Falls Monthly
Meeting in 1702 that they might be allowed to hold a meeting
sometimes among themselves, but it appears that they were not
granted this favor until 1707, when permission was given them
to hold a meeting for worship bi-weekly, on First-days and once
a week on week-days.
In 1706 Samuel Carpenter, a wealthy friend, offered to give
Falls Monthly Meeting a "piece of ground for a meeting-house
and burying place, and pasture at Bristol," and the gift having
been accepted by the meeting, the same was ordered to be deeded
to Joseph Kirkbride and others for the uses aforesaid. There
now began a most striking example of that procrastination which
is said to be the thief of time. The trustees appointed by the
Monthly Meeting seem to have been most unaccountably derelict
in their duties, for we find that in 1710 a minute of the Monthly
Meeting stating that "Bristol friends renewed an application, first
made in 1706, for the building of a meeting-house. Agreed with
and forwarded to Quarterly Meeting for their concurrence and
assistance." In the following month comes a minute stating
that as several of the trustees appointed to hold the title to the lot
given by Samuel Carpenter were either deceased or gone from
the Province, William Croasdale and others, should be appointed
in their places. The following qyaint minute of the Quarterly
Meeting gives evidence that the request of Bristol friends for a
meeting-house was soon to be granted. It is as follows : "At a
quarterly meeting held at Middletown, ye 226. of ye 12th month,
1 710. This meeting having under consideration the building of a
meeting-house at Bristol, it's concluded there be a good, sub-
stantial house built either of brick or stone, and the Friends
94 FRIENDS OLD AlDETlNG-HOUSE IN BRISTOL, PA.
appointed to take the dimensions, and for the convenientest place
is Joseph Kirkbride, Joshua Houpes, John Satcher, Thos. Steven-
son and Adam Harker, together with such Bristol friends as they
think fit, who are likewise to compute the charge as near as
may be, and to appoint whom they may think fit to manage the
work, and give an account of their proceeding to the next meet-
ing." Three months later, "The Friends appointed to take care
about the meeting-house at Bristol report they have made some
progress therein, having obtained a grant of a lot land from
Samuel Carpenter to set the meeting-house on, likewise has
agreed for the dimensions, first ye carpenter work has computed
the charge of ye whole, and thinks it will be about 200 pounds."
The meeting appointed Josepeh Kirkbride and others "to under-
take the first, and the rest of ye work belonging to it, and take
care to see it well and carefully done, and with what expedition
may be." The meeting also urged friends to make collections in
their respective meetings for the new building, and appointed
trustees to hold the title for the Quarterly Meeting to the ground
given for the meeting place and burial ground, this being a rare
instance of title to property held by other than Monthly Meetings.
After seven years of delay the meeting-house project was in
fair way to be accomplished, and in Twelfth month, 1713, the
Quarterly Meeting was informed that "the committee to settle
Bristol meeting-house report they have completed the same,"
from which it would appear that this ancient landmark lacks but
two years of being a bi-centennarian. The bricks used in its
construction were brought from England, and this doubtless added
to the delay in its completion. It would appear that "jerry-
building" is not of recent date, for in 1728, only fifteen years
after the house was finished, it had to be partially taken down
and rebuilt, being in danger of falling. In 1735 or 1736 an addi-
tion was built, greatly enlarging its capacity, and in 1756 it was
finished in the upper story. Previously to 1839-40 the entrance
was in the Market street end of the house, the galleries being at
the east end facing the entrance, and the aisle running lengthwise
of the building, probably passing through a doorway into the
addition in the rear. During the Revolutionary War the house
was occupied as a hospital, as appears from the following minute,
"9th. Mo. 15th, 1778. Joseph Church, William Bidgood, John
FRIENDS OLD ME;e;TING-HOUSE; in BRISTOL, PA. 95
Hutchinson and Phinehas Buckley are appointed to get the meet-
ing-house cleared of the troops in the little end of the house so
that it may be fit to meet in." A number of the patients in this
hospital are believed to have been buried in the lot now occupied
by Mohican Hall, on Otter street. In 1820 a school was kept in
the upper story of the house taught by Dr. Henry Lippincott,
afterward many years in practice at Fallsington, and by Mary
Prosser, Letitia Swain and Hannah Coleman.
This little account of the old meeting-house would be incom-
plete without some mention of the generous donor of the ground
upon which it was built. Samuel Carpenter was a native of
Surrey, England, and came to Pennsylvania from Barbadoes.
He was an intimate friend and associate of William Penn, and
a partner with him and Cileb Pusey, in the establishment of the
first mill in the province at Upland near Chester. At the end of
the 17th century Samuel Carpenter was a wealthy shipping
merchant in Philadelphia and reputed to have been the richest
man in the province. He owned nearly two thousand acres of
land contiguous to and including much of the present site of
Bristol, also two islands in the Delaware, and is believed to have
been the founder of the Bristol saw and gristmills. In or about
1710 or 1712, he removed his residence to Bristol, having a sum-
mer home on Burlington Island, the dwelling being still standing
in 1828. He was largely interested in public affairs, being a
member of the council and assembly, and treasurer of the prov-
ince, and was highly respected by all who knew him. It is some-
what singular that in Bristol, where he had such large interests,
there is nothing to keep alive his memory save this meeting-house.
And while we cannot here show any long-drawn aisle or fretted
vault, and while no pealing anthem has ever, within this ancient
house, swelled the note of praise, yet, could these walls become
vocal, they could tell of many soul-stirring messages of exhorta-
tion, of earnest entreaty and encouragement to well-doing, and
they could bear witness also to many silent meetings where, as
Charles Lamb wrote, the dove sat visibly brooding upon the
worshippers.
The saintly Woolman doubtless often met here with his fellow-
believers, coming from his humble Mount Holly home, clad in
those garments worn the natural color of the wool, as a testimony
96 FRIENDS OLD MEETING-HOUSE IN BRISTOL, PA.
against superfluities. Here also came Thomas Chalkley, riding
up from "Chalkley Hall" at Frankford — He of whom Whittier
wrote : —
"Gentlest of skippers, rare sea-saint ! —
Who, when the dreary calms prevailed.
And water-butt and bread-cask failed.
And cruel, hungry eyes pursued
His portly presence, mad for food.
With dark hints uttered imder breath.
Of casting lots for life or death.
Offered, if Heaven withheld supplies.
To be himself the sacrifice.
Then, suddenly, as if to save
The good man from his living grave,
A ripple on the water grew,
A school of porpoise flashed in view.
'Take, eat,' he said, 'and be content,
These fishes in my stead are sent
By Him who gave the tangled ram
To save the child of Abraham.' "
It seems as though this account could have no more fitting
ending than the following quotation from Charles Lamb's essay
upon A Quaker Meeting :
"Nothing-plotting, nought-caballing, unmischievous synod ! Convoca-
tion without intrigue ! Parliament without debate ! What a lesson dost
thou read to council and consistory ! If my pen treat you lightly as haply
it will wander— yet my spirit hath gravely felt the wisdom of your custom
when, sitting among you in deepest peace, which some outwelling tears
would rather confirm than disturb, I have reverted to the time of your
beginnings and the sowing of the seed by Fox and Dewsbury. I have
witnessed that which brought before my eyes your heroic tranquility,
inflexible to rude jests and serious violence of the insolent soldiery, repub-
hcan or royalist, sent to molest you, for ye sate betwixt the fires of two
persecutions, the outcast and ofi^-scouring of church and presbytery. I
have seen the reeling sea-ruffian, who had wandered into your receptacle,
with the avowed purpose of disturbing your quiet, from the very spirit of
the place receive in a moment a new heart, and presently sit among you
as a lamb amidst lambs. And I remember Penn before his accusers, and
Fox in the bail-dock, where he was lifted up in spirit and, as he tells us,
'the judge and the jury became as dead men under his feet.' . . . O
when the spirit is sore-fretted, even tired to sickness of the j anglings
and nonsense-noises of the world, what a balm and a solace it is, to go
and seat yourself for a quiet half-hour upon some undisputed corner of
a bench among the gentle quakers. . . . Get the writings of John
Woolman by heart and love the early quakers."
Industrial Growth of Bristol Borough.
BY JOSEPH R. GRUNDY, BRISTOL, PA.
(Bristol Meeting, iNIay 24, 1910.)
The west bank of the Delaware river, we are told, was first
settled in the neighborhood of Chester by a body of Swedes about
1677. Shortly following that settlement, another group of pio-
neers — the ancestors of some of us — found their way farther east
and established for themselves a home within what is now the
county of Bucks. So numerous had this settlement become that
at the end of twenty years we find the provincial government
petitioned for the establishment of a market town upon the pres-
ent site of Bristol. Four years later, or in 1701, Samuel Carpen-
ter, described as a wealthy merchant of Philadelphia, attracted by
the water-power furnished by Mill creek, settled at this point and
established mills for the grinding of grain and the sawing of tim-
ber. This enterprise marked the beginning of considerable
activity, as it afforded the settlers a medium of profitably clearing
their lands and also of grinding the grain which they were then
beginning to grow upon the lands already under cultivation.
This industry undoubtedly was responsible for the fact that
there followed the establishment of ship-building upon Mill
creek, the timber for which the local mill aided in preparing, and
further aided in providing cargoes for the ships when built to
carry. Thus it was that for practically a century the industry of
our neighborhood consisted in the building of ships, the sawing
of timber and the grinding of grain, which was freely exported
to various parts of the world.
In 181 5. history informs us that a woolen mill was established
along the banks of Mill creek but its existence was of short
duration, a quarrel having occurred in the firm which resulted in
the removal of the machinery to Groveville, N. J.
The year 1827 saw the beginning of the construction by the
State of the Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania canal which
was opened for navigation in 1832, providing an outlet from
the anthracite coal regions of the north to tidewater. This
development gave a tremendous impetus to local shipping and
much labor found employment in handling the cargoes of coal
98 INDUSTRIAI, GROWTH OF BRISTOI. BOROUGH
which were brought to market through the new waterway, the
outlet lock for tide points being at Bristol.
In 1853 a body of capitalists gathered together the sum of
$12,000, and in the neighborhood of the junction of Beaver Dam
road and the northwestern side of the canal established what was
known as the Bristol forge, for the purpose of making wrought
iron.
About this time, however, the borough met with a severe set-
back; in the extension of the Philadelphia and Reading railroad
from Bethlehem to Philadelphia, by which route thereafter they
shipped the coal to their yards in Port Richmond on the Dela-
ware. Thus taking from our town the employment and business
which had for a quarter of a century played so important a part
in its growth and prosperity. From 1855 to i860 was a period of
great depression due largely to this cause. It will be noted that
up to this period substantially all the activity and business devel-
opment had been created by the handling and exporting of raw
products either of the mines or of the soil. The requirements of
our people in all other than food products were then imported
from abroad.
The year i860 was one of general turmoil and alarm. A man
had been elected president of the United States who was not in
sympathy with southern traditions and the south, which for
many years had been in charge of the government, was upon the
verge of secession. With the control of the government in their
hands and with secession in their hearts, it was but natural that
ships, arms and munitions of war should have been transferred
by those in charge, to points south of Mason and Dixon's line, in
anticipation of the coming struggle. When Abraham Lincoln
took up his heavy burden, the United States was not only con-
fronted with civil war, but it had been stripped of the means of
prosecuting it. To provide and equip the army and navy huge
expenditures were necessary. The treasury was as depleted as
were the arsenals. Enormous loans — at least, enormous for those
days — had to be negotiated on the faith of the government, and
to provide for the interest and principle of these obligations every
method of taxation was resorted to, including heavy import duties
upon all kinds of manufactured products imported into our
country.
INDUSTRIAI, GROWTH OF BRISTOL BOROUGH 99
The import duties on manufactures from abroad, high as they
necessarily were, were not the only drawback to procuring goods
from foreign lands. Many enterprises of a privateering character
were entered into in the name of the confederacy by unscrupulous
men who preyed upon the shipping of the northern states.
The effect of the government's being a very large purchaser
of all commodities, such as clothing, boots and shoes, arms and
armament, coupled with the domestic requirements of our people
and the great abundance of money due to the unusual expen-
ditures on the part of the government, created uni)recedented
opportunity for American industries. Under this stimulus, mills
and factories sprang up and flourished on every side and the in-
dustrial strides made by the north during the civil war were
prodigious.
The close of the war in 1865 brought many problems to those in
charge of our government but none that they approached with
more serious consideration than that of restoring the revenue of
the government to a peace basis without disturbing the splendid
industrial development which had been created by the conditions
before described. To prepare for this the congress of the United
States appointed a revenue commission consisting of David A.
Wells, of Connecticut; S. S. Hayes, of Massachusetts, and Ste-
phen A. Colwell, of Pennsylvania. The work of this commission
covered a period of two years and proved to be a masterly review
of the revenue laws of the land. Its recommendation and the
legislation that ensued of a revenue character all had for its pur-
pose the preserving, by protective duties as far as possible, of
the American market to the American producer.
In the industrial uplift following i860 Bristol shared.
The Bristol forge located on Buckley street, became the scene
of great activity. Its original capital of $12,000 was raised to
$125,000, and its products found a ready market both for govern-
ment and domestic uses. The prosperity of this company led to
the erecting of a similar concern known as the Keystone Forge
Company. In 1864 the Bristol Woolen Mills were established in
Buckley street for the manufacture of knit fabrics. This prop-
erty passed through several hands and afforded, until recent
years, employment for many hundreds of people.
The year 1868 is notable in Bristol's industrial history as mark-
lOO INDUSTRIAL GROWTH 01*' BRISTOL BOROUGH
ing the return of Joshua Peirce to Bristol after several years
residence in the western part of Pennsylvania. Impressed by
the favorable location of Bristol for industrial development and
the opportvinities which the Morrell tariff act created, he estab-
lished the Livingstone mills for the manufacture from wool of
felt products. Actively and enthusiastically he entered into the
industrial development of Bristol and in 1871 was instrumental
in establishing the Bristol foundry, since operated by ex-Burgess,
Thomas, B. Harkins. The sash and planing mills now operated
by Messrs. Peirce & Williams were located in Bristol in 1873,
and in 1875, likewise through Mr. Peirce's efforts, the Bristol
rolling mills Avere built by Messrs. Nevegold and Scheide.
In 1876 Air. Peirce organized for the further industrial devel-
opment of Bristol the Bristol Improvement Company, and the
same year this company erected the worsted mills which were
leased to the firm of Grundy Brothers and Campion. In
1877 the Bristol Improvement Company erected for L. M. Har-
nerd & Co. the plant known as the Keystone Mill, for the manu-
facture of fringe and braids. In 1880 the same company erected
the Star Mill for a firm engaged in the manufacture of knit goods,
and in 1882 the wall paper mills which have since been operated
under various managements were erected by this company.
About this time Samuel Appleton erected the mill located on
Buckley street near Beaver Dam road now operated by Hender-
son & Co. as a carpet mill, and in 1887 the Improvement Com-
pany erected the fine property of the Bristol Carpet Mills for the
firm of Thomas L. Leedom & Co.
In 1899 the leather factory, now known as the Corona Leather
Works was established by Boston capitalists, and in 1906 the
Bristol Patent Leather Company engaged in a similar line of
work to that of the Corona Leather Works was established by
its enterprising president, our townsman, Mr. C. L. Anderson.
The year following the Standard Cast Iron Pipe and Foundry
Company erected the large works in the township just east of
the borough line. This last mentioned plant about completes the
industrial enterprises now in existence in our district. It is inter-
esting to note some of the deductions which may be drawn from
Bristol's industrial development.
INDUSTRIAL GROWTH OF BRISTOL BOROUGH lOI
The fact is that from the settlement of our neighborhood in
1677 to i860, a period of 183 years, the population had grown
to only 2,500 people, and in assessed valuation the borough
reached a property valuation of slightly under $500,000.
During the last fifty years the industrial conditions which had
led to the development of Bristol up to i860 have entirely passed
away. The business of the canal for the most part was diverted
elsewhere, the gristmill has long since passed out of active opera-
tion, and with it the sawmill. In their place industrial activity
was found in the manufacture of iron, of carpets, of hosiery, of
leather products, mill-work, and yarns and cloths for the clothing
of our people.
In the 183 years since the settlement to i860 our population
had grown to 2,500. Fifty years later we approximate 10,000
souls. The assessed valuation which in 183 years had reached
nearly $500,000 in i860, since has grown to $3,000,000, and the
number of people employed in the mills in 1910 approximate
3,300; the wages annually paid to these operatives total
$1,750,000, while the value of the manufactured product amounts
to substantially $12,000,000 annually.
The past decade in Bristol especially has been one of marked
prosperity in its industrial development; its population has in-
creased 40 per cent, over that of 1900, and never in the histoiy
of the borough has there been a year when public expenditures
were as great as that of the year 19 10.
There is under way this year one enterprise, that of changing
the lines of the Pennsylvania railroad, which will involve an ex-
penditure of more than $1,000,000, twice as much money as the
entire borough was worth half a century ago. Also we find in the
development and extension of mill operations already located
within our neighborhood contracts made for the expenditure in
new buildings and equipment approximating $750,000. In build-
ing operations for homes for our people probably not less than
$50,000 additional will be expended, while many more homes
would find ready rental if constructed, all directly reflecting a
condition of business activity and industrial development much to
be desired and encouraged.
Those of us who have been identified with Bristol's growth
during the last generation, naturally take much j)ride in what
I02 INDUSTRIAIv GROWTH OF BRISTOL BOROUGH
has been accomplished. But however gratifying the past may
have been we feel that should there be no change in the fiscal
policy of the government which has made our growth possible,
the future of our neighborhood is very bright. We believe the
work now under way by the Pennsylvania Railroad Co. will be
a great factor in this direction, as it will open up some three miles
of lands for development along their new lines which heretofore
has been inaccessible, owing to physical difficulties. The removal
of passenger tracks at grade crossings from the heart of our
town, affording free access and communication to all sections, is
something greatly to be desired, and the development which na-
turally will follow in trolley service will bear an important part
in our future expansion.
In all of the problems affecting our development our local
government is deeply interested. The question of our future
water supply, a question of great importance to every industrial
town, is being solved in the direction of municipal control of
this important utility. A complete sewer system for the better
sanitation of the borough will shortly be installed. Never was
there a brighter horizon for our people than that which at this
day confronts them.
In all ages the valor and bravery of men who have borne arms
in the defense of their country has been the subject of grateful
appreciation by their fellow man. If this be true in a general
sense, when applied to those who fought on the side of the union
in the civil war it should have a double significance. Not only
did the patriotism of these men preserve our national integrity
and deliver unto freedom millions of men who had previously
been held in bondage, but perhaps unknown even to themselves it
fixed in the minds of patriotic statesmen of that day, what has
since become known as the American protective tariff system.
The advantages and benefits of the system are directly evidenced
by the development and prosperity of this community and our en-
tire country during the last fifty years, and the example set has
led to the adoption of the system as part of the fiscal policy of
every civilized nation in the world but one. Surely it can be said
of the patriotic soldiers of '60 to '64, "They builded more wisely
than they knew."
Historic Sketch of Ottsville and Vicinity.
BY GEORGE M. GRIM, M. D., OTTSVILLE, PA.
(Red Hill Church Meeting, October 4, 1910.)
This vicinity has the distinction of having had two names for
ahnost a century, Red Hill and Ottsville. The original name was
Red Hill. It is one of the oldest villages north of the Tohickon,
and one of the principal stopping places in the early history of
Tinicum, notably so, when the old Durham road became the
principal line of travel between Philadelphia and towns north of
the Lehigh river.
The fact, that hotels existed at four different places in the
village, is pretty fair proof that it was well patronized by those
needing temporary accommodations. The village took its name
from natural condition, being the most prominent red hill between
Doylestown and Easton.
Early in the last century, (about the years 1800 to 1820,) the
Ott family was quite in evidence in this section and appeared
to have taken a prominent part in the affairs of the township.
\Mien the first postoffice was granted in 18 14 it was given the
name of Ottsville in honor of that family, and Michael Ott was
its first postmaster. The selection of a name, other than that of
the village, was made necessary from the fact, that a postoffice
by name of Red Hill had already been established in Montgomery
county. The first postoffice was on the hill, as we call it, and
for a great many years that section was known as Ottsville, and
the part below the hill toward Doylestown, was called Red Hill.
Some years later the postoffice was moved down into the
village proper, and the names as applied to the two sections were
abolished. The villages were united under either Red Hill or
Ottsville. The postoftice has occupied four different locations,
but for the past fifty years, with the exception of a very short
time, has been in the village store. Besides the postmaster,
Michael Ott, there were numerous other members of that family,
prominent in the early history of the village: John R. Ott, held
a county office; Dr. Isaac Ott, was a physician of some note,
he was father of Immanuel Ott and Henry C. Ott, late of this
section. The other early members of the family, moved away,
104 HISTORIC SKETCH OF OTTSVILLE AND VICINITY
one branch moving to the neighborhood of Doylestown, and the
family name is now ahnost extinct in Tinicum township.
Notwithstanding the fact that the postoffice was called Otts-
ville the village was almost universally referred to as Red Hill
up to quite recent years, or to the advent of the trolley line in
1903, and the name Red Hill will doubtless soon become but a
matter of history.
Beside the Ott family there were a number of other families,
equally prominent in the early history of this neighborhood. This
was the early home of the Welder and Summers families, all
gone now these many years ; the Kachlines, Weavers, the Smiths,
(of the Smith plowshare fame, although the factory was at
Smithtown, 1783;) the Wolfingers, Burgstressers, Mills, Hillpot,
Yost, Sassaman, Fretz and Shupe. Jacob Shupe kept hotel at
the old Headquarters stand shortly after the organization of the
township in 1738. He died there in 1799 and was succeeded by
Peter Barndt. Beyond this on the Dark Hollow road, we find
John Wilson, then a prominent landlord in this section, licensed
as early as 1744, losing his license in an altercation with James
Carrell. Wilson afterwards (1765) conducted a hotel in Nock-
amixon township.
The Shively, Steeley, Haney, Hager, Fluck, Frankenfield,
Boileau, Scheetz, Gruver and Harpel families were residents
here. The Harpel family was among the most prominent of re-
cent years, Philip and Samuel Harpel earlier, and Thomas Har-
pel later, being in business here for fifty years, thirty-five of
which was spent as proprietors of the village hotel. The family
sticking best to the locality and being longest identified in this
section are the Haneys. Gen. Davis in his History of Bucks
County, mentions them as among the earliest settlers in Tinicum,
how early he does not know, but Michael Haney bought 150
acres of land in Tinicum in 1745. Jacob and Catharine lived
here prior to 1769. A Michael Haney, born 1756, and died,
1830, was probably a son of the former, and Anthony and Sarah
died prior to 1780. Our present Michael Haney, a son of the last
named Anthony, is the present owner of the farm adjoining the
church in which this meeting is being held, and as successor to
Samuel and Jonas Yost, was the village blacksmith since 1864 up
to a few years ago. He is still in vigorous health and was in-
HISTORIC SKETCH OF OTTSVILLE AND VICINITY I05
strumental in organizing the first Haney family reunion only a
few weeks ago.
A detailed history of the old hotel on top of the hill, one of
the first in this section, would fill a small volume. It was the
gathering place of the neighborhood for many years and many a
fight occurred there. Here was developed the vigorous youth,
the strenuous life, needed to carry on the early development of
the Country. Later it was rubbing mind against mind, but now
it was muscle against muscle, developing the physical properties
of Young America, for the country's future defense. What the
young man of to-day gets in the college hazing, to stififen his
temper, and develop his manhood, was then received, with equal
effect, at these hostleries. Fully a dozen different landlords held
forth there, among its first were a Mr. Shilling, Nathan Riale
and Hank Haney. It was near there that Edward Marshall and
party in 1737 took their first rest after a few hours' walk from
Wrightstown, and where, no doubt, Jennings gave out. A suit-
able marker was erected by James Emery in 1900 to commemo-
rate the spot, Charles Laubach, of Durham, delivering an ad-
dress.* Other hotels were located in the old house now occupied
by William Shupe, and one, conducted by Issac Wolfinger on the
Horace Yost property. This later was a favorite stopping place
for the trains of Contestoga wagons on the north and south
freight line.
The present well-known Ottsville hotel was erected in 1871 by
Thomas C. Harpel. Sol. Mills, who occupied it the first year,
failed to get a license and Mr. Harpel moved in himself in 1873.
was given a license, and made it a very popular and well pat-
ronized hostelry. It has been for years the principal cattle and
horse market in upper Bucks, where John Rich, Nathan Fretz
and Andrew Shaddinger sell at public sale their huge droves
brought from New York State, and is still well patronized in this
line. It also has an enviable reputation as a social centre for
young people's gatherings of various kinds, the Red Hill dances
having had many patrons coming from as far south as Doyles-
town, Centreville and Pineville.
• It is unfortunate that the inscription on this monument should be misleading;
it reads: "Edward Marshall, Walker of Pa., Sept. 20, 17.37, Gov. Wm. Pcnn." The
walk covered two days, Sept. 19 and 20. The walkers reached Red Hill in two and
one-half hours, therefore the date on the monument should be September 19. William
Penn died July 30, 1718, or 19 years before the great walk took place. — B. F. F., Jr.
io6 HISTORIC ske;tch of ottsvilIvE; and vicinity
Fully a dozen physicians have resided here during the past
century, and the vicinity being noted for its healthfulness may
account very largely, no doubt, for the fact that none of them
were able to remain very long. Among the earliest we find Dr.
James Martin, 1792- 1854, an Irishman of some witty peculiari-
ties, who is still remembered by a few, who picture the little Irish
doctor with high hat and pony traveling across fields and fences
with graceful ease. He is buried in the village cemetery. Dr.
Laubach who is still living and keeps a drug store at Easton, is
still remembered. He is a brother of William Laubach, the
senior proprietor of the Laubach store at Easton. Dr. Wilder-
muth, 1816-1864; Dr. Burgstresser, Dr. Clinton Hough, 1876-
1897; Dr. Tom Hough, Dr. Cowdrick, Dr. Arndt, Dr. Grier, Dr.
S. Jones and Dr. A. B. Nash, all resided and practiced here
prior to 1888.
A store has been kept here as far back as can be remembered,
its location has changed from time to time, but has principally
been located on its present site. Among those conducting it over
the past century we find the names of Samuel Harpel, Charles
Scheetz, Thomas Harpel, John Z. Rufe, Harpel & Connell, Zieg-
ler & Myers, Austin McCarty, John O. Snyder and J. S. Snyder,
the present owner.
An industry of importance that flourished here some fifty
years ago, was the Kachline tannery operated by Aaron and
Edward Kachline, the tannery was situated on property adjoining
the present home of William Wolfinger, but all evidence of the
buildings has long since disappeared. The long flat stone upon
which the hides were scraped, and which during the long winter
evenings often formed a favorite card table for youthful enter-
tainment, now occupies the approach to this church.
The church itself is a land mark of no little interest, the first
one north of Deep Run. The old log church of which this build-
ing is the successor, and the one at Clay Ridge, long since gone,
were the centres of all religious activities of the original settlers.
The Irish Presbyterians and Dutch Reformed people early joined
hands in making this a common place of worship, and before the
building of the Tinicum Brick church and the Nockamixon
church this was largely attended. During the past fifty years
most of the remaining members have made their church home
HISTORIC SKETCH OF OTTSVII^LE) AND VICINITY I07
elsewhere, and all we have left of a once flourishing congrega-
tion is the church building. No church-body consistory or trus-
tees have existed to my knowledge during the past twenty-five
years. The Reformed pastor of Lower Tinicum Church up to
the past year, held services under the auspices of the Sunday
school, once a month, and possibly in this way has retained a
right in the property. The Sunday school here, has used the
building for years and often invites neighboring pastors to preach
after the close of their Sunday school services.
The old graveyard adjoining the church is even more historic
than the church. It contains the graves of many prominent
families which resided here one hundred and fifty years ago, some
of them were pioneers of the original Tinicum settlement.
Among the markers we find such names as Bennett, 1782; Blair,
1749; Vanderbilt, Wilson Carrell, McElroy, Weaver, Summers,
White, Welder, Weidemoyer, Pratt, Boileau, Bissey, Sassaman,
Yost, Wolfinger, Heller, Bean, Emery, Wildermuth, Hoppock and
Martin.*
Much could be written about some of these early families, as
well as other points of interest concerning the past of this vicinity,
but this would take us beyond the limitations of this paper.
Properties in this neighborhood are changing ownership so
frequently, that in a few years the old homesteads will be owned
by a people who know nothing and may care but little for the
history of the early settlers.
It would be commendable if the teachers of our public schools
of Bucks county would interest their scholars in the study of
local history, in order that important details of the past may be
preserved.
* During the summer of igi6 Miss Abbey Emery of Philadelphia (now Mrs.
Rich), who was spending the summer at Red Hill, collected money to rebuild the
tumbled down walls surrounding this cemetery, which had been built in 1835.
Presbyterian Church of Tinicum at Red Hill.
BY WARREN S. ELY, DOYEESTOWN, PA.
(Red Hill Church Meeting, October 4, 1910.)
Seven years ago to-day, when this society met at Tohickon
Park, I gave some account of the first settlement on the Tohickon.
As that paper has since been published in our archives,* and
many now present heard it at that time it is unnecessary to repeat
any part thereof or further refer to these early settlements ex-
cept to again state that almost all the early settlers of the land
lying between the Tohickon and the Delaware, comprising the
present township of Tinicum, except a small English settlement
around the ferry at the mouth of the Tohickon were recent ar-
rivals from the North of Ireland of Scotch parentage, generally
referred to as Scotch-Irish. A few of the same nationality had
taken up land on the western and southern side of the Tohickon
in the township of Bedminster, but most of the settlers in that
township were Germans, the Durham road as later laid out nearly
marking the line between the land taken up by the Scotch-Irish
and Germans from the upper line of Plumstead to the lower
line of Durham township.
These settlements were made during the latter part of the
fourth decade of the eighteenth century, immediately succeeding
the Great Walk of 1737. A few adventurous spirits had located
on the banks of the Tohickon prior to that date, some of them an
overflow of the Scotch-Irish settlement of the Neshaminy in
Warwick and Warrington, but principally of later arrivals from
the North of Ireland akin to the Scotch-Irish settlers in Make-
field and about Newtown.
Among the collections of the Presbyterian Historical Society,
is a little manuscript account of the founding and history of
Tinicum and Newtown Presbyterian Churches, supposedly in the
handwriting of Rev. James Boyd, pastor of the Newtown Church,
1 769-1814. This narrative states that the Tinicum congregation
was organized "about ye year 1738, under ye instrumentality of
Mr. (James) Campbell, a Licentiate from Scotland, who was
ordained for ye congregation and continued for about twelve or
* See Volume III, page 296.
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TINICUM AT RED HILL I09
thirteen years. The con<:jref:^ation was composed of about 55
families chiefly from Ireland." Mr. Campbell met with consid-
erable success, and the congregation grew and prospered until
about 1748, when dissentions arose in reference to the proposed
removal of the church to its present site on the Durham road,
(at Red Hill where this meeting is being held), which Mr. Camp-
bell strenuously opposed, and as a result of the decision to re-
move, resigned about 1750, and went to the Carolinas.
Mr. Campbell was at first pastor of Newtown as well as the
Tinicum Church, but continued the joint charge but a few years.
He preached also at Durham and the "Forks" near Easton. Close
relations were maintained with the Newtown Church during all
the active years of Mr. Boyd's pastorate and he frequently min-
istered to the Tinicum congregation.
In the minutes of the Synod of Philadelphia for 1740, we find
that "a supplication came into the synod from the congregation
of Tinnacom and Newtown respectively, desiring to be dismissed
from the Presbytery of Philadelphia and to be joined to the
Presbytery of New Brunswick, and it was readily granted."
From the minutes of the Synod of New York in 175 1, we learn
that "A petition of a Number of Inhabitants of Tinicum or To-
hickon praying for Liberty for supplies at the place called the
Old House. The synod after hearing what they had to ofifer in
support of the said Petition, after consideration thereon do un-
animously reject the Petition." This was an effort on the part
of the disaffected portion of the congregation under Mr. Camp-
bell to maintain a church at the old meeting place after a major-
ity had decided to remove to Red Hill.
During the interval between the resignation of Rev. James
Campbell in 1749, or 175 1 the date given in the Boyd MS., the
congregation at Red Hill was supplied "occasionally by members
from New Brunswick Presbytery and First Presbytery of Phil-
adelphia, and several years of ye Ministry by ye Rev'd Dr. Treate
as Stated Supply every 4th Sabbath."
Rev. Richard Treate and Rev. James Campbell, of "Tohickon"
were both so much affected by the preaching of Rev. George
Whitefield in 1739, that they classed themselves as "self deceivers
and soul murderers" and both abandoned the ministry for a short
time. In the division which shortly followed they both adhered
no PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TINICUM AT RED KIEL
to the "Old Side," and Treate resigning the pastorate at Abing-
ton in 1742, labored at different points in Pennsylvania and New
Jersey, under the New Brunswick, Presbytery, which adhered to
the "Old Side." He was located for some time at "the Forks"
in Allen township and preached on special occasions at many
neighboring points until his death in 1778.
According to Webster, the Presbyterian historian. Rev. James
Campbell was a native of Argyleshire, Scotland and coming to
America in 1730 was licensed by the New Castle Presbytery in
1735, and was well received by the Philadelphia Presbytery May
22, 1739, and "after preaching for four years, part of the time
at Tohickon, he became convinced that he was still unconverted
and ceased to preach. After conference with Whitefield and Ten-
nent he resumed his labors. After his reordination in 1742 he
divided his time between Greenwich (N. J.) and the Forks of
the Delaware. On the division, he adhered to the New Side,
and was sent to preach to the vacant churches." The above
would place his appearance at Tohickon as early as 1735, when
he was first licensed, as his qualm of unconversion, came in 1739.
and it was doubtless then that he "was well received by Phila-
delphia Presbytery." While his reordination in 1742 was under
the auspices of the "New Side" much has been said of his good
work in the Carolinas. He was transferred to the Orange (N.
Y.) Presbytery from South Carolina in 1774 (Hist, of Presby-
terianism. Vol. I, p. 96).
Rev. Alexander Mitchell who was called to Tinicum in 1768,
resigned in 1785 and went to Octarora Church, where he labored
until his death. At the time of his incumbency of Tinicum
Church the congregation numbered 70 or 80 families. His divi-
sion of time with Solebury lasted but a short time after which he
gave his whole time to the Tinicum charge.
The location of the original church is unknown, but it was
doubtless located near the graveyard alluded to in 1774 as be-
longing to the "Presbyterian Congregation of Tinicum," now
generally known as the "Stewart Burying Ground" for the reason
that it was located on the plantation of Robert Stewart.* H this
were true it accounts to some extent for our inability to locate
L
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TINICUM AT RED HILE III
the site by recor,d of legal conveyance, as up to 1761, all the
upper part of the township of Tinicum was included in the
manor of the Pennsylvania Land Company of London who did
not convey land to actual settlers but leased it, under the English
manorial system, with a title to "improvements." When the Lon-
don Company was dissolved by Act of Parliament in 1760, and
trustees appointed to sell the land it was surveyed in large tracts
numbered consecutively and much of it was purchased by rep-
resentatives of families residing many years earlier on the
"Dutch" or Streiper tract adjoining, and comprising nearly the
whole balance of Tinicum township. Many of the purchasers
among whom Robert Stewart was one of the largest were prob-
ably actual settlers long before. That this was true of Robert
Stewart and a number of others active in the Tinicum congrega-
tion later we know from the fact that they signed the petition for
the organization of Tinicum township in 1747, and were not
residents upon the Streiper tract, as were however a majority
of the signers.
There has been a much reiterated tradition that the first con-
gregation of Tinicum was possessed of 300 acres of land, which
was held in the name of the pastor, who on getting into a dispute
with the congregation sold the land and converting the proceeds
to his own use was "called" to ministerial work elsewhere. No
foundation can be found for this tradition, but it is possible that
Rev. James Campbell held a leasehold and had acquired a title
to improvements on a tract on which the early church
stood, which he sold when he left Tinicum, and which some
members of the congregation may have contended belonged to
the congregation. The name of James Campbell appears among
the petitioners of 1747, but there is no record of a deed to or
from him.
Though the deed for the property upon which the church and
graveyard is now located bears date 1762, the removal to this
site was made in 1749, as shown by the MS. record before re-
ferred to and also by the tombstone of James Blair, the inscrip-
tion upon which you have doubtless noted recording his death as
occurring on "Ye 9th day of February, 1749-50." and his age as
83 years.
On February 16, 1762, the trustees of the London Company
112 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TINICUM AT RED HILI,
conveyed to William Wear, of Springfield, and Robert Patterson,
John Heany, and James Patterson, of Tinicum, thirteen acres
and four perches of land, including the present site of the church
and graveyard. On November i6, 1762, these parties made a
deed to "Robert Kennedy and James Blair, of Springfield, John
McKee, Robert Smith, James McGlaughlin and James Bayley,
of Tinicum, and Nicholas Patterson and Alexander McCalmont,
of Nockamixon, members of the Protestant congregation of Tin-
icum aforesaid, with the townships adjacent of the Denomina-
tion of Presbyterians according to the Professed Doctrines, Wor-
ship Government and Discipline of the Church of Scotland as set
forth in the Westminster Confession of Faith, Catechisms & Di-
rectory for Worship and Government, in trust for the members
of the congregation aforesaid, which Congregation have ordinary
Assembled for public worship at their Public Meeting House
erected on a part of the land aforementioned and described, and
to be for their use for ever to erect another House for the Wor-
ship of God when they shall judge necessary, on part thereof to
bury their dead and for other such uses as the majority of the
congregation shall from time to time judge necessary for their
common benefit and use forever."
The tract thus purchased was almost square, the northeast line,
part of which is still the boundary line of the present lot, being
48^ perches and the northwest line 43 perches. It extended
across the Durham road opposite the church 10 perches on its
upper line, the southeast line again crossing the road near the
lower corner of the present lot. In 1791, the then trustees made
an exchange, by direction of a resolution adopted at a congrega-
tional meeting, with Philip Harpel, conveying to him 92 perches
lying on the westward side of the Durham road, and he con-
veying to them one acre and two perches lying between the said
road and the other part of their tract.
This tract thus enlarged the congregation held until 1805, hav-
ing erected a house thereon, which with the land was for a num-
ber of years leased to John London for six pounds a year and
a further consideration that he should cut enough wood for the
use of the congregation. On May 18, 1805, they sold all but two
acres and 141 perches, the present lot, to Elias Gruver.
The surviving records of this old congregation recently de-
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TINICUM AT RED HILL II3
posited with the Presbyterian Historical Society in Philadelphia,
begin with 1768. They comprise three somewhat dilapidated
books, chiefly records of the session, the oldest labeled "Book of
Tinicum Consistory — Red Hill Presbyterian Church," contains
some records of baptism, deaths and marriages.
The first leaf of this book upon which was begun a list of the
members of the church on May 9, 1769, is unfortunately missing.
The second leaf marked "continued" gives the names of the fol-
lowing members of the congregation :
"William Kennedy & Fam., Robert Kennedy & Fam., George Johnstone
& Fam., William Armstrong & Fam., Robert Shirley & Fam., Robert Neal
& Fam., Daniel Jamison & Fam., Alexander McCammon & Fam., Samuel
Morrison & Fam., Samuel English & Fam., Edward Ball & Fam., Widow
Worral & Fam., Joseph Blair & Fam., George Denny & Fam., Thomas
Little & Fam., James Brown & Fam., removed to Jersey, 1771, Samuel
Jones & Fam."
On the next page is the account of the call of Alexander
Mitchell, as pastor, which is as follows :
"Mr. Alexander Mitchell, a candidate belonging to New Brunswick
Presbytery, having by God's infinite Mercy & Goodness preached some-
time amongst us and from the Blessing of God attending his own means
we are encouraged to by our ability and finding the whole congregation to
a person unanimous for a call to be presented to Mr. Mitchell for his settle-
ment among us & the taking the charge of us as a Gospel Minister &
we came to this Resolution. That in the name of God we would give
Mr. Mitchell a call & Accordingly waited on the P'y- At Kingwood
April 1768 we presented the following call to be put in the hands of Mr.
Mitchell."
Here follows the call, closing with these words :
"And we do appoint our Trusty Friends, & Brethren John McKee,
Robert Patterson, Esqr., Abraham \'an Middleswarts & William Mclntyre
or any two of them our Commissioners to wait upon ye Rev'd. P'by. &
Prosecute yt our Call S: do everything that ma}' be needful & Relative
thereto. In Witness Whereof we ha\c here Subscribed our several names
hereunto — Tinecum March 26, 1768.
"Robert Smith, Senr., Abr. V. Middleswarts, Andrew Patterson,
Samuel Morrison, Alex'r McElroy, Robt. Kennedy, Junr., J no. V. Middle-
swarts, Robert Wilson, Senr., Saml. Davies, Thos. Ramsey, Jas. Smith,
Wm. Campbell, Robt. McF-arland, David Ramsey, Widow Alickelroy,
John Kelly, Robert Ramsey, .Mcxr. Patterson, Geo. Douncy, Derrick
Jones, Samuel Aberneathy, John AIcKce, John Patterson, Robert Ken-
nedy, Senr., John Thompson, Chas. Wilson, Saml. Wilson, Wm. Arm-
strong, Wm. Kennedy, Geo. Ladlcy, Thos. Little, Jas. Little, Rodman
114 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TINICUM AT RED HILE
Eakin, Chris'n Weaver, Wm. Wallace, Widow Davis, Thos. Guy, Jacob
Weaber, Alexr. Butts, Saml. Johns, Widow Eakin, Nich Patterson, Jas.
McGIaughlin, James Carrell, Thos. Stewart, David Wilson, Andrew
Wilson, Joseph Blair, Geo. Johnstone, Francis Wilson, Robert Hagerty,
Wm. Eakam, Jas. Loughrey, Geo. English, Eph. Thompson, Pat. Shaw,
Jos. Brooks, Jno. Miller, Pat Dunn, Thos. Giles, Widow Baxter, Elias
Harrison, Robt. Patterson, Esqr., Robert Stewart, Alexander McCammon,
Daniel Jemmison, John Wilson, Robt. Wilson, Junr., Jos. Kennedy, Ralph
Wilson, Thos. Martin, Edward Bell, Robt. McNeeley, Geo. Mackelroy,
John Tenbrock, Jas. McConoaghey, Jas. Steel, Solo Carrell, Jno Teate,
Abrm. Bennett, John Bailey, Robert Shirlock, Jacob Weaver, William
Mclntyre. 83 names in all."
Following the record of the call is that of a "Petition of In-
habitants of Solesbury to the Presbytery of Philadelphia, Sitting
at Tinicum," dated November 23, 1768, praying that the said
Alyexander Mitchell may serve them as minister one-fourth of
his time. This petition was granted.
The signers from Solebury were : John Seabring, John Sea-
bring, Junr., Roelofs Seabring, Frederick Tucker, James Ander-
son, Josiah Winter, Philip Tempbin, Henry Smith, John Mire,
Joseph Kelley, Thomas Phillips.
All of these were residents about Carversville, and probably
had some sort of a church edifice at the site of the old grave-
yard now practically destroyed on the Carversville and Aquetong
road below Carversville, where there were a few years ago
tombstones bearing the names of John Sebring, Senr., John
Sebring, Junr., and quite a number of other names mentioned in
the latter records of this branch church, recorded in the book.
The baptisms during the years 1769 and 1770, include the names
McConnaghey, Loughrie, Giles, Jones, Sebring, Mulligan and
McNeeley.
The next record of interest in the old church book is that of
the erection of a new church, and bears date,
Aug. 8, 1769 — It recites the fact that the "Congregation has
long been destitute of a comfortable House to meet in to Wor-
ship God ; that sometime ago we sett about building one & Hav-
ing the good hand of our God upon us got our House so far
carried on as to have seats on ye lower floor & pulpit erected, and
have this day met to chose a committee to settle the seats &
places decently."
Therefore there was "chose by Vote," John Kelly, Robert
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TINICUM AT RED HILL II5
MacFarland, Samuel Wilson, James McGlaughlin, William Arm-
strong, John Patterson, Robert Wilson, and James Kennedy. Of
these William Armstrong lived on the Tohickon in Bedminster
near Church Hill, and was the ancestor of the Armstrongs now
resident in our county ; Robert MacFarland lived in Plumstead ;
Samuel and Robert Wilson in Nockamixon; James Kennedy and
James McGlaughlin in Tincum, the latter on the Streiper tract.
On August I, 1770 another congregational meeting was held
for the same purpose, when Arthur Irwin, Nicholas Patterson,
Abraham Van Middleswarts, John Kelley, James Loughrie, Jos-
eph Blair, William Kennedy, Junr., and Robert Smith were ap-
pointed, with the trustees for building the house, who were,
William Mclntyre, Robert Stewart, John Thompson, John Wil-
son, George McElroy and Robert McFarland.
On the retirement of Mr. Mitchell in 1885, the services of Rev.
James Grier of Deep Run were secured for one-third of his time.
This arrangement was renewed in 1787 and probably continued
until his death in 1791. Rev. Nathaniel R. Snowden was called
in 1792 and probably served two years. He was succeeded by
Rev. Francis Reppard and the latter by Rev. Robert Russel, and
Rev. Uriah DuBois was installed over Deep Run and Tinicum,
Dec. 16, 1798, resigning the latter charge on his removal to
Doylestown in 1804. Rev. Alexander Boyd had charge in con-
nection with the Bewtown Church later, and Rev. Nathaniel Ur-
win of Neshaminy supplied them intermittently. There were 36
members in full communion in 1846, after which the congregation
rapidly dwindled.
By 1843, the congregation had so diminished that it was too
small to support a minister, and the church building being much
out of repair, it was decided to convey a one-half interest to
the Reformed and Lutheran congregations and the church was
rebuilt, probably with their assistance. The old building of 1768,
was entirely remodeled externally, the old stone stairway leading
up into the gallery from the outside obliterated and a number of
other changes made.
LThe deed of James Carrell, Stephen Bennett, Daniel Boileau,
William B. Warford and Jacob Vanderbelt, trustees of the Eng-
lish Presbyterian Church in Tinicum township at Red Plill, to
Philip R. Harpel and John Rufe, trustees of the Lutheran con-
I
ii6 pre;sbyte;rian church of tinicum at red hili^
gregation, and Isaac Wolfinger, John Welder, & Lewis Summers,
of the German Reformed congregation of the township of Tin-
icum, is dated August 12, 1843, ^"d conveys a one-half interest
in the church lot, of two acres and 141 perches. A schoolhouse
has been erected on the lot under lease for 99 years.
The old Scotch-Irish families that established the church in
the Indian township of Tinicum one hundred and seventy-five
years ago are hardly represented among the present residents of
Tinicum or elsewhere in Bucks county, having long since re-
moved westward with the tide of immigration, first to middle and
western Pennsylvania, later to Ohio, where at least two de-
scendants of one of the patriarchs of the first Tinicum congrega-
tion are still preaching the Gospel, while numbers of the descend-
ants of that early flock are scattered far and wide over the
United States. Numbers of them still feel some interest in the
home of their ancestors and visit it occasionally.
note; by b. f. fackenthal, jr.
The Stewart burying-ground to which Mr. Ely refers, known
locally as Bunker Hill Cemetery, and near which he believes to
have been the site of the first Tinicum Presbyterian Church, (of
which the church at Red Hill is the successor,) is located in Tini-
cum township 2^ miles, in a direct line, northeast from Ottsville,
and one mile, in a direct line, southeast from Revere. I visited
this cemetery during December 1910, and found it badly over-
grown with weeds, briars and many saplings. It contains about
half an acre; the north and south walls are 120 feet long, and
the east and west walls 178 feet long all on the outside. It is en-
closed by a stone wall 4^ feet high, now partly tumbled down,
which originally had a substantial stone coping; the iron gate en-
trance is still in splendid condition, and the gate swings on its
hinges very easily. There are evidences of hundreds of graves,
many of which are marked with small sandstone markers without
inscriptions, but 25 markers with inscriptions were found; some
of these were not in position and some were badly broken. The
following is a memorandum of all that remained. These few
records show burials as early as 1744, and as late as 1859, but
none between 1831 and 1858. They are as follows:
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TINICUM AT RED HILL II7
John Baxter — Died July 18, 1744, aged 85 years.
James Smith — Died September 25, 1758, aged 40 years.
Joseph McFarland — Died November 6, 1759, in the 55th year of his
ape.
Robert Kennedy — Departed this Hfe March ye 26th, A. D. 1776, aged
83 years.
Mary Kennedy- Departed this life June ye 3d, 1773, aged ^i years.
Thomas Kennedy — Died January 24, 1794, aged 65 years.
Samuel Stewart — Died December 28, 1782, in the 19th year of his age.
Jain Stuart — Died April 2, 1786, aged 29 years.
Robert Wilson — An aged man who departed this life September 23,
1783.
Jane, wife of Robert Wilson — An aged woman who departed this
life August 12, 1794.
William Mclntyre — Died vSeptember 29, 1784, in the S4th year of
his age.
Andrew Campbell — Died April 21, 1790, in the 34th year of his age.
Mary Kerr — Died May 21, 1792, in the 38th year of her age.
John Bailey — Died June 26, 1806, aged 59 years, 4 months, 14 days.
Isabella, wife of John Bailey, Sr. — Died September 8, 1822, in the 76th
year of her age.
John Bailey, Jr. — Died August 13, 1831, in the 56th year of his age.
Jane Abernethy — Died December 12, 181 1, in the 35th year of her age.
Esther Abernethy — Died March 10, 1819, about 75 years of age.
James Wilson — Died September 17, 1823, in the 78th year of his age.
Ann, wife of James Wilson — Died October 23, 1798, aged about 36
years.
William Weaver — Died March 11, 1858, aged 68 years, 9 months, 10
days.
Sarah, wife of William Weaver — Died November 15, 1859, aged 68
years, 9 months, 25 days.
Franklin Weaver — Died June 2, 181 1, aged 2 years and 5 months.
Rodolphus Weaver — Died September 19, 1826, in the loth year of
his age.
Nancy H., wife of Moses Weaver, Jr. — Died August 17, 1829, aged
37 years, 8 months, 12 days.
The following copies of papers, the originals of which are in
the library of the Bucks County Historical Society, show that
Col. Richard Backhouse rented a pew in the Presbyterian Church
at Red Hill, on June i, 1780, which was two months after he
moved to Durham furnace, April i, 1780.
In Committee June ist. 1780.
Sir:
In Pursuance of your Application for a Scat in our
Il8 SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST CHURCH OF HAYCOCK
Church — You are Appointed To The Front seat on the Right
hand of the Pulpitt- —
I am in behalf of the Committee,
Yr. Huble: Servt,
G. Mc EivROY.
7th. February 1791, Received of Mrs. Backhouse for
James Steel Collector of upper Quarter of Tinicum Congregation
the Sum of ten Shillings in full of the Assessment for Pew rent
from Nov. 1790 to April 10, 1791 per me.
John Thompson.
Saint John the Baptist Church of Haycock.
BY J. H. fitzge;rald, me;chanics valley, pa.
(Red Hill Church, Ottsville Meeting, October 4, 1910.)
The Church of St. John the Baptist, of Haycock, (Roman
Catholic), is located at the eastern base of Haycock mountain in
Haycock township, Bucks county. Pa. A few hundred yards
east of the church flows the waters of a creek called Haycock
run. Haycock Run post-office is about one mile distant. The
Durham road passes through Nockamixon township about a
mile east of the church. Surrounding the church edifice, (some
within a few feet of it,) are tombstones marking the graves of
many who worshipped there more than a century ago. The
church is built of native stone plastered on the outside. Its
dimensions are 30 ft. by 70 ft. with belfry or bell tower 12 ft. by
12 ft. at the base and 55 ft. high.
An old tombstone in the graveyard bears the following inscrip-
tion:
"Here lies the remains of Unity Casey, wife of Nicholas M'Carty;
departed this life the first day of June, A. D. 1745, aged about 70 years.
R. I. P."
There are a number of tombstones that were evidently erected
at a previous date but the inscriptions are not legible having been
efifaced by the elements; about forty graves in this section are
unmarked.
SAINT JOHN the: baptist church of itaycock 119
Inasmuch as the mission at Haycock was established in 1744
and was attended for a period of over one hundred years from
other churches, St. Joseph's Church, Philadelphia, and St. Paul's
Church, Goshenhoppen (now the Church of the Most Blessed
Sacrament, Rally. Pa.) a brief reference to the founding of these
two earlier churches will not be out of place here.
Although Catholic missionaries had labored in Pennsylvania
for a number of years previous, Rev. Joseph Greaton, S. J., from
Maryland, founded St. Joseph's Church, in 1734. He and his
co-workers established many missions and founded churches
throughout the Middle States. They were of the religious order
of the Society of Jesus, the members of which are called Jesuits.
Following the Franciscans and Dominicans they were very suc-
cessful in this country. Their names have been given to natural
and political divisions and a statue of one of their number. Father
Pere Marquette, has been placed in the Capitol at Washington
by a western state.
In 1 741 Rev. Theodore Schneider, S. J., established a mission
at Goshenhoppen, took up his residence there and built a church
and school. From this point many missions were established
throughout eastern Pennsylvania and in New Jersey. Haycock
was one of the missions established by him.
In every parish or center of missionary work there is kept a
sacramental register of baptisms also of marriages. From these
the movements of Father Schneider and his successors can be
traced and much information obtained relative to the early his-
tory of the territory embraced by Playcock parish. Copies of
the registers at St. Joseph's and at Goshenhoppen have been
published in the records of the American Catholic Historical
Society. The first entry made by Father Schneider was of the
baptism of Albertina Kohl, daughter of George and Barbara
Kohl, at Falkner's Swamp, Montgomery county. This George
Kohl died July 3, 1779. His wife Barbara died September 7,
1779. Their tombstones can be seen in the graveyard at Haycock.
Their daughter Albertina Kohl married Nicholas, son of Edward
and Catharine McCarty, January 20, 1767, at Haycock. They
were married by Rev. Ferdinand Farmer of St. Joseph's Church
Philadelphia, and a record of the marriage is on the register
there. Mention of this marriage is made here because Father
9
120 SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST CHURCH OF HAYCOCK
Schneider established the first permanent mission at Haycock in
the house of Edward McCarty where mass was celebrated. Sub-
sequently the. mission was conducted in the house of his son
Nicholas McCarty, until the erection of the first church in 1798.
This Nicholas McCarty and his brother Edward were baptized
by Father Schneider on May 27, 1742, in Christian Haug's house
in Tinicum. The tombstone of Nicholas McCarty informs us
that he died August 7, 1808. The house of Nicholas McCarty is
in Nockamixon township, and is now (1910) occupied by Roscoe
McCarty, a son of Thomas Y. McCarty. The latter is a director
of the poor in and for the county of Bucks.
It may be of interest to relate here the history of the site of
the first permanent mission in Haycock. From an old deed now
in the possession of Rev. John Neuenhaus, rector of Haycock
Church, Edward McCarty, under date of March 11, 1737, secured
a w^arrant from Thomas and Richard Penn for a tract of land
containing 250 acres. The land was surveyed April 19, 1738.
In giving the boundaries the deed mentions lands of John Dur-
ham and Thomas McCarty. The consideration was thirty-eight
pounds, fifteen shillings and a yearly rent of one-half penny per
acre.
The John Durham mentioned in the deed had a son John who
was baptized on May 27, 1742, by Father Schneider who wrote
the name on the register "Dorm." The same error was made by
Father Schneider in writing Durham Furnace, where he baptized
two on March 17, 1743. Other names apparently misspelled
were : "Lery" for Leary ; "Comins" for Cummings ; "Fitzchar-
roll" for Fitzgerald and "O'Nayl" for O'Neill.
Father Schneider died July 10, 1764, and on November 18 of
that year Father Farmer from St. Joseph's visited Haycock. In
1765 Rev. John B. DeRitter, S. J., began his charge at Goshen-
hoppen and continued the mission in Edward McCarty's house
in Haycock. Father DeRitter died in 1781, and was succeeded
by Rev. Peter Helbron. The latter was transferred in 1791 and
from that date until 1793 Rev. Nicholas Delvaux was in charge.
From the registers of St. Joseph's, Philadelphia, we find that
Rev. Ferdinand Farmer was at Haycock on May i, 1781, and
again on May i, 1786. Father Farmer was a trustee of the
University of Pennsylvania and died August 17, 1786, in Phila-
SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST CHURCH OF HAYCOCK 121
delphia. On September 13, 1791, Rev. L. Graessl from St.
Joseph's, Philadelphia, baptized the following at Haycock : Nich-
olas Kohl, son of George and Catharine Kohl ; Anna Heaney,
daughter of Anthony and Sarah Heaney; Elizabeth Buck, daugh-
ter of Nicholas and Magdalen Buck ; Rebecca McCarty, daughter
of Nicholas and Elizabeth McCarty. On October 2 of same year,
Rev. F. A. Fleming from St. Joseph's, baptized at Haycock, John,
son of James and Elizabeth Kohl. In September, 1792, Rev.
C. V. Keating from St. Joseph's baptized at Haycock, John, son
of John and Elizabeth McCarty. These baptisms are recorded
in Philadelphia. Fathers Graessl and Fleming died of yellow
fever in 1793 and Father Keating returned to Ireland in 1795.
On April 19, 1793, Rt. Rev. John Carroll, Bishop of Baltimore,
was at Goshenhoppen and administered the sacrament of con-
firmation.
From 1793 until his death in 1818 Rev. Paul Erntzen was in
charge at Goshenhoppen and early in this period the church was
built at Haycock. Under date of May 16, 1796, John McCarty
and Elizabeth, his wife, conveyed to "Rev. John Carrell, Bishop
of Baltimore, LL.D.," one acre of land in Haycock township,
"for a consideration of encouraging the worship of God and the
further consideration of the sum of five shillings." Recorded,
Bucks county, deed book 30, page 210. Bishop Neumann, of
Philadelphia, is authority for the statement that the church was
built in 1798.
Rev. Paul Kohlman, S. J., attended Haycock from 18 19 to
1829 when he was succeeded by Rev. Boniface Curvin, S. J.,
with Rev. E. McCarthy as an assistant to care especially for the
English speaking people. About this time, according to the
Catholic directory. Haycock was detached from Goshenhoppen,
and from the same source we learn of the following subsequent
appointments for Haycock. Rev. John J. Curtin of Milton,
Northumberland county, officiated once a month in 1833 ; Rev.
H. Herzog of Easton, attended twice a month, 1834-1837; Rev.
James Maloney of Easton. once a month, 1838-1844; (Father
Maloney also attended missions at Nesquehoning and Tamaqua) ;
Rev. Hugh Brady of Easton, once a month, 1845-1847; Rev.
Thomas Riordan of Easton, once a month, 1848- 1850.
About this time a rectorv was built at Havcock on land deeded
122 SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST CHURCH OF HAYCOCK
by Francis McCarthy by deed dated March 2, 1850, conveyed to
"Francis Patrick Kenrick, Bishop of the Cathohc Church of
Philadelphia, in trust for the use, occupancy and benefit of the
Catholic congregation of Haycock" 85 and 86-100 perches of
land, consideration, twenty dollars. Rev. Francis X. George
succeeded Father Riordan, completed the rectory and became
resident pastor. In 1856 he was transferred to Doylestown.
Under the direction of Father George and while he was at Hay-
cock a new church was built on the site of the old one.
Rev. John Tanzer, from St. Joseph's, Easton, 1857; Rev.
Henry De Lipovsky, 1858; Rev. Francis J. Wachter, 1859-1862;
Rev. Francis L. Neufeld, 1863-1866; Rev. Clement A. Kopper-
nagel, 1867-1869; Rev. John H. Loughran, 1870; Rev. Francis J.
Martersteck, 1871. Father Martersteck was transferred to
Manayunk, Philadelphia. He died at the St. Charles' Seminary,
Overbrook, July 2, 1901, while attending the spiritual retreat of
the priests, and was buried in the cemetery of his church at
Manayunk.
Rev. Henry Stommel, October 6, 1871, to November 19, 1875.
On March 27, 1873, Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Shanahan, Bishop, of
Harrisburg, administered the sacrament of confirmation to 213
persons at -Haycock.
Father Stommel was succeeded by Rev. Benedict Istman, who
remained but a few months when Rev. Martin Walsh was ap-
pointed pastor.
Rev. Gerard Henry Krake, 1877- 1899, who died January 21,
1900, at Haycock, and was buried in the cemetery near the en-
trance to the church.
Rev. Joseph A. Assmann, 1900- 1901 ; Rev. Edward G. Werner,
1902-1904; Rev. Anthony M. Koos, 1905-1908; Rev. Joseph A.
Schaefer, 1909; Rev. John Neuenhaus, the present rector, in
1910.
MISSIONS.
When the mission at Haycock became a parish its pastors in
turn became missionaries.
Rev. F. X. George established missions at Durham furnace and
Doylestown, attending these places once a month. Mass was
celebrated in the house of William Martin at Durham furnace
SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST CHURCH OF HAYCOCK I23
and in Beneficial hall, Doylestown. On July 31, 1855, the cor-
nerstone of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel church, Doylestown, was
laid by Rt. Rev. Bishop Neumann, of Philadelphia, assisted by
Very Rev. Edward J. Sourin, Chancellor of the Diocese. Rev.
Francis L. Neufeld established a mission at Sellersville. On
December i, 1872, Sellersville was made a parish with Rev.
Hugh McLoughlin as its first pastor.
In 1872 the Church of St. Lawrence at Durham furnace, was
erected under the direction of Rev. Henry Stommel the land
having been donated by Messrs. Cooper & Hewitt, at that time
owners of the Durham iron works. On September 20, 1872, it
was dedicated and mass celebrated in it for the first time. The
church was solemnly blessed by Rt. Rev. Aug. Toebbe, Bishop of
Covington, Sunday, September 21, 1873, at 7 a. m., after which
Father Borneman, of Reading, Pa., celebrated high mass. Sam-
uel B. Kohl w^as the contractor and builder.
On August II, 1872, Father Stommel laid the cornerstone of St.
Joseph's Church, Marienstein, in Nockamixon township, which
was dedicated on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, De-
cember 8, 1872, when mass was celebrated in it for the first time.
The solemn blessing of the church took place Sunday, September
21, 1873, at 10 A. M., by Bishop Toebbe, of Covington, Ky.,
solemn high mass was celebrated by Rev. Father Rosenbauer, C.
SS. R., of Philadelphia. After the mass Bishop Toebbe admin-
istered the sacrament of confirmation.*
The mason work was done by Sebastian Shwar, the carpen-
ter w^ork by Samuel B. Kohl, of Bucksville ; the altars and interior
work were built by Joseph Shuman. The lumber was purchased
from Jacob Housel. In 1875 a hall for St. John's Beneficial
Society was erected opposite the church.
• The writer was present at the solemn blessing of St. Joseph's Church, Marien-
stien, and recalls an incident that caused considerable delay and not a little disap-
pointment and confusion. Early in the morning Bishop Toebbe blessed the church
at Durham Furnace, after which a handsome team of horses and a new carriage was
at hand to convey him to Marienstien, the congregation of which had made elaborate
arrangements to meet him on the way, extend a welcome and escort him Jo the
church. On one of the roads and nearly a mile from the church, arches were erected
which were trimmed with evergreens and flowers. A procession was formed led by
the girls followed by the boys, women and men in order, but alas through some mis-
understanding the driver, John Hollihan of Upper Blacks Eddy, brought the Bishop
by a different route and arriving at the church found only a few persons present to
receive our distinguished visitor.
124 SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST CHURCH OF HAYCOCK
On Sunday afternoon, October 5, 1873, Father Stommel laid
the cornerstone of the Church of St. Rose of Lima, Piusfield, in
Tinicum township. The church was dedicated and the first mass
celebrated there on Sunday, December 28, 1873. The land was
donated by Patrick McGee. As there were no names for the
sites of the churches of St. Joseph and St. Rose of Lima, Father
Stommel named them. "Marienstein" is the German for "Mary's
Stone." "Piusfield" was so called in honor of Pope Pius IX, at
that time the visible head of the Church.
Father Stommel also established a mission at Quakertown on
Sunday, September 29, 1872, when mass was celebrated in the
house of James Fox. There were but nine persons present, priest
and altar boy included. The altar boy was Aloysius Fretz, now
pastor of the Church of the Holy Ghost, South Bethlehem.
Quakertown has since become a parish with Rev. Aloysius Scherf
as pastor.
At present the missions attended from Haycock are : Durham,
Marienstien and Piusfield. The parish includes the whole or in
part the townships of Haycock, Springfield, Durham, Nock-
amixon, Bridgeton, Tinicum and Bedminster and is about fifteen
miles square. By special arrangement a number of Catholics re-
siding in Hunterdon and Warren counties, N. J., assist at services
conducted in the churches at Durham Furnace and Piusfield as it
is more convenient for them than going to their parish churches
at Lambertville and Phillipsburg.
EDUCATION.
With the building of churches, wherever the means and facili-
ties were ample, schools were provided for the education of
youth where care was taken that the children would grow with a
knowledge of God and the teachings of His Church. The first
mission house built at Goshenhoppen served as a school and resi-
dence and since that date a Catholic school has been maintained
there. Many years before a church was built at Haycock there
was fi school conducted by the congregation. On the register of
marriages at Goshenhoppen under date of July 11, 1784, there is
the following entry "Wagner-Creutzer, Ferdinand Wagner, our
schoolmaster at Haycock, to Anna M. Creutzer, born Grandjean."
Attached to the first church at Haycock was a room used as a
RED lUhl, TO THE BLUE MOUNTAINS 12$
school. Philip O'Connell, who emigrated to this country from
Longford county, Ireland, in 1828, was a master in this school.
He subsequently taught in the public schools of Bucks county for
many years. He died June 25, 1891, aged 84 years. In 1861,
Father Wachter, with the assistance of a legacy from the estate
of Patrick Mulvaney, erected St. Theresa's Academy at Haycock.
It was maintained for a time as a boarding school. On Septem-
ber I, 1873, under the direction of Father Stommel a parish
school was opened there by the sisters of St. Francis ; sisters
Stephane, Clotilda and Gregoria.
Former pastors at Haycock, now living and attached to the
archdiocese of Philadelphia, are as follows: Rev. Henry Stom-
mel, permanent rector, St. Alphonsus Church, Philadelphia ; Rev.
Joseph A. Assmann, rector, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church,
Minersville; Rev. Edward G. Werner, rector at St. Mary's
Church, Beaver Meadow ; Rev. Anthony M. Koos, rector, St.
Bartholomew's Church, Paterson; Rev. Joseph A. Schaefer, rec-
tor St. Stanislaus' Church, Lansdale.
The Indian Walk From Red Hill to the Blue Mountains.
BY J. I. CAWLEY, M. D., SPRINGTOWN, PA.*
(Red Hill Church ^Meeting, Ottsvillc, Pa., October 4, 1910.)
The father of William Penn was an admiral in the British
navy, and was a creditor of the King to a large amount which
he was unable to pay. He therefore compromised the matter
by issuing the grant of a large tract of land in America to his
son William Penn, in liquidation of the obligation.
It appears that no consideration was given to the fact that the
natives, the original owners of all the lands in America, might
object to being summarily dispossessed of their lands. The fact
that they did seriously object to the proceedings of the white
people soon manifested itself along the entire eastern coast of
the American continent wherever colonization was attempted.
William Penn upon assuming the proprietorship of his estate in
America, agreeable to his spirit of conscientiousness and human-
ity, purchased from the natives every acre he took possession of.
* Dr. Cawley was born October 6, 1853; died December 11, 1915 He was
serving as Register of Wills for Bucks county at the time of his death.
126 RED nilviv TO THE BLUE MOUNTAINS
He was always absolutely fair and honest in his dealings with
the Indians, and instead of experiencing the bloody scenes that
befell others he possessed their ftill confidence, love, and esteem,
and by that course established protection for his people who
were never molested. He died in England in 1718, and his sons
John, Thomas and Richard Penn became the proprietors of
Pennsylvania. Dm'ing their administration of the estate, many
settlers located beyond the territory obtained by treaty from the
Indians, and for the first time there was discontent shown by the
tribes who saw their favorite hunting grounds and best land
taken from them. Their dissatisfaction became more and more
acute, and when they became threatening, John Penn, after being
urged for three years, was finally induced to come to America,
to arrange for another treaty for more land, including that un-
warrantably occupied by settlers. The Delawares and Shawnees
were peaceable, but the six nations and other tribes were also to
be appeased. The first conferences were held at Durham in
1734. In 1737 another was held at Philadelphia. These confer-
ences were attended by a large number of chiefs and delegates
from the tribes.
The policies of William Penn were not adhered to by his suc-
cessors, and the Indians were deceived by inaccurate drafts of the
territory and other sharp practises, not at all in harmony with
the course of the first proprietor. After much discussion the
treaty was concluded at the Philadelphia conference, with the
Indians believing that the rich land in the forks of the Delaware
and north of the West Branch (Lehigh) was still theirs. The
deed, however, showed that the walk was to extend along the
Neshaminy to its head waters and to continue in a direct course
for the distance to be covered in a walk of ij^ days and the ter-
ritory to include all land between the western end of the walk and
the Delaware river.
This walk was not conducted with the scrupulous honesty
which characterized the conduct of William Penn. A prelimi-
nary walk or survey ordered by John and Thomas Penn in a
somewhat secret manner, was entrusted to Sherifit" Timothy Smith
and Surveyor General John Chapman, who were to secure three
men "who could travel well," and several on horseback with
provisions and refreshments. This was in 1735. Trees were
RED HILL TO the; blue mountains 127
blazed along the way as a guide for the subsequent walk. The
course of this preliminary walk was from Wrightstown, prac-
tically northwest reaching the head waters of the Perkiomen
creek, passing what are now Strawntown and Applebachsville,
in Haycock, Pleasant \'alley in Springfield, Leithsville and Hel-
lertown in Northampton county, reaching the famous ford of
the Lehigh about a mile below Bethlehem, at Jones' Island, where
they crossed and then to the northwest, passing through the
Lehigh Gap, and ending about 8 or more miles beyond it. The
time consumed in this walk was 10 days, from April 22 to May 2.
Matters relating to this treaty were suspended for over two
years when the real walk was made. It started from Wrights-
town at a point now marked by a tablet, proceeded along the
Great road (now Durham road) to near Gardenville where the
walkers took a more northerly direction from the preliminary
survey and followed that road to the Tohickon creek, where
Deep run joins it, where the road ended but continued as a
wagon trail to Durham furnace. On reaching Stony Point in
Springtield township, they turned off the wagon trail, and struck
a smaller trail through Bursonville to Springtown and in a more
westerly direction partly over trails, and partly guided by marked
trees till they reached the preliminary route which they had left
near Gardenville. This was at the present village of Leithsville,
about 6 miles south of the Lehigh river. These two routes
nearly paralleled each other and they were at no point more than
3 or 4 miles apart.
The reason for this diversion from the trial-walk or survey
was to avoid the rocky territory of Haycock, Springfield and
Saucon, and the longer distance over a smoother road or trail
was more favorable for gaining time than the rough woods of
the trail- walk presented. We must bear in mind that after leav-
ing Stony Point, the route was through a perfect wilderness to
its end.
I beg leave here to insert a quotation from my paper read
June, 1891, at a meeting of the Buckwampum Historical Society
at Springtown.
"Picture, in imagination, Springtown, all woods and underbrush, the
only streets being Indian paths, and deer trails leading to the Durham
creek, with whose sparkling waters they slaked their tiiirst. The forests
128 RED HILI. TO THE BLUE MOUNTAINS
and meadows overgrown with luscious berries growing in wild profusion.
The waters of the creek alive with speckled trout, and no one but the
savage Indian to catch them. The quail, pheasant, duck, turkey, deer
and rabbit holding high carnival because the crack of the hunter's rifle
had not yet been the knell of doom to them. The song of myriads of
birds, the cry of the wolf, the growl of the bear, and the war whoop,
song and dance of the Indian, and perchance the funeral dirge, as some
loved brave, who had been called to the 'Happy Hunting Grounds' was
laid to rest in the old Indian burying ground, now known by a clump
of trees, near the residence of George Seifert, were the only sounds to
disturb the deathlike stillness which reigned here from the time the world
began.
"This tranquil repose was broken in upon by an English man named
George Wilson who came up the creek from Durham some time about
1728. He made himself at home in the meadows, now owned by Henry
S. Funk, Esq.
"He built the first house we have any knowledge of, and was the first
resident of the place. The plans and specifications of the structure cannot
be found ; he left no photograph nor description of it to posterity and
we are therefore unable to describe the building; but the fact that the
land did not belong to him ; that carpenters, and saw and planing mills
were scarce, and logs plenty, leads us to suppose that it was a log hut of
the rudest description."
George Wilson opened a store at once and did a thriving trade
with the Indians. All we know of his stock in trade is that he is
mentioned in the Bucks county records as a retailer of rum in
1730.
On September 19, 1737, he was surprised by the arrival of
white visitors. They were the famous walkers of the great
"Indian walk." They left Wrightstown at sunrise, came up the
Durham road to Stony Point, in Springfield ; there they branched
off and came through what is now Bursonville, to the residence
of George Wilson, not 200 rods from where we are now as-
sembled, where they took dinner. So says George Furness, of
Wrightstown, who accompanied the walkers. After dinner the
walk was continued through the present town of Springtown to
the Lehigh river near Bethlehem.
After this purchase of lands from the Indians by the Penns,
settlers came pushing into the township of Springfield very
rapidly, so that by 1743 there were about 40 families in the
township, and Saucon adjoining.
Edward Marshall, James Yates and Solomon Jennings, all ex-
RED HILL TO THE BLUE MOUNTAINS I29
pert walkers, were employed, their recompense was to be a prize
of 500 acres of land to be selected by the winners from any lands
not already occupied in the purchase, and £5 in money, to the one
who reached the most distant point at the termination of the
walk. Two of these men, followed by men on horseback and
Indian witnesses, strode into Springfield that September 19, 1737.
Jennings had already given up the task before reaching Spring-
field. It did not take them long to strike the first and only house
they saw in the township that day. that of George Wilson. It was
probably the only house in the township, and Wilson was the
only white resident within the borders of Springfield at that time
so far as is known.
It is pretty well established that Wilson's shack stood within
100 feet of a large spring about 40 feet from the walls of Funk's
flour mills at the eastern end of Springtown. Tradition in
the Funk family has that as the location. It is on the route of the
Indian trails leading by the ford at Jones' Island toward Dur-
ham, toward the great road at Stony Point, and toward the west-
ward to the great trail from the country of the Susquehannas to
Pennsbury and it stood on the banks of Cook's (now Durham)
creek, which was the highway over which Wilson conveyed his
merchandise to his place of business, and his pelts taken in ex-
change, to Durham on their way to market.
It was in a meadow, as all writers agree, and as Marshall him-
self has affirmed, and was the logical spot for him to locate.
This land was sold by the Penns to Caspar Wister, a land spec-
ulator and manufacturer of brass buttons of Philadelphia, in
1738. A few weeks later is was sold by him to Stephen Twining,
who built a mill and conducted it, besides farming the land, till
in 1763 he sold it to Abraham Funk. The property has remained
in the Funk family to this day. As it came into their possession
at so recent a date subsequent to the walk, and at a time still
more recent to the departure of Wilson, who in all probability
remained till after the land was sold to Twining, there can be
no reasonable doubt but that Abraham Funk knew the exact spot
where Wilson had lived and that the information transmitted to
his descendants from one generation to another is correct.
The late \\'illiam J. Puck who was on the spot man}- years -ago
130 RED HII.I, TO the; BI,UE MOUNTAINS
corroborated the claim. It would be within the province of this
society to perpetuate the spot in some way, so that its location
may be preserved to posterity.
After a dinner, consuming, it is said, 15 minutes of time, they
continued the walk due westward through what is now Spring-
town, gently toward the north around the base of the hill called
Coleberg, till several miles farther on they reached the great trail
to Philadelphia at or near Leithsville in Lower Saucon township,
Northampton county, about 6 miles from the ford near Bethle-
hem.
The distance from Stony Point to Springtown was 4 miles,
and from there to what is now the line of Northampton county,
2 miles, a total of about 6 miles. The preliminary walk crossed
through about 5 miles of Springfield territory over what is now
the old Bethlehem road, and through the present hamlet of Pleas-
ant Valley.
The walkers spent but little more than an hour in crossing
Springfield, for it is said they were at the ford near Bethlehem
at about i o'clock. Thence they continued to the Blue Moun-
tains ; the Lehigh Gap being generally claimed to have been the
objective point, which was reached at the suspension of the walk
on the first day.
There are various different claims made as to the course taken
after leaving Jones' Island, some claiming they crossed the moun-
tain at Lehigh Gap, others at Smith's Gap, and still others at the
Wind Gap, the two last going by way of Nazareth and Bath. A
study of the walk on the half day of September 20, is not
intended for this paper, but it may be stated that Yates fell into
a creek on the west side of the Blue Mountains and was stricken
blind and died three days later. Marshall continued the walk
till noon and reached Stillwater in Monroe county.
The length of the walk is variously estimated from 60 to no
miles — "66}4 being the nearest correct" (Buck). The surveyors
of the route all give the distance from Jones' Island to the Gap,
whichever gap they passed through, a.t gj4 miles. This is cer-
tainly not correct, as the distance to either gap from Bethlehem
is about 20 miles ; so the chances are that the distance is nearer
RED HILL TO the; BLUE MOUNTAINS 131
to from 72 to 79 miles. ^ From the terminus of the walk, the re-
turn trip to the Delaware was made in a line at right angles with
the course of the w'alk, which reached the river at the mouth of
L,ackawaxen creek in Pike county, thus securing;- about 500,000
acres of land through the transaction; while the idea of the In-
dians was that the line would not reach further north than the
Lehigh at Easton. They protested they had been cheated, and
many a bloody massacre in Northampton county was the result
of the dissatisfaction with the sharp practice of the Penns. Mar-
shall's wife and son were victims of their thirst for revenge, and
Marshall on several occasions barely escaped.
The prize which he won he never received. He finally settled
on Marshall's island in the Delaware, in Tinicum township, and
died there at the age of 79 years, in 1789. He was 27 years old
when he made the walk and was a native of Bustleton, Philadel-
phia. Yates was a New Englander and lived at Newtown in
Bucks county. Jennings lived on what has for years been known
as the Geissinger farm 2 miles above Bethlehem on the south
bank of the Lehigh, and died there. I beg to acknowledge valu-
able assistance received in the preparation of this paper, from
George W. and Samuel H. Laubach, of Durham, who has given
this subject much careful study. -
^ There has been rtmch speculation as to the length of this great walk, and some
little difference of opinion as to its exact route. It should be no very difficult or
costly matter to have a survey of the route made, using the best information avail-
able. It would be commendable if the historical societies of Bucks and Northampton
counties would, jointly, have the route laid out and marked with appropriate monu-
ments. — B. F. F., Jr.
^ See paper by John S. Williams, Vol. II, page 348.
Memorial Tributes to General W. W. H, Davis.
SOLDIER, HISTORIAN, AUTHOR, JOURNALIST.
From the Bucks County Intelligencer,
(Doylestown Meeting, January 17, 191 1.)
Not many men in Bucks county, whose lives have covered
nearly a century and whose participation in the history making
events of times when feeHng ran so high, have been honored
with such a memorial meet-
ing as was on Tuesday ac-
corded the late General W.
W. H. Davis by the Bucks
County Historical Society
which devoted the after-
noon of its annual meeting
to the purpose.
It was the first time in
the history of the society
when such a meeting has
been held, although its life
has covered a period of 30
years. It was one of the
very few times when its
founder was not an active
spirit in its meetings. The
addresses were made by
ex-Judge Harman Yerkes,
who had known him as a
'^A
GENERAL W. W. H. DAVIS
Born Southampton township, July 27, 1820.
Died at Doylestown, December 26, 1910.
friend and neighbor during his lifetime; Alfred Paschall, for
many years his opponent as editor of The Intelligencer; William
C. Ryan, who gave reminiscences as one of a later generation
who viewed his career as one of the greatest men of the county,
and Henry C. Mercer, his associate in making the historical so-
ciety the success it has reached.
Ex-Judge Harman Yerkes said : —
I have not had the time to give to the preparation of what I
MEMORIAL TRIBUTES TO GENERAL W. W. U. DAVIS I33
shall say this afternoon, but shall speak from the recollections
of almost my entire lifetime of the former president of this so-
ciety. The few reminiscences which I shall recall, I feel per-
sonally I owe to him — his merits, his character, his friends — to
local history and to this society of which he was the founder,
and of which he was so proud.
When your president called upon me to say something, I felt
that I could not decline, because while of the dead it is easy to
speak in the commonplace remarks and usual complimentary
terms, when it comes to speaking of one who has been a friend
and neighbor during a lifetime, there is more expected and to be
considered. There must be observed some delicacy in controlling
what one would say, and yet at the same time frankness in do-
ing justice to the subject; before this society, even that truth
may seem harsh. I feel that if propriety and duty combine to
impose upon anyone to commend the virtues of the dead, this
occasion calls upon me to say something of my knowledge of
General W. W. H. Davis.
General Davis' father and my father were near neighbors and
good friends. In fact, his father was much older than mine, and
really he was the friend and supporter of my grandfather, who,
in the early part of the last century was the pastor of the old
Southampton Baptist Church. My grandfather, Rev. Thomas B.
Montanye, organized the first Sunday School in that church
about 1820, and General Davis was its first teacher. Upon the
night of the marriage of General John Davis to Miss Amy Hart,
my grandfather, who performed the ceremony, returned from the
wedding, and my mother, who was then a babe, was named Amy
Hart Montanye, after the bride of that occasion. And once in
each year during my boyhood days, that birth and the wedding
were commemorated by a family dinner, at which General John
I )avis and his children attended.
I can recollect and recall with much feeling, a later occasion,
when, as a half grown boy, I had become disabled by an acci-
dent, and it was determined that I could not through my life
follow the plow, and must select some professional calling. Gen-
eral John Davis was called into the family council, and with his
daughters and son Watts, there in the old sitting-room down
home, with me in the cellar listening through the floor to what
134 M^MORIAI, TRIBUTe;S to general W. \V. H. DAVIS
was going on above, my fate was settled by the advice of John
Davis. The question was, and it was an important one to the
boy in the cellar, whether he should be a minister, which my
father favored, where everybody might be his slaves, or whether
he should be a doctor, where everybody should be his victims, or
whether he should be a lawyer, and the slave of other people. It
was then and there determined that for the future of his life he
should prepare for slavery.
I knew the family of General John Davis intimately. It was
the custom every Sunday morning for us all to go over to the
Baptist church and listen to an old-time, hard-shell sermon of an
hour or more, when we were told, as I once heard Rev. Dr.
Beebe, of New York, say, that there was no way of getting
into the Baptist church by the windows or by the cellar — they
must all come through the door of baptism by water. And then
on the way home General Davis invariably rode to his home with
us, always discussing the events of the day, for in those days
there were other subjects than "bridge," football and gowns, for
after-church conversation.
No sketch of the life of W. W. H. Davis can be intelligently
given without referring to his father General John Davis,
who for nearly three-score years was his constant mentor and
guarded his every step. The father of our former president was
an extraordinary man. I think he was one of the most remark-
able men that this county ever produced — without much begin-
ning in the way of means; he was a hard worker. Though with-
out early education, he became a close student, an intelligent and
accomplished disputant and effective debater, who met, and it was
conceded, vanquished some of th'e strongest debaters of the period
in the discussion of great public questions, one of which still re-
mains with us, and of which we speak much if we know little.
I refer to the tariff. I can remember him enjoying with the ut-
most pleasure any opportunity to engage in debate and discus-
sion upon that and kindred subjects. He met such men as Ed-
ward Joy Morris, Josiah Randall, E. Morris Davis, and later, on
the slavery question, Lucretia Mott, Charles C. Burleigh, Robert
Purves, and others of that time. One of the most noted con-
tests in which he engaged, was with Caleb N. Taylor over his
attempt to create a new county, to be called the County of Penn,
MEMORIAL, TRIBUTES TO GENERAL W. W. 11. DAVIS I35
and to be carved out of the lower townships of Bucks. Mont-
gomery and a part of Philadelphia, in which he was victorious.
General John Davis had but this one son, and with an ambition
that characterized every movement and action of his life, he
determined that that son should be prepared by hammering, if
necessary, to make his way in life, to acquire prominence and win
the commendation of his fellowmen ; for without disparagement,
rather as a commendation of merit, I wish to say that there could
not have been a family more possessed with ambition than this
family. The son was schooled by father, mother and sisters in
the line of rectitude, hard work and family love and loyalty by
discipline as hardly any. other boy of his time experienced
"Watts" Davis, in his neighborhood, was regarded by people who
did not know the family well, as being a pampered and petted
child, but those who knew the truth, were aware that he was
compelled to walk the chalk line from rising in the morning until
retiring at night, and this made its impress upon his character and
his future accomplishments, as recognized by those of us who
have known him long; for those of you who have only known him
wnthin the last ten or fifteen years, did not know General Davis
as he was in the prime of his life His age and the labor that he
performed told upon him, and he became, compared to what he
once was, but a mere child, and, I regret to say, became, especially
in his financial afifairs, the victim of unprincipled scoundrels, who
deceived, flattered and stripped him of a greater part of his well
earned competence.
He was early imbued with the idea of an army life and military
success. In those days, politics centered around military afifairs,
and the militia camp was the stamping ground of the politicians.
If there ever was a politician. General John Davis was such,
and he knew it was through military association that men climbed
up in the political world, and incidently formed combative habits.
Illustrative of that characteristic of the times. I recall very
distinctly that my first impressions and observations of the po-
litical movement of that day was wdien, as a boy. I went with
my father and brothers to a pole raising — the raising of a hickory
pole, (General Jackson was lovingly called "Old Hickory") up on
Carrell's field, on the site of the Old Log College, and after the
pole was raised, the meeting adjourned to Leedom's Inn at the
10
136 MEMORIAI, TRIBUTES TO GENERAL W. W. H. DAVIS
corner of York and Street roads, where the Fitch Monument
stands. The orators of the occasion were no common men in
their day. They were the Hon. Henry Chapman, Hon. Thomas
Ross, Hon. Stokes L. Roberts and E. Morris Lloyd, and every
one of these speakers commenced his speech, and almost to the
termination of it, aroused the voters and inspired the enthusiasm
of the audience by dwelling upon what the Democratic party had
accomplished in the Wars of 1812 and the Revolution.
There appeared even then through the crowd a survival of the
bitterness of factional strife and old party lines, as displayed by
the criticism of the speakers. One could hear two or three men
saying "Well, Harry Chapman is making a good speech, but I
can't forget that he descended from the old Federalists." And
others would say "Tom Ross has a good deal of assurance to
come here, where was one of the first Masonic Lodges destroyed,
and to talk Democracy in the face of his Anti-Masonic record
and his attacks upon us in his newspaper. The Jackson Courier,
and something of the same kind was said of Mr. Roberts, more
particularly referring to his indecision, and disposition to be
non-committal upon any subject, and poor Mr. Lloyd, the youth
of the party, who had been an Old Line Whig — "He just came
over to the Democratic party because he wanted to become dis-
trict attorney, and if he failed, he would be found seeking other
party associates." He was later defeated by such feeling and
left his party. I remember it all very distinctly, and refer to it
only as illustrating the difference displayed then and now in the
method of treating political questions and leaders by the rank
and file of the parties. The parties were divided into factions,
and in their own camp like the old Roman soldiery, the leaders of
the respective legions rivaled each other, learned the art of war
by contesting with friends, and bitterly denouncing, almost to the
point of an open breach, each other, but when they met the com-
mon enemy, like the solid phalanx of the old Roman army, they
became invincible against that enemy.
It may be interesting to digress here to narrate some incidents
which, although not strictly germane to my subject, are of suffi-
cient interest to preserve as a part of the unwritten history of our
county during the period which made it memorable in the po-
litical strifes, which in the days of Andrew Jackson attracted the
MEMORIAL TRIBUTES TO GENERAL W. W. H. DAVIS I37
attention of the whole country, and in which General John Davis
and his son were active participants.
Forty years ago, it was common to hear upon our streets,
wherever political discussions occurred, reference to the Fox and
Chapman factions. I was curious to learn of the origin of the
contentions which contained enough of bitterness to keep alive
the fires of faction for so many years, and once asked Judge
Chapman to give me the cause of the political troubles referred
to. He informed me that as a young man, he was an ardent fol-
lower and supporter of Judge John Fox, as against the fol-
lowers of Judge John Ross. There had arisen, after the election
of Governor Wolf, quite a rivalry between these judges for the
control of affairs as the recognized leader of Governor Wolf. It
resulted, to some extent, in a drawn battle. Judge Ross succeeded
in having his son appointed Deputy Attorney General, and in be-
ing himself transferred to the Supreme Court, to be followed
almost immediately by the disappointment of seeing Governor
Wolf appoint John Fox as the local judge to succeed him.
In a brief time there arose the discussions in the cabinet of
President Jackson, growing out of the marriage of General
Eaton, his secretary of war, to one Peggy O'Neill, the daugh-
ter of the hotel keeper with whom Jackson had boarded. To
many of the ladies of President Jackson's cabinet it was not con-
sidered in good form to bring into the cabinet family the daugh-
ter of a mere boarding-house keeper, and at once there arose a
social conflict at Washington over the recognition of Mrs. Eaton
by the wives of the other cabinet ofhcers.
Samuel D. Ingham, of this county, was then secretary of the
treasurer. Judge Fox, General John Davis, and some others,
were his ardent lieutenants. Mrs. Ingham succeeded in making
herself obnoxious to President Jackson by her hostility to ]Mrs.
Eaton, whose cause the President espoused, the result being that
Mr. Ingham was compelled to resign from the cabinet. When he
returned to his home, his followers attempted to make a martyr
of him. They received him with military honors, Mr. Chapman,
then captain of the Doylestown military company, going out on
the road to the Fox Chase to escort him into the county.
As the next election approached, the strife became embittered
between the Jackson and Anti-Jackson men. It was at this time
138 MEMORIAI, TRIBUTES TO GENERAL W. W. H. DAVIS
that General John Davis wrote a letter, somewhat famous in the
traditions of the county, to his friend William Purdy, then pro-
thonotary, in which, after referring to the division of the party,
he said that others might do as they chose, but for himself he did
not propose to go to an election at which General Jackson was a
candidate. That letter was carelessly left in one of the pigeon
holes of the prothonotary's desk by Mr. Purdy, and found there
later by William D. Ruckman, who whether carelessly or pur-
posely, as they charged, or out of spirit of mischief, delivered the
letter to E. T. McDowell, the great leader of the Whig party in
the county. W^hen General John Davis became the nominee for
the office of Congress in 1838, many bitter things were said, and
the campaign became quite personal, and this letter was used, as
I may later state.
Prior to this time, Henry Chapman had been nominated by the
Democratic party as a candidate for Congress, running against
Matthias Morris, his brother-in-law, and the breach which led
to the formation of the Fox and Chapman factions occurred dur-
ing this campaign, as narrated by him as follows :
At that day there was but one daily newspaper received in the
town from Philadelphia. It was delivered at the old Intelligencer
office late in the afternoon by the local stage driver, and there,
in the evening, all the notables of the town would assemble to
hear the news read. On one occasion there was an incident
related of a fight in Philadelphia by two men over a card table,
at which it appeared the everlasting Jackson feud was discussed.
It resulted in one of the disputants being shot. Judge Fox and
Mr. Chapman were both present. Judge Fox sitting behind the
desk, near the door of the office, nursing a broken collar bone,
caused by a fall from his gig. He remarked "There, the Jackson
men murdered that man." Mr. Chapman, realizing that he
needed the votes of both factions of the party, deprecated this
remark, saying he thought it rather severe. Whereupon Judge
Fox said to him "And you have gone over to the Jackson men too,
and deserted your friends?" Chapman replied "No, I merely
say that the remark is not justified," Whereupon Judge Fox be-
came very denunciatory. Mr. Chapman walked from the room,
and as he passed Judge Fox, said to him, "Judge Fox, it is well
for you that you met with that unfortunate accident, or I would
MEMORIAI, TRIBUTES TO GENERAL W. W. IT. DAVIS 1 39
punish you for what you have said." That was the parting of the
ways between these high-strung men, and Judge Chapman re-
marked to me that from that day the Ingham-Fox people includ-
ing Davis and Lewis S. Coryell went to the Whig leaders, and
combined with them to defeat him, resulting in the election of
Mr. Morris to Congress. This unfortunate misunderstanding did
not end there. Within a short time. General John Davis was the
candidate for Congress, when it became the turn of the Chapman
men and they became the supporters of Mr. Morris for re-elec-
tion and were active in circulating the broadside containing the
letter of General Davis attacking General Jackson, which resulted
in the defeat of Davis for Congress, and the triumphant election
of Morris. It was in an earlier campaign for Sheriff that the fol-
lowing characteristic handbill was circulated by Stephen Brock
against his opponent. General Davis :
"To the German Electors of Bucks county :
"One letter stating truths, with a real name to it, is worth a hundred
lying letters without a name. My enemies have already published a
number of such letters, pretending to be Avritten by somebody in the
townships of Milford, Springfield, etc., in Rogers paper, without any name.
Now it is an absolute fact that these letters were smuggled up in Rogers
office by Davis and others, to slander and run me down, and praise up
Davis, who is a stranger to you, who can neither say how d'ye do or
good-bye to you, much less speak and explain business to you in German.
They say I have had the office and got rich. And who is it prefers this
charge against me. Why Pugh, Watts, Bennet and Ingham, who have
been in office a-11 their lives. I own the old Cross Keys Tavern and 70
acres of land, and this is all I own, and on this I owe $2,400, as may be
seen of record in the office, and so far as I have been enabled to improve
it I feel grateful to my German friends for their kindness and support.
Now my German friends, you know where I live, at the Old Cross Kej-s,
and if I don't answer to all the charges truly you can easily tell me of
it. After I went out of office I did not put on big airs — I put on no
ruffled shirts nor long tailed coats. If my neighbor wants a vendue cryed,
I hallow O yes! and am at his service. If he wants his stumpy ground
ploughed. Brock is the fellow can do it with his big black oxen that eat
the turnip top. vSteve can't be idle ; when the season promises good
pasture to the farmer he jumps on his horse, gallops up the Susquehanna,
gathers together a drove of cattle of all sorts and sizes, drives them down
to Bucks county through hot sun and dust, thunder and hail storms, stops
to see his German friends, sells them cows and calves, and all to make
an honest penny. lUit because I do these things and because I wore
home-made trousers when 1 was sheriff before, and because the common
people vote for me, the fellows about Doylestown say I am unfit for
I40 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES TO GENERAL W. W. H. DAVIS
sheriff, and further my friends, these big fellows, these grandees and
their lordly candidate from Maryland, the land of slave drivers, the same
squad of half-cocked officers who told you at Camp Marcus Hook that
stinking beef was good enough for common soldiers, the same fellows,
who say they can make Saml. Smith lead the Dutch by the nose. I
understand that they are secretly circulating a story that I have not
settled up my old sheriff's business. Now this is a thumper. If I owe
any man a cent on my docket, I am ignorant of it. I challenge any man
to an examination of it. Now who is John Davis? About the beginning
of last war he came from the State of Maryland to this county and vio-
lently opposed all the war measures. But his uncle Watts told him that
he must turn Democrat and hallow for the war and then he would get
an office and he did so. He is one of your big Irish blooded fellows and
Judge Watts says he is the very fellow for sheriff, because he is to
appoint Joe Burrows his jailor and that's what we want; they have been
bothered with the Dutch long enough. These Lords of the Manor have
made their brags, that they could make the Dutch vote for any Irishman,
even from Maryland. They laugh and say no man can be sheriff without
their consent. They say Gen. Dungan must wait till they give him the
nod. What are Davis' claims ? He has been but a few years in the
county. What has he ever done? He is rich, he owns one of the best
plantations in the lower section of the county, a valuable mill and has a
large store, and where I am worth $ioo, Davis is worth $500 or $700.
Davis would feel himself insulted to tell him he was a poor man, he
hardly looks at Brock, he thinks he is one of the big would be Lords of
the Land. And this accounts for his carrying a petition all over the
lower end of the county for the passage of a law to prevent poor men
from shooting a blackbird or woodpecker on his and other great men's
plantations. It also accounts for his saying that Brock would get all the
poor people's votes who wore linsey pantaloons and roundabouts. These
facts I have thought proper to state to you in my own name. More of
your slanders without a name. Come out above board or not at all, that's
my way. Great exertions are making to set my German friends against
jng * * * A hundred lies are afioat. I was born and brought up
among the Germans and can talk German as well as English. I am at
home among you, give me your fat pork and sourcrout, none of your
grandee roast beef and lobster for
Stephen Brock.
"N. B. — Look out ! The Junto are this minute in Rogers' office, and
were overheard by a friend of mine. They say Brock will sweep clean
in the lower end, and if he can't be killed among the Germans, he is
sheriff in spite of intrigue. They say any lie to kill him among the
Dutch. They have agreed to print a handbill, stating, that Brock said
he could buy the Germans' vote with a gingerbread or by sticking his
tongue out at them. It is said they have hired a vagabond to swear to
these things. If I ever uttered such a word, may I never be sheriff! Is
MEMORIAL TRIBUTES TO GENERAL W. W. II. DAVIS I4T
there a man in the county will believe it. They have been heard to say
they will get up any thing to kill Brock among the Dutch. I caution all
my friends to examine their tickets before they vote. I am informed
they have got my name on their tickets spelt Brok. Look out. Any
devilment to kill."
This is a fair sample, more humorous than elegant, of the po-
litical literature of that time. How much of it was written by
Brock, or how much by McDowell, at this day, no one can say.
It was shrewdly addressed to the prejudices of the Germans.
The "ginger bread" handbill was already in circulation by the
Davis partisans.
A few years later, by a change in the constitution, it became
necessary for Judge Fox to be continued in office by a reappoint-
ment from Governor Porter. Again the unfortunate encounter
referred to, had its effect. Chapman, Rosses, McDowell, the whig
leader, and others of the bar, arrayed themselves against the se-
lection of Judge Fox, and in order to secure his defeat by the
refusal of confirmation by the senate should he be appointed, it
was determined to select a senator hostile to him. As a result,
Mahlon K. Taylor was nominated by the Whigs as a dummy can-
didate. General Samuel A. Smith was nominated by the Inde-
pendent Anti-Fox Democrats, Taylor was withdrawn and Smith
supported by the W'higs, which resulted in his election, and fin-
ally, in compelling Governor Porter to withdraw the name of
Judge Fox as the nominee. Broadsides again figured effectively
in the Smith campaign. This action resulted in the appointment
of James Burnside to the judgeship in this district. Governor
Porter remarking that as the Bucks county lawyers insisted upon
quarrelling amongst themselves, he would give them a judge who
would discipline them as they deserved.
Many characteristic stories are told of the methods resorted to
by Burnside in order to bring about harmony at the bar. While
there was no harmony, the result was that all learned to admire
Burnside, and when he was transferred to the supreme bench,
there was no more popular man in the county.
In 185 1, when Judge Chapman received the nomination for
judge in the district, the old feud was revived, and Mr. Fornance,
of Montgomery county, was nominated as an independent can-
didate. General Davis was most active in this fight and new po-
litical alignments were made. The three-cornered fight resulted
142 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES TO GENERAL W. W. H. DAVIS
in the election of the Whig candidate, Daniel M. Smyser and de-
prived the county, for a period of ten years, of the able services
of Henry Chapman as judge, who elected at the next term, filled
the position with such honor to himself, and satisfaction to the
people, that he left a record surpassed by none who have occupied
that exalted place.
General Davis received his youthful impressions amidst such
surroundings, and his combative father rejoiced in the opportu-
nity to bring his son up in that school. At the militia encamp-
ments or turnouts, the father and son were together, the father
in his regimentals, and the son an obedient follower, both in the
thick of the fight in every battle of words, or even ready to give
or take harder knocks. He was sent away to a Military School ;
thence to the Mexican War, as aide-de-camp to General Gushing,
and there rendered honorable service. He came back from that,
and in a short time afterward, having practiced law here for the
period of four or five years, he was sent to New Mexico, and
his career there, in my estimation, has always been the most in-
teresting portion of his entire life. He went into that newly ac-
quired territory, and with intelligence and virility he reorganized
or rather organized, one of the first territorial governments in
that large district acquired from Mexico, performing the duties
of most of the territorial officers. He studied the conditions and
habits of the people, acquired their language, and followed his
work up by writing a history of the conquest of that country,
entitled "The Spanish Conquest of New Mexico," that has re-
ceived the commendation of the highest historians of our coun-
try. In that work he first acquired his thirst and aptitude for
historical writing.
He returned to Bucks county, and through a disappointment in
his father's ambition for him, became involved in a contest in his
own party over the issue involving the terms of the admission
of the State of Kansas, joined upon the question of the adoption
of the Le Compton Constitution. As I have said, his father was
very ambitious. He had been a devoted follower of Mr. Bu-
chanan and after Mr. Buchanan had become president, he applied
for an appointment for his son. I had it from one who was pres-
ent, Mr. Buchanan said to him, "General Davis, you have been in
office four years under President Polk, your son has been in
MEMORIAL TRIBUTES TO GENERAL W. \V. H. DAVIS I43
office four years under President ^Pierce, and I think you and
your family should stand back and let somebody else have some-
thing. You have had enough." ' I don't refer to this in dis-
paragement of the man, because it is commendable for men to be
ambitious for place, and this is the way men rise, but as char-
acteristic of the father of this man, and of the spirit which he
imbibed from him, James Buchanan, from that day, could not
count upon the friendship of John Davis, because he was not
built that way. These old timers, our forefathers, were fighters,
and they either went along in the fight with the leaders, expect-
ing the reward of the soldier, or if their friends would not
recognize the obligation, they would turn around and fight them,
and consequently the Doylestozvn Democrat was purchased, upon
the urgency of Colonel Forney of the Philadelphia Press, who
also had a grievance, having been refused the recognition he ex-
pected by Mr. Buchanan, and then bitter and relentless war was
made upon the administration over the Kansas issue. Here, the
fight was taken tip by the other faction of the party, and an-
other paper, The Standard, was started, and then there was a
disruption in the Democratic party to which Mr. Roosevelt's
blustering fight in the Republican party don't hold a candle. It
was submerged under the tremendous issues of the Rebellion.
General Davis was glad to buy in the rival Standard, its editors
volunteered in his company, and the Democrat became further
identified until now, in more than one sense, with the life and
subsequent career and prominence of its owner.
The War of the Rebellion, to this soldier who had been through
the Mexican War, who had had those hardened experiences in
New Mexico, was just the opportunity his family longed for to
win new honors in the army. His record there is known to
everybody here, and I do not propose to refer to it at this time,
because, partially for want of time, and because I think that the
Committee on I;)iographies should prepare a brief memorial, in-
cluding his military record, to be spread upon the minutes of the
association, of the first i)resident of this society.
After he came from the war, and after doing good service in
his newspaper, not only to his party but to his community, he
began to age, and in his later days, mellowed. He was a diflfer-
ent man from what he had been when I first knew him, his
144 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES TO GENERAL W. W. H. DAVIS
abrupt temperament greatly changed. But he was always loyal
to his friends, and he never showed, and I hardly think he ever
cherished, resentment toward his enemies. He was ready to for-
give, but he had too much feeling to forget much of the injury
that was done him, and many of the hard things that were said
of him. Even in the history of this society, there were occa-
sions when he felt and deeply regretted some surviving spirit
of that old-time animosity which, through him, attacked the
good name and success of this society.
I remember on one occasion, and I have this from the inter-
ested parties, it was proposed by Mr. Longstreth to contribute a
large amount of money for a building for the society in Doyles-
town, and the lot upon which it was to be erected had been se-
lected, when some one, or two or three, entertaining some of
the old distrust and hostility, went to Mr. Longstreth, and dis-
suaded him from engaging in the enterprise, saying, "This is
merely a fad of Watts Davis to exploit himself, and after he
is gone ,the Historical Society will be a thing only to be remem-
bered." Tt hurt him. He said nothing, but he felt that what had
become the cherished object of his life had received a killing
blow because of personal animosity to him. We are here to-
day to commemorate his memory, and with a view of proving
that assertion untrue, of taking up his work here where he has
left it, of upbuilding it, and extending its usefulness as an edu-
cational institution and historic center in our county, so that not
only the society shall last, but the name of William Watts Hart
Davis will always be cherished and remembered as its founder.
And it is for us to unite here now as we do, to continue this work
of his creation, more impressive because he was not of a creative
nature and bent of mind.
Before I close, and go to my agreeable "slavery," I want to say
one word of the development of the character of General Davis,
because we must take lessons, all of us, from those who have gone
before, and from the example which they have set. Now I have
said, that the success of General Davis was not due so
much to unusual natural talent as it was to inspiration of ambi-
tion and energy and persistence in the work which he undertook.
Where did that inspiration come from ? I have spoken of his
father, but it was not all due to him. In the old days, when
ME;M0RIAL tributes to GENERAl, W. W. 11. DAVIS I45
there were such women, the sisters of General Davis would have
been the leaders of the Amazons. Women had much to do with
the formation of the character, the successes in his life and in
the history of this man. They were a noble lot of women, and
the sacrifices that they made, the stimulation which they put into
his actions and into his ambitions, contributed far more to his
success than anyone not thoroughly acquainted with the history
of the family can imagine.
When he was oft' in the field at the head of his regiment, with
his neighbors and county associates as his followers, contesting,
offering his life, if necessary, for the preservation of the country
and the nation, they at home were doing their work, and one of
them. Miss Lizzie Davis, organized in our community, at Harts-
ville, a Ladies' Aid Society, which gathered in the community
far and wide, and she and her sisters and other noble women
with energy and persistence, in season and out of season, through
storm and in sunshine, worked and labored and agitated to the
aid and support of the men who were in the field fighting, en-
couraging in that way their brother and his followers, and creat-
ing in the community a feeling of loyalty and devotion to the
Union which will ever redound to their honor.
Then again, I will not forget the wife. You know a wife has a
good deal to do with a man's career, and as I recall her, Mrs.
Davis was a domestic women — she believed in her husband, and
whatever he undertook, she encouraged and supported. She was
not of the whining, selfish sort, she never held him back by the
coat-tails, but she was willing to make every sacrifice to aid him
in his ambition. The first example of her devotion to his in-
terest, was immediately after their marriage, when, in a prairie
schooner, she trecked all the way to New Mexico, encountering
dangers and privations which many of our women of to-day
would turn their backs upon rather than think of undertaking, or
preferably would fret their husbands into surrendering the duty
to pander to their own social enjoyments, to woman's fads. But
the degeneracy of the Republic had not then begun to show the
early signs common in history, of the weaker sex essaying to
usurp the functions of State.
I have heard General Davis tell the story that when, out on the
limitless prairie, they were surrounded by the Arrai)ahoo Indians,
146 MEMORIAI, TRIBUTES TO GENERAI, W. W. H. DAVIS
one of the most villainous tribes that ever troubled the plains;
they were compelled, Mrs. Davis being the only woman in the
party, to cover her up in the bottom of the wagon, under the blan-
kets, for fear that an attempt to have a peaceable solution of the
meeting with the Indians would be defeated if they discovered
that there was a woman in the party. And she, with courage and
devotion, passed through that experience to aid her husband.
This illustrates the character of woman she was. And when
again, in the course of events, he devoted himself to the service
of his country in going into the army, did she not take up her
part, and raise the little family while he was away promoting the
good name and ambition of the family?
Now I have said that this man was a good friend. He was a
devoted friend to those whom he knew and who knew him. He
had those qualities of a friend which are shown in quiet and un-
ostentatious effort to assist the weak, the struggling and the
friendless, and he was not, as we all know, a bitter enemy. He
was forgiving; he felt it his place in society to help upbuild and
promote the welfare of all and the well-being of the community
in general.
I think, Mr. President, that this society could not perform a
more appropriate act than what is being done here to-day ; in
devoting at least one day and one meeting of this association to
commemorating the character of its founder and president. And
how significant is it of the levelling efi^ects of time? I think it
was Mazarin who said : "I and time against the world."
To have referred to the incidents I have mentioned a few years
ago would have set this whole community by the ears. Now
these events are regarded by the descendants of the acting par-
ticipants, in them, as illustrative not of personal animosities or
shortcomings of their respective forebears, but of the strenuous
times in which they lived.
One of the most distinguished of these vigorous and able men
once said to me : "I thank God I have lived to survive and for-
give all the bitterness of those unpleasant days and to actually
recognize the great worth of my most violent personal and polit-
ical enemies."
What recks it that three-quarters of a century ago our oldest
and best families were at swords' points socially and politically.
MEMORIAL TRIBUTES TO GENERAL W. W. K. DAVIS I47
since to-day their descendants respect their worth and fine spirit
and honor and dwell in peace with each other; and a half century-
later General W. W. H. Davis, the son of one of the active con-
testants dedicated his greatest work, the "History of Bucks
County," to Henry Chapman, his father's political opponent, and
in this society the son of one of the combatants of those fierce
days is succeeded as its honored president by the grandson and
namesake of another, whose intelligent active interest in its
work and future is fated to raise the name of the Bucks County
Historical Society to a level with the greatest of similar institu-
tions of the land ? The world moves on, a new generation de-
mands its attention; the dove of peace soars above, even though
the vultures of political corruption and false pretenses may circle
about in undisturbed security as too often indicates the absence
of strong and the presence of weak men. The dead have made
the good fight and here is the end.
"Rcqiiicscat in Pace."
WILLIAM C. RYAN.
District Attorney William C. Ryan, of Doylestown, spoke of
the impression made upon him as a boy when he first met Gen-
eral Davis, and of the fact that the late president of the society
was a link between the present and the far-oft' past that to most
men now living is merely history. Mr. Ryan mentioned the fact
that General Davis once told him that it took him forty years to
collect the material for "The Fries Rebellion."
REV. J. B. KREWSON.
Rev. J. B. Krewson, of Forest Grove, who knew General Davis
a lifetime, also spoke briefly, expressing the opinion that nothing
voiced by any of the speakers was too high praise for the late
president.
ALFRED PASCIIALL.
Mr. Alfred Paschall said :—
To attain advanced age has always been held a matter of con-
gratulation among men. To have attained long life with the
148 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES TO GENERAL W. \V. H. DAVIS
years filled with work has been regarded an enviable record of
honorable service. To have attained long life, with the years
filled with effort, actuated by pure motives, is the unsurpassed
attainment of those whom we most revere.
It was the lot of General Davis, the founder of the Bucks
County Historical Society, to have been conspicious in each of
these relations- — to have reached many years, filled with earnest
work, backed by unquestioned motives.
The years of his life have by a score exceeded the age as al-
lotted by the Psalmist. The hours, even the minutes, of his days
were industriously occupied. His motives, in the varied and
numerous relations of four-score and ten years, were most excel-
lent. That he made no mistakes would be beyond the attainment
of mankind, but that he bestowed of his time, effort and purpose,
in behalf of that which he knew to be wrong, is no part of Gen-
eral Davis' record.
As soldier of two wars, the Mexican and Civil war, editor and
historian, in many undertakings as a man and a citizen, for his
community and for his country, in the varied relations which he
sustained toward his fellowmen and our common institutions,
he was always a devoted worker, earnest and sincere in his pur-
poses and industrious and ceaseless in his energy ; and the suc-
cesses which he won and the esteem and respect he received were
earned and compelled by the virtues of fidelity, integrity and un-
tiring industry.
It was my privilege to have known General Davis intimately
in two relationships — in the publishing of his newspaper, and in
his service in and for the Bucks County Historical Society. For
the period from 1873 to the termination of his editorship of The
Democrat I saw General Davis almost daily and in our lives and
business there was much in common.
The general had taken charge of The Democrat in 1858, near
the time when Prizer and Darlington acquired The Intelligencer.
Both publications were of the popular county- weekly type. Both
were leaders of their respective parties in Bucks county and both
were well and favorably known throughout the State. This iden-
tity of work and interests created an intimacy that was close and
constant. The general was not a practical printer, but had able
lieutenants in Major John Harton as bookkeeper and John P.
MEMORIAL TRIBUTES TO GENERAL W. \V. II. DAVIS I49
Rogers as literary and local editor. This arrangement left Gen-
eral Davis free to devote himself to the editorial work and to the
compilation of his History of Bucks county, which was in process
of preparation for many years before its publication in 1876.
As early as 1873 a mass of manuscript had been written, painstak-
ingly, by hand, for in those days stenographers and typewriters
were not available in Doylestown. Early in the morning the gen-
eral was at his office — often the first to be at work within the
building. His newspaper work occupied the early hours, and it
was rarely that he was absent from the little rear office, on the
first floor, wherein the editorial work of The Democrat was done.
At a southern window, where the morning sunshine flooded the
desk, the veteran soldier-editor was accustomed to do his daily
work. Here it was that the gospel of staunch democracy was
supported, wherein the party's creed was taught, its principles
upheld and regular and complete devotion to the ticket was en-
joined. Here visitors found the general with a cordial greeting
and the solicitous inquiries about their neighbors and communi-
ties, which were the outcome of w'ide and close acquaintance in
every section. No doubt the inspiration also from these visits
was a source of the personal familiarity of much of the local
news and individual political appeal which were a feature for
many years of the columns of The Democrat. There was cer-
tainly evidenced also the intimate interest of the editor, in the
attairs of every district, from Durham to Bensalem, which made
the weekly visits of The Democrat of a personal character in the
homes to which it was sent. The traditions of the pa])er were
sustained, and its interest in the afl:airs of the community were
exemplified by the policy pursued and developed under General
Davis' editorship.
A part of the general's editorial connection was his member-
ship in the Pennsylvania State Editorial Association, of which he
was one of the early members, if not indeed one of the founders.
General Davis was also a member of the Schoeft'er club, a limited
organization comprising a few contemporaries, Darlington of
Tlie Intelligencer, Wills of the Norristozvn Herald, Coleman of
the Philadelphia Ledger, Cooper of the Media American, Walter
of the Chester Republican, Evans of The Record, and Moore
of The Republican in West Chester, with perhaps a few others.
150 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES TO GENERAL W. W. PI. DAVIS
All these gentlemen were leaders of their respective publications
and interested in much the same relationships in their respective
communities. All were closely acquainted through their news-
papers and the meetings at which they gathered each month, and
with their wives enjoyed an hour at dinner, were held as exclusive
events of rare good fellowship and lasting pleasure. In later
years the general was a member of the Bucks and Montgomery
County League, but the infirmities of age were upon him, few
of his old accjuaintances remained, and he took little part in the
last named organization, though interested always in what con-
cerned the craft and his associates in the newspaper fraternity.
In his newspaper life General Davis was direct, sincere and a
voluminous and interesting writer. His administration of The
Democrat occurred during a time when partisanship was strong
and when politics were often bitter and personal. He gave and
took hard blows when in the midst of campaigns, but he always
fought in the open. The democracy was the reliance of his pa-
triotism. He believed in the principles he upheld. He fought a
losing fight as ardently as when his party Avas sure of winning,
and his victories and defeats alike were unsullied with the taint
of self-seeking or the degradation of graft.
Under General Davis' charge The Democrat was at its best as
a newspaper and as a property; and his stewardship of the popu-
lar old paper was acceptable to the community and creditable to
the controlling head.
Among the specially prominent interests of the community to
which General Davis lent personal and editorial encouragement
were the public water service of Doylestown, the erection of the
present county buildings, the building of Lenape Hall, the cele-
bration of the bi-centennial anniversary of the founding of Bucks
county, the centennial of Doylestown, and last and perhaps closest
to the general's heart, the founding and conduct of the Bucks
County Historical Society. In behalf of each of these purposes
General Davis gave a support which was of public influence and
value.
In reference to the introduction of a public water supply in the
borough of Doylestown, it is scarcely to be realized to-day wdiat
an opposition existed just preceding the building of the works.
There were meetings and petitions, protests and indignation,
MEMORIAL TRIBUTES TO GENERAL W. W. II. DAVIS 15I
prejudice and ultra conservatism; the plea of increased taxes was
urged and even the spectre of danger and damage. General Davis
realized that a public water supply was one of the future neces-
sities of Doylestown and believing the time was ripe for its in-
troduction stood steadily in encouragement of progress.
So too in behalf of the present county buildings, when the
courthouse and jail of 1812 had passed their usefulness. There
were interests enlisted against the new buildings, on accovmt of
increased taxes and even more selfish considerations. The new
accommodations were, however, a necessity and Editor Davis
again stood in behalf of sound public interests.
When the present constitution of Pennsylvania was adopted a
charter for improvements in Doylestown was in danger of be-
coming obsolete by lapse of time. General Davis was one of
those who undertook to obtain subscriptions and who by their
work and contributions made the charter available, and was later
one of the directors and served as chairman of the building com-
mittee in charge of erecting Lenape Hall in place of an old and
fast decaying hostelry.
The bi-centennial celebration of the founding of Bucks county
may be said to have been started by General Davis. He drew
the attention of the court to the date of the first formal court of
record, and was thus instrumental in having a minute made of
the anniversary, by order of Judge Watson. Next, General Davis
caused to be brought before the historical society, in the autumn
of 1 88 1, the fact that the succeeding year would witness the two
hundredth anniversary of the legal existence of the founder's
county, and thus set in motion the proceedings which culminated
in the celebration, covering three days and three evenings, at the
county capital, in August-September, 1882, and to which the
general himself contributed a most important feature in his his-
torical address.
The centennial of Doylestown was also due to General Davis'
research, which fixed the first date of the naming of the place,
in a revolutionary despatch, as March, 1778. For the celebration
of the centennial in March, 1878, the general lent his encourage-
ment and assistance.
The founding of the Bucks County Historical Society, in Jan-
152 MEMORIAL, TRIBUTEIS TO GENERAL W. W. H. DAVIS
uary, 1880, was solely the result of General Davis' initiative —
born of his deep love for Bucks county, his sympathy with and
almost reverence for whatever was of historical interest, and the
deep and constant patriotism which has been an inheritance with
him only to be fostered and developed by his military* services and
experiences and his historical study and researches.
Before leaving the period of General Davis' newspaper life
there are two topics deserving of a word: — The publication of
the History of Bucks County comes first. During a large part of
the early period of his editorship he had been gathering material
for this county history. The accumulation of matter was from
all sources. Nothing was too trivial for examination, all was
winnowed over with painstaking and even laborious care, county
records were consulted, church archives were searched, family
records examined, traditions investigated ; even rumors and re-
ports were noted to be run out and confirmed if possible. Thor-
oughly straightforward himself the general expected other men
to be the same, and was often put to much unnecessary trouble
and wearisome work by the inaccurate matter furnished to him
by those of whom he sought information. He never wearied,
however, and succeeded in producing, in 1876, the most compre-
hensive history of his native county that had ever been issued, a
labor of love, an enduring monument to his memory and a lasting
evidence of his patriotic and filial devotion to the county of his
birth.
Doubtless growing out of the preparation of the History of
Bucks County, certainly largely influenced by the same spirit as
impelled the undertaking of that work, came the idea of founding
the Bucks County Historical Society.
For a considerable period previous to January, 1880, the
thought of a formal organization had been close to General Davis'
heart. He had discussed it with many friends in a social and in-
formal way, and while many cordially assented to the suggestion
no one was found willing to make any move toward founding the
society or manifested any disposition to engage in the work
which might and should claim the attention of such an organiza-
tion, and therefore General Davis, from inherent motives, under-
took the work singlehanded. He it was, who, upon his own ini-
tiative, and out of his own ideal, invited together individually
MEMORIAI. TRIBUTES TO GENERAL W. \V. H. DAVIS 1 53
the persons who, in January, 1880, united to form the Bucks
County Historical Society.
General Davis himself called this first meeting to order, and
suggested that for the purposes of organization Josiah B. Smith
take the ch^tir. General Davis then stated the object of the meet-
ing, and urged upon the willing and sympathetic audience the
need for a historical society in the founder's county, pointed out
the rich field for historical research, the splendid history be-
queathed to the present by the preceding generations, described
briefly the material interests which were worthy of preservation,
told of the sowing of the seeds of patriotism within the county
and their watering with the blood of patriots, referred to the rich
legacies within the county's borders in the sites of revolutionary
interest, mentioned the settlements of Penn's friends and the
German emigrants, touched upon the custodianship of Washing-
ton's Crossing, Coryell's Ferry, the Durham iron mines, the
Washington headquarters near the Eagle and at Hartsville, the
beginning of the walking purchase, recalled the marches and
countermarches of the continental army within our borders, and
extolled the names of those who had been wise and eminent in
Pennsylvania's and in the nation's history.
Not only with the interest and education of the trained his-
torian, but with the love and fervor of the patriot, was the work
and service of a historical society urged. And conviction was
carried and enthusiasm was aroused among those who were Gen-
eral Davis' associates, and the Bucks County Historical Society
was determined upon.*
By right General Davis was chosen president; and because of
his devotion and zeal was re-elected from year to year for thirty
successive years, filling the ofiice of president at the time of his
death.
As president of the society he was faithful in his attendance
at the meetings which were usually held quarterly, weather con-
ditions, and distance from his home did not deter him ; I can, in
fact, recall but few occasions when General Davis was not in the
chair at the meetings, with unfailing punctuality and undimmed
enthusiasm, and the minutes bear out this most remarkable rec-
ord of devotion.
* For full account of the formation of the Bucks County Historical Society see
preliminary part of Vol. I.
154 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES TO GENERAI. \V. W. H. DAVIS
Practically, in the first dozen years, the president was the so-
ciety, for not only was he most regular in attendance but on not
a few occasions had he not presented some literary work the
meetings would have been without such exercises. Indeed there
were occasions, when he feared a dearth of material adec[uate
to the occasion, and prepared more than one article with the in-
tention of having others read them, so that the hours of literary
work might be supplied as he felt they ought. The extra work to
himself and the difficulties of different kinds of research, and the
additional time and labor bestowed were ignored, in the devotion
to his labor of love, and endured that his beloved society might
be the gainer.
Two of the remarkable meetings of the early years were the
gatherings on the William Penn farm, and the meeting in Dur-
ham Cave, at both of which places extensive exercises were held,
at both many recruits for the society were obtained, and in both
of which the local history of the place was made most interest-
ingly conspicuous. The meeting at Newtown previously refer-
red to, in 1881, was also most satisfactory and noteworthy for
itself, and as being the inception of the very comprehensive and
successful bi-centennial of the founding of Bucks county which
was held later. On the other hand at not a few meetings — of
which doubtless too many were undertaken — there were but a
handful present and the lack of interest would have been a dis-
couragement to a person less earnest and devoted than the veteran
who for a generation lead Bucks county's historians.
It had long been a prediction of General Davis that the His-
torical Society was destined to become the social center of Bucks
county as well as the nucleus of patriotic interest and the basis of
historical study and research. A very few years after the society
was incorporated in 1885 these conditions began to be manifest.
In 1895, at the time of the January meeting, there had been some
fifty certificates of membership issued. At this date several
women in Doylestown conceived the idea of making the meeting
more of a social occasion, and entertaining the out-of-Doylestown
members and guests. The first entertainment was a pronounced
success, and there was a new and most delightful feature in the
luncheon hour, when greetings of individuals and introductions
and social intercourse were general. These social sessions were
MEMORIAL TRIBUTES TO GENERAL W. W. II. DAVIS 1 55
continued, and increased rapidly in interest and attendance, and
the enlarged membership in the society and the broad acquaint-
ance which was fostered were most helpful and pleasant. In these
social hours General Davis had an especial pleasure, in the hand-
clasp of many whom he might scarcely have seen in the formal
sessions. He felt also a boundless enjoyment in what he regarded
as a broadening of the membership and interest in the historical
society and a furthering of its work and purposes.
A little later, after the opening of Mr. Mercer's collection of
Tools of the Nation Maker, General Davis had profound satis-
faction in the manifestation of away-from-home interests, and in
the visits of students and observers, from outside Bucks county,
to see and study the collection. His attitude toward visitors to
the society museum was that of a gracious host, proud for Bucks
county and the historical society of what was comprised in the
collections, yet solicitous that the guest should see and be grati-
fied with whatever his interest drew him to observe. In the latter
years of his life, so long as health permitted. General Davis was
completely identified with the society and its collections and was
most happy while at work upon historical subjects surrounded by
the collections which represented to him the lives and characters
of Bucks county's people, the patriotism and traditions of those
who had been settlers here and dwelt upon the soil and the
staunch love for their native county of all who had been so fortu-
nate as to be born within its borders.
From the date of incorporation until the time of his decease
General Davis was one of the board of trustees, and in this re-
lation his attendance was constant and his interest was solicitous
for the society's welfare. In the late nineties, a large portion of
his work was done at the room in the court house which the
society was permitted to occupy, and w'herein he wrought cease-
lessly in research, surrounded by the material evidences of the
history and existence of the home people — the Bucks county por-
tion of the nation makers.
In the more recent past General Davis had the gratification
ardently earned and richly merited, of seeing his historical so-
ciety suitably established in an appropriate building, and it is
not to be doubted that the housing of the Bucks County His-
torical Society, in its commodious and impressive new home was
156 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES TO GENERAL W. \V. H. DAVIS
of more profound satisfaction to the president than any event
which could have affected him merely as an individual.
For other county historical societies besides his own General
Davis gave a very timely and considerable service in the prepara-
tion of a bill, later made a law, which allows county commis-
sioners to appropriate yearly, to such organizations, an amount
not exceeding $200 upon the fulfilment of certain conditions.
The original draft of this law was made by the general's own
hands, and was discussed by him with various officers, trustees
and other members. With very slight modification the bill was
presented and passed as the general had conceived it, and its in-
troduction and the securing of its enactment was due to another
member of our society Hon. Hampton W. Rice. The measure
might well have been named the Davis law.
It is impossible in such a meeting as this to present any ade-
quate review of a life of fourscore and ten years. It matters
little what might be said in any case; the life-work stands for
itself and will carry its own impressive influence and lesson. I
feel to have merely touched upon some of the familiar relations
where the currents of General Davis' and my own life ran to-
gether. My sturdy opponent in newspaper conduct, we fought
our partisan contests without malice, and in all beyond the po-
litical differences there was utmost neighborly craftship between
the respective offices. My most devoted colleague in the his-
torical society work, for more than a quarter of a century. I
present no biographical sketch nor eulogy — simply a few frag-
ments from the files of memory wherein are recollections of a
life of ardent industry, brave sincerity and ceaseless application
to the services undertaken.
As president of the historical society the general gave of his
best. He contributed of himself, unweariedly, continuously, de-
votedly. The foundations which he established in the past, are
safe to build upon for the future. The light of his experience
may well be the guide of our course in the Society's coming years.
The same earnest devotion of President Davis, as consistently fol-
lowed as was his work, by his fellow members of the society, will
be the utmost honor that can be given to his memory, and will
insure the successful continuation of the progress that for so
many years was mainly upon his shoulders.
MEMORIAL TRIBUTES TO GENERAL W. \V. II. DAVIS 1 57
In the fullness of years, with sincere tributes of respect and
esteem from his fellows and associates, for the successful accom-
plishment of the end for which he had borne the heat and burden
of the day. General Davis has gone from works to rewards as
one who wraps the draperies of his couch about him and lies
down to pleasant dreams. His personal participation in material
affairs will cease, as life's fitful dream terminates, but his ex-
ample and devotion arc the historical society's inheritance, and
his deeds and efforts will long endure for the uplift of the ob-
jects of his solicitude, for the support of the patriotism which
he maintained, for the preservation of the history which he val-
ued, for the advancement of the society he founded and which
is ours to perpetuate.
HENRY C. MERCER.
Vice-President, Henry C. Mercer said : —
Our President, who founded this society thirty-one years ago
and who has worked devotedly for it ever since is gone.
As I listen to the words of friends which impress this loss
upon us, my own memory goes back many years, to the time,
when, as a little boy, I saw him ride out of our town to the war,
at the head of the 104th Pennsylvania regiment. I can still see
the early morning light, the train drawn up at the station, and
still hear as I have recalled it to him, the tune the band played
as they marched away.
If that is my first memory, my last is of a scene hardly less
dramatic, when his aged form, clothed in black, stands before
the picture which hangs in our library, as he narrates, rather by
his presence, than his brief words, the story of the rescue of the
flag of his regiment, at the battle of Fair Oaks.
But even before the years of interval between these two scenes,
in which many of you knew him better as a soldier and public
man than I did, he had distinguished himself among scholars of
American history, as an antiquary, by rescuing from destruction,
and himself translating, a number of Spanish manuscripts, after-
wards published, embodying a lost narrative of the earliest
Spanish discoveries in New Mexico.
When, holding a public office in Santa Fe. among soldiers and
158 MBMORIAI. TRIBUTES TO GENERAI. W. W. H. DAVIS
desperadoes, at a time of difficulty, danger and official activity,
he seized the opportunity to do this thing, which had nothing to
do with his office, or the men and times around him, he did it
because he was an antiquary, born not made — born with an en-
thusiasm which remained with him all his life. It carried him
from facts to ideas, from the present to the past. It took him away
from money, from his regular business, sometimes from friends,
and even family. But it gave him back a panacea for happiness,
that might weather most of life's storms. It opened to him the
gates of that city of the mind, inhabited by a favored few, and
unknown to the multitude.
On the other hand, he was a soldier who volunteered to fight
through two wars. But there were other soldiers, men whose
names remain upon the records of both these conflicts, and among
many contested claims as to who was first in war; it seems well
for our town to remember the time when General Davis was first
in peace, when he honored his country and advanced the Christian
religion by returning to the City of Charleston a war flag which
he had captured from one of its ships during the struggle that
was over.
This leads us to a trait of his character observable in his later
years at least, which must have impressed others as it did me,
namely his refusal to look at the dark side of things.
In contrast to many, who seeking to fulfil the contract in
the Lord's Prayer, and refusing to allow themselves per-
sonal enemies, nevertheless become exasperated at the trend of
public afi^airs, or at the triumph of the wicked, or because they
suspect or fear the approach of evil in persons and things, and
become bitter or perhaps cynical. General Davis in the later years
of his life when I knew him was never bitter, never exasperated,
never cynical. No use to come to him full of anger or vitupera-
tion against monopolies, yellow journalism, labor unions or po-
litical corruption. He would not take it in that way. He turned
away, or changed the subject with a word of palliation, excuse or
hope.
The thirty-seventh Psalm says "Fret not thyself because of the
evil doers" and an American scholar, after study among the re-
ligious teachers of India and Thibet, when asked what they had
MEMORIAIv TRIBUTES TO GENERAL W. W. 11. DAVIS I59
taught him. recently said, that he had learned how to live from
them in four words : Eliminate, anger and worry."
Had General Davis, with much difficulty and training estab-
lished his philosophy of life on these maxims, or did the attitude
come to him without elYort as the personal birthright of one
oblivious to the appearance of evil. I leave this question to be
answered by those who knew him, as I did not, in his younger
days.
Another impression left upon me by General Davis was that
of industry, excessive in degree, something more than most men
would endure or attempt. Many people are ready to "chat" in
the morning. The General worked. Others read the newspapers
at length, or sit restfully gazing at the world. The General
w^asted no such time. Reworked. If not by the midnight oil, then
in the peaceful light of dawn, in the late morning, in the after-
noon, he sat, pen in hand, amidst things printed, pictured or writ-
ten, collecting, compiling, composing. If you interrupted him he
was not rude. But he declined to be stopped. He never lost the
point, and the point was work.
Shall we ask why he thus worked on beyond the scope of his
editorial labours and his management of this Historical Society,
and whether the work was always effective, always valuable.
These are indeed important questions, but they involve an im-
partial criticism of his histories, his numerous historical papers
and his arrangement of private memorials which should belong to
another occasion.
If General Davis were here, he would not urge upon us a moral
lesson on this subject. We would have to have known him, in
order to have gathered from his example the inspiration of work.
It is the significance of a great number of acts, which compels
us to reflect upon what it may mean to a man, who pretends to
do anything in the world, and yet ventures to waste his time.
Home of the Paxsons, Bycot House, England.
BY EX-CHIEF JUSTICE EDWARD M. PAXSON, BUCKINGHAM, PA.*
(Doylestown Meeting, January 17, 1911.)
During a recent brief trip abroad I made a visit to the Paxson
homestead in England. By request I have prepared the following
account of my visit which may interest some of the numerous
descendants of that family in this county and elsewhere:
Henry Paxson, the elder, James Paxson and William Paxson
were brothers, and came to Pennsylvania in 1682, in the ship
Samuel, of London. Henry came from the Parish of Stowe,
Oxfordshire, England. His certificate was from the monthly
meeting of friends at "Biddlesdon," in the county of Bucks, or
Buckinghamshire, as it is usually designated upon the maps, and
bears date Second month 24, 1682. He called his home "Bycot
House," and from what I can learn this was the old homestead
of the Paxsons.
James Paxson and his brother, William, came from the Parish
of Marsh Gibbon, in the county of Bucks, which parish is con-
tiguous to, or at least is in the immediate neighborhood of the
Parsh of Stowe. James and William brought with them a cer-
tificate from the monthly meeting of friends at Coleshill, in
Bucks, which bears date Second month 3d, 1682.
The writer is a lineal descendant of the James Paxson above
mentioned and there are numerous other descendants of his scat-
tered through Bucks, Montgomery, Chester, Delaware and Phila-
delphia counties, with not a few in New Jersey and other states.
The town of Buckingham, in the county of Bucks, is about two
hours' ride from London by rail. It is an old town, reminding
me in this respect of York, Chester and Warwick. Many of the
houses are only one story high, with very thick walls, and the
small windows which mark the period of the Plantagenets and
Tudors. I reached Buckingham in the evening and found my way
to the "Swan and Castle," and ancient hostelry, which came well
up to my idea of an English inn before the age of railroads and
* This paper was written by Judge Paxson, September 29, 1884, and read at the
Doylestown Meeting, January 17, 191 1, by Miss Mary Paxson Rogers, of Bristol.
HOME OF the; PAXSONS, BYCOT house, ENGLAND l6l
cheap travel had revokitionized country inns in England as they
have in this country. I found the landlord a live man, which is a
rare thing abroad, where the landlord is a sort of mythical person,
and you are obliged to make all your inquiries of the female
clerks at the office, or of the hall porter. The latter is usually a
well-informed person, and his information is of a practical useful
kind. He knows everybody and is fully posted as to all the trains,
besides being really civil and accommodating. I will state as a
curious circumstances that the landlord of the "Swan and Castle"
recognized me as belonging to the Paxson family from my ap-
pearance, and in response to my inquiry whether there were any
of that name in the neighborhood, answered cheerily : "Plenty of
them ; why Henry Paxson dined with me to-day, he din^s with
me every week; he is president of a farmers' club which meets
at my house weekly ; I wish you had been here a few hours sooner
you would have seen him." I then asked about Bycot House, the
old Paxson homestead; was it still standing? Had he ever heard
of it? He laughed and said: "I will send you out there in the
morning; it is only two miles out of town." And so I retired for
the night, well pleased with the result of my day|s inquiries. The
next morning with a carriage and an intelligent driver I started
on my little voyage of discovery. It was a glorious July day,
bright, clear and cool, and a charming ride of twenty minutes
brought me to Bycot House, which I found to be an old manor
house, in a good state of preservation, about the size of my own
modest country residence, which I have named after it. Bycot
Manor, to which it belongs, had originally 340, acres; at the pres-
ent time there are about 200 acres attached to the house, which
is now a part of the princely domain of the Duke of Buckingham.
"Stowe Plouse," the principal estate of the Duke, is in sight of
Bycot House; the farm of the latter crosses and forms a part
of the ma<,mificant avenue which leads to "Stowe House." The
Duke was from home at the time or I would have called upon
him, as my letters would have given me access to any person in
England of whatever rank.
The "avenue" to which I refer is about 400 feet wide and
three miles in length in a perfectly straight line. On either side
is a double row of magnificent old trees ; the rest is lawn closely
cut and constantlv green in this moist climate, with a smooth.
i62 home; of the paxsons, bycot house, engeand
hard gravel drive in the center. We have nothing hke it in this
country.
To return to Bycot House. Its present occupant is Langton
Bennett, Esq., who has resided there for over twenty years, and
is a good type of the English yeoman. When I told him who I
was, and the object of my visit, he treated me with the greatest
courtesy, and took me over his house and farm. The house is
built of thick stone walls in the most substantial manner, over-
grown with ivy and vines. The outbuildings are extensive for an
English farm, where they have no barns, but merely one-story
stables for the stock, and sheds to protect their wagons and agri-
cultural implements from the weather. The land is fertile, roll-
ing, and the country around as beautiful as I saw anywhere in
rural England, where the eye is always delighted with the charm
of the landscape. A pretty flower and vegetable garden in front
of the house completed the picture, and after looking long and
wistfully at the home from which my ancestors came over two
hundred years ago, I plucked a rose as a souvenir of my visit,
and with many kind expressions of interest from my host, took
my leave of Bycot House, the elder.
I had still a few hours before my train left Buckingham for
London, and I employed it in visiting one or two of the Paxtons
in the vicinity. I may remark in passing that they spell the name
here Paxton, not Paxson, as we do at home, or at least in this
part of Pennsylvania. It is spelled indifferently here, however,
but the original name was Paxton. A drive of twenty minutes
from Bycot House brought me to "Shelswell," the residence of
Henry Paxton. He has a fine farm of several hundred acres,
and near by is the farm, of his brother, Edmund Paxton, contain-
ing 400 acres. I did not see the latter, but Henry was at home,
a large, fine looking English farmer, who spends much of his
time in driving over his extensive domain in his dog cart ; looking
after his workmen, and in nursing his foot with the gout. He
is extremely Paxtonish in his appearance and looks very much
like one of my deceased uncles. My reception was most cordial
on the part of his family and himself, and declining with much
regret a pressing invitation to pay them a visit, I left his hos-
pitable mansion and returned to Buckingham. On my way I
stopped at Finmere church, an ancient structure, well covered
HOME OF THE PAXSONS, BYCOT HOUSE, ENGLAND 163
with ivy, where Henry Paxton informed me many of the family
lie buried. I was fortunate enouj,di, as I was looking among- the
graves, to meet the rector of the church, who had just dropped in
to see to some repairs, and who kindly inquired if he could be
of any service. I acquainted him with my errand, and where I
had been, upon which he informed me that Henry Paxton was a
vestryman in his church, and that the family had been buried
there for many generations. He pointed out the graves of several
where the inscriptions on the stones were wholly illegible from
the ravages of time. He also informed me, which information
interested me most of all, that the Paxtons in that neighborhood
were all of them my relatives ; that our common ancestor had
settled there about the time of the Norman conquest, and a por-
tion of his descendants have been there ever since. It was the
oldest, or at least among the oldest families in that portion of
England. One place in the neighborhood which he pointed out
has been in the family and occupied by them for over three
hundred years.
With many kind wishes on the part of the rector and an offer
to be of any service in the future in supplying copies of records
from his church I left this, to me exceedingly interesting spot, and
retraced my steps to Buckingham, arrived there in time for the
train and two hours later was once again in mighty London.
I may remark in conclusion that Bycot House is in the near
vicinity of many scenes of great historical interest. Among these
may be briefly mentioned Woodstock, at one time a royal resi-
dence, and immortalized by Sir Walter Scott in his novel of that
name; Kenilworth, the magnificent seat of the rich, vain and.
imperious Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and the lover and
acknowledged favorite of Queen Elizabeth. Kenilworth has also
been immortalized by Scott, and its massive walls and ruined,
ivy-covered towers are still a great attractions to the tourist.
Crumnor, where poor Amy Robsart, Countess of Leicester, met
her sad death at the hands of her faithless husband, and there is
too much reason to believe with the knowledge of Queen Eliza-
beth ; Warwick, and Stratford-on-Avon. the home of Shakes-
peare, while Oxford, the great seat of learning in England, is at
no great distance.
Captain William Wynkoop and His Company "A"
BY THADDEUS S. KENDERDINE, NEWTOWN, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, January 17, 191 1.)
Too often, as the aged look on death, it is with a sort of cynic-
ism at thought of the little note made of their exit; little more
than a nine days' wonder
at their going, the talk con-
cerning which begins with
the saving phrase "How he
will be missed," or "Who
is going to take his place ?"
the feeling slowing down
to wondering if the de-
ceased made a will, and
then as to what he was
worth, and then, through
surmise and comment, until
the ninth day, when the
social surface of the neigh-
borhood is as little rufifled
by the sinking of one who
was a prominent figure
thereon as a mill-pond an
hour after a stone has been
cast into its depths. There
are times when one who has made his departure from this life
remains long in the memory of the thoughtful who realize how
few there are to fill the vacancy made. The memory of Captain
William Wynkoop comes fittingly into this suggestion.
The subject of this sketch was the son of Thomas and Eliza-
beth (Torbert) Wynkoop. His father was of Dutch descent;
his mother of Scotch-Irish parentage. His death occurred Octo-
ber 12, 19 10, so that he was a few months beyond the three-
quarter century mark, he having been born in July, 1835. Next
to the late General W. W. H. Davis, Captain Wynkoop was the
CAPTAIN WII<I,IAM WYNKOOP
Born July i, 1835.
Died Oct. 12, 1910.
CAPTAIN WILLIAM WYNKOOP AND HIS COMPANY "a" 165
most prominent of the officers who were in the Union army yet
Uving in Bucks county, so that at the time of his death he was
the most active, ahhough never pushing himself forward as such,
and never holding a rank above that of captain, to which he rose
from the ranks. He was at times on the brigade staff, serving under
Brigadier General Davies in Gregg's Cavalry Division, as provost
marshal, ordnance officer and assistant adjutant general. Besides
being wounded in the foot by the explosion of a shell, he after-
wards received two minor wounds, one in the hand, the other on
the ear from a rifle ball, the last the closest call of all. He was
home but once during his over three years' service, which was
after his most serious wound. Coming to Philadelphia on the
cars, he had difficulty to get from there to his home at Newtown,
on account of the lack of traveling facilities. Connected with
this event, he once related to me a rather striking incident per-
taining to the attribute of inconsistency of those civilians who
held pronounced opinions relative to the war. In the city the
captain met a farmer who was down to market whom he asked
for a ride home, his wounded foot preventing him from walking.
This farmer had been the advocate of strenuous means for car-
rying on the war for the union, although at the same time, like
many others, being perfectly willing to let others do the prac-
tical part of crushing the rebellion. He at this juncture told the
wounded captain that it would inconvenience him to comply with
his request. Shortly afterwards the captain made application to
another farmer who was as glad to help him as the other was
reluctant. Now the point is this : the second farmer was one of
the opponents of the war and had done what laid in his power
to obstruct its successful close. Another question is, that any
one, no matter what his proclivities were, would hesitate for a
moment to do all he could for a wounded soldier, who had left
everything, family, friends and home to fight for his imperiled
country. He was at home for but a few weeks when he was
again on the firing line in the Army of the Potomac, a matter to
be remarked, when for far less serious casualities officers made
use of their privileges of resignation to get out of their dangerous
vocation. He had already lost one brother in the service, which
would have made a serviceable plea for his coming home, inas-
much as the wounding of one of the family and the death of
l66 CAPTAIN WII.I.IAM WYNKOOP AND HIS COMPANY "a"
another might have been exoneration enough from further ser-
vice in the war for that branch of the Wynkoop family ; and
other branches had also done their full share, for the name of
Wynkoop frequently occurs on the rosters of the rank and file
of those who battled for the Union. The brother who lost his
life was Thomas H., who having been detailed to gun-boat ser-
vice in the west, was killed in an explosion. His body was never
found.
William Wynkoop, at the opening of the Rebellion, was en-
gaged in farming near Johnsville, Pa., on a farm his father
bought for him and where he expected to make his permanent
home. But the Civil War came on and, full of patriotism of a
practical sort, he left his family of a wife and two little girls, his
farm and all its belongings and joined a cavalry company then
forming from recruits around Hatboro under the leadership of
John Shelmire.
Major Shelmire was a miller, as his father was before him.
Their mill was on the Pennypack creek, and as you pass along
this stream on the Newtown railroad you will see signs of the
dam and the walls of the old mill. Shelmire was a lover of his
country, as well as was William Wynkoop, and as the last "left
his plowshare in the mold," as was spoken of the New England
Continentals, so did Shelmire shut down the gate of his mill and
go to gathering food for powder in the way of cavalry recruits
till he got a round hundred.
A^ajor John Shelmire, for he had been promoted from cap-
tain, had a good record and was the kindest of officers. The
death or wounding of any of his men cut him to the heart, and
he was always looking to the comfort of the living. When there
was disorder in the camp his "Tut, tut, tut" was enough to even
quiet the men of the more obstreperous companies. His end was
tragic. At the battle of Brandy Station a charge on the enemy
was ordered, but, knowing that the major was sick, the colonel
sent word to him to stay in camp. For once he disobeyed orders
and, mounting his horse, was soon in the "rapture of the strife."
The charge was repelled and the retreat left the major, with
other dead, on the field. Some time afterwards Captain Wynkoop
revisited the scene of the conflict and there learned from an old
colored man that two Union officers, one a major from his
CAPTAIN WILLIAM WYNKOOP AND HIS COMPANY " a" 167
insignia, with other dead, had been thrown in a well. As the
latter was a large man, this was doubtless the sad ending of this
"bold miller of the Dee."
CAPTAIN WYNKOOP'S COMPANY " A."
The subject of our sketch is so identified with the captain and
his company, that at the expense of deserting him for awhile I
will say something of them. Of the hundred composing the
troop, there were so many Quaker boys that it was sometimes
identified by that title, which is not to be wondered at when the
names of the townships they came from are mentioned — More-
land, Horsham, and Upper Dublin, and some of the names of
the boys — Hallowell, Twining, Roberts and Kirk. Two of the
companies of the regiment they were afterwards placed in, were
made up of Trenton mill men, rough fellows from foundries and
rolling mills, though they made good soldiers, and they had their
fun listening with wondering ears to the "thees" and "thys";
the "First-days" and "Second-days" of the Company A boys.
One of these was Edward H. Parry, who went out as a corporal
and came home a first lieutenant. He is now in business on
Chestnut street, Philadelphia. He had a cousin, John Parry, who
lost his life in the service. John had a nervous disorder which
would have exempted him from the service, and the boys when
in action, though he never shirked his duty, sometimes wished that
he had stayed at home, his carbine pointed so many ways. "Take
care, John," his neighbor would say, "how thee points that gun,
for the way it is handled, thee is as likely to hit a Yankee as a
Reb." To hear these Quaker boys using the plain language while
at their grim work would have had a comical sounding but for
the awful surroundings. For instance : one would say after a
shot, "Did thee see me fetch that Johnnie?" as if they were
engaged in a pigeon-shooting match. Did we not know that many
of George Fox's followers had been soldiers from Cromwell's
Roundheads, we might wonder at such inconsistencies in their
religious descendants. The warlike spirit seems to have died
out of these people for a time, and then, through a species of
atavism jumped a generation or two. One of these boys was a
son of Elias Kirk. He had a brother to visit him while his
regiment was at the front and just as it was starting off on a
12
l68 CAPTAIN WIIvIvIAM WYNKOOP AND HIS COMPANY " a"
raid. He wanted to go along, and so, to humor him, a carbine
and revolver were belted on him, and on a borrowed horse he
was soon on his way. But not for long. Before they had gone
far an engagement ensued, and the bullets whistled around the
head of the venturesome brother so he made this his last scout,
and thinking that he was needed more at home than in such
volunteer service, was soon on his way back to Horsham. But
as for the rest of the boys, they rather enjoyed their work. The
reversal of the peaceful attribute of friends, in their life-long
opposition to war, is strongly emphasized by the appearance of
their graveyards on memorial day when, abloom with flags, they
show that if they practically supported the Union in its terrible
distress, and that if this meant patriotism, the Quakers had it.
I remember as a boy, that Friends, as a body were looked upon
by the outside world as lacking in courage and love of country
because they opposed joining military companies such as were
then numerous in Bucks county, particularly in the upper end,
sixty years ago, and because they refused to pay military fines,
even allowing constables' levies and sales in preference. I lived
to see the time, at the coming of the Civil War, when such sup-
porters were needed, for the brilliantly uniformed militia with
their gold-laced commanders, melted away as the mist before the
sun, and those who had shown no war-like preferences made up
the rank and file of those who went to the front.
Captain Shelmire was ambitious. He wanted his company in
the first cavalry regiment of the State, and to be Company A at
that. But there was already a First Company in the First Penn-
sylvania, so he was barred from it. Any subsequent letter was
offered him, but he declined. Then hearing that there was a
First New Jersey cavalry regiment just in process of formation
he applied for the coveted position and it was willingly given
him, the quality of his men being a great factor in the transac-
tion. This was in a measure afterwards regretted by the Penn-
sylvania boys as it cut them off from State organizations formed
after the war, and the many consequent reunions, as well as
whatever benefits might come from pension legislation by their
native State, for the Bucks county boys have been since looked
on simply as Jerseymen. At the recent dedication of the Gettys-
burg monument to the Pennsylvania soldiers engaged in the
CAPTAIN WILLIAM WYNKOOP AND HIS COMPANY " A." 169
battle, and whose names were all engraved on bronze tablets, and
whose railroad fares were all paid from their homes to the scene
of that historic conflict, the Keystone boys in the regiments of
other States were totally ignored, although fighting for their
country on their own soil.
Captain Shelmire, as I stated, was a miller, and as was the
case in the times of 50 years and more ago, he had a mill team
for hauling his flour to the city. This, a four-horse one, he took
as a commissary outfit for use in his Hatboro camp, and as soon
as his regimental assignment was made and his men had their
horses ready, the cavalcade started for Trenton, going by way
of Newtown. Pemberton Webster, a son of the late Jesse G.,
of Hulmeville, was driver, and to see him on his near wheel-
horse, whip in his right hand and lead-line in his left, his four
horses and his Conestoga wagon, the scene was as a whiff from
the plains of the far west, doubly emphasized by the cavalry es-
cort of 100 men, as if guarding the wagon and contents from
the Indians. I will here say that Pemberton drove his team all
the way to Virginia, where horses and all were eventually oblit-
erated in the "wreck of matter and the crash of worlds," as ex-
emplified in army life, till there was nothing left of it to send
back to the Pennypack mills "when the cruel war was over" and
Pemberton himself seems to have been obliterated with the out-
fit. The steady old mill horses were not equal to the stress of
martial life, and they died one by one, in fact the whole outfit,
horses, wagon and driver, seems to have evaporated from the
face of men. The last seen of them, as adjuncts of the Army of
the Potomac, was at Camp Custis, near Mount Vernon.
While on the march to Trenton, at which the "second crossing
of the Delaware" was made, the loist recruit caught up to Com-
pany A, but his lateness made him "a man without a company," he
being one too many. He, however, found a haven of refuge at
last in Company C, but as Captain Wynkoop afterward com-
manded it, he was made to feel at home.
Our Captain was so identified with this company that I make
no apology for dwelling so much on what apparently does not
concern him. And he was one of Company A. Even when an
ofiicer and entitled by the privileges of his rank to what niav be
I/O
termed palatial quarters, he tented and messed with his old
neighbors.
The Company A boys owned their horses, and many a trooper
had with him the colt he raised and had assigned him by his
father, and the boys took pride in having them well groomed and
fed, that is, when rations were at hand. How it cut them to the
quick when by bullet, shell and disease they went to earth, we
can well imagine ! Not one of the horses came back home. As
for the boys themselves, there were but fifteen to muster out at
the close of enlistment of the original loo, death and discharges
having eliminated the rest. As for the whole regiment, from the
start to the finish at Appomatox, of the iji cavalry organizations
in the Union Army, it stood sixth in point of losses, 228 having
been killed outright, while 189 died from disease and 35 met
death in Southern prisons. The total losses in killed and wounded
were 457, so the story of the scarcity of dead cavalrymen will
not hold good, at least as far as the First New Jersey is con-
cerned. By a rule of the time troopers furnishing their own
horses were allowed $120 apiece for them if they wished to sell
them, or $12 per month for their use. Should their horses get
killed they could pick others out of the government drove. This
bore rather heavily on those who lost their mounts early in the
service, and which they were to get a monthly pay for, as this
ended when the horse died. But war is a game of chance and
these boys took their risks, and took their remounts sometimes in
the same ofT-hand manner, whether it was a riderless horse com-
ing off the field or from a plow team some poor old colored man
was using in turning over the red sacred soil of old Virginia. War
is cruel any way you take it. Even one of the Company A boys,
with all the good bringing up, despoiled a poor darky of his plow
horse as he was at work, his own mount having been killed by
a shell.
Returning to the statistics of Company A, we find that from
first to last it had in its ranks 266 men. Of these 13 had been
discharged, 2 transferred, 30 had been lost by death, 43 by de-
sertion and 33 were listed "unaccounted for." Leaving out the
deserters, and Company A had a large percentage of them, and as-
suming that a part of those unaccounted for met death in the
service, the percentage of those who lost their lives was heavy.
CAPTAIN WII.I.IAM WYNKOOP AND HIS COMPANY " a" I71
Another fact worthy of mention is, that if the Hatboro company
did not get into the First Pennsylvania, that and the First New
Jersey were brigaded together, and fought side by side until Ap-
pomattox.
Returing to our Captain, he from first to last did his duty as a
soldier. His peaceful country life he dropped with the past, and
for over three years he made it his business to reduce the num-
ber of rebels by the usual means of warfare. The Union saved,
he returned home, and again entered the pursuits of peace, finally
moving to the borough of Newtown, where he entered a business
career, to emerge from it successfully, and then to retire from its
care as advancing years told on him. But whatever he had taken
hold of were successes, whether it was school teaching in his
younger days, farming, soldiering or church work, various as
these avocations were. In a literary way, he could not be taken
amiss. As political speaker, debater, the addressing of lyceums
or educational assemblages or Grand Army reunions or as toast-
master at banquets, it was all the same. A staunch Republican,
he was never rewarded with a remunerative office. He should
have gone to Congress, and there was a hiatus adapted for such a
purpose, but the Captain was one of those who wanted the office
to hunt him up instead of him running after it. At this time I
thought fit to write a suggestive article tending towards his nomi-
nation, but it went before heedless eyes. Those who made and
unmade Congressmen did not notice it, and a man who was old
enough to have shouldered his musket the same as our Captain,
was boosted into the vacancy. The great Republican party, the
party which of all others should have rewarded a soldier of the
Civil War with a seat in Congress, in the forty-six years, follow-
ing, has never in this district nominated or sent one to Congress;
the more shame be unto it.
Still, perhaps our Captain was happier without such position.
As a member of his local school board, an official in the Bucks
County Historical Society, as a churcii trustee or Sabbath school
superintendent, but, above all in his Grand Army work, he filled
the metes and bounds of his usefulness. The first commander of
the post he organized he had held the position for many years
before his death, and as a subordinate, though seated at his right
hand, I will never forget his zeal in looking up details of work
172 CAPTAIN WILLIAM WYNKOOP AND HIS COMPANY " a'
to be acted on at our regular meetings. In fact it gives me a
feeling of heartache to find him missing at our little gatherings
with his tall erect form, his soldierly appearance and his earnest-
ness in filling the duties of his office, and at the semi-annual
gatherings of the posts of Bucks county, where he was always
ready with advice, suggestion and dutiful endeavor. It is of note
that while Captain Wynkoop was bitter in his denunciation of
secession and its aiders and abettors during and long after the
war, near the close of his life his feelings were so changed that
when his Post was asked to lend its aid in opposing the placing of
the Lee Statue, in the Capitol at Washington, he did not favor
this opposition.
It is worthy of remark that the plantation, which Captain Wyn-
koop occupied at the breaking out of the war was once known as
the "Hart Farm," and covered the site of the present borough of
Ivyland, and that the plow which Captain Wynkoop left in the
furrow had for years turned over the soil which in a generation
would be streets and building sites for homes, and that a railroad
would divide the homestead in twain. After being sold by
Thomas L. Wynkoop, from his son going to war, the farm was
eventually bought by Edwin Lacey, of Wrightstown. This was
in the middle seventies, and here was tried a second "Holy
Experiment," in which there was an attempt to inaugurate an ex-
clusive temperature town. Laying out streets, he flanked them
with forty-foot lots, for homesteads, and larger areas for business
places, and calculating as the maid did on her road to market with
her eggs on her head he showed too much optimism, for as she
tumbled with her marketing, so he stumbled with his calculations.
The acres developed lots of lots, but the auction did not show a
corresponding number of buyers, perhaps because there was in
each deed a proviso for forfeiture of title if liquors were ever
sold on the grounds. But alas for the promoter's ideas, these
provisions did not hold the purchasers from selling to those who
might wish to break them, for a large temperance hotel, which he
built to accommodate World's Fair visitors in 1876, eventually
got a license, in spite of eft'orts to prevent it. This hostelry sunk
thousands of dollars before it was sold from its original inten-
tions. It was a stock concern, and Edwin got many temperance
173
people to subscribe with this idea. I doubt if there was a single
centennial visitor who ever got there.
Mrs. Wynkoop, who w^as the daughter of the late Joshua C.
Blaker, and whose mother is still living, for the rest of the year
stayed on the farm, her brother putting in the crops. She event-
ually went to live with her father-in-law on the old Wynkoop
homestead, on the west shore of the Neshaminy, below Newtown,
near the Campbell bridge. Here she remained until the Captain
returned from the army, when he turned his cavalry sword into
a plowshare and went to farming his ancestral acres like a veri-
table Cincinnatus. Those who care to remember know that it
was a literal truth about the merchant leaving his counter, the
bookkeeper his desk, the blacksmith his forge and the carpenter
his bench for the w^ar, but when the farmer left his holdings
with his crops ungathered or the seed unsown, and a family be-
hind, he did his full share and more. In the words of the poet :
"He left his plowshare in the mold,
His flocks and herds without a fold,
The sickle in the unshorn grain.
The corn half garnered on the plain,
Mustered in his simple dress,
For wrongs to seek a stern redress,
To right those wrongs, come weal, come woe.
To perish or o'ercome the foe."
and that for $13 per month, with a chance for promotion, or the
chance of the brave miller-captain of Company A, who, shot down
by the rebels, was thrown in a well by their rear guard. But, as
according to the maxim, a well is the abiding place of Truth,
Major Shelmire had deserved company. I sometimes think, in
admiration for the deeds of the ancient Greeks and Romans, or,
to come down later, if such a thought is not heresy, towards
the "ragged Continentals" of the war of the Revolution, that we
sometimes forget the sacrifices of the men of the first half of the
late sixties, although they are so near in touch.
As he leaves this world of action for another where its good
deeds will be surely rewarded, we say in memory of Captain Wil-
liam Wynkoop, hail and farewell.
Selecting the Site of the County Seat.
BY ALFRED PASCHALL, WEST CHESTER, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, January 17, 191 1.)
The center of population has been the factor in each of the de-
terminations of locating Bucks County's Capitals — in Falls
township in 1684, at Bristol in 1705, at Newtown in 1725 and at
Doylestown in 181 2. In the latter instance the geographical cen-
ter of the county was also a consideration — Bradshaw's Corner,
now Pool's Corner, a mile east of Doylestown borough, being
conceded to be the central point.
Agitation, by meetings and petitions, for the removal of the
public buildings, from Newtown to a more central location in the
county, began as early as 1795, but were not very industriously
pushed until some ten or twelve years later. By 1808 formal or-
ganization was had and committees appointed in the various sub-
divisions to urge the proposition. The petitions which were
signed were probably sent to the legislature, as an evidence of
public endorsement of the proposed removal, and there was some
support of a plan to select the new county seat by ballot.
In the legislative session of 1810 an act was passed, and signed
by Governor Simon Snyder, on February 28, which provided
for the selection of a site for the proposed new county buildings.
Under authority of this act three commissioners were appointed,
any two of whom were competent to make choice, and none of
whom were residents nor real estate owners within Bucks coun-
ty's limits.
Notification of appointment was made by James Trimble,
Deputy Secretary of the Commonwealth.
I have here the letter of notification to Edward Darlington, of
Chester county. The letter has been in my possession many years,
coming into my hands with a mass of other papers in The Intel-
ligencer ofiice, after the death of the late Henry T. Darlington,
who was a grandson of Commissioner Edward Darlington. The
letter is as follows :
SELECTING THE SITE OE THE COUNTY SEAT 1/5
Skcretary's Office, Lancaster,
April 2d, 1810.
Sir:
I have by directions from the Governor to inform you that he has
under the authority of an Act of the General Assembly of the 28th of
February last appointed you a Commissioner, in conjunction with Gabriel
Hiester, Junior, of Reading in the County of Berks, Esq., and Nicholas
Kern, Esq., of the County of Northampton, to fix upon a place for hold-
ing Courts of justice in the County of Bucks; and that the Commission
issued to you as such, and an authenticated copy of the Act of Assembly,
under which you are to act have been forwarded to William Hart, Esq.,
Recorder of Bucks County at Newtown — a copy of the Commission, and
an extract from the Act are herewith forwarded for your information:
I will thank you to acknowledge the receipt of this letter.
I am Sir very respectfully
Your friend and obedient servant,
James Trimble,
Deputy.
Edward Darlington, Esq., of the County of Chester.
(seal)
In the Name and by the authority of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania Simon Snyder Governor of the said Com-
monwealth To Edward Darlington of Chester County, Gabriel
Hiester Junior of Berks County and Nicholas Kern of North-
ampton County Sends Greeting :
Whereas in and by an Act of the General Assembly of this Common-
wealth passed the twenty eighth day of February last entitled &c. the
Governor is authorised and empowered to appoint three discreet and dis-
interested persons, one from the County of Northampton, one from the
County of Chester, and one from the County of Berks not holding any
real estate within the County of Bucks whose duty it shall be to fix on
a proper and convenient scite for a Court House prison and County
Offices to be erected not more than three miles from Bradshaws corner
where the road leading from Wilkinsons tavern to the cross keys inter-
sects with the public road leading from Doyls Town to Vanhornes tavern
admitted to be the centre of the said County NOW KNOW YE that
reposing full confidence in your integrity skill and impartiality I the said
Simon Snyder Governor of the said Commonwealth have appointed and
by these presents do appoint you the said Edward Darlington Gabriel
Hiester Junior and Nicholas Kern Commissioners to do and perform
the duty herein before mentioned and all other matters and things
enjoined upon you in and by the before recited Act of General Assembly
according to the true intent and meaning of the same; herebj' requiring
you with all convenient dispatch to proceed in the execution of the trust
reposed in you as aforesaid — Given under my hand and the Great Seal
of the State at Lancaster this thirtieth day of March in the year of our
176 SElvECTlNG THE SITE OE THE COUNTY SEAT
Lord one thousand eight hundred and ten and of the Commonwealth
the thirty fourth.
