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Full text of "<a href="/details/collectionofpape05buck">A collection of papers read before the Bucks County Historical Society</a>"
</h1>
<pre>UNIVERSITY
OF PITTSBURGH
LIBRARY
THIS BOOK PRESENTED BY
Alumni Giving Plan
f
'^^^^'''
Miss Elixabetk J. Gveir
X903 — 1907
Miss Maty L. DuBois
190 v — 130.12.
FIVE FORMER DIRECTORS OF THE BUCKS COUNTY
HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
John S. Williams, born March 21, 1831, served also as vice-president
from Jan. 15, 1901, to the date of his death, Aug. 21. 1920. He con-
tributed one paper to the society. Thomas C. Knowles, born Sep. 7,
1846, was one of the original directors when the society was chartered in
1885, and served down to date of his death, Feb. 6, 1921, the longest con-
tinuous service of any officer of the society. Thaddeus S. Kenderdine,
born Dec. 10, 1836, died Feb. 17, 1922, contributed seven papers to the
society, the last one read by him personally at the Cuttalossa Valley
meeting, when in the eighty-second of his age. He was the author of
seven octavo books made ud of his reminiscences, travels, local history
and poetry. These books grace the shelves of our librarv. Miss Eliza-
beth J. Greir, born Feb. 16, 1831, died April 20, 1907. In 1903 she gave
the society its first gift ($2,000) toward establishing a library for the
society. Her brother, James H. Greir, bequeathed the sum of $5,000
toward the erection of the first building of the society, now called the
"Elkins Building". Miss Mary L. DuBois, born March 23, 1847, served
as a director from 1907 down to the date of her death, April 6, 1922;
she contributed four papers to our publications, and moreover could al-
ways be relied upon for faithfully attending the meetings both of the
society and of the board.
^ ^—7.
A COLLECTION OF PAPERS
READ BEFORE THE
BUCKS COUNTY
HISTORICAL SOCIETY
PUBLISHED FOR THE SOCIETY
BY
FACKENTHAL PUBLICATION FUND
1926
VOLUME V
EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
Henry C. Mercer, Sc.D. Hon. Harman Yekkes
Warren S. Ely â– Horace M. Mann
B. F. Fackenthal. Jr., Sc.D.
V, S
Press of
The Tribune Publishing Co.
Meadville, Pa.
^
CONTENTS
Page
List of Illustrations ^'"
Officers of the Society -'^'
Changes in Personnel of Officers • ^^^
PAPERS
Dutch Settlement in Bucks County. . .Warren S. Ely 1
An Investigation of the "Giant's
Grave" Dr- Henry C. Mercer 11
Branding Cattle in Idaho Joseph C. Rca 14
Branding Cattle in Kansas in 1858. . . .Thaddeus S. Kenderdine. . . 16
C Warren S. Ely 18
Turnpike Roads in Bucks County.. <
Edward R. Kirk 20
Henry W. Gross 24
William S. Erdrnan, M.D... 28
Frank K. Swain 30
Mrs. H. S. Prentiss Nichols 33
Frank Saurman 34
Seth T. Walton 34
Dr. Henry C. Mercer 35
The "Draisiana" or Pedestrian Hob-
byhorse of 1819 Horace Wells Sellers 37
Life and Work of the Rev. Peter
Henry Dorsius Rev. W. J. Hinke, Ph.D.,
D.D •■•• 44
Gristmills of an Ancient Type,
Known as Norse Mills Horace M. Mann 68
Notes on the Norse Mill Dr. Henry C. Mercer 75
Roulet Volant or Norse Mill Rudolph P. Hommel 80
Biographical Notice of Joseph B.
Walter, M.D Dr. B. F. Fackenthal, Jr.. . . 84
Making a Dugout Boat in Mississippi . . Frank K. Swain 87
Manners and Customs of Eighty
Years Ago ^'•^iss Mary S. Woodman 90
Cupping and Bleeding George M. Grim, M.D 95
George Taylor, Signer of the Decla-
ration of Independence Warren S. Ely
101
IV CONTENTS
The Homes of George Taylor Dr. B. F. Fackenthal, Jr. . . . 113
Bucks County Women in Wartime .... Mrs. Mary Heaton 134
Historical Reminiscences of Cutta-
lossa Creek Thaddeus S. Kenderdine .... 141
Maple Sugar Making in Southwest-
ern Pennsylvania and Northwest-
ern Virginia E. F. Bowlby 172
Norse Mills of Colonial Times Frederick H. Shelton 175
Horse Hopples Henry W. Gross 186
Basket Making Grier Scheetz 190
Notes on Basket Making Dr. Henry C. Mercer 192
Basket Making in Durham Township. Dr. B. F. Fackenthal, Jr.... 196
Early Pennsylvania Pottery William B. Montague 197
Well Caves of Bucks County Miss Belle Van Sant 202
Notes on Forgotten Trades Dr. Henry C. Mercer 207
The Ringing Rocks of Bridgeton
Township Dr. B. F. Fackenthal, Jr 212
Our Local Flora John A. Ruth 222
Biographical Notice of Clarence D.
Hotchkiss Warren S. Ely 232
An Ancient Indian Pipe from Bucks
County Dr. Henry C. Mercer 235
The Divining Rod in Bucks County. . .Horace M. Mann 239
Wafer Irons Dr. Henry C. Alercer 245
Octagonal or So-called "Eight-
Square" Schoolhouses Alden M. Collins 251
Early History of Bedminster Town-
ship William H. Keichline 261
Biographical Notice of John A. Ruth.. Dr. B. F. Fackenthal, Jr 275
Shad Fishing in the Delaware River. . Horace M. Mann 279
Growing, Treating and Drying Flax.. Elijah R. Case. C.E., M.S... 282
Wool Combing by Hand William B. Montague 284
Octagonal or So-called "Eight-
Square" Schoolhouses Warren S. Ely 290
Sketch of Dr. Jonathan Ingham John Hall Ingham, Esq 308
Broom Making by Hand Grier Scheetz 312
Ancient Methods of Threshing in
Bucks County Dr. Henry C. Mercer 315
Passing Events (Paper No. 1) Frank K. Swain 324
CONTENTS V
Figurehead of Chief Tammany from
the Old Ship-of-the-Line. Dela-
ware Col. Henry D. Paxson 339
Bucks County Samplers Mrs. William R. Mercer. . . . 347
History of Church's School in Buck-
ingham Township Mrs. Clayton D. Fretz 357
Old Methods of Taking Fish Warren Fretz 361
Earlj' History of Washington Cross-
ing and Its Environs Warren S. Ely 376
A Lost Stoveplate Inscription Dr. Henry C. Mercer 388
The Making of Felt Hats Horace M. Mann 401
Passing Events (Paper No. 2) Frank K. Sw-ain 407
Old Household Industries Mrs. Florence Kirk Blackfan 418
The Wire Fabric Industry in America. . Louis C. Beers 423
Old Fences in Bucks County Henry W. Gross 429
Col. Arthur Erwin and James Fenni-
more Cooper's Novel "Wyandotte
or the Hutted Knoll" Dr. B. F. Fackenthal, Jr. . . . 433
Old-Fashioned Garden Flowers George Mac Reynolds 446
Wells and Pumps in Bucks County .. .James H. Fitzgerald 454
The Early Courthouses of Bucks
County Mrs. Mary T. Hillborn 4^1
The Lowther Family of Buckingham. . Mrs. Ada Lowther Wilkinson 465
Notes on Adobe Bricks Horace M. Mann 471
Discussion of Mr. Mann's Paper on
Adobe Bricks Dr. Henry C. Mercer 476
The Zithers of the Pennsylvania
Germans Dr. Henry C. Mercer 482
The Path that Led to the Indian
Village of Play wicky Matthias H. Hall 497
An Attempt to Find the Site of
the Indian Town of Playwicky. . . . Dr. Henry C. Mercer 500
The Old Heath Mill and Its Early
Owners Capt. R. C. Holcomb, (M.C.)
U. S. N 508
The Dating of Old Houses Dr. Henry C. Mercer 536
The Laux Family of Bucks County,
Penns}'-lvania Hon. James B. Laux 550
The Origin of Log Houses in the
United States Dr. Henry C. Mercer 568
VI CONTENTS
The Ferry Tract at New Hope, Pa.,
and Coryell's Ferry in New Jersey. . Capt. R. C. Holcomb, (M.C.)
U. S. N 584
Tobacco and Its Culture in Bucks
County Grier Scheetz 612
Remarks on Mr. Scheetz's Paper on
Tobacco Culture Dr. B. F. Fackenthal, Jr. . . . 621
Early History of Neshaminy Presby-
terian Church Warren S. Ely 624
Recollections of Tennent School Dr. Henry C. Mercer 631
Schoolboy Memories Hon. Harman Yerkes 641
The Old York Road Capt. R. C. Holcomb, (M.C.)
U. S. N 650
The Samuel Hart Collection of
Manuscripts, 1777-1877 Warren S. Ely 717
The End of Open Fir> Cooking in
Bucks County Frank K. Swain 732
Life Near Grand Rapids, Michigan,
in 1850 Edward Bradford Thomas. . 734
Hunting, Trapping and Fishing in
Bucks County Thaddeus S. Kenderdine. . . . 736
Random Notes on Forgotten Trades.. Dr. Henry C. Mercer and
Horace M. Mann 740
Andrew Ellicott, The Great Surveyor. .Warren S. Ely 745
The Last of the File-Makers Henry K. Deisher 751
The Colonial Carpenter Dr. Henry C. Mercer 755
History of the Lucy M. Burd In-
dustrial School Miss Lucy M. Burd 756
Herbs and Plants Used for Medicinal
Purposes by Colonial Settlers Miss Julia B. Abbott 763
The Proctor Family of Upper Bucks
County Prof. William H. Slotter... 766
ILLUSTRATIONS
Page
Portraits of Five Former Directors Frontispiece
Dutch Reformed Church, Churchville, Pa 10
Cattle Branding Irons used in Idaho, 1860-70 15
Tollhouse with Single Gate, Paxson's Corners 18
The "Draisiana" or Two-wheeled Hobbyhorse 38
Norse Hill used in Madison County, N. C 69
Norse Mill of Shetland Islands, 1880 75
Roulet Volant or Norse Mill 80
Norse Mill in the South of France, 1578 82
Portrait of Joseph B. Walter, M.D 84
Dugout Canoe from Natches, Miss 89
Cupping and Bleeding Vessels and Instruments 99
Portrait of Col. George Taylor 101
Taylor-Parsons House, Easton, Pa 113
George Taylor's Bookplate, 1778 115
Invoice for Pig Iron with Signature of George Taylor, 1739 117
George Taylor's Catasauqua Home 119
Oath of Allegiance taken by George Taylor, 1778 121
Last part of Geo. Taylor's Will, with Signatures 127
Home of Robert Lettis Hooper, Jr., at Easton, Pa 128
George Taylor's Monument in Easton Cemetery 131
George Taylor's Pistols bequeathed to Robert Traill 133
Horse Hopples in Museum of the Society 186
Palisades or Narrows of Nockamixon 212
View of Bridgeton Township Ringing Rocks 213
Cavities in Conglomerate at Monroe 213
Bluff of Conglomerate, near Holland, N. J 215
Weathered Trap Rock Boulders, with Shrinkage Cracks,
two etchings 217
Trap Rock Boulders, Swamp Creek, near Sumneytown, Pa 219
Trap Rocks at Stony Garden, Split apart by Water and
Weather Conditions 219
Giant's Causeway, North Coast of Ireland, two views 221
View Overlooking Delaware River from Top of Nockamixon
Palisades 231
Portrait of Clarence D. Hotchkiss 232
VIH ILLUSTRATIONS
Delaware Indian Wooden Tobacco Pipe, side view 235
Top View of Same Pipe — Found in Bucks County 236
Wafer Irons in Museum of the Society 245
Hexagonal Schoolhouse, Lower Saucon Township 251
Plan Showing Interior of an Octagonal Schoolhouse 254
Remains of a Stone Built Flax Dr5nng Oven 283
Spinning Wheel — Tail piece 289
Octagonal Schoolhouse, Delaware County, 1835 291
Old "Eight-Square" Schoolhouse, Wrightstown Township 291
Friends' Meeting House, Burlington, N. J., 1682-1787 292
Dutch Trading Post, Trenton, N. J 294
Plan of Octagonal Schoolhouse, Newton Square, Pa 296
Plan Showing Construction of Same 297
Flails in Bucks County Historical Society's Museum 317
Figurehead of Chief Tammany at Annapolis, Md 341
Bucks County Samplers —
1. Ruth Bradshaw, 1712 347
2. Mary Sheeds, 1806 348
3. Susan Magill, 1812 349
4. Rachel Broadhurst, 1812 350
5. Susan Schleiffer, 1816 351
6. Mary D. Richardson, Attleborough School, 1821 352
7. Susan Geary, Fallsington School, 1832 353
8. Acrostic, Composed by E. S.. A. D., 1834 354
Old Methods of Taking Fish—
Dipnet for Taking Fish 361
Spears or Gigs 362
"Schlock Isen", or Striking Iron 363
Mallets for Stunning Fish through Ice. . 364
Lamps or Torches used for Gigging 367
Throw Net for Taking Fish 367
Eel Gaff and Eel Tongs — two etchings 368
Fyke Net for Taking Fish 373
Single Brail, Scoop Net or Hommer 373
Discovery of a Missing Stoveplate Inscription —
1. "Be Not Overcome of Evil", Stoveplate 389
2. "This is the Year in which Rages — " 389
3. Fireplace of the Home House, showing Stove Hole 391
4. Fireplace showing Postament with Hole Walled Up 393
6. Pen Sketch of Five-plate Stove in Its Original Position.... 390
7. The Indian War Plate in the Museum 401
Tombstone of Col. Arthur Erwin 433
ILLUSTRATIONS IX
Zithers of the Pennsylvania Germans —
1. Seven Plectrum Zithers in the Museum 483
2. Three Zithers in the Museum 485
3. Modern German Bow Zither 490
4. Norwegian and Dutch Zithers . 491
5. Zither and Two Tromp Alarines 493
6. The Kentucky Dulcimore 494
7. Playing the Dulcimore 495
The Dating of Old Houses —
1. Wrought Iron Nails 536
2. Cut Nails, Hammer Headed 537
3. Cut Nails, Stamp Headed 538
4. Cross Section of Cut Nails after 1796 539
5. Cut Nails, L Headed and Headless 539
6. Wrought Iron Door Hinges H and HL Types 540
7. Wrought Iron Door Hinges, "Hook and Eye"
alias "Strap" Type 541
8. Cast Iron Butt Door Hinges 541
9. Plain Ovolo Door Panels 542
10. Quirked Ovola and Ogee Panels 543
11. Machine-Made Door Panels 544
12. Wrought Iron Thumb Latches 545
13. Wrought Iron Thumb Latches 546
14. Norfolk Latches 547
15. Cast Iron Thumb-Latches, afl^r 1840 547
16. Plastering Lath 549
17. Pointless Screws, before 1846 544
Taufschein of John Adam Laux, 1771 565
Laux Family Coat-of-Arms 566
Origin of Log Houses in the United States —
1. Front of Log Dwelling in Siberia 569
2. Corner of the Frost Garrison House, Elliot, Me 569
3. Corner of Fort Western Garrison House, Augusta, Me 569
4. Corner of Fort Halifax, Winslow, Me 569
5. Side View of Fort Halifax, Winslow, Me 571
6. Fort Halifax, Winslow, Maine 571
7. Corner of the Mclntyre Garrison House, York, Me 569
8. The Bunker Garrison House, Durham, N. H 571
9. Corner of the Dam Garrison House, Dover, N. H 573
10. Corner of the Gillman Garrison House, Exeter, N. H 573
11. Riggs Log House, Gloucester, Mass 573
12. Log Dwelling at Rockport, Mass 575
13. The Parks Log House, near Horsham, Pa 575
14. Indian Ridge Log House, near Perkasie, Pa 575
15. The Parks Log House, Direct View 577
16. Wismer Log House, near Plumsteadville, Pa 577
X ILLUSTRATIONS
17. Chalfont Log House, near Chalfont, Pa 577
18. Log House near Plumsteadville, Pa 579
10. Slifer Log House near Keller's Church, Pa 579
20. Darby Creek Log House 579
21. Fragments of Log House at Furlong, Pa 581
22. Log Dwelling in Province of Upland, Sweden 581
23. Log Dwelling in Province of Upland, Sweden 581
24. Log Hay Shed in Province of Harjedalen, Sweden 583
25. Old Sawmill in Province of Harjedalen, Sweden 583
Tobacco Drying House, in North Carolina 623
Ground Plan of North Carolina Tobacco Drying House 623
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, 1926.
President
Dr. Henry C. Mercer
Vice-Presidents
Dr. B. F. Fackenthal, Jr. Col. Henry D. Paxson
Directors
Dr. B. F. Fackenthal, Jr Riegelsville, Pa.
Warren S. Ely Doylestown, Pa.
Mrs. E. Y. Barnes Yardley, Pa.
(Term expire.s January, 1926.)
Col. Henry D. Paxson Holicong, Pa.
J. Herman Barnsley Newtown, Pa.
Mrs. Harman Yerkes Doylestown, Pa.
(Term expires January, 1927.)
Dr. Henry C. Mercer Doylestown, Pa.
Mrs. Richard Watson Doylestown, Pa.
Grier Scheetz Bethlehem, Pa.
(Term expires January. 1928.)
Curator Librarian
Dr. Henry C. Mercer Warren S. Ely
Treasurer Secretary
Dr. B. F. Fackenthal, Jr. Horace M. Mann
Assistant Curator
Horace M. Mann
CHANGES IN PERSONNEL OF OFFICERS
Presidents
The Bucks County Historical Society has had but two Presidents
since its organization in 1880
Gen. W. W. H. Davis, 1880 to 1910
Dr. Henry C. Mercer, since Jan. 17, 1911
Vice-Presidents
John S. Wilhams, Jan. 15, 1901, to Aug. 21, 1920
Dr. Henry C. Mercer, Jan. 21, 1908, to Jan. 17, 1911
Joseph B. Walter, M.D., Jan. 17, 1911, to Aug. 18, 1917
Dr. B. F. Fackenthal, Jr., since Jan. 18, 1910
Col. Henry D. Paxson, since Jan. 15, 1921
Directors
The following changes have been made in the Board of Directors
since the publication of Vol. IV.
Col. Henry D. Paxson, January 18, 1918, to succeed
Dr. Joseph B. Walter, who died August 18, 1917
J. Herman Barnsley, June 12, 1920, to succeed
Clarence D. Hotchkiss, who died January 14, 1920
*Grier Scheetz, January 21, 1922, to succeed
Thomas C. Knowles, who died February 16, 1921
Warren S. Ely, October 14, 1922, to succeed
Miss Mary L. Du Bois, who died February 17, 1922
Mrs. E. Y. Barnes, January 20, 1923, to succeed
Thaddeus C. Kenderdine, who died April 6, 1922
Grier Scheetz died suddenly at Bethlehem, Pa., October 6, 1926.
Dutch Settlement in Bucks County.
BY WARREN S. ELY, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Churchville Meeting, May 23, 1917.)
mtnmtm^^ HE place of our meeting today is near the geo-
graphical centre of the section settled in last dec-
ade of the seventeenth, and first decade of the
eighteenth century by the descendants of the
Hollanders who founded New Netherlands in
and about the present city of New York, three-
quarters of a century earlier. It seems therefore especially fitting
that we should devote some attention to the history of these first
settlers in this section and their part in the general plan of de-
velopment of our natural resources and the building up of a new
province under the beneficent influence of Penn's Holy Ex-
periment.
Daniel Webster once said :
"There is still wanting a history which shall trace the progress of
social life. We still need to learn how our ancestors in our houses
were fed, lodged and clothed, and what were their employments. We
wish to know more of the changes which took place from age to age
in the homes of the first settlers. We want a history of firesides."
The section settled by these Dutch people was a compact but
irregularly shaped tract, comprising parts of the townships of
Bensalem. Southampton, Northampton and Middletown. The
Neshaminy creek at this point makes a wide detour to the west-
ward, penetrating the Holland tract to its centre and thereby gave
its name to the section and the first church organized therein.
It had all been surveyed and laid out in large tracts to the original
purchasers of William Penn, before its purchase by the Dutch,
but in only a few instances "had been settled on by these English
purchasers, though it comprised one of the finest and most pro-
I
2 DUTCH SETTLEMENT IN BUCKS COUNTY
ductive agricultural districts in our county. In the case of
Dutch purchases they were often made in large tracts by the
•fathers of the actual settlers, the former remaining in their na-
tive settlement on Long Island and Staten Island, or on the Rari-
tan in East Jersey or on the upper Hudson, into which sections
the Dutch settlements had expanded several years before the
Dutch invasion of Pennsylvania.
This was true of the Van Horn and Van Buskirk families.
Barendt Christian and Peter Lawrensen,^ the respective foun-
ders of these two families in Bucks county, purchased in 1703 a
tract of over 2000 acres lying along the west bank of the Nesham-
iny opposite the present site of Langhorne in the townships of
Northampton and Southampton, which was resurveyed and di-
vided between them, and purchasers of them, by John Cutler,
surveyor, in 1706, and in the following year was conveyed by
them to their sons who became the actual settlers. Barendt
Christian never came to Bucks county but died in Bergen county.
New Jersey. Peter Lawrence may possibly have settled within
the county. Christian, Abraham, Peter, Nicholas and Barendt
Van Hooren, sons of Barendt Christian, settled on this and other
tracts purchased by their father, about 1707, and the family has
been prominently identified with the affairs of Bucks county to
this date.
The Van Sandt family, descendants of Gerret Stofifelse, settled
in 1695 on large tracts of land in Bensalem purchased of Joseph
Growdon whose holdings included the whole upper half of that
township. The Van de Grifts, descendants of Jacob Lendertsen
settled in the same locality at practically the same date.
The Van Artsdalens, who settled in this section prior to 1720,
were descendants of Simon Janse, who emigrated from Holland
to New Amsterdam in 1636.
1 The date of these settlements marks an important event in the liistory of
the Dutch in America, as it was approximately the date at which the families
belonging to the third generation in this country assumed permanent sur-
names. Up to this time the surnames of the sons were their fathers' given
name, generally with the addition of se or sen. The almost universal change
at about this time is well illustrated in the families here cited. The founder
of the VanHorn family in America, was Christian Barendtse, from Horn or
Hooren, Holland, a prominent officer of New Amsterdam in 1653, who died
of sunstroke while building a tide water mill near New Castle on the Dela-
ware July 26, 1658. His widow married Lawrence Andriessen, who came
from Boosekirk, and had children by him among whom was Peter Lawren-
sen above named, who with a son of the first marriage, Barendt Christianse,
made the purchase cited. The children of both assumed the names of Van-
Horn and Van Buskirk, from the places of nativity of their respective
grandsires.
DUTCH SETTLEMENT IN BUCKS COUNTY 3
The Slacks were descendants of Cornelius Slecht, who came
from Holland in 1652, one branch migrating up the Hudson
where they intermarried with the Wynkoops, and another branch
into New Jersey whence the Bucks county settlers came.
The Wynkoop family was founded in Bucks county by Gerar-
dus Wynkoop, who came to this section in 1713 from Ulster
county, New York, and like his neighbors belonged to the third
generation in America. One of the oldest tombstones bearing a
legible inscription in the Dutch Reformed cemetery at Richboro
is that of his son Nicholas, one of the organizers of Abington
Presbyterian Church in 1714, who died in 1759. The latter was
the father of Judge Henry Wynkoop the first member of U. S.
Congress from -Bucks county, and one of the most prominent
patriots of the Revolution, a sketch of whom and his dis-
tinguished services to the county is already a part of our arch-
ives. (See Vol. HI pages 156 and 197.) The Croesen family,
whose name is now variously spelled, descendants of Gerret
Dirckse, who came from Wynschoten, Groningen, Holland in
1667, was represented here by his grandsons as early as 1711.
A granddaughter of Gerret was the wife of Malachi Jones the
pastor of the first Presbyterian church in this section, in 1714.
The Bennets, descendants of William Bennett an Englishman
who came to Long Island in 1635 and married a Dutch wife,
made their appearance in the Holland of Bucks county in the
early part of the eighteenth century, as did Jacobus and Thomas
Craven from whom the numerous family of that name are de-
scended.^
The Cornells were one of the numerous Huguenot families
who settled among the Dutch on Long Island, with whom they
intermarried. Gulliam Cornell of the third generation born on
Long Island in 1679 was the founder of the family in Bucks
county. They owned very large tracts of land in this immediate
vicinity, where their descendants are still very numerous.
Dirck Hogeland, one of the early representatives of the Dutch
element in Pennsylvania Assembly was in this section in 1721
and probably earlier. He was a grandson of Dirck Janse, who
2 It was at the house of Jacobus Craven that Rev. William Tennet first
preached to the Scotch-Irish settlers in Warwick and Warrington, while pas-
tor of the Presbyterian Church of Bensalem, near Bridgewater, and before
he founded the Presbyterian Church of Warwick in 1726, of which Craven
was one of the first trustees.
4 DUTCH SETTLEMENT IN BUCKS COUNTY
came from Hooglandt in 1657 and settled on Long Island. The
Van Pelts and Van Dyckes were here as early as 1705, and the
LaRues and Praals of Huguenot vintage appear about the
same date.
The names of nearly all these families appear on the first
roster of the Dutch Reformed Church of Neshaminy and Ben-
salem organized 1710, an account of the early history of which
is given later in the sketch.
These people represented, in nearly every instance, the third
generation of the Dutch settlement in America, and practically
all of them had been born and reared under English jurisdiction,
the Dutch territory having been conquered by the English in
1664. They were therefore less alien in character to the English
among whom they settled than either the Welsh, Scotch-Irish or
Germans, who constituted the other three elements in the forma-
tion of American citizenship in Pennsylvania. For this reason
they were called upon to take their part in local and provincial
self government at an early date and justified the trust reposed
in them.
Stoffel Van Sandt, the most prominent character in the church
government of the Dutch Colony as shown later in this narrative,
was a local magistrate from 1717 to 1727, and represented Bucks
county in the Provincial Assembly in 1721. He was succeeded in
1723 by Christian Van Horn who served almost continuously
until 1737. Gerrit Van Sandt was a representative in the ses-
sions of 1743-4, 1749-50 and 1751-2; Dirck or Derick Hoge-
land, in those of 1747-8, 1752-3 and 1754-5 ; Gabriel Van Horn in
1756-7; Henry Krewsen continuously from 1762 to 1773 Ger-
ardus Wynkoop in the Provincial Assembly of 1774-5 and in the
State Assembly of 1778-9, and Guilliam Cornell, in the latter for
1777. Leonard Van de Grift was a Justice of the Peace in
1715-16.
Nearly all the prominent families above mentioned were repre-
sented upon the rosters of the officers and members of the mili-
tary companies raised in 1747-48, 1756, and 1758, for the defence
of the Pennsylvania frontier, comprising practically the whole
membership of the several companies raised in their section of
the county. They also took a prominent part in the revolutionary
war, many of them holding commissions in the Continental army
DUTCH SETTLEMENT IN BUCKS COUNTY
and state militia. Nathaniel Van Sandt, a great-grandson of
Gerrett the founder of the family in Bucks county, was captain
of a company in the "Flying Camp" and was taken prisoner on
Long Island in the disastrous campaign of 1776. A number of
letters written by him while in captivity and the roll of his com-
pany are among our collections.
I sincerely regret that I cannot, from the meagre evidence ob-
tainable, present a vivid pen picture of these industrious, home-
loving yet energetic, progressive people in their colonial environ-
ment. From the tools, furniture and articles of clothing, trans-
ferred from the garrets of the old homesteads to the museum of
our society from time to time, and from inventories of their
goods and chattels we can form some idea of their home life
and labors.
Retaining the racial characteristics of their frugal, industrious
and adventurous grandsires, and by local environment, inured to
the exigencies of life in a primitive wilderness, they were well
fitted for the sphere of action in which their lives were cast.
Primarily agriculturists they were trained in practically all the
domestic industries so necessary to life under primitive condi-
tions. The inventories of the personal estates of decedents of
this section during the colonial period, abstracts of a number of
which are quoted below, show that each and every family was
so well equipped with the tools and appliances of the various
local vocations necessary to transform the products of the farm
and forest into food, clothing and articles of commerce, as well
as for the manufacture of the tools and appliances themselves, as
to make them practically independent of the professional artisan.
Every Dutch farm house was equipped with its weaving room
containing its "loom and tacklin" and with linen and wool spin-
ning wheels, reels, swingles, hatchels,. cards, flaxbreaks, and the
minor appliances for the manufacture of linen and woolen fab-
rics, and combinations of both, from the raw material to the
finished product. Thus practically all the clothes worn by mem-
bers of the family were produced from the soil of their own
farms and fabricated by them in the earlier days of the settlement,
before prosperity and a more intimate association with the out-
side world made them "vain and fashionable." There is abundant
evidence however that the Dutch families held to the use of the
O DUTCH SETTLEMENT IN BUCKS COUNTY
simple, becoming and durable home-made fabrics in their dress
for several generations and to a comparatively recent date.^ The
inventory of the goods of Susanna Van Horn in 1776, includes a
silk "cloke," a gold ring and Delph and Queensware. Calico
made its appearance in 1760. There was always a stock of linen
cloth, linsey-woolsey, druggett and oznabrigs as well as linen and
woolen yarn, thread and tape on hand.
In the line of food and merchantable products there was the
"cheese fatts" (vats), mortar and pestle, pot racks and chains,
powdering tubs, milk pails and other wooden vessels ; pewter
and earthenware, etc., etc.
For economy's sake, as in later days, some of the larger appli-
ances were owned in common with a neighbor or neighbors, as
1748, "His Part in ye Cider Mill ;" in 1760, "two thirds of a cross-
cut saw" and in 1777, "a right in a Dutch Fan." The first item
we find inventoried in 1745 "his one half of the Corn Mill ;"
is of interest to our president and curator who is an enthusiastic
collector of hand corn mills, and I have always argued with him
that they were probably never used to any extent in Bucks
county, for the reason that water power was plentiful, and there
were so many early water power gristmills in every locality.
Since one was in use in Middletown on the very banks of the
Neshaminy that turned at least a score of mills it might be
argued that we would find them in use anywhere in Bucks county.
"An Apple Mill and Trough" appears in 1760, and a "Bark
Stone" in 1771.
From the fact that we also find on these inventories "a small
still" and some bushels of malt, it would seem that the Dutch
housewife sought to make her men folks independent of the
local distillery and brewery for his ardent liquid refreshment. In
addition to the above we find the tools of the joiner, the tanner,
the shoemaker, smith and tailor in the inventories of the goods
of farmers. In the olden time many of the domestic craftsmen
went from house to house at regular or irregular intervals to
supply the wants of the farmer's family in the way of shoes,
clothes and utensils.
Indicative of the different values of coins, "money scales &
3 At this point Mr. Ely exhibited a full suit of home spun clothes worn
by Adrian Cornell, of Northampton, a century ago. Also a pair of wooden
shoes.
DUTCH SETTLEMENT IN BUCKS COUNTY 7
weights" are found in the possession of nearly every family.
"A Table of Black Walnut and a Form to it" is inventoried in
1725. "A Riding Chair" appears in 1749, and a "Gum shaver"
in the same year shows that the hollow gum tree was used as
a cask for malt and other necessaries. "Pigeon netts" for trap-
ping wild pigeons were quite common after 1760 or 1765.
Another fact brought out prominently by scrutinizing these
time-stained lists of goods of the country dweller among these
fertile hills and valleys is that the Dutch farmer of Colonial
times was a considerable slave holder. Many negroes were in-
ventoried. As indicating the price of human merchandise we
quote the following :
1725 Negro Woman £45— Negro children, £15, £10 and £5
(according to age).
1748— Negro Woman, £30— Negro girl 7 yrs old £20. Ne-
gro Boy, 5 yrs old, £15 — Negro Girl, 2 yrs old, £10. Negro
child 6 mos old £5.
1760 — Negro man called Mink, £75. Negro lad called Cuff,
£60. Old negro man called Futry, £30. Negro Boy £20.
The Dutch element were the latest and largest slaveholders in
Bucks county. In 1780, when the first public registry of slaves
in Bucks county was made under the provisions of the Act of
Assembly for the gradual extinction of slavery, which compelled
every owner of slaves to register them in the prothonotary's
office by a certain date or suffer the penalty of having them de-
clared free, over one-half the whole number owned in Bucks
county were held by the descendants of the Dutch families in
Northampton, Southampton. Warminster and Bensalem. Under
the provisions of the above cited law, which automatically freed
the slaves born after its passage at a fixed age, and provided for
the care of the aged, slavery disappeared in our county about 1830.
THE DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH OF NORTH AND
S0UTH.\MPT0N.
The early history of this church and of its first pastor. Rev.
Paulus Van Vlecq, is clearly set forth in a paper read before our
society last January, prepared by Rev. William J. Hinke, Ph.
D., D.D., professor of Semitic Languages and Religions at Au-
burn Theological Seminarv, Auburn, New York, one of the best
8 DUTCH SETTLEMENT IN BUCKS COUNTY
authorities of our time on ecclesiastic history. Dr. Hinke also
contributed a more elaborate article on the same subject for the
Journal of the Presbyterian Historical Society, (Vol. I, pp. 11-
134), which included a full copy of the church record from the
original book in the handwriting of Parson Van Vlecq, and his
successors in charge of "The Christian Church at Chammenji
Crick."
This history is already a part of our archives, being published
in Volume IV of our papers, and we do not purpose repeating
the data therein contained, but desire to draw some conclusions
therefrom not clearly set forth though indicated therein.
While the historians of the Reformed Church of North and
Southampton, trace its history back to the organization effected
by the Dutch settlers in this region with Paulus Van Vlecq as
their pastor on May 10, 1710, they fail to realize that the church
then organized was virtually a Presbyterian church and finally
became the Presbyterian Church of Bensalem still in existence
near the Neshaminy creek on the Bristol road between Nesham-
iny Falls and Bridgewater in Bensalem township. This church,
with its original walls, bearing date 1705 is still standing. In
the graveyard there are numerous rudely marked graves, but
none of them legible to show the last resting place of the founders
of this pioneer church. It is with the intention of clearing up
this record that we review a part of Dr. Hinke's paper. Failing
to secure ordination from the Holland Synod, Van Vlecq was
licensed by the Philadelphia Presbytery when he organized the
church in 1710, though his parishioners were almost wholly Low
Dutch, and members of the Dutch Reformed Churches of Long
Island, Staten Island, and the Raritan district of New Jersey.
On his downfall and removal from Pennsylvania in 1713, the
leading families among the Dutch in this section joined with the
Presbyterians in organizing Abington Presbyterian Church in
1714, on the western border of the Dutch settlement. And when
the Neshaminy Church was revived and reorganized in 1719, by
Malachi Jones, the first pastor at Abington. they renewed their
allegiance to the old church, but when Rev. Malachi Jones died
in 1729, both churches, Abington and Bensalem, had become
largely dominated by the Scotch-Irish element that had settled
both north and south of the Dutch settlement, and the Bensalem
DUTCH SETTLEMENT IN BUCKS COUNTY 9
Church had been for years under the pastorate of Scotch Pres-
byterians. Rev. WilHam Tennent the founder of the Log College
and of Neshaminy Presbyterian Church of Warwick in 1726,
was at that time preaching there. Tennent was called to the
Bensalem church in 1721, and although he returned to his old
charge at Bedford, Westchester county, N. Y., at intervals dur-
ing the years 1723 and 1724, he was virtually pastor at Bensalem
from 1721 to 1726, the congregation being supplied by others at
intervals.
Under these conditions the Dutch seceded and again formed a
church of their own. We quote from Dr. Hinke's copy of the
old church book :
"Anno 1730, on May v30th, have been instaled as elders and
deacons, namely, Stofifel van Sandf* and Gerrit Croese as elders,
Benjamin Korsen and Abraham van der Grift as deacons, at
Sammeniji, by Cornelius Santford, Minister of the Gospel on
Staten Island."
Following this is a record of baptisms beginning with May 3,
1730, and continuing to April 21, 1737, all of Dutch families.
This is followed by "Entries made during the Ministry of the
Rev. P. H. Dorsius."
This was the real birth of the Dutch Reformed Church of
North and Southampton. In the period between 1730 and 1737
the meetings were held at the houses of the members and the
pulpit was doubtless filled by supplies from the Low Dutch
churches in New Jersey. In the fall of 1737 the Rev. Petrus
Hendrickus Dorsius was sent to them from Holland, and a church
was erected at Feasterville, of which nothing remains but a
graveyard. The oldest inscribed tombstones, now forming part
of the enclosing wall give the dates of the first burials in 1738.
They grew and thrived under a minister of their own nationality,
and in 1751 another church was erected at Addisville, now
Richboro, on the site of the chapel which is said to include a
part of the original church. With the erection of the church at
the "Bear" the title was changed to the Dutch Reformed Church
of North and Southampton. Both church buildings had grown
4 Stoffel VanSandt had been successively elder, deacon and clerk of Van
Vlecq s Church in 1710; of Abington Presbyterian Church of which he was
one of the organizers in 1714, and at Neshaminy Presbyterian Church in
Bensalem when it was revived in 1719. The other officers mentioned were
also connected with all three.
10
DUTCH SETTLEMENT IN BUCKS COUNTY
old and dilapidated by 1814, and the present church, (at Church-
ville) now remodelled, was erected to serve both branches, and
the old churches at Feasterville and the "Bear" were abandoned.
Persons now living recall the ruined walls of the old church on
the site of the chapel.
In 1858, another church was erected at Addisville, across the
road from the site of the original church and graveyard, and a
separate organization was effected in 1864.
Rev. Dorsius was succeeded by Rev. Jonathan DuBois in 1749,
DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH, CHURCHVILLE, PA.
or rather he was the next regular pastor after an interval of sup-
plies for four years. He was a great-grandson of Louis DuBois,
a native of Normandy, the pioneer and leader of the Huguenot
settlement on the Hudson in 1660. Rev. Jonathan was a first
cousin to the father of Rev. Uriah DuBois the founder and first
pastor of Doylestown Presbyterian Church. Rev. Jonathan Du-
Bois died in 1772, and in 1776 Rev. William Schenck, driven from
his charge at Monmouth, N. J., by the British, became pastor.
He was succeeded in 1780, by Rev. Matthew Leydt, who died in
1783. After another period of supplies Rev. Peter Stryker served
as pastor 1788-1794; Rev. John Bush, 1794-1797; Rev. Jacob
Larzelere, the first native pastor served from 1787 to 1828; Rev.
AN INVESTIGATION OF THE "gIANT's GRAVE'' 11
Abram Ootwout Halsey. 1829-1868; Rev. William DeHart, 1868-
1871; Rev. H. M. Vorhees, 1871-1877; Rev. B. C. Lippincott,
1871-1881 ; Rev. Samuel Streng. 1882-1891 ; Rev. Horace P.
Craig, 1891-1912, and Rev. Paul J. Strohaur, 1912-1916, com-
pletes the roster of incumbents to the present time. Much of the
information in reference to the later history I have gathered from
a little booklet issued by the church consistory, compiled prin-
cipally by the Rev. Samuel Streng, a copy of which has been pre-
sented to the Bucks County Historical Society.
The old graveyards at Feasterville and Richboro are similar
to those of other localities and denominations of early dates.
The graves of those who died prior to 1760 are marked by native
stones, without inscription in some cases, but usually marked
with the initials of the deceased and the year of their death. As
above stated the oldest inscriptions at Feasterville bear the date
1738. The oldest at Richboro are 1755 and 1757. The common
undressed native stones were followed by the dressed red and
gray sandstone, and they by the clouded marble, that preceded the
white marble of later dates. A number of tombstones at Feaster-
ville are of the greenish slabs from Edge Hill.
An Investigation of the "Giant's Grave."
BY DR. HENRY C. MERCER, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Churchville Meeting, May 23, 1917.)
IT is well known that the central part of the United States
from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, with the Missis-
sippi Valley on the west and the Alleghanies on the east, is
scattered with prehistoric mounds and earth works. If these
were built, as is now supposed, by the ancestors of the Indians
found in that region by the first white explorers, why did not the
same or similar Indians build mounds, where none are found, in
Pennsylvania east of the Alleghanies, or in New England?
Because no such mounds exist in Eastern Pennsylvania or New
Jersey, and because the prehistoric shell heaps of the New Jersey
coast are not properly mounds, it seemed desirable to investigate
a large apparently artificial mound, which has long attracted local
12 AN INVESTIGATION OF THE "gIANT's GRAVE"
attention in Bucks county, and which to the writer's knowledge,
w^as first noticed in print in 1831, when Samuel Hazard in Haz-
ard's Register of May 28th of that year. (Vol. VH, p. 349) the
same note appearing later in Watson's Annals (V^ol. H, p. 172.)
published in 1842, states that he has just received a letter from a
friend signing himself E. M., who writing from the neighborhood
of Doylestown says, "I have discovered a large Indian mound
known by the name of the 'Giant's Grave,' and at another place
is an Indian burial ground, on a very high hill, not far from
Doylestown."^
This so-called Giant's Grave, which the writer first heard of
from John S. Williams about 1897. is situated in a beautiful
region about half a mile south of Buckmanville, in Upper Make-
field township, close on the left of the road going toward Jericho
Hill, on property (1917) belonging to Samuel Bassett, since sold
to John Eastburn.
On measurement I found the mound to be three hundred and
six feet long, seventy-five wide and fourteen feet six inches high,
at its highest point.
It stands unhidden by trees in a basin-shaped hollow sur-
rounded by low grassy ridges and appearing as a long grave-
shaped rectangle, pointing lengthwise nearly east and west, and
no less evenly rounded and clear in outline, no less symmetrical,
than many of the typical earthworks of the Ohio Valley, which
when seen, strike the student with awe, not as freaks of nature,
but as the unexplained and mysterious work of unknown men.
Mr. Bassett said it had been plowed about thirty years ago and
that fifty years ago it was covered with trees from one to two
feet in diameter. I noticed several holes of the ground-hog or
wood-chuck upon the mound, and observed that the material
excavated by the animals and piled near by, consisted of loose
flat angular fragments of soft reddish shale.
Having mapped out the mound longitudinally in thirty-four
outlined areas for cross trenches, each to be nine feet wide when
completed, we began digging on August 23, 1916, in area No. 16
counting from the east. This preliminary trench five feet wide
advancing toward the center of the mound as it reached a depth
of five feet, showed conclusively that we were digging into a long
1 This doubtless refers to a small sroup of supposed Indian graves on the
Trego farm, about one mile east of Pineville on the Windy Bush road.
AN INVESTIGATION OF THE "gIANT's GRAVe" 13
ridge of stratified shale in which the rock floor tilted at an angle
of about thirty degrees north and south. The outer crust of this.
and of the mound itself to a depth of about three and one-half
to four feet, had been rotted and loosened by frost and weather,
although the fragments nevertheless retained in general the
original position of their stratification. At a greater depth than
four feet, the fragments merged into a solid rock, thus disproving
the possibility of human construction.
After finishing work at this point, we sank a shaft three feer
long by four wide in the center of the mound at the area marked
for trench No. 25. The conditions revealed were the same, save
that the solid rock was reached at less depth, namely at about
three feet.
Our third trench was opened again in the center of the mound,
in the area marked for trench No. 7 — as a rectangular shaft five
feet long and three feet wide, where the hard rock was reached
at a still less depth namely two feet six inches. Aiter finishing
these trenches, a comparison of the surrotmding country showed
similar formations of shale, rotted near the surface, which ap-
peared as out-crops along the neighboring roadside, near a ruined
house close to the southwest end of the mound, and also under
the road bed itself. But the digging in our three trenches finished
that same day, August 23, had conclusively proved that the mound
was a weathered outcrop of rock and not the work of human
hands.
Branding Cattle in Idaho.
BY JOSEPH C. REa/ LAHASKA, PA.
(Churchville Meeting-, May 22, 1917.)
LIKE a similar specimen from upper Bucks county in the
museum of the Bucks County Historical Society this brand-
ing iron (a flat bar of wrought iron twisted into the re-
versed form of the letter R with an iron socket to be inserted into
a long wooden handle) was made and used by Henry Tremmer
Rea on his cattle ranch in Payette Valley, Idaho, from 1860 to
1870. At that time the cattle ran wild on the prairie. Idaho was
then a territory. We were three hundred miles from the nearest
railroad station and the Wells— Fargo Company's coach was the
only means of transportation. This stage which made one trip
daily passed our ranch. The driver was always accompanied by
a man who sat beside him on the box with a Winchester rifle,
while at his feet was placed an iron box containing gold, shipped
by express from the mines. This was the only means of trans-
porting the treasure in those days.
The original owner of this branding iron, while engaged in the
cattle business, also raised hay for the stage company. The stages
were drawn by six horses, and hay had to be provided for them
in winter. The hay for that section was grown mostly by Henry
Rea, who brought the first mowing machine across country, on
the backs of mules from San Francisco into Idaho. There were
only two or three ranchers who raised hay, and it brought from
$200 to $300 per ton. Many people here in the east, might doubt
this statement, but they probably would not realize what it meant
then and there to feed two hundred horses at the different relay
stations some fifty miles apart between Salt Lake City, Boise
City and Portland, Oregon.
There were no Indian reservations then. The Indians trooped
about the territory in bands. This kept the few ranchers who
lived in that section at that time alert, as there were so many
massacres by the Indians. Emigrants were then slowly crossing
the Rockies from the east to settle in those parts.
1 This paper was presented and read by Dr. "W. S. Erdman, of Bucking-
ham, Pa., from notes furnished by Joseph C. Rea.
BRANDING CATTLE IN IDAHO
15
Henry Tremmer Rea, his parents and his grandparents were
among the first to leave their homes in Hunterdon county, N. J.,
for the west. Henry was then about seven years old. They
traveled over the mountains of Pennsylvania with teams, crossing
Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, the trip taking some four months.
They crossed about the time the Mormons settled in Idaho, and
A. Branding instrument of wrought iron for burning the letter R on
cattle. Used in Idaho in 1860-70. In the possession of Joseph C. Rea,
of Lahaska, Bucks County, Penna.
B. "Branding iron" for burning the letters D. R. on cattle. Prob-
ably used in upper Bucks County in the 18th Century. Found in a
load of scrap iron by Enos B. Loux. of Hilltown, Bucks County, Penna.,
and presented by him. in July, 1917, to the Bucks County Historical
Society. Size, 11 inches long.
the writer remembers an old story told by his father of how he
met Joseph Smith, the chief of the Mormons, who gave him some
religious tracts to take home and read. He was then thirteen
years of age and on his way home from school. He was im-
16 BRANDING CATTLE IN KANSAS IN 1858
pressed with the man's handsome appearance, and never forgot
him.
Henry Tremmer Rea married while in the west, and in the
seventies returned east with his family. His son, Joseph Rea,
(who has furnished the notes for this paper) when revisiting
the old ranch in Idaho, brought back his father's branding iron,
as a memento of his early childhood days.
In branding cattle they were driven into a corral, one end of
which led into a railed alley, when the animal reached the proper
place for branding, another rail was placed behind it. The iron
was heated and the animal branded on its side by thrusting the
iron through the rails of the pen. The front rail was then pulled
out and the animal let out into the field, and then another animal
took its place in the branding pen.
The Rea family is of Quaker extraction ; any one visiting
Hunterdon county. New Jersey, would still find a number of its
descendants there.
Branding Cattle in Kansas in 1858.
BY THADDEUS S. KENDERDINE, NEWTOWN, PA,
(Churchville Meeting, May 23, 1917.)
I AM one of the survivors of that diminishing group of men
who crossed the western plains to San Francisco by "prairie
schooner" along the Santa Fe and other trails, before the rail-
roads were built, and well remember helping to brand a drove of
five hundred oxen at Independence, Kansas, in 1858. about ten
years before the construction of the Union Pacific Railroad.
The Mormon rebellion had broken out and the Government
was preparing to transport large quantities of supplies for men
and animals (about eight thousand tons) by wagon twelve hun-
dred miles to the seat of war. The contract had been undertaken
by the firm of Russell, Majors & Waddell, of Kansas City,
(afterwards noted as having defaulted to the government for the
embezzlement of Indian trust funds,) who then proposed to do
the work at an outlay of $2,500,000 with four thousand seven
hundred men, ten thousand mules, four thousand wagons (manu-
BRANDING CATTLE IN KANSAS IN 1858 17
factured in the east and shipped up the Mississippi river) and
twenty-five thousand ox-yokes, bows and chains made at special
shops to equip fifty thousand oxen, most of which with their
tackle were almost given away to the Mormons on reaching Salt
Lake City after the war was over. These animals who pulled
most of the wagons at an average rate of about nine miles a day
had to be branded at Independence, Kansas, before starting.
My first job was to help at this work, of which I soon got a
severe dose. The first day we branded five hundred, and between
the unruly beasts, frightened by the smell of their burning flesh,
and my own ofifended nostrils I was glad when night came. The
preparations were a square pen capable of holding two hundred
oxen, a stall at one corner big enough for one ox, with a gate at
each end, a wood fire and a-half-dozen branding irons. The fire
was just outside the corral, and four or five of the irons were
constantly immerged therein. Eight or ten men were required to
do the branding, to heat and carry, or "pack" the irons and steer
the unruly and frightened oxen, into the branding stall. Their
lowing and cringing as the hot irons seethed their hips, (the place
for branding) was about all I could stand, but as I expected worse
before I got through the Indian country, and as my bosses were
a little impatient and addicted to strong language, I concluded to
put up with my work. In fact, though very dififerent from at-
tending boarding school, I tried to hide my emotion and to make
myself believe that this was just the kind of fun I was hanker-
ing after; particularly, as, while at Kansas City, I lost a job of
ox-driving on a Santa Fe train by reason of taking on too many
literary airs with a wagon master, and did not want to be rebuffed
again. My job was to carry branding irons from the fire to the
branding pen, and I might have lost my job from ignorance of
the Missouri language, when I was ordered to "pack" them.
This in the native lingo meant "carry" which as far as my studies
went was a word neither to be found in French, Spanish or
Latin, so that I was in some confusion, but the boss, by word
and gesture promptly "put me wise," and I soon "packed" the
ox-yoke brand from its place on the fire to the left hip of the
ox now struggling in his pen. Helping to brand the five hundred
was a tough job for me, but in consideration of the fifty thou-
sand which were branded by the contracting firm mentioned, it
was comparatively a light job.
Turnpike Roads in Bucks County.
BY WARREN S. ELY, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Churchville Meeting, May 23, 1917.)
SINCE a considerable portion of our program for this meet-
ing is devoted to the history of the local turnpike roads and
reminiscenses of toll gatherers thereon, it is well to devote
a moment to the origin of the name and a brief account of the
first turnpike road companies incorporated and operated in our
state and county.
The first toll-bar or turn-pike, probably the crude style referred
to by Mrs. Nichols, a yoeman's pike balanced on an upright stake
or post erected in the middle of the highway to stop travelers
and demand toll, was authorized by Edward III, of England in
1346 to cover the cost of keeping in repair the highway now
known as Gray's Inn Lane, London. The first turnpike road
erected by law in England was in 1663, three centuries later.
TOLL, HOUSE AND SINGLE TOLL GATE
Showing "guard rail" on the right at Aquetong, formerly Paxson's Corner,
on tne Old York Road (Lahaska and New Hope Turnpike) looking south.
TURNPIKE ROADS IN BUCKS COUNTY 19
The system, not very common in England until the reign of
George III, never gained a foothold in Colonial Pennsylvania,
the first turnpike road in our state being the Lancaster Pike
chartered in 1792. The elaborate and more or less gigantic
schemes for the development of inland navigation in the closing
years of the eighteen century, which were to make the Delaware,
Schuylkill and Susquehanna rivers navigable to our northern
boundary and connect them by canals, portages and smaller
streams with the Ohio, and the almost as comprehensive system
of opening roads to all parts of the state, was followed by the
organization and chartering by the legislature of corporations to
build and operate "Artificial Roads," over the main highways of
the state. The first of these, as above stated, was that from
Lancaster to Philadelphia. Between the years 1792 and 1828,
one hundred and sixty-eight of these companies were incorporated
and two thousand eight hundred and eighty miles of turnpike
roads were put into operation, and "the whole surface of the
state was traversed with the numerous turnpikes which extended
their branches to the remotest districts" says a correspondent in
Hazard's Register of June, 1828, (Vol. I, p. 407). ^
And he adds, "None of them have yielded dividends sufficient
to remunerate their proprietors ; most of them have yielded little
more than has been expended on their repairs ; and some of them
have not yielded tolls sufficient even for that purpose and conse-
quently in some cases have been abandoned by their proprietors."
Bucks county relying on the improvement of navigation in the
Delaware, already eflfective by the use of the flat-bottomed Dur-
ham boats along her entire frontage, and by larger freight-carry-
ing vessels over the lower half thereof, was not as active as some
other parts of the state in building these artificial roads. The
first turnpike road to extend through our county was the Frank-
ford and Bristol, from Front street and Germantown road, Phila-
delphia to the ferry at Morrisville, organized by act of assembly
of March 24, 1803, the charter being issued May 13, 1803. On
the same day an act was passed to organize Cheltenham and Wil-
low Grove Turnpike Road Company, the road terminating at
Willow Grove, outside our county, from whence it was extended
to Doylestown in 1838 and up the Yord Road a decade later.
1 See list of turnpikes authorized chartered with other statistics relating to
same, Hazard s Register of Pennsylvania, Vol. II, pp. 293 and 299.
20 TURNPIKE ROADS IN BUCKS COUNTY
The second turnpike road to enter our county was the Bustle-
ton & Smithfield, from the "Rock" at Oxford to the "Buck" in
Southampton, chartered May 1, 1804. It was extended through
Churchville to the "Bear" at Richboro and finally to Pineville
as referred to by Mr. Kirk in his History of the Turnpike Road
from Buckingham to Newtown. The Chestnut Hill and Spring
House Turnpike Road was chartered March 27, 1804, and in
1805, an act was passed to extend it over the Bethlehem Road
through Upper Bucks, and in 1806 an act for another branch
from Trewig's Tavern (Line Lexington) through Sellersville,
Quakertown and Coopersburg to Northampton Town, now Allen-
town, but no charter was issued for either until authorized by
another act in 1813. From this date until about 1838 there was
little activity in building of turnpike roads, but about the latter
date interest in them revived and toll roads were built in many
parts of the county between 1838 and the opening of the Civil
war.
Turnpike Road from Buckingham to Newton.
BY EDWARD R. KIRK, WYCOMBE, PA.
The distance between Buckingham (formerly Centreville) and
Newtown was originally covered by three turnpike roads, which
I will describe in their regular order, commencing at Buckingham.
CENTREVILLE AND PINEVILLE TURNPIKE ROAD.
On or about October 1, 1858, a number of citizens of Buck-
ingham township, met at Corson's tavern in the village of Cen-
treville to consider the possibility of constructing a turnpike road
from Centreville to Pineville. There were present at that meet-
ing, Charles B. Ely, Stephen K. Betts, Emmor Walton, J. Wilson
Kirk, Isaac C. Kirk, Andrew Craven, J. Watson Case, John W,
Gilbert, Amos W. Kirk, William T. Rogers, Jonathan Mathews,
James C. Iden, Hiram Rice and others.
The necessity of a turnpike road was fully discussed, and it
was decided to make application for a charter in the name of the
"Centreville & Pineville Turnpike Road Company," and that the
road should be capitalized at $10,000, divided into four hundred
shares of stock at $25 each. It was also decided that the rate of
TURNPIKE ROADS IN BUCKS COUNTY 21
tolls to be charged should be the same as those in the charter
granted to the Somerton & Bustleton Turnpike Road Company.
The charter was granted on April 8, 1859. The first meeting
of the board of directors was held August 15, 1859, when the
following officers were selected : William T. Rogers, president ;
James C. Iden, treasurer; J. Watson Case, secretary; Charles
B. Ely, Jonathan Mathews, J. Wilson Kirk, Stephen K. Betts,
J. Watson Case, Andrew Craven and Stephen S. Kirk, directors.
At the same meeting it was decided that the road should be laid
out forty feet in width, with a stone bed of eighteen feet, and a
summer road on one side. Plans and specifications for the build-
ing of the road were drawn and seven contractors furnished bids
for its construction ranging in price from $1,800 to $3,000 per
mile. James Gowan was the successful bidder and took the con-
tract at $1,800 per mile. The entire cost of the completed road
was nearly $12,000 with land, road-bed and toll-house. This was
about $2,000 more than the paid up capital stock, but the in-
debtedness was gradually paid ofif, later one hundred and sixty
shares were bought in by the company and cancelled, thereby
reducing the capital stock to $6,000. John K. Trego furnished
two chestnut poles for arms or gates to be swung across the road
horizontally for the gate at the base of Buckingham mountain.
These two poles or gates were in continuous use from the time
the road was opened until it was taken over by the State High-
way Department, and were then, at the solicitation of your presi-
dent, Dr. Mercer deposited in the museum of the Bucks County
Historical Society. These gates had to be swung around by the
toll-gatherer to open and close them. The gates used later at
the other toll-houses were more modern in construction, consist-
ing of a vertical bar with a counterbalance, and could be operated
by the gate keeper without his having to cross the road.
Oliver Heath^ was appointed the first toll-gatherer at a salary
of five dollars and a half per month with free use of house and
a lot of land belonging to the company. The company com-
menced to collect toll on September 1, 1860. On December 4,
1860, a committee of investigation recommended that the gate
should always be kept closed during meal time and also during
1 Oliver Heath was for .several years toll-gatherer at the Buckingham gate
on the Doylestovvn & Lahaska turnpike.
22 TURNPIKE ROADS IN BUCKS COUNTY
the night. During the period of fifty-seven years of its existence
the company had but nine gate-keepers.
The minutes and proceedings of a number of meetings of the
board show that it was an ordinary occurence to have orders
passed in favor of the treasurer for counterfeit money received
for tolls. At one meeting this amounted to $12.50 for one year.
RICHBORO AND PINEVILLE TURNPIKE ROAD.
The company building that portion of the road from Pineville
to the Anchor tavern was chartered under the name of the "Rich-
boro & Pineville Turnpike Road Company." At a meeting of
those interested in the project held at the Anchor tavern the fol-
lowing resolution was passed : "Many of the inhabitants living
contiguous to the road leading to Pineville, Plennsville and Rich-
borough were strongly impressed that an artificial turnpike road
is much wanted to accommodate the traveling community." A
petition was accordingly signed and a charter secured on August
8, 1848, eleven years before the charter was granted for the
road from Centreville to Pineville. The first officers chosen
were Samuel Atkinson, president, and Thomas Warner, secre-
tary. The contract for this road was let to Robert Scarlet at
$2,309.67 per mile. After fifty years of operation it was not a
financial success and the company decided, at a meeting held
June 4, 1902, to discontinue it and its charter was accordingly
surrendered. On April 24, 1902, an application was made to
have the charter of the Wrightown & Newtown turnpike road
extended so as to include that portion of the road from the An-
chor tavern to Pineville. Edward Tomlinson was appointed toll-
gatherer and continued in that capacity from 1902 to April 1,
1917.
WRIGHTSTOWN AND NEWTOWN TURNPIKE ROAD.
A number of the citizens of Wrightstown and vicinity being
desirous of having a turnpike road from the Anchor to New-
town held a meeting at the Anchor tavern at which it was decided
to present a petition to the legislature for a charter. The resi-
dents of the townships of Wrightstown and Newtown took a keen
interest in this project, as is indicated by the number that at-
tended the public meetings that were held. At one meeting there
TURNPIKE ROADS IX BUCKS COUNTY 23
were present fifty prominent residents from the two townships.
The charter was granted April 12, 1867.
At a meeting for organization held at the Anchor tavern July
6, 1867, George Warner was elected president; Isaac Hillborn,
secretary, Charles Thompson, treasurer, and Thomas Warner,
Charles L. Twining, George Price, James Stinson, Charles
Thompson and William B. Warner, directors. The contract for
building the road was let to Isaac Hillborn for $3,990 per mile.
The contractor to accept in part payment one hundred and sixty
shares of the capital stock at $25, per share. The road was com-
pleted January 21, 1780, and William Spencer Gore was appointed
toll-gatherer at the ^^'rightstown gate and Edward Dillon at the
Newtown gate, each to receive ten dollars per month and free
house rent for his service. Mr. Gore was a cripple and he and
his wife, Harriet Gore, continued as toll-gatherers at the Wrights-
town gate until April 24, 1900, a period of thirty years. Both of
them were always faithful in the discharge of their duties.
On November 7, 1881, the first dividend of five per cent was
declared. Unfortunately for the stockholders this company was
not a financial success. From the date of organization until it
was purchased by the State Highway Department, it paid its
stockholders an average dividend of but one and six-tenths per
cent per annum. The stockholders of the Centreville & Pine-
ville Turnpike Road Company were more fortunate, they received
an average of five and four-tenths per cent per annum from the
time the road was opened until April 1, 1917.
An explanation of the low cost of constructing these turnpike
roads, is the fact that the stone was furnished by the parties in-
terested in their construction at a minimum cost. The price of
labor ranged from sixty-two and one-half cents to one dollar per
day. The stones were all broken by hand hammers. All char-
ters required that the stones be broken so as to be not larger
than two inches for top dressing.
From the time that the roads were first opened the position of
toll-gatherer seemed to be in demand, as in nearly every case of
a vacancy there were at least half-a-dozen applicants. In a
number of cases the toll-gatherers were sworn to do their duty
faithfully and honestly.
The turnpike roads have fulfilled their mission and will soon
24 TURNPIKE ROADS IN BUCKS COUNTY
be a thing of the past, and these roads, together with the roads
leading from Doylestown to New Hope, which were freed from
tolls on May 1, and May 7, 1917, respectively, witnessed the pass-
ing out of existence, with two or three exceptions of the toll
roads system of Bucks county.
Reminiscences of Toll Gates and Toll Gatherers on Turnpike Roads.
BY HENRY W. GROSS, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
The toll houses along our turnpike roads were not large and
had no modern conveniences, but they were comfortable homes
for the toll-gatherers. The occupants were not rich in this world's
goods, but presumably honest and faithful to their trusts, some of
them were at times a little over zealous and apparently exacting.
The minute-book of one company records that if any gate-
keeper intentionally over collects he is to forfeit ten dollars which
is to be given to the poor of the township (Plumstead) and the
same minute-book says that if a person passes through the gate
and intentionally fails to pay the regular toll he shall be fined
five dollars or but half as much as the ofifending gate-keeper for-
feits. This does not appear to be quite fair.
In 1850 certain tariiTs were Ij^ cents and 2^ cents showing
that the half -cent was in use at that time. The toll for two oxen
was the same as for one horse. Stones were delivered for 25
cents a perch ; and 70 cents a day was paid for labor.
A party driving a four-horse team several times weekly, over
a newly constructed turnpike positively refused to pay toll. On
one of his regular trips the board of managers were at the gate
which he expected to pass through and he found the gate closed.
This so angered him that he unhitched his lead horses with the
intention of hitching them to the gate and pulling it down. He
had his black-snake whip with him, no doubt intending to use it
either on his horses or on the managers if need be, but wiser
counsel prevailed, the gate was not pulled down but the toll was
paid. This happened in Plumstead township about 1849.
One gate-keeper says, that the toll-house was the best home
that he ever had, although he had several dwellings of his own
later. His wife attended to collecting the toll in the day time
while he worked at his trade. He had no rent to pay and re-
ceived $6.50 in money per month.
TURNPIKE ROADS IN BUCKS COUNTY 25
Those going to or from funerals were as a rule, exempt from
paying toll, and so too were those going to or from church ; at
times they were required to name the particular church where
they intended to worship.
Apparently most persons are inclined to do what is right and
try to be fair and honest, demanding only what is right, but
there are some exceptions to this rule, some who drop behind in
the estimation of their fellow men, and no doubt often in their
own estimation. This is nowhere more in evidence than in little
transactions where a very little money is at stake.
In Hilltown township, some years ago, a positive and some-
M^hat irritable character had charge of a gate, a man of the same
disposition came along and a wrangle about the toll followed, he
threatened to cut down the gate with a nearby axe, the gate-
keeper was equally sure that he would knock him down with a
crutch.
One day about thirty years ago John came down the "Hocker-
town" turnpike with a light wagon and two horses. Five cents
toll was demanded of him. He refused to pay, and said it was
too much, that he would sooner pay five dollars than five cents,
and moved on. Later he appeared before a justice of the peace,
paid his fine and costs and no doubt became a wiser man.
A new toll gate-keeper soon noticed that a certain man was in
the habit of passing through the gate without stopping, he fre-
quently stopped, however, at the hotel near by, therefore "once
upon a time" the gate-keeper stopped him and demanded toll, he
replied that he "had not been in the habit of paying toll in that
way, but at times treated the gate-keeper at the hotel across the
way." The gate-keeper replied "If I want whisky I will pay for
it myself and you must pay your toll." Knowing the make-up
of the gate-keeper, I have no doubt that both suggestions were
carried out to the letter.
I have often wondered why so many persons do not have the
ready change, or at least have their money within ready reach
with which to pay their toll, but in the coldest weather throw back
lap-robes so as to be able to reach some inside pocket for their
money; a.lso why the gate-keepers so seldom carry change, but
trot back in the house to get it thus making two trips to collect
one toll, and keep the traveler waiting.
26 TURNPIKE ROADS IN BUCKS COUNTY
Sam was a very slow mover, hard to awaken at night when
taking his "cat-naps," Dan wanted to go through his gate and
called "Hello ! Sam" the response "Yep" came back but no Sam.
Dan's voice was stronger a second time he called, and the third
time the "hills shook." This had the desired effect but angered
Sam who retorted. "Halt du der maul." (You keep still.) This
Sam had the reputation of not being a model husband. Philip
came along one day and while paying his toll and waiting for
his change took occasion to reprimand Sam, who replied : "Du
must some brandy wine gedrunken habe." (You must have been
drinking some brandy.)
A farmer friend of mine now over eighty years old, went to
Philadelphia market with his products quite frequently during
the winter months, as many other farmers did fifty years ago.
On one occasion he started shortly after midnight, and at the first
toll-gate he handed out a one dollar bill and received what he
thought was the correct change, but later discovered that one of
the coins which he thought was a dime was a three-cent piece.
On his home trip he handed the three-cent piece to the keeper,
and asked for a dime to correct the mistake, but the gate-keeper
replied "impossible, I gave you the correct change and this three-
cent piece was doubtless stuck between the two dimes I gave you."
He took the three-cent piece and kept it. The farmer drove on,
and told me that he could not help being amused at being trapped
in that way.
Tollgates have been a hindrance to travelers, and now in the
days of automobiles and other modes of more speedy travel they
have proved a disturbing factor upon the moral attitude of the
public, as to what may or may not be right or wrong in the pay-
ment or non-payment of tolls, with the result that it has kept
the gate-keeper and a certain part of the traveling public busy
to match each other. The Mechanicsville road leading off from
the Buckingham and Doylestown turnpike, a short distance be-
yond Pool's Corner, has been made the "scape-goat" by many
who are candidates for the "Annanias Club," by reason of not
telling the truth as to the route they traveled. At the Fountain-
ville gate and also at the Turk gate some practices do not con-
form to the golden rule, but it may be charitable to know that
many of the offenders do not reside in that immediate neighbor-
hood.
TURNPIKE ROADS IN BUCKS COUNTY 27
A youthful gate-keeper said : "Air. H . went through
with his car as if the devil was after him, he had no time to
stop and pay toll." When cars are speeding, the air becomes
filled with dust and the license numbers are apt to become dirty
and not readable, and the cars soon drive out of sight. To over-
come this fraud a turnpike company in the upper end of our
county, oiled the turnpike for several hundred yards with the re-
sult that there was no dust and the numbers could be read.
Two cars were waiting at a toll-gate about two hours after sun-
set for the gate to be opened. Toll was collected from the first
car which then drove through the gate, whereupon the second
car put out its lights and quickly followed after car number one,
without paying toll. Three cars were standing in line waiting
for the gate to be opened but before opening it the toll collector
passed from car to car and collected the toll, he then opened the
gate and allowed all three to pass. The boys called him "a wise
old guy." To stop an oiTender, a prevaricator, the gate-keeper
smashed in the wind-shield and glass of a car, a lawsuit, with
lawyers fees and court costs resulted. It has been said that
"all men have their price," while I do not believe that is true, it
does seem as if the price of some is very cheap. Many travelers,
who would not think of taking what does not belong to them,
seem to think it is smart to take advantage of a toll-gatherer, or
to use over again a railroad ticket that the conductor has neg-
lected to punch.
There is, however, a better side to the majority of the travel-
ing public. Mrs. Smith says some automobile tourists who hurry
through the gate on an outward trip, to return weeks or months
later stop and pay for both ways on their return.
Some years ago a large boy gave a gate-keeper a one-dollar
bill to be changed ; the gate-keeper was somewhat dull and absent-
minded and gave him change for $5. When later he discovered
a shortage in his account of $4, he was not able to trace his mis-
take. Some years later, after having left the toll-house and living
elsewhere, a sturdy young man appeared at his door, called him
out, and returned the overpaid $4, saying that the occurrence
had given him much uneasiness. The veteran gate-keeper has
never made the young man's name public.
Dr. Frank Swartzlander gave what he thought was a nickel for
28 TURNPIKE ROADS IN BUCKS COUNTY
passing through a toll-gate, the following week the doctor passed
through the same gate again. The gate-keeper (James Gentle-
man, Sr.) explained that a mistake had occurred, and that he had
given him a $5 gold piece, which he then returned.
For twenty-eight consecutive years Israel Keller, now ninety-
one years old, was toll-gate keeper at the Cross Keys on the
Doylestown and Danboro Turnpike road. Oliver Smith has held
a similar position sixteen years on the Doylestown and Dublin
Turnpike and Miss Ada A. Layman, thirteen years at the Turk,
on the Doylestown and Willow Grove Turnpike road.
Deputy State Highway Commissioner Joseph W. Hunter, was
one of the last persons to pay toll on the Buckingham and Doyles-
town Turnpike road, recently freed. Lewis Fonash, of Doyles-
town, passed through the gate only a few minutes before the
road was declared free, and his name goes down to history as
being the last to pay toll on that road, two cents, on May 7, 1917,
at 3 :45 p. m.
And to a plump, ruddy-faced little girl, only six years old,
Mildred, daughter of James and Clara Gentleman, belongs the
honor of standing near the gate, quite elated, with her blue eyes
fairly dancing, as she in a strong, clear and melodious voice,
announced the welcome news to every passer-by — "Free Toll !
Free Toll ! You don't have to pay toll."
BY WILLIAM S. ERDMAN, M.D., BUCKINGHAM, PA.
Early reminiscenses of toll-roads seem almost to have passed
away with the old gate-keepers themselves, but I have been able
to gather a few together, some from personal experience, some
as the experiences of friends, and others were handed down.
My profession has been one largely of the toll-road, as I have
always lived in upper and central Bucks county, a region which
has been, until very recently, much dotted with toll-gates. I
have known rather intimately some of the oldest gate-keepers in
this county, among whom I found many unique characters, who
with few exceptions were of the old school. One of my first
experiences was that of having the pleasure and experience of
riding occasionally with turnpike directors who on arriving at a
gate would simply call out their names — Atkinson, Broadhurst,
Large or Kirk as the case might be and then drive on. At one
TURNPIKE ROADS IN BUCKS COUNTY 29
time at our Buckingham gate there resided one OHver Heath,
during whose service there was being held in the village a series
of temperance meetings. The speakers for these occasions were
being entertained at the homes of some of the aforesaid direc-
tors, and in passing through the gate to and from the meetings
these hospitable gentlemen would call out "all right Oliver." A
temperance speaker referred to this from the platform and asked
his audience to help him solve the question how "all right Oliver"
paid the toll. Another amusing feature of the system was the
fact that gate-keepers were,of course, obliged to take the travel-
ers' word as to their starting point and destination and it was
the rule that they always "came on the pike at the cross roads,"
just above or below. On one occasion in driving along the pike
in upper Bucks county^ the toll-gate was just at a point where
the road made a sharp turn, I failed to drive close enough for the
old lady to reach the money and she resorted to a little tin box
at the end of a long pole, I dropped the dime (the toll was a
nickle) and waited for my change, but she disappeared in the
little door and said "if you want the change come in after it."
I drove on, but a few days later had occasion to pass the same
gate again, I halted politely and said "my toll is paid," she said,
"yes, sir," and I again drove on. Some few years ago, two
George School students failed to pay their toll, while riding their
bicycles through a gate, whereupon the toll-gatherer promptly
mounted his bicycle and chased after them to Newtown, a dis-
tance of some sixteen miles. This same official charged me 12
cents going and 25 cents returning in the same car and with the
same number of people, I paid it promptly, having heard but a
few days before that he resorted to his gun and threatened to
blow up a tire when a woman protested at the exorbitant rate.
Running past toll-gates was a frequent occurence which often
proved disastrous to both car and gate.
One quite exciting incident was related to me about a gate-
keeper, quite aged and with a long flowing beard, who was at
his post of duty one night, when a crowd of young ruffians came
along driving a fast horse, the old man asked for the toll, one of
the fellows seized him by his long white whiskers and dragged
him some distance before letting him go. One popular gate-
1 There have never been any toll roads in the northeastern end of Bucks
county.
30 TURNPIKE ROADS IN BUCKS COUNTY
keeper was an old lady of the "fence hanging" variety, whose
one pleasure in life was gossiping with her neighbors. Not wish-
ing to run back so often to collect the toll, she would call out,
"pay at the next gate."
A year or two ago while driving down the Old York road, I
handed one of the gate-keepers a one-dollar bill saying "take out
for both ways," he handed me back the change which I did not
count, but drove on hurriedly as I had an appointment to meet;
on returning I drove through the gate and in a day or two
learned that he had lodged a complaint against me, for running
past the gate; happily I had a good friend who was director of
that turnpike and an explanation sufficed.
This sort of thing was not always pleasant for the gate-keep-
er's point of view as it caused complaints and fault-finding to be
lodged against him from the traveling public. Sometimes auto-
mobiles were ofi^ered for toll charges, many such slurs and sar-
castic remarks were cast upon the antiquated system. Now, hap-
pily, toll-gates are fast disappearing and soon all things pertaining
to toll-roads will be reminiscenses only.
BY FRANK K. SWAIN, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
Several boys living at Spring Valley and returning from
Doylestown late at night, used to find the Pool's Corner tollgate
closed, and were unwillingly obliged to crawl under it. The
gate-keeper was not bound to open the gate for pedestrians, so
the boys would form in a line a few feet apart, and as each one
passed under he would jiggle the gate so the end resting loosely
on a post against the house, would make a loud rattling noise.
By the time seven or eight of the boys had passed under, the old
keeper, mad as a hornet, would rush out and shout out threats
as long as the boys were able to hear.
Aaron Carver, the old gate-keeper at the Centre ville gate,
prided himself on not letting any one slip through without paying
toll and was generally on hand when a driver stopped or came
near the gate. Olie time two men in a buggy drove through with-
out looking either to the right or left, just as if there was no
gate there, and nearly drove over the writer who supposed they
would stop. The keeper, with long grey hair and flowing beard,
rushed out in a great rage and shook his fists after the team fast
TURNPIKE ROADS IN BUCKS COUNTY 31
disappearing out the New Hope pike. This badly frightened the
writer, then a very small boy, who was coming in the opposite
direction, as he shouted "twice you've done it, I'll have you yet."
He had cold grey eyes and generally closed the left one when
talking to you. and the other one seemed to pierce you through
and through, making one feel as if he had committed some
crime, and that he was able to read your guilt in your eyes. He
closed the gate the moment Gypsies came in sight and would
not open it until the last cent had been collected.
At a toll-gate below Hatboro on the Old York road, on a cool
snappy morning in September, three large touring cars going
north rushed through the gate just as we rode up. A pleasant
old lady, much excited, came running out and crying : "Oh my !
oh my ! its highway robbery, its just plain stealing." I asked her,
"What is, lifting this enormous toll from motorists at six in the
morn?" She replied, "Oh no, they all rush right through and
don't pay a cent, just as those three large cars did, and they go so
fast I cannot turn around in time to see them, oh my! its just
plain stealing, that's what it is."
At a toll-gate on the Point Pleasant pike on a hot April day
one of the carriage horses somewhat fagged out and glad to
stop at the toll-gate, an old lady, wife of the gate-keeper, came
out to collect the toll of Mr. Henry C. Mercer, who thought she
charged him one cent more than the usual rate. There was an
argument for some time. At first she seemed frightened but
later got so mad that Napoleon's whole army could not have
made her change her mind, so the cent was handed over to her.
Just as we started to drive away, Mr. Mercer, thinking of the
horse, asked if we might have a bucket to water him with. Here
she scored again. "No, damned if you may, after that fuss over
a cent, go to a hotel and spend a nickel," she shouted as she
stepped in the house and slammed the door.
Most of the toll-gates were thrown open at ten o'clock at night
because it would not pay the turnpike company to hire an extra
man to collect toll after that hour. H the keeper chose to stay
up after that time and collect toll he could do so at his own
profit ; in that case he would close the gate, hang a lantern on it
and go to sleep somewheres down stairs, and might have to be
called several times before he came out to open the gate. Drivers
32 TURNPIKE ROADS IN BUCKS COUNTY
had a grudge against an "after ten" gate-keeper. On Thursday-
nights the market men and hay haulers passed down the Old
York road so as to be in Philadelphia in the early morning.
There were so many of them thirty years ago that hotels were
kept open all night and at some of them free lunches were placed
on the bars. On those nights the gate-keepers were obliged to
collect toll all night and sometimes six or more teams would be
lined up at a gate waiting to pay their toll and pass through.
Funeral processions were allowed to pass through the gates to
and from the graveyards without paying toll, a sort of discount
after a man had paid his toll in his life. Anyone driving to or
from church was not required to pay toll. Motorists, out on the
"main line" beyond Haverford, used to carry Prayer Books on
Sunday mornings and hold them up as they passed through the
gates unchallenged, although they may have gone no further than
the nearest roadhouse. (Information of Mrs. Harrison Smith.)
Thirty years ago, when little boys in the country wore boots
and were proud of pocket handkerchiefs made from fragments
of old white shirts, they hailed with delight an invitation from
granddaddy to take a ride somewhere. While toll-gates, more
plentiful than country stores, were not a pleasant thing to most
people, to a small child they were more attractive than the board-
walk at Atlantic City in later years, for there, in the bulk-window,
built out so that the gate-keeper could see up and down the
road, were shelves covered with scalloped or crimped newspapers
on which were large glass jars (not always covered with lids)
and these were filled with great ginger cakes, scalloped and stale,
at a cent apiece, or for the same price, the plaited mint-sticks or
birch sticks with white and red corkscrew twisted like a barber's
pole or the soft limp sugary cocoanut stripe of pink and white,
chunks of yellow-jack as hard as flint, butterscotch and the home-
made molasses candy with black walnut kernels, popcorn balls in
pink and white, Hcorice shoestrings, or, best of all, the pale yel-
low and white striped lemon sticks, bought oftenest because they
were hardest and "licked" longer than any other. In those days
children were taught that they should be seen and not heard, but
it was a poor specimen of a boy who could not bring the conver-
sation around to a lemon stick with the aid of the gate-keeper,
who jingled the change, pennies in hand, while he handed out
TURNPIKE ROADS IN BUCKS COUNTY 33
the latest news, especially if granddaddy wanted plug tobacco
with its gaudy tin tag or trade mark with little sharp tack-like
sides or legs that enabled one later to jab it into the soft wood
of the shed door until long shiny rows, or arrows, or wheels
had been formed, thus showing, to the whole world the ex-
travagance of granddaddy 's bad habit. In later years, these men,
to the sorrow of little boys, were called merchants by the govern-
ment and were obliged to pay a mercantile tax. But the profit
had always been small, too small to cover the tax, and so the
large glass jars were taken down and disappeared, and toll-gates
lost their importance and keepers didn't count as far as little
boys were concerned.
Laura Long, when a little girl, lived near the Gardenville toll-
gate. Her mother used to give her a penny for helping with the
work about the house. At the first chance she would run ofif to
the toll-gate to buy a little tin pie dish, or perhaps a frying pan
filled with a sticky pink or red candy mixture that had to be
licked ofif. These dishes and pans, with a little toy cook stove
helped make up a miniature kitchen. Sometimes little tin spoons
were given out with the plates. There were times when the gate-
keeper needed some work done, weeds pulled in the garden, etc.,
and another penny would be earned or better still, another dish of
candy would be given and happy was the day when she could
carry home two dishes of candy even when her mother, cross
over the long delay, had to go after her with a switch.
Incidents in Reference to Toll Roads and Toll Gatherers Were
Related as Follows.
BY MRS. H. S. PRENTISS NICHOLS, GERMANTOWN, PA.
The significance of the word "Turn-pike" was told to me years
ago by my dear father Mr. John Mclllhenny, whose wonderful
mind was a storehouse of information. In the early days the
word pike meant pole or statT. When good roads were very few
and far between companies were authorized to construct them
and repay themselves by collecting "toll" or payment from those
who travelled over them and in order to do so set up at certain
intervals a pike or pole on a hinge which the collector could turn
across the road to bar the passage until the toll was paid, hence a
road with a turn-pike was called from this fact a turnpike. The
34 TURNPIKE ROADS IN BUCKS COUNTY
word has nothing to do with the construction of the road. It
could be a mere dirt road but if it had a turnpike on it the road
itself came to be called a turnpike. The first authorization for
such roads in England were under Edward III. The by or back
roads that avoided the toll gatherers came to be known as "shun-
pikes."
BY FRANK SAURMAN, CHURCHVILLE, PA.
At a toll-gate, probably on the Bridgetown turnpike, about
forty years ago the father of the late John M , frequently
oflfered one hundred dollar bills for toll, as the gate-keeper could
not change them he thus escaped paying his toll. On one oc-
casion, however, the toll-gatherer took the precautions to have
the change ready and when Mr. M , held out the bill,
and was on the point of passing on, shouted out, "Hold up !
I've got the change," and so the toll for that trip was paid.
BY SETH T. WALTON, WILLOW GROVE. PA.
At a toll-gate on the Old York road, about seventy-five years
ago, Mr. L , approached the gate at night with a long team
of horses driven tandem, and found the gate-keeper asleep. He
knocked at the gate house door, and then pounded loudly, but as
there was no answer he hitched his horses to the toll-gate post,
pulled it out, dragged it gate and all, oflf the road and passed on.
The affair was afterwards formally settled.
John C. Agen, who kept the toll-gate between Hatboro and
Willow Grove, on the Willow^ Grove and Warminster turnpike
road in the eighteen seventies, was one of the most pleasant and
genial of toll-gatherers. When he died September 28, 1883, I
paid tribute to his excellence and worth in the following lines,
which his patriarchal and kindly, cherry manner inspired. They
are copied from an issue of the Hatboro Public Spirit, published
a few days later.
IN MEMORIAM.
The gentle keeper of that gate that stands beside the way.
No more will greet us as we pass the tollhouse day by day ;
No more will we behold his face, rimmed with its flowing beard.
That at each passer's summoning so graciously appeared.
TURNPIKE ROADS IN BUCKS COUNTY 35
Himself a traveler upon life's hard and stony road,
He has the last gate journeyed through and borne his weary load ;
And to the Keeper of the gate that bars the way of life,
He has delivered up the toll collected in the strife.
We know that we shall miss thee, friend, whenever passing
through
The gate that thou dids't keep so well, so faithfully and true.
And long we'll keep in memory thy pleasant cheery face ;
And kindly voice that greeted us with such courtesy and grace.
And gentle keeper of the gate, in bidding thee farewell,
We feel that thou art faring well where happy spirits dwell.
And when the summons comes to us, as 'twill come soon or late,
May we, like thee, life enter, through the straight and narrow gate.
BY HENRY C. MERCER, SC.D., DOYLESTOWN, PA.
The toll-gates above referred to, appear to have been con-
struced in three ways :
1. The single armed gate. From a small post fixed at the
outer edge of the road, opposite the toll-house, extended a pole
or strip of wood (the guard rail) to another larger post standing
nearly in the middle of the road, equipped with two spiked
wrought iron hinge pivots. Upon the latter post swung a bracket
made of three wooden pieces, first a vertical arm with the hinges,
second a short diagonal brace mortised in position, third a
horizontal pole long enough to reach the wall of the gate-house
and meet there a smaller post. When open, this gate-bar ex-
tended at right angles to the guard-rail and parallel to the road.
(See illustration, page 18.)
2. The double armed gate. The former apparatus doubled or
lacking the guard rail, so that two brackets instead of one swung
on the central post to open or close the road. In this case only
the bracket nearest the toll-house seems to have been used, the
other bracket, generally in bad repair, remained either perma-
nently open or closed.
3. The sweep gate. A long light bar made of two pointed
boards (in the WVightstown gate fifteen feet seven inches long)
bolted together on blocks, hinged or pivoted and balanced on a
strong post close to the toll-house so as to rise vertically and
36 TURNPIKE ROADS IN BUCKS COUNTY
open the road, or fall and close it, upon another post, with or with-
out a guard-rail as above described on the opposite side of the
road.
On the recent freeing of the Buckingham and Newtown, and
Buckingham and New Hope turnpike roads ; I obtained from the
two companies, as presents, for our museum, four of these gates,
with their posts, brackets, guard-rails, etc., complete, namely :
A, the Wrightstown gate of class 3. B, the Buckingham Moun-
tain gate of class 2, unfortunately lacking the central post. C,
the Buckingham gate of class 1, where the bracket was equipped
with a vertical cedar pole at its outer end which enabled the gate-
keeper to close the gate by pulling a string stretched from the
pole's end, above wagon top level, across the road, and, D, the
Pools Corner gate of class 2. in very bad condition where the
posts generally rotted out at the base had been faced with boards.
Together with these gates, dug up and hauled to the museum
on April 4th, and May 8th, 1917, I obtained several signboards
painted with the words "Stop and Pay Toll, Save Cost," cash
boxes and a sliding cash drawer, an iron handle to screw against
the house at the sweep-gate to be grasped by the gate-keeper in
lifting the short down balanced end of the bar to close the gate
and a hook and staple to catch the bar when up and open on a
sweep-gate, etc., all of which objects together with the Wrights-
town and Mountain gates are now on exhibition in the museum
and explained under their numbers in our catalogue.
It appears that turnpike roads, and therefore toll-gates though
a celebrated feature in the country life of old England, in the
eighteenth century, did not exist in Bucks county in Colonial
times. The Buckingham and Newtown road as Mr. Kirk tells
us was built in the late 1840's and probably all the toll-gates re-
ferred to in the above notes were built within the memory of
persons now living. The toll-gates in our museum are therefore
not more than 70 years old. One of the brackets of the Moun-
tain gate and several of the timbers of the Buckingham gate
(fifteen feet, nine inches long) made of old hewn wood, may be
pieces of the original construction. Otherwise many of the de-
molished parts of all four gates show repairs and insertions with
modem sawed lumber. The Universal Magazine for October
1751 at page 172 says:
THE DRAISANA OR PEDESTRIAN HOBBY HORSE Z7
"In the Act for preservation of turnpike roads, etc., it is enacted that
after the first of July 1752 every wagon or other carriage drawn with
six horses, except coaches, berlins, chariots, chaises, calashes, hearses
and all waggons wains, carts and other carriages employed only about
husbandry or in carrying only of straw, hay, corn unthrashed, chalk
or any stone, or block of marble or piece of timber, and all caravans or
covered carriages of noblemen, etc., for their private use, or such
timber, ammunition or artilery as shall be necessary for his Majesty's
service, shall pay 20 s. at every turnpike through which it passes above
all other tolls or duties to be applied to the repair of the highway:
and 5 1. in case any horse be taken of¥ from the carriage to avoid the
said duty to be levied by distress and sale of the offender's goods, and
that after the 31st of September 1751 any person may seize or distrain
for his own sole use any one horse (except the thill or shaft horse) of
any carriage driving out of the turnpike road to avoid the tolls."
The "Draisiana" or Pedestrian Hobby Horse of 1819.
BY HORACE WELLS SELLERS, PHIL.\DELPHIA.
(Churchville Meeting, May 23, 1917.)
AMONG the objects in the museum of the Bucks County
Historical Society, the old hand power fire engine^ and
the device known in its day as a "walking machine," are
mentioned in certain contemporary writings which happen to
contain also incidents of historical interest relating to Bucks
county. These writings comprise the journals, correspondence
and biographical notes of Charles Wilson Peak (1741-1827),
portrait painter, who was in active service as an officer during our
Revolutionary War and in his later years was the founder of the
first museum of natural history in America.
The primitive bicycle in the collection is an object that might
be passed by without fully realizing its historic significance, and
I shall therefore refer more particularly to it, especially as very
little has been written concerning its origin and early use.
It is of the type first introduced into America about the year
1819. It was then a popular amusement abroad and much dis-
cussed in the newspapers and magazines of the day.
It was popularly known as the "Pedestrian Hobby-Horse" or
1 The Hand Power Fire Engine is fully described by John A. Anderson,
in his paper, "Interesting New Hope Relics ;" see Vol. IV, p. 75.
38 THE "draisana" or pedestrian hobby horse
"fast walking machine," and by the term "Velocipede" or
"Draisiana" in England and America, while in Germany it was
called "Drais Laufmashin," and in France the "Draisena."
In referring to it Peale states that it was the invention of a
German named Drais, and his authority for this was afterwards
reprinted in the Analetic Magadne of Philadelphia in the year
1819, in which the inventor is described as "Baron Charles De
Drais, master of the woods and forests of H. R. H. the Grand
Duke of Baden."
'M '/KA
j^*-''^''^ ' ^ '^^mmB^w!
!i»|^9jhHB^k^^^^^^BB^^m|^^^^h
While the machine, like the modern bicycle, consisted of two
wheels of equal diameter, with the forward wheel pivoted and
controlled by a steering device, the essential point of difference
was (as may be seen in the machine in your museum) that in-
stead of being provided with pedals it was propelled by the
rider's feet on the ground.
A reference to this in the Gentleman's Magazine of March
1819 is interesting, showing also the attention at the time:
"The new machine entitled a Velocipede, consisting of two wheels
one before the other, connected by a perch, on which the pedestrian
rests the weight of his body, while with his feet he urges the machine
forward, on the principle of skating, is already in very general use.
'The road from Ipswich to Whitton,' says the Bury paper, 'is traveled
every evening by several pedestrian hobby-horses; no less than six are
seen at a time, and the distance which is three miles, performed in
fifteen minutes.
" 'A military gentleman has made a bet to go to London by the side
of the coach.'
"The crowded state of the Metropolis does not admit of this novel
mode of exercise, and it has been put down by the Magistrate of
THE "dRAISANa'' OR PEDESTRIAN HOBBY HORSE 39
Police: but it contributes to the amusement of the passengers in the
streets in the shape of caricatures in the print shops."
Among these English prints is one showing the interior of
"Johnson's Pedestrian Hobby Horse School at 1)77 Strand," as
the title reads, in which riders wearing tall beaver hats and the
fashionable costumes of the day are seen traveling around a ring
which appears to have an undulating surface to permit "coast-
ing," as we now call it, to which the machine was especially
adapted.
Another print shows "Johnston, First rider of the Pedestrian
Hobby-Horse," and among the caricatures is a colored print with
the title, "More Economy, or a penny Saved a Penny Got," rep-
resenting a Bishop riding a hobby-horse with John Bull looking
on and Windsor Castle in the distance. Another is called, "Go-
ing to the Hobbyfair" and shows an old gentleman who is pro-
pelling the machine and mopping his brow, his wig and hat placed
in front of him while behind are seated a lady and children.
A cut of the "Velocipede of 1827," with two wheels propelled
by the rider's feet, is shown in Pcrky's Reniinisccnscs, Vol. I,
p. 30, with the statement that "One of the secretaries of legation
created a sensation by appearing on Pennsylvania avenue, Wash-
ington, D. C., mounted on a velocipede imported from London."
Some of these prints illustrate the variations of the machine as
designed to meet the more delicate sensibilities of women who
would hardly venture to mount astride the wheels, it not being
the fashion in that age to indulge in masculine pursuits, and for
their use we see represented in one of the prints "The Ladies'
Hobby," with the following description under that title :
"The principle of this machine consists in two boards acting on
cranks, on the axle of the forewheel, in a similar manner to those
used for the purpose of turnery, and accelerated by the use of the
handles, as represented in the plate; the direction is managed by the
centre handle, which may be fixed so as to perform any given circle."
This was a tricycle and another print shows one called "A
Pilentum, or Lady's Accelerator invented by Hancock & Co.,
St. James Street."
These tricycles were operated by pedals and in the Gentleman's
Magazine of June, 1819. we read :
"A model of a Velocipede intended for the use of ladies, is now ex-
40 THE "dRAISANa" OR PEDESTRIAN HOBBY HORSE
hibited at Ackerman's, in London. It resembles Johnstone's machine,
and has two wheels behind, which are wrought by two levers, like
weaver's treadles, on which the person impelling the machine presses
alternately with a walking motion. These move the axle by means of
leather straps round the cramps; and the wheels being fixed revolve
with it. The lady sits on a seat before, and directs the Velocipede as
in the original invention."
The possibilities of this new method of conveyance and rapid
transit appealed to the popular fancy and stimulated invention
with the result that numerous variations of the machine were de-
vised. One called the "Pedestrian Chariot" is described as hav-
ing "infinitely greater power and as entirely unlike the velocipede.
Its chief attractions are its simplicity and perfect safety, being
eligible for the conveyance of ladies, and even children. The
wheels are upwards of six feet in diameter, run parallel with
each other ; and as the seat is below the center of gravity the rider
can neither be thrown, nor easily lose his equilibrium."
To return to the Draisiana or "Fast walking machine" in its
original and simplest form as it appears in your collection, the
published accounts in discussing it seriously assert that :
"The instrument appears to have satisfied a desideratum in me-
chanics; all former attempts have failed, upon the known principle that
power is attainable only at the expense of velocity. But the impelling
principle is totally different from all others; it is not derived from the
body of the machine, but from a resistance operating externally, and
in a manner the most conformable to nature — the resistance of the
feet upon the ground. The body is carried and supported, as it were,
by two skates, while the impulse is given by the alternate motion of
both legs."
At the time Charles Wilson Peale became interested in this
subject he was best known perhaps on account of the museum he
had established, and as a member and for many years one of the
Curators of the American Philosophical Society, he kept in touch
with the progress of the sciences and the industrial arts. His
celebrity as a portrait painter before and during the Revolution
was not forgotten although he laid aside his brush as a profes-
sion some years before Stuart, Trumbull and the younger artists,
who were about fifteen years his junior, had entered the field in
this country and his own sons, Raphael and Rembrandt had in a
large measure taken his place.
After placing the museum under the direction of the board of
THE DRAISANA ' OR PEDESTRIAN HOBBY HORSE 41
trustees and the management of one of his sons, Peale retired to
his country seat, "Belfield," near Germantown, and it was not
until then that he was tempted to resume his painting through his
interest in the newer technique of the younger school of painters.
This return to his art attracted some little notice and in Feb-
ruary of 1819 a Baltimore newspaper commenting upon it, re-
fers to his having
"Been distinguished for his zeal in painting an invaluable series of
portraits of our Revolutionary heroes, which adorn his museum in
Philadelphia. That museum, however, for a long time withdrew him
from painting, until he retired, nine years ago to the labors of a farm.
It is probable the vigor of his present health may be ascribed to this
circumstance. Animated by his youthful ardor, he has resumed the
pencil, and has just returned from Washington with a number of por-
traits of public characters."
The portraits mentioned were those of President Monroe, mem-
bers of the cabinet, and others prominent in official life at that
time. After leaving the capitol he stopped at Baltimore and
while there his attention was called to what he describes as "a
fast walking machine made by Mr. Stewart, a musical instrument
maker."
A few months later, in May 1918, he again refers to the sub-
ject in a letter to his son Rembrandt Peale:
"I wish you would send me your verses on it, as appropriate to the
present general conversation, it is all the fashion. Seeing a Print in
Aikens repository, I set about making one, the frame all iron, as is
the custom of Britain to make everything. And I made the hind
wheel two feet seven and one-half inches diameter, the circumference
is one-half pole; a machine which Mr. Lukins some time past gave me
for my chaize, to measure roads — two revolutions of my Velocipede
wheel being equal to one of the chaize — I have only to count one-half
the distance given by the hands of the machine. Thus my Velocipede
will not only be amusing, but also useful.
"The curiosity has and still is great to see this fast walking ma-
chine, and having deposited it in the museum, it has given Rubins a
very considerable profit, as a great deal of company has visited the
museum on purpose to see it, being the first made in Pennsylvania.. As
soon as it was heard of, several of them appeared immediately con-
structed in a different manner of wood, some of them very light; some
of a temporary nature. Mine was made of the irons which had be-
longed to my thrashing machine, put together by an indifferent black-
smith; it weighed fifty-five pounds. I might take off five pounds of
that weight, and it then will be exactly of the weight of those made
42 THE "draisana"^ or pedestrian hobby horse
in England. It is a mistake to expect use from them if they are made
of very little weight, and a few pounds additional is of little conse-
quence as being borne on the wheels. Mr. Stewart is exhibiting his at
the Federal Hall, whether he makes it profitable or not I have not
heard."
The exhibition of this first machine is referred to in the
American Daily Advertiser of May 13, 1819, in a news item
under the heading of "Velocipede," reading:
"This whimsical pedestrian accelerator, having excited much curios-
ity, Mr. Peale has made one, which is now in the museum."
As Peale states, others were quick to introduce the device, and
in another column of the same newspaper we read :
"The Velocipede will be exhibited at the Vauxhall Gardens by Mr.
Chambers, on Thursday morning the 13th of May, to be continued
daily (Sunday excepted) from 9 to 11 o'clock — and in the evening from
6 to 7 o'clock, by permission of the proprietor, and will be propelled
round the walks moved by the feet of the gentleman that rides upon it."
Peale was in his 69th year at this time but to undertake to
use the velocipede at his age was quite in accord with his fa-
vorite theory that by continued activity in wholesome and use-
ful pursuits, joined with prudence and temperance in all things,
the average man might escape the ennui and ills of old age.
During the summer of 1819 he was closely confined to his
painting room at "Belfield," being engaged upon a large canvas
ful of detail and many figures, and after describing this in a
letter he adds :
"I have been constantly at my easel from early in the morning until
night, painting until my back would ache, then I would ride the
Draisiana round a few squares in the Garden, return again to my brush,
thus alternately paint and take exercise, otherwise I never could have
painted such a picture."
In keeping with his usual habit of thought he made the ma-
chine serve a useful purpose by applying to it a cyclometer made
for his chaize by Josiah Lukins the clockmaker. The instrument
he states was graduated to record "the distances passed over in
perches as well as in miles to the number of one hundred" and in
a letter to one of his sons in September 1819 he states :
"Yesterday I began a survey of the farm, having borrowed a survey-
ing compass to give the courses. I measured the distance with m}-
Machine which is a more expeditious mode than by a Chain, and I be-
lieve tolerably accurate."
THE "dRAISANa'' OR PEDESTRIAN HOBBY HORSE 43
From another letter we learn that his son Franklin Peale was
making a walking machine of wood :
"Which will not weigh much more than half of mine. This is all
important as we cannot go without labour up hill * * * this dis-
advantage is amply made up by the velocity on descending ground,
your brothers and other young men go down my road from the house
to the 'Echo' without touching the ground with the speed of a running
horse, nay they often put their feet over the (arm) rest * * * *
Some gentlemen who come to the farm, make a very awkward display
of their legs and tumble down. Franklin went to Robert Morris' in
three-quarters of an hour, when the machine was not so complete as
it is at present, and I believe with a well made machine the speed
may be calculated on tolerably good roads, at about six or seven miles
an hour without incurring much fatigue."
The action of the poHce magistrates of London in prohibiting
the use of the machine as already referred to, had its echo in
Philadelphia where according to Peale it met with opposition.
After the machine had been ridden a few mornings and even-
ings around Washington Square, which distance he notes was
traveled by one of his sons, Franklin Peale, in two and one-half
minutes, an ill-natured person resurrected an old law designated
to protect sidewalks from damage under which a fine of $3.00
was imposed for each ofifense for driving a two-wheeled carriage
on the pavement. A young man who had ridden one of the
walking machines was brought before the mayor and while his
offense was hardly within the intention of the law he paid the
fine to avoid further trouble, but Peale adds, this ended the use
of the walking machine within the city limits.
In referring at the outset to Peak's writings in general, allusion
was made to incidents of local interest relating to Bucks county.
Reserving these for another occasion I will simply say in con-
clusion that in 1777, when Philadelphia was threatened by the
British, Peale removed his family for safety first to the house of
Mr. Britton, near Abington, and when the British finally occupied
the city, after the Battle of Germantown he found it advisable to
seek a more remote place of refuge and with the assistance of
Dr. Tombs he moved to a house owned by Mr. Vanartsdalen not
far from Newtown and probably at Richboro.- It was at that
place, and while he was with the army at Valley Forge that his
son Rembrandt Peale was born on February 22, 1778. The
latter is therefore claimed as a native of Bucks county.
2 Possibly the site of the Indian town of Playwicky, on the Feasterville
turnpike.
Life and Work of the Rev. Peter Henry Dorsius.
BY THE REV. WILLIAM J. HINKE, PH.D., D.D., AUBURN, N. Y.
(Doylestown Meeting, January 19, 1918.)
IN a paper presented to this society January 16, 1916, on the
Rev. Paulus Van Vlecq, the writer showed that on May 20,
1710, Pauhis Van Vlecq organized a Dutch Reformed con-
gregation at Neshaminy, Bucks county. That it was a Dutch Re-
formed congregation cannot at all be doubtful. Both pastor and
people had been reared in the Dutch church.. They conducted
their services in the Dutch language and kept also their records
in Dutch. In the fall of that year, on September 21, 1710, this
Dutch Reformed pastor asked the Ptesbytery of Philadelphia to
admit him to membership. This request was granted "after
serious debating thereon."
At the same meeting of Presbytery Mr. Leonard Van Degrift
was admitted to sit with the Presbytery as representing the
Neshaminy Church. This proves that both pastor and people
had become, at least for the time being, members of the Presby-
terian Church.
The Neshaminy congregation continued in existence until 1713,
when Mr. Van Vlecq left the church and the state. In 1714,
when the Abington Presbyterian Church was organized, at least
two members of Neshaminy joined that organization, namely
Christoffel Van Sandt and Dirck Croesen. Their names are
found attached to a paper,^ by which seventy people of the town-
ship of Abington "engaged themselves to the Lord and to one
another to unite in a Church-State," with Malachi Jones as
their pastor.
A larger number of Dutch people joined in 1719 in the or-
ganization of the Bensalem Presbyterian Church, also under the
leadership of the Rev. Mr. Jones. They were not only Messrs.
Van Sandt and Croesen, but seventeen other Dutch people. It
is a noteworthy fact that their names are found in the old
Neshaminy record, entered there by the elder Van Sandt. He
1 It is true that Captain N. Baggs. in his History of the Abington Presby-
terian Church gives the date of this document as 1711, but that is most lil^ely
a misprint, as in 1711 Van Sandt and Croesen were still members of the
Neshaminy Church. Moreover, Mr. Jones was not received by Presbytery
till 1714.
LIFE AND WORK OF THE REV. PETER HENRY DORSIUS 45
States definitely that they "were received on profession of faith
by the Rev. Malachi Jones."- This impHes clearly a reorganiza-
tion as a new Presbyterian Church, although the old Dutch record
was used and the Dutch language.
This state of afifairs continued until the end of the pastorate of
Mr. Jones, who died March 26, 1729. Then the Dutch people
thought the time had come for them to reorganize once more
and form again an independent Dutch congregation. They evi-
dently felt crowded out by the large number of Irish people that
had come in. Hence in 1730 they invited the Rev. Cornelius
Santvoord of Staten Island to visit them.
EFFORTS TO SECURE DORSIUS FOR PENNSYLVANIA, I73O-I737.
Van Santvoord complied with the request of the Dutch people
in Bucks county on May 3d, 1730, when he not only preached for
them and baptized nine of their children, but also installed
Christofifel Van Sandt and Gerrit (Gerhard) Croesen as elders,
Benjamin Corsen and Abraham Van der Grift as deacons of the
congregation. This event marked a new chapter in the history
of the congregation. Henceforth it was no longer under Pres-
byterian supervision, but it proclaimed itself and continued to be
an independent Dutch Reformed congregation. But its connec-
tion with the organization of Van Vlecq is established by the
fact that virtually the same people (except a few newcomers)
constituted the membership of both organizations. In other
words, the church of Van Vlecq, organized in 1710 and disbanded
in 1714, was reorganized in 1730.
Another important event took place on May 3, 1730. The con-
gregation addressed a letter (at the suggestion of Van Sant-
voord) to Dominies David Knibble and John Wilhelmius, Dutch
Reformed pastors at Leyden and Rotterdam in Holland. As this
document has not been published before, we insert in it full :^
"To the Reverend, Pious and Very Learned Sirs, Messrs. David
2 See Neshaminy Record in Journal of Presbyterian Historical Society,
Vol. I, p. 119.
3 This letter, as well as others that follow, is preserved in the Archives
of the General Synod of the Reformed Church of America at New Bruns-
wick, N. J., where the congregation dejjosited all its early records and papers.
They are in the Gardner A. Sage Library of the Theological Seminary at
New Brunswick.
46 LIFE AND WORK OF THE REV. PETER HENRY DORSIUS
Knibbe and John Wilhelmius, faithful and zealous Ministers of the
Gospel at Leyden and Rotterdam.
"We, the consistory of the Christian Reformed Dutch congregation
in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, take the liberty of requesting the
assistance of your Reverences. Under the providence of God we have
here our homes, but thus far have had no instruction in the doctrines
of truth which tend to godliness, in our mother-tongue, a language
best understood by us. Hitherto our number was too small and too
weak to raise a sufificient salary for a regular minister. Meanwhile
we miss for ourselves and our families that instruction which we can
best understand and most urgently need, and which we at the same
time most eagerly desire.
"We, therefore, request your Reverences submissively, for the honor
of God and the establishment of this church, to select for us a suitable
man, of about thirty years of age, unmarried, having a distinct pro-
nunciation, well grounded in the doctrines of truth, able to instruct
and admonish us, to silence all gainsaj'ers, and of an edifying walk
and conversation. Having found such a man, we give you full power
and authority to call him in our name and that of the congregation,
as our regular minister, to have the proper ecclesiastical qualification
conferred upon him, and we promise him a yearly salary of sixty
pounds, of which his Reverence is to receive payment for the first
half year upon delivering his first sermon among us, and in case the
congregation increases, his salary shall increase correspondingly. He
is also to receive a free dwelling house, kindling wood and the passage
money for himself and his goods to this place and on the day of the
Lord to have a free conveyance.
"But we demand of him that he preach twice every Sunday and also
on other days, according to the custom of our church, at two places,
further to catechise the youth and others who desire instruction and
to do everything which his calling demands.
"We promise to recognize the legality of that which your Reverences
shall do, to receive with love the person sent to us, and that the mem-
bers of the consistory will be chosen from time to time, as is cus-
tomary at present.
"Done thus in our church gathering on May 3, 1730, by us.
"Your submissive servants, the elders and deacons of the above-
named congregation in Bucks county."
When Do. Van Santvoord reached home he sent a letter to
his uncle, Benjamin Corsen, dated May 9, 1730, in which he
gave his friends further advice regarding "the means necessary
to establish a congregation in Bucks county." He advised them
first, to consider well how many congregations they desired to
establish, what should be their respective boundaries and what
families should belong to each. Secondly, to call a meeting of
the male members of the congregation (or congregations), in
LIFE AND WORK OF THE REV. PETER HEXRV DORSIUS 47
order to elect elders and deacons in conformity with the church
order of the Synod of Dort. Thirdly, to proceed to the calling
of a minister by settling above all the following items: (1)
The salary of the minister, which ought to be not less than eighty
pounds Pennsylvania currency ; ( 2 ) The parsonage and glebe
which ought to contain enough pasture for one horse and two or
three cows and at least a small garden and a fair orchard. These
should be put in order while the call was on its way to Holland.
Special care should be taken that the parsonage be located at a
place convenient for the minister and the congregation. (3) The
salary of the minister, although raised by free-will offerings,
should be put on a secure basis by establishing a fund from
whose income it could be paid.
These and some other suggestions which the good Dominie
made to his friends in Bucks county, were evidently far beyond
their ability to carry out, for the letter sent to Holland as well
as later evidence show that they fell far short of the ideal set
for them.
The letter to Holland was entrusted to two German Reformed
travelers, who in May, 1730, were setting out on a journey to
Holland. They were the Rev. George Michael Weiss and Jacob
Reiff, one of the members of the Skippack Reformed congrega-
tion. Reiff was entrusted with the traveling expenses of the new
minister to be sent from Holland to Bucks county. Messrs.
Weiss and Reiff were traveling to Holland at that time, in order
to collect there some money, which the Dutch churches in Hol-
land had contributed for the German Reformed congregations in
Pennsylvania, in answer to an appeal, which Weiss had sent to
Holland in 1727.
The answer to the Bucks county letter from Holland was ap-
parently long delayed. At least no letters of the years 1732 and
1733 are found in the archives of the congregation. Meanwhile
dissensions arose, so that Mr. Gerritt Croesen again wrote to
their faithful friend on Staten Island, describing to him their
sad condition, and asking for help and relief. On May 9, 1733,
the Rev. Mr. Van Santvoort sent a letter to his uncle, Benjamin
Corsen, in which he expressed deep regret at hearing of their
division and that John Slecht had given up his office as reader
among them. He counselled peace and unity, offered to come
48 LIFE AND WORK OF THE REV. PETER HENRY DORSIUS
himself once a year to them to administer the sacraments, and,
if more preaching be found necessary, he advised them to apply
to Do. Theodore J. Frelinghuisen, the Dutch Reformed minister
at Raritan and New Brunswick in New Jersey.
After a delay of several years, Rev. John Wilhelmius wrote
to the congregation, on May 29, 1734. In this letter he informed
them that the first candidate, whom he had secured had disap-
pointed him. But that he had found another young man of about
24 years of age, who was anxious to come. As he was poor
Wilhelmius asked permission to use part of the money sent to
him to educate this young man, who had not quite finished his
education. He wrote as follows :*
"Worthy and Much Beloved Brethren in Jesus Christ!
"In accordance with your desire I offered your call formally to an
honest and learned candidate, named Masius, whose father is pastor
of the Dutch Reformed congregation at Altona near Hamburg. He
accepted it at first, but when the time of his departure arrived, his
father and he himself also wrote, declining the call, to my great sorrow.
Since that time I used every endeavor to find another person for that
purpose, but was unable to find anyone. Finally, a few weeks ago, I
met a certain capable and pious young man, of about 24 years of age,
who still needs one year to finish his studies. He showed great eager-
ness and desire to preach the Word of God among you, but he has no
means of his own. I believe this man would become, under the bless-
ing of God, a useful and suitable minister among you, and I recom-
mend him to you most heartily.
"But there is this question, whether you are willing to grant him an-
other year to finish his studies and whether I may be permitted to ad-
vance him enough money from the sum which you have placed in my
hands for this purpose and as much as may be necessary for his ex-
amination and his ordination in this country.
"From the letters which I received. I learned that his salary is to be
sixty pounds, by which I understood pounds sterling, but now I
learn from Captain Stedman that a [Pennsylvania] pound amounts to
only six or seven Dutch guilders. Besides that, he is to receive a free
parsonage, wood and a meadow for two cows and a horse. Moreover,
there was in addition another letter from a neighboring place, which
promised twenty pounds to the minister, if he would preach for them
and administer the Lord's Supper four times a year.
"I now report that the money, which Ryff handed to me, is still in
my keeping, in exactly the same amount, and that I am ready to re-
turn it, upon proper receipt, as you may be pleased to order. But, if
you consent to have it used for the benefit of the above-named person,
I am ready to employ it for that purpose. I am awaiting your orders
4 Original at New Brunswick, N. J.
LIFE AND WORK OF THE REV. PETER HENRY DORSIUS 49
and, as quickly as it can be done, he will fully qualify himself for the
service in your church and come to you.
"The reason that I have not answered before this was the lack of
opportunity and because Ryff promised to call on me in order to re-
ceive my answer to your letter, but he embarked hastily without com-
ing to see me.
"Commending you to God and the Word of His grace, I am with
every readiness to serve you,
Worthy Brethren in Christ,
Your affectionate Brother,
JOHN WILHELMIUS.
Rotterdam. May 29, 1734.
"To Mr. Louis Timothee, in order to hand it over to the elder and
deacon, Mr. Gerrit Kroesen and Mr. Benjamin Corsen in Pennsylvania.
With Captain Stedman."
On October 30, 1734, the consistory of the Neshaminy congre-
gation answered the letter of Wilhehnius. They expressed their
pleasure at hearing that a young man had been found by Wil-
helmius, who was willing to accept their call. They declared
their willingness to wait for him and gave their consent that the
money they had sent over be used for his support while he was
studying. They announced their intention of buying a planta-
tion of fifty acres as a glebe for their pastor and expressed the
hope that God would bless his studies. Finally they thanked
Wilhelmius for the exertions he had made in their behalf. The
letter was signed by the following persons : Christoffel Van
Sandt, Gerret Kroesen, Benjamin Corsen, Abraham Van der
Grift, Abraham Bennet, Henry Croesen, John Dorrelant, Ger-
ret Wynkoop, Abraham Bennet, Jr., John Slegt, Nicholas Wyn-
koop, Abraham Stevens, Dirk Hogelant, Jost van Pelt, John
Kroesen, Gideon de Camp, Franz Kroesen, Jacob Van Sandt,
and Hendrick Brees.
Instead of sending the promised minister, the Rev. John
Wilhelmius wrote another letter, on March 1, 1735, to the "Rev-
erend Consistory of the Church of Jesus Christ in Bucks
County." He wrote in part as follows :
"It was very agreeable to me to learn from your letter of October 30,
1734, that you approve my selection of the young man, who is now
about 26 years of age and still unmarried. He is already well advanced
with his studies. He knows the learned languages, Latin, Greek and
Hebrew so well, that he is giving instruction in them to others. He is
also well advanced in divinity, but must still study somewhat in the
50 LIFE AND WORK OF THE REV. PETER HENRY DORSIUS
university. He is a pious young man, who is zealous and burning with
desire to preach the name of Jesus in the New World. I asked him to
sign a paper, by which he obligated himself, as soon as his studies are
completed, to go to you and to accept your call, or, if through unex-
pected events he should be prevented from doing this, that he will re-
pay the money advanced to him with double interest. I hope that this
undertaking will have a blessed outcome."
This letter was brought to America by the Rev. Maurice
Goetschy, who with a Swiss colony was at that time in Holland,
ready to depart for Pennsylvania. He did arrive in Philadelphia
on May 29, 1735, but he was sick and died on the day following
his landing. The letter, however, which he carried, reached its
destination safely.
Another set of letters was exchanged between Wilhelmius and
the Bucks county people in 1736, Wilhelmius writing on July 4,
1736, and the Neshaminy Consistory answering him on Decem-
ber 10, 1736. In this last letter they informed Wilhelmius that
they were looking forward to the coming of their pastor, that
they were ready to pay him the salary they had agreed upon, ex-
cept the twenty pounds by a neighboring place ; but they expressed
the hope that on his arrival they would fall in line, especially
after they had heard the new pastor preach. They reported that
their own pledges were raised to sixty pounds through new ar-
rivals, and that they were willing to pay his passage money. They
were unable to do more than this, because the thirty or forty
acres of land they intended to buy, together with the parsonage
which had to be erected, would cost more than two hundred
pounds.
Finally, on May 22, 1737, Wilhelmius was able to write to the
Consistory at Neshaminy that their young pastor had been or-
dained at Groningen and would sail with Captain Stedman for
Philadelphia. He expressed the hope that he would prove a use-
ful minister in proclaiming the truth, in guarding against error
and in building up the Church of Christ in their midst. Thus,
after waiting like Jacob for seven years, their hopes and prayers
were at last realized.
LIFE AND WORK OF THE REV. PETER HENRY DORSIUS 51
THE LIFE OF DORSIUS IN EUROPE, I7II-I737.
The young man who had thus been secured for service in
Pennsylvania was the Rev. Peter Henry Dorsius. From his
entry in the matriculation book of the university of Leyden it
appears that he was born at Meurs (or Moers, as it is spelled
today) a small town of about five thousand inhabitants near the
Lower Rhine, in the district of Duesseldorf.
A letter, which the writer addressed in 1914, to the pastor of
the Reformed Church at Moers, brought to light the following
information regarding the family of Dorsius. Peter Henry
Dorsius was a son of John Henry Dorsius, or Dorschius, as he
is called in the record. John Henry "Dorschius," then a widow-
er, married Petronella Gravers of Altkirch on September 15.
1708. The following children were born to this couple, as noted
in the baptismal record: (1) Alathea, baptized November 15.
1709; (2) Peter Henry, baptized January 2, 1711 ; (3) Abraham,
baptized August 5. 1712; (4) Isaac, baptized December 22. 1713;
died in infancy; (5) Isaac, baptized March 8, 1715. While his
younger brother Isaac entered the gymnasium (college) at
Moers on May 5. 1727. the name of Peter Henry Dorsius cannot
be found there, which means that he received his classical train-
ing somewhere else.
On April 5. 1734. Dorsius matriculated at the university of
Groningen. The deputies of the Synods of North and South Hol-
land first heard of him through the Rev. John Wilhelmius, on
October 31, 1735, when they had an interview with the latter at
Rotterdam about the Pennsylvania churches. At that time Wil-
helmius reported to them that, at the request of some merchants
in New Netherland, he had engaged "a pious young man" to
prepare himself at the university of Groningen for the service of
the Dutch Reformed congregation near Philadelphia. Professors
Driessen and Van Velsen at the university gave laudable testi-
monials regarding him and reported that he would probably be
ready in the following spring to go to Pennsylvania.
But instead of going to Pennsylvania in the year 1736, he
went to the university of Leyden to finish his studies there. On
September 17, 1736, he matriculated at Leyden as : "P'etrus Hen-
52 LIFE AND WORK OF THE REV. PETER HENRY DORSIUS
ricus Dorsius, Meursahus, 25,T." This entry means that he studied
at Leyden as a candidate of theology, was twenty-five years of
age when he entered the university and reported his home as
being Meurs, along the lower Rhine. It is interesting to note that
a few months later, on December 27, 1736, Michael Schlatter of
St. Gall matriculated at Leyden, also as a theological student, al-
though Schlatter makes no reference to Dorsius as having known
him, when he met him in Pennsylvania in 1746.
At the meeting of the deputies on March 11-14, 1737, Wil-
helmius reported that Dorsius was about to be examined and
would soon leave for Pennsylvania. He suggested that he was
the proper person through whom the deputies could secure re-
liable information regarding Reformed churches in Pennsylvania.
On June 11, 1737, Dorsius himself appeared before the depu-
ties at The Hague. He announced that he was ready to leave
for Pennsylvania on June 27th (old style) with Captain Sted-
man. He stated that he had accepted a call of the Reformed con-
gregation in Bucks county, at a salary of £60, to which £20
more would probably be added by another congregation, as soon
as it could be organized. Dorsius also asked the deputies whether
he could be of service to them. They then requested him first,
to investigate the conditions of the Reformed churches there and
secondly, to report to them regarding them.
The last events before his departure, his trip across the ocean
and his first experiences in Pennsylvania were described by
Dorsius in a letter, which he wrote to the Synodical Deputies in
June 1749.^ He then wrote in part as follows :
"It is about twelve years ago, after I had been received, on April 30,
1737, by the Classis of Schieland at Rotterdam, as a candidate of the-
ology and on May 29th of the same year had been ordained by the very
learned faculty of Groningen, as a minister of the Gospel, that on
July 11 [1737, new style], I undertook the great and dangerous journey
from Rotterdam to Pennsylvania, when we did not arrive safely at
Philadelphia till October Sth, with the loss, however, of many per-
sons, who had died at sea and had been buried in the great ocean.
There I inquired immediately after my location, when I learned right
at the beginning that I, as well as others, had been woefully deceived
in my expectations, being compelled to preach for one year in the
barn of one farmer after another, because there was no house of God.
At the same time I had to take my lodging with one family after an-
5 The original is in the archives of the General Synod of the Dutch Re-
formed Church, at The Hague, Holland.
LIFE AND WORK OF THE REV. PETER HENRY DORSIUS 53
Other in the backwoods [bosch], as they are accustomed to call them
in that land. This made me think of returning speedily [to Holland],
but I was kept back by my conscience and the example of the early
Christians. Through the encouraging and cheering letters of the very
learned Rev. Ernest Engelbert Probsting, p. t., clerk of the Synod,
written to me in the name and by order of the Reverend Deputies of
both Synods, I was much strengthened to continue the difficult work
of the ministry, which I had undertaken."
A reference to Rupp's Thirty Thousand Names, shows that
Captain John Stedman arrived at Philadelphia, with the ship
Saint Andrew Galley from Rotterdam September 26. 1737. old
style, (or October 5th. new style, as stated by Dorsius). For
some reason, however, the name of Dorsius does not appear
among those who qualified at the court house in Philadelphia on
that day. The ship brought another Dutch candidate of the-
ology, John Herman Van Basten, who preached in the churches
at Jamaica, Oyster Bay and Newtown, 1739-40. A third min-
ister came with the same ship, John Philip Streiter. He preached
later in the Lutheran churches at Indianfield, Old Goshenhoppen
and Alsace, near Reading:.
MINISTRY OF DORSIUS, I737-I743.
True to their word, the Dutch people of Neshaminy paid the
passage money of their newly-arrived minister on September 28,
1737, only two days after his arrival. The bill of Captain Sted-
man and a receipt of Dorsius are still preserved among the
papers of the congregation. The captain charged him £15 for
transporting him and his goods. £1.10 for duty in England and
£2.10 for fresh provisions in England, a total of £19. On
September 28th, Dorsius gave his consistory a receipt for
£26.15.2, which covered all his traveling expenses.
Shortly after the arrival of the new pastor (in the course of
the year 1738) efforts were made to collect money for the erec-
tion of a meeting house. A badly torn paper, which contained
the names of fifty subscribers, is still preserved. The names of
only twenty-five subscribers are legible. They signed for
£61.0.6. If the other twenty-five gave just as much, the total
amounted probably to £122. Several receipts throw light on
54 LIFE AND WORK OF THE REV. PETER HENRY DORSIUS
the cost of the building. On January 8, 1739, Evan Thomas, the
builder, gave receipt for £25.12.6. On April 28, 1738, Henry
Croesen, the treasurer, was ordered to pay £2.5.10, to William
Moses for lime. On May 15, 1738, Joseph Roberts receipted for
£1.14.2, for sawing logs. On March 17, 1738, Isaac Williams
handed in a receipt for £9, for boards sold and delivered, and
on March 14, 1739, William Lukens gave receipt for £5.0.10,
for lime "brought at ye Dutch congregation." From these re-
ceipts we may conclude that the building operations continued
approximately from April 1738 to March 1739.
Another list, still preserved, contains the names and sums,
subscribed by twenty-four persons towards the purchase of a
church farm. The following persons subscribed a total of
£96.5.0 for this purpose: Gerret Kroesen, Benjamin Korsen,
Frans Kroese, Hendrik Kroese, Abraham Bennet, Jr., Jacobus
van Sant, Jr., Jan Kroese, Derrick Kroese, Derrick Hooghlandt,
Nicolas Winkoop, Gerret Winkoop, Jane Wagelom, Falker
Vaestrat, Abraham Stevens, Jost Boskerk, Gerret Winkoop, Jr.,
Jan Dorlandt, Cornells Kroese, Cornells Winkoop, Jacob Bennet,
Jr., Lambert Dorlandt, Isaak Bennet, Hendrik Slegt, Lambert
Van Dyck.
On January 18, 1739, Gerret Hugtenbergh made an agreement
with Abraham Van der Grift and Henry Kroesen to sell them a
tract of land "lying in Bybery, in the county of Philadelphia,"
containing ninety-six acres for £245, P'ennsylvania currency.
It was bounded as follows : "Beginning at a corner by land of
Nathaniel Britteins, thence northwest by the said land to a cor-
ner of land of Jennewell Coopers, thence by the said land north-
east to land of Margaret Grooms, thence by the said land south
to land of William Homers, thence by the said land and land of
Thomas Womslys southwest to the place of beginning."
Having traced the history of the congregation to this point, we
must return to the question, how Dorsius carried out the com-
mission of the Synodical Deputies to investigate and report upon
the condition of the Reformed churches of Pennsylvania. In
order to make the report of Dorsius more definite, the Deputies
concluded to send him a set of questions. A circular letter to the
Classes, constituting the Synod of South Holland, was drawn up.
Their answers were then collated and on their basis a set of thir-
LIFE AND WORK OF THE REV. PETER HENRY DORSIUS 55
teen questions was prepared, which were ready to be sent off in
May 1738. On June 9, 1738, Rev. E. Probsting, clerk of the
Deputies, forwarded these questions, accompanied by a letter, to
Dorsius. At the same meeting of the Deputies, in June 1738, a
letter arrived, written by Dorsius from Bucks county, on March
1, 1738.'^ It contained some (though rather inaccurate and mis-
leading) information about the Reformed churches in Pennsyl-
vania.
About Philadelphia, Dorsius reported that it had no (Re-
formed) minister and was not able to support one. We know
that Mr. Boehm was the regular pastor at Philadelphia, who
preached there once a month. About Germantown he reported,
that they had a nice church, but a miserable preacher, who was
inclined to the Quakers. This refers no doubt to John Bechtel,
but that he was inclined to the Quakers is fictitious. About young
Goetschius, son of the Swiss minister, who reached Philadelphia
in 1735, he reported that, although unordained, he was preaching
and administering the sacraments. This is confirmed by other
documents. Regarding Conestoga he reported that two unedu-
cated laymen were preaching there, whom the people refused to
hear any longer, because they were teaching Quaker and other
doctrines. These two laymen were most likely John Conrad
Tempelman and John Jacob Hock. Here again the Quaker
teaching is purely imaginary, all other sources testifying the
very opposite. They were most faithful and true to the Re-
formed standards. He also refers to Peter Miller, who had
fallen away from the Reformed faith and had carried over with
him to the Dunkers (so he said), three hundred souls of whom
many were ready to return, if they could be supplied with ortho-
dox preachers. The number "three hundred" is greatly exag-
gerated. There were hardly three dozens. Boehm reports^ ten
families as having gone over to the Dunkers with Miller. Re-
garding Bucks county, Dorsius reports the building of a new
church, to which we have already referred. He also stated that
there was no necessity to consult in church matters the governor
of Pennsylvania or the Bishop of London. Finally he empha-
6 Thi.s letter is preserved in the minutes of the Synodical Deputies, now
at The Hague.
7 See Life and Letters of the Rev. John Philip Boehm, Philadelphia, 1916,
p. 275.
56 LIFE AND WORK OF THE REV. PETER HENRY DORSIUS
sized the need of five or six orthodox German Reformed
ministers.
How superficial this report was can be seen from the fact that
it made absolutely no reference to the remarkable work of the
Rev. John Philip Boehm, then the only ordained German Re-
formed minister in the province. Moreover, there is in this re-
port hardly a single item that is entirely correct, and many of
them are but half true. There was, however, in the report one
valuable suggestion, for which Dorsius deserves credit. He sug-
gested, that one man be appointed for Pennsylvania, whose duty
it should be to visit the churches annually, ascertain how much
they could contribute to a minister's salary and then report the
deficiency to Holland, that it might be supplied from the funds
in the hands of the Deputies. The average annual salary of
ministers he reported as being sixty to eighty pounds. This sug-
gestion of Dorsius regarding a "visitor of the churches" was
actually carried out by Michael Schlatter, sent as such to Penn-
sylvania by the Church of Holland in 1746.
In October 1738, the Deputies concluded to write to Dorsius,
requesting him to find out how much the Reformed people in
the colony were willing to contribute to the salaries of pastors.
If the answers were satisfactory, they were willing to send over
five ministers, as requested by Dorsius. On December 20, 1738.
Do. Probsting wrote a letter to Dorsius. in which he acquainted
him with the resolutions passed by the Synod of South Holland
regarding the Pennsylvania churches. In this letter he also ad-
vised Dorsius that Count Zinzendorf intended to go to Pennsyl-
vania and he warned him against his teaching, sending him at
the same time copies of the books published by Zinzendorf, as
well as a Pastoral Letter, issued by the Classis of Amsterdam
against him.
In March 1739, Wilhelmius reported that he had received a
letter from Dorsius, in which he declared that his work was pros-
perous and that he engaged in it with much satisfaction, as he
enjoyed the respect and love of his people.
While Dorsius did not deign to mention Boehm in his first
letter to the Deputies, the latter refers to him in a letter, written
about the same time, March 10, 1738. to the Classis of Amster-
dam. He writes :®
8 See Life and Letters of Boehm, p. 259f.
LIFE AND WORK OF THE REV. PETER HENRY DORSIUS 57
"Last fall Do. Dorsius arrived as the regular minister of the Low
Dutch congregation at Neshaminy in Bucks county. With him there
came another, named Van Basten, who however is not yet ordained.
Nevertheless, he travels about in the country here and there. He says
that he has been sent from Holland, but thus far he has not caused us
any pleasure at all."
When the questions of the Deputies, sent to Pennsylvania in
June 1738, reached Dorsius, he invited Boehm to a conference at
his house. This conference took place on November 28, 1738,
when "his Reverence showed me his letters from the Christian
Synods of North and South Holland, in which I saw that these
Christian Synods had appointed his Reverence as their commis-
sioner and inspector of the German churches in Pennsylvania.
Then his Reverence requested me to make a report, which I was
ready to do, out of due respect to the Christian Synods."''
Dorsius asked Boehm to report on three questions :
(1) How many German Reformed congregations there were
in Pennsylvania and how far they were from each other?
(2) How many elders, deacons and communicants there were
in each of his congregations and how many congregations were
served by him ?
(3) How each congregation was supplied with schoolmasters
and precentors ?
In answer to these questions, Boehm prepared an elaborate re-
port, dated January 14, 1739, in which he gave accurate informa-
tion about nine congregations, their members, elders, church
buildings and schoolmasters. How kindly Boehm felt towards
Dorsius at this time is evident from the following reference,
sent to the Classis of Amsterdam in a letter, dated March 16,
1739 :i"
"His Reverence, Mr. Dorsius, whom the Christian Synods have
now been pleased to appoint as superintendent^^ of our true Church in
Pennsylvania, shows indeed a real zeal faithfully to do all he can for
the Church of Jesus in this country. To this end God has blessed him
with wisdom. May the God of all strength further increase in his
9 See Life and Letters of Boehm, p. 262.
10 See Life and Letters of Boehm. p. 264.
11 The Deputies had not appointed Dorsius either as superintendent or in-
spector, because botli of tliese offices were unknown to tlie constitution of
their church. Dorsius made use of this title in his communication to Boehm
(See Life of Boehm. p. 271). In a letter of May 9, 1743, the Classis stated
distinctly : "This is certain, he is no insjiector of the church in your regions,'
p. 373. The Deputies had not sent Dorsius to Pennsylvania and hence
they had not appointed him to any ofHce whatsoever. They had simply
asked him for some information.
58 LIFE AND WORK OF THE REV. PETER HENRY DORSIUS
Reverence this zeal and wisdom, so that, as a true instrument in God's
hand, he may serve our true Church untiringly vv^ith manly steadfast-
ness to the praise of God and the increase of the Kingdom of our
Redeemer."
Another request for information was submitted by Dorsius to
Boehm on December 6, 1739, when he asked him in the name of
the Synods to inquire "what each family is wiUing to contribute
towards the support of a minister within the congregation or to
a yearly salary, in order that the friendly request of the Reverend
Synod be complied with."
In answer to this request, Boehm made a long journey of about
three hundred miles in the depth of a severe winter, during the
months of January, February and March 1740, to interview the
Reformed congregations. As a result he reported of seventeen
congregations pledges to the amount of one hundred and twenty-
three pounds and one hundred and sixty-five bushels of oats.
He made also additional reports, in which he showed how these
congregations might be served by six ministers in six pastoral
charges.
On the basis of these reports of Boehm, Dorsius wrote a letter
to the Synods, on March 4. 1740, which was read before the
Deputies in their meeting of September 11-15, 1740. In this he
answered their question as to the amounts the congregations were
willing to contribute to ministerial salaries. It should, however,
be noted that Dorsius apparently gave Boehm no credit for the
work he had done, but reaped all the praise of the Deputies for
himself. It is not surprising that this conduct was soon followed
by bad consequences. When Boehm heard that Dorsius, instead
of sending his reports to Holland, had constructed another report
upon their basis, he felt much offended. This is clearly indicated
by Boehm. At a later interview he had with Dorsius, he asked
him whether he had sent his report to Holland. Dorsius
answered :
"No, he had it in his trunk, but he had written to the Christian
Synods with regard to these things. I did not like this, for I had been
riding through the country about three hundred miles in the severest
winter season. We had some words between us; however, nothing un-
seemly. Among other things his Reverence remarked, the affair had
been entrusted to him and he knew what to do. He had kept the re-
port for his own safety. To which I answered: 'To me it does not
seem right that the light which makes clear the whole condition of our
LIFE AND WORK OF THE REV. PETER HENRY DORSIUS 59
congregations to our devout Church Fathers, who manifest such a
holy zeal for our churches, should be seen by your Reverence only and
kept in your trunk, and not brought to those who desire to see it; for
it seems to me that the report, together with your additional report,
should have been sent to them."'^
Some time afterwards some men from Goshenhoppen came to
see Boehm and asked him whether the reports had been sent off
by Dorsius. Boehm answered truthfully that Dorsius had told
him that they were in his trunk, but that he had written, in his
own words, about them to Holland. When Dorsius came on a
visit to Goshenhoppen, on September 24, 1740, the elders asked
him about the reports which they had given to Boehm, whether
they had been sent to Holland. Dorsius said : Yes. Then
they confronted him with the statement of Boehm, that they were
in his trunk. This made Dorsius furious and he exclaimed; "If
Boehm says that I have not sent the letters which he wrote re-
garding the church to Holland, he lies like a scoundrel." These
and other contemptuous words, uttered by Dorsius at that oc-
casion, were of course related to Boehm and resulted in a com-
plete breach in their friendship and intercourse. Henceforth
Boehm refused to send any more letters to Holland through
Dorsius, but he transmitted his reports, through the Dutch Re-
formed ministers of New York, to the Classis of Amsterdam.
There was another reason for the break between Dorsius and
Boehm and that was the former's attitude towards young Goet-
schius. Boehm regarded him as a disturber of the peace, who
intruded into a number of his congregations, trying to take them
away from Boehm, especially Tulpehocken, Oley and Skippack.
Dorsius on the other hand encouraged him in his irregular work.
There was, it is true, a reconciliation between Boehm and Goet-
schius, at the home of Dorsius, in February 1740, when he asked
Boehm's forgiveness, which the latter gladly granted him. But,
as Goetschius did not keep his promise to stay away from Boehm's
congregations, there was soon again bitter feeling. When in
1739 the deputies of the Synods insisted that the churches
should dismiss the unordained preachers, before they could ex-
pect assistance from Holland, Goetschius gave up his preaching,
went to Dorsius and studied with him for a year and was then
ordained, on April 7, 1741, by Dorsius, assisted by Frelinghuisen
12 Life and Letters of Boehm, p. 321.
60 LIFE AND WORK OF THE REV. PETER HENRY DORSIUS
and Gilbert Tennent, the Presbyterian minister at New Bruns-
wick, New Jersey. This unauthorized action was severely con-
demned by Boehm and met with similar disapproval in Holland.^''
Another important undertaking was committed to Dorsius in
1739. Through a letter written by Rev. E. Probsting on May 3,
1739, Dorsius together with Dr. Diemer, of Philadelphia, were
given a power of attorney to prosecute Reiff, in order to com-
pel him to give an accounting of the moneys collected by him in
Holland. But, as Diemer himself was deeply involved in the
case, the appointment was unfortunate and no results were
achieved, except that some letters were exchanged between
Diemer and the Deputies. On November 18, 1742, Diemer wrote
to the Synod :^"'
"I received in the year 1740 a letter, which the Rev. Mr. Ernest
Probsting, Deputy of the Reverend Synod, had written at Heusden,
under date May 3, 1739, and I received besides, in the aforesaid year,
in December, a copy of a special letter to the Governor of Pennsylvania,
dated April 15, 1739, at The Hague, in which authority was given to
Rev. Mr. Dorsius and rhyself to prosecute the still pending suit against
Jacob Reiff, of Skippack, in Pennsylvania, in which an appeal was made
by the Reverend Deputies to the Governor. Immediately on the re-
ceipt of the letter aforesaid, I was informed that his Excellency, the
Governor, promised to assist us, but the circumstances of the war be-
tween the English and the Spanish crowns [1739-1742] have until now
prevented such aid, on account of many special engagements."
On December 16, 1740, Dorsius was married to Janneka (Jane)
Hooghland, daughter of Derrick Hooghland. They had three
children: (1) Maria, baptized Dec. 26, 1742; (2) Jannetie, bap-
tized Jan. 13, 1745, and (3) Cornelia Charlotte, baptized Oct.
5, 1746. These baptisms are entered in his own record.
In the year 1741, the Deputies sent one hundred and thirty Ger-
man Bibles to Pennsylvania which cost them £l,18s.9d., and
which they had secured at Frankford-on-the-Main. They were
sent through Messrs. Hope, merchants at Rotterdam. They con-
signed them in part to Do. Dorsius, in part to Do. Frelinghuisen,
of Raritan, New Jersey. x\s a result neither of them able to
get them. On February 16, 1744, Dorsius wrote to the Deputies
regarding these Bibles :^^
13 The Classis of Amsterdam compelled Goetschius to be reordained in
1748. See Corwin, Manual of the Reformed Church in America. 4th ed.,
1902, p. 491.
14 The original is in The Hague archives. Its catalogue number is 74, I. 38.
15 The original is at The Hague. Catalogue number 74, I, 20.
LIFE AND WORK OF THE REV. PETER HENRY DORSIUS 61
"The High German Bibles which were sent to Do. Frehnghuisen and
to myself, to distribute them among the poor High Germans in this
country, I have not been able to get thus far, although I was twice in
Philadelphia and tried to secure them. The reasons given were that
the chests were not properly marked and did not contain my name.
But these are only excuses, for the captain who brought them no doubt
gave information regarding them, as he also brought the letters of the
Reverend ministers of Rotterdam, namely Mr. John Wilhelmius,
Doctor of Theology, and Rev. Van der Kemp, Deputy of the Synod.
On one of the chests is written simply 'Libri Compacti' and on the
other '50 Bibles.' For this reason inquiries should be made of the
gentleman to whom they were handed to send them to Pennsylvania,
and he should be asked to write, with the first opportunity, to Benjamin
Shoemaker, merchant at Philadelphia and correspondent of the shippers
in Rotterdam."
VISIT OF DORSIUS TO HOLLAND, MAY 1 743 JANUARY 1/44.
In September 1743, the Deputies of the Synods were much sur-
prised to hear that Do. Dorsius had arrived in Holland. He had
left Nev^ York on May 26, 1743, and had arrived at Amsterdam
on July 14th. Shortly afterwards he appeared before the Synod
of North Holland, held at Hoorn. July 26-27th. He made a re-
port to Synod regarding the condition of the Reformed churches
in Pennsylvania. On September 17-19, 1743, he appeared before
the Deputies at The Hague. They questioned him closely about
a number of things. They asked him, first of all, what would be-
come of the German Bibles in his absence. He answered that, if
they should be delivered, they would be entirely safe at his home
until his return. They then inquired w^hat he and Dr. Diemer
had done about the Reifif case. He answered, that he had seen
Dr. Diemer repeatedly, but he did not seem to be in a hurry about
it, and, as far as he was able to tell, nothing had been accom-
plished. But, he added, that on his journey to New York he had
interviewed Dr. Diemer again and he had told him that he had
already spent twenty pounds in this afl^air and was willing to
spend more to bring it to a conclusion. The Deputies then asked,
why he had not answered their letter sent to him and Do. Fre-
hnghuisen in 1741. He replied that this letter had never reached
him. Finally they asked him, why he had come to Holland. He
answered that he wished to consult the Deputies about his work.
62 LIFE AND WORK OF THE REV. PETER HENRY DORSIUS
He also hoped to get their consent either to leave his congrega-
tion in Bucks county, or to organize another congregation in
Philadelphia, because his salary was insufficient and he needed
additional means for his subsistence. His salary had been re-
duced from sixty-eight to forty pounds. He then gave them a
long report about the condition of the churches in Pennsylvania,
which he made as gloomy as possible and thereby defeated his
own purpose. He reported that the churches were constantly de-
creasing through apostasy and the remarkable growth of the
Moravians, as well the activities of Catholic missionaries. He
.also stated that he could see no hope for the churches in Pennsyl-
vania, unless more ministers were sent there and they were guar-
anteed a sufficient salary, because the salaries paid them were
altogether inadequate.
In spite of the lengthy report given by Dorsius, the Deputies
concluded that they did not have sufficient light regarding the
actual condition of afifairs in Pennsylvania, so as to be able to
help the churches intelligently. They, therefore, addressed a let-
ter to the ministers and elders of the Reformed churches of Penn-
sylvania, asking them to give the Synods of Holland definite and
detailed information, signed by the various consistories, regarding
their actual condition, so that they might be able to judge by what
means they could best help them. They also inquired whether it
would be possible for the Reformed churches to unite with the
Scotch Synod, by which they meant the Presbyterian Synod of
Pennsylvania. This letter, dated September 20, 1743, was handed
to Dorsius. Before Dorsius left, the Deputies gave him thirty
guilders to help him pay his traveling expenses to Holland, and
also twenty guilders to pay the freight of the Bibles sent to Penn-
sylvania. They also permitted Dorsius either to accept another
call or to start another congregation.
Dorsius did not stay in Holland longer than was absolutely
necessary. In a letter, written to the Deputies in June 1749, he
thus explains his reasons for his hurried return :^®
"I could not tarry in Holland, because on the one hand, I feared that
war might break out between France and England, which would render
the Spanish Sea which we had to cross very unsafe and dangerous for
travelers, as we experienced to our sorrow in the spring, and on the
other hand, because my own domestic affairs had not been so arranged
16 The original is in The Hague archives, 74, II, 12.
LIFE AND WORK OF THE REV. PETER HENRY DORSIUS 63
that I could remain any longer in Holland. Moreover a very good
opportunity presented itself for me to bear the expenses of the journey
more easily and thus to return home."
Dorsius left Holland on October 19, 1743. old style, and ar-
rived at Philadelphia, in good health on January 16, 1744.
MINISTRY OF DORSIUS, 1 744- 1 748.
Shortly after his return, on February 16, 1744, Dorsius wrote
a letter to the Deputies, in which he announced his safe arrival
in Pennsylvania and declared that he had sent off the letter of the
Deputies to the German churches, in a German translation, that
he had consulted with two of the Presbyterian ministers in Phila-
delphia about the union of the German churches with the Synod
of Philadelphia and that they had promised him to submit the
matter to the next meeting of the Synod. ^^ He also reported a
conference with Dr. Diemer, who had promised to address a pe-
tition to the Governor of Pennsylvania regarding the Reiff case.
During this period of his activity. Dorsius preached repeatedly
to German congregations and administered the Lord's Supper to
them, a work which he had begun even before his journey to
Holland. In one of his own letters^* he reports preaching "free
of charge several times at Philadelphia, either in the Swedish
church, or in a meeting house, hired at that time for the use of
the German congregation." Several church records refer to this
missionary activity. Thus the New Goshenhoppen record shows
that he preached and baptized there on September 24. 1740,
August 30, 1741, September 4. 1742, and on May 5, 1744.^'' The
Egypt record presents evidence that he preached and baptized
children at Saucon on September 23, 1740; while the letters of
Boehm establish his presence and preaching at Germantown on
Easter day 1744. at New Goshenhoppen on May 6, 1744. and at
Conestoga on July 8. 1744. There is also a reference to a journey
to the Minisink region.-"
17 The letters exchanged between the Deputies and the Presbyterian Synod
of Philadelphia in 1744-1747, were published in full by the Rev. J. I. Good,
D.D.. in the Journal of the Presbyterian Historical Society. Vol. Ill, pp.
122-i37
18 It is in the letter, dated June 1749.
19 See the publication of this record by the writer in Mr. Dotterer's Perkio-
men Region. Vol. Ill, p. 121f; and in the History of the Goshenhoppen Re-
formed Charge, p. 284f.
20 See Life and Letters of Boehm. p. 339.
64 LIFE AND WORK OF THE REV. PETER HENRY DORSIUS
We have no information about Dorsius during the year 1745.
But on September 16, 1746, the Rev. Michael Schlatter, sent by
the Synods of Holland to organize the Reformed churches of
Pennsylvania, traveled sixteen miles from Philadelphia to Bucks
county to interview Dorsius, to whom he showed his instructions
and letters from the synods. Dorsius received him "in a most
friendly and fraternal manner," offered to render him every pos-
sible assistance, promised to organize his consistory and report to
him the result. Schlatter reports that the elders showed him a
"new stone church," which was process of erection. ^^ In his
private diary, sent to Holland in December 1746, Schlatter gives
the first intimation that there was trouble in his congregation, for
he writes : "Of Do. Dorsius I cannot report anything certain at
present, inasmuch as I will not believe the bad reports which are
here and there circulated about him, before I have convinced
myself of their truth. "--
Dorsius was not present at the preliminary meeting, leading'
to the organization of the Coetus (or Convention) of the Re-
formed churches of Pennsylvania, which was held at Philadelphia
October 12, 1746. But he informed Schlatter "in a friendly letter,
that he was unable to attend on account of domestic arrange-
ments."-^ In his private diary Schlatter explains that on the day
of the conference-"' the wife of Dorsius had given birth to a
child. This is corroborated by his church record. See the state-
ment above for the year 1740.
But, although Dorsius had oiTered to assist Schlatter in every
way possible, he was not in full sympathy with his mission and
plan. This is evident from a letter which Dorsius addressed to
him January 19, 1747,-^ in answer to a letter of Schlatter. In
this letter he informed Schlatter, that neither he (Dorsius) nc"
his consistory considered themselves under obligation to submit
to an examination by Schlatter, that Schlatter's desire was in
conflict with his instructions from Holland, which restricted him
to the German churches. Moreover, he served notice on Schlatter
that his congregation did not consider itself as being under the
supervision of any Dutch Classis, nor had any intention of plac-
21 Schlatter's Life and Travels, p. 129.
22 See the diary as published by the writer in Journal of Presbyterian
Historical Society. Vol. Ill, p. 118.
23 Schlatter s Life and Travels, p. 136.
24 See Journal of Presbyterian Historical Society, Vol. Ill, p. 116.
25 Now at The Hague, 74, I, 51 (12).
LIFE AND WORK OF THE REV. PETER HENRY DORSIUS 65
ing itself under them, so that, according to their opinion, Schlat-
ter was stretching his authority in his effort to include them.
He warned Schlatter by his own experience several years be-
fore, when he had made a similar effort, to his own grief and
loss. He also notified Schlatter that a week after his visit his
consistory had met, which, when Schlatter's demand had been
submitted to them, had refused absolutely to allow any examina-
tion to be made, inasmuch as they had asked the Church of Hol-
land for a minister merely, but not for an examiner. They de-
clared, however, that Do. Dorsius would be ready to give Schlat-
ter any information he 'might wish to have and in a postscript
added that a friendly visit by Schlatter would be welcome.
But the career of Dorsius in Pennsylvania came to an unex-
pected end in the year 1748. On May 2, 1748, three members of
the consistory at Xeshaminy, Hendrik Croesen, Jacob Bennet
and Jacob Van der Grift, addressed a letter to Schlatter,--' in
which they informed him that they had paid him a visit at his
house, but had not found him at home. They asked him to come
to Bucks county on June 2nd or if not to notify them. As Schlat-
ter started on his journey to Virginia May 3, 1748, the letter did
not reach him till his return. May 21st. On June 23rd, he writes
in his journal: "I went to Northampton [Bucks county], upon
the earnest solicitations of the congregation, and preached for
the Dutch congregation of Mr. Dorsius, for the first time, as
well as I could in their language. My efforts to abate the strife
existing between minister and congregation were fruitless ; and,
as Mr. Dorsius continues in his purpose to go over to Holland,
I promised to visit them once a month to preach for them in the
week."-^
The rest of the sad story is told in two notices which appeared
in the Pennsylvania Gazette. On June 9, 1748, Dorsius notified
the public that his wife had eloped from him and hence he warned
people "not to trust her on his account," as he would not pay her
debts. This notice was answered, on June 16, 1748, by Derrick
Hogeland, his father-in-law, by the following statement :
"Whereas Peter Henry Dorsius did some weeks since advertise his
wife Jane as eloped from him, etc. This is to certify whom it may con-
cern, that after a long series of ill-usage, patiently borne by the said
26 Also at The Hague. 74, I, 51 (13).
27 Schlatter's Life and Travels, p. 180.
66 LIFE AND WORK OF THE REV. PETER HENRY DORSIUS
Jane and a course of intemperance and extravagance, for which he has
been suspended from the exercise of his ministerial office in the Dutch
congregation in Southampton; when he had squandered most of his
substance, sold and spent a great part of his household goods and was
about to sell the remainder, though he had before in his sober hours
by direction of a magistrate made them over for the use of his family,
when he had for several days abandoned his dwelling and left his wife
and three children nothing to subsist on, her father found himself at
length under a necessity to take her and them into his care and protec-
tion and accordingly fetched them home to his own house, which he
would not otherwise have done, having beside a large family of his
own to provide for.
DERRICK HOGELAND."
After such an exposure, Dorsius could not hope to maintain
himself in Pennsylvania. Hence he left Philadelphia on August
4, 1748, on a ship which was bound for Dublin, Ireland. Forced
by contrary wind to enter the harbor of Belfast, Dorsius found
there another sloop to take him to Rotterdam, where he arrived
on October 1, 1748, old style. In Holland he assisted at first
several sick ministers at Rotterdam and Maas Sluys. Later he
became assistant to the minister of the Count of Isselstein. From
Isselstein he addressed a letter to the Deputies in June 1749, in
which he related at length his experiences in Pennsylvania. He
gave as his reason for his return to Holland the fact that his
salary had decreased so much that he was unable to live on it.
On May 24, 1749, he appeared before the Deputies at The Hague.
He handed to them a written report, and offered to make an oral
statement at the meeting of the Synod of South Holland, held
July 8-18, 1749, at The Hague, which he did. But the Synod re-
ferred his case to the Deputies for consideration.
On January 20-23, 1750, Dorsius appeared again before the
Deputies and asked for a dismission to go to d'Elmina, a sea port
of the Gold Coast, West Africa. But, after examining their
minutes, the Deputies concluded that, as they had not called him
to Bucks county, they could not dismiss him, but that he would
have to address himself to his former congregation for a dismissal.
On May 27-29, 1750, the Deputies received a letter from Mrs.
Dorsius,^® in which she stated that she had been married to
Dorsius December 16, 1740. She complained bitterly about his
conduct during their married life, and that after his suspension
28 Recorded in the minutes of the Deputies.
LIFE AND WORK OF THE REV. PETER HENRY DORSIUS 67
by the consistory, he had abandoned her and their three children.
At the Synod of South Holland, held at Woerden on July 1750.
the case of Dorsius and his wife was once more referred to the
Deputies for settlement.
It also came before the Classis of Amsterdam. On January
13, 1750, the directors of the West India Company notified the
Classis that they had appointed Dorsius as minister to d'Elmina,
and asked the Classis to confirm the call. The latter replied that
they had no objection to the appointment, provided Dorsius would
prove his legal dismission from Pennsylvania and submit a testi-
monial of his character.-'' To the repeated requests of the Classis,
Dorsius failed to make a satisfactory reply. Finally, on October
5, 1750, the Classis was informed by the Synodical Deputies re-
garding the facts in the case and that the whereabouts of Dorsius
was unknown. These facts were ordered to communicated to the
West India Company. ^"^ This ended the career of Dorsius in the
Dutch Church. What became of him afterwards is unknown.
His wife was for many years supported by the Coetus of
Pennsylvania. On April 26, 1753, the Coetus voted £8 for her
support, including £6 given by the Synod of North Holland. ^^
From that date she received a yearly subsidy varying in amounts
from £4 to £10. In 1757 she is called for the first time "Widow
Dorsius" in the minutes,^- hence her husband must have died
sometime between June 1756 and August 1757. Donations to
her are on record from 1753-1776.
The ministry of Dorsius from 1737-1748 closed the second
chapter in the history of the Dutch Reformed congregation of
Bucks county.
29 See Ecclesiastical Records of Neiv York, Vol. IV, p. 3105.
30 1. «c. p. 3188.
31 See Minutes of Coetus. p. 87.
32 1. c. p. 160.
Gristmills of an Ancient Type Known as Norse Mills.
BY HORACE M. MANN, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, January 19, 1918.)
THE result of my trip to the Big Smoky region of western
North Carohna during the month of October, 1917, was the
finding, amongst many other nearly equally interesting and
important specimens, of an old type of water power gristmill
described by Mitchell in his Past in the Present, published by
David Douglass, Edinburgh, 1880, as a "Norse Mill."
Mitchell describes this remarkable gristmill known as the
Norse Mill still to be found in 1880 in the Shetland and Orkney
Islands, and probably introduced there from Norway. At the
time I had the honor to become associated with this interesting
work Dr. Mercer had supposed that mills of this type had once
been built in the United States and still survived in the mountain
region of western North Carolina. After considerable corre-
spondence the evidence of the existence of such mills seemed
sufficient to justify a trip to that part of the country.
On the 8th day of October I started for White Rock, Madison
county. North Carolina, and the result is the complete Norse Mill
now standing in the northwest corridor of the fourth floor of our
museum. The details of the trip are of no moment. Sufficient
to say that after making many inquiries at Asheville, Marshall,
and other places en route which did not give me any further in-
formation, I started from White Rock on Saturday, October 13th,
to examine the mills which our correspondent. Dr. George H.
Packard, of that place, had found for us. The trip was entirely
on horseback over narrow mountain trails with few widely scat-
tered cabins along the way.
The first mill of this kind was found on the Big Laurel Creek,
Madison county, N. C. It belonged to a man named Lige Wilds,
about one mile from Jasper Shelton's store. The man himself
was absent but the door stood open and you may well imagine
my satisfaction with the first sight of a mill that in all its essen-
tials was a true type of the Norse Mill. Proceeding to the store
I found Mr. Wilds, but he absolutely refused to consider an oflfer
i\orse Mill recently In use in Madison County, North Carolina, now
in the Bucks County Historical Society, illustrating- paper on the Xorse
Mill by Mr. Horace M. Mann.
GRISTMILLS OF AN ANCIENT TYPE 69
for the mill saying, "It was built by 'Pappy' and he didn't reckon
he cared to part with it." A small man buying some nails then
spoke up and said he owned a similar mill and would be willing
to sell it. As he lived some distance back along the trail that we
had just come over I took his name, Amos Capts, and promised
him a call on my way back and proceeded further to see other
mills that Dr. Packard had found.
Since I had found the mill I had made the trip for, the only
consideration now was which mill I could secure the cheapest
and transport to the railroad. This type of mill was called by
the mountain men of the "Laurel Section," of Madison county,
a "Corn Mill," "Tub Wheel," (See notes on Tub Wheels by Dr.
H. C. Mercer at end of the sketch) or a "Willis Wheel." The first
name speaks for itself, as in those mountains corn is by far the
principal crop, though as some little wheat is raised it naturally
would be ground on the same mills ; the second name is due to
the appearance of the water wheel which does resemble a wide
shallow tub ; the origin of the last name I could not find out, they
simply said it was always called that. I also heard the mill re-
ferred to as a "Blockade Mill," one used for grinding corn for
the making of blockade whiskey. Of course I never found them
using the name, "Norse Mill,"
The next mill Dr. Packard had discovered was also on the Big
Laurel which at this point had diminished to a small rapid moun-
tain stream hardly meriting its name of Big Laurel. The mill
belonged to a man named J. J. Rice. It, too, was a true type of
Norse Mill and this man was willing to bargain concerning it
but I thought the price. $75 for the mill and $80 for the stones,
somewhat excessive, so passed on to inspect the last mill found
by Dr. Packard. This was situated a considerable distance from
the first two on a branch of the Big Laurel, called the Punching-
fork. Here I found a genial old man of French descent, Gustave
Porchia, (pronounced Porchey), whose father came from
France about 1850 as a traveling player of the barrel organ. His
mill had originally been a Norse Mill but he had, on account of
diminishing water power, cut ofif the shaft of the water-wheel
below the spindle, attached a belt wheel to the shaft, moved the
mill stones some distance away and attached another belt wheel
to the lower end of the spindle in its new position, giving him a
70 GRISTMILLS OF AN ANCIENT TYPE
mill with belt counter drive, and greater speed. His price of
$500 was so excessive that I left without further bargaining.
Returning over the trail I was stopped by the Mr. Rice, men-
tioned before as owner of the second mill I had seen, who now
seemed more anxious to sell but I refused to close a bargain until
I had seen the Amos Capts mill which I had heard of at the
Shelton store. I arrived at the home of Mr. Capts about dark
and he very cordially insisted that I should spend the night with
him if I could "put up with his fare, for he lived plain." It was
then too dark to go to see his mill and though I had some doubts
in regard to the fare, still I could do no better by going on and
he made up by his cordial welcome what he lacked in style. His
one-story house, built entirely of logs, roughtly hewn at the points
of intersection and chinked with clay, was rather superior to the
usual log cabin of the mountaineer. This cabin had originally,
no doubt, been composed of one room only about twenty-five
feet long by fifteen feet wide with the chimney built at the north
end. But the needs of an increasing family had made necessary
a larger dwelling and two more rooms had been added, not at the
gable end but at the side, after which the three buildings were
re-roofed at right angles to the original roof, so that all rooms
were now under the one roof, making a dwelling about forty-five
feet long by twenty-five feet wide. The first addition communi-
cated with the old cabin but the last addition had no direct access
to the other two rooms. A door leading to a porch passing along
the side of the first two rooms was the only entrance. On enter-
ing, the first room of the old cabin was found to be the living
room of the family. Here the most striking feature was the
open fire place. The chimney for which was built on the out-
side of the house at the middle of the original gable end of the
old cabin and was the only chimney for the whole dwelling. It
wa's built of undressed sand stone laid in clay mortar much the
same as was used in chinking the logs of the house. The fire
place was about five feet long, by four feet high and about
eighteen inches deep. It was built of the same stone as the
chimney, pointed but not plastered. The hearth which extended
for some distance outside the fire place was paved with large
stones and the jambs of the fire place drew together to support
one large stone about three feet long forming its top in lieu of
GRISTMILLS OF AN ANCIENT TYPE 71
the heavy beam or lintel of Bucks county fire places. The inner
walls of the room were roughly plastered with clay laid di-
rectly on the logs, without any attempt to use laths. On some
parts of the walls newspapers were pasted, both for decoration
and to keep out the cold. No cooking apparatus appeared in the
fire place which was equipped with andirons of wrought iron.
But I'saw no tongs and no crane, trammel or lug pole. I saw no
kettle oven in this cabin, but found them elsewhere in use for
baking corn bread in open fire places. The cooking in this room
was done in a cast iron cooking range equipped for burning wood
in the style of those used in the present farmhouses in Bucks
county. There was no second story to the building and the fami-
ly slept in two beds which I saw in the kitchen and in the other
two rooms. I saw no old blacksmith work upon the doors such
as latches, hinges, etc. There were no shutters or curtains in the
windows. Common modern kerosene lamps with broken chim-
neys furnished what light there was. I noticed a flax spinning
wheel and reel in one corner of the third room which I learned
had not been used by the present generation. The bedding con-
sisted of horse blankets without sheets..
The next morning I went with Mr. Capts to see his mill. It
was in fine condition, answered the requirements in every respect
and his price, $40 delivered at the nearest railroad station, was
less than half any one else had asked me for the mill alone. The
transportation in this mountain country is always a difificult and
costly operation and his offer including the delivery decided me
at once to accept his price. This mill was found in a small one-
story building, hardly more than a "shack." about twenty by
twenty feet wide and twenty feet at the peak of the room. It
was made of rough machine sawed boards roofed with hand
riven pine shingles and with hand-hewn rafters. It was situated
on the sloping bank of a swift mountain stream barely six feet
wide and about six to eight inches deep called Forster's Creek, a
branch of the Big Laurel. The road running parallel with the
creek, and before the door of the mill, appeared to be only a wide
trail, though at all times of the year wagons managed to get
along over it. On entering the mill from this road, I found it was
so constructed that the inner portion of the shed consisted of a
single room on two levels, of about equal size. The upper for
72 GRISTMILLS OF AN ANCIENT TYPE
the mill stones and hopper and the other, about four feet lower,
for the unloading and storage of grain. The portion of structure
immediately under the mill stones, through which the stream
ran, was open on three sides and the vertical space between the
upper and lower floor was boarded, forming the inner side of
the water wheel compartment. This partition was not furnished
with a door. Three wooden steps led from the lower or store-
house level to the upper or mill stone floor, inside the building.
Going out of the building and around to the creek bed on the op-
posite side from the mill entrance, I found the horizontal water
wheel directly under the mill stone. At this point I was able to
see the great simplicity and primitive construction of the appar-
atus which differed from that of any grist mill I had ever seen in
the fact that the mill stones were set upon the vertical shaft of
the water wheel itself and turned with it. There were no cog
wheels, counter wheels, belts, or devices for the transmission of
power. One shaft alone revolved with the water wheel at one
end, the bottom, and the upper mill stone at the other end, the
top. The water wheel was set on a bridge tree about six feet long
by six inches thick crossing the bed of the stream at right angles
furnished with a rough iron step-box mortised about the center
to make a bearing for the toe of the water wheel shaft. One end
of this bridge tree was mortised and pegged into the husk or
frame work surrounding the mill stones, and the other end laid
free on the groimd with a lighter rod fastened to it. The water
wheel itself was about four feet in diameter with the base of the
vertical shaft mortised into its solid wooden center, which center
extended to about eight inches from the rim of the wheel. Be-
tween the rim and the solid center were diagonally inserted hand
forged iron plates in somewhat the shape of an open letter S.
Through the spiral openings facing these plates the water rushed
downward giving the movement to the wheel. The water supply
to drive the wheel was secured from the creek by means of the
forebay, a rough trough open on top about two feet in diameter,
running on the leval from the bed of the stream and occupying
about three-quarters of the breadth of the latter without any dam
or attempt to direct water into it. This trough ran for about
fifteen feet in the direction of the water wheel to within about
five feet of the mill. As the fall of the stream was considerable
GRISTMILLS OF AN ANCIENT TYPE 73
this forebay was supported on a trestle, the props of which were
set directly in the bed of the stream, the latter flowing directly
under the building and also under the water wheel and mill
stones. A,t the end of the forebay toward the mill the trough
narrowed into a penstock or flume about one foot square com-
pletely covered and making a decline of about forty-five degrees.
As the stream at this point flowed downward at a sharp incline,
the end of the flume above mentioned, departing from the stream
at a level, by the time it reached the mill was nearly six feet
above the stream level at the point of the downturning of the pen-
stock. The water was so directed that it struck the water wheel
at the nearest outer portion of its diameter facing up stream. The
mill I secured had been partially dismantled so that I was unable
to bring any portion of this forebay and penstock away but the
above explanation was noted in the mill of Lige Wilds on the Big
Laurel, a mill similar in all respects to the one I secured. On the
upper portion of the mill floor reached by three wooden steps, I
found the mill stones resting on a frame work or husk and set
through the floor planks, the hoop or mill stone box, the curb,
the hopper and the bench or framework supporting it, the shoe,
and a dampsel of wood as shown in the museum. These parts
in general resembling those in use in old gristmills of Bucks
county, whereas the dampsel in the Shetland mill, described by
Mitchell, was differently constructed and his mill stones lacked a
hoop. About two feet to the left of the mill stones the wrought
iron lighter rod extended up through the floor and was sur-
mount by a hand made wrought iron hand wheel or screw for
raising the mill stones. This wheel or screw was furnished with
two arms or handles for turning, about six to eight inches in di-
ameter. The lighter rod, continuing down through the floor for
about four feet, was fastened to a wooden arm or extension,
which in turn was mortised and pegged into the end of the bridge
tree to raise and lower the water wheel, and upper mill stone re-
volving on the top of its vertical shaft, thereby grinding coarse or
fine. A curious point characteristic of the Norse Mill as dis-
tinguished from the common gristmill might be noted here in the
fact that when the bridge-tree is raised by means of this lighter
rod not only the upper mill stone but the water wheel itself goes
up with it. The mill stones are composed of a hard bluish rock
74 GRISTMILLS OF AN ANCIENT TYPE
quarried about sixty years ago, when the mill was first built,
from the side of a neighboring hill, not far from the location of
the mill, according to information of Mr. Capts. At top of the
husk or framework surrounding the water wheel and shaft and
resting on the upper floor of the mill, a circular frame work called
the "curb" is fitted, so that the top of this curb is just level with
the stones at the point of their contact. A trough is notched into
this curb leading downward to a meal box set on the lower por-
tion of the mill floor. The "eye" of the lower mill stone through
which the spindle passes, was filled with a block of soft wood,
hewn to fit and then driven into the "eye" until tight. A hole
was bored in the wooden block for the spindle to pass through
forming a bearing in the nature of a bush as found in the modem
gristmill of Bucks county. This wooden bearing prevented the
leakage of meal around the spindle.
On Monday, October 15, 1917, Mr. Capts' son, Hezekiah, as-
sisted me to take down and load the mill and started out with
six horses to make the sixteen mile trip over the mountain to
Marshall, the nearest railroad station. At the top of Walnut
Mountain four of the horses were sent back by a small boy, also
a son of Capts, as from there on the road would be mostly down
grade. It took all day to make the trip. The next day I crated
the mill on the station platform with lumber bought from Shel-
ton's garage in Marshall and shipped the mill to Doylestown by
Southern Express, October 16. 1917.
I searched in a radius of about fifteen miles around White
Rock, Madison county. North Carolina, in the region called
"The Big Laurel Section," and found three perfect and one
altered Norse Mills. None of which were probably more than
sixty years old.
The mill purchased by me was originally built, according to
the information of its present owner, as a so-called "Blockade
Mill," in other words one to grind corn for distilling illicit or
"moonshine" whiskey.
The Norse Mill with its very small water-wheel revolving
rapidly without counter gear requires a swift and plentiful down-
rush of water and is particularly adapted to streams running
down steep hill sides and to a country where under these cir-
cumstances there is good rainfall. I heard of no mill dams
NOTES ON THE NORSE MILL 75
properly so called in connection with any Norse Mill that came
within my observation. Finally I may say that all the Norse
Mills I observed were constructed in the same manner, all were
about the same size, and all were sheltered by sheds of similar
dimensions and appearance.
Notes on the Norse Mill.
BY DR. HENRY C. MERCER.
(Doylestown Meeting-, Jan. 19, 1918.)
The very comprehensive KiiigJit's America)! Mechanical Dic-
tonary (New York, Hurd & Houton, 1876), does not notice the
very ancient form of grist mill known as the Norse Mill, an ex-
Norse Mill as existing in the Shetland Islands in 1880 from The
Past in the Present, Mitchell Edinburgh, 1880, page 41.
76 NOTES ON THE NORSE MILL
ample of which we have just placed in our museum ; but Mitchell
in his Past in the Present (Edinburgh, Douglas, 1880) page 41,
describes and illustrates it as existing in the Shetland Islands in
1880. I made a drawing of his illustration and showed it here
at our last winter meeting as a supplement to the description of
our hand corn mills or querns, then the subject of discussion/
When I did so I was so satisfied that the type of water gristmill
presented by our other old Bucks county mill on exhibition, rep-
resented the earliest American type, that I was convinced that no
such primitive apparatus as that which we have just obtained,
had ever been used in the United States. But I was mistaken.
A few days later, on discussing the subject of our meeting with
my father, he referred me to a remarkable passage in A Thousand
Mile Walk to the Gulf by John Muir, Boston (Houghton Mififlin
& Co., 1916) page 35, in which Muir the botanist says, that in
1867 he found about twenty corn gristmills in southeastern Ten-
nessee, one of which on the Hiowassee river, about two days walk
from Madisonville, had been built by John Vohn to grind from
â– ten to fifteen bushels of corn a day.
Muir describes this mill as equipped with "a small stone that a
man might carry under his arm. which is fastened to the vertical
shaft of a home-made, boyish-looking, back-action waterwheel
which, with a hopper and a box to receive the meal is the whole
affair. The walls of the mill are of undressed poles cut from
seedling trees and there is no floor, as lumber is dear. No dam
is built and the water is conveyed along the hillside until suf-
ficient fall is obtained."
On reading this description I was struck with the words "verti-
cal shaft" and "back-action" and felt convinced that what Muir
had found in 1867, was nothing more or less than the Norse Mill
described by Mitchell and further that if. in 1867, twenty of these
mills had been in use. some might still exist in 1917 or fifty
years later.
Hardly a week had elapsed when a visitor to the museum, Mr.
Fr£^ncis Biddle, just returned from a riding trip in western North
Carolina informed me, after looking at our old Bucks county
mill, that he had seen very primitive water gristmills in the Caro-
lina Mountains, apparently lacking what we know as water
1 Published in Vol. IV, p. 733 et seq.
NOTES ON THE NORSE MILL 17
wheels. Though unable to clearly describe them as Norse Mills
he referred me to Dr. George B. Packard, of White Rock, North
Carolina, and a correspondence followed which resulted in the
latter identifying several mills of the Norse type near that place.
This was followed very shortly by a journey of Dr. William
Edgar Geil to North Carolina, who at my request inquired for
and heard of another mill of this kind in Buncombe county, and
finally, by a systematic exploration of the region by Mr. Horace
M. Mann in October 1917 who found six, and bought and sent
home one of these mills which now stands in our museum as one
of the most remarkable objects in the whole collection, for two
reasons :
First — Because the mill shows a step in the application of
water power to the grinding of meal, more primitive than any-
thing we have thus far found, and second, because the apparatus
belongs to the class of objects which, as concerned with one
of the four great overmastering requirements of life, namely the
preparation of bread for food, is of greater significance than
clocks, signboards, furniture, deeds, county seals, toll-gates and
a thousand other of our possessions which, from a scientific
point of view might be said to be of second, third or fourth class
importance.
When we compare this mill with the Norse original described
by Mitchell, several differences appear, first the bridge-tree in
the Shetland mill was worked by a wooden wedge, here by an
iron screw. Second the Shetland damsel is a stone tied to a
string, which dragging upon the revolving surface of the upper
mill stone shakes the "shoe" or feeder, while in this case the
damsel is a vertical wooden staff projecting from the top of the
spindle so as to agitate the shoe with its corrugations as it re-
volves. Third, the Shetland hopper is swung from the roof by
four ropes, here it rests on the usual hopper "bench" or stand.
Fourth, our mill-stones are boxed in with the usual "hoop" and
"guard." The Shetland stones run free. Fifth, the wooden
paddles of the Shetland water wheel are set, not spirally or
obliquely, but vertically against the shaft and are not enclosed in
the circumference of the wheel. Our paddles are made of
wrought iron enclosed within the wheels' circumference and set
with a spiral twist against an extension of the shaft, a variation
78 NOTES ON THE NORSE MILL
from the simple Norse form, which is briefly referred to by
Knight under the article "Horizontal Water Wheel," and which
again appears in an illustration found for me by Dr. B. F.
Fackenthal, Jr., and also published in Knight, from Harpers
Magazine for May 1856, page 723, as illustrating a horizontal
water-wheel turning a Chilean Mill to grind silver ore at the
Mina Grande mine near Tegucigalpa, Honduras, about 1855.
But these differences are not fundamental, and the unmistakable
point of similarity is the fact that the mill-stones in the Shet-
land and American instances are set on the vertical shaft of the
water-wheel itself and turn directly with it. It is a machine
therefore of the simplest character with no belting, no cog wheels
and no counter gearing to get out of order.
Although Mitchell did not trace the Shetland mill to Norway
in 1880, he asserts that the Scandinavians brought it to Scotland
and my friends, Henrik W von Z. Loss, of Philadelphia, and S.
Munch Kielland, of Buffalo, both natives of Norway, inform me
that this type of gristmill still exists there. I have also a draw-
ing of one of these mills in its native home, from a photograph
given me by Mrs. Hamilton Fish, Jr.. of New York, and taken
by her about 1908 in Norway, which shows the general construc-
tion of the building, the position of the water-wheel, bridge-tree
and penstock, but which is unfortunately too indistinct for exact
comparisons.
It remains to be learned why the natives of western North
Carolina call this mill the "Willis W^heel." We can suppose, but
without proof as yet, that Scotch emigrants, in the eighteenth
century brought it with them from Scotland, but as to the
origin and distribution of the apparatus we do not now
know whether it was invented in Norway or brought thither, or
whether it still survives in the mountains of Spain, Italy, Ger-
many or Eastern Europe or even whether it has been introduced
and still exists in other parts of the United States where an un-
dammed mountain stream w^ould turn mill stones.
The more we think of this mill as included in the field of re-
search illustrated by our collection the more we realize the great
number of important objects illustrating the early history of
man which have escaped the notice of travellers and even en-
cyclopedias. So much the more might we regret the superficial
NOTES ON THE NORSE MILL 79
nature of our own observations in past travels, when our atten-
tion has been concentrated upon transient or picturesque things.
We might wonder, not so much that Reese and Knight did not
describe this mill or that Miss Margaret W. Morley in her The
Carolina Mountains, (Houghton-Mifflin Co., New York, 1913)
should make no mention of it, as that John Muir should notice
it at all.
There can be little doubt that all the ancient water gristmills
of Bucks county were run by vertical overshot or undershot
water wheels until about 1820, after which time, according to
Reese Encyclopaedia (Article Water Wheel) experiments were
made in England upon Barker's Mill (a spouting turnstile) in-
vented in England in 1743, and upon the ancient Norse Mill or
Roulet Volant of France, where similar experiments resulted in
the invention of the turbine itself by Fourneyron in 1823.
Mr. Wilson Woodman informs us through Mr. Warren S. Ely
that three horizontal water wheels set with oblique paddles were
used in the gristmill and a saw mill at Wycombe, Bucks county,
in the 1850's. These water wheels were called "tub wheels" and
though the "tub wheel" illustrated in Knights Mechanical Dic-
tionary is of iron and shaped like an inverted cone with spiral
curvilinear paddles, these Bucks County wheels were made of
wood and like the Norse mill wheel in the museum, enclosed
their paddles, which were set obliquely, but not curved, in an
outer rim. As the wheels were about eight feet in diameter the
mill stones could not have been set directly upon their vertical
axes, as in the Norse mill, above described, where the water
wheel has only a dimeater of three feet. But there must have
been counter gearing to get the required velocity for the grind-
ing stone.
Roulet Volant or Norse Mill.
BY R. P. HOMMEL, OF LEHIGPI UNIVERSITY, BETHLEHEM, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, January 19, 1918.)
MR. R. P. HOMMEL. of the Lehigh University, was pres-
ent at the reading of the two preceeding papers and hav-
ing since found valuable information concerning the
Norse Mill, in the University Library at Bethlehem, has kindly
communicated to me, H. C. Mercer, on February 7th, 1918, the
following notes and two very interesting illustrations.)
The distinguishing feature of the "Norse Mill" under discus-
sion is a horizontal wheel with a vertical axis on which are
Norse Mill as shown in Von den Machinen, by B. F.
Moennich, Augsburg, 1779, page 191, illustrating the
Roulet Volant or Norse Mill.
ROULET VOLANT OR NORSE MILL 81
mounted the mill stones thus doing away with any gear or inter-
mediate mechanism.
Though the origin of the mill remains in doubt it has been in
use for centuries in Europe. It is certain that this type of mill
was used in some provinces of France as Provence, Dauphiny
and Brittany, also in Sweden and in Turkey, though Moennich,
writing in 1779, on machines thinks it doubtful that this mill was
ever used in Germany.
In a book colled Theatrimi Machinarum Gcneralc, by Jacob
Leupold, Leipsig, 1724, page 206, the author speaking of hori-
zontal w^ater wheels says, (translated)
"They were used in places where little water exists with a high fall
namely in mountain regions as in parts of Sweden, Provence in France,
and such districts, where many springs and small brooks run down
from the mountains and in a closed pope strike obliquely against the
paddle and thus drive the latter around."
In another book Von Den Machinen, by B. F. Moennich, Augs-
burg, 1779, page 191, the author illustrating the mill with the
first cut here reproduced says, page 191 (translated) :
"Mills with horizontal water wheels in certain provinces of France,
Sweden and Turkey, are much used although we have no quite reliable
evidence as to whether they were ever in use in Germany. The grist-
mills which were thus driven were very simple as the illustration, here-
with given shows. No friction and little cost."
In a French work. Theatre dcs Instnimcns Matheinatiqucs ct
Mechaniques, by Jaques Besson of Dauphiny, Doctor of Mathe-
matics, Lyons 1578, under Figure 28 the author says (translated) :
"This mill is like the preceeding one, the mill stone being on the
same shaft as the water wheel, a fashion which may seem unknown to
some, but which is common in some places and especially at Toulouse
and also in some villages where I have seen them. However, (inser-
tion by the French editor) our author has improved it by placing the
wings of the wheel on a curve. The wheel is, in the figure (see second
illustration) horizontal and distant from the ground about 1 m.
7 p. the water coming from the east (right) although it may come
from where it can it making no difference from what direction it
comes. And I say this so that nobody should think that it was
necessary that the water should come from the east."
Another French writer, D'Arvieux. in Curious Nezcs of Travel,
Part 3, (Copenhagen and Leipsig, 1754) page 201 (translated)
says :
82
ROULET VOLANT OR NORSE MILL
"The Arabians have no windmills. These are used in oriental coun-
tries only where there are no rivers though in most places only hand
mills are in use. Water mills which I found on Mount Lebanon and
Mount Carmel are similar to the ones which are met with in Italy at
various places. They are very simple and cost little. The mill stone
and water wheel are fastened on the same axle. The water wheel if
Representation of a Norse Mill as used in the South of France in 1578,
from Theatre des Instrumens Mathematiques, etc., by Jaques Besson, Lyons,
1578, Fig-. 28, illustrating the Roulet Volant or Norse Mill.
ROULET VOLANT OR NORSE MILL 83
such it may be called, consists of eight hollow spoonshaped boards
which are fastened at an incline upon the axle. When the water
strikes these boards with vehemence the water wheel will turn and
with it the mill stone upon which the grain is heaped for grinding."
In the French work Application dc la Mechaniquc, by A Taffe,
Paris, 1843. page 200, the writer says (translated) :
"We call Turbines horizontal wheels with paddles either straight or
slightly curved like those which are used in Provence."
In another French book Architecture Hydraulique by M. Belh-
dor, (Paris, 1737), book 2, chapter 1, page 301, the writer says
(translated) :
"In Provence and in a large part of Dauphiny the grist mills are of
great simplicity having only a single horizontal wheel of six or seven
feet in diameter, etc." He also mentions a lever used to raise the
wheel and the mill stone.
Spons Dictionary of Engineering, Division 8. (London, 1874)
page 3105 says :
"The oldest forms of wheels having a vertical axis are found in the
south of France and in Algeria. The most simple of these, called
'Roulets Volants,' consist merely of an upright shaft on which is fixed
the wheel having plain curved floats, driven by the impact of a column
of water discharged on the upper surface from a wooden trough or
spout. The maximum effect obtained from these wheels, under the
most favorable circumstances, is 9.35, 0.35 of the absolute work due to
the fall."
It was from an examination of this wheel that Foiirneyron was
led to make those experiments which resulted in the invention
of the modern turbine the first being erected by him in Franche-
Comte in the year 1827.
The Scotch-Irish may have introduced this mill into North
Carolina if it is true that it found its way into Scotland from
Norway. It seems more likely however that French Huguenots
who emigrated to North Carolina in the eighteenth century-
brought with them this- mill which in their former home was called
Roulet Volant (flying wheel). In the course of time the word
Volant may have been corrupted into willow by which name
Willow Wheel this mill is known at the present time in North
Carolina.
Biographical Notice of Joseph B. Walter, M.D.
BY B. F. FACKENTHAL, JR., SC.D., RIEGELSVILLE, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, January 18, 1918.)
DR. JOSEPH B. WALTER was one of the twelve gentle-
men who founded this society 38 years ago. He con-
tinued to be one of its most faithful and loyal members
down to the time of his passing away on August 18, 1917. He
was one of the original directors under the charter of 1885, and
at the time of his death was
serving as one of its vice-
presidents.
The first paper presented
before this society was read
by Mr. Josiah B. Smith,
July 29, 1880. That paper
was, therefore, the first one
published in Volume I, of
our proceedings, and the
portrait of Mr. Smith can
be seen on page 1 of that
volume, with the statement
that he not only read the
first paper, but was the first
to sign the constitution of
the society. When this
volume appeared. Dr. Wal-
ter took exception to that
statement, claiming that he
was himself the first to
sign the constitution. We then investigated the matter and found
that both statements were correct. Mr. Smith's name appears
first when the society was organized in 1880, and Dr. Walter's
name appears first in the application, in 1885, when the society
was chartered. I said to him then, that if in the ordering of
Providence, I was permitted to do so, that I would see that this
statement was made and that his portrait would also appear in
DR. JOSEPH B. WALTE:R
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF JOSEPH B. WALTER, M.D. 85
our proceedings. It is therefore a great privilege that I am per-
mitted to carry out this promise to our departed friend.
Dr. Walter was born in Plumstead township, Bucks county.
Pa., August 30, 1840, and was therefore 77 years of age at the
time of his death. His paternal grandfather, Michael Walter,
whose ancestors were residents of Alsace, Germany, was one of
the early settlers of Plumstead township, where he followed the
occupation of farming. He served for a number of years as
justice of the peace. John Walter, son of Michael, was born in
Plumstead township and in early life learned the carpenter's
trade. He married Mary, the daughter of Samuel Beek, a resi-
dent farmer of Plumstead township, and had five children, Cath-
arine, Joseph B. (the subject of this notice), Levi, Silas and
Emma B.
Joseph B. resided with his parents in Plumstead township until
the death of his mother, when at the age of about 8 or 9 years he
was taken into the family of his maternal uncle. William Beek,
who resided in Doylestown. He was there educated in the pub-
lic school and private schools, later he became a student at
Kishacoquillas Seminary in Mifflin county, Pa., and in the board-
ing school of Rev. M. S. Hofiford at Beverly, New Jersey.
In 1859, at the age of 19 years, he entered upon the profession
of teaching school, devoting his leisure hours to the study of
medicine under the direction of Dr. Isaac S. Moyer. His maiden
effort as a teacher was in Durham township, where he taught
for one scholastic year beginning in the fall of 1859, the term
was for eight months, for which he was paid $25 per month, out
of this he had to pay his board and other expenses. The amount
of money he could have saved out of this small salary could not
have gone very far toward his medical education, and yet it is to
be noted that many of our professional men resorted to teaching
to get funds to aid them in their studies. All honor to them for
their well directed energies. Later Dr. Walter taught school in
Warrington, Northampton and Southampton townships.
In August 1862 he put aside his professional studies and en-
listed for a term of nine months as a private in Company E,
122nd. Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, and was mustered out
of service in May 1863. He then taught school for a few months
at Richboro, Northampton township, and then re-enlisted in the
86 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF JOSEPH B. WALTER, M.D.
152nd. Pennsylvania Infantry. During this enlistment he was sta-
tioned, the greater part of the time, at headquarters in Virginia
and North Carolina. He was promoted to the rank of sergeant.
Besides many minor engagements he participated in the battles
of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and Appomatox. He was
mustered out of service at the close of the war.
Immediately following his return to civil life he entered the
office of Dr. Isaac S. Moyer, then of Plumsteadville, later of
Quakertown, and resumed the study of medicine. In 1866 he
entered the medical department of the University of Pennsyl-
vania, from which he was graduated as a medical doctor in the
spring of 1868. He at once associated himself with Dr. J. E.
Smith, of Yardley, and began the practice of medicine. In the
spring of 1870 he located in Solebury township, where he con-
tinued to practice his profession until 1915, when owing to fail-
ing health he retired.
Dr. Walter was an active member of the Bucks County Medi-
cal Society. In a paper read before the Bucks County Historical
Society (Volume I, page 509) he records that on one occasion
he attended a meeting of the medical society at Newtown when
but two members were present, of whom he was one. He was
also a member of the Lehigh Valley Medical Association and the
Pennsylvania State Medical Society. He was a close student and
kept in touch with the advanced thought and researches of his
profession. He was also a member of Doylestown Lodge, No.
245, F. & A. M., having been entered over fifty years ago, and
of Doylestown Chapter, No. 270, R. A. C. He was also a mem-
ber of the Commandery of Knights Templar.
Dr. Walter contributed a number of papers to this society,
which may be found in our printed volumes. He was a poet of
some ability and contributed many poems to the columns of our
local papers. One of his poems "What Goeffrey Chaucer Saw,"
is published in Volume I, page 401, of our proceedings. At the
anniversary of the Bucks County Medical Society he wrote the
anniversary poem entitled "The Doctor." He was also consider-
able of a Shakespearian student.^
On October 13, 1870, Dr. Walter was married to Miss Mary
6 In 1924, Mrs. Walter has published 74 of his poems in a neat and attrac-
tive volume of 204 pages.
MAKING A DUGOUT BOAT IN MISSISSIPPI 87
T. Child, daughter of George M. and Sarah (Wood) Child, of
Plumstead, who survives him.
In politics, Dr. Walter was a Republican, and took great in-
terest in the political affairs of the township and county. He was
a congenial companion, a close friend to those who knew him
best, an affable, generous and warm-hearted man.
Personally I knew him best as a member of this society, and
I soon learned to know that he could always be depended upon,
for he had the best interests of the society at heart. This was
shown in many ways, and not least by the fact that his library,
three hundred and eighty volumes with three book-cases, and a
number of other articles were presented to the society by his
widow at his behest.
Making a Dugout Boat in Mississippi.
BY FRANK K. SWAIN, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, January 19, 1918.)
MESSRS. R. L. LEARNED & SON, operating a band-
sawmill and dealing in sawed lumber, shingles and lath
at Natchez, Miss., use, at the present time, a number of
dugout canoes, perhaps fifty or more of them. They are tied up
along the Mississippi river about ninety miles above Natchez.
Three old ones were lying in the lumberyard at the Natchez mill
when visited by me in January 1917, waiting to be repaired to
send up the river again. The fourth one was bought by me for
the Bucks County Historical Society.
They are operated by a man standing upright, who with one
paddle pushes the canoe into the marshes or forest passing in and
out among the trees where it would be impossible to go with a
wider boat. They are treacherous to manage and turn over
easily, but most of the negroes and some of the white men can
ride them standing up. The negroes can stand up in them and
trim a tree or cut it down without the canoe taking water. They
are specially fine to shoot about in during a flood or high water
when the water is up to the tree tops, the thin canoe slipping
through the branches with the man lying down. When the tree
is cut and the log ready to float to the raft the man "rides" the
88 MAKING A DUGOUT BOAT IN MISSISSIPPI
log with the canoe trailing behind, empty. On reaching the
raft, at the river's edge, the man again returns in the canoe for
another log and the operation is repeated. Canoes were also used
by the manager or inspector for going about among the trees to
inspect, select and mark the trees to be cut down and to instruct
the workmen.
Learned's mill dates back to 1828 and is therefore ninety years
old. Fifty years ago the mill started to use canoes and the one
bought for our museum was one of the first made and used
there and the workmen said that it must be forty or fifty years
old. At an earlier time boats may not have been necessary as
there was doubtless ample timber close to the mill on the high
hills around Natchez and above along the river, which are now
bare of timber and under cultivation. Boats made of slabs are
now being built by the Learned Company to replace these canoes
as they wear out. These are wider, more bowed, not so long
and are provided with one or two seats. The best canoes were
made of gum trees because that wood does not split or crack
and the wood is very hard. Canoes are also made of cypress as
that wood does not rot easily. The canoe bought for our museum
is made of poplar. These canoes being long and narrow with
rather round bottoms turn over easily, so easily, the carpenter
said, that a man standing up with an extra large chew of to-
bacco in one cheek was likely to overbalance and tumble into the
water. He called his canoe "Night Hawk." I do not know
whether that was its name or whether any of them were named
or not.
Mr. Henry, a superintendent at the mill had made two or three
canoes, he now owns a small one, quite new, painted a bright
green with strips nailed on the sides so as to raise it as he is a
large stout man. In the middle of his boat there is a board run-
ning from side to side with a scooped out seat nailed to the
board. This is shaped like the seat of a Windsor chair or the
iron seat of a modern mowing machine. These canoes were all
adzed out. A colored "squatter" or wood-gatherer just below
the mill told me that he had made several canoes with a round
or curved bladed adze but had never burned or charred any, nor
had he ever seen any made in that way neither had he seen
MAKING A DUGOUT BOAT IN MISSISSIPPI 89
hominy mortars, bowls or any wooden ware made by charring,
but he knew that the Indians charred their boats.
A colored man, splitting shingles with a "frow" and using the
shaving horse and draw knife to taper the ends, working in a lit-
tle hut on the River road a mile above Vicksburg, told me he
had often made hominy mortars, wooden bowls and canoes from
cypress and other logs using a round bladed adze but had never
charred any nor had he seen any charred. He was born a slave
in 1856 on the plantation which afterwards become the National
Cemetery. He owns a dugout at the present time which he made
himself but he had loaned it to a friend who had gone duck
shooting several miles up the Mississippi river.
He said that canoes were seldom used now, as row-boats made
of slabs could be bought for very little money, and would carry
two or three persons. There are many row-boats in use along the
Mississippi river as far as Vicksburg but no canoes. Throughout
the South, I learned that many persons had seen canoes, or had
used them, but all dated back thirty or forty years, most of the
young people had heard of them but had never seen them.
A good canoe made from a perfect log with no knots, and
adzed smooth should last fiftv or more vears.
DUGOUT CANOE FROM NATCHEZ, MISS.
In Museum of Bucks County Historical Society. Length, 15 feet 10 inclies.
Another similar dugout canoe, also in the Museum, was found in the
marshes along the Neuse river, near Newbern. N. C, by William A. Labs.
Manners and Customs of Eighty Years Ago.
BY MARY S. woodman/ WYCOMBE, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, Jan. 19, 1918.)
THE following paper was prepared from notes which were
in substance the answers given by Miss Woodman to my
questions concerning various objects pointed out to her in
the collection in our museum, when in company with her brother
Wilson H. Woodman, his wife and her relative, Miss Valerie
Old, of Montclair, New Jersey. Miss Woodman visited the
museum on the afternoon of June 1st, 1917. We passed slowly
along the galleries, stopping before the alcoves to rest upon
chairs carried with us. Mr. Frank K. Swain took down a sum-
mary of her answers in pencil. The paper thus prepared in
typewritten manuscript, was presented and read by Miss Wood-
man's sister-in-law, Mrs. (Louisa H.) Wilson H. Woodman.
H. C. MERCER.
January 24, 1918.
Sea Sickness Cured. — A glass canteen-shaped bottle filled
with bitters to cure sea sickness in crossing the ocean was
brought to this country by Evan Ap Evan's family. He came
here in 1686 and the canteen was probably used by him on the
voyage. He was Miss Woodman's ancestor.
Merino Sheep. — Miss Woodman's father bought a half-breed
merino lamb from a man living on Long Island who had im-
ported full-blood merinos. The wool was so fine that the finest
machinery would not work it. They put a bell on the lamb and
it never got cross. Benjamin Smith, her grandfather, then raised
merinos and later populated the neighborhood with them. A
neighbor stole a merino lamb from their cellar, replacing it with
a native lamb. The theft was discovered later when the man's
children boasted in school that they too had a merino lamb. But
1 Miss Woodman is the daugliter of Henry and Mary Smith Woodman,
and was born in Buckingham township March 29, 1833. Her father was for
many years a minister among Friends and Hved where she still lives, with
her brother W^ilson Woodman and his wife, near Wycombe in Buckingham
township, on a farm lying along the Wrightstown township line. The hut
of Indian Billy, the last Delaware Indian in Bucks county, formerly stood
near the Woodman house. — W. S. E.
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF EIGHTY YEARS AGO 91
Benjamin Smith never said a word and did not get the lamb
again. Miss Woodman had a merino blanket at this time made
from the wool of the first merino.
Rose Water. — Her great-grandmother had a little still and
used to distill rose water from rose petals which she gathered
early in the morning. She placed them on plates in water, added
more from time to time and placed them in the sun each day.
Later the water was heated, strained, distilled and bottled and
guests were given a dram of rose water instead of whiskey.
Reaping. — Sickles were not used in her time but her father
had an old one in the shed-loft which he would get down once in
awhile to show the children how it had been used in his child-
hood and an Irish woman working for her mother reaped wheat
with it as late as 1844. She never saw a clover header but her
father raised broom-corn and an old man used to come to the
house to make brooms after the seeds had been combed off the
broom-corn.
Sassafras in Soap. — She never saw a winnowing basket but
had sifted wood ashes many a time through a wooden sieve for
making lye for soap. The charcoal was saved for other pur-
poses. Sassafras sticks were placed in the bottom of the ash
hopper, with a little lime, so that the perfume of the sassafras
got into the soap. The mucilage in the sassafras helped to "set
up" or harden the soap. Mr. Woodman said the sassafras was
simply "pow-wow" but Miss Woodman said the sassafras was
not all "pow-wow" either. The neighbors called it "sassafrac"
but her father insisted on the family calling it sassafras. Her
father did not allow his sons (her brothers) to whistle in the
house nor stand with their hands in their pockets. Bleeding by
doctors was not good. She remembered the cause of General
Washington's death and hated bleeding.
Hatter at Penn's Park. — Charles Reeder, an old hatter at
Penn's Park, who helped build the Almshouse, made a new fur
hat for her father in 1840. Her two little brothers had small
round "stove pipe" hats made of black fur. In Quaker meeting
her father took off his hat, stood up and spoke for a minute or
two all the time looking into his hat. As he sat down little Ned,
her brother thought a moment and then took off his "stove pipe"
hat, looked into it as he stood up and said in a loud voice "my
hat has got an eagle in it."
92 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF EIGHTY YEARS AGO
Dunce Caps. — In 1835 the first school director (her father)
was elected in Buckingham. He abolished dunce caps because he
thought it foolish and unnecessary. Mr. Woodman had worn
one for talking too much at "Rough and Ready School," the
Cider Press school near Wycombe.
Grammar. — The teacher of Concord school, Amos Doan, said
"There wasn't no use in no grammar."
Pumps. — Chalkley Twining, of Mozart, who succeeded James
Conard, made the last bored-out wooden pumps.
Shoes. — Thomas Foster, of Cedar Lane, (a road leading from
Penn's Park to Rushland), used to come to the house to make
shoes for the whole family as late as 1843. The comet made its
appearance at this time, 1843. It was called "Miller's Fire."
Foster was at the Woodman place at the time. He brought
Charlie Matty, a journeyman, with him, also his own son and
some times another boy as apprentices. Shoemakers carried dif-
ferent sized lasts but the Woodman family had their own and
her brothers kept theirs in the shed-loft. They had a shoemak-
er's bench made and kept there for the shoemaker. Some people
had rights and left made but her father would not. He reversed
his shoes every morning so they would not set or shape to the
feet. In 1848 and 1849, the harnessmaker, the tailor, and the
shoemaker came to the house at the same time to make harness,
coats and shoes. At that time her father and mother, with the
other children, went sleighing to visit friends in Chester county.
Miss Woodman, then ten years old, remained at home with her
grandmother. Old Tommy, the shoemaker, staying there at the
time, kept house. The world was supposed to burn up with
"Miller's Fire" and that evening on going to the barn she saw
the whole western sky a flame of fire and badly frightened she
ran into the house to tell her grandmother who only laughed, as
it was nothing but a beautiful winter sunset and not the comet.
Tombstones at Penn's Park. — Amos Doan, a teacher at Con-
cord school, pulled up the tombstones in the old graveyard at
Penn's Park together with the wall surrounding it and had them
hauled away. He made up a frolic to get men to help haul the
stones and to wall up a bank along the road at the present Jacob
Livezey's house. Previous to this he had pulled up the stones
and thrown them in a heap and Edward Atkinson, a boy, saw
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF EIGHTY YEARS AGO 93
men unloading stones at the bank and others driving away from
the graveyard and knew the stones came from the old graveyard
wall. Later when the graveyard was plowed over and
cultivated Doan's wife and daughter, would never eat bread,
made from grain grown in this -field. Bob Houpt who came to
Penn's Park from Chester county, said he built a stone marked
"Zebulon Heston" into the wall of the old Gaine housed The
Heston stone was supposed to come from the Penn's Park grave-
yard but many doubted this story with many others told by Houpt
because he loved to brag and cause a sensation. John Chap-
man's house was at the spring, the present Ruckman farm.
William Linton's School. — William Linton kept a Latin
school called Wrightstown Boarding School in 1772. One win-
ter he had six boarders, and several other pupils came on horse-
back. The building was made of logs with clapboards and had
three dormer windows of four lights each in the garret room
where the boy boarders slept in four beds. Miss Woodman's
father was a pupil there, also William Shriner, afterwards a
Quaker preacher. There was no glass in the dormer windows
and beds were often covered wath snow, nevertheless the rule
was that the door should be kept open for ventilation and the
boys took turns sleeping in the draft at the door.
End of Open Fire Cooking. — At Miss Woodman's home egg
custards were baked in a bake oven. The crusts were first put in
on the wooden shovel and then the custard was poured in with a
large long handled dipper. Tenplate stoves were sometimes used
for cooking but she preferred cooking in the open fire which was
last used for cooking in her house in 1848. The fire place was
then boarded in and they bought their first cook stove, although
a tenplate stove had been used at odd times at least two years
earlier, 1846 to 1848. She never saw^ a hand corn mill.
Slaves. — Her parents were Abolitionists. In her younger days
the negroes were natives, having been here a long time. They
ate at the same table with white people and were considered one
of the family as long as they behaved themselves. She often
tended the colored washwoman's baby when she came to the
1 The old Gaine house stood on the west side of the turnpike in Penn's
Park at its intersection with the road to Rushland. Cyrus Gaines house
and store were directly opposite across the Rushland road and the latter
Charles Gaine's house is some distance down the turnpike toward the
Neshaminy. — W. S. E.
94 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF EIGHTY YEARS AGO
house to do the washing. Old Corn, a colored man, a member
of Wrightstown Meeting, was the son of a colored slave be-
longing to the Hickst family and was born on the ship when the
Hickst family came over from Cornwall, England, and was
named Cornwall. The Hikst family- owned slaves and were not
Quakers. This family also owned Indian Billy's graveyard. Dur-
ing the time of the "underground railroad" a southern negro
came to the house of a neighbor also an Abolitionist. The man
and his wife were both ill and there was no one else to lead him
through the dark forest to the next "station" except their daugh-
ter, sixteen years old who, without fear, went with him for sev-
eral miles in the dark night on foot and in the rain, choosing
paths farthest from houses to avoid detection. The man reached
Canada and later sent word back to the family of his safe arrival.
Making Green Ointment. — (This note by Miss Woodman
was not taken on June, 1917, but added later, and read by Mrs.
Wilson H. Woodman, at the meeting.) The ointment was used
for aches and pains, earache, swelled faces, swelled neck-glands,
rheumatism, burns, sore udder of the cow, etc. The following
herbs were gathered the day before the ointment party : 1 Solo-
mon's Seal and Jacob's Ladder ; 2. Vervain (then and there pro-
nounced Vervine), the leaves of which were also used for boils;
3. Daisy, a small and scarce species growing only on "Pine Hill,"
a hill on the Woodman Farm planted by one of Mr. Woodman's
ancestors, with one of the smaller species of pine, not white
pine ; 4. Cureall or Healall ; 5, Comf rey, the root of which only
was used, grown in the garden ; 6, Spikenard. All these herbs
(then and there pronounced "yarbs") except 1, 3, 4 were grown in
the garden. On the morning following the gathering, a party of
ointment (pronounced Eintment") makers, all bringing contri-
butions of butter, came to the house and the freshly gathered
herbs, of yesterday were very finely chopped, generally by the
women. About half-a-bushel of these herbs were put in a large
iron pot, together with all the butter brought to the meeting, and
cooked for a long time, continuously, until all the juice of the
herbs was boiled out. Bowls were then brought and filled with
2 This family who spelled the name "Hickst" should not be confounded
with the old Quaker family of Hicks. Charles Hicks from Cornwall, Kn-?-
land, married one of the Kemble girls and through her inherited part of the
large Kemble tract in the southwest corner of Buckingham near the Wood-
man farm. — W. S. E.
CUPPING AND BLEEDING 95
quantities of the ointment and distributed to the persons present,
according to the quantity of butter brought by each.
Cupping and Bleeding.
BY GEORGE M. GRIM, M.D., OTTSVILLE, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, Jan. 19, 1918.)
THE progress in the therapeutic art, as opposed to the meth-
ods pursued by pioneer doctors ; the advancement in surgery,
compared with the barber surgeon ; modern medicine as com-
pared with the crude methods of our forefathers, is a subject
which would in itself make an interesting paper ; but today we
wish to consider only two of the means of healing, practiced in
recent years, which, too, apparently will soon pass to the medical
junk pile.
Bleeding, up to the past fifteen or twenty years was a "sheet
anchor" as it was termed, in a great many diseases. The doctor's
lance occupied as important position as his thermometer today ;
and it was used in a great variety of diseases. A doctor upon
his daily rounds then, would have missed a lance more than a
thermometer today, having use for it probably a half dozen times
during his rounds. They were the days of bleeding and the lance
was used freely in fevers, pneumonia, apoplexy, all congestive
diseases, fits of all kinds, vertigo, sunstroke, and in fact, at one
time it was a matter of routine practice in almost all diseases.
Later, the physician began to select his cases, using it only when
particularly indicated, as in plethoric conditions, pneumonia, ap-
oplexy, etc. In the indiscriminate use of the lance there were, no
doubt, -patients bled that should not have been, but as a thera-
peutic measure, it then occupied, and still occupies, an important
position in treating certain selected cases ; and if patients formerly
died from the lances use, some die now because it is not used.
Personally, I have never seen any of the failures from blood
letting, but have witnessed some remarkable reliefs. As a boy,
I held the basin for my father in the office many time, and heard
the remark after the operation, "Doctor, I feel fine — quite like a
96 CUPPING AND BLEEDING
different person" and their actions and appearances would indi-
cate the same result. There, too, was a class of elderly persons
who would come for their bleeding three or four times a year,
suffering from dizziness, vertigo, short breath on exertion, gen-
eral fullness and oppression in the head, symptoms of what would
now be termed high pressure.
My father, who practiced towards the end of the bleeding age,
and when it was considered malpractice to bleed in fevers, often
remarked that he never witnessed anything so remarkable as the
relief he himself received when bled by the old family doctor in
scarlet fever. There can be no doubt, in my mind that a toxic
blood removed from the veins must be for the good of the patient.
My first personal experience in bleeding was in epilepsy. Two,
big, fat, plethoric girls in their teens. My father started me on
these as my cases to experiment upon, on my return from medical
college, as every young doctor needs some real material to render
his book training more actual. He, himself, had started the treat-
ment after they had continued getting their fits three or four
times a week in spite of the use of bromides and other sedatives.
He knew that bleeding would help them from his first experi-
ment, when the lance accidentally striking the artery had ex-
tracted such a quantity of the toxic fluid that no fits returned for
one year. This seemed to prove to him that bleeding at selected
intervals would be beneficial and he put me "on the job." My
experience could only confirm the accuracy of his diagnosis, or
conclusion as to beneficial results of bleeding. There is no doubt,
that bleeding in certain cases is very useful, and is today often
a neglected remedy. The pendulum has swung to the opposite
extreme. Modern medical teachers must be somewhat at fault,
as the modern physician often knows little of the science or its
technique.
Blood letting is generally considered under general or local con-
ditions. Medical blood letting is performed by means of either
the spring lance, thumb lance, or bitoury (a slender surgical
knife). One of the most superficial veins of the arm, or dorsum
of foot, generally the large superficial vein at the elbow, is usually
selected; the patient sitting on a chair (unless ill in bed) places
his arm, easily, upon the back of another chair, a bandage is ap-
plied about four inches above the elbow sufficiently tight to con-
CUPPING AND BLEEDING 97
strict the vein but not the artery. The vein then becomes very
prominent; the lance is placed directly over this (generally diag-
onally) and sprung. The blood will flow freely into a basin held
by an assistant. The quantity allowed to flow depends upon the
condition of the patient, but generally a half basin full, or the drain
is continued until the patient begins to feel a little light headed
or symptoms of approaching syncope appear. A compress is
now placed over the aperture and a bandage applied which im-
mediately stops the flow of blood. The arm should be carried in
a sling or kept inactive for twelve to twenty-hour hours.
Local blood letting is performed by cupping, by leeches or by
incisions with a small sharp scalpel.
Cupping is performed upon almost any part of the body not too
bony. A vacuum is produced by a small piece of paper, or a wad
of cotton saturated with alcohol, lighted and thrown into the cup
or lighted within it and the cup quickly attached to the spot se-
lected. The flame immediately goes out when the cup is placed
on the skin and the vacuum produced sucks the flesh into the cup.
This suction for five or ten minutes produces a considerable flow
of blood to that point and the part within the cup swells up into
a large blood swelling. The operation may stop here and this is
what is known as "dry cupping," and has the general effect upon
the system of mustard or any application that draws the blood
from the general circulation to a local portion of body. In "wet
cupping" the scarifyer is placed upon these swellings of dilated
blood vessels and when snapped the dozen or sixteen little knives
pierce these superficial vessels and bleeding ensues ; the cup is
re-applied in the same manner as above and under the efifects of
its suction the blood flows freely and the cup fills up. It may
be washed oflf and re-applied if more blood is desired. Usually
from one-half to an ounce of blood is removed by each cup. It is,
at times, a valuable local procedure and is used in pneumonia,
pleurisy, rheumatism and a variety of complaints. A few years
ago we had the "cupper," a man, or more often a woman who
followed it as a business and responded to the calls of those de-
siring the treatment. Instead of the alcohol flame, the vacuum is
produced in some cups by a syringe attached to a stopcock at its
top or by a rubber bulb attached to the top of cup.
My last case of cupping was but a few months back in a case
98 CUPPING AND BLEEDING
of high pressure with fullness in head and falling feeling. I
cupped the back of the neck and over the shoulder and removed
about one-half to two-thirds of a pint of blood. It produced con-
siderable benefit.
LEECHING.
The leech or blood sucker, as popularly known, is a little ani-
mal cupper. They make a nice little puncture, apply their cup,
and suck till full and then fall off. More considerate than that
more intelligent leech who wont fall off when full, or stop his
blood sucking practices.
The little animal is still sought for, and its use is a favorite
measure for the local abstraction of blood by many doctors and
their patients.
Leeches may be applied to any part of the body. They have
been very popular in inflammation not particularly applicable to
cupping, for instance conjunctiviation, or inflammation around
the eye and nose. The operation sometimes, however, leaves a
little scar, and this might not be desired in a beautiful face.
This, is, however, not likely if the leech is left on until it falls off.
I am told a great many modern drug stores in the city have
leeches in stock, an indication that their use is being utilized, and
may mean that they are being prescribed by certain present-day
physicians. They are generally easily applied, but if they do not
readily take hold a little smear of blood will immediately attach
them. They will relieve a local congestion ' very readily of its
over-supply of blood.
The American leech in northern latitudes is taken from creeks,
etc., in summer. A great many doctors preferred the French,
Swiss, or German leeches. They were more active and took a
hold better. The American leech often has to be coaxed to be-
gin operations by applying warm milk or blood.
Leeches are at present supplied to the trade by many drug
firms, and are used pretty extensively today.
NOTE ON CUPPING AND BLEEDING BY DR. MERCER
The accompanying illustration shows H and AAA nine
cupping vessels of glass to be used with the fire method, from
Dr. Walter, of Solebury, Bucks county, about 1870. the diameter
Cupping Vessels and Instruments illustrating note on the paper
by Dr. George M. Grim.
A & H — Glass Cupping Vessels.
B & C — Scarifier and Case.
D — Gla.'^s Cupping Vessels
wiih perforated tops
and brass rim.
E & F — Thumb Lancet and Case.
G — Scarifier and Case.
N — Bottle of Spirits
I — Glass Cupping Vessel, per-
forated top.
J — Tin Cupping Vessels.
L, — Wooden Cupping Vessels
with rubber bulbs.
M — Hard Rubber Cupping Ves-
sels,
for igniting cotton.
CUPPING AND BLEEDING 99
of the largest glass is two inches. J. six cupping vessels of tin
(fire method) Pottsville, Penna., about 1800. L, three wooden
cups with rubber bulbs for suction without fire, Lancaster, Penna.,
about 1850. M, two hard rubber cups (fire method) Lancaster,
Penna., about I85O. D D, in the box, two glass cupping vessels
with perforated tops cemented upon brass rims (bees wax show-
ing on the rims) for attachment to a syringe in the suction pro-
cess without tire. The syringe was probably mounted with a stop
valve but no old cupping syringes have as yet been found for the
museum. They are described as used with brass attachments and
valves before the discovery of india-rubber in the 1751 edition
of Chambers' Encyclopaedia. The syringe itself is very ancient
and described by Hero of Alexandria about 150 B. C. I, a glass
cupping vessel used by Mrs. Jane Mundy near Rush Valley,
Bucks county, about 1800. Artificially perforated on the top.
Method of air exhaustion unknown. Knight's mechanical dic-
tionary says that the Chinese, Hindoos and Malays, about 1877,
in thus drawing blood sucked with the mouth through a tube
applied to a copper cup and that the ancient Egyptians sucked
directly wath the mouth upon perforated cups of cow's horns,
closed with a leather valve. The explorer of Thibet, Father Hue,
saw, in 1844, the Thibetans proceeding in the same way and
closing the hole with pellets of chewed paper. But no tradition
of sucking with the mouth in this process has yet been heard of
in Bucks county, and no cow horn cups have been found. B B,
in the box, two scarifiers, brass instruments releasing by a trig-
ger numerous small knives for scarifying the congested part after
the first application of the cup. This instrument must have been
invented about 1715 or before 1750 since Chambers Encyclopedia
of 1751, possibly quoting the 1721 editions, says that before his
publication small cutting wheels, and we infer scarifying knives,
were used. No illustration or mention of the scarifier or valve
syringe appears among the described surgical instruments in
the English translation of La Vagnions Complete Surgery of
1699 or in William Salmon's Ars Chirurgica published in Lon-
don in 1698. B, in box at right, leather case for scarifier. Dr.
Walter, Solebury, about 1870. B and C, in box left, brass
scarifier, inscribed "G. R. Wa Wun" and case, Dr. Muehlenberg.
Lancaster, about 1850. Box exclusive of articles AAA and
100 CUPPING AND BLEEDING
upper BBC, shows the cupping case of Dr. J. B. Walter, of
Solebury, about 1870. The width of the box is nine inches. N,
his bottle with spirits for igniting cotton for cupping. G, scarify-
ing knife of unknown ownership. E, thumb lancet for bleeding,
not cupping. It lies in its leather case and was used by Rudolph
Bensel of New Galena, Bucks county, about 1850. F, thumb
lancet case of leather stamped with Traue Nicht Es Stecht,
translated "Look out it pricks."
Mr. Leidy Sheip, of Decatur street, Doylestown, informs us
through Mr. Mann that he practiced cupping with tin cups as did
his sister, Mrs. Amos Baringer and his mother. His last opera-
tion about thirty years ago being upon his brother for a local
inflammation. He heated the cup with lighted paper and used
a scarifier. The father of Mrs. Amos Baringer, Jr., Oliver
Hetrick of New Britain, also cupped with tin cups and lighted
paper. Mr. Sheip had seen glass cups but none of other material
and had never heard of producing the suction directly by the lips.
The cupping process is very ancient. It is described by Hippo-
crates, 413 B. C. and Hero of Alexandria about 150 B. C., speaks
of cupping with or without fire. The fire method is well illus-
trated as follows. Fill a saucer with water and a glass tumbler
with crumpled paper. Light the latter and set the tumbler up-
sidedown in the saucer. The fire goes out and the water rises
in the glass.
On information just received July 24th from Dr. George H.
Packard, White Rock, Madison county. North Carolina, we
learn that the process of cupping and bleeding is not now known
amongst the mountain people of Madison county, western
North Carolina.
George Taylor, Signer of the Declaration of Independence.
BY WARREN S. ELY, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, January 19, 1918.)
GEORGE TAYLOR was born in the year 1716. The facts
in reference to the first twenty years of his life rest al-
most wholly on family tradition. According to the most
reliable information obtainable, the place of his nativity was
somewhere in Ireland, where his father was a well-to-do-barrister.^
He received a good English education and was desired by his
father to prepare himself for the medical profession. To this
he was very averse and for that or some other reason ran away
from home and took passage on a sailing vessel bound for
Philadelphia, at which port he landed sometime in the year 1736.
The several biographies of George Taylor, including the one
in Volume I, of our publications, pp. 326-332, prepared by the
late Charles Laubach, have stated that he came to this country as
a redemptioner and that soon after his arrival he was employed
at the Durham Iron Works as a furnace filler. Having recently
discovered that this and other statements concerning him con-
tained in the several biographies were incorrect, I will endeavor
to clear up the early history of this Bucks county signer of the
Declaration of Independence, and also give some newly discov-
ered facts in reference to his later life.
There is no evidence that he came as a redemptioner, (that his
services for a term of years were sold on his arrival for the pay-
ment of his passage), nor that he served for a number of years
or at any time, as a common laborer. A relative of the family,
who died in 1862 at an advanced age, is authority for the state-
ment that there was no such tradition in the family of Col. Taylor.
This lady born in Easton during the lifetime of Col. Taylor and
was during her long life intimately associated with the family,
and therefore her statement is worthy of consideration.
Soon after his arrival in Pennsylvania, George Taylor found
employment with Samuel Savage, Jr., at Warwick furnace, in
East Nantmeal township, Chester county. What the nature of
1 Later information leads to the belief that he was born in England. See
Dr. Fackenthal's paper, page 114 hereof.
102 GEO. TAYLOR, SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
his initial employment at the furnace was cannot be determined,
but the fact that he was book-keeper "in 1739 and qualified to
take charge of the blast furnace and of Coventry forge as man-
ager several years later and retain that position for ten years or
more is evidence that his position was a responsible one.
Samuel Savage, Jr., was a son of Samuel Savage, Sr., who was
associated with his father-in-law Thomas- Rutter in the establish-
ment of the iron works at Manatawny, Berks county, in or about
the year 1718, and died there in 1720, leaving to survive him
his widow Ann, nee Rutter, and six children, Samuel, Rebecca.
Thomas, Joseph, Ruth and John.
Ann (Rutter) Savage, the widow married about 1721, Samuel
Nutt, of Coventry, Chester county, who with William Branson
had established the Christine furnace and Coventry forge on
French creek about 1720. His nephew and heir, Samuel Nutt,
Jr., married Rebecca Savage, daughter of Mrs. Nutt by her
former marriage. Samuel Nutt by his will dated September 25,
1737, devised to his wife Ann "the halfe, my shear, of a hun-
dred acres whereon the forge standeth and the halfe of the land
or tract whereon the Furnace standeth" some other real estate
and "one hundred acres on the north side of the south branche
of French Creek in such place as she shall think proper to Build
a Furnace on * * *." His nephew, Samuel Nutt, and Re-
becca, his wife, were made resuduary legatees.
Differences having arisen between Nutt and Branson, the
partnership in the iron works was dissolved and each erected
separate furnaces. Branson erected Redding furnace in 1736-7.
and the furnace erected in 1737-8 as provided for in Samuel
Nutt's will was called Warwick furnace.
Ann Nutt conveyed a large part or interest in Warwick furnace
to her son Samuel Savage, Jr.. who became its proprietor on its
completion. He also acquired a plantation in Coventry township,
and his brother Thomas, who died unmarried in 1739, devised
him a plantation in Nantmeal township. Samuel Savage, Jr.,
married prior to 1733, Ann Taylor, daughter of Isaac Taylor,
Deputy Surveyor General for Chester county, by his wife Martha
Roman, and granddaughter of John Taylor, who came from Wilt-
shire, England, in 1684, and settled in Chester county. She was
a member of the Society of Friends and was disowned for mar-
GEO. TAYLOR, SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 103
riage "out of unity" in the year above mentioned. Her husband,
Samuel Savage, died leaving a will dated September 22, 1741,
which was probated May 26, 1742. It devised to his wife, Ann,
the rents, issues and profits of his two plantations for life, and
also the sole use, rents, issue and profits of his share and part in
the iron furnace called Warwick furnace "to be by her possest
and enjoyed until my son, Samuel, shall arrive at the age of
twenty-one years." She was named executrix ; her brother, John
Taylor, Henry Hockley (who had married Esther Rutter, aunt
of the testator), and John Potts (who had married his sister,
Ruth Savage), were to assist her and act as trustees for the
children.
The widow (Ann Savage) married, sometime in 1742, George
Taylor, and he in accordance with the laws and usages of Colonial
times assumed control of his wife's business affairs and estate
including the settlement of her former husband's estate. For
some part of the period of the minority of the son, the furnace
was leased, John Potts, the brother-in-law, was the lessee in
1744 and paid the rent to George Taylor, but for a great part of
the period it was operated under the management of George
Taylor, who was also manager of Coventry forge. Samuel Nutt,
Jr., died soon after his uncle, Samuel Nutt, Sr., and the widow
Rebecca (Savage) Nutt married Robert Grace, the friend of Dr.
Benjamin Franklin, to whom the great philosopher entrusted the
manufacture of his scientifically constructed iron fireplaces.
The coming of age of Samuel Savage, third, in 1752, termi-
nated Taylor's proprietorship of Warwick furnace, and there
had probably been some friction between him and Mrs. Nutt and
Robert Grace, the other parties interested, as evidenced by the
following entry in the day book of Coventry forge :
"April 24th. 1752,— Carried a letter to George Taylor from Anna Nutt
and Robert Grace to discharge the sd Geo. Taylor as manager for the
sd Nutt and Grace as their manager at Coventry Forge and the sd
Taylor took the letter from me and said he would write an answer as
soon as he had time to do so.
his
(Signed) Michael X Dodson.
Witness, Jno. Hunt." mark
The tax lists of Chester county for the period covering the early
residence of George Taylor at Warwick are missing. His nam/^
104 GEO. TAYLOR, SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
appears on those of East Nantmeal township, for the years 1747,
1750, 1753, and 1754, but not later. He was captain of one of
the Associated Companies of Chester county in 1747, of which
Samuel Flower, later his partner at Durham, was colonel. Robert
Grace was also captain of a company in the same regiment.
As above stated Mrs. Taylor's tenure of, and interest in War-
wick furnace terminated at about this time, though she held a
life interest in the two farms. In the meantime William Branson
had conveyed all his lands, furnaces and forges to his four
daughters and their husbands, Samuel Flower, Bernard Van
Leer, Richard Hockley and Lynford Lardner, though the furnace
seems to have been run in his name until his death in 1760. It
was later operated for several years by Col. Samuel Flower,
but along with Warwick furnace and Coventry forge passed to
the ownership of Rutter & Potts during the Revolution.
Samuel Flower, as part owner of Redding furnace, was doubt-
less well acquainted with the resources and abilities of George
Taylor, and in the spring of 1755 joined him in leasing Durham
iron works in Bucks county for a term of five years. The works
were then owned by William Logan, Arithony Morris and others
and were operated under the firm name of William Logan &
Company.
A letter written by William Logan to Richard Peters in refer-
ence to some surveys being made of land adjoining the Durham
tract under date of 11 mo. 10th, 1755, in which he enclosed a
letter of George Taylor, says :
"I just now reed, the Inclosed from Durham. The person that
writes it is one in Company with Capt. Flower, who has leased Dur-
ham Works for five years." (See Penna. Arch. 1st. Series Vol. II,
p. 479.)
Unfortunately the "inclosed" was not published but there is
abundant evidence that the writer "was George Taylor. In a long
statement of William Peters and Jacob Duche in reference to the
influence of the Quakers over the Indians at the treaty at Easton
in November, 1756, published in Pennsylvania Archives, 1st
Series, Vol. Ill, p. 274, is the following.
* * * "And we having been previously told by ye Govrs Secre-
tary yt ye Govr and he had been informed by Mr. Taylor, ye Iron-
master at Durham, at whose house they lay on their way to Easton
&c."
GEO. TAYLOR, SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 105
Letters recently published in "Correspondence with Early Iron
Masters" in the Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Bio-
graphy, include one written from Durham by Geo. Taylor under
date of May 6, 1757, ordering supplies for the Durham Company.
Another dated at Durham Oct. 8, 1757, signed by Wm. Harrison,
the bookkeeper, written to the same parties begins, "Mr. Taylor
desires you to send per bearer ." Still another letter
by Harrison is dated Aug. 28. 1757. x\s further proof that
George Taylor was at Durham in 1757 the records of the Court
of Quarter Sessions of Bucks county show^ that he was appointed
March 17, 1757, as one of a jury to review a road from Durham
through Springfield, and signed the return of review June 13,
1757. He was commissioned a justice of the peace for Bucks
county, February 28, 1761, and is on record as acknowledging a
deed as such a justice at Durham, May 25, 1763.
In 1763 he removed to Easton, and seems to have had the
leading part in the erecting of the courthouse, though he is not
named as one of the trustees by the Act of /Assembly passed
March 4, 1763.
He was elected to Provincial Assembly from Northampton in
1764 and was regularly re-elected thereafter until 1770. He was
commissioned a justice of the peace for Northampton county,
November 19, 1764, and again March 15, 1766. As a legislator
his eminent ability was at once recognized. 1765 he was ap-
pointed to draw up the address from the Assembly of Pennsyl-
vania to the king on the subject of the Stamp Act, and this de-
mand for the repeal of the obnoxious act does him great credit.
On March 10, 1767, Col. Taylor purchased a tract of 331 acres
of land in what is now the borough of Catasauqua, Northampton
County, on which he had been erected a substantial stone house
still standing. From the fact that the George Taylor tract was
part of the same original patent of which a Nathaniel Taylor
owned part, it has been assumed, without authority, that George
Taylor was his son. Mrs. Taylor died in that Catasauqua house,
and in 1776 he sold the property to John Benezet. There is no
information at hand to show when he removed from there, but
letters w^ritten by him in 1772, dated from Northamptontown
(Allentown) suggest that he may have been living with his son
James at that place, James having moved there from Easton in
106 GEO. TAYLOR, SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
1772. At that time Allentown was in Northampton Comity, and
George Taylor continued to act as a justice of the peace for that
county. On March 9, 1774, he was commissioned by the gov-
ernor with a Dedimus Protcstatuni, to administer the oaths of
office to the new county officials.
The deed of partition dividing the Durham property bears date
December 24, 1773, and early in 1774 George Taylor leased that
part which had been allotted to the Galloways. He then moved
to Durham in Bucks County, where he made his home until 1779.
when he moved to Greenwich Township, New Jersey, and in
April 1780 moved to Easton.
On September 21, 1774, he was named as a member of the
Committee of Observation by the Committee of Safety of North-
ampton County. He was elected to the Pennsylvania Assembly
from Northampton County in 1775, and represented that county
as a delegate to the Provincial Convention held at Philadelphia
January 23, 1775. However, though he continued a member of
the Assembly and assisted in drafting the instructions to the
delegates to the Continental Congress named by that body, there
is abundance of evidence that he was a resident of Durham from
1774 or early in 1775 until 1779.
At a regularly advertised meeting of "The Officers of the
Different Associated Companies of Bucks County," held at John
Bogart's tavern in Buckingham, July 20, 1775. for the purpose
of electing field officers for the three battalions of said associa-
tors, he was elected colonel of the Third Battalion, with Robert
Robinson as lieutenant colonel, John Tenbrook as first major,
John Heany as second major, and John Keller as standard bearer.
The advertisement of a post rider in the Pennsylvania Gazette
of August 20, 1775, "proposes to go from Philadelphia to Allen-
town in Northampton county, once a week" gives among his
references "George Taylor, at Durham.
While there is no evidence that Colonel Taylor ever saw any
active service in the field as commander of the Third Battalion
of the Bucks County Associators, he very evidently accepted the
position, was commissioned, and took part in the drilling and
organization of the battalion. He is almost invariably referred
to and addressed as "Coll. Taylor" by his friends and others in
their correspondence from the date of his appointment, and is
GEO. TAYLOR, SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 107
referred to in contemporaneous accounts by that title. He was
probably selected by reason of his military experience as captain
of the associators in 1747 in Chester county. After the battalion
was organized it was left in command of Lieutenant Colonel Rob-
inson, while Colonel Taylor was occupied as a member of Assem-
bly, a delegate to Continental Congress, where he showed marked
ability, as well as in a number of other positions of legislative and
diplomatic character, and in the management of his furnace at
Durham which was the first to turn out ammunition for the use
of the patriot army.
When four of the delegates to Continental Congress from
Pennsylvania declined to sign the Declaration of Independence,
George Taylor was one of the delegates selected in their place
on July 15, 1776. He immediately took his seat and when the en-
grossed copy of the historic document was presented before Con-
gress for the signatures of the delegates, he signed it on August
2, 1776. Some months later he was one of the committee of
Congress who drew up resolutions calling upon the Assembly
of the several states to raise troops for the defense of American
liberties. On January 20, 1777, he was selected by Congress to
arrange for and preside at the Indian treaty at Easton.
On March 4, 1777, he was elected a member of the first Su-
preme Executive Council, the executive department of the Com-
monwealth of Pennsylvania under the constitution of 1776, from
Northampton county. He was one of the most active members
of this body and in daily attendance of its sessions, filling im-
portant positions, until about the middle of April when he came
home to Durham sick. The following autograph letter in posses-
sion of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, written to Timo-
thy Matlack, Secretary of the Commonwealth, explains his
absence.
"Durham, May 24th, 1777.
Sir^
I have been confined to my chamber for four weeks past by a violent
fever. I am just now beginning to walk about. You wnll please let his
Excellency the President, know that as soon as my health will permit
I will attend the Council.
I am with great Respt, &c,
Sir, Your Most Humbl Servt.
GEO. TAYLOR."
To Timothy Matlack, Esqr."
108 GEO. TAYLOR, SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
Whether his continued indisposition prevented his returning
as promised in the above letter, or whether it was found more
advisable for him to remain at the furnace in order to more
rapidly fill his large contracts with the government for round
shot does not appear, but there is no record of his having ever
attended the Council after the above date, and on November,
1777, Major Jacob Arndt, of Easton, was elected in his stead.
In December, 1773, after the Durham tract had been par-
titioned among the several owners and that part on which the
iron works and mines were located adjudged to Grace Galloway,
daughter and heir of Lawrence Growdon and wife of Joseph
Galloway, George Taylor leased the iron works of Galloway for
a term of five years, with the privilege of five years more.
Unfortunately the early records of the Durham iron works
have not been preserved and we have to rely on contemporaneous
correspondence and accounts for the scanty scraps of history of
the works down to 1779.
It is evident, however, that George Taylor carried on a success-
ful business for five years from 1774 to 1778 inclusive, not only
in the production of pig iron and bar iron made at the forges in
New Jersey in which he was interested, but in the sale of country
castings, and stoves (including Franklin stoves which were made
at Durham). An important department of his business, which
was a great feature of every furnace of that day, was the com-
munity supply department, through which the people of the
neighborhood were supplied with every article of local consump-
tion and industry from a yard of tickenburg or a pound of sugar
to a gallon of whiskey or molasses, there is even a record of
a hat obtained for Mrs. Miller "to be somewhat in the fashion."
There was very little ready money in those days and the farmers
often paid for the necessities of life and the implements of their
industry by hauling iron or charcoal or cutting and "coaling" the
immense quantities of wood needed at the works.
With the very beginning of preparation for armed resistance to
British aggression in 1775, Col. Taylor prepared himself to manu-
facture cannon balls for use of the patriot army. On August 2,
1775, he secured a contract from the State Committee of Safety,
estimating that he could make the delivery at twenty pounds per
ton, the committee thought his bid too high and requested him to
GEO. TAYLOR, SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 109
reduce it to sixteen pounds which he readily agreed to do, but
found later that he was a considerable loser at that price and on
October 18, 1775, the Commissary board "after consulting Mr.
Grubb and Mr. Potts, iron masters, were of the same opinion
and he was allowed eighteen pounds per ton." He made his
first shipment which consisted of 18, 24 and 32 pounders on
August 25, 1775, which is acknowledged by the Commissary
Robert Towers, this was quickly followed by other shipments at
short intervals, and many tons were furnished long before the
Declaration of Independence. And moreover his shipments seem
to have been the very first that were delivered by any furnace in
Pennsylvania. His shipments consisted of cannon balls, but I
also find on the minutes of the committee of safety that the
commissary of military supplies was directed to w^rite to him to
send down a sample of his small cannon for inspection, show-
ing that he also made cannon, but there is no record of his can-
non shipments. The production of shot and cannon balls also of
bar shot (consisting of two half shot or cannon balls separated
and held together by a strong square bar of wrought iron,) were
continued vmder the tenure of the Backhouse & Company firm,
the account books of which are in possession of the Bucks County
Historical Society and show^ that hundreds of tons were furnished
the government 1780 to 1782.
When Joseph Galloway, after his strenuous efforts to induce
Franklin and others to join him in an effort to secure redress of
the grievances of the colonies by peaceable means, had finally been
put to flight by the "rabble" he so much detested, and had taken
refuge within the British lines, he was attainted as a traitor and
his property, including the Durham works, (held in right of his
wife) was seized by Col. George Wall, Jr., the agent for forfeited
estates. George Taylor claimed that he was promised and en-
titled to a renewal of his lease just exiring, and set the following
appeal to the Supreme Executive Council.
"To the Honble. the Supreme Executive Council for the State of
Pennsylvania.
The Petition of George Taylor, of Durham, in the County of Bucks,
Humbly Sheweth,
That your Petitioner about five years ago, rented from Joseph Gallo-
way, late of the City of Philadelphia, the Lands and Works called and
known by the name of Durham Furnace, at the yearly rent of five
110 GEO. TAYLOR, SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
hundred and fifty pounds, but from the unsettled state of affairs and
the scarcity of hands for these two years past, he was rendered unable
to carry them on to any Advantage, as the last year he made but a
small quantity of shot for the Continental Navy, and the present year
he has not been able even to blow the Furnace. And as your Peti-
tioner was to have the Privilege under his present Lease, which will
not expire until November next, of having it renewed upon the same
terms for five years more, upon his giving five Months Notice, and as
your Petitioner has not had it in his power to give such Notice, neither
was it his wish to have any correspondence with Mr. Galloway in the
Situation & Circumstances as he now is, and not knowing till very lately
where to apply, he now humbly hopes, that under his present 'Cir-
cumstances,' the Honoble Council will permit the renewal of his Lease
agreeable to the Covenant in the Agreement between Mr. Galloway
and him, rhore especially when it is considered, that your Petitioner
has now at the Furnace above named three hundred Tons of Ore,
and a large Quantity of Wood ready cut on a Tract of Wood Land
near Durham which he purchased, and which is of no other Value
but for the Wood on it, all of which has cost your Petitioner a consid-
erable sum of money — And your Petitioner would further beg leave to
represent to the Honble Council, that last week a certain George Wall
calling himsel. an Agent for the forfeited Estates in Bucks County,
came to the Works and before making any Application or giving any
information to your Petitioner, and in his absence, then ordered the
hands at work not to proceed in the employ. Since when a certain
James Morgan who says he acts under and by the Authority of the
said George Wall, has removed as your Petitioner is informed, a Quan-
tity of mettle I.'^ng at the Stamping Mill, and which your Petitioner
conceives to be his property under the Present Lease. He therefore
humbly prays the Attention of the Honble Council to the above Rep-
resentation and that Direction may be given that your Petitioner may
not be disturbed in the quiet and peaceable Possession of the Premises
luring his present lease thereof.
And Your Petitioner as in Duty Bound will ever pray,
Philadelphia. July 22d. 1778." ^^'^^ '^^^LOR.
Upon which petition the council made the following order the
same day.
"Ordered, That Mr. George W^all be directed to pay due respect to
the written Agreement between Joseph Galloway Esqr & the Hon'ble
George Taylor, Esqr for the land and works known as Durham Fur-
nace & that he do not disturb Mr. Taylor in the peaceable enjoyment
and possession thereof agreeable to the terms of the said agreement.
And the said George Taylor has represented that he had a quantity of
wood cut & ore raised at a considerable expense it appears to the Coun-
cil to be just & equitable that he should have a Lease of the premises
so long as the Council or their Agents are authorized by law to let the
GEO. TAYLOR, SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 111
same in preference to any other on such reasonable terms as may ap-
pear to be just. The Council therefore recommended it to Mr. George
Wall to treat with said George Taylor, relating to the premises &
agree with him on equitable & reasonable terms. Such Lease not to
be extended beyond the first day of April, 1780." (Minutes of Council.
—Col. Rec. Vol. XI, P. 537.)
The lands and works, or the use of same, "During the Life of
Joseph Galloway only" were sold "at public Vendue at the Court
House at Newtown on the twenty-third day of August" 1779,
by George Wall, Agent for Bucks County Forfeited Estates, and
were bought by Richard Backhouse, and were put into operation
the following spring under the firm name of Richard Backhouse
& Company, which included Col. Richard Backhouse, Col. Isaac
Sidman, Col. Robert Lettis Hopoer, Jr., and Col. George Taylor.
The books show that Col. Taylor was paid one thousand pounds
for the ore which he had on hand at the works. This company
operated the furnace and stamping mill until after Col. Taylor's
death, settlement being made with his executors for his interest
therein.
George Taylor seems to have retained possession of the works
and continued his residence at Durham until 1779, when he
moved to Greenwich Township, Sussex (now Warren) County,
New Jersey. At that place the Greenwich Forge was located
which was operated in conjuction with Durham works, as Dur-
ham pig iron was refined there. During April 1780, he removed
to Easton, Pa.
Col. Taylor's residence in Easton was at the corner of Fourth
and Ferry streets, in what is known as the Parsons-Taylor house,
but he was never the owner of this house. He died, in that house,
on February 23, 1781, and was buried in the graveyard of the
Lutheran Church directly across the street from his home. His
body was later removed to the Easton Cemetery, where a monu-
ment had been erected to his memory in 1855 by the citizens of
Easton and vicinity.
George Taylor was one of the brilliant forceful men of his
time, an earnest and ardent patriot in the trying times of his
adopted country's needs, a fearless and able legislator seasoning
every act of his long public career, by hard robust, conservative
conimon sense. He seems to have been held in high esteem by
1 12 GEO. TAYLOR, SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
those with whom he was associated in the pubHc service and his
advice was frequently sought as to public measures.
I am greatly indebted to Dr. B. F. Fackenthal Jr., of Riegels-
ville, for valuable assistance in compiling the data contained in
these pages. Dr. Fackenthal has long taken a great interest in
the life of George Taylor and has in his possession numerous
letters and copies of letters throwing light on the subject.
Through him I was put into communication with Col. W. Gordon
McCabe, of Richmond, Virginia, president of the Historical So-
ciety of Viginia, president of the Virginia Society Sons of the
Revolution, chairman of the Committee on Portraits of Inde-
pendence Hall, etc., etc. Col. McCabe is a great-great-grandson
of Col. George Taylor and has a great number of autograph
papers and other documents of his distinguished ancestor. A
letter of Col. McCabe's which I have before me, says that among
these papers is a "letter (never published) writen by (Col.)
Clement Biddle to George Taylor the very day the Declaration
was passed full of most interesting items in reference to the move-
ment of troops and the general military situation. There are
also sketches of plats of land George Taylor had bought and
much about casting shot, etc."
Col. George Taylor left to survive him, four grandchildren,
the children of his only son, James Taylor, born at Warwick
furnace. East Nantmeal township, Chester county. Pa., in 1746,
died at Easton, October 9, 1775. He studied law and was ad-
mitted to the Easton bar in 1765, and practiced law at Easton
and Allentown until his death. He married in 1767, Elizabeth
Gordon, born at Philadelphia. May 28, 1750. Her father,
Lewis Gordon, was for sometime prothonotary of the county of
Northampton and treasurer of the Committee of Safety of that
county, 1775-76. The children of James and Elizabeth Gordon
Taylor removed to Virginia, after the death of their grandfather,
with their maternal relatives. Col. James Taylor, Jr., married
his first cousin, Maria Miranda Gordon, and they we,re the grand-
parents of Col. W. Gordon McCabe above mentioned. An oil
portrait of Col. George Taylor was taken to Virginia by his
grandchildren, but it was left rolled too long and the two sur-
faces of the painting adhered together causing them to peel on
being unrolled, and the painting being ruined was burned.
PARSONS-TAYLOR HOUSE, EASTON, PA.
The oldest house in Easton, Pa. Built by William Parsons, the founder
of Easton, sometime between 1753 and 1757, and first occupied by him April,
1757. Later the home of George Taylor, one of the signers of the Declara-
tion of Indeijendence, who leased the house and premises from the Estate of
John Huglies, and moved there from Greenwich Forge, X. J., about April
10. 1780, and wherein he died February 23, 1781. At that time the property
included all of Lot Xo. 176 on the original plan of Easton, 60 feet on Hamil-
ton (now Fourth) Street, and 220 feet on Ferry Street. The old engravings
show that there were kitchen and other out buildings attached to the stone
house, the size of which is 27 feet front on Ferry Street, and 17 feet 9 inches
front on Fourth Street. That imrt of the property on which the house stands
21 feet by 27 feet, was purchased January 15, 1906, by the George Taylor
Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, which has placed a bronze
tablet on the Fourth Street side, with the following inscription : —
THIS HOUSE BUILT IN 1757 BY
WILLIAM PARSONS
SURVEYOR GENERAL OF PENNSYLVANIA
AND THE HOME OF
GEORGE TAYLOR
SIGNFR OF
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
IS MAINTAINED BY THE
GEORGE TAYLOR CHAPTER
DAUGHTERS OF THE
AMERICAN REVOLUTION
AS AN HISTORICAL MEMORIAL
1906
The Homes of George Taylor, Signer of the Declaration of
Independence.
Paper read before the George Taylor Chapter, Daughters of the American
Revolution, at Easton, Pa., December 6, 1922.
BY B. F. FACKENTIIAL, JR., SC.D., OF RIEGELSVILLE, PA.
(This paper was not read before the Bucks County Historical Society,
but in view of the fact that it is a complement to the paper presented
by Mr. Ely, its publication has been requested, and it seems fitting there-
fore that it should be printed in our proceedings.)
ON our great national holiday, last July (1922) when Mrs.
Fackenthal entertained the members of this Chapter at
Riegelsville. I was a privileged guest, and in an unguarded
moment exhibited to your Regent my file of George Taylor papers,
contained in a special drawer set aside for that purpose. Seeing
so many papers may have led her to suppose that it was new ma-
terial, whereas there is but little to tell about this man, whose
memory your society has honored, that is not already known to
most of you. There has however been very little written about
his homes which is made the special subject of this paper.
It is unfortunate that historians have fallen into errors in their
accounts of this interesting man. Corrections do not always cor-
rect, or reach the same readers. This is true not only of the life
and services of George Taylor, but of many items of other his-
tory as well.
The story that George Taylor was a redemptioner ; that he
came to America "with his parents" from Ireland in 1736, and first
settled at Durham Furnace, where he was a furnace filler ; that he
was the son of Nathaniel Taylor of the Irish settlement in North-
amption County; that he came to America with his father and a
younger brother; and such like statements, are made by all his
biographers. Just where these false and misleading statements
originated have not been determined. They are doubtless all based
on Sanderson's Lives of the Signers, first published in 1823-27,
and revised by Henry D. Gilpin, Esq., (b. 1801, d. 1859), a promi-
nent Philadelphia lawyer, who in 1840, was Attorney General of
the United States. The same erroneous accounts are contained in
the Lives of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, by
114 HOMES OF GEORGE TAYLOR
Rev. Charles H. Goodrich, New York, 1829; A Compendious
History of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, 1831,
by Dr. Nathaniel Dwight ; Biographies of the Signers of the Decla-
ration of Independence, by L. Carrel Judson, Philadelphia, 1839;
Lives of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, by Ben-
son J. Lossing, 1848; Henry's History of the Lehigh Valley,
Easton, 1860; and in Condit's History of Easton, 1885. County
and State histories, biographical dictionaries and encyclopaedias
repeat the same story, and local historians naturally follow along
the same lines, and all inter alia, say that he was born in Ireland.
Newly discovered evidence, however, points to England as his
birthplace, and the Taylor family tradition that he came from
Ireland, may be wrong. This is confirmed by his bookplate,
which throws a flood of light on his ancestry. It contains the
coat of arms of the Taylors of Durant, the ancient Taylor family
of Derbyshire, England. One of his bookplates has been pre-
sented to me by the American Antiquarian Society of Worcester,
Mass., from which the engraving shown herewith has been made.
As can be seen it contains his autograph signature, and the date
1778. The American Antiquarian Society has another copy of
this bookplate, with his signature bearing date 1776. A third
bookplate (of which a photostat has been sent me), bearing date
1776, is in the unique collections of signers autographs owned
by Mr. Kenyon V. Painter of Cleveland, Ohio. In the appraise-
ment of Geo. Taylor's estate there were 79 books, all of which
doubtless contained his bookplate. It is not likely that George
Taylor would have used this bookplate if not entitled to do so,
and further suggests that he may have been in touch with the
English family of Taylors and most likely a kinsman.
I remember in 1898 sending a signed communication to an
Easton newspaper, in which I took exception to certain state-
ments made by a prominent historian of Easton in his lecture on
the life of George Taylor. He had repeated the erroneous state-
ments to which I have referred, and moreover placed special
emphasis on a statement that George Taylor was guarding the
Atlantic coast during the Revolutionary War. He read copies of
several letters signed by a George Taylor, written from Free-
hold and Shrewsbury in New Jersey, to justify himself.
It was later shown that those letters had not been written by our
^^^^//^
GEORGE TAYLOR'S BOOKPLATE.
Coat of Arms of the ancient Taylor family of
Uurant Hall, Derbyshire, England. (The heiress
married Sir Charles Sliyrmsher, Knight Templar
Charles 2nd.) , , ^
Arms: Ermine on a chevron gules between
three anchors, as many escallops argent.
Crest : A Stork resting the dexter foot on
an anchor proper.
HOMES OF GEORGE TAYLOR 115
George Taylor, but by another of that name. This is more
clearly pointed out by Mr. Simon Gratz, in his delightful Book
about Autographs.^ Mr. Gratz shows that one of the letters, to
which I have referred, published in the Pennsylvania Archives-
and the other one formerly in possession of Mr. L. C. Cist of St,
Louis, are not by our George Taylor. In like manner a docu-
ment in the manuscript department of the Pennsylvania Historical
Society at Philadelphia, dated February 3, 1763, and a letter in
the Congressional Library at Washington, are not genuine. The
one at Washington bears date 1793, whereas our George Taylor
passed away in 1781. I have examined many autograph letters
and documents containing the signature of George Taylor, includ-
ing copies of those contained in the twenty-two complete sets of
autographs of the signers, as detailed by Mr. Charles F. Jenkins
in his splendid article published in the Pennsylvania Magazine of
History, Vol. 49, p. 231, and have never seen a signature of George
Taylor where he writes his name out in full, but always Geo.
Taylor.-^ y^ .
We have to thank the late Gov. Samuel W. Pennypacker for
aiding us in the most incidental way, in obtaining a correct his-
tory of George Taylor during the early years of his life in
America. It is said of Mr. Pennypacker that he had made an
arrangement with the employees of a certain papermill, using old
paper, by which they laid aside for his inspection all old books
and documents published prior to a certain date, 1820 I think, and
in that way he secured many books and papers that were scarce
and of historic value. On one occasion, not many years prior to
his death, he stopped a cart passing through the streets of Potts-
town, Pa., loaded with old junk, which on examination was found
to contain among other old paper, the Potts books and papers on
their way to the scrap heap. He purchased the load and thus
secured 110 ledgers and other account books of early forges and
1 A Book About Autographs by Mr. Simon Gratz, p. 249 ; Campbell, Phila-
delphia, 1920.
2 Pennsylvania Archives, Fir.st .Series. Vol. V, p. 49. The original of this
letter is now in possession of Haverford College.
2a Under date of July 4, 1926, Mr. .Jenkins revised his list and now reports
having located 27 complete sets of signer's autographs.
116 HOMES OF GEORGE TAYLOR
blast furnaces, including Coventry, Pine, Mount Pleasant, Pool,
Valley and Pottsgrove forges and Colebrookdale, Christine, Red-
ding and Warwick blast furnaces. Colebrookdale was the very
first blast furnace in Pennsylvania, built in 1720, which was
seven years before Durham blast furnace was built. The Govern-
or had these books bound, indexed and annotated. I had the
pleasure of looking through them in his library at Schwenksville.
At the sale of his library, by his executors, these old ledgers were
bought by the Pennsylvania Historical Society, where they may
be consulted by any one interested.
When Dr. Henry C. Mercer was preparing his book on fire-
backs and stoveplates for publication, called The Bible in Iron,
published in 1914, Mr. Warren S. Ely went over to Schwenks-
ville to search through these Potts books for stoveplate-informa-
tion, as firebacks and stoveplates were cast at Colebrookdale,
Christine ; Redding and Warwick furnaces at an early day. Mr.
Ely spent some days in his researches and was surprised to find
that George Taylor had for many years been connected with
Coventry Forge and Warwick Furnace, and that it was there, in
Chester County, on French Creek, and not at Durham Furnace
that he established himself in 1736, on his arrival in America.
Mr. Ely has given us the benefit of this new George Taylor in-
formation in his splendid paper read before the Bucks County
Historical Society in 1918. (See ante, page 101.) The Potts
books show that George Taylor began his metallurgical career a.'?
bookkeeper at those works ; that he was promoted to the position
of manager, and on the death of Samuel Savage, Jr., early in
1742, married, before the close of the same year, his widow,
whose maiden name was Ann Taylor, daughter of Isaac Taylor,
Deputy Surveyor General of Chester County. He then assumed
control of his wife's business and settled the estate of Mr. Savage.
The Historical Society at Doylestown has lately come into
possession of two documents in the handwriting of George Tay-
lor, both bearing his signature. One dated 1739, is an invoice
to Hon. Thomas Penn for pig iron shipped, presumably from
Warwick Furnace, to Clement Plumstead, the other dated 1741,
is an agreement with an inventory of teams, wagons and other
personal property at Warwick Furnace, when a one-half interest
thereof w^as about to be leased to John Potts. I take pleasure in
ja,>f JO o
f^^f' tf /;/^A//r/^'^^>
^ ^,^^ /r. ^.,, .-/.
^c:^
INVOICE FOR PIG IROX. XOVEME5ER 6-22. 1739.
In the handwriting- of George Taylor, with his .signature as clerk for
Ann Nutt & Co.. at Warwicl: Furnace. The earliest known signature of
George Tavlor. Original in Library of Bucks County Historical Society.
nOxMES OF GEORGE TAYLOR 117
presenting this Chapter with photostats of these two documents.-'
In 1752, when Samuel Savage, the third (son of Samuel Sav-
age, Jr., deceased), came of age no time was lost in serving writ-
ten notice on George Taylor, asking him to resign the manage-
ment of Coventry Forge. About that time Mrs. Taylor's tenure
of, and interest in the Warwick Furnace terminated, although she
held a life interest in the two farms. The Taylors continued to
reside in Chester County until 1754 or 1755, when George Taylor
and Samuel Flower formed a co-partnership and leased the Dur-
ham Iron Works in Durham Township, Bucks County, Pa., for
a period of five years, with the privilege of five additional years.
The George Taylors then moved to Durham. During this lease-
hold they made "cannon shot" at Durham, presumably for the
Provincial Government during the French and Indian War.^
There is much documentary evidence to show Taylor's residence
in Durham, such as his appointment on a jury to review a road,
his commission as a justice of the peace in 1757 and again in
1761 and 1763, as well as his letters written from there. His
home w^as in the so-called "Mansion House," on the Durham
Road about one-fourth mile west of the site of the 1727 blast
furnace. It is said that the original house was destroyed by fire,
and the new stone house, still standing, was built on the old foun-
dations. The Galloway heirs later sold the farm on which the
house was located to the Longs. After the death of Richard
Backhouse in 1795, his son James converted this Mansion House
into a hotel, for which he was first granted a license in 1798. It
had always been the polling place for Durham Township, but
when abandoned as a public house in 1871, a special election was
held on June 21st of that year, wdien it was decided to remove the
polling place to the village of Monroe. It was in that old house, in
Durham Township, during his second leasehold of Durham fur-
nace, that George Taylor made his home for a second time, when
he signed the Declaration of Independence. It is likely that a
monument will be erected to mark the site, and also one to mark
the site of the old Durham blast furnace built in 1727, now the
property of Harvey F. Riegel. An old stone arch of this furnace
can still be seen surrounded by a growth of trees. Occasionally
3 An etching- of the document dated 1739, is shown herewith. It contains
the earnest known signature of Geo. Taylor, and is signed by him as clerk
for Anna Nutt & Co.
4 See Bucks County Court Records, September Term, 1765.
118 HOMES OF GEORGE TAYLOR
cannon balls and shot are found on property adjacent to the old
furnace-site. There are quite a number of cannon balls and shot
now in the museum of the Bucks County Historical Society,
which were cast at Durham.
During the latter part of 1763, at the expiration of his ten years
lease of Durham Iron Works, George Taylor, with his family,
moved to Easton doubtless making his home in the stone house
at the northeast corner of Northampton and Fermer (now Sec-
ond) Streets, which he bought at sheriff's sale December 23, 1761,
as the property of Jacob Bachman.^ This was Lot No. 24, on the
original plan of Easton. size 60 feet on Northampton and 220
feet on Second Streets. The stone house now standing on that
comer is doubtless the same house that was occupied by George
Taylor. The deed is not recorded, nor was it acknowledged in the
prothonotary's office. The price paid. £117, 15s, lOd., indicates that
the property was improved when he bought it. There is no ex-
planation as to the use he made of that property from the time
he bought it in 1761 until he moved into it in 1763. While living
there he also obtained possession of Lot No. 7Z on the opposite
or northwest corner of the same streets, size 55 feet by 220 feet,
whereon he built a stone stable. It appears that this lot had not
been patented, and Taylor occupied it by permission of the Penns.
It was on that corner, where in after years, the home of Alexander
Wilson was located. On August 24, 1779, George Taylor sold
Lot No. 24 to Theophilus Shannon for the sum of £1,300 Penn-
sylvania money (currency was then depreciated), and at the same
time he sold his interest in Lot No. TZ, with stone stable to the
same party for the sum of £100 Pennsylvania money. In the
deeds transferring these properties he describes himself as living
in Greenwich Township, Sussex (now Warren) County, New
Jersey. (Deed Book D, Vol. I. pp. 179 and 180.)
After moving to Easton he at once took an active part in
public affairs, showing that he must have been a prominent and
influential citizen. He took a leading part in building the new
courthouse, all moneys for which, it is said, passed through his
hands. He was a member of the Provincial Assembly from 1764
to 1769 inclusive. He was commissioned a Justice of the Peace
5 Lot No. 24 was patented to Jacob Bachman March 14, 1754, Patent book
A, Vol. 18, p. 236. Bachman mortgaged it to John Potts November 27, 1754.
The mortgage was foreclosed and the property bought by Geo. Taylor.
GEORGE TAYLOR HOUSE AT LOWER CATASAUQUA, LEHIGH COUNTY, PA.
(Prior to 1812, Allen Township, Northampton County.)
On March 10, 1767, George Tavlor purchased from Thomas Armstrong, 331 acres of
land on the Lehigh River in Allen Township, part of a larger tract known a^ the Manor
of Chawton," on which this substantial stone house had been built. Mrs Taylor passed
awav in this house in 1768. On March 27, 1776. George Taylor conveyed the Property to
John Benezet of Philadelphia, but prior to that time he moved to Durham m Bucks County,
probably in 1774 when for a second time he leased the Durham Iron Works, where he was
living oil August 2, 1776, when he signed the Declaration of Independence.
HOMES OF GEORGE TAYLOR 119
for Northampton County in 1764 and regularly thereafter until
1772.
On March 10, 1767, he bought a tract of 331 acres of land,
fronting on the Lehigh River, in Allen Township, at what is now
Lower Catasauqua, ' Lehigh County, being part of a larger
tract known as the "Manor of Chawton." (Deed book B, Vol. I,
p. 102, etc.) On this property there had been built a substantial
stone house with walls two feet thick which is still standing in
a fairly good state of preservation. He sold this x\llen Township
property to John Benezet, the deed bears date March 27, 1776.
It appears, however, that he moved to Durham prior to that time,
probably in 1774, when he leased the Durham property from
Joseph Galloway. During the year 1772 some of his letters were
written from Northampton (the name of which was changed to
Allentown on April 16, 1838). This suggests that he may, at
that time, have been living with his son James, who moved there
early in 1772. An autograph letter, signed by him, dated De-
cember 30, 1775, now in possession of Haverford College, fixes
his residence in Durham at that time. Just what his object was
in moving to Allen Township does not appear, there were doubt-
less no iron works in that neighborhood, and therefore it is likely
that he was engaged in agricultural pursuits, and besides he had
his public business to attend to. A photograph of his Catasauqua
home, which I presented to this chapter several years ago, hangs
on yonder wall, and an etching of it is shown herewith. In 1912,
when I visited that house, there were a number of firebacks
in the fireplaces. One of them had been presented to the
Lehigh County Historical Society, which suggests that one might
be secured for this room. These plates contain no embellish-
ments other than the initials and date "G. T. 1768." I had one
of them drilled for chemical analysis and found the phosphorus
and manganese to be about five times too high for it to have been
made from Durham ores, and concluded that they were prob-
ably cast at some other blast furnace. '''
On September 17, 1765, George Taylor bought of Peter Kich-
line. Sheriff, as the property of Nicholas Scull, Easton Lot No. 167,
55 feet front on Northampton street, on which Scull had built a
stone house. (Deed book B, Vol I, p. 42.) That property is now
6 Analysis of flreback : Silicon 1.00, phosphorus .54, manganese .56, sul-
phur .067, copper none.
120 HOMES OF GEORGE TAYLOR
owned by the estates of Mary Moyer, C. L. Magee and Jacob
Hay, and is occupied by the United Retail Chemists and the F.
& W. Grand 5, 10, and 25 Cent Store. George Taylor bought
that house for his son James to whom he and his wife. Ann Tay-
lor, conveyed it October 25, 1765, for the" consideration of 5
shillings and "their natural love and affection." (Deed book B.
Vol. I, p. 51, and another corrected deed for same property re-
corded Deed book C, Vol. I, p. 17.)
Later James Taylor moved to Allentown, and while living
there he and his wife Elizabeth conveyed his Easton property,
December 30, 1771, to Myer Hart of Easton. (Deed book C.
Vol. I. p. 18.) On January 2, 1772, James Taylor bought from
Myer Hart, lot No. 342 of the plan of Allentown. (Deed book
C. Vol. I, p. 57.) They may possibly have exchanged properties.
After the death of James Taylor in 1775, his Allentown prop-
erty was sold by the sheriff, on June 19, 1776, and bought by
'Phillip Ritter. (Deed book C, Vol. I, p. 387.) It appears that
George Taylor was frequently called upon, to give financial aid
to his son James.
On May 21, 1763, George Taylor bought certain rights of
Philip Rustein, in Lot No. 502 on James Street in Allentown.
(Deed book A, Vol. I, p. 295) on which a house had been built.
I can find no record to show how Taylor disposed of that property.
Ann, wife of George Taylor, died in 1768, shortly after they
moved into their Catasauqua house. It is not known w^here her
body lies buried, but there is evidence to show that George Tay-
lor, while living in Durham, was connected with the Red Hill
Presbyterian Church. This is further shown by the fact that on
March 8, 1765, a lot of one acre of land ( size 10 perches by 16
perches) at Gallows Hill, on the Durham Road in Bucks County,
was deeded to Rev. Richard Treat and George Taylor, in trust
for that congregation, for a burying ground, and Mrs. Taylor
may have been buried there. (See Bucks County Deed book,
Vol. XX, p. 235.) Some historians theorize that she was buried
at Easton. Some graves found near the Taylor house at Catasau-
qua make it not unlikely that she was buried there. George and
Ann Taylor had two children, Ann, called Nancy, who died in
childhood, and James, who was born at Warwick Furnace in
1746. James married Elizabeth, daughter of Lewis Gordon, who
t^ jLCt-cM"/^'-'^ /:t^>xi/ /-Ca^r- /y^<:e <<?/i'?«<'<i^,<-v tn . C * /^>>»».«^-»!. ^
,^...Ai A SS /. ..^- -^-^ ^-^-' y^5: ^— z'
7'
OATH OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANLV.
As taken by George Taylor, February 3, 1778.
The "Test Oath," required by an Act of Congress passed in 1777.
HOMES OF GEORGE TAYLOR 121
was the first resident lawyer to practice at Easton. Col. McCabe
of Richmond, Va., writes that James and Elizabeth were mere
children when they married. Elizabeth was born August 23,
1750, and was therefore but 25 years old when James died Octo-
ber 9, 1775, at the age of 29 years. After his death their five
small children, George, Ann, Mary, Thomas and James, Jr., were
cared for by their grandfather, George Taylor. Elizabeth, widow
of James, on July 18, 1780, deeded to George Taylor, for the care
and education of her children, the one-half of her interest in the
real estate which she inherited under the will of her father,
Lewis Gordon, which included Easton Lot No. 171, (size 56
feet by 220 feet) on which Abie's Opera House now stands.
(Deed book C. Vol. I. p. 545.)"'' Of the five children of James
and Elizabeth. Ann married Samuel Swann and moved to Pow-
hatton, Virginia, taking with her, and making a home for her two
brothers, George (who did not marry), and James, Jr.; Mary
died young; Thomas was drowned in the Lehigh River; James,
Jr., married his first cousin, Anna Maria Miranda Gordon, at
Alexandria, Va., Dec. 19, 1786. He died at Richmond, Va., in
1837. They were the parents of four children, one of whom.
Sophia Gordon Taylor, married, first, to John Rutledge Smith.
and second, to the Rev. John Collins McCabe, D.D.. of the Episco-
pal Church, who were the parents of Col. W. Gordon McCabe,
Litt.D., LL.D., and who was therefore a great-great-grandson of
George Taylor. Col. McCabe says that George Taylor has many
legitimate descendants living in Virginia.
I have corresponded with Col. McCabe for many years and
had the pleasure of visiting him in his home at Richmond, and
from him obtained much history of his distinguished ancestor.
As can be seen by his will, George Taylor left a family of five
natural children, whose mother was his housekeeper, Naomi
Smith. Some of their descendants added the family name of
Savage, as a middle name, with the intention of representing that
they were legitimate descendants of George Taylor, much to the
annoyance of Col. McCabe and other legitimate descendants.
George Taylor obtained his military title of Colonel on July 21.
1775, when at a meeting held at Bogart's tavern in Bucks County,
7 American Archives, Vol. II, p. 1787 ; Pennsylvania Archives, Fifth Series,
Vol, VIII, p. 14.
oa This deed recites that Elizabeth is about to depart from her usual place
of abode.
122 HOMES OF GEORGE TAYLOR
he was elected Colonel of the Third Battalion of Militia.' Pre-
vious to that time he was enrolled as an "Associator." During
the year 1777. an act was passed called the "Test Act," under
which it was required that every man should take an oath of
allegiance to the Government of the United States. Such as signed
the test oath were called "Associators," and such as did not sign
were called "Non-Associators." Col. George Taylor took this
test oath on February 3. 1778, the original document has been pre-
served, and a photostatic copy sent to me by Hon. James B. Laux.
of New York, in order that I might have the etching made of it
which accompanies this paper. There is no record to show that
Col. Taylor was ever engaged in active military service, he was too
much occupied making ammunition at Durham, and in other pur-
suits in the interest of our new government.
GEORGE TAYLOR LEASES DURHAM IRON WORKS FOR FIVE YEARS,
FROM NOVEMBER 1 773, WITH THE PRIVILEGE OF AN
ADDITIONAL FIVE YEARS.
Although there is evidence to show an earlier iron operation at
Durham, the organized company which built the blast furnace of
1727, dates from 1726. The company was composed of twelve
prominent gentlemen, all from Philadelphia, except Jeremiah
Langhorne, who was from Trevose in Bucks County. '^. When
the property was partitioned among the owners, deed dated De-
cember 24, 1773, (all the original owners having passed away), it
included all of Durham Township (6,410 acres 123 perches) 644
acres in Springfield Township. 30 acres in Lower Saucon Town-
ship and 1,456 acres 29 perches in Williams Township, the last two
townships in Northampton County. 8,511 acres 100 perches in all.
In the partition proceedings, that part of the property contain-
ing the mines, quarries, forges and blast furnace was allotted to
Joseph Galloway and his wife Grace, nee Growden. It appears
however, by the petition addressed by George Taylor to the Su-
preme Executive Council on July 22, 1778, that he had leased the
plant from Joseph Galloway prior to the deed of partition, viz,
during November 1773 for five years, with the privilege of "hav-
ing it renewed upon the same terms, for five years more."
8 The twelve gentlemen forming the original Durham Iron Company were
Jeremiah Langhorne, Anthony Morris, James Logan, Charles Read, Robert
Ellis, George Fitzwater, Clement Plumsted, William Allen, Andrew Bradford,
John Hopkins, Thomas Lindley and Joseph Turner.
HOMES OF GEORGE TAYLOR 123
I need not speak of the loyal services of this patriot
during the Revolutionary struggle, that are so well known to all of
you, but you may not know that George Taylor was the very
first in Pennsylvania to make shot and shells for the Continental
Army. This is clearly shown by his correspondence and by docu-
ments published in the Colonial Records.^ The first shipment of
which we have a record, was made August 25, 1775, and con-
sisted of round shot, viz: 250 of 18 lbs., 4 of 25 lbs. and 4 of
32 lbs. There is much evidence to show that George Taylor was
living at Durham, and engaged in making shot and shell for the
Continental Army from 1775 to 1778 inclusive.
The following letter, in possession of Col. McCabe's family,
addressed to Col. George Taylor at Durham by Clement Biddle,
is not only interesting from an historical standpoint, but also
fixes the residence of George Taylor at Durham on July 4, 1776,
where his home was on August 2, 1776, when he signed the
Declaration of Independence :
Philadelphia, July 4. 1776.
Dear Sire:
I have yours of 3d inst., and am glad of your forwardness with the
Shott — pray send all of them down as soon as possible — we don't know
what hour we may want them — the things ordered shall be prepared
also provided I can get the Salt.
Genl. Howe's army are with the fleet of 130 sail at Sandy Hook
we hourly expect to hear of some important stroke there — we have
about 10,000 Effective men at N. York — 6,000 militia coming from Conn-
ecticut — 3 to 4,000 marched from Jersey toward Amboy — Col. Broad-
head's Rifle men and others of our troops marching to the Jerseys
to join them — a few tories are in arms in Monmouth County — Jersey.
At Charleston, So. Carolina, Genl. Clinton had got one man of war
and 30 transports over the bar but lost a 50 gun ship in attempting to
get over. Genl. Lee had arrived with 1,300 Troops from No. Carolina
to join their Provincial Troops and it said that Charles Town is well
fortified. It thickens around us and the day is big with the fate of
America but I trust that we shall be able by union and perseverence to
establish that freedom and Independence which Congress have just
declared nem con.
I am Dr Sir Yr Hble Servt
CLEMENT BIDDLE.
The three pound shot are so much wanted that I am directed to de-
sire you immediately to send them down by all means.
Addressed to
Col. George Taylor,
Durham.
9 Colonial Records, First Series, Vol. X, pp. 297-298-315-331-339-354-365-
373-381-382-598-690.
124 HOMES OF GEORGE TAYLOR
During George Taylor's leasehold of Durham it appears that a
great part of his pig iron was refined at the Greenwich and Chel-
sea Forges in Greenwich Township, Sussex (now Warren) County,
New Jersey, and that his friend, Richard Backhouse, was asso-
ciated with him, at least for part of the time, in these refining
operations. In two deeds recorded here at Easton, dated August
24, 1779, George Taylor is described as living in Greenwich
Township, New Jersey, doubtless at Greenwich Forge, on Mus-
contecong Creek, about five miles from the site of the old Dur-
ham Furnace. ^^ I am sure the New Jersey members of this Chap-
ter are pleased to know that he once lived within the borders of
their state.
GEORGE TAYLOR PURCHASES ONE-FOURTH INTEREST IN
DURHAM IRON WORKS.
When Joseph Galloway allied himself to the British cause, he
was in 1778, attainted of treason. His large holdings of land in
Pennsylvania, which in addition to Durham, Trevose, Belmont
and elsewhere, including also the now celebrated Hog Island, were
seized and sold by the Commissioner of Forfeited Estates. An at-
tempt was then made to dispossess George Taylor of Durham,
but the Supreme Executive Council decided that he might remain
in possession until the first period of his lease had expired.
George Taylor was himself a member of the very first Supreme
Executive Council, which met daily in Philadelphia.^^ He did
not miss a single meeting from the date of its organization,
March 4, 1777, until prevented from attending by sickness.
The following is copy of a letter in the archives of the Penn-
sylvania Historical Society at Philadelphia :
Durham, May 24, 1777.
Sir —
I have been confined to my chamber for four weeks past by a violent
fever. I am just now beginning to walk about. You will please let
his Excellency the President know that as soon as my health will per-
mit I will attend the Council.
I am with great Respect &c.
To Timothy Matlack, Esqr. Sir, Your Most Humbl' Servt.
Geo. Taylor.
The Journal of the Moravian Society at Bethlehem, under date
10 Northampton County, Deed Book D, Vol. I, pp. 179 and 180.
II Colonial Records, First Series, Vol. XI, p. 173.
HOMES OF GEORGE TAYLOR 125
of July 10-11, 1776, states that there were elected five Germans
and three Irish farmers as delegates; these delegates appointed
the member of Congress, who in this instance was George Taylor.
In the PciDisylz'ania Magazine of History, Vol. IX, p. 279, James
Allen, a son of C. J. William Allen, says in his diary, under date
of February 17, 1777:
The Assembly have appointed Gen. Roberdeau, J. B. Smith, WilHam
Moore & reappointed R. Morris & Dr. Franklin Delegates in Congress
& left out G. Clymer, J. Wilson, J. Smith, G. Ross, Dr. Rush, G. Tay-
lor & J. Morton. The reason for leaving out so many old members, it
is said, is that the new light Presbyterian Party have the ascendant in
Assembly. The seven retiring members had all signed the Declaration
of Independence.
On July 22, 1777, Clymer was reappointed in the place of
William Moore, who had declined to serve, and James Wilson
was added to the delegation. The retiring of George Taylor as
a delegate to Congress, may have been the reason for his retiring
from the Supreme Executive Council, and not attending any
meetings after the above letter was written.
In 1779 the Commissioners of Forfeited Estates sold Gallo-
way's right in the Durham plant and real estate at public sale.
It was bought by four men, all colonels, Col. Richard Backhouse,
Col. George Taylor, Col. Isaac Sidman, of Easton, and Col.
Robert Lettis Hooper, Jr., who were equal partners. Most of the
account books of that administration fell into my hands and are
now in the library of the Bucks County Historical Society at
Doylestown. These original and authentic records, as well as the
public records contained in the Pennsylvania Archives, show
that shot and shells were made at Durham continuously, in large
quantities, throughout the entire period of the Revolutionary War.
The management of the Durham works, during this adminis-
tration, devolved upon Col. Backhouse, who was the ruling spirit
in that enterprise. He moved to Durham March 1, 1780, oc-
cupying the Mansion House heretofore referred to. At the
termination of his five year lease of Durham Furnace in 1779,
George Taylor was dispossessed by the Commissioner of For-
feited Estates, and then moved to Greenwich Township. New
Jersey, where he was operating the Greenwich Forge, owned by
Col. Hugh Hughes. He resided there until April, 1780, when he
moved to Easton. This is shown by his letter to Col. Backhouse,
126 HOMES OF GEORGE TAYLOR
dated April 9, 1780, the original of which is in the New York
State Library at Albany, and of which the following is a copy :
j~)^^^ 5j^ Greenwich 9th April 1780
I proposed coming over to Day but have a Bad Cold & the weather
unfavorable must Defer it until I move when Colo Hooper & I will
spend a Day with you — If you can spare a Gallon of Rum please to
send it by Tomm I expect some Waggons to morrow to Carry a part
of my Family if you want the half Dozn Chairs I shall Leave them
here for you I would save sent them by Snyder but was afraid they
might be hurt amongst the Iron & other things in his waggon
I am Dear Sir
To Richard Backhouse Yr. Ruble Servt
Durham Geo. Taylor
At Easton he made his home in this building where we are
assembled this afternoon. He occupied the house under lease
from the estate of John Hughes, Jr. It was buih by William
Parsons in 1753-54, and is said to be the oldest house in Easton,
and wherein P'arsons died December 22, 1757. The lot, at that
time (No. 176 on the original plan of Easton) was 60 feet
fronting on Hamilton (now Fourth) Street by 220 feet
on Ferry Street. The old engravings show that there was a
frame attachment to the stone house at that time. I will take
pleasure in presenting one of these old etchings to this Society.
Letters written by Geo. Taylor from Easton show that he kept a
horse and two cows. It is therefore likely that his stables were also
on that lot. There were doubtless also quarters for his slaves,
for while living here he kept two slaves, which under the law for
gradual abolition of slavery' in Pennsylvania, passed March 1,
1780, he was obliged to register in the office of the Clerk of Ses-
sions here at Easton. (See letter from George Taylor to Robert
Levers, published in Henry's History of the Lehigh Valley, p. 97.
This letter is now in possession of the Pennsylvania Historical
Society.)
At the sale of his personal effects, by his executors, negro Tom
32 years old, sold for 280 bushels of wheat, valued at £77 or
about $205, and Sam, also 32 years, a cripple, fetched but £15
or about $40. The inventory of his estate included four wigs, ap-
praised at il, but which "Mr. Levers thought improper to ex-
pose to sale."
It was here in this house, where we are assembled todav, that
126 HOMES OF GEORGE TAYLOR
dated April 9. 1780, the original of which is in the New York
State Library at Albany, and of which the following is a copy :
^ ^,. Greenwich 9th April 1780
Dear bir
I proposed coming over to Day but have a Bad Cold & the weather
unfavorable must Defer it until I move when Colo Hooper & I will
spend a Day with you — If you can spare a Gallon of Rum please to
send it by Tomm I expect some Waggons to morrow to Carry a part
of my Family if you want the half Dozn Chairs I shall Leave them
here for you I would save sent them by Snyder but was afraid they
might be hurt amongst the Iron & other things in his waggon
I am Dear Sir
To Richard Backhouse Yr. Huble Servt
Durham Geo. Taylor
At Easton he made his home in this building where we are
assembled this afternoon. He occupied the house under lease
from the estate of John Hughes, Jr. It was built by William
Parsons in 1753-54, and is said to be the oldest house in Easton,
and wherein Parsons died December 22, 1757. The lot, at that
time (No. 176 on the original plan of Easton) w^as 60 feet
fronting on Hamilton (now Fourth) Street by 220 feet
on Ferry Street. The old engravings show that there was a
frame attachment to the stone house at that time. I will take
pleasure in presenting one of these old etchings to this Society.
Letters written by Geo. Taylor from Easton show that he kept a
horse and two cows. It is therefore likely that his stables were also
on that lot. There were doubtless also quarters for his slaves,
for while living here he kept two slaves, which under the law for
gradual abolition of slavery in Pennsylvania, passed March 1,
1780, he was obliged to register in the office of the Clerk of Ses-
sions here at Easton. (See letter from George Taylor to Robert
Levers, published in Henry's History of the Lehigh Valley, p. 97.
This letter is now in possession of the Pennsylvania Historical
Society.)
At the sale of his personal effects, by his executors, negro Tom
32 years old, sold for 280 bushels of wheat, valued at £77 or
about $205, and Sam, also 32 years, a cripple, fetched but il5
or about $40. The inventory of his estate included four wigs, ap-
praised at il, but which "Mr. Levers thought improper to ex-
pose to sale."
It was here in this house, where we are assembled today, that
^/%ziyr^e.r^f/1^<^ ^-y-^/l^ //^ /^' nyAat-^Q /iyt<f^^'^-»-- //s^y^c^ y2^D c-n^. ^4^^ ^ ^''^'^ »" ^^-w/
CLOSING PARAGRAPH OP GEORGE TAYLORS WILL, FULL SIZE.
Dated January 6, 1781,. with his signature and signatures of witnesses.
(George Taylor died at Baston, February 23, 1781.)
TIOMKS OF (iKOKCP. TA^I.OR 127
Col. Taylor passed away February 23, 1781, having lived here
less than eleven months. This and the house at the northeast
corner of Northampton and Second Streets, heretofore referred
to. are the only houses in East on wherein George Taylor re-
sided. The original records of St. John's Lutheran Church,
across the way, record the date of his death, and also
the date of the passing of his son, James. These records would
be conclusive evidence in any court of law, and should set at rest
the date of Col. Taylor's death, for most historians say it was
on February 25. Col. Taylor's will, dated January 6, 1781, is
recorded here at Easton (Rook I, p. 275), but the original docu-
ment long since disappeared from the Recorder's ofifice, and is
now in the Archives of the New York Public Library, which
has kindly made for me this photostat of it, which I now
take pleasure in presenting to your Society. (An etching of the
last part of Geo. Taylor's will with his signature and signatures
of the three witnesses is shown herewith.) He appointed his
three friends, Robert Lettis Hooper, Jr., Robert Traill and Robert
Levers, as his executors. He gave to each of them a keepsake in
the following words :
"Unto the said Robert Levers my silver mounted double barrel gun,
to be engraved thus — The Gift of George Taylor, Esquire, and I like-
wise give and bequeath unto Robert Lettis Hooper, Jr., a neat silver
mounted small sword, to be engraved thus — In Memory of George
Taylor, Esquire, and unto the said Robert Traill I do give and be-
queath one pair of pistols. "'-
Col. Hooper did not qualify as an executor, although his name
appears as such in an advertisement, for settlement of the estate,
which they inserted in the Pcuiisylvania Ga:;cttc and Weekly Ad-
vertiser, for March 12, and April 4, 1781. Robert Levers
died May 1788, leaving Robert Traill as the sole executor when
the accounts were filed and audited in 1799, eighteen years
after Col. Taylor's death. The settlement of his partnership
accounts at Durham Iron Works were long drawn out, and on
final settlement of his estate it was found to be insolvent.'-'
12 These beautiful flint lock pistols are now owned by Dr. E. M. Green, a
frreat-grandson of Robert Traill, of Ea.ston. who has kindly allowed me to
photograph them to use as a tail piece to this paper.
i.-J Henry'.s History of the Lehigh Valley, p. 97, and the rejjort of auditors
on file in the courthou.se at Easton.
128
ITOMES OF GEORGE TAYLOR
COL. RODERT LETTIS HOOPER, JR.
Col. Robert Lettis Hooper, Jr., was a man of more than ordi-
nary parts. During the Revolutionary War he at first lived in
Lower Saucon Township,^ "* but later, while filling the office of
Deputy Quarter Master General, he lived in Easton, making his
home in the stone house, still standing, at the northwest corner
of Northampton and Fifth Streets. His first wife died while
living in that house. You have, of course, noticed the exterior
steps leading to the second story, as shown by the etching below.
Col. Hooper died at Trenton. X. J.. July 30, 1797, in the sixty-
sixth year of his age.
HOME OF ROBERT LETTIS HOOPER, JR.
EASTON, PA.
INIany letters written by Col. Hooper fell into my hands, most
of which I gave to the Bucks County Historical Society. One of
special interest I presented to Mrs.Abram S.Hewit (a daughter
of Peter Cooper), who had it framed and hung in the hall of
Ringwood Manor, her country home. That letter, addressed to
Richard Backhouse is so interesting that I will read it as follows :
14 See his letter published in the Pennsylvania Magazine of History, Vol.
XXIV, p. 3;tl, wherein he says his hnme is in Saucon, five miles south of
Bethlehem.
HOMES OF GEORGE TAYLOR 129
Ringwood, Septemr. 7th. 1781.
Sir:
I have long wished to visit you but my worthy friend, I have been
too much engaged. I must not trifle with you & in plain truth I have
been hunting a wife. I am sure among all my numerous acquaintances
there is not one that esteems me more than you do, and I love you with
the genuine warmth of true friendship — You, then, Dear Sir, must be
pleased when I tell you that I am engaged to Mrs. Erskine, a lady
high in estimation for her good sense, affability and sweetness of Tem-
per & blessed withall with a plentiful fortune. I assure you that I do
on the most deliberate principles of honor think that comfort and
felicity will attend the choice I have made.
I am very anxious to see and converse with you on these important
matters, which I cannot commit to writing, and if I can't see you next
week I can't meet you this fall. If therefore this finds you at home I
request you'll do me the favour to meet me at my house next Wednes-
day or Thursday when I will be at home. I am sure you'll come if you
can, the business will be short and I cannot come to you.
********
My compliments wates on Mrs. Backhouse — accept my wishes for
your prosperity and believe me,
To Richard Backhouse, Esqr. Dr. Sir Yr Friend & Humble Sv.
Durham R. L. Hooper, Jr.
(His marriage license was issued October 31, 1781. — See N. J.
Archives, Vol. 22, page 185.)
The Marquis de Chastellux who stopped at Ringwood Furnace
December 19, 1789, and called upon Mrs. Erskine, says:
"I entered a very handsome house where everybody was in mourn-
ing. Mr. Erskine bein^ dead two months before. Mrs. Erskine his
widow is about forty, and did not appear the less fresh or tranquil for
her misfortune."
Robert Erskine, whose charming widow Col. Hooper was to
marry, was sent over from England by the London Company, in
1771, to superintend their iron mines. He Hes buried on the Ring-
wood estate, which he was operating during the war. A marker
erected by the Government contains this inscription :
"In Memory of Robert Erskine, F. R. S.
Geographer and Surveyor General to the Army of the
United States.
Son of Rev. Ralph Erskine, late Minister at Dunfermline,
IN Scotland.
Born September 7, 1735. Died October 2, 1780
Aged 45 years and 25 days.
130 HOMES OF GEORGE TAYLOR
This monument is an object of interest to the Hewitt family
and their guests. One of the Hewitt boys is named Erskine in
memory of this man. It is quite a coincidence that in after years
Messrs. Cooper & Hewitt should, at the same time, own both
Ringwood and Durham properties, both established in early Co-
lonial times. A splendid biographical notice of Col. Hooper is
contained in the Pennsylvania Magazine of History, Vol 36, p.
60 et seq.
Another letter from Col. Hooper to his friend Col. Backhouse,
refers to his purchase of a large tract of land in the Genesee
country, the land of the Six Nations, on the Susquehanna River
in New York, which he called the "Land of Caanan." When
motoring through that interesting section last summer, I w^as
surprised to notice, on the road between Binghamton and Owego,
an automobile tire advertisement containing the following:
"When Binghamton was surveyed in 1786 by Col. Robert Lettis
Hooper, Jr., he lay in a canoe recording the distances from a pocket
compass, working in this way through fear of being shot by unfriendly
Indians."
James Wilson, a Signer of the Declaration of Independence,
Simeon DeWitt, Surveyor General of New York, and William
.Bingham, United States Senator, 1795 to 1801, were associated
with Col. Hooper in these Genesee lands, which seem to have
aggregated 30,620 acres, lying on both sides of the Susquehanna
River. When the lands were partitioned, that part which was to
become the site of Binghamton, N. Y., was apportioned to William
Bingham, for whom that city was named.
ROBERT TRAILL.
Robert Traill was a leading and influential citizen of Easton,
as one historian says,' "in every respect, he was for many years
everything to everybody." He was the ancestor of Dr. Edgar M.
Green and his sister, Mrs. Dr. Charles Mclntyre, who is present
with us here today. He was born in the Orkney Islands, Scot-
land, April 29, 1744, emigrated to America in 1763, died at
Easton July 31, 1816. In the early tax lists he is assessed as a
shoemaker.^^ Later he was a school teacher; member of the
15 See "History of Northampton County," published in 1873, where at page
73, a list of taxables is recorded.
GEORGE TAYLOR MONUMENT IN BASTON CEMETERY.
Erected to his memory in 1854. On April 20 1870 his body was removed
from the vard of St John's Lutheran Church, Easton Pa., and re-interiea
fmmediateb in front of this monument, which bears the followmg mscnption .
IN MEMORY OF
GEORGE TAYLOR
ONE OP THE SIGNERS
OF THE DECLARATION OF
\MFRICAN INDEPENDENCE.
JULY 4. A. D. 1776.
BORN 1716, DIED 1781.
HOMES OF GEORGE TAYLOR 131
Committee of Safety from Northampton County;^'' admitted to
the bar of Northampton County in 1777; Justice of the Peace,
1777-1781; Sheriff of Northampton County, 1781-1784; Repre-
sentative in the General Assembly of Pennsylvania, 1785-86;
member of the Supreme Executive Council, 1786-87 ; and an
Associate Judge of Northampton County, 1790-92. His body
lies buried in the Easton Cemetery.
ROBERT LEVERS.
Robert Levers, the other of Col. Taylor's executors, , was a
great and fearless patriot during the Revolutionary struggle. He
came to America from England in April, 1748. He taught school
for a time near Philadelphia, then associated himself with the
Moravians. Was associated with Mr. C. Brockden, Recorder of
Deeds at Philadelphia for three months. He writes "I then went
about 35 miles in the country to be a clerk at an iron works,
where I stayed about four months at i50 cy. a year." Still
later he was in the office of Richard Peters, whose partner he
became in some land deals in Northampton County, making his
home at Saylorsburg, where he also kept an hotel and store. He
was appointed Prothonotary and Clerk of the Orphans Court
for Northampton County, serving from 1777 to 1788. He was
the authorized agent of the Supreme Executive Council for
Easton and surrounding territory. On July 8, 1776, he gathered
the people together, in Centre Square at Easton, by ringing the
courthouse bell, and read to them, from the courthouse steps, the
Declaration of Independence. Might it not be in order for this
society or for the people of Easton, to place a monument to his
memory in Centre Square? When the British were about to
enter Philadelphia in 1777, and the capital of our new-born na-
tion transferred to Lancaster, Pa., the money, books and papers
of the Colonial Government were sent to him at Easton for
safe keeping. ^^ He stored them in his bedroom on the sec-
ond story of his house, which he rented from Conrad Ihrie.
Sr., located on the east side of South Third Street. Robert
16 Robert Traill was clerk of the Committee of Safety for Northampton
County; see Pennsylvania Archives, Eighth Series. Vol V, p. 4. Dr. Edward
M. Green has in his possession the original minutes kept by him.
17 See many references in Colonial Records, Vols. XI, XII, XIV, and XV.
also Pennsylvania Archives, First Series, Vols. V and VI. Also Pennsylvania
Magazine of History, Vol. I, p. 137.
132 HOMES OF GEORGE TAYLOR
Levers was in fact the local dictator of the new govern-
ment, reporting all cases of disloyalty or seeming disloyalty.
guarding the ferries over both rivers, and putting all suspects
under arrest. It was his duty to see that the Oath of Allegiance
was taken, particularly by former office holders. It was
through him that Hon. John Penn, then Governor for the
Proprietaries, former Lieutenant-Governor James Hamilton,
Assemblyman James Allen and Chief Justice Benjamin Chew
were put under parole. They were ordered by the Supreme Execu-
tive Council to be "imprisoned and removed from the state." It ap-
pears, however, that they were permitted to remain under parole
at the home of James Allen at Allentown. Later several of them
were removed to the Union Iron Works, near Clinton, N. J.,
owned by former Chief Justice William Allen and Joseph Turner.
Robert Levers died at Easton May 20, 1788, while holding the
position of Prothonotary. He left to survive him four children
and a widow nee Mary Church, who died in 1810.
GEORGE Taylor's death and burial.
A letter in the archives of the Bucks County Historical So-
ciety from Samuel Williams of Greenwich Forge, N. J., to
Richard Backhouse at Durham, bearing date February 22, 1781,
one day before George Taylor passed away, concludes as follows:
I was uf' at Easton when your Boy was over Taking wheat to Mr.
Taylor as he was always sending for money and I had none to give
him. But poor Owld gentlemen I believe his Dunning is allmost at an
End — I did not see him as he could not be Spoke with he has Been
Tapt Tw^ice the Doctor told me.
As already stated he died at Easton, February 23, 1781,
his body was laid at rest in the Lutheran churchyard across
the way, on the southeast corner of Fourth and Ferry Streets,
When the Belvidere Delaware Railroad, now part of the Pennsyl-
vania system, was extended to Phillipsburg in 1854, the event was
celebrated on February 3d of that year, with a grand entertainment
and reception by the citizens of Eastoli and Phillipsburg, for
which a large amount of money had been subscribed. A special
train of fifteen cars started from Philadelphia, carrying officials
and guests from that city, and from Trenton and other points,
which included the Governor of New Jersey and the heads of de-
HOMES OF GEORGE TAYLOR
133
partments, and many other distinguished citizens.^- The money
subscribed for that entertainment, which included a grand ball in
the evening, was not all used, and at the suggestion of Judge
James M. Porter, the balance was expended to erect, in the
Easton Cemetery, that beautiful Italian marble monument to the
memory of George Taylor.^'* His body, however, was allowed to
remain in the Lutheran churchyard until the Easton school-board
purchased that corner from St. John's Lutheran Church, when
on April 30, 1870, it was removed to the Easton Cemetery and
deposited in its last resting place on the east side of the monu-
ment.-*^* The school-board still further honored his memory by
naming that schoolhouse "The Taylor Building."
I wish, for the sake of this patriotic Society, that I could arrive
at a different conclusion, but the fact remains that the preponder-
ance of evidence shows that George Taylor was a resident of
Durham Township, in Bucks County, when on August 2, 1776. he
affixed his signature to that immortal document the Declaration
of Independence.
18 See Henry's History of the Lehigh Valley, ]
19 Recollections of B. F. Facltenthal, Sr., Esq.
20 Official Records of the Easton Cemetery.
p. 151 to 157.
(b. 1825, d. 1892).
Flint lock pistols which George Taylor bequeathed to Robert Traill.
Now in possession of Dr. Edgar M. Green of Easton, Pa.
Bucks County Women in Wartime.
BY MRS. MARY HEATON, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Cuttalossa Valley Meeting, June 15, 1918.)
TO say that war has been held in abhorrence by women in
all ages, goes without saying. It is equally true that they
have ever born the heroic and selfsacrificing part, and our
Bucks county women have been no exception.
Any effort to chronicle the heroic work done by our women of
1776 and 1861, is hampered by the absence of specific records of
their loyal services, except in a few localities in our county dur-
ing the Civil War. Although Bucks county produced no Lydia
Darrochs or Mollie Pitchers, we are convinced that her women
were zealous and untiring in rendering aid and comfort to the
sick, wounded and weary soldiers. While history has not classi-
fied any battle as having been fought within the borders of Bucks
county during the Revolution, the battle of Crooked Billet at or
near what is now Hatboro, Montgomery county, was waged so
near the county-line that the ragged edges extended within our
borders, and moreover Bucks county suffered heavily from forag-
ing raids, and vast numbers of wounded soldiers were cared for
m our county. Both Buckingham and Plumstead Meeting-houses
were used as hospitals and numbers of wounded and sick sol-
diers were cared for in private homes, where they were nursed
back to health or their last hours soothed by the ministering care
of our loyal Bucks county women.
We also have abundant evidence that during the Civil War
the women of Solebury, Buckingham, Durham and other town-
ships of Bucks, spent many weary hours in scraping lint, pre-
paring bandages and clothing for the soldiers, as well as to pro-
vide them with special articles of food. But few of the active
participants are left to tell us in detail of this noble work, and in
the brief time allowed to the preparation of this paper, it was im-
possible to get in touch with those people, now aged, who could
give a clear account of the work in their localities. We must
therefore rely upon such information and such records as are
available, and if I have given more prominence to one locality
BUCKS COUNTY WOMEN IN WAR TIME 135
than to another, it is simply for the reason given, and not that
those omitted were less loyal or industrious.
We will first show that relief work done by women during the
Revolution was well organized by naming a few of the more im-
portant leaders and the kind of work they were connected with.
Rebecca Lyon Armstrong was the first women to organize a
society in Pennsylvania. She led the women of Carlisle into ac-
tive assistance in clothing Washington's army, supplying also
many other comforts.
Sarah Nelson McAllister of Juniata county, organized the first
women's agricultural society. She went from farm to farm tell-
ing the women that if they did not plow and sow they would
starve, as their husbands would not be home in time for the
work. Washington's soldiers did not reach home until Decem-
ber, and they would have been in want, as many of the settle-
ments were very short of food.
Elizabeth Porter, residing near Philadelphia, formed a society
for weaving and making soldier's clothing, for it is well known
many were in rags. Even the ofiicers' clothing had become very
shabby, and being out of cloth they ripped their coats apart,
washed them, and turned them inside out. and they looked so
well that it was often remarked, "Oh yes, he has a turned
coat on."
In order that Washington's armies might be better fed and
clothed the ladies not only devoted much time to cloth and gar-
ment making but practiced many economies as well, as may be
seen from one of Sarah Mifflin's letters which says :
"I have retrenched in my expenses, for both my table and family.
Tea I have not drank since Christmas, nor bought a new gown or cap
since the affair at Lexington; and what I never did before, have learned
to knit, making socks for the soldiers."
The cloth used at that time was probably what was called
oznaburg — a mixture of flax and tow- — which followed the buck-
skin of the pioneers. A woolen cloth called linsey-woolsey was
woven also. Tailors and dressmakers went from house to house
making clothes for the well-to-do families. In later times men
operated the larger cloth weaving looms but women continued
to make the linen.
In the neighborhood of encampments the women workers were
naturally still more active, the need being near at hand ; so we
136 BUCKS COUNTY WOMEN IN WAR TIME
learn that while Washington's army was encamped on Carr's' Hill,
near Hartsville, the women wove, cut and made garments by
day, spinning and knitting by firelight in the evenings.
The gristmills of this vicinity were then grinding day and
night — mostly corn, this being the most plentiful grain. The
British in Philadelphia and the tories through the country did
much to hinder the feeding of our armies. They so drained the
country of luxuries that only the simplest foods were left ; their
common diet was milk, bread and pie for breakfast ; meal, pork
or bacon with a wheat pudding and molasses for dinner; mush
or hominy, with milk, butter and honey for supper.
Previous to the battle of Trenton Washington was quartered
at Keith Farm, situate at the foot of Jerico Mountain, two miles
from the place where he and his army crossed the Delaware.
On the night of the battle, when they arrived on the Jersey side
of the river, the family of John Norton (who owned a farm on
the river bank, where the city of Trenton now stands), cooked
and baked all night to feed Washington and his men. They used
everything eatable on the place and then only a part was fed.
Mrs. Emeline P. Newbold, who now resides in Langhorne, is a
descendent of the family of John Norton.
Then as now the women nursed the sick and wounded soldiers,
and as the armies were comparatively small they were often
quartered in private houses and various other buildings.
Directly following the battle of Brandywine in 1777, the Con-
tinentals sent orderlies ahead of their army to find winter quar-
ters for the officers and men. Langhorne, which was then Four
Lanes End, was selected and the officers were quartered in the
home of Joshua and Sarah Richardson, a large stone house at
the intersection of the lanes. This house is still standing and in
good condition. The house opposite, a large brick dwelling owned
and occupied by Gilbert Hicks, a tory, was confiscated by the
government and used throughout their stay as a hospital, whicH
before the long winter months were over was badly needed, as
army fever broke out among the man, and many were sick and
many died. The Friends Meeting-house was used as a sleeping
and living quarters for the privates, and in the southern end of
the burying ground lie hundreds of their bodies.
Lafayette, who was wounded at the battle of Brandywine,
BUCKS COUNTY WOMEN IN WAR TIME 137
Sept. 11, 1777, came to Four Lanes End by way of Bristol en-
route for Bethlehem, and stayed at the Richardson house for
several days rest before continuing his journey. In September
1824, when as the nation's guest Lafayette again visited this
country, on his way from New York to Philadelphia, he stopped
at Bristol, and was there introduced to many persons, including
Mrs. Bassonett, who had nursed him after he was wounded in
the battle of Brandywine.
During the Civil \\"ar the women of this neighborhood seem
to have been quite active. There was a society formed at Lang-
horne to care for the soldiers called The Ladies' Aid, Langhorne
then being known as Attleboro. This society held an all-day
meeting every Wednesday in the townhall over Dr. Pemberton
Minster's drug store on Maple avenue. There was a long table
in the room about which the ladies gathered to scrape lint and
cut and sew garments for the soldiers in the field and hospitals.
They knitted, canned, baked and did what the Red Cross of to-
day is doing. At that time communities had their own regiments
and the ladies worked for them, often driving in carriages to
camps and hospitals with clothing and food they had made and
prepared. They raised money in various ways to carry on this
work. At one "fair" they had a large tree filled with gifts which
were chanced off at ten cents a chance. Dr. Minster drew a doll.
He having been long married and no children this caused much
merriment, and this doll, which they named "Flora," remained
in the family until about a year ago.
Those active in the town war work were x\nnie Watson, Jane
Wildman, Lizzie, Rebecca and Jane Swartzlander, Rachel Min-
ster, Anna Richardson, Effie File, Tacy and Anna Mather, Lizzie
Comfort, Mary J. Richardson, Susanna and Maryann Palmer.
At the Palmer farm many bottles of cherry syrup were made and
sent to the hospitals. Annie W^atson (mother of Henry W. Wat-
son, our representative in Congress), started the sewing upon the
immense Attleboro flag, which was made by the ladies in the
work room. It is still in existence and has figured in all the po-
litical parades of the town. Until the time of his death Dr.
Minster took charge of the flag in his own home, but a short
time ago, battered and torn, it was seen floating from the window
of the Odd Fellows' Hall, its present home.
138 BUCKS COUNTY WOMEN IN WAR TIME
The great Sanitary Fair of Philadelphia was held under the
auspices of the Sanitary Commission of Pennsylvania, New Jer-
sey and Delaware, it being intended as a means of adding to the
fund for the use of the sick and wounded of the army and navy
engaged in the Civil War. The commission built an enormous
temporary building covering Logan square, and there the fair
was opened with appropriate ceremonies on June 7, 1864, in the
presence of Governor Curtin, of Pennsylvania ; Governor Paker,
of New Jersey, and Governor Cannon, of Delaware. The con-
tributions of money and articles for display and sale were gen-
erous and the sale was such a success that when it closed on
June 28th, it had realized for the commission over $1,080,000.
Thousands of people attended daily and the crowd was especial-
ly large on June 16th, when President and Mrs. Lincoln paid it
a visit. The president signed his name to printed copies of the
Emancipation Proclamation, which were sold, those that were
preserved are today of great value.
The women of Bucks county took a great interest in this fair
and it is said that wagons filled with visitors and contributors
made almost a continuous procession on the York Pike. Mrs.
Henry Darlington and Miss Irene Henry were the Doylestown
collectors for this fare.
The "Cooper Shop Refreshment Saloon" was established at
Front and Washington streets, Philadelphia, for the purpose of
feeding soldiers passing through the city on their way south.
Mrs. Halsey Gibbs and Mrs. Josiah Hart collected provisions in
this neighborhood for the Cooper Shop and some of their ex-
periences were interesting. They used a two-seated carriage with
the rear seat removed for their trips through the country, putting
contributions in back. On one of their excursions they noticed
a churn at a springhouse and guessed that batter making had
just been finished. The farmer tried to put them oflf by saying
that it had not yet been printed, but they said they would be glad
to wait until that was done. After waiting quite a long while
the farmer said to his wife that they might as well print the but-
ter and give some or the ladies would stay for supper. An an-
other farm house, the collectors suggested a few chickens as a
contribution. The farmer "had no time to pick chickens," but
one of the ladies said, "Oh, never mind about picking, just cut
BUCKS COUNTY WOMEN IN WAR TIME 139
their heads off and put them in the carriage." And they got the
chickens. On their return one of the husbands said he expected
to see them driving in a cow the next time. On one occasion a
boy was talking earnestly to his mother, who was getting some
things ready for the Cooper Shop carriage. The mother, laugh-
ing, said, "He wants to know if he can't give his banty chicken
for the soldiers, why it wouldn't make a mouthful." But the
banty was accepted and sold at auction, bringing quite a sum.
Miss Anna Widdefield, who lived on a farm near Bridge Point,
and who had three brothers in the army, helped every day at the
Cooper Shop. Mr. Howard Magill tells me that every year on
Memorial Day our local G. A. R. Post decorates her grave.
The Ladies' Aid Society of Warminster was organized at the
home of Margaret H. Twining in December, 1861, by Hannah
C. Davis, Elizabeth T. Kirk, Anna Twining, Martha Davis,
Rachel Wynkoop, Rebecca R. Twining, and others, who had been
meeting as a Literary Society previovis to the outbreak of the
Civil War. From the time of organization until June, 1865,
this society met on W^ednesday of each week. In all this time
there was never a meeting omitted because of storm or bad travel-
ing, although at no time was the membership greater than forty.
The first meetings were held in a room of Charles Kirk's wagon
house. After September, 1863, the Warminster Friend's Meet-
ing-house was always the place of meeting until the close of the
society. In order to procure funds each members gave a month-
ly contribution of ten cents and collected all manner of contri-
butions from friends and acquaintances. This soon proved in-
sufficient, and therefore mass meetings, fairs, strawberry festi-
vals, lectures and entertainments were resorted to raise funds.
The following is the last paragraph of the final report of the
society prepared by the corresponding secretary, Mrs. Mary D.
Jarrett :
"In the summer of 1864, a hospital being established at College Wharf,
near Bristol, called Whithall, to which some eight or ten hundred men,
very weak and sick, were sent, unprepared for, — a call was made in the
surrounding country, for supplies and assistance, to which we re-
sponded by sending a large committee with a large quantity of refresh-
ments and substantial, of which the greater part of the hungry boys
partook to their full enjoyment. It was, indeed, a great pleasure to
witness the eagerness with which they received the morsel of bread
140 BUCKS COUNTY WOMEN IN WAR TIME
and butter, a cup of boiled milk, cooked fruit, pickles, etc., as we seem
to have been favored with a variety of edibles suitable for the different
cases. Some time having elapsed before the place became fully organ-
ized, and fresh arrivals of the sick almost daily coming in, it was sug-
gested that a committee from the different Aids should be sent to
assist in waiting upon, and preparing sick dishes for the poor emaciated
men. We united with the suggestion, and our worthy President, (then
Mary M. Carr) in company with a lady from the Hartsville Aid (Mrs.
Nicolas) volunteered to spend a week near the hospital, in preparing
dainties for the very sick, and acting the part of mothers, in various
ways, to many poor creatures whose lives have not been spared to ack-
nowledge their kind attentions. And oh, how many 'God bless you,
ladies!' 'Thank you, ladies!' etc., have been uttered by the poor sick
and wounded men, as they would pass through the wards with some-
thing to tempt the appetite or some pleasant drink t(^ moisten the
fevered lips, and the tears of thankfulness flowed on man_v a sun-burned
cheek in appreciation of their tender sympathy. We have also visited
Nicetown Hospital, and assisted the Penn Relief in getting up a
Thanksgiving dinner, and at another time a Thanksgiving supper.
Here, too, we have been made to rejoice, seeing our ladies so greatly
appreciated b\" the poor stricken ones who have been made to suffer,
bv a rebellious foe, for our mother country's sake."
Historical Reminiscences of the Cuttalossa Creek in Solebury
Township.
BY THADDEUS S. KENDERDINE, NEWTON, PA.
(Cuttalossa Valley Meeting, June, 15, 1918.)
THE Cuttalossa is a small stream, not more than three miles
long from its source in the western part of Solebury town-
ship, to w^iere after a winding course it enters the Delaware
river at Lumberton, about half way between Easton and Tren-
ton, and now in volumne but a weak stream, though, before the
deforestation of its valley, it was of milling capacity. As I first
knew the creek nearly four score years ago its lower course
flowed through a forest primeval, no wagon road followed its
course, although there was an old one laid out on high ground
overlooking the stream and crossing it but once. Now there is a
road through the valley which crosses the creek five times. The
creek starts from two springs on the line of the Street road, and
meanders along the margins of pleasant meadows, it then skirts
a piece of woodland and then after a short distance of open
country, it dives into a mile of second growth timber whose
ancestral trees shadowed the creek all the way to the Delaware.
At first it flows northeasterly, then to the north and then turns
again to the northeast until it empties into the Delaware river.
It is one of the minor streams of the county, a score of others
perhaps exceeding it in volume, and yet there was enough in its
connection, human and scenic, its people, mills, trees, shrubbery,
ferns and flora to create a pamphlet of eighty-nine pages from
that gatherer of local historic matter, William J. Buck. As to
the humanity living in or near the valley, there were none more
noted than Capt. Pike and his son. General Zebulon M. Pike (Dis-
coverer of Pike's Peak), and the poet, John G. Whittier. The
names of this trio alone should make the Cuttalossa a stream of
personal note. Historian Buck, locally an alien, has done more
in the way of research to hunt up matters relative to the Cut-
talossa Valley than all its residents combined.
The spelling of the name of the creek is now established as I
have given it. The original spelling however was Quatalosse,
142 HISTORICAL REMINISCENCES OF CUTTALOSSA CREEK
which was the name of the Armitage gristmill, as stencilled on
the grain bags belonging to Henry Armitage, who owned it with-
in my recollection. Skudalosa was another name following that.
Among other titles found in old deeds it was called Quetilassie
and Scuttlaushe. but both Davis and Buck, after investigation,
have established Cuttalossa as the correct spelling.
The first gristmill on the stream was built by Samuel Armitage,
who came from Wakefield, England, in 1738, and settled in
Solebury before 1747. A date on the gable end of the mill, 1752,
indicates that it was built that year. A few years later a saw-
mill was built, and by 1780 a plaster mill was also in operation.
The gristmill, run by an overshot water wheel, remains as it was
170 years ago, except for an addition made in 1823. It is now
owned by an Armitage, and has been in that family name, except
for a hiatus of forty years when the names of Good, Hutchinson
and Fries were connected with its ownership. The present owner
is Amos Armitage, the third of that name in title, who bought
the property about 1905. Like all old mills of the kind, its busi-
ness is much diminished, but when there is water enough to
operate, the old wheel still plods its solemn rounds and the
rumbling stones go their whirling.
In 1916, when on a visit to my old home, I stopped at the
Armitage mill, whose inside I had not seen for a half century.
Business was slack and the works idle, but not its "dusty," for
we found Amos 3d, fixing up a sawmill (for a circular saw) for
working up logs suitable for its size. He was doing all the work
himself, for he was a "Jack of all trades," being a worker in both
wood and iron. He had hewn the log carriage out of one piece
of timber and was ripping it by hand in two parts, like the old
mode before the days of sawmills. Around him were wooden
cogwheels and pulleys, showing his handiwork and confidence
in the future of the mill. His children were all girls, and I
could not look upon him without interest, as being the sole male
representative of the Armitages that I had known or heard of
in the 175 years who had lived and died along the waters of
the Cuttalossa. I thought there must have been some sentiment
in his nature, else he would not have left his ancestral farm, that
of his grandfather, Amos, 2nd, to cast his lot with this old mill.
I would like to have seen the old mill running, as I had in the
HISTORICAL REMINISCENCES OF CUTTALOSSA CREEK 143
long ago, but with no grist to grind and a scarcity of water I
could not ask Amos to leave his congenial work to start it up
for my pleasure. Through the generations of Armitages, Samuel.
John, Henry and Jesse, the old mill had gone on, and let us hope
that Amos will make a success of his undertaking.
The first gristmill in Solebury township, was built in 1707 at
the "Great Spring," the most natural place to start one because
of the abundance of water, and with no danger of the water-
wheel freezing, for with full volume the water came forth at a
temperature defying ice. Hither came farmers from up-country,
where as yet no mills had been built, bringing their grists of rye,
wheat and buckwheat, by cart or on horseback down the Sugan
road, the first highway leading north from that section. When
the Armitage mill was erected in 1752 on that highway, it great-
ly interfered with the trade of the mill at Great Spring. John
Armitage, son of Samuel, succeeded him in the conduct of the
mill. He was familiarly known as "Batchelor John," or as
"Uncle." When up-country mills were built the Armitage trade
in its turn was interfered with, as the people would naturally pat-
ronize the nearest mill. These old-time millers would, when able,
grind the grists while the far-away farmers waited, and give
them their dinners at noon time, for such was the hospitality of
those good old times. We can well say that these "dusties" never
dipped the toll dish but once, with fear that the boss miller or
apprentice might forget the service. Henry was an elder in our
Friends Meeting, and I have seen his plain hat and coat dusted
with flour, but not at meeting.
The next gristmill was built at the mouth of the Cuttalossa
creek some time before 1758 in connection with a sawmill, but
being in the way of the construction of the canal, about 1830,
both were put out of use to make way for it. To replace these
a second set of mills was built by John Gillingham, grandfather
of the late Mayor Ashbridge, of Philadelphia, brother of Benja-
min who lived and died in Lahaska, and an uncle, I believe, to
the late J. Gillingham Fell, whose father was William Fell, who
married a daughter of John Gillingham. The demolished grist-
mill was in its time of historic interest in connection with the
death of Moses Doane, for whose capture a reward was oflfered.
A boy coming there with a grist of wheat told the miller that
144 HISTORICAL REMINISCENCES OF CUTTALOSSA CREEK
the Doanes were at their house and that the flour was badly
wanted. There was such a suggestion from this that the miller
promptly complied, and when the grain was ground, went at once
to where a public sale was being held, nearby, and notifying the
assemblage there, a posse was soon created, and hastening to the
Horsley place, on Cabin run in Bedminster township, whence the
boy came, and where the Doanes were harbored. One of the
party shot the leader of the outlaws, after he had surrendered,
which was considered a dishonorable act, the rest escaping in
the confusion, the officer of the law, leading the posse, Major
Kennedy, getting killed in the melee. As a punishment for har-
boring his country's enemies, Horsley, besides being jailed at
Newtown for six months, was burned in the hand !