By the Governor
James Trimble,
Deputy Secretary.
Extract from "An Act providing for the removal of the Seat of Jus-
tice in the County of Bucks from Newtown to a more central place and
for other purposes.
Section i. Be it enacted &c. Src. That the Governor be, and he is
hereby authorised and required on or before the first day of April next
ensuing to appoint three discreet and disinterested persons one from the
County of Northampton, one from the County Chester, and one from
the County of Berks not holding any real estate within the County of
Bucks whose duty it shall be to fix on a proper and convenient scite for
a Court House Prison and County Offices to be erected not more than
three miles from Bradshaws corner where the road leading from Wilkin-
sons tavern to the cross keys intersects with the public road leading from
Doylestown to Vanhornes tavern admitted to be the centre of said County,
and the said persons or any two of them having viewed the relative
advantages of the several situations contemplated b}- the people shall on
or before the first Monday in June next ensuing by a written report
under their hands and seals, or under the hands and seals of any two
of them certify describe and limit the scite or lot of land which they
shall have chosen for the purpose aforesaid, and shall transmit the said
report to the Commissioners of said County, and a duplicate thereof to
the Recorder of Deeds for said County to be filed and recorded in his
Office.
Section 2. And be it further enacted b}^ the authority aforesaid That
the County Commissioners shall allow the said persons three dollars per
day for their services in executing the duties assigned them by this Act
to be paid by the Treasurer on a warrant drawn by the Commissioners
out of the County Stock. A true Extract from the Law.
James Trimble,
Deputy Secretary.
The commissioners named met in Doylestown on May 12th,
listened to the arguments of those interested and viewed the var-
ious localities suggested. The Act of Assembly prescribed that
the site be within three miles of Bradshaw's Corner — tradition
says to include within its scope the village of Centreville or
Buckingham. At any rate Centreville was duly considered, also
Bushington and the Turk, a mile south of Doyle's Tavern. The
Turk made the most plausible and earnest arguments perhaps, but
the commissioners finally decided upon the two-and-a-half acre
lot whereon the present courthouse stands.
SElvECTlXG THE SITE OF THE COUNTY SEAT I77
This site was in what was then New Britain township, and the
real estate was the property of Nathaniel Shewell. When the
deed from Shewell to the Commissioners of Bucks county came
to be drawn it was dated as of May 12, 1810, the date of the lo-
cating commissioners' meeting. One of the provisions of the gift
of Mr, Shewell was a perpetual restriction of the ground to
county uses; and so jealously has this provision been guarded
that a proposition to locate on one corner a building for the Bucks
County Historical Society, made some years since, was abandoned
because of lack of authority for such use.
The original report of the State's Commissioners has come into
my hands. I read from it :
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN.
Whereas in and by an Act of the General Assembly of Pennsylvania,
approved February the twenty eighth, one thousand eight hundred and
ten, entitled "an act providing for the removal of the Seat of Justice in
Bucks County, from Newtown to a more central place, and for other
purposes," it is, among other things, enacted in the manner, words and
form following, that is to say, "that the Governor be, and he is hereby
"authorized and required, on or before the first day of April next, ensuing,
"to appoint three discreet and disinterested persons, one from the County
"of Northampton, one from the County of Chester, and one from the
"County of Berks, not holding any real estate within the County of
"Bucks, whose duty it shall be to fix on a proper and convenient Scite,
"for a Court-house, prison and County Offices, to be erected not more
"than three miles from Bradshaw's corner, where the road leading from
"Wilkinson's Tavern to the Cross-keys, intersects with the public road
"leading from Doylestown to Vanhorn's Tavern, admitted to be the centre
"of said County; and the said persons, or any two of them, having
"viewed the relative advantages of the several situations contemplated
"by the people, shall, on or before the first monday in June next ensuing
"by a written report under their hands and seals, or under the hands and
"seals of any two of them, certify, describe and limit the Site, or lot of
"land which they shall have chosen for the purpose aforesaid, and shall
"transmit the said Report to the Commissioners of the said County, and
"a duplicate thereof to the Recorder of Deeds for said County, to be
"filed & Recorded in his Office." And whereas, in virtue of the powers
to him thus given, the Governor did, by a Commission under his hand &
the Great Seal of the State, bearing date the thirty first day of March
last past, appoint Edward Darlington of Chester County, Gabriel Hcistcr
of Berks County and Nicholas Kern of Northampton County (none of
whom hold real estate in the said County of Bucks) Commissioners for
the purpose of performing the duties aforesaid, NOW KNOW YE that
178 SElvECTlNG THE site; OF THE COUNTY SE;aT
we the said Edward Darlington, Gabriel Heister Junior and Nicholas
Kern, having met in the said County of Bucks, after being duly sworn
and affirmed faithfully to perform the duty assigned us, proceeded, In
Obedience to said Act, to view the relative advantages of the several
situations contemplated by the people, and having considered the same,
we hereby do Report, that we have fixed upon a lot of land, herein after
described situated in the Township of New Britain, in the said County
of Bucks, in or near the Village commonly called Doyls Town • —
as a proper and convenient Scite, for a Court-house Prison
and County Offices, for the said County of Bucks ; which lot is within
the limits mentioned in said Act, and is described and bounded as follows,
to wit. BEGINNING at a corner in the middle of the Post Road, lead-
ing from Philadelphia to Easton, and extending thence along the middle
of a street bounding on Septimus Evans's land. South, forty eight degrees
East, thirty two perches to a cornerstone, in the middle of a public road,
being also a corner of land appropriated toward a public Academy, and
of Nathaniel Shewell's land, thence along the middle of the said last
mentioned road. South, forty two degrees west, eighteen perches and
eight tenths, to a stone for a corner, being also a corner of other land of
said Nathaniel Shewell ; thence along the middle of another street,
bounding on the said last mentioned land. North, forty eight degrees
West, fifteen perches to a corner in the middle of the said post road ;
thence along the same, North, twenty five perches and three tenths to
the place of beginning, containing two acres, and one hundred and twenty
one perches of land, be the same more or less ; of which lot, a draught
is to these presents annexed. CERTIFIED and given under our hands
and Seals at Bucks aforesaid, this twelvth day of May, in the year of
our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ten, 1810.
Edward Darlington,
Gab. Hiester, Jr.,
Nick. Kern.
WiLUAM Hart Esquire Recorder of Deeds for Bucks County.
Where this report has been is uncertain. It appears to have
been sent to WiUiam Hart, then recorder of deeds, and duly re-
corded on the 29th of May. A fine impression of the county seal
is attached. I surmise this report may have been sent by Edward
Darlington, one of the commissioners, and returned to him. or
perhaps to Henry T. Darlington, at later date. I am inclined to
think the latter supposition is correct because upon the margin I
find these words "Report of Commissioners Locating public
Buildings" in the handwriting of the late Judge Richard Watson.
I presume the old report was duly recorded and left with un-
claimed instruments, and later found and turned over to the
person representing the commissioners who presented it for rec-
SELECTING THE SITE OF TllE COUNTY SEAT I79
ord. Possibly also the report may have been made out in dupli-
cate or triplicate, and this may have been one of the extra copies.
Assuredly the record was made — See Book No. 39, page 449.
A receipt was also certainly given by Nathaniel Irwin, deputy
recorder, for the report and accompanying draft of the plot of
land.
Work upon the public buildings was begun as soon as prac-
ticable, but the structures were not completed until the spring of
1813 — the first court being held May 12th.
Probably the major portion of the w^ork was done in 1812, as
this was the date recorded upon white marble slabs set above the
entrance porch.
The two venerable and time-stained papers which have been
read, and which evidence two phases of the proceedings which
made Doylestown the capital of Bucks county, are herewith pre-
sented to the people of Bucks county, so far as I have any power
to present them to those to whom they should belong, in the care
of the Bucks County Historical Society. They came to me with
other newspaper memoranda, papers and records many years ago.
How they came into The Intelligencer office I cannot tell, but I
think they should be preserved as part of the official history of
our county, which is every day getting further in the past, and I
feel sure that any persons wdio in any way may have had them in
charge would approve of this disposition of them and provision
for their future safety.
A word now about the porch date-stones: — When the 181 2
courthouse was torn down, in 1877-78, these slabs were removed
along with other materials. They were taken down intact and
probably lay with the rubbish for a year or two. Later, when
finishing and drainage were being done, they were used as cover
stones for a dry well northwest of the courthouse. The work-
men either did not know their interest and value, or were in-
different, and the inscribed slabs were placed beneath the earth.
Some years later the well was opened and the date-stones came
to light again. They were again interred before any arrange-
ment could be made to secure them for preservation, and ap-
parently forgotten. In 1905, probably at least twenty-seven
years after their original interment, permission was asked of the
county commissioners to have these date-stones taken up and to
l8o ROBERT WINDER JOHNSON
place them in the present historical society home. Consent was
given conditioned upon making no expense to the county, furnish-
ing other cap stones and leaving the earth in good shape. The
1812 date-stones were accordingly dug up about the 20th of
November, 1905, one of them in two pieces, but otherwise little
the worse for their long burial. They are in possession of the
historical society, and mounted as all are aware in this building —
a pleasing memorial of the fourth of Bucks county's series of
courthouses, and an interesting record in our collection.
Robert Winder Johnson.
BY OLIVER HOUGH, NEWTOWN, PA.
(Menio Park, Perkasie, Meeting, May 23, 19 11.)
Robert Winder Johnson (known as R. Winder Johnson), was
elected to membership in this society January 20, 1903, as an
honorary life member. He was among about forty such mem-
bers, fully half of whom are now deceased.
He was the ninth of the ten children of Lawrence and Mary
(Winder) Johnson, and was born on Sunday, May 7, 1854, at
^2^ Pine Street, Philadelphia.
His father, Lawrence Johnson, was born in Hull, England,
January 23, 1801, and when a young man removed to New York
city, and afterwards to Philadelphia, where in 1833 he bought an
interest in the type foundry established by Binny & Ronaldson,
in 1796, of which he afterwards became sole proprietor and con-
ducted very successfully. He died April 26, i860. The Johnson
ancestry back of Lawrence ran as follows: Edward Johnson
(1772-1843) married 1796 Ann Clayton (1771-1855); Robert
Johnson (1747-1774) married 1771 Catherine Hill; John John-
son (born 1720) married Isabel — (died 1796) ; Lawrence John-
son (1690-1737) married 1715 Ann Page (died 1732); Robert
Johnson (died 171 3) married (about 1684) Mary Ledgard Hall.
Mary Winder, the mother of R. Winder Johnson, belonged to
a Bucks county family of high standing. She was born in Lower
Makefield township, June 18, 1814, married Lawrence Johnson,
May 29, 1837, and died February 16, 1877. She was the daughter
ROBERT WINDER JOHNSON l8l
of Aaron Winder (born Sept. 14, 1759, died July 2, 1824) and
Sarah Van Horn (born Feb. 29, 1796, died Jan. 27, 1838) his
wife. On the Winder side her descent ran back through John
Winder (1707-1770) who married Rebecca Richards (1714-
1788) to Thomas Winder who came from England to New
Jersey about 1703 and afterwards moved to Bucks county, where
he died May 23, 1734; his first wife, by whom he was ancestor
of the Winders of Bucks county, was Sara Bull, whom he mar-
ried in London, June 5, 1704.
Mr. Johnson was greatly interested in his Bucks county ances-
try and pursued extended investigations into its various lines.
Through his maternal grandmother, Sarah Van Horn, he was
descended from the Bucks county branches of a number of Dutch
families, whose founders in America were settled in New Nether-
land at the dates given below. He was ninth in descent from
Frederick Lubbertsz, who was in New Netherland, in 1625 ; eighth
from Jan Thomassen Van Dyck, 1652; Jan Vankerk, 1663;
Dirck Claessen, 1655; Jacob Leendertsen Vandergrift, 1648;
Christian Barentsen Van Horn, 1653 ; Harman Janse Van
Borkelo, 1657; Tielman Van Vleck, 1658; Tennis Jansen Vanpelt,
1663; and seventh from Garret Stoffelszen Vansant, 165 1; and
Gabriel Tomesz Stridles. 1662.
R. Winder Johnson attended Mr. Gregory's private school on
Market street, near Eleventh. Philadelphia, for a number of
years, and was there prepared for college. He entered the Fresh-
man class (class of 1874), College Department, University of
Pennsylvania, in September, 1870, and left in the Spring of 1871,
having meanwhile joined the A. ^ fraternity. He then accom-
panied his mother to Europe, where he studied and traveled until
October, 1874; and traveled abroad again in 1875 and 1876.
In July, 1879, he became a meml)er of the firm of Lawrence
Johnson & Co., merchants and bankers, of which his brother
Lawrence Johnson was the head, remaining in the firm until his
death.
Mr. Johnson was elected a member of the Rittenhouse Club, of
Philadelphia, in 1883; of the vestry of St. Peter's Prot. Epis.
Church. Phila., 1891 ; Board of Managers of Christ Church Hos-
pital, 1892 ; Society of the Prot. Episcopal Church for the Ad-
vancement of Christianity in Pennsylvania, 1897; Board of Man-
1 82 ROBERT WINDER JOHNSON
agers of the Children's Hospital, Phila., 1897; the Colonial So-
ciety of Pennsylvania, 1897; and the Netherlands Society of
Philadelphia, 1899. He was also a member of the Philadelphia
Cricket Club (non-active list), the St. Anthony Club and the
Quaker City Motor Club. He joined the Historical Society of
Pennsylvania in 1874, becoming a life member in 1877. He was
elected to membership in the Genealogical Society of Pennsyl-
vania April II, 1892, and became a life member March 19, 1900.
His winter residence from about the time he joined this society
until his death was on Graver's Lane, Chestnut Hill, Philadel-
phia, but in the late spring, summer and early fall (perhaps the
greater part of the year) he lived at his country seat, called
"Lansdowne," in Bristol township, this county, an estate bought
by his father in 1851, having a fine situation on the bank of the
beautiful Neshaminy, and in the near neighborhood of many fine
estates owned by his relatives, and by the Taylor family, his con-
nections by the marriage of one of his sisters. Two of his
brotliers well known in Bucks county, were the late Walter R.
Johnson, of Bensalem township, and Alfred Clayton Johnson,
still a large landholder in the county.
R. Winder Johnson was married November 10, 1887, in St.
Peter's P. E. Church, Third and Pine streets, Philadelphia, by
the Rev. Thomas F. Davies, D. D., to Rosalie Morris, (born
January 17, 1864, died August 5, 1903) daughter of George Cal-
vert Morris and Elizabeth Kuhn his wife. They had four chil-
dren : Morris Winder Johnson, Lawrence Edward Johnson,
Robert Winder Johnson, Jr. and Rosalie Eugenia Johnson. Mr.
Johnson published The Ancestry of Rosalie Morris Johnson,
Phila., Vol. I, 1905, Vol. H, 1908, a magnificent monument to
the memory of his deceased wife. In this book are set forth at
great length, all the lines of her ancestors, which included the
Anthony Morris family, the Willing, Hamilton, Lyle and Franks
families of Philadelphia; Luke Watson, Samuel Richardson,
John Guest, William Hudson and other eminent statesmen of
early Pennsylvania; the Lords Baltimore; and many families of
the Dutch and French nobility.
On December 26, 1910, while crossing the street at Eleventh
and Chestnut streets, Philadelphia, Mr. Johnson was run down
by an ambulance of the Women's Pennsylvania Society for the
ROBERT WINDER JOHNSON 183
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and died early the following
morning in the hospital of the JetYerson Medical College nearhy.
This deplorable accident seems to have been absolutely unavoid-
able, and not due to negligence on either side. The Journal of
Zoophily published by the W. P. S. P. C. A. together with the
Anti-Vivisection Society, in the next number issued after the
accident, said, in part:
"No one more readily than Mr. Johnson himself — who held high place
as a Christian gentleman and public-spirited citizen — would have admitted
the necessity of active ambulance service on the city ways that day, when,
because of the holiday interregnum, an extraordinary number of horses
were so stricken as to require immediate attention. Any fair-minded
person understanding conditions as they existed at the moment, could
understand" * * * "that no skill or effort, however strenuous, could
have saved Mr. Johnson from injury, once he had passed ahead of the
trolley car, which for the whole width of the street crossing hid the
ambulance entirely from view of those on the other side of the narrow
street."
The funeral services were conducted in St. Paul's Episcopal
Church, Chestnut Hill, by the Rev. J. Andrews Harris, on Friday,
December 30, and the interment was made in the yard of St.
Thomas's Church, Whitemarsh. The honorary pallbearers were
the vestry of St. Peter's Church, and the board of trustees of
Christ Church Hospital, of both of which bodies Mr. Johnson
had been a member.
13
The Grier Family.
BY MISS MARY 1^. DU BOIS, DOYI^ESTOWN, PA.
(Menlo Park, Perkasie, Meeting, May 23, 191 1.)
James Horner Grier, who died May 12, 1902, aged 82 years,
was the son of John Stewart Grier and Mary Long Grier ; grand-
son of John and Jane Stewart Grier; and great-grandson of
Matthew and Jean Caldwell Grier.
Matthew Grier emigrated from Ireland prior to 1740, married
Jean Caldwell. Matthew died in 1792; Jean in 1799. They
were buried in the cemetery at Princeton, N. J. A son, John
Grier married Jane Stewart, a daughter of Robert Stewart of
Warrington township. They had six children, four reached
maturity. After the death of Robert Stewart, 1768, the farm
in Warrington came into the possession of John and Jane Stew-
art Grier.
The story is told and seems to be well authenticated that Rob-
ert Stewart and one son lost their lives in their attempt to rescue
another son who had descended into a well on their farm and had
been suffocated by the poisonous gases. John Grier died in 1814,
aged 71 years; his wife in 1831, aged 83 years. John Stewart
Grier, their son, married Mary Long, daughter of Andrew Long
of Hartsville, in 1807. They resided in the old home at War-
rington, had eight children: Robert B., married Martha C. Rich;
John, married Jane Dunn ; Jane and Andrew, died young ; Mary
S., James H., Ann L. died Jan., 1874 and Elizabeth J., who
never married.
John Stewart Grier died in 1870, aged 87 years; his wife in
1843, aged 56. They were buried at Neshaminy churchyard.
Her tombstone bears this testimony : "An affectionate wife, a
tender mother, and for many years a member of the Presby-
terian church." She was a daughter of Andrew Long of Harts-
ville, Pa., who died March 19, 1824. He was the son of Captain
Andrew Long, who commanded a company in the regiment of
Col. Robert Magaw of the Revolutionary army, and was after-
wards one of the judges of Bucks county, he died in 18 12, leaving
THE GRIER FAMILY 185
children: John Long, Andrew Long, above named; W'ilHam ;
Isabella, wife of Solomon Hart; Mary, wife of Barnet Van
Horn; Margaret, wife of Harmon Yerkes, and Letitia, wife of
William Yerkes.
Ann, daughter of Andrew Long, and sister of Mrs. John S.
Grier married James Horner. James Horner Grier, the subject
of this sketch was educated at Rev. Mahlon Long's classical
school at Neshaminy. He resided many years at Norristown,
was a member of, and a generous contributor to the First Pres-
byterian Church of Norristown. He never withdrew his mem-
bership from that church, although his later years were spent
at the Warrington farm, where he erected a new house on the
opposite side of the pike, where he died. He was buried in the
Neshaminy churchyard. In his will he bequeathed $5,000 to the
Bucks County Historical Society, which was used for purchas-
ing additional land for the society, where the building now stands.
ELIZABETH J. GRIER.
Elizabeth J., daughter of J. S. and Mary L. Grier, and sister
of James H. Grier, was born at the old homestead in Warring-
ton township, was educated at J. Grier Ralston's seminary at
Norristown, where she remained as teacher from about 1850-
1881. She returned to Warrington on the death of her brother
John's wife to care for the two daughters, Jennie and Mary
Grier. She w^as a trustee of the Bucks County Historical So-
ciety from 1903 to 1907. In 1893 she founded the Grier Library
Fund with a gift of $2,000. She died in Philadelphia of paraly-
sis, x-Xpril 20, 1907, and was buried in the family lot at Neshaminy
of Warwick.
Grandfathers Clocks.
BY FREDERICK J. SHELLENBERGER, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Menlo Park Perkasie jNIeeting, May 23, 191 1.)
The tall clocks that have since come to be known as grand-
fathers clocks first came to notice about 1660, but I do not
know whether they were first made in England or on the con-
tinent. They came into existence through the invention by
Thomas Tompion, of the long swinging pendulum or balance
movement in 1658. The first clock was made of walnut with a
hood and base. Later the case had a hood, waist and base which
is the more familiar kind, with a metal face, the dial being square
and marked oft' into tenths and squares of the hour, with only one
hand. The oldest clock known in this vicinity is now owned by
Mrs. J. Carroll Molloy of Pineville. It was made by John Ogden
earlier than 1681. It has but one hand and is handsomely dec-
orated with thistle designs. There were few clock-makers in
America in the early part of the eighteenth century. In 17 12 the
Boston News-Letter, advertised a man who made all kinds of
clocks and in 17 16 carried an advertisement for a lot of imported
clocks. This was about the period of the finest English clocks.
The early clocks were not over seven feet tall. But at this time
they were lengthened and some were ten feet tall. Very few
clocks were imported after 1725. C. H. Magill of Doylestown,
has a beautiful mahogany clock made by Joshua Wilson of Lon-
don. From 1740 all the clocks were made with the broken arch
until 181 5. In 1740 they began to get the moon phases and Mr.
Magill has a collection that covers all periods of development of
tall clocks except the more modern. Other beautiful specimens
of clocks are in the possession of Mrs. Isabel Kephard and Dr.
Frank B. Swartzlander of Doylestown. Among the more promi-
nent clock-makers in this vicinity were the Sollidays, Benjamin
Morris, and Richard Owen of Hilltown, Solomon Park, Joseph
Ellicott of Solebury; Seneca Lukens of Horsham and Peter
Stretch of Philadelphia, about 1750.
Pottery of the Pennsylvania Germans.
BY HENRY C. MERCER, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Menlo Park, Perkasie, Meeting, May 23, 191 1.)
The exhibition of the art of making pottery which has survived
here among the descendants of the German settlers of Bucks
county should be of interest for several reasons.
First. Because although it involves a subject of historic im-
portance, and which has attracted a great deal of attention, it is
probably the first exhibition of its kind ever shown at any his-
torical society in the United States.
ARTS BROUGHT FROM GERMANY.
Second. Because the sight of this ancient process, may make
us remember that our ancestors, the German colonists, who came
to Pennsylvania at the beginning of the eighteenth century from
the Rhenish Palatinate and Western Germany, ought to have more
consideration than they have received, for introducing three if not
four kinds of art into the household, namely the art of pottery
in a very ancient, free and original form, the art of illuminating
manuscripts which has been referred to before, the art of music
in an advanced form (among the Moravians at least) at a time
when advanced music was not generally understood in the United
States, and the art of highly decorative iron casting as shown
by our own large collection of stove plates, decorated with pat-
terns illustrating the Bible.
Let it not be forgotten that the architecture of a good many
churches, public buildings and private houses stood for one of
the great fine arts at that period, which the modern architect has
seized upon in the form of so-called colonial architecture and
developed, and which we are all now proud of. And it ought to
be remembered that we had then what might be called household
art in the making of house furniture and clocks after the English
model, and that our Catholic and Church of England or Episco-
palian ancestors, brought with them from Europe, the ancient art
of the church, in the form of Gothic buildings, stained glass,
166 POTTERY OF THE PENNSYLVANIA GERMANS
decorated altars, carved woodwork, etc., and I would not forget
that some of our great-grandmothers embroidered decorative
conventional patterns in good colors with mottoes and inscriptions
upon pieces of fabric now known and valued as "samplers," and
that there might have been here and there a little weaving in pat-
terns that could pass for good design, and that a great many of
the wrought iron apparatus pertaining to the open fire was ham-
mered out by the blacksmith in what might be called an artistic
though unornamental manner.
But in a general way it might be said that neither the Catholic
nor the Protestant of British or Continental origin, nor the Puri-
tan of New England, nor the various Anglo-Saxon Protestant
sects who settled North America, introduced art into the house-
hold at the time when these German pioneers, equally pious and
devoted, and generally Protestant, brought it with them and prac-
ticed it in the instances above noted as part of their daily life.
Why they never developed these things, and how they came to
lose hold of, and forget them, save in such rare cases of survival
as this, are questions elsewhere to be considered. But they as
colonists ought to be remembered for having introduced them.
SURVIVAL OF POTTERS CRAFT.
Third. This exhibition is of much interest, because it shows
you the survival, without a break, of the great potters' craft of
Christendom. Here might be related one of the most interest-
ing incidents in the whole history of pottery, and which marks
its turning point in modern times — namely the discovery of por-
celain in the year 1718. A chemist named Bottcher had been im-
prisoned for alchemy by the Elector of Saxony at the Castle of
Meissen, near Dresden. Somehow he had prevailed upon his
captors to permit him to make experiments upon the production
of an imitation of Chinese porcelain, a thing which at that time
and for a century or more before, had occupied the attention of
the potters of Europe, who had long looked with admiration
and envy at the hard, white, translucent ware of China and tried
in vain to imitate it, at Venice, at Paris, and at other places. A
certain important ingredient, a thing which the Chinese are said
to have called by the word "Petunse," was missing and could
not be identified with any known substance. Bottcher in his
POTTERY OF THE PENNSYLVANIA GERMANS 189
prison, by a most thrilling and dramatic chance found the missing
ingredient to be a white powder which was a china clay used for
powdering his wig, dug up in one of the forests of Saxony. . With
this he made the first porcelain, that is to say in a successful and
practical manner as compared with the earlier efforts. The dis-
covery aroused Europe. The Elector immediately established the
porcelain factory at Meissen as a monopoly with a process which
was to be kept a profound secret. But the secret leaked out.
Workmen broke their oaths and ran away. They told it at
\'ienna and at Sevres and the art of pottery underwent a great
and sudden change. The makers of Italian Majolica, of the
richly enameled earthenware of northern Europe, of the brown
wares of Flanders, the burners of red clay or of yellow clay, the
decorators with fluid slips who had worked with a potter's wheel,
with the old white enamels and the donkey's tail paint brush,
might be said to have thrown away their tools. They then and
there took to copying the Chinese and they have been copying
them ever since. So much have the modern potters their descend-
ants forgotten and more or less despised the art of pottery as
practised by their own ancestors, that if it had not been for the
fact that in a few remote corners of Europe this ancient art had
survived in the old way, in the way known to ancient Rome,
Egypt, Assyria and Mediaeval Europe. If it had not thus sur-
vived in the German Palatinate in such places as the town of
Zweibrucken whence Mr. Headman's ancestors emigrated to
Pennsylvania, if it had not continued to exist there and at other
places so as to be brought over to Pennsylvania and established
in our backwoods it .would have died out and been lost entirely.
This brings us to the fact that when this ancient pottery was
thus transferred to America early in the eighteenth century the
artistically decadent, so called chinaware of various makes and
forms which we know to-day, and which was the immediate re-
sult of Bottcher's discovery, as the great and only, remarkable,
fashionable, elegant household ware of the day came over with
it. It was this latter ware which delighted our great-great-grand-
mothers. They Riled their corner cupboards with it as the fash-
ionable product of the British or Anglo-American china factories.
They delighted in it, at Mt. X'ernon, all through New England
and in Colonial Pennsylvania. I think the Colonial Dames and
ipO POTTERY OF THE PENNSYLVANIA GERMANS
Daughters of the Revolution love it yet. Antique dealers have
show-rooms devoted to it. The prices go up, and some of our
antiquarian friends write books about it.
Nevertheless, as in a fair discussion, where the critic is pre-
pared to give all his reasons, it might be objected to as bad in
form, bad in color and bad in decoration. Bad in form because
generally not thrown on the potter's wheel but poured into ill-con-
structed moulds, like plaster-of -Paris. Bad in color because its
nearly invariable white body had the cream chilled out of it with
cobalt, while the patterns were painted in a monochrome and
frequently "poisonous" blue or washed out pink. Bad in decora-
tion because the patterns were not painted directly upon the
ware but printed on paper and transferred to it as products rather
of a printing press than the potter's laboratory. If this old col-
onial machine-made, blue and pink printed ware is artistic, then
the pottery which Mr. Scheetz has arranged to have shown here
is of very little real importance, and might as well be allowed to
die out, but with an apology for referring to my own efforts in
the field of pottery I cannot help saying that if I had depended
for my inspiration upon this china ware of our great-great-grand-
mothers or upon the china ware of to-day as rolled out of the ma-
chines at Trenton, East Liverpool and elsewhere at so and so
much a car load, I would probably have avoided the subject, and
remained in ignorance.
But it was the thing that you see to-day, the manner in which
mother earth grows out of the human touch into bowl or
vase, the manner in which it was painted, baked, dried, slipped
and perhaps most of all let alone, that fired to my imagination.
Red, with which nature has gloriously tinted most of the clays
of the world, is a wonderful color. Don't abolish it with a
patent body of chilled white. Let it alone. Clay shrinks. Don't
eliminate shrinkage by Prossers celebrated dry dust process. Let
it shrink. Clay moves at every slightest human touch. It moves
in the sun, in the air, in the fire till you put the fire out. Let
it move. Clay lives, don't kill it by pouring it like white molasses
into a mould. Clay sags, on the wheel, plastic to the strong or
easy touch. Don't stifle it by returning it and trueing the life out
of it half dry on a lathe. These potters painted clay with clay,
POTTERY OF THE PENNSYLVANIA GERMANS I9I
they let the colors of nature alone and hurnt them into the very
life of the object.
The late Mr. James G. Blaine said once in my hearing, "that
real things have no show" and perhaps what you are going to
see will strike you as a process too primitive, too cheap, too simple
to be remarkable. But it is a process which greatly stirred me.
I saw things here which as an archaeologist I had seen on the
ancient walls of the Tombs of Egypt, in the magnificient pottery
of the Moors, in the Gothic tiles of old England, and the bonfire-
baked product of the Mound builders, or the painted potsherds
which I had dug from the caverns of Yucatan. Whoever wishes
to study, practice, or develop pottery should overlook the modern
factory, and begin here. At this point I might go at much length
into my own experience, but I am done now. What you are about
to see, the last survival here in our midst of an ancient art with
a brilliant history, reaching back to the beginning of civilization,
inspired me, and changed the current of my life. Perhaps one
reason why it has lost ground consists in the fact that the ware
is not hard enough for a great many household uses to which
pottery has been applied. But there are other uses, such as the
decoration of architecture which might well reward its restoration.
Shall it die? Thirteen years ago I said not, when I began a'
work which I hope will continue after me. namely an attempt to
restore and develop it in the making of tiles.
Bucks County Potters.
BY GRIER SCHEETZ, PERKASIE, PA.
(Menlo Park, Perkasie, Meeting, May 23, 191 1.)
Many years before American Indians saw the ships of Cokim-
biis, or before Rome was known as the mistress of the world, or
even before the building of the Tower of Babel, earthenware had
been manufactured and used by the inhabitants of the world.
In short it was one of the first trades known unto man. Holy
Writ informs us that ancient Israel used earthen cups and pots,
while the Museum of the University of Pennsylvania contains
earthen pots and vessels taken from the tombs of the Pharaohs of
Egypt which date over six thousand years B. C.
While the moulding and shaping may differ slightly in its con-
struction, we learn that the very early ancients used the same pot-
ter's lathe or wheel still in existence in upper Bucks county, Pa.
There are two kinds of potter's wheels in use. One was made
with a large wooden wheel which was turned with the bare foot,
•with an upright piece extended therefrom, to which was attached
the potter's lathe or wheel at the top, upon which the pot or dish
was formed. The other kind were operated by a crank made of
wood or iron to which was attached the lathe or wheel while to
the crank in the center was attached a strap which led to the
treadle and was operated by the foot. The potter's wheel was
unknown to the aborigines unless in Yucatan and is unknown
among the savage tribes of Africa.
While the clay, preparatory to moulding or shaping, is prac-
tically the same as used by the ancients, the ancients used their
feet to mix and knead the clay and work it into the consistency
of dough. In later years the horse was used as power to grind
the clay through what was known as a clay mill in upper Bucks
county, which consisted of the upright, smooth, wooden wheels
similar to the old apple mill used in making cider, after which
enough water was added to make the clay work smooth and of
the consistency of dough. As late as 1905 the clay was still mixed
or kneaded with the bare feet. All gravel, small stones and peb-
BUCKS COUNTY POTTERS I93
bles, should be picked out ])y hand, to leave them in the clay to
be baked, means a hole in the vessel.
After the clay was properly tempered it was cut out in squares
with a piece of wire, to the required size wanted and sticks i)laced
upon each edge to regulate the thickness ; it was then smoothed
and rolled out the same as the good housewife rolls out her crust
for pies.
For the making of a pie dish the clay was laid upon a mould
placed upon the lathe or wheel and then pressed, and rubbed down
with a piece of leather. The mould was also made of clay. Here
is where the decorations were placed upon the dish. At times the
white slip was scratched with a hard sharp stick or iron instru-
ment until the earth showed through, and which, upon being
burned, showed the rich earthen red. This white clay or slip was
brought from Maryland.
To shape the handles the clay was put in a large wood squirt
gun, and forced through the hole in the end which usually was
used plain, round or grooved. After being forced through this
hole the clay was stuck upon jug, pot or cup, and thus formed
the handle before being burned. Oftentimes this style of handle
was worked by thumb and forefinger plain round and placed
upon the article to be handled.
At times a certain glaze or slip was used to simply show the
figure on the surface which was put on by goose quill or small
brush, after which they were placed upon racks for a few days
to dry. For pie dishes the light colored clay was used, as some
of the dark clay would cause the pastry to have a peculiar taste
which could not be described nor eradicated. After they were left
to dry from three to five days, they were glazed on the inside to
prevent cracking and leakage, they were then ready to be placed
in the oven to be burned. All kinds of earthen vessels were made
such as pots, kettles, collanders, pans, cups, plates, mugs, dishes,
cakebakers, saltcellars, sugarbowls, teapots, jars, jugs, stove-
blocks, pipeholes, drainpipes, bottles, toys, in fact everything that
is made in the iron, stone or chinaware of to-day.
The glazing was made from clay and sand and Galena ore or
red lead which was ground in a stone' mortar. This same kind of
mortar was used by the ancients. Air. Samuel Diehl, the father
194 BUCKS COUNTY POTTEiRS
of William, who will demonstrate the making of pottery to-day,
used to go to New Galena from Rockhill for his ore for glazing.
After glazing, they are ready to be placed in the oven to be
burned.
Primitive man first baked his earthenware in the sun. Not
being fire-burned, the contents often were lost by leakage. Later
he burned his earthenware in a brush fire and finally in an earthen
oven. At the present time the burning is done in an oval or round
oven built of stone, in which the pots are placed in rows, one upon
the other. The dishes and plates are put upon racks and placed
in the top of the oven as they do not require the same amount of
heat as the pots, and in all direct draft ovens, the heat was
greater at the bottom than at the top. All ancients had up-draft
kilns. In the top of the oven a piece of clay three inches by ten
inches was hung upon a hook, which could be removed to test
the heat of burning. When this piece was burned sufficiently, the
whole oven was ready, the fire could be drawn and the contents
left to cool. The burning usually required from four to five
days. The fuel used in burning was usually oak wood and before
firing, the door was walled up with stones and clay. In many
instances horse manure mixed with clay was used to close up the
door of the oven.
Mr. Diehl always used stones and clay or common red brick.
The ovens used by William and Josiah Diehl have been in use
for nearly one hundred years and are still in good condition,
being built round and lined with common red bricks.
There were quite a number of potteries in upper Bucks county,
among which were the following : Herstine's, near Kintnersville,
Nockamixon township; Simon Singer's in Haycock township;
Kinsey's and Jackson Moore's, at Quakertown ; Peter Headman's
and Samuel Diehl, now, William and Josiah Diehl, in East Rock-
hill township. There were several potteries located near the
Diehl potteries before the Diehls came to America, but their
names cannot be obtained except the one located near Almont,
known as Long Tail Hair Nace pottery.
In the year 1825, Samuel Diehl, whose ancestors came from
Zweibrucken (Two Bridges) Germany, the father of William,
Joseph and Josiah Diehl, opened a pottery on the present site.
BUCKS COUNTY POTTERS I95
which comprises one of the finest beds of clay in Bucks county,
which before firing is colored white, red and gray. The ovens
previously referred to are still occasionally used by William
Diehl, who though seventy-one years of age has kindly consented
to move his tables, wheel, clay, etc., with many articles in earthen-
ware, to Menlo Park in Perkasie borough to show his handwork
and demonstrate to this society the mode of manufacturing earth-
enware as it was done in the early days.
On May 15, 1904, the pottery house of William Diehl with his
collection of pottery, figures and moulds, were totally destroyed
by fire, only a few of the finer articles which were in the dwelling
house being saved.
In concluding this part of my paper, would say that on account
of stoneware coming into the markets of the world, the manu-
facturing of earthenware has become practically extinct or so
to speak, a lost art.
perkasie; manor.
The property upon which the Diehl kilns are located, also
Perkasie, Sellersville, Hagersville, Blooming Glen and Silverdale
was known as Perkasie Manor. It was originally in 1734 a grant
of 10,200 acres. Hiram Keller of Doylestown is my authority
for saying that Perkasie derived its name from the first German
settlers who came to this section, who looking over the beautiful
rolling Perkasie valley from the top of now Tunnel Hill,
exclaimed with rapture, Bergasaa or Berga-funsaa, meaning the
rolling waves of the sea or hills of the sea, hence Perkasie and
Blooming Glen were first known as Perkasie, and when a rail-
road station was established in the year 1869 the name of Per-
kasie was adopted for the new station. In 1870 or 1871 the post
office was also established under that name.
In looking up the old archives for which we are also indebted
to Hiram Keller, we give an abstract of a portion of a quadri-
partite deed or deed of partition as follows : A portion of a
deed from Linford Lardner and Joseph Shipper attorneys in fact
for John Penn for a tract of land sold to John Benner of which
the property known later as the Henry N. Grofif property, was
a part in his deed, it gives the date of a quadripartite deed
196 BUCKS COUNTY POTTERS
between the four surviving children of WilUam Penn as July 2,
1734, as follows: Isaac Morris, son and heir of Isaac Morris,
late of Fairhill, in the Northern Liberties of the city of Phila-
delphia "merchant" dec, of first part containing 2,500 acres dated
August 6, 1735, Record Book F, Vol. 8, p. 338, Philadelphia,
No. 2. John Penn, one of the sons of William Penn by Hannah
his wife, of second part. Thomas Penn, another of the sons of
William Penn by Hannah his wife, third part, dated July 30,
1735. Record Patent Book A. Vol. 7, page 221, at Philadelphia,
containing 2,780 acres. Richard Penn, another of the sons of
William Penn by Hannah his wife of the fourth part mortgage
deed, dated September 22, 1740. Thomas Neme and Margaret,
his wife, she being the only daughter of the Hon. William Penn,
Esq., late proprietory and governor in chief of the province of
Pennsylvania. Fifth part being part of the manor or reputed
manor of Perkasie, containing 10,000 acres and part of certain
bonds adjacent thereunto.
MR. DIEHL GIVES A PRACTICAL DEMONSTRATION OF MAKING
POTTERY.
Mr. Mercer said:
Before Mr. Diehl proceeds with his demonstration of making
pottery, I wish to say concerning Mr. Scheetz's paper, that the
town of Zweibrucken, from which Mr. Diehl's ancestors came to
America, is about thirty-five miles southwestward of Kaiserslau-
tern. in the Rhenish Palatinate and in the midst of that region
from which many of our early German settlers brought their
habits, customs and language to Bucks county.
It is also worth noting, that when we speak of the fact that
this clay, of black character, was not used on account of impart-
ing a disagreeable taste to the pies or bread, baked in the dishes,
another interesting and very little known tradition in the history
of earthenware is recalled, namely that what has been thought to
be naturally perfumed pottery existed among the ancient Romans
and Greeks. The Greek writer Athenaeus (Banquet of the
Learned, Book, 1 1 ) asserts that the ancient potters obtained
certain clays on the Island of Rhodes and also at Koptos (the
modern Kuft) in Egypt, which, if lacking aroma when excavated,
BUCKS COUNTY POTTERS 19/
after being baked into water vessels developed a pleasing per-
fume. In America to-day at Cuernavaca, near the City of
Mexico, the Indian potters are digging a clay from which they
make vases and vessels for cooling water, which also are said to
exhale a natural perfume. So that here we have the idea of clay
retaining a scent after it is burned.
Of further interest is the fact (according to information ob-
tained by me from Mr. Herstine of the old Herstine pottery in
Nockamixon township) that our Colonial potters obtained the
green color here shown on the slip and in blotches on the
sgraffito ware, by heating copper pennies in a blacksmith's forge,
after which the scale was hammered from the hot coin. This
copper oxide dissolved in vinegar produced a solution which was
then applied to the pottery and which on burning, made the green.
Presentation of a Log House by the Citizens of Doylestown
to the Bucks County Historical Society
(Doylestown, Pa., October 6, 191:.)
An old log house, unpretentious and weather beaten, but hav-
ing the honor of being the oldest house in Doylestown, was an
object of veneration and homage on Friday afternoon, October
6, 191 1, on the occasion of its presentation by the citizens of
Doylestown, to the Bucks County Historical Society.
This cabin which has been of historic interest for many years,
stood on the east side of North Main street, opposite Clear
Spring Hotel. It was carefully taken down, the logs and other
parts marked, and then moved and rebuilt on the south-east end
of the Historical Society's grounds, where it now stands restored
to its original condition.
Log houses, which at one time were a common sight in Bucks
county, are fast disappearing, and will soon be known only in
history. It was, therefore, quite timely that this building, fast
going into decay, should be preserved as one of the landmarks
of a generation that has passed away.
198
PRESENTATION OE A LOG HOUSE
LOG HOUSE
Presented to the Bucks County Historical Society.
The thanks of
the people of
Bucks county
are due to those
who have aided
in this under-
taking, especial-
ly to two ladies,
Mrs. Henry A.
James and Miss
Mary L. Du
Bois, who or-
ganized the
work and were
instrumental in
collecting mon-
ey for its pur-
chase and re-
moval to the
new site.
This log house was probably built by John Byerly in 1799, or
by Thomas Roberts in 1803. An etching of it in its restored con-
dition, taken after its removal and erection on the present site
is herewith shown. The building is 15 feet 6 inches by 23 feet
5 inches on the outside, and is one and one-half stories high.
The meeting for the purpose of presentation held in the open
air on the grounds of the society near by the reconstructed log
house, was presided over by Mr. Henry A. James. After prayer
by Rev. George H. Lorah, Chairman James explained the object
of the meeting, and on behalf of the citizens, formally presented
the restored building to the Bucks County Historical Society, on
whose behalf it was accepted by Henry C. Mercer, president of
the society.
ACCEPTANCE BY PRESIDENT HENRY C. MERCER.
In behalf of the Bucks County Historical Society, I take great
pleasure in accepting the log house and in thanking two ladies,
Mrs. Henry. A. James and Miss Mary DuBois, who have worked
hard from the first, and all friends of the Bucks County His-
PRESENTATION OF A LOG HOUSE 199
torical Society who have contributed their money to save it from
destruction.
A celebrated saying of Jefferson always impressed me, namely,
that if a man gets angry, he ought to count ten, if very angry
count a hundred, and I think that some of us concerned in the
rescue and reconstruction of this ancient heirloom, this last typ-
ical log house in Doylestown, have counted a hundred tw^o or
three times.
First came a long series of negotiations with the owner lasting
about two years, in the endeavor to keep the house upon its
original site. They all failed.
Second, came the placing of a descriptive tablet by myself in
front of the house, intended to rouse regret and patriotic interest.
It also failed.
Third, came the efforts of Mrs. Henry A. James and Miss
Mary DuBois who raised a fund and the generosity of all our
friends who contributed to it, which at last resulted in the pur-
chase of the house for fifty dollars.
Fourth, came a lot of estimates for its removal from builders
and contractors which were so expensive as to be prohibitive.
They threw a damper over the whole project, when Mr. Seth
Good, whom I wish to thank warmly at this point, saved the day
by pulling down the house as far as the cellar wall (not one
stone of which w^e were allowed to use) and removing it to this
site for twenty-five dollars.
Next came the work of Mr. Patrick Trainor who supervised
the whole matter in an efficient way, the generosity of Mr. Joseph
Blair, who gave us a lot of telephone poles and the assistance of
Mr. George Hart who drew a plan to scale, with the logs all
numbered, which, with my own photographs, enabled us to put
back everything not rotted, and replace lost logs with railroad
ties, four cement piers, and a chimney reconstructed with cement,
for about one hundred and fifty dollars ($150), so that the whole
purchase, removal and rebuilding has cost about $225. But it is
all over now, the loghouse is safe from the hands of the destroyer.
No one will probably call it an eye-sore again.
The late James G. Blaine once said a thing that greatly im-
pressed me, that "real things have no show."
Perhaps this old house has no show for you. You may class it
14
200 PRESENTATION OF A LOG HOUSE
with the broken-down sheds, wagon houses and small barns of
the town. But if you look closer your opinion will change.
There is nothing to be ashamed of here. This is the ancient
home of all of our ancestors, the birthplace of most of the
force brains and devotion that began at the beginning to make
the country what it is, the first house built by the first comer into
the Great Forest, and there is not a great man in the United
States to-day from one end of it to another, who would not take
ofl:' his hat to it.
In the whole matter of reconstructing it nothing impressed me
more than the fact that one day, when down here, a little colored
boy asked me if Lincoln was not born in a house like that. Yes,
he was. And so was Henry Clay and a hundred more of the
great men on America's roll of fame. Not in colonial mansions.
This log house came first. It is true that the pioneers made
preliminary shelters by leaning brush and earth roofs against
horizontal ridge poles resting on forked sticks, or felled trees,
and fronting bonfires, and that they made trenches, called caves
roofed with logs and earth against the sides of banks. But this
was the first permanent dwelling.
Captain John Smith and Henry Hudson did not live in colonial
mansions neither did Miles Standish or the Pilgrim fathers. But
they lived in cabins like this. Forty Fort at Wyoming was built
of logs, so was Logtown or Penns Park, one of the oldest settle-
ments in Bucks county. William Tennent's school, probably the
origin of Princeton College at Hartsville, which they are going
to try to reconstruct next summer, was built of logs.
There is no humbug here, no jigsaw work, no concealment of
construction, no lath and plaster ceiling. Everything is real in
this first house of the pioneer, that ought to send a thrill through
the heart of every American, this house built with an axe by
notching together or dovetailing logs in a very strong, practical
and ingenious manner learned hundreds of years before the dis-
covery of America by our Anglo-Saxon and Germanic ancestors
in the forests of Scandinavia and Northern Europe.
Boys, when you go to New York and look at those lofty build-
ings rising into the clouds, so wonderful at a distance, yet so
commonplace inside, when you look at Baldwin's Locomotive
Works or Cramps Shipyard or the Brooklyn Bridge and wonder
PRESENTATION OF A LOG HOUSE 201
at the material greatness, riches and power of our country, think
of the log house and you will be wiser. If your life should not be
a worldly success, if at the end of the story you find yourself little
better oflf than at the beginning, still surrounded by dangers, hard-
ships and difficulties, think of the old log house and the ancestral
struggle that went on there, and it will do. you good. If on the
other hand you rise high in wealth and power, if you ever find
yourself in control of the policy of some great corporation that
may efifect the welfare of large communities or even States, if you
ever reach the point where the pride and power of riches tempts
you to become a monopolist or oppressor, think of the old house
of your own ancestors and you will deal with the great struggle
of humanity for existence in a kindlier way.
But I am done. Others are here who lived in this house or
houses like it, or who remember it in the older past of Doyles-
town better than I do. They will tell you things that will make
you realize these facts better than anything that I can say.
Mrs. Conrad Elf, an aged resident of Doylestown, the last oc-
cupant of the old log house, then gave some personal reminis-
cences of the time she lived there. She spoke of her old home
as a cherished memory of her childhood, saying she had lived
in it for many years, from the time when she was but a few
months old, and had spent many happy hours under its roof.
In her early days, she said, there were partitions both on the
ground floor and on the second story, also a kitchen on one side.
She recalled the splint matches and tallow candles her mother
made, also the fluid lamps of a later day, and the high post bed-
steads and ten-plate stove in which wood was burned.
Mr. William Rahme, of Flemington, N. J., a nephew of Mrs.
Elf, also gave a few recollections of the old house, among which
he referred to the old door latch, used in the absence of locks,
the string of which was pulled in to lock the door. He explained
that the two strips on the sides of the door were to hold a board,
which was intended to keep the baby from getting out of doors.
Mr. Arthur Chapman, of Doylestown, Pa., said:
I have a recollection of many buildings and landmarks along
202 PRESENTATION OF A LOG HOUSE
North Main street near where this old log house stood in that part
of the town called "Germany." At the foot of the hill there
was an open lot and next to the lot was this old log house, in
which Caspar Rhoades lived with his wife, and four children.
One son, Harry, died as the result of an accident. Conrad
Rhoades was a barber and died in Philadelphia. Mrs. Elf, who
has just given us some of her reminiscences of the old house, and
her daughter, Catharine, (who was my nurse), took me on my
first visit to this cabin. I have, somehow, gained the im-
pression that it was built by Elijah Russel. Further up
the street there was an open field and then about where Fred-
erick Constantine's house stands, was the frame residence of
"Jimmy the Tanner," and adjoining him there was a log house
under an immense willow tree, in which Jimmy and Nancy Wood,
natives of the Emerald Isle, lived. Jimmy is distinctly remem-
bered by the fact that he nearly always wore a "stove-pipe" hat.
Their log house was of a different pattern from the other one.
Where the house of Theodore Werner now stands was an old-
building which probably ante-dated this restored log house, for
it was even then doted and rotting away. The dwellings of Davis
Brower and John Livezey came next. Where Stacey Weaver
now lives was the house of John Weisel, a man of note, who had
a livery stable back of Kram's hotel, and who started a brick-
yard in the rear of his home. Later the excavations he made
were used for ice ponds. He "ran for" sheriff at one time, and
on one occasion after returning from a canvass was asked how he
made out and replied : "Well, not so well in New Hope, but in
Lambertville, everybody's for me."
In "Gypsy Lane" or East street, and going up on the other
side, was a field, as at present, the maple trees having been planted
by Independence Mosier at the instance my father, Henry Chap-
man. John Constantine had the brick-yard above this field and
Charles Mertz later operated it. I recall that near this point lived
an old hero of the American Revolution, Captain Valentine Opp,
whose acquaintance I made. At one time Opp was persecuted by
witches, as he imagined, and called upon my father to dispel
them, which he did by drawing a chalk line around Opp's bed
when the witches left.
The next building after the tanyard was the Clear Spring
PRESENTATION OE A EOG HOUSE 203
Hotel, as it is now known.* At this tavern Thomas Dyer and
Aaron Worthington sold Canadian horses. The greatest attrac-
tion at that place was the spring, which was enclosed in a small
space, and had in it the largest brook trout I have ever seen.
Above the tavern, on the site of Hartman's store was the home of
Benjamin Vanluvanee, a shoemaker, fisherman and hunter, in
whose company I have spent many happy hours. Vanluvanee
told me that he had been acquainted with the Doane outlaws, who
had visited him.
Hon. Harman Yerkes, said :
I am surprised that the previous speakers have forgotten to
mention the romance connected with this old log house. I will
not, however, vouch for the story which is that : Many years ago
when old man Russell occupied the house there was a hand-
some pair of antlers on one end of the cabin. It seems that one
morning Russell and his wife and daughters found an Indian
by the spring sorely wounded and they nursed him back to
health. After that he paid them annual visits and on one occasion
presented the antlers. On his last visit, however, he ran off with
his benefactor's daughter.
This house is nothing but what it represents, a relic of the
formative period of this country, and recalls the primitive hardi-
hood of the early settlers. Are we not neglectful of the virtues
which were compulsory with the men and women who occupied
such log houses? They did not use these abodes because they
wanted to, but because of necessity, and the credit for much of
their sturdy lives should be given in a measure to the conditions
which developed in them their industry, usefulness, honesty and
frugality. This old house brings to us doubts as to whether we
have not reached a dangerous period of extravagance, whether we
are doing our duty to the children by instructing them about the
necessity of being frugal, honest and truthful and of aiming to be-
come good men and women. The men, women and children of
the old days had their pleasures in quilting parties and the like,
and doubtless enjoyed them as much as do the gossips of to-day
their more fashionable bridge- whist parties. For the women,
* The original name of this tavern was "Spring House,,' later it was called the
"Bucks County Farmer. " Capt. Valentine Opp, of Springfield township, bought the
tavern in iSij, and it remained in the Opp family until 1843.
204 LOG HOUSES OF BUCKS COUNTY
too, there were apple paring parties and for the men the athletic
games which developed better physical and, perhaps, better moral
training than some of the refinements we follow and the fashions
we ape. The old log house presents food for thought. Do the
refinements and extravagances, and inventions of this age, bring
the true happiness and peace of mind of our ancestors? Such
are the questions which the old house leads us to ask.
An interesting part of the exercises was the singing of "Home
Sweet Home," by the older persons present and "My Old Ken-
tucky Home" by the smaller children of the public schools.
The exercises closed with the reading of an original poem in
honor of the old house and its memories by Mrs. Findley Braden.
Log Houses of Bucks County.
BY COL. HLNRY D. PAXSON, HOUCONG, PA.
(Newtown Meeting, October lo, 19 ii.)
It is with considerable hesitancy that I attempt to present a
paper upon a subject that is by right of priority the acknowledged
field of your President, a pioneer who has blazed the way through
the woodlands of tradition to a new and pleasing light upon many
phases of the American beginning. Years ago he gathered from
the Delaware Valley the artifacts of the Redman, and with the
argillite blade from Gaddis Run and yellow jasper from Durham
and the Lehigh Hills, he presented in Madrid an exhibit that en-
lightened the archaeologists of Europe as to how, in the stone age,
the aborigines of our country made their implements. Then,
follo-wing in quick succession, we are fascinated with the art im-
pulses from the stove plate and earthen jar and arc delighted at
the melody from the illuminated hymn books of the Pennsylvania
German ; then from the attic and dusty loft spring forth a hetro-
geneous collection of wood and iron, implements of the Pennsyl-
vania pioneer, each eager in its turn to relate its part in the story
of the founding of a new nation. But still further, permit me to
recount that I recently saw in the city of Mexico, that ancient
capital of the Montezumas, tiles marked with this inscription,
"Manufactured in Doylestown, Pennsylvania." Surely when
LOG HOUSES OF BUCKS COUNTY 205
Bucks county shall receive suitable mention in Baedeker none will
be more entitled to the credit than your President, Mr. Henry
Chapman Mercer.
It is with the same indefatigable purpose of investigating and
preserving now fast fading evidences of our early civilization
that the log house has been made a fixture in history by restoring
a typical specimen and placing around it the protecting arm of
the Bucks County Historical Society, where it may remain for all
time as a monument to the hardihood, steadfastness and sacrifice
of those who went forth to build our nation.
I have been asked by Mr. Mercer to present in this paper some
of the details of construction of the log house with the view of
differentiating the various types.
To go back to the beginning, we can readily understand that
when the pioneer family landed on the wooded banks of the
Delaware the outlook for board and lodging for the first night
must have been anything but propitious. In many instances,
we are told, families were temporarily sheltered in the wigwam
of the then friendly Indian, others made for themselves rude
dwellings, the so-called caves. Little is known about these pre-
liminary shelters outside of Watson's Annals, from which we
learn that :
"Preliminaries settled, the men and bo3S choose out their several
grounds for their temporary hut or cabin, called a cave. While some dig
into the earth about three feet at the verge of the river bank, others
apply the axe to clear away the underwood or to fell trees, whose limbs
and foliage may supply sides and roofs to their humble dwellings. In
other cases, some dug sods, and of them formed the sides of their huts.
To these, chimneys of grass and kneaded clay were set up, and lo, their
rude house was finished."
Another type of the cave home is given by Doctor John W^at-
son, in his account of the first settlers of Buckingham and Sole-
burg, as follows :
"One of the first dwelling houses yet remains in Abraham Paxson's
yard, on the tract called William Croasdale's, now Henry Paxson's. It
is made of stone, and is dug into the earth where there is a moderate
descent, about twenty feet by ten or twelve. At the end fronting the
southeast was a door leading into the dwelling-room for the whole family,
where there was a sort of chimney; and a door at the other end, also
level with the ground, led into the loft, which must have been the lodging
room."
206 LOG HOUSES OF BUCKS COUNTY
The pioneer having completed his temporary shelter, the next
step was to get his warrants of survey and locate his land, upon
which he subsequently built his more permanent home, the log
house, few examples of which now remain.
They were constructed, says Alice Morse Earle, in Home Life
in Colonial Days :
"of round logs, halved together at the corners, and roof with logs, or
with bark and thatch on poles; this made a comfortable shelter, especially
when the cracks between the lows were 'chinked' with wedges of wood,
and 'daubed' with clay. Many cabins had at first no chinking or daubing;
one settler while sleeping was scratched on the head by the sharp teeth
of a hungry wolf, who thrust his nose into the space between the logs
of the cabin. Doors were hung on wooden hinges or straps of hide.
"A favorite form of a log house for a settler to build in his first 'cut
down' in the virgin forest, was to dig a square trench about two feet
deep, of dimensions as large as he wished the ground floor of his house,
then to set upright all around this trench (leaving a space for a fireplace,
window and door), a closely placed row of logs all the same length,
usually fourteen feet, for a single story; if there was a loft, eighteen feet
long. The earth was filled in solidly around these logs, and kept them
firmly upright ; a horizontal band of puncheons, which were split logs
smoothed off on the face with the axe, was sometimes pinned around
within the log Avails, to keep them from caving in. Over this was placed
a bark roof, made of squares of chestnut bark, or shingles of overlapping
birchbark. A bark or log shutter was hung at the window, and a bark
door hung on with hinges, or, if very luxurious, on leather straps, com-
pleted the quickly made home. This was called rolling-up a house, and
the house was called a puncheon and bark house. A rough puncheon
floor, hewed flat with an axe, or adz, was truly a luxury. One settler's
wife pleaded that the house might be rolled up around a splendid flat
stump ; thus she had a good, firm table. A small platform placed about
two feet high alongside one wall, and supported at the outer edge with
strong posts, formed a bedstead. Sometimes hemlock boughs were the
only bed. The frontier saying was, 'A hard day's work makes a soft
bed.' The tired pioneers slept well even on hemlock boughs. The chinks
of the logs were filled with moss and mud, and in the autumn banked
up outside with earth for warmth."
This describes the types of the Pennsylvania log house, except
that Miss Earle fails to state that the chimneys were of stone
and built inside of the house, which distinguishes them from the
negro cabin of the South where the chimneys are of logs and
built on the outside of the cabin.
Through a South Carolinian, I am able to present a minute de-
scription of the Southern cabin.
LOG HOUSES OF BUCKS COUNTY 207
The site usualy selected for the cabin is in the woods where
the logs when cut can easily be rolled to the building. The sizes
of such building vary, but 14 feet by 16 feet predominates. The
logs are cut about two feet over the length required to allow for
the lap at the corner. All that holds these logs in place is simply
a notch at both ends and after the logs have been piled to a
sufficient height, usually 8 or 10 feet, the cracks are filled in with
chips and daubed with clay that is dug near the building, and
which is mixed with sage grass. In the course of construction
three openings are usually left on the sides of the building, one
for a door, usually about 5 feet wide and seven feet high, the
second is an air hole which might be termed a window, but is
never closed with glass and is an opening of about 2 by 2 feet,
which is closed by a sliding board in cold weather. The third
opening is at one end and is about 4 feet or 5 feet wide by 4 feet
high ; this is for the fireplace. The chimney is built on the out-
side and is constructed by sticks placed one on top of the other
similar to the construction of the main building. The chimney
is also cemented or lined both on the inside and outside by a mix-
ture of clay and grass. The roof is constructed of riven pine
boards about 2 feet long placed upon poles and held in place by
binding timber ; all without the use of nails. Lamps are a luxury ;
light is usually secured by burning pine knot or what the in-
habitant terms "light wood." The room is never partitioned, the
whole family, and any company that perchance may happen, eat,
sleep and live in the same room.
LOG SCHOOL HOUSES.
Alice Morse Earle, in Child Life in Colonial Days, says:
"Full description exists of tiie first country schoolhouses in Pennsj-1-
vania and New York. The}- are universally made of logs. Some had
rough puncheon floors, others a dirt floor which readily ground into dust
two or three inches thick, that unruly pupils would purposely stir up in
clouds to annoy the masters and disturh the school. The bark roof was
a little higher at one side that the rain might drain off^. Usually the
teacher sat in the middle of the room and pegs were thrust between the
logs around the walls, three or four feet from the ground ; boards were
laid on these pegs. At these rude desks sat the older scholars with their
backs to the teacher. Younger scholars sat on blocks or benches of logs.
Until this century many schoolhouses did not have glass set in the small
2o8 LOG HOUSES OF BUCKS COUNTY
windows, but paper greased with lard was fastened in the rude sashes,
or in holes cut in the wall and let in a dim light. At one end, or in the
middle, a 'cat and clay' chimney furnished a •fireplace."
LOG COLLLGL.
The most noted log school was the Presbyterian Academy es-
tablished about 1726 by the Rev. William Tennent in Warmin-
ster township, Bucks county, and popularly called "Log College."
Archibald Alexander, D. D., writing about 1851, said: "This
edifice, which was made of logs, cut out of the woods, probably
from the very spot where the house was erected, was situated in
Bucks county, Pennsylvania, about 20 miles north of Philadel-
phia." Watson's Annals fixes the location "at the forks of the
Neshaminy," but the late George G. Maris, of Buckingham, in a
foot note in an old edition of this history says : "This is a mis-
take. It was situated on the Old York road one-half mile be-
low Hartsville. Part of the foundation was standing in 1832.
It was about 30 feet to the north of Moses Cooper's shop."
Davis' History confirms this latter location and gives the size of
the building as 20 feet square and built upon a tract of 50 acres
of original timber land given by his kinsman, James Logan. I
am inclined to accept this location since Miss Matilda M. Ruck-
man, of Solebury, told me recently that her grandfather had lived
near this site and she remembers when a little girl being shown
the ruins of the foundation of the college.
Apparently there is no true picture of the Log College in exis-
tence. Those that have been figured have points which bar them
from the true Pennsylvania type. One, for instance, the frontis-
piece in Dr. Murphy's Presbytery of the Log College given as the
original Log College building, has an outside log chimney and
was the conception of an artist who drew the picture from a
description given third handed.
But however opinions may differ as to its precise location
and construction, this much is clear, that from this college in
1746, grew the great College of New Jersey, now Princeton Uni-
versity, and, in 1783, Dickinson College, at Carlisle, Penna., and
that from this simple log college went forth many men who be-
came makers and uplifters of a great nation.
LOG HOUSES OF BUCKS COUNTY 209
LOG MEETING HOUSES.
Some of the earliest places of worship were constructed of logs ;
notably the first meeting house built in Buckingham, begun in
1705, and, which, not being finished in 1708, the builders thereof
were admonished by Falls' Meeting "to get done with speed."
During, or shortly after the construction of this building Friends
petitioned to have glass windows put in and Joseph Kirkbride
and William Biles offered to pay the expense thereof.
LOG TAVERNS.
The road house or tavern of these early days was often built
of logs and though rude and simple dispensed to the traveler a
hearty good cheer. One of these taverns by its peculiar con-
struction with a chimney in the middle and rooms on either end
gave it the appearance of a double building, from which it was
called Double Inn, whence the name of the present village of
Dublin, Bucks county. During the Revolution this tavern was
said to have been a rendezvous of royalists, associates of the
Doans.
GUN POWDER PLOT IN BUCKINGHAM.
An interesting historical incident of my native township of
Buckingham, was the so-called Gun* Powder Plot. — a favorite
Guy Fawkes story and told in whispers around many a fireside
in by-gone days.
Captain Bailey relates the incident as follows :
"Two hundred yards west of the Hughesian schoolhouse on the upper
side of the road stood a Revolutionary relic, a log house. In the upper
end of the town on the turnpike was an old frame shanty called Black
Horse. A vigilance committee composed of many of the leading citizens
decided it should be tenanted no longer. On the afternoon of the 31st
of March, 1856, the tenants were quietly moved away and in the evening
Black Horse was blown up with gunpowder, and at the signal of explo-
sion, which shook the town, the log house was torn down by a number
of active workers."
Time will not permit me to pursue the subject further or to
go into that more interesting topic, — the home life of the pioneer,
— fraught with so many stirring and romantic incidents. May
we preserve, where we can, these remaining homes of our fore-
fathers and record and cherish the worthy example as told in
their lives.
A Century of Chairs.
BY FREDERICK J. SHELIvENBERGER, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Newtown Meeting, October lo, 191 1.)
My title is perhaps misleading. I am sure you would not have
the patience, even had I the time, to listen while I described a
hundred chairs. I do not intend to do so. What I shall attempt
is to give a general sort of outline of the characteristics, changes
and development of the chair for a hundred years — from about
1715 — or thereabouts, to 1815 or so.
I have always thought chairs had more "personality," if I may
use the term, than any other article of furniture, more than
tables, or beds or cupboards — for the chair is really a throne, and
they were not at all common before 1600, upholstered ones in-
deed quite rare until a hundred years or so later.
And now to get to my subject, it may be, perhaps, well to give
just the barest look at the chairs of the late seventeenth century.
Though they are so rare in this country as to be of comparatively
little interest to us, particularly here in Pennsylvania, which is
not so old a country as the New England States. And here it
may be well to say, that generally speaking, the finer and more
elaborate the chair, the easier it is to give it an approximate date,
say within 10 or 12 years, and conversely the simpler and plainer
the specimen, the more difficult it will be to even come that close
to the time when it was new.
Now we were an English colony and almost all of our fur-
niture is of English derivation, some little imported, most of it
made here from English models, for the Dutch and Swedish
settlements had little effect on our household goods. Much of
our early furniture, to be sure, is "Dutch" in spirit, but it is
"Dutch" by way of England and William III of Orange, and not
(this is important) directly inspired from Holland examples or
designs.
Now the fine chair of King William's time was an elaborate
production and exceedingly rare if not to all intents and pur-
poses unknown among our early settlers. The only one I know
A CENTURY OF CHAIRS 211
of is the Penn chair in Independence Hall, Philadelphia (a very
plain example of its type, by the way), and I think not at all of
interest to us on account of its rarity, so I will begin by describ-
ing the plainer form of Dutch William's chairs, and those of
the earlier years of Anne's reign, the so-called Spanish fiddle-
backs.
The Spanish fiddle-back is rare enough. I have seen but three
or four undoubted examples, but it gives us our starting point, or
rather, our introduction. Firstly, it is a turned chair; that is,
the lathe, not the chisel, was foremost in its making. Imagine a
tall, rather narrow backed chair, its legs strongly braced all
around, the turning more or less elaborate, particularly the
stretcher between the front legs, the seat of cane or more often
rush, with a rather narrow center splat joined to a rail between
the stiles, shaped somewhat like a violin, more like a vase, and
you have a rough picture of the Spanish fiddle-back of 1685-
1700. The fancied resemblance of the splat to the musical in-
strument accounts for the second half of the name — while the
Spanish foot supplies the first half. The Spanish foot, found on
our chairs, tables and other articles of furniture of the Orange-
Stuart period is a hoof-like foot, always turning out, perpen-
dicularly grooved or reeded. As a matter of fact, most of these
chairs have the plain turned ball foot, the usual foot of the pre-
ceding 50 years or so. Ninety-nine of a hundred are of walnut
and almost all the remainder are maple (as is the Penn chair).
We are almost at the beginning of the years of walnut — say 1700
to 1750. Some of our plainer chairs of this type are of hickory
or ash — perhaps very rarely one is oak, which is probably an
English chair.
Now a chair very similar to this (describing a chair which was
shown to the audience), but with a most important difference, is
much more common. The early Fiddle-back chair with rush or
cane seat, and here is the great difference, the bow, bandy, or as
I prefer to call it, the cabriole leg. As I will show you, this on
the next chair I will describe really my starting point, I will pass
on — these transitional chairs were made between the years 1695-
1710, of the same woods as their Spanish forerunners.
And now we are at our starting point 1705- 1720, and here
we note two significant changes, the splat joins the seat and
212 A CENTURY OF CHAIRS
the front stretcher instead of running between the front legs, is
now recessed; that is, joined to the side stretchers. The chair I
have here is a splendid, rather elaborate, example of this type,
made of English walnut, undoubtedly of English manufacture.
Notice the graceful curve of the stiles and splat, and particularly,
the hooped top rail with a tendency to roll over at the top — very
typical also is the scroll pendant on the front rail of the seat as
is the beaded edge. Note well the little turned finial on the
shoulders of the legs, not joined to the seat. The feet are of the
early turned type which was to be used on fine furniture for
fifteen years or so and on that of a plainer sort for twice as long,
called indifferently Dutch, club or spoon. The carving on the
knees of a shell with "hare-bell" pendant, although well executed
and of interest is not particularly typical. Chairs of this sort
are also found with "web" or duck feet (the same foot with
vertical groovings and usually without the pad) and rarely the
older Spanish foot. When this last is used the front of the leg
is brought to a sharp edge.
Let me say here, that all these cane and rush seated chairs
were used with loose cushions like the early w^ooden seated chairs,
the fewer chairs of the early 17's, with upholstered seats were
made with a soft wood seat frame, over which webbing was
braided and then stuffed with hair or wool and covered — the
edges were finished with gimp or fringe — sometimes of gold or
silver thread. I make these remarks concerning seats because
1710 or thereabouts is the date of a very noteworthy improve-
ment in this respect — one of those unknown important inventions
that have such great influences, namely — the slip in or box seat — â–
a method of chair seating that is so familiar to all who have the
slightest acquaintance with antique furniture and whose names
(for once) are so explanatory as to need no further description.
About 17 1 5 to 1725 is also a most important date, because
about that time were first made the bannister back, slat-back and
Windsor or wooden seated chairs, so familiar to us all. All
these are persistent types ; with very little change these patterns
lasted quite a hundred and twenty years. We all know the tall,
narrow, straight-backed chairs, the stiles ending in little turned
finials and turned ball-feet, the legs braced all around with turned
struts, the front one often of the handsome bulbous turning we
A CENTURY OF CHAIRS 213
found on the Orange-Stuart chairs (a Portuguese detail in its
origin), with four or five more or less curving slats cross the
back. Made in ash, in maple, oftenest in hickory, this type lasts
quite until 1845 o^ so, a record that is far and away beyond that
of any other chair — sometimes one finds them with cabriole legs,
with club or web feet and these we can easily date as from 1720
to 1750 — but the others, with the plain turned legs one can only
approximate and that very rou<;hly, anywhere from 1720 on. A
rough but fairly accurate rule is, the higher and narrower the
back and the more elaborate the turning, particularly on the
stiles, the older the chair — rockers were made in this pattern
after 1760 or so, and, alas! many of the others converted into
rockers. They were all either rush bottoms or with seats of
hickory-splint and though sometimes painted — black, dark green
or red — were, and I like this rnuch better, merely rubbed with
oil which has imparted a color and tone that time alone can give.
The bannister back is of much the same type with one marked
difference, instead of slats across the back, it has three or four
perpendicular bannisters forming a sort of splat between the two
rails, the top rail frequently showing considerable scrolling.
They are much commoner in New England than in the Middle
States. They were not nearly so long lived as the slat backs —
1770 I should say would see the last of them. Like the slat backs
they are made of various woods, hickory predominating, and
again like them they are rush and splint seated, I consider them
a descendant of the English Yorkshire chairs of the mid-seven-
teenth century and occasionally one finds them with wooden seats
like their foreign prototypes.
Now for the Windsor or wooden seated chairs, the third of
these persistent types, the simple homely chairs of the kitchen
and of daily use as distinguished from, the finer, the parlor
chairs. They are not quite so early as the bannister and slat
back chairs, as they show a strong tendency, in almost all cases
to the saddle or stirrup shaped seat of the fine walnut chair of
1720-35. They divide roughly into two types, those with top-
rails and those with a curved continuous back. Both types have
spindles, from seven to ten, running from the top to the seat
(always of wood), turned legs and recessed stretchers. Those
with the top-rail are the earlier. They lasted about as long as
214 A CENTURY OF CHAIRS
the slat back, gradually growing less pleasing in form and are
jvist as difficult to date accurately. The same rule, however, that
applies to the slat back holds good with the Windsor, viz., the
higher the back and the finer the ttirning, the older the chair.
They are made, practically exclusively, of hickory, though some
have ash or maple spindles and seats. Windsor rockers date from
1760 or so on, and many chairs have been converted into rockers
in a desire for our national vice in fin"niture, the rocking chair.
Like the slat backs, they were frequently painted black, dark
green and red often picked out with white or yellow, but the
most pleasing are those in the mellow, natural color. I am sure
none of these persistent types, bannister-backs, slat backs or
Windsors was ever made in fine wood.
To return to the more elaborate and costly chairs, I have
spoken of the introduction of the box or slip-in seat, about 1710.
This great improvement in chair seats is as its name implies a
sort of box formed of the seat rails, with blocks at the corners
for the seat proper to rest upon, the rails joined to the stiles and
front legs with mortise and tenon joint, and a detachable slip-in
seat. Now although this was a great improvement over the pull
over seat, the latter lost ground slowly — the earliest box seated
chairs show the upholstery pulled over the side rails and fastened
with gimp or brass headed tacks about half way down — not a
slip-in seat at all. But the great convenience of the slip-in seat
ousted this method and by 1720 or so, the loose seat was supreme.
Now there are a couple more important changes, in this chair of
1720, first, the stiles are broken, that is, turned in sharply, a
fashion that did not last more than fifteen or twenty years, as
it made a weak back. Second, the saddle shaped or stirrup seat,
called from some fanciful resemblance to these articles, in which
the side and front rails to the seat are curved, an expensive and
rather uncomfortable fashion that lasted about fifteen years.
Third — the claw and ball feet. This, the most admired foot of
the early Georgian chairs, comes to England by way of Holland,
from China and is the familiar Dragon claw grasping the pearl
so often found in oriental decoration; its life is thirty-five years
or so. Side by side wath the claw and ball go the club and web
foot, usually on less elaborate chairs, but the Spanish foot dis-
appears forever. Shortly after the introduction of the eagle's
A CENTURY OF CHAIRS 21 5
claw, English craftsmen brought out a lion's claw foot, not nearly
so effective which lasted for approximately ten or fifteen years.
They are much rarer than the bird claw, and as they are only
found on this 1725 chair many people suppose them to be earlier
than the eagle-claw which is not the case. The splat is much
like that of our earlier chair — somewhat wider and showing a
tendency toward carved detail at the edges and frequently a
shell at the top rail ; a detail also often found on the front of
the seat instead of the simple scrolled pendant of the chair of
17 10. The back as a whole is, proportionately somewhat lower
and wider and the legs stouter ; knee carving, usually the escallop
shell, is not uncommon. These chairs are practically exclusively
of walnut and the seats are of leather, rep, needle-work, in silk
or wool, and that old enemy black hair cloth.
Looking now at the walnut chair of 1730-45, we find some
significant changes, the stiles have lost the angle and show a
tendency to turn outward. The splat has become broader and
more complex in form with more decorative detail and the box
seat has become more rectangular. Two more important changes
are : first, the top rail gets outside the chair, the cupid's bow top,
and second, the discontinuance of the under-framing and an
increased sturdiness of the legs, particularly the little applied
shoulder pieces on the front legs. The feet are generally claw
and ball or club, the web-foot is growing rare and the lion's
claw has vanished. This is the so-called Hogarth chair named
from William Hogarth, the English painter and satirist of the
period, who held the mirror up to town and showed its sins and
follies, about this time. It is not a particularly appropriate
name as Hogarth, as far as we know, never designed furniture.
Almost all Hogarths are of walnut, but the later ones from, say
1740, are found in mahogany, which was now beginning to oust
the earlier wood, transitional chairs, Hogarths, with a hoop-back
but without stretchers, and others with a cupid's bow top rail
with braces, are fairly common. These usually with the club or
web feet, in both walnut and mahogany, showing how old models
hang on in remote places. But one can state as a definite and
invariable rule that a walnut fiddle-back chair with stretchers is
prior to 1725 and one with broken angle-posts and hooped top is
certainly earlier than 1730.
15
2l6 A CENTURY OF CHAIRS
Now in the later Hogarths we notice a significant change in
splat decoration. The specimen I have in mind has perforations
in the splat, a key-hole and a heart. These mark the beginning
of an important change, the elaborately pierced and decorated
splat, brought about by the influence of the great eighteenth cen-
tury designer whose name has been given as a sort of trade-mark
to a whole class of furniture — Thomas Chippendale.
Thomas Chippendale, the great, the second Thomas Chippen-
dale was the son and grandson of a master joiner, born in
Worcester, England, early in the eighteenth century. From 1735
to 1770 he was the shining light among English cabinet makers.
He died in London, November 13, 1779.
To him was due the great difference that there occurs, which
we saw foreshadowed in the Hogarth chair we last examined,
namely, the beautification and elaboration of the central splat.
Other changes there were, but of minor importance. The legs
became more slender and more elegant, rococo scroll carving,
largely, took the place of the escallop shell, the backs show a
tendency to curve more outward and less backward than the
Hogarth type and lastly his top-rails steadily ended to get back
within the stiles as in the Queen Anne hooped chairs.
I may say here that Chippendale, as well as the names of the
great masters of cabinet making I shall hereafter name, is only a
generic term. Very few if any of the chairs, so-called, originated
in the shop in St. Martin's lane, Eondon, but the impress of the
man's work on his period is so strong as to be a splendid title
for a whole class of furniture, from the year 1735 until 1770.
I have shown the minor divergences between the earlier Chip-
pendale chair and its predecessor. Eet us now examine the
marked peculiarity, i. e., the splat. Chippendale and his school,
changed the simple open perforations of the Hogarth chair into
an amazingly intricate scheme of carved and sawn decoration.
The number of different patterns is stupendous, hardly ever do
we find two chairs, except those made in sets, exactly alike, and
herein lies Chippendale styles great merit — its intense individ-
uality.
Where this great designer received his original impulse is
uncertain; perhaps from Tudor strap-carving, perhaps from
Louis XIV design, perhaps from gothic window tracery. He
A CENTURY OF CHAIRS 217
borrowed right and left and remarkable as it seems he improved
on practically every one of his sources of inspiration.
Alahogany by 1740 was practically supreme for the finer classes
of cabinet work, though we do find early Chippendale furniture
in walnut, as for some years, say until 1750, it was used in the
commoner sort of cabinetry. After the latter date practically
everything is mahogany, the deep bronze or claret-colored, close
grained wood of the West Indian Islands. It is the king of all
woods for the carver and carving was the keynote of the Chip-
pendale school. Alongside of the fine mahogany claw and ball
chairs we find some of a plainer sort with little or no carving
and the earlier club foot, but the web or duck foot has gone.
These plainer chairs are cjuite often walnut, rarely a very plain
one is found made of birch or cherry, very rarely in curly maple
— this, by the way, is quitely likely to be an elaborate claw-foot
type. The seats are practically all box seats with a few pull-
overs ; these have the seat frame of soft wood, usually pine. I
may say here that most infrequently indeed one finds a Chippen-
dale pattern with French feet mostly the Louis XV roll-over
scroll, but sometimes the Louis XIV club foot with carved deco-
rations. There is also a type with a hooped back, very uncom-
mon, with Chippendale style splat and detail ; this is not a transi-
tional type as one might fancy, but is of the period of 1745-60
founded on the design of a contemporary firm of furniture
makers, Ince and Mayhew.
In 1754 Chippendale published his famous book. The Gentle-
man and Cabinet Maker's Director. And here occurs a marked
change indeed ; the disappearance of the cabriole leg, and the
substitution of the square Chinese one. Unlike the cabriole
which came from England via Holland, the square leg comes
direct from the Flowery Kingdom. Brought over by Sir William
Chambers, the architect who built the Pagoda in Kew Gardens,
London. Sir William returned from China in 1755 and England
went Oriental mad, some chairs were made in almost pure
Chinese taste and pretty bad they are even if Chippendale did
design them, but so nearly unknown on this side of the ocean as
to be unimportant.
Besides the square, straight leg, absolutely revolutionary in
its scope, the Chinese craze brought two minor changes, the
2l8 A CENTURY OF CHAIRS
decorative embellishment known as relief carved lattice or card
cut lattice, exceedingly rare on our native made chairs, and the
little brackets at the angles of the leg and seat, rather uncommon.
Also with the square straight leg we fmd a return to under-
bracing which, we have seen, went out of fashion on the curved
leg chairs about 1730. Instead of being turned, however, the
struts are now squared. About 1760-65 we notice a tendency
away from the cupid's bow and though still outside the stiles the
top rail turns down at the ends. Another peculiarity of these
straight-legged chairs is, that the carved decoration is entirely on
the splat and back — except, rarely, an ornamental moulding down
the angle of the front legs. The straight legged chair is a bit
lower both in back and seat than the bandy-legged type and about
1770 begins to have ogee moulded legs and stiles, while pull-over
seats increase in numbers often with serpentine fronts. The
chairs grow smaller and lighter and since 1780 another violent
change occurs, the classic revival of the Adam school.
Before taking up this phase, a word on one more type of
Chippendale chairs, the ladder-back. Founded on the old slat-
back design, these chairs have no center splat, but instead show
rungs horizontally across the back — they are of the latest period
of Chippendale inspiration 1770-80 and of interest because in
one rather common type, the so-called Chinese ladder-back the
top rail gets back within the stiles. As a final word all straight-
legged Chippendale chairs are mahogany, except a very occa-
sional plain one in cherry or a still more unusual one in walnut.
I might mention also that the little block Chinese foot is some-
times seen though it is commoner on tables.
Before we look at the classic revival of the brothers Adam,
let us consider a most interesting transitional chair — the early
Hepplewhite type of 1775-1785.
George Hepplewhite, born in Durham, England, died in Lon-
don in 1786, but his wife continued his business under the name
of Hepplewhite & Co. until 1814. They also published a book.
The Cabinet-maker and Upholsterer's Guide, in 1789, and like
Chippendale founded a school of furniture design.
We have seen how the later chairs of the Chippendale period
showed a tendency to more lightness and delicacy. Some of the
very late models, particularly the ladder type chairs, have quite
A CENTURY OF CHAIRS 219
often a leg that tapers toward the foot instead of being square.
Also in one of the ladder types the top rail is entirely within the
stiles. Now these two changes, the taper leg and the joined top-
rail give us the salient character of the early Hepplewhite school,
in other respects the early Hepplewhite chair is simply a refined
and more delicate Chippendale chair.
Hepplewhite's school was all for lightness and delicacy. He
had a tendency to whittle his wood down to the smallest possible
dimensions consonant with strength ; the legs taper sharply.
They are usually ogee moulded or reeded, and the strappings of
the splat are much more cut out. When Sir William Schenck
Gilbert says in his topical song, satirizing the collecting mania :
"Of course you must buy old Chippendale,
So spindle shanked and slender and frail
That every time you sit down in a chair
Your legs go wandering into the air."
The author was evidently thinking of Hepplewhite, not being a
connoisseur.
It is now time to consider the work and design of the brothers
Robert and James Adam, architects. They were not furniture
makers, their work being done by a firm named Gillow & Co., a
concern that it may be of interest to remark, exists at the present
time under the name of Waring & Gillow, Oxford street, Lon-
don, W.
The Adam brothers were not very successful as chair de-
signers, and their typical designs are quite few with us. Being
architects they confined their attention for the most part to the
more substantial pieces of furniture, cupboards, bookcases, high
chests of drawers, and so on. But their intimate knowledge of
Greek and Roman architectural detail was to have an immense
effect on the furniture of the years 1770 and on. Now Hepple-
white from 1780 on borrowed their classic ornamentation,
adapted their wheel, oval and shield-back chairs and beat them
at their own game. The wheel-back circa, 1780-85, is very rare,
and the name is sufficiently descriptive. The oval back, 1780-90,
is more common. It has a central splat within the oval. The
shield or heart-shaped back, Hepi)lewhite's most characteristic
form, was in vogue from 1780 to 1795 or so. Sometimes it shows
a center splat, sometimes curving balusters occupying the en-
220 A CENTURY OF CHAIRS
tire field, sometimes feathers or wheat stalks carved, the carved
detail being of Greek or Roman derivation. They are, usually
made of mahogany with a very occasional plain example in wal-
nut or cherry. These elaborately-shaped backs made another
change in construction imperative, whereas in all the earlier chairs
the stiles were continuous from the foot to the top-rail. In the
oval and shield-back types, they stopped after curving sharply
inward, bringing the feet closer together behind, 3 or 4 inches
above the seat. The spade foot, a little block of wood for
strengthening an unduly slender leg, was fairly often used on
the Hepplewhite style chair.
Along about the same time, perhaps a little later, 1785-1805,
still another school was competing with that of Adam and Hepple-
white, that of Thomas Sheraton. Born at Stockton-on-Tees,
England, in 1750 or 175 1, he died in Edinborough atout 1810.
He published in 1791 The Cabinetmaker's Drawing-Book.
There are two marked differences between Sheraton's school
and that of his predecessors. First — about 1790, carving as a
form of decoration began to be supplanted by inlaid, painted or
gilded embellishment. The later Hepplewhite chairs are some-
times inlaid or slightly gilt, but it is rather rare, though common
enough on other articles of Hepplewhite furniture. Sheraton
used carving alone, carving with inlay or painting, and inlay or
painting exclusively. The second marked dift'erence is that
Sheraton was a straight-line man. Every other chair we have
seen since the Spanish fiddle-back of the late seventeenth century,
was based on curvilinear lines. Sheraton's treatment of chairs,
in his first and best period, is decidedly rectilinear. His chair
backs are lower than Hepplewhite's and generally rectangular in
form, though he sometimes used an oval or shield-shaped back,
narrower and lower than the earlier models. The stiles are
again straight and the top-rail generally a straight piece joining
them, sometimes with a curve in the center. It is interesting that
Sheraton top-rails show, of course, in a greatly reduced scale,
just such lines as the side-boards of the period exhibited.
Another unmistakable point of his straight-line work is the
reappearance of the brace between the stiles 2 and 3 inches
above the seat, the splat running from this brace to the top-rail.
Again this is a return to the Orange-Stuart school of 1690.
A CENTURY OF CHAIRS 221
Sheraton's early chair legs are usually scjuare tapered, some-
times hexagonal or octagonal, rarely carved or moulded, but
frequently enriched by inlay down the front face — his inlay is
nearly always geometrical, straight lines predominating. The
pull-over seat is more common, often curved in front, sometimes
nearly circular, soft wood of course. And with these we find a
round turned le<i-, often reeded, usually ending in a ball and
thimble foot. Most of his chairs are underbraced, as were Hep-
plewhite's, but some of the turned legged models are not. The
wood is mostly mahogany, of a lighter color than that utilized
by the mid-eighteenth century joiners, mostly from Mexico and
the Central American mainland. A few are cherry ; rarely we
find one of walnut. The woods used in inlaying were holly, rose-
wood, dark mahogany, sometimes satinwood, and rarely the fine
tropical woods, like king, tulip and partridge woods. The detail
is mainly Greek, by way of Robert Adam. The key pattern,
Walls of Troy, Egg and Dart, Honeysuckle, Husk and Harebell
patterns being all quite frequent.
At the same time there was a lighter, daintier chair made,
mostly for parlors and bed-chambers, with a cane or rush seat.
This has almost always turned legs with spade or thimble feet.
The decoration is painted and gilt, the designs the same as were
used for inlaying. Some of these chairs are cherry, some ash,
or poplar, painted, but most of them are of our beautiful curly-
maple, the American substitute for satinwood, which was the ma-
terial par excellence for fine furniture in England during the
years 1785-1805. An American satinwood chair is a rare bird
indeed.
Around 1805 we find a curious transitional type of chair,
prophetic of what was to come. The top rail becomes far larger
than heretofore, and curves in toward the front. The legs are
almost all turned, sometimes with lion's claw feet, another rever-
sion, made sometimes of brass. Brass spade or thimble feet are
also found. The seats are almost all curved and the pull-over
seat predominates. The painted maple chair is commoner than
the mahogany model, and the decoration tends more to Roman
than Greek models, though derived from the same source, Robert
Adam. Ladder-back types are freciuent, often with X-shaped
pieces between the rungs, sometimes a band of diamond-shajted
222 A CENTURY OF CHAIRS
lattice work across the back. The splat, after a life of a hundred
years practically vanishes. To this transitional phase of con-
struction and decoration, 1805-15, the names of Adam-Empire
and Sheraton-Empire are indifferently applied ; I much prefer the
latter, and the style approaches that of the cabinet maker much
more closely than that of the brother architects.
All these changes show the influence of the First Empire style
of decoration then in vogue in France, but our Empire design is
founded on English Empire rather than French. The bronze-
gilt, or brass ormulu work so typical of the First Empire in
France, with us is more often water gilt on the wood and carving
in Roman, rather than Greek detail is common. Laurel wreaths,
torches, lyres, etc. The Empire chair is much lower in the back,
some of them are extremely low and the typical shape shows
but one rung, usually carved between the stiles. The top-rail is
the heavy concaved one of the Sheraton-Empire chair, sometimes
carved, more often gilded, frequently enriched with a little in-
lay, sometimes of brass, more often of ebony wood. Some chair
legs are turned rather heavier than Sheraton's work, but most
of them are concave curved or Egyptian cabriole. The seats are
a modification of the box-seat, and although the cushion is mostly
screwed to the rails, it is, to all intents, a slip-in seat. These
chairs are practically all dark mahogany and are our usual parlor
chairs from 1815-30.
The cane and rush seat chairs of maple or soft wood with gilt
and painted decoration take the same form, though turned legs
are commoner than on the mahogany chairs. A splat, lyre or
oval shaped, between the top-rail and back-brace, is not uncom-
mon.
And now we have reached our destination. After 1830 comes
the deluge of stock-patterns and factory construction that swamps
the individual design and fine carpentry of the foregoing hundred
years. Eet us not forget, too, that with these elaborate chairs
Fve been describing, the persistent types, the Windsors and the
slat-backs, were being made and used every day.
And now, just a few words on arm-chairs. All the chairs
above described are side or single chairs. Arm-chairs are much
rarer, one arm to twenty singles is a fair estimate, though in the
chairs of daily use the proportion is far less — say one to three.
A CENTURY OF CHAIRS 223
Every period has its typical arm, but it is possible to date ap-
proximately every chair without reference to the shape of the
arms. For the sake of brevity I will not pursue the subject fur-
ther. Let us remember, however, that on account of the greater
scarcity and utility of arm-chairs and the consequently higher
prices paid for them that dealers in antiques often convert sides
into arms. We can foil them by the almost invariable rule that
the arm-chair is always larger than its corresponding single chair.
Before closing I shall look briefly at chairs with upholstered
backs. They are far rarer than those with wooden backs, and as
these chairs were made for ease and comfort, the number of arm-
chairs is quite equal to that of single pieces. In fact one finds
arms predominating. In outline and decoration they followed
roughly the wooden back chairs of their period. There are two
marked types ; the first and more usual with solidly upholstered
arms and often with wings, the Fireside or Grandfather chair,
and second, the small-arm or open-arm type which has a wooden
arm like the simple armchairs, either with, or without, uphol-
stered elbow pads. In dating them remember what I may call
the Golden Rule of Chairs, the taller and narrower the back, the
heavier and stronger the legs and under framing, the older the
chair.
All these chairs of a century are beautifully constructed, what-
ever we may think of their design, their cabinetry, at least, is
worthy of all praise. It is strong, direct, honest, usable. And
the design is good, usually because it is individual. A man did
not go to the warehouse of a great merchant and choose some-
thing, or worse still, order something by telephone or mail. He
went to the cabinet maker, the creater, stated his preference and
between them, he and the craftsman, while following predominant
design, evolved something that expressed them personally. If we
produced no great designers, no Chippendales, or Adams, no
Sheratons or Thomas Hopes, we did produce some splendid
adapters and translators, whose design was often first class and
whose work was always admirable.
CHAIRS USED FOR ILLUSTRATIONS.
Orange-Stuart walnut side chair, 1680, one of three in pos-
session of the Newtown Library Company. William and Mary
224 A CENTURY OF CHAIRS
walnut side chair, with recessed stretchers and spoon feet, 1705,
owned by Miss Sally Hicks of Newtown, Pa. Five-slat hickory
chair, 1750, owned by J. Herman Barnsley of Newtown, Pa.
Comb-back Windsor chair of hickory, 1740, owned by J. Herman
Barnsley of Newtown, Pa. Saddle Seat Queen Anne walnut
chair, 1725, with broken angle posts and claw and ball feet,
owned by Mrs. Freda H. Bryan, Newtown, Pa. Hogarth walnut
chair, 1735, claw and ball feet, owned by Mrs. Alfred Blaker,
Newtown, Pa. Fringe and Tassels mahogany ribbon back chair,
1745. Chippendale period, with claw and ball feet and rococo
embellishment, from Pennsbury, owned by Mrs. Alfred G.
Blaker, Newtown, Pa. Straight-legged, scroll-back mahogany
Chippendale chair.* One of a set of six, property of the INIisses
Hough of Newtown, Pa. Sheraton mahogany chair, beautifully
carved with classic detail, showing Adam influence, 1800, prop-
erty of Mrs. Thomas R. Chambers, Newtown, Pa.
The gratitude of the author of this article is extended to the
owners of these typical, beautiful chairs, for their great kindness
in allowing him to use them as examples when delivering his
address.
Notes on the Penn Chair — Presented to the Bucks County
Historical Society by the Will of Mrs. Alfred G.
Blaker, of Newtown, Pa.
BY FREDERICK J. SHELEENBERGER, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
It is always a peculiarly disagreeable duty to upset local and
family traditions, but it is one that appears, to the writer, neces-
sary when an article is left to a public museum. Ascriptions
and claims are of no harm as long as the article is in private
hands. No matter how palpably wrong they may be to the expert
and connoisseur, if the family chooses to believe them and to tell
them to their friends that is their own affair. With the contents
of a public museum or gallery, the case is radically different.
Persons desiring to stvidy the various exhibits and by so doing
learn the intimate history of past times, are misled and misin-
formed by incorrect labels and descriptions and so form totally
incorrect and erroneous pictures of the past. For this reason it
* This chair was presented to the Bucks County Historical Society by will of
Mrs. Blaker.
NOTES ON THE PENN CHAIR 225
seems advisable to protest against labeling the beautiful chair
left the society by Mrs. Blaker, as "having belonged to William
Penn." The chair has merit enough to stand on its own legs —
there is not in the writer's opinion a museum of furniture or
objects of art that would not be glad to own it — but it could not
have belonged to William Penn any more than a brass bedstead
or a mission library table could have.
I used this chair as an example in my address before the society
at Newtown, October lo, 191 1. I described it then as I describe
it now as an exceedingly good example of the rare "fringe and
tassels" chair of Chippendale type. It is a very elaborate piece
of furniture and therefore can be dated quite accurately, unlike
the plain, persistent type pieces of furniture which present such
difficulties to the antiquarian. I have no hesitation in stating that
the chair was certainly not made prior to 1745. more likely not
earlier than 1755 and at latest, say 1765. I should say 1750- 1755
would be a very close approximation if the chair were English
made, with an additional five years added if it were an American
piece. I incline to the former view, though there is no way of
telling to a certainty. Mahogany is not a native wood of either
country and though there were but few cabinet makers in this
country in 1750-60 who could have produced such a fine chair as
this, there were some and the best of them in Philadelphia.
A chair of the time that William Penn was living in this coun-
try was about as different in design and ornament from this
chair as can well be. Anyone wishing to see such a William
Penn chair can do so, as there is an armchair with an unbroken
documentary history in Independence Hall, Philadelphia, that
belonged to him. Moreover the three very rare and interesting
Orange Stuart chairs in the possession of the Newtown Library
Association were about what Penn would have owned, though
his chairs would probably have been more elaborate.
As to the Pennsbury tradition that is quite another matter.
The chair is surely a first class piece of furniture, it could have
been made only by a first class craftsman ; it would have been
expensive even in the days of low priced labor. It is just such
a chair as a gentleman of means and culture would have in his
dining room or withdrawing room in the year 1760; why then
not from Pennsbury? Traditions always have some basis of
226 PENN IN THE COUNTY OF BUCKS, ENGLAND
fact, they are rarely wholly fictitious, and this chair was likely
in the Manor House, but that it was there during William Penn's
occupancy is absurd.
I beg leave to suggest the following as an accurate, trustworthy
label for the chair :
"Mahogany side chair, of Chippendale type, fringe and tassels
pattern, with claw and ball feet, probably made in England about
1 745- 1 760. Reported and believed to have been in Pennsbury."
Penn in the County of Bucks, England.
BY OLIVER HOUGH, NEWTOWN, PA.
(Newtown Meeting, October 10, 19 11.)
The paper which I am requested to present at this meeting was
written by Miss Emily Hickey, but before reading her paper it
may be best to refer briefly to the very probable and generally
accepted, though not positively proven, connection between the
family of William Penn, of Pennsylvania, and the Penns of
Penn, in Buckinghamshire, England.
In "The Family of William Penn," by Howard M. Jenkins,
(Phila. 1899), it is stated (page 3) that "The arms born by
William Penn, the Founder, 'Argent,' 'on a fesse Sable three
plates,' are the same as those of the Penns of Penn, in Buck-
inghamshire, according to the Heralds' Visitation of that
county, 1575-1634." Also (page 4) : "On the tomb of Sir Wil-
liam Penn, father of the founder, it is stated that he was the son
of Giles Penn, 'of the Penns of Penn-Lodge' in the county of
Wilts, and those Penns of Penn, in the county of Bucks, and
this inscription, it is fair to presume, was made with adequate
knowledge. The author of it was doubtless William Penn,
the Founder. His intelligent acquaintance with his father's
career, and devotion to his memory, * * * * his ability in
composition, and his right as eldest son, heir and executor, make
it unlikely that the work would be intrusted to any other hands."
Miss Hickey notes both the main points made above, but without
the details.
*The full inscription on his tomb in Redfield Church, Bristol is given in Granville
Penn's "Memorial of Professional l,ife and Times of Sir William Penn Knt." above re-
ferred to on page 580 of Vol. II.
PENN IN THE COUNTY 01? BUCKS, ENGLAND 227
Again, Granville Penn in his "Memorials of the Professional
Life and Times of Sir William Penn, Knt." From 1644 to 1670,
(London, 1833), says (vol. H, page 575) : "Relation of kindred,
was always mutually claimed and acknowledged between the
family of Sir William Penn and the Penns of Penn in Bucks,
now represented by Earl Howe ; but the genealogical connection,
does not appear on record."
It will be seen in Miss Hickey's paper — though the fact may
have no great significance — that Thomas Penn, son of the Foun-
der, constructed a large family vault in the parish church at
Penn.
Miss Hickey mentions that the first positively known ancestor
of our William Penn, was a William Penn, of Minety ( where his
house was the Penn's Lodge above mentioned) who died in 1591.
The proof of this is embodied in the researches of J. Henry Lea,
published in the New England Historical & Genealogical Register,
Vol. 54, pedigree page 325.
As to the location, etc., of Penn, the third edition of Lewis'
Topographical Dictionary of England, 1838, says:
'PENN (Holy Trinity),* a parish, in the hundred of Burnham, county
of Buckingham, 3 miles (N. W. by N.) from Beaconsfield, containing
1 103 inhabitants. The living is a discharged vicarage, in the archdeaconry
of Buckingram, and diocese of Lincoln."
The fifth edition of the same book, 1845, adds that it was in
the union of Amersham, and then had 1,040 inhabitants, and was
3,889 acres in area. The poor unions were a new institution in
1845, ^^'-^t the name of Amersham carries a significant reminder of
the step-family of William Penn's first wife, Gulielma Maria
Springett — the Peningtons.
I would say in conclusion that I obtained this paper through
the courtesy of the Rev. Herman J. Heuser, D. D., of Overbrook,
Pa.
PENN IN THE COUNTY OF BUCKS, ENGLAND.
By Miss Emily Hickey, West HiU, London.
It is always a pleasure to speak of what we love; and I, loving
Penn, am glad to send across the sea these words about it and
some of its associations, especially its associations with the days
when the Faith was the unquestioned possession of man, wife
• Name of parish church.
228 PENN IN THE COUNTY OF BUCKS, ENGLAND
and child. I am fresh from a little stay there, not the first that
I have made, a sojourner at my friends' pretty cottage, with its
walls rose-covered in front, and ivy-covered at the side. • Over
the garden I looked out on blue hills, the hills of Berkshire; and
on fair woods, mostly beech. My last evening there, the nearly
full moon shone on the laurel at the gate, and turned it into a
lovely silver tree.
Penn lies high, some five hundred and sixty feet, with the
Thames valley to the southwest. It was only four days since I
had walked there from the station, some two miles off, I went
between hedges that were sending out trails of wild roses and
honeysuckle, in beauty of colour and sweetness of smell; the
oak and maple were still keeping their delicate spring tints ; the
black briony was just unfolding its bloom ; and when I sat down,
inside a gate at the foot of one of the last slopes that I had to
climb, long lush grasses were near me, and the dear bracken
fronds were uncurling, and the fresh young leafage of the larch
was c[uick and fair against the darker mass around it. Oh, but
it was a lovely walk, with the larks singing high above me, and
the cuckoo crying in the changed note of June. The sun was
shining, and the stars of the white-blossomed stichwort looked up
at him, and the willow-weed was there, and the little wild geran-
ium with its strong-scented pink bloom, by-an-by to make the
bank gorgeous with its vivid scarlet leaves. There were plain-
tains too, the creatures we used to call "fighting cocks" when we
were children, having a handful apiece, and each of us taking
turns to strike with a fighting cock at another brave bird held
in the playmate's hand; keeping on till failure came. Whoever
struck off most heads won the victory. Well, the walk had to
come to an end, and this attempt at a description must do like-
wise. Yet I cannot but set down how the sound of the hoofs
of a galloping horse and the sight of him and his rider, as they
sped on, was dear and pleasant to me, who am country-born.
Coming up the hill from Beaconsfield, which they call Beck-
onsfield, into the outskirts of Penn, you pass a picturesque old
tavern, where you can get cider— or something stronger — an you
will. Going on to the village, you have the church on your left,
and the two old trees, or rather one old tree, and the remains of
the hollow trunk of the other, which are known as the Stock
PENN IN THE COUNTY OF BUCKS, ENGLAND 229
Elms. In old days, the stocks were set between these, and the
culprit sat there in full view of his fellows, sympathetic or other-
wise. I do not know how long it is since this punishment was
used at Penn; but a relative of mine, who died very recently,
remembered that she and a younger sister of hers had seen a man
sitting in the stocks at a village in Berkshire, (which county,
needless to say, is next door to Bucks) some time between 1849
and 1856. The man had been stocked for drunkenness, but he
was then drinking beer, which had been brought to him, and also
enjoying the fellowship of his pipe. My relative remembered
very clearly the impression made upon her when she noticed the
feet, with large thick-soled shoes, protruding from the holes. It
began to rain, and a lady who was passing by, handed him her
umbrella, saying, "Here, my poor man, you want this worse
than I."
The Penn culprit, as he sat in the stocks, would have had a
good view of the little church with its tower and its grand old
yew-trees, and its fine elms. There are two great yews in the
church-yard, and one in the vicarage grounds adjoining. Once
a journalist, evidently given to highfalutin. wrote about the
"grove of yews, many thousand years old." Perhaps the grove
was suggested by the numbers of the fine old elms on the north
and west of the church-yard. But for the thousands of years
old, who shall plead? The culprit of the eighteenth century
could not, I think, have measured the time of dreeing his weird
by the curious one-handed clock, placed on the tower in i/iS-f
What a sense of oldtime leisure the thought of that clock gives
one! Think of its being needless to mark any division of time
smaller than that of an hour !
On, past some pretty houses, you go down to the village, with
its postoffice and shops. You probably stop a minute or more,
on your way, to read the legend, in very large letters, on the
wall of a farm-building at your left hand : "Prepare to meet thy
God."
A great point of interest to Catholics* should be the open gate
of Rayners, Sir Philip Rose's country house, which has the honor
of enshrining the Blessed Sacrament; so that here, in a sense
t A clook of this description made in Kngland i6Si is a prized heirloom in the family
of Florence Ely Molloy, Pineville, Bucks county, Pa.
• This paper was originally for a Roman Catholic publication.
230 PENN IN the; county of bucks, ENGLAND
different from that taken by the good man who put up the text
on his wall, we may prepare to meet our God. The father of
the owner of Rayners built a church at Tyler's Green for the
English establishment; Tyler's Green lies just below, and for-
merly formed part of the parish of Penn. The convert son has
fitted up a Catholic chapel in his house and had it licensed for
public worship.
A little further down, there is a branching of the road, the
right branch leading to the postoffice, near which there is an elm
curiously cut into an oblong. Further on is the village green,
with its pond, and below is Tyler's Green. It will be remembered
that the first wife of William Penn, of Pennsylvania, Gulielma
Maria Springett, is described in the notice given of the intended
marriage, as "of Tiler's End Green, in the Parish of Penn, in
the county of Bucks." Coming back from the village, we stop to
look at the large-lettered notice on the wall of a little low-roofed
building which was once a schoolroom belonging to the Estab-
lished church. It is now the seat of the
HOLINESS MISSION.
Here meetings were held weekly, and missions are sometimes
given. It was the chief promoter of this mission who put up the
text I have told of ; and it is he whose cart-horses may be seen
with forehead-straps bearing in brass letters the word HOLI-
NESS, with an odd literal application of Zacharias xiv:20. A
mission was beginning during my visit to Penn, and the good
woman who saw to my needs, was one of those attending it. She
told me that an evangelist was coming for a week. "He has been
dreadful wicked," she said to me, "he's had deleriurn tremens
three times." "And he is going to tell you all about his wicked-
ness?" I asked. "Oh, yes." was the reply, "he's going to tell
us all about his wickedness, and then he'll tell us what the Lord
done for him. It's wonderful what the Lord can do for 'em
when He picks 'em up." So it is, good Mrs. .
The old village industry of lacemaking, so long associated with
Buckinghamshire, seems to have quite disappeared from Penn,
though I made acquaintance there some time ago with an old
dame who had been used to work on a pillow. Her daughter told
me that "she" preferred domestic service.
PENN IN THE COUNTY OF BUCKS, ENGLAND 23 1
The children of this neighborhood do not follow the example
of William Penn, but cap to you. The little girls made nice
rustic curtseys. It was pleasant to hear their voices and their
gay laughter, as they came along, with big posies in their hands.
It was holiday season come earlier and to stay later, because the
school buildings were being set in order; so I saw more of the
children than would normally have been the case in June. One
of them presented me with a great bunch of ragged robin and
purple orchises. (I do object to calling the "long purples,"
"orchids.")
How to be at Penn without thinking of the founder of the
great State washed by Delaware waters, and wishing that the
missing link could be found which would give certainty to the
belief in his connection with the place that has his name ; that
connection for which there so much probability, though at pres-
ent no positive proof. In the Friends' burial-place at Jordan?,
only three or four miles away, they laid him when his troubled
and weary spirit had passed away from earth ; as they laid here,
in the vault under the green of the church-yard, the six little
children of his sons ; that same church-yard that must have seen
so many a child of the Faith borne to be christened, and walking
to be wedded, and again borne to be buried. Yes, the name
Penn at once brings to mind that of one so distinguished in
history; one whose memory is held in honour as that of the
founder of a great State; and one wdio endured not hardness
only, but sharp persecution. It is a pathetic story, that story
so well known here in England, and in the great English-origined
country over the sea; the story of the lad of fifteen who pro-
claimed himself as belonging to a religion differing from that
of his kindred and his friends ; of the young man banished from
his University; of the return from abroad, and the time of being
a fine gentleman; of the renewal of former impressions when
the great plague had smitten and stricken the City of London ;
of the time in Ireland, as gentleman and officer; and finally, as
preacher of the doctrines of the Quakers. We know how his
father, after vain expostulation, turned the young man adrift ;
receiving him by-and-by in the fatlierly love that nothing could
alienate. We know the story of the grant to the son of the
fine old Admiral who had so well served his country, in ack-
16
232 PENN IN THE COUNTY OF BUCKS, ENGI.AND
nowledgment of that father's claims on that coiintry, of the
Delaware territory ; and we know, and gladly know, how he, who
had suffered sorely from its lack, gave liberty — civil and re-
ligious — to his colonists. What a curious piece of irony it was,
by which this man, to whom the church was but a mere derelict,
was actually accused of being a Jesuit ! He had influence at the
court of a Catholic King, an influence used for the obtaining of
the release of over a thousand imprisoned members of his sect;
an influence enough to give him, with the vulgar-souled and
jealous-minded, the reputation of being that which to the ig-
norant to this day, is a name for one false and full of deep-laid
dishonest schemes. We think of the sorrowful ending of his life,
a life clouded by family griefs and much pain, and more than
these things ; and we trust that, like many another who has loved
things good and true, he may have found in the soul of the church
that which, in belonging to her body was unpossessed by him.
Was there a connection, and if so, what was it, between Wil-
liam Penn of Minety, ancestor of the Proprietor of Pennsylvania,
and the Penns of Penn? There are certain things that point to
such a connection, but at present it is not possible to prove it. Let
us see what foundation of probability there exists for this belief.
First: — There is the statement of the monument of Admiral
Sir William Penn, in the church of St. Mary Redcliffe, Bristol,
that he was the "son of Giles Penn, of the Penns of Penn Lodge,
in the county of Wilts, and those Penns of Penn in the county
of Bucks." It has been thought that this inscription was written
by Pennsylvania Penn, and if this could be proved, we should be
certain that the connection was at least a family tradition.
Secondly : — We have the burial of six of William Penn's grand-
children at Penn. The burials of five of these children are thus
entered in the Registers of Penn Church:
William Penn, son of Thomas Penn, Esq., Proprietor of Penna.
and Juliana his wife, Sept. 13, 1753; Thomas Penn, Esq., son of
Thomas Penn, Esq., Proprietor of Penna. and Juliana his wife,
Sept. 1757; Master William Penn, son of Richard Penn, Esq.,
and Hannah his wife, of the parish of St. James, Westminster,
was buried Feb. 12, 1760; Master William Penn, son of Thomas
Penn. Esq., and Lady Juliana his wife, was buried April 30, 1760;
PENN IN THE COUNTY OF BUCKS, ENGLAND 233
Louisa Hannah Penn. daughter of the Honorable Thomas Penn,
Proprietor of Pennsylvania, June i6, 1766.
The date of the death of each of these children is on his or her
coffin in the vault; the burial took place about a week after the
death. One little coffin is simply marked with the letter P. It
would look as if its baby tenant had died unbaptized. The Wil-
liam Penn who died in 1753 has a memorial slab in the central
aisle of the church. It was probably as the eldest son of Thomas
Penn, who, through the death of his elder brothers, the sons of
his father by his first wife, had become the head of the family,
that a special memorial was made of the boy. The name of
William was given to a second boy, who followed his brother
seven years later ; and another child, cousin to these, also called
by the name which all the family would naturally wish to per-
petuate, was buried here a few weeks afterwards.
Thomas and Juliana Penn appear to have conformed to the
Established church as four of their children were buried in Penn
church, and they themselves at Stoke Poges. The fact that
Richard Penn's little son was also buried at Penn, his parents at
the time belonging to St. James' Parish, Westminster, looks as if
Penn were thought of as the old home of the family. (Other
children of William Penn were buried at Jordans.) It will be
noted that Thomas Penn is not set down as belonging to any par-
ish, but merely as Proprietor of Pennsylvania;' the name of his
"property" being variously spelled, as will be seen above.
This is the inscription on the slab in the central aisle :
William son of the Honble Thomas Penn, Esq., Proprietor of
Pennsylvania, and the Rt. Honble Lady Juliana His wife Died
Feb. II, 1752, Age 7 months.
Thirdly : — There is the suggestion that Penn named his house
in Pennsylvania, Pennsbury Manor in the County of Bucks after
the old home.
And, fourthly: — The arms of the families are the same.
Mr. Roscoe, in his "Buckinghamshire," says,
"There were Penns of Penn long before those whose names and feat-
ures are preserved to us in the time-resisting brasses, and in the four-
teenth century the lords of the manor were the Berkeleys, whose home
was Berkeley Castle, on the banks of the Severn. It may well be, there-
fore, that some one of the Penns of Penn passed with his lord into the
west country, from whom descended the Penns of Minety. Of these the
234 PENN IN THK COUNTY OF BUCKS, ENGLAND
first of whom we have knowledge, is WilHam Penn, a yeoman, who died
in 1591."
The little old church of Penn, dedicated to the Holy Trinity,
was built in the Thirteenth century. It belonged to the Priory
of Chaucombe, in Northamptonshire. When Henry VHI dis-
solved the monasteries, he gave the benefice of Penn to Sybil,
governess to his daughter Elizabeth, on her marriage with David
Penn. The monetary value of the gift was £S. 13s. 4d. a year,
somewhere about £100 of our money. I have seen in the old
register, kindly shown me by the vicar, the entry of the burial
of "Mr. David Penn," in February, 1564. The church, as has
been said, is small, with a west tower, from the top of which, on
a clear day, parts of twelve counties may be seen. The doors are
north and south, that at the north side being of old oak, the
side-posts unhewn stems, black with age. When the present vicar
came to Penn, he found that manifold layers of paper notices
had formed a considerable depth of hardened material, one notice
having been placed over another for many and many a day. And
as to the nails that had to be removed, their name was truly
legion. The west door, under the tower was removed by a
predecessor of the vicar, and the entrance blocked up. The
reason of this was that the ringers, or at least some of them, now
and then used the facility of the very near-at-hand door to slip
away from the church and slip into the fairly near-at-hand public
house. But alas, that vicars, however, well intentioned, should
have the power to deal thus with such possessions as these.
In connection with the ringers, a quaint set of rhymes may be
quoted, which are set up on a board close to the fine eighteenth
century peal of five bells :
"Aly friends, if here you please to ring,
Keep time and order for the thing;
It's — to be brief — without demurs,
Pull off your hats, your belts and spurs.
Take then a bell, ring while you can,
Silence is best for every man.
For if you swear or do amiss.
Or turn a bell, the rule is this :
You shall pay sixpence or be dismist,
For each offense we do insist.
God bless the King in everything.
The realms, and all who here shall ring."
PENN IN THE COUNTY OF BUCKS, ENGLAND 235
We must by no means forget to look at the fine woodwork of
the roof of the nave. The arch near the chancel was enlarged
in the eighteenth century. This little church was a favorite with
Queen Anne, whose hatchment may be seen on the north wall.
The beadle's staff, with the royal arms, was given by her ; it
is not used now. It was in her reign that the young men and
maidens who had learned to "sing Psalms" were allowed to ful-
fill their wish to build a little gallery over the south aisle. HajD-
pily, this defacement has been removed, as likewise that of the
gallery at the west end.
A certain Mrs. Dorothy Page, wife of one of the vicars, gave
to the church in 1744, brass candelabra, "out of a sincere regard
for God and for religion."
At the bottom of the south aisle, there is a stone coffin, prob-
ably dating from the thirteenth century, on the lid of which, a
cross and mitre were once discernible. It was found in a field
near by, having sunk through the solid soil by sheer weight, and
disappeared. In getting it up, the lid was broken and the coffin
was found to be empty. There is a theory that when the body
which it contained was being taken to its place of burial, an attack
was made on the convoy by robbers, who possessed themselves of
everything valuable in the shape of vestments, etc., which the
coffin contained and showed no respect to the body of the dead.
But conjecture is of course vain.
The church has a very interesting old font, a plain leaden
bowl. It is reared on what is said to have been probably a font
of Saxon days ; a stone bowl filled in with cement, having the
base as it is supposed to have been, reversed in order to support
the later one. The scribblers of former days have scratched their
initials and other interesting pieces of caligraphy all over it,
photography revealing marks not recognizable to the naked eye.
This is a practice not wholly unknown in days more modern.
Near the south door I pause before a framed list of the "In-
cumbents of Penn" set up in the fond claim of the succession
being "without a break." There were seven rectors from 121 5
to 1 3 14, and twenty-two vicars down to 1530. One of the rectors
Gilbert De Segrave, became Bishop of London in 13 13. Thomas
King comes in 1553. and John Blower in 1557. Did this last
named "conform" in the ne.xt reign? and what of the vicar be-
236 PENN IN THE COUNTY OF BUCKS, ENGLAND
tween 1530 and 1553? Did he conform in Edwardine — or rather,
Somersetian days, and was he replaced by Thomas King for
special reasons, at the significant date of 1553? Robert Rudrope
was vicar in 1596, and has been succeeded by nineteen others,
down to the present incumbent.
The Penn brasses are in the south aisle, along with an older
brass, to which we shall turn by-and-by. The oldest Penn brass
is that of Sir John Penn and his wife, Ursula. The day of the
husband's death, and the entire date of the wife's are unrecorded,
the spaces left for them, being empty. The knight is represented
with a pointed beard, and he wears a ruft". He is in plate armor ;
but the lower part of his figure and that of his wife have been
broken away. Here is the inscription :
"Hie jacent corpora Joannis
Pen armigeri quond m Domini
huius Manerij de Pen qui
obiit die Octobris Anno
salutis 1597 et aetatis suae 63
at Ursulae uxoris eius que .
obiit Anno salutis et
aetatis suae
Horum terrena clauduntur membrs sepulchro,
Sed capiunt animas sydera sola pias,
Qoud Amor univit, mortis seperare potestas
Non valuit, junctos cerimus hoc tumulo."
We see, beneath where the feet of the effigies were, the figures
of their mourning children, symmetrically grouped, according to
size, on either side.
The next in date, is the brass of William Penn, Esq., who died
in 1638 and with whom is commemorated his wife, Martha, who
died in 1635. At their feet, their three children in effigy bewail
them; the son on the left, the two daughters on the right. This
is the tomb for which some travelers — I must not say from what
part of the world- — make a rush, in the belief that the body of
Pennsylvania Penn lies below. Regardless of the fact that the
great Quaker was buried at Jordans, and regardless of the im-
possible date, they ask for relics, even in the shape of little pieces
of the coffin ; so that it has been found advisable to bar access to
the tomb, by the use of cement.
This brass is below Sir John Penn's and above the knight's is
PENN IN THE COUNTY OF BUCKS, ENGLAND 237
that of John Penn, Esq., who died in 1641. We notice here, the
change in the armor, which had hegun to take place, as John Penn
wears jack-boots instead of jambs. At the left side is a brass to
the memory of Lady Susan Drury, John Penn's mother-in-law,
who died in 1640.
The latest of the Penn monuments are the stone slabs in the
central aisle to the memory of Roger Penn, (who died in 171 3)
the last male representative of the Penns of Penn with whom the
name died out, and to that of his unmarried sisters.
Passing from the older to the newer, we take a look at other
monuments on the church walls. Almost every one commemo-
rated during the last two or three hundred years, and especially
in the ei<;hteenth century, is described as being of the most ex-
cellent of the earth. The maxim, Demortins nil nisi boniiiii is
certainly well carried out, and virtues are writ in brass, not, as
the poet says, in water. There is a very quaint inscription on a
marble on the wall of the chancel, which it is worth while to
quote :
"To the memory of Esther Curzon and Dorothy Curzon, both buried
here (two excellent women as ever blessed the marriage state) this
marble is inscribed by their affect, and loving husband, Assheton Curzon,
deep read in sore affliction's book. They were both cut off in the prime
of life, the former by a putrid disease caught in attending her sick son;
the latter in childbed, 23 February, 1744."
Truly Assheton Cruzon's sense of humor was sadly unde-
veloped when he wrote himself down as ''their" "afifect and loving
husband."
Here is the eulogy of a lady who died a few years ago: "She
possessed in the highest degree, the genius of friendship."
So we go back to the little south aisle, not to look again at the
Penn brasses, but to kneel by a memorial of an earlier date. It
is the effigy of a lady in a shroud, the face uncovered, with a
scroll over her head, the ends of which are broken away : "
day of judgment Lorde d " We know that it must have
read, "In the day of judgment Lord deliver us." This woman's
virtues are not sounded, nor is there a bewailing of her loss. But
on the brass beneath, with its beautiful bordering, we find that
she asks that for her, may be prayed the prayer which the faithful
use to this very day. It is in Gothic characters ; the inscription
is:
238 PENN IN THK COUNTY OF BUCKS, ENGLAND
"god which art CREATOUR & REDEMER OE ALL FAITHFUL PEO-
PLE GRAUNT UNTO YE SOULE OF ELIZABETH ROK THY SERVAUNT &
ALSO TO THE SOULES OF ALL TREW BILEVERS DEPARTED REMYSSYON
OF ALL THEIR SYNES THAT THROUGH DEVOUT PRAYOURS THEY MAY
ATTAYNE THY GRACIOUS PARDON WHICHE THEY HAVE ALWEY DE-
SIRED BY CHRIST OUR LORD AMEN."
9 AUGUST 1540
Yes, we can pray now as Elizabeth Rok and her friends prayed
three hundred and seventy years ago.
Little dear church of Penn, you no longer belong to your right-
ful owners. No priest now stands before an altar within your
walls, to lift up Him who draw men to His feet. He abides here
no longer, in His little dwelling, whether it be dove-shapen or
tabernacle-wise, where He, the infinite charity, wills to hide His
infinite splendor, and let the children of His love keep watch
before Him. For this we must grieve, and pray for the day when
He will come once more to our old churches, such as you. But
we thank Him that your old walls are now safe-guarded, and your
old treasures carefully kept ; and we ask for His blessing on the
separated brethren who have learned to show this faithful care,
and we are sure that it will one day meet with its reward.
Good-bye, little dear church. Good-bye, dear Elizabeth Rok,
whom we bless because you have left upon your tomb the witness
to our unity, our continuity in Faith and Hope and Charity. VVe
will pray for you as you ask, though it well may be that you no
longer need our prayers, the "Creator and Redeemer of all faith-
ful people" will use them for the needs of those whom He is
waiting to bring into the fullness of His light and the perfection
of His rest.
Lumbering Days on the Delaware River.
BY TIIADDEUS S. KENDERDINE, NEWTOWN, PA.
(Newtown Meeting, October lo, 191 1.)
Perhaps it is because I am one of the "Last o£ the Mohicans,"
speaking figuratively, one who for two score years hved on the
shores of the river of the Lenni Lenapes, a good part of which
time I was in business for myself, or assisting my father, who
had been lumbering since 1832, that I am assigned this subject.
In my early days, or in the beginning of the forties, from my
home overlooking the Delaware, in a clearing surrounded by
primal w'oods, which ran a half-mile inland and two miles down
the river shore, I awoke daily to see that beautiful stream, either
in its summer quietude or in its winter fury, or in time of spring
freshets when raft after raft passed down its waters or when
they were whitened by the sails of Durham boats. The last
ceased their voyages about 1850, the lumber floats, continuing
fewer and fewer were a small factor by 1880, a scant few linger-
ing ten years longer.
Eighty years ago, to ambitious people in a lumber business way,
living as far inland as the eastern edge of Montgomery county,
the Delaware valley seemed a paradise for their exploitage ; its
water power and the wealth of pine and hemlock trees around its
northern branches, whose logs had only to be cut and rolled in the
water, or taken there by short hauls to float to market, appealed
to those desirous of profitable trade. From the section named
my father left his milling and mill wrighting, and located in a
bend of the Delaware river to carry on a business which he
thought might be continuous, at a place he named Lumberton in
Bucks county, there was a ferry across the river, a river wharf,
a canal landing and water power for two mills which eventuated
in three. He did not live to see it, but the time came when the
building of the North Penn railroad and the reaching of its
spurs toward the river took away all of the back country trade,
and finally the deforesting of the upper Delaware left no business
for the river mills to even supply the adjacent country. And now
240 i.umbe;ring days on the Delaware river
with mills long silent, their dams filled with mnd and their head
races overgrown with weeds, and with not one of the names of
their builders around them, Lumberton is but an epitome of the
uncertainties of human and business life. The mills at Lumber-
ville, but a mile above, and which with its neighbor shared its
enviable propinquity for back country trade, shared much of its
loss, although its sawmill is still in operation on local hardwood
timber, but its sash and door factory has been idle for over 30
years, and its lumber business greatly dwindled.
John Burroughs in his "Pepacton" gives a refreshing sketch of
a ride in a rude boat he made for himself 20 years ago for a
journey down the east branch of the Delaware, the Pepacton,
his desire being to first explore the river from a naturalist's
standpoint ; to ride over rapids and placid reaches where none
but the Indians and- raftsmen had passed, the starting point was
from the suggestively named town of Arkville. It is interesting
to know, that perhaps, emulative of Burroughs, a party built a
craft, Durham-boat shape, to hold a dozen persons to make a
similar journey. The boat still lies overhead in one of the old
sawmills 10 miles below Arkville, one left of the many which in
days of old, deforested the valleys and mountains of the upper
Delaware. The ownership of the boat and mill is now a former
resident of Newtown, the Rev. Charles G. Ellis. The boat was
never dampened with the waves of the Pepacton, nor the eye
and minds of its naturalist owners gratified by the sights and
sounds which greeted Burroughs. They intended to go all the
way to tide water, but got out of the notion, from loss of inclina-
tion, fear of danger, or perhaps because the river never rose to
their expectations so that their craft would float, for what we
call the nobfe Delaware is here wadable at ordinary stages. Con-
ditions in the times of those voyages, actual and, projected were
much more primitive than now ; for there were unsold woods in
being, there were trout for the fishing and bear and deer for the
hunting, and, while not everything, there was much for that
nature-lover to feast on, and the few natives of the country were
not excluded from his delights, as, idling along he stopped at their
farm houses for milk, where his upturned boat made his home
for the night, and where truant boys sometimes shared his craft.
In my dealings with the people of that backwoods country in a
LUMBERING DAYS OX THE DELAWARE RIVER 24I
business way, I had a chance to know them as year after year
they rode their rafts of logs and sawed-stuff to market. But
they were not in the receptive mood of Burroughs, and they
passed over 'gentle reaches, down swirling rapids, by frowning
rocks, under beetling crags and shadowing wooded projections,
unimpressed with their sights ; the danger of wreckage on shoal
or rock, and the desire to reach a friendly eddy by night occupy-
ing their minds instead. The heads of minks projecting from
their lairs along the shores ; the muskrat disporting in a shadowed
nook; the wild duck paddling around an eddy in thoughtless se-
curity, or the squirrel leaping from branch to branch, appealed to
our naturalist friend's love of animal nature, but not to the rvide
raftmen's sentiments. His only thought when he could keep his
mind off the Scyllas and Charybdes he was passing between, in
the shapes of rocks and bars, were the value of the furs of the
one, and the hunger-satisfying flesh of the others, for mink and
musk-rat, squirrel or duck, were but beast and bird, as in the
case of "The primrose on the river brink, a primrose was to him
and nothing more." These rivermen, farmers or woodsmen,
were as unsentimental as Markham's hoe-man, but if their minds
soared but little above the clods of the valley which raised their
buckwheat, rye, potatoes and cabbage, they were practically well
attuned to the nature which kept their physical systems going.
Better their rude self-satisfied lives than the conditions of senti-
mental starving for want of the coarse food their exhalted sys-
tems could not digest. Hardy, honest and unsophisticated, they
were a peculiar people, and some of the raftsmen so ignorant they
could not write their names as their receipts show. Farming on
a small scale such crops as their begrudging soil and climate
yielded, it was only a side line ; the hay and grass they raised
to partly feed their working cattle ; for getting out logs and run-
ning sawmills was their profitable business. Their crops in, the
farmer, his boys and his hired men, hied them off to the woods,
and cutting down the trees in valley and on upland logged them
off, and, if hemlock, barked them and piled the product up for
the tanners in the neighborhood. With but the little schooling
they got in the winter months the boys helped their fathers when
large enough and often sooner, or when able to drive oxen, these
cattle being of general use for hauling logs to the mills or shore,
242 LUMBERING DAYS ON THE DEI.AWARE RIVER
where on the first spring freshet they could be rafted. On the
larger streams running into the Delaware were the sawmills
where boards, joists and frame timber were cut and piled up
ready for the first spring rise of suitable height. This gave the
lumber time for seasoning and to an extent lightening the loads
for the oxen.
In getting up data for this subject, I feel that I am "in some
banquet hall deserted," from a loneliness peculiar to the ending
of an industry of which I was a part, and the passing away of
my contemporaries, not one of whom I can call on for informa-
tion or substantiation of statement. The Philadelphia commis-
sion merchants who had lumber yards on the north wharves and
which were full of lumber from the headwaters of the Dela-
ware; the Trumps, Malones, Taylors, Betts, Pattersons, L,ippin-
cotts, Croskeys and Rileys, or their combinations in firms, are
gone, and the comparatively small stocks they have now weakly
replace the vast amounts of Delaware, Lehigh and Susquehanna
lumber over-weighing down their docks in the old days of plen-
teous timber at the headwaters of these rivers. White pine and
hemlock from the far west, with other soft wood lumber unheard
of in those times, some even from the shores of the Pacific, are
drawn on now to replace these woods. And with them have gone
all the old time retail lumbermen who had yards and mills from
Morrisville to Easton ; the Taylors, Martins, Browns, Neeleys,
Sollidays, Thomas', Dillworths, Stovers, Tinsmans and Riegels.
Not one of them to answer rollcall, who for years did a profitable
business at river or mouths of mill streams, if called for re-
sponses. My own name, which for 40 years was identified with
the trade, is the only one left, and that has for as long been out
of connection with it.
In my time there were sawmills at Morrisville, Yardleyville,
Taylorsville, Brownsburg, at both Hendricks' and Eagle Island,
just above Centre Bridge, Lumberton, Erwinna, the Narrows,
Monroe, Quinn's Falls, Riegelsville, Carpentersville and Easton,
and before that at Lumberville and Smithtown, on the Pennsyl-
vania side, where they were put out of commission by the build-
ing of the Delaware Division canal, while on the New Jersey
side there were two mills at Tumble Falls, and others above.
The one at Eagle Island was washed away, the second one there.
LUMBERING DAYS ON THE DELAWARE RIVER 243
in the '41 freshet, and had just been rebuilt, the first log ready
for the saw the night before the flood came. There was also a
sawmill on Laughrey's or Wyker's Island at Lynn's Falls built in
1812 by Michael Fackenthal which was carried away by the flood
of 1841. A sawmill on a neighboring island, once Paxson's,
then in succession, Johnson's, Armitage's and Hendricks' island
had its first mill burned, and the second, built by the latter met
the same fate, luckily for the owner, it being insured and its
business gone. This enterprise was started in the late *6o's and
was the last river mill built. The late Lewis H. Coryell, in con-
junction with Dr. George Hufifnagle started the foundation for
what was to be a large manufacturing plant on the same falls, but
on the mainland side of the island creek, but the stringency of
money at the beginning of the war and the deaths in succession
of the promoters was the end of the project, and the massive
walls, I presume, are there yet. There is one mill still running
along shore, which sawed raft logs, that at Lumberville, and per-
haps two, the second being the Stover mill at Erwinna, but both
must now depend on a local supply.
To begin at the beginning of this article, as well as at the head
of the Delaware, a liberal supply of logs in flush times depended
on a liberal supply of snow, for log wagons and timber-wheels
could not be depended upon in the rough movmtain lands or
swampy valleys for hauling the logs to the river. Sleds drawn
by oxen or slow, heavy horses were required. The logs were
sledded to some point suitable for raft building, a level stretch
at an eddy, when, before a rise of the river, they could be lashed
together in shape for floating to market. The appliances for this
were slender saplings cut into what were called lash-poles, or
halliards, the last nautical term, used because ropes were scarce
and dear; these with pins and withes could be used for fastening
the rafts at landings. They were laid across the logs when ar-
ranged for floating, and fastened to the logs with wooded staples
called bows, made of ash. From two to four oars, according to
the width of the raft completed the outfit.
The lash-poles were from 2 to 4 inches in diameter, and chan-
neled out at the large ends to suit the bows and generally made
from water-birch or iron-wood, or whatever wood which best
held its size. The bows were of ash, split out 16 inches long and
244 LUMBERING DAYS ON THE DELAWARE RIVER
i^ inches wide, and half that thickness, and then steamed and
bent. The logs were in units of length generally i6 and i8 feet,
the joints being "broken" by lengths of a half more or double,
that the float might be stiffened for going through rough water
at the falls or rapids. The lash-poles being regularly spaced,
holes were bored on each side into the top of the log with an
auger with an iron shank over 5 feet long with a crank near
the top like that on a brace-stock. With this the holes were
quickly bored, the bows inserted and fastened with wedges, and
soon a raft from 100 to 200 feet long and from 16 to 36 feet wide
was ready for the oars. These were monsters, and gotten up as
for use of Titans and not for mere men. The shafts were 30
feet long, tapering up from a hand-span to 8 inches across, with
blades 15 inches wide and as many feet long, and were hung on
stout headblocks with projecting pins, and nicely balanced. Of
course, with the float going with the current all the "steersmen"
could do was to force it to and fro sidewise when passing ob-
structions like rocks or bridge piers or in making landings. With
a box of cold victuals and a rude wigwam, sometimes, on mid-
deck for protection from the weather for the men not on duty,
and three to six men for oarsmen, the raft left on the first
sufficient rise, taking the chances of being wrecked in rocky
rapids, or of being knocked out by unmanageable companion
rafts at night moorings. Sometimes the logs were run through
to city markets, but they generally stopped at selling eddies, such
as Titusville, Tower Black Eddy, Upper Black Eddy and Easton,
to where buyers from below came and where bargaining and
dickering began. It was not to the advantage of the sellers to
put their logs worst side up, nor bow lines up or down, but
vertically crooked and "fair side to London," so the buyer had
to use his Yankee wits against the woodsmen's guile. He had
also to look for evidences of "shake" and rotten cavities in the
ends of the logs, somewhat difficult where they were butted to-
gether, for after the sale was made there was no redress. The
spaces between the logs had to be agreed on mutually, as these
must, when subtracted, determine the width of the raft. This
arranged, the number of feet was worked out by a peculiar rule,
apparently by guess-work multiples, found in no "lightning cal-
culators," but which went. This was to take three cross measure-
LUMBERING DAYS ON THE DELAWARE RIVER 245
merits of the raft to get the average width. From this was de-
ducted the spaces, and by dividing the width in inches by the
number of logs, the average diameter was arrived at. Then the
courses were divided in lengths, making, say, 126 logs 16 feet
long and 21.4 inches across. The rule was to square this diam-
eter, multiply this by the length and this again by twice the av-
erage diameter. This would make 320 feet for each log and a frac-
tion, then multiply this by the double diameter and you had the
contents of the raft. This may not have been as good a rule as
the golden one or that which worked both ways satisfactorily,
but it obtained along our river until it was as fixed as the laws
of the Medes and Persians. There had been some previous dick-
ering as to the throwing in of the landing ropes and the delivery
of the raft by the seller, as there was risks in non-experts in
making- landings in high water. This being fixed and the raft at
its destination, the seller was paid in cash or notes, for checks
were unfamiliar then, and the seller went on his way home. You
would think, naturally, up the river, but no ! Even when the
Belvidere railroad was continued to Easton the raftsmen started
down stream with his money and ropes, if he missed selling the
latter, for his up-Delaware home. This was because he had to
go by the Erie railroad, which he could only do by going to
Trenton and then to New York.
At some of the river water powers, such as at the Narrows and
at Riegelsville, log rafts were run and cut into bill timber, re-
rafted and sold to retail yards below. This branch of the busi-
ness was risky from the logs stored in the river being knocked
loose by other rafts in time of freshets or from canal boatmen
stealing the ropes which held them. To avoid this wires were
woven in the strands of ropes so as they could not be cut, or the
old-fashioned halliards were used for fastening the floats to the
trees along the towpath. This letting loose of logs caused serious
losses from the difficulty of proving property when caught and the
amount of salvage claimed when proven. Sometimes a raft
would get away in the effort of landing at the unloading wharf.
My old receipt book mentioning "$600 received on account of
runaway raft" brings up the matter of a lumber float missing
landing, and, as it swung around, breaking an oar and leaving
but one other for its guidance. There was only my father and
246 LUMBERING DAYS ON THE; DKI^AWARE RIVER
one man on board, and thus crippled they must pass between the
piers of perhaps four bridges and two falls. At Centre Bridge a
man put out in a boat and was a great help in plying the one
oar. In this crippled condition they safely passed under the
Centre Bridge and New Hope bridges and, dodging the rocks of
Wells Falls, made a landing at Titusville. The home anxiety was
great, for in the then absence of telegraph and telephone we did
not hear from them until night.
Comparatively few white and yellow pine logs were rafted, as
it paid better to cut them up at the local mills and raft the sawed
lumber. The bark from this wood, being worthless for tanning
purposes, was not removed.
Getting sawed lumber ready for market and rafting it is an-
other story. The up Delaware sawmills were of the primitive
"up-one-day-and-down-the-next" class, for band saws, large cir-
culars and gang saws had not come into use. Boards were sawed
without reference to paralleling them, and with what were known
as "stumpshot" ends, as the saw did not go all the way through,
which had to be hewed down to a smooth surface, the logs having
to be given that much extra length. On account of the taper the
boards had to be measured in the middle, which, when flooring
machines came in use, caused loss, as the taper had to be ripped
off, as well as for the jointing and tongue, which now are in-
cluded in measurement. This taper also occasioned loss when
flooring was worked by hand, for a knot cut out of a tapering
board prevented the ends meeting evenly when coming together.
I would here mention that hand-worked flooring was in vogue
until the early '50's in our neighborhood, when my father bought
a planing machine and the sole right to its use in Bucks county,
Pa., and Hunterdon county, N. J., paying $1 per 1,000 for the
right on all he planed. The carpenters were so opposed to this,
which they termed "taking the bread and butter out of their
mouths," that they threatened a boycott, and which for a while
they carried out, but not long, for as 100 square feet was all a
man could work and lay in one day, or but a space 10 feet by 10,
the employers soon got on to it and bought their flooring ready
to lay.
In sawing lumber ready for rafting, chalk or lead pencils would
IvUMBERING DAYS ON THE DELAWARE RIVER 247
not do for noting dimensions, as the water would wash the marks
out, so a knife-edged hook was used which gouged them out in
Roman characters, some of them modified ; thus a perpendicular
under the cross of an X made a 9, and under the last X in a 20.
19. A down stroke from the top of an X or an XX made 15 or
25, and a perpendicular under the reversed V took i off. Those
were the days of large pine logs, and boards and plank came
from the mills 2 feet and more wide. The first were set aside at
the retail yards for coffin case boards.
. White pine boards, so scarce now as to be precious, particularly
for making patterns, for which it has no good substitute, from its
freedom from resin, the presence of which causes the sand to
adhere to the wood, was plentiful in the '40's at the headwaters
of the Susquehanna, Delaware and Lehigh. The first was the
most valuable, the Delaware and Lehigh following. Before the
Susquehanna lumber could get to Philadelphia by water, shingles
and choice panel boards and planks were hauled to rafting points
on the Delaware where the other river circled nearest to it, and
then loaded on log rafts and floated down to the city. After the
Delaware and Chesapeake canal was made boats came through
from Williamsport. Coming down the Susquehanna canal and on
to Delaware Bay, the horses were put in stalls in the stern of
the boat, and there had a rest until they again took the path of
duty on the cross-country canal to the Susquehanna. Sometimes
the lumber was rafted to the western end of this canal and thence
boated to Philadelphia.
When the country was yet well wooded at the beginning of
the last century, and even before, it was not with all suitable
building timber, lacking, as it did pine and hemlock, it seems that
as early as 1796 a raft was run down the Delaware from Cochec-
ton. The pioneer raftman was named Skinner, and his first
mate, or bowsman. Parks. So delighted were the Philadelphians
with this soft-wood shipment that they figuratively gave Skinner
the keys of the city and actually the title of "Lord high Admiral
of the Delaware." The navigation was found to be too danger-
ous, however, for further encouragement of rafting, when seven
hundred and fifty pounds were spent to make Trenton Falls nav-
igable, Philadelphia raising three hundred of the sum. This was
also for the benefit of coal arks, as well as Durham boats which
17
248 i,umbe;ring days on the; de;laware; rivkr
last were being extensively used for hauling flour and whiskey
from the upper Delaware. This was before the Revolution.
The rafting of sawed stuff, as well as its preparation, was
essentially different from that of logs. The lumber was hauled
to a smooth shore, as gently sloping as could be found, and. a
skeleton keel laid. This was made from "grub-plank," so called
from the "grubs," or uprights used for holding them together
and keeping the lumber in place, and these in turn were probably
named from being small saplings grubbed up that the roots might
be used. These were cut oft" 3 feet long, and dressed to 2 inches
in diameter to the swell of the root, which was made into a head.
Hickory or iron-wood was used for this. On these placed up on
end were slipped the already bored plank, placed in squares of
16 feet, and these connected on other squares until a raft 16 x
192 or longer was made. These squares were called "cribs."
Once started, layer after layer of boards or scantling were placed
crosswise or lengthwise of the float, other grub-planks or boards
were slipped on the standards every half-dozen courses, and
secured with wedges, and made doubly secure with cross plank
when the raft was topped out. Headblocks were then placed on
each end, oars made and shipped, the float was tied up with ropes
or halliards and made ready for the first freshet. Sometimes
two such rafts were lashed together and as many more oars
added. When branches like the Pepecton and I^ackawaxen were
too small to float a raft, what were called "colts," of half size,
w^ere put together, and either run all the way down as such, or
doubled up when the main river was reached, when they might be
called a span of colts or a tandem team, and as such went running
down the river. Floats of logs were similarly put together on
minor streams. On still smaller streams like Broadhead's creek
still smaller floats were formed of joists, which in up-edged
groups of a dozen or so, with their ends bored were connected
wath "grubs" run through the holes and then run down the creek
to the river where they were rerafted. Riding these down
through rapids made exciting work for the hardy woodsmen,
equal to "bronco-busting" in the wild west, and with nothing but
a pike-pole for guidance, the riders often came to watery grief.
These rafts sometimes had deck-loads of unfloatable lumber,
or what sank so deep that they were nearly covered with water,
LUMBERING DAYS OX THE DELAWARE RIVER 249
such as ash, maple or white-oak, as well as cherry boards, hoop-
poles, shovel-handles and hemlock bark. Still we got one raft
of cherry, ash and basswood, which came in port like a sub-
marine, with the raftmen almost web-footed from continuous
wet feet.
In the sale of a sawed raft a distinct understandinf; was neces-
sary as to the counting; what were to be called "cullings," and
allowances for defects, such as "shake," and knot-and-auger-
holes; each of the latter requiring a deduction of a superficial
square foot. The grub-plank had a special price, and were sold
for bridges and driveways. The seller could not wait for the
unloading of his raft, so, after a counter was agreed upon, the
greater part of its value was paid him, and he went the usual
course of down the river to get up to his home. The lumber
unloaded, a statement and note was forwarded him and the inci-
dent was closed.
There were lively times during spring rafting freshets. I can
see one float after another going down the river, the men looking
like dressed up ghosts as they silently swung their brobdig-
nagian oars, and as if going to some mysterious country, from
which there was no returning. In some instances, although but
few, the raftsman would have some of his family aboard. When
our particular float was swung in it was when all preparations
were made for its unloading; a dozen men or so, a pair of horses
and three wagons. The boards run clean until those below the
watery surface appear, when they need scrubbing from the roily
current which has soaked among them. Then four men with
splint brooms are needed to scrub the boards with the water they
float in, while two others drag them away and slide them onto
the wagon backed against the raft, each calling out in a loud
voice the Roman numerals on them to the professional counter.
For years this was an aged man, named Thomas Wall, but
familiarly known as "Tommy," whom I can see even now with
his tally-board. On the right hand edge of the paper tacked on
this were figures from five to twenty-five, which would generally
include all the measurements, and when a number was called.
Tommy would make a down stroke, the same as if he was tally-
man at a spring caucus. For the culls he had another set of
figures, always placing the fifth line diagonally over the four
250 LUMBERING DAYS ON THE DELAWARE RIVER
preceding ones as the tally-man aforesaid. What Tommy put
down, went with both buyer and seller. The men on the raft
had a cold, wet job of it. Besides these were the unloaders and
driver, the former running the wagons, when empty, back to the
raft, going down the wharf full tilt that a sufficient momentum
might be got to carry the wagon around a circle at the foot of the
incline to be in position to back against the raft. The opposite
shores of Jersey were mainly depended upon for the help, for
as fishermen and "stone-hackers" they were used to dampness,
as well as to assimilating the liquid for its cure. They were as a
class hardy but ignorant, hence the markings on the boards came
within their comprehension from their resemblance to the chalk-
marks they used to keep their time and the tavern scores back
of the bar they patronized, while they would have balked at ordi-
nary figures. Their wages were $1 per day of sun to sun, after
whose close some of them rowed across the river and walked a
mile or more to their homes. After the boards had drained off
which took a week or two, came the piling, which took the same
number of men as the unloading of the raft. A sorter with a
miniature boat-hook drew the board towards the waiting carrier
who bore it off on his shoulder, while it sprung up and down
in unison to the wide brim of his home-made straw hat. Pro-
fessional pilers took the boards and in even projecting lines, of
a slant equal to that of "Pisa's leaning miracle," carried up square
cribs to the height of 20 feet or more. These were stripped
with the narrowest boards, but in the long periods of seasoning
the boards sometimes rotted at the crossings, for it generally
took a year for water-soaked lumber to dry. Thus from keeping
up two stocks of lumber extra capital was needed to carry on
the old time lumber business.
From an old memorandum and receipt book in my possession
dating back to 1847, I find some interesting information pertinent
to this paper, even if referring to business done at a minor place.
This was at my native village, Lumberton, of but three houses
and two mills, and within a mile of another stand at Lumberville
where there were better wharfing facilities and for getting to the
back country, as well as water power and yard room. There
was an easy graded road from the river direct to Doylestown,
while we had to go a half mile to the lower edge of that town.
LUMBERING DAYS ON THE DELAWARE RI\ER 25 1
and then climb a heavy grade to the back country of near a mile.
At that stand double the business could be done as at Lumberton
from these advantages. But these two yards did the leading
business along the river from their nearness to market. The
Lumberville mill was owned l)y John E. Kendcrdine in i^t,2,
and transferred to Lukens Thomas by lease in 1842, the latter
selling out his stock to Quinby & Webster in 1847. There was
but about an acre for two mills, board-yard and log-pond. I find
that before the spring stocking up, and besides the manufactured,
seasoned lumber in the yard, there was a transfer of 230,000 feet
of logs, by estimate, lying in the pond, a place now filled with mud
and connected with an idle mill, as has been the case for years,
so that it is a wonderment where that amount of logs could have
been stowed. But the water then was deep. In addition to this
150,000 more feet of logs were bought that season of nine months
during which over 400,000 feet of boards and scantling also was
bought, the boards for seasoning and selling the coming year, the
sawed lumber of the former tenant being available for present
use. The boards were mainly white pine, the floatings ranging in
bulk from 160,000 in double rafts, to frisky "colts" of 26,000 to
40,000 feet. In the seven following years the amounts bought
went from 400,000 to 900,000 from rafts, besides shingles and
the better lumber from the Susquehanna which came around by
Philadelphia. During the time mentioned, seven years, the yard
had dealings with sixty-three up-river lumbermen, mainly rafting
from the New York counties of Broome, Orange and Sullivan,
although Wayne and Monroe counties of this state furnished a
few rafts.
The cost of the material, in these days of scarce and high
priced lumber makes interesting reading. The logs mentioned
in the dam, including cost of hauling, were billed at $4.50 per
M, while those bought during the season in the raft ranged at
from $4.75 to $5.50 per M, low figures counting the cutting,
hauling, rafting and risk. White and yellow pine logs sold at
$10 per M. Hemlock boards and scantling were $7.50 to $8,
for the best ; the culls and "grub" plank $6. White pine boards
sold from $10 to $14. Yellow pine scantling, heart, were $18.
Plastering lath, 4 feet, sold at from $1.50 to $2.
The coming of the North Penn railroad inaugurated a struggle
252 LUMBERING DAYS ON THE) DELAWARE RIVER
between railroad and river traffic. The cheapness of water trans-
portation for awhile held out, but gradually weakened as the
supply at the head waters of the Delaware became exhausted.
Then, in 1862, came the freshet which put out of commission
the canal on the upper Lehigh, which we had depended on for
lumber from that region and which came without being water-
soaked, and better for competing with the carred lumber which
came inland by rail. Next came the spur to Doylestown, fol-
lowed several years afterwards by the branches to Hatboro and
New Hope. Then the river lumber stations, in the language of
the prize ring, threw up the sponge, and gave up competing for
the back country trade, some going out of business altogether,
others holding on for the little local trade available. The yards
at Taylorsville, Brownsburg, Lumberton, Point Pleasant, and
two or three others were those which went down and out entirely.
Yardley and Lumberville are still in being.
I now conclude my paper. It may seem tedious and unneces-
sarily full of particulars, but the details are of a nature that
would soon be lost, and I deem it wise that they should be gath-
ered before they are overtaken by oblivion.
Alfred Paschall Memorial.
RESOLUTION OF RESPECT ON THE DEATH OF ALFRED PASCHALL.
REMARKS BY HON. ITARMAN YERKES AND
DR. B. F. FACKENTHAL, JR.
(Doylestown Meeting, January i6, igi2.)
REMARKS BY EX-JUDGE YERKES.
I am sure the members of the Bucks County Historical
Society who have just learned of the passing away of Alfred
Paschall, have received the
sad intelligence with feel-
ings of sorrow and regret.
His death occurred sud-
denly at his home in West
Chester, early this morn-
ing. I therefore desire to
say a few words on this oc-
casion in reference to his
life, particularly to his
faithful services as an of-
ficer of this society. I had
known Mr. Paschall for
very many years, from the
time he came to Bucks
county, I think about 1S70,
until the time of his death ;
and he was known to all of
you, who are residents of
the county, either personal-
ly or through his newspa])er ; and he was intimately known to the
citizens of Doylestown. He was a gentleman of high character,
and of more than ordinary attainments as a writer and editorial
manager of a newspaper. I doubt very much whether in the
history of journalism in this county there was any man who
possessed qualifications for the position of editor of a country
newspaper superior to those shown by Mr. Paschall. He was in
ALFRED PASCHALL
Born Dec. 25, 1651.
Died Jan. 16, 1912.
254 ALFRED PASCIIALL
every sense an independent man. He sometimes erred in his
judgment, as all men do. In fact, it is only those who sometimes
err in their judgment and in the attitude which they take toward
public affairs that accomplish anything. Mistakes go hand in
hand with great success ; and in the case of Mr. Paschall, as
editor of the Bucks County Intelligencer, I think we can freely
admit that during the period of his incumbency of the editorial
chair of that paper, the people of this county reaped benefit, con-
ceived high moral and even high political ideals, which, unfor-
tunately, so seldom occurs as the result of the management of
newspapers, which, of course, in communities of this kind to some
extent find their dependence upon political support. He was a
friend of the household, and believed that the structural founda-
tion of good society and good government began in the family;
and it was his object to instruct his readers that the education at
home, that the love of home, the love of the history concerning
the homes of the people of the community would result in the
ennobling of the citizens themselves, and in the advancement of
good government and improved social conditions. And in these
times, when we observe so much of selfishness, so much of the
disposition of men in positions of influence and control to subvert
the public good and enlightenment to personal advancement
or advantages, it is well to commemorate and to honor the mem-
ory of one, who in a position where he might many times have
served himself, always elected to do what, according to his
method of thinking, was to defend those principles and those
rules of conduct which he considered were for the public and
general welfare; that he was not the owner or conductor of his
journal for his personal advantage, but that he represented his
readers, the people dependent upon him for information, advice,
and proper thought in the course of life. And as a member of
this society, we can fully appreciate what he has done for this
county, and for the preservation of our local history. The least
event that took place in its management or in its conduct was
faithfully recorded and transmitted to the people through the
journal which he controlled and for a long time edited; and as a
matter of fact, Mr. President, many of the records which we
now have with us, are due to his fidelity as secretary and as
editor, in their publication; and I have no doubt that the Vice-
ALFRED PASCIIALL 255
President of this society, Mr. Fackenthal, who has devoted so
much energy in perpetuating and pubHshing the records and the
papers of the society, can make his acknowledgement that his
way was made more easy through the records of the Bucks
County Intelligencer, which Mr. Paschall had preserved. It is
for that reason, and because I feel that we have lost a useful and
interested member that I offer this resolution, and move for its
adoption, and that a copy be spread upon the minutes of this
society.
Resolved, That we learn with profound sorrow and regret the
passing away of Alfred Paschall, his death occurring suddenly
at his home in West Chester. For a period of twenty-eight years
Mr. Paschall filled the office of secretary-treasurer of this society,
faithfully performing his duties, and with general satisfaction.
From its organization in 1880 until his death, his interest and
loyalty in the welfare and advancement of the society was un-
abated. As editor and citizen, he contributed zealously towards
arousing public interest in the subject of local history, and in
perpetuating historical facts through the work of this society ;
and in his death the Bucks County Historical Society has sus-
tained a serious loss.
Dr. B. F. Fackenthal, Jr., in seconding this resolution said :
My acquaintance with Alfred Paschall dates back to the year
1873, before he became editor of the Bucks County Intelligencer,
w^hen as a reporter on that paper he came to Durham iron works
with a letter from some mutual friend, and called upon me witli
the view of writing up an article on the furnace plant and mines.
At that time I occupied a subordinate position at the works, not
having 1jeen made manager until July, 1876. I remember very
well the pleasure I had in showing him around the works. I can
fix the very day of his visit (May 20, 1873) as I have preserved
his article in my scrap-book.
I can also bear testimony to the methodical and painstaking
manner in which he preserved the papers read before this society,
and the careful manner in which they were mounted in the scrap-
books. Our minute book bears testimony to his long and faithful
services as an officer. He was present at the first meeting for
organization, November 20, 1880 and became one of the found-
256 OUR QUEST FOR THE SECKEL PEAR TREE
ers of the society, and was at that meeting made its treasurer and
on March 17, 1885, was elected its secretary, and continued to
fill these positions until he removed from the county when he was
succeeded January 15, 1907, by Clarence D. Hotchkiss, our pres-
ent efficient secretary and treasurer. Mr. Paschall continued as
a member of our board of directors, and his death early this
morning leaves a vacancy in our board.
Mr. President I take pleasure in seconding the resolution of-
fered by Judge Yerkes.
President Henry C. Mercer, then asked for the adoption of the
resolution, which was carried unanimously.
Our Quest for the Seckel Pear Tree.*
BY ANTHONY M. HANCE, PHILADEEPHIA, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, January i6, 1912.)
Picture to yourselves a wide expanse of land being reclaimed
from river silt by man's genius and mastery of engineering;
high fort-like dykes encircling an irregular arc, the chord of
which is several miles long; tide-water on the arc, thus enabling
the great centrifugal dredges to "blow" the liquid mud over the
land; and after the gravel and sand have settled at low tide, the
supernatant water is allowed to flow back to the river by opening
sluice-gates in the dykes ; grasses, weeds, pools ; old trees, mostly
dead; a main highway (Broad street) running to a point of the
arc (League Island) ; cars electrically driven over both the new
and old roads of the plain ; a few old farm-houses scattered here
and there on the higher ground ; grain elevators rearing their
dizzy heights to the skies, with docks at which ocean steamers are
loading the grain of American farmers to feed the people of
lands across the seas ; the Old Rope Ferry road leading up to a
modern drawbridge across the river, and from the roadway of
which a view is obtained of the Navy Yard, a mile to the south-
east, with glimpses here and there of Uncle Sam's modern dogs
of war in commission, with many others of now antiquated types
kept in reserve, in the "back channel."
* This Seckel pear tree is referred to by Judge Henry C. Chapman. See Vol. I,
page 148, of these papers.
OUR QUEST FOR THE SECKEL PEAR TREE 257
Imagine this farming section of the city of Philadelphia and
going over it in the face of a strong March wind and you will
have an idea of the environment of what was left of the original
Seckel pear tree, only the top of the buried stump of which was
visible.
STUMP OF ORIGINAL SECKEL PEAR TREE.
Photograph by H. P. Gould (Pomologist of U. S. Department
of Agriculture) July 15, 1908.
Watson says in his Annals of Philadelphia :
"The Seckel pear was cultivated by Lawrence Seckel, and the original
tree stands on the place in the Neck, once his and afterwards Stephen
Girard's, about five miles from Philadelphia and about one mile above
the confluence of the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. * * * j^^ told
the father of C. J. W'istar (my informant) when he gave him some of the
pears, that he knew not how the tree came there."
Watson then ventured the suggestion that where the tree was
growing might have been a Dutch or Swedish plantation of early
days. (Incidentally Watson also speaks of Lawrence Seckel, but
who is spoken of by other writers as Lorens or Lorenz Seckel.)**
** Lorenz Seckel was a well-known wine merchant of Philadelphia, and the farm
on which the tree stands was his country seat, in a then somewhat fashionable rural
district, now given over to the growth of plethoric cabbages, endless tomatoes, and
onions infinite." — The Gardener's Monthly, January, .1865.
258
OUR QUEST FOR THE SECKEE PEAR TREE
We had heard it rumored that the tree grew at League Island,
which was about as vague as Watson's statement, but the League
Island of to-day is in itself a very large tract of ground, and so
many changes in its topography have occurred since it came into
possession of the Government, some thii-ty-five years ago, that we
despaired of finding the tree there. Later on, an inquiry of naval
officers stationed at the yard failed to elicit any data, and we made
no attempt to start the search there.
By consulting a map of the lower part of the city, we decided-
to strike out first by way of the Old Rope or Penrose Ferry
road. The short March afternoon was half gone when we
started from Rittenhouse Square, but the trolleys soon brought
us to the Schuylkill river. Alighting we lost hope of getting any
information, for the few people we saw were strangers — men and
boys building, patching and painting row, sail and motor boats
to get them ready for the coming summer. We finally found
an employee among those in the office of the trolley power house,
who had taken refuge from the keen, high wind; and he thought
that "a man what lived in the last house down the fust lane to the
OLD SECKEE HOUSE (SOUTHERN EXPOSURE).
Exactly as seen by Dr. Mercer and Mr. Hance at the time of their visit.
OUR QUEST FOR TITE SECKEI. PEAR TREE
259
left, knowed sumpen about it; ef he didn't, nobody else knowed
nothin' about it." So hurrying down the lane (the Fort Mifflin
road) we came to the house and found its worthy occupant at
home, who very cordially asked us into his "best" room and told
us all he knew of the Seckel pear tree, which was very little, but
how we could get to see what was left of it on the other side of
the river — "right beyont them air elewators at Girard Pint" — his
extended arm, hand and finger indicating the exact direction.
His apparel indicated his vocation as that of a "trucker" who
spent most of his time on his knees on the ground (at that time of
the year at least, and somehow recalling Millet's "Angelus")
planting and carefully nurturing his spinach, early onions and
"garden sass." A little holly tree in his front yard we regarded
as a rather auspicious omen, hollys being unusual in and about
Philadelphia, except where they have been transplanted by man,
and in commenting on it, he said it had been brought to him
by a friend from Mount Vernon, \^a.
Retracing our steps, we were just in time to catch a car, that
OLD SECKKl. HOUSE (NORTHERN EXPOSURE).
From photograph by Mr. Gould, July 15, 1908.
26o
OUR QUEST FOR THE SECKEE PEAR TREE
came along most opportunely, and carried us eastward a mile
or so, for the sun was setting lower and lower, and we thought
we might not find the site of the tree before dark. Along a
crooked lane — Sheaf lane — we waded up to our shoe-tops in mud
and truck, with a single white- washed farmhouse before us, the
great Girard Point elevators looming up on our right by the
river, and we made as good time as we could, dressed as we were ;
that is, not prepared for anything quite as rough as this. The
strong south wind was again in our faces; and the music of in-
numerable little frogs in our ears, singing their song of spring,
told us plainly — like the classic frogs described by Aristophanes
— that winter was over. Dr. Henry C. Mercer, who was my com-
panion on this trip said: "It was all the world like Holland — all
it needed was a few windmills" — when our backs were turned on
the grain elevators. Then I told him of the Old Cannon Ball
House, (a mile or so below us and on the other side of the Schuyl-
"CENTENNIAE" PHOTOGRAPH OF ORIGINAE SECKEE PEAR TREE.
Looking east. Photograph furnished by grandson of John Bastian who rented the
farm from the Girard Estate. The illustrations in "London Garden," October,
1880, and "The Gardener's Monthly," September, 1880, were evidently
made from this photograph.
OUR QUEST FOR THE SECKEL PEAR TREE 261
kill) through which a ball had passed from a gun. probably aimed
at Fort Mifflin by one of the British men-of-war in the Delaware
during the terrific bombardment the garison sustained for twelve
days and nights before its gallant commander evacuated it in
November, 1777. and crossed over to Fort Mercer on the Jersey
shore. The point of exit of the ball is conspiciously painted on
the north wall of the old mansion, and we laughingly recalled
the story of the Dutch loading their carronades with round Edam
cheeses when short of shot. And a fitting setting for these recol-
lections of wars and strife are the names of the roads we passed
or crossed — Murder lane, Beggarstown lane, Gallows lane and
Magazine road.
We finally came to a curious old farmhouse entirely bereft of
its fences and porches, and in going "around back," we were
greeted by a family of grovelling, yapping puppies, whose owner
came out to see the cause of their alarm. A few words sufficed
to explain our mission, and as the day had shortened into twi-
light, we could just dimly see across a stubby cornfield where the
Seckel pear tree site was marked by a white painted post. We
reached it in a few minutes in spite of the mud, which we avoided
as well as we could by jumping from clump to tussock, on new
^JS'I^,
--5, ■'-'*3?, _r ,- ;•
OLD SECKEL FARM (LOOKING EAST).
From photograph by Dr. Washburn, April 30, 1909.
Wooden marker at right shows site of original Seckel pear tree, placed there by
U. S. Department of Agriculture through Mr. Gould.
262 OUR QUEST FOR THE SECKEE PEAR TREE
ground that was being made by hydraulic dredging, which had
submerged by several feet the trunk of the old Seckel pear tree,
or rather of all that was left when it blew over in 1905. We
broke off a chunk of the decayed stump, which is now preserved
in the museum of the Bucks County Historical Society ; and our
pilgrimage — I take it the last that was ever made to the old
Seckel pear tree* — came to an end.