John E. Kenderdine, who in 1833 had bought the Lumberton
property, known heretofore from the names of the Delaware river
ferry owners, Rose, Kugler, Hart and Painter, but latterly, from
the frequent visits of the sheriff as "Hard Times," along with
twenty acres of land, made a second replacement of the mills,
one on each side of the creek. It is here worthy of mention that
the purchaser, being a practical millwright, had gotten out the
machinery for the gristmill the winter before he moved to Lum-
berton from his Montgomery county home, and that the car-
riage-way of the sawmill was partly supplied from a wooden
endless chain which had been used for a tread-power, on which
oxen worked, at an experimental gristmill established in one end
of the large dwelling house in which he lived, but which was a
failure, for the good reason that the motive power ate up all the
toll. The idea for this method of propulsion was obtained from
early western settlers, where feed was cheap and economy in
machinery necessary. It is recorded that the endless chain was
the first to inaugurate the more practical horse-powers soon to
be built for driving threshing machines. It was curiously con-
structed, with rollers and hinge joints, made from the hardest
wood necessarily strong from having to sustain the weight of two
heavy oxen. I well remember seeing unusued sections of the
chain lying overhead in the sawmill.
The gristmill dam formed a basin for logs for the sawmill.
I have seen 200,000 feet of them floating there at one time. To
see the weeds and thicket-grown waste now covering the site of
HISTORICAL REMINISCENCES OF CUTTALOSSA CREEK 145
this pond, one can scarcely realize the changed conditions. Later
the two operations were separated, the sawmill being removed to
a location two hundred yards further up the stream, and on the
opposite side thereof. The new and head race dug for this saw-
mill has gradually over the past forty years, filled up, and the
investment has become lost.
The next water-power to be improved along the Cuttalossa
was a sawmill built in 1849 by John E. Kenderdine, about one-
third of a mile from the river. The place was called Laurelton,
so named on account of the rhododendrons growing in the woods
at that place. In 1852 a floorboard working machine was added,
which theretofore had been attached to the gristmill at the river
and run by means of a shaft spanning the creek. Starting this
enterprise involved a patent on the "Woodward planing machine,"
a late invention, which with swiftly revolving knives worked the
surfaces and edges of parallel-sawn boards. For supplying the
counties of Bucks and Hunterdon (in New Jersey) one dollar
per thousand feet had to be paid to the holder of the patent right,
one George B. Sloat, of Philadelphia, a brother to Commodore
Sloat, of the United States Navy, and much connected with the
capture of Upper California at the time of the Mexican war.
This machinery brought out the enmity of neighboring carpenters,
who claimed that it was robbing them of their work, so that they
threatened a boycott by influencing their patrons to buy their
lumber of rival dealers. A day's work for a carpenter in work-
ing and laying flooring was one hundred superficial feet, while a
machine at that time would plane, tongue and groove three thou-
sand. Much of this hand work was done in the winter time
when cheap apprentice labor could be used, so it was no wonder
the boss carpenters kicked at an innovation which they claimed
took the bread from the mouths of their wives and children.
But their employers had something to say to this, and such hand
work entirely ceased. This investment of my father's, how-
ever, turned out a poor one, for despite the patent protection,
flooring was placed in the cities and lumber regions by improved
machinery which could produce three times as fast as he could,
and which was retailed by local dealers despite the patent.
In 1854 a sash and door factory was added to the flooring mill,
which further annoyed the boss carpenters, as more robbing them
146 HISTORICAL REMINISCENCES OF CUTTALOSSA CREEK
of their work, but the outcome was the same as from the flooring
machine ; one of these kickers even starting a rival factory a mile
and a half away, which much interfered with our business. But
there was lots of work in those times in the late fifties for farmers
were doing well, building anew on their farms, or erecting re-
tiring homes in nearby villages where they might live with their
families comfortably to the end of their days. As many as a
dozen hands were employed in and around our factory making
inside housework, so there was quite a stir in the now deserted
valley of the Cuttalossa. A mill for grinding bones was added in
1864, and two years later machinery was put in for making mixed
fertilizers, taking the room of the disused sawmill, so for many
years there was plenty of business around this section.
In 1854 Charles P. Large and Isaac Corson built another saw-
mill, locating it about a mile further up the stream, in the heart
of the wilderness, but which the wagon road had opened up. In
the nearby woods they cut chestnut and oak timber which they
sawed into railroad ties for the branch road built from Lansdale
to Doylestown, a branch of the North Penn (now Reading)
railroad. These ties were hauled a distance of nine miles with
an ox team by George, son of Theodore Dudbridge, who had
lately moved into the neighborhood, one of the few men recon-
ciled to this slow travel. One round trip was considered a day's
work. For twenty years thereafter much hard wood was sawed
here from logs cut from far and near, the rivings shipped to
Atlantic coast cities and even as far as California. About 1873
the mill was bought by Cephas Worthington who added a rake
and handle factory thereto, but his venture failed financially.
Later purchasers were Robert Lear and the Kemble Brothers
from the Lumberton quarries, one brother, William H. Kemble
of Philadelphia, dying, his brother allowed the property to stand
idle, until a violent flood, coming in 1885, so thoroughly destroyed
both dam and mill that they were never rebuilt. The sawyer's
home deserted, its doors open and windows all broken, would
have been a night lodging place for tramps, did such gentry so
far forget themselves as to wander into this wilderness. In like
manner the nearby tenant house, where lived for years a run-
away slave called "Black Charley" and his wife or woman,
"Black Maria." Charley always kept an axe on hand for brain-
HISTORICAL REMINISCENCES OF CUTTALOSSA CREEK 147
ing his late owner should he come to take him from his wilder-
ness home. Maria was a wicked looking woman, and would
have willingly helped her man in his work. With desolation all
around the once humanity all dead, I wonder if its ghosts, "re-
visiting the pale glimpses of the moon," ever in their walks
abroad startle the owls and bats from their haunts.
After reading my description of the improvements once along
the Cuttalossa, no one having pathos of sympathy can wonder at
my feelings when seeing the solitude wrought by time and changed
conditions of business there. Where turned the various mills, with
their accessories, not only all is silence, but the buildings which
gave forth their noises are, with one exception, so gone that
nothing but bare walls are seen or well nigh hidden by bushes
and tree growths, where once disturbed nature is having her re-
venges. Half of my long life was passed among these scenes,
where much of the time conditions were at their liveliest, and
where in my early days all with a wilderness, whose reclamation
was to be so wonderful ; so it is not strange that when I visit these
deserted places that I experience sickness of heart. Along the
valley road, once so lively with carriage and business travel, one
now scarcely sees a pleasure vehicle or heavy wagon, while road-
side vegetation is encroaching more and more on the right-of-
way. This road, the easiest one inland from the river from be-
low Yardley to Easton, was allowed from the courts with diffi-
culty, as so few people were interested besides my father, and
the township taxpayers objecting through remonstrances; even
some of the original petitioners recanting. My father was par-
ticularly interested in having this road laid out, because of the
roundabout route and the hills which his customers had to take
to haul their lumber from the river, and he was greatly pleased
when he had accomplished his purpose.
THE VILLAGE OF LUMBERTON.
I have spoken of the mills built along the Cuttalossa and their
present abandoned and dilapidated condition, but have said
nothing about the little village of Lumberton at its mouth. There
was a settlement there before 1758, for in that year William Skel-
ton built a gristmill, and by 1770 a sawmill was added, which
in 1771 was owned by John Kugler. The gristmill was rebuilt
148 HISTORICAL REMINISCENCES OF CUTTALOSSA CREEK
in 1781, when on account of Kugler getting into trouble for his
disloyalty, and to avoid his property from being confiscated he
sold it to George Warne. Kugler was however jailed at New-
town. His wife, who seemed to have been equally guilty was
also arrested and journeyed with him to the county-seat. George
Warne conveyed the property to John Hart, who appears to have
lived there, for during the Revolutionary War he was ferryman.
The tract after being increased to one hundred and twenty acres
by purchase of adjoining lands, was sold in 1795 to Jacob Painter
and Reuben Thorne. Painter appears to have run the ferry in
1793, when there was a "Painter's Ferry road." As late as 1818
there was a sign post due northwest of Center Hill stating the
way and distance to the ferry. This crossing must have been
established about the time, or before John Watson laid out the
road to Center Hill, or about 1756. Some have wondered why
the ferry was not established opposite Lumberville, where there
was a better road to country back of the river, but Bull's island
was in the way there, involving two ferriages, on account of an
intervening branch of the river. Doubtless there was a hotel at
Lumberton shortly after the Watson road was laid out, for this
highway was mainly for the convenience of Jersey farmers -going
to Philadelphia. There was a store and lumber yard by 1800.
In 1833 John E. Kenderdine, from Horsham, Montgomery
county, who was made acquainted with this business nook on the
Delaware shore from crossing the ferry at various times on his
visits to his future wife, Martha Quinby, who lived with her par-
ents, James and Margaret, on a large plantation on the Jersey hills
overlooking what was to be Lumberton, and seeing its induce-
ments, purchased the place. The then good water power of the
Cuttalossa, combined with the supply of saw timber annually
floating down the Delaware from its headwaters in New York
and northern Pennsylvania, together with the cheapness of the
property, were beckonings not easily avoided. The lately finished
canal furnishing transportation for the benefit of the merchant
mill he proposed building, was another important factor in the
buying of the place, so, in the named year, he bought of Joseph
Hough, administrator to the estate of Thomas Little, lately de-
ceased, for $1600 a tract of twenty acres, on which were the re-
mains of a sawmill and gristmill, a hotel and two dwelling houses,
HISTORICAL REMINISCENCES OF CUTTALOSSA CREEK 149
one of them "the Old Red House," in which once Hved the two
Pikes — Captain Zebulon, the Revolutionary soldier, and his son,
General Zebulon Montgomery Pike, also a soldier, as well as a
noted explorer ; the latter to be killed in our last war with England
in a Canadian expedition, and who, when quite a lad, attended the
Center Hill school two miles away. One of these is yet standing,
a double dwelling, an end of which was the Camel tavern. The
hotel end has sentimental associations with me, for here my par-
ents first lived when coming to Bucks county, where I com-
menced housekeeping in 1863, and where two of our children
were born ; and now the whole building is a pitiful wreck. A two-
storied veranda once fronted it, which was torn down piecemeal
by quarrymen tenants and burned for firewood.
The "House on the Hill," the first new residence built in the
new-named village, was erected in 1837 and here John E. Kinder-
dine lived until 1855, when he moved to the newly built "Laurel-
ton House" up the creek, and where he lived until his death in
1868. In 1869 the writer bought that property and lived there
till the fall of 1874, when he sold it and moved to Ambler, bidding
a final adieu to the valley of the Cuttalossa. The house changing
hands several times, it was finally burned down about 1903, and
the charred and partially wrecked walls for several years re-
mained a blot on the landscape. During this time it was sold
three times as junk, the knocked-down price being once but $70,
for what had cost as a whole $3000. The last owner razed the
upper walls till they were shedshaped, pitching one way and to-
wards the road, till the picturesque house of six gables, christened
the "Laurelton" by my brother Robert, was bungled to a bunga-
low. On the erection of this house, in 1855, when the walls were
a little above the second floor, Robert and I composed some
poetry, and with two newspapers made up a cornerstone filler, in-
serted it in a wooden box and had this walled in. I never ex-
pected to see the interned box again, but through some remarkable
contingencies the papers came into my possession, some of them
in tolerable good condition. My brother's poem, a remarkable
production for one about fifteen years of age, was printed in a
local paper and afterwards came out in book form.
The four families of Armitages who lived in the section of the
Cuttalossa around the upper water power were headed by Samuel,
150 HISTORICAL REMINISCENCES OF CUTTALOSSA CREEK
John, Henry and Amos, all of whom in their generations have
long since passed away, and later their twenty-five children, and,
as before mentioned, but one male member of the name left, the
last, Amos, who owns the ancestral mill.
Tames, one of John Armitage's sons, married my aunt, Mary
Quinby, and died leaving two sons, James and Charles, the first
aged one year, the last three years. James died at sixteen, while
his brother lived to be old enough to die for his country in the
Civil War. Charles was a practicing lawyer at Phoenixville, when
the call to arms came, he enlisted in Company G, First Pennsyl-
vania Reserves. A writer of fiction, a ready debater and an ac-
complished orator, the latter talent used at war meetings to urge
recruiting, and, best of all, setting the example himself, so unlike
the many "go-boys" talkers, instead of being "come-boys," who
failed to fight as they spoke. I shall never forget his address
at a meeting called at my home town immediately after the
mobbing and death of the Massachusetts troops in Baltimore while
on their way for the defence of Washington. It was for the en-
listment of volunteers for the President's first call, and was full
of persuasive eloquence for recruits, and at the same time of con-
sideration for those who would have to make sacrifices to enlist.
Ex-Governor Pennypacker who was a fellow townsman of Ar-
mitage after he set up legal practice at Phoenixville, was pleased
to speak of him in his memoirs as "a slouchy, ill-trained man,
ignorant and good-natured," with the saving clause of "being a
great favorite and having been killed in action" — a mixed de-
scription, worthy of so mixed a character as was Pennypacker.
Charles Armitage was no scholar as the word goes, but he was a
great reader, his inclination being for military history, particular-
ly of the Napoleonic wars, the plans of which battles he would
draw on his slate. In local debating societies he was eminent as
a reasoner, and in the Lincoln campaign did good service as a
political orator. At his new home he wrote fictional tales for the
Phoenixville Independent. He was not killed in action but died
from exhaustion after the battle of Gettysburg, while on Mead's
pursuit of Lee, and was buried on the southern shore of the Po-
tomac. He was a good soldier with military bearing, as I learned
from one of his commanding officers. In one of the battles be-
fore Richmond he commanded his company. As one of the three
HISTORICAL REMINISCENCES OF CUTTALOSSA CREEK 151
dwellers of the Cuttalossa valley who gave up their lives for
their country, he is worthy of local mention. The other two were
Robert Kenderdine and Thaddeus Paxson.
The Cuttalossa skirted or divided the lands of the Armitages,
going by that of Amos, and dividing those of Henry, John and
Samuel. Much of these properties consisted of a primeval forest,
dank and dark, the creek taking its lonely way under the shadow-
ing trees until 1852, when the public road was built.
John G. Whittier, the Amesbury poet, passed his summer va-
cations on the Healy farm between 1837 and 1840, and the farm-
house has since been referred to as the "Whittier House. "^ While
living there he wrote several of his published poems. The back
field of the Healy farm overlooks the Cuttalossa valley which is
thus referred to in a letter from him to William J. Buck in 1873.
"I well remember the little river, its woodlands and meadows,
and the junction of the Cuttalossa with the Delaware," showing
that Whittier, in his ramblings, must have honored Lumberton
with his visits. While at his literary work, at the home of Joseph
Healy, the poet, for exercise, between times either worked in the
garden or rambled over the country.
Down stream from the Armitage holdings came the Paxson
tract, extending in two ownerships to the river, in my time those
of Moses and Howard, wherein there were two hundred acres of
woods, backed by fertile farm lands. These were descendants of
Henry Paxson, to whom the sons of William Penn deeded the
land, and who came from England in 1682, and who at once ac-
quired five hundred acres and afterwards more in another sec-
tion. In my recollection Moses Paxson, or rather his estate,
owned the first section below the Armitages', his widow, "Aunt
Salley," living on the homestead, and renting the farm. The
woodland, amounting to near one hundred acres, was a part of a
forest three miles by a half mile in places in area, extending along
the river hills from above Center Bridge to below Lumberville.
In my memory this wilderness was a section for fishing, hunting
game and lost cows — my boyhood experience going back to all
these — fishing, carrying game bag for my Nimrod brother and
1 At the conclusion of the Cuttalossa Valley Meeting, Mr. Daniel Garber,
the noted painter, who has a studio in the valley near where the meeting
was held, presented to the Bucks County Historical Society a large painting
of the Healy-W^hittier house, which now hangs on the walls of the museum
at Doylestown.
152 HISTORICAL REMINISCENCES OF CUTTALOSSA CREEK
seeking wandering members of our little dairy, mainly confined
to the Cuttalossa valley. In hunting stock, particularly at night-
fall, I found the job lonely and mixed with some terror, for
imagination would run wild in conceiving strange sounds and
moving objects. The timber belonging to the estate of Moses
Paxson was cut off after the widow's death, my father buying
part and exchanging much of the wood thereon for land cut ofif
by other purchasers. This he cleared, and it being added to his
original twenty acres of tillable land, made quite a farm, some
sixty acres in all, with the mill property on the river side. On
the lower edge of the Moses Paxson tract he built the Laurelton
mills and the dwelling house in which he ended his days, which I
afterwards owned. The highlands and leveler part of the Paxson
purchase made six fields in a single row, strung along paralleling
the creek, the far field being a good half mile from the barn, and
anything but an economical arrangement for farming purposes.
My school vacations, when a boy of from thirteen to sixteen, in-
stead of idling my time away, as is too often the case now in
school interludes, were passed in burning brush, picking stones
and, when the time came, sprouting stumps, year after year on
the forty acres we cleared. While this work was disagreeable, it
was a good experience for me in my after life, so that I had no
regrets.
The twenty acres my father bought in 1833 was a part of a
two hundred-acre tract which William Penn's heirs conveyed to
John and Eleanor Hough on Fifth Month 28th, 1741. Stoflfel
Rose was the next purchaser, and after him came his son John,
who established afterwards the ferry, subsequently Painter's, and
under other titles conforming to riparian ownership. Lumberton
was on the north corner of the Rose tract, and so near that of
Paxson's that rights of way had to be purchased of subsequent
owners of the land for races and dams for the Lumberton mills,
perpetuity, and which are now of no value on account of the
wreck of business. The remains of the old mills were removed
in 1834, and the same year a new gristmill was built on the op-
posite side of the creek, and another sawmill below the breast
of its dam. From the headrace of the sawmill a forebay crossed
the roadway twenty-four feet above it, which was a conspicuous
sight. The huge water wheel slowly and steadily revolving as a
HISTORICAL REMINISCENCES OF CUTTALOSSA CREEK 153
synonym of power, and its feeder, straddling the highway on its
long legs, was a sight I remember as impressive in my youthful
days.
The name "Hard Times," which the place once had, and which
was difficult to get rid of when it became prosperous, I well re-
member — a term uncomplimentary to the landlord, who was too
much of a "close-wad" to give the renter a sign ; so the tenant,
to shame him, got an old shutter, and, with tar for paint and a
stick for a brush, write on the rude sign "Hard Times." This
brought a respectable sign from the landlord, which I remember
to have seen standing in front of the hotel until 1842. when the
hotel was given up. The sign, on which was painted a camel,
and which afterwards gave the name to the tavern, was for years
stored in the disused hay mow of its stable, in which, when play-
ing there, when quite a small boy, I admired as a w^ork of art.
This sign should have been saved, but it doubtless went into
kindling wood, as afterwards did the two-storied veranda of
the hotel. The stable was torn down in 1865. On one of its
cornerstones were the initials "W. S." with date 1765, standing
for William Skelton, a former owner. I had this walled-in in
the nearby kitchen end of the double house, where it yet can be
seen unless whitewashed or plastered over.
Before the 1841 freshet the ferrymen, save one, lived on the
Pennsylvania side of the river. The exception was Elias Johnson,
who kept a tavern on the Jersey side, but which was washed
away in the same flood, it being near the shore. The Lombardy
poplars in front of it remained there for years. Although but
little over five years old, I remember seeing my father, with
"cupped" hands, shouting across the river to the ferryman:
"Hello, the boat," a call which, from the distance, required fre-
quent repetition. A new hotel was built further back along the
line of the river road, and the canal, or "feeder" bridge, which
had been washed away, rebuilt, but this going in the 1846 flood,
the ferry was abandoned. Under present conditions the ferry
holders on each side of the river would have had to have been
remunerated from the non-rebuilding of the bridge which had
spliced out the ferry of near a century of standing, as well as the
river landing, but Johnson having been satisfied and my father
not insisting on his rights, for the Lumberton end of the ferry
154 HISTORICAL REMINISCENCES OF CUTTALOSSA CREEK
went with his purchase, the crossing, which had so long been
deemed a necessity, was never-more made by anything larger than
a row boat.
The year before the 1841 freshet Kenderdine & Thomas estab-
lished a branch kmiber yard on the opposite side of the river,
with Elias Johnson as tender, and there was $3,000 worth of
stock seasoned and ready to sell when the flood came and all was
washed away, the owners seeing pile after pile floating ofif, power-
less to save it. Such were the prospects of the firm that it had
at much expense refitted a disused sawmill on Eagle Island, a
mile below, to help out the local mill at Lumberton. The first
log was on the carriage ready for sawing, but when the next
morning came, log, sawmill and the sawyer's house and garden
had gone down the Delaware, along with the branch lumber
yard on the Jersey side. These subsidiaries were never reestab-
lished.
CUTTALOSSA INDIANS.
Beyond tradition and what comes from Buck's history, I know
little concerning the Indians of the Cuttalossa, as I was too young
to get in touch even with the last of them. There was what was
known as an "Indian town," mentioned in transfers of land in
the eighteenth century, particularly concerning the Beaks tract
in 1705, with further allusions back to 1701. Of course this
"town" was nothing more than a collection of wigwams or huts
without alignments on streets or alleys, but it was a settlement.
A tradition from the early Armitages was that this was on the
eastern side of the ancestral mill-dam, where there was a fertile
meadow, substantiated by the finding of various relics in more
recent times, of arrow heads and the like, and as late as 1885
Llewellyn Fries, who then owned the property, found a stone axe
and a last used for shaping moccasins on.
I well remember the tradition of the lost Indian child, and who
was afterwards found drowned in a pool at Indian Rock, at the
head of the sawmill dam, below Laureltown. It was supposed
that the child fell from the rock. This tragedy and the search
and mourning for the lost child by the Indian mother was made
into a poem by the late Watson Kenderdine and is published in
Buck's History of the Cuttalossa.
HISTORICAL REMINISCENCES OF CUTTALOSSA CREEK 155
On an elevation overlooking the Delaware was what was sup-
posed to be the grave of an Indian chief, from the prominence
given it by a cairn of stone eighteen inches high placed over it.
In 1845 some of the neighbors of a ghoulish, curious or historic
nature dug for the bones of the aborigine, but discontinued the
search, either from finding a lengthwise buried log in the way,
as one story went, or mayhap in fear of the rising of the Indian's
ghost. There were several other and lower heaps of stones
around, showing that there had been a cemetery there.
The last of the Indians known along the Cuttalossa were in
three individual instances. The first was Isaiah, no surname, who
was remembered by Silas Preston, of Plumstead, in 1780, going
on his way to the Cuttalossa with a bow and arrow for shooting
trout, showing that that stream was once such a preserve ; in fact
the historian, Buck, in 1873, saw miniature trout in the springs
heading its waters. The two other Indians were of a much more
recent date. One was an old fellow^ named Tuckamony ; the other
his daughter Peg. The latter, as was her father, was an expert
basket-maker, and the late Joseph D. Armitage tells of her mak-
ing him a nice dinner basket for school use of red and blue
splints, the material for which she was allowed to freely gather
from suitable trees in the adjacent woods in readiness for dyeing
and weaving, she being rewarded for the present with 'possum and
snapping turtle meat he had caught, and which Peg pronounces
"much good." When her father died she took the place of the
last of the Mohicans, or rather the Lenni Lenapes. W. J. Buck re-
members Tuckamony coming to his father's store bringing baskets
to trade for goods. The daughter left about 1830 for the happy
hunting grounds. Where was the aboriginal hereafter, or its
basket-making regions, if there was such a locality, where in
spirit she would have "much good" enjoyment of 'possum and
snapper. There was another Indian name Nutimus, but he only
came as a doctor for snake bites on emergencies from his home
in Nockamixon, and is only mentioned as saving the life of Wil-
liam Satterthwaite, the poet, of the Cuttalossa region, who is
elsewhere mentioned. The biter was a rattlesnake, but whether
the remedy of Nutimus was of the Arizona kind, is not stated,
as the poet's wife once tried to poison him, the Indian's skill
156 HISTORICAL REMINISCENCES OF CUTTALOSSA CREEK
might have come in play at another time, but it is doubtful from
his marital experience, if Satterthwaite cared to live.
It is hard telling what became of the main body of Indians.
In their intercourse with the whites there seems to have been
none of the combative disposition manifested by them towards
other colonies. In eastern Pennsylvania the kindly spirit shown
by Penn towards the Red Man was so reciprocated that there
was no clashing between the two races, and after receiving pay-
ment for their lands the Indians seem to have folded their wig-
wams like the Arabs their tents, to paraphrase, and quietly gone
their way, leaving the few isolated cases mentioned, who one by
one pathetically died off.
DIFFERENT BUSINESS IN LUMBERTON.
Concerning the different businesses previous to the final slump
in trade at Lumberton, there were a sawmill and gristmill there
before the Revolution, as stated, and doubtless a store and tavern,
as there was an important ferry after the highway was laid out
at the York road. The mills were then run by John Kugler, as
has been mentioned, or until 1780, after which time he was jailed
for disloyalty. From 1780 till 1833, different people undertook
to carry on business there, the John Gillingham spoken of being
the most prominent. He bought mills, lumber yard, hotel and
farm in 1816, but by 1819 the sheriff came along and sold the
entire property to Jeremiah King, from whose heirs it was trans-
ferred to his son-in-law, Thomas Little, whose widow I well re-
member living in Lumberville. Between 1794 and 1819 the place
had been thrice sold under the sheriff's hammer, thus for twenty-
five years there had been frequent sellings out by the courts, until
the name of "Hard Times," got to be quite appropriate.
When John E. Kenderdine took possession of the place in 1833
a great change came over the prospects of Lumberton, the new
sawmill and gristmill and lately opened canal giving great im-
petus to them. Renting the gristmill to Lukens Thomas, who had
followed him up from Horsham he took John D. and William
Balderston, of Solebury, into partnership under the title of" Ken-
derdine, Balderston & Co.," as dealers in lumber, and sawyers
of pine and hemlock logs drawn from rafts in the river. About
1840 the Balderstons withdrew from the company, Lukens
HISTORICAL REMINISCENCES OF CUTTALOSSA CREEK 157
Thomas taking their places, he having given up the gristmill to
Isaiah and James Quinby, brothers-in-law to John E. Kenderdine.
In 1842 Lukens Thomas took over the lumber establishment him-
self, keeping it till 1846, when he had bought from the estate of
William Dil worth, an opposition yard, and much to the chagrin
of his former partner. His place was taken by William
Webster, who also came from Horsham, and James Quinby, who
had left the gristmill to join him, the firm name being Quinby &
Webster, Isaiah Quinby assuming charge of the mill. The firm
did not last a year, Webster going to another opposition lumber
yard in New Hope, occasioning further chagrin in the mind of
his predecessor, John E. Kinderdine, he taking the place of Web-
ster. Quinby, also, soon got weary of the business, and went on
the sawmill, John E. Kenderdine again taking charge of the lum-
ber business, which was until 1853, wdien he took Morris L. Fell,
from Buckingham, in partnership, run under the name of Kender-
dine & Fell. In another year Anthony Margerum, also from
Horsham, took the senior partner's place, under the title of Fell &
Margerum, adding contract building to the other extensive busi-
ness in lumber and factory work (as wood working machinery had
been installed at Laurelton). This firm dissolved in 1860, when John
E. Kinderdine again took over the business, keeping it till 1865,
when it reverted to his sons, Watson and Thaddeus S., under the
title of Kendernine Brothers. For nearly ten years they had
the lumber and coal yard, sawmill and door and sash factory and
fertilizer works just started, purchasing the Laurelton section
after the death of their father in 1869, and carrying on that part
till the fall of 1874, when the firm dissolved. The senior member
buying the place and carrying on the business alone until 1891.
A few years after Watson Kenderdine took his son-in-law,
Hampton W. Rice, into partnership under the name of Kender-
dine & Rice, confining their business to fertilizers. In a few
years they dissolved partnership, the senior partner continuing for
a few years until business became so poor from the encroachment
of the North East Pennsylvania railroad which cut ofif the in-
land trade, so that the mill went into pathetic silence. This
property, after its last owner's death brought but one-tenth of its
cost, the woodwork being sold ofif for old lumber, so that there is
158 HISTORICAL REMINISCENCES OF CUTTALOSSA CREEK
nothing left now but the foundation walls of a once prosperous
establishment.
The gristmill was bought of the estate of John E. Kenderdine
in 1869 by Eugene and Wilson S. Paxson and run by them for
several years, much money being spent on its improvement, which
was all thrown away for the business in time was done for. The
walls yet stand but the machinery is gone, while the rain for
many years through a leaking roof has so afifected the interior
that on my last visit, when I essayed to see how the upper parts
looked, I found the first stairway too much decayed for safe
mounting.
The lumber yard and sawmill and two houses, as well as the
river and canal landings, were bought by Isaac H. Worstall,
who rented the property to Bennett & Tinsman of Monroe, later
it was bought by William Tinsman, then by William Tinsman
& Son, and still later by Daniel Tinsman & Son. When they aban-
doned the sawmill they continued to maintain a lumber yard.
The stone quarries of Lumberton had been worked in a small
way for forty years, when the Kemble Brothers, contractors and
politicians of Philadelphia, bought them of Worstall, as well as
the once Kenderdine farm back of them, and for twenty-five
years they operated them extensively, sometimes employing one
hundred men, getting out large dressed building stone and paving
blocks, the latter going to pave the streets of Philadelphia, where
the senior member of the firm had large contracts.
For awhile all this material went down the canal, but later a
tramway was built across the Delaware river to a siding on the
Belvidere railroad, and the stone run across on a carrier. The
Kembles bought another farm on which there was a quarry,. Be
sides, they had built two new houses in Lumberton and several
in Lumberville for their employes, but the stone business petered
out, the same as had the lumber and grain business, mainly from
the introduction of asphalt for paving and concrete for building
walls, so the quarries became idle, as are the rest of the once-
prominent enterprises around Lumberton, till it is as a "banquet
hall deserted," the old name of the village being even removed
from the, sign on the yet-standing quarry office — the word "Lum-
berville" taking its place in the "Lumberton Granite Quarry Com-
HISTORICAL REMINISCENCES OF CUTTALOSSA CREEK 159
pany," the term "granite" being a fake, the same as the title of
the village.
POETS AND POETRY OF THE CUTTALOSSA.
The Cuttalossa may have been "unwept and unhonored." but
it has not been "unsung" even though in a primitive way. In
Buck's and Davis' histories there are about a dozen poems of
more or less merit, referring to the stream, and Whittier from his
temporary nearness to its watery windings might easily have been
induced to have further immortalized it with the favorings of his
pen, for the Healy farm, the place of some of his summer out-
ings, overlooked the Cuttalossa, and there was an impressive
view over where its waters meandered through its bosky entour-
age towards the Delaware, but, beyond a thirty-years remem-
brance of the "little river." and its outlet, we have nothing from
the Quaker poet. While at his vacation residence he had larger
ventures on hand, and between them and his editorial work on
the Pennsylvania Freeman, and perfecting some of his poems in
transit, he had little time for local work.
With the exception of a poem addressed to the Neshaminy, and
put to the Confederate States' tune of "My Maryland," as a class
song, written by a George School student, no other Bucks county
stream has been poetically apostrophized. A poem written by
Nathan Ely about 1850 and dedicated "To the Cuttalossa," is
mainly impressive from the personality of the author. An humble
farmer, in seclusion from a stammering infirmity, and this to an
extent to cause him to be mimicked by the thoughtless, and home-
ly in face and figure, deserving, as I knew him, the pathetic title
of "a harmless old man," but he had a poetic nature, to an extent,
perhaps brought about by his social isolation, which even his in-
timate friends were unaware of. least of all that he would sing
of "loving youthful pairs" and their "talk of love and future
bliss." The following are the verses, and it is worthy of remark
that they were written before the stream became one of note :
TO THE CUTTALOSSA.
Fair Cuttalossa, why shouldst thou
Remain unnamed in song.
When thy meandering waters flow
So pure and bright along?
160 HISTORICAL REMINISCENCES OF CUTTALOSSA CREEK
Thou glidest through the grassy mead
And through the lonely dell,
While smaller tributary streams
Thy murmuring waters swell.
In places, too, thy winding sides
With trees are thickly crowned,
And in thy dark and lonely vales
May solitude be found;
And though my youthful days are past,
Yet still I love to stray
Along thy wild romantic shores
And hear thy waters play.
Here on thy spreading, smooth-barked beech
How many names appear!
Carved by the hands of those who once
Were glad to wander here.
Full many a loving, j'outhful pair
Along thy banks have strayed
And talked of love and future bliss
Beneath the spreading shade.
But ah! How many who once loved
Along Ihy shores to roam
Now sleep beneath the graveyard sod
Lain in their final home.
And I, ere many years are past.
Must cease to visit thee.
But while I live thy shady banks
Will still be dear to me.
Watson Kenderdine wrote a "Legend of the Cuttalossa" in
his youth, referring to the tragic death of a young Indian girl,
previously mentioned, and William J. Buck wrote "The Fern's
Complaint," an allusion to the robbery of the beds of that plant
by tourists along the stream, and also "The Wood Thrush's Song,"
both of credit to one devoted to the prose of local history. The
three poems were published in the Cuttalossa book. "A Rural
Sketch," written by Dr. John Watson, of Buckingham, about the
year 1800, has the following concluding verse :
And let man not throng his vain pride despise
The rural hamlets and the happy swain.
Where Lahaskae and Cuttelause rise
And water with their streams the fertile plain.
HISTORICAL REMINISCENCES OF CUTTALOSSA CREEK 161
Perhaps I may be allowed to add a poem of my own in con-
nection with the subject:
Where Cuttalossa's flowing
Goes murmuring on its way,
By bush and sapHng going,
And tall trees old and gray,
Just where across the water
From the quaint old gristmill come
The big brown wheel's low patter,
And the mill stone's drowsy hum;
Here sparkling from its birthplace.
Just up the rifted hill,
From out its caverned earthplace,
Cascades a little rill,
Till in a horse trough mossy.
It pours its crystal tide,
Where comes the Cuttalossa
From meadows green and wide.
Thy beeches gray and lettered
With names carved long ago.
Shading thy waves unfettered
As riverv^ard they go.
Thy spice-wood fringed meadows.
The hills that slope beyond.
The trees which cast their shadows
In placid pool and pond;
Passed is each old time feature;
All once familiar gone —
It seems revenging nature
Was coming to its own.
No wonder that heart burnings,
I feel to count the cost,
As come to me the yearnings
For so much loved and lost.
Thy streamlets laurel shaded.
As they for aye have been.
By dryads reinvaded,
And all their woodland kin;
Thy many mill wheels noiseless,
Unroofed their ragged walls.
Thy homesteads sad and voiceless
Where once were happy halls;
From cellar up to attic,
In Fate's relentless wars.
162 HISTORICAL REMINISCENCES OF CUTTALOSSA CREEK
And all so emblematic
Of human deaths and scars,
Traditions torn asunder
From wreckages of time,
Can even strangers wonder
If sadness rules my rhyme?
My parents, sisters, brothers.
That happy made my life.
Near neighbors and the others.
With them my thoughts are rife.
Oh! Whittier's "little river"
Whose vale so much enfolds,
Forget thee I will never.
While faintest memory holds!
There was also another of my poems of one hundred and eighty
hnes entitled : "A Lyric of the Cuttalossa," written about 1870,
mainly imaginable, and in reference to the fountain and the theft
of "Our Cup." While the sylvan guardians of the place, the
Naiads and Satyrs, tricked by Morpheus, went to sleep, the rob-
bery occurred, to their extreme disturbance on awaking. But,
stung by remorse to the extent of a violent nightmare, the man
and brother brought the cup back the next morning to the great
rejoicings of
The woodland sprites exultant
Who in sportive gambols played:
Pan piping a bacchanal measure
Frisked up and down the glade,
While the goat-like prancing Satyrs
And the Naiads, scant arrayed,
Keeping time to the pipe's wild music
Danced minuets in the shade!
The first poem relative to the Cuttalossa was written by Eliza-
beth Armitage in 1816. She was a sister to "Uncle John," the
miller, to whom a chapter is given in Buck's history. The verses
are lost, but it is said that they were more noted for their odd
spelling of the creek than for poetic merit, although it is men-
tionable that over a century ago the Cuttalossa stirred up the
muses. It was addressed to the "Scuteloss," and even if lacking
in metrical imagination, it is unfortunate that the poem was lost,
it being the work of an old-fashioned maiden lady, housekeeper
for "Uncle John." Her giant boxbush, of an age to suggest the
title of a century plant, I very well remember seeing as it stood
HISTORICAL REMINISCENCES OF CUTTALOSSA CREEK 163
in front of the miller's house, but that, as has its caretaker, has
long since passed away.
Cyrus Livezey also wrote a poem on the Cuttalossa which was
read before a literary gathering around "Poet's Rock" on the
shores of the stream in 1871. His brother, Allen Livezey, got up
five verses similarly addressed which can be found in Davis'
Bucks County History. There were other poets along the val-
ley, but their lines do not particularly refer to its water. Among
these writers was George Lear, and of note in after years in our
county-seat, and who, to earn money to fit himself as a school
teacher, as a preliminary to studying for the law, labored at
digging the headrace of the second Lumberton sawmill after
"doing his bit" on the Delaware canal on the same lines. What-
ever credit there was in the given advice, my father should have
it, for, seeing great possibilities in the humble pick-and-shovel
man, he urged him to higher flights, which finally culminated at
the height of attorney general of the state of Pennsylvania. It
was in the local debating school where my father saw that Lear
deserved more than he was getting as a day laborer, and advised
him to make efforts toward what his intellect was fitted for,
which advice he took. When he was admitted to the bar, he gave
him his first fee.
As a local poet I must not forget William Satterthwaite, before
mentioned, as eccentric Englishman, who came to this country'
with his wife about 1740. After living in different places, par-
ticularly at the Durham Furnace and Philadelphia, he came to
Solebury, where he built a house, or what would now be called
a bungalow, at the foot of Copper Nose, below what was after-
ward Lumberville. He owned land on the plain above and there
are yet the marks of a road he dug to reach his upper holdings,
necessary, for the hill overshadowing his home rises to the steep-
ness of forty-five degrees. W^hile a fabricator of poetry, none of
which, so far as I can find out referred to the Cuttalossa, he lived
near enough to the stream to draw inspiration from a valley
whence close resident poets seem to have received it. A victim to
domestic lack of bliss, at one time involving poisoning by his ill-
tempered wife, and at another from being bitten by a rattlesnake,
which reptile should have named the abrupt hill back of his
home, and from which he was saved from death by the Indian
164 HISTORICAL REMINISCENCES OF CUTTALOSSA CREEK
doctor, Nutimus, from Nockamixon, he may have been driven to
poetry by the mentioned troubles, and outside the inspiration al-
luded to. At any rate he had the divine afflatus. He wrote
several poems, extracts from a number of which I will give. One
of these, in particular I remember my father speaking of when
I was quite a lad, and which had "Nothing" for its subject. Being
asked by a girl pupil to write her a poem, and not then in a
poetic humor, perhaps from having been that morning too much
of a target for his wife's tongue, rolling-pin or flying dishes, he
answered, "As I feel now I can write about nothing." "All
right," she said, "write about Nothing." Satterthwaite made an
affirmative reply, and, taking "Nothing" for his subject, wrote a
remarkable poem thereon, beginning :
Nothing! Nothing! Mysterious Nothing, that shall be my theme,
Nothing! Nothing! Mysterious Nothing, whence all beings came.
After many sad experiences and tribulations, in which his wife
acted discordant parts, and through which he was befriended by
such important persons as Judge Jeremiah Langhorne and Pro-
vincial Surveyor Jacob Taylor, and doubtless tired of playing
Socrates to his Xantippe, Satterthwaite went to a deserved rest
at the home of his kind friend, Langhorne, nevermore, let us
trust, to be harassed by scold or serpent.
Satterthwaite was a school teacher and a classical scholar, and
after coming to Philadelphia taught in Jacob Taylor's school,
and after Taylor became surveyor general was made deputy sur-
veyor of the Province. He taught several schools in Bucking-
ham and Solebury, just before the Revolution at the junction of
the Street road and the road leading to New Hope from near
what is now Glendale. He was proficient in Latin and Greek,
so much so in the latter that he used it in talking to his horse
which he seemed to think understood him. Showing further
Satterthwaite's eccentric ways, once when he saw a negro in his
despondency from being whipped by a brother African, threaten-
ing to take his life, he told him that would be wicked, and to let
his adviser act as executioner. Satterthwaite performed this
service so well that before its conclusion the negro begged off
and was cured of his desire for self destruction.
My father came into possession of some of Satterthwaite's
' HISTORICAL REMINISCENCES OF CUTTALOSSA CREEK 165
manuscript ; how, and what became of it I do not know, so I
must depend on Davis' Bucks' County History for the extracts
I give. The poet did not Hve in the Cuttalossa valley, but a half
mile away, but in his despondent wanderings he paid it visits.
His unfortunate marriage seemingly a forced one before leaving
England, had much to do with his sad life, extending to quite ad-
vanced years.
In his poetry he did not forget to apostrophize the snake which
came nearly doing him up, thus :
Thou poisonous serpent with a noisy tall,
Whose teeth are tinctured with the plagues of hell!
So it seems that he was not bitten by a copperhead, which sup-
posedly from that gave name to the hill overshadowing his house.
He afterwards remarked that since attempts to poison him had
been vainly made by both snake and wife he "defied all the devils
in hell to kill him."
While his wife's poison failed to do him up, a poem he wrote
failed to cure her of one of her sins — extravagance. This was
the "Indian Queen," the scene of which was laid in the valley of
the Laoglan, a creek entering the Delaware from New Jersey,
below Lumberton. The leading lady was a princess who, dis-
satisfied with the plain buckskin suit she had been wearing, after
getting a gay calico gown, accompanied with a looking glass, went
abroad to show her finery. Passing a fire her dress caught in
the flames and she was burned to death ; a catastrophe avoidable
had she stuck to her former attire. The last two lines of the
poem were :
The princess dies, and I conclude my verse.
Thus, like Alcides, on his flaming hearse,
Instead of this reforming his wife she ran away, thus showing
that while the poet's fabled lyre may make trees dance, woman's
desire for dress is not amenable to its persuasions. After his
wife's abandonment, in one of his forlorn wanderings, Satterth-
waite went to William Skelton's mill at the mouth of the Cutta-
lossa. Finding the mill closed, he wrote on the door.
Here Skelton lurks, and unkind refuge seeks,
On Delaware's banks, between two awful peaks.
Showing his weariness of teaching he thus expressed himself :
166 HISTORICAL REMINISCENCES OF CUTTALOSSA CREEK
Oh! what a stock of patience needs the fool
Who spends his time and breath in teaching school.
Taught or untaught, the dunce is still the same;
But yet the wretched master gets the blame.
The following is part of elegy to his good friend, Jeremiah
Langhorne :
He stood the patriot of the Province, where
Justice was nourished with celestial care.
He taught the laws to know their just design,
Truth, Justice, Mercy had to hand to join.
Without regard to fear or hope, or gain,
Or sly designs of false, corrupted men.
Of a religious nature he wrote a poem entitled "Providence,"
beginning :
O Gracious Power, divinely just and great.
Who rules the volumes of eternal fate.
Thou Guard of thought, Inspirer of my song.
My thanks to Thee, kind Providence, belong;
Thou wing'st my genius and inspir'st my soul
To sing Thy praise, Great Ruler of the whole!
The following poem, reproving a young woman for singing,
was found among my father's papers :
Though singing is a pleasant thing,
Approved and done in Heaven;
It only should employ the souls
Who know their sins forgiven.
Though far from being contemporaneous, as Satterthwaite died
a few years before my father was born, the poet seems to have
much impressed him ; perhaps from his association with Lum-
berton.
Besides the friends of Satterthwaite already named, there was
Lawrence Growdon, who invited him in his declining years to
make his home with him, but he went to Jeremiah Langhorne's
instead, and there at Langhorne Park his life ended. John Chap-
man, clerk at the Durham Iron Works, where Satterthwaite
taught school for sevaral years, was also his good friend, as was
also John Watson, who being something of a poet, made their
meeting together the more agreeable. Watson, as a state sur-
veyor, with his party, did work around the Durham Iron Works.
HISTORICAL REMINISCENCES OF CUTTALOSSA CREEK 167
There was also a man named Pellar, perhaps a Solebury Pellar,
to be added to the coterie. Mention is made of the party in their
leisure hours (when school was not kept, the chain and quadrant
idle and the clerk not wanted at his desk), that they convening
at a Durham trout stream, where, between casts of flies and the
draft of "speckled beauties," and sips of punch, the poets, and
those of other guilds talked shop and read one to another. In his
closing years, when under the hospitable roof of Langhorne, and
after his Jezebel of a wife had ceased to trouble, he often re-
verted to those halcyon days along Durham creek. He must
have remembered the extemporaneous ode with which his friend
Watson woke up the lazybones of the camp, closing with :
The sun peeps o'er the highest tree,
Ere we have sipped our punch and tea;
So time rolls on from day to day.
That noon comes ere we can survey.
Indicating that Surveyor John Watson, despite his friendliness,
did not object to drinking something stronger than tea. Thus
showing that Satterthwaite, despite his failings, had his friends ;
so I make no excuse for giving him so much space, the facts of
which I am mainly indebted to Davis' History, from the chapter
"Our Poets and Their Poetry." The Satterthwaites had a son
named George, but there is no knowledge as to what became
of him.
THE FOUNTAIN.
To write up the Cuttalossa history and leave out something
concerning the fountain would be eliminating the mournful Dane
in playing Hamlet. This is where the valley opens onto farm
lands, though at the foot of a wooded hillside, and where a
copious spring gushes from a little cavern at the summit. As the
historian Bucks says, "the situation is lovely and romantic. The
fountain is overhung and shaded by the long pendant branches of
the beech, red oak and willow. The spice wood also helps to
canopy it, in September brilliant with numerous red berries."
In 1866, long after John E. Kenderdine had placed a watering-
trough by the roadside, Joseph D. Armitage (who lived on an
ancestral farm just across the Cuttalossa). noticing the many
people stopping there to quench their thirst, made a drinking cup
168 HISTORICAL REMINISCENCES OF CUTTALOSSA CREEK
from a cocoanut shell, with an iron handle on which he inscribed :
OUR CUP.
Art not cold wells and crystal springs,
For our hotels the very things?
Whittier.
His crediting the lines to Whittier was a mistake, as they were
written by John Pierpont. To further beautify and utilize the
spring with its rude wooden watering-trough, the neighbors, and
people as far away as Doylestown, subscribed the sum of $160
for a flagstone trough, flanked with concave walls, on each end
of which there was a capped column and stone steps, on which
were inscribed the above verse of Pierpoint's, and also "Cutta-
LOSSA Fountain, erected 1873, by Admirers of the Beauti-
ful/' In addition to the cash subscriptions there was much
gratitous work.
On the opposite side of the road, overshadowed by a large wil-
low tree, on a stone foundation was set a marble basin four feet
square, a companion piece to one in front of the Fountain House,
Doylestown, and in this an image of a boy on whose head rested
a shell. A lead pipe was run from the spring under the road and
up through the basin, image and shell, and on its summit a wheat
sheaf shaped spray was arranged. With the good pressure at its
back a fine fountain was the result, the admiration of all passers-
by, tourists coming from far and near to see it, and to water their
teams and rest on the seats placed on the slope of the hill. For
awhile an ice cream vendor came on certain days, and the place
became quite a resort. Everything went well for a time ; the
Armitage sisters, who owned the property around the spring,
cleared out the underbrush, put up additional steps and planted
hitching posts. But the time came when these good ladies died
and the promoters of the fountain had moved away — those who
had, when danger of destruction by freezing came to the perish-
able parts of the fountain, removed and housed them through the
winter months, and in the spring replaced them. Finally there
were no caretakers, and hence no autumn removals of the perish-
able parts ; the openings froze, bad boys stoned the image and
shell, and the time came when the beautiful erection in the
shades of the Cuttalossa valley was a wreck. To crown these mis-
HISTORICAL REMINISCENCES OF CUTTALOSSA CREEK 169
fortunes someone stole a marble block from its column, the one
on which was carved the beautiful verse of Pierpont's. To those
who expended so much for this beauty spot a visit to the wrecked
place is saddening. William J. Buck visited the fountain in 1896,
and was pained at the sight. When he was there before there
were many visitors, the beautiful center of the shaded surround-
ings was in perfect shape, and the fountain playing. Now all
was so dififerent ; the many travelers were replaced by a lone
bicycler, the pipe from the spring was choked up and the foun-
tain accessories gone. I suppose the wonder was that, without
the caretakers, they had lasted as long as they had.
A few hundred yards below on the left side of the creek is a
largesized, oblong stone, named "Poet's Rock," from a literary
gathering once held there. In a glen just back of it was a large
beech, its bark carved with many names, among which, plainly
seen in 1873, was the following: "Rt. Kenerdine, 4th Month
27th. 1856; for Futurity." He was then fifteen yeears old, a
peaceful, Quaker boy, little thinking then that in seven years he
would be brought home dead from the awful carnage at Gettys-
burg. The tree is no longer there, for the portable sawmill has
done its work and the glen is deforested.
Of the good people who lived along the valley of the Cutta-
losse, and whom I can remember and whom I can count not
only by units but by scores — the owners of farms and tenants
thereof — the owners, the Seiners, Jewells, Balderstons, Wilsons,
Armitages, Healys, Paxsons and others — where are they? I can
only name as yet residents, or in the land of the living, Charles
S. Baldereston, Amos Armitage, Eugene Paxson and his son,
Samuel L., living on the divided farm of Howard Paxson, their
ancestor. Excepting those.
They have gone their short space, they have lived their short day;
As a tale that is told they have vanished away.
When my father moved to Lumberton it was with the justified
thought that his descendants would occupy his holdings in per-
petuity, and he made his will in accordance. The result : a line
of ruined business places in succession along the Cuttalossa and a
scattered family, none of the name living within fifteen miles of
Lumberton, showing that while man proposes changed business
conditions make the disposition.
170 HISTORICAL REMINISCENCES OF CUTTALOSSA CREEK
Relative to the difference in sizes of families, then and now,
I will mention three instances on contiguous farms. In our
family there were eight children, in Howard Paxson's nine, and
in his brother Abraham's ten, the latter now all deceased. Of
Howard Paxson's, seven of the nine are living, and of my
father's two remain. These families all belonged to the Society
of Friends, in fact among the people for miles around there was
scarcely a family that did not belong to that society. Of the
few descendants left, there is not one save at rare intervals, who
now attend the Solebury Meeting, the place of worship of their
ancestors, where carriage loads formerly wended their way. With
such families as those named and I have left out one, William
Kitchen, a farmer living away from the others I have named,
where there were seven children, all now deceased, is it any
wonder that our "eight-square schoolhouse" had a roster of
ninety pupils, even if they could not all get within its confines at
one time, they crowded in and came by relays. There were no
truant laws then.
This much from what I know personally and from printed
data concerning the Cuttalossa, its mills, homes and people. I
have heretofore written much concerning the locality, but a great
part of this was of extreme local or family interest ; so much so,
indeed, as to not be effective for the general public. For an ex-
haustive account of the Cuttalossa the curious are referred to
Buck's History or Reeder's "Early Soolebury Settlers." As to
the first-named author, from his distance from the scenery and
people connected with the valley, he has done wonders in making
searches from ancient documents and gleaning information from
local contemporaries around the titled stream. Unfortunately
for those interested, at least so far as I have sought to get a copy
of "The Cuttalossa, Its Historical, Traditional and Poetical Asso-
ciations," the book was not obtainable, when twice advertising
for one to replace by lire-damaged copy. There was talk of its
re-publication, but so far it has not availed.
NOTE BY THE EDITOR.
Mr. Kenderdine was in the 82nd. year of his age when he
read this paper. He was born in the village of Lumberton,
HISTORICAL REMINISCENCES OF CUTTALOSSA CREEK 171
Bucks county, Pa., December 10, 1836, and passed away at his
home at Newtown, Pa., February 17, 1922.
He was elected a member of the Bucks County Historical
Society July 21, 1896, and on January 17, 1911, was made a
member of its board of directors, serving in that capacity down
to the time of his death. He was an active member of the so-
ciety, attending its meetings with regularity and contributing a
number of valuable papers, as reference to the society's publica-
tions will show. He was a prolific writer of both prose and
poetry, and the seven books which he published can be found on
the shelves of our library. His first book, published in 1888,
entitled "A California Tramp, and Later Footprints," (contain-
ing 416 pages) gives a most interesting and graphic account of
his trip across the prairies punching a team of oxen, from
Leavenworth, Kansas, to Camp Floyd, near Salt Lake City, Utah,
loaded with supplies for one of the western forts, and the after
experiences of his trip to California after discharging his load,
and leaving his team of oxen. This, as well as his other writ-
ings, show him to have been a man of more than usual literary
attainments. He was one of the Bucks County Poets referred to
by General Davis in his History of Bucks County. His second
book, published in 1898. is entitled "California Revisited." His
other five books, published in 1913, 1914, 1916, 1917 and 1921
respectively, which he calls "Personal Recollections and Travels
at Home and Abroad," (Vol. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5) are made up
largely of papers read before societies or published in newspapers.
One of them. Volume 5. contains his autobiography, to which
reference can be had. His portrait forms part of the frontispiece
of this volume.
Maple Sugar Making in Southwestern Pennsylvania and
Northeastern Virginia.
BY E. F. BOWLBY, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, January 18, 1918.)
ALONG about the middle of February, the farmer would
load his sugar-troughs on a sled (often drawn by a good
yoke of oxen) and distribute them to the sugar maple
trees, one and sometimes two or even three to a tree, if that
particular tree had the reputation of being a good producer or if
the season promised to be short. After the troughs had been
distributed and the weather just right for a good flow, (for the
sugar maple tree is very sensitive to weather conditions,) he took
his tapping-auger, a small wooden mallet and a basket of spiles
and proceeded to tap the trees. This is done by boring holes in
the side of the trees about eighteen inches or two feet from the
ground (generally on the southeast side and about one inch in
depth), fitting into the holes two or three spiles for each trough,
which is placed firmly up close to the tree under the spiles. These
spiles were made from the elder or the sumac and were about
one foot long, one end being tapered so as to fit snugly in the
hole in the tree ; the top was shaven down to the pith, which was
removed, leaving that part an open spout.
The troughs were made from some easily-worked wood, such
as poplar, or walnut. The tree intended for troughs was first
cut into lengths of from three to five feet, then split into halves,
each half hewed out with an adze and axe into neat little troughs,
holding from three to six gallons. The augers wxre made by
the local blacksmith.
Next was the gathering of the sugar-water and hauling it
to the sugarhouse, this was done by placing barrels on sleds,
drawn by the same faithful yoke of oxen. The sugar-water, was
dipped from the troughs with a gourd dipper, first into wooden
pails and then poured into the barrels through a funnel made
from one of the sugar troughs by boring a whole in its bottom in
which was driven a short wooden spout. The sugarhouse was
built of logs in some convenient place in the woods, (always
MAPLE SUGAR MAKING 173
leaving an opening in the roof to allow the steam to escape).
The furnace was built of stone and arched over the top, into
which were inserted large iron kettles, as many as were
needed. The chimney was built on the outside at the end of the
sugarhouse. Although situated in the bituminous coal district,
the fuel was wood which was cut and hauled and piled just out-
side the sugarhouse during the early months of winter. The
sugar-water was poured into these kettles and boiled down to a
thin syrup, often throwing into the kettle of boiling sugar- water
a small piece of fat meat to keep it from foaming over the top of
the kettle.
The periods of boiling down were continuous day and night,
or days and nights when they had specially good runs of sugar-
water. During these long evening-boilings, the young folks
would gather at the sugarhouse and have their "stirring-off"
parties. They would hang an iron pot on a tripod over an open
fire and boil down this syrup, sitting around it, each one with a
large spoon, and a cup of cold w^ater, and dip the boiling syrup
from the pot and drop it into the water. The result was the
finest maple wax and taffy that any mortal ever tasted. Talk
about your husking-bees, apple-cuttings, corn-roasts, etc., they
were not to be compared to the pleasure of a stirring-off party
at the old sugarhouses.
This syrup was then taken to the sugarhouse where the boil-
ing down was continued until it reached just the right point,
the kettle was then taken from the fire and the contents stirred
vigorously until the result became a nice crumbly mass of maple
sugar.
AN OLD WALNUT SUGAR TROUGH.
In conclusion I want to describe an old walnut sugar-trough
presented to the Bucks County Historical Society by Mr. J. C.
Lemley of near Mount Morris, Greene county, Pennsylvania.
This historic trough (exhibiting trough) was made from the
top of an old walnut tree, cut on the Lemley farm in the spring
of 1838, the farm now owned by J. C. Lemley but then owned
by his uncle, Asa Lemley, who in that year had the body of the
tree sawed into planks and the top and large limbs made into
sugar-troughs.
In September 1767, Mason & Dixon with their engineers and
174 MAPLE SUGAR MAKING
axemen, came to Dunkirk creek, and on sighting their instru-
ments across the creek, found this large tree to be directly on
the line and sent some of their axemen across to blaze it as a
line-tree. This was done by making three hacks about two feet
apart with an axe. When the men approached the tree they were
attacked by Shawnee and Delaware Indians, and were driven
away. On making another attempt they were again attacked
and some of the party were killed, while the rest of them, includ-
ing Mason and Dixon, were driven back and did not resume their
survey until twelve years later, when they completed their work
without further trouble from the Indians. This walnut tree was
the last tree marked until the return of Mason and Dixon twelve
years later. When they returned in 1779, to complete the survey,
they found the Indians had place a thirty-foot ladder against this
tree, and from there up had bored holes into which they drove
wooden pins, by which they climbed to its top in order to get
honey, for this was a bee tree. And this is supposed to be the
reason why the Indians had attacked the men and driven them
away, thinking they were going to cut down the tree to get the
honey. J. C. Lumley has another trough, made from the same
tree, which is charred on one side, showing where the Indians
had a fire to smoke out the bees. This walnut tree stood on the
north bank of Dunkirk creek at the first and lower crossing of
Mason & Dixon's line, two miles southeast of Fort Morris, Pa.,
three miles northeast of Statler's Fort and about ten miles due
west of Fort Martin, Pa., near the Monongahela river. This tree
was at the end of the survey, the line ending at two gum trees
standing about one-half mile east thereof. On the Pennsylvania
side, near this tree, is the remains of an Old Indian fort, and on
the West Virginia side, about the same distance from the line,
on a large stone is what Mr. Lemley called a "turkey foot", but
which I am inclined to think was an Indian guidepost. as it
points directly north and south.
Mr. Lemley has also presented to this society three spiles over
forty-five years old, made from elders, also a gourd dipper which
he had used to dip sugar- water from the troughs. (These ob-
jects were shown at the meeting, and brought forth quite an in-
teresting discussion.)
Mr. Lemley has in his possession a gourd dipper and an uncut
NORSE MILLS OF COLONIAL TIMES IN PENNSYLVANIA 175
gourd which are now (1919) eighty-seven years old. He also
showed me his present sugarhouse which is partly sided up with
some of the plank sawed eighty years ago from the old walnut
tree to which I have referred. One of these plank contains the
three hacks made by Mason & Dixon's men in blazing the tree.
Also another plank with three holes bored by the Indians in
which the wooden pins were driven to form a ladder by which
they climbed the tree.
Norse Mills of Colonial Times in Pennsylvania.
BY FREDERICK HART SHELTON, PHILADELPHIA, PA.^
(Doylestown Meeting-, January 18, 1919.)
IN some of the text books on geometry, etc., a concise ques-
tion or proposition is first propounded ; the answer given and
then the detail shown, of how the answer is arrived at.
In approaching the subject of this paper I am inclined to pro-
ceed in much the same way. by first tersely asking, "What is a
Norse Mill" and also "What has such to do with the history of
this district in which we are interested ?" and then briefly answer-
ing, first, that a so-called "Norse Mill" is the crudest and simplest
form of old time water wheel, used for driving a primitive grist-
mill ; and second that it was such form of mill that was first
erected in the territory that is now the Commonwealth of Penn-
sylvania and the first kind of power mill of any sort to turn a
wheel in this state, that now, nearly three centuries later, is one
of the chief industrial states of the Union. This being so, it
becomes of some interest to learn- what a Norse mill was, and
when, where and by whom such was or were erected in the lo-
cality in which we now dig up — both metaphorically and actually,
the records and evidences of the past.
Water wheels, like nearly everything else, have been developed,
from early crude and inefficient forms, to advanced forms of
high efficiency. The present type, the modern iron turbine wheel,
gives an efficiency of power secured, compared with the theoreti-
1 Mr. Shelton died in Pliiladelphia, November 24, 1924.
176 NORSE MILLS OF COLONIAL TIMES IN PENNSYLVANIA
cal power of the water used, of up to eighty-five per cent. This
is a development of say the last three generations. But for hun-
dreds of years before this, the highest perfection of water wheel
design, dating from remotest ages, back to the Romans and all
that, was the old overshot wood wheel, familiar to every one as
the characteristic water wheel of the miller, the artist, the poet
and the schoolbook. While there were variations, known as the
breast wheel, when the water was admitted not on top, but on the
side ; or the undershot, when the water impinged against the
lower part of the wheel, the general type and form was the same,
viz : a massive, large wooden wheel on edge, like a silver dollar,
carried on a shaft or axle, from which the power was in nearly
every case, necessarily taken off by suitable intermediate gearing,
to the grist stones or other machinery to be driven.
But while such form of wheel, giving up to perhaps sixty per
cent of efficiency, was in general use in all countries favored
with water falls, there was yet a simpler and cruder form also in
use, namely that which is known as the "Norse" wheel, at least
in the English speaking races. And this form is best described
or brought to mind by picturing such a miniature wheel as a boy
would make by sticking a few shingles into a vertical shaft and
setting such in a brook where the water would hit the blades on
one side and make the wheel turn around. That is all there is
practically, to a Norse wheel. You can see that nothing could
be more simple ; that it is the crudest possible form of power
wheel, and that as such, nations or countries but partly civilized
could yet construct and use in a simple primitive way ; which has
been the case the world over. For like everything else, in which
there are both simple and complex forms of things, side by side,
while the more elaborate overshot wheel was equally known and
of equal antiquity, the little â– horizontal spin-wheel of this so-
called Norse form, was used at the same time and probably in
considerably greater numbers, through all known ages.
Remains of these wheels have been dug up in Ireland, that
trace back to the period between the years 700 and 1100, and
there is plenty of evidence elsewhere of their use for half a
dozen centuries back, the world over. Weisbach in his Mechanics
of Engineering says that "they are met with in all the moun-
tainous countries of Europe and in the north of Africa, applied
NORSE MILLS OF COLONIAL TIMES IN PENNSYLVANIA 177
as mills for grinding corn." They are still found in the remote
portions of Norway and Sweden and in the Shetland, Orkney
and Farce Islands ; in Maderia and in Roumania ; extensively
used and of great antiquity of use. In France, they have long
been known as the "roulet volante" and a cut of one is shown
in Glynn's A Rudimentary Treatise on Pozver of Water of 1853.
The best description, in detail and with illustrations, of this
type of old. primitive water wheel can be found in Vol. II of
Bennett and Eaton's History of Corn Milling (1899), where in
chapter 3, eighteen pages upon the subject may be found. An-
other description is that of an article on old "Clack Mills" in
English County Life, Vol. XXV (1904), pp. 709-10, where an
old Norse mill in the Orkney Islands is pictured and described,
with a sketch as well of the mill stone and grain feed detail.
Mitchell's Past in the Present (1876), gives a brief description.
TJic Scientific American of May 8, 1886, page 292, vol. 54,
briefly describes "A Shetland Tirl". And lesser references to
these mills can be found in many of the engineering and other
books on water wheels, their history, etc. I will not consume time
by here going into an extended detail of the design and construc-
tion, as the type was or is the same, where ever found, while the
detail varies naturally, according to human ideas and preferences
and conditions the world over. Sufficient it is to say, that the
scheme of these Norse wheels is invariably that of a vertical
shaft, the lower end fitted with blades, buckets or paddles in a
horizontal zone by which the water makes the wheel turn around,
and the upper and carrying a runner or revolving mill stone
that works over a fixed or bedstone just beneath it. There is
some simple arrangement for raising or lowering the rig, so as
to vary the space between the stones and thereby grind fine or
coarse, and some simple jiggle or clapper device to feed the
grain from the hopper to the stones ; a crude small enclosed house
about eight to twelve feet square, with a roof, and that's all !
About the only variation of moment is the kind of blade or
paddle used on the shaft. A well preserved wheel and shaft, of
the very early Irish mills, had nineteen spoon or scoop shaped
bucket blades of oak, of which ten yet remained, when dug up.
In the mills of Madeira the buckets are not straight boards, few
in number, but some twenty, of curved form, held between wood
178 NORSE MILLS OF COLONIAL TIMES IN PENNSYLVANIA
rings ; and this is also the arrangement of the North CaroHna
wheels. But in Norway the blades are made of straight fiat
boards, six or eight in number, though sometimes ten or twelve,
a foot wide and perhaps eighteen inches long and one and one-
quarter inches thick, mortised into a heavy wood vertical shaft.
And in this region the boards are usually placed at an angle or
obliquely so that the flat side is squarely presented for the im-
pact of the water, which is fed to the wheel by a chute or trough
at an angle varying from twenty to forty degrees. In France
the design is both the few-bladed paddle form and the multiplex
curved bucket form. In Roumania again, in the Carpathian
mountain regions, mills are found virtually exact duplicates of
the Norway form. In the Shetland Islands, where one hundred
years ago it is said there were five hundred of these mills and in
the Orkney and Farce Islands, etc., the form is about the same
as in Norway with sometimes a double row of paddle boards,
and this is as would be expected, as it is about two hundred to
three hundred miles to the two first named island groups and
the north of Scotland (where these mills are also found) and the
introduction of these mills is attributed to Norse invaders in
early times.
While these mills are called "Norse Mills" by us, because we
so see them styled in what we read in the English prints, I ques-
tion the propriety of such designation. For they are no more
Norse than of any other country. As already stated they are
found in many countries, and the plain straight fiat blade form
in particular is not confined to the Norse Land or the Scandi-
navian peninsular. Roumania is a far cry; and I greatly doubt
whether the northern African or the central European or the
Chinese users (for they have such primitive wheel in great num-
bers in China as well) think of these simpler water wheels in
the least as Norse wheels ! And the Carolina wheel that adorns
the museum of the Bucks County Historical Society, might as
well be called a Madeira wheel or an Irish wheel or a French
roulet volant for it has the many small curved buckets and not
the few fiat wood paddle-blades of the Norse proper, design at all.
To my mind, these simple spin wheels — these earliest water
wheel forms, are merely such, and universal, of every name, as
locally styled and used in various languages and races the world
NORSE MILLS OF COLONIAL TIMES IN PENNSYLVANIA 179
over; and I view the term Norse wheel as only a local designa-
tion of the English people, who, generally using the more ad-
vanced overshot wheels, distinguished by the name of "Norse"
the crude small form of their near neighbors of the Scandinav-
ian countries.
In ending this description of what a Norse wheel is, it may be
well to note its fundamental difference from the modern turbine,
of which some think it an early form, because they both are spin-
wheels and both work upon vertical shafts. A Norse wheel is
an impact wheel only. It gets its power from the velocity and
impact of a shooting stream of water, coming from a nozzle or
chute opening, close to the blades. Only a few of the blades are
acted upon at once and the openings or waterways between the
blades are never entirely filled with water. The wheel is always
set above the tail water and the incoming water has a free exit
into the open air.
In a turbine on the contrary, the power comes not from im-
pact, but from the pressure and the reaction of the water. All
the buckets are acted upon at once. The waterways are always
filled with water under pressure and the wheel is set in the
water, not in the open, above it.
The difference in efficiency, with the same amount of water
and head, is very great. In the primitive impulse horizontal
wheels it is about twenty-five to forty per cent of the water's
energy, that is secured in power, while in a modern turbine wheel
it is two and one-half or three times as much or sixty to eighty-
five per cent. So that while these Norse wheels are the simplest
in form of all the water wheels they are also the least efificient.
In Scotland they are also called "tirl wheels", and it is interest-
ing to note that the entire class of these horizontal water spin
wheels, in which the water runs through from above, are also
known as or have been called "Danaides" ; so-called from the
Greek legend of the fifty daughters of Danaus, who slew their
husbands and in Hades later, were condemned to forever pour
water through sieves ! The general heft of these mills was small.
It does not take much power to turn a small grist stone, some-
times but little larger than an old hand quern. So we find that
the vertical shaft was at times but an iron rod or a light stick
of wood. The Carolina form has a wood shaft scarcelv more
180 NORSE MILLS OF COLONIAL TIMES IN PENNSYLVANIA
than six inches in diameter, I beHeve. On the other hand in
some of the rugged countries so to speak, a heavy crude con-
struction appears, as in Norway, where the vertical shaft is
usually made of a tree trunk of twelve to eighteen inches di-
ameter. This thickness, of course, better enables the mortising
of the blade boards. However, the mill stones carried are nearly
always three feet or less in diameter, thirty and twenty-seven
inches being common. The starting and stopping of these mills
was usually accomplished by a simple sluice arrangement for
switching the brook or run from its regular course outside the
little mill house, to the new channel or chute running through it,
or vice versa, effected by some boards stuck in the mud.- The
speed of these wheels is about a hundred revolutions a minute.
A step in advance in the design and efficiency of a Norse
wheel is to put it in a case or to enclose it when it then becomes
a "tub wheel", i. e. a wheel in a tub. And of this numerous in-
stances can yet be found along the coast of Maine, in which state,
in the past they have been extensively used, both in the interior
on streams and on the shore on the outlet of tidal ponds. Maine
is a lumber country and not a grain growing section and these
mills where noted by me were usually used to drive saw mills by
a bevel gear from the top of the vertical shaft. I noted several
in 1917 at East Sullivan, not far from Bar Harbor, and at Goulds-
boro, Machias and Whiting, along the Maine coast, in an auto-
mobile trip from Bangor to St. Andrews, Canada; as well as
near Oak Bay in New Brunswick, five or six miles out from
St. Stephens on the road to St. Andrews. Other wheels of this
character however drove gristmills in the vicinity of Castine,
Maine, where at Goose Falls stood a good example at a tidal
pond until burned a few years ago ; at Ame's mill pond, where a
small mill building still stands, though with stones and water
wheel gone ; in Lawrence Bay, where a pair of mill stones under
water, attest the one time presence of a gristmill. The same ap-
plies to the outlet of Salt Pond in the South Blue Hill region.
And there is not the slightest doubt in my mind as to the fact
that many of these old tub wheels can yet be found in that state.
One that I measured, still in good shape but not now in use,
though used to drive a wood-working factory, in even recent
years, is at East Orland on the half-mile water-way or outlet run
NORSE MILLS OF COLONIAL TIMES IN PENNSYLVANIA 181
from Toddy Pond, into Alamcosock Pond below, some eighteen
miles south from Bangor. This wheel is about four and one-
half feet diameter, works in a two-inch plank tub case about seven
feet in diameter, and has six plank blades, two inches thick by
about twenty inches deep and twenty-four inches long. These
blades are bolted on to six faces of the heavy shaft that is at that
part made hexagonal, instead of being mortised into the shaft ;
which hexagonal bolting arrangement makes a much easier and
strong construction. Each blade moreover, carries a small apron
of wood, bolted to it, on the lower edge of the near side face to
hold the water a little or prevent its passing through too fast. The
shaft is fourteen inches diameter and about seven or eight feet to
the bevel gear above. The wheel is carried on a sole tree or
sole-hurst that has no adjustment, as there is no grain grinding
variation. This is, in other words, a heavy sill that spans the
water exit or tail race. The inlet water comes into the wheel
through the usual chute, at an angle of about thirty degrees. I
believe this to be a typical wheel of the Maine district of the
past fifty to seventy-five years or so, and as stated, it is a Norse
wheel in a case forming a "tub wheel".
What Norse mills can we locate in our Pennsylvania history?
The records show that the Swedes first settled on the Delaware
river at what is now Wilmington, in Delaware, in 1638, and that
a later expedition from Sweden located in 1643 a few miles
further up on Tinicum Island, now Essington, in what is now
Delaware county, Pennsylvania ; and that this expedition, under
the command of Governor Printz, built a gristmill on Karakung,
later Mill, (Reed's map of Philadelphia, 1774), now Cobb's
Creek. The location is well established, at 73rd and Woodland
Avenue, Philadelphia, for as it is on the east bank, it is. in what
is now part of the latter city. A present dam, a successor dam
to the original, extends across the creek, a couple of hundred
feet or less, above the bridge over the creek, and immediately
below the dam is a ledge of rock upon which the mill stood.
Townsend Ward, in his article "A Walk to Darby" of 1879 (in
which he describes the things of interest en route), states that
there may yet be seen in the rock "the holes drilled in which
were inserted the supports" of the mill. Benjamin Ferris in his
Original Settlements on the Delaware," p. 7i (1846), makes the
182 NORSE MILLS OF COLONIAL TIMES IN PENNSYLVANIA
same statement. At the present time some of these holes can
yet be located to the tolerable satisfaction of the curious. The
premises are now part of the Cobb's Creek park system of the
City of Philadelphia, and within a few score of yards of the old
Blue Bell tavern, of 1766, and before, a prominent stand on the
old post road or Queen's highway or Darby road, the first road
between Chester and Philadelphia.
It is a moral certainty that the mill that the Swedes built here
was a Norse mill. For emigrants always, of course, logically
built in the new country the form of mill of the homeland or the
district whence they come. Penn, for instance, thirty-nine years
later brought English mill machinery and English mills started
with his coming. And in a study of American old time wind-
mills, we find that of 1710 at Somerville, Mass., a French type,
because built by Jean Mallet, a French emigrating Hugenot;
those at Detroit by the French settlers, the same ; the windmills
at Roanoke Island, North Carolina, and elsewhere, of the English
form, by English emigrants ; those in Illinois, of the 1820's and
'30's of the German form, by the influx of German settlers, etc.,
etc. So we can take it for granted, surely, that the water mill
built by the Swedes on the old rock on Cobb's Creek, was a
Scandinavian type of mill of the period of three hundred years
ago, in other words a "Norse" mill, in form. It is stated by sev-
eral historians that it was erected in 1643. but Amandus John-
son, who has gone into the history of the Swedish settlements on
the Deleware, more extensively than has anyone else, gives the
date as "the summer of autumn of 1646." This mill served the
colonists well. "It was a fine mill, which ground both line and
coarse flour, and was going early and late" and was far more
satisfactory than the windmill proceeding it, which was erected
by the Swedes at Christiana a dozen or so miles below the Tini-
cum colony in 1642, and of which it was said by Governor Printz
"It would never work and was good for nothing."
The records show that twenty-five years after its erection,
that is in 1671, the Cobb's creek or Karakung mill, had fallen
into decay ; and that upon complaint by the colonists to Governor
Lovelace, it was ordered that it be repaired and restored to the
public use. It is probable that this mill was used until about
1690 or 1700, or a period of about fifty years, when an English
NORSE MILLS OF COLONL\L TIMES IN PENNSYLVANIA 183
settler, named William Cobb, bought the property, and a later
English form of gristmill was erected a little lower down, on
what then became "Cobb's Creek" and it, together with the mills
at Darby, not far away, forever superseded it.
It has been thought by some that this mill built by Governor
Printz was the only Swedish mill built hereabouts. It was the
first one and the one of which we know the most but it was not
the only one. There were several others at least.
The Swedish control stated in 1638 and continued until wrested
from them by the Dutch in 1655 — seventeen years. The Dutch
then ran things on the Delaware for nine years— until 1644,
w^hen the English came along and ousted them. The Dutch, as
far as control went, were back again in 1672 but for two years
only. Then came the English again, under the Duke of York, for
eight years until the advent of Penn in 1682; a total of thirty-
nine years between the building of the Cobb's creek first Swedes
mill and Penn's time. It is pretty tolerably certain that the first
English mill, was that brought over by Penn in the "Welcome"
and erected by Caleb P'usey on Chester creek, in the present
Borough of Upland. The kind of mills built before his time,
are more or less surmise, but probability is a strong factor in
reaching conclusions ; and as the Swedes started, settled and
populated, and for the first time dominated that section ; and as
the later 'incursions of the Dutch and English, before Penn's
time, were fitful, brief and vicarious, the chances are that the
mills between 1646 and 1683, were mostly if not entirely Swedish
built, "Norse" type mills. Here are all the references to mills
that I have been able to locate in that period and you can reach
your own conclusions as to the probable nationality and design.
(a) Bishop, in his History of American Manufactures" of
1866, says that there were at least four saw mills in operation in
Pennsylvania before Penn's time. Also, that the Swedes had a
mill at Frankfort, before the coming of Penn.
(b) In the manuscript department of the Historical Society
of Pennsylvania, is an account by Charles H. Duffield, June 1907,
of an old Swedish mill built at Frankfort, thought there is but
scant description and the article is mostly a chain of title data.
The mill was located at Frankford Avenue and Mill Streets,
now Vandyke Street, in the earliest days. The property con-
184 NORSE MILLS OF COLONIAL TIMES IN PENNSYLVANIA
sisted of a tract of two hundred acres formerly granted to the
Swedes, and .was transferred to Penn in 1686, and was then
called an "old" mill. It came into the Duffield family in 1800 and
was burned in 1835. It was this old Swedes mill, 1777 a grist-
mill, that was the seat of the episode of Lydia Darrach ; when
after overhearing a plan of the British, then occupying Phila-
delphia, to make a raid on the patriot forces, she sped to this
mill outside the city, ostensibly to get flour, to give the informa-
tion to the patriots. Watson, in his Annals of Philadelphia, 73,
says that the Dufiheld mill at Frankford, was originally a Swed-
ish mill, but thinks it was a sawmill, rather than a gristmill.
(c) Johnson, 525, states that Governor Rising, of the Swed-
ish colony, in October 1654, found, "a serviceable little water fall
for a sawmill," on Naaman's Kill (which is the creek that flows
into the Delaware about at the circular line between Pennsyl-
vania and Delaware.)
(d) In 1658, soon after the surrender to the Dutch, Joost
Adriensen & Company petitioned for the right to build a saw and
gristmill at New Amstel (now Newcastle, Delaware), below the
Turtle Falls! which right was granted, as shown by the Docu-
mentary History of New York, 210-368.
(e) In the summer of 1662, a gristmill was built by John
Staeloop, Luyckas Pietersen, and Hans Black, at the Falls of
the Turtle Kill, Johnson 666.
(f) In 1661 the Dutch colony at New Amstel is credited in
the bookkeeping and accounts with New York with a pair of
mill stones.
(g) In 1662, in a list of articles purchased for the New
Amstel colony, there is named iron work for a saw mill and a
pair of mill stones. It may be that these last four items all refer
to the Turtle Creek mill.
(h) The "Records of the Court at Upland show that in 1678
"the Co'rt are of opinion that Capt'n Hans Moenson ought to
build a mill" on a creek later known as Little Mill Creek. This
is the creek that enters the Schuylkill just below the present
Woodlands cemetery and now replaced by a large city sewer.
On Scull and Heaps map of 1750 a mill is shown there and it is
likely that it was Moenson's.
(i) In 1679-80 the Court of Upland granted permission to
NORSE MILLS OF COLONIAL TIMES IN PENNSYLVANIA 185
one Peter Nealson, to take up a hundred acres to build a water
mill "on the west side of the Delaware".
(j) On September 17, 1689, seven years after Penn's time,
the members of the Council of the Colony journeyed to New-
castle, and on the way, from Philadelphia, presumably, "took a
view of Mill and Race Erected by Cornelius Empson" (Where-
of Complaint had been made by Petition from several of the in-
habitants of Chester County) {Col. Records, Vol. I, 301). The
name Cornelius Empson, seems rather more Swedish than Eng-
lish. The location I have not ascertained.
There can be no doubt but that there were several of these early
Swedish-built Norse mills, constructed along the Delaware be-
tween New Amstel (or Newcastle) and Christiania and Phila-
delphia, in the twenty or thirty years from 1638, in which the
Swedes were active ; and before Penn's time. Of these, the one
of 1646 on Cobb's creek, is the one best known and established,
and as first stated, it is the one that would seem to be beyond
doubt, the first mill of any sort to turn a wheel in what is now
the state of Pennsylvania. This fact then justifies our interest in
"What is a Norse mill?" and "Why is a Norse mill of interest
to us?"
Horse Hopples.
BY HENRY W. GROSS, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, January 18, 1919.)
ON Tuesday last I was at Oak Lane, where I incidentally
mentioned to a young man that I was expected to read a
paper on the subject of "Horse Hopples." He said he
had never heard of them and desired to know what they were.
I soon found out that there was no use trying to get any in-
formation concerning them
from our young people, be-
cause they simply do not
know, neither did the editor
of Chamber's Encyclopaedia.
as he does not name, or re-
fer in any way to the term.
They did not live in the
horse-hopple age. So I will
ask you to think back with
me to an earlier generation ;
to the time when we had no
mowing machines, no bind-
ers of grain, no grain drills,
no fodder shredders, no
cream separators, no silos or
ensilage, no automobiles, no
wireless telegraph or tele-
phones and no areoplanes.
A time when there were but
few post and rail fences but
mainly stake and rider fences
and stone walls. To the time
when the men and boys
were commissioned every
spring, with grubbing hoes in hand, to go around every field and
repair the fences, fastening the stakes and replacing the worn
HORSE HOPPLES 187
out riders and the top rail. (Here Mr. Gross started quite a dis-
cussion by asking the audience whether any of them had done
that.)
Think back with me to the time when horses and cattle were
not stabled, not kept-up at night during the summer season,
but were turned out in the open field to forage until early dawn
the next day. Now to get you interested in this out-of-date
subject, I want to ask you a few questions leading up from the
simple to the more complex, from the known to the unknown.
How many of you present today, in this audience, have seen a
goose-yoke, or goose-yokle? How many of you have seen a hog-
yoke, and why is it called a yokle? (Here Mr. Gross exhibited
goose and hog yokes which brought out an interesting discus-
sion.) Who of you has seen a cow's head or neck tied or chained
down to one of her fore feet ? Why and how was that done ?
Who has seen a post or part of a rail hanging on to a bull's neck,
and why was that done ? and why did it extend out in front
of the bull? Who has seen a board or a hood over the eyes of
a bovine and fastened to the horns with twine ? Who has seen
a cow's hind legs strapped together, or a rope or strap tied
around her body in front of her udder, or a rail fastened to her
stall at one end and at the other end to a post or a ring, so as to
crowd the cow against the wall, and why was it done? Who has
seen the knee of one front leg bent and a strap or loop pushed
over it so that the cow had to stand on three legs instead of four?
In almost every herd of cattle there is a "leader" that has
learned how to open a rail or two at the bars, or to get her
head through the fence, or pretend to be rubbing some itchy
spot, when in reality this was done only to get a rail or two
out of the way so as to make it easy to crawl through or push
the fence over. This accomplished it is surprising to see how
soon every animal in the field knows of the opening, and with
curled tail hurries to get across and taste new and better or
forbidden pastures.
You may have seen a few sheep in a field, and one of them
with a front and a hind foot drawn a little closer together than
nature intended, and were tied with a light rope or a strap.
Why was that necessary? Simply to prevent the sheep from
scaling the stone wall surrounding the pasture lot. This rope,
188 HORSE HOPPLES
Strap or string, to which I have referred is the hopple idea,
though not the link-iron type you see here today. This article
discarded and thrown on the scrap-heap some years ago can
scarcely be called a tool. It is no machine, no plaything, no
rattle, though the links do rattle when in use. (Here Mr. Gross
exhibited several hopples from the museum collection, and ex-
plained their different types, their locks, etc.) These hopples
have now become obsolete, there appears to be no use for any-
thing like them now. I suppose the idea of their use was
prompted when there were but few fences, and the animals were
turned loose at night, and their movements were restricted by
something of this kind, so as to give them a wider range than
when tethered to a stake or a tree, and yet not to be miles away at
the dawn of the next day.
Horse hopples of these types, as used some fifty or sixty years
ago, may have been to restrict the movements of some specially
spirited or vicious horse, yet in the main they were used in
order that the farmers could be reasonably certain of finding their
animals the following morning when they were needed to start
their day's work. You will of course understand that in those
days it was customary to unharness the horses, feed them with
grain, and then turn them out in the pasture-field to forage for
the night and to rest towards morning, so as to be ready and at
hand for another day's plowing, harrowing or hauling. But it
often happened that when a farmer's boy went for his horses
early in the morning, they could not be found in the pasture-
fields, having strayed away during the night, probably to be found
in some better pasture, often doing damage, and partly ruining
his neighbor's crops ; this stirred up strife and enmity among
neighbors, and moreover the delay in securing the "critters" for
several hours, valuable time was wasted. The farmer's boy
came back tired, took more time to explain and relate his ex-
perience, with a report of the damage done. This took more
time and as a result only a meagre day's work was done. Fences
destroyed by the roaming of the animals had to be repaired. As
"necessity is the mother of invention", here is where the horse-
hopple came in.
What does the horse-hopple do? Have you ever noticed the
movements of a pacing horse, and how he differs from trotting
HORSE HOPPLES 189
horses? The pacing horse swings his body first to one side then
to the other alternately. The hopple compels a pacing move-
ment. It embarrasses and interferes with free action, with the
result that the animal's forward movement is slow, and besides
it prevents him from jumping fences. He stays within the en-
closure and can usually be found when wanted in the morning.
Tricks of fancy always have a leader, get him and you will soon
have the whole bunch.
INFORMATION OF Q. A. FRETZ, TOLL GATHERER AT DUBLIN TOLLGATE.
In Bedminster township during the early fifties horses were
hoppled with chain hopples (such as Mr. Gross has describeed).
With quiet horses the hopple was fastened from the right fore-
leg to the right hind-leg, but with wilder horses it was attached
from the right fore-leg to the left-hind leg, or vice-versa. The
horses were at pasture over night in fenced fields, and hoppling
was done to prevent them from jumping fences and straying
away or returning home during the night, at a time when every-
body was asleep.
Basket Making.
BY GRIER SCHEETZ, BETHLEHEM, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, May 31, 1919.)
BASKET making as an art has been known even through
the misty ages of long ago. Baskets made of willow,
rushes, straw and even wood-chips, interwoven with linen
cord or hickory splints, have been made and used from time im-
memorial. The Israelites were commanded to make an offering of
the first fruits of the earth to the Almighty in a basket. Many
of the baskets used by rich Jews on such occasions were made
of gold, silver or brass, and were returned to the offerers by the
priests, but those used by the majority of people were made of
barked willow and were retained by the priests. Moses, the
great law giver, as a babe was found floating upon the bosom of
the river Nile in a basket made of rushes, while the Hebrew spies
at Jericho were let down from the top of the wall of the city
in a basket by Rahab the harlot. The process of basket making
is simple and requires few tools. The art appears to have been
known among the rudest people, even among the aboriginies of
Van Dieman's Land. The woven straw basket is made of se-
lected rye straw, dampened in water, then woven or plaited by
hand or passed through a tin or leather tube to keep it of uni-
form thickness, and to keep it thus, more straw was filled in the
opposite end of the tube. The basket is started from the bottom,
making the smallest circle possible, which is either stitched with
linen cord or hickory splints, using three or four turns over the
straw as it comes through the tube and then one stitch in the
second strand, firmly drawing both together until the bottom
for the basket had become the required size. The next strand
was placed on edge and firmly stitched to the bottom of the
basket. This continued until the proper height had been reached,
when the rim was put on and the handle fastened, stitching on
or wrapping the body of the basket to the rim with linen cord or
hickory splints. Hats, bread baskets, sewing baskets, bee-hives
were made of straw in the same way. I am informed by Peter
Stauffer, librarian at the Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pa., that
BASKET MAKING 191
his father, Jacob Staufifer, and his grandfather, Charles Stauffer,
who was born in 1786, and Hved to the age of ninety years were
both basket-makers, and when a boy he helped them in their
work of basket making. Peter Stauffer is now seventy years of
age, and to him I am indebted for much of the information which
I have gathered on basket making. His grandfather, with the
families of Sloyers, Seiferts and Reichards, settled on what was
known as Swabian Hill, a spur of South Mountain, or as the
Pennsylvania-Germans called it "Schwova Barick". This place
is in Lower Saucon township, Northampton county, about one
mile north of the Bucks county line. Most of the settlers of that
neighborhood were immigrants from Swabia, Germany, and
many of them were basket makers.
While it was a privilege to Peter Stauffer, when a boy, to
assist both his grandfather and father to finish the baskets, he
also learned the treatment required of the material of which the
baskets were constructed. His grandfather would go into the
forest and select the finest young hickory trees he could find,
about six inches in diameter. These he would cut into lengths
of from three to four feet and then place them into a pit filled
with prepared clay and w^ater. This hickory was allowed to re-
main in the pit for months or until, by the action of the solution
it became soft and pliable, when it would be split with wedges,
and then shaved into splints with a drawing-knife often as thin
as a sheet of paper, the annealing made it so tough that it could
not be broken. This also was the kind of splint (but of smaller
sizes) used to sew the straw baskets. The splint baskets were made
as follows : First, the handle and rim were made, the handle
running around the bottom of the basket and the rim held in
position by a small nail or wooden peg driven through the handle,
which held both rim and handle in place. The splints contained
in the baskets varied from one-half to one inch in width, ac-
cording to the size of the baskets. The splints were all tapered
to a sharp point, the center splint being the longest, and each fol-
lowing splint was shorter. The pointed ends were then brought
up to the handle and firmly woven together around the handle
with the thin splints shaved from the treated hickory wood. The
body of the basket was well secured and made strong and firm by
the plaiting of the splints. The bottoms of the baskets were
192 BASKET MAKING
fortified by two extra pieces of half inch wood, to strengthen and
protect them against the special wear to which the bottoms were
subjected. Willow baskets were made in practically the same
way, except that the young wnllows or switches were cut in early
spring, tied in bundles like wheat and placed upon end, from
whence they were taken to the shop or shed and the bark stripped
off by drawing the switches between two knives set upon end,
the top space being a little wider through which the switches
were drawn. When the bark was stripped from them they
were ready for using. A,s a boy I remember basket-makers carry-
ing a large number of different sized baskets upon their backs,
peddling them from house to house and offering them for sale.
Notes on Basket Making
BY DR. HENRY C. MERCER.
WILLOW BASKETS MADE BY A. BETHTRAIN.
The following information was obtained from Mr. A. Beth-
train of Dublin, Bucks county, Pa., August 2, 1919.
Mr. Bethtrain w^as born in Alslben, Saxony, where he learned
his trade. He has been in this country thirty-six years, coming
here in 1883 when twenty years old. At the present time he has
an "ozier holt" or field of German willows growing on the farm
of Abraham Gross near Griers Hill, Dublin, which he planted
several years ago. He uses Welsh or German willows of one
year's growth for the baskets and two years growth for the
handles. He uses rattan from the Philippine Islands, or China
or other near east places for the bottoms of huckster's baskets,
also for large baskets and for reinforcing. Willow shoots can
be cut from old trees or pollards but it is better to have an ozier
holt. A visit to his patch showed suckers a year or two old, but
no thick stems or trunks. 'The stumps were bristling with stems
of previous cuttings level with the ground. He said there w^as
a willow nursery at Edgely on the Delaware river between Bristol
and Tullytown, Pa., containing twenty acres of young shoots,
also that lots of willows were grown and made into baskets at
BASKET MAKING 193
Syracuse, N. Y., Baltimore, Md., and in Illinois nurseries. Mr.
Bethtrain says he made nothing but willow baskets either in Ger-
many or in America. He sells his product in Philadelphia and
locally. He said that making splint baskets was a different trade,
but he knew that in Germany they were made of European white
ash and in America of white oak and hickory. Oak is the best
of all if carefully selected and without knots. White oak baskets
last longer than hickory ones.
For basket making willow sprouts or shoots are cut in March,
tied in bundles likes sheaves, placed in water two or three inches
deep in a marsh until June, by which time they have grown
about two inches more and the bark is green, soft and tender and
peels readily. They must not be placed too deep in the marsh
water else it darkens the wood. The peeling of bark by ma-
chinery has been tried but proved a failure. A clamp or vise
called a "brake" tightened with a wedge in the bottom, then
stood upright in a bench, the willow shoots, fresh from the
marsh, are pulled through between the jaws of the clamps, first
one end and then the other, thus peeling or stripping them free
of the green bark at two pulls. Mr. Bethtrain worked for Michael
Frohman near Hilltowm Church in 1884 and 1885. Mr. Froh-
man was then seventy-five years old and had made willow baskets
for years. The clamps presented to this society by Mr. Bethtrain,
were used by him for carrying cans of milk to the creamery on
his back. Frames are used for forming the willow baskets,
square ones for square baskets and round ones for round bottom
baskets. Small fine baskets are made of split willow. He first
splits the end of the willow rod for an inch or so with a knife and
then separates it with a tool made of ivory, bone or wood, called
a "cleaver". These tools are made three or four sided so as to
split or divide the willow into that number of strands. These are
then dipped into a tub of water to prevent breaking and then run
through a "shaver", a small plane-like tool which shaves the
strands smooth and even. A small leather guard is placed on the
thumb, holding the strand down against the plane. A four split
cleaver is seldom used as it makes the strands too fine for
ordinary use.
The set of basket making tools brought to the museum was
owned by Michael Frohman of Hilltown and later used by Mr.
194 BASKET MAKING
Bethtrain. Another tool called a "hammer", a flat bar of iron
tapering towards the handle, with a hole in the end, is used to
hammer the strands between the ribs of the basket, and the
crooked can be bent straight by running them into the hole of the
hammer and twisting in the right way. This tool, used by Mr.
Bethtrain, was brought from Germany. The shaver mentioned
above is called "hobel" in Germany, and the knife is adjustable
with thumb screw to regulate the size of the finished strand.
The thumb guard is always of leather, these two in the museum
were used by Michael Frohman for many years. In forming the
baskets Mr. Bethtrain used a board about sixteen inches square
upon which having placed the already woven bottom of the basket
, he next drove four pointed thin iron rods at the four corners,
the top of which rods held the frame or form, around which he
then wove the basket. In order to turn this conveniently while
working, the board was perforated with a center hole, through
which, and through the wicker bottom placed thereon, he drove
a pointed heavy awl or bodkin into a still larger knee board
about two by three feet, which rested on his knee while working.
This enabled him to conveniently turn the basket around as he
proceeded. The small board revolving upon the large one thus
pivoted under it. Some basket-makers, however, dispense with
the knee board. Mr. Bethtrain may be the only wicker basket-
maker in Bucks county at this time. He works in a rather large
modern frame shop between his barn and house, with vestibule,
workroom and garret. The workroom is heated with a stove.
SPLINT BASKETS MADE BY PETER WEIRBACH.
The following notes were made by Dr. Mercer, August 2, 1919,
upon visiting the shop of Peter Weirbach, near Mountain House,
Haycock, Bucks county. Pa.
The white oak used is cut in November and December, con-
sisting of little shoots cut close to the ground or suckers from
four to eight inches in diameter. These are cut in lengths of four
feet then quartered. Each quarter is placed upright in a trestle
made of a forked tree-trunk such as is used for splitting shingles.
The split quarters are then split into thin strips with a "frow".
The strips are then placed in a "shoeing-horse", and squared up
with a drawing knife then chisel or start a strip one-half inch
CASKET MAKING 195
thick and separate with the hands the full length of the quarter
piece and then reduce these strips still more by starting with a
knife and separating as above until almost the proper thickness
for the basket. Run them through the basket-maker's shave, a
steel blade fastened to a wooden block and regulated according
to thickness desired by turning a thumb-screw, thus shaving the
split smooth and thin. Then make a round edge or rim, nailing
handle on to rim which overlaps and is nailed together at the bot-
tom with two or three wrought nails, clinched. Start to make at
one side against the handle, continuing around to the other side
against the handle, using heavy shaped ribs. Then weave the
smaller strips around the ribs. The strips, before platting are
boiled for half-an-hour to make them more pliable and tough.
The heavy ribs and handle are not boiled. No special shaving-
horse is necessary. ' The shaver is the only special tool used. An
awl is used to perforate strands for inserting thin wrapping
strands around edge, etc. Mr. Weirbach made round bottomed
handled baskets and flat bottomed bushel baskets with and with-
out handles. He always used white oak.
The house Mr. Weirbach worked in was built of logs about
sixty years ago, probably by his father or earlier. It is about
eighteen by thirty feet, with two rooms down stairs and a garret
above. The one entrance door is in the room nearest to the house.
It is not heated and no fireplace was ever constructed there.
There is a small brick flue in the middle for smoke of a small
ten-plate stove in the shop wing nearest the house. The par-
tition is made of boards. Shop has one window on the north
side, two on the east, and two on the south side. The ceiling is
of hewn beams, very wide apart. Stepladder to garret in shop
with sliding trap-door overhead. The work-bench stands on the
east side of work-shop. Mandrel and turning lathe before north
window back of stove. His brother's shoemaker's bench and tools
are near the door by the window in the southwest corner. The
logs of the house are squared, notched and champered, sawed
square corners. Slats nailed across ceiling-beams to hold tools,
stick, etc. Drawing knife horse in shop. Frow in entrance
room. Shop quite dark, vines obstructing light from windows.
Did not examine structure of log shop. Shingled with riven
shingles made by Peter Weirbach and lathed and plastered with
196 BASKET MAKING
clay inside of shop. Cut nails used of which one specimen was
obtained. Built originally for a shop and not as a dwelling. No
sign of ancient pottery remaining.
Mr. Weirbach and his sister reluctantly sold us five baskets,
one large and four small ones, at high prices for the museum.
His sister thought he was too old to make more on order during
the coming winter. The five baskets bought and placed in the
museum are as follows : Museum No. 16359, $5.00 ; Nos. 16360,
16361, 16362, at $1.50 each, and No. 16363 at $2.00.
COMMENT. BY DR. B. F. FACKENTHAL, JR.
When I was a small boy attending public school (1857 to
1866) at Monroe in Durham township I daily passed by the basket
making shop of Jacob Gray at Monroe. I stopped in his shop
hundreds of times. He was a kindly, genial old man always
ready with a story to tell us boys. He made baskets of the butts
of white oak trees of which he always kept a good stock on
hand. I have no recollection of seeing any butt less than about
six inches in diameter. I remember quite well that he bought
and cut a number of young white oak trees from my grand-
father's woods. He did not use any material for baskets other
than oak, but he did use hickory for making splint brooms. His
operation was very much like Mr. Weirbach's operations de-
scribed by Dr. Mercer. He always quartered the butts, and then
with special tools split the quarters into splints. Much of his
time seemed to be taken up with his drawing-knife and shaving
horse preparing the splints for weaving. His shop was often
full of shavings. To watch him prepare the splints and weave
them into baskets was to me always most interesting. He made
baskets of many kinds and sizes, but his principal trade was mak-
ing feed baskets for the boatmen on the Delaware Division canal,
which flowed close by his shop. These feed baskets were strapped
around the heads of the mules, who were required to eat their
oats from them while towing the boats. It was said that he
made the very best quality of baskets put upon the market, and
the boatment often had to wait their turns to have their
orders filled.
Early Pennsylvania Pottery.
BY WILLIAM E. MONTAGUE, NORRISTOWN, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, May 31, 1919.)
THE richly ornamented pottery of civilized nations, which
for two centuries or more, preceded the manufacture of
porcelain, possesses a peculiar fascination for collectors and
students of ceramic art. On account of the boldness of treat-
ment and the quality of manly vigor, it shows the first awaken-
ing of the artistic instinct among a simple hearted people, who
in the engrossing struggle for subsistence had little opportunity
for improving their surroundings.
The history of pottery, if it should be written, would be as
old as the history of man. Baking clay and making vessels is
one of the first useful arts in the history of all peoples, savage
as well as civilized. Clay, mingled with sand and wet with water,
can be moulded into any desired shape. Baking expels the
water and infuses the sand and clay, and the result is a compact
substance. This can be painted with any color that will not
change from heat, and when baked, the forms will become deco-
rated pottery. This art, known as the ceramic art, affords op-
portunity for the modeller and the painter, and has been practiced
by all nations in all times. It furnishes a most important illustra-
tion of the taste, education and comparative civilization of the
dififerent peoples. The decorations placed upon it, such as pic-
tures, mottoes, names and records of various kinds, makes it of
the highest importance in historic art. In all nations, where civili-
zation has reached a high grade, the best artists have been em-
ployed in the decoration of pottery and porcelain as well as the
best modellers in producing forms of beauty, thus uniting the
work of the painter and the sculptor. The art takes high rank
among the fine arts, hence great attention has been paid to it by
archeologists and lovers of the beautiful. The color of all pottery
depends upon the ingredients of the clay.
Pottery is of two kinds, soft and hard. Soft pottery yields
easily to the point of a knife, while hard resists it. Soft pottery
melts at a much lower temperature than hard. The common
198 EARLY PENNSYLVANIA POTTERY
building brick is the simplest illustration of soft pottery while
the fire brick is the simplest illustration of hard pottery. In the
study of the cermaic art, soft pottery is usually divided. First,
unglazed pottery, the result of baking clay without surface var-
nish or glaze. Second, lustrous pottery, a name applied to a large
class of objects which have a shining surface, produced by a thin
varnish or coating, which reflects light, but is sometimes perme-
able to water. Third, glazed pottery, which is covered with a
thick shining surface produced by the use of lead or by the
union of alkaline substances with lead in the clay. Fourth,
enamelled pottery, covered with a coating of enamel in which tin
is employed, hence the word "Stanniferous", and which being
baked receives a surface decoration of dififerent substance from
the pottery, and more or less thick which is of a vitrous character,
resisting acid and not permeable to water.
The larger part of all ancient pottery is included in the first
three classes. Most modern pottery, Italian, French, German,
Dutch and other ware known as "Majolica" and "Fayence" is
soft pottery enamelled. Fayence is a term derived from Fayenza,
an Italian city where decorative pottery was largely made in the
sixteenth century, and in the present general sense includes all
pottery enamelled and decorated with color.
The term "ceramic", includes all works in pottery, porcelain
and stone ware, and is derived from the Greek word, signifying
potter's clay, earthen vases, etc. Porcelain, like pottery, is a pro-
duct of clay and sand, but the clay is of a class that with the ad-
dition of other substances produces a translucent body. Pottery
is always opaque ; porcelain always translucent ; pottery breaks
with a rought fracture, exhibiting the color of clasp ; porcelain
breaks with a vitrous fracture, white and clean.
PENNSYLVANIA POTTERY.
Among the forms of utensils and other objects produced in
Eastern Pennsylvania were cooking pots, with and without lids,
and usually with two handles. They were glazed on the inside
and often also on the outside. Applebutter pots, flower pots,
cake, jelly and other molds, jugs, jars (both spherical and cylindri-
cal usually with lids and with or without handles), coffee pots,
sugar bowls, cream pitchers, tea cannisters, mugs, liquid meas-
EARLY PENNSYLVANIA POTTERY 199
ures, vegetable and meat plates, pie plates, bowls, platters, soup
dishes, large circular pans, (usually with sloping sides and flat
bases), fancy dishes or trays, ink stands, sand shakers, stove
foot-rests, tobacco pipes, tobacco jars, shaving basins, flower
holders or vases, toys, figures of animals, birds, whistles, etc.
Also earthen barrels for holding water, churns, and roof tiles.
Most of these articles were made simply of red clay and glazed
with red lead, and were used for all imaginable purposes in the
household.
The introduction of tin and other wares gradually supplanted
the work of the early potter, and but one or two shops yet re-
main, and these are devoted largely to the manufacture of
flower pots, which are now produced by machinery.
SLIP DECORATIVE WARE.
Among the earliest ornamented ware of Europe was that which
is known as Slip Decorative Ware, which consisted of two classes,
slip-traced or slip-painted and slip-engraved, scratched or sgraf-
fito ware. Slip is made of a clay different from the body of the
pottery to which it is applied. It is produced by grinding suitable
clay in a quern or between two stones and is then thinned with
water to the desired consistency, usually like batter or cream ;
it is of a lighter tint than the coarse clay of the pottery to which
it is applied, the pottery being generally of a dark orange or red
color. Slip tracing consists of trickling this liquid clay or "slip",
through one or sometimes two or three quills attached to a little
cup over the surface of the unburned ware to produce the deco-
rative design. Slip engraving consists in covering the ware with
a thin coating of slip, through which the ornamental designs are
scratched with a pointed instrument to show the darked clay be-
neath. In a general way it may be said that true slip decoration
is usually distinguished by a light colored ornamentation on a
darker ground, while sgraffito ware is recognized by the dark
design on a white or yellow field. In the former the decorations
generally appear in slight relief, and in the latter they are im-
pressed or intalglioed. It is interesting to note that in many
of the early English slip-traced and scratched pieces, the princi-
pal decorative motif is the tulip, which fact suggests the possi-
bility that the art of slip decoration was introduced into England
200 EARLY PENNSYLVANIA POTTERY
from Germany. The use of this flower in ceramic embelHsh-
ments probably originated in Persia and later spread to conti-
nental Europe. In Pennsylvania sgraffito ware was first made
as early as 1733, as is indicated by an interesting example in the
collection of Mr. George H. Banner, Manheim, Pa., which is
engraved with that date.
It is more than possible that for several years previous to that
time, the transplanted art had flourished in this country. It is
certain that slip decoration was in vogue in certain parts of
Gremany, notably in Saxony, more than two hundred years ago,
and when the first Germans settled in Pennsylvania they brought
the art with them and established it as a new process of the
ceramic manufacture in the states.
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, slip decorative
ware was made to a considerable extent in certain localities in
England, but the early English potters do not seem to have pur-
sued this branch of their calling to any extent on this side of
the Atlantic.
The reason for this is obvious, while the English came from
many sections previous to the full development of this art at
home and scattered over vast territory in this country, the Ger-
mans arriving at a later date, fresh from a section where slip
decorative ware was at its height, established a community of
their own in Eastern Pennsylvania, isolated from all extraneous
influences, and continued to ply their homely arts as they had
learned them in the old world.
These pioneer potters erected numerous small pot works for
the manufacture of such wares as were needed to supply the
simple wants of the people. Each local pottery seems to have
been supported by the patronage of relatives, neighbors and
friends of the proprietor, or by sales which were held in neigh-
boring towns, and as the trade was confined almost entirely to
the limited section occupied by the settlers, it is not surprising
that these German-American productions have only recently at-
tracted attention.
The commonest kind of slip decoration can be seen in the
zigzag lines frequently met with on the pie plates of commerce
and are true slip decoration. Slip decoration in its primitive
state is now a lost art in the United States. It flourished, princi-
EARLY PENNSYLVANIA POTTERY 201
pally in Pennsylvania, for nearly a century and a half. Its
decadence commenced with the advent of tin and when the
cheaper grades of white crockery began to be introduced the
production of the early potter ceased. Slip decoration was the
forerunner of the modern art of painting on the unbaked ware
with colored clay as exemplified in the Rookvvood pottery of the
present day. Its highest development is found in the Pate-sur-
pate process as practiced by Mr. M. L. Solon at the Minton fac-
tory in England, who is recognized today as the greatest ex-
ponent of this beautiful art.
PORCELAINS IN AMERICA.
In 1825. "one Tucker, who was the son of a Quaker china
shopkeeper on Market street, between Ninth and Tenth, Phila-
delphia, took over the old waterworks at Twenty-third and Chest-
nut streets, and started in a small way to produce artistic porce-
lain." His work was recognized speedily as the best of its kind
in the United States. The Franklin Institute awarded him
several medals as a tribute to his skill. His porcelain was com-
pared favorably with the Sevres product, and an effort was made,
during the presidency of Andrew Jackson, to obtain a Federal
subsidy of several thousand dollars. The president acknowledged
the receipt of the gift of Tucker's ware, but declined to favor
the subsidy. He marveled at its excellence and said it was the
equal of Sevres. Judge Joseph Hemple became a partner of
Tucker and a larger plant was secured at the southwest corner
of Seventh and Chestnut streets. French artists were brought
over and close copies of the Sevres product were made. The
best ware was produced from 1833 to 1838. Hemple associated
a number of other Pennsylvanians in the enterprise and obtained
a charter from the legislature under the corporate name of the
American Porcelain Company. Their koalin was obtained from
Chester County, Pa., their feldspar from New Castle, Del., and
their clay from Perth Amboy, N. J. Authority was given to the
corporation to import the best artists, and many articles of artis-
tic porcelain were produced, but in 1838 the business was
discontinued.
The ornamented plates and other pieces both slip and sgraffito
202 WELL-CAVES OF BUCKS COUNTY
which you have before you today, ^ were not made commercially,
but were usually made for presents, the husband to his wife, the
apprentice to his employer, or the lover to his lady. Many of
the decorated pieces found today, belong to the heirs and rela-
tives of the potters, some of these have been handed down from
generation to generation, and it is rarely that some of them find
their way to museums or the cabinets of the antiquarian.
1 Mr. Montigue illustrated this paper by exhibiting many interesting and
valuable specimens from his large and valuable collection.
Well Caves of Bucks County.
BY MISS BELLE VANSANT, NEWTOWN, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, May 31, 1919.)
MANY years before the bacteriologist had informed us that
a house-fly carries a quarter of a million bacteria upon
soles of its feet, or that each drop of fresh milk under
ordinary conditions contains 1,500 bacteria, which after forty-
eight hours in a temperature of sixty-eight degrees Fahrenheit,
increases to one billion, or before Pasteur had taught the art of
making bacteria soup, the housewife and dairyman had their
own troubles in keeping meat from spoiling, butter from melting,
and milk from turning sour. Without knowing the scientific
reason, they had learned by experience, that in order to preserve
provisions and milk during the summer months they must have
a place where the temperature could be kept at least below sixty
degrees, and in order to accomplish this they resorted to a num-
ber of devices. If today you visit a Bucks county farm house
of the period of 1750 to 1830, where modern devices have been
introduced, you will probably find the whole series, cellar, well,
well-cave, ice house, spring house, spring-cave, cooking tank,
patent cooler and refrigerator.
My subject today, however, is the well-cave, also known as
the vault, milk-vault or ground-cellar. Of these I have visited
about thirty, and have found no two exactly alike in architectural
style. When one sees an ancient stone farm house, ofif in a field.
WELL-CAVES OF BUCKS COUNTY 203
remote from the public highway, we of course surmise that
there must be a spring of water there, and we are usually cor-
rect ; but it did not fall to the lot of all of our forefathers to pur-
chase springy land, in which case the well-caves had to be re-
sorted to. I shall not attempt, in this short paper, to describe in
detail the many different caves that I have examined, but will
confine my descriptions to but a few of them, and then tell of
some of the variations.
The first model of a cave that I will describe, is on the farm
of Mrs. Joseph Watson on the pike between Newtown and Lang-
horne. That part of this cave which is above ground is a stone
structure seven feet long by five feet wide at the base, and four
feet high at the peak. On one of the slanting sides is a wood-
en door with iron hinges, the opposite slant is almost covered
by one large flat stone. There is no mound above ground, but
beyond is the well and pump, and from the mouth of the cave
to the end of the well is about thirty-five feet. Near the middle
of this space is a brick chimney three feet high and two feet
square, covered by a flat stone, and with air passages underneath.
From the door of the cave a straight flight of eighteen stone
steps, each nine inches deep extends to the vault below. Most
of the steps are made of one stone, others have two stones, all
have masonry underneath. The sides of the stairw^ay and the
slanting roof above are constructed of masonry. At the bot-
tom of the stairs there is a slat door, on each side of which there
are recesses in the wall about twelve and eight inches, and about
twelve inches deep. The vault itself is fourteen feet long by
twelve feet wide and seven feet high, this also has masonry sides
and roof, and a flagstone floor. On each of the long sides there
are projections upon which, at one time, rested board shelves.
At the far end of the vault is a smaller door four feet by two
feet, which opens into a passageway two and one-half feet high
by two feet wide, which is the entrance, through a passageway
two and one-half feet deep leading into the well. On each side
of this are also stone projections upon which rests a large flat
stone. This vault is near the barn and connected with the barn
well. It is nicely whitewashed, and in it the present tenant keeps
his milk-cooler and cream separator.
On the Obadiah Willett, later Jonathan Knight and now Wil-
204 WELL-CAVES OF BUCKS COUNTY
Ham R. Wallhiser farm, near Feasterville, is a two-roomed cave,
the largest I have seen. The slanting double doors are on a
level with the basement or cellar kitchen, and against a stone wall
supporting a mound above, the top of which is reached by six
stone steps. From the lower level twelve stone steps lead to the
first room of the vault which is fourteen and one-half feet long
by ten and one-half feet wide and seven and one-half feet high,
with an arched roof ceiling, in which two ventilators may be
seen. On one side of this room is an alcove four and one-half
by three feet, at the rear of which is the opening into the well,
four feet high by three feet wide, extending through a wall
three feet thick. This passageway is raised about a foot above
the floor level and is somewhat V-shaped, and only about eigh-
teen inches wide at the well entrance. Near this is another
opening three feet wide leading into a second room which is
nine feet by seven feet, with one ventilator in the ceiling.
Suspended from the ceiling of each room are four large hooks,
probably for supporting hanging shelves, and on each side, near
the well, are niches in the wall eight by twelve inches. The
board shelves on both sides of the room are supported by wooden
pegs. The entire floor is covered with large white flagstones.
The gate at the bottom of the steps has disappeared, but the
hinges remain. On the outside, above and beyond the wall, is
quite an extensive mound, from which arise three brick chimneys,
the external part of the ventilators. In 1828 Obadiah Willett tore
down the old dwelling house at this place and built the present
mansion, but just how long previous to this the cave existed can-
not now be determined.
The third example which I wish particularly to describe, is on
the Russell Watson farm on the Feasterville road. It is a two-
storied cave of a distinct type. The outside door opens into a
stone structure, covered by a slanting shingle roof. At the en-
entrance are two doors, one solid and the other made of slats.
Eight steps lead to the first landing. This room is eight and
one-half feet by nine feet, eight feet high on one side and four-
teen feet high on the other. Two windows eighteen by twenty-
three inches open into this room. The walls are eighteen inches
thick. On the high side there is a large swinging shelf, and
lower down stone projections upon which rests a board shelf. A
WELL-CAVES OF BUCKS COUNTY 205
flight of seven steps leads to the lower room which extends un-
derneath the ground, and is the real cave. This room is seven
feet by twelve feet and seven feet high, with arched roof. At
the back of this, through a wall three and one-half feet thick,
there is a passage opening into the well. Doors, at one time,
probably separated the upper and lower rooms, and also the en-
trance to the well, but only part of the hinges remain. There is
one ventilator in the lower cave from which a stone chimney ex-
tends to the mound above.
So far as the structure above ground is concerned, no two
caves are alike. Some have a grassy mound with a stone wall
at each end ; some are walled at one end and slope to a level at
the other end. The entrance of caves also varies, often it is
through a door in the wall, either on a level or down two or
three steps. In one cave six outside steps were at right angles
to the door and inside steps. Often there is nothing showing
above ground but double doors lying flat on the ground. A cave
of that kind may be seen at the Turk Hotel near Doylestown.
At Neshaminy Falls there is a cave underneath the flagstone floor
of a back porch, with an entrance in what appears to be a closet.
At the Shoe farm a very extensive cave is under the smoke house.
In towns, caves frequently have their entrances through the
cellars of the houses, the cavities and wells being outside the
foundations, either with or without mounds. In two instances
the caves extend to the streets and the pumps must have been
where the pavements now are, probably town pumps. The stair
ways are usually straight but some are winding and others have
landings part w^ay down and then turn at right angles, some have
open spaces at the landings. The nitches in the walls are of
great variety, both in size and number. Shelves made of boards
are most common, although a few have stone shelves. Some
have stone corner pieces somewhat resembling stone sinks. In
some cases stone ledges, about five feet from the floors, serve as
shelves. These ledges were formed by building out the entire
lower walls to thicknesses of about ten inches. In the vault at
Jenks Hall, later the home of William Barnsley, there were
marble slabs on each side of the cave. This vault unlike most
of them was built next to an ice house instead of a well. There
is also an interesting transition in the vaulted spring house, such
206 WELL-CAVES OF BUCKS COUNTY
as may be seen at the Washington Headquarters house in New-
town or the Wilson Woodman farm near Wycombe.
In the days that vaults were in common use the milk was
strained above ground and then carried in pans to the cave and
placed in rows on the flagstone floor. The milk was skimmed
there, and the cream, if not cool enough, was sometimes let
down the well by a rope. The churning was done above ground,
but the butter-making and moulding it into shape were done in
the vaults. The butter, usually in pound moulds, was wrapped
in cotton cloths and placed in rows on the flagstones or on the
stone shelves. I learned of one cave where the milk was let down
into the vault by a rope through one of the ventilators.
It is quite difliicult to learn the age of well-caves. They are
found at farm houses, the oldest part of which dates back to
1765, and the newer parts between 1800 and 1850, but I have
not been able to determine the dates when the vaults were built.
Where the old doors are intact I have found hand wrought
hinges and nails, also that lime and sand mortar was used in
their construction. â– Cave-wells are much more numerous in the
lower part of our county than in the middle and northern parts.
However they must have been used by the Germans for in the
records of their early settlements, they are referred to as "ground
cellars".
Substantially built stone houses, the bakeovens, the smoke-
houses, and the well-caves are the common inheritance of the
Bucks county farmer. The bakeoven and the smokehouse have
long since survived their usefulness, and in almost no instance
is the well-cave serving its original purpose, and happy indeed,
must have been the farmer's wife when she carried her last pan
of milk or kettle of cream up and down that long flight of
stone steps.
Notes of Forgotten Trades,
BY DR. HENRY C. MERCER, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, May 31, 1919.)
POTTERS Quern for Grinding Glaze. (Information of Red-
ding Francis Rapp, to Dr. Mercer, February 1916). Seen
by Mr. Rapp in Northampton County, Pa., another on the
Pennsylvania side of the Delaware river half way between the
Milford and Frenchtown river bridges, another one at Herstine's
pottery in Nockamixon township. One of these querns resembled
the paint quern in the museum of the Bucks County Historical
Society, but another one ground the paint under a revolving
wheel set upon an axle vertically on a saucer stone, and pulled
around the circumference of the saucer upon a vertical pivot in
the center.
Pie Dishes. (Information of Mr. Rapp to Dr. Mercer, Feb-
ruary 1916.) Mr. Rapp saw decorated pie dishes in the posses-
sion of Sarah Riegel, between upper Tinicum Church and Revere,
about two miles from Revere. Still living there. Another in
possession of Sarah Krause living near Cornelius Herstine's pot-
tery on Peter Mills farm. Also in possession of Emeline Rapp at
Erwinna.
Dog Churn. (Information of Mr. Rapp to Dr. Mercer, Feb-
ruary 1916.) Mr. Rapp saw churns worked by dogs, goats and
sheep. The dog would frequently refuse to work and lie down.
He saw this between Freemansburg and Durham Furnace in
Northampton township in 1855.
Cider Press. (Information of Mr. Rapp to Dr. Mercer, Feb-
ruary 1916.) Mr. Rapp, now of Doylestown. Pa., built in his
boatyard at Erwinna, a cider press in 1862 for Tobias Fishier
and Titus Tettemer. The wood was secured at Stover's mill and
in the woods. It was dressed with common broad axes (not of
the goose wing type), and wood axes. White oak was always
used. The wood was sawed at Fishler's mill. The wooden
screws were bought second hand, and the iron work was made by
208 RANDOM NOTES ON FORGOTTEN TRADES
Gus Siegler at Erwinna. The latter bought the press. The
style of the press was with a double screw like the one with a
roof upon it at the Bucks County Historical Society. The
apples were ground in a mill in the open air with no roof, which
was turned by two horses. A great deal of cider was made dur-
ing the time that soldiers were drafted for the war, and the
cider was made by the owners and Mr. Rapp. The farmers
brought the apples by the wagon load. Then Mr. Rapp distilled
the cider, then worth eighteen cents a gallon. He ran it forty
degrees above proof and gave 140 gallons for every 100 gallons
sold. It was then put in wooden containers and placed in the
cellar, where it would rectify to proof. Fishier was drafted into
the army for nine months, and after he came home, he sold apple
jack for $2.50 a gallon after paying the war tax, which was about
80 cents or $1.00 a gallon, for which the Government sent a
ganger, and the tax was not paid until the liquor was sold. This
cidermill was the first Mr. Rapp ever made, and he was then
about twenty-four years old. About 1864 he built another one
for John Frantz who lived about one mile above Erwinna, Tini-
cum township. This was the single screw style like the others in
the Bucks County Historical Society, and it may be still upon the
premises. At that time he made no whiskey. Samuel Hillpot
had a cidermill one mile south of Erwinna called a burr mill
where apple whiskey was distilled. His mill had a grinder like
ours. Abraham Schick in Nockamixon township had another
and he also made whiskey. Copper stills were used. Schick had
the circular grinding trough with wooden wheels. Mr. Rapp
has seen a great many cidermills about Bucks county. He worked
five years for Fishier and colled money for him.
Querns in Greene County^ Pennsylvania. (Information
of E. F. Bowlby to Dr. Mercer, January 29, 1916.) Querns for
grinding meal r^n by horse power on a treadmille made in
Greene county were seen by Mr. Bowlby about forty-five years
ago or about 1865. The stones were about eighteen inches in
diameter.
NiGGERiNG Logs. (Information of Mr. Bowlby to Dr. Mercer,
Greene county were seen by Mr. Bowlby about forty-five years
Mercer, January 29, 1916.) In Monongahela county, West Vir-
RANDOM NOTES ON FORGOTTEN TRADES 209
ginia. about 1840 to 1880, A. L. Wade, as a boy, about 1840 cut
up long logs, several of which were hauled into his house for him
by his neighbors. The process of "niggering", or cutting the logs
by fire, was done by building small fires of small sticks across the
logs which fires were continually renewed until the logs were cut
through in hollows about ten to twelve inches wide. New fires
were built by laying a shovelful of live coals on a fresh log from
an old fire. Mr. Wade then lived at a place called Bowlby, in
Monongahela county and Robert Bowlby (brother of E. F.),
in making clearings for new houses also thvis cut fresh logs at the
same place between 1875 and 1880. A great number of log-
fires could be kept going at the same time.
Milestones. (Information of Wilson Woodman, Wycombe,
to Dr. Mercer, April 1916.) An old milestone stands on the
Newtown pike just below \A^rightstown. Another at the Anchor
Hotel opposite the latter, marked 26^ to Philadelphia. Another
on the New Hope road marked 26 miles to Philadelphia. The
latter is lying down now, May 1916.
Log Barns. (Information of Stacy L. Weaver, Doylestown,
to Dr. Mercer, February 3, 1916.) About 1856 when I was
twelve years old I worked for my uncles. Samuel, Frank and
Weaver Laubenstein, on a farm on the left bank of Tinicum
creek about one mile southeast of Sundale. At that time I
helped to cover the roof of the barn with thatch of rye straw tied
down with twists of straw. No strings were used, nor were
stones laid upon it. The thatch was four inches thick and it
sometimes had to be repaired. It was built of logs with
the threshing floor on the ground. The barn was very long,
about sixty feet. Mr. Fox lived on this farm within the last
twenty years, but the old log barn has long since been replaced
by a frame barn. The house was considered very old in 1856,
and had double doors like those found in stables.
Log Barn One Mile East of Doylestown. (Information
of Stacy L. Weaver to Dr. Mercer, February 3, 1918.) A log
barn stood near the present old stone house now belonging to Dr.
Henry C. Mercer, was lived in about 1875 by Mr. Harding.
This barn had the threshing floor on the ground, and part of the
210 RANDOM NOTES ON FORGOTTEN TRADES
roof was thatched. The rest of it was roofed with boards.
Owing to the rotting away of the lower structure of logs the
whole building had settled, so that a cow scarcely got in the door.
Mr. Harding lived in the stone house at that time. I never re-
member seeing a bake oven there. (A walled-up hole in the
east wall against the back of the fireplace proves that a bake
oven had existed, H. C. M.)^
Fiddlers. (Information of Stacy L. Weaver to Dr. Mercer,
December 15, 1917.) Bryce Weaver, father of Stacy L. Weaver,
did not play, but his uncles Samuel and William Weaver, were
fiddlers. Samuel went to Cincinnati fifty-five years ago. His
family lived on the edge of Nockamixon swamp. They both
played by note and played for square dances, cotillions and
waltzes, later for the polka, quadrille and lancers. A favorite
tune often played was, "Turkeys in the Straw". Stacy often
called the figures for this at dances. Bill Smith was an old
fiddler living in the glen on the Erwinna road just northeast of
Headquarters, now Sundale, when Stacy was a boy. His favor-
ite tunes were, "The Fishers Hornpipe", "Devils Dream", and
"Arkansas Traveller". Hen Allen, a blacksmith at Pipersville,
was a good fiddler about forty years ago. He played by note.
He played at dances held at Bedminster Center. Erwinna and
Bedminsterville, and for parties at Headquarters. He played
alone as did most fiddlers. Bill Purcell and his brother at Er-
winna along the canal were good fiddlers. John Ernst, near
Dublin, was a mighty good fiddler. He borrowed Stacy's violin,
a very good instrument, to play at a party at Point Pleasant, and
that was the last Stacy ever saw of it or of the borrower. He
played by note and played left handed. Fiddlers never took note
books to parties or dances, being perfectly familiar with their
tunes. Ten cents a corner or forty cents a set, was the usual
charge of a fiddler at a dance. Sometimes they would pass the
hat around and collect five, or six dollars. Fights at Red Hill
Tavern parties were frequent, where two rival "gangs", were at
feud. One of these was called the Strause Gang.
1 A small log cabin on the Stony Garden Road about one mile east of
Singer's Pottery at Danielstown, observed by Dr. Henry C. Mercer and Frank
K. Swain, summer of 1917, had so sunk into the ground, probably in the same
manner owing to the absence of foundation, that I, Henry C. Mercer, could
not stand erect in the single room on the ground floor, the ceiling of which
formed the floor of the garret. I also had to stoop to enter the door.
random notes on forgotten trades 211
Survival of the Most Primitive Method of Threshing
Grain in Bucks County About 1850. (Information to Dr.
Mercer, December 15, 1917.) As a boy living in Tinicum town-
shop, Bucks county, Stacy L. Weaver on several occasions led
horses or mules on the threshing floor of the barn, to thresh
grain by stamping with their feet.
The Ringing Rocks of Bridgeton Township.
BY B. F. FACKENTHAL, JR., SC. D., RIEGELSVILLE, PA.
(Ringing Rocks Meeting, October 4, 1919.)
'N 1909, ten years ago, there was included in the
pubHcations of the Bucks County Historical So-
ciety, a short description of the Ringing Rocks of
Bridgeton Township, in Bucks County, Pa.^ That
paper, however, was not read before the society,
and in view of the further fact that since then,
viz : on August 22, 1918, the land which contains these interesting
rocks was presented to our society by Mr. Abel B. Haring, of
Frenchtown, N. J., I have thought that it might be of special
interest to read a revised paper at this meeting, after our return
from visiting the rocks, and while resting in this shady nook
under the hemlocks at High Falls.
The land conveyed by Mr. Haring has an area of 7 acres 8.08
perches- and in addition thereto, Mr. John O. McEntee has
kindly consented to present to our society, a right-of-way into the
property from the public road.
The property is situate in Bridgeton Township, (erected in 1880
out of part of Nockamixon Township) about three-quarters of a
mile back from the Delaware River, on a plateau having an ele-
vation of about 500 feet above tide. Immediately to the west
is Coffman's Hill with an elevation of about 750 feet. The
ringing rocks are about six miles from Riegelsville by the river
road via Narrowsville, about four miles from Ferndale and about
two and one-quarter miles from Milford, N. J. They can also be
reached from Kintnersville by the public road leading past Kint-
nersville schoolhouse, which connects at the top of the hill with
the Ferndale road. It is also feasible to open a road leading into
the rocks from the Delaware River road, now a state highway, and
I trust that this society will at an early day take the initiative in
securing a right-of-way and building such a road, which would
make this interesting place more accessible and inviting to the
traveling public.
1 Bucks County Historical Society papers. Vol. Ill, p. 590 et seq.
2 Recorded at Doylestown, Deed Book No. 413, p. 318.
PALISADES OR NARROWS OF NOCKAMIXOK.
Bluffs of New Red Sandstone rising about 400 feet above the Delawai
River. Taken from Narrowsville Locks, with view of
Delaware Division Canal.
RIXGIXG ROCKS OF BRIDGETON TOWNSHIP, BUCKS COUXTl', I'A.
View looking toward the south.
The largest part of this field, shown in the background of this etching, covers
an area of five acres. Photographed May 3, 1909.
MONROE, Dl'llHAM TOWNSHIP, BUCKS COUNTY, PA.
To show cavities in the conglomerri te, lying at the northern edge of the
triassic, after the softer magnesian limestone (dolomite) had leached out.
THE RINGING ROCKS OF RRIDGETON TOWNSHIP 213
These rocks present an interesting geological study. They be-
long to the triassic period, and consist of igneous trap rocks,
called igneous because of the intensely heated liquid condition
(suggesting fire to the ancients) in which they were forced up
into their place as intrusive masses or through the rocks to the
surface as in the cases of lava flows. This triassic belt, known
also as New Red Sandstone, and classified by the United States
and New Jersey Geological surveys, as the Newark System, can
be traced from the Hudson River across the states of New Jersey
and Pennsylvania into Maryland, following the general trend of
the mountain ranges running northeast and southwest. The
palisades of the Hudson belong to this series, as do also our own
beautiful palisades at the Narrows in Nockamixon Township,
Bucks County. At the Hudson River the formation is about fif-
teen miles wide. At the Delaware River it has a width of about
thirty-two miles, extending from Trenton on the south, to its
northern boundary just south of Holland Church in Hunterdon
County, New Jersey. This northern boundary can be traced by
conglomerates, which outcrop at many places across the states of
New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The lines of demarcation and con-
tact are well defined on the Pennsylvania side of the river, op-
posite Holland church, at Monroe (Lehnenburg), in Durham
Township, Bucks County, where the red shale is separated from
the dolomite'^ (which forms its northern boundary) by splendid
examples of conglomerate. Along the river road leading from
Holland Church to Milford, N. J., near Holland railroad station,
there are bold bluffs of conglomerate which rise, almost perpen-
dicularly, two hundred and fifty feet above the river. Where
these bluffs have been cut through to make room for the public
road and for the Belviedere Delaware railroad they can be seen
to splendid advantage. An etching from a photograph of one of
them is shown herewith. At that place the conglomerates
can also be seen in the bed of the river. When the water is low
some .parts are exposed above its surface. Between Holland
3 The dolomite at Monroe, lying north of the conglomerate, contains but
one per cent of silica, whereas that in New Jersey, just north of Holland
church, almost immediately across the river from Monroe, contains twenty
per cent.
Splendid examples of this same dolomitic formation, with pebbles, can be
seen to advantage along the northern edge of the triassic, in the outcroppings
on the farm now (1919) belonging to Miss Ida Weaver on a branch of
Cook's or Durham Creek, near West Springfield schoolhouse, on the road
leading to Leithsville and Hellertown, in Northampton County.
214 THE RINGING ROCKS OF BRIDGETON TOWNSHIP
Church and Milford, N. J., the river flows almost due east, and
the boundary of the conglomerate apparently follows the bed of
the river westwardly, passing at Monroe into Pennsylvania, where
loose pebbles of flint can be traced over the hills through Durham
and Springfield Townships. Buckwampun Hill, eight hundred
feet above tide, is covered with silicious pebbles. Back from the
river on the New Jersey side these conglomerate bluffs form
Gravel Hill, with an elevation of eight hundred and sixty-five feet
above tide. The pebbles in the conglomerate at Holland are
mostly silicious, they vary in size and shape and are of many
colors. At Monroe the composition is somewhat different, the
pebbles in that part lying next to the dolomite are dolomitic. In
some places the dolomite, being softer, has dissolved or eroded
leaving the matrix full of irregular-shaped cavities, as shown by
the etching accompanying this paper, which will give some idea
of the honeycombed condition of this limestone-dolomite breccia.'^
This condition changes gradually as it nears the new red sand-
stone, where the pebbles are mixed and become mostly silicious.
The average width of the triassic across Pennsylvania (the
southeastern corner) is about twenty miles. It is, however, much
wider across Bucks and Montgomery Counties which are made
up largely of this formation.
The triassic occurs also in Connecticut from New Haven
northward into Massachusetts, but there it is bounded on the
west by a broad area of crystalline rocks, granite and gneiss. It
does not cross the Hudson River, and apparently has no connec-
tion with the New Jersey-Pennsylvania area, if it ever was a part
the connection has long since been removed by erosion. So too
the New Jersey-Pennsylvania area is not connected with the
North Carolina and Virginia areas.
There is. however, no intention of making this a technical
paper, as the geology has been carefully studied and fully de-
scribed by the geological surveys of both Pennsylvania and New
Jersey to which reference can be had. Neither of these surveys,
however, refers to the ringing rocks. But I desire especially to
invite your attention to the admirable reports in the New Jersey
4 Dr. Edgar T. VTherry, formerly of Lehigh University, but now of the
United States National Museum, reports having found glauberite crystal-
cavities in the triassic in the vicinity of Steinsburg in Bucks County. (See
American Mineralogist, Vol. I, No. 3, for September, 1916, pp. 37 to 43.
ELUFF OF CONGLOMERATE IN NORTHERN EDGE OF THE TRIASSIC.
Along Delaware River, near Holland, N. J. Railroad Station.
(Photograph by B. F. Fackenthal, Jr., January 17. 1919.)
THE RINGING ROCKS OF BRIDGETON TOWNSHIP 215
Geological Survey, particularly those of Dr. Henry B. Kiimmel in
the annual reports for 1896 and 1897, and of Dr. J. Volney
Lewis in the annual reports for 1906 and 1907.
Throughout this belt of triassic or new red sandstone, there are
numerous dykes of igenous trap rocks. Much of this trap rock is
being quarried and crushed for road making material, but the
ringing rocks, although of the same diabase, present a unique and
entirely different appearance from the ordinary outcroppings.
Within the area of this formation there are many places where
rocks are broken and piled loosely or scattered, but so far as I
know there are but seven fields in Pennsylvania where they have
ringing properties. "•
The seven places are as follows. The first three are in Bucks
County :*^
1. Ringing Rocks of Bridgeton Township, of which special
mention is made in this paper.
2. Stony Garden in Haycock Township, on the northern
slope of Haycock Mountain.
3. Springfield Township, about two and one-quarter miles
east of Coopersburg station on the North Pennsyl-
vania branch of the Reading Railroad, known locally
as "Rocky Valley," but is on the side of a mountain
and has an elevation of about seven hundred feet.
4. Spring Mountain, Montgomery County, east of Per-
kiomen Creek, three miles above Schwenksville, Pa.
5. Ridge Valley, near Sumneytown, Montgomery County,
known locally as the "Devil's Potato Patch."
6. Ringing Hill, Ringing Rocks Park, Montgomery County,
about two miles northeast of Pottstown, Pa.
7. Blue Rocks in Chester County, one mile east of Elver-
son station, on the Wilmington branch of the Read-
ing Railroad.
3 Prof. J. Volney Lewis advises me that there is a field of ringing rocks on
the east face of Sourland mountain, two and one-half miles northeast of
Belle Meade in Somerset County, N. J., locally known as "Devil's Half Acre,"
although, he says, the area is considerable in excess of half-an-acre.
6 Suggestions have been made that the so-called "Blue Rocks,' near Len-
hartsville, in Berks County, may belong to the same series, but that is quite
wrong, as they are of an entirely different geological formation. They are
conglomerate boulders from the medina at the base of the Silurian The blue
rocks cover an area of probably as much as ten acres, and are such con-
glomerates as are found near the anthracite coal measures. Although called
blue rocks, the white quartz of the conglomerates gives them a whitish color.
Nearly all of the exposed rocks have lichens growing upon them, and they
present a most beautiful appearance, but, of course, have no ringing
properties.
216 THE RINGING ROCKS OF BRIDGETON TOWNSHIP
The etchings of ringing rocks, shown herewith, are from
photographs of the main part of the Bridgeton Township field,
which is larger than any other field herein referred to. This
part has an area of about five acres, and in it the musical rocks
are found. The rocks are of irregular shapes, and vary in size
from fifty pounds to several tons in weight. They are piled on
top of each other to a great depth, but their surface, which is
comparatively level, is not elevated above the immediately sur-
rounding land. It is, however, a noticeable fact that all of these
beds of ringing rocks are found at the bases of higher mountains,
which are also composed of trap rock. They are all found at
the north edge of the igneous eruption. All of the beds of ring-
ing rocks, like those shown in the etching, are entirely denuded
by erosion. They do not contain a particle of soil or vegetation
other than some lichens. There are also several small beds on
the Bridgeton property, adjoining the large field, but the rocks
are not so well defined, in fact the entire neighborhood is covered
with boulders of this same formation. The region is rough and
rocky, and the surrounding land not suitable for cultivation.
When the ringing rocks are struck with a hammer or other
metallic object, they give out a bell-like sound, the tones varying
according to their size and qualities. Some are decidedly more
musical than others, some have tones like those of a blacksmith's
anvil, some do not ring at all. The musical properties are not
destroyed by removing them from their beds. I have myself sent
specimens to several of our near-by colleges for their museums.
In order to further demonstrate this feature I brought this stone
from the Bridgeton field last week for illustration (exhibiting a
flat stone fifteen inches in diameter and four inches thick, and
striking it with a hammer). But it remained for the late Dr. J. J.
Ott, of Pleasant Valley, Bucks County, to more fully demonstrate
the musical character of these rocks after removing them from
their beds. In June, 1890, at a meeting of the Buckwampun His-
torical Society, he made a careful selection of stones, to form a
musical octave, on which he played several selections accompanied
by a brass band. The clear, bell-like tones of the rocks could be
heard above the notes of the horns.
The ringing properties are doubtless due to the texture of the
diabase of which they are composed, but why some should re-
f.^~ ^""kS
^^
WKATHKRED TRAP ROCK BOULDER.
This rock is 42 feet in circumference by 8 feet liigh. Estimated weight 75 tot
msMAmp.
9,"
' ^^vA: 4
;W'^^«jf .f*-
'.
Ri-
Ik
^v
Biv"
^-
ii:t
TRAP ROCK BOULDERS NEAR RINOING ROCKS, BRIDGETON
TOWNSHIP.
To show exfoliation shrinkage cracks.
(Photographs by B. F. Fackenthal, Jr., November 28, 1912.)
THE RINGING ROCKS OF BRIDGETON TOWNSHIP 217
spend with a ring and others lying alongside are non-resonant,
does not to my mind fully appear. They were doubtless cooled
or annealed differently and therefore the crystalization may have
been different.'^ Geologists tell us that the fields doubtless for-
merly presented solid surfaces, which were broken apart by
erosion and that water percolating downward along the seams
gradually decomposed the rock constituents, which were carried
away by underground currents of water. There are some large
specimens lying near the Bridgeton ringing rocks which are split
apart into four pieces, with cleavages which appear to have been
of recent origin, and though they are lying several feet from
each other, it is quite apparent that they could be fitted together
as a whole, with very close seams between them. An idea of
rocks split apart, apparently in more recent years, can be had by
the etching shown herewith of such rocks at the Stony Point field.
ROCKS WITH SHRINKAGE CRACKS.
The belt of trap rock, which contains the ringing rocks, in
eastern Pennsylvania, can readily be traced by surface indica-
tions, i. c, by the character of the soil and by the trapean boulders
distributed along its course. Some of the boulders are of huge
proportions. Interesting features of many are the exfoliated
shrinkage cracks on their surfaces. The etchings shown here-
with are from photographs of two large rocks lying alongside of
the public road about half-a-mile from the Bridgeton field.
Rocks with shrinkage cracks are quite common along the course
of the traps, the greater part are checkered like the etching, some
have cracks in concentric rings. It is also noticeable that the
course of these trap rocks can be traced by a copious growth of
cedar trees. The flora of this territory has proved of special
interest to botanists.
r In 1909, Dr. Henry B. Kiimmel, State Geologist for New Jersey, accom-
panied me to the Bridgeton ringing rocks. He selected specimens that had
ringing properties and those that were nonresonant. He submitted these
samples to Dr. J. Volney Lewis, professor of geology at Rutgers College, New
Brunswick, N. J., who made a microscopical examination of them by means
of thin rock sections and a petrographical microscope. Dr. Lewis reported
that the specimens were typical olivene-diabase, similar in all essential re-
spects to the Hudson Palisade types described by him in Dr. Kiimmel' s an-
nual report for 1907, q. v. The only difference noticed by him, was that the
nonresonant sample was distinctly altered in the case of mineral pyroxene,
while all the minerals of the resonant sample were remarkably sound and
fresh Dr Lewis says that it would perhaps be unsafe to generalize too
broadly, but it would appear that the resonance may depend upon the fresh-
ness of the sample.
218 THE RIIsGING ROCKS OF BRIDGETON TOWNSHIP
The argillite at Point Pleasant, on both sides of the Delaware
River, is of the same trap rock formation, although at that point
it is much closer grained, and has no shrinkage cracks. On the
Pennsylvania side, along Gddes Run, there are ancient quarries
with turtle backs, chips, and other refuse left by the Indians,
who used this fine grained argillite for spear and arrow heads. ^
STONY GARDEN, HAYCOCK TOWNSHIP, BUCKS COUNTY.
Stony Garden field has an elevation of six hundred and twenty
feet. It lies on the northern slope of Haycock Mountain, which
contains the largest deposit of trap rock in Pennsylvania.^ The
apex of the mountain is nine hundred and sixty feet high. This
field is divided into several parts, but the main part is much the
largest and has an area of about three acres. It was from this
field that Dr. Ott selected the stones for his orchestra. Its situa-
tion is a wild and lonely one in the mountain, about two miles
south of the Durham Road at Stony Point (Gallows Hill), and
on the east side of the public road leading from there to Apple-
bachville. The surrounding land is even more barren than the
Bridgeton field. It is reported that the state of Pennsylvania is
considering the advisabiility of making a game-preserve of Hay-
cock Mountain. If this is accomplished the Stony Garden field
would be included within its boundaries.
The tunnel of the North Pennsylvania Railroad, near Perkasie,
passes through the western spur of Haycock Mountain, and there-
fore through the same character of trap rock to which reference
is being made. The Ridge Road running from the Harrow tavern
to Sumneytown is laid out on a ridge of trap rock.
RINGING HILL, POTTSTOWN.
The ringing rocks near Pottstown cover an area of about four
acres, and were formerly known as "Ringing Hill." By reason
of their nearness to a city, they are better known than the other
fields. Moreover, the Pottstown Ringing Rocks Electric Rail-
9 See "The Redman's Bucks County," with illustrations, Vol. II, page 278.
8 Edward Marshall and his associates passed along the northern base of
this mountain, while making the historic "Indian Walk,' Sept. 19 and 20,
1737. They left the Durham road at Stony Point (Gallows Hill), and then
followed an Indian path to "Wilson's Settlement, ' on a branch of Cook s (now
Durham) creek near the West Springfield schoolhouse in Springfield town-
ship, where they rested and ate their noonday meal Sept. 19, 1737.
SWAMP CREEK, SUMNEYTOWX, MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA.
To show trap rock boulders with shrinkage cracks. Rocks with similar cr
can be traced for many miles along the course of
the trap rock formation.
STONY GARDEN, HAYCOCK MOUNTAIN, BUCKS COUNTY, PA.
To show trap rock split apart, apparently in more recent years which could
fitted closely together again. This is an example of many rocks
that can be seen on the adjacent hills along the
course of the trap rock formation.
THE RINGING ROCKS OF BRIDGETON TOWNSHIP 219
way, which opened July 21, 1894, has estabHshed a pleasure park
at that place, which has made it well known throughout eastern
Pennsylvania. During my visit to that field the guide (employed
by the trolley company) showed me over the rocks, and pointed
out many fantastic shapes formed on the rocks, some of which,
as I recollect, included the seat of an Indian Chief, with indenta-
tions on rocks lower down where prints of his feet were shown ;
In fact almost every depression and pothole was given a name
for the benefit of tourists. He did not believe that the shapes
were due to erosion, but assured me that they were really as he
represented them.
Several papers were read before the Buckwampun Historical
Society on the Ringing Rocks of Bridgeton and Stony Garden,
in fact that society held two of its annual meetings at the former
and one at the latter place. Many articles have also been contrib-
uted through the newspapers describing these rocks. A number
of papers have also been piesented on the field at Schwenksville,
these generally call attention to special rocks such as "Catch-me-
not" rock; "Saul's Rest" and "Indian Kettle." The latter hav-
ing a kettle-shaped opening of eight or nine gallons capacity.
devil's den at GETTYSBURG.
The "Devil's Den" at Gettysburg, made memorable and historic
by the Battle of Gettysburg, in 1863, is of trap rock, which be-
longs to the same series as that in Bucks County. In 1909 I
sampled the rocks at that place for chemical analyses, the results
of which are appended hereto.
giant's causeway, county ANTRIM, IRELAND.
The northern coast of Ireland, for many miles, is composed of
trap rock, geologically like that of Bucks County. At places the
clififs rise at a height of over four hundred feet. Underneath the
cliflfs, along the water's edge, there are a number of caves. On
shore the rocks show many interesting freaks of nature which
have been given special and suggestive names. Isolated pillars
about forty-five feet high, are called "Giant's Chimney Tops." A
colonnade of pillars is called the "Giant's Organ." But the most
interesting, and in fact puzzling feature is the "Giant's' Cause-
way," where the basaltic rocks are not deposited in layers, nor in
220 THE RINGING ROCKS OF BRIDGETON TOWNSHIP
boulders, as they are in Bucks County, but in vertical columns
which range from fifteen to twenty-four inches in diameter, and
have sides with many angles. Some of these columns have five,
some six, some seven, some eight and a few with nine sides ; there
is at least one with three sides. There is no system or regularity
about their placement, the prisms with different angles stand side
by side, and yet the sides are of such uniformity that they are
fitted together with precision, and the joints are impervious to
water. It would, of course, be impossible to enter a sheet of
paper between them. Vertically they are all jointed together
into short, irregular lengths, not more than a few feet long that
articulate by means of perfectly fitted convex and concave joints
and form true columns. These convex and concave joints are
not always at the same end of the sections, but are reversed with-
out any system or regularity.
Etchings from photographs of the Giant's Causeway, taken
in 1906 at the time of our visit, are shown herewith.
FINGAL's cave, ISLAND OF STAFFA, SCOTLAND.
Fingal's Cave on the southwestern coast of the Islet of Staft'a.
Argyleshire, Scotland, seven miles off the west coast of Mull, and
other caves in that isle, contain basaltic rocks of similar trap rock
formation.
specific GRAVITIES AND CHEMICAL ANALYSES.
The specific gravities of the trap rocks from the four Penn-
sylvania fields which I sampled are as follows: Bridgeton, 3.15;
Stony Point, 3.05 ; Pottstown, 3.23 ; Devil's Den, 3.06.
The sampling from the Bridgeton field for chemical analysis,
reported below, was made up of many small pieces chipped from
only rocks which had the best ringing properties. All my samples
were analyzed in the laboratory of the Thomas Iron Company,
by Mr. Walter Wyckoff, chief chemist.
Some of the specific gravities and analyses of trap rocks re-
ported in the New Jersey Geological Survey, particularly for the
year 1907, are somewhat similar to those of my samples, but as
a rule the specific gravities are less in the New Jersey reports.
No test has come to my notice of trap rock as heavy as the Potts-
town samples, which (by calculation) weigh 202 pounds to the
GIANTS CAUSEWAY, COUNTY ANTRIM, NORTH COAST OF IRELAND.
(Photographs by B. F. Fackenthal, Jr., .July, 1906.)
THE RINGING ROCKS OF BRIDGETON TOWNSHIP 221
cubic foot. For comparison I will state that Quincy granite
weighs 166 pounds to the cubic foot.
Bridgeton Devil's Den
Ringing Rocks Gettysburg, Pa.
Silica 52.68 53.09
Alumina 11.86 15.67
Lime 9.87 10.75
Magnesia 8.99 6.50
Oxide of Iron (FCgOp.. 12.73 11.00'
Oxide of Manganese 0.20 0.20
Phosphoric Acid 0-1 1 0.14
Sulphuric Acid 0.07 0.07
Titanic Acid 0.63 Not deter.
Copper Nil Nil
Potash 0.49 0.52
Soda 1.23 1.38
Loss on Ignition 0.45 0.53
Loss on Analyses 0.69 0.15
100.00 100.00
Metallic Iron 9.22 7.97
Specific Gravity 3.15 3.06
Our Local Flora.
BY JOHN A. RUTH, DURHAM, PA.
READ BY DR. B. F. FACKENTHAL, JR.
(Ringing Rocks Meeting, October 4, 1919.)
THIS consists of two papers read before the Buckwampun His-
torical Society; one on June 14, 1888, and the other on June 8,
1889. They were therefore not prepared specially for our society,
but in view of the fact that the Ringing Rocks meeting was held
in the neighborhood where many of Mr. Ruth's specimens were gath-
ered, the papers were read at our meeting as a matter of local interest
and are now printed in order that they may be made part of our pro-
ceedings and not become lost to the history of our county.
The Ringing Rocks are located in Bridgeton township, which in
1880 was erected out of part of Nockamixon township, and is therefore
included in the territory described by Mr. Ruth. Buckwampun is in
Springfield township, which adjoins both Nockamixon and Durham
townships.
To the botanist as well as to the historian, Buckwampun is a
place of more than passing interest. Rich as it is in the legends
and historical events of the past, it is not less so in the abundance
and variety of its natural productions, its deep shady ravines, its
fine, open woods, and its mossy bogs yield floral treasures of great
interest to the student of nature. In their shady retreats
"Many a flower is born to blush unseen"
except by the watchful eye of the botanist. So great is the variety
of its different forms of vegetable life, that it would take years of
patient study and research to become familiar with them all. The
number of species of flowering plants, ferns, and fern allies is
large, but it is fully equaled, if not surpassed by the lower orders
of plant life. Most prominent among these are the mosses, found
in great profusion, and covering the earth with a carpet of rich-
est green. They retain this color throughout the year and invite
the attention of collectors at all seasons. They can be pressed
and laid away for future analysis, as drying does not destroy
their characteristics. However much they may become dried and
shriveled, they will expand again when placed in water, and in a
short time are as good for study as fresh specimens. Their
OUR LOCAL FLORA 223
analysis requires a good microscope, and skill in handling it, but
under its magnifying powers they become objects of surprising
beauty. About nine hundred species and varieties of these plants
have been found in this country, north of the Mexican boundary,
and are described by Lesquereux and James in their manual.
Three hundred and twenty-five species were collected in our
neighboring state. New Jersey, by the late C. F. Austin, an emi-
nent student of mosses. To a persevering collector, Buckwampun
would yield a large number of species. The bogs on the eastern
slope are especially rich. Their collection and study would be an
excellent training for any one desiring to engage in scientific re-
search. Descending in the scale of vegetable life we next come
to the Fungi, or mushrooms and toadstools, as they are more
commonly called. The number of species of these is large. They
seem to thrive under the most unfavorable conditions. Many
kinds prefer to grow on decayed vegetable matter. In open
woods they spring up from the rich mould formed by decaying
leaves. Stumps, and trunks of dead trees are often covered by
them. Amid death and decay they find the nourishment necessary
to their ephemeral growth. Many species of fungi are poisonous,
while some are edible and nutritious. Certain species of them
find ready sale in our city markets. Squirrels and other animals
have a knowledge of their nutritious properties. How these ani-
mals distinguish between poisonous and edible fungi is a question
for scientists to decide. As in human families a few vicious
members can bring those related to them under suspicion, so
among the fungi the poisonous species have brought the entire
order into bad repute. Many species which are now regarded as
deleterious, are no doubt harmless. The study of these plants is
called Mycology. During my botanical trips to Buckwampun
my attention has often been attracted by the number and variety
of these plants. Many of them are delicately colored, and to
some nature has given forms that are curious and often beauti-
ful. During the months of August and September they are es-
pecially abundant. Still lower than the fungi in the scale of vege-
table life are the lichens. Buckwampun has many representatives
of this family. The trunks of trees, rocks, and even the earth
itself is in many places covered by a coat of lichen gray which
helps not a little to give color to the landscape. One of our most
224 OUR LOCAL FLORA
eminent botanists tells us that in 1883 Dr. Eckfeldt of Phila-
delphia collected sixty-five species of these plants within a few
hours on Haycock mountain. I venture to say that Buckwampun
is equally rich in them. Interesting as are the orders of crypto-
gramic plants that have been mentioned, they receive very little
attention except by the professional botanist. Their study is too
difficult for the ordinary student. Only the specialist becomes
well acquainted with their structure and habits. But, because
this is the case, let us not suppose that these lower orders of
plants are useless. They were created for a purpose and even the
humblest of them has its part to perform in vegetable economy.