We then took a look at the interior of the old house, in search
of old iron firebacks, but finding none, we hastened eastward in
the dark along a railroad track to quickly reach the cars, running
from the Navy Yard gate back to the city, their lights, with the
stars, being our only beacons.
Having located the tree, the next thing was to take photographs
of the site, which we had to postpone for a more favorable op-
portunity. This did not occur until Saturday, April 30, 1909,
when after a terrific thunder storm had passed over the city (the
earliest I can recall of such violence) Dr. Mercer, Dr. Washburn
and I, armed with a letter from Mr. George E. Kirkpatrick, su-
perintendent of the Girard estate, and with camera and pruning
knives, went back to the dilapidated and depleted old farm to take
grafts from another Seckel pear tree, said to bear very good
fruit. This, now standing nearer the farm house, we were told,
had been grafted from the original old tree, whose adjacent
stump was all but buried in the mud. From this younger tree we
took twelve grafts, which Dr. Washburn carried back to Doyles-
town, where on December 10, 191 1, (a spring-like day, too warm
for overcoats) I saw the two fine grafts made by Mr. Stacey L.
Weaver — one on a pear tree back of his house, and the other on
a Keiffer pear tree in the small orchard (west corner, fronting
East street and River road) at "Fonthill," the home of Dr. Mer-
cer.
So much for the interesting "find," all in the open, without
going to stuffy libraries and hunting through dusty archives. The
question is, where did this tree come from? How did it get
where it was found bearing the delicious fruit that, as one writer
* This was March 14, 1909, and before Dr. Henry C. Mercer had any informa-
tion as to its location other than that vaguely given by Watson (Annals of Philadel-
phia, Vol. 2, p. 487). Mr. Gould did not send me his note on "The Present Status
of the Seckel Pear Tree" (prepared for the records of the U. S. Department of Agri-
culture) until the year after our "cjuest."
OUR QUEST FOR THE SECKEL PEAR TREE 263
enthusiastically puis it, "has delighted the j^eople of two hemis-
pheres for over a century ?"
Let us first take a look at an old map to see what the environ-
ment of this tree was, in, we will say, 1750, the time the Scull
and Heap map w-as made, and assuming that the Seckel pear
tree was growing at that time. While that map was inaccurate
as compared with our 1909 map (which as plotted puts the old
tree between 24th and 25th streets on 42nd avenue, in the 36th
ward) there are water courses that both maps still have in com-
mon near the location of the old tree's stump. Going by the old
map, the tree must have grown up about four furlongs due west
of Hollander's creek, and very likely on the eastern bank of a
little tributary that once flowed into the Schuylkill, marked as
River's creek, and into which the tide flowed and ebbed. This
land was all owned at one time by the Holland Land Company,
but in 1750 there was no house marked in that part of Passyunk
township, bordering on the Schuylkill and the Delaware, because
the ground w^as low and marshy and easily flooded by high tides,
especially when accompanied by wdnds backing the water up the
Delaware river. The first brick house near the pear tree, with an
extension more than double its size added at some later period,
was evidently built after the Dutch had begun to put dykes
around this land to reclaim it and protect it from the tides ; for
Hollander's creek was large enough to easily harbor the largest
vessels in those days, and a brig was seen in there, loading or un-
loading, as late as 1840.
Turner's place, Wilton, a famous watering place before the
Revolution, was located north of Hollander's creek, east of the
present Broad street. Half way between that and the pear tree
was the Davy house near a branch of Hollander's creek, known
as Ship creek, and between the two houses was a larger creek —
Shachem-sin. About two miles northeast of the pear tree was
the Lorens house, and about two and a half miles up the Schuyl-
kill, Bartram's garden. On the opposite side of the Schuylkill
near its mouth was Province island, and flowing around and
making the island, was Minquas or Mingo creek. In Smith's
History of Delaware county (facing page 321) is a map which
shows the location of Adam Guyer's house, and an item from
Pennsylvania Archives refers to a letter of General I^uttcr's who
18
264 OUR QUEST FOR THE SECKEE PEAR TREE
saw — at the time of the Revokttion — what he calls "an abbess
work thrown up in Guyer's orchard." There is also a very inter-
esting biographical notice (page 459) of John Evans who, with
John Bartram and Humphrey Marshall, completed a trio of self-
taught American botanists, all born within the limits of old
Chester county. John Evans farm, where he cultivated and grew
a great variety of plants, was purchased by Mr. W. Hinckle Smith,
several years ago, and is now all in the latter's estate on the Ithan
creek. The latter is a tributary of Darby creek, which in turn
flows into the Delaware a mile or so below the mouth of the
Schuylkill. I mention these by way of suggestion as to how a
pear seed might have gotten to the mouth of the Schuylkill, and
been carried by the tide into one of these creeks or coves with the
flotsam and jetsam at its mouth, in that part of the Delaware,
north of old League Island, known as the "back channel." But
in Bartram's garden and in John Evans' are Seckel pear trees
which may have been grafted directly from the original Seckel
pear; it being so near. If that pear had been produced by any
of these early botanists, they surely would have given it to the
w^orld ; but as so many pears, as well as other fruits of great popu-
larity, have come from seedlings whose origin is equally obscure,
if not absolutely unknown, it is not unlikely that the forerunner
of the Seckel was another seedling which might have been culti-
vated or originated by some of the many people who were so in-
terested in fruit, but whose orchards were too remote from
market to successfully bring the pear out.
On the other hand, the Seckel as found was so close to the
then largest city in the United States, that when Lawrence,
Lorens, or Lorenz Seckel brought it to his friends in the city, its
success was immediate, and news of the discovery traveled rap-
idly. If a forerunner of the Seckel, and it must have been a
forerunner something like itself, was originated, in what was
then the fruit center of the New World, within, say, fifty or
one hundred miles of Philadelphia, it might have started from
the core of a pear rejected there; or the core might have gotten
into the Delaware or the Schuylkill or some of their tributaries,
after the fruit had been eaten. It might have been planted by a
bird ; by a rail-bird whose migratory arrival on the Delaware
marshes in the autumn is so mysterious, or a crow may have
OUR QUEST FOR THE SECKEL PEAR TREE 265
carried the seed many miles, for Seckel pears are special favorites
of the wary old crow.
We must not lose sight of the fact, however, that — with the
exception of a few very wealthy "proprietors" and W'm. Penn's
followers — the first settlers brought little with them, and it was
not until the middle of the eighteenth century that people with
more means began to emigrate and bring their household goods
and chattels along. Then with the gradual increase in wealth of
the community, other things were imported — luxuries in those
days — from different parts of the old world, and it was about this
period that many kinds of plants, flowers and fruit-trees were
popularly introduced. Not only were the Germans, Swedes and
Dutch great lovers of all fruits and fond of growing the best
varieties, but the fact of our early botanists being Philadelphians
would seem to have been more of an incentive to others in the
vicinity to undertake the propagation of plants, flowers and fruits
in their endeavors to emulate these worthies.
Downing says (in his Fruit & Fruit Trees of America, page
640):
"The high flavor of the Seckel pear, an American variety, as yet unsur-
passed in this respect by any European sort, proves the natural con-
genialty of the climate of the Northern states to this fruit."
And again (page 853) :
"We do not hesitate to pronoimce this American pear the richest and
most exquisitely flavored variety known. In its highly concentrated spicy
and honeyed flavor, it is not surpassed, or indeed equalled by any Euro-
pean variety. * * * it was sent to Europe by the late Dr. Hosack in
1819, and the fruit was pronounced by the London Horticultural Society,
exceeding in flavor the richest of all their autumn pears."
In The New American Orchardist, published in 1833, there is
an article by William Kendrick, in which he says, in speaking of
the Seckel pear :
"The time when or the place where this pear originated, is involved
in obscurity. Dr. Hosack has stated in his letter recorded in the London
Horticultural Transactions, that it was first introduced to notice near
Philadelphia about 70 years ago. It was found on the grounds of either
Mr. Seckel or Air. W'eiss."
Mr. Gould of the United States Department of Agriculture,
informs me that referring to the transactions of the Horticultural
Society of London, which is mentioned in the a])ove quotation,
266 OUR QUEST FOR THE) SECKEL PEAR TREE
he found the letter of Dr. Hosack, which was read before the
meeting of the society on January 5, 1819, and addressed to the
secretary. It is as follows :
"The Seckel pear, eighteen plants of which I have forwarded to 'the
horticultural society, is so named from Mr. Seckel of Philadelphia, who
has the credit of having first cultivated it in the vicinity of that city. It
is generally considered to be a native fruit of this country, accidentally
produced from seed sown by Mr. Seckel ; and the original tree is said
to be still standing on the estate of that gentleman."
"An account, however, essentially different from this, has been lately
communicated to me by my friend. Judge Wallace, of Burlington, to
whom I recently paid a visit. He stated to me, on the authority of a
correspondent in Philadelphia, that the pear was grown in that neighbor-
hood sixty years ago by a person named Jacob Weiss, who obtained the
tree, with many others, at a settlement of Swedes, which was early estab-
lished near Philadelphia, where Mr. Weiss had built a house. The judge
suggested the probability of Mr. Weiss, and the father or grandfather of
Mr. Seckel, having been intimate, and as both families were Germans,
and of that rank of society, which might be likely to lead to such an ac-
quaintance, the conjecture, therefore, is, that vmder such circumstances,
Mr. Seckel's family obtained grafts from Mr. Weiss's tree."
Mr. Gould suggests the interesting deduction from both of
these quotations is, that as early as 1819, the exact origin of the
Seckel pear tree was then a matter of some doubt and conjec-
ture. By making the calculations suggested by these quotations,
as well as the footnote in Downing's Fruits and Fruit Trees of
America, *** which was published in 1845, ^^""^ i" which by in-
ference it is to be concluded that the Seckel pear was bearing
eighty years prior to that time, the origin of the Seckel pear
would appear to be placed as far back as the middle of the
eighteenth century.
*** The precise origin of the Seckel pear is unknown. The first promologists of
Europe have pronounced that it is entirely distinct from any European variety, and
its affinity to the Rousselet, a well-known German pear, leads to the supposition that
the seeds of the latter pear, having been brought here by some of the Germans
settling near Philadelphia, by chance produced this superior seedling. However this
may be, the following morceau of its history may be relied on as authentic, it
having been related by the late Bishop White, whose tenacity of memory is well
known. About eighty years ago, when the Bishop was a lad, there was a well-known
sportsman and cattle-dealer in Philadelphia, who was familiarly known as "Dutch
Jacob." Every season, early in the autumn, on returning from his shooting excur-
sions, Dutch Jacob regaled his neighbors with pears of an unusually delicious flavor,
the secret of whose place of growth, however, he would never satisfy their curiosity
by divulging. At length the Holland Eand Company, owning a considerable tract
south of the city, disposed of it in parcels, and Dutch Jacob then secured the ground
on which his favorite pear tree stood, a fine strip of land near the Delaware. —
Edition 1889, p. 853.
OUR QUEST FOR THE SECKEL PEAR TREE 267
But Dr. Hosack's statement differs from Watson's, who had
it from C. J. Wistar that Lawrence Seckel told Mr. Wistar's
father "he knew not how the tree came there and that while for
many years the fruit had been used by the tenant, its excellence
had been unknown to Seckel himself until by the chance of his
eating several of them at the time of their maturity."
Thus there have been many traditions of the origin of this
remarkable tree; one is that "a German sportsman in pursuit
of water fowl, drew his boat upon a grassy mound rising above
the water and threw the seeds of a pear which formed the dessert
of his simple meal, upon the soft ground, where one germinated
and grew." Another that a slender seedling, floating on the
river was washed by the tide or blown by the wind to the shore,
where it took root in the sedgy mould and grew to be this tree.
Mr. David Woods Bastian (of 156 Melrose avenue, E. Lans-
downe. Pa.) who had many a luscious pear from the old tree that
he climbed twenty-five years ago — in telling me of his youth
spent on the old Seckel farm which his grandfather (John Bas-
tian — died in 1893) rented at that time, said the story he had al-
ways heard was that a French ship was once in the river (Hol-
landers' creek?) and one of the sailors while ashore ate a pear
he had, and threw the core where the Seckel pear tree grew.
But I think this no more probable than of its having grown from
the seed of a core thrown over-board from some ship while pass-
ing the back channel, and one conjecture is no better than an-
other. Mr. Bastian also informed me that there was another
tree smaller, near the old Seckel, but harder to climb as it was
so thick and thorny, bearing a fine flavored pear which was known
as the Bergamot. And the tree shown on the left in the picture
of the original Seckel pear tree — right by the post and rail fence
— was a sugar pear, also bearing delicious fruit. These trees
have both disappeared since his boyhood spent in the old farm-
house with its pretty gardens and old pump house.
W^hile Mr. Bastian told me that these and one or two Keiffer
or winter pear trees were all he knew of, while ranging as
a lad all over the lower part of the neck, there were also many
peach trees and cherry trees, but no apple trees. The cherries
might have been planted by birds, but old pear and peach trees
rather confirm Watson's thought of a plantation there. I have
268 OUR QUEST FOR THE) SECKEI^ PEAR TREE
mentioned the Lorens House — indicated on the Scull and Heap
map — have alluded to Wilton, and believe there must have been
other old watering places with their summer gardens and fruit
trees where the Seckel pear grew, and it may be that Dr. Hosack's
conjecture is nearer the truth than any other. But does not Mr.
Bastian's experience also raise the c^uestion : Were the pears
that "Dutch Jacob" was so mysterious about and from the tree
that he afterwards acquired, actually the Seckel; or some other
delicious pear, that we know even less about than we do of the
Seckel?
However, the references mentioned give the most concise his-
torical accounts of the Seckel pear that Dr. Mercer, Mr. Gould
and I have been able to find in print ( except what may be in the
Congressional Library, Washington, D. C, which we have not
yet had time to search for). They contain the principal facts
that are known regarding its early history. Throughout the
American pomological literature relating to the Pear, many ref-
erences to the Seckel are made, yet as no historical information,
that I am aware of, is given, other than already mentioned, its
origin is yet to be discovered, but which I regret to say seems to
be as remote as ever, or lost in the mysteries of the past, if, in-
deed it ever will be known.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
"A View of the Cultivation of Fruit Trees," by William Coxe, published
in 1817; reference to Seckel Pear, p. 189.
"A Short Address on Horticulture," by William R. Prince; published in
1828, p. 9.
"William R. Prince Pomological Manual," edition of 1831, p. 139.
"Hoovey's Magazine of Horticulture," published 1853, p. 457.
"The New American Orchardist," by William Kendrick, 1833.
"Present Status of the Original Seckel Pear Tree," July 15, 1908, by H. S.
Gould, United States Department of Agriculture.
"The Seckel Tree," The Gardener's Monthly, January, 1865.
"The Old Seckel Pear," The Gardener's Monthly, September, 1880.
Downing's Fruits and Fruit Trees of America, John Wiley & Sons, New
York, 1889.
Watson's Annals of Philadelphia, Vol. 2, p. 487.
The Grave of Tammany.
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT HENRY C. MERCER.
(Doylcstown Meeting, January i6, 19 12.)
Before we proceed to the next paper. "The Last of the Lenni-
Lenape," by Mr. William J. Heller of Easton, I wish to say that
you are probably aware that according to our well-known tradi-
tion, the celebrated Delaware Indian Chief Tammany was buried
by white men on the north slope of I'rospect Hill, in New Brit-
ain township in the eighteenth century, and that you also know
that, in the hope of erecting a monument to Tammany at that
spot, this society, after several previous vinsuccessful efforts, has
at last purchased the alleged site of his grave.
In 1892 I identified this place and discussed some of the evi-
dence concerning the life, death and burial of Tammany in a
paper called "The Grave of Tamanend," published in the pro-
ceedings of our society. Vol. II, page 58. Whether Mr. Heller
has read this paper or not I do not know, but I think it very im-
portant that we should weigh carefully any new evidence which
he may produce to show that we have made a mistake in buy-
ing the land, or that this monument ought not to be built.
The two points that concern us are, first — that there can be no
doubt that an aged Indian called Tammany was buried at this
spot about 1750 by Walter Shewell ; second — that Sherman Day,
in his well-known "Historical Collections" though admitting the
burial, denies that the Indian was Tammany, supposing that
Tammany, who was last ofiicially noticed in our State Archives in
1697, could not have been alive in 1750, because the Moravian
missionaries, who had then been preaching for eight years (since
1742) in our backwoods do not mention him. For reasons given
in my paper, I did not regard this negative and inconclusive sup-
position of Mr. Day's as of sufficient weight to discourage our
land purchase. On the other hand the Shewell family tradition is
very positive that the Indian buried by their ancestors was Tam-
many.
Thomas Fassitt Shewell, born 1810, and great-grandson of
2/0 THE GRAVE OF TAMMANY
Walter Shewell who buried the Indian, and whom I questioned
very closely at Bristol in 1891, had not the slightest doubt that the
Indian was Tammany ; neither had Miss Mary Shewell, the last
of her family in Doylestown, born in 1844, ^^id whom I visited
and questioned on January 11, 1912. She remembered that her
grandfather, Nathaniel Shewell (born 1770, died i860) had fre-
quently told her the tradition in her girlhood at Painswick Hall.
She could say positively that there was no question whatever of
the name of the Indian being Tammany and supposed if that had
not been the case very little would have been made of the matter.
She was also very certain that the tradition ascribed great age to
the Indian.
Mr. William J. Buck, in his paper on Tamanend, thinks that
the county tradition first became common through a letter written
by one E. M. from Bucks county to Watson about 1842 and
quoted in Watson's Annals, Vol. II, page 172. This would infer
that Mr. Buck had supposed that the Shewell family had thus
lately invented the tradition or appropriated some general un-
traced story of this sort, but Thomas Fassitt Shewell told me, as
I explained in my paper, that he had heard it from his ancestors
about 1 81 6.
Lenni Lenape Departure from Delaware River.
BY WILLIAM J. HELLER, EASTON, PA.
(Doylestown erecting, January i6, 19 12.)
At the Newtown meeting of our society, October ii, 191 1, I
placed myself in rather an antagonistic position in regard to the
burial place of Tamanend; my thought then was that we should
get all the information we could on this question and make sure
of our position before erecting a monument. I am now under the
impression that the grave in New Britain township is the resting
place of Saint Tamanend. Traditions handed down by partici-
pants in the burial have led me to this conclusion. I have laid
the statements, as Mr. Mercer presented them, before the leading
men of the Delaware Nation, as it exists to-day, and they are of
the opinion that that is his burial place. They can go back a
long time by their traditions, although much of their history has
been lost. I had expected to have much more data to present with
my paper to-day, but owing to the snow storms in the West,
travel has been difficult, so the full investigation must be delayed.
We can, however, bring the date down to satisfy ourselves that
1750 would be about the proper date of his death. They all
know that he was over one hundred years old when he died, and
that would make him a man of suitable age to transact business
of importance in 1697 when he signed the great treaty with Will-
iam Penn.
My paper while not bearing on this subject as I had announced,
is culled from collateral data, and much of it is original. I have
therefore changed the title, which is somewhat different from
that announced on the program.
There are many thousands of pages written on the subject of
the American Indians and very many of these are devoted to a
theoretic discussion of the origin of this primitive people, and
these theories are just as varied and numerous as the writers
themselves. Regarding the present and the future of the Red
Man, these writers are generally of one mind, based on the old
rule that an Indian is an Indian and the best Indian is the dead
2.J2 LENNI LENAPE DEPARTURE FROM DElvAWARE RIVER
Indian. Novelists write to please white men — to gain their ap-
probation — and they know that race prejudice is strong enough
that the presentation of the white man as the hero and the red
man as the villain is more acceptable than if they were placed
vice versa. Consequently we lack a correct conception of the
true type of the American Indian. J. Fennimore Cooper was the
only novelist who had the moral courage to depict the Indian in
his true character, for which he was woefully criticised, and his
"Cooper's Indian" was always held up to ridicule.
The Indian is a natural warrior, a natural logician, a natural
artist. We have room for all three in our highly organized social
system. It is a mistake in the process of absorbing him, of wash-
ing out of him whatever is distinctly Indian ! It is absurd to
consider him as a white man with a red skin and then try to make
him white ! Our aboriginal brother brings as his contribution to
the common store of character, a great deal which is admirable
and which needs only to be developed along the right line. All
the Indians, both full-blood and those intermingled with cheap
white within our borders to-day are civilized. What some of
the latter need is a refining influence. They detest a preacher
but respect a teacher, so the missionaries find it just as difficult
to convert an Indian as to convert his white neighbor, but they
appreciate the school, as they can here see results for the good.
This is an instance where one school teacher is worth a dozen
preachers. The policy of the government is not to forcibly up-
root his strong traits as an Indian, but to induce him to modify
them; to teach him to recognize the nobility of giving without
expectation of return and to show true chivalry in good faith
toward an active foe and mercy for a fallen one. Unfortunately
the government treats all Indians as one class, no matter whether
he comes from the north, the south or the east. Just why this is
so is not quite clear. Then there is the ever present missionary,
intent on making converts in short, quick order merely to enable
him to report home his success and the fact that he is up and
doing, utterly overlooking the fact that the Indian receives his
greatest impression of the deity from the cow-boys and the rough
border men, and parrot-like, gives expressions utterly unlooked
for. Thus when a new Presbyterian minister was urging an In-
dian to come and hear him preach, the Indian replied : "May-be
LENNI I^EXArE DEPARTURE FROM DELAWARE RIVER 2^^^
SO. to-day you heap preach God dam ; to-morrow you steal In-
dian's pony."
The Indians' lack of confidence in the white man is more fully
illustrated by another incident. An Indian consulted an agent
concerning the signing of certain papers. The agent told him it
was all right, he should si^m it. He asked the missionary, also
the trader, and finally he appealed to the U. S. Commissioner,
who also advised him to sign it. Finally the commissioner lost
patience and said : "You won't believe your agent, nor the
merchants, nor the missionary, and you won't believe me !" Who
will you believe?" The Indian replied: "May-be-so, nobody."
The result of experience has fully demonstrated that the In-
dian has as distinct an individuality as any type of man who
ever lived, and he will never be judged right until we learn to
measure him by his own standards, as we whites would wish to
be measured if some more powerful race were to tisurp domin-
ion over us. We must not judge him by the hanger-on about
the edges of an agency or by the lazy fellow who lounges all
day in a gambling room of a frontier town, or from the screen
of the motion picture show. To get at the real Indian we must
go back into the wilder country, where white men have not yet
penetrated. There we find him as a man of fine physique, a
model of hospitality, a kind parent, a genial companion, a staunch
friend and a faithful pledge-keeper and of this kind are to-day
the descendants of that best clan of all North American Indians,
the Lenni Lenape (which in English means "men of men" ) com-
monly called the Delawares, with whom our forefathers lived in
peace and friendship for more than 50 years.
The Indian that is pictured in our mind's eye is that type
which is found between the Mississippi river and the Rocky
Mountains, the wild rovers of the plains, and not that superior
people who were banished from Bucks county in 1742, when we
took his land and gave him in return land that belonged to him,
and, to ease our minds and appease his wrath, we added a few
bushels of rusty nails, tin trinkets, broken glass and gaudy calico.
Incomplete would be a written history of the American In-
dians if it did not contain some reference to Bucks county. How-
ever, it is the purpose of this paper to record the doings of these
people from the time of their disappearance from the valley of
274 LENNI L EN APE DEPARTURE FROM DELAWARE RIVER
this, their grand national river to the period of modern times.
This paper at this time is very appropriate by reason of there
having been recently established a great confederation of all In-
dian nations of North America. The objects of this brotherhood
are to teach, obtain and maintain rights, liberties and justice for
all Indians equal to that of any people and inferior to none ; to
preserve and perpetuate the ancient traditions, arts and customs
of North American Indians ; to encourage industry and thrift
among Indian people; to collect, secure the preservation of and to
publish the records, papers, documents, and traditions of histor-
ical value; to mark places historic and sacred to the American
Indian, etc. This organization was perfected at Washington, D.
C, December 5, 191 1, by full-blood Indian men of prominence,
wealth and education of all the Indian nations and tribes of
America. This grand aggregation is under the leadership of a
master mind ; a man of exceptional, intellectual attainments ; a
lineal descendent of a long line of ancient Delaware kings; en-
dowed with all the virtues, poetical and oratorical capabilities, of
his famous ancestor St. Tammany. This modern, aboriginal
Moses is in full accord with his people, moving along a line of
policy in decided contrast to that of other famous Indian leaders
who figure in our 300 years of American history.
Our story opens at a period when the different clans of the
Delawares were becoming amalgamated through the encroach-
ment of white settlers east of the Delaware. Then we find that
the Turtle tribes had disposed of the greater portion of New
Jersey and migrated across the Delaware and affiliated with the
Turkey tribes below the Lehigh. A few gypsied around in the
forks of the Delaware, below the Blue Mountains, and directly
east of these latter were the Pompton tribes, covering all of up-
per Jersey. North of these, and above the Blue Mountains, were
the Wolf — or as they called themselves, the Minnisinks — and
known to the others as Minsi and Monsey. Out of these different
tribes, several hundred converts had been gathered by the Mora-
vian brethren.
These German Moravians in their efforts to christianize these
Indians, were strenuously opposed by the Scotch-Irish Presby-
terians, who displayed considerable fanaticism. They professed
to believe that the Indians were the Canaanites of the western
LENNI LENAPE DEPARTURE FROM DELAWARE RIVER 2/5
world, and that God's command to Joshua to destroy held good
with regards to the American Indians. Therefore, these men
were always ready to exterminate the red man, regardless of age
or sex. Toward the Christian Indians their greatest animosity
was shown and these poor, inoffensive people were murdered
whenever an op[)ortunity presented itself. The Moravians ex-
perienced less difficulty in tamin<;- these savages than the govern-
ment did in subduing the Scotch-Irish, who, discovering the
weakness of the government, formed themselves into lawless,
armed bands, murdering the Indians wherever they were to be
found. Thus in 1763, after the massacre of the Conostoga In-
dians in the Lancaster jail, the Lenni Lenape deemed it advisable
for their safety to withdraw altogether from the interior of the
white settlements, and make their abode in the territory along
both the east and west branches of the Susquehanna.
The government, conscious that they no longer could protect
any Indians, whether Christians or not, whom they had with
difficulty prevented from sharing the fate of the Conostogas, re-
quested them to retire into the back country. The Christian In-
dians settled at Wyalusing, fully 100 miles from the white settlers.
All the other Indians of the several tribes living in the Forks of
the Delaware and the regions round about, migrated still further
northward and westward. In these localities they lived quietly,
built houses, planted fruit trees and cultivated the land. But,
while they were flattering themselves with the most favorable
prospects, they were informed that the six nations had sold their
entire country, including the land just settled to the English.
This was in 1768. The Christian Indians migrated to the head
waters of the Ohio river, above Pittsburgh, where some strag-
gling bands of Dela wares had located some years previous. The
Turkey tribes under Tamaqua had migrated at a period between
1742 (the date of the banishment) and 1750 to the Allegheny
river, north of Pittsburgh, and later to the territory that is now
Western Ohio and Eastern Indiana. A few bands of Minnisinks,
who had been very active in the depredations along the upper
Delaware river in 1754 and 1758, had pushed their way north-
ward and settled in Canada where they affiliated with some other
stragglers from the six nations and finally lost their original
identitv.
2/6 LENNl LENAPE DEPARTURE FROM DELAWARE RIVER
About the year 1772 all the Dela wares, including the Christian
Indians then living within the confines of the present state of
Pennsylvania, moved further into the Indian country, settling on
the Muskingham river, now the Tuscarawas, in the present state
of Ohio. Here the Moravian Indians occupied a settlement
called Schoenbrun or Gnadenhutten and at Newcomerstown and
Coshocton were two capitals of the Delaware nation. Turtle and
Minsi, and here the advance in civilization which had been made
by the entire nation was always a matter of favorable comment,
and in many diaries of travelers through these sections, are ex-
pressions of surprise at what was found. Here the various
forces became united as one nation under the following rules
promulgated by the Grand Council of the Nation in 1773 :
1. Liberty is given to the Christian religion which the council
advises the entire nation to adopt.
2. The Christian Indians and their teachers are on an abso-
lute equality with other Delawares, all of them together con-
stituting one people.
3. The national territory is alike the property of the Christian
Indians and of the native Delawares.
4. Converts only, and no other Indians, shall settle near the
Christian town ; such as are not converts, but are now living near
such towns, shall move away.
5. In order to give more room to the Christian Indians (Gekel-
Emuk-Pe-Chunk) is to be abandoned, and a new capital founded
farther down the river.
6. The Christian Indians are invited to build a third town.
Netawatwes, the then ruling king of the nation, expected to see
the entire population converted within five years and the Christian
settlements became famed throughout the entire west. They
were built on a new order and were conveniently governed with-
out the aid of Colonial magistrates by a complete code of laws.
On questions of great import decisions were made by vote of all
the people. (These were the first "Votes for Women" in Ohio.)
These people raised grain, cattle and poultry. Their planta-
tions covered hundreds of acres and few farm yards in Pennsyl-
vania had poultry in greater variety. Politics were represented by
two parties, the principal one was for peace, under the leadership
of Captain White Eyes, a Turtle, and the other was the war
L^XNI LENAPE DEPARTURE FROM DELAWARE RIVER 277
party under Captain Pipe, a IMinnisink. Durinj^ the Revolu-
tionary War, Captain White Eyes was a firm ally of the Amer-
ican Government, under which he held a commission of colonel,
and was very desirous of havin<;- the new congress elect his lands
and his people as the fourteenth state in the new union. Un-
fortunately he died at a period when the British were putting
forth great effort to win over the Delawares. The other Indian
nations of the west sent emissaries to condole with the Delawares
in the loss of their famous chieftain. To these. Captain Pipe of
the war party made overtures and successfully created sympathy
for the British cause.
At this time, one of the great war chiefs of the Delawares, a
renowned orator, although not in sympathy with the Christian
Indians, held them in great respect and knowing that the Morav-
ian teachings would prevent them from resisting if they were at-
tacked by an enemy, visited them in 1781 during the most trouble-
some time of the war, for the purpose of requesting their removal
to a place of safety. After delivering an extensive outburst of
oratory, recapitulating the most extraordinary events which had
happened from time to time for more than 300 years, he con-
cluded in these words :
"I admit that there are good white men, but they bear no
proportion to the bad ; the bad must be the strongest, for they
rule. They do what they please. They enslave those who are not
of their color, although created by the same Great Spirit who
created them. They would make slaves of us if they could ; but
as they can not do it, they kill us. There is no faith to be placed
in their words. They are not like the Indians, who are only
enemies while at war, and are friends in peace. They will say
to an Indian, 'My friend; my brother.' They will take him by
the hand and at the same moment destroy him. /Vnd so you will
also be treated by them before long. Remember that this day I
have warned you to beware of such friends as these. I know
the long-knives. They are not to be trusted."
Eleven months after this was delivered by this prophetic chief,
96 of these Christian Indians, about 60 of them women and
children, were murdered at the place where these very words
had been spoken, by the same men he had alluded to, and, in the
same manner that he had described. This murder was perpe-
2/8 LENNI LENAPE DEPARTURE FROM DELAWARE RIVER
trated by a band of Scotch-Irish bordermen, under the command
of one WilHamson. They arrived at Gnaddenhutten where the
day was passed in an interchange of courtesies ; the poor Indians
never dreaming of treachery. WilHamson drew his men up in
line during the evening and requested the men to vote whether
the Indians should be killed or taken to Pittsburgh. All but i6
men voted for death. The poor, astonished Christians were made
captive and when told that they were to be killed, said that if it
was God's will that they were to be destroyed, they were ready
to die. They only asked for time to prepare, and devoted the
entire night to song and prayer. In the morning, these murderers,
impatient to begin their work of blood, selected two buildings
which they styled "slaughter houses." One in which to kill the
women and the other for kiling the men. The captives, who con-
tinued to sing and pray in exultant tone, were brutally told to
kneel and in this position they were killed and scalped, two at a
time. When all the men and boys were dead, the women and
small children were brought out two by two, taken to the other
house and dispatched with the same systematic barbarity. One
was a woman of education and refinement, who could speak Eng-
lish and German fluently, a graduate of the Moravian College for
Women.
On her knees she addressed Williamson in English and begged
for her life, but was refused.
This act on the part of the Americans was the darkest blot of
the Revolution, and nearly caused us to lose the respect of all
Europe. It scattered the entire Delaware nation and all the good
work that was done by the Moravians was lost. The Delaware
tribes made this offense a crime for which there was no atone-
ment. In this they were joined by all the affiliated nations of the
west and their revenge was terrific, costing the United States
thousands of lives and millions of dollars and a war that lasted
for over lOO years.
After this event the remnant of the Moravian Indians located
at Fairfield, Canada, while all the other tribes of the nation re-
treated to what is now Indiana. In the war of 1812, General
Harrison was sent with an army to invade Canada and Fairfield,
becoming a battlefield, was laid waste and for the third time the
Moravian settlement was destroyed. Again a new town was
LENNI LENAPE DEPARTURE FROM DELAWARE RIVER 2/9
started near the scene of the old, but on account of certain con-
ditions it did not prosper, and they later joined the main body.
In the year 1818, the Delaware nation ceded to the United States
all of their lands in the state of Indiana, the Government prom-
ising to provide a country for them ; which they did, by giving
less than 2,000,000 acres of Kansas land for their 4,500,000 acres
of Indiana land. Finally in 1829 they began locating in the forks
of the Kansas and Missouri rivers, and by the year 1833 all of
them had reached their new homes. Here they became very in-
dustrious; the Indian girls spun and wove excellent cloth, made
shirts and other clothing; while on more than 2,000 acres of land
there was cultivated grain and vegetables. Great quantities of
hogs, cattle and horses were also produced.
Hardly had they become accustomed to their surroundings,
when they became encompassed on every side by settlers, and
the history of their difficulties and discouragements was again
repeated. Their lands were trespassed upon, their timber cut
and destroyed, and they were denied the protection of the law to
either their property or persons. In the year 1854 the Govern-
ment compelled them to relinquish their 600,000 acres of land for
$1,000,000 and defrauded them out of 1,000,000 acres more for
$10,000 dollars. The railroad then made its appearance and this
also proved to be a menace to the poor Lenni Lenape. This new
enemy demanded of the politician at home and the administration
at Washington the removal of the Dela wares to some other and
more remote place, in order that it might have the benefit of
their possessic^s for speculative purposes. The railroad and the
settler pressed the politician, the politician pressed the admini-
stration and the administration pressed the Indian. The govern-
ment did not pay over the purchase money until many years after-
ward, but gave the railroad company the land gratis. The rail-
road company sold it for from $20 to $50 per acre, realizing over
$5,000,000 on the Indians' land without a cent of investment.
Thus harassed and irritated beyond further endurance, the Dela-
wares determined to again put themselves, if possible, out of the
reach of their tormentors. In May, 1863, the Commissioner was
requested to grant permission to withdraw $800 of their invested
funds with which to defray the expenses of a delegation of their
people to the Rocky Mountains, in the forlorn hope that in those
19
28o IvENNI LENAPE DEPARTURE FROM DELAWARE RIVER
wild and rugged fastnesses they might succeed in finding a harbor
of refuge. At this time, out of a fighting force of 217 men, they
furnished 185 for the United States army in the rebelhon. Fin-
ally on the 4th day of July, 1866, the Government removed the
Delawares from the state of Kansas to the Cherokee Reservation
in the Indian Territory, now Oklahoma, and with their purchase
money of $1,000,000 and the other paltry sum of $10,000, they
purchased a small tract of land, sufficient to give 160 acres to
each Delaware. When the contract of purchase between the
Delawares and the Cherokees came to be made, the exact location
of the lands was left subject to future determination. How-
ever, as always, their rights were guaranteed by the government,
but, unfortunately the government, as in every other contract
with the Delawares, became a defaulter. And the poor Dela-
wares to-day are minus their money and minus their lands.
And here on a narrow strip of land in the Cherokee Reserva-
tion in the state of Oklahoma, there is living to-day the last
remnant of this once numerous people, their numbers reduced
to less than 2,000. Out of this population four-fifths can read and
write, one-third are full-bloods and half of these adhere to the
old faith, while about one-third of the nation profess the Christ-
ian religion. This is remarkable considering the 200 years of
persecution they received at the hands of the race that taught
them that faith.
In a recent conversation with one of their prominent men, a
leader of the old faith, he accounted for this by the reason of
missionary work done by Christians, while the adherents of the
ancient religion do no soliciting whatever. The reluctancy of the
Indian to give the world a full view of his religion and faith is,
perhaps, one of the reasons why he is greatly misunderstood. He
holds these things so sacred that he will say but little about them
outside of his place of worship, and less to one not of his own
blood. If you should ask for an explanation, you would likely
be told that the white man's religion appeals more to the selfish
interests of the individual, and suits many of the young people
better and by following the white man's faith you can do as you
please until you are ready to die, then by repenting can escape all
responsibility for your acts, and so go to Heaven without any
efforts of your own. According to the ancient faith you must
LENNI LENAPE; departure from DELAWARE RIVER 281
follow the dictates of your guardian spirit of conscience, which
is the connecting link with the Great Spirit and thus improve
yourself in each sphere you pass through until you have finally
reached the Happy Hunting Ground and have in some manner
merited a reward yourself.
The Delaware Indians have kept no written records, but have
from time immemorial trained certain young men as teachers,
who are to succeed the older men as they die, and at the annual
meetings these young men assist in conducting the ceremonies
and finally take their places as leaders themselves. One of these
bright young men and the first of whom we have any facts of
record was Charles Killbuck, who, at the age of eight years began
the course of instruction, and when ten years old could relate
from memory the legends of the history of their nation for several
hundred years previous. He became the head counselor ; the cus-
todian of the papers, documents and treaties; and also treasures
of the nation, and as such, passed through the period of the
Revolutionary War, while yet in his teens. He and his brother
John, the hereditary chief of the nation, were among those
Moravian Indians whom the government authorities at Pitts-
burgh shortly after the massacre of the Muskingham had placed
on Killbuck's Island above the fort as a means of protecting them
from their white enemy. But even this proved a very insecure
place, as the Government's ofifer of $60 for an Indian scalp was
still in force and those Indians on the island were attacked one
day by their old Presbyterian foe. Charles and John in attempt-
ing to escape, upset the boat, Charles, to save his life was com-
pelled to relinquish his hold on the precious treaty bag, which
dropped to the bottom of the river and was never recovered. And
thus was lost forever all records, documents and treaty belts of
the Delaware nation.
John Killbuck graduated from Princeton College prior to the
Revolution and Charles some few years after the close of that
war, graduating from the same institution. Charles, about the
year 1848, then an old man, reduced to writing all that he could
remember of the history of his people. The Delaware nation
produced many men of prominence and these are on record in
all the published archives of the Government. To-day, among
their principal men is one who enjoys the greatest distinction
282 NAVIGATION ON THE DEI^AWARE AND LEHIGH RIVERS
ever accorded any American Indian. This is Richard Connor
Adams, son of Rev. Wilhan Adams, son of Mut-tee-tut-teese,
son of Pa-mar-ting, son of Pa-kan-kee, son of Win-ge-non, Chief
of the Minnisinks. Mr. Adams' paternal grandmother was
Nancy Connor, daughter of Ehzabeth Connor, daughter of Ak-
ke-long-un-a-qua, a daughter of Captain White Eyes, ahas Ko-
qua-hag-ech-ton, a grandson of Tammanend, ahas St. Tammany.
Mr. Adams was unanimously elected great sachem of the recently
established Indian Brotherhood. Certainly an honor most worth-
ily bestowed — a prince of the Lenni Eenape — King of all Indians
of the North American continent.
Navigation on the Delaware and Lehigh Rivers.
BY JOHN A. ANDERSON, LAMBERTVILLE, N. J.
(Doylestown Meeting, January 16, 1912.)
The history of civilization is largely found in the story of
streams, and there are few great centres of population which are
not in the vicinity of streams or other bodies of water. Along
the water courses industrial expansion finds its way. In war
and in the peaceful arts they have always been powerful factors.
As a barrier to progress or as a means of easy transit, each has
its tale of adventure and of growth. The Delaware river is no ex-
ception to this, and has made its mark in the history of our land,
although in extent of flow it is not classed with the great rivers
of the earth. By means of this river Penn and his predecessors,
who were the founders of a state, found access to their new
homes, and the stream became the boundary between two pros-
perous commonwealths.
Washington, with his little army, followed across the Jerseys
by a powerful foe, found security only when he had placed the
river between him and his pursuers, which later also afforded
the means of approach for his successful attack upon the enemy's
forces at Trenton.
The early navigators, entering the Delaware, found a broad
bay, into which flowed the water from a thousand distant hills,
forming a noble stream with a tidal flow easily navigable for more
NAVIGATION ON THE DELAWARE) AND LEHIGH RIVERS 283
tlian a hundred miles to the rocky rapids now known as "Trenton
Falls," from their proximity to the Capital City of New Jersey.
A pamphlet published in London in 1648 refers to these rapids
as "The falls of Charles River," as the Delaware was then called
in honor of King Charles, and described ^as being "near two
hundred miles from the ocean."
When the name of the river was changed these rapids became
known as, "The Falls of the Delaware," a name now superseded
by that of "Trenton Falls," which in a distance of 3500 feet
have a fall of ten feet, and consist of a rocky channel, })resenting
a serious impediment to navigation, and which constitute the
natural division between the tidal river and the "Upper Dela-
ware."
Sixteen miles above Trenton Falls is found a succession of
rapids, of which perhaps the most formidable is Wells Falls,
where, in a distance of nearly 5000 feet there is a fall of twelve
feet, the most of the descent being in the upper part, through a
tangle of rocky masses which have often brought disaster to those
attempting the passage. These falls get their name from John
Wells, who at an early day, held the ferry-right, half a mile
above, on the Pennsylvania shore, where the borough of New
Hope is now situated.
With the rifts and rapids of a more or less difficult character,
and intervening stretches of more quiet water, there is a descent
of 160 feet in the 49 miles between Trenton and the "Forks of
the Delaware," by which title the early comers designated the
point where the Lehigh river enters the Delaware, at Easton, Pa.
Above Easton there are also a number of places where the
navigation is attended with much risk. Of these, perhaps the
most noted is "Foul Rift," about three miles below Belvidere.
N. J. Another dangerous passage is at Rocky Falls, half a mile
above Riegelsville, where the river has cut its way through South
Mountain.
There have been various means of transportation on this
stream. Mention is made of the Indian canoe, and of other
small boats used by the early white settlers, but for a long period,
we hear of no navigation worthy of the name. The current
flowed by, unused, until necessity led to methods for the trans-
fer of commodities between the different localities on the river.
284 NAVIGATION ON THE DELAWARE AND LEHIGH RIVERS
and especially to and from the principal market, the city of
Philadelphia.
The chief means of such transfer was found in the raft, the
coal ark and the Durham hoat, of which only the last could be
used for returning to the starting-point, with goods exchanged
for the cargoes carried down stream.
Demands for the lumber of the forests from the "Head Wa-
ters," brought naturally into use, as on other streams, the easy
transport by the raft.
In his History of Bucks County General W. W. H. Davis
records that the first raft to navigate the Delaware started from
Cochecton, some 40 miles or more above Point Jervis, in 1746,
under the management of one Skinner, aided by a man named
Parks. The hazardous run of nearly two hundred miles brought
the adventurers to Philadelphia, where the importance attached to
the event was such, that the two men were given the "freedom,
of the city," of which they doubtless made good use, and that
Skinner was created (by what authority it is not stated) "Lord
High Admiral of the Delaware," a title which he is said to have
borne until his death in 181 3.
Davis further states that this raft consisted of six pine trees,
or logs, seventy feet in length, to be used as masts of ships then
building at Philadelphia. Holes were made through the ends of
the logs and all were strung on poles, called spindles, with a pin
at each end to keep the logs from spreading apart. This proved
to be the beginning of an enormous business to supply the ever
increasing demand.
The woodman with his axe invaded the forests of the upper
streams. When the winter cutting was over and the rafts were
prepared for the voyage, the lumberman floated away on the
rising waters, swelled by the melting snows.
During the height of rafting season there was seldom a day in
which, at almost any time and place, a number of rafts might
not be seen floating lazily by, with now and then, a gentle touch of
the long oars, swung on pins on front and rear, to keep the rafts
in the proper channel, or with alert and vigorous work, on ap-
proaching points where projections or hidden rocks threatened
disaster. What were known as "single rafts" had one oar at
each end, "double rafts" had four oars, two at each end. The
NAVIGATION ON THE DELAWARE AND LEHIGH RIVERS 285
Steersman or pilot worked the rear oars and with a double raft
the rear right hand oar as he faced down stream.
It was the business of those who were engaged in "running the
river" to be familiar with all the difficulties to be encountered,
and to many of the rocks the waterman gave special names, which
usually bore some relation to the current or other features of the
navigation. At Easton, in boating times, the "Forty Barrel" rock
and the "Sixty Barrel" rock each indicated (when covered with
water) the number of barrels of whiskey that a Durham boat
might safely take. The most comprehensive list which has come
to the knowledge of the writer is that comprising the rocks in and
near Wells Falls, which are, considered the most dangerous rapids
on the river. At the head of these rapids, the "Entering" rock
often caused disaster to the unwary or unskillful navigator. A
little farther on the "Hundred Barrel" rock, (when covered with
water) indicated that a Durham boat, carrying a hundred barrels
of flour, might pass through the channel safely.
The only rock in the Falls which, at all times had grass grow-
ing on it, was known as the "Grass" rock. At low water foam
produced by one of the rocks gave it the name of the "Foamcr,"
which was then dangerous for boats and rafts. Below the
"Foamer" at the foot of the swift water, upward bound boats
stopped at the "Dram" rock, for a rest for the men, and an in-
vigorator from the whiskey jug. which always found a place on
board. Very appropriately this rock has a gravel-worn cavity
which somewhat resembles a i)unch bowl.
On the New Jersey side of the channel and below the "Dram"
rock, are "Rodman's" rocks, where a raft conducted by a Caj^t.
Rodman was wrecked and Rodman was drowned. Farther down
and only seen at low water, was the "Bake Iron" a fiat and
rounded rock now partly removed. Near "Rodman's is "Buck-
wheat Ledge." The origin of this name is unknown, but my in-
formant states that when fishing near that place, he has seen
floating about the ledge, hulls of buckwheat, at a time when this
grain was being ground by the mills on the river.
Below the last named is "Fish" rock, over which falls a cas-
cade, producing an eddy which is liable to draw under the fall
any small boat approaching in the unskilled hands of a would-be
fisherman. A short distance above "Entering" rock, (so termed
286 NAVIGATION ON THS DEI.AWARK AND I^^HIGH RIVERS
by the watermen) an iron ring in a rock gives it the name of
"Ring" rock, and a Httle farther up is "Corneel's" rock, so named
from the habit of fishing there of one Cornelius Coryell, an old-
time resident of the vicinity.
During the busy season the rafts would run in "strings," follow-
ing each other closely, and if one were stopped by rock or shoal,
the next would sometimes attempt to get it off by striking it. If
the attempt failed, or if the passage was seriously obstructed by
the first raft, the next would often be brought to a sudden stop.
The writer has often seen a number of rafts thus stranded at one
time, in Wells' Falls. No record is at hand of the quantity of
lumber floated down the Delaware, but partial data and the
recollections of many persons still living, show that the amount
was very great.
Hazard's Register of Pennsylvania states that it was estimated
that in the spring of 1828, as many as a thousand rafts, con-
taining fifty million feet of lumber, descended the Delaware dur-
ing the rafting season.
In a paper read before the Bucks County Historical Society
by Mr. B. F. Fackenthal, Jr., and printed in the records of the
society, Vol. 3, is found on page 630 the following statement:
"In a manuscript found among my father's papers, the late B. F.
Fackenthal, Esq., of Easton, Pa. (born 1825, died 1892), he says that
rafting on the Delaware was at its height in 1840 to 1845 and that it
began to decrease in 1855. The season was generally about four weeks
long, during the spring freshets. For the first two weeks nearly all the
rafts were of sawed lumber and during the last two weeks they were
mostly of logs. During the middle, or height, of the rafting season he
frequently stood on an elevation back of his residence, in Durham town-
ship, and could count often as high as fourteen and occasionally as. high
as twenty rafts in sight at one time. Rafts now on the Delaware are a
rare sight. I saw one during the spring of 1907, and am told that there
were several others during that season."
These statements accord entirely with the observations of the
writer, whose knowledge of the river dates from 1843. A state-
ment has been met with that there were a good many log rafts
on the river in 1903, and one observer mentions that in 1908 or
1909, he saw two log rafts passing Lambertville.
The life of the raftsman was one of hard work and exposure,
and required hardy men. As a rule the raft carried no shelter.
NAVIGATION ON THE DELAWARE AND LEHIGH RIVERS 28/
from sun and storm. The need to be constantly on the alert
would have forbidden its use, the frequent rifts and rapids call-
ing for constant watchfulness.
Night necessarily brought rest at one of the numerous stopping
places which grew up under the stimulus of the traffic. Of these,
on the lower part of the river, were Upper Black's Eddy, op-
posite Milford. N. J., Lower Black's Eddy, near Point Pleasant,
Pa., the Old Red Tavern, at Lambertville, N. J., Mershon's at the
foot of Wells' Falls, and another Red Tavern near Trenton. At
these and many other convenient landings rest and refreshment
were to be found. The trip ended, the raftsman threw his pack
over his shoulder and tramped his way homeward or used the
railroads when available.
The men who started with the rafts did not always complete
the trip. Some were not acquainted with the lower river, and at
some point turned the task over to others. Often rafts were laid
up at some point for a considerable time, awaiting sale, and the
men who came with them would return. Favorite places for
tying up were the two Black's Eddies. Here, at times, the ac-
cumulation was such that for long distances, the collection of
rafts extended nearly across the river. At New Hope they would
sometimes extend for half a mile or more along the river bank,
two or three deep. Men living along the river made a business
of running these delayed rafts to destination or of piloting rafts
through difficult places. A fee of five dollars was often paid for
conducting a raft through Wells' Falls. With the extinction of
the forests and the opening of other transportation channels, and
the denuding of the forests immediately along the streams, the
raftsman lost his calling, and a raft upon the river is now a rare
sight.
Many interesting reminiscences of the rafting days are pre-
sented in a paper on "Lumbering Days on the Delaware River,"
read at the Newtown meeting of our society by Mr. Thaddeus S.
Kenderdine. (See volume IV, pa^e 239, ante.)
Somewhat akin to the moving of lumber by the raft, was the
plan adopted for carrying anthracite coal to market, in the earlier
days of its production. A long period elapsed, after the dis-
covery of anthracite coal, before its usefulness was demonstrated
and a demand for it at Philadelphia and other distant points made
288 NAVIGATION ON THE DELAWARE AND LEHIGH RIVERS
necessary some more efficient means of reaching a market than
carrying small quantities overland. Until canals were provided,
the rivers Lehigh and Delaware formed the natural channel for
its movement from the Lehigh region, and any account of navi-
gation on the Delaware must necessarily include what was done
on the tributary river, the Lehigh, which supplied so large a
part of the traffic. The difficulties of navigation were much
greater on the Lehigh than on the Delaware, and accounts of the
labor and ingenuity, expended in overcoming them form an in-
teresting chapter in the annals of those early times.
The vessel first used for transporting anthracite coal was
known as the "Ark." This was at first a rectangular box, made
of heavy planks spiked together. The tightening of the joints
by the swelling of the wood was evidently relied upon for ade-
quate flotation, although mention is found of securing added
buoyancy by placing lumber in the bottom, and, also of a double
bottom with space from which leakage could be conveniently
pumped out. At first these boats were forwarded singly, but
later, advantage was found in hinging a number together, thus
forming a long, flexible craft, which passed readily over uneven
currents, guided by end oars in the same manner as the raft, the
end boats being somewhat pointed, to facilitate the movement.
An ark run singly was also sometimes pointed on the ends.
The plan of hinging a number of boats together required a less
number of men than was needed when each had a separate crew.
A similar method is seen in the canal boat of to-day, which
usually has two boxes hinged together, which may be separated
for convenience in loading and unloading. The lumber of the
ark was sold at destination, but the iron work was carted back
for further use.
Mr. M. S. Henry, in his History of the Lehigh Valley, pub-
lished in i860, gives the following account of these vessels:
"The boats used on this descending navigation (on the Lehigh) con-
sisted of square boxes, or arks, from 16 to 18 feet wide and 20 to 25 feet
long. At first two of these were joined together by hinges, to allow them
to bend up and down in passing the dams and sluices, and as the men
became accustomed to the work, and the channels were straightened and
improved, the number of sections in each boat was increased, till, at last,
their whole length reached 180 feet. They were steered with long oars
like a raft.
NAVIGATION ON THE DELAWARE AND LEHIGH RIVERS 289
"Machinery was devised for jointing and putting together the planks
of which these boats were made, and the hands became so expert that
five men could put one of the sections together and launch it in forty-
five minutes. Boats of this description were used on the Lehigh until
the end of the year 1831, when the Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania
canal was partlj' finished."
Other accounts of transporting coal on the Lehigh by arks,
also indicate that but a single box was used at first, and an ex-
perienced waterman, whose father was engaged in running arks,
has told the writer that in the "string" afterwards adopted, the
front and rear boxes were pointed.
A drawing of a single-ark, in a publication by the Wyoming
Historical and Geological Society, shows both ends pointed and
a small cabin perched on a floor above the cargo.
In Watson's Annals of Philadelphia is found the following
brief mention of the practice in ark building on the Lehigh.
"The boat building is a curiosity. Here four men make a coal
ark for twenty-five tons, in thirty minutes. They plane the points
of the pine boards with a plane of nine irons, turned, to give
it power, by a crank. Twenty spikes, of six inches length, are
driven home, at a single stroke, one at a time."
In Davis' History of Bucks County it is stated that
"William Trumbull built the first ark at Mauch Chunk in 1806, which
made her first trip to Philadelphia that year, with 300 bushels of hard
coal. * * *
"Jacob Van Norman started from Alauch Chunk August 9, 1814, with
an ark loaded with two or three hundred bushels of coal. After many
vicissitudes in going down the Lehigh, among which was staving a hole
in the bottom, into which the men stuffed their clothing, she reached the
Delaware and floated safely down to tide water."
Henry mentions the dispatch of several arks in 1813, part of
which reached Philadelphia, and of one in 1814, which was 14
feet wide and 65 feet long, carrying 24 tons of coal, which met
with many difficulties by the way in its passage, but finally
reached its destination. The passage through a difficult rapid,
by this singular namesake of Noah's vessel, must indeed have
been interesting and exciting.
For the material required in building the arks, the Lehigh
Coal & Navigation Company secured a timber tract at Lowrey-
town, 17 miles above ]\Iauch Chunk, where arks and also rafts
were constructed. It is related that sometimes pleasure parties
290 NAVIGATION ON THE) DELAWARE AND LEHIGH RIVERS
of ladies and gentlemen would ride down to Mauch Chunk on
the rafts, seated in boxes for protection from the waves in the
rough waters encountered on the way.
The consumption of lumber in the arks became so enormous
that efforts were made to transport the coal to Philadelphia by
boats which could be returned. These efforts, referred to more
particularly elsewhere in this paper, were but partly successful.
They appear to have been conducted during the interval of about
three years between the completion of slack water navigation
on the Lehigh, in 1829, and the opening of the Delaware Di-
vision of the Pennsylvania Canal, from Bristol to Easton in 1832.
Owing to the difficulties encountered, especially on the Lehigh,
the loss of an ark was a not unusual occurrence, and improve-
ments in the channel, at some of the dangerous places, were made
by the companies interested. At some points on the Delaware
also considerable expenditures were made by the corporations
and the neighboring states.
To facilitate the passage of the difficult places on the Lehigh,
as well as to supply a sufficient flow, at times of low water, resort
was had to what has been termed "Artificial Freshets." A rough
dam was constructed, with an opening having a gate of peculiar
character which when closed caused the water to accumulate at
the proper moment the gate was removed and the arks and other
crafts in waiting were carried through by the rushing water, to
the level below. This plan proved very eft'ective for a limited
business, but was eventually superseded by the improved methods
required for the rapidly increasing traffic.
In an extended notice, in Henry's work, of Josiah White, one
of the pioneers and engineers of the early anthracite coal opera-
tions, the following appears :
"Messrs. Hazard and White were their own engineers. They waded
in the stream; they sounded the channels; they took the levels of the
rapids ; they directed the blasting of the rocks ; the building of the wing
dams, and the removal of the bars. But something more was needed to
make a good descending navigation, and this was eiifected by a system
of flushing called 'artificial freshets.' These artificial freshets were pro-
duced at stated intervals, and generally during the season of navigation,
by storing the water in the pools cf dams built across the river, of log
crib work filled with stone. Wide sluices for passing rafts and coal
arks were made in these dams, and they were readily opened and shut
NAVIGATION ON THE) DELAWARE AND LEHIGH RIVERS 29I
by one man, by means of Iiydrostatic pressure, actinj^ on a contrivance
of Josiah White, known by the name of the 'Bear Trap Lock.' The
arrangement was very simple and ingenious and fully answered the pur-
pose. By means of this descending navigation, the Lehigh trade was
started in 1820, two years in ad\ance of that on the Schuylkill, and the
coal continued to be carried in arks until after the Lehigh canal was
constructed and ready for use."
The use of artificial freshets on the Lehigh is understood to
have been the only application of this method, of anything like a
permanent character, in this country, although somewhat similar
plans have been used on many rivers for the flotation of lumber
across shoals. Henry also mentions an instance of its employ-
ment by Gen. James Clinton, in moving his forces from Otsego
lake into the Susquehanna, on his way to join Gen. Sullivan, in
his operations in 1779, against the Indians who had been con-
cerned in the Wyoming massacre.
He states that an easily removed dam was placed at the outlet
of the lake and taken away when the water had risen sufficiently,
allowing the waiting boats to float down with the released waters.
General Clinton's operation is fully described in the introduc-
tion to an early edition of Cooper's "Pioneers," as well as in the
appendix to his "Deerslayer" of the same edition. In the latter
work the name ark is applied to the floating habitation of one of
the characters of the tale, and in the appendix, is given some
account of the craft so designated, as used on the Susquehanna
for carrying wheat and other products.
The ark was also used on the Ohio and Mississippi, and doubt-
less on other rivers, but no mention has been found of its use on
the Delaware except in the coal traffic from the Lehigh. The
demand on the latter river for improved methods and the conse-
quent inauguration of canal navigation, brought about radical
changes, and the crude and clumsy vessel, having like its great
prototype, fulfilled its mission, vanished from the scene.
As before stated, a short time before the canal along the Del-
aware came into use, efforts were made to provide boats which
might descend and return by the river. In Hazard's Register,
mention is made under date of November 7, 1829, of an iron
boat, built by the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company, which is
said to have made her first voyage from Mauch Chunk to Trenton
and back to Easton, up the channel of the Delaware, to complete
292 NAVIGATION ON THE; DELAWARE; AND LEHIGH RIVE;rS
satisfaction. Experiment was also made with a boat built of
wood, which Hazard also mentions, but he adds :
"The experiment made with the iron boat, however, is decisive as to
the vahie of the channel and there need be no suffering the coming
winter, along the Delaware for want of coal, as the Durham boats can,
by having a constant business, carry down coal to good advantage and the
larger boats, such as tried by the company, to still greater advantage."
No record has been found of the further use of this style of
boat for ascending the Delaware. That large boats could be suc-
cessfully taken down the river is shown by the fact that, at a later
period, this was done at times with the "Red Line" boats which
ran on the Pennsylvania canal, but these could not be returned
by the river. Several attempts have been made to provide means
for navigating the Delaware other than by simple rotation and
manual power. Davis speaks of an invention having this object
in view, which was tried in 1824, which he describes as follows:
"It was intended for a tow boat and was propelled by the
action of the water on a number of buckets attached to a wheel
on each side of the barge. It drew a Durham boat and a large
ark containing sixteen persons up through the rapids at Trenton,
at the rate of one and one-third miles an hour, and it was sup-
posed it could make three miles an hour, with the machinery
properly adjusted." Nothing further appears to have been heard
of the invention.
A paper read by Rev. D. K. Turner, before the Historical
Society of Bucks County, Pa., describes the early experiments, in
that county, by John Fitch, in connection with his efforts to per-
fect navigation by steam power. The paper states that
"Lewis Rue and John Shaffer gave a certificate that they set
out from Philadelphia, June 5, 1790, at four o'clock in the
morning, and went in the steamboat to Trenton and thence to
Lambertville, and back to the city in the afternoon, at a speed of
7I/2 miles an hour."
Considering the extreme difficulty of passing Wells' Falls,
which are below Lambertville, especially with this imperfect craft,
it would seem as though there were some error here, as to the
upper terminus of the trip. In addition to the difficulty of as-
cending these rapids, the writer, who has known the place for
more than three score years, and whose relatives resided there
NAVIGATION ON THE DELAWARE AND LEHIGH RIVERS 293
at the time of the alleged occurrence, has never heard any men-
tion of the event, which could not have failed to produce an im-
pression, which would have long remained. That the boat may-
have proceeded as far as the foot of the falls below Lambertville
is the more likely supposition.
In later days several attempts were made to introduce steam
navigation on the river, above tide. The Belvidere Delaware
Railroad was opened from Trenton to Lambertville, February 6,
1 85 1. In the following year the "Major C. Barnet," a steam-
wheel steamer, for some time made regular trips between Lam-
bertville and Easton, in connection with the trains. The frequent
rocky rapids and the changes in height of water interposed diffi-
culties which led to the exchange of the Barnet for a smaller
boat, the "Reindeer," which, however, ran but a short time.
Henry states, in his History of the Lehigh Valley, that previous
to the advent of the Barnet, several unsuccessful attempts were
made to navigate the upper Delaware by steam. The present
writer has found no other mention of these. Respecting the
Barnet, the following items are taken from the diary of the
writer: On July 22, 1851, he started from Vine street wharf,
Philadelphia, on the steamer, Major William C. Barnet, Captain
Young for Lambertville. Stuck in Trenton Falls and returned
to Trenton, to wait for higher water. Here the writer left the
l)oat. There was great excitement at Lambertville and New
Hope and much disappointment with the assembled crowds, at
the non-arrival of the long expected steamer. On November 17
the Barnet ascended the river as far as Yardleyville, and on the
19th as far as Sender's Falls, where she broke some paddles and
returned to Trenton. Her first arrival at Lambertville was on
November 24, about 6 p. m., amid the shouts of the people and
the firing of cannon. On the 26th a trip to Easton was attempted
but failing to pass Howell's Falls a short distance above Centre
Bridge, the boat returned to Lambertville and went into winter
quarters. On March 11, 1852, the Barnet made an excursion from
Lambertville to Black's Eddy and return, with 150 persons. On
the next day regular trips to Easton began, and on April 19
she brought from Easton 120 persons to take the train at Lam-
bertville, for the Kossuth reception at Trenton. No note is
found of the discontinuance of the trips of the Barnet, but there
294 NAVIGATION ON THE) DKlyAWARE) AND LEHIGH RIVERS
is mention of the first trip, of the "Reindeer" from Lambertville
to Easton, on April 28, 1852. She ran up the Canal Feeder and
entered the river at Bull's Island.
In i860 a steamboat, the Alfred Thomas, was built at Easton
for some parties at Belvidere, who designed running the boat
between the latter place and Port Jervis. On the first attempt
to ascend the rapids a short distance above Easton, the boiler ex-
ploded, causing much injury and loss of life to those on board,
and the partial destruction of the boat. The experiment was not
renewed.
An account of the river transportations should include some
reference to the ferries, which afforded means of transferring
persons and property across the stream, before the construction
of bridges. Unfortunately the history of the ferries is, in a
great measure, lost. They, as the necessities required became
very numerous, one being found every three or four miles, until
superseded by the bridges. The ferry was usually known by the
name of the person who operated it, and as the ownership fre-
quently changed, it is often difficult for the student of local his-
tory to determine the location of a ferry mentioned. A further
complication arises from the fact that the right of operation from
opposite sides of the river was not always held by the same
person.
Thus, we find that in the year 1733, John Wells held the ferry-
right at the present site of New Hope, on the Pennsylvania shore,
while one Coates held it on the New Jersey side, where Lambert-
ville now is.
Thus Wells and Coates were operators on opposite sides, at
the same part of the river. In the year last named. His Majesty
King George II granted the ferry-right on the New Jersey side
to Emanuel Coryell whose name the ferry on that side bore until
the establishment, in 1812, of a post office, to which was given
the name of Lambertsville, since changed to Lambertville. The
two shores came under one designation when, some years after
the advent of Emanuel Coryell, Wells sold out to Emanuel's son
John, and the name "Coryell's Ferry" was applied to both sides
of the stream. As such the locality became known as the scene
of important movements in the Revolutionary struggle, and with
McKonkey's ferry, where the ever memorable "Crossing" oc-
NAVIGATION ON THE DELAWARE AND LEHIGH RIVERS 295
curred, holds a permanent ])lace in the annals of those stirring
times. Washington and the Patriot forces were several times
at "Coryell's" and the "General's Headquarters" still stands in
Lambertville, not far from where the ferry boats landed.
Much of interest would be found in the recital of the history
of other ferries on the river, if it could be brought to light. The
early ferry boat was the canoe, either that of the Indian or fash-
ioned from it. By this the traveler, with his saddle-bags, was
conveyed across the stream, while his beast swam behind.
With the opening of roads and the advent of wheeled vehicles
came the ferry with its commodious "flat." This was a long,
narrow boat, with flat bottom and vertical sides. The flat bottom
sloped upward at the ends, to the height of the sides, which were
parallel and about a foot high. At each end was a flap or
"apron," so hinged as to be turned in-board while crossing, and
outward at the landing, to make connection with the shore form-
ing a short bridge for the passage of teams. The usual mode of
propulsion was by means of "setting poles." The operation of
the ferries was often difficult and hazardous. Floating ice and
high water interfered seriously with the passage. A disaster in
which there was loss of life and property, occurred at Lambert-
ville, in an attempt to cross, during high water, in the interval
between the partial destruction of the bridge, by the freshet of
1841, and its restoration. At some ferries, where the river was
narrow, the movements of the ferry boats were controlled by
ropes attached to pulleys running on ropes or wires stretched
across and usually overhead. By means of the ropes the boat
was placed diagonally to the current, and carried across by its
force. The method is still in use at some points on the upper
part of the river. It is the plan used for the canal boat crossing
between the outlets below Lambertville and New Hope, where a
heavy wire rope carries the pulleys.
We now come to a particular consideration of the most im-
portant and interesting feature of the transportation methods
of the Upper Delaware. This is found in the craft known as
the "Durham Boat," whicii until the canals came into use, was
the sole means of moving commodities in both directions, on the
river between Philadelphia and points above tide. This boat was
well-known on the Delaware for more than a century, even after
20
296 NAVIGATION ON THE DELAWARE) AND EEHIGH RIVERS
the building of the canals, it was used on them as well as on the
river, to a considerable extent. The local histories give little pre-
cise information respecting the form and the method of operation
of this important means of transporting the commerce of the up-
per river. To the writer's own recollection he has been able to
add much of interest gleaned from various sources. Much in-
formation was obtained from some who had known something
of the boat, as from some who had operated it. Of the latter,
the one to whom the writer is most indebted was the late Wilson
Lugar, of Lambertville, Pa., who, at the age of 78 years, retained
a remarkable recollection of details of the construction and opera-
tion of these boats.
In his History of Bucks County General Davis states that the
last trip of a Durham boat to Philadelphia was made by Isaac
\"an Norman, in March, i860. Mr. Lugar stated that he, him-
self, made the last trip to that city, with a Durham boat, in 1865,
with a load of shuttle blocks, and that the boat used on that trip
was the last used on the river. It is frequently stated that the
Durham boat was modelled after the Indian canoe. Both were
pointed at the ends, but in other respects there were marked dif-
ferences. In fact, the name "canoe" has- been applied to a variety
of dissimilar craft.
In section, the sides of the Durham boat were vertical, for the
most part, with slight curvature to meet a like curvature of a
part of the bottom, which, for the most of its width, was flat.
Lengthwise, the sides were straight and parallel until they began
to curve to the stem and stern posts, at some 12 or 14
feet from the ends, where the decks, fore and aft, began, the
rest of the boat being open. The partly rounded form of the
hull was preserved at the ends, instead of being hollowed, as was
usual in the Indian canoe. Perhaps the craft most like the Dur-
ham boat, in general shape, would have been the "dug-out," a
log hollowed out and pointed at both ends, with the bottom and
sides slightly flattened. The ordinary length was 60 feet, al-
though shorter boats were built, and, in some instances, the
length was extended to even 66 feet, with sometimes a foot or
two added to the ordinary width of 8 feet. The usual depth,
from top of gunwale to the twelve-inch keel plank, was forty-two
inches, with additional height of some ten inches at the ends, this
TIIK CONTIXKXTAL AR.MV CRdSSl.XC. THK DI-.l.AWARK RIVER.
at McKonkey's Ferry, December -'5, i77(). From tablet on
Trenton Battle Monument.
THE DURHAM BOAT
ON THE RIVER OELAWARE.
SCALE - J'^TI .
Wo/kmil 3oard
Lensih 62 f I. Widinan. Oteth 3>i it
Draf-t 4 in. and 28 in.
•'tost 33 ft Beam 33/1
Steering Oar 33 It
DRAWING OF DURHAM BOAT BY JOHN A. ANDKRSOX.
This sketch was made by Mr. Anderson in igii, when 81 years of age, from
his recollection of their shape and size, and from information
obtained from others.
NAVIGATION ON THE DELAWARE AND LEHIGH RIVERS 297
and other minor features depending upon the fancy of the
builder. The draft, Hght, was from three and a half to five
inches, and loaded, about twenty-eight inches. A boat 60 feet
long would carry 150 barrels of flour or about 600 bushels of
shelled corn. Some of the largest boats would carry 20 tons, al-
though the load for the ordinary boat was from two to five tons
less. The back load up stream was about two tons.
The movement down stream was by floating with the current,
with the aid, when necessary, of a pair of eighteen-foot oars,
Moving up stream the boat was usually propelled by "setting
poles" 12 to 18 feet long and shod with iron. On the
thwarts was laid, on each side, a plank, twelve inches wide. On
these "walking boards" two members of the usual crew of three,
starting at the forward end, with poles on the river bottom and
top ends to shoulders, walked to the stern, pushing the boat for-
ward. While they rapidly returned to repeat the process, the
captain, who steered, used a pole to hold the boat from going
back with the current, or when necessary pushed it forward by
"setting" with a pole, in the short distance which the length of
the stern deck permitted.
For the better footing of the captain in this process, as well as
for drainage of the stern deck, this deck was built with a slight
incline backward. The forward deck was even with the gunwale
and the surface was sightly rounded, so as to shed water. The
steering oar was 33 feet long, with a blade twelve inches in width.
It is possible that the shape of the oar may have slightly varied,
according to the necessities of builders. A so-called "keel plank,"
twelve inches wide, was a part of the hull, there being no keel.
The boat, as a rule, was painted black, and was without special
name. A movable mast, six inches in diameter and 33 feet long,
with a boom of the same length and a three-cornered sail, en-
abled the boat to sail up stream, when the wind favored. Be-
ing without keel or center board, it could only sail with the wind
astern but with a favorable wind the progress was very rapid.
Sometimes the nature of the banks admitted of drawing the
boat along by catching hold of the overhead bushes, a process
known as "pulling brush." In Foul Rift, a particularly ditticuilt
rapid, the remains are still seen of iron bolts, in the rocky face
298 NAVIGATION ON THE DELAWARE AND LEHIGH RIVERS
on one side of the river, in which rings were attached, by means
of which boats were drawn up, by boat hooks or ropes.
In descending some of the rapids the walking boards were set
up on edge as splash boards, to keep out the water which would
dash over the sides. To admit of bailing out any water which
might gain access to the hull, "bailing places" were provided at
the ends of the decks. Water falling on the stern deck was car-
ried below by a drain pipe.
The furniture was of the most limited character. A large iron
pot, with a side hole near the bottom for draught, served as a cook
stove, with pieces of flat iron to hold the pan. There was a cofifee-
pot and a water bucket, and for each member of the crew a tin
cup and plate and a knife and fork, and for all, the unfailing
gallon jug of whiskey, from which, an old boatman stated, drinks
were taken only at certain places. The men slept on "barn
feathers" or straw, in the forward cabin, when the weather did
not admit of sleeping in the open.
Mr. Lugar, from whom these particulars were learned, wrote,
"The Durham boat was the most beautiful modelled boat I ever saw.
Her lines were perfect and beautiful. Her movement through the water
was so easy, with such a clean run aft, that she left the water almost as
calm as she found it. It appears they never could improve on the model
of the original boat, as it was so perfect as far as light running was con-
cerned. They could outsail any boat I ever saw sail, with a fair wind.
Of course they could not work to windward, as they were too long and
had no centre board. We could sail up any falls on this river. It took
two men to steer them in sailing up those awful currents, such as Wells
Falls, Foul Rift, Cape Bush. Rocky Falls, Eagle Island and many others."
Mr. Lugar stated that in some details there were slight varia-
tions made by different builders. Some made the ends higher
than indicated in the plan and the lengths varied from the usual
sixty to as much as 66 feet, and in the longer boats, there was
sometimes the addition of a foot or two to the ordinary width
of 8 feet. Some observers recall seeing a much shorter length
than 60 feet and boats having both ends precisely alike in curva-
ture, and sometimes not quite as sharp as indicated in the plan.
Different statements have also been met with, as to the exact
cufvature of the hull in cross section. In all essential particulars,
however, the type was preserved, and as Mr. Lugar pointed out.
NAVIGATION ON THE DELAWARE AND LEHIGH RIVERS 299
it was most admirably fitted for the service on the Delaware
in which it was employed.
When the work of shipping on the river was at its height there
were several hundred of these boats engaged in the service.
The largest fleet belonged at Easton, from which port
large quantities of grain, whiskey, and other products were
shipped. At Lambert ville and New Hope a number of the boats
were owned, these points being centres for a considerable popu-
lation producing materials for transportation to Philadelphia.
Many others were owned at various points on the river.
A man now living informs the writer that he has seen as many
as a hundred Durham boats laid up for the night at Lambertville,
on their way up the river. In some recollections of the late John
H. Horn, published a few years ago, he states that these boats
would often go in fleets of as many as twenty-five, and that in
sailing in line they made a beautiful sight.
One observer states that he has sometimes sat on the river
bank and watched a considerable number of Durham boats wait-
ing for a favorable breeze, when a "puff" would suddenly come
up and "off they would go like a flock of sheep." Going thus
in fleets the crews frequently aided each other in getting through
difiicult places by doubling up.
The life of the Durham boatman was very laborious, and,
moreover, the descent of the rapids was often attended with con-
siderable danger, requiring constant vigilance, and the ascent of
the stream was accomplshed only by hard work. The crew must
be always on the alert, and they were subjected to severe expos-
ure. In the earlier days, Wells Falls was passed by a channel
between the Pennsylvania shore and the narrow island known as
Malta. By this route the rocky channel of the river was avoided.
The swiftness of this interior channel was such that it gained
the name of "Horse Race." The locality still bears the name of
Malta, although no longer an island, the inside channel having
])een closed by the encroachment of the Pennsylvania canal, while
being dug in 1827.
Some old documents speak of locks as among the a[)iHirte-
nances of the Prime Hope mill property on the New Jersey side,
by Wells Falls, and an old gentleman, recently deceased, stated
that there was a lock there, through which Durham boats might
300 NAVIGATION ON THE) DELAWARE AND LEHIGH RIVERS
pass, but the writer has been unable to learn anything definite as
to its character. Mr. Lugar stated that a gate of some sort ex-
isted at one time at Lynn's Falls (at the Nockamixon palisades),
through which boats could pass and avoid the rapids.
In connection with his inquiries respecting the Durham boat,
the writer has met with some incidents, both interesting and
amusing, some of which it may be well to relate. In the year
1809, the Hon. John Lambert, United States Senator from New
Jersey, writes to his wife, living near Lambertville, that "thei
table fare at his Washington boarding house was pretty fair, but
that the table drink was beer, which he did not fancy, and, as he
did not like spirits, he wished her to send him a barrel of cider by
Pidcock's boat, to the Philadelphia Navy Yard, from which place
it would be forwarded." Some further correspondence indicates
that the cider went astray. Pidcock's boat was a Durham boat
run by one Pidcock, between Coryell's Ferry and Philadelphia,
which also figures in the following incident, drawn from a paper
by the late Alartin Coryell :
"In the year 1825 two j^oung men of New Hope were moved to go to
Philadelphia, one Sunday afternoon, to see the Fourth of July next day.
The walk of some thirty odd miles during the night brought them to
'town' a little before breakfast time and pretty tired. At Watson's Hotel,
where they proposed stopping, the landlord was not seen when they
arrived, and one of them fovmd an inner room in which to rest awhile.
After a time he was aroused by a passing band, with a military company,
and coming out met the landlord, and inquired of him when breakfast
would be ready. The landlord accused him of being crazy, and informed
him that it was about supper time. The other fellow, who was a hatter,
took the opportunity to go out and buy some furs, which he needed, and
took them to the river to forward by Pidcock's boat, which happened to
be lying at the wharf. No one being at the boat he crawled into the
sleeping cabin to wait until some one should come, who could take charge
of the furs. He was roused some time after by the taking down of the
mast in passing Trenton bridge, on the homeward trip. His amazement
and that of the boatman may be better imagined than described. Some
breakfast and reflection brought resignation to the conditions, and the
furs and their owner reached New Hope before night, the boat making
one of the quickest trips on record, owing to a favorable wind all the
way. Thus the two young men 'saw the fourth.' "
An account by Mr. Lugar of his trip to the Brooklyn Navy
Yard, is sufficiently entertaining to be quoted in full :
"In 1863 I took a Durham boat load of ship's knees to the Brooklyn
â– 5:*,^
K-f ^
â– 'â– ^'^Ss^i^^
f«^A'^—»-=
'/c;
MALTA ISLAND NEAR McKONKEY'S FERRY.
AVhere boats were hidden prior to the crossing of the Delaware river
by the Continental Army.
CANAL BOAT ON DK LAW ARE DIVISION CANAL
Successor to the Durham Boat.
NAVIGATION ON THE DELAWARE AND LEHIGH RIVERS 30I
Navy Yard, and sold them to Uncle Sam. I cut them in the Blue Moun-
tains, and along the river. We lived on the boat, and worked up as far
as Columbia, where w-e loaded what we got in the mountains, and .the
other part we picked up as wc went down the river. At Lambertville we
went into the Feeder, and from thence to New Brunswick. W'e were
tow-ed from Brunswick to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and when we got
there the boat was nearly full of water, but I knew she could not sink
if she filled full. We had to report our boat to the Naval Officer, and
give her name, so as to have her entered on their list of arrivals. I told
them she had no name. 'Can't you give her one?' 'Yes, we call her the
'Monitor.' 'Where do you hail from?' 'Blue Mountains of Pennsylvania.'
They wanted to know how I got from the Blue Mountains to New York.
I told them I came across the country on the dew. There were 7,000
men working in the Navy Yard at the time and they all came down to
see the boat and its captain. The boat was a great curiosity, and it kept
me busy answering questions. They all wanted to know where I hailed
from, and what the boat was for, and if there were any more of them.
I found one man who knew what it was. He came from the Delaware.
So you see a Durham boat made a trip to New York and returned."
The Durham boat played an important part in the history of
our country during the Revolutionary struggle. When Washing-
ton, abandoning the line of the Hudson, and making his way
across New Jersey, was preparing to put the Delaware between
his little army and the British under Howe, he wrote from New
Brunswick, directing that boats be collected for his expected
crossing at Trenton. His order directed that Durham boats be
secured, mentioning that one could carry a regiment, a fact in-
dicating the depleted state of the army.
Again, when preparing for the historic crossing at McKonkey's
Ferry, for the attack on Trenton, these boats were brought into
requisition. In "The Battles of Trenton and Princeton," by Gen,
Stryker, it is stated that the boats for crossing at McKonkey's
were collected by Captains Jacob Gearhart, Daniel Bray and
Thomas Jones, of the New Jersey Militia, assisted by John Clif-
ford. Some local historians mention others as helping. The
boats, with others previously collected, were stored behind the
thick woods of Malta Island, before mentioned, and at the mouth
of Knowles' creek, a short distance above the point of the pro-
jected crossing, at which the men of Marblehead navigated the
boats across the icy current. Gen. Stryker states that there were
about forty Durham boats on the river at the time.
In the historical painting by Emanuel Leutze. of "Washington
302 NAVIGATION ON THE DElvAWARE AND LEHIGH RIVERS
Crossing the Delaware," the boat shown bears no resemblance to
the boats used at McKonkey's, the aim being evidently, as in most
historic paintings, for artistic effect rather than literal represen-
tation. The form of boat shown on the tablet on the Trenton
"Battle Monument" is more nearly that of the Durham boat. An
etching of this is shown on page 296.
Of the hundred of these boats once on the river not one is
now known to exist. In his investigation he has succeeded in
finding but one survivor of the hardy men who, for so long a
period, carried by these boats, the products of industry to market
and brought back needed supplies, and this man passed away be-
fore the completion of this account.
It appears that at one time there were boats on the Delaware
of a type somewhat similar to the Durham boat, of which the
writer has been able to gain but scant information. In Smith's
History of New Jersey, under date of 1765, (page 486) occurs
the following:
"Delaware river, from the head of Cushietunk, tho' not obstructed
with falls, has not been improved to any inland navigation, by reason of
the thinness of the settlements that way. From Cushietunk to Trenton
falls are fourteen considerable rifts, yet all passable in the long, flat
boats used in the navigation of these parts, some carrj'ing 500 or 600
bushels of wheat. The greatest number of these rifts are from Easton
downward; and, those fourteen miles above Easton, another just below
Wells' ferry and that at Trenton, are the worst. The boats seldom come
down but with freshets especially from the Minisinks.
"These boats are made like troughs, square above the heads and
sterns, sloping a little fore and aft, generally 40 or 50 feet long, 6 or 7 feet
wide and 2 feet 9 inches or 3 feet deep and draw 20 or 22 inches of water
when loaden."
In some particulars this description corresponds pretty nearly
to that of the Durham boat, differing, however, with respect to
length and square ends. This, and their designation by Smith as
flat, would indicate a different type of boat, although probably
managed in much the same way as the Durham boat.
Mr. J. M. Van Etten, of Milford, Pa., informs the writer that
the boats described by Smith had a bottom slope at the ends to
allow them to run easily over slight obstructions. In this con-
nection Mr. Van Etten mentions having seen, some years ago, an
article stating that the Durham boats had been seen on that
NAVIGATION ON' THE DELAWARE AND LEHIGH RIVERS 303
part of the river prior to the building of the Erie raih'oad, and
that they came from Easton or below. He also mentions having
himself seen on the river within 4 miles of the mouth of the
Lackawaxen, Durham boats which brought up merchandise and
took away the products of the country.
Although the boats mentioned by Smith are stated by him to
have made trips to Philadelphia, the writer has not met with any
tradition of such boats having been seen on the lower river.
Regarding the use of the Durham boat on the extreme upper
river, the following is found in a small volume by the late L. W.
Broadhead, on the "History and Legends of the Delaware Water
Gap," published in 1857. Mr. Broadhead says :
"Long before any facilities, other than the rough wagon roads, were
afforded the people, both north and south of the mountain, for the trans-
portation of the products of the Valley of the Delaware, to market, the
old furnace at Durham, on the Delaware, a few miles below Easton, had
constructed, about the year 1770, a class of boats, somewhat longer and
narrower than the present canal boats, and in shape somewhat resembling
a weaver's shuttle. The deck extended a few feet only from stem to
stern. The 'captain' or steerman, stood on the stern deck, and guided
the boat with a long rudder. A narrow planking on either side afforded
a walking place for the pikemen, who, with long poles or pikes propelled
the boat up the current. These were called Durham boats and soon came
into general use on the river. They were used as early as 1780, by John
Van Campen, for the transportation of flour to Philadelphia, manufac-
tured from wheat grown in the Minisink. Mr. Van Campen's mill was
at Shawnee, and stood near where Air. Wilson's mill is now located. In
1786 one Jesse Dickinson came from Philadelphia and laid out a city in
Delaware county, New York, called 'Dickinson City.' It was situated near
what is now called Cannonsville. Mr. Dickinson brought his men and
material up the Delaware in Durham boats (Gould's History of Delaware
County). The old firm of Beel & Thomas, of Experiment Mills, known
for their energy and integrity, and pleasantly remembered by many still
living, used the Durham boats extensively in their day, both in the trans-
portation of flour to Philadelphia and in bringing up supplies for the
neighborhood. The boatmen were a strong and hardy set of men, and
seemed to enjoy their laborious occupation. The 'Captain' feeling the
responsibility of his position, bore himself with great dignity, especially
on his arrival at 'port ;' and the boys who collected the wharf, when the
vessel hove in sight, were terror stricken at the imperious manner of
the 'Captain' and the stentorian tones by which he commanded all alike, on
board and on shore. After the completion of the Delaware Division of
the Pennsylvania canal, the Durham boat began gradually to disappear,
so that one is now seldom seen on the waters of the Delaware."
304 NAVIGATION ON THE DELAWARE; AND EEHIGH RIVERS
Of the places mentioned in the foregoing, Shawnee is 4 or 5
miles above the Delaware Water Gap, Experiment Mills is on a
small stream flowing into the Delaware a few miles above the
Gap, Minsi being at its mouth. Cannonsville is a few miles
above Deposit, New York, nearly 100 miles above Port Jervis.
Boats known as Durham boats have been used in a number of
different localities, a fact which has led to inquiry as to the cor-
rectness of the statement that the boat, so called, originated on
the Delaware.
In his History of Bucks County, Gen. Davis says:
"The Durham boat came into use to carry the iron made at Durham
furnace to market," and again, "The product of the furnace was trans-
ported to the river and there loaded into Durham boats, and taken to
Philadelphia. These boats carried the greater part of the freight between
Philadelphia and the upper Delaware, before the days of canal and rail-
roads. The testimony of Abraham Haupt says that the first Durham boat
was built on the river bank, near the mouth of the cave, by one Robert
Durham, the engineer and manager of the furnace, and that the boat
was nearly in the shape of an Indian canoe, and the works were possibly
named after the builder of the boat. This was before 1750. As early as
1758 Durham boats were used to transport flour from John Van Campen's
mills at Minisink, to Philadelphia. The Durhams were in this county
(Bucks) as early as 1723-"
It appears that Haupt had a blacksmith shop near the original
Durham furnace, which was at some distance from the river,
and that in his shop was found the date stone of the original
furnace, in use for nut cracking. This opportunity, therefore,
for getting information respecting the matter may be taken as
being good. The date on the stone is 1727. It can be seen in
the museum of our society at Doylestown.
The records of Durham furnace throw no light on the svibject,
but the statement quoted would seem to be conclusive as to the
origin of the boat. This statement is in entire conformity with
the tradition among the river men, although unfortunately, it is
indefinite as to the time of building the first boat. The account
has been repeated by other writers, and has been generally ac-
cepted as correct. Indeed, it is not to be suJDposed that so care-
ful a writer as Gen. Davis would accept the statement without
being well assured of its accuracy. The early product of the
furnace, built in 1727, must have been carted to market, over
NAVIGATIOX OX THE DELAWARE AND LEHIGH RIVERS 305
extremely rough roads, or carried by the river in quite inadequate
craft, until a more efficient water transportation could be pro-
vided. The necessities of the case would seem to have led to
the construction of a suitable boat.
The use elsewhere of boats known as Durham has led the
writer to make inquiries regarding the matter of similarity, as
well as priority of construction.
In the introduction to an early edition of Cooper's "Path-
finder"* is found an account of boats in early use on the Mohawk,
by which the products of the interior were moved down the
stream toward the Hudson, and the manufactures of the sea-
board were carried to Utica, and the smaller towns farther
west. It is stated that there were two kinds of these boats, one
being known as the Schenectady, which was small, flat-bottomed,
and rigged with an ungainly sail, though dependent chiefly on the
muscular power of the boatmen with their oars or poles. After
the description of the "Schenectady" boat, is the following:
"The Durham boat, of which there were large numbers, was
long, shallow, and nearly flat-bottomed." After some mention
of operation by poles the writer proceeds : "The Durham boats
found their way from the Mohawk to the St. Lawrence and were
much used on Canadian waters. And it was said that one of
these crafts went into the Missouri river, making a vo^-age of
six weeks, from the rude wharf of Schenectady." The same
writer adds, "The ]\Iohawk boatmen were singularly skilful in
those times. They made the trip to Utica, about 100 miles,
against current and rapids, and returned in nine days. Two
miles and a half an hour was the usual speed against the current."
Miss Susan Cooper, the writer of the introduction to her
father's work, the "Pathfinder," states that this account is from
a letter written by Judge William Cooper, about 1805.
The difficulties of navigation on the Mohawk, as compared
with those on the Delaware, are well shown by the fact that
cross pieces were fastened on the walking boards to furnish
footing for the boatmen in propelling the boats. Mr. Lugar in-
formed the writer that, at one time, he had, as an assistant in
his work as carpenter, a man from the Mohawk who knew the
boats on that river, and who stated that they dift'ered materially
• Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Household Edition, 1876.
306 NAVIGATION ON THK DELAWARE; AND LKHIGH RIVERS
in size and model from the Delaware Durham boat, the latter
having partly rounded bottom, while the bottom of the Mohawk
boat was flat.
From Mr. W. Max Ried, of Amsterdam, N. Y., author of
"Old Fort Johnson," was received the following brief account
of the Mohawk boats :
"Very early in the history of the Mohawk valley the Mohawk river
was the only means for transporting produce and supplies, except the
pack on the trail. Canoes were first used, and then bateaux, which were
nothing else but scows propelled by poles and paddles, and in long
stretches of still water, by sail. Next, the Schenectady Durham, which
is described as flat bottom, straight sides, with easy lines at bow and
stern, to help flotation in striking a rapid. She was decked fore and aft
and along her gunwales, which were cleated to give foothold to the boat-
man. A mast was stepped near the bow with square sails."
Here we have the Schenectady and Durham combined in the
title, which leads to the thought that the boat may have been a
Schenectady modification of the original Durham boat.
Mr. Ried further says :
"Pearson is authority for the statement that the 'Durham' boat was
first used on Long Island Sound. The name occurs early as a 'Dorem'
or "Deurem.' The Dorey or Dorry, common along the coast, is thought
to be similarly derived." (History of Schenectady.)
In closing Mr. Ried gives the Haupt statement, contained in
the History of Bucks County, to which reference has already
been made herein.
The foregoing descriptions of the Mohawk boats do not con-
form to what we know of the Delaware boat bearing the same
name, and, as respects the boats on Long Island Sound, a boat
of the model of the Delaware Durham boat would not be at all
suitable for that water, as was shown by Mr. Lugar's experience
in his trip to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and, if a boat of this
model had been in use in that vicinity, it would be difficult to
account for its novelty to the men of the navy yard on that occa-
sion.
We have something a little more definite in a paper kindly
furnished by Mr. Arthur T. Smith, secretary of the Herkimer
County Historical Society, containing an address before that
society, in 1897, by Mr. Rufus A. Grider, on "The Early Naviga-
tion of the Mohawk River." From this interesting paper only
NAVIGATION ON THE) DELAWARE AND LEHIGH RIVERS 307
those parts can here be taken which pertain to our j^resent suIj-
ject. Mr. Grider quotes from a journal kept by a Mr. Christian
Schuhz, while traveling on the Mohawk in 1807, as follows :
"I have noticed three different boats being used in navigating the
river. Those called Schenectady boats are generally preferred and will
carry about ten tons burden, when the river is high, but when it is low,
as at this time, they take three or four. They generally advance against
the stream at the rate of 18 to 25 miles a day. These boats are built
very much after the model of our Long Island round-bottomed skiffs,
but larger, being from 40 to 50 feet in length ; are steered by a large
swing oar of the same length. They have likewise a movable mast in
the middle. When the wind serves they set a square and top sail, which
at a distance gives them the appearance of a square rigged vessel coming
before the wind. Our galley, which I am just now informed, is called
the 'Mohawk Regulator,' has gone at the rate of six miles an hour against
the stream, and, during this time, believe me, nothing can be more charm-
ing than sailing on the Mohawk. It is not often that a fair wind will
serve for more than three or four miles together, as the irregular course
of the river renders its aid very precarious, their chief dependence, there-
fore, is upon their pike poles. These are 18 to 22 feet in length, having
a sharp pointed iron, with a socket, weighing 10 to 12 pounds, affixed to
the lower ends; the upper end has a large knob, called a button, mounted
upon it, so that the poleman may press his whole weight upon it without
endangering his person. Within the boat, on each side, is a fixed plank,
running fore and aft, with a number of cross cleats nailed upon it, for
the purpose of giving the poleman a sure footing in hard poling. The
men, after setting their poles against a rock, bank or bottom of the river,
inclining their heads very low, place the upper end of the button against
the front of their right or left shoulder (according to the side on which
they are poling) then, falling down on their hands and toes, creep the
whole length of the gang boards, and send the boat forward with con-
siderable speed."
After this particular description of the Schenectady boats and
their mode of operation, the writer proceeds :
"I have met with another kind of boat on this river, which is called
the Dorem or Durham. The only difference is that it is built sharp at
both ends and generally much larger and stouter."
After some mention of the "Flats" on the river, he goes on
to say :
"The boat described above was first made at Durham, in Bucks county,
Pennsylvania. Durham is on the Delaware river. These boats were made
to carry flour to Philadelphia and return with merchandise, by navigating
the Delaware. I think they would carry fifty barrels of flour. That river
is deeper and larger and less difficult to navigate than the Mohawk."
308 NAVIGATION ON THE DELAWARE AND EEHIGH RIVERS
He states elsewhere in his paper, that the boats last referred
to were introdviced on the Mohawk about 1792, the year of the
chartering of the first corporation for navigating that river, which
period was a number of years later than the earliest known use
of the Durham boat on the Delaware.
The Durham boat figures also on the Susquehanna, as appears
in the "Historical Sketches of Plymouth," by Hendrick B.
Wright, which mentions that in 1775, during the Pennamite war,
one of the belligerent parties seized Mr. Benjamin Harvey, with
his boat, for use in a movement upon the opposing force. Going
back to 1774, in giving a particular account of Mr. Harvey, the
author says :
"At that time, and for many subsequent j-ears, all articles of mer-
chandise were transported on the river in 'Durham boats.' These boats
were 40 feet in length, with a beam of some 10 feet, and would carry
from 15 to 20 tons burden. They were propelled by long 'setting poles,'
with iron sockets at the ends, three men on each side, with a steersman
at the stern. Ten or twelve miles up stream was considered a fair day's
work. These boats were the only means of transportation of merchandise
until the making of the Easton and Wilkes-Barre turnpike. This thor-
oughfare was completed about the year 1807. Thence, down to the time
of the canal navigation, in 1830, the merchants of the entire valley received
all their goods, either by Durham boats on the river or by wagons on
the turnpike. * * * g^t j^i the days of the first merchants of Ply-
mouth, the 'Conestoga' wagon was not known. His transport was the
'Durham boat.' It will be remembered that Benjamin Harvey, Jr., that
same first merchant, was at Fort Augusta, near Sunbury, with his boat in
December, 1775, when Col. Plunkett impressed him and his vessel into
the Proprietary service, immediately preceding the battle of Nanticoke."
It would seem that the Susquehanna was well supplied with
Durham boats at this time, but the writer has not been able to
obtain any information as to their number and origin on that
river. It is not at all improbable that they were introduced from
the Delaware, during the quarter century or more which elapsed
between the boat building of Robert Durham and the date re-
ferred to by Wright. Where the same style of boat came into
use on other rivers the name of course went with it. The name
may also have been applied to other boats by reason of general
similarity in construction and mode of operation.
Boats of different localities will naturally possess similar char-
acteristics where similar conditions exist. Thus, on a narrow
NAVIGATION ON THE DELAWARE AND LEHIGH RIVERS 309
waterway, where it may be desirable to move in either direction,
without turning, the boat would naturally be made with both ends
pointed. A long steering oar will be found desirable where wide
movement was necessary in descending rapid streams. Oars to
aid in the downward passage and sail for up stream would also
be likely to come naturally info use and the "setting pole" would
be universal for rapid streams of suitable depth.
For any of these features it would be difficult to assign the
credit of priority to any person or place, but their combination
with a model so completely adapted to the requirements of the
Delaware river service warrants the claim of originality for the
man who built the first Durham boat on the banks of the river,
near Durham furnace, in Bucks county, Pennsylvania.
The total disappearance of the Durham boat, on the Delaware,
is readily accounted for. It was not well adapted for use on
the canals, which came into use along the Delaware about 1830,
and gradually displaced river carriage. Thus these boats natu-
rally fell into disuse, or were, for a time, used for casual purposes
to which they could be applied.
At Easton, Durham and Lambertville, and doubtless at other
points, some were used in collecting boulders from the river bot-
tom for paving the streets of Philadelphia, a method in general
use in that city within the memory of many persons now living
and which, the writer has been told, still survives in some of the
streets. The last Lambertville boat was engaged in that industry
and in gathering sand from bars in the river. The same boat
also served in carrying various kinds of produce, including clams
from New Brunswick to Lambertville and Centre Bridge (now
Stockton). For the purchase of the clams "classes" were formed,
by a number of persons joining together to form a "class," each
agreeing to take a certain number of the bivalves. The writer
well remembers the interest attaching to the arrival of the clam
boat, as the members of the classes gathered about it, with many
on-lookers and some applicants for clams who had not joined the
class. A class made up of farmers was usually represented by
one of the number who delivered to the others. An aged man,
who in his youth drove the tow horse of the clam boat, states
that it was often hailed by persons on the tow path who wanted
3IO NAVIGATION ON THE) DELAWARE) AND LEHIGH RIVERS
clams, of whom he was directed to take no notice, as the supply
would not permit of sales to any but members of the classes.
The freshet of January 8, 1841, the highest known prior to
that of October 10, 1903,* carried away an immense amount of
property, including many of the Durham boats, which had re-
mained. The few that were left were utilized partly on the river
and partly on the canals, but their adaptability to the new con-
ditions were not such as to lead to their perpetuation, and they
gradually decayed and disappeared. The last boat at Lambert-
ville, after being variously employed, on canal and river, was
finally laid up for decay in the canal basin at that place. Mr.
L,ugar's boat, with which he made the last trip to Philadelphia in
1865, met a like end in the canal a few miles farther up. One
Durham boat has been heard of, as similarly laid up on the
Lehigh, and as having been taken from human ken by the tre-
mendous sweep of the freshet of 1903.
The question still remains as to where the builder of the first
Durham boat, on the Delaware got for it the perfect model so
admirably fitted to the requirements. The writer has made some
inquiries abroad to ascertain, if possible, if any such model ex-
isted in other countries. The most likely places were thought to
be Durham county in England and the canals of Holland. Care-
ful inquiries in both countries, through the British Museum and
persons in Durham county, and of the Ryks Museum, in Amster-
dam, Holland, met with courteous responses, but were fruitless
as to any information respecting the existence of boats likely to
have been the prototype of our "Durham."
So far, therefore, as the investigations of the writer have gone,
it seems that the original story of the priority of the Delaware,
in the construction of the boat, must be viewed as established,
and this paper may be fittingly concluded by presenting a well-
* Mr. Anderson has evidently overlooked the fact that the freshet of 1862 was
higher than that of 1841. My grandfather had just completed building a dwelling
house in Durham township between Durham furnace and Monroe, which fronted on
the Delaware river. Before the house was occupied the freshet of January 8, 184 1,
entered the first floor of this house and he cut a mark to show the height of the
water, and in like manner my father cut a mark to show the height of the freshet of
June 5, 1862, which was 12% inches higher. The freshet of October 10, 1903, was
marked at the same place and shows it to have been 41 inches higher than that of
1862. These measurements have been verified for the purpose of writing this foot-
note.— B. F. F., Jr.
NAVIGATION ON THE DELAWARE AND LEHIGH RIVERS 31I
deserved eulogium u[)on the boat and boatmen, as delivered by
one of Pennsylvania's noted sons.
The opening of the Belvidere Delaware Railroad, from Trenton
to Phillipsburg, opposite Easton, was celebrated on February 3,
1854, by the running of a train of fifteen passenger cars from
Philadelphia, carrying officials and citizens of Pennsylvania and
New Jersey, who were enthusiastically received and entertained
by the citizens of Easton. The principal address of welcome to
the visitors was made by the Hon. Andrew H. Reeder, who had
held the position of Territorial Governor of Kansas, and was
otherwise prominent in the state and nation.* Taking up the
progress in the means of intercommunication. Gov. Reeder made
reference to the canoe of the Indian, as the earliest craft upon
the river, and before passing to the more modern methods of
transportation, pronounced the following eloquent tribute to the
Durham boat and the men who operated it :
"But the age of primitive navigation passed by, and the march of
progress drove the Lenni-Lenape and their bark canoes from the banks
of their favorite river and the graves of their fathers. The well-known
river boats next courted its waters, and in the hands of hardy men before
many years had elapsed, were made to surmount the dangers and difticul-
ties of its navigation, and carry the daily trade of the settlement through
the dangerous and comparatively unknown rapids that thread the stream
to tide. Those vessels covered the whole period of its history to the con-
struction of our canal and the peculiar and well remembered class of
men which the exigencies of their use brought forth, made their mark
upon the time in which they lived. Muscular, active, athletic and enduring
beyond belief, faithful and trustworthy to a proverb, sportive and social,
yet fearless and ready handed, they will not soon be forgotten. Always
prompt for fun or play, the man who sought their courtesy and good
offices was sure to find them, while he who insulted them or wantonly
provoked their anger, was sure to learn a lesson that needed no repeating.
For years they transported to your city all our produce and manufactures,
frequently carrying passengers, who preferred their craft to the stage
wagon, which, twenty years ago, accomplished in two days, by a shorter
route the trip you have made in a few hours this morning. They carried
for us, heavy remittances, with a stern honesty worthy of imitation in
higher places, and without a single instance of defalcation. Such were
the generous-hearted, open-handed river boatmen of the Delaware. But
progress came again and drove from the stage their long oars and iron
shod poles. As a class, they have passed away, while their feats of
• See Henry's History of the Lehigh Valley, page 152.
21
312 opp;n fire cooking in bucks county
prowess and daring are fast becoming traditions to challenge the belief
of a new generation."
Thus, in fitting phrase, was well earned tribute paid to the boats
and men, displaced by canal and railroad, from the position of
activity so long and worthily held by them in the river service.
Open Fire Cooking in Bucks County.
BY HENRY C. MERCER, DOYEESTOWN, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, During Old Home Week, June 12, 1912.)
We are beginning our meeting early. But perhaps some of
you are already here who as children yourselves, or through
your ancestors, left our little town years or generations ago, and
have come back to see the old starting place again.
I hope that somehow or somewhere here you will find inspira-
tion or help which is permanent and that what we propose to do
in these days will not blow away on the wind with mere con-
gratulations, shouting or waving of banners.
One of the receipts for steering out of the whirlpool of ma-
terialism worldliness and vainglory which seems to have seized
upon many of our great cities and swept deeply into the lives
of some of us is to look back upon the past and see what our
ancestors did.
Here it is, or part of it, hanging above your heads. The history
of the United States illustrated in the tools and implements with
which our ancestors built up the country. We hope to make a
very large showing of these things, perhaps to the glory of our
town later, but there is no time to tell of it now. I am coming to
the point, and the point is that a number of our ladies are going
to tell you of a thing once vital, now changed beyond recognition,
namely how our ancestors cooked their food in the open fire from
time immemorial until about two generations ago.
In Bucks county we had about one hundred and sixty years
of open fire cooking, namely between about 1680 and 1840.
There were two kinds of open fire here, one the large fire for the
kitchen, a necessity, and one the small fire for the parlor, a luxury.
Both came to us from Britain and cast-iron stoves followed them
OPEN FIRE COOKING IN BUCKS COUNTY 313
both close from Germany. But none of these stoves, the first two
of which were for house warming and not cooking, and all of
which were wood burning, superceded the open fire until the so-
called ten-plate stove was transformed into the coal burning cook-
stove with lidded potholes exposing the fire in the eighteen forties.
That immensely facilitated all kinds of cooking and we may
say extinguished the ancient open kitchen fire forever. But not
immediately. Soap-making and applebutter-boiling still required
it and lasted until about 1870 and 1900. respectively, when cheap
store soap and factory-made apple butter stopped both these kinds
of household v/ork, and finally put out the cooking fire, although
in remote parts of the county there were survivals of the ancient
fire as when I saw in about 1897 the family of David Getter
cooking upon it with the old utensils in the hill country near
Durham.
But the other open fire, that is to say the small parlor fire,
never used for cooking but only for house warming lingered on.
Our fathers nearly put it out with their hot air heaters and steam
radiators between 1865 and 1880 in what I have heard called
"the Pullman car period," but it still flickered until about 1890
when the modern architect revived it, and our new generation
welcomed it, so that to-day no first-class house is built without
it for two reasons: First because a* fire is a glorious and inspiring
thing in any house and second because it is probably the best ex-
pellent of house poisons nourished by steam radiators that man
has ever invented.
Here, as I say, we are talking about the cooking fire in the
kitchen put out about 1840, not the little parlor fireplace four feet
in diameter, more or less, which still exists. The largest kitchen
fireplace I ever found in Bucks county, now demolished, was at
the house of Kraut's Mill on Deep Run near Pipersville, and
measured about fourteen feet wide by five-and-a-half high. That
at the old ruined tenant house on the Cox estate near "The Bush,"
is about twelve feet wide by five high, but the average in our
county was about seven to nine feet wide by four to five high.
I saw negroes planking so-called "johnny-cakes" in their open
fire hearths in Anne Arundel and Prince George's counties.
Maryland in about 1885 and there and in White county, Ten-
nessee, in 1899 I saw a number of comparatively new log cabins
314 OPEN FIRE COOKING IN BUCKS COUNTY
equipped with cooking fireplaces made of wattles smeared with
clay and built outside of and against the log walls. But here
where surface building stones and flags of our "mesozoic" slate
lay loose all over the county the great fireplaces of the kitchen
were built of stone generally within the house wall, paved ^vith
flags, and parged or smeared inside with lime and sand mortar.
Some of the little parlor fireplaces had convex backs, and flared
jambs, but to the best of my recollection all the kitchen hearths
I ever saw here had vertical backs with jambs of from two to
three feet deep built out at right angles.
One I know at the old farmhouse kitchen at the Farm School
about five-and-a-half feet wide, is vaulted with stone but gen-
erally the face rested from mantel upward on white-oak lintels
sharpened at bottom, or triangular in cross-section without hood
or overhang built across the fire hole into the square jambs.
These projected about three feet from the house wall so as to
leave recesses on either side often occupied by closets or stair
cases and therefore presenting the fire recess as a large rectangu-
lar hole in the flat wall surface. On the other hand about 1897
I saw and photographed one of these fireplaces built across the
corner of a room on George Park's old log house now demolished,
near Horsham.
At the old house in the field at the Cross Keys built in 1768,
the kitchen fireplace, minus the kitchen, in full view of the road
shows the bread oven not as a separate structure outside the
house, but as often seen here, built into the upper left hand
corner of the wall back of the fire.
There were two ways of suspending pots and bake-plates over
the fire ; one was the lug pole undoubtedly a very ancient con-
trivance, which was a pole of green wood, perhaps sometimes of
iron, built across the capacious throat or funnel of the fireplace,
which latter converged upward so as to reach minimum flue di-
ameter at about twelve to fifteen feet above the hearth. The
more convenient crane was an iron bracket hinged in the back
wall at the side of the fire and although it has been thought that
this contrivance was invented in New England about 1730,
Colonel Paxson will show you a crane this morning probably of
older date from Old England and here also is one of the elabo-
rate Italian andirons equipped with spit-hooks and one of these
OPEN FIRE COOKING IN BUCKS COUNTY 315
same cranes hinged upon its vertical bar, which was pro])ably in
use in Italy in the 17th century and undoubtedly stands for a
type used much earlier in Lombardy and which I saw in use in
the ancient house known as Titian's birthplace at Cadore near
Cortina in 1898, but there is no time to discuss these questions
now except to say that chain trammels prevailed on the lug pole
because they were flexible w-hile the more rigid hook and eye
trammels worked best on the crane, which itself easily swung any
kind of apparatus on or off the fire.
At this vital spot where the fire was kept burning nearly all
the time, and where, because cooking food is shadowed by pot or
pan the lard lamp hung on its prong from a crack in the lintel
beam, the old cook learned how to manage a small fire rather
than a large one, how to reduce it with water or increase it with
bellows, how to keep two or three beds of cooking coals going
at once, how to escape smoke, save ashes, bury and revive embers,
rekindle from coals carried about in iron boxes or shovels, or
light up from a tinder-box, but I am done, the ladies will tell you
the rest.
Cooking Shad by the Open Fire.
BY MRS. J. E. SCOTT, NEW HOPE, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, During Old Home Week, June 12, 1912.)
No finer fish breasts the tide of an American river than the
shad; and no finer specimen is found in any water than those
brought forth from the cool, sparkling depths of our own beauti-
ful Delaware — famed in song and story for its clearness, purity
and picturesque beauty.
Shad are taken in the springtime from every river of the At-
lantic slope from Florida to Maine ; but it probably reaches its
acme of gastronomic perfection in the Delaware, where it ap-
pears in March and April. As a fish it is the perfection of grace
and symmetry, and as a table luxury its fame is almost nation-
wide. The shad was not always acclaimed a toothsome dainty as
an article of food on the tables of even the common people and
was reckoned as fit only for negroes and the lowest type of la-
borers. It was so profoundly despised by our ancestors that it
was held to be somewhat disreputable to eat it. We read the
story of a family who were about to dine on shad when there
came a knock at the door ; they would not open it till the platter
holding the abnoxious fish had been removed from the table and
hidden.
At first while our rivers were teeming with shad, as well as with
many other kinds of fish, and while they were taken in great
numbers they were fed chiefly to hogs. In 1733 two shad could
be bought for a penny and the price did not advance much till
after the war of the Revolution. Quite a contrast to the prices
that rule to-day, when a single shad will cost from forty cents
to a dollar.
During the closing years of the eighteenth century, shad as an
article of food, began to come into its own, and acquired a better
reputation than it had enjoyed during the earlier days of colonial
history. Then our rivers became a great field for white fisher-
men, as they had ever been for the Indians. When shad became
more popular it was not only used as a staple article of food dur-
COOKING SHAD BY THE OPEN FIRE 317
ing it brief season, but great numbers were salted down by the
frugal housewives of the New England and the Middle States,
and it became an important article of diet for the entire year.
In preparing shad for the table our ancestors, having few of
our modern conveniences, implements and appliances, were com-
pelled to use the scant outfit that their frontier houses afforded.
But we, of what we may assume to regard as the luxuriant pres-
ent, must not imagine that the quality of the meal that our great-
grandmothers were wont to set before their families, was one
whit less delicious, because of the primitive utensils at hand for
its preparation. These oldtime cooks, driven by necessity, in-
vented and devised various ways to cook shad with only such im-
plements and utensils as could be used on the open fire. Some
of these methods follow :
THE GRIDIRON.
This almost universally used utensil was made of iron, about a
foot and a half long and not quite so wide. This frame was
crossed with bars an inch or an inch and a half apart. There
were often nine of these rods, which probably gave rise to the
old jingle :
"Nine rods and four feet,
Short tail, the whole complete."
The feet, one at each corner, were several inches long, a handle
protruded from the middle of one side; to this a longer handle
was sometimes fitted when needed. I might say in passing that
almost all cooking and baking utensils of that day had two dis-
tinguishing characteristics, vie: feet of greater or less length, and
long handles. The feet seem to have been necessary to .pre-
vent the utensil from sinking too low into the ashes and thus
smothering the fire under it. The long handle was to protect
the hands and face of the cook from the intense heat of the
burning logs.
The shad was prepared for cooking much in the same manner
that it is to-day. A fire of hickory wood was allowed to burn
down to a hot bed of coals. These were raked out on the hearth.
The gridiron was greased, the shad laid upon it and then it was
placed over the hot coals. By means of the handle the position
of the iron could be changed so that every part of the tisli would
3l8 COOKING SHAD BY THE OPEN FIREJ
be uniformly well done. When properly seasoned and served this
constituted food that was calculated to please the palate of the
most fastidious picure. This was by far the most largely used
method of cooking shad in vogue with our early American an-
cestors.
LONG HANDLED FRYING PAN.
There seem to have been two types of this utensil ; one with
legs and one without. The former set over the coals as already
explained in the case of the gridiron. The latter was either set
on trivets, of which there were varying sizes and heights, or it
was held over the fire by means of the long handle. The shad
was prepared and fried much the same as it is in the modern
frying pan.
BAKING PAN.
This was rather a deep pan with a close fitting lid. The shad,
sometimes stuffed, sometimes not, was laid in the pan, the cover
placed over it and set among the coals till nicely baked. A very
definite tradition exists among the descendants of an old shad
fisherman, which avers that the best results were obtained by
taking hickory sticks of about the thickness of the finger, laying
several of these in the bottom of the pan and placing the fish on
them.
BAKING KITCHEN OR ROASTING KITCHEN.
The shad stuffed or otherwise prepared as already mentioned
were often baked in these. It was a long box-like utensil, some-
what resembling a modern wash-boiler, open on one side, with a
little door on the side opposite. Like most other cooking uten-
sils of that period this also stood on legs so as to bring it directly
in line with the greatest possible heat, as the heat was applied
in this case by reflection as well as by radiation and convection.
PLANKING.
Planking shad is generally supposed to be a more modern
method of cooking, but we think we have good evidence that it
was used more or less along the Delaware in the days of other
open fire methods.
COOKING SHAD BY THE OPEN FIRE 319
A slab of hickory or oak was used. This was spht, cut and
hewed down to two or three inches thick, a little wider than
the opened fish, and about two feet long. This was propped up
before a bed of coals till it was sizzling hot. The fish was split
down the back, wiped dry and then fastened skin side down to
the hot plank. The plank was then propped up at an angle of
about 60 degrees before the fire. The shad was constantly
basted with a piece of fat pork on a switch held above it. The
ends of the plank were reversed from time to time, so that the
shad would be uniformly done. When the flesh was flaky when
pierced with a fork, it was done. The shad was then served on
the hot plank and was said to be a dish of rare gastronomic ex-
cellence.
BAKED IN CLAY.
We gathered some reference of this method of cooking shad
in the early days. It was not likely it was ever used in the home,
but was probably sometimes used in the open and in the fishing
camps along the river where no suitable cooking utensils were at
hand.
A freshly caught shad was rubbed against the scales and
gills wath soft mud from the river bank. When this had set a
little the whole fish was rolled in a thick blanket of clay. It
was then allowed to dry in the heat before the fire for some
fifteen minutes, then it was buried in the hot coals and ashes
till the clay was baked hard and the fish was thought to be well
done. It was then raked out of the fire and cracked open. The
fish readily split open, the head was removed, the insides, shrunk
to a little ball, were scraped oft' and the scales adhered to the
clay. A little salt was dusted over it. A dish thus prepared was
fit for a king.
SOURCES OE INFORMATION.
The Gridiron :
W^illiam Kinsey, 93 years old. New Hope ; Michell Wood. 92
years old, New Hope; Mrs. Sophia Bloom, 89 years old. Point
Pleasant. Also by tradition from her grandfathers Michael
Swartz and Michael Weisel, among the first settlers of Point
Pleasant.
320 ROASTING ON THE SPIT
Long Handled Frying Pan :
William Kinsey, Michell Wood, Mrs. Sophia Bloom.
Baking Pan: Sophia Bloom and by tradition from descend-
ants of Abraham Alexander Slack, one of the men who assisted
in manning the boats that took Washington and his army across
the Delaware on that famous Christmas night. He also owned
and operated a fishery at Taylorsville after the Revolutionary
war.
Baking Kitchen and Roasting Kitchen :
Home life of Colonial Days, by Alice Morse Earle.
Planking : By tradition from Abraham Alexander Slack.
Baked in Clay: Abraham Alexander Slack and from an old
book of recipes.
Roasting on the Spit.
BY MRS. HENRY D. PAXSON, HOLICONG, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, June 12, 1912.)
Of the old-time fireside cooking, next to baking, or equal with
it, was roasting. Many are the tales come down to us from our
grandmothers of the delectable culinary accomplishments of those
days of simple methods.
The process of roasting, as you know, is to expose meat to the
direct influence of fire. Chemistry and experience teach that
the first application of heat in roasting should be powerful and
rapid, so as to form an outside wall by hardening the skin and
coagulating the superficial juices and thus retain the inside
juices as much as possible. This external crust is usually
formed in fifteen minutes, after which the intensity of the heat
should be lessened and the cooking allowed to proceed slowly,
constantly basting the meat with its own drippings.
There are two distinct methods of roasting; one by use of the
spit, in one of its several forms, and the other by the twirling
hook, also known as the bottle jack, or more commonly called the
"Meat Jack."
• All kinds of meats and fowls were roasted before the open fire.
Old books on cookery give long and detailed accounts of the
ROASTING ON TIIK SPIT 32I
roasting of every possible kind of meat and game, each accom-
panied by a complicated and exceedingly savory recipe.
Of the various forms of the spit, the first and probably the
most primitive, was a string or cord suspended from a hook in
the ceiling, upon the other end of which was fastened the fowl
or meat to be roasted before the fire. This string was twisted a
number of times in one direction by the good housewife and al-
lowed to unwind and rewind itself on the rebound until run
down. She then, having performed some other household duties
in the interim, rewound the string and the operations were re-
peated until the roast was complete.- The next form of the spit,
and the one from which the others herein described were prob-
ably evolved, was a straight rod, slightly flattened in the middle,
from four to five feet long, with a handle or crank at one end.
This spit was placed on the hooks on the andirons and turned by
hand power. With more ingenuity, one was made with a grooved
wheel at one end over which ran a chain connecting with the
power, — sometimes a clock jack, — thus substituting automatic
power for that of the hand. Again, the power was supplied by
a dog on a treadmill. Then again, there was an attachment to
a fan in the chimney, operated by the draft and smoke, and
sometimes called a "Smoke Jack."
Another form, which this interesting one from Old West Sur-
rey, England, shows, is the "Basket Spit," which enclosed the
meat in an iron network and was placed on the andirons similar
to the long straight spit.
These spits kept polished and bright hung upon the spit racks
above the mantle piece, were part of the fireside furnishing of
well ordered households in Colonial times.
Again, we find a small rod or spit running through a cylin-
drical tin box with one side open to the fire, by this means con-
centrating the heat. The spit of this so-called "Tin Kitchen"
is operated by hand. The juices collected in the bottom of the
pan are used for basting or other cooking purposes, a thought
toward the economics of process.
The meat jack is a contrivance consisting of a heavy spring en-
closed in a metal casing, wound by a key, and which spring op-
erates a series of wheels, turning the suspended roast first one
way and then the other, keeping it constantly in motion. The jack
322 THE ART -OF FRYING AS IN OLDEN TIMES
was either hung to the crane or in an upright tin kitchen with the
opening to the fire.
Thus with glowing coals and some one of these old time uten-
sils the meats and fowls were roasted to a brown perfection that
our later day progress often fails to obtain.
The Art of Frying as in Olden Times.
BY MRS. E. K. PRESTON, SOLEBURY, PA.
(Doylestown INIeeting, During Old Home Week, June 12, 1912.)
"We may live without poetry, music and art ;
We may live without conscience, and live without heart ;
We may live without friends, we may live without books,
But civilized man cannot live without cooks."
The method of cooking by frying was generally adopted in
countries where iron vessels were to be obtained. French or
English frying is boiling in oil or fat. In our country where it
was introduced by the Germans only a little fat was put in the
pan, but the deep fat frying was soon practiced here to a certain
extent.
A short description of the fireplace in which the frying was
done is necessary to understand the using of some of the imple-
ments. The chimneys were built with projecting stone ledges
six or seven feet from the hearth, on which rested a large stick
of wood called a lug pole or back bar. This was made from
green wood and thus charred slowly but surely in the generous
flames of the chimney. Many annoying and some fatal accidents
came from the collapsing of these wooden back bars. The de-
struction of a dinner was sometimes attended with loss of life.
Later the back bars were made from iron. On these bars were
hung iron hooks or chains of various lengths with hooks. Then
the trammel came into use. These were made from iron in two
sections. The top section being flat, about two inches in width
and from one and a half to four feet long, with one end bent in
hooked shape to fit over the back bar, and with holes about half
an inch in diameter, every few inches the whole length of this
section, with bottom end and last hole turned up at an angle.
THE ART OF FRYING AS IN OLDEN TIMES 323
Through this liole. an iron rod passed the length of the flat one
and a Httle less than one-half inch in diameter, with from one
to two inches also turned at an angle. This part was placed in
holes of ui)])er section, and could he moved up and down to any
height desired. The lower end of the rod was turned up in a
flat hook, on which was hung hollers, skillets, bake irons, etc.
Later the crane came into use. This was a bar of iron hinged
at one side of the fireplace and supported from the same side by
an iron arm, the other end of the bar could be swung out from
over the fire, wdien the cooking utensils could easily be removed
from the trammels which were suspended from this crane.
Another appliance for the open fire cooking was the trivet,
which was a movable round frame with three legs. These trivets
w^ere made in different sizes and heights and took the place of
legs under the different vessels. The necessity for stilting up
cooking utensils was a very evident one, as it was necessary to
raise the body of the same above t-he ashes and coals of the open
fireplace. The trivet must of course be set just right, hence the
expression, "right as a trivet." If the burning logs were too deep
for the trivet then the utensil must be hung from the ever ready
trammel.
All the vessels for frying either had very long handles or else
bails for hanging on the trammel. In frying doughnuts a very
long handled iron fork was used to turn and remove them from
the boiler or skillet.
Mrs. Sarah Gross, of Cross Keys, says they did not mind
being over the open fire as they were accustomed to it. They
fried a great deal of mush, potatoes and meats, but did not cook
the variety of food that the modern palate demands. The pans
were kept very bright she said by being scoured every day with
pewter sand.
In May 1912 Mary Preston South, of Trenton, N. J., told me
that in 1832, eighty years ago, she assisted with the frying in
the kitchen of her grandfather, Silas Preston. The house was
situated in Plumstead township near Landisville. She asked us
to imagine a large kitchen with fireplace occupying one entire end.
In building the fire a large log was used for a back log and an
armload of wood placed on the andirons and kept in i)lace by
324 the; art of frying as in olden times
the fore stick. Over this swung a portable crane on which hung
several trammels made of iron and polished to resemble silver.
The fire seldom went out but if it did there were no matches
with which to relight it, but with a piece of punk, a flint and
pocketknife and the help of shavings or tow, her grandfather
made a fire in a few minutes. It was not always necessary to
have a blaze for frying as they burned oak and hickory wood
which yielded plenty of coals and heat. The cooking utensils
were made from iron ; the pots had bails and feet. These were
hung on the trammel and doughnuts and fritters were fried in
deep fat in them.
The frying pan often had feet, had a very long handle and had
to be held free or on its feet over the fire while the frying was in
progress, and we may easily imagine the ease with which the
gymnastic feat of "jumping from the frying pan into the fire" was
accomplished. There was a small vessel with bail and feet called
a skillet which was sometimes used to fry in deep fat or stew over
the coals.
Frying of all kinds was done over the open fire and the grease
used was the best of lard made at home from home-raised pork.
Buckwheat cakes she said were fried on an iron that hung by
a bail on the trammel. This was called the lazy back bake iron,
presumably because, from the viewpoint of our great-grand-
mothers it was only the housekeeper with a lazy back who would
object to standing and holding the iron. In those days lazy and
easy seem to have been synonyms.
Pie Baking.
BY MRS. A. HALLER GROSS, LANGHORNE, PA.
(Doylcstown Meeting, During Old Home Week, June 12, 19 12.)
Pies or people must have changed very much since the time
when pies were baked in the large ovens in the old houses in
Bucks county. What family at the present time would submit
to being supplied with twenty-four pies at a time? Why that
was the number, I cannot imagine, unless it was that the astro-
nomical allegory of the "twenty-four blackbirds baked in a pie,"
which meant the twenty- four hours of the day, entered into the
sub-consciousness of the pie-baker and suggested the number.
I have never heard the number twenty-four without thinking of
pies, and when I learned that that was the usual number made
at a time, it seemed quite natural. There are reasons why these
pies should have been better than those made to-day. When I
asked an eminent citizen of Bucks county, who had told me that
they were very different from the pies we have now, what he
thought made the dift"erence, he replied emphatically that it was
because they were baked by his mother who stayed at home and
attended to that and to every other duty. Probably he meant too
she was not suft'ragetting around the county, but, like another Cor-
nelia, was looking after the young Gracchi and attending strictly
to her domestic duties. I shall not differ from him on this point.
And while I believe with Owen Meredith "that old things
are best" I do not think, quoting from "Gil Bias," that Signor
d'x\sumar was right in the assertion that "In my time the peaches
were very much larger than they are at present ; nature degener-
ates every day." "At that rate," said Don Gonzales, smiling, "the
peaches of Adam's time must have been wonderfully large." But
we should all like much more to believe that Signor d'Asumar
was right if he had made that remark apply to the "Yellow
Peril," the San Jose scale, and could believe that it was not only
getting smaller, but rapidly disappearing. x\nother reason why
these pies were better was because they were not made of the
fine white flour used to-day, but of flour that contained some bran
and that had been ground between stones instead of between the
326 PIE BAKING
iron rollers of to-day, and that had been passed through but one
bolting-cloth. Another difference was the absence of fire while
the pies were being baked. The ovens were large, varying in size
from four to six feet in length and two and a half to four feet in
width with a door at one end. The fire of logs and sticks that
was laid on the floor of the oven was lighted at the end nearest
the door and on top, which is the proper place to light a fire. The
door was opened a little, allowing only enough air to burn the
wood to coals. When this was accomplished, the coals were raked
evenly over the floor of the oven, and the draught in the door was
opened until the coals were a bright red. Then a long poker was
used to spread two inches of the red-hot coals evenly over the
floor of the oven, and the door was closed for forty-five minutes.
Then the coals and ashes were removed and the oven closed for a
few minutes, when it was tested to see if the temperature was
right to begin the baking. This was a most important and deli-
cate point upon which depended the success of the baking. One
way of testing it was to hold the hand in the oven while one
counted twenty rapidly. If the hand was not enough burned to
make it necessary to remove it before reaching twenty, the oven
was just right for the pies. All bakers did not think it necessary
to go through this "ordeal by fire," but it was done by those who
considered it a duty to their families neither to spare themselves
nor to slight any detail. It had taken about two hours from the
laying of the fire to the placing of the pies in the oven. This
time had been used to make the pies, bread and whatever else
was to be baked. The pies were not on tin plates, as at present,
but on the quaint earthenware plates that are now put on walls
or in cabinets by those who are fortunate enough to have any.
A peel was used to place the pies in the oven, the door was
closed, and through a small glass door in the oven-door watch
was kept to see that the crust was not browning too quickly. If
it was, the large door was opened enough to cool the oven. A
friend of mine tells me that in her father's large and hospitable
house in Philadelphia ten loaves of bread, pans of biscuits, rice-
puddings and shells for cranberries, etc., were baked with the
pies, the pies being at the back of the oven where the heat was
greatest. It must have required skill and experience to have the
bread and the oven ready at exactly the same time. I asked her
Fit BAKING 327
how long the twenty-four pics would last. She said, "generally
four or five days, and then the pantry would he replenished with
twenty-four fresh pies." What an incentive to hospitality such a
generous supply must have heen ! The numher of pies eaten in
those days seems out of all proportion, and, I think, proves that
they must have been much better than those we have. I believe
that their superiority was largely due to the Indian-summer at-
mosphere in the ovens. Smell and taste are so similar that the
pics must have absorbed the scent of the burnt wood. 1 louses are
undoubtedly much more comfortable since the introduction of the
kitchen-range and boiler and bath-rooms with hot and cold
water, but cooking has sufifered. No modern range is comparable
to the old fireplace and oven. A very old lady, who was born
over ninety years ago in the house we now own, came to sec it
after an absence of seventy years. I never felt so much ashamed
of myself as I did when she said she wanted to look at the fire-
place and oven once more. Alas ! they were gone. My ignorance
had not recognized their value and protected them from the
changes that were made in remodeling the house. In self-
defense I told her of the bath-rooms and other ini])rovcnients.
She shook her head sadly, saying, "we got on very well without
them." Before she left, we learned that the main object of her
visit was to inquire if there had l)ecn found a brooch which she
had lost on her return home, late one night, from a i)arty at a
neighbor's house seventy years before ! She left her address,
but the brooch has not yet been found, and will, doubtless, re-
main in its hiding-place with probably many an Indian relic, as
we have, after sad experience, learned that the way to make
the farm pay is not to farm it. So, for the present there is no
probability of the plough or the harrow bringing the brooch to
light.
Charles Dudley Warner, in his "Backlog Studies," speaks of
the pie-belt as an imaginary isothermal line by which could be
marked "the region of perpetual pie. In this region pie is to be
found at all hours and seasons, and at every meal." He says, "a
great many people think it savors of a life .abroad to speak with
horror of pie," and adds, "to talk against pie and still eat it is
snobbish, of course; but snobbery, being an aspiring failing, is
sometimes the prophecy of better things." And further he says,
22
328 pie; baking
"the absence of pie would be more noticed than a scarcity of
Bible, even."
As to the dififerent kinds of pies, their toothsomeness and their
flavor, the limitations of time and a due regard for the comfort
of sufi:'ering humanity on this warm June day admonish me to be
brief.
A list of some of the more important pies cannot, probably,
better be given than in the words of an anecdote, doubtless
familiar to you for years, made famous by Chauncey M. Depew,
the point of which hinges on the one made of eggs, sugar and
milk. He is said to have composed it at or near 1890 at the time
when discussion was rife as to whether the Columbia Exposi-
tion should be held in Chicago or New York. It is said that his
object was to show the attitude of New York toward Chicago,
when the latter claimed to be the grander and more important
of the two cities. The scene was the dining-room of a hotel run
at moderate charges on the American plan, if you can conceive
of so idyllic a place. The glib waiter, , replying to the question,
"what have you for dessert?" said, "apple-pie, peach-pie, mince-
pie and custard-pie." The guest said he thought he would take
some apple-pie, some mince-pie and some peach-pie. The waiter
instantly retorted with indignation, "what's the matter with our
custard-pie?" On telling the story to an English peer, the latter,
dull and impervious to a joke, said, "I say, Mr. Depew, I beg
pardon, but what zvas the matter with the custard-pie?" And
later, in Paris an equally brilliant Englishman said to him, "I
say, Depew, would you mind telling me whether there was any-
thing at all the matter with the custard-pie?" Probably it would
have been necessary to trephine the skull of both to cause the
point of the joke to enter their brains. You will remark that the
story, whether owing to the season of the year, or other reason,
has omitted mention of the cherry, the currant, the gooseberry,
the mulberry, the raspberry, the blackberry, the pumpkin, the
mere enumeration of which makes one's mouth water. Chicago
should have had them all, but she won the Exposition and the
imposition without them. She is always lucky, and on June
18, she will have the greatest bear-garden that the world has ever
seen.*
* The day of meeting of the Republican Convention to nominate a President and
Vice-President.
pie; baking 329
It is, doubtless, true that from the earHest recorded civihza-
tion one of woman's appropriate spheres has been the baking of
pies and the making of bread and cakes. You all remember how
when the Israelites complained of their Judges, Joel and Abiah,
the sons of the aged Samuel, and appealed to him to make them
a King to judge them like all the nations, he, with a view to dis-
suade them, and enumerating the ditYerent things a King would
do, said, among others, "And he will take your daughters to be
confectionaries. and to be cooks, and to be bakers." And there
are passages elsewhere in the Bible, in Leviticus, Samuel and
Jeremiah, which show that baking was principally, if not entirely,
the province of women. And, regarding Rome, it is known that
a public baker, as such, was not known for five hundred and eighty
years. And it is interesting to note that Athenaeus, who flour-
ished about A. D. 200, records in his quaint and amusing treatise,
the "Deipnosophists," the fact that Anaxarchus used to make his
baker wear gloves while kneading dough to prevent the moisture
of the hands from coming in contact with it, and to wear a cover
on his mouth to prevent him from breathing on the cakes while
he was kneading them.
Now that I have told you how pies were baked in the good old
days of Bucks county, what shall I say as to whether pies shall
be eaten or not? "A man," says Dr. Johnson, "who has no re-
gard for his stomach, will have no regard for anything else." If
this assertion is true, and I believe it is, the question of appro-
priate food, next to that of the immortality of the soul, is prob-
ably one of the most important considerations that should engage
the attention of mankind. If this great county be not in the
center of the American pie-belt, yet one of the recent interesting
books on the land of "far Cathay" by one of the most traveled of
Bucks countians tells us that at least a portion of it, Doylestown,
is in the longitude of the highest intellectual development. And I
doubt not this assertion. Far be it from me in the presence of tiiis
learned body, so representative of this intellectual develojMnent,
to disparage or detract in any way from the flavor or the whole-
someness of the pies that were the pride of the busy housewife,
and that still form part of the culinary glory of the county. But,
speaking from a personal stand])uint, and admitting that I like
some kinds of pies very much. 1 should say that, as a rule, the
330 PIE BAKING
fewer pies one consumes, the better one's health will be. A
learned physician once told me that "cakes and candy are an
abomination," and I believe they are to most people, injuring their
teeth and their general health more than almost any other article
of food. And I think that pastry in any form, is, as a rule, un-
wholesome. Of humble origin, but like the covering or skin
of the gentle banana, as it lies temptingly on the pavement, sigh-
ing for more worlds to conquer, and which has been aptly
apostrophized in the immortal lines, "I am little, I know, but I
can throw a man that weighs a ton," the pie, harmless and in-
nocent, as outward appearances go, may, in the case of people
with weak powers of digestion, become an engine of menace to
life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness sufficiently strong to
break the constitution and cause one to live on the by-laws ! And
I think that this has been the consensus of opinion among the
most intelligent physicians who are not deluded by the stirring
and highly colored panegyrics of Dickens and many another
writer on the subject of meat and other pies. Therefore it is with
a great deal of surprise that I have read very recently in the New
York Medical Journal of May 25, 1912, an editorial strongly in
favor of pies.
Applebutter Making as Practiced by our Ancestors.
BY MRS. L.-^URA H. STRAWN, QUAKKRTOWN, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, During Old Home Week, June 12, 1512.)
It may be safely said that ap[)lebutter is an American dish,
and speciahzed still more, a Pennsylvania German one. Rarely
do we hear of applebutter being made in the Southern or New
England States, in the early part of the nineteenth century. In
Pennsylvania, however, as the apples turned rosy red in the fall,
the thoughts of farmers turned to applebutter, and in many cases
the making of it was the excuse for a regular frolic, a welcome
change in the monotonous life of the farmer's family.
The preparations for this began the day before, when the cider
was made, cider being, one might say, the all-important part of
applebutter. No cider mills (of the kind we have to-day, scat-
tered throughout the country) existing, many farmers had their
own mills. The apples, good sound ones, were placed in a hopper
and ground by horse-power. Nearby stood a large platform with
grooves running parallel with the four sides, and an outlet to
one of the grooves. The platform was covered with clean rye
straw, laid heads in, butts out, the straw overlapping the edges
for some distance. Now the ground pulp was placed on the straw
and the ends of the straw folded over, then another layer of
straw extending over the same way, and another layer of pulp
until the desired height was reached. This mass was then cov-
ered with wooden planks. Now a heavy beam was made to exert
the beverage by means of a wooden screw, eight feet or so long,
attached to it. and the pressure thus obtained caused the juice of
the apple pulp to filter through the rye straw, and come out com-
paratively clear. Running around the grooves to the outlet the
juice or cider went through a large wooden funnel into barrels
placed beneath.
The first part of the preparation was over; now for the sec-
ond. On the morning of the day appointed for the applebutter
making, the cider was put on to boil in two copper kettles, one
very large, one smaller. The kettles hung side by side, over a
332
APPLEBUTTER MAKING
APPI,EBUTTER STIRRING.
fire built of wood on the ground, suspended by chains attached
to a wooden
framework.
Two barrels of
cider was the
usual quantity
used, and this
was boiled down
to one barrel,
the large kettle
being constantly
r e p 1 e n i shed
from the small-
er one, as the
cider grew
thicker and the
small one in turn from the clear juice in the barrels, until finally
all the cider was contained in the large kettle.
About 6 o'clock in the evening the invited lads and lassies began
to arrive for the frolic which was the third stage of the apple-
butter making. After greetings were exchanged they were con-
ducted by the mistress of the house to the parlor, a sacred room
little used except on state occasions. Here the floor, scrubbed
white as white could be, was laid out in sand, in intricate patterns
of flowers, a lost art nowadays, but one in which the housewives
of those days were experts. After proudly displaying her handi-
work, the house frau threw open another room, where the guests
settled down to business, namely, the paring of the apples which
were to go into the cider. After about seven bucketsful of ap-
ples had been pared, cake and wine were served to the jolly com-
pany. Meantime the apples were put into the cider which was
now hot, over the built-up fire. The sanded flowers on the parlor
floor were then unceremoniously swept together, only enough
sand being left on the floor to render it in proper condition for
dancing, it being customary to sand floors for that purpose then as
we wax them during the present day. Now the fun was at its
height, the couples dancing round the cleared room with light
hearts as well as light feet. The first part of the night the boys
took turns at stirring the contents of the copper kettle outside.
APPLEBUTTEK MAKING 333
This stirring had to be clone constantly to prevent burning. The
stirrer itself was a curious article consisting of an inverted "T"-
shaped paddle in which holes were bored so as to make its prog-
ress easier through the apples and cider. To this inverted "T"-
shaped piece was attached a crank, on the end of which was a
handle, sometimes fifteen feet long. When this handle was
operated it caused the paddle to have a continuous rotary motion.
The length was necessary because of the heat, and spitting and
spluttering of the applebutter as it cooked.
As the night advanced and sentiment grew apace, a boy and
girl would go out together to stir the applebutter and sometimes
these absences were noticeably long. As dawn appeared in the
sky and the sun showed his face, the dark mass in the kettle was
pronounced thoroughly cooked, the fire extinguished and the
weary but happy couples wended their way toward their respec-
tive homes.
N. B. The Historical Society has in its museum an original
cider mill of the kind mentioned here, also copper kettles and
apple stirrers shaped as described above.
Soap Making of Old.
BY MRS. IRVIN M. (ELIZABETH F.) JAMES, DOYEESTOWN, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, During Old Home Week, June 12, 1912.)
Before the age of speed mania, labor and time-saving devices,
the craze for bridge whist and the question of equal suffrage,
women had time to spin, weave, churn, mold candles and make
soap, besides attending to their household duties. Soap-making
in ye olden times was done in the spring, then the housewife
had her hopper moved to a convenient place and after being
thoroughly scrubbed, straw was placed in the bottom, on top of
that, wood ashes (which had been saved from the fires of the
long winter), were packed. The ashes from hickory wood were
supposed to make the best lye probably because it contained a
large percentage of potash. The making of lye was a tedious
occupation as it took about one week adding ashes and water each
day, until the lye began to run, and was of the right strength and
quantity. S. F. Hellyer, of Mechanics \^alley, told me that he
had helped fill the lye tubs many times and to do it correctly the
ashes should be put in a little at a time, then add rain water
which was softer, alternating and continuing until the hopper
was full, stamping it down each day until it was the shape of a
dish. The first lye drawn off was the stronger, and was used
to make the soft soap; the weaker solution was kept for the hard
soap.
Mrs. Isaac Stover, of New Britain, said that the lye was the
right strength when it would bear an egg. Mrs. Rachel Meredith,
also of New Britain, gave me some of the information which I
have used, as to the preparation of lye making.
While the lye was being made all the drippings of fat and ham
skins which had been saved for a year were boiled and rendered
and ready for the soap-making. The quantity of fat used was
regulated by the strength of the lye. Salt added made the soap
hard. Lime also was used. After boiling the rendered fat and
the lye together and stirring thoroughly until the mixture was of
the consistency of honey, it was poured into a tub and when
SOAP MAKING OF OLD 335
sufficiently hard, cut in cakes, put on boards and placed in the
attic to dry. Carbonate of potash in former times used to be
made exclusively from wood ashes and even now the industry
survives in countries where wood is used as a general fuel.
The following are a few recipes which are at least 75 years
old and were received from Miss Sophie Stover, of New Britain.
Mrs. Katie Frantz, an old nurse of that locality used this recipe
for hard soap: Take 8 pounds of soda-ash, 5 pounds lime, and 3
buckets of soft water, put all together and boil until dissolved,
then pour into a tub and add a tinful of water to make settle.
To 22 pounds of fat add one bucket of lye, and one pint salt.
Mrs. Isaiah James, of New Britain, gives this recipe for hard
soap: Take 10 pounds of clear fat, 2 pounds of caustic soda, lo
cents worth of borax, 5 cents worth rosin, (I do not imagine at
the present high cost of living that those amounts would have
been sufficient), half pint of salt, two buckets of soft water and
boil two hours. In some of the old recipes lye was spelled ley,
which I thought was misspelled until I found the word spelled
that way, under the head of potash in the Encyclopedia Britan-
nica.
The earliest record of soap dates back to the old testament, in
Jeremiah 2 : 22 ; also Malachi 3 : 2, and was spelled sope.
Soap was known as a medicinal and cleansing quality to Pliny,
who was born i^i^ A. D. He speaks of two kinds, soft and hard
soap as used by the Germans and introduced to the Romans by
them. The old time industry seems to be reviving, as I know
three ladies in Doylestown (and all play bridge) who make their
own soap, but the present day making of soap is much easier as
lye can be bought ready for use with the full directions on the
can. This sample of soap which I have here is my own produc-
tion made from Babbits lye.
Historic Associations of the Upper Neshaminy Valley.
BY WARREN S. ELY, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(St. James' Lutheran Church, Chalfont Meeting, October 22, 1912.)
The time and place of our meeting to-day have special his-
toric interest to us as Bucks countians.
October 22, 1734, is the recorded date of the birth of Daniel
Boone on the records of Gwynedd Monthly Meeting of Friends,
to which his parents. Squire and Sarah (Morgan) Boone, be-
longed. However, by the change of the calendar in 1752 the
natal day of the Kentucky pioneer under our present calendar
falls upon November i. The association of this date with the
place of our meeting to-day, comes from the fact that it was at
one time believed by Bucks county historians and stated in some
biographies of Daniel Boone, that he was born in Bucks county.*
This error had its origin partly in the similiarity of the names
of Berks and Bucks, but principally in the fact that Squire Boone
and his wife lived for several years in the valley of the Upper
Neshaminy within one mile of this place, and that two or three
of their elder children were born there.
A full account of the location of the family here and their
removal in 1730 to Oley, Berks county, will be given later in
this paper.
The place of our meeting is of special historic interest for
several reasons.
It is a well-known fact that the Upper Neshaminy valley was
a favorite resort of the Indians before and long after the settle-
ment of the white man in the surrounding parts of Bucks and
Philadelphia counties, and long after the enforced removal of
the Lenni Lenape or Delaware Indians to regions farther north
and west, this section was frequently visited by delegations of
the tribe who deviated from direct routes on their way to a con-
ference with the Proprietors at Philadelphia to visit the banks
of their beloved Neshaminah. On one of these trips over a cen-
* We are indeed glad that Mr. Ely has taken the pains to correct the error in
regard to the birthplace of Daniel Boone. Rev. Turner supposed it to have been in
Bucks county, when he read his paper published in Vol i, page 329. — Editor.
ASSOCIATIONS Ol' THE UPPER NESHAMIXY VALLEY 337
tury and a half -Ago, a little party of leading men of the tribe, then
located about Wyoming, halted over night on the slope of Pros-
pect Hill near where it rises abruptly from the Neshaminy about
one mile south of here. In the morning an aged chief was too
feeble to accompany the party any farther and was left by the
spring in a rude shelter. Deserted by his fellows, he either ac-
cidentally or purposely fell into the fire kindled for his comfort
and was so badly burned that he died. Found later by white men,
he was buried near the head of the spring and a rude stone placed
to mark his grave. Tradition pretty clearly establishes the fact
that the ancient chieftain was Tamenend, the saintly friend of the
white man. But this is an old story and has been well told by our
worthy president, whose account of the occurrence supported
by testimony of aged persons, appears among our archives-
Through the liberality of Mr. Mercer our society has recently
acquired title to one acre of ground covering the site of the
grave, and it is to be hoped that the historic spot will soon be
suitably marked to tell the story of Saint Tammany to future
generations.
Few of our generation realize the important bearing the first
settlers in the valley of the Upper Neshaminy and its tributaries
during the first three decades of the eighteenth century, had upon
the future history of our county and even on that of the state
at large.
The first settlement of the Province of Pennsylvania in pur-
suance of Penn's Holy Experiment, was largely by people of his
own peculiar faith, the Quakers, who like him sought in the
wilderness an asylum from religious persecution, and believed
that unhampered by the traditional bonds of caste and aristocracy,
and diverse views, they could find a new Utopia where wars and
rumors of wars should be unknown.
With Penn's diplomatic and peaceful dealings with the Indians,
the beneficent and wise laws which he laid down for the gov-
ernment of his province, and the high order of intelligence, and
zeal of these early Quaker settlers, who for three-quarters of a
century dominated the government, the colony prospered far be-
yond that of any other European colony in America in the same
period.
Penn had, however, advanced views in reference to popular
338 ASSOCIATIONS OF THE) UPPER NESHAMINY VAI^LEY
government and believed that people of all faiths and creeds
could live together happily under his government. In pursuance
of this faith he invited the oppressed of all Europe to seek homes
in the province, and guaranteed them full tolerance in religious
faith and a voice in the government. Under these conditions
there flocked to our shores during the period before referred to,
thousands of Protestants not of the Society of Friends : Welsh
Baptists, Scotch Presbyterians and German Lutherans and Cal-
vinists and Dutch Reformists. Upon these later arrivals largely
devolved the defence of our frontiers and legislation, to carry it
into effect when the Indians, enraged by the unfair treatment
they received from the younger Proprietaries, and the unfriendly
element that encroached upon their hunting-ground, swept down
upon the frontier settlements with tomahawk and scalping-knife.
Between the years 17 10 and 1730 the hardy Scotch-Irish and
Welsh pioneer settlers filled up the hitherto unsettled Neshaminy
Valley from Northampton northward to Hilltown, and in the
succeeding decade spread northward to Rockhill and eastward to
the Delaware and up the river to the Lehigh.
The section comprising the Neshaminy valley from the upper
line of Northampton and the lower half of Warminster, on the
west, and the upper line of Buckingham on the east,. though sur-
veyed and laid out to purchasers, was not occupied by actual set-
tlers prior to 1 7 10. It was laid out in large tracts from 1,000 to
5,000 acres each, to land speculators and large purchasers of Penn
who never came to this country. The Neshaminy valley up to the
southern line of this town was settled principally by the Scotch-
Irish, and an account of that settlement was the subject of a
sketch read before this society several years ago.
The section lying between the tract laid out to the Free Society
of Traders, (extending from the eastern limits of Chalfont bor-
ough eastward to the Buckingham line beyond Doylestown), and
the county line, was settled by Welsh Baptists, who from 17 10
to 1730 purchased the large tracts laid out to Andrew Hamilton,
James Steel, Thomas Shute, Thomas Hudson, Thomas Stevenson
and George Fitzwater, and in the latter part of this period they
also settled the greater part of the society tract, which was
thrown on the market in 1724.
The whole of the territory included in Chalfont borough and
ASSOCIATION OF THE; UPPRR NESHAMINY VALLKY 339
extending a mile to the westward was comprised in the tracts
patented to the first three above mentioned, Hamilton, Steel and
Shute, about 171 8.
The founders of the town and the owners of all the land within
the limits of the borough were two Welshmen, Simon Butler and
Simon Mathew, who came from South Wales, to the Welsh tract
in Christiana Hundred, New Castle county, now Delaware, in
1710, and became members of the Welsh Tract Baptist Church.
This church was originally organized by sixteen Welsh Bap-
tists from Pembrokeshire and Caermarthenshire, Wales, who, in
June, 1 70 1, sailed from Milford-haven in the ship "James and
Mary," and landed at Philadelphia, September 8, 1701. While at
Milford-haven they organized themselves into a church and
chose Thomas Griffith, one of their number, as minister. Ar-
riving in Pennsylvania, they settled temporarily near their Welsh
brethren at Pennypack, and remained there about a year and a
half, in the meantime adding twenty converts to their church.
In 1703 they secured a large tract of land in Christiana Hundred,
New Castle county, thereafter called the Welsh Tract, to which
they removed and erected a church to this day known as the
Welsh Tract Baptist Church. Sixty members were added to the
church prior to 171 1, with one exception emigrants newly arrived
from South Wales between the years 1703 and 171 1. Among
those who joined them in 17 10 were Anthony and Simon Mathew
and Simon Butler, who came with five others from Llangemyeh.
South Wales, including Morgan Jones and Hugh Davids, the
former later pastor at the Welsh tract and the latter long minister
of the Great Valley Baptist Church near Valley Forge, in Tred-
yffrin township, Chester county. Abel Morgan, later pastor of
Pennypack and the first minister to the Welsh Baptists in the
Neshaminy Valley, came in 171 1.
The two Mathews, supposed to be brothers, and Simon Butler,
were active in the atYairs of the Welsh tract until 1721, when both
Simon Mathews and Simon Butler purchased farms on the Nesh-
aminy at Chalfont and ini72i were granted letters of dismissal
to Montgomery Baptist church, July 2, 1721, Simon Butler and
Simon Mathew are supposed to have been brothers-in-law. They
were at least closely related, and were during life closely as-
sociated in business, social, religious and political matters.
340 ASSOCIATIONS OF THE; UPPER NESHAMINY VALI.EY
Montgomery Baptist church, at the present village of Mont-
gomeryville just over our borders on the old Provincial road
from Wells Ferry, now New Hope, through Doylestown and
Chalfont to Swede's Ford, was founded by the first Welsh set-
tlers in the Neshaminy Valley in 17 19. The founders were John
Evans and Sarah his wife, John James, the ancestor of the now
numerous family of the name in our section, his wife Elizabeth
and sons William, Thomas and Josiah ; James Davids, James
Lewis and David Williams, all of whom had come from Pem-
broke and Caermarthenshires, Wales, in 1710 and 171 1, and
settled on the borders of Bucks county, in the Upper Neshaminy
valley. Until 1731 services were held in the house of John
Evans. In that year a church was erected on the land donated by
him. They were ministered to until 1725, principally by Rev.
Abel Morgan, of Pennypack. Rev. Benjamin Griffith began to
preach for them in 1722 and was ordained in 1725. Rev. Wil-
liam Thomas, the founder of the Baptist church of Hilltown,
was received as a member September 20, 1724, and probably
ministered to them as an assistant.
A detailed history of this church and its offspring, the New
Britain Baptist Church founded in 1742, would be a valuable ad-
dition to our archives, since far the greater part of its member-
ship were early settlers and residents in Bucks county. The
Doyles, Shewells, Riales and others who settled about Doyles-
town, became members prior to the division in 1742, and the
James, Mathews, Rees, Davis, Thomas, Meredith, Owen, Aaron
and other families prominent in the early history of the county
were active and prominent members of both churches.
Simon Butler and Simon Mathew had, however, removed to
New Britain prior to the date of their letter of dismissal from
Welsh Tract Baptist Church. By deeds of lease and release dated
November 18 and 19, 1720, respectively, they had each purchased
of James Steel a tract of 167 acres, the two tracts of equal size
comprising one tract lying on the southeast side of the old
Provincial road as later laid out. On the easternmost tract,
conveyed to Simon Mathew, they proceeded to erect "in equal
partnership, at equal labor and charges" a water grist mill, with
bolting mills, etc., and Simon Mathew obliged himself in the sum
of 500 pounds to convey to Simon Butler or his heirs, the one
ASSOCIATIONS OF THE UPPER NESHAMINY VALLEY 34I
undivided one-half interest in the lot upon whieh said mill was
erected, containing 4 acres and 104 perches.
Though this title was not transferred until after the death of
Simon Mathew, who in his will proved in 1755 devised his in-
terest to his son Edward, who in 1760 conveyed the one-half
interest to Simon Butler, Esq., the mill from the first was known
as Simon Butler's mill, and was an important point in the laying
out of roads, etc. This was doubtless due to the fact that Simon
Butler was much more prominent in public alTairs than his rela-
tion and partner, Simon Mathew.
Simon Butler was one of the board of county Commissioners
of Bucks county 1735-7, was commissioned as a Justice of the
Peace November 22. 1738, and regularly re-commissioned until
his death in 1764; being then succeeded by Benjamin Mathews, a
grandson of his quondam partner Simon Mathew. When the
frontiers of Pennsylvania were tiireatened with invasion by hos-
tile Indians in 1747, and the assembly dominated by the non-com-
batant Quakers declined to make any adequate provision for their
defence, through the suggestion of Benjamin Franklin, the peo-
ple of the several counties formed associated companies, chose
ofticers, who were commissioned by the council, and entered into
the provincial service. Under this arrangement two companies
were raised in this section, one in llilltown, with Griffith Owen
as captain, Thomas Kelly as lieutenant, and William Williams as
ensign ; and the other in New Britain, with Simon Butler as
captain, his son Benjamin as ensign, and James Meredith as
lieutenant, both comjxmies being made up of the Welsh settlers
in the Upper Neshaminy valley, and included in the Associated
Regiment of Bucks county under Col. Alexander Graydon.
Simon Butler was also elected and commissioned coroner of
Bucks county in 1755. In addition to these public positions, he
was frequently called into service in laying out of roads, settle-
ment of estates and transferring real estate, as well as in town-
ship affairs. In fact, with Griffith Owen before mentioned, a
representative in the assembly in the fifties, he was the principal
representative of the Welsh element in the public affairs of the
county for nearly half a century.
In 1745 Simon Butler purchased of James Hamilton, later
Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania, a tract of 490 acres, ex-
342 ASSOCIATIONS OF THE UPPER NESHAMINY VALLEY
tending from the eastern boundary of the present borough of
Chalfont i^ miles southwesterly and lying along the northwest
end of the two tracts purchased by Simon Mathew and Simon
Butler a quarter century earlier. It is upon this tract almost
wholly that the present town is built. The present Hartzell mill
near the northeast corner of the tract, is the successor of a saw-
mill owned and operated by Benjamin Butler on a tract conveyed
to him by his father immediately succeeding his purchase of the
whole tract. The original Butler mill, long since burned down
and obliterated, stood near the bridge over North Branch on the
Doylestown road and below that road.
After selling off portions at the west end of his large tract to
Joseph Thomas and David Williams, a small tract to Griffith
Owen, and another to William James, Simon Butler conveyed
the remainder of his upper tract to his son Simon Butler, Jr.
By purchase from William James and Abiah Butler, son of
Simon, Jr., Henry Lewis, of Hilltown, became the owner of the
greater part of the present town, and in 1779 purchased of Ben-
jamin Butler, son of Simon, Jr., the lower Butler tract covering
the junction of the North Branch with the West Branch of the
Neshaminy, on both sides of the Butler road, now known as the
Limekiln turnpike.
Simon Butler died in August, 1764. His will devised the tract
bought of James Steel, to his grandsons, Benjamin and Abiah ;
the mill property to his surviving son. Simon Junior, with legacies
to his granddaughters, Ann, daughter of his deceased son Ben-
jamin, and Margaret, daughter of Simon, and making liberal
provision for his wife Ann. Benjamin Butler, the eldest son, had
died in 1750, leaving a wife Elizabeth, who was a daughter of
Thomas James, and an only daughter Ann, who married Thomas
Morris. The widow married Moses Aaron and was the mother
of Rev. Samuel Aaron, the well-known educator and divine.
Simon Butler, junior, married Rebecca, daughter of William
James, and died in 1770, leaving two sons, Abiah and Benjamin,
before referred to, and a daughter Margaret, who married
Nathan Mathew, grandson of Simon, and removed with him to
Virginia. The widow Rebecca married second, George Smith,
who died in 1803, leaving the bulk of his estate to his wife's rela-
tives. Simon Butler, Jr., had sold the mill property and 36 acres
ASSOCIATIONS OF THE UPPER NESHAMINY VALLEY 343
to two brothers by the name of Reiff. Abiah Butler married
EHzabeth Thomas, but died witliout issue. His widow married
Morris Alorris. ^
The opening of the Ferry road from Point Pleasant to Butler's
mill, where it intersected the Swede's Ford road, toward Phila-
delphia, made Chalfont an important point, being the intersec-
tion of tw^o important thoroughfares; and the natural result was
that it became the site of an early colonial inn.
This inn was located at the intersection of the Swede's Ford
and Butler roads, the present site of the tavern kept by Harry
\V. Kelly. Probably for the reason that the innkeepers were for
nearly if not quite half a century lessees and not owners of the
inn, the town did not, as in many cases, take its name from the
first inn. The earliest landlord at the cross roads inn of whom
we have any record, was Benjamin Bevan, who was succeeded
in 1751 by Arthur Thomas; he in 1761 by William Williams; he
in 1763 by Archibald Finley ; he in 1767 by John Thompson; he
in 1769 by George Congle, who kept the tavern during the Revo-
lution. After that date it had a number of lessees down to the
death of Henry Lewis, the owner of the fee, in 1792; when it
was kept by Jacob Fries, who was succeeded in 1793 by Charles
Stewart, who for some years had kept the Doyle Inn, now the
Fountain House at Doylestown. The ownership passed to James
Thomas in 1798, at his death in 181 1 to his son Lewis, who in
1812 conveyed it to Abner Morris, the first owner to hold the
license. Morris transferred the title to John Barndt April ist,
181 5, who leased the inn for two years and became its proprietor
in 1818. From him the town became known as Barndtsville. by
which name it was known for about a quarter of a century, when
it became known as Wliitehallville. In the sixties the selection of
a name common to both railroad station and post office, led to
the selection of the name Chalfont, after Chalfont St. Giles, the
burial place of William Penn, in England.
The site of the inn and all the land lying between the Ne-
shaminy and the Hilltown road, now the main street of the bor-
ough, from the Swede's Ford road northward to the upper limits
of the town, was sold by Simon Butler, Sr., out of his purchase
of 1745 to William James, May 8. 1749, containing 47 acres, 15
perches. William James conveyed it to his son-in-law, Henry
23
344 ASSOCIATIONS OF THE UPPER NESHAMINY VALLEY
Lewis, of Hilltown, who owned it until his death in 1797. Henry
Lewis also acquired by purchase from Abiah Butler the later
Barndt farm, extending down the Butler road and the Neshaminy
creek, adjoining the above tract across the Norristown road.
•George Congle, the innkeeper of the Revolution was his son-in-
law, as was James Thomas, who purchased both tracts in 1804,
and kept the tavern from 1798 until his death in 1812. He prob-
ably was the real owner from the date of the death of his father-
in-law, Henry Lewis, though the property was not conveyed to
him until 1804.
As evidence that the inn was licensed prior to the conveyance
in 1761, the petition of Archibald Finley, in June, 1763, sets forth
that he "hath bought the lease of William Williams for that
Tavern commonly called William James' Tavern for a term of
years and desires a license, etc.
The draft showing the location of that part of the old Pro-
vincial road of 1730, from the mill at the crossing of North
Branch to the new bridge over the Neshaminy, and the relaying in
1792 of the present road between the two bridges, shows the
location of the mill and mill house on the southeast side of the
old road, which ran along the lower side of the North Branch
half the distance to the tavern, then turned at right angles north-
westerly and, crossing the North Branch, extended almost to the
present line of the road, which it crossed diagonally, reaching the
ford over the Neshaminy a short distance above the present
bridge. Thomas Mathew's house is also shown on the opposite
side of both the old and new road near the line of the present
railroad. Fries' tavern is shown at the intersection of the Hill-
town road, and near the bank of the Neshaminy, west of the
tavern, is marked "H. Lewis' House," Below the road, near
where the old road intersects it, is marked another house, "Philip
Miller or Esq. Davis.'
George Congle, the innkeeper at the tavern belonging to his
father-in-law, Henry Lewis, purchased in 1779, of Abiah Butler,
a tract of twenty-one-and-a-half acres on the southwest side of
the Neshaminy opposite the town, including a narrow strip down
the east bank of the creek, the courses of the line conforming
to those of the Neshaminy. On this tract he erected a messuage
prior to his sale of the tract to Eleanor Hockley in 1782, which
ASSOCIATIONS OF THE UPPER NESHAMIXY VALLEY 345
was probably a log house, the ruins of which can still be seen by
the roadside. On this tract was also located one of the early
stores of the town.
THE BOONES IN BUCKS COUNTY.
Much has been written in reference to the place and date of
birth of the great Kentucky pioneer, Daniel Boone. In what
are considered reliable books of record both are frequently in-
correctly stated. As to the date, there should never have been
any dispute, as it is legibly recorded upon the records of Oley
Monthly Meeting of Friends, in Berks county, as occurring on
Eighth-month 22, 1734. Nevertheless both local and national
historians have given the date as February 11, 1735.
How this error could have occurred it is impossible to deter-
mine. If the date had been given as August 22, 1734, we could
easily account for it from the fact that many historians fail to
take into consideration the change in the calendar in 1752, prior
to which date the year began with the 21st day of March; Alarch
and not January being the First-month, and therefore October,
the month of the birth of the great pioneer, was, at its name im-
plies, the Eighth-month.
As to the place of birth, there is much more reason for dis-
pute, both on account of the similarity of the names of the
counties of Berks and Bucks, and from the fact that the records
clearly show that Squire Boone, the father of the intrepid fron-
tiersman, was for some years a resident of both counties. A care-
ful examination of the records, however, clearly discloses the
fact that Berks, and not Bucks county, is entitled to the honor
of being the birthplace of Colonel Boone. This fact the Anti-
quary set forth up an article published in the Bucks County
Republican a few years ago.
George Boone, the grandfather of Daniel, was born in East
Devonshire, England, in 1662, and emigrated to this country in
1717 with his wife, Mary, and several minor children. At least
one of his sons, George Boone, Jr., had preceded him, arriving
here in 171 3, and first locating near Abington, now in Mont-
gomery county. The family seem to have been Friends prior
to their emigration, George Boone, Jr., producing a certificate
from Bradnich Meeting in Devonshire. He was for several
346 ASSOCIATIONS OF THE UPPER NESHAMINY VALLEY
years clerk of Abington Monthly Meeting of Friends, but on the
arrival of his father, removed with the rest of the family to the
present limits of Berks county. On the records of Gwynedd
Monthly Meeting, then the nearest monthly meeting to the lo-
cality where the Boones settled, under date of Tenth-month 31st,
1 77 1, appears the following: "George Boone, Sr., produced a
certificate of his good life and conversation, from the monthly
meeting at Callumpton, in Great Britain, which was read and re-
ceived." This certificate doubtless included his wife and minor
children as no other certificate appears of record, though the
names of his eight children later appear of record on the minutes
of Oley later Exeter, Monthly Meeting.