Prof. Steel, speaking of these plants says : "They lie at the foun-
dation of all life. Without them vegetable, and consequently, ani-
mal life would be impossible. They are the first to grow on
cinders, sands, and rocks. The last they gradually disintegrate
and by the decay of successive generations form at length a soil
capable of sustaining plants of higher order, — grains, grasses,
trees, on which animals may live. But sooner or later these also
perish, and then the crytogams resume their sway. On fallen
leaves and trunks they multiply, encompassing, penetrating, con-
suming, and in a few years restore to the earth with interest the
materials which they had borrowed." Leaving these difficult or-
ders for the professional botanists let us turn our attention to the
flowering plants, ferns and fern allies of Buckwampun. My in-
terest in the locality began when a boy. In later years, a growing
interest in local botany led me to visit well remembered haunts in
search of specimens for the herbarium, and most gratifying have
been the results. No attempt has been made to get a complete
list of all the plants found in the locality, but from the material
collected I am able to give a general idea of some of its most
prominent botanical characteristics.
For many years Buckwampun has been noted for the abun-
dance and excellent quality of its chestnut timber. It has been
the source that has supplied the farms in its vicinity with chest-
nut rails and posts, for fencing. Its flinty soil is well adapted to
the growth of this valuable tree. The havoc made by the wood-
man's axe is less apparent here than in many other places. Near-
ly every year some parts of the hill are stripped of their trees,
but the soil is so flinty that farming it is almost an impossibility,
OUR LOCAL FLORA 225
and a new growth of timber is usually allowed to spring up. The
probabilities are that the hill will always retain its covering of
forest to the lasting benefit of the surrounding country. Nor
must we forget the fruit of this tree.
The frosty autumn days often find the limbs bending beneath
their load of chestnuts, and the young and old unite in gathering
the crop. This yearly amounts to many bushels, and the money
obtained by their sale is often an important item to those who
gather them. Beside their money value they often bring cheer to
the fireside during the long winter evenings. What boy has not
enjoyed the luxury of sitting by a redhot stove and roasting
chestnuts, while without the storm was roaring, and snow was
drifting over valley and hill.
The huckleberries, of which Buckwampun yields such an
abundance, belong to the botanical order Ericaceae, commonly
known as the Heath family. The earliest to ripen is the low blue-
berry. This is soon followed by the black huckleberry, distin-
guished by its large, black berries, and resinous dotted leaves.
These two species supply all the berries that are picked for sale
or domestic use. Two other species are found. The swamp
blueberry is occasionally found along streams and grows to the
height of six or eight feet, but its berries are not sought for. The
deerberry is very abundant, and yields large quantities of green-
ish berries, as large as cherries, but not edible.
Other members of the Heath family are abundant. In early
spring the woods are a favorite resort for collecting Trailing Ar-
butus, the most lovely of all our spring flowers. Closely related
to it is the spicy Wintergreen, with its shining evergreen leaves,
and aromatic flavored, red berries. Two species of Rhododen-
dron are among the most beautiful of our shrubs, and bear masses
of delicately colored blossoms. Two species of Laural abound
and are botanical named Kalmia, in honor of Kalm, a Swedish
botanist. The larger of these, known as the Mountain Laurel
bears large crymbs of delicately tinted flowers, and is a splendid
shrub, worthy of cultivation. The smaller species is commonly
called Sheep Laurel or Lambkill, and is said to be poisonous to
cattle. The parasitic Heathworts are represented by the Pine-
say and the Corpse Plant. The latter is a curious plant, several
inches in height, and waxy-white in color. On being dried it be-
226 OUR LOCAL FLORA
comes black. Few plants are more showy, and curious in struc-
ture than the Orchid family. Eight species have been collected
on Buckwampun. The earliest and most showy of these is the
Moccason Flower, found in rich, open woods, and producing a
large rose-purple flower. Along the streams rising on the eastern
side of the hill may be found the Purple-fringed Orchis, the
Three-toothed Habenaria and the Ladies Tresses. Along the
dry, flinty hillside near by we meet the Rattlesnake Plantain, and
Slender Ladies Tresses. Two species of Coral-root are found
growing in places where rich leaf mould has accumulated. In
spring and during early summer the different species of violets
are conspicuous. In the bogs on the eastern slope may be found
the common Blue Violet and the Sweet White Violet. In the
open woods the Hand-leaved, and the Yellow Violets make their
appearance. In the clearings on the summit where the soil is
very flinty and sterile we may find large beds of the Bird-foot
Violet. In the fields southwest of the hill we have occasionally
found the Arrow-leaved Violet. All these species produce flow-
ers of great beauty, and are very interesting to the botanist.
Among the rarest plants of Buckwampun is the Round-leaved
Sundew. Is is found at a single station on the eastern side of
the hill, in a large bog. It has not been found elsewhere in our
county, only in the Springfield bogs, where Dr. I. S. Moyer of
Quakertown collected it. Not far from this station we discovered
in 1887 a variety of the Canada Rush which is new to the flora
of Bucks county. This section of Buckwampun is a good local-
ity for those interested in the collection of grasses and sedges.
The sedges are among the most difificult plants which try the skill
and patience of the botanist. They are present everywhere, and
especially so in wet meadows where they crowd out the more
nutritious grasses. About three hundred well defined species are
found in America. Of these Dr. T. C. Porter of Lafayette Col-
lege, Easton, Pa., has enumerated ninety-eight species' and twenty-
four varieties as found in Pennsylvania. Prominent among those
found on Buckwampun are the Hop Sedge, the Swollen-fruited,
and the Rough-fruited sedge. Among the rarer grasses are the
Fowl Meadow-grass, the Obtuse Eatonia, and the Marsh Oat-
Grass. All of these are among the rarer plants of our county.
Of the Lily family we might name the Indian Cucumber Root,
OUR LOCAL FLORA 227
and the American White Hellebore. The latter is a medicinal
plant and in the south, its roots which are poisonous, are gathered
by the natives. While enumerating a few of the most prominent,
as well as some of the rarer plants of Buckwampun, we must
not forget the ferns, and their relations. They belong to that
class of plants which do not produce flowers, but what they lack
in being flowerless, they make up in their exquisite foliage.
Buckwampun is a rich locality for those interested in the collec-
tion of these plants, whether for the herbarium, or for decorative
purposes. Along the streams may be found luxuriant specimens
of Flowering Fern, Claytons Fern, Cinnamon Fern, several fine
species of Shield Ferns and very rarely Clayton's Goldies. The
latter often grows to the height of four feet. It was discovered by
John Goldie, a Scotch botanist, in whose honor it was named.
The Sensitive Fern is abundant along all of the streams. In the
open woods we may find the Grape Fern, the Beech Fern, and
the most graceful of all our ferns, the Maiden-hair Fern.
Of the Fern allies there are found the small and moss-
like seaginella and two species of Club-mosses. The Flat-Club-
moss is an elegant plant for holiday decorations. Such are
some of the botanical features of Buckwampun. Much more
might be said of them but time forbids. Their description is
worthy of the efiforts of a much abler pen than mine. It is to be
hoped that in the future the locality may be more frequently
visited by botanists, and that at a not far distant day we may
have a complete catalogue of its flora.
To the lover of nature, the science of botany presents a most
inviting field for research. Plant life is found everywhere, and
its mysteries are ever involving solution. The study of its prob-
lems brings us in contact with much that is wonderful and beau-
tiful, and increases our reverence for Him who has so mar-
velously wrought in the creation of even the commonest plant.
A large amount of botanical science is so simple that any one
of ordinary ability can acquire it. On the other hand many of
its problems have depths that reach to the furthermost limits of
human thought and research. These questions have puzzled
some of the profoundest scholars of our age.
The study of botany has made rapid progress within the last
228 OUR LOCAL FLORA
ten years ; especially may this be said of the botany of our own
country. We have not only a number of men and women who
are the equals of the best botanists of the old world, but we have,
scattered throughout the land, a large number of amateur botan-
ists. This latter class are men and women who do not study
botany as a means of support, but follow it during their leisure
hours as a means of recreation. It is to this class of students
we owe many of our best local floras, which have been useful to
the professional botanist in classifying and describing the botany
of our country. The collecting grounds of these local botanists
are usually of limited extent but have, in many cases, been ex-
plored with great thoroughness and have yielded some very un-
expected results. Bucks county has been fortunate in having
within her borders a number of enthusiastic workers of this
class, and as a result our county flora is equal to that of any
county in the State.
Some years ago the idea suggested itself to the writer, to cata-
logue the flora of the townships of Durham and Nockamixon. A
herbarium was started in which were preserved specimens of all
plants collected, to be used for study and future reference. It
is my purpose, in this paper, to present some of the results of
this work.^
Durham and Nockamixon townships have an area of about
thirty-six square miles, of which the former covers about one-
fourth, and the latter the remaining three-fourths. The geo-
logical formation of these townships is favorable to a varied
growth of plants. In Durham we have the fertile limestone val-
ley of the Durham creek with its characteristic flora. Bordering
this valley on the north and south are ranges of granite hills
favorable to the growth of some of the species more common to
northern latitudes. In among these hills are several small streams,
having their sources in cold mountain bogs, which are the homes
of some of our most beautiful as well as rarest plants. South of
these hills is the red sandstone, or red shale formation as it is
more commonly called. This formation begins at Monroe on
the Delaware river, and covers the southern part of Durham and
1 Mr. John A. Ruth died at Clifton, N. J., February 26, 1918. His her-
barium, containing about 8,000 specimens, all splendidly mounted and cata-
logued fell into the hands of B. P. Fackenthal, Jr., who has loaned it to the
Academy of Natural Science at Philadelphia.
OUR LOCAL FLORA 229
all of Nockamixon townships. In the latter township it is broken
by a trap dyke of considerable extent, of which ringing rocks
form a part. These widely dilTering formations give important
variations to the soil, w^hich also indicates variations in the plants
found growing therein. Plants, like human beings, do not thrive
amid unfavorable surroundings and generally choose those soils
which are best adapted to their growth.
A comparison of our local fiora with that of other sections of
our country is of some interest. The first attempt to catalogue
the plants of Bucks county was made by Dr. I. S. Moyer of
Ouakertown, Pa. This catalogue was published in 1876, and
enumerates 1,168 species and varieties. Since that date many
new plants have been found, and our flora now (1889) numbers
about 1,300 species.- These have been collected within an area
of about six hundred square miles. The number of plants thus
far collected in Durham and Nockamixon is eight hundred and
forty-seven, showing that about two-thirds of all the plants
known to our county may be found in these two townships. The
Rocky Mountain Flora, published several years ago by Prof.
Coulter, describes 2,167 species, found on an area of 460,000
square miles. From this we see that our small area of thirty-six
square miles has more than one-third as many plants as the en-
tire Rocky Mountain region. Our flora numbers about one four-
teenth (seven per cent) of that of the entire United States.
These facts may be a cause of some local pride. We may well
feel gratified that this locality, so richly blessed in many of the
good things of earth, is also bountilfully favored with plants
and herbs.
The valley of the Delaware will first claim our attention. It
forms the eastern boundary of both townships and has the flora
that is peculiar to our richer valleys. The banks of this beautiful
stream are a rich collecting ground for the botanist ; seeds from
more northern localities are brought here by the annual freshets,
and spring up. Growing in the river or partially covered by its
2 In 1906 Dr. C. D. Fretz of Sellersville, Pa., revised and re-Issued the
catalogue of plants prepared by Dr. Moyer in 1876, to which he added 415
species and varieties, making up to that date (1906) 1,581 species and va-
rieties found witliin the county of Bucks. Three species added, Tulipa syl-
vestris (Wild Tulip), Vicio villosa (Hairy Vetch) and Allium carinatum
(Keeled Garlic) were then new in the United States. Dr. Porter later dis-
covered the Hydrophyllum Candense (Canada W^ater-leaf) growing in the
triassic at the base of the Nockamixon palisades. — B. P. P., Jr.
230 OUR LOCAL FLORA
waters may be found several varieties of Pondweed, Ditch-moss,
Eel-grass, a species of Quillwort, and other aquatic plants. Along
the banks may be found the New England Aster, several mem-
bers of the Sunflower family, an elegant species of Stone-crop
and many of our finest grasses and sedges. Wyker's Island
(formerly called Laughrey's Island), near Kintersville, is a place
of more than common botanical interest. In summer this island
has the appearance of a tropical jungle, so dense is the mass of
vegetation. Two hundred different species have been found there.
Among the rarer plants is the Fresh Water Cord Grass, found
nowhere else in the Delaware valley ; several fine Asters, the
beautiful Lupine, the Ground Cherry, Cardinal Flower and
Spiked Loosestrife have found a home there. Our most famous
botanical locality is the narrows or palisades. Its rare plants
have long attracted the attention of some of our ablest botanists ;
among these may be mentioned Dr. Thomas C. Porter of Lafay-
ette College, Prof. Eugene A. Rau of Bethlehem, Pa., a noted
authority on mosses ; Dr. A. P. Barber, a well-known collector.
Dr. C. D. Fretz of Sellersville, Pa.. Harold W. Pretz of Allen-
town, Pa., and Dr. I. S. Moyer, the author of our county flora.
Here, at an elevation of more than three hundred feet above the
river, in 1867, Dr. Porter discovered Rhodiola rosea L. (Rose-
root). This plant grows in some of the most inaccessable places,
and although abundant here, is found at but two other places in
eastern United States. It is an Alpine plant, more common to
northern regions, and its presence here is regarded as a relic of
the glacial epoch. Here are also found the Mountain Maple,
two fine species of Trillium, Canada Violet, Ginseng, American
Yew, Round-leafed Gooseberry, Rhodiola rosea L., some rare
ferns, and a number of fine grasses and sedges. Mosses and
lichens are unusually abundant, and are worthy of special study.
The larger part of Nockamixon township is situated on an ex-
tensive trap dyke. In many places the surface is covered with
boulders of trap rock, some of them of immense size. This sec-
tions is commonly known as the "swamps". The soil is clay,
and in many places very wet. The township has a large extent
of fine meadow land through which run fine deep, sluggish
streams. In these streams the collector may look for the Yellow
Pond Lily, several specimens of Pondweed, Engleman's Quill-
wort, Water Milfoil and Golden Club. The flora of the meadows
230 OUR LOCAL FLORA
waters may be found several varieties of Pondweed, Ditch-moss,
Eel-grass, a species of Ouillwort, and other aquatic plants. Along
the banks may be found the New England Aster, several mem-
bers of the Sunflower family, an elegant species of Stone-crop
and many of our finest grasses and sedges. Wyker's Island
(formerly called Laughrey's Island), near Kintersville, is a place
of more than common botanical interest. In summer this island
has the appearance of a tropical jungle, so dense is the mass of
vegetation. Two hundred different species have been found there.
Among the rarer plants is the Fresh Water Cord Grass, found
nowhere else in the Delaware valley ; several fine Asters, the
beautiful Lupine, the Ground Cherry, Cardinal Flower and
Spiked Loosestrife have found a home there. Our most famous
botanical locality is the narrows or palisades. Its rare plants
have long attracted the attention of some of our ablest botanists ;
among these may be mentioned Dr. Thomas C. Porter of Lafay-
ette College, Prof. Eugene A. Rau of Bethlehem, Pa., a noted
authority on mosses ; Dr. A. P. Barber, a well-known collector.
Dr. C. D. Fretz of Sellersville, Pa., Harold W. Pretz of Allen-
town, Pa., and Dr. I. S. Moyer, the author of our county flora.
Here, at an elevation of more than three hundred feet above the
river, in 1867, Dr. Porter discovered Rhodiola rosea L. (Rose-
root). This plant grows in some of the most inaccessable places,
and although abundant here, is found at but two other places in
eastern United States. It is an Alpine plant, more common to
northern regions, and its presence here is regarded as a relic of
the glacial epoch. Here are also found the Mountain Maple,
two fine species of Trillium, Canada Violet, Ginseng, American
Yew, Round-leafed Gooseberry, Rhodiola rosea L., some rare
ferns, and a number of fine grasses and sedges. Mosses and
lichens are unusually abundant, and are worthy of special study.
The larger part of Nockamixon township is situated on an ex-
tensive trap dyke. In many places the surface is covered with
boulders of trap rock, some of them of immense size. This sec-
tions is commonly known as the "swamps". The soil is clay,
and in many places very wet. The township has a large extent
of fine meadow land through which run fine deep, sluggish
streams. In these streams the collector may look for the Yellow
Pond Lily, several specimens of Pondweed, Fugleman's Ouill-
wort, Water Milfoil and Golden Club. The flora of the meadows
VIEW OF DELAWARE RIVER, TAKEN FROM TOP OF THE NOCKAMIXON PAI^ISAPES.
Showing Delaware Division Canal ; Narrowsville Locks, Old Colonial Gristmill and Laughrey's or Wyker's Island on which there
was a sawmill erected in 1822, which was washed away by the flood of January 1841. That island is rich in flora and many rare
specimens, particularly of grasses were gathered there by J. H. & H. F. Ruth. The letter "P"^ indicates the location of the Indian
Village Pechotjueolin, on the peninsula north of where Gallows Run empties into the Delaware River, as discovered and descriped
by .lohn A. Ituth. Laughrey's Island was patented to William ICrwin, Jan. 21, 1S12, (Patent book H, Vol. 7, page 26).
OUR LOCAL FLORA 231
is a constant surprise. In the month of June they are covered
with a rich carpet of grass and flowers, and present a most beau-
tiful sight. To the student interested in grasses and sedges
these meadows are of special interest. They produce some of the
finest and rarest of these plant^ Here we find the Canada Lily,
Cardinal Flower, Marsh Marigold, Closed Gentian, Painted Cup,
Fringed Orchid and Cotton Grass. Among the trees we find
splendid specimens of Hickory, Swamp Oak, Pin Oak and Maple
and occasionally the Persimmon. The beauty of these meadows
in summer is difficult to describe, they must be seen in order to
be fully appreciated.
Some of our rarest plants are found in but a single locality.
An example of this kind is the Round-leafed Sundew, which is
found at a single spot on Buckwampun mountain. A rare
plant known as Adder's Tongue has its home in a swamp near
Monroe in Durham township. Along the Delaware canal near
Kintersville grows the Wood Rush, an elegant plant not found
elsewhere in Pennsylvania ; close by is a variety of Cotton Grass
equally rare. The rocky hillside at Monroe is the home of several
rare grasses and sedges. Near Rattle Snake Hill in Durham,
has lately been discovered a single specimen of White Gentian,
a plant not found elsewhere in the state east of the Allegheny
Mountains. Growing with it is a form of Desmodium known
only in Pennsylvania on Montgomery Island in the Susquehannna
river, where it was collected by that celebrated botanist, Dr.
Muhlenberg. Several of our plants, as yet comparatively new to
botanical science, and not described in the works on botany com-
monly used in our schools, are described in the pages of the
Torrcy Botanical Bulletin and Dr. Gray's Flora of North America.
Thirty species have been found that are new to the county flora.
Large as is the number of species collected, and gratifying as
the result, there is yet abundant room for further discoveries.
The valley of the Durham creek has been very little explored,
and will no doubt yield some new plants. The Nockamixon
swamps await some energetic collector who will thoroughly ex-
plore their rugged hills and secluded valleys and make known to
the world their wealth of floral treasures. To all who will en-
gage in this work we can promise an abundance of healthful ex-
ercise and the pleasure of discovering new species, a pleasure
which is known only to the botanist.
Biographical Notice of Clarence Decker Hotchkiss.
BY WARREN S. ELY, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, January 17, 1920.)
CLARENCE D. HOTCHK'LSS, for twenty-four years an
active member of the Bucks County Historical Society,
and for fourteen years its efficient secretary and treasurer,
died suddenly January 14, 1920.
Mr. Hotchkiss was born in Philadelphia, August 4, 1857. He
was a son of George W. and Williamina (Bittenbender) Hotch-
kiss. On the paternal side
he was a lineal descendant
of Samuel and Elizabeth
Hotchkiss who were mar-
ried at what is now New
Haven, Conn., in 1632. The
family were residents of
New York and vicinity for
several generations. Sam-
uel Hotchkiss, the great-
grandfather of Clarence D.
was commissioned Master
in the United States Navy,
July 18, 1788, and served
in that capacity until 1799,
when he resigned and set-
tled in the Wyoming Val-
ley of Pennsylvania. He
married Sarah Decker of
Fort Ticonderoga. His son George was reared in the Wyoming
Valley, and his son George W., the father of Clarence D., the
subject of this notice, married Williamina Bittenbender, daugh-
ter of William Bittenbender, of Easton. He removed first to
Philadelphia, and later to Doylestown. Through his mother, Mr.
Hotchkiss was a descendant of Colonel Peter Keichlein, of
Easton.
Clarence D. Hotchkiss was educated at the public schools of
Philadelphia and the Wyoming Seminary, acquiring practically
a college education, and studied under private tutors. He was
CLARENCE D. HOTCHKISS
1S57-1920
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF CLARENCE DECKER HOTCHKISS 233
engaged in the drug business in Philadelphia for a short time
before the removal of the family to Doylestown, where he at
once entered the office of the Doylcstozvn Democrat, of which
Gen. W. W. H. Davis, our late president, was editor and
proprietor.
From that time until his death Mr. Hotchkiss was engaged in
the newspaper business. After a few years spent in Doylestown,
he served on the staff of newspapers in Philadelphia, Atlantic
City, N. J., and Lansdale, Pa., and subsequently founded the
Apprentice's Journal of Philadelphia, which he conducted until
1885, when, returning to Doylestown, he again took a position
on the stafif of the Doylestozvn Democrat which he held until
General Davis sold out his interest in that paper in 1890, when
he accepted a position on the reportial stafif of the Bucks County
Intelligencer, daily and weekly, with which he was connected
until his death, having served several years as its editor in chief. ^
Mr. Hotchkiss and his family were members of the Doylestown
Presbyterian Church. He was the first president of the Bucks
County Christian Endeavor Union, and was always one of the
most active workers in the organization. He was a stockholder
and director of the Intelligencer Company, secretary of the
Press League of Bucks and Montgomery Counties; trustee of
Doylestown Fire Company No. 1, from its organization until
his death ; secretary of the Doylestown Board of Health from its
organization in 1894. He was a member of Aquetong Lodge,
No. 193, I. O. O. F., and of Doylestown Encampment, No. 35,
L O. O. F., being a past officer and one of the most active mem-
bers of both organizations until his death, filling the office of
trustee in both for many years, as well as that of Assistant De-
gree Master. He was also a member of Doylestown Lodge No.
245 F. and A. M.
Mr. Hotchkiss became a member of the Bucks County His-
torical Society January 21, 1896, and always took an active in-
terest in its affairs. He was elected its secretary and treasurer
June 14, 1896. and a director January 14, 1906.
Possessed to a marked degree of fine social qualities, earnest
and energetic in everything that he undertook, deeply interested
in all that pertained to the best interests of the community in
1 On June 5, 1915, a dinner was given at the Fountain House, Doylestown,
in honor of his association with the Intelligencer for twenty-five years.
234 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF CLARENCE DECKER HOTCHKISS
which he Hved. he was called into service along many lines of
public welfare, and rendered to each the loyal, kindly, and en-
ergetic service that made him a valuable and popular man in his
home community.
The death of Mr. Hotchkiss occurred but three days before
our annual meeting held January 17, 1920, and it was unani-
mously decided to dispense with all literary exercises and de-
vote the day to his memory. After the transaction of the neces-
sary business, the meeting adjourned, and the members attended
the funeral of our deceased secretary. The afternoon session
was entirely devoted to memorial exercises in his honor. Many
eulogistic addresses were delivered and ex-Judge Harman
Yerkes, Warren S. Ely, and Miss Mary DuBois, who were ap-
pointed a committee to draw up suitable resolutions on his death,
prepared and submitted the following, which were adopted :
"WHEREAS, Clarence D. Hotchkiss, became a member of the Bucks
County Historical Society January 21, 1896, was elected Secretary and
Treasurer June 14, 1906, and was elected a Director on January 16,
1912, and filled these several positions with eminent fidelity and ability
until his sudden death, on the morning of Januarj^ 14, 1920, And
"WHEREAS, it seems especially fitting that the officers and members
of this Society gathered at our annual meeting this 17th day of Janu-
ary, 1920, should give some testimony of our appreciation of the many
estimable qualities of our deceased colleague, in recognition of his ser-
vices and our respect for his memorj':
"THEREFORE, Be it Resolved, that in the death of Mr. Clarence
D. Hotchkiss, this Society has sustained the loss of a most faithful,
efficient officer, whose position, not only as a member and active worker
in this Society and as an honored and respected member of the com-
munity in which he has lived, cannot well be filled, and whose death
will long be mourned and memory cherished by his associates and
neighbors,
"RESOLVED, That a copy of these resolutions be published in the
newspapers of Doylestown and forwarded to the members of his family.
Resolved that the meeting adjourn for the purpose of enabling our of-
ficers and members to attend the funeral of the deceased, this afternoon.".
Mr. Hotchkiss married June 19, 1878, Albertine Walton of
Doylestown, who with a son, George S. Hotchkiss, who succeeded
his father as editor of the Doylcsto^cn Daily Intelligencer, and a
daughter, Sarah, wife of H. J. Shellenberger, editor of The Call,
a newspaper published at New Cumberland, Pa., survive him.
An Ancient Indian Tobacco Pipe from Bucks County.
BY DR. HENRY C. MERCER, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Buckingham Meeting House, Meeting, June 12, 1920.)
MR. MATTHIAS HALL, who has kindly presented this
tobacco pipe to our society, will tell you how it came into
the possession of his family many years ago, upon a
farm on Pebble Hill near Doylestown.
The pipe belongs to a class of objects made or decorated by
Indians with cast lead or pewter. Numerous pipes from the
red pipe stone, or cat-
linite quarry, Minne-
sota, have been deco-
rated by Indians by
pouring molten lead
upon incisions in the
stone. W. M. Bea-
champ illustrates pipes
made entirely of cast
lead, by Indians in
New York.^ Some of
these were burned up
in the fire at the state-
house in Albany. In-
dian cast lead or pew-
ter pipes have been
found, and are now
shown, in museums in
Canada. The Amer-
FiGURE 1 ican Indian Museum
Delaware Indian wooden tobacco pipe inlaid pvpavpfprl at Ipact r,nf^
with lead, presented to the Society by Matthias excdvateo ar leaSt one
Hall of wrightstown. of these cast lead or
pewter pipes, in the Delaware Indian burial ground at the "Misink
flats" a few years ago.- But this pipe of ours, like several which
1 Metallic Implements of the New York Indians, by W. M. Beau-
champ, New York State Museum Bulletin No. 55, 1902. Figures 79,
127, 130, 145, 146, etc.
- Exploration of a Munsie Cemetery near Montague, N. J., by G.
G. Heye and G. H. Pepper. American Indian Museum, New York,
Plate 13.
236
AN ANCIENT INDIAN TOBACCO PIPE FROM BUCKS COUNTY
Col. Paxson has shown you, belongs to the rare class in which
the molten metal has been poured upon wood, not upon stone.
In this pipe you see (when turned toward the smoker), the face
of a turtle or snake still showing traces of a red pigment. The
figure of another turtle (the totem of one of the three clans of
then Lenni Lenape or Delware Indians who inhabited Bucks
county), has been cut
into the wood, and shows
in the metal around the
orifice of the tobacco
hole or bowl, the inter-
ior of which bowl is en-
tirely lined with the cast
material, a result wdiich
could have been accom-
plished either by filling
up the bowl with molten
lead and hollowing it
out, or suspending a ball
of clay in the bowl dur-
ing the casting.
The discovery of ob-
jects like this once raised
the question whether the
prehistoric Indian un-
derstood the art of cast-
ing in lead before the
coming of the white
men, which may now
be answered as follows :
Museum in Washington
FIGURE 2
Delaware Indian wooden tobacco pipe.
Top view of Figure 1 showing a turtle inlaid
in lead around the tobacco bowl.
First, the authorities at the National
and in the far west, inform us that
none of the lead decorated catlinite pipes thus far found have,
in their opinion, been made by Indians before white contact.
Second, we learn from the Davenport (Iowa) Academy of Sci-
ences, the Museum of the American Indian, New York and else-
where, that no casting in lead or pewter, of prehistoric date, has
yet been found in any of the mounds.
Third, according to Beauchamp, Roger Williams says in the
seventeenth century (1643) that the art of casting in lead was
AN ANCIENT INDIAN TOBACCO PIPE FROM BUCKS COUNTY 237
very early learned by the New England Indians from the white
men. Fourth, this statement is all the more conclusive and com-
prehensive, when we reflect that guns, shooting leaden bullets,
were among the first objects sold by white traders to Indians in
the seventeenth century, and that the purchase of such a gun
compelled the Indian to buy a store of pure lead, and a bullet-
mould with it ; in other words to immediately learn the art of
melting and casting pure lead, in order to make his weapon ef-
fective ; and having done so, we can understand that under the
tuition of white traders he would soon have cast the material
into other forms than bullets.
Fifth. To the writer's knowledge, no geologist asserts that pure
native lead has been found in the northern United States. If
found in the form of an ore (galena), it would have been of no
more use to the Indian than any other piece of hard or soft rock,
it therefore follow^s that the stores of lead, purchased by Indians
from traders, were not fragments of galena, but pigs or ingots of
pure metal, smelted out of the ore in Europe, brought over here
and thus sold to the natives. When the Indian loaded himself down
with a bag or pounch of this heavy strange material, the inference
is irresistable, that he did not carry it long, but soon hid it in the
woods, at places available in the range of his hunting trips. And
this would verify the traditions which have survived among the
farmers at New Galena in Bucks county and on the Susquehanna"
3 At "Hartyaken" on the North Branch of the Neshaminy creek,
west of Fountainville, in Bucks county, Pa., and on the North Branch
of the Susquehanna river near Hummel's wharf, Snyder county, Pa.,
and at Little Wapwalopen, Luzerne county. Pa., as noted by the writer
in Vol. XL p. 123 of the Bucks County Historical papers. In a maga-
zine "Now and Then," 1890, published at Muncy, Pa., page 186, found
for the writer by Mr. Horace M. Mann, one of these stories surviving on
the West Branch of the Susquehanna near Muncy, is contradicted by an
aged Indian in 1825, who had then revisited near Muncy, the old home
of his tribe. He considered that his ancestors had deceived the pioneers,
by pretending to discover stores of lead previously hidden by them in
the woods for that purpose.
LATER NOTE ON THE INDIAN NAME OF HARTYAKEN.—
The fortunate definite preservation in 1891 of the Indian lead myth as-
-ociated with the name "Hartyaken," in our volume II, to which I
have referred, and a note received February 8, 1925, from Dr. Amandus
Johnson, author of Swedish Settlements on the Delaware, etc., also the
popular survival of the name in New Britain township, as applied to
the upper part of the North Branch of the Neshaminy (about three
miles northeast of New Galena), as associated with Indians finding
lead, and finally the later discovery and mining of galena ore (C. 1865)
238 AN ANCIENT INDIAN TOBACCO PIPE FROM BUCKS COUNTY
and elsewhere to the effect that hunting parties of white men,
accompanied by Indians, when their bullets were exhausted, had
their stores replenished by the Indians disappearing for a long
time in the forest, to return with fresh supplies of bullet ma-
terial. Several small lead pigs or ingots, stamped with the names
of traders or companies, have been found at Indian village sites
near the great lakes, and are now in the possession of museums.
at New Galena, distinguish the "Hartyaken" story as one of the most
significant Indian myths in the eastern United States. Dr. Johnson
writes:
"I am inclined to believe that Hardyhickon (Hartyaken), is a cor-
ruption of Abru-ti-mickan, or Arr-ti-hickan-ing, meaning "the Bullet-
Mould Bag" or at the place of the bullet-mould bag, i.e., where the
bullet-mould was hidden or kept. A cognate in another dialect for
bullet-mould, is alluns-hicken (arruns-hickan) ; allunsi-nuti (arrunsi-
nuti), shot bag, bullet bag. Brinton Dictionary- 18. The name was
perhaps also applied to the "little rivulet" i.e., the first to enter the
North Branch (right bank) about one mile west of the turnpike above
Fountainville, by the Indians, later transferred to the North Branch of
the Neshamuny creek, in which case Hardyhickon may be a corruption
of Arr-ti-hick-anne, or Ar-t-ick-anne."
The Divining Rod in Bucks County.
BY HORACE M. MANN, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Buckingham Friends Meeting- House, June 12, 1920.)
THE use of forked twig, or so-called divining rod, in lo-
cating water or minerals, finding hidden treasure, or de-
tecting criminals is a curious superstition that has been a
subject of discussion since the middle of the sixteenth century
and still has a strong hold on the popular mind both in Europe
and America. It is not my intention in this paper to enter into
a controversy as to the merits of the divining rod or to add to
the bulk of material on this subject by an exhaustive history of
this practice in general. But the purpose of this paper is to give
as far as possible a brief history of this operation in Bucks county.
The origin of the divining rod is lost in antiquity. Innumerable
references may be found in both ancient and modern literature,
and though it is certain that rods or wands of some kind were in
use among ancient peoples for forecasting events, finding lost
objects, and in occult practices generally, little is known of the
manner in which such rods were used or what relation, if any,
they may have to the modern device. The "rod" is mentioned
many times in the Bible in connection with miraculous perform-
ances, especially in the books of Moses. The much quoted
passage describing the "smiting of the rock" (Numbers XX,
9-11) has been regarded by enthusiasts of water witching as a
significant reference to the divining rod. Dr. Rossiter W. Ray-
mond prepared an exhaustive essay on the subject of the divining
rod in which he quotes numerous authorities proving the di-
vining rod was primarily used to detect guilt, decide future
events, advise course of action, etc., although he also found in-
stances of its use for locating metals, water, etc. What is be-
lieved to be the first published description of the rod is contained
in De Re Metallica by Georgius Agricola, translated from the
Latin edition of 1665 by H. C. Hoover.^ The Village Record
of West Chester, Vol. VII, No. 52, for July 21, 1824, makes
1 Published for the Mining Magazine Salisbury House, London, 1912, see
pp. 38-40.
240 THE DIVINING ROD IN BUCKS COUNTY
reference to an item on the divining rod as early as 1695."
I am indebted, for the preceeding brief outHne of the divining
rod to the following publications, The Divining Rod, a History
of Witching Water, by Arthur J. Ellis, Washington, D. C, 1917,
Water Supply Paper No. 416, United States Geological Survey,
also to "The Divining Rod," a paper read by Dr. Rossiter W.
Raymond before the American Institute of Mining Engineers,
February 1883.^
In its most familiar form the divining rod is a forked twig,
one fork of which is usually held in each hand in such manner
that the butt end of the twig normally points upward. The sup-
position is, that when carried to a place beneath which water or
minerals lie, the butt end will be detracted downward, or will
whirl round and round. There are many modifications in both
form and manipulation of the rod but the diviners I know all
use the rod in practically the same manner. An apple twig ap-
pears to be the favorite in Bucks county, but cherry, plum and
witch hazel were also used. I have been gathering notes for
sometime past from persons using the divining rod together with
their method of procedure, material used, and their success or
non-success. I never found anyone in Bucks county using the
forked stick for any other pui-pose than the locating of water for
wells. Almost every one that has ever tried locating water by
this method is a firm believer in its efficiency. On the other hand
nearly every one that has seen it done but never actually at-
tempted the feat is skeptical. No one using the rod appears to
have an adequate explanation of why the forked stick should
droop or turn downward toward the earth on approaching a spot
where water was nearest the surface. Several have observed
the fact that the stick would bend in one persons hands at a
certain spot but would refuse to move if carried over the same
place by another person.
The Nezv York Times has a letter from a Mr. A. J. Smart of
Freeport, N. Y., under date of November 26, 1901. in which he
says :
2 "Extracts from the old records," 10 mo. 1795, Robert Roman presented
for practicing geomanty, and divining by a stick. Grand Jury also presented
the following books, viz : Scott's Discovery of Witchcraft, and Cornelius
Agrippa's Teaching Negromancy. The court orders that as many of sai4
books can be found be produced at next court.
3 Transactions of the American Institute of Mining Engineers, Vol. XI,
pp. 411 to 446.
THE DIVINING ROD IN BUCKS COUNTY 241
"In the year 1866, I was residing in the city of Troy, N. Y. My house
was located on the hill east of the southern part of the city at an eleva-
tion of about two hundred and fifty feet above the level of the river.
This hill was composed of fine sand for a depth of eighty feet when
bed rock was reached. When I bought the property I did not have
a well dug, for I was told that watercould not be found without going
down to a great depth and into the rock. William, one of the foremen
at my factory, who I knew to be honest and conscientious, offered to
find water for me by 'water witching'. Without any faith I neverthe-
less permitted him to try the experiment in my presence. As he ap-
proached a spot under a certain pear tree the twig bent down, and it
would not bend at any other place in a garden of about two acres. I
watched the man very closely, and was satisfied that if he bent the
twig it was done unconsciously. I tried it but there was no action at
all. My son tried it with the same result, but a daughter, seven years
old, took the twig and as she approached the marked spot the twig
began to bend, and as she passed over the spot she gave a little scream
and dropped the twig within six inches of the place marked by William.
She said it felt as if she had hold of the poles of an electric battery.
This satisfied me that there was no deception being practiced; that there
was a mysterious force here that would develop only under favorable
conditions. I had a well digger come and water was found at a depth
of seventeen feet. Eleven years after this experiment the same man,
William, located water on a farm I owned ten miles southeast of Troy,
in the town of Sand Lake, N. Y., by the same process — a witch hazei
forked twig — and I found water within twenty feet, though the last
ten feet was blasted in rock. I write this, giving you facts. I shall not
attempt to explain the cause of this phenomenon but to show you how
careful we should be in calling a thing a myth because we do not under-
stand it."
The same paper has a letter from J. Brinton White of New York,
November 26, 1901: "A number of years ago in Lancaster county,
Penna., desiring to have a well dug, I was asked by a man, who claimed
to have the power, to let him locate the well for me by the use of the
divining rod. I consented and watched the man very closely. I noticed
that the rod was attracted strongly to the earth whenever the man
passed over a certain point. After watching for some time, I noticed
that, while the rod did deflect strongly to the earth, it did so by going
the longer distance instead of by the shorter, that is, it went three-
quarters of a circle backward instead of one-quarter of a circle down-
ward toward the earth. I took the rod and found this was easily ac-
complished by pulling the prongs of the fork apart not much more than
the eighth of an inch, the rod would make the three-quarters revolution
and point to the earth, while by pressing the prongs together the rod
would rise and resume its former position. After closely questioning
the man I could not make up my mind whether he was a dupe to his
242 -THE DIVINING ROD IN BUCKS COUNTY
own action or not. It seemed to me possible that he had made up his
mind from the lay of the land that a certain spot would be a good place
to find water, and then he unconsciously made the rod so point."
George Smith, Doylestown, has never failed to find water at
places marked by him with the use of the divining rod. He
always used apple wood of no particular growth so long as it
was strong enough not to split at the fork. He never claimed
any special dispensation of providence or other unusual powers
and in fact regards his ability in this line as an unexplainable
force of nature but perfectly natural without any idea of quack-
ery or fraud. However, he found, as others did, that while the
rods worked for him they would not perform for others. His
brother, John, was never able to accomplish any results with the
forked sticks. Mr. Smith learned this art from Enos Geil.
Henry Earner, Doylestown, desiring a well dug asked Mr. Smith
to locate water for him with his divining ord. When Mr. Smith
selected a certain spot as likely to produce the best results Mr.
Earner laughed and within an inch of where Mr. Smith had in-
dicated pulled out an iron pin and told Mr. Smith that there
was the place Enos Geil had located for water a short time be-
fore. At the first pottery of Dr. Mercer's above Doylestown,
Mr. Smith found water by means of the rod and later indicated
the greatest depth they would have to go for it. When the well
was dug water was found five feet nearer the surface than in-
dicated. Dr. Mercer and John Rufe of Doylestown, were with
Mr. Smith at this time. Franz Nace at Dublin, dug a well
found with the divining rod by Mr. Smith and water came in so
strong at eighteen feet that the workmen were unable to get out
the large stones loosened by the blast. Also at the farm of
Anthony Grass, Nace's Corner, water was easily found and the
depth indicated by Mr. Smith by this method. Mr. Smith tells
me that the use of the divining rod made him nervous at the
time and the efifect did not wear oflf for several days. When water
was located he could tell by a trill running through him as well
as by the movement of the sticks. He held the rod with the
point of the fork away from him and the rod turned backward
toward him by the longest segment of the circle instead of turn-
ing directly downward to the earth. He regards his ability to
determine the depth of the water as greater than his ability to
THE DIVINING ROD IN BUCKS COUNTY 243
merely locate it. This is a trade secret he does not care to reveal
except that the stronger the twist there will more water be found.
Frozen ground does not interfere at all in locating the water. At
the farm of Grass' mentioned above, the well was dug in the
middle of winter when the ground was so hard it had to be
blasted the same as ro.ck.
Mathias H. Hall writes in the following letter to me of De-
cember 15, 1919:
"These water-smellers as they used to be called when I was a boy
used an apple stick of two years growth. About the year 1851 my
father, who lived midway between Doylestown and Bushington, now
Furlong, wanted to dig a well and got one of those professional men.
After digging twenty-seven feet he came to water and it is probable
that he could have reached water anywhere on the farm at that depth.
John Flack the same year wished to dig a well. He too got one of the
professionals to tell him where to dig who picked out a place about
fifty feet from the spot where Flack wanted to dig his well. After
digging thirty feet or more and not coming to water he quit digging and
then went to dig where he wanted to have the well and got plenty of
water several feet nearer the surface. Some of these professionals
claimed to know how deep they would have to dig to reach water.
George Geil wishing to dig a well also got one of these professionals
who told him where to dig and how deep to go to get water. He
missed the guess by about five feet. There was a spring of water about
one hundred and fifty feet from where he dug the well and almost any-
one could have made as good a guess. These professionals as far as I
know were all German Mennonites who had their influence on their
Quaker and Scotch-Irish neighbors."
Dr. J. T. Rothrock, of West Chester, informed me on August
29, 1919, that he had often seen the divining rod used for finding
water and that they were always successful, but he thought that
in view of the fact that all he had observed use it were ex-
perienced men that might allow themselves to be influenced large-
ly by their judgment of where water was likely to be found. He
saw rods of apple, witch hazel, cherry and plum, used. He never
saw it used for locating minerals or metals.
John J, Rufe, a plumber of Doylestown, has often seen the
divining rod tried and thinks the operation is governed more by
his knowledge and judgment than by any operation of nature.
He watched John Trainer, of Doylestown, attempt to locate
water at the Fordhook farms. Trainer indicated the spot where
244 THE DIVINING ROD IN BUCKS COUNTY
water would be reached at twenty-five feet below the surface,
but after digging fifty feet no water appeared.
George Long, brickmaker of Doylestown, has observed many
attempts to locate water by means of the rod on a lot owned by
his mother in Lansdale, a well was sunk fifty feet deep without
results, while on an adjoining lot owned by Mr. Holt, he (Long)
located water with the divining rod at a depth of fifteen feet.
Neighbors scoffed at his attempts pointing out his failure to find
water on similar land only one hundred feet distant. Mr. Long
always used a forked apple branch and never saw or heard of
any one useing the divining rod for locating minerals or treasure.
Samuel Hand, of Doylestown, stage-driver between Doyles-
town and Ambler, has seen water found by means of an apple
rod. He never tried it himself but believes that there is some un-
known force of nature operating,*because of the several times he
saw it tried with successful results.
John Harvey, janitor of the museum, has often used cherry or
plum branches, and always found water. He held the rod with
the point of the fork toward him and it would always turn di-
rectly by the shortest arc of the circle to the ground. Mrs.
Harvey also tried the operation and at a spot located by her hus-
band, the pull was so great she was unable to prevent it from
turning toward the earth.
In this paper I have not attempted to prepare a brief for or
against the divining rod. I have simply presented the local in-
formation as secured, and leave you to form your own opinion
from this or from personal observation, as to whether the finding
of water underground by means of a forked apple, cherry or
plum stick is the result of a hidden force of nature, or a myth
and superstition.
Wafer Irons
BY DR. HENRY C. MERCER, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Friends Meeting House, Buckingham, June 12, 1920.)
YOUR attention is called to these ancient baking instru-
ments, consisting of two iron baking-plates set on long
handles hinged together like blacksmith pincers close to
the plates, so as to press the latter together face to face during
the baking process.
They look like, but are not. waffle-irons, because while the
latter show rims on the baking-plates, for containing the baking
material (batter), and bake a waffle or spongy cake about one-
WAFER IRONS IN THE MUSEUM OF THE BUCKS COUNTY
HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
third of an inch thick, these plates are rimless, and the product
is a thin dry cake or wafer sometimes not thicker than a piece
of blotting paper.
We have in the museum, as here illustrated, six of these wafer-
irons, collected in recent years from eastern Pennsylvania and
New Jersey. Mrs. Frismuth has presented several to the Penn-
246 WAFER IRONS
sylvania Museum at Fairmont Park, and others are in private
hands, but their identity and use have been so generally forgotten,
that they have been sometimes mistaken by dealers and owners
for waffle-irons and tanners' stamps for marking hides.
They vary in length from 26 inches to 35 inches, and the tapered
handles from 20^^ inches to 29^/^ inches long, are always of
wrought iron. Sometimes one of them ends in a loose ring
hooked over its fellow which locks the apparatus and presses the
plates during the baking. The rimless baking-plates about 4^
to 7 inches in diameter, are sometimes round or oval and some-
times rectangular, sometimes thin (^^ inches), sometimes thick
(y% inches) for retaining heat. They are sometimes forged or
hammered out of the same piece of iron as the handles, and
sometimes cast, when the wrought-iron handles are fastened upon
them by screws or rivets, which latter sometimes do and some-
times do not penetrate the plate. The hinge is close to the bake-
plates, and as in pincers or tweezers turns on a rivet.
Whether cast upon them at the furnace, or carefully engraved
on the cold metal, or stamped in the red hot iron by black-
smiths with punches and chisels, the face of the plates, not clearly
seen in the picture, invariably shows designs representing tulips,
stars, zig-zags, fleurs-de-lis, hearts, symbols, ecclesiastical designs,
crosses, monograms, dates, or inscriptions set in more or less
ornate borders, and intended to impress a pattern upon the baked
product. Some of these decorations are very rude. Some show
the letters upside down or their numbers wrongly reversed so as
to stamp the name or sentence backwards. Some do and some do
not attempt to reproduce the design on both plates.
These notes would not be novel or necessary if the diction-
aries or encyclopedias, for instance the exhaustive E. H. Knights'
American Mechanical Dictionary, with its 5,000 engravings, or
Reese's Great Encyclopedia of about 1815, Charles Knights'
English Encyclopedia of 1886, or Chambers Encyclopaedia, Myers
German Conversations Lexicon, or the Encyclopedia Britannica
(ninth edition), explained their construction. Where books refer
to the uses and history of certain kinds of wafer-irons, they fail
to describe the instrument itself, or the baking process, and it is
not easy to learn that the domestic class of these irons here
shown, was probably in rather sparse use by wealthy families
and in cities, and not commonly employed, in post-colonial times.
WAFER IRONS 247
Further than this, it appears that domestic wafer-irons have
survived until the present year, and I was surprised to learn that
my aunt, Miss Fanny Chapman, had a pair and still, 1920, baked
wafers in them. She inherited them from her great-grandmother,
who was the wife of Governor Findlay, of Pennsylvania, who mar-
ried in 1791. Therefore they must have been first used about
1795, or earlier. Governor Findlay's daughter, who became the
wife of Governor Shunk, made wafers in them at Harrisburg in
the 1850's, at Christmas time, and frequently, as my aunt tells
me, sent boxes of wafers to her daughter, my grandmother, Mrs.
Henry Chapman, then living in Doylestown (to please the chil-
dren, of whom I was one). These were made according to her
inherited (great-grandmother's) receipt, as follows:
"K' lb. Butter
1 lb. Brown sugar
6 Eggs
4 teaspoonfuls rose water
Cinnamon to taste.
Make a very thick batter, beat it very light. Beat eggs with sugar
and add them with the other ingredients. Grease the iron with melted
butter and a feather. — "
After her mother's death my aunt continued to make these
cakes, as features of a dessert, rolled up rather than flat, so as
to enclose whipped cream, etc., I must have frequently eaten
them in my youth and recently, without distinctly remembering
the fact, or knowing how they were baked.
In this instance Miss Chapman's round bake-plates are made
of cast, not wrought iron, are decorated with fieurs-de-lis, and
the wrought handles attached to the plates with rivets which do
not penetrate the latter, show the ring clamp.
My aunt's present cook, Katrina Dinkelacher, this week, June,
1920, baked the wafers here shown in these irons in about three
minutes according to her own receipt, brought from Bavaria,
twenty-six years ago, as follows :
"Stir together Yi lb. powdered sugar,
14 lb. butter, then add
6 well beaten eggs
1 teaspoonful ground cinnamon
54 teaspoonful grated nutmeg
^ teaspoonful rose water
Yz teaspoonful grated lemon rind
248 WAFER IRONS
Enough flour to make a thin batter of the right consistency to spread
with a knife on the baking iron, which is previously heated on the top
of the range. Bake to a golden brown and roll at once. If any batter
spreads outside of the iron trim it oflf with a knife. Enough to make
thirty-two cakes."
Katrina says that she has made similar wafers on similar
irons for a private family near Stuttgart about 1825.
To further show that wafers of this sort have been and con-
tinue to be made in private families, on Christmas, at weddings,
holidays, etc., and as a feature of desserts in general, I was not
surprised to learn that my Philadelphia cook book, of date about
1890, gives a receipt for making the batter for lemon wafers, as
does also the Royal Cookery Book, by Jules Gouffe, London,
Samson & Low, 1868, the latter adding that the wafers can be
made not only thus with fluid batter, but also with stiffened
dough, rolled into balls and squeezed flat between the plates,
and then trimmed off if any dough protrudes beyond the rims,
while the former books says, that lacking the wafer-irons, you can
bake the wafers on sheets of paper laid in a pan in the oven.
Both books refer to, but do not describe the irons used.
At this point of my investigation, I telephoned to J. F. Miller's
household supply store, 1612 Chestnut street, Philadelphia, and
he informed me that he rarely sold wafer-irons to private per-
sons, but could still furnish me with a pair, which he did,
and these I now show with cast iron plates, decorated with cast
floral designs and equipped with a ring clamp, but made in a
factory and not by hand, as the last of the domestic series.
A few days later, I learned from a former neighbor, Mrs.
Schroth, then by chance visiting me, that all Catholic churches
were still continually making wafers in similar irons for the host
bread used in the communion ceremony and mass.
I visited the Sisters at St. Mary's Catholic church in Doyles-
town, who showed me the wafer-irons used at the Doylestown
church, probably since its foundation in 1850. As here shown
in the illustration, these irons, constructed like all the others, are
26^^^ inches long, and show heavy oblong cast iron or steel bake-
plates ^ inches thick and 6% inches in longest diameter, only
one of which is stamped, or probably engraved, with two crosses
upon a grassy hill, between two thorn bushes, and surrounded
with a double rimmed border enclosing twelve little stars, and
WAFER IRONS 249
two small singly rimmed circles containing small crosses com-
posed of dots. The wrought iron handles, equipped with a ring
lock as usual, are fastened upon the plate by round headed
screws, which do not penetrate the latter.
The sisters informed me that they baked the communion
wafers or host-bread in about one minute, upon these irons, with
a thin batter composed of selected very white wheat flour and
water, poured on the plates, previously heated over the oil stove,
and waxed with bees wax from the altar tapers, after which the
ragged borders on the cakes were pared off if necessary with a
knife or, if kept whole, trimmed with scissors. After baking,
the four circular patterns adorned with the large and small
crosses, were stamped out with sharpened circlets of steel mounted
on handles. They further said that when the wafer-irons were
not at hand, in an emergency, wafers, minus the design, could
be, and were sometimes baked on smoothing-irons. Also,
that the church never permitted the baking of these wafers by
public bakers, but always now required it of sisters representing
various religious orders associated with the various churches,
lacking whom, a church had the work done by sisters commis-
sioned from a distance.
But they also said that the modern church supply houses still
sold the wafer-irons to churches in their original form, although
they had recently made and now supply stoves and stamps worked
by gas, oil and electricity, which would produce sometimes four
thousand wafers in an hour.
Besides this the Catholic Encyclopedia tells us in an article by
Father Shulte, after noting the existence of very old specimens of
ecclesiastical wafer-irons in France, that for a long time the old-
est specimens, there preserved in museums and private collec-
tions, had been dated in the twelfth century, until recently, when
a still older pair of irons had been found at Carthage ascribed
to the sixth or seventh century.
I further learned that St. John's Catholic church at Haycock
Run, founded in the eighteenth century, had inherited a very
old pair of these irons, no longer used there. Father Andre
has kindly presented them to our society.
After the Reformation the Protestant churches generally
abandoned the use of wafers, but Luther retained them, and the
250 WAFER IRONS
Lutherans continued to use them until late in the nineteeenth
century, so that some of the old Lutheran churches may still
have a pair of these now disused wafer-irons in their possession,
preserved as heirlooms.
There are or have been other wafers made for various pur-
poses, and these, as finished products therefore, might be classed,
as far as our present knowledge goes, as follows :
L The ecclesiastical wafer as described.
2. The domestic wafer as described.
3. The documentary wafer, in which a thin round cake, large
or small, is mixed with glue, and has been used until the middle
of the nineteenth century at least, for sealing letters, fixing seals
to papers, stamps upon deeds, etc.
4. The medicinal wafer, in which small concave tablets, rimmed
with glue, may enclose a nauseus dose of medicine, used in the
nineteenth century, and possibly still used by old fashioned
druggists.
5. The fish-wafer, a thin tablet thus baked broken or cut, to
feed gold fish, as now sold by apothecaries.
6. The confectioner's wafer, as now sold, placed under baked
cakes, or used as a dessert with tea or coffee or to enclose ice
cream.
Oil, gas and electric stoves and stamps advertised in a
leaflet from the Chicago Catholic Supply House, here shown, now
used to hasten the baking and stamping of wafers, are supplant-
ing the ancient hand irons here described, but the process, name-
ly the baking of very thin cakes, between two tightly pressed hot
iron plates, remains the same.
HEXAGONAL SCHOOLHOUSE, LOWER SAUCON TOWNSHIP,
NORTHAMPTON COUNTY, PA.
Erected in 1833, abandoned for school purposes in 1886. It was tlien con-
verted into a dwelling liouse, and the dormer windows added.
Later, for a few years before it was demolislied, it was
used as a cliicken house. From photograph
taken in 18 92 by Miss Laura M. Riegel
(now Mrs. Chester P. Cook).
Octagonal or So-called "Eight Square" Schoolhouses.
BY ALDEN M. COLLINS, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Friends Meeting House, Buckingliam, June 12, 1920.)
"Then come along, come along, make no delay;
Come from every dwelling, come from every way,
Come from where the mighty waters of the broad St. Lawrence flow,
Come from Florida and Kansas, come from Maine and Mexico;
Bring your slates and books along, and don't be a fool
For Uncle Sam is rich enough to send us all to school."
AS the peculiar style of schoolhouses known as "Eight-
Square", are no longer used for school purposes, and the
old ruins fast going into decay, it seems worth while to
record the little information that can be gathered concerning them.
With the greatly appreciated assistance of many persons inter-
ested in preserving some history of the methods by which our
forebears were educated in rural districts, several accounts have
been secured ; and while these recollections by no means tell a
complete story, we are reminded of our early days at school, and
compare them with the developed schoolhouses and methods to
be found at the present time in any prosperous community.
In the November 1907 issue of the Pennsylvania German
(Vol. VIII, p. 517) Prof. E. M. Rapp of Hamburg, Pa., de-
scribes the Eight Cornered School-building at Sinking Spring
as follows :
"At the eastern end of the village of Sinking Spring in Berks county,
near the Harrisburg pike and near a recently abandoned toll-gate,
stands an eight-cornered building that almost invariably attracts the
eyes of passers-by, especially of strangers on trains and trolleys. This
octagonal building was formerly used as a schoolhouse and was a type
of school-buildings of which many were scattered through the Middle
Atlantic States over a century ago. The constructors no doubt con-
cluded that, if it was built octagonal, space would be economized. It
is the only building of its kind remaining in the county, although aban-
doned for school-purposes over fifty years ago. Still a few of these
buildings are used for school-purposes in the near-by counties of Bucks
and Montgomery. For the last half century the structure has been
used as a dwelling. It is of stone, very substantial, the walls being
three feet in thickness, plastered and whitewashed on the interior and
exterior. The outside is the same as when it was constructed, except
252 OCTAGONAL OR SO-CALLED "EIGHT-SOU ARe" SCHOOLHOUSES
for a porch in front, an addition on the east end and a dormer-window.
The inside still retains the umbrella-like rafters." *****
It is interesting to know that the immediate predecessor of the
octagonal schoolhouse in country districts during Colonial times
was the log schoolhouse with a rough puncheon floor or a dirt
floor. During and immediately after the Revolutionary War the
rough log building was replaced in the Middle States, by a bet-
ter schoolhouse of the octagonal shape, so much in favor for
meeting-houses as well as for school purposes. In Eastern Penn-
sylvania these octagonal houses were nearly always built of
stone, like the ones we have herein described.
In the same issue of the Pennsylvania-German, to which I have
referred, an old octagonal schoolhouse on the Bath road is de-
scribed by Mr. John R. Laubach of Nazareth, Pa., as follows:
"Es alt achteckig Schulhaus an der Bather Schtross, was a unique
and interesting building of Pennsylvania-Germandom. It is so-called
on account of its peculiar construction, being octagonal in form, the
only one of its kind, according to my knowledge in this section of the
country. It stood along-side of the highway from Easton to Mauch
Chunk, in Upper Nazareth township, Northampton county. Pa., about
a mile west of the village of Smoketown and two miles southeast of
Bath, near the east branch of the Monocacy creek. It was built in
1828 by means of contributions from the surrounding community, and
for more than fifty years it stood as a landmark known far and wide.
Its walls were built of limestone quarried in the vicinity; the mason-
work was done by Daniel Michael, who for many years lived on the
same road opposite the schoolhouse. Its w-alls were eighteen inches
thick, solidly built, neatly plastered and w-hitewashed on the inside and
rough-cast on the outside. They could easily have defied the storms
of centuries yet to come had not a building of more modern construc-
tion been desired.
This old structure was known as the Union Schoolhouse and con-
trolled by six trustees, three from Upper and three from Lower Naz-
areth township, selected from its patrons in the district. Among the
best known of these trustees were Adam Daniel, better known as
Squire Daniel, from the fact that he was a justice of the peace for a
number of years; George Hellick, Peter Rohn and others, all of whom
departed from the scenes of this life many years ago.
The door of the schoolhouse was on the southside. Opposite the
door on the north side was the teacher's desk, raised on a small plat-
form. Extending along six sides of the room were two rows of desks,
one for the larger pupils, facing the wall, and one for the smaller ones,
facing the stove. The desks were of the simplest construction and
bore many a penknife-carving made by the pupils in days gone by.
The benches around the larger desks were about two feet high and
OCTAGONAL OR SO-CALLED "eIGHT-SQUARe" SCHOOLHOUSES 253
ten inches wide, standing loose on the floor; every now and then one
toppled over and made a disturbance. This was generally followed by
a sharp reprimand from the teacher, and the one at fault was only too
glad if the master did not use the rod, of which there was generally a
good supply on hand on the window behind the teacher's desk.
I remember, one Sunday afternoon when we had singing-school,
that a worthy old gentleman of the neighborhood, sitting all alone on
one side of these benches, became so interested in the singing from
old Weber's Notabuch with its character notes that, in some way or
other, the bench dropped out from under him. He was left suspended
without any support but the desk behind, and the smaller bench before
him, on which he had rested his feet. All present were greatly amused,
and amid the tittering he could not refrain from exclaiming: "So
veidamta Hinkelschtanga!" (Such d chicken roosts.)
In the middle of the room stood an old wood stove. This was later
replaced by a coal stove. In the yard in front of the schoolhouse was a
big pile of wood, and many a scholar was only too glad to be allowed
to go out and saw and split the same, rather than study his tiresome
lessons. In the frame of the window behind the teacher's desk was
the black-board, about four feet wide and five feet high, which could
be raised or lowered as desired, but little use could be made of it. On
one side of the door was a place for the water-bucket, also a board
which could be turned around, having the words "OUT" and "IN"
cut in large letters on the same, to be used by the pupils as occasion
required."
The plan showing how these schoolhouses were fitted up was
secured from a letter written to Dr. B. F. Fackenthal. Jr., and
is an excellent illustration of the interior of these early seats of
learning where many people, both men and women, wdio have be-
come widely known for their usefulness to their country and the
community in which they liVed, first learned their a b c's and
the many essentials by which they found themselves able to live
useful lives.
As the letter and diagram prepared by Mr. Laubach whose ac-
count of the Bath road schoolhouse is so excellent, it seems fitting
they should be presented here as part of this paper.
Nazareth, Pa., Nov. 15, 1907.
Dr. B. F. Fackenthal, Jr.
Riegelsville, Pa.
My dear Doctor Fackenthal: —
Your esteemed favor asking about the old schoolhouse on
the Bath road is received and contents noted. The house was built in
the shape of an octagon, not hexagon. The following sketch will show
you a ground plan of it, with position of windows, door, desks, benches,
stove, teacher's platform and chair, also the blackboard which operated
254 OCTAGONAL OR SO-CALLED "eIGHT-SQUARE'' SCHOOLHOUSES
with counterbalances so that it could be raised or lowered. The only
other one like it, that I ever saw, was in Moore township, near Point
Phillips, in Northampton county, but that too was torn down many
years ago.
• Yours with esteem,
John R. Laubach.
Dr. Fackenthal advises me, that he very well remembers an
hexagonal (not octagonal) schoolhouse, which stood on Lau-
bach's creek, near the village of Lower Saucon in Lower Saucon
township, Northampton county, on the south side of the road
leading from Hellertown to Durham, about midway between
Lower Saucon and Old Williams township churches, having
passed by it scores of times when a school was maintained there-
in. Mr. Joseph E. Ruch, who lives quite near its site, informs
OCTAGONAL OR SO-CALLED "eIGHT-SQUARe" SCHOOLHOUSES 255
him that this six sided schoolhouse was erected under the lead-
ership of his grandfather, Christian Ruch, in 1833, which was
before the pubhc school system of Pennsylvania was begun. Mr.
Ruch says it was the only school he ever attended. The funds
for it were gathered in the neighborhood from the patrons of the
school. Prior to its erection there was a log schoolhouse to the
northwest thereof. Mr. Howard Mitman, who also lives in that
neighborhood, informs Dr. Fackenthal that he has a distinct
recollection of this schoolhouse. He says it was six sided, and
moreover had a photograph taken after the dormer windows
were removed, from which he had a half-tone etching made, used
to illustrate his article published in The Northampton Farmer,
Vol. H, No. 3. for March 1921. In that article he describes the
interior of the building as follows :
"The internal arrangement followed the lines of the building. The
stove stood in the middle of the room, the pipe going straight up to
the chimney above. The entrance door was in the middle of one of
the sides; directly opposite was a platform with the teacher's desk.
Long desks followed the two side walls remaining on each side of the
building, wdth backless benches for the pupils. There were in all four
rows of desks, with two rows of recitation benches in front of them."
This six sided schoolhouse was abandoned in 1886, when a new
and modern building was erected on the opposite side of the
road. An etching of the hexagonal building, taken in 1892, when
it was used as a dwelling house is shown herewith.
In Montgomery county there is an octagonal schoolhouse on
North Lane, about a mile from Conshohocken, which was re-
cently sold, and is now occupied as a dwelling house. It was
there that the late Hon. James B. Holland received part of his
early education.
Another octagonal schoolhouse, still standing, and preserved
as a relic, is on the Dunwoody estate, on the pike leading from
Philadelphia to Newtown Square in Delaware county. Situated
in a community where so many institutions of learning are lo-
cated, it is a quaint curiosity and a reminder of the past.
The foundation walls of an octagon schoolhouse in Moreland
township, Montgomery county, near Paper Mills, are still stand-
ing and being near the new schoolhouse the boys find them of
great use for forts when it snows. The property is now (1920)
owned by W. W. Frazier.
256 OCTAGONAL OR SO-CALLED "eIGHT-SQUARe''' SCHOOLHOUSES
On the northern slope of Great Valley in Chester county, the
early settlers built an eight-square schoolhouse, overlooking one
of the most beautiful farming districts in the United States.
After being used for a school for many years it was abandoned.
As it was substantially built of stones, it was easily restored and
is now in perfect condition and cared for by the owners.
In Bucks county, near the village of Oxford Valley, Falls
township, there is an eight-square schoolhouse, built in the usual
was and leased for a long term of years, by Charles Henry Moon,
and is now being cared for. The lapse of time made it necessary
to appoint new trustees in order to save the old schoolhouse from
decay, as it had become very much out of repair. It was there-
fore rescued and restored, so that most of its original design is
preserved. It is in care of Mr. Moon, who is one of the new
trustees, and is now being kept safe from harm, and is a good
example of that particular kind of schoolhouse. One of the best
known teachers of a century ago, who taught there between 1825
and 1830, was Steward Dupy.
In New Britain township, Bucks county, about a mile and a
half from Fountainville, and facing the Ferry road, an eight-
square schoolhouse was occupied for school use for many years
during the first half of the nineteenth century. It stood on a lot
set aside for school purposes on the Stewart homestead, known
to many of us as the Arthur Chapman farm. It was torn down
because it was no longer fit for restoring. A well-known teacher
of that school was Prof. Clark, a graduate of Yale College, who
conducted the private school established on the farm of Benjamin
W. James. Many children of well known Bucks county families
were scholars there.
An eight-square schoolhouse, built of stone, and in general
design the same as the others I have described, was located on the
Durham road near the Plumstead township line in Buckingham
township. It was torn down some years ago as it had served its
usefulness when better schools came into being.
\ Among the buildings in old "Logtown" now known as Penn's
Park in Wrightstown township situated at the toll-gate site on
the Pineville and Richboro turnpike, known also as Second
Street Pike, at the point where it is crossed by the Swamp road,
stands on old eight-square schoolhouse. The indications are that
OCTAGONAL OR SO-CALLED "EIGHT-SQUARE'' SCHOOLHOUSES 257
the land on which this house stands was granted by WilHam
Penn to James Ratchffe, a minister among Friends, who died
soon after the purchase. It was owned subsequently by the
Thompson, Kirk and Cunnard families until 1799 when the
property was purchased by Joseph Burson. By a lease recorded
at Doylestown (Deed Book 33, p. 403, April 1, 1802), it was
leased for a term of ninety-nine years to Hugh Thompson, James
Dungan, Watson Welding, Joseph Sackett, George Chapman,
John Thompson, Thomas Thompson, Amos Warner, Ebenezer
Cunnard, Thomas Gain and Jesse Anderson for the purpose of
"having a schoolhouse kept for the benefit and advantage of him-
self and others of the neighborhood. To have and to hold the
said lot of land in trust for themselves, their heirs and assigns
for the special use and purpose above mentioned and for no
other use or purpose whatsoever, for and during the full end
and term of ninety-nine years". As this lease was made in the
spring of 1802 no doubt the building was made ready for school
purposes during the summer. The side walls are built of stone
of several shades and no attempt at uniformity was used. As
they appear today like a bent stone wall the crudeness of the
construction of this old house is manifest. The original roof has
been replaced by tin in place of the old wooden fan design. The
building is cared for by recent purchasers who use it for a sum-
mer camping place. Enough of the original materials used in its
construction remain, however, to make it an interesting study for
any one interested in the kind and pattern of building materials
used by the ordinary mechanic of that period. In design it is the
same as all the others. It was used for a schoolhouse for more
than fifty years and enjoys the distinction of having had several
well known teachers during its history. Former pupils of this
school can be found in many states. So well do they remember
the old building of stone, and the firewood supplied by the neigh-
borhood and the quaint old door facing south, that a wish is
voiced by them all that "it might be kept in good repair for
many years to come". The number of men and women who
"got their first schooling here", is so large that no attempt to men-
tion any of them by name has been made.
The furniture used in these schoolhouses was very plain, and
not furnished by contract or made in some large factory, but
258 OCTAGONAL OR SO-CALLED "eIGHT-SQUARE'' SCHOOLHOUSES
made by a local carpenter or cabinet maker. Against the walls
all around the room was built a sloping shelf, about three feet
high, with no line to indicate how much space each pupil should
occupy and serving the purpose of a desk. In front of these
common desks long backless benches were placed on which the
older pupils sat facing the wall. While they studied they leaned
against the edge of the shelf-like desk and when they wrote or
ciphered they rested their exercise books and slates on it. Under
it, on a shelf that was not so wide as the upper one, the pupils
kept their books and other school-belongings when not in use.
A table was placed about the middle of the room, with lower
benches on each side of it, and there the smaller children spent
the school hours over the lessons assigned to them by the school
teacher. So far as possible a young man of promise in the
neighborhood was selected as teacher because he had ambitions to
become something else, and now and then because he was not
"cut out for a farmer" but would make a better teacher or
preacher, at least he enjoyed being so judged by his friends.
Taking into account of course the presumption that he must
have considered this distinction as a mark of honor, no matter
how hard the hard-headed directors and an occasional pupil
whose head was hard, made his daily task. The number of chil-
dren a schoolhouse would hold depended entirely on the size of
the pupil and how closely they could be packed on the benches.
The number in midwinter was much greater than in the fall
and spring when the older children were kept home to help with
the work. This being the method by which domestic science,
agriculture and manual training was received in those days when
children went to school to learn the three R's, reading, 'riting
and 'rithmetic. Thus learning how to calculate the price of
things at the store by mental arithmetic without using chalk or
a nail on a barrel-head or any other thing convenient which
could be used on which to cipher. On Friday afternoons spelling-
matches were often held and to these contests came the older
brothers and sisters and often other visitors. Many communities
also held spelling matches in the evening when they became quite
an event and the whole neighborhood attended and made great
fun for the young people. The master's desk at the north end
of the room opposite the door (but inside the circle of shelves
OCTAGONAL OR SO-CALLED "eIGHT-SQUARe" SCHOOLHOUSES 259
or desks around the room), was the executive center of these
many-sided seats of learning. Besides serving the purposes of a
teacher's desk, it was a safe place for storing confiscated pen-
knives, balls, tops, marbles, jew's-harps and what not, and at
the end of a school term there were real reminders of events
which had caused pain or pleasure, as the master saw fit to ar-
range things, by using the long rod which was part of his equip-
ment or being a good fellow and let it go with a laugh enjoyed
by all hands. "Rewards of Merit" in the shape of decorated
cards with a verse of poetry were given for excellence in study
and conduct. They were secured in the same way that most such
things are won, by getting a specified number of small cards
and then exchanged for one indicating the merit of the pupil.
Many a keep-sake cabinet contains these cards, and a request to
tell who has them would show they are owned by people all
around us. From the lists of pupils who attended these old
eight-square schoolhouses may be picked an honor roll of names
good to look at and in which we all must take pride.
The seats and desks were made of pine or oak wood, and not
alw^ays of the best workmanship. They were not improved by
use as the years went by ; the unpainted or unpolished wood be-
became more stained from contact with hands, not always well
looked after, and every boy who owned a jack-knife felt his
school-life was not a success unless he demonstrated for him-
self, and those who followed him, that he possessed real talent
as a wood-carver or at least at hacking and carving some sort
of insignia to become a permanent ornament of the desk.
"Those benches are by far too high,
Their feet don't reach the floor;
Full many a wearj' back gets sick.
In that old schoolhouse at the creek.
And feels most woeful sore.
Poor innocents! behold them sit.
In miseries and woes;
It is no wonder, I declare.
If they should learn but little there,
On benches such as those."
The wood-stove of unique design occupied a place in the
middle of the room and nearly roasted the little fellows w^io
260 OCTAGONAL OR SO-CALLED "eIGHT-SQUARE" SCHOOLHOUSES
occupied the seats near it. The wood for these stoves was usually
furnished free of charge by the patrons of the school, and the
older boys attended to keeping it cut and making the fire. In the
schoolyard the woodshed was conspicuous for its absence and the
very often green wood, wet with rain or snow, made real expert
firemen out of these boys. Now and then as the wood smoked
and the chimney or the pipe would not draw the schoolhouse
became a smokehouse and an extra play time was added to the
day's pleasure. Sometimes boys earned their tuition by cutting
wood and also keeping up the fire.
The schoolroom walls were void of any decorations except
tapestry of aelicately spun spider webs and weather-stains, due
to the directors neglecting to have leaks fixed. The light from
the small windows of small panes of glass would hardly suit us
now. Quill pens were used and the teacher took great pains and
pride in making them and teaching his scholars the art of mend-
ing them.
The real reason for building these houses "eight-square" when
the schoolhouses connected with the churches and meeting houses
were dififerent, does not appear to be accurately known. It seems
most appropriate that they should be preserved by historical so-
cieties as objects of historical interest along with all other build-
ings possessing valuable personal history.
"Still sits the schoolhouse by the road,
A ragged beggar sunning;
Around it still the sumachs grow,
And blackberry vines are running."
Early History of Bedminster Township.
RECOLLECTIONS OF WILLLAM H. KEICHLINE.^
(read by warren S. ELY.)
(Friends Meeting House, Buckingliam, June 12, 1920.)
Philadelphia, March 19, 1875.
FRIEND DAVIS,
At your request, annexed, you will find a few brief his-
torical sketches of colonial times from which you can draw
such extracts as may be desirable for your forth-coming "History
of Bucks County", or for such purposes as you may desire.
They are literally true and original, perhaps an error or two
relating to dates, might occur which you are at liberty to correct.
I have a retentive memory, running back nearly fifty years, be-
sides an occasional documentary evidence. Our mutual friend
Gov. Witte was the only person that saw them, being a Bucks
Countian, he can appreciate such things and remarked he would
like to publish a series of these sketches, as they would be of
interest to the present generation in that locality, but was pleased
that you had them, as I informed him that they were intended
for you and no one else.
Will you oblige by correcting my bad English wherever neces-
sary, as they were written from the spur of the moment. If satis-
factory, after a quiet perusal, shall be pleased to serve you
further, etc.
Truly yours,
W. H. Keichline.-
To Gen. W. W. H. Davis,
Doylestown, Pa.
COLONEL GEORGE PIPER AND THE PIPERSVILLE TAVERN.
Col. George Piper, who resided at Pipersville, Bedminster
township, Bucks county, was born in Philadelphia county, on the
1 The.se reminiscences were found among tlie papers of the late Gen. W.
W. H. Davis.
2 W. H. Keichlein, who sent these papers to General Davis, was the son of
Jacob Keichline. He died at Philadelphia, June 29, 1888, in 73d. year
of his age.
262 EARLY HISTORY OF BEDMINSTER TOWNSHIP
Wissahickon, November 11, 1755. He removed to Bucks county
and became an officer in the continental army. He married a
daughter of Arnold Lear of Tinicum township, a relative of
Tobias Lear, who was the private secretary of Gen. Washington
during the years 1791 to 1794. In 1775-76. Col. Piper lived on
part of the old Lear homestead. In 1778, he moved into the
tavern located at the intersection of the Philadelphia-Doylestown
and the Durham and York roads, as they were termed in those
days. The York road received its name by reason of its being
the direct road to New York. And the Durham road
derived its name in consequence of passing over the Durham hills
to Easton. At Stony Point a road diverged northwest via Bur-
sonville and Springtown to Bethlehem. At that time the Dur-
ham road was the only direct route from Philadelphia to Easton,
Bethlehem and Allentown. Subsequently a road was located
from Willow Grove via Blue Bell tavern and Crooked Lane to
Doylestown, Danboro, Rothrocks (Plumstedville) and to Col.
Piper's tavern, where it formed a junction with the Durham road.
The tavern at that period comprised the present (1875) cen-
tral building which was built by one Bladen about 1759. Addi-
tions were added from time to time ; during the year 1784 the
present parlor and diningroom were attached; in 1790 and 1801,
the kitchen and small room to the west of the main building,
were added. The walls of the center building are fifteen inches
thick, and it is now one of the most ancient houses in that local-
ity; it is still occupied as a tavern and in an excellent state of
preservation, a relic of the last century.^
Col. Piper died November 15, 1822. The hotel property then
passed into the hands of his son-in-law, Jacob Keichlein, who
was born in Bedminster township, September 8, 1776, and had
been in his possession thirty-six years, and in possession of the
family for upwards of eighty years. Jacob Keichlein died in
Philadelphia February 26, 1861. A great uncle, Col. Peter Keich-
lein, then residing in Easton. He was one of the first representa-
tives from Northampton county in a convention held in Phila-
delphia in the years 1773 and 1775, endorsing the action of the
3 Gen. Davis, in a paper read before the Bucks County Historical Society,
in 1892 (see Vol. II, page 81), says the old Pipersville inn stood until 1885,
when Jacob B. Crouthamel replaced it with a commodious brick house, built
on the same site.
EARLY HISTORY OF BEDMINSTER TOWNSHIP 263
continental congress. During the Revolution he raised a rifle
company in Northampton and Bucks counties, which was at-
tached to Col. Miles' regiment, promoted to lieutenant colonel, and
in command at the Battle of Gowanis, Long Island, on the 27th.
August, 1776, under Generals Lord Sterling, Putnam and Wood-
hull. The English in command on that occasion were General
Grant, Lord Cornwallis and Howe. The Hessians were under
Gen. De Heister. Lord Sterling, in the dispatches to Gen. Wash-
ington says "the English Gen. Grant was killed by some of
Keichlein's sharp-shooters."
During the period that the tavern was in possession of the
family, under its hospitable roof were entertained many distin-
guished persons of the last century. Among some of the promi-
nent friends and patrons of Col. Piper were Gen. Anthony
Wayne, Benjamin Franklin, Gov. Mifflin. Timothy Pickering,
Robert Morris, Dr. Benjamin Rush, Richard Bache, Gen. Joseph
Read, John Bayard, Dr. William Shippen, Chief Justice Tilgh-
man, Judge Peters, Judge Hopkinson, Judge Ingersoll, Capt.
Hart. Colonel Miles, Colonel Atlee, Bishop White and
Rev. Dr. Muhlenberg of Philadelphia. Here upon several oc-
casions Bishop White and Dr. Muhlenberg offered up their de-
votional exercises, and old Timothy Matlack cut his name upon
the railing of the upper porch, which was still visible in 1827,
when the railing was removed. Mayor Wharton, during the
yellow fever epidemic in 1798. boarded with his family at the
Pipersville tavern. Stephen Girard was there on his way
to Bethlehem. Col. Samuel Sitgreaves of Easton and Col.
George Taylor, one of the signers of the declaration of indepen-
dence were bosom friends of Col. Piper and William Allen,
for whom Allentown was named, was a frequent guest. Gen.
John Cadwallader spent many a pleasant hour there, amusing
himself gunning along the Tohickon creek, sometimes with Wil-
liam Logan and Casper Wistar. Frequently that good man. Dr.
George De Benneville of Branchtown was a visitor, having been
friends from boyhood with Col. Piper. Gen. Paul Mallet Provost,
called upon Col. Piper to assist him in the purchase of some
lands in New Jersey where he laid out and founded French-
town. Joseph Bonaparte, ex-king of Spain, boarded there two
weeks with his suite; he had his own French cooks and plate;
264 EARLY HISTORY OF BEDMINSTER TOWNSHIP
all that was necessary was to serve them with meats and vege-
tables and they prepared them for the king. He took quite a
fancy to the old Lombardy poplar trees in front of the house,
and told the colonel that they reminded him of their native
clime, France.
This tavern being on the main route, at that period, from
Philadelphia to Easton, Bethlehem, Allentown, Mauch Chunk and
Wilkes-Barre, and having the reputation of being one of the
best kept taverns on the road, was known all over the country
and identified with the name of Col. Piper and Mr. Keichline
for nearly a century. There was no public stage from Easton to
Philadelphia prior to the year 1792, when the following notice
appeared.
EASTON STAGE.
The subscriber takes this opportunity to inform the public,
that he has erected a new stage wagon upon springs, which will
start the 29th. April, 1792, weekly from Easton to Philadelphia.
It will start on Monday morning at 5 o'clock from the subscribers
house in Easton and arrive in Philadelphia, house of Jacob
Meitinger, sign of Gen. Washington, Vine street, return on
Thursday morning at 5 o'clock. Fare $2.00, 150 pounds of goods
allowed, 3 pence for each letter, way-passengers 3 pence per mile.
JOHN NICHOLAUS.
John Nicholaus's successor was his son Samuel, who removed
to Danboro in order to take charge of the stages, which were of
the "Gun Boat" pattern. He was succeeded in 1822, by James
Rusides, who was termed the "Land Admiral", he formed a co-
partnership with Jacob Peters of Philadelphia, and later with
Samuel and John Shouse of Easton. They placed upon the road
new Troy coaches, the first of the kind in this part of the country.
Upon the completion of the Belvidere Delaware Railroad and the
North Penn Railroad, the stages were withdrawn.
CONESTOGA WAGONS.
Conestoga wagons, as they were termed, conveyed all the
goods to and from Easton, Bethlehem, Allentown, Mauch Chunk
and Wilkes-Barre markets, they were upon the road previous to
1770; they generally had six horses with bells; the horses were
EARLY HISTORY OF BEDMINSTER TOWNSHIP 265
fed from a trough, placed temporarily upon the tongue of the
wagon. One of the finest teams driven in the last century was
owned by Michael Butz, who resided above Belvidere in New
Jersey; his team consisted of six large black horses, of equal size
and were greatly admired. Then came the Zellners, Klotzs, Sum-
stones, Bewighouses, Myers, Fretzes, Joseph and David Stover
and others. Upon the completion of the Delaware Division canal
in 1832, their occupations were gone.^
OLD MILLS OF THE LOWER PART OF BEDMINSTER TOWNSHIP.
It appears that Angany's gristmill was the first one erected.
It was built before the Revolution, on a small island forming a
junction with Deep run, east of the English Presbyterian Church.
Jacob Krout's mill, on Deep run, is presumed to be the next, and
Joseph Tyson's on Cabin run, they being built about the begin-
ning of the present or latter part of the last century. Then
comes Jacob Stover's mill on the Tohickon creek, near Keich-
lein's tavern.^ About that time Henry Black built his oil-mill on
Cabin run, on the Durham road one-half mile below Keichlein's
tavern. Joseph Drissel's mill, on the east of the Tohickon, in
Tinicum township, and one mile northeast of Keichleins', was
built about the middle of the last century, and is now (1875)
one of the oldest mills in the upper part of the county ; it is still
supplying its customers with their daily bread. Isaac Fretz built
a gristmill upon the Tohickon creek in Tinicum township, some
time after Drissel. Anthony Fretz's mill upon the same stream
in Plumstead, was built previous to the Isaac Fretz mill. These
mills, with one exception, are yet in good running condition.
Some years ago, Krout, Drissel, Fretz and Stover introduced
machinery for the manufacture of linseed oil, but when flax
seed became scarce the machinery for making linseed oil was
removed
OLD CHURCHES OF BEDMINSTER AND VICINITY.
During the early part of the last century, a few of the first-
settlers, erected a church, which they built of hewn timber; it
was located on the Durham road, two and a half miles below
4 Mr Keichlein fails to notice and give credit to the Durham boats
which carried freight down the Delaware river before roads were opened.
5 This gristmill was in operation in early colonial times.
266 EARLY HISTORY OF BEDMIXSTER TOWNSHIP
Keichlein's tavern at the intersection of the river road. A suf-
ficient space of ground was cleared on the northeast corner so as
to afford room for the church building and the graveyard. The
people had to depend upon an occasional supply pastor from other
localities, and such itinerants as came along. All traces of the
building and graveyard disappeared years ago, and not a vestige
is left to designate their location. The presumption is that the
next church, in Tinicum, was built of hewn timber and located
on the hill adjacent to the old graveyard, in which there were many
graves of a remote period. This spot is about one-fourth of a
mile above the present old Tinicum church built for the joint
worship of the German Presbyterian (Reformed) and the Luth-
erans. This building must have been removed about the year
1800, as in the year 1812, a brick church building was erected,
down at the road leading from Keichlein's tavern to Frenchtown
and Erwinna. Not long ago the brick church was removed and
gave place to a more modern edifice. The next church to be
erected was Keichlein's church, on the Tohickon creek, so called
because the land had been donated by Andrew Keichlein, who
resided near by. This was later called Tohickon church.
The old church was removed some years ago and a new one
erected upon the site. It was German Presbyterian (Reformed)
and Lutheran. Then the erection of Menonite Meeting House
runs very far back into the last century, and so too does the
English Presbyterian church (called the Irish church) at Deep
run and the Red Hill church and Kellers which is Reformed and
Lutheran.
THE OLD SCHOOLHOUSE AT DEEP RUN HILL.
The old schoolhouse at Deep Run Hill was located on the
Easton road about three-fourths of a mile above Keichlein's inn,
at the foot of the hill near the creek. It was built in 1808. by
Col. George Piper, Abraham High, William Myers, and Frederick
Keeler. Among the numerous teachers employed was Hon.
Charles B. Trego, who subsequently moved to Philadelphia where
he filled several important positions, such as president of com-
mon council, state senator, etc. Mr. Trego died a year or so ago
at an advanced age, at his residence in Germantown. The old
EARLY HISTORY OF BEDMINSTER TOWNSHIP 267
schoolhouse was torn down some years ago and is among the
bygones.
A BRAVE AND PATRIOTIC WOMAN OF CONTINENTAL TIMES.
Col. George Piper having occasion to visit Newtown, then the
county seat of Bucks county, to attend to some business, his
wife, Eve, remained at home with no one except her two chil-
dren and the hired-man. In the meantime Gibson and Geddis,
friends and companions of the outlaw Doans, paid a visit to the
inn, and finding Col. Piper absent and as was their custom be-
haved rudely. Mrs. Piper was in the kitchen engaged in ironing
at the time, and in the old chimney-corner had been placed a pan
of buckwheat batter in the process of raising. Geddis deliberate-
ly walked up, placed his boot and foot into the pan, whereup
Mrs. Piper threw the flat-iron at him, striking his arm below the
shoulder, fracturing it badly. Immediately Gibson tried to strike
her with the butt end of his whip. Whereupon she retreated into
a side room, procured the colonel's sword and drove the cowardly
rufHans from the house. Geddis being unable to mount his horse,
had to walk, leading the horse until they arrived at the farm of
George Fox, one and one-half miles, southwest from the tavern,
where old Dr. Shafifer boarded. After the doctor had set his
arm they left for their homes at Smith's Corner, in Plumstead
township. Subsequently Geddis brought suit against the cour-
ageous Mrs. Piper in the court at Newtown, but ultimately
abandoned it, fearing the vengeance of the people, as they warned
him that his precious life might be in danger. This was the
same Gibson who shot Doan in the cabin on the Tohickon creek,
for fear his evidence might implicate him in connection with the
crimes of these outlaws.
There is another incident in the early hfe of that truly patriotic
woman that should forever hold her memory green to all lovers
of patriotism throughout our land. During the struggle of the
Revolution, Col. Piper, then a captain in command of a com-
pany of militia or volunteers, located at Black Rock, had charge
of the outposts near Fort Washington. Black Rock received its
name from a flat rock lying near the York or Easton road,
where the Indians often held their councils of war and also on
this rock sacrificed their prisoners. It was known by that name
268 EARLY HISTORY OF BEDMINSTER TOWNSHIP
long after the Revolution, subsequently it was changed to Miles-
town in honor of Col. Miles, and still later changed to Branch-
town. This place was the residence of the elder DeBenneville,
father of Dr. George DeBenneville, a surgeon in the continental
army, and it was there that Capt. Piper made his acquaintance,
which lasted throughout the remainder of their lives. Capt.
Piper's soldiers were almost destitute of shoes and clothing,
when he conceived the idea of getting a furlough of twenty-four
hours, in order to enable him to go home in quest of some money.
His wife, Eve, had inherited from her father, Arnold Lear,
£325 in gold which was secreted in an old crock and buried in
the cellar. The captain having rather unexpectedly returned
and to the surprise of his good wife, she exclaimed "why, George !
what brings you home, has our little army been defeated?" "No,
Eve," he replied, "I have ridden all day and I am nearly starved."
She speedily prepared him a repast and while eating it, he told
her the object of his visit, which was to procure from her the
loan of her dowry ; without any hesitation whatever she replied
"well George, take it, together with my blessing for the good
cause." The gold was placed in a pair of old saddlebags, and in
the grey mist of the morning he bid adieu to his dear wife, and
arrived in safety back to the camp and relieved the needs of his
men. The government subsequently refunded the amount in
continental currency, which proved worthless ; it was stowed
away in a beehive in the garret. The family retain some por-
tions of it as relics of bygone days.
REMINISCENCES OF CONTINENTAL TIMES.
During the absence of Col. George Piper, upon the occasion
previously referred to, a man was arrested, while on horseback,
in the act of crossing the American lines or outposts, near Black
Rock, having upon his horse a packsaddle containing butter and
eggs destined for the British army in Philadelphia. His name was
Tyson and he resided in Bedminster township, near Col. Piper's
tavern. He was a member of the Mennonite society at Deep
Run. These people generally sided with the British during the
Revolution and their sympathies are now and always have been
with the radicals of the present time. Upon the return of the
colonel, he found Tyson in close custody, having been regularly
EARLY HISTORY OF BEDMINSTER TOWNSHIP 269
courtmarshalled. He had the decree of court modified to the
extent that his punishment was to be, that he be stripped to his
waist, tied to a tree with a dozen soldiers placed ten paces away
each supplied bountifully with eggs, and at the word "fire", his
precious body was reduced to an eggnog, his gray horse was con-
fiscated and he was allowed to depart, with the assurance, if he
ever came down that way again, that he would be shot. The tree
to which he was tied is still (1875) standing as a commemoration
of the event.
THE SHAD FISHERIES OF TINICUM.
There were a number of shad fisheries upon the Delaware river,
between the Tohickon and Tinicum creeks. "Cowells", near
Point Pleasant, in the early part of the present century, was an
exceedingly lucrative one. At one period, however, "Ridges"
was the most profitable one. Col. Piper said, that in 1810 from
1,200 to 1,500 shad were frequently caught in a single day upon
the small island, directly opposite Ridge's house. He likewise
described "Old Ned Ridge", seated in a tree on the south part of
the island, watching for the approach of a school of shad, to
pass up stream, which would enable him to make the discovery
by the ripples created upon the water, as they generally swam
near the surface. On seeing the ripples he would give notice for
the preparation of the haul. The "Cabin Fishery" was located
half-a-mile above Ridges; it was prosperous and produced con-
siderable revenue. The "Drive Factory", on the New Jersey
side of the large island, was another productive one, and the
"Sweet Briar", on the New Jersey shore opposite, was equally
profitable. Shad taken from these waters were of the finest kind,
and were caught in abundance up to 1825, and from that time
up to 1842, in fair quantities. They, however, grew less plentiful
from year to year, in that neighborhood.
ERWINNA ON THE DELAWARE RIVER.
This town was laid out by Arthur Erwin, a Scotch-Irishman,
as he was termed, dating back into the last century.*' He repre-
sented Bucks county in the legislature in the year 1785, and hav-
ing occasion to visit Luzerne county in the spring of 1791, to
See paper on Col. Arthur Erwin by Dr. Fackenthal, this volume, page 433.
270 EARLY HISTORY OF BEDMIXSTER TOWNSHIP
look after his property, was assassinated at the house of Samuel
McAfee. Some attributed this act to his sentiments derogatory to
the principles of a spirit of patriotism. Upon the ninth day of
June, 1791, Gov. Mifflin offered a reward of two hundred dollars
for the arrest of the guilty parties. Col. Arthur Erwin left
several children among them was William Erwin who in the
early part of the present century, took quite an active part in the
politics of the day, and represented Bucks county in the legisla-
ture; he was always cl violent opponent to the Democratic party.
His lands adjoin those of Thomas G. Kennedy,^ who was at one
time sheriff of Bucks county. Henry Stover is now the owner
of the Kennedy farm.
NETTING PIGEONS IN BEDMINSTER IN THE OLDEN TIMES. "
From 1784 to 1824, wild pigeons were caught in large quan-
tities in nets by numerous parties. Among the experts, in those
sports, and who excelled in that line, were Abraham Kulp,
Jacob Wismer, Jacob Angeny and Abraham Overholt. Pigeons
generally when migrating, and particularly in those days, always
traveled in large flocks. The customary cabin in which the
operators were concealed, was generally erected in buckwheat
fields, and constructed of cedar bushes, so as to completely con-
ceal the trapper from observation. When the flock of pigeons
was about to pass over the cabin the flyer-pigeon was thrown
upward, attached to a line about fifty yards long which was con-
nected to the trapper in the cabin. In performing this exploit
it was done for the purpose of attracting the attention of the
passing flock, then the operator played the stool-pigeon, in order
to attract the attention of the ground. The trapper stood upon
a small platform and operated from within by a string. The
stool-pigeon was blinded by sewing together, with white silk,
the eyelids. When the pigeons were attracted to the spot de-
sired, the net was sprung over them when all within the range of
the net were made prisoners. Jacob Wismer frequently caught,
before breakfast, as many pigeons as would fill two or three bar-
rels. Many parties salted the pigeons down for future use, all
7 Thomas G. Kennedy was a son-in-law of William Erwin.
8 See paper on "The Last of the Wild Pigeons," by Col. Paxson, Vol. IV,
p. 367.
EARLY HISTORY OF BEDAriXSTER TOWNSHIP 271
were treated that way except those that were sold in the markets,
the price being at the rate of twenty-five cents per dozen.
PEACHES IN BEDMINSTER.
Peaches and other fruits were cultivated in great abundance in
Bedmister township from 1811 to 1825. The crops were the
most prohfic during the years 1817-18-19 and 20. Abraham High
Hving one mile northwest from Keichlein's inn during those years
took a number of wagon loads of peaches to Jacob Stover's dis-
tillery, where they were made into peach brandy. Joseph Town-
send, Nicholas Garis, Jacob Laux and Jacob Krout had more
peaches than they could consume or give away, besides Jacob
Krout made a large quantity of peach brandy, which he sold as
low as twelve cents a quart. Pears and cherries were exceedingly
abundant in those days.
ANECDOTE.
Gen. Thomas Cadwallader was a noble specimen of manhood.
During his sojourn at Jacob Kichlein's inn. in 1828. in company
with Sebastian Logan, enjoying their favorite amusements, gun-
ning, etc., one morning having had occasion to pass over one of
Tinsman's fields after a covey of partridges, and when about in
the center of the field, they discovered a large and furious black
bull running toward them and bellowing at a fearful rate ; all
retreat being cut ofif, there was no other alternative, but to stand
their ground ; as the bull approached within convenient distance.
Gen. Cadwallader fired the contents of his double-barrel shot
gun into his head and face. Shaking his head, the bull beat a
hasty retreat, minus an eye. This little freak cost the general
ten dollars. The general was what might be called a "crack
shot", he seldom missed his mark, although he was troubled with
a ball in his arm near his wrist, received in a duel with Mr.
Randolph.
The following items are copied from newspaper clippings at-
tached to the notes of William H. Keichlein. which he sent to
Gen. W. W. H. Davis. March 19, 1875 :
RELICS OF 1776.
Among other curiosities of literature, we have had placed in our
272 EARLY HISTORY OF BEDMINSTER TOWNSHIP
hands several documents, so carefully preserved that it is remarkable,
and we certainly deem them worthy of preservation, particularly the
funeral-sermon and the certificate of naturalization. They are per-
taining to the history of the ancestors of our esteemed friend. Col.
William H. Keichlein, one of the inspectors of the Philadelphia county
prison; and of his brother, Dr. Charles P. Keichlein. The documents
are certainly relics of our colonial history, the Revolution and the War
of 1776. It appears that the great-great-grandfather of the Keich-
leins, John Peter Keichlein, emigrated to this country from Germany,
as far back as 1742, and settled in Eastern Pennsylvania as a good and
substantial agriculturist. He was blessed with three sons, who were
born amid contentment and happiness, their parents never anticipat-
ing an event so striking as that which occurred a few years later, when
a voice from Virginia called them to the field. The young men en-
tered the continental army, where they shortly rose to distinction and
honor. Peter was made a colonel. Andrew was promoted to major on
the battle field of Monmouth, and placed upon the staflf of General
Mercer; while Charles, the youngest, was made a lieutenant, he having
entered the army at a later period. This is one of the most remarkable
instances on record in those days, wherein three officers were from the
same family. But to the documents, which speak for themselves.
(The above from a Sunday morning paper, the name of which is
not legible.)
Spring Mills Farm, Pa.
To. Col. Peter Kichlein, July 17, 1777.
Sir:
I have the pleasure of dating this from my own house, where
I arrived last week in tolerable health, and where I hope to remain
for some time. The following is the state of your account with me at
New York. The balance I expect you will remit me the first oppor-
tunity, in silver or gold.
I am your very humble servant,
Sam'l Miles.
COL. PETER KEICHLEIN
TO SAM'L MILES DR.
To 8 Linen Shirts for your officers, at 1 /i sterling, is
12/10 New York currency
Cash on board the scow Mentor
1 Uniform coat
Expense on board the Mentor, your share
Cash paid Mrs. Carrow, your board
Cash paid Mrs. Alyre, in Jersey money
Charged by Mr. Chanter
Your share of expenses at Mrs. Carrows
£ 5
3
3
4
3
10
5
9
9
4
14
3
1
4
16
1
2
1
£28
19
1
EARLY HISTORY OF BEDMINSTER TOWNSHIP 273
CR.
By cash at Mrs. Carrows £ 6 10 4
do do do 3 4 â– 9 14 4
The balance in New York currency is £19 4 9
which is £19-0-9 Pennsylvania.
Note in pencil by William H. Keichlein — Col. Keichlein received this
letter while on board ship "Mentor", after the Battle of Gowanis,
Long Island.
FUNERAL DISCOURSE AT THE GRAVE OF COLONEL MILES.
The following is a copy of a Discourse delivered at the grave
of Colonel Miles, the bosom friend of Colonel Peter Keichlein.
The manuscript is in excellent state of preservation, the paper
upon which it is written being scarcely soiled. It was evidently
written by the Reverend gentleman who delivered it. or by a
friend. It is a most beautiful tribute to the lamented dead, and
is worthy of perusal.
On Tuesday morning, Dec. 31, 1805, were deposited in a vault in the
graveyard of the First Baptist church, Philadelphia, the remains of Col.
Samuel Miles, of Cheltenham, who departed this life the 29th. instant,
aged 67 years.
The deserved character of this excellent man is drawn by the Rev.
Dr. Rogers, who delivered an address at his grave, in substance as
follows :
Under an impression of the truth and importance of these principles,
(referring to the great principles of the Christian system), lived and
died our dear friend, our beloved brother. They were regarded by him
not merely as subjects of speculation, but designed to sanctify the heart,
and direct the life and conversation. In all the relationship of society,
their effect was visible. As a citizen he was respected and beloved.
Not only might I call upon the immediate circle of his acquaintance,
but the inhabitants of this city and commonwealth to look into yonder
vault, and there see the mortal part of one whose heart was bent on
their prosperity. As a soldier he not only distinguished himself in the
important Revolution which broke our chains and established our tri-
umphing independence, but before the Revolution in the field of con-
test, he was known to be an officer never tardy in the service of his
country. His military character, till he laid down the sword, was pre-
served without a blot. As a Representative of this State, he discharged,
it is believed, his official duties in such a way as must awaken in the
bosom of all his constituents, who regret at the recital of his loss. The
duties of a husband he fulfilled with fidelity and affection, until death
tore his estimable wife from his embraces. As a father he was indul-
gent, and as a sincere friend. But the character in which he pre-emi-
274 EARLY HISTORY OF BEDMINSTER TOWNSHIP
nently shone, and to which these were but appendages, was that of a
Christian. "A Christian is the highest style of man". Often have I
heard hiiri relate the story of his pious experience, and as often declare
his entire confidence in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. His pil-
grimage is now closed. His spirit, we believe, is now with the spirits
of the just, and with holy angels in glory; and the hour is coming
when Jesus, who is the "resurrection and the life", shall raise in power
the dust we are now sowing in weakness. Ohl that in prospect of the
hour of death, and of the day of judgment, we may now seek the for-
giveness of our sins, the sanctification of our hearts, and all that
grace which can render our lives useful and our deaths happy.
CHARLES KEICHLEIN TAKES THE ''tEST OATH."
I do hereby certify, that CHARLES KEICHLEIN, of Bucks
county, hath voluntarily taken and subscribed the Oath of Al-
legiance and Fidelity as directed by an act of the General Assem-
bly, passed the 13th. day of June, A. D. 1777.
Witness my hand and seal, the 14th. day of October, A. D. 1777.
Thomas Dyer.
No. 101
To Richard Backhouse,
Durham Furnace, Bucks County,
Sir:
Mr. McNeal informs me of a matter concerning the said Mc-
Neal's son, who has enlisted as a volunteer from this State, with Cap-
tain Shoop, of Nockamixon, and that he has since been arrested by you
for some labor that he had to do, and that he is confined on that ac-
count. Therefore, I send you these few lines, giving my advice to
settle the matter with the man, and not to detain him from the service
in which he entered and enlisted; and that I hope you are a good friend
of the cause, that you will exchange the man from his confinement, as
Mr. McNeal tells me he is willing to allow any thing in reason for dam-
age done by him.
Sir, I am, with all respects, your most obedient and humble servant,
Andrew Keichlein.
Biographical Notice of John A. Ruth,
BY B. F. FACKENTHAL, JR., SC.D., RIEGELSVILLE, PA.
(Tohickon Park Meeting, October 9, 1920.)
OUR president, Dr. Mercer, has asked me to prepare a bi-
graphical notice of Mr. Ruth, saying that he appreciated
the careful and painstaking work that he had accompHshed
as a local historian, archaeologist and botanist, and moreover
he and his brother, Harvey F. Ruth, had very generously given
their archaeological collection to the museum of the Bucks County
Historical Society. I am indeed glad to comply with his request.
In preparing this paper I have drawn largely from a manu-
script copy of his autobiography, which he says he prepared for
his children, a copy of which has fallen into my hands. This en-
tire autobiography is well worth reading before this society ; it so
simply and graphically tells the story of his life, as to make it a
classic. He was of a religious turn of mind, a faithful church and
Sunday school worker. He was first a member of the Reformed
Church, and later after his marriage, of the Lutheran Church,
of which his wife was a member. He was a Christian gentleman
without cant or hypocracy, modest and retiring in his disposition.
The introductory page of his autobiography is headed with
these lines :
"And thou shall remember all the way which the Lord thy God
led thee."
John A. Ruth was born in Durham Township. Bucks County,
Pa., October 8, 1859. The son of Charles Ruth (B. Oct. 11, 1830,
d. March 10, 1899), and his wife MatHda (B. Dec. 1, 1830, d.
Dec. 31, 1906), daughter of Peter and Elizabeth (Long) Facken-
thal. On September 1, 1890, he married Kate S., daughter of
John and Julia (Trauger) Nicholas.
In 1861 he moved with his parents to Springfield Township
where they lived until 1872. when they moved back to Durham
Township.
His autobiography enters into detail concerning his childhood
days at Springtown. He gives his impressions of matters and
things and the people he came in contact with. He describes
the old tannery and the two tanners who operated it. within his
276 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF JOHN A. RUTH.
recollection, Mr. Gerlack and Mr. Kramer. He also tells of the
village store, the blacksmith shop, the hotel, village doctor, the
churches and schoolhouses, and gives considerable space to
Cook's, later Durham Creek, and discusses the uncertain origin
of its name. He also speaks of the stone arch bridge across the
creek. He tells of the schools he attended and gives his estima-
tion of the teachers and the influence they had upon his life.
His father was a blacksmith by trade, but at times turned farmer
and did other laboring work. John attended school in winters
and worked during the summers, mostly on farms.
On January 2, 1876, he entered the State Normal School at
West Chester, Pa., where he remained for six months. In the
winter of 1876-77, he attended the grammar school at Riegels-
ville. In 1877, at the age of 18 years he began his career as a
school teacher. He taught eleven terms in the public schools, and
was given a permanent certificate by Superintendent W. W.
Woodruff. In 1888 he entered the car accounting department
of the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company at Bethlehem, Pa. Two
years later he built for himself and his bride a new home in
what was then W^est Bethlehem. He remained in Bethlehem for
twenty-five years, when owing to failing health, he resigned his
position with the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company and moved
to Clifton, N. J., in order to make a home for his daughter, who
was teaching in the high school of that city. He passed away at
Clifton, February 26, 1918, in the 59th. year of his age. He is
survived by his widow and his two children. Bertha Matilda
and Charles Nicholas.
While living in Durham Township he and his brother, Harvey
F. ( b. 1866, d. 1904) . took up, self taught, the study of geology and
archaeology, and later the study of botany. There had been
much speculation and discussion, including historical papers and
newspaper contributions, as to the location of the Indian village
of Pechoquelin, where the Shawnee Indians resided from 1698
to 1728. Mr. Ruth finally, and I believe correctly, located that
village-site in Durham Township, on the peninsula north side of
where Gallows Run (Indian name Pferlefakon), empties into the
Delaware River. There are evidences there of an extensive In-
dian village, and there the Ruth brothers found hundreds of speci-
mens, including many pot sherds. The discovery of the location
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF JOHN A. RUTH 277
of the site of the Indian village Pechoquelin must therefore be
credited to Mr. Ruth.
Mr. Ruth was asked by the Smithsonian Institute at Washing-
ton, to prepare a chart of Durham and vicinity to show where he
collected his many archaeological specimens. He was pleased to
comply with that request, and it was published in the Smithson-
ian report for the year 1881.
In 1897 Mr. Ruth and his brother very generously donated the
greater part of their archaeological and geological cabinet to the
Bucks County Historical Society, and it was his wish that the re-
mainder should, on his passing away, also be presented to that
society. His wish was complied with, and added to their original
gift, aggregated about 4,000 specimens. All their specimens,
both archaeological and botanical, are marked J. A. & H. F.
Ruth ; he was always very careful to give his brother equal credit.
As botanists they were close collectors, they were not content
with the ordinary flora, but were collectors of grasses and mosses,
on which they soon became authorities. In botanical text books
they are credited with new and rare plants. Dr. Thomas C.
Porter, Dr. N. L. Britton and many other noted botanists were
their correspondents. Dr. Porter often spoke to me of their
herbarium as a model of neatness in every respect, mounting and
labeling. It is now in my possession, I have however loaned it to
the Academy of Natural Science at Philadelphia, who knowing
its value asked for its loan in order to check up some of their own
plants. Not only are the Indian relics and plants labeled, but
they are accompanied by carefully prepared records and charts,
showing the exact places where the specimens were found. Among
the many new plants found by them was the white gentian found
near the Indian Jasper quarry on Rattlesnake Hill in Durham
Township. Their opinion, also that of Dr. Porter was, that it was
not native to that locality, but was doubtless carried there, in some
unknown way by migratory Indians.^
Mr. Ruth was also a splendid local historian. He contributed
several papers to our society, of which he was a member, also
quite a number of papers to other local historical societies. He
was one of the founders of the Buckwampun Historical So-
ciety in 1888, to which he and his brother contributed ten papers.
He also contributed a series of articles to the Ricgclsvillc News
1 See paper on "Our Local Flora," by John A. Ruth, in this volume, page 222.
278 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF JOHN A. RUTH
which he signed with his penname of "Antiquary." Copies of
these papers, mostly on the history of Durham and vicinity, are
in my possession, and I am promising myself the pleasure of
having them printed in book form for preservation and for distri-
bution among his friends. While at times he may have arrived
at wrong conclusions, the errors he fell into must be quite few in-
deed, and I long ago learned to place confidence in articles that
came from his pen.
Mr. Ruth was a close student, careful and honest. One won-
ders how he could accomplish so much with the limited facilities
at his command. After he moved to Bethlehem however his
notes show that he used the library of the Lehigh University. Be-
sides the historical articles, to which I have referred, he left many
loose sheets and memorandum books containing genealogical and
historical notes and copies of church records. Many of these
have already found their way into the archives of our society.
I must not forget to mention his scrap books, filled with valuable
clippings, which I have had bound in nine large volumes. These
will in due time also find a resting place in the library of the
Bucks County Historical Societ}^. A careful index or rather a
table of contents, of these scrap books, has been prepared and
bound in with the first volume.
I will close this paper by quoting from Mr. Ruth's autobiog-
raphy to show what he says about the aftermath of the Civil War:
"I was too young to recollect much in reference to the Civil War.
At its close, when I was six years old, I occasionally saw soldiers on
their way home from the army. Of such I recollect John O'Daniel,
who served in the 104th Reg. Pa. Volunteers, under Col. W. W. H.
Davis. The martial spirit of those days extended even to school boys,
for I remember seeing them play soldier. When Abraham Lincoln
was assassinated the Methodist congregation at Springtown held memo-
ial services, which my mother attended. During the years immediately
succeeding the rebellion, bands of southern negroes traveled through
our section. Just freed from the burden of slavery, many of them were
ill-fitted to make a proper use of their newly acquired freedom, and
wandered aimlessly about picking up a scanty subsistence cleaning
chimneys, begging, etc. Some of them still bore on their backs the
scars of the slave-driver's whip. These wandering bands often num-
bered as high as thirty or forty persons. They were of both sexes
and all ages. They were usually fine singers and in the evenings the
country people would assemble around their camp-fires to hear them
sing their plantation melodies."
Shad Fishing in the Delaware River.
BY HORACE M. MANX, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
Ci'ohickon Park Meeting, October 9, 1920.)
MR. WILLIAM LEWIS, an old-time fisherman, who has
been engaged in shad fishing for more than thirty-five
years, operating at several dififerent fisheries in the neigh-
borhood of New Hope in Bucks county, has furnished me with a
memorandum of the shad taken for thirty-one years from 1890
to 1920 inclusive. From 1890 to 1895 there were four, and from
1896 to 1920 five fisheries contained in his estimates. These sta-
tistics are of such value that I have tabulated them for this pub-
lication, m order that they may be preserved, as follows :
STATISTICS SHOWING NUMBER OF SHAD CAUGHT AND PRICES
OBTAINED.
(From memorandum furnished by William Lewis, New Hope.)
Season of
Caught
Shad
Season of
Caught
Shad
Season of
Caught
Shad
1890
14,000
1901
11,000
1911
14,000
1891
10,000
1902
7,500
1912
20,000
1892
7,200
1903
9,500
1913
19,000
1893
4,800
1904
8,000
1914
8,000
1894
6,400
1905
7,000
1915
1,500
1895
16,000
1906
6,500
1916
3,500
1896
40,000
1907
8,500
1917
4,500
1897
12,500
1908
7,000
1918
2,000
1898
10,000
1909
15.000
1919
1,750
1899
9,000
1910
17,500
1920
2,250
1900
10,000
Total estimated catch for 31 years 313,900
Highest
catch, 1896
. 40,000
Lowest catch, 1915 .
1,500
Average
catch over .
31
years .
. 10,126
MEMORANDUM
TO SHOW ]
PRICES RECEIVED FOR
SHAD.
Retail
in
cents
"Wholesale per hundred
1870
to 1894
40
$30 to
$35
1895
40
15 to
30
1896
30
to
40
7 to
30
1897
to 1899
40
15 to
35
1900
to 1909
40
to
50
25 to
30
280 SHAD FISHING ON THE DELAWARE RIVER
Shad caught and sold at Green Bank and Malta Fisheries.
1910 5,923 for $2,692.83 or .45 each
1912 5,749 for 2,398.65 or .42 each
1913 4,972 for 2,348.65 or .47 each
1920 773 for 1,527.50 or $1.98 each
Mr. Lewis says that the height of the industry was reached
about 1870, after which there was a marked falling off. He
attributes this to the pollution of the Delaware, which is certainly
one of the principal causes for the condition he describes, but his
statistics show such great variations from year to year, that one
must necessarily believe that the pollution of the stream is not
the only cause for less shad, e. g., a catch of 40,000 in 1896 and
of 20,000 in 1912. His table, however, shows that but very few
were taken over the last five years under review. He says he
made his largest single haul on Monday, May 4, 1896, when at
the Liberty Fishery, Lambertville (opposite New Hope), he took
355 shad; and on the following Monday, May 11, they made their
largest daily catch, taking 1,726 shad. During the week ending
April 30, 1910, while operating the Malta fishery at New Hope,
he made his largest weekly catch, viz : 3,250 shad which sold for
a total of $1,429.61, an average of about 44 cents each.
In the splendid paper by Dr. J- Ernest Scott, read before the
Bucks County Historical Society, July 21, 1908, he so fully de-
scribes this industry and the modes of taking shad, that it is only
necessary for me to refer you to that paper, published, with illus-
trations, in Vol. 3, page 543, of our transactions.
In early years shad not only went up the Delaware river, but
also entered some of the larger streams tributary thereto. There
are no records to show when shad were first taken from the Dela-
ware river, but it is quite certain that the aboriginies who in-
habited this country, long before the advent of the white man, well
knew and appreciated the value of this unsurpassed food fish, just
as the heaps of shells along the Atlantic coast testify to their large
use of our Crustacea.
As early as 1698, Gabriel Thomas, in his report to William
Penn, invites his attention to the "shads" in the waters of the
Delaware river abounding in prodiguous quantities.^
1 See "An Historical and Geographical Account of the Province and
Country of Pennsylvania and of West New Jersey in America," p. 13.
SHAD FISHING ON THE DELAWARE RIVER 281
Hazard's Register of Pennsylvania contains many notes relat-
ing to shad fishing in our Pennsylvania streams. In 1802 they
made their appearance in this market as early as February 17.
In 1828 he speaks of two shad taken at Slack's Island, five miles
above Trenton, weighing between eight and nine pounds each. In
1832 shad sold at 33 cents each. From Vol. 3, at page 214, of
the publication referred to, we learn that in 1818 the legislature
of New Jersey appointed a committee to investigate the shad
fisheries on the Delaware, having under consideration the passing
of a law to restrict shad fishing. There were then seventy fish-
eries on both sides of the river below Trenton Falls, employing
1,336 men, whose wages for the short season were $80,160. with
apparatus costing $82,800. and in 1829 there were forty fisheries
within the limits of Gloucester county. N. J., on the Delaware,
which employed 900 men with wages for the season amounting
to $20,000.
An old account book of Martin Mull, who owned a shad fish-
ery at Penn's Point, nearly opposite Bordentown, containing
entries for the year 1844, records that the first catch that season
was on April 1, that during that month the catch was 995 shad.
One haul containing 87 shad sold for $12.18. During May of
that year they caught over 1,000. One entry records the sale of
258 shad for $41.38.
Many attempts have been made to place dams in the Dalaware
river, but the shad fishing industry has heretofore been of such
importance, that no legislature dare to antagonize it and authorize
dams. There was considerable opposition to the construction of
the low rip-rap stone dam near Point Pleasant, used to divert
water into the feeder of the Raritan canal, and much lobbying and
intriguing to raise the dam of the Trenton Water Power Com-
pany at Scudder's Falls, but the opposition of the shad fishing in-
dustry prevented it, in fact they objected to having the stones
put back on the parapet, which had been washed off by the floods.
The congress of the United States, through its deep water-
way commission, is now discussing the question of a deeper
water-way in the Delaware river, to include slack water naviga-
tion. This would necessitate the building of dams, and public
sentiment has undergone so much change that one hears but very
little objection to their plans. Several companies have purchased
282 GROWING, TREATING AND DRYING FLAX.
riparian rights with the view of building dams in the Delaware
river. Xow that the shad industry has practically passed, and
seems of less importance than formerly, such dams are likely to
be built in the near future, and the waters harnessed to turn the
wheels of manufacturing industries, and that would in all prob-
ability forever destroy the few shad fisheries that are left on the
Delaware above tide. Since the advent of electricity, our inland
streams, such as the Delaware river, are of the greatest value,
and will become even more so as the mining of coal becomes
more costly, or the mines become more or less exhausted. The
fall in the Delaware river from Easton to Trenton Falls, according
to a survey contained in Hazard's Register (Vol. I, page 57), in a
distance of 49 miles is 160 feet 5 inches, and the fall above Easton
is even greater, one falls alone, that at Foul Rift below Belvidere
is 22 feet.
Grow^ing, Treating and Drying Flax.
BY ELIJAH R. CASE, C.E., M.S., FRENCHTOWN, N. J.
(Tohickon Park Meeting-, October 9, 1920.)
THE following information was given to Dr. Mercer by Mr.
Case at the Tohickon Park meeting, following the reading
and discussion of the paper on "Wool Combing by Hand",
presented by Mr. Montague.
When I was a lad of from fourteen to sixteen years old (1862
to 1864), attending school in Alexandria township, Hunterdon
county, N. J., I passed by the farm of Samuel S. Shuster and
took notice of the operations of cultivating flax and its subsequent
treatment, to prepare it for spinning. In fact I helped to pull
flax on that farm, which was later acquired by me. The flax
was pulled before it was dead ripe, as flax in that condition was
softer on the hands. The pullers tied it together in small
"hands" or bunches which they shocked in about the same man-
ner that wheat is shocked. About twelve bunches formed one
shock. They were placed on ends, which enabled the seed, exposed
to the sun to ripen. When thoroughly dried it was taken to the
barn where it was forcibly struck on a large rough stone or plank
GROWING, TREATING AND DRYING FLAX
283
set at an angle of about thirty degrees, when nearly all the bolls
and seed came otT. Most of the farmers then ran the bolls through
clover hullers, but some of them threshed their flax stalks with
mallets and stampers to recover the seed. The seed was then
ground and the linseed or flaxseed oil recovered, and the "cake
meal", used for feeding cattle. This was done at the local old mill.
On the Shuster farm referred to, there was an oven for dry-
ing or roasting flax after dew retting and before breaking. This
Remains of stone-built part of flax oven on farm of Elijah R. Case.
oven consisted of a horizontal flue built on an upward incline
against the side of a bank. This flue about fifteen or more feet
long and about eighteen inches wide by twelve inches high, con-
sisted of two parallel loose stone walls roofed over with flat
stones made tight by covering it with earth. The upper or farther
end of the flue entered a wooden box or frame about six feet
long, with a rectangular opening about two and one-half feet by
four feet on the inside. On the inner rim of this flue, about
eight inches below the top, several staves or poles were laid, on
which the flax, after having been dew retted, was placed for
284 WOOL COMBING BY HAND
roasting or dr^'ing. The smoke and heat, minus the sparks, of a
mild wood fire built at the lower end of the stone oven, passed up
through the latter into the box under the flax and so dried it.
It required but fifteen minutes to dry each lot placed in the
dryer. It was removed from the box as fast as dried and im-
mediately broken on the flax brake standing near by, fresh flax
was then placed in the box, thus making the operation continu-
ous. The stone part of this old drying kiln remains.
Wool Combing By Hand
BY WILLIAM B. MONTAGUE, NORRISTOWN, PA.
(Tohickon Park Meeting, October 9, 1920.)
THE rearing of sheep dates back to the earliest times, and
we find many passages in the Bible, which refer to sheep,
wool and woolen garments, but nowhere do we find much
information as to how and when man first made wool useful to
himself.
There is no doubt that the use of wool and particularly the
method of manipulating it, passed in succeeding steps through
the hands of the Egyptians, Greeks and the Romans, and thence
to England, and it is from the English who immigrated to
America that we are able to learn of the primitive methods
used in our own country prior to the introduction of machinery
for combing. There was, no doubt, much hand carding done in
the early days in the preparation of wool for woolen fabrics
and also hand combing done by the individual families who
scoured, combed and spun their own wool by hand and either
wove or had woven for them, the cloth for their own domestic
use, but the first hand combed worsted yarn made commercially
in this part of our country, I believe was made by Moses Hay
who was born in Keighley, England, in 1792, and came to
America in 1816. After a few years spent in endeavoring to
perfect some machinery, he established a small worsted plant in
Dedham, Mass., which proved to be unsuccessful, and in 1822,
WOOL COMBING BY HAND 285
he started for himself, a little plant in Manayunk, Pa., and this
is, no doubt, the start of the manufacture of commercial hand
combed worsted yarn in this locality. Meeting with success,
Mr. Hay established a larger plant on Darby creek, the place
then being known as "Hay bank", Springfield township, Dela-
ware county, Pa. Among his hand combers was one Richard
Dawson, who came to America in 1844, and from whose brother,
William Dawson, now living, aged 89, we learn of Richard's
combing wool to be used for epaulettes on the officer's uniforms
w^orn in the Mexican War.
Mr. Samuel Yewdell came from England in 1844 and worked
for Mr. Hay at his Hay Bank mill, and early in 1846 he started
in business for himself in Philadelphia, in a district called
Blockley, now 54th and Poplar streets, and in 1847 his brother,
John Yewdell, came to America to work for Samuel, and in
1860 he started in business for himself in the Keystone mill at
25th and Hamilton streets. The old mill was lately razed to
make room for the Parkway.
Another of the early hand-combers was John Dawson, father
of Richard, who came here in 1853 to work for Samuel Yewdell.
Mr. John Yewdell is the man who, with the introduction of
machinery, saw the extermination of the wool-comber's art, and
desiring that the memory and traditions be preserved, had this
set of pictures prepared, showing the complete process from mak-
ing the soap to the finished top. These pictures are now the
property of this society, and we are deeply indebted for them to
Mr. George Fiss, a pioneer in the wool business, and from whose
personal note book, we received much of our information. Mr.
Fiss was early identified with the worsted business and his per-
sonal notations on the same are among his greatest treasures.
The wool, which you see here in its original condition, was
first sorted and graded into various lengths and finenesses, keep-
ing in mind all the while, the various numbers of yarn, into which
it might ultimately be spun. This work was done by wool sorters,
who served long apprenticeship before being finally adjudged
competent. William Dawson, referred to above, who was the
son of John and the brother of Richard, remembers very dis-
tinctly serving seven years as an apprentice. After proper sort-
ting, this wool was weighed out to the combers in the district.
286 WOOL COMBING BY HAND
who were also supplied with the soap for scouring, the charcoal
for the comber's pot and the oil. The mill also supplied the
combs as various pitches of combs were necessary for the various
finenesses of wool.
We learn from Mr. Benjamin Smith, an old comber, now 86
years of age, living in Tacony, that these combers came from as
great a distance as eight or ten miles, and used a donkey and
cart as a means of transportation.
The combs given out varied from those with two rows of
teeth or "broches" for coarse wool, to those with six rows of
"broches" for the finest. The comber first scoured the wool in
a large iron bowl, thirty-six or forty inches in diameter, using
the soap, supplied by the mill, and sopping the wool up and down
in the warm suds with his hands or a stick until the yellow gummy
like substance, which was the natural oil from the sheep and
which was called "yolk", as well as the dirt, was thoroughly dis-
solved and washed out. It was wrung out in a very simple but
unique method. Handful after handful was twisted together
into sort of an endless rope, and one loop thrown over a station-
ary hook fastened in the wall, while the other loop was thrown
over a hook fastened in the end of a wooden roller suspended
above the bowl. The wooden roller was then turned round and
round by means of a lever on the end and a twist put into the
woolen rope, which left little room for water. This operation
was very similar to a woman wringing the water out of clothes
by hand. It was then straightened out into little piles on a bench
along side of the comber, either by the children of the house-
hold or by boys hired for the purpose or apprenticed to the
comber. This process was called "making up" and during the
process of making up, the wool was lightly sprinkled with olive
oil, or as it was then called "Oil of Seville". Here is where
the comber's art really started. Taking up the small piles of wool,
prepared by the children, he lashed them unto his comb, which
previously fastened to a post with the broches or teeth end of the
comb towards himself. He used an overhand motion, much after
the manner of hackling flax or using the flail. After filling both
combs to his satisfaction, the broches were thrust into the comb-
er's pot for warming, the wool working much better when warm
than when cold. These comber's pots varied in construction.
WOOL COMBING BY HAND 287
The earliest one, as far as we can learn, was made of common
native clay about three to four inches thick and about two feet in
diameter. It was thirty-six to forty inches in height and had a
hole in the top. for which in some instances, there was an iron
cover, and at other times a clay cover, made of the same ma-
terial of which the pot was made. The pot for burning char-
coal, we are told, had a bottom and no draft whatever was ad-
mitted there. It was the practice to put in six or eight inches of
charcoal in the bottom and carry hot coals from the fireplace,
with which to light the charcoal. This load would last for half
a day, sufficient air to support combustion being admitted to
rough the comb holes and by the occasional lifting of the lid.
The pot for burning coal was similar in construction, with but
three exceptions. First, it had no bottom. Secondly, six or eight
inches from its base, it had an iron grate, on which they burned
a semi- bituminous coal, and thirdly, it had a hole in the side,
near the top, to which was attached a stove pipe. The coal
burned with more or less gas or smoke, while the charcoal was
practically free from both. This latter pot was set up on stones
or dirt and admitted air to support combustion at the bottom.
This difference in pots, was, no doubt, due to local conditions, the
coal pot being used nearer the mining districts and the charcoal
pot where coal was not so accessible. Both pots had similar
comb holes. These were placed horizontally in the sides of the
pot about two and one-half inches from the top, and were about
two and one-half by five inches and varied in number from four
to eight, each comber using two holes. Pots were made for
two, three or four combers.
After proper heating of the combs loaded with wool, they
were withdrawn from the pot, one rehung on the post and with
the other, the comber proceeded to comb out the long fibres from
comb to comb, alternating his combs on the post until gradually
all the short fibres or noils were worked to the base of the
broches. This first combing process, with the coarser combs was
called jugging.
The wool was then pulled from the combs by hand by the
comber into a "sliver", care being used to keep this sliver as
near to a size as possible. These slivers were rolled up into
balls called "heads" and when sufficient wool had been given
288 WOOL COMBING BY HAND
this first combing or jigging process, the heads were gathered to-
gether for back-washing or re-scouring. After re-scouring in ex-
actly the same manner as in the first instance, the wool was re-
combed with finer combs, this time there being very much less of
the noils to be taken out. The wool was now very soft and lofty
and in pulling this sliver, much more care was used in keeping it
into an even thickness, usually a ring of bone being used as a
measure through which the sliver was pulled. In the subsequent
operation of "doubling" and drawing, the sliver was gradually
reduced in size until you had a roving, which when given the
proper number of twists or turns on the spinning frame produced
a yard of the weight and thickness desired.
Various attempts were made to produce a machine to shorten
this slow method of hand combing and as early as 1790, we
had a machine comb made by Arkright in England, but which
proved not to be very successful. We next had the Eastman
comb, but it was not until 1849 or 1850 that the Lester comb
revolutionized this art. Almost human in its action, with but
one fault. It combed long wools admirably, but on short wools,
which were the native wools of the south of England, there was
room for improvement. Within two years of this time, the
Noble comb was invented and the wool combing problem was
solved, and the combing of wool by hand was destined to become
a lost art in England and America. The Noble comb of today
will comb from five hundred to eight hundred pounds daily, de-
pending on the fineness and the length of staple of the wool
being combed. One operator, usually a woman, minds two combs.
In England, the hand comber was paid for his work from two
pence a pound (four cents) to four pence "but". Four pence
"but" meaning that he did not get quite eight cents for his work,
as he would have liked, but did in reality receive three pence
and three farthings or seven and one-half cents per pound. Dur-
ing all this experimental machine stage, the slogan of the hand
comber was "They will never be able to do by machine what we
now do by hand". How mistaken they were !
Probably the first power comb imported into this country was
a Lester, brought here by the Pacific Mills of Lawrence, Mass.,
in 1853.
For the information we have today on this lost art, we are
WOOL COMBING BY HAND
289
greatly indebted to Mr. John Yewdell for his forethought in hav-
ing these pictures prepared and to the following gentlemen, who
are yet living: Mr. George W. Fiss, an old time wool merchant,
who in after years established the business that is now the Er-
ben, Harding Co., of Tacony; Mr. William Dawson, aged 89, a
wool sorted, whose father and brother were both combers in Eng-
land and America; Mr. Benjamin Smith, aged 86, who also fol-
lowed this trade here and at home, and Mr. Robert Sunderland,
aged 65, a machinist by trade, whose father and grandfather were
both combers in Bradford, England.
Octagonal or So-Called "Eight-Square" Schoolhouses.
BY WARREN S. ELY, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Tohickon Park Meeting, October 9, 1920.)
THERE is probably no subject of more interest to the local
historian than the problem and progress of public education
in Pennsylvania.
William Penn very evidently intended that public schools for
the education of children should be established in his colony and
supported from a common fund. But from the fact that jeal-
ousies arose between the different sects represented in the first
settlement of Bucks county, each sect preferring to educate its
own youth, the only schools established for the first three-quar-
ters of a century were in connection with the churches or meet-
ings for religious worship.
About the middle of the eighteenth century a number of school-
houses were erected in our county on the plan of subscriptions, by
families residing in the neighborhood where the schools were
located, the funds to pay for them and their sites being raised by
popular subscriptions, the titles in each instance being held by
three or five trustees selected by the proprietors, as the subscrib-
ers were generally called. Teachers were employed by the trus-
tees or an auxiliary committee and were paid, usually, pro-rata
for the number of scholars taught. Some few were established
as early as 1735-40, but they did not become numerous or popular
in our county until about 1760. The first schoolhouses were con-
structed of logs, or of frame or stone, the matter of material
being governed by their location and the amount of money that
could be collected for their construction.
The same condition prevailed in adjoining counties and states.
In Hunterdon county, New Jersey, the first houses were almost
invariably built of logs, and almost as universally succeeded in
the first half of the nineteenth century by stone octagonal school-
houses. In our own county the octagonal schoolhovise does not
appear until the nineteenth century, and the same is true of the
adjoining counties of Pennsylvania, the state of Delaware, and
the lower river counties of New Jersey. The period during which
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OCTAGU.\'A_L
LiioLSii;, BUILT ABOUT 1835.
Jirmingham Township, Delaware County, Pa.
Now used as a Catholic Mission Chapel.
OLD EIGHT-SQUARE SCHOOLHOUSE.
Wrightstown Township, Bucks County, Pa.
OCTAGONAL OR SO-CALLED "eIGIIT SQUARE" SCHOOLHOUSES 291
these peculiarly shaped schoolhouses were built lies between
1800 and 1840, very few being built anywhere, that we can learn
of, earlier than 1800, and none after 1850.
The main question we propose to discuss in this paper is the
origin of this peculiar building, why it was selected for the use
of schools. Certain it is that it was universally popular for the
particular period above referred to, and seems to belong to this
particular section although we have some account of their being
erected at far distant points from Bucks county. In these cases,
however, there is a strong supposition that the style of building
was introduced in these distant sections by emigrants from Bucks
county or its immediate neighborhood.
In connection with Dr. Mercer we have had investigations
made in reference to the existence of the eight-square buildings in
several states. We succeeded in finding one near Syracuse, N.
Y., an account of which and other buildings of the same type in
that locality will be given later in this paper.
J. F. Hudson, of Smyrna, Delaware, a recent visitor to our
museum, told us of an eight-square schoolhouse located near the
center of the state of Delaware, twelve miles south of Wilming-
ton. Mr. Hudson was born within eight miles of that school-
house, but never attended school there. He, however, was fa-
miliar with its construction and insists that it was the only one
in that section, and he thinks the only one in that state. It was
practically of the same type as to size and form as those we are
familiar with near home, but was built of wood, having a window
on each of its eight sides excepting the one which contained the
door. The apex of the roof was surmounted by a brick chimney
resting on the joists at the square.
Our first impression was that this form of building originated
with the Quakers. This theory was in a measure supported by
the fact that the first meeting-house of the Society of Friends at
Burlington, N. J., erected in 1682, was hexagon in shape. Our
friend, Thaddeus S. Kenderdine, of Newtown, visited Burling-
ton several years ago and has this to say about the Burlington
Meeting and Meeting-house :
" 'Set up' in 1671, this was one of the oldest meeting places for
Friends on the continuent, preceding Philadelphia. There, in 1682, was
built the 'Great Meetinghouse,' private houses being previously used for
worship. This was a 'six square building 48 feet out to out.' Of this
292
OCTAGONAL OR SO-CALLED EIGHT SQUARE SCHOOLHOUSES
I have a picture, and I doubt if there was ever such another Friends'
meetinghouse built. A hexagon in ground plan, there were large double
doors next the street and two windows piercing each of the other sides.
Up the roof, twenty feet from the ground, sat what gave the building
the appearance of one of those 'steeple houses' which so* troubled the
minds of early Friends. This was a sort of cupola, which rose six feet
above the roof, topped with a blunt peak, with windows in each side.
* * * The picture is copied from a lithograph which must have been
made before 1790, unless drawn from descriptions. Before 1691 courts
FRIENDS MEETING HOUSE, BURLINGTON, N. J.
1682-1787.
were held in this meetinghouse, in which year certain Friends made
objection thereto through the monthly meeting, when directions were
given that the building be confined to its special use. The semblance
of it may have justified its legal occupation by the law officials of
Burlington County. It stood just in the rear of its successor, and was
shaded by sycamores, an immense specimen of which is yet standing.
The present meetinghouse is of brick, built about 1785, in the con-
ventional style."
So far as we can learn there was no provision made for heat-
ing this ancient building, and in the absence of stoves, unknown
at that date, it could not be heated except by individual foot
stoves carried in by the devotees, as in the old churches of Hol-
land. It is a far cry from 1682 to 1802. and there is nothing to
suggest a connection of our octagon and hexagon schoolhouses of
OCTAGONAL OR SO-CALLED "EIGHT SQUARE" SCIIOOLHOUSES 293
the nineteenth century with this seventeenth century house of
worship.
Another clue came from a man who drifted into our hbrary
and told me that the first Unitarian Church in Philadelphia was
octagon in shape, and Dr. Mercer having already suggested a
possible New England origin, at his suggestion, I wrote to Wil-
liam Summer Appleton, corresponding secretary of the Society
for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, at Boston,
Mass., who replied stating that he had never heard of an octa-
gonal schoolhouse, but that there was an octagonal church at
East Lexington, Mass., and that there was a number of octagonal
residences, but gave me no dates.
It having been suggested that the peculiar form of building
originated with the Friends, I wrote to Kirk Brown, clerk of
Baltimore Yearly Meeting, who for many years have been en-
gaged as a genealogist and historian and had traveled over the
parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and
Virginia, settled by Friends, and examined many Friends Meet-
ing records and who by virtue of his official position was the
custodian of records of widely scattered meetings of the early
days. Through these mediums he was probably one of the best
informed men of his time in reference to habits and customs of
the early Friends. Mr. Brown replied that he had never seen or
heard of the Friends erecting or occupying octagonal buildings.
As we progressed in our investigation in reference to octagonal
buildings, we have become convinced that they originated with
the Dutch.
AN OCTAGONAL DUTCH TRADING POST AT TRENTON, NEW JERSEY.
In August, 1872, George Bernard Consolloy, in excavating for
the erection of buildings at 738-744 South Warren street, Tren-
ton, N. J., unearthed the foundation walls of an octagon building
about sixty feet in diameter. The foundation walls composed of
hard gray stone were laid about two feet thick with mortar
running six feet deep. The walls had four openings, each about
three feet wide and facing to the north, east, south and west.
On the sides of the walls, facing the Delaware river, there was
built up against the same a brick wall about one foot thick and
four feet deep of hard burnt brick. On the northwest comer of
294
OCTAGONAL OR SO-CALLED "EIGHT SQUARE" SCHOOLHOUSES
the building there was an old stone and brick chimney about six
feet wide and six feet deep from the surface of the foundation.
A few cannon balls were found in the ruins, also a quantity of
cooking utensils, having the appearance of very thick stoneware,
made in curious shapes, most of which were broken in fragments.
Several noted archaeologists and historians have discussed the
matter, among them Dr. Charles Conard Abbott, who published
an article in the Trenton Sunday Advertiser, March 18, 1906.
Dr. Charles E. Godfrey of Trenton, read a paper before the
Trenton Historical Society. March 20, 1919, which was printed
by the society in pamphlet form, and reproduced in the "Proceed-
ings of the New Jersey Historical Society," (New Series, Vol.
V, No. 4, October, 1920), discussing the probability of the
building being the remains of the Dutch Trading Post, erected
by the Dutch West India Company in 1630, and destroyed by
the Swedes in 1646. He illustrates the paper with a drawing
of the ground plan of the building and discusses its construction
and history at some length. He observes :
"The octagon construction of buildings was an exclusive character-
istic of the early Dutch. This statement cannot be successfully con-
troverted. In Holland today will be found windmills and other struc-
DUTCH TRADING POST, TRENTON, N. J.
OCTAGONAL OR SO-CALLED "EIGHT SQUARE*' SCIIOOLIIOUSES 295
tures which were built centuries ago in the octagon and other angular
forms. In this Colony we know the Dutch built the octagon stone
church in 1680, at Bergen, now part of Jersey City. * * * The
superstructure was evidently built of logs, otherwise the upper surface
of the foundation excavated would not have been level and flush. * *
The brick wall on the outside facing the river was doubtless built to
divert the dampness and the cold northwest winds in winter from the
crude walls of the foundation, on the side of the basement in which
the traders undoubtedly lived." His illustration of the outline of the
base of the building is reproduced herewith. "The transverse walls
were built to support the great weight of skins, stores, and other ma-
terials stored on the floor above."
Victor H. Paltists. of the New York Public Library, possesses
an illustration of an original octagonal building which was
erected by the Dutch, near Utrecht, Long Island, at an early, but
unknown date.
Having determined that the octagonal constructions originated
with the Dutch does not account for the appearance of these octa-
gonal schoolhouses in our section nearly two centuries after the
Dutch creations had practically disappeared. Several historians
and others with whom we have corresponded, and whose descrip-
tions of these old eight-square schoolhouses we have read, have
suggested that the occasion for building a schoolhouse in that
form was that the scholars could be kept under the eye of the
teacher much better than in a square building, and, wath the
advent of stoves with a pipe, they could be more easily and eco-
nominally heated. We are disposed to agree wdth them and have
about despaired of finding the individual or exact community
who and which suggested and adopted the peculiar form of
building, just at the period when the six plate and ten plate stove
began to come into common use. We believe, however, that the
place where its use originated was either in or near Bucks county,
where we have found at least nine of these eight-square school-
houses ranging in date of erection from 1802 to 1833, a list of
which is given below.
We have an account of two octagonal schoolhouses in Mont-
gomery county, one at Conshohocken, and one at Plymouth
Meeting. The one at Conshohocken was still standing and used
as a schoolhouse as late as August 15, 1903, when a reunion of
teachers and pupils was held there. A rude pencil sketch of this
296
OCTAGONAL OR SO-CALLED "EIGHT SQUARE SCHOOLHOUSES
schoolhouse shows a sort of storm door or vestibule in front but
otherwise conforms to the usual type.
Col. Henry D. Paxson, one of our vice-presidents, has sent me
elaborate drawings, describing an octagonal schoolhouse at New-
ton Square, Chester county, Pa., prepared by his cousin, Edward
S. Paxson, an architect of W^est Chester, copies of which are
shown below.
OCTAGONAL SCHOOLHOUSE AT NEWTON SQUARE,
CHESTER COUNTY, PA.
Note that all the desks are arranged with the pupils facing the center of
the room.
OCTAGONAL OR SO-CALLED EIGHT SQUARE SCHOOLIIOUSES
297
F. H. Shelton has sent me cuts of two octagonal schoolhouses
in Delaware county, one in Newton township, built about 1841.
now used as a small barn or wagon house, the other in Burming-
ham township, built 1835 to 1840, now used as a Catholic Mission
i. 4
Cu-TWe ot W.nAov
OCTAGONAL SCHOOLHOUSE AT NEWTON SQUARE
Outside leng-th of each side approximately 12 feet, inside 11 feet, walls
1 foot thick. Height of walls inside 10 feet, width inside 25 feet 10 inches.
W, 7 windows. D, door. B-B, blackboards.
Chapel. He also reports having seen an eight-square school-
house, which he passed while on a summer outing — "A wooden
one, 13 miles southeast of Syracuse. N. Y., on the road to
Ithaca." I therefore wrote to \V. AI. Beauchamp at Syracuse,
his reply dated September 23, 1920. says:
298 OCTAGONAL OR SO-CALLED "EIGHT SQUARE" SCIIOOLIIOUSES
"Octagonal schoolhouses are rare here, and are not of early
date. About 70 years ago there came a slight craze for that
style of building, and a very few dwelling houses of that shape
were erected. Two brick schoolhouses were also built. I can-
not however give the precise years, but it was not far from 1850.
Both were in rural districts. One, No. 4 of Otisco. is about a
mile south of Otisco village, the other No. 17 of Skaneateles. is
about the same distance south of that village, I can think of no
others. Village schoolhouses were usually of brick. Rural ones
of wood, brick or stone, often of the latter * * * * j ^yju
enclose a sketch of the first schoolhouse in Syracuse, said to
have been built in 1819, or probably a little later. This style of
roof was frequently used in dwelling houses. 1830-40. Pennsyl-
vania people were rarely pioneers here."
The sketch of the first schoolhouse in Syracuse. 1819, referred
to by Mr. Beauchamp, is that of a square building, with peaked
room, a chimney crowning apex.
OCTAGONAL SCHOOLHOUSES IN NORTHAMPTON COUNTY, PA.
Of the octagonal schoolhouses in Northampton county we
have record of but two. One of them described by John R.
Laubach of Nazareth in the Pennsylvania-German Maga:;ine for
November, 1907, Vol. VIII. page 513, which stood on the Bath
road in Upper Nazareth township. This has been so fully re-
ferred to by Alden M. Collins in his paper read before this so-
ciety that it is only necessary to draw attention to that valuable
contribution to this subject, see page 251 ante. The other one
was located in the village of Lower Saucon. in Lower Saucon
township, on the south side of the road leading from Hellertown
to Riegelsville. After it was abandoned for school purposes it
was for years used as a chicken house. I am told by Dr. B. F.
Fackenthal, Jr., that his grandmother, Fackenthal, nee Illick and
Mrs. Fackenthal's grandmother, Riegel, nee Leidy, attended
school together in that old house. We are fortunate in being
able to present an etching of this old building from a photograph
taken in 1902.
OCTAGONAL SCHOOLHOUSES IN BERKS COUNTY.
The Pennsylvania-German, for November, 1907. already re-
ferred to, also contains an interesting article on an octagonal
OCTAGONAL OR SO-CALLED "EIGHT SQUARE" SCHOOLHOUSES 299
schoolhouse in Berks county, written by the then county school
superintendent, E. M. Rapp of Hamburg, Pa. This is also re-
ferred to by Mr. Collins, but the description given by Mr. Rapp
is so interesting that it has been thought best to quote more fully
from it. It was still standing in 1907 when the article was
published. Its location was at the eastern end of the village of
Sinking Spring, near a recently abandoned tollgate on the Har-
risburg pike, and is said to be the only building of its kind in
that county. It was abandoned as a schoolhouse over fifty
years ago, and then used as a dwelling house. The author says
the outside is the same as when constructed, except for a porch
in front, an addition on the east and a dormer window. The
inside still contains the umbrella-like rafters. The author fails
to give the date of its erection, but gives the impression that it
was built immediately after the Revolutionary War. His state-
ment on this subject follows:
"The immediate predecessor of the octagonal schoolhouse in country
districts during the Colonial times was the log schoolhouse with a
rough puncheon floor or a dirt floor. During and immediately after the
Revolutionary War the rough log cabin was replaced, in the Aliddle
States, by a better schoolhouse of the octagonal shape, so much in
favor for meetinghouses as well as for school purposes. In Eastern
Pennsylvania these octagonal schoolhouses were nearly always built of
stone, like the one we have just described. The interior furnishings of
this schoolhouse were very meager. Against the walls all around the
room was built a continuous sloping shelf, about three feet from the
floor, serving the purpose of a desk. Long backless benches accom-
panied it, on which the older pupils sat facing the wall. While they
were studying they leaned against the edge of the shelf, and when
they wrote or ciphered they rested their exercise-books and slates on it.
Under it, on a horizontal shelf, that was somewhat narrower than the
upper one, the pupils kept their books and other school belongings
when not in use. A table was placed in the middle or near the middle
of the room, with lower benches on each side of it for the smaller chil-
dren. The number of children the schoolhouse would hold depended on
how closely they could be packed on the benches. The enrollment in
mid-winter numbered between seventy and eighty. The children in the
old-time families were more numerous than now; "race-suicide" was
unknown and the farm regions had not yet begun to be depopulated by
the cityward migration destined to drain them later. But no matter
how many pupils, there was never any thought of providing more than
a single teacher.
The master's desk was placed at the north end of the building, op-
posite the entrance, but inside the circle of shelving which served as a
300 OCTAGONAL OR SO-CALLED "eIGHT SQUARE" SCHOOLHOUSES
continuous desk. Besides serving the ordinary purposes of a desk, it
was repository for confiscated tops, balls, pen-knives, marbles, jew's-
harps and the like, and was frequently a perfect curiosity shop. All
seats and desks were of pine or oak, rudely fashioned by some local
carpenter. Their aspect was not improved by the passing years; the
unpainted wood became more browned with the number of human con-
tacts and every possessor of a pen-knife labored over them with much
idle hacking and carving. This old-time schoolhouse must have been
somewhat up-to-date, as a wooden blackboard four feet square was
hung against the wall opposite the entrance: but in order to use it the
children were obliged to crawl with their knees on the sloping shelving
used as desks.
A cast-iron wood stove occupied the middle of the room and nearly
roasted the little ones, who occupied the seats around the table nearby.
The wood was usually furnished free of charge by the parents. It was
cut into stove lengths by the older boys. In a school of seventy or
eighty pupils there were a score of j^oung men and women practically
grown-up. The young men took turns in 'chopping' and in pleasant
weather preferred the change to the school routine. The wood was oft-
times burned green; no one thought of getting school wood ready long
enough beforehand to allow it to season. When it was delivered in the
schoolyard, it lay there exposed, and it was often wet with rain and
buried in the snow. In summer the place of the woodpile was marked
by scattered chips and refuse. Woodsheds and even other necessarj^
outbuildings were conspicuous for their absence. At times several of
the boys earned their tuition by cutting wood a certain period and at-
tending to the fire.
The tuition amounted to three cents a day and where parents were
too poor the most well-to-do often volunteered to pay the tuition of the
children of their less fortunate neighbors. The school room walls were
most dismally vacant except for weather-stains and the grime from the
fire. The school room was lighted by six small windows of twelve
panes each. The glass in the windows was often broken and in cool
weather the place of the missing panes was supplied with hats during
the school hours."
About the books and making of pens, Mr. Rapp has the fol-
lowing to say :
"For each writer the master set a copy at the top of the pupil's
copying book. The writing book was usually made of sheets of fools-
cap paper, with a brown paper cover sewed on. The writing was done
with a quill pen, and the experienced teacher always took great pride
in his ability to make and mend pens."
His description of the process of making pens is so full and
clear that we copy it in full :
"Richard B. Krick is still quite a genius in making a pen and showed
the writer minutely how to make one. A sharp pen-knife is needed.
OCTAGONAL OR SO-CALLED "EIGHT SQUARE" SCHOOLHOUSES 301
The new quill must be scraped on the outside to remove the thin film,
a sort of cuticle which enveloped the quill proper. One dexterous stroke
cut off what was to become the under side of the pen. A single mo-
tion of the knife made the slit. Two quick strokes removed the two
upper corners, leaving the point. Then came the most delicate part of
the mechanical process. The point of the pen was placed on the thumb
nail of the left hand. The knife was deftly guided so as to cut off
the extreme end of the pen directly across the slit, leaving a smooth
end, not too blunt so as to make too large a mark, and not too fine so
as to scratch."
The author gives some account of the early teachers, the old-
time school discipline, and the mode of teaching.
A visitor to our library from Spring City, Chester county, Pa.,
where he was then teaching, stated that he was a native of Bed-
ford county. Pa., and that there was an eight-square house in
that county, still in use, that was a rare curiosity.
Just across the Delaware in Hunterdon county, N. J., we
have located ten octagonal schoolhouses, and there were probably
more. Two of these were six sided instead of eight, but had
otherwise the same style of constntction and equipment. In that
locality, as in Bucks county, they were not considered so great
a curiosity, being looked upon simply as an obsolete and an-
tiquated style of building, that had recently fallen into disuse.
Our friend and fellow member, Hiram E. Deats of Flemington,
N. J., has kindly brought us pictures of some of these New Jersey
temples of learning that will give you a clear idea of their ap-
pearance.* I personally recall seeing several of these eight-square
schoolhouses in his county forty-odd years ago.
The octagonal schoolhouses in Hunterdon county. New Jersey,
of which we have a definite record are as follows :
Union School, at Slacktown, erected 1820, near the center of what
was known as the Great Black Bear Swamp.
Mount Airy, on the York road, three miles from Lambertville,
erected 1823.
Van Dolah's, near Dilt's Corner, hexagon, erected 1822, torn down,
1908.
Sergeant's, near Sergeantsville, still standing but enlarged, 1830.
Stockton, erected 1832.
Union, in Union township, erected 1837.
Oregon, near Croton, no date, part of walls still standing; hexagon.
* The pictures of schoolhouses produced by Mr. Deats at the meeting- were
in local publications and we have not acquired copies. They resembled in all
particulars the other octagonal schoolhouses of which we give illustrations.
302 OCTAGONAL OR SO-CALLED "eIGHT SQUARe" SCHOOLHOUSES
Harmony, on the road from Ringoes to Croton, erected 1851; stand-
ing until about 1901.
Mt. Lebanon, in Lebanon township, erected in 1835, torn down 1876.
Sand Brook, about four miles from Stockton, standing in 1860.
All of these were built to succeed log of frame schoolhouses
and with the exception of Oregon, some history of the districts
and schools and schoolhouses is given in a manuscript "History
of the School Districts of Hunterdon County," written by Cor-
nelius S. Conkling in 1870, then county superintendent of schools.
Having heard of an octagonal schoolhouse near Gloucester, N.
J., I wrote to David J. Doran in regard to it, and received the
following reply :
"In reply to your letter inquiring about an eight-square schoolhouse
in this place, I would say that it stood on the north side of Big Timber
Creek, near the bridge, and faced a famous highway that ran from
Salem to Gloucester, and every Tuesday and Friday the famous Fox
Hunting club used to pass, gaudily attired and mounted on thorough-
breds, with a pack of forty hounds, on a fox chase in the woods from
1766 to 1814. It was built long ago and the door faced the old Salem
road, now wiped out, as a straighter road was built in 1844 about a
hundred yards away. The house was of brick about the same size as
others of its kind and exact dimensions can be found in some book on
rural schools. It was on the ground and had no cellar, nor woodshed,
the wood being in a pile which the boys chopped (being farmers sons
and used to this work), the w^ood stove that heated the school was in
the center of the room the pipe leading up to the chimney hole with a
short chimney in the center of the octagonal roof. The windows were
long, one in each side and with twelve panes and around the door was
a portico. Scholars attending this school say the desk did not stand
(fastened) against the wall, as described in historical matter relating to
such schools, but insist that the desks stood so that the light fell over
their shoulders, and the benches were against the walls. The small
boys and girls were seated in the center of the room and the teacher's
desk was to the left on entering and a bucket with cup was used for
drinking. The boys had to go out into the woods nearby and cut the
rods used in whipping the bad boys. About one hundred scholars were
generally in attendance and the school district was about five miles and
originally was built in colonial days when the farmers in the district
were Quakers, but the latter was a public school. Before 1836 the
school was in old Gloucester City, but scholars from the southern end
used to go there and about three-quarters of a mile from there, lying
near Westville, now a good sized town with its own schools. Miss
Priscilla Redfield, daughter of John Redfield, a historian, used to teach
there and some of the scholars grew up and got rich. There were
several other eight-square schoolhouses in this section, all were brick.
OCTAGONAL OR SO-CALLED ''eIGHT SQUARE" SCHOOLHOUSES 303
The old log school has passed away without any trace although I am
positive they were in this state. I cannot find any eight-square school-
houses standing around here, but I've heard there are some left in your
state of Pennsylvania. The school I've described was plastered, against
the brick on the sides and ceiling squared away leaving a little attic,
the roof was of shingles."
OCTAGONAL SCHOOLHOUSES IN BUCKS COUNTY.
The octagonal schoolhouses in Bucks county of which we have
record were nine in number as follows :
1. Oxford or Neeld Eight Square in Lower Makefield near
Oxford Valley, with date stone marked "1775," which corre-
sponds with the date of the conveyance of the lot to trustees.
(D. B. 18, p. 211.) Dr. Mercer, however, basing his opinion on
a scientific investigation of its construction made by Frank K.
Swain, claims that it was built as late as 1830. (A full text of
Dr. Mercer's opinion is hereto attached.) The date- stone may
have been taken from an earlier building on the site. General
Davis says that the youth of Yardleyville attended this school,
until an octagonal schoolhouse was erected on the site of Oak
Grove schoolhouse.
2. Penns Park, on the Swamp road at its intersection with the
Second Street Pike, about one mile southwest of the village of
Penns Park in \\'rightstown township. It was erected in 1802,
and is described by Alden M. Collins in a paper read at our meet-
ing last June at the Buckingham Meeting-house. The outside
measurement of the walls is 11 feet 2 inches on each face. Walls
8 feet high and 18 inches thick. Windows in each face except
the one occupied by the door. Window apertures 3 feet 9 inches
by 2 feet 8 inches high. Pyramid shaped roof surmounted at
apex by a hooded pipe in the place of a chimney. Roof originally
of shingles, now covered with tin.
3. Franklin, near Bursonville, in Springfield township, said to
have been built in 1807 or 1809, but no proof submitted showing
so early a date. I was unable to find deeds to trustees for the
site. A full description of this schoolhouse and the school con-
ducted therein is given in the Riegclsvillc News of October 9,
1901, and in a paper read June 9, 1900, by Miss Myra Brodt,
before the Buckwampun Historical Society. The construction
corresponds with that of other octagon schoolhouses given in
304 OCTAGONAL OR SO-CALLED "EIGHT SQUARE" SCIIOOLHOUSES
this narrative. A window in each of the seven sides, and the
door in the eighth ; teacher's desk opposite door ; stove in centre ;
surrounded by benches used by scholars too small to write ;
bucket of water on bench near the door and the usual paddle or
tag hung at the door with "out" and "in" on it. William J.
Buck, our early historian, was one of the founders, and a trustee
of this school. The desks as described differ from those de-
scribed in the other schools, as they were "closed with lids fast-
ened on hinges." Several incidents in the history of the school
are given in this sketch, and a reference to the kind of books
used. The fields surrounding the schoolhouse were many times
surveyed, in giving the pupils practical education in surveying.
4. Leidytown, in Hilltown township, at intersection of Bethle-
hem road with road from Chalfont, built 1816. Miss Euphemia
James, who attended school there, has given interesting reminis-
censes. Long since torn down.
5. Stewart's, in New Britain township, on the Ferry road,
near Fountainville, built in 1816, torn down by Arthur Chapman,
on whose land it was located, the site having reverted to him by
lapse of school several years ago.
6. Hickory Grove, on the Durham road, in Buckingham, near
Plumstead township line, built 1818 (D. B. 46, p. 500). replaced
by present rectangular stone building several years ago. Built
by subscribers from Buckingham and Plumstead. Originally
called Union Schoolhouse.
7. Groveland, in Plumstead township, near Hinkletown, ad-
joining the Mennonite Meeting-house, lot conveyed to trustees in
1833. (D. B. 58, p. 10.) It was built of planks spiked laterally
to upright posts and lathed and plastered inside and out. Was,
as near as we can learn, of about the same size and form and
equipped in the same way as the stone octagons.
8. Mine Spring, in Bridgeton township, near Rupletown. Our
fellow member, J. H. Fitzgerald, who attended school there, says
it was a school fifty years ago. It appears on Scott's Atlas of
1876.
9. Lumberville, at the intersection of the State road with the
road from Lumberville to Carversville, a short distance west of
the present Green Hill schoolhouse, stood an octagon school-
OCTAGONAL OR SO-CALLED "EIGHT SQUARE" SCHOOLHOUSES 305
house erected in 1824, on land conveyed by Abraham Paxson to
Samuel Hartley, Esq., Robert Livezy and David McCray, trus-
tees for the subscribers to a fund for building a schoolhouse.^
A school was maintained there until about 1858. During the
last fifteen years of that period it was under the common school
system of Pennsylvania. By deed dated June 24, 1858, the then
trustees (surviving) John E. Kenderdine, Amos Armitage and
Cyrus Livezey, conveyed the lot to the school directors of Sole-
bury township. It was then about to be abandoned, and was
almost immediately conveyed by the school directors to Hiram
Keise and was used for some years as a dwelling. This deed
contains the following clause: "Whereas owing to insufficient
size and dilapidated condition of the schoolhouse, rendering it
vmsuitable to supply the present wants of the neighborhood and
the operation of the school law making it unnecessary that the
neighborhood should rebuild the house, the proprietors have di-
rected the said trustees to convey the said house and lot to the
Solebury School District.
Our friend, Thaddeus S. Kenderdine, in his "History of the
Kenderdine Family," page 244, gives a history and description of
this schoolhouse, which is accompanied by a cut thereof. Mr.
Kenderdine gives the date of erection as 1823. The deed for
the property is dated February 21, 1824, and the schoolhouse
had probably been erected in the autumn preceding.
Mr. Kenderdine says the school-room was not over ten yards
across. "Besides the desks circling the walls two rows crossed
the room and next to these were benches for the smaller chil-
dren, who sat in discomfort for their feet swung above the
floor. Still in front of these were the reciting classes."
A huge ten plate stove used to heat the room in earlier
days, was changed to a cylinder stove when coal came into use.
We have more or less minute descriptions of several of the
octagonal schoolhouses in the above lists as well as a number of
the schoolhouses in other localities, and they all correspond
more or less in size and form of construction, as well as in the
internal arrangements. The schoolhouse at Newtown Square,
of which we give an illustration, made from a draft by an archi-
tect, shows the desks and seats of the scholars dififerently ar-
1 Deed Book No. 70, p. 575.
306 OCTAGONAL OR SO-CALLED "eIGHT SQUARE^ SCHOOLHOUSES
ranged than in the octagonal schoolhouses either in Bucks and
other counties, or in New Jersey, in that the scholars sat facing
the center of the room instead of, as in other schools, facing the
walls. The arrangement of the chimney and location of the
stove is exactly similar in the descriptions we have obtained.
The chimney was built upon timbers, extending across the school-
house, resting on the top of the walls, and supporting a ceiling,
where, as usual, there was a ceiling. These chimneys were built
either of stone or brick, and extended up through the peak of
the roof, and the stove was located in the center of the room, a
pipe extending directly upward into the chimney at the ceiling.
In the case of the Penns Park schoolhouse, No. 2, in the
above list, there does not seem to have been any chimney, the
stove pipe extending directly up through the apex of the roof,
and provided with a hood at its terminus.
C. Yardley Stradling sent us a detailed description of the Neeld
or Oxford schoolhouse, especially the arrangement of the chim-
ney, which corresponds with our statement made above.
Dr. Mercer's opinion in reference to the Neeld octagonal school-
house is as follows :
"Neeld Octagon Schoolhouse as examined by Frank K. Swain on
Sept. 25, 1920, is an octagon built of surface sandstone laid in crumbling
lime and sand mortar with walls 18 inches thick and 7 feet and 9 inches
high inside, plastered outside and in. The whole 24 feet 1 inch in di-
ameter inside and with its inside faces 10 feet wide. It shows a recent
shingle roof, modern shutters nailed fast, a little brick chimney 21 K'
inches by 9 inches at its apex, one entrance door and windows, with
sashes lost, in each wall face except that of the door.
The floor of the single interior room built over a two feet deep cellar,
with a central foundation wall for its rafters, is level with the outer
ground. All the furniture of this old schoolroom and its attachments
are gone, but several blocks and strips, walled in the interior wall, show
that there was a teacher's platform opposite the door about six inches
high, and that a washboard, a fixed desk on plank ends against the wall
with narrow top board and bottom shelf, and a series of wooden hat-
pegs on the window top level, encircled the entire room. All the old
window sash are gone. So is the door. The door opening is boxed
and the window openings boxed above and below but plastered on the
sides. The original river lath and plastered ceiling follows the rafters
for about three feet and then crosses the room forming a truncated octa-
gonal ceiling with a stove pipe hole encased with an earthenware tube
in its flat center, 10 feet above the floor, thus concealing a sealed up
OCTAGONAL OR SO-CALLED "EIGHT SQUARE" SCHOOLHOUSES 307
doorless small garret in the apex which hides the interior of the Uttle
brick flue there suspended.
Notwithstanding the red sandstone date stone, dated '1775,' and left
unplastered on the outer wall space, next to the left of the door face,
the well preserved cut nails, with machine squared, and not hand ham-
mered, heads, hence not of the earliest type, found by us in the original
riven lath of the ceiling, and in the original moulding edging the original
wall fastenings around the windows, are entirely out of place and im-
possible in a building constructed in 1775, when only wrought nails
were used. In spite of the loss of nearly all the distinctive interior
fittings, these tell-tale nails indicate that the date stone above men-
tioned is a relic of an older building, and proves that this schoolhouse
was built, not in 1775, but in the first quarter of the 19th century."
With all due deference to Dr. Mercer's knowledge of the con-
struction of old houses and his remarkable ability in dating them
from the construction, we think it is possible that the ceiling and
inside plastering with its original mouldings, may have been
added fifty years after the erection of the schoolhouse. How-
ever, inasmuch as General Davis reports a tradition that the
youth from Yardley attended this school before an eight-square
schoolhouse was erected on the site of Oak Grove school in
Yardley, it looks to me as if the "erection of the eight-square
schoolhouse" pertained to the renewal of the old schoolhouse at
Oxford, instead of the new one at Oak Grove, and the tradition
got mixed to that extent.
Sketch of Dr. Jonathan Ingham.
BY JOHN HALL INGHAM, ESQ., PHILADELPHIA, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting-, January 15, 1921.)
THE grandfather of Dr. Jonathan Ingham, Jonas Ingham, a
native of England and a member of the Society of Friends,
came to New England about 1705 and in 1730 moved with
his family to Bucks county, Pennsylvania. His only son, Jona-
than, succeeded to his father's farm and fulling-mill.
Among the grants of land made by William Penn in 1702 was
one of about five hundred acres to James Logan, his secretary,
located in a limestone region along the upper reaches of the Dela-
ware, in Solebury township, and abutting on the Proprietary
Manor of Highlands. This was a beautiful domain and was
called in Logan's patent the "Great Spring Tract" and by the
Indians "Aquetong". In 1741 Logan sold two hundred acres of
this property to Jacob Dean and the residue, in 1747, to Dean's
brother-in-law, Jonathan Ingham. The latter lot included the
Great Spring and this property remained in the possession of the
Ingham family for over one hundred years. Jonathan Ingham
was successful as a farmer and clothier, filled the offices of justice
and judge and, as a member of the Colonial Assembly, took an
active part in the contests of that body with the Proprietaries.
Jonathan, by his wife, Deborah Bye, had three sons, John,
Jonas and Jonathan. The last-named, who is the subject of the
present sketch, was born at Great Spring on July 16, 1744. The
father was a narrow^ sectarian and, considering the heretical
views of the oldest son, John, a proof of a disordered mind,
sent him to a hospital for lunatics, where he died soon after.
This measure was disapproved of by the two brothers, especially
by Jonathan, but such autocratic proceedings were more in vogue
in those patriarchal days than they fortunately are now.
The tastes of Jonas were scientific and he became a mathema-
tician and a natural philosopher and made several useful me-
chanical inventions. He, too, seriously offended his father by an
unsanctioned marriage and, as a result of this, Jonathan was later
placed at the head of the paternal establishment.
SKETCH OF DR. JONATHAN INGHAM 309
Jonathan early in life showed a great fondness for languages,
especially for the Greek and Latin classics, of which he acquired
considerable knowledge with little or no assistance. At the age
of nineteen, a disagreement with his father threw him on his own
resources and he became an assistant on the farm of Dr. Paschal,
near Darby. The latter had a fine library and this gave the young
assistant an opportunity of extending his classical studies during
his leisure hours. Such a predilection aroused the doctor's in-
terest and he decided to offer the young man a situation as stu-
dent of medicine and this oft'er was gladly accepted. A lifelong
friendship between the two was the result and, when his studies
were completed, Jonathan, it is thought through the intercession
of the doctor, was invited home and, as has been said, placed at
the head of the establishment. At the age of twenty-five he
married Ann Welding of Bordentown, New Jersey, and, with
the aid of her portion, was enabled to purchase the family estate.
They had eleven children, of whom the fifth, Samuel Delucenna
Ingham, became prominent in the political life of the nation and
was Secretary of the Treasury in Jackson's administration. The
writer of the present sketch is his grandson.
Dr. Jonathan Ingham became a well-known practitioner, in
addition to his labors as manager of the farm and the fulling-
mill. His ledger from September 1782 to May 1786 has come
into the possession of this society and a few remarks on it will
not be out of place. It starts with an estimate of his cattle and
horses at £1,325 10s, of the house furniture at £132 10s, and
of the framing utensils at £62. Daily disbursements and re-
ceipts are entered with great regularity and the accounts of the
house, the farm, the fulling-mill and the sawmill are interspersed
among those of his numerous patients. Among their names are
many still extant in the county, such as Coryell, Paxton, Ross,
Lear. Ely. \\'atson. Scarborough, etc.. and there is a Thomas
Biddle. who suggests the neighboring metropolis. There are pa-
tients, too. of humbler rank, such as Negros Jack, Tony, Peter,
Sam, Dina and Hellens. Molatto (sic) James. Indian Dina, Dutch
Jacob and Cobble John. Inoculations are frequent and seem to
cost from lis. to £1 2s. 6d. per person, while bleedings cost
about Is. 6d. and there is a charge of 3s. 9d. for gelding a calf.
There is an account with "Wife's Estate in Jersey" and a debit
310 SKETCH OF DR. JONATHAN INGHAM
"To Cash, Rum, etc.", £1 2s. would not please the prohibition-
ists, if there were any such at that time. In Abraham Littleton's
account the value of "a Spinning Machine left useless on my
Hands at his Death" is placed at £7, 10s. A careful examination
of this ledger will repay those interested in antiquarian and
genealogical researches.
The doctor, notwithstanding his many preoccupations, con-
tinued his studies, became a good Greek and Latin scholar, under-
stood German also, and was tolerably versed in Hebrew, French
and Spanish. He translated many of the Odes of Pindar and
Theocritus and turned some of the books of Fenelon's "Tele-
maque" into English verse. He could converse with one tribe of
Indians in their own dialect.
I have before me a manuscript translation of the elegy on the
death of Bion by Moschus, 58 stanzas, with a refrain, in which
the versification is smooth and scholarly. I quote three verses
and the refrain in full :
1.
Ye spacious bending Forests moan,
Let vocal Rocks and Mountains groan,
Let every murmuring Stream
More tuneful, more melodious flow
In solemn ecstacy of woe
To deck the ushering theme.
3.
Alone may Flowers on Ivy blow,
No more their dearest sweets bestow.
The Roses of the morn.
The Anemone in concert blest
To deck the beauteous Virgin's breast
Shall now no more be worn.
4.
The lettered Hyacinth but show
In lasting characters of woe
How we our loss deplore.
Alas! alas, be plainer read
LIpon its lowlier drooping head.
Since Bion is no more.
(Refrain)
Sicilian Muses, come begin the strain
In all your moving elegance of verse.
O, by your influence sadly soothe our pain.
To latest times our poignant woes rehearse.
SKETCH OF DR. JONATHAN INGHAM 311
The Revolution coming on. he entered with zest into the spirit
of the American cause. His brother Jonas took the field as
officer of a volunteer corps and the doctor constantly gave his
professional services to the troops. In fact he was enlisted him-
self, as shown in the return of Capt. Robert Laning's Company
in Solebury in 1782, (see Pa. Archives, Series 5, Vol. 5, p. 551).
And, as to Jonas, see the same volume, pp. 330, 337-8, 4G6, 441.
The Ingham estate was the camping ground of George Wash-
ington and his troops on their retreat from New Jersey in 1776
and the buildings were used as hospitals, with Jonathan in con-
stant attendance on the sick and wounded.
When the war closed, he took an active part on the side of the
Republican W^higs and wTote much against what he considered
the monarchical tendencies of certain measures. He denounced
the scheme of funding the w^ar debt for the exclusive benefit of
speculators, while the poor soldier, for all his services and suffer-
ings, had to be content to receive two shillings and sixpence to
the pound for his certificate. Many of his neighbors disapproved
of his politics, but he "silenced them by the pungent satire of his
burlesque Pindarics".
During the yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia in 1793,
the doctor visited the city to make a scientific study of the dis-
ease. After his return home, hearing that many of the physicians
had fled from the plague-smitten city, he denounced such conduct
and in his indignation decided to go back. W'ith his friends.
Dr. Hutchinson and Samuel Wetherill, Jr., he visited and helped
to relieve the sufferers in the most infected districts. Dr. Benja-
min Rush, a signer of the Declaration, was engaged in the same
splendid work and was honored by the Czar of Russia with a gift
of a fine ruby as an appreciation of his services therein. Dr.
Ingham finally contracted the disease and, having a great belief
in the medicinal value of Schooley's Mountain Springs, started
for that place with his wife and her brother in a farm wagon.
The houses along the way refused to take him in and he died in
the wagon at the roadside at a point about one mile west of
Clinton, N. J., October 1, 1793. He was buried in the grave-
yard of the Bethlehem, N. J.. Presbyterian Church.
Broom Making By Hand
BY GRIER SCHEETZ, BETHLEHEM, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, January 15, 1921.)
AGES have passed and gone and so far as the memory of
man runs there always has been a woman and a broom.
Witches are always represented as riding on a broom.
The cave-woman used a branch of spruce or hemlock for her
broom, while during the time of Christ, Holy Writ informs us,
rooms were swept and garnished. It remained, however, for Dr.
Benjamin Franklin to introduce broomcorn into the United States.
He found an imported whisk in the possession of a woman in
Philadelphia and asked permission to examine it. He found a
single seed upon a splint of the whisk. This he appropriated and
planted. The crop produced from this single seed was replanted
and the product was made into brooms. It is said that the whisk
in the possession of this woman came from the East Indies. It
may be surprising when I state that over the past one hundred
years there has been very little change made in the manufacture
of house brooms by hand. Sixty years ago John Charles, of
Keller's Church, in Bedmister township, traveled from one farm
to another with his tackle of rope, clamp, needle, twine, and
curry-comb to make up the broomcorn into brooms for the va-
rious 'farmers. At that time brooms could not be purchased at
any store. In later years the merchants purchased the surplus
brooms from the farmers and oflfered them for sale.
Previous to the raising of broomcorn men went into the forest
and cut smooth hickory saplings about three inches thick and
live feet long. These they placed into an old-fashioned wooden
vise and with a sharp drawing knife began cutting or shaving in
splints about eighteen inches from the butt end. These were
drawn or shaved down to within about five inches of the same
end. The sapling was then turned until the first layer was
formed. The splints were repeatedly turned down over the butt
end until the sapling had been reduced to one and one-half
inches. This was securely tied with linen cord thus making a
splint broom of from six to eight inches through the center. The
BROOM MAKING BY HAND 313
remainder of the sapling was cut or shaved down to about one
and one-half inches. This became the handle of the splint broom.
At the present time one will occasionally find a broom of that
kind used as a barn or stable broom.
Broomcorn is planted at the same time and in the same man-
ner as field, or Indian corn. After the stalk has grown toward
maturity the top becomes heavy from the weight of the seed and
begins to spread. At this time it must be bent over about twenty-
four or thirty inches from the top so that the seed hangs down
along the stalk. This becomes necessary so as to prevent the
seed from spreading at the top. After the seed has ripened the
bent part is cut off, placed in bundles, and taken to the barn. If
raised for the market the seed is removed by a machine similar
to a clover huller. The broomcorn is then placed in bales and is
ready for shipment. In former years the seed was thrown away
or burned, however, it is now fed to fowls and cattle. The old
method was to remove the seed with a flax hatchel, and later with
a currycomb. In Bucks and neighboring counties the farmers
still raise broomcorn for their own use, usually taking it to the
broommaker with its seed.
James Bergey, of Perkasie, who is now sixty-five years of age
has made brooms for many years. He, too, in years gone by, has
used the currycomb to remove the seeds. He now, however, has
a machine similar to a clover huller, which is called a power
scraper, that removes the seeds. This machine is operated by foot-
power. Mr. Bergey, when he wishes to make a broom, places a
handle into a machine known as a cage broom winder, also
operated by foot-power. He inserts the end of a wire, instead of
twine or cord, into a hole in the handle. Enough broomcorn is
used to make one layer around the broom handle. By motion of
the foot the handle revolves and as it does so binds the broom-
corn to it by means of the wire that has been inserted. A bunch
of broomcorn is next placed on each side of the handle so as to
make the shoulder. Still more broomcorn is added, this time
with the butt end reversed. This is wired as before and turned
back over the other layer. A hasp is placed over the broomcorn
to keep it together and another layer, the same as the first and
placed as before, is added. As many layers are added as are
necessary to make the brooms lighter or heavier as desired. The
314 BROOM MAKING BY HAND
hasp is now removed and again placed over the added layer.
The edges of the broomcorn around the handle are hammered
down with a dull edged pounder in order to make the broomcorn
fit snug around it. A thin layer of broomcorn, called the hurl,
is then put on to make a neat finish. The brace is then removed
and a cap made of tin is placed over the top and wired fast.
The broom at this stage is round in appearance, and is removed
to the clamp or press, which is equipped with two upright jaws
about three feet high, operated by a powerful lever. The broom
is then inserted into these jaws, the lever pressed down, and the
broomcorn flattened into the shape of a broom, after which it is
sewed. Mr. Bergey uses a double pointed steel needle with the
eye in the middle and a filed groove running through the center.
This needle, made by himself, sews the broom in such a way
that he need not turn the needle, thus saving the time it other-
wise takes to turn it. He uses a leather cuiT on each hand with
a steel disk, or plate, over the ball of his thumb by which he
pushes the needle through the broomcorn. In making a broom of
short broomcorn he places one layer within one inch of the butt
of the handle where it is wired ; he adds another layer two inches
back and also wires that. A third layer is placed two inches above
the second layer. This is sewed in three dififerent places. When
the good housewife uses the first layer to where it is sewed she
cuts the cord, or string, which opens the second layer and then
has a renewed broom. The broom now practically completed is
removed from the clamp and taken to the broom clipper, which
is shaped like a feed cutter, where the bottom of the broom is
neatly trimmed.
Benjamin Steeley, also of Perkasie, used the method of making
brooms that was in vogue one hundred years ago. First he
places the broomcorn in hot water to make it soft and pliable.
Next he takes a bunch of broomcorn large enough to make a
broom and places it in a slip loop of a three-fourth inch rope
fastened to a post or rafter, with the loop about six inches from
the floor. He places his foot upon the bunch of broomcorn close
to the loop and bears the weight of his body upon it, at the same
time drawing the ends of the broomcorn as tight as possible.
When he ties the head of the broom with twine he places the
bundle of broomcorn, which at this stage is almost round, into
BROOM MAKING BY HAND 315
a wooden clamp. This wooden clamp consists of two pieces of
wood,three by fifteen inches, with a bolt at each end. He turns
down the nuts and flattens out the broom and begins to sew it
with a needle about eight inches long. At one time he used a
wooden needle. The broom being finished the handle is sharpened
at the butt end and driven into the head, or top, of the broom.
A nail is driven through the corn into the handle to hold it se-
cure. This completes the making of the broom.
(Mr. Scheetz illustrated his paper by exhibiting brooms in the
different process of manufacture, and answering many questions
concerning them.)
Ancient Methods of Threshing in Bucks County.
BY DR. HENRY C. MERCER, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, January 15, 1921.)
BEFORE the general introduction of the threshing machine,
1835-1850, there were two methods of threshing wheat,
rye and other grain, in use in Bucks county, namely :
1, very commonly by means of the flail; 2, very rarely by
trampling with the feet of animals.
Other devices were in use at that time in Europe and probably
in the United States, for instance, 3, a grooved or spiked log,
axeled at one end to a stake, and pulled around over the straw
in a circle by an animal, called in Chester county a "Tumbling
Tom," as I was informed about 1897 by the late Alfred Paschal ;
4, a long flexible stick as used in France (Dauphiny and Provi-
dence), about 1840, according to the Agricultural Treatise, called
"Maison Rustique," by Dr. Alexander Bixio, Paris, 1844. a
direct descendant of the Roman Pertica, or threshing stafif de-
scribed by Pliny Natural History, XVIII, 72.5, a fluted wooden
roller, used in Lombardy in 1890 (according to Knight's Amer-
ican Mechanical Dictionary), or otherwise a wagon on several
rollers, set around with serrated iron rings, on which the driver
sits, used in Egypt about 1850, and there called Noreg. (See
Rich's Companion to the Latin Lexicon, Longman's London,
316 ANCIENT METHODS OF THRESHING IN BUCKS COUNTY
1848) a counterpart of the Plostellum Punicum introduced into
ancient Italy from Carthage and described by Varro Rerum
Rusticarum 1.51.2. 6, a drag or frame on one or more planks
shaped Hke a Canadian toboggan, roughened on the bottom
with flints or pieces of iron, and weighted with stones,
upon which the driver sits, drawn by oxen, mules or horses over
the straw, seen by travelers in use in Asia Minor about 1850, (in
Pictorial Gallery of the Useful Arts, London, Hart, Harrower
& Co., 1848), being a survival of the Roman Tribulum or Tribula
described in Varro Rerum Rusticarum 1.52.1 and Pliny Natural
History XVIII. 72 and Virgil Georgics 1.164.
The writer has thus far been unable to find evidence of the
use of any of these methods in the United States except the first
two, information as to 3 being only hearsay. But as the Amer-
ican pioneers at first reverted to very primitive devices, there is
no reason why they may not have used 4, 5 or 6 and we have
cited them here with authority for the use of future investigators
of this important subject, and turn particularly to 1 and 2.
THRESHING BY THE TREAD OF ANIMALS.
The late Stacy S. Weaver, while in my employ, told me in
1918, that he had been employed about 1860 to thresh grain by
leading horses over the straw, upon the wooden floor of a log
barn on the left bank of Tinicum creek, about two miles south
of Headquarters, now Sundale.
This is coroborated by William J. Buck in his "Local Sketches
and Legends," printed in 1887, and also by the Rev. Dr. A. R.
Home, The Pennsylvania German (Allentown, T. K. Home,
1910), who quotes a Pennsylvania-German poem, which says in
only two lines that the early German settlers threshed rye with
flails, and the wheat with horses which they rode around on the
straw for a long time.
THRESHING WITH THE FLAIL.
But as compared with this comparatively little employed pro-
cess, the flail was the well known threshing implement in uni-
versal use in Bucks county from its earliest settlement (as in the
United States from the time of Jamestown and the Mayflower).
to the middle of the nineteenth centurv. This ancient instru-
ANCIENT METHODS OF THRESHING IN BUCKS COUNTY
317
ment. not mentioned in the Bible, and not probably used by the
Romans, has been employed in Europe and Asia (Japan) ever
since the Middle Ages, although Capt. John Smith says that
the Turks used bats and not flails in his time. It consists of the
hand staff held by the workman, and the club which strikes the
grain (called "swiple" by the Dictionary of Arts and Sciences.
318 ANCIENT METHODS OF THRESHING IN BUCKS COUNTY
1763, and "souple" or "swiple" by Knight, and "swipple" or
"swingel" by Webster. The coupling of the former to the latter
is variously constructed and imperfectly described. It is called
"whang" (in Knight) and "cupplings") in the Dictionary of
Arts and Sciences).
Of the many varieties of this primitive implement, the twenty
or more flails in our museum show two types, a. (2 specimens
right in picture.) Those with a small swivel on the hand staff
to hold the club or swingle, and b. those with a knob and loop
on the hand staff for the same purpose.
In our museum, No. 8860, from Bucks county, the slightly
tapering hand staff of hickory 4' 4" by 1% to ^" thick, is en-
closed at the small end by a very neat hickory swivel (called
"heading" in Knight) entirely enclosing a 4}^" wide circular
notch ending in a knob and bound fast by two wires double
wound on two outer shallow notches. A Mr. Hollenbach of
Pipersville made swivels like these but bound with leather thongs
instead of wire, used as he tells me (1920) by Harvey Crou-
thamel, about 1890. The club of this flail is 2' 4" 'long of oak.
and 1^" swelling to 2^" thick. It is perforated at the small end
with a hole ^4 " ^^ diameter, through which a loop, (called "middle
band" by the Dictionary of Arts and Sciences), stretching 3", and
consisting of 6 wraps of a single piece of whitish leather neatly
knotted at the ends connects it with the wooden loop of the
swivel on the hand staff.
The construction of the much heavier flail. No. 9646, with hand
staff of hickory 5' long by l^^ to 1" thick and a hickory club
2' 5" long by 2" thick, is similar, but the hickory swivel showing
bark is a 2" by 1%"" long strip bent over the end of the hand staff
and revolving around the three notches in it, coinciding with
three similar notches on the staff, around which three double
thongs grasp first loosely the staff and then tightly the swivel.
The coupling from this swivel to the club is a three inch long
loop made of two wraps of a single leather >^" wide strap slit at
one end and knotted through the slit at the other.
In the similar lighter and smaller No. 7177, from Bucks county,
with oak staff and hickory club, the hickory swivel otherwise re-
sembling the former, has but two notches coinciding as before
with notches on the hand staff for its revolutions around the
ANCIENT METHODS OF THRESHING IN BUCKS COUNTY 319
latter, while in No. 3492, marked with the monogram AI. I. on the
club, from Bucks county, the similar two notched swivel is made
not of wood but of a heavy leather strap.
The swivel on No. 9643, from New Jersey, with hand staiT and
club of oak, is a horseshoe shaped loop of wrought iron, revolv-
ing upon the end of an iron pin driven into the end of the staff
and held there with a ferule of iron.
Variety b (2 specimens, middle in picture) is represented by
No. 6759 from Bucks county, with oaken staff and hickory club,
where the suddenly tapered hand staff ends in a knob around
which a leather thong is loosely tied in three strands and con-
tinued in a loop through the hole in the club.
In No. 4175, from New Jersey, all apparently of hickory, the
above mentioned two loops are not fastened with one piece of
leather but with two. First a thong is four times wrapped loosely
around the knob and tied, then under this a single strap passes in
the form of a loop with its two ends riveted wuth three copper
rivets through the hole in the club.
No. 2797 seems to be a makeshift, repaired with fish cord and
showing swivel notches. A strap is tightly looped so as not to re-
volve on the notched end of the hand staff. A heavy strap loop
runs through the club hole and then a third loop connects these
two loops so that the whole instrument, though apparently a
•makeshift, seems to correspond to the description of the English
flail of 1763. given in the Dictionary of Arts and Sciences.
In our collection, the club is always, but the hand staff never
perforated for the attachment of the thongs, the movable loop,
which I here call swivel, always being upon the hand staff.
Harvey Crouthamel tells me that he never used or heard of the
use of raw hide and that though he sometimes oiled an iron swivel
used by him, he never greased the thongs.
I find no raw hide thongs in our collection and no eel skin,
though tradition describes the latter as used. Harvey Crouthamel
tells me that he threshed buckwheat with a flail for my uncle,
Arthur Chapman, about 1900, one mile north of Doylestown, and
frequently threshed wheat, oats and rye on farms in Bucks
county in the 1880's and 1890's, when one to four persons laid
the sheaves head to head, threshed, turned and rethreshed them
while still bound, then unbound the sheaves, spread, threshed and
320 ANCIENT METHODS OF THRESHING IN BUCKS COUNTY
turned and rethreshed the straw, thus going over it four times.
I learned from Crouthamel and Mathias Hall, who have
worked with the flail, that the sheaves were never thrown down
confusedly on the threshing floor but laid side by side in rows
and where more than one row was threshed always placed head
to head. The turning which consisted in laying the wheat, rye
or oats stalks whether bound or unbound, when threshed out on
one side, upside down so as to get at the bottom husks, was never
done, they said, with the prongs or handle of a fork or rake, but
always by grasping the loose straw or the yet unbound sheaves
in the arms, and lifting and replacing them in the same position.
or behind the workman as he turned round, or elsewhere on the
floor, in a fresh row.
Our museum No. 17153 shows a swiveled flail bought by Mr.
Francis C. Mireau, in Montgomery county on November 9, 1920.
Tied to it is a sharpened hickory staff 23 inches long and 1%
inches thick at the base. This staff was used according to the
owners account to slide more easily than the fingers under the
grain stalks in turning them for threshing. Then one hand
held the staff while the other grasped the straw.
Probably all the old threshing floors now remaining are made of
oak planks, and some are pegged with wood, as in the Armitage
barn in Solebury, built about 1756, nevertheless tradition and
Home's Manual described earlier threshing floors which
Crouthamel never heard of, made of earth.
Though the threshing machine, a revolutionary invention of
tremendous importance, as we now know it, was, according to
Knight produced by several inventions, first in Germany and
then in England between 1772 and 1782. it did not get into gen-
eral use in Bucks county until about 1850. Whoever has ex-
amined it knows that it consists of a metal cylinder armed with
spikes which rapidly revolves in a close fitting circular case, also
furnished with spikes (U. S.), or grooves (England), so as to
instantly tear and slash the straw and unhusk the grain.
At the time of its invention, one hundred years ago, this
would have completely superseded all the ancient forms of thresh-
ing mentioned, flail included, if a cheap and practical power
could have been found to turn it, but as Reese's Encyclopedia,
written about 1800, says, wind mills only worked when the wind
ANCIENT METHODS OF THRESHING IN BUCKS COUNTY 321
blew, fixed water power could not be applied to most barns
where there was no water, and stearn, though introduced about
1820 on large estates was too expensive, while man turned
cranks though used and patented, were too laborious. The only
power at first practically applied was the so-called "Lever Power,"
a very large cogged horizontal wheel turned by horses or cattle
on a turn style. We bought one of these from Mr. Osborne at
Summerseat at Morrisville, for the museum (introduced accord-
ing to Dickson's Dictionary of Agriculture in southern England
in 1805), of date about 1820 to 30, and many according to the in-
formation of T. S. Kenderdine, Mathias Hall and Wilson Wood-
man, were employed by rich farmers in Bucks county before 1835.
One I myself saw at work, surviving upon a farm near Pooles
Corner about 1900, but the device was expensive and took up too
much barn room, so that the flail continued in full use in
Bucks county until the general introduction of the cheap portable
and efificient so-called "Tread Power" at last making the thresh-
ing machine more efficient ( 1835 to 50 ) gradually superceded the
ancient hand tool.
This "Tread Power" is an inclined rolling platform on
which horses or cattle walk so as to revolve a fly wheel at-
tached to the threshing cylinder above mentioned. According to
the "Farmers Mechanical Instructor" by Francis Wiggins
Rogers. Philadelphia. 1840, kindly shown me by Mr. Ely, this
American invention was in general use in eastern Pennsylvania
between 1835-50, under patents by Vosburg, Pitt and A\'arren,
T. S. Kenderdine tells me that his father constructed a device
of this kind in 1830 to turn a gristmill by oxen in Horsham,
Montgomery county. The apparatus, he says, was derived by
his father from notes taken in Ohio, and was made entirely of
wood with an endless chain of little wagons upon wooden rollers
moving upon a wooden track.
\Ye also have in the museum two dog churn powers where an
endless slatted strap rolls on fixed wooden rollers, the upper of
which turns the fly wheel, and we have a tread horsepower like
those still (1920) in use, manufactured by Wm. H. Murray at
his agricultural machine factory at New Hope, about 1859, w^here
an endless chain of little wagons is mounted on cast iron wheels
cogged in a power wheel. Mr. Kenderdine also says that a ma-
322 ANCIENT METHODS OF THRESHING IN BUCKS COUNTY
chine of this kind was used for his father, John E. Kenderdine, in
1842. and was probably made by Cook and Thropp at their
mills at Wells Falls, New Hope, Bucks county.
Thus the flail went out of general use in Bucks county about
1850 but it was not completely abandoned. It survived here
until the beginning of the twentieth century to thresh rye, and
did so because the Bucks county farmer had long used and still
preferred flail threshed rye straw, untorn by the threshing ma-
chine, for the very important and universal purpose of binding
his corn.
In this work the apparatus attached in 1890 to reaping machines
for mechanically binding wheat, rye and oats with twine had not
helped him, for the greater part of Indian corn continued to be cut
and bound by hand. ^ The right kind of twine was not yet avail-
able, and the rye stalks easily hand grasped and knotted held
well around the cornstalks and for a long time continued to be
so employed until the introduction about 1895 of cheap rolls of
tarred twine, easily cut to the desired length, finally superseded
the rye straw. Then the flail disappeared.
In the meantime I learned from Harvey Crouthamel that
until about 1900 some of our small farmers, not owning thresh-
ing machines, sometimes threshed buckwheat with flails as he,
.Crouthamel, did for my uncle, Arthur Chapman, about 1905.
Or that when horse feed ran out on larger farms, oats in small
quantities was thus threshed as a makeshift, and Clarence Rosen-
berger tells me that until about 1905 there was a small demand
for flail-threshed straw in Philadelphia, for use as bedding for
high bred horses. Now (1921) the farmer can buy buckwheat
meal in bags at country stores and has generally ceased to grow
it for his own table use. The motor car has largely superseded
the horse in Philadelphia, and unless the flail is still occasionally
used for horse feed, these requirements have probably all ceased
and could hardly have kept the flail in general use. But after
all they were secondary needs. It was the tarred twine that
finally abolished the ancient instrument about 1905. so that now
^ In 1887 the first patents were taken out for corn harvesters, but the}^
remained in an experimental stage until about 1895. By 1902 the yearly
output had reached but about 44,000. They have not come in general
use in Bucks and adjoining farms.
ANCIENT METHODS OF THRESHING IN BUCKS COUNTY 323
(1921) it is doubtful whether any farmer in Bucks county uses
the flail for any purpose whatever though I may be mistaken.
Since the above was written in 1921 Mrs. Thomas Walker of
Doylestown, living until 1924 at Peters Corner, Solebury town-
ship, Bucks county, Pa., informs the writer (March 19, 1926)
that James Lynn who lived at Peters Corners (go from Mechan-
icsville on main road leading east to Cuttalossa through Peters
Corner, turn right at corner, first house left), and died there in
1924, used a flail for threshing all his small (c. 1 acre) crops of
wheat, rye and oats, certainly in 1923, and possibly in 1924 or
until about the time of his death. He kept a horse, but did not
own either a threshing machine or a "Horse Power", (Tread
Power) apparatus as used by other farmers for working the
former. He had once recently hired (at a minimum cost of ten
dollars per day), a gasoline power turned threshing machine,
but found it too expensive for his small crops. Some of his
grain, thus hand-threshed, he had ground for bread flour or ani-
mal food at Armitages water-power gristmill on Cutalossa creek
in Solebury township.
While correcting the final proof sheets for this paper, in
August 1926, I learn from the Doylestown Agricultural Works,
Dr. B. F. Fackenthal, Jr., of Riegelsville, Levi Yoder of Silver-
dale, and Henry W. Gross of Doylestown, that similar rare, and
generally unheard of, instances of the survival of the flail among
very small farmers in Bucks and its adjoining counties, would
probably be found on diligent search. The Rev. David Gehman
of Fbuntainville, with wide experience among the Pennsylvania
German farmers, as a Mennonite minister, cites another supposed
still-continuing use of the flail in upper Bucks County, namely to
thresh rye straw, as preferred stuffing, for bed mattresses, and
Mrs. Frank K. Swain of Doylestown, says that her father used
the flail for that purpose, at his farm near Gardenville about 1900.
Passing Events (Paper No. 1).
BY FRANK K. SWAIX, DOVLESTOWN, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, January 15, 1921.)
INTRODUCTION.
THE following notes, the first of a series, have been made to
show that in the whirligig of time many old customs die out
and new ones take their places, which in turn give way to
other new inventions and appliances. Often machines did not
come into general use until long after they were invented and
patented.
These notes may seem trivial and foolish to many of you today
who may be familiar with everything mentioned, as the period
which I am reviewing begins as late as 1880, and extends down
to the present time. However, if three or four customs of the
past, or machines are selected that have been introduced in our
time, and we try to name the exact date when first seen or
used, it will be found that we cannot guess the right date
within from two to six years. How many who saw Glen
Curtis fly for the first time from New York to Philadelphia, can
tell what year it happened? or when we saw the first trolley-car
or automobile, electric light, Christmas tree, chewing gum, mov-
ing pictures or ice cream cones ?
Trolley Roads. The Bucks County Railway Company
started to lay their tracks from Willow Grove to Doylestown in
1897 and completed them in March, 1898, according to informa-
tion of Mr. A. A. Mitten of the Rapid Transit Company. The
first passenger car entered Doylestown on a hot afternoon in
May, of that year, running up as far as State street. A large
crowd quickly gathered and Mr. George P. Brock, a promoter,
who was on the car, asked the people to get on and take a free
ride, which they did, thinking they would be taken to Bridge
Point and returned. The car went down Main street as far as
Mr. John Hart's residence where the people were ordered ofif,
as the car would not return, much to the disgust of several stout
women who were obliged to walk up the long hill, in the hot
PASSING EVENTS (PAPER NO. l) 325
afternoon sun, laden with well filled market baskets. The cars
were of the short, four wheeled "dinkey" type with revolving-
chairs covered with matting. These were considered fine at first
but later, when the catches were worn out they would revolve
without warning when the cars rounded a curve and you never
knew whose lap you would be thrown into. The terminus was
on State street, in front of the Fountain House yard and the
waiting room was on State street in the building connected with
the Fountain House livery. Trolley roads in the country were
new at that time and it was very pleasant to ride through the
beautiful rolling country, down the York road, past fine estates
with well kept lawns which could not be seen from the steam
railroad. The fare was thirty-five cents from Doylestown to
Market street, Philadelphia, while the steam road fare was $1.14.
The cheapness of the trip, aside from the pleasure, enabled the
country people to go to town several times a year to do their
shopping instead of buying in Doylestown and the cars ran well
filled for years. Two or three years later the company went
into the hands of a receiver, as many trolley companies do. and
later became the property of the Philadelphia Rapid Transit
Company, which owns it at the present time. Two years before
that road was built, or in May, 1896, Willow Grove Park opened.
The trolley road from Philadelphia to that popular amusement
resort having been finished in 1895. Large coaches left the
Fountain House, Doylestown, every Sunday at noon carrying
passengers to \\'illow Grove, returning at midnight, for fifty cents
the round trip, until the Doylestown trolley was built.
The Easton trolley road was finished from Easton to Revere
and from Doylestown to Red Hill in the spring of 1904. Old
broken down hacks from Doylestown were used to carry passen-
gers over the connecting link from Red Hill to Revere until the
road was completely finished. Instead of following the turn-
pike out of Doylestown the cars left Main street at the foot of
Germany Hill (owing to an injunction against them), going out
Lacey avenue and through fields to the Grove place near Cross
Keys Hotel, although the track extended out North Main street
to the Dublin pike where there was a dead end. The company
had to run a car to that terminus once a month to hold its
right-of-wav. The first car ran to the Dublin oike on Christmas
326 PASSING EVENTS (PAPER NO. l)
Day 1904. Later a new law overrode the injunction and allowed
the company to extend its tracks from the Dublin pike to meet
the elbow at the Grove place. This was finished late in Novem-
ber, 1907, and the field route was then abandoned. In May, 1904.
before any regular cars ran, a test was made with one of the
large passenger cars well filled with directors and officers. The
car went to Danboro and returned with a workman sitting on
the roof watching the trolle3\^ As it rounded the sharp curve at
the Grove place, going at a great rate of speed, the man was
thrown against a tree then to the ground breaking several bones.
Aaron Kratz and Harry Shoemaker were among the promoters.
This road too went into the hands of receivers in a short time.
It was in fact in the hands of receivers at two different times.
The length of this road from Doylestown to Easton is thirty-one
miles.
The Newtown trolley road, always out of order and called
the "Sunshine" trolley was built in 1902. It was very convenient,
though uncertain, for people living in Bristol and the lower end
of the county who were obliged to attend court, as there was no
direct train service to the county seat.-
While the track was being laid on Green street, Doylestown.
an open work-car was left by the workmen at Ashland street each
evening. Boys of the town would jump on this car, release it and
it would run down the steep hill to the Todd farm where they
would jump off and push it up the hill and repeat the trip. One
evening when it was heavily loaded and going at high speed it
jumped the track, struck a telephone pole snapping it oft'
like a pipe stem and scattering the boys in all directions. Some
were badly injured, and carry marks to this day. Others were
unconscious and helpless for a long time, while several had bones
broken. This put a stop to the night rides.
From 1896 to 1900 cars were chartered for evening picnics by
lodges, societies or private parties. Open cars were generally
used which were gaily decorated with strings of fed, white and
blue lights, and carried noisy parties to any point on the line,
returning at a given time. The cars made no stops and took on
no passengers. The custom died out completely by 1902.
1 The small wheel which comes in contact with the feed wire Is called a
trolley, and from that wheel the trolley car takes Its name.
2 This trolley road was abandoned and tracks removed in November, 1923.
PASSING EVENTS (PAPER NO. l) 327
Reaping. Down to 1889 Washington Radcliffe and William
A. Swain of Buckingham, mowed all their grass with a scythe
and all their rye, wheat, oats and buckwheat with a cradle.
Grain was tied with straw by hand. Grass was raked with a
hand rake and the flail was used for threshing all grain until the
autumn of 1888 when, on account of the illness of W. A. Swain,
William Sine of Lahaska, who had a traveling thresher, run In-
horse power, came and threshed the grain. This was the hrst
time a threshing machine was used on the place. Because the
farms and barns were small these customs had been continued
long after the advent of machinery.
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Neff, natives of Germany, who lived at
Spring Valley, reaped all their grain with a sickle as late as 1890.
The writer watched Mrs. Neff reap wheat with a sickle on July
4, 1887, in the field on the left as you ascend the hill back of
Stevers mill. Mr. Neff was a cooper and could be seen anv
autumn day fixing over old cider or vinegar barrels in front of
his barn at Stevers mill.
Hav-p.aileks. Edward H. pjlackfan of Solebury. informed me
that he owned and used in 1890, an old Ertle-Victor hay-
bailer, called a half circle, continuous press run by two horses
in a half circle. He believes this was the first portable hay press
used in middle Bucks county. Before that date hay was either
hauled to Philadelphia market or to large hay pressing houses.
built at railroad stations where it was pressed and shipped away
in box cars. In 1895 George Brown brought a portable hay-bailer
to the Edward H. Williams farm near Centreville, where the
writer was then living, and bailed the hay as it came from the
barn. Several farmers nearby drove in to see the process as it
was new at the time.
Silos. Edward H. Blackfan also advises me that Eugene Pax-
son, above Lumberville, built the first silo known here. It was
a square pit built of stones, like a cistern, about twenty feet deep
and was certainly used in 1880. Green cornfodder was cut and
the pit filled, but it was not a success because the ensilage spoiled
in the corners. The word silo was used for some time before
many knew just what the process of making ensilage was like
or how it was used. In 1898. when the Dovlestown-W'illow Grove
328 PASSING EVENTS (PAPER NO. l)
trolley road was started, passengers noticed two high, round,
windowless towers near the barn on the Paul Valley Farm near
Neshaminy and although many asked what they were for, no
one could give a satisfactory answer until one day a stranger
said they were silos, a new idea that seemed to come in from the
west. This shows they were not generally known at that time
but by 1905 a good many farmers had them.'' They would club
together and order perhaps fifty or more so all could be sent at
once. When they arrived at the station, the farmers would as-
semble from all directions, sort out and load their pieces of silo,
which were of wood, have dinner at the Railroad House and a
lively time, at that, after which, a long string of teams w^ould
form and pass like a parade through the town on the way home.
These were silo frolics and continued until about 1915. The
hollow tile silo came into use about 1916 although there are not
many at the present time (1921) but they will probably replace
the old wooden ones entirely. When built they look very old,
mysterious and attractive. The first ones noticed by the writer
were built near Solebury Mountain in 1917, two near Wycombe
in 1918 and one on the Albert Larue farm near Doylestown in
1918, to replace a wooden one.
Gasoline Engines. Mr. Blackfan informs me that the first
portable gasoline engine used in Solebury township, and probably
the first in middle Bucks county, was sold by Mr. Blackfan to
Hugh Michener of Solebury, in 1900. It was marked "The Olds,
Type E," made by the father of R. E. Olds, the automobile manu-
facturer, and was used for threshing, grinding feed, pumping
water, sawing wood, etc., and was still in running condition in
1920. Mr. Blackfan believes the Olds was the first gasoline
engine built in the country and certainly the first used in this
county. By 1910 it had largely replaced the horsepower and
steam engine on farms where these had been used, as well as
supplying power to many shops, pump houses and some factories.
Tractor Plows. The first tractor and plow used in Bucks
covmty was bought by Hugh Michener, west of New Hope, in
Soleburv township, in 1910. It was manufactured in Blue Bell,
z Dr. B. F. Packenthal. Jr.. advises me that he was the first to build a
silo in upper Bucks county, having built one in 1891, on his farm in Durham
township. It attracted the attention of many farmer.s and others for miles
around who went to inspect it.
PASSING EVENTS (PAPER NO. l) 329
Lancaster county, Pa., and was known as the Shirk Tractor
Plow, having a single cylinder gasoline engine, propelling itself
and answered for harrowing, rolling and other purposes. Ed-
ward H. Blackfan of New Hope, was the agent for this tractor.
Blue Bell was the first trading-post where cattle were hrought
from the west and sold to dealers in the east.
The first field plow operated with a tractor, seen by the writer,
was on the farm on the left as you ascend Crawfords Hill going
south, below Bennets Corner, in the autumn of 1917. Frederick
Blair Jaekel owned and used one on the Glen Echo Farm at Pine
Run in 1918, since which time many have been in use in Bucks
county. In 1920 there were demonstrations of various makes on
several farms in the county.
Milkmen. The milkman of 1880 went about in an ordinary
wagon with one or two milk cans, a smaller vessel which he car-
ried into the house, shaped like a milk can but having a handle
like a bucket, with a long handled ladel inside reaching to the top
of the can. Sometimes the customers' empty kettle or pitcher
was waiting in a little box nailed on the fence at the gate or he
would go to the porch or back door, remove the lid, hanging it
on the ear of the kettle while with the long handled, dripping,
pint dipper he ladeled out the milk fresh from his own farm that
morning. He always gave an extra shallow dip at the end to
make up for any poor measuring. Cream and skim milk were
carried in smaller kettles. The milk had to be stirred up before
dipping so everybody got their share of cream. Sometimes he
had butter, eggs and cottage cheese, rhubarb and horseradish for
sale. Many a cat got its head fast in a pitcher sitting on a porch
and could not get away from it, some have been drowned in a
pint of milk. Frank Mann was one of these farmer milkmen.
In 1894 there were regular milk dealers who bought their milk
from farmers and did nothing else but deliver it. The same kind
of buckets, cans and dippers such as I have described, were used,
but a wagon, open on the sides as at present, was used in place
of the little market wagon of the farmer. Maurice Gunnagan
was a milkman of this type. Then in 1906 the quart and pint
milk-bottles came in and the old kettles and dippers disappeared.
We had just learned about microbes and bacteria and these bottles
were supposed to be sanitary and as the milk was put in them
330 PASSING EVENTS (PAPER NO. l)
fresh from the cow, each person felt they were getting their full
share of cream. Boxes held the bottles on the wagons and wire
racks were used to carry them to the kitchen as at the present
time. Fred Himmelwright was probably the first to use the bot-
tles in Doylestown. Horses knew which were the milkmens
customers and would zigzag across the street or follow him
along the route.
Butchering About 1890. In the autumn the farmer's pork-
barrel was nearly empty and with the coming of cold weather
the hog was fed on new corn nubbins until he became so fat he
could scarcely move or see. Preparations were then made for the
winter butchering. The women laid aside their usual work, took
up the kitchen carpet or put down another layer of old rag car-
pets over it. The men laid the wagon house door on two trestles
or on the old sled-runners for a scafifold near the barn and placed
a barrel at one end, tilted at an angle of 45 degrees to hold the
water for scalding. While the water was heating in wash boilers
on the stove in the outkitchen or in large iron kettles over the
open fire in the kitchen or often out doors, the butcher knives,
probably made of old files by a blacksmith, were given a final
whetting. In some cases large stones were heated in an open
fire and thrown into the barrel of cold water thus heating it. A
rope was tied around the pig's leg or with one of the iron hog
catchers on a pole (now shown in this museum), he was lead out
and killed by sticking a sharp knife in his throat. Some men
were better pig-stickers than others. The scalding water was
then emptied into the barrel and the pig ducked, first head then
tail end, which loosened the bristles so they were easily scraped
away with old dull com knives or, better still, with the sharp edge
of the disk or bottom of a wrought iron candlestick. Nearly all
these handsome candlesticks after serving their original purpose
for years descended from the kitchen mantel to the hog scafi'old
and this last usefulness alone saved them from the scrap heap.
Ashes were thrown in the water to help this process, hog hooks
and gambols were also used and later the hog was hung head
down in the wagon house, cut up into quarters, when cold, and
carried into the house. Hams, shoulders, jowls, chine, pork and
spare-ribs were put in the pork-barrel and covered with a brine of
salt, sugar and saltpetre, the latter giving the meat a reddish
PASSING EVENTS (PAPER NO. l) 331
tinge. The women ground sausage meat and stutTed it in entrails.
cloth bags or as late as 1890 it was formed like an ear of corn
and placed in clean new corn husks. Scrapple (pon-hoss) was
boiled, mince meat, lard and hogshead cheese were made. The
grease from the latter was removed and bottled and later used
to rub on the throats of children suffering with the croup.
Sometimes sausage was highly seasoned with sage, rolled in the
thin skin of the leaf -lard, smoked and hung from the cellar
rafters, boiled in the summer, sliced thin and served cold. The
best hams were those salted on a board, called dry curing. The
ham was weighed and a certain proportion of salt, sugar and salt-
petre rubbed into it. This was a method that some had no suc-
cess with as the salt was not properly rubbed in and the meat be-
came tainted at the bone. Whether cured in brine or on the
board the meat was smoked later, either in a barrel placed over
a smouldering fire or hung above the lintel beam in the chimney
of an open fireplace or in a smokehouse. Sassafras twigs and
leaves were supposed to produce a sweeter smoke than anything
else. After smoking the hams were wrapped in paper, sewed up
in muslin bags and packed away in barrels in a dry place to pre-
vent maggots (called "skippers") from getting into the ends.
By the time this work was done the whole family was pretty
greasy, though happy. The kitchen was then scrubbed up, the
tins polished with wood ashes and with a well filled pork-barrel,
enough to last a year, the big event of the winter came to an end.
Sometimes a beef was fattened and killed at the same time, part
of which was salted down or corned for use in the summer. This
butchering continued on the farm until 1900 at which time farm-
ers said it did not pay to raise hogs as large hog farms and pack-
ing houses in the west lowered the price in the east and so they
bought their hams, many of which were painted over with a rank
liquid in place of the old smoking, and pork took its place in the
country store with pasteboard boxes of breakfast food, canned
goods and evaporated fruit, bakers bread, factory made pies
and cakes, coffee ground and bagged for months, mince meat by
the bucket and lard by the pound, all of which had lessened the
duties on the farm but had "canned" the people, all of whom
lived day by day so that a farmer today would starve to death
in a blizzard if shut off from the countrv store, in about
332 PASSING EVENTS (PAPER NO. l)
two weeks. Meanwhile the old pork-barrel, once the pride of
every farmhouse, almost as necessary as the kitchen fireplace,
dried up and was taken to the orchard to serve as a chicken coop
until the staves fell in and the heavy iron hoops were sold to the
junk dealer. The smoke-house stands roofless or gone, the
butcher-knives have rusted on the top shelf of the kitchen closet
and the ham hooks, gambrels and iron candlestick-scrapers have
disappeared. Pig raising was revived about four years ago
thanks to the farm bureau which offered prizes to the boy or
girl in each district who could raise the largest pig in a given
time. The farmer again stocked up so we now have large pens
of pigs on almost every farm but the pork-barrel has not come
back as the farmer sells his hogs to the butcher and buys his hams.
In 1894 farmers were using a patented hog scalder which was
made of cast iron like a large bathtub, with a firebox under-
neath into which long sticks of wood were placed. The water
heated very quickly. One farmer in a neighborhood would buy
one and rent it to his neighbors. This replaced the scalding
barrel.
Fences. My information concerning fences is partly from per-
sonal observation, and partly from information given to me by
Mr. Edward H. Blackfan and Mr. William Watson of Mechanics-
ville. The earliest fences were probably the snake or worm
fences, so called on account of their zigzag shape, like the
wriggling movements of snakes and worms. These were built
of rough wood either round or of young trees, split in two and
laid several courses high and fortified by driving two pieces of
wood into the ground in the shape of an X over the crossed
joints, then laying two more courses in the notch of the X. The
zigzag shape prevented the fence from toppling or being pushed
over easily and as the rails were close together a good deal of
wood was required. At one time they were used to divide fields
and along roadsides but by 1888 they had been discontinued al-
most entirely except around woodlots or in northern Bucks
county where, at the present time, a few short stretches still re-
main. The post and rail fence, used contemporaneously was
more substantial but required more work in preparing and in
keeping in order. The posts were hand hewn, bored and cut
out for either three or four rails. These rails were split from
PASSING EVENTS (PAPER NO. l) 333
small chestnut trees and required dressing or shaving at the
ends SO they would fit into the mortised holes. Holes were dug
in the ground and the posts set, "when the Signs pointed down."
but all the same after the winter frosts they required resetting
and straightening. The drain on the forests was enormous and
many farm woodlots were completely used up. Another fence
was made of posts and rails sawed at the country sawmills as
late as 1896. The rails were nailed to the posts and covered with
a strip the width of the post and almost as high. A wooden
block an inch wider than the top of the post and strip was nailed
on at a slope and a fence of this kind was generally whitewashed.
In 1880 band wire came into general use. This was a thin band
of galvanized wire one-half inch wide and saw-toothed or
notched on both sides or edges and loosely twisted and. because
it was galvanized it lasted a long time. About eight years later
or in 1888 barbed wire came into general use. This was made
up of two strands of twisted wire with groups of sharp prongs
inserted a few inches apart. Not being galvanized it did not last
as long as the band wire but it kept cattle in the fields much
better. In 1888 William A. Swain ran a single row of barbed
wire along a dilapidated worm- fence and the cows would not
go near it. This was the first wire fence used on the place.
The use of wire fastened to the posts with galvanized staples
saved not only a lot of work but a good deal of wood which was
getting scarce. Nothing but posts were necessary and these could
be set farther apart. In 1895 a straight, round wire was made
which ran through a small hole in the center of the post but was
not much used as it required more work than stapling. The
Page fence, with horizontal and perpendicular wires forming a
mesh one foot square, came into use about 1905 together with
other wires and about this time there was a law preventing the
use of barbed wire along the road; There is a growing tendency
all over the county to do away with fences of every kind both in
the country and village. Alo;ig the rocky ridges of Hilltown.
Plumstead and Buckingham townships, a good many neat stone
walls were built when the land was cleared. These were set up
dry, or without mortar and when once built required no further
attention. Whole farms were divided with stone walls which.
lasting a hundred years or down to 1900 were torn down, and
the stones hauled to a stone-crusher and. used for macadam roads.
334 PASSING EVENTS (PAPER NO. l)
Pianos and Organs. Down to 1887 there were cottage organs
in many country homes. Some of the more prosperous farmers
had old square pianos standing on massive cabriole legs that
required four men to move them and took up a lot of room. In
1876 Steinway & Son of New York, built thirteen low upright,
rosewood pianos. The keyboard was supported, not on slender,
straight columns as at the present time, but on smaller unshape-
ly, cabriole legs like those on the old square pianos, showing the
first step from the old square to the upright. One of these is
now owned by the writer. In 1887 Miss Hetty A. Walton bought
an upright piano, probably the first in Centreville or nearby, and
it was considered such a novelty that some of the Hughesian
school children went in to see it. The cottage organ is no longer
sold or used and the old square piano sells very cheap and mostly
for the fine wood used in it. A great many upright pianos are in
use since 1900 and pianolas were attached to a number of pianos
by 1904. These were screwed to the front of the piano and
little felt covered hammers struck each key when a perforated
music roll was placed in the pianola and made to revolve by
working foot-pedals. This was very complicated and soon got
out of order. It could not be removed without a good deal of
trouble and any person able to play the piano itself was deprived
of its use. In 1915 a new arrangement came into general use re-
placing the old upright piano and the pianola. This was the
player piano, exactly like the upright and could be played by a
person or, by simply lowering a panel, inserting a music roll and
dropping foot-pedals it would by some internal arrangement, pro-
. duce mechanical music without striking the keys. This could be
adjusted in a minute and there are a good many in use at the
present time.
Clothing. In 1887, country boys went to school in leather
boots, mittens, pulswarmers, tippets of gaudy colored woolen,
knit at home, and little round earbobs that dropped down from
the inside of the cap. Their clothes were home made and showed
patch on patch, not always the same color. Girls wore heavy
calf-skin shoes, calico dresses and little percale aprons, woolen
caps in winter and sunbonnets in summer. There were few um-
brellas, rubber boots or rubber shoes and the row of overcoats
hanging in the vestibule smelled strong of woodsmoke, fried
PASSING EVENTS (PAPER NO. l) 335
ham, turnips and cabbage, as nearly every one at that time lived
in the kitchen, in winter. Factory made shoes and ready made
clothing, that cost but little, came into general use in 1895 and
changed all this.
Gypsies. Numerous bands of gypsies could be seen each spring
as late as 1900. after which time they disappeared almost com-
pletely and two or three summers may now pass without one
band appearing. On a very sultry Saturday afternoon in August,
1889, the writer saw a large band traveling from Doylestown to-
wards Centreville. They stopped at the foot of Burnt House
Hill just as the bright afternoon was suddenly darkened to twi-
light by inky-black clouds that were carried at a great rate by a
terrific wind. The thunder and lightening was terrible but some-
thing more than this seemed to affect the gypsies. One of them
ran to the top of the hill and beckoned the others to follow,
which they did. the horses galloping up the steep hill, into W. A.
Swains open woods. A little wedge tent was quickly put up,
trenches dug on the sides, the horses were hoppled with ropes
and turned loose just as a terrible downpour of rain completely
shut out everything and caused lamps to be lit in all the houses.
An hour later when the evening sun again shone it was learned
that in the heart of the storm with its terrible thunder and
lightning and inky blackness a gypsy child had been born in the
little tent. On Sunday (the following day), the women told for-
tunes while the men traded horses. A large crowd gathered be-
cause this was no ordinary band of gypsies. There were at least
fifteen large decorated wagons, several plain ones taken in trade,
and fifty or more horses, several men and as many women. The
king or chief wore plumb-colored corduroy trousers, a plumb-
colored waistcoat with gold and colored braid, gold-braided belt
and a pointed broad-brimmed green hat. His word was law and
the wagon he slept in was wide and high with little colored glass
windows on either side of the drivers seat and in the doors at the
rear. The outside was paneled and gaily painted. Inside there
was a long comfortable bunk or bed and on all the interior panels
were either painted landscapes or mirrors. The sheets, as well
as the pillow-cases, had rufiles on them. This wagon was dif-
ferent and finer than the others and used only by the king or
chief who drove the finest horses but did not care for them or
336 PASSING EVENTS (PAPER NO. l)
hitch them up himself. The man who looked after the horses
had a very long flexible whip of black leather that tapered from
the end of the handle to the tip of the lash and the whole thing
seemed to be in one piece. When he w-riggled it like a snake it
produced sounds like a pack of exploding fire-crackers or, hold-
ing it high over his head and giving it a quick twist it would
crack like a pistol causing every horse to look up no matter how
often he did it, much to the admiration of boys and some
horsemen. The woods was not a good camping place as it was
on the top of a hill and far away from water, so on the following
day they drove away. All of them spoke English. Mrs. Swain,
out of fear, sold them all her butter, eggs, milk, and many chickens
which they paid for in gold while they stole all her sweet corn
and some field corn and as many potatoes as they needed be-
sides pumping the well dry.
On a chilly spring day in 1889 a band of gypsies passed down
the Doylestown-Centreville pike and stopped at Rebecca Swain's
house. A child, two years old, entirely naked, was lifted out of
the wagon by a gypsy woman, carried into the house where it
was fixed up with odds and ends of children's clothing. By the
time they reached Otts Hotel, in Centreville, a mile away, the
same child was again naked and the women of Centreville fvir-
nished more clothing. It was learned later that it had been
clothed at Mrs. Frankenfields at Mechanics Valley, and by the
time the band reached Pineville the child probably had a larger
and more varied wardrobe than any person in the county.
Gypsies generally camped on Andersons flats on the north
side of Buckingham Mountain, on the Mann farm and Gypsy
Lane near Doylestown. In 1919 a band spent two weeks in the
woods south of Pools Corner. In ]May, 1918, the writer saw
gypsies with two wagons camped along the road between Easton
and Bethlehem, there was no woods along this built up highway.
Their wash was drying on a wire fence along the road and they
were cooking breakfast over a wood fire.
On Saturday morning, October 16, 1920, a band of gypsies
came down to Doylestown from Easton, Pa., and were held here
by the police who had received word from the police department
in Easton to detain them for some misdeeds committed there
until an investigation could be made. The usual red shirts,
PASSING EVENTS (PAPER NO. l) 337
sparkling jewelry and lots of babies were in evidence but the old-
fashioned gypsy wagons were missing and in their place were
large, high-powered automobiles, a seven passenger Packard, a
Pierce Arrow, a Winton six, a Chandler and a Studebaker and
as the usual string of horses for trading was out of the question
with these fast traveling motors they had given up their chief
means of support. The band, about fifty in number "parked"
not "camped" in the rear of a Doylestown garage but the two
women who were w^anted by the Easton police did not arrive with
the band. They, evidently suspecting trouble, had motored off
on a side road intending to rejoin the band later. All disappeared
the same day. When a gypsy abandons his gayly decorated wagon
and string of horses the charm is indeed broken.
The organ grinder and monkey left us before 1905. Clock and
umbrella menders, dancing bears, bag-pipers and the scissor
grinder with his little tinkling bell have disappeared since 1900.
The Mercantile License law ruined the country peddler and the
peculiar cry of the rag. bone and rubber man, who traded cheap
Trenton made crockery for old scrap is no longer heard. The
Russian Jew, residing in almost ever^' town since 1900. has
combed the country of all scrap iron and a lot of good iron,
copper and brass. Punch as well as Judy is dead. Lantern
slides of "Ten Nights in a Bar-Room," generally shown in
country churches by the W. C. T. U., went out of fashion before
1890, and "Uncle Tom's Cabin" has been crowded out of public
halls by moving picture shows and is seldom seen. The medicine
doctor with his liniment, pills, salve and free show of "The
Dance of Death," "Peck's Bad Boy," etc., no longer comes to
the town hall or the public square.
Shad-e-o, the long drawn cry of the shad huckster, stopped in
1905 when the small run of shad in the Delaware and the large
run of motors carried customers to the fisheries who bought every
fish at from one to two dollars apiece instead of twenty-five
cents, as in 1890, so none were left for the hucksters.
No one seems to know what has become of the tramps that
traveled the Old York road in great numbers about 1886. Farm-
ers were afraid of tramps because there was always the danger of
setting fire to the barn, if they were allowed to sleep there, since
all carried pipes and matches, so some gave their permission to
338 PASSING EVENTS ( PAPER NO. l)
sleep in the bams provided they would hand over pipes, tobacco
and matches until morning. Between 1880 and 1900 a good
many barns were burned that were supposed to have been fired
either by tramps smoking, or out of revenge for having been
turned away without food or shelter. Judge Yerkes drove
them out for a time with heavy sentences so that Bucks county
was a spot to be avoided by them. That they left signs and
signals for their followers there can be no doubt as certain
farmers were black listed while others had steady customers.
Although no one seems able to say just what these signs were
unless small stones, placed on a gatepost, might be taken for one.
Few tramps had the courage to go to the residence of Mr. Wil-
liam R. Mercer, St., as they had from three to seven dogs run-
ning loose, and a tramp hates a dog. But one with more courage
than the rest walked to the back door and met Mr. Mercer who
was not very sympathetic when tramps were around. Hoping
to make a favorable impression before asking for anything, he
looked around in an admiring way over the well-kept lawn and
then said, "Oh, this is a most melodious place," so amusing Mr.
Mercer that he went into the house and gave him a fine coat.
(Information of Dr. Mercer.) Another tramp and his wife came
to the same door and asked the writer for a coat as it was a
chilly rainy night. He got a good one and a hot supper. On
leaving the place the woman was heard to remark, "why didn't
you ask him for shoes too, why he was such a fool he would
give you anything." Some women living alone would have a
man's hat and coat hanging near the door to give a tramp the
impression that a man was around and Mrs. Amy Callendar of
Mechanics Valley, had two or three pitchforks in the house to be
used in case a tramp worked his way in. These were seen by
the writer in 1894.
Agateware, for cooking purposes, came into general use about
1890 and the old tin vessels, made by the country tinsmith, were
quickly discarded and with them the traveling tinker who with
his little charcoal furnace, acid, solder and soldering iron had
been a welcome caller because there were several pieces of tin-
ware to be mended no matter how often he came. They were
generally very talkative and boastful about their work. One was
so insistent on mending something that Mrs. Edward Williams
FIGUREHEAD OF CHIEF TAMMANY AT ANNAPOLIS 339
gave him a student lamp that needed a ring soldered in the bottom
of the deep, narrow oil tank. He had just declared that he could
mend anything man had ever made. After working for nearly an
hour, using up much of his solder and exclaiming every three
minutes, "well, that caps the cli-max," he was obliged to melt
away the solder that had nearly ruined the lamp, pack up his tools
and get away. Mrs. Williams remarked that it "had capped his
climax and he was not half as smart as he thought he was." He
made a very deep bow and passed on. In place of the above we
now have other things not so amusing. "Book and tree agents,
bond sellers, workmen's compensation inspectors, factory, child-
labor, boiler and fire, federal, state and municipal inspectors,
none of which agree but all worry us so that we may be happy.
Figurehead of Chief Tammany from the Old Ship-of-the
Line Delaware, 1820.
BY COLONEL HENRY D. PAXSON^ HOLICONG^ PA.
(Tohickon Park Meeting, June 18, 1921.)
THAT which I have to offer as a contribution to this after-
noon's entertainment is the presentation to the Bucks
County Historical Society of a picture of the Figurehead of
Chief Tammany, together with a brief sketch of this great Indian
and a few observations on the subject of figureheads. This fig-
urehead was taken from the old Ship-of-the-Line Delaware when
it was dismantled many years ago and now stands on the campus
of the Naval Academy at Annapolis.
The donor of this picture is Judge J. Willis Martin, of Phila-
delphia. We know Judge Martin as a distinguished jurist, as a
foremost citizen, and as the governor of that ancient and honor-
able organization "The State in Schuylkill," of which society the
renowned Tammany is the patron saint.
I take it that you will all be interested in anything pertaining
to this distinguished chieftain. Bucks county and this society
have a peculiar right in claiming him as their own. He was the
chief Sachem of the Lenni-Lenape Indians, the ancient owners
340 FIGUilEHEAD OF CHIP:F TAMMANY AT ANNAPOLIS
and occupiers of our soil at the time of Perm's coming. He ren-
dered most important service in directing his people in their
dealings with the proprietary government and his remains are
believed to repose on the banks of the Neshaminy in a grave
now in the keeping of the Bucks County Historical Society.
The most that we know of Tammany's personal character is
from the pen of the Moravian missionary, the Reverend John
Heckewelder. While Heckewelder was not a cotemporary, he
lived many years among the Delaware Indians and was familiar
with their traditions. He gives this word picture :
"The name of Tamanend is held in the highest veneration among
the Indians. Of all the chiefs and great men which the Lenape na-
tion ever had, he stands foremost on the list. But although many
fabulous stories are circulated about him among the whites, but little
of his real history is known. The misfortunes which have befallen
some of the most beloved and esteemed personages among the Indians
since the Europeans came amongst them, prevent the survivors from
' indulging in the pleasure of recalling to mind the memory of their vir-
tues. No white man who regards their feelings will introduce such
subjects in conversation with them.
All we know of Tamanend, therefore, is that he was an ancient Dela-
ware chief who never had his equal. He was in the highest degree en-
dowed with wisdom, virtue, prudence, charity, affability, meekness,
hospitality, in short with every good and noble qualification that a
human being may possess. He was supposed to have had an inter-
course with the great and good spirit, for he was a stranger to every-
thing that is bad.
When Col. George Morgan, of Princeton, in New Jersey, was, about
the year 1776, sent b}- congress as an agent to the western Indians,
the Delawares conferred on him the name of Tamanend, in honor and
remembrance of their ancient chief and as the greatest mark of re-
spect which they could show to that gentleman, who they said had
the same address, affability and meekness as their honored chief, and
therefore ought to be named after him.
The fame of this great man even extended among the whites, who
fabricated numerous legends respecting him, which I never heard, how-
ever, from the mouth of an Indian, and therefore believe to be fabu-
lous. In the Revolutionary war his enthusiastic admirers dubbed him
a saint, and he was established under the name of St. Tammany, the
Patron Saint of America. His name was inserted in some calendars
and his festival celebrated on the first day of May in every year."
Of Tammany's relations with the state, we have authentic ac-
counts. We know that by several deeds he conveyed to William
Penn as proprietor and governor, much of the land nov\^ com-
FIGUREHEAD OF CHIEF TAMMANY
From the Old Ship-of-the-Line Delaware, 1820
From a photograph made in 1920, in the collection of Colonel Henry D. Paxson,
of the original Figurehead on the grounds of the United States
Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md.
FIGUREHEAD OF CHIEF TAMMANY AT ANNAPOLIS 341
prising Bucks county. I have here copies of all of the Tammany
deeds. If you are the owners of any of the fair hills and valleys
of Bucks county, you will be interested because they belong to
your title. If you examine your old deeds, you may be fortunate
enough to trace them back to the patent from William Penn.
but beyond the patent are the deeds which Tammany made to
Penn, so that he is in reality a predecessor of your title.
The first deed is dated the "23rd day of ye 4th month called
June in ye year, according to ye English account, 1683" and in
it "Tamanen" conveys unto William Penn, all of his "lands lying
betwixt Pemmapecka and Nessaminehs Creeks, for ye considera-
tion of so much wampum, so many guns, shoes, stockings, look-
ing glasses, blankets, and other goods as he. ye said William
Penn, shall please to give unto me."
This deed seems to have been followed by another deed of the
same date, in which Metamequan joins with Tamanen in a grant
to William Penn. of the same lands. The receipt on the back
of this deed enumerates the articles received by Tammany and
Metamequan for the land conveyed to William Penn and which
has been roughly estimated to be about three hundred square miles.
5 p Stockings 10 Glasses
20 Barrs Lead 5 Capps
10 Tobacco Boxes 15 Combs
6 Coats, 2 Guns 5 Hoes
8 Shirts, 2 Kettles 9 Gimbletts
12 Awles 20 Fishhooks
5 Hatts 10 Tobacco Tongs
25 lb. Powder 10 pr Sissers
1 Peck Pipes 7 half Gills
38 yds. Duffills 6 Axes, 2 Blankets
16 Knives 4 handfull Bells
100 Needles 4 yds Stroud Water
20 handsful of Wampum
The next important paper was executed on the 15th of June,
1692, at Philadelphia, and in this. King Taminent and three other
kings, Tangorus, Swampes, and Hickoqueon, acknowledged that
they had received from the commissioners of the proprietors full
satisfaction for all that tract of land formerly belonging to Tami-
nent and others, which they parted with unto William Penn ;
the said tract lying between Neshaminah and Poquessing upon
the River Delaware and extending;- backwards to the utmost
342 FIGUREHEAD OF CHIEF TAMMANY AT ANNAPOLIS
bounds of the said province, and in it, they release the proprietor
and his heirs and successors "from any further claims, dues and
demands whatsoever, concerning the said land or any other tract
of land claimed by us from the beginning of the world to the
day of the date hereof."
The last deed from Tammany is dated July 5, 1697, and reads
as follows :
"We Taminy Sachimack and" Weheeland, my brother, and Wehe-
queekhon alias Andrew, who is to be king after my death, Yaqueakhon
alias Nicholas, and Quenameckquid, alias Charles my sons, for us our
heirs and successors do grant ... all the lands between Pemopeck
and the creek called Neshaminy . . . and extending in length from
the River Delaware so far as a horse can travel in two summer days,
and to carry its breadth according as the several courses of the said
two Creeks will admit, and when the said Creek do so Branch that the
main branches or bodies thereof cannot be discovered, then the tract
of land hereby granted, shall stretch forth upon a direct course on each
side and so carry on the full breadth to the extent of the length thereof."
The consideration in this deed consisted of "Twenty Match-
coats, Twelve White Blankets, Ten Kettles, Twelve Guns, Thirty
yards of Shirting Cloth, one Runlett of Poweder, Ten Barrs of
Lead, fforty yards of Stroud Waters, Twenty pairs of Stockins,
One Horse, fifty pounds of tobacco, Six dozen of pipes and
thirty shillings in cash." In this deed Tammany is styled "King
Taminy" and he appointed as his attorney to acknowledge and
deliver the deed, Lasse Cock, a Swede and Penn's interpreter.
As showing Tammany's moral character and the peace policy
he advocated for his people in their dealings with the Pennsyl-
vania proprietors, I would like to quote one paragraph from a
speech he made July 6, 1694, before the council at Philadelphia,
when the Iroquois wanted the Delawares to attack the settlers.
He said :
"Wee and the Christians of this river Have allwayes had a free rode
way to one another, & tho' sometimes a tree has fallen across the rode
yet wee have still removed it again, & keept the path clear, and wee
design to Continou the old friendshipp that has been between us and
you; and gives a Belt of wampum."
FIGUREHEADS.
We now come to the subject of this figurehead or bust of
Tammany, the picture of which is before you, and which leads
FIGUREHEAD OF CHIEF TAMMANY AT ANNAPOLIS 343
first to a few general words on the time-honored practice of
ornamenting ships.
In ancient times, when the mariner ventured timidly in his
frail bark on unknown waters, he placed on the prow of his vessel
a symbol or token signifying his dependence upon a spirit or
diety supposed to dominate the wind and the water. In the many
succeeding centuries, this emblem assumed various forms. In
the days of the Phoenician, they erected on their galleys some-
form of a marine-protecting diety; the Greeks had images of
Castor and Pollux; the Egyptians, the ram's head or a carved
lotus ; the Roman vessels bore the head of a lion, while the ancient
Norse battlecraft bore aloft the dragon or serpent's head on its;
way to the shore of Iceland and Greenland.
Coming down to more recent times, the period of the building
of our American navy, we find portrait busts of illustrious war-
riors or statesmen carved in wood, like the object this picture por-
trays. Today, if you walk along the Philadelphia water-front and
observe the outgoing and incoming vessels, you will find upon
the ship's prow a faint scroll, all that survives as a reminder of
those days when the navigator felt that the greatest of his crafts
could survive the elements only if he appealed to the forces of
the unknown world.
For almost half a century, one of the features and traditions",
of the U. S. Naval Academy at Annapolis has been this Indian:
figurehead, which has long stood on a stone pedestal faring Ban-
croft Hall. Strange to say, it has been erroneously called Po-
hawtan, King Philip, Uncas and Tecumseh, and only quite re-
cently was it authoritatively established that it was Tammany..
The proof of this is found in certain letters in the Navy depart-
ment, in the year 1821, copies of which I have here. The Hon..
V. VanDyke, of the United States Senate, in a letter dated Janu-
ary 5, 1821, directed the attention of Commodore John Rodgers
to the subject of Tamanend and suggested that as Tamanend was
the most distinguished chief of the Delaware Indians and his
name connected with the early history of our country, that his
bust would be an appropriate figurehead for the Ship-of-the-Line,,
Delaware then being built. The records show the specifications
of the figurehead as follows :
344 FIGUREHEAD OF CHIEF TAMMANY AT ANNAPOLIS
Bust of Tamanend, the celebrated Chief of the Delaware
Indians.
Drapery — a Blanket with a Belt, in which is a Tomahawk.
Over the left shoulder — a Quiver of Arrows.
One hand resting on a Bow, and the other Hand holding the
Calumet.
That which we see here is only a part of the statue, which the
records indicate as being nine feet in height.
Despite the fact that some of these proofs were brought to
public attention in a maratime journal, the error still seems to
persist and even to this day, if you approach one of the future
admirals of the navy and ask him the name of the portrait-bust
on the campus at Annapolis, he will tell you it is Tecumseh. They
all have a certain sentiment for the figurehead, as it is supposed
to have occult powers. The system of marking at the academy is
upon the basis of 4, the lowest satisfactory mark in any sub-
ject in the curriculm being 2 :5, and we are told that when these
middies are fearful that their examination papers would fail to
meet this minimum, they would slip away in the shadow of that
grim figure after dark and pray for the old Indian chief's favor
— '"the God of the 2 :5" as he is known.
SHIPS OF THE U. S. NAVY NAMED DELAWARE.
I have said this figurehead was taken from the old Ship-of-the-
Line Delaware. An extended inquiry among naval men and a
protracted search among public documents and records has
yielded some interesting information. There were five ships in
our navy by the name of Delaware.
Delaavare 1. Frigate, 321 tons, 24 guns, 180 men, built at Philadelphia
in 1776, under the direction of the Marine Committee, by order of the
Continental Congress, Dec. 13, 1775. Owing to the blockade of the
Delaware by the British fleet, she never got to sea, but took an active
part, as one of Commodore John Hazelwood's fleet in the engagements
in the Delaware, 1776-1777. Took part in the engagement near Red
Bank, N. J., under command of Capt. C. Alexander, May 8, 1776, and
in the destr^^ction of H. B. M. S. Merlin and Augusta, Oct. 22, 23,
1777. November 19, 1777, owing to the wind having died away the
Delaware was unable to pass the British fortifications below Phila-
delphia, and was set on fire to prevent her falling into the hands of
the enemy
Delaware 2. Ship, 321 tons, 20 guns, 180 men. Purchased in Phila-
FIGUREHEAD OF CHIEF TAMMANY AT ANNAPOLIS 345
delphia in 1798. Sold at Baltimore 1801, under the Peace Establish-
ment Act. Cruised in the West Indies during the Naval War with
France, 1798-99, commanded by Capt. Stephen Decatur, Sr.. made the
first capture in this war, off the Capes of the Delaware, June, 1798.
and later captured four other prizes.
Delaware 3. Line of battleship, named for the State of Delaware,
2,633 tons, 74 guns, complement, officers and men, 820. Commenced
in 1817 at Gosport (Norfolk) Navy Yard. Launched Oct. 21, 1820.
Cruised as flagship of the Mediterranean and Brazil Stations, 1828-
1844, when she was laid up in ordinary at the Norfolk Navy Yard.
Destroyed when the Union forces evacuated this navy yard at the com-
mencement of the Civil War (April 21, 1861). This line-of-battleship
originally had a figure of an Indian chief as a figurehead, which now
stands in the grounds of the U. S. Naval Academy.
Delaware 4. Paddlewheel steamer, 357 tons, 5 guns. Purchased in
1861. Sold Sept. 12, 1865. Very actively engaged on the coast of
North Carolina from 1861 to 1865.
Delaware 5. First class battleship, named for the State of Delaware.
Length 510 feet,' beam 85 feet. Tons 20,000. Built at the Newport
News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Va.
Launched February 6, 1909. Battery 30 guns (2 anti-aircraft) ; 2 sub-
merged torpedo tubes. Attached to the Atlantic Fle&t, Squadron 3,
Division 5.^
In conclusion, it would be interesting to know something of
the one who carved this remarkable figurehead.
At the time when all ships bore their insignia, the art of wood-
carving developed in America to the highest standard. Of these
sculptors, William Rush stood foremost. He was the son of a
ship carpenter, born in Philadelphia in 1756 and died in 1833.
Of the examples of his work of which we have knowledge, I
will mention a few :
A figure of an "Indian Trader" dressed in Indian habiliments,
on the vessel William Penn excited great admiration in London,
while his "River God" as the figurehead of the ship "Ganges"
as it passed up that river on its way to Calcutta attracted the na-
tives as an object of adoration and of worship.
At the Masonic Temple in Philadelphia can be seen a remark-
able female figure symbolizing "Silence."
His figures of "Tragedy" and "Comedy," once owned by Ed-
win Forrest, are in the Edwin Forrest Actors' Home at Holmes-
burg. Possibly the most remarkable of his carvings is the fuU-
1 The Delaware No. 5 served throughout the Great War and was scrapped
under the provisions of President Harding's Disarmament Conference.
346 FIGUREHEAD OF CHIEF TAMMANY AT AXXAPOLIS
length figure of \A'ashington Avhich was first exhibited in 1815
and purchased in 1831 by the city for the sum of $500. It can
be seen in Congress Hall, Philadelphia.
Here is a newspaper clipping of the Pcu)isylz'ouia Journal of
November 23, 1791 :
"The art of carving, especially heads of ships, we may without
boasting say, is now brought to the greatest degree of perfection in this
city. A stranger walking along the wharves, must be struck with the
beautiful female figures of Peace, Plenty, Love, Harmony, Ariel,
Astronomy, Minerva, America, etc., etc., and also with the masculine
statues of American Warriors, Alexanders, Hannibals, Caesars, etc.,
etc., and amongst the rest of those heroes the bold and striking like-
ness of the President, on the General Washington, a ship which sailed
yesterday for Dublin, must give pleasure to every spectator. The artist
who executed this, we hear is Mr. Rush; and as we may allow sea
Captains to be judges, they are generally of the opinion that the carv-
ing of heads of vessels in Philadelphia is superior to any they have seen
in any part of the world."
While this figure of Tammany does not appear in the list of
Rush's known. works, it has been by some attributed to him, and
I believe that further investigation will establish beyond doubt
that this remarkable figurehead, the only idealization of the great
Indian Chief Tammany, is the work of the sculptor, Willianx
Rush.
C4.g8
â– â– : '^BfiadsHavY i/i2
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WORKED BY RUTH BRADSHAW, 1712
Loaned by Miss Mary S. Paxson, Carversville, Pa.
Bucks County Samplers.
BY MRS. WILLIAM R. MERCER, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Tohickon Park Meeting, June 18, 1921.)
WHEN I was first invited to say a few words to you on
the subject of samplers I felt that it was quite beyond
my powers. In the first place, I knew little or nothing
about the subject, had seen very few samplers and felt that I
could not judge their merits or demerits. Some weeks have
elapsed since then, and it has been my privilege to see many of
these quaint and interesting pieces of needlework, and to learn
a little about their origin, the materials with which they were
made, and above all to realize the human meaning that lies under-
neath all expression. I am more than glad I was asked to under-
take, I will not say this task, but this pleasure, not only to learn
what part the sampler has played in our early American history,
but also to get into touch with their owners and to see how they
have treasured these little squares, that are quite a chapter in
themselves of American handicraft.
These few words of preamble are to explain to you how I hap-
pen to be here, and to ask you not to expect too much from me.
This is not to be the result of profound research, it is only to be
an informal talk on a very charming form of needlework. I
shall only try to tell you what I have learned myself.
Before we speak of Bucks county samplers, or even American
samplers, I would like to say a few words on the subject in gen-
eral. I do not think that we shall be able to understand the
samplers that we see about us in our exhibition without going far
back and realizing that this work did not suddenly spring into
existence, but developed step by step.
Let us turn to the foundations : It is interesting to hear that
the first mention of a sampler occurs when Queen Elizabeth of
York, wife of Henry VII, in 1465, is recorded to have paid 8
pence for one all of linen to make an ensampler. Now let us
pause a moment and notice this word. Ensampler is the old
English for exampler, in other words an example, and in that
one word is contained the whole meaning of the early samplers.
348 BUCKS COUNTY SAMPLERS
We do not realize in these days of machine-made products
what a part needlework played in the olden days. Everything
was embroidered : dresses, underwear, furniture .coverings, above
all table linen and bed drapery were not only embroidered but
marked, and needlework was at once an occupation, a pleasure
and a relaxation enjoyed by old and young. Therefore, how to
preserve these stitches and patterns became an absorbing interest.
The first samplers are just what is expressed by the word
example. They are a dictionarj' of patterns. A tradition tells us
that Catharine of Aragon, wife of Henry VII I, taught the women
of Bedfordshire, in England, to embroider the very early ones.
That may or may not be so, but in any case it shows that the
interest existed in all classes.
Now, in those days, the samplers were long and narrow, in
shape very different from the later ones. The English hand
looms were oak, eight or nine inches wide. The sampler would
be accordingly narrow, and about one yard in length, and the
owner would keep it rolled up when it was not in use or on ex-
hibition. The very early ones were, usually all white, of linen
worked \vith linen thread. I only wish that I had with me some
of the lovely ones that are to be seen in the Metropolitan Mu-
seum in New York. They seem like cobwebs woven by fairies,
the pattern resembling Italian cut-work. The number of pat-
terns is endless on these early beautiful examples, and they ex-
press what they were meant to be, the record book to be handed
on to children and grandchildren, the dictionary of needlework.
It is interesting to note here that the earliest known dated
sampler is an English one dated 1643; beyond that we encounter
an entire blank, and yet samplers were written about by Shake-
speare and Milton, and were also deemed worthy of mention as
bequests. For instance in the will of Margaret Tomson, of Lin-
colnshire, England, in 1546, she says "I give to Alys Pynsbeck,
my sister's daughter, my sampler with semes".
Being merely pattern records, however, these early samplers do
not have the decorative value of the later work.
Numerals and alphabets were added to these lace patterns after
a little. Then came texts and verses, and soon the sampler be-
came, not an example of embroidery stitches, but a chart on
which were set out varieties of lettering and alphabets. About
l^xST^T^/^lpjE^S^^^W^C^T^
\-^»-/ "â–
WORKED BY MARY SHEEDS, 1806
Loaned by Mrs. Henry D. Paxson, Holicong, Pa.
^ i
(^rmit ihy gncioTj? name, to stand ^f
.S^As tke first effort of my fouthM amdt
Y 't-
JjAx^ wbil« my f in^er^ o'er t.kis canvass move/
':XEng,a|,e my tender heart to se«k thy love/ v
J/ With thy dsar children let me jbear a, p^rt ''^
Y^ And write thy name thyself upor. rfxj heartjf
Vlhe only amaranthine fiowr on c?rth V
'if t?
^â– f Is virtue th'only lasUng treasure truth ]jj
t. Susa» . Mtgili
'"i **fe Newtown
WORKED BY SUSAX MACaLL, 1812
Loaned by Mrs. C. S. Atkinson, New Hope, Pa.
BUCKS COUNTY SAMPLERS 349
1700 it became possible to weave wider stripes and so we find
the samplers becoming wider and shorter.
A word now about foreign samplers, for we must not think
they were all produced in England. Samplers are found in all
European countries with England and Germany, however, lead-
ing the way. They can also be seen in France, Belgium, Holland,
Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy and Spain. You can also
find some that were made in the mission schools of India and I
have seen a Turkish one. All the continental samplers are made
of wider linen than English ones, and are usually done in brightly
colored silks. Most of them have inscriptions and almost all are
dated and the name of the worker is signed in full, with the ex-
ception of the German ones, where only the initials figure.
Now that we have learned a little about the origin and develop-
ment of the earliest samplers, let us turn to the first American ones.
The earliest one that we possess is in the Essex Institute, Salem,
Mass., and is the work of Ann Gower, the wife of Governor
Endicott. It is not dated, but must have been made about 1610,
that is, before she came to America. The second oldest, is also
in Massachusetts, the work of Loara Standish, daughter of Cap-
tain ]\Iiles Standish of Plymouth. It is only a little later in date
to that of Ann Gower. These are both long samplers, but the
end of the eighteenth century saw the passing of the narrow type.
About 1740 the border began to creep in, and soon became a
frame for birds, flowers, verses, texts and all sorts of designs.
Now, as this is called a paper on Bucks County Samplers. I
must tell this Bucks comity audience, all that I have discovered
about the very lovely samplers which abound here. I only wish
that I had begun this research years ago instead of weeks ago.
However, I have had very much co-operation from the owners
of the samplers, without whom we could never have had this
exhibition. I have found on all sides unparalled generosity and
a desire to help. When we first thought of an exhibition a friend
said to me, "No one will feel like lending these lovely old sam-
plers", but I have not only found a willingness to lend when they
were asked, but I have been, even called on the telephone by
generous friends who have been glad to loan them.
Of course the samplers in the county were made mostly by
either English or German forbears, and I was much pleased to
350 BUCKS COUNTY SAMPLERS
see how many interesting and beautiful ones were scattered
about. The materials are a coarse linen, which had a great vogue
at that time, often stained yellow.
Sometimes canvas was used, particularly when the alphabet
was done in cross stitch. Very often we find a fine bolting cloth
as it was called, silk texture that had been dipped in gummed
water, note the two examples made by Mary and Rachel Collins
in 1810. That offers a very fine and beautiful background for
dainty patterns. We can find practically all the sampler stitches
of other countries reproduced in our Bucks county samplers,
cross stitch, satin stitch, tent-stitch, eyelet-stitch, and even
French knots. The designs are also the same as on the English
ones. We find the same huge birds sitting on small trees, the
mourning trees with branches turned down, and the tree of life
with branches joyfully turned upward. Then the baskets of
fruit appear again and again, also the rose, the strawberry and
the pink. The American linen was usually coarser and rougher
than the English or continental linen. A material of wool and
linen called "tammy cloth" was also used. As the moths soon
discovered it, many beautiful samplers were partially destroyed.
The silk or thread was of course home-dyed. In this relation
I want you to notice Maria Thomas' sampler, her mother raised
the silk worms, made the silk and dyed it at home, and Maria
worked the sampler. Cochineal, logwood plant a genesta, indigo
and saffron were among the substances used for that. In some
of the New England samplers a certain kinkiness in the silk is
explained by its having been supposedly brought over from the
Orient by the sea captains. The oldest sampler on exhibition is
dated 1712 and is worked on linen in black cross stitch; notice
here that the earliest ones were always cross stitch, the satin
stitch came later.
One of our most interesting samplers is lent by Mrs. Henry
D. Paxson. It was made by Hannah Sheed and dated 1806. The
maker was descended from the Swedes who settled in Pennsyl-
vania in the seventeenth century, and it is a beautiful example
of needlework.
Another interesting Bucks county sampler has been loaned
by the Bucks County Historical Society. It is dated 1810 and
was made by Martha Lacey, the daughter of General Lacey, the
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WORKED BY RACHEL BROADHURST, 1812
Loaned by Mrs. John Rockafellow, Forest Grove, Pa.
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WORKED BY SUSAX SCHLEIPPER. 1816
Loaned by Hon. Henry S. Punk, SpringtOM^n, Pa.
BUCKS COUNTY SAMPLERS 351
hero of the battle of the Crooked Billet, near Hatboro. Still an-
other, dated also 1810, was loaned by the same society, and made
by a member of the Stewart family, then hving near New Galena.
It has a beautiful motto, which I quote :
If I am right, thy grace impart
Still in the right to stay,
If I am wrong, oh. teach me how
To find the better way.
I want to draw attention to Mary D. Richardson's darned
sampler, dated 1821. It is the only example of that kind of work
that we have on exhibition. The colors are in a very fine state
of preservation. Some times these samplers were really darned,
and the material cut from underneath, but in this one the needle
is simply run under the threads. The inscription says it was made
at Attleborough School, now Langhorne.
Acrostics were much in vogue a hundred or more years ago.
AVe have only one example here, signed E. S., dated 1834.
Then, those who are historically interested in our county will
enjoy the delightful picture made by Susan Geary in 1832 of
Fallsington School. It was probably done when she was a pupil
there and was a monument to her industry and perseverance.
A very fine sampler has been loaned, made on tammy cloth, that
combination of wool and linen that has been mentioned. It was
made by Rachel Broadhurst in 1812 and has a very great variety
of design. It is the only one we have on which the unicorn is
depicted, evidently an heritage from English ancestors. It is in
a very fine state of preservation.
Another favorite form of sampler was the extracts, as they
were called, that is, verses enclosed in a frame composed of a
single line of black stitch. We have shown here three such ex-
amples. Two of our very best and oldest samplers are Ann
Wady's, dated 1746. and the one finished by Ann Pierce in 1742.
They are a beautiful example of fine stitchery and are both done
in cross stitch. They are both little gems as is the one made by
Sara Magill in Newtown in 1819. This last is worked on bolting
cloth laid upon gold paper, producing a very lovely effect.
I only have time to mention three more of our Bucks county
samplers, that of Ann Bessonette. done in the eighth year of her
age, in 1780. Notice particularly the coaches drawn by black
352
BUCKS COUNTY SAMPLERS
ponies. The whole execution of this sampler is very fine and the
quaint design most unusual. Bessonette we believe to be an old
Hugenot name from the lower part of the county. The French
Hugenots were great sampler-makers. That of Sarah Richard-
son, dated 1825, with its fine strawberry border, gives a very
charming effect. The strawberry, by the way, was a favorite
design and we find it again and again. The inscription is very
quaint it is called "Friendship", and says :
And what is friendship but a name,
A charm that lulls to sleep,
A shade that follows wealth or fame
And leaves the wretch to weep.
The last sampler of which I shall speak is by Elizabeth Mere-
dith dated 1788. A beautiful border of yellow flowers encloses
the Lord's prayer in verse. For daintiness, execution and de-
sign it is as lovely an example as any that we have.
I would like to mention each one of the samplers exhibited here
but time and space forbids. The whole county has come forward
with astonishing enthusiasm. I want especially to mention Miss
Eleanor Foulke, of Quakertown, to whom we owe the idea of
having this exhibition. She has worked untiringly and has beau-
tiful and interesting samplers from the northern part of the
county. One especially quaint was made in the year 1821 by
Susan Schleififer. The inscription runs :
When I am dead and in my grave,
And all my bones are rotten;
When this you see remember me.
Or I shall be forgotten.
I also want to draw your attention, to the various needlework
pictures. They are not samplers, to be sure, but we are very
glad to have them, as they were co-existent with samplers at the
beginning of the nineteenth century. They will repay close ex-
amination for their wonderful needlework.
It is interesting to discover when certain designs first came into
being. In 1710 Adam and Eve became popular and hundreds of
samplers reproduced the Garden of Eden. Amusing to relate,
our first parents were often attired in the fashions of the day.
Eve in hoop skirt and Adam in court dress. Here, owing to the
i/QA
S'^^S^^a
M.
^/ mkc.
WdllKKI) BY MAUY 1 ). KM 'H A 111 )S()N, ISlil.
Loaned by Mrs. Thomas L. Allen, Langhorne, Pa.
WORKED BY SUSAN GEARY, 1832
Loaned by Mrs. S. B. Farren. Doylestown, Pa.
BUCKS COUNTY SAMPLERS 353
kindness of Mr. Howell, of Germantown, we find in our exhibi-
tion Adam and Eve in full Quaker costume.
Another friend has allowed us to show her sampler, where the
Garden of Eden is represented, also the serpent seems to be
speaking to Eve, while Adam looks on. All the participants,
except the serpent are in the costume of the day, which was
about one hundred years ago.
From about 1777 to 1812 we find the map samplers, that were
supposed to teach at once the art of needlework and the science
of geography. They were outlined-stitches on linen, silk and
even satin, and were of course, inspired by the spirit of travel
and colonization, I wish I could have found one for exhibition.
I think that we are all struck by the extreme youth of the sample-
makers. The most beautiful and finished work was sometimes
accomplished by a child of nine, and very few of the samples
were done by any one older than fifteen years. For instance,
Maria Thomas in 1828 exclaims at the age of nine :
O, may my follies, like the falling trees.
Be stripp'd of every leaf by Autumn's wind;
May every branch of vice embrace the breeze,
And nothing leave but virtue's fruit behind.
In the first half of the eighteenth century the rise of Method-
ism gave popularity to various texts. The Lord's prayer and the
Epistles were often done in cross stitch, along with moral maxims
and texts, and it might interest this audience to hear how far back
some of the most common designs can be traced by listening to
the following : Adam and Eve, as we have said, began to be
seen in 1710; the alphabet, in 1643. The border enclosing a
sampler, in 1726; numerals, 1655. We inight go on indefinately
tracing the familiar figures, but it is evident that the sampler has
gone through four stages.
1. It was a record of design.
2. An example of handiwork.
3. A training for little girls.
4. A school room task.
There are very few books written about samplers, and not very
many articles. A splendid book on American samplers is about
to be published by two members of the Colonial Dames. That
354 BUCKS COUNTY SAMPLERS
society has been especially interested in samplers and has held
exhibitions at different times.
What a pity that this charming form of needlework is fast dis-
appearing. These bits of faded color appeal to us in a very
special manner. They speak of bygone days, of lives spent quietly
in home surroundings before the advent of the trolley car and
automobile ; what dreams were woven into these tiny stitches,
what thoughts were passing through the minds of those whose
busy fingers wove these designs? We shall not know, but we
can look at them with tenderness, and feel that perhaps little
Ellen Maria Odiorne, aged ten years old, was not wrong when
she wrote on her sampler in 1822 these words :
How various her employments, whom the world
Calls idle and who justly in return
Esteems that busy world an idler too.
Friends, books, her needle and perhaps her pen.
Delightful industry, enjoyed at home,
Could she want occupation who has these?
The following is a list of the samplers loaned to Mrs. Mercer.
She displayed many of them on the walls of the auditorium in
which the meeting was held. They were of special interest to
all, and assisted her greatly in illustrating her interesting paper.
PERSONS LOANING WHEN AND BY WHOM
SAMPLERS WORKED
Miss Marv S. Paxson, Carversville
S Ruth Bradshaw, 1712
( Composed by E. S., 1834
Mrs. Emlin Martin, Bristol Ann Pierce, 1742
Mrs. Eliza Hance, Newtown Ann Wady, 1746
\ Elizabeth Thompson, plate, 1748
Mrs. Helen Parry Fretz, Newtown \ Elizabeth T. Neelv, (b. 1805, d.
[ 1842).
Mrs. T. O. Atkinson, Doylestown Phoebe Schofield, 1760
Mrs. Horatio Beatty, Bristol
I Ann Bessonett, 1780
( Catharine Cabeen, 1819
Mrs. A. E. Levick, Quakertown Ann Laning, two, 1784 and 1794
Mrc TVlr^rv,^c T All T u f Aun Lanittg, two, 1784 -and 1794
Mrs. Thomas L. Allen Langhorne | ^^^^^ ^ Richardson, 1821
Miss Fanny Chapman, Dovlestown \ glif beth Meredith. 1786
^ ' - ^='-^^"- I Not given — Embroidered picture
Miss Marian Lyman, Doylestown Elizabeth Aleredith. 1788
Miss Emma James, Doylestown Polly Armstrong, 1798
Mrs. Richard Watson, Dovlestown \ \\^'Y Rodman, 1799
( Maria Thomas, 1828
Mrs. Penrose Roberts, Quakertown Margaret Penrose, 1799
»r-
^ "' ACEOh
Mmtw Charm-^ Kai^ thou j
And. Wirings iiot few?^
Eare Beauty onlktr Brox^
■GodLme^s^s- too «
^^-ndfrowthY Sonil
Eadiar^t xxxith Lo^o^^
^â– ^^ E tef Ti&L Fea^ce thy Goal
Trea-^wed- froTO AJ>o^^e '^
Good friend thou art
Oh . one .^0 feir apd K md -
Oft Low may rlLLthy^Heart t
E>eeP FufitY thy Mmd >â– ^|
Co^YsPo^s-ed W E'S"
COMPOSED BY K. S., A. D. 1834
Loaned by Miss Mary S. Paxson, Carversville, Pa.
BUCKS COUNTY SAMPLERS
355
PERSONS LOANING
SAMPLERS
Mrs. Henry D. Paxson, Holicong
Mrs. William Tinsman, Lumberville
Mrs. Augustus J. Pickering,
Gardenville
Mrs. Emma Stapler Wright,
Newtown
Mrs. Charles Smith, Newtown
Dr. F. B. Swartzlander, Doylestown
Hon. Henry S. Funk, Springtown
Mrs. Edward Blackfan, New Hope
Miss Mary Bunting, Newtown
Mrs. Mary Armstrong, Doylestown
Miss Eleanor Foulke, Quakertown
Mrs. John Ely, New Hope
Miss Marie H. Radcliffe, Bucking-
ham
Mrs. George Ross, Doylestown
Mrs. John S. Rockafellow, Forest
Grove
Mrs. C. S. Atkinson, New Hope
Mrs. John Yardley, Doylestown
Mrs. Margaret Wiggins, Newtown
Mrs. Warner Thompson, Wycombe
Ad:rs. H. A. Todd, Doylestown
Miss Edith Newlin Fell, Holicong
Mr. George C.Worstall, Newtown
Miss Louisa B. Hill, Quakertown
Mrs. Lydia W. Thompson, Newtowi
WHEN AND BY WHO^[
WORKED
f Hanamell Canby, 1800
â– I Ann Johnson, 1804
I Mary Sheeds, 1806
[Hannah Kelter, 1835
( Frances Fell. 1801
I Esther B. Fell, 1815
Mary Roberts, 1802
[Susanna Betts. 1804
I Marv Stapler, 7th. Mo. 1805
^ Elizabeth S. Jones, 1820
I Two pieces with alphabet, no
[ date
[ Martha Palmer Nancev, 1804
-i Martha Palmer, 1810
[Anna Bunting, 1818
j Name not given, 1803
} Abigail R. Swartzlander
5 Susan Schleiffer, (b 1804, d. 1900)
( Elizabeth Funk, two, 1844 and 1850
\ Eleanor Hughes, 1805
1 Hannah Gilbert. 1811
Rachel Woolston, 1806
Mary Moore, 1807
fjane Roberts. 1808
I Jane R. Mather, 1831
(Martha Betts. 1807
I Hannah Smith, 1830
Mary T. Burrows, 1810
Elizabeth Pawning. 1812
Rachel Broadhurst. 1812
Mourning Picture, 1812
5 Mary Yardley, alphabet, 1813
[Mary Yardley, (darned), 1819
Susan Magill, 1812
Elizabeth Warner. 1813
Ruth Cottman. 1813
Elizabeth W. Carey. 1850
Sarah Eastburn, 1815
j Esther B. Fell, 1815
(E. T., 1818
( Sarah Betts, 1817
I "Why is our food so very sweet
I Because we earn before we eat.
- Why is our wants so very few
Because we nature calls persue."
Marie E. Smith, 1824 — Aged 9
years
Mary Book. 1817
Patience Heston, 1820. age 16 yrs.
356
BUCKS COUNTY SAMPLERS
PERSONS LOANING
SAMPLERS
Mrs. Harold Gillingham, German-
town
Rev. J. B. Krewson, Forest Grove
Mrs. C. R. Nightingale, Doylestown
Mrs. Alfred Marshall, Langhorne
Miss Addie Buckman, Doylestovi^n
Mrs. A. M. Keys, Bristol
Mrs. Thomas L. Allen, Langhorne
Miss Helen Gilkeston, Bristol
Mrs. Edward S. Hutchinson, New-
town
Miss R. S. Tinsman. Lumberville
Miss Emma Trego Fell, Holicong
Mrs. S. B. Farren, Doylestown
Miss Ray Roberts, Quakerstown
Mrs. Frederick G. Le Roy Newtown
Miss Belle Van Sant, Newtown
Mrs. F. H. Fluck, Quakertown
Mrs. James Groff, Doylestown
Miss Louisa Buckman, Doylestown
Mrs. Arthur Leatherman, Doyles-
town
Mrs. H. W. Atkinson, Doylestown
Mrs. A. B. Sellers, Chalfont
[
Miss Laura Haines. Doylestown i
Mrs. Oliver Bergey, Doylestown
Mrs. William Opdyke, New Hope
Mrs. David Nyce, Doylestown
Miss Augusta S. Keim, Bristol
(
Bucks County Historical Society -{
WHEN AND BY WHOM
WORKED
\ Agnes Lukens, 1820
I Adam and Eve Pattern
S Jane Wallace, 1820
I Rebecca Wallace, 1827
Mary VanHorn, 1821
Mary Mathers, 1823
Mar\' Jamison, 1823
Elizabeth Marshall, about 1825
Sarah Richardson, 1825
Elizabeth Kinsey, 1825
Rachel Childs, 1825 aged 22 years
Rebecca W. Small, Sep. 20, 1824
Rebecca Thorne, 1827
Susan Geary, 1832
Martha C. Roberts, 1834
Delia A. Hopkins, 1834
(Jane Willet (Van Sant) 1837,
I aet. 11
Mary Shupp, 1840
Louisa Cadwallader, 1841
Louisa Buckman, 1848
Two samplers, 1852
Magdalene S. Parry, two samplers
Mary Betts
[ Lydia Ashbridge Way
\ Ann Way
[ Sydney JefiFeris Way
Not given
Not given
Two samplers, no data given
Not given
Westtown School, 1802
Martha Lacey, 1810
[Stewart, E. S., 1810
History of Church's School in Buckingham Township.
BY MRS. CLAYTON U. (ANNIE MEREDITH) FRETZ. SELLERSVILLE. PA.
(Tohickon Park Meeting-, June 18, 1921.)
WE naturally take a great interest in the schools we at-
tended in the early years of our lives, when impressions
are the most indelible, and we like to compare the pres-
ent with the past.
We learn that Buckingham township was fortunate in the
quality of her early schools. Thomas Smith gave a lot of ground
whereon the "Red School House" was built. "Tyro Hall" was
erected in 1790. The "Hughesian Free School" in 1811, and the
"Martha Hampton and Hannah Lloyd Boarding School for
Girls" in 1830. Another one is "Church's School", which is lo-
cated nearly four miles east of Doylestown.
Richard Church produced at Buckingham Monthly Meeting of
Friends, 9th month. 4th day, 1729, a certificate from Ireland dated
2nd month. 4th day, 1729. He was born in Ireland, but was of
English ancestry. He married Sarah Fell in 1735 and settled on
the northwest corner of the tract of two hundred sixty-five
acres patented to him by John Penn, Thomas Penn, and Richard
Penn in 1741, having had possession before the patent was issued.
It was part of the five hundred acres laid out by Cutler in his
resurvey, to the proprietaries in accordance with orders given
to lay out that quantity in each township not fully taken up.
Church lived there until his death in 1822. He had nine children,
three sons, Moses, John, and Joseph, and six daughters. Of the
sons only one, Joseph married, and he and Moses lived on the
old plantation and all are buried in a little walled graveyard back
in the fields not far from the schoolhouse.
Some descendants of the sisters and daughters of Joseph
Church still reside in the neighborhood but the name of Church
is extinct in that locality. Sarah Church, eldest daughter of
Joseph, married Jonas Fell, and they were the grandparents of
Dr. John A. Fell of Doylestown. His second daughter, Eleanor,
married Moses Bradshaw, but thev removed to Indiana. His
358 HISTORY OF church's SCHOOL IN BUCKINGHAM TOWNSHIP
third daughter, Elizabeth, married Benjamin Carhsle, and they
have descendants hving in the neighborhood.
About the year 1801 Joseph Church leased a small plot of
ground to his neighbors, for the establishment of a school, and
entered into the f ollo\ying agreement :
An agreement made and entered into by us the subscribers for the
purpose of building a schoolhouse on a piece of land belonging to
Joseph Church and laying by the Doylestown road, and bounded by
land belonging to Joseph Fell on the southwest side for which land I,
Joseph Church engages to give a least in trust to such persons as shall
be hereafter appointed to take one, for the use of a school for the term
of ninety-nine years, and have agreed to build a house of stone and
laid in lime and sand mortar, to be twenty feet wide and twenty-six
feet long, to be one story high and have appointed John Bradshaw and
Isaiah Michener to employ workmen, provide materials, and superin-
tend the building the house. And we also bind ourselves our heirs
and executors to pay in money, labor or materials, such sums as are
annexed to our names, unto the aforesaid John Bradshaw and Isaiah
Michener. We further agree that if the first subscription should prove
insufficient to complete the house we will advance in proportion to our
subscription, and if there should be any over plus it shall be returned
in the same proportion.
This lease w^ith the names of the subscribers and the several
amounts annexed was found to be insufficient, as only seventy-six
pounds, nine shillings and six pence of the required sum had
been subscribed. It was again circulated and the necessary
amount was realized, one hundred and nine pounds, five shillings,
and four pence; equivalent to $291. 37j^.
The increased subscriptions were made by the same twenty-
nine persons whose names were :
Thomas Michener, John Bradshaw, John Fell, Elisha Mich-
ener, Cornelius Shepherd, Jonathan Fell, Jr.. John Shaw, Thomas
Fell, Samuel Gillingham, Samuel Gilbert, Robert Waker, Joseph
Church, Isaiah Michener, Meshack Michener, Jr., William
Sands, Jonas Fell, Asa Fell, Jr., Samuel Delp, Abraham Myers,
Jonathan Large, John Hughes, Benjamin Cadwallader, Thomas
Fell, Meschack Michener, Sr., Joseph Shepherd, Jesse Dean,
Jesse Wilson, George Delp, Jonathan Fell.
In due course of time the house was built, and the carpenter
presented his bill, which was paid, and the following receipt given :
HISTORY OF church's SCHOOL IN BUCKINGHAM TOWNSHIP 359
Alarch 6, 1804, Then received of John Bradshaw four pounds, ten
shilhngs, eight pence, being the full demand, I say received by me.
($12.07), William Sands.
In order to obtain money to purchase a stove for the school-
house another subscription Hst was circulated among the patrons,
as follows :
"We the undersigned subscribers do agree to purchase a new stove
and pipe suitable for the schoolhouse, and to pay the several sums here-
unto annexed unto John Bradshaw and Samuel Gillingham for the
purpose for purchasing said stove, and completing it for use.
The amount subscribed was $24.33.
As soon as this was accompHshed the school was ready for the
scholars and the teacher, but where can we find a record ot
their names ?
The present secretary of the township school board, William B..
Carver, gives this information : "The oldest record I find in the
minute book of 1842, is an order drawn in favor of George Wag-
ner for teaching one hundred and sixty-three days at Church's
school, the sum of $181.66.
It is a noteworthy fact that children having poor parents
were not deprived of the means of getting an education, but
were educated at the county expense. The assessors of each
township were required to report the names of the children of
parents who could not afiford to pay for their edvication. The-
bills were sent to the county commissioners and were then paid..
In 1829 this amounted to $3,589.97 for the county, and was-
published in the Bucks County Republican, and Anti-Masonic-
Register, January 26, 1830.
In the early history of our country, schoolhouses were fre-
quently built in close proximity to churches, and were maintained
by the church members, but Church's school was located at some
distance from any church or meeting house and was accordingly
used for all purposes needed in the neighborhood, social, educa-
tional and religious. We learn that in 1843 a meeting was held
there to celebrate Washington's birthday, at which Mr. John
Rogers delivered the address. In the same year a debate was
had on the "Woman Question",' an account of which was writ-
ten by Mrs. George M. Child, then residing near Sands' Corner
1 The daughter of Geoi-ge M. and Mary Thomas Child married Dr. Joseph
B. Walter. See page 84 ante.
360 HISTORY OF church's school in BUCKINGHAM TOWNSHIP
and published by Mr. Sellers in the Olizr Branch. The earliest
known minister who occasionally preached there was the Rev.
Mr. Magoffi.
There are several interesting items culled from an old letter
of 1837. One is, that Doylestown had four free schools at that
time, and it is quite probable that the older pupils of Church's
school district went there, as they do now, to enjoy opportunities
for higher education. It is a fact also that male teachers were
most in demand. In 1843 a young woman wished to teach in
Centreville, but the employers preferred a male teacher and there-
for chose Mr. Richard Watson, who later became judge of the
Bucks county courts. After a few years this condition was
changed. An elderly woman upon a certain occasion made the
remark, that her first teacher was a woman- and she was so kind
that she ever remembered her with a great deal of affection.
But whoever they were, their influence for good was of the
greatest to the generation in which they lived.
All honor then to our ancestors, who by their perseverance
and industry established our country schools.
An explanation is due to account for the old John Bradshaw
papers. His daughter, Phebe, married Hugh Meredith, who lived
many years on a farm between Sands' Corner and the road to
Centreville. After his death these long treasured letters, ac-
counts, settlements of estates, etc.. were inherited by a great-
granddaughter, the writer of this paper.
2 The teacher referred to was Jane Robinson, who married Robert Thomp-
son. The first teacher at Sandy Ridge school in Doylestown township, was
Hannah Yarnal Meredith, who married S. S. Gregory of Ohio.
DIPNET DESCRIfJED ON PAGE 366
Old Methods of Taking Fish.
BV WARREN FRETZ, DOVLESTOWX, PA.
(Tohickon Park Meeting. June 18. 1921.)
IN this paper I will endeavor to cover some of the old methods
of fishing, giving special attention to the older methods which
are at present obsolete, and have been for many years. The
method most generally used for securing fish for food was spear-
ing or gigging. This was an easy way to secure large quantities,
as the stream conditions were exceptionally favorable for spear-
ing. Especially was this true of Tohickon Creek and its smaller
tributaries. Deep Run, for instance. Tinicum Creek was also an
ideal stream. These streams run shallow, with many pools and
ripples and are adapted for this form of fishing.
While spearing was mostly done at night, it required good fa-
cilities for artificial light, and the first item I shall take up is that
of light.
The first lights used were the pine knot and "fockel." The
pine knot it is not necessary to describe, but in the areas where
these could not be secured, the fockel was used, which as I un-
derstand, was superior to the pine knot, as it produced a brighter
light and was used in the same manner as a stave fockel.
The light next in use was the gig light, constructed of tin,
using two or three burners, the fuel being kerosene. These burn-
ers were constructed tapering and were soldered to the bottom
of a tin container, holding from two to four quarts of kerosene.
Cotton wicking was tightly drawn into the burners. A large
shield was placed over the burners to deflect the rays from the
operator's eyes and to cause a greater reflection of light on the
water. These lights were followed by the acetylene lamp and
the electric spot-light, which it is not necessary to describe. Both
of these lighted a much larger area than the pine knot.
Fockel. — The fockel was constructed usually from the staves
of tar barrels, four or five of which were wired together, and a
pole five or six feet long was used for a handle. This was car-
ried by one man over his shoulder, who proceeded slowly up
stream, followed by the spearmen, usually two or three in num-
362
OLD METHODS OF TAKING FISH
ber. When tar barrel staves could not be secured, strips of bark
from shellbark hickory trees, or pine boards were used. In both
of these latter instances the bark or boards were soaked in tar
and dried, then bound together by wire. Sometimes iron rings
were used for this purpose, one ring six inches in diameter, the
other four, into which the bark or wood was driven wedge-
shaped. Fockels were also made from tar and flax-tow. In the
construction of these, a broom-stick was dipped in tar, and the
V flax-tow was wrapped around it very tightly
until the tar was completely covered ; this
..... was then again dipped in the tar and the
^jjlr process continued until it was of the re-
quired size, usually about six or eight inches
Mp' in diameter. A fockel of that size was suf-
I ficient for a whole night's fishing.
I Spears or Gigs. — The spear or gig, as it
I is called, was constructed from a piece of
flat iron. These were usually made by a local
blacksmith, forged from iron, having from
three to four prongs, sometimes more. I
have seen them with eight prongs, but four
was about the usual number. These prongs
were flat and blunt, with barbs to prevent
fish from wriggling off when struck. I have
seen them constructed with prongs, extend-
ing in four directions, crossing at right
angles. These were heavy and very un-
handy, and not common. The spear was
used in conjunction with the lights for night
fishing. Ideal conditions were dark nights,
with no wind, as under this condition, fish
could be readily seen. Windy nights were
not as favorable, as the wind rippling the water, made conditions
bad, as it was hard to locate fish, unless in very shallow water.
Eight to sixteen inches of water is a good depth for that kind of
fishing and on very still nights fish could be successfully speared
in two feet of water. This was the extreme depth, however.
When fish were located, they were struck with the spear. The
OLD METHODS OF TAKING FISH 363
spearmen were followed by one or two men with a fish hommer.
These men were located at the outlet of the pools and when the
water became muddy after the spearmen passed up stream, they
turned and proceeded back, making all the noise and splashing
possible, stirring under banks and driving the fish before them
into the hommers set below. I will describe the fish hommer
later in this paper.
Tin Gig Light. — The mode of fishing changed somewhat with
the advent of the tin gig-light. This light was not nearly so cum-
bersome as the fockel and the spearman carried his light himself
and usually had some one to carry the sack to place the fish in.
I know this from personal experience, as I was the victim that
carried the fish-bag some thirty years ago. Some of my neigh-
bors arranged to go fish-spearing in Tohickon creek and I, boy-
like, was very anxious to join the expedition. The terms were
that I should carry the fish-bag, which I very readily agreed to
do. We fished the Tohickon creek from Harpel's bridge, near
Ottsville, to Stover's dam now Tohickon postofiice. Floundering
around in the water, sometimes nearly waist deep, over slippery
rocks and boulders, with a load of fish, was not a boy's job. I
fulfilled my contract w^ith aching bone and muscle. Suffice it to
say that I never entered into another contract of that kind, it was
a lesson I learned as a boy that I can still vividly recall. The
spear was also frequently used in the day time. Daylight spear-
ing, however, was only practiced in the early spring migrations
and when the creeks were normal the spearing being done as the
fish passed up over the shallow riffles towards the head waters.
Schlock Isen. — The "schlock isen", or striking iron, its Eng-
lish name, was used for taking fish in practically the same man-
ner as with the gig or spear, and was mostly used with a light at
night. It was also used in daytime in the up-stream migration
of fish in the spring, when they were passing over the rififles.
The striking iron was made in the shape of a sword from a piece
of iron about four feet long, flat, with a blunt edge, and curved
364
OLD METHODS OF TAKINX. FISH
up the narrow way, with a wooden handle. This was necessary
for if not curved it could not be used successfully, the resist-
ance of the water would create too much splash and the blow
could not be accurately given. While this was used a great deal,
its use was not as general as that of the spear. It was successful
for striking suckers, but not for eels as many of them would get
away, whereas this was impossible with the spear.
Another disadvantage was the mutilation of the
fish, and for that reason the practice was not as
general as was the use of the spear.
Ice Fishing. — I will try to explain methods of
ice fishing from personal experience as well as
from descriptions by persons who have used
other dififerent methods. I will first take the
metnods practiced in this county. Killing fish by
striking the ice with a heavy mallet like those
shown on the margin hereof, or an axe was used
m many cases. When the water froze over with
clear crystal ice so the bottom of the stream was
visible, conditions were right for this method of
fishing. By walking over the ice, fish could be
located, and by striking a heavy blow on the ice
the fish would be stunned. A hole was then
cut in the ice and the fish secured. Hooking fish
through ice was accomplished by having a burr
hook made on an iron rod, with a wooden handle, the length
over all being about six feet. A large hole was chopped in the
ice over deep pools. Usually one man stood at the opening in
the ice, while another would circle around and drive the fish
to the opening. With a quick, upward motion, the fish was
hooked and thrown out on the ice. In small ponds this could
often be accomplished by one man alone. This method was
practiced a great deal in Cook's creek, near Rattlesnake hill in
Durham township, and in Springfield township and as far as
I can learn, was the only place where this hook was used. I
was able to secure one to exhibit for this occasion. (Exhibits
hook.) Spearing fish through the ice was doubtless not prac-
ticed locally. This was done by cutting a hole through the ice
%
OLD METHODS OF TAKING FISH 365
sufficiently large to operate the spear and remove the fish after
being speared. The spearman used a metal minnow dangling
from a string and by keeping the string in motion the minnow-
would have the appearance of being alive. When the fish
would strike the minnow the spearman would strike the fish.
I presume that this was quite a sporting proposition as it no
doubt took some practice to become adept enough to do it
successfully and it probably required a great deal of skilh to
become proficient in spearing fish.
Use of the Tip-up in Ice Fishing. — A tip up was made from
a flat board, about sixteen inches long. A hole was bored into
one end for the line, and about six inches further another hole
was bored sufficiently large to use a stick of about an inch in
diameter, this stick acting as a pivot on which the tip-up could
swing, the heavier end of the board resting on the ice. The
line and bait were attached to the other end. When a fish
would strike the minnow the tip-up would start to bob up as a
signal and attract the attention of the fisherman. With fif-
teen to twenty holes and tip-ups scattered over a considerable
area, one man would have to hustle to keep his lines baited and
remove the fish. It was not necessary to have a fire as the exer-
cise would keep the operators warm. This method was used
in large inland lakes and ponds in from fifteen to twenty feet
of water. The bait, to work successfully, should be within
eighteen inches to two feet from the bottom. I personally have
done ice fishing. Not having tip-ups I cut brush, made a small
hole in the ice and tied the line to the brush at the bottom by
using some black line and tied a red string on the line and
hung it over the end of the brush. When the red string
dropped it would indicate a strike and the rest of the procedure
is the same as with the tip-up.
Snaring. — Another method used, when the water was clear,
was snaring. For this a short pole was used wnth a string, fas-
tened to the end by a very thin copper wire snood. The snood
was worked over the fish and a sudden jerk would capture the
fish as the loop would draw up sufficiently tight to hold the fish.
Use of Rye Straw in Taking Fish. — This method was used
in Stover's dam. Mechanics Vallev. It was last used about
366 OLD METHODS OF TAKING FISH
1890. Thomas Donat employed this method for ice fishing as
follows : He used a bundle of flail-threshed long rye straw.
The bundle of straw was securely tied at the heads and the
lower band taken off. A hole was cut in the ice of sufficient
size to pass the bundle through the butt-end first. The straw
was then forced to the bottom of the stream, and the water
would spread the straw. By walking over the ice, the fish
would hide in the straw, the bundle was then drawn upwards,
the straw would hold the fish until they were out of the water.
All that was necessary was to shake the fish out on the ice and
gather them up. This method, I am informed, was very suc-
cessful and Mr. Donat is the only man I have been able to learn
of who practiced this method of securing fish.
Explosives. — In the use of explosives for destroying fish,
three methods were employed. The two chief ones were dyna-
mite and fresh lime. This was probably among the easiest
methods of taking fish, and the results were always certain.
In the use of dynamite all that is necessary is a percussion cap
and a piece of safety fuse. In the use of fresh lime, a bottle
is filled with it, corked very tightly, with a small perforation
through the cork to admit water which slacks the lime, and the
steam and carbonic acid that is expelled exploded the bottle and
kills the fish. The other method of killing fish, is by the ex-
plosion of calcium carbide. A small hole is punched in a can of
carbide, which is then thrown into the stream, the admission of
water will cause an explosion. This is less dangerous and more
easily handled than dynamite, and the results will be adequate.
The concussions from any explosive burst the air bladders of
the fish and they are then gathered from the surface. This is
an unsportsman like way of taking fish, and is now punishable
by severe penalties, although not as severe as such heinous
offences deserve.
DiPNETS. — A dipnet is made by using a round hoop from four
to six feet in diameter. The net is suspended from the hoop
and is funnel shaped. This is operated by using a pole, with a
rope attached and the net dropped into a pool of water. During
its descent the fish are driven away, and consequently it be-
comes necessary to allow the net to rest quietly for some time,
LAMPS USED FOR GIGGING.
THROWNET DESCRIBED ON PAGE
OLD METHODS OF TAKING FISH 367
after which the tish settle towards the center, and are then
caught in the net. when it is raised and they are then taken. It
is occasionally necessary to bait dip nets. These were used in
the Delaware river, but they are now obsolete.
Throw-nets. — These are made circular, similar to a dip-net.
The dimensions are about the same, average diameter about five
feet. Instead of a solid iron ring, the mouth is made with a
heavy lead-line and the apex of the net is up instead of down
as in the dip-net. The net is one and a half inches mesh, cone-
shoped, with a ring in the apex. Small ropes are fastened to the
lead-line on the inside of net. These pass through the ring and
are joined together on a swivel, to which is attached the operat-
ing rope. The net is operated from the bank over deep pools.
The method is to tie the rope to the operator's arm on which it
is coiled, then take the lead-line in the mouth and by grasping it
by the other hand, you make a swing which spreads the net and
it settles in the water fully extended. Where the net drops, all
fish within the circle of the lead-line are caught. By pulling and
jerking the lead-line the net is drawn together and forms a
pocket above the leads in which the fish are trapped. It is the
reverse of the dipnet, as it is immediately withdrawn after the
cast is made and is operated from pool to pool.
Stake-net. — The stake-net was used in tidewater fishing.
Stakes were driven in the beach along low-water mark, usually
along marshes, and were in length from one to three hundred
yards, according to conditions along the shore line. The net was
usually about two feet deep. On the flow of the tide, the water
would rise over the net and the fish would feed on the marshes.
On the ebb tide the water would recede and the fish, dropping
back with the tide, could not get further than the net. This
would leave the fish stranded on the beach where they could
easily be secured.
Eel-racks. — To construct an eel-rack, use two 3 bv 4 inch
scantling fourteen feet long, joined together by cross-pieces, two
feet apart. The scantling should be five feet apart. Take lath
for bottom and sides, one-half by one inch, sufficient to cover bot-
tom, and raise sides eight inches. Laths should be one-quarter-
368 OLD METHODS OF TAKING FISH
inch apart. At the funnel-end of rack, use inch boards three to
four feet long, and lap them over lath six inches. These boards
must be tight. In the mouth of the rack use a six-inch board, up-
right. This is to keep the eels in the rack so they
cannot go back up stream. Under the down stream
end of rack, bolt on two uprights of sufficient
strength to hold the rack, and of sufficient length to
raise the rack above the level of the flowing water.
This will check and hold the eels from going over the
rack and allow the water to pass through. When
the rack is not in use, it can be lowered and every-
thing will pass over it. Where the stream is too
wide, small dams were built, with stones and rye
straw to narrow the stream to the width of rack.
These are the dimensions of a rack used in the Dur-
ham or Cook's creek at Rattlesnake hill and in
Springfield township. These racks were operated
in the fall of the year, about the time the leaves
started to drop. A good
time was when the streams
started to rise on the first
fall rains, at that time the
eels usually started their
fall migrations to the sea.
Eels travel down stream
head first and differ very
much from other fish in
this respect, as fish on high
water go down stream tail
first. This accounts for no
fish being caught in eel-
racks. A fish going down
would strike the guard
board in the mouth of the
rack with his tail and
would head up stream. Eels were re-
moved from the racks with wooden ^^^ tongs
tongs, having short, blunt nails driven into the jaws like those
shown on margin. Eel-racks are not now used, excepting prob-
OLD METHODS OF TAKING FISH 369
ably on the head water of the Delaware river as they are not
lawful in the inland streams.
Bobbing for Eels. — This was a sporting pastime indulged in
to a great extent before methods of fishing were governed and
restricted by legislation. In bobbing for eels, the practice in mak-
ing the bobs was to thread a needle with three or four yards of
flax-thread, and with a good supply of earth worms, thread them
on the thread, then bunch them together, then with a string
fasten them to a short pole, setting the bob down on the bottom
of the stream. The fishing was usually done out of a boat. The
eels bit into the worms, their teeth fastened to the thread, the bob
was raised up over the boat and the eels would drop off. Where
a boat was not available, and you bobbed from the shore, a tub
was placed in the stream into which to drop the eels, as the fish
could not be secured if the bob was held at an angle to place them
on the shore. The tub was held in place by a pole sufiiciently
long to secure one end of it to the shore. This was considered
good sport and was practiced a great deal years ago.
Barrel Fishing. — Make a hole in the end of a barrel, and
over the hole place a flap, then put a quantity of slaughter-house
refuse in the barrel, with sufficient ballast to sink it to the bottom
of the stream. This placed in deep water, particularly after a
rain, will catch eels by the bushel. This was practiced in the
Saucon creek, near Hellertown, Pa., some years ago with great
success.
Use of Walnut Root Bark in Taking Trout. — This method
was used by the Cherokee Indians in North Carolina. There
were times when the trout would not bite, and an Indian wants
fish when he is hungry. That method was to take the bark from
the roots of walnut trees, crush and pulp it to obtain the juices,
which is then poured into the ripples above the pools in which
trout abound. The action of the juices stupify the fish and they
come to the surface and are then gathered, and "Lo, the poor
Indian," has trout for his supper, apparently an easy way when
trout are not in a biting mood.
Gill-net or Floating-net. — These are used for tidewater
fishing, running in length from one hundred to five hundred feet,
370 OLD METHODS OF TAKING FISH
depending on the width of water to be fished. The gill-net is a
straight net with a float-line and lead-line, meshes four inches and
more, woven from very thin twine. In working a gill-net, one
end is fastened to a buoy and the other end to a boat. The whole
drifts with the tide. Fish striking the net, the head passes through
the mesh. When the fish strike this barrier they try to back out
and the thin mesh holds them by the gills. The fish are removed
by hauling in the net and then leaving it out again. In
fishing with the gill-net. the fisherman holds the float-line and can
tell when a fish strikes and they follow up the net as previously
described. This method is exclusively a tidewater proposition, al-
though the principle has been used in smaller streams, but in that
case the net is set stationary and fish are driven by paddling in
a boat and beating the water. This is not permissible in inland
waters and is punishable by heavy penalties.
Outline or Set-cord. — Outlines were principally used for
taking catfish and eels. In the Delaware river perch, rock fish and
bass were also taken. The length of an outline depending on the
width of stream to be fished, the usual length being from one
hundred to five hundred feet and even greater in length, often
reaching from shore to shore. A heavy cord was stretched across
a body of water and weighted to the bottom, with hooks fastened
thereto often as close as two feet. The snoods to which the
hooks were fastened were usually about eighteen inches in length
and were tied to the main cord with a loop-knot. After the line
was set, the hooks were baited, either with small chunks of meat
of live fish. If set in shallow water the line was followed by
wading; in deep waters a boat was used. The inspection of the
line was repeated at short intervals. When fish were caught they
were removed, the hook re-baited and again dropped in the
water. Oftentimes bait and hook were swallowed. In a case of
that kind, the snood with fish was removed and another snood
with hook substituted. The bait generally was what is known as
dead bait, although sometimes outlines were set for game fish by
using live bait. Some years ago a set line was used in the Dela-
ware river for taking bass, live baits were used and the line was
set from shore to shore. The outline was successful only when
in muddy waters, the set-line was used in daytime, in clear water
it was used at nis'ht. It was not successful in clear water in the
OLD METHODS OF TAKING FISH 371
day time and vice versa; but results were about the same when
fished under the conditions noted.
DiPSEV OR Handline. — 'lliis was at one time practiced a great
deal. Dipsey fishing derived its name from a chunk of
lead, from one-half to one ounce in weight. This was called the
dipsey and in wide waters, where no boats were available, the
dipsey was used to carry the line and bait out into midstream.
The usual length of line was from fifty to seventy-five feet. The
line was carefully coiled on the bank, and usually a heavy cord
was used to avoid tangles. The cord was taken in the left hand
about eighteen inches from the dipsey, this was twirled in a ciru-
lar motion until sufficient momentum was acquired to carry the
line out to the full length, the end of the cord being fastened to
a stake on the bank. Usually from five to six of these lines
would radiate in diflferent directions from the one stake. By
watching the lines a strike could easily be located by the motion
of the line. Occasionally a fisherman would fasten a small bell
to the stake and then take a nap and depend on the bell to warn
him of a strike. The dipsey principle is only used now in bait-
casting with rod and reel, short rod, four and one half or five and
one half feet, with a free running reel, and weights from one-
quarter to one-half ounce, casting direcf off the reel. With the
overhead cast your bait can be easily placed from seventy-five to
one hundred feet, if you have sufficient practice to prOperly
handle a bait-casting outfit. I have often seen fishermen with the
finest casting outfits fishing along our streams and instead of
casting from the reel, place their bait dipsey-fashion.
Float Fishing. — This method was usually practiced in large
bodies of still water usually in large dams or inland ponds and
lakes. A float was made from a one-quarter inch board, two and
one-half to three inches wide and abovit eight inches long. The
line was fastened to the center of the float ; its length was regu-
lated by the depth of water, which was often from three to eight
feet deep. Sufficient line was attached to the float so that part
of it would remain on the surface in the deepest water as well as
the shallow. The line was shortened by winding around the float.
If a fish was caught and made for deep water the motion of the
water would unwind the float so it would remain on the surface.
372 OLD METHODS OF TAKING FISH
In float fishing one hundred floats were usually about the number
used, and by the action of the floats those that had fish could
usually be ascertained and these were followed by boat and the
fish removed. Dead bait being usually used, although in ponds
where pickerel were found, they were often successfully used
with live bait. I recall a story from one who had experienced
that they used toy balloons instead of the wooden floats for
pickerel and successfully too. This method has been tabooed by
legislation.
Fish Hommer or Single-brail Scoop-net. — The dimensions
of a single-brail scoop-net are as follows: Main hoop or mouth,
six feet in width at the lead line, thirty-eight inches high. Brail
is a forked stick five feet long; forks, twenty-six inches long to
lead-line, with a spread of fourteen inches. The brail is fastened
to cross piece eighteen inches from the lead line ; length of cross
bar, fifty-six inches ; depth of net from mouth to tail, thirty-six
inches, tapering to a tail ten inches in diameter and three feet,
long; length of net, about seven feet. This form of net was
used by wading the stream, usually the width of narrow channels
in small streams, mill-races and places of that sort, the scoop was
set by one man holding the brail with net resting on the bottom
of the stream ; and anotJ;ier man beating and splashing the water
to scare the fish into the net. A quick upward movement of the
brail would bag the net so the fish could not get out, the brail was
then lifted up and the fish taken out through the tail end of the
net. This was frequently used in connection with gigging by
artificial light, as previously explained under that subject. This
is entirely different from the regular scoop-net, as they have a
brail at each end are used to scoop out the fish in small pockets
along the banks of streams with pockets in the eddies.
Fyke, Fish Baskets of Set-net. — The dimensions of a fyke
are: Width at mouth, fortyeight inches; height, thirty inches;
diameter at mouth of funnel or trap, twenty- four inches tapering
to three inches to inlet and funnel eighteen inches long ; main di-
ameter of basket, about 20 inches and length over all eight feet.
Net is extended by iron hoops, four in number. The funnel is
fastened to the first hoop and is kept in position by strings
fastened to the third hoop. The net is set with the tail or basket
FYKE NET.
SINGLE BRAIL SCOOP NET OR HOMMER.
OLD METHODS OF TAKING FISH 373
upstream and the mouth at the head of a riffle. Where the riffles
are wider than the mouth of the fyke, small dams were con-
structed to guide the fish into the fykes and occasionally in wide
water net- wings were used, which often extending many feet
on either side. Fykes were used in the spring for the up-stream
migrations of suckers. Years ago they were used extensively in
the shallow riffles in the Delaware river, some of them of large
dimension, sufficient net being used to completely shut off the
narrow channels with the large fyke in the center of the net. A
fyke can be set only with the tail up stream as leaves and drift
coming down with the current would soon clog the mouth and
prevent fish from entering, the fish after passing through the
mouth cannot get out of the fyke and are removed through the
opening in the tail of the basket, this being closed by a draw
string arrangement. Present day fykes are often made from
one-quarter inch galvanized wire, some with a trap in one end
and others made longer with a trap in each end. These will
catch fish both coming and going. I secured one several years
ago from the Neshaminy, which was placed there in a narrow
channel below a riffle and baited with meat to attract fish. This
one was a double ender.
Spinners. — I should not fail also to mention the spinner. This
probably is one of the highest attainments for taking fish with
artificial lures. They come in all sizes and shapes, are adaptable
to both fly-rod and bait fishing, can be used with any and all
kinds of baits and are constructed single and tandem. I have
personally used spinners successfully in many combinations and
have caught small-mouth bass with a small spinner and a small
patch of white cotton goods or red flannel. The story of the dis-
covery of the spinner is as follows : While fishing for pickerel
from a boat on a day that pickerel were not biting, the fisherman
came to shore disgusted. In stepping out of the boat a small
piece of broken spoon dropped from his outfit struck the water
and started to ricochet on the water when a large pickerel struck
it. The fisherman then took a silver dime and made a small
spinner, attached it to a line and made the first spinner to take
fish when all other baits had failed. And thus the spinner con-
tinues to take fish, if properly used.
374 OLD METHODS OF TAKING FISH
Rods and Lines. — This subject is probably too well known to
enter into a lengthy discussion, as the rod and line today is
probably more used than at any time since fish were first caught.
This is especially true as it applies to the game fishes. The rods
first used were usually cut along the streams from sprouts of the
different woods and ordinary twine was used for a line, and the
bent pin for a hook. This was followed by the ordinary bamboo
pole, then the split bamboo, made into very substantial bait and
fly casting rods. With this advent came the reel and the finer
grades of silk lines, constructed very light, yet of sufificient
strength to successfully out-manoeuvre any fish, regardless of
size or gameness. With this came the barbed hook. Rods and
lines were first used with live bait, worms, different species of
minnows and underwater bait, such as helgramites, crayfish, tad-
poles, etc., all used for the purpose of securing game fishes. As
the art of casting became more of an accomplishment and the
fisherman became proficient in the use of the reel, these natural
baits became less used and were supplanted by the imitations of
the natural live baits, such as plugs, surface and underwater, and
in such designs as to imitate everything on the water, under the
water, on the earth and under the sun, and many imitations never
seen under the sun; yet they will catch fish, if properly handled.
Floating bugs are now constructed of sufficient weight to be
used in casting. Rods can be secured made of steel, both jointed
and telescope. Next comes the fly-rod. These are usually made
from split bamboo, this being the most substantial and more pli-
able than the heavier woods. The construction of a fly rod to
balance perfectly and handle properly, is a science. Rods of this
character run in length from eight to ten and one-half feet, and
in weight from two to seven ounces. This is usually the extreme
weight and the lighter rods are used only in fly fishing with
enameled line and gut leaders. Leaders average from three to
nine feet in length. The wet fly can be easily handled on an out-
fit of this kind and is fished down stream and is an underwater
bait. The handling of a fly takes a great deal of practice on the
part of the fisherman and is the last test of a real fisherman or
the man that has passed out of the amateur class into a profes-
sional class, as he will not consider anything but the dry fly. The
dry fly is an entirely different creation from a wet fly, is always
OLD METHODS OF TAKING FISH 375
fished up stream and is entirely a surface bait. The hackle and
wings on the dry fly stand up, whereas on the wet fly they lie flat.
The perfect outfit for dry fly fishing should consist of a two or
three ounce rod, length about nine and one-half feet ; a tapered
six feet; leader and a tapered gut to join fly, an outfit that today
would cost $100. With an outfit of that kind, you can place a
fly on the water just as a real fly would actually alight, and place
it at the right spot.
To fish successfully you must know fish, their habits, etc., and
you wall come home with a creel full. Flies are made in imitation
of all insects that are found along the water and in recent years
the imitations have been extended to imitate the larva of many
insects found along streams, as fish feed a great deal on this
larva. So the fisherman who knows when they are not surface-
feeding offers them the underwater food. I am not able in this
article to take up the different methods of rod and reel fishing in
detail, as volumes have been written covering only a portion of
these different subjects. As to the dry fly fisherman, he carries
his little bottle of dry fly oil, made from deer fat, as he has to
occasionally oil his line and fly to keep it dry. This is a small
bottle, with a leather loop, buttoned on to a vest button. The dry
fly is the highest obtainable in fishing, and when you can handle
that you are a real fly fisherman, so much so that the real fly
fisherman of today demands a barbless hook, for fishing. The-
barbless hook is the delight of the highest type of fisherman and.
the introduction is so recent that they cannot as yet be secured in:
a commercial way, their use has been confined to the fisherman
who constructs his own tackle, and ties his own flies. The
man who buys his flies can only substitute by filing the barbs off
of the commercial flies. The satisfaction of landing the fish on.
the barbless hook is true sportsmanship in at least giving the fish
an even break to out-maneuver him in bringing him to creel,,
quite in contrast with the barbarious methods described in the
early part of this paper.
I have given just a few of the baits that are offered as the best
for a full creel. I heard it stated recently that the best bait for
fishing under any and all conditions of weather and water and
the different species of fishes is "brains." These properly used
at the rod-end of the fishing tackle will bring results.
Early History of Washington's Crossing and Its Environs.
BY WARREN S. ELY, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Read at the opening of Memorial Park, Wasliing-ton's Crossing, Oct. 1, 1921.)
WHILE I feel greatly honored at being selected by your
committee of arrangements to read a historical paper at
this meeting, I had great reluctance in undertaking to
deliver an address on the subject of the Battle of Trenton, for the
reason that greater historians than I have fully covered this
ground already. General W. S. Stryker, in his "Battles of Tren-
ton and Princeton," has given a detailed history of the move-
ments of the army, which is unquestionably reliable, as he had
original material from which to gather his data. On this very
spot June 14, 1902, General W. W. H. Davis read a paper be-
fore a meeting of the Society of Sons of the Revolution, to which
he gave the title "The Alpha and Omega of the Revolution."
This address, which was published in full by the society and also
by General Davis, so fully covers the history of the movements
of the contending armies in Bucks county, and the Delaware and
Schuylkill peninsula, that I have frequently said, and here re-
iterate, that it ought to be a text book in every public school in
Bucks county. Much also has been written by other historians
about the Battle of Trenton, which was unquestionably the turn-
ing point in the struggle for independence.
I therefore, propose, in this brief address, to confine myself
entirely to local incidents and history and to an effort to correct
a few minor errors made in the pamphlet issued by this commis-
sion and supplement the history given therein, giving more fully
the location of the different camps and commands during the in-
terval between December 6 and 26, 1776, and also to give some
history of this historic site from the time of the first settlement.
This site has been an historic one from the time of the first
settlement of the English on the Delaware. This point marks the
line between the lands taken up by the first Quaker settlement and
those taken up by the Scotch Irish and other later settlers.
Lying next above the Hough tract was the Proprietor's Manor
of Highlands, which extended up into Solebury near the lower
EARLY HISTORY OF WASHINGTON S CROSSING O//
line of the present borough of New Hope and back from the
river to Newtown and Wrightstown townships. That part of
the manor now lying in Solebury was sold to actual settlers and
the greater part of the remainder was patented to the Pennsy-
lvania Land Company of London, commonly referred to as the
London Company.
On the last named tract was tried one of the two experiments
in the colonization of Pennsylvania, to provide homes for tenant
farmers and establish a mild form of feudalism, such as existed
in England. The London Company divided up their tract into
farms varying in size from one hundred to two hundred and fifty
acres and leased them to settlers, unimproved, with privilege of
acquiring title to improvements. On these farms settled new-
comers, many of them Ulster Scots and other persons of small
means. But the cheapness of land prevented the success of the
scheme, and the London Company sold out their lands in 1760
and they were largely purchased by the tenants or their descend-
ants. The London Company had another large tract in Tinicum,
and others in Chester and other counties.
This site is part of the tract of three hundred acres taken up
by Henry Baker in 1684, and was known as Baker's Ferry for
nearly a century. Lying just above it was the tract of Richard
Hough and lying next below w^ere the two tracts taken up by
Joseph and Daniel Milnor, and below them was the first home of
the Harvey family, founded by Matthias Harvey, who purchased
one thousand acres laid out to Thomas Hudson. Richard Hough
and Henry Baker, with William Yardley and Thomas Janney,
whose homes were within five miles of this point, were among
the chief advisors and friends of William Penn, and all promi-
nent members of the early assembly and council. Richard Hough
did not reside on the tract lying above Baker's but upon another
tract five miles south of this point near the line of Falls town-
ship. He came from Macclesfield in the County of Chester, Eng-
land, arriving in the Delaware river in the ship "Endeavor of
London," 7 mo. 29, 1683. Makefield was originally called Mac-
clesfield, and was named for the former residence of Richard
Hough. He took an active part in all affairs in the early history
of our county — political, social and religious. His house was one
of the meeting places of Friends before the erection of Falls
378 EARLY HISTORY OF WASHINGTON'S CROSSING
Meeting House. He represented Bucks county in the Provincial
Assembly almost continuously from 1684 to 1704, and was a
member of Provincial Council in 1693 and 1700. He was drowned
in the river Delaware while proceeding with other members of
assembly in a "wherry" to a session of assembly in Philadelphia
on March 25, 1705. William Penn, in a letter written 7 mo. 14.
1705, says: "I lament the loss of honest Richard Hough. Such
men must needs be wanted where selfishness and forgetfulness of
God's mercies so much abound."
Joseph Milnor, a neighbor of the Bakers, on the south, was
also a member of assembly for several years.
Henry Baker came to Pennsylvania early in 1684 from Darby
in the County of Lancaster, England, bringing a certificate from
the Friends' Meeting at Hardshaw, dated 3 mo. 27, 1684, which
included his wife and family. He settled at once at this point,
taking up a tract of three hundred acres, which was surveyed to
him 2 mo. 25. 1685. In 1696 he purchased of Henry Margarum
the two hundred and fifty acres of the Hough tract, which Mar-
gerum had purchased of Richard Hough in 1688. This extended
his plantation farther up the river. The finally-established line
between his land and the remainder of the Hough tract was
twenty perches north of the original terminus of the first road
laid out by county authority, August 26, 1723, to the ferry, and
this road terminated at the break in the bank of the river just
below the lower point of the island, as shown by a draft on file
in the office of clerk of quarter sessions, a copy of which I will
attach to this paper. Its terminus would therefore be practically
the site of the historic crossing of Washington's army on Christ-
mas night. The road was changed to its present line in 1769.
This road of 1723 was possibly the result of a presentment of
the "grand inquest of our Lord the King for ye body of the
County of Bucks" in 1690, which presented the "necessity of a
road from ye King's road above Samuel Baker's leading to
Southampton road which leads to Philadelphia, for the conven-
iency of ye upper inhabitants of Makefield." The King's road
was doubtless the River road, the date of the laying out of which
is unknown to me.
Along the original line between the Richard Hough and Henry
Baker tracts was an ancient highway "which was laid out at first
EARLY HISTORY OF WASHINGTON'S CROSSING 379
survey of said lands." Oliver Hough, in his pamphlet on
"Richard Hough, Provincial Councillor," assumes that this road
was the present road from Taylorsville to the Eagle. The latter
road did originally extend to the river, that part from its present
terminus at the outer River road running through the Lownes
farm having been vacated several years ago. But the line of the
road, as now existing, does not coincide in its course with the
line of division between the original surveys, and it is doubtless
a later laid-out road.
Henry Baker also owned considerable other land in Bucks
county, including a large tract at Newtown, and another in
Wrightstown. He continued to reside at the Ferry until 1696,
when he purchased a lot in Buckingham, now Bristol, and re-
moving there was associated with Samuel Carpenter in the opera-
tion of the first mill erected in Bristol. He died at Bristol in 1701.
Henry Baker was foreman of the first grand jury of Bucks
county in 1685. He was a member of Provincial Assembly
1685, 1687, 1688, 1689, 1690 and 1698. He was justice of the
courts of Bucks county from 1689 to near the date of his death.
He was also a member of Provincial Council in 1689-90, and was
one of the commission appointed to divide Bucks county into
townships in 1692. His first wife, Margaret, died June 2, 1688.
and he married second in 1692 Mary Radclifife, widow of James
Radclifife, one of the first settlers in Wrightstown. She survived
him several years. By his first wife he had nine children, and by
the second, one, Margaret, who married William Atkinson. His
eldest child, Rachel, married first Job Bunting, and second John
Cowgill. His second daughter, Sarah, married first Stephen Wil-
son, and second Isaac Milnor. Another daughter, Phebe, married
first Edward Radcliffe, her step-brother, and second William
Stockdale. Esther, the youngest daughter, by the first marriage,
married first Thomas Yardley, second William Brown, and third
Richard Hough, Jr. His sons were Samuel and Nathan. The
latter removed from Bucks county at an early date.
Samuel Baker inherited under his father's will the lands at the
Ferry, which by the original surveys contained five hundred and
fifty acres extending back from the river at the Ferry six hun-
dred and eight-four perches. By order of the Proprietaries the
two tracts were resurveyed in November 11. 1700, by Edward
380 EARLY HISTORY OF WASHINGTON'S CROSSING
Pennington, surveyor general, and were found to contain eight
hundred fifty-nine and one-half acres, insteal of six hundred and
five, to which Samuel Baker was entitled, by adding the six per
cent, allowance for roads and highways. This left a surplvis of
two hundred fifty-four and one-half acres to be purchased, and
Samuel Baker as heir to Henry agreed to pay for this surplus at
the rate of £20 per one hundred acres, or £51, 2s. 6d, and a
patent was accordingly issued to him September 10, 1702. On
October 8, 1708, he sold to John Baldwin one hundred acres at
the rear or back part of the tract, and continued to own and oc-
cupy until his death the remainder of the tract fronting on the
Delaware about two hundred and ten perches and extending
back from the river about one and one-half miles.
Samuel Baker was born in West Derbye, Lancashire, August
1, 1676, and came with his parents to Pennsylvania, arriving in
Philadelphia July 17, 1684. He married in July 1793, Rachel
Warder, daughter of Willoughby Warder, of Falls township.
He, like his father, was prominent in public afifairs. He was
commissioned a justice on March 6, 1708, and recommissioned
March 3. 1710. He was elected to the Provincial xA.ssembly in
1710 and in 1711. He or his son, Samuel, Jr., was commissioner
of Bucks county in 1722, and coroner in 1725.
Samuel Baker by deed dated May 2, 1717, conveyed all his
lands in Makefield to Charles Norris, of Philadelphia — the eight
hundred forty-nine and one-half acres patented to Samuel on
November 10, 1702, less the one hundred acres sold to John
Baldwin in 1708, leaving the tract to extend six hundred and
sixty-four perches back from the river on the southern line and
five hundred and seventy perches on the northern line, and two
hundred and seventy perches wide ; also three tracts in the
Manor of Highlands, two of sixteen acres and eighty perches,
and sixteen acres and forty perches, respectively, and a meadow
tract of one hundred and one acres and forty-eight perches.
Charles Norris conveyed six hundred acres of this tract to
Samuel Baker, Jr.