Callumpton is a parish town in East Devonshire on the River
Culm, a tributary of the Exe, about fifteen miles north of Exe-
ter, while Bradnich is on the same . stream a few miles
further south. The Boones settled in Oley township, Berks
county, where tracts of four hundred acres each were sur-
veyed to George Boone, Sr., and George Boone, Jr., respectively,
in the year 1718. George Boone, Sr., died in Oley, February 2,
1740, aged 78 years, and his wife, Mary, died at about the same
time, aged ']2 years ; both are buried in Oley Friends' burying
ground. Squire Boone, son of George and Mary, was married
at Gwynedd Meeting House Seventh-month 23d, 1720, to Sarah,
daughter of Edward Morgan. Where Squire Boone resided from
this date until 1728, is altogether problematical, as he does not
seem to have acquired title to any real estate until the latter date.
On December 3, 1728, Thomas Shute and wife, of Philadel-
phia, and Heronimus Haas, of Perkiomen, convey to Squire
Boone, of New Britain township, Bucks county, weaver, 147
acres of land in New Britain, described as follows : Beginning at
a corner of land reputed Abel Morgan's, thence extending north-
east 128 perches; southeast by Philip Sitsler, 184 perches, south-
west by Andrew Hamilton's land, 128 perches, northwest by said
Abel Morgan's land, 184 perches to place of beginning. This
deed is recorded at Doylestown in Deed Book No. 23, page 175.
It recites the fact that Thomas Shute had sold but failed to con-
vey said tract to Heronimus Haas, and that Haas had sold the
same to Squire Boone and therefore, joined in the conveyance.
The tract is located about three-fourths of a mile west of the
ASSOCIATIONS OF THE UPPER NESHAMINY VALLEY 347
present village of Chalfont, and is intersected by the Xeshaminy
creek and the Doylestown branch of the North Penn Railroad.
It is altogether probable that Squire Boone resided on this tract
for some years prior to the date of the conveyance. The fact
that Haas' residence is given as Perkiomen shows that he at
least was not residing on the farm at the time.
On March 6, 1730, Squire Boone and Sarah, his wife, conveyed
this tract to Edward Milnor. This is without doubt approxi-
mately the date of the removal of Squire Boone from Bucks
county to Oley township, Berks county, where he had obtained
a grant of 250 acres of land, which was surveyed to him in
December. 1730. Here he resided until May ist, 1750, when
in company with a number of other families from that neighbor-
hood, he began his journey southward, a journey which ter-
minated on the banks of the Yadkin in North Carolina, from
which point his illustrious son started to explore the wilderness
of Kentucky less than two decades later.
On the records of Oley "Monthly Meeting appears the birth
record of nine children of Squire and Sarah Boone, as follows :
Sarah, born 4 mo. 7th 1724; Israel, born 3 mo. 9th, 1726; Sam-
uel, born 3 mo. 20th, 1728; Jonathan, born 10 mo. 6th, 1730;
Elizabeth, born 12 mo. 5th, 1732; Daniel, born 8 mo. 22d, 1734;
Mary, born 9 mo. 3d, 1736; George, born 11 mo. 2d, 1738, and
Edward, born 9 mo. 9th, 1740.
The three eldest of these children probably first saw the light
of day within the limits of Bucks county, but the records of
Berks county give ample evidence that Squire Boone was a resi-
dent of that county prior to the birth of his illustrious son,
Daniel, October 22. 1734.
The record of the survey of land to him in 1730, as found in
the Pennsylvania Archives and in the recital of title in deeds by
which he conveyed the Berks county land before going south,
would seem to be sufficient to fix the date of his removal when
we find that it coincides with the date of the conveyance of his
Bucks county lands. Squire Boone was a prominent man in the
community after his settlement at Oley, and is mentioned in the
archives in relation to the affairs of the Land Office.
The colonial neighbors of Squire Boone in New Britain in
1730, were Daniel Davis and David Williams on the southwest,
348
ASSOCIATIONS OF THE UPPER NESHAMINY VALLEY
both of whom had purchased of Rev. Abel Morgan in 1720 and
1722 respectively; Benjamin Griffith and Methuselah Evans on
the northwest, Thomas Davids on the east, and Simon Butler on
the south. All of these were Welsh emigrants and members of
the Baptist Church at Montgomery. Sarah Morgan, the wife of
Squire Boone, was of Welsh extraction, and her father, Edward
Morgan, was doubtless a connection of Rev. Abel Morgan, who
was pastor of Penny pack Baptist Church for many years, though
the former was a Friend and a member of Gwynedd Monthly
Meeting. Edward Morgan is said to be the ancestor of General
Daniel Morgan, who was a native of Bucks county, and the great
Kentucky pioneer probably owes his given name to a brother of
his mother, named Daniel Morgan.
It is hardly probable that any of the present buildings on the
New Britain farm, were standing in 1730, but the present site
was probably that of the house of Squire Boone. They are nice-
ly located on rising ground overlooking the valley of the Upper
Neshaminy, and present the appearance of great age. The old
road from Butler's Mill (Chalfont), to the Bethlehem Road at
Line Lexington, crosses the north corner of the farm from east
to west near the present buildings. Another public road inter-
secting the one above mentioned at the buildings, extends south-
easterly through the center of the farm to the old road originally
known as the "Road from Butler's Mill to North Wales."
BIRTH PLACK OF DANIEL BOONE, OCTOBER 22, 1733.
Exeter tpwnship (erected out of Oley township 1741), Berks county, Pa. (From
photograph copyrighted by H. Winslow Fegley, Reading, Pa., and
printed with his permission.)
Quaker Poets Among- Solebury Friends.
BY MRS. HAMPTON W. RICE, SOLEBURY, PA.
(St. James' Lutheran Church, Chalfont Meeting, October 22, 1912.)
This paper was prepared and read before the Solebury Young
Friends Association, which is a rehgious organization, and the
quotations which I have selected are with a few changes the
same as contained in that paper.
My first oiTering is a hymn, one of the many written by Eliza-
beth Lloyd, a minister in our society, and a member of Bucking-
ham Monthly Meeting of Friends. Its title is based on Micah,
Chapter VI, verse 8: "What doth the Lord require of thee, but
to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy
God." The air is "Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah."
SPREADING THE KINGDOM.
"Help us, O Thoii gracious Father,
Fill our lives with love and light ;
Teach us, as with joy we serve Thee,
How to make the dark spots bright,
Giving gladness, sharing blessings,
Striving bravely for the right.
O refresh us at Thy fountain.
As each morning dawns anew,
Lead us in the paths of justice,
Keep us ever kind and true,
As we humbly walk beside Thee,
Learning how and what to do.
Seeking ever in Thy temple
For the things of highest worth,
Working for and with our fellows,
In our souls may thoughts have birth,
That will help us in the spreading
Of Thy kingdom o'er the earth."
Among the membership of our Solebury society, the first per-
sons writing poetry of whom I have knowledge are Cyrus Live-
zey, late of Lumberville, and his brother Allen, late of Yardley.
Sons of Robert and Sarah Paxson Livezey, late of Solebury
township, brothers of my husband's mother; both were born
350 QUAKER POETS AMONG SOLEBURY FRIENDS
early in the nineteenth century and died almost at its close. The
following is one of several poems written by Cyrus, in remem-
brance of his father :
"The golden bowl is broken at the fountain's crystal shrine,
Altho' we feel the loss is great, why murmur or repine?
For all who knew his record, knew his reverence for truth.
To the latest days of manhood, from the earliest days of youth.
Did any ever know him to cast the weak aside,
Or exult o'er honest poverty, with cruelty or pride?
His daily practice all admired, his patience had no end.
An enemy he never knew that was not made his friend.
May our father's bright example be remembered by us all.
And from his cherished principles, ne'er let us swerve or fall."
His brother Allen was a much more prolific writer and from
his pen I quote from "The Sad Effects of Strong Drink" :
"The day is dark and I am sad
With troubles enough to drive me mad.
I'm much oppressed, my spirit's dumb ;
The cause of all is damning rum.
Why is it then allowed to-day
Throughout the world? I can not say.
When health it ruins, bloats the face,
To many homes it brings disgrace."
James Quinby, late of Carversville, brother of my father's
mother, was a fluent writer of prose and verse, dealing generally
with local occurrences in humorous manner. Having no copy,
I can make no quotation, nor can I reproduce any by his daughter
Mary Q. Winder, who made verse occasionally.
Mrs. Kinney, daughter of the late Edward Magill, formerly of
Solebury, prominent in the annals of Swarthmore, has published
a volume of verse, called "Leafing Willows," under the noui de
plume Oakes Burleigh.
For her father's second marriage she wrote a poem, one verse
of which is :
"For love, in age or youth, is but a gleaming
From that great light which lives in God alone ;
'Tis a reflected spirit radiance streaming
From out another heart into our own."
Newlin Williams, deceased, son of John S. Williams, is the
author of a booklet entitled, "Lyre and Lily." The first poem,
"Quaker Ladies." I quote the first poein in full as follows :
QUAKER POETS AMONG SOLEBURY FRIENDS 35 1
QUAKER LADIES.
"The meadows seem a firmament,
As though the heavens kind had lent
The stars to 'wait the night with me;
Each saffron eye looks up intent,
And those four rays of welkin hue
Are sky, each star caught coming through.
Robbed by each culprit innocent,
To deck the lowland galaxy.
And at its dusk-time backward way,
Restore it to the arch of blue."
And another entitled "Pines" :
"Dark pine harps of the wind-swept mead.
Myriad-stringed, ye change the merry breeze.
The chill east storm, the tempest wild,
All, all to minor threnodies."
*Frederick L. Paxson, son of Dr. Joseph and Ada Fell Paxson,
late of Buckingham, and grandson of Howard and Mary Small
Paxson, was elected class-day poet of 1898 class at the University
of Pennsylvania. I quote this class-day poem in full :
"A grand inheritance our fathers sent
Their sons, to fit them, sturdy, able, true;
To teach them right, and give it them to do;
To make them worthy of the labor spent.
To them, the generations all have lent
The best of all they did, and thought, and knew;
God give us strength to carry out our task,
To do it better than our fathers ask."
Seth T. Walton, of Willow Grove, has written many poems,
grave, gay and humorous. (3ne in tribute to Lucretia Mott. reads
in part :
"On the scroll of long enduring fame
Is traced in lovely characters her name —
Philanthropist, sage, minister, friend ;
She wrought with nobleness of deed
A worthy work, and of her like there's need
To take the task to which she gave her heed,
With soul serene, that knew no bounds of creed ;
And though departed from life's busy ways,
Her works live on to gently hymn her praise."
*.\utlior of "The Independence of the South American Republics, a study in Recogni-
tion and Foreign Policy" (1903) and other historical works of considerable merit.
352 QUAKER POETS AMONG SOLEBURY FRIENDS
Another, "The Afterglow," expresses afterthoughts of the Cen-
tennial celebration of the erection of Solebury Friends meeting-
house, which was held Tenth month, 1906. He says :
"The gray old house 'mid scenes of Autumn splendor,
Awaited all on her Centennial day,
Who came thereto, with homage warm and tender,
Their loyal liege to pay.
How sweet she seemed, in her drab garb and sober,
O'erlooking hill and vale and wood and stream,
While softly shone the bright tints of October,
About her like a dream.
And still erect and crowned with all her beauty
She charms the traveler as he passes by,
And welcomes all, who led by truth and duty.
Unto her arms draw nigh."
Ely J. Smith, of Doylestown, son of Annie M. E. and the late
Frederick L. Smith, strikes, perhaps, the highest note of beauty
among his many productions, in the poem in which he refers to
the friends of long ago entitled :
CENTENNIAL ODE.
"Each winding road recalls their steadfast feet,
Each fertile field attests their toiling plow.
Each lowly hearthstone saw love's courage meet
The troubling A-ears with calm untroubled brow ;
Each task well done, they sought no fickle praise.
Ephemeral bubble from the lips of Fame ;
Good done in secret, sickness made to cease.
Clean, wholesome living through their temperate days,
They guarded as a trust the sacred flame.
Their lives were order, as their rule was peace.
And here in this dim, raftered house of prayer,
W^here the bee drones against the sunny pane,
And scent of old time flowers lies on the air,
And each worn bench recalls the past again,
Now throng the shadowy figures through the gloom,
In shimmering gray, with gentle footfall go
To take familiar station in the room ;
The sweet-voiced speakers in accustomed place.
The quiet forms expectant ranged below,
The Light's great peace upon each fervent face."
Another of his poems is entitled :
QUAKER rOETS AMOXG SOLEBURY FRIENDS 353
THE WHISTLE OF THE QUAIL.
"Far across the fields at sunset fall the shadows faint and slow ;
Dazed with dust the flowers of August bend their heads full low ;
Down the depths of darkling thickets, where the fading half-lights fail,
Smiting through the startled silence, sounds the whistle of the quail."
Elizabeth C, daughter of Wilham and Ehzabeth Blackfan, is
the author of some verse, but I am unable to present a quotation.
Mary C. B. Reeder, of New Hope, has written several poems.
I quote from one of them entitled :
FLMX.
"They should not even then complain,
But hear sweet music in the rain.
And learn that in the lives of all
A fair amount of rain must fall.
And love the cadence in the music for the good
Which comes with rain."
Under the title of "Home," she writes:
"Only God above can ever efface
The sheaves which are made from the human race ;
Which are being grown in the field of life,
That is part of this world so full of strife;
And so that they all may receive the light,
Are watered with kindness to keep them bright;
And fed and nourished with fondest love.
Which receives its blessings from above."
Ruth A. Michener Roberts, late of Xew Hope, had two of her
poems set to music, written for children, as follows :
CHERRY BLOSSOMS.
"Pretty cherry blossoms, with petals like the snow,
Tell me how such beauty upon a tree can grow.
There are tiny fairies, perhaps you cannot see,
Born in April weather in our cherry tree.
They are there to aid us through the brightening hours.
Dancing with the sunbeams, storing glistening showers.
They are very loving; yes, faithful friends to stay,
Nursing growing cherries upon the greening spray."
Among six brothers, my father, Watson Kerderdine, deceased,
Thaddeus S., of Newtown, and Robert, deceased, had the gift of
writing poetry. The three were in the Civil War, violating Quaker
354 QUAKER POETS AMONG SOLEBURY FRIENDS
principles for love of country. My uncle, Thaddeus S., has
written more prose than poetry, but is the author of several
beautiful poems. One, "In the Shadow of Round Top," de-
scribes the Gettysburg battle in which his brother Robert received
his death wound. Of him he says :
"He, our hero, leaving kindred, leaving friends behind him far,
Cared for naught beside his country, sought no gleaming shoulder bar ;
But beside the humblest private marched, enlisted for the war,
Friends and kin behind afar."
This brother lay nearly two days after his wound upon the
battlefield. At last he was found and carried to a tent, where his
father sought and found him. Of this is said :
"Days and nights of suffering followed, when one day at early morn
To that tented shrine there came a pilgrim old and travel worn,
With his staff and heavy burden — burden he full long had borne,
Came one day at early morn.
And his plain attire bespoke him follower of that noble creed
Taught of old by Penn and Barclay — born of persecution's seed ;
Mindful of the Light within him, ever he in word and deed,
Follower of a peaceful creed."
Of his burial in the bvu-ying ground at Solebury, he says :
"No funeral pomp surrounds him, o'er his grave fires no platoon,
No bright flags enfold his coffin, drum nor trumpet ring no tune.
As they lay him with his brothers on that summer afternoon,
Drum nor trumpet ring no tune."
On 10-22-1910, he read before the semi-annual meeting of the
Grand Army Posts of Bucks County, a poem, entitled, "Gone
are War's Occasions." The 3rd verse follows :
"But gone are war's occasions,
Now let its discords cease;
Let each surviving comrade
Chant only songs of peace ;
And teach his wondering children
The awfulness of war.
Yet not the pride forgetting.
With which the flag he bore."
From my uncle Robert's writings, I quote from the following,
signed 5- 14- 1863 :
QUAKER POETS AMONG SOLEBURY FRIENDS 355
AFTER THE BATTLE.
"A breeze is playing across the sky;
It flaps the tent that covers my head ;
It seems to laugh, now it seems to sigh,
A cheer for the living, a sob for the dead ;
It is not svi'eet for it smells of death.
Yet it cools the heat of the burning cheeks,
It chases the hospital's fevered breath,
And the dens of pale disease it seeks."
And the last and 9th verse :
"For God will give us victory;
We join our hands and we join our hearts;
We'll fight again as valorously ;
Again the hot blood determined starts.
A sword shall flame out against the sky,
A leader to lead us will soon be born;
Our banner — for thee is our battle cry,
No star shall vanish or stripe be torn."
Robert was color bearer and lost his life from a wound received
at the battle of Gettysburg. About two months after writing the
above poem, when home from the war on sick leave, he taught
his younger sister, the air of a dirge, thinking that she could
more easily remember the tune if accompanied by words. He
therefore wrote the following lines :
THE DIRGE.
"Lo ! the brave has fallen.
Lay him low in his lonely grave.
Place the sod soft o'er his breast,
Let him like a soldier rest
Upon his country's bosom,
Which he nobly died to save."
Watson Kenderdine, my father, was a busy practical man not
given to dreaming, yet in early and mature years he wrote many
poems, covering sentiment, humor, satire, politics, and religion.
Under the last head he wrote a lengthy i)oem, subject "Forty
Years to Come," published serially in the Doylestown Democrat
in 1874, and bearing numbers i to 5, inclusive, from which I
quote :
356 QUAKER poe;ts among solebury friends
"But why should we who claim to be illumed by inward light,
Put so much stress and loud profess our founders to be right.
What they might need in way of creed, they had a right to choose ;
We have the same to justly claim our own peculiar views.
All growing thought has slowly taught the minds of Christendom
That times will move and creeds improve in forty years to come.
The crowning sheaf of our belief, is we claim inspiration.
To be, of course, the one true source to aid men to salvation.
We teach and preach with love beseech 'to mind that inner light,'
The 'voice within' that leads from sin, will sure direct us right.
Thus far the plan I understand, but that which puzzles me
Is, why this 'light', if perfect quite, can make us disagree?
I have no creed nor do I need a written regulation
To teach the way to preach and pray for my regeneration ;
For God won't ask of me a task beyond the strength he gave me.
If I but do what seemeth true, it in the end will save me."
In the next generation is my sister, Mrs. Ellen R. Kenderdine
Phillips, of Ambler, from whom I quote as follows:
SOLEBURY.
"Upon a hill not far away,
Where good 'Friends' meet to have their say,
A meeting house you there will find,
To shelter all the good and kind ;
As time goes on we wonder where
The people are who once went there
To worship God in their pure way.
To 'mind the light' both night and day.
But as we look beyond — below.
No need to wonder, now we know;
The old graveyard we all may see.
And places wait for you and me.
To love and lose is ours to learn,
And as our minds to those return,
May we so live that we may see
Those gone beyond, from Solebury."
And from my younger sister Florence, Mrs. Edward Simpson,
of West Chester, I quote the following verses w'ritten shortly
after our father's death, entitled :
QUAKER POETS AMONG SOLEBURY FRIENDS 35"
THE DIFFERENCE.
"He sleeps, there is no other name
Describes the rest of brain and eye ;
Full are his years, yet strong in frame.
And he will waken by and by.
But lo ! is found another name
For this strange rest of brain and eye,
His quietness is not the same,
Nor will he waken by and by.
He sleeps ; the children pass the door,
But yesterday they were so glad ;
The sunbeams dance just as of yore.
He sleeps, and all the world is sad."
And after my own little boy's death, she wrote a poem from
which I quote :
A DEATH IN THE HOUSE.
"Yet life once bright to us, has sadder grown.
Though but a day has passed to change it thus.
One day alone ;
'Tis such a wear>' while since yesterday.
Since last we saw the glad familiar smile
That cheered our waj'.
And when we look upon his placid face.
From which all sorrow, pain and care have gone
And left no trace ;
We note how fair the clay, the fleeting breath
We think not of, and whispering say,
'Can this be death'?"
And the same laddie dying a few weeks before reaching his
eleventh birthday made rhymes upon his slate, showing that he
had inherited the family gift.
The names and quotations given in this i)aper are all tliat care-
ful inquiry could locate. If there are others it is to be regretted
that they are not obtainable.
I close with a short rhyme of my own, prompted by the query
in our "Rules of Discipline" entitled :
358 QUAKER POETS AMONG SOLEBURY ERIENDS
ARE TALEBEARING AND DETRACTIONS DISCOURAGED?
O ! let us preach 'gainst hasty speech,
'Gainst speech that's sure to trouble ;
'Gainst hasty words that fly like birds,
And burn like flames the stubble.
Let us look in our "Discipline,"
And guard against "detraction,"
"Talebearing," too, for me and you
Must need most careful action ;
The careless tongue of old or young.
May cause a serious trouble ;
May bring to shame fair name and fame,
Both broken like a bubble.
The spoken word by others heard,
Repeated with revision.
Soon moves apace with cunning grace.
Nor loses by addition.
Then let us pray for strength each day.
Thus deep regret forestalling.
For thoughtless speech quick out of reach.
You'll find is past recalling.
The Common Tinder-Box of Colonial Lays.
BY HENRY C. MERCER.
(St. Tames' Lutheran Church, Chalfont Meeting, October 22, 19 12.)
Here is a little tin box with a finger handle, and with a candle
socket soldered upon its lid and a loose lid inside containing a
piece of flint, a piece
of steel, a scorched
rag and several
splints of wood tip-
ped with sulphur,
which is the appara-
m j f^^S^^^^^^^^^H ^^^^ ^^^ making fire
used by our colonial
._- _ ,...,, . ,^^. ,„«v«_r.u.«;..^^^ ancestors in Bucks
"^^ "* ^^^^^^^ â– ^^iS^^M county and from time
immemorial by all the
so-called civilized
people of the world.
To make fire thus,
four operations are necessary. You must make the spark, re-
tain the spark, then produce the flame and retain the flame. Hold-
ing the circlet of -steel vertically in your left hand you strike
diagonally downward upon its outer edge with the flint so that
a spark of percussion flies downward into the tinder, which is
a scorched linen rag lying in the bo.x beneath ; the latter holds the
spark as a smouldering ember, until you touch the spunk or sul-
phur-tipped splint upon it, whereupon with a little blowing the
sulphur takes fire and you have a lighted match with which you
light the candle set in the socket in the box lid. Perhaps this is
not much to look at, but from a historic point of view it is a
thing of such importance that it might be described as the master
of human progress from prehistoric time down to 1835, or as
visible proof of perhaps the greatest discovery that man ever
made. What is steam; what is gunpowder or printing; what are
electricity, railroads, airships, trolley cars, in comparison with
24
STRIKING FIRE WITH THE TINDER BOX.
360 THE COMMON TINDER-BOX OE COEONIAE DAYS
this process which is at the bottom of everything? How, when
and where did man first master fire, or how could he have Hved
here in the North Temperate Zone or in any part of the world
w^here winter comes once a. year, without fire ? How can we help
speculating upon such a subject as this? Can we suppose that
he could have lived, therefore, in his infancy anywhere but in
the tropics, or that under these circumstances he could have been
a white man at the start, or anything but a sun-tanned black man,
when living on uncooked food, in the tropical regions of the
globe, he began his career without fire ?
But to return to the tinder-box and a consideration of its form,
material and contents from an archeological point of view. The
box is round, 4 inches in diameter and 2 inches high, with a cir-
cular tin handle for the forefinger. The inner loose lid not only
smothers or quenches the smouldering tinder w^hen the operation
is over, but enables you to burn and smother a fresh rag from
an already existing fire. Under this lid our ancestors kept the
tinder, and lying upon it inside the box, the flint, steel and spunks.
But the peculiar feature of the box, which is typical of a whole
class of tinder-boxes in use in colonial America and England be-
fore the American Revolution, is a candle socket upon the lid,
making of the apparatus a tinder-box and candlestick combined,
which gave you a permanent, transportable light, that could be
used for a variety of purposes before you lit the fire, otherwise,
minus the candle, the tinder-box must have been close to the
freshly laid fire and the flame communicated to the kindling with
the lighted spunk, which is a match, but not a percussion match,
before the latter went out. No doubt, the older tinder-boxes had
no candlestick attachment, so that this, which is perhaps the
last of the widely used tinder-boxes, is probably the most con-
venient.
The next feature of interest is the fact that the box is made
of tin, so-called, or properly speaking, tinned sheet-iron, or thin
sheets of malleable iron dipped in molten tin. For this reason
this box brings us to the antiquity and origin of this kind of
metal together with that of the tinsmith or tinker and all articles
made of tinned plate which must be determined by two facts :
First, that though the ancients knew how to tin copper, as the
Arabs have tinned this little vessel of beaten copper, the art of
THE COMMON TIXDEK-BOX OF COLONIAL DAYS 361
tinning iron is a comparatively modern discovery and was not
known or practised in England upon thin iron plates at least, until
about 1740. Before that time the tinning of sheet-iron was a
great German secret and long remained so until a metallurgist
named Andrew Yarriten, about 1690, went to Saxony and brought
over the art to England. If, therefore, anyone has one of these
ancestral tinder-boxes, which he can prove to have been in his
family earlier than 1740, it must have come from Germany, or
must have been made here from German — not English, tin plates.
Another point is that all the old sheet-iron, whether tinned or
not, before about 1728, was hammered with heavy water-run
hammers. Before that time, according to that masterpiece of
economic archeology known as "Beckman's History of Inven-
tions," in which the learned John Beckman, professor of economy
at Gottingen, about 1790, with a style which might be described
as a combination of Gibbon and Dumas, tells us that they could
roll iron in small strips, or roll it smooth after hammering it, but
could not squeeze out flat sheets of it hot or cold between rollers
as now. Hence, again, if you have one of these tinder-boxes
which appear to be hammered rather than rolled, you may know
that it is older than 1730, like this small tin box used by one of
my ancestors in 1705 to hold a land-patent seal.
The same tests may be applied to all the old colonial lanterns,
coffeepots, knife-boxes, candlesticks, tin kitchens, and in particu-
lar to the perforated glassless, cone-roofed tin lanterns, which in
New England, dealers and bric-a-brac hunters have foolishly
named after Paul Revere, but one of which made of sheet-iron
two or three hundred years before he was born, is now in the
Norwegian National Museum at Christiania.
All these articles, including the i)ainted or lacquered Japanned
ware of colonial times, which according to Swank's" History of
Iron in all Ages," 1892 edition, was produced almost immediately
after 1740 ui)on the discovery of the previously unknown process
of rolling out sheet-iron can be more or less dated in this way.
Many of them if rolled and tinned or japanned, are English, and
not older than 1750, but if hammered and tinned are jirobably
German, and might be a hundred years older, but if hammered
and not tinned, or made of plain sheet-iron might date back into
362 THE COMMON TINDER-BOX OF COLONIAL DAYS
the sixteenth century or even earher hke the lantern at Christ-
iania.
As distinguished from the ancient fire-making process by the
rubbing of wood, common to most of the wild men of the world,
this method of our ancestors was the ancestral process of all the
so-called civilized nations of to-day. Somewhere in prehistoric
times, probably in the iron age, they learned how to make steel,
but before that in place of steel they used a hard, crystallized
compound of iron called pyrites, which is proved by the finding
of a piece of pyrites, probably so used, according to Dawkins
"Early Man in Britain," page 210, in an ancient British barrow
of the Bronze Age, at Lambourne, Berkshire, England. The
National Museum at Washington has apparatus consisting of
pyrites and flint, as used by Indians and Eskimos in Northern
British America, and it appears that some of the Eskimo, ac-
cording to Hough, "Fire-Making Apparatus in National Muse-
vim." N. M., report, 1888, used two pieces of pyrites minus the
flint, sometimes rubbed in native sulphur, with eagles' feathers
for tinder. Thus, before the invention of steel, pyrites took the
place of steel. But the process is the same. In one of these
tinder-boxes we have a piece of jasper, which is the American
equivalent of the European flint, and which appears as a con-
cretion crystallized out of the silicon in the bodies of marine in-
sects, in the form of lumps or strata in limestone, as flint does in
chalk. Sometimes our ancestors used Indian arrowheads in these
tinder-boxes, as on their flint-lock guns, to thus strike fire, but
in most of the boxes, as here, we have European flints, abun-
dantly imported from England, Germany and France 150 years
ago, and sold for these purposes. Judging by what I saw at Mr.
Snares' flint mine at Brandon, Suffolk, England, in 1892, where
they were still quarrying, "quartering," or breaking up the lumps,
and "knapping," or flaking with steel hammers, the flint, and ex-
porting it to Grand Bassam, Old Calabar, Sierra Leone, Singa-
pore, Colombo, Little Popo and twenty-three other ports on the
coasts of Africa and Asia, to be used by barbarous people who
still used the flint guns, (a set of which I here show.) These
tinder-box pieces with the exception of the jasper, are all gun
flints and not specially made as tinder-flints.
Colonel Paxson found in an old Philadelphia store a few years
THE COMMON TINDER-BOX OF COLONIAL DAYS 363
ago several original, unopened and superannuated packages of
these gun-flints, at the same time that he met an old tinsmith,
who in his youth in Philadelphia had made tinder-boxes. But
as Mr. Snares' card shows, the proper tinder-flint was larger
than a gun-flint, and not square, but round. Moreover, Snares'
flints are black. These here are golden yellow and were prob-
ably made in France.
Snares' men had burrowed 40 feet vertically underground
through three layers of flint, about 7 feet apart in the chalk,
called "upper crust," "wall" and "floor," and I saw and photo-
graphed one of the miners who had just brought up on his
head, a bundle of flint nodules without a windlass and by way
of a set of primitive ladders and stagings. There is no time to
describe this interesting survival of an ancient industry, which is
situated within the area of a still older lot of diggings, close by,
at a place called Grimes' Graves, where the ground has been
disturbed to a great depth for several acres, by ancient British
people of the Chipped Stone Age, who mined flint there for their
stone implements. Just so they mined it at Cissbury in Sussex
or at Speiennes in Belgium, and so our Indians mined jasper at
Durham, near here, or at Macungie and \^era Cruz in Lehigh
county.
The steel circlet, or flourish, regardless of its shape, is as old
as the Bible or ancient Egypt. It goes back to the time when
our ancestors abandoned pyrites, and found in the manufacture
of their wrought iron, in little charcoal furnaces, heated with
bellows made of inflated animal skins, and hollow reeds (and at
a time long before they had learned how to melt or cast iron,
which is a modern invention of about 1450.) that a little more
charcoal in the heated ore turned it into hard, elastic steel, which
can be hardened still farther by dipping it hot into water or
grease. All this happened long before America was discovered,
but as far as these steel circlets are concerned in Bucks county,
there was plenty of American steel made after 1727 at Durham
furnace, and our blacksmiths could hammer it out in the form of
these old English flourishes, or these circlets shown, sometimes
with a slight ornamental curve at the tips, and temper it to suit
themselves.
364 THE COMMON TINDE;r-BOX OF COLONIAL DAYS
RETAINING THE SPARK.
After you make the spark, as explained, you must retain it or
out it goes. You must throw it into tinder and allow it to
smoulder there. Tinder among our ancestors in colonial times,
was generally an old piece of cotton or linen rag, a worn out
handkerchief for instance, thrown on the kitchen fire till it blazed,
stamped out on the hearth and then placed in the box or, on the
other hand, fired and smothered in the box with the inner lid.
The archeology of tinder itself is a vast subject. The savage
people of the world having used a great and various multitude of
tinders made of bird feathers, fungi, decayed wood, vegetable
fiber and other things. But the tinder, here in question, might
be called a civilized tinder, and though there were at that time
in use in Europe and here by civilized people several other
tinders, as for instance dried, rotten wood, or touchwood, or
the dried fungus Polyporus igniariits, soaked in nitre, and some-
times called by the French name A-madou, or the so-called Ger-
man tinder, a sort of inflammable, manufactured felt, and various
slow-matches inherited from the middle ages, which may or may
not have been older than the scorched rag, or known to the
ancients, there is little doubt that the rag tinder here shown was
more frequently used by our great-great-grandfathers than any-
thing else.
PRODUCING THE FLAME.
A glowing ember, or smouldering spark, is not a fire. Thus
far you have only retained the ember, next you must transform
it to flame or the whole operation fails.
When our ancestors did this by touching the sulphur-tipped
splint, which might be called a match, as explained, to the ember,
they were much in advance of primitive man, who had to blow
up the flame on fuel laid against the tinder itself. The ancients
had sulphur, which is one of the elements of the world, and can
be found native all over the globe, especially near volcanoes, and
the Mackenzie River Indians knew how inflammable sulphur was,
and, according to Hough, above quoted, rubbed it on two pieces
of pyrites when they clashed them together to make fire. But
the idea of melting sulphur and tipping it on splints of wood, if
not known to the Romans, probably dates back into the Middle
THE COMMON TINDER-BOX OF COLONIAL DAYS 365
Ages, as proved by specimens of similar "spunks" of considerable
antiquity, or far older at least than the settlement of Pennsyl-
vania, seen by Colonel Paxson in the museum at Berlin.
At all events, here in the midst of the tinder-box process, is
the ancestor of the percussion match, which although it would
not strike, yet carried a flame and was not, therefore, a slow-
match, such as the old musketeers carried around smouldering in
metal boxes in the 17th century, or such as were attached to the
old match-lock guns, or as are used to-day to set off dynamite.
RETAINING THE FLAME.
The last step in the operation after producing the fire is to re-
tain it, which in this case you do in the flame of a candle. The
latter whether molded or dipped, of wax or fat, is of immense
antiquity, and need not be described here. When the fire-maker
held the burning "spunk" in his hand he might transfer the flame
direct to the kindling on the hearth, or he might light the candle
with it before he lit the hearth fire, and because the "spunk"
was far less apt to go out in the latter operation, than in the
former, he probably lit the candle first. When that burned he
was master of the house on a cold morning when all the fires were
out, but that he used paper tapers to transfer the fire from these
tinder-box candles, or to other candles, or to light the fire itself,
the narratives of old people, and family traditions abundantly
prove. Besides which we know that tinder-boxes are far rarer
in the rubbish of old houses than we might suppose they would
be, ten times rarer for instance, than spinning-wheels, showing
that where a man lived in town, or near neighbors in the country,
he could and continually did keep live embers in the great ash
bed of the kitchen hearth, or where these failed, begged a pot or
shovelful of fresh brands from his neighbor, or lit his candle with
paper tapers, from the kitchen fire, without using the tinder-box
at all.
In "Home-life in Colonial Days." by Miss A. M. Earle, a book
containing valuable illustrations, and many interesting notes, but
rendered almost useless by the negligence of the writer to quote
authorities, the author says she never could produce fire with a
tinder-box, and that Charles Dickens complained of spending
half-an-hour at the operation. This was probably because she
366 THE COMMON TINDER-BOX OF COLONIAL DAYS
tried to strike with the steel rather than with the flint, or because
the steel was not tempered, or the tinder was damp. Provided
the tools are in good condition there is no difficulty in the opera-
tion.
The invention of the percussion match superseded the tinder-
box in 1835, but did not abolish it. Here is a brand-new Whaler's
tinder-box which I bought at a store in New Bedford in 1907,
and it and another like it, packed in the provision basket in the
whaleboat outfit at our Historical Society Museum, prove that
when the whaler leaves the whale-ship armed with his harpoon,
in an open boat upon the most dangerous fish hunt in the world,
he dares not trust his life to a match, which may spoil, but he
risks it on the flint and steel, for the spark is always there.
We still have the smoker's "strike-a-light," and another lot of
tinder-boxes sold by John Kreider the gunsmith, in Philadelphia,
as Colonel Paxson recently found, show that the wise hunter in
the American Wilds, or the lonely fur-trader of the far north-
west, when it comes to the point of life and death, now still in the
year 1912 will not trust a match, but falls back on the primeval
spark.
\
THE I^AST PASSENGER PIGEON.
A female bird which died in Cincinnati Zoological Garden, September i, 1914. Copyright
photograph by Mr. Enno Meyer, official photographer of the garden. Taken in
ii)iJ, and here reproduced with his kind permi.s.sion.
THE LAST PASSENGER PIGEON TAKEN IN PENNSYLVANIA.
A male bird shot October 23, 1S95, in Monroe County, Pa. Mounted and now owned by
Mr. George H. Stuart, ;,rd. of Philadeliihia. Photograph used
with his kind permission.
The Last of the Wild Pigeon in Bucks County.
BY COL. HENRV D. PAXSON, HOLICON'G, PA.
(Chalfont Meeting, October 22, 19 12.)
Some twelve years ago when making a call upon a neighbor, the
late Amos Corson, who owned a farm adjoining ours in Buck-
ingham, I discovered in the loft of an outbuilding a curious lot
of paraphernalia which I was told was a wild pigeon trapper's
outfit. The incident reviving recollections of my boyhood days
when I had seen Corson trap pigeons on the old Indian field in
Buckingham, I secured the outfit and laid it away, little dreaming
that it would ever be brought to public notice or be the subject
of a story both interesting and astounding. I say interesting be-
cause the passenger pigeon was truly and properly an American
bird, and has been the wonder of naturalists since earliest times.
I say astounding from the fact that the wild pigeon in former
times and down until quite recent times existed in such numbers
as to be unbelievable, and that to-day the bird is practically ex-
tinct.
The passenger or wild pigeon has been briefly described by
Frank M. Chapman, a bird authority, as follows : —
"Adult Male — Upper parts, rich Blue slate color; back and sides of
the neck with metallic reflections ; middle of the back and scapulars, more
or less washed with olive brown ; middle tail feathers, fuscous ; outer
ones, black at the base, then slaty blue, fading into a broad, white tip ;
upper parts, deep, rich vinaceous ; lower belly, white ; throat, bluish-slate
color."
"Adult Female — Similar, but upper parts with less irridescence and
more olive-brown; breast, pale grayish brown; belly, whitish."
The wild pigeon was one of our most beautiful and graceful
birds. It was strong and swift in flight, its speed far exceeding
a mile a minute, and when alarmed on its perch it was, to use a
hunter's phrase, "ofT like a flash." The wild pigeon was a native
of North America and was found nowhere else in the world.
Its range was the entire eastern part of North America, north-
ward in the interior to Hudson Bay, and southward not farther
than northern or middle Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.
368 LAST OF THE WILD PIGEON IN BUCKS COUNTY
Mr. Robert Ridgway, Curator of the Division of Birds, U. S.
National Museum, is authority for the statement that "the range
of the passenger pigeon was Hmited to the mixed hardwood
forests of the Eastern United States and Canada, and any that
occurred beyond were stragglers, pure and simple." It could
endure intense cold and was not migratory in habit, except that
the exhaustion of food supply caused it to move between forests
that provided that supply. Its habits, in common with the entire
bird fami4y of pigeons and doves, comprised under the Order
Columbae, were gregarious, but like many other species of birds,
to protect itself from the persecution of man it changed its habits,
and instead of breeding in vast colonies it was generally found,
a few years before it entirely disappeared, breeding in pairs
— the survivors so few and scattered that a combined nesting be-
ing impossible.
THE PASSENGER PIGEON IN HISTORY.
Early references to wild pigeons are not numerous, but they are
sufficient to show that the birds were here in vast numbers when
the first settlers came to this part of America. Occasional men-
tion of the bird is made in histories and the journals of early
travelers.
As early as 1634, Captain Thomas Yong, in his quaint "Voyage
to \"irginia and Delaware Bay and River," relates that he found
"infinite number of wild pigeons" in the last-named region. Some
fifty years later, (1683) "A Letter from William Penn," speaks
of the fowl of the land and mentions "pidgeons" as "in abund-
ance." The same year, February 10, 1683, another letter from
Pennsylvania by Thomas Paskel observes that "There are here
very great quantities of birds and one hardly thinks it worth
while to shoot at ring pigeons." "A Collection of Various Pieces
Concerning Pennsylvania," printed in 1684, finds "The woods are
supplied with a quantity of wild birds, as * * * pigeons *
* * * "Two years later (September 13, 1686, Green Spring),
"A letter from Doctor Moore Relating to the State and Improve-
ment of the Province of Pennsylvania" yields this note of inter-
est: "We have had so great abundance of Pigeons this Summer,
that we have fed all our servants with them." About this time
Pastorius found "pigions" in "great abundance" in Pennsylvania.
LAST OF THE WILD PIGKON IN BUCKS COUNTY 369
Several years later (1702; Holme, in speaking of birds and fowls
in New Sweden, notes both "turtle doves" and "pigeons."
In verse we have two notes, the first by Thomas Makin, in
1729:
"Here, in the fall, large flocks of pigeons fly,
So numerous that they darken all the sky."
The other is undated and comes from John Holme :
"The pidgeon in such numhers we see fly
That like a cloud they do make dark the sky; .
And in such multitudes are sometimes found,
As that they cover both trees and ground.
He that advances near with one good shot
^[ay kill enough to fill both spit and pot."
Coming down again to prose, we find that in 1731 Oldmixon
merely mentions pigeons as among the fowl of Pennsylvania.
In 1765, we have our first extended statement about the pas-
senger pigeon when Samuel Smith says :
"The wild pigeon, at three or four seasons in the year, commonly
pays a visit (except in seed time) generally acceptable. They have not
been obsened of late years so plenty as formerly ; they then, sometimes,
to avoid the northeast storms, flew night and days, and thick enough to
darken the air, and break trees where they settled, and were more tame
and more wanted; all which made them an article of consequence to the
early inhabitants. The Indians, before the European settlements used
every year regularly to burn the woods the better to kill deer, * * *
this practice kept the woods clean, so that the pigeons readily got acorns,
w-hich then not being devoured by hogs were plenty almost everywhere
and induced a return more frequently than now. They breed chiefly to
the northward."
So, even in that day, we see that the presence of man caused
the wild pigeon to become scarce in regions in which he settled.
William Bartram, in 1791, writes of the wild pigeon, as fol-
lows :
"These arrive in Pennsylvania in the autumn, from the North, where
they continue during the winter, and return again in the spring following,
I suppose to breed and rear their young; and these kinds continue their
journies as far South as Carolina and Florida."
In 1807 (July 31) Schultz, the German traveler, records the
"pigeon" at Presque Isle. In 1819. C. B. Johnson, reports that
"Wild Pigeons" commonly visit this place (Philadelphia) in the
spring and autumn when their numbers are truly astonishing.
Flocks of them are sometimes seen so large as to contain millions;
370 LAST OF THE WILD PIGEON IN BUCKS COUNTY
their flesh is dark, and when fat, very good." At Allentown,
Penna., about September lo, 1832, MaximiHan Prince of Wied,
says "the wild pigeons passed by in great flocks."
Watson's Annals (Vol. 2, page 410) relates that:
"The late aged Thomas Bradford, Esq., told me of hearing his ances-
tors say that they once saw a flock fly over the city which obscured the
sun for two or three hours, and were killed by hundreds, by people using
sticks on the tops of houses. Mr. Bradford himself used to see them
brought to the Philadelphia market by the cart-loads. The aged T.
Matlack informed me he once saw a full wagon load knocked down. A
Captain Davy, who was in Philadelphia at that time (described above),
went afterwards to Ireland, and there describing what he had seen, and
giving the data for their numbers by giving their breadth, and time pass-
ing, etc., some of the calculators declared they could not find numerals
whereby to estimate their aggregate. They therefore declared it was a
whapping lie, and ever afterward they gave to Captain Davy the name
of 'Captain Pigeon.' "
Watson also relates that :
"In 1793 just before the time of yellow fever, flocks flew daily over
Philadelphia, and were shot from numerous high houses. The markets
were crammed with them. They generally had nothing in their craws
besides a single acorn. The superstitious soon found out they presaged
some evil, and sure enough sickness and death came."
"At every farmer's house, they kept a tame wild pigeon in a cage at
the door, to be ready to be used at any time to allure the wild ones when
they approached."
Again, Watson (Vol. i, page 82) says:
"Mr. William Worrell, who died but a few years since * * * ^t
the advanced age of nearly one hundred years, says that he recollected
when * * * they fi^^ [^ such immense flocks (in Marple township,
Chester county) that they obscured the rays of the sun. One night they
settled in such numbers in Martin's bottom, that persons who visited them
could not hear one another speak, by reason of their strong whirring
noise."
To form some idea of the number of these birds in former
times, we have Alexander Wilson, the ornithologist, for the
authority that in the year 1808 in the State of Kentucky, he saw
a flock of wild pigeons (Ectopistes migratorius) which he esti-
mated contained 2,230, 272,000 individuals. The flight began
about I o'clock in the afternoon and lasted until after 6 o'clock
in the evening. Wilson describes one of their breeding places,
about the year 1805, in a forest not far from Shelbyville, Ken-
tucky, which was several miles in breadth and upwards of forty
LAST OF THE WILD PIGEON IN BUCKS COUNTY 37I
miles in length, an area nearly as large as Bucks county, and in
that vast tract there was scarcely a tree that did not contain nests
wherever the branches would accommodate them. On some
single trees upwards of 100 nests were counted. Each nest con-
tained but a single egg, though three or four broods were raised
in a year. The pigeons in their flight described the most graceful
evolutions, each individual in the flock, no matter how great its
lengths, following all gyrations of the leaders. Immense tracts
of forests, used as roosting places, are said to have been so com-
pletely destroyed as though afflicted by a deadly blight. In flight
the noise produced by the motion of the myriads of wings was
likened to the roar of a tornado. Horses were frightened by the
sound, and even man, when unused to it, was awed. The ground
beneath the nesting trees was literally strewn with limbs of trees,
eggs and young squab pigeons, and no one could proceed through
such a territory without having his suit of clothing ruined by the
birds' excrements or endangering his life from limbs constantly
falling from their burden of nests and young birds.
In Hazard's Register, (Vol. 5, page, 240) for the month of
April, 1830, I find this reference: —
"Immense flocks of these beautiful birds have been flying about this
neighborhood for several days. On Friday during the severe equinoxial
storm (probably Friday, March 26, 1830) they were taken in immense
quantities, in nets, and we heard it stated, many were killed by clubs.
Our sportsmen have not lacked in industry, and nearly every one has by
this time had a taste of pidgeon pot-pie. One gentleman in this neigh-
borhood has about 40 dozen in his corn-crib, which he took in a net, and
which he is feeding for market. The Philadelphians, we presume will
have a bountiful supply of them, for they are taken to market in wagon
loads. One wagon which we saw passing along had 400 dozen, taken in
New Jersey."
TIIK L.'VST GREAT NESTINGS.
As late as 1876 the largest known nesting of wild pigeons was
recorded in ^Michigan, their last stronghold, the nesting covering
an area twenty-eight miles long, averaging three to four miles in
width.
In 1881, according to Mr. William Brewster, the New England
bird student, the last nesting of any importance in Michigan was
observed.
372 LAST OF THE WILD PIGEON IN BUCKS COUNTY
John Burroughs, in a letter to Mr. \Mlham B. Mershon. of
Saginaw, Michigan, who has comphed an exceedingly interesting
book on "The Passenger Pigeon," in which he put everything he
could find relating to that bird, reports that a friend of his,
Charles W. Benton, saw a large flock of wild pigeons near Pratts-
ville, Greene county, N. Y., in April 1906. This statement is re-
garded by Mr. Mershon as the last record we have of a flock of
wild pigeons having been seen in this country. But this may not
be authentic, since Mr. Witmer Stone, Curator of the Academy
of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, writes me as follows : —
"I do not think that John Burroughs' statement is any more to be
relied upon than those of many others, at that date and later. He was
only reporting the observation of a friend of whom we know nothing.
It is very hard to decide which of these last 'sight records' to give
credence to. I think that anyone after the lapse of years — even old
pigeon hunters, was liable to mistake a dove for a pigeon. In Sullivan
county, an extremely reliable man who had caught thousands of pigeons
even down to the '80s saw a single pigeon when we were out in the
forest together. He was absolutely sure of it, followed it up and finally
shot it, but it was a dove. He was astonished and said he did not think
such a thing was possible."
In this connection I may add that I was told within a very few
years, by an entirely reliable gentleman, one who had assisted in
the trapping of wild pigeons in his youth, that he had seen quite
recently a pair of wild pigeons near the Chain Bridge in Bucks
county. I have no doubt that what he saw was mourning
doves. Ornithologists may therefore well take the position, as
many of them do, that to make a complete and authentic record,
the "sight record" should not only be accompanied by the actual
taking of the specimen, but that it should be identified by com-
petent authority.
THE LAST WILD PIGEON TAKEN IN PENNSYLVANIA.
The last wild pigeon to be actually taken in Pennsylvania, is
the one which was shot October 23, 1895, north of Canadensis in
Monroe county, by Frank Cushing Norris, of Philadelphia, and
by him presented to Mr. George H. Stuart, 3rd, who now has the
specimen preserved and mounted at his residence in Philadel-
phia. This bird, a male in full plumage, was a solitary specimen
which was taken just after it had flown to a pine tree from an old
woods road where it had been feeding. I have seen this specimen,
LAST OF THE WILD PIGEON' IN' BUCKS COUNTY 373
and it has been identified by Mr. W'itmer Stone, the noted orni-
thologist of Philadeli)hia, who regards this bird as the last one
to be taken in this State.
To-day, so completely have these birds been exterminated,
there is but a single known living descendant of the myriads
observed by Wilson, and a standing reward of $5,000. ofifered
by a committee of naturalists to any person who would report a
pair of nesting pigeons has been unclaimed for more than two
years past. In other words, within a century after Wilson re-
corded one of the greatest bird spectacles ever vouchsafed to the
eyes of a naturalist, the species has disappeared as completely as
though it had never existed.
THE LAST LIVING PIGEON'.
The last wild pigeon is now in the Cincinnati Zoological
Garden. It was hatched in the garden in a flock of pigeons re-
ceived about 1877 from Northern Michigan. This little flock
was kept in an open cage, about twelve feet square, and consisted
originally of ten birds, from Avhich half a dozen or more were
hatched. The flock was gradually depleted until 1910, when but
a single pair was left. In that year, the male, the elder of the
two birds, aged about 26 years died, leaving the female the sole
survivor. Mr. S. A. Stephan, General Manager of the Cincinnati
Zoological Company, writes me under date of October 14, 1912,
in reference to this bird, as follows :
"Replj-ing to j-our letter of October 8th, I beg to advise j'ou that the
one remaining Passenger Pigeon, as far as we have been able to ascer-
tain, is here in the Cincinnati Zoo. This one is a female and is about
22 years old. She is now in fine condition and plumage. You can ob-
tain photographs of this Pigeon In' writing to our Ofticial Photographer,
Mr. Enno ^Meyer, 972 McMillan St., Walnut Hills, Cincinnati, Ohio.
When the flock was first caged in the garden, it attracted little
attention, but the sole survivor is now regarded as the garden's
greatest curiosity. When this bird dies and is sent to the Smith-
sonian Institution, at Washington, to which it has been promised,
the last known passenger pigeon will have passed away. *
* Since this article was written this pigeon died upon September i, 19 14, in the
gardens of the Cincinnati Zoological Company at Cincinnati, Ohio, and its body has
been sent to the Smithsonian Institute at Washington, D. C, to be mounted and
preserved.
374 LAST OF the; wild pigeon in bucks county
THE WILD PIGEON IN BUCKS COUNTY.
Now, more particularly as to wild pigeons in Bucks county.
I find one historical reference. General Davis tells us that about
lOO years ago wild pigeons were most plentiful in Buckingham,
where Jacob Walton and Philip Parry, both good Friends belong-
ing to Buckingham Meeting and clad in buckskin breeches and
vests tanned after the Indian fashion were "noted for their dex-
terity in catching pigeons."
More recent than this, and as to living persons who have seen
pigeons in Bucks county, I have some interesting accounts which
I propose to give in the exact language of the authors.
My friend, Thaddeus S. Kenderdine, of Newtown, in an in-
teresting letter dated 12th mo. 14th, 1911, says that years ago,
pigeons used to be found in considerable numbers about Solebury
Mountain, towards the river. The late Henry Hicks was a noted
trapper of these birds. Mr. Kenderdine continues:
"These birds would come about buckwheat time from some unknown
country, perhaps the West, where they were so plenty a century ago
* * * * In the middle '50's there were several to be found up county,
as low down as Dyerstown, quite a rendezvous being in a woods belong-
ing to Joseph Dyer * * * But they were plentier up county, particularly
around Quakertown."
Henry D. Sacks, now of Newtown, says that :
"About 1856 his father, Daniel Sacks, shot 85 of these birds in a short
time in the fall. A habit of the birds was to fly into another thicket when
fired into, so hunters would sometimes station themselves in two or more
woods and shoot when the birds had changed position* * * The last
wild pigeon man about Newtown was John Fenton, who died at an ad-
vanced age about 1890* * * The Levi Buckman woods, about a half
mile southeast of Newtown, was the best harboring place hereabouts, and
here was where the old gentleman made his final catches."
My friend. Chief Justice D. Newlin Fell, in a letter to me dated
January i, 1912, somewhat facetiously remarks:
"I am 50 years too young to give you any information in relation to
pigeons in Bucks county* * * In my boyhood days I heard of Joseph
Anderson, Isaac Strickler and a few other old men going up the Delaware
River for the purpose of trapping pigeons* * * John H. Ruckman tells
me that his father and uncle, John, when boys, trapped pigeons on a field
in the northwest corner of their farm."
Bearing upon Justice Fell's reference to Bucks county trappers
going up the Delaware Valley for the purpose of trapping pigeons,
LAST OF Tllli WILD PIGKON IN BUCKS COUNTY 3/5
I have an interesting letter from Granville Henry, of Nazareth,
Pa., who says :
"I think from my own recollections that the flights of the wild pigeons
to the North was in Alarch and perhaps the early part of April. They
returned in September and October, about the time that the gum berries
were ripe. During these days they would frequently stop in our woods,
generally only being in small flocks, for several days. I cannot tell how
far north they went, but the large hemlock, birch and pine forests of
Wayne and Pike counties were nesting places."
I also have a valued letter, dated December 26, 191 1, from ^Ir.
Frank K. Swain of Doylestown, superintendent of Henry C.
Mercer's ^Moravian Pottery and Tile Works, who is taking a
commendable interest in local historical subjects, in which he
says:
"My Grandmother, Rebecca Swain, when living at the house of Ed-
ward Chapman, close to the present Indian Walk Monument, at Wrights-
town, about 1835, told me she remembered the setting up of snares for
wild pigeons by Edward Chapman back of the barn, on frequent occasions,
on Saturday afternoon, after my grandmother, as a little girl, had returned
from school. The pigeons caught in the net were immediately killed and
plucked, my grandmother helping in the operation, after which they were
roasted on spits before the open fire for the following Sunday dinner. A
number of pigeons were skewered together on one spit, with slices of ham
.fat or bacon laid between each two birds. My grandmother described the
sky as 'black with pigeons' on some autumns when the birds were more
than usually plentiful. I have a vague recollection that she said that Mr.
Chapman used some allurement, possibly a set of deco\-s or possibly some
substance, to bring down the pigeons into the nets. She also remembered
helping to tie up or mend the broken nets."
LAST TRAPPING IN BUCKS COUNTY.
We have now aproached the period of the final trapping of the
wild pigeon in Bucks county, which occurred in Solebury and
Buckingham, the last trapping having taken place near my home
in the latter township about the year 1874.
Of the three last pigeon trappers in Solebury township. Samuel
Atkinson, Henry Hicks and Albert Cooper, the latter was the
most celebrated. My friend Judge Edward W. Magill of
Philadelphia, a native of Solebury, in a letter dated December 2"],
1911, has given me his very interesting recollections of this pic-
turesque character and his trapping on Solebury Mountain. He
says : —
25
376
LAST OF THE WILD PIGEON IN BUCKS COUNTY
"I recall that when I was very young, perhaps about 1865 or '66, vast
flocks of wild pigeons passing were very common. Albert Cooper, com-
monly known as 'Bert' Cooper, was quite a famous hunter and trapper
in Solebury township, and lived
on a small farm south of Sole-
bury Mountain and back of
John S. William's farm. He
had, as I recall it, two places
at which he trapped pigeons,
one on the top of the moun-
tain, I think on the farm now
owned by Wilson Pidcock, and
the other, which he generally
used, on a piece of rough land
then owned by my father, and
now owned by Carroll R. Wil-
liams and Mrs. Martin Slack,
on the northwest side of
Windy-bush Road opposite the
Richard Janney farm. On a
plateau at the top of this hill,
Bert Cooper set his traps. The
traps, or nets, I think you are
familiar with. They consisted
of a blind, built of cedar
bushes in which to conceal the*
trapper, and a level piece o£
ground about one hundred or
150 feet long, and probably
about thirty feet wide, dug up
and levelled off, as if for a
garden. On this surface would
be placed wheat and corn, etc., for the birds. Along each outer side of the
trapping ground was a small ditch or trench in which the nets were laid,
the outer side of the net being staked to the ground. Near the center of
this space, at the extreme end and opposite the blind, were two guy posts,
to which the ropes of the inner side of the net were fastened. Hand
ropes led from the ends of the net near the blind, into the blind itself.
Slender sticks, one end fastened to the guy rope, and the other to the
ground, hinged, as I recall it, were used for the purpose of lifting the net
as the hand ropes were applied. The nets being set and the hand ropes
in the blind, ready for the hand of the trapper, the wild pigeons used
for stool-pigeons were brought into requisition. These were pigeons kept
year after year for the purpose, and when about to be used, a stitch was
taken in their eyelids for the purpose of closing them. Their feet were
then fastened to a small hickory sapling, with one end slanted in the
ground and a string at the other end run through a crotched stick and
AI.BERT COOPER, SOI^EBURY, PA.
Trapper of Wild Pigeon with Blind Decoys,
about 1870.
LAST OF THE WILD PIGEON IN BUCKS COUNTY 377
thence to the blind by which a stool-piscon could be lowered and raised
by the drawing: of the string by the trapper, so that as the flock approached
the stool could be raised to the extreme length of the sapling, and when
the birds were nearly overhead, would be gradually drawn to the ground
by drawing the string and as they were thus lowered their wings would
flap slowly giving every indication of birds naturally alighting to the
ground for the purpose of feeding. This attracting the attention of the
flock, they w^ould circle about the trapping ground for a time and finallj'
drop, and begin to feed around the stool-pigeons. When this took place,
a quick, sharp jerk of the hand ropes close to the ground would raise
the nets and throw them together over the trapping ground, thus imprison-
ing the birds. I have known Bert Cooper to catch several hundreds of
pigeons in one morning, which was usually the time for trapping, and in-
deed my recollection is that he sometimes caught as many as 150 to 175
at a single drawing of the trap. He continued thus to trap the pigeons
until they became so scarce as to make it useless. My impression is that
he stopped trapping about 1874, and this, I think, was about the time of
the practical disappearance of wild pigeons from that section of the
country."
"Another feature of the pigeon trapping by Bert Cooper Avas his long
barreled musket, ever ready at his hand in the blind, with which to bring
down as many as possible of the pigeons not caught by the nets. I am
fortunate enough to possess this old musket of which I have very tender
memories, as the old man, while usually gruff and ill-natured to most
persons, was always very kind and considerate of me, allowing me, on
many Sunday mornings to sit with him in the blind while plying his
trade, and I have frequently seen the old musket barrel go out through
the cedar brush and bring down pigeons at long range."
"Albert Cooper, in the latter years of his life, lived on a small farm on
the north side of Solebury Mountain, nearly opposite Stony Hill School,
and died there, I think in the latter eighties." *
The last pigeon trapper in Bucks county and probably the
most celebrated was the late Amos Corson, of Buckingham, to
whom I have briefly referred at the beginning of this article.
Often have I, as a boy, listened to his tales and experiences and
it is with regret that I did not, when I obtained from him his
trapping outfit, have him commit to writing much that would
now be of interest. Fortunately, I have been able to obtain
from his son, Richard C. Corson, of New Hope, Bucks county,
much valuable information which otherwise would have been
lost. He has set up for me the pigeon trap and explained in de-
• Albert Cooper (b. Q-11-18J3, d. 12-3-1894) was the son of Samuel Cooper and
Grace Ridge, his wife, of Tinicum. He was a great-grandson of Edward Marshall,
the famous Indian Walker and fighter; was a carpenter and cabinet-maker and resided
at the end of Solebury Mt. near Claytown. Kirk Family Genealogy, page 288.
378 LAST OF THE WILD PIGEON IN BUCKS COUNTY
tail its operation and at my request has written out an account
of the last pigeon trapping in Bucks county, which, in his own
language, is as follows :
"My first experience with the Wild Pigeon or American Pigeon was
about the year 1873 or 1874 in the fall. My father, Amos Corson, of
Buckingham, and Wilham Hicks, of Philadelphia, were at that time trap-
ping the Wild Pigeon. I was a boy of about six or seven years of age
and went with them. We had a floor made on the north side of Buck-
ingham Mountain about half a mile above the road that goes over the
mountain on the ground that is now known as the 'Old Indian Field.'
We went to the trapping grounds before daybreak, set the net, and then
waited for the sun to come up. We had a field glass and kept a sharp
lookout for the pigeons, which mostly came out of the northwest, in a
good sized flock, sometimes as many as 100 or more. As soon as the
flock was sighted, we would send up our fliers, which were hidden in a
bough house with no top. These fliers were fastened with buckskin boots
around both legs and a long cord, like a heavy fishing line. These fliers
were let go until nearly up to the wild flock approaching when they were
pulled back. As soon as the leaders of the flock saw them they would
make a circle and follow them."
"The stool-pigeon was then put to use, he was on the edge of the floor
and so arranged as to raise and lower on a little stool on a pivot. This
pigeon's eyelids were stitched together with silk thread so that he would
sit still. A good stool-pigeon was hard to get. We have used nearly as
many as we had in the coop before we could get a bird that would an-
swer. They were then kept separately and trained every day. These
birds were always fed by hand during the trapping season so as to be-
come accustomed to the handling. When the flock saw the stool bird
settling as if he were going to alight, they would drop on the floor, which
was covered with wheat, and stand with heads up for a few seconds. We
dare not make a sound as we had to wait for them to start to feed before
springing the net. As soon as they were satisfied all was right, they would
start to feed. Then we sprung the net and usually captured the whole
flock. As soon as the net was sprung, the men sprang to the edge of it
to keep it down by the outside rope. One had to crawl under the net and
hand out the birds. This was my job and they certainly were a lively lot.
The net was about 30 feet long and 12 feet wide, attached to a springing
stick at each end of a rope. This rope was about 80 feet long. The
springing sticks were made of sassafras saplings about 214 inches thick
and about 8 feet long, drove into the ground on a slat."
"We caught about 500 birds one season but each year they became
scarcer. One morning, we caught 105 birds in two springs of the net.
They became so scarce that about 1880 my father and his friend gave up
the trapping of them. We kept them in a slat house 12 by 20 with a part
of the roof made of slats also so the birds could get a shower bath when
it rained. They were very wild and we had to be careful when feeding
LAST OF THE WILD PIGEON IN BUCKS COUNTY 3/9
them as they would fly against the sides and kill themselves. They be-
came somewhat accustomed to the ones that fed them but should a
stranger approach they were off like a flash. I think we raised about six
young birds. They would build a nest and lay two eggs, about the same
as our domestic bird. But we never had but one of the two to hatch.
They could not be tamed no matter what we did. We tried to mate or
cross them with our domestic birds but could not do anything with them."
"The last flock we caught had eleven pigeons in it. These birds were
kept by my father for a long time but they gradually died from old age
and the last bird he let go. He went like a bullet as soon as he was out
and as far as we could see him. This bird alone was in captivity for 6
or 7 years and was as wild at last as when captured."
This bird, given its freedom from the Corson farm in Buck-
ingham township about the year 1890, was the last wild pigeon
in Bucks county.
A word generally as to the wild pigeons in Pennsylvania, be-
cause this State was once its main nesting ground. Just before
the pigeons became practically extinct, naturalists held to the
theory that they formed one great colony, and this seems to be
borne out by the fact that during the nesting season they would
be found in one part of the country covering a vast territory, and
they would be found nowhere else in that section, except in
isolated flocks, perhaps on the wing to join the common nesting
ground. But while there may have been but one great colony,
it is also true that they generally arranged to nest in two or three
colonies in dififerent parts of the country. Proximity to beech
woods was always chosen for the pigeon roosts and nestings, and
that was why the northwestern part of Pennsylvania was the
favorite resort of the colony. The last time any part of the
colony sought the forests of Western Pennsylvania was in 18S6.
The main body nested there last in 1880, when it covered five
miles square in Forest county, and many in the counties of Mc-
Kean and Warren. This section they visited regularly there
never having been a year within the recollections of the inhabi-
tants when some part of the colony did not nest there. The main
colony itself filled these woods in 1867, 1868, 187 1 and 1878 and
1880. In 1880, part of the main colony nested in Indian Terri-
tory. In 1886, the great part of the colony was in Missouri.
The wild pigeons deserted their favorite nesting regions in
Southern New York and Eastern Pennsylvania in 1876. Since
that date, except in isolated flocks, no wild pigeons have been seen
380 LAST OF THE WILD PIGEON IN BUCKS COUNTY
east of the Allegheny river. The last great pigeon roost east of
that river was in Sullivan county, N. Y., and adjacent Pennsyl-
vania in that year.
EXTINCTION.
Now, as to the causes which led to the extinction of the wild
pigeon. There is an element of mystery connected with its some-
what sudden extermination, and this has been the cause of a long
and acrimonious controversy. On the one hand many naturalists
and other persons contend that the main cause of the birds ex-
tinction was the destruction of the source of food supply when
the forests were cleared away. I am convinced that both causes
contributed possibly in about equal degree to the birds final exit.
Beyond the shadow of a doubt, the human, or rather inhuman
assaults on their nesting was one of the main factors of ex-
tmction. People turned their hogs into the nestings to feed upon
the eggs and young birds fallen from the nests. Millions were
trapped, clubbed to death and even scorched with flambeaux, then
packed in barrels and sent to market. They were an important
source of food supply, first to the pioneer and backwoodsman,
and then to the cities. So important a factor were these birds in
the economy of Western Pennsylvania that their disappearance in
1886 was as great a blow to the woodsman as would have been the
disappearance of the woods themselves. As showing the enor-
mous quantity killed it is related that in 1874 five carloads were
shipped from one of the big nestings in Michigan every day for
a period of thirty days. Large numbers were used for trap-shoot-
ing, as many as 20,000 having been slaughtered in a single match
in New York State in the early '8o's * Families camped for
weeks on the edge of the nestings and axe-men cut down the
trees that were most burdened with nests, and then gathered the
squab pigeons. The squabs were very fat, and the Indians, and
sometimes white men, boiled down vast quantities, using the fat
thus secured in place of butter and lard. Hawks and eagles
hovered over the nestings and robbed them of many young.
* Krider, in his Sporting- Anecdotes (pub. in Philadelphia in 1853) in a chapter
on Pigeon Match Shooting, has this to say:
"The Passenger Pigeon (Cohtmba migfatoria) has been frequently shot from
traps in this country, and when not disabled, by confinement affords excellent sport.
It flies very swiftly and in general straight from the trap, and cannot be brought down
unless covered immediately. They should, however, be used for this purpose as soon
as possible after being netted, as they soon beat themselves to pieces in captivity."
LAST OF THE WILD PIGEON IN BUCKS COUNTY 381
The greatest slaughter of pigeons on record took place during
the main colony's nesting in Western Pennsylvania in 1880. The
entire population of the backwoods, including the Indians from
the reservations as far away as Cattaraugus county, N. Y., began
an onslaught on the birds as soon as they arrived and kept it up
while they remained, killing them with guns, with clubs, with
nets and with traps. It was estimated that the roost or "pigeon
city," as it was called, originally contained 200.000.000 pigeons,
which number was naturally increased to 400.000.000 or 500,000,-
000 during their stay in the woods. There were perhaps i.ooo
persons in the woods for the fifty days that the roost was main-
tained. Estimating that each person killed 1,000 pigeons a day —
a high figure — they could have killed only about one-tenth of the
birds, so there were a vast number more left the roost than came
to it.
Ornithologists who lived when the birds were most numerous,
say that the great destruction wrought by man made no percep-
tible impression upon their numbers. We are therefore forced
to the belief that an exceedingly important factor in their event-
ual extinction was the destruction of the forests. Wild pigeons
fed on mast — a term used to designate the fruit of the beech, oak
and other trees. Persecuted, robbed of food and shelter and nest-
ing places, the vast flocks disappeared and the smaller flocks fell
an easy prey to the sportsmen's guns, and the few remaining
trappers who plied their trade. Alany theories were advanced to
account for their disappearance. One was that they sought to
cross the sea and were drowned. Another, that they perished in
a great storm during their migration across the Great Lakes. A
third consigned them to destruction during a Texas "norther,"
which drove them out into the Gulf of Mexico, when they were
lost. Naturalists and bird students generally reject all these
theories.
A writer in the Ncxc York Sioi in 1899. who remembered the
last visitation of the main colony to Pennsylvania east of the
Allegheny in 1876, holds to the theory that when the sawmill and
the tannery destroyed their haunts in the East and Middle West,
the birds were likely dri\en into some country in the great Xorth-
v/est, where they failed to find footl and starved to death.
Thus, we have heard of the passing of the wild pigeon. Its
382 STOVEPIvATE FROM BATSTO FURNACE, NEW JERSEY
story has been added to many others equally lamentable, for in
our times, the Great Auk, the Labrador duck, the Carolina Para-
keet and the Flamingo (in the United States) have become ex-
tinct while the Eskimo Curlew, Pallas' Cormorant and the Ivory-
billed woodpecker are nearly gone, and many others are fast
approaching extinction. It reiterates the fact that the priceless
heritage of wild life found by our ancestors in this country is
being rapidly and steadily destroyed and admonishes us to con-
serve the little that remains.
Stoveplate From Batsto Furnace, New Jersey.
BY W. E. LATHROP, NEW HOPE, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, January 21, 1913.)
We have here an old stoveplate bearing on one side in low
relief a hunting scene — a sportsman aiming at a bird in a tree,
another bird flying, and a dog apparently of the setter type in
the foreground, with the date, 1770, and the name of the fur-
nace Batsto, where it was made. Batsto furnace, it appears, was
built about 1766; it is located on the banks of Little Egg Harbor
river in Burlington county, N. J., at a point about 6 miles north-
east of the present village of Ehvood, and about 14 or 15 miles
from Atlantic City, the development of which was little dreamed
of at that time. From the choice of site it is evident that the fur-
nace was intended to utilize the bog ore which is found under-
lying most of the swamps of southern New Jersey. Many of
the early furnaces were located with that idea in mind. The ore
was easily procured from its shallow bed and easily reduced with
the help of charcoal from the abundant pine forests, and in this
case there were the added advantages of navigable water near
at hand, and a plentiful supply of oyster shells for the necessary
lime to flux the earthy impurities into slag.
Bog ore does not make strong iron. One of the worst enemies
of good iron is phosphorus. This is always present in bog ores,
often in large percentages. Phosphorus makes the iron brittle
and weak when cold, and technically known to metallurgists as
"cold short." Iron high in phosphorus, however, has the ad-
vantage of making the molten iron more fluid, so that it easily
STOVEPLATE FROM BATSTO FURNACE. NEW JERSEY 383
flows into the most minute crevices of a comi)licated mold. For
this reason cast iron high in phosphorus is desirable for the
manufacture of stoveplates, pots, pans, etc., where streniith is
not required. During the earlier years of the charcoal blast fur-
naces in America all castings were made direct from the blast
furnace, without remelting in a cupola. This stoveplate, which is
the subject of this paper, was made in that way, and moreover, it
was cast in open sand. (See "Bible in Iron," Fiti'. No. 177.)
The Batsto furnace was able to operate so long as the cost of
charcoal used for fuel was not prohibitory. That time arrived
about 1848, shortly after the introduction of anthracite coal for
smelting. This caused the Batsto furnace to suspend operations,
as it also did most of the other furnaces of its kind.
When I was a boy in northern Ohio I remember being greatly
impressed by the huge, uncouth ruins of many log ore furnaces
located along the small rivers emptying into Lake Erie. Also by
the stories my grandfather used to tell of how he paid for the
clearing off of his farm by cutting steamboat wood for the first
steamers on the lake and burning charcoal pits at night to supply
the bog ore furnaces. The whole farm was covered at fairly
regular intervals with the black circles which marked the loca-
tion of the old charcoal pits. It seemed a pretty strenuous kind
of farming and I used to look at the old gentleman with awe.
The Batsto furnace was founded by the Hon. Charles Read,
a famous iron master of that time. He evidently had rather
large and Carnegie-like ambitions, for the Batsto furnace was
only one of several like enterprises which he founded and
financed. One of them was at Atsion, only about 15 miles away,
in Burlington county. Like Mr. Carnegie also, he was a good
American, for one of the first activities of the new furnace was
the casting of cannon balls to be hurled at the British.
I find the names of the two furnaces very interesting. \\'hy
Batsto and why Atsion? The head molder or founder at that
time was a Welshman by the name of \Mlliam Richards. Are
the names by any possibility Welsh? Are they Indian? Is there
a Jersey man present who can tell ?
The casting of this plate is quite rough and crude in work-
manship, and the design commonplace and rather stupid, evi-
dently done under the influence and in the rather banal spirit of
384 INDIAN MORTAR FOUND AT DQYLESTOWN
the English taste of the time of George III, the tradition of
which still persists in England and vitiates the great mass of her
art; a sort of heavy triviality. If you turn from this Batsto plate
to almost any of the old Dutch productions which your society
has collected, you will see at once, I think, what I mean. In the
Dutch and old Pennsylvania German plates there is evident, al-
most without exception, a deep religious earnestness which at
once arouses your interest and respect. The designs are fre-
quently crude, but they have character and energy — a man's art,
in fact — done or inspired by strong and earnest men, and as a
natural by-product of that earnestness you have good clean hon-
est workmanship in the casting, in many cases far beyond what
you might expect from the crude tools and facilities of those
primitive times. A time of faith and a faithful people.
Just across the Delaware river, however, a quite different tra-
dition and spiritual atmosphere prevailed, and this piece of
rusty iron seems to me to qviite completely illustrate it.
Notes on an Indian Mortar Found at Doylestown.
BY GEORGE MAC REYNOLDS, DOYLESTOWN_, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, January 21, 1913.)
The Standard Dictionary defines a mortar as "a vessel in which
substances are crushed or pounded with a pestle" ; and a pestle is,
by the same authority, defined as "an implement of stone, metal,
or other heavy material, used for braying, breaking, or mixing
substances in a mortar." The Indian mortar was the Indian's
gristmill. It operated upon precisely the same principle as the
white man's mill, grinding substances fine between two more or
less rough surfaces. It was, in fact, a part of the Indian woman's
kitchen. No one of our ancestors ever saw a fine athletic speci-
men of a warrior sitting on the edge of a mortar working a
pestle. When it came to labor, the Indian man waived all right,
title or interest therein in favor of woman and made her rights
supreme therein. So that when Penn came he found an instance
in which woman's rights were already firmly established.
The Indian mortar was no doubt put to a number of uses, to
all of which it is not necessary to refer here. There were quite
INDIAN MORTAR FOUND AT DOYLESTOWN 385
small mortars in which the Indian medicine man had his herbs
mixed for him, the Indians having a whole materia inedica of
plants, flowers and berries with which they healed their ailments.
In the larger mortars they ground their corn into meal — Indian
meal it is still often called, the name given to it when the Indians
offered it to the first white men who came among them.
Such a mortar is the one found near Doylestown and recently
presented to the Bucks County Historical Society by Mr. W.
Harry Cadwallader, of this place. This mortar or mill, as you
please to call it, is the largest ever found in Bucks county, and,
in fact, there is no record of the existence of a larger one any-
where. About the year 1840 County Commissioner Samuel
Kachline, grandfather of Mr. Cadwallader, and an extensive
builder and contractor in his day, had a number of men employed
cutting trees and removing stumps from a tract of land in the
rear of the property owned and occupied by Henry G. Fell, No.
318 North Main street, Doylestown, an historic homestead, once
the home of the Opps, famous German innkeepers. The atten-
tion of the men was attracted to the peculiar appearance of this
stone, which was partly embedded beneath the roots of a tree —
"the tree growing out of it," as they expressed it. When the
tree was cut down, the stump removed and the stone cleaned off,
the stone was found to be an Indian mill of unusually large size.
With it was found the pestle used in grinding the maize. One of
the workmen took the pestle and nothing has been heard of it
since. Mr. Kachline removed the mortar or mill to his residence.
No. 85 East State street, now the property of Mr. Cadwallader,
where, until it was removed to the Historical Society building, it
had remained ever since near the barn, performing its humble
mission as a chicken watering trough. Its length is 3 feet 4
inches, width i foot 11 inches, thickness 10 inches, greatest depth
of hollo wed-out depression 43^ inches. The block is a piece of
surface sandstone, such as was common in the primeval forests of
this vicinity and may still be seen in old woods like that on the
premises of Joseph Rich, near town. There is nothing peculiar
about the stone, except that its ends appear to have been broken
off. A tradition in Mr. Cadwallader's family has it that the
stone when found was longer than it now is. and that the pro-
jection was used as a seat by the operator of the mill.
386 INDIAN MORTAR FOUND AT DOYLESTOWN
This relic of a vanished race invites to what Historian Rob-
ertson calls "fanciful speculation," but I will make such specu-
lation brief. The scarcity of Indian mills at the present time is
due, in my opinion, to there being very few in use. All good
authorities on the Indian agree that practically the only diet of the
red man before the whites came was game and fish. Resort to
the mortar as a source of food was generally in cases of neces-
sity, seldom from choice. The Indian exerted himself as little
as possible in procuring food, and when he could combine that
duty with the chase, it was generally done. Game was abundant.
The forests were alive with deer, elk and probably moose, not
to mention smaller game. The bison then came to the western
slopes of the Appalachian mountains. This animal did not origi-
nally roam the great plains in vast herds. He was essentially a
forest animal, and it was only when the white man came and
drove him into the plains beyond the Mississippi, then into the
Rocky mountains and finally to extinction, that he ceased to be a
denizen of the forest. The bison is only one of many animals, to
say nothing of birds, which materially changed their habits as a
matter of protection against that singular, ruthless, relentless,
thoughtless, destructive trait in civilized man which leads him to
wage incessant warfare against harmless members of the animal
kingdom rated lower in the creative scale than himself — a war-
fare which is fast adding to the animal and bird species that are
passing away forever. Though the Indian was exhilarated by
the chase, gloried in his spoils, and knew no open or close season
for game, yet unlike the white man he seldom destroyed animal
life wantonly or in greater quantities than sufficient to supply his
immediate needs. Some species of animals and birds were held
in veneration and not killed at all. When the white man came
with his rifle and other methods of destruction, a scarcity of game
soon became noticeable. The Indians murmured at this. Though
they sold their lands, they usually reserved the right to hunt
thereon, and they believed that this right carried with it owner-
ship in the game. It was disregard of his right on the part
of white hunters that started much of the trouble between the
colonists and aborigines.
Game becoming scarce, the Indians resorted to their mill more
frequently than before, and as a last resort perhaps decided to
INDIAN MORTAR FOUND AT DOVLESTOWN ^S^7
remove into sections where game still abounded. In the removal
of Indian village sites their mortar mills were probably nearly
always left behind. Sometimes a fixed rock was found suitable
to grinding their corn, in which case it became unnecessary to
make a mortar. Finally came the time when the Indians could
secure their meal by trading with the white men and they no
longer had use for their own crude mortar mills. These, pos-
sibly, are some of the reasons why these particular Indians relics
are so rarely found.
Very little, so far as I can ascertain, is said on the mortar by
reliable early writers on the Indians. William Penn, the Pro-
prietary, in his well-known letter to the Free Society of Traders
in London, written from "Philadelphia, the i6th of Sixth month,
called August, 1683," gives us the best picture of aboriginal life
and customs as they were at the time white men first came here.
Penn goes into much detail, but he does not mention the mortar
or its uses. The nearest be comes to it is when he incidentally
refers to the product of the mortar in paragraph 16, as follows :
"XVI. Their diet is maize or Indian corn, divers ways prepared ;
sometimes roasted in ashes ; sometimes beaten and boiled with water,
which they call 'homine' ; they also make cakes, not unpleasant to eat.
They likewise have several sorts of beans and pease, that are good
nourishment ; and the woods and rivers are their larder."
Hinton's History of the United States (1834) p. 323, quotes
the following:
"The food of the natives was principally obtained from the game and
fish with which the country abounded. But they cultivated in the intervals
considerable quantities of corn, beans, pumpkins, and squashes ; the
forests furnished a great variety of nuts and other fruits, which, in the
sale of their lands to the English, they generally reserved for their own
use. Indian corn was an important article ; this, after being parched and
pounded to a coarse meal, and moistened with water, was called nokcltick,
and eaten on all occasions when animal food could not be procured, or
expedition forbid the time necessary for more protracted cookery. On
all excursions, parched corn was carried in small baskets, or sacks, and
was a sure preservative against famine."
The Bucks County Historical Society is to be congratulated
upon securing so valuable a relic as this mortar, and many thanks
are due Mr. Cadwallader, the donor. It is probably the largest
and most important of its kind in the East, and it is certainly
the oldest and best relic of the aborigines ever found on the site
388 EXTRACTING RESINS FROM TREES IN NORTH CAROLINA
of Doylestown. Its presence here, I think, indicates a site of an
important Lenni Lenape village, and this probabihty, added to
the well-estabhshed tradition of a great Indian battle having been
fought about a mile west of Doylestown at Vauxtown, ought to
stimulate Indian archaeologists to extend their researches in this
vicinity.
Extracting Resins From Trees in North Carolina.
BY CHARLES R. NIGHTINGALE, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, January 21, 1913.)
Some authorities state that Georgia yields more turpentine and
rosin than any other region of the world, while others give the
credit to North Carolina. It is, nevertheless, true that the latter
and former states, including South Carolina's pine forests, fur-
nish turpentine, rosin, tar, and pitch (called "naval stores") sur-
passing all the rest of the world in the production thereof.
Notwithstanding that the territory assigned the speaker is
North Carolina, and the tree to be dealt with the long-leaved
pine {Pinus australis, P. palustris), we deem it well to mention
that turpentine olo-resins exude from other trees. Especially is
this true of the coniferae (of which family the long-leaved pine
tree is a part), and of the Terrebinth tree (Pistacia terrebinthus) ,
or the true turpentine tree, from which tree the name is derived.
It is a native of the lands in and about the Mediterranean ; the
source of Chian turpentine, or Cypress turpentine, which is of
the consistency of honey, clear and yellowish white. It is com-
mon in the hot and dry southern and eastern parts of Palestine.
It is called by Isaiah, Teil. It, generally, stands isolated, seldom
in clumps, never in forests, and is an object of veneration, and the
dead are often buried beneath it. It is also named Algerine or
Barbary mastic tree. A delicious chewing gum is obtained from
this tree. The official name of turpentine is terebinthinae, which
name, or its abbreviation, is used by pharmacists. Chian per-
tains to Chios, an island of the Aegean sea, where
"That blind bard, who on the Chian strand * * *
Beheld the Iliad and the Odyssey
Rise to the swelling of the voiceful sea."
EXTRACTING RESINS FROM TREES IN NORTH CAROLINA 389
In Europe turpentine is gotten from the Scotch-pine (P. Syl-
vestris) wrongly called Scotch fir, also called wild pine ; from the
sea-pine (F. Maritinia) and from the Corsican-pine (P. Laricio).
In the United States the turpentines are the long-leaved pine,
the loblolly pine (P. Taeda), also called old-field pine and frank-
incense-pine, which often springs up on abandoned lands or as
second growth after the long-leaved pine. The Norway pine (P.
resinosa) or red-pine of the central north, and the red, yellow
or Douglas fir (Psciidotstiga Douglasii), called Douglas pine and
Oregon pine. The pitch pine (P. rigida), called torch pine, also
sap pine and candlewood pine, extending from New Brunswick
to Georgia, west to Ontario, West Virginia and Kentucky, and
forming most of the pine barrens of Long Island and New Jersey,
abounds with resin, and large quantities of tar and pitch are ob-
tained from this tree. At the present time turpentine, etc., as
will be seen later, are factors in commerce from this tree. Venice
turpentine is yielded by the larch tree (Larix Europae), and is
collected chiefly in Tyrol. Strausburg turpentine is obtained
from the bark of the silver fir (Abies pectinata), but in small
quantities only. Some turpentines are gathered from the moun-
tain pine (P. piirinilio). The Swiss-stone pine or Orolla (F.
Cemhra), whose seeds are edible and abound in oil, yields a tur-
pentine called Carpathian balsam. The seeds of this pine, as
well as the Pinus pinea or stone pine of the south of Europe and
of the north of Africa, are used in Europe and elsewhere in
desserts, under the name of pine nuts. The Aleppo pine (F. Hale-
pensis) is the source of Aleppo turpentine. The Neoza pine (F.
Gerardiana of the northwestern Himalayas, with a silver bark,
which peels off in large flakes produces abundant turpentine, and
each cone afifords about one hundred edible seeds or neoza nuts ;
whence it is sometimes called Nepal nut pine. The so-called
Canada balsam, or balsam fir, or Balm of Gilead or American
silver fir (F. halsamea, or Abies batsamea), is a true turpentine,
from which we get balsam of fir and balm of Gilead. This tur-
pentine is used for the mounting of microscopic objects. Tur-
pentine is also taken from the Pistachio tree {Pistacia vera) of
the Mediterranean region, the Canary Islands and Mexico.
In former times large quantities of turpentine were collected in
New England, but the trees there have become exhausted.
390 EXTRACTING RE;SINS FROM TREES IN NORTH CAROLINA
But to our long-leaved pine of the Old North State, among the
"Tar Heels," this pine has various names, and grows to the
height of seventy feet or more, and a yard in diameter, with
leaves in threes, slender, dark green, clustered at the end of the
branches, much elongated (lo to i6 inches long). The names
are, Virginia pine (old name), swamp pine, Southern, Georgia,
yellow, broom (branches used as brooms), hard and red pine.
During the early nineties the speaker spent some time in this
state, visiting the schools of the different counties. It was dur-
ing his sojourn there, while at Lumberton, the county seat of
Robeson county that the trunk of the long-leaved pine tree before
us was sent to the Doylestown High School, while Prof. Schroy
was principal, in order to facilitate the teaching of this important
subject, and to give the pupil a clearer idea of the manner of ex-
tracting the gum resin from the live tree. With the trunk were
included the three implements used ; a "dipper," a "clipper" and
a "scraper." Here are the implements, and the trunk. Thou-
sands of these trees compose a turpentine orchard. What is
gathered during the season is called a crop.
The orchard is gone over every two weeks or less. The gum
resin begins to flow about the middle of March and continues
during the warm season. The first thing done to a new orchard
is to have the trees "boxed" in the winter by cutting a deep notch
near the ground. They are then "blazed," by removing the bark
just above the box. The sap which is raw or gum turpentine,
flows into the boxes and is taken therefrom with the dipper, put
in a bucket, then in barrels and hauled to the distillery. The box
in the tree will hold a quart or more of the virgin turpentine.
In large trees three or more boxes are cut. Where the treie is
blazed the bark is left V-shaped, point downward, as you see it
here, from which the oleo resins exude through the pores of the
clipped bark. Where the tree is blazed the tree proper is scraped
some, as turpentine oozes from thence as well as from the bark,
but of course it comes chiefly from the bark. The pores of the
V-shaped bark will "heal" or close up, and thus cause a cessation
of exudation, then this clipper comes in play, and about an inch
of the bark is clipped from the V-shaped place, as well as from
the tree at that point, and exudation continues. After the bark
has been clipped to a height beyond the reach of the short-handled
EXTRACTING RESINS FROM TREES IN NORTH CAROLINA 39I
clipper or the scraper, longer handles are substituted. When the
blazed part gets too far from the bucket or box at the base of the
tree the turpentine adheres to the smooth surface of the tree, so
that it becomes necessary to remove it, which is done with the
scraper (in this manner), and the "crude" turpentine drops into
a three-sided box, on legs, placed at the foot of the tree. This
crude turpentine is put in barrels and taken to the distillery to
undergo the processes of distillation. During the distillation a
vapor passes off in a liquid, called "gum spirits of turpentine."
(Note that this is gum from the living tree). The substance left
in the still is strained, and when cool becomes solid. This is
rosin. A\'hen trees are blazed too high to reach the V-shaped
bark to re-open the pores they are cut down, and by destructive
methods of distillation converted into charcoal, the juices running
therefrom becoming tar, wdiich boiled down produces pitch.
North Carolina plays no small part in the production of char-
coal, tar, pitch, etc. The manner of destructive distillation at
the time of getting this "tree" was as follows: The trees were
cut into "billets" or like unto cord-wood and stacked into an up-
right conical-shaped form, two, three or more tiers high. Wliere
there is a bank it is dug out in a half circle and the kiln made
there. Where tar and charcoal are recovered or alcohol and acid,
the kilns are elevated ; where charcoal alone is recovered they are
built on the earth without elevation. In either case a \"-shaped
opening is left at the bottom of the kiln, extending through the
same. Kindling wood is distributed throughout the heap. The
whole, is covered with turf or earth to prevent the presence of
air. Several holes, however, are left at the bottom and one at the
top of the kiln, in order to produce a draught to commence the
combustion. Soon after the ignition the opening at the top is
closed, and, when the wood is all ignited, the holes at the bottom
are stopped, when, for weeks the slow smouldering fire distills
the saps and they run to the base of the kiln, where usually a
cast-iron bottom has been placed, and then out of the kiln, through
a pipe into barrels. The base of the kiln is generally so shaped
that the juices run first to the center and thence by pipe to the
receptacles for receiving them. The tar thus produced, when
boiled down becomes thicker, and is known as pitch.
But we have been talking about distillation back in 1890. At
26
392 EXTRACTING RESINS FROM TREES IN NORTH- CAROLINA
the present time and for the past fifteen years charcoal is made
by burning the wood in retorts or iron cyhnders. There is a
greater saving and more ingredients may be made by this manner
of distillation. In fact, all waste materials from the sawmills,
pine stumps, broken limbs, fallen trees and sawdust are utilized
for the production of turpentine, tar, pitch, rosin, paper, chemic-
als, etc. We have spoken of the production of "gum" turpen-
tine. Wood turpentine, stump turpentine or wood "spirits of
turpentine" is turpentine oil made from cut pine, fir or spruce
by distilling the wood in closed retorts. This use of the waste
wood will add much to the profit of the producer. The Census
Bureau estimated that in 1908, approximately 16,000,000,000
board feet of the turpentine bearing trees were cut. They place
the waste at the mill and in the forest at 8,000,000,000 board feet
or approximately 8.000,000 cords of wood, available for the re-
covery of turpentine and rosin, tar pitch and the manufacture of
paper, acetate of lime, wood alcohol, oxalic acid, etc. Assuming
low yields of turpentine and rosin, it is possible to recover from
the wastes of the yellow pine lumber industry (including dead-
and-down timber) as much or more turpentine, rosin and rosin
oils as are now produced by the ordinary methods of turpen-
tining from the living trees. What a wealth this would add to
the south and help to conserve its timber resources !
As we stated at the beginning, the three great turpentine pro-
ducing trees are, the long-leaved pine, of the South ; the Norway
pine, of the Central North and the Douglass fir, of the North-
west.
There are three methods now used in distilling turpentine : De-
structive distillation methods, steam distillation methods, and ex-
traction with insolvents.
In the destructive method "lightwood" or "lighter wood" and
stumps which contain an exceptional amount of turpentine and
rosin, are loaded into retorts containing one or more cords each
and slowly heated at a low temperature until all the turpentine
and other low boiling oils are directed to other receiving vessels
and the distillation of the wood continued until nothing remains
in the retort but charcoal. This method takes from 24 to 30
hours.
In the steam distillation methods all mill wastes (including
EXTRACTING RESINS FROM TREES IN NORTH CAROLINA 393
sawdust) are profitably utilized and wood must be chipped or
cut into small pieces so that the steam may penetrate it to remove
the oils readily. The machine used to chip the wood is called a
"hog." When the wood is "hogged" it is taken directfy to the
retort by conveyors, or is placed in one of the many forms of
the inner containers which have been devised to facilitate the
penetration of the chipped wood by the steam, and also the
emptying of the retort at the conclusion of the distillation. Live
steam is conducted into the retort until no more oils pass over,
which requires from three to twenty-four hours. The steam
process has found its greatest development in connection with
the saw mills of the South.
As to extraction with solvents : Turpentine may be recovered
from wood by dissolving it in a volatile or non-volatile solvent,
or in an alklai. It is but little done and deserves more attention
than it has received. It is now, however, being placed upon a
commercial basis. It takes large quantities of solvent to satu-
rate the wood for extraction. Fortunately the solvent can be al-
most entirely recovered. By this method the products are of a
high quality, and the w^ood is left in such a condition that it may
be sold for fuel, used as paving blocks, for making paper, or
subsequently destructively distilled without contaminating the
wood turpentine with rosin spirits or other products of destruc-
tive distillation.
When paper pulp is to be made the wood is cut up first. It is
claimed that from the boiling alkali solution the turpentine may
be removed in from 10 to 15 minutes.
The wood chiefly used in Europe for the production of tar is
the Scotch fir and the Siberian larch. In England wood tar is
chiefly a by-product for the manufacture of wood vinegar (Pyro-
ligenoiis alcohol), and wood spirits (Diethyl alcohol). Charcoal
is used in medicine. Oil of turpentine as an insolvent in phar-
macy, externally in liniments. They are used in ointments and
plasters, often for intestinal troubles and bladder troubles.
Rosins and varnishes are used in tallow for cheap candles, in
the manufacture of yellow soap, in perfumery, in cosmetics, in
printer's ink, in calking seams in ships by oakum makers to in-
crease the weight of oakum, on violins to prevent the bow from
slipping without producing vibrations.
394 EXTRACTING RESINS FROM TREES IN NORTH CAROI.INA
The large columner trunk of the long-leaved pine is close
grained, very durable and polishes well. It is used quite exten-
sively for building, and for interior work. Masts for vessels
are made from them. It is largely employed in American ship
yards, and is exported.
The seeds of this and other pine trees drop to the ground and
are eagerly eaten by hogs and turkeys, and they grow fat on
them. The seed is called mast, like the acorn and the beech-nut,
and seeds of other trees. Probably from the word mast, meaning
food. When the seeds are falling the farmer "turns his hogs out
to mast" The quotations, "Masting themselves like hogs," and
"Some kings feed on men like hogs on mast," will show the word
one of general use. We mentioned that the tree is called "broom-
pine." You will readily see the aptness of the term when I tell
you that the leaves clustered at the ends of the branches are used
as brooms ; the branch being the handle. They make a very good
broom for dusting or sweeping the open hearth and the carpetless
floors. The leaves of the pine, or pine needles as they are called,
drop to the ground and are spoken of as "staw." They are often
used as litter for the animals.
The broken limbs and old stumps are also used for heating and
lighting purposes. The knots and old stumps are full of sap, and
are called light wood or "lighter wood." When burning in the
fire place they not only give out great heat but light the room
beautifully. Sticks of this light wood are used as torches, both
from the yellow pine and the pitch pine. The latter gets the
name torch pine from this use of it. These torches are very
convenient to light one on the way when traveling in the dark-
ness of the night especially through the extremely dark forest.
We have seen these torches lighted and one end stuck in the
ground in front of houses, and they would light up the whole
yard, but they produce much smoke. It helps keep the mosquitoes
from the porches where the people sit.
Recently the farmer has been using a crock to catch the tur-
pentine as it runs from the tree instead of cutting the box at the
base of the tree. This would be a great convenience, but I do not
know how extensively it is used. I know, however, that Venice
turpentine from the Larix Bnropea used to be obtained by the
peasants by boring holes into the trunk about a foot from the
EXTRACTING RESINS FROM TREES IN NORTH CAROLINA 395
ground and conducting the juice by means of wooden gutters into
small tubs.
The Agricultural Department of Forestry is experimenting
with turpentine products, in fact it has been for some time past.
Pamphlets issued in 1912 on "Wood Turpentine." and "Chemical
Methods For Utilizing Wood" make very interesting reading
matter.
The Secretary reports that they are in the neighborhood of
400,000 barrels of rosin annually misgraded chiefly at the expense
of the producer; that in order to prevent this as far as possible,
a simple device has been prepared with which the producer of the
rosin can himself accurately grade his product and in this way
check the subsequent official grading.
Our exports and imports of spirits, tar, rosin, pitch and char-
coal for the year ending June 30, 1911, show: Imports of char-
coal, about 300,000 bushels, exports about 500,000 bushels ; tar
and pitch, imported 1,719 barrels (of wood) ; of spirits of tur-
pentine, 204.321 gallons; rosin exported, 2,189.607 barrels, valued
at $14,067,335. We exported of tar, pitch and raw turpentine
14,817,751 gallons of the value of $10,768,202 or $25,022,720 in
exports. Now if we could add the other products from this tree
or these trees which we export and the products used at home
which come directly or indirectly from these trees the figures
would stagger us. The ingredients produced from this tree and
the uses to which they are put are numberless. Acetates, ace-
tones, gun cotton, celluloid goods, creosote, carbolic acid, dyes
and many other articles are products from this tree.
The waste would yield more charcoal, wood alcohol and acetate
of lime than is now being produced. The sawdust from the
Southern pine mills alone will yield more oxalic acid than is now
used in the country. If the mill wastes of long-leaved and Nor-
way pines and Douglass fir are used for recovering turpentine,
the cost of production will be reduced approximately half, while
the total quantity of turpentine which may be thus recovered
W'ill be about 12,000,000 gallons.
I feel that I have not half told the story of this valuable tree,
but as my paper is already too long I must close.
The Old Spring-Houses of Bucks County.
BY MRS. A. HALLER GROSS, LANGHORNE, PA.*
(Doylestown Meeting, January 21, 1913.)
The spring-houses of Bucks county are gradually disappearing,
owing partly to neglect and partly because they are no longer
considered a necessity as they were when the fanners' wives
made butter and all the milk was used on the farm. To-day the
cream-separator and the milk-house are taking the place of the
spring-houses. This may be, and doubtless is, a commercial ad-
vantage, but artistically it is a great loss. When all the spring-
houses have disappeared, it may be of interest to those who have
never seen one to find any record of where and what they were.
They are all alike in being old and built of stone and having
small windows one on each side, with outside stationary blinds
or shutters made of wood. They differ mainly in size, some being
one story high and some two stories, and varying in length from
15 feet to 40 feet, and in width from 12 feet to 25 feet; sometimes
the roof is a stone arch covered with sod, and sometimes it is
made of wood covered with shingles. They are built over a
spring or springs. There is a platform in the center with water
circulating on three sides of it; on this platform the milk is
skimmed and the butter is churned and ladled into rolls. At one
end of the spring-house there is an outlet to carry off the water.
Those that have two stories are usually built on a hill-side, and
one enters the second story on a level with the higher part of the
ground. At the end opposite the door on the second story are
the chimney and open fireplace; this brings the chimney directly
above the door of the first story where the water is. Apple-
butter, sausage and scrapple are made in these upper stories ; there
are very good examples of this kind on the farms of Richardson
and Osmond on the public road between Langhorne and New-
town, and on the farm of Jonathan Cornell near Newtown, but
at both places instead of the open wooden fireplaces, they have in
use stoves and stovepipes going into the chimneys. Probably
most of the spring-houses were built by the first settlers, and
* Mrs. Gross, the author of this paper, died September lo, 1916. She was the
daughter of John C. Bullitt of Philadelphia.
the; old spring-iiousks of bucks county
397
those that have a second story may have been buih in that way for
economy, so that the family could occupy the second story until
they could afford to build a better house. I have heard that a
former attorney-general of Pennsylvania was born in the second
story of a spring-house such as I have described, and that he was
never ashamed of the fact.
On Mrs. Edward P. Davis's place, Bewley Farm, near New-
town, there is a beautiful spring-house, built in 1727, with a green
mound over it on which large trees grow and which in the spring
is covered with crocuses. There is also an old spring-house on
the Wildman place, now owned by Mr. Devlin, and one on Mr.
Buckman's farm ; both of these are near Langhorne to the west ;
to the south of Langhorne there is a very fine one on the Way
farm. It is to be regretted that the old spring-houses should be
so neglected and allowed to go into decay, and that new ones are
not built to replace them. Even if they are rarely put to their
former uses, yet on a hot summer day their shade and coolness,
w'ith their pure welling spring-water, invite to a scene of peace
and tranquillity.
|j
mm
J/g^^'
f*9
V
M
>^.5>*..,'a,V..^«5.
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SPRINGHOUSE ON FARM OF CHARI^ES KRIEHKL
Near the Cross Keys Hotel, Rucks county, I'.'i. With a wing containing an open fireplace
for special household cooking. From photograph taken May, 1917.
Songs and Games of Children in Bucks County.
BY MRS. ElvIvSWORTH KOCHERSPERGER, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Mrs. Kochersperger read two papers before the society on the same
subject, one at the Doylestown meeting, January 21, 1913, covering
games played mostly by children, and the other at the Wrightstown
meeting, November 8, 1913, which included some games also played
by older folks. These two papers have been consolidated and are
now published as one continuous paper.)
My earliest recollection takes me back to the little red brick
schoolhouse in Doylestown, that stood on Court street where our
beautiful new school building now stands.
Many of the games mentioned in this paper were played on the
school grounds at recess and during the noon hour. Some were
used as parlor games by the younger set, and some were played
at Sunday School picnics, and many of them were often indulged
in by the older folks at evening companies, and I am sure that I
voice the sentiment of my audience when I say that the most
staid now and then enjoy a little relaxation, and can appreciate
the saying of the poet :- —
"Backward, turn backward, oh time, in your flight.
Make me a child again just for to-night."
I therefore ask you to be children again while we consider
for a few minutes the games that children are playing and which
we and our parents and grandparents and other generations be-
fore them have played, and which will be played by generations
yet unborn.
"Water. Water, White flower" was a popular game, the song
ran thus: (Mrs. Kochersperger acted and sang many of the
songs, which added interest to her reading of these papers.)
Water, water, white flower, growing up so high.
We are all young ladies, and we are sure to die,
Excepting Kitty Brown, she is the finest flower,
White white flower, white white flower she.
Then you turn your back and tell her name, and then continue
singing : —
SONGS AND GAMES OF CHILDREN IN BUCKS COUNTY 399
Johnie Jones is a nice 3'oung man,
He comes to the door with his hat in his hand,
Down comes she dressed in white,
A rose in her bosom as soft as silk.
She pulls on her glove to show her gold ring.
To-morrow, to-morrow the wedding will begin.
"London Bridge" was a game played in former years but is
perhaps played less frequently now. Two of the taller children
are selected to clasp each others hands and raise them forming an
arch, which is the bridge through which the others must pass in
single file, holding fast to each others garment as they pass.
During this procession they all sing :
London bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down, so merrilj-.
Here comes a light to light you to bed, light you to bed, light you to
bed, so merrily.
Here comes a hatchet to chop off your head, chop off your head,
chop off your head, so merrily.
After the bridge makers have chopped off the head by the
hatchet so merrily, they may choose as a forfeit either a gold
watch or a piano, then they go behind the one who has the im-
aginary gift to have it bestowed upon them. I was much sur-
prised, last summer, while playing this game with some of the
young folks of Doylestown, to find that instead of a gold watch
or piano, they were offering a flying machine or an automobile.
"Little Sallie Waters" was another game much enjoyed. It
was played by forming a ring and placing Sallie Walters within,
.who would pretend to weep; those forming the ring would then
sing :—
Rise, Sallie rise, wipe your eyes,
Fly to the east, fly to the west.
And fly to the one that you love best.
"Poor Pussy Wants a Corner." In this game we decided who
should be pussy by using the following counting-out rhyme : —
Inty, minty, cuty, corn, apple seed and briar thorn ;
Briar, nire, limber lock, three geese in a flock,
0-U-T, out with a dish cloth over your mouth you are out.
The last one out would be "it," and would say, "poor pussy
wants a corner," the one in the corner would say, "go to ne.xt
neighbor." During this time they would skip from corner to
corner, while the old puss was trying to tag them.
400 SONGS AND GAMES OF CHILDREN IN BUCKS COUNTY
"Blue Bird" or Blue Bud", as it was called about 1870. A lot
of birds of all colors appeared in a row, the mother bird watch-
ing over them. Some one with a long stick knocks and then the
mother asks 'who's there' ? answer, 'old witch ; what do you want' ?
Answer, 'a bird'. Bird asks 'what color' ? the color chosen must
then run and if caught, go to live with the old witch.
"Bull in the Ring" is rather a boisterous game, and rather
hard upon the little wrists, but a lot of fun. Some one is selected
to act the part of the ferocious animal, and after much pawing
and snorting, he makes a plunge to escape through some weak
place in the ring; if he escapes, some one else must take his place.
"Barn Yard." This is a very funny game. A ring is formed,
one of the players is selected and blindfolded, and then given a
long stick with which he or she points at one of the players, the
one pointed at must answer by giving the cry of some barn-yard
animal or fowl, e. g., neighing like a horse, grunting like a pig,
or crowing like a rooster, or gobbling like a turkey, etc.
"Stoop Tag," or "Squat Tag," as it is sometimes called, is a
game of tag where the player is not to be tagged while in a
stooping position, but if caught standing erect, must take the
place of the tagger.
"Hop Scotch." The youngsters of Doylestown soon discovered
that the stone-walk at the courthouse was one of the good places
to mark off the squares for this game, which is played by hopping
on one foot from square to square.
"Follow the Leader" was very popular about 1878, one of the
larger boys would be chosen as leader, who would often lead us
a merry dance. I call to mind one day at recess ; we followed
him over the sheds at the Reformed Church, then on and on into
a field near the borough mill, realizing when too late, that we
could not get back in time for the session, each one then gathered
a bunch of flowers to present to the teacher; we marched in the
school-room single file, and laid our peace-offering upon the
teacher's desk, and to our amazement he did not even thank us.
"Happy is the Miller" is a game that requires considerable
energy ; it is played with an unequal number, the youngsters sing-
ing with all their might and main : —
SONGS AND GAMES OF CHILDREN IN BUCKS COUNTY 4OI
Happy is the miller that lives by himself,
As the mill goes around he is gaining all his wealth.
One hand in the hopper, the other in the bag,
As the mill goes around he cries out "grab."
At the word "grab," the one in the ring must be alert to secure
a partner that belongs to someone else, and then in turn the one
left over without a partner must be the miller.
"Mollie, Mollie Lee" was a game much enjoyed several years
ago, but about out of fashion now because of the kiss that must
be bestowed upon the chosen lover. Mollie Lee takes her position
in a ring the rest of the children taking hold of hands going round
singing :
Mollie, Mollie Lee as we go roaming
Down the bank so swiftly flowing,
Choose your own, your own true lover,
See that you don't choose any other.
Love farewell.
Here's my hand, my heart I give thee,
One sweet kiss and then I leave thee,
Love farewell.
"Three Jolly Sailor Boys," another of the microbe distributors,
is banished.
Here come three jolly, jolly sailor boys,
Just lately come on shore.
They spend their time in a merry, merry wa}'.
Just as they did before.
Here we go around and around, around and around.
The one that you love in this merry, merry game
Just kiss her kneeling down.
The sailor who has been nerving himself for the ordeal steps
forward and chooses the one loved best, acting out the game as
described in the song.
"The Drunken Sailor" was a game we all enjoyed. It savored
a little of dancing. A double row was formed, the couple at the
top of the row would two-step down the line extending a hand
to each one on his side and each in turn taking a few steps in
circle, number one returning in line and extending the hand to the
next one until the end was reached. This could be kept up in-
definitely until tired out. All the while the game was going on
the singing was kept up.
402 SONGS AND GAMES OF CHILDREN IN BUCKS COUNTY
What shall be done with the drunken sailor,
Put him in a boat and sail him over,
Sometimes drunk and sometimes sober,
The fall of the year comes in October.
When he lives he lives in clover,
When he dies he dies all over.
"Here We Dance Luby," an exercise game being played now :
I put my right hand in, I put my right hand out,
I give my right hand a shake, shake, shake, and turn myself about.
Here we dance Luby, Luby, Luby,
Here we dance Luby, Luby, Light,
Here we dance Luby, Luby, Luby, every Saturday night.
I put my left hand in, etc., I put my right foot in, etc. (repeat as above)
I put my noddle in, I put my noddle out,
I give my noddle a shake, shake, shake.
And I turn myself about.
(Chorus) Here we dance Luby, etc.
I put my whole self in, I put my whole self out,
I give my whole self a shake, shake, shake,
And I turn myself about.
(Chorus) Here we dance Luby, etc.
"Did You Ever See a Lassy?" On the same principle as the
one preceding it, not as easy as it looks.
Did you ever see a lassy? (repeat three times.)
Did you ever see a lassy do this way and that? (making any
motion you choose, while the rest must follow, singing all the
while).
"Poor Pussy," is a game that calls forth much mirth. Some
one is chosen to impersonate the cat, going through all sorts of
antics, while she is standing or kneeling in front of any one he
chooses. The chosen one must place his hand upon the cat and
say "poor pussy" while the animal is calling forth all the cat lan-
guage he knows ; if you smile you must then take the cat's place,
etc.
Another game played now is :
WiUiam Penn took a notion
That he'd sail across the ocean.
So he left his dear old sweetheart.
In a hollow, hollow tree.
Never mind, my dear old sweetheart,
I will marry, marry thee,
I will buy you silk and satin,
I will buy you gold too.
SONGS AND GAMES OF CHILDREN IN BUCKS COUNTY 403
The one in the ring points to each in turn singing *'Tap for
silver, tap for gold, tap for the very one that you love best." The
one loved best must enter ring.
The next game shows an easy way to get married.
How oats, peas, beans and barley grows,
How those so well as the farmer knows,
How oats, peas, beans and barlej' grows.
You, nor I, nor nobody knows.
How oats, peas, beans and barley grows.
(Use sowing grain motion.)
Thus he stands and takes his ease.
Stamps his foot and claps his hands,
And turns around to view the land.
Waiting for a partner, waiting for a partner,
Open the door' and let one in,
Make haste and choose your partner.
Now you're married, you must obey,
You must be true to all you say.
You must be kind, you must be good.
And keep your wife in kindling wood.
"Oh Said the Owl I Wish It Were Night," "I\Iiss Jennie O.
Jones," "Grandmammy Hipty Klink," are old, old games. 1850.
"One Two Three Game" can be played by two or more and
can be enjoyed by old or young. A good game to entertain an
invalid of any age, as you will learn from the beautiful lines.
It was an old, old, old, old lady, and a boy that was half-past three,
And the way they played together was wonderful to see.
She couldn't go running and jumping, and the boy no more could he.
For he was a thin little fellow, with a poor little twisted knee.
They sat in the yellow twilight, out under the maple tree.
And the game that they played, I'll tell you just as it was told to me.
It was hide and go seek they were playing, though you'd never have
known it to be,
With an old, old, old, old lady, and a boy with a twisted knee.
The boy would bend his face down on his one little sound right knee,
And guess where she was hiding, with one and a two and a three.
"You are in the china closet," he would cry and laugh with glee.
It wasn't the china closet, but he still had two and three.
"You are up in papa's big bedroom, in the chest with the queer old key."
And she said, "You are warm and warmer, but you're not quite right,"
said she.
"It can't be the little cupboard, where mama's things used to be.
So it must be the clothes press, grandma," and he found her with his
three.
404 SONGS AND GAME;S OF CHIL<DREN IN BUCKS COUNTY
Then she covered her face with her fingers, that were wrinkled and
white and wee,
And she guessed where the boy was hiding, with a one and a two and
a three.
And they never had stirred from their places, right under the maple
tree.
This old, old, old, old lady, and the boy that was half-past three,
This dear, dear, dear old lady and the boy with the lame little knee.
With the ushering in of the germ and microbe theories, the
kissing age has gradually disappeared, and with it such games
as,
Needle eye as I pass by,
Waiting for you to go through,
Many a lass I have let pass,
But now I have caught you.
"Spin the Plate," once so popular, has no place now. Other
games played were "Love in the Dark" ; "Clap in and Clap Out" ;
"Post Office," where Johnnie Jones left a letter for Katie Smith
with ten stamps on it, etc. ; "Ghost," an entirely new game in
Doylestown, is very interesting and requires a lot of thinking;
"Go Round and Round the Valley," the valley being the outside
of a large ring.
"Copenhagen" is another microbe distributor, can be remem-
bered by many of us at our Sunday School picnics. A large rope
was always taken along just as faithfully as was our croquet set
and basket of good things. The game was played by lining up
around the rope, certain ones were selected to go inside of the
ring, those inside tapped the hands of one of the opposite sex; if
the girl was quick enough to duck under the rope, even by run-
ning to some other part of the ring, she escaped being kissed,
otherwise she received a kiss, and sometimes there was not much
resistance; it was a noticeable fact that the larger ones always
tagged the larger, and it was surprising to notice the larger
number that gradually got inside of the ring as the game prog-
ressed.
"Hide and Seek" was a game played where counting-out
rhymes were used, often the following: —
Ailie, mailie, tipee tee,
Illie, pillee, dominee,
Oachee, poachee, dominee,
I pou tusk.
SONGS AND GAMES OF CHII.DREN IN BUCKS COUNTY 405
The last one then hid his face and counted out aloud by fives
up to one hundred, thus 5-10-15-20 and soon up to 100, this was
supposed to give the others time enough to hide, and then his
task of seeking began.
"Farmer in the Dell Oh !" is one of the later day games, the
words are — Farmer in the dell, the farmer wants a wife, the wife
wants a child, the child wants a dog, the dog wants a bone, choos-
ing each time as wanted, the last called being the one who re-
mains in the ring and in turn takes the place of the farmer.
"Fox and Geese" was a game played in the snow. "High
Biddy Martin" was played by New Britain children about 1850.
Sports such as jumping rope, playing ball and marbles all had
their places. Just as sure as spring came with its deepest mud,
just so sure came marbles; even the girls would often join in this
game, but the boys objected, saying that girls could not shoot
'cunney thumb,' whatever that term might mean.
These are some of the many games and sports that have been
played, and are still being played in Doylestown as the years
come and go.
Homemade Straw Hats in Solebury.
BY LEWIS R. BOND, MORRISVILLE, PA.
(Thompson Memorial Church, Solebury Township, May 2"}, 19 13.)
Did you live in Solebury forty years ago? If not, you may
never fully realize just what you missed unless some of us who
were fortunate enough to do so should give you a true account of
its natural beauties, its gushing springs of pure water, its fertile
and productive soil, frugal and comely housewives, rosy cheeked
maidens and its honest sons of toil wearing upon their heads dur-
ing the summer months the famous home-made straw hats for
which the old township was at that time noted.
The hills are still here, the valleys are just as fertile though
the forests of that day have fallen, the streams flow on fed by
the same springs, the housewife and maiden still await the re-
turn of husband, father and brother, but the hat made from
straw of the rye and wheat grown in the near-by fields is seen
no more.
Vandalism is to be deplored, so is the commercialism that
drives out the straw hat made by hand, from superior stock
carefully selected, cured, plaited and fashioned by the hand that
W'Ould not purposely allow an inferior straw to enter into its
composition.
These hats were made from wheat or rye straw carefully se-
lected cut by the younger members of the family with sharp
knives or shears before the grain ripened, sorted, bleached and
put away until needed. The straw was cut just above the first
joint and after lying out to bleach, the sheath would strip off
easily. The straw was whiter and less likely to become brittle
when cut before the grain ripened. Toughness and strength
were two essential qualities according to at least tw^o authorities,
W^arren S. Ely and William W. Hurley who bear testimony to the
frequency with which the home-made straw hat was called into
service for whipping bumble bees nests which abounded in the
fields at that time. The straw below the joint referred to was
not sufficiently pliable to be of any use.
HOMEMADE STRAW HATS IN SOEEBUKY 407
The personal knowledge of the writer dates from the spring
of 1 87 1, when with his mother and brother he paid a visit to
Aunt Becky Heed, who then lived with her maiden sister, Martha
Kitchen, in the house now owned and occupied by Theodore Nat-
tenheiser just east of the village of Solebury on the road leading
to the River road just below Phillips mill, there he beheld, what
appeared to him the most wonderful of all the home industries
he had ever witnessed, the making of home-made straw hats.
In the room were Aunt Becky as all familiarly called her, the
widow of Abram Heed, and her sister, busily engaged in sorting
over the dried straw, dipping or standing it in a large pot or
caldron on the stove, apparently filled with hot water but cer-
tainly emitting great clouds of steam and then plaiting the straw
ready for the hats which were fitted on blocks of different sizes
but probably all of the same shape. A number of hats partly
finished were shown us giving a very clear conception of how the
work was done. These hats were sold from seventy-five cents to
a dollar and a quarter each, according to the quality and coloring
of the straw. As a result of interviews with Hugh B. Eastburn,
Esq., Hon. Hampton W. Rice, Warren S. Ely and Caroline
Hough of Yardley, the latter having been the wife of Samuel
Rose a real nephew of Aunt Becky, the writer finds that the
hats made by these two old ladies were exceedingly durable,
keeping both color and shape for a remarkable length of time and
while the first cost was greater than that of the hats sold at the
stores of that day, including the old slippery elm or turn storm
hats, they were much more satisfactory and lasting. The three
gentlemen above named had all worn Aunt Becky Heed's hats.
Aunt Becky Heed lived until Third month 1873, and is buried
in the Friends burying grounds adjoining Solebury meeting of
which she was a member. Her sister, Martha Kitchen died about
a year earlier. Mrs. Henry Hough who is between seventy-five
and eighty years of age informs me that she lived neighbors to
Aunt Becky Heed from about 1844 until the death of the old lady
and that after the death of her husband Abram Heed, Aunt
Becky supported herself in a great measure by making and sell-
ing straw hats, being assisted nearly all the time by her sister.
Aunt Becky, apart from her straw-hat making was an interesting
character in her dav and would, with a few others who lived in
408 HOMEMADE STRAW HATS IN SOEEBURY
Solebury about the same time, furnish material for a paper on re-
markable women of the nineteenth century.
To William W. Hurley son of the late Charles and Matilda
Hurley, who owns and occupies the homestead, the writer is in-
debted for valuable information including the following:
"My mother used to make the straw hats for my father and the boys.
I think she used occasionally to make some for neighboring families. I
have cut lots of wheat straw for her. It used to be great fun to have a
good excuse for going through the fields of waving grain, when one's
head was about as high as the wheat heads. It would almost make one
seasick to look over the waving mass. Mother ahvays wanted the straw
cut before the wheat was ripe as at that stage the straw was much more
tough and made better hats than when left until the grain was ripe, and
the straw then becomes woody and brittle ; strength and toughness were
desirable qualities for a straw hat to possess as bumble bees were quite
plenty and the hat was always ready. Straw cut early was also whiter
than that cut after the grain was ripe and made much nicer looking hats."
Amy Ely, daughter of the late James and Emmeline Ely, re-
members the making of straw hats at the Heed home, when a
young girl living neighbors to Aunt Becky and her sister.
To the Hon. Hampton W. Rice, who is familiar with the Aunt
Becky Heed's hats, having worn them, the writer is indebted for
having his attention called to the fact that the late Rachel Pear-
son wife of Wilson Pearson and mother of Mrs. Asher V. Mat-
tison made straw hats. Mrs. Mattison appears to have about as
thorough knowledge of the manufacture of homemade straw
hats as any one of the present generation and from her the
writer gained much interesting information regarding this now
extinct industry. Her mother was a daughter of Eli Fell, Sr.,
who lived many years ago in Buckingham township, and during
her single days all the ladies of the family made or assisted in
making straw hats and after her marriage to Wilson Pearson,
she and her daughters in addition to spinning, knitting and per-
forming all the home industries of the day, made the straw hats
worn on the farm. Mrs. Mattison personally assisted in the
selecting, curing, stripping, storing, steaming, plaiting, shaping
and finishing of the Pearson straw hats at the old homestead on
the south side of the road leading from the village of Solebury
to Lahaska just east of the Carversville road.
The usual plait was made with seven straws and a wider one
EMBLEM OF SEVEN STARS USED IN OLD INN SIGNS 4O9
with eleven straws, the edges of the hats were made double with
a four-straw plait or strip.
No trace of any of the home-made straw hats has been found
although considerable effort has been made to secure one for the
Historical Society, while Mrs. Mattison informs us she has for-
gotten the details of making these hats it is not impossible that
Solebury may yet be able to produce a genuine home-made straw
hat.
Be that as it may, the industry has passed and while the sickle,
grain cradle and flail are carefully kept and cherished among the
tools of the nation maker, the home-made straw hat, so perishable
in its nature must rest for a few years in the memory of those
who saw them and wore them, and thus become only a matter
of history.
Emblem of Seven Stars Used in Old Inn Sig-ns.
BY ANTHONY M. IIANCE, PHILADELPHIA, PA.
(Thompson Memorial Church, Solebury Township, May 27, 19 13.)
On a map entitled "Approaches to Germantown from Wash-
ington's Encampment, October, 1777," there is indicated a local-
ity by the title, "The Se\en Stars." This is an old inn built 1720
on the Manatawny road near Plymouth creek, Montgomery
county, about 5 miles northwest of Chestnut Hill, and still stand-
ing in a section of the country that has changed but little since
Sir William Howe passed near it in maneuvering for the pos-
session of Philadelphia. Oddly enough, it was also at "Seven
Stars" (now Village Green P. O., Delaware county), that prob-
ably the largest camp, of the royal army was ever made in the
field during the Revolution, and which was broken September 15,
1777, on news of Washington's moving west from Germantown,
along the Lancaster road.
Studying these movements, on maps, of the contending forces,
I have frequently wondered what "Seven Stars," as applied to
old inns, could have meant ; and, one morning, six weeks
ago, on my way to business — my eye caught a medley of color in
the dusty show window of a ding}- second-hand furniture shop.
410
EMBLEM OF SEVEN STARS USED IN OLD INN SIGNS
The glint was bright enough to make me stop and look, and to my
surprise, I found it came from this emblem, bearing on its field
exactly seven, five-pointed silver stars. As it was early in the
'W^^:
STAR SHIELD.
morning, the shop door was
locked, but a trusted messen-
ger whom I dispatched soon
returned with the e m b 1 e m,
which proved to be made of
papier mache, evidently for
some decorative purpose, and
not of carved and painted
wood, as it appeared to be,
and, as I had hoped, part of
the sign of an old "Seven
Stars" inn. (Incidentally this
shop is about where the Gren-
adiers were encamped during
the occupation of Philadelphia
by the royal army, along a
country lane (now Callowhill street) on the higher ground, south
of the interesting Pegg's Run of Watson's Annals, and not far
from the line of strong northern defenses, which extended along
a ridge, south of Hickory Lane (now Fairmount avenue) from
the Delaware, to Fairmount, on the Schuylkill.)
Now, I had to find out something about "Seven Stars," but
though I have asked and searched, and my friends in turn have
asked and searched for me, the real significance of the name is
as far off as when I began to run it down. However, it leads to
interesting subjects which are so interwoven- in literature, history,
mythology, astronomy, philology and archeology, that it is diffi-
cult to know just where to begin; but I cannot think of a better
starting place than that wonderful aggregation of stars, the con-
stellation of Ursa Major, more familiarly known to us in this
country as the Dipper, yet equally familiar to our English cousins
as Charles' Wain, or the Plough, or Plough and Horses. There
it swings in the sky, round the north or pole star, which its
pointers with unfailing accuracy have indicated for countless
aeons. Low down on its hind legs like a bear, how magnificently
it sparkles above the horizon on early autumn evenings, and how
EMBLEM OF SEVEN STARS USED IN OLD INN SIGNS 4II
majestically it seems to dominate every other constellation, when
twinkling directly over our heads in early spring.
The seven stars of the great bear make the dipper, which stands
out more conspicuously to the naked eye than other stars of this
constellation because they are all, but one, of the second magni-
tude, and on account of their brightness were doubtless all well-
known, "when shepherds watched their flocks by night" and, by
their old names, "Dubhe." "Merak," 'Thecda," "Megrez,"
"Alioth," "Mizar," and "Benetcasch or Alkaid." Indeed, this
constellation with two of its stars (the pointers) pointing to the
pole star was probably more of a compass to the sailors of the
Mediterranean than any other star or group of stars. Thus I
think we see how the seven stars of this constellation are iden-
tified with ancient history and geography when even the names
by which they are known have become archaic.
Of the ten cardinal numbers none has more interesting asso-
ciations connected with it than seven, and from the remotest
times there has been a strong favor for it. Chambers says (Book
of Days. vol. i, p. i66) : 'Tt is, of course easy to see in what way
the Mosaic narrative gave sanctity to this number in connection
with the days of the week, and led to usages which influence the
social life of all the countries of Europe. But a sort of mystical
goodness or power has attached itself to the number in many
other ways." We read of the seven churches of Asia, seven
deadly sins, seven dolours of (Jur Lady, seven gifts of the Holy
Ghost, seven principal virtues, seven stars, seven metals, seven
wise men, seven wonders of the world, seven champions of
Christendom, seven churches, seven planets, seven sleepers, seven
league boots, seven ages of man, seven years' war, seven sisters,
seven senses, seven cities of Cibbola, etc. Rome was also known
as the City of Seven Hills, for according to legend, it was built
upon seven knolls. In Ecclesiasticus is a record of the seven
senses ; and Pythagoras tells us that the number belongs to sacred
things. Very curious is the popular superstition that attaches to
the seventh son of a seventh son. Credited with wonderful heal-
ing powers they were sometimes addressed as Doctor, and were
believed to be able to cure disease by the touch and drive away
imaginary, troublesome spirits. Chambers says *'A Dublin shop-
keeper finding his errand-boy to l)e generally dilatory in his du-
412 EMBLEM OF SEVEN STARS USED IN OED INN SIGNS
ties inquired into the cause, and found that the boy being the
seventh son of a seventh son his services were often in requisition
among the poorer neighbors in a way that brought in a good many
pieces of silver." And again: "In Scotland the spae wife, or
fortune teller, frequently announces herself as a seventh daughter
of a seventh daughter to enhance her claims of prophetic power."
According to the History of Signboards, (Larwood & Hotten,
London, 1908, p. 500.) "The Seven Stars have always been great
favorites. They seem to be the same pleiad which is used as a
Masonic emblem, the circle of six stars with one in the center.
But to tell to ears profane, what this emblem means, would be
disclosing the secrets of the sacred arcana."
But I greatly doubt this for friends who are au coiirant in
masonic lore tell me the symbol has no significance as such. My
own thought is that the sign and name were adopted by inn-
keepers as an emblem of good luck, and its display, from an ad-
vertising standpoint, as we would say to-day, was to attract the
attention of strangers, that they might also have good luck as
well as good fare.
These signs were also not uncommon in Pennsylvania before
the Revolution. A fine sculptured specimen of a Seven Stars sign
came to light in Cheapside (London) in 1851 which antiquarians
pronounced to be at least 500 years old; and the Saracen, and
Turks Head, signs still popular there, undoubtedly came from the
Crusades. I think it not unlikely Seven Stars, as an inn sign, had
the same origin.
Although it is recorded that a Seven Stars Inn existed in Man-
chester, prior to 1356, the earliest reference I have found to a
Seven Stars Inn in literature appeared in the British Apollo in
1707:
"I'm amused at the signs as I pass through the town,
To see the odd mixture, a Magpie and Crown,
The Whale and the Crow, the Razor and Hen,
The Leg and Seven Stars, the Scissors and Pen,
The Axe and the Bottle, the Tun and the Lute,
The Eagle and Child, the Shovel and Boot."
In Scharf & Westcott's History of Philadelphia (pp. 994 et
seq.), "Seven Stars" on Elbow Lane is named among the taverns
that were known and numbered during the first half of the
eighteenth century. Among the next grouping of taverns from
EMBLEM OF SEVEN STARS USED IN OLD INN SIGNS 413
that period and the Revolution there was Seven Stars near Arch
street, by Diedrick Rees. In 1785 there was a Seven Stars by
John McKinlay, Fourth and Chestnut streets, and of later date a
Seven Stars was on Fourth street above Race street. A Seven
Stars Inn still exists in Philadelphia at the corner of Frankford
avenue and Oxford streets. Again there is an old Seven Stars
tavern in Cherry Valley and a Seven Stars Post Ofifice in Adams
county, four miles west of Gettysburg. In fact, this town got its
name from the old tavern which is next to the post office, and I
am informed that "the post office sign displayed had seven stars
on an oval board — four above, and three below." This is similar
to the arrangement of the stars on the sign-board at present hang-
ing in front of the Seven Stars above Chestnut Hill. These stars
are five pointed, gold, on a black, sanded, oval board. My in-
formant writes me : "The inn at Seven Stars, Adams Co., Pa., has
had a marker on the west gable end near the comb, but plaster or
mortar has since been put on the surface of the bricks, which has
obliterated the date of the building, yet there are marks inside
that will never come ofif, and are history in themselves. Two
doors leading to the room that contained the bar are disfigured
by the lashes of wagon whips. I am told that drivers of teams
drank liquor until they 'felt good' and then tried to see who could
strike the hardest with their whips against these two doors and
frames. The dents are deep and plain. The men had some
muscle then, coupled with 'slight.' By their marks, some of the
whips had lashes made of much coarser material or plaited or
twisted different from others." It makes one shudder to think
how the poor horses must have suft'ered from these long and cruel
whips, dragging the great Conestoga wagons over the Allegheny
mountains. (It is said there were 8,000 such teams in use at the
height of that mode of transportation, less than one hundred
years ago, before it was superseded by canals and later by rail-
roads.)
It is difficult to say whether the sign of the Seven Stars had its
origin from the shield of one of the astronomical Kings
of the Magi, or from the seven bright stars of the "Great
Bear," or whether it was suggested by the mystic pages of
the Apocalypse; but from whatever source derived, it was very
common in London about the time of the Great Fire (1666) and
414 EMBLEM OF SEVEN STARS USED IN OED INN SIGNS
as we have seen, not uncommon in Pennsylvania too, a hundred
years later. The Three Kings, (/. e., Caspar, Melchior and
Belthazar) was a favorite and appropriate sign for inns, since
after their long journeys to Bethlehem, they were regarded as
patron saints for travelers. Each of the Kings had a shield or
coat-of-arms asigned to him. One a blazing star, (the Star of
Bethlehem) another the star and crescent, and the third, sup-
posedly Melchoir, seven stars; and tradition has it, that this was
from the seven bright stars of Arktos {i. e., The Bear), hanging
in the sky over Bethlehem the first Christmas eve.
Summing up, as it were, after this brief outline of a subject
on which a book could be written, I think there are five interest-
ing points that stand out like the conventional points of the stars
on this emblem :
( 1 ) The adoption of Seven Stars as the arms, or insignia, of
one of the Magi, from the seven brightest stars of the constella-
tion most conspicuous in the northern sky at the time of the
birth of Christ.
(2) The popularity and adoption of seven stars by inns; which
custom spread through England, probably about the end of the
twelfth century, on account of the crusades.
(3) The sign — seven stars — was brought to this part of the
country about the middle of the eighteenth century by English
settlers.
(4) As seven stars seem to have been mostly confined to Penn-
sylvania through old pre-Revolutionary inns, and their associa-
tions with both armies, the title becomes somewhat identified with
our beginnings as a nation.
(5) With the growth of Pennsylvania Seven Stars began to
disappear by re-naming inns for Revolutionary heroes ; and with
the continued craze for new names, mostly foreign, for hotels,
the interesting emblem of the Seven Stars as an inn sign un-
happily bids fair to disappear.
SEVEN STARS SIGN FROM TAVERN IN DURHAM TOWNSHIP
At canal bridge between Monroe and Kintnersville. Built by William Abbot in 1779.
Bought by Philip Overpeck in 1792, to whom a license was granted in 1799.
Maintained as a hotel for many years, Gen. Davis saj's until
1852. Has been in possession of the Overpeck family
ever since. Now used as a farm house.
SKVKX STARS SIC.N FROM 1 AVKRN IN DlRllAM TuWNSHll'
Reverse side, Southern exposure, on which the stars and moon are nearly obliterated.
Both sides show the original painting of stars to have been like this etch-
ing. On this side the old p.iint marks have been covered with
white paper for the purpose of making this photograph.
It is likely that there was some embellishment
above the stars, probably the date
and name of the tavern.
Medical Use of Plants by Indians.
BY GEORGE MAC REYNOLDS, DOYLESTOVVN, PA.
(Thompson Memorial Church, Solebury ^Meeting, May 27, 1913-)
North American Indian tribes knew the medicinal properties
of plants much better than is generally realized to-day. They
had quite an extensive materia medica. Their knowledge of
plants was no doubt handed down from generation to generation
much the same as were their traditions and history. It is a matter
for interesting speculation as to whether they did not have a way
of recording this knoweldge. Possibly they may have had a
medical picture language, but upon this point, so far as known
to the writer, there is no certain information. Probably there
is none to be had. Whether anybody ever made any inquiry upon
this point is doubtful.
A book could be written upon "Medicinal Use of Plants by In-
dians" without exhausting the subject. It is, therefore, quite
difficult in a short paper to give an adequate or entirely accurate
estimate of the Indians' knowledge of medicine. And a very in-
teresting book could be written on the subject, but possibly the
task to be properly executed, is one for a physician or pharmacist.
From what can be gathered from the earlier American medical
writers, the Indians must have been familiar with the medicinal
properties of at least 300 of the more common plants indigenous
to this latitude. The art of medicine was, no doubt, extensively
practiced among them. Relics which the now extinct or scat-
tered tribes left upon our hills and in our valleys prove this. One
of the objects in the collection of Indian relics belonging to
Benjamin S. Purcell, of Kintnersville, Bucks county. Pa., is a
curiously fashioned medicine cup, cut out of a piece of jasper,
with a depression on the front side for the thumb and another
on the opposite side for the forefinger, by means of which it was
conveniently raised to the mouth, in lieu of a handle. The cup
is hollowed sufficiently to hold about a fluid ounce of decoction.
From this and similar vessels medicines administered' inwardly in
liquid form were taken. Some of the smaller mortars and pestles
4l6 MEDICAL USE OE PLANTS BY INDIANS
are mtite evidences of how the Red Men reduced the plant —
stem, leaf, flower or root — to powder or extract, as desired. A
few of the common plants of Pennsylvania used generally by the
Indian tribes in this part of the country will be referred to very
briefly.
Common Thorouglnuort (Bnpatornun perfoliatum L.).
This plant, one of the commonest of our meadows and pastures,
has a number of common names — Thorough-stem, Cross wort,
Boneset, Indian Sage, Ague-weed, etc. It was one of the In-
dians' most ordinary remedies, mainly for fevers, sometimes as
a sudorific or emetic. It was used as a decoction, or the leaves
were powdered and thus taken. Every part of the plant was
used medicinally, and it was occasionally made into a powerful
but unpalatable bitters. There were at least eight other species
of the Eupatorium used medicinally by the Indians the country
over, but none was as powerful or as commonly used, probably,
as the perfoliatum.
Wild Geranhun {Geranium niocnlatum L.).
This species, and likely some others, like the Carolina Cranes-
bill and the Herb Robert, was used by the Indians, especially
by the western tribes, in venereal diseases and as an external ap-
plication for wounds. The Indians valued this plant probably as
highly as any in their materia medica. Among its common names
are Wild or Spotted Cranesbill, Alum-root and Tormentel.
JVitcJi Hazel (Hamamelis virginiana L.).
This is a singular shrub in that it reverses the usual times of
florescence and fruitage. It is the last flowering wild plant of
autumn, not blooming commonly until the leaves have been de-
stroyed by frost, and its fruit does not ripen until the following
August or September. Witch Hazel thus seems to be an ap-
propriate name. The Indians knew this shrub very well. They
applied the bark, which is a sedative and discutient, to painful
humors and* internal inflammations. It is generally admitted that
the specific qualities of this shrub have never been fully or ac-
curately ascertained. Its common names are Witch Hazel,
Winter Bloom, Pistachio Nut (by which name it is known in
MEDICAL USE OF PLANTS BY INDIANS 417
the south), and Snapping Hazel (so-called from the noise made
by the seed-pods when they explode).
Soapwart (Saponaria officinalis L.).
The Common Soapwort or Bouncing Betty is a weedy wayside
plant that blooms from July to September. It belongs to the Pink
family and has light rose-colored flowers, sometimes double. It is
found all over the world — in tropical, temperate and semi-tem-
perate climates. Members of the Historical Society will ho doubt
recall when they were children how they used this plant as a
soap for washing their stained hands by simply crushing the
leaves, stems and flowers and using plenty of water. It was the
only soap the American Indian knew until the white men
brought him something better. The earlier settlers learned its
use as soap from the Indians.
Partridge Berry (Micthella repens L.) and (Gaultheria pro-
cunibeus L.).
Partridge Berry is a common name of two plants, sometimes
fovind in almost the same location, but widely different in char-
acteristics, one belonging to the Madder family and the other to
the Heath family. Micthella repens, some of whose common
names are Partridge Berry, Grouse Berry, Deer-berry, Box-berry
and Checker-berry, is not known to have been used medicinally
by the Indians, though they may have used its edible berries as
food. These berries, it is needless to state to those familiar with
the plant, are palatable and children are fond of them. Bob
White and Ruffed Grouse and other birds, and a few small game
mammals like them. It is probably one of, the few floral relics
of the glacial age, and it would be unfortunate to allow it to die
out. It can be transplanted if the habitat to which it is removed
is congenial.
In Gaultheria procumbens, however, we have a plant by which
the Indians laid great store. It stood near the head of the list
in their materia medica, especially in some tribes, the Lenni Len-
ape among them. It was a stimulant and an anodyne. Its com-
mon names are Spring or Creeping Wintergreen, Box-berry,
Ground-berry, Tea-berry, Partridge Berry, Deer-berry. Hill-
berry, Spice-berry, Ivory Plum and Mountain Tea. It grows in
4l8 MEDICAL USE OF PLANTS BY INDIANS
cold woods, south only to southern New Jersey and Pennsylvania,
except in the Appalachian chain, where it extends far into the
Southern States. It is now a somewhat rare plant, growing on
creeping or subterranean stems, the leaf-bearing stalks being 2
to 6 inches high, with the cup-like white flowers solitary in the
axils. The fruit ripens in the spring and remains on the plant
until autumn and winter.
71/03' ^-ippi^ (PodopJiyllum peltatum L.).
This plant is also commonly known as Wild Mandrake, Wild
Lemon, Hog Apple, Duck's- foot Raccoon-berry, Yellow-berry
and Peca. The fruit was highly esteemed by all Indian tribes,
and, as it has a wide distribution, it was extensively eaten by
them. They also had quite a thorough knowledge of its medici-
nal properties. The tribes of the north used it as a cathartic,
while the Cherokees employed the fresh juices of the root for
the cure of deafness by putting a few drops in the ear. The
Osage Indians regarded it as a cure for poisons. In administer-
ing the powdered root the Cherokees used a syrup to make it
more palatable, quite like the old-time physician administered
calomel.
Thorn Apple (Datura stramonium L.).
The Indians seem to have had a better knowledge of this plant
than the English settlers, although it was doubtless an introduced
species. The Indians smoked it as a cure for asthma. The plant
is strongly narcotic — poisonous, and is said to produce vertigo,
torpor and even death. Vinegar was used as an antidote. Bev-
erly, in his "History of Virginia," 1722, speaking of the effect
of this plant upon some British soldiers, says :
"This being an early plant, was gathered very young for a
boiled salad, by some of the soldiers sent thither to quell the
rebellion of Bacon, and some of them eat plentifully of it; the
effect of which was a very pleasant comedy; for they turned
natural fools upon it for several days ; one would blow up a
feather in the air, another would dart straws at it with much
fury, and another, stark naked, was sitting in a corner, like a
monkey, grinning and making mows at them; a fourth would
fondly kiss and paw his companions, and sneer in their faces,
MEDICAL, USE OF PtAXTS BY INDIANS 419
with a countenance more antic than any in a Dutch droll. In
this frantic they were confined, lest they should destroy them-
selves, though it was observed that all their actions were full of
innocence and good nature, * * * A thousand such simple
tricks they played, and after eleven days returned to themselves
again, not remembering anything that had passed."
The Thorn Apple also bears the common names of Jamestown-
weed, Jimson-weed, Stink-weed, and others. "Jimson" is a cor-
ruption of Jamestown, the locality where the plant is supposed to
have gained a foothold in this country. Dr. Coxe says (1822)
that it is native of America, but Rafinesque (1830) says that it
is probably a native of Persia and India, and has spread to
Europe, Africa and America. Rafinesque is, no doubt, correct,
as the weed was probably brought to Jamestown by English set-
tlers, from which point it spread north, south and west. It was
unknown in Pennsylvania for many years after the settlement
of Jamestown. The very Indian name of the weed, "White
Man's Plant," indicates that the Indians did not know it prior
to the white man's coming.
Indian Tobacco (Lobelia inflata L.).
This is a little annual, with branching stems and modest pale-
blue flowers, which formerly bore a number of vulgar names,
like Puke-weed, Emetic-weed, Gay-root, Wild Tobacco, Asthma-
weed and Bladder-pod Lobelia. It is common in waste places,
flowering in July and August. The aborigines used it as an
emetic, and the leaves, when chewed, are said to have the taste
of tartar emetic. Lobelia was extensively used by the Indians,
as they were addicted and habituated to emetic practices. The
seeds were mainly used. Dr. Rafinesque says that in his time
lobelia was "the base of many quack medicines for consumption,
which are violent and dangerous. They are erroneously called
Indian specifics, the Indians having no specifics for this disease,
but only palliatives."
Blue Flag (Iris versicolor L.).
The root of this plant was used as a cathartic by the Indians,
It caused a distressing nausea.
420 MEDICAL USE OF PLANTS BY INDIANS
Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia L.).
Here is a plant said to be allied with the tragic in Indian life.
Its narcotic properties were well known to the Indians, who are
reputed to have used it as a poison in committing suicide. When
they so used it, they took it in the form of a strong decoction.
They also used the powdered leaves medicinally as a remedy for
fevers, and with lard as an ointment for herpes. A weak decoc-
tion was used as a wash in various cutaneous affections. Some
of the plant's common names are Rose Laurel, Calico Bush, Big
Ivy, Spoon-wood, Lambkill and Sheep Poison. It is said to
kill sheep and some other animals which eat it. Mountain Laurel
was much more plentiful 200 or 300 years ago than now, and it
grew so thick in favorite locations as to make the forest an im-
penetrable jungle, save to wild animals.
Bloodroot (Sangiiinaria canadensis L.).
A very common plant, that has many common names, like Red
Puccoon, Indian Paint, Bloodwort, Redroot, and Turmeric. It
was used by the Indians as an emetic and cathartic, and later was
the basis of quack medicines. Rawson's Bitters, a very popular
remedy a century ago for jaundice (yaller janders), had Blood-
root for its basis. The Indians used its red juice as a stain for
their faces. Black Elder was another plant that furnished them
a product for similar decoration, and there were several more.
Lousen'ort (Pedicitlariis canadensis L.).
This plant, probably better known by the names of Wood Bet-
ony. Heal All or Beefsteak Plant, was used by the Indians for
rattlesnake bite — that is to say, before the arrival of white men.
The white man substituted another remedy for snake bite, the
Indians liked the substitute so well they entirely discarded Louse-
wort, and snake bite increased in almost startling degree.
Rattlesnake Root (Poly gala senega L.).
Among the common names for this plant are Seneca Snake-
root, Blazing Star, Devil's Bit, Devil's Root and several others.
It is reputed to be poisonous. Its root is large and tuberous,
nauseous and bitterly pungent. It was used by the Indians as a
tonic, diuretic and vermifuge. An Indian legend says that this
HISTORIC ACCOUNT OF BOWMAN S HILL 421
plant was once a cure for all disorders, but the Devil, discover-
ing that the decrease in his business was due to this panacea, bit
off a portion of the root and lessened its medicinal value, whence
the name, Devil's Bit. This plant was held in high esteem by-
early physicians in America, and it was prescribed frequently,
especially in cases of croup.
Historic Account of Bowman's Hill.
BV J. E. SCOTT, M. D., NEW HOPE, PA.
(Thompson Memorial Church, Solebury Township, May 27, 1913.)
As one travels along the Delaware river, noted in song and
story for its quiet, romantic beauty, and for its sparkling, crystal
clear water, one of the objects that most deeply impresses and
attracts the traveler is Bowman's Hill. It may be seen for many
miles from almost any direction ; and from whatever angle it is
viewed, it is conspicuous and beautiful. One is impressed with
the thought that some prehistoric race of giants must have piled
up this huge elongated pyramid as a monument to some ancient
king, greater than a Cheops or Suphis.
Upon what stirring scenes in nature this old hill must have
looked down, and of what great convulsions of nature it must
have been a part. It was hoary with age when Adam and Eve
met the serpent in Eden, and has changed but little since the day
when the mastodon and pterodactyl sported in the waters that
bathed its base. Its contour, when taken in connection with other
formations of the neighborhood would lead us to believe that at
one time it formed part of the rim of a great inland lake, and that
in some great convulsion of nature it was burst asunder and that
since then the Delaware has flowed unfretted to the sea. But we
are content to leave the question of geological formation to those
who are able to read the riddle of the rocks. For centuries of its
history the Indian was in undisputed possession of it and its sur-
roundings and, we are told that the red man lingered in this im-
mediate vicinity until his brethren of the surrounding country
had removed their tepees farther to the westward.
It is very probable that this hill was first beheld by the eyes of
422 HISTORIC ACCOUNT OP BOWMAN S HII^L
white men in the year 1616 when three romantic and adventure-
some Dutchmen set out from Nassau, now Albany, N. Y., crossed
the wilds of northern New Jersey, struck the upper reaches of
the Delaware, down whose current they drifted to the mouth
of the Schuylkill.
Exploration and settlement of this region did not begin till
many years later. There were some straggling settlements along
either side of the lower Delaware soon after the middle of the
century; but nothing definite and durable was done until after
William Penn had received his notable grant from the English
king.
Penn's innate sense of justice impelled him to buy the land
from the Indians, the rightful owners, as well as from the king,
the technical possessor. The first purchase of what is now Bucks
county was made in 1682, and had for its northern limits a line
extending from a spruce tree, one hundred and four rods north
of the mouth of what was afterward called Knovvles' creek —
thence along the foot of Jeriho mountain, through the edge of
what is now the village of W'rightstown to the Neshaminy creek.
For this land the Indians were paid some wampum, some
blankets, guns, beads, kettles and trinkets.
It is alleged that a treaty was made with the Indians in 1686
by which a body of land lying to the northward of the line from
the spruce tree, which stood by the river a little below the pres-
ent Brownsburg schoolhouse, and extended to the Neshaminy,
was acquired. There is nothing recorded to substantiate this
claim, and the fact that it was acquired by the walking purchase
in 1737 would seem to dispose of the claim.
Notwithstanding these facts, Thomas Holme, Penn's Sur-
veyor General, laid out a tract on the Delaware of 7,500 acres for
William Penn. to be known as the "Proprietary's Manor of
Highlands." It comprised the greater part of upper Makefield
township and that part of Solebury lying below the grant to
Robert Heath, who acquired 1,000 acres covering the site of New
Hope in 1705. Thus we see that all of the land in this immediate
neighborhood was once a part of William Penn's personal hold-
ings. The London Company purchased 5,000 acres of the manor
lands, which were surveyed to them in 1709. A draft of the
manor made at this time shows a large tract lying along the north-
HISTORIC ACCOUNT OF BOWMAN S HILL 423
ern boundary of the London Company's purchase, which was
practically the line between upper Makefield and Solebury, had
been previously laid out to John Pidcock. A tradition handed
down in the Pidcock family says "that John Pidcock together
with a more or less mysterious personage, generally known as Dr.
John Bowman, settled here." A house, gristmill and sawmill were
built, and a copper mine was opened. The creek took its name
from the owner of the land and is still known as Pidcock's creek.
The gristmill is still faithfully doing its work, though it has
degenerated into a common feedmill. The tooth of decay has
eaten up the house and the sawmill, though the ruins of both
can be seen close together, east of the north end of the covered
bridge that spans the creek. The large stone house on this prop-
erty, important for its associations hereinafter to be mentioned,
is being permitted to go into most regrettable decay. The time
and the builder of this venerable landmark seem to be unknown.
It would seem to have been built at three dififerent periods. The
middle section seems to be the oldest and was probably built first.
The east end was added later and after Robert Thompson ac-
quired the property he added the west end in 1757, as told by the
date stone over the front entrance. The house and mill had been
owned and occupied by John Simpson, (whose widow Thompson
married in 1748) since about 1740.
THE COPPER MINE.*
The copper mine, which has been the source of a great deal
of romance, mystery and curiosity is north of the hill and across
the creek. It penetrates the hill some 60 feet, has two consider-
able chambers and a central shaft that sinks to a depth of some
40 feet. Some copper is present, however, not in paying quanti-
ties. Jonathan Pidcock finally closed the mine, disposed of his
property, and moved to New Jersey. According to a legend of
the Pidcock family he built a house and mill in the lower end of
what is now Lambertville. This may have been the genesis of the
"Prince Hope Mills" of Benjamin Parry.
The beautiful hill that is the central figure in this narrative
was called by the Indians "Nenehawcachung." You can each
* This is described by Capt. John S. Bailey in his paper "The Solebury Copper
Mine." See Vol. I, page 6.
28
424 HISTORIC ACCOUNT 01^ BOWMAN S HILL
put your own interpretation upon this name. It ought to mean
"Magnificent Hill" or something like that. This hill, always beau-
tiful, is at its best in October, when the frosty blasts of the
north wind have tinged the foliage with a thousand tints and
hues and made it a dream of marvelous beauty.
\\ hile the hill which marked the boundary between the plan-
tation of John Pidcock and the "London Tract" now the line be-
tween the townships of Solebury and Upper Makefield, has been
known as Bowman's Hill, so far as we can learn it is only within
the last fifty years that the name of "Dr. John Bowman, the sur-
geon of the Captain Kidd expedition," has been woven into the
tradition.
Thomas Bowman from whom the hill gets its name, was not
a pirate, but an erratic merchant from England, who in 1683 pur-
chased of Peter Jegou Lessa Point and the "Island over against
Burlington" New Jersey, where he had warehouses and traded
with such vessels as sailed that far up the Delaware as Jegou and
other Swedish and Dutch traders had done for a half century be-
fore. His name appears on the records of Bucks county courts
as early as 1684 and at intervals thereafter down to his death at
the house of John Pidcock in 1697 or 1698. His will dated De-
cember 25, 1692 at "the ffawles of Dellaware" was probated in
New Jersey and letters granted to his brother-in-law Edward
Hunloke, who on September 14, 1698, brought suit in the
Bucks county court to compel John Pidcock to yield up to him
certain goods and chattels belonging to the estate of Thomas
Bowman left in his possession at the decease of the said Bowman.
John Pidcock in defense of the suit acknowledged he had such
goods and chattels but declined to deliver them until he was com-
pensated for the funeral charges of said Bowman and for attend-
ance on him in his last illness. The Court directed that he sur-
render the goods and that the administrator pay his proper
charges for services to the decedent, etc.
The stories of Bowman's love for and wanderings on the lonely
hill and his subsequent burial on its summit, fit in so nicely with
such documentary evidence as we have of Thomas Bowman, that
there can be no question as to the latter's identity with the tra-
ditionary Bowman of Bowman's Hill.
Whether the dealings of Thomas Bowman with captains of cer-
HISTORIC ACCOUNT OF BOWMAN S HILL 425
tain piratical vessels in the disposition of their ill-gotten goods
may have helped to confuse him with the real pirate Dr. John
Bowman in the local traditions, or whether the tradition simply
had its origin in the unwarranted suggestion of some local his-
torian is an unsolved prohlem. ( leneral Davis sought to reconcile
the famous pirate surgeon with an impecunious cobbler named
John Bowman who lived and died on a small farm near Newtown
but there is nothing to warrant such a suggestion.
The tradition has held to the story of Dr. John Bowman with
considerable tenacity, however, in the neighborhood. Such is the
fascination of piratical stories and buried treasure of pirates.
Some one placed a stone over Bowman's grave with a large
B carved upon it. Some years ago vandals broke it off and car-
ried it away, and at the same time despoiled the grave. The ob-
ject of the search was probably the treasure that Bowman was
supposed to have secreted in the hill, it being his share of the
booty of Kidd's pirate depredations. The grave was not filled
up and two weeks ago when the writer visited the grave he picked
up three metacarpal bones of a human hand — presumably the
hand of Thomas Bowman.
A story is told among superstitious people that runs thus: If
you will prostrate yourself by the grave of Bowman and repeat
the words, "Bowman, what killed you?" He will answer, "noth-
ing." Aaron McCarty, an old steamboat captain lived until a few
years ago in the stone house on the eastern slope of the hill. Just
before his death he told the writer this story. "One evening about
9 o'clock there was a rap at my door. Upon opening the door
a total stranger presented himself and asked to be lodged over
night. He said he was a stranger to all of this region but seemed
deeply interested and asked many pertinent questions. The next
day they walked together aljout the vicinity and over the hill, the
stranger showing peculiar knowledge and very unusual interest.
Finally he divulged the fact that iiis name was Bowman — a rela-
tive of Bowman, and that his home was in western Pennsylvania.
He said that Bowman's treasure is buried in the hill and that he
had plans and diagrams at home that would probably lead to its
discovery. He left with the avowed purpose of returning the
next year with the drawings to look for the hidden gold. He
never came but word was finally received that his house was
426 HISTORIC ACCOUNT OF BOWMAN's HILI,
burned and he and the precious diagrams with it." So if treas-
ure there be it still lies buried in the friendly bosom of the old hill.
The Pidcock family tradition says that John Pidcock, the old
pioneer, and his wife are also buried on the top of the hill — and
various other graves are said to be located there.
There was an Indian village on the w'estern slope of the hill.
Its site was marked for many years by the thousands of tortoise
shells to be found there.
On the southwestern slope of "Bowman's Hill" is a small ham-
let called "Lurgan," named after the Irish birthplace of James
Logan, a close friend of William Penn. A school was kept here
at one time in a one story building, but recently torn down. At
this school many men, who in time became prominent in the af-
fairs of the county and state got their early education. Promi-
nent among these was Hon. Oliver H. Smith, United States
Senator from the state of Indiana. The story is told that at one
time a group of Senators, including Charles Sumner, Salmon P.
Chase, Oliver H. Smith and others were lounging in the cloak
room of the Senate, when. the subject of early education was in-
troduced. One had been graduated from Harvard, another from
Yale. Some one turned to the Senator from Indiana saying
"Senator Smith from what university were you graduated?"
"From Lurgan, if you please," he answered. Prior to 1753 John
Beaumont settled on a part of the London Company's tract near
"Bowman's Hill," the land remaining in the family till recently.
They were often called "Blue mounts," and are so called in some
of Washington's letters.
Brownsburg, the hamlet on the river near the hill is not an old
town. In 1790 it had but two houses owned and probably built
by Mahlon Doane. The older, built of stone, still stands almost
in the rear of the old hotel. Nothing remains of the other but
the chimney. The place was called Pebbletown till 1827 when it
was given its present name by Stacy Brown, who had the post
office established. David Livezey built the stone house at the
river near the end of the century, Samuel Opdyke came there in
1797 and operated a ferry. This was known for many years as
"Opdyke's Ferry" and the ferry house was used as a hotel until
within the memory of people now living.
John Knowles was the pioneer owner of the land about the
HISTORIC ACCOUNT OF BOWMAN S HILL 427
mouth of the next creek below Pidcock's, that emptying into the
Delaware aliout half-way between Brownsburg and Taylorsville.
His original holdings embraced several of the farms of the im-
mediate vicinity, and was purchased from the Penn's — it being a
part of the "Proprietary's Manor of Highlands." He built the
east end of the present stone house and lived there for many
years. The woodwork in the upstairs rooms of the house is still
untouched hy the art of the painter. The hinges of the doors
and the nails are all hand-made. The creek took the name of
the land owner and was known as "Knowles' Creek" until very
recently when, in some unaccountable way it has degenerated
into "Stony Brook." Further up this creek, on the south of
Jeriho hills, William Keith bought a farm prior to 1750. On this
he built a stone house in 1763, which was destined to become
famous in our national annals and will be mentioned hereafter.
The story of the origin of proper names is always interesting,
but not always ascertainable. Here is the story of the origin of
a family name of this particular region that may be either reality
or romance, I know not which. Neither is it at all probable that
the allegations of the story will ever be certainly proven to be
either fact or fiction. The story was told to the writer by Amy
Bender, who then lived in the old Groom house in Lurgan. That
was some twelve years ago, and she was then eighty-five. She
said she had often, when a little girl, heard her parents and
others recount the incident and she believed it to be substantially
correct.
"In colonial days two wood-choppers were working near the river
not far from Bowman's Hill. They heard a crying in the forest very
like that of a child. After listening one declared it to be the cry of a
child. The other as stoutly insisted that the sound was made by a
panther, which animal, as is well known among hunters, does make a
sound almost identical with the crying of a child. The wailing con-
tinued and at length they decided to investigate. In the thick under-
growth near the river bank they found a little boy about two years old
wandering about and wailing piteously. Diligent and continued search
failed to discover a parent or caretaker, so the child was taken to their
camp and comforted and cared for as best their kind hearts and scanty
means would permit. When asked his name he would answer in his
broken baby accents, 'Peter can't tell,' 'Peter can't tell.' To every impor-
tunity came the unvaried refrain, 'Peter can't tell.' So often and so
persistently was this repeated that the little fellow became known as
428 HISTORIC ACCOUNT OF BOWMAn'S HILL
'Peter Can't Tell.' No parents or relatives ever appearing he was adopted
by a kind hearted farmer of the vicinity. He grew to manhood, married
and reared a numerous family, but the name Peter Can'tell which in the
flight of years found a change in spelling and became 'Peter Cattel,' still
clung to him and is probably the origin of the name of a numerous family
often met with in various parts of the country."*
Interesting as we find this old colonial history of the Bowman
Hill region, its martial history is still more entrancing. When
we look over this quiet, peaceful landscape with its green pas-
tures, its waving grain and its sunkissed forests, we can scarcely
imagine that it was ever disturbed by war's alarms. But it was
in this very vicinity that the stage was set and the curtain rung
up on one of the most intensely dramatic and important military
campaigns ever essayed by American arms. It was right here on
the hallowed ground upon which we stand to-day that American
manhood drank in an inspiration that carried it to higher heights
of valor and self-sacrifice than it ever reached before or since.
On August 27, 1776, Washington fought the disastrous battle
of Long Island where he lost 600 in killed and wounded and 1,000
prisoners. On the i6th of November he was obliged to surrender
Fort Washington with 2,600 men and 30 cannon. In 12 weeks
he lost 4,500 men — 50 per cent, of his entire army. New York
was abandoned to its fate, and Philadelphia was the only re-
maining stronghold of American patriotism. It is said, and
truly said, that nothing succeeds like success. It is quite as true
that there is nothing so blighting and so damning as failure.
While Washington with his hungry, ragged, shivering band of
dispirited patriots was being driven across New Jersey by Gen-
eral Howe and his 12,000 splendid troops — the flower of England
and Hesse — well fed, warmly clad and arrogant, the gray skies
of December never looked more cheerless than was the prospect
of American liberty. Tories multiplied in numbers and doubled
in activity. Expirations of terms of service and daily desertions
rapidly decimated the patriot ranks. On the 8th of December
the army crossed the Delaware and on the 9th encamped between
Bowman's Hill and the river, only a few steps from this spot.
The site was chosen because of its sheltered position and its com-
* This story though frequently told has no foundation in fact. Peter de Cattell
of an old French family, reared among people unfamiliar with the French prefix "de"
learned to use "D" as an initial in his name instead of "de" and the family name
like De Cernea and others permanently lost its French form. — W. S. E-
HISTORIC ACCOUNT OF BOWMAN's HILI^ 429
mand of the river. The general officers took up their quarters
further back from the river, in order to be more free from sur-
prise and to be nearer their base at Newtown. General Washing-
ton was quartered at the Keith house, on Knowles' creek, south
of Jericho mountain. General Greene was at the Merrick farm-
house only a few rods away. General Sullivan was at Hayhurst's,
near the Eagle. General Knox and Captain Alexander Hamilton
were at the Dr. Chapman house, north of Jericho. Captain Wil-
liam Washington, Captain James Moore and Lieutenant James
Monroe were at the Thomson house near the hill. Generals Lord
Stirling and DeFermoy with a division of the tattered army were
sent to defend Coryell's Ferry. The two generals had their head-
quarters for a time in the old hip-roof house, known as the "old
fort," while their army was encamped in the field to the north-
ward but the main headquarters of Lord Stirling was at the
Thompson mill.
On December i6th Generals Washington, Green and Sullivan
rode up to Coryell's Ferry and with their horses tied under the
"Old Chestnut Tree," a surprise on the Hessian army at Tren-
ton was first talked about. Thus this venerable tree became
famous as marking the spot where this glorious campaign had
its inception. Later a second council was called to meet at the
Merrick house, where the plan was further developed and per-
fected. On December 24th General Washington rode over to the
Merrick place, the quarters of General Greene and took supper
with him. After supper General Greene askd the family to retire
to a neighbor's. Then came the other generals and one of the
most important councils of war was held. Every detail of the
stern task of the next two days was gone over and every man
knew his duty.
Many of the old farmhouses for miles around have their tra-
ditions of having sheltered a party of Washington's army. Peo-
ple are wont to smile in incredulity when this is mentioned. We
need to remember that they had lost most of their tents and bag-
gage, that many of them were without shoes and badly in need of
blankets and proper clothing. In this destitute condition why
should not the patriotic people shelter and provide for as many
as they could accommodate? It seems most natural to believe
that all of these stories are true and that manv men were thus
430 HISTORIC ACCOUNT OF BOWMAN S HII^I,
saved to the army. There being no telephones or telegraph in
that day the high hills were used as signal stations. Bowman's
Hill and Jericho were used in this capacity. Thus Newtown,
New Hope and the forces down the river were kept in touch by
signals flashed from these hills. From exposure as well as dis-
ease several soldiers died during the encampment here. These
found a resting place down by the river. The little row of stones
can be seen yet. More prominent than the others, is that mark-
ing the grave of Captain James Moore, of New York, who died
of camp fever in the Thompson house on Christmas day.
On Christmas, camp was broken and the little army 2,500
strong marched down to McKonkey's Ferry, now Taylorsville,
where they were to cross over. The boats from all along the river
had been gathered in a wooded cove behind Malta island, just be-
low Coryell's Ferry, now New Hope. These were quietly drop-
ped down the river and ferried the little army across to fight the
most important battle of the war for Independence.
Early Settlement of Wrightstown Township.
BY T. O. ATKINSON, DOVLESTOWN, PA.
(Friends Meeting House, Wrightstown Meeting, November 8, i9'3-)
In tracing the history of Wri^itstown Friends' Meeting, it
carries one back to that interesting period, the settlement of the
township and of Bucks county. In fact, the history of Bucks
county could not be written without the (so-called) Quakers
occupying prominent places in the narration.
One of the earliest travelers down the Delaware river was
George Fox, in the fall of 1672, on his way from Long Island
to Maryland. The inhabitants then were few and mostly Swedes,
Dutch and Finns, with a few English Friends in the vicinity of
Bristol and Bensalem.
In the spring of 1680 William Biles from Dorchester, in the
County of Dorset, England, arrived with his wife, seven child-
ren and two servants and settled on a 300 acre tract of land in
the vicinity of the Falls, purchased from some native Indians
for about iio. A part of his purchase was a large island of
the Delaware a mile below Falls, on which it is erroneously
stated his house was built. His house, still standing and in a
good state of preservation, was on the mainland, and he never
lived on the island. He was a man of talent and influence in the
province, and died in 1710,
The only Monthly Meeting in the county was held in William
Biles' house until 1683 when the Yearly Meeting at Philadelphia
agreed that the said Monthly Meeting, for the better accommoda-
tion of Friends, should be divided into two parts — one to be held
about "Neshaminah," the other near the river Delaware, and
these two meetings were to hold "Quarter" meetings as they
were then called. The first "Quarter" meeting was held at the
home of William Biles on the 7th day of the Third month, 1684.
Friends coming into the county mostly stopped at Falls or
Middletown, and there was no white settler north of Newtown
until 1684, near the close of the Twelfth month when John Chap-
man, with his wife and three children, from Yorkshire, England,
432 EARIvY SETTI^EMENT OF WRIGHTSTOWN TOWNSHIP
arrived, and took up their abode in the wild woods of Wrights-
town, with only Indians, with whom they always maintained
friendly relations, for neighbors. The streams were full of fish
and the woods of game, and our early Quaker ancestors had
their tables supplied in large measure from these sources.
John Chapman, the progenitor of the Chapman family in and
around Wrightstown, the founder of Wrightstown township,
Wrightstown Friends Meeting, and the village of that name,
was born in Stagnah or Stannah, in Yorkshire, England, in the
Parish of Skelton, in 1626, emigrated to America in 1684, about
two years after William Penn and his immediate followers landed
on the banks of the Delaware river. As before stated, with him
came his wife Jane (Saddler) and three children, Mara, Ann and
John. Jane Saddler was the second wife of John Chapman and
was born in 1635, and married in 1670.
Until they could build a log house they lived in a cave or sod
house situated on the road from Wrightstown to Penn's Park,
then Logtown. In this cave a few months after their occupancy
two more children, twin sons, were born. They were named
Abraham and Joseph, and were always close adherents to the
religious faith of their parents.
Before leaving England, Friend Chapman had bought 500
acres of land, a section of which is now occupied by the hamlet
of Wrightstown, the meeting house and graveyard. He pre-
sented 4 acres to the meeting for its use.
John Chapman died in 1694 at the age of 70 years. He was
buried in the graveyard at Logtown, the first burying ground
owned by Wrightstown Friends, presented to the meeting by
James Harker. The following lines were said to have been in-
scribed on the stone at his grave :
"Behold John Chapman, that Christian man, who first began,
To settle in this town ; ,
From worldly cares and doubtful fears and Satan's snares
Is here laid down;
His soul doth rise above the skies in Paradise,
There to wear a lasting crown."
(Mr. Henry Chapman Mercer, a great-great-great-grandson of
John Chapman, says as a matter of fact this epitaph never was on
his tombstone, but is pure fiction, and if we consider the char-
acter of the stones used in that primitive day — the common brown
EARLY SETTLEMENT OF WRIGIITSTOWN TOWNSHIP 433
field stones of the neighborhood — and the lack of facilities for
engraving, we know he must be right in his statement.)
This old graveyard was located about 9^ of a mile south of
Logtown, now Penn's Park, on the east side of the road leading
to what is now Rush Valley. The wall that enclosed it has been
removed and over the dust of John and Jane Chapman and their
fellow pilgrims the plowman turns the sod.
The first Friends Meeting at W'rightstown for worship, was
held in the house of John Chapman ; this privilege was given
them by Middletown Monthly Meeting, where Wrightstown
Friends held the right of membership at that time, at a meeting
held Fourth month 4th, 1686. This was the first settled meeting
at Wrightstown and was to be held on First-days once a month.
There was a general meeting held at John Chapman's Fourth
month 9th, 1689. This was authorized by the Quarter Meeting*
and continued to be held about that time of the year, annually,
until after his death, and then at his widow's until the year 1699,
and from that time at the said widow's and John Penquite's and
his widow's until 1722, at which time a meeting house was built.
We have no authentic account of the building of this first meet-
ing house at Wrightstown.
At Wrightstown a Youth's Meeting for the purpose of reading
youth's papers and interesting them in religious subjects, was
established near the close of the 17th century. The General and
Youth's Meetings were held at Wrightstown for a long term of
years. The Youth's ^Meeting was held for the first time on the
day next following the general meeting in the Fifth month, 1735.
The first Quarter Meeting at Wrightstown was held the 29th day
of Ninth month, 1722, twelve years before the establishment of
the Monthly Meeting at this place. Buckingham Monthly Meet-
ings having been established in Ninth month, 1720, Wrightstown
Friends and those of Buckingham requested that they might be
permitted to join and be one Monthly Meeting. They were set
at liberty to do so at a Quarterly Meeting held Ninth month, 26th,
1724.
* While the records show the name "Quarter" Meeting, it was probably simply
a result of the custom of abbreviation of words common at that time. The correct
name was always Quarterly Meeting, meaning a meeting held quarterly or four times
yearly. — W. S. E-
434 EARIvY SETTLEMENT OF WRIGIITSTOWN TOWNSHIP
We find the following minutes of the Quarter Meeting held
Sixth month 29th, 1734:
"The matters about W'rightstown Monthly Meeting being a meeting to
themselves, and Buckingham and Phimstead being to themselves, being
debated, it is the agreement of this meeting that the said meetings do
part as above proposed until further ordered, and that IMonthly Meetings
at Buckingham be on the second day of every month and at Wrightstown
on the third day of every month."
The first Monthly Meeting at Wrightstown was accordingly
held the 3rd day of Seventh month 1734. The next Quarter
Meeting at Wrightstown was in the Second month, 1759, and
continued to be held in that month until the present time.
Abraham Chapman, one of the twins, was chosen clerk of the
first Monthly Meeting in 1734, and continued in that station
until 1 75 1, about 17 years.
No minutes of the Monthly Meetings in early days were signed
by the clerks. Later and after John Chapman, we find as clerks
Andrew Collins, Jr., Thomas Smith, William Linton, Ann Chap-
man, Isaac Chapman, Mary Briggs, Hampton Wilson, John East-
burn, Benjamin Smith, Margaret Wiggins, Joseph Wiggins.
Within my memory those who have served in like capacity were
Jacob Twining, Thomas Warner, Barclay J. Smith, Isaac H.
Hillborn, Samuel W^alton, William Woodman, Horace T. Smith
and Jacob Livezey, who now holds the station.
The early minutes of Wrightstown Meeting were brief. They
did not deem it necessary to transmit all their doings by record.
One Monthly Meeting is as follows : "At our Monthly Meeting
held at Wrightstown the Sixth day of First month, 1738, the
business was chiefly concerning the building of the meeting
house, and not needful to be recorded. Meeting now concluded."
At a meeting of Eleventh month, 1738, "The business of this
meeting is not thought necessary to be recorded being concerning
persons indebted." "Seventh day of Fifth month, 1747, no min-
utes worth preserving to posterity."
The work of clerking the meetings in portions of the i8th
century must have been onerous, on account of so much business
of various sorts. It was not unusual for Monthly Meetings to
continue in session until late in the evening, and sometimes to
adjourn to a future time to finish their work.
EARLY SETTLEMENT OF WRIGHTSTOWN TOWNSHIP 435
This period was the harvest of matrimony in the Quaker settle-
ment of Wrightstown and vicinity. There was seldom a Monthly
Meeting but three or four couples, before the men's and then the
women's meetings, declared their intentions of marriage. This
had to be repeated at two Monthly Meetings. There was no dis-
cipline and no queries in the early days of Friends, but they
were diligent in looking after births, deaths and marriages, and
new business that was constantly arising. Though there was no
written discipline, there was no lack of vigilence among Friends
to keep their membership in the straight and narrow way.
Wrightstown has had many eminent ministers in its member-
ship. Agnes Penquite, John Rutledge, Mary Atkinson, Ann C.
Parsons, David Daws, John Haycock, Thomas Ross, Zebulon
Heston, Thomas Evans, Samuel Smith, Thomas W'hitson,
Thomas Smith, Hannah Wilson, Ann Hampton, John Simpson,
Zebulon Heston, Jr., John Hayburst, Thomas Strickland, Sarah
Smith, Joice Buckman, Edward Hicks, and Henry Woodman
comprise the list. The last one mentioned rendered acceptable
ministry for more than 50 years. He lived to 84 years of age.
Since his death Wrightstown has had no regular minister. Sev-
eral of the descendants of Henry Woodman are still active mem-
bers of the meeting.
Ann Chapman Parsons, daughter of John Chapman who settled
with her parents when a child in the cave at Wrightstown, ap-
peared in the ministry in her youthful days and continued faithful
until her death Tenth month 9th, 1732. On her death-bed she
left valuable advice to young friends which her brother, Abra-
ham Chapman, one of the twins, took in writing in part as fol-
lows : "It has often wounded my spirit to see those that have
made professions of the truth, some of them children of good
parents, take undue liberty, taking pleasure in vanity and folly,
and neglecting that which would be to their everlasting peace."
This was spread upon the minutes of the meeting.
Agnes Penquite was a divinely favored Friend and was in the
ministry above 70 years. Zebulon Heston was called to the min-
istry at 2^ years of age, during the troublous war-time of 1776.
On his death-bed he said: "If the world would have lived in
love and unity, one with another it appears to me that no good
thing would have been witholden from us."
436 i;ari,y settlement of wrightstown township
From the above mentioned ministers, one can judge of the
names of many of the most prominent famiHes that followed
after the township was organized by John Chapman.
The old horse block still stands in the meeting-house yard, a
monument to the primitive way of going to meeting. Farm wag-
ons, cleaned up for the occasion, next came in use, and in time
came the chair, a two-wheeled carriage with one seat only, hung
on elliptic springs front and aft. The back springs, circular in
form and large as a medium sized wash-tub, easy and swinging
in motion. They were built by the local mechanics and more for
strength than neatness. It was not until within my memory that
the chair was supplanted by the gig, built much like the chair
but having a jointed side support to the hood or top as do our
falling-top carriages of the present day, silver mounted and
dropped back so as to admit of easier ingress and egress. Thus
you see as wealth crept in, fashion and luxury came with it.
query: Was it, or is this condition destructive of the higher spir-
itual development of human life?
Next came the square-bodied carry-all carriage with springs,
still much in use. At one time there was built on the north side
of the meeting-house yard extending from a point about oppo-
site the graveyard, an open carriage shed, probably 100 feet long,
and on the same line further to the eastward, with a passage way
between the two of about 10 feet, was a stone stable about 80
feet long inclosed except doors wide enough for a horse to enter,
for the accommodation of those who came to meeting on horse-
back. This old stable was torn down about i860, after having
served its purpose for a century and a half.
The proper education of the young was ever a matter of great
concern with Friends and the pious education of the youth was
frequently urged by Yearly Meeting. It was advised that schools
be established and that exemplary teachers be employed and that
the schools be under the care of committees appointed by the
Monthly Meetings. Several Friends feeling the importance of
this matter made bequests in their wills leaving money to be used
for the erection of schoolhouses and maintaining free schools
for the education of Friends children and others who could not
afford to pay for education.
In 1847 after much controversy in the Monthly Meeting, ex-
EARLY SETTLEMENT OF WRIGHTSTOWX TOWNSHIP 437
tending over a period of several months, it was finally decided to
build a schoolhouse on the meeting-house grounds. This was
done at a cost of $1,360.00. The funds had accumulated to the
sum of $7,782.86, thus leaving a goodly sum for the maintenance
of the school. By this time the free school system of Pennsyl-
vania was in force and the necessity for Friends schools was not
so great as when the bequests were first made. The school at
W'rightstown maintained a high degree of excellence for many
years. Its first teacher was Margaret Smith, then Ruth D. Beans,
Eugene Smith, Thomas Smith, Caroline Stradling, Deborah B.
Smith, Mary B. Heston, Mattie B. Simpson, Anna C. Wollaston,
Sarah Roberts, Elizabeth Lloyd, and others that I do not now
remember.
Prior to the building of the schoolhouse herein mentioned,
the meeting had two schoolhouses in the township ; one at War-
ner's Point above the Anchor Hotel on the New Hope road, and
the other about one-half mile below Wrightstown at the point
now called Ryan's Corner. These were under the care of the
meeting at one time, but history does not say how and by whom
they were built.
Other settlers followed John Chapman and in a few years we
find as his neighbor William Smith. Next came John Penquite
in 1683, who died in 1719. He was a minister among friends
nearly 70 years. He married Agnes Sharp in 1690, who died in
175^. over 100 years of age. It will be seen that the privations
and exposure of our early settlers did not materially lessen long-
evity as many of them lived to a good old age. Next came
Francis Richardson, Thomas Stackhouse, John Routledge, Laun-
celot Gibson, Charles Brigham, Nicholas Williams, Thos. Worth-
ington and many others.
In 1787 the large meeting-house which still stands, the building
we are now in was built at a cost of $4,000.00. The money
was raised by subscriptions among the members who were very
numerous at that time and generally alive to the requirements of
the Society. Friends of Wrightstown were generous and kind.
Several subscriptions for different purposes would be in the hands
of the committee at one time.
Previous to the establishment of the Monthly Meeting, the
Quarterly Meeting looked after Friends necessities. A com-
438 e;arly settlement of wrightstown township
mittee was appointed in 1694 and instructed to buy a cow to lend
to John Chapman. At the next meeting the committee reported
that the cow had been bought as directed at a cost of £4.
We will remember John Chapman who was the first settler
and owner of 500 acres of land, but land in that day was not
much of it tillable, and did not put money into the pocket nor
milk in the cellar. After the death of John Chapman his widow
exchanged 100 acres of land in Wrightstown to William Smith
for a gray mare, showing the low valuation set upon land in those
days. At the first Quarterly Meeting held at Wrightstown, Ninth-
month, 29th, 1722, James Moon and Thomas Clifford, having lost
by fire, it was agreed that each Monthly Meeting make subscrip-
tions and assist them ; also that Shrewsbury Friends had been at
great expense in building a convenient meeting-house and needed
assistance. Each Monthly Meeting was recjuested to contribute.
Samuel Wilson and Samuel Hillborn lost by fire, and Wrights-
town assisted them. Money was made up to send to John Han-
son, a Friend of the eastern part of New England, whose wife,
four small children and a servant woman were carried away cap-
tive by the Indians. All save one of his children were redeemed
at a charge too heavy for the said John to bear.
, In 1837 $200 was raised by Wrightstown meeting to assist in
building the meeting-house at Doylestown. At a Monthly Meet-
ing held Twelfth month 3rd, 1754, Jeremiah Bowman made appli-
cation for some assistance, he not having wherewith to sustain
himself. David Buckman proposed to take him for one year
for £4, which the meeting agreed to pay. These are a few among
many instances showing promptness and liberality of the old-
time Friends in rendering assistance.
At the Monthly ]\Ieetings during the Revolutionary War and
for some time after, cases were brought to the meeting's notice
of Friends who had in some way encouraged the conflict. It
might be by paying a fine, or enlisting in the army, or serving as
a member of some convention in the province, or in other ways
advancing the fighting spirit. Below is a list of those dealt with
by Monthly Aleeting which will give you a partial idea of the
names of members at that time.
Disowned: — John Wilkinson, Benjamin Lacey, John Tomlin-
son, Jesse Comfort, Jos. Tomlinson, Thomas Ross, Nathan Ham-
EARLY SETTLEMENT OF WRIGIITSTOWN TOWNSHIP 439
nier, Abner Buckman, John Chapman, Richard Leedom, Daniel
Lee, John Buckman, John Stockdale, Benjamin Buckman, Miles
Martindell, John Rose, John Atkinson, Thomas Kirk, John
Briggs, Thomas Kooker, John Scarborough, Amos Chapman,
Abraham Chapman, William Lee, Stephen Wilkinson, William
Smith, Thomas Whitson, David Newborn, Ralph Lee, Robert
Wear. Those who were retained in membership after making an
acknowledii:ement of having violated the discipline were David
Twining, Benjamin Chapman, Thomas Atkinson (after two years'
labor of the committee), Jonathan Doan, Joseph Johnson, Thom-
as Smith, Thomas West, Zachariah Betts, Abraham Hibbs, Will-
iam Heston, Thomas Story, Paul Blaker, Joseph Kirk, Mathias
Harvey and John Beaumont. Thirteen of these cases were re-
ported at one Monthly Meeting, Tenth month 3rd, 1780. Friends
were impartial in their dealings with open violators of their testi-
mony, but if they showed no disposition to make satisfaction to
the meeting, the case was deferred for months and even for
years in order that the erring one might be reclaimed.
The Friends of that day have sometimes been called Tories, be-
cause of their discountenancing war, but it is an unjust charge.
It was taking up arms that they opposed. It made no difference
to them whether a Friend espoused the cause of the king or of
the colonies. They were not to assist in warfare. A member of
the society had never given countenance to anything to defraud
the king of his dues. They put themselves on record as not being
willing to be instrumental in setting up or tearing down of any
government.
Wrightstown Meeting property is historic ground. It was
here the old chestnut tree stood which was the starting point for
the celebrated "walking purchase." In a corner of the new grave-
yard near the junction of the Durham and Penn's Park roads,
which at that time was called "John Chapman's Corner at
Wrightstown," stands a rude brown stone monument marking
the spot where the chestnut tree stood and upon which is a suit-
able inscription of the date, and facts concerning the Great Walk
in 1737. It was erected by the Bucks County Historical Society
in the year 1890. The ground on which the monument stands,
was i^resented to the society by Martha Chapman, who was the
last member of Wrightstown Monthly Meeting by the name of
29
440 EARLY SETTLEMENT OF WRIGHTSTOWN TOWNSHIP
Chapman. She was an elder for many years and died in 1888, at
the advanced age of 92 years, beloved and respected by all. A
few years before her death, the field was purchased of her by
friends, and is now used as a cemetery under their care.
The caretakers of the house and grounds who also acted as
sextons within my memory were Samuel T. Hillborn, who acted
in 1840, and for many years thereafter; following him were John
Knowles, Reeder S. Scarborough, Henry W. Merrick, John T.
Pool and John Molloy. Samuel T. Hillborn buried over 900
persons during his term as caretaker.
One of our elderly Friends, Mrs. Eliza H. Atkinson, well re-
members the unique appearance of twenty or more plain women
Friends sitting in the two upper galleries of our meeting at
Wrightstown. I also remember all that are herein mentioned : —
Elizabeth Smith, Rebecca Hampton, Jane Smith, Jane Atkinson,
Ruth Lacey, Sarah Smith, Anne Smith, Susan Smith, Mary
Ryan, Deborah Atkinson, Ann Chapman, Martha Chapman, Eliz-
abeth Holcomb, Margery Hibbs, Elizabeth Scarborough, Mar-
garet Reeder, Mary Woodman, Martha Atkinson, Mary Dubree,
"Aunt Mollie Atkinson," Mary Hillborn, Elizabeth Warner,
Susan Twining, Rachel Twining, Sarah Twining, Aseneth
Warner, Susan Warner and Martha Janney Simpson.
While on the other side of the partition in the "men's end,"
the fathers and husbands, like plainly clothed, could be found
with their broad-brimmed hats and straight-collared coats. Let
it not be understood that the Quakers of the time referred to,
were careless in their dress. The plain bonnet and shawl, hat
and straight coat gave subject for as deep consideration to the
exact shape and fit as do many of the more fashionable dresses of
the present day.
Between the years 1880 and 1890, the matter of the men and
women meeting in joint session on the occasion of their business
meetings was agitated. About 1890 the Monthly Meetings of
this Quarterly Meeting decided to meet in joint session. Bucks
Quarterly Meeting commenced meeting in joint session about
1892. Buckingham Monthly Meeting in 1891, and Wrightstown
about 1888. Thus doing away with the necessity of adjustable
partitions, which are still found in all of the older and larger
meeting-houses. These partitions are now rarely used.
JOHN CHAPMAN FIRST SKTTLER OF WRIGHTSTOWN 44I
At the time the change was made, the men clerks usually still
acted as clerks and the clerk of the women's meeting was made
assistant clerk. Since the first part of this article was written,
Jacob Livezey has resigned as clerk at Wrightstown, and Alvan
H. Tomlinson has been appointed in his place.
John Chapman First Settler of Wrig^htstown.
BY HENRY C. MERCER, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Friends Meeting House, Wrightstown Meeting, November 8, 19 13.)
I am on my mother's side, the great-great-great-great grand-
son of John Chapman, the first settler of Wrightstown, but I
would not venture here in the old Wrightstown meeting house at
this time to tell you anything new about him if it had not been
for an ancient document which my cousin, Miss Margaret Wig-
gins, gave to me two or three years ago.
Here it is, one of those old, yellow manuscripts with its creases,
ear marks, time-stains and ink flourishes, which if read between
the lines, from the point of view of Sherlock Holmes, would tell
us everything. I have had it framed. It is John Chapman's mar-
riage certificate 243 years old, signed by his own hand, proving
his own legitimate marriage, which he brought over with him in
his pocket or sea chest, from his old home in England, which he
produced here to show who he was in the first place, which he
kept with the greatest care, and which has been moldering here
in Wrightstown through this long interval of time, until it came
into my hands.
My point is that on its face a singular contradiction appears,
which so upset my previous knowledge as to the origin and birth-
place of John Chapman, that I became very much more interested
in the matter than I had ever been before, and after going over
all the information available, namely, a lot of deeds. Friends'
certificates, and various versions of a family narrative, which the
Chapman descendants possessed, was led to make an important
correction in our record.
It has always seemed to me a rather backward thing for a man
to know that his ancestor came from a certain country, yet not
442 JOHN CHAPMAN FIRST SETTLER OF WRIGHTSTOWN
to know or seem to want to know, the name of the town, district
or city which gave that ancestor birth. Such, however, was the
state of my family's knowledge upon this subject until the year
1875. We knew from the records several things concerning John
Chapman's life in America, for instance, that he arrived in the
Delaware in the ship Shield or Shields; Captain Toaes, from
Newcastle-on-Tyne after a severe storm, that he settled, probably,
on the advice of Phineas Pemberton, in Wrightstown with his
wife and three little children, as owner of five hundred acres in
October, 1684, that he built one of the earth dwellings called caves
near this spot where his sons, Abraham and Joseph, were born,
that these twin children were rescued by Indians, that their sister
Marah, captured a deer, that John Chapman's widow became
poor and received charity from the meeting, that he died here in
1694 and that his son or grandson wrote an epitaph which never
appeared on his grave.
But as to his birth and ancestry in England our knowledge was
very insignificant. Ke knew that he came from a place called
Stannah variously spelled in the records, somewhere in England,
that he was born in 1626 within sight of the sea, near a seaport,
that he had been a mariner by profession, had joined the Society
of Friends and had been persecuted for his faith, that his second
wife's name was Jane Sadler, who was born at a place called
Lazenby, wherever that was, and that his father's name was
John. This was all.
Then, in 1875, my grandfather, Henry Chapman, went to Eng-
land, and found Lazenby, near Northallerton, in Yorkshire, along
the line of the Northeastern Railway, and established the fact
that this Stannah was Stanhope, in Durham, about thirty miles
to the north ; that the church register of a very old church at that
place, where Bishop Butler afterward preached, showed the birth
of John Chapman, the son of John Chapman, in 1626, and that
the forefathers of this John lay buried there and in the church-
yard at a village called Frosterley nearby.
So convinced was my grandfather of these facts, to which he
had been led to by a remarkable series of coincidences, that he
called his new house Frosterley, and embodied the information
not only in Davis' History of Bucks county, then being written,
but also in an English book, Memorials of Old Stanhope, in which
JOHN CHAPMAN FIRST SETTLER OF WRIGHTSTOWN 443
the English writer, on my .grandmother's authority, refers to
John Chapman as having left the church of his ancestors to join
the Society of Friends, and gives an account of his descendants
here in W'rightstown.
Like the rest of my family, I took these things for granted until
this old, time-stained paper came into my possession which states
at the very beginning in the most positive manner that Stannah
is in Yorkshire. If, therefore, the place was in Durham, or if my
grandfather was right, then the paper was wrong, wrong, either
through an unaccountable blunder in geography, or else wrong,
because the document was intentionally signed at a non-existent
place and hence possibly invalid.
To settle these doubts I went over all the evidence and as no
place called Stannah appeared anywhere on the map of England,
and as there were three or four Lazenbys, I never cleared up the
matter until I found what my grandfather had never seen —
namely a note that had been copied from one of the most inter-
esting old manuscripts we ever had in the county, which is the
official record of the arrivals of first settlers, kept by Penn's sec-
retary, Phineas Pemberton, known as The Book of Arrivals, and
which in some unaccountable way has recently been lost or mis-
laid at our courthouse. This note said that John Chapman came
from Stanghah (now spelled "Stanghow" in Bartholomew's atlas
of England and Wales, 1903 Edition, plate 15) in the parish of
Skelton, in the county of York.
That was conclusive. The old marriage certificate was right.
Strange to say, my grandfather had found the wrong Lazenby
in the right county and about thirty miles from the right Lazenby.
He had found a John Chapman, the son of John Chapman, born
in the right year, but at the wrong Stannah and we had to begin
all over again as far as John Chapman's birthplace was concerned.
My maps and gazetteers showed that the real Stannah, or
Stanghow, was and still is, a little town of four or five houses set
upon the spur of a hill, where the highlands slope downward over
what is called the Vale of Cleveland towards the German Ocean
about five miles away. The mouth of the River Tees is in sight,
where, according to the old W'rigiitstown manuscript, the ships
of Chapman's boyhood days went in and out, and whence, pos-
444 JOHN CHAPMAN FIRST SETTLER OF WRIGHTSTOWN
sibly from the port of Stockton, he .himself, late in life sailed to
America.
Near by stands the ancient parish church of Skelton, where
John Chapman was baptized, and where in a strong box, built
in the thickness of the wall, are to be found at this moment the
records, not only of his life and birth, but probably of three
generations of his forefathers. A few miles across country is
Guisborough, mentioned in another Wrightstown manuscript,
where many of the early Friends' meetings were held, a town
which an old English writer says is as beautiful as Pozzuoli in
the Bay of Naples, and far more salubrious. The real Lazenby,
where my ancestress, Jane Sadler, was born, lies four or five
miles northward by the sea and near a moor known as Lazenby
Whinn. And behind Stannah rises a high hill known as Rose-
berry Topping at the base of which the great navigator. Captain
Cook, was born, and the summit of which looking over Stang-
how, commands one of the finest views in the north of England,
such a view we might think, as Kingsley describes in his lines :
"Airly Beacon, Airly Beacon ;
Oh the pleasant sight to see
Shires and towns from Airly Beacon,
While my love climbed up to me."
The discovery of iron in the Cleveland hills about 1850 has
changed the country around Stannah and at one place near by,
thrown up a mountain of slag. But several little brick houses are
there, where the roads cross and several other older buildings
stand out on the moor on isolated farms.
Would that I might be able to visit this little known corner of
Old England, where associations would rise from the earth at
every step, or that I might learn more than I have learned from
the travels of two of my friends recently prevailed upon to go
there, one of whom reached Stanghow is such a dense fog that
he could not make out the points of the compass, and the other,
who was in such a hurry that he only had time to see the strong
box in Skelton Church, without examining its contents.
But through the kindness of 4:he present rector I have had these
old records searched, and after a good deal of outside investiga-
tion have thus far been able to gather one or two new facts as to
the origin and birthplace of John Chapman as follows:
JOHN CHAPMAN FIRST SETTLER OF WRIGHTSTOWN 445
He was one of the name Chapman, very common all over Eng-
land and of a family numerous in 1626 near Stanghow, but
now extinct there. The fact that there were several Johns living
about the same time, all referred to in the church records, com-
plicates matters, but I am thus far nearly certain that his great-
grandfather was Thomas Chapman, a rich tanner, of Stanghow,
who died in 1586 and is buried at Skelton Church. He had two
brothers, via. : Thomas and Robert, and a sister, Ann Stone-
house, the first and last of whom may have been living when he
left for America. He had a sister-in-law Ann, possibly also then
living, with her two sojis his nephews, John and Robert Chapman.
And his mother, Jane, was alive two years before he left for
America, according to the probate of her will.
In view of these facts, it is a very curious thing that none of the
names of any of these relatives appear as witnesses at his wed-
ding, or sign this old deed, by which he bought his five hundred
acres of American land before he left England, as if, possibly,
some of them might have remained in the Church of England
and disapproved of his change of creed, or as if he might have
quarrelled with them, one and all.
As he was born in 1626, he must have been for twenty years
at least a member of the Church of England in which he was
baptized, even if he joined the followers of Fox in 1648, at the
very beginning of the society. His persecutions, the first of which
occurred not under the rule of the English Church, but of the
Puritans in the time of Richard Cromwell, and finally during the
reign of Charles the Second are narrated not only in the old
W^ightstown family record, but also in the celebrated book
known as "Besse's Persecutions of the Quakers." John Chap-
man refused to swear. He was fined for attending meetings and
was unjustly taxed through false witnesses, but the most re-
markable incident in all his troubles was his strange silence at
Sunderland, when he went to see, or feed or comfort, some
Quaker Friends who were sitting in the stocks, was put in him-
self, absolutely refused to speak to the officers, and was sent to
Durham jail for nine weeks.
The old deed has a curious seal. It looks like the impression of
an ancient stone intaglio, stamped through the paper with the
device of a bleeding heart pierced with two arrows, as if pressed
446 JOHN CHAPMAN FIRST SliTTLE;R OF WRIGHTSTOWN
from a signet ring, certainly not worn by Chapman, but possibly
by the other party, Captain Toaes who might have found it in
some trading voyage in the Levant. The document shows that
Chapman bought his land, according to the Wrightstown manu-
script, the day before he started for America, and from this same
Captain Toaes who brought him over in his ship the Shield, of
Stockton-on-Tees, which ship, with the same captain and a lot
of emigrants was blown up the Delaware river in a heavy gale in
the year 1678 and tied to a tree, after which it was so cold over
night, that the passengers were landed next morning on the ice.
It was on the longest day of the year, 1684, when Chapman
left old Stanghow with his wife and his little children, Ann,
(afterwards Ann Parsons, the minister) aged eight, John, five,
Marah thirteen, and poor little Jane, aged twelve, who died at
sea. and was thrown overboard, and with his ward, Ann Parsons,
of Kirk Leatham, in Cleveland, therefore he must have started
either on the traditional Mid-summer Day of St. John the Baptist,
June 24, which the Germans would have called his "name day,"
or on the 21st of June. He had received his portion from his
mother's will about two years before, and his deed for five hun-
dred acres in "Pennsollvania," with Captain Toaes had just been
signed. But he never could have heard of Wrightstown or had
any intention of coming there, since his land, though bought, was
not apportioned in the wilderness, till he reached Philadelphia.
He was careful in getting character certificates, and required
one from Captain Toaes, when he left the ship, but strange to say
he never took the trouble during his lifetime to get Penn's official
patent for his five hundred acres, and that document, here shown,
with the great seal of Pennsylvania stamped on beeswax, in a box
of hammered tin plate, probably made in Germany, first came into
possession of his son, John Chapman, Jr., in 1705.
If any one proposes to investigate the English origin of John
Chapman, this marriage certificate shows that he must abandon
Stanhope and go to Stannah or Stanghow, in the Cleveland
country of the North Riding of Yorkshire, and the ancient strong
box in Skelton Church. I am only pretending to present this
fact, not to write his life. What else any one can read in the
Chapman narrative I pass over, with a final word as to his
gravestone, probably without an epitaph, which it ap-
BUCKS COUNTY PIONEERS IN THE V'ALLEY OF VIRGINIA 447
pears was probably carried off as building material about 1828
from tbe old Friends' burial ground at Logtown. then reprehen-
sibly neglected and abandoned by this meeting, and which stone
may be now (1913) built into the wall of Jacob Liverzey's house
at Penn's Park.
Bucks County Pioneers in the Valley of Virginia.
BY S. GORDON SMYTH OF CONSHOIIOCKEN, PA.
(Friends ^[eeting House, Wrightstown ^Meeting, November 8, 19 13.)
In a magnificent, verdant basin stretching from the Shenan-
doah river to the Potomac river, and gradually expanding be-
tween them and the timber-crested spurs of the Blue Ridge until
finally merged far off in the distant Tennessee mountains, lie the
deep turfed limestone plains of the Valley of Virginia, a country
as notable in this day for its material prosperity as evidenced by
the thriftiness of its graziers, farmers and orchardists, as it was
famous in early days for its exciting border tales, the time when
the romance of its civilization and conquest thrilled fireside lis-
teners in the older communities of the East. The story of its
colonization is unique in the annals of American ethnological
progress. It was not unlike that of the older colonies in many
ways, only that it diff'ered from them in the quality of the ele-
ments which made its primary history and in which the citizens
of your native county of Bucks formed no small proportion.
East of the Blue Ridge and to the south of the Potomac, lay
what was called "tide-water" Virginia planted and settled a cen-
tury before by the cavalier blood of England. Virginia, at that
day, was supposed to extend to. and have jurisdiction over all
the western territory as far as the shores of the remote Pacific,
and all this land beyond the Blue Ridge was an unknown region,
until Governor Spottswood and his cavalcade of "Knights of
the Golden Horse-shoe" ascended the mountainous barrier and
looked down, for the first time, upon that virgin valley, as yet
untrodden by the feet of white men. Little did those people
then imagine that the crest of the range upon which they stood,
would, in days to come, define the physical and political division
between the old state of \'irginia and West \'irginia.
448 BUCKS COUNTY PIONEERS IN THE VALLEY OE VIRGINIA
In the settlement of Virginia's seaboard counties the native
Indians had been gradually thrust beyond the Blue Ridge into
the western valleys there to roam free and undisturbed by the
settlers who dared go no farther; and there the red men fought
on those rock-rimmed meadows, for nearly another century, their
inter-tribal wars, or pursued their hunting expeditions in peace.
The Valley of Virginia is drained by many tributaries which
find their course toward the Shenandoah or to the South Branch
of the Potomac. It was rich in game and of wondrous fertility,
and it is not surprising that some of Spottswood's exploring
party, who were also members of the Council, obtained the first
grants which gave them the control of the lands lying farther
down the valley; but there still remained vast unappropriated
sections waiting the coming conquest. The few white men who
had entered the valley were wandering traders who followed the
Indian trails on their business of barter. Some of these were
from the wilderness frontiers of Pennsylvania, and others from
the distant Dutch settlement in Ulster county, New York, and it
fell to the fortune of one of the latter, whose shrewd observations
found it to be a land of promise and plenty, that the pioneer
movement into the valley was initiated.
John Van Metre, an Indian trader from the Dutch settlement
at Eusopus, in Ulster county, N. Y., returning from one of
his expeditions in the south, advised his sons to settle
on the land which he had described to them, and the
immediate result was that John and Isaac Van Metre, two of
the sons of the trader, petitioned for and obtained from Governor
Gooch and the Council of Virginia, in 1730, a 40,000 acre grant
that extended from the south bank of the Potomac to the vicinity
of the present city of Winchester, Va., and between the Shenan-.
doah and the South Branch of the Potomac. Harper's Ferry was
the natural gateway to this land of Canaan, but all the fords of
the Potomac leading out of Maryland were pathways to the
promised land then called the Northern Neck of Virginia. The
Governor's grant to the Van Metres imposed certain conditions
upon the grantees, one of which stipulated for a limited number
of families which they were required to seat upon the land within
a definite period of time. About the expirati(3n of this term, the
Van Metres, finding themselves unable to fully comply with the
BUCKS COUNTY PIONEERS IN THE VALLEY OF VIRGINIA 449
conditions, assigned their grants to Jost Hite, a near relative, and
also a resident of the Ulster county colony. Hite very promptly
added to his holdings a further grant from the council of Vir-
ginia, for a much greater territory than that obtained by the Van
Metres, and lying to the south of it; but the purchase of these
additional lands brought antagonism with Lord Thomas Fairfax,
who was proprietor of the Northern Neck by virtue of priority
of title ; he having a grant for all his lands direct from the crown,
which he contended, took precedence over that of the governor
and council. This situation brought settlers under the Van
Metres and Hite into disputes about their titles, and it required
a half century of litigation to determine the rights of ownership.
Finally a decree was handed down in favor of Hite, and the
grants and surveys made under him were confirmed.
During the years that these lands were in chancery, and, un-
restrained or undeterred by the probable outcome of the suit,
grants were still continued by the Council, and great tracts of
virgin wilderness were parcelled out and surveyed to Alexander
Ross and his company from Chester county, Pa., largely of the
Quaker element, to Benjamin Borden and his adventurers of New
Jersey, and to many another group of speculators or settlers, but
all under and subject to conditions similar to those which had
governed the Van Metres and Hite grants.
Beginning with the year 1732, and along toward the climax of
the Hite-Fairfax controversy, there passed into the valley a
throng of pioneers from every colony in the East, and from the
emigrant ships that touched at New Castle an eager, rushing, fear-
less stream of diversified humanity in which races, creeds and
characteristics mingled like the basic elements pouring into the
melting-pot, and where, for another generation they settled
amalgamated and in the refining process produced the sturdy
qualities of the pioneers of a later period so prominent in the
planting and winning of the West.
Such was the situation in Western \'irginia when we begin to
detect the presence there of distinctively Bucks county colonists,
who came from the townships at the eastern end of this county,
from those along the Philadelphia border, and as far north as
the forks of the Delaware. Many were of the second generation
450 BUCKS COUNTY PIONEERS IN THE VALLEY OF VIRGINIA
of the families who got their patents here from Penn and liis
commissioners.
To understand more clearly the locality in the valley in which
our people settled, some knowledge of the counties covering the
northeastern end of Virginia is necessary.
Spottsylvania county, erected in 1720, was the scene of the
earliest emigration. As the population increased and spread,
Orange county was set ofif from it in 1734, then Augusta and
Frederick in 1738, Berkeley in 1772 and Jefferson in 1801. So
that the Bucks county pioneers, originally locating in Spottsyl-
vania county, for instance, may have, within their lifetime or
that of their children, resided continuously in the same place, and
yet their lands have come within the limits of each of the above
counties successively.
As one scans the official records of any of these jurisdictions,
or searches through the manuscript documents or authorities, one
begins to unearth the local history of these scions of our fore-
fathers, and realizes a sense of kinship or neighborliness whilst
delving among the familiar names found in the faded folios of
that ancient time. Here are found such families as Albertson,
Atkinson, Bennett, Booth, Bond, Brown, Boone, Bunting, Beans,
Britton, Bolton, Beatty, Cooper, Chambers, Cadwallader, Cary,
Copeland, Craven, Carver, Cunningham, Cox, Davis, Doan, Dicks,
Darkes, Ewing, Ellis, Erwin, Eyres, Gilbert, Hart, Headley,
Heath, Heston, Hicks, Hoagland, Harris, Howell, Harvey,
Harper, Janney, Keith, Krewson, Knight, Lovett, Lucas, Lacy,
Merrick, Miller, Miles, Moon, Morgan, Morris, Noble, Osborne,
Powell, Parsons, Pemberton, Pickering, Roberts, Rutherford,
Rush, Simpson, Scott, Stackhouse, Turner, Thomas, Tomlinson,
Unthank, Vanhorne, Vanartsdalen, Wood, Worthington, White,
Wright, Watson and very many others, with those, of course,
escaping my observation.
The blood of Bucks countians blending with that from other
communities produced a high strain of virile standards in the
offspring of these settlers. From them have come notable men
and women conspicuous in every career in life; many won nation-
wide distinction, and, I dare say, have reached universal fame.
My researches have traced among them the ancestral lines of
governors, civil leaders, military heroes, captains of industry,
BUCKS COUNTY PIONEERS IN THE VALLEY OF VIRGINIA 45 1
professional sa^•ants, educators and so on. One of the remark-
able things to be said of the people of the valley communities is
that the lower end of it has given Dr. Edward Tiffin. Thomas
Worthington, Jeremiah Morrow (it is claimed) and Robert
Lucas, the first sixth, eight and eleventh governors of Ohio, and
perhaps the assimilated qualities of Pennsylvania ancestry has
also developed higher dignitaries in the Dolitical world. In the
lives of three of the first mentioned governors the Worthington
blood was fused, but the antecedents of Robert Lucas include
the parent stocks of the Harts, Rushes and Darkes, all of whom
were among the earliest settlers of Bucks county.
Among the very first grantees of Sir Edmund Andross, terri-
torial representative of the Duke of York, and, some years be-
fore William Penn's patent became effective in Pennsylvania,
were the Darke and Lucas families, immigrants from England.
Robert Lucas and his eldest son, John, arrived here in April.
1679, and immediately petitioned for a grant of land on the west
side of the Delaware "near the falls." Andross allowed the grant
and had surveyed to Lucas in the following June, 177 acres in
that locality, and William Penn, in 1681, confirmed it and added
a further grant of 244 acres. Both tracts were contiguous to each
other, and, according to Holmes' map of the province, they lay
"at the falls" on the Delaware, directly across from Mahlon
Stacey's mill, now the site of the city of Trenton, N. J., thence
extending down the river to the head of William Bile's island.
The locality was afterward included in Falls township.
The ship, "Content", brought over in 1680 Robert Lucas' wife,
Elizabeth, and their remaining children : Edward, Giles, Robert,
Elizabeth, Rebecca, Mary and Sarah, all were Quakers. In the
course of time they established families in the adjoining parts of
the county, as one may learn by consulting the minutes of the
Monthly Meeting of Falls, Middletown and Makefield, in Bucks
county, and those in Burlington county, N. J. Robert Lucas, the
emigrant, was a justice of the Upland Court in 1682; he repre-
sented his district in the colonial assembly in the years 1683,
1687-8 and was otherwise active in the civil affairs of the settle-
ment about the falls. His son, Edward Lucas, married Bridget
Scott, of Burlington county, and died about 1740, leaving beside
452 BUCKS COUNTY PI0NE;ERS in the; VALLE;y of VIRGINIA
his widow, these children : John, Samuel, Edward, Ann, Eliza-
beth, Mercy, Mary and Margaret. It was the Edward of this
family that went to Virginia. Edward was born the 24th of
December, i/io; married Mary Darke, daughter of John Darke,
of Byberry township, and died in Virginia in 1772. Edward. Jr.,
owned land in Falls township, and, in addition, had inherited in-
terests in certain lands in Middletown township, which interests
he disposed of to his brother, John, in 1749, after he had es-
tablished his home in the Valley of Virginia. The early Lucases
intermarried with the families then prominent in Bucks and Bur-
lington counties — the Pooles, Heulings, Fenimores, Gibbs, Bay-
leys, Hayworths, Margerums, Atkinsons, Moons, Croasdales,
Lovetts, Spencers, Taylors, Leritons and Hutchinsons. Edward
Lucas, Jr., came into Orange county, about 1734, and bought
extensively of land, probably 1,000 acres and more, in the new
settlement and located his home back from the Potomac river,
and in the direction of Charlestown, in (now) Jefiferson county.
The name he gave his plantation was "Cold Spring," and was so
called, presumably, out of regard for his early associations with
the "Cold Spring" neighborhood in Bristol township of Bucks
county. In Virginia he rendered military service under Col.
George Washington in the colonial forces, and when his chief
was a candidate from Frederick county in 1758, for a seat in the
House of Burgesses, Lucas voted for him, as did also other of
our pioneers. Edward Lucas' family was a numerous one. It
gave three sons who were killed in the Indian warfare along the
border; and two other sons were Edward and William, both of
whom became captains in the Revolutionary army, but originally
enlisting in Captain William Morgan's company of Virginia
riflemen.
In the tax lists for Berkeley county for 1774, Edward, the
father, was rated on 895 acres ; his son. Captain Edward, for
4531 William for 275, and John, in 1779, was enrolled for 400
acres. on Dunkard's creek, Penna.
Captains Edward and William, with the latter's children,
Joseph, John, Robert and William, with other young men and
their families of Berkeley county, emigrated to the Ohio country
about 1796, where their settlement was made near the mouth of
the Scioto river, and in 1802 they established, in Pike county, the
BUCKS COUNTY PIONEERS IN THE VALLEY OF VIRGINIA 453
town of Lucasville, Ohio. Robert Lucas, the son of Captain
WiUiam Lucas, married a Miss Brown, of the western country.
He became the first surveyor of Scioto county; served in the War
of 1812; was the first brigadier general of Ohio mihtia ; was
elected to the State Legislature in 1829; became president of the
Democratic convention of that year; was twice elected Governor
of Ohio (1832-36) ; was appointed by President Van Buren the
first territorial governor of Iowa, the 7th of February, 1853.
In his honor Lucas county. Ohio, was named, and established in
1837.
The Darkes were another conspicuous family in the history
of early Bucks county; and they too, were English Quakers.
Samuel Darke, of London, arrived in this country in the ship
"Content," in 1683. His brother, William Darke, came over with
him, but the latter's wife, Alice, and their oldest son, John, aged
17, came over in the year following. These brothers first made
their home in Burlington county, N. ]., but later crossed the river
into Bucks county, where William obtained a grant for 235 acres,
"near the falls." It was patented to him 20th of 4th month, 1683,
and thereon finally settled. William Darke was a grand juror of
the county in 1684; he also served as a member from Bucks
county, in the Colonial Assembly, for the year, 1685. He was an
extensive landowner in both Bucks and Burlington counties, and
in the year 1696, his son John, desiring to set up his own home,
the father, "in consideration of love and affection," conveyed to
him one-half his property in one of the Bucks county townships.
William Darke was among those who established the first friends'
meeting in the county; they met at the house of William Biles,
just below "the falls," where the first business transacted referred
to the marriage intentions of Samuel Darke, Jr., and Ann Knight
(which, by the way, occurred "out of meeting" and occasioned
their removal to Salem county, N. ].). Samuel Darke, the elder
brother of William, married Martha Worrall. He, too, was a
prominent settler and served in the colonial assembly between
1683 and 1709. He died in 1723. John Darke, son of William
Darke, the emigrant, was born in England, in 1667, and married
about 1696 Jane Rush, the youngest daughter of John and Susan-
nah (Lucas) Rush, of Warminister township. This John Darke
was a constable in Falls township, where he for a time lived, and
454 BUCKS COUNTY PIONEERS IN THE VALLEY OE VIRGINIA
from whence he removed to Warminster and then, finally, to
Makefield township, where he was living at the time of his
death in 17 19. He was survived by his wife, Jane, and their
children: John, Joseph, William, Thomas, Mary (who married
Edward Lucas, and Susannah. Joseph, the second son of John
and Jane Darke, was born in Bucks county in 1702, married, and
removed to Frederick county, Virginia, about 1741. He settled
on a modest grant of land along a small branch of the Opequon
creek. Their children were Jane, William, John, Joseph, Martha
and Mary (who married Philip Engle, a noted pioneer of the
valley from Lancaster county, Penna.). William Darke, born in
Bucks county in 1736, accompanied his father's and the Lucas
family to Virginia, both families settling near the Potomac river.
In 1758 William Darke married the widow of the Indian fighter.
Capt. William Delayea, and then located a homestead on the Elk
Branch, at a place now called Duffields, situated between the
Lucas and Engle plantations, in Berkeley county. William Darke
was a noted citizen, soldier and legislator. He was called the
"Hero of St. Clair's defeat," because of the valorous part he
took in that great military tragedy. Much has been written of
the brilliant career of this man, who deserved it all. Deeply in-
terested in the progress of the little cosmopolitan community in
which he lived ; foremost in its protection and defense, and, being
fearless by nature as well as gigantic in stature, his service
was in command, and this service brought him ultimately to the
rank of a brigadier general in Berkeley county. As colonel of
the troops organized in his neighborhood, he accompanied St.
Clair's command to the northwest, where, on the banks of the
Maumee in 1791, he repeatedly checked the Indian attacks on St.
Clair's forces, until the savages finally overwhelmed them with
terrible consequences. Col. Darke was badly wounded, and saw
his son, Capt. Joseph Darke, killed in the slaughter that brought
desolation to many a Virginia home.
General Darke died in 1802, leaving children: John, Samuel,
Mary (who married Thomas Rutherford, of the distinguished
family of that name in the valley), and Rebecca. The citizens
of Ohio named a county as a memorial to him; established in
1809.
The involved relationship of some of those families already
BUCKS COUNTY PIONEERS IN THE VALLEY OF VIRGINIA 455
named requires the introduction of the Rushes of Warmister,
Bucks county.
John Rush, the Pennsylvania emigrant, ancestor of the famous
family of that name in this state, is mentioned as having been a
captain of horse in the Cromwellian army. At Hornton, in Ox-
fordshire, England, he married Susannah Lucas on the 8th of
June, 1648. They arrived in this country in 1683 and took pos-
session of a grant of land in Byberry containing 500 acres, to-
gether with a like parcel in Warminster township of same
amount. The Rushes were also English Quakers, John Rush
having joined the society in 1660, continued his affiliation with
them in this country, but forsook the faith in 1691 to unite with
the Keithians. Upon the breaking up of that schism he connected
with the Baptist congregation, worshipping under Rev. Thomas
Dungan at Cold Spring. In 1698 he died and was buried at his
homestead on the Poquessing creek, in Byberry township. The
children of John Rush were \\'illiam, John, Jane (who married
John Darke and was grandmother of Gen. William Darke), and
Susannah. William Rush's son. Dr. James Rush, was the uncle
of the celebrated Dr. Benjamin Rush. John Hart who married
Susannah Rush, was of Witney, in Oxfordshire, England, and
a member of the Society of Friends. He reached Pennsylvania
in 1682 and settled upon one of the two tracts of land which he
had obtained under patent from William Penn. Like the Rush
grants one was for 500 acres in Byberry township, and the other
for 500 acres in Warminster township, and in both cases these
tracts lay contiguous to the Rush lands. In 1698 Hart sold his
Byberry property and removed to the one in Warminster. Fol-
lowing his father-in-law's example, he. too, left the Society of
Friends and became a Baptist. He died in 17 14, aged 63, leaving,
Ijeside his widow, these children : John, Thomas Josiah and Mary.
His son Joseph died in the same year. John, the eldest son, born
July 16, 1684, died March 23, 1763, married Eleanor Crispin,
born September 16, 1687, daughter of Silas and Esther (Holme)
Crispin, and granddaughter of Captain William Crispin and
Thomas Holme, whom William Penn named successively as his
first Surveyor General of Pennsylvania; the former, who was his
uncle, dying before he reached the province.
John and Eleanor (Crispin) Hart had ten children, three of
30
456 BUCKS COUNTY PIONEERS IN THE VALLEY OF VIRGINIA
whom died in childhood. Three sons survived him, Joseph, Silas
and Oliver. The eldest of these was Col. Joseph Hart, (1715-
1788), prominent in Colonial affairs as a soldier and legislator,
and one of the most prominent patriots of Bucks county during
the revolution. His son John was the county treasurer robbed
by the Doans in 178 1, and his son Josiah was the grandfather of
our late president Gen. W. W. H. Davis.
Silas Hart, son of John and Eleanor, born in Bucks county
May 5, 1718, went to Augusta county, Va., in or before 1749, as
on September 26, of that year he married Jane Robertson of that
county. He was a justice of the courts of Augusta county. In
1778, Rockingham county was set off from Augusta and Silas
Hart was one of the first justices named for the new county.
Being the senior justice he was also commissioned the first high-
sheriff of the county. He had been chairman of the Committee
of Safety of Augusta county from the organization of that body,
and continued his activity in the patriot cause as an official of the
new county. He died in Rockingham county, October 29, 1795
without issue, devising his estate to the Philadelphia Baptist As-
sociation. That association not being incorporated, after long
litigation, the United States Supreme Court finally decided that
it could not take under the will.
Oliver Hart, the third surviving son of John and Eleanor,
born July 5, 1723, entered the Baptist ministry in 1748, and in
1749, became pastor of a church at Charleston, South Carolina,
where he labored for over thirty years he took an active and
prominent part in the patriot cause during the revolution and
when Charleston was captured by the British in 1780, came back
to his birthplace in Bucks county. He never returned south but
became pastor of the Baptist Church at Hopewell, N. J., where
he died December 31, 1795. He was a learned and zealous divine
and author of a number of religious works of considerable merit.
Thomas Hart, the second son of John and Susannah Hart,
married Mary Combs at the Philadelphia Monthly Meeting in
1722, and removed from Warminster to the Valley of Virginia,
where they settled among their Bucks county friends on the Elk
Branch of the Opequon. In 1735 Thomas Hart purchased of
Jost Hite two tracts of land on the branch, one of 500 acres and
another 1,000 acres. He sold a part of one of these tracts to
BUCKS COUNTY PIONEERS IN THE VALLEY OF VIRGINIA 457
John ]^Iiles (son of Thomas Miles) of Bucks county, Pa., and
when Miles died in 1747 his land was devised, by entail, to his
daughter, Margaret Miles, who had in the meantime married
John Paul (son of James Paul) of Warminster.
Lord Fairfax, in his suit to recover title to the Hite land and
the grantees under Hite in the Northern Neck, was a defendant,
under a cross action to recover title to lands which he sold, and
was claimed by Kite's heirs. At the suit of the latter, action
was taken against the estate of ^Margaret Paul in 1794. In 1803
the suit was heard and there we find the old familiar Bucks
county names in the list of witnesses, though these names be-
longed mostly to the second generation. There were William and
Joseph Darke, Giles Cook, Ann Thomas (probably of the North
Wales family), Edward Lucas, Thomas Rutherford, John
Wright, Thomas Hart, Jr., and his son, Miles Hart. According
to the evidence Thomas Rutherford was the surveyor of Fred-
erick county at the time Fairfax conveyed to Thomas Hart, Sr.
Some of General Darke's testimony had to be taken in Pennsyl-
vania where he was engaged in suppressing the whiskey insurrec-
tion. Ann Thomas' deposition was taken in Philadelphia at the
Spread Eagle tavern, then kept by John Dunwoody ; and similar
items appear on the court journals. It also appears that Thomas
Hart, Sr., had removed to the Carolinas in 1754. John Hart,
probably a member of this family, was a grantee of 400 acres of
land on the Kanawha river in 1792.
Thomas Rutherford, of whom I have made mention, may have
had kinship with those of the same name who were living in
Southampton township, and were members of the Presbyterian
Church of Churchville. If so, they derive their American origin
from one of the Rutherford brothers who came into Philadel-
phia and Bucks counties in 1730. It is claimed for these Ruther-
fords that they were of ancient Scottish lineage, which included,
among its many descendants, the mother of Sir Walter Scott.
Robert and Thomas Rutherford lived for a time in Bucks county,
then followed the pioneer movement into the valley of X'irginia,
in which they purchased land of Lord Fairfax in 1736 locating
on the Bullskin run adjoining the plantation of Major Lawrence
Washington, near the present Charlestown. The land was sur-
veyed to them at a later period, when George Washington, the
458 BUCKS COUNTY PIONEe;rS in the valley of VIRGINIA
surveyor, was in his i6th year. Robert Rutherford went farther
down the valley to Fredericktown (Winchester), where he was
living in 1752, and where he was recorded as a merchant, when
Fort Loudon was erected as a frontier post in 1758, and under
the command of Col. George Washington. Robert Rutherford
is described as being both brilliant and popular, but erratic. For
a long time he was associated with George Washington, first as a
surveyor in that region, and then as a soldier in the colonial
militia. It was in 1752 that Robert Rutherford married Mrs.
Mary Howe, the widow of Hon. George A. Howe, who was
killed at Fort Ticonderoga. in 1758, in an attack by the Indians,
and who was a brother of General Sir William Howe, later com-
mander of the English forces in America, and of Admiral Lord
Howe of the British navy, names likely to be well remembered in
the history of our country. Robert Rutherford was captain of a
ranging company of frontiersmen in 1758-9. His attainments
made him eminent in colonial politics, serving as a member of the
House of Burgesses of Virginia from 1758 until after the Revo-
lution, and, as one of that body, was appointed on a committee
of the House along with George Mason, James Madison, Patrick
Henry and Edmund Randolph, which committee met May 16,
1776, and drafted the Declaration of Rights and framed a plan
of government. Upon the establishment of our national
independence Rutherford became the first member of Con-
gress from west of the Blue Ridge, and won his seat over
General Daniel Morgan in the election of 1793, but, in 1797 was
defeated for re-election by his former opponent. General Morgan.
For forty years he was the friend and was long the companion
of General \\^asliington. He was a trustee, in company with
General Darke, of Charlestown in 1786, as he was in the case
of Winchester in 1758. Robert Rutherford's home was situated
near Charlestown. It was called "The Flowering Spring," and
was much admired and frequently resorted to by the leading peo-
ple of his time. He died in October, 1803. His only son was
Thomas Hugh, who died unmarried, at the age of 19 years. The
daughters were Susan (married Col. John Peyton) ; Mary mar-
ried Col. John Morrow; Elizabeth (married Dr. Humphrey);
a fourth daughter married a nephew of Colonel John Morrow;
Deborah (married George Hite) ; Sarah (married Daniel Bed-
BUCKS COUNTY PIONEERS IN THE VALLEV OF VIRGINIA 459
inger) ; Eleanor (married James Brown) and Margaret, died un-
married. The descendants of these daughters are found among
the Armisteds, Beckwiths, Botts. Brown, Bryan, Craighill, Clark,
Corbin, Conrad, Cornwalls, Ellsworth. Flagg, Foster. Grayson,
Hammond, Humphreys, Lee, Lucas, Morrow, Randolph, Ran-
som, Thomas and Washington families.
Thomas Rutherford, brother of the foregoing Robert, whose
career I have so lengthily narrated, was also one of Lord Fair-
fax's surveyors, but his duties lay in the eastern end of the
Northern Neck, from about 1740. He was high sherifY of Fred-
erick county in 1743-4 and one of the county justices in 1748.
Thomas married a Virginia woman and had four children,
Thomas, Jr., Van, Drusilla and Mary; all lived in 1762 in the
same neighborhood with the Darkes' and Lucas'. Thomas, Jr's.,
second wife was Mary Darke (daughter of General William
Darke) whom he married in 1792, and they were the parents of
Sallie de M. Rutherford, who married Dr. John Briscoe, son of
Dr. John and Eleanor (Magruder) Briscoe, of Piedmont, near
Charlestown, Berkeley county, Virginia.
In addition to the foregoing, the records of Rockingham county
(set off from Augusta 1778) show that a Thomas Rutherford
had settled in that county, and died there in 1770, leaving a
widow, Elizabeth, and children : Elliot, Thomas, Robert, Reuben,
Joseph and Mary (who married Spencer Hill). Of the preceding
Joseph had Joseph, Jr., Daniel, Thomas, Robert, John and James.
Elliot lived about a mile from the Rockingham county court
house in 1795. Repetition of the christian family names in this
case, suggest a near relationship to the elder Robert and Thomas
Rutherford. Somewhere at sometime, I have seen it stated that
the family of Worthington, so prominent in Virginia, had their
origin in Bucks county. I may not be justified in making it ap-
pear here that they were of our people ; but, as there were, and
are to-day, a number of families of that name in some of our
townships, I introduce here some account of the Valley W'orth-
ingtons, hoping that the connection between them if any exist,
may be promptly and definitely determined.
Coming over from Cheadle in England, in the ship "Friend-
ship" in 1684, were Dorothy W'orthington and her children, John,
Henry, Roger and Ann. They settled in Bucks county.
460 BUCKS COUNTY PIONEERS IN THE VALLEY OE VIRGINIA
Thomas. Worthingtoii, an early settler in Wrightstown town-
ship, sometime before 1687, married a daughter of Charles Brigg-
ham ; among their neighbors were the Laceys, Parsons, Pember-
tons and other well-known families whose names are found in
the records of the Virginia Valley.
Previous to the above dates, two Worthington brothers arrived
in Philadelphia. One of them proceeded to New England, the
other, Robert, and his son, Robert, Jr., stayed for a time in the
vicinity of Philadelphia and then removed to Maryland where
the younger Robert, married and afterward emigrated to Virginia,
taking up a grant of 300 acres in Opeqnon Manor, Spottsylvania
county, which was surveyed to him in 1748 by George Washing-
ton. This Robert Worthington, of Virginia, had also a son
Robert, who married Margaret Edwards and raised several chil-
dren, among whom were Ephraim and Mary (who married Ed-
ward Tiffin). The youngest son, Thomas, born the i6th of July,
1769, was a ward of General William Darke, who was his father's
executor. The father had died when Thomas was fourteen
years of age. Young Thomas served in the Revolutionary war
and became a captain of militia. According to certain Acts of
the Virginia House of Burgesses, soldiers in the French and In-
dian wars were entitled to certain military lands laid out in the
northwest territory. In company with a son of General Darke,
Edward and William Lucas, Edward Tiffin and other youth of
the Shepherdstown locality they pioneered to the Ohio country in
1796, and examined the military allotments along the Sciota river.
Worthington and Tiffin bought the claim of General Darke, and
Worthington for himself purchased some military lands on Paint
creek, near Chillicothe in Ross county. Having located these
grants the young pioneers returned to Virginia, where Thomas
Worthington married Eleanor Swearingen on the 13th of De-
• cember, 1796. Eleanor was the daughter of Col. Josiah Swear-
ingen, of Shepherdstown, Berkeley county, a descendant of the
Duke of Hamilton through the marriage of the latter's daughter
to General Forman, British agent in Virginia. Thomas and
Eleanor Worthington and their child, with her two brothers,
James and Samuel Swearingen, and Edward Tiffin, his wife and
two children, all journeyed to Chillicothe in 1798, and took pos-
session of the land they had chosen for a settlement; and the men
BUCKS COUNTY PIONEERS IN THE VALLEY OF VIRGINIA 461
entered actively into the political situation which they found in
progress at the time. Thomas W'orthington was shortly there-
after appointed by General Rufus Putnam, to the surveyorship of
the military lands in Sciota county.
In the founding of the state government of Ohio in 1803.
Worthington was a member of the convention which framed the
constitution ; his brother-in-law, Dr. Edward Tiffin, was its presi-
dent. When the organization of the state was completed, Worth-
ington became its first senator in congress, and Dr. Edward Tiffin
was the first governor, and after his term expired succeeded
Worthington as senator, in 1807-9. Thomas Worthington was
elected governor in 1814, served his term and was appointed a
member of the state canal commission, upon which he served
until his death in 1827.
In passing, let me say briefly, that the old home of Governor
Worthington is entitled to some mention, as it has been described
as the most magnificent mansion of its day in the west. "Adena,"
erected of dressed native limestone in 1806, was situated on the
high hills near Chillicothe, amid natural scenery of the most
beautiful character. It then was the only residence in the west
having glass windows. The glass was manufactured expressly
for it at the works of Albert Gallatin, at Geneva, Pa. The marble
fireplaces were taken out of some quarry near Philadelphia.
These were made up and dressed, and with other eastern novel-
ties, had to be transported by pack horse over the Allegheny
mountains, at a cost of $7 per 100 pounds. The elder Latrobe,
of WashingtoTi, was the architect who planned the structure.
Those of you who visited the Jamestown Exposition in 1907, may
recall seeing the replica of "Adena" in the group of state build-
ings facing the bay; thus the Commonwealth of Ohio remembered
one of her great men, not only building it in Governor Worth-
ington's honor, but also, to exemplify the wonderful prosperity
which the state enjoyed under his wise and beneficial administra-
tion.
I should add in this connection, because of the family relation,
and to explain the remarkable circumstances under which Berk-
eley county, Virginia, claims a fourth governor, of Ohio — that
Jeremiah Morrow, a kinsman of the Morrows, of Shepherds-
town, was, born at Gettysburg, Pa., on October 6, 1771, of Scotch-
462 BUCKS COUNTY PIONEERS IN THE VALLEY OF VIRGINIA
Irish parents. It is assumed by certain historians of the valley
that he, at least, spent some of his early years there, thus giving
some basis for the assertion that he was of them. Jeremiah Mor-
row appeared in the northwest territory in 1795, and settled at
the mouth of the Miami. He served in the territorial legislature
in 1 80 1, was delegate to the first convention, and became a mem-
ber of the Ohio state senate in 1803. In the same year he was
elected to congress and represented his constituency for ten years ;
then filled the office of Indian commissioner for a short time;
was elected to the United States senate and served from 1813-
1819. In 1822 he was elected the eight governor of Ohio, and
after filling that office for two terms, passed into the canal com-
mission, and, in 1841 was again returned to congress.
A very pretty story is told of the simplicity of his domestic
and official life, by the Duke Saxe-Wiemar, who visited his plain
home and spent the night there, while traveling through Warren
county in 1825.
Shepherdstown, that busy little community on the Potomac
river in Berkeley county, Virginia, which I have frequently men-
tioned in this sketch, was the home of two Morgan families both
of whom furnished the nation with men of unusual ability in civic
and military history.
Richard Morgan, the earlier settler of the two, came to
Spottsylvania county probably from Salem county, N. J., at the
very beginning of the valley settlement. He settled at Shep-
herdstown, and like its founder, Thomas Shepherd, was one of
the largest land owners there. He was identified with its progress
and development, and became one of its prominent citizens ; he
raised a large family of brave sons and fair daughters and they
became allied, through marriage, with the leading families of
Western Virginia.
Into this community, though some years later, came John
Morgan — a brother of James Morgan, of Durham, Bucks county,
on the Delaware ; and hither came young Daniel Morgan, from
Durham in 1750, to try his fortunes among the former citizens
of his Bucks county home.
Accepting the argument advanced by Charles Laubach, that
Bucks county may rightfully claim the honor of naming among
her sons, the heroic General Daniel Morgan, the subject will need
BUCKS COUNTY PIONEERS IN THE VALLEY OE VIRGINIA 463
no further support from nie. I only desire to say, that I believe
these two families to have been very closely related ; but I shall,
however, give my views upon this topic at some future time.
General Daniel Morgan lived among these people in a beautiful
home a short distance from the Potomac. His children married
into prominent families and reared an influential posterity.
In the group of pioneers that left the lower end of Bucks
county about 1732, were Robert and Charles Harper, the sons of
Goodlow Harper, an English emigrant, who settled near the
Philadelphia boundary line. These men were among Alexander
Ross' colonists to the Valley of Virginia, and were the builders
of the Hopewell Friends' Meeting House, erected in 1734, not
far from the present city of Winchester. After the completion
of the meeting house, and on his return to Pennsylvania, Robert
Harper passed through the beautifully wooded gap, where the
Shenandoah and Potomac rivers meet, a place that Thomas Jef-
ferson has immortalized in his "Notes on Virginia," and being
attracted by its singular beauty and the situation of the point of
land that projected into, and formed the confluence of the two
streams, purchased the surrounding land from Lord Fairfax,
established a ferry, and provided accommodations for the pilgrims
who journeyed in and out of the valley. This place became the
historic Harper's Ferry of Civil War history. Here were the
United States arsenal. Hall's Rifle works, the old engine house
and a number of other structures, that figured in John Brown's
raid, and precipitated the great War of the Rebellion. Robert
Harper's only child, a daughter, married in 1770, Johannis Wager
(son of Peter and Ann Wager of Philadelphia) and were the an-
cestors of General Wager Swayne, of Ohio, and Judge Charles
Swayne, of New York City.
Among the descendants of Thomas Janney and Margaret
Heath, his wife, of Bucks county, were several who emigrated
to Virginia at an early date and there were Abel and Joseph Jan-
ney, who helped to establish Hopewell meeting in 1733. The first
Friends Meeting in Virginia, was held at the home of Amos
Janney in Fairfax county. Some of the family went into Lowdon
county, on the southern side of the Shenandoah, where one was
the father of Samuel M. Janney. who was born in that county in
1801. This man was celebrated among friends as the author of
464 BUCKS COUNTY PIONEERS IN THE VAEEEY OF VIRGINIA
a "Life of William Penn," a "Life of George Fox," a memoir
of his own life; and a "History of the Society of Friends," be-
tween the years 1852 and 1881. During the Presidency of Gen-
eral Grant, Samuel M. Janney was appointed superintendent of
Indian affairs. Andrew Heath, who bore the same surname as
Thomas Janney's wife, came over from England in 1682, in the
service of William Yardley. He settled in Falls township. Sev-
eral of his descendants were among the Bucks county colonists
in the vicinity of Shepherdstown, Berkeley county, Virginia.
Another of the notable families of lower Bucks represented in
Virginia, were the Wynkoops. Adrian Wynkoop, son of Gerrit
(some times spelled Gerardus) and Susannah Wynkoop, and
grandson of the Gerrit who first came into Bucks county from
Kingston, N. Y., in 17 14, married Sarah Randall, on the 4th of
November 1773. Both were out of the Southampton neighbor-
hood and went to Berkeley county, where Adrian obtained 300
acres of land, in the same region as the Lucas', Harts' and others ;
here he settled in 1775. He served in the Revolutionary War as
a Lieutenant in Captain Charles Morrow's company, from Shep-
herdstown. His children intermarried with the Lucas, Lemon,
Martin, Hendricks, Jones, Mountz and VanMetre families. In
the same locality was Cornelius Wynkoop. He was of the same
generation as Adrian, but I have been unable to identify his par-
ents. Still another Wynkoop, also named Cornelius, joined the
group of Bucks countians in the valley, but as late as 1789 or
1790. This Cornelius was the son of Philip Wynkoop, and
grandson of Gerardus, the New York immigrant to Bucks. This
Wynkoop family had a large estate in Moreland Manor which
extended over Abington and Byberry township into Bucks county.
After the death of his first wife, and having married Cornelia
VanPelt, Cornelius sold his inheritance to his brother, Philip,
Jr., and removed to Loudon county. Cornelius Wynkoop served
in the Revolution as an ensign in Captain Hart's company of
Pennsylvania militia.
Descendants of Daniel Doan, of one of the lower townships of
this county journeyed down to the Carolinas, by way of the Valley
of Virginia, where traces of them are found, and joined the Cane
Creek Meeting; to that meeting Joseph and John Doan brought
certificates dated in 1748, from a Bucks county Meeting. Israel,
BUCKS COUNTY PIONEERS IN THE VALLEY OF VIRGINIA 465
Mahlon, Joseph, Martha, Ehzabeth and John were other Doans
in the Cane Creek country.
This native Bucks countian filtered down, through the dramatic
period of our colonial history, into the southland and there rest-
ing a generation, passed out to the Ohio, forming a virile part
of the nucleus that established the enterprising, resistless, and
dominant empire of the west.
But before concluding this paper though far from exhausting
the subject, I want to mention briefly some others whose kindred
may be found in that fair and sunny south.
The Osbornes there were from Warrington, as were also the
Dicks, Beesons, Jones and Reynolds. Joseph Unthank and his
people were from Richland and the Moons from the Falls.
Daniel Boone was from Berks county, and his kinsmen, the
Morgans, were from Durham on the Delaware.
Samuel, Benjamin and Joseph Tomlinson were from ]\Iiddle-
town, first immigrating to Maryland thence dispersing along the
tributaries of the Ohio by way of Virginia.
By the same route to the waters of the Ohio, came Timothy
Pickering, James Parsons, Thomas and James Moon, Elias
Beans, John Stackhouse, John Simpson, William Krewson, Wil-
liam Headley and Zebulon Heston, all of these and more, trod
the trails leading over the mountains and through the glades of
the Alleghenies, prior to 1775.
General Andrew Pickens, one of the military heroes of the
early days, was a native of Southampton township, and the names
of his ancestors are found on the records of the old Neshaminy
Presbyterian church.
Shepherdstown, in the long ago, was a thrifty little village,
now it is a hustling, wide-awake town, only a stone's throw across
the river from Washington county, Maryland. The Potomac, in
a graceful sweep curves before it beneath tree-crowded cliffs, and
at a little distance from the hurly-burly of the town, the old time
residents were lured to pass their waning days amid picturesque
surroundings, where the soothing sense of peace and repose is
omnipresent and all-pervading. The vicinity is intensely inter-
esting and steeped in the atmosphere of a historic struggle, that
the few living men of to-day, who participated in it, will ever
forget, the nation never.
466 BUCKS COUNTY PIONEERS IN THE VAELEY OE VIRGINIA
Across the river and up the steep grade on the Maryland side,
three miles or more beyond the old bridge, lies Antietam's blood-
bought field, which our Virginia friends prefer to call Sharps-
burg. How many of you met your cousins there, think you?
Shepherdstown is not without its association with other ancient
events. In the period of which I write, it had much in it of the
elemental influences of our native families, and as the border
town of the colony wherein the sons of Bucks raised their roof-
trees and reared scions from English, Quaker and Scotch-Irish
presbyterian stocks, it gave the country some of its greatest men.
Here, General Andrew Jackson that quaint personality among the
presidents of the United States, was raised ; here lived John
Keasley and James Mitchell, sires of our own versatile and uni-
versally esteemed Dr. S. Wier Mitchell, of Philadelphia; here, at
the Packhorse ford of the pioneer, before an admiring throng of
prominent and admiring neighbors, James Rumsey in 1789 tri-
umphantly demonstrated the successful application of steam, as
a revolutionary factor in navigation, and here, too, on the great
trail between the east and the west, our ancient statesmen once
thought it possible and practical to rear the national capitol of the
United States of America.
Charcoal Burning in Buckingham Township.
BY FRANK K. SWAIN, DOVLESTOWN, PA.
(Friends Meeting House, Wrightstown Meeting, November 8, 1913.)
Most fairy stories have their Prince or Princess who. lost in
a huge forest, find their way to an old hut which proves to be
the home of a charcoal-burner. Why a charcoal-burner always,
we might ask. As charcoal is made of wood, charred or smoth-
ered, the burner would live where there was plenty of material
that could be worked up easily and writers of these stories placed
him there and used him because it was a fact. So many impos-
sible things happen in these fairy stories that we pass over and
lose sight of a great many things that are real history, and char-
coal burning is one of them. Few of us know anything about
charcoal, whether it grows, is manufactured or dug from the
earth like coal, but charcoal was made in Buckingham not more
than twenty years ago.
In the early summer of 1890 the writer was sent on an errand
to the home of Andrew Anthony, quarter of a mile west of the
village of Buckingham (or Centreville) on the Old York road.
This was not a hut in the forest but a little stone house half
buried in the side of a hill with a small woods in the rear.
Something new and strange seemed to be going on in the little
lot back of the barn where there was a huge mound of earth,
several feet in diameter, higher than a man, cone-shaped, slightly
flattened on the top with smoke escaping from little holes and
crevices which were immediately closed and hammered with fresh
earth by Andrew Anthony and Charles Lloyd, who used shovels
for that purpose. The whole thing looked like a small volcano
to one who had never seen anything of the kind, but it was not a
volcano, but charcoal burning — right here the ancient process —
the men of the fairy stories ; but real enough with their work
nearly finished, work that had required constant attention every
moment for several days, and both sure of success. A small
sample, thin, smooth and brittle was later taken from the kiln-
and handed to the writer by Charles Lloyd, who explained the
process.
468 CHARCOAI, BURNING IN BUCKINGHAM TOWNSHIP
Again in June 1913 Mr. Lloyd gave the following information.
The first kiln fired, which was the one described above, was
burned at Andrew Anthony's and was made up of four large pine
trees bought from the owner of the Pierson place, now the dairy
farm of George W. Ott, on the Centreville pike, just west of that
village. These trees, large and old, were sawed and split into
cord wood length (four feet) and with other wood on hand made
a very large kiln or charcoal pit, at least fifteen cords of wood.
To prepare or set the kiln, a hole was dug in the ground, in the
center of which a pile of small kindling wood, leaves and small
pieces of wood were placed, forming a core, around which the
cord wood was placed on end in a circle, layer against layer, until
the diameter was sixteen feet, then a second layer or tier was
started, leaving the little hole open in the center. This second
layer was so placed that the whole mass could not topple over or
fall in, which would ruin the whole kiln, and it was smaller in cir-
cumference than the first one, thus forming a cone-shaped mass
eight feet high and flat on the top. The whole thing was then
covered with earth forming a wall at least two feet thick which
had to be hammered tight, closing all crevises or holes where air
could enter. Fire was then dropped down through a small hole
in the crown which had been left open for that purpose and when
the kindling or tinder in the core had ignited and burned up so the
green wood started to burn, the crown hole was closed with
pieces of thick sod and dirt previously cut to fit, as a plug, and
the crown covered with dirt and hammered down about the
thickness of the kiln walls.
The greenest wood that would not burn readily in a stove will
burn in a charcoal kiln and once well under way the thing will
burn until every inch is charred. It required nine days to burn
this kiln the usual time required for a kiln of this size. It re-
quired constant watching as no air was allowed to enter at any
time, else the wood would blaze and if not stopped immediately,
by closing up the hole with more dirt and by pounding it down
tight, a whole kiln, nearly finished, would be consumed in twenty
minutes. Nothing could prevent it if the fire once started and
.only a pile of ashes would be left. Charles Lloyd got up on top
of the kiln and looked down through the opened crown-hole and
found the whole interior white like paper, and the hottest thing
CHARCOAL BURNING IN BUCKINGHAM TOWNSHIP 469
imaginable. He could not get down in time to get more earth
so he crushed in the whole crown to prevent blazing. He watched
once an hour all the time, during the nine days, and Andrew
Anthony watched at odd times, perhaps one-fourth of the time.
Escaping smoke showed where the walls were getting thin and
where more dirt was necessary to prevent a break. When once
started the fire will burn till every inch of the wood is charred
when it dies out of its own accord and nothing can stop it. The
kiln was three days cooling off and it was a great pleasure to
remove long sticks of perfect charcoal, as the burning was a great
success.
The charcoal was sold to tinsmiths, William HofYman, Doyles-
town; Joseph West, Buckingham, and Mr. Johns, New Hope, in
small quantities at odd times.
In burning and opening kilns three tools are used — a shovel,
a fork with tines close together and a common garden rake for
pulling the sticks from the kiln. The kiln is opened by taking
away the wall of dirt at the bottom and pulling or raking out the
pieces of charcoal. Lloyd, when a boy in South Carolina, had
seen charcoal burned and believes that the process of setting the
wood was wrong but he gave in to Anthony, who was an older
man. The wood should be laid flat on the ground and not stood
on end. Step in each layer so as to bring the top in much smaller
than the base. In this way the wood supports the dirt, hence
less cracking, sliding, caving, and less work closing up airspaces.
Standing the wood on end as above, the dirt wall supports itself
and there is more shifting and cracking all the time.
Directly after the kiln was burned at Anthony's another one
was fired by Mr. Lloyd alone at his home near Holicong. This
kiln, not so large as the other one perhaps, w'as filled with willow
wood from the Thompson farm, formerly the Benjamin S. Rich
farm, nearby, and it was set and burned in the same way as the
first one.
Chief Tammany and the Lenape Stone.
BY M. R. HARRINGTON, PHILADELPHIA, PA.*
(Doylestown Meeting, February lo, 1914.)
I have been asked by Mr. Mercer to say a few words concern-
ing Tamanend. or Tammany, the Delaware Indian chieftain, who
seems to be a sort of patron saint in this locaHty — the same Tam-
many who enjoys the distinction of being the patron saint of
New York City — even though he was shghtly discredited at the
recent election.
Mr. Mercer thought that my researches among the surviving
Delaware Indians might qualify me to shed some new light upon
the chieftain's life and death, and also perhaps, on that bone of
contention, the famous Lenape stone. But alas ! so far as the
good Tamanend is concerned, my experiences among his tribes-
men of to-day avail me little; for, while I have heard his name
mentioned among them, they have as yet given me no definite
tradition concerning his life or death.
In fact I have been so busy collecting specimens for the Uni-
versity of Pennsylvania Museum, to illustrate their arts and
customs, and inquiring into their ancient mode of life, that I have
not yet taken much pains to collect purely historical traditions.
When another opportunity offers, I shall make incjuiries, but I
doubt if these will be very productive. For while events that
happened when the tribe was in Kansas, and some even in Indiana
and Ohio, are still fairly well remembered by the survivors in
Oklahoma, the memories of the old Pennsylvania and New Jersey
days have become very dim indeed.
Mr. Mercer seemed especially anxious to find out whether
Tamanend could have been alive as late as 1740 or 1750. Per-
sonally I see no reason why he should not have been alive at that
time. His name first appears, according to Nelson's "Indians of
New Jersey" in a deed f.or land in Bucks county, dated 1683, at
which time he may very well have been only twenty-five or thirty
* Mr. Harrington was Assistant Curator of the Archeological Department of the
University of Pennsylvania when he read this paper, but at the date of publication
(1917) is connected with the "Museum of the American Indian" at New York.
CHIEF TAMMANY AND THE LENAPE STONE 47I
years old. If this is true he would be only eighty-two or eighty-
seven in 1740, an age frequently reached by Indians in that day.
But of course we have no positive evidence that he actually did
live as long as that. So much for Saint Tammany.
Now for the Lenape stone. First of all let me say that I see
nothing about the Lenape stone as illustrated in Mr. Mercer's
book,* that would lead me to condemn it olThand. In fact all
the points that have been raised against it by others or that I
can raise against it myself, will admit of explanation. The evi-
dence of its being found as claimed is very convincing. We
know the eastern Algoncjuin Indians made inscribed tablets — I
have found some myself — and we know that hunting scenes are
frequently pictured by Indians. Among the points that have been
raised against it, the fact that the incisions dip in crossing the
crack, may be explained by the use of a nail to clean out the
drawing after finding. The most serious and suspicious point of
all to my mind — the fact that the crack in the stone crosses it at
the place where it intersects the minimum number of engraved
lines — admits of a possible explanation also. We know that the
Indians frequently mended treasured articles with home-made
glue, or sometimes pitch, and it might have been carved by an
Indian even after breaking in such a way as to cross the crack
as little as possible.
Examining the characters scratched upon the stone, I find sev-
eral that are not in accord with what I have learned from the
Delawares of to-day. For instance the conical wigwams or
tepees. The present Lenape deny that they ever used dwellings
of this type, except for the roughest kind of small temporary
shelters erected for boys fasting in the woods. The Lenape wig-
wams were like a modern wall tent in form but made of sheets
of elm bark sewed fast to a frame of poles lashed tightly to-
gether with bast. Moreover I have failed to find in the accounts
of the early writers any reference to. the conical form of lodge
among the Lenape, while several including William Penn himself,
do mention the kind still remembered by the tribe.
It is the same with the spear in the hand of one of the human
figures. While we know that the Eskimos, the Florida Indians,
* "The Lenape Stone" by H. C. Mercer. (('.. P. Putnam's Sons 1SS5). See also "Our
Stone Age." Capt. John S. Bailey with etching of the I.enape Stone Vol. I, page 45 of
these papers.
31
4/2 CHIEF TAMMANY AND THE LENAPE STONE
the Aztecs and in the later days at least, the tribes of the plains
use the spear or lance, the early writers fail to mention this
weapon among the Lenape and the Indians themselves deny that
they used anything of the sort, except a fish spear, made entirely
of wood, point and all.
The long-stemmed pipe engraved upon the stone is also not a
Delaware form, although they had long-stemmed pipes, but is
typical of the tribes of the plains. So far as I know it has never
been found by archeologists either in Pennsylvania or New
Jersey.
Yet in spite of all these things we have no solid ground for
condemning the Lenape stone as a fraud. For it may have been
made by a member of some tribe living in the middle west, to
whom the tepee, the lance and the plains type of pipe were well
known ; or perhaps some widely-traveled Delaware may have
been the author or it may even have been preserved for genera-
tions as a historic relic "The only true picture of the great beast !"
Who knows?
In conclusion let me remark that if the stone is genuine as it
may very well be and if it was made by the Lenape, the so-called
hawk carved opposite the turtle may have been intended for a
turkey. Many early writers claim that the turtle was the leading
totem of the Unami division of the Lenape, while the turkey was
the principal totem of their near relatives, the Unalahtko branch
of the tribe. They were much nearer related to each other than
either were to the Minsi division, and might very well be repre-
sented together. This leads us a step forward toward a possible
explanation of the carvings on the stone.
AN INDIAN TRADITION.
I once heard a tradition among the Seneca Indians in New
York state that seems to refer to the mammoth. Unfortunately
I neglected to record it at the time, so can give but the barest out-
line, from memory.
One time there lived a boy among the Senecas who, as he grew
older, became a wonderful runner and hunter. One night while
talking to his father he felt so proud of his achievements, that he
made a boast, saying that he could outrun any animal in the
world, and could kill any creature he pleased.
CHIEF TAMMANY AND TIIK LENAPE STONE 473
Now it appears that there was ahve at that time a creature of
enormous size, the last of its kind, a beast which could outrun any
other animal, and against which none dared stand and fight. It
happened to be passing the young man's wigwam at the time and
heard the boast. The young man and his father noticed a strange
noise outside, and stepping to the door, were startled to see a
huge swaying shape looming out of the darkness near their cabin,
and to hear a gruff and grumbling voice, "I have heard your
boast young man," it said, "Now you must make good your
words. Meet me at the fallen oak by the swamp, just before
sunrise. \\'hen the sun shows his face we will run to the east-
ward, and the one that leads when the sun sinks to rest shall kill
the other."
The young man appeared in the morning, clad only in a breech
cloth and moccasins, but he carried in his hands a bow and arrow,
and on his head he wore a humming-bird's feather, as a magic
charm to give him speed.
The instant the edge of the sun's face appeared the great beast
was ofif, and was soon out of sight in the great swamp to the
eastward, bending and breaking trees and bushes in his headlong
rush. The young man tried to follow, but could make no head-
way ; so he was obliged to take to a range of hills running east-
ward, where he found it easier traveling. He did not sight his
opponent again until the sun was high in the heavens, when from
a hilltop he could just discern a distant black speck rushing
steadily eastward.
The young man redoubled his efforts at this, and before the sun
had reached the western rim of the earth he had overtaken the
monster, which was reeking with sweat as it labored, half mired
through a marsh. Bounding from one grassy tussock to another,
the young man ran lightly ahead, just as the sun began to sink
from view. At the sight of him the beast sank down with a
groan, and was soon dispatched by the young man's arrow, shot
into one of its few vulnerable parts. By morning nothing could
be seen of it but part of its hairy back, rising above the mud and
water ; and later in the day, when the hunter started on his long
walk home, it had entirely disappeared.
"The Indians have always known where the bones of the
animal lay," said my informant, "but they were never dug up
474 FORMER AND PRESENT WAYS OE BRICK MAKING
until a few years ago, when a white man found them while he
was digging a drain ditch. They say the beast is called a mam-
moth, in English ; but the Indians called it nya-gwa-hay. Some
say it was like a big bear, others that it resembled a great hog,
but I really believe it was what the white people call a mammoth."
Former and Present Ways of Brick Making.
BY GEORGE G. LONG, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, February lo, 19 14.)
The clay beds at Doylestown and vicinity, used for making
red bricks are covered with black earth called "Kelly," usually
about 8 inches deep ; this must be removed before digging the
clay. The clay beds are usually 4 feet deep. Some beds run
from 10 to 20 feet deep.
In the old way of making bricks the clay was dug from the
ground with pick and spade, hauled by wheelbarrow and dumped
on a bank, where water was thrown over it to make it soft. It was
then tempered with a spade, i. e., thrown into a heap and trampled
with the bare feet. After it was made smooth it was wheeled to
a table where the bricks were moulded. The clay was kept
plastic by covering with boards or cloth, until used.
The bricks made by hand were moulded in cast-iron moulds
8 by 2]/^ by 4 inches. The green bricks were then carried from
the table and put on the floor, in rows, broad side down, where
they remained until they were dry enough to be turned on their
sides. If the weather was bad during this process they were
covered with boards. It required about four hours to dry them
if the wind was blowing, and the weather was dry. If wet
weather, they had to be left out until it dried. When dry they
were taken from the floor and placed in a shed in hacks, i. e., piled
one upon the other, about one-fourth of an inch apart, on edge,
to let the air pass through to dry them more thoroughly. After
they were sufficiently dried they were wheeled to the kiln with
wheelbarrow and placed therein in the following manner : On the
bottom of the kiln arches were turned fourteen bricks high on
edge and one-quarter of an inch apart. There were six of these
FORMER AND PRESENT WAYS OF BRICK MAKING 475
arches extending through the kiln. The sides of the kihi were
built solidly. Above the arches bricks were placed three on three,
so that each layer ran at right angles with the other, and also on
edge a quarter of an inch apart. Thirty- four bricks high would
fill the kiln which was square with an area thirty-six bricks
length-wise by thirty-four bricks sidewise, with two on edge at
each end. In fact all the bricks were placed on edge except on
the top, where one course of raw bricks were laid flat with a
course on this of burnt bricks placed at right angles with the raw
bricks. A kiln would hold from 15,000 to 125,000. One end of
each of the six archways, where the fires were placed, was closed
with bricks and clay. The wind regulated as to which side of the
kiln was kept open for firing, if it was found necessary to change
ends the wood was pushed back and the arches closed with brick
and the other end opened.
After the kiln was set out, i. e., filled full of bricks, it was
fired. The burning took four days and nights and required from
35 to 40 cords of oak wood for each kiln. Two shifts of men
were necessary; three in the daytime and three at night to
wheel the wood into the kiln-shelter, and to feed the kiln. Two
cords of wood were kept in the shed. About 36 sticks of wood 4
feet long were kept inside the kiln at a time, and the mouths of
the kiln were also kept full of wood, in order to keep out the
draft. If a stormy wind came up while the kiln was burning,
they had to board the shelter up to regulate the draft.
About an hour after the kiln was fired, "clift" wood, i. e.,
straight, smooth sticks, were pushed into the kiln. Smooth wood
was used to avoid catching the bricks in the arch. They would
feed the fire every hour and a half. When the fire got hot, they
would use a block-pole to push the wood into the kiln. This pole
was about 16 feet long with a block 8 by 10 by 31 inches. They
also used a gig-pole to push the wood across to the far side of
the kiln. This was 20 feet long with iron prongs at one end. A
spade was used to remove the wood in front of the arch. This
was done by driving the spade into the sticks of wood. When
the bricks in the kiln had settled down about 10 or 12 inches,
they were sufificiently burned. All the openings to the arches
were then closed. A hole, however, 2 or 3 inches, was left in the
middle for about two hours, and then closed with a piece of
476 FORMER AND PRESENT WAYS OF BRICK MAKING
brick. This hole was left so that cold air could enter, which
checked the heat and prevented the bricks from sticking together.
If the air was all shut off, at first, the bricks would melt; some of
them would run like molten lead. It took five days for the kiln
to cool off' sufficiently enough to haul the bricks away. Bricks
were left in the kiln until hauled to the purchaser.
At the table where the bricks were made the clay was taken
up in the hands and driven down solid into the mould. The top
was smoothed with a steel plane with handle of wood. One man
would place the clay on the moulding board with a spade, an-
other man made the bricks and a boy took the moulded bricks
from the table and placed them in a heap on the floor. A tub of
sand was kept on a stool at the side of the table into which the
mould was put in order to coat the inside of it with sand to
keep the clay from sticking fast to the mould.
At the present time clay is treated in the same way at the bank,
hauled by cart to the pit, which consists of a round hole in the
ground about 2 feet deep and 12 feet in diameter, with a level
planked floor at the bottom. The clay is ground in the pit, which
is located near where the moulding is done, with a cast-iron wheel
6 feet in diameter, which has a steel tire separated into two parts,
with a 2-inch space between. Each tire is 2 inches deep by i
inch wide. In the center of the pit (6 feet from its edges) there
is a post having a cast-iron top with cogs around it. A sweep
16 feet long is fastened to the center post a few feet from the
end, which extends beyond the pit. To this sweep three horses
are hitched and driven around the pit. On the top of the shaft
is an iron rack the inside of which is full of cogs. A cog-wheel
against the top part of the center-post, but below the racked
shaft, which top revolves, turns another double-cog wheel, the
upper wheel of which fits the cogs in the rack and moves it along
against the grinding-wheel which, as the horses go around the
circle pushes the grinding-wheel from the center of the outside of
the pit, the wdieel gaining 3 inches every time the horses make a
circuit of the pit. It takes four hours to grind the clay so that it
is fit for use. It is then wheeled to the moulding table, when the
same processes are followed as spoken of above until the bricks
are ready for the market, with the exception that coal is now used
instead of wood for burning purposes.
MORAVIAN TILE STOVES OF SALEM, NORTH CAROLINA 477
I have but one kiln, and burn from three to five kihis of
bricks each season, which begins ]\Iay i and ends October 15.
The present kiln is 26 feet by 30 feet and 14 feet hi<;h. The
walls are per[)endicular. It is oi)en at the top. For 8 feet from
the ground the walls are 3 feet thick, the other 6 feet, 2 feet
thick; the six "holes" on the two sides of the kiln are square
about 2 feet, and then tapering.
Moravian Tile Stoves of Salem, North Carolina.
BY MISS ADELAIDE L. FREAS, WINSTON-SALEM, N. C*
(Doyle&town Meeting, February 10, 1914.)
When members of the Unitas Fratriini or Moravian Church be-
gan to build the little village of Salem in North Carolina, it was
done intentionally, deliberately, and with a well-defined aim in
view. They believed that religion should be lived seven days in
the week, and that this could be best accomplished if the affairs of
town as well as church were controlled by the congregation. An
open square, streets, etc., having been carefully surveyed, a com-
pany of young men were detailed to build a sufiicient number of
houses for the beginning of a town — the first tree was felled in
1766, and by the fall of 1771 enough people had moved in to
warrant the organization of the Salem congregation. The books
of the community were opened in April, 1772. While the resi-
dents desired entire freedom to test their theories of town man-
agement without interference they had no thought of shutting
themselves ofif from the world. On the contrary they welcomed
trade with nearer and more distant neighbors and ensured the
permanence and growth of their village by establishing several
industries which were the property of the congregation, the
profits being used tow^ards defraying town and church expenses.
One of these industries was the pottery. Gottfried Aust being
in charge when the books were opened in 1772. In the rooms of
the Wachovia Historical Society there is the large platter which
served as the potter's sign, and there are many specimens of the
wares made then and in later years. Pie-pans and plates, jars
* Miss Freas is corresponding secretary of the Wachovia Historical Society.
478 MORAVIAN TII^E; STOVES OF SALEM, NORTH CAROLINA
and flasks, every kind of dish that could be made of clay, and
tradition says that the burning of a kiln was the signal for an
influx of visitors from the surrounding country, eager to pur-
chase ware for their homes. The clay was secured from a
meadow near the Salem creek ; and while not connected with the
pottery it may be mentioned that all the brick used in building
Salem, and the tiles for roofing, were made in those same
meadows, five or six minutes' walk from the Salem Square. The
congregation continued to operate the pottery until 1829 when it
was sold to a man who for. some years had been in charge of it.
In 1833 Henry Schaffner came to Salem. He had been con-
nected with the "Fayence Ofen Fabrik des Bruderhauses" in
Neuwied, Germany, and hoped to establish himself in North
Carolina as a maker of tile stoves. With this in view he bought
the potter's business, and moved it to a lot nearby, as it, happened
to the land on which the first house built in Salem stood, the little
house becoming his potter's shop. He continued the making of
eathenware and clay pipes, but was only moderately successful
in creating a demand for tile stoves, for wood was plentiful and
cheap, and open fireplaces the custom of the country. In his shop
he had a stove with the iron firebox below and cheap tile above;
in his home was a stove of white tile made of the best clay he
could find, and looking like porcelain ; unfortunately this was lost
when his house was burned. It is impossible to tell how many
stoves he made. His family still have some of the designs he
brought from Germany, with his own penciled notes showing
prices from $50.00 to $80.00, and he probably made plainer ones
for less. The Wachovia Historical Society has a number of
molds in different patterns, and odd pieces of tile, besides two
complete stoves. These are of yellow tile, corrugated for the
body of the stove, and with a leaf design around the top. These
stoves are built on an iron plate which is supported by iron legs,
concealed behind tile feet of a fancy pattern. There is an iron
plate across each opening on the side, and the door is in an iron
frame, otherwise they are all of tile. These two, with one at
Bethabara, and a smaller one in a private house, seem to be all
that have escaped destruction as more modern stoves were sub-
stituted, though there are still a few piles of pieces in old barns.
After Mr. Schaffner's death the pottery continued to make
TILE STOVES OF THE MORAVIANS AT BETHLEHEM, PA. 479
earthenware and pipes, and a collection of clay products attracted
a good deal of attention at Jamestown Exposition. The demand
for these pipes outlasted the other branches of the industry, and
the business was not given up until 1890. The potter's wheel
and the machine for molding pipes are in the Wachovia Histori-
cal Society rooms along with the tile molds and specimens of pot-
tery already mentioned.
Tile Stoves of the Moravians at Bethlehem, Pa.
BY REV. ALBERT L. OERTER, NAZARETH, PA.
From "An Excursion into Bethlehem and Nazareth in the year
1799," by Rev. John C. Ogden.
"In the public buildings and most other houses, we find German stoves
made of tile, which are in general use. Some are totally made of tile,
and others are part of cast iron and part of tile. These last are in greatest
esteem on all accounts, as they are not so liable to be injured by putting
in of wood by careless persons ; the tiles upon the top are so placed as
to form a species of flue, in perpendicular and horizontal forms, which
retains the heat while it circulates longer and heats a room more pleas-
antly and more durably than sheet-iron.
"This species of stove are attainable or may be formed in all countries
where potters and brickmakers are to be found. A common fireplace of
brick might be made to advantage with the tile and flue in the form upon
the stoves used in Bethlehem.
"The figure impressed by a mould upon the tile, the glazing by the
potter, or dressing with black lead, gives it an ornamental appearance.
In Europe better clay, or rather the art of workmen, have added orna-
ment to use, and this species of stove are made from the humblest tile
up to valuable porcelain. Since the improvement made in stoves, this
of clay is going out of use.
"In saying that this is too rapidly taking place, the writer hazards an
opinion, and exposes himself to the remarks of the critic. The warm air
obtained by a clay is more agreeable than that by an iron stove.
"In the buildings of the potter, who makes the tile for this stove, he
was employed in making cheap pipes of clay, which are in great use
among the Germans, and ought to be extended for the purpose of putting
an end to the importation of these articles. The brass moulds and
machinery in which this pipe is formed with great case and dispatch, are
simple."
The first tile stove at Bethlehem was set up in the chapel in the
"Gemeinhaus" in October 1742. It had been brought from the
480 TII^E STOVES OF THK MORAVIANS AT BETHLKHE;m, PA.
kiln of Ludwig Huebner, the potter "in the swamp." He came
to Bethlehem to put it in place and later became a resident (in
1743)-
On the slope of the hill just north of the premises now known
as the Abbott property, stood the loghouse which was fitted up
as the first hostelry. Near it on the hillside, Ludwig Huebner
built his first oven, and in a corner of that house, for a while, set
up his first rude wheel to turn out pottery for the use of the
settlement. A more pretentious building of stone nearby, 32x35
feet built in 1749, was in 1762 the pottery, where a thriving
business was carried on, and when the Economy was abolished,
was taken over by Huebner. Large demands for the useful
earthenware there produced came from the Durham furnace,
where the Brethren bought much iron, and from farmers about
the country, and some orders even from Philadelphia were filled,
while much had to be made for the use of the spring-houses and
larders of Bethlehem and Nazareth places. Some dwellings were
fitted up in the second story of the pottery building, to which an
addition was built in 1756.
Among the "war claims" presented to the government by Beth-
lehem in 1789 after the Brethren's House had been used as a
military hospital, was one by Ludwig Huebner, potter, 8 new
tile-stoves ii2 (Pennsylvania Currency).
Referring to your letter, I beg to say that m 1793 Ludwig
Huebner set up his pottery in Bethlehem, and the tile stoves were
after that date made in Bethlehem.
As to the "swamp" where he previously had his pottery, I
think it may have been "Faulkner's Swamp," so called from the
first settler there, as I find that a George Huebner, probably a
relative, had a house there. Faulkner's Swamp was in the country
back of Pottstown, now Frederick and other townships in Mont-
gomery county. In Frederick township there is a "Swamp creek"
flowing into Perkiomen creek from the north, which probabh^
drained Faulkner's Swamp. Fredericktown was in Faulkner's
Swamp. There was also a "Great Swamp" and a "Long
Swamp," which may have been identical. The Great Swamp was
between Faulkner's Swamp and Bethlehem, nearer to the latter
place, and Huebner may have had his pottery there. By making
an early start from Joseph Mueller's in the Great Swamp, wagons
REMARKS ON TILE STOVES 481
reached Bethlehem about 10 a. m. These so-called Swamps seem
to have been all in the northern part of Montgomery county, or
perhaps partly in the southeastern part of Berks county, and
southern part of Lehigh county. They were not all bog or
morass, as people lived and had farms in them. Falkner's Swamp
was about half-way between Bethlehem and Philadelphia, as the
pedestrian letter-carriers who in the early years left Bethlehem
every Monday morning, walked the first day as far as Brother
Holstein's Faulkner's Swamp, and reached Germantow^n the next
Tuesday night ; on Wednesday walked to Philadelphia and back
to Germantown ; on Thursday back to Holstein's and on Friday
returned to Bethlehem.
From 1897 to 1913, I was a resident of Frederick county in
Western Maryland, which was settled chiefly by Germans from
Pennsylvania, and it might be possible that they had stoves like
the Pennsylvania Germans, although I never saw any except the
plain ten-plate stoves.
Remarks on Tile Stoves.
BY REV. T. M. RIGHTS, OF NAZARETH, PA.
Some twenty years ago an old barn, that was covered with flat
tiles, was torn down in Nazareth. Mr. Conrad Miller, one of the
leading citizens of the town, got the most of the tiles, and covered
a summer-house in his yard with them.
Mr. Beiscl also has a small building covered with these tiles.
On Saturday I met Rev. John Clewell, Ph. D., president of
the College for Women in Bethlehem, who for many years had
been principal of the Salem Female Academy. He said that there
had been a number of tile stoves in the school at Salem, and that
there still is one in the museum at that place, which he thinks
is in a better state of preservation than the one in the rooms of
the historical society in Nazareth. He showed me a photograi)h
of the old pottery in Salem, and said that they had formerly done
a great deal of work, in manufacturing household utensils, etc.,
which were beautifully glazed. During the Civil War it sui)plied
that part of the South with that kind of ware.
In llaniiUun's History of the Moravian Church, page 35, I
482 note;s on the Moravian pottery of doyedstown
find the following: "Another industry was brought (to Herren-
hut) by the brothers Martin and Leonard Dober, Swabians, of
Austrian extraction, who had been led to Saxony during their
"Wanderjahre" as potters by the fact that their uncle was a
maker of artistic work in the capitol. Diversified occupations and
the reputation for thoroughness acquired by Herreuhut began to
give promise of prosperity."
Leonard Dober a few years later, 1732 became one of the first
missionaries of the church to the negro slaves on the Island of St.
Thomas. Later, he became one of the leaders of the church.
Notes on the Moravian Pottery of Doylestown.
BY HENRY C. MERCER, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, February lo, 19 14.)
The Moravian pottery manufactured at Doylestown owes its
origin, not to a carefully matured plan, but to a sudden series of
disappointments, grievances and contentions, painful at the time,
but which in the end seemed to have worked for the best.
Ignoring these original details interwoven with the past of this
society as too personal, it may be said that the first suggestion
for the pottery, came from the gathering of the Pennsylvania
German potters' apparatus in the collection in our museum.
To ransack the decadent potteries in upper Bucks county, to
gather these slip cups, clay paddles, clay clubs and rollers, to see
Dr. Barber's collection of slip wares at the Pennsylvania Museum,
and read his book, to speculate on the subject and twice refer to
it in lectures in Philadelphia; brought regret that so beautiful an
art is that of the old Pennsylvania German potter, based upon the
gorgeous orange red still seen in the country pie-dishes, should
perish before our eyes.
This was the suggestion, but the first active thought as the re-
sult of these speculations, was not to establish a business, but by
way of a sort of adjunct to the historical or educational work
of this society, to resuscitate one of the old potteries, namely that
of Mr. Herstine, near Kintnersville.
For the plan, two things were necessary. First, drawings soon
NOTES ON THE MORAVIAN POTTERY OF DOYLESTOWN 483
procured of the designs upon the original decorated plates in the
Pennsylvania Museum. Second, the receipt for the lost copper
green glaze, which Mr. Herstine on consultation, engaged to find.
He had the kiln, understood the making of pie-dishes, the turning
of bowls upon the potter's wheel, also the application of the so-
called slip, and as a result, after spending about a week of col-
laborative work in 1897 at his pottery, a dozen or more jars,
plates and bowls, in imitation of the old ware, were colored and
designed, dried, placed in the kiln and after a delay of some
months, occupied by a European trip, burnt.
It was the stimulus of this delay and the sight of the wares
thus produced, (one of which is here shown), disappointing as
they were, that at last resulted in a desire to master the potter's
art and establish a pottery under personal control.
Several months intervened, during which the idea of restoring
an old pottery, was superseded by that of building a new one.
This was a practical idea, because although our native red clay
was too soft for household use, and although it had been hope-
lessly superseded from a utilitarian point of view; by the modern
so-called china ware ; it was not too soft for ornamental work and
well adapted, if not for the making of vases and flower pots for
which the demand was limited, certainly to the manufacture of
ornamental tiles, for which the comparative softness of the clay
was no objection.
The time was very opportune. ( )n the one hand, owing to the
reintroduction of fireplaces by modern architects into all the
finer modern dwelling houses, a large demand for ornamental
tiles and suddenly sprung up. On the other, the repulsive colors,
decadent designs, mechanical surface and texture, and chilling
white background of most of the tiles then on the market, had
so thoroughly disgusted modern architects of taste, that many -of
them refused to ornament fireplaces with tiles, and built and
faced the latter with plain bricks.
After some further speculation over clay colors, the use and
history of tiles, the substitution of handwork for machinery, and
the encroachment of machinery upon art, the first important step
was taken on September 2^, 1898. The new plan was to employ
one of the old potters, and lease one of the old kilns. Frank
Bartleman was chosen and the abandoned kiln of the deceased
484 NOTli;s ON THE MORAVIAN POTTERY OF DOYLESTOWN
Christian Miller leased on the North Branch, near New Galena.
Bartleman was to find the clay at his own clay bed near Point
Pleasant. The material was to be hauled to Doylestown, where
the tiles were to be made by him in my archeological work-room
known as the Indian house. There they were to be dried, then
hauled to Christian Miller's kiln, burnt and brought back.
For about two months Bartleman supplying himself (from
Flemington, New Jersey, September 28 to October i, 1898.) with
the colors, slip ingredients, saggars, and one of the old querns or
paint mills necessary for the process, worked at the Indian house,
returning to Cottageville at night, while Alexander Rufe (by
October 3, 1898) was employed as assistant. The distances were
great. The kiln was in bad condition. The saggers were un-
satisfactory, and sometimes our journeys to the kiln (beginning
November 11, 1898) were interrupted by storms and freshets on
the North Branch, as when on one occasion, the bridge was nearly
washed away and we had to ford the stream at great risk, with a
very heavy load of tiles. Little was learned, the projector of the
enterprise still remained in the dark as to some of the most im-
portant steps in the process. The effort was a failure.
Mr. Bartleman left the pottery on November 26, 1898, after
which for a period of about fourteen months, the experiments,
which were continued without help, resulted in the producing
of designs for tiles, the first of which were adapted from patterns
upon old Pennsylvania German iron stove-plates. Several presses
were devised and a process for producing designs upon tiles,
which was afterwards patented. During this time the first ex-
periments were tried in Dr. Coney's dental muffle, after which a
small experimental oven was built in a chimney at the Indian
house (January 14, 1899) in which several unsuccessful attempts
were made to produce glazes, colors and lustres. Mrs. Bigelow
Lawrence, then in Europe, obtained a receipt for a glaze from
the kind and helpful Mr. William de Morgan at Florence, which
was immediately used in the pottery and is to this day called by
his name. She also induced the Florentine potter, Mr. Canti
Galli to experiment with blue and green colors upon two little
pieces of Bucks county clay, which she sent to the pottery as
further encouragement. By this time, continued unsuccessful
NOTES ON THE MORAVIAN POTTERY OE DOVLESTOWN 485
burnings, rliade it seem desiraljle to go to Germany in order to
study one of the ancestral potteries in the Black Forest, as de-
scribed by Mr. Joseph William, of Bridge Point, but at the last
moment, a few fortunate turns in the experiments, solved the
difficulties and the European trip was abandoned.
On January 28, 1899, John Briddes, an English potter. ofTered
his services and began work by superintending the construction
of the first kiln, which was built by Herman Sell and completed
by February 2'S, 1899. Our tile process was patented on the
19th of the following June, and on October 24 of the same year,
the pottery received its first order from Doctor Swartzlander. of
Doylestown, for $48.00 worth of wall tiles. The second order
came on November 10. 1899, from Mr. Henry Copley Green, of
Boston. The records show that the first trade statement covers
the time from October 10, 1898, to April 30, 1901, showing a
rather rapidly increasing business, w^hich soon began to pay ex-
penses and realize a profit. The first two kilns were constructed
in a woodshed adjoining the Indian house, after which two
larger kilns were built in a fireproof shed, constructed of tin, clay
and cement, since demolished, several hundred yards in the rear.
The w^ork was continued there until 19 12, when with great di!fi-
culty (beginning October 12) and without disturbing the work,
the whole pottery was moved from the old site to its present
position, wdiere a fireproof building, built in the shape of a clois-
ter, with five kilns and a great many work-rooms and the usual
potter's machinery had been constructed. In these years, the
work has been carried on by from six to twelve men.
Great assistance was given the pottery of Sir Hercules Read
at the British Museum, who presented it with a large and valuable
collection of tile drawings gathered from the ruined churches
of England. In visits to Nuremberg, Seville and Paris. Spanish
tiles were studied and the process of modern Italian mojolica
was observed at the old pottery at Monte Lupo near Florence.
Owing to the storing of all the wooden drying trays in one
fireproof room at the old pottery, a disastrous fire occurred there,
(at ten o'clock on the night of March 27, 191 2) which resulted
in the break-down of the iron roof and the destruction of much
inflammable apparatus.
486 NOTKS ON THE MORAVIAN POTTERY OF DOYLESTOWN
The pottery finding little use in patents or advertisements, and
depending for advancement upon the estimate given to finished
work, has had decided success in all directions, and its tiles are
scattered from one end of the United States to the other. Not a
few have gone to Canada, but as yet only a very few to Europe
and a small number to Egypt. Some of its notable work is seen
in the tile pavement at the Capitol of Pennsylvania, in the pave-
ments at Mrs. Gardner's house in Boston, in the emblematic
decorations on the fronts of several of the large public schools
in Missouri and other Western states, and in many of the pave-
ments of recently built Gothic churches.
At first, although the tiles were favored by architects, there
was much objection from the tile setters and tile merchants to
the novel ideas introduced at the pottery. Then in the produc-
tion of what might be called artistic tiles, rivals were few, but
now many potteries have arisen throughout the country, some of
whom have infringed upon the Mosaic patent and imitated our
processes or worked upon some of the lines introduced at Doyles-
town; such as the reasonably large joints considered desirable
in our tile work, or our so-called half glazed designs produced on
rectangles and polygons of common red clay. Discarding the
method known as the dry process, the pottery abandoned all at-
tempt to resist the free shrinkage of clay, and unbounded value
was given to the red color of the red burning clay. Several new
colors and new processes for producing designs and applying
color were introduced. The floor Mosaic tiles, described in the
price-list and patented by the pottery, were preceded in Phila-
delphia by the cut stone Mosaics in the frieze of the new museum
at the University of Pennsylvania, but not by any Ceramic Mosaic
produced in that way in America. The tile stoves set upon frames
of wire net, plastered with cement, were introduced at the Doyles-
town pottery, and its brocade and silhouette tiles are also a
novelty.
The name Moravian was applied to the pottery at the be-
ginning, rather because some of the first designs had been taken
from stove plates Nos. 1242 and 711 in the collection of the
Bucks County Historical Society, resembling others seen at the
Young Men's Missionary Society at Bethlehem, than because
NOTES ON THE MORAVIAN POTTERY OF DOVLESTOWN 487
Moravians had made stoves of decorated tiles either at Bethlehem
or Winston-Salem, North Carolina, which facts were not then
known at the pottery.
Without the efficient help of collaborating hands and hearts,
the success achieved could not have been looked for. Mr. Swain,
old companion and assistant in Archeological days, invaluable
helper and master of every detail, has been business manager
from the start. The foremen have been Frank Bartleman, John
Briddes, Wilson Wismer, Oscar Rosenberger and now Clarence
Rosenberger, whose economic, untiring and efficient management,
has produced results far exceeding anything ever reached before.
With devoted skill and interest, George Jacob Frank has carried
out all our later elaborate designs, having not only modelled but
also arranged and set all the ceiling and many of the mural tiles
at Fonthill. Herman Sell, though not regularly employed at the
pottery, has set innumerable pavements, particularly those at Mrs.
Gardner's Fenway court in Boston, and many mural tiles by
various new methods, besides building all the kilns ever con-
structed at the pottery.
32
Langhorne and Vicinity in Olden Times.
BY SAMUEL C. EASTBURN, LANGHORNE, PA.
(Orthodox Meeting House, Langhorne Meeting, June 4, 1914.)
The land comprising the borough of Langhorne was part of
three or four large tracts laid out by Penn's commissioners to
fellow passenger's of the great founder on the ship Welcome in
the Autumn of 1682. There is little or no evidence of European
occupation of this immediate section prior to the coming of Penn.
Traditions connected with later settlers have been related locat-
ing them here from twenty-five to one hundred years prior to
the actual date of their settlement, as in the case of Christian and
Henry Van Horn who are credited with building two log houses
in the present town in 1657. The actual fact is that their wives
Williamkee Van Dycke, and Susanna Van Vlecq were daughter
and granddaughter respectively of Hendrick Jansen Van Dycke,
who had purchased a tract of land in the present borough of
Robert Heaton, which passed to the Van Horns in 1721, and was
by them divided into lots and sold to actual settlers at a period of
the town's early expansion. Barendt Chriatian the father of
Christian Van Horn had likewise purchased a tract of Robert
Heaton 1707 which passed to Christian in the same year. Henry
Van Horn was a son of Christian and married a daughter of
Parson Van Vlecq of the Dutch Reformed Church of Neshaminy,
whose wife was a Van Dycke. The tracts on which the town was
eventually established were those of Nicholas Wain, Robert
Heaton and Cuthbert Hayburst, and it later expanded into the
tracts of James Dil worth, William and James Paxson and pos-
sibly others.
A part of the Hayhurst tract passed to Henry Huddleston in
1688 and to the latter's son William in 1706, and on it stands
two of the oldest houses in the town marked with the initials of
the family name. In the house erected by Nicholas Wain in 1682,
the first meeting of the Society of Friends "at Neshaminah" was
held on nth month (January) i, 1682-3 and it was held therein
alternately with the house of Robert Hall at the extreme southern
LANGHORNR AND VICINITY IN OLDEN TIMES 4S9
end of Micldletown township until the Meeting House was built.
These first English settlers, fellow passengers with William Penn
in the Welcome, were from the West Riding of Yorkshire and
most of them were included in a certificate from Settle Alonthly
Meeting dated the 7th of 4tl": month, 1682, which is as follows:
"These are to certify to whom it may concern, it is manifested to us
that necessity is laid upon several Friends belonging to this Monthly
Meeting to remove into Pennsylvania, and particular!}' our dear friend
Cuthbert Hayhurst, his wife and children, who hath been a laborer in
the truth, for whose welfare and longevity we are unanimously concerned,
and also for our friend Nicholas Walne, his wife and three children;
Thomas Wigglesworth and Alice his wife; Thomas Walmsley and Eliza-
beth his wife; Thomas Croasdill, Agnes his wife and six children;
Thomas Stackhouse and his wife; Ellen Cowgill, widow, and her chil-
dren; William Hayhurst and wife, who we believe are faithful friends
in their measures, and single minded in the Lord's will, and have signified
their intention to remove into the aforesaid province in America, and we
do certify our unity, with their said intent, and desire their prosperity
in ye Lord, and hopes what is done by them will tend to ye advancement
of ye truth for which we are unanimously concerned with them."*
In the five years following practically all the land in the neigh-
borhood of Langhorne was taken up by able Quakers, mostly
English. In addition to those mentioned, residing or coming here
about that time, were William Biles. Jonathan Stackhouse, John
Dillworth, John Scarborough, Henry Paxton, Ezra Croasdill,
Thomas Langhorne and others. So that the first authentic his-
tory of Langhorne, or as it was then called "Four Lanes End,"
from the fact that the Indian trail down the Neshaminy to its
mouth crossed here another trail on the way to Kirkbrides Ferry
* These people were all more or less related. Nicholas Wain was the unques-
tioned leader of the Friends colony in this section. He was born at Bartholme, West
Riding of Yorkshire, and came to Pennsylvania in i68j with his wife Jane nee
Turner and four children. He was an eminent minister and traveled extensively
"in the service of truth." He was a member of the first assembly held at Philadel-
phia, March 12, 1682-3, and represented Bucks county in that body at every session
until 1696. He removed to Philadelphia in 1695 and was a member of assembly from
that county 1696-1717. He died in Philadelphia, 1721. His sister Anne, the wife of
James Dilworth, above mentioned, was also a minister and traveled extensively. Her
husband was a member of assembly in 1685. The wives of William and Cuthbert
Hayhurst were Dorothy and Mary Rudd, sisters to Jane, the mother of Nicholas
Wain. Elizabeth, the wife of Thomas Walmsley, was their cousin, and the wives of
Thomas Stackhouse and Thomas Wigglesworth were sisters to the Hayhurst brothers,
and Ellen Cowgill is thought to have been a sister of Thomas Stackhouse. The rela-
tionship of Thomas Croasdale and his wife Agnes Hathonwaite to the rest of the
party is not so clear, but their children intermarried with the families above named.
— W. S. E.
490 LANGHORNE AND VICINITY IN OLDEN TIMES
to cross the river on the route to New York, is to be found in
the records of the Quaker Meeting started here Eleventh month
1683, at which meeting it was ordered "that Friends bring in
their certificates, also their births and burials to the next Monthly
Meeting to be holden at Robert Hall's." A minute book was
procured, which through the kindness of Joseph Mather I have
here to-day, and it is marked
"as belonging to the particular meeting held near the Neshamina creek,
containing the many and several businesses brought into and appertaining
and belonging to the said Monthly Meeting, and a copy of births and
burials, and marriages belonging to and within the said Monthly Meeting."
At the first meeting it was ordered "that the next following
meeting should be held at the widow Hayhurst's, and the next
again at Nicholas Wains', and so to the general meeting again at
Robert Hall's." This Robert Hall and widow Hayhurst and
Nicholas W'aln were all on the Neshaminy immediately south and
west of here. Robert Hall's seems to have been a noted place
to gather, as it is frequently mentioned as a meeting place. T
have a memorandum in connection with Robert Hall that would
seem to indicate that cheap as land was, there were land grabbers
in those days. It is in the form of a petition to Penn, in which
he says "he and John White had taken up 1,500 acres of land
on the Neshaminy, and Edward Lovett did run upon our line
taking away a meadow next to the creek. They tell Penn that
"his neighbors look upon it as an unreasonable thing for him to
have a meadow two miles from his habitation, without title, and
to intercept us from the creek of a width of near a thousand
acres." Robert Hall remained about here, while Lovett seems
to have left, probably yielding to Penn and the neighbors opinion.
At the Monthly Meeting held at Nicholas Wain's 1684, Henry
Paxton published his intended marriage with Marjorie Plumley
which was accomplished 6-7-1684. He lived where I now live,
and had 800 acres of land on both sides of Core creek, running
up as far as, and including, the later Jenks and Janney properties.
At this same meeting, David Davis was complained of "because
of damage which his dog had done among his neighbors' hogs,
and for selling two bushels of meal which was wormy," and
Nicholas Wain was appointed to speak to him. Every family
question of equity and morals seems to have been before the
LANGHORNE AND VICINITY IN OLDEN TIMES 49I
meeting for its advice or condemnation at tliis time. Courts of
law were to be avoided and settlement of their alTairs and any
ditit'erences between them to be made by the meeting. Thomas
Stackhouse tells the meeting that "John Eastburn sold him a
house and wouldn't let him have it." "The meeting recommends
that two or four Friends see if they can end it before the next
Monthly Meeting." At the next Monthly Meeting it is reported
"the difference is ended." At another Monthly Meeting, a minute
says "the matter of William Paxton, Jr., and John Scarborough
quarreling, hath been weighed and considered, and this meeting
being exercised to hear and understand such untruthlike actions
and proceedings, by any that makes profession of the precious
Truth, we do judge the same to be an evil act, and out of the
guidance of the Spirit of Truth, and this meeting doth give it
as their sober sense, said William and John should condemn the
same at the next Monthly Meeting, and John is appointed to give
William notice that they will come to the next Monthly Meeting."
That William Penn sat with Friends in meeting here is un-
doubted, as Thomas Story in his journal says "I met William
Penn at meeting at Burlington, where we tarried till the 29th, and
then went to a quarterly meeting at Neshaminy, which though
not large, was well." The examination of the minutes shows that
such a meeting was held but no mention of the distinguished
visitors was made, though a minute of a later date says the
"Monthly Meeting had to be adjourned because Thomas Story
was there and held the meeting so long that they could not trans-
act the business." Quakers did not glorify their ministers in
those primitive days.
On the 3d day of the Fourth month 1686, "at the request of
Friends near Wrightstown to have a meeting amongst them,"
"this meeting doth order there be a meeting settled there." At a
Monthly Meeting "held at James Dill worth's. Fourth month, 9th.
1686, it was proposed "to have a Meeting House built for the
convenience of Friends." After a long debate it was deferred for
one month, "and Friends are requested to weigh the matter in the
interim, and as many come as can to speak of the matter." This
house was built of logs, down near the Neshaminy on the present
farm of the Pennsylvania railroad, formerly George Reed's, and
at that time Nicholas Wain's. It had two windows, one with six
492 LANGHORNE AND VICINITY IN OLDEN TIMES
panes of glass and the other of oiled paper. These six panes of
glass were put in by a man who came on horseback through the
woods from Philadelphia, and his bill for the trip for three days
time and work is on our minute books. The final cost of the six
8x8 panes was over $i.oo each. The cost of glass, and keeping
the glazier and horse over night was £14, is. 4d., and one pound
for his services. The first Monthly Meeting was held in the
house on the Fourth month 7th, 1688. At this time the people
who lived here were all Quakers or people connected with or serv-
ing them. The meeting was the center and source, court, judge
and jury, for the affairs of the neighborhood. Nothing was done
without the advice of the meeting. It bought books for its mem-
bers and regulated who should read them, and how long they
should keep them. "John Dillworth wants to exchange some land
with Jonathan Stackhouse," and a committee is appointed by the
meeting "to give him some advice about it." Joseph Growdon
complains to the meeting "that Jonathan Stackhouse was hiring
Richard Mitchell, an orphan lately arrived from England, at
underwages." The meeting took up the matter and "asked Rich-
ard if he would rather live with Stackhouse or with John Smith."
He preferred the latter, so the meeting arranged "that John Smith
should pay him 5 pounds a year for his services, and as much
more as his courtesie allowed." Whether his courtesie allowed
him more I don't know, but next year the meeting fixed his wages
at 6 pounds per year. John Eastburn "was labored with for
loose and disorderly practice and example in breaking off his en-
gagement of marriage." Thomas Stackhouse acknowledged his
error "in submitting, when a juror, his decision on the turn of a
penny." Another Friend was disowned "for taking too much
strong drink and abusing those who spoke to him about it." An-
other "that he has done too much astrology and consulting of
stars, and has allowed his mind to be darkened by the wisdom of
Egypt, and it much repents him."
The going was either on foot or horseback. Joseph Growdon
being the only man who owned a chaise, and a stable was neces-
sary at the Meeting House, and on the second day of the Eighth
month 1690, Nicholas Wain and James and William Paxton sig-
nified to the meeting that "they had bargained with Thomas
Stackhouse to build a stable at the Meeting House for the use of
LANGHORNE AND VICINITY IN OLDICN TIMES 493
Friends who come to the meeting the said house to be 30 feet long,
18 feet wide and 6 feet high to the square; to be of sawn logs
with shingle roof, with two doors in it, which work being done
he is to have 10 pounds for doing it."
It is interesting to note that the jury appointed by Penn to lay
off the first lines of the townships was "to meet at the Neshaminy
Meeting House." This jury laid out the lines of Middletown,
Makefield, Falls, Bristol and Bensalem. Lines were a little in-
definite then, as our neighboring township was "to have all the
land lying between the Neshaminy and Poquessing, and to the
upper side of Joseph Growdon's land, and to be called Salem."
Our first burial ground was apparently near this meeting, as we
have a record that, Dr. David Davis (the man whose dogs dam-
aged his neighbors' hogs in 1683 j and thought to be the first
doctor in Bucks county, "was buried in 1686 in Nicholas Wain's
burying ground." This was probably adjoining or near, the Meet-
ing House, as in 1698 there is a minute in which "J. Co\ygill is
ordered to have the burial ground fenced by the next Monthly
Meeting." Thomas Langhorne who came in 1684 was- their
preacher. He died two years before the new Meeting House was
built. Christopher Taylor, was also a preacher among them, he
was a learned man, a teacher as well as preacher, and was the first
president of the first Assembly called by Penn at Chester, on his
way up the river, on his first visit, where rules were made for the
government of the new Colony, and an account of which proceed-
ings I have here.
While prohibition as a moral issue was not known in that dav,
yet excess in eating and drinking was a subject of great care by
the meeting. While the use of strong drink was considered a
necessity during arduous work and was the custom of the dav.
yet the responsibility of the meeting for a testimony for modera-
tion was shown with the many dealings of the offenders. The
feeling of the meeting, as early as 1687 is shown by the following
minute which was signed by nearly all the men members and was
undoubtedly the first recorded temperance utterance in the
county.
"It being recommended to us from the Quarterly Meeting from Phil-
adelphia, the great and bad effects that has appeared by ye selling ye In-
dian's rum, or other strong liquors, and a paper being presented which
494 langhorne; and vicinity in olden times
was read amongst us relating thereto, which upon due consideration was
approved of and in concurrence therewith we give forth the following
testimony. Being deeply sensible and heartily grieved with abuses of this
nature that is too freciuent up and down amongst us, especially as some
goes under the profession of truth (whom it was expected would have
been a better example), we fear is not wholly clear of it. That ye prac-
tice of selling rum or other strong drinks directly or indirectly to ye
Indians, or ye exchanging rum or other strong liquors for any goods or
merchandise with them (considering the use they make of it) is a thing
contrary to the mind of the Lord, and a great grief and burden to his
people, and a great reflection and dishonor unto ye truth, so far as any
professing it is concerned, and for the more effectually preventing these
evil practices, aforesaid, we advise that this our testimony be entered in
every Monthly Meeting book and every Friend belonging to this meeting
to subscribe to ye same."
George Fox doubtless spoke in this meeting as he writes on his
visit in 1690 of "visiting BurHngton, crossing the river and
passing Joseph Growdon's big house, we crossed the Neshaminy
at the foot of the lawn and spent the night with Jeremiah Lang-
horne." Here was a ford known later as Galloways Ford.
In 1690 was also the year in which the Quakers were divided
by the schism of George Keith, whose followers were known as
"Keithian Quakers." This meeting did not join in the movement,
"and appointed Nicholas Wain to sign the testimony of this
meeting against him." The care-taker and fire-keeper for the
Meeting House was Martin Wildman. They paid him for getting
wood, making the fires and taking care of the Meeting House for
a whole year, so the minutes read, £1, 6s. At a meeting of a
later day he offers "to take less if they pay him all at once."
In addition to the early temperance record of this community
a minute was sent from here to Philadelphia in 1683 against the
holding of slaves, notwithstanding that Joseph Growdon and
Jeremiah Langhorne, two of their most important members, were
large slave holders, having about 70 each. They both liberated
them before 1742, thvis antidating the national idea by over a
hundred years. With an evident feeling for the responsibility of
them, and an experience of their improvidence, Jeremiah Lang-
horne arranged for their support by will, for many years ahead.
Thus this quiet Quaker anticipated what was found necessary
by our National government, through experience, years after.
Our first library was in connection with the meeting and was
LANGirORXE AND VICINITY IN OLDEN TIMES 495
started in 1692, as in the minutes on the ist day of Seventh month
1692, there is a note of "2^ books having been received from the
printer," and a list of names of those who could take them to
read. They were apparently mostly sound reading, and the titles
are interesting. "A Serious Appeal," "The Fundamental Truths
of Christianity Hinted At," "A Faithful Warning and Exhorta-
tion," "An Epistle of Love," "A Mission of J. Frumb," "The
Contentious Apostate," tw^o copies of "Thomas Elwood," etc.
The first school started here was probably the one mentioned
in a minute in 1693, "that a school to instruct children be started
in the Meeting House." These Friends were very able people for
their time. Joseph Growdon was the richest man in Penn's
colony. The house built by him about 1692 is still standing on
Belmont Hill about 13^ miles south of here and with but little
change, and is the best type we now have of the "great house"
of the period. It was built about six years after Penn started
his manor house, though "smaller and lower" yet "as became the
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, to follow after the governor
of the Province. This house was the great gathering place of
the Growdon's, Galloways, Nicholson's, Stevensons and their
many English visitors, up to the time of the Revolution. It was
from here that Joseph Galloway fled when in danger of arrest as
a Tory, and all the lands which he inherited through his wife, the
daughter of Joseph Growdon, of the great Growdon tract of
10.000 acres siezed and sold under the confiscation acts were re-
stored to his daughter Betsy Galloway, from purchasers or squat-
ters, after many years, by special act of Congress, chiefly on the
plea that they had come to Joseph Galloway through his wife,
the daughter of Joseph Growdon, "on whose loyalty there was no
taint."
From all the accounts at hand, from 1680 to 1780, this was an
exceedingly able and prosperous community. Old Gabriel
Thomas in the early part of this period writes, "the people about
here are very prosperous, there are neither beggars or old maids."
The first mill in the county was built here on Chubb Run in the
lower corner of Langhorne Manor, about 1682, by James
Heaton.* That it was there in 1684, we know by an acknowledg-
ment to the meeting of that date of a Friend, who says, "whereas
• Son of Robert, above mentioned.
496 IvANGHORNE AND VICINITY IN OLDEN TIMES
it happened I took a bag of corn on my back through the woods
to James Heaton's mill, about the time called Christmas. I and
some others being in the millhouse James Heaton brought us
some liquor and desired us to drink, and I drank until I was over-
taken, so far that it being liquor to which I was not accustomed
and the liquor offending my stomach, I was forced to cast it up
again, to my great shame and confusion, and to the dishonor of
truth which I profess, and for which I have undergone great ex-
ercisement ever since, and I do heartily ask the Lord that he will
strengthen me in the future that I may withdraw from such
temptations." Heaton's sons, about 1709 built the mill at Bridge-
town. The Durham road which is now Bellevue avenue in front
of us, was ordered laid out by Penn "to my lands in Durham."
The milestones were set along it by his surveyor Benjamin East-
burn. The Durham road partially followed an old trail through
the county. In addition to this early laid out "Durham road" on
June 14 and 15, 1688, Penn ordered the road called "The King's
Highway," (that is our present lower road to Trenton) from
Philadelphia to the Falls of the Delaware, to be cleared of rocks,
stumps, and all other nuisances and made safe and passable for
horse, cart, wagons or teams." So we were very early blest with
the two best roads in the state.
It was from Four Lanes End that William Penn with Joseph
and Lawrence Growdon, Jeremiah Langhorne and William
Turner, started on horseback, to inspect his Durham lands, and
which trip resulted in the forming of the-Durham Iron Company,
which was the second blast furnace for making pig iron estab-
lished in Pennsylvania, the Colebrookdale furnace having been
the first tradition says, that on this trip they stopped at the
present site of Newtown and Penn said, "here I will build my
new town, and ordered it laid out."
It was in this year that Penn appointed Nathaniel Allen, a
member of this meeting, living on the Neshamina near Hulme-
ville, "crown inspector of wooden measures" to see that they
were of honest measure and stamp them."
The houses about Langhorne previous to 1700 were presum-
ably almost wholly of logs, but about that year the stone age
began. The opening of the Durham road and the burning of
lime in Buckingham made it available for building purposes, and
LANGHORNE AND VICINITY IN OLDKN TIMES 497
it is said that teams from the upper country came dowu to this
neighborhood hiden with lime and with produce which they sold
or traded at Richardson's store, at Four Lanes End. About 1725
a public house for travelers was started on the corner by John
Woolston who had bought a portion of the Heaton tract in 1712.
A store was started at or about the same date on the opposite
corner by one Joseph Richardson. He and his sons and grand-
sons kept it on one or other of the corners for many years, and
did a large business. Richardson's store and the Meeting House
at the Neshamina, were the most important things at Four Lanes
End for many years. The Richardsons became large property
owners in and about Langhorne at one time owning nearly two-
thirds of the ground where Langhorne now is situated.
The present Richardson house at the corner was built in 173S.
It is a good house now, but must have been a great house for its
time. It is family tradition that the father watching his son
build it, with true Quaker conservatism, though probably with
some Quaker pride, said to him one morning, "William isn't thee
afraid thee will get to the bottom of thy purse before thee gets
to the top of thy fine house?" Old Joseph Richardson made a
visit to Pennsbury in 1701, and in an account of his visit speaking
of the Indians he saw there, says "their eating and drinking
was done in much stillness."
During the 50 years from 1700 to 1750 most all the houses
were built of stone. Thomas Stackhouse where Mr. Coates now
lives, built a stone end to his loghouse in 1701, and his brother
John on what was later the Buckman Farm in 1702. The houses
at the corners of Bellevue and Maple avenues in 1701 and 1704.
the house next the corner in 1720, the Richardson house as I have
said in 1738. The present Meeting House in 1731. The brick
house, now known as the Parry building, was built in 1763 by
Gilbert Hicks. The bricks in it are said to have been imported
from England, but there is no warrant for this, as bricks we
know, were burnt here as early as 1734, probably at or near the
present brickyard, as some of them are in the wall of the grave-
yard built that year. In fact the burning of brick was very early
practiced. As William Penn writes to James Harrison in 1685 "I
send you a man who will burn your bricks for you."
It is interesting to note tliat in no other section of our count\'.
498 IvANGHORNE AND VICINITY IN OLD^N TIMES
did such a large proportion of early settlers buy land. In other
places it was obtained by renters often redemptioners, but here
the ten largest land holders, with one exception, "bought their
lands and paid for them in the coin of the realm." Those that
were too poor to buy their land, rented in tracts of 200 acres for
a shilling an acre. Penn appears to have had great difficulty in
collecting even that, for James Logan writes to him in England
"of all thy Bucks rentals I have been able to collect but a ton
and a half of flour." I cannot find that this applied to this
vicinity.
In 1718 the Friends had outgrown their Meeting House and a
committee consisting of Adam Harker. Jonathan Stackhouse, and
William Paxson, were appointed to advise with Jeremiah Lang-
horne, and ask his assistance in building a new one. This was
built where the present Meeting Plouse now stands, and was 30X-
40 feet. It was burned, and in 1731 the present house was built.
The ground was secured in several separate lots, the description
of one of them says, "the line runs from a post to a tree." The
graveyard was walled in in 1734, at a cost of 70 pounds.
This was a country covered with very heavy timber if we may
believe the letters written from here to their friends in England.
One Friend writing from here in 1688 says, "that William Pax-
son is a man mild in manner, but as strong in the cause of truth as
the great oaks by which he is surrounded." The cry was for
more cleared land, as they doubtless found it heavy work clearing
it, and there was but little use for the timber. Thomas Stack-
house in a letter written in 1709 voiced the desire of all the set-
tlers here. He says, "I have sold some 40 acres of my land be-
cause I have too much woods and want more cleared land."
It is interesting to note that thirty years after or 1739 his son
Thomas bought it back "because I have not enough woods,"
showing they were thus apprehensive of an early shortage of tim-
ber.
As showing how different the personal accessories of life were
considered as to value, from the present time, I quote from some
copies of old wills in my possession. One woman gives to one of
her Friends "my silver pint can, my Japan boiler and two English
horseblankets." Another gives to his friend, "my negro boy till
he becomes of age," and to his widow he gives his "two best beds
LANGHORNE AND VICINITY IN OLDEN TIMES 499
and maids beds, with the bedclothes belonging, with two pairs of
sheets and pillow cases, also my pleasure wagon and plow and
geers." "Two horses and six cows which she shall choose, with
all my plate except what I brought from England, and my
negroes, Isaac, Rose, Flora, and Alark." How would our suf-
fragettes of to-day stand being willed their best beds, and maids
beds, by their husbands?
Gilbert Hicks, as I said, in 1763 built the house now known as
the Parry building. He had a tannery and was an officer of the
Crown, and read the Howe's amnesty proclamation from the steps
of the County Courthouse at Newtown to the Rebels, at the break-
ing out of the Revolution. He returned home, but his act had no
weight with these countrymen, and he fled for his life, when some
patriots were sent from Newtown to capture him. It is said he
had a large sorrell riding horse and expecting their coming, he
put his black boy on his horse to stand at the top of the hill,
looking toward Newtown, to watch the road. When the boy saw
the troopers coming down, he turned and rushing back to his
master, shouted, "deys comin' after you," and slipping off the
horse, Hicks hastily mounted, and fled to Bristol, and across the
river to the English in Jersey. It was in this house, that the New
Jersey Legislature met, when with Washington it fled to this side
of the river in the dark days of 1776. The record says, in the
archives of the State of New Jersey "that they met in the house
of Gilbert Hicks at Four Lanes End to consider the state of the
country." There is no record of what conclusion they came to,
but they probably felt just then that there was a great big doubt
as to whether they had any country. This house was also used as
a hospital for the wounded after the battle of Trenton, several
who died there were buried in the rear lots. When Lafayette was
wounded at the battle of Brandy wine he desired to be nursed by
the sisters who then had a mission among the Indians at Bethle-
hem, and the roads thither from Chester county being rough for
a wounded man, and the Durham road being well known as a
good road he was put on a boat at Chester, brought to Bristol,
and driven up the Durham road. The first stop was made at the
Richardson house, and it is said, the table now there is the one
he was laid on while his wound was dressed.
I am fortunate in not having to depend entirely on hearsay and
500 LANGHORNE AND VICINITY IN OLDEN TIMES
traditions for much of the information contained in this paper,
as I have in my possession an old manuscript book containing
among other material copies of the wills of Jeremiah Langhorne.
Joseph Galloway and Grace Galloway. This book, however, is
without date, but shows evidence of being very old. It also con-
tains a record of the accounts of one of my ancestors, Abel
James, who married the daughter of Thomas Chalckley. I have
also a copy of old John Richardson's funeral bill which gives us
an idea of how expensive an important man's funeral was in
those days, and how much it cost to mourn decently.
"To 5 gallons Jamaica Rum £i 4s.
I Holland Cheese £1
I Cofing and W'rappins ii 7s.
I Sugar Loaf il"
You will notice that this is all for eatables and drinkables ex-
cept "I lb. and /s. for cofing."
Abel James looked after the Growdon lands during the Revolu-
tion, and after their confiscation, and the copy of the report of
the committee to decide how much he should be paid for his
services during the 11 years with much else I now have. The
report awards him £2053, 2s. ^d. in compensation for his time,
trouble and faithful services in managing and transacting the af-
fairs of the estate during times of great difficulty and personal
danger, attending numerous suits in Bucks county, bargaining
for and repurchasing for the estate parts of the property on ad-
vantageous terms from those who had bought it when confiscated
or had squatted on the land, uniting the lands and improving the
same.
As showing how much cheaper some things were in those days
and how much dearer others were, I note that a part of Lang-
horne Park was sold after the death of Jeremiah Langhorne for
£10 per acre for 281 acres, and the tax on it for that
year was £4 8s. 5d. I might say that the value of the Pennsyl-
vania pound at that time was about $3.20 or a discount of 35 per
cent. The same year 150 feet of 8x8 glass to repair the house
cost £y, 3s. 6d., or nearly 40 cents a pane. John and Richard
Mitchell were the carpenters and masons at 2^s. a day.
In 1 789-, grain sold from the Langhorne place was sold by the
LANGHORNE AND VICINITY IN OLDF.N TIMES 50I
bushel at the following prices : Indian corn. 3s. 3d. ; yellow wheat.
5s. 9d. and white wheat, 6s. id.
On 2d month 2, 1783. Stephen Bcount made 3 pairs of shoes
for £3. Eleventh month 29th, same year, postage on a letter to
Elizabeth Galloway, z'ia New York, w^as lop. On 12th month
31st, same year, another one to go to her by packet was 5s. and
lop. On 5th month 23d, 1789, cash paid for recording a mort-
gage was 4s. The same date Richard Mitchell was paid £1 and
13s. for 3 hams, and for a rump and sirloin of beef 2s. and 6d.
As showing how much our land was worth then, William
Craig whites to Everard Foulke that he would sell part of Lang-
horne Park at £4. per acre, "one-third to be paid at sale, the
balance in three yearly payments at lawful interest in this state,
these terms we cannot recede from." In 1792 Jonathan Stack-
house bought 153 acres for £4. per acre including the mansion
house on Langhorne Park. Henry Tomlinson 5 acres for £15
per acre; William Womsley 10 acres at £16 per acre; Augustine
Willits 309 acres at £7 per acre. Lawyers in those days, as now.
were expensive luxuries, as William Craig writes in 1792, "Our
lawyers are very extravagant in their fees." In 1795, Thomas
Jenks writes, "flour is $10 a barrel here."
Some of these people were owners of bank stock as in 1795,
one of them who had returned to England is told that this year
"the Bank of the United States paid 4 per cent, for six months,
the Bank of Pennsylvania, 5 per cent, for 6 months and the Bank
of North America 6 per cent, for 5 months."
William Craig and Thomas Jenks, the latter a member of this
meeting, were the agents of the Galloways in America, after they
fled to England. I have their accounts covering many years, they
show a great variety of expenses, suits, sales of both land and
produce, the purchase and remittance of exchange, and many in-
teresting items of that day and time.
About 1792 Elizabeth Galloway wrote them a letter from Eng-
land saying that she thought 7 per cent, for commission for their
services was too high. As showing how much more courteous
business letters of that date were than those of the {)resent time
I will read a part of their letter in rei)ly.
"De.ar Betsy: — You say you thiuk the terms as proposed is too hisili,
and that others do liusiness in .\mcrica for 5 per cent, commission. We
502 langhorne; and vicinity in 0IvDe;n time;s
can assure 3'ou that no commission we ask is any inducement to us to do
your business in America. It is the friendship we have long had for
your father and self is our principle inducement for us to undertake to
do 3'our business, and the desire we have of rendering every service in
our power in the management of your estate and interest in America,
but in the meantime we think in justice to ourselves and our family, re-
quire that we should not give up so much of our time as we have for
about two years past without a reasonable compensation for it, and after
a full trial in the business we find we cannot do it for less than 7 per
cent., especially if it continues to be as troublesome in the future as it
hath hitherto been. John Thompson has 7^ per cent, commission for
attending to the Nicholson estate, and it is not so diflicult to manage as
3'ours hath hitherto been. His instruction is unlimited, and his commis-
sion freely allowed. We are conscious that we have paid every attention
to your business and managed the whole with the strictest economy, but
as you seem to be dissatisfied with our charge and 3'ou don't seem to
have confidence in us, and you think it desirable to put your future busi-
ness in other hands, it will be perfectl3' agreeable to us, as we conceive
under our present instruction that nothing more is to be done, only to fin-
ish the contract we have entered into. We shall continue to take the
same care of 3'our estate as we have done heretofore, until you appoint
others whom you think will serve you better."
The minute brought by Thomas Langhorne to friends here is
such a quaint and beautiful tribute to his excellence, and so thor-
oughly convinces us of his friends' real sorrow at his loss, that
I must read it.
"We recommend to 3'OU our dear friend and brother Thomas Lang-
horne, into whose heart the Lord, we hope, hath put to give himself up
W'ith his famih' for your countr3^ in the western parts of the world. We
are more satisfied with his integrity and regard to God in the matter,
because we can guardedly say that the Lord hath blessed him with the
riches and glorv of his own life, in the enjo3-ment of which God hath
made him an instrument in his hands for the help and enjoyment of
many. An elder that has ruled well and is worthy of honor, which in his
own country he hath so large a share thereof, that he need not court the
enlargement thereof elsewhere, and as to outward things, God has given
him that plenty thereof and that fullness that cometh from full content,
the glory and the riches of the kingdoms of this earth he need not covet
after. .You may lay your hands upon him with a ready mind and a
brotherly respect, for you will find him worthv, and for him 3-ou will
never be ashamed. He is bone of your bone, and the remembrance of
him will be precious to your souls. We are made willing to give him up
in your behalf, for the distance or place cannot disunite one anothers
help, and our bowels will be kept with you. You may be assured that if
it was not for our brotherly love and the gospels sake (for the further-
LANGHORNE AND VICINITY IN OLDEN TIMES 503
ance thereof God has made him an able minister) if it were not for this,
we would not have given him up to the outwardly and remote parts of the
world, whom whether wc shall ever see his face again visibly, we know
not. He has had great power. We do not part with him as a thing of
light value, and if we did not feel our loss would be your eternal gain,
our sorrows could be scarcely expressed, but in your advantage does our
satisfaction stand without grudging."
It is pretty hard to cover a hundred years of the history of
early Langhorne in twenty minutes. It may be urged that my
paper has had much to do with the Quakers, but they were able
people, the land holders and the leaders in everything that was
done about here at that time. We had no other church here till
after 1800. The census of the neighborhood, evidently taken by
some good old Quaker lady in 1801 shows this conclusively. I
have it here, and doubtless the only copy.
In the light of these hurried and minor details of Four Lanes
End, then Attleboro, and now Langhorne, I think you must feel
as I do, if faith and truth and right, shed their influence round,
that the old Langhorne Meeting House has consecrated walls, and
stands on hallowed ground.
33
Notes on the Life of Charles Albert Fechter.
BY WIIvIvIAM R. MERCER, JR.
(Orthodox Meeting House, Langhorne Meeting, June 4, 19 14.)
Perhaps there are but few people here who remember that the
very distinguished dramatic artist, Charles Albert Fechter passed
the last few years of his life and died on a farm of fifty acres, in
Bucks county, about half a mile from the village of Richlandtown
not far from Quakertown. It is to be regretted that owing to the
thirty-five years which have elapsed since Fechter's death, only
a meagre account of his life on the farm in Bucks county is ob-
tainable ; hence I have had to treat of an earlier period, and in so
doing have drawn liberally from the able work on the great actor
by Kate Field. I wish here also to express thanks to my friend
and fellow member of the Bucks County Historical Society Judge
Yerkes, as well as Mrs. Strawni, Mr. Ozias and others of Quaker-
town for valuable data.
Near the road stands a small unassuming stuccoed house
where, after his brilliant career, as sculptor, man of letters and
actor, he sought the quiet retirement of that region, operating his
farm in his own manner, for his amusement, not hoping for more
than to make it self supporting. Much of his time was passed
in shooting and fishing, sometimes in, and sometimes out of
season, with an occasional difficulty in the county courts in conse-
quence. When seeking this retirement the advertisement of the
farm near Quakertown was brought to his notice, he communi-
cated with the agent, who induced him to come and see the place.
The visit resulted in its purchase in 1873. The house consisted
of three rooms on the ground floor, dining room, living room and
a large kitchen. The upper story contained four small rooms,
in one of which he often rehearsed some of his great parts, parts
that had stirred in former days, the dramatic world of two con-
tinents. He made few changes in the house, the most important
being in turning the usual sash windows, into casements. The
dining room seemed the principal attraction, for there it was that
he entertained his guests most lavishly. I am told by Mr. Ozais,
NOTES ON THE LIFE OF CHARLES ALBERT FECIITER 505
of Quakertown, who frequently dined with him that his hospi-
tality was unlimited. He was at times moody and disinclined to
'talk, at others witty and brilliant.
I remember hearing when a boy that a certain tax collector,
not always the most welcome visitor, calling at the farm on his
collecting rounds one day, was met by Fechter with such genial
hospitality and lavish entertainment, that the object of his visit
was quite overlooked, and only the memory of the good cheer
remained.
During the first part of his stay in Bucks county, he frequently
appeared on the stage in various parts of the United States, but
as his health began to fail he passed more time on the farm.
His decline in health was due to organic heart trouble, and the
result of several accidents. Upon one occasion he slipped and
fell against the step of his carriage on leaving the theatre, and as
he was recovering from this injury, owing to defective stage
setting at the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, he fell
through a scaffolding which opened the former wound, causing
him at times, extreme suffering. The immediate cause of his
death was paralysis August 5, 1879. Shortly after the death of
Fechter, his wife, then living in France put in a widow's claim
for her share of the property, and employed Mr. Stuckert, of
Doylestown, as her lawyer. I am told by Mr. Stuckert that quite
a lengthy and interesting correspondence ensued, not only from
Madame Fechter, but especially from the daughter. When my
notice was brought to the fact, in looking over some old papers
at the courthouse, I found from Mr. Stuckert, that after keeping
the letters for over thirty-five years, he had in a general desk
cleaning only the week before, destroyed the entire correspond-
ence. This seemed a cruel fate. The claim was not pursued,
however, when it was found that the liabilities far exceeded the
assets.
Among his distinguished visitors on the farm was the eminent
author Wilkie Collins, an old and intimate admirer, who passed
several days there, and who gives an interesting sketch of Fech-
ter's former house in the outskirts of London, where he was the
center of a circle of gay and accomplished friends both literary
and artistic. Of this period Wilkie Collins gives an amusing
account of the informality of his dinners. Punctuality was the
5o6 NOTES ON THE LIFE OE CHARLES ALBERT FECHTER
only requirement made of the guests, who sat where they hked at
the table, went to the kitchen and cooked a dish if they wished,
and selected their wine from the sideboard. The weather being
hot one might remove his coat, if he felt so inclined. At the end
of the meal anyone having special talent for music, recitation, et-
cetera, entertained the guests. These occasions being for relaxa-
tion all conventionalities of dress were ignored, Fechter often re-
ceived his friends on their arrival in dressing gown and slippers.
In referring to these happy days in the little house in St. John's
Wood Road near London, Wilkie Collins says, "I cannot even
now pass the house without a feeling of sadness." It is to be sup-
posed that his feelings were even sadder when he found his for-
mer friend permaturely old and broken in the little house near
Quakertown.
Fechter's early youth was passed in London where he was born
October 23, 1824, youngest but one of the thirteen children. His
father born in France of German parentage, a sculptor, moved
before Charles Fechter's birth to London. His mother was born
in Flanders of Piedmontese parents. Fechter learned to read at
a very early age, with great aptitude for the classics, and none
whatever for mathematics. But his particular inclination was for
the drama, and he was always a student of Shakespeare. His
favorite plays were Hamlet, Othello and Macbeth. Frequently
when a child he would go to the garret of his father's house and
devote his energies to the portrayal of tragedy. His early taste
for the best acting led him to enjoy the best actors of the time,
Macready, Charles Kemble, and the elder Wallack, and of the
three Charles Kemble was his favorite ; though the artist to whom
he most looked up was Malibran, and at this period he was but
eight years of age. While his inclination drew him to the stage,
he pursued the study of sculpture following the wish of his
father, and in it he became quite proficient.
He made his first appearance on the stage, at the Salle Moliere
in Paris, and at this school of acting he made such an impression
upon his hearers, that the celebrated Scribe, the playwright, of-
fered to give him all his parts, which Fechter reluctantly de-
clined as he felt obliged to return to his father's studio. Tem-
porary relief came at last. Owing to the enforced absence of a
young actor who was drafted into the army, Fechter was offered
NOTES ON THE LIFE OF CHARLES ALBERT FECIITER 507
his position by the manager who was about starting to Italy.
This offer proved most tempting to Fechter and he accepted,
leaving Paris for Italy, January 1841. The actors being expected
to provide their own costumes, and Fechter's financial equipment
not being equal to the demand, he not only made his own cos-
tumes but made those of his fellow impecunious actors. Top
boots he made of oilcloth, the envy of his companions, and gave
a polish to his old high hat, by wetting it just before appearing.
His outfit carried him through a season in Florence. To add to
his stage wardrobe, he had purchased a large glass diamond pin,
which owing to its great size had become well known in Florence.
Returning from the theatre one night he was waylaid by a rob-
ber, who attacked him with a dirk. Fechter being equal to the
occasion told his assailant that if it was only the diamond he
wanted, he would consent to give it up without resistance in ex-
change for the cameo ring which the robber wore. The exchange
was at once effected, the robber became the possessor of the glass
imitation, and Fechter of a handsome cameo. I am told by Mr.
Ross that Fechter on one occasion presented his father with a
ring. It would be interesting if this was the cameo he obtained
in exchange for his diamond ! This theatrical venture in Italy
was his first, and was a financial failure. The manager had be-
come bankrupt, and was only able to pay his company a few cents
on the dollar. With characteristic generosity Fechter divided his
own share among the humbler actors, who rewarded his un-
selfishness by decamping with part of his wardrobe. After these
theatrical experiences he returned to his father's studio and be-
came a student at the Beaux Arts, working there in the evening
while devoting his days to the studio. But soon he returned to
his chosen profession and entered the Conservatoire, to prepare
himself for the Theatre Francais. which since the days of Moliere
has held first place in the dramatic world of Paris, He became
much depressed, for while always strongly leaning towards the
dramatic art, he at the same time had a strong feeling and wish
to gratify the desire of his father that he should devote his life
to sculpture.
While he was studying at the Beaux Arts, competing for the
Grand Prize, which if won meant four years of study at the
government's expense among the art treasures of Rome; Fech-
5o8 NOTES ON THE LIFE OF CHARLES ALBERT FECHTER
ter's brother-in-law, realizing his great talent for the stage and
in full sympathy paved the way for him to enter the competition
for a place in the great French theatre, which then was and still
is a coveted honor. At this time notice came to him to appear
before its judges. It was a strange coincidence that just as he
received announcement of his admission as an actor, the news
came that he had won the Grand Prize at the Beaux Arts. The
moment had come for the final decision, as both careers were now
open to him. He was but nineteen, and although his father urged
his accepting the ofifer of the Beaux Arts, his own leaning to
the stage was so strong that his father yielded to Fechter's wishes
and the die was cast for the stage.
Now opens a new phase in his life — his appearance at the
Theatre Francais, which took place December, 1844, was in con-
junction with the sister of the great tragedienne Rachel. From
the beginning Fechter had ideas of his own, and held to them,
contrary to the established conventionalities of the stage, and the
taste of the French audience. Through jealously and personal
enmities, founded on his extreme youth, and his fixed and pro-
nounced ideas, his connection with the Theatre Francais was soon
severed, as it was, with several other theatres where he took the
management himself both in Europe and America, notably in
Boston, at the Globe Theatre. Unprecedented success awaited
him, however, in Paris, Berlin and London, and later in the
United States. The role that stirred Paris first was Armand in
the Dame aux Camelias. This play together with Ruy Bias, Don
Caesar de Bazan. The Corsican Brothers and No Thoroughfare
were perhaps the most noteworthy of his extensive repertoire,
although his Hamlet created a great sensation, as his conception
of the Prince of Denmark was entirely original, and unlike that
of his predecessors of the stage, calling down animated criticism,
adverse and favorable. The well-known critic Edmund Yates
says,
"The first time I ever saw Fechter, he played Armand in La Dame aux
Camelias with Mme. Doche. I thought it a most striking performance
and it still remains in my memory. Armand is what actors call merely a
feeder to Marguerite, the heroine, save in one act, when he turns upon
her, and there Fechter in his alternating rage, love, and despair is almost
sublime. He was the best love maker I ever saw on the stage."
I remember a friend telling me years ago that in his youth he
NOTES ON THE LIFE OF CHARLES ALBERT FECHTER 509
saw this great performance in Paris, every night for a week, and
the audience was so affected that the comic papers represented
the theatre as a Vale of Tears, and recommended the audience
to go prepared with waterproofs and umbrellas. According to
Yates Ruy Bias was his best role :
"It had no flaw, his love for the Queen was most charmingly expressed,
and in the last act of rage and vengeance on the traitor, he was positively
supreme."
Monuet Sully, who in these days takes the part of Ruy Bias,
at the Theatre Francais, and who appeared frequently in England
with Sara Bernhardt, is not to be compared to Fechter, according
to Yates. Although he considers Fechter's Othello poor but his
lago admirable. He played either role. It may be of interest
here to give some extracts from The Atlantic Monthly of 1869
(vol. 24 page 242) from the pen of Charles Dickens, on Fechter's
first visit to this country and his appearance on the stage. Dick-
ens says,
"The first quality observable in Mr. Fechter's acting is that it is in the
highest degree romantic. * * * When he is on the stage it seems to
me as though the story were transpiring before me for the first and last
time. Picturesqueness is a quality above all others, pervading ]\lr.
Fechter's assumptions. Himself a skilled painter and sculptor, learned
in the history of costume, and informing those accomplishments and that
knowledge with a similar infusion of romance (for romance is inseparable
from the man) he is always a picture — in its right place in the group. * * *
In the last scene of Victor Hugo's noble drama, Ruy Bias, his bearing
becomes positively inspired and his sudden assumption of the attitude of
the headsman in his denunciation of the Duke, and threat to be his execu-
tioner is, as far as I know, one of the most ferociously picturesque things
conceivable on the stage. * * * This leads me to the observation that
Mr. Fechter's romance and picturesqueness are always united to a true
artist's intelligence and a true artist's training, and in a true artist's spirit.
He became one of the company of the Theatre Francais when a very
young man and he has cultivated his natural gifts in the best schools. I
cannot wish my friend a better audience than he will have in the Amer-
ican people, and I cannot wish them a better actor than they will have in
my friend."
I do not intend to note the various experiences and trials which
came to this intellectual and cultured man. His irascible dis-
position led him into frequent controversies, among others during
his residence in Bucks county, a suit for libel brought by him
against the owner of a prominent newspaper in Philadelphia.
5IO grave; of rafinesque, the great naturalist
This suit never came before the courts. It is to be remembered
that his closing years were wrecked by illness and suffering,
which he vainly tried to alleviate by intemperance.
On August 8, 1879, Charles Fechter's remains were placed in
the receiving vault of Mt. Vernon Cemetery, Philadelphia, and on
the 20th of June of the next year, they were laid in the grave, at-
tended by two or three friends, and a few acquaintances.
A bust of the actor surmounts the grave and within the laurel
wreath carved about it is the following inscription — "Genius has
taken its flight to God."
Grave of Rafinesque, the Great Naturalist.
BY ANTHONY M. HANCE, PHILADELPHIA, PA.
(Orthodox Meeting House, Langhorne Meeting, June 4, 19 14.)
"The art of seeing well, or of noticing and distinguishing with
accuracy the objects which we perceive, is a high faculty of the
mind, unfolded in few individuals, and despised by those who
can neither acquire it, nor appreciate its results." — From title
page of "Ichthyologia Ohiensis."
A plan I contemplated for nearly three years, after a field day
out in Bucks county with Henry C. Mercer, I had no opportunity
of executing until the afternoon of Sunday, May lo, 1914, viz.,
to find Rafinesque's grave in Ronaldson cemetery, Philadelphia.
As a matter of fact the search was unromantic and devoid of
the picturesque, except for the remarkable beauty of many fine
old horsechestnuts in full blossom, with here and there an old-
fashioned flower coming into bloom and enough blue flag (Iris
versicolor) to remind me — with the old neglected tombs and
monuments — of far-off Japan; a suggestion of that "call of the
east," or as Kipling more poetically puts it : "When you 'ear the
east a callin' — why you can't 'eed nothin' else."
But anchored here, I gently persisted and finally found that
C. S. Rafinesque was buried in this old private cemetery Septem-
ber 19, 1840, in "Strangers' Ground," though a careful search
through the rather small enclosure set apart for strangers dying
away from home and friends, which John B. Cooley, the super-
grave; of rafinesque, the great naturalist 511
intendent very courteously and carefully made with me, failed to
reveal the exact place of the interment.
So we left the quiet spot and I came away disappointed but
not discouraged, and on narrating my experience to Mr. Mercer,
last Sunday week, he at once said with his characteristic en-
thusiasm which sweeps aside all obstacles : "By Jove ! that's
great; we'll put a monument to Rafinesque, and you'll tell us
something about him at our meeting next week." So here I am.
Several excellent sketches of Rafinesque's life have fortu-
nately been published, but unfortunately it seems to me, they have
not gone as fully into the life-work of this remarkable, this won-
derful man as much as they might with so much data available
and largely prepared by Rafinesque himself. It may be the
authors thought Rafinesque's own account of his life and travels
fully covered the ground, but the sad part of that is, these par-
ticularly interesting books are practically unavailable and have
never been reprinted, with the possible exception of one of his
scientific works — I shall refer to this again farther on.
The best work on Rafinesque I am familiar with is the Filson
Club Publication No. 10, "The Life and Writings of Rafinesque,"
by Dr. Richard Ellsworth Call (Kentucky, 1895) ; yet this is not
only an expensive work, but is itself becoming very scarce. It
is exceedingly well written and beautifully gotten up. The ac-
count of the death of Rafinesque (p. 55) is very sad, and I shall
not quote it except to say that his landlord refused the few
Friends assembled, to give the dead decent interment, "hoping
to find a market for the body in a medical school and thus ob-
tain the rental Refinesque could not pay when living. Dr. William
Mease forced the door of the room in which the body had been
locked, and with an undertaker, let down by ropes into the back
yard, the remains of poor Rafinesque, then conveyed the body
to Ronaldson's cemetery. In 1861 the place was marked by a
plain board slab on which was painted simply "C. S. R." "To-day
{i. e., 1895) the spot where he was buried is unmarked."