Samuel and Rachel (W^arder) Baker had eleven children : Ann
Mary, who married Charles Biles ; Samuel, who succeeded to the
ownership of the Ferry ; Henry, who lived and died near the
Ferry; Nathan, who died young; Sarah, who married Abel
EARLY HISTORY OF WASHINGTON'S CROSSING 381
Janney, and removed to Virginia; John, who died in Philadelphia
in 1759; Joseph, a hatter, who died in Philadelphia in 1790;
Benjamin, who died young; Lydia, who married John Burroughs;
and Margaret, who married a Tomlinson ; and another Nathan
who removed to Maryland.
Samuel Baker, Jr., son of Samuel and Rachel, born at Baker's
Ferry April 28, 1706, died there in 1769. He acquired the greater
part of his father's lands, including the ferry and six hundred
acres. Under the terms of his will, dated June 25, 1758, pro-
bated September 23, 1760, his lands were directed to be sold by
his executors, who were his wife, Elizabeth, and John Burroughs.
These executors, by deed dated December 5, 1774 (not recorded
but recited in the latter deeds), conveyed the site of the ferry and
five hundred and sixty three acres to Samuel McConkey. The
sale, however, must have been consummated and possession given
several years prior to this date, as on the opening of the road
from the Ferry to Newtown in 1769, the Ferry and the land
through which it extended is referred to as McConkey's, late
Baker's Ferry. Samuel McConkey sold the five hundred and
ninety-three-acre tract, containing by resurvey over six hundred
and five acres, in three tracts. By deed dated March 22, 1777,
he conveyed the Ferry site and three hundred and four acres and
also another tract of twenty-five acres to Benjamin Taylor, of
Hunterdon county. N. J. By deed dated April 2, 1777. he con-
veyed to his son John McConkey one hundred and forty-six
acres lying between the two tracts conveyed to Taylor, and on
December 4, 1778, he conveyed the balance of the tract, one
hundred and fifty acres, to his son. Captain William McConkey.
John McConkey, on April 22, 1777, conveyed forty-six acres of
his purchase to Benjamin Taylor, and Benjamin Taylor in 1784
conveyed to Henry Baker, in trust for Joseph Baker, one hun-
dred and three acres fronting on the river below the Ferry, part
of the McConkey tract. This tract remained in the tenure of the
Baker family until 1829, when it was conveyed by Mary B.
Baker to Mahlon K. Taylor. Henry Baker, brother of Samuel,
Jr., in 1763, purchased one hundred and thirteen acres in the
Manor of Highland, on which he lived and died, and its owner-
ship passed to Noah Slack by deed from his executors in 1786.
So much for the history of the site. We will now turn to the
382 EARLY HISTORY OF WASHINGTON'S CROSSING
occupation of Makefield by Washington and his army in Decem-
ber, 1776.
LOCATION AND MOVEMENTS OF WASHINGTON'S ARMY IN BUCKS
COUNTY PRIOR TO THE BATTLE OF TRENTON.
General Washington after the crossing of the Delaware at
Trenton to Bucks county, on December 8, 1776, established his
residence and headquarters at "Summerseat" in Morrisville and
remained there until December 14. During this time he wrote
many letters dated at "Head-Quarters Trenton Falls." The out-
look was gloomy indeed. In one of his letters he writes: "No
man I believe ever had greater choice of difftculties and less
means to extricate himself from them."
While he had been successful in collecting all the boats along
the river from Bordentown to Tinicum and secreting and guard-
ing them on the west side of the Delaware, there was always
danger that the river would freeze over sufficiently for Howe's
army to cross, and he was also apprehensive that they had car-
ried a number of "flat bottomed boats" or "pontoons" with them
from New Brunswick. In his letter to Congress, December 13.
the last before his removal to the Kieth house, he writes :
"The apparent designs of the enemy to avoid the ferry and land their
troops above and below us have induced me to remove from this place
the greater part of the troops and throw them into different dispositions
on the river, whereby I hope not only to be able to impede their passage
but also avoid the danger of being enclosed in this angle of the river
* * * I cannot divest myself of the opinion that their principal de-
sign is to ford the river somewhere above Trenton to which design I
have had particular respect in the new arrangement wherein I am so
far happy as to have the concurrence of the General Officers at this
place. Four Brigades of the Army under Generals Lord Sterling,
Mercer, Stephen and DeFermoy^ extend from Yardley up to Coryell's
1 Chevalier Matthias Alexis LeRoche De Fermoy, formerly a colonel in the
French service, on November 2, 1776, offered his services to Congress and ap-
plied for a commission in the Continental service. On November 5, he was
appointed by Congress a Brigadier General. On November 9 he was granted
two months advanced pay and ordered to repair to the Northern Army at
Ticonderoga and put himself under the command of General Schuyler.
A letter of General Schuyler to General Gates on November 27 shows that
he had not yet arrived, and on November 25, he was ordered to report at
once to Washington, instead of going to the northward. He evidently joined
Washington during the retreat across New Jersey, as in the General's letter
to the Board of War, dated "Head-Quarters, Trenton, December, 1776," he
-says, "Yours of the 26th last month was delivered to me by the Brigadier
LeRoche De Formoy, who is now here, but unable to render me that service
which I daresay from his character, he would was he better acquainted with
our language." However, at about that date he was placed in command of
the division comprising the regiments of Colonel Hand and Colonel Hassegger
with which he was stationed at Coryell's Ferry from December 8 to De-
cember 25.
EARLY HISTORY OF WASHINGTON'S CROSSING 383
Ferry posted in such manner as to guard every suspicious part of the
river and to afford assistance to each other in case of attack. General
Ewing with the Flying Camp of Pennsylvania and a few Jersey troops
under General Dickinson are posted from Yardley's Ferry down to the
ferry opposite Bordentown. General Cadwallader with the Pennsyl-
vania Militia occupies the ground above and below Neshaminy river as
far down as Dunk's Ferry at which Colonel Nixon is placed with the
thiid battalion of Philadelphia * * *
I shall remove further up the river to be near the main body of my
small army, with which every possible opposition shall be given to any
further approach of the enemy towards Philadelphia."
The letter concluded with an earnest appeal for the promotion
of the recruiting service and to encourage the Militia to come in.
Of the militia, however, the general had no very high opinion
at this time. In another letter to Congress he writes :
"Camp above Trenton Falls. Can anything (the exigency of the
case indeed may justify it) be more destructive to the recruiting service
than giving ten dollars bounty for six weeks service of the Militia, who
come in, you cannot tell how, and act, you cannot tell where, consume
your provisions, exhaust your stores, and leave you at last at a critical
moment."
He was of course much tried by so many whose term of en-
listment had just expired, leaving his service at this critical mo-
ment of adversity.
Of the "four brigades" above referred to by Washington, in the
letter above quoted, General Lord Sterling was at Beaumont's
Ferry, between Brownburg and New Hope, with headquarters in
the house of Robert Thompson at Avhat is known as Neeley's
Mill. His command consisted of the four regiments of Colonel
Reed, Colonel Haslet, Colonel \A'eeden and Major Enion Wil-
liams, of Bristol, an aggregate of 1623 men. On December 12,
1776, Lord Sterling writes General Washington from "Blue
Mounts" giving him intelligence in reference to the movements
of the enemy on the opposite side of the river, "gathered from spies
lately arrived from their encampmeiit," stating that Cornwallis
with his command was in and about "Penny Town" and General
Howe in Trenton with some British and Hessian troops. He
reports having "sent one piece of cannon to Colonel Weedon"
(who does not at that time appear to be stationed at Beaumonts)
"and as to the three regiments here now, (they) lie compact and
well covered with boards, and nearly centrical to Yardlev's and
384 EARLY HISTORY OF WASHINGTON'S CROSSING
Corriel's ferries. I believe it best to let them remain in their pres-
ent situation till some movement of the enemy makes it neces-
sary to alter it."
He states that he will "send Captain Taylor over this evening
to try his hand among the enemy encamped about Penny Town,"
and concludes with this significant advice :
"If our troops were not so much worn out I would propose to your
Excellency that about twelve hundred good men should cross over at
Tinicum and come down upon them suddenly from the north. If
General Lee is in their rear this would greatly cooperate with him and
tend to disconcert their measures much. I would willingly try the ex-
periment," and adds as a postscript, "I cannot find that any persons
who have been among them know anything of their pontoons or that
they are building any boats."
Gen. Lee, with characteristic obstinacy was loitering in New
Jersey, though Washington in his letters had repeatedly urged
him to proceed at once to the Delaware and cross at Tinicum
where he had provided boats for his crossing. He even sent
Lord Sterling to Easton to look after his safe crossing, as shown
by a letter written by Sterling from that point. He was finally
captured by a small British force under Colonel Harcourt at
Baskenridge on December 13, while sleeping at a tavern three
miles outside of his lines. His command under General John
Sullivan then immediately obeyed Washington's order, marched
to the Delaware at Tinicum and joined the other forces in Make-
field on December 20, in time to take part in the battle.
DeFermoy was at Coryell's Ferry with his two regiments and
General Greene who was Major General seems to have had no
special command but was Washington's chief adviser and sec-
ond in command, spent some time at Coryell's Feny. His letters
are all dated from there, from December 15 to 24.
"A return of the forces in the service of the States of America
encamped and in quarters on the banks of the. Delaware in the
State of Pennsylvania under the command of his excellency
George Washington, Esq. Commander in Chief of all the forces
of the United States of America, December 22, 1776" made to
the Board of War, at that date aggregates 10,106 men.
This list included Sullivan's command under Colonels Hitch-
cock, Glover and McDougalls. but did not include such remnants
EARLY HISTORY OF WASHINGTON'S CROSSING 385
of Gen. Gates' army as was able to join Washington at the last
moment. Nor did it include the militia and volunteers.
There is every reason to believe that the camp at Beaumonts
included more than four regiments under the immediate com-
mand of Lord Stirling. It was located in what is still known as
"Camp Woods" lying between the eastern base of Bowman's
Hill and the Delaware river and was the chief camp of the forces
who participated in the Battle of Trenton. It was from there
that Washington wrote a number of his official letters dated at
"Camp above the Falls" between December 14 and 24. Here Tom
Paine is said to have written his immortal "American Crisis" be-
ginning with the words "These are the times that try mens
souls" and it was read to the soldiers there. Near there are the
only marked graves of patriot soldiers who died during the oc-
cupation of Makefield. On December 17 Congress directed Gen-
eral Washington to immediately order that the militia of Bucks
and Northampton counties join him and to disarm all who refuse,
and treat as enemies any one who attempts to oppose the execu-
tion of this order. As a result of this order General Washing-
ton sent out the following order to Colonels Joseph Kirkbride,
Joseph Hart, Andrew Kachlein and Joseph Savitz, commanding
the Bucks county militia :
"Sir: The honourable the Council of Safety of the State of Penn-
sylvania having by a resolve passed the 17th day of this instant, De-
cember, authorized me to call forth the Militia of the County of Bucks
to the assistance of the Continental Army under my command, I here-
by require you immediately to issue orders to the Captains of your
Regiment, to summon the officers and privates for their companies to
meet on the 28th day of this instant, at the usual place, for their join-
ing in battalion, vt'ith their arms and accoutrements in good order; and
when so met, march immediately to the city of Philadelphia, and there
put yourself under the command of Major General Putnam; and you
are further required to make me an exact return of the name and
places of abode of such officers and privates as refuse to appear, with
their arms and accoutrements, at the time and place appointed, that
they may be dealt with as the resolve above referred to directs.
Given under my hand, at Head-Quarters, this 19th day of Decem-
ber, 1776.
GEO. WASHINGTON."
There is no certainty as to how many local companies joined
\\'ashington as a result of the order prior to the battle, but we
know that several local companies did participate in the battle.
386 EARLY HISTORY OF WASHINGTON'S CROSSING
There seem to be some doubt as to the identity of the messen-
ger who dehvered the note of warning to Colonel Rahl, the Hes-
sian commander at Trenton, on Christmas night, telling him that
Washington was on the way to attack him. This messenger
came to the house of Abraham Hunt where Colonel Rahl was
being entertained and asked for the colonel. The negro attend-
ant being unwilling to disturb the Colonel refused to admit him,
whereupon the messenger hurriedly wrote a brief note with a lead
pencil, which he asked the attendant to deliver to Colonel Rahl
personally. This note was delivered but the Colonel being in no
condition to trouble himself with notes, thrust the note in his
pocket, where it was found after his death.
General W. S. Stryker, in his Battles of Trenton and Princeton,
page 125, says that the messenger was "a Tory farmer from Bucks
county, Pennsylvania (whose name the German records give as
Wall, possibly the same royalist called Mahl who had visited Col.
Rahl a few days before." General Stryker does not make it very
clear as to what German records he refers and it is highly im-
probable that the note should have ever reached Germany or
German records, and if the general really saw it he would know
whether it was signed Wall or Mahl. Hon. Garret B. Wall, who
was elected governor of New Jersey in 1829, is the author of
the statement that the messenger was Moses Doan, the notorious
leader of the Doan outlaws of Bucks county, and this story has
been repeated by several historians who give the exact text of the
note as follows : "Washington is coming on you down the river.
He will be here afore long. Doan." It seems to be an estab-
lished fact that Moses Doan was on Long Island prior to the Bat-
tle of Long Island, and gave information to General Howe as to
the location of Washington's army. Several historians have also
stated that Moses and Abraham Doan were in the British camp
at Trenton some time prior to the battle, and since it is admitted
that Moses Doan acted as a messenger and spy in the service of
the British officers there seems to be no reason to doubt the truth
of the story so often reiterated that he was the messenger to
Col. Rahl on Christmas night.
However, many of the stories told in reference to the exploits
of the Doans are sensational and fictitious, including a large part
of the several pamphlets of William P. Seymour in 1853, Henry
EARLY HISTORY OF WASHINGTON'S CROSSING 387
Marrs in 1860 and John P. Rogers about 1870, and in spite of the
apparent authenticity of the note as above quoted, there will prob-
ably always remain some doubt as to the identity of the mes-
senger.
Did time permit, I would be glad to give you some account of
the other movements of General Washington and his army in and
through Bucks county including the encampment on the banks
of the Neshaminy near Hartsville, August 10 to 23, 1777, when
Howe was making his second and more successful attempt to
seize and occupy Philadelphia. There it was that the Marquis de
LaFayette first joined Washington's army, and there the stars and
stripes were first unfurled before the American army. However,
William J. Buck, the eminent historian of our county has pub-
lished in pamphlet form an excellent history of the Camp at
Neshatnlny and another paper on the same subject was read be-
fore a meeting of the Pennsylvania Society, Sons of the Revolu-
tion at their meeting held at Washington's headquarters there,
June 20, 1903, by Charles Henry Jones, and was printed in their
proceedings, and in separate pamphlet form. Either of these
pamphlets can be seen in any good historical library, including
that of the Bucks County Historical Society.
In concluding, I want to urge upon the \\'ashington Crossing
Park Commission the importance of their securing permanent
ownership of the site of the "encampment at Beaumont's" in-
cluding the camp-woods where Lord Sterling and other forces of
Washington's army were encamped for two weeks prior to the
Battle of Trenton, and from where they marched on Christmas
Day to this point to cross the Delaware and attack the Hessians.
This ownership should include the site of the graves of the pa-
triot soldiers on the bank of the Delaware and the old Thompson
house fast falling into decay, where Lord Stirling had his head-
quarters ; where Tom Paine wrote his immortal American Crisis;
where \\'ashington penned some of the most important letters of
that trying time in the struggle for American independence.
Outside of their historical association the house and adjoin-
ing barns are types of Colonial architecture now rapidly disap-
pearing and should be preserved. The original mill where the
food was ground for the use of the army had doubtless passed
away but the old mill on the same site represents the original and
should be preserved.
A Lost Stoveplate Inscription.
BY DR. HENRY C. MERCER, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting-, January 21, 1922.)
SINCE The Bible in Iron was written in 1914, several new
facts have come to light, concerning the history of the ancient
cast iron decorated stoves of the Pennsylvania-Germans,
among others the following :
The two stoveplates here shown are from our museum, and
the little one (Figure 1), with the upper left hand corner broken
ofif, No. 96, in The Bible in Iron, will always have a peculiar in-
terest for me, because it was the first stoveplate that our society
ever possessed, if not the first that I ever saw. Patrick Trainor
gave it to General Davis, probably before 1897, and for a long
time it stood in our old congested museum, in the Farm Bureau
Room at the courthouse in Doylestown, at which time I knew no
more about it than did General Davis.
With a good deal of difficulty, I made out that the inscription,
in German, was quoted from Romans XII-21, in Luther's Bible,
translated "Be not overcome of Evil," lacking the keyword of
the sentence, "overcome ;" also that the initials S. F. stood for the
old Berks county ironmaster, Samuel Flower. The date 1756
was plain, but the feature of intereset was the design that
showed me for the first time the emblematic holy flower garden,
seen under the arches of a cloister, so common on stove-
plates. Above all, the mysterious circle of rays of light, sup-
ported on legs forming the heads and the fore feet of sheep,
and enclosing symbolic flowers, which puzzled the late Dr.
Sachse, Rev. Dr. J. B. Stout, many Lutheran ministers, several
foreign antiquaries. Dr. Beck, author of the History of Iron, and
the late noted mediaeval student, Dr. Haefner Von Alteneck of
Munich, and which from that time to this, has remained an un-
solved enigma. But as this singular pattern does not concern my
story, and as it was by no means confined to this plate, but ap-
peared on dozens of others, I pass it by.
Besides, by the time I had described and illustrated this S. F.
plate in The Bible in Iron, it had become very common. We
Figui-L' 1
THE S. F. STOVEPLATE OF 1756.
BE NOT OVERCOME OF EVIL.
(Bible in Iron, No. 96.)
^S^n^lih
Figure 12
THIS IS THE YEAR IN WHICH RAGES
(Bible in Iron, No. 102.)
A LOST STOVEPLATE INSCRIPTION 389
found another pair of S. F. plates, also dated 1756, inscribed
"Ji-idge not that ye be not judged," from Matthew VII-1, Luther's
Bible (Bible in Iron, Nos. 98 and 99), so much like this, as to be
easily confused with it. Bucks county seemed full of these little
patterns, so much so, that it appeared either that Samuel Flower
must have sent many wagon loads into this region to vmdersell
Durham Furnace, or that if , as Mr. Ely has recently learned, Flow-
er had become part owner of Durham at that time, he might
have cast these stoves, not at Reading, but at Durham, and sold
them here in its neighborhood. At last we found several end
plates which completed the inscription, so that we were able to
set up and exhibit three entire stoves of this design. In fact, the
pattern had appeared so frequently, that by the time the eighteen
duplicates of it, now in our museum, had come into our posses-
sion, one by one, I had grown tired of it.
The large plate Figure 2, (No. 102 in Bible in Iron), called
"The Raging Year," presents a very different case. It first came
to my notice in 1897, when upon the information of Mr. I. J.
Stover, of New Britain, I found it lying as a gutter bridge or
path-pavement close to the house of Mrs. Anna Hofifman near
New Britain. It is larger than Figure 1, but shows the same
general pattern, the same cloistered flower garden, the same
mysterious halo or aureole with sheeps' legs above noticed, and
the same date, 1756, but the great interest of this specimen is,
and has long been, its inscription, in German, translated — "This
is the year in which rages — " \A^hat did it mean? What rages?
A storm, a pestilence, or Indians, in 1756? By the help of
Cruden's Concordance, I searched the Bible, wrote many letters,
and consulted many authorities, but in vain. The missing end
plate, if we could have found it, would have finished the inscrip-
tion, but no such plate appeared. There were other plates walled
up in the kitchen of the Hofifman house, but they were tops and
bottoms, and therefore blanks. I illustrated the unique relic
soon after, in my first small pamphlet on the subject, — "Deco-
rated Stove Plates of the Pennsylvania Germans," written in
1897.
Then we found a duplicate side plate in the smoking room of
Mr. Luckenbach, at Bethlehem, but still no end plate. By the
time I wrote TJw Bible in Iron, 1914, I believed it to be one
390
A LOST STOVEPLATE INSCRIPTION
of the rarest plates in the whole collection, and refrained from
discussing the meaning of its mysterious inscription, as to which
I was as much in the dark as ever. Why was this stove so very
rare, I wondered. Were the wooden moulds broken or lost at
the start, at the ancient furnace (Durham perhaps), that cast it?
or was there anything about the inscription that was false or
that would not bear repeating? Did the furnace only make it
during one year 1756, that it commemorated? I left the solu-
tion of these questions to chance, and at last ceased to concern
myself about them.
Eighteen years passed. Then another duplicate side plate ap-
peared under the following interesting circumstances.
Mr. A. H. Rice, dealer in antiquities, at Bethlehem, who had at
that time become an active collector of stoveplates, suddenly
informed me that he had found a very old deserted and ruinous
house in upper Bucks county, between Pleasant Valley and Rich-
landtown, from which one of the ancient jamb or five plate stoves
had been recently removed, that the hole in the wall which had
enclosed the stove still stood in its original condition, and that
there were several persons still living in the neighborhood, Avho
had seen the stove in use. I immediately, by telephone, arranged
Figure 6
STOVE IN ITS ORIGINAL POSITION.
A. The Lost End Plate. B. The Side Plate. C. The Stove Leg. D. The
Postament. E. The Stove-hole in the Wall. F. The Flue. G. The Kitchen
Fireplace. H. The Chimney. I. The Lintel Beam.
Figure 3
FIREPLACE OF THE HORNE HOUSE, SHOWING STOVE-HOLE.
The jamb stove-hole is shown in its original doorless condition in the
lower right corner at A. The stove-flue opening, in very dark shadow
under B. (Made from a very poor photograph.)
A LOST STOVEPLATE INSCRIPTION 391
an expedition, and a few days later, with Mr. W. E. Montague,
Mr. W. B. Montague, Mr. A. H. Rice, as guide, and Mr. F.
K. Swain, with a camera, visited the place in motor cars. The
house turned out to he the Home (previously Reasor or Reeser)
house, in which the late noted Pennsylvania-German scholar, Dr.
A. R. Home, had been born, described in General Davis's History
as one of the oldest dwellings in northern Bucks county, and which
as Mr. \y. S. Ely has recently proved, may have been built in
1746.1
The ancient stone smoke-stack, 6 feet wide by 10 feet long at
the base, laid in clay mortar, and tapering upwards through the
garret floor and roof of the building, divided the ground floor into
two rooms, the kitchen on the east, and the stove-room entered
by a door to the left of the smoke-stack on the west. The great
cooking fireplace built into the smoke-stack, and opening upon
the kitchen, had an opening 7 feet 8 inches wide by 5 feet 3 inches
high. It was 38 inches deep and had a wooden oaken champered
lintel 22 inches high by 14 inches thick, with a moulding planed
on its lower face corner. The stone wall back of the fireplace was
vertical and here we found in the lower right hand corner the
ancient stove-hole, 17 inches wide, 13 inches high to the crown
of arch, and 11 inches high at its sides, 15>^ inches above the
hearth, 24 inches from the right jamb (A Figure 3). This stove-
1 W^arren S. Ely has discovered that Joseph Unthank purchased the prop-
erty by patent from John Penn, Thomas Penn and Richard Penn, Patent
Book A, Vol. II, page 334, February 14, 1743. Also that Unthank held a
Quaker Meeting in a house then standing upon this land according to-
minutes of Richland Monthly Meeting of Friends, "On 2nd month 1743 the-
Friends in Springfield were granted to hold meeting at the houses of Joseph
Unthank and John Dennis for a period of six months. This was annually
renewed until 1755 when Joseph Unthank, being about to remove to North
Carolina, the meeting, previously held at his house, was ordered to be held',
at Thomas Adamson's on the adjoining farm."' Finally that according to
Deed Book 165, p. 583, Unthank sold the property to Abraham Reiser, a.
German IMennonite, on May 1, 1755.
From the above it might appear that the house now (1922) standing on:
the property was the house in which the Quaker Meeting was held in 1743..
On the other hand the house, now standing, is built in the old German style,
with the chimney not set against one of the gables in the English style, but
in the middle of the structure, and it seems very improbable that Unthank,
who could have found no house standing on the premises when he bought
the land in 1734, and who was an English Quaker, would have built a house
in this German manner. Second, the chimney now standing was constructed
in the first place for a German jamb stove, a kind of warming apparatus
that was probably unfamiliar to Unthank. Third, the jamb stove as original-
ly built into this chimney was dated 1756, and lastly because Reiser, who
was a German Mennonite, and familiar with such stoves, bought the property
in 1755, it is not likely that he would have discarded any possible earlier
stove then standing against the fireplace. Therefore we may reasonably
suppose that the "Raging Year Stove,'' traced to this house, was the first
stove ever used in it, and that Reiser built the house, now standing, either
in 1756, or the following year. See also Old Houses in Bucks County by
H. C. Mercer, Manuscript Vol. T, 1313. 1 to 11.
392 A LOST STOVEPLATE INSCRIPTION
hole penetrated the wall of the smoke-stack back of the fire, and
opened into the room beyond, called the stove-room. (See E Fig-
ure 6.) Eighteen inches over the center of this stove-hole in the
fireplace, was a small hole 5 inches high by 4 inches wide, which
as we found, passed entirely through the wall above the stove-
hole,, dipping slightly downward, so as to enter the wall in the
stove room, about 11 inches above the stove-hole, which smaller
hole I took to be a smoke passage made to increase the draught
of the stove. At this point, namely on the stove-room side of
the wall, what we saw was still more interesting. This was a
rim or projection, called the 'Testament," in the German stove
books, built of stones laid in clay, 3 feet 7 inches wide, by 4 feet
4 inches high, and extending outward from the wall 11>4 inches
(Figure 4 and DD Figure 6.) This projection or abutment en-
circled a square hole for the insertion of a stove — 21^ inches
wide by 28>^ inches high, and 10 inches above the floor, which
hole we found walled up as if after the removal of the stove
that had fit it. We pulled out this temporary wall, so as to
reveal ,the inside of the postament and the end of the stove-
hole proper, which latter was here of the same size as it was
in the fireplace (E Figure 6), arched on the top, and too
small to fit any stove, but the bottom of which coincided with
the bottom of the postament hole. (Figure 5.) The stove there-
fore under discussion, had not been thrust or walled into this
original hole in the wall, but had been held in place entirely by
the postament, which we found was not a part of the original wall,
but had been built against it, and was now sagging away from it,
leaving a wide crack, and which, therefore, might have been
built of any size to fit any stove. After observing these facts we
found to our great surprise, that this heavy postament was built
directly upon the now rotting wooden floor of the room, without
any continuous pier to support it in the cellar, and we finally
convinced ourselves that this particular floor was not in its
original condition, but had been raised after the building was
constructed, and as we concluded, about the year 1800, when a
new wang had been added to the house. This proved that the
postament, as we saw it, had replaced a still older one, and that
in raising the floor and rebuilding this postament, the old stove
must have been taken down and set up again. (See Figure 6.)
Figure 4
THE HORNE HOUSE IN SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP.
Showing postament witli hole walled up.
A LOST STOVEPLATE INSCRIPTIOX 393
Before and after making these measurements, we found, ques-
tioned, or heard of several persons in the neighborhood, who had
seen or used the old stove in place, as follows :
a — Mrs. Mary Ann Walp, who had used the stove in 1851.
b & c — James and Henry Home, who, as boys, lived in the house.
d — Mrs. Rhinehardt, sister of the Home brothers.
e — Samuel S. Moyer, who saw the stove in place seventy years be-
fore when coming to the place to make cider.
f — Dr. J. J. Ott, of Pleasant Valley, who saw the stove in position in
1896, and had remeinbered it for twenty years before.
g — Mrs. Foulke, of Richlandtown, who had lived in the house thirty-
five years before when the stove was standing.
h — Thomas H. Wieder, 318 North Ave., Warren, Ohio, who saw the
stove in place in 1868.
It appeared from the evidence of these witnesses here given in
full in a foot note,- without correction, as originally written
- a. Inf. Mrs. Mary Ann Walp, of Richlandtown, seen by us that day at a
quilting party at her daughters in Quakertown, Pa. Used by Mrs. Walp
64 years ago. Long sticks used and as burned out pushed them in. She is
sure there were iron legs, not sure of design. Sure they were not of pottery.
Not sure about any bolts from top to bottom. Her brother, Amandus Fluke,
of Quakertown, her sister, Elizabeth Benner, Pleasant Valley, 80 years, her
sister Lidy Ann Gross, Lower Richland, 75 or 65 saw it.
The stove was in use 58 years ago. She is now 73 years old and was 9
years when she went there, and stayed there * years, or 15 years old when
she left. Mrs. Benner is the oldest. She lives with her son, Tillman Ben-
ner, an undertaker, at Pleasant Valley.
b. Mr. James Home. Came to Home House. We saw him later at Mrs.
Rheinhardt's. Remembers seeing the stove at the Foulke house, w^hitewashed,
also saw the bolt but thinks there were two bolts on stove. Also one
wooden leg, bucket shape made of plank 2 inches thick, 1 foot wide. Don't
remember using it. He and brother used to jump up on stove with no legs
under it. A rod ran back into fireplace with a pin to hold stove in place.
c. Inf. of Mr. Henry Home — Seen at Mrs. Rheinhardt's house — Says that
a long bolt ran horizontally from fireplace side through postament across
top of stove so as to meet top of bolt on end plate at its top and that this
had a wedge slip on fireplace side and also that similar bolt ran out at
bottom of stove to fireplace.
d. Inf. of Mrs. Rheinhardt. Visited her at her house on main road be-
tween Home house and Pleasant Valley. Wall was larger at one time. Mrs.
Rheinhardt's father (Reuben Home) renewed half of wall extending to left
towards wooden pannelling. She remembers 32 years ago that her father
used stove to warm room in winter. Johnson Yerkes, formerly reporter
South Bethlehem Globe, used to come to house. Her brother slept in room
when stove was used. Formerly used for working butter and storing milk.
One plate taken by Thomas Wieder, Warren, Ohio, which was cracked —
used over a well. Her father took stove apart.
e. Inf. Mr. Samuel S. Moyer. Seen at the house. He saw the stove as a
boy in its natural state about 70 years ago, when coming to make cider.
Does not remember seeing legs under stove.
f. Dr. Ott of Pleasant Valley, who met us at the house, saw stove in
position from 1876 to 1896 and had frequently seen it before in position for
20 years earlier. When seen no legs and whitewashed. Weight of wall pre-
vented falling of stove. The room in which stove protruded was used as a
junk room. The house is built of stone, walls are laid in clay mortar and
very heavily whitewashed. Ceiling beams are sawed and lathed with lath
heavily plastered. Floor above 15 inch boards — two wall closets in room,
an old shelf and part of wall jianeled on side of fireplace. House is rotting.
The postament had not been built at time of construction of fireplace. Later
constructed showing crack between it and the wall. The original opening in
postament for insertion of stove is now (August, 1915) walled up. Rev.
A. R. Home owned house when stove was in position. He sold it to James
394 A LOST STOVEPLATE IXSCRTPTIOX
down by us, that the stove had been in regular use from 1850 to
1876 ; that very long sticks reaching through the wall from
the fireplace side and sometimes with their ends resting upon
chairs, had been used to heat the stove; that after the death
of Dr. Home's mother in 1876, and the sale of the house, the
stove had fallen into disuse, but had remained standing, and
whitewashed like the walls, until about 1896, when it was pulled
down. We further learned that as late as 1851, the stove was
raised on iron legs, but later rested on a wooden prop, sawed
out of a two inch plank, one foot wide, at the top, and some-
what less at the bottom ; that finally the legs had disappeared
and the stove had projected from the postament, entirely with-
out legs ; and th^t either one or two long iron bolts running along
the top and bottom of the stove, from fastenings upon its end
plate, back through the wall and into the fireplace on the kitchen
side, had at last served to hold the stove in position without legs.
During our investigations, Mr. Rice, who had been hunting
stoveplates, found a duplicate of the "Raging Year" plate (Fig-
ure 2) at a neighboring farm house, which I then bought for the
museum, without connecting it in any way with our researches
at the Hofne house. Meanwhile, in examining the ashes of the
kitchen fire place, we found several fragments either of the plate
illustrated in Figure 1, namely the S. F. of 1756 "Be not over-
come of Evil" or of the other S. F. of the same date, "Judge not."
This last discovery seemed to rob the expedition of much of its
interest, for notwithstanding the fact that Mrs. Foulke had said
that she remembered seeing these fragments in the ashes when
the original stove was in place (See note 2), I was convinced
either that she was mistaken, or that these pieces represented
burnt out and replaced parts of the original stove, for which as
Shelley of Richland, Pa. Shelley sold to Reuben Home. The latter tore out
stove about ZO years ago. Then Dr. Ott bought it of Home, and neglected
to take it away.
g. Mrs. Foulke, whom we visited at her home in Richlandtown, had lived
in the Home house. Saw the jamb stove standing but not in use. The five
plates of the stove now in possession of Dr. Ott, Pleasant Valley. Two left
side plates of "Judge Not' were lying in the fireplace as pavement in
August, 1915. Mrs. Foulke remembers the stove protruding into room back
of fireplace, so built into wall that a ledge or butment or shelf extended
over it and down side upon which shelf clock, jugs and various objects were
placed. She says that she was told that long sticks of wood were used in
firing stove and pushed in, long ends of which would rest on chair or other
object, but she does not remember what kind of legs under stove. Mrs.
Foulke don't remember any iron door on fireplace side. She remembers date
1756 on stove.
At that time stove was whitewashed. Dr. Ott of Pleasant Valley pulled
the stove down. In winter time used as sleeping room where stove was.
Figure 5
JAMB STOVE-HOI.E IX THE HORNE HOUSE.
Showing podtament after removal of walled up stove-hole.
A LOST STOVEPLATE INSCRIPTION 395
the commonest of all the stoves found in Bucks county, I had
long, since, as before remarked, lost interest.
So much for our tirst visit to the Home house. Our notes
and photographs, coming too late for insertion in The Bible in
Iron, had established some interesting facts as to the construc-
tion and use of the ancient stoves, but we had found no new-
plate or inscription of interest.
Three more years had passed, when in the summer of 1918, I
began the investigation of the architectural remains of Bucks
county, namely: houses, barns, wells, springhouses. caves, etc
embodied in five volumes of manuscript notes, now in the library
of our museum. These researches brought us again to the Home
house. We photographed it, studied the old and new wings, ex-
amined all the doors, latches, hinges, staircases, floors, rafters,
windows, etc., and came to the conclusion that the old wing
was built about 1756. and that the new wing was added about
1800 (See note 1). But the building, although recently roofed
by its then owner, Dr. Brown, of Cambridge, Mass., owing to
the weakness of its clay laid walls, was as we saw in very bad
condition, and must soon, unless reinforced in some way. fall
to the ground. Its great historical interest induced by friend,
Mr. R. P. Hommel, of Lehigh University, Bethlehem, to buy
it in 1921, and begin the work (interrupted by his present ab-
sence in China) of restoring and saving it. Then it was,
that our first thought, after propping the walls and boarding
up the doors and windows, was to restore the stove, so that
one house at least would exist in Pennsylvania, showing one of
these ancient stoves still in its original position, and still in use,
when Air. Hommel chose to build a fire in it. At this point,
my special story, interrupted by these digressions, again begins.
\\'hat had become of the five original plates? It was desirable
to find them if possible, but in this connection I remembered that
there was some difficulty in the original notes as to Dr. Ott's evi-
dence. Had he or had he not removed them from the premises?
Unfortunately he had died in the meantime, but we visited his
widow at Pleasant Valley, and wdien she told us that she was
certain that her husband had never brought the plates home,
and when no sign of them appeared in her barn, wood house, or
out buildings, we gave up the search, but were not discouraged.
396 A LOST STOVEPLATE INSCRIPTION
because I had just found (through the help of Mr. Montague),
in Berks county, a complete example of this S. F. stove, which
would do almost as well for the restoration as the original itself.
Just as we were about to bring this Berks county stove to the
place, it occurred to me to write to Mr. Wieder of Warren, Ohio,
who according to Mrs. Rhinehardt, had carried off one of the
original plates, and might have them all. His answers to my
letters, however, (See foot note 3) entirely upset our restoration
project, for although he told us that he had not taken any of the
plates away with him, he proved by sending us a drawing of
one of the original sides, which he had copied on the spot, that
we had been working upon the wrong stove, and that the stove
as seen by Mr. Wieder, and which originally stood in the old
COMMUNICATION FROM THOMAS H. WIEDER.
3 I am 67 years old. I lived with David Home one winter, in 1868, in the
brick house on the same farm. This old house was the first farm house,
man by the name of Reaser used to own it. He had one daughter. She
was born 1798. David L. Home born 1813 was married to this only daughter
of Reaser. They were the parents of Abraham Home the only son, a highly
educated man who died at Allentown a few years ago. This David Ij. Hoi'iie
built the brick house after he was too old to work the farm. The people
that used to work the farm used to live in the old house after David Home
died, 1868, or rather his widow, 1876. Reuben Home bought the old house
with a small acreage of ground to it while he lived there after 1876.
This stove was taken down by him and I used to see the plates lay around
the yard. It must have been there that they had one to cover a well. There
were five plates, two sides, top, and bottom, and back end. The back end
was held together with two long bolts, the front end was built in the wall.
This old part of the house, I am sure. Mrs. David L. Home told me, was
built when the stove was put up in 17 56. The new part wa.s built around
1800. or not far from it. I remember quite well how the old house looked
inside. Big cider press back of the house or on the back side rather. A big
log barn about 100 feet away from the house towards Pleasant Valley and
a big wagon shed with corn crib on one side. I just remember how the
whole thing looked like in 1868. I make trips out that way every year.
Last summer I missed to call around Springfield. All my people are dead
that used to live around there. Three of Reuben Homes sons are living yet.
They ought to be able to tell a whole lot about the place. Let me know if
you intend to make new plates to put this stove back. If I was there I could
tell you very near how large it was in the room. It used to make a lot of
heat but had to go out into the kitchen to see the fire.
That inscription on the plate I tried hard to find out what it means, but
was unable to find out. I could send you the corner I broke off and you
could see how heavy the plates were. There weren't many foundries in the
United States to make plates those days. Have a few Indian relics that
were found around there and quite a few old stories that the old people told
me happened when they were young. Things have changed wonderful since
then. In 1835 the snow was so deep that they couldn't see the fences, they
could driv the horses over the top, drive in any direction. In the spring of
1868 the sky was so full of chicken hawks for two days that the sun couldn't
shine through, when nobody knew where they came from or where they
went to. The same year the stars dropped so bad some people got scared,
of course I was one of them.
There used to be an old land turtle on that farm it had the date cut on
its belly, before 1800, I seen it once. I often wonder if its there yet. An
old schoolhouse used to stand close to the house where you seen Mrs. Rein-
hart She is dead. Died with the flue. The big Weierbacks boys of those
days used to go to Sunday school, also Joe and Charles Mumbaur. It was
also the place where Abraham Home learned his first lesson. I seen this
schoolhouse before it was torn down. Mrs. David L. Home used to tell me
some great things that happened in this schoolhouse. I guess I better stop
A LOST STOVEPLATE INSCRIPTION 397
Horne house, was not at all the S. F. of 1756 (Figure 1) but
the "Raging Year" of 1756. (Figure 2) "Dis ist das air darin
witet." He wrote the words very clearly, so that there could be no
mistake about the well-remembered inscription. The stove,
therefore, that we wanted was not one of the commonest but one
of the rarest ones yet known, to which no end plate had ever
been found. No restoration of it was possible, so I dismissed
the plan from my mind, and turned back again to the old riddle
suggested by the letter of the lost meaning of the broken words,
and wrote again to this one man alive, namely Mr. Wieder, who
I thought could solve it. I addressed him in polite terms, about
as follows :
"My dear Friend:
Your inscription is all very well, but there is not enough of it. Where
is the rest of it? Why did you not take down what you saw on the
end plate, which would have completed the sentence?"
Mr. Wieder wrote back (contradicting his note No. 3) to the
eflfect that the stove had already been pulled down and was in
pieces when he copied the inscription, and that there was no end
plate. He had brought no plate to Ohio, but only a little broken
corner which he had carried off as a memento, and sent by sepa-
ate enclosure to me with his letter. \\'as he right? If not. it then
occurred to me for the first time that a measurement of the
stove-hole in the postament at the Horne house would settle the
question, but when a few days later, Mr. Hommel, went there to
take the dimensions, he found that in the meantime the whole
postament, weakened by our removal of the wall which had
masked its opening, had crumbled down and lay in ruins upon
the floor. Fortunately, however, our obscure pencil notes, in the
original note book, giving the dimensions, were still legible, and
till I hear from you again. You might think I was trying to write a book
about Springfield. Of course I love Springfield. I spent my boyhood days
there. Rev. Bert Hottle was a school mate of mine.
Yours truly.
THOS. H. WIEDER,
318 North Avenue,
Warren, Ohio.
Warren, Ohio, Aug. 11, 1920.
Gentlemen,
I got your letter asking about the old wall stove at the Horne house.
Yes, I warmed myself at this stove more than once in the winter of 1868.
I am going to Sprinfield in a very short time and if you were there I could
tell you a whole lot about that place. I could write to you the time I will
be there and you could come there then I could explain all I knew. Let me
know about it. I guess I am the only living person that knows about it.
THOS. H. WIEDER.
398 A LOST STOVEPLATE IXSCRIPTIOX
they proved that the S. F. stove, which we had been considering,
was altogether too small for the postament hole, but that the
Raging Year stove (Figure 2) fitted it exactly. Mr. Wieder was
right, and my own hasty conclusions in 1915 wrong.
Mr. Wieder's letters had been interesting, as fixing the identity
of the stove, but he had missed its front plate and as far as the
meaning of its mysterious inscription as shown on figure 2 was
concerned, he had told us nothing.
Just as I was about to again dismiss the subject from my mind,
another glimmer of light, somewhat in the nature of a "will-o-
the-wisp," was thrown upon our researches by Mr. Hommel,
who, not long before his departure for China, discovered an
obituary notice of Dr. A. R. Home in the National Educator of
Allentown, Pa., for January, 1903 (See note 4) which after de-
scribing the Home house and supposing that it had been built
partly for defense against the Indians, said that the latter fact
was evidenced by an inscription on an old stoveplate in the
house, which read — "Dies is das Jahr die Inchen war, 1764,"
meaning by literal translation — "This is the year the Indians
were," or the year of the Indian attack. The old puzzle resur-
rected by Mr. Wieder, rose before me, and for a moment the
solution seemed within reach. The newspaper was wrong, yet
right. The sentence quoted by the writer could not have been
invented. The date was wrong, and the inscription followed the
original, only in part. It gave the meaning commemorating the
French and Indian War of 1756, but with impossible words.
One of which however stuck in my memory, the curious term
"Inchen," the Pennsylvania German for Indian, and used, I re-
membered in connection with the "Hilltown Busts," described by
* National Educator, Allentown, Pa., Jan., 1903.
From obituary of Rev. A. R. Home, D.D.
He was born March 24, 1834, on the family homestead, in Springfield town-
ship, Bucks county, as a son of David L. Home and his wife, Mary, a
bom Reasor. On both father and mother's side he was descended from the
Pennsylvania Germans, a race that has helped to make Pennsylvania what
it is today. His grandfather, Abraham Reasor, an early settler in Spring-
field township, possessed 184 acres of land, located on Cook's creek. The
one story part of the old house bears the date of 1843. In 1760 John and
Thomas Penn conveyed to him 150 additional acres. This property has re-
mained in the family, therefore, for more than 150 years. The house is still
standing and is the oldest in the township. Its thick walls show that it
dates back to the time when the woods resounded with the war whoop of
the Indian, and that it was not only intended for shelter, but also for de-
fence. That such it had been is evidenced by the inscription on an old
stove plate which read: "Dies is das Jahr die Inchen war, 1764." meaning
by a literal translation, "This is the year the Indians were,' or the year of
the Indian attack.
A LOST STOVEPLATE INSCRIPTION 399
Rev. Dengler, in our Proceedings, Vol. II, page 634. As at this
ignis fatitus any further research seemed hopeless, I again tried
to drop the subject from my thoughts, though without knowing
it, it appeared that I had got too deely involved to escape. An-
other year passed, when, one night, the telephone bell rang. Mr.
A. H. Rice was calling from Bethlehem. He had found a re-
markable end stove-plate near Brownsburg, Pa., with an inscrip-
tion upon it, that had bafifled all his Pennsylvania-German friends,
who, one after the other, had come to see it day after day, in his
store, and tried in vain, to decipher it. He would sell it for
twelve dollars. "Send it down," I said, and he sent it. There it
is. Figure 7. It came one afternoon, and I began working upon
it that night, with a student's lamp. The inscription appeared to
be entirely new. As you see, it is badly rusted, but when I saw
the last word SCHAF (meaning sheep) I was again misled,
for I thought I had at last found a clue to the sheep's
head design, on so many of the plates, which, as I have said, had
defied elucidation for the last twenty-five years. Yet how could
this be solved in three words? For there were only three upon
the plate. I turned to the preceding word, the last syllable of
which you see is "schin," with the preceding letters rusted away.
What could schin mean? I held the lamp up and down at va-
rious angles; went back to my study, hunted (in vain) through
the Bible concordance and my German dictionaries, and without
being a German scholar, concluded that there was no word in the
whole German language ending in the syllable schin. The first
word of the plate was gone altogether, as you see.
Up to this point, the relic had in no way connected itself
either with the Home house, Mr. Wieder, or the lost inscription
on Figure 2 which is the subject of my paper.
It was getting late. I was burning the midnight oil, and I felt
a headache coming on, but one more look at the schin. And then,
out of the "lumber room of memory," suddenly flashed the word
Inschin, suggested, no doubt, by the Allentown newspaper article.
A good old Pennsylvania-German word, but phonetic, of course,
therefore, in no dictionary. A thing for the ear, not the eye.
No wonder it defied Mr. Rice's friends. With it rose up recol-
lections, now a year old, of the Home house, and the long lost
meaning of the mysterious sentence on the Raging Year plate.
400 A LOST STOVEPLATE INSCRIPTION
(Figure 2). Here it was at last. But stop, what of the final
word schaff The Allentown writer had it zvar. But he was
wrong? His zv was certainly sch. Still — schaf — sheep — Indian
sheep — nonsense ! The Indian had nothing to do with sheep.
The sheep is a European animal brought here by the white man.
"Go to bed, my friend," said I to myself, "you are in bad con-
dition, you will be awake all night." One more guess. The
final F. The Allentown man makes it R. Suppose he is right.
Suppose the upper loop and lower tail of an original R has
been rusted away here so that this apparent F is no F but
R — then — SCHAR. The well known, clean cut, simple
German word struck me like a bullet. It means in EngHsh,
host, war-band, or war-party. At last, I had found it, after
twenty-five years. Thus, by means of the only end plate ever
heard of, the long lost meaning came. 1756 was a bad year, one
of the years of the French and Indian War, the year in which
General Braddock was defeated, the year in which the Indians,
after slaying their own brethren, at Gnadenhutten, attacked the
Bethlehem stockade, terrorized the Lehigh valley, scalped, and
killed in their own fashion, all the white men within their reach.
One of the mould-carvers, perhaps at Durham Furnace, thought
he would commemorate this terrible year with this stove. DIS
1ST DAS JAHR DARIN WITET DER INCHIN SCHAR—
translated — "This is the year in which rages the Indian War
band."
At last I lit a candle, blew out the student's lamp, and went
to bed.
LATER INFORMATION.
Just as this paper was going- to press, a singular sequence to the above
narrative has occurred. On August 20, 1926, Mr. Joseph B. Sanford de-
scribed to me (over the telephone) the side plate of the Raging Year stove,
cast with a circular top, i. e. transformed into a fireback, just found by him,
walled in the back of a jiarlor fireplace in an old farmhouse once owned by
the late Hon. Hampton W. Rice, about two miles north of Paxsons Corner
in Solebury Township. To my knowledge no such altered stoveplate-fireback
had yet appeared, and I supposed the specimen to be a recent recast made
by some modern artistic tenant of the house. I therefore visited the house
on August 27th. with Mr. Sanford, when we learned from the present tenant,
Mr. Francis C. Pitting, that the fireplace, opened by him, had been walled
up over the plate many years before the days of artistic tenants, jDrobably
about 1850-70, that the house was built before 1776, and that an old neigh-
borhood-tradition, vouched for a vista cut through intervening woods to per-
mit signalling in ca.«e of an Indian attack. This eleventh-hour unique relic
is therefore the chief plate of the Raging Year stove, cast into a fireback, to
commemorate the Indian terror of 1756. W^as it cast for general sale to the
threatened pioneers by the same furnace that cast the stove? But why in
German in Engh.sh-settled Solebury? V^hy was the inscription not completed
when the pattern was re-shaped? Does it substantiate the forest-signal
tradition of fear in lower Bucks County, when real danger only existed in
what was then upper Bucks County, namely about Bethlehem and the
Minisinks, in 1756?
Figure 7
THE IXDIAX WAR PLATE.
(The lost end Plate.)
Museum No. 17947.
The Making of Felt Hats.
BY HORACE M. MANN, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting-, January 21, 1922.)
SOME kind of covering for the head, either for defense or
ornament, appears to have been generally worn in all ages
and countries where the inhabitants have made any progress
in the arts of civilized life. Hats may be of many different ma-
terials, shapes, sizes and colors and in fact are as numerous in
kind as are the various divisions and subdivisions of mankind.
An attempt to give the history of the hat would require a volume
in itself. It is only hats made of fur worked into a compact mass
known as felt that I intend to discuss. Even in this connection,
the method of producing the material will be dealt with alone, to
the entire exclusion of any effort to enlarge upon the forms of
headgear into which this felted fur might be worked.
The whole process of making felt, whether for hats or other
purposes, is based upon conditions which result from the matting
together and- intimate adhesion of certain animal fibres that are
so marked as to fit them for felting. On examination under a
strong miscroscope the hairs, or filaments of wool, appear ser-
rated or covered with jagged edges overlaping each other in a
manner resembling that of the scales of a fish. On this condition
of the hair lies the foundation of felting. In hat making the furs
most generally used are, beaver, rabbit and hare, seal, mole, and
sometimes, lambs' wool.
In felting any of these materials together, the first object of
the workman is to obtain the most complete separation of the
fibres, and to dispose a layer of them in every possible direction
with regard to each other ; this is effected by means of bowing.
The fur is first well washed, carded and thoroughly dried. The
"stock" or amount of fur necessary to make the desired hat is
weighed out and placed on an enclosed bench called a "hurl" or
"hurdle", about three feet high by five feet long and four feet
deep. Tvn^o sides of this bench are divided from the next work-
man by partitions running from the floor to the ceiling, the back
is formed by the side of the main building and the front is open
402 THE MAKING OF FELT HATS
for the workman to stand before and operate the bow. These
partitions are placed to keep out as much air as possible because
after the fur has been bowed for some time it becomes so light
that a pufif of wind would blow some of it away. Each bench
or hurdle is lighted by a small window in the wall of the main
building and the rear of the hurdle. In each hurdle the bow is
suspended by a stout cord from the ceiling. This bow is a strong
pole seven feet long by two inches in diameter, to which are
fixed two bridges, the upper one, nearest the window, called the
"cock", and the lower one, nearest the workman, the "breech".
The cock is a quarter round piece of wood seven inches by six
inches wide ; the breech is a rectangular piece of wood eleven
inches long by seven inches wide. Over these bridges, the cock
and the breech, is stretched a piece of catgut in the same manner
as a string on a vioiln bow. This string is plucked by a "bow-
pin", a small stick six to seven inches long with a knob at each end.
The workman, with his allowance of fur or stock on the hurdle
before him, grasps the bow horizontally with his left hand, plac-
ing the bow-string near the right hand edge of the material and
gives it a pluck with the bow-pin. The string immediately flies
back amongst the fur, scattering a part before it to a distance
proportioned to the force with which it was pulled. By re-
peated strokes the whole is thus subjected to the bow; and this
bowing is continued until all the filaments of each hair are per-
fectly opened and dilated, and having thus fallen, together in all
possibe directions, form a thin fluffy mass about three feet long
by eighteen inches wide and some three to four inches thick. The
quantity thus treated is called a "batt".
When the batt is sufficiently bowed it is covered with a large
piece of soft leather. The workman, taking the "basket", con-
sisting of sixteen very light, open, straight bars of wood, joined
together by three heaver transvere bars, the central one of which
is somewhat higher than the other two to form a grip for the
workman, the whole sixteen inches long by fifteen inches wide,
presses gently and with a slight sliding motion over this leather
and the batt of fur underneath to make it mat together sufficient
for him to handle. Then he removes the leather and carefully
folds the batt into two or four folds (called "crozes" in Bethel,
Connecticut), and following a pattern, according to the form of
THE MAKING OF FELT HATS 403
hat desired, he trims with a smaU short bladed knife or pulls
away with his fingers the part not needed so that when he
opens it out he has two or four triangular pieces. These he
takes next to a kettle of hot water to be sized or felted together.
This kettle (called by the hatters of Danbury and Bethel, Con-
necticut, a "steamboat kettle", or a "sizing kettle"), is a large
copper or brass kettle, permanently erected on a brick or stone
flue, with an interior, circular compartment, open at the bottom
except for a grate. This compartment is soldered to the bottom
of the main kettle and held firm by bars running from the rim
of the interior compartment to the rim of the main kettle. In
this interior compartment a fire is built of wood, charcoal or soft
coal which heats the water contained between this inner com-
partment and the walls of the main kettle. This kettle is sur-
rounded with a permanent wooden bench, divided into four,
six or eight sections for a similar number of workmen. The
outside edge of this bench is a few inches higher than the rim of
the kettle, sloping gradually until the inside edge of the bench
meets the rim of the kettle so that the water will drain back
into the kettle. The kettle and bench together is called "a bat-
tery". To clean the fire in the fire-pot of the kettle the work-
man pours cold water on the fire forming steam which blows the
ashes down through the grate into the flue underneath the kettle.
To soften the water some oatmeal or bran is added to facilitate
the felting.
Into this kettle of hot water the edges of the batt are dipped
and very carefully united to form a cone-shaped hat body. The
whole batt is then, dipped in the hot water and drawn out on the
bench where it is rubbed together and rolled with a pair of wood-
en rollers, called "pins", about fourteen inches long by two
inches in diameter and tapering toward each end. The workman
wears, over the palm of each hand, a pad of stout, oak tanned
leather, soaked for a long time in urine, to protect his hands from
the heat. A coarse bristle brush, called a "sizing brush", is used
to brush away any dirt and to sprinkle additional water on the
work as it is needed.
After this operation has proceeded far enough to produce felt
it is again dampened with clean warm water, and closely ex-
amined for holes or thin spots in the felt, and, on any of these
404 THE MAKIXG OF FELT HATS
parts found to be deficient, a little fur is added and worked into
the main body by the thumb of the workman. A quantity of fine
cut cotton, which will not felt, is sometimes added to the fur
to make the nap raise better. When this cotton is to be added
to the fur the whole is beaten by two round sticks, twenty-seven
inches long, called "beating-up sticks". The piece of felt is now
a cone-shaped body, covered with numerous hairs standing up
over the surface. These hairs were, in the beginning of the hat
making industry, pulled out by women by means of a pair of
tweezers, much like doctors use, but later were cut off by means
of a large heavy bladed knife. The cone is folded double and
laid on the knee of the workman, who wears a heavy leather
apron or pad to protect his knee, and shaved downward with
the "shaving knife". This knife is about fourteen inches long
with a heavy sharp blade, nine inches long and an inch and a half
wide. The intended hat still possesses the conical shape first given
it, capable, however, with a moderate degree of force of being
extended in every direction. The batt is dampened with warm
water and the edge turned up all around the width desired for
the brim of the hat. It is then folded in half and violently pulled
with both hands in opposite directions at the point of the cone ; it
is opened and folded the other way and again pulled in the same
manner. This is continued until on being opened the point has
been worked into a flat crown. The flat portion is then placed
on a wooden hat block and the sides forced down over the block
and tied tight at the bottom with a stout cord. The crown is
pressed out into better shape, and the brim, which has a tendency
to curl, is flattened by wetting. At the part where the brim is
bent away from the sides, the line is made distinct and sharp by
means of a wooden block, four inches long, three and a half
inches wide and two inches thick, shaved off to a sharp edge.
This block is called a "tollocker" and is used in many ways in
shaping the hat over the block. A thin rectangular piece of
copper, five by four inches, called a "trench", is also used to
scrape off the surplus moisture and to assist in shaping the hat.
The hat, approaching some form and shape, still has the edge of
the brim ragged and uneven. To make this edge even and smooth
a "jack" is used with a wooden guide shaped the same as the
circumference of the hat block with an adjustable blade which
THE MAKING OF FELT HATS 405
can be set at any desired distance from the inside edge of the
brim and thus regulate the width of the brim. This jack is laid
on the brim with the guide against the hat block and drawn
around the block so that the blade will trim away the rim at the
same distance all around the hat. The man working a hat over
the block wears pads of rubber with an incision in each for his
thumb. These pads or gloves protect his hands as he presses
and draws the hat down over the block. The hat, being shaped
to the satisfaction of the operator, is drawn from the block and
thoroughly dried before the final steps of stiiTening and finishing.
After the hats are dried, the next operation they undergo is
that of stiffening. The hat is dipped into shellac, cut by means
of sal-soda. As much of the hat as is desired to be stiffened is
dipped into this shellac, then drawn out and the surplus shellac
scraped off with the copper trench, described before, while the
hat was being block. Common salt is now added to the shellac
remaining on the hat to set it so that, if necessary hereafter to
dip it in hot water the shellac will not melt and come out of the
hat. The degree of stiffness can be regulated by the amount of
shellac left on the hat.
The dry hat, after stiffening is very hard and rigid and of an
irregular shape ; preparatory to finishing, therefore, it is again
blocked. For this purpose it is necessary to soften the shellac
which is done by hanging the hat over the steam from a hot
kettle of water and to keep it soft while being finished, a little
hot water is sprinkled over it by means of a soft brush. It is
again drawn over the hat block, shaped by hand and pressed by
means of a short heavy flat-iron or goose called a "shell". This
shell has a hollow bottom wherein is placed a red hot chunk of
cast iron called a "slug". Each shell has several of these slugs
which are kept hot while the shell is in use and as fast as one
cools off in the shell another hot one takes its place. With this
shell the hat is pressed and smoothed. The motion always being
in one direction so that the nap will lay in one direction and be-
come smooth and glossy. If the nap is stubborn and will not lay
right or as more often happens contains some coarse hairs of
uneven length, it is combed or carded with a small card resembling
a miniature wool card and brushed with a soft brush.
The hat is now shaped, the brim is curved to suit the style, the
406 THE MAKING OF FELT HATS
nap is smooth and polished and all that remains to be done is to
put in the lining, the sweat band and outside ribbon or hat band,
all of which is not part of the felter's work and is done by other
persons, mostly women.
These methods of producing a felt hat are not those practiced
in regular hat factories but such as w-ere followed in small local
shops of a few workmen. In and around Danbury and Bethel,
Connecticut, a farmer would gather his hired men or a few neigh-
bors and start making felt hats during the slack winter months.
His shop, where this work was followed, was called a "catgut",
and the practice of this irregular hat making, "catgutting".
All the above processes were explained to me by Mr. George
B. Fairchild, Mr. Samuel Judson and Mr. E. Bevans, all of
Bethel, Connecticut, and all old hatters, on the occasion of my
visit in Bethel in search of the tools of the old felt hat maker
in May, 1918. All of the tools mentioned, except the "steam-
boat kettle", were found and are now in the museum of the
Bucks County Historical Society. I have consulted, TJic Circle
of The Mechanical Arts, Thomas Martin, Civil Engineer, Lon-
don, 1813, and The Book of English Trades and Library of the
Useful Arts", London, 1818, to refresh my memory on any point
that I was uncertain or had forgotten.
Passing Events (Paper No. 2).
BY FRANK K. SWAIN, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, January 21, 1922.)
This paper Is a continuation of Paper No. 1, read before this society on
January 15, 1921. See page 324 ante.
TELEPHONES — Although several attempts had been made
before 1875 to invent a telephone all proved unsatisfactory
and were not in use. In that year Prof. Alexander G. Bell,
with the help of Thomas A. Watson, a young electrician, was
trying to perfect the "Harmonic Telegraph" so that six Morse
messages could be sent over a single wire, at the same time,
without interference. They worked in the garret of a little
house on Court street, Boston, and on the night of June 2, 1875,
the whole apparatus went wrong, the vibrators stopped working
and in order to start them again Mr. Watson plucked them sev-
eral times. Mr. Bell who was tuning the instruments in an
adjoining room, cried out, as he rushed into the room, "Watson,
Watson, what have you done. Don't change anything." The
plucking was repeated several times and this and the continuous
current gave Bell the needed hint. According to Watson the
great secrets of nature are held by little demons who thwart every
effort to wrest them away. But on this night, becoming more
careless, or satisfied in their own power and not measuring Prof.
Bell's mind, they lifted the curtain for only a second and by the
chance plucking of the wires revealed to him what he must do
to successfully carry the human voice over an electric wire. In
a second he understood why the others had failed. Their method
was too complicated and a much simpler arrangement was possi-
ble. There was no sleep in the Court street house that night.
They immediately gave up the harmonic telegraph and started to
make a telephone.
Then followed weeks of experiments and disappointments
until one day the thing worked. The first message ever sent by
telegraph was, "What Hath God Wrought," and the first mes-
sage sent over the Bell telephone was, "Mr. Watson please come
here, I want you," and this was sent by Prof. Bell himself and
received bv Mr. Watson.
408 PASSING EVENTS ( PAPER NO. 2)
Prof. Bell then lectured to audiences of two thousand or more,
in Salem, Boston and other cities. Telephone apparatus was
connected to telegraph lines and large receivers were suspended
over the audience. Mr. Watson, ten to twenty miles away, would
sing, in a loud voice, "Hold the Fort," "Pull for the Shore,"
"Yankee Doodle," and finally, in order to bring down the house,
"Do Not Trust Him Gentle Lady," which greatly amused the
audience and he could hear the applause, miles away, over the
wire.
What must have seemed a severe shock to Boston was the
fact that Prof. Bell, although a resident of that city, under-
estimated its importance when he decided that the loud, un-
harmonious music furnished by Mr. Watson which he consid-
ered good enough for them, would not do when he lectured in
New York City where he hired a powerful negro, with a sweet
voice, to sing more classic music. Mr. Watson was stationed
at New Brunswick, N. J., and the singer went there in the after-
noon for a rehearsal. Without an audience his singing was not
a success and the large transmitters into which he sang, seemed
to worry him, but he promised to do better in the evening. As
usual the phone apparatus was connected to the wire in a tele-
graph office and the operator, thinking something unusual was
about to happen, asked several of her friends to come around
that evening.
An audience of two thousand, seated several miles away, meant
absolutely nothing to the negro singer, but the seven girls in the
telegraph office pleased him immensely and so he turned and sang
to them and not a sound reached New York. Mr. Watson was
very shy when ladies were around and, much to his confusion,
Prof. Bell phoned that he would have to sing. Just as he was
about to bolt through the door he realized that the success of the
whole thing depended on him. Turning around he bellowed all
his songs into the telephone, every word of which was heard in
the lecture hall miles away. Never before had sound carried
so well.
A specification and drawing of the original Bell telephone was
filed in the United States Patent Office on February 14, 1876,
by Prof. Bell and in the summer of that year a special set of
telephones was made, nicely finished and polished for the first
PASSING EVENTS ( PAPER NO. 2) 409
time, and exhibited at the Philadelphia Centennial where Sir
William Thompson tried them and made a report giving an ac-
count of the satisfactory tests.
The above information and a good deal more, both interesting
and amusing, may be read in an article, "The Birth and Baby-
hood of the Telephone," by Mr. Thomas A. Watson, published in
The Telephone Nezvs, December 1, 1913.
The first outdoor telephone line was run from Court street,
Boston, to Somerville, Mass., in April, 1877.
There was no large organized company at first but small in-
dependent companies were formed in various cities and towns.
The Delaware and Atlantic Company covered Montgomery, Del-
aware, Chester and Bucks counties and had a wire from Lans-
dale to City Line as the Bell Telephone Company of Philadelphia
had control of that city. The line from Doylestown to Lansdale
was built in 1880 and was owned by the Delaware & Atlantic
Company. Mr. Westbrook was the superintendent and there were
seven subscribers who had phones in their houses, four of whom
were Alfred Fackenthal, Wallace Dungan, William Vaux and
the Intelligencer Company. The first exchange was placed
temporarily in Dr. Harvey's drug store, which stood on Main
street, where the Hart building now stands. John B. Livezey
was the operator. There was some rivalry between the Paschall
Brothers who hoped to have it in the Intelligencer office and
Thomas Walton who wanted it in his drug store on South Main
street. It was finally decided in favor of Mr. Walton and the ex-
change was built in the little alcove in the rear of his store.
Mrs. Sarah Walton was the operator from 1880 to 1902 during
which time the switchboard was enlarged and improved three
times. She was the first woman to talk between Doylestown and
Philadelphia over a metallic circuit. A single wire of galvanized
iron, which was a poor conductor, was used until 1890 and while
it was possible to talk direct to Philadelphia it was not always or
often satisfactory. It generally happened that Mrs. Walton came
to the rescue and finished the message. It has been said that
the first messages were relayed to Philadelphia. A. B. Hennessy,
the present superintendent in Doylestown, denies this, but he be-
lieves Lansdale and other operators may have helped out by re-
peating certain words that did not carry well on bad days.
410 PASSING EVENTS (PAPER NO. l)
\\'hen any one went to a country store to phone, the farmers,
standing around the stove would rush out and hold their horses
which became badly frightened at the fearful noise made by the
person phoning !
With few phones at first and little work it may be true that
exchange girls sometimes listened to conversations. A man,
telling a great secret to a friend said — "Wait a minute, I think the
operator is listening." The phone girl's prompt and indignant
answer was — "Its a lie, I ain't."
The galvanized iron v.-ires were replaced with copper wires by
a gradual process, from 1890 to 1900, after which time wire
thieves would cut and remove miles of copper wire in a single
night, sell it to junk dealers and then rest for months in Doyles-
town jail. Grant Christian, who furnished some of the above
information, had charge of the Bucks-Montgomery county lines
at that time.
Owing to the rapid growth of the company the exchange was
moved from Mrs. Walton's to rooms over Fretz's livery office on
State street in 1902 and Miss Mary Walton was operator with
Miss Reba W'alton as assistant.
In 1905 the Delaware & Atlantic Company took over the local
Standard Telephone Company and in 1907 the exchanges were
moved to the present building on Main street where they are at
present (1921).
In the beginning of the year 1908 the old Delaware & Atlantic
Company was absorbed by the Bell Telephone Company of
Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Telephone Company controlled
the middle district of Pennsylvania and the western part of the
state was known as The Central District Printing & Telegraph
Company. These were both taken over by the Bell Company the
same year. The old wall-boxes, with cranks that had to be
turned, to ring up central, were replaced with desk phones, and
canvasers made us take one whether we would or not. The
lines were so improved that conversation today is, in most cases
very clear and pleasant although there are some who seem to be
talking from the bottom of a well. Some who, when met face
to face, seem pleasant and agreeable, assume an afifected or
gloomy, despondent tone on the phone that suggests terrible
disasters, funerals, and ambulance excursions. Others turn.
PASSING EVENTS (PAPER NO. 2) 411
their back to the phone and walk away as far as the cord allows.
One of the latter type phoned a business house an order which,
although repeated three times, was not understood. At last the
customer becoming angry said, "Oh Hell," in a clear tone, and
was then informed if he would finish the message in the same
tone and position, the message would be understood, which he
did without any more trouble.
According to the kind information of Miss Margaret Hig-
gins of Doylestown, the local Standard Telephone Company men-
tioned above started in Doylestown in 1900. The man in charge
operated the board and taught Miss Higgins who became first
operator in 1901. There were 40 phones that year and in 1903
Miss Edith Atler was made assistant operator. William Hilde-
brand was the first "trouble man" and Elmer Garis the first night
operator. The exchange was always in Magills stone-house at
the corner of Garden alley and Broad street. When the com-
pany was sold by the sheriff in 1905 it was bought by the Dela-
ware & Atlantic Telephone & Telegraph Company and the ex-
change, which then had 140 phones, was moved to the Fretz
building. Miss Higgins was operator from the time it was built
until it was sold and was and still is the most obliging operator
Doylestown has ever known.
For the above information the writer is indebted to Mrs.
Sarah A. Walton, Mr. Frederic W. Walton, Miss Margaret M.
Higgins and especially to Mr. A. B. Hennessy, manager of the
Bell Company at Doylestown.
Bicycles. The velocipede, with two heavy wooden wheels and
iron tires, in use about 1869 on the fine asphalt streets of Boston
and Paris, was not adapted to the cobbled streets of Philadelphia,
or the rough country roads and was little used in Bucks county.
Dr. Mercer had a toy affair, in Doylestown, in 1869, and later
used a larger one in Paris in 1870. The pedals were connected
with the axle of the front wheel and one revolution of the pedal
meant one revolution of the wheel. The high wheeled bicycle
was in use at the same time. It had solid rubber tires, wire
spokes, and the pedals were connected with the axle of the front
wheel, but continual jolting over the rough country roads and
the danger of tilting forward and being thrown going down hill
412 PASSING EVENTS (PAPER NO. 2)
prevented its being used to any great extent in Bucks county.
Robert L. Cope, a lawyer of Doylestown, had one about 1867, the
Lewis brothers of Bridge Valley, occasionally rode through Cen-
treville in 1884 and Dr. Howard Randall of Mechanicsville, owned
one for several years.
It has always been a difficult matter to tell just what happens
when you walk on a sleeping dog in the dark and when a young
man on a high bicycle, tried to run over a sleeping dog, in front
of Righters Hotel at Centreville, one hot August day, the men
"resting" at the hotel could agree on only one thing, which was,
that all the sticking plaster in a nearby store was quickly used
vip — but not on the dog.
In August, 1891, a lot of boys were swimming in Stover's mill-
dam below Mechanics Valley. Christopher Holcomb, Postal
Telegraph operator at Doylestown, rode down to the dam on a
new bicycle. No one there had ever seen one like it. The low
wheels had wooden spokes, heavy wooden rims and solid rubber
tires. The pedals, attached to the frame half way between the
two wheels, and not to hub of the front wheel, as heretofore,
had a large sprocket wheel with a chain running to the sprocket
hub of the rear wheel, thus giving a chain drive. One revolution
of the pedals meant three revolutions of the wheel, or greater
speed with less effort. Mr. Holcomb's wheel was probably the
first of its kind in Doylestown. In 1892 a good many were in
use, and ladies wheels began to appear in 1893. Mrs. George
Brown owned the first one in Buckingham. In that year the
spokes were made of wire and the solid rubber tires were re-
placed with inflated ones, first on steel rims and later, very light,
bent wooden rims were made to hold the wide tires. The frames
were lighter and mud-guards and brakes were added. The Co-
lumbia bicycle, costing one hundred dollars, was the best on the
market, and Dr. Mercer uses one today (1921), that he bought in
1895. The following year, 1896, bicycle craze started, and while
there may have been several crazes before and a good many since,
none of them gripped the people like that of the bicycle. Nearly
every man, young or old, every boy, and most women, bought a
wheel. The country roads were lined with them ; bells tinkled,
lights flashed, merchants put up racks along the curb in front of
their shops to hold their customers wheels, repair shops sprang
PASSING EVENTS (PAPER NO. 2) 413
up in every town or village and along country roads. The
League of American Wheelmen was formed, with thousands of
members in every state and in Canada and a weekly journal was
published. Societies were formed in cities and villages, each hav-
ing their own colors or streamers fastened to the handle-bars,
"century" runs were made on Sundays and holidays, and tracks
were built for prize races. Men wore tight fitting knee breeches,
double boarded caps and rode without coats, but by 1897 the
handsomer knickerbochers, woolen stockings with gay colored
tops, Norfolk coats and decent looking caps were in use and were
not given up for some years after the bicycle craze died out.
Women wore very full skirts, sometimes divided ones, with
shot or lead sewed in the hem to keep them down though they
never blew as short as they are worn today.
Toll was collected at the turnpike gates and the \vheelman was
a constant worry to the gate-keeper because he made no noise
and often rushed through without paying toll. Very few tan-
dems were made at any time. The craze continued for several
years or until about 1902 when it died suddenly. A few bi-
cycles could then be seen but these were used by workmen going
to or from work, or by boys just old enough to ride for the first
time. The doctors declared every American would die of a weak
heart or tuberculosus through leaning low over the handle bars,
but neither this, nor the motorcycle, nor the automobile, but the
paralysis and sudden death of a fad killed the bicycle, although
city streets and country roads are better today than they ever
were before.
There are more bicycles in use today (1921) than there were
ten years ago. They are very much used in Holland today.
( Information of Dr. Henry C. Mercer and personal observa-
tion.)
Creameries. Before 1878 every farm had a springhouse, a
cave or a cool milk cellar for keeping milk and cream until the
latter was made up into butter, which was then sold in Pliila-
delphia or small towns, by marketmen. After the railroad was
built into Doylestown and Bethlehem in 1856, some farmers
sent their milk to Philadelphia dealers, who. after a time, became
dishonest and delayed payments so long in order to cheat the
414 PASSING EVENTS (PAPER NO. 2)
farmer, that there was a good deal of dissatisfaction and many
farmers returned to butter making. But this aiTected only a few
farms close to the railroad and so butter making continued on
almost every farm until 1878. In the summer of that year a
man from New York explained to farmers in Pineville how
cream could be separated from new milk and made into butter
the same day. A dairymens' association was immediately formed,
stock was sold and the first creamery in Bucks county built the
same year. Each farmer guaranteed to furnish a certain num-
ber of quarts of milk every day and in order to do this they
bought many more cows, thus doubling the number of quarts
guaranteed. Nearly all the farmers nearby hauled their milk to,
the creamery and it was a success from the start. The milk, after
being weighed in a can or tank, was allowed to run into a large
vat which had several pipes running through it so that ice water
passing through these pipes cooled the milk quickly and caused
the cream to rise to the top in a short time which was immediately
made up into sweet butter. Farmers had been making butter
from sour cream once a week and it was sometimes sour or
strong and little bone paddles, like salt spoons, were kept by
some market men so customers could sample or taste a pat of
butter before buying. One of these, used by Rebecca Swain,
was owned by the writer several years ago. The fresh, sweet
creamery butter was considered much better and finally crowded
out the home-made butter. The time was ripe for the change
and dairymens' associations were formed all over the county
and committees were appointed to visit Pineville creamery and
learn how the work was done. A creamery was built in Dublin
the same year (1878). One in Quakertown in 1879, Cold Spring
near Mechanicsville, in July, 1880, Pine Run a month later, fol-
lowed by Walnut Lawn at Bean Postoffice, and another at Church
Hill the same year and New Britain in 1881, so that by 1883
there were at least sixteen creameries in the county. That the
movement was popular there can be no doubt. Farmers who
had six or eight cows before could now keep eighteen or twenty.
In Battles History of Bucks County, published in 1887, every
manager of a creamery is mentioned along with doctors, lawyers
and ministers. Butter was made and shipped to New York and
Philadelphia markets and commission men hauled it to Phila-
PASSING EVENTS (PAPER NO. 2) 415
delphia and sold it from door to door, and the bone tester was no
longer used. According to Noah L. Clark of Doylestown, who
furnished the above information, cheese was also made at all the
creameries and as it took three months to make and properly
cure or dry a cheese ready for market and, as some creameries
like "\\'alnut Lawn" at Bean, made fifty to sixty a week, large
high buildings were necessary, the older ones being three stories
high with cheese-rooms on the second and third floors. The first
cheeses were made entirely of cream but proved too rich and
would not hold together but crumbled and fell. Milk with some
cream in it was then used and made a good cheese. This was
continued for several years and finally given up about 1885 al-
though Mr. Clark made a few at "Cold Spring" creamery
for nearby farmers until 1890. At the present time none are
made at any of the creameries. The round wooden cheese-boxes
were made at factories in Perkasie and Quakertown.
In 1884 revolving cream separators were put in at Pineville
creamery and used there one year before the other creameries
tried them. Farmers were paid for quantity as there was no way
of testing the quality of the milk. A good deal of it was badly
watered and some days a large vat of milk would produce but
little cream. The superintendent knew the cause but could not
correct it because he did not know who brought w^atered milk.
In 1889 Mr. Clarke bought a Babcock tester shown at a conven-
tion in the courthouse, Doylestown, and proceeded to test all the
milk. Notice was very kindly given in advance that all the milk
would be tested and the immediate result was that the quantity
brought by certain farmers was very much reduced while the
amount of butter produced was greatly increased as they were
afraid to water their milk or skim the cream for home use. This
tester was the first used and after its introduction, farmers were
paid for butter fat and not for volume of milk. 1886 the large
twenty-six inch separators were replaced by little ones that made
six thousand revolutions per minute, removing every particle of
cream so that cheese made from milk was hard and tough and
could no longer be sold.
Each creamery had a cistern into which the whey from the
cheese vats flowed. When cheese was no longer made the milk
was either worked up into cottage cheese, packed in barrels and
416 PASSING EVENTS (PAPER NO. 2)
sent to city markets or ran into the cistern where farmers pumped
it into their empty milk cans, hauled it home, and used it for
feeding pigs.
After the creameries started there was a shortage of milk in
Philadelphia and the dishonest dealers were either driven out
of business or compelled to make monthly payments. Dr. Mercer
tells a story of his father, William R. Mercer, going to Phila-
delphia to get a lawyer to collect a long over-due milk bill. The
lawyer went to see the dealer and in a short time returned and
explained to Mr. Mercer, who had waited in the office, how the
dealer had tried to kick him down the stairs whereupon Mr.
Mercer said, "Drop the suit," which the lawyer did.
Later, better prices were offered and payments were made
promptly so that farmers again shipped their milk to towni and
in a few years some creameries had a hard struggle and were
finally obliged to close. Hulmeville creamery was sold by the
sheriff April 10, 1886. while Quakertown creamery, built in
1879 at a cost of $7000.00, was sold in March, 1886, for $2700.00
to Charles Hixon, and Lewis R. Praul, failing to sell his cream-
ery building at Richboro, had it torn down in April, 1886, using
the lumber for building two dwelling houses.
On account of the rapid growth of Philadelphia and surround-
ing towns there was a greater demand for milk about 1900. The
price advanced so that it was much more profitable to ship to
town than to sell to the creameries, and only those farthest re-
moved from train or trolley, as at Dublin, Wormansville, Deep
Run, etc., continued to run to the present time (1921).
Some creameries made icecream, as at New Britain and Buck-
ingham in 1887 but this was done only in summer and not tmtil
about 1900 was it possible to buy it throughout the year. This
was made in open cans by stirring it with a stick or paddle until
it hardened or froze. No freezers, with revolving cans or dash-
ers, closed at the top were in use at that time. In August, 1886,
large cans of cream were brought to Solebury Deer-Park where
Buckingham Friends school had a picnic. Men stirred the cream
in open cans for two hours but it would not freeze and was
served in cups to the impatient children of whom the writer was
one, who got icecream about once a year at a Sunday school picnic.
About the last of May each year almost every baker opened
PASSING EVENTS (PAPER NO. 2) 417
his parlor and sold icecream by the plate until cold weather came
on and not until about 1905 was it sold in drug stores, restau-
rants, etc. Mr. Asher Lear built several small creameries near
Doylestown after 1900 but these were not for butter making but
for supplying cream to icecream makers.
The patented "Little Gem" icecream freezer for two, three or
six quarts came into use in 1893. It had a central paddle or
dasher in a closed revolving can and farmers could make their
icecream at home. The first icecream cones seen by the writer
were made by a Japanese at the St. Louis Fair, in 1904, and at
Atlantic City two years later.
When the farmer stopped making butter at home about 1880
the springhouses fell to ruin and some have entirely disappeared.
The same fate awaits or has already overtaken some of the
creameries.
Waterbacks. The early cook stoves were without waterbacks
or boxes for heating water and although a house might have a
tank, waterpipes and bath-room, hot water must be carried from
the kitchen. In 1870 William Blackfan, living on the Blackfan
farm in Solebury township, had a large copper tank or boiler
made which was placed upon the back lids of the cook stove in
the kitchen. A pipe from the house tank supplied cold water
while another pipe carried hot water to the spigots. Nothing but
a very hot fire, which was not always necessary for cooking,
would heat the water and the thing was not a success. After
sitting back of the stove for an hour one cold morning Mr.
Blackfan told his son, Edward, he believed he had worked out
a plan so that hot water could be had at all times. He immedi-
ately drove down to New Hope and had a one inch pipe bent in
the shape of the letter U with the two ends bent at right angles
to the U and parallel with one another. The U was placed in
the firebox, against the back bricks, so the hot coals lay against
it and the two ends ran back over the oven and out through holes
made in the back of the stove. One end of the new pipe entered
the copper boiler while the other connected with the pipe from
the house tank so that cold water from the latter, running into
the U was heated and stored in the copper boiler and the water
was always hot.
418 OLD HOUSEHOLD INDUSTRIES
The stove was a William Spear cook-stove and the experi-
ment was made in the winter of 1871 or about that time. Mr.
Blackfan was so pleased with the success of this, the first water-
back, that he told Mr. Spear about it and asked him to come
and inspect it which he did a few weeks later and a short time
after that Mr. Spear turned out a new cook-stove with a square,
iron, hot water back, though Mr. Blackfan got no credit or re-
muneration.
Information of Mr. Edward H. Blackfan, New Hope, Pa.,
October, 1921.
Old Household Industries.
BY MRS. FLORENCE KIRK BLACKFAN, NEW HOPE, PA.
(Friends Meeting House, Newtown, June 3, 1922.)
TO many people ancient processes sound so tiresome that
they seem prosy, but if one has a spark of sentimentality
which endears them to those who have gone before, it be-
comes a constant pleasure to recall the ways and means our
ancestors used in their daily routines. If some of us had kept a
pencil and paper near when our grandmothers were working,
or later, when their active work was done, and as they sat and
told of the things they did and the way they did them, there would
be scarcely one of us but who might have made an historical
paper most interesting and valuable.
Every-so-often we get a severe shock when the arts and crafts
workers hand out something modern by the dozen to sell, for in-
stance modern coverlids in antique designs, when we may have
one that has been cherished for generations. The shock came
to the writer a few weeks ago, when the proprietress of a gift
shop displayed a very beautiful blue and white modern-made
coverlid almost identical to one my mother had presented to her
thirty years ago. The latter coverlid was made for an older
sister of the late Moses Eastburn of Solebury township in 1810.
The thread was spun by the young woman who was soon to be-
come a bride, and probably was not the only spread she had. be-
OLD HOUSEHOLD INDUSTRIES 419
cause this particular one had never been used when it was given
to my mother. The modern one resembled it closely, but upon
examination the blue wasn't the same blue, and the white wasn't
the pure unadulterated white that had been bleached on Sole-
bury's meadows, and the texture of the weaving was less firm
and doubless less durable than the weaving on that one of one
hundred and twelve years old. Although it had never been used
or ripped in two parts to make curtains, I think I can see a tall
graceful form produce it when callers came to look over the
brides "out set".
Maybe these callers were not "callers" at all, but visitors who
drove up to the front door soon after one o'clock standard time
to spend the afternoon and stay to supper. Maybe all the bread
had been eaten at dinner time at the hostess' house. The store
was three and a half miles away and of course they couldn't have
bought bread at the store. But what of that ! A crock of foam-
ing home-made yeast was down cellar always. There was plenty
of milk there too. So what a slight bit of work it was to mix up
a large crock of buckwheat cakes, said buckwheat raised at home.
By supper time, about five o'clock (not eight or eight-thirty),
everybody sat down to a most delectable repast.
With the buckwheats some would prefer honey and butter,
some the good old-fashioned New Orleans molasses, which
where there was a large family was bought by the barrel. The
meat for the meal was not lobster cutlet or some other modern
delicacy, but it might have been venison frizzled with cream, or
home-dried beef with cream, gravy or frizzled liver. The writer
knows only a few housekeepers who continue to cure beef liver
to be used in much the same way as dried beef. This is the way
it was done. The liver from a heavy beef freshly killed was cut
into two or three pieces, placed in a vessel and covered with a
brine made of water in which had been dissolved enough com-
mon salt to float an egg. A pinch of saltpetre was added. The
liver was allowed to remain in the brine for about two weeks.
It was then taken out and each piece hung by a string to the
kitchen ceiling, until it dried so there was no danger of its mold-
ing. This process was accomplished during the winter months.
When it had dried it was wrapped securely in newspaper and
hung in the cellarwav or closet where there was little heat and
420 OLD HOUSEHOLD INDUSTl^IES
yet no danger of freezing. It was soon ready to be very thinly
sliced, frizzled in butter with cream added, and was a most
delicious and tasty dish. The frizzled liver was for generations
a favorite Firstday morning dish and was looked forward to as
a delicacy, probably because of its unusual flavor and also be-
cause there was never such an abundance of it that the family
grew tired of it.
Another tasty addition to our grandmother's meal was "Dutch
cheese". The writer knows of no reason why it was called
"Dutch cheese". To some rich cottage cheese grandmother would
add enough finely cut sage leaves, or rubbed dry ones, to give the
mass a pleasant flavor, then she made it into balls about the size
of an ordinary orange. She put this away on the cellar shelf
until it ripened or aged, which required about a week. By this
time a skin would form on the outside and when this was cut ofif
there was left a so-called Dutch cheese which was most palatable.
Very often this was served with the dessert, especially if the
dessert were a juicy rhubard, cherry or peach pie.
A dessert which was considered very fine in grandmother's
day was "bread-dumplings". This process was told me by Mrs.
Isaac Van Pelt of New Hope, whose mother (the wife of the
late John A. Beaumont of Upper Makefield township), was a
noted cook. The bread-dumplings were made in their family
more than a hundred years ago, and were very generally used by
that generation. That was before the day when boiled dough
was considered indigestible, and people thrived upon it. Prob-
ably the reason it is indigestible to some is because cooks of the
present day take too short a time to cook it. Bread dough ready
for moulding into loaves was rolled with a rolling pin, and cut
into shape with a cake cutter at the time the bread loaves were
moulded. The pieces were put on a greased dish and set away
until about an hour and a half before dinner time. Then they
were dropped into a large boiler of boiling water, slightly salted,
in which they would float and boil for at least an hour and a
half. The finished product was a dumpling, tender and most
delicious.
These were usually eaten with the sugar remaining in the
bottom of a New Orleans molasses barrel, which served as a
sauce. Some people preferred to eat them with the sauce they
OLD HOUSEHOLD INDUSTRIES 421
used on apple or peach dumplings i. e. one-half New Orleans
molasses and one-half thick sour cream blended. Very good in-
deed you will say, if you try it, even in this day. The brass
and copper kettles in which a great deal of food was cooked
long ago meant a lot of labor to keep them in good condition.
Both before and after using they usually needed cleaning. A
favorite process was to pour a quantity of vinegar into the
vessel, run to the edge of the creek if such a thing were near,
and use a piece of the moist sod found there and the sod and
vinegar combined, served as an excellent scouring soap. The
damage it did to hands and fingers were never mentioned, may-
be, never thought of. My mother's kitchen had, had yours?,
about as neat a floor covering on it as you would want, and such
as were generally used after the spotless bare floors were sup-
planted by oilcloth covered ones. Strips of rag carpet were
sewn to fit the floor, which was then stretched upon the barn
floor, usually after all the spring threshing was done, and before
the barn was needed to store hay in. The carpet was first given
a coat of cooked clear starch which was applied with a paint
brush and allowed to dry. Then it was given three of four coats
of paint. The most favored color seemed to be that with a good
deal of yellow ochre. When sufftcient paint was put on, various
decorations were put on the plain surface. My mother used two
squares of heavy cardboard, each about one foot square in both
of which had been cut out a figure the shape of a maple leaf.
With the cardboard squares placed upon the painted surface she
would paint alternate leaves of black and green. The result,
you can easily imagine. It was neat, pretty, and durable, and in
addition the old rag carpet was put to a use to last almost in-
definitely because the painting operation was replaced about
once every two years. The work of keeping it clean would dis-
may most of present-day housekeepers. It was a part of each
morning's work to wash it with clear water and once a week to
add some borax to the water — never soap. If the men came in
at noon with unusually dirty boots the operation of cleaning was
repeated in the afternoon.
Was it not making use of everything at hand that was the
keynote of thrift one hundred years ago instead of going out to
buy every single thing one needed? In the thrifty families of
422 OLD HOUSEHOLD INDUSTRIES
that day the worn bandana handkerchiefs of silk were torn into
narrow strips and plaited, to be used later as drawing strings
for bags used for various things. The writer still has some of
the plaited string.
Our grandmothers made a delicious confection, called "peach
leather". When the soft peaches were not all needed for pies
or sauce, they were sliced, and mashed into a thin layer on a
plate and put out in the sun to partially drv*. AMien the juice
had thickened and made the fruit so that it would keep it's
shape, and could be lifted off the plate it was put into a stone
crock on top of a layer of crushed sugar, and more sugar put
over it. In a day or two perhaps another layer or two would
be added, each time putting a generous layer of sugar between
each layer of peaches. This tasted pretty good, when in the
winter a layer would be brought out and passed around to be
eaten. The layer of fruit was made quite thin, and before
passing it was pulled into pieces. Of course, it was something
like the conserved fruit of today, only to my recollection it was
much better. Whether it would taste the same if we would take
the time and pains to make some like it now, I cannot say. The
richly flavored cherries of that day which now are almost ex-
tinct, were treated in somewhat the same way. except they were
not mashed. They were left whole as possible after pitting, and
when dried, sprinkled liberally with crushed sugar. They were
put away to be eaten in winter when fresh fruit was less bounti-
ful and less easily obtained than now.
A close second to the lavender or rose leaves which were
cured and put away among the table and bed linens in the chests-
of-drawers. was the dried white sweet clover blossoms. Since
there are less cows pastured by the roadsides this variety grows
in great abundance, and by cutting the long slender blooms and
drying them on the garret floor spread on papers, one may revive,
in ones own home, the delightful, delicate perfume which per-
meated every nook and corner in our grandmothers houses.
There were one hundred years ago, as now, many things done
that seem too trivial to tell, and yet they will surely be forgotten
unless some one writes about them for their preservation.
The Wire Fabric Industry in America.
BY LOUIS C. BEERS, TRENTON, N. J.
(Friends Meeting House, Newtown, June 3, 1922.)
IN this paper no attempt has been made to give a connected
history of the wire fabric industry but simply to record some
facts about the industry prior to the eighth decade of the last
century. Since that time there has been a remarkable develop-
ment in the methods of manufacture, variety and volume of
products but it is not practicable at the present time to detail
these changes. Wire fabrics include "wire cloth" which is a
term applied to a fabric of wire made with square or rectangular
meshes. Embraced in this group are insect-screen cloth, Four-
drinier cloth used in paper making, and fabrics used in separ-
ating, straining, sifting, screening, grading, reinforcing and other
purposes. A large quantity is sold under the trade name of
wire lath and is used as a foundation for plaster in place of the
common wood lath. Cloth ranges from one inch to two hundred
and fifty meshes per inch. Steel and iron, copper and its alloys
are commonly used, but the wire-cloth is made of other metals.
"Wire screening" refers to similar material made of heavy
wire, usually with large holes and is used for grading coarse
products such as coal, gravel and sand. "Wire work" is that ma-
terial made with square or diamond openings used for window
guards, railings, partitions and baskets and "wire netting" is.
that fabric made with hexagon meshes usually galvanized, such
as is- used for enclosures for birds and small animals, and also
for light fences.
To Pennsylvania belongs the distinction of the establishment
of the industry and John Sellers was undoubtedly the pioneer.
His descendants and relatives conducted a wire and wire products
factory for over a century. A statement of Horace Wells Sellers
of Philadelphia, a descendant of Nathan Sellers, regarding the ac-
tivities of various members of his family is given below :
"John Sellers (1728-1804) of Darby township, near Philadelphia, ap-
pears to have been the pioneer in this field so far as the art in
America is concerned.
424 THE WIRE FABRIC INDUSTRY IX AMERICA
In the Pennsylvania Gazette, Philadelphia, Sept. 3. 1767, No. 2019,
and subsequent issues in 1768 and 1769, you will find his business
card. In referring to the 'wire work of all sorts' and the rolling
screens, wire bolts, etc., manufactured, he states that 'he is the original
inventor and institutor of that branch of the business in America' and
in his later advertisements (Pennsylvania Gazette. July 27. 1769), he
refers to 'various kinds of wire work, such as twilled or plain', 'short
cloth for millers', screens, etc.
John Sellers, inherited from his father, Samuel Sellers. Jr.. (1690-
1773), the business of weaving woolens, etc., brought from England in
1682, by his father Samuel Sellers, Sr., (1655-1732). It appears that
even in his father's lifetime John Sellers turned his attention to work-
ing and weaving wire, and eventually abandoned the making of worsted
goods.
He was widely known as a surveyor and on his large estate de-
veloped a number of industries, flour and saw mills, tannery and grist-
mills besides the tilt mill for working metal, drawing wire, etc. He
was one of the original members of the American Philosophical So-
ciety and for many years was active in public life as a member of the
Provincial Assembly and after the Revolution, was a member of the
State Senate. His eldest son, Nathan Sellers (1751-1830), was trained
for law and conveyancing, but turned his attention to his father's in-
dustries and especially to wire working in which he was assisted by
his younger brother, Samuel Sellers (1753-1776).
Nathan Sellers seems to have given his personal attention to the
working of wire for making paper moulds, and while he was in active
service as ensign during the Revolutionary War, he w^as recalled from
military duty by resolution of congress, Aug. 26, 1776. 'to make and
prepare suitable molds, washers and utensils for carrying on the paper
manufactory.
An announcement of Nathan Sellers' improvements in working wire
will be found in a paper I contributed to James Wilcox's account of the
Ivy paper mill (See M.S. Collection, Pennsylvania Historical Society.)
In this will also be found some account of the firm of Nathan and
David Sellers who established the wire works at Sixth and Market
streets after the Revolution.
Nathan Sellers' business card will be found in the Pennsylvania Ga-
zette, August 4, 1779. and after taking his younger brother into partner-
ship, their joint advertisement appears in the Gazette, Feb. 9, 1780, and
later issues.
'In the Postscript to the Maryland Journal, No. 668, November 2,
1784, there is an advertisement of their 'Manufactory of Wire Work,
in which they refer to the screens, sieves and other appliances in-
cluding screens for windows, etc., and in this they state that they
gained their experience under their father (John Sellers, the first in-
ventor of this Branch of the Business in America).
Nathan Sellers' interest in the business eventually passed to his son
THE WIRE FABRIC INDUSTRY IX AMERICA 425
Soleman Sellers (1781-1834), who developed a high degree of inventive
ability and business enterprise, and on the dissolution of the firm of
N. & D. Sellers the most important manufacturing end of the business,
including the machine card, paper making machinery and general ma-
chinery departments passed to the firm of Soleman Sellers & Sons.
The sons of David Sellers (1757-1813), retained the wire store and
general wire weaving business that was continued until recent years
by that branch of the family. The business last known as Seller
Bros, was discontinued in 1876.
I have much relating to the early work of Nathan Sellers, some of
his account books dating from 1776 with correspondence books relating
to the business. Although his father, John Sellers, is credited with
having established the wire working industry in America, it was his
son Nathan who developed it, through his ingenuity and business en-
terprise. He was the first to devise the process of annealing wire in
closed vessels and made improvements in the methods of straightening
and drawing wire required in making wire faces for paper moulds;
these processes being adopted afterwards by manufacturers in England.
When wool or vellum faced paper moulds came into use, N. & D.
Sellers at first imported the wove wire- Noting the tendency of this
woven wire to buckle, due to unequal tension in the wires of the
warp, Nathan Sellers devised a long loom in which every wire in the
warp could be kept at equal tension. He also abandoned the imported
sleighs Avhich were found defective and after a series of experiments
improved the process and incidentally perfected a guage of his own
invention by which he obtained greater uniformity in size of the wires.
Nathan Sellers was the only maker of paper molds in the country, and
by constant improvement in processes as well as in diversity of pro-
ducts the manufactory he established and which was further extended
by his son, Coleman Sellers, held a leading place among the industries
of the country during the eighteenth and early decades of the nine-
teenth century. It was the improved equipment of the machine works
of Coleman Sellers & Sons that induced the commissioners of the Co-
lumbia Railroad to place a contract wnth this firm for several of the
first locomotives built in the early thirties, and it was on the sugges-
tion of the Sellers firm that some of the improvements were made in
the design of the American locomotive that have survived in the mod-
ern construction. The business was continued until a few years after
the death of Soleman Sellers when it was finally closed out about the
year 1842.
Many particulars relating to the work of Nathan Sellers and his suc-
cessors will be found in a series of articles entitled "Early Engineering
Reminiscences", by George Escol Sellers, in the American Machinist,
1888-1890. The author was associated with N. &. D. Sellers and a
junior member of the firm of Coleman Sellers & Sons."
Probably the second oldest factory for making wire products
was located in Baltimore and was started by one Balderston.
426 THE WIRE FABRIC INDUSTRY IN AMERICA
The late Thomas Balderston stated that the name of the founder
of the business was Hugh, who started the business in 1793, but
the first Baltimore Directory (1796) gives the name of Isaiah
Balderston as "Wire manufacturer and fan maker. Old Town,
31 Front Street". Isaiah is listed in succeeding issues until
1804 when both I. Balderston and Sons and Hugh Balderston
are given. The business was continued by a* member of the
family until 1912 when the last descendant, Thomas Balderston.
disposed of it. Mr. Balderston died July 27, 1919.
In Boston, wire products were made as early as 1810 by
Samuel Adams, whose name appears in the directory of that year
as a wire worker, also Isaac ^^^illiams is listed in the directory of
1816 as a wire worker. This business has changed ownership
several times and is now conducted under the name of IMorss
& Whyte Co., at Cambridge, Alass. Probably there were con-
temporary wire-weavers in New York but I have not been able
to get any information about the industry in that city.
The beginning of the manufacture of Fourdrinier cloth used
in the manufacture of paper was described in the Paper Trade
Journal of October 16, 1897, by Cornelius Van Houten, Treasurer
of the DeWitt Wire Cloth Company as follows :
"In the spring of 1847, William Staniar came from England and
brought to America a model for weaving Fourdrinier wires, he being
then connected with William Stephens & Son, Belleville, New Jersey,
in which firm he had an interest. From that model I made the first
American loom for weaving Fourdrinier wire, and in September, 1847,
Mr. Staniar and myself wove the first American-made wire, he being
the 'right hand' and I the 'left hand' man on the loom. That first
wire was sixty-two inches b}^ twent3^-four feet ten inches, and was
used in the mill of J. & R. Kingsland, at North Belleville (now Frank-
lin), N. J."
Pennsylvania is also the cradle of another wire product due
to the invention of Thomas Jenkins of Pottsville, Pa., who was
granted a patent on a process for making metal fabric. A copy
of the claim of the patent granted March 6, 1847, reads as follows :
"The manufacturing of screens or sieves from wire of the larger
sizes, either rolled or drawn, the wire from Avhich they are made be-
ing prepared by crinkling, as herein set forth, previously to its being
formed into meshes, by which procedure I am enabled to manufacture
screens with meshes of the larger sizes — say four inches on the side,
more or less — and in such manner as thev shall be more durable and
THE WIRE FABRIC INDUSTRY IN AMERICA 427
less costly than those made in other ways, and this new manufacture
of sieves I claim independently of the particular manner of effecting the
crinkling or of interweaving the wire so as to form the requisite meshes."
Under this patent the wires or rods were crimped in advance
of weaving. First this was done by flat plates with ridges which
pressed indentations in the wires or rods corresponding with the
desired spacing. Later the work was done by wheels with teeth
which crimped the wires for the required mesh.
At first the invention was applied to the production of heavy
screening and the wires were woven by hand. Later the same
idea was employed for making wire work with either diamond
or square meshes. In some cases the wires running in both di-
rections were crimped and for other work the wires in one direc-
tion were not crimped in advance of weaving. At a later
date, wire cloth was made on looms under the patent. The
straight long wires (warp) were wound on a beam and the filling
wires driven up by a lathe to the required spacing, giving at the
same time the crimp to the warp wires.
A relative of the inventor told me some years ago that Mr.
Jenkins was the owner of an iron works and among his customers
were the anthracite coal miners who obtained screens from him
for grading coal. These, at first were made by placing rods at
right angles to form suitable openings and then tying them to-
gether at the intersections by small wires. These screens did
not prove satisfactory as the small wires wore out and the rods
would move and form irregular openings. From this Mr.
Jenkins saw the demand for a durable fabric and hence the in-
vention of the crimped screening which has developed into one
of the greatest importance. Most of the wire work made at the
present time, and all crimped wire cloth is the result of this
invention.
A power loom was constructed about 1860 in Clinton, Mass.,
through the enterprise of E. B. Bigelow, who was engaged in
the manufacture of carpets. He adapted a loom for weaving
carpets to weaving wire. Owing to the limited demand for wire
cloth, it was required only in short lengths and it was found that
the initial cost of warping a hand loom was less, hence the power
loom did not come into general use till later.
Prior to 1870 there was comparatively little change in the
428 THE WIRE FABRIC INDUSTRY IN AMERICA
manufacture of wire cloth. Practically all of it was made on
hand looms similar in construction to looms used for weaving
fabrics of cotton, wool and other materials. There were small
manufactories located in a number of cities and towns, many of
which have gone out of existence since the establishment of
works which weave cloth on a large scale with automatic ma-
chinery at a much lower cost. The uses for wire cloth were very
limited, embracing sieves for grain cleaning, flour sieves for
household use, screens and riddles for sifting sand and gravel,
and cloth for use in flour mills.
Wire netting was first manufactured in 1865 in the United
States on power machinery by Gilbert, Bennett & Company.
Georgetown, Conn., although Joshua Horrock probably made
netting in a very limited way on a hand loom sometime prior.
The business did not develop to any great extent for a long time
owing to competition of the product made in England, however,
in 1883 a protective tarifif became effective and since then the
industry has developed to large proportions.
In the preceding lines a record is given of the genesis of the
wire fabrics industry in the United States and the name of the
men who are entitled to credit for its inception. From the
small beginnings has been developed an annual product amount-
ing to several millions of dollars which is made in many estab-
lishments located in several states from coast to coast. A wire
fabric is used in the construction of many articles, also in the
manufacture of almost everything. A wire fabric of some kind
is also required at some point from the initial process to the
finished article, besides large quantities of material are made and
sold as merchandise to consumers who find use for the same for
innumerable purposes ; therefore the industry is of great im-
portance to modern civilization.
Old Fences in Bucks County.
BY HENRY W. GROSS, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Friends Meeting House, Newtown, June 3, 1922.)
THE subject assigned should not necessarily include "Old
Fences in Bucks County", but fences in general wherever
used. Undoubtedly fences of some type were needed and
constructed centuries ago, the particular design depending upon
location, requirement and material at hand.
Some one says : Fences in agriculture have a two-fold purpose,
"keeping in and keeping out". Originally they were constructed
of wood or stone, depending upon which material was avail-
able, convenient or desirable.
"Stump-fences" were and are to be found in new settlements
where land is cheap, and stumps are plenty after the removal of
standing timber.
What is known as the "Swedes-fence" is adapted to steep hills
and was probably introduced into this country by pioneers from
Sweden. It never came to be a popular fence in this country
though almost any kind of waste wood can be utilized in its
construction.
In the vicinity of Penobscot county, Maine, a cedar sapling or
log fence is quite popular. Cedar thickets are very common there,
and the trees, when about one foot in diameter, are cut down
and sawed into lengths of fifteen feet or more, trimmed and they
are ready for the fence. Two stakes about one foot apart are
driven or planted into the ground. At about the length of the
panel two more stakes are located, etc., then the saplings of two
adjoining panels alternate between two stakes and when the de-
sired height is reached the stakes are permanently yoked at the
top and the enclosure is complete.
The zig-zag worm, stake and rider-fence was popular and had
its place and use here in Bucks county while timber was plenty,
labor and land cheap, but it has been relegated and become his-
torical because land is too valuable to be occupied by fencing that
necessitates occupying good farming land six to eight feet in
width wherever erected, for the entire length of the structure
430 OLD FENCES IX BUCKS COUNTY
whether one mile or many miles. It was rails for that kind of
fences that Abraham Lincoln and John Hanks split in 1830 in
the Sangamon bottom, two of which played such an important
part in the Illinois state convention. May 9 and 10, 1860, giving
"Honest Old Abe", the sobriquet of "Rail Splitter".
The material for stone fences needed probably as little prepara-
tion by man as any other fence, as the land had to be cleared of
stones for cultivation. The stone-wall fences, when properly
erected, needed less attention for repairs and were more durable
than any other kind or style of fence. A competent stone-wall
builder seldom used a hammer to shape the stones, but appeared
to have a suitable place for every stone picked up. As the good
road movement developed in Plennsylvania, and the demand for
broken and crushed stones increased, the stone-wall material, in
some sections has been carted to the State highways, and prob-
ably some of the money obtained for it has been used for
buying automobiles, which now speed over the macadamized and
concrete roads, which contain the stone-wall material from the
farms. Stone-wall fences, however, still remain throughout the
New England states, where hundreds of miles of them can be seen.
Wire fences, ornamental fences constructed of wood or iron,
or both, depending for what purpose to be used and the fancy
of the builder, have been introduced, and lately nicely trimmed
hedge fences have also become very popular.
But the type of fence to which I wish to call particular atten-
tion is the post and rail fence. A very practical, sightly and sub-
stantial fence, providing the proper care is taken in selecting and
preparing the material. In the slate section of Northampton
county, Pa., many of the posts used are constructed of slate ma-
terial properly shaped and dressed to suit. But the post and rail
fence in general use is composed entirely of wood material. In
winter, probably during the coldest days, it was customary, seven-
ty years ago for the farmer and his boys to select and cut or saw
down chestnut or white oak trees — the fallen trees were sawed
into proper lengths — six to seven feet for posts and eleven feet for
rails. In case white oak or rock oak was selected this work was
generally done in the spring of the year when the sap was flowing
and the trees could be barked. The bark was allowed to dry —
then corded in the woods and in the fall of the vear hauled to
OLD FENCES IX BUCKS COUXTV 431
some tannery. In this territory the tannery was Gilberts', Hoh-
cong, Pa., at that time the village was known by the name of
Greenville. The load of dried bark was "swapped" for leather or
sold for cash.
The leather whether sole or upper was given into the custody
of the family shoemaker. The different members of the family
had their feet measured to determine the size of the shoes needed ;
the proper record as to the size from heel to toe, the height of
the instep and the width of the foot were all in the shoemaker's
care and he was held responsible for the fit. To convert those
oak logs into post and rail sizes by means of a maul and iron or
wooden wedges, muscle and good judgment were required to
utilize the material to the best advantage.
The posts and rails being split they were carted home to the
family wood pile and there the rails were dressed at the ends
with the broadax so as to make them attractive and later usable
in erecting a post and rail fence. The pointing of the rails and
the hewing of the posts was a trick reserved for the few and not
given to the many. Hewing or squaring the upper two-thirds
of the posts with an axe and a broadax was another step or
process required in which the post in its rough state was fastened
down with an iron dog on two heavy cross pieces of wood to
give it stability and elevation while being dressed with the two
tools mentioned. The chiseling out and at a later period boring
and cutting out post-holes the proper size and regular distance
apart was probably a slow, tedious process previous to the in-
vention and patenting of the spiral or thread auger for which let-
ters patent were granted in 1809 which are recorded at Wash-
ington, D. C. Though there is indisputable evidence that post
and rail fences were constructed in this county previous to the
year 1798, eleven years before the spiral auger was patented.
What is known as the pod auger may have been in use before
spiral construction, thus partly eliminating the use of mallet and
chisel in shaping post-holes.
"Necessity", it is said, "is the mother of invention". The spiral
auger was introduced with a cross section for the handle and the
shaping of the post-holes became comparatively easy but it was
too slow. The spirit of going fast had already taken possession
of the American mind, one hundred vears before the automobile
432 OLD FENCES IX RUCKS COUNTY
or airplane pace was established. And so we find that some
genius thought out and constructed a post-boring machine and
did for the laboring man w^hat Dr. Babcock did for the dairyman,
just gave his wonderful invention to the public without asking
for any royalty whatever. The post-boring machine became a
community affair, borrowed, carted and used by every farmer in
the neighborhood. The post-holes being bored another important
step presented itself, cutting out those holes with a small axe
called a post-axe. This work had to be done "on the square" or
the rails could not be introduced and properly tightened without
twisting and having many posts standing at different angles, no
two exactly alike when fastened.
The trees cut down, the logs sawed the proper length, then
split, carted home, rails pointed, posts hewn, holes bored and
dressed, the next step was to haul the prepared material to where
the fence was to be erected. The line of fence to be built was
first marked with stakes having a piece of white fabric fastened
to them. These were sighted over and the places for the posts
located and marked ; hard work was then needed to dig holes and
later to fasten the posts rigidly.
Now whether the posts are hewed or sawed, the rails split or
sawed, if all the details are carefully followed, rigidly adhered to,
the posts lined as to height and direction, the rails properly se-
lected and mated then the post and rail fence is a credit and an
ornament for any community, a good safe indication of stability
of character, and a stranger may rest assured that there is no
need of being ashamed to be seen in that neighborhood, nor of
being a native of that community but that it is a desirable terri-
tory in which to buy a home — to enjoy life — and spend ones days.
TOMB OP COL. ARTHUR ERWIX.
>rivate burying-ground along the Delaware
River, near Erwinna, Bucks County,
Pennsylvania.
Colonel Arthur Erwin and James Fennimore Cooper's Novel,
"Wyandotte or the Hutted Knoll."
BY B. F. FACKENTHAL, JR., SC. D., RIEGELSVILLE, PA.
(Friends Meeting House, Solebury, October 14, 1922.)
>»i>Wf^^ HE special thought in preparing this paper on
Colonel Arthur Erwin, was to preserve a tradi-
tion which leads to the belief that certain inci-
dents in his life and death led James Fennimore
Cooper to use them as the foundation for his
novel IVyandotte or the Hutted Knoll, published
in 1843. But my study of his life, and of his family, has led me
to add some of the leading features of their history.
Arthur Erwin was a Scotch-Irishman, born in the north of Ire-
land in 1726. During the early part of May 1768, he embarked
for America, sailing in the ship "Newry Assistance," from the
port of Newry on Carlington Bay, on the Irish coast, with his
wife and five small children ; John, the oldest was twelve, and
Hugh, the youngest, but one year old. His wife died at sea July
10, 1768, and after a voyage lasting over three months, Mr. Er-
win with his five children landed in Philadelphia August 18, 1768.
They went direct to Dyerstown in Bucks County, where Arthur's
brother, William, had in 1755, purchased two hundred and twen-
ty-six acres of land, and where he and his wife, Margaret, nee
Earle, made their home.^
Arthur Erwin seems to have been a man of some means, and
no doubt guided by the advice and counsel of his brother, bought,
March 16. 1769, two tracts of land in Tinicum Township, Bucks
County, aggregating five hundred and twenty-eight acres and one
hundred and fifty seven perches. These were part of the lands
of the Pennsylvania Land Company of London, but Gen. Davis,
in his History of Bucks County, Vol. II, p. 5. has fallen into an
error in saying that Arthur Erwin purchased 1,563 acres 32
perches direct from the London Company, overlooking the fact
1 "William Erwin. brother of Arthur, came to America from Ireland about
1750. He was probably accompanied by four other brothers. John, Hugh,
Nathaniel and Alexander. Hugh died intestate in Springfield township in
1753, and letters of administration were granted to his widow, Elizabeth, on
May 14, 1753.
434 COLONEL ARTHUR ERWIN
that the lands remaining unsold in that company, were disbursed
in 1761, seven years before the arrival of Arthur. On May 1,
1769, Arthur Erwin moved on his Tinicum plantation, and there
he reared his fainily and lived over the remainder of his life. The
town of Erwinna, named for him, is located on that tract. The
records at Doylestown show that Colonel Erwin owned at dif-
ferent times, and practically all at one time, 2.402 acres 19
perches of land in Bucks County, of which 1,859 acres 101 perches
were in Tinicum, and the remainder in Plumstead, Nockamixon,
Springfield and Durham Townships. His large holdings of land
in Lurenze County, Pa., and Steuben County, N. Y., will be re-
ferred to later in this paper. On the death of Colonel Erwin in
1791 (he died intestate), the homestead was adjudged to his then
oldest living son, Joseph, who did not marry. Joseph lived thereon
until his death in 1807. In his will he devised this homestead
tract to his brother William, who made his home there down to
the time of his death in 1836, and as General Davis records, not
one acre of these ancestral lands in Bucks County is now owned
by a member of the Erwin family. -
Colonel Arthur Erwin married a second time, viz, on July 27,
1771, to Mary Kennedy, daughter of William Kennedy of Spring-
field Township.^ By this union there were six children, four sons
and two daughters, all living to maturity. One of the daughters,
Sarah (1773-1854). married Dr. John Cooper, the other, Re-
becca (1775-1848). married Dr. William McKean, both of
Easton, Pa. It appears from the records at Doylestown, that
there was some lack of harmony between Colonel Erwin and his
second wife. She brought suit against him in the quarter ses-
sions at Newtown (then the county-seat), for support, declaring
that she had been ejected from her home and otherwise badly
treated. Later she made her home at Easton, where she passed
away July 29. 1817. Her body and that of her son. Dr. John
Erwin. the second son of that name (who did not marry), lie
buried in the Easton cemetery.
Colonel Arthur Erwin and two of his sons, John and William,
had splendid military records during the Revolutionary War.
Arthur was elected captain of a company of Bucks County Asso-
2 History of Bucks County, by Gen. W. W. H. Davis. Vol. II, pp .5 & 6.
3 Pennsylvania Archives. Second Series, Vol. II, p. 82.
COLONEL ARTHUR ERWIN 435
ciators, recruited in Tinicum Township. His son, John, was a pri-
vate in the same company. On May 6, 1777, Arthur was com-
missioned as colonel of the Second Battalion of Pennsylvania
Milita. He was therefore justly entitled to his military rank
of Colonel."*
His eldest son, John, born in Ireland in 1756, was enrolled, first
as an associator and then on July 9, 1776, in the Pennsylvania
militia, as second lieutenant in Capt. John Jamison's company of
the Flying Camp, under Colonel Joseph Hart.'' They at once en-
tered into active service in defense of Fort Washington on Man-
hattan Island under Col. Robert Magaw.*^ This fort was attacked
by Sir William Howe and forced to surrender November 16,
1776. Lieut. John Erwin was among those taken prisoner, and
remained in captivity, presumably on a prison ship, for five years
until exchanged and paroUed February 25, 1781. His confine-
ment and the treatment he received, ruined his health, from the
effects of which he died February, 1782. These facts are set
forth in his petition to the Orphans Court of Bucks County,
which granted him an allowance of half pay of a lieutenant, but
he passed away two months after this pension was granted.^ His
body lies buried in the Erwin private burying-ground in Tinicum
Township, situated on the west side of the river road about one
hundred and eighty yards north of the Pennsylvania end of the
Frenchtown Delaware River bridge.
William, the third son of Colonel Erwin, was born in Ireland
January 31, 1760. In June 1782, he married Achsah R., daugh-
ter of Dr. John and Rachel (Robeson) Rockhill, of Hunterdon
County, N. J.^ They were the parents of five children, one son,
and four daughters. The son, Scott R., died May 27, 1823. His
daughter, Julianna, widow of John L. Dick,^ second wife of
Thomas G. Kennedy, died May 28, 1823, and his son-in-law,
Charles Howell, died September 3, 1823, all of typhus fever. His
daughter, Rachel, widow of Charles Howell, became the third
4 Pennsylvania Archives, Second Series, Vol. XIV, pp. 169, 180, and Fifth
Series, Vol. V, pp. 318, 333, 3C2.
5 Ibid, Second Series, Vol. XIV, p. 757, and Fifth Series, Vol. V, pp. 321,
447.
6 Fort Washington was on Manhatten, overlooking the Hudson River, be-
tween the present 181st and 182nd Street, New York City.
7 This petition is recorded at Doylestown, Book B, page 112.
s New Jersey Archives. Vol. XXII, p. 127.
9 John Ij. Dick married Julianna Erwin December 15. 1814. He died of
typhus fever, February 1, 1815. Julianna, his widow, became the second wife
of Thomas G. Kennedy.
436 COLONEL ARTHUR ERWIN
wife of Thomas G. Kennedy.^'- On October 11, 1781, a few-
months before coming of age, William Erwin was commissioned
as Captain of the Third Battalion of the First Regiment of Foot.
After the close of the war he was on April 17, 1786, appointed
Captain of the Eighth Company of Bucks County Militia. ^^ He
was a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate, 1816 to 1825.
He served for some years as a justice-of-the-peace, in and for
the County of Bucks.
Captain William Erwin, "Esquire Billy," as he was familiarly
called, was probably the most prominent member of the Erwin
family in Bucks County. At the time of his death, June 16, 1836,
he owned many tracts of land within the county. He obtained
patents for at least four of the islands in the Delaware River,
viz : Fish, Laughries, Resolution and Wall's Island. His
brother, Hugh, was granted a patent for Pennington Island. ^-
The inventory of his personal estate amounted to $68,562.25.
Both he and his wife, his only son, Scott R., two daughters and
his son-in-law, Thomas G. Kennedy, are buried in the Erwin
burying-ground, located on his property, to which reference has
been made. His will provided for building a stone wall around
it, this was done by his executors, (but it was built of bricks with
a stone copying) at a cost of $498.10. There appears to be no
provision in any of the Erwin wills to care for this ancestral
place of sepulture, and like most other private burying-grounds.
it is fast going into decay. It contains twelve marked graves,
and apparently two or three not marked.
Joseph Erwin, the second son of Colonel xA.rthur, and the oldest
10 Thomas G. Kennedy (son of James Kennedy, who died at Newtown
January 7„ 1824, aged 82 years), was born 1783, died in 1836. His first
wife was Violetta, daughter of Isaac Hicks of Newtown, Pa. She lost
her life by drowning in Newtown Creek, while trying to save the life
of her child. Thomas was considerable of a democratic politician. He served
Bucks Countyi as Prothonotary 1809 to 1818; was a member of the Assembly
1818-19, and sheriff of Bucks county 1819-20. In 1827 he was appointed
superintendent of the Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania Canal, running
from Bristol to Easton. (See his reports in Hazard's Register, Vol. I, p.
118, and other reports in same publications.) He was the leading spirit in
the building of the Philadelphia & Trenton Railroad from Kensington to
Trenton, now part of the Pennsylvania Railroad system. He, with Richard
Morris (the contract standing in name of Morris, but a supplementary agree-
ment between Morris and Kennedy shows that they were equal partners),
entered into a contract on January 1, 1833, to grade a double track road
bed and construct all bridges for the sum of $161,047. They agreed to take
in part pay any and all stock that the directors had subscribed for which
they themselves did not want to retain and pay for. Later Mr. Kennedy was
secretary and treasurer of the road.
11 Pennsylvania Archives, Fifth Series, Vol. V. pp. 353, 362, 419, 429, 430,
433, 437.
12 IMd, Third Series, Vol. II, p]i. 475 to 477.
COLONEL ARTHUR ERWIN 437
living at the time of his father's death, was born in Ireland July
24, 1758. He did not marry. Died in 1807 at the age of 49 years,
and was buried in the family private burying-ground. He ap-
pears to have been a man of parts, but with varied activities dur-
ing the early years of his career, particularly during the War of
Independence. Among his papers was fotmd a most interesting
narrative or autobiography, setting forth the history of his life
from the time he left Ireland in 1768, down to the time of his
father's death in 1791.^"
From this narrative it appears that he was. at the age of 14
years, apprenticed to a firm of merchants in Philadelphia.^^
Later he was engaged in importing and exporting, "Foreign
Trade," he calls it, but there is reason to believe that he was "run-
ning the blockade." He records that on October 10, 1781, his
ship the "St. James'" which seems to have been well armed, "fell
in with a twenty-gun ship, and in a severe action, which lasted
two hours and a half," he was shot with an ounce musket ball
through the right shoulder, and lost the use of his right arm. On
their arrival in France he was taken to a hospital, where for a
time his life was dispaired of. He was rewarded in a special
manner by Capt. Truxton for so gallantly aiding in the defence
of his ship. His name appears among those who were attained
of treason. The Pennsylvania Archives, Sixth Series, Vol. XIII,
pp. 466 and 467, includes under date of July 30, 1778, the name
of "Joseph Erwin formerly of Philadelphia, trader. Tinicum"
* * * "who have not been proscribed by proclamation, and
have since been discovered to have joined the enemy at Phila-
delphia."
LANDS IN STEUBEN COUNTY, NEW YORK. .
After the close of the War of Independence, Col. Arthur Er-
win, in 1785, bought a large tract of land in Luzerne, now Brad-
ford County, Pennsylvania, adjoining the New York state line.
His activities in that neighborhood led him, in 1789 and 1790, to
purchase still larger tracts, but to the west thereof, across the
state line in Steuben County, New York, in what was called the
"Genesee Country," the land of the Six Nations. His first pur-
13 Pennsylvania Magazine of History. VoL XIX. pp. 397 et seq.
14 See also Pennsylvania German Society, VoL XIX, pp. 120 and 121.
438 COLONEL ARTHUR ERWIN
chase there was from Phelps & Gorham, in the summer of 1789,
and consisted of a tract six miles square or 23,040 acres, em-
bracing an entire township, beautifully situated in the valleys of
the rivers Canisteo and Conhocton, in which the village of Painted
Post is located. The deed for this tract, said to be the first for
land in that county, is on record in Steuben County. The con-
sideration was £1,400, paid for partly with a drove of cattle and
the balance in gold.
Painted Post was an Indian village, and so named by reason
of a large square hewed post, discovered by Gen. Sullivan during
his campaign of 1779, which had been erected by the Indians in
memory of Captain Montour, a son of Queen Catharine. It
stood on the banks of the Conhocton River, a tributary of the
Chemung which empties into the Susquehanna. This post was
painted red with twenty-eight crude figures representing human
beings with their heads cut off, and thirty other figures with their
heads on. Charles H. Erwin, Esq., has most graphically described
this beautifully located tract, and the circumstances which influ-
enced his ancestor, Col. Erwin, to buy it.^^
One year later, in 1790, Col. Erwin, in company with three
associates, Solomon Bennett, Joel Thomas and Ulrich Stephens,
became owners of a second tract, containing 46,080 acres, em-
bracing the entire towns of Hornellsville and Canisteo, in Steu-
ben County, adjoining his first purchase on the west. This was
also part of the 2,600,000 acres of disputed territory claimed by
both Massachusetts and New York, of which on April 1, 1788,
Oliver Phelps and Nathaniel Gorham purchased the preemption
rights of the state of Massachusetts for the sum of $300,000, and
on the 8th day of July of the same year, purchased the soil rights
of the Five" Nations of Indians. These transactions settled for-
ever the controversy between those two states, and the boundary
line between them was thereafter fully and definitely established.
This was apparently an easy way of settling the dispute, and quite
in contrast with the long-drawn-out controversy, and wars, be-
tween Pennsylvania and Connecticut to settle similar claims, into
which the states fell by carelessness or ignorance on the part of
King Charles II, in granting rights in this country. Phelps and
lo Historical Ilecjister of Pennsylvania. Vol. I. pp. 86 to 90 and 188 to 193.
COLONEL ARTHUR ERWIN 439
Gorhani were land speculators, and at once placed their lands
upon the market. On November 18, 1790, they conveyed 1,250,-
000 acres to Robert Morris of Philadelphia, described in their
deeds as lands lying in the district of Erwin, and known by the
name of "Old Canisteo Castle." Later William Bingham, also
of Philadelphia, United States senator, 1785 to 1781, became in-
terested in these "Genesee Country" lands. ^""'
Col. Arthur Erwin died seized of the Steuben County lands,
and in the settlement of his estate, his administrators, who were
four of his five sons, viz : Joseph, William, Hugh and Samuel,
had considerable difficulty and litigation in connection therewith.
Two of the sons, Samuel and Francis, (both of his second mar-
riage), moved to Painted Post, where they became permanent
residents, and where they lie buried. Samuel married Miss Rachel
Heckman of Easton, Pa. They were the parents of ten children,
many of whose descendants are living in the neighborhood of
Painted Post at the present time.
The Erwins seem to have been a family of military tendencies.
1 have already mentioned Colonel Arthur, the head of the family,
and his sons Lieutenant John and Captain William, all three of
whom loyally answered the call of their adopted country. Be-
sides these his son, Samuel, was in the United States Infantry
for some years, first as a lieutenant appointed by President Adams,
then as a captain appointed by President Jefiferson. Arthur Jr.,
was a major in the New York Militia, and Dr. John, (the second,
son of that name) a physician of Easton, whose death occurred
June 3, 1820, was a major in the Pennsylvania Militia. Dr. John's
death w^as greatly mourned by his associates and the citizens of
Easton generally. The newspapers of that time contain splendid
biographical notices of his worth and character as a citizen and
also give accounts of his imposing military funeral.
General Francis E. Erwin of Steuben County, was a son of
Samuel, and a grandson of Col. Arthur Erwin. It is also likely*
that Gen. James Irvine, of Revolutionary War fame, although the
name is spelled differently, was of this same family.
13a "William Bingham (1752-1803). James Wilson and Robert Lettis Hooper.
Jr., were granted a patent for 30,620 acres of land (called by then the
"Land of Caanan"), situate on both sides of the Susquehanna. In 1780 they
partitioned these lands, and that part, 215 acres, in what is now the busi-
ness centre of Binghamton was allotted to Mr. Bingham, after whom tlie
city of Binghamton is named.
440 COLONEL ARTHUR ERWIN
LANDS IN LUZERNE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.^*'
When the Pennsylvania Land Office was opened, April, 1785,^^
for distribution of lands by lottery. Col. Erwin, to use his own
words, "became an adventurer for about 5,000 acres in Luzerne
County, Pa., adjoining the New York state line, and without the
limits of those seventeen townships comprehended in the confer-
ring or quieting law, since repealed." These lands lay on the
Tioga River in Athens Township above Tioga Point. ^^
Col. Erwin's lands were, however, within the territory claimed
by Connecticut, under their charter of 1662, from King Charles
II, which antedated the charter to William Penn by nineteen
years. The Connecticut claim took in all the northern part of
Pennsylvania from the 41st. degree of north latitude to the 42.15
degree, which was the New York state line. This boundary
would take in all the territory north of a line run parallel through
the state about where Stroudsburg and Clearfield are situated,
and amounted to about 12,000,000 acres or 42 percent of the en-
tire state of Pennsylvania. Connecticut, in fact, claimed all land
of that width, across the continent from sea to sea as far as King
Charles had a right to grant it. In Ohio this claim was called
the "Western Reserve."
What was then called Tioga Point, is now the city of Athens.
The city of Sayre is on the same peninsula, formed by the junc-
tion of the Tioga (now the Chemung) and the Susquehanna
Rivers. At Tioga Point, now Athens, the two rivers approach to
within two hundred yards of each other, and at that place Gen.
Sullivan built four strong block-houses, stretching across from
river to river, which was known as Fort Sullivan. This fort
when abandoned by Gen. Sullivan in 1779, was demolished in
order that it might not fall into the hands of the enemy. ^^
On April 5, 1791, Col. Erwin addressed a letter to Gov. Thomas
Mififlin, setting forth that he was molested, presumably by squat-
ters from Connecticut, in the peaceable possession of his lands,
Ki Luzerne County was erected Sept. 25, 1786, out of parts of Northumber-
land, and Bradford County was separated from Luzerne and Lycoming Coun-
ties in 1810. Luzerne was at first called Ontario County. In March 1812, it
was fully organized for judicial purposes and the name changed to Brad-
ford County.
17 Act of April 8, 1785 — Chapter 1153.
18 Pennsylvania Archives. Second Series, Vol. XVIII, pp. 694-695.
19 Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania. Vol. 1, p. 456. Historical Collections,
by Sherman Day, p. 142. History of Pennsylvania, by Dr. W. H. Egle, p.
421. History of Bucks County, by Gen. Davis, pp. 5 and 6.
COLONEL ARTHUR ERWIN 441
which he had bought and patented. He complained that his crops
were destroyed and stolen, his property injured, and that violent
attacks were made upon his person ; at one time, in 1789, attack-
ing him with the handle of a pitch-fork, breaking one of his arms,
and otherwise maltreating him so that he barely escaped with his
life.^^ This was after the Decree of Trenton, in 1782, when the
controversy was decided in favor of Pennsylvania. This decision
was supposed to have been in the nature of a compromise, for it
was recognized that Connecticut had the prior claim.
On the evening of June 9, 1791, while resting after his evening
meal, in the home of an old friend. Sergeant Daniel McDufifee,
whom he probably took up from Tinicum, and who was his agent
and one of his tenants, where he made his temporary home while
in Luzerne County, h6 was shot through an open door and died
within a few hours. His assassin was not known and never dis-
covered, but the rival claimants between Connecticut and Penn-
sylvania were supposed to be at the bottom of the murder. One
account says he had just returned from visiting his Genesee
lands in New York, accompanied by his two sons, Samuel and
Francis, and that his assassin was supposed to have been a squat-
ter by name of Thomas. His body was brought back to Tini-
cum Township and buried in his private burying-ground, along
the banks of the Delaware River, to which reference has already
been made.
JAMES FENNIMORE COOPER's NOVEL "WYANDOTTE OF THE
HUTTED KNOLL".
The foregoing history of the Erwin family has been necessary
to show that the life and death of Arthur Erwin may have sug-
gested the plot of Cooper's novel Wyandotte or the Hutted Knoll.
The tradition, to which I have referred is as follows:
Among some loose papers found among my father's effects,
was one in which he records a tradition handed down to him by
his grandfather, Michael Fackenthal (1756-1846), and his uncle,
John Fackenthal (1790-1865), which in substance is, that while a
student at Lafayette College at Easton, Pa., in 1843, this novel of
Cooper's came out, that he bought a copy, carried it to his home
at Durham and loaned it to his uncle John, who returned it in a
few weeks, and seemed to be quite captivated with it. Uncle
442 COLONEL ARTHUR ERWIN
John then related the circumstances of the assassination of Col.
Arthur Erwin, and also told him some of the leading incidents of
his life, saying that Col. Erwin had a son who was an officer in
the Whig army, and another son allied to the British cause, that
Col. Erwin had made out two sets of deeds for his property, duly
signed, sealed and delivered, which however, were not put on
record, that these deeds were destroyed after the close of the war.
The arrangement was that if the English won, that is put down
the rebellion, then the deeds to the loyalist were to be recorded,
and if the Americans won, then the deeds to his whig son were
to be relied upon to pass the property. The ultimate share of
each of the heirs to be dependent upon honor among children.
As will be seen by the foregoing, Colonel Erwin was himself
in the Continential army, as were also his two sons. Lieutenant
John, the oldest, and Captain William, the third. But it is also
a fact that Joseph, the second son, was engaged in questionable
undertakings during the war, which, reading between the lines
suggests that his seafaring schemes amounted to smuggling or
blockade running. He was certainly profiteering and may have
been pirateering. In 1778 he was attainted of treason having
joined the enemy at Philadelphia. From this it appears that he
was openly hostile to the American cause. At that time he had
no property standing in his own name and therefore none to
confiscate.
There is no way of verifying the statement that Colonel Erwin
made out two sets of deeds, but the tradition handed down by
Lieutenant Michael Fackenthal, who knew him, (they owned ad-
joining tracts of land in Durham Township), and who was himself
a soldier in the "Flying Camp," gives credence to the statement.
My father certainly believed it as evidenced by his making a writ-
ten memorandum of it.
I also desire to invite attention to the fact that Lieutenant John
Erwin became possessed of an unusual amount of real estate in
Bucks County, one tract having been conveyed to him at the age
of eighteen years. Three other tracts, aggregating 2)7i acres and
102 perches, were deeded to him May 9, 1780, at a time when he
was confined in a British prison ship. His imprisonment began
in 1776 and ended in 1781, surely during that time he could not
have been buying and paying for real estate. The tradition is.
COLOXEL ARTHUR ERWIN 443
that Joseph sent them the money to pay for the properties bought
in Bucks County.
It is also a fact, that for some reason which does not appear,
his third son, Wihiam, did not participate in the division of his
father's Bucks County real estate, although he was the only child,
at that time, having a large family. John, Joseph and Hugh did
not marry. This suggests that certain parcels may have been
transferred to William during his father's lifetime. Making such
transfers of real estate, is however different from the tradition,
but it indicates that he did put some property out of his hands,
and I have such confidence in my father's memory that I believe
there were unrecorded deeds as well.
In the novel, Captain Hugh Willoughby had one son and one
daughter. He had a captain's commission in the English army,
in consideration of resigning which, his son Robert received an
ensign's commission. He was later advanced to the rank of
major. The novel tells of his gallant services in the English
army, during the Revolution. Capt. Willoughby's only daughter,
Beulah, married Col. Evert Beekman, who distinguished himself
in the American army. The novel, of course, avoids meetings
between these two opposing soldiers.
The novel relates that a friendly Indian, by name of Wyandotte,
had directed Capt. Willoughby to the location of Hutted Knoll.
He explained that the cutting of an old beaver dam would drain
a lake, and make many acres of rich land, surrounding the knoll,
available for his plantation, which would^ need no clearing.
On several occasions Capt. Willoughby had punished this In-
dian by flogging him, and although apparently friendly, he never
forgave these insults.
In after years, during the \\'ar for Independence, there was an
Indian uprising at Hutted Knoll, instigated by a dissatisfied em-
ployee. Capt. Willoughby ventured outside of his stockade and
was assassinated. It was many years later that Wyandotte,
then an old man, confessed to this murder. He believed that in
curing the sores on his own back in this peculiar manner, he had
done what became a Turscarora warrior. During the attack on
Hutted Knoll he remained friendly to other members of the fami-
ly, and aided in its defense, as Cooper says — "He never forgot
a favor or forgave an injury." In this attack, Beulah, the wife
444 COLONEL ARTHUR ERWIN
of Col. Beekman lost her life, and Mrs. Willoughby died from
the shock of her husband's tragic death. All other heirs having
passed away, Hutted Knoll descended to Robert the Tory son,
and Evert, Jr., the only child of Beulah. "There had been some
rumors of confiscation by the new state, and Robert came to the
conclusion that it would be safer to transfer his interest in the
property to one who would be certain to escape such an infliction
rather than to retain it in his own hands," therefore it was deeded
to little Evert.
Col. Erwin had sons with interests on both sides of the conflict,
and by deeding his property, as herein explained, attempted to
protect it against seizure. In like manner the Willoughby prop-
erty was safeguarded against confiscation.
Having divided famiHes, with sons in both armies was a com-
mon occurrence in those trying times. Novelists have often ro-
manced on such situations ; as witness one of the novels by our
own Caleb E. Wright, Esq., of Doylestown, Pa., which was
founded on the history of the Hollenbach family of Luzerne
County, and Thackeray's Virgitiians. I have always liked the
opening sentence of the Virginians, which referring to the home
of William H. Prescott, says — "On the library wall of one
of the most famous writers of America, there hang two crossed
swords, which their relatives wore in the great War of Inde-
pendence. The one sword was gallantly drawn in the service of
the King, the other was the weapon of a brave and honored re-
publican soldier."
My father concludes his memorandum as follows :
"When I pointed out to Uncle John, the difference in the locality of
Col. Erwin's assassination and that of Capt. Willoughby, one in Penn-
sylvania at the junction of the Tioga and Susquehanna Rivers, on the
New York state line, the other about 100 miles to the northeast thereof,
in Otsego County in the state of New York, on the Unadilla, a differ-
ent branch of the Susquehanna, and to the further fact that one was
killed by squatters, and the other to avenge an insult to a drunken
Indian. , he said that that made no difference, that slight changes of
that kind were a novelist's privilege, and that he had no doubt what-
ever, in his own mind, that Cooper's novel was founded on Erwin's
history."
In his preface to Wyandotte, Cooper says :
"The history of the borders is filled with legends of the sufferings of
isolated families, during the troubled scenes of colonial warfare. Those
COLONEL ARTHUR ERWIN 445
which we now offer to the reader are distinctive in many of their lead-
ing facts, if not rigidly true in the details. The first alone is necessary
to the legitimate objects of fiction."
"Perhaps this story is obnoxious to the charges of a slight anachron-
ism, in representing the activity of the Indians a year earlier than any
were actually employed in the struggle of 1775. The redman had his
morality, as much as his white brother, and it is well known that even
Christian ethics are colored and governed by standards of opinion set
up on purely human authority. The honesty of one Christian is not
always that of another, any more than his humanity, truth, fidelity or
faith."
This tradition relates to our own county of Bucks, and more-
over, this paper has led to gathering much additional information
concerning Colonel Arthur Erw^in, one of its most distiguished
citizens, and of his family as well, and appears to be of too much
value not to be recorded. Mr. Warren S. Ely has aided me in
gathering Erwin family history, and the results of our researches
can be seen on file in the library of the Bucks County Historical
Society at Doylestown, Pa.
In addition to the authorities already noted the following were
consulted :
Edgar Allen Poe, Review of Cooper's novel Wyandotte or the Hutted Knoll.
History of Wyoming, by Charles Miner, 1845.
History of Wyoming, by Isaac H. Chapman.
Annals of Luzerne, by Stewart Pierce. Philadelphia, 1860.
Novels by Caleb B. Wright, Esq., of Doylestown, Pa.
Corning and Vicinity, by LTri Mulford.
Early Times on the Susquehanna, by Mrs. George A. Perkins, 1870.
"Brief of a Title in Seventeen Townships in Luzerne County," by Gov.
Henry M. Hoyt. Paper read before the Pennsylvania Historical Society,
1879, and published by that society in pamphlet form.
Bucks County Historical Society. Vol. Ill, p. 644.
Pennsylvania German Society. Vol. VII, pp. 223, 308.
Historical Register of Pennsylvania. Jan. 1884; Vol. II, p. 1 et seq.
Hazard's Reoister — Wyoming Lands. Vol. VII, p. 273.
History of the Town and Village of Painted Post and of the Town of Er-
win, by Charles H. Erwin, 1874.
Magazine of American History. Vol. XII, p. 234 et seq.
I
Old-Fashioned Garden Flowers.
BY GEORGE MACREYNOLDS, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Friends Meeting House, Solebury, October 14, 1922.)
N his celebrated letter to the committee of the "Free Society
of Traders of London", written from "Philadelphia, the 10th
of the sixth month, called August, 1683", William Penn said:
• "There are divers plants, that not only the Indians tell us, but we
have had occasion to prove, by swellings, burnings, cuts, &c., that they
are of great virtue, suddenly curing the patient; and, for smell, I have
observed several, especially one, the wild myrtle; the others I know not
what to call, but are most fragrant.
The woods are adorned with lovely flowers, for colour, greatness,
figure and variety. I have seen the gardens of London best stored
with that sort of beauty, but think they may be improved by our
woods. I have sent a few to a person of quality this year for trial".
Beautiful, indeed, must have been the flora of our forest prime-
val if Penn, connoisseur as he was of many things that added to
the joy of living, thought "our woods" contained blooms worthy
of a place in the best "gardens of London" to be planted by "a
person of quality". What would we not give to have a glimpse
into those old "gardens of London" of two hundred thirty-nine
years ago?
Perhaps if we had the freedom of London's charming old
bookshops, we might plagiarize a perfectly good description of
the English garden of Penn's time. Not having that advantage,
I have had recourse to the Fifth Edition of Chambers' Ency-
clopaedia, dated 1741, a copy of which is among the old books
in my library. By combining several notations in this old volume,
it has been possible to reconstruct, as it were, a pretty accurate
plan of an English garden of the first half of the eighteenth cen-
tury, which may be regarded as the forerunner of pretty much
all the more ambitious old gardens in this country.
There were three kinds of English gardens of that period, ac-
cording to this old encyclopaedia :
"Flower-gardens, fruit-gardens and kitchen-gardens, the first for
pleasure and ornament; and therefore placed in the most conspicuous
parts, the two latter for service, and therefore placed in by-places."
OLD-FASHIONED GARDEN FLOWERS 447
Their form was "a square, or rather oblong — leading from the middle
of the house, with a gravel walk in the midst, narrow grass borders on
each side, and on either side of these, rows of variety of winter greens".
Though many gardens were made on regular or conventional
lines, those regarded as the most beautiful were the irregular
gardens. This quaint authority says :
"Indeed an irregularity is easily hid in a large garden by long walks,
and tall hedges, interrupting a distant view: and the little corners, and
triangular spaces, may be agreeably filled up with borders of flowers,
dwarf trees, flowering shrubs, and evergreens. Nor is it prudent to be
solicitous to throw the whole garden into a single view; as irregulari-
ties, and unevenness, afford many uncommon, pretty devices."
The soil was
"A deep, rich, black mould," sandy land being considered "warm and
forward", and "chalky" land as "cold and backward". The proper
depth of the soil was considered to be "three feet deep, but less than
two is not sufificient".
"The chief furniture of pleasure gardens", the old account continues,
"are parterres, vistas, glades, groves, compartiments, quidnuncs, ver-
dant halls, arbour work, labyrinths, cabinets, cascades, terraces, &c".
So we see the flower gardens of England in Penn's day may
have been as elaborate as Duke's Park or no more pretentious
than some of our more modest flower gardens today.
\\'ithout a .great deal more research than I have had time to
make, it is difificult to get a list of the flowers in those old Eng-
lish gardens, but here are some of them, given in the nomencla-
ture and spelling of the day : Anemonies, Dafifodils, Hyacinths,
Tulips, Junquils, Cowslips. Primroses, Pinks, Gilly-flowers,
Daisies, Campanulas, Poppies, Sun-flowers, Oculus Christi, In-
dian Pinks, Roses, Pansies, Flower-gentle, Rosemary, Sage.
Thyme, Geranium, Althaea, Borrage, Buglos, Dead-nettle, Bear's-
ear, Horehound and Clary.
Many of the these old flowers were introduced by the early
settlers into American gardens. We will now step into one of
these old A,merican gardens, and, without adhering to any method
or plan, try to describe it. Old gardens were as varied in form
and flora as the individual tastes of the owners. Most of them
had sundials, some of them more than one. and these were the
center of some floral decoration, usually of peculiar delicacy or
unique rarity. Most gardens had their beds of "yarbs" — Tansy.
448 OLD-FASHIONED GARDEN FLOWERS
Sage, Mints, etc. — ornamental, but also useful as seasoning, or
to give a tang to the otherwise rather mild home-distilled liquors
of those days.
Nearly every old garden that made any pretensions at all to
size and beauty had its Judas Tree, a handsome low tree, rarely
twenty feet in height. Downing, in his fine old book on Theory
and Practice of Landscape Gardening, says that "the name of
Judas tree appears to have been whimsically bestowed by Gerard,
an old English gardener, who described it in 1596, and relates
that 'this is the tree whereon Judas did hange himselfe, and not
upon the elder tree, as it is said'." The Judas tree, sometimes
called "Red-bud", was considered one of the most ornamental of
shrubs, with exactly heart-shaped leaves, of pleasingly green tint,
and clusters of pretty pink blossoms close to the branches, early
in spring, before the leaves expand. Two species were planted
here, one American (Cercis canadensis), and the other European
(Cercis siliquastrum). The species bear close resemblance. The
Judas tree is still found on lawns, but rarely now in flower
gardens.
In the days of our grandmothers and great-grandmothers, the
hop vine was an institution. No flower or kitchen garden was
complete without it. It usually occupied one corner of the en-
closure, and, like Mr. Finney's turnip.
It grew, and it grew.
Till it could grow no taller,
from spring until autumn, when it covered a pole of almost any
desired height. Every housewife of those days used hops for
yeast in making bread. Hops were also used extensively then in
home-brewing of beer, ale, porter and small beer, the small beer
being made from the malt after the ale was made. Nearly every
family of that day had a large kettle in which they boiled clothes.
This served for the "copper", and a common pail with a hole
bored through the bottom, another pail that served as a ferment-
ing tun, and a five-gallon keg to contain the liquor, completed the
distilling outfit. But aside from the uses to which hops were put.
the hope vine was a graceful and ornamental feature of the old
garden. The hop pole and vine are now rarely seen.
Climbing plants were favorites in old gardens, which had their
beautiful trellises and arbors upon which they were "trained".
OLD-FASHIONED GARDEN FLOWERS 449
One of the favorites was the Trumpet Creeper, still seen in
some gardens. There are two kinds of Trumpet Creepers, both
growing wild in the southern states. One is the Bignonia radi-
cans, a picturesque plant, climbing like Ivy and Virginia Creeper,
by means of rootlets. It has pinnate leaves, and the trumpet-
shaped flowers, sometimes five to six inches long, scarlet without
and orange-colored within, grow in clusters. This is the Trumpet
Creeper of the old gardens. Botanists have taken it out of the
Bignonias and placed it in another genus.
The other Trumpet Creeper, the Bignonia careolata of Gray,
is smooth and has evergreen leaves in the south. The flowers
are two inches long, grow from the axils of the leaves and are
orange-red outside and yellow inside, blooming in spring. This
plant, I believe, was a later introduction into the north, and is
more or less frequently seen at present.
Wistaria was cultivated in old gardens, and was much more
common then than now. It belongs to the extensive Pulse or
Legume family. As is well known, the plant was named for
Professor Wistar, of Philadelphia. There are also two species
of this plant, the native, which is wild in the western and south-
ern states, and an introduced Chinese species, which is larger and
ranker. The pendulous purple blooms are very handsome in
spring just as the leaves begin to develop. We now have a white
species, which, I believe, was vmknown to our ancestors.
Climbing roses ! Here we run up against one of the pardon-
able weaknesses of our grandmothers. They doted on them, and
they had some beauties, too, in their charming old gardens. Two
of their favorite climbing roses were not hardy in the north, the
Multifloras and the Noisettes, and they had to be protected in
winter. Two of the most popular hardy climbers were the Michi-
gan and the Boursalt roses. The Michigan rose was so named
because it was first discovered growing wild in that state.
Downing says of it : "The single Michigan is a most compact
and vigorous grower, and often, in its wild haunts in the west,
clambers over the tops of the tall forest trees and decks them
with its abundant pale purple flowers". This single variety was
gradually abandoned when the more gorgeous "double" variety,
the "Beauty of the Prairies", with its rich buds and blossoms of
deep rose color, was developed by rose-growers. The Boursalt
450 OLD-FASHIONED GARDEN FLOWERS
roses were noted for their large clusters of crimson bloom. The
Blush and Elegans were still finer varieties and were found in
many gardens.
Unrivaled in delicacy and charm of tints as are our native
bush roses, there is no record that any of them ever found a place
in the old flower garden. Indeed, it is questionable whether any
of them would thrive under cultivation. When our ancestors
came to America they brought their bush roses (as well as a
number of other flowers). The English brought their Sweet-
briar, or Eglantine ; the Huguenots brought their Gallica, or
French rose, and the Germans brought the Canina, or Dog rose.
These were the garden roses of our forefathers, and for many
years they were possibly the only roses grown in the very old gar-
dens of America. They were often planted along the kitchen-
garden walks in rows, and under cultivation and the womanly
care and love showered upon them, I can imagine they were very
beautiful ; but they were single roses, the rose as we know the
gorgeous bloom of the modern florists being unknown to our fore-
fathers. Soon after they were brought to this country the Sweet-
briar and Dog-roses escaped from cultivation into the meadows,
woodlands and pastures and along fence rows, and such places
are the only locations where we will find the queen of flowers
of our ancestors growing today. Both of thes€ rose escapes are
found plentifully in Bucks county. My botanist friend, J. Kirk
Leatherman, president of the Doylestown Botanical Club, calls
my attention to this curious fact: While the Dog-rose, was
brought to the up-county townships by the German settlers and
the Sweet-briar to the middle and down-county townships by the
English settlers, as escapes the Dog-rose is the common one
down county and the Sweet-briar the common one up county !
Gradually the Sweet-briar was developed into "semi-double
flowered", "blush double-flowered'" and yellow-flowered roses,
and these were the old-fashioned bush roses of our grandmothers'
gardens. But not the only ones. One of the favorite old garden
hardy roses was the Damask Rose, which is said to have been
superior for its elegance and fragrance. The Damask Rose is
said to be the rose which suggested the term, "Queen of Flowers",
as applied to roses. Old botanists catalogued it as Rosa centi-
folia, or "Rose of a Hundred Leaves". Moss Roses were also
OLD-FASHIONED GARDEN FLOWERS 451
found in all well-appointed old-time gardens and were very much
more popular then than now.
No old-fashioned garden was complete without a Lilac bush.
What a wealth of sentiment clings around this princely shrub !
There may be more beautiful floral sights than a lilac bush in
full bloom in spring, but if so, I plead ignorance. As a toddling
boy it captivated my admiration. Our neighbors had beautiful
lilac bushes, and we had none, and I was envious. On my first
venture along the highway to the little red village schoolhouse,
I remember standing under our neighbor's lilac bush along the
roadside, entranced in admiration of the huge purple clusters so
high and so far beyond my weak little reach. Heaven could have
showered no greater blessing than to have permitted one of those
beautiful blossoms to have fallen on my copper-toed boots. I
also remember that I stood in admiration so long that when I
finally reached the little red schoolhouse, I wondered why the
sour-visage schoolmaster administered so severe a punishment for
simply stopping by the wayside to admire a lovely flower.
It will be possible here to refer only briefly to ordinary flowers
that made up the old-fashioned garden and to name only a few
of them. Among the more popular shrubs were the Forsythia,
the Spireas, especially the one known as the Bridal Wreath ; the
Japonica, and the one called "Sweet Shrub", whose sweet-scented
dark maroon-colored blooms our grandmothers folded like lav-
ender in their lace handkerchiefs for Saturday nights and Sunday.
Then there was the New England Aster, some clumps with
violet-purple and others with rose-purple flowers. The Prim-
rose was very popular. There were several varieties — the large-
flowered Chinese kind ; the true primrose, the grandiflora ; sev-
eral sorts of Polyanthus primroses, with flowers enlarged and
vari-colored, and last but not least, the English Cowslip. Our
grandmothers understood primrose culture better than we do.
Hollyhocks, which came originally from Syria, but found their
greatest development in Holland, were much cultivated in old
flower gardens. The common Periwinkle from Europe ; the
Jerusalem Oak, or Feather Geranium, a plant of the Goosefoot
genus, sweet scented ; Prince's Feather, plants three to eight feet
high, belonging to the Polygonum or Knotwood genus, with dense,
cylindrical, nodding spikes of rose-colored flowers, and two red
452 OLD-FASHIONED GARDEN FLOWERS
Amaranths, from India and Mexico, tall plants, also with long
slender flowers, but red and drooping — all these had a conspicuous
place in the old-time garden.
Many plants that have become troublesome "weeds" and are
now outcasts were favorite flowers in the old gardens. Such
are the little Curled Mallow, once regarded as a great ornament ;
the Ox-eye Daisy, now the despised of the farmer; European
Loosestrife, Moneywort, and many others, all common weeds in
our fields.
Doylestown, whose history goes back two centuries, was noted
in olden times for its flower gardens. One by one they have dis-
appeared. One of the last to go was located in the rear of the
historic dwelling house at Broad and East State streets, now
owned by Dr. C. Louis Siegler. The old mansion was built, I
believe, by the Rev. Uriah DuBois, and before it was "improved"
it was a mystic dwelling, with secret corridors and basement
passage-ways and concealed staircases. It is reputed to have been
one of the stations of the "Underground Railway". The beauti-
ful flower garden in the rear along Board street was probably
started by DuBois early in the last century. As it was still a
place of great beauty as late as twenty-five years ago, persons in
this audience may remember it.
The only old-time flower garden now in Doylestown, of which
I have knowledge, is that on the old Rutledge Thornton property,
corner of Church and East State streets, now owned by Dr.
George T. Hayman. It is a small garden and was probably laid
out by Mr. Thornton, Doylestown's one-time leading merchant,
about 1850. Subsequent owners, including Dr. Hayman, have
taken great pride in maintaining the quaintness of the whole
property and keeping the old garden intact. The garden is bi-
sected by a sod path leading to Church street, entrance being
obtained through a latticed arched trellis supporting a climbing
rose of forgotten species. Flanking the sides are a grape arbor
and another latticed trellis over which trails a clematis vine.^
Soon after the Thornton garden was laid out, there went out
of existence the largest and handsomest old-fashioned garden in
Doylestown. From the lips of an old man who had played in
1 Louis Buckman was one-time owner of tliis property. Since this paper
was written, I have learned that the garden mentioned was laid out by Mr.
Buckman, and not by Rutledge Thornton.
OLD-FASHIONED GARDEN FLOWERS 453
this garden as a child I learned its story and transcribed it into
a "History of Doylestown Township" which I had the pleasure
of writing in 1908 for a Doylestown newspaper. With the in-
dulgence of the audience I will repeat the old gentleman's de-
scription :
What is now known as Emil Peiter's bakery, on East State
street, east of Main street, was in 1850 and long before that
date the residence of Timothy Smith, contractor and stonemason,
who did the stone-work on the Bucks county courthouse of 1812.