It was from this I first learned of the place of Rafinesque's
burial, and I venture to offer that unless some one had interested
himself, we would most likely not have known to-day where his
grave in this cemetery — covering a city square — is located ; that
is, within a few feet of it.
512 GRAVi; OF RAFINESQUE, THE GREAT NATURALIST
Dr. Call then gives a most interesting review of Rafinesque's
scientific writings, followed by a complete and wonderful Bibliog-
raphy.
This in itself is a literary monument to Rafinesque; and is then
followed by a list of works (Bibliotheca Rafinesquiana) "from
which facts connected with either Rafinesque or his scientific
work may be gleaned."
Dr. Call gives the following interesting summary and account
of Rafinesque's publications: (p. 207)
"Magazine articles 144
Books and pamphlets 39
Rafinesque's magazines 3
Original articles in last 233
Manuscripts i
Total titles 420
Reprints 17
Translations 7
Books from oversheets 3 27
Grand total 447
"A further classification hy subjects will serve to show the very wide
range over which the scientific work of Rafinesque extended. Among
these papers botanical subjects, with one hundred and forty-one titles,
take precedence ; zoological papers and pamphlets come next in order
with some one hundred and twenty titles, of which those that relate to
ichthyological matters are in excess. A singular fact is next apparent in
that historical, rather than scientific, subjects appear to have received
attention, there being thirty-nine papers which may be so classed. Poems,
four subjects, one of which comprised some two hundred pages, presents
the smallest number of titles."
The only other work about Rafinesque I am familiar with is
contained in a reprint of his Ichthyologia Ohiensis, with a brief
sketch of his life and ichthyologic work by Dr. Call. Only eight
copies of the original were known to exist in 1899, when this
work (limited to 250 copies) was published (Cleveland, 1899).
As Dr. Call says at the end of his review : "It is a book redolent
of the sweetness of nature, rather than the dust of libraries."
I now come to a Avonderful collection of Rafinesque's maga-
zines, essays, pamphlets, books, manuals, notes, letters, etc.,
bound in one large volume but not in the original covers. This
valuable, unique and interesting book is the property of the Li-
brary Company of Philadelphia. Not more than a few minutes
GRAVE OF RAFIXESQUE, THE GREAT NATURALIST 513
running through it, is sufficient to convince, I think even the most
skeptical scientist, that Rafinesque was a man of prodigious in-
dustry and learning, and of modesty to the point of bashfulness
in putting himself forward publicly, though of some conceit in
his writings — and which I cannot blame him for, when one con-
siders the number of soi disaiit scientists running at large in his
day and generation.
In the introduction of one of these works — "New Flora of
North America" — the results of 24 years of observation and re-
searches, and dedicated to his fellow botanists in the United
States of North America, is another outline of his held work and
from which I quote some pages, for nothing I have read about
Rafinesque or any botanist, in fact, gives such a graphic picture
of botanical work as he tells in his own words; a narrative again
"Redolent with the sweetness of nature."
Constantine Samuel Rafinesque was born in Galata, a suburb
of Constantinople, October 22, 1783. His father was a French
merchant of Marseilles, and his mother was of German parent-
age, from Saxony. The family is now extinct.
To use Rafinesque's own words :
"I began to travel in my cradle and became afterwards a perpetual or
periodical traveler through inclination and need. I came to North
America in 1802, and traveled chiefly on foot until 1804, over New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia, from the Juniata to the
sea shore, and from the Allegheny mountains beyond Easton, to the
Potomac beyond Washington and Alexandria. Some of the results of
my discoveries in those three 3^ears of early travels were published in 1808.
"In 1805 I left America for Europe, where I remained till 1815. On
my return to this continent in that year, I was shipwrecked on the shores
of Connecticut, and lost all my former herbals and collections, both
American and European.
"Therefore being deprived of all my first labors in botany, zoology and
mineralogy in that memorable year 1815, I had to begin again my
researches and collections, which I pursued ever since with renewed zeal,
always at my own sole expense. I spent 1815 and 1816 in the states of
New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania chiefly. In 1816 I went to
explore as far as Lake Champlain, Vermont and the Sarabac mountains,
near the sources of the Hudson river. In 181 7 I went to the Alattawan
and Kiskanom, or Catskill mountains, and explored Long Island, where
1 dwelt awhile.
"But my great travels in the West began in 1S18, I made a tour of
2,000 miles as far as the \\ abash river, crossing twice the Alleghany
mountains on foot, and exploring Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, etc.
514 GRAVE OF RAFINKSQUE, THK GRFAT NATURALIST
Some of the results of my former discoveries in that journey were pub-
lished in 1819, in the Physical Journal of Paris, in 80 new Gen. of Plants,
and 70 new Gen. of Animals.
"Having been appointed Professor of Natural Science in the Univer-
sity of Lexington, in Kentucky, I went there in 1819, crossing a third time
the Alleghany mountains, through the Cumberland road of Maryland, still
on foot, as I never would cross these beautiful mountains in any other
wa}^, in order to botanize all the while, and I was rewarded by many new
plants.
"I spent seven years in Kentucky, in 1826 exploring that state thor-
oughly, and making excursions to Ohio, etc., my longest journeys were
in 1823, when I went as far as the Rivers Cumberland and Tennessee near
their mouths, and next East to the falls of the Cumberland river and the
Wasiota or Cumberland mountains.
In 1825 I undertook a long journey through Ohio, and Virginia, cross-
ing the Alleghany mountains of Virginia, and returning by the Alleghanies
of Pennsylvania, always on foot. Next year, 1826, I left Kentucky and
settled in Philadelphia; but took a very long botanical journey in the way,
going through Ohio to Sandusky on Lake Erie ; thence to Buffalo, Niagara,
Canada, the New York Canal, etc.
"My excursions in 1827, were to the sea shore of New Jersey, and
thence to Troy, the Taconick mountain, and through Massachusetts to
Boston, returning by a different road. In 1828, I went to the Alleghany
mountains of the north on the Lehigh, the Schooley (Skuleh) mountains
of New Jersey, and Mattawan mountains of New York. In 1829, I went
to the Pinebarrens of New Jersey, and as far as Connecticut. In 1830,
I made a second journey to the Kiskanom mountains of New York.
"Several botanical excursions and journeys were undertaken in 1831,
in Delaware, New Jersey and the Taconick mountains. While in 1832 I
visited Maryland twice, the second time I explored the Cotocton moun-
tains of ATaryland, and Alleghany mountains as far as Sherman valley
and the Juniata, quite at leisure, residing some time at the top of the
mountains.
"In the year 1833 I proposed to visit the Apalachian mountains as far
as Alabama ; but was prevented by an accident and heavy rains ; I only
went as far as those of Virginia, and again in the Cotocton mountains.
In a second journey I undertook to visit the sources of the river Delaware
and Susquehanna, exploring first the pine barrens and sea shores of New
Jersey, next going from Albany over the Heidelberg mountains to the
Lake .Utsiantha source of the Delaware at the foot of the Kiskanom
mountains, and Lake Otsego (sweet and pure) source of the Susquehanna.
"The jear 1834 saw me twice in the Alleghany mountains of the north,
once by following the course of the Delaware, the second time westward
by the Welsh mountains, Conewago mountains, Albany mountains, Locust
mountains to the Pottsville mines and the source of the Schuylkill river,
returning by Mauch Chunk and Allentown.
"My travels of 1835 were in the Central Alleghanies up the Rivers
grave; of rafinesque, the great naturalist 515
Juniata and Susquehanna, exploring the mountains of Peters, Buffalo,
Wisconisco, Mahantango (now the principal residential street in Potts-
ville), Tuscarora, Jack, Seven mountains, etc., with their valleys. An
account of all these travels and excursions is given by me more at length
in my Life and Travels and Researches, published early in 1836. Since
then I have chiefly explored South Jersey and the pine barrens.
"Although these journeys were often undertaken with the additional
ulterior view to collect fossils and animals, my favorite science and pur-
suit of botany was always my main object. I always traveled with my
botanical collecting book and reams of paper to preserve my plants ; and
thus I have been enabled to collect in 20 years, since 1816, a most valuable
herbarium, rich in new species, rare plants, and complete monographs ;
which have been increased by exchanges and purchases, chiefly of Southern
plants ; not having been able to explore as yet the Southern States, deterred
by the bad roads, unhealthy climate, scanty fare, heavy expense and state
of society. A pedestrian botanist is not always very welcome there.
"During so many years of activity and arduous explorations, I have
met of course all kinds of adventures, fares and treatment. I have been
welcomed under the hospitable roof of friends of knowledge or enter-
prise, else laughed at as a mad botanist by scornful ignorance. Often
deemed a herbalist and wandering doctor by the vulgar, I have allowed
or indulged this harmless belief, and thereby elicited from many quarters
the local knowledge of medical facts, which I have published in my
Medical Flora of the United States.
"I have seldom met with liberal enlightened men, who could believe
that I was actuated by the pure love of knowledge and science; yet I
have found such worthy men sometimes and their names are gratefully
impressed on my memory. Such were J. D. Clifford, Alex. Walsh, Mess.
Knevels, Adlum, Dr. Schultz, D. Jackson, H. Clay, Clinton, Meade,
Maclane, Wells, Thompson, Aldie, etc., who without being botanists or at
most mere florists, could appreciate my pursuits and facilitate my re-
searches. As to botanists and zoologists I made it a point to search for
them and enjoy their society, mutually imparting our knowledge. Such
a life of travels and exertions has its pleasures and its pains, its sudden
delights and deep joys mixed with dangers, trials, difficulties, and troubles.
No one could better paint them than myself, who has experienced them
all ; but I must be brief in conveying a slight idea of them.
"Let the practical botanist who wishes like myself to be a pioneer of
science, and to increase the knowledge of plants, be fully prepared to
meet dangers of all sorts in the wild groves and mountains of America.
The mere fatigue of a pedestrian journey is nothing compared to the
gloom of solitary forests, when not a human being is met for many miles,
and if met he may be mistrusted; when the food and collections must be
carried in your pocket or knapsack from daj^ to day; when the fare is
not only scanty but sometimes worse ; when you must live on corn bread
and salt pork, be burnt and steamed by a hot sun at noon, or drenched
by rain, even with an umbrella in hand, as I always had.
5l6 GRAVE OF RAI^INEISQUE;, THE) GREAT NATURALIST
"Mosquitoes and flies will often annoy you or suck your blood if you
stop or leave a hurried step. Gnats dance before the eyes and often fall
in unless you shut them ; insects creep on you and into your ears. Ants
crawl on you whenever you rest on the ground, wasps will assail you
like furies if 3^ou touch their nests. But ticks the worst of all are unavoid-
able whenever you go among bushes ; and stick to you in crowds, filling
your skin with pimples and sores. Spiders, gallineps, horseflies and other
obnoxious insects will often beset you, or sorely hurt you. Hateful snakes
are met, and if poisonous are very dangerous ; some do not warn you
off like the rattlesnakes. You meet rough or muddy roads to vex you,
and blind paths to perplex you, rocks, mountains and steep ascents. You
may often lose your way, and must always have a compass with you as
I had. You may be lamed in climbing rocks for plants or break your
limbs by a fall. You must cross and wade through brooks, creeks, rivers,
swamps. In deep fords or in swift streams you maj^ lose your footing
and be drowned. You may be overtaken by a storm, the trees fall around
you, the thunder roars and strikes before j'ou. The winds may annoy
you, the fi.re of heaven or of men sets fire to the grass or forest, and
you may be surrounded by it, unless you fly for your life. You may travel
oven an unhealthy region or in a sickly season, you may fall sick on the
road and become helpless, unless you be very careful, abstemious and
temperate.
"Such are some of the dangers and troubles of a botanical excursion
in the mountains and forests of North America. The sedentary botanists
or those who travel in carriages or by steamboats, know little of them ;
those who merely herborize near a city or town, do not appreciate the
courage of those who brave such dangers to reap the botanical wealth
of the land, nor sufficiently value the collections thus made.
"Yet although I have felt all those miseries, I have escaped some of
which others are liable. I have never been compelled to sleep at night
on the ground but have always found shelter. I have never been actually
starved, nor assailed by snakes or wild beasts, nor robbed, nor drowned,
nor suddenly unwell. Temperance and the disuse of tobacco have partly
availed me, and always kept me in health. In fact I never was healthier
and happier than when I encountered those dangers, while a sedentary
life has often made me unhappy or unwell. I like the free range of the
woods and glades. I hate the sight of fences like the Indians ! The free
constant exercise and pleasurable excitement is always conducive to
health and pleasure. The pleasures of a botanical exploration fully com-
pensate for these miseries and dangers, else no one would be a traveling-
botanist, nor spend his time and money in vain. Many fair-day and
fair-roads are met with, a clear sky or a bracing breeze inspires delight
and ease, you breathe the pure air of the country, every rill and brook
offers a draught of limpid fluid. What delight to meet with a spring
after a thirsty walk, what soothing naps at noon under a shaded tree near
a purling brook ! Every step taken into the fields, groves, and hills
appears to afford new enjoyments. Landscapes and plants jointly meet
GRAVE OF RAFINESQUE, THE GREAT NATURALIST 517
in your sight. Here is an old acquaintance seen again ; there a novelty,
a rare plant, perhaps a new one, greets your view ; you hasten to pluck
it, examine it, admire, and put it in your book. Then you walk on think-
ing what it might be, or may be made by you hereafter. You feel an
exultation, you are a conqueror, you have made a conquest over nature,
you are going to add a new object, or a page to science. This peaceful
conquest has cost no tears, but fills your mind with a proud sensation of
not being useless on earth, of having detected another link of the creative
power of God. Such are the delightful feelings of a real botanist, who
travels not for lucre nor paltry pay. Those who do, often think only of
how much the root or the seed or the specimen will fetch at home or in
their garden. When you ramble by turns in the shady groves, grassy
glades, rocky hills, or steep mountains, you meet new charms peculiar to
each ; even the gloomy forest atYords a shady walk. Every rock, nook,
rill * * * h^s peculiar plants inviting your attention. When nothing
new nor rare appears, you commune with your mind and your God in
lofty thoughts or dreams of happiness. Every pure botanist is a good
man, a happy man, and a religious man. He lives with God in his wide
temple not made by hands * * * "
In the foregoing beautiful and enthusiastic narrative there
is only one fact I have time to point out now ; how Rafinesque
obtained local information that has made his medical flora and
botany of the United States unique to-day in that it is the only
scientific work I know of — with the possible exception of Dr.
Darlington's "Flora Cestrica" — which retains those picturesque
touches of the medical and domestic uses of our wonderful flora,
but which the modern rush for scientific knowledge has squeezed
out of all other botanical works. These latter-day books are as
dry as bones, and teachers and writers say if you want to find
out this, that and the other thing about golden seal, lobelia, may-
apple, blood-root, arbutus, skunk-cabbage, Indian turnip, stra-
monium, etc., "go to the encyclopedia." Why, bless ye, the en-
cyclopedists had to make up their early books from just such
careful observers and writers as Rafinesque — men who could see
something divine in a plant, a grass, a flower, a tree, a moss, and
their value to man and animals, and tell about them, other than
only caring as nowadays for their genus, species, habitant, sex.
structure, etc.
There is also a gentle hint at botanists who stay at home and
write about local flora. I wonder if he had in mind Dr. William
P. C. Barton's Medical Botany (Philadelphia, 1817) and if its
beautiful and elaborate plates for those days did not peeve Rafin-
5i8 grave; of rafinesque, the; grkat naturai^ist
esque? I have the two books before me — Rafinesque and Bar-
ton — Rafinesque's with its small woodcuts made from his own
sketches — Dr. Barton's with his own sketches too, drawn from
nature and his exquisite plates, as exquisitely colored by hand
by his devoted daughters. It probably was this sort of thing that
piqued Rafinesque and increased his diffidence to a point of bitter
antagonism to a more successful rival. But let the hand of time
point out the dift'erence. Nearly a hundred years have elapsed
since the publication of these books and their values have rela-
tively changed. Dr. Barton's can probably be bought for one-
fourth less than the original subscriber paid, for while Rafin-
esque's "Medical Flora" (2 volumes) published for $3.00, are
now worth $10.00 to $20.00 a volume and difficult to find at that.
As I say, having the latter before me, I will quote a few para-
graphs from the introduction to Vol. I, though I commend the
introduction to both volumes to any one interested in botany and
Materia Medica :
"9. When America was settled, the native tribes were In possession of
many valuable vegetable remedies, discovered by long experience, the
knowledge of which they gradually imparted to their neighbors."
"16. It is not less certain, but still more deplorable, that beyond the
immediate sphere of medical knowledge, the majority of people are yet
in prey to medical credulity, superstition and delusion, in which they are
confirmed by the repeated failures of Theorists, and the occasional suc-
cess of Empirical Rivals.
"44. Works of general utility ought to be accurate, complete, portable
and cheap. Such alone can spread the required correct knowledge, and
suit every class of readers.
"46. It is time that we should return to the pristine Linnean simplicity —
and by the addition of cheap zinc, pewter, stone or wood, speak to the
eyes as well as to the mind."
Aside from Rafinesque's purely scientific works is his life of
"Travels and Researches," printed in Philadelphia by F. Turner,
367 Market Street, in 1836. On this as well as on nearly all of
Rafinesque's works the price is plainly printed. This was 75
cents, and it is from this exceedingly rare work that our prin-
cipal knowledge of his life is obtained.
Rafinesque sailed from Leghorne in March, 1802, in the Amer-
ican ship "Philadelphia," Captain Razer, bound to Philadelphia
where he "arrived in 42 days without landing anywhere in the
way." He passed the Strait of Gibraltar few days out, had his
GRAVE OF RAFINESQUE, TllE GREAT NATURALIST 519
first view of Africa and of the great ocean, to use his own words :
"This famous Atlantic Ocean, which after 4,000 years bears yet
the name of the first nations who have crossed it — the Atalas
and the Antis.
Rafinesque entered the counting house of the brothers CHfford,
owners of the ship "Philadelphia," as he then preferred com-
merce to medicine. But the yellow fever again appearing in the
summer of 1802, "overthrew his views and he left the city to
take refuge in Germantown where he had the luck to be invited
by Col. Forrest, a friend of horticulture, to dwell with him and
travel with him to collect plants."
The yellow fever appeared again in 1803, and he went to
Germantown the second time from which ancient village he
undertook several pedestrian excursions to Bristol, Woodbury,
West Chester and Lancaster to see Muhlenberg, and to Trenton,
Reading, Doylestown, etc., as far as the first range of mountains
or "primitive hills," as he refers to this section of Pennsylvania.
He now saw the first Indians, or ancient natives, and "having
seen many tribes since then, adopted the opinion that considers
them of Tartar or Siberian origin as distinct from the Mexican
and South Americans, and whom he regarded chiefly of Oriental
or Atlantic origin."
His first journey in the State of Delaware was in 1804 and
on these botanical excursions he gradually became acquainted
with all the botanists, naturalists and amateurs of that period.
He visited Dr. Darlington and I\Ir. jMarshall at West Chester.
He crossed and recrossed the Alleghanies, the first time return-
ing by way of Reading, New Lebanon, Norristown and German-
town, thence to Easton, at the confluent of the Delaware and
Lehigh, via Doylestown. That year (1804) having traveled by
foot 1200 miles.
In 181 5 Rafinesque returned to America, and the first land
sighted was Cape Montauk, now our iMontauk Point, at the east-
ern extremity of Long Island.
On November 2, 1815, in foggy weather and with unfavorable
winds the ship struck the Race Rocks between Fisher Island and
Long Island. This is at all times a very dangerous place, as any-
one knows who has had experience in sailing around there. The
wind and tide carried the ship over the submerged rocks, but her
34
520 GRAVi; OF RAFINESQUE, THF GRKAT NATURAIvIST
keel was lost. The long-boat floated as the vessel soon fell,
though entangled in the rigging awhile. They got of in it with
difficulty and at midnight reached land at the light-house of New
London which they rowed for.
I quote Rafinesque's own words : "Thus landing in America
for a second time but in a deplorable situation. I lost everything,
my fortune, my share of the cargo, my collections and labors for
20 years past, my books and manuscripts, my drawings, even my
clothes * * * all that I possessed except some scattered
funds, and the insurance ordered in England for one-third of
the value of my goods."
The winter was passed at the seat of Mr. Livingston, at Clear-
mont, on the Hudson river, as teacher of Italian, drawing and
botany for his three daughters. Things were looking brighter,
and Rafinesque was writing over again his travels and recollec-
tions and scientific work, when he had to go on to Philadelphia,
as the health of Mrs. Livingston compelled the family to remove
to Charleston, S- C. Rafinesque then worked and studied and
traveled ; living a while in Brooklyn and New York until May,
1 81 8, when he started on his great western tour of 2,000 miles,
coming through Philadelphia, and at Lancaster leaving \he stage
he crossed the Alleghanies on foot. On this trip he floated down
the Ohio in an ark, as those peculiar arrangements were called,
and for the first time saw the great pyramids or altars of the
ancient Americans of North America near Chilcothe.
Recrossing the Alleghanies on foot, this time chiefly studying
their geology and fossils, he returned to Philadelphia where he
spent the winter of 1818 and 1819. In the spring of the latter
year he started west to cross the Alleghanies on foot for a third
time, making a map of the Ohio river to order, for which he was
paid $100. Then came seven years of residence and travels in
Kentucky as well as more trials and tribulations. He says : "It
became impossible to struggle against the influence of the foes
of sciences. I became weary of it and resolved to end these per-
petual difficulties by seeking elsewhere other resources or ad-
vantages, undertaking in that view a journey to Washington,
Baltimore and Philadelphia."
Rafinesque then kept up his travels, investigations and discov-
eries, lecturing and teaching when there was opportunity. Re-
GRAVE OF RAFINESQUE, THE) GREAT NATURALIST 52I
turning to Philadelphia by way of Germantown, "hastening to
see my old friends there, Dr. Betton and Mr. Haines, the last
took me in his gig to Valley Forge on the R. Schuylkill to visit
a new community established by a company, but which I found
disorganized as the others."
During the remainder of this summer he made many excur-
sions to Norristown, Gulp Gap, Valley Forge, Phoenixville, Man-
ayunk, Germantown and the copper mines of Perkiomen, and the
wonderful waters near Kimberton called Yellow Spring, settling
in Philadelphia in September. In the winter of 1826-27 he gave
a course of natural history of the earth and mankind to a large
class in the Franklin Institute, and afterwards became professor
of geology and drawing in the high school of the same institu-
tion." Here I would like to say that I have inquired as to
Rafinesque's connection with this old and excellent institution,
yet no one seems to know anything about it ; and the only copy
of any of his works in the library is his "Monographie des Co-
quilles bivalves fluviatiles de la Riviere Ohio," but curiously
enough translated from the French and printed in Philadelphia
in 1832. Now Dr. Call gives this (item 201) as "Paris, 1845,"
and I doubt if he knows of this earlier imprint in Philadelphia.
In 1831-32-33 Rafinesque continued his travel and was able to
visit the sources of the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. During
this time he was corresponding with the leading naturalists of
Europe, especially Cuvier, and would probably have returned to
Europe to visit his mother, had she not died in 1831, and also
to see about having his books published abroad. He says "Audu-
bon would never have been able to publish his birds if he had not
gone to England." Then he dreaded the new political troubles
in Europe, saying "I prefer the calm security of this country, im-
proving every year by wise institutions and entire freedom of
action and industry. These advantages keep me here, and prob-
ably will ever keep me in this field of action and travels; where
so much is yet to be done and explored by science."
In 1832 the Society of Geography (Paris) to which he had
sent a deposit of his work at the suggestion of Baron Cuvier,
honored him with a gold medal. This was the first reward he
had received, and was encouraged to pursue his labors. He says,
522 grave; of rafinesquf, the; gre;at naturalist
"I have not been treated as well in America, where prizes are often
offered, never to be awarded." In 1825 I had sent two memoirs for prizes
offered. One to Washington for a prize of $1,000 for the best means to
clear the R. Ohio of snags and trees. The prize was awarded through
political influence to a contractor who has not cleared the river ; but my
memoir was returned with all the plates. The other was sent to Boston
for a prize of $100 offered by the Academy of Sciences for the best ac-
count of the materials existing on the history of the native tribes of
America. Although my memoir was the best, as appears by a report of
a committee communicated to me by Mr. Everett, yet the prize was not
awarded, because my memoir was too long, etc., if it had been shorter, it
would have been too short ; but the worse was that my memoir was never
returned, but stolen or mislaid by Mr. Holmes the writer of pretended
annals of North America. It is thus that learned men are often served
here. Prizes are sometimes offered merely to help a favorite to fulfil
his part. I have since again written a memoir for another prize, which
has been postponed from year to year. I do not state names as the
subject is not yet decided; but if I am served there as I was in Boston,
I never mean to write again for prizes offered by public societies through
the doubtful motives of inducing learned men to labor for nothing."
He made several excursions from the mouth of the Schuylkill
to Norristown; and many visits to Bartram's Botanical Gardens.
The appearance of the last number of his "Atlantic Journal"
fully occupied his time, and I cannot pass his reference to the
latter without quoting his own words which show how disgusted
he was at the alleged practice in vogue in the early days of the
publications of "magazines."
"It has not succeeded well, because it is too learned and too liberal.
A crowd of literary journals are published in the United States, which
contain hardly anything beyond plagiarisms and vapid trash, yet they
often succeed much better. I ought to have copied them to insure suc-
cess ; but I would not thus degrade myself. All my articles are written
on purpose, and all may be consulted to advantage now and hereafter.
"It appears that I ought to give up journalism, since all the periodicals
which I have undertaken, have produced difficulties * * * "
"The petty quarrels and jealousies of our few learned men are dis-
gusting and deplorable. It is worse still to see some trying to steal names
and new objects from each other.
"The Scientific Institutions and Societies of Philadelphia are often
disgraced by their tenacious learned errors, and by admitting unworthy
members for sake of mere fees. This has induced me to keep aloof from
them ; but I cultivated chiefly the friendship of old friends or liberal
Savans, such as Dr. Mease, Duponceau, Prof. Green, Conrad, Johnson,
Tanner, Durand, Hembel, P. A. Browne, Poulson, etc. I have often
thought of establishing a Society of Savans and Authors, to meet without
GRAVE OF RAFINESQUE, TIIE GREAT NATURALIST 523
paying anything, and admittance among whom would be a real honor;
but proposed it in vain. Air. Poulson had once a kind of club of the
kind, but it lasted but a short time although graced by suppers. I have
also in vain proposed an annual meeting of scientific men as in Germany
and England ; they are too selfish here to be on friendly terms."
Rafinesque went to Baltimore by the New Castle railroad in
1832 and returned to Philadelphia, spending some time at the
mineral waters at Willow Grove botanizing.
In reference to his travels Rafinesque says, by way of reca-
pitulation, that they
"were not performed by racing ; but at leisure, always observing, collect-
ing, surveying, mapping, accumulating plenty of knowledge, if not of
metals.
"I have traveled by nearly all the possible manners, except by camels
and in balloons. By land I have traveled on foot, and on horseback ; with
mules and asses, in stages, coaches, carts, wagons, litters, sedan chairs,
sledges, railroad cars, etc., and even on men's backs. * * * gy -^yater
I have tried canoes, boats, felucas, tartans, sloops, schooners, brigs, ships,
ships-of-war, rafts, barges, tow-boats, canal boats, steamboats, keel boats,
arks, scows, etc.
"These travels have costed me between $8,000 and $10,000, which with
the interest would now be a fortune. Since I have seldom traveled except
at my own expense, although sometimes on business, I have never been
sent nor paid by amateurs, societies, or governments like so many other
learned travelers."
This interesting book is supplemented by two more years of
travel and researches, in which he explored the Delaware over
beyond New Hope, and he speaks of the Nockamixon rocks in
Pennsylvania being the greatest natural curipsity on the Dela-
ware. He also mentions Durham cave, once called the Devil's
Den. He says "it has often been described and is not remark-
able for any great wonder, nor has it any fossils. I only went
a little way in it, but it extends 300 yards."
When he arrived at Easton he had collected so many plants
and minerals that he could not proceed with them any farther
towards the Schuylkill gap. Finding a stage running to Phila-
delphia, 60 miles for $1.00 by opposition, he took one of them
which went by another road crossing the Lehigh at Freemans-
burg. He speaks of the "high hilly region extending to the valley
of the Neshaminy. Beyond it begins with a kind of table land
extending till Chestnut Hill and Germantovvn ; it is fruitful, well
524 GRAVD OF RAFINESQUE, THE GREAT NATURALIST
cultivated and with many hamlets." A brief, yet excellent state-
ment that exactly describes these parts of Bucks and Montgom-
ery counties.
In August, 1834, he resumed his intended journey to the head
of the Schuylkill, from the Brandywine hills, Welsh mountains,
Harrisburg, Conewago valley, etc., soon getting into the heart of
the coal regions. This is all very interesting, but fossils and
plants were more in his mind than coal and any speculation as
to its future. At Tamaqua he met his "old friend Dr. AlcConnell,
of Mauch Chunk, and Mr. Gowen, of Philadelphia, who invited
me to visit also the Beaver Meadow mines on Broad mountain.
At the summit hill 200 miners and 100 mules were employed to
mine 3,000 tons weekly." I take it this was James Gowen, father
of the late Franklin B. Gowen, the latter being the real developer
of the now world-famed anthracite coal fields of Pennsylvania.
Coming to the end of his travels Rafinesque touches on many
subjects close to his heart as we can see by the following:
"If .experience, zeal and long labors will command attention and respect,
in science, education and public labors, we may hope to see them improve
faster and steadily pursue the great aim of benevolence and utility.
Whatever be my future fate and field of exertions, I shall not have
lived in vain, even if they should be curtailed, or their expansion prevented
by neglect. My work, researches, travels, collections, etc., will remain as
a proof of uncommon zeal, although unrequited and unrewarded. To do
good to mankind has always been an ungrateful task, except in some
very favorable circumstances. The endeavors to enlighten, instruct,
improve * * * ^j-e often unavailing. Truth and knowledge are not
always welcome. It has been proved by me and others that houses and
ships may be built incombustible and unsinkable, as cheap as those in
use ; yet it is preferred to burn alive or sink at sea * * * millions
are burnt monthly in New York and elsewhere ; but a paltry sum will
be grudged to reward him, who could save 100 millions of dollars and
10,000 lives, from fire and wreck. Versatility of talents and of profes-
sions, is not uncommon in America; but those which I have exhibited in
these few pages, may appear to exceed belief ; and yet it is a positive
fact that in knowledge I have been a botanist, naturalist, geologist,
geographer, historian, poet, philosopher, philologist, economist, philanthro-
pist. * * * By profession a traveler, merchant, manufacturer, col-
lector, improver, professor, teacher, surveyor, draftsman, architect, engi-
neer, plumist, author, editor, bookseller, Hbrarian, secretary, * * * ^nd
I hardly know myself what I may not become as yet ; since whenever I
apply myself to any thing, which I like, I never fail to succeed, if depend-
ing on me alone, unless impeded and prevented by lack of means, or the
GRAVE OF RAFINESQUE, THE GREAT NATURALIST 525
hostility of the foes of mankind. Let us hope that they will not prevent
me from completing my works, and establishing or promoting several
other useful institutions, proposed long ago. i. Societies of united learned
men, 2. mutual libraries, 3. exploring whaling companies, 4. wine, oil and
silk companies, 5. steam ploughing, 6. incombustible houses and ships,
7. asylums for old age, 8. societies of industn,-, 9. female orphan asj-lums,
10. societies of happiness * * * all practicable projects for others, if
not for me, as have been the penny Gazettes, and cheap or gratuitous
instruction, also proposed by me long ago, and now beginning to be
adopted."
This ends the book.
Now, if I am not imposing too much on your time and patience,
I would Hke to mention here a rather odd and interesting coin-
cidence. You may recall the hypothesis I offered last year in
connection with the "Emblem of Seven Stars," that it was derived
from the constellation of the Great Bear. Here is what I found
only last Thursday in Rafinesque's "Annals of Historical and
Natural Sciences" (Philadelphia, 1840) beginning p. 71 :
"17. Monument of the Atlantes, with an inscription 4,000 years old—
with figures 62 to 68.
"I have been favored by John Howard Payne, Esq., of New York,
with the loan of a most interesting engraving of this monument given
him by Admiral Sir Sidney Smith, who had it engraved at his own expense
soon after the discovery. I shall endeavor to give an account of it, not
having seen any in print. It consists of two parts, an ancient slab with a
very curious Atlantic or Phenician inscription on it, and the fac simile of
a Latin inscription on the edge of it ; both found in digging a well at
Medina in the center of the Island of Malta, on the top of a hill. The
Latin inscription is in large unical letters old, rough and unequal, but
quite legible — as follows :
"T. Sempron. Cos. Hoc. Magni. Athlantis. Et. Sovbmersae. Athlan-
tidis. Reliqulom. Verdit. Eidemq. Servari. Coeravit. An. Vr. DXXXVI.
Olymp. CXL. An. III.
"From which it appears that the original inscription had been already
found by the consul Tiberius Sempronius in the 536th year of Rome, or
third year of 140th Olympiad, deemed then a relic of the submerged
Atlantis, and buried again to preserve it as a curious relic even so long
ago, being 217 years before our era. This Atlantic inscription which is
deemed Phenician by Sir S. Smith, and at least as old as the deluge of
Ogyges 2298 years before Christ is of the most extraordinary kind, with
peculiar shape, emblem, letters, ornaments, etc. It was copied by George
Grouguet, and no one appears to have been able to read it or explain it.
although many of the letters are not unsimilar to the Pelagic, Etruscan
and Cantabrian; but the word ATLAS at the head of it in very large
526 GRAVE OF RAFINESQUE), THE GREAT NATURALIST
letters two inches long, has been made out ; yet even the letter taken for
T is much more like our b, which reversed becomes d, and the S is rather
Z, therefore ADLAZ. This word however standing in a tablet below the
head, shows how the writing must be read, which otherwise would have
been puzzling; and is confirmed by the strange animal near it, half goat
before and half seal behind, that stands upright on the left corner. This
slab or flat stone was pyramidal, the base truncate 60 centimeters wide
(about 2 feet), nearly double in length with the apex rounded; the
engraving is reduced to one-fourth of length, or l/i6th of total size.
The surface may be divided in 5 compartments, the base, the two sides,
the apex, and the central inscription in a large parallelogram divided in
18 perpendicular lines including 420 letters or characters without any
separation of words, but with the large tablet of ADLAZ at the top, half
sunk in the upper lines. To describe properly the objects and emblems
surrounding the inscription would be difiicult, they may be best under-
stood at a glance by inspection ; yet I shall try to convey a slight idea of
them.
"i. The bottom is formed by a pretty border of arabesk, meant to
represent coiling waves, with a triangular ornament beneath each.
"2. On each side there is a Dolphin with head downwards, and above
it an anchor of rude primitive form with a shaft, a side handle and two
prongs quite reversed — the Dolphons pretty much as usual in antique
designs, but with a big head with 2 fins, a beaked mouth, a scaly belly,
a flexuose body, and a wide tail quite trilobe, each lobe with 3 prongs so
as to have 9 points.
"3. The emblems of the apex are numerous and intricate, there are
sideways 2 other Dolphins similar to the lateral, but with the head upwards
and spouting water. In the center stands a Trident with the handle
hooked, and the 3 prongs downwards, the middle with an arrow head,
the sides have only half head ; at the apex stand two large human eyes,
from which protrude downwards between the Trident and Dolphins, two
nameless objects, perhaps hatchets with a spiral handle (they are like
some weapons of the Tulans or Atlantes in the Sculptures of Otoleum or
Palenque in Tabasco). At the bottom standing upon the ADLAZ tablet
are two emblematical Animals, on the right a perfect Crab, on the left
the Monster half Goat, half Seal. While intermixt with all these, are
7 Hexagon Stars, each with a letter or character and the smallest at
the very apex. These appear to represent the Great Bear Constellation
and Polar Star ; the sign affixed to this is exactly like our cypher 2 ;
while the other Stars have the signs of a. m. or akin to 8, E. F., and
Greek Diagama, which may stand for numbers i to 7.
"As all these Emblems, the Waves, Dolphins, Anchors, Trident, Eyes,
Stars, Crab, etc., appear to be Nautical Objects, it is very probable that
they apply and allude to a maritime Event or Navigation by a Neptune
Atlas ; but I do not perceive the least trace or allusion to a flood, or the
destruction of the Atlantis. Inscription. This is of course the paramount
portion of this Monument, and if it could be read in any language would
GRAVE OF RAFINESQUE, THE) GREAT NATURALIST 527
reveal the import of the whole. I think that nearly all the letters could
be made out with the help of cognate alphabets; but even then, we may
not know the language, which is probably not Phenician, but Atlantic
or Lybian. Of its great antiquity there can be no doubt; but the date
will be very uncertain since it does not appear to agree with any in the
position of letters, not even the Chinese, being the reverse of it, since
the letters are written alternatively from bottom to top in the first line
to the right, with a capital reversed E at the very beginning in a mono-
gram tablet, and the 2d line from top to bottom as in Chinese, and so on
alternately, each line being divided by a plain stroke, interrupted at the
top or bottom, where the reading is to continue ; and the last line not
reaching quite the bottom ends b}- a zigzag dash. As to the number and
shape of the characters, thej' could be reckoned, but appear to exceed the
usual small number of Oriental and Pelagic Alphabets. Some are so
similar to them as to be easily known, although still under a peculiar
modification of slanting form. Such are A, E, O, S, X, P, L, I, besides
some near b, or d, m, n, t, f, g, in the Greek for at least; 4 are quite
like our numerals 2, 4, 6, 8, one is the human eye, another unlike any
thing unless a rude imitation of a plough or shell, or door, perhaps the
Phenician OE, another like a bow and arrow * * * therefore all
primitive and evidently akin to the oldest alphabets of the Mediterranean ;
but perhaps not so much with the Phoenician and Demotic Egyptian, than
with the oldest Pelagic, the Etruscan or Tyrrhennian, and the oldest
alphabets of Spain, the Eskuara or Cantabrian, Betican, etc., but above
all I deem it has greater analogies still with the Lj'bian alphabets (the
real Atlantes) of which we know so little, except by inscriptions at
Cyrene, and in Barbar>- ; connected partly with those of Mokata near
Mt. Sinai, of Hauran, Idumea, Arabia, Bactria and Western India (see
Tod travels) all deemed so ancient as to be illegible, although I think
otherwise, and could decipher them if it was worth while to take so much
pains without thanks nor reward. Cruttenden found in 1836 the Hamyaric
inscriptions of South Arabia to be nearly similar in a square form.
Meantime my opinion on this valuable inscription and monument (per-
haps one of the oldest in existence) is that it may be written in the
letters and language of the Lybian Atlantes, under the dynasty of Atlas,
who were connected with the primitive Atlantes from Turan and Hind
to Marocco and Spain ; and it probably relates to one of the nautical
expeditions of some Atlas their king, rather than the Atlantic submersion ;
if it could be proved to apply to the discovery of America or Great
Atlantis by a Neptunian or Lybian Atkis * * * it would be still more
valuable; but if it alludes to Alalta alone, it is of less importance. I
wish I could have copied the whole ; but have only transcribed the fol-
lowing figures out of it. Figure 62, shape of the Atlantic Anchors.
63 the curious weapons out of the Eyes. 64, the monstrous Goat Seal,
or Siren-Goat, with 2 legs, and half Goat in front. This probably was
the national emblem of the Pelagic-Atlantic tribes, as the Goat was of
the Arcadian-Pelagians, the Seal of Phoca, of Neptunian Tribes — the
528 GRAVE OF RAFINESQUE, THE GREAT NATURAIJST
Other emblem of the Crab is akin to the Lobster or Ligusta of Italy
emblem of the Ligurians or Western Illyrians, spread on the shores
from Liguria to Catalonia in Spain. 65, The Constellation, of 7 Stars
including the Polar with their numbers. 66, The Tablet of ATLAS and
ADLAZ. 67, Letters of the Alphabet akin to the Phenician or Greek
and Pelagian. 68, Letters that cannot be properly ascertained as yet, but
could by the study of the cognate Signs in other Alphabets."
The more one thinks over all this, the more remarkable it seems
and from its profundity we can also see why Rafinesque wrote
as he did about "magazines." His Atlantic Magazine, only eight
numbers of which appeared at irregular intervals, was many
years in advance of the times, at least in this country.
And in conclusion there is another odd circumstance worth
mentioning. Several years ago I became the possessor of an old
catalogue, or to repeat its title, "Specimen of Printing Type,
From the Letter Foundry of James Ronaldson, Cedar, Between
Ninth and Tenth Streets, Philadelphia, 1822." In comparing the
title pages of a number of Rafinesque's imprints with the speci-
mens shown in this book, I have no doubt that most of the type
used by the several printers who handled Rafinesque's work,
came from Ronaldson's "letter foundry;" and that these men
were acquainted with each other, this leading type founder prob-
ably helped over more obstables than one by the versatile and
ingenious scientist. Could it have been from this James Ronald-
son — for he it was who established the private cemetery nearby
his foundry — offered the ground for all that remained of his
friend ?
Then came the disposition of the property of Rafinesque, as
sad and pathetic as his last years. According to Dr. Call there
was a rush to get possession of his treasures.
"Eight dray loads of books and natural history collections comprised
the mass of his 'estate.' They went to the auction rooms and were
publicly sold in violation of the provisions of his will, which required
private sale. The final settlement of the estate left it indebted to the
administrator (his old friend Dr. James Mease) in the sum of $14.43.
Rafinesque appears to have been despoiled of his rights in nomenclature
while living; he was despoiled of his possessions when dead."
All Rafinesque's papers I have seen have a maxim on the title
page; this, for example, is from "Annals of Historical and Natu-
ral Sciences" :
THE TOVVNSEND APPLE, A NATIVE OF BUCKS COUNTY 529
"The works of God to study and explain,
Is happy toil, and not to live in vain."
Truly Rafinesque did not live in vain.
The Ronaldson Philadelphia Cemetery, Inc., 1827, Bainbridge
street, between 9th and loth streets.
Richard and James Ronaldson own the lot where C. S. R. was
buried.
C. S. Rafinesque buried Sept. 19, 1840, 63 years old.
Lot 16 south, II west, 3d grave.
Visceral obstrs., cause of death.
The Townsend Apple, a Native of Bucks County.
BY J. B. WALTER, M. D., SOLEBURY, PA.
(Orthodox Meeting House, Langhorne Meeting, June 4, 19 14.)
This paper was prepared for this meeting at the instance of
your president. He asked for a history of "The Townsend Ap-
ple." Herein there is little to offer but tradition — the stories
passed on from one generation to the next. Tradition is not, in
any accurate sense history. Neither is dependable history
evolved, aborigine, from one's inner consciousness.
The dilemma is, then, either to write nothing or give the tra-
ditions. The traditions follow :
So far as known the first printed story of the Townsend tree
appeared in 1876 in Gen. Davis' History of Bucks County. (Page
303.) The following include all he has to say of it and its loca-
tion.
"It was on this farm that the celebrated Townsend apple is said to
have originated. Tradition says that this apple took its name from
Richard Townsend, who, hearing of the wonderful apple got the Indians
to take him to it, which he found standing in a large clearing near Lum-
berville. He bought the clearing, but the Indians reserved the free use of
apples to all who wished them.
Samuel Preston said that in his time Stephen Townsend owned the
tree from which he — Preston cut grafts in 1766."*
In 1897 William J. Buck, in his book: "The Cuttalossa and its
* For history of the Townsend apple tree, see Hazard's Register, Vol. I, p. 438.
530 THE TOWNSEND APPLE, A NATIVE OF BUCKS COUNTY
Historical Traditional and Poetical Associations" (page 52), has
this in part to say about the Townsend apple tree.
"On the farm now owned by J. F. Berger (since deceased) and within
a quarter of a mile of the Cutalossa creek was once an old Indian
clearing, where more than a century and three-fourths ago a tiny seed was
dropped which, in the flight of years, grew to be a large tree. Such was
the excellence of the fruit that it bore, that for more than a century it
has been propagated with undiminished reputation. This was the origin
of the Townsend apple from whence all the fruit bearing that name has
been derived, though now so widely known and cultivated. After a grad-
ual decay, about the close of the last century (eighteenth) it ceased to
live. Jonathan Hutchinson, who died in 181 7 (at 80 years) well remem-
bered the tree * * * -which was a good bearer and attained a great
size and survived nearly all its companions. The fruit was so highly
esteemed that a path was worn from the Sugan road to the tree. Being
among the earliest apples — ripe and fit for use soon after harvest —
the desire for the fruit was greatlj' enhanced. He corroborated the tra-
dition that it was a natural fruit and was certainly one of the oldest in
the orchard, in 1766 when Samuel Preston cut his grafts, the tree was
large and vigorous and bore great quantities of fruit, large and finely
flavored. It possessed the remarkable peculiarity of a liability to crack
or split open from its greatest circumference towards its centre. From
this cause, when dropping from a height it would sometimes fall to pieces."
Now, if the tree was in the condition reported by Samuel Pres-
ton, in 1766 it is safe to assume that it started growth not much
later than 1700 and if, as Buck says, it died at the end of the
eighteenth century, then the tree must have been near 100 years
old.
While there is no absolute certainty that the tree grew on an
old Indian clearing, yet it is highly probable that such was the
fact since that region seems to have been a favorite stamping
ground of the aborigines and their stone and flint implements
were plentifully scattered all over the Cutalossa and Paunacus-
sing territory.
Here is a stone axe which the writer, many years ago, saw
tumbled from a roadside bank by the shovel of a workman. The
bank, if the tradition be true must have been a part of that
orchard. To that man this implement was only a stone which
he did not need and he, therefore, threw it aside. I said to him
"what is that?" "that is a stone" he replied. I asked him for it;
he gave it to me ; I explained to him what it was and drove on
and as I drove, thinking of the general lack of interest and ob-
the; townsend applk, a native; of bucks county 531
servation in such matters, there came to mind some hnes from an
old poem, anent the Indian ; his fate and his rehcs, via : —
But birch canoes and bows and spears —
The Indian and his quiver
Went out before the pioneers
\\'ho gathered by the river.
And there remain but rehcs now —
Stone axe and head of arrow,
Which plodding swain, at tail of plow
Or following the harrow.
Turns up and careless kicks aside
And deigns to ponder never
On days, ways, men who lived, loved, died —
All past and gone forever.
The farm upon which the tree grew — late the property of J.
F. Berger, (deceased), is located in the obtuse angle formed by
the intersection of the State and Sugan roads, in Solebury town-
ship, Bucks county, about a mile from Lumberville with one
farm, lying southeast, between it and Cuttalossa creek.
The Davis legend says the clearing was bought by Richard
Townsend, a celebrated minister among Friends who came in the
Welcome with Penn in 1682, and that he was grandfather of
Stephen Townsend who went to Solebury in 1735. With most of
this Buck agrees but says that Stephen Townsend bought the
property at a Sheriff's sale of the estate of Benjamin Jennings
which is correct, as shown in a letter from my friend — the li-
brarian of this society — who kindly looked the matter up for me.
This is what he says : —
"Thy letter of the nth received. I can not discover to whom the
Townsend farm was patented, there being no deed to Benjamin Jennings.
The deed by Timothy Smith, sheriff, to Stephen Townsend recites a
mortgage given by Benjamin Jennings to the trustees of the General Loan
Office of Pennsylvania, dated October 29, 1729. It further recites that
Benjamin Jennings had died on the premises being in default of pay-
ments under the terms of the mortgage and that the trustees of the loan
office secured a writ of fieri facias against Alexander Jennings, adminis-
trator of Benjamin Jennings under which the property was sold to
Stephen Townsend, of Bensalem, yeoman. This sheriff's deed is recorded
in deed book No. 6, page 245.
Now, thee must remember that Buck and Davis are entirely wrong in
their statement that Stephen Townsend, of Solebury, was a grandson of
Richard Townsend. He was not a descendant of Richard in any degree,
532 THE TOWNSEND APPIER, A NATIVE Of BUCKS COUNTY
but was descended from another early Philadelphia family of Townsends,
who at one time owned the land including the present Independence
Square and State House. This is absolute, not conjecture.
Letters of administration were granted October 6, 1731 on the estate
of Benjamin Jennings of Solebury to Alexander Jennings. James Ham-
bleton and Ambrose Barcroft being his sureties on administrator's bond.
The inventory filed with bond was made by Benjamin Canby and James
Paxson. The second item on inventory is 150 acres of land with improve-
ments, £115. Other items were: A servant man's time, 18 months; a
small stack of rye ; a stack of oats, a parcel of flax and barley, and 5 cows,
3 heifers, 2 calves, 16 sheep, 13 swine and 7 head of horses. These items
together with the fact that the sheriff's deed describes the premises as
messuage and tract of land clearly proved that the land was improved
and occupied."
Now whether or not Richard Townsend, who either was or
was not the grandfather of Stephen, or was or was not led by
those ukra altruistic Indians to that tree and bought the clearing,
and whether or not, as Buck relates, the feet of fruit-hungry
travelers wore a path from the Sugan road to the tree that they
might regale themselves upon the luscious fruit, the fact remains
that there was such a tree ; that it probably originated there and
as tradition says it did and that, through grafting, its progeny
was and still is scattered far and wide. For myself, I may say
that my own very satisfactory acquaintance with the apple runs
back through fully 70 years and I am sure that many of you
will agree with me that there is no more luscious and satisfying
product of the orchard than a big, ripe, mellow Townsend apple.
Bedminster Township Meeting^.
(Deep Run Mciiiioiiite Meeting House, October 24, 19 14.)
This meeting was somewhat informal and partook largely of
the character of an outing. The forenoon was taken up partly
by routine business and partly by informal remarks on historical
subjects.
Rev. Jacob M. Rush pastor of the church, expressed his pleas-
ure in having the society meet in his church, where many of their
ancestors had worshipped after coming to this god-fearing coun-
try. He said the first house of worship was built in 1746 within
the limits of the present graveyard, a depression in the ground
now covered with grass marks the spot. In 1766 the second
Meeting House was erected on the site of the present one, this
was enlarged in 1795, and then entirely rebuilt in 1872. He said
that when he was ordained the other ministers were Isaac Mey-
ers, John Gross and Samuel Godshalk, none of whom are living.
Vice-President B. F. Fackenthal, Jr., who presided at the meet-
ing invited attention to the fact that our former president, the la-
mented General Davis, had written an exhaustive history of Bed-
minster township, wherein he gave a history of the Mennonites
and their church, which are so closely associated with the town-
ship. This paper is published in volume II, of our printed papers.
He also called attention to the paper by Richard M. Lyman, \'ol.
I, page 39, of our printed papers.
He also called attention to the many places in Bucks county
that had the at^x "ville," such as Riegelsville, Kintnersville,
Trumbowersville, Bedminsterville, Pipersville and Plumstead-
ville, and suggested that our society might interest itself in an
endeavor to have these names simplified by dropping the "ville,"
just as Yardleyville had been changed to Yardley, this change was
protested by many of its citizens, when Yardley was determined
upon by the Railroad Company as the name for the station, but
which of them would want to change it back again? He hopes,
too, that Lehnenburg may some day be changed back to
its former name of Monroe. Judge Yerkes, Dr. Walter, Mr. Ely
and others took part in this discussion, and all thought that such
changes would be desirable if it could be brought about.
534
BEDMINSTER TOWNSHIP MEETING
Warren S. Ely, exhibited a pen-drawn map of the Allen tract,
saying it was the only copy of its kind in existence, and suggested
that it ought to be printed or at least copied. He said that the
53-acre tract belonging to the Mennonite congregation, was part
of an original tract of 6,653 acres owned by Chief Justice Wil-
liam Allen (the founder of Allentown). The tract was sur-
veyed in 1742 by John Chapman, and was part of a 10,000 acre
tract which William Allen had purchased from his son-in-law,
William Penn. Jr., Mr. Ely said that part of the township bord-
ering on the Tohickon both on the North and East had been set-
tled by Scotch-Irish, but they were gradually replaced by the Ger-
mans, who own most of the land at the present day.
President Henry C. Mercer said the name of Bedminster was
doubtless derived from the English Bedminster, a suburb of
Bristol, England. He referred to a religious sect called the Lets,
who are settling and making history in this territory, and who
as a clan are honest, frugal and industrious, and are desirable
citizens, they congregate for worship at the different houses hav-
ing as yet no church building.
Mr. Mercer then spoke of a visit which he had made to the
Deep Run Mennonite Meeting House in 1897, when he was for-
tunate enough to get some
relics from the old school-
house, adjoining (for etching
of this schoolhouse, see vol-
ume n, page ^2), which he
had on hand for exhibition at
this meeting. One was a spec-
imen of a music lesson, show-
ing the method of annotating
music in the days when it was
taught in that building, and
found in the teacher's desk.
Another relic was a piece of
the old stove used in the
church and which was cast in
"GOAT SPECTACLES" 1766, bearing the names of
Andrew Hamlin and Air. Meyers. Another relic obtained from
the old schoolhouse was a pair of "goat spectacles," which bad
BEDMINSTER TOWNSHIP MEETING 535
boys were compelled to wear and stand in the corner as an ex-
ample to other pupils. Several of those present remembered
these "blinds," but none were willing to admit they had ever
worn them.
An interesting relic was an old zither, about three feet long,
which was used in teaching music in the old schoolhouse. It was
played with a bow.
Mr. Mercer spoke of another relic of the early days of the
church, a silver communion cup, presented to the church by Wil-
liam Allen in 1746, and which Rev. Jacob M. Rush, one of the
pastors of the church, believed was one of the two now in use
by the congregation.
Eli Wismer exhibited several interesting items as relics of the
old Mennonite school, among which were four "sum books," in
which the scholars wrote out the arithmetical problems and the
manner of solving them, one of these being dated March 30,
1805. Another one dated January 22, 1806, by David Kulp,
teacher, this contained a diagrammatic solution to the following:
Plant 19 trees in 9 straight rows with 5 trees in each row; this
problem was solved by some of the young members of the society
during the noon hour. A third "sum book" dated January 25,
181 1, by Abraham Wismer, who at that time was 21 years of age.
The fourth book dated January 14, 1830, by Samuel Wismer
"of the Deep Run Mennonite School." Mr. Wismer then ex-
hibited some homemade music books such as were used in the
old school, which contained the music and the first line of the
words of each hymn, which was passed around among the pupils
to study. The fly leaves of their books were usually embellished
with some beautiful fractur. The copies shown were made and
owned by Joseph M. Gross in 1830. One was made by Sarah
Wismer, his wife, in 1827 and one by his mother, Elizabeth Nash,
in 1799. A few printed slips found between the leaves of an old
book were also shown, they were formerly wrapped up with a
small block of candy known as "secrets." Mr. Wismer then
showed some quill pens made from goose-wing feathers, which
he said he had made from feathers forty or more years ago. He
said it was part of the qualifications of a teacher to be able to
cut and trim pens and to teach the scholars how to do it. These
pens were passed around among the members and created consid-
erable interest and elicited many remarks. Judge Yerkes said
35
536 BEDMINSTER TOWNSHIP MEETING
that he had frequently made quill pens which he had used. He
said that Judge Richard Watson had been an expert in making
quill pens and used them regularly down to the time of his death
in 1892, and that he was considered one of the best penmen of
his day. The quill pen was particularly adapted to writing on
parchment.
Mrs. Henry A. James (daughter of Judge Watson) said that
it required a very sharp knife to cut a quill pen properly, that her
father always had a small whetstone handy on which to sharpen
his knife. She said there were right hand and left hand quills,
for writers who used the left hand the feather had to be plucked
from the left wing of the goose and for the right hand from the
right wing. Mr. Wismer confirmed this statement.
Samuel Y. Godshalk, grandson of a former teacher, read a
few of the verses from an original manuscript of verses written
by Rev. Samuel Godshalk to describe the 79 years of his life be-
ginning with the year 1817. There are a large number of verses
as some years cover three or four verses. The following four
will serve as an example :
First Year. Seventh Year.
In eighteen hundred seventeen, At seven I had the sheep to keep.
The seventeenth day of May, And the poultry too to feed,
I first the light of earth had seen, 'Twas easy did not lose much sleep,
As my dear parents say. And grew like a little weed.
FiETH Year. Sixty-fifth Year.
In the fifth year I then could sing At sixty-five I knew full well
And learned to whistle too, That I was getting old,
I was a noisy little thing, How long to sojourn could not tell
Was taught God's will to do. For Canaan's land enrolled.
Rev. A. M. Fretz, of Souderton, pastor of the new Mennonite
church, nearby, on request, stated that the new church was
founded in 1848 and the building erected in 1849. He had been
pastor of the church for 31 years. The trouble which caused the
division was local in Franconia conference because of the pro-
gressive spirit among some of the members. But there was no
more a feeling among the two branches, they were of one fold
working for the same great cause. It was perhaps unfortunate
the two churches were so close together, as it recalled the differ-
ences that one time existed.
MENNONITE MEETINGHOUSE, DEEP RUxX.
Bcdiiiinstcr township, Bucks county. Pa. Erected in 1872. Successor of stone
meetinghouse of 1766, enlarged in 1795. Meetings for worship first
held in log schoolhouse of 1 746.
if. c :,.
P:.^:'
i)i-;i;p lU'.N si. iKioi.iiorsi:.
Built in 1842, successor of log house of 1746.
Staves of music written on blackboard.
BEDMINSTER TOWNSHIP MEETING 537
The only written paper read at this meeting was the following
by H. W. Gross a former pupil in the old school:
Mennonite School and Meeting House, with Sketch
of Mr. Moritz Loeb.
BY II. W. GROSS, DOVLESTOWN, PA.
The first building erected by the Deep Run Mennonites was
used both as a church and schoolhouse and was located within
the present graveyard. A school was maintained there for many
years and in 1840 the building was demolished and a new school-
house erected further down the hill outside of the graveyard;
this is the old building that we will visit to-day, its present out-
side size is 21^ feet by 2}^ feet. There was a row of double
desks running around the room with one row of benches next to
the wall and the inside row with their backs toward the center
of the room so that the two rows of scholars faced each other.
When the scholars on the back row wanted to reach their seats or
to vacate them they frequently vaulted over the desks. The
benches were made of wooden slabs, each having two legs at each
end which were fastened into the slabs by auger holes. The fuel
used to warm the school building was hickory cordwood, which
the big boys were required to saw and split during the morning
and noon hours, for which service they were not paid. The stove
used was doubtless the very one of which Mr. Mercer has ex-
hibited a piece bearing date 1766.
Rev. Samuel Godshalk was a minister of this church where
we are assembled to-day. He was a man of pleasant and cheer-
ful disposition, and had a cordial greeting alike for old and
young. He was a man highly respected and esteemed by all re-
gardless of sect.
In 1 86 1, fifty-three years ago he taught in the schoolhouse at
the foot of the hill to which I have already referred. He had
from 50 to 60 pupils in daily attendance. I was one of them.
At least one-half of the pupils were young men and young women
who attended the school for the purpose of studying German ; it
was a Deutsche Schule (German School).
The branches taught the a, b, c's, buch stabiesen. lesen. schrei-
l)en und singen (alphabet, spelling, reading, writing and singing).
538 BEDMINSTER TOWNSHIP ME;e;TING
The school term was five months of 24 days actual teaching.
Many pupils could not attend more than half the term, and yet
during that short time were able to read fluently and write fairly
well. The majority of them attended with the sincere purpose
of learning and were able to concentrate on the few branches that
were taught.
Special attention was paid to the music which consisted of
German hymns selected from the Mennonite hymnbook. Every
pupil that could read fairly well was given a slip of paper upon
which the music was written, the melody to correspond with the
hymn selected. The words of the first line being also written on
the music slip by the teacher. Sometime during the day, gen-
erally in the morning, all those holding music slips, were lined up
in a row, for the purpose of having their memory and musical
qualifications tested. The hymns were numbered and assigned
consecutively 1-2-3-4-5, etc. The test for passing was to commit
to memory the verse and the music indicated on the slips. Each
ones ability to do this was tested separately and publicly. Those
who passed the examination were given the next number, and
"trapped" those that did not pass ; apt pupils seldom failed in
getting a new number every day, while many others passed 3 or
4 in a week, and some seldom passed without the leniency of the
teacher, who gave them credit according to their effort and in-
tent. Later in the term there was considerable, what may be
called congregational singing, which combined with the previous
individual drill enabled the scholars to familiarize themselves
with many choice German sentiments and selections used on Sun-
day in the Mennonite churches, with the result that these churches
always had full and hearty congregational singing with devotional
and uplifting sentiments implanted in the minds of the young,
which helped to form their characters, and thereby make them
a source of comfort to their families and friends and to them-
selves too as the days and the years roll by.
MORITZ LOUB.
It is seldom that a community finds a more enthusiastic and
loyal supporter of its habits, customs and language than did the
people of this community in the person of Moritz Loeb, owner
and publisher of Der Morgenstern, (Morning Star) a German
BEDMINSTER TOWNSHIP MEETING 539
Whig newspaper published in Doylestown. This newspaper was
pnbHshed from 1835 to 1841 under the name of Dcr Baiter. Mr.
Loeb bought a half interest in 1848. and the remaining half in-
terest in 1 85 1, and continued as its editor and publisher until
1884, when he retired. In 1890 the paper suspended publication.
The printing press was operated by hand power furnished by
Mr. Bauman who turned the crank for hours at a time. Mr.
Loeb's clientage came mostly from the German speaking people,
who preferred to read the news in German.
Debating societies frequently held meetings in the schoolhouses
of this section during the long winter evenings, the proprietor of
the Morgenstcrn occasionally took an active part in these de-
bates, always speaking in German, the mere announcement that
Mr. Loeb, was to be one of the debators, was sufficient to secure
a full and attentive house, he was a good speaker, had strong
facial expression and very marked gestures, which when once
seen, were not forgotten.
Miss Susan Overholt has a few copies of the Morgenstcrn
published in 1871 and 1873 in which Mr. Loeb speaks of his ef-
forts for the furtherance of the German language, and also refers
to a rival German newspaper as "Das schmier Blatt" (That dirty
Newspaper) and applies the term "aus ges pielt." (played out).*
Mr. Loeb was born at Urselestein, Germany, August 12, 1812,
and died at Doylestown, December 20, 1887.
Note : — During the noon recess Mr. Gross piloted the members
of the society first into the graveyard, (where Mr. Mercer called
attention to the engraving of tulips on some of the headstones),
then to visit the old schoolhouse, with its bare hewn joists ex-
posed overhead some of which still contain the musical staffs as
shown by the etching accompanying this paper. Mr. Gross acted
the part of teacher and led the singing from these notes as he had
learned to do when he was a student there many years ago.
* Files of the Morgenstcrn can be seen in the library of the Bucks County His-
torical Society.
Two Stoveplates Described.
HENRY C. MERCER, DOYEESTOWN, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, January 26, 19 15.)
President Mercer, after exhibiting two stoveplates described
as museum numbers oi and 04, in his book "Bible in Iron" the
issue of which book he proposed to give to the society so that
the receipts of its sale might benefit the publication fund, said
that these and other old stoveplates which were found in and
about the houses of Bucks and neighboring counties, were pictor-
ial sermons containing as they did, lessons and thoughts from the
miracles of Christ and the prophets, and confronting children the
center of heat and household comfort in Colonial times, must
have had great influence in moulding their characters.
Dr. W. E. Geil at this point expressed great appreciation of
Mr. Montague's presentation of decorated earthen dishes for ex-
hibition and said it was from tiles decorated and inscribed with
mottoes like these dishes and the stoveplates, that Philip Dod-
dridge, one of the greatest theologians, born in 1702 and the
youngest of twenty children, received the inspiration which made
him a celebrated man. He would insist that his mother should
tell him the stories of the designs on the tiles, and from the teach-
ings thus received he became renowned as a theologian, and
preachef and writer of hymns. It pays to have tiles of that kind
for the children to see and study.
w. E. Montague's paper on spinning.
Mr. Mercer on introducing Air. Montague, said that, when he
appeared with his collection of antiques and productions of art
before the society at the annual meeting last year (1914), the
leading note of appreciation of his wonderful and interesting
collection was a request that he come again, I am therefore glad
that he has accepted our invitation and besides that showing us
more of his collection he will also give us an illustration of treat-
ing flax, and the manner of spinning before the introduction of
the spinning wheel. The chief work of producing fabrics, is in
TWO STOVEPLATES DESCRIBED 54I
the spinning and weaving of the thread. Spinning from pre-his-
toric times to 1670, was universally done all over the world by the
hand spindle and the distaff. From the days of ancient Greece and
Rome, from time immemorial in the Orient the spinning was done
by hand. The most ancient pictures on the earliest Egyptian
monuments show the spindle and distaff.
The invention of the spinning- jenny put an end to hand spin-
ning. Priscilla Alden was spinning not with a spinning wheel but
with spindle and distaff when Captain Miles Standish courted
her, just in the same manner that you will see it done here this
afternoon.
It is one of the most important facts in archaeology, that the
primitive people the savages, used this same process which is by
no means a simple one, not only in the old world, but in America
before Columbus came, and the very interesting and unanswered
question is, did the prehistoric Americans invent the spindle and
distaff or bring it with them from somewhere else? In an earth
mound in the State of Columbia, I found this whorl, which was
used as a weight to give the spindle increased momentum; it is,
as you see, decorated with the marks of a cross. So were others
like it which Dr. Schlumann found deep down in the ruins of
Troy. Clay whorls like this are sometimes found in Arizona,
New Mexico, and in the remote corners of the earth where primi-
tive spinning still prevails, I saw them on the Islands of Maderia.
In Sir Arthur Mitchell's "The Past in the Present," is described
the mode of spinning in the Scottish Highlands where the spindle
is sometimes weighted with a potato.
I take great pleasure in introducing Mr. Montague from our
neighboring county of Montgomery.
Spinning Before the Spinning Wheel.
BY W. E. MONTAGUE, NORRISTOWN, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, January 26, 1915.)
Linen andtedates pottery by nearly one hundred years, and
paper-making by several years. Prior to the introduction of cot-
ton about 1800, the world depended on linen and silk for its cloth.
The first cotton mill was built in 1795 with money advanced
by Moses Brown, who wrote to Mr. Slater, the proprietor, saying
that "he would soon have all his farms turned into cotton yarn."
With the use of cotton began the decline of linen. There was at
first great difticulty in getting a sufficient twist to produce an even
and uniform yarn, but the invention of the Arkwright frame
made it possible to control the twist. Linen was used for warp
and cotton for filling.
So far as we know the ordinary loom used by the carpet weaver
does not difl:er materially from the ancient loom, which in early
colonial days was often made of red oak, and was heavy and
massive. House to house weaving was the custom then as was
also shoe mending and clock mending. The spinning- jenny in-
vented by James Hargreaves, was an important innovation, and
from it evolved the spinning mule so needful for our woolen
yarns. Mule spinning makes soft thread, the length of the strand
to be twisted regulating its degree of hardness.
The flax plant is never mowed, but is always pulled up by
the roots; there would be a great loss of fiber if it were cut and
the root part wasted. In curing flax the stalks are steeped in
water until fermentation takes place. This is called "water ret-
ting." There is another process called dew retting which pro-
duces a finer and silkier fiber, for which process extensive fields
are necessary.
I have here a bundle of flax sixty years old, in the same con-
dition as when pulled from the field. The fiber is the bark or
part on the outside of the stalk. After the flax is retted the first
operation is called breaking, the process of hackling or combing
coming next ; this is done by tools containing steel pins set in
SPINNING BEFORE TllE SPINNING WHEEL 543
wood. (Mr. Montague gave an exhibition of breaking and hack-
ling. The character of tools used for these processes are shown
by etchings in Volume III, page 482.)
I have brought one of my employees, Maria Vittale, a native of
Sicily, over from my Norristown factory, who will now give you
an exhibition of spinning flax with the spindle and whorl. In
Sicily all the women spin ; they are educated when children to do
this and become quite expert. (This exhibition of spinning ex-
cited the greatest interest and was appreciated by all who saw it.)
HOMESPUN LINEN ARTICLES EXHIBITED.
At almost every sale of household effects at the homesteads of
Pennsylvania Germans, are found spinning wheels, reels and the
tools and devices for the production of flax and its thread. The
wife of the Pennsylvania German is a helpmeet indeed, she labors
in the fields, dresses and spins the flax, makes the cloth and the
clothing, and is a very important part of his success. I have
brought with me some of the handiwork of these people to ex-
hibit to you this afternoon; these can be inspected at your leisure.
I desire, however, to invite your attention specially to the follow-
ing articles : —
A roll of fine spun linen which was probably made by some
woman who never wasted a minute of her time. A piece of linen
woven in 1837, to which time has given a softening eft'ect to the
colors ; a piece of hand-made linen with a black and white plaid
which is very effective; a linen table-cover made in 1834, with
the date May 21, and the maker's name woven in.
These beautiful openwork towels have a fine lacelike effect;
this is the "faggot" stitch much more effective than crochet. Here
are two handwoven linen guest towels, designed in the style of
dress of that period. A tablecloth made of unbleached linen made
from flax of natural color and of a kind much sought for by
decorators for hangings. The designs and colors were those of
the individuals as they sat at their looms. This individuality adds
to their charm.
The last piece of linen to which I will call your special atten-
tion is this table cloth made by Mrs. Montague from homespun
linen. This is of course modern. Notice the crocheted lace bands
fully twelve inches wide which cross and meet at right angles in
544 ^ HORSEBACK TRIP TO MOUNT VERNON
the center — the pattern is a copy from an old French renaissance
model called "Ladies in Waiting."
I desire to call your attention to these bedspreads and quilts.
This bedspread is made in a pattern called "Liberty and Inde-
pendence." This one in block pattern was made in 1771 ; this
woolen coverlet with fringed edge was made in 1787; and this
quilt can probably be duplicated only in the Metropolitan Mu-
seum of Art, New York and on the bed of Washington at Mount
Vernon. This, the last one I will speak of is the "quilt of quilts ;"
it was made in Lebanon county, Pennsylvania ; please notice that
all of the figures are tufted and appliqued, no two figures being
alike ; it is the most remarkable quilt any one would be likely to
see.
All of the linens and decorated quilts in my exhibition were
made one hundred and more years ago by people who lived in
nearby counties, particularly in Lancaster county.
A Horseback Trip to Mount Vernon by Rev. John E. Latta.
BY MISS MARY L. DUBOIS, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, January 26, 1915.)
The object of this paper is to give an extract from the journal
of Rev. John E. Latta, containing an account of a visit which he
made to Mount Vernon, Virginia, the home of George Washing-
ton.
The entire journal is written in the present tense, and the style
is rather stilted as compared to the present day idea of good liter-
ature. He made the trip from June 24, to July 29, 1799, by
horseback, which was the mode of traveling in those early days.
On this trip he visited the following places : Shippensburg,
Chambersburg, Greencastle, Williamsport, Martinsburg, Shep-
heardstown, Harpers Ferry, Frederickstown, Hyattstown, Clarks-
burg, Georgetown, Alexandria, Mount Vernon, Upper Marlboro,
Annapolis, Baltimore, Joppa and Bellair Bush.
Rev. John E. Latta was the son of Rev. James Latta, who was
pastor at Deep Run Presbyterian Church in Bedminster township,
Bucks county, from 1761 to 1770.
The extract from the journal is as follows : —
A HORSEBACK TRIP TO MOUNT VERXON 545
"July 3, 1799- I set out for IMoiint Vernon the seat of the illustrious
Washington, distant nine miles. After leaving Alexandria about a quarter
of a mile I passed thro' a handsome little village which may be consid-
ered an appendage to the city, and I apprehend, is embraced by corpora-
tion. A short distance from this I passed over a considerable stream
called Hunting creek which empties into the Potomac about half a mile
below Alexandria. The road is in general rough and hill\-. This is par-
ticularly the case for some distance after you leave the city. The land,
the chief of the way, is rather barren.
"After riding three miles thro' the General's farm I arrived at his
house about 11 o'clock. A servant takes my horse and allows me to step
into the house without ceremony. As the General is out riding thro' the
farm I inquire for his lady. She appears. I approach her and introduce
myself as a young clergyman from Pennsylvania travelling to see the
country', and at the same time observe that I had made free to call and
see their improvements. I am invited to take a seat. Immediately after
I request to see the gardens. Mrs. Washington laments that there is none
of the family to go with me. She, however, shows me the w^ay to them.
Immediately fronting the house on the west side is a large green, con-
taining perhaps two acres, interspersed with delightful walks and very
handsome trees. From the door set out spacious serpentine walks hand-
somely gravelled. The one inclining to the right leads to the flower
garden. The left leads to the vegetable and fruit garden. I take to the
right as I always wish to go to the right. Upon entering the garden I
am met by the gardener who very politely shows me all the most curious
plants and trees. The garden is very handsomely laid out in squares and
flower knots and contains a great variety of trees, flowers and plants of
foreign growth collected from almost every part of the world. I saw
there English grapes, oranges, limes and lemons in great perfection as
well as a great variety of plants and flowers wonderful in their appear-
ance, exquisite in their perfume and delightful to the eye. The most
extraordinary is a plant, a native of Asia, which the gardener called Ala.
It grows to very considerable size and is said not to bloom earlier than
the age of an hundred years. This, together with all the foreign plants
and trees, is, at the approach of winter, carried into a large greenhouse
built of brick which stands at one side of the garden. That they may be
portable they are all planted in large wooden boxes filled with earth.
"After reviewing the garden, I take a view of the house and find it a
spacious elegant building 90 feet long and of respectable width. It is
frame, mad(; in the pannclled form overlaid with white paint mixed with
sand. This gives it, at a distance, nearly the appearance of hewn stone.
At each side is a portico with a roof as high as the main building, sup-
ported by 8 handsome columns, which gives the whole an air of .dignity
and grandeur. It is situated on the bank of the river, which, at that place,
is several hundred feet higher than the surface of the water and thus
commands an extensive prospect of the river (at this place 2 miles wide),
and the transfluvian country.
546 COLONIAI. SEALS OF BUCKS COUNTY
"Between the house and the descent of the bank is a very beautiful
and extensive green, and to enhance its beauty, still more, the General,
whilst I was there, was engaged in new modelling its form, that to the
beauties of nature he might add the embellishments of art ; but in such
a manner that the improvements would still appear natural.
"Just as I finish this scene of speculation, the General appears. He
approaches me and extends his hand in the usual salutatory manner. As
his lady is not present, a second introduction becomes necessary. This I
perform by mentioning to him my name. He invites me to take a seat
and orders a drink of ice punch. After a short conversation I propose
riding. I am, however, impressed to stay for dinner. I find the General
very agreeable and cheerful in conversation. At the introduction and
conclusion of dinner I am requested by the President to officiate in my
clerical character. The table is furnished in great, but not luxurious, _
variety of dishes.
"About 6 o'clock I mount my horse to return to Alexandria.
"The General carries on farming very extensively. He has one prin-
cipal and 5 subaltern overseers, as well as a great number of negroes.
The part of his land, however, which I pass thro' is neither good soil
or in high cultivation. But as he possesses 10,000 acres of land, no doubt
many parts of it exhibit quite the contrary appearance."
Colonial Seals of Bucks County.
BY HENRY C. MERCER, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Doylestown ^Meeting, January 26, 1915.)
Through the kind efforts of Miss Mary L. DuBois, Miss Ross,
Mrs. Irvin M. James, Mrs. Mary L,. Heaton, Judge Harman
Yerkes and Warren S. Ely, a number of old Colonial seals have
been collected, which are here shown, as illustrating a subject
well worth further study.
Perhaps you all know that the original Colonial seal of Bucks
county, which General Davis did not describe and illustrate, and
which his predecessor, Mr. William J. Buck who wrote the first
history of Bucks county, said he never saw, was found by Judge
Harmon Yerkes in the form of several impressions 011 red sealing
wax in the archives of the Doylestown courthouse several years
ago. Judge Yerkes wrote a valuable paper on the subject, which
was published in the second volume (page 283) of our proceed-
ings.
The subject of the seal is entirely his, but unfortunately he has
^^-^
•jjBRPljJUit ft«i,»llw "^ij***-
88j
SKALS USED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS IN BUCKS COUNTY.
During the Colonial period. Drawings by Dr. Henry C. Mercer, from originals in the
public archives and in possession of private persons at Doylestown, Pa.
(i) Original seal of Bucks county. Diameter i% inches. (A) Red wax on paper
slip inserted on vellum. Partition Thomas Stackhouse, 1715. (B) Red wax on paper
slip inserted on vellum. Deed Griffith Jones, 1704. (C) On paper square, on red
wax on paper. Sheriff's citation James Brown and wife, 1773. (D) On paper square,
on red wax on paper. Writ James Biles, 1775. (2) Original seal register's office,
diameter lii inches. (A) Paper scjuare on wax on paper. Citation James Brown, 1773.
(B) Paper four point star on wax on paper. Inventory John Thomas, 1750. (C)
Paper four point star on wax on paper. Inventory James Gillingham, 1746.
(85) James Yeates, Jr., inquisition against Joseph Stackhouse, 1731. (loj) Will of
Robert Heaton, 1717. (44) Deed Josiah Fenton, 1720. (55) Letters of administration,
1714. (74-76-90) Benjamin Wright, John Hall, Sheriff, inquisition against Thomas
Stevenson, 1723. (103) Bond of Joseph Wood, 1692. (7.:-73-79) Henry Tomlinson,
John Large and John Hutchinson, inquisition against Thomas Stevenson, i7-;3.
(88) John Ball, inquisition against Roland Ellis, deceased, 17J7.
COLONIAL SEALS OF BUCKS COUNTY 547
not been able to be present to-day, and in bis absence, I offer
with reUictance, a few suggestions as to its design.
Because there has been some discussion as to the meaning of
the tree and vine, and as to what kind of a vine the engraver in-
tended to represent, I have made this enlarged drawing of the
seal first from two impressions on red sealing wax made in the
early 1700's, lent me by Judge Yerkes and Mrs. Heaton. and
second from two others on paper laid over wax, of 1773 and 1775.
found by Warren S. Ely.
The drawing shows the tree, vine, arms of W'illiam Penn, and
part of the inscription, also one new feature which has escaped
the eye of the modern engraver, who recut the seal for us a few
years ago, namely the figure 83, discovered by Mr. Ely, standing
for the date 1683, omitting the 16, for want of space, and signify-
ing the year of the carving of the seal. This appears under the
shield. The paper impressions held sidewise under lamplight,
well magnified, show these figures, but no one could have dis-
covered them on the two earlier sealing wax impressions.
As to the meaning of the much talked of vine, I offer the fol-
lowing suggestions : The only historical evidence thus far found,
as to the origin of the seal, appears in a note in A olume i, page
66, of the Colonial Records of Pennsylvania, stating briefly and
without further explanation, that it was resolved in a provincial
council held in Philadelphia in March 1683, at which William
Penn himself presided, that the following seals should be struck
for the six original counties — for Philadelphia an anchor, for
Bucks a tree and vine, for Chester a plow, for New Castle a
castle, for Kent three ears of Indian corn, and for Sussex a wheat
sheaf.
All these other seals which Penn must have himself designed
or advised, are thus emblematic or suggestive of the ideals or
life of his new colony. Penn must therefore have intended to
express, not mere filigree or picturesque decoration, but some
idea appropriate to his great project, and we suggest that he
must have had in mind, either one of three thoughts of symbol-
ism, which at that time could have attached themselves to the idea
of a tree and vine, so as to suit his purpose, namely, first the oak
and ivy, second, the thought of symbolizing the great forest from
which his colony took its name, by the vine covered trees, then as
548 COLONIAIv SEALS OF BUCKS COUNTY
now SO characteristic of the Delaware river shores, or third, the
celebrated "vine and fig tree" of the fourth chapter of the Book
of Micah.
He would have rejected the first, if then existing in the popular
imagination, because already appropriated as a symbol for Eng-
land itself. But how could the second thought, the oft quoted
words of the prophet, probably the greatest peace quotation in
the English language. "And they shall beat their swords into plow-
shares, and their spears into pruning hooks, and every man shall
sit beneath his own vine, and beneath his own fig tree," so ap-
propriate to his colony and so essential to the ideals of the Society
of Friends, have escaped him? Yet if he did have this thought
in mind, why has the engraver not illustrated it. The vine thus
engraved shows no grapes or grape leaves, and is certainly not a
grape vine, notwithstanding the fact that on the other (Colonial
Register's Office ) seal here shown for comparison, showing a
vine without the tree, and with different leafage, a few round
objects more or less like bunches of grapes, if not flowers or
blossoms, appear only at its top.
The third suggestion requires us to suppose that Penn who
had been here for one summer before the seal was made, chose
to typify the wild forest in general. Along the Delaware river
below the Falls, you would have seen numerous large oak, tulip,
linden, ash and sycamore trees, festooned with Virginia creepers,
poison ivy, and the vines of fox and chicken grapes. He himself
noticed the latter in an early letter (Pa. Archives 1664 to 1747,
page 68), as does the Swedish traveler Campanius in 1648. Judge
Yerkes supposes that the engraving on the seal represents the
Trumpet vine, Bignonia repens, which though a rather rare plant,
might inter- weave itself with the other vines noted, and bloom
upon them. If so, we have here apparently all flowers and no
leaves. On the other hand, we might think that Penn would not
have wished to perpetually symbolize the wild woods, which he
knew were about to disappear, but rather in the spirit of the
other seals typify colonial domestic agriculture. Therefore, the
puzzle remains, which may perhaps be finally solved by means
of some of the original letters and documents, which Mr. A. C.
Myers is now finding as material for his new life of William
Penn.
.-1
â– â– ^^t-
SEALS USKD ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS IN BUCKS COUNTY.
During and immediately after the Colonial period. Drawings by Dr. Henry C. Mercer
from originals in the public archives and in possession of private
persons at Doylestown, Pa.
(66) Deed Carl Swartz, 1755. (84) ^\'illiam Buckman, inquisition against Joseph
Stackhouse, 1731. (65) Deed Mark Evans, 17J9. (41) Di;cd Joseph Jones, 1744.
(4) Deed John Borroughs, 176-'. (7) Deed Trustees of London Company, 1763.
{23) Deed Samuel Hough, 1734. (62) Deed Samuel Cooper, 1745. (41) Deed Joseph
Borroughs, 176J. (42) Deed George Burges, 1802. (100) William Yardley, letters
on e.statc of William Beakes, 1687. (96) Inquisition against Robert Heaton, 1736.
(3:) Deed George Burgess, Sheriff, 18 jo. (70) Harman Vansant, inquisition against
Thomas Stevenson, 1723. (96) Inquisition against Mary Carp, 1727. (97) Letters
of administration, estate of Edward Blackfan, 1720.
COLONIAL SEALS OF BUCKS COUNTY 549
Judging from my hasty and superficial glance at a compara-
tively few examples, the legal colonial seals of Bucks county
should be divided into two classes. First, the official seals per-
taining to the County offices, which ought to be explained and
classified, so that we may know how many of them there were,
when they were made, and what they all signify, on which sub-
ject Mr. Ely will offer you a few remarks. Second, the seals of
individuals appended to legal documents with their signatures
and otherwise. These are small impressions generally about half
an inch or more in diameter as to which, after hastily looking
over a few of them found for me by the ladies above noted, or
by Mr. Ely at the courthouse, or among my own Chapman family
heirlooms, I have the following suggestions to make from a tech-
nical point of view: First, as to the medium, second, as to the
method of attachment, third, as to the signet or stamp, and fourth,
as to the design.
FIRST — THE MEDIUM.
In the collection covering the time from 1684 to the revolution,
nearly all these little seals are made with red sealing wax. I find
but one instance of beeswax, not exactly pertinent si-nce it is an
impression of the great seal of Pennsylvania in a tin box. I saw
none in blue, green, yellow, white or other colored wax, none on
lead, none on wafer, and a very few represented by pen and ink
scallops.
SECOND THE METHOD OF ATTACHMENT.
Nearly all the sealed documents were on vellum, and only a
few on paper. All the wax seals were probably made by the
comparatively modern compound, including shellac and Vermil-
lion as ingredients, and perhaps because this sealing wax will not
stick to greasy vellum, a good many methods of attachment ap-
pear between 1684 and 1775 as follows:
A. A vellum strap thrust or woven through four or more
slits in the vellum document, with one end inserted through a slit
in its other end and a lump of sealing wax thumbed around the
two straps at their point of intersection, the wax being sealed. I
find an example of this among the Chapman deeds dated 1684.
B. A paper strap woven as above through the vellum with
550 COLONIAL se;als of bucks county
the ends tucked into the sHts, and six or more perforations with a
knife point through the paper and vellum, permitting the wax,
laid hot upon the paper, to penetrate the vellum and reach the
paper strap underneath.
C. The wax impression upon a colored tape strap similarly
treated.
D. The seal placed upon the strap, as in B or C not directly
upon the wax, but rather on a piece of paper, often colored and
cut into elaborate star forms, laid upon the hot wax.
E. The seal stamped directly on the wax set upon the vellum,
in which case the surface of the latter is scored with a knife point
to hold or key the wax. Nevertheless, in these rare cases, the
wax is much chipped or entirely gone.
F. Where the original document is not in vellum but paper,
the seal is placed directly upon the paper, and the impression
stamped upon it, either with or without a piece of loose scalloped
paper laid upon the hot wax.
G. Upon a paper document, the margin is notched with two
parallel cuts, and the included paper folded over upon hot wax,
so that the seal is stamped upon paper, or three sides of a square
are cut out within the margin of the document, and the same
operation is performed.
H. Pseudo seals. Made by scrolling with a pen so as to form
a rough circle about an inch or less in diameter, including the let-
ters SS or the word seal, as seen in the collection in 17.
THIRD THE SIGNET.
The collection shows that these were either rings, watch-chain
seals or desk seals with handles, the latter being sometimes hol-
low, so as to admit of the replacement of small loose signets made
to fit. They were probably cut on stone, brass, copper or steel,
sometimes belonged to the signer and sometimes were doubtless
borrowed from a friend or furnished by a lawyer. Sometimes a
man's identity might be followed by means of these seals, and
sometimes we might go widely astray. I doubt whether many
members of the Friends' society in the eighteenth century, wore
finger-rings or watch-seals, though many must have had desk
signets as I know that some of the Chapmans did. Sometimes
the impressions were made by easy pressure, sometimes by per-
SEALS USED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS IN BUCKS COUNTY.
During the Colonial period. Drawings by Dr. Henry C. Mercer, from originals in the
public archives and in possession of private persons at Doylcstown, Pa.
(52) Deed William Allen, 1736. (61) Deed Samuel Cooper, 1750. (8) Deed
Trustees of London Company, 1763. (6) Deed Henjamin Chapman, 1754. (81 James
Yeates, inquisition against Evan Harris, 1731. (8g) Inquisition against Samuel Farr-
ington, 1731. (s) Deed Joseph Chapman, 1753. (11) Deed Abraham Chapman to
John Chapman, 1707. (83) John Frohock, inquisition against Evan Harris, 1731.
(33) Deed Joseph Jones, 1762. (85) James Yeates, Jr., inquisition against Joseph
Stackhouse, 1731. (86) William Satterthwait, inquisition against Roland Ellis, de-
ceased, 1727. (40) Deed Richard Leedom, 1740. (59) Deed Benjamin Warner, 1761.
(87) George Phillips, in(|uisition against Roland Ellis, deceased, 1727. (105) Release
of brothers and sisters of John Worthington, 1686.
COLONIAL SEALS OF BUCKS COUNTY 55 1
cussion with a blow of the hand, and upon official seals sometimes
by pressure with a lever stamp showing the positive and negative
where a paper alone was used, or with two positives where paper
was laid on both sides of a layer of hot wax, but I did not find
that these two latter methods were used with the individual seals.
FOURTH — THE DESIGNS.
Here are a few examples, of which I have tried to make en-
larged drawings. They show us an extended and interesting
subject well worth the attention of the special student. We have
a number of busts, one of which shows the name of Flavins
which might stand for the Roman Emperor Vespasian, not a few
crests in the form of heads of animals as deer, or dragons, lions
or griffins, also a few classical subjects, such as the child in a
chariot driving a panther, or the little figure sitting astride a wine
cask holding up a bunch of grapes, and there are several mono-
grams, and not a few emblems such as the flaming heart, the
crown, the imperial globe and sceptre, death's head with wings,
the hourglass, the dove and the olive branch, the rose and the
thistle.
What has become of the original signets? Do you still pre-
serve them among your half forgotten treasures, or are they all
lost? If so, there must be hundreds, aye thousands of their im-
pressions upon sealing wax stamped upon ancient deeds and
other documents still in your possession, and scattered about the
county. Many an old desk, chest, cupboard, or box buried under
rubbish in the corner of a garret would help to tell the tale.
Think of the amount of brains, skill and effort that were ex-
pended in engraving all these seals. What do they mean ? What
light may they throw upon the history of our families or upon
the relation of man to man in those days? Are we to suppose
that the study and classification of these designs has no meaning
at all, except as a mere matter of trivial fancy, or have we here
an unexplored mine of information and interest?
36
Introduction of the Christmas Tree in the United States.
BY ALFRED F. BERLIN, AELENTOWN, PA.
(Solebuiy Deer Park Meeting, June i, 1915.)
In the year 1683 began the emigration to America of Germans,
who lived in that part of Europe where originated the Christmas
tree. With the ship "Concord" came over a few from Crefeld
and Kriegsheim who landed at Philadelphia. From then on until
the outbreak of the Revolution they came almost yearly by hun-
dreds, sometimes thousands. At once they commenced to work
their way toward the Kittatinny of Blue Mountains covering the
ground now contained in the counties of Bucks, Northampton,
Lehigh, Monroe, Carbon, Berks, Lancaster and Lebanon, one may
say the greater part of eastern Pennsylvania.
While we have abundant history of their manners and social
customs, their mode of living, which was at times very precarious,
we do not find anywhere any mention that they on a Christmas
eve ever followed the custom of their European forbears. Sur-
rounded on all sides of their homes by the evergreen coniferae,
which certainly should have reminded them of the custom pre-
vailing in their former homes, there surely must have been some
of these settlers who annually continued this pretty custom of the
Christmas tree.
The writer of this essay, as well as others interested in the
origin of this Christian symbol, have carefully searched records
for evidence of the custom as to its prevailing in the section above
mentioned, but so far none have been found.
It was at the instance of your president, Mr. Mercer, that the
writer at this late day undertook to gain information concerning
the matter. What meagre knowledge has been acquired the
writer will be pleased to tell in what follows. However little, it
is at the same time very interesting.
Mr. Thomas Kern, an old resident of Allentown, knows of the
tree since 1844. At his home it was trimmed with peanuts and
pretzels. The fence around the tree was made with apples.
Into each apple was pinned a sharpened twig with leaves.
INTRODUCTION OF THE CHRISTMAS TREE 553
Mrs. Dr. Wackernagle, a born Deininger, whose father came
to Reading from Germany in 1819 knows of the tree since 1838.
Mrs. Mary Kkimp, ninety-four years old, also living in this
city, rememb'ers the custom since 1827. Her father also came
from Germany. Often they also made a "Putz"; but the Christ-
mas tree always stood with it.
The writer of this essay knows of the custom since 1855, at
Cherry ville, Northampton county, where he was born in 1848.
Both his father and mother were of German descent. Our tree
was trimmed with mint candy pretzels, home baked sweet cakes
in the form of animals, and small tallow candles, which were lit
in the evening. It was always about seven feet high, and was
placed with a small wooden fence around it, on a small square
table.
The writer is fully convinced that when the German emigrants
reached this country they did not forget the beautiful custom of
their fatherland. How could they? Did they not have the ever-
green tree everywhere around them as a reminder?
The English speaking people did not introduce the practice into
this country, but admiring it, began to pattern it after their Ger-
man neighbors. Its beginning with them may have been about
the middle of the nineteenth century. Much information on the
subject might be gleaned from very old German people still living
did one have the time to cover the territory mentioned in this
essay.
Remarks on the Christmas Tree.
BY HENRY C. MERCER AND OTHERS.
The Christmas tree, we may believe, was brought into the
Anglo-Saxon household in Doylestown about 1856, although Ger-
man speaking families elsewhere in Bucks county doubtless had
the custom earlier. It would be interesting if someone could find
a diary mentioning a Christmas celebration in an English speak-
ing family, between 1750 and the date I have named (1856)
where they had a Christmas tree. In Clement C. Moore's poem
"The Night Before Christmas," written in 1822 he speaks of
many things pertaining to Christmas, but not of the Christmas
tree.
Looking up the subject in Chambers' "Book of Days" I find the
Christmas tree was not introduced into England until about that
eight or ten years after the marriage of Queen Victoria to Albert,
Prince Consort, which would bring it about 1845 or 1850. There-
fore if the Pennsylvania Germans brought the Christmas tree
here in the i8th century, which they undoubtedly did, then it was
brought to Anglo-Saxon America before it reached England; I
would like to get more light on this from our own people. Does
any one recollect from tradition in their own families that the
Christmas tree was in use earlier than about 1850? Or it must
be supposed that no English-speaking family ever saw or heard
of a Christmas tree before 1850 or i860. This Christmas tree
custom has now spread over the whole Anglo-Saxon world, and
the fact that it first passed to us before it reached England is very
interesting. I have written to the Rev. Paul de Schweinitz, D.
D., of the Moravian Church in Bethlehem, Pa., and asked him if
he could tell me when the Christmas tree came from the German-
to the English-speaking people. Dr. de Schweinitz says :
"We have always taken the matter of Christmas trees as such a
matter-of-course, that I doubt the possibility of finding the first record of
their use. I have just been talking with our Archivist about it and he
agrees with me that our German ancestors brought the custom of deco-
rating and lighting with wax candles a fir, pine or balsam tree in honor
of the Saviour's birth with them from the very beginning of their work
REMARKS ON THE CHRISTMAS TREE 555
here in Bethlehem. We have records of the first Christmas celebration
here in Bethlehem in 1741, and while the use of the Christmas tree is
not mentioned, it may well have been used from the very beginning,
and in any case I feel very confident that it was used here in Bethlehem
from the middle of the i8th century onward. English was in use for
occasional services from the time of the Revolutionarj- war onward, and
English Moravians came to Bethlehem very early. Such a custom, if for
no other reason than to please the children, would be introduced into
English-speaking families almost at once. I am very sure in my own
mind, that it was universally used in all families, irrespective of language,
before the close of the i8th century, and surely very early in the 19th.
But where one could find any specific date, I would not know, neither do
I know any one who has given attention to this point."
Dr. de Schweinitz was more interested in the "Putz" or repre-
sensation of the manger, cow, the child, and the wise men — all of
which surrounded the base of the Christmas tree — than he was in
the tree itself.
After making inquiries, it appears that the Mennonites, Dunk-
ards, Sell wenkf elders and Amish did not have Christmas trees — -
had never used them, and when introduced they must have come
over with the Moravians and Lutherans. There are at least two
engravings which have gone the round of Lutheran publications,
representing Martin Luther as he sits with his family around a
Christmas tree. One of these is from a picture painted about
1835, probably without historical authority, by the (icrman artist
Gustav Koenig (born 1808, died 1869) (see Life of Luther with
48 historical engravings, explained by Archdeacon Hare, New
York, Scribner 1857, plate 42.)
F. J. Bronner (Deutscher Sitt und Art, Max Keller, Muenchen,
1908) citing recent investigation on the subject, asserts that the
first notice of the household use of the tree (without candles)
accurs in a book published at Strasburg in 1604, and that its
general use with presents and candles did not begin before 1750
in Germany. The tendency of all this discussion is to show that
the Christmas tree was introduced to the Anglo-Saxon world in
the United States of America, passed from the Anglo-Saxons
here — recrossed the ocean and got to the British after it had been
with us.
From inquiries I have made among people no longer young,
I have gathered that there was no time in their early youth when
they did not have a Christmas tree in Doylestown which con-
556 REMARKS ON THE) CHRISTMAS TRt^
tradicts the other evidence. This would put the date back to be-
tween 1835 ^^^ 1848. I have asked Henry W. Gross to make
inquiries among some of the old Lutherans in the upper part of
the county, and it may be that they can throw some light on this
subject.
Having heard Dr. William E. Geil's talk at the "Community
Christmas Tree" exercises in Doylestown we would like to hear
what he can tell us on this subject.
Dr. Geil said : I have been much associated with the Men-
nonites and Germans and had somewhere received the impression
that they did not observe Christmas by use of a tree. I know I
never had one, but I have seen them in far-away lands. I saw a
Christmas tree in the home of an Englishman, or a Scotchman, in
Ichang, on the Yangtze river, in inland China. There was one
in Southwestern China at Kweiyang that had been set up by an
Australian. I once spent a Christmas day in inland New Guinea
at a place overlooking the Kempwelsh river, and there I found
a very remarkable man by the name of Schlencker, an Australian
Missionary. He did not have a Christmas tree, but he had just
previously directed several hundred cannibals in putting the roof
on his house, and I naturally thought, that as a thank-ofifering,
for having escaped consumption, he would have instituted a num-
ber of Christmas trees.
Miss Mary L. DuBois, as representing one of the oldest fam-
ilies in Doylestown said they never had a Christmas tree in their
family. They put out plates for their gifts as Dr. Geil spoke of
doing. Her sister said her first recollection of a Christmas tree
was in the Methodist Church. She does not remember having
heard of one in a private house before 1850. She had asked other
people who from personal knowledge or tradition knew a great
deal about local history, but they could give no information on
this subject.
Mrs. Richard Watson said she remembered, when visiting her
grandmother in Easton in 1850, that they used to arrange a tree
with a small wheel on it such as water power would turn, and
this was set in the bathroom, where under dripping water the
wheels would be set in motion. There must have been Christmas
trees in Doylestown at that time, for she has a distinct recollec-
tion of disappointment in missing them by going to Easton.
BUCKS COUNTY HERALDRY 557
Dr. J. B. Walter said he had had the honor and pleasure of
living in Doylestown 60 years ago and went to the Episcopal.
Methodist and Presbyterian Sunday schools and he never heard
of a Christmas tree. That was about 1850, to 1858, and if there
was one in the town at that time he never heard of it.
Bucks County Heraldry.
BY PROF. ARTHUR EDWIN BYE, PRINCETON, N. J.*
(Solcbury Deer Park Meeting, June i, 1915.)
It is a well understood fact that the founders of Pennsylvania
— the -Quakers — were a people, who. oppressed in their native
land sought refuge in the new world where they could establish
a commonwealth inspired by ideals of freedom and brotherhood
in contradiction to the aristocratic domination of the old world.
This is true and moreover, it has been thought that the early
Quakers were a people who sought primarily, simplicity in every
department of life. This is also true ; the settlement of Pennsyl-
vania was the result of a protest on the part of the Quakers
against the extravagances of English social life in the seventeenth
century. Thus one would suppose that in the primitive society of
Pennsylvania, any signs or outward marks of social distinction
would be condemned. To a certain extent one must recognize
that this was so, especially as the great majority of the colonists
came from the middle and lower classes of England — these
classes being in every state or country necessarily the most numer-
ous.
But it must not be forgotten that all the Quaker emigrants
were not from the middle or lower classes. In fact, as has fre-
quently been pointed out by students of Pennsylvania and Quaker
history, a surprisingly large number of the converts to Quaker-
ism were drawn from the aristocracy — the landed gentry as the
nobility of Great Britain is called. These were the leaders of the
society, those too, who were influential in the settlement of
Pennsylvania and molded the political ideas of the new state.
The leaders in the settlement of Pennsylvania and New Jersey
were men possessing the qualities of greatness, and, with few
exceptions, were derived from families of historical prominence
•Now (1917) Professor of Fine .Arts, Vassar College.
558 BUCKS COUNTY HERALDRY
in England. To give a few conspicuous examples, such men as
William Penn, Algernon Sidney, John Locke,^ Robert Barclay,
of Ury ; George Keith, of Keith Hall ; Isaac Penington, Judge
Fell and his wife, Margaret, of Swarthmore Hall ; Judge
Pearson-, of Ramshaw Hall, and Thomas Lloyd, of Dolobran,
were of ancient family, whose ancestors in some instances, had
been mamorial lords, seigneures, for centuries. Less conspicuous
in the colonization, but of equally ancient birth were many others
such as James Logan Caleb Pusey, Randall Vernon, Ellis Lewis
and many settlers of the Welsh barony. These men, no matter
under what circumstances they were placed, could not relinquish
all the traditions of their ancestors nor could they alienate their
ancient heritage — among other things, their "cote d'Armour"- — •
from their descendants. Many of these men may have felt that
the assertion of social distinction, the use of coats-of-arms, or
luxuries of any kind, were not consistent with their Quaker prin-
ciples. Doubtless it was the thought that coats of "arms" sav-
oured of war and hence were scarcely good emblems of peace,
which led many Quakers to abandon their use. For like reasons,
many of the things which make life rich and beautiful were, as
time went on, denied to their descendants.
Another fact which must be borne in mine is that the early
Quakers were not of the stereotyped kind generally remembered.
These men of the seventeenth century were not "born" Quakers.
Many of them in their youth lived "worldly" lives, and were
never wholly regenerated. There are one or two Bucks county
examples of this kind of Quaker. One is that of Lady Jenks.
Whatever there may be of exaggeration in the story of her being
a lady of fashion, beloved by Thomas Penn, there is doubtless
some truth in the tradition that she loved adventure and romance,
even in the wilderness. The other example is that Nathaniel
Bye, the Quaker who was buried in his armor. He had been a
' soldier, perhaps most of his mysterious life, and in spite of his
family connections, all being Quakers in good standing, could not
forsake his profession, even in death. At his dying request he
was buried in his arms, in the old Friends' graveyard at Bucking-
ham.
^ Sidney and Locke helped Penn in the drawing up of his constitution.
^ Not directly connected with the settlement, but many of the Pearsons emigrated.
BUCKS COUXTY HERALDRY 559
As for the use of coats of arms in the colonial days of Penn-
sylvania, we have many an example to show that they were cher-
ished. William Penn used his in his seals and book plates, and
others who used them in this way and on the silver and furniture
they brought with them from England, were the Fields, the
Chews, of "Cliveden," Philadel[)hia ; the Stacys, and the Revels
and the Stevensons, to mention but a few.
What we have neglected to mention, so far, is the fact that
many of the early colonists were of course, not Quakers. The
presence of these lent color to the life of those days. Among
non-Quaker families of wealth and position, the use of coats of
arms was general. The heraldic monuments in old Christ church,
Philadelphia, are present day witnesses of this fact.
Bucks county was particularly fortunate in the class of colon-
ists who settled there. It drew a large proportion of those who
belonged to the English armourial families. These were to men-
tion some, Thomas Dungan, Jeremiah Langhorne, Joshua Ely,
Benjamin Field, Joseph Kirkbride, Thomas Canby, Thomas
Jenks, Enoch and Lawrence Pearson, Edmund Kinsey, George
Pownall, Thomas Bye, Israel Pemberton. This list by no means
includes all of the most prominent and influential men of Bucks
county, and here it must be said that no lover of heraldry as-
sumes for a moment that excellence is a prerogative reserved for
the man with a coat of arms, but the fact to be noted is that
these men, who bequeathed the heraldic tradition to later Ameri-
cans, to their descendants in Bucks county, proved worthy of
their ancestry and founded families who can be proud of an
armigerous descent.""'
The following roll of arms is not complete. It has been re-
stricted to those arms for which the writer knows conclusive
proofs to exist rightly attributing them to the families whose
names are associated with them. There are many families, like
the Paxsons, of Buckingham, and the Taylors, of Taylorsville,
who very likely were armigerous but whose proof to their coat
of arms is still doubtful. Such families are left out of the list.
It is scarcely necessary to add that no family can bear a coat of
arms unless a direct male descent is traced back to an armigerous
' The subject of American heraldry is ably treated in Ziebers' "Heraldry in
America" and de Vermont's "American Heraldry," where the subject of the rules
governing it is discussed.
s6o
BUCKS COUNTY HERAI^DRY
ancestor whose right to his coat of arms was acknowledged by
due authority in England, Scotland, Ireland, France or Germany
as the case may be. As for the assumption of new coats of arms,
and the quartering of the arms of an ancestress who was an heir-
ess by a representative of an extinct family, that is a subject
which must be treated in a text book on Heraldry. The ar-
migerous families of Bucks county are still being investigated by
the writer who hopes to be able to add more arms to the ligt at
a future date.
BETTS.
Arms of Betts of Wortham, Suffolk, England, Ipswich, Mas-
sachusetts and Newtown, Pennsylvania, Sable, a bend cotised
argent, charged with three cinquefoils, gules.
Crest, out of a ducal coronet or, a buck's head gules, attired
or, gorged with a collar argent charged with three cinquefoils
gules. Motto, Mali Mori Quam Videri (I had rather die than
be dishonored.) This family is descended from Captain Richard
Betts, of Ipswich, Massachusetts, who was the son of Richard
Betts, of Wortham, Suffolk, England, living at the Visitation of
1622. Thomas Betts, of Newtown, Pennsylvania, living in 1700
by his first wife Suzanna, daughter of Thomas Stevenson, and
his second wife, Suzanna, daughter of Nathaniel Field, was the
ancestor of the Bucks county family.
BLACKSHAW.
Arms of Blackshaw, of Holingee Manor, Cheshire, and ithe
Falls, Pennsylvania. Gules, on a
bend ermine between two plates,
three trefoils slipped vert. Crest,
an acorn, or stalked and leaved
vert. The above arms are a varia-
tion of the Radcliffe arms. Ran-
dall Blackshaw who settled at the
Falls, Bucks county, was the son of
Captain Ralph Blackshaw, an of-
ficer of the army of Charles I,
whose estate Holingee Manor, was
the ancient seat of the Radcliffe
family in Cheshire.
ARMS OF BI^ACKSHAW.
BUCKS COUNTY HERAI^DRY
561
BURROUGHS,
Arms of Burroughs, as borne by the Burroughs family of New
England. Gules, the stump of a
laurel tree eradicated and sprouted
pj)r. Crest, a lion passant gules.
Motto, Audaces fortuna juvat.
John Burroughs, of Salem, Mas-
sachusetts, 1637, was the ancestor
of his family. John Burroughs, the
grandson of the first John removed
to New Jersey. His sons. John and
Henry, were the ancestors of the
family in Bucks county. The Bur-
roughs arms were used at an early
date in New England, on tomb-
ARMS OF BURROUGHS.
stones and elsewhere.
BYE.
Arms of Bye, of Basingstoke, Hampshire, England and Buck-
ingham, Pennsylvania. Quarterly,
I. Azure, a chevron between three
bees volant en arriere or, for Bye
of Basingstoke; 2, quarterly or and
azure, on a bend of the second
three fleur de lys of the first, for
Bye or Bay, of Oxford and Buck-
ingham; 3, or, a bend vair cotised
sable for Bowyar of Basingstoke;
4, sable, three spades blades or han-
dles argent for Knypersley of Kny-
persley. The above are the arms
confirmed to John Bye, of Basing-
stoke by Robert Cooke, Clarencieulx, King at Arms 1573, as the
following confirmation afiirms :
"To all and Singulcr as well Nobles and Gentills as others to whom
these presents shall comme Robert Cooke Esquier alias Clarencieulx prin-
cipal! herehaullt and Kingc of Armes of the South Este and W'cstc partes
of this Realme of Englande from the Ryver of Trent southwards sendeth
greetinge in oure Lord God everlastinge, whereas anncicntly from the
ARMS OF BYE.
562 BUCKS COUNTY HERALDRY
beginninge the valiant and vertueus actes of worthie persons have been
comended to the worlde with scundry monuments and remembrances of
there good deseurts emongst the which the chiefest and most usuall hath
ben the bearinge of signes in shieldes called armes whiche are evident
demonstraceons of prowes and valoir diversely destributed accordinge to
the qualities and desertes of ye persons which order as it was most
prudently devised in the beginning to stirre and kindell the hartes of men
to the imitacion of virtue and nobleness. Even so hath ye same been
and yet is continually observed to the eude that such as have don com-
mendable service to there Prince or Country either in warre or peace may
bothe receave due honor in their lives and also derive the same suc-
cessively to their posterity after them, and beinge requyred of John Bye
of Basingstoke, gentleman, to make search in the Registers and Records
of my office for the anncient armes belonging to that name and familie
whereof he is descended, whereupon I have at his request made search
accordingly, and whereby find the said John Bye to be the first son of
Gilbert Bye, of Basingstoke, in the countie of Hampsher, gent and of
Elizabeth his wife, daughter and heire of John Bowyar, gentelman, which
Gilbert Bye was son and heir of John Bye of the saide place and countie
gentilman, so that findinge the trew and perfect descent I could not
without his great prejuidice assigne unto him any other armes than those
which are to him descended from his anncestors. That is to saye quar-
terly in the first asure a chevron betwyne thre Bees golde, in the second
for Bee quarterly golde and azur on a bende of the second thre flower
de luces of the first, in the third for Bowyar golde a bend vayre cotased
sables, in the last for Sweetenham sables thre spades silver, the irons golde.
And for that I fine no creast unto the same as comonly to all anncient
armes belongeth none I the saide Clarenciculx King of Armes by power
and auethoritie to my office annexed and granted by letters patents under
the greate seale of England I have assigned geven and graunted to these
his anncient armes the creast hereafter followinge that is to say oppon
the healme on a wreathe gold and asur a Dragon's head coape golde
wounded through with a brode arrow the steale gules the head and
feathers silver manteled gules dobled silver as more playnly apperith
depicted in this margent, to have and holde the saide Armes and Creast
to said Robert Bye and John Bye his brother and to their posterities with
their due differences and, he and they the same to use beare and shew in
shielde cote armour, or otherwise at his and their liberty and pleasure
without impedement let or interuption of any p'son or p'sons. In witness
whereof I the saide Clarencieulx K'e of Armes have sett hereunto my
hand and seale of office the xviii day of January A. D. 1573 and in the
sixteenth yere of the raigne of owre sovereigne Lady Elizabeth by the
grace of God Queen of England, France and Ireland, Defender of the
Faith, etc.
ROBERT COOKE,
Clarencieulx."
BUCKS COUNTY HERALDRY
563
The pedigree of the family of Bye, of Basingstoke is recorded
in the Herald's college and dates from very remote times up to
the year 1622. Thomas Bye, the founder of the Pennsylvania
family, a direct descendant of the grantee above named, settled
in Buckingham in 1699. His elder son, John, was the ancestor
of the Solebury branch of the family. Descendants of his
younger son, Nathaniel, are still in possession of the Buckingham
estate.
CADWALLADER.
Arms of Cadwallader of Wales and Yardley, Pennsylvania.
Azure, a cross formee fitchee or.
ARMS OF CADWAI,I^.\DER.
ARMS OF CANBY.
CANBY.
Arms of Canby, of Pinfold House, Thorn, Yorkshire and
Buckingham, Pennsylvania. Azure, a fesse ermine. Thomas
Canby, the ancestor of this family in Pennsylvania was the son
of Benjamin Canby, of Thorn, Yorkshire, the youngest son of
Thomas Canby, gent., of Pinfold House, Thorn.
DICKERSON.
Arms of Dickerson or Dickinson, of Bamborough, North-
umberland, England, Salem, ]\Iassachusetts, Trenton, N. J., and
Buckingham, Pennsylvania. Azure, a fesse between two lions,
passant ermine. Crest, a demi-lion rampant per pale ermine and
564
BUCKS COUNTY HERALDRY
ARMS OF DICKERSON.
azure. Motto, Facta, non verba.
To this family the Signer John
Dickinson belonged, and also the
Honorable Philemon Dickerson,
Governor of New Jersey 1836, and
Mahlon Dickerson, Governor of
New Jersey 1836, and Mahlon
Dickerson, Governor of New Jer-
sey, United States Senator and
Minister to Russia, all being de-
scended from the Dickinsons, of
Bamborough, Northumberland, an
ancient family. The family, a
branch of which settled in Bucks county, is now extinct in the
male line in Pennsylvania, but is still represented in the female
line in Bucks county.
DUNGAN.
Arms of Dungan, of Limerick, Ireland, Rhode Island and
Bucks county, Pennsylvania. Azure, six plates, three, two and
one, on a chief or a demi-lion gules. Crest, an ar, banded and
surmounted by a cross pattee or. The Dungans were descended
from a very ancient and noble Irish family. The Bucks county
branch is descended from William Dungan and Frances Latham,
of Rhode Island, Frances Latham being famous as "the mother
of American Governors."
ELY.
Arms of Ely, of Utterby, Lincolnshire, England, and Buck-
ingham, Pennsylvania. Argent, a fesse engrailed between three
fieur de lys, sable. Crest, an arm erect grasping a fleur de lis,
sable. The old manorial family of Ely, of Utterby, is repre-
sented in America by the descendants of Joshua Ely, the emi-
grant, and of his sister, Rebecca, the wife of Mahlon Stacye, of
Ballifield, Yorkshire and Chesterfield, New Jersey.
FEEL.
Arms of Fell, of Longlands, Rockdale, Cumberland, and Buck-
ingham, Pennsylvania. two bars, sable charged with three
BUCKS COUNTY HERALDRY 565
crosses, two and one. Crest, demi-lion rampant supporting with
dexter paw a cross. The ancestor of the Fells was Joseph Fell,
the emigrant, whose descendants are still numerous in Bucks
county. The Fells were closely allied with the armigerous fam-
ilies of Kinsey and Bye, as well as many other of the original
families of Buckingham and Solebury.
FIELD.
i\rms of Field, of Sowerby, Yorkshire, England, Flushing,
Long Island, and Middletown, Pennsylvania, Sable, a chevron en-
grailed between three garbs argent. Crest, issuing out of clouds
ppr. an arm embowed fesseways, habited gules, and bearing in the
hand an armillary sphere or. Motto, Sans Dieu Rien. The
Fields were seated at Sowerby Alanor since the year 1240 and
claimed descent from Hubertus de la Field of the times of the
Conquest. The founder of the New England family was Robert
Field, a son of the Sowerby Fields, who settled at Newport and
Flushing. Benjamin Field, the great-grandson, of Robert was
the ancestor of the Bucks county family. By his marriage with
Sarah, daughter of Thomas Stevenson, he bequeathed to his de-
scendants, an illustrious ancestry. The Bucks county Fields are
extinct in the male line, but are represented by the families of
Taylor, Lloyd, Yardley and others.
JENKS.
Arms of Jenks, of \\'oolverton. Shropshire, Wales and Jenks
Hall, Middletown, Pennsylvania. Argent, three boars heads
couped ppr. and a chief indented sable. Crest, a lion rampant
with a boar's head in his paws all ppr. Mottoes, "Audax at
Cautus" and "Modo Dominis Adsit."' The exact connection
between the founder of the Pennsylvania family of Jenks with
the ancient manorial family of W'oolverton has not been defi-
nitely established. The Jenks of W'oolverton Manor in Shrop-
shire traced their descent to Elystan Glodrydd, a Prince of
Wales. Thomas Jenks who called his estate "Jenks Hall" in
Middletown. Bucks county, came from Shropshire, and there are
so many indications that he belonged to the armourial family
seated in his native countv. that his descendants have claimed the
566
BUCKS COUNTY HERALDRY
right to bear the ancient arms. The lack of proof, however, must
be noted.
KINSilY.
Arms of Kinsey, of Blackden, Cheshire, BurHngton, New
Jersey, and Buckingham, Pennsyl-
vania, Argent, a tower gules.
Crest, out of the top of a tower
proper, an arm embowed, vested
vert, holding in the hand a spear,
fessways, also ppr. John Kinsey,
a cadet of the Kinseys of Blackden,
was one of the commissioners for
the settlement of New Jersey. Of
his grandsons. John became Chief
Justice of Pennsylvania ; James be-
came Chief Justice of New Jersey,
and Edmund an eminent Friends
minister. This latter was the ancestor of the Bucks county fam-
ARMS OF KINSEY.
KIRKBRIDE.
Arms of Kirkbride, of Kirkbride, Cumberland, and of the
Falls, Bucks county, Pennsylvania.
Sable, a, cross engrailed argent,
quartering azure a fesse between
three martlets or, charged with
three fleur de lis, for Stacye.
The founder of the Pennsylvania
family, of Kirkbride, was Joseph
Kirkbride who came from Kirk-
bride, in Cumberland, where his
ancestors had flourished for gen-
erations. He married first Phoebe,
daughter, of, Randall Blackshaw
and secondly Sarah, daughter and
co-heiress of Mahlon Stacye, of Ballifield, Yorkshire and Chester-
field, New Jersey.
ARMS OF KIRKBRIDE.
BUCKS COUNTY HERALDRY
567
LANGHORNE.
Arms of Langherne, or Langliorne, of St. Bride's, Wales, Kin-
(lall, Westmoreland, and of Lang-
horne Manor, Pennsylvania.
Azure, a chevron between three es-
callops or. Thomas and Jeremiah
Langhorne were among the most
prominent of the settlers of Bvicks
county. They were scions of an
old Cornish and Welsh family, or-
iginally called Langherne. There
are no descendants in the male line,
but numerous descendants of
Sarah, the daughter of Thomas,
who married William Biles, jr.
ARMS OF LANGHORNE.
LLOYD.
Arms of Lloyd, of Dolobran, \\'ales and Pennsylvania.
Azure, upon a chevron between three cocks argent, a crescent
sable. Crest, a goat rampant argent, charged on the neck with a
crescent sable. Thomas Lloyd, the colonist, was the third son of
Charles Lloyd, of Dolobran, and Elizabeth Stanley, of the famous
house of Stanley, Earls of Derby. There are no male descend-
ants of Thomas Lloyd. Of the same original family was Joseph
Lloyd of Bucks county.
DE NORMANDIE.
Arms of de Normandie, Seigneurs de la Motte in Picardy, and
of the emigre Andre de Normandie. of Bristol, Pennsylvania.
Argent, a fesse gules charged with three roundels between six
martlets, three in chief and three en point. Crest, a plume of
three ostrich feathers ppr. Andre de Normandie, a descendant
of the Huguenot exiled branch of the family, settled in Bristol,
Bucks county, 1708.
PENX.
Arms of Penn, of Pennsbury. Bucks county, Pennsylvania.
Argent, a fesse sable charged with three plates. Crest, a demi-
lion rampant collared sable, the collar charged with three plates.
37
568 BUCKS COUNTY HERALDRY
PEMBERTON.
Arms of Pemberton, of Cheshire, England, and the Falls,
Bucks county, Pennsylvania. Argent, a chevron sable between
three waterbudgets hooped and handled or. Crest, a dragon's
head couped ppr. Israel Pemberton was one of the most con-
spicuous figures of the early settlement, a beloved friend of Wil-
liam Penn. He belonged to an old family of the northwest of
England, and left many descendants in the new world.
PLUMSTEAD.
Arms of Clement Plumstead, Mayor of Philadelphia, and of
Francis Plumstead, of Plumstead Manor. Ermine, three chev-
ronels sable, on the uppermost three amulets argent. Crest, out
of a ducal coronet a griffin's head argent. Francis Plumstead
never settled upon his estate in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, but
he left his name imprinted upon the map of the Quaker colony,
as the township of Plumstead was named after him.
STEVENSON.
Arms of Stephenson or Stevenson, of Lincoln and Derby, Eng-
land, Long Island and Middletown, Pennsylvania. Gules, on a
bend argent, three leopards' faces vert, quartering argent, a cross
raguly gules for Lawrence. Crest, a garb or. Thomas Steven-
son, the second of the name of Stephen's Point, Long Island, of
a family originally Scotch but long seated in Derby, England,
married April 1672 Elizabeth, daughter and sole heiress of Cap-
tain William Lawrence, a gentleman descended from the Law-
rences of Ashton Hall, Lancaster, a family allied to the oldest
baronial families of England. Thomas Stevenson's descendants
thus quarter the Lawrence arms. Thomas, third of the name,
settled at Middletown, Bucks county. By his wife, Sarah, daugh-
ter of Governor Samuel Jennings, and widow of Edward Pen-
nington (the half brother of Gulielma Penn), Thomas Stevenson
had five children who married into the families of Field, Biles,
Stackhouse, Searles and Hughes.
WILKINSON.
Arms of Wilkinson, of Harperly House, Lanchester, Dur-
ham, England,of Rhode Island, and Wrightstown, Pennsylvania.
BUCKS COUNTY HERALDRY
569
Azure, a fesse erminois, between three unicorns passant argent.
Crest, out of a mural crown, gules, a demi-unicorn segreant
erminois, ppr. armed and maned or. Motto, Nee rege, nee
popolo, sed utroque. This family is descended from Lawrence
Wilkinson of Harperly House, Lanchester, Durham, whose son,
William, married Mary, sister of Sir John Conyers, bart, of the
ancient and noble family Conyers. Fifth in descent from him
was Colonel John Wilkinson, of Revolutionary War fame.
ARMS OK YARDLEY.
YARDLEY.
Arms of Yardley, of Yardley,
and Rushton Spencer, England,
and Yardley Bucks county, Penn-
sylvania.
Argent, on a chevron azure, three
garbs or, and a canton gules
charged with a fret of the third.
Crest, a buck courant gules, attired
or. The Yardley family, originally
allied with the Kirkbrides and the
Fields, is still represented in the
male line in Bucks county.
YATES.
Crest of Jasper Yeates, Judge of the Supreme Court of Penn-
sylvania, died 1817. An arm in armour embowed or, holding in
the hand a sword, ppr. The Yates or Yeates family of Bucks
county had numerous representatives in the colonial period. It
was an armigerous family in England but the connection between
the English and Bucks county Yates is not definitely known.
The President's Opening Address.
BY HENRY C. MERCER, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, January 25, 1916.)
For a long time it has seemed desirable, and we begin now, to
introduce at our meetings a systematic series of short verbal or
written statements by our members, or others, in the form of
evidence of the highest value and not accessible in books upon
the subject of buildings, landmarks, customs, forms of architec-
ture, utensils, etc., constituting part of our history and explaining
our society's remarkable collection.
It has become increasingly difficult to get people whether mem-
bers or not to write papers in the usual way but possibly less so
to induce our friends to tell us what they know or remember in
a few words, or in notes covering half a sheet of foolscap, some
of which are more original and valuable than many other things
that get upon our records. We must explain our great collection
and this is one of the ways in which we can do it. Subject to
the approval of the society it would be my conviction therefore
that we had better, in the future, let two of the ordinary written
papers suffice at a meeting and devote the rest of the time to these
discussions, and further that besides ordinary methods of prep-
aration we advertise these historical talks verbally beforehand at
every meeting, to take place at the meeting following, and that
we begin to edit these fragmentary contributions in a more sys-
tematic manner than we have ever done before.
OLD BAKEOVENS.
Today the discussion will give us unique notes on a subject
which is as much a part of our history as the moving of the
courthouse from Newtown to Doylestown, yet upon which the
usual books of history and such dictionaries and encyclopaedias
as the old Farmers Dictionary of Chambers or the great Reeces
Encyclopaedia of early in the last century not to speak of the
modern Webster, the modern Chambers and the Brittanica break-
down.
THE PRESIDENTS OPENING ADDRESS 571
Our discussion will i)reseiit us with notes on the size, shape,
date and construction of the ancient bread ovens, used pro1)al)ly
upon every farm in Bucks county in colonial times, and some few
of which, the last of their kind, still survive. These ovens were
of two general classes:
1. Those built inside the house, opening into the kitchen fire-
])lace through its back or jamb and either protruding outside the
house through the Ifouse wall or abutting into another room, or
2. Those built entirely outside the house, standing alone in the
yard as an outbuilding, about nine by twelve feet in size by seven
or eight feet high and furnished with a roof but also equipped or
fronted with a fireplace and chimney where the baker stood and
into which the oven door opened.
We shall learn to-day that some of these ancient ovens are still
used and that some were used a year or two ago. We will also find
out who built some of them, and how and when, and why they
fell into disuse and how they dififer from the ovens of public
bakers in our town, as now used. And we will talk to people who
have baked bread in these ovens and who will explain the whole
process. By all means let us preserve and remember all this. \\q
will not find it easily in books or anywhere else and probably
not hear it again.
An Old Bakeoven in Plumstead Township.
BY J. KIRK LEATHERMAN, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Dnylestown Meeting, January 25, 19 16.)
Having been asked by the president of our historical society
to gather information relative to the old bakeovens, I pro-
ceeded to inspect one of the best specimens to be found in Bucks
county, at the home of Christian M. Myers, on the Stover mill
property, near Pipersville, Pa.
This oven is attached to a wash house, which stands separate
and apart from the main dwelling. It is constructed of stone,
with the exception of the arch and hearth, which are made of
bricks, and it is in a good state of preservation. It has not been
used for baking purposes for at least forty years. Underneath
the oven there is an ash pit. The dimensions of the building are
five feet in depth, five and a half feet in breadth, and four and a
half feet in height.
The front opening to the oven is closed by an iron door with
iron fastenings. This door is one foot and four inches high and
one foot and three and a half inches wide. The hearth is oval
shaped, four and one half feet deep, three feet and two inches
wide, and nineteen inches high. The implements used in the
process of baking were an iron scraper with a handle of conven-
ient length to draw out the ashes and burning embers, a flat
board with a wooden handle to put the bread into the oven, and
a wooden scraper with similar handle to draw the bread out
again.
After the wood was burned up the red hot embers were scat-
tered, by the iron scraper, all over the hearth, and when the
bricks in the arch were at white heat the temperature of the oven
was right for baking. If the brick arch was not white enough
more wood was added, and when the required amount of heat
was obtained the ashes and hot embers were scraped to the front
of the oven and deposited through an opening ordinarily covered
with an iron plate, into the pit below, and the oven was further
cleansed by a swab as it was then called, being a rag fastened at
the end of a long stick similar to the mop of the present day.
AN OLD BAKEOVEN IN PLUM STEAD TOWNSHIP 573
The ashes were carefully saved in this pit till they were used to
manufacture lye for making soap.
After the ashes and embers were removed from the hearth
in the manner above described, the bread, which had been mixed
and kneaded in a dough trough, and placed in a straw basket
to rise, was then made into loaves and placed in the oven by
means of the sliding board called the peel. In an hour the bread
would be baked, and then drawn out by the wooden scraper. The
housewife always counted on taking an hour to bake the bread, if
the temperature of the oven was right.
More recently the bread was baked in pans, instead of being
baked on the bare hearth. When the pans were introduced, the
baskets were discarded, the bread being then transferred directly
from the dough trough to the ])an.
This oven was built about the year 1854, to replace an older
oven that differed in some respects from this one. The present
oven was ventilated, when the wood was burning, by partly open-
ing a small rear door, five by six inches in size. When the oven
was thoroughly heated, this door was tightly closed to retain the
heat. This oven had no other ventilating device, but the one
which it replaced had an opening extending from the rear of the
oven through the ridge of the arch to the front door, and hence
called a squirrel's tail. The ash pit underneath the oven has two
iron doors, the one in front, and just below the oven door, meas-
uring twelve inches in height and one foot and four inches in
width, and the other outdoors at the foot of the lower side wall
measuring two feet and one inch in height and four inches in
width.
After the bread was baked the remaining heat in the oven was
sometimes utilized for drying fruit, such as apples and cherries,
etc. The fruit was placed on three loose sections of a board of
the exact size and shape of the hearth. These sections were
placed in the oven separately, and when the heat vanished, they
were taken out and placed in the sun to complete the process of
drying.
I was fortunate enough to find all the above mentioned imple-
ments intact, except the straw basket, dough trough, and bread
pan, and I have brought the ones found to this meeting for the
purpose of demonstrating their use.
574 OLD DUTCH BAKEOVENS
As I understand it the baking day was a busy one for the house-
wife, as it was necessary to have the bread and pies, etc., all
ready to be placed in the oven at the same time, and all these
were made up in quantities to last at least a week.
Most of the above information was obtained through the cour-
tesy of Mr. and Mrs. Christian M. Myers. (At the conclusion
of his paper Mr. Leatherman presented the society with an oven-
peel, ash scraper and other bakeoven tools.)
Old Dutch Bakeovens.
BY MRS. EDITH M. THOMAS, QUAKERTOWN, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, January 2$, 19 16.)
The old "Dutch," German bakeovens, or "Backofen" as Ger-
mans call them; built either of brick or stone, in a separate build-
ing not far distant from the farmhouse, or at one end of the
farmhouse kitchen, are seldom if ever used by the up-to-date
housewife of the present day; in fact these old ovens are so
rarely seen as to be practically unknown to the present, younger
generation, more especially those dwelling in large cities.
I have frequently heard my grandmother affirm "Sweeter
bread than that baked on the hearth of an old Dutch oven, 'twas
impossible to procure"; and I do not think the veracity of this
statement will be questioned when informed of the fact; that very
soon after the arrival of my grandparents in a distant city, where
they purchased a house with the expectation of residing per-
manently, my grandfather complied with my grandmother's ur-
gent request, to have an oven built exactly like the one in which
she had been accustomed to bake bread at her old home on a
Bucks county farm.
The efficient housewives of our day, may be interested in the
old-time method of preparing sponge for those hearth-baked
loaves of bread. Usually the sponge for bread, was mixed in an
old-fashioned wooden dough-tray, somewhat similar in shape
and size to a small steamer trunk ; this was partly filled with
flour, the sponge or batter was mixed at night, in one end of this
tray, being surrounded by a wall of flour; home-made hop yeast
and any preferred liquid being used in connection with the flour.
OLD DUTCH BAKEOVEXS 575
The dough-tray was placed at no great distance from the open
fireplace until the following morning, when the well risen sponge
was stiffened sufficiently from the remaining wall of flour sur-
rounding it. thoroughly kneaded, then moulded into shapely
loaves, which were placed in well floured, straw baskets or "Brod
Corvels" as they were called by the Pennsylvania Germans.
In the meantime a fire of hard wood had been built on the
hearth ; when the oven was thoroughly heated and the correct
temperature f of baking, and the dough in baskets had raised suf-
ficiently the hot charred, pieces of wood were raked from the
oven, when with a primitive mop, called a swab, consisting of a
piece of cloth fastened to one end of a long pole, was
immersed in a pail of cold water, and the floor of the oven, w^as
thoroughly cleansed, ready for the well raised loaves ; the baskets
containing the sponge were quickly turned upside down, onto a
long handled, broad, wooden shovel used exclusively for the pur-
pose, and with a dexterity, acquired only by frequent practice,
the loaf was quickly transferred from the shovel to the hot oven
floor.
When the oven had been filled to it's utmost capacity with
bread, cake and pies (the Pennsylvania Germans love for pie is
proverbial) the oven door was adjusted to prevent the escape of
heat, being held in place by the handle of shovel resting against
the door, in the primitive manner in which things were done in
those days; and in a short space of time, the entire week's baking
had been accomplished; more expeditiously, than if a modern
range had been used for the purpose, and bread in old times,
especially rye loaves, baked directly on the hearth, possessed a
sweet nutty flavor, obtained in no other way.
It may be interesting to know, that these hearth-baked loaves of
bread were usually about forty-six inches in circumference, and
from three to three and one-half inches high.
The old Dutch ovens when measured inside, were usually
four and one-half feet wide five and one-half feet long, and
thirty inches high, above the solid wall built of stone, with a
heavy clay foundation.
The door opening was eighteen by twenty-one inches, and these
ovens were frequently built, within a stone and frame building
about 8 bv 12 feet.
576 AN OLD DUTCH OV^N IN NEW BRITAIN
While driving in the suburbs of Los Vegas, New Mexico
(where I was spending several weeks) I was particularly inter-
ested in the picturesque, little adobe ovens, used by the na-
tive Mexican women ; like the houses they were built of sun-
dried bricks of adobe clay, and kept in repair by an occasional
plastering of mud. They varied in height, from two to six feet,
a small oven frequently built beside a large one ; they are said
to be of Spanish origin, the Spanish term for oven is horno —
(pronounced ore-no).
Adobe ovens, used by Mexicans, at a distance resemble nothing
so much as large ant hills, which are also numerous in that coun-
try. When driving on the Mesa to Rociada, a small Mexican set-
tlement a distance of twenty-five miles from Los Vegas, noticing
the extraordinarily large ant hills, our curiosity prompted us to
halt our burros, alight, and measure one of the hills, which proved
to be exactly eighteen inches in height and two feet in circumfer-
ence.
An Old Dutch Oven in New Britain.
BY FRANCIS VON A. CABEEN, NEW BRITAIN, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, January 25, 19 16.)
We have wondered at the endurance of our colonial forebears
and the physical trials they lived through. We forget they lived
on better prepared food for their support than we their descend-
ants, do. The Staff of Life, the bread they ate, kneaded by the
fingers of their wives and baked in the old-fashioned ovens of
their times.
We, of the present day, shrinking from all manual toil, are
fed on bread kneaded by the mechanical fingers of a machine
in the large modern bakeries. While these metal hands work
regularly and automatically they lack the deft touch of our grand-
mothers.*
One can liken modern bread making to the mechanical music
of to-day when contrasted with that of the finished human per-
former. The first, while correct, lacks the soul that the latter
possesses. The same conditions exist with good bread made with
* In those early days flour was not bolted as it is now; more of the bran was left in it
which made sweeter and more nutritious bread.
AN OLD DUTCH OVEN IN NEW BRITAIN 577
the human hand. It has a quahty, a something, which the finest
bakery can not impart to its product.
Your energetic president, Henry C. Mercer, asked me to de-
scribe a Dutch bakeoven that I know of in New Britain. It is in
a house situated on the Upper State road on the west side ad-
joining Mr. Jacoby's. It was built by a Mr. Taylor about 1837,
and later passed into the hands of the Matthews family. It is
now owned by W. A. Irwin.
The oven is in the rear of the kitchen of the house. It is built
of stone and the side to the atmosphere is rounded out, making a
protuberance like the half of a cylinder, which reaches from the
ground to the eaves of the kitchen roof. From the top of the
wall a brick chimney extends above the peak of the house. At
some time there was an opening to the outside, two feet above
the ground, for withdrawing the fire of the oven, this is closed
up with masonry. This former opening, as far as we could
discern, was fourteen inches high and about eighteen inches wide.
The thickest part of this cylindrical-shaped masonry is four feet.
Upon opening the oven in the kitchen we found the back of it,
as well as the floor, was made of brick, the opening to the oven
is flush with the wall. The top and sides were lined with sheet
iron. On the sides were supports in the metal arranged to hold
four shelves. The height of the present oven is twenty-one
inches, width twenty- four and one-half inches, and depth seven-
teen inches. In the roof or top of the oven (which is of sheet
iron) there is an opening (now closed with an iron slide) located
two inches from the front, and about the middle, six inches long
by four inches wide. The oven is now connected with the chim-
ney; originally it had a lower draft but it was impossible to ascer-
tain its exact height from the floor. It now has in the front a
cast-iron frame around the oven opening into the kitchen and
from which hang two heavy cast-iron doors with prominent con-
ventional designs upon them. The metal is much thicker than
that used in stove or range constructions of the present day.
The date upon the doors, which divide the opening in half, is
1856 and above it is the manufacturers' name. Cresson, Stewart
and Peterson. This firm was the predecessor of the firm of
Stewart and Peterson, of Philadelphia. At present the oven is
not used as such. An opening above the oven has been made into
5/8 AN OLD DUTCH OVEN IN NEW BRITAIN
the chimney for the admission of a stove pipe from the kitchen
stove. Originally above the oven there had been a damper to
shut off the draft, or not, as desired from the oven when baking.
This has now been closed up in order that the stove may be used.
We beg leave to call your special attention to the thick walls
surrounding this oven, which retained the heat in them for a long
time ; the walls were the best nonconductors known at the time
they were built.
It is not a far step from these Dutch ovens to the present con-
struction of fireless cookers and thermos bottles. They, with bet-
ter and less bulky material, do what the stone walls did, /. e., re-
tain the heat for a long time. The principal is the same in the
dentist's tiny oven that enamels the tooth as in the huge oven or
heating furnace of the ten-ton steel ingot. Both must have the
best nonconducting walls that science can produce to retain the
heat generated in them for a period of time.
The careless mind will ask : "Outside of archaeology what is
the use of looking up these old ovens and minutely describing
their details?" Our answer is that from these records, some
present or future investigator, will secure ideas to improve a
modern oven.
Then we remember what the poet Coleridge said in his poem
of "The Devil's Thoughts" how a certain notorious and inquisi-
tive being did not hesitate to learn from even the meanest things.
"As he went through 'Cold-Bath-Fields' he saw
A solitary cell ;
And the Devil was pleased, for it gave him a hint
For improving his prisons in Hell."
NOTES.
We glanced through Doctor Rush's Essay On Early German
Settlers in Pennsylvania hoping he might record something about
ovens. The closest we could find was this :
"The saying of them was 'A son should always begin his improve-
ments where his father left off.' The second generation built substantial
stone houses and if possible better and larger barns than their fathers.
These houses were comfortable in winter, made so by large closed stoves
so that twice the business was done by every branch of the family in
knitting, spinning and mending farming utensils than was done in houses
where the members of the family crowded near to a common fireplace or
SQUIRREL-TAILED BAKEOVEN IN BUCKS COUNTY 579
shivered at a distance from it with hands and fingers that moved by
reason of the cold with half their usual quickness. * * * Concerning
the use of stoves by the Germans that they taught the English the use
of them. Also how to use the small wood of trees cut down which pre-
viously the English wasted."
In a letter of William Penn's we find this:
"I would have a kitchen, two larders, a wash house, a room to iron
in, a brew-house and a Milan oven for baking and stabling for twelve
horses."
Squirrel-Tailed Bakeoven in Bucks County.
BV FREDEHIC B. JAEKEL, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, January 25, 1916.)
A typical and excellently preserved bakeoven, having as its
salient feature what was commonly known as a "squirrel tail"
flue, is the one on the premises of Mrs. John Herstine at Kohl's
Grove, near Revere.
The oven is of the common outdoor, or "garden" variety, de-
tached from the house, thus necessitating in bad weather a series
of more or less rigorous expeditions in order to torture the bread
with the familiar broom splint. It was built by its present owner
some fifty or fifty-five years back, and had been in semi-weekly
use until nine years ago.
Built of stone and lined solidly with brick on edge, with its
double pitch wooden roof and whitewashed sides, performing its
faithful function on the farm for almost half a century, this old
oven really deserves a better fate than to be assigned to the dis-
mal duty of serving as a too convenient receptacle for accumu-
lated trash.
The oven proper measures on the outside seven feet in length,
six in width and four feet three inches in height. Added to its
length is a fifteen-inch stone pier rising from the ground on either
side of the oven door and supporting the chimney. A three-foot
frame overhang, built as a continuation of the stone piers in front
of the oven and serving as a modified engineer's cab for the baker,
brings the total length of the building to something more than
eleven feet.
The bottom of the half moon iron oven door, at the business
580 SQUIRREL-TAILED BAKEOVEN IN BUCKS COUNTY
end of the oven and opening into the frame addition, is thirty
inches from the ground, and what appears to be an old stove
plate has been set on top of the stone beneath it to afford a rea-
sonably level surface upon which to insert and draw the loaves.
The oven door is fifteen and one-half inches long by fourteen
inches high in the center. The oven inside is the same height
as its door, but four feet wide and possibly five long, oval in
plan and a truncated segment of a sphere in section. The floor
of the oven is brick laid flat in clay upon the stone base. The
roof and sides are brick on edge.
The curious feature about the oven is its ingeniously devised
flue, known as the "squirrel tail."
Its chimney, supported by the stone piers in front of the oven,
seems rather a ventilator for the frame overhang, for one may
stand in front of the oven door and look directly through between
oven and overhang to the sky. Inside the oven a large horizontal
cavity has been left through the brick lining, extending upward
and frontward, and terminating just at the base and inside of the
chimney ten inches above the oven door; hence the name of the
oven, for the smoke course from the oven through this horizontal
flue to the front, then curving up the chimney resembles in gen-
eral direction the tail of a squirrel as it hugs its spine, then sud-
denly twists bravely backward.
With a wood fire built directly upon the brick floor of the oven
the oven door ajar, a draft is created up through the cavity in
the roof of the oven, through the horizontal duct to the front,
outward and upward through the apparently detached chimney.
After the oven as a whole had attained the required degree of
fever — which fever, by the way, was never in those days tested
with a clinical thermometer — and after the brick lining had be-
come thoroughly hot, the opening of the "squirrel tail" flue at
the front of the oven was closed with a brick and its heat re-
tained. Surplus wood ashes and embers were scraped through
the oven door and dumped upon the ground in front.
Crowded to capacity twice a week for nearly half a century,
this old oven certainly deserves at least a clinging honeysuckle —
a crowning wreath for faithful service rendered. A large open-
ing in the wall on one side under the floor of the oven, used as
SQUIRREL-TAILED BAKEOVEN IN BUCKS COUNTY 581
an ash hole to keep ashes for making lye, now serves only as an
additional depository for rubbish.
Mrs. John Herstine of Revere, Pa., said :
I have an old brick oven on my place near Revere, in which I
often baked both bread and pies, but have not used it for the
past sixteen years. My family was a large one and required six
to eight loaves of bread twice a week ; never any rye bread, and
sometimes 13 or 14 pies twice a week. We used old chestnut
fence rails for heating the oven, the wood was allowed to burn
for about an hour, the hot charcoal was then raked evenly over
the hearth, and when the bread was ready to go in the oven, the
coal and ashes were raked out, to make the hearth perfectly
clean. I made a swab or mop by tying a cloth on the end of a
stick, this mop was cleaned with water and all the ashes wiped
out for it was necessary that the hearth be thoroughly clean as
the bread was placed ^directly on the hearth. During the fruit
season, fruit was dried in these ovens using the heat that re-
mained in them after the bread was taken out ; boards • for this
purpose were made and kept on hand, corn was also dried in this
way. Hiram Keller who lived near us had an oven built over a
fiat stone and walled up the oven with bricks, this had a squirrel
tail arrangement to allow the smoke to go up the chimney.
Mrs. William H. Slotter of Doylestown, Pa., said:
I have baked in one of these old ovens that had an opening in
the back for its draft. The ashes were scraped out on the
hearth. We were obliged to go outside to shut off the draft.
Although there was no chimney the oven, as a rule, did not create
a smoke. Occasionally some smoke would come out of the oven
door where the bread was put in. At the home of Jacob Fretz in
Bedminster township there was an old oven with the draught in
the back, this opening was used to build the fire and to rake out
the coal and ashes.
Miss Belle Van Sant of Newtown, Pa., said:
I have learned that there are quite a number of these old ovens
still remaining in Bucks county. I have visited four of them,
all of which have interesting differences. One is at Silver Lake
582 SQUIRREL-TAILED BAKEOVEN IN BUCKS COUNTY
farm, built by Thomas Janney, now owned by a Mr. Berger, of
New York. The smoke from this oven escapes through the door
and then passes up the chimney of the fireplace. The ashes and
embers are pulled out into the fireplace. Another one is in
a stone house near Newtown now owned by the Odd Fellows ;
this has a small fireplace and on the left side a hinged iron door
opening into what was apparently an oven, now walled up ; on
the right side there is another door which opens into another oven
30 inches long by 20 inches wide and 17 inches high. I have heard
of one other oven having a small door in connection with a large
one. The small oven which was in perfect condition had no open-
ing except into the fireplace.
A difl^erent style of oven from these just described can be seen
in a stone house on Sycamore street in Newtown, built by Wil-
liam Smith in 181 1, in which the oven does not open into the
chimney, but they are side by side. The door is the most unique
of any I have ever seen : the main door has a small door in its
middle, has hinges and a latch, the large door has hinges extend-
ing its whole length, with a curious latch. The oven is 4 feet 6
inches wide lined with bricks. In addition to the opening into
the room there is an opening 6 inches square leading into the
flue, this is therefore an example of an oven that has an outlet
beside the front door.
A second oven that I have examined is in the Foulke house,
built by Dr. Corson in 1828, is built entirely of bricks, it is sit-
uated in the basement kitchen, and opens into a large fireplace at
the end so that the dome of the oven does not extend beyond the
main wall of the house. The dome of the oven can be seen from
the inside. It is 5 feet 6 inches deep and about 4 feet wide, and
has no opening except into the fireplace. I have heard of 11 or 12
more ovens within a few miles of Newtown that are in good con-
dition, and a great many homes have had them torn out.
Mr. Emil Peiter of Doylestown, Pa., said:
The wooden ladle with a long handle, shown and described by
Mr. Leatherman, is a custard dipper, used to pour the custard
into the pastry which is first put to its place in the oven, the
custard is then poured into it with this long handled dipper. The
custard could not conveniently have been poured in before putting
SQUIRREL-TAILED BAKEOVEN IN BUCKS COUNTY 583
the pastry in the oven as it would sloj) out while the unbaked ])ie
was being shoved into the oven.
I use a shovel in my bakery like the one Mr. Leatherman has
exhibited as having been used at the old Dutch ovens.
I never saw an oven that did not have some flue connection,
if only a brick out of the wall which would be ample for draft.
The first so-called modern bakery at Doylestown, which re-
placed the old Dutch ovens, was built about 1840. It has been in
use ever since, and now forms part of my bakery. We use it reg-
ularly as we find it far better for baking cakes than in the new
oven which becomes too hot.
My new oven occupies a floor space 16 feet square, the walls
are 36 inches thick, the foundations 5 feet deep, all built of bricks.
Its total weight is 125 tons, in addition, to which there are two
carloads of sand piled on top. The cost of the oven was $2,000,
and it contains bricks enough to build two ordinary houses.
There is a fire chamber underneath and the ovens are heated
by means of the heat and gas passing through air-tight compart-
ments both above and below the oven. After the oven has been
heated in this way for two hours the draft is shut oft' and the
temperature runs up to 450 degrees F. ; this temperature is main-
tained for one hour, after which the oven will remain hot for
two days, and will bake bread twelve hours after the fire is ex-
tinguished.
From an archaelogical and historical point of view it is to be re-
gretted that the old Dutch bakeovens are gradually disappearing-
but the evolution of the bakery was doubtless quite as necessary
as that of other industries, and moreover these primitive ovens
could not have been multiplied fast enough to supply the needs of
our peo])le ; they served their purpose for a new country in their
day and generation.
I have referred to my bakery as being modern, and so it is as
compared with the old Dutch oven, but my bakery is far behind
the times when compared with the modern rotary oven exhibited
at Wilkes-Barre, Pa.. June, 1914, at the bakers convention.
That ingenious arrangement consisted of a series of shelves or
coaches which revolved and passed through the heat, this re-
quired about 24 minutes for each revolution. They filled them-
selves automatically with unbaked bread or pies, and deposited
38
584 SQUIRREL-TAILED BAKEOVEN IN BUCKS COUNTY
them baked at the end of 24 minutes. This automatic oven is 50
or 60 feet long. There are two trucks in front of the oven, run-
ning on a track leading to the oven door, which automatically
deposits its load at a given time, sending it in in the raw state on
one side to come out on the other side nicely and uniformly baked.
A speedometer attached to the oven register runs into the mana-
ger's or owner's bedroom, he can therefore know, even at night
lying in his bed, the number of loaves of bread that were baked
during the night time, when most of the baking is done.
Mr. E. W. Holbert of Jamison, Pa., said:
I remember as a boy carrying wood for one of these ovens, it
took about a cart load. That oven was like those described, it
had iron doors opening into the fireplace, there was no other
outlet, and the smoke had to come out of the door. This oven
was used in 1857 and 1858, how long it was used after that I do
not know. On the property of Claude Watson in Warwick town-
ship there is another of these bakeovens.
Mr. Horace T. Smith of Buckmanville, Pa., said : —
On the Lester Smith property there is a bakeoven built in 1825,
which has a 30-inch opening, the ashes are scraped out on the
floor of the hearth, which is on a line with the back wall. Under-
neath the oven door there was another door where we threw the
ashes in to cool, ashes from the hearth were also thrown in that
door, the ashes were than taken from the outside. We still have
.the old shovel that was used to place the pies on the hearth; it is
made of iron and is about 16 inches long, with a long handle.
Mr. R. Francis Rapp of Doylestown, Pa., said :
About the year 1848 I saw David Rapp, John LaFevre and
Abraham Mowrey, build a bakeoven on the David Rapp farm in
Nockamixon township, about two miles from Revere. This oven
was constructed by first building two walls of stones about two
or two and a half feet high, using clay for the joints. Pieces of
wood were laid across the top of these walls, and on top of the
wood, stones were set, bedded in clay. On top of this bed a floor
of bricks was laid and then plastered over with clay, which
formed the bottom of the oven. The side walls of the oven
chamber were then built of bricks, after which a form or center
was built up of small wood and chips, on which the arch of the
SQUIRREL-TAILED BAKEOVEN IN BUCKS COUNTY 585
oven was built. The flue or squirrel tail was opened at the back
and came up over the arch into the back of a big chimney. When
the work was completed the kindling wood forming the arch was
set on fire; this served two purposes, first, it was a convenient
way of removing it, and second it baked and hardened the clay
which had been used throughout.
Mrs. David Rapp told me about 1855, that in baking custard
pies she used a common tincup for pouring the custard in the
pastry. Nails were driven into a stick used for a long handle, to
which the tincup was attached at right angles. This served as a
convenient dipper for that purpose after the pastry had been
pushed into the hot oven with the peel.
Mr. Robert Bowlby of Cross Keys, Doylestown, Pa., said :
About 1870, Mr. Ellerton Tower built a bakeoven for my
father, on Coleman Bowlby's property in Greene county on the
Pennsylvania side of the state line nearly opposite Blacksville,
West Virginia. The oven was situated about 100 ft. from the
dwelling house. This bakeoven was about 4J/2 ft. wide by 5^ ft.
long inside, with a stone base about two feet high, undervaulted
longitudinally in the middle with bricks and stones laid in clay,
so that the lower vault rose about twelve inches from the ground.
The top of this was leveled off with stones laid in clay and then
a layer of clay four inches thick was smeared over it. When
the clay had dried, tan bark was placed upon it in an oval shaped
pile 18 inches high in the middle, sloping down to nothing on all
sides to within four inches of the margin of the foundation. On
top of the tan bark a layer of clay four inches thick mixed with
straw was placed. The draft hole was formed by placing a six
inch stove pipe vertically at the rear end on the bark pile, this
extended up through the clay crust which formed the arch.
After the oven was completed it was allowed to stand for about
half a day, the tan bark was then set on fire to burn it out and
at the same time to harden and bake the clay which formed the
upper vault for the complete oven. The bread door was about
one foot square, plastered around a wooden frame. Four jxjsts
were set in the ground on which a roof was built three or four
feet above the oven. The oven was fired with dry wood about
three feet long. The flue hole was covered up at the right time
(with a pie plate) to retain the heat in the oven. The embers were
586 SQUIRREL-TAILED BAKEOVEN IN BUCKS COUNTY
cleared out of the oven with a wooden hoe-shaped scraper. A
swab made by tying a piece of cloth to the end of a pole was used
to clean the bottom of the oven, this swab was moistened with
water for that purpose. The bread was shoved into the oven with
a wooden peel. The baker could look over the top of the oven
under the shed roof when baking. Directly underneath the bread
door there was an ash-door to the lower vault, which extended
back the full length of the oven. When the ashes were pulled
out of the upper vault, a board was placed on edge about one
foot from the wall below the bread door. The ashes that fell
down between the board and the wall were then pushed under
the lower arch and saved for making lye for boiling soap.
Other members who described ovens in their neighborhoods
were Miss Lyaura Hudson Candy and Miss Susan Gillam of
L,anghorne. Mrs. Anna Cadwallader Betts, of New Hope; Mr.
William L. Randall of Doylestown ; Mr. and Mrs. Hampton W.
Rice of Solebury ; Mrs. Henry A. James of Doylestown, and
Rev. John Baer Stoudt of Northampton, in Lehigh county.
BAKEOVENS USED BY TESUQUE INDIANS IN NEW MEXICO.
The Pueblo Indians of New Mexico use this style of bakeoven exclusively. They
are of adobe, usually 3 ft. or 4 ft. high. The opening shown is for the draft. Another
opening on opposite side near the bottom (not seen on etching) is for wood to heat
the oven and where the bread is put in after the ashes have been scraped out. In many
villages there are two tiers of houses; those on the second story have ovens built on
the roofs of the lower tier of houses.
Inscriptions on the Pottery of the Pennsylvania Germans.
BY REV. JOHN BAER STOUDT, XORTIIAMPTOX, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, January 25, 1916.)
The German immigrants to Eastern Pennsylvania, during the
eighteenth century, brought with them many of the arts and crafts
that flourished in the Rhine valleys. One of these was the making
of brown or red earthenware, and the embelHshment of it, which
consisted chiefly of tulips, birds, animals and sometimes of human
figures. Occasionally a sentiment, usually in rhyme, was added.
In ornamenting two methods were employed, both of which had
been used for centuries in their home land, vis. : slip decoration
and sgraffito.
The Pennsylvania potteries, where these wares were made,
were chiefly located in
Bucks and Montgomery
counties ; several were lo-
cated in the adjoining
counties of Lehigh and
Berks. It is likely that a
careful search might reveal
several such potteries in
the German settlements of
Lancaster and York coun-
ties. The earliest specimen
of these wares thus far dis-
covered, bears date 1733.
and the latest one bears
date 1880. If there are
any earlier examples they
are without date. Wares
with dates later than 1S45
are very scarce. An inter-
esting collection, of this ex-
ceedingly now rare ware,
is contained in the museum of the Bucks Countv Historical So-
Kx-Governor Peiinyp.ncker teaching
John Joseph Stondt, folklore
April 12, 1913.
588 POTTERY OF THE PENNSYLVANIA GERMANS
ciety at Doylestown, and the finest collection is in the Memorial
Hall Museum at Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. The private col-
lection of the late ex-Governor Samuel W. Pennypacker contains
some of the rarest examples of this now so much prized and
sought-after pottery.
Our interest to-day, however, is in the inscriptions found on
some of these wares, mostly on pie plates. These inscriptions
are frequently in rhyme and constitute an interesting chapter in
the folklore of the Pennsylvania Germans. These inscribed pie
plates were often sent to friends as gifts.
I have here more than fifty inscriptions which I will read first
in German and then give the English translations which are more
or less literal :
The earliest piece of slip decorated ware that I know of is a
barber's dish, or shaving dish; this is in possession of Mr. George
Banner of Manheim, Pa. ; on it is inscribed this sentiment and
the date 1733 :
Putz und Balvir mich Heibsch Clean and shave me nice and fine,
und fein
Das ich gefal der liebste mein. So that I may please that sweet-
1733. heart of mine. — 1733.
Another sgraffito barber's basin is inscribed :
Ech weitic nit in der welt For all the world I do not know
Mein bart is gar geselt. — 1791. why my beard is so thin. — 1791.
Mr. A. K. Hostetter, of Lancaster, has a slip decorated shaving
dish showing barber's tools — a razor, a comb, scissors and a soap
dish. These are encircled by the following inscription :
Der Man ist alls sien Pferd The man is like a horse
Der seinen Bord selber scherd. Who trims his own beard. — 1806.
1806.
Two other barbers' basins that I know of have these inscrip-
tions :
Du bist von der art You are one of the kind that has
Dar du hast drie har am bart. but three hairs on your chin.
Sibe du armen bart Lather your poor beard
Jetz must von der Schwart. For now it must come from the
hide.
A star was commonly used in the decorative art of the Pennsyl-
vania Germans, and we are therefore not surprised to find it used
POTTERY OF THE PENNSYLVANIA GERMANS 589
on their decorated earthenware. The following inscriptions are
found on two different plates. The star is in the center of each
plate and the inscriptions circle around the stars. One transla-
tion will serve for both :
In der Schissel stedt ein Stern,
Die Medger hen die Buben gern.
In der Schissel stedt ein Stern, In the dish there is a star,
Und die Medger haben die Buben And the girls like the boys,
gern.— 1823, H. E. IS. T. 1823. H. E. IS. T.
On a similar dish made three years later than the last named
is the following :
In der mid stede ein Stern, In the middle stands a star,
Was ich gleich das es ich gern. I like to eat what I enjoy.
1826. 1826.
Another sgraffito dish similar to the above pre.<ents a homely
truth in the inscription which encircles the star;
Der Stern der auf der Bottel The star that twinkles on the flask,
blickt,
Der hat schon mannichem am Has ruined the fortune of many a
sein Click verstickt. — 1846. one. — 1846.
A decorated slip dish with a star-flower in the center, contains
this legend :
Gliick order ungliick ist alle mor- Fortune or misfortune is our
gen unser friistiick. breakfast every morning.
1796, 18 August. 1796, August 18.
A very elaborately decorated sgraffito dish, made by George
Huebner, bearing date 1786, is decorated with tulips, also with a
double eagle which is taken to represent two turtle doves. The
inscription gives the name of the person for whom the dish was
made, also the initials of the maker:
Caradina Raederin ihre Schiissel, Mrs. Catharine Raeder her dish,
Aus der ehrt mit verstant, With earth and skill the potter
Macht der Haefner aller hand. makes anything.
A similar dish, to the one last referred to, is to be found in the
collection of ex-Governor Samuel W. Pennypacker, and contains
the following homely truth :
590 POTTERY OF THE PENNSYLVANIA GERMANS
He who allows himself to be
Wer sich Last straffen, corrected,
Der wirt klug werden, Will soon become wise,
Wer aber ungestraft sein will. But he who refuses to be cor-
Der bleibt ein narr. — 1791. rected, will remain a fool. — 1791.
Between the heads of a double eagle on this dish, is this
inscription :
Hier ist abegbilt ein dobelder Here is portrayed a double eagle,
adler. George Huebner.
George Hiibner.
A very fine sgraffito meat plate, undoubtedly the work of
George Muebner, decorated with tulips and a peacock, contains
in the outer circle the name of the recipient and this admonition :
Alathalena Jungin ; ihr Schiissel, Mrs. Madeline Jung her dish,
Die Schiissel ist von Ert gemacht. This dish is made of earth,
Wann sie verbricht der Hafner When it breaks the potter laughs,
lacht, Therefore take care of it.
Darum nempt sie in acht.
On the same plate in an inner circle, separated from the outer
circle by a wreath of flowers, is this inscription :
Blumen Mollen ist gemein, aber To inscribe a flower is common,
den geruch zugeben vermach but God above alone can im-
mur Gott allein. part the fragrance.
A very popular couplet in which the potter seems to have a
good opinion of himself is:
Aus der Erde mit verstand Out of earth with skill,
Macht der Hoefner aller Hand. The potter makes many a thing.
On another dish dated 1798, the above lines are preceded by an
old Gei'man proverb :
Gluck, glas and Erde Luck, glass and earth
Wie bald bricht die werke. How soon the wares are broken,
Aus der Erde mit verstand Out of earth with skill
Magt der Hoefner aller Hand. The potter makes anything.
A large and beautifully decorated flower-pot or jardinier has
this inscription encircling it near the top :
Dieser haflfen ist von ert gemacht This pot is made of earth,
LInd wann er verbrecht der hefner When it breaks the potter laughs,
lacht.
rOTTKRV OF TIIK rKXKSVLVANIA GERMANS
591
This same jardinier has the following in English only:
Michael Cope houyht of Samuel Troxel Them Flower Pott, M. C. 1828
A slip decorated meat dish, 16 inches in diameter, with a run-
ning turkey as the central hgure, contains this inscription :
Der broden steht in oven loch,
Frau geh nnd holl in doch. — 1776.
The roast is in the oven,
Wife go and take it out. — 1776.
As many of these dishes are the workmanship of apprentices,
young men unmarried, we are not surprised that cupid and his
pranks are in evidence in the decorations and inscriptions, as the
following examples will show:
Lieben und Geliebt zu werden
1st die Groste Frend auf erden,
Und so weider im Jahr 1831.
Ich bin geritten vie stund und tag
Und doch nock kim metel haben
may. — Ac 1805.
Ich bin geritten iiber berg und
dahl,
Hab metger funden iiber all.
To love and be loved
Is the greatest joy of life.
That is true in the year 1831.
I have ridden many an hour and
many a day,
And yet have found no girl.
Ac 1805.
I ha\e ridden over hill and dale,
And have found pretty girls
evervwhere.
Es nickt mich jest der wohllust
art,
Ich hal) schohn lang auf dich
gewart.
Lieber will ich ledig leben,
Als der Frau die Hosen gaben,
\'er das macht sorgen.
Im der Schisel auf dem disch,
Lustig wer noch ledig ist,
Traurich wer vesprochcn ist.
Wic der wind lieb ich geschwint.
Es ist mier ser bang meine wiester
Tochter grigt kein mann.
H. R., 1813.
I feel it now in a most tender
way.
That I have waited for you full
many a day.
Rather would I live single
Than to my wife the breeches
give,
For it brings sorrow.
In the dish on the taljle.
Merry he who yet is single,
But sad is he who is engaged.
My love is as quick (fickle) as the
wind.
I am very much afraid that my
plain daughter will find no mate.
I-i.(enry) R.(oudcbuth), 1813.
592 POTTERY OF THE PENNSYLVANIA GERMANS
Ich hab geward schone in manger I have waited already for many a
dag, day,
Und mich doch kein bub nicht And yet no fellow comes my way.
haben mag.
One of the earliest pieces, a sgraffito pie plate, from Michael
Scholl's pottery bearing date 1811, has this inscription:
Kennt ich schwimen wie ein Could I swim like a swan,
Schwan, Crow like a peacock,
Kreen wie Siickel Han, Spoon like a sparrow,
Karesiren wir ein Spatz, I would be the favorite of all
So wer ich aller Jiinter ir Schatz. maidens.
On a sgraffito dish a maiden in an old-fashioned "Dolly
Varden" gown addresses a Continental soldier thus :
Du bist mir ein lieber Man, Thou wast dear to me,
So bald ich dich gesehen hann. As soon as I beheld thee.
A sgraffito dish with red incised design on a white background
contains this homely truth :
Juferlein und rosen bleder Youth and rose petals
Vergehen wie regen weder. Fade away like a rainy day.
1802 den 22 May. May 22, 1802.
Geschreiben von P. V. M. Inscribed by P. V. M.
A sgraffito dish contains this unqualified declaration :
Alle jung frauen auf der erden All the young maidens on earth
Wolten gern zu weiber warden. Would willingly become wives.
A dish in the Metropolitan Museum of New York was evi-
dently a bridal gift :
Wie ich hab vernomen, According to what I hear
So wert is hast auf deine hichzeit I shall soon be invited to your
some. wedding.
The only biblical inscriptions thus far discovered, of which I
have knowledge, is found on a fine and very beautifully deco-
rated meat plate, 14 inches in diameter, and easily recognized as
the work of George Huebner, dated 1789. The quotation is from
Matthew, Chapter V, verse 6:
Selig sin die da hungert un durst Blessed are they that hunger and
nach der gerechtigkeit, Den thirst after righteousness, for
sie sollen satt werden. they shall be filled.
POTTERY OF THE PENNSYLVANIA GERMANS 593
The following couplet taken from the seventh stanza of the
popular hymn, "Wer mur den GoU lastz Walten," is found
inscribed on a fine large dish with slip-traced design of tulips
and birds.
Sing bet und geh aufif Gottes Sing, pray and go God's way,
wegen,
Vericht das deine nur getreu. Perform your part faithfully.
God's loving kindness and faith-
Gottes gut und true, fulness.
Die ist alle mornen neu. Are new to us every morning.
A. D. 1818. A. D. 1818.
Ver Gott vertraut hat wohl gebaut. Who trust in God, hath builded
well.
Thue nicht deine zeit so verboden, Do not thus waste your time,
Es nitzt dier nicht in dem sterben. It will not benefit you in death.
1758. 1758.
Two pieces of this quaint earthenware, now in the Pennsylvania
Museum, give us an insight into the motives that lay back of
these curious inscriptions :
Johannes Meesz, who was a member of the Lutheran Church
of Indian Field, where his ashes repose, was invited to dinner
by the Lutheran domine. Mr. Meesz expecting dinner to be
served at the customary time 12 o'clock, w'as on hand in good
time, but was kept waiting until far into the afternoon. His
patience was, however, rewarded by a fine rabbit and duck dinner,
and an order for a dozen pie plates with the inscription :
Leiber Vatter im Himmel reich Dear Father in Heaven what thou
Was du mir gibst das es ich gleich. givest me, that will I eat.
Johannes Meesz, Ao — 1812. Johannes Meesz, Ao — 1812.
Upon examining the order when it was delivered the domine
discovered that his friend had made and sent him a "baker's
dozen" (13) and that on the e.xtra plate were designed three ducks
and a rabbit, no doubt calling to mind the meats served at the
dinner. These designs were encircled by the following inscrip-
tion:
Ich war noch nie gewest I have never before seen
Wo man so spat zu mitag est. Where folks eat their dinner so
Ao im jahr 1812. late. — Ao in the year 1812.
594 POTTERY OF THE PENNSYEVANIA GERMANS
On a floral decorated sgraffito pie plate the followino; inscrip-
tion is found. It incidentally informs us that the decorating and
inscribing was done during leisure hours. The potter feels that
perhaps his drawings may not be intelligible and may be under-
stood, hence the inscription :
Es sein kein Vogel These are no birds
Es sein kein Fisch These are no fish
Es weis ken gucku was es ist No cuckoo knows what it is
Eeineblumme zuschreiben To pass the hour
Ist fur die zeit zu verdreiben. I inscribe this flower.
1793- 1793-
A sgrafhto plate made by the above named Johannes Meesz in
1805 contains as the central figure a mounted Continental soldier,
apparently intended to represent George Washington, and has,
encircling the figure, this legend :
Ich bin geritten uber berg und dal, I have ridden over hill and dale,
Hab untrei funten uber ahl. And found unfaithfulness every-
1805. where. — 1805.
On a sugar bowl is found this legend :
Zucker is der frauen fraund. Sugar is the woman's friend.
1798. 1798.
A very fine tulip dish made by Henry Dubbs in Lehigh county,
now in possession of Mrs. Rev. William J. Hinke, Auburn, N. Y.,
contains the following inscription :
Is das nicht bose frah, Is this not a cross wife,
Kumm ich hem so tzank sie oh. That begins to scold as soon as I
1813. come home. — 1813.
Other German inscriptions on earthenware that have come to
my notice are as follows :
Aufrichtig gegen jederman, True to everybody.
Vertaulich gegen wanich. Confidential to few,
Verschwiegen sein so viil mann And as reserved as possible,
kahn,
Als wer ich bein der bin ich Then one will remain what one is,
Und dasz is wahr. — Ao. 1769. And this is true. — Ao. 1769.
This dish is made of earth and
Die schissel ist von erd und don, clay,
Und du Mensch bist auch davon. And thou, oh man, art of the
Anno. 1780. same — Anno. 1780.
POTTERY OF THK PENNSYLVANIA GERMANS
595
Ich bin ein Vogel alter ding,
Dasz brod ich ess, dasz lits ich
sin. — 1792.
Alle schoene Junfern hat Gott
erschaffen,
Die sein vur die Heffner
Awer nicht viir die Pfaffen.
21 ten Ocdober Anno. 1793.
Essen ist vor leib und leben,
Trinken ist auch darneben.
1793-
Es ist kein Voglein so vergessen,
Es ruth sin stundlein noch dem
essan.
Geschehen den 20 ichten Nofem-
ber 1796.
In der Schisel steht ein Haus,
Wer mansen will der bleib draus,
Ose, west mein frau ist der best.
Jacob Funk, 1804.
Lass uns essen aus deaser Schesel,
Snetz und Speck. — 1809.
Fische, Vogel und Farneller,
Essen gem die Haffner gesellen.
Alarch 20, 1810.
Ich liebe wos fcin ist,
Wann schon nicht mein ist,
Und nur nicht werden kan,
So hab ich doch die frend Daran.
Heut is der dag dah ish nich
borgen mag,'
Wer will borgen der kom morgen.
Kan mich kein Pflaster heilen.
So wolst der mit mir eilcn
Aus dieser Jammer welt,
Ins shone Himmels zelt.
I am a little bird to every one,
\\ hose bread I eat, whose song I
sing.— 1792.
God has created all the pretty
girls,
They are for the potters.
But not for the priests.
October 21, 1793.
Eating is to make us fit.
Drinking goes right well with it.
1793.
There is not even a little bird
But rests a short hour after
dinner.
Done the 20th day of November,
1796.
In the dish there stands a house.
Who wants to pilfer shall stay out,
East or west my wife is the best.
Jacob Funk, 1804.
Let us eat scnitz (dried apples)
and speck (bacon) out of this
dish. — 1809.
Fish, foul and trout,
The potter's journeymen enjoy.
March 20, 1810.
I love what is fine.
Even though it is not mine.
And doubtless never can be.
Still it brings pleasure to me.
This is the day on which I will
not lend.
Who desires to borrow may call
to-morrow.
If then no plaster can cure me,
Then that Thou would speedily
take me
Out of this world of woe.
Into the beautiful tent of heaven.
596 POTTKRY 01^ THE PENNSYI^VANIA GERMANS
Fisch und Fogel gehoren nicht Fish and foul are not for the rude
den Growen Flogel, churls,
Aber Fogel, Fisch, gehoren den But foul and fish belong on the
Herren auf den dish. table of gentlemen.
Alles verfressen und versoffen To consume everything in glut-
ver meinen end macht ein tony and intemperance, enables
richtig testament. me to make a legal will.
Wer etwas will verscheigen haben. He who'd have a secret kept,
Der derf es seiner frau nicht Dare not tell it to his wife,
sagen.
Borgen macht sorgen. To borrow is to sorrow.
Only a iew of these plates with English inscriptions have come
to the attention of collectors. One of these is the product of the
Weaver pottery of Nockamixon township, Bucks county. It is
a sgraffito plate ornamented with the figure of a turtle-dove and
tulips, and inscribed :
When this you see, remember me.
Abraham Weaver, Nockamixon Township, Bucks County.
May 4, 1828.
Another plate with heart, dove and tulip decoration contains
this legend :
This dish and heart shall never part. — 1773.
Two more English inscriptions claim our attention. They are
found on dishes that probably came from the Smith pottery in
Wrightstown township, Bucks county. The inscriptions are:
Here is health to the man who has a half joe.
And has the heart to lend it.
Let the dogs take him who has a whole joe,
And hasn't the heart to spend it.
Not be ashamed I advise thee most,
If one learneth thee what thou not knowest.
The ingenious is accounted brave.
But the clumsey none desire to have. — 1762.
Samuel Troxel, a potter residing in Upper Hanover township,
Montgomery county, was, if we may judge from the products of
his kiln, a great admirer of Andrew Jackson.
POTTERY OF THE PENNSYLVANIA GERMANS 597
One of his dishes 1 1 inches in diameter has an American eagle
inscribed in the center, and above it in a panel "Liberty for
Jackson, 1833." Around the edge of the dish there is a German
inscription.
Another Troxel dish also has a spread eagle in the center
clasping two tulips, above which is inscribed "Liberty for L A.
Jackson." Around the edge is inscribed a doggerel couplet and
"Samuel Troxel: Potter: 1828." On the back is inscribed:
Samuel Troxel, Potter
October the 6th. A. D. 1828
in the year of our Lord
I2y2 cent
Another Samuel Troxel dish has the following etched on its
back :
Samuel Troxel
Potter to Upper Hanuber Township
and State of Pennsylvania
March the 4th A. D. 1830
in the year of our Lord
Canst 12J/2 Cent, and so for —
Still another Troxel dish contains the inscription :
Jackson and Liberty
Two other political inscriptions have come to my notice :
Hurrah for Heister Clymer (a Bucks county dish)
and
Hurrah for Grover Cleveland
These German inscriptions lose a great deal of their significance
and charm in being translated. They tell us of the life and char-
acter of the Pennsylvania Germans. They were part of their
thinking, their feeling, and they give one an insight into their life.
These plates are now very scarce and valuable, and are seldom
found outside of the cabinets of collectors. If any of you know
where there are any of these old plates, I will take it as a favor if
you will copy the inscriptions and send them to me. I am inter-
ested in all the inscriptions of the Pennsylvania Germans, whether
on their tombstones or in their Bibles, or over the doorways of
their houses or of their churches. My great-great-great-grand-
father's Bible had this inscription : "Das Buch gehort Daniel
598 POTTERY OF THE PENNSYLVANIA GERMANS
Staudt, wer es sthelt der is ein Dieb, und wer es wieder zuriick
bringt der ist ein himmels Kind." (This book belongs to Daniel
Stoudt, he who steals it is a thief, but he who brings it back
again is a child of Heaven.)
Miss Laura H. Candy of Langhorne said : I notice that these
inscriptions are all partial to men, many of them having women
as their theme. The sentiments are so different in style as to
suggest that they might have been made to order.
Rev. Stoudt replied : As the plates were all made by the men,
it would appear that these tender sentiments, as well as the criti-
cisms were all on the part of the men. I do not believe that they
had any thought of taking any advantage of their position, but
please don't overlook the fact that some of these plates were
real love gifts. And also bear in mind that most of these potters
lived 100 years ago, and that the making of them is one of the
lost or forgotten arts, and it is now too late for twentieth century
women to get back at them.
These dishes were not made to order, except in rare cases,
some were sent as valentines, occasionally one may have been
sent as a rebuke. They are the product of many potteries, the
majority of which were in Bucks county. Many of them were
inscribed by young apprentices during their spare moments. The
most celebrated potter of later years was David Spinner (born
May 16, 1758, died Nov. 16, 181 1), of Spinnertown, in Bucks
county. The decoration on his plates are quite artistic and they
now command very high prices.
Mr. Henry C. Mercer said : I hardly know how we can suffi-
ciently thank Rev. Stoudt for this highly interesting and original
contribution to our history which seems to convey the impression
of walking in the woods among the wild flowers and birds. Many
of these pictured dishes have no inscriptions, but many of them
have, and some are much more artistically designed and colored
than others, but from a potter's point of view none in workman-
ship or artistic excellence justify the exhorbitant prices now set
upon them by collectors since Dr. Barber called attention to them
about twenty-five years ago. Many plates, decorated and made
in this same manner, are to be found in Germany and Switzerland
and will be brought over here, as if of American make, by dealers.
POTTERY OF Till; PENNSYLVANIA GERMANS 599
to cheat collectors. All of them are interesting, and whoever
owns the few remaining specimens, which I hear exist in
Quakertown and elsewhere in the county, ought to send the
inscriptions to Rev. Stoudt so that he may embody them in his
paper, and then it would be a gracious act if they would at least
loan the plates to our museum, so that a few may remain in their
native county and not all leave us forever for the sake of a few
dollars.
Two plates which we formerly had in our collection have dis-
appeared. I found them in the family of the descendants of the
Spinners, but unfortunately one of our friends, coming here and
learning the fact, that they were loaned and not given to us,
manij)ulated matters so as to induce the ladies who owned them
to ask for their return. And I had to send them back to
Spinnerstown, after which the person in question bought them,
so that they are now in a very well known collection in Philadel-
phia ; not lost or broken, but permanently out of Bucks county.
As seen also in several inscriptions on our stoveplates which
embody Bible teachings in rhyme, the tendency to set thoughts,
maxims and reflections into rhymed verses seems to belong rather
to the Germans than to other people. If these plates had been
made by English potters there would probably have been very
few inscriptions. Rev. Stoudt's paper thrilling us with its picture
of the past seen from a new point of view, also illustrates the
value of such a collection as ours which is based upon an inves-
tigation, not of public documents, political records, and war
memorials, but upon the heretofore unnoticed history of tools,
implements and utensils. Goethe says :
"Only grasp deeply into human life,
And where thou reachest
There it is interesting."
. 39
Lehigh and Delaware Division Canal Notes.
BY R. FRANCIS RAPP, DOYLESTOWN, PA.*
(Doylestown Meeting, June 17, 19 16.)
The Lehigh canal from Mauch Chunk to Easton was opened
for navigation, June 1829, when boats were passed through
the canal to Easton ; went to New York by the way of the Dela-
ware river, entering the Delaware and Raritan canal at Borden-
town. Three years later, in 1832, the Delaware Division canal
was open from Easton to Bristol a distance of sixty miles. It was
however badly constructed, and it took several years before boats
of large capacity could pass through. The season of 1834 began
with boats carrying 40 to 45 tons, and ended with 60 tons. Eight
miles of the Delaware Division canal is in Northampton county
and about fifty-two miles of it through Bucks county. In 1854 the
outlet lock was built at New Hope and boats were then taken
across the Delaware river at Lambertville, N. J., and then sent
down the feeder of the Delaware and Raritan canal to Trenton,
N. J., and on to New Brunswick then via Raritan river to New
York. Before the 1862 freshet there were about 2,700 to 3,000
boats on the canal carrying coal and lumber. Canal boats are
about eighty-seven feet six inches long, ten feet six inches wide
(io'6" wide), and seven feet high midship with a shear of six
inches bow and stern and carry about 100 tons of coal on a load.
The No. 6 built in my boatyard at Erwinna in the year 1872 was
loaded at Mauch Chunk and passed the weighlock August 12,
1872, with one hundred and twelve (112). tons of coal to New
York. This being the largest record tonnage carried by any one
boat through the canals from Mauch Chunk to New York. The
same boat on September 30th, in the same year, carried one hun-
dred and ten tons (no) to New York, making a record that has
never been broken, by an other boat.
In my younger days the Durham boats were floated all the
way down the river from Belvidere to Philadelphia, loaded with
* Mr. Rapp first began to build boats at Erwinna in 1858, and continued in that
business with some interruptions, and with different partners until 1882. Since 1882
he has worked at millwrighting.
LEHIGH AND DELAWARE CANAL NOTES 6oi
flour, grain, whiskey and other cargo, after which they were
poled back up the river. When the wind was favorable sails were
used, and at many places along the shores they could pull the
boat along by bushes, and limbs of trees, at the dams there were
sluices through which the boats were pulled up stream by means
of a windlass.
After the Lehigh canal was built, a smaller boat, called
"Flicker" or float was used, these were let out of the canal at an
outlet lock at Easton into the Delaware river and floated down as
far as Bordentown. where they entered the Delaware and Rari-
tan canal by an inlet lock and proceeded thence to New York.
This could only happen at reasonably high water and was impos-
sible at low water. I do not remember whether these boats were
ever brought back or not, but recollect seeing an abandoned one at
Freemansburg on the Lehigh river, about eight miles above East-
on. These so called "Flicker" boats were only used before the
building of the Delaware Division canal, after which the present
day canal boats were used and the "Flickers" given up.
The old locks were 1 1 feet wide and the gates constructed with
a heavy turn style balance beam unlike the later ones which are
sometimes of double width, and the gates of which sometimes
open under water called the fall gate ; this gate is always at the
up-stream end of the lock.
The locks were managed by lock-tenders, who lived in houses
owned by the company at the locks. They were paid so much
a year and extra for working at canal repairing in the winter
time when the water was out of the canal.
Muskrats gave a good deal of trouble by burrowing into the
banks, thereby causing leaks, a bounty was offered by the canal
company for the scalps. I remember shooting six muskrats out
of seven barrels of a revolver at Taylorsville in the winter time,
when carried across the mud and ice by a man who was hunting
muskrats for the company, and who stirred out the animals from
a hole in the bank under the ice. On visiting the Newtown shoot-
ing match next day, the same man told me that he had received
$1.50 for the scalps and had sold the skins for ten cents a piece.
The bank of the canal opposite the tow-path was called the
berm bank. As a rule two mules were used to pull the boats, but
sometimes a horse and a mule, and sometimes but rarely a horse
6o2 LEHIGH AND DELAWARE CANAL NOTES
only; on the so-called Red line of boats three or four mules were
used. These boats were employed for carrying pig iron down
the canal and store goods up before the Belvidere, Delaware
railroad was built, and continued to operate in a limited way for
many years thereafter.
When two men ran the boat they would take turns driving the
mules, changing places by jumping on and off the boat from a
bridge and oft' a loaded boat with a pole. Empty boats were
steered against the banks for this purpose. Sometimes two boys
were employed by the captain, in which case the latter rarely
walked the tow-path.
The boats could run all night up to about 1850 to 1855, after
which they stopped at 10 o'clock and started in the morning at
four. In the earlier days when 3,000 boats ran on the canal, a
boat might have 10 or 12 others ahead in entering a lock causing
much delay. This was often the condition at single locks, which
could pass through but one boat at a time, whereas double locks
passed through two at a time. The lock at Durham is a single
one, and there was always great congestion there, as the "Nar-
rowsville" lock below and the "Ground Hog" lock above are both
double locks. The boatmen blew horns to signal the locks, these
were made of tin, some of them were straight and some curved
like a cornet, and sometimes they blew bugles, which a family
named Keener was celebrated for playing. When these instru-
ments echoed through the mountains of the upper Lehigh canal,
people said, "Keener's coming." Conch horns were also used
then as they are now.
The boatmen often made merry in the evening with fiddles.
Before the Lehigh canal above White Haven was washed away
in 1862, there were frequent places where the boats were locked
out into the river — in fact about every other lock was intercepted
by a river dam. This is what is known as a slack water canal.
Often the empty boats skimmed so closely under the bridges that
a man could scarcely pass through, even when lying down and
they were frequently pushed overboard. At such bridges the
tiller handle had to be taken off.
Freshets did immense damage to the canals, they washed out
long reaches of canal and often destroyed aqueducts which had
to be rebuilt at great expense.
LEHIGH AND DELAWARE CANAL NOTES 603
Boats were usually built in two sections, called "hinge boats."
but sometimes single, called "stitif boats." Boats were built at va-
rious points along the canal. In the early days ten plate stoves
were used for cooking. On lumber boats wood stoves were used
in the cabin, but not on deck, as the deck was loaded with boards.
Other boats usually had furnaces made of sheet iron with a grate ;
the cooking was done by placing the pans, coffee pots, etc.. on top
of these cylindrical stoves. These furnaces were in the middle
of the boat near the hinges and in case of rain an umbrella was
held over them. The steersman, while cooking, had to run from
the cabin, to the stove, back and forth to the rudder, and set the
table on the cabin deck, while the other man or boy was on the
tow-path, after which he took the tow-path and the other man
came on board and ate his dinner, the boat never stopping.
Poles were used with the following names : "Chain Dam
pole" for pulling across Chain Dam at Island Park or in deep
water, "bow pole," "stern pole" and "hook pole," the latter for
hooking — generally used as a boat-hook.
The pumps were first made of wood, placed permanently in
the middle, later of tin, to be inserted at various parts, either in
the bow, stern or amidship, through holes in the deck penetrating
down to the bottom called pump holes. Water for drinking was
obtained at the locks and was kept in a bucket in the cabin. Canal
water for washing off the boat was dipped in a bucket by means
of a rope.
The company's stables were along the canal near the locks or
on long levels often with store attached, where groceries were
sold. You paid fifteen cents for hay, enough for one mule, or
horse, and twenty-five cents for two. Xo liquor was sold unless
secretly, but at one time a beverage called "sap" was sold at locks
and canal stores. The mules were harnessed tandem, the har-
ness lacked the breechings of ordinary harness, while one
of the peculiarities was the spreader which kept the traces spread
between the first and second mule to protect their legs from
chafing. The first mule immediately attached to the tow line was
harnessed to a cross stick called a stretcher.
The boatmen tried to get home, if possible, in the winter. Some
rough characters worked on the boats in the early days. Fights
took place nearly every day at the locks and at the tie-up places.
6o4 LEHIGH AND DELAWARE CANAL NOTES
Quarreling was often occasioned by one boatman stealing the
locking turn of another, for instance while the crew of one boat
slept another boat might pass by and take his place, after which
a dispute and often a fight resulted.
In the 1862 freshet many canal boats were lost, many were
washed out on river islands, some in fields and lay there for
years rotting. The pumpkin freshet so called was before 1862.
Hay stacks, chicken-houses with chickens, hog-pens with hogs,
and cows floated down the river.
The cobble stones (boulders) lifted by cobble forks were
gathered along the shores and in the river bottom, thrown into
flat boats from which they were wheeled or hauled up the river
banks and loaded into canal boats to be taken down for paving
the streets of Philadelphia. At Monroe there was a small incline
railway drawn by a horse, used for unloading these flats, owned
by Isaac Weaver about 1847.
On the bow of the boat against a board hung the "night
hawker," a lantern about 12 inches square with glass on three
sides at first burning camphine and later kerosene.
The extension of the Lehigh canal (mostly slack water) be-
tween White Haven and Mauch Chunk was not opened until
1838, the distance is about 25 miles, with a fall of 642 feet; this
required 29 locks ranging from 15 feet to 30 feet deep. A great
many boats went to White Haven, Hickory Run and other places
to load lumber. The dams on this extension were all swept away
by the floods of June 5, 1862, and were not rebuilt. Since then
the head of the Lehigh canal is at Mauch Chunk, as it was prior
to 1838. Some of the dams on that section were known to the
boatmen as "Ox Bow," "Turn Hole," "Hetchel Tooth," "Two
Mile," "Penn Haven," "Barn Door," ("Barn Door" lock was
about five miles above Penn Haven) "Dam Four" and "Mud
Run."
The Lehigh canal between Mauch Chunk and Easton is about
47 miles long, ten of which is slack water. The fall is 360 feet
requiring 47 locks, 6 guard locks and 8 dams. The dam at
East Mauch Chunk where the boats load coal is known as "Cat
Fish Pond," Swartz's dam at Mauch Chunk comes next, then in
order come "Parryville," "Three Mile" "Slatington," "Hoken-
dauqua," "Allentown," "Chain Dam," (at Island Park 2^/2 miles
LEHIGH AND DELAWARK CANAL NOTES
605
above Easton), and last the "Easton" dam which forms the basin
for feeding the Delaware Division canal.
There is no slack water navigation on the Delaware Division
.canal which is about 60 miles long between Easton and Bristol.
The fall is about 164 feet. The canal is divided into levels with
locks in the following order: At Easton there is a weigh lock,
then comes the five mile level and the "Ground Hog" lock ; four
mile level to the Durham lock ; three-mile level to the Narrows-
ville lock; six-mile level to the Lodi lock; two-mile level to the
Frenchtown lock ; four-mile level to the Smithtown lock ; one and
one-half mile level to the Lumberville lock ; seven miles to the
four New Hope locks. At New Hope there is also an outlet
lock into the Delaware river for boats destined for the Raritan
canal. There is also a water wheel in the Delaware river to lift
water into the canal to supply water for navigation, this is neces-
sary as the loss by seepage and lockage does not leave enough to
supply the canal below New Hope. After New Hope comes the
nine-mile and the one and one-half mile levels, then the two-mile
level to Yardley lock ; eleven mile-level to near Tullytown ; and
then the two-mile level to Bristol where the boats are passed
CANAl, liOATS Al 1, f M li EK V ILLE. Bl'CKS COVNTV, PA.
As Itfl after one of tlu- (lo(«ls in Ujc Delaware river.
6o6 stove;plate hunting
through the outlet lock into the Delaware river and towed by
steam tugs to their destination.
In the earlier days the Lehigh company owned three side wheel
steam boats, which were used from the outlet lock at Bristol for
towing canal boats to Philadelphia, and other tide points, each one
of these could pull twenty boats in strings of three side by side.
These boats were named the "Lehigh," "Herald." and "Rock-
land;" the latter was afterwards rebuilt and called the "Dela-
ware."
Above Tullytown is a swamp caused by a leak in the canal,
called the "Devil's Half Acre," where it was said to "spook."
Stoveplate Hunting.
BY A. H. RICE, BETHLEHEM, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, June 17, 19 16.)
In the summer of 1914, A. D. Mixsell called at my store in
Bethlehem and asked me to try and find twelve stoveplates for
him, which he wanted to use as panels in his library. I did not
know what they were, but Mr. Mixsell heard of them from M.
C. Luckenbach, of Bethlehem, and B. F. Fackenthal, Jr., of Rieg-
elsville. I soon found one, an end plate of a six-plate stove,
dated 1764. A few days afterward I found a fine plate, "The
Temptation of Joseph." Mr. Mixsell was surprised and told me
I would not be able to find another that year. The picture and
inscription, was translated for me by a neighbor. It was some-
thing new and fascinating to me and therefore I made special ef-
forts to fill Mr. Mixsell's order.
My first important trip was to Springtown and Durham, thence
along the Delaware river to Milford, and Frenchtown, N. J.,
thence across country to Croton, where I found two fine Prus-
sian Grenadier plates which we thought were Revolutionary
soldiers. G. W. EUicott, who sold them to me, gave me the ad-
dress of a farmer at Lebanon, N. J., who had four or five such
plates in his yard. I started at once for Lebanon, N. J., but was
caught in a heavy thunder storm at Clinton, and having my two
sons with me, Harry, aged 2, and Edward, aged 4 years, I had to
abandon the trip.
STOVEPLATE HUNTING 607
Several days later I started again for Lebanon and when I
came to the yard of the farmhouse a complete stove the "Dance
of Death," (No. 234 in Dr. Mercer's Bible in Iron) stood be-
side the pump with a wash basin on top. I had to leave disap-
pointed as I could not buy it. But I did not give up, and after
several more attempts succeeded, loaded the stove at 7 p. m. and
reached home at midnight.
The day I found the "Dance of Death" stove I found the
"Salutation" (88B and 88C) which I bought; and another "Salu-
tation" which I could not buy until a year later. A front plate
under a chimney in a blacksmith shop could not be bought and I
suppose is still there. I tried this territory many times after-
ward but did not find any other plates, however, I soon found the
remainder of the plates wanted by Mr. Mixsell.
In September 1914, Dr. Mercer's book on stoveplates "The
Bible in Iron" was issued. It was of great value to me in collect-
ing, and as I had filled Mr. Mixsell's order, I gladly promised
to give Dr. Mercer the first opportunity of buying any plates,
not in his collection, that I might find. Before winter I found
19 additional, including four described in Dr. Mercer's book
(Nos. 01, 02, 03 and 235) and one not in his book z'ic: the front
plate to the "Four Horsemen" stove dated 1745.
During the winter I planned dift'erent ways to resume the work
of hunting stoveplates in the spring.
I was greatly aided by the information contained in Dr. Mer-
cer's book. I thought that I should he able to get 100 plates dur-
ing the summer. Most of the plates which I found were walled
in bakeovens and most of them from Bucks and Montgomery
counties. I found a few plates while enroute to visit Dr. Mercer
at Doylestown. I went by way of the Delaware river road, the
Pleasant valley road and the Quakertown road. These roads run
north and south through Bucks county, whereas the other plates
I had found were along roads running east and west. I then
tried the cross roads and when I came to Hiram Knecht's home-
stead in Sleifers Valley, he said they had square stones in the fire-
place. When I saw them I told him the plates were iron and had
pictures and the date on the lower sides. The smooth sides were
up. He was only too anxious to see if this was the case and
when we took them up with end plate in bakeoven we had the
6o8 stovepIvATe; hunting
complete "Judge not" of 1756 stove. I promised to concrete the
fireplace which I did several days later. I learned that I must
look for them in houses built before 1820, on homesteads before
about 1770 and with information of old homesteads from Mr.
Knecht and John Ruch who lived near by, I found two complete
five-plate stoves, nearly 100 plates, and 3 Franklin stoves in this
district, from Durham, Springfield, Seifer's Valley Pleasant Val-
ley to Richlandtown. One district was from Raubsville, Saucon
Church, Hellertown, Seidersville, Friedensville to Limeport. An-
other from Revere, Haycock, Applebachsville to Quakertown.
While working in this district William B. Montague of Norris-
town, spent several weeks with me hunting for historical infor-
mation of stoveplates and pottery and we had a very pleasant
and exciting time. I was told of a. wall stove having been taken
out of the Rev. Dr. A. R. Home homestead near Pleasant Hill
several years ago. The house being unoccupied I could not get
in. But one afternoon Mr. Montague opened a shutter and after
we got in found the fireplace in the middle and the jamb stove
hole still open. So here was a new way and I hunted for houses
with chimneys in the middle.
The next one I tried was east of Pleasant Hill on the farm of
Edwin T. Frankenfield. This was a two-story loghouse with
fireplace in the middle. It was used as a storehouse and to
open the doors of the fireplace we had to take away the farm im-
plements, but there was no jamb stove hole and no plates or fire-
backs were found, and we were about leaving when I asked Mr.
Frankenfield if he would let me dig in the bottom. When I got
down about ten or twelve inches through the loose chimney dirt I
found one and when I brought it out it was a "Wheel of Fortune,
1726." Then I dug out the whole fireplace and found the top and
bottom plate, but no side plate. We hunted in the large stone
dwelling house but could not find the sides.
The next was south of Pleasant Hill on the farm of Preston
Snell, it was a large two-story stone house with fireplace in the
middle and when I opened the doors the jamb stove hole was
there and when I lifted the oilcloth from the hearth found three
plates, one left, one right and the end plate "Despise Not Old
Age."
I was told of very old loghouses west of Quakertown and
STOVEPLATE HUNTING 609
Trumbauersville. I, therefore spent about three weeks in that
locality as far down as Telford, all over the mountain at Fin-
land and Spinnerstown, explored a lot of old log and stone houses
with chimneys in the middle but not one of them had a jamb stove
hole or even a fragment of a fireback. I found a few plates, but
they were all in old stone houses, so I still knew very little how
and in what kind of houses they were used. But in every locality
where they had been discarded many years ago, they put them
on the floor of the fireplace, used them as firebacks, walled them
in bakeovens and thrust them in horizontally to close chimneys in
large old houses that had open fireplaces in almost every room,
using the fireplaces as small closets. Those found in yards were
thrown out when old houses were remodeled. I am positive that
they were not prized as relics, as many of them found in fireplaces
had the pictures turned to the wall and the plain surface for the
hearths. I found very few plates near the old furnaces and
forges. They must have been remelted when the change came
for ten-plate stoves.
I started on a new plan now. I decided to follow the roads
where the stoves may have been transported in olden times. I
followed the Durham boats to Belvidere and found several
"Dance of Death" plates, on the Pennsylvania side and several
near their old landing place at Martins Creek. Not far from
the old warehouse, still standing, and landing place at Foul Rift
I found a few tops and bottoms but nothing more.
Then I tried the roads from the Pleasant \'alley, Bucks county
district to Oley X'alley, and Reading in Berks county to Potts-
town in Montgomery county ; none of the few plates found on
this trip were made at Durham furnace. Is it possible that they
may have loaned moulds to Durham furnace.
In August I went to Lebanon, N. J., again for the other "Salu-
tation" plate for Dr. Mercer and it took a long time to persuade
the owner to part with it. Next morning I went from Lebanon
to Oxford furnace where I was told there was a fireback in the
stone house belonging to the furnace. I did not even find a
fragment from Lebanon to Oxford furnace, a distance of about
12 miles, where I canvassed almost every house. At Oxford
furnace I saw Mr. Valentine, superintendent of the furnace com-
pany, who was very much interested. I showed the "Salutation"
6lO STOVEPLATE HUNTING
plate and he told me a friend had the "Prussian Grenadier" plate,
the first he knew of them. The firebacks in the stone mansion
now occupied by Mr. Valentine were taken out before he came
there. He showed me the old charcoal furnace, part of which
is still standing but nothing is known of the old records.
From Oxford furnace I followed the road via Little Oxford
and Belvidere, to Phillipsburg for home. At Roxburg I found
a plain undecorated side and top plate with bolt notches on sides,
the first of that kind found.
Last fall I found two complete stoves in a large stone farm-
house at Bingen, Pa., in two different fireplaces, both having five
plates and both S. and F. 1756. In another home near Pleasant
Hill, Bucks county. I found eight plates on the floor of a fireplace
and while my son took them out I walked across a field to the
neighbor's house and found three there.
On my last trip November 20, 191 5, I found four plates in one
fireplace at Leithsville, one end "Abraham and Isaac," one end
"Elijah and Ravens," one right side, one left side "Pharasee and
Publican." I had now found and bought in a period of seven
months 167 plates for jamb and six-plate stoves and new frag-
ments, 10 complete jamb stoves and 3 Franklin stoves, traveling
about two days a week in my motor car.
I had many amusing and exciting experiences in collecting.
I had to be very careful in approaching owners, I knew that if
I could not persuade them to let me examine their fireplaces I
would miss many a plate. Almost all large old fireplaces are used
as storage for shoes, clothing, buckets, etc. Very few house-
wives will let you explore them. But I soon noticed at a number
of places they called my attention to other objects or to an out-
side bakeoven and in the meanwhile they quickly straightened
fireplace and then gave me the privilege of exploring them. I
was always careful afterwards to give enough time and oppor-
tunity to put things in shape. When I found a very promising
house and after trying all kinds of ways to get in without success
I started to explain Colonial life, how the first settler who built
the homestead had to contend with Indians and wild animals, and
of the hardships they had to endure, of their home-made clothing
and farming tools and then their first stoves, and being very sav-
ing the plates were still in that fireplace. That would let me in
STOVKPLATE HUNTING 6l I
that house and if any plates were there I could tell at a t^lance
whether they were 5-6 or lo-plate stoves and what I would pay
for them and when taken up those folks were never so surprised
in their life. If none were found I could nearly always show
them where they had been by the marks.
At one farmhouse near Bethlehem they told me there was an
iron plate in the fireplace but not the right kind — that another col-
lector examined it last week.
I looked at the plate which was used as fireback and offered
him $1 for it. He said if I would pay him the $i before I loos-
ened it I could have it. He thought I was wrong and would not
take it then. It was a Batsto furnace six-plate and in fine con-
dition. Ofttimes when not sure of plate I would try to make a
small opening under the plate, and that way I could feel whether
it was a top or bottom or a decorated plate. In this way I found
a fragment in bakeoven which is in Dr. Mercer's collection, a
new one and is a puzzle to translate.
Different styles of building in different colonial settlements,
different ways of using the stoves, the great changes made since
then, only very few^ houses left that had them, makes collecting
very difficult, and leaves no sure method. But the fascination,
the astonishment and excitement of the owners, of locating, un-
earthing and cleaning them, to imagine the associations and mys-
teries, to admire the old art of the makers, and translate the
Biblical inscriptions, and adding one more new one to Dr. Mer-
cer's collection, well repays all difficulties.
The Bowie and Other Knives.
BY DR. HENRY C. MERCER, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, June 17, 1916.)
The next paper on the program, The History of the Bowie
Knife, ought to be a valuable addition to our records and should
interest not only us, but the general American public. It has
been written for us by a direct descendant of the knife's inventor,
namely Miss Lucy Leigh Bowie of Washington, D. C, in whose
regretted absence the paper will be read by A. Haller Gross, Esq.
The knife with a blade about ten inches long and one and a
half inches wide, furnished with a guard and carried in a sheath,
therefore not a clasp knife, seems to have passed through several
changes since Col. James Bowie invented it about 1825 at Opel-
ousas, Louisiana. It has appeared with a single and later with a
double edge. Though never without a guard, the guard at first
appears as a half guard, that is, extending only over one side, of
the cutting edge of the blade. The blade never perfectly straight,
or with its point in the middle like a dagger yet always with a
sharp point, has been sometimes long and sometimes short. It
has shifted on the handle and has generally been scalloped in the
style of old Spanish and Tyrolese case knives on one side of the
point so as to enable it to stab as well as cut.
It has been hammered out of old files and pieces of steel by
country blacksmiths and made with variations by cutlers in
Louisiana and Philadelphia in the 1830's. As a much talked-of
weapon it has followed the adventurer down the Mississippi, pro-
truded from the boot of the "Arkansas Traveler." fought its way
into Texas, drawn blood in Kansas and Missouri and armed the
"Forty-niner" in California. It has crossed the Atlantic to be
copied by the cutlers of Sheffield as a hunters master weapon,
stamped with such inscriptions as "Arkansas Toothpick" or
"Hunters' Companion" (See illustration Fig. D) until the in-
vention of the Colts revolver superceding it, drove it out of use
in the sixties and seventies. Direct inquiry by Mr. F. K. Swain in
January, 1917 showed that there were no Bowie knives on exhi-
THE BOWIE AND OTHER KNIVES
613
bition at the State Museums at Raleigh. N. C. Charleston, S. C,
Montgomery. Alabama, or in the Cabildo in New Orleans, or on
sale at most of the junk and curiosity stores in New Orleans,
Mobile, Natchez, or Baton Rouge and that the name of Searles
the cutler had been forgotten in the latter place.
DAGt.ER AND BOWIE KNIVES
(A) Fine Spanish dagger, probably of the i6th century, obtained by Rev. \V. E. Dow
in Cuba about 1900. Size 17 in. long; blade }i in. wide. Museum No. 14,364.
(R) Small dagger found on the battle-fleld of Morris Island at Charleston, S. C. Ob-
tained by Frank K. Swain from a dealer in Charleston, S. C, in July, 1917. Museum
No. 11,313.
(C) Military Bowie knife of civil-war type and probably American make, with iron
scabbard. Obtained on the battle-field of Fair Oakes. Presented in 1909 by F^dmund A.
Wallazz of the 104th Reg. Pa. Vol. Mu.seum No. 2,114.
(D) Bowie knife with leather .scabbard, made (probably about 1880) by Wostenholm
of Sheffield, England. Marked "The Hunter's Companion." Bought from a dealer in
I,ancaster, Pa., in 1916 by Dr. Henry C. Mercer. Museum No. 6,542.
The Bowie knife came into fashion as a duelist's weapon and
seems to have been made to fill the double requirements of cutting
6l4 THE BOWIE AND OTHER KNIVES
up dead animals and fighting men at a time when two weapons,
then existing in Louisiana, instead of one, had served these pur-
poses. The first was the Spanish dagger with its comparatively
thick narrow blade which would stab but not cut, and the second
the old butcherknife, which would cut rather than stab and which
lacked a guard, so that its blade could cut the fighter's hand that
slipped upon it.
The three points about the Bowie knife are, (a) the guard, (b)
the broad flat blade for cutting and ( c) the sharpened or scalloped
point for stabbing. Therefore it may be said to be a combination
of the dagger and the butcherknife.
A very interesting specimen, once belonging to our society but
now lost, said to have been found on the field of Wyoming and
there used by Indians to scalp white men, was a butcherknife
without a guard. There are some old butcherknives in our col-
lection but not of fixed date and we may only suppose, but have
no right to assert, that all the old American hunting knives before
the time of Bowie, were butcherknives. Before speculating too
much on this very interesting subject it will be necessary to gather
further evidence as to the construction of the hunting knives
used by the pioneers in the Eastern States and Ohio Valley be-
tween 1800 and 1825, or earlier by such men as Conrad Weiser,
Daniel Boone or Edward Marshall, or as to what kind of knives,
sold to Indians by white traders, the latter used for scalping in
the eighteenth century, or what kind of knives the Kentucky
pioneers used when the Indians, about 1780, called them "Long
Knives" ; without which knowledge we may not conclusively as-
sert that the Bowie knife was the first American hunting knife
ever equipped with a guard, or that when Daniel Boone, accord-
ing to "Memoirs of Daniel Boone" by Timothy Flint, Cincinnati,
Conclin, 1836, P. 71 stabbed a she bear in 1870, his knife had no
guard.
I was induced to ask Miss Bowie to write this interesting paper
on seeing a letter written by her to a New York newspaper, in
which she supposes that the original Bowie knife, mentioned in
her narrative as given by Col. James Bowie to Edwin Forrest,
was at the Players Club in New York and among the Forrest
heirlooms presented to the club by Edwin Booth, and when I
learned that no such knife could be found at the club, I supposed
THE BOWIE AND OTHER KNIVES 615
that another knife, in the possession of Colonel Paxson, bought
by him at a sale of the stage paraphernalia of Forrest and used
by the actor in an Indian play, might be the missing Bowie knife.
But as here shown, (showing the knife) this latter knife is not
a Bowie knife at all.
Besides this stage knife, Colonel Paxson has kindly brought
here to illustrate this discussion, a number of knives from his
collection which I now show, as (a). Several prehistoric Ameri-
can knives, made by Indians in Mexico and the Eastern United
States of chipped stone, (b) Several trappers knives, lacking
guards, made in Germany and sold in the eighteenth century to
Indians, called Schnitzers. (c) Several Bowie knives of modern
English and American make obtained by Colonel Paxson in the
last few days from dealers in Philadelphia. Most of them have
guards and blades scalloped at the point. One is marked as made
by Rodgers of Sheffield ; one is probably the product of a Penn-
sylvania cutler; one is a hunting knife, with a guard, but lacking
the scalloped point, and another was made six years ago by a
blacksmith in Mexico City with a bone handle and a leather scab-
bard.
A. Haller Gross, Esq., of Langhorne, brings us a long clasp
knife here shown, of modern Italian or Spanish make, used by the
Roman nobility in personal encounters. Mrs. Henry James
brings us another knife found on a battlefield of the Civil \\'ar,
resembling a Bowie knife but lacking the guard.
The above knives do not belong to us but I here show (See il-
lustration Fig. C.) a large Bowie knife, one of two in our col-
lection. No. 21 14 with a leather scabbard and a single edged, sharp
scallop pointed blade, 11 inches long by I'/m inches wide, equip-
ped with a double down curved guard. This knife is positively
identified as to the date of its use since it was found upon the
battlefield of Fair Oaks probably by Edmund A. W'allazz and
presented by him to our society.
Coming back to the supposition which I wish to correct or
verify later, that the old American hunting knife, before Bowie,
was either a dagger with a guard, or a butcherknife without one,
and that the Bowie knife was a combination of dagger and
butcher knife, I am sorry to say that we have no certain infor-
40
6l6 FAMOUS BOWIE KNIFE, ITS HISTORY AND ORIGIN
mation as to whether this old Bucks county butcherknife (show-
ing the knife) No. 7302 in our collection, is older than 1827 or
not. This small dagger (See illustration Fig. B) found on the
battlefield at Morris Island, near Charleston, South Carolina and
presented to the society by Mr. F. K. Swain, is stamped MOSS
& MDL and was probably made after 1827. But here (See il-
lustration Fig. A) is a beautiful Spanish dagger presented to us
by the Rev. W. E. Daw of Spottswood, N. J., which is
much older than 1800. Its straight blade, with a midrib and dulled
sides, is ten inches long and fi oi an inch wide, tapering to a
sharp point. Its double S shaped guard is protected by a hand-
basket lined with red velvet and its leather scabbard is steel
rimmed and steel tipped. It may be called a magnificent weapon,
overloaded with artistic decoration. I show it last of all because
thought made in Spain possibly in the 17th century, it was used
in America and because it is of the type of the finer daggers used
by Spanish gentlemen in personal combats in Louisiana, Texas
and Mexico long before Bowie, and therefore represents the class
of weapon which his deadly knife supplanted.
Miss Bowie's paper will now be read by Mr. A. Haller Gross.
Famous Bowie Knife, its History and Origin.
BY MISS LUCY LEIGH BOWIE, WASHINGTON, D. C.
(Doylestown Meeting, June 17, 1916.)
As the reason for this Historical Society's interest in Col.
James Bowie of Louisiana and Texas, lies in the invention and
use of the Bowie knife, I will pass as briefly as possible over his
early life and devote my time to the period where the knife plays
a part.
He claimed descent from the emigrant John Bowie, a stern
Scotch Highlander, who claimed to be of the clan and lineage of
the Campbells of Argyle, and who settled in Prince Georges
county, Maryland, early in the eighteenth century. From him
has sprung a race of men known, according to a Maryland his-
torian, as the "Fighting Bowies."
James Bowie's father, Rezin Bowie, served in the war of the
FAMOUS BOWIE KNIFE, ITS HISTORY AND ORIGIN
(nj
Revolution under General Marion, and married while a prisoner
of war at Savannah into the
Ap Catesby Jones family.
They settled in Georgia where
were born to them in 1783 one
son John Jones Bowie, and
later two daughters. They
then removed to Tennessee
where three other sons were
born. 77.::: Rezin Pleasant,
1793; James, 1795, and later
Stephen. When James was
five years old the family left
Tennessee and settled in Lou-
isiana, where a daughter was
born in 1S06. Their first
years in the latter state were
spent in the Parish of St.
Mary's on Bayou Teche, but
in 1808 they again removed,
but only to the Opelousas District of Louisiana, where Rezin
Bowie the elder died in 1820. He was a planter, and both he and
his wife were people of education, comfortable means and good
social position. Their sons appear to have been rather carefully
educated, probably by a French refugee who taught them to speak
French, and Spanish fluently, deeply influenced their religious
opinions and manners, and also made them proficient in swords-
manship. We have no record of their having ever attended col-
lege.
James and Rezin were partners in everything from their baby-
hood, and Rezin's marriage in 181 2 to Margaret Frances Neville,
of Natchitoches, did not separate the brothers. About 1818 their
father started them in life together as sugar planters. He gave
them each ten servants, horses and cattle. They acquired land
on Bayou Boeuf and as both were progressive and able organ-
izers, their plantation soon exhibited a high state of cultivation,
which so enhanced its value that it paved their way to greater
fortune, for it enabled them to engage in land speculations, and
as their fortunes increased, larger land investments followed.
COI^. REZIN PLEASANT BOWIE
Originator of the Bowie Knife. Born at Elli-
cott Springs, Tenn., Sept. S, 1793. Died at
New Orleans, Jan. 8, 1S14. From photograph
obtained in 1916 by Miss I<ucy I,eigh Bowie.
6i8
FAMOUS bowie; knife), its history and origin
In 1825 they sold the Bayou Boeuf plantation and purchased
Arcadia on Bayou La Fouche.
This also, they skilfully im-
proved until it became cele-
brated far and wide as a
model estate. The grinding
season of 1827 witnessed an
important event : the Bowie
brothers installed machinery
for grinding cane by steam
power ; it being the first sugar
steam plant in Louisiana. Be-
fore that, mule power had
been used. In September of
that year the bowie knife be-
came known to the world, and
it is with great reluctance that
I pass lightly over these ten
years, as it is the period dur-
ing which James Bowie is so
often misrepresented by those who have written of his life.
In 1827, the bowie knife was not a new invention. It had been
made for Rezin P. Bowie before he left his father's home in
Opelousas. He had been attacked once when cattle hunting, by
a young bull ; his rifle missed fire and coming to close quarters
he attempted to plunge his hunting knife into the head of the
bullock, but the oncoming rush of the enraged animal drove the
knife back, and into his hand which was impaled against the
horn, severely wounding his hand and almost severing the thumb.
This could not have occurred had the knife possessed a guard;
so Rezin Bowie had a new one made from an old file according
to his own fancies by Jesse Cliffe, a white blacksmith on his
plantation. This knife had a straight blade nine and a cjuarter
inches long and one and a half inches wide, with a single edge
down to the guard. Rezin used this in hunting and found the
steel wonderfully true, and the shape also made it much more re-
liable for personal defense than either a sword cane, or the
Spanish dagger, both of which were in universal use at that
period, and both were afterwards superceded by the bowie knife.
CGI,. JAMES BOWIE
Born micott Springs, Tenn., in 1795. Died at
"The Alamo" Texas, March 6, 1S36. From
a photograph obtained in 1916 by Miss I,ucy
I,eigh Bowie.
FAMOUS BOWIE KNIFE, ITS IlISTORV AND OKIGIN
619
The business method of the brothers was for Rezin to attend
to the home plantation while James took charge of the outlying
speculative properties. A large tract of this lay in Rapides
Parish on the Red river.
Living at that period in Alexandria, La., were their cousins
the Cunys and the Wells brothers. James Bowie had been en-
gaged to the latter's sister, Cecelia Wells, who died of pneumonia
two weeks before the day set for the wedding. There existed
a bitter fued between these men and some newer comers to
Louisiana, I'ia.: Maj. Morris Wright and Dr. Maddox from
Maryland, Col. Crain and the two Blanchards from X'irginia.
Major Wright was considered the best shot in the Parish and
upon one occasion fired at James Bowie when the latter was un-
armed. This caused Rezin Bowie to feel that his brother, when
in Rapides, needed a better weapon for protection than a pistol,
which might at a critical time miss fire, so he gave him his hunting
knife. In wTiting of it eleven years later he said :
"Col. James Bowie had been shot (at) liy an individual with whom
he was at variance ; and as I presumed a second attempt would be made
by the same person to take his life, I gave him the knife to use as occasion
ORIGINAI, BOWIl'; KNllE .VNl) .SC.\IU5.\RD
Inscribed "R. P. Bowie to H. W. Fowler U. S. D. " and on the reverse side of the
blade with the name of the cutler 'Searles, Baton Rouge.' Mountings of silver.
Probably made about 1H31). Size of blade 9'^ in. long by I !4 in. wide. In the po.s.ses-
sion (1917) of Col. Washington Howie, Jr., of Baltimore, Md.
620 FAMOUS BOWIE KNIFE, ITS HISTORY AND ORIGIN
might require as a defensive weapon. Sometime afterward (and the only
time the knife was ever used other than for what it was originally
destined) it was resorted to by Col. James Bowie in a chance medley or
rough fight between himself and certain other individuals to whom he
was then inimical. The knife was used only as a defensive weapon and
not otherwise until after he was shot down ; it was then the means of
saving his life. The improvements in its fabrication, and the state of
perfection which it has since acquired from experienced cutlers were not
brought about through my agency. I would assert here also, that neither
Col. James Bowie, nor myself, at any period of our lives ever had a duel
with any person whatsoever."
This "medley or rough fight" as he so well called it was the
much written of "Sand-bar Duel" fought on a sand bar in the
Mississippi river opposite Natchez. General Montfort Wells and
Dr. Maddox were the principals, and after their afifair was over
and no one hurt, Samuel Cuny went up to Col. Grain, who was
standing with a loaded pistol in each hand, and said : "This is
a good time to settle our difficulty." Bowie was following Guny
to act as second and was drawing his pistol (the others appar-
ently all had theirs in their hands) when Gol. Grain without
making any answer, fired one pistol at Bowie and the other at
Guny. Guny fell mortally wounded. Then followed a melee
with Grain, Maddox, Wright and Blanchard attacking Bowie,
who only saved his life when Major Wright came at him with his
sword cane, by using his knife. Wright was killed and Bowie
desperately wounded, was considered dying. He was taken to
New Orleans for medical attention, and spent months slowly re-
covering his health and strength. The fact of his coming through
ahve from the combined attack of four men, caught the popular
imag-ination. The fact also that in time he became reconciled
TYPE OP KNIFK SEI.EC rED BY COL. BOWIE TO EQUIP THE TEXAS TROOPS
A knife of thi;- type presented by Col. Bowie in 1835 to Don Augustine Barrera is
possession (1916) of his grandson Dr. Charles A. R. Campbell of San Antonio, Texas.
FAMOUS BOWIE KNIFE, ITS HISTORY AND ORIGIN 621
to Col. Grain, heightened the romance of the situation. Traced
back, this affair will be found the genesis of all the duels attrib-
uted to him except one; which I find presents itself in various
forms. It is always with a "haughty Spaniard," no name, time,
or place is ever given, but it occurs in a "Paradise of plantations,
mid the singing of birds, the blooming of roses, where the air is
redolent with sweetest odors." this duel is fought with one using
a Spanish dagger, the other a bowie knife. The result is unfor-
tunate to the Spaniard. This story I am sure is translated from
the Spanish, and entirely spurious, but it shows what an appeal
he made to the imagination of Mexican and American alike.
Col. Bowie's manner of grasping the bowie knife was con-
sidered peculiar ; he held it as one would a sword and once be-
yond the opponents guard, the thrust was deadly. The sand-bar
affair created much talk and such knives became the fashion.
At first they were made as the original had been, but presumably
they were not in every case satisfactory, and some handsome ones
were manufactured by a Louisiana cutler, Searles, of Baton
Rouge, who turned out a wonderfully fine blade. It became quite
a fancy with Rezin Bowie to have these knives made for his
friends. We know of four originals : one was presented by him
to Governor E. D. White, of Louisiana, father of Chief Justice
White, of the United States Supreme Court, and is still in pos-
session of his family ; another was given to Lieutenant H. W.
Fowler, U. S. Dragoons, and is in possession of Col. Washington
Bowie, Jr., of Baltimore. A third was given to Edwin Forrest,
the actor, and was said to have been in the Booth collection at
The Players Club, New York, but if it ever was there, all trace of
it is now lost. A fourth was given to a Mr. Staft'ord. of Alex-
andria, La., and it is still owned by his descendants. Of it Mr.
W. M. Stafford, of Galveston. Texas writes: "I carried the knife
for years and many a time have cut a silver quarter in two. and
to this day there is not a gap in its edge. It is of the best of
steel and in making a thrust or blow with it the weight seems to
go to the point."
The idea seems ])rcvalent through family ])apcrs. that Col.
James Bowie always carried with him the original knife, but it
is not credible that men as particular in their dress and personal
appointments as were the Bowie brothers would carry a crude
622 FAMOUS BOWIE KNIFE, ITS HISTORY AND ORIGIN
weapon, such as this must have been, as a permanent part of
their equipment. It is more Hkely, that as soon as its virtue had
been attested, the knife was put into the hands of a cutler to be
brought up to the standard of their other accoutrements and
was therefore, a highly finished weapon when given by Rezin
to James Bowie, and it may be confidently accepted that the
knives given by Col. Rezin Bowie to his friends were exact re-
productions of the first one given to his brother. It is claimed
that the knife actually used by Col. James Bowie is the one now
owned by Col. Washington Bowie, Jr., who writes: "The knife I
have is the perfection of workmanship, and while a file may have
been used owing to the pure steel therein with high temper, the
guard, pommel and scabbard are pure silver and the handle is
studded with fine silver nails. On the back of the blade near
the guard there is set in a brass plate with the name "Searles-
Baton Rouge." It shows the inscription "from R. P. Bowie to
H. W. Fowler, U. S. D."
In 1832, the brothers went North: Rezin wished to consuit
the celebrated Doctor Pepper, of Philadelphia, about his eyes.
While there he wrote for the Philadelphia Casket an account of
their expedition in search of the San Saba silver mines, when
occurred one of the most thrilling Indian fights in history. On
that same northern trip he gave into the hands of a Philadelphia
cutler the model of the Bowie knife. The cutler improved it and
placed them on the market, the blade was shortened to eight
inches ; a curve was made in one side of the point and both edges
were sometimes sharpened.
The next fact recorded of James Bowie after his recovery from
the effects of the Sand-bar duel, is of his attending a dinner
given to President Jackson by Stephen Fuller Austin, "The
Father of Texas," President Jackson was a guest of the state of
Louisiana and was there to celebrate the anniversary of the vic-
tory of 1815. This dinner is recorded as "a meeting of choice
spirits" and it was Bowie who toasted the President in a speech,
the fame of which has come down to us. Afterwards, he evi-
dently returned with Austin to Texas and spent sixteen months
looking around the country. Part of that time was passed ex-
ploring the western part of the state prospecting for gold and
silver, and at some period he spent eight months with Captain
FAMOUS BOWIE KXIFE, ITS HISTORY AND ORIGIN' 623
Win. Y. Lacey in the wilderness on the headwaters of the Trinity.
Of this time. Captain Lacey wrote, possibly in some surprise
tliat Bowie "never used profane language and never spoke an in-
decent or vulgar word in the eight months passed with him
"as a matter of fact he was a man of singular modesty." He had
the faculty of winning and holding the friendship of men. In
money matters he was exceedingly liberal where there was oc-
casion for liberality, but was too good a business man not to know
the value of money. He was dignified and courteous with some-
thing of the old world in his manner and absolutely sincere. His
mother, sisters and later his wife were women that commanded
his highest respect and this was reflected in his manner toward
all women : in all the wild tales of him, never a word has been
hinted against his moral character. In fact there was about him
no trace whatever of the border ruflian that these same wild
tales have handed down to us ; nor had he any dissipated habits.
He was over six feet tall with chestnut hair and hazel eyes.
While in Texas he formed a friendship with the Vice-Governor
of Coahuila and Texas, Don Juan Martin de Veramendi, who
though born in Mexico was of pure Spanish blood and belonged
to a noble family of Castile. In September 1830, the State Con-
gress of Texas naturalized Bowie and under Veramendi's pat-
ronage, granted him a charter for the erection of cotton and
woolen mills at Saltillo ; it will be noticed that James Bowie was
above all things a creator of wealth.
In April, 1831, he married Marie Ursula de \'eramendi, the
daughter of his patron and friend. In his marriage settlements
he states that he is worth about two hundred and twenty-two
thousand, eight hundred dollars. He was very fortunate in his
wife, Ursula Veramendi de Bowie as she signed herself, thor-
oughly identified herself with her husband's interests. She was
sweet and gentle, at the same time a woman of sense and char-
acter. Their marriage did not last long, however, as in 1834 she
with her two baby boys and her father died of cholera. The
rest of Col. Bowie's life belonged to Texas as delegate to the
conventions, adjutant to Sam Houston and colonel of Texas
\'olunteers. As a fighter he needs no fictitious reputation. Each
battle in his short career demonstrated his ability as a soldier.
At Nacogdoches he was successful, at Conception he displayed
624 FAMOUS BOWIE KNIFE, ITS HISTORY AND ORIGIN
ability of a very high order as a strategist, and at the Gras Fight
his superb and reckless dash held the field until Burleson came
up with reinforcements. Then followed his death at the
Alamo.
This is not the place to discuss the military side of the battle
of the Alamo ; the conflicting orders and various elements that
went into the making of that tragedy have no place here, but
let us picture those 150 men beleaguered in the ruined church of
the old Mission surrounded by 4,000 Mexicans, "detached from
all Texan settlements more than seventy miles, the intervening
territory swept by the Mexican cavalry." What Col. Bowie's
esprit was to that little garrison is told by the following entries
in Crockett's Journal :
"February 26, 1836, Col. Bowie has been taken sick from over exertion
and exposure ; he did not leave his bed to-day until 12 o'clock. He is
worth a dozen common men in a situation like ours. * * * Qq\
Bowie's illness continues, but he manages to crawl from his bed every
day that his comrades may see him. His presence alone is a tower of
strength."
In a Mexican officer's account of the battle of the Alamo he
says : "Every inch was disputed from room to room, hand to
hand, bowie knife to bayonet." David Crockett was found, his
rifle broken, and the barrel grasped in one hand, a dripping bowie
knife in the other. From a Mexican source the story comes that
Col. Bowie after being mortally wounded plunged his knife into
a Mexican and that both fell dying together. It is also a Mexi-
can who tells us how they hoisted his body on their bayonets
and bore him aloft to the pyre on which they burned the dead.
At the battle of San Jacinto, that bloody field of vengeance
where "the ghosts of brave men massacred at the Alamo flitted
through the smoke of battle and the uplifted hand could not be
stayed," with the war-cry "Remember the Alamo," after empty-
ing their rifles and their pistols, the Texans, "drawing forth
their bowie knives, literally cut their way through the dense
masses of living flesh" to victory and freedom. So in truth the
independence of Texas was won with the bowie knife. There
was not a bayonet in the army, but every man had a bowie knife;
it served as a hunting knife, a butcher's cleaver, a carving knife,
a table knife, a dagger and a bayonet. Lightly equipped as the
FAMOUS BOWIE KNIFE, ITS HISTORY AND ORIGIN 625
Texans were, it was a great advantage to have an implement that
could serve so many ends. After this it came into universal use
by the pioneers and settlers of the southwest. The part it played
in California, amongst the Forty-niners can be learned from
Bret Harte but its day is over now. although even yet, a cutler
tells me, someone occasionally strolls in and asks for a bowie
knife.
APPENDIX.
All the popular articles upon Col. James Bowie have their
origin in two papers ; one published in De Boivs Reviezi> and an-
other written by Col. William H. Sparks and published many
times in various papers. Neither is authentic and the article in
De Boivs Rei'iezi.' is absolutely false. I have carefully gone over
it several times item by item and every statement I find untrue.
It purports to come from John J. Bowie, whose family papers
I have now before me, and they coincide with those in the pos-
session of the rest of the family connection, and do not accord
with the statements as made in the De Bozi's Rez'inv. It is
probable that John J. Bowie never knew of the article. If it is
remembered, Col. Sparks wrote club gossip and not history, his
writings are valuable and especially so when they are corroborated
by other evidence, but he never knew the ladies of the Bowie
family at any time or in any generation, and he takes what we
must call poetic license when he ventures to describe them. He
may have had a slight acquaintance with James Bowie and after
the latter went to Texas, did know Rezin Bowie, as one man
knows another : on the steamboat, "down town," or at the club.
What he writes must, therefore, be discounted, just as one
would discount club gossip of to-day.
THE DR. HENRY C. MERCER MUSEUM.
Conditions of Dr. Mercer's Gift.
At a special meeting of the Board of Directors of the Bucks
County Historical Society, held at Doylestown, Pa., April lo,
1913, Dr. Henry C. Mercer laid before the board a proposition
offering to build and present to the society, a concrete fire-proof
building to be used as a museum. The building to be constructed
on the property of the society, south of and communicating with
the present museum.
At a meeting of the Board of Directors, held at Wrightstown,
Pa., November 8, 191 3, Dr. Mercer outlined his plans more in
detail, and stipulated that when the building was completed he
would transfer it to the society, together with his own collection,
and that he would endow it with a sum sufficient for its proper
care and maintenance, including the warming of the building,
the payment of salaries of a janitor and a skilled curator. The
only condition he asked of the society, was that it enter into an
agreement with him, by which it obligated itself not to sell or
otherwise dispose of any part of its real estate in the borough of
Doylestown, containing about seven acres, on which the build-
ings of the society are located. A later understanding between
Dr. Mercer and the board was that he would himself fill the office
of curator for such time as he may deem best, and would during
his life-time select his own assistants, and in general that the
museum and its management should for the present be under his
control.
In pursuance of these stipulations the Board of Directors
adopted a formal preamble and resolution, agreeing to the con-
ditions outlined by Dr. Mercer, and placed the same upon the
minute book of the society. Dr. Mercer under date of November
18, 1913, executed an agreement, in the nature of a contract, by
which he bound himself to carry out his undertaking. This in-
denture and covenant was acknowledged November 25, 1913,
and recorded at Doylestown in Deed Book, No. 381, page 431, etc.
THE DR. HENRY C. MERCER MUSEUM.
Conditions of Dr. Mercer's Gift.
At a special meeting of the Board of Directors of the Bucks
County Historical Society, held at Doylestown, Pa., April lo,
1913, Dr. Henry C. Mercer laid before the board a proposition
offering to build and present to the society, a concrete fire-proof
building to be used as a museum. The building to be constructed
on the property of the society, south of and communicating with
the present museum.
At a meeting of the Board of Directors, held at Wrightstown,
Pa., November 8, 1913, Dr. Mercer outlined his plans more in
detail, and stipulated that when the building was completed he
would transfer it to the society, together with his own collection,
and that he would endow it with a sum sufficient for its proper
care and maintenance, including the warming of the building,
the payment of salaries of a janitor and a skilled curator. The
only condition he asked of the society, was that it enter into an
agreement with him, by which it obligated itself not to sell or
otherwise dispose of any part of its real estate in the borough of
Doylestown, containing about seven acres, on which the build-
ings of the society are located. A later understanding between
Dr. Mercer and the board was that he would himself fill the office
of curator for such time as he may deem best, and would during
his life-time select his own assistants, and in general that the
museum and its management should for the present be under his
control.
In pursuance of these stipulations the Board of Directors
adopted a formal preamble and resolution, agreeing to the con-
ditions outlined by Dr. Mercer, and placed the same upon the
minute book of the society. Dr. Mercer under date of November
18, 1913, executed an agreement, in the nature of a contract, by
which he bound himself to carry out his undertaking. This in-
denture and covenant was acknowledged November 25, 1913,
and recorded at Doylestown in Deed Book, No. 381, page 431, etc.
,^.f 1 ^^^.^^. ' „37..4-_L' ^' iiv e - 1^ , J ,5,-0- J
Q
DEDICATION OF MERCRR MUSEUM 627
Dedication Exercises.
Doylestowii, Pa., June 17, 1916.
For some months prior to its formal opening, Dr. Mercer gave
his personal attention to transferring to the new museum, the
collection of the society, which he was largely instrumental in
gathering, as well as his own personal collection. These collec-
tions classified and arranged in the new huilding, expressly built
to accommodate them, presented a unique appearance when the
building was thrown open to the i)ublic, and added great interest
to the opening exercises which were held within" its walls, on the
afternoon of Saturday June 17, 1916.
The meeting was called to order at 2.15 p. m. by Dr. B. F.
Fackenthal, Jr., of Riegelsville, Pa., one of the vice-presidents,
who called upon Rev. J. B. Krewson of Forest Grove to deliver
the dedicatory prayer.
PRAYER BY REV. J. B. KREWSON.
Almighty and everlasting God, Maker of the Heaven and
earth, who dwellest not in temples made with hands, we humbly
adore Thee for the revelation which Thou hast made of Thyself
through Jesus Christ Thy son. We bless Thee, that from old
Thou hast been mindful of the wants and needs of mankind, and
we give Thee thanks that Thou has jnit into the heart of Thy
servant to erect this building as a storehouse for the preserva-
tion of the crude implements and tools which surround us. and
which have been handed down to us by our forefathers that it
may abide as a living witness of Thy presence and covenant
faithfulness as a means of edification of Thy people in successive
generations. We now dedicate it to be the receptory of the
wonderful collection herein contained. O Lord, most gracious,
bless this free-will offering of Thy servant for the welfare and
education of coming generations and, finally we beseech Thee, to
bring us and all who in coming generations shall follow us, into
the city of the living God, the new Jerusalem. And now unto the
King Eternal, Immortal, Invincible, be glory as it was in the be-
ginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
628 DEDICATION OF MERCER MUSEUM
OPENING ADDRESS BY DR. B. F. FACKENTHAL, JR.
The Bucks County Historical Society was organized January
20, 1880, more than 36 years ago, by General W. H. H. Davis,
who was its first president. Of the twelve gentlemen who at-
tended the meeting for organization in Lenape Hall, but three
are left ; these have continued to be active members down to the
present time, one of them is our honored president, Dr. Henry C.
Mercer, another an honored Vice-President, Dr. Joseph B. Wal-
ter, of Solebury, and the third, Mr. Richard M. Lyman, now of
Oakland, California.
For many years the society was housed, by courtesy of the
county commissioners, in one of the courthouse rooms, but as it
grew in stature and historic lore, it became restless and looked
around for more comfortable quarters, and therefore, in 1903
purchased for $6,000 the property containing over seven acres
of land, on which these buildings stand. At that time this situa-
tion was thought by many to be too far removed from the center
of the borough, but we builded better than we knew. The brick
building across the way, which I suggest shall be called the
"Elkins Building" was erected in 1904, and when we moved into
it we knew that we had one of the best, if not the very best
county historical society buildings in the state.
But the zeal and liberality of Dr. Mercer, that prince of col-
lectors and archaeologists, with his love for the early history of
our pioneers, and their primitive methods of clearing the wilder-
ness and establishing their homes, has led him to build and pre-
sent to our society this magnificent fire-proof building, in order
that we may preserve for all time to come what he rightly calls
the "Tools of the Nation Maker" gathered together by his tire-
less energy over a long period of years, a collection that cannot
be duplicated now at any cost.
To Dr. Mercer the citizens of Bucks county owe a debt that
cannot be measured in dollars and cents, for his work has been
truly a labor of love. When I asked him a few days ago in re-
gard to its dedication, he said he did not want any "fuss and
feathers" made about it; all he asked was that his name be kept
in the background as much as possible.
It is particularly fitting that a museum of this character should
MUSEUM OF THK BUCKS COUNTY HISTORICAL SoCIKTV.
Fire-proof concrete building erected by Dr. Henry C. Mercer and presented
by him to the Bucks County Historical Society.
Opened and dedicated June 17, 19 16.
(View from the east.)
' DEDICATION OF MERCER MUSEUM 629
stand within the county of Bucks, one of the three original coun-
ties into which the state was divided, and where W'ilham Penn,
the founder of the commonwealth made his home, in Falls town-
ship, on the banks of our beautiful Delaware. A county which
General Davis so aptly called the Alpha and the Omega of the
Revolutionary War, and although no battle of that war was
fought within her borders, the army under General Washington
crossed and recrossed on several occasions. But I must not tres-
pass on the society's publications, nor on the time alloted to the
speakers on this program. I will, therefore, call upon him who
needs no introduction to a Bucks county audience. Dr. Henry
C. Mercer.
PRESENTATION ADDRESS OF DR. IIENRV C. MKRCKR.
Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen —
To-day I thank William A. Labs and the workmen who have
helped for the past two years in constructing the new Museum
building which I herewith present to the Bucks County Historical
Society, together with the collections, previously mine, now con-
tained in it.
The building is made of reinforced concrete, that is stone,
cement and sand strengthened with steel rods. The water-proof
roof about five inches thick, also of cement, lacks patent water-
proofing compounds, and that with the galleries and floors rests
on vaults rather than beams. The frames and sash of the light
dififusing windows are of concrete and while the sash of
small ventilators are made of wood, their frames are also of
cement. The bookcases are of concrete and the railings
of iron piping. Staircases with low treads sometimes
overhang the interior court so as to economize space. In order to
allow for the varied size of exhibits the levels of floors and
ceilings vary greatly, and there are numerous fireplaces. The
windows were placed so as to get the most and best light regard-
less of outside effect, and when the object of the building was
attained, which was entirely a matter of inside arrangement, the
pitch of the roof, the position of steeples, dormers and chimneys,
and the shape of the mullions of windows, were only then consid-
ered from a decorative point of view.
But the building, which may or may not please the eye. is a
630 DEDICATION OF MERCER MUSEUM '
secondary matter. It was made for the collection, while the col-
lection was not made for it. The building could be rebuilt or
improved upon, but I do not think I could ever make the collec-
tion again.
I call your attention to its great and increasing value and the
one and only object of the whole work, which has been to per-
manently display, preserve and enlarge what might be called a
new presentation of the history of our country from the point of
view of the work of human hands. You will find the smaller
objects guarded from visitors' hands, and the threat of fire, locked
in fireproof glazed alcoves fronting four tiers of galleries opening
on a high court; while many of the larger things hang over the
balconies of the galleries themselves, in full sight from many
points of view and so as to occupy no floor space. Many win-
dows light the collection at all points and there are vistas and
halting places where the visitor, without deeper study, gets an
impressive view of many objects. Numerous rooms unfilled as
yet may remind you that your own family heirlooms ought to be
placed here, and not scattered or lost forever at sales, by your
heirs, who cannot come to terms over a few dollars, when prop-
erty is divided. All the garret space has been transformed into
a series of spacious rooms by lifting the cornices of the building
above the level of the human head.
But the collection is decaying. It must be watched and re-
paired. It must be labeled so as to be properly understood. It is
combustible. It must be continually guarded from isolated fires,
otherwise we build here an oven. Its unique story of the life
of our ancestors is full of gaps. It must be enlarged, otherwise
we stand still or go backward.
For these reasons I have provided in my will, I hope amply,
not only for the maintenance of this new building, but for the
maintenance and enlargement of the collection so that although
the old building, the grounds, the fence, the library and librarian
remain as previously in your hands, the salary of the curator of
this collection and the general janitor of both buildings will be
paid under this endowment and in the meantime by myself, so
that you will be at no charge for what is herewith entrusted to
you.
My last word expresses the earnest hope that in future years
DEDICATION OF MERCER MUSEUM 63I
there will be always a few persons at least in our county who can
spare enough time from their law or business to care for these
things, which are entirely in their hands, to guard them in this
building, to increase the collection by every means in their power,
to preserve the endowment from waste and loss, to save the
grounds from land speculators, and to see that no sinecurist ever
holds a salaried position here.
ACCEPTANCE OF MUSEUM AND ITS COLLECTION.
BY VICE-PRESIDENT B. F. FACKENTHAL, JR.
Dr. Mercer, I congratulate you on the completion of this
splendid undertaking, and on being able to carry out your long-
cherished plan of erecting a fire-proof building in which to house
this valuable collection of antiquarian and archaeological relics.
We thank you for this magnificent gift^ which I can assure you
is fully appreciated not only by the members of the Bucks County
Historical Society, in whom the title to the museum and its unique
collection is vested, and on whose behalf I accept it, but to the
people of Bucks county, and of the entire country as well. It is
an object teaching educational institution that will be appreciated
more and more as the years go by.
And now a word to our friends. I think Dr. Mercer has been
entirely too modest in telling us about his gift, and although I
do not have his permission to do so, I think you should know, that
the provision which he has made in his last will and testament for
this building and its contents, is a bequest to the society, in trust,
of bonds amounting to $125,000, bearing interest at the rate of
5 per cent.
On behalf of the society, and of the whole country, I thank you,
Dr. Mercer, for this superb gift, which is destined to remain, an
enduring monument, long after the present actors have passed
away.
I now call upon A. Haller Gross, Esq., of Langhorne, who de-
sires to ofifer resolutions for the consideration of the society.
RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED.
A. Haller Gross, Esq., then presented the following resolutions
of thanks which were duly seconded and unanimously adopted :
41
632 de;dication of mkrcer museum
Whereas, Dr. Henry C. Mercer, president of the Bucks County
Historical Society, has presented to the society a building in
which to hold its meetings, to store its books and to contain its
exhibits of the models, machines, implements and objects illustra-
tive of the arts, habits, customs, skill, ingenuity and progress of
the inhabitants not only of Pennsylvania but of many another
land, and
Whereas, Recognizing the high scientific ability of Dr. Mercer
as shown in his work as anthropologist, as geologist, as ar-
chaeologist, in his discoveries of extinct animals, and more par-
ticularly, of the remains of prehistoric man, in America and
Europe, in his investigations of the caverns of Yucatan and his
invaluable process of manufacturing tiles for mural and other
decoration, and in the publication of elaborate treatises explana-
tory of his investigations and discoveries, and his skill in making
nature yield to him many of her secrets, we, the members of the
Bucks County Historical Society, desire to record our apprecia-
tion of those varied talents and scientific attainments which have
caused his name to be held in honor by the learned in our own
country and Europe, but above all,' to express to him our gratitude
for his generous and magnificent donation; therefore be it
Resolved, that the sincere and hearty thanks of the Bucks County
Historical Society are hereby tendered Dr. Mercer for his superb
gift, built practically with his own hands, each story as it has
arisen being the creation of his own genius, of his own originality.
As in the epitaph on the tablet at the tomb of the great architect
of St. Paul's, Si moniimentum reqiiiris, circumspice. "If you
seek a monument, look around." So in the distant future, which,
it is hoped, will in its lengthening shadows, be very remote, when
the traveler comes to historic Doylestown and asks to be shown
the monument of this distinguished citizen, he will be led to this
splendid edifice which is proof against fire, water and air, and
therefore, presumably indestructible, beautiful, yet simple, in its
outlines, whose creator, in spite of his modesty, may to-day
proudly say to himself with Horace, Bxegi moniimentum aere
perennius. * * * Non omnis rnoriar. "I have completed a
monument more lasting than brass. * * * I shall not wholly die."
Chairman, Mr. Fackenthal : —
I take pleasure in introducing Dr. M. D. Eearned, Professor
D^eiCATION OF. MERCER MUSEUM 633
of Germanic Languages and Literature in the University of
Pennsylvania, editor, scholar and writer of many books, who will
now address us.
Colonial American Archaeology.
BY DR. M. D. LEARNED, PHILADELPHIA, PA.*
American archaeolo[,^y has devoted its efforts hitherto chiefly
to the study of the remains of the primitive races of the Ameri-
can continent, whose culture has but a remote bearing on the
life of the teeming millions now representing American civiliza-
tion. The life of the so-called aboriginal peoples has left but
faint traces on our new American culture and practically none
on our institutions, which are essentially European both in char-
acter and origin. The beginnings of any form of our political,
social or economic life are to be sought in the cultural elements,
which the European colonists brought with them from their
respective homes beyond the sea. Even if we finally discover
the origin and ethnic relations of the North American Indians,
the Aztecs of Mexico, or the Incas of Peru, we shall find a mass
of information which has practically little significance for the
early evolution and growth of our national thought and institu-
tions. This remote aboriginal life will be found, doubtless, not
to be aboriginal at all, but itself derived from earlier forms of
oriental culture with a history and development or decline all its
own — interesting and important because of its inability to cope
with the higher, more complex civilization of the incoming Euro-
peans of the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
The actual origins of the civilization now dominant in both
North and South America are to be found in the life of the
early European colonists — the Spanish and Portuguese adventur-
ers of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in South and Central
America, in Brazil, Peru, and the regions about the Gulf of Mex-
ico; the French Catholics in Canada and on the Lower Missis-
sippi, the French Huguenots scattered among the early colonists;
the English Cavaliers and their attendants in Virginia, the Eng-
lish Puritans in New England; the Dutch Patroons of New
York and Upper New Jersey ; the Swedes on the Delaware and
the Schuylkill ; the English Quakers and Presbyterians in New
* Dr. Learned was bom July 10, 1S57, he died .•Vujriist i, 1917.
634 DEDICATION OF MERCER MUSEUM
England, and particularly in Pennsylvania ; the Germans of many
sects in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Mary-
land, Georgia, the Carolinas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and the
Middle West ; the Austrian Germans in Brazil, and not of least
importance the great immigration of later Germans during the
period of 1815 to 1850, the period of reaction and revolution in
Germany and Austria, who spread over the entire country and
became potent factors in the development of the American civ-
ilization of the nineteenth century ; and after the civil war the
uncounted thousands of Hungarians, Poles, Russians, Lithuan-
ians, Italians, Greeks, Armenians, and others from Eastern
Europe and the far East ; and from first to last the thousands of
Jews included in all these epochs of immigration.
This bare enumeration of ethnic elements in our civilization is
itself a program of the new and as yet unexploited fields of
American archaeology. The period is brief compared with the
long ages of culture of the primitive races of America, but the
material remains are becoming more rare than those of the In-
dian or the Aztec, because in the rapid course of American in-
vention the older implements and utensils of our colonial an-
cestors are rapidly going to the dumpheap and the smelting-pot
to be transformed into newer and more efficient tools of modern
life. A thousand years from now collections of these colonial
objects will be invaluable landmarks not only of American prog-
ress but of the evolution of European civilization in general. All
of this vast archaeological interest has escaped the notice of most
of our American museums. The investigator of primitive Euro-
pean culture, particularly that of the Orient can often find in
American museums a rare object to illustrate a new theory or
fill a gap in the evolution of art forms among the Babylonians,
Egyptians, Etruscans, or Romans, but there are few collections
of Colonial American objects which engage the attention of the
modern archaeologist. What a boon for the archaeologist would
be found in a complete collection of implements and utensils used
by the early Celts, Romans, Anglo-Saxons, or even the Normans
in Britain. An occasional ''find" excavated here and there must
serve as the lone interpreter of civilizations that have encom-
passed in their march the Western World. If these vast gaps are
DEDICATION OF MERCER MUSEUM 635
not to be left unillustrated in the history of our American cul-
ture, we must collect now.
One American archaeologist has caught the vision of these
vanishing forms of civilization and devoted his energies to the
rescuing of the surviving objects of our colonial life. The
founder and builder of this museum in Doylestown, taking his
inspiration from the possibilities of the Indian House, which he
copied from the models found in his researches among the races
of the South, conceived the plan of a great collection of early
Colonial American implements illustrating the life of the early
settlers as well as of the Indians. With untiring energy and a
true archaeological genius he drove out into the remote regions
of the original counties of Pennsylvania and brought home cart-
loads of implements and utensils of every description to be
classified and housed in his Indian House.
But the Indian House could no more contain these objects
than the Indian himself could cope with the incoming European.
A new edifice was erected to give adequate space to these rare
and invaluable collections. This edifice is the museum which
shelters us under its hospitable roof to-day. This new museum
is the stone which was rejected by the builders of larger museums.
Collections had been begun elsewhere — once by the efforts of
Dr. Mercer, himself, at the University of Pennsylvania. Another
collection was made by Mrs. Frishmuth, also for the University
Museum, but later turned over to the museum in Fairmount
Park. Col. Paxson collected and carefully preserved a rare col-
lection in his country house in Bucks county. Mr. Banner of
Manheim, Pa., assembled a rare collection and made it accessible
to the public. Ex-Governor Pennypacker has an interesting col-
lection of objects from the Perkiomen Valley, in his residence
at Pennypacker's Mills. A number of historical societies have
acquired valuable collections such as the Moravian Historical
Society at Nazareth, the Dauphin County Historical Society, and
others within and beyond the limits of Pennsylvania. But it is
to Dr. Mercer that we owe the far-reaching constructive plan of
a complete, representative collection illustrating ])ractically every
important phase of colonial life in Pennsylvania and adjacent
regions.
While to most collectors these objects have only an antiquarian
636 DEDICATION OF MERCER MUSEUM
interest, to Dr. Mercer they are an index to the progress of
civiUzed H£e. It was the great German archaeologist-historian
Winkelmann, who founded the science of modern archaeology.
In his famous work, "Die Geschichte der antiken Kunst," he
made the transition from antiquities to archaeology. To him the
fragmentary Greek vase was more than a curio to be exhibited
with vain pride by the fortunate collector. It was a rare and
choice expression of early Greek life, the key to unlock the ar-
canum of Greek art and industry. Dr. Mercer with true Wilkel-
mannic insight has gone even a step farther. He has not only
interpreted from these objects the life of colonial times, but with
original Yankee genius and purpose, has made the obsolete art
of colonial pottery live again and become an interesting and
profitable industry in modern American life, gracing with rare
beauty and utility the State Capitol at Harrisburg, private clubs,
and hundreds of happy firesides. Thus the old log-cabin and
simple house of the colonial times have re-arisen as palaces of
splendors and magnificence.
I remember having sipped the delicious "honey wine" of the
Palatinate — in the region in which the Roman introduced the cul-
ture of the grape — from delicate glass beekers shaped after the
model of Roman beekers excavated in the same locality. To-day
we have the pleasure of quaffing from vessels made by Dr. Mer-
cer after the model of vessels used by our colonial ancestors.
Thus what served one age as an indispensable necessity serves a
later generation as a useful ornament. Here we see the close
relation of archaeology to advancing industries and arts. It is
this new departure in archaeological study which is to transform
the antiquarian interest in antiquities into the revival of ancient
arts for the enrichment of the life of later generations, so that
nothing of the ancient ingenuity of man shall be lost as inven-
tions and modern progress advance. Some primitive appliances,
although superseded, in the main, by new inventions, are still
essential and in use as in colonial times. An interesting example
is the requirement that the modern seaman shall have his outfit
of flint and steel, and the miner his primitive lamp, notwithstand-
ing the more convenient matches and electric light so common
even in private houses. So we may yet find more new values in
the lost arts of more primitive times by the study of these archae-
DEDICATION OF MERCER MUSEUM 637
ological remains and rediscovering the methods of producing
and using them. Then, too, the ancient arts were close imitations
of nature and may teach us much of economy and beauty when
appHed to modern Ufe. It was a happy thought of the American
architect Latrobe, for exam])le, in the infancy of American archi-
tecture, when he hit upon the idea of substituting the shape of
the stalk of Indian corn for the conventionalized colonial form
of the Corinthian, Ionic and Doric column.
The one great need in American arts and industries is origi-
nality, ingenuity, creative imagination. The value of a complete
collection of the archaeology of our colonial peoples — enumer-
ated above — must be the starting point of new and more intelli-
gent interest in our western civilization.
The traces of Indian life still found in the American canoe,
the potato, Indian corn and tobacco — not to mention other com-
modities and industries which have been taken up by the Euro-
pean colonists — all entitle the primitive implements and utensils
of the Red Man to a place in this colonial museum. But the
greatest value of these collections must be sought in the survival
of the civilization of the several racial groups of early European
settlers, the objects which they brought with them and which
in most instances have been superseded by more modern inven-
tions.
A careful historical study of these collections will show what
the progress of the colonies owed to the several races that im-
ported them. It will inform us concerning the varied forms of
rural architecture — the English, Dutch and Swiss barn, the varied
forms of the house, the means of locomotion from the saddlebags
to the one-horse chaise, from the sled and the horse cart to the
English stage coach, and the heavy German wagon, the Conestoga
wagon and its later form, the prairie schooner, the various
methods of tilling the soil as introduced by the English and
Welsh, the Dutch, Swedes, and Germans, the countless variations
of domestic cookery, baking, brewing, dairying, the art of spin-
ning, weaving, milling, joining, smithing, sewing, embroidering,
costuming — an important item among the plain sect people of
Pennsylvania. The economist as well as the historian will find
here materials for a more accurate account of the nature and ex-
tent of our domestic industries in the colonial period.
638 DEDICATION OF MERCER MUSEUM
Dr. Mercer has himself given us object lessons of handling this
material, in his study of the "Stove Plates," the "Illuminative
Writing," and particularly in his splendid work, "The Tools of a
Nation Builder."
The tow^n of Doylestown is itself like "a city set on a hill, that
cannot be hid," so this museum is to raise its beacon light even
above the spires of Doylestown to cast its beams beyond the
bounds of the ancient colonies, over the seas to the homelands
whence the early colonists went forth 200 years ago. All honor
to the master builder. Dr. Mercer !
Chairman Mr. Fackenthal : —
One of our good friends, coming here as a guest, has found his
way to this speaker's gallery. His love of history is well known,
and he will, I am sure, consent to address us on behalf of the
Pennsylvania Historical Society, of which he is one of its vice-
presidents. I am glad to present to you Hon. Hampton T. Car-
son, former Attorney General of Pennsylvania.
REMARKS OF HON. HAMPTON L. CARSON.
This is a very unexpected call. I came here, like one of your-
selves, to observe and study that which I heard the presiding
speaker describe as I entered the room, and I hadn't the faintest
suspicion that I would be asked to say anything. This is not an
occasion for the employment of a Philadelphia lawyer.
I recollect picking up on a book-stall in London, some ten or
fifteen years ago, a little pamphlet of about 90 pages, printed in
the year 1690 — some eight years later than the landing of Wil-
liam Penn at old Chester — which contained an account of "Ye
Flourishing Province of Pennsylvania," at that time consisting
almost exclusively of the town of Philadelphia, containing some
2,000 people; and, after describing the butchers and the bakers,
the brewers, the jewellers and masons, the writer very discreetly
said : "of doctors and lawyers I shall say nothing, because the
place is very peaceable and healthy." Then he added by way
of precaution : "Long may we be preserved from the pestif-
erous drugs of the one, and the abominable loquacity of the
other." I do not intend to take advantage of this opportunity to
DEDICATION OF MERCER MUSEUM 639
work out any revenge for that determinating remark. It is both
a privilege and an inspiration to be here.
Those of us who know somewhat of the history of the httle
delta which lies between the Delaware and the Schuylkill rivers,
are aware that within the same compass of square miles there is
no historic region in America which can compare, in Revolution-
ary interest, to that embraced by the counties of Philadelphia,
Delaware, Chester, Montgomery and Bucks. Ten battlefields of
the Revolution are within a days journey — four of them are in
New Jersey — Trenton, Princeton, Monmouth and Red Bank. In
Pennsylvania we have the battlefields of Brandywine, Paoli, Ger-
mantown. Edge Hill, Barren Hill and the Crooked Billet, and
then the sacred hills of Valley Forge. Across beautiful reaches
of farm land, diversified by hills and streams and well-wooded
slopes, the armies of Washington marched and countermarched
during those eight years that built up the interests of this Ameri-
can Government; and just as those who like to touch historic
soil can draw an inspiration and strength as Cincinnatus did from
the touch of mother earth, so will the men and women of today
and the children of tomorrow, find that in old Independence Hall
in Philadelphia is the holiest spot in the Keystone state of this
Union.
We Pennsylvanians should appreciate the character of the
shrines in which the memories of the men and women of by-gone
days are enobled. You. citizens of Bucks county should ap-
preciate the fact that you have in your midst a man like Dr. Mer-
cer, who, with the instinct and knowledge of a collector of his-
torical material, the enthusiasm of a teacher and the generosity
of a public benefactor, has built for you this temple of history, in
which will be preserved for all time the evidences of the intel-
ligence, industry and pertinacity on the part of the early settlers
in subduing to civilization wild reaches of an Indian peopled ter-
ritory.
I come here as a citizen to congratulate Dr. Mercer and thank
him not only as a citizen, but also as one of the vice-presidents of
the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and as one of the mem-
bers of the State Historical Commission. And Mr. Chainnan
allow me to say unofficially to you, but with a deep emphasis, that
I realize, as I am sure that a majority of your membership does,
640 de;dication of mercer museum
the value of what has been done, and we thank him not only for
ourselves but for that posterity which will hold his name in ever-
lasting honor.
Chairman Mr. Fackenthal : —
The next speaker is himself one of the "wheel-horses" of this
society, his faithfulness and loyalty can always be relied upon.
We would not think of having a dedication or any other special
exercise, without giving him a place on the program. It seems
like "carrying coals to New Castle," to introduce, as I do now,
Judge Yerkes to a Bucks county audience.
REMARKS OF EX-JUDGE HARMAN YERKES.
I recall, vividly, a meeting of this Historical Society, nearly
twenty years ago, at the courthouse, when the agreeable duty fell
to my lot to introduce Dr. Mercer — Harry Mercer we then
called him — that he might respond to the wish of our members by
explaining the object of his individual undertaking to gather,
from remote and secluded localities in our county, the imple-
ments and tools of the Nation Makers.
In a brief and entertaining address, supported by an inter-
esting illustration by older citizens, of the uses of some of the
oldtime household and farming tools and implements, his collec-
tion of which had marked the beginning of the great exhibition
we see to-day, he gave assurance and promise of the existence of,
and possibility of yet preserving for instruction of coming gen-
erations, the marvellous treasures showing the nearly forgotten
but ingenious methods of the early settlers used in mastering the
great obstacles confronting them in their efforts to render the
forest-grown and uncultivated soil, subservient and responsive to
the hand of man, in producing wealth and comfort.
It is not necessary that I should dwell upon the full accomp-
lishment of the promise he then made. The evidence is here be-
fore our eyes, to be understood in all the completeness of his
work, pointing to an industry, thrift, intelligence and applica-
tion that certainly compels everyone to venerate our ancestors
and to give credit and honor to the man who, through love of
history and justice, conceived the idea of preserving that phase
DEDICATION OF MERCER MUSEUM 64I
of the history of the growth of a great people by perpetuating
the mementos and signs of what they actually accomplished
rather than to depend upon the verbal praises of those who suc-
ceeded them and relied more or less upon tradition and imagina-
tion in recording their works.
This great building due to his forethought and generosity we
now have here, practically, to remain and endure forever ! And
this he has given us that our own people, inspired by the spirit
of deepest patriotism, knowing what our forefathers endured,
may value, protect and enjoy the privileges, pleasures and great-
ness of the land those forebears builded.
And there are lessons, not altogether historical, to be drawm
from this collection that for an hundred years and longer, has
been neglected and thrown aside, much of it as useless, and yet
fortunately, due to the common indifference, has remained in our
county throughout this long period — it will never again be so re-
garded ; and the lesson is : To make use of our own lives,
given us for some purpose for the benefit of those who shall
follow. The great God placed us upon this earth to perform our
function, according to our opportunities, experience and ability ;
and to follow, where the instruction is worth observing, in the
footsteps of our forefathers, to rival their piety, virtues and
worth.
To the men and women of our county and to those, whence-
soever they may have come, to participate in this occasion, this
is a magnificent collection in its worth. It teaches a lesson of
thrift, honesty and endurance, and of bearing by all their duties
as citizens and neighbors of every community.
How many of our farmers of to-day would think of giving
space or thought to many of these implements which their fathers
not only labored and struggled with, but even endured suffering
in their use, and yet were glad to possess them? How many of
the good women, the wives, mothers, and daughters of to-day
take any interest in those things in that collection which pertain
to and illustrate the fashions, the dresses and personal ornaments
of those days, except to compare their homeliness with those with
which they adorn themselves? A comparison which, if made by
a later generation, may not confirm their own taste or self con-
tentment. Did their mothers, for instance, find necessary or
642 DEDICATION OF MERCER MUSEUM
dream of what we now call "tailor-made suits?" I doubt if the
word "tailor-made" was ever applied to the suits of either men
or women in that age and day. How many of our young girls
of to-day believe in the industrious plying of the needle? Are
the citizens of this age bringing up the youth of the land to con-
sider the possibilities of meeting future reverses and trials by
calling their attention to past experiences? There, no doubt,
are many parents and many children who have observed the
great advantage derived from the knowledge of thrift and in-
dustry here taught and who have profited thereby.
The instruction is more than a mere fad of one man who has
become interested in a subject — it is the realization of a great
undertaking and the experience of great pleasure and profit in the
giving. This collection is a means of instruction ; it is also its
own demonstration of its great worth, not only historically, but
in that it will be a standing sign and monument to all people who
come here telling them what was endured, and what may be en-
dured again in a country like ours ; how its greatness may be en-
joyed by the people, their rights and liberties maintained, and the
result of their toil and labor be honored.
Now let us go back a few years, and recall a little gathering
of twelve men under the guidance of that father of all our local
history, Gen. W. W. H. Davis, an organizer of the Bucks County
Historical Society in 1880, 36 years ago. We owe all this collec-
tion and building to Dr. Mercer, but we owe the foundation upon
which he has built to this man of whom I am proud to say; he
was the one who first in organizing and upbuilding the historical
society which became the nucleus of this great collection, in the
home we have here to-day, as a part of its growth and greatness.
Bucks county has a right to be proud and more than proud.
She had a right to carry her head high in recalling and recount-
ing the unselfish devotion of the gentlemen who have given
us their love, energy, time, intelligence and influence to the
creation of the Bucks County Historical Society and to all its
branches, of which this building and its contents, is our greatest
possession.
Mr. Fackenthal then presented Mr. William A. Labs, who
SPRINGDAI^E, THE HUFFNAGLE HOME 643
under Dr. Mercer's direction, had char<j;e of erecting the museum
building, but he preferred not to speak, his appearance, however,
was greeted with applause.
The chairman then declared the meeting adjourned.
Springdale, the Huffnagle Home.
BY JOHN A. ANDERSON, LAMBERTVILLE, N. J.*
(Huffnagle House, New Hope Meeting, October 28, 1916.)
A little more than 200 years ago Robert Heath took up in Sole-
bury township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, two contiguous
tracts of land comprising 1,000 acres, extending from the Dela-
ware river at New Hope about 2 miles along the course of the
stream which has its rise in the noted Great Spring farther west,
and said to be, according to Professor Othniel Marsh of Yale
College, the outlet of a large subterranean lake under Centreville,
near Doylestown. The Hufifnagle property, known as Spring-
dale, containing 200 acres, is located on this stream, about i mile
west of New Hope, and about the middle of the Heath tract.
The members of the Huffnagle family who came from Phila-
delphia and became residents of Springdale, at different times,
were John Huffnagle and Sarah Eliza, his wife, and four sons,
William K., Alfred, Charles and George Washington.
William Maris, who came to New Hope about 1812 and built
a number of residences and factories, built the original Spring-
dale mansion and sold it to William K. Huffnagle, who was the
first of the family to reside there. William was a civil engineer
engaged extensively in various enterprises. He served as princi-
pal engineer for the railroads and canals of the eastern division
of Pennsylvania and, in that capacity, supervised the construction
of the Delaware Division canal through New Hope from its head
at Easton, in 1829-30. His connection with the public works of
the State is commemorated by a marble slab near the Easton ter-
* Mr. Anderson was in his 88th year when he prepared this paper. He was
present at the meeting, spending more than an hour with his friends during the noon
intermission, but owing to the dampness of the room in which the meeting wa.s held,
he thought best not to attend the sessions. He was born at Flcmington, N. J., June
6, 1829, and died at Lambcrtville, N. J., March 18, 19 17. As a boy he lived with
his parents at Doylestown, where he was educated.
^44 S.PRINGDALE, THE HUFFNAGLE HOME
minus of the canal. In 1847 he sold the Springdale property to
his brother Charles and removed to Mount Holly, N. J., where
he died, April 14, 1854, in his forty-fifth year.
Charles presented the property to his parents, John and Sarah
Eliza Hufifnagle, who resided there until their death. He made
his home at Springdale, when in this country and, after his death,
his brother George W. Huffnagle occupied the mansion. Alfred,
the younger son, farmed the place for his father for many years
and was universally esteemed. In later years he became the chief
druggist in the Satterlee U. S. A. General Hospital, after a few
years training as a druggist in Philadelphia. Later he became
superintendent for the Vulcanite Paving Company, of Philadel-
phia, laying the pavements in Philadelphia along principal streets
and public buildings, Fairmount Park, Washington Avenue, and
also in Washington, D. C. He died at an advanced age.
John Huffnagle, Sr., the father, was a well-known merchant
in Philadelphia and kept a large wholesale store at Fifth and
Market streets where Netter has his liquor store in the original
building. He was an importer of German goods to a great ex-
tent. He had a residence at the site now occupied by the Read-
ing terminal, where he owned a plot of ground and a house.
There was a spring at the southwest corner of the lawn that
gave great trouble to the builders, before it was probably turned
into the sewer, at the time of the erection of the railroad station
there. There was a paling fence in front of the lawn, facing
High, now Market street. John Huffnagle, Sr., married the
daughter of Colonel Franks. of Philadelphia, who fought through-
out the entire American Revolution and was an intimate friend of
General Washington. They were staunch Presbyterians and
members of the First Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia. The
Colonel and his wife, who was the daughter of Col. Davison of
the Continental army, were among the main supporters of that
church. His daughter was a beautiful woman and an acknowl-
edged belle in the elite society of that day.
Charles Huffnagle was born in Philadelphia March 2^, 1808.
and died unmarried. He was a graduate of the University of
Pennsylvania and a skilled physician. In 1826 he sailed from
Philadelphia to Calcutta as surgeon on the ship "Star." His
success in treating cholera among the British troops in Calcutta
. .i.ff.K.
SPRINGDALK— THE HUFFNAGLE MANSION.
Neai- New Hope, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
View from the west.
;i'KlNC.DAI.i; •I'lIK IIIM-I-NAC.I.K M.NNSIO.N.
Front view in winter.
Photographs taken iqi6 liy John .\. .\nilerson.
s.pringdale;, the iiuffnagle home 645
won high commendation from the authorities there. He became
a partner in the bankin<i house of John Pahiier and subsequently
became associated in the hrm of Smith, Huffnayle & Co., bankers,
and agents of the East India Company. On September 27, 1847,
he was appointed the first U. S. Consul at Calcutta, by President
James K. Polk, and on September 6, 1855, ^^^s commissioned
U. S. Consul General to British India. He held the latter posi-
tion until his death at London, England, December 8, i860, while
on his way to resume his duties in Calcutta after an absence of
three years in the United States on account of ill health. He
was succeeded as Consul General by Dr. Samuel Lilly, of Lam-
bertville, N. J., who was commissioned January 7, 1861.
The Springdale dwelling, as originally constructed by William
Maris, is rectangular in form with a frontage of about 48 feet
and with a smaller rear extension. The octagonal entrance hall
extends partly beyond the line of the front. The stone walls
are covered with plaster tinted a delicate pink. A conservatory
was formerly attached to the eastern end of the house. During
the time of the consul's sojourn there it was filled with exotic
plants and flowers, but they could not stand the vigorous winters
of our climate and were replaced with those native to our clime.
At the west end of the original building a large and higher ad-
dition and also a library building were made in 1856 by order of
Dr. Huffnagle, from plans designed by Samuel Sloan, an architect
of Philadelphia. The additions made room for the reception of
2,000 volumes of ancient and modern books and a very large
collection of rare and valuable curios from India, China, Japan,
Egypt, and other countries. Part of this collection was shown
in London in 185 1 where Dr. Hufifnagle received bronze medals
for the best exhibit of art and industry of British India. The
additions made to the building gave it the present dimensions of
100 feet front by 94 feet in depth.
Dr. Huffnagle's collection was thrown open to the jniblic on
Tuesday pi each week, when the rooms were crowded with visit-
ors. The following extracts from a i)aper printed. shortly after
his death give a graphic description of his home and this \aluable
collection.
"We, in common with hundreds in tliis county, liavc enjoyed the hos-
pitaHtics of tlic large hearted gentleman who presided over this pleasant
646 SPRINGDALE, THE HUEFNAGLE HOME
retreat where refinement and taste so largely abounded. Springdale, the
late Consul's Villa, is constructed somewhat in the pointed style, of large
and sj'mmetrical proportions. The dwelling is approached along a carriage
drive which enters the lawn beneath an arch surmounted by an eagle and
decorated with the Crest of the family.* Within the enclosure, and oppo-
site the hall door, stands a beautiful fountain. On entering the mansion
one is amazed and delighted at the brilliant scene so unexpectedly meeting
one's gaze. The drawing-room and library were to me full of interest;
an oriental atmosphere appears to pervade the latter, heightened in eflfect
by luxurious divans covered with the skins of Bengal tigers ; by the skulls
of lions, elephants and other tropical animals and, above all, by an air
voluptous languour filling every recess of the superb apartment and
resting over every object visible there, whether it be the weapons of
Eastern warfare, the idolatrous evidence of a barbarous race, the dis-
entombed mummies, the gorgeous gold and silver decoration of Asiatic
magnificence, or the time honored armor of the days of crusades and
chivalry. To the drawing-room adjoining this gem of libraries, it is
impossible to do justice and I must confine my account to a brief retical
of its curiosities both of nature and of art. A statue of Bonaparte, by
Canova, a vase of exquisite workmanship carved from the horn of a
rhinoceros, an extensive collection of beautiful paintings, numerous East
Indian trinkets of great value and various other objects of artistic skill,
combined with birds of brilliant plumage and insects of gayest coloring,
to render this splendid reception room an endearing testimony to the taste
and munificence of the Consul General. The presence of graceful and
accomplished ladies contributed a further charm to the attractions of
Springdale and served to impress its recollections ineffacably upon the
memory."
This account enables one to picture, to some extent, the beauty
of this once elegant home. The writer of this paper, who was
present on one of these occasions, can bear testimony to the sense
of humor of the doctor who used to exhibit a portrait which
apparently represented an Indian Nabob in native costume, when
presently the admiring visitor would discover that it was a picture
of the doctor himself.
Among the animals imported by Dr. Huffnagle were a drove
of fifteen of the humped sacred cattle of India, an Arabian horse
valued at $10,000 (this was offered to the doctor when the animal
arrived in Boston, but was refused), Syrian goats having long
drooping ears and long silky hair, Arabian sheep with hair like
* The family Crest, above referred to, is described as follows by the Rev. John
Huffnagle M. D.:
"Eagle over — on top — horse shoe, two horse shoe nails crossed as in the
letter X, the latter placed on and in front of keystone of arch (Hoof-nail-
eagle — Huffnagle)."
SPKINGDALE, THE HUFFNAGLE HOME 647
a dog and black and white heads, swine from China with black
skin and hair, Shetland ponies, Esquimaux and Newfoundland
dogs, etc. The sacred cattle did not increase in this climate save
in producing a large number of half-bloods. Particular attention
was paid to the breeding of Shetland i)onies. A neighbor of Dr.
Huffnagle informed the writer of this paper that the doctor
was frequently seen driving a team of four ponies. It was a
favorite pastime of his nephew, "Little John," to train these ani-
mals and drive them to interesting performances.
To take a meal with Dr. HufTnagle in his elegant home, was
to partake of a sumptuous banquet. The table was furnished
with the rarest china of an exquisite pattern, covered silver meat
dishes and fine old cut glass. At one end of the table might be
seen a roast leg of delicious mutton or a standing roast of tender
beef and at the other, usually, roast fowls, and with them were
served all the additional luxuries of the day and season. The
doctor imported crystallized sugar from Calcutta, fragrant Mocha
coffee, and tea, that in its dry state, gave out a perfume that is
never known in this country.
The beautiful fountain, in front of the mansion, was supplied
from a distant reservoir on the hill, where the water was collected
from two wells driven through the solid rock, and stored in a
brick wall reservoir 12 feet square. It was conducted to the house
and fountain through iron pipes, furnishing a jet at the fountain
which played constantly to a height of 25 feet. At the base of
the jet was a basket holding a ball which, at intervals, rose and
fell on the spouting stream. In front of the jet reclined a stone
deer purchased in Paris. The basin of the fountain held several
hundred gallons of water, clear as crystal. Swimming in it
were many varieties of fish from the Delaware river. In the
attic of the house are five lead-lined water tanks formerly used
to supply the several bathrooms, chambers and kitchens with
water. At one time there was a large mill pond on the premises
from which water was supplied to the old grist mill.
Since the death of Dr. Huffnagle, his collection has been widely
dispersed. A few of the valuable curios are now in Memorial
Hall, Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. A mummy, claimed to be
the daughter of a high priest of the court of the Pharaoh of the
oppression, in the time of Moses, was deposited in the Academy
42
648 SPRINGDALE, the; HUFFNAGLE HOME
of Natural Science, Philadelphia, by his brother George W,,
Huffnagle, after the sale of the curios, where it can be seen. The
public sale in Philadelphia, June, 1885, of a large part of the
collection by Stan. V. Henkels, a prominent auctioneer of that
city, required three full days.
After the death of his brother Charles, George W. Huffnagle
began his residence at Springdale. His son. Rev. John Huff-
nagle, M. D., resided at the homestead from infancy, during many
years. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and
was at one time a medical cadet in Satterlee General Hospital,
U. S. A., West Philadelphia. In after years he was the sole
resident physician of the House of Correction, Holmesburg,
Philadelphia. Under the strain of the work there his health broke
down. After a short season of rest he studied for the ministry,
was ordained, and became the pastor of the Baptist Church at
Canada Hill, near his home, and afterward of several churches
in New Jersey. He is at present living in Germantown, Phila-
delphia, engaged in literary work.
Before concluding this paper a little space must be claimed for
mention of two ancient neighbors of Springdale. One is a large
factory, built by William Maris, nearly a century ago, for a cotton
mill, now used as a silk mill. The other, a smaller building, was
erected by Robert Heath, in 1707, for a flour mill. To this an
addition of a story and a half was made in 1873. This mill, now-
idle, was the first mill for grinding corn in this section of the
country.
Some of the facts here given are from the recollection of the
writer and of residents of New Hope and vicinity. Other infor-
mation is from Gen. Davis' History of Bucks County and from
Battle's History of Bucks County. The dates connected with
Dr. Huffnagle's official positions are from government records
at Washington.
Valuable information was given by Mrs. Isaac VanPelt, of
New Hope, and the writer is especially indebted to Rev. John
Huffnagle, M. D., for information from reliable sources, respect-
ing a family having a distinguished colonial ancestry, as recorded
in the archives of the Revolution in the war office, Washington,
D. C.
aJj^k,.
DR. CHARLKS HUFFNAGUE.
Photograph of an oil painting of Dr. Huffnagic in his consular
uniform, painted by an artist at Calcutta, India.
Now in possession of Col. Henry D. Paxson.
The Huffnagle Mansion and Its Collection.
BY COL. ]IEN'KY D. PAXSOX, IIOLICOXG, PA.
(Huffnagle House, New Hope Meeting, October 28, 1916.)
I came here to-day to fulfill a two- fold request of our Presi-
dent, Dr. Mercer — to read for Mr. Anderson, his scholarly paper
entitled "Springdale, the Huffnagle tlome;" and to give you my
recollections of "The Huffnagle Mansion and its Collection." I
have not prepared any formal paper, and what I have to say
will be in the nature of an oft'-hand talk, in which I will avoid,
as much as possible, ground covered by Mr. Anderson. My
difficulty to-day is going to be to encompass in a few words a
description of a marvelous collection, because I can say without
exaggeration that down to Dr. Huffnagle's time, it was the larg-
est, most interesting and valuable of its kind, public or private,
that had been brought to this country. This was before the days
of our great museums. The Smithsonian had only recently been
established. The Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia,
while in existence, possessed little from distant lands. There was
nothing at that time in either New York or in the New England
States. Dr. Huffnagle was, therefore, a pioneer in this particu-
lar field, and that this great collection should be brought to aiid
housed here in New Hope makes it a subject of double interest
to P>ucks countians.
At the outset, I should say that I never knew Dr. Huffnagle,
as he died before I was born, but my father knew him wqll, and
from him I learned much of the [doctor's strong and many-sided
personality. But I am fortunate enough to possess an/oil por-
trait of the Doctor, showing him in his Consular unifo/m, which
was painted by an artist in Calcutta, and which I have brought
here to-day so that you all may have an opportunity of meeting
him in that way. My own recollection goes back to the year
1876, when either with my father or with Captain John S. P>ailey.
T was a frequent visitor to this mansion, now in sad dilapidation
and decay, but then filled with rare objects from the mystical
East, set amid regal furnishings, the sumptuousness of which
rivaled the palace of an Indian Prince or Rajah. The entrance
650
THE HUFFNAGLE MANSION AND ITS COLLECTION
to the mansion was by the octagonal vestibule and large main
hall, the walls of which were lined with mounted heads ; horns of
the deer, the ibex and animals from the wilds of Thibet, India
and Africa. Then, passing to the left, you came to the recep-
tion room (17 by 20 feet), filled with cases of Indian curios. I
recall a series of wooden figures or manikins representing differ-
ent phases of native Indian life and industry — the wooden plow
and yoke of oxen — a group showing the sowing of seed and har-
vesting of grain — the silk industry in all its ramifications ; then
the minerals of India; and now Asiatic birds with their bright
plumage and specimens of their eggs; cases of butterflys and
moths of unusual brilliancy; animals and reptiles, among which
was the cobra and its flat head and darting tongue. The visitor
then passed through to the room (26 feet by 54 feet), known
as the drawing-room, where this meeting is being held. Above
the cases, these now dingy
walls were then resplendant
with paintings by old mast-
ers and water colors, por-
traying the sun bathed
landscape of the East.
Here hung ancient armor,
coats of mail and weapons
of civilized and savage peo-
ples. The cabinets below
contained objects of great
interest and value, the enu-
meration of which would
be beyond my present un-
dertaking. I can only re-
fer to a few. Here were
Egyptian antiquities in
great numbers, at that early
day almost unknown in this
country. First of all was a
mummy, a daughter of the
High Priest of Horus, of the XIX Dynasty, about 1400 B. C, or
near the time of the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. With
it was the wooden outer coffin with carved headpiece, together
PORTRAIT HEAD— PAINTED ON WOOD
From the front of an Egyptian tnummy-case
taken from a tomb at Sacarra, Egypt, by Ur.
Huffnagle. Now at the Academy of
Natural Sciences, Philadelphia.
THE HUFFNAGI.E MANSION AND ITS COLLECTION 65I
with mummied ibises and a marble tablet from the stone sarco-
phagus. These are now the property of the Academy of Natural
Sciences in Philadelphia. Their history, I give you from an old
catalogue.
"In the year 1847 Dr. HufFnagle made an excursion to the great
pyramid of Saccara, in Egypt, for the purpose of procuring a valuable
and authentic Egyptian mummy, as well as other relics from the same
source. This pyramid is called by the Arabs 'Harem el Modarrggeh,' or
the Pyramid of Degrees, and is characterized by its resemblance in the
interior to an extensive catacomb. It is filled with innumerable secret
passageways and hidden chambers, and was opened by the Baron von
Minutoli, in 1821. The doctor, having obtained the services of a chosen
number of Arabs, visited this pyramid, and passed nearly a fortnight
within it in making excavations in his search for a rare and very ancient
mummy. He at length succeeded in forcing his way into an heretofore
unexplored chamber. In the center of the chamber he discovered a large
stone sarcophagus, surmounted with a heavy marble slab, having upon it
a tablet of white Egyptian marble, which is highly ornamented with
ancient hieroglyphical characters. After considerable labor, he succeeded,
by means of gunpowder and implements, in removing the above huge
marble slab. Within the sarcophagus he found a wooden coffin which
enclosed an elegantly preserved encasement of composition, highly orna-
mented with hieroglyphics, in brilliant colors, descriptive of the history of
the personage contained therein. Upon opening the encasement, the tissues
of the body from contact with the atmosphere, immediately crumbled to
dust, leaving a portion of the skeleton in a good state of preservation.
Surrounding the body within the encasement were a number of rare
bronzes, lachrymals, and charms, indicative of the high rank of the
deceased.
"Owing to the doctor's great desire to obtain such a specimen, it was
necessary for him to hazard his life in removing it from the pyramid.
The Sultan had previously issued a decree making it a capital offence for
any person to remove such treasures from his domain. The doctor,
however, succeeded, under cover of the night (although chased by Arabs),
in removing it to a point of mere temporary safety. He then, as the only
alternative, demanded an interview in his official capacity as an officer of
the United States Government with the Sultan and explained to him
just what he had done in the matter, informing the potentate that,
unmindful of his late decree, that he had ventured to take this specimen
for the purpose of exhibiting to his American friends the rare treasures
of Egypt. After a thoughtful pause, during which time the doctor's life
was in jeopardy, the Sultan granted him his gracious permission to take
his coveted object to his own country, and even supplied him with safe
transportation out of his domains.
"The following is Admiral E. W. McCaulay's (U. S. N.) translation
652 THE HUFFNAGLE MANSION AND ITS COI^IvECTlON
of the hieroglyphical inscription upon the outside of the encasement con-
taining the mummy: 'A royal oblation to Patah Sokaris, the Osiris, the
great god, the lord of the entrance of the grave. There was given him
for the ceremonial of the dead, dead ducks, meats, strong wine to the
spirits of As tati, and wheat to the mother of the house, — ,
the daughter of the superior high priest of Horus.' "
There was also valuable collections of unique and rai"e wearing
apparel, Chinese and Indian objects of various kinds, a collection
of Chinese and Indian idols and household gods ; bronze sacred
Brahma Temple Bells; 851 articles listed in the catalogue I have
here of the sale of "the magnificent and unique collection of
curios" held in Philadelphia, by Stan V. Henkels, the auctioneer,
upon June 24-25-26, 1885; each item in the catalogue being a
gem sought after by collectors. And this catalogue by no means
contains all of the collection which Dr. HufTnagle made, for
there is no doubt that many articles were sold from his collec-
tion, shortly after his death in i860.
Then, there were quite a number of pieces of furniture and
household utensils, which formerly belonged to Dr. Huffnagle's
mother, Sarah E. Hufifnagle, and are "Washington relics," so-
called. I will explain how they came to be so designated. Col-
onel Isaac Franks, Dr. Huffnagle's grandfather, served as an
officer under General Washington during the Revolutionary War,
with a reputation as a brave and gallant soldier. During the
summers of 1793 and 1794, General Washington, with his fam-
ily, occupied the Franks residence in Germantown, having leased
the same as a furnished house for that period, and it is these
articles, the property of Colonel Franks, and which were used
by General Washington while he occupied the house, that are
now called "Washington relics."
I recall two very interesting framed autograph letters that
hung on these walls, one of Thomas Jefferson, a copy of which I
will read you :
"Thos. Jefferson sends to Mr. Leech a half dozen bottles of cider and
some dried peaches, which, in the present state of his stomach, may be
acceptable, and he salutes him with great friendship.
"Monticello, Alar. 28, '22."
and the other of Sir Walter Scott, as follows:
"I am extremely sorry to see the warrant of sale in Hogg's case. I
should like the dav of sale to be fixed at as great a distance as is con-
THE HUFFNAGtE MANSION AND ITS COLLECTION 653
sistent with our duty in case there may be yet any subscriptions obtained,
but the law must have its course. I return the papers, and am.
Yours truly,
Waltkr Scott.
"Abbotsford, Saturday night, April 17, 1830."
The library room (19 by 44 feet), adjoining this one on our
right, ori^nnally, I am told, contained a magnificent collection of
some 4,000 or 5,000 volumes. Soon after the Doctor's death,
the more valuable books found their way to the shelves of book-
lovers and collectors, the remnants, some 2,000 volumes being
catalogued and sold about 1873. Even then much of value re-
mained, as this catalogue I show you indicates. You would be
interested if I read the titles of these books, but time will only
permit me to turn over the pages hastily and tell you that there
were at that time, of the classics, 128 volumes; dictionaries, 145
volumes; dramatic works, 15 volumes, fiction, 84 volumes; his-
tory, 424 volumes; medical books, 96 volumes; poetry, 128 vol-
umes; religion and books of devotion, 123 volumes; science, 45
volumes; travel, 180 volumes; grammars, 56 volumes in English,
Greek, Latin and French; geographies, 74 volumes; science and
art, 24 volumes; ancient history, 137 volumes; and so on in-
definitely. These had all been disposed of when I first knew this
jilace, and all that remained were those empty shelves of a great
library, which bespoke the intellectual attainment of their owner.
I have here a portfolio containing many Hufifnagle familv
papers, some of which I w'ill show you. This is a catalogue of
the sale of "Mr. Charles Huffnagle's Elegant Household Prop-
erty," which was held at "his residence, Corner of Mangoe Lane
and Mission Row," in Calcutta, India, upon Thursday, October
23, 185 1. It will be interesting to quickly go over this catalogue,
as it will show the contents of the home of one who was the
friend and associate of Indian princes. Included in the catalogue
we find cut and frosted table glassware, French and British
])orcelain. plated ware, fashionaI)lc silver-plate by Hamilton &
Co., a double-barrelled fowling jiiecc "made to order by Deane,"
elegant furniture by Shearwood & Co., such as drawing-room
tables, marble top chiffoniers, settes and conversation couches,
mahogany chairs, easy chairs, mahogany book shelves, carved
ebony teapoy, "a very beautiful self-performing organ" by the
654 THE HUFPfNAGLE; MANSION AND ITS COLLECTION
celebrated maker Davrainville, "playing the most select and
modern overtures, waltzes, quadrilles and operatic pieces," a
Broadwood & Son's semi-grand piano, "lately imported at a cost
of Co.'s Rs. 1,200;" "a mechanical clock made to special order
by James McCable, and but recently received," "marble busts of
the Duke of Wellington and Napoleon," "a beautiful model of
the Paris Column of July, 1830, purchased in Paris for 700
francs," a collection of bronzes, porcelain and Bohemian glass-
w^are, drawing-room and other lamps, mahogany winged Almir-
ahs, an American sofa, grand piano forte by Clementi & Co.,
London, mahogany dinner waggons, an American trotting cart,
silver mounted harness, and finally a "fashionable and easy run-
ning chariot, built by Dykes & Co., on mail coach axles, elliptic
springs, painted dark green, lined with superfine claret color cloth
and trimmed to correspond, dickey, lamps and poles all in excel-
lent order."
I have never understood this catalogue, and the sale which it
indicates was held nine years before the death of Dr. Huffnagle.
It may have been that he became temporarily involved in finan-
cial difficulties. In any event, it seems certain that many of the
articles listed in the catalogue were not sold, and afterwards
reached the mansion at Springdale.
Here is an envelope containing a number of time stained cards
which tell us something of the social life of Dr. Huffnagle and
his family. These are invitations to balls and teas, addressed to
members of the Franks family when they resided in what is now
known as the "Washington House," in Germantown, and are of
a period of considerably over 100 years ago. The most interest-
ing are those which relate to the Doctor. This is his visiting
card which reads, "Charles Huffnagle, Consul General of the
United States for British India, and Consulate General of the
United States Calcutta," done in old copper-plate engraving.
Here are cards showing his social life in India. This one is an
invitation from the Governor General and reads, "The Governor
General requests the honor of Mr. C. Huffnagle's Company at a
Scientific party on Friday, 17th inst., at 9 o'clock, S. E. D. Show-
ees, A. D. C, Government House, July 7th, 1840." This card
reads, "RAMNARIAN DUTT presents his respectful compli-
ments to Charles Huffnagle, Esqr., and requests the favor of his
EGYPTIAN' TAI!I.i:T {WlllTK MARHI.K).
From the top of a stone sarcophagus which enclosed the mummy of the daughter of
the High Priest of Horus, B. C. 1400. Taken from a tomb at Sacarra, Egypt,
in 1847, by Dr. Huffnagle. Size 1934 by _'i inches.
Xow in the .\cademy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia.
THE HUFFNAGLE MANSION AND ITS COLLECTION 655
company at a theatrical entertainment at his residence, on Mon-
day the 17th inst., at 8^^ o'clock p. m., Calcutta, Wellington
Street, nth Novr., 1856." Another reads, "DOORGA CHURN
DUTT presents his respectful compliments to C. Huffnagle,
Esqr., and requests the favour of his company to a Nautch at
his house on Saturday, the nth instant, at }4 past 8 o'clock p. m.,
Calcutta, Wellington Square, 8th Nov., 1848." These last two in-
vitations, I take it, are from Indian Princes or Rajahs.
This is the Bengal Almanac for 1855. It is in the nature of a
semi-official publication, and outside of the usual astronomical
information, contains much relating to the civil life of India —
the Bengali festivals, Mohammedan and Hindoo holidays, data
as to the native governments, and the Rajahs, -the names of the
Governors General and Commanders-in-Chief in India, Judges of
the Courts and sittings of the Courts, order of precedence in
processions, data as to native weights and measures, etc. The
almanac was evidently a companion of Dr. Huffnagle on one of
his celebrated hunting trips, for it contains a diary of a trip he
made during the year 1855, which occupied most of the months
of March and April. Excluding small game, the animals bagged
by him are given as follows : 25 tigers, 5 rhinoceros, 17 boars and
4 buffaloes, all of which were shot from the back of his favorite
elephant "Howdah." There is also a record of one buffalo hav-
ing been shot from horseback.
Of the many Huffnagle papers, this is the only autograph letter
I possess of Dr. Huft'nagle. It was written in 1836, and is ad-
dressed to Captain H. S. Brown, commander of the American
ship "Star." It is rather a coincidence that this letter should
have been brought to light at this time when our attention is
being called to Huffnagle history, and in a rather remarkable
way. My friend, Mr. Harrold E. Gillingham, of Philadelphia,
only a few days ago, in examining an old desk, containing secret
drawers, in an antique shop in Philadelphia, discovered this letter,
and it is through his courtesy in presenting the same to me that
I am able to show it to you, along with other Huffnagleiana.
While Mr. Anderson told you Dr. Huffnagle died in London
in i860, he did not mention the fact, which may not be generally
known, that his body was brought back to America, and was in-
terred within a few rods of the place where we are meeting to-
656 THE HUFFNAGLE MANSION AND ITS COLLECTION
day. I have here a melnorandum made by one of his family
which shows that his body was buried in a cement vault, along
with his mother, Sarah E. Huffnagle, and there were also buried
near them at Springdale, John Huffnagle, his father, and Char-
lotte Huffnagle, an -aunt, who died at the age of 90 years. No
stone or tablet now marks their final resting place, which I be-
lieve was their wish, and the location of their interment is known
to few persons other than members of the family.
Mr. Anderson has alluded very briefly in his paper to the live
stock imported to this country from British India, by Dr. Huff-
nagle, with a view of improving our local breed. Here is the
original sale bill, from which we learn more of the particulars.
The stock, at the time of the sale, consisted of the following:
The Thoroughbred Arabian Horse "Bedouin." This horse was
shipped by Dr. Huffnagle at Calcutta on board the American
ship "Galconda" and arrived in good condition at Boston after a
stormy passage of 165 days. The certificate of purchase describes
this animal as follows: "Sold to Charles Huffnagle, Esq., Amer-
ican Consul of British India, at Calcutta, a grey Arab colt, of the
highest caste of the Kylan breed. He was bred by one of the
Bedouin tribe of Amaza; from thence he was brought by land
to Bagdad ; from thence he was sent by an Arab schooner to
Bassorah ; from thence he was sent by another schooner down
the Persian Gulf to Bombay; and from Bombay he was brought
by one of the Peninsular and Oriental Company's Steamers, to
the well-known Arab dealer, Shiek Ibraham, at Calcutta."
The India Jumna-Paharee Bull (Maha-Rajah), imported from
Northwestern Hindostan, 1,600 miles from Calcutta. "He is of a
slate color, upwards of 15 hands high, has a large hump over
the shoulders, a very pendulous dewlap passing down in heavy
folds between the fore legs, has an eye like a gazelle, and a
skin almost as fine as silk."
The Jumna Paharee Cozv "is of a white color and has a hump
and dewlap similar to the Bull, and is of the same height."
Tzvo Fidl-Blood Heifers "are of a beautiful silver-grey, and
are animals of the Pure Jumna Paharee breed ; they were dropped
in this country, and are 16 months old."
Tzventy-five or thirty crosses between the Indian bidl and
American imported cozvs; ten Palestine and .-irabian sheep; five
THIi CALCUTTA BULL (MAMA-RAJAH).
From an oil painting now in possession of Col. Henry D. Paxson.
THE HUFFNAGLE mansion AND ITS COLLECTION 657
English cotswold sheep; one Chinese hoar and black Chinese sow;
twenty-five or thirty crosses between Chinese and the celebrated
'Chester county stock.
The merits of this imported stock were fully set forth — as to
the cross between the English Cotswold and the Arabian Palestine
sheep, it was stated that they "fatten easily, have fine wool, and
make the best of mutton," while the cross between the Chinese
boar and the Chester county breed will, it is said, "also fatten
easily."
Here is a large oil portrait of the celebrated bull "Maha-Rajah,"
which animal I well remember, as my father purchased it at the
sale, and as he afterwards learned much to his regret. Arriving
at the sale late, the bull was under the hammer, and rather out
of compassion for the auctioneer than of any idea of becoming
a purchaser, my father made a bid, which not being increased, the
animal was soon knocked down to him. That night he went home
without the bull, and with a heavy heart, as he had learned that
the animal, as respects disposition, was sold "as it." The fol-
lowing day, an army of men and boys drove the animal out a
back road to our farm in Buckingham, where he broke down all
stalls and enclosures, and proved himself generally unmanage-
able. Finally, my father, feeling that the animal was a menace
to the neighborhood, arranged to have him dispatched, and old
residents of Buckingham will tell you to this day of the great
"doings" that took place in our orchard and cjuarry lot the Sat-
urday afternoon they shot the Calcutta bull.
Now, I will conclude by showing you, in a hurried way, some
of the relics from the HufTnagle collection, which, as a boy I saw
and coveted in this old mansion and which in later years I was
able to acquire and bring back to P.ucks county.
This brass nameplate was taken from the residence of John
Huffnagle, in High Street, rhiladel[)hia.
This is Dr. Hufifnagle's date-wood walking stick with tiger
tooth handle with the inscription carved thereon, "Charles Huff-
nagle, Calcutta."
This little object is the Doctor's ])ocket comi)ass which he
carried with him on most of his travels.
This is a war-club from the Fiji Islands. It is the common
658 THE HUFFNAGLE MANSION AND ITS COLLECTION
type from these Islands, and from its shape is known among
collectors as the pineapple pattern.
Here is another form of club, beautifully carved from end to
end. These carvings, before the introduction of metal tools,
were done, I am told, by the natives by the use of sharks' teeth.
Here is a paddle, also beautifully decorated.
Here is a small club known as "Knob Kerrie." In central
Africa and many of the islands of Polynesia, it is used by the
natives as a throwing stick to kill rabbits and other small game.
Here is one of the older types of the boomerang. This weapon,
as you know, comes from Australia, where it is used by the
natives in war and the chase, and is so constructed that being
thrown and failing to strike, it returns to the thrower.
This is a very old sword. No. 138 in the catalogue, and still
having the original label on it, and is the type of the sword to
be found to-day in India and other eastern countries.
Here is a handsome damascend sword, jeweled and beautifully
decorated, such as would be carried by a Rajah and gives you
some idea of the luxury in weapons among the Musselmen and
grandees of India.
Here is an elephant goad. In riding the elephant in India, be-
fore the days of the automobile, if it were desired to accelerate
his speed or to get him on high gear, you would prod his side
with this sharp instrument.
This murderous looking piece, its blade as sharp as a razor,
is an elephant knife and was used in former times by the natives
of India in the capturing of wild elephants. The method is after
this fashion. When the elephant was located, the natives, bran-
dishing spears and weapons, and with loud outcry, formed them-
selves in a circle around him. Then, when the animal's attention
was attracted to some object, on one point of the circumference
of the circle, a native would crawl up stealthily behind the ani-
mal through the high grass from the other side of the ring and
deal him a blow on the leg severing the tendon. This cruel cus-
tom, known as "ham-stringing" is, I understand, now prohibited
by law, even in barbarous countries.
This large, double-handed sword is a Chinese executioner's
knife, and was so labeled in the Huffnagle catalogue. Knives of
this character are, I am told, used in China and Japan to this
GROUP OF HUFFNAGI.K COIJ.KCTIOX.
(A) Boomerang from Australia; (B) Gun-shaped club from Fijii; (C) Carved paddle
from Fijii; (D) Knob kerric from Africa; (E) War club from Fijii;
(F) IClephant "ham-stringing" knife from India; (G) Chinese
executioner's knife; (H) Kharga or Buddist sacrificial
knife from Nepal.
Now in the collection of Col. Henry D. Paxson.
THE HUFFNAGLE MANSION AND ITS COLLECTION 659
day in the execution of criminals, which is by decapitation.
When Charles I was executed, he laid his bare neck on a block
and the executioner, with a heavy axe, resembling a broad-axe,
chopped off his head. In France, they use the guillotine. The
condemned man is strapped to a sliding board which is run in
between two tall uprights between which is suspended a knife
heavily weighted ; this slipping down, between the uprights, severs
the head from the body. With this knife, which I show you, the
execution was by hand and of the most mediaeval character. The
condemned man, with eyes blindfolded and hands bound behind
his back, was compelled to kneel on the ^n-ound, then the execu-
tioner standing at his side takes the knife and deals the victim
one heavy blow which usually severs the head from the trunk.
Here is a very old and highly interesting^ specimen. In the
absence of the original label, which seems to have been lost,
Henkels the auctioneer, erroneously catalogued it as a Chinese
executioner's knife. After much investigation, it has been iden-
tified, by competent authority, as a sacrificial knife or axe, known
as "Kharga" and comes from Nepal, a part of northern India
which has never fallen under Mohammedan rule. This knife,
as you will notice, has a broad massive blade terminating in a
projection and bearing scroll ornaments and inscriptions and the
Buddhist emblem of the human eye incised and colored in the
steel. It was part of the religious paraphernalia of a Buddhist
High Priest.
Strange as it may seem, it is a fact that to-day in India, and
possibly in other countries of the Orient, sacrifices of sheep, goats
and other animals are made much after the manner of Old
Testament days. Quite recently I came across an unusual and
to me most valuable photograph, since it confirmed the identi-
fication of this implement. The picture represented a street
scene in one of those Eastern cities on the occasion of the dedi-
catory service of a new electric street car line which was being
opened in a city, so old that its streets had resounded with the
wheels of the chariot thousands of years before the Christian
era. Here were dignitaries of state, military officials and a great
throng of people, and in the center of the group at the inter-
section of the street stood a new trolley car, in strange incon-
gruity, amid those ancient surroundings. At the si>ot where, in
66o
THE HUFFNAGIvE MANSION AND ITS COI.I.ECTION
our ceremony, we would drive the golden spike, a lamb had been
sacrificed and its blood spattered upon the bright rails. Over
the animal's body stood the towering figure of the High Priest
clad in his robes of office. In his right hand he held aloft a
sacrificial knife, just like this one, while his left hand was ex-
tended to Heaven, as if asking the blessing of their God for the
success of this highly modern railway enterprise.
The last article I will show you, a gem of the collection, is this
beautiful catlinite pipe, presented by the Indian Chief Red Jacket,
to John Hufi:"nagle, the father of Dr. Huffnagle, nearly loo years
ago. In the year 1820, John Huffnagle, with some members of
his family took an extended sight-seeing trip. As it was before
the days of railroads, they traveled with a carriage and pair.
Their objective point was Niagara Falls, and while there, John
Hviffnagle sought out the celebrated Indian. This well known
Indian orator spent much of his time during the latter years of
his life, about the hotels in the vicinity of the Falls, and was
much wined and dined by tourists who sought the distinction of
meeting him; in fact, in those days, to have journeyed to Niagara
Falls without meeting Red Jacket would be like a trip to Washing-
ton to-day without seeing our President Wilson. Mr. Huffnagle
must have ingratiated himself much in Red Jacket's favor, as
when he left he received from him, in token of friendship and
as a keepsake, this peace pipe. Prized and cherished, it was one
of the last of the relics to leave the possession of the Huffnagle
family.
RESIDENCE OF DR. HUFFNAGI^E
At Garden Reach, in India. From the original of an
old sketch now in possession of Col. Paxson.
THOMAS WRIGHT, 01* DYERSTOWN 66l
These various articles, once a part of the great collection <j:ath-
ered years ago in distant lands, brought here to Xew Hope where
they abided for a time, and then widely scattered, are again in
their old home where we meet to record some history of the
Hufifnagle family, its mansion and collection, and where we are
to-day doing honor to the name of that prince of collectors. Dr.
Charles Huffnagle.
Thomas Wright, of Dyerstown, Pa.
BY B. F. rACKENTHAL, JR., SC.D., RIEGELSVILI.E, PA.
(Huffnagle House, New Hope Meeting, October 28, 19 16.)
The thought that has prompted me to present this pajjcr was
suggested by the fact that the name of Thomas Wright a])])ears
quite frequently on the books of the Durham Iron Works, during
the so-called Richard Backhouse administration, beginning in
1779 and ending with the death of Mr. Backhouse about 1795.
The furnace property in Durham township was closely asso-
ciated with Trevose in Bensalem township, due to the fact that
both were controlled by the same people.
When Hon. Joseph Galloway was attainted of treason and al-
lied himself with the British cause, his property was seized and
sold by the commissioner of forfeited estates, and Durham was
bought by Richard Backhouse, on behalf of himself and his three
associates — Col. Isaac Sidman who was the Philadelphia repre-
sentative of the firm and who had moved from Easton ; Col.
Robert Lettis Hooper. Jr., Deputy Quarter Master General, with
headquarters at Easton, and Col. George Taylor, the Signer of
the Declaration of Independence, who at that time resided in
Durham. As Mr. Backhouse was also a colonel, all four partners
had the same military title.
George Taylor died at Easton, February 23, 1781, after which
the remaining three j)artners continued to oi)erate until the close
of the open season of 1789. when the furnace made its last blast.
It is not known why operations were stopped, it may have been
due to the scarcity of wood for charcoal in that neighborhood, or
to the fact that the plant could not be operated at a profit.
An ejectment suit begun in the court of common pleas at New-
662 THOMAS WRIGHT, OF DYERSTOWN
town to dispossess the heirs of Richard Backhouse, was argued
twice in the supreme court; the final decision in 1802 was decided
against the widow and heirs of Richard Backhouse, and they
were dispossessed, as it was shown that Joseph Galloway owned
the property only in right of his wife Grace, daughter of Law-
rence Growdon. By another decision of the supreme court the
Trevose property was also restored to the heirs of Grace Growdon
Galloway.
Col. Richard Backhouse was the manager for the company and
was at all times the ruling spirit of the firm. At the time they
purchased Durham he was an assistant deputy quarter master
general to Col. Hooper. He was an Englishman who in 1772 is
reported as living in Northampton Town, now Allentown, and
in 1778 as living in Easton where Robert Levers reported him to
the supreme executive council as not having taken the oath of
allegiance. In 1779 he moved to Springfield township, and on or
about April i, 1780 he moved to Durham. On November 2, 1769,
he married Mary Williams, when she was but 19 years of age,
and the fact, as recorded by General Davis, that she moved to
Plumstead township in 1804, when ejected from Durham, sug-
gests that she may have belonged to one of the Bucks county
Williams families. She died in Plumstead in 181 5 at the age of
65 years.
Prior to the purchase of Durham, to which I have referred,
Richard Backhouse and Samuel Williams were associated in
operating the Greenwich forge on the Musconetcong creek in
New Jersey, about four miles from its mouth where it empties
into the Delaware river at Riegelsville, New Jersey. Samuel
Williams failed in business in 1780, and then retired from the
management of the forge, but continued to do other business in
that neighborhood. There is some, although not definite evi-
dence that Samuel Williams was a brother of Mrs. Backhouse;
their correspondence shows a close intimacy between the two
families.
During the Backhouse administration at Durham, Thomas
Wright, of Dyerstown had many transactions with the iron
works. He supplied them with corn, wheat, and buckwheat and
often with cattle, sheep, hogs and horses, usually taking his pay
in bar iron and stoves, for there was very little ready money
THOMAS WRIGHT, OF DYERSTOWN 663
changing hands in lliose days, and, moreover continental money
was very much depreciated in vahie.
In 1780 Thomas Wright also furnished victuals and rum to the
men who quarried hearth stones for the Durham hlast furnace ;
these stones were used for the very first blast of the Backhouse
administration, which began May 30, 1780. It is not likely that
fire-bricks were used for lining furnaces at that early day.
Thomas Wriji^dit was born in County Down, Ireland, in 1748.
He immigrated to America with his two brothers Joseph and
William, in 1763. According to the History of Bucks county by
Gen. Davis, he was a good looking young Irishman who landed
in Philadelphia about 1763, and settled at Dyerstown, two miles
north of Doylestown. in Bucks county, where he was soon in
charge of a school. He secured a home in the family of Joseph
Dyer ; taught the rudiments of English to the children of the
neighborhood, and made love to the daughter of his host. One
day they slipped off to Philadelphia and married, relieving the
case of a deal of difficulty, for at that day, Friends would not
consent to the marriage of their daughters out of meeting.
In 1774 he applied for and obtained membership in the Buck-
ingham Monthly Meeting of Friends, at which time his three
small children, Joseph, Rachel and Thomas, were also accepted.
In 1778 he took the oath of allegiance, which was objectionable
to the Friends and he was dealt with accordingly, whereupon he
justified his act and was disowned First Month Second 1779.
The public records at Doylestown show that he had many
transactions in real estate, so many in fact, that he might be
termed a "land speculator." He bought a number of farms at
sheriff's sale and later sold them at an advanced price, lie is
described in these deeds as being a "shoj^keeper."
There are nineteen manuscript letters and papers from him to
Richard Backhouse in possession of the Bucks County His-
torical Society, some of them written before Col. Backhouse
moved to Durham, and one written after Mr. Wright moved to
Wilkes-Barre. In fact it is from these letters that we learn of
Col. Backhouse living in Springfield and the date of his moving
to Durham. These letters show close personal relations between
the two families.
On January 20, 1783, Thomas Wright and Richard Backhouse
43
664 THOMAS WRIGHT, OF DYERSTOWN
entered into partnership to operate the Greenwich forge begin-
ning April first. This forge was the property of Hugh Hughes
from whom it was leased. There appears to have been some
friction or misunderstanding between the partners at the outset,
but this soon passed and their relations then continued cordial
and pleasant. This partnership appears to have lasted bvit one
year, as they advertised to sell partnership property at public sale
on March 20, 1784. There is evidence to show that Mr. Wright
moved with his family from Dyerstown to Greenwich Forge
where he lived during the term of this partnership, and then
moved back to Dyerstown. One year seems to have been suf-
ficient for him to gain experience as an "Iron Master." Both
the partnership agreement and the advertisement to sell personal
property are in the archives of the Pennsylvania Historical So-
ciety of Philadelphia.
At the time of the Backhouse .and Wright partnership, the
store at Greenwich Forge was conducted by Aaron Musgrave &
Company. There is no direct evidence to show who Mr. Mus-
grave's partner was, but indications point to Mr. Wright, and
moreover his name appears on the store books prior to the part-
nership. Many of the entries in the store books are in the well
known handwriting of Mr. Wright, who was a splendid pen-
man. Another evidence that he may have been interested in the
store is the fact that when he moved back to Dyerstown he took
this store book with him and continued to use it for his Dyers-
town accounts, consisting mostly of his dealings in cattle. The
book that I am referring to belongs to our society.
It is somewhat confusing to know whether this Greenwich
store was an ordinary country store selling groceries and dry
goods and incidentally liquors, or whether the reverse conditions
might be true z'/.c : — that it was a liquor store incidentally selling
groceries and dry goods.
A somewhat careful tabulation of the accounts contained in
this store book, shows that there are 2,831 entries, over a period
of ten months, (excluding those not for the sale of goods,) and
that the aggregate charged for these items amounts to £1,434-
17-4 and that 690 of the entries, or 24.23 per cent are for liquor
sold to the workmen. This liquor amounts to 663 gallons, i
THOMAS WRIGHT, OF DYERSTOWN 665
quart, and i pint, and the amount charged for it was £719-18-1,
or 50.17 per cent in value of all sales.
This can be tabulated as follows : —
2,831 total entries aggregating £1,434-17-4.
690 Liquor entries 24.23 per cent aggregating £719-18-1.
Quantity of liquor sold 663 gallons, i quart, i pint. Sales of
liquor amounted to 50.17 per cent, of entire sales.
Sold at an average price of 3s. 5d. per quart.
Fully 90 per cent, of all liquor sold was rum, which seemed
to be the favorite tipple, this was charged at the following prices:
October 10, 1782 to November 24, 1782, 3s.9d. per quart.
November 24, 1782 advanced to 4s. per quart.
January 18, 1783 reduced to 3s.9d. per quart.
March 29, 1783 reduced to 3s. 6d. per quart.
April I, 1783 reduced to 3s. per quart.
April 15, 1783 reduced to 2s.6d. per quart.
May 21, 1783 reduced to 2s. per quart.
There is some evidence to show that the reduced prices of rum
was due to inferior quality.
The price of brandy was 4s.3d. per quart ; whiskey 2s. per
quart ; apple brandy 7s.6d. per gallon ; gin from 2s. to 4s. per
quart.
MEMORAXDfM TO ShOW SoME OF THE Ltqi-OR ENTRIES.
1782
Oct. 17, Hugh Hughes, for 2 gallons rum sent to elections 30s.
Dec. 31, Profit & Loss, for i quart rum Xcw Year's Eve per
Thomas Wright 4s.
1783
Feb. 25, Thomas Wright, i quart rum dd the men that moved his
family 3?- 9^-
May 16, Hugh Hughes, i gallon whiskey dd men who saved the
forge from destruction 5s.
June 10, Thomas Wright in Co., for 2 pints dd Jno. Brown to
give the forgemen for drawing plow shares 2S.
June 10, for 1 pint rum dd John Tomer whilst dressing the bel-
lows IS.
June 21, James Williamson, for rum dd the following for the use
of the working on the roads
Simeon Hil)ler i 'it. rum 2s.
Samuel Frankenfield i (jt. rum 2s.
Benjamin Scott i qt. rum 2s.
666 THOMAS WRIGHT, OF DYERSTOWN
There are many entries for liquor delivered to the Negroes,
some of whom appear to have been slaves.
These books show sales of merchandise to Robert Hoops the
founder of Belvidere, New Jersey, the county seat of Warren
county, which was originally called Hoops.
Also sales of powder to Gen. William Maxwell, whose home
was near Greenwich Forge.
The selling of liquor by grocery stores was a common and
usual practice in those, and even much later days. A merchant
at the age of 80 years, and still in active business, that of keeping
a country store in the village of Riegelsville, New Jersey, about
four miles from the location of the store of Aaron Musgrave &
Company, has often told me that during the early years of his
business career, he sold liquor by the quart over his counter ; no
one discussed this adversely, or thought it unusual, because it
was the custom of the times, and moreover, all his competitors
were doing the same thing.
I was also told that during the Whitaker administration at the
Durham iron works 1848 to 1864, that liquor was bought by
the barrel, kept in the cellar of the office, and doled out to the
workmen who had specially hard work assigned to them. Many
of us can easily remember when a harvest could not be taken off
without furnishing liquor to the harvesters ; also when liquor
flowed freely at our elections, often resulting in disgraceful broils
and fights.
These practices have happily passed away, and it appears to
me that the results of the crusade against the abuse of the liquor
traffic should not be viewed from year to year, but over longer
periods of time, when the results will surely show that conditions
are improving in a most marked degree.
On or about July i, 1791. Thomas Wright removed to Wilkes-
Barre, Pa., making his temporary home at the tavern of Jesse
Fell, who had removed from Bucks county in 1785. Mr. Wright
at once associated himself with a party of men to open up a
road between the Wyoming Valley at Wilkes-Barre on the Sus-
quehanna river, over the mountain to the navigable waters of the
Lehigh river, probably at the Lehigh Gap, and in clearing the
Lehigh for the better transportation of boats down that river into
the Delaware river at Easton, and from there down to Philadel-
THOMAS WRIGHT, OF DYERSTOWN 667
phia. In a letter hearin*^ date August 6. 1791. to his Friend
Richard Backhouse, he says his part of the work was the engag-
ing of hands and purchasing of supphes, and that his brother
Dyer (presumal^ly his brother-in-hiw. who had preceded him to
the Wyoming X'alley) was superintenchng the work. Later Mr.
Wright moved his family to \\'ilkes-]>arre, making his home on
what is now River street until 1804, when they mo\ed to Jacob's
Plains, Wilkes-Barre township, about 2 miles north of Wilkes-
Barre, at what is now the borough of Miners Mills. At that
]>lace he had built in 1794 or 1795 a gristmill (three stories high,
size 30 feet by 48 feet, containing two pairs of stones and three
bolts). Later he built there a distillery and a sawmill. This
l)lace was soon known as W'rightsville. His wife nee Mary
Dyer, died August 20, 1803, aged 63 years. On June 2y, 1804, he
married a second time to Mary Nelson, who survived him.
She died at Sunbury, Delaware county, Ohio. May 3, 1824, aged
about 45 years. Thomas died at his home at Wrightstown,
March 25, 1820 in the 73d year of his age. He was buried in the
old Wilkes-Barre graveyard (where the City Hall now stands),
but 35 or more years later his remains were removed to the Hol-
lenback Cemetery, Wilkes-Barre, where they now lie. In an
obituary notice, printed at the time of his death, was this para-
graph : "Through a long life he had been a very industrious,
active and useful citizen. By the laborer and the mechanic he
will be long remembered. He was a steady friend, and always
ready to render his services among his numerous acquaintances.
He died, as he believed, at peace with all men."
The public records at Wilkes-Barre show that while li\ing
there, he continued his speculations in land, buying and selling
many different tracts. He died "land poor."
In 1797 Thomas Wright established a newspa[ier at Wilkes-
Barre, under the name of The Wilkes-Barre Gazette. This was
published by his son Josiah until December, 1800, when Thomas
sold it to Asher Miner who had on May 20, 1800, married his
daughter I'olly.
Asher Miner was the son of Captain Seth and Anna (Charl-
ton) Miner. He was born at Norwich, Conn., March 3, 1778.
He learned the printer's trade, and in 1799 removed to Wilkes-
Barre, where he opened a school, which he conducted for about
668 THOMAS WRIGHT, OF DYERSTOWN
four years, during which time he was also engaged in editing and
publishing The Luzerne Federalist, formerly called The Wilkes-
Barre Gazette, which he had purchased from Mr. Wright.
Charles Miner, younger brother of Asher, moved to Wilkes-
Barre in 1800, and in April, 1802, became a partner of Asher's
in his newspaper enterprise. This partnership was dissolved in
May, 1804, after which Charles became the sole proprietor.
Asher had moved to Doylestown on January 25, 1804, with his.
wife and one child.
This change was doubtless due to the influence of his wife
Polly Wright, who was born at Dyerstown, and where she
spent her childhood days. This was eight years before Doyles-
town became our county seat ; it was then a cross-road hamlet of
about a dozen dwellings.
The object of their moving to Doylestown was evidently in
order that Asher Miner might establish a newspaper there; this
resulted in the Pennsylvania Correspondent and Farmers Ad-
vocate, the first number of which appeared July 7, 1804. All
previous efforts to permanently establish a newspaper at Doyles-
town had failed ; but this one in such able and experienced hands
was destined to succeed, and Asher Miner continued to edit and
publish it for twenty years, selling out September 24, 1824 when
he removed to West Chester in Chester county, where he asso-
ciated himself with his brother Charles, who had in 1817 pur-
chased The Chester and Delaware Federlist. In 1818, the name
of that newspaper was changed to The Village Record, which
they sold out in 1834, when Asher moved to Wrights ville, Lu-
zerne county, Pa., where he died March 13, 1841. Charles moved
back to the Wyoming valley two years earlier in 1832 and com-
menced farming. Asher had a large family, one of his daughters,
Anna Maria married April 19, 1819, Dr. Abraham Stout, of
Northampton county. Pa. His father Seth Miner, who came
from Norwich, New London county. Conn., to Doylestown Feb-
ruary 2, 1810, is buried at Doylestown.
When Asher Miner sold out his newspaper at Doylestown in
1824, the purchasers changed the name to the Bucks County
Patriot and Farmers Advertiser, and when the purchasers sold
out in 1827 the name was again changed to the Bucks County In-
telligencer and General Advocate. It will therefore be seen that
THOMAS WRIGHT, 01- DYEKSTOWN 669
the newspaper founded by Asher Miner in 1804, is now the Bucks
County Intelligencer, publishing a weekly and a daily edition.
The county of Bucks is certainly under lasting obligations to
Thomas Wright, of Dyerstown, for his agency in bringing Asher
Miner to Doylestown and laying the foundation for our splendid
county newspaper of which we are justly proud.
The letter from Thomas Wright to Richard Backhouse, to
which I have referred, is copied in full below. It is interesting
as it gives some account of the early efforts to open up a route
from the Susquehanna river in the Wyoming Valley, over the
Wilkes-Barre mountain, to the Lehigh river in the Lehigh X'alley.
At Jesse Fells Esqr
Luzerne County W'ilkesbarre Augst, 6th. 1791
My most Esteemed friend Squire Backhouse
Since my residence here (which has been near 5 weeks) I have had
the satisfaction of discovering in this People a sensible obligation to
government for the handsome sum appropriated to the Improvement of
the Lehigh, which we are industriously engagd in clearing, and with
great success, as far as we have gone down, we began at the Extream
Part of the Great Falls where a saw-Alill is now erecting; my business is
engaging hands purchasing every necessar\' and sends all from here, my
Br. Dyer supperintends the work, the People here view this under-
taking as an Object of infinite moment and Importance, to this County
&c. hoping by the exersions of the public Spirit that will prevail that all
produce designed for Market, will be transported by Water carriage down
the Lehigh ; there has Originated a spirit of Enterprise in making a dis-
covery, which if it should terminate as happily as it has began, must cer-
tainly claim the very serious consideration of the Government. But a
very few days since, some Principal Characters of this place, with the
high Sheriff, conceived that a nearer and much better road from this to
the most Elligible spott on the Lehigh, might be made, than now is used —
and proposed to improve ; Impress'd with this Idea, thej- set off from this
last second day ; and on their retyrn, we were f avou'd with a most pleasing
report, they compute the distance from this Town not exceeding 12 or
13 miles, to the place where they met the Lehigh, the Road now used,
and propos'd to improve is 19 miles, and much the worst piece between
here and the W ind-Gap.
The place expresse'd by the Gentlemen thee may conceive at once then
to be the most elligible for the Road when I state the following facts,
which are avered to be true. Firstly — it has the advantage in point of
Distance — Secondly — the levelness of the ground, and the Capability of the
same, of being not only made better, than the old one, with much less ex-
pense, but of being made a very good Road. The Gentlemen report after
crossing the Mountain, about 3 miles below this Town ; tharc is a gentle
670 THOMAS WRIGHT, OF DY^RSTOWN
decent all the way to the Lehigh, with very few Stones, clear of Swamps,
and ledges of Rocks and to the very nearest place between the two Rivers
Susquehanna & Lehigh and three miles below all the confluence of all the
Streams that crosses the Sullivan's and new Roads ; which additional
waters to the Lehigh will be amply sufficient for navigation, allmost at any
Period of the year when Boats can go in the Delaware. These circum-
stances being true, some of the Gentlemen of the place being acquainted
with the Road, as it now leads from the Lehigh to the Wind-Gap — en-
couraged with the new proposed Road, with myself set a subscription
afoot to pay the expenses which would result from exploring it still on
to the Wind-Gap ; enough is subscribed, a Surveyor with Attendance this
day is gone on the business, convinced is the People that they can get a
Road much nearer to the Wind-Gap than either of the Roads, called the
new or Sullivan's Road, and the Swamp much narrower from the Lehigh
to the Wind-Gap and one Bridge instead of 4 will answer all good pur-
poses.
I have wrote to the Governor my Sentiments on the Subject.
Joseph Horsefield Esqr., has contracted for the Improvement of the
Road from here to the Wind-Gap and building 4 bridges, but hopes the
Governor will write to him to suspend laying out the Public money till
we can at the return of the Gentlemen Inform him more accurately; which
will be in the course of a few days. I should be happy in receiving a few
lines from thee, respecting the politics of our County, and well assured of
thy Permanent Friendship, (not as the old proverb runs out of Sight out
of mind). I do not expect to return home till a few days before our
general Election, therefore the Governor will make all his appointments
this month ; I am in the greatest hurry please excuse my poor diction and
scribe.
I wish to be remembered to thj- kind Wife and family.
I am with great respect
thy friend and Welwishcr
Thomas Wright
N. B. I have not seen Br. Dyer since the 13th ult. but have express
(torn) es.
Endorsements on back of letter
[Richard Backhouse, Esqr. )
Pr. Bethlehem Stage to be left [- Durham
at Major Brackenridge's.] )
Letter Augt 6, 1791
Reed. Aug. II, 1791 of Saml. Brackenridge
Wooden Water Pipes Used in Philadelphia.
BY CARL C. BIRKINBIXE, PHILADELPHIA.
(HutTnai'le House, New Hope Meeting, October ^8, igi6.)
Historical investiiiation shows that the first artificial water
supplies were collecting basins, a natural step beyond the com-
munity well. 'I'hen conduits to transi)ort water were evolved,
the earliest probably canals and ditches, and later, as civilization
progressed tunnels and aqueducts were constructed. The oldest
of the famous acjueducts still standing near Rome dates back to
three centuries before the Christian era. Clay and lead i)ipes
were also used in ancient times, and Hilprecht estimated that the
clay pipe found at Nippur, Babylonia, dates back to about 4000
B. C, while lead pipes were found in the excavations of Pom-
peii. A sentiment that lead pipes caused epidemics probably ex-
plains the extended use in London of wooden pipes in the latter
part of the eighteenth century, although their inability to with-
stand any great water pressure was recognized. About 1789, fol-
lowing an epidemic of yellow fever, Benjamin Franklin advocated
obtaining the water supply of the city of Philadelphia from be-
yond the city limits, which were then Vine and South streets and
the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers, and in January, 1801, was
completed the first steam pumping plant in the United States. It
drew water from the Schuylkill river at the foot of Chestnut
street, pumping it into a basin from which it flowed in an under-
ground brick tunnel, 6 inches in diameter, down Chestnut street
to Broad street and thence to Center Stjuare. the ])resent site of
City Hall. Here another pumping plant raised it 36 feet into two
tanks from which it flowed into an iron chest outside the build-
ing and from this ran the wooden water mains that sui)plied
I'hiladelphia. Two 6-inch mains passed down Market street,
one 4^-inch main down .\rch street and one 4yi-inch main
down Chestnut street, to Front, and from these the water was
distributed through 3- and 4-inch wooden i)ij)es. These wooden
mains were logs about 12 to 16 inches in diameter, bored with a
hole from 3 to 6 inches in diameter. During the first year of
672 WOODEN WATER PIPES USED IN PHILADEEPHIA
their operation so much trouble was experienced with leakage
at joints that 14 pieces of cast-iron pipe were imported from Eng-
land and laid at the Center Square engine house for the purpose
of testing them for watertightness. Three years later, 4,000 feet
of cast-iron pipe were laid in Water street, although in the same
year nearly five miles of wooden mains were placed. The laying
of wooden pipe continued until 1832, a total of nearly one-quarter
of a million linear feet being placed in 31 years. Following the
experiments with cast-iron pipe, 400 feet additional were laid in
1817, nearly two miles in 1820, and some in each succeeding
year, 25 miles being placed in the year 1914. Recently, during
the construction of the present subway, some wooden pipe was
excavated under the City Hall Plaza, and this was probably part
of the 1801 system, or of one still earlier that we know existed
but of which there are no written records. Other sections of
wood pipe have been found in various parts of the old city, often
in good condition because of being kept damp, but owing to de-
cay and civic improvements these evidences of early hydraulic
engineering, valued by historical societies, technical organizations,
colleges and engineers, are becoming rare.
Last Delaware Indian in Bucks County.
BY MRS. LOUISE WOODMAN, WYCOMBE, PA.
(Huffnaglc House, New Hope Meeting, October 28, 1916.)
The Delaware Indians left Bucks county and this part of the
country in 1775. Two of them, Indian Billy and his squaw-
Polly were too old to go with them and as they had no children
to care for them they were left behind. Miss Mary Woodman's
great-grandfather, William Worthington, had on his property
near Mill creek below Wycombe an old house in which he fitted
up one room and made it comfortable for them to live in, and
they supported themselves in part by making baskets which they
sold.
Polly died first, how long before Billy, no one knows. Miss
Mary's grandmother (Mary Worthing-
ton Smith) told her when Billy got sick,
her brothers, who were young men, went
twice a day to look after him and attend
to his needs. One morning they found
him dead.
As grandmother was a young girl (she
was married in 1785 at the age of
twenty), we place Billy's death about
1780. She went to the house to get
something that belonged to Billy and
found his small axe or tomahawk. After
she married she used it to chop bones
and it has been used for that purpose in
recent years. Its original handle was
made of a hickory sapling similar to its
present one, which was made of Mary
Woodman's mother's rolling-pin, and
fastened to the axe by Wilson Wood-
man. It is made of wrought iron and doubtless was forged by an
American blacksmith, but no one knows where it was forged. It
is in the typical form of the American pitching axe. Size 16
674 I^AST DELAWARE INDIAN IN BUCKS COUNTY
inches long by 4^ inches wide. It is now in the museum of the
Bucks County Historical Society. (No. 8, 857). An etching of
it is shown on the margin hereof.
The house Billy lived in was standing in 1816, but when it
was torn down, no one at present knows, though the foundations
were plainly visible in recent years. It was less than 300 yards
from Mill creek and about one mile from its mouth, quite near
Robin run which flows into Mill creek. The land on which it
stood has just passed into strangers' hands. Martha Woodman,
wife of Comly, nee Worthington, and great-granddaughter of
the above mentioned William Worthington, having sold it.
The two Indians are buried in the old Hickst graveyard, also a
part of the William Worthington tract (present owner, Howard
Walker). Mary Woodman has had two stones erected to mark
the places where they are buried. Last fall (1915) when in her
eighty-third year, she planted blue bottles to their memory on
their graves. Adjoining the house in which Indian Billy and his
wife lived and died there was a tract of two or more acres of
land cleared and cultivated by the Indians long before his time.
Its bounds can still be traced by huge forest trees.
Colonial Trades That Survived Until Recently.
BY E. F. BOVVLBY, CROSS KEYS, PA.
(Huffnaglc House, New Hope Meeting, October 28, 1916.)
THE MAKING OF MAPLE SUGAR BY THE EARLY SETTLER OF SOUTH-
WESTERN PENNSYLYANIA AND \YEST YIKGINIA.
As the pioneer left his home and the useful and convenient
tools and utensils which he had gathered about him, and pushed
farther and farther into the wilderness, he soon found himself
in need of many things which he could not well take with him.
He was forced to construct from the things surrounding him the
tools and utensils he so much needed. This we find was true in
making maple sugar, as I witnessed it from 1870 to 1880, as car-
ried on by the early pioneer in Southwestern Pennsylvania and
West Virginia.
First, spiles or spouts were made either from the elder or
sumac but mostly of sumac, because the pith was easily re-
moved by cutting away about one-third of the thickness of the
surface for about three fourths its length, which was generally
12 to 15 inches. This was done for convenience in removing
the pith, as well as for cleaning the spiles more easily. The
round end of the spiles were then tapered evenly and smootlily
so they could be driven snugly into the holes that are bored into
the trees. The holes were from i to 2 inches deep, according to
the thickness of the sap wood. The spiles had to tit tight in
order to avoid the leaking of sap around them.
Next the troughs are made. These are used to catch the
sap as it flows from the trees. Troughs are made by splitting in
halves poplar logs from three to four feet long and from one to
two feet in diameter, and then with axe and adze the halves were
hewn out into troughs. Poplar was used because it was a soft
wood and easy to work and did not imi)art any bad taste to the
sap. The half-round troughs were i)laced close up to the trees
on the ground and the sjmIcs were inserted into the trees just
above them from two to three sjiiles to each trough, and if the
tree was very large, say from two to three feet in diameter, two to
6/6 COLONIAI, TRADES THAT SURVIVED UNTIL RECENTLY
three troughs would often be placed to each tree. These troughs
would hold about three gallons, and if weather conditions were
right, would need to be emptied twice in 24 hours.
I have been told that some of these sugar troughs have been
used as cradles and that many of our great men and women
were, when babies, rocked to sleep in them. In gathering sap it
was dipped from the troughs into pails with large dippers made
from long-necked gourds, and hauled to the sugar house in bar-
rels on sleds, very often drawn by a good and faithful yoke of
oxen. The furnace for boiling the sap was built in the sugar
house. It was built of stones and mortar with three to five large
iron kettles built in the arches. The wood fires were built under-
neath the kettles, and a large stone chimney served as a draft.
The sap was poured into these kettles and boiled down, filling
in more sap as it slowly boiled down to a syrup, and ladling the
product from one kettle to another as it thickened until all of it
might be in one kettle, while continually stirring with paddles of
sugar maple wood or poplar, to prevent scorching. A piece of
fat pork was always kept handy so when the sap would begin to
foam or boil over a small piece was thrown in to still the troubled
water. The work up to this point was almost entirely carried
on by the men and boys. The syrup was then carried to the
house where the finishing process was mostly done by the women
and girls.