Smith owned all the land from his dwelling to the Samuel Solli-
day jewelry store, now occupied as a dwelling by Lycurgus
Bryan. The Smith property fronted about 170 feet on State
street, and about 110 feet of this front, extending back from the
street nearly half a square, was occupied by the flower garden,
designed probably by Mr. Smith before 1830. The garden was
crossed by walks, bordered with low boxwood hedges, and filled
with all sorts of old-fashioned flowers — dafiPodils, narcissus,
primroses, jesmine and many varieties of old sweet-scented roses —
"Whatsoe'er of beauty
Yearns and yet reposes.
Blush, and bloom, and sweet breath.
Took the form of roses" —
and hyacinths, and cowslips, and harebells, and lark-spurs, and
johnny-jump-ups, and heart's-ease ; heart's ease —
"How I used to love thee, simple flower,
To love thee, dearly, when a boy;
For thou didst seem in childhood's hour
The smiling type of childhood's joy."
And around the edges of the great beds of bloom, hiding in the
half sunlit shelter of graceful over-shadowing shrubs, was that
modest little yellow-flowered plant, still seen about old country
doorways and garden walls, and to which Wordsworth sang his
madrigal —
"Pansies, lilies, king-cups, daisies.
Let them live upon their praises;
There's a flower that shall be mine,
'Tis the little Celandine."
This old garden passed out of existence in 1855, when the
land was needed for dwellings and store houses.
Lack of time and the limitations of this paper have permitted
454 WELLS AND PUMPS IN BUCKS COUNTY
but small detailed description of old-fashioned garden flowers
and old-time gardens. To those who desire to pursue the sub-
ject further, I would commend two books :
A Treatise on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Garden-
ing, Adapted to North America. By A. J. Downing, 1855. New
York: C. M. Saxton & Co., Agricultural Book Publishers.
Old-time Gardens, Nezvly Set Forth. By Alice Morse Earle.
1901. The MacMillan Company.
The first-named book is out of print and difficult to obtain.
Delightful David Grayson quotes Downing afifectionately, giving
his work the distinction it deserves.
The second book named is not only a charming volume, cover-
ing the subject in much minuteness, but it should possess special
interest to members of the Bucks County Historical Society, be-
cause a number of its many beautiful illustrations were made
from photographs taken by Mary F. C. Paschall, the talented
wife of the late Alfred Paschall, long-time secretary of this
society.
Wells and Pumps in Bucks County.
BY JAMES H. FITZGERALD, MECHANICS VALLEY, PA.
(Friends Meeting House, Solebury, October 14, 1922.)
MANY of the early settlers built their dwellings near
springs and in many instances these were located in val-
leys and at considerable distances from the main roads,
which were subsequently laid out. The Old York, Easton and
Bethlehem roads followed higher ground or ridges in order to
avoid traversing sloughs or swampy ground.
As sites near springs were limited, and settlements increased,
the digging of wells was begun in order to secure a convenient
and adequate water supply. When and where the first well was
dug in our county by the early settlers (presuming that the na-
tives did not dig wells), would be interesting information. Al-
though I have been unable to supply this data, I am of the
opinion that the first wells were dug along or near the main high-
ways. Many of these have been abandoned or their use discon-
WELLS AND PUMPS IN BUCKS COUNTY 455
tinned, for sanitary reasons, especially in towns where a modern
water supply has been provided by corporations or municipalities.
One of these wells was discovered in front of Lenape Hall,
Doylestown (southeast corner Main and State streets), when
the Pennsylvania State Highway Department was supervising
the construction of a cement road between Philadelphia and
Easton. There was originally a tunnel from the cellar of a hotel
on this site to the well. Tunnels like this were sometimes used
to store butter and milk during the summer months. Another
old w^ell was discovered in Doylestown while excavations were
being conducted for the erection of the McLaughlin garage on
the west side of Main street above Oakland avenue. Another
old well in Doylestown with hand-made pump and pump-house
is on what was formerly the Magill farm, now 56 South Main
street. The dwelling on this property is also interesting on ac-
count of the excellence of its construction and the interior wood
work, hand-made hardware and locks. The average depth of
these and several others wells in Doylestown was thirty feet.
At first the digging of a well simply meant excavating until
an adequate water supply was apparently secured, but experience
taught that in order to secure a supply of pure water, without
contamination from surface drainage, a depth of at least twenty-
five feet was desirable. The early settler was a "jack-of-all-
trades" and therefore, dug his own well. A few men, gaining
knowledge by experience as workmen, became professional well-
diggers and one of the objects of the writer, in gathering data for
this paper, was to locate them and secure their testimony.
Robert Birmingham, an aged resident of Doylestown, had fifty
years experience in directing the digging of wells for water. He
was born in New Jersey and the first well dug by him in Bucks
county was for John Tomlinson near Newtown. The depth of
this well was thirty-one feet. Mr. Birmingham says that a well
should be eight feet in diameter in order to give room for the
use of a pick and shovel. Wells were dug in the late summer
or early fall months when there was a minimum rainfall. Some-
times an apparently lasting supply would be secured, but after
pumping out w^ould prove to be what was called a pocket. Dig-
ging would be resumed until a lasting supply \vas, without doubt,
456 WELLS AND PUMPS IN BUCKS COUNTY
secured. As the work proceeded, the excavation was cased with
planks and braced in order to prevent caving.
Permanent casing or walHng up of the well began at the bot-
tom. Stones or hard bricks w^ere generally used. The wall was
from twelve to eighteen inches thick and the material laid, so as
to resist pressure, just as the stones of an arch are laid to sustain
weight. Mr. Brimingham also had experience in deepening
wells that had become dry. A well forty-five feet in depth on the
property of John Price on the top of Iron Hill was dry. He
went there in July and cased it with planks for a distance of at
least twenty-five feet from the bottom. A hole four feet in
depth was drilled in the center of the bottom and after a charge
of two pounds of dynamite was used, water arose to a depth
of eight feet. Cornelius Singer, residing between Thatchers and
Applebachsville, is another expert well digger.
Mr. Birmingham witnessed the use of divining rods, green
boughs of apple or hazel, in eflforts to locate a water supply
but was somewhat skeptical as to their practical use. Dr. Frank
B. Swartzlander, of Doylestown, says that Herodotus, the Greek
historian (490-409 B. C.) records the use of this device. This
subject was discussed in a paper by Mr. Mann and I cannot add
anything to it.^
When I was a small boy I was lowered down into a well, forty
feet deep, for the purpose of cleaning it. In order to determine
whether there was foul air in the well or not, a lighted candle,
placed in a bucket, was slowly lowered into it. If the flame was
extinguished it indicated that there would be danger in descend-
ing. In this instance the air was pure and cold. About eighteen
inches of sand, also a number of small articles, carelessly dropped
into the well, were removed.
Wells are sometimes used for refrigerative purposes and but-
ter, milk and other foodstuffs, placed in proper receptacles, are
lowered into them. Game, especially partridges, is said to im-
prove in flavor and tenderness if suspended in a well for about
three days.
Several vaults or caves can be found in Bucks county so con-
structed that the well opens into them. The pump stock extends
to the ground level into an enclosure called a pump house. Some
1 See paper by Horace M. Mann, page ante.
WELLS AND PUMPS IN BUCKS COUNTY 457
pump houses are roomy and used as laundries or outside kitch-
ens. There is such a combination on a farm located on the Pub-
ble Hill road, Doylestown township, owned by Wallace Dungan
of Doylestown borough.
One of the deepest of wells dug in Bucks county, by the primi-
tive method, is located on the former Gustavus A. Cox farm,
along the Old York road in Buckingham township, now owned
by Robert Grace. This well is reported by some to be one hun-
dred and seventy-five feet deep and by others one hundred and
ninety feet. Some say that it was a shaft dug by prospectors
for iron ore, but Mrs. J. Willis Atkinson, granddaughter, of
Gustavus A. Cox, of Buckingham, says that it was dug to secure
water to wash iron ore taken from excavations nearby. This
was in the seventies of the last century and although a young girl
at the time, Mrs. Atkinson remembers the digging of the well
under the direction of the Bethlehem Iron Company. Joseph
West, of Buckingham, a tinsmith and still active in his line, says
that he made tubes of tin that were used in blasting in this well.
These tubes varied in length from three to seven feet with a di-
ameter of about two inches. A smaller tube about three feet in
length was soldered on the larger one. In this small tube a slow
burning fuse was placed enabling the workmen to get out of the
well before the gunpowder in the larger tube became ignited.
These lengthy tubes were used because the charge had to be in-
serted in mud and water. The tin used was always the thinnest
in stock to allow lateral expansion. A steam engine was used to
operate the windlass and pump seepage-water from the well and
air into it. During the process of digging this well, it was cased
with heavy planks and a ladder made from scantlings reached
from top to bottom. The well is not now in use and is partly
filled.
Today there are three types of wells, namely : first, the open
well dug by hand labor ; second, the driven well and, third, the
drilled and cased wells. The last two named are called Artesian
wells, originating in Artois, France. The cased well is the best
type of the three as no impurities can enter from the surface.
This type of well is drilled through the various layers of surface
soil, clay and rock until a stream of w^ater is reached. The hole
is lined' with an iron or steel pipe casing, inserted as the work pro-
458 WELLS AND PUMPS IX BUCKS COUNTY
ceeds, and keeps out all surface water. To determine when a
lasting supply has been reached, the same principle applies as in
the digging of an open well. Operation is suspended and a pump
is used, sometimes for two or three days to determine whether
or not a lasting supply has been reached.
With the exception of some places in the valley of the Dela-
ware river, wells are drilled in Bucks county. After a site has
been selected sometimes two or more wells must be drilled be-
fore a satisfactory supply is secured. An instance of this oc-
curred recently on the property of Allen Fink, in Buckingham
township, where a well was drilled to a depth of six hundred and
eighty feet without success. Another was drilled two hundred
and twenty-five feet west of the first one to a depth of two hun-
dred feet. This was also abandoned and a third well was drilled
about twenty-five feet east of the first venture and a lasting
supply was secured at a depth of seventy-five feet, sustaining a
pumpage of thirty-five gallons a minute.
From "Doylestouni Old and Nczu," by General W. W. H.
Davis, we learn that the Borough of Doylestown established a
water works in 1869. The first supply was obtained from springs
ini the meadow above the milldam, from which water was pumped
into a distributing basin, adjoining the Doylestown cemetery.
Subsequently three wells were drilled to a depth of one hundred
and sixty-five, one hundred and seventy-five and six hundred and
fifty feet. Notwithstanding diligent inquiry, the writer was un-
able to obtain the date of the drilling of these wells.
We now arrive at the discussion of pumps in Bucks county
and the writer asks to be excused from giving a technical de-
scription of their construction because he is not qualified to do so.
Our purpose is to give a chronological review of the several
methods of raising water from the depths of a well to the surface.
We are tempted to cite the invention of Archimedes and the
transfer of the water from the Nile but when the title of our
paper is recalled we must "stick to our last".
The primitive methods of drawing water from a well were by
means of a rope and bucket, the windlass, the endless chain and
well-sweep. These need no description as the information can be
obtained from any reliable encyclopaedia, and a well-sweep can
be seen among the exhibits in our museum. 1 might sdy, how-
WELLS AND PUMPS IN BUCKS COUNTY 459
ever, that well-sweeps were used in Bucks county and one was
in practical use recently at Canada Hill. Gunpowder kegs were
used as well buckets. A blacksmith was employed to "iron them
off", that is to say, strong iron hoops and a heavy bale were put
on the keg. When the bucket was lowered and reached the
water, the weight of the bale turned it over and allowed it to fill
immediately.
The first pumps used in Bucks county were hand made.
Hickory or oak trees were selected. After the removal of the
bark, the trunks were hewn hexagonal, which shape gave them a
more uniform thickness. They were then placed on perfectly
level trestles, and bored with a pod auger. Two men were re-
quired to do this work. The kind of tools used are to be found
in the museum of our society. The trunks were bored immediate-
ly after cutting, while the wood was green, and then placed at
once in the wells.
Among the pump-makers of Bucks county were Lewis Bond
of Newtown ; John Stradling of Oxford Valley ; James Conrad
of Mozart; Tobias Shuman of Erwinna; Charles Fry of Dan-
borough, and Samuel Strouse, who lived during several periods
in Tinicum and Nockamixon townships alternately. I knew him
very well. In his younger days he made a large number of
pumps for residents in the upper end of Bucks county. He was
an excellent workman and supported his parents until their
death, after which he lived alone. The last pump made by him
was during the late eighties for Mr. Helsel of Tinicum. Owing
to the competition and low prices for machine-made pumps, and
his inability to direct any other kind of work, Mr. Strouse, dur-
ing his last days on earth, was a ward of his township and his
body is interred in the cemetery adjoining the Nockamixon church.
The average cost of hand-made pumps, when the material was
furnished by the employer, was about twelve dollars.
The "Cucumber" pump, while machine-made, was practically
the same as the hand-made pump. It was lighter, however, and
easily installed. The chain-pump and the iron-pump of today
need no description. Another pump used was the "boatman's",
which was made of tin or galvanized iron and produced at a
low cost. As it had but one bucket or valve, it could be used only
in shallow wells and cisterns. As far as I have been able to
460 WELLS AND PUMPS IN BUCKS COUNTY
learn, the first iron lift and force pump was made in 1848 by
Downes & Company, Seneca Falls, N. Y. The "pitcher pump"
was largely used, and sales ran as high as 150,000 annually.
Reference has been made to the Doylestown Water Works and
through the courtesy of Mr. Hudson, the engineer, the plant was
visited. The "Holly System" is used, with Worthington pumps.
A pipe is laid to each well through which air is pumped and the
water is forced by compressed air to a stand pipe erected on the
site of the former reservoir. The "Worthington" pumps forty
gallons at each stroke and twenty strokes a minute. Every stroke
is automatically registered, thus enabling the engineer to deter-
mine, as nearly as possible, the exact quantity of water raised.
The manufacture of pumps has become a great industry and in
no part of our country is there a greater demand for them than
in Bucks county. Pumps are used to provide an automatic
water supply system on the farm. The pump, storage tank and
all other necessary apparatus is provided and can be readily in-
stalled in country homes. Spraying machinery is also designed
to meet all the demands of agriculture and horticulture.
The old hand-made pump is still in use and we sometimes find
a windlass and the "Old Oaken Bucket" made famous in poetry
and song. Whether it is imagination or fascination, we like to
partake of the greatest beverage on earth direct from its source,
instead of receiving it after its passage through pipes, pumps and
faucets.
The Early Courthouses of Bucks County.
BY MRS. MARY T. HILLBORN, NEWTOWN, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, January 20, 1923.)
SEVERAL places claim the honor of the first court-of-justice
for Bucks county, but most authorities give it as being held
at the home of William Biles, two miles down the Delaware
river from Morrisville, on January 4, 1683. Those present on
the bench were William Penn, William Biles, William Yardley
and two or three others, with Phineas Pemberton as clerk,
which office he held until his death. ^
The court was moved to Bristol in 1705. On March 24, 1724,
an act was passed by the colonial legislature authorizing Jeremiah
Langhorne, William Biles, Thomas Kirkbride, Jr., Thomas W'at-
son, M.D., and Abraham Chapman, to obtain land for a new
courthouse, the price not to exceed £300. They accordingly
purchased land of John Walley in Newtown, on July 17, 1725,
having a frontage of forty perches on the east side of the com-
mons, bounded on the south by Lower (now Penn) street, and
extending east twenty perches, and was known as the "five acres".
When the courthouse was erected in Newtown in 1725, the
place was but a small village. The houses were scattered over
quite a large space, with vacant lots beteween them cleared for
gardens and for planting grain. After the five acres of land had
been laid out, the squares were subdivided into smaller lots and
sold.
In 1733, the courthouse grounds were laid out in six squares,
marked on the plan A, B, C, D, E and F, separated by streets.
The courthouse, jail and workhouse, and the treasury building
were on lot A. The jail was on Main street and stood about
where H. G. Efifrig's store now stands, the jail-yard was north of
it. The courthouse was a two story building with double doors
in front, a fireplace in each end of the building, stone chimneys,
old-fashioned hip-roof and a square box on top in which hung
the bell. The judges were seated on an elevated platform, located
in the recess of a large bay window. The second story was
1 Phineas Pemberton died March 5, 1702, one of his daughters married
Jeremiah Langhorne.
462 THE EARLY COURTHOUSES OF BUCKS COUNTY
finished in suitable rooms for juries. This building stood on the
site of the newly remodeled house on Court street, belonging to
Mrs. Horace G. Reeder. The treasury building was between the
jail and the courthouse. The high ground on which the court-
house buildings were erected, gave them a very inspiring appear-
ance from King street, now Centre avenue.
In 1745, the old jail was found to be too small, and orders were
given for the building of a new and larger one. This was located
directly west of the courthouse. The kitchen of the house, on
what is generally called the Heilig property, now owned by Hor-
ace G. Reeder, was the office and the barroom of the jail, where
everybody in and out of confinement could get rum, if they had
the money to pay for it. Under this room were several cells.
Paddy Hunter, the jailer and bartender, was a man of very lax
morals, and it was with difficulty that he kept the prisoners in
jail. After the new jail was built, the old one was used as a
workhouse for the prisoners. One of the prisoners confined
therein, was Elizabeth Thomas, charged with murder, she pleaded
"not guilty", but was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced
to be branded on the hand with a hot iron, a scar which she car-
ried throughout the rest of her life, with no chance of living
down her past. During the Revolutionary war some members
of the Society of Friends were confined in the jail for refusing
to abandon their principles in reference to war; one of them was
Joseph Smith of Buckingham, the inventor of the mouldboard for
plows ; he declined, from conscientious scruples, to pay anything
towards the support of the war ; he was therefore jailed. Dur-
ing his imprisonment he amused himself by whittling out the
model for his plow, which he threw over the jail wall and which
excited much interest as an important addition to farming.-
There is a record of but one hanging in the Newtown jail.
At the death of Paddy Hunter, Asa Gary (later of Bird-in-
Hand fame), became the jailer. He was the last jailer at New-
town and the first at the Doylestown jail. The last visible trace
of the old jail is the stone wall along the west of the property on
State street. When the jail was torn down, some of the stones
were used in building the Phillips house, which stood on East
Washington avenue, and when that was torn down in 1877, there
2 For history of the Smith plow, with etching, see Vol. Ill, p. 11.
THE EARLY COURTHOUSES OF BUCKS COUNTY 463
was found in the wall a fragment of an old milestone that had
stood at the corner of the jail wall. The upper part only was
left, and on it was the inscription :
The figures and letters doubtless stood for 24 miles
1761 and 64 perches to Philadelphia.
24 M. In 1772 a new fireproof office was built, located be-
64 P. tween the jail and courthouse. This building, in which
To P. the records were kept, was twelve by sixteen feet on
the inside, with stone walls two feet thick, arched over
with bricks ; there was a chimney and fireplace in one end of it.
Prior to the erection of this building all of the county records had
been kept at the homes of the respective incumbents of the row
offices.
One of the chief items of interest in this little building, was the
raid on the treasury October 22. 1781. The raiders were known
as the "Doan Refugees". They seemed to have a grievance against
the government, but that did not explain or justify their outlawry.
The raiders were led by the Doan brothers, who were sons of
respectable Quaker parents of Plumstead township. This family
of Doans appears to have been distinct from other Doan families
in Bucks county, as no trace has been found of any of their de-
scendants.'^ The raiders, all very much under the influence of
liquor, left their horses hitched along the Bear or Richboro road,
just west of the town. They appeared at the home of treasurer,
John Hart, who lived at the "First Hollow", but now known to
the most of us as the Bond house, situated at the lower end of
State street, now owned by Harry Mitchell. Knocking, they
gained admittance, whereupon they began by tying the hands of
Treasurer Hart, then went upstairs, ransacked every chest and
drawer for money and valuables, compelled Mr. Hart to give
them the key to the vault, which enabled them to open it, broke
open the desk, and took $2,300 in paper and silver money. This
same desk is now owned by \\"atson T. Hillborn. and has been
used by five generations of the Hillborn family, coming to them
from the Chapman family. The robbers carried their booty to
an old log schoolhouse, which stood just across the road from
the Friends Meeting House at \\>ightstown, where they divided
it. each one receiving $140 in silver, and dividing the paper money
3 See two papers on the Doans by Dr. Mercer, Vol. I. pp. 173 and 270.
464 TPIE EARLY COURTHOUSES OF BUCKS COUNTY
by count, without regard to its value. The robbers were all
captured and given trials, two of them escaped punishment by
making confessions. Two of the Doan brothers were hung in
Philadelphia, and their father, Joseph, walked behind the cart
which carried their bodies from Philadelphia to Plumstead.
They reached the meeting-house while meeting was in session.
The members objected to their bodies being buried in the grave-
yard, but allowed them sepulture in a grove opposite, which be-
longed to the meeting.
The treasury building was used during the Revolutionary war
for storing powder, etc., it was the last building left standing,
and was torn down in 1873.
In 1796, the public business of the county having increased, the
small fireproof office was found too small, and therefore the
house now owned by Edward S. Hutchinson, was erected by the
county for public offices. The first floor was divided by walls
twenty inches thick into four rooms, the two on the south end
were used as offices and the two on the north were used as vaults.
These were provided with iron shutters and iron window and
door frames, several of them are still to be seen in their places.
After the erection of this improved building, the old treasury
building was used as a lockup.^
There is rather an amusing story told of some apprentice boys.
There was a show in the town, which ended in a riot, the ring
leaders were arrested and put in the lockup, but through the
influence of friends, all were released except the four apprentice
boys, who dissatisfied with their accommodations, climbed up the
chimney, and as black as crows, they cawed defiance to Mosey
Lancaster, the chief burgess, who lived in an adjoining house.
Getting out his gun. Mosey ordered the boys to their quarters,
but they continued to keep up their noise until the wee small
hours, when they went down the chimney to their quarters in the
jail. I think some of us remember Mosey Lancaster, who was
the first chief burgess of Newtown. He lived to the age of about
ninety years. What I remember best about him was the very
fancy waistcoat he used to wear, which I suppose appealed to
me as a child.
4 For detailed description of tlie public buildings at Newton, with etchings,
see paper by Edward S. Hutchinson, Vol. I, p. 384 et seq.
The Lowther Family of Buckingham.
BY MRS. ADA LOWTHER WILKINSON, NEW YORK CITY.
(Doylestown Meeting, January 20, 1923.)
WILLIAM LOWTHER, with Martha, his wife, and their
six children, came to America in the year 1729, at a time
when there was a great rush of emigration from the
British Isles. They were known as English Quakers, settling first
in Abington, Philadelphia county, and were identified with the
Abington Monthly Meeting.
They, with Edward Farmer and Rachel, his wife, had a grant
of land in Philadelphia county from the Proprietaries of the
Commonwealth, consisting of one thousand acres. It was dis-
covered that this grant lay within the German Land Companies
possessions, so the proprietors ordered a resurvey and layed out
to Edward Farmer and William Lowther one thousand acres,
part of which lay in Oley township, Philadelphia county, and two
tracts in Bucks county.
In 1731 that part of the land grant which lay in Oley township,
consisting of two hundred acres, was sold to John Hufifnagle, of
Oley, for the sum of illO. Persumably it was about this time
that William Lowther moved with his family to "The Wilder-
ness" as this section was then called.
The old Lowther Plantation in Buckingham, of later years
known as the Lippincott farm, bordering on the Lumberville and
Durham roads, is about four miles northeast of Doylestown and
one mile southwest of the village of Mechanicsville. This farm
has only within the last few years passed entirely out of the
family, it having come down through the descendents of James
and Ruth Lowther Bradshaw for more than one hundred and
fifty years.
In the Buckingham Monthly Meeting records, appears the
following: "November 6, 1734. At this meeting William Low-
ther produced a certificate from the Abington Monthly Meeting,
which came from Ireland, for his wife and family (his son,
Robert, excepted being not in Unity) which was read and ac-
cepted." In the Buckingham Monthly Meeting records are also
466 THE LOWTHER FAMILY OF BUCKINGHAM
registered the marriages of three of the daughters, Sarah, Martha
and Mary.
1. Sarah, married Thomas Ely, son of Hugh and Mary Ely,
November 22, 1734. Hugh Ely, the father of Thomas, set apart
the present Paxson farm at Holicong to the new couple and they
lived there until 1773 when they moved to Harford county, Md.
Their son Hugh married Sarah Balderson, daughter of John
Balderson of Solebury, at the Buckingham Monthly Meeting,
Jan. 5, 1774. Sarah Ely was acting clerk of the Monthly Meet-
ing at Deer Creek, Md., in 1790.
2. Robert, was married to Aquilla Reese, February 20, 1736,
to whom I will refer later.
3. Joel, married Phoebe Ellis, July 5, 1738, in the First Pres-
byterian Church. He was disowned by the Buckingham Month-
ly Meeting in 1740, but abstracts from the meeting do not dis-
close the cause, but it was doubless because he "married out of
meeting." In Joel's family there were variations in the spelling
of the family name, such as Lother, Louder and Lowder, due first
to the Welsh influence, who disregarded the w, and second to
the German pronunciation, which made it Lowder, using d in-
stead of th.
Their son John married Martha, daughter of Jeremiah Vastine,
Jr., about 1760, and lived at Hilltown, Bucks county. Their son
Abraham, born Ajpril 10, 1771, married Catharine Tettemer in
1801. He was killed by falling from a runaway horse on April
22, 1814. Their children were, Henry, born January 9, 1802, who
married at Groton, N. Y. John, born February 21, 1805, died at
Wilkes-Barre, Pa., in 1869. Moses, born December 11, 1812.
Catharine Tettemer Lowder married 2nd. Abraham Freyling.
4. Ruth was married to James Bradshaw, son of John Brad-
shaw about the year 1740. In 1741 William Lowther sold to
James Bradshaw, his son-in-law, seventy acres of the Lowther
homestead farm, and at the death of William Lowther in 1750,
his executor, Benjamin Fell, sold the remaining portion of the
plantation consisting of eighty acres to James Bradshaw. Ruth
and James had twelve children, John, William, David, Amos,
Joel, George, Rachel, Ruth, Robert, Mary, James and Sarah.
James lived until the eve of the Revolution. His will was made
October 22, 1774. He devised the farm ("where I now live")
THE LOWTHER FAMILY OF BUCKINGHAM 467
to his eldest son John. His widow, Ruth, survived him and she
received "seven hundred pounds and a room in the house." Ruth
was not a Quaker until after her children were grown and with
some of them she accepted their faith. She died in 1803.
5. Martha, who married Joseph Carver November 7, 1774, at
Buckingham Meeting House. Joseph was the son of William and
Elizabeth Carver. Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry Walms-
ley of Buckingham, and grandson of John and Mary Carver,
who came from England in 1682 with William Penn. They had
a son, Joel, whose children were Joel, Jr., Rachel and Robert.
6. Mary, who married Samuel Simpson of Plumstead on Au-
gust 2, 1745, at Buckingham Meeting House. Samuel was clerk
of the Plumstead Meeting for twenty years, but took certificates
for himself and his family to the Abington Meeting in 1765. He
died in 1790. Their children were Joel, Martha, Benjamin.
Samuel, William and Amos.
William Lowther died in the fall of 1750, Martha, his wife
having died about two years before. His will was made Sept.
2, 1750, and was witnessed by John Thomas, Abraham Tucker
and John Watson, Jr., and read as follows :
"Be it remembered that I, William Lowther of the Township of
Buckingham and the County of Bucks, Weaver, being weak of body
but of sound mind and memory (blessed be God there fore) for pre-
venting disputes that might otherwise hereafter arise in my family,
touching the estate with which it has pleased God to bless me, have
thought fit to devise and dispose of the same in the following man-
ner: that is to say:
I give and devise all my lands, hereditament, and appurtanences
whatsoever to the same belonging, situated in Buckingham Township
or elsewhere to be sold by my executors herein after named, as soon
as conveniently may be after my decease and for the best price that
can or may be had for the same, and the money arising from such
sale, I will to be disposed of as here after mentioned. That is to say:
sixty pounds thereof I give and bequeath to my son-in-law James Brad-
shaw upon the condition that he first give security to the keeper of the
Township aforesaid, for the maintenance of my granddaughter, Han-
nah Lowther, daughter of my son Robert, during the time and term
of her natural life. But if my said son-in-law refuses or neglects to
give such security by the space of three months after my decease, then
I give the same sum of sixty pounds to such other of my children as
will give security as aforesaid. And as touching the residue of the
money arising from the sale aforesaid. I give and bequeath the same to
468 THE LOWTHER FAMILY OF BUCKINGHAM
be equally divided between my children, my son, Joel excepted, to whom
I give a double share of the same.
Also all the rest and residue of my estate after full payment of in-
terest, debts and funeral expenses, I bequeath to be equally divided be-
tween my children, share and share alike, my son Joel above named
only excepted, to which I give no part of the same, and lastly I con-
stitute and appoint my friend, Benjamin Fell, executor of this my
Testament and Last Will, hereby revoking all former wills and testa-
ments by me at any time made, and declare this written sheet of paper
to be and contain my last will and testament, and none other nor other-
wise. Dated this the second day of the seventh month (September) in
the year 1750." (Will Book 2, Doylestown, Pa.)
Robert Lowther, son of William and Martha, of Bucks county,
married Aquilla Reese of Plumstead township, on February 20,
1736, in the First Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia, (see
records of that church), presumably by the Rev. Mr. Whitefield
of Philadelphia, who journeyed out to Abington twice each month
to preach to the Presbyterians in that section. In this same year
Aquilla Lowther was disowned by the Quakers of Buckingham,
and though no reason for the disownment was recorded, it is sup-
posed as was often the case, to have been because of her marriage
to one who was not "of the unity." About the year 1740 Robert
and Aquilla moved to Moorfield, Hardy county, on the Potomac
river, then a part of Augusta county, Va. At that time all the
land which lay west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, in fact all the
present state of West Virginia and a portion of Western Penn-
sylvania including Pittsburgh and the lands on the Ohio river
formed Augusta county. In this district settled a people "whose
characteristics have ever been truth, honesty, simplicity and
courage. (Wither's Border Warfare.)
The following is a copy from a diary by John Bradshaw, son
of Robert Lowther's sister, Ruth Bradshaw, and from whom
Mrs. Clayton D. Fretz of Sellersville is descended :
"Robert Lowther lived in Harrison County in Virginia about six-
teen miles south of Clarksburg. He died about the year 1780 and left
six children. His oldest child called Mary married Alexander Morri-
son and lives eight miles from Clarksburg, (and has five children all
living in the same neighborhood. The first named Archibald, the sec-
ond Margaret Lowther, the third Mary Kester, the fourth Alexander,
fifth Sarah Reese). Robert's second child Sarah Dark, lived in Jeffer-
son County, near Shepherdstown on the Potomac, the third William
married Sidney Hughes, the fourth Martha Childers, the fifth Rebecca
THE LOWTHER FAMILY OF BUCKINGHAM 469
Carder, the sixth Joel lives in Wood County on the Kanaway, at the
mouth of the Hughes River."
This information is given by Alexander Morrison, grandson to
Robert Lowther, on the 18th day of Jan. 1807. This list of
Robert's children does not include Jonathan, who was shot down
by the Indians in an eflfort to protect the fort, in 1778, nor does
it mention Hannah who was a beneficiary in her grandfather's
will in 1750.
Robert Lowther left Moorfield in 1770 and moved with his
children to Harrison county. It was there that he reentered upon
the pioneer struggles necessary to clear the heavy forests and
transfer them into farm lands. These rugged men conquered the
wild beasts, fought back the tribes of wild Indians, subdued the
forests, built homes and planted the seeds of civilization that
was to be the heritage of future generations, and to grow into
wealth, intelligence and moral qualities through the coming ages.
In this new settlement there were several families whose names
figured in the settlement of Bucks county in the earlier years,
and it is reasonable to suppose that a small colony of the younger
people left this section together, to seek out homes for them-
selves and their families in the southern tier of counties first,
and later, over the mountains into Augusta county. Joel Low-
ther, son of Robert and Aquilla Lowther, was born in Augusta
county in 1746, and lived on the Kanaway river in Western Vir-
ginia. He served in the war of the Revolution and was severely
wounded, in the later years of his life he moved to Athens,
Ohio, and lived with his children until his death in 1822. Colonel
William Lowther, son of Robert and Aquilla, was born December
22, 1742, in Augusta county, Va. He married Sudna, daughter
of Thomas Hughes in 1764,
"Soon after William Lowther moved to Harrison County, in 1772,
he became one of the most conspicuous figures in the County. During
the war of 1774 and subsequently he was most active and efificient de-
fender of that vicinity against the savages. He was the first justice of
the peace in the district of West Augusta, the first sheriff of Harrison
and Wood County, and was once a delegate to the General Assembly
of the State. His military merit carried him through the subordinate
grades to the rank of colonel, which position he retained until Wayne's
treaty with the Indians at Greenville." (Wither Border Warfare.)
Colonel Lowther died October 28, 1814, and is buried in the
470 THE LOWTHER FAMILY OF BUCKINGHAM
family burying ground on the old Lowther farm on the west
fork of the Monongahela river, four miles from Clarksburg,
West Virginia,
Thomas Hughes, mentioned as the father-in-law of Colonel
William Lowther, and afterward killed by the Indians, was a de-
scendent of John Hughes one of the earliest settlers in Bucks
county. Thomas was one of the pioneers of Hardy county, Va.
and in 1770 he with his three sons, Jesse, Thomas, Jr., and Elias,
moved across the mountains into Western Virginia. These three
men with William Lowther built the first fort west of the Blue
Ridge Mountains where the town of Meadow Brook now stands.
Jesse Hughes and his brothers were great Indian fighters. Their
names were a terror to the savages and household words of com-
fort to the scattered settlers in that section.
The Reese family of which Aquilla Reese of Plumstead was
a member were very numerous. Some were Quakers, the family
having first come to America with William Penn, from whom
they had grants of land in Philadelphia and Bucks counties.
These and many other families who followed the trail of ad-
vancing civilization through the southern tier of counties, over
the mountain-pass and on to Western Virginia, Ohio and North
Carolina, had their American origin in Bucks county, Pennsyvania.
Notes on Adobe Bricks.
BY HORACE M. MANN^ DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, January 20, 1923.)
ADOBE or adobe bricks are large roughly-formed bricks
made of a gray clay or soil, found through parts of Colo-
rado, New Mexico, Arizona, border of Texas and in old
Mexico, which becomes very hard after being wet and baked in
the sun, but never baked in a kiln, now moulded in forms, though
before the advent of the white man formed in rough balls, and
much used by the Indians and other natives of the southwestern
United States and Mexico in house construction. Lewis H.
Morgan, in his "Ruins of a Stone Pueblo", (Peabody Museum
Report, Vol. XII, p. 541), says:
"Adobe is a kind of pulverized clay with a bond of considerable
strength by mechanical cohesion. In southern Colorado, in Arizona,
and New Mexico there are immense tracts covered with what is called
adobe soil. It varies somewhat in the degree of its excellence. The
kind of which they make their pottery has the largest per cent of
alumina and its presence is indicated by the salt weed which grows in
this particular soil. This kind also makes the best adobe mortar. The
Indians use it freely in laying their walls, as freely as our masons use
lime mortar; and although it never acquires the hardness of cement,
it disintegrates slowly."
In Bulletin 30, Part 1, 1907, Bureau of American Ethnology,
Handbook of American Indians, adobe is defined and described
thus :
"Abode (a word traceable to an Egyptian hieroglyph signifying
'brick,' thence to Arabic 'at-tob,' whence the Spanish 'adobar,' meaning
'to daub,' 'to plaster;' adopted in the United States from Mexico.)
Large sun-dried bricks, much used by the Pueblo Indians of New Mex-
ico in building houses and garden walls. The process of molding
adobes in a wooden frame was not employed by the aborigines of the
United States before the advent of the Spaniards in the 16th century."
In 1540 the Pueblo method of preparing the material and of
erecting masonry, when stone was not available, is thus described
by Castaneda about 1560 (14th report, Bureau American Eth-
nology, p. 520, 1896) :
"They gather a great pile of twigs of thyme (sagebrush) and sedge
grass and set it afire, and when it is half coals and ashes they throw a
472 NOTES ON ADOBE BRICKS
quantity of dirt and water on it and mix it all together. They make
round balls of this, which they use instead of stones after they are
dry, fixing them with the same mixture, which comes to be like a
stiff clay." The Bureau Report continues:
After the introduction of wheat by the Spaniards the straw crushed
by the hoofs of horses, in stamping out the grain on the threshing
floor, was substituted by the Indians for the charred brush. The
character of much of the soil of the arid region is such that no foreign
admixture, excepting the straw, is required. A requisite of adobe-mak-
ing is a good supply of water; consequently the industry is conducted
generally on the banks of streams, near which pueblos are usually built.
When molded, the adobes are set on edge to dry, slanted slightly to
shed rain. Adobes vary in size, but are generally about eighteen inches
long, eight to ten inches wide and four to six inches thick. In setting
them in walls, mortar of the same material is used. For the sake of ap-
pearance, as well as to aid in protecting it against weathering, adobe
masonry is usually plastered, the Indian women using their hands as
trowels, when it presents a pleasing appearance, varying in color from
gray to a rich reddish brown, according to the color of the earth of
which the plaster is made. The interior walls, and sometimes also the
borders of the windows and doors, are sometimes whitewashed with
gypsum. Another kind of earth-masonry in the arid region is that
known as 'pise.' This was made by erecting a double framework of
poles, wattled with reeds or grass, forming two parallel surfaces as far
apart as the desired thickness of the wall, and into the enclosed space
adobe grout was rammed.
In the description of the celebrated Casa Grande, Arizona,
ruin (Mindeleff, 13th Report Bureau American Ethnology, pp.
238, 309, 1891-2) exception is taken to referring to the ruin as an
adobe structure as follows :
"Adobe construction, if the word is limited to its proper meaning,
consists of the use of molded brick, dried in the sun but not fire-baked.
Adobe, as thus defined, is very largely used throughout the southwest.
more than nine out of ten houses erected by the Mexican population and
many of those erected by the Pueblo Indians being so constructed; but
it is never found in the older ruins, although seen to a limited extent in
ruins knowns to belong to a period subsequent to the Spanish conquest.
Its discovery, therefore, in the Casa Grande would be important; but
no trace of it can be found. The walls are composed of huge blocks of
earth, three or five feet long, two feet high, and three to four feet thick.
These blocks are not molded and then placed in position but were manu-
factured in place. The method adopted was probably the erection of a
frame work of canes or light poles, woven with reeds or grass, forming
two parallel surfaces or planes, some three or four feet apart and above
five feet long. Into this open box or trough was rammed clayey earth
obtained from the immediate vicinity and mixed with water to a heavy
NOTES ON ADOBE BRICKS 47,3
paste. When the mass was sufficiently dry, the framework was moved
along the wall and the operation repeated. This is the typical 'pise'
or rammed-earth construction, and in the hands of skilled workmen it
suffices for the construction of quite elaborate buildings."
An excellent! description of this pise construction may be found
in detail in The Cyclopaedia of Arts, Sciences and Literature by
Abraham Reese, Philadelphia, Vol. XXVIII, under the subject
of "Pise." At the time (c. 1800) this article was prepared, a
serious attempt was being made to introduce that form of con-
struction into England from parts of France where it had long
been practiced with great success. The method pursued was
probably the same as in the Casa Grande, though no doubt more
attention was given to using better forms or moulds, between
which the loamy earth was packed and rammed. According to
Reese's account, as fast as a section of the mould was filled and the
rammed earth thoroughly dry the mould was moved up or along
and the ramming in of earth proceeded as before. Walls of this
nature however must be built on a foundation of durable masonry
raised to a height of at least two feet which is necessary to secure
the walls from the moisture of the ground ; they must have a good
roof, usually in England of thatch, with an overhanging eve and
must also have the outside walls well plastered with lime and
sand mortar to prevent moisture or storms from disintegrating
the earth walls. This type of house was strong, healthy, very
cheap, and quickly raised and, by renewing the plastering on the
outside walls every ten to fifteen years, very durable, houses ex-
isting in France are known to be at least one hundred and sixty-
years old. Adobe construction is useless where there is much
moisture or where there is any severe frost so that this type of
building was only practical in the warm dry climate of south-
western United States and northern Mexico and was never found
elsewhere in this country with the possible exception of some at-
tempt to make sun baked bricks along the eastern shore of Mary-
land for interior partition walls, the facts of which we have not
yet been able to learn.
As these adobe bricks figured so much in the economic life of
the natives of our southwestern states, and as some of the later
pueblos were built of it, we were anxious to secure a few speci-
mens together with such tools as were used in their making.
474 NOTES ox ADOBE BRICKS
Through the courtesy of the El Paso Chamber of Commerce we
secured a half dozen of these bricks and a double wooden mould
in which they were shaped. These bricks are made of the native
adobe clay plentifully mixed with pebbles and show the grass
or straw used to bind them together until dry. They are about
eighteen inches long by twelve inches wide and four inches thick.
They were taken from the ruins of an old church which is said
to be the first church built at that place (El Paso) on the Amer-
ican side of the river, possibly two hundred years ago. On
several of the bricks the plaster or whitewash still clings with
which the interior of the church was finished. At the time the
bricks were secured the lower part of the walls, where the weather
had not been able to get to the adobe, were still in good condition,
showing that the material would last indefinitely if protected from
the rain. The mould or form that came with them is, of course,
of a much later date, probably having been made and used within
the last year or so. It is a double mould for making two bricks
at once. It is a square frame made of four pieces of half inch
wood, open at both sides, strengthened with wire at each end and
is some twenty-nine and one-half inches long by twenty inches
wide and four inches deep with a wooden cross piece in the mid-
dle dividing it into two moulds each eighteen by twelve by four
inches.
From letters of W. E. Stockwell of the El Paso Chamber of
Commerce, and from Charles A. Wright of Albuquerque, New
Mexico, I find that the methods of making adobe bricks have
changed very little since the Indians first learned from the Span-
iard how to mould a brick instead of rolling the clay into balls or
tamping large blocks between wooden or wicker frames.
An Indian or Mexican native starting to make these bricks
selects a place nearest his proposed building where the adobe
stratum is the deepest and longest and starts digging up the clay
soil usually where the material from the excavation can be used
in making the bricks. In this hole the clay is mixed with water
until the clay has all been pulverized, then they mix in dry grass,
old hay, manure, straw or other fibrous material until the batch
is of a proper consistency to mould. The only tools used are a
shovel for digging out the adobe clay, a hoe for mixing it and
the wooden mould for forming the brick. Even the hoe is not a
NOTES ^N ADOBE BRICKS 475
necessity as many natives prefer to do the mixing with their bare
feet. Mr. Wright says :
"I have seen the natives, where they could not afford a hoe to mix
the dirt and water together, get in the mud with their pants and
dresses pulled up above their knees and tramp it half a day, then mix
in the grass or straw and get in again with their feet and mix for an-
other half day."
Mr. Wright continues, in substance, as follows :
This grass or straw does not rot out leaving holes in the bricks,
as adobes two hundred years old have been found with grass or
straw still as good as that in bricks only half that old. When
correctly mixed the mud is shoveled into the wooden moulds
which are laid flat on the ground which has been cleared of brush
and trash, leveled and made smooth for the purpose. The moulds
are wet at the time the mud is placed in them so that they can be
immediately removed or lifted, leaving the brick on the ground to
dry in the sun. One man can make one hundred or two hundred
blocks in a day. They are left lying flat for several days to be sun-
dried, then they are stood on end to give them the wind and sun
on both sides, and inside of two weeks are ready to set up in the
house. Adobe bricks are usually 18x12x4 inches and weight any-
where from 15 to 20 to 25 pounds apiece, though the size varies,
some being 16x8x4, some 12x12x4, all depending on the ideas of
the maker.
Adobe bricks are generally laid in the wall so that the long side
of the brick is the thickness of the wall. For mortar they use
the plain adobe soil and water, leaving out the grass, hay or
straw, and for plastering, inside and outside the house, they use
the same material worked up until softer. In plastering they use
a trowel, if they have one, if not they use their bare hands.
Some natives who are better makers of adobe bricks than
others producing a harder and better brick, sometimes do not use
any straw or grass. But the usual practice is to mix some straw
or grass with the mud, the quantities varying with the pleasure of
the workman. They do not have any particular time of the year
to make them though if in a region where there might be light
frosts (which would not hurt a cured brick but would crack a
green one), they do not make them during the cooler part of
the year.
476 NOTES ON ADOBE BRICKS
Another type of these bricks is made by the native people who
own land close to the river, where plenty of coarse grass grows in
good adobe soil. These are blocks cut directly from the soil, the
grass roots answering as the material that holds the adobe to-
gether. These bricks are not called adobe but are called "ter-
reno" (pronounced tyronio).
Adobe bricks stand up well against wind and sand but they
will not last long where much rain occurs unless the adobe is set
on a concrete or stone foundation, plastered with lime or cement
on the outside and covered -with a good roof to shed the water;
if they are subjected to wet they crumble and in time crack and
come apart.
My correspondents advise me that adobe bricks are still being
used to a large extent in New Mexico, Arizona, and on the border
of Texas. That no material gives the service that adobe does pro-
vided it be made of the right soil or clay, put together with the
right proportion of grass or straw, given the right time to cure,
kept from wetting by rains, laid on a stone or concrete founda-
tion, with a proper thickness to the walls and with a roof to shed
water. Houses constructed of adobes are very comfortable, be-
ing warm in winter and cool in summer. For this reason, and
owing to the availability and cheapness of the material, adobe
forms an important building material in the southwest and many
large attractive houses are built with it.
NOTES ON ADOBE BRICKS, BY DR. HENRY C. MERCER.
So little is generally known concerning the history and distri-
bution of houses built of sun-baked bricks, that the following
notes to Mr. Mann's valuable paper, seem important:
Dr. George Hayman recently informed me that houses or
chimneys had been built of sun-baked bricks on the eastern
shore of Maryland about 1850 and earlier. This statement was
confirmed by Mr. Morris Keene BarroU, 2nd., who recently wrote
that he had found negroes near Chestertown, Maryland, who had
made these bricks in their younger days. As the eastern shore
of Maryland is considerably above the frost limit, these state-
ments have seemed very surprising. As yet none of the bricks
in question have come to the museum of our society.
Still more surprising was information received this month
NOTES ON ADOBE BRICKS 477
(January, 1923), from Miss Emily C. Bradbury of Germantown,
Pa., who had been employed in government work in Russia in
1918, that she had then seen numerous houses, in the region
about one hundred miles south of Omsk in Asiatic Russia, and
near Samara some distance to the westward, built of adobe bricks.
These bricks were made on level areas of cleaned ground, with-
out wooden forms, by lifting and dropping balls of clay, in the
manner called "batting" by potters. No grass or other binder
was used with the clay, which was tramped by bare-footed
women in pits, and sometimes worked by large wooden wheeled
Chilian mills drawn by horses. The bricks about a foot long,
ten inches wide and eight inches thick, were made in the spring
after the spring rains, dried in the sun without cover all sum-
mer, and then built into walls of rectangular, one story, houses.
These walls were laid without motar, but immediately plastered
with clay, which plastering was repeated every year after the
spring rains ; no foundations of stone, wood, etc., were placed
under the walls, which were set on earth platforms constituting
the whole house floor, about two feet above the surrounding
level. There were no cellars or garrets in these houses which
were the only kind of dwellings, except a few log houses, built
in that region of steppes where no building stone existed, and
where the thermometer in winter sometimes went down to 75°
fahrenheit below zero. Similar information has just been given
me by Baron Edward Friesen, of Munich, who during the late
war, saw similar houses built of sun baked bricks, at about the
same latitude in Galicia. About the same time, 1918, Miss
Everett of Flourtown, Pa., saw, as she tells me, adobe houses
near Bogota, Chile.
I have not yet been able to learn whether the pre-historic peoples
of Mexico, Central and South America used adobe before the time
of Columbus, but the early Spanish writer, Castaneda, as above
quoted, says that the pre-historic Indians of New Mexico made
bricks in this way, as seen by him before the arrival of the
Spaniards, but without wooden forms. As described by him they
mixed wet clay upon a half burnt quenched fire of sage grass,
which operation, in the writer's opinion, means that the earth
as used lacked sufficient clay, and required a binding mixture of
grass, easiest reduced by the Indians to serviceable size by fire.
478 NOTES ON ADOBE BRICKS
The Casa Grande, a pre-historic dwelling still standing, near
Florence, Arizona, shows, however, that another still more in-
teresting form of clay house construction was used in the south-
west by Indians in pre-historic days. Mindeleff's supposition, as
above cited, in Mr. Mann's paper, that the structure and mark-
ings on this building showed that its walls were constructed of
plastic clay thrown between wicker forms which later had been
removed, lifted, replaced, etc., as the building went on, is in
great part corroborated by the following:
Thomas W. Besant of 309 Park Avenue, New York City, told
me he had seen (in 1923) a family of native Mexicans, at a village
called Capri, about a hundred and twenty-five miles south of the
United States border, and thirty to forty miles from the Pacific
coast, building a house of plastic clay in reed forms, in the fol-
lowing remarkable manner:
For the wall forms, two parallel rows of close set, three foot
long reeds, were pushed into the ground, and then closely cross
meshed, basket fashion (interlaced), by pushing down upon them
long flexible leaves or twigs. The two vertical but flexible wicker
walls thus made, standing about one to two feet apart were
stiffened against subsequent mud pressure from^ within, by tying
them together, across the intervening opening, at frequent in-
tervals with reed twigs. Plastic clay trampled by donkeys, and
probably mixed with donkey manure, was then thrown in be-
tween the wicker forms, and tramped down by one foot of the
workman, who stood astride of the wicker wall with his other
foot outside it resting on a platform, which platform was raised
as he went up. As the clay in the forms rose, he heightened his
wicker foniis, withuot removing them, by pushing down vertical
reeds into the basketry cross meshing as before, and cross
tying inside from form to form to resist the outward thrust of
the mud. The forms were never removed, but were smeared
smooth on the outside upon the clay that had oozed through the
meshes. The wall then finished had no stone foundation, but
rested directly on the ground. A final outer weather coat of
probably lime and sand mortar followed its completion.
While in these cases the clay used was wet and plastic.
Reese's Enclyclopaedia, written a hundred years ago, describes,
and tries to introduce into England, a method called "pise," con-
NOTES ON ADOBE BRICKS 479
sisting of clayey earth (not in a wet plastic state), but semi-dry
and mealy, tightly rammed between very rigid forms, and well
protected with weather crusts of lime and sand plaster. Houses
so built were common along the Rhone about 1800. Rudolph P.
Hommel saw, described and photographed for me, Chinese build-
ing a pise house wall in that manner, at Kulig. China, in July, 1923.
According to this definition pise would have nothing to do with
plastic clay, and Mendeleff's supposition, that the Casa Grande
was built of pise would be a mistake.
Still another form of earth wall construction used in England
and called "cob," is referred to by Reese, and carefully distin-
guished by him from pise. It is described in London's Encyclo-
paedia of Cottage and Farm Architecture (London, Longman,
1846, p. 49) and also in Cottage Building in Cob, Pise, Chalk
and Clay, by Clough, \\'illiams Ellis, (London County Life Press,
1920). The walls, made of masses of loamy earth mixed with
straw, well pounded or tramped by oxen, into a wet mortar, were
set up without forms on stone foundations one foot to eighteen
inches high in layers two feet wide, in placing which, one man,
with a two or three pronged fork, passes up the wet cob to an-
other who tramps it down upon the wall, which is thus built up
in successive layers, with intervening time intervals of several
weeks, to allow the layers to harden. The first layer being about
four feet high, and the later ones diminishing in height. The
work was begun in the early spring, and ended if possible before
winter. As each extra layer is placed, the previous hardened
layer is pared down smooth on its vertical faces with an iron-
bladed tool like a baker's peel, and if frost intervenes before the
house roof is placed, the walls are thatched, but not plastered on
the outside until the following spring. Loudon does not describe
the flooring or roofing of these houses but says the wooden door
and lintel frames, resting on cross pieces where nefcessary, are set
in during building, and cut open afterward, also that cob houses
were then, 1846, common in Devonshire, but unknown in many
other parts of England, that some were built two stories high,
and that a cob parsonage, taken down in 1831, had been built in
the time of Queen Elizabeth. The kind of plaster used for the
outer walls, though not specified by Loudon, was probably made
of lime and sand.
480 NOTES ON ADOBE BRICKS
A Still further method of wall building as exemplified in a
house built by Nathan Preston, near the Plumstead Meeting
House, about 1850, shows masses of lime and sand mortar,
formed into large bricks in wooden forms without bottoms,
where the process may be similar to that called "beton," de-
scribed in Reese, and invented in France about 1800. Mrs.
Hampton W. Rice called attention at the January meeting of the
Bucks County Historical Society to this house built by her grand-
father. And Samuel Preston, later told me, over the telephone,
that he had helped make these bricks at some distance from the
house near a spring, that no clay but only, sand and lime had
been used in them, and that they had been allowed to dry all
summer while covered with boards, further that several other
houses at Carversville and one at Peter's Corner, had previously
been built in the same way, while Mr. Mann noticed the barn
thus built of about the same construction and date by Dr. Mc-
Coy of Doylestown.
An old house at 322 Buttonwood street, Philadelphia, built
about 1820, demolished in 1923, and then examined for me (c f
Old Houses in Bucks County Ms., Vol. 6, page 379), was found
to be thus built of large cast blocks made of sandy clay mixed
with lime, one of which blocks is now in our museum. Though
cast like adobe, the block is clearly not adobe, because it is so
much mixed with lime that its fragments will not dissolve in
water over night. Similar lime hardened clay, which will not
dissolve in water over night, appears as the mortar used in the
old house built in 1768, now (1923) standing in Charles Ulmer's
field at the Cross Keys, and in several other old Bucks county
houses, which I have examined. (See Dating of Old Houses, p.
536 post.)
At my suggestion, Mr. Frank K. Swain, this summer (1925)
examined several cob-built houses in southwestern England,
among which was that lived in by Sir Walter Raleigh, and also,
following the notes by Williams-Ellis, above referred to, visited
the village of Larling in Norfolk, England, in which the house
walls, sometimes perhaps over 100 years old, are built of large
blocks of unburnt clay (about 12 by 18 by 6 inches in size), cast
in moulds. The walls are set on burnt-brick foundations, and
are plastered with lime and sand mortar, variously colored, and
NOTES ON ADOBE BRICKS 481
sometimes extra waterproofed with a coat of coaltar. But
whether these unfired clay bricks, revealed in some places by
scaled-off plaster, are true sun-baked bricks (adobes), or have
been hardened by mixture with lime, as in the Buttonwood house,
he was unable to learn.
A letter recently received by Dr. B. F. Fackenthal, Jr., from
the Cairo Museum, informs him that the Arabs in Egypt are now
building houses of sun-baked unfired clay bricks made of Nile
alluvium, either mixed or not mixed with straw according to its
greater or less liability to crack in drying. I have not been able,
however, to learn how the modern Egyptians or any modern north
Africans, make these bricks, whether they ever mix lime with
them, or whether they ever build houses of cob or pise, or with
walls cast solid with plastic clay as seen in Mexico by Mr.
Besant.
According to Dr. Birch (History of Ancient Pottery, 1873
edition) : The building bricks of Bablyon and Assyria were gen-
erally moulded in boxes either square or rectangular, and were
either fire burnt and sometimes glazed or sun dried (adobe).
They were generally mixed with "stubble or vegetable fiber" or
"chopped grass or reeds", but sometimes made of pure clay.
The ancient Egyptian bricks were made, in wooden moulds,
of Nile alluvial clay, more, sandy near the river, and purer inland,
generally mixed with chopped wheat or barley straw, which the
captive Jewish brickmakers in Egypt were ordered to find for
themselves. (Exodus V. 7) or crushed fragments of pottery,
but sometimes of pure clay. They were about 13 to 20 inches
long by 8 inches wide, and 5 inches thick, and between the 18th.
and 21st. dynasty stamped with wooden stamps with the name
of priests or rulers.
Sir G. Wilkinson's celebrated book The Ancient Egyptians,
overlooks the very interesting possible survival of ancient brick-
making processes in Egypt or northern Africa.
The whole subject of house construction by means of earth or
clay, whether semi-dry or plastic or of unbaked bricks, would well
repay further study, and it seems probable that in countries where
the earliest houses were thus built, no one need be surprised that
no architectural remains have survived.
The Zithers of the Pennsylvania Germans.
BY DR. HENRY C. MERCER, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, January 20, 1923.)
A TIME long past through social changes rather than years,
has left in our museum eleven remarkable narrow box
shaped stringed musical instruments, so little known, so
forgotten or overlooked by musical antiquaries, yet so linked
with the technical history of music, as to demand particular at-
tention. Locally known among the Pennsylvania Germans, who
made and played them, by no other name than zithers (pro-
nounced by them "zitter"), all were found in Bucks county,
and eastern Pennsylvania in the last twenty-five years; they are
here classified and described under two groups, namely, lirst, as
plectrum zithers, or zithers played by striking the strings with a
quill or stick (the plectrum) held in the hand, and second, as
bow zithers or zithers played with a bow.
PLECTRUM ZITHERS.
There are seven instruments, here called plectrum zithers, in
the museum of the Bucks County Historical Society, which
though superficially resembling- the bow zithers next described,
on examination, dififer considerably in construction. They are
all thinner and longer than the latter. Their strings, far more
numerous, are always of wire; they lack bows, and their bridges
and keys are differently made and differently placed.
Museum No. 13605 (Figure 1) typical of all, is a rectangular
box 3 feet 6 inches long, made of thin pieces 3/16 to ys inch,
of soft wood, glued and pegged together without nails, and
against a rectangular wooden block at the base 3^ to 3 inches
square, by 1 inch thick, and, at the upper end, to a solid wooden
head piece, 15 inches long, with ornamental scallops on its left
side, holding the keys.
The eight steel wire strings are stretched about one-half inch
apart from a straight row of headless iron pins, driven into the
base block about one inch below its upper rounded corner, and
extending thence to three groups of short square topped iron
Figure 1
SEVEN PLECTRUM ZITHERS IK THE MUSEUM OF THE
BUCKS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
THE ZITHERS OF THE PENNSYLVANIA GERMANS 483
keys screwed into the top of the head piece and tightened with a
loose key, hke a clock key (missing). Two of these strings on
the left side extend over a row of frets made and placed like
those of the bow zithers later described, and passing over a
bridge entirely unlike the bridges of the bow zithers, namely a
low flat one-quarter inch high w^ooden strip wire-edged on its
top, and glued down upon the top board about three inches from
the base of the latter. Six of the strings, namely those not cross-
ing the frets, do not cross this bridge but are lifted from the top
board at their upper ends by notched iron pegs set close to their
respective keys in the head piece, while a high heavy fret at the
upper end of the instrument again serves to lift the two strings
engaged clear of their frets.
This upper fret is heavier and longer than the rest, so as to
catch not only the two engaged strings, but all four strings from
the first group of keys, and all the frets are stapled, not upon a
fret board, but directly upon the top of the instrument. Includ-
ing this upper fret the frets are fifteen in number, set on the left
side of the instrument, all otherwise of the same length and placed
at musical intervals so as to produce a scale of musical notes
marked in ink on the top board of the zither between the frets.
The short and wooden bridge engage only two of the eight strings
upon the instrument. The sound-hole just above the bridge con-
sists of thirteen circular perforations around a large center hole.
Variations in Construction. Though this zither reasonably
describes the six others in the collection, the instruments shown
herewith vary considerably in construction. A, C, F and G have
eight strings, B has five, and D and E have nine. The number of
keys in the various groups varies in consequence. The wire
frets always stapled on the left edge of the instrument are al-
ways fifteen in number except in G, which shows only twelve.
They engage two strings in A, B and G, and three in C, E and F.
In G, six of the strings namely those not crossing the frets are
wire wrapped. G is much smaller than the other instruments.
The sound-holes are always on the upper, and never on the under
sides of the instruments, and as shown, vary in design. The
under side of one is illustrated in D. The keys otherwise set in
three groups appear in B in a single group, and in B the upper
484 THE ZITHERS OF THE PENNSYLVANIA GERMANS
heavy fret, above noted, crosses the entire instrument, otherwise
this fret only catches the strings from the first or lower group
of keys.
Some of the instruments are stained a reddish brown, others
retain the natural color of the wood. Four of them, namely D,
E, F and G appear to have been made by the same hand.
ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE PLECTRUM ZITHER.
None of them came from Bucks county, but all from the Penn-
sylvania German region northwest of it, i. e., Northampton,
Berks, Lebanon and probably Montgomery counties. All were
bought from dealers, except G, purchased from a private indi-
vidual in Bethlehem for twenty dollars.
No traditional evidence has appeared as to how they were
played, but two quills, either of goose or turkey, about three and
one-half inches long survived and came with E, as shown in the
illustration, and may have been used as plectra. Mr. Lapp of
Doylestown township, acquainted only with the bow zither, never
heard of zithers being played by plucking their notes whether
with the fingers, a quill or a stick. None of the instruments of
this group have legs, catgut strings or sound-holes on the bot-
tom. The well-known, many stringed Tyrolese table zithers, also
played with a plectrum, may have been derived from them, for
Herman Newdel in the Musikalisches Conversations Lexicon, Ber-
lin 1879, Vol. II, page 496, says (without describing the method
of playing) that :
"In Thurginia the peasants are still (1879) using a zither with four
metallic double strings in three different sizes. The capacity of each
is two octaves. In recent times another kind of zither has been
brought to great perfection. This modern zither was, until about forty
years ago, only known as a peasant instrument among the inh'abitants
of the Styrian Salzburger and Bavarian Alps in the different valleys
of which there were known to be different types of this instrument.
Some of these zithers from Halle in Pinzgau and Mittenwald dating
from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, are preserved in the
museums at Munich and Salzburg, and in private collections."
BOW ZITHERS.
There are five of these differently constructed and differently
played instruments in the museum, three of which are shown
in the etching (Figure 2) and of which C will serve as a type.
Figure 2
THREE OF THE FIVE BOW ZITHERS IN THE MUSEUM OF THE
BUCKS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
THE ZITHERS OF THE PENNSYLVANIA GERMANS 485
This instrument is a tapering box 2 feet 7 inches long, 8 inches
square at the base and 6 inches at the top, made of thin strips of
soft wood glued to the heavy solid wooden head and base pieces.
The top piece or block with an ornamental downward curl is
perforated with a large rectangular hole for the insertion of the
keys and strings, three in number, now restored but originally
made of catgut, and exactly resembling violin strings, set about
one inch apart, along the left side of the instrument. They are
fastened at the base of the instruments to three wooden knobbed
pegs driven into the bottom piece about half-an-inch below the
top, and extend along the full length of the zithers to the keys,
through the key-orifice in the top piece. These keys are not
home made, but of common violin type, and inserted trans-
versely, two on the right, and one on the ' left of the top
piece. There are eighteen wire frets, namely short pieces
of iron wire about 1 inch long, with bent pointed ends driven like
staples at musical intervals on a 3 inch wide 12 inch long fret
board. This latter is about Yz inch thick at the base tapering to
about ^ inch at the top hollow underneath and glued down on
the top of the instrument close along its left side. A common
violin bow (missing) was, I learned, used with this zither. The
original bridge is also lost, the present bridge being a thin flat
topped 2 inches long, 1 inch high, and Y^ inch thick restoration.
There are two sound holes on the top of this zither. The upper,
a 1^ inch circular orifice cut through the top board, and the
lower a group of seven 3^ inch holes inserted near the base, just
above the bridge in a solid circular piece of hard wood glued
into a hole. Another 1 inch round sound hole 5^ inches from
the base, not shown, perforates the smooth bottom of this instru-
ment, which bottom is furnished with two Ya inch high wooden
pegs, at the two lower corners, to lift the lower end of the zither
from the ground.
The five instruments of this type, of which only three are
here shown, vary considerably in construction. The original
strings, replaced on B and C, are missing on them all, but there
are, or judging from remaining keys, were as noted, three on C,
four on B and two on A, three on museum No. 13834, and seven
on museum No. 17822, which instruments I will call D and E.
In B they are not of catgut, but of wire, with the right one wire
486 THE ZITHERS OF THE PENNSYLVANIA GERMANS
wrapped, and in A, evidently a left-handed instrument, they are
set to the right on the top board, in B upon its middle, but other-
wise always along its left side. The keys, corresponding to the
number of strings, were all turned, not with a wrench or clock
key, but between the thumb and forefinger, they are common
store bought violin keys in C, rude home made wooden pegs,
probably modern restorations in B, and made of local black-
smith wrought iron with perforated thumb pieces in A, D and E.
In C the keys are screwed into the right and left side of the top
piece through the rectangular orifice as mentioned, but in A, B,
and D and E which lack this orifice, screwed vertically downward
into the solid wood.
There are no frets on the restored instrument B, eighteen in
C, and sixteen on A, D and E. They are all made as described,
of wire staples of varying length, driven at musical intervals
along the left edge of the top board in C, D and E, but along
the right edge in A, — directly upon the top of the instrument in
A. but otherwise into fret boards as described, and always so as
to engage one string, the outermost only. As remarked before,
the restored instrument B differs from them all in having its four
strings and fret board set in the middle of the instrument, and
may therefore have been played like a violin.
Bows. According to information given by Joseph Lapp, the
bow, now lost, originally used with C, was not home made, but
a common modern store bought violin bow. The bows in A,
a wood piece 14 inches long, and in B, ditto 13 inches long, are
home made, and show at their ends orifices for pegging in the
hair (missing) stretched as in violin bows.
Bridges. The original bridges are all missing. The restored
bridge on B is a solid round topped thin strip 3}i inches long,
34 inch thick, }i inch high, and on C a flat topped restored
ditto 2 inches long, yg inch thick, and 1 inch high, propped under
the strings, as shown, towards the base of the instrument. None
of the five instruments as described, except C, show sound-holes
or legs on the smooth flat under sides. Some are stained a red-
dish brown, and others show the natural color of the wood.
THE ZITHERS OF THE PENNSYLVANIA GERMANS 487
OWNERSHIP AND ORIGIN OF THE INSTRUMENTS.
Of D and E (not here shown) nothing more is known than
that D was bought about 1920 from A. H. Rice, a dealer in an-
tiquities, of Bethlehem, Pa., who had obtained it in 1919 in
Berks or Montgomery county; E, also from Mr. Rice, was bought
by him in 1921, at a farm sale, in Northampton county, Pa. B
was given to the writer in 1897 by Jacob Gross, formerly a Men-
nonite minister and schoolmaster, then living on King's road. New
Britain township, Bucks county. Pa. No notes were taken at the
time concerning this instrument, which Mr. Gross said he had
himself made and played upon in his earlier days, probably about
1865. It had long lain disused and out of repair in his house, and
I think he roughly remounted it for me, namely with a new
bridge, keys, and wire strings, in 1897.
I obtained the left handed instrument A, with its hairless bow,
and lacking its strings (also about 1897), from Abraham God-
shawk, a Mennonite schoolmaster, then living near the old (dis-
used in 1922) schoolhouse, and the Mennonite Meeting-house
on Deep Run.
But our chief knowledge concerns zither C, which was ob-
tained from the daughter of Joseph Lapp, the latter now (1922)
collector of taxes for Doylestown township. Joseph Lapp, a Men-
nonite, gives me the following novel and valuable information,
supplementing previous notes taken from him on January 10, 1921.
Mr. Lapp says the bow zither, C (Figure 2, Museum No.
5,251):
"Was made by his father, Henry Lapp, about fifty-five years ago.
Joseph, then in his boyhood, lived on a farm in Bedminster township,
Bucks county, adjoining the Ridge road, about one mile southwest of
Keller's Church. His father not only played it, but made several other
instruments like it, one made about the same time, 1875, for a Mr.
Schrauger of Hilltown township, who died about thirty years ago;
also another for a person unknown to him. Joseph Lapp says: My father
taught English and German at Mood's public schoolhouse in Bed-
minster township, and previously, when a scholar there, about 1863,
had been asked by the teacher to bring his 'zitter' to school to play an
accompaniment to the singing at classes called "spelling bees." Father
often played at home, singing himself while playing generally German
hymns, such as were sung in the Mennonite Meeting-house. Among
these hymns I remember one called 'A. B. C.,' and another called 'Spar
Dein Buse Nicht,' and sometimes 'Home Sweet Home.' He never
488 THE ZITHERS OF THE PENNSYLVANIA GERMANS
used wire strings, but always catgut strings, not made by himself, but
bought at stores. The head-piece of this instrument and the com-
mon violin keys fitted into it, were not made but bought. Also the
turned piece with seven holes, inserted for sounding, just above the
bridge. The original bridge made by my father was of hard wood,
possibly maple, hollowed at the bottom, like a violin bridge, not flat-
topped like the one now on the instrument, but curved at the top,
though not so much as that of a violin. The body or box of the zither
was made of white pine, without nails or pegs, but glued together
with hot glue. The bridge was glued down on the top at its two
points of contact. The fret- board was made of walnut or cherry
wood, and the frets made of wire bought at the store. In playing this
instrument my father always removed or pushed back the tablecloth
and the oilcloth underneath it, and set the instrument, with the keys
towards his left arm, upon the table. He always played standing up,
always with the bow held in his right hand, and never with a quill or
bone or other plectrum, making the notes only on one string, namely:
the one on the outer left side of the instrument, pressing down upon
this string, with his left forefinger not directly, but with a goose-quill,
about four inches long, held horizontally at right angles to the string,
and which he slid up and down over the frets, without lifting it, and
hence in no sense a plectrum. Occassionally he slid the bow across the
other two strings, which always sounded the same note or drone. My
father sometimes played slow secular tunes, but generally hymns.
He played by note, and the music book used by him is still (1922) m
existence. He did not make the bow for this instrument, but used
a common violin bow which he had bought. He never made bows
for any of the 'zitters' constructed by him, though he sometimes re-
plenished his bows with loose white or black horsehairs, pulled from
the tails of our own horses. This hair was glued and pegged into the
bow in the usual way."
INFORMATION OF ISAAC OVERHOLT.
Further information concerning these instruments came from
Isaac Overholt of Pkmisteadville, whose father, Abraham Over-
holt, had made a bow zither before 1844 and played upon it
about forty years ago. The writer saw that zither sold at a
sale of the Overholt property in 1905, when it was bought by a
person then of Doylestown, but now supposed to be living in In-
diana. It was loaned to the writer about 1897, and Isaac Over-
holt, who well remembers it and often heard his father play it,
being interviewed on February 9, 1918, and again on March 7,
1922, thus answers the following questions concerning it :
Q. How many strings did it have? A. Three.
Q. Were they of wire or of catgut? A. Of brass wire.
THE ZITHERS OF THE PENNSYLVANIA GERMANS 489
Q. How was the instrument played?
A. My father laid it on a table before him with its neck to his left
arm and frets on the side nearest him. He played with a bow
held in his right hand, pointing towards the left side of the
zitter, and at right angles to the instrument.
Q. Did it have frets? A. Yes.
Q. How many strings passed over the frets?
A. I think only one, but I am not sure; there may have been two.
Q. Did your father use a quill or bone to press the frets?
A. He used a piece of bone until it was lost, then a piece of hickory
wood, held in his left hand and pressed horizontally downward
between the frets and parallel to them.
Q. Did your father ever hear of anyone playing without a bow?
A. Yes. Visitors sometimes came in and picked up the bone used to
press down the frets, and used it as a plectrum. Father never
played without a bow.
Q. How was the bow made?
A. Of hickory wood in the shape of a violin bow, with horsehair
strings. Father made it himself. He pulled hairs from the tails
of our horses to mount it, and used rosin.
Q. How did he tune the instrument?
A. He turned the keys to which the ends of the wire strings were
fastened, between his thumb and forefinger.
Q. Did he lay the zither on the table, or on his lap?
A. Always on the table.
Q. What tunes or songs did 3'our father play?
A. Always hymns. The instrument was too slow for dance or lively
music.
Q. About what date did your father make this zitter? A. before 1844.
Q. Did he take of¥ the tablecloth before playing it?
A. Not if there was one on the table at the time.
Q. Did he play standing or sitting? A. He played in either way.
Q. Did you ever hear the instrument called by any other name than
"zitter," for instance hommel? A. No. I always heard it
called a "zitter."
Q. Was the bridge curved or flat on the top?
A. Flat and notched for the strings.
Q. Did anyone but Mennonites play these instruments and were they
connected with the services of the Mennonite church?
A. I always heard it played among the Mennonites, but it was in no
way connected with our church service. My father played his
.own zitter only for his pleasure and never in church. He never
played it at school. I heard that the Leatherman family, also
Mennonites, living north of Plumsteadville had owned a zitter.
I also saw another one, made about 1840, by David Meyers,
who lived on the Stump road west of Hinkletown. I attended
school at the Deep Run Mennonite German schoolhouse when
490 THE ZITHERS OF THE PENNSYLVANIA GERMANS
Samuel Godshalk, who inscribed the music notes on the beams
of the school room, taught there. ^ His father Abraham God-
shalk, had also previously taught there, but I never knew that
Samuel had a "zitter,"' and never heard one played at school.
Figure 3 ' â–
MODERN GERMAN BOW ZITHER
Although the instrument thus described belongs to the rare
class of stringed instruments played with a bow, yet not held
against the body or horizontally, it is not to be confounded with the
modern German bow zither, as shown in Figure 3, also always
bowed in playing and also laid flat on the table. The latter infor-
mation I learned from E. J. Albert, musical instrument maker, of
124 South Ninth street, Philadelphia, who furnished us with the
above illustration. This is a flat oval fretted instrument about
one foot long, sometimes round bottomed and resting on pegs,
and sometimes flat bottomed, with four wire strings stretched, not
along its side, but across its middle and played like a violin.
There is no drone, and all four strings, not one only, are used to
sound the notes. The still more modern table violin is a violin of
the usual mounted shape with legs, etc., to play on a table in the
same way.
This modern German bow zither is supposed to have been in-
vented by Johann Petzmeyer (b. Austria. 1804; d. Munich,
1885), and while the old Bucks county bow zither, Fig. 2B, being
also laid on a table and played like a violin, may be classed with
it, all the other bow zithers in our collection are diflferently
mounted, and differently played. Whether Petzmeyer copied or
1 For papers on the Mennonite schoolhouse, with notes of music on the
beams and blackboard, with illustrations of the same, see our transactions.
Vol 2, page 69, and Vol. 4, page 533.
#
Figure 4
NORWEGIAN AND DUTCH ZITHERS PROM THE SCHEUR-
LEER COLLECTION AT THE HAGUE.
By kind permission of Dr. P. Scheurleer.
THE ZITHERS OF THE PENNSYLVANIA GERMANS 491
adopted his bow zither from either of these earlier instruments
we have thus far been unable to learn.
In 1919 the writer had found that the Metrolopitan Museum
in New York and the Pennsylvania Aluseum in Memorial Hall,
Philadelphia, each possessed an instrument of this type. Also
through the kind information of Miss Laura Long, and Mr. R.
P. Hommel, that two pictures by Hans Memling, painted about
1490, one in the collection of Baron Bethune. at Alost, near
Brussels, and one in the Royal Museum at Antwerp, and also a
wood cut by Hans Holbein of about 1525, called "Death and the
Pedlar," in his series known as the "Dance of Death," show
these bow zithers, held, however, and played, in an impossible
manner, not on a table, but in the air. But, no information was
obtained from either of the above named museums, concerning
the instruments, nor from the publications of the South Kensing-
ton Museum, in London, the various -musical dictionaries, or
from C. H. Albert, the violin maker of Philadelphia, above men-
tioned, and several musical instrument makers in New York
and elsewhere. Then when a letter was written to Salzburg
concerning the origin of the modern Tyrolese plectrum zither
(the zither par excellence) and the modern German bow zither,
said in Germany, as before mentioned, to have been invented by
Johan Petzmeyer (b. Austria, 1804; d. Munich, 1885), failed to
give any new information as to how or when either the Tyrolese,
or the German bow zither, might have been derived from this
ancient instrument, the writer asked Mr. R. P. Hommel, on a
visit to Europe in 1920, to inquire concerning it at the Rijks
Museum in Amsterdam, and at the National Museum in Munich.
Neither of the latter had specimens or knew anything of the
instrvnnent, but Mr. J. W. Enschede, Herringacht 68, Amster-
dam, a student of church hymns, and of the origin of barrel
organs, showed Mr. Hommel a photograph of one of these in-
struments now in a local museum in Friesland, and Dr. F.
Scheurleer (Laan Van Meerdevort 53 F, The Hague), a noted
collector, had several of both the bow and plectrum type in his
collection.
In 1921 the latter wrote a letter to Mr. Hommel, in which he
says that the instrument in question is called "Hommel" or
"Nordische Balk" in the Netherlands, was played there either
492 THE ZITHERS OF THE PENNSYLVANIA GERMANS
with a bow or plectrum, and is described in a Dutch pamphlet,
the Bulletin of the North Netherlands Musical Society (Tijide-
schrift Der Vereeniging voor Noord Nederlands Miziekgeschie-
denies — Loman, Amsterdam, 1882, part I). The writer, J. C.
Boers, says that these box-shaped instruments, two to three feet
long and with three or four strings laid fiat on a table in playing,
had been known in Friesland in 1750 and survived there in
1846, where their name was "Hommell' or "Noordische Balg"
(wood stick).
Boers quotes a German traveler, J. G. Kohl, who vaguely de-
scribed an instrument of this kind with brass strings, called
Hommel, laid upon a table, and played with a quill plectrum, by
an old woman on the Isle of Fohr, in East Friesland, in 1846,
when the latter told him that the instrument, supposed to have
been introduced from Holland, and then nearly obsolete, had
been formerly common on the island, that it was sometimes used
for dancing, and played in households to the accompaniment of
other instruments, and the singing of Sunday afternoon hymns.
Another writer quoted in the pamphlet named, Nicholas
Douwes, organist at Tzum, in Friesland, about 1750, says that
"The hollow square instrument of from two to three feet long,
sometimes longer or shorter, is stringed with three or four strings,
with a comb at each end, over which the strings are drawn by means
of a brass clamp. The melody is produced only on the first string, and
the others have almost always the same sound, and serve sometimes
the purpose of bass. The playing is done by someone with two small
quills, sliding with the one over the strings, and striking with the
other along the first string over the tones. Others go with the bow
over the strings and with the nail of the left thumb strike on the
first string over the tones, and play also the melodies."
In Germany, according to this article (date not given), it was
called "Scheidhold," (Woodstick) "Hommel," (Bee) or "Spanish
Hommel," and there played sometimes with the right thumb, but
using a small stick, held in the left hand, to press between the
frets, as previously described.
In Tuscany, Italy, the same writer says that the instrument was
called "Symphonia," and supposes it to have been anciently used
by the Romans. In France it was called "Buche," also
"Espinette des Vosges," and in Russia "Palaika."
Diderot's Encyclopaedia, Original Folio Edition, Paris &
"^^«
^^w
Figure 5
ZITHER (LEFT) AND TROMP MARINES FROM THE
SCHEURLEER COLLECTION AT THE HAGUE.
By kind permission of Dr. F. Scheurleer.
THE ZITHERS OF THE PENNSYLVANIA GERMANS 493
Neuchatel, Vol. 12, Plates, articles Luthier, Plate 4, No. 6, il-
lustrates the instrument with three strings, like keys, set as in C,
Figure 1, through a hole in the head-piece, with eighteen frets,
and a sound hole closely resembling C, but lacking the bow.
Dr. F. Scheurleer, above mentioned, again writes to Mr. Hom-
mel in a letter dated September 12, 1921, as follows:
"I beg to send you two photographs of instruments in my collection,
Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 (See Figures 4 and 5). They are zithers called Hom-
mel or Noordische Balk. No. 2 (Figure 4, in middle), is a modern Nor-
wegian one. Nos. 5 and 6 (Figure 5, right) are trumpet marines, quite
different instruments. These ones are the instruments painted by Van
Eyck, Memling, etc. They are played in a vertical position. Hommels
always in a horizontal one, and generally with a plectrum. No. 1 (Fig-
ure 4, left) shows the bottom of the zither. You will see that these
and the trumpet marines are two quite different instruments."
In answering this letter, April 24, 1922, after describing our
Pennsylvania zithers as above, and enclosing photographs of
both kinds, I added as to identification of the instruments in the
old paintings referred to, as follows :
"I never saw any picture by Van Eyck of this instrument but only
three reproductions of paintings; 1 in the Bethune collection at Alost
by Memling, another in the gallery at the Royal Museum at Antwerp
by Memling, and 3 in the wood cut of Death and the Pedlar in the
Dance of Death series by Holbein. All these instruments as played by
angels or the figure of death, in these pictures, are held in an impossible
manner either for Trump Marine or Hommel, probably by painters
license. All are being played with the bow, not plectrum, all are too
small in proportion for the Trump Marine, none show the narrow neck
of the latter for sliding the hand, and none could possibly be encircled
by the hand, like the Trump Marine, as shown in your photographs of
Trump Marines. I cannot, therefore, agree with you in thinking that
these instruments in these pictures are Trump Marines. They seem to
me to be bow Hommels, painted in cases where the introduction of a
table might have thrown the picture out of balance. At all events as
shown the playing is impossible."
From the recent investigations of Miss Loraine Wyman, Mr.
Cecil J. Sharp and other collectors of American folk music, it
further appears that the instrument, whether played with a bow
or a plectrum, is still in use in the secluded mountain regions of
Kentucky and Tennessee, where the mountaineers who may have
brought it with them from Britain about 150 years ago, call
it the "Dulcimore," and use it to accompany their singing of
494
THE ZITHERS OF THE PENNSYLVANIA GERMANS
Figure 6
THE KENTUCKY
DULCIMORE
English and Scotch ballads.. Figure
6, shows one of these so-called Dulci-
mores, kindly presented to the Bucks
County Historical Society by Miss
Loraine Wyman, authoress of "Lone-
some Tunes," who obtained it in 1915
in Kentucky. It was made (so says
a paper pasted inside of it) by Mr.
E. Thomas of Bath, Kentucky, from
whom Miss Wyman bought it. It
is 33 inches long, 5% inches at widest
part and 2% inches thick, curved
on the sides. Its keyboard sets in the
middle and has, or had, three wire
strings, one of which to the left, is
fretted, and plays the tune, while the
two others tuned in unison a fifth be-
low the tune-string, are drone strings.
According to the information of Mrs.
Luigi Zande of the Pine Mountain
Settlement School. Harlan county,
Kentucky, Jan. 24, 1922, it is still
played in the mountains, by sliding a
quill horizontally over the fretted
string with the left hand, while strik-
ing the instrument with another quill,
or, a leather plectrum, or as shown in
the illustration Figure 7, with a bow
in which case the "Dulcimore" is
either again laid flat on the table or
rests with its lower end on the player's
lap and its upper (the key end) pro-
jecting, as here shown, upwards over
the edge of the table.
J. C. Boers, the writer of the Dutch
pamphlet, herein quoted, who refers
to the great difficulty of obtaining in-
formation on the subject and the
THE ZITHERS OF THE PEXXSVLVAXIA GERMANS 495
method of tuning, etc., makes no clear classification of the two
kinds of instruments, but in general describes most of them as
played with a plectrum, with a vague reference to some played
with a bow. He gives no exact description of the playing,
nor does he describe in any case the bows, or the two bow
zithers or hommels, which he shows with their bows in his sec-
ond pamphlet illustration, not here reproduced, which latter was
inserted, not in his own article, but out of place in another part
of the musical journal. Nevertheless, that the zithers thus de-
scribed by him and illustrated, are indcntical in type with those
in our museum, there can be no doubt.
Figure 7
PLATING THE DULICMORE IN KENTUCKY
CONCLUSION.
In the confused and somewhat unsatisfactory information
thus gathered, it appears that we have found in Bucks county,
and eastern Pennsylvania, twelve remarkable, obsolete, and little-
known stringed musical instruments, shown in Figs. 1 and 2,
which though superficially resembling each other, dififer in their
construction, and method of playing, and may be clearly divided
into two classes, those played with a plectrum, and those played
with a bow. Also that these instruments, in whatever way plaved.
have long been used under various names in Europe. That they
may have been known to the ancient Romans, and are probably,
if not certainly, identical with the instruments shown in pictures
496 THE ZITHERS OF THE PENNSYLVANIA GERMANS
by Memling and Holbein, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
More definitely as to the first class, the Plectrum Zithers, we
have learned but little, except the mere fact of their existence
among the Pennsylvania Germans, and the certainty that as they
all lack bridges, they could not have been played with a bow.
Otherwise our efiforts to discover how when and where they were
made or played, or, through correspondence, to associate them
directly with the history or origin of the great Tyrolese Plectrum
Zither of modern times, have failed.
On the other hand we have learned that the bow zithers, now
entirely disused and generally forgotten in Bucks county, were
made near Doylestown as late as 1870 ; that in playing them the
player stood up holding the bow in his right hand, when the zither
lay along the edge of the table, on which he played it, with the key
end towards his left arm. In his left hand he held horizontally a
goose quill or a small stick about three inches long and one- fourth
inch thick. This he did not use as a plectrum but pressed down
on string No. 1 only, so as to press the latter against the frets
and so by means of the bow. held in his right hand make the
notes on that string alone which was nearest him on the outer
edge of the instrument. The other strings, however, he tuned
them, produced a drone whenever he chose, by tilting the bow
down upon them to suit his taste. There were bridges like violin
bridges on all these instruments as shown in Figure A, but the
original strings were probably always of catgut not wire.
We have also learned that these very rare so-called bow "zit-
ters," almost unknown to musical antiquaries, were in Bucks
county, Pennsylvania, invariably associated with the Mennonites,
a pious sect, which came to Pennsylvania about 1720, and that
they were used by them only as a pasttime, sometimes to play
slow secular tunes, though generally hymns, and never associated
with their church services or any religious ceremonies.
Though they may be traced to Friesland and northern Hol-
land, where they survived until about 1846, there is no reason for
supposing that the Mennonites first heard of them in their pas-
sage through Friesland on their way to America, or brought them
thence, since known by various names, the instruments had been
long previously in use in Russia, France, Italy, and Germany, and
THE PATH THAT LED TO PLAYWICKY 497
must have long antedated the modern German bow zither, in-
vented by Petzmeyer, early in the 19th century.
How far these bow played zithers from Pennsylvania are to be
associated with the origin of all bow played stringed instru-
ments remains to be learned. And it seems remarkable that
musical antiquaries have not given a clearer account of this
unique instrument, which when played with a bow, is not, like
many of its kind, held against the body, but laid upon a table.
The Path That Led to the Indian Village of Playwicky.
BY MATTHIAS H. HALL, WRIGHTSTOWN, PA.
(Playwicky Meeting, June 16, 1923.)
IN the purchase of land from the Indians in 1682, by the agent
of William Penn, the line of purchase reached the corner
white oak, which John Watson said stood on the Hampton
farm, a mile east of the village of Wrightstown, Bucks county.
In 1875, I moved to that farm, and while living there learned
that the corner white oak mentioned in the purchase of the land
from the Indians, stood on that farm ; I therefore undertook to
locate the path and the site of the Indian village of Playwicky.
In a former paper read before this society (See Vol. Ill, p.
332) I claimed that a lane passed entirely across the Hampton
farm near a large white oak that stood at the head of a stream
on the farm, and that that was the path that led to Playwicky.
I still think it was correct, although the Indian village-site was
near Isaac Lacey's, as claimed by Dr. Smith. This has been
proved, beyond any doubt, to have been an error, but was a site
of an Indian village, but not of Playwicky. Several years ago I
asked Wilhemina Trego, who was a daughter of Peter Catell, if
she knew of any Indian village-sites, she replied that her mother
told her of one where there were wagon loads of turtle shells,
near the west end of Bowman's Hill. When Gen. Davis decided
to revise his History of Bucks County, he told me that he would
give me credit for all information I would give him ; I therefore
498 THE PATH THAT LED TO PLAYWICKY
gave him an account of the turtle shell marked village-site, along
with other history. Another writer, trying to conceal that they
were copying from my writing, said the turtle shell-marked In-
dian village-site, was on the western slope of Bowman's Hill. I
therefore decided if possible to find that Indian village-site, for
they always left some tools or chips to indicate where the sites
were. I traveled over and around Bowman's Hill time and time
again, visiting every likely place in the neighborhood, and found
that the village-site had been on the Seth VanPelt farm, half a
mile west of Bowman's Hill, directly opposite from where the
road from Wrightstown to Bowman's Hill strikes the Lurgan
road, at or near the turtle shell-marked village-site.
Chapman, in his early history of Wrightstown, said that our
first roads were laid out on Indian paths. This is very reason-
able to believe ; they were first used as bridle paths, then for carts
and wagons. This road, from Wrightstown, used to be known as
the "Old Wrightstown Road," and was evidently laid out on an
Indian path. It was first laid out as a road in 1733, but finding
that it was not quite the right place for carts and wagons, it was
changed in 1763. It is quite reasonable to believe that Indians
had paths from one village to another, and it was known that
there was an Indian village near the mouth of Pidcock's creek.
When the Wrightstown road or Indian path reached the turtle
shell marked village-site, it turned at a right angle and went al-
most direct to or near the Indian village-site at the mouth of Pid-
cock's crceek. These are links in a chain of evidence, that this
road was laid out upon an Indian path.
Davis' History of Bucks County, tells us that the Durham road
was laid upon an Indian path, and Warren S. Ely tells me that
the records of Bucks county give an account of an Indian village
near the west end of Buckingham Mountain. There are other
links to prove that the Durham road was laid out on an Indian
trail, and was intersected at Wrightstown by the Indian paths
heading from the Indian village at Pidcock's creek to the turtle
shell village-site, and on to the Indian village-site near Isaac
Lacey's, where it was intersected by the Indian path or lane
across the Hampton and Lacey farms, and then on to Bridgetown,
where probably it reached a path leading from the Delaware river
to Playwicky, which also passed over the Indian village-site at
THE PATH THAT LED TO PLAYWICKV 499
the Cornell farm, near the junction of the three streams. Thus
making a continuous path from the corner white oak, on the
Hampton farm, to Playwicky. Today we say that the Durham
road leads to Bristol, at the time of the purchase of this land from
the Indians, it was part of the Indian path that led to Playwicky.
From the best evidence I have been able to gather, and by
frequent searches extending back over forty-five years or more,
I was convinced that Playwicky was on the VanArtsdalen farm
at or near the foot of the hill, almost opposite to the limestone
quarry. Before the quarry was opened the spring was a gushing
fountain of ten or twelve inches. It is a well-known fact that
Indians had both a winter and a summer camp, and this was
probably a summer camp, beinng on a hill where they could get
better breezes and also plenty of shade.
About two hundred yards distant, on the adjoining farm across
the ravine, there is a spring of water known by tradition as the
"Squaw Spring." Between this spring and the Indian village-
site, on the VanArtsdalen farm, there is a path or road running
north and south, that was traveled by white people going to and
from the Bridgetown pike, just as the Indians probably did two
hundred years ago. The water running down this path, during
times of rain, has marked it, and it will probably be so marked to
the end of time. A few feet from where white men crossed the
ravine, with its stream of water, there are three embankments
about ten feet apart evidently thrown up by the Indians, they are
about two feet high and about ten or twelve feet long. When I
first discovered them I thought they might have been Indian
graves, but since then I was informed by people who know more
about archaeology than I do, that Indians planted their corn on
such ridges, and that these may have been part of an Indian gar-
den for use of the village close by.
On an old map bearing date 1681, there is an Indian path
shown running from the Falls of the Delaware, at Morrisville, to
the mouth of the Susquehanna river. I think it just possible and
probable that this path passed near Playwicky and the Indian
fields, marked thereon, were also near Playwicky. In conclusion,
I have followed this Indian path from the corner white oak to
about the same distance Jrom Squaw Spring.
An Attempt to Find the Site of the Indian Town of Playwicky.
BY DR. HENRY C. MERCER, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Playwicky Meeting, June 16, 1923.)
BECAUSE William Penn's old East Pennsylvania Indian
purchase Deed of 1683, preceeding the "Walking Pur-
chase" Deed of 1737, describes its northern boundary, as
encountering an Indian path, "That leadeth to the Indian town of
Playwicky," the name "Playwicky" has long been familiar to
students of local history. Mr. Josiah B. Smith tried to establish
its site, by doubtful deductions from the deed itself, at the "In-
dian Field," just east of W'rightstown.^ But no Indian relics
were ever found there, and that strange place, important no doiibt,
is, in the writer's opinion, the site of an Indian cornfield, not
a village.
Further documentary evidence on this subject was found by
the writer, in 1893, in a manuscript of the surveyor, John Watson,
among the papers of the late Judge Richard Watson of Doyles-
town, in which the surveyor, writing in 1756, says, that "Play-
wicky is an Indian town or plantation about Philip Drakets be-
low Heaton's mill." Following this the writer established by
deeds the site of Heaton's mill of 1756, as at the present Rocks-
ville, but failed to find Draycot, and failed to find any trace of a
large Indian village, anywhere along Mill creek from Rocksville
to the Neshaminy. After this inconclusive hunt, twenty years
followed, in which no one else examined the unsettled question,
until, in 1920, Albert Cook Myers again roused interest in the
matter, by finding several notes in William Penn's handwriting,
stating that the land or house of the widow of his friend, Cuth-
bert Hayhurst, in 1683, is "Near the Indian town Playwicky."
Thereupon Warren S. Ely fixed the site of the widow Hayhurst's
holding, at the bend of Neshaminy creek, crossing the latter west
of Langhorne, at the mouth of Mill creek, and then, turning
back to Watson's statement, established the holding of Philip
Draycot, in 1756, as a tract about a quarter of a mile wide, and
a mile or more long, east and west, including the present farm of
1 See Vol. I, page 95, of our printed papers.
THE INDIAN TOWN OF PLAYWICKV 501
Arthur C. Emlen. This narrowed down the field of search so
much that it has enabled us now, better than ever before to look
for, and I think find, the site of Playwicky.
Matthias Hall, with remarkable enthusiasm, has examined the
topography of this neighborhood, looked at all the springs, dis-
covered an Indian site on the Cornell farm, referred to later, and
has been the first to recognize and point out, the remarkable en-
vironment of Mr. VanArtsdalen's house, as the site of Play-
wicky. Together with the facts which he has presented, the
writer has tried to weigh and examine the documentary, tradition-
al and topographical evidence as follows : First as to the notes
of Penn and Watson. The site of Playwicky is about at the
farm of Mr. Arthur C. Emlen and, below, or south of, Rocks-
ville, according to Watson. It is near the Trenton cut ofif rail-
road bridge, crossing the Neshaminy at the mouth of Mill creek,
according to Penn. Hence combining both statements, we infer
that it was not to the north, or to the east, of this bend of the
Neshaminy, but somewhere to the west of it, somewhere in the
region between Neshaminy creek on the east, the Emlen farm on
the west, Mill creek on the north and an east and west line from
the Neshaminy, a little south of Siles, on the south.
In considering the topography of this region, let us begin by
cutting out the banks of Neshaminy creek, from the Falls to
Mill creek, because the lower part of the dark gorge, above the
Falls dam, is too narrow for foot hold, while the low marginal
flats further up, as far as Mill creek, are continuely freshet swept,
with two exceptions, first the terrace on the left bank under and
below the railroad, which is not so much "near" the site of Hay-
hurst but rather at it, and, second, the terrace around the
Neshaminy bend on the north side of the railroad bridge bluff,
and on the left bank of the stream, which is too cold for Indians.
Moreover, in any case, John Watson's language in the writer's
opinion, excludes all sites on Neshaminy creek, since none such
could have been reasonably said by him to be "about Philip
Draycot's" (Mr. Emlen's), while further, if Playwicky had been
on the Neshaminy, John Watson, the surveyor, would surely have
said so.
Let us next examine the banks of Mill creek. Here with one
exception along the whole southeast course of Mill creek from
502 THE INDIAN TOWN OF PLAYWICKY
Rocksville to the Neshaminy the topography is against Indian
habitation, notwithstanding the two springs on the Swarmer and
Tomhnson farms that would furnish drinking water. These
two springs near the hill top, nearly a mile from the creek, and
the lower available levels for possible Indian villages, are on
the right bank, that is on the wrong side of the stream. They
front north.- There is no good foothold on the steep south
fronting banks opposite. The exception is the meadow at the
mouth of the creek on its left side on the Cornell farm. At this
point the northern hills, above mentioned, recede. Pine run
flows into Mill creek, about three hundred yards above its
mouth, enclosing a high and dry relic bearing meadow. I missed
this in 1897, but Mr. Hall found it recently. Though about a
quarter of a mile distant from the nearest spring, the relics
found there, show that it has been dwelt upon by Indians, and
judged by Penn's language alone, it might be Playwicky, be-
cause it is certainly near the old site of Cuthbert Hayhurst's
house, just across the Neshaminy creek. Nevertheless this site,
in the writer's opinion, should be ruled out because, though
within the language of Penn, it does not fulfill the requirements
of John Watson's sentence. It is not reasonably "about Philip
Draycot's" (now Mr. Emlen's), and not reasonably "below"
(i. e. south of in surveyor's language) but too far above, i. e. to
the east, and a little to the north, of Heaton's mill (Rocksville).
For the same reason the whole course of Mill creek, whatever its
topography, notwithstanding the Swarmer and Tomlinson springs,
and whether the writer's hunt in 1893 was satisfactory or not,
should be eliminated from the present search.
2 At the farm now and for three years past, worked by Clarence Tomlin-
son on the north side of the Bridgetown-Feasterville road, nearly opposite
the Emlen farm, there is a good spring which does not go drj^ Froin this
a rivulet flows northward down the hill into Mill Creek nearly a mile away,
many surface stones have been gathered on the place but Mr. Tomlinson
has heard of no Indian relics.
Valentine Swarmer, a newcomer, occupies the next farm along the same
side of the road to the east (formerly the Worthington farm) where there
is also a spring. The north hillside frontage at both places is similar.
Information of Clarence Tomlinson to H. C. Mercer, by telephone, June
12. 1923.
The writer visited both the above sites (Tomlinson and Swarmer), on
June 14, 1923. Both springs are on the north side of the same hill which
shelters the VanArtsdalen ampitheatre, namely the long ridge which here
follows Mill Creek nearly a mile away. No doubt Indians may have camped
near both these springs. No doubt relics have been and may be found
around them. But both springs are on the wrong side of the hill. Both
are very insignificant compared with the Van Artsdalen springs so near
them on the south side of the same hill. Judged by all tests of such places
known to the writer these springs and the north fronting hill slopes around
them should in his opinion be thrown out of consideration.
THE INDIAN TOWN OF PLAYWICKY 503
The above, if correct, narrows down our examination to
some one of the several springs, necessary for an Indian village,
that rise in the tract in question, below the Bridgetown-Feaster-
ville road. These springs form, or flow into, three rivulets, the
only three that drain the tract, and as there are no other springs
let us consider these rivulets one by one.
The first to flow into the Neshaminy on the right bank, as we
come north from the Falls, is about one mile long. It rises about
half-a-mile south of Mr. VanArtsdalen's house, on the farm just
sold by Thomas Larue. Here access to the Neshaminy over a hill
to the east, or down the steep ravine of the stream, is inconvenient.
The spring rises in a swamp about two hundred yards in di-
ameter. No doubt the south fronting hill slopes around this
swampy source might have been inhabited by Indians at times.
Mr. Larue reports a few relics found in the ten-acre field across
the road to the south. But the whole place is so very inferior to
the VanArtsdalen site, to be described later, only half a mile
away, that in the writer's opinion, it should be discarded, and
with it the whole lower course of the rivulet, with or without
possible tributary springs, because its banks are too steep. ^
Still keeping on the right or west bank of the Neshaminy,
the only side thereof now under consideration, a second rivulet,
entering the Neshaminy north of the above, and flowing down a
similar ravine, rises in two springs, about a hundred yards apart,
on the adjoining Albert Paxson and Mather farms, and half-a-
Tnile east of the Larue springs. Here the conditions are better.
We have two springs instead of one, and no swamp. The same
south-fronting meadow slopes, close by, but access to the
Neshaminy, over the same eastern hill, or down a similar ravine,
are equally inconvenient. Mr. Paxson reports an absence of
relics, during the thirty or more years of his residence. His
neighbor, Mr. Mather, is a newcomer, and knows nothing of
the place. But this negative evidence is inconclusive, owing
3 The present house on the Larue farm was built by the father of Thomas
â– Larue about 1S40-1858. "V^Tien the former bought the farm in 1832 a log
house with a well stood at the site, and a springhouse. over the spring, in
the swamp. Another log house, across the road, built by the father of
Thomas Larue, is now gone. A few years ago twenty-five arrow heads were
found by an Indian boy employed by Mr. Thomas Larue, in the ten-acre
field, once covered with cedar trees, on the rivulet across the road to the
south.
Information of Thomas Larue of Langhorne, by telephone, to H. C. Mercer,
June S, 1923.
504 THE INDIAN TOWN OF PLAYWICKY
to the fact that Paxson's land, around the spring, has been
kept as an uncultivated pasture meadow. There can be little
doubt that here again Indians must have occasionally camped at
the spring. Still this place, though better than the Larue spring,
from the Indian's point of view, is so very inferior to the Van-
Artsdalen spring, hardly one mile away, not yet described, that it,
and the whole course of the rivulet below it, should again, in the
writer's opinion, be thrown out of consideration."*
This leaves us with the third rivulet, the next to enter the
Neshaminy on the right bank above the Paxson stream, as we
come northward, and the only one remaining in the field of search.
This streamlet, rising in two or more insignificant springs, along
the Bridgetown to Feasterville road, and augmented by two other
springs, one of them near the Emlen house, and another near a
ruined house, a quarter of a mile below it, enters a very remark-
able amphitheatre, surrounded by low hills, on the VanArtsdalen
farm and passes thence, by way of a narrow gorge, about half-a-
mile long into Neshaminy creek ; and it is the striking topography
and history, of this amphitheatre, that forces us to believe, that
here, and here alone, with reasonable certainty, we have at last dis-
covered the lost site of Playwicky. Discarding the above men-
tioned springs, above this amphitheatre and the narrow bed of
the rivulet below it, the amphitheatre itself, with its surrounding
levels, and the springs that flow into it, fill all the requirements
of an Indian town. Here we find a flat meadow, nearly a mile
long, east and west, by about a quarter of a mile wide, at its
upper western end, and tapering to a point, at its eastern end.
Low hills surround it on all sides. The rivulet, in question, enters
it on the wide western end, crosses it, and leaves it, at the nar-
row eastern end. The gentle lower hill slopes, on its north side,
give the requisite southern frontage for Indian habitation in
winter. While some of the steeper north fronting slopes, on the
south, might serve for cool temporary dwelling in summer. On
the other hand, the meadow proper, because, as we learn, some-
times submerged by freshets, is too wet for a village-site. Close
4 Mr. Thomas Larue says that he heard from his father that Indians had
lived at a small flat place about fifty yards square, on the right of this
rivulet rising- at the Paxson and Mather springs, about a quarter of a mile
south of the road, and that piles of stones, still existing, had been placed in
the woods on the steep left bank opposite, by Indians, to capture deer bv
breaking their legs.
Information of Thomas Larue of Langhorne, by telephone, to H. C. Mercer,
June 8, 1923.
THE INDIAN TOWN OF PLAYWICKY 505
around this meadow, rise three springs, two on its north side, the
first at the VanArtsdalen house, the second just below it to the
east, both good springs, both rising, not in the meadow, but on the
dry habitable slopes in question. The third spring, far larger
and finer, perhaps the largest in southern Bucks county, enters
the meadow and rivulet, from the steep hillside on the south,
just as the rivulet leaves the amphitheatre. So much in general
for the topography of the place. Next as to its history :
According to the information of Mr. VanArtsdalen, his family
have, in the last eighty years, gathered two collections of Indian
relics near the amphitheatre. The first, associated with minerals
found in opening the limestone quarry at the large lower spring
above mentioned, and loaned or given to the Academy of Natural
Sciences of Philadelphia, possibly for their exhibit at the Phila-
delphia Centennial in 1876, and seen at the Academy by Mr.
VanArtsdalen about 1885. No record of which relics has as yet
been found at the Academy.** The second, a later accumulation,
sold by Mr. VanArtsdalen to Col. H. D. Paxson a few years ago,
and here shown. Mr. VanArtsdalen tells us that not all these
relics were found at the amphitheatre, but some over the hill top
on the north, or upon, or beyond, the hill slopes to the south, or
possibly elsewhere, on adjoining farms. But this foreign ad-
mixture, is not significant, if he is right, as we think he is, in
saying that a reasonable number of them were found close to the
amphitheatre.
Having weighed this information, let us examine the place for
ourselves. Unfortunately we find that the inhabitable north
margin of the amphitheatre, is occupied either by the VanArts-
dalen house and buildings, or covered with old meadow grass,
showing no exposed surface, except at the asparagus field, at its
extreme lower end, opposite the great spring. Nevertheless, if
Playwicky existed at the amphitheatre, the site of this asparagus
field could not have escaped Indian habitation, and its dry level
5 The writer visited the VanArtsdalen Farm on June 14, 1923, when the
mother of Mr. Winder VanArtsdalen told the writer very positively that she
had frequently heard her father-in-law, Mr. VanArtsdalen's grandfather, say
that he had loaned, not only a collection of minerals but also therewith a
collection of Indian relics to the Academy of Natural Sciences in Phila-
delphia, and that on wishing to take back both collections, he had been per-
suaded to give them both to the Academy.
Mr. Winder VanArtsdalen then told the writer, that as a boy nine years
old, he had been taken by a relative. Miss Sally, about 1885, to the Academy,
and had there been shown not only the VanArtsdalen minerals, but the Van-
Artsdalen Indian relics, placed near them, in the showcases of the Academy.
506 THE INDIAN TOWN OF PLAYWICKY
surface, not buried in talus from the southern hill slopes too far
away, should still show some of the stone remains that would
prove the fact, not finished axes, arrow heads, polished celts^
gorgets, pestles, etc., so long hunted for at the place, but the no
less significant rude and broken stones, that no amateur collector
collects. Of these we found, about fifteen water rolled geologi-
cally recent pebbles, some broken, probably by fire, some pitted
by hammering, some showing scarcely any marks of use. Not in-
digenous to the place, all must have been brought there by Indians,
as boiling or cooking stones, or hammers. Otherwise, leaving out
of consideration the few chips and a groved stone axe recently
found, in the asparagus field, by Mr. VaUxA-rtsdalen, the surface,
compared with the average Indian sites elsewhere examined by the
writer, in Bucks county, seemed very bare indeed. It showed noth-
ing, except two large fire-blackened areas, either of pioneer or In-
dian origin, and therefore inconclusive. We dug three trenches,
upon the asparagus field, about four feet long, one and a half
feet wide, and two and a half feet deep. These, with two
smaller circular holes, showed a superficial band of blackened
earth about fourteen inches deep, evidently discolored by fire,
showing rarely, but unmistabably, minute fragments of charcoal
at its bottom, below plough depth, and resting on the clean clay.
In one of these trenches Mr. VanArtsdalen found a broken ar-
row head of argilite, and Mr. Mann an artificial chip of white
quartz. I myself found no Indian relics, associated with this
charcoal in any of these holes, and therefore prefer to argue
nothing from our excavations. More hunting on the surface
might have found more pebbles, more digging, more relics. The
asparagus patch, as examined by us, is a very small part of the
inhabitable area. Nevertheless it is very significant, because
directly upon the habitable south fronting level, and hard by the
best of all the springs. When all is considered, allowing for the
relics previously carried away from the place, the surface pebbles
found there by us, are, in the writer's opinion, conclusive. In no
way less so than such relics as the grooved stone axe, the fin-
ished arrow head, the blade maker's chip, the potsherd, the pol-
ished celt, or the pestle and mortar itself. Always and in-
variably, at all such places, proof positive of permanent Indian
habitation.
THE INDIAN TOWN OF PLAYWICKY 507
It is not necessary that we should find the site of a very large
or very ancient Indian village here, a place where the surface
relics should be one-third or even one-tenth as abundant, as at
such sites, on the Delaware river, as Lower Blacks Eddy, or
Gallows Run. The fact that Playwicky is mentioned in the deed
of 1683, and by Penn, etc., only means that it happened to be a
noted place at that time. It might well be that the town was not
much inhabited by the Delawares, until after the Swedes and
Dutch had crowded them off the lower river banks about 1640,
and that between 1640 and 1690 it rose to importance, as the
final retiring place for the Indians before their departure, and
during their last land sales in the lower county.
Finally how do the references to Playwicky, by Penn as "near
Cuthbert Hayhurst's widow" in 1683, and by John Watson, as
''about Philip Draycot's below Heaton's mill" in 1756, apply to
this place? According to Mr. Ely's discoveries, which have made
this research possible, Philip Draycot's tract, in 1756, adjoined
the west end of this amphitheatre, and is now represented, as be-
fore- mentioned, by the Emlen farm. Draycot's house, we think,
probably stood at the site of the present house of Mr. Emlen or
another ruined house, about a quarter of a mile further this way,
on the rivulet crossing the amphitheatre in question. '^
If Watson's phrase, "about Philip Draycot's" refers to Dray-
cot's whole tract, then this VanArtsdalen site, is as well covered by
his words as the Larue or Paxson sites. If his sentence refers
to Draycot's house, then this remarkable place of Mr. Vanarts-
dalen's, is about half-a-mile nearer Philip Draycot, than either
Larue or Paxson. On the other hand, Penn's language taken
alone, might include, but would not exclude, either Paxson, La-
rue or VanArtsdalen.
To sum up then, the topographical, documentary and traditional
evidence shows, in the writer's opinion, that there are only three
possible sites for Playwicky, in the region referred to in the
language of William Penn and John Watson, namely, this Van-
6 More probably than any possible site on the same rivulet above Mr. Em-
len, because the springs above him are inferior to his, or than anv site, now
lost away from springs, on the tract, since such a site would have" required a
well, and the Draycots, with springs on their tract would not have dug a well
before 1756, or than the Larue site, if the latter ever should be found to be-
long to the Draycot tract, because, while the Emlen site, then, as now, had
its road (the Brldgetown-Feasterville Road), there was no road at the Larue
site in 1756.
508 THE OLD HEATH MILL AND ITS EARLY OWNERS
Artsdalen site and the Paxson and Larue sites, and that the
former (this amphitheatre of Mr. VanArtsdalen's), is far superior
to the other two. That Playwicky, probably not a very large, or
very ancient Indian town (and probably abandoned soon after
as the last secluded halting place of the Delawares in the lower
county in Penn's time), was situated here and nowhere else.
The Old Heath Mill and Its Early Ov^^ners.
BY CAPTAIN R. C. HOLCOMB, (m.c), U. S. N., PHILADELPHIA, PA.
(New Hope Meeting, October 13, 1923.)
ONE of the earliest recorded deeds of Bucks county issued
by Penn is dated March 21 and 22, 1681, and constitutes
a deed of lease and release from William Penn to Thomas
Woolrich of Shalford, Staffordshire, England, yeoman, and is for
one thousand acres of land. The deed is signed by William
Penn and is witnessed by Harbt Springett, Tho. Coxe and Ben
Griffith. The land comprised in this one thousand acres includes
all of the present town of New Hope. Thomas Woolrich (Jr.)
never came to America, but seems to have resided in Shalford
(sometimes spelled Shawford), Staffordshire all of his life. He
was a son of Thomas Woolrich of the same place and married
Sarah Cossinet of Parshaw, Worcester, spinster, 9 mo.
10, 1682. Thomas Woolrich, Jr., had several sisters, one of
whom, Susanna Woolrich, married Robert Heath, a son of
Richard of Kinsley, Staffordshire, 11 mo. 14, 1681. at the Staf-
fordshire Monthly Meeting.
Though Thomas W^oolrich does not appear to have come to
America, many of his relatives and descendants came over. A
sister, Jane Woolrich, of Shawford, Staffordshire, married John
Armitt of Nettle Beds in Cheshire at Matthew Babb's house in
the city of Chester, 5 mo. 19, 1668 (Staffordshire Monthly Meet-
ing, also Cheshire Monthly Meeting). Richard Armitt was a
witness to Robert Heath's will and Richard Heath, a son of
Robert Heath, in his will, gives his wearing apparel to his
THE OLD HEATH MILL AND ITS EARLY OWNERS 509
cousin Thomas Armitt, and to his cousin John Stephen Armitt
he gave the sum of ten pounds.
Another sister was probably Hannah Wool rich, daughter of
Thomas Woolrich (the elder) of Shawford, Staffordshire, who
married John Whitakers (yeoman), of Leekmoreside, Stafford-
shire, 8 mo. 28, 1680 (Staffordshire Monthly Meeting).
Thomas Woolrich, as previously stated married Sarah Cos-
sinet 9 mo. 10, 1682, and the births of seven of their eight
children are recorded in the records of the Staffordshire Month-
ly Meeting as follows :
1. Elizabeth, born at Bassford, 9th mo. 24 da. 1683. It is
probable that this is the Elizabeth Woolrich who married John
Holcomb at Abington Meeting, Pa., 2nd mo. 28 da. 1707.
2. Cossinet, born 1684, 9th mo. 11th day at Leeke. He died in
early childhood as the Staffordshire Meeting notes Cossinet, son
of Thomas and Sarah, buried 6th mo. 1st day 1687.
3. Josiah, born 1686, 6th mo. 17th day at Leeke. Josiah also
died young and was buried at Bassford 19th day 5th mo. 1687.
4. Rebecca, born 1687, 9th mo. 27th day. She died young and
her name was given to the twin sister of Mary.
5. Rebecca, born 1692, 7th mo. 3rd day. She died aged 17
years, and was buried at Shawford 1709, 12th mo. 6th day.
6. Mary, born 1692, 7th mo. 3rd day. She was probably the
Mary Woolrich who married Jacob Holcomb at Falls Monthly
Meeting, Pa., in 1712. Jacob Holcomb purchased 500 acres of
the Thomas Woolrich. 1000 acres from the heirs of Richard
Heath the same year, 1712. A brother of Jacob Holcomb, John
Holcomb, who had married Elizabeth Woolrich at Abington
Meeting resided directly across the river in West New Jersey.
Some of John's land in his possession at the time of his death he
had bought of Richard Armitt.
7. John, born 1695, 5th mo. 22nd day. (Staffordshire Month-
ly Meeting), married, at Newton, Elizabeth Wallsworth, of Nar-
ley, Cheshire, 3rd mo. 3rd day, 1722 (Cheshire Monthly Meeting).
8. Samuel, born , son of Thomas of Shawford in Staf-
fordshire, married 1724. 2nd mo. 10th day, Elizabeth Towers,
spinster. She was a daughter of Samuel Towers of Over Whit-
ley, Cheshire.
Sarah, the wife of Thomas Woolrich, the mother of the above
510 THE OLD HEATH MILL AND ITS EARLY OWNERS
children, died 1706, 4th mo. and was buried at Shawford (Staf-
fordshire Monthly Meeting). Thomas \\'oolrich, Sr., of Shaw-
ford, parish of Cheshire, married Elizabeth Smyth at Stafford
1720 2nd mo. 17th day (Staffordshire Monthly Meeting).
The deed of Thomas Woolrich indicates that he purchased his
land while still a young man, and before his marriage. The
grant of the one thousand acres located later in Bucks county.
Pa., states that he sold his land to his brother-in-law, Robert
Heath, of Lower Teane, in the Parish of Checkley April 9 and
10, 1700. (Patent Book A, No. 4, p. 242.) Several of the sisters
of Robert Heath (who married Susanna Woolrich, the sister of
Thomas Woolrich), had emigrated to Pennsylvania, and settled
along the Delaware river in Bucks county. A sister, Ann Heath,
of Harton in Staffordshire, married James Harrison of Kendal,
Westmoreland, 5 mo. 1, 1655 (Cheshire Monthly Meeting). He
removed with his family to Pennsylvania 1682 and died 8 mo.
6, 1687. Another sister, Margaret Heath, of Harton, Stafford-
shire, married Thomas Janney at Jane Harrison's, Pownal fel
9 mo. 24 da. 1660 (Cheshire Monthly Meeting). Thomas Janney
came to Pennsylvania in 1683 and settled in Bucks county, where
he died a prominent minister of Falls Monthly Meeting, Another
sister, Jane Heath, married William Yardley at Staffordshire
Monthly Meeting, x: 30: 1663. William Yardley with his fami-
ly came to Pennsylvania in 1682. He died in 1693, and was a
minister of Falls Monthly Meeting. A testimony to all these
brothers-in-law to Robert Heath is contained in the "Collection
of Memorials, Concerning Divers Deceased Ministers of the Peo-
ple Called Quakers."
Robert Heath, who married Susanna Woolrich, became inter-
ested in Penn's' scheme to settle Pennsylvania, and early in the
year of 1700 he began to make his preparations to go to America.
At just what date Robert Heath and his family left England has
not yet come to light, but a certificate of removal was granted
William and Rosamond Till from the Staffordshire Monthly
Meeting, dated March 11, 1700, for their going "in care of our
friends Robert Heath and his wife who came along ye same voy-
age." Later, a certificate was issued to Joseph Parker, a young
lad aged fourteen years, which had been requested for him by
his mother, Elizabeth Parker (widow), of Bartholomew Close,
THE OLD HEATH MILL AND ITS EARLY OWNERS 511
London. He going "over to an uncle of his (viz) Robert Heath
in Pennsylvania," this certificate being granted from the Monthly
Meeting at Peel, London, dated 12 mo. 25th 1701. Ehzabeth
Woolrich of Bartholomew Close, London, spinster, married Wil-
liam Parker at Bull and Mouth 1674, 2 mo. 2 da. (Quarterly
Meeting of London and Middlesex). Robert Heath therefore,
seems to have set out some time in 1700 and he was accompanied
by his wife, Susanna Woolrich Heath and five children, namely,
Ann, Richard, Elizabeth, Hannah, Mary and Susanna. Shortly
before leaving England, he purchased from his brother-in-law,
Thomas Woolrich, by deed dated 9th and 10th day of April, 1700,
his town lots in Philadelphia, located on High St. (now Market
St.) and the one thousand acres of land. He obtained a warrant
to lay out his one thousand acres of land in Bucks county, the
warrant bearing date 14th day of the 11th mo., 1700. He also
had purchased a tract of five hundred acres of land, which he lo-
cated in old Bristol township, now a part of the city of Phila-
delphia, and the warrant to lay out this tract bears the same date
as the warrant for the one thousand acre tract. On this latter
tract of five hundred acres not far from Tacony creek, he settled
his homestead plantation.
The one thousand acres of land was up the river just beyond
Penn's Manor of the Highlands, beyond what is now known as
Buckingham and Solebury Mountain, the former called by the
Indians Popacating, who had a town between it and Beale Hill.
.Francis Rossell in his will dated 8 mo. 5th, 1694, refers to this
Indian town therein. At about the time the warrant was made,
William Penn and Robert Heath made an agreement that the lat-
ter was to build within one year, and afterwards keep in repair
a good water corn-mill for the use and service of the neighbor-
hood. In consideration whereof, William Penn stipulated that so
long as Robert Heath, his heirs or assigns should maintain a
sufficient gristmill for the use aforesaid there should not be any
gristmill built between the great spring head and the one thousand
acres ; and that the waters from the great spring should not be
turned aside or stopped in such manner that Robert Heath would
be hindered of the full and free use of its water. The great
spring is a wonderful gush of water out of a hole, flowing im-
mediately into a large natural lake or reservoir from which
512 THE OLD HEATH MILL AND ITS EARLY OWNERS
the mill stream flows. ^ The mill built by Robert Heath sometime
about 1702 was called by him the Tean-Mill (after the English
town in which he lived), but is locally known, and has long been
known as the Heath Mill. The Heath gristmill, which is still
standing, is located in practically the center of the Woolrich tract.
A short distance outside of New Hope at the bottom of a slight
grade where the Suggan- road crosses the Old York road. Turn-
ing south into the Suggan road, it is but a short distance to
the mill stream where the mill is located to the right of the road.
Immediately below it is the four-story grist mill built by William
Maris, and above on the mill stream is the house known as
Springdale, the Huffnagle home, the original part of which was
built by William Maris, who came to New Hope about 1812^.
Robert Heath does not appear to have ever lived on the one
thousand acres, but he (and his children until their respective
marriages), continued to live on a part of his five hundred acre
plantation in Bristol township, until the time of his death, in the
summer of 1710. His children were, Susanna, born 8 mo. 12th
1682 at "Goldhurst" Teane, Staffordshire, married Morris Mor-
ris, 7 mo. 27, 1703, and died 4 mo. 28, 1755. Ann, born 7 mo. 29th
1684 m. Richard Walln. Richard, born 6 mo. 11th 1686, died the
fall of 1711, unmarried. Elizabeth, born 6 mo. 5th 1688, at Bass-
ford, married Thomas Livezey, 9 mo. 27th 1710. Hannah, born
5 mo. 5th 1690, married three times: 1st, to Richard \\''orrell at
Oxford Meeting, 9 mo. 1st 1711 ; 2nd, to Richard Sermon in 1725 ;
and 3rd, to Samuel Hurford, son of John and Sarah Hurford at
Abington Meeting, 2 mo. 26th, 1731. She died 1763. Mary, born
1693, married 1 mo. 25, 1717, George Emlen. She died 6 mo. 1st,
1777.
The will of Robert Heath was dated twentieth day of eleventh
month, called January, Anno Dom. 1708-09, and witnessed by
William Preston, John Welch, Richd. Armitt and Ishmael Ben-
net. In it he calls himself "Robert Heath of County of Phila-
delphia in the Province of Pennsylvania, yeoman." To his wife,
Susanna Heath, he gives the sum of fifty-four ounces and one
pennyweight of Servill silver or Mexican pieces and other per-
1 For etching of this spring, see Vol. Ill, p. 564.
2 So named from a crude carrier placed upon a horse's back to facilitate the
carrying of bags of grain to mill. The road extending from the Tean Mill
to Elllcott's Mill at what is now Carversville.
3 For history Of Huffnagle house, see Vol. IV, pp. 643 to 661.
THE OLD HEATH MILL AND ITS EARLY OWNERS 513
sonal property. To his daughters, Susanna Morris and Ann
Walhi, he gave two hundred acres of his five hundred acre plan-
tation in Bristol township, near Tacony creek. (This Bristol
township was one of the old tow^iships like Oxford and Frank-
ford, now incorporated in the city of Philadelphia. It was lo-
cated to the westward of Oxford and to the northward of Frank-
ford.) He directed that the remaining three hundred acres
"my messuage or Tenem't. and plantation with ye appurtenances
whereon I now dwell situate in Bristol township," be sold by his
son Richard and his sons-in-law, Morris Morris and Richard
Walln, and that the money so raised be equally divided amongst
his daughters, Elizabeth, Hannah, and Mary. To his son,
Richard Heath, he gave the one thousand acre tract located in
Solebury in the following words :
"Also, I give, devise and bequeath unto my son, Richard Heath, all
my Water Corn Mills or Grist Mills, called Tean-Mills, situate, lying
and being in ye township of Solebury in the County of Bucks, in the
said Province, and also all that my one thousand acres of land there
unto belonging, whereon my said mill stands, with all the houses, out-
houses, buildings, Bolting-Mills and other improvements and appur-
tenances to ye said Mill and land belonging. And also my Front and
High St. lots in ye city of Philadelphia and also the residue of my
estate both real and personal what-so-ever both in Great Brittain and
in this Province or elsewhere to hold to my son Richard Heath, to
his heirs, exrs., and assigns forever."
This will was recorded August 3, 1710 (Phila. Wills No. 173,
Book C, p. 215).
A warrant to lay out this land in Bucks county was granted
to Robert Heath, the 14th day of 11th mo. (February) in the
year 1700. (H. Pat. Book A No. 4, pp. 242, 243.)
"And whereas the said Robt. Heath some time since the date of the
warrant aforesaid promised and agreed with me (William Penn) that
he the said Robert Heath should within one year next after his said
agreement build and afterwards keep in repair a Good Water Corn
Mill for the use and service of the neighborhood. In consideration
whereof, I granted unto the said Robert Heath, his heirs and assigns
forever that so long as he, the said Robert Heath, his heirs and assigns
should maintain a sufficient Grist Mill for the use aforesaid there should
not be any Grist Mill built by me, my heirs or assigns between the
Great Spring head running through the said one thousand acres of
land or some part thereof and the said one thousand acres and, that
the water or stream of Great Spring aforesaid should not at any time
514 THE OLD HEATH MILL AND ITS EARLY OWNERS
be stopped or turned aside so far as that the said Robert Heath at any
time should be hindered of the full and free use of the same. But that
the said Robert Heath, his heirs and assigns should have and enjoy the
same so long as he or they should maintain a mill as aforesaid with-
out any molestation whatsoever, and whereas the said Robert Heath
being seized of the said land and premises, erected a Water Corn Mill
thereon and in and by his last will and testament bearing date the two
and twentieth day of the eleventh month in the year of Our Lord one
thousand seven hundred and nine, devised the said land and mill and
premises with the improvements thereon to Richd. Heath, son and heir
apparent of the said Robert Heath, his heirs and assigns and sometime
after dyed seized of the said land and premises as in and by said will
may appear and the said Richard Heath requesting me to confirm to
him the said land and premises by patent. Now know ye that as well
for and in consideration of the sum of money in my said first recited
Indentures of Release mentioned, as of the same Quit rent thereon and
herein also reserved I have given, granted, Released, and confirmed and
by these presents for me, my heirs and successors do grant and release
and confirm unto the said Richard Heath, his heirs and assigns forever
and the said several Tracts or parcels of land situate Lying being con-
tiguous as aforesaid," etc. Recorded 30th July 1711. (Patent Book A
No. 4, p. 243.)
Richard Heath survived his father but a short time, as he died
during the fall of the following year (1711). But in the inter-
val between the death of his father and his own death, he under-
took to secure patents for the land left to him by his father. A
warrant for survey of the city lots had been applied for by his
father. The High street lot being part of a lot formerly laid out
for Letitia Penn. (Penn. Mss. warrants and surveys large folio
25), and was in the right of the purchase made by Thomas Wool-
rich, March 21 and 22, 1681. (A No. 2, p. 727, Harrisburg, Pa.
Books). The patent for the land in Bucks County was not is-
sued during Robert Heath's life time, though a warrant to lay out
the land was issued to him 14th day of 11 mo. in year 1700. The
patent was prepared in favor of Richard Heath and was recorded
July 30, 1711. (Patent Book A, No. 4, p. 242.) In this patent
is recited a full history of the land, from its purchase by Thomas
Woolrich, the agreement to build the mill by Robert Heath, and
other facts of interest.
The will of Richard Heath is recorded Volume C, 264, Phila-
delphia county, as follows :
I, Richard Heath of Philadelphia being sick and weak in body do
make this my last will and testament in manner and form following.
THE OLD HEATH MILL AND ITS EARLY OWNERS 515
and first I give to my sister, Mary Heath, the sum of fifty pounds. I
give to my cousin, Anne Phipps, the sum of ten pounds. I give my
silver spurs to Joseph Parker. I give my wearing apparel to my
cousin, Thomas Armitt. I give my cousin, John Stephen Armitt, the
sum of ten pounds, and all the remainder of my estate, real and personal,
to my five sisters, namely Susanna Morris, Anne Walln, Elizabeth
Liversey, Hannah Heath and ]\Iary Heath. I give to my cousin, John
Armitt, the sum of ten pounds, and I do make my two brothers,
Richard Walln, Junior, and Morris Morris executors of this my last
will and testament in witness whereof I have put my hand and seal this
eleventh day of the eight month 1711.
RICHARD HEATH.
Witnesses Samuel Carpenter and Wm. Robins.
Philadelphia, Oct. 11, 1711. Witnesses appeared before Charles Goo-
kin and made affirmation as witnesses."
By whom the mill was operated from the time it was built,
about the year of 1702, until the death of Richard Heath, no
clear record remains. A number of the relatives, friends and
neighbors of Richard Heath residing in or about the townships of
Lower Dublin, Oxford and Abington later settled there, and it is
not impossible that some one of them acted as his agent. Jacob
Holcomb was the next owner of the mill, purchasing it from the
heirs of Richard Heath, his deed being dated the 4th mo. 12, 1712.
Jacob Holcomb was a son of John and Sarah Holcomb of Dul-
vertown, Somersetshire. The quarterly meeting of Bristol and
Somerset (English Meeting Records) records the marriage of
John Holcomb of Stogumber and Sarah Scott 9 mo. 11th 1675
at Western and Middle Division Monthly Meeting. The children
of John and Sarah Holcomb of the Withill and Dilverton Meet-
ing, Western Division are recorded as follows :
Julian Holcomb born 8 mo. 3 1676.
Julian Holcomb born 5 mo. 4 1678.
John Holcomb born 5 mo. 29 1680.
John Holcomb born 3 mo. 20 1682.
Jacob Holcomb born 7 mo. 3 1684.
A memorial of Jacob Holcomb prepared about ten years after
his death by a committee duly appointed by Buckingham Meeting
to collect memoirs of deceased ministers and elders, mentioned
the place of his birth and the fact of his father's early death as
follows :
"He was born at or near Tiverton in Old England, being
516 THE OLD HEATH MILL AND ITS EARLY OWNERS
a descendant of friends; his father died while he was young and his
mother brought him up to useful learning." etc. (Collection of Memo-
rials of Deceased Ministers, published 1787.)
The statement that Jacob Holcombe was born in Tiverton is
probably an error, as the family in England to which he belonged
had been, for several generations preceding his birth, seated at
Dulverton Parish. His father, John Holcombe died in 1685, the
year following his birth, his father's will having been proved at
Taunton 1685. By his will dated the 20th day of April 1685,
John Holcombe of the parish of Dulverton, Somerset, yeoman,
gave to Sarah his wife all the goods which were hers before
marriage : To his son John his clock and silver cup. To his son
Jacob his watch, to his daughter Julian, silver spoons : To his
servant Joan Rooke five pounds : to the rest of his servants one
shilling apiece. Should testator's land in the parish of Dulver-
ton fall into possession then he gave the same to his son Jacob.
He gave his son John all his land and tenements in Dulverton.
The rest of his estate he gave to his wife Sarah, his sons John
and Jacob and his daughter JuHan and appointed them his joint
executors. The document was signed and sealed by John Hol-
combe in the presence of John Atkins, Richard Coyle and R.
Sedgborrow.
Jacob Holcombe was probably the nephew of Sarah Holme,
the daughter of Penn's Surveyor General Thomas Holme.
Thomas Holme's daughter, Sarah, was married at Lambstown,
County Wexford, Ireland, 7 mo. 12, 1672, to Richard Holcomb,
son of Richard and Juliann Holcomb of Parish of Dulverton,
Somersetshire. (Transcript by Mr. Albert Gook Myers.)
Thomas Holme by his will dated 12 mo. 10, 1694, bequeathed
thirty pounds to be paid "the children of Richard Holcomb by
my daughter Sarah" the same to be paid out of certain lands in
Pennsylvania in the vicinity of Abington, Pa. (Phila. Go. Wills
Liber. A. 308.) The records of Withill and Dulverton Meeting,
\\'estern Division (English Records) record the birth of two
children of Richard and Sarah Holcombe, namely, Susanna Hol-
comb, born 4 mo. 25th 1673, and Richard Holcomb 5 mo. 5th
1675, the first child being born a little over ten months after the
marriage in Ireland.
xA.fter the death of Jacob's father, John Holcomb, his mother
THE OLD HEATH MILL AND ITS EARLY OWNERS 517
Sarah, married John Hurford. John Hurford came to Pennsyl-
vania in 1700 from Tiverton and brought with him a certificate
from Friends of CuUumpton Meeting dated 2 mo. 29, 1700, for
himself and family, including his son John and his wife's daugh-
ter, July Ann Holcomb. Just what date Jacob Holcomb arrived
in Pennsylvania is not certain. Watson in his memoirs mentions
him as having settled in Buckingham before 1703. (Penna. His-
torical Society Memoirs, Vol. I, p. 294.)
Davis in his "History of Bucks County" (Vol. I, p. 244), men-
tions his name as one of the settlers who probably located land in
Solebury between 1687 and 1702. There seems to be no doubt
that he was in Solebury during the earliest days of its settlement,
though the Hurfords continued to reside somewhere in the vicin-
ity of Abington. From the meeting at Abington, Pa., the follow-
ing minute is extracted under date: "26th 3 mo. 1707. At this
meeting a certificate was granted to Jacob Holcomb in order for
his passage to England, he having produced a paper of recom-
mendation from Buckingham." He was now a young man nearly
twenty-three years of age.
Upon his return from England, Jacob Holcomb again went to
Solebury, where, on March 25, 1709, he purchased from James
Logan of Philadelphia two tracts of land, one containing three
hundred and twenty acres and the other five hundred acres. This
is the tract of land often called the Scarborough tract, as Jacob
Holcomb sold this land to John Scarborough two days later, and
bought of John Scarborough for the same price he sold to Scar-
borough, namely for three hundred pounds silver money, the
tract of land west of the Great Spring tract. In the deed from
James Logan, he is called "carpenter" and in the deeds with
Scarborough he is called "yeoman." It would appear that he
purchased the two tracts from Logan in order to make exchange
with John Scarborough. At the same time, he sold back to John
Scarborough sixty acres of the five hundred and ten acre tract
for fifty pounds. The witnesses of the transaction between Scar-
borough and Holcombe were in each case Nathanial Bye, Enoch
Pearson and John Reading. The two former were residents of
Solebury, but the latter was a resident of Amwell, West Jersey,
a neighbor of John Holcomb and one of the promotors of the Old
York road. The deed from James Logan to Jacob Holcomb for
518 THE OLD HEATH MILL AND ITS EARLY OWNERS
eight hundred and thirty acres is recorded in Book 4, p. 56, Bucks
county, Pa., Records. The deed from Jacob Holcomb to John
Scarborough is recorded in the same volume pages 133 and 136.
The deed from John Scarborough to Jacob Holcombe is in the
same volume page 129. About that time a petition was made by
the inhabitants of Solebury for a road from Philadelphia to be
known as the York road , Jacob Holcomb being one of the
petitioners.
First mo. 1712, Jacob Holcomb and Mary Woolridge, or Wool-
rich declared intentions of marriage at Falls Meeting. The 2 mo.
1712, their second declaration was made, and permission granted
for them to consummate their intention, but the date of the mar-
riage is not of record. The 4th mo. 12th, 1712, Jacob Holcomb
purchased five hundred acres of the Woolrich or Heath tract,
upon which the Tean Mill or Heath Mill is located. He operated
the mill and when the adjoining five hundred acres of the original
Woolrich one thousand acres was sold in the year of 1716, he is
referred to by occupation as a miller. Thus in the deed to Charles
Brockden of Philadelphia for the Ferry tract, (recorded in Book
E-7, Vol. IX, p. 374, Phila. Co.), the purchase of the mill tract
is referred to in the following manner: :
"And whereas about five hundred acres part thereof was since
conveyed by them the said Maurice Morris and Susannah, his
wife, Richard Walln and Ann, his wife, Thomas Liversy and
Elizabeth, his wife, and Mary Heath unto Jacob Holcomb of
said Bucks Co., miller." He likewise is called "miller" in the
lease of the mill to Thomas Canby 1717. This deed is dated May
23, 1716, and throughout the deed wherever he is referred to he
is called by occupation a miller. He held the mill about four
years, when he sold it. To Thomas Canby, a resident of Abington,
he sold two-thirds of this tract, the remaining third being equally
divided between Morris Morris and Richard Walln, the brothers-
in-law of Richard Heath. This sale being made Dec. 3, 1717.
There are several unrecorded deeds for this property between
1709 and 1717, but the sale does not seem to have been completed,
and the property reverted to Jacob Holcomb. One of these deeds
dated Feb. 21 and 22, 1714, conveying the land to Enoch Pearson,
is witnessed by John Woolrich, Richard Taylor and John Reading.
About this same time, Dec. 3, 1717, he sold to Thomas Canby
THE OLD HEATH AIILL AND ITS EARLY OWNERS 519
four hundred and forty-four acres of the tract purchased from
John Scarborough, and he then removed to land in Buckingham,
formerly belonging to William Cooper, being a five hundred acre
tract that Cooper had purchased from Margaret Atkinson, the
widow of Christopher Atkinson. William Cooper had emigrated
to Pennsylvania and with his wife, Thomasina, had lived in a
stone house, which had been the early terminus of the Bristol or
Durham road, as it was later called when extended by a different
course beyond this house. The old house remained standing until
about the year of 1914. In this house had been held one of the
first meetings of the Friends of Buckingham in the year 1704.
William Cooper died in 1709. A part of this five hundred acre
tract was occupied by Jacob Holcomb's step-father, John Hurford,
who on 6 mo. 26, 1717, had obtained a certificate from Abington
Meeting "in order to transport himself to England" and return-
ing "25 of ye 5 1720 a certificate was granted Jo. Hurford to re-
move to Buckingham."
A map of Buckingham township, bearing date June 16, 1726,
accompanied a petition of the inhabitants of Buckingham, to ex-
tend the road leading to Bristol from Jacob Holcombe's house
which latter road had been laid out about the year of 1706. Two
houses are shown on the map, the Buckingham Meeting House
and Jacob Holcomb's house. The land adjoining Jacob Hol-
comb is shown to be held by John Hurford. The year previous,
6 mo. 3, 1725, from a minute at Buckingham Meeting we find
Jacob Holcomb making a request to have an evening meeting at
the home of his aged parents, because of their inability to get to
the public meeting house.
Two children had been born of the marriage of John Hurford
and Sarah Holcomb, namely, Grace, who married Robert Thomas
of North Wales, Gwynedd, 8 mo. 9, 1722, and Samuel, who mar-
ried, 28th ye 4th, 1731, Hannah Semon, a daughter of Robert
Heath and the widow of 1st Richard Worrell and 2nd Richard
Semon. John Hurford died in 1736, aged 90 years, and was
buried in Frankford township. Of his burial Thomas Chalkley in
his journal made the following note in November, 1726.
"About this time was buried at Frankford, John Hurford, who was
about ninety years of age, at whose burial, the coldness of the season
520 THE OLD HEATH MILL AND ITS EARLY OWNERS
considered, were a pretty many Friends, neighbors and relatives of the
deceased, as also divers from Philadelphia."
Throughout his life, Jacob Holcomb was a prominent member
of the Friends Meeting at Buckingham, having occupied various
offices in the meeting and being a minister thereof. On occasion,
he undertook missions to Long Island, Rhode Island and Mary-
land, as the following extracts from the minutes will testify :
"1 mo. 5, 1738. A certificate requested for Jacob Holcomb to
visit New England. 6 mo. 6, 1739. Jacob Holcomb returned his
certificate granted 2nd of 2 mo., 1739, and produced two certifi-
cates, one from Dover Monthly Meeting in New England dated
19th 3 mo., 1739, and one from Newport Yearly Meeting in
Rhode Island, dated 11th of 5 mo., 1739, which were read and
well received. 11 mo. 3, 1742. Certificate granted Jacob Holcomb
to visit Long Island. 1 mo. 7, 1743. Jacob Holcomb returned
certificate from Westbury Quarterly Meeting dated 26 of 12 mo.,
1742." The same type of entry records his visit to Maryland.
He had eight children, one son and seven daughters. (1)
Thomas, who married Hannah Pennell of Providence Monthly
Meeting, 6 mo. 3, 1741. She was the daughter of Wm. and
Mary (Mercer) Pennell of Middletown. (2) Sarah, v^ho mar-
ried Thomas Lewis, 7 mo. 6, 1736. (3) Rebecca. (4) Mary,
who married Jacob Walton (Buckingham Records), 3 mo. 1, 1749.
(5) Elizabeth, who married Joseph Hollowell of Philadelphia, 4
mo. 13, 1745, (Pine St. and Orange St. Monthly Meeting rec-
ords). (6) Susanna, who married John Van Durien of Gwy-
nedd, (Buckingham Records)" 4 mo. 6, 1748. John Van Durien
and Susanna Holcomb declared intentions of marriage 2nd time."
"7 mo. 5, 1748, John Van Durien and wife Susanna remove cer-
tificate to Gwynedd." (7) Hannah. (8) Sophia.
Jacob Holcomb died 1748, 30th 6 mo. The will of Jacob Hol-
comb is recorded in Bucks county Will Book No. 2, p. 118. To
his wife he gave black mare she usually rideth, side saddle, best
bed and furniture thereunto belonging also the chest of drawers
and her choice of the other chests, one-third of his personal
estate and six pounds a year during her widowhood to be raised
from sale of the Plantation. To daughter, Mary, forty pounds
and one silver spoon. To daughters Hannah and Sophia each
twenty-five pounds. Sophia a pocket bible. To grandson, Jacob
THE OLD HEATH MILL AND ITS EARLY OWNERS 521
Holcomb, (son of Thomas) one silver spoon marked with R. H.,
also five pounds. Wearing apparel to be divided between son and
sons-in-law. Plantation to be sold under advice of John Wat-
son, Doctor, and the proceeds to be divided into nine equal parts ;
Thomas Holcomb to have two parts and one part each to daugh-
ters Sarah, Rebecca, Mary, Elizabeth, Hannah and Sophia.
"Item. I give and bequeath to my kinsman, Barnard Hough,
the sum of twenty-five shillings when he is to leave my wife."
Mary Holcomb, the wife, was appointed executrix.
7th of 8th mo. 1758. A committee of Buckingham Meeting
was appointed to collect memorials of deceased Ministers and
Elders, who on the "8 mo. 6, 1759, brought what they were able
to collect to that sort ; viz. of John Dyer, John Scarborough,
Abigal Paxon, Jacob Holcombe and Enoch Pearson, ministers
and of Thomas Canby, Joseph Fell, Cephas Child and Benjamin
Fell, Elders, all of whom lived and died in unity with this meeting
and by their exemplary lives and services left a good savor be-
hind them." These memorials were sent to the Bucks Quarterly
Meeting. Two of these memorials, namely of John Scarborough
and Jacob Holcombe were published in the 1787 edition of "A
Collection of Memorials Concerning Divers Deceased Ministers
and Others of the People Called Quakers."
The next owner of the mill-tract was Thomas Canby. He had
come to Solebury from Cheltenham township where his initiative
and energy had brought him into prominence. On Dec. 3, 1717,
Jacob Holcomb, miller, sold to Thomas Canby four hundred and
forty-four acres in the Scarborough tract and on the same date,
two-thirds of his interest in the five hundred acre Heath mill-
tract, the remaining one-third being taken by Morris Morris and
Richard Walln. In other words, he practically bought out Jacob
Holcomb's interests in Solebury. Holcomb then removed to the
Cooper tract in Buckingham.
Thomas Canby was a man of exceptional public spirit and
wherever he went he immediately found a place of leadership.
He was born at Thorn in Yorkshire, being a son of Benjamin
Canby. Thomas had a brother Benjamin and a sister, Mary.
Thomas Canby was the only child of Benjamin Canby, so far
as known, who came to America to settle. Thomas came to
America earlv in 1684 with Henrv Baker from Darbv in the
522 THE OLD HEATH MILL AND ITS EARLY OWNERS
county of Lancaster, England. Thomas was then a lad aged
sixteen years. Henry Baker had a certificate from the Friends
Meeting at Hardshaw, dated 3 mo. 27, 1684, which was for him-
self, his wife, and family. He located on a three hundred acre
tract at what is now Washington Crossing on Delaware River.
According to tradition Henry Baker was the uncle of Thomas
Canby, but it would appear that the relationship came about
through Thomas Canby's marriage to Sarah Jarvis, whom Henry
Baker calls his cousin. However very soon after arrival in
America, Henry Baker made certain claims upon the services of
Thomas Canby, to compensate him for expense incurred incident
to bringing him to America. The matter was referred to the
Bucks Quarterly Meeting of Friends for adjustment. The fol-
lowing extract of their decision is quoted :
"At Bucks Quarterly Meeting held at the house of Richard Hough
on the 5th of 6 mo. 1685.
"Henry Baker hath brought in an account of disbursements about
the bringing of Thomas Canby into this country and they both, viz.
Henry Baker and Thomas Canby have referred the length of time
the said Thomas Canby shall serve the said Henry Baker for the said
charge and his passage, and it is the agreement and judgment of this
meeting, that the said Thomas Canby shall serve the said Henry Baker
five years from this day and that at the expiration of the said term, the
said Henry Baker shall allow the said Thomas Canby apparel and corn
and w^hat other things are allowed by law to minors so brought in;
and that the indentures shall accordingly be drawn and sealed by each
party, to which judgment both parties declare their satisfaction."
. This agreement expired in 1690 and Thomas now a young
man of twenty-one years began a career of public usefulness.
He removed from Bucks county and settled in Abington about
ten or eleven miles to the north of Philadelphia and one or two
miles eastward from Abington Friends Meeting House and near
Robert Fletchers. The Abington Meeting House had not been
built at this date. The Monthly Meetings after 30th 6 mo., 1688,.
were held for that vicinity alternately at Byberry (Poctquesink),.
Oxford and Cheltenham. (Geo. Boone's Mss., 1718.) It is
probable that these meetings were called the Dublin Meeting.
Thomas Canby was a member of the Abington Friends Meeting^
from the minutes of which the following is extracted :
"25th 7 mo., 1693. Certificate granted Thomas Canby in order
to proceed in marriage with Sarah Jervis of Philadelphia."
THE OLD HEATH MILL AND ITS EARLY OWNERS 523
Sarah Jervis appears to have been a cousin of Henry Baker as
when the latter wrote his will 3 mo. 7th, 1698, he provided :
"Ninthly, I give to Thomas Canbe one mare which he now
hath."
"Twealthy, I give to my cousin Sarah Canbe five pound English
money which I lent her mother."
The will was proved May 23, 1705, but he died prior to 16th
12 mo., 170.1.
Henry Baker had shortly before this date, actually, in 1696, re-
moved to Buckingham, now Bristol, where he became associated
with Samuel Carpenter in operating the first mill in Bristol. The
deed of agreement between them, dated 7 mo. 3rd, 1698, is a
very interesting document. (Bucks County, Vol II, p. 199.)
He was a member of the Provincial Assembly 1685, 1687, 1688,
1689, 1690, and 1698. He was also a member of the Provincial
Council 1689-90. It may thus be seen that Thomas Canby had
an influential guardian whose early example must have had some
influence upon his character.
Nine children were born of the marriage of Thomas Canby and
Sarah Jervis, viz: (1) Benjamin, who died young. (2) Sarah,
who married John Hill at Falls Meeting 1719. (3) Elizabeth,
who married Thomas Lacy at Buckingham 1723. (4) Mary,
who married Joseph Hampton at Buckingham 1722. (5) Phebe,
who married 1st, Robert Smith at Falls Meeting, 1719; and 2nd,
Hugh Ely. (6) Esther, who married John Stapler. (7) Thomas
who married Sarah Preston at Buckingham Meeting 1724, and
had eight children. (8) Benjamin, who married 1st, Martha
Preston at Buckingham Meeting, 1724, and 2nd, Sarah Yardly
in 1734. (9) Martha, who married James Gillingham at Buck-
ingham Meeting, 1731.
Sometime about 1699, the project of building a meeting house
at Abington was undertaken. "xA-t a meeting held the 25th of 1st
mo., 1700, Friends appoint Joseph Phipps, Thomas Canby and
William Jenkins to inspect ye accounts of Everard Bolton and
Samuel Cart concerning the building of the meeting house at
Abington and bring an account to ye next meeting" (Boone's
Mss. 1718). The meeting was built on land patented to John
Barnes 1st 6 mo., 1684, and by deed dated 5th of 2nd mo., 1697,
he donated "unto Samuel Cart, Everard Bolton, Evan Morris,
524 THE OLD HEATH MILL AND ITS EARLY OWNERS
Robert Fletcher, and Thomas Canby all that tract of land in
Abington township with all appurtenances forever."
By another deed dated 19th of 4 mo., 1698, reciting among
other things that it was made in trust :
"That they or so many of them as should be and continue in unity
and religious fellowship with friends in truth and remain member of
the monthly meeting of Dublin whereunto they then did belong should
stand of the said 120 acres." "To the uses and intents therein and
hereinafter limited and expressed, and to no other purpose whatsoever,
that is to say for and towards the erection of a meeting house for
Friends and towards the maintenance of a school as they the said
trustees with the advice and direction of Friends belonging to said
monthly meeting."
The meeting house appears to have been completed by June.
1700.
Thomas Canby remained active in the Abington Meeting up to
the date of his removal therefrom in 1718. He was successively
appointed one of the committee to attend the Quarterly Meeting
30th 3rd mo., 1715; 30th 11 mo., 1715; 30th 5 mo., 1716; 28th
11 mo., 1716; and 30th 5th mo., 1717. On the 31st 1 mo.,
1718, he was granted a certificate in order to remove his family
to Falls Monthly Meeting, the Buckingham Meeting not being
an independent meeting until 1720. He continued, however, to
act as one of the trustees of the Barnes deed at the Abington
Meeting until 1722. On the 27th 2 mo., 1719, the deed for the
Abington Meeting was held in the names of Morris Morris,
Robert Fletcher, Thomas Canby and Daniel Thomas ; Thomas
Canby being the only one of the original trustees. The 28th 10
mo., 1713, Samuel Cart and Evan Morris being deceased, and
Robert Fletcher having removed, Daniel Thomas, Morris Morris
and Robert Fletcher, Jr., were appointed in their place on the
Barnes trust. On the 26th 1 mo., 1722, Richard Martin was ap-
pointed as a trustee vice Thomas Canby, who had been a trustee
of Abington Meeting for nearly a quarter of a century.
Thomas Canby's first wife died on the 2nd of the 4th month,
1708, and about the 6th mo., 1709, he married Mary, the daughter
of Evan and Jean Oliver from Radnorshire in Wales. By this
wife he had eight children, viz : ( 1 ) Jane, born 4 mo. 12, 1710, who
married Thomas Paxson at Buckingham Meeting, 1732. (2)
Rebecca, who married Samuel Wilson. (3) Hannah, who died
THE OLD HEATH MILL AND ITS EARLY OWNERS 525
young. (4) Joseph, who had no descendants. (5) Rachel, un-
married. (6) Ohver, who married EHzabeth Shipley. (7) Ann,
unmarried and (8) Lydia, who married John Johnson.
About the date of his second marriage, Thomas Canby, then a
resident of Abington township, made an agreement dated 18th
of 4 mo., 1708, by which he contributed a tract of fifty acres, in
a partnership with Robert Fletcher, Samuel Cart, and Joshua
Tittery for the building of a water corn mill. Robert Fletcher
contributed fifty-one acres. The land contributed by Canby is
described as bounded by land of Robert Fletcher; by other land
of Thomas Canby; by land of Lewis Jones; and land of Thomas
Roberts. (Phila. Co. Deed E-5, Vol. VII, pp. 18-29.) On the
7th of April, 1711, Canby sold his one-fourth interest in this
land and mill to William Roberts. Canby with his wife, Mary,
executed their deed before Richard Heath, then deputy recorder
of deeds for Philadelphia county. This deed states in part :
"Whereas the said Saml Cart. Joshua Tittery, Robert Fletcher and
Thomas Canby have since at their joint and equal charges, erected,
made, built, a Water Corn Mill or Grist Mill on the two pieces
of land aforesaid, conveyed to them by Thomas Story," etc.
(Phila. Co. Deed E-7, Vol. VIII, p. 21.)
He then appears to have entered a partnership with Morris
Morris, son of Evan Morris one of the trustees with him at the
Abington Meeting. Their mill property consisted of two tracts
of land, the first bought of Richard Dungworth, 30th January,
1711, containing six and one-half acres with a gristmill thereon.
The other tract was purchased of Samuel Bolton the 6th day of
August, 1712, and contained thirty acres. Thomas Canby and
Mary, his wife; and Morris Morris and Susanna, his wife; later
sold a one-third share in the mill and property unto Richard
Martin of Cheltenham township, miller. Thomas Canby now
owning one-third interest in the mill, sold his one-third share to
Anthony Morris, merchant of Philadelphia, by deed dated 23rd
November, 1717. The two tracts comprising that property are
thus described :
"Beginning at Quesanamings creek thence by land of Richard Hall
NNE 38 perches to a post on the brow of the hill, thence WS° W by
land of Thomas Maddox 35 perches to a post, thence SW by land of
John Day crossing said creek 27 perches to a post; thence SE by said
526 THE OLD HEATH MILL AND ITS EARLY OWNERS
Richard Hall's land 8 perches to an oak thence by said Hall's land E to
a post by same creek 8 perches, then down the several courses of the
creek to the beginning, containing 6>4 acres with a grist mill thereon
erected, together with appurtenances." (This land bought of Richard
Dungworth 30th Jan. 1711.) "And whereas Samuel Bolton of the said
county, yeoman, in and by a certain other Deed Poll under his hand
and seal duly executed, bearing date the 6th of August 1712 for the
consideration therein mentioned, did grant and confirm unto the said
Thomas Canby and Morris Morris, a certain piece of land situate in
the township of Cheltenham. Beginning at a corner white oak in line
of Richard Hall's land a little above the old mill on the NE side of the
creek, thence NE by said Hall's land 110 perches to a corner stake,
then NW by John Paul's land and Jeremiah Pratt's land 48 perches
to a stake, thence SW by said Samuel Bolton's other land 86 perches
to a corner black oak by Frankfort creek, thence by said creek 17
perches, thence S 63° E 12 perches to a black oak by said creek, thence
S 18° E, 30 perches to the first mentioned white oak, containing 30
acres and 14 perches together with the appurtenances." (Phila. County
Deed Book E 7, Vol 10, p. 413.)