If making sugar for home use or crum sugar, this syrup was
put into an iron kettle and cooked still more. This required
some skill and close watching, reducing the fire as the cooking
proceeded until the right stage was reached, when the kettle was
taken from the fire and the contents vigorously stirred until the
sugar would crumble nicely. It was then stored in large earthen
jars, and became the chief and often the only source of sugar
supply for the family use.
One of the joys of sugar making was the stirring ofif. This
was usually done at the sugar house, when the neighboring boys
and girls would gather there in the evening. On such occasions
a large iron pot would be provided and a quantity of the syrup
poured into it and cooked over an open fire. From this they
would make wax and taft'y, often testing the same by dropping
the hot syrup into cold water or into holes cut into cakes of
COLONIAL TRADES THAT SURVIVED UNTIL RECENTLY 677
ice. The young people who have never attended one of these
stirring-off parties in the old sugar house in the woods, have
missed much of the sweets of this life.
MAKING SOAP FROM WOOD ASIIES.
The ash hopper was constructed by first driving four forked
stakes in the ground, one at each corner of a rectangle about 4
by 6 feet. The forks of these stakes would stand 43/2 feet high,
and in these forks would be laid four short poles of the proper
length. This would form the top frame of the hopper. The
bottom of the hopper was made from an old sugar trough, its
size about i foot wide, and 3 feet long inside. This was elevated
about I foot above the ground with one end a little higher than
the other. It was j)laced in the center but lengthways of the
rectangle.
Into this trough were placed tapered clapboards with tapered
ends in the trough and the wide ends leaning against the inside
of the top frame fitting them edge to edge as closely as possible.
And on top of this layer was another layer of tapered clap-
boards placed so as to break joints with the first layer. Next the
hopper would be carefully lined with long, straight rye straw,
the straw being placed lengthways of the clapboards. Into this
hopper would be dumped hard wood ashes (oak, sugar or hickory
ashes being preferred) until the hopper would be four-fifths full,
being careful all the time that none of the straw or clapboards
were displaced, for remember that the clapboards were not
nailed. The ashes would be leveled oflf, but leaving the center
dished so it would permit pouring on two or three gallons of
water at one time. To hasten the process it was necessary to
pour on water as fast as it would soak into the ashes. In about
24 hours a dark liquid would begin to run out the lower end of
the trough, a deep groove having been cut in that end for that
purpose.
Next was the testing of the lye. The cold test was made with
an egg. The lye was considered of sufficient strength so long as
it would bounce an egg.
The hot test was made by dipping a feather into the boiling
lye and if the feather would be stripped clean from the quill it
was of proper strength for making soap. Next the tested lye
6/8 COLONIAL TRADES THAT SURVIVED UNTIL RECENTLY
was poured into an iron kettle which was hung on a pole resting
in two forked stakes at each end. When the lye came to the
boiling point, grease was added of a proper amount. (This was
a guessing proposition.) If too much grease was added the
surplus would rise to the top when the soap was cold, and if not
enough it would not make soap. This was known as soft soap,
and was practically the only soap used by the early pioneer.
I built an ash hopper about 40 years ago and they were very
numerous about 1870 near my house in Greene county, Pa., where
some may still exist.
HAULING HAY WITH A GRAPEVINE.
I suppose one of the most useful things the pioneer of south-
western Pennsylvania and West Virginia had, and which perhaps
cost him least in both time and money, was the ever ready grape-
vine which "grew so abundantly in the surrounding forest. I
would estimate that in haymaking at least 75 per cent, of the hay
was hauled to the stack and barn with a grapevine. This would
be about i inch in diameter and 15 to 20 feet long, and would be
fastened to the right trace of a horse by looping the trace around
one end of it (there being a ring in end of the trace for that pur-
pose). Then he would drive the horse with a single line or cord,
haw around a haycock and back him up against the front of it.
He would thus take the vine with his right hand near where it
was hitched to the horse and put it under the edge of the hay-
cock on the right side, lifting the hay with his left hand. Then
he could come on around and place the vine up two or three
inches against the side of the haycock at the back and put it
under the hay on the left side, the same as on the right side and
then hitch to left trace by looping trace around the end of vine
as on the right side. When starting the horse he would stand on
the vine at the back of the haycock to keep it from upsetting, and
if the hauler was a boy, which he nearly always was, he would
ride on the hay to the stack or barn. He would then slip the
trace from the left end of the vine and the horse would pull it
from under the haycock and leave it standing by side of the
haystack just as it stood before hauling, provided he was an ex-
perienced hauler and did not upset it two or three times on the
way to stack, which experience the writer has had a good many
WELL-SWEEP IN THE MUSEUM OF THE SOCIETY 6/9
times. And what the i)itcher would sometimes say w(juld not
look well in a ]Kii)er of this kind.
The grapevine was also used very extensively for tyin;; fodder
shocks at corn husking time, and I have heard that small boys
sometimes use it to learn to smoke.
Well-Sweep in the Museum of the Bucks County Historical Society.
BV WILLIAM A. LAIiS, DOVLESTOWN, PA.
(Huffnaglf House, N\\v Hope Meeting, October -'8, 1916.)
The ancient ai)paratus known as the well-sweep, used for
drawing water from wells, may be described as follows : A
forked post about ten feet high is firmly planted in the ground
near the well. Through the fork a heavy pole, about 20 feet long,
and much heavier at one end than at the other, is balanced on an
iron pin or rod, transversely penetrating the fork and piercing the
pole so that its heavy end so much overbalances the light end,
that a pole (called bucket pole) with a bucket attached to its
lower end, suspended by a hook from the thin end of the sweep,
can easily be swung down into the well so as to fill the bucket with
water and lift it to the surface.
This antiquated apparatus varied considerably in size, and in
construction. The fork was sometimes made by bolting one or
two strips or wood vertically against the top of the upright post,
and the counterbalance on the end of the sweej) i)ole sometimes
consisted of a box containing stones or other material. Some-
times when the sweep was not i)roperly counterbalanced to draw
uj) the bucket of water, it was pulled down with a r()])e.
It is well known that this method of drawing water was in use
in Europe long before the discovery of America; also that it was
very generally used in various parts of the United States during
Colonial times, and that it has survived not only in the \ew Eng-
land and in the Southern States, but also in Bucks county, in rare
instances, until the present time.
According to information given me by Mr. R. Frank Ra])p. the
apparatus was used exclusively in Nockamixon township. Bucks
county, until about 1858. Dr. Henry C. Mercer informs me that
44
68o WELL-SWEEP IN THE MUSEUM OF THE SOCIETY
he saw and photographed several of these machines near York
Harbor, Maine, in August 1898; also that he saw one at about
the same time, standing near the southwest slope of Haycock
mountain, about two miles south of Applebachsville ; also that in
the summer of 1907 he saw a number of them in use in Cam-
bridge, Dorchester county, Maryland. Finally, a letter received
this month (October, 1916) by Dr. Mercer from Mr. J. T.
Campbell of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, of
Hartstown, Pa., states that one stands on the property of C. A.
Palette, at Paupack, Pike covmty. Pa.
The very large well-sweep recently obtained by me for the
Bucks Covnity Historical Society, and now in its museum, stood
near the dwelling house of Mrs. Sebastian Lecher, about one-
fourth of a mile south of Pricks Post Office in Hilltown township,
Bucks county, on the road from Line Lexington to Mount Pleas-
ant. It was built in 1907 by her husband, since deceased, who
came to America in 1906 from the province of Temes, near the
city of Temes-Var, in Hungary. Finding need for a pump on
the farm, Mr. Lecher, who was a carpenter and had used the
apparatus in Hungary, concluded to build one on his new prop-
erty. Mrs. Lecher informed me that his reasons for building
the well-sweep instead of a pump were first, that a pump freezes
and cracks in cold weather if not carefully watched, and second,
that the well-sweep, lacking valves and pipes, subjects the owner
to no plumber's expenses. This well-sweep was in continuous use
from 1907 until I bought it of Mrs. Lecher for our museum,
September 11, 1916, paying her $12 for it. During its removal
it was found that the vertical post was badly rotted near the
ground, and in consequence the whole apparatus collapsed, break-
ing the sweep pole in two places, showing that it could not have
continued in use much longer, though only nine years old.
Mr. J. J. Overfield of Elizabeth, N. J., informed me in Septem-
ber, 1916, that a well-sweep of this style, still in use on the prop-
erty of his father-in-law, Mr. J. J. Angle, in Smithfield township,
Monroe county. Pa., has been standing there, to his knowledge,
for forty years. I also learned from an inhabitant near the so-
called "Frogtown Road," in the neighborhood of the Harrow
tavern, Tinicum township, Bucks county, that the sweeps gen-
erally lasted from twenty to thirty years ; we may. however, reas-
WELL-SWEEP IN THE MUSEUM OF THE SOCIETY
68 1
onably suppose that there would be a considerable difference in
the durability according to the kind of wood used, the greater or
less dampness of the soil and the weather exposure. That they
have almost entirely disai)peared from Bucks county is a fact
which will now be ndmittcd 1)\' run- one who makes a business, as
WELL-SWEEP ON FARM OF MR. ROHS
Photograph by B. F. Fackenthal, Jr., May 25, 1917.
I have done, of trying to find one. Nevertheless, exclusive of one
or two specimens tiiat have been set up as toys or curiosities by
recent purchasers of farms, one genuine well-sweep still in use
stands in Bucks county. This can be seen just back of the barn
on the farm of Mr. Rohs. north of and adjoining Mrs. Lecher's
property, and along the same road. The sweep pole of this one
is counterbalanced by a i)iece of sawed wood which is wired fast
to it. As the etching of this well-sweep shows, the sweep-pole ex-
tends over a small lean-to at the side of the barn. The person
operating it stands within the lean-to which opens into the barn-
yard. Mr. Rohs said this well with its sweep was the only source
of water supply for his livestock. Mrs. Lecher told me that Mr.
Rohs came from the same part of the province of Temcs in
Hungary, that her husband came from, and built his well-sweep
a few years later, so that neither the one in our nniseum nor the
682 PRESIDENT DR. HENRY C. MERGER'S ANNUAL REPORT
one owned by Mr. Rohs are more than nine years old. Both of
these are therefore of recent construction, they are, however, of
old type, and their relation to human life, makes them the sub-
ject of our study at this time; they are just as real, just as gen-
uine, just as old-fashioned as the first of their kind that the
Swedes or Dutch ever built on the banks of the Delaware river
in the seventeenth century, or as the Dutch apparatus of 1550,
the ancient wood cut illustrating which I will now show you.
President Dr. Henry C. Mercer's Annual Report for 1916.
(Doylestown Meeting, January i6, 19 17.)
After making his official report of the progress and condition
of the Bucks County Historical Society for the past year (1916),
in which he referred especially to the addition of books and manu-
scripts to the library, and to the items added to the museum, and
to two special bequests of money, one of $500, from Mr. George
W. Cornell, and the other of $1,000, from Mr. Hugh Mearns
Thomas, the president said :
When I began making this collection for the museum twenty
years ago, I only partially realized what it meant. I called it
The Tools of the Nation Maker, but that unfortunate name con-
veys the idea that these tools were made by only one nation,
whereas we now know, that they were made by many nations,
and that they are in fact the tools of the whole human race.
Therefore it is absolutely true, that these things are larger than
the history of our town, larger than the history of our county,
and larger even than the history of the United States. So that
this collection might as well have been in Boston, or St. Louis, or
New Orleans, or Rome, or Berlin, or Australia, or New Zealand,
as here at Doylestown, but all the better for Bucks county that
we have it.
How can we, looking earnestly forward into the future, toler-
ate the thought that this society, with such a collection as this,
should stand still. Let us rather consider the two practical ways
by which it may advance :
First, do not for some years consider schemes for educating
PRESIDENT DR. HENRY C. MERGER'S ANNUAL REPORT 683
classes of young people with these things, but till up the gaps in
our collection before it is too late, for theje is, in fact, no time
just now to do anything else.
Second, go on as before with documentary local history, gath-
ered as all other similar societies gather it, but let the chief effort
be to do what the others have forgotten to do, namely to save
from oblivion and put ui)on our own records, the last vanishing
traditional information about these historical objects.
Where are the [)ersons to do this thing? That is a troubling ques-
tion. We know that a great many men who think that they have
not the time to get out of their offices, and renew their youth by
exploring humanity's wonderland for us, might take the time,
but for the moment, in this locality at least; it seems as if the
old antiquarians have all i)assed away, and that among the younger
generation of our friends, the inclination is lacking. But a very
hopeful thought is, that because our collection is not and never
can be local, but on the contrary is of world-wide significance,
that therefore there can be no outsiders to it. In any ten of our
eastern states there ought to be at least three persons who burn
with the fire that will keep us alive, and who can and will gather
information for us. It is our undoubted duty to get at least a
half a dozen of them to join us.
Ingham Female Seminary in Doylestown BorougL
BY MISS MARY h. DU BOIS, DOYIvESTOWN, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, January i6, 19 17.)
I recall with pleasure the fact that I was a pupil in the Ingham
Female Seminary, and I am fortunate in having at hand the
minute-book of the board of trustees, kept by the Secretaries
John B. Pugh and Rev. Silas M. Andrews, which gives some
account of its organization and operation. This minute-book has
made it possible for me to present this paper.
The Ingham Female Seminary was incorporated by an Act of
Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on April i6,
1838. On July 21 the trustees met to organize the corporation.
The charter members and trustees, were John Fox, Samuel D.
Ingham, Mathias Morris, Silas M. Andrews, John H. Anderson,
Charles E. DuBois, John B. Pugh, Charles H. Mathews and
William T. Rogers. The following were elected officers : Presi-
dent, John Fox ; Treasurer, Mathias Morris ; Secretary, John B.
Pugh.
Messrs. DuBois and Anderson with the president, were ap-
pointed a committee to draft a plan according to which the semi-
nary was to be established. Charles H. Mathews was appointed
to procure a seal for the corporation. From a receipted bill for
$2.50 from John S. Bryan we know the seal was procured, but
at this time it cannot be located. The charter is now in the
possession of the Bucks County Historical Society. One of the
conditions stipulated that there shall be one hundred shares of
stock sold at twenty dollars a share. It is much to be regretted
that the names of the subscribers cannot be found.
August 14, 1838, the committee appointed at a former meeting,
Messrs. DuBois, Anderson and Pugh, reported that in pursuance
of their duties they had conferred with John S. Hawley in re-
lation to the terms upon which he would take the seminary and
that he had submitted the following propositions.
I. That the room and fixtures are to be furnished by the
trustees.
INGHAM FEMALE SEMINARY IN DOYLESTOWN BOROUGH 685
2. That Mr. Hawley is to employ and pay a competent fe-
male assistant.
3. That the price of tuition for each scholar shall be six dol-
lars per quarter of eleven weeks.
4. That the tuition money shall be collected and received by
Mr. Hawley, and if the same shall not amount to $150 j)er quarter
that the difference between the tuition money and that sum shall
be paid by the board of trustees.
5. That the foregoing proposition extend only to the first
quarter.
A resolution was passed by the board of trustees accepting Mr.
Hawley 's terms as principal for one quarter.
In October, 1838, Mr. Hawley was engaged for another quarter
upon the same terms. The seminary opened in a small building
on Mr. Kelly's lot, which is said to be the property on Main street,
back of the courthouse about where Asher Lear's residence now
stands. This, however, is entirely traditional, as no mention is
made of the location in the minutes.
October, 1838, J. B. Pugh was elected treasurer in place of
Mathias Morris, resigned, filling the two offices, secretary and
treasurer.
The seminary from the beginning was not a success, as related
to the number of pupils, for we find a note dated April 25, 1839,
from Hr. Hawley saying, "we propose to take the school the next
quarter for $60 and the tuition money," showing that the tuition
money fell short of the $150 as promised by the trustees.
A resolution was adopted on July 27, 1839, that a building be
erected on the lot belonging to Judge Fox at the corner of Me-
chanic and Broad streets, ground rent to be $5 per annum. C. H.
Mathews, John H. Anderson and William T. Kodgers were aj)-
pointed the building committee with power to sell the building
erected on Mr. Kelly's lot.
On July 30, 1839, Dr. C. Soule Cartee was elected principal
of the seminary. In February, 1840, Henry Chapman was elected
to take the place on the board, of Mathias Morris, deceased.
On April 20, 1840, the president laid before the board a cer-
tificate of the state appropriation of $400 to president and trus-
tees of The Ingham Female Seminary to be apj^lied toward pay-
ing the expense of erecting a new building. The ai)propriation
686 INGHAM Fe;male seminary in doyeestown borough
of the State road from Doylestown to Castle Valley bridge, re-
maining unexpended in the hands of William Feld and Asher
Cox, was appropriated to the use of the president and trustees
of the Doylestown Female Seminary. The contract for the build-
ing was given to Samuel Kachline. The building, 22 x 32 feet
of frame, was completed in 1842, costing about $450. Many now
remember the building with the gable end to Broad street and
over the door in semi-circular form in black letters "Ingham
Female Seminary," painted by N. Hubbard.
The seminary was named in honor of the most noted man on
the board, Samuel D. Ingham, first Secretary of State in Jack-
son's administration. Mr. Ingham's name is mentioned but once
in a board meeting.
The year 1840 was the most encouraging in the his-
tory of the seminary. Dr. Cartee in his report of that year gives
the number of pupils as thirty. At no time were there less than
twenty-five receiving instruction in Greek and Roman classics,
mathematics and English literature. A piano was purchased
from Stephen Blatchford with stool and cover for $112.
The Academy of Natural Science, which had been organized
in 1829, and had come to an end in 1840, deposited their cases of
minerals, etc., with the Ingham Seminary.
In 1842 at a board meeting a motion was made "that in con-
sideration of the faithful services of Dr. Cartee and the small
size of the school the board vote him a donation of fifty dollars."
In 1843 Dr. Cartee left and returned to Boston, the school not
proving a success. About this time John B. Pugh resigned as
treasurer and secretary, and S. M. Andrews was elected to fill
the office. The small state appropriation was discontinued this
year.
In 1843 Miss Christiana Murray became principal, remaining
but a year or two. In 1844 the piano purchased in 1840 from
Stephen Blatchford for $112 was sold for $33.
There are no minutes recorded between 1844 and 1847 when
Rev. S. M. Andrews is asked to take charge until permanent ar-
rangements can be made. There is no minute to show when Rev.
Andrews retired.
In 1849 Hon. Samuel D. Ingham presented to the board a pair
INGHAM FEMALE SEMINARY IN DOYLESTOVVN BOROUGH 687
of globes for the use of the seminary, jnirchased by him in
Europe.
Mrs. M. H. Taylor applied for the building for a school in
1856, which was accepted on the following conditions: that the
board put the i)remises in order, that the applicant ])ay a rent of
$10 a year and keep the property in repair. She remained until
1869, and was followed Ijy Thomas Hughes, 1870; Miss Lizzie
Barber from 1 871 -1874.
The secretary was directed to notify the North Penna. Rail-
road Company that they deliver uj) the premises the last of
March, 1856, which indicates when the building was used for
other purposes than a school.
There are no minutes from 1874 until 1S77, but from vcrv re-
liable sources we learn that between those years the Seminary
was rented to Mrs. Simpson and Miss Felty as a private school
for young children.
By an Act of Assembly of April 2^, 1877, the trustees, John B.
Pugh, and Rev. Silas M. Andrews, the sole survivors (Judge
Chapman resigned from the board in 1854) were authorized to
sell the property, and the surviving members of the board met on
March 15, 1878 and paid over to the principals of the Linden
Female Seminary. Messrs. Hough and Sheip, the moneys re-
maining in their hands according to said act. The total amount
after the sale of the building and furniture was $623.43.
And so passed out of existence the old Ingham Female Semi-
nary which at no time was very well patronized, but which had a
part in the education and development of some of the young
women of Doylestown from 1839 to 1877.
A letter from John A. Anderson, of Lambertville, gives a little
personal touch to this strictly historical sketch; he says:
Dear Miss DuBois: Lambkktvu.i.e, X. J., Jan. 12, 1917.
I observe that at the coming mcctinR of the Historical Society you
are to present a paper on the Inyham Female Seminary. I am sorry that
I cannot be present to hear it.
My father was one of the promoters of the seminary and I was the
only person of the male sex who attended it. .\nd, a friKlitened boy I
was in the presence of a room full of tjirls. I was sure to know my
lessons well when I came to recite in their presence. I have a distinct
recollection of tlie teaclicr, Mr. C. Soule Cartee. My bcini,' sent to him
for awhile was on account of there l)einR, at the time, no other school
deemed suitable by my parents.
Rev. Paulus Van Vlecq.
BY REV. WILLIAM J. HINKE, PH. D., D. D.*
(Doylestown Meeting, January i6, 19 17.)
There has been of late a remarkable revival of interest in the
ecclesiastical history of Pennsylvania. Many volumes have been
issued by the different churches dealing with the origin and
growth of their respective denominations. This revival of inter-
est is largely due to the publication of many original documents
which have hitherto been inaccessible, documents gathered in
America as well as in Europe, which throw new light upon many
problems and questions of our early history. In view of these
new sources, now at our disposal, it is possible to speak and
write with certainty about many persons and events, regarding
which rumors and guesses have been current hitherto.
This is especially true with regard to the Rev. Paulus Van
Vlecq, the first Reformed minister in Pennsylvania. It is true
a good deal has been written about him since 1857, when the
Rev. Richard Webster included a sketch of his activity in his
well known "History of the Presbyterian Church in America,"
(page 338, f), published in that year by the Presbyterian His-
torical Society ; but as no sources were quoted and the evidence
was not presented in full regarding his life and work, readers
have been left under the impression that the record of his career
depended largely on hearsay and unconfirmed rumors. More-
over, it is now possible from new documents that have come to
light to sketch his activity more fully than was hitherto possible.
I — SCHOOLMASTER AT KINDERHOOK, N. Y. — 1702-I709,
The first reference to Paulus Van Vlecq^ which has come
to light thus far, has been found in the Journal of the Provincial
Council of New York, under date November 12, 1702; the min-
utes of the council state : —
* Professor of Semitic Languages and Religions, Auburn Theological Seminary,
Auburn, N. Y.
^ As each man is the best judge as to the manner of writing his name, and as
Van Vlecq always wrote his with a final q, we follow his spelling.
REV. PAULUS VAN VLECQ 689
"His Excellency in Council beinp informed that one Paulus Van Vleck
hath lately wandered about the country preaching, notwithstanding he hath
been formerly forbidden by his Excellency to do the same and is lately
called by some of the Inhabitants of Kinderhook to be their Clerk without
any License from his Excellency for so doing. It is hereby ordered that
the high Sheriff of the County of Albany do take care to send the said
Van Vleck down by the first opportunity to answer his contempt before
this board."' (Doc. Hist, of New York, HI, 538.)
This information about Van Vlecq, received by the council,
was evidently incorrect, for the inhabitants of Kinderhook soon
afterwards sent the following certificate to the council, which
cleared Van Vlecq from all the charges preferred against him : —
"Kinderhook, the 30th November, A. D. 1702.
"In the first year of the Reign of her Majesty Anne, Queen of Eng-
land, Scotland, Ireland and France, Defender of the Faith, We the under-
signed inhabitants of Kinderhook patent, acknowledge and Declare that
Paulus Van Vleq during the whole time he hath resided here and since
he was accepted as Precentor and Schoolmaster of our church hath truly
comported himself to the great content of our congregation, and that, in
all the time he was forbidden to preach he hath never preached in house
or barn or in any place in Kinderhook, but that he performed the office
of precentor as one Hendrik Abelsen, before his death, hath done at
Kinderhook. We have received said Paulus Van Vleq because one
Joghem Lamer sen (who was our precentor here) hath resigned the pre-
centorship and frequently complained that he could not perform its duties
any longer. We further declare that the above named Paulus \'an \'lcq
never took away the key of our church, but that we brought it to him in
his house.
YoHANNEs Van Alen,
Abram Van Alstvn,
COKNRAET BoRGHARDT,
Lammert Van Yansen."
"10 December 1702, Ordered that the above parties attend the Council
to answer all matters to be objected against them." ^ (Doc. Hist, of New
York, III, page 539.)
Whether Van Vlecq and his adherents appeared before the
council is not known, but the documents quoted establish the fact
that in 1702 a Dutch Reformed congregation, meeting in a church,
was in existence at Kinderhook. and that Paulus \'an \'lecq acted
as precentor and schoolmaster in that congregation. Like many
'Also iiiintcd in the Kcclcsiastical Records of the State of New York, \'ol. Ill,
page 1509.
* Sec Ecclesiastical Records, Vol. Ill, page i;i.'.
690 REV. PAULUS VAN VLECQ
Other early ministers, therefore, Van Vlecq began his public
career as a schoolmaster.
II — CHAPLAIN OF THE DUTCH TROOPS — 1709.
For several years we lose sight of Van Vlecq, although there
can be no doubt that he continued his work as precentor at Kind-
erhook. He reappears in the public documents of the Colony in
1709, when an expedition against the French in Canada was un-
der contemplation. At that time an attempt was made to have
Van Vlecq ordained, so as to enable him to accompany the ex-
peditionary force as a Dutch chaplain. The facts are recorded
in the Journal of the New York Assembly, which reads as fol-
lows : — *
"Die Martis (Tuesday) 8 ho. A. M. 21 Junii 1709, Mr. Du Bois attend-
ing the House, being called in, acquainted the House (that) Col. Nichol-
son had directed him to recommend a person fit to read prayers in the
Dutch language, to those unacquainted with the English tongue, to go
on the expedition (to Canada). The same to be taken into consideration.
"The House taking into consideration a person fit to preach and read
prayers in the Dutch tongue, to those not acquainted with the English
language, that will serve in the expedition, was informed that one Paulus
Van Vleck is willing to serve her Majesty on the expedition to Canada
as a minister or reader to the Dutch ordered on said expedition.
"Ordered that Mr. (Gualtherus) Du Bois, Mr. (Bernardus) Freeman,
and Mr. (Vincentius) Antonides, Dutch ministers, do, before Tuesday
next, examine the said Van Vleck in the presence of two of her Majesty's
Council, and two of the members of the House acquainted with the Dutch
language, and if the said Van Vleck be found orthodox, to ordain and
qualify him for the Ministerial function accordingly.
"Die Jovis (Thursday) 8 ho. A. Al. 23 Junii 1709, Mr. (Paulus) Van
Vleck attending this house, was called in and prayed the Dutch ministers
ordered to examine his Qualifications and Ordain him for the Ministerial
Function, may report the same to the House.
"Ordered, That the said Ministers do observe the said Order, and
report their opinion thereof to this House.
"Die Veneris (Friday) 8 ho. A. M. 24 Junii 1709, Mr. Livingston pre-
sented to the House the memorial of Air. Du Bois and Mr. Antonides,
setting forth, That they are not Impowered to ordain any Person to the
Ministerial Function in the Dutch Churches, by the Direction of the
Classis of Amsterdam : therefore, pray that they may not be ordered to
do anything inconsistent with the Constitution of the Church to which
they belong; which was read." (Journal, 22.)
^ See The Laws of Her IMajesty's Colony of New York, to which is added * * *
a Journal of the Votes and Addresses to the House, etc., New York 17 10, page 22i,
also Ecclesiastical Records, Vol. Ill, page i76of.
REV. PAULUS VAN VLECQ 69 1
The journal of the Assembly does not indicate how this affair
terminated, but the Dutch Reformed ministers, involved in the
case, wrote se\ eral letters to the Classis of Amsterdam, in which
they refer to this matter and throw additional light upon it.
On July 8, 1709, Rev. Gualtherus Du Bois and Rev. Vincentius
Antonides, pastors of the Dutch Reformed Churches at New
York and on Staten Island respectively, wrote an elaborate letter
to the Classis, in which they related at length this incident. They
write : —
"A certain Paiilus Van Vleck, reader, at a place called Kindcrhook,
has for some years past performed a reader's duties there, conformably
to the usages of the Dutch Church. He has studied the fundamentals of
divine truth, and has expected for a lonj; time to enter upon the ministry.
He also understood how to bring his people so far that they should issue
a call to him. But then it became necessarj' that he should be promoted
to the ministry, and to escape a voyage to Holland for that purpose, it
was thought that it could be done here. They at first worked undcr-
handedly to have it done by the ministers here. They spread a report
among the people that the Domines here could do it just as well as the
Classis of Amsterdam. This was rumored about secretly for a while.
They did not dare to come out openly in the daylight with their plans,
until finally the following circumstance was taken by the forelock for the
advancement of their scheme.
"When the soldiers were fitted out for the conquest of Canada, Colonel
(Nicholson) judged that it would be useful and edifying to have, beside
the English chaplain, also a Dutch chaplain to go with them ; or, at least,
because there are only a few Dutch ministers here, to have a reader or a
couple of Comforters-of-the-Sick, to serve the Dutch troops in the same
manner, as the congregations which have no ministers are served by them.
His Excellency said, when we once incidentally conversed with him about
this matter, that he was surprised that the Assembly had not provided for
this; and he asked Dominie Du Bois, to inform the Assembly, in his name,
that it would be well to have the matter attended to. This having been
done, the Assembly turned their thoughts to this Paulus \'an \'leck, who
was proposed to them by some friends of Domine Freeman. But when
the place was offered to him, he refused to go in the character of a mere
reader; but if the ministers would ordain him, he was willing to do ser-
vice among the soldiers as a minister, and then, at the end of the cam-
paign, be installed as minister in the congregation of Kinderhook. He
seized this as a convenient opportunity to oi)tain his long clicrished aim.
So far as we know, Domine Freeman and his friends helped him to
urge this business. And he knew how to obtain at least so much from
the members of the .Assembly, that the House issued a special order,
directing us three ministers, Du Bois, Freeman and Antonides, yea posi-
692 REV. PAULUS VAN VLECQ
tively commanding us, to examine this Paulus Van Vleck and to advance
him to the ministry by ordaining him.
"When this first order — which came upon us so unexpectedly and Hke a
chill upon the body, and which was so repulsive — had been at our united
request, somewhat modified b}' the House ; so that, at least, he should be
asked the fundamentals of religion, and that we should be allowed (if
possible) to certify to his ability, that they might have good reasons to
send him as a Reader or Comforter-of-the-Sick. This Mr. Van Vleck
was by no means satisfied with this, although we promised him that if he
would only go to the camp as a Comforter-of-the-Sick, we would write to
the Classis about his case, and make request that they would please to â–
authorize us to examine him, and if found qualified, to promote him, etc.
But he said he would go only as a minister, and demanded that we three
should advance him, as that was fully in our power, if we were willing;
that we would have to do as our superiors ordered. To all this Domine
Freeman not only assented, but also urged us thereto with arguments ;
that it was not contrary to God's word, but that it would serve God's
honor and conduce to the spread of Christ's kingdom ; that ministers make
ministers; that three make a College. The friends of Domine Freeman
and Van Vleck also insinuated all this among the members of the
Assembly.
"Then there came a third order, with dire threats, although only
verbal, urging that we must promote Paulus Van Vleck. Domine Free-
man was willing. We stood aloof and were then looked upon as rebellious
and disobedient. We were not a little troubled at this first view of the
case, but we took courage and holy resolution, and presented to the House
a protest. In this we declared, that neither our Church-rules nor
our Commissions, which we had received from your Reverences who had
sent us, gave us any such authority. We therefore verj' humbly requested,
that in ecclesiastical matters we should not be ordered to do anything
which was not in our power, and for which we had no authority."
As to the outcome of the affair they reported in the same
letter :—
"We have satisfied the Assembly with our reasons for refusal ; at least
nothing has so far resulted. Meanwhile, however, we are objects of
hatred to many of the common people, among whom this Van Vleck
knows how to obtain influence. He goes to preach in houses, here and
there, and a collection is taken up for his support." "
Several statements of this important letter deserve a word of
further comment. It is interesting to learn that Van Vlecq had
studied for some time to prepare himself for the ministry. We
shall find later that his own records corroborate this statement
and give us further details about his studies. Domine Freeman,
^ See Ecclesiastical Records, Vol. Ill, pages 1769 to 1773.
REV. PAULUS VAN VLECQ 693
then the Dutch pastor at New Utrecht, Bushwick, Flatbush an<l
Brooklyn, was evidently the closest friend and patron of \'an
Vlecq and, if we may be permitted to venture a supposition, it
was most likely he who instructed Van Vlecq in the "funda-
mentals of the divine truth." But the usual inference from these
documents that Van Vlecq actually went with the expedition and
acted as chaplain, is not justified. Being refused ordination, he
evidently refused to go as lay reader.
Dr. Edward T. Corwin, the historian of the Dutch church,
states in his comprehensive "Manual of the Dutch Reformed
Church in America," fourth edition, 1902, page 860, that Van
Vlecq "was finally ordained, it is said, by Freeman, upon which
the Classis of Amsterdam expressed its disapprobation." Upon
what evidence this statement rests does not appear, nor is it sup-
ported by the documents published by Dr. Corwin himself, in
the "Ecclesiastical Records of the State of New York."
In July 1710, the Classis of Amsterdam wrote to Rev. Free-
man : —
"Your offer of correspondence is under a condition. This we have
already answered. What is to be expected from such a correspondence
appears from the case of the reader (Van) Vleck whom, contrary- to all
church-order you have tried to make a pastor." "
There is no claim here that Van \'lecq had actually been or-
dained by Freeman, but merely that he "tried" to make him a
pastor. The only information which the classis had, was evi-
dently derived from the letter of Messrs. Du Bois and Antonides,
which we have already quoted.
In a later letter, dated July 2, 17 12, Mr. Freeman positively
denied that he had ordained Van Vlecq and also gave additional
data, which introduce us to the next stage of \'an X'lecq's activ-
ity. Freeman writes : —
"That I wished to make the reader, \'an Vlcq, a minister, against the
advice of my colleagues, has been wrongly reported to Classis. It was
Mr. Du Bois who allowed Van Vleq to exercise his gifts privately, in
the church of New York. And subsequently, when by order of the Queen,
on account of the first expedition to Canada (1709), some companies of
Dutch soldiers were also enlisted, Mr. Du Bois went to the City Hail, to
ask that a Dutch minister might be provided for, and assigned to these
Dutch troops. Thereupon the House took this matter into consideration
' See Kcclesiastical Records, Vol. Ill, page i860.
694 REV. PAULUS VAN VLECQ
and on the request of Rev. Du Bois, gave orders that Messrs. Du Bois,
Freeman and Antonides should examine Paulus Van Vleq ; and if he
were found competent to ordain him in a suitable manner, for the pro-
posed otifice, on account of the scarcity of ministers here. Thereupon we
came together, as may be seen in the Journal of the Legislature ; but
Messrs. Du Bois and Antonides said they did not want to do it ; thereupon
I said, does not the dangerous condition of the soldiers demand that they
should have religious services? As to Van Vleq I know not concerning
his abilities to edify, but let us examine him. Then the others said, that
they had no authority to ordain him to the Sacred Ministry. Thereupon
I said, you need have no fear of the Episcopal ministers, for here is a
command from the government, which gives us all the authority ; no,
said the others, not that do we fear, but we are bound to the Classis of
Amsterdam. Whereupon I said, are you not fully ordained ministers, and,
under such circumstances would your act be taken up in evil part by the
Reverend Classis? But they could not do it. Well then I said, I will
not do it either. Nevertheless I cannot sign my name to a statement that
I have no authority to do it, to be given as an excuse to the gentlemen
of the Legislature. Behold, Reverend Sirs, that is, in truth, all that
occurred, and so we parted ; and Van Vleq went to the Scotch Classis
(Presbytery) of Philadelphia; and after he had been first examined by
three Scotch ministers, he was qualified for two small Dutch villages, and
w'as accepted as member of the Classis (Presbytery), and as I hear,
gives reasonable edification." '
This letter of Freeman's implies that his inability to secure
ordination in New York, suggested to \"an Vlecq the advisa-
bility of going to Pennsylvania, where he might be more for-
tunate. This expectation was soon realized.
Ill PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER IN BUCKS COUNTY, I7IO-I712.
When Van Vlecq appeared in Pennsylvania, he brought with
him a small parchment covered book, now fortunately preserved
in the Dutch Reformed archives at New Brunswick, New Jersey,
in which he entered the record of his ministerial labors in Penn-
svlvania and New Jersey, between the years 1710 — 1713. It is.
this record which enables us to speak of Paulus V^an Vlecq as the
first Reformed Minister in Pennsylvania.
The book is interesting enough to deserve a brief description.^
' See Ecclesiastical Records, Vol. Ill, page 1956. It is commonly stated that
Freeman was "a Westphalian tailor;" see Corwin, "Manual," fourth edition, page
467. This does not agree with Freeman's own statement, that he was licensed and
ordained as well as sent to America by the Classis of Lingen; see Ecclesiastical
Records, Vol. Ill, page 1535. A German classis does not license and ordain tailors.
'^ This record was published in full by the writer in the Journal of the Presby-
terian Historical Society, Vol. I, pages 111-134.
REV. PAULUS VAN VI^ECQ 695
It is a small quarto volume, 8^ by 6j4 inches in size, with
a parchment cover, bearing the rather inappropriate title, added
recently: "First Book, Van Vlecq's Journal, 1710-1733." It has
at present sixty leaves. It belonged originally to some learned
divine, most likely the teacher of Paulus Van Vlecq, v^-ho used
it as a note book in his exegetical studies of the New Testament.
He apparently intended to outline the gospels of Matthew and
Mark, but he did not carry out his purpose fully. On pages 2"]-
57, we find his extended Latin analysis of the first sixteen chap-
ters of Matthew. To the analysis of each chapter is added a
vocabulary of difficult Greek words. On page yj is the analysis
of the last chapter of Matthew and on the following pages the
opening chapters of Mark are analyzed, in the same careful fash-
ion, in Latin. That this analysis of the Gospels, was made prior
to Van Vlecq is evident from the fact that several of the pages
used by \^an Vlecq (<:. (j., pages 59 and 85) have the headings of
the Gospel analysis, in a clearly different hand; these are above
the entries of Van Vlecq.
When the book w^as turned over to Van Vlecq, he used pp. 5-
15 to enter upon them what he called a "Thorough instruction
in placing the Hebrew vowel points, being the most difficult part
of that language." This study of Hebrew grammar is arranged
in twenty-one sections, and deals with the pronunciation of con-
sonants and vowels and the rules governing the different Hebrew
accents. It is in the handwriting of Van Vlecq. His study of
Hebrew was evidently interrupted before he had made much
proii^ress in it. * On pages 58-76, Van Vlecq has written a long
theological essay, in the Dutch language, on "The Household of
the Covenant." This was most likely the extent of his study in
divinity. The rest of the book is filled with entries by Van \'lecq
after he had reached Pennsylvania. Pages 1-3 contain his mar-
riages; pages 13-17 a series of historical entries; pages 18-25
statements of his finances, and finally pages 85-96 his baptisms.
After the departure of Van \'lecq from Pennsylvania in 17 13.
his book remained in the hands of one of his elders, Mr. Christ-
ophel \'an Sandt. He as well as others continued the record
from 1 7 19- 1 738. It is with the help of this record, written by
\'an Vlecq himself, that we are able to trace his activity in Bucks
county and other neighboring Dutch settlements.
45
696 REV. PAUIvUS VAN VLECQ
On page 13 of this record are the following important state-
ments, in Dutch, which fix the beginnings of Reformed worship
in Bucks county. They read as follows when translated into Eng-
lish :—
"In the year o£ our Lord Jesus Christ 1710, on May 20th, the church
at Bensalem and Sammeny (Neshaminy) was estabhshed."
"On May 20th in the year of our Lord Jesus Chi-ist 1 710, Mr. Paulus
Van Vlecq was confirmed as pastor or shepherd and teacher in the church
of Jesus Christ at Schaminie, Bensalem, Jermentown (Germantown) and
surrounding villages."
"The consistory, elders as well as deacons £ft Sammeny and Bensalem,
was installed by Dominie V"an Vlecq on May 21, 1710, as follows:
Hendrik Van Dyck — senior elder.
Leendert van der Grift — junior elder.
Stoffel van Sandt — senior deacon.
Nicolaus van der Grift — junior deacon."
This entry shows that Van Vlecq began his ministry at Nesh-
aminy and Bensalem on May 20, 17 10. Who confirmed him as
pastor is not stated. Perhaps no more was involved on his part
than the acceptance of the call extended to him by his congre-
gation. There was but one congregation, which included three
separate settlements, via : Neshaminy, Bensalem and German-
town, the last at that time six miles from Philadelphia. But the
activity of Domine Van Vlecq was not limited to this one con-
gregation, although its bounds extended beyond the limits of the
county.
On June 4, 17 10, (so the record states) the church at Wytmes
(VVhitemarsh) was established and a consistory consisting of four
members, installed. The Whitemarsh church met, most likely, at
the same place as it did fifteen years later, namely in the house of
William De Wees, which stood near the crossing of the Phila-
delphia and Reading turnpike and the Wissahickon.
The next iinportant event in the life of Van Vlecq is recorded
in the Minutes of the Presbytery of Philadelphia.'' On Fri-
day September 21, 17 10, a committee of Presbytery, consisting
of Messrs. Wilson, Andrews and Hampton, was appointed "to
meet at two o'clock to inquire into Mr. Morgan's and Mr. Van
Vlecq's afifair and prepare it for Presbytery." When in the af-
ternoon, at three o'clock, the Presbytery met, " the comittee re-
° See Records of the Presbyterian Church, Vol. I, page 17.
REV. PAULUS VAX VLECQ 697
ported Mr. Van Vlecq's case and after serious debating thereon.
put it to the vote, to admit him a member of Presbytery or not,
and it was carried in the affirmative." With Domine Van VIecq.
his elder, Leonard van der Grift, was admitted to seat and vote in
the Presbytery. There is nothing in the minutes of Presbytery
to suggest that Van Vlecq was ordained at that time. On the
other hand. Presbytery would not have admitted him without
ordination. The question, therefore, still remains unsettled,
where Van Vlecq received his ordination. Did Freeman after all
fail to tell the Classis of Amsterdam the whole truth ?
Thus the Dutch Domine, with his Dutch congregations, had
become a Presbyterian minister, who for the next two years car-
ried on his ministerial activity under the auspices of the Presby-
terian church. That he was an active pastor and indefatigable
worker is plainly evident from his own record.
A week after he had organized his church at Neshaminy, we
find him at Whitemarsh and Skippack where he baptized, on May
28 and 29, 1710, sixteen children of nine families. The next Sun-
day, June 4, 1 7 10, Van Vlecq started a church at Whitemarsh
with fifteen members, and baptized on the same day a child at
Neshaminy. Two days later we find him at Hopewell, N. J.,
where he baptized seven children. In the following month, July
7, 1710, he went to Staten Island, where he baptized two chil-
dren. On his way home he stopped at Six Mile Run, where two
more children were baptized. On July 30th, he was at home
again. In August 1710, he baptized a child at Apqumenic, now
Appoquimink, a creek in New Castle county, Delaware. In
the following month he performed a baptism at the Schuylkill.
In November 1710, he was again, after two previous visits, at
Six Mile Run, N. J., where on November 15, he organized a
church with nineteen members, by the installation of two elders
and two deacons. It is now represented by the Dutch Reformed
Church at Franklin Park, New Jersey. We are not surprised,
after these almost interrupted journeys, to find this entry in his
financial statement ; "For the shoeing of the horse, two shillings
and the leather for a new bridle, one dollar."
In the year 171 1, Van Vlecq reduced the extent of his circuit
considerably, visiting quarterly, from Neshaminy as centre, his
regular preaching places only, Whitemarsh, with Skippack and
698 REV. PAULUS VAN VI^ECQ
Six Mile Run in New Jersey. The reason for this somewhat re-
duced activity may be found in the fact that on September 11,
171 1, he was married by the Rev. Mr. Andrews, the Presbyterian
minister in Philadelphia, to Jannetje Van Deyck, the daughter
of his elder, Henry Van Deyck. ^'^ On September 20, 171 1, Mr.
Van Vlecq was absent from the meeting of Presbytery, when
Mr. Andrews was appointed to write to him for his unexcused
absence. But a few days later, on September 26, 171 1, one of his
elders, who had been sent to Presbytery for that purpose, re-
ported that Van Vlecq was disabled by sickness and his request
to be excused for his absence was sustained. ^^
For the year 1712, his record contains only baptisms at Nesh-
aminy and Whitemarsh, with one new station. Maidenhead in
West Jersey. His last baptism took place at Neshaminy on De-
cember 9, 1712. There is but one later entry by him, that of a
marriage, on April 24, 1713, at Raritan, N. J. After that he left
Bucks county. During his ministry there he organized three
churches, supplied ten preaching points, received into member-
ship 88 persons, married thirteen couples and baptized 94 chil-
dren.
In addition to his pastoral activities, Domine Van Vlecq re-
corded also his financial transactions, a few of which may be
quoted as being of special interest. Unlike many other ministers
he was most careful and minute in recording his financial trans-
actions, noting his receipts and expenditures down to a half-pence.
His yearly salary at Neshaminy was £30, which the church treas-
urer, Jacob Ysselstyn, paid him at irregular intervals. The
church, like many others in later times, often sufifered from an
empty treasury, and the minister was compelled to make advances
in order to meet expenses. Among other items he advanced
"eighteen pence new money for hinges of the cashbox." Among
his receipts is one for "three shillings light money, for the knit-
ting of a pair of stockings ; ten pence, for the dyeing of the stock-
ings ; six pence, for the knitting woman, and also three shillings
for a band around my body."
Unlike many another poor preacher, Van Vlecq had money even
to loan. There are repeated loans on record to Jacob, as he fam-
â– '*' Entered by Van Vlecq himself in his own record, see Journal of Presbyterian
Historical Society, Vol. 1, page 122.
^' See Records of Presbyterian Church, Vol. I, pages 21, 23.
REV. PAULUS VAX VLECQ 699
iliarly called his treasurer. Pic dealt with all kinds of money,
Dutch daelers, guilders and stuivers ; English pounds, shillings
and pence; and Spanish pistols. He was troubled with "heavy
and light" money, and, in order to detect the latter, he bought a
pair of small scales, costing 6s. Qd., which, when he left, he
handed over to the church at cost.
The church at Whitemarsh paid him £25 a year. They were
repeatedly unable to pay it. In the first eight months, they were
iy, /s. and 6d. behind. He had also business dealings with Wil-
liam De Wees, his junior deacon at Whitemarsh, from whose
paper mill he bought paper. One entry reads "one ream of paper
15s. 7/^d." It is reasonable to conjecture that he bought this
paper to write his sermons on it.^'-
IV — IIIS DEPARTURE FROM PENNSYLVANIA, I713.
The question remains to be considered : Why was it that Van
Vlecq gave up his ministry in Bucks county and left Pennsylvania
in 171 3? Instead of answering this question ourselves, we prefer
to let the official records of the Presbytery of Philadelphia tell
their story.
On September 18, 1712, the minutes of the Presbytery state:
"The order for inquiring into the mutual condition of ministers
and people was observed, and no complaint was made by any
except Mr. Van Vlecq, with respect to the people of Neshaminy,
which cause is now pending." On the following day, September
19th, the case of Mr. Van Vlecq and his people w-as again taken
up by the Presbytery and it was then concluded that : —
"after Presbytery had examined the several evidences brought, in rela-
tion to the crime of bigamy, alleged against Mr. Van Vlecq, as also the
exceptions offered by the said Van Vlecq against the evidence and in
vindication of himself, the Presbytery not finding the evidence clear and
positive enough to prove the crime against him, and yet Mr. Van VIecq's
vindication not sufficient to take off the scandal wholly, do therefore, till
such time as Mr. Van Vlecq bring satisfying proof of his first wife's
death, for the honor of the gospel, advise that he do not officiate as a
minister of the gospel. To which advice he does willingly agree."
A letter w^as on the same day written by the moderator, Mr.
Andrews, and Mr. Hampton, to his people, advising them of their
decision. Mr. \'an Vlecq was naturally very anxious to clear
himself of the charges preferred against him. Hence, we learn,
" See Records, Vol. I, page -.'6.
700 REV. PAULUS VAN VLECQ
that on the day after the close of the Presbytery he appeared
with some papers trying to vindicate himself with them. As all
the members were departing, except Messrs. Andrews, McNish
and Hampton, it was left to them to consider his papers, which
they did. But after examination, as they reported later : —
"they thought them not sufficient to clear him from that scandal. There
came also complaints against him for telling lies, concerning some things
which he bought of Mr. Van der Gaegh, and said his mother had sent
them out of Holland. Whereupon these members gave this as their judg-
ment that in case he should clear himself from the imputation of bigamy,
3'et that he should not be allowed to exercise his ministerial office till he
cleared himself from the said charge of lying also.
"Further, it being reported there was a letter at New York from the
said Mr. Van Vlecq's mother which contradicted these which he produced,
Messrs. McNish and Hampton being bound thither, it was left to them
to inspect into that affair."
"Memorandum Second, October 24, 1712.
"Mr. Hampton being returned, makes this report, that they having
made inspection according to order found a letter from said Van Vleck's
mother to his uncle Jacob Phenix, or his wife, bearing date within three
or four days with Van Vleck's letter, and contradictory to his, testifying
that then his wife was alive; and found also the hands, as they thought,
different. Whereupon they were really of opinion, that Mr. Van Vleck
was guilty of the crime laid to his charge." "
On the following day, October 25, 1712, Messrs. Andrews and
Hampton wrote a letter to his people, acquainting them with the
result of their investigation, expressing their great regret over the
outcome and exhorting them not to encourage such a person any
longer in the work of the ministry among them, but to endeavor
to supply themselves in other ways.
When Presbytery met again in September 171 3, the committee
reported that in their judgment he was guilty. As he was absent
and nothing appeared for his vindication, his suspension was con-
tinued.
In September 1714, the Presbytery determined:
"that the censure of suspension which he already lies under should con-
tinue; and that Mr. Andrews and Mr. McNish make further inquiries
concerning his circumstances and condition, by writing to Holland, or
otherwise, and make report to the next Presbytery." "
" See Records, Vol. 1, page 32.
^* See Records, Vol. I, page 37.
REV. PAULUS VAN VLECQ 7OI
The affair was concluded, as far as the Philadelphia Presby-
tery was concerned, at their meeting on September 21, 1715,
when Mr. Andrews and Mr. McNish reported concerning Van
Vlecq :
"that he is run out of the country, and that they, havinp writ to Holland
according to appointment, had not yet received an answer." ''
Thus the star of Paulus Van Vlecq. which rose so brightly
when he entered Pennsylvania, set in darkness. But we can well
follow the example of the Presbytery of Philadelphia in con-
cluding that, while the evidence seems to condemn him, we
should suspend our final judgment.
V — THE RESULT OF HIS WORK.
In conclusion the question may be asked, what became of the
churches of Van Vlecq? The record which he left answers this
question at least in part.
On April 22, 17 19, Christopher Van Sandt records that sev-
enteen members at Neshaminy Creek were received by Rev.
Malachi Jones "on profession of faith." As these are the same
members which in 1710 formed the Dutch Reformed congrega-
tion at Neshaminy, it is evident that a new organization took
place in 17 19. Furthermore, as Rev. Malachi Jones was a Pres-
byterian minister and pastor of the Presbyterian Church that still
exists at Bensalem, near the Neshaminy creek, it is evident that
the newly organized congregation was this Presbyterian Church
at Bensalem. This is supported by the fact that a later entry in
Van Vlecq's record, made in 1724 by Rev. Robert Laing. an-
other Presbyterian minister, refers to their church as "ye Meet-
ing House in ye township of Bensalem."
But there was another offspring to Van Vlecq's Neshaminy
church. For some reason or other, probably because the Eng-
lish and Irish settlers increased too rapidly and crowded the
Dutchmen out. a reorganization of the Dutch Church at Xcsh-
aminy took place in the year 1730. On May 30, 1730, Kcv.
Cornelius Sandford of Staten Island installed Christopher \'an
Sandt and Gerrit Croesen as elders, Benjamin Corsen and Abra-
ham Van der Grift as deacons. In the same month a letter was
dispatched to the Dutch Reformed ministers at Rotterdam in
" See Records, Vol. I, page 40.
702 REV. PAULUS VAN VLECQ
Holland, asking them to send a Dutch Reformed minister to their
congregation in Bucks county. After many disappointments and
a long delay of seven years, their request was at last answered,
when Rev. Peter Henry Dorsius arrived at Philadelphia on Sep-
tember 26, 1737. From that day to the present the line of min-
isters has been unbroken in this congregation, which is now the
Dutch Reformed Church at Churchville, Bucks county.
Besides these two, there are two other churches which con-
tinued the work of Van Vlecq and made it permanent. In 1725,
the Rev. John Philip Boehm organized two German Reformed
churches out of the members who had first been gathered by
Van Vlecq.
In November 1725, Mr. Boehm organized the Skippack Re-
formed Church with thirty-seven members, among whom were at
least two, and probably many more, who had belonged to Van
Mecq's Whitemarsh Church, namely Gerhart ten Heuven and
Gabriel Schuler.
On December 23, 1725, Mr. Boehm organized the Whitemarsh
Reformed Church, with twenty-four members, among whom at
least three belonged to the earlier organization of Van Vlecq.
They were William De Wees, Isaac Dilbeck and John Reben-
stock. 1"
To these four churches the church at Six Mile Run, now the
Dutch Reformed Church at Franklin Park, N. J., must be added
as the fifth, which perpetuated the work of Van Vlecq.
In view of these undisputed facts we cannot but conclude that
the work of Van Vlecq, however short it was, ending even in
disgrace, was exceptionally fruitful in results, for at least five
different churches, belonging to three different denominations
have in time grown out of his work. This will certainly insure
Paulus Van Vlecq a place in history, although his character is
not unblemished.
^'^ See also Hinke's "L,ife and Letters of Rev. John Philip Boehm," page 25.
Washington at Whitemarsh.
BY ANTHONY M. IIANCE, PIIII.ADIiLril lA, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, January i6, 1917.)
As night follows day, and week follows week, so the months,
and alas the years come and go, yet to us who live in or near by
Philadelphia, there is, to me at least, a sort of historical pleasure
in shutting out, at times, the mundane present and picturing to
myself the conditions existing at Whitemarsh at that time of a
most important section of a zone which I regard as the "Storm
Centre of the Revolution."
But at the outset I wish to disclaim any thought of making the
eagle scream or twisting the lion's tail, as is unfortunately only
too common in speaking of Revolutionary times, on the Fourth
of July, and at dedications of parks, monuments, tablets, etc. A
careful study of the situation, practically ignored by historians —
General Washington's strategy at Whitemarsh and though
fraught with many questions settled long ago — will if one cares
to carry on investigations on one's own account in the open, and
study the movements of the contending forces from a purely
military and political standpoint, in connection with the "ter-
rane," will also lead to many other studies and investigations,
entirely dififerent, but, undoubtedly, equally interesting.
.V thought of the names themselves shows the importance of
the Whitemarsh camp. You are all familiar with Camp-Hill
which was the main camp near headquarters at the comfortable
home of George Emlen and which was so picturesquely described
by the historian, Lossing, (getting data from his Field Book of
the Revolution) when he drove there in his Dearborn wagon
with his good horse "Charlie," in 1847. ^lilitia Hill, where .\rm-
strong in command of militia largely Pennsylvania, continued
their encampment when Washington's main army was in \'alley
Forge. Church Hill where St. Thomas' Church stands. Fort
Hill where breast-works were thrown up — an important stra-
tegical point. Fort Washington and the gradual slope of Fort
Hill where farmers, in their plowing, have found many bayonets,
704 WASHINGTON AT WHITEMARSH
and buttons from soldiers' uniforms. Fort Side at the foot of the
hill, near to or outside of the fort on the hill, called both Fort
Hill and Fort Washington.
So I think we should go about these researches and excursions
pleasantly, devotedly, in all fairness and truth, and without bias
or prejudice. It is particularly true of this neighborhood be-
cause St. Thomas' Parish was formed under the auspices of
the Church of England. Dr. Millet wrote in 1862 in his valuable
pamphlet on the History of the Parish of St. Thomas' Church:
"It is within the memory of many even now living, when, from this
elevated spot, in place of the beautiful and varied landscape which now
lies spread out before us, with its mosaic work of different colored fields,
giving signs of life, prosperity and peace, instead of the many sounds of
flocks and herds — the rumbling noise on the highway pr the shrill whistle
of the flying train echoing far and wide — in place of all these, there was
only to be seen, as far as the eye could reach, the dense foliage of sur-
rounding forests, with here and there a space, — a clearing, giving but
a faint foreshadowing of the present scene, or of the wealth and pros-
perity, the signs of which now meet us at every turn. There were, indeed,
the same general features; the same beautiful, green hills stood 'round
about, the same streams flowed in the valley; but, when the first sounds
of prayer and praise ascended from these quiet scenes, 160 years ago, we
can well imagine what missionary ground it was."
"We may mark the growth also of this English settlement not only as
new names come up before us, but more especially as we date the laying
out of new roads. The Church road (so called) because it extended from
the Oxford Church to this, and for a long time was traversed by the
missionaries appointed by the Society in England to minister to the two
congregations, is an original road, laid out about 1685, but in 1698 another
way to Chestnut Hill was opened for the purpose of forming a connection
with the road leading to Germantown, and to facilitate the transportation
of lime to the city of Philadelphia, which at this early date was worked
from the neighboring quarries."
An especially interesting period for speculation is from the
sailing of the great fleet under the Howes from New York, Aug-
ust, 1777, to Clinton's return to New York, July, 1778, with an
exhausted and badly broken army, and because it covers the four
seasons of the year : Summer, with the Americans marching and
countermarching in uncertainty, the British at sea, later on land,
trying to get to Philadelphia; Autumn, with the battles and af-
fairs of Brandy wine, Warren Tavern, Paoli, and Germantown —
the long and exhaustive campaign ending right about here;
WASHINGTON AT WIIITEMARSH 705
Winter, with both armies resting — the British comfortably housed
in Philadelphia, — the Americans in the open — a cordon around
their enemies, with the main army at Valley Forge ; and then
with returning Spring, the British making forays, often wanton,
in every direction from the city, Washington persistently trying
to check them, yet as indefatigably trying to make a small army
out of raw material, in the midst of the most overwhelming diffi-
culties that probably ever beset a Commander-in-Chief. But
without more than touching on some of the other places, let us
try to imagine for a moment the Wide- or White-Marsh, as it
was, about 136 years ago.
Mr. Richard McCall Cadwalader in his interesting paper on
"Fort Washington and the Encampment at White Marsh, Novem-
ber 2, 1777," states: "Enthusiastic followers of Pastorius, who
settled Germantown, claimed the name from "Whit-mar-sun,"
in Friesland, Holland. It is finally settled that the name came
from the wide marsh along the Wissahickon, which, as the local
historians are fond of saying, developed into the beautiful name
of "White Marsh."^
Then there was still left the larger part of the primeval forest
that covered all the eastern portion of this continent. The dark,
mysterious forest, so dense that summer sunlight never pierced
it except where the lakes and rivers were, as the Delaware and
Schuylkill, for even the Wissahickon and Neshaminy must have
been hidden in summer by the overlapping foliage, or on small
clearings, here and there, which the Indians had laboriously made
to plant their corn and melons.
Before the passing of the Indians (Unamis or Delawares)
this part of the country was quickly settled, and before the Rev-
olution, roads were made to Philadelphia, which city also grew
in size and importance from its situation on tide-water and the
rich country surrounding it, tilled by the industrious Welsh,
English, German, Dutch and Swedish pioneers. The housewife
carded, spun and wove wool from her husband's flocks, dyed it
by methods learned from the Indians, made it into clothing for
'In 1 7 13 the Germans on the Skippack petitioned that a road be opened from
Pennypacker's Mill to the wide marsh at Farmer's Mill. I have felt Whitemarsh has
been followed from the picturesque white mists that form here with the coming of
night and a cooler atmosphere, and which so beautifully fade away in the sky with
the return of the sun on clear, bright. Summer and Autumn mornings.
706 WASHINGTON AT WHITEMARSH
the men and boys for meeting or market-going. The men hewed
the forest, and turned and planted the soil, built their substantial
log homes, meetinghouses, barns, mills, and then roads. These
times were not unlike those that followed soon after the Revolu-
tion and that have been so graphically portrayed by Bayard Tay-
lor in his immortal "Story of Kennet." The Delaware, and its
tributaries, as the Neshaminy, Brandywine, Rancocas were fol-
lowed up and became the highways of communication to the
city; but with the continued influx of settlers and the taking up
of land along the waterways, roads connecting interior points, as
w^ell as the city became more necessary and hereabouts were con-
structed the great highways for those days, Bethlehem, Perkiomen,
Skippack, Manatawny, Lancaster, Limekiln, Gulf and the greater
highway to New York, — the Old York road. These with the
old milestones soon became memorable and are now historic on
account of the marching and many military uses made of them
by both armies during the Revolution, principally on account of
the maneuvering of Sir William Howe for the possession of the
Rebel capital ; and Washington with his comparatively weak force
to prevent it, and afterwards to hold Howe in the city not only
preventing him from victoriously connecting with the British
army in the north under Burgoyne, but also preventing any over-
land communication, later on of Clinton with his base in New
York. Almost in the center of this zone of activity St. Thomas'
Church is located ; and in a degree it might even be said to have
been one of the pivotal points, like Barren Hill, Sunset Hill (Mr.
E. W. Dwight's), Camp Hill (Mrs. Alexander Van Rensselaer's),
on account of the strategic value of these hills in respect to the
tactics employed by both armies. There at one's side passes
the Bethlehem Pike, leading from Philadelphia through German-
town, Mt. Airy, and Chestnut Hill to Bethlehem, Easton and
Durham (where supplies for the Continental Army were made
and stored) with branches connecting it with the Limekiln pike,
and through to the east, with the Old York road, and other
roads that led to McKonkey's, Coryell's, and other old ferries
on the Delaware ; to the northwest is the Skippack Road over the
undulating hills to the old German and Moravian settlements,
and on the west of the valley is the Perkiomen road leading
off to and connecting with the Manatawny road which parallels
WASHINGTON AT WHITEMARSH 707
the east bank of the Schuylkill, connecting with the old ferries
there and the roads on the west bank of the river and leading
to Reading. A\'hile right at hand ends the Church road, al-
ready mentioned. Thus we see how Washington's command of
these main roads (the inferior roads were nothing but wood
paths for carts or sleds) enabled him notwithstanding his small
force, to keep the British army in Philadelphia and by adroitly
using these few main arteries of travel to the city, and in his
movements up and down the Skippack, he compelled the British
to withdraw their exposed line of battle after Germantown, to
their strong defenses in Philadelphia.
In the summer of 1777 rumors spread rapidly through this
section (it was Philadelphia county till 1784, when this portion
became Montgomery county), of a renewal of hostilities as the
American army was marching south and then north again on
the York road through Bucks county, when the Howes sailed
from New York. It was generally thought Charleston, S. C, was
their objective point, therefore the worthy and peaceful citizens
here little suspected that in a few months, their homes, and farms,
their very firesides and places of worship would be invaded, for
circumstances over which they had no control, placed them in
the very midst of activities. This lasted from about the middle
of September, with more or less annoyance and interference from
both armies, until the following June when the British withdrew
from Philadelphia, a period of nearly nine months of anxiety,
loss, and ruin, and on more than one occasion, actual panic.
The campaign that brought this about and practically ended
here, was in reality the continuation of the plan begim the year
before by the British for the capture of Philadelphia and striking
a mortal blow at the zone of which it was the center; the richest
territory in the Colonies and the source of the sinews of war, ex-
cept those that came afterwards from France. After the retreat
through the Jerseys, and the battles of Trenton. Assunpink and
Princeton, the British temporarily withdrew to New York, while
Washington made his headquarters at Morrisville, N. J., with
his small force — an admirably chosen post as it enabled him to
move towards Amboy to get in the rear of the British should
they attempt Philadelphia again by way of the Jerseys or move
to the Hudson should they attempt \\'est Point, then considered
7o8 WASHINGTON AT WHITEMARSH
the strategic key by opening a channel of communication from
their base on the Atlantic — New York, to another great outlet to
the Atlantic they controlled — the St. Lawrence. Having prac-
tically the command of the sea this would have given them the
command of the land. But neither of these plans were carried
out as Washington was in a position (at Middlebrook, N. J.)
from which the skilful tactics of Howe, pretending to move on
Philadelphia, failed to draw him. The British plan was then
changed and Howe was fearful of being cut off from his base
again, as Washington came near doing in January, by getting
around and behind Cornwallis, and menacing vast stores and
supplies at Brunswick. (These Washington could have captured
with sufficient cavalry, but reluctantly withdrew to Morrisville
for the only horse he had was the City Troop — "a company of
25 gentlemen of fortune from Philadelphia who volunteered their
services and paid their own way." Incidentally I would like to
say that General Washington's admiration, love and friendship
for the First City Troop, collectively and individually, was only
severed by his untimely death).
I would also like to state here that the history of this cam-
paign, which under Washington's personal direction, is remark-
able for its similarity to the movements he also personally di-
rected, up and down the Skippack to take a strong position about
us here at Whitemarsh, in that they have both been almost en-
tirely overlooked notwithstanding the important part they played
in his marking time, so to speak, pending the young Republic's
hopes of assistance from France, the latter always looking to a
chance to regain her Canadian possessions. Indeed, Governor
Pennypacker who has made a most careful study of the campaign
terminating here, says : "Washington at Whitemarsh gained his
greatest tactical success ;" i. e., in menacing the British in Phil-
adelphia in a manner to draw out the whole army to attack him ;
to drive him across the Alleghenies it was said, and then their
inglorious return to the city to get behind their strong defenses ;
and this was the high-water mark of the Revolution. I feel in
studying this move, that Howe, finding how well Washington was
posted in holding the roads leading to the north, if the plan was
to make a dash for the supplies at Reading, Bethlehem, Easton,
Durham, Warwick, etc., was warmed by the cold weather that a
^ WASHINGTON AT \VI^TE^rAKSII 709
severe winter was right at hand with imminent risk of the freez-
ing and closing of the Delaware to the sea by which his supplies
came from New York and England ; and that his army might
be surrounded by a sudden rush of patriots to the field either to
be cut to pieces in detail if he divided and moved in different
directions, or forced to lay down his arms as Burgoyne had
done in the northern forests, less than three months before.
Howe's report, dated December 13, reads as follows: "Upon
the presumption that a forward movement might tempt the
enemy, after receiving such a reinforcement (reported afterwards
as 4,000 men), to give battle for the recovery of this place
(Philadelphia), or, that a vulnerable part might be found to ad-
mit of an attack upon their camp ; the army marched out on the
night of the fourth instant." And Washington weaker in ever}'
essential that goes to make an army while strong enough to hold
his position here by availing himself of the "terraine"- — the Wis-
sahickon, Sandy Run, Camp Hill, Militia Hill, the Whitemarsh
Valley before his right and its continuation— the Huntington
Valley — before his left, patiently waited the outcome, though not
strong enough to take the offensive or indeed to move in any
manner to menace the British rear as in marching in column out
to Chestnut Hill or when that army gradually moved by the right,
paralleling the valleys and returned to Philadelphia by column
over the York and Lime Kiln roads.
Right here is seems appropriate to mention a proposed move
that was never executed but rather interesting because I have not
as yet ever found any reference to it in the almost countless
papers written about this campaign since, let us say, the end of
the Revolution. I quote frpm Dr. Ramsay's "History of the
Revolution," (Vol. H, p. 34), as follows: "The position of Gen-
eral Washington in a military point of view was admirable. He
was so sensible of the advantages of it, that the maneuvres of
Sir William Howe, for some days could not allure him from it.
In consequence of the reinforcement lately received, he had not
in any preceding period of the campaign been in an equal con-
dition for a general engagement. Though he ardently wished to
be attacked yet he would not relinquish a position from which he
hoped for reparation for the adversities of the campaign. He
could not believe that General Howe, witli a victorious arnu-.
/lO WASHINGTON AT WHITEMARSH
lately reinforced with 4,000 men from New York, should
come out of Philadelphia only to return thither again. He there-
fore presumed that to avoid the disgrace of such a movement,
the British commander would, from a sense of military honor, be
compelled to attack him. though under great disadvantages.
When he found him cautious of engaging and inclining to his
left, a daring design was formed which would have been executed,
had the British either continued in thir position, or moved a little
farther to the left of the American army. This was, to have been
attempted in the night to surprise Philadelphia. The necessary
preparations for this purpose were made, but the retreat of the
British prevented its execution."
Without going much into detail relative to the movements of
the armies — the professional soldiers of Europe pitting their
talents against the wit and ingenuity of self-made generals, many
of whom like Washington himself, had had much experience in
the field — and often under much more trying conditions — in the
French and Indian, and other Colonial wars. Let us begin with
the time that the Marquis de Lafayette officially joined his fellow-
idealists across the sea at the Cross Roads (now Hartsville),
because it is only a few miles as the crow flies from Whitemarsh
to the old Neshaminy Camp.-
The Marquis de Lafayette having been commissioned Major-
General, July 31, for the first time took part in a council of war
at the Neshaminy camp (the 21st of August, 1777) in reference
to the movements of the enemy's fleet. Three days later, on
Sunday, the Continental army marched through Philadelphia, and
we might say that every day after that until Washington withdrew
from Whitemarsh to Valley Forge, was filled with anxiety, and
naturally accompanied by many interesting details, for there was
something happening each day of the greatest importance. These,
were indeed, history making times and a complete narrative of
such events leading to the struggle for the Delaware, including the
^ Mr. Mercer in showing me this several years ago also pointed out where an
old tree had fallen, as the place it was said where Washington personally washed
his clothes. 1 recall a picturesque old spring in Germantown said to have been
poisoned at the time of the battle, and an old path leading through the dense laurel
and pine at this side of the Wissahickon to Cresheim, said to have been cut by
American poineers, also at the time of the battle, to get troops in that way. Such
is tradition and I do not doubt that there are still many traditions extant throughout
the valley that have come from its occupation by the contending forces.
WASHINGTON AT WIIITEMARSII 7II
taking of Philadelphia, would fill a very large volume in itself.
The waiting, the uncertainty, the reconnoitering through the hot
days of the summer of 'yy soon led to active operations in the
field ; and as the days were growing shorter in September, the
first action of importance after some sharp skirmishes a few
days before was the battle of Brandywine. Had the days been
as long as in June or July, the event might have resulted very
differently; as it was, Washington took advantage of the earlier
twilight and darkness to promptly cover his withdrawal to
Chester, and next day then on to Philadelphia where he estab-
lished a camp at Germantown. Then the maneuvering west of
the Schuylkill to oppose the British advance on Philadelphia by
way of Lancaster road up to which the latter had moved from
the battlefield, because Howe also had to withdraw to rest and
repair damages. At Warren Tavern, a week afterward, the armies
clashed again, but a violent thunderstorm rendered the arms of
both absolutely unfit for use. The next week occurred the per-
plexing maneuvering on both sides of the Schuylkill and before
the end of it, Washington had crossed to this side at Pottsgrove,
and moving towards Philadelphia, then camped at Pennybacker's
Mills until September 29, when he marched down the Skippack
to Worcester township, about three miles above. From this
point (Methacton Hill) he started his army again on the evening
of October 3, to attack the enemy at Germantown, the British
having occupied Philadelphia a week previously with a compar-
atively small force leaving their main army camped in line of
battle at Germantown; the left wing extending from the Schuyl-
kill about where is now School Lane to Market Square ; the right
wing extending along what is now Church Lane almost to Old
York road. That action, while it has propably been written
about more than any other, in the Revolution, has still much in-
terest from a military standpoint, as I am not aware of its ever
having been described in relation to the topography of the
country including the few old roads and the smaller o])en spaces;
for although there were more clearings and the land had been
taken up and settled earlier than here at Whitemarsh yet on the
east, west, north and south were still dense, if not, almost im-
penetrable forests, except in the vicinity of the old furnaces.
We can see by Washington's orders how he utili/.ed the Ski{>
46
712 WASHINGTON AT WHITEMARSH
pack and the other roads I have spoken of to our east and
west in planning to strike the British, and while he had
contemplated some such move, he determined to act im-
mediately, from two intercepted letters showing that Sir
William Howe temporarily weakened his position by sending
a large detachment to reduce the Delaware forts to open
the river for his brother, the Admiral, to bring up the fleet to
his relief and keep an outlet open to the sea in case he were
forced to evacuate Philadelphia. So Washington, by utilizing
these roads as he did worked out the audacious plan of turning
the British right, and folding that wing back on the left, by
driving them into the Wissahickon or Schuylkill, destroy their
army. But the plan was too elaborate ; the salient points were
too far apart for carrying commands, even if he had had an
adequate stafif. Besides the men were worn down by the night
march from Methacton Hill, and through the confusion that
came with the fog, he wisely ordered a retreat and withdrew in
good order again under cover of a fog (as at Long Island)
through the Whitemarsh Valley. Wayne, soon afterwards wrote
to Washington :
"The troops who took the upper road (;'. e., the direct road from Ger-
mantown) deemed it advisable to remain here for some time to collect the
stragglers from the army. But the enemy made their appearance with a
party of Hght horse and from 1,500 to 2,000 infantry, with two field pieces.
The troops were ordered off, when I covered the rear with some infantry
and Colonel Bearins' dragoons, but, finding the enemy determined to push
us hard, I obtained from General Stephens some field pieces and took ad-
vantage of a hill {i. e. where old St. Thomas church stood) which over-
looked the road upon which the enemy were marching, (i. c. the Bethle-
hem Pike.) They met with such a reception that they were induced to
retire over the bridge (crossing the Wissahickon) which they had just
passed, and gave up further pursuit. The time gained by this stand fav-
ored the retreat of a considerable number of our men, 300 or 400 of whom
are now encamped here, and which I hope will facilitate the retreat of al-
most all who are scattered ; so that you are now, in my humble opinion,
in as good, if not better situation than you were before the action of this
day."
The hill that General Wayne mentions is the old breastwork — -
Fort Washington. It has been marked with an appropriately in-
scribed granite stone, and every day now the stars and stripes
WASHINGTON' AT WIIITEMARSII 713
are broken out from the flagstaff on the top of the hill. Dr.
Millet also wrote :
"The British obtained possession of the hill on which St. Thomas'
Church now stands, and placing their cannon in the church fired up ihe
road at the Americans when on their retreat to Valley Forge. A large
body of the American soldiers, during Washington's encampment in the
neighborhood, pitched their tents upon this hill (the circular mounds now
visible in the adjoining field across the road showing the number and
position), and, having quartered themselves in the old church, they not
only greatly injured and defaced the building, but they and the British
soldiers after them made use of the gravestones to cook upon. This will
account for the loss of many headstones marking the graves of the earliest
settlers, as may be seen by the fragments, with letters on them, which are
occasionally found among the graves."
It was about 140 years ago that the American army again
crossed the Whitemarsh Valley, going into winter quarters at
Valley Forge, and Dr. Millet's statement written only 65 years
after the event is particularly interesting showing how close to
the American camp the British were at the time, for the Skip-
pack pike is the only road up which the British could have fired
from their battery in old St. Thomas' church. It is to be re-
gretted that Dr. Millet did not go more fully into this detail.
Then came a halting and waiting period of two months, the
army encamping to the North of Whitemarsh where Washington
could do little to take the offensive again without sufficient troops.
Burgoyne had surrendered at Saratoga and notwithstanding
^^'ashington's reiterated demand for Continental troops, which
were no longer necessary to Gates, the latter ignored such re-
quests until further refusal on his part would have led to a
courtmartial. We know now why this was, from Wilkinson's
talking too much on his way from Saratoga with dispatches to
\\'ashington. It was at Reading where he stopped over night at
Lord Sterling's headquarters. But it was not until the 9th of
November when Washington was quartered within about a mile
of us at George Emlen's house which Lossing so picturesquely
described in 1847, that he first learned of the consjiiracy
to remove him from the command of the army, known
spiracy to remove him from the command of the army, known
as the Conway cabal. A few weeks after that he learned of the
evacuation of and loss of Forts Mifflin and Mercer which had
714 WASHINGTON AT WHITEMARSH
protected Philadelphia from approach by the Delaware and of
which he officially informed Congress, November 23, 1777. Im-
agine for a moment, if it is possible to do so, how he could
have felt now, seeing through the cabal and understanding why
he had not been reinforced by Gates, so that he could have had
troops enough to completely surround the British in Philadel-
phia before they were able to co-operate with the fleet and open
the river. Though as late as November 24, another council of
war was convened at the Whitemarsh headquarters to consider
the expedience of an attack on the enemy's lines in the city.
Judge Marshall wrote of this (Vol. Ill, p. 316, ist Ed.) : "Wash-
ington possessed too much discernment to be dazzled by the false
brilliance presented by those who urged the necessity of storm-
ing Philadelphia, in order to throw lustre round his own fame
and that of his army ; and too much firmness of temper, too much
virtue and patriotism to be diverted from a purpose believed to
be right, by the clamors of factions, or the discontents of ignor-
ance. Disregarding the importunities of mistaken friends, the
malignant insinuations of enemies, and the expectations of the
ill-informed, he persevered in his resolution to make no attempt
on Philadelphia. He thereby saved his army, and was able to
keep the field in the face of his enemy ; while the clamor of the
moment wasted in air and was forgotten."
About a week later, November 30, another council was con-
vened at George Emlen's "baronial mansion" to consider
a proper place for winter quarters. Howe very likely had
some knowledge of this, and as there was so much talk
about driving Washington across the Blue Mountains he, to
all outward appearances, acted promptly to bring it about. That
Washington was aware of this is seen in his report to Congress
of December 10 in which he states : "In the course of last week
from a variety of intelligence I had reason to expect that Gen-
eral Howe was preparing to give us a general action." Howe,
as already mentioned, moved out on the 4th of December, which
maneuver Mr. Cadwalader describes very fully with the tradi-
tions that have come to use, how Washington was apprised of it.
He had a very efficient secret service which he kept discretely to
to himself, personally paying for sources of information and in-
vestigations and an exact record of the amounts so disbursed is
WASHINGTON AT WIIITEMARSH 715
shown in his "Account with the United States ;" but we don't
know positively who his agents were, and if it were possible, how
interesting a story could be written of Washington's secret serv-
ice ! But we must not forget that surrounded by so many dis-
affected persons, as well as in the midst of friends and enemies
to' both armies alike, it would be almost impossible for contending
forces maneuvering under such conditions without large move-
ments being known, though in detail probably not. Furthermore,
the armies were very near each other in those days of saber
and bayonet fighting; which conflicts, being usually hand-to-hand,
were in that respect little removed from those of the times of
Alexander, Caesar, and Hannibal.
Here it seems not inappropriate to say a few words about
Judge Marshall whose interesting references to Whitemarsh I
have quoted. After General Washington's death, his favorite
nephew. Judge Washington, elected that John Marshall should
write the life of his illustrious uncle; the choice was as if an in-
spired one.
All lives of Washington are based on this great work and no
writer who followed Judge Marshall has, in my opinion, ever
equaled him. Notwithstanding the fact that he was in posses-
sion of all Washington's papers, letters, notes, journals, maps,
etc., I do not think he lays sufficient stress on the difficulties that
beset General Washington during this campaign, and on the sig-
nificance of General Howe's withdrawal from active campaign-
ing.
Not only were many officers squabbling among themselves — in
which respect the Congress at York set them a shining example —
but the troops were not sufficiently clothed, the arms were poor,
and while there was a superabundance of Continental currency,
as compared with powder and ball, it was about as valueless as
the very insufficiency of the latter.
But to make matters worse the effects of the Conway Cabal
were here being felt, and as Colonel Carington pointedly says in
his "Battles of the Revolution" (p. 397) : "This general fact is
noteworthy as it furnished the British commander an element of
strength in proportion as it weakened the army and influence of
Washington;" and Paul Leicester Ford in his delightful "The
True George Washington" says (p. 256) : "These attempts to
yi6 WASHINGTON AT WHITEMARSH
undermine Washington owed their real vitaHty to the Continental
Congress, and it is safe to say that but for Washington's political
enemies no army rival would have ventured to push forward."
Now, while I have speculated on some reasons for General
Howe's occupation — in secure and comfortable winter quarters —
of the capital of the soi-disant United States, who can say 'in
view of his unquestioned generalship and inside knowledge of the
political situation, that he did not fully expect the patriotic party,
and indeed the whole fabric of the Revolution, Congress, army
and all, to disintegrate and go to pieces; as in calm retrospect,
and without bias, such a view of the situation inevitably presents
itself to us in the light of later knowledge? But that such plans
and expectations were not realized is largely due to other elements
in Washington's character — his tact, his firmness, his forbearance
— and which one can study with much interest and benefit to-day.
I touched on Lafayette's joining the army at Hartsville as he
undoubtedly would have been much more identified with the cam-
paign and movements about here had he not been wounded in
the leg at Brandywine and nursed back to health and strength by
the Moravians at Bethlehem. Joining the army at Valley Forge,
his own action at Barren Hill, May, 1778, is so fraught with in-
terest and romance that it is well worth the study. The old
roads and milestones are still there, as indeed most of the others
are still left here. But to go into that would be like going into
many other interesting historical subjects, also in connection with
the Revolution, that have occurred in and about the beautiful
Whitemarsh Valley. It was there that Washington planned
most of his campaigns and right near us where as I have
stated he accomplished his greatest tactical success. Judge Mar-
shall says, referring to the Whitemarsh Camp: "General Wash-
ington rode through every brigade in his army delivering in per-
son his orders respecting the manner of receiving the enemy, ex-
horting his troops to rely principally on the bayonet, and charg-
ing them with the set firmness of his countenance as well as by
his words to a vigorous performance of their duty." And Gen-
eral Washington in reporting to the President of Congress about
Whitemarsh stated : "I sincerely wish that they had made an
attack, as the issue in all probability, from the disposition of our
troops and the strong situation of our camp was fortunate in
WASHINGTON AT WHITEMARSH /I/
having. At the same time I must admit that reason, prudence, and
every principle of policy forbade us to attack them." This is
shown by Washington's "after orders" issued from headquarters
at the Emlen House, December 2, 1777: "Whenever the Alarm
is given by the firing of three Cannon the whole Baggage and
Provision of the Army, Tents included, is to be put into the
Waggons and marched off the following Roads : The right Wing
of both lines by the North Wales Road, and the Road by Edges
Mill, and to proceed to the 24 Mile Stone on those Roads; unless
further Orders are received ; the left Wing of both Lines by the
two Roads which lead into the old York Road at the 13 and 15
Mile Stones and proceed on to the 24 Mile Stone, until further
orders. Whether the Alarm Guns are fired or not the whole Army
is to be under Arms at their respective posts at Day Light To-
morrow Morning, and the Lines properly formed by the Major
General in their respective Commands * * *" This also
shows that Washington at the time of the issuing of these orders
had secret information as to Howe's proposed move from Phila-
delphia on the 4th of December. The condition of the army is
also shown in after orders issued from headquarters on the 22nd
of November : "The Commander in Chief offers a Reward of
10 dollars to any Person who shall by 9 o'clock on Monday
Morning produce the best Substitute for Shoes made out of raw
hides. The Comm. of Hides is to furnish the hides and the Maj.
Gen. of the Day is to Judge of the Essays and assign the Re-
ward to the best Artist."
In looking into the question of the setting out of milestones
along the old Germantown road recently, I was especially struck
with the bearing of Washington's orders issued from head-
quarters, in connection with Howe's "forward movement."
If one looks at the map, I think it will show what Washing-
ton's plan was and issued two days before Sir William Howe
marched out from Philadelphia to attack him at Whitemarsh,
namely : to move northeast, north, and northwest by these roads
not only to hold his lines of communication while extending con-
tinuously the battle line of his army with flanks and wings con-
necting, his purpose thereby being to draw the British farther
into the country, or be in a position to block their way to New
York. It would also be interesting to learn if Sir William Howe
7l8 WASHINGTON AT WHITElMARSH
knew of Washington's orders, for in his plan of moving out and
feehng every point of Washington's position at Whitemarsh,
he saw how well the latter had availed himself of the topography
of the country and put his small army in a position too strong to
warrant an offensive move.
Washington, on the other hand, should a general attack be
made, would have fired the alarm guns and marched his army in
accordance with his orders of December 2. If Howe should fol-
low with a view of moving on to New York by the old York road
which was occupied by the left wing of the American army,
Washington could have maneuvered with his right wing to at-
tack the British on their fllank. Winter was coming on and that
winter, as we know, turned out to be a very severe one; hence,
when after four days of skirmishing and reconnoitering at White-
marsh against the Americans, Sir William Howe marched back
to the city, it was, I have no doubt, because he considered the
chances too desperate to follow Washington and get so far from
his secondary base in Philadelphia, which was not a particularly
secure one any how, being in the heart of an enemy's country.
There was nothing cowardly or weak about this but the well
planned tactics of an able and considerate general, who was
thoughtful of his men's lives and comfort, where such thoughts
can be considered in active operations in the field and separated
from their homes by 3,000 miles of sea. These were among his
traits that made him, and justly so, such a popular general with
his officers and men.
Furthermore, before dismissing from our minds these historic
movements of opposing armies, there is a point I would like to
draw your attention to, that seems to have been overlooked in
the zeal to accept a romantic story of the Revolution, namely :
Lydia Darrach's warning to Washington at Whitemarsh of
Howe's move, December 4, 1777.
While the American army lay at Whitemarsh, Elias Boudinot,
then Commissary-General of Prisoners, was reconnoitering along
the lines near Philadelphia. After dining one day at a small post
at the Rising Sun, "a little poor-looking, insignificant old woman
came in and solicited leave to go into the country to buy some
flour." In a dirty, old needlebook which she contrived to put
into Boudinot's hands, he found in the last pocket a piece of
WASHINGTON AT WHITEMARSH 719
paper rolled up in the form of a pipestem and which contained
information that on the next morning, General Howe was com-
ing out with 5,000 men, 13 pieces of cannon, baggage wagons,
and II boats on wagon-wheels. Boudinot immediately rode post
to headquarters, and "agreeable to orders received from General
Washington, I related to him the naked facts without comment
or opinion. He received it with much thoughtfulness. I then
gave him my opinion that General Howe's design was to cross
the Delaware under pretense of going for New York. Then in
the night to recross the Delaware above when we were totally
unguarded and cut off all our baggage, if not the whole army."
* * * 'phg General answered me: "Mr. Boudinot, the enemy
have no business in our rear. The boats are designed to deceive
us. To-morrow morning, by day-light, you will find them com-
ing down such a by-road on our left. * * * About 3 o'clock
in the morning we were aroused by the alarm guns. The British
were in possession of our cjuarters down the by-road mentioned
by General Washington. I then said I never would have set up
my judgment against his."
Mr. Boudinot gives no dates other than the autumn of 1777.
We know that Howe's forward movement was begun December
4, and it was at sunrise on the morning of December 5 they came
down the by-road, that is, a road leading easterly from Chestnut
Hill and very likely what was then called the Lime Kiln road
and which came into the Main street at old Mermaid tavern, now
known as Mermaid lane. This was not only two days after
Washington's orders of December 2, but four days after a letter
written by General Cadwalader to General Reed from head-
quarters, November 30, 1777. While this was mainly about the
selection of winter quarters, he goes on to say, however: "We
have good information that Cornwallis has returned, and that
the enemy had orders to march at 2 o'clock yesterday morning.
The orders were not given out until dusk. The officers were
driving about in great confusion and were heard to complain
that the orders came out so late. The weather prevented, or we
should certainly have had a brush yesterday. Greene and the de-
tachment from New Jersey are all arrived in camp. We are
now in full force and in perfect readiness for them, and wish
nothing more earnestly than to see them out. The weather will
720 WASHINGTON AT WHITEMARSH
probably delay the matter for a few days, but I have no doubt
they intend us a visit or else this is given out to cover a design
of making a large foraging party to New Jersey as a great num-
ber of boats have been collected. The last seems very probable."
Thus we see that on November 29, Howe's plan was known to
Washington and that he personally knew more about it than any
one else, is shown by his prediction to Boudinot having been veri-
fied by the occurrence.
About this time Reed was also writing to Washington, and on
the 2nd of December the latter requested him to come to camp,
which he did ; this also enabled him to participate in the skirmish
that occurred December 7, near Mr. Wharton's country seat,
called "Twickenham," in Cheltenham township, and the scenes of
which are very graphically described in Reed's letter of Decem-
ber 10, to President Wharton (Vol. I, p. 350).
I think J. F. Watson is largely responsible for the story of
Lydia Darrach's having apprised Washington of Howe's move,
for so many writers have consulted Watson ; but the point I
want to make is that Washington was fully aware of the move-
ment five, six or seven days before the conditions of the weather
permitted it to be made. Imagine Boudinot's surprise when
Washington told him even more about it than he could tell Wash-
ington from the rolled paper he received, and instead of there be-
ing but 5,000 troops, Howe had nearly his whole army.
Allen McLane in hig Manuscript Journal says : "General Howe
moved out at the head of 15,000 men" and in describing the re-
treat "that they were pursued by 150 of Washington's cavalry
until they had passed the Globe Inn on Front street."
There is also an interesting letter of Elias Boudinot's to Presi-
dent Wharton written from the Whitemarsh camp on the 9th
of December describing this movement of the British army: "On
Monday evening (that is, the 7th), they made a small movement
to the left and halted making a long string of fires on the heights.
These they lighted up briskly and under cover of the night re-
treated with precipitancy and with silence into the city, while they
could be come up with only by the light horse."
Hazard, in re-editing Watson's Annals, was doubtless skeptical
of Watson's story. He says (Vol. Ill, p. 365) :
WASHINGTON AT WHITEMARSH 721
"There are some inconsistencies in the narrative and in the dates of
the story of Lydia Darrach overhearing two British officers planning an
attack on Washington in one of the rooms of her house, then feigning
sleep in her room when one of the officers knocked at her door, next day
passing through the Hnes, under pretense of going a longer distance to
mill, and thus putting Washington on his guard. The officers at the
time were not living at her house, but on the opposite side, in the house
of General Cadwallader."
Aside from this is the absurdity of Lydia Darrach's excuse of
going to Sir WilHam Howe for a pass to Frankford in order to
get a bag of flour and having to walk through the snow for it,
when at that time there was plenty of flour in Philadelphia, as
shown by Christopher Marshall and other contemporary writers.
So I think it is about time to dismiss the story as a myth, or at
least that part which relates to getting information to Washing-
ton which put him on his guard, if, indeed, it is not an insult to
Washington's ability as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental
Army.
Furthermore, no historcal sketch as Whitemarsh should be at-
tempted without some reference to Sally Wister and her interest-
ing and precocious journal. Mr. Myers, the editor, says (p. 8) :
"In the nine months which the Journal covers, occurred the British
capture of Philadelphia, the Battle of Germantown, the surrender of
Burgoj-ne, the skirmishes before Washington's intrcnchments at White-
marsh, the winter encampment at Valley Forge, the Conway Cabal against
Washington, the acknowledgment of American Independence by France,
and the Mischianza, and the other gaities of the British in Philadelphia.
'But a little distance aw'ay from the hills of Gwynedd,' says Mr. Howard
M. Jenkins, the historian of Gwynedd, 'the greatest actors in the Revo-
lutionary drama were playing their parts — Washington, Greene, Lafayette,
Wayne, Steuben, Kalb, and all the distinguishing list.'
"To the Foulke mansion come General Smallwood, commander of the
Marjland troops, Colonel Wood, of Virginia, !Major Ogden, of New
-Jersey, three future Governors of their respective states, and many other
important figures of this crucial period in the Nation's history. Generals,
colonels, majors, captains, resplendent in red and buff and blue, and
glittering in sashes, swords and epaulets, pass and repass before the
unaccustomed and dazzled eyes of the Quaker maiden, and are quaintly
portrayed in her pages.' (Page 28.) On the 5th of December she is
again greatly alarmed on hearing that the British have come out from
the city to attack Washington in his intrenchments at Whitemarsh.
'What will become of us only six miles distant? We are in hourly expec-
tation of an engagement. I fear we shall be in the midst of it. Heaven
722 WASHINGTON AT WHITEMARSH
defend lis from so dreadful a sight.' (Page 32.) In the latter part of
February in company with her friend, Polly Fishbourne, who had been
making a visit to Gwynedd, Sally goes down to Whitemarsh to spend a
week with Polly's married sister, Sarah, wife of George Emlen, with
whom General Washington had made his headquarters a few months pre-
viously. An incident of particular interest in connection with this visit
is her ascent to the 'barren hills of Whitemarsh' and her reference to the
'ragged huts, imitations of chimneys, and many other ruinous objects'
remains of the encampment of the army that she found there."
On Second Day, October the 19th, 1777, Sally notes : "Now
for new and uncommon scenes. As I was lying in bed * * *
Liddy came running into the room and said there was the greatest
drumming, fifing and rattling of wagons that ever she had heard.
We dressed and went down stairs in a hurry. Our wonder ceased.
Sister Betsy and myself and G. E. went about half a mile from
home where we could see the army pass."
As this was the day the British withdrew from Germantown,
Washington moved at once nearer the city and it was this march
down the Morris road, no doubt, that Sally and her friends
rushed to see, Washington making his headquarters at Dowes-
field and the army camping on Morris' farm and in Drayton's
woods adjoining.
The last entry in the Journal, the Seventh day morn (that is,
June 20, 1778) states (p. 184), "O. F." (that is Owen Foulke,
son of Caleb Foulke) "arrived just now, and relateth as follow-
eth : "The army began their march at six this morn by their house.
Our worthy Gen'l Smallwood breakfasted at Uncle Caleb's. He
ask'd how Mr. & Mrs. Wister and the young ladies were, and
sent his respects."
"Our brave, heroic General Washington was escorted by fifty
of the Life Guard, with drawn swords. Each day he acquires an
addition to his goodness."
There is another feature of the war revealed in this sprightly
journal that in my opinion, should set at rest so many stories of
privations and sufferings the Americans underwent and that
every book on the Revolution is filled with "ad nauseam." Of
course, there was danger and death a-plenty, but what else can
one expect in war times? On the other hand here is an ex-
cellent portrayal of officers who were — young and old — cheerful.
WASHINGTON AT WIIITEMARSH 723
bright, jolly, gallant, well-dressed, well-fed, leading the true life
of the soldier, gay, to-day — mayhap gone — to-morrow.
In Elijah Fisher's Journal (p. 7) there is an interesting refer-
ence to the campaign about Whitemarsh, when there was little
to wear and sometimes less to eat : "We had no tents, nor any-
thing to Cook our Provisions in, and that was Prity Poor, for
beef was very leen and no salt, nor any way to Cook it but to
throw it on the Coles and brile it ; and the warter we had to
Drink and to mix our flower with was out of a brook that run
along by the Camps, and so many a dipi)in and washin (in) it
which made it very Dirty and muddy."
The "brook that run along by the Camps" was the W'issahickon
and undoubtedly Washington happily availed himself of its
abundant flow of water in those days ; indeed it had much to do
with the success of the campaign, though at times "dirty and
muddy" as Private Fisher peevishly notes.
When the Whitemarsh camp was broken, December 11, and the
march of the main army taken up for Gulph Mill, the ground was
frozen, for General Washington stated to Gordon, the historian, on
June 3, 1784, at Mount Vernon at his table while talking about this
march : "His army might have been tracked, for want of shoes
and stockings, by the blood of their feet." General Armstrong,
however, was left here with the Pennsylvania militia — a "knot" in
the cordon I alluded to at the outset. This extended from Tren-
ton on the Delaware with posts across the country including that
at Whitemarsh ; another at Radnor under Morgan, and a larger
one at Wilmington under Smallwood ; an irregular line varying
from 12 to 30 miles from Philadelphia, depending u])on the lo-
cation of the roads and other circumstances, by whicli Howe's
lines of communication were closed as much as possible to the
East, North and West. We know how Clinton, his successor,
was obliged to evacuate Philadelphia the following Spring, first
packing his supplies on ships, as it meant disaster to him should
a French fleet blockade the Delaware and which might happen
almost any day. While this seems to have no bearing on White-
marsh and its environs, I mention it because of Monmouth,
W^ashington's last pitched battle, and the outcome of his strategy
inaugurated here; and because of llie "i)eculiar" actions of Gen-
eral Lee. The latter's treachery and duplicity in the RcNcilution
724 WASHINGTON AT WHITEJMARSH
we are now fully able to understand, but a little detail that seems
to have escaped historians was again displayed in the march from
Valley Forge when Washington broke camp June 19, 1778, to
push on quickly to intercept Clinton who seemed to be making
for New York or the Hudson. Through Norrington along the
old road that led through Doylestown, then a cross-roads hamlet,
then striking the York Road and on to Coryell's Ferry, then con-
sisting of a tavern and a few small houses, (now New Hope),
Washington pushed as quickly as possible, with the main army,
while General Lee in advance with his six brigades marched with
such deliberate slowness as to impede the movement of the main
army, though somewhat held back by heavy rains, and which
very likely Lee availed himself of as an excuse for his tardiness.
I simply mention this in passing that in going over the roads, es-
pecially the old ones that were in existence at the time of the
Revolution, in passing old houses that are still standing where
Washington and the other generals were quartered ; in going
through these counties — Montgomery, Bucks, Chester, Delaware,
and Philadelphia — with rolling hills and valleys, and reviewing
the landscape from car — or trolley — window, motor, or other-
wise, — to let your thoughts go back to those days, and with read-
ing and thinking and studying, try to picture to yourself what
this beautiful country was. If you do this, I sincerely predict for
one and all, that you can find few subjects of a more interesting
character or worthy of study from an historical, political, mili-
tary, sociological or philosophical standpoint.
The Whitemarsh has always interested me since boyhood, when
I wandered through its fields and meadows and clambered
through its old mills, with their massive wheels driven by the
rushing Wissahickon, and swam and boated and fished in its cool,
clear waters.
On these boyish excursions many tales were heard, and some
that are remembered I smile at now, as pure inventions, if not
taken from old novels relating to the picturesque Wissahickon
and the authors of which evidently held more to fiction than to
fact ; nevertheless they but add to my desire to revisit these scenes
and learn more of the romance and history of these beautiful
hills, rills, and valleys.
Flax Seed Mills.
BY GRIF.R SCIIEETZ, SOUTH RKTIILKHE-M, PA.
(Doylcstown Meeting, January i6, 1917.)
At the request of Dr. Mercer, president of our society, I have
consented to prepare a paper on Flax Seed Mills, supplemental
to my paper on "Flax and Its Culture," which I read before the
society at the Doylestown Meeting, May 28, 1907. (See \'olume
III, page 482.)
At that meeting Mrs. Maria Fornorman, then over seventy-
four years of age, gave an exhibition of spinning flax. For over
one hour she spun thread so fine that it could be threaded through
the eye of an ordinary needle.
Large quantities of flax were formerly grown in this section of
the country. When I was a boy at Keller's Church, in Bedmins-
ter township, we had as much as i,(X)0 bushels of flax seed on
hand at one time, but for the past forty-six years very little if
any flax has been grown in Bucks or the adjoining counties;
farmers claim that it is a heavy feeder upon the soil, and more-
over the crop can no longer be made to pay in this territory, but
throughout the West and middle West large quantities are pro-
duced. Flax seed must be sown thick to produce a crop of fine
flax, if sown sparingly the stalks will be heavy and the fiber
coarse.
The last flax seed mill operated in the east that I know of
was the one at Frenchtown, N. J., operated during the early sev-
enties. When I was a boy the Deetz mill in Montgomery county
near Tylersport just over the Bucks county line, was operated.
In earlier days near by was located the Roeller linseed oil mill,
w^hich suspended operations for want of seed long before the
Deetz mill was forced to quit. The building is still in existence
after having been used for a number of years as a gristmill.
The Deetz team of eight horses drawing a heavy old-fashioned
Conestoga wagon and carrying 150 bushels of seed at each load,
was a familiar sight in early days. It would make its trip through
the country every ten days hauling flax seed which the store-
726 FLAX SEED MILLS
keepers and other merchants had gathered in, paying for the
same as it was removed and allowing the merchant a certain com-
mission for purchasing and handling the seed. Mr. Deetz re-
ceived practically all the seed raised in Bucks and Montgomery
counties. Some firms, however, shipped direct to the Shoemaker
Linseed Oil Company, in Philadelphia.
The Sheard mill near Thatcher, Haycock township, now used
as a gristmill, owned by John Derstine, is built upon the site of the
old Sheard linseed oil mill which was destroyed by fire many
years ago. (See communication from Ellen W. Thatcher.)
I am informed by Abraham A. Hendricks, of Perkasie, who is
nearly ninety years of age, and in possession of all his faculties
that a linseed oil mill formerly stood near Blooming Glen
on the farm of Rev. George Landis, now occupied by Samuel
Landis. This mill was known as the Peter Loux linseed oil mill
and operated by him seventy years ago. The seed was crushed
by two stones the shape of a millstone but thicker and the size
of a large cart wheel connected by an axle as rear or front wagon
wheels connected in the center of an upright shaft of wood, which
revolved by water power causing the stones to revolve crushing
the seed upon a cast-iron foundation, after the seed was crushed
the wet oily mass was put into a strong horse-hair bag placed
into a receptacle with a wedge on each side; the wedges were
drawn by two logs of wood weighing about six hundred pounds
each, which were lifted by water power to a certain height and
dropped upon the edges exerting a pressure of about six tons.
After the oil was extracted it left the oil cake from which cake
meal for the feeding of cattle is made. The oil thus extracted is
known as cold drawn linseed oil, leaving the oil much cleaner
than when heat was applied. Cold drawn oil cake contains from
twenty-four to thirty-three per cent, of protein compounds which
makes it very valuable for feeding cattle, it being of far more
value than grain or pulse. It is usually fed by placing a certain
amount of cake meal in a barrel kept for the purpose, filling the
barrel with water, then pouring it over cut feed or fodder which
is fed to the cattle.
HOML-MADL LINLN DRESS GOODS.
At the conclusion of his paper Mr. Sclieetz presented to the
FLAX SEED MILLS 727
society a piece of home-spun and home-woven linen dress goods,
which he said was made in 1837, and was part of a collection
which he had been making for years. The fabric was woven in
black and white check about three-eighths of an inch square.
He invited attention to its quality, uniform weave and to the fact
that the black dye was in fast colors which had not faded.
Dr. Henry C. Mercer said : the methods used by our ancestors
in making dyes is certainly worthy of investigation. It appears
to me that the more you look into the matter the more unneces-
sary it is to complain because we cannot, during this European
war, get German dyes. Our ancestors used herbs and their colors
did not fade. I have some French Gobelin tapestry which is
fading rapidly, whereas there is a Turkish rug beside it which
has not faded at all. The Turks used herbs, as did our ances-
tors, and these colors did not fade.
I have very recently learned, and will fully explain later, that
our ancestors down to about 1830, ground flax seed (besides
numerous other substances) by means of an ancient form of mill
worked generally by a horse and turnstile, but sometimes by
water, as described by Mr. Scheetz, or by wind, known among old
mechanics as the Chillean mill, in which a heavy stone wheel on a
horizontal axle attached to a central vertical pivot, revolves ver-
tically as it travels around the circumference of a floor made of
w^ood, masonry, earth, iron as described by Mr. Scheetz. or a
single nether stone. These now forgotten but once familiar Chil-
lean mills, of the type shown in several of the illustrations of
mills used by Arabs about 1800, ( from the book known as "Na-
poleon's Egypt") now in our museum, and of which two clay
mills, still in use at the two brick yards in Doylestown are in
their action counterparts, were of three types, A — with single
disc-shapes roller as shown by a complete mill recently acquired
by our museum. B — with double ditto as described by Mr.
Scheetz, and C — with cone-shaped roller as shown Ity another
very heavy loose specimen in our museum.
Dr. r>. F. Fackenthal, jr., said: There was a flax seed mill on
the Durham creek in Springfield township which for years had
been operated by the Houpts. I have always understood that it
was a great financial success for an operation of that kind, it
47
728 FLAX SEED MIELS
drew its supply of seed largely from Bucks and Northampton
counties. The old building in a ruined condition is still standing.
Dr. Mercer and I visited this interesting and picturesque place a
few months ago. We also visited the old oil mill at Pennsburg in
Montgomery county, known as the Hilligas mill, now converted
into a paper mill for making paper boards. The paper mill was
in operation at the time of our visit. It was formerly a flax seed
mill and up to a few years ago was used for expressing the oil
out of hickory nuts. At neither of these mills could we find any
of the old machinery or appliances.
Mrs. Stacy B. Pursel said : My grandfather and great-grand-
father were manufacturers of linseed oil. I am the owner of an
old abandoned oil mill situated at Spring Mills near Milford, N.
J., which was built by my grandfather Joseph King, during the
latter part of the eighteenth or the beginning of the nineteenth
century. It was used as an oil mill until the sixties. The building
has several stories in one of which there are several pieces of
the old oil mill machinery. The building is used to store old
machinery and would hardly be recognized now as an oil mill.
My uncle Joseph King also owned an oil mill situated at Pittston,
N. J., which he operated up to the time of his death in 1886.
Both of these oil mills were each equipped with two stones grind-
ing the flax seed, very much as the old-fashioned gristmills
ground grain with burr stones. After the seed was ground it
was put in sheet-iron pans and placed over an oven fire and
heated, it was then transferred to canvas bags and put under
the press. The oil was pressed out by means of a revolving
wooden shaft with arms extending from its side, as the shaft
revolved the arms caught two wooden logs each about twelve
feet long which were lifted about three feet when the arm let
go and dropped the logs alternately on the wedges of the press.
After the cake was taken out of the press it was again ground
converting it into cake-meal, and then sold to the farmers for
feeding cattle.
Communication from Mrs. Ellen W. Thatcher, Quakertown,
Pa.:
The oil mill near Thatcher that Mr. Grier Scheetz mentioned in
SURVIVAL OF ANXIENT HAND CORN* MILLS 729
his paper read before the Bucks County Historical Society, was
not situated at what is known as Sheard's mill later John Der-
stine's but about a half mile further down the Tohickon creek on
the road leading from the Bethlehem road near the Mountain
House to the Church Hill road, also known as the Swinging
Bridge road, which road was vacated several years ago. The mill
was also owned by the Sheards and used as a chopping mill after
no oil was made. Flax seed and oil nuts were crushed and the oil
extracted. Woolen knit bags were used. Charles Thatcher and
W. T. Zeigenfuse both have in their possession an oil hogshead
of immense size used there. Aaron Thatcher also drove a six-
horse flax seed team through this section at short intervals for
a man named Shantz, of Milford township.
Survival of Ancient Hand Com Mills in the United States.
BY DR. HENRY C. MERCER, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, January 16, 1917.)
An essential to the process of producing meal or flour for
human food, two distinct methods have been in use since prehis-
toric times, namely the pestle and mortar, undoubtedly the older
way of the two, which mashes or brays the grain by pounding it
directly in a bowl-shaped vessel called the mortar, by means of a
heavy club or bar pounded vertically or a mallet hammered into
the receptacle ; and the quern or hand mill where one heavy stone
disk revolves upon another. Only one of these methods, the
first, was known to ancient America, while both worked side by
side from time immemorial in the Old World. But the quern
here shown in its simplest form as the prototype of all our grist-
mills and as having originated in Europe, and as having been
brought from Europe by our ancestors to survive in the United
States until the present time, here alone concerns us.
One of the simplest and most ancient types of the hand quern,
sent to us in 1912 by Mrs. Mary Clougherty from the town of
Roundstone, County Galway, Ireland, and in use there about
730
SURVIVAL OF ANCIENT HAND CORN MILLS
1880 now in the possession of our Museum, is herewith shown.
Not long ago at our
meeting in Solebury we
looked with astonishment
at a woman spinning, with
the primeval distaff. Now
look at something still more
vital, still more worn per-
haps, by the teeth of thous-
ands of years.
When, as that woman
spun her thread, we real-
ized what she was doing,
the glory of modern
achievement, with its rail-
roads and telegraph, its
grain elevators and steel
works, seemed dimmed in
a mist of Ages that rolled
up over us and the swarthy
hands as they worked.
QUERN OR HAND GRAIN-MILL ^^^^ little distaff clothed
Of ancient Irish type, from Roundstone, County
Galway, Ireland. Size of stones 18 in. in diameter man before the Wall of
by 6'/ in. high. Mrs. Robert Horn of Doylestown /r^ u •^J. n i. 1 ^
is shown grinding it as she ground barley in a ^roy WaS built. But what
similar quern in the Connemara about 1S70. Mu- of thlS thing, whlch fed
seum No. 4,312. 1 • i_ r o 1
him before bamson ground
meal in his prison or the Israelites crossed the Red Sea ?
When Mrs. Horn, sister of the donor, now comes before you
and grinds wheat upon these two stones, as she ground wheat,
barley and rye upon them in her girlhood days in old Connemara,
look on with reverence, for history is a wonderful thing, and it
speaks with grandeur and pathos here.
Here Fig. i we have an upper millstone about 4 inches thick
and 14 inches in diameter revolving on an iron pivot set in a
block of wood driven into a shallow hole in the center of a fixed
nether millstone of similar size. A hole about 2 inches in diam-
eter for pouring in the grain by the handful penetrates the
center of the upper stone, across which hole, as in the upper mill-
SURVIVAL OF ANCIENT HAND CORN MILLS 73 1
stones of our gristmills, is fixed an iron stri[) to catch in its
central socket the upper point of the j)ivot.
There is no hopper, no box to hold in the meal, which is dis-
charged all around the nether stone, no "bridge tree" or 'braye' to
set the mill so as to grind coarse or fine, which purpose is an-
swered when necessary by lifting off the upper stone and insert-
ing a leather washer on the pivot. A short handle of about the
thickness of a broomstick and about 5 inches high is set tight
in a hole near the circumference of the upper stone, so that the
hand of the grinder slips around it as the stone revolves.
A very instructive book, which every lover of this subject
should read, called "The Past in the Present," by Arthur Mit-
chell, Edinburgh, David Douglas, 1880, page 34, illustrates a
somewhat similar quern, used in the Island of Shetland in 1880,
a drawing of which marked Fig. 2 I here show you, and this
ancient Scotch quern resembles the Irish in all respects save that
the former is equipped with a primitive bridge tree or apparatus
for making the mill grind coarse or fine by raising or lowering
the upper or grinding stone. In this case the iron pivot passes
entirely through the nether stone and the table under it and rests
upon a board wedged in the wall under the table top, which board
and with it the pivot and upper stone can be ingeniously raised
by twisting the loop of a string supporting its outer end and
passing up through the table and over a little block. But there is
no box to confine the discharged meal, no hopi)er and the handle
is rigid as before.
]\Iitchell describes another Scotch arrangement of quern handle
like the American specimen about to be described, and also re-
sembling the handle upon the potters glaze querns, likewise in
our collection, where a round staflf about 4 to 5 feet loui^ and an
inch in diameter, not rigid but set loose in a socket on the edge of
the top stone, passes vertically upwards, through a large hole in
a board set horizontally overhead, generally in the roof of the
building.
When Mitchell told his hearers, page 33, that these querns
for grinding bread grain were in most common use in Shet-
land, frequent in the Orkneys and Hebrides, and not rare in
South Ross and Invernesshire in 1880; in fact that they might
732 SURVIVAL OF ANCIENT HAND CORN MILLS
have been numbered by thousands in use at that time in Scotland,
notwithstanding the abundance of water and steam gristmills
then in existence, his audience were probably astonished, and
no doubt thought him well justified in placing the quern shown
in the drawing, in the Edinburgh Museum of Antiquities.
For comparison,! show you another drawing of a quern Fig.
3, which though in some ways, less primitive than the Scotch
apparatus, was used 2,000 years before in one of the bakeries
at Pompeii where it was excavated from the lava before 184.9.
In this picture taken from a most valuable book known as Rich's
Companion to the Latin Dictionary, you see a much heavier and
more elaborate pair of stones, the upper of which is shaped like
an hour-glass with the usual feed hole in the middle, while the
nether stone is cone-shaped and therefore holds its revolving
mate in place without a pivot. This quern whose grinding
stopped forever at the blast of a volcano, lacks the vertical handle,
but shows instead a pair of long capstan bars thrust horizon-
tically into either side of the upper stone so as to turn the latter
much more slowly than the Scotch mill by the labor of two men.
This happened 2,000 years ago in Pompeii, but the Chinese
probably still grind rice as they did in i860, in a similar turn
style apparatus which is illustrated in another rare book called
"Industrial Arts and Sciences." London, Hart and Harrow-
gate, about i860, volume one, number 81, which I herewith show
you in my drawing Fig. 4.
Fig. 72 in the same book, which I show in my drawing Fig. 5,
illustrates an improved, though ancient form of hand quern,
where two cog wheels and a crank rigged as in our gristmill, in-
creased the man power and I show it here because Mr. Swain
found and will describe to you a hand mill in principle like this,
now, January, 1917, in use at Georgetown, S. C.
And this perhaps justifies my digressing a moment to return
to the island of Shetland where I show you a drawing Fig. 6 —
Mr. Mitchell's illustration of what appears to be the first step
towards transferring one of these hand querns into a water grist-
mill, called the "Norse Mill" in Shetland where the spindle or
pivot of the upper stone is the shaft of the horizontal water
wheel itself and where the latter revolves in a socket set upon
SURVIVAL OF ANXIENT HAND CORN MILLS
"33
the bridge tree, which is placed under water near the l)ed of a
rushing stream.
The American querns now
to be shown or described as
recently seen, unlike these
Euroi)ean specimens, are all
set in boxes to contine and
direct the discharge of the
meal, and the potters or glaze
querns from old Bucks county
in our collection (See Fig. 7)
all show heavy marginal rims
and spouts on the nether
stones to hold in and direct
the outflow of the liquid glaze,
but these are minor differ-
ences, as are the differences
among the European and Asi-
atic querns, which vary in the
construction of bridge tree,
pivot and handle. In all, the
principle is identical and al-
ways distinct from that of the
pestle and mortar — the same
problem is met and solved in
the same way in all. As far
as they are concerned the
world has stood still.
Although our ancestors
brought the pestle and mortar
to this country with them,
they may liave adapted some of the Indian methods of
hollowing stumps by fire, and swung pestles uj)on bent sap-
lings in their so-called samp mills, but the quern came from
Europe and no evidence, to the writer's knowledge, has thus
far appeared to show that any Indian in North or South America
had ever invented such an apparatus before the coming of Co-
lumbus. They were a white man's mill, but undoubtedly sur-
vived so long in the South, because until the lime of the war at
POTTERS GLAZE MILL OR QVERN
Used .nbout iSSo at Bartlemau's pottery near
Point Pleasant, Bucks county. Pa. Wooden
frame work modern. Size 6 ft. 6 in. high by
2 ft. 10 in. wide. Museum No. 3,215.
734 SURVIVAL OF ANCIENT HAND CORN MILLS
least, the black man worked them, yet there is no reason why
they should have been confined at the time of the first settlement
to the Southern States. We know, according to Sherman Day's
Historical Collections, page 600, that Benjamin Birt, made and
used an Indian Samp mortar, that is to say, a pestle swung on
a sapling, which pounded grain in a hollow stump in Potter county
in 1808, because gristmills were too far ofif and the pack horse
roads were too bad ; also that he constructed a small hand mill by
which he says, "I ground many a bushel of corn but it was hard
work." Day also quotes, page 156, John Watson, who says that
for the same reason, before 1707 farmers in Buckingham town-
ship, Bucks county, vised the samp mortar as above described or in
his exact language, "blocks to pound corn as a useful invention
from the Indians." The smaller hand quern in the Berks County
Historical Society's Museum, rimmed like the potters quern upon
the nether stone, may or may not be a grain quern. But an odd
inventory just found at the courthouse by Mr. Warren S. Ely,
shows that Stofifel Vansant of Middletown township in 1749
owned "one-half of a Corn Mill" valued at only 7s. 6d., which
must have been a stone and part of the wooden frame of one of
these ancient machines, and there seems no reason for supposing
that corn querns or their loose stones cannot be found, if prop-
erly hunted for, in Bucks county, to prove that they were used
here by our own ancestors as well as in the South.
A word more and I am done — Doctor Henry Forman and Doc-
tor B. F. Fackenthal, Jr., last year gave lantern lectures at Doyles-
town in which they showed, as I saw, photographs of Hindu and
Syrian women grinding grain for bread in querns of the exact
Galway type, and although many of the encyclopaedias and works
on anthropology have overlooked this subject, it would be easy
to show that querns like these have been dug up, as Chambers
Encyclopaedia says, from the prehistoric lake dwellings of Ire-
land, Scotland and Switzerland, and that they therefore go back
to the very earliest dawn of history, while on the other hand,
hundreds of modern travelers would probably tell us that they
have seen primitive and savage people using hand querns all over
Asia and in many parts of Africa and Europe.
HAND CORN MILL AT GEORGETOWN, S. C. 735
Meanwhile, these remarkable specimens from the United States
which Mr. Swain and Mr. Labs will now describe or show,
prove that one of the first machines ever invented by man, and
therefore many thousands of years old, still at this late date, in
spite of the immense development in machinery for which our
country is noted, clings to us, and that even yet we are not too
"American," or "progressive" or "up-to-date" to do in the year
19 1 7 as the daughters of Abraham did when "two women were
grinding together and the one was taken and the other left,"
or when "the doors were shut in the streets and the sound of
grinding was low."
Hand Corn Mill at Georgetown, South Carolina.
BY FRANK K. SWAIN, DOVLESTOWN, PA.
(Doylcstown Meeting, January 16, 1917.)
When the country stores started to sell corn-meal, grits and
hominy at ten cents a package, the corn querns of the South were
no longer used because the white people no longer had slaves to
do their grinding for them and the colored people, no longer
forced to work, would rather buy the ground meal than go to the
trouble of drying the corn and grinding it. So the old mills
tumbled to the ground, the wooden frames rotted and the stones
were used for chimney foundations or door steps or built into
roads with other stones or in some way disappeared, no one knew
just how. At one time every plantation must have had a quern
and later there must have been several in each town where people
could take their corn and have it ground. But it is next to im-
possible to find one at this time. Lazarus Stewart, a colored store-
keeper of Georgetown, S. C, told me, Dec. 28, 1916, that he used a
mill five years ago when he lived at S. B. Skinner's place at Camp-
field, S. C, about five miles out from Georgetown. It was on a
wooden frame and "set on an oak frog" and had an iron screw
underneath to raise and lower the top stone to regulate grinding,
fine or coarse, as desired. He would grind the corn, run it
736 HAND CORN MII.L AT GEORGETOWN, S. C.
through a sieve and use the fine meal or "grits" for corn bread or
corn cakes, and the "hucks" or coarse part remaining in the sieve
would be fed to the hogs. Within the last five years this mill,
he said, had disappeared, and no one knew anything about it.
He made hominy by turning the screw and raising the upper
stone so the corn would be broken into about three pieces. The
ground or broken mass was then placed in a mortar bucket or
tub and jiggled so that the hucks, being lighter than the rest of
the grain, would rise to the top of the vessel and could be stroked
off with the hand or a stick used for that purpose. The vessel
should be even full or slightly heaped and jiggled several minutes
always brushing aside the hucks as they reached the surface.
When freed of hucks the balance should be run through a fine
sieve so as to separate the fine flour to be used for bread or cakes,
from the grits or coarse pieces used for hominy. This hominy
had a mealy whiteness on the surface only and the pure white
hominy bought to-day is prepared in a large steam-mill and whit-
ened artificially, no doubt. The negroes' houses are very small,
they have no barns or outbuildings and corn would have to be
kept the year around, dried and cared for so it could be used in
the summer while the next crop was growing and anyone travel-
ing in the South could readily understand why a ten-cent package
of corn-meal at a country store, sold throughout the year would
be a great temptation to both white man and colored, since
neither is a model of industry and does not store for the rainy
day.
AN IMPROVED QUERN.
Down the street from Lazarus Stewarts lives Uncle Billy
Gridiron, born a slave 78 years ago, now a blacksmith with a
queer little tumbledown shop close to the street. Most of the
weather boards are gone, but few shingles remain on the roof and
the sun pours in on Uncle Billy all day and makes him the jolly
and happy little old man I found him. The only hand corn mill
in Georgetown is owned by Uncle Billy who is now fixing it up
in front of his shop so that he can grind corn for his neighbors
who come begging him to hurry up since the price of corn-meal
in packages has advanced so much they can no longer afford to
buy it. Twenty years ago he had another hand mill and ground
HAND CORN MILL AT GEORGETOWN, S. C.
737
corn for the neighborhood. The stones were large and very heavy
and he gave up using them. This mill had been given to him by
his old master or father as he calls him to this day, directly "after
freedom," together with $3,000. and several bolts of fine cloth
which he sold at considerable profit. The mill tumbled to pieces
and the two stones, turned grooved side up lie in the mud before
his cabin door. About 1897 he bought a set of stones from Mr.
Ellis Jones of Georgetown, S. C, and rigged up a mill which
he used for several years. This is the mill he is getting in run-
ning order at this time. The stones are much smaller than those
his master gave him and are set on an open frame or trestle under
the eaves of the old blacksmith shop. The bottom stone is boxed
in and a tin guard surrounds the upper stone. Above, on a light
frame, a wooden hopper, large enough to hold a bushel of corn,
is placed with a little box at the bottom, into which the corn drops
as the bent jigger (spindle) strikes it and shakes the corn down
into the opening of the top stone. To regulate grinding, a hori-
zontal stick on which the .spindle rests is raised or lowered thus
H.^M) CDRN-MILL OR ylKRN
of ancient type showing frame work, hopper and newly m.ide crank-wheel improvement.
Now in use on the property of its owner (shown on the left) "Uncle" Billy Gridiron
nt Georgetown, S. C. Photograph by Mr. F. K. Swain, Jan. 1917.
738 HAND CORN MILL AT GEORGETOWN, S. C.
separating or bringing together the top and bottom stones. The
mill can be worked at this time by thrusting a broomstick
through a board fastened to the eaves of the shop-roof letting the
lower end drop into a small hole on the outer circumference of
the top stone and turning it by hand. But as Uncle Billy grinds
large grists, twenty or fifty bushels, this would be a slow and
tiresome process. To turn this mill more rapidly and with ease
he has made a large wheel and placed it on a frame about fifteen
feet from the mill. Each spoke is about three and a half feet
long and the hub eight to ten inches in diameter so the whole
wheel on the frame is about nine feet high. The end of each
spoke is notched an inch deep so a leather band, or rope can be
used as a belt, running to a pulley or wheel on the spindle under
the millstones. An iron rod runs through the hub and is bent
on either side to form cranks so that two men can turn the wheel.
With one revolution of the large wheel the millstones turn sev-
eral times going at a great speed and a large grist can be ground
quickly and with ease. He could turn the wheel himself if five
or six bushels were to be ground. The toll on all grists is one
peck to the bushel. The band, in running from the wheel to the
mill, passes over a horizontal roller in order to keep it twisted on
the pulley. I tried to buy the wheel and mill, but Uncle Billy said
he wouldn't sell it at any price because he was too old to make
another wheel and didn't need the money as he owned a farm of
150 acres and might move on it at any time and would need the
mill.
Uncle Billy said the stones his master gave him were made of
flint rock and had been chiseled into shape, by slaves, and were
sharpened or "picked" once a month if necessary. They were
used on the plantation to grind the corn for sixty slaves of which
he was one. He never saw a slave-hopple or a whip. He was
never struck but once and then his "white mother" or mistress
boxed his ears. No slave on his father's plantation was ever
whipped to his knowledge. These mills were called "corn stones"
or "a set of stones." The name "corn mill" or "quern" was not
used in my hearing.
TO MAKE A HOMINY OR RICE MORTAR.
Besides being a miller and a blacksmith Uncle Billy had been
HAND CORN MILL AT GEORGETOWN, S. C. 739
a merchant and had worked in wood, making bowls, dishes,
mortars and all kinds of wooden ware. He had made mortars
of gum oak and cypress wood, but seldom of gum because trees
large enough for a hominy or rice mortar are sure to be hollow
and a mortar must have a solid bottom. Cut the log to the proper
height and stand it on end. Make a ring or wad of wet clay and
place it around the edge of the flat top at least three inches in
from the edge or perhaps farther in if the wall of the mortar
is to be thick and heavy. Build a coal, wood or charcoal fire
inside this clay ring and let it char away the wood. To hurry this
process, bore several large holes in the top from the outer edge
into the center or core, using a large auger before the fire is
started. When the fire has charred away the wood at the top,
upset the fire in the log and adze away the charred wood. If the
walls are of the right thickness smear clay over them so the next
lirinsr will not char them more. Bore more holes and refire until
the desired depth has been reached after which adze or scrape
away all the charred wood and shape the log on the outside mak-
ing it smaller in the middle or let it go as it is. In many cases
the wall of the log would be charred too thin and the mortar
would be useless. But it was an easier matter to get another
log and start all over again than to lose a lot of time watching
the fire while it charred the wood. The hollow should be from
twelve to eighteen inches deep with rounded bottom and sloping
sides like a bowl. If the walls at the top are too thick when
nearly finished, knock away the clay and allow the wood to char
more. This makes a nice mortar with solid bottom which a
goodly sized hollow gum tree would not have. Cast-iron mor-
tars were used later but he had not seen any for a long time
and no doubt they had been sold as scrap iron. The old wooden
ones at Georgetown had been used for firewood long ago.
Survival of Corn Guerns of an Ancient Pattern in the
Southern United States.
BY WILIylAM A. IvABS, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, January i6, 19 17.)
During December, 1916, I made a most interesting trip to the
Southern United States, collecting material and information in
the interests of our society. In the modernized city of Raleigh,
North Carolina, I inquired concerning old hand corn mills of a
great many persons who seemed familiar with the apparatus,
but none of them could inform me where to find one. The same
ignorance prevailed in the smaller town of Goldsboro, N. C,
about 60 miles away. On the railway, however, going to the city
of New Bern, N. C, situated on the Neuse river, a man named
A. I. Grimsley, from the town of Hookerton, N. C, informed
me that one of the querns stood in a shed at the farm of Mrs.
Gisbon Lewis, near Roper, N. C, and about 10 miles from where
we then were on the railway. Taking careful note of this I got
no further information on the subject till I reached the city of
New Bern where on the day of my arrival a T. R. Purifoy whom I
met on the street informed me that he himself was the owner of
one at his farm at Fruitts, N. C., about 10 miles to the north-
ward, but that he desired to keep it as a family heirloom.
The next information of this sort I gathered came from a
polite butcher on Front street in the same place (New Bern),
who said that a Mr. H. A. Reel, of Reelsboro, N. C, about 9
miles distant, had a hand corn quern which he would probably
sell, but all attempts to engage a motor to take me to this hope-
lessly isolated place through the slough of mud, which from all
accounts surrounded it, failed much to my disappointment, and
I fell back on my plan of persistently questioning everybody
within reach until an old bridge contractor named Mr. Plank,
whom I met along the wharves, informed me that a Mr. Cicero
Gaskins living 16 miles out in the swamps between Askins Sta-
tion and Vanceboro, Craven County, N. C, on the north of the
Neuse river, and who was the uncle of the owner of a neighboring
SURVIVAL OF QUERNS OF AN ANCIENT PATTERN
741
garage had a quern now in use. After some bargaining in a
heavy rain storm, I prevailed on Gaskins' nephew in spite of the
bad roads to take me across the long bridge over the Xeuse
river via Bridgeton to his uncle's house. This house was a
weather-beaten, one-story, two-roomed dwelling, traversed by a
narrow hall with the front door which lacked a latch or handle,
propped up from within by a board. Each room had an open
fireplace built of brick in which I noticed no cranes, trammels,
pots or cooking apparatus, while on the other hand I saw no
cooking stove about the premises to prove that the family did not
cook in the open fire.
The corn cjuern in question stood about 70 feet from the house
in a shed about 16 by 14 feet in size built of logs chinked with
clay, without window and with a door opening to the north.
The apparatus was standing close in the corner to the right of
the door, while another corner of the building was occupied
with several loads of unhusked corn heaped upon the board
floor. The handle of the quern
resting loosely in a hole on the
outer circumference of the upper
millstone, was of about the size
and thickness of a broomstick, but
hand and homemade and penetrated
loosely through a hole in a board
nailed horizontally from one rafter
to the other directly over the mill
about 63^2 feet from the ground.
In all respects the mill resembled
the one from the same locality now
in the museum and was in good
working order. Mr. Gaskins
ground some corn in it for my
instruction, but jiositively refused
to sell it. In another lean-to shed
about 18 feet long, 5 to 6 feet wide
and roofed with shingles, without
walls, built against the log barn,
stood the rice quern set in a hollow
gum tree with wooden millstones and otherwise constructed like
HANI) CORN-MII,U OK QUURN
of ancient type. Still in use in 1917
when it was obtained by Mr. W. H.
Labs in North Carolina. Handle and
upper bracket not original. Size of
stand 2 ft. 2% in. wide l)y 2 ft. 7J4 in.
high. Museum No. 10,286.
742 • SURVIVAL, OF QUERNS OF AN ANCIENT PATTERN
the corn quern now in the museum. This rice quern stood well
under the roof so that the workman could walk entirely around
it, but rather at one end of the shed. The handle which Mr. Gas-
kins supplied with a new one was missing, but the perforated
horizontal board ran from beam to beam as usual immediately
over the machine, which I bought then and there for $5 and
nailed up before leaving the premises. Mr. Gaskins said that
the apparatus had not been used for four or five years because
the cultivation of rice in the neighborhood had been ruined by
attacks of the "blue bug."
The coffee mortar now in the museum which I bought for $1
and placed inside the crate, we found lying on the ground near
the corner of the shed.
Following the directions of Mr. Gaskins I immediately visited
two other corn querns, the first near a deserted house about two
miles to the eastward where the quern shed nearly square with-
out walls about 10 by 10 feet in size showed the millstones, both
of which were broken set in a hollow gum tree in the style of
our rice quern above described, save that the bridge tree in this
case as in the case of all the other corn querns here described
was movable by means of a wedge. The apparatus would not
work, and as the house and premises were deserted we abandoned
the machine and retracing our way with great difficulty through
the almost impassable mudholes, passed Gaskins' house to find
another quern at another lonely old deserted house in the forest
swamps, owned by Miss Laura Gaskins, a cousin of the driver,
2^ miles to the westward. Here stood two small houses built
of boards, one with a second story, with two rooms on the first
floor, a boarded-in porch, no stove but a brick fireplace in one
of the lower rooms. The quern shed was built of logs about 16
by 10 feet in size. It stood about 200 feet from the house across
the road, was boarded in on all sides and had a door. The quern
as usual stood in a corner with its nether stone broken and handle
and wedge missing. A well-sweep of rather small size swung
on two battens nailed against the vertical post minus bucket pole
and bucket stood between the two houses and a hominy mortar
hollowed from a log without its pestle lay near by in the yard.
As no one could be found on the dismal place, and as Miss Gas-
kins lived near Goldsboro, 30 miles away and could only be ap-
SURVIVAL OF QUERNS OF AN ANCIENT PATTERN
'43
pealed to by letter this rotting apparatus like the last had to be
abandoned.
Turning homeward, I determined to canvass every house on the
route and after about ten stops and many conversations with
farmers all of whom had seen querns, but none of whom knew
where to find one, and after examining an empty tobacco shed
in a vain search for implements, I found the quern now in the
museum, on the property of J. B. Tyndall. His one-story house
with two rooms fronting on a transverse hall showed a wood
cooking stove set up outside against a boarded-up end of the
porch through which its pipe protruded. One of the rooms
where the family lived, ate and slept , had a brick fireplace with-
out visible cooking apparatus, while the other room which passed
for a parlor had no fireplace. Two rotting hominy mortars like
those in the museum lay along the fence.
The quern was in a shed about i8 by 8 feet boarded on all
_T_j, sides and stood close
â– 'T against the corner
**ar to the right of the
latched door which
fronted the west. It
was rigged as usual
and had been used
about two weeks pre-
V i o u s 1 y to grind
chicken feed. To see
w h e t h e r it would
work I removed a pile
of rags thrown ujion
it and groimd some
white corn in it from
a small unhusked i)ile
of ears lying on the
wooden floor in the
opposite corner. In
the absence of her
husband Mrs. Tyn-
dall sold me the quern
for $8.50. I then crated it and she delivered it for mc the next day
48
QUKRN OR HAND MIIJ. FOR HULLING RICK
Found by Mr. W. II. Labs in use in North C.Trolin.T in
1917. Si/.e 3 ft. high by 2 ft. wide to ba.se of handle.
Museum No. 10,285.
The " fanner " or basket for winnowing rice as still
.sometimes used in the Carolina and Georgia, is hang-
ing above. Size 2 ft. 3 in. diameter al top, 8 in. deep.
Museum No. 10,298.
744 SURVIVAI. OF QUERNS OF AN ANCIENT PATTERN
at New Bern. It reached Doylestown safely minus the handle,
which was broken off and lost in transit. Several of the farmers
on my inquiry, as I approached the place, had heard of this
quern, but the nearest neighbor had known nothing of it. Mrs.
Tyndall said that she thought it had passed with the farm
through previous owners the last of whom was a Miss Fillingain,
and finally reached her husband, who had lived on the property
four years.
In general it may be said that querns seemed much more abund-
ant in the region around New Bern, N. C, than elsewhere in the
South where similar inquiries at many places failed to show
traces of them. These querns were all constructed on the same
principle although some were set like ours in a frame, while others
like our rice quern were set in hollow gum trees. The handle
sockets in the upper stone were very irregularly placed and our
apparatus was the only one seen which showed an iron cup
inserted in the stone for this purpose. All of them showed cotton
wadding wedged in the box around the nether stone to prevent
leakage of the meal. I could learn nothing as to how, when or
where the stones were quarried or made. None of the stones were
fluted like the millstones of a Bucks county gristmill, while in
every case the iron pivot penetrated a wooden block filling the
central hole in the nether stone, the circumference of which was
also wedged with cotton. None of the stones were dressed con-
cave or convex on the grinding side, but all ground the grain on a
flat surface. There can be no doubt that these instances show
the very last rare survivals of a primeval process which is now
about to disappear.
List of Prints Mounted in Albums up to August 1, 1917.
The society has three albums in which 404 photographs of
great historic value have been mounted. This work was begun
twenty years ago in 1897, and it is the plan of the society to add
to the collection from time to time. The committee in charge of
this work, of which Mrs. Agones Williams Palmer is chairman,
deserves special mention for the careful manner in which it has
done this work, and preserved the views of many buildings and
places that are fast disappearing.
The following is a full list of all prints in the albums. Those
marked with an asterisk (*) have been reproduced in the pub-
lished papers of the society.
Terrace on Fry's run on the Delaware river above Riegelsville,
showing Indian remains buried 15 to 20 feet above highest
known freshet water-mark.
*Exposure of Indian quarry refuse at Gaddes run — argillite
chips, hammerstones. turtlebacks, etc.
Pebbles of Jasper (the Indian's chosen stone for arrowheads)
found on the beaches of the Delaware and Gaddes run in
Tinicum township.
Large masses of argillite quarried by Indians at the aboriginal
quarries on Gaddes run.
Fragments of a large argillite. showing marks of prying or
scraping by Indians. Excavated from aboriginal quarry
rubbish at Gaddes run.
*Durham cave, near mouth of Durham creek, Durham township.
in which bones of extinct i)eccary were found in 1S93.
Indian spring on farm of Henry Beans near Mechanicsville,
Bucks county.
Rock shelter or Indian house, on left bank of the Tohickon
creek, five miles above its mouth. On its floor were found
bones of animals, arrowheads and Indian pottery.
Limekiln, Lower Blacks Eddy, built upon the site of an Indian
viUage.
View of Delaware river from site of the Indian village.
746 LIST OF PRINTS MOUNTED IN ALBUMS
*"Turtlebacks" found on the site of the Indian village, 1884.
Formerly the Yeates homestead in Newtown. James Yeates,
and Solomon Jennings accompanied Edward Marshall on
his famous walk, Sept. 19-20, 1737. Yeates falling on the
morning of the second day, and dying three days there-
after.
Front door of Yeates homestead, showing door-steps made of
millstones.
The Cooper burying-ground in Tinicum township.
Edward Marshall's grave in the Cooper burying-ground.
Edward Marshall's rifle in the hands of his descendant, Wil-
liam A. Ridge at Ridge's island on the Delaware river.
*View of the Lenape monument at Wrightstown.
*Inscription on Lenape monument: "To the memory of the
Lenni Lenape Indians, ancient owners of this region, these
stones are placed at this spot, the starting point of the
'Indian walk,' September 19, 1737. Bucks County His-
torical Society, 1890."
Playwickey oak tree at head of Towississink creek, Wrights-
town township. Supposed to be the corner white oak
marked with the letter "P," mentioned in deed of 1682
between William Penn and the Lenni Lenape Indians. 2
views.
Stove-plates.
1. Cain slaying his brother Able — Date 1741.
2. The Snake betrayed Adam and Eve — Date 1741.
3. The temptation of Joseph — Date 1749.
4. Cross and Tulip, John Pott — Date 1751.
5. S. F. of 1756 — Bible in Iron No. 96.
6. The Raging Year — 1756. Bible in Iron No. 102.
*The tools of the Nation Maker as arranged by Dr. Henry C.
Mercer, in the courthouse at Doylestown, for his lecture
before the Bucks County Historical Society, October 7,
1897. Three plates.
Long handled skillets with three legs — two on one plate.
Wooden mortar and pestle, and iron griddle, on one plate.
Old Cider Press near Hulmeville, Pa., photographed in 1899.
Utensils used in making applebutter.
LIST OF PRINTS MOUNTED IN ALBUMS 747
Making applebutter— Paring the apples with a hand-made ma-
chine, generally disused about 1850.
♦Making applebutter— Stirring at the out-of-doors open fire-
place.
♦Candle dipping 100 years ago.
Straw Bee-hive made of spiral rye twists meshed with hickory.
Comb built on two skewers thrust through. Honey re-
• moved after smothering the bees with sulphur smoke.
Two straw bread baskets. Tin kitchen. Two plates.
Large steel traps, used in the capture of wolves and bears,
wildcats and foxes-four traps shown on plate.
From the hammer to the hatchet— 17 pieces on one plate.
British axes — 10 pieces shown on one plate.
American axes — 6 pieces shown on one plate.
Pioneer woodman's axe — 2 on one plate.
Broad axe, German axe, hatchet and hand axe— on one plate.
Hand axe. The broad axe. Two plates.
Tin lanterns, perforated, 3 shown on one plate.
Dutch scythe, whetstone, vinegar horn, anvil and hammer— one
plate.
Wrought-iron shovels with long handles— 2 on one plate.
Treffinger house on Deep Run. Built by Jacob Krause 1757.
used at one time by the Mennonites for religious meetmgs,
at another time as a distillery. Front view.
Treffinger house— view of kitchen door.
Treffinger house— the mill showing tail race.
One of William Penn's chairs, purchased at his sale by one of
the Lynns, coming down through the Dennises. Armitages
and Waltons to its present owner, Miss Elvira Paxson,
Solebury, a lineal descendant— 1899.
Making oak shingles by hand— 3 plates.
1. Removing bark with the spud.
2. Splitting with the frow.
3. Paring with the drawing-knife.
♦Preparing flax for spinning— 3 plates.
I. Braking. 2. Swingling. 3. Hatchellmg.
Flax flail, swingle, hatchel, spinning-wheel, and reels-one
plate.
748 lylST OF PRINTS MOUNTED IN ALBUMS
The flax wheel with woman spinning.
*Small flax wheel — Bucks county.
"Castle wheel" Ireland.
Wool wheel with woman spinning. Wool cards. 2 plates.
"Ye age of pewter" — Ink wells, drinking cups and plates.
Plates marked "Rd. King," "C. Bradford," "Henry Ap-
pleman, Cheapside, London."
Sharpening the Dutch scythe, hammering on the anvil — vine-
gar-horn and whetstone.
Scythes English, Prussian and Bucks county make — one plate.
*Whetting the Dutch scythe also anvil and hammer — one plate.
Reaping wheat with the sickle — generally discontinued about
1830 — 2 views.
Hand power corn-sheller.
*The Conestoga wagon used by the late Thomas Hovenden as
a model in painting his last picture and presented to the
society by Mrs. Hovenden in 1898.
Conestoga wagon drawn with six horses, Lancaster, Pa., 1908.
*Wooden mouldboard plow — 181 5.
*Shovel plow with man plowing.
*The Smith plow, cast-iron mouldboard.
Letters patent for the Smith plow, May 19, 1800.
View of old walls on site of Smithtown, 1899 — hand colored.
View of old walls on site of Smithtown, another view not
colored.
One man rake — raking by hand.
Clover nipper with men working same.
Blowing the long dinner horn.
Conch shell used as a dinner horn by John Eastburn and his
descendants from 1830 to 1913 — 2 views.
"Trevose" — The Growden Mansion, Bensalem township, built
by Joseph Growden about 1685. Remodelled and a third
story added in 1847 by Charles Taylor, now occupied by
Taylor's heirs. A frequent resort of Benjamin Franklin
— 10 views.
*i. Front view, showing vines and entrance.
2. Back view, facing east showing porch full length of
house.
LIST OF PRINTS MOUNTED IN ALBUMS 749
3. Hemlock tree at entrance. Only survivor of original
Growden trees, girth 13 feet i)^ in. 2j^ feet
above ground.
*4. Fire-proof building where county records were kept
— Raided by the British soldiers in 1778.
*5. Slave quarters.
6. Slave quarters^ — another view.
7. Front door of house.
8. Front stairway with Grandfathers clock on landing.
9. Old fireplace with crane, trammels, andirons, bel-
lows, snufflers, etc., also showing door to bake-
oven.
10. Outside view of bakeoven.
Large earthenware plate w^ith star and tulip decorations,
earthen bird whistle, toy applebutter pots, pitcher and
small plate.
Earthenware jugs with tulip decorations.
*Using the tinder-box. The lazy tongs. 2 views.
*Tin candlesticks, fluid lamp and tin lard lamps.
*Hanging lard lamps.
Wedding certificate of Edward Blackfan and Rebekah Crispin,
second cousin of William Penn, 1688. Signed by William
Penn, Gulielina Maria his wife and their two children.
Springett and Letitia.
Elinor Blackfan's Bible and John Dawson's Bible both open
on a chair.
Edward Blackfan's corner-cupboard, 1757. House now owned
by C. S. Atkinson, Solebury, Bucks county. Pa.
Chest of drawers brought from England in 17CX) by Rebekah
Blackfan and infant son William.
Gov. William Kieth's mansion "Graeme Park," on county line
built 1722, 8 views.
1. Front view of house.
2. Back view of house.
3. Interior view of showing fireplace in library.
4. Interior view showing main stairway.
5. Interior view showing fireplace in drawing-room.
6. Sycamore trees marking the former entrance to
"Graeme Park."
750 LIST OF PRINTS MOUNTED IN ALBUMS
7. Front doorway with "Bullseye lights" in transom,
also showing stone steps.
8. Two old chairs — 2 plates.
Deep Run schoolhouse. Bedminster township — 4 views.
*i. Schoolhouse built in 1842. Successor of a log-house
of 1746.
*2. Staves of music written on beams.
*3. Staves of music written on blackboard.
*4. Lyeather spectacles used as a means of punishment —
2 plates.
"Ye age of flint locks" — Musket, rifle, wooden canteen and
saddle bags.
Pewter canteen.
*Keith house in Upper Makefield township, built by William
Keith 1763. Remodeled by James T. Keith and Dr. Wil-
liam Paxson now (1917) owned by Sigafoos and Poore
of Riegelsville, Pa. Washington's headquarters during the
planning of the battle of Trenton. Two views.
*Tablet on Keith house placed there by the Bucks County His-
torical Society. "Washington's Headquarters previous to
the Battle of Trenton Dec. 14-25, 1776."
Springhouse on Keith farm.
Headquarters at Washington's Crossing, New Jersey.
Monument at Taylorsville, (the Pennsylvania side of Washing-
ton's Crossing,) erected by the Bucks County Historical
Society. Two views. "Near this spot Washington crossed
the Delaware on Christmas Night 1776 the eve of the Bat-
tle of Trenton — Erected 1885 by the Bucks County His-
torical Society."
View of the Delaware river at McKonkey's ferry (Washing-
ton's crossing).
New Hope formerly Coryell's Ferry — View of Ferry street.
New Hope formerly Coryell's Ferry — View of borough and
river bank.
New Hope — First house built in New Hope, Mechanics St.,
by Joshua Van Sant about 1780.
New Hope — Hip roof house formerly home of the Opdykes.
LIST OF PRINTS MOUNTED IN ALBUMS 751
♦"The Washington tree" on the Paxson estate. Cut down Nov.
28, 1893. Under this chestnut tree it is said Washington
met Generals Green and Alexander (Lord Sterling) to
plan the Battle of Trenton.
Indian figure formerly used for a sign at Logan House, New
Hope. Two views taken by John A. Anderson, 1909.
New Hope — One of the oldest houses, built by Garret Mel-
drum before 1808, and used by him as a tavern. Later
occupied by James Smith a tailor.
Hydraulion formerly used by the New Hope Fire Company.
Hose carriage used with the hydraulion.
Seven views to illustrate John A. Anderson's paper "Naviga-
tion on Delaware and Lehigh Rivers."
*i. The Island of Malta in the Delaware south of New
Hope.
*2. Drawing of the Durham boat.
*3. Canal boat, the successor of the Durham boat, 1912.
4. High water in Delaware river at Well's Falls below
New Hope.
5. Low water in Delaware at Well's Falls below New
Hope.
6. View of Delaware river at place where Washington's
army crossed Christmas night, 1776.
*7. Tablet on Battle Monument, Trenton, N. J., showing
the "Crossing" by Durham boats.
New Hope — "Cintra," built by William Maris about 1812, later
owned by Richard Elias Ely, now deceased.
New Hope — The Old Parry Mansion, built by Benjamin Parry
in 1784.
New Hope — Front door of Parry Mansion showing brass
door-knocker.
New Hope — Parry Mansion, interior view showing front hall
and stairway.
Thomas Beek's Pension Certificate. Thomas Beck served with
Washington at Trenton. He was grandfather of Wil-
liam Beek, deceased of Doylestown, Albert C. Beek of
Hinkletown and Mary Beek, deceased, who married John
Walker of Plumstead.
752 LIST OF PRINTS MOUNTED IN AI.BUMS
Mortar and pestle property of Dr. J. B. Walter of Solebury, a
descendant of Thomas Beek.
Table, cane and plates, property of Dr. J. B. Walter.
Chair, property of Dr. J. B. Walter of Solebury.
"Springdale" the Huffnagle house, New. Hope, seven views.
Photographs by John A. Anderson.
*i. Front of house in winter.
2. The side entrance. 3. The front doorway.
*4. View from the west. 5. View from the east.
6. Sketch on map bearing date 1859.
7. The eagle formerly surmounting the arch at entrance.
"Maple Grove" the Paxson homestead at New Hope. Three
views.
1. Front view of house.
2. Avenue of trees.
3. The front hall showing stairway.
"Rolling Green" Home of Elias Paxson at Aquetong, 13 views.
1. Front view with shade trees.
2. View of west end of house.
3. The living room. 4. The fireplace.
5. Paxson family Bible, 1/79, covered with calf, also
candle-stick.
6. Another view of the family Bible.
7. Mahogany work-stand with family Bible.
8. The mantle shelf with lusterware, pewter and china.
9. The old clock. 10. Pewter cofifee pot.
II. Card table. 12. Warming pan. 13. Corner chair.
The Fallsington Library — established 1802. 3 views.
1. View of a house to show an early home of the
library.
2. Library building built in 1879.
3. View of the library room taken 1903.
Elias H. Radcliff's house, W^arrington township, built by Judge
John Barclay in 1799. Occupied for many years by the
Hough family, photo taken 1899.
Newton, Bucks county, founded 1684 — 9 views.
*i. Former treasury and county offices, built 1796.
*2. Court Inn, built in 1733 by Joseph Thornton.
LIST OF PRINTS MOUNTED IN ALBUMS 753
3. "Bird-in-Hand" formerly used as a hotel and post-
office, built about 1684.
*4. Brick hotel, built in 1764 by Amos Strickland on site
of "Red Lion Inn" Third story and addition on
west added by Joseph Archamboalt, a page of
Napoleon about 1837. United States and Hes-
sian soldiers quartered here after the Battle of
Trenton. "
5. Brick hotel — Arch and stairway in front hall.
*6. Presbyterian Church built in 1769. Hessian soldiers
quartered here as prisoners after the Battle of
Trenton in 1776.
7. Presbyterian Church — Datestone.
8. County treasurer Hart's house robbed by the outlaw
Doans in 1783.
9. Newtown library building N. E. corner Court and
State Streets, Occupied since 1882.
Toll gate house, Wrightstown and Newtown Township Road
Company.
Union Library of Hatboro, Montgomery county. Established
1755. This building erected in 1848.
Six early book-marks of Union Library of Hatboro. Nos. 13,
14, 46, 500, 520, 608.
Four later book-marks of Union Library of Hatboro. Nos.
4705, 6430, Class 910 and 917.6.
Newtown Library and Free Reading Room — Gift of Joseph
Bardsley — Opened February 7, 1912.
Newtown Library — First page of the original Minute Book —
1760.
Newtown Library — Book plate and four book labels.
The Dr. Phineas Jenks house, Newtown, Pa., built by him in
1828. Later altered and used as a store.
View of front door of the Phineas Jenks house at Newtown.
Nine chairs used by Frederick J. Shellenbergcr to illustrate his
paper read before the society at Newtown, Pa., October
10, 191 1. Photographs by Oliver Hough of Newtown.
I. Sheraton mahogany side chair, showing Adam in-
fluence 1795-1910. Property of Mrs. Thomas P.
Chambers, formerly of Squire Barnsley.
754 I^IST OF PRINTS MOUNTED IN ALBUMS
2. William and Mary, walnut side chair 1705- 1720. Re-
cessed serpentine stretchers and spoon feet —
. Sarah W. Hicks, Newtown.
3. Straight legged scrolled back mahogany Chippendale
side chair 1770-1780. Property of the Misses
Hough, Newtown.
4. Fringe and tassel mahogany ribbon back Chippendale
period 1745- 1760. This chair presented to Bucks
County Historical Society by Mrs. Alfred Blaker
by her last will.
5. Hogarth walnut side chair, claw feet, shell carvings,
1730-1745, Mrs. Alfred Blaker, Newtown.
6. Queen Ann walnut side chair with saddle seat and
broken angle posts and rococo scroll carving.
Property of Mrs. Fredd H. Bryan, Newtown.
7. Five-slat hickory chair 1730- 1 770. Property of J.
Herman Bardsley.
8. Comb-back Windsor side chair- 1730- 1760. Property
of J. Herman Bardsley.
9. Orange Stuart walnut side chair 1675- 1690. Back
panel originally of leather. Typical Spanish
feet. Newtown Library Company.
Benjamin E. Johnson's home in Upper Makefield. Headquar-
ters of Generals Knox and Hamilton in 1776.
Interior view of hall and staircase of same.
The Red Lion Inn, in Bensalem township — 5 views.
*i. From the west showing date-stone 1750.
2. View from the southeast.
3. View from the north showing dormer windows with
holes in shutters used for light.
4. Interior view of front hall.
5. The American Eagle and the British Lion painted
above the bar-room door.
Wrightstown Friends Meeting House — 1787 — 5 views.
*i. View of building from public road.
2. The men's end — Interior view showing wooden
benches.
*3. View of the Horse Block.
LIST OF PRINTS MOUNTED IN ALBUMS 755
4. Gateway entrance to graveyard.
5. A quiet corner, showing grave-stones.
The Woodman homestead, Buckingham township — 8 views.
1. House with cattle. Larger end built by Benjamin
Smith, 1 77 1. Smaller end built in 1798.
2. Interior view showing panelling.
3. Interior view showing corner-cupboard with strap
hinges.
4. Date-stone-^B. and S. S. (Benjamin and Sarah
Smith nee Eastburn).
5. Walls built of red shale, showing substantial window
arch.
6. Mary Worthington Smith's rush bottom chair, 1785.
7. Windsor arm chair, 1804.
8. Windsor side chair, 1804.
The Anchor Hotel on the Durham road in Wrightstown town-
ship.
Buckingham Friends Meeting House, Lahaska, Pa., Orthodox.
Built in 1830. Used until 1896 when meetings were dis-
continued.
The Quakertown Friends Meeting House — 3 views.
*i. Full side view of building.
*2. The men's gallery with six men.
*3. The Woman's gallery with three women seated.
Solebury Friends Meeting House — two views.
I. Building erected 1808. 2. Building erected 1899.
The Barnsley Homestead in Bensalem township, near the
Neshaminy, about four miles from Bristol. Built about
1760 by Major Thomas Bardslcy of the 60th Royal Am-
erican Regiment of the British Army. Now owned and
occupied by Mrs. Sarah Dingee (1901). Two views.
1. Full front view of house.
2. Interior of front hall.
Nine views of Buckinghaiu Meeting House — Hicksite, 1708-
1768. Used as a hospital during the Revolution.
*i. View of east end. 2. View of west end.
3. View of burying-ground.
4. Chestnut oak, photo, in 1896.
756 IvIST OF PRINTS MOUNTED IN ALBUMS
5. Entrance to burying-ground.
6. Entrance to burying-ground.
7. The horse block — 1768. 8. View of south door.
9. Interior view showing steps leading to gallery.
Neely Homestead at foot of Bowman's hill. Captain Washing-
ington's headquarters during the Revolutionary war. 4
views.
I. West end of house. 2. House showing back door.
3. The front porch. 4. Datestone — H. R. T. 1757.
Ruins of house used as Captain Nevin's headquarters.
Thompson Memorial Church, erected 1875. Sviccessor to or-
iginal building of 181 3.
Capt. Moore's grave with tombstone, on the Delaware river
bank. One of several — the others nameless.
Ruins of an oil cloth mill in Warwick on the Little Neshaminy.
House near Hartsville, owned by Joseph Moland in 1777.
Photo, in 1893.
Two-story springhouse on farm of J. Willis Atkinson in Buck-
ingham — 1808.
Oven in interior of same. Photographs by John A. Anderson.
Home of surveyor John Watson in 1756. The second house
built on the original Watson tract in Buckingham town-
ship. House standing in 1904.
Two bead bags (colored) belonging to Miss Elizabeth Mann
of Doylestown. Photographed in 1905 — two plates.
Liberty Hall, Quakertown, Pa., built 1772, renovated 1900.
A pair of galoshes.
Two Quaker bonnets — two plates. Quilted silk hood.
Colored green silk bonnet, shirred on fine reeds.
Calash or "Bashful Bonnet."
Galoshes worn by the great-grandmother of Richard Randolph
Parry.
White beaver hat, worn^ by Doctor Walker of Doylestown.
*Albert Cooper, Solebury, Pa., trapper of wild pigeons with
blinded decoys, about 1870.
A pair of woolen mittens — 1778.
A woman's double pocket. A man's hat box. 2 plates.
The Osborne House, in 1903, Morrisville, Pa. 8 views.
I. Front overlooking the banks of the Delaware river.
LIST OF PRINTS MOUNTED IN ALBUMS 757
2. Rear view showing in the foreground a carved stone
post, one of a circle of posts formerly bounding
the driveway.
3. Interior view showing room occupied by Gen. La-
fayette.
4. Interior view showing the front hall.
5. Window of front room overlooking the river.
6. Marble fireplace in front room.
7. Bedroom showing wooden panelling.
8. A corner in the dining-room.
*Palisades or Narrows of Nockamixon.
*Two views of Lenape Stone, showing both sides a half tone
etching.
Delaware Division Canal at New Hope — 7 views.
1. Aqueduct at Knowles Cove.
2. Dredge at work cleaning canal.
3. View showing Upper and Middle locks,
4. View showing Lower lock.
5. Samuel Sheetz, lock-tender.
6. Boat with mules and driver.
7. Lunch baskets — mules eating out of the baskets.
Jacob Gross, 92 years of age in 1897. Old German school
teacher, probably the last illuminator and teacher of Frac-
ture in Bucks county.
2. Fracture colored illuminated manuscripts.
3. Illuminated detail, dated 1828.
4. Pelican feeding young with its own blood, symbolic
of the Redemption of Christ. Especially inter-
esting, as it is a medieval church legend perpet-
uated in Bucks county.
5. Two song books used in German schools in Upper
Bucks county about 1840.
6. Paint box used by teachers of fracture.
♦Samuel Scott, at the age of about 75 years, the runaway slave
"Scott" of Dr. Magill's paper, "When Men Were Sold,"
read January, 1898.
*i. His home in Solebury.
2. View of shed on his j^lace.
758 LIST OF PRINTS MOUNTED IN ALBUMS
*Ross House, Doylestown. Built on the site of a blacksmith's
shop, the corner in the foreground being the original wall,
â– and the old forge chimney being the central one in the
picture. The tavern was built in 181 1 and converted into
a dwelling. Torn down in 1896 to make way for a bank
building.
Harvey House, replaced by the Hart building, 1900.
Doylestown Presbyterian church, dedicated 181 3.
Tomb of Rev. Uriah Du Bois, first pastor of Presbyterian
church, Doylestown.
Mennonite church, one mile west of Doylestown. Built in
1840, the successor of an older structure on same site.
This building torn down in 1900.
Union Seminary, Doylestown — in 1889 — built in 1804. Pro-
ceeds of lottery authorized by the State used in its con-
struction.
"Eight Square" schoolhouse near Morrisville, built in 1775.
Presented to the Bucks County Historical Society by
James Moon.
Highland schoolhouse in Lower Solebury.
Eight- sided schoolhouse at Rush Valley. Now abandoned and
used as a chicken coop — 1899.
Newtown — View of a private school.
Newtown — White Hall hotel. Used as a school until 1841.
Newtown — -The Academy. A boarding school for boys and
girls— 1798-1886.
Newtown — The Friends Home. Given by Judge Edwin M.
Paxson to Bucks Quarterly Meeting in 1900.
Springhouse on the Vanarlsdalen farm in 1909.
Springhouse on the Brown farm in 1909.
The Neshaminy at Newtown in 1909.
Point Pleasant — The Baptist church.
Point Pleasant — House a rendezvous of the outlaw Doanes.
A Revolutionary hip-roof house near Penns Park. Said to
have been one of the rendezvous of the outlaw Doanes.
The Springhouse.
Mearn's Mills in 1896. Built before 1777.
*Josiah B. Smith. First signer of the society's constitution.
LIST OF PRINTS MOUNTED IN ALBUMS 759
*W. W. H. Davis, born July 27, 1820. President of the society
from 1880 to time of his death, December 26, 1910.
Home of Thomas Smith, grandfather of Josiah Smith. Log-
house showing front door.
Log-house on the Windy Bush road, Upper Makefield town-
ship.
Shad fishing in the Delaware in 1897 — 11 views.
I. The start. 2. Trawling the net.
*3. Drawing the net. *4. Drawing the net.
5. Fishing boat. 6. Stone sinkers for net.
7. A good catch — many fish lying on the bank.
*8. Mending the nets. *g. A small haul.
*io. Ready to pack the fish for shipment.
II. Drying the nets.
"Inghamdale" in Solebury township. Home of Samuel D. Ing-
ham, Secretary of the Treasury under President Andrew
Jackson, i 829-1 831,
View of south front of house.
Entrance to house.
Ingham springs showing volume of water.
♦Ingham springs. Called by the Indians Aquetong. Birthplace
of the renowned Lenni Lenape brave Teedyuscung.
Plucking geese in New Britain township in 1897.
*Capt. John S. Bailey, antiquarian and maker of sun-dials, in
his shop in Buckingham in 1901. Born 1835, died 1903.
The flood in the Delaware river October 10 and 11, 1903.
1. New Hope Delaware bridge. View of gates and en-
trance Lambertville end.
2. East end showing the one span left after the flood.
3. View of bridge from New Hope end.
4. The flood at 2.30 p. m., October 10, 1903, from Lam-
bertville side.
5. Wreckage at New Hope.
6. View of bridge looking east.
7. View of bridge looking west.
8. One span of the bridge on the W'ynkoop meadows
below Brownsburg.
9. The New Hope end showing wreckage.
49
760 LIST OF PRINTS MOUNTEID IN AI.BUMS
10. "Sunshine," used as a ferry while the new bridge was
being built.
11. River bridge at New Hope with view of canal lock.
12. Canal boats as left after the flood at Lumberton.
*I3. Canal boats as left by the flood.
New iron bridge between New Hope and Ivambertville.
Opened for travel July 23, 1904.
The Heath mill near New Hope, built by Robert Heaih, 1707.
A story and a half added in 1873. The first n. 11 for
grinding grain in Solebury.
The Old Armitage gristmill in Upper Solebury. View show-
ing waterwheel and wooden water trunk.
View of old mill showing water trunk and overshot water
wheel.
The Great Spring gristmill in Solebury township.
Three women quilting at a quilting frame.
Five patterns from Miss Jane Campbell for patchwork quilt —
five separate colored sketches.
Thirty-eight separate sketches of patchwork quilts, colored.
*Aquetong limestone quarry. Aquetong limekilns. 2 views.
Toll gate of the Lahaska and New Hope Turnpike Road Com-
pany, 1909.
Brick making at George Long's brickyard in 191 5 — 9 views.
1. Tempering-wheel with clay in the pit.
2. Another view of same.
3. Moulding-table, clay, water-bowls, mould, stand-tub,
tub-stool and lute used for cleaning floor.
4. Moulding-table floor with bricks placed for first dry-
ing.
5. View showing George Long, proprietor ; Charles Wal-
pinger, the "off bearer," and William Ferby, a
brick-moulder.
6. Interior of brick shed showing bricks "hacked up" to
dry out.
7. View showing brick shed, also loading bricks from
kiln.
8. Outside of brick-kiln showing six doors.
9. Showing arrangement of bricks in kiln ready for
burning.
LIST OF PRINTS MOUNTED IN ALBUMS
761
Bucks County fences — 6 views — 4 taken in 1909.
1. Stone base, stake and rider.
2. Post and rail fence.
3. Post and rail with stone base.
4. Swedes fence.
5 and 6. Two views of fence near concrete bridge over
the Tohickon at Myers' mills, taken in 1912.
The Rodman sycamore tree, planted by William Rodman about
150 years ago. Girth 29 feet 4 inches, 3 feet above the
ground. Growing on land of Edward W. Patton, near
Flushing in Bensalem. Photo, in 1897.
On the Neshaminy — three views.
1. The falls at dam in 1915.
2. The dam in freshet of 1915.
3. "Pot Rocks," one mile above Neshaminy falls.
View near the Spring mills on the Cuttaloosa creek.
Tw^o views of chestnut tree on Meredith farm, Mechanicsville,
Buckingham township, bearing nuts in 1897. Girth 3 feet
from ground, 19 feet 10 inches.
Upper Makefield. The work of the blizzard at a home in
19 14 — two views.
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