Thomas Canby possessed other land in Cheltenham and Lower
DubHn townships. One tract of fifty-seven acres on the south
side of Pennepeka creek, near land of Thomas Kitchen, was pur-
chased by Thomas Canby and William Busby, from Abigail Ma-
son, February 20, 1715. (Phila. Co. Deeds E-7, Vol. IX, p. 373.)
He purchased a tract of seventy and one-half acres from Peter
Taylor December, 1715, this being contiguous to other land held
by him. He traded with John Paul, December 2, 1713, a tract of
one hundred and ninety-eight acres in Dublin township for an-
other tract of one hundred and sixteen acres with tenement there-
on located in the same township. (Phila. County Deed I-l, Vol.
I, p. 329; Vol. II, p. 177.) As stated above Thomas Canby sold
his interest in the mill at Cheltenham township 23 November,
1717, and a few days later namely on December 2 and 3, 1717,
he purchased Jacob Holcomb's interest in the Heath Mill. He
now removed from Cheltenham township to the mill tract in
Solebury. According to tradition Thomas Canby removed from
Abington to Buckingham township, locating on a part of the
Lundy tract where the Bristol road, now the Durham road,
crosses the York road, and now called Buckingham. He is
said to have built a stone house the walls of which are part of
the General Green Inn, so-called because it was at one time
occupied by General Green during the Revolutionary War. He
THE OLD HEATH MILL AND ITS EARLY OWNERS 527
is said to have sold that property to Samuel Blaker and pur-
chased in Solebury and removed to the mill property there. This
tradition appears to be erroneous. The land in Buckingham re-
ferred to above was, when Canby left Cheltenham, in the posses-
sion of Benjamin Hopper who in 1724' sold to James Lennox in
whose possession it was in 1726 when the map to which I have
referred was prepared. It was sold to Thomas Canby in 1729,
then to Samuel Blaker in 1747, at which date, if we are cor-
rectly informed Thomas Canby, the elder, had been dead for two
years. Furthermore the sale was made by Thomas Canby and
his wife Sarah. As Thomas Canby, Jr., married Sarah Preston
in 1722, it was probably this Thomas, and not Thomas Canby,
Sr. (whose wife's name was Jane), who was in possession of
this land when sold. (Bucks county Deed, Vol. XXX, p. 181.)
That tract has a most interesting history. It was a part of a
one thousand acre tract patented to Jacob Telnor 9 and 10 March
1682. (Patent Book A. Vol. I, p. 192.) It was traded by Tel-
nor to Richard Lundy for a tract of two hundred acres on the
Delaware, it being then described as "back in the woods." (Bucks
county, Vol. I, p. 169.)
On the Scarborough tract of which Thomas Canby had bought
four hundred and forty-four acres from Jacob Holcomb the
same date (Dec. 3. 1717). that he purchased the mill tract, his
sons Benjamin and Thomas Canby each built houses, one of
these coming into possession of Mathias Hutchinson, who built
the present Friends Meeting House at Buckingham. Thomas
Canby operated the Heath mill in partnership with Anthony
Morris of Philadelphia. This mill is on a stream flowing from
the Great Spring, called Aquetong, or Ingham's Spring. The
mill was locally known about this time as Canby's mill, and it is
designated as Canby's mill by Watson when he surveyed the
York road from Wells ferry to Buckingham about thirty years
after the purchase from Holcombe.
Thomas Canby's second wife Mary, died 6th of 4 mo., 1721
(new style), aged 43 years 3 months. On the 9th of the 8th
month, 1722, he married Jane Preston, a widow. There does not
appear to have been any children born of this third marriage.
For sometime he continued to carry on the business at the mill.
Shortly before his death he obtained a certificate to remove to
528 THE OLD HEATH MILL AND ITS EARLY OWNERS
the present State of Delaware, where his son Ohver Canby lo-
cated. This certificate is dated 2mo 5th, 1742, and is addressed
to the New work (Newark) Meeting, New Castle county.
Oliver Canby's certificate of removal to the same meeting was
issued this same date. Thomas Canby remained in New Castle
county but a short time, returning to Solebury where he died.
In his will dated 8th of 9th mo., 1742, he gives his residence as
Solebury.
The name of Thomas Canby and his descendants are frequently
found in the records of various Friends meetings in Pennsyl-
vania and West Jersey. He did much business and performed
much public service in the communities where he resided. He
served as a justice of peace in Bucks county on many occasions,
having been selected Dec. 12, 1719, Jan. 4, 1722, May 12, 1725,
Sept. 13, 1726, Sept. 12, 1727, and Nov. 22, 1738. He also served
as a member of the assembly from Bucks county for the years,
1721, 1722, 1730 and 1738. He was clerk of the Buckingham
Meeting for a number of years and served in the meeting in va-
rious other capacities. A committee of the meeting in 1759 pre-
pared a memorial for him as one of their elders, which was de-
posited with the Bucks Quarterly Meeting. The will of Thomas
Canby is recorded in Bucks County Will Book No. 2, page 209,
and is dated 8th day 9 mo., 1742. He left the mill property to
his son Benjamin, having previously sold 5 mo. 1st, 1718, one-
sixth part to Anthony Morris and two years later, namely 12 mo.
20th, 1720, one-fourth to Thomas Chalkley. Thomas Chalkley,
4th mo. 25, 1724, sold his one-fourth part to Anthony Morris, so
at the time of his death the mill tract was owned jointly by
Thomas Canby and Anthony Morris. The item disposing of the
mill in Thomas Canby's will reads as follows :
"Item. I give and bequeath to my beloved son Benjamin Canby
all my Real Estate in partnership with Anthony Morris, land,
mill and saw mill and all appurtenances — land and premises
thereunto belonging to him, his heirs and assigns forever."
Benjamin Canby, the son of Thomas Canby, continued to
operate the mill, and became an extensive owner of real estate in
that region. The 3 mo. 17, 1731, he purchased two hundred and
fifty acres of the Randall Spikeman five hundred acres, which he
sold Jan. 7, 1734, to Samuel Eastburn. He also purchased from
THE OLD HEATH MILL AND ITS EARLY OWNERS 529
John Wells the owner of the ferry tract, three tracts of land con-
taining in all two hundred fifty-six and three fourths acres, two
of the tracts fronting on the Delaware river which will be de-
scribed more fully in discussing the ferry tract. ^ This purchase
was made by deed dated Oct. 29, 1749. He succeeded John Wells
as the ferryman at the crossing of the Old York road, and also
as the tavern keeper at the ferry. His name, and the names of
his children, frequently occur not only in the records of the
Buckingham Meeting, but also in the Kingwood Meeting of New
Jersey. He did much business among the people as a mill owner,
tavern owner, ferryman, and promotor of an iron works in the
Jerseys. Benjamin Canby married twice. His first wife was
Martha Preston a daughter of William Preston. They had three
children, namely (1) Thomas, born 1 mo. 26 day, 1725, (2)
Joseph, born 8 mo. 20 day, 1726, and (3) Benjamin, born 5 mo.
31 day, 1728. His wife, Martha, died 9 mo. 1 day, 1729, and he
married second Sarah Yardley at Buckingham Meeting, 1734. The
children of the second marriage were (4) Sarah, born 8 mo. 4,
1735, (5) William, born 2 mo. 6 day, 1736, (6) Ann, born 9 mo.
1st day, 1738, (7) Thomas, born' 11 mo. 26 day, 1739, (8)
Lachen, born 6 mo. 16 day, 1743, (9) Samuel, born 4 mo. 6th,
1745, and (10) Charles, born 8 mo. 26, 1747. Thomas Yardley,
Sr., had come into possession of a large part of the mill tract,
he having purchased the interests of Anthony Morris, 1st mo.
10th, 1753. The will of Benjamin Canby is thus recorded : (Will
Book Bucks County B, p. 133.)
WILL OF BENJAMIN CANBY.
Be it Remembered this Sixteenth day of the Tenth Month and in
the Year of our Lord one Thousand Seven Hundred and forty Eight,
calhng to mind that it is appointed for all men to dye and being Weak
of Body but in perfect Sense and Memory thanks be given to God
for the same I do appoint Constitute and Ordain this my Last Will
and Testament in Manner and form following.
That is to say I Recommended my Soul to God that Gave it and my
Body to be buried in a Christian Manner at the Discretion of my said
Executors.
First I do order that all my Just debts and Leageaceys shall be paid.
Secondly — I do hereby order that my said Estate shall be disposed
of to the Best advantage Boath Rele and personal. If my said execu-
tors with the Consent of my Well Beloved Wife Shall see caus to con-
1 See "The Old York Road," p. 650 this volume.
530 THE OLD HEATH MILL AND ITS EARLY OWNERS
tinue and keep my said Estate or any part thereof in their Possion
which shall be To the advantage of my wife and children.
Item — I give and bequeath to my well Beloved Wife Sarah Canby
and to my daughter Sarah Canby William Canby Anne Canby Thomas
Canby and Samuel Canby all my Estate Boath Rele and personal (after
my just debts and Leguesys are paid) share and share alike.
But in case my said Executors shall see cause to keep my Estate or
any part of it in their Possion to advance my Children's Portions it is
also my Desire that my Exr's shall make a Discreet Tryall of the Iron-
works or any other part of my Estate and finding they are Profitable
to my Wife and Children upon a Strict Examination of accounts Yearly
by my Executors and my Beloved Wife for she shall have full power
to call my said Exr's to an account yearly or ofener. if she shall see
cause during her widowhood But in case my said Wife should marry
that then shall have Liberty to chuse Six freeholders and my Exr's.
six other freeholders to value my clear Estate after my just Debts and
Legeccies are paid that then my wife shall have her proportionable
share as above mentioned or otherwise if she should continue a Widow
and Desire her Part of the Estate above said it is my Desire it may be
so put to her use as she shall see good.
It is my Desire that my Exrs. or any two of them that they should
have power to act in the remaining part of my estate for the use of
my Children untill the Eldest arrives to the age of Twenty-one that
then if the said Legetey Desires his or her share of the said Estate
that then the said Legatey and Exrs. shall chuse 12 men to appraise
& c.
Whereas there was a Defect in an Agreement between George Ely
and me concerning the premises where the said Ely now lives by Rea-
son of Leases not being completed that it may and shall be lawful for
my Exr's if they see cause to enter into the premises and Dispose of
them after giving notice to the said Ely three months.
Item — I give and bequeath unto my son Benjamin Canby the House
and Improvements with fifty Acres of Land where Henry Burkhart
now dwelles with all the profits arrising therefrom to him his heirs for
ever and the same land to be laid out to the most advantage of my Exrs.
Item — I give and Bequeath unto my Loving Cousen Elizabeth Head
two Silver Spoons and a set of tee spoons in remembrance of me.
Item — I give and Bequeath unto my friend John Mills the sum of ten
pounds for ever to be paid in three years after my decease.
It is further my desire that my said Children shall be brought up
at the Discretion of my Beloved Wife and Executors and the charge
of my said Children's Bringing up shall be paid untill they are fitt to
be Apprenticed out by my Executors.
I do make and ordain by Beloved Friends William Hill, William
Yeardly and Thomas Yeardly Junior my sole Executors of this my last
Will and Testament. In Witness whereof I the said Benjamin Canby
THE OLD HEATH MILL AND ITS EARLY OWNERS 531
have hereunto set my hand and Seal to this my last Will and Testa-
ment the day and year first above written. .^
Signed Sealed and Delivered By the Said Benjamin Canby
as for his last Will and Testament in the presence of
Randal Hutchinson
George Ely BENJA CANBY.
Sarah Hill
Proved 16 February 1748 by Randal Hutchinson and on 24th day of
same by Sarah Hill.
Letters granted Feb. 24, 1748, to Wm. Hill, Wm. Yeardly and Thos.
Yeardly.
The inventory of his personal estate aniounting to £1475, 6s,
Od. was filed Feb. i6. 1748.
This takes us through the first half century of the mill and its
owners, during which it served the inhabitants of the neighbor-
hood with no other near competitor. Many of the Quakers from
across the river on the New Jersey side, like John Comfort,
Samuel Coate, John Holcombe and others, sent their corn to
this mill. It had a great influence in turning the course of the
York road from Readings landing, to what the Pennsylvanians
call Wells Ferry.
Samuel Coate up to the time of his death, operated a ferry
from the New Jersey side. His will dated Nov. 22, 1723, men-
tions one of his fields, now within the limits of Lambertville, as
lying along the "Yoark Road." I found among the unpublished
manuscripts at Harrisburg a petition from the inhabitants of
Solebury, dated 15th 3 mo., 1730, which stated that the York
road had been laid out toward Readings ferry, on a promise from
the inhabitants of New Jersey that a road to New York would
be built by them to meet it. But instead of building the road
to Reading's landing, at what is now Stockton, N. J., the New
Jersey inhabitants had built their road to the landing against
John Wells ferry, at what is now Lambertville, N. J., and also a
ferry had been authorized (Wells Ferry) which made the upper
road useless. And so they petitioned that the council cancel its'
authority for a road to John Reading's landing and authorize in
its place the road to Wells ferry. Heath's mill probably had its
share in diverting the crossing to this point.
The increasing prominence of the mill, owing to increasing
population on both the Pennsylvania and the New Jersey sides of
532 THE OLD HEATH MILL AND ITS EARLY OWNERS
the river, increased the value of the mill and the value of the
large tract of land upon which it was situated. The selling of an
interest as a one-fourth part, a one-sixth part, and a three-
fourths part naturally led to a confusion of rights necessitating a
deed of partition. Anthony Morris and Phebe, his wife, sold
January 15, 1751, their, three-fourths share in the mill, and their
remainder of the original tract, to Thomas Yardley, Sr., of
Upper Makefield. And Yardley at the same time purchased from
the heirs of Benjamin Canby, their one-fourth interest in the
mill property. Not long after Thomas Yardley died and the mill
property was bequeathed to his son Samuel Yardley. Samuel
Yardley also died and without making a will. The tract was
then sold to several purchasers. Among these purchasers were
Jonathan Ingham, William Kitchen, Richard Corson, William
Pettit, Oliver Paxson, Geo. Ely, William Magill and John Hill-
born, executor of Joseph Wilkinson. The mill tract, containing
the Heath mill or "Teen mill" as it was called in the deed was
then sold to Phillip Atkinson by William Yardley, the eldest broth-
er and executor of the property of Samuel Yardley. This sale was
made in 1761, and the tract with the mill then comprised three
hundred and eighty-two acres. Phillip Atkinson became inter-
ested in several tracts of land about New Hope in both the
tract known as the mill tract and the tract of John Wells,
known as the ferry tract. Phillip Atkinson was a son of
Thomas Atkinson of Amwell. This Thomas was a son of
Timothy Atkinson who emigrated from England, and is said
to have settled at Gunpowder Creek, Maryland. Timothy had
several children, some of whom are mentioned in his wife's will.
After the death of Timothy, Ann, his wife, married John Gos-
ney of Woodbridge, N. J. Ann Gosney, gentlewoman, died in
1740, and in her will she mentions two of her sons, John and
Thomas Atkinson, and four daughters, namely, Sarah, Hannah,
Mary and Elizabeth. She mentions Susannah and Rachel At-
kinson, daughters of her son John, and Ann and Timothy xA.tkin-
son, children of son Thomas. (N. J. Liber C, p. 375.)
Thomas Atkinson, the father of Phillip Atkinson, was born
May 20, 1703, (this and other facts following regarding birth of
children from bible of his son Joseph). In early manhood he
lived in Woodbridge, N. J., where he married Hannah Dodd-
THE OLD HEATH MILL AND ITS EARLY OWNERS 533
ridge, daughter of Phillip and Francis (Money) Doodridge. She
was born at Woodbridge, May 22, 1708, and married Thomas
Atkinson Oct. 17, 1728. The Atkinsons belonged to the Society
of Friends. Sometime prior to 1744, probably shortly after the
death of his mother, Thomas Atkinson removed to Amwell, New
Jersey, in the vicinity of Quakertown, where he became a promi-
nent member of the Friends meeting at this place. The children
of Thomas and Hannah Doddridge Atkinson were: (1) Ann,
born Aug. 14, 1729, who married 1st, Elisha Emley, Nov. 4, 1754,
and 2nd, Richard Holcombe, June 19, 1766. (2) Timothy, born
April 25, 1732. (3) Francis, born March 16, 1734. (4) Phillip
Atkinson, born Feb. 10, 1736. (5) Thomas Atkinson, born May
31, 1737. (6) John Atkinson, born Jan. 1, 1740. (7) Asher
Atkinson, born Aug. 1, 1742. (8) Joseph Atkinson, born July
1st, 1744, who married 1st Jemimah Paul, 2nd Susannah (Paul)
Rakestraw, widow of Bevan Rakestraw, and 3rd Sarah Alex-
ander. (9) Hannah, born June 9, 1748. (10) Enoch Atkinson,
born Jan. 1, 1750. Thomas Atkinson, father of the above chil-
dren, died April 4, 1788. When Benjamin Canby, Jr., married
Martha Whitson of Amwell in 1752, Thomas, Hannah, Francis
and Phillip Atkinson were present as witnesses. Thomas and
Phillip Atkinson became interested in the property where New
Hope is now located and purchased some valuable pieces. Philip
Atkinson and his wife, Sarah, sold a large part of the mill tract,
containing two hundred and twelve acres, one hundred and thirty-
five perches, the southwestern portion of the mill tract, containing
the Tean Mill, to William Pettit, July 6, 1763, the consideration
being $1700. William Pettit, who purchased from Phillip Atkin-
son, was born Jan. 1, 1726, near Trenton. His ancestor in Amer-
ica was Thomas Pettit, who with his wife. Christian Mellowes,
were residents of Boston, Mass., in 1635. One of Thomas' sons,
Nathaniel, born 1645, with his wife Mary, removed from New-
town, L. I., and in 1696 settled on land at the Falls of Delaware
adjoining Joshua Ely. One of his daughters, Jane, married
George Ely, who later came into possession of both sides of the
river at Coryells ferry. A son of Nathaniel Pettit, named John
married Mary Hallet about 1725, and their son William was born
January 1, 1726. W^illiam was twice married, first to Charity
Stevenson and 2nd to Lydia , who joined with him
534 THE OLD HEATH MILL AND ITS EARLY OWNERS
in the sale of a portion of the mill tract March 22, 1784. They
now removed to Chester county, Pa., where they were living Nov.
11, 1791, when they sold the Heath Mill to Andrew Ellicott of
Solebury, yeoman, and Nathaniel Ellicott of Buckingham, yeo-
man.
The Heath mill now had competitors in the mill at Carversville
(owned by one of theEllicotts and connected by the Suggan road),
Pine Run mill. Spring Valley mill. Prime Hope mill (on New
Jersey shore of Delaware), and a new mill was about to come
into existence which would give the name to the vicinity.
The Atkinsons became further interested in the erection of mill
property and built the mill opposite the old Parry homestead, on
the riverside. This mill is referred to in a deed from William
Pettit to Thomas Atkinson of Amwell, miller. It appears that by
an agreement between William Pettit and Philip Atkinson, the
latter agreed to build a water gristmill on the lot adjoining Dela-
ware river, for certain water privileges accorded. Later on, when
Thomas Atkinson sold to James McEvers, July 21, 1764, the prop-
erty is described as twenty- four acres adjoining Delaware river,
"on which is lately errected a water gristmill and sawmill with all
their members and appurtenances."
The ferry and the mills of this vicinity grew in fame and im-
portance. Benjamin Parry, an influential and progressive citi-
zen, the builder of the Parry homestead in 1784, had located here.
He was born March 1, 1757, and was a son of John Parry of
Moreland Manor and his wife, Margaret, daughter of Derrick
Tyson, and granddaughter, Reiner Tyson. John Parry built the
first mill near Willow Grove in 1731. He was a son of Thomas
and Jane Parry, the former born in Caernarvonshire, Wales, in
1680, came to Pennsylvania when a very young man. He died in
1751. He was a part owner of mills on the New Jersey side of
the Delaware, known as the Prime Hope Mills. What is now
known as New Hope was then called Coryell's Ferry. Benjamin
Parry married Jane Paxson, daughter of Oliver and Ruth (Wat-
son) Paxson, and four children were born to them, namely, Oliver
Paxson, born Dec. 20, 1794, Ruth, born Jan. 4, 1797, Jane, born
Aug. 27, 1799, and Margaret, born Dec. 7, 1804. Benjamin
Parry became proprietor of a flour, linseed oil, and sawmill at
Coryell's Ferry, Pa. One night in the year of 1790, all three mills
THE OLD HEATH MILL AND ITS EARLY OWNERS 535
were burned to the ground. The flour and sawmill were both re-
built, and were probably on the site of the mills built by the At-
kinsons as the mill on this site has long been known as Parry's
mill. As the Amwell, N. J., mills across the river, owned by
Benjamin Parry and his brother, David Parry, were called the
"Prime Hope Mills" it was determined that the new mills should
be called "New Hope." From the name of these new mills came
the present name of the town. As a mill town with the superb
flow of water from Great Spring, estimated to amount to 3,000,000
gallons in twenty-four hours, and the lesser tributaries, it became
unique. William Maris, an enterprising man came to New Hope
about the year of 1812, or before, and built a number of resi-
dences, such as the original part of Springdale, more commonly
known as the Huffnagel house, the "Cintra House" of New Hope
still standing, the brick hotel and the four story cotton spinning
and weaving mill adjacent to the Heath mill. By 1809, when the
project to build a bridge across the Delaware was undertaken,
New Hope could boast an unusual number of mills, as indicated
in the following letter from Samuel D. Ingham, a resident of Sole-
bury and one time Secretary of the Treasury under President
Jackson, to John Todd, a member of the Pennsylvania State
Legislature, the original of which is owned by Colonel Henry D.
Paxson of Holicong :
Great Spring, March 6, 1809.
Dear Sir: —
I beg leave to introduce to your acquaintance my friend, Mr. Benja-
min Parry. He is the bearer of petitions from a number of reputable
inhabitants from this quarter for a law to incorporate a company to
erect a toll bridge across the Delaware at Newhope or Coryell's Ferry.
We are of opinion that a work of this kind may be effected without any
difficulty. The numerous mills in the vicinity of the place will keep
up a constant intercourse, which in our opinion will amply justify the
undertaking. There are no less than 8 run of grist Mill stones. 7 saw-
mills, 2 oilmills, a papermill, a fueling mill, besides two pairs of wool
carding machines and a woolen factory now erecting, all within two
miles of ferry and on or near the road leading to it. In addition to this
are two flourishing villages on the banks of the river and a daily stage
passing between Philadelphia and New York.
You have no doubt observed a similar supplication for Mitchell's
Ferry, which petition I have signed, and we wish it to be distinctly
understood that this application is not in opposition to that, but en-
tirely independent of it. If the people interested in that place and their
536 THE DATING OF OLD HOUSES
friends are willing to build a bridge, I see no reason why they should
not be permitted to do so. We therefore do not ask the privilege to
their exclusion, and should the law be granted to both, we shall pro-
gress with the work, whether they do or not. You will readily pre-
ceive the advantages to be derived to the numerous establishments above
mentioned and through them to the public, by the erection of bridge
across the river at Newhope, and the extensive aid which it would re-
ceive from the surplus wealth of interested people near the place, be-
sides that expected from the stage proprietors, and others interested on
the road from Philadelphia to New York. If you should think well of
our application, your aid in passing the law will be gratefully con-
sidered by your friend and humble servant.
SAM'L D. INGHAM.
John Todd, Esqr.,
Member of H. Representatives,
Lancaster.
The Dating of Old Houses.
BY HENRY C. MERCER, SC.D., DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(New Hope Meeting, October 13, 1923.
THE following observations are based upon notes taken upon
the recent examination of about one hundred and twenty old
houses in Bucks county and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
built in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and it
seems probable that the conclusions apply not only to old dwell-
ings in Pennsylvania, but also to those in New York, New Eng-
land, and the Southern states, where the same builders' material,
carpenters' methods, tools and hardware were used during the
period in question.
The conclusions are as follows : that old houses may be dated
within reasonable limits by (1) the nails used; (2) the hinges;
(3) the door panels; (4) the wrought-iron thumb-latches; (5)
the Norfolk latches; (6) the cast-iron thumb-latches; (7) the
wood-screws; and (8) the sawed laths.
WROUGHT NAILS.
Handmade (wrought) nails (Fig. 1), of soft malleable iron,
with rectangular shanks, drawn by hammer blows to a point and
03 m S
3 3 S
O O uj
n
c OJ o
^â– P3d^
:^M
o .^^
-2 = P^ .
•^i^.
THE DATING OF OLD HOUSES 537
with clearly hammer-marked heads, were from time immemorial,
universally used in house building, until about 1800 (in Phila-
delphia, 1797) when cut nails (Fig. 2), because of their much
greater cheapness, everywhere immediately superseded them.
Therefore, where the original nails of a house are wrought (see
Fig. 1), the house dates before about 1800; or, where cut, vice
versa, after that date.^
All the evidence examined establishes this fact, with the fol-
lowing exceptions; namely, that long after 1800, wrought nails,
to stand the jar, and because they would clench, continued to be
used in the facings of window shutters; in the battens of doors;
in the overlap of boards (old style) in lathed room partitions; or
on door latches, etc., until about 1850. But these exceptions are
not typical of the nails used to build houses after 1800. Nails
used at the time a house was built are nearly always to be found
in the garret floors.
The wrought nail (Fig. 1), no matter what its size, as generally
used in house construction, is easily distinguished from the ma-
chine-made nails, called cut nails (Figs. 2 and 3), above referred
to, and described later. It was made from rectangular strips of
malleable iron, several feet long, and about a quarter of an inch
thick, called nail rods, which were furnished to the blacksmith or
nailer, who, holding one of them in one hand, heated its end in
his forge, and then, on the anvil, pointed it with the hammer on
1 Later evidence may show that cut nails came into general use in New
England two or three years earlier than in Pennsylvania. Knight's American
Mechanical Dictionary (cf. "Nail Making Machine') says that Jeremiah
Wilkinson of Cumberland, Rhode Island, about 1775, cut tacks from plates
of sheet metal and afterwards (date not given) made nails also; and that
Ezekiel Reed of Burlington, Mass., invented a machine for cutting nails from
the plate in 1786. J. L. Bishop's History of American Manuffactures says
that Jacob Perkins of Newburyport, Mass., invented in 1790, a machine for
making cut nails and patented "a machine to cut and head nails at a single
operation'' in 1795. Bishop also speaks, without definite dates, of Thomas
Odiorne and Jesse Reed as early cut-nail inventors. The Essex Institute, at
Salem, Mass., exhibits a model of Nathan Read's machine for cutting and
heading nails at a single operation patented by him on January 8, 1798.
Unfortunately, the very important records of the United States Patent
Office, between 1791 and 1836. including the patents and drawings, have been
destroyed by fire, leaving only a bare dated list of the issues, often lacking
the locality of the patentee. They show cut-nail patents issued as follows :
For a Nail-Cutting Machine. Omitting localities of natentees : — J. Peer-
son, March 23, 1794; J. Perkins, January 16, 1795; A. Whittemore, Novem-
ber 19, 1796.
Nail-Heading Machine. J. Byington, December 23, 1796 ; J. Frost. De-
cember 23, 1796.
Nail-Heading and Cutting Machine. L. Garritson, November 16, 1796 ;
G. Chandlee, December 12, 1796; J. Kersey, February 24, 1797; J. Nevlll,
August 12, 1797 ; J. Spence, February 16, 1797 ; N. Read, January 8, 1798.
Notwithstanding the fact that these patents were granted, the evidence of
the nails themselves, and the notes quoted later, on N. Read's (179B) ma-
chine from Bentley s Diary, and from Whitaker's Narrative, show that the
last two kinds of machines were not efficient until about 1817 to 1820.
538 THE DATING OF OLD HOUSES
all four sides. Next, he partly cut it, above the point, on the
"hardy," with a hammer blow, and then, inserting the hot point
into the swage hole, he broke off the rod and hammered the pro-
jecting end so as to spread it around the top of the hole; after
which, the cooling, shrunken nail was easily knocked out of the
orifice.
Wrought nails, as free-hand forged products (Fig. 1), vary
greatly in style and shape, but the evidence examined has not as
yet furnished any definite date for any of their variations.
CUT NAILS AFTER 180O.
The far more easily made cut nail (Figs. 2 & 3), as the evidence
clearly shows, consists of a rectangular, tapering shank of iron,
not hammered into a point by hand, but tapered, by a single cut,
across a plate of iron. The smith was here furnished, not with a
nail rod, but with a strip of plate iron, several feet long, about two
and a quarter inches wide, and often about one-eighth of an inch
thick. This strip he slid into a cutter, worked at first by hand-
power, resembling those used by bookbinders to trim books, and
not here shown. This cutter, rising and falling rapidly, clipped
off the end of the iron plate crosswise into narrow^, tapering,
rectangular slices or nails, whose length was established by the
width, and thickness, by the depth of the nail plate. The taper
of the cut alone, produced the point, but not the head. This was
made at first by dropping the freshly cut piece, point downward,
into a slotted clamp or vise, and then spreading the larger pro-
jecting end with a hammer, as in the case of the wrought nail.
Cut nails are easily distinguishable from wrought nails by the
following very apparent differences. Both have rectangular
shanks, but the wrought nail (Fig. 1) tapers on all four sides;
the cut nail (Figs. 2 and 3), on only two opposing sides ; the latter
nail being as thick (namely the thickness of the nail plate from
which it was cut) at the point as at the head. Moreover, the
two cut sides of the cut nail show very plainly, minute parallel
striations, always absent on the wrought nail, marking the down
smear of the cutter.
The evidence conclusively shows that these cut nails every-
where superseded the ancient wrought nail at the end of the
eighteenth century, namely, not long after 1797, when two cut-
Fig. 3.— cut-nails — STAMP HEADED.
In general use after c. 1825. Speciments removed from garret floors of old
houses in Bucks County, Pa. (A) Grier House, near Dublin, dated 1827.
(B) Sullivan Tenant House, near Keelersville. c. 1833. (C) Swartzlander-
Gayman House, near Dovlestown, dated 1838. (D) Bryan House (Stanley
Rapp), near Fountainville, 1840. (E) Stear House, near Dublin, dated 1834.
(F) L. Yoder's Desk, dated by pointed wood screews, after 1846.
pc'Sffi
THE DATING OF OLD HOUSES
539
nail factories had been established in Philadelphia, and, there-
fore, if used by the builder, they will date a house as having been
built after that year.
HAMMER HEADED CUT NAILS C. 180O tO C. 1825.
A Still further examination of cut nails, from dated houses,
shows that they may be distinguished into two classes ; namely
(a) those appearing between c. 1800 and c. 1825. with imperfect
Fig. 4. — CUT NAILS AFTER 1796.
(A) Rough sketch of cross-section of a cut nail, enlargred and exaggerated,
showing down-smears of the cutter on opposite sides of the shanl<, proving
that the nail-plate has been turned.
(B) Cross-section of a cut nail, enlarged, showing both down-smears of the
cutter on the same side of the shank, proving that the nail-plate has not
been ti'.rned.
or irregular heads, or, more particularly, hammered heads ; that
is, heads showing the facets of more than one hammer blow
(Fig. 2), and (b) those appearing after c. 1825, and throughout
the following century, with stamped heads, showing level tops
impressed by a single blow or stamp (Fig. 3).
Information gathered with difficulty from the Patent Office
records and books, makes it probable (subject to correction by
dated nails) that in general, up to 1825, the nail-cutting machines
had not been perfected ; in other words, that while after 1825.
nail machinery produced cut nails at a single operation, before
that time, two machines, run by handpower, but not yet by steam,
nor even by water, one to cut, as described above, and another,
probably nothing more than a special vise to hold the shank
while hand-hammering the head, were used in the manufacture
of cut nails.
The hand-cranked machine, for cutting and heading nails at
540 THE DATING OF OLD HOUSES
one operation, patented by Nathan Read of Salem, Mass., in
1798 (See model at Essex Institute, Salem, Mass.), was not a
success. Neither were any of the other "cutting and heading"
machines, or simple "heading" machines, in existence or patented
at that time, as is shown by the evidence of the nails themselves,
and further in the Diary of Rev. William Bentley, who visited
Read's nail works in 1810 (See Essex Institute Historical Col-
lections, April, 1918, page 113), and found that the workmen
were then heading nails in the only way thus far successful,
namely, by hand, "as it is found heading is done better by hand
than by any machine as yet invented both as to time and good-
ness of execution."
Joseph Whitaker (See his manuscript diary in the library of the
Bucks County Historical Society) was also thus making cut nails
in Philadelphia, from 1809 to 1816-20, by a double operation;
namely, cutting the plates with a hand-cranked machine and
afterwards hammer-heading the shanks held in a clamp worked
by a foot lever.
It further appears, that, at first, since the knife of the cutting
machine was set diagonally so as to cross-cut the nail-plate into
a tapered slice, the workmen had to turn the plate upside down at
each stroke, so as to continue the taper by reversing the cut ;
and the very earliest cut nails (1800 to c. 1810) prove this fact
by the down smear of the knife, round-edged above and sharp be-
low, being reversed on the two opposing cut sides of the nail
shank (See Fig. 4 A). They also show, that very early in the
nineteenth century, this troublesome turning of the nail-plate was
superseded by wriggling or staggering the blade of the cutter dur-
ing the operation, so as to reverse the taper at each stroke with-
out turning the nail-plate, as shown in the cross section of Fig. 4B.
At first, also, in order to dispense with the difficulty of the
usual heading, angle-headed (L headed) and headless nails called
"brads" (See Fig. 5), were made. But as these latter continued
in use for certain purposes (often for floors) until long after the
middle of the nineteenth century, their confused evidence should
here be thrown out of consideration.
STAMP-HEADED NAILS AFTER C. l82^.
An examination, not only of the records above mentioned but
also of dated nails, shows that about the year 1825, the cut-nail
Pig. 7.— wrought- IROX DOOR HINGES. "HOOK AND EYE ' ALIAS
"STRAP" TYPE.
Used contemporaneau.sly with H and HL wrought hinges on interior house
doors, until 1776, after which they continue in use on outer doors and shut-
ters until c. 1850-60. and on barn doors until c. 1900. Siiecimens in Museum
of Bucks County Historical Society. (A) Brucker House near Kellersville,
showing spike hook with "rat-tail' before 1776. (B) Slifer Log House near
Keller's Church, snike hinge hook with untwisted "rat-tail," c. 1750. (E)
Yost House west of Ottsville. showing plain spike hinge hook. (C. D. P. G. )
From the scrap-iron heaps of Bucks County junk dealers. (G) Wicket Hinge,
used on wickets opening in lai'ge barn doors.
THE DATING OF OLD HOUSES
541
machine, still working by water-power rather than by hand and
not yet by steam, had been so perfected as to make cut nails no
longer by two operations but by a single operation in one ma-
chine, in which the apparatus cut the nail, instantly clamped it
and, at a single blow, stamped the head (See Fig. 3).
These stamped heads, at first (r. 1825 to 1830) comparatively
thin, lopsided and imperfect, became more thick, square and
typically regular after 1830 and are always easily recognizable
after about 1840. But regardless of their variations, in any case,
stamp-headed cut nails, if used in constructing a house, reason-
ably date it as after about 1825,
V^ROUGHT-IRON DOOR HINGES.
The evidence clearly shows that in the Colonial period in
America, the common iron, house-door hinges were made always
of wrought-iron until 1776 to 1783, when cast-iron hinges sud-
denly and universally took their place.
The old wrought hinges appear in two common varieties in the
houses examined ; namely, the so-called H or HL hinge, cut out
of heavy sheet iron and fastened against the face of the door with
screws or clenched wrought nails (See Fig. 6), or the "strap" or
"hook and eye" hinge (See Fig. 7) ; namely, a long strap, bolted
or nailed with clenched nails against the door and turning on a
hook or gudgeon which latter was either spiked into the lintel,
Fig.
-CAST-IRON DOOR HINGES, BUTT HINGES.
After 1775 and until the present time. Cast-iron hinges were invented in
1775 (Izon and Whitehurst, British Patent. October 3, 1775). At end of
American Revolution (1783) they immediately superseded the previously uni-
versal door hinge of wrought-iron. The specimen here shown in face and re-
verse is from a door in late wing of Wenderbelt House, near Wormansville,
Bucks County, Pa., c. 1820.
542 THE DATIXG OF OLD HOUSES
or, where the Hntel was too thin for spiking, set upon a plate,
variously shaped, and sometimes strengthened with a projection
or prop called a "rattail."
While the H and HL hinges (many of which were probably
factory-made and imported from England) and nearly all of the
strap-hinges, were found plain, a few of the latter, by no
means typical and generally over-exhibited in museums, show
floriated decorations.
It further appears that hand-made, wrought-strap hinges (still
common in 1923 on barn doors in eastern Pennsylvania and else-
where), continued to be used on outer house doors and window
shutters, long after 1783, and hence, when so found, should be
disregarded as proof of dates. But with these exceptions, the
evidence abundantly shows, that where wrought hinges (general-
ly HL, more rarely strap) are found on original i)iuer house
doors, they date the house as Colonial, or built before the Revo-
lution.
CAST-IRON DOOR HINGES
Cast-iron door hinges, called butt hinges, comparatively small,
compact, book-shaped, mortised into the edges, not set upon the
faces of the door, of the common present type (See Fig. 8), be-
cause of their superior cheapness, came into universal use, no
less suddenly, though a little earlier, than cut nails. They were
invented in England by Izon & Whitehurst, and patented by
British patent No. 1102, October 3, 1775, and were at first im-
ported. After the interruption of British trade and house build-
ing by the Revolutionary War, they everywhere superseded the old
wrought hinges, about 1784, after which they appear without sig-
nificant exception, on all the dated houses .examined by the writer.
Hinges of this shape and name, i.e. butt hinges, of zvrought-irou
or brass, and never of cast-iron, had been made before 1775,
generally for closets, or furniture, but none were found by the
writer on room doors, in the houses examined. Cast-iron butt
hinges also show dififerences and improvements in construction
(not studied closely) after about 1800. But regardless of these
variations and allowing for the above noted survival of wrought
strap hinges on outer doors and shutters, these cast butt hinges,
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THE DATIN'G OF OLD HOUSES 543
found upon the original doors of houses, will date the latter as
post Colonial or built after c. 1776-1783.
QUIRKED, OVOLO DOOR PANELS. FROM C. 1776 TO C. 1835.
This examination of old houses has shown no more remark-
able and unlooked-for fact than that the door panels, before c.
1776, if edged as usual with mouldings, always show a plain,
i.e. unbeaded ovolo or quarter-round moulding on their outer
margin (See Fig. 9), while immediately following the Revolu-
tion, after 1783, these same ovolo mouldings become scored with
one or two quirks or headings (See Fig. 10), or change into the
ogee.
It seems probable that this observation will apply not only to
door and shutter panels, but also to wall and furniture panels.
Nevertheless, lacking sufficient information, as yet, we here
limit it to doors where it is significant enough.
More probably caused by some technical change or improve-
ment in joinery, not yet explained, than by mere fashion, this
sudden, marked and universal change in door panels seems all the
more surprising, since beaded or quirked ovolo and ogee mould-
ings appear elsewhere in the woodwork of old houses, as, for
instance, in cornices and the framework of mantels. Further,
since old carpenters' books describe hand-planes used to produce
the latter mouldings considerably before 1776, it would seem rea-
sonable to expect to find some exceptions to this rule ; but the
evidence of the houses in question shows none in the region ex-
amined, so that, subject to future correction, the information
thus far gathered shows that hand-made door panels with plain
ovolo frame work (See Fig. 9), if part of the original construc-
tion, will at once date a house as Colonial, or as built before
c. 1776.
QUIRKED, OVOLLO DOOR PANELS. FROM C. 1 776 TO C. 1835.
As above stated, the evidence gathered shows that after c. 1776,
door or shutter panels, in which the outer frame consists of an
ovolo moulding, with one or two beads or quirks (See Fig. 10),
or an ogee, suddenly and universally supersede the old plain
ovolo moulding, described as previously used, and continue in use
544 THE DATING OF OLD HOUSES
on doors and shutters until machine-made mouldings take their
place about 1835 (See Fig. 11).
In all the old houses examined, no significant exceptions to this
rule, or survivals of old, plain ovolo panels, during the period in
question, have been found, so that thus far, the evidence abundant-
ly shows that the more ornate (i.e. beaded or quirked ovolo) door
panels described, if part of the original construction of a house,
will date it as built between c. 1776 and c. 1835.
MACHINE-MADE DOOR PANELS, AFTER C. 1 835.
Besides the two significant changes in door panels, above noted,
a third change, later but no less marked, took place in their con-
struction upon the general introduction of wood-working ma-
chinery, wood-planing mills, etc., about 1835.
Revolutionary machines, of immense importance, to plane
boards, make mouldings and otherwise work wood, had been in-
vented in England by General Bentham, just before 1800 (See
Knight's American Mechanical Dictionary) and no doubt were
introduced into the United States and used about Boston, New
York, Philadelphia, etc., between 1790 and 1835. Hence, very
early machine-made door panels may be found later, in these and
other old American cities, to prove the fact. But, in any case,
these woodworking machines would have been run very restrict-
edly by water-power and not by steam, and the evidence shows
that they were not established or their products used in the Penn-
sylvania country until after the general introduction of steam-
power which gave birth to the modern factory about 1835.
Before that time, in the houses examined, all mouldings on
door panels, whether of the plain or beaded ovolo or ogee type,
above described, were hand-made and appear as solid parts of
the panel, planed by hand-moulding planes upon its framework ;
while after that time they were machine-made and nailed on, as
loose strips, around the sunken outer marginal recess of each
panel (See Fig. 11).
It is not necessary for this purpose to consider the various sizes
and shapes of these machine-made mouldings, nor to reason from
the fact that they were introduced, not suddenly, but gradually,
that the old styles of hand-made panels continued in use for a
good while after their introduction. To discover that loose
KiG. 11. — MACHINE-MADE DOOR PANELS, AFTER C. 1835.
Loose mouldingrs nailed on the frame to form the panels. Casts from
original doors. (A) Dubois House, Court Street, Doylestown, dated 1833.
(B) Swartzlander House, Sandy Ridge, dated 1838. Parlor door. (C)
Chapman-James House. Doylestown, dated 1845. From bedroom door.
. — I'l I|.\'TLI-:SS
:\v:
In universal use until 1846 when they were raridly superseded by the
I^ointed wood-screw. (Sloan's U. S. Patent, Aug. 20, 1846). (A) Octagon
School House (Neeld), near Morrisville, Pa., c. 1820. (B) ".T. C." House,
near Wormansville in Bucks County, dated 1784. (C) Sullivan Tenant House,
near Keelersville, Pa., c. 1833. (D) Fonthill Tenant House (from fire-place
doors). Doylestown, Pa., c. 1842.
^ ^^^UHK0^^-
-WROUGHT THUMB-LATCHES, BBAX-SHAPED AXD
SWIVEL-LIFT, UNTIL C. 1840.
1 7^n ""c°"t^V!-^'"'' °^ wrought thumb-latch. More and more frequent after c
il^h 1 P^b^V -^' '"^l^o'l^^^"^ ^•■o"'' England. Superseded by cast-iron, earthen
knob locks, etc c 1840. Cusp, shaped like a lima bean; Grasp flat; Lift,
^ZTJ>^J^lV^^}l7l^^^-'''^ rivet perforating slot in graso ; Catch "Figure
Tr, w^ Jr , ,/u^ Showmg wrought nails, bar and staple, from original door
7 7^ r^.^'"^^^" "?''^^''- "^^^ Wornian.sville, Bucks County. Pa. (old wing), c.
i^/U. Catch, contemporary type but not original with this latch (B) Prom
Rnfkl n^,?^[ '" ?7^?>' House (old wine;) near Doylestown, c. 1760-70. (C).
Bucks County Historical Society Museum, No. 15457 Not dated
THE DATING OF OLD HOUSES ' 545
Strips of moulding have been nailed on around the sunken outer
marginal recess of a panel is sufficient; that fact, where they are
part of the original house construction, establishes the date of the
house as not earlier than about 1835.
DOOR LATCHES WITH STRAIGHT LIFTS, BEFORE 180O.
Besides other door fastenings, — namely box knob locks, wooden
latches, brass latches, German lever latches, boxed or unboxed,
knob latches, etc., not here described, many original doors in old
houses still standing, show their original wrought-iron thumb-
latches, made of malleable iron by blacksmiths in five hammered
pieces (Figs. 12 and 13), i.e. the hand grasp, an iron semi-circle;
the lift, a lever with thumb press at one end penetrating the door
to raise the bar ; the bar thus lifted ; the staple holding the bar
against the door face ; and the catch, a "figure 4" shaped, notched,
iron piece, spiked into the lintel of the door, into which the
bar falls.
These old latches are sometimes decorated (Fig. 13 B), but
commonly plain (Fig. 13 A. C. D.), sometimes home-made (Fig.
13) and sometimes probably imported (Fig. 12). Sometimes
they show their thumb-lifts fixed on swivels (the swivel-lift
latch), (Fig. 12) ; sometimes they are notched into holes (the
perforated cusp latch) (Fig. 13), and sometimes they appear
with, but generally without, a knob or curl or pinch grasp on the
bar. As yet no fixed types have been found to which dates may
be ascribed beyond the following; namely, that the inner end of
the lift, opposite the thumb-piece, commonly though not always
appears straight before about 1800 ; after which it more and more
often shows the familiar downcurve under the bar, characteristic
of modern cast-iron latches. Doors latched with these straight-
lift latches, some of which are very short, are sometimes hard to
open, and sometimes, as if to remedy the difficulty, knobs or pulls
appear on the bars of latches of early Colonial date. But these
early knobed-bars are rare and it seems all the more remarkable
that the very helpful down-curve above mentioned should not have
been more generally used before 1800 ; nevertheless curved latch-
lifts have been heard of by me, and seen by Mr. Frank K. Swain,
in old houses in England, and in Pennsylvania, dating from the
earlier period in question, e.g., several at the Community House,
546 THE DATING OF OLD HOUSES
Bethlehem, Pa., built about 1742, and several at the Letitia Penn
House, Philadelphia, c. 1682 (doubtful).
Since the writing and first publication of this paper in Old
Time New England, The Bulletin of the Society for the Preser-
vation of New England Antiquities, for April, 1924, Mr. Al-
bert H. Sonn has seen a curved lift-latch on a library door at
Hadham, Conn., traced to an old mill built about 1740; one on a
house at West Stockbridge, Mass., and one at Newfane, Vt., be-
sides finding more recently a dozen or more in various parts of
the eastern United States. Dr. A. Bertram Gilliland has also
found several with- scrolled, upturned lifts in the Stebbins House
at Deerfield, Mass., built in 1772 ; one from the Pastor Williams
House, Deerfield, built in 1770, and one at Washington's Head-
quarters, Newburg, N. Y., built before 1800. If more should ap-
pear later, the present evidence shows that they will continue to
occur as exceptions, and that in general a curved latch-lift, if part
of the original construction, will date a house after 1800.
THE NORFOLK LATCH, AFTER 180O.
The very conspicuous Norfolk latch (See Fig. 14), is easily
distinguished from the wrought thumb-latches, in having its
hand-grasp not enlarged at each end into plates, or cvisps, but
riveted upon a long, narrow, sheetiron escutcheon. Though long
known in England as hand-wrought by local blacksmiths, it never-
theless appears in the American houses examined, as a factory-
made and not smith-wrought product probably at first imported
from England. Gradually taking the place about 1820 of the
other forms of thumb-latch and competing with the knob-latch
and the German lever latch (not shown here), it rivals, for a
while, the newly invented earthen door-knob with cast-iron box,
until it is generally superseded by the latter and by Blake's
patent cast-iron thumb-latch of 1840 (Fig. 15).
The evidence shows that these factory Norfolk latches were
made sometimes with, and sometimes without, a knob on the bar
(Fig. 14) ; sometimes, at first, with a straight lift (A) and some-
times, later, with a curved lift (B and C), sometimes, at first,
with a spiked catch (not shown here) and sometimes, later, with a
catch perforating or riveted upon a plate (C). But without at-
tempting to infer too much from these variations, we may at
Fig. 13.— wrought THUMB-LATCHES, PERFORATED CUSP TYPE,
UNTIL C. 1840.
Lift, generally straight, until c. 1800, works through hole in cusp with ad-
justable prong (as here shown but sometimes otherwise) to prevent its falling
out ; Thumb press, flat ; Cusps and Grasp more or less decorated. Large
elaborate forms used on outer doors. Curved lifts appear on these latches
after 1800-1825. and rarely before 1800. Sometimes these wrought latches
show swivel lifts (See Fig. 12). Specimens, not dated, in Museum of Bucks
County Historical Society, Doylestown, Pa. (A) Woodman House, near
Yycombe. (B) Chittick House, near Gardenville. (C) Home House, near
Richlandtown, c. 1756. (D) Eastburn House, near Centre Hill.
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THE DATING OF OLD HOUSES
547
least conclude, from the evidence, that the factory-made Norfolk
latch, if contemporaneous with the building, will date a house be-
tween 1800 and 1840, or, allowing for survivals, 1850.
blare's cast-iron thumb-latch, after 1840.
Numerous dated ex-
amples found, show that
Blake's typical cast-iron
thumb-latch (Fig. 15),
with circular catch-plate
mortised and screwed
into the door lintel, hol-
low patent bar-pivot,
hollow staple guard, and
saucer lift with opposite
down-curve, patented by
United States patent No.
1704, July 21, 1840, first
came into general use on
and after that year.
It seems probable that
this latch was preceded
by rare cast-iron experi-
ments or improvements,
i. e. cast-iron grasps on
older wrought latches of
the Fig. 12 type, etc.,
and was closely followed
by evasive copies or pat-
ent infringements. But
Blake's latch was, and
still is, (1923) the cast-
iron latch par excellence,
and without concerning
ourselves with earlier
unpatented predecessors
or variations of it or
copies or patent infringe-
ments of its very typical
FIG. 15.— cast-iron THUMB-LATCH
after 1840
Blake'.s L". S. Patent, No. 1704, July 21,
1840. First patented cast-iron door latch.
Specimen shown set with its original point-
less wood screws. From parlour door of
Frayley-Trauger House, Pipersville, Bucks
Co., Pa., built 1846.
catch or staple, this latch, when com-
548 THE DATING OF OLD HOUSES
plete and original, as the evidence clearly shows, will date a
house as built after 1840.
POINTLESS WOOD-SCREWS BEFORE, 1 846.
The unmistabable pointed wood screw, now universally used,
was patented by United States patent No. 4704, August 20, 1846,
before which time, all wood screws in general use, unless pointed
by hand-filing, were blunt (Fig. 16).
Because these pointless screws would not start by driving into
the wood, or penetrate, except by a previous gimlet hole, the
pointed wood-screw suddenly and universally superseded them.
Therefore, the wood-screw if pointless and original, will date a
house before 1846; if pointed, after that date.
These facts, marking the end of the old house building period,
though only applicable to the very latest buildings, are neverthe-
less important, since they may help to detect wholesale restora-
tions or additions and show when kitchen fire-place doors stopped
open-fire cooking, or where old latches, hinges, or doors have
been shifted out of time or place.
SAWED LATHS, AFTER C. 1825 TO 1835.
Sawed laths (Fig. 17 A), i.e. thin strips of machine-sawed
wood, about three feet long, by two inches wide, by a quarter of
an inch thick, as keys for interior wall furring and partition
plastering, first appear about 1825 to 1835. Though sawed, they
were not produced by the water-run, vertical-frame saw of the
old saw mills, but were first made by circular saivs, about 1825
to 1835, on the general introduction of the circular saw, before
which time, riven laths, i.e. hand-split with a frow and mallet,
were invariably used (See Fig. 17 B), and no such thing as a
sawed lath existed.
Riven laths were occasionally made and used for some time
after the introduction of sawed laths, and therefore will not
date a house as built before 1825, while sawed laths will, if
original, date it as built after that time.
CONCLUSIONS.
In conclusion, it should be said in general, that in collecting
and attempting to estimate the above facts, it soon became certain
that very few of the old houses examined had escaped alterations
<
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THE DATING OF OLD HOUSES 549
and repairs and therefore, unless the details above noted could
be proved in each case to be part of the original construction,
their evidence only led to error and confusion. With this reser-
vation, reasonable certainty was always sought for and often
found.
Very few houses appeared to have been raised or broadened.
Therefore their original garret floors remained intact and the
conclusive evidence of nails used therein, was easiest reached.
When rarely, because of new floors, or L headed cut nails, this
failed, we generally found it on staircases, in wash-boards or else-
where in the house, and when, at times, this evidence seemed
contradictory, some further fact, family tradition or historical
record, showed that old doors or hinges, screws, or latches, had
been inserted out of date into new houses, or vice versa.
Doors appeared original if set in original partitions ; if frequent-
ly duplicated; if not cut down on their margins; and if with their
hinges not covering old mortise nail or screw holes or outlines of
removed hinges. Door panels ; if on original doors ; if frequent-
ly repeated or matching shutter panels. Latches ; if often dupli-
cated, and not betrayed as resettings by the marks of nail, screw
or lift holes, etc., or of other door fastenings. Pointed or point-
less wood screws ; by their general use or appearance with other-
wise original wood or iron work ; and sawed laths ; by their
original use in partitions or in original furrings over rough un-
plastered walls.
Out of at least one hundred and fifty houses examined, about
fifty were found dated by documentary evidence, or by date-
plates or wall-stones; and the evidence of nails, woodwork and
hardware, first studied in these dated buildings, always repeated
and never contradicted itself in the undated houses examined
later. As far as this evidence goes, it is very positive; but as
yet, though quite definite after the Revolution, it fails to fix any
subdivisions of time for the Colonial period (1650 to 1776).
The Laux Family of Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
BY HON. JAMES B. LAUX, XEW YORK.
(Doylestown Meeting, January 19, 1924.)
This paper is a revision and augmentation of an address delivered at a
Laux family reunion held at York, Pa., by Prof. Hiram Rittenhouse Loux,
M.D., of Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia.
THAT branch of the Laux family which I have the honor
to represent here today, was founded by our colonial an-
cestor, Johan Peter Laux, who landed at Philadelphia, in
the good ship "Patience," commanded by John Brown, master,
on the 16th day of September. 1748, presumably the same day
on which he in company with his fellow passengers took the
oath of allegiance, for it was customary immediately after the
landing of the early German, Swiss and French settlers to take
them en masse to the courthouse in Philadelphia, or to the official
residence of the magistrate whose duty it was to administer the
oath of allegiance to the Crown of Great Britain, and to the Gov-
ernment of the Province of Pennsylvania. This oath was not re-
quired previous to 1727, but owing to the great number of Ger-
mans and Swiss who had already settled in the Province, the fear
was entertained by the English authorities that if future alien
emigrants were permitted to land without exacting an oath of
allegiance, there would be grave danger of an invasion from the
continent of Europe, that would in time create a powerful new
Germany in America, and rob England of her colonies, even as
the Saxons, who were invited by the early Britons to come over
from Germany to help defend them against the invasions of the
Picts and Scots of the north, instead of returning to their ancient
home when their mission was done, remained and conquered the
Britons in turn, thus laying the foundations for modern England.
The injustice and foolishness of such fears however were soon
demonstrated by the behavior of the greatly feared Germans and
Swiss, who quickly became an element of strength and security
to the Province instead of a menace and a source of weakness.
The ship "Patience," in which our ancestor spent many weary
weeks, sailed from the port of Rotterdam, in Holland, from
which seaport almost all the emigrants from Germanv, France
THE LAUX FAMILY OF BUCKS COUNTY 551
and Switzerland in colonial days took passage for America. The
vast majority of these came down the River Rhine to Rotterdam
on rafts or flat boats, a most interesting and picturesque journey
undoubtedly, but a sad one also for it meant the last glimpse of
their fatherland — an eternal farewell to the land they loved so
greatly in spite of the hardships and oppressions that was the
lot of so many thousands — an eternal farewell in many instances
to father, mother, brothers and sisters.
The ship "Patience" had on board when she left Rotterdam,
one hundred and twenty-one male passengers above the age of
sixteen years, and with the women and children probably had a
total passenger list of five hundred or over. It is impossible at
the present day with our magnificent floating palaces to form a
correct idea of the misery, wretched discomfort and inevitable
sickness that resulted from the crowding of so many human
beings into a small sailing vessel, barely a hundred feet in length
and of less than a hundred and fifty tons burden. The dreaded
ship-fever or typhus, was of frequent occurence in these crowded
sailing vessels, ocean charnel houses, from whose reeking decks
old Neptune daily received his ghastly toll of the dead.
The establishment of the Lazaretto, the colonial quarantine
on the Delaware river, a few -miles below Philadelphia, bore
mournful testimony to the great fear of this dreadful disease
entertained by the inhabitants of the Province of Pennsylvania.
Perhaps no better account of the perils encountered by our an-
cestors in their voyages across the Atlantic can be given than the
following colonial news item in the Pennsylvania Gazette of
Feb. 8, 1739:
"On December 26th, 1738, a ship of 300 tons was cast away on Block
Island. This ship sailed from Rotterdam in August 1738, last from
Cowes. John Wanton, the Governor of Rhode Island, sent Mr. Peter
Bouse and others from Newport to Block Island to see how matters were.
On the 19th of January, 1739, these returned to Newport, Rhode Is-
land, reporting that the ship was commanded by George Long; that
he died on the inward passage and that the mate then took charge of
the ship, which had sailed from Rotterdam with 400 Palatines, destined
for Philadelphia; that an exceedingly malignant fever and flux had
prevailed among them, only 105 landing at Block Island, and that by
death the number had been reduced to 90.
The chief reason alleged for this great mortality was the bad condi-
tion of the water taken in at Rotterdam. It was filled in casks that
552 THE LAUX FAMILY OF BUCKS COUNTY
before had contained white and red wine. The greater part of the goods
of the Palatines was lost."
The ship "Patience" touched at the port of Cowes (famous
at the present day as a bathing and yachting resort, and as a
summer residence of the Sovereigns of England on the north
coast of the Isle of Wight, about eleven miles distant from the
ports of Portsmouth and Southampton, on the southern coast of
England), following the custom of sailing vessels plying between
Holland and America, who stopped at some English or Scotch
port, sometimes for cargoes of freight, but more frequently for
supplies of water and provisions for the long voyage ahead, and
also because it was necessary to obtain clearance papers at some
English port, without which a ship was not allowed to sail.
Most of the ships carrying German and Swiss emigrants were
owned by English capitalists and commanded by English or
Scotch captains or masters, who gained an odious reputation for
avarice and brutality.
These bits of information though few in number concerning
the vessel in which our ancestor, Peter Laux, ventured on his
voyage across the wide ocean to his new home in America, I feel
must be of some interest to us, his descendants, for we catch a
glimpse of the scenes upon which his eyes rested from the time
he left his home in the fertile valley of the Rhine. We gain
some idea, however faint, of the trials and sufferings that were
sure accompaniments of a sea voyage one hundred and sixty-
three years ago, to which he was subjected, and some idea of
his first experience on landing at Philadelphia.
The "Patience," the ship in which he came to America, was
well named, for it recalls the phrase coined by the Roman Catho-
lics of France, who marvelled at the patience and long-suffering
of the Huguenots under their fearful trials and persecutions.
^'La patience des Huguenots" became a favorite expression when
speaking of some Frenchman's dogged endurance, eventually be-
coming a proverb. It required "patience" as well as courage to
cross the Atlantic in 1748, when some times six months were
spent in making the passage.
Peter Laux was born in 1726, as the ship's register states,
and which was further proven by the inscription on his tomb-
stone, but which now is almost obliterated. He was of Huguenot
THE LAUX FAMILY OF BUCKS COUNTV 553
descent, and was born in Hesse Nassau, in the neighborhood of
Miinster, a small dorf or village where his Huguenot ancestor
had settled on being exiled from France after the murder of
Henry IV, which occurred at Paris, in the year 1610. The Laux
family originated in the old French province of Beam in the
south of France where for centuries it was prominent and its
members devoted followers of Henry IV during the Reformation.^
There was in the possession of the late Squire John A. Loux
of Bucks County, for more than forty years a Justice of the
Peace, a very worthy member of our branch of the family, an
ancient passport issued to Friederich Jacob Laux, dated January
4, 1772, at Miinster, Hesse Nassau, stating that he was born
Dec. 16, 1721. It is supposed that he was an elder brother of
Peter Laux. He arrived in Philadelphia, December 3, 1772, and
at once journeyed to the homes of his kindred in Bucks county,
where he died January 5, 1790, and was buried in the old Tohickon
church burial ground, the last resting place of many generations
of our race as their simple tombstones relate. This ancient pass-
port corroborates the tradition that existed concerning the Ger-
man home of our exiled French Huguenot forefathers, and
which is also strengthened by the church records in West Camp,
Schoharie and the Mohawk Valley in New York, that give the
names of the municipalities in Germany from which the members
of the family in New York state came : Epstein and Runkel in
Hesse Darmstadt, not far from Miinster in Hesse Nassau.- These
church records go back as far as 1710, and are confirmatory of
the traditions handed down in Bucks county.
The Hesses were favorite asylumns of safety for the persecuted
Huguenots of France and many hundreds made their home here
before and after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685
and in a few generations became absorbed by the German pop-
ulation. -"^
This "passport," long believed to be a document issued by the
Landgrave of Hesse Nassau giving his consent to the emigration
of Friederich Jacob Laux to America, for many years lost sight
1 See the D'Hozier Collection in the Bibliotheque Nationale In Paris for du
Laux family history, and an old map of France on which the ancient village
of Laux is shown, photostat copy of which is in the "Laux Collection' in the
possession of the Bucks County Historical Society.
2 See Map of Hesse Nassau in the "Laux Collection."
3 See Poole's "Huguenots of the Dispersion" and "Weiss' History of the
French Protestant Refugees since the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes."
554 THE LAUX FAMILY OF BUCKS COUNTY
of, but thanks to the thoughtful suggestion of Dr. Fackenthal, re-
cently found by Miss Ida M. Bennett of East Stroudsburg, in
Monroe County, a granddaughter of Squire Loux, is a paper of
much greater importance as shown in the following translation
of its contents by the Rev. William J. Hinke, D.D., of the Au-
burn (X. Y.) Theological Seminary.
It is in fact, a letter of dismissal and commendation from the
pastor of the Reformed Church at Miinster, with an extract
from the Church records giving the birth-dates of Friederich
Jacob Laux and those of his wife and children, a most interest-
ing and precious family paper.
The document clears up a misleading entry in the Tohickon
Church records, recently published. On page 290 is recorded the
death of a Julian E. Laux aged 82 years. 10 months and 10 days,
who was buried Jan. 26th, 1833. This should read : Juliana, and
not the masculine "Julian" as is evident from a comparison with
the Church records of Miinster where Juhana's birth is recorded,
which coincides exactly with the Tohickon record in point of age
by computation.
It serves also as a means of identifying the "widow Laux",
buried Sept. 24th, 1813, aged 87 years, carelessly entered on the
Tohickon records. By comparison and computation again it is
evident that she was born in 1726 and W'ithovit doubt the widow
of Friederich Jacob Laux, who died Jan. 5, 1790 :
LETTER OF DISMISSAL OF FREDERICK JACOB LAUX
AND FAMILY
June 4, 1772.
L(ectori) B(enevolo) S(alutem) i. e. Greeting to the Kind Reader.
Extract from Church Protocol of Weyer.
Frederick Jacob Laux of Weyer, was born Dec. 16, 1721. His wife,.
Maria Margaret, daughter of Anna Elizabeth, wife of Carl Conradi, was-
born April 19, 1726.
Their 1st daughter Juliana Elizabeth, b. March 14, 1750.
Their 2nd daughter Maria Catharine, b. Jan. 15, 1754.
Their 3rd daughter Anna Sophia, b. Febr. 22, 1763.
Their 4th daughter Catharine Sophia, b. Febr. 6, 1766.
We also attest herewith that the person presenting this letter,
Frederick Jacob Laux, of Weyer, together with his wife and the above
mentioned three daughters, have confessed membership in our Evangeli-
cal Reformed Church. For this reason these members, now dismissed
by us, if they shall continue to remain true to the doctrine of faith and;
THE LAUX FAMILY OF BUCKS COUNTY 555
piety, and will further lead a Christian life, can be admitted to partici-
pate elsewhere in the holy communion. To that end, we faithfully
commend them to our brethren in the faith in other places to receive
them into their Christian fellowship, and especially do we commend
them to the grace of God.
Muenster, June 4, 1772.
In the name of the presbytery,
J. A. Schafer, Reformed pastor
(SEAL) of the parish Muenster of Weyer.
Michael Dick, elder.
Like the vast majority of the first settlers in America, our
ancestor, Peter Laux, looked to the land, the soil, on which to
make a livelihood, for that was the principal occupation in the
early days of the Republic, even as it is today. He had come too
from the Palatinate, known to friend and foe as the "Garden
spot of Germany." There was no room for bewigged and pow-
dered dandies in ruff and lace to strut about in the wilderness as
was done at the settlement of Jamestown in Virginia, which re-
sulted as you all know in starvation. Life was a serious busi-
ness to men who were strangers in a strange land, speaking an
alien tongue, and looked upon with suspicion by the authorities.
The opportunities for professional employment were few, and
the trades were the simplest and the most essential to the rude
communities in which the felling of great forests to make way
for the ploughed field was the first and greatest problem.
And yet "unpaid is the honour due to the plough." Clearings
had first to be made for the log houses and barns. And so the
first thought after landing at Philadelphia, and taking the oath
of allegiance was the gaining possession of a tract of land on
which to build a home. That meant a journey into the primeval
forests on the outer edge of the settlements already made.
In that early day Bucks county was regarded as one of the
most fertile and desirable sections in which to settle. Its close
proximity to Philadelphia, the principal city in the Province, gave
plantations in that county a peculiar value. The accumulation of
wealth required a market in which the surplus products of the
farm could be sold for cash. The greater the distance of a farm
from a good market, the more difficult the task to dispose of the
surplus products. It was not long therefore before Peter Laux
acquired a tract of heavily timbered land on Deep Run, in what
556 THE LAUX FAMILY OF BUCKS COUNTY
.is now Bedminster township, receiving title by deed dated Janu-
ary 23, 1762, for 171 acres and 145 perches, from Wilham Allen
of Philadelphia, one of the largest landowners in Bucks county,
and paying for the same the sum of £300 15s 9d, and further
obligating himself the "yielding and paying therefor yearly for-
ever the yearly rent of one pepper corn on the sixteenth day of
November in every year if the same shall be demanded" — a
quaint survival, no doubt, of an ancient feudal custom. The
pepper corn was a dried berry of the black pepper. In those
days people had to grind their own pepper as is still the custom in
some countries. In certain parts of Mexico for instance the
pepper grinder is a very necessary table utensil. We have no
record that this yearly rent of a pepper corn was ever demanded
or paid. We are reminded of this old colonial custom in the
ceremonious payment of a "red rose" by the congregation of
Zion Lutheran Church at Mannheim, in Lancaster county to the
heirs of the Baron von Stiegel, which takes place yearly, early
in the month of June, and which has come to be regarded as an
annual "Feast of Roses" in that community. The same beautiful
ceremony is also performed every year by the congregations of
the Tulpehocken Reformed Church at Reading, and of the First
Reformed church at Lebanon, Pennsylvania.
The deed given to Peter Laux for his Deep Run tract of
land is recorded in the Recorder of Deeds office at Doylestown, in
Deed Book No. 10 (old number C, Vol 3), page 533. The sup-
position is that the deed was given when the final payment was
made, the deed stating that the land was "in his actual possession
and seizen," agreements or contracts between the grantor and
grantee being held in the meantime. This was a common custom,
even in the case of land grants from the Penn family, the
original proprietors. The patents for the land surveyed under
a warrant were frequently not issued for long periods thereafter,
sometimes fifteen or twenty years elapsing before the patents
were finally granted. In the vast majority of cases the pioneer
settlers had first to earn and save the money wherewith to pay
for their plantations.
Peter Laux, when he arrived at Philadelphia, was a young
bachelor of twenty-two and evidently had but little difficulty in
arousing the tender passion in the hearts of the young maidens
THE LAUX FAMILY OF BUCKS COUNTY 557
whom he met, for in 1752 we find him the happy husband of a
good wife, Catarina by name, the daughter of the prosperous
planter, Johannes Hennz of Franconia township, Montgomery
county, then part of Philadelphia county, who had come to
America previous to 1726, for we have a record of a purchase of
110 acres of land in Franconia township he had made of one
William Neys, later spelled Nice, under date of January 11,
1726-7.
That Peter Laux was an upright and honorable man, as well as
a good business man, we have ample evidence of in the will
made by his father-in-law on the 25th day of August, 1756, in
which he "nominates and appoints" his "loving son-in-law
Peter Laux" and his "trusty friend Peter Gerhart, joint and sole
executors" of his estate. There was another son-in-law, named
Leonard Snider.
Johannes Hennz died in the early part of June, 1757, his
widow, Barbara, and seven children surviving him. His will
was probated at the Register General's office in Philadelphia, leav-
ing an estate of considerable value, which was sold and dis-
tributed in 1764. Peter Laux prospered as his family grew in
number, living the life of an earnest, respectable man of sub-
stance, rearing his children in a Christian manner as the Re-
formed Church records at Tohickon inform us, for there we have
the evidence of their Confirmation fitting them for the duties of
manhood and womanhood, as well as good citizenship.
Peter and Catarina Laux were blessed with nine children:
Barbara, the eldest, born April 24, 1754; John, born December
14, 1756; John Jacob, born March 16, 1759; John Peter, born
December 19, 1760; Catharine, born June 5, 1763; Andrew,
born November 5, 1768; John Adam, born October 12, 1771;
Elizabeth, born ; Alaria Magdalena, born
June 11, 1775.
An ancient custom brought from Europe, w^as observed in the
christening of the children of- our ancestor. Four of the five
sons were named John, one, the eldest, christened simply as John,
and the other three, John, in addition to the name by which
they were known and called by their parents and friends, and in
their business relations, and which they used in signing legal
documents. It is possible and even likely that Andrew may also
558 THE LAUX FAMILY OF BUCKS COUNTY
have been christened John. It was the common practice also in
those days to christen all the daughters Maria or Mary in the
same manner that the sons were named John. It was a very
ancient custom, profoundly religious, to have the name of the
beloved disciple John and the name of Mary, the mother of
Christ, part of the Christian prenomen of the sons and daughters
of devout church people. It was a common practice also to
christen the sons of Catholics in France with the feminine Marie
as the first of the Christian or baptismal names.
Peter Laux died intestate February 16, 1799, leaving eight sur-
viving children, his wife Catharina, having died August 18, 1798.
Both are buried at the Tohickon church. Letters of administra-
tion were granted to his two eldest sons, John Laux and Jacob
Laux. The old Laux homestead was sold, June 7, 1799, to John
Salade (a grandson of Peter Laux, and the nephew of the heirs),
and distribution of the assets of the estate was made soon
thereafter.
Barbara Laux, the eldest child was married June 10, 1773, to
Jacob Salade, born February 2, 1748, son of Friederich Salade,
an armourer in the German army, serving under Frederick the
Great, who came to America from Rotterdam, arriving at Phila-
delphia, October 4, 1751, making his home in Bucks county. He
was also of Huguenot^ ancestry, his forefathers leaving France
to escape religious persecution, and settling on the Rhine, in the
Canton of Basel, in Switzerland, close to the borders of France
and Germany, as you will readily see by looking at any good
map of Switzerland. The Salades as a family were famous as
clock makers in Bucks and neighboring counties, Jacob Salade,
the son-in-law of Peter Laux, first establishing that industry in
Bucks county. For over one hundred years some member of the
family has been engaged in the business. The colonial Salade
clocks can still be found in the old mansions of Bucks county —
fine specimens of the clock makers' art — rivals in point of work-
manship of the Rittenhouse clocks, made by the old astronomer,
David Rittenhouse, with whose family our own is allied by the
ties of marriage.
Branches of the Salade family are found also in Dauphin and
4 The Saladg was an ancient family long established in old Provence.
THE LAUX FAMILY OF BUCKS COUNTY 559
Berks counties ; a descendant, Jacob Salade, was Surveyor-Gen-
eral of Pennsylvania, from 1839 to 1845.
The same criminal carelessness in the spelling of the surname
that has produced such sad results in the spelling of the good old
Huguenot family name of Laux has also been evident among the
descendants of Friederich Salade, many of the family now spell-
ing the name, S-o-l-i-d-a-y, so distigured that the old French form
with its accented final letter e is no longer recognizable. By the.
sound only can its French origin be detected by a keen observer.
Jacob Salade died April 15, 1815, and his wife Barbara Laux,
April 3, 1829, and both lie buried in the Tohickon Church burial
ground.
John Laux, the eldest son, was twice married, first in 1782 to
Anna Rosenberger, widow of Michael Leatherman, daughter of
the Rev. Henry Rosenberger, a Mennonite minister connected
wath the Deep Run church, by whom he had four children : John,
married to Susan Delp ; Catharine, born Oct. 6, 1784, married to
Isaac Delp April 5, 1807; Peter, born June 27, 1786. married first
to Rebecca Atherholt, second to Anna Overholt ; Abraham, born
April 12, 1789. married to Mary Hafiford. The second wife of
John Laux was A,nna Wismer, married February 4. 1808, the
widow of Jacob Angeny, by whom he had one son. Moses, born
Mar. 26, 1810.
Mr. Charles \Y. Loux of Philadelphia, the family poet, author
of the rally song, "Laux's to the Front," son of Ephraim Loux
of Nazareth, is a descendant of John Laux and his first wife,
Anna Rosenberger, proving Galton's theory of hereditary genius,
and is no doubt an example of the persistence of certain traits in
the descendants of distinguished men for w^e find him a ready
speaker as well as a poet — unlike Oliver Goldsmith, who "wrote
like an angel, but talked like poor poll." The preachers, in the
early days, had the gift of fervid oratory. We cannot imagine a
Muhlenberg, a Schlatter, a Doddridge, or a Peter Cartwright,
preaching written sermons. The late Scjuire John A. Loux of
Pipersville, was a grandson of John Laux. -John Laux died in
May, 1820.
560 THE LAUX FAMILY OF BUCKS COUNTY
LAUX'S TO THE FRONT.
By Charles W. Loux.
Sung to the music of "Onward Christian Soldiers."
Scions of the valiant "Seigneurs of the Lakes,"*
Hear the call to battle as the morning breaks.
Giant, evil forces rise before your ken;
Drones and weaklings falter, and the world needs men.
CHORUS: Forward then and upward,
Brave the battle brunt.
Set on high the standard,
"Laux's to the Front."
Error must be routed, Evil put to flight,
Truth must be defended, and enthroned the Right.
Men of martyr's courage, whom no foe may daunt.
Hear the Captain's order, "Laux's to the Front."
CHORUS:
Strike with all your might, as of old your sires,
Struck for God and His holy Word, the fires
Persecution built fearless facing. Smite
The Dragon Wrong wherever found, for God and Right.
CHORUS:
John Jacob Laux, second son of Peter Laux, was married to
Mary Stover, daughter of the Rev. Christian Stover or Stauffer.
It is evident that the sons of Peter Laux were considered desirable
husbands for their daughters by the clergymen of Bucks county
for we find them giving them in marriage. The issue of this
marriage was six children : Peter, Martin, who married a Smith ;
Catharine, who preferred to live in single blessedness with her
sister Elizabeth, who married Jesse Allum; John married to
Barbara Funk, and Christian S. married to Lydia Fretz. In
passing I may say that you behold in your speaker (Dr. Loux)
a descendant of John Jacob Laux. He died May 2, 1825.
John Peter Laux, third son, married Anna Overholt, daughter
of Henry Overholt, and sister of Abraham Overholt, who
achieved fame in western Pennsylvania, the grandfather of
Henry Clay Frick, one of Pennsylvania's great captains of in-
dustry, and one of America's greatest patrons of art.
• The ancient du Lauxs were lords of the waters or lakes, in the old King-
dom of Navarre in the south of France, hence their surname.
THE LAUX FAMILY OF BUCKS COUNTY 561
John Peter Laux disposed of his landed estate in 1799, and in
the following year moved with his family to Westmoreland
county, in western Pennsylvania, accompanied by his brother-in-
law, Abraham Overholt, and family. He first located on Jacobs
Creek in Fayette county, but remained there only a year. He
then purchased a tract of eighty acres of John Hugus, in West-
moreland county, on which there was a log cabin into which he
moved with his family. Two years later he bought another tract of
eighty acres on which the most valuable portion of the thriving
manufacturing town of Scottdale now stands, and which laid the
foundation of the great wealth of the Westmoreland branch of
the family, and which their descendants with characteristic Laux
energy made the most of. We find them today actively engaged
as coal and coke operators, iron manufacturers and bankers, as
well as being heavy owners of real estate. It is, too, as far as I
can learn, the only ofiF-shoot of the Bucks county family that has
radically changed the spelling of the family name, now spelling it
L-o-u-c-k-s, as they do in York, Pa. O ! the pity of it ! "Loux"
is also a corrupted form of the name.
Nine children blessed the marriage of John Peter Laux and
Anna Overholt : Catharine Laux, the eldest child, born in 1793,
in Bucks county, married John W. StauiTer of Bucks county ;
Henry Laux, born in 1794, in Plumstead, Bucks county, married
first, Mary Myers ; second, Barbara Rosenberger Staufifer, daugh-
ter of Henry and Betty Rosenberger Staufifer ; Jacob Laux,
born January 6. 1795, in Plumstead, Bucks county, married Cath-
arine Smith, the widow of Christian Fretz ; Mary Laux, born
March 19, 1797, in Plumstead, Bucks county, married Jacob
Shupe; Martin Laux, born December 9, 1798, in Plumstead,
Bucks county, married Nancy Staufifer. He became a well known
minister of the gospel in Westmoreland and Fayette counties, and
was the father of the late Peter S. Loucks, the banker and
manufacturer of Scottdale, Pennsylvania ; Nancy Laux, died un-
married in early life ; John Laux, born April 8, 1802, in Fayette
county, married Sarah Bassler. He was the father of the Rev.
Peter Loucks, a prominent minister of Westmoreland county;
Peter Laux, born September 21, 1825, in Westmoreland county,
married Anna Barkey, and removed to Elkhart. Indiana ; Sarah
Laux, born November 28, 1808, in Westmoreland county, mar-
562 THE LAUX FAMILY OF BUCKS COUNTY
ried Samuel L. Dillinger, an extensive landowner and one of the
early coal and coke operators of western Pennsylvania. He was
one of the projectors of the South ^^'est Branch of the Pennsyl-
vania railroad, which penetrates the famous Connellsville cok-
ing coal field. His sons are prominent business men in West-
moreland county, engaged in banking, coal mining, coke manu-
facture and were formerly engaged in distilling.
Catharine Laux, the fifth child, born June 5, 1763. was mar-
ried to Lawrence Kramer. Her brief life-story constitutes one
of the saddest and most tragic chapters in the annals of Bucks
county, for on the 21st of June, 1785, she wdth her young son,
Peter, her only child, was brutally murdered, and their bodies
burned in the fiery furnace into which her home was converted
by their murderer for the purpose of concealing his crime. This
horrible deed was committed by a man named John McDonall
for whose arrest a reward of £50 was ofifered by Governor John
Dickinson.^ In the Proclamation ofifering the reward the murder-
er is described as follows : "McDonall is an Irishman about
twenty-five years old, and five feet high, very thick set much
marked in the face by smallpox, with short curled brown hair,
and walks slow and wide. Had with him when he left Bedmin-
ster a double barrelled pistol, the stock of which is inlaid with
silver." The murderer was eventually captured and paid the
penalty of his crime on the gallows at Newtown, not many months
thereafter.*^ It was, I believe the second execution in the history
of Bucks county, the first one having taken place in the month of
July, 1693, when Derrick Johnson, a Swede, alias Closson, was
hanged for the murder of an unknown man who stopped at his
home.
Andrew Laux, the fourth son and sixth child of Peter Laux,
was born November 5, 1768, married Anna Maria Hartman, born
Nov. 13, 1773, died Sept. 17, 1842, daughter of Matthias Hart-
man and wife Catharine. They had, as far as known, seven
children: Peter, born April 18, 1800; John, born in 1803;
Catharine, born May 22, 1805; Andrew, born October 1, 1806;
Mathias, bom April 7. 1808; Maria Magdalena. born No-
5 See: Pennsylvania Archives. Fourtli Series, vol. Ill, pp. 1030-31.
6 See also: Autobiography of Charles Biddle, Vice-President of the Su-
preme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, 1745-1821, page 206, for an ac-
count of this murder, and a sketch of the murderer.
THE LAUX FAMILY OF BUCKS COUNTY 563
By the President tfW//6^ Supreme Executive Com hc\l of the Commonwealth
of Pennfylvania,
A PROCLAMATION.
TT THERE AS it appears to us, that Catharine the wife of Lawrence Lraymer,
jun.of the tounlhip of Bedminfterin the County of Bucks, and PeierKray-
incr, his Ton, were killed and murdered in the night of the twenty-firfl: infl. in the
dwcllina houfe of the faid Lawrence Kraymer, hy a certain John M*Donall,and that
he afterwards fet fire to the dwelling houfe aforefaid, by which the (ame was dcftroyed :
And W hcrcas it is of the utmoft importance to the lives of the good people of this ftate,
and a due execution of the laws, that the perpetrator of a crime fo horrid, (hould be
brought to condign and cxamplary puniihment : Wc have therefore thought proper to
il]uc this proclamation, hereby engaging, that the public reward of Fifty Pounds, in Spe-
cie, (hall be paid to any perfon or perfons who (hall apprehend and fecure the faid John
M'Donall, to be paid on convidion for the fame: And we do hereby charge and require
an judges, J uft ices, (heriffs and conftables, to make diligent feahch and enquiry after, and
to ufe their utmoft endeavours to apprehend and tecure the faid John M'Donall his
aiders, abettors and comforters, and every of them, fothat they may be dealt with ac-
cording to law.
GIFEN in Gouncil, under the the hand of the Prefident, and thefeal of the ft ate ^at
' Philadelphia, this thirtieth day of June in the year of our Lord one thoufand
(even hundred and eighty five.
^ ^ JOHN DICKINSON.
Attest. }
JOHN A«.MSTRO,NC;, Jun. Secrm ary i
COD SAVE THE COMMONWEALTH !
The fa.d Tohn M'Donall is an Irill.man, about twenty five yeacc old. and five feet high, very thick fct. muchmarkedin
I the face by ihe fmall pox, witli fl.ort curled brown hair, and walks Qow and wide, had with hun when he left Bedmxnlta-,
I a double barrel'd piftol the ftock of which is inlaid with filver.
THE ABOVE IS A REDUCED FAC-SIMILE OF THE ORIGINAL BROADSIDE
found among the Archives at Harrisburg, the same being 9% by 12 inches, in which form the
Proclamation first appeared as well as in the Pennsylvania Gazette, July 6, 1785.
564 THE LAUX FAMILY OF BUCKS COUNTY
vember 3. 1809, and Samuel, born j\Iarch 31. 1813. A number
of the descendants of Andrew Laux, I believe, became educators
and lawyers, and one a minister. Some of his descendants are
living, I understand in Kansas and Illinois. The oldest surviving
grandson is Noah S. Loux of Stirling, Illinois, hale and hearty at
eighty-one years. Andrew Laux died April 5, 1845.
John Adam Laux, the fifth son and seventh child of Peter
Laux, was born October 12, 1771 ; married April 12, 1796, Eliza-
beth Ott, daughter of Peter Ott. a soldier of the Revolution, the
issue of which marriage was nine children : Peter, bom April 30,
1798,'^ married Elizabeth Harwick, born February 2, 1807, daugh-
ter of Samuel Harwick. Maria Magdalena, born January 8, 1800,
married Samuel Diehl ; Henry, born January 19, 1802, married
Anna Katharine Heller, daughter of Michael Heller, and grand-
daughter of David Heller, a revolutionary soldier and founder of
Hellertown, Pennsylvania; Elizabeth, born January 13, 1804,
married a Rice; Lydia, born March 12, 1808, married Richard
Umstead; Jacob, born July 15, 1810; Susanna, born May 15,
1813, married William Jordan; Daniel, born March 15, 1816;
married Catharine Welder, died Nov. 21, 1885.
Two of the speakers here today, at this York reunion, are
great-grandsons of John Adam Laux : The Rev. Edward A.
Loux, D.D., a Presbyterian clergyman of Troy, N. Y., and the
Hon. James B. Laux of New York City, who is the possessor of
the quaintly illuminated baptismal certificate of his great-grand-
father, John Adam Laux and which bears the names of Frederich
Salade and wiie Barbara, as sponsors. John Adam Laux died
April 11, 1859.
Elizabeth Laux, the eighth child of Peter Laux, the immi-
grant, born married Henry Bryan or Breian
of Bucks county, born Nov. 21, 1769. The known children of
this marriage were as shown by the Tohickon Church Records:
John Peter, born Nov. 18, 1793 ; John, bom Dec. 20, 1795 ; An-
drew, born Mar. 27, 1799; Barbara, born Dec. 12, 1801; and
Magdalena, born Feb. 26, 1807. Henry Breian sold his lands in
1811 and removed to Westmoreland County where he died about
7 Among the List of Catechumens in the Reformed Church records of To-
hickon, May 22, 1814, the name of Catharine, aged 16, is given as daughter
of Adam Laux which would make her born in 1798. May have been twin
sister of Peter.
564 THE LAUX FAMILY OF BUCKS COUNTY
vember 3. 1809, and Samuel, born March 31, 1813. A number
of the descendants of Andrew Laux, I beheve, became educators
and lawyers, and one a minister. Some of his descendants are
living, I understand in Kansas and Illinois. The oldest surviving
grandson is Noah S. Loux of Stirling, Illinois, hale and hearty at
eighty-one years. Andrew Laux died April 5, 1845.
John Adam Laux, the fifth son and seventh child of Peter
Laux, was born October 12, 1771 ; married April 12, 1796, Eliza-
beth Ott, daughter of Peter Ott, a soldier of the Revolution, the
issue of which marriage was nine children : Peter, born April 30,
1798,'^ married Elizabeth Harwick, born February 2, 1807, daugh-
ter of Samuel Harwick. Maria Magdalena, born January 8, 1800,
married Samuel Diehl ; Henry, born January 19, 1802, married
Anna Katharine Heller, daughter of Michael Heller, and grand-
daughter of David Heller, a revolutionary soldier and founder of
Hellertown, Pennsylvania ; Elizabeth, born January 13, 1804,
married a Rice ; Lydia, born March 12, 1808, married Richard
Umstead ; Jacob, born July 15, 1810; Susanna, born May 15,
1813, married William Jordan; Daniel, born March 15, 1816;
married Catharine Welder, died Nov. 21, 1885.
Two of the speakers here today, at this York reunion, are
great-grandsons of John Adam Laux: The Rev. Edward A.
Loux, D.D., a Presbyterian clergyman of Troy, N. Y., and the
Hon. James B. Laux of New York City, who is the possessor of
the quaintly illuminated baptismal certificate of his great-grand-
father, John Adam Laux and which bears the names of Frederich
Salade and wife Barbara, as sponsors. John Adam Laux died
April 11, 1859.
Elizabeth Laux, the eighth child of Peter Laux, the immi-
grant, born married Henry Bryan or Breian
of Bucks county, born Nov. 21, 1769. The known children of
this marriage were as shown by the Tohickon Church Records :
John Peter, born Nov. 18, 1793 ; John, bom Dec. 20, 1795 ; An-
drew, born Mar. 27, 1799; Barbara, born Dec. 12, 1801; and
Magdalena, born Feb. 26, 1807. Henry Breian sold his lands in
1811 and removed to Westmoreland County where he died about
7 Among the List of Catechumens in the Reformed Church records of To-
hickon, May 22, 1814, the name of Catharine, aged 16, is given as daughter
of Adam Laux which would make her born in 1798. May have been twin
sister of Peter.
,t
mne^eni
>^
c%
f=0a«b mii:
"4
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ft
THE LAUX FAMILY OF BUCKS COUNTY 565
1858. Several of their descendants it is said are living in Bucks
county today.
Maria Magdalena Laux, the ninth child and the youngest
daughter of Peter Laux, born June 11, 1775. became the wife of
Michael Lutz. The Tohickon Church Records show baptism of
children: John, born Feb. 25, 1807; Maria Magdalena, born
April 4, 1812 ; Anna Catharine, born Aug. 2, 1820. Her daughter
Nancy was still living a very few years ago in Bucks county.
Peter Laux became naturalized in the month of October, 1765,
having taken the sacrament a short time previously as was re-
quired by law.
Peter Laux and his sons and sons-in-law during the Revolu-
tion were staunch patriots, those of his sons old enough to bear
arms with himself being members of the Associated Militia Com-
panies of Bucks County, organized for the defense of the country.
Peter Laux, Jacob Laux and John Laux were members of the
Bedminster company in 1780 and 1781, as was also Jacob Salade
the son-in-law. Henry Laux and Lawrence Kramer, husband of
Catharine Laux, were members of the Rockhill company, com-
manded by Captain Andrew Kechline, as early as August 10.
1775. In fact, with very few exceptions, the entire family con-
nections were enrolled under the banner of the Revolutionary
army, and proved themselves true men and patriots. Their de-
scendants have taken part in all the wars waged since then, not
excepting our short Spanish War, thus keeping up the traditions
of the family as good fighting stock, a militant race, whose ancient
battle cry was "vaillancc mcnc a la gloire," perpetuated to this
day as the motto of its armorials, the spirit of which is shown
in the inspired Laux rally song by Charles W. Loux, the family
poet.
I have endeavored in the brief time allotted to me to give you
an outline sketch of your kindred in Bucks county, and I want to
express to you my great pleasure in being present here today, and
in meeting so many of the family — a big family surely, and to
thank you for the considerate attention you have given an ad-
dress that is necessarily lacking in oratorical effect, and must
have been I am sure, very dry hearing.
566
THE LAUX FAMILY OF BUCKS COUNTY
NOTES AND QUERIES.
Information wanted concerning John Jacob Laux, of Lancaster
County, Pennsylvania, A. D. 1730, whose name with a description of
his coat of arms appears in "Crozier's General Armory, A Registry of
American Families Entitled to Coat Armor," edited by William Arm-
strong Crozier, F. R. S., published in 1904.
The Laux coat of arms is there described as follows:
LAUX
ANGOUMOIS
"D'or, au chene de sinople sur lequel broche un lion leoparde de
gueles; a la bordure d'argent seniee de torteaux d'azur."
This is also an exact description of the heraldic charges on the Laux
coat of arms which appears elsewhere in this paper, the original of
which, with voluminous extracts from family records was given to the
writer by Armand du Laux, late head of the family in France.
"du Laux" means "of the waters or lakes" and has also been writ-
ten in the singular form, "du Lau" and also alternately "du Laux" and
"du Lau" in family papers. Some of the refugee members of the family
who fled to England after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes
changed the name to Waters.
In Germany the prefix "du" was eventually dropped or changed to
"von" as found on tombstone inscriptions.
Information also wanted concerning the parentage of Hannah Laux,.
THE LAUX FAMILY OF BUCKS COUNTY 567
whose marriage to John Hoch (now spelled High) January 3, 1758, is
recorded in the Tohickon Church Records.
WANTED, the names of the parents of the following children bap-
tised by the Rev. John Theobald Faber. Parents' name not given in
the Tohickon Church Records:
John Laux, b. Aug. 22, 1776.
Henry Laux, b. Apl. 23, 1778.
Daniel Laux, b. Jan. 1, 1780.
Jacob Laux, b. Dec. 12, 1782.
The subsequent history of the above named is also desired.
In the "Geschichts blatter des Deutschen Hugenotten-Vereins" pub-
lished in 1899, there appeared an interesting sketch of the ancient
Huguenot- Waldensian Congregation established at Schonenberg in
Wiirtemberg, Germany, and still existent, of which the celebrated
Herni Arnaud, the heroic leader of the Waldensians was pastor in
1701. On its long roll of Huguenot pastors is recorded the name of
Karl Ludwig Laux who served from 1867 to 1877.
Please send replies to the Secretary of the Bucks County Historical
Society at Doylestown, Pennsylvania.
The Origin of Log Houses in the United States.
BY DR. HENRY C. MERCER, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, January 19, 1924.)
THE form of architectural construction known as the Log
House, consisting of logs laid in a rectangle, one upon an-
other, horizontally, and notched at the corners, is a very
ancient form of European dwelling. As existing in ancient
Colchis, it is thus described by Vitruvius in the first century
A. D.:
"Among the nation of Colchians, on the sea, on account of the abun-
dance of forests, evergreen trees (arboribus perpetuis) having been laid
level on the ground to the right and left (planis dextra ac sinistra in
terra positis), a space between them being left, as far as the lengths of
the trees extend, upon them, at their ends, other transverse pieces, in-
cluding the interior area of the habitation are placed, (collocantur in
extremis partibus arnum supra alterae transversae quae circumcludunt
medium spatium habitationis), then thereupon, with alternate beams,
(trabibus), yoking (jugumentantes,) the corners on all four sides
(partibus). And so walls of trees erected perpendicularly upward,
(parietes ex arboribus statuentes ad perpendiculum imarum), build to an
altitude high buildings, (turres), and the intervals which are left, on
account of the thickness (crassitudinem) of the material, they stop up
with chips and mud. In like manner they throw across covering-cross-
pieces, receding at the extreme corners. So from the four sides up-
ward in the middle, they build up pryamids, covering which with
branches and mud, they make, in barbarous fashion, vaulted (tes-
tudinata) roofs for their buildings (turrium)."i
(Vitruvius Pollionis — De Architectura — lib. decern cum comment
Danielis Barberi — Venetiis apud Franciscum Senensem — et Joh. Crugher
Germanum — 1657 p. 49.)
It is further known that this uniquie form of wall construction
has been in use in Scandinavia since the middle ages, that log
houses have long been known in Germany, and that they now
(1924) extend across northern Europe, through Russia, Asia,
1 In a folio edition of a French translation of Vitruvius, (Les Dix Libres
de Vitruve traduits etc par M. Prerault — de 1' Academic Royale de Sciences
— etc — Paris Coignard — 1684 — p. 32, in plate), the translator, M. Perrault.
illustrates his idea of what Vitruvius meant, with an imaginary drawing,
showing such divergence from the wall and roof construction of the real log
house, as then in use in Scandinavia, that we might infer that the log house
could not have been known in Prance in his time.
I. ''^
Figure 2. CORNER OF THE FROST
GARRISON HOUSE AT ELLIOT, ME.
Built in 1734. Logs are dovetailed con-
tinuously so that each log locks the one
below it. Examined and photographed
in 1923 by Mr. William R. Mercer.
Figure 7. CoUXlOll OV THI-: Me-
INTYK1<: CARHISUN HOUSE, NEAR
YORK, ME. Built (according to the
family records of Mr. Mclntyre, its
present, owner a direct descendant of
the builder,) in 1640 to 1645, therefore
contemporary with the earliest possible
Swedish buildings in the Delaware Val-
ley, and possibly the oldest log struc-
ture standing in the United States.
Hei-e the visible logs apiJear to lock in
pairs, not continuously, as in Figs. 2, 3,
4, etc. Kindly photographed by Mr.
William R. Mercer, 1923. Examined
by Dr. Gilliland of Philadelnhia, and
Mr. J. C. Stewart of York, Me.
ii j: C
<1^ ^ . " -2'
K 3 O
^ § ^ § ^-
s- o X 5
ORIGIN OF LOG HOUSES IX THE UNITED STATES 569
Siberia,- (Fig. 1). and Mancuria, and exist in Korea." Though
common in Switzerland, the writer has been unable to learn
whether old examples or survivals exist in the neighboring French
Vosges, or in the mountains of Spain or Italy, or whether they
were known in France at the time of the French settlement of
America, or brought to South or Central America by the Span-
ish conquerors.
On the other hand, it is well established, that the North Ameri-
can Indians, as for example the Iroquois, with their "Long
House," the wood carving Totem-Pole-Making, Indians of the
northwestern coast, or the advanced Cherokees and Natchez of
the south, knew nothing of this method of construction.
In North America the very ingenious builders' method has ap-
peared conspicuously in two forms, namely, — (a) the fort, and
(b) the house, with its adjuncts and derevatives (i.e. barns, out-
houses, workshops, schoolhouses, churches, etc.) and as in the
house form, it had become the typical American pioneer dwelling
in the middle of the eighteenth century, and as it would be alto-
gether unreasonable to suppose that the European immigrants in-
vented it, it seems desirable to prove by definite evidence, whether
it was first introduced by the French in Canada, the Spanish in
Florida, the Dutch in New York, the English in Virginia, Massa-
chusetts and Pennsylvania, or the Swedes in the Delaware valley.
Dr. Amandus Johnson (Swedish Settlements on the Delaware,
U. of Pa. Pub. Appleton, N. Y., 1911), confining himself to the
Delaware valley, describes the log construction as introduced
2 Log houses standing in 1918 in Samara district, 300 miles north of the
Caspian sea, near the town of Buzuluk. Logs (probably of evergreen trees)
laid with cracks luted with hemp inside and clay outside. No cellars. Wood
floors. Two rooms. Stoves hand made of clay for cooking and warming.
Adobe dwellings common in the same district.
Seen in 1918 by Miss Emily Bradbury, 29 E. Plum street, Germantown,
Pa. Information from her January 24, 1923.
3 Log house in Korea in 1920. Information of Rev. Clarence Hoffman,
missionary, Kangsi, Korea, to H. C. M., October 6, 1920. Logs at corners
simply notched, always on bottom side, and never on top. One notch per log.
Logs not squared, never touching, always chinked with mud or clay. Ends
at corners never sawed off close as ours. No chamfering on top ends of logs
over lower notch. Notches round and rough. Bark frequently left on log.
Roof two vertical posts mortised, rise from middle of the top logs at either
gable on level of the so called square. These sometimes naturally forked at
top. From one to the other a ridge pole, sometimes mortised to these vertical
posts. From this rafters at about 18 inches apart run down to plate logs to
which they are tied with straw rope. Across rafters heavy layer of wattles
tied down ditto on which four inches of mud on which heavy shingles about
20 inches by 12 by two inches thick, riven with the frow are laid and weighted
down with stones. Otherwise, pieces of bark, ditto. Gables. Horizontal lay-
ers of wattles tied on with rice straw twists and mud plastered inside and
out. Vitruvius's roof not seen.
570 ORIGIN OF LOG HOUSES IN THE UNITED STATES
there, by the Swedes and Finns, at their first coming in 1638.
C. F. Innocent (Development of English Building Construction,
Cambridge University Press, 1916, page 109), says that
"The Block House type of construction spread in Europe westward
to Switzerland, and northward to Scandinavia. The European settlers
took it with them across the Atlantic to the new and well timbered
continent of North America, and the Russians have carried it across
Asia as far as the Pacific ocean," but further that, "there is no satis-
factory evidence that this form of building was ever in use in Eng-
land, in any of its forms, although fine timber was formerly so abundant."
Fiske Kimball (Domestic Architecture of the American Colon-
ists, etc., N. Y., Scribner 1922, pages 6 to 8) quotes Johnson and
Innocent, and failing to find any log house construction by the
first English settlers at Jamestown or Plymouth, and citing the
Archives of Maryland and Colonial Records of North Carolina
to prove later log houses built in these colonies about 1668 and
1680, supposes that the "Log house was brought to America by
the people in whose native land at that time it was the customary
form of dwelling, the Swedes and Finns who settled on the Dela-
ware in 1638 and the years following," and that early trade and in-
terchange of ideas between the Delaware Valley Colonists (New
Sweden) and Virginia and New England, "ultimately taught the
English colonists a method of construction so obviously suited to
pioneer conditions in the new heavily forested continent."
A few further notes on the subject are offered by the writer as
follows :
FRENCH LOG HOUSES IN CANADA.
The writer has received through the kind information of Mr.
A. G. Douglas, deputy minister of Canada, and Mr. Gustav
Lanctot, provincial archivist, the following extracts from the
Canadian Archives :
(1) Relation de 1635, p. 6. (Thwaites Jesuit Relations and Allied
Documents. Vol. 8, p. 281.)
(1635) "Notre maison, en ce premier commencement, (1635) n' etait
que quelques buches de bois jointes les unes aupres des autres, enduites
par les ouvertures d'une peu de terre, et couvertes, d'herbe; nous avions.
en tout douze pieds en quarre pour la chapelle et pour notre demeure,
attendant qu'un batiment de charpente qu'on dressait fut acheve."
Translation— "Our house at the beginning (1635) was nothing but
some logs of wood set the one (close to?) the other— plastered over
Figure 5.
SIDE VIEW OF FORT HALIFAX, WINSLOW, ME.
Showing second story overhang, and loopholes. The
door is modern. Kindly examined and photographed by
Mr. W. S. Appleton, and Dr. Oilland in 1911 and 1923.
Figure 6. FOIIT HALIFAX, WIXSLOW, MAINE.
Showing- corner dovetail. Squared logs. Closed joints. One of the original
loop holes shows. Window^ probably enlarged at the opening of another loop
hole. Dooi' and shingles modern.
Fig'ure 8.
THE BUNKER GARRISON HOUSE AT DURHAM, N. H.
Photographed when in ruins, by Mr. W. S. Appleton,
1911. The square logs are hewn to an equal thicicness,
varying in height, and their projecting ends, overlapping
at the corners, are cut, not into dovetails, but rectangular
points, (mortises).
ORIGIN OF LOG HOUSES IN THE UNITED STATES 571
their openings with a little earth, and covered with grass. We have in
all a dozen feet square for the chapel, and for our dwelling, waiting
until a building of carpenter work that they are working on is finished."
(2) Extrait de "les Ursulines des Trois-Rivieres" vol. I, p. 15.
Note au bas de la page.
(1664) "La premiere eglise paroissiale construite en 1664 etait en
bois rond ferme aux angles en queues d'aronde. La facade de cet
edifice regardait la basse-ville, son flanc longeait la rue Saint-Pierre."
Translation — "The first parish church built in 1664 was in round
wood dovetailed at the corners. The front of this edifice looked out
on the lower city. Its side faced the rue Saint-Pierre."
(3) "Extract from ordinance against many inhabitants of the Isle
of Orleans who have built houses contrary to the Royal ordinance
dated the 28 April, 1745; of the 12th January, 1752.
Judgments of the Intendants of Canada 1752, p. 594.
Printed in "Edits et ordonnances etc.. Vol. II, p. 594.
FRANCOIS BIGOT, ETC.
(1745-1752) Que Jean-Marie Plante. aussi habitant du dit lieu de
Saint-Jean, a egalement bati, I'ete dernier, une maison de 'pieces sur
pieces,' sur un arpent de front sur la profoundeur suffisante."
Translation — "That Jean Marie Plante also an inhabitant of said
place of St. John has also built — last year a house of ('pieces on pieces')
log on log — on an acre front of sufficient depth."
(4) Extrait de I'Ordonnance portant Reglement pour la construc-
tion des Maisons en materiaus incombustibles, dans les Villes de la
XTolonie; du 7 juin, 1727."
CLAUDE THOMAS DUPUY, ETC.
1727 "I. De batir aucune maison dans les villes et gros bourgs, ou
il se trouvera de la pierre commodement, autrement, qu'en pierres;
defendons de les batir en bois, de pieces sur pieces et de colombage
quand meme ce seroit pour les recouvrir et enduire de chaux et sable."
Translation — "1. To build any house in the villages and large towns,
where available stones are to be found, other than of stones. It is for-
bidden to build them in wood (pieces on pieces) log on log, and of
"colombage" (row of joists?) although it might be (intended) to
cover and plaster them with lime and sand?"
Mr. Harry Piers, president of the Nova Scotia Historical So-
ciety, writes indefinitely as his opinion that
"Log houses and Block houses (forts) were common in Nova Scotia,
from the earliest date; that some log houses still survive in Nova Scotia,
and that this manner of building was taught to the first English set-
tlers coming to Nova Scotia from England, by officials and others from
New England; that the Block house fort was decidedly introduced by
New Englanders and adopted by the British Troops."
572 ORIGIN OF LOG HOUSES IN THE UNITED STATES
But the first of these quotations. (1) in 1635, may or may not
refer to a log house, and the others. (2), (3) and (4), all are too
late to give certain precedence to the French house builders. The
second (2) certainly showing a knowledge of the form of con-
struction in 1664, seems to refer to a church, and not a dwelling.
Further than this, the writer has been unable to learn whether
the log house was known in France in the seventeenth century,
whether forts or block houses of logs were built in Canada in
the early seventeenth century, or whether the expression "Pieces
sur pieces" was used in France before the first French settlers
came to America.
SPANISH LOG HOUSES IN FLORIDA.
Leaving Canada therefore in doubt, several inquiries concern-
ing the possibility of Spanish log houses in Florida were answered
by letters from the St. Augustine Historical Society (Miss E. L.
Wilson, January 22, 1923) to the effect that the Spanish records
examined show that the early Spanish settlers at St. Augustine,
before 1597, used logs for house building, not horizontally, but
set as posts, vertically in Pallisado style.
LOG HOUSES AMONG THE DUTCH OF NEW YORK
We learn from Mr. Reginald P. Bolton, prominently associated
with the recent excavations at historical sites of the New York
Historical Society, as follows :
"In answer to your enquiry I would say, that I do not know of any
log dwellings in this locality of date prior to 1700. In fact, all the
recorded information indicates that the early settlers here did not con-
struct such a form of dwelling, but that they followed the natives' es-
tablished methods by erecting a frame covered with bark. This is
noted by J. H. Innes in his book, 'New Amsterdam and Its People,'
from which I quote as follows:
"'Amsterdam and Its People,' by J. H. linnes, 1902, says, p. 2:
" 'The early course of building at the new settlement is pretty well
known. The original log block-house, with its surrounding palisades
* * * occupied part of the site of the later Fort Amsterdam * * *
Of the 30 dwellings * * * these early cabins are said to have been
of bark. They were propably duly framed of hewn timber, but owing
to the lack of saw mills at this time had been covered after the
fashion of shingling, with the thick bark of the chestnut or other suit-
able forest trees. The roof over all thatched with the native reeds.'
Figure !t. CORXKR OF THK DAM CARRI-
SOX HOUSE. AT DOVER, N. H. Alleged date
1675. As at the Bunker Garrison House, at Dur-
ham, N. H.. the close fitting logs are hewn to an
even thickness, but varying in height, and their
ends are cut into squared, not dovetailed overlaps,
hence offer no resistance to the outthrust of the
log walls. To counteract this two iron brackets
appear spiked or bolted against the corners.
Photographed by Mr. W^. S. Appleton. about 1911.
Also examined by Dr. Gilliland about 1923.
Figure 10.
CORNER OP THE GILLMAN GARRISON HOUSE, AT EXETER, X. H.
Alleged date about 1650. In this portion of the upper story corner, the
log ends appear partly as squared tenons (See Pigs. 8 and 9) and partly
as dovetails, while in the lower story, as examined by Dr. Gilliland, the
logs are not overlapped at the corners, but tenoned into mortises, cut into ver-
tical corner posts. In this case, as in the others shown, the logs vary in
vertical width, therefore the denth of their corner cuts, of whatever kind, also
varied and had to be guaged, log by log, as the work went on. The logs at
the corners, as usual, have been sawed or hewn off close. The roof on the
polygonal Fort McClarv at Kittery Point, Me., c. 1700, observed by Dr. Gilli-
land, was not examined, but in the other rectangular garrisons, the second
stories frequently overhung the lower, and the vertical gables above the square
were formed not of horizontal logs in the Swedish style, but of planks fastened
upon vertical posts.
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ORIGIN OF LOG HOUSES IN THE UNITED STATES 573
"The earliest reference I find is that of Wassenaer. 1621, Wassenaer's
Historia Van Europa, Amsterdam, 1621, 2i2 1626. Referring to the
Colony of New Netherlands as follows:
' " 'The counting-house there is kept in a stone-building, thatched with
reed, the other houses are of the bark of trees.' Doc. Hist of the
State of New York, O'Callaghan, 1850.
"The next reference I find is that of Tienhoven, of date 1650, in
which he gives the following details of the methods of construction
of the first buildings:
" 'Information Relative to Taking up Land in New Netherland, by
Cornelius Van Tienhoven, secretary of the province, 1650:
Of the Building of Houses at First
" "Those in New Netherland and especially in New England who
have no means to build farm houses at first according to their wishes,
dig a square pit in the ground, cellar fashion, 6 or 7 feet deep, as
long and as broad as they think proper, case the earth inside with wood
all round the wall, and line the wood with the bark of trees or some-
thing else to prevent the caving in of the earth, floor this cellar with
plank and wainscot it overhead for a ceiling, raise a roof of spars
clear up and cover the spars with bark or green sods, so that they can
live drj^ and warm in these houses with their entire families for two,
three or four years, it being understood that partitions are run through
those cellars which are adapted to the size of the family. The wealthy
and principal men of New England, in the beginning of the Colonies,
commenced their first dwelling houses in this fashion,' etc.
"Finally, the official reports of Governors of this state in 1678 and
1687, show that the residents here had developed a settled policy of
constructing stone and brick dwellings.
"Doc. Hist. N. Y. O'Callaghan, 1850, Vol. I..
"Gov. Andros' report, 1678:
" 'Our buildings most wood, some lately stone and brick, good country
houses and strong of their severall kindes.'
"Gov. Dongan's report, 22 Feb., 1687:
" 'The buildings in New York and Albany are generally of stone and
brick.'
" 'In the country the houses are mostly new l)uilt, having two or
three rooms to a floor.' "
The above notes, and an inference from the journal quoted
later, of the Dutch travelers. Bankers and Sluyter, speaking of
the log house as a Swedish and not Dutch construction, reason-
ably sho\v that the Dutch did not introduce the log dzvcUing to
North America, and it seems very improbable, though lacking
positive disproof, that the first Dutch settlers had seen or used log
houses in Holland before they emigrated to New Sweden. On
the other hand, the Dutch fort or block house, referred to bv
574 ORIGIN OF LOG HOUSES IX THE UNITED STATES
Innes, if correctly described as of logs, would prove that they
were familiar with the form of construction, and may have in-
troduced it into New Amsterdam (1610), before the Swedes
reached the Delaware in 1638.
LOG DWELLINGS BUILT BY THE ENGLISH SETTLERS IN NEW
ENGLAND AND VIRGINIA.
Several old log structures, called "Garrison Houses," dated as
follows by their owners or local authorities from the middle of
the seventeenth century, still stand, 1924, on or near the south-
east coast of Maine at Kittery, at Elliot (Fig. 2, 1734), at
Agusta (Fig. 3, 1750), at Winslow (Figs. 4, 5 and 6), at Scot-
land, near York, Me., (Fig. 7, 1640), and in New Hampshire, at
Durham (Fig. 8, 1675), Dover (Fig. 9, 1675), and Exeter (Fig.
10, 1650).
With close cut corners, and often with second story over-
hangs, they are built in rectangular form, rarely as polygons (Ft.
McClary at Kittery), of logs neatly hewn into irregular sized
rectangles, narrower than high, laid horizontally, never with
open or luted joints, but built always to fit close, log upon log,
though without fixed system of corner interlocking. The logs,
never notched and chamfered, as described later, are in some
cases, as shown, only halved at the corners, in some dovetailed
to lock either continuously upward, or only in pairs ; in some
cases partly halved and partly dovetailed, and in some tenoned
into vertical corner posts.
It further appears that though some of these Garrison Houses
have been turned into dwellings by sawing out the original loop-
holes, etc.. they were not built as dwellings in the first
place, but as forts. But however we account for the existence
of these forts built by Englishmen in non-English style, it is
evident that if the first New England settlers had thus developed
their fort building into the making of Jog dwellings, at the time
these log forts were built, more old log dwellings should exist in
New England, but all the evidence from inquiry and observa-
tion, obtained thus far, by the writer, shows that, with two ex-
ceptions of doubtful age at Gloucester, Mass., (Figs. 11 & 12)
log dzvellings of whatever date, are almost unknown, or unheard
of, in the region of the early New England settlement.
Figure 12. LOG DWELLING AT ROCKPORT, MASS.
The wall logs, conceaJed by shingles, are squared, and hewn
to fit close, as in the Garrison Houses. Heated by an ancient
downstairs nreplace. Date doubtful. Kindly photographed
and examined bv Dr. Bertram <iilliland of Philadelphia, in
1922.
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ORIGIN OF LOG HOUSES IX THE UNITED STATES 575
As the published investigations of Dr. G. F. Dow, in the
Bulletin of the New England Society for the Preservation of
Antiquities, show, the ancient houses of New England were
built very rarely of stone, not of logs, but of frame faced with
riven clapboards or shingles lined or filled with stones, clay,
brick, etc., with chimney stacks built of stone, laid not in lime
and sand mortar, but clay, and sometimes topped with bricks,
the latter laid in sand mortar mixed with lime.
Further than this, it seems also reasonable to suppose that if
log dwellings had been in use in England, and therefore known
to the builders of these forts, at the time of the American settle-
ment, some log structures would now remain standing in Britain,
but the writer, through correspondence, has been unable to hear
of anything more certain than the following:
In an old sixteenth century description of forts and dwellings
then existing on the Anglo-Scotish borders (See Notes and
Queries, Feb. 1920, p. 48 ) the outer walls of very strong dwellings
are noted, as built for the most part of "Greatte Sware Oke
trees, strongly bound and joyned together with great tenons of
the same, so thyke mortessed that yt it would be very hard to
break or cast down any of the said houses, etc."
C. F. Innocent, in the "Development of English Building Con-
struction," Cambridge. University Press. 1916. p. 109. not notic-
ing the Anglo-American log forts, but describing a very old
church walled with vertical posts, at Greenstead, in Essex, con-
siders the Pallisade method of house construction, namely. —
with walls built of close set rows of vertical posts, as very old
in England, but asserts, as before observed, "there is no satisfac-
tory evidence that this form of building, (namely, the log house
of Scandinavian type), was ever in use in England, in any of
its forms."
As if to supplement this, we learn further that the early ac-
counts of building operations of the English settlers at James-
town and Plymouth, make no mention of log divellings built in
this way.
But giving due weight to these significant facts, we must remem-
ber that log dwellings are no more significant of the unique form
of wooden construction in question, than forts. It makes
no difiference whether the English colonists in New England de-
576 ORIGIN OF LOG HOUSES IN THE UNITED STATES
veloped their forts into dwellings or not, or how they learned
the art, whether Innocent is wrong, whether a few log forts ex-
isted in Britain in the seventeenth century, whether the quota-
tions in the N. E. D. referring to block houses in 1512-1538-
1550^ mean Log Forts, or whether the New England immigrants
learned the art from Norse sailors, brought with them in their
ships, the forts stand. Some, like the Mclntyre "Garrison" near
York. Me., if built 1640 to 1645, or a year or two after the Swedes
reached North America, others no doubt of earlier date, but now
gone, reasonably prove that the English settlers, several years
ahead of the Swedes, if not anticipated by the Dutch or French,
must have introduced the singular and unique method described
by Vitruvius, into North America.
Finally, as to
LOG HOUSES BUILT BY THE SWEDES IN THE DELAWARE VALLEY.
It is well known that a small Swedish colony, preceding the
English settlement on the Delaware river (c. 1638), were
harassed by the Dutch, and finally absorbed by the English, and
although it seems reasonable to suppose that they introduced their
familiar and very appropriate home method of forest house con-
struction at the start, the documentary evidence to prove that
they built log dwellings on their arrival, seems strangely meagre
and indefinite. As the only contemporary reference to the sub-
ject found by him. Dr. Amandus Johnson, in his "Swedish Set-
tlements on the Delaware," University of Pennsylvania Pub.,
Appleton, N. Y., 1911, quotes, page 306, an old Swedish account
book of 1642, which shows that a fort at New Gothenberg, built in
1643 was "made of hemlock beams laid one upon the other."
The note refers to a fort, not a dwelling, while as to dwellings,
apparently lacking contemporary documents, he also cites, page
204, the celebrated travels into North America written 1748 to
1751, by Peter Kalm, professor of economics, at the University
of Abo, in Finland, quoting, and probably translating from the
4 (Block Houses and Bulwarkes for the safeguard of this Realme), 1577-
1597 (It g-roweth by the Block House of Tilberie, i. e. Tilbury-Fort Essex,
built first as a Block House on the banks of the Thames by Henry VIII, and
afterwards enlarged Into a regular fortification by Charles II, Clarke's Brit-
ish Gazeteer, 1852), 1615 and 1712 (the Highway between Highgate Gate-
house and Barnet Block House).
Figure 15. THE PARKS LOG HOUSE. More direct view of the same gable shown in
Fig. 13, illustrating more cleariy the halving of the log ends.
Figure 16. WISMER LOG HOUSE. On farm about three miles north-
west of Plumstead, Bucl<s county. Pa. Built about 1810. Size 20' 5" x 24' 3".
Gable boarded. Logs faced. Wide spaced, squared at corners, notched and
chamfered. Cracks luted with stones and clay plastered with lime and sand
mortar. Steep slope to rear of picture, in front of house. Second story gar-
ret rafters show, 4 logs below the plate. The insicle walls are plastered with
clay and straw keyed on riyen lath. The bake oven in ruins is seen at the
left forward corner. Photographed by the writer in 1897. Delomished 1923.
The walls of the cellar, rising two feet above the ground, and of the smoke
stack, are laid in stones with clay. The basement cellar was partitioned
originally into a kitchen left, and cold cellar right. First floor partitioned
into two rooms, left, with small 2' 8" fireplace in the smoke stack, right, a bed
room : .second floor ditto, making two lacking fireplaces under roof.
As an exception to the general rule, and in spite of the danger of fire,
the chimney stack, laid in stones and clay, is entirely inside the log wall, the
flue bending sideways, so as to emerge from the roof, at the peak. Another
inside fireplace, though differing in the flue, appears at the Darby Creek Log
House at Addingham, near Philadelphia, not shown. Otherwise, the backs
of gable fireplaces, seen in log houses, by the writer, ai'e built in square
orifices, cut in the gable logs, with the flue only, kept entirely inside the
wooden wall. The fire openings as here, stand not in the middle of the
gable, but to one side of it, (i.e. in the corner of the room) leaving a side
recess for a staircase, etc. Their backs are parallel with the gable. No
cross corner fireplaces (as common in stone houses) were seen by the
writer, in the log dwellings.
Figure 17. CHALFOXT LOG HOUSE. One mile southwest of Chalfont,
Bucks County, Pa. The log- wing, right, and stone wing, with chimney stack,
left, were probably built together in the early 19th century. Logs faced and
plastered, with unusually wide cracks, filled in with stones, pointed with lime
and sand mortar. Corners squared, gable boarded above plate, below which
the gable logs have been covered with plaster on lath. Second story floor five
logs below plate. Chimney brick topped. Photogra])hed by the writer about
1897, but not studied. Demolished about 1910.
ORIGIN OF LOG HOUSES IN THE UNITED STATES 577
original Swedish edition (En resa til Norra America etc.) pub-
lished at Stockholm, 1753 to 1761, as follows :
"The houses which the Swedes erected for themselves when they
first came here were very poor, a little cottage (here follows a paren-
thesis containing the words 'built out of round logs') with a door so
low that it was necessary to bend down when entering. As they had
no windows with them, small loop holes served the purpose, covered
with a sliding board, which could be closed and opened. * * *
Clay was plastered into the cracks between the logs on both sides of
the walls. The fireplaces were made of granite boulders, found on the
hills, or in places where there were no stones, out of mere clay. The
bake oven was also made inside of the house."
Another English translation by John Reinbold Foster, of the
above all too vague account, written by Kalm one hundred and
twelve years after the Swedish settlement, and based not on any
cited contemporary documents, but on tradition, gathered from
old settlers, appears in the English edition of Kalm's Travels,
published at Warrington, England, by William Eyers in 1770,
and reads as follows :
"The houses which the Swedes built when they first settled here
vere very bad. The whole house consisted of one little room, the door
of which was so low that one was obliged to stoop in order to get in.
As they had brought no glass with them, they were obliged to be con-
tented with little holes, before which a little board was fastened. They
found no moss, or at least none which could have been serviceable when
stopping up holes or cracks in the walls. They were therefore forced
to close them both without and within with clay. The chimneys were
made in a corner, either with gray sandstone, or in places where no
stone was to be got, by mere clay which they laid very thick in one
corner of the house. The ovens for baking were always in the rooms."
To the searcher for evidence as to who introduced log houses
into North America, it seems very unfortunate that Kalm, when
he might have been so clear, should be so obscure ; that when
stone houses, frame houses, caves and pallisadoed buildings
were in question, he should have taken it for granted that when
he said "house" or "cottage," everybody knew what he meant.
Further and more definite testimony on this subject appears in
certain notes observed by Mr. H. M. Mann, in Memoirs of the
Long Island Historical Society, Vol. I. "A journal of a voyage to
New York, and a tour in several of the American colonies in
1679-80, by Jasper Bankers and Peter Sluyter, of Wiewerd, in
Friesland, page 172 :"
578 ORIGIN OF LOG HOUSES IN THE UNITED STATES
"Resuming our route, we arrived at the falls of the South River
about Sunddown, passing a creek where a new gristmill was erected
(at falls of the Delaware, at the present time Trenton, N. J.) bj^ the
Quakers, who live hereabouts in great numbers, and daily increase."
Page 173:
"This miller's house is the highest up the river, hitherto inhabited.
Here we had to lodge; and although we were too tired to eat, we had
to remain sitting upright the whole night, not being able to find room
enough to lie upon the ground. We had a fire, however, but the
dwellings are so wretchedly constructed, that if you are not so close to
the fire as almost to burn j-ourself, you cannot keep warm, for the
wind blows through them everywhere. Most of the English and many
others, have their houses made of nothing but clapboards, as they call
them there, in this manner; they first make a wooden frame, the same
as they do in Westphalia, and at Altoona, but not so strong, they
then split the boards of clapwood, so that they are like cooper's pipe
staves, except they are not bent. These are made very thin, with a
large knife, so that the thickest end is about a pinck (little finger)
thick, and the other is made sharp, like the edge of a knife. They are
about five or six feet long, and are nailed on the outside of the frame,
with the ends lapped over each other. They are not usually laid so
close together, as to prevent you from sticking a finger between them,
in consequence either of their not being well joined, or the boards
being crooked. When it is cold and windy the best people plaster
them with clay. Such are most all the English houses in the country,
except those who were built by people of other nations. Now this
house was new and airy; and as the night was very windy from the
north, and extremely cold with clear moonshine, I will not readily
forget it."
Page 174:
"Before arriving at Burlington, we stopped at the home of one
Jacob Hendricks, from Holstein, living on this side. He was an ac-
quaintance of Ephraim, who would have gone there to lodge, but he
was not at home. We, therefore, rowed on to the village in search of
lodgings, for it had been dark all of an hour or more; but proceeding a
little further, we met this Jacob Hendricks, in a canoe with hay. As
we were now at the village, we went up to the ordinary tavern, but
there were no lodgings to be obtained there, whereupon we reembarked
in the boat, and rowed back to Jacob Hendricks', who received us
very kindly, and entertained us according to his ability. The house,
although not much larger than where we were the last night, was
somewhat better and tighter, being made according to the Swedish
mode, and as they (i.e. the Swedes, H. C. M.) usually build their
houses here, which are block-houses, being nothing else than entire
trees, split through the middle, or squared out of the rough, and placed
in the form of a square, upon each other, as high as they wish to have
Figure 18. PLUMSTEADVILLE LOG HOUSE. About two miles east of Plum-
stead, Bucks county, Pa. Demolished about 1900. German style, with chimney in the
middle. Two rooms downstairs. Logs faced, notched and chamfered, cracks luted,
squared corners, walls protected by later lath and plaster weathercoat. Gable water
shed and second story or garret floor rests on plate beam. Not studied when photo-
graphed by the writer in 1897.
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ORIGIN OF LOG HOUSES IN THE UNITED STATES 579
the house; the ends of these timbers are let into each other, about a
foot from the ends, half of one into half of the other. The whole
structure is thus made, without a nail or a spike. The ceiling and
roof do not exhibit much finer work, except amongst the most careful
people, who have the ceiling planked and a glass window. The doors
are wide enough, but very low, so that you have to stoop in entering.
These houses are quite tight and warm; but the chimney is placed in
a corner. My comrade and myself had some deer skins, spread upon
the floor to lie on, and we were, therefore, quite well ofT, and could
get some rest."
These valuable notes by two Dutch gentlemen, describing the
Delaware valley settlements, near the present, Burlington, N. J.,
two years before the coming of Penn, and sixteen years after the
English conquest, and forty-two years after the Swedish settle-
ment, seem to prove first that the log dzcclliiig, which they describe
as a novelty, was not then in common use, because not so referred
to by them, in New York or Holland, therefore that the Dutch
did not introduce it. Second, that the typical wooden English
dwelling in the Delaware valley of that time, 1680, was of frame
clapboarded while the typical contemporary Swedish wooden-dwel-
ling was of logs, and hence, inferably, that as the Swedes had pre-
ceded the English in settlement, 1638, they, and not the English,
introduced the form of construction. Finally, third that if then,
or later, the English built log dwellings, they learned the art from
the Swedes, as when Fiske Kimball (Domestic Architecture in the
American Colonies, New York, 1921) cites the Archives of Mary-
land and colonial Records of North Carolina, to prove that the
settlers w^ere building these log houses in these colonies about 1669
and 1680.
On the other hand the archaeological evidence surviving in the
Delaw-are valley on the subject, as herewith shown, if it lacked this
and other documentary proof, would be sadly deficient. While
in New England, several of the old log forts are, as showai, rea-
sonably dated in the seventeenth century, the writer has been un-
able to find any log structure of certain seventeenth century
date, or Swedish construction in the Delaware region.
Nevertheless the specimens shown (Figs. 13 to 21) either un-
dated or built in the eighteenth century, must be con-
sidered as inheritances of the first period of settlement. If so,
they are Swedish, not English, in origin. As here shown, or
observed by the writer, the Delaware valley log dwelling appears,
580 ORIGIN OF LOG HOUSES IN THE UNITED STATES
not as a permanent home, carefully and elaborately built, or worth
considering for public use, but in its cheapest and simplest form,
as a temporary, careless, somewhat despised makeshift, soon dis-
carded by the builders. The buildings appear as rectangles, with
or without cellars, with stone chimneys set either in the middle,
so as to form two downstairs and two upstairs rooms, or in-
serted through the logs at the gable, leaving an interior side-recess
for staircases, etc., with one room below and one above. In the
twenty-five to thirty examples in the Delaware valley seen, no
chimney fireplaces, with one probably modern exception, were
found built outside the log walls (modern southern pioneer style)
and none of wood or wicker, "cat and daub." These gable fire-
places were generally built inside the dwelling, but not with their
backs inside the logs. That is, their stone backs appear on the
outside, as virtical areas of stone wall, built into square orifices
cut in the gable logs, and even with the outside log face,
though their ilnes generally bend inward and sideways, within
the gable logs, so as to leave the roof at the peak (Fig. 16) or
more rarely as at the old log house at Addingham on Darby
creek, kindly photographed in 1922 by Dr. Gilliland, but not
shown, emerge from one of the roof slopes, directly over the
fireplace. The interior fire openings seen were set, not in the
middle, but at one of the sides of the gable (i.e. in the corner of
the room) thus leaving a side recess for the staircase, etc. No
cross corner fireplaces (common in old stone houses) were found
by the writer in any of the log hous.es seen.
Where the floor rafters for the second story were set lower
than the "plate" log, their ends, visible on the outside of the
cabin, protruded through notched channels in the side logs. No
pyramidal roofs as at Fort Halifax (Fig. 6), were seen on any
of the Delaware Valley Cabins, where to meet the thrust of the
A shaped roof, by receiving the notched bottoms of the roof
rafters, the "plate" logs were notched on top. And it appeared,
that, as the pioneer could not lock over these plate-logs by cross
laid gable-logs, since the ends of the latter, would, in that case,
project through his roof, he had to halve to a level and corner-
peg the plate-log under the gable-log or omit the latter alto-
gether. After this the clapboards for the gables were laid
horizontally on vertical strips mortised, or set against battens.
^^s?***~>^ *— -
Figure 21. FRAGMENTS OF OLD LOG HOUSK OF I'XKXOWX DATK.
Demolished about 1900, at "The Bush" (Furlong), Bucks county, Pa. Logs
squared and as originally placed (though not as here shown) hewn to fit close.
Very ingenious dovetail, unlike any New England examples shown, throws the
water out of the vomers both ways. An exactly similar example of dovetail
appears in the Gillam log house (probably early 18th century) standing 1920,
three miles southeast of Newtown, Bucks county. Pa., and also, judging from a
photograph, in the Abraham Lincoln log cabin, built 1831, now at Chicago.
Though in these latter the logs are open laid, chinked with clay and stones, and
roughly faced, but not squared. The Darby Creek Ferry House at Prospect
Park, Delaware county. Pa., of supposed date 1698, examined by Dr. Bertram
Gilliland, August 1924, shows logs squared and set close, but with the far less
effective common dovetail often seen in wooden boxes.
Figure 23.
LOG DWELLING IX THE PROVINCE OF UPLAND, SWEDEN, 1923.
Showing gable above the ijlate level, in the American style (rare in Sweden).
Obtained through th'^ kindness of Dr. Gustav Upmark. of the Nordisga Museet.
Stockholm, May 1923.
ORIGIN OF LOG HOUSES IN THE UNITED STATES 581
from the top gable log to the roof rafters. The rafters in floors
and roofs were sometimes hand hewn, sometimes left in the
round, and sometimes unbarked, while in the roofs, which might
often have been restorations, they sometimes appeared mill sawn
(i. e. after 1740), though never, as seen by the writer, set upon
a ridge pole, as described by Dodderidge (Notes on the Settle-
ment and Indian Wars, by Joseph Dodderidge, Pittsburgh, 1912),
but always side mortised, and pegged together at the peak. The
rectangular openings for doors and windows, sawed out after
the walls were built, were found to be framed with sections of
planks or boards wood-pegged into the log ends.
The wall logs were generally notched and chamfered at the
corners in a style never appearing in the New England forts
but known in Sweden, that is, the pioneer cut a rectangular notch
in the bottom of each wall-log at right angles to the grain, and a
rectangular chamfer with the grain directly over said notch, on
the log-top forming in each case a water shed, varying which, he
sometimes satisfied himself with a slovenly, round, bottom-notch,
and no top-chamfer at all. Nevertheless, judging from the
writer's own observation, and the information of the Rev. W. R.
Deal of Doylestown, Pa., who built a log dwelling in Georgia
about 1901, the old cabin builder was never so ignorant of his
craft, or so careless of the future, as to make a water pocket, to
rot the comer of his house, by notching the top of any log.
In a few walls, the logs not notched and chamfered were dove-
tailed, or flared, as in New England (Fig. 21) and, as noticed, all
cabins found by the writer were boarded at the gable above the
plate (rare in Sweden, cf Figs 22 and 23) and none logged above
the gable plate, in the common Swedish style. The wall logs
never appeared in sections or spliced, but always full length,
and no cabins were found longer sided than a long tree. With
rare exceptions, the logs were never squared as in the New Eng-
land forts, though nearly always somewhat faced inside and
out. and while the bark sometimes remained upon them, and
the log ends sometimes projected at the corners, the latter were
often sawed or hewn square, as shown in the accompanying
pictures.
Compared to the building of the smooth hewn, close fitting
Northern forts, erected not to be punctured, scaled, undermined.
582 ORIGIN OF LOG HOUSES IX THE UXITED STATES
or set fire to by Indians, where each balk had to be scrupulously
notched with water-shedding dovetails to fit its fellow, the evi-
dence shows that the construction of these Delaware Valley
dwellings was careless in the extreme. The logs were, with few
exceptions (cf Fig. 21), widely and irregularily spaced, with
their cracks big or little, straight or crooked, luted or filled in
with wooden chips, or stones, smeared with clay, and sometimes
faced with lime and sand mortar, as never seen in the New Eng-
land forts, but as described by Vitruvius, and it is this hit or
miss method which reduced the building process of these Dela-
ware Valley Cabins from a first class piece of craftsmanship,
as on Northern Europe, to a quick, slovenly, easy makeshift that
never gained permanence, or found favor among architects, as a
superior form of wooden house construction in the United States.
In comparing these Delaware valley American log houses, with
those still standing in Scandinavia, we learn from recent corre-
spondence with the National Norwegian Museum at Christiania,
and the Nordiska Museet at Stockholm, that many of the log
structures still standing in Scandinavia are better built, and far
more varied in purpose, than here, appearing as common dwell-
ings, woodmen's huts, fine farm houses, with court yards exten-
sions, and intermediate dwellings, also as churches, bath houses,
etc., that many show artistic decorative features, room divisions,
typical hallways, corner entrances, corner fireplaces, and roof over-
hangs, unknown here, that their method of corner notching
(notch and chamfer and dovetail) varies as here, that though the
logs are sometimes, if rarely, squared as in the New England
forts, or faced, as in Pennsylvania (Figs. 22 and 23), they are
generally left in the round. That the roofs are generally much
flatter in Sweden than here, that while here, with few exceptions,
the logs in the dwellings are laid up with wide cracks or intervals,
filled with clay, stones, etc., as described by Vitruvius, in Scandi-
navia, except rarely in grass sheds, sawmills, etc. (Figs. 24 and
25), they are carefuHy hewn to fit close, and sometimes (In Nor-
way) made more airtight by grooving the under sides of the over
placed log and filling the overlay with moss, as noticed in an old
Bucks county house described in Watson's Annals, Edition 1845,
Vol. II, page 100. (Inf. Col. Henry D. Paxson.)
Nevertheless, the main point is not these details, but the unique
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ORIGIN OF LOG HOUSES IN THE UNITED STATES 583
form of construction, the forest house, namely the rectangle of
notched logs piled up horizontally one by one, without nails, con-
spicuously different from rows of vertical posts, (Pallisados) or
horizontal logs, mortised in the corner posts, or wicker huts,
plastered with clay, or caves. This whether in Scandinavia or
America, is the same.
CONCLUSION.
When the preceding limited and deficient notes are weighed,
it would appear that, leaving the case of Canada as yet in doubt,
the art of log construction was introduced into North America,
not in the Delaware valley, but either in New York or Virginia
or New England, not in the form of dwellings but of forts or
block houses. That in these colonies it was not at first carried
beyond fort building. That log dwellings, while known to the
Swedes and Finns in their native home land, were introduced by
them a few years later in the Delaware valley, as shown by Dr.
Johnson.
\\'hen all is summed up, it appears that the oldest log struc-
tures now standing in the United States are in Niw England, of
which the Mclntyre "Garrison House" near York, Me., may be
the earliest. That the log dwellings now remaining in the Dela-
ware valley, differing in detail from the New England forts, are
survivals of the originals introduced by a small colony of Swedes,
soon after conquered and absorbed by the English, that they rep-
resent types still existing in Sweden, that the English settlers be-
gan habitually to build log dwellings, not in New England, but
as proved by the notes of Dankers and Sluyter, and as urged by
Kimball in the Delaware valley, late in the seventeenth century,
after which in the eighteenth century, though they never devel-
oped the art as in Sweden, they spread it, as a cheap typical uni-
versally desirable makeshift, along the entire western frontier.
The Ferry Tract at New Hope, Pennsylvania, and Coryell's
Ferry in New Jersey.
BY CAPTAIN R. C. HOLCOMB, (m.c), U. S. N., PHILADELPHIA, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, January 19, 1924.)
IN my paper read before the Bucks County Historical Society
at its New Hope meeting last October, (see page 508 ante)
I described the Woolrich tract of 1,000 acres of land, granted
by William Penn to Thomas Woolrich, on part of which the
borough of New Hope stands. Five hundred acres of that grant
were purchased June 26, 1717, by John Wells, Jr., son of John
Wells, both of what was then Lower Dublin township, now a
part of Montgomery county. Pa.
John Wells, the elder, came from Bradfield Parish, Berkshire.
He married Olive Hunt a daughter of Henry Hunt of Hamp-
stead-Norris at Reading and Warboro Friends Meeting, 7 mo.
28th., 1681. Seven children were born of this marriage:
1. Samuel Wells, born 6 mo. 10th day, 1682, and who died in
infancy. 2. John Wells, born circa, 1684, and who settled in
Solebury township, on the Heath tract. 3. Samuel Wells, bom
11 mo. 29th day, 1687 (Abington Mo. Meeting). He died 1787,
having married and had children, 1 John, 2 Rebecca, who mar-
ried Thomas Dungan, and, 3 Ruth, who married David Thomas.
4. Olive Wells, bom 1 mo. 18th. day, 1689-90 (Abington Mo.
Meeting). 5. Rebecca Wells, born 12 mo. 26th day, 1691 (Ab-
ington Mo. Meeting). She married first William Kitchen in
1713 and second Thomas Phillips, both of whom settled in Sole-
bury. 6. Moses Wells, who married Rebecca Howell and re-
sided in Lower Dublin township. 7. Lydia Wells, who married
Richard Tomlinson of Oxford township.
The name of the elder John, one of the early settlers in Ox-
ford township, appears on the Lower Dublin township tax list in
1693, he having purchased in 1690 one hundred acres of land from
John Gordon agent for William Penn. He also owned, about
that time, a tract of one hundred and twenty acres of land in Ox-
ford township which he had bought from John Goodson and
Joseph Paull (agents and attorneys for Richard Corey and Ann
FERRY TRACTS IN PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW JERSEY 585
his wife of London, in Kingdom of England). He sold the one
hundred acres, March 3, 1702-3, to Evan Powell. In 1698 he
bought land of George Eaton and Henry Waddy. He was a
justice of common pleas 1735. John Wells, Sr., died in 1736,
seized of three hundred acres of land occupied by his son
Samuel Wells. On Feb. 7, 1736, other heirs of John Wells exe-
cuted a quit claim deed to Samuel Wells, conveying a tenement
and three hundred acres of land. (Phila. Exemplification Book
4, pg. 605.) The elder John Wells and his wife, Olive Hunt
Wells, were members of the early Oxford or Dublin meeting un-
der the jurisdiction of Abington Monthly Meeting. Under date
"ye 23 12 mo, 1690 — Richard Whitefield and John Wells ap-
pointed to attend Quarterly meeting."
The heirs of Richard Heath sold the five hundred acres (part
of the ferry tract), to Charles Brockden, April 27, 1716, who in
turn sold to Morris Morris and Richard Walln April 28, 1716.
Morris and Walln for consideration of £92 sold the north half
of the one thousand acres to John Wells, carpenter of Lower
Dublin township, by deed dated June 26, 1717.
About the time John Wells took up his residence in Solebur}%
John Reading died. Reading was one of the New Jersey promo-
tors for a road now known as the Old York Road. He had inter-
ested the inhabitants of Solebury and Buckingham in 1711 in a
petition for a road which was to start from a point opposite to
his, John Readings, landing on Delaware river, and through sev-
eral courses reach Philadelphia. John Reading died the latter
part of 1717, and in 1718 John Wells obtained from the General
Assembly of Pennsylvania an act granting him a license to es-
tablish a ferry for the seven years next ensuing, "for the ready
accommodation and passage of persons traveling from this prov-
ince to the Jersies and New York." The site of this ferry was
about three and a half or four miles lower down the river than
Reading's landing, at the present site of Stockton, New Jer-
sey. The new ferry was operated from about the present site of
Ferry street in New Hope, to about the present site of Ferry
street in Lambertville, N. J., one block below the present Bridge
streets in each of these towns. A large part of the course of the
lower Old York Road was through the northern part of the Ferry
tract. Shortlv after John Wells arrived in Soleburv, he was
586 FERRY TRACTS IN PEXXSYLVAXIA AND NEW JERSEY
joined by William Kitchen, or possibly William Kitchen came
with him. It is related of John Wells that he met one day at the
roadside this "young man" William Kitchen who was a weaver
by trade and who was in great distress of mind because he covild
get no work. He took the young man home with him and said :
"If thou wilt stay with me thou shall never want." The acquaint-
ance thus begun is said to have ripened into a life-long friendship.
As William Kitchen had married John Wells' sister Rebecca, in
Lower Dublin township, some years before, in 1713, this tale,
although founded on tradition, rather than on fact, may serve
to give us a better idea of John Wells and his kindly and ac-
commodating spirit which made him so successful and popular
a ferryman, that he had no trouble in getting his license renewed
each time he applied for it.
William Kitchen came from Lower Dublin township, as did
also several others of the first settlers there. He was a son of
Thomas Kitchen, Sr., of Oxford township, who married Mary
Mace (widow) at Oxford Meeting, 8th. day of ye 10th. mo.
1685. This appears to have been his second marriage, as he is
called Thomas senior, which indicates that there was a Thomas,
Jr., and so there was. The name of Thomas Kitchen. Sr., ap-
pears oftenest in the records of Abington Meeting as a witness
to marriages. He was a witness to the marriages of Richard
Worrell and Rachel May. 11th day 6 mo. 1685 ; of Edward Eaton
and Ann Kerby, and of Thomas Kimber and Elizabeth Chalkley,
26 day 8 mo. 1686. Thomas Holme (Penn's surveyor general),
was also a witness at that marriage. The elder Thomas died in
1694, and it is recorded that he was buried at Oxford, near
Tacony bridge, "ye 15th of ye 10th mo., 1694." Thomas Kitchen,
Jr., of Lower Dublin township, died during the summer of 1706.
His will, dated 16th, July, 1706, was recorded August 24, 1706.
and bequeathed all his property real and personal to his wife
Ann. William Kitchen appears to have been a half brother of
Thomas Kitchen, Jr., he was born in 1690 and married Rebecca
Wells, a daughter of John Wells, Sr., in 1713. In the year 1721
William Kitchen purchased from John Wells, his brother-in-law,
a tract of one hundred and fifty acres along the north side of the
ferry tract and built a house near the bank of the river. On
Julv 18, 1723. William Kitchen wrote his will mentioning therein
FERRY TRACTS IX PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW JERSEY 587
his wife Rebecca and his children Thomas, \\'ilham, Ruth, Mary
and Olive. All of which indicates the fiction of the alleged road-
side meeting sometime, after the year 1717, of John Wells with
the much distressed young weaver.
Some authorities say that John Wells was a batchelor. But
as he mentions his wife jNIary in his will, we will have to take his
word that he was married. When he wrote his will in 1748 his
wife was dead and he left all of his property to relatives, as
there were no children. His wife is believed to have been Mary
Norton, a daughter of Richard Norton.
About the year 1726, John Wells again applied for and was
granted a ferry license for a further term of seven years. In the
year of 1722, one Samuel Coate purchased the landing on the
New Jersey side opposite to Wells ferry. Samuel Coate does not
appear to have ever applied to the West Jersey Assembly for a li-
cense. He died in 1723 and his son, John Coate, applied for and
obtained a license to operate a ferry, which is dated April 30, 1726.
About the time John \\'ells came to Solebury a small settlement
of Quakers had located on the New Jersey side of the river op-
posite to what is now the ferry tract. The earliest settler was
John Holcombe, a brother of the Jacob Holcombe who purchased
the Mill tract in 1712. John Holcombe had settled on the West
New Jersey shore in 1705 ; other quakers who settled there later,
were John Comfort, who lived on a part of the Holcombe tract,
and Samuel Coate, who located on the river bank just below
Holcombe Island. Further back was a growing settlement of the
Dutch who had emigrated up the Rarita-n river to the southern
part of Somerset county and along the north side of Neshanic
mountain.
At the time the Old York Road was proposed there were very
few settlers in W^est Jersey north of the Hopewell bounds. The
Adlord Bowde purchase of 1688, extended as far north as Read-
ings landing at Stockton. The Lotting purchase of 1708, carried
the bounds only a little further, and the W^est Jersey Society's
Great tract, purchased in 1711, opened up a larger district still
further up the river. Pioneer settlers were penetrating the wil-
derness, establishing their scattered settlements. These settle-
ments made an increasing demand for a ferry. On the 2 mo. 12,
588 FERRY TRACTS IN PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW JERSEY
1733, the following minute is made in the Pennsylvania Minute
Book V :
"John Wells having at a considerable expense erected and maintained
a ferry over Delaware River in the Upper Parts of Bucks Co. for
which he has been favored with the Governor's License during pleasure
or until further orders, now applies to the Prop'ry for his Grant to the
same being recommended by Jere's Langhorne, Matthew Hughes and
others as an honest Person fit for that purpose. The Prop'ry is pleased
to grant him the same for 7 years for such consideration and under
such restrictions as may appear reasonable." (Penn. Archives 3 series
Vol. I.)
Wells it seems wanted a grant, but he got a license with "re-
strictions" for "a consideration," of forty shillings payable at the
Pennsbury Manor in March of each year. (Harrisburg Pat.
Book A 6, pg. 185.) At about the same time Emanuel Coryell,
a newcomer to Hunterdon county, West Jersey, had applied for
a grant of the ferry licensed to John Coates in 1726, he having
purchased the John Coates land from John Purcell Feb. 8, 1732.
On January 7, 1733, King George II, granted to his "loving sub-
ject (Emanuel Coryell) the sole privilege of keeping a ferry at
the placed called Coates ferry opposite Wells ferry the Pennsyl-
vania side and three miles up and three miles down the said river
Delaware, and to his heirs and assigns forever." It was a good
generous grant such as this that John Wells wanted, but did not
get. His license gave him the privilege of returning at the end of
another seven years and again making "reasonable" terms com-
mensurate to the improvement of traffic over the ferry. But Wells
continued to operate the ferry another seven years. He had the re-
spect of the community and on Dec. 1, 1738, was appointed a
justice of peace. Up until the time of his death he was the only
one in the township who possessed and paid a tax on a so-called
"riding chair." He died in 1748 and lies buried in a little grave-
yard in a field a few yards from the south boundary of Old York
Road on the hillside above Suggan Road. The wall of the grave-
yard has crumbled away and the enclosure is now overgrown
with large trees. On Oct. 29, 1745, shortly before his death, John
Wells sold for £70 to Benjamin Canby (then the owner of the
Heath mill), all of his land fronting upon the Delaware river,
comprising in all two hundred and fifty-six and three-fourth
acres. At that time \\'ells was in possession of practically all the
FERRY TRACTS IN PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW JERSEY 589
river front of the original Woolrich tract. On April 20, 1734, he
had purchased from Anthony jMorris and Phebe, his wife, and
Thomas Canby and Jane, his wife, a tract of one hundred acres,
which began at the mouth of the Great Spring run and extended
to the line of the Manor of the Highlands. ( Phila Book F, Vol.
VII, pg. 329.) That tract was described in the deed to Benjamin
Canby, as extending from the mouth of the Great Spring run,
north 60 deg. W. 52 p. by land of Anthony Morris and Benjamin
Canby, and by the same south 12 deg. W.' about 215 p. to the line
of the Manor of Highlands, thence by the said line 100 p. to the
river.
Opposite this tract in the Delaware river are the rapids now
known as Wells Falls. This tract and two others comprised the
land sold to Benjamin Canby in 1745. Another part of the tract,
sold to Benjamin Canby, comprised land bought by John Wells
of Thomas Kitchen, blacksmith, Dec. 28, 1739. That was prob-
ably a part of the tract John Wells sold to William Kitchen, the
father of Thomas, in 1721. It is described as a tract fronting on
Delaware river forty-five perches and extending back eighty-three
perches, containing twenty-one and three-fourths acres, and
bounded on the eastward by the river Delaware, northward by
the land of Tobias Dymock, deceased, westerly by lands of Ben-
jamin Canby and to the southward by Wells tract containing the
ferry-site. This latter tract with the ferry-site was also included
in this sale of 1745, and contained thereon the ferry tavern,
which Wells had maintained since the earliest days of the ferry.
In Oct., 1727, upon recommendation of the inhabitants of Sole-
bury, the court had been asked to nominate John Wells, who kept
the ferry, to keep a public house and therein retail strong liquors.
In the year 1730 when he made an application to have his licence
renewed Wells asked to be allowed "to retail rum and other spirits
by any quantity less than thirty gallons." It must have been a
long time between drinks on the Old York Road in those days.
Bogart's tavern at Buckingham had not secured a license, and
the nearest tavern in New Jersey was that kept by Ringo. The
tract is described as containing one hundred and thirty-five acres,
being part of a tract that ]Morris Morris and Susannah, his wife,
and Richard Walln and Ann, his wife, had conveyed to John
Wells by lease and release dated June 25 and 26, 1717. His
590 FERRY TRACTS IX PEXNSYLVAXIA AXD XEVV JERSEY
messuage, tenement, plantation and tract of one hundred and
thirty-five acres had a front on the river of eighty-three perches
and extended back two hundred and forty perches and one hun-
dred and two perches wide in the rear. Thus the ferry passed
from the possession of John Wells to the possession of Benjamin
Canby. Wells still retained a tract of one hundred and five acres
where he lived at the time of his death and which he bequeathed
to William Kitchen.
The will of John Wells of Solebury township, yeoman, is dated
July 16, 1748, proved Jan. 28, 1748-9. To William Kitchen of
Solebury, weaver (son of William Kitchen previously mentioned),
he gives the one hundred and five acres I live on in Solebury
township. To John Wells, son of brother Samuel Wells of
Philadelphia county, £100. Brother Moses Wells of Lower Dub-
lin, Philadelphia county, his son Moses, and other children are
mentioned. Job Noble of Warminster township, blacksmith, £50.
Lydia Tomlinson, wife of Richard Tomlinson, of Philadelphia
county, and their children, John Tomlinson excepted. Brother
Samuel Wells' son John excepted. Olive Heed of Solebury and
children of hers by John Heed, deceased. John Norton of Bucks
county, schoolmaster, Aaron and Thomas Phillips (children of
Rebecca (Wells) Kitchen, widow of William Kitchen, Sr., who
married Thomas Phillips) sons of Thomas. Moses Kitchen, son
of Thomas. William Kitchen to wall up my graveyard with stone
and lime. Memo, added to the will :
"My wife Mary requested that Mary daughter of John Heed and
Mary daughter of Paul Kester have doz. Diaper Napkins and two
Diaper Table Clothes to be equally divided."
The descendants of William Kitchen continued to reside in the
vicinity of New Hope and along the w^estern end of the ferry
tract for several generations. The one hundred and fifty acre
tract purchased from John Wells by the elder William Kitchen
in 1721 was thirty-six perches wide and extended from the Logan
line to the Delaware river, and was along the northern border of
the tract. William Kitchen left all his real property to his .son,
Thomas Kitchen, who sold a part of his tract containing forty-
eight acres and ninety-six perches to William Magill July 10, 1741.
The land sold Magill was the western part of the tract. He also
sold to John ^^^ells Dec. 28, 1739, a tract of twentv-one and
FERRY TRACTS IN PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW JERSEY 591
three-fourth acres with a frontage on Delaware river. \\'iniam
Kitchen, his brother, came into possession of another part of the
Wells tract, which upon his death, in 1796, passed by will to his
son David. David Kitchen by will, made in 1809, bequeathed all
his land to his nephew John Kitchen, Jr. John Kitchen by his
will dated 11th mo. 30, 1868, bequeathed to his son Howard and
daughters Sarah, Rachel and Ann. Howard Kitchen died in
1887 and the property soon after passed from the family.
\Mlliam Kitchen, second, was a large man physically and ac-
quired a good deal of property in the original Woolrich tract.
John ^^'ells left him one hundred and five acres on his death, but
subsequently he came into possession of other property, among
which was the Heath mill, purchased from Phillip Atkinson. May
20. 1762. On June 10. 1762, he sold it to Samuel Crook, retain-
ing, however, some of the property that adjoined his land.
Benjamin Canby in the year 1745 succeeded John Wells as the
owner, not only of the ferry tract, but of the greater part of the
river front of what had comprised the Woolrich tract. Benjamin
Canby became interested in an iron works which he mentions in
his will in these words: "It is also my Desire that my Exr's
shall make a Discreet Tryall of the Ironworks or any other part
of mv Estate and finding they are Profitable to my Wife and
Children upon a Strict Examination of accounts Yearly" etc.
The iron-works referred to appears to have consisted of a large
water hammer and two water driven bellows located upon a tract
early known as the "Forge tract," and later known as the "Saw
Mill Lot." This tract consisted of an irregularly bounded lot of
about ten acres lying between the Great Spring run and the York
Road. The property finally fell into the hands of William Maris
who built "Cintra," near the York Road boundarv\ It seems that
there were many persons interested in this Forge lot, and who
owned such parts of it as one-fourth, one-sixth, one-third, etc.
Benjamin Canby still had an interest at the time of his death,
because when Anne, daughter of Benjamin Canby, then the wife
of Joseph Wetherill, conveyed the ferry tract, then containing
one hundred and six acres, to John Coryell, the deed, dated
May 19, 1764 (D. B. 48. p. 511), reserves thereout the ten acres
known as the forge lot. George Ely, who had purchased an in-
terest in the ferry tract in Benjamin Canby's life time, under
592 FERRY TRACTS IX PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW JERSEY
agreement, which Canby in his will states had not been com-
pleted, evidently owned a one-fourth interest which in Aug., 1763,
he sold to Richard Reading, together with a tract fronting on
Delaware river south of the Great Spring run. The estate of
Richard Reading within the next four years was advertised for
sale in the Pennsylvania Chronicle of August 31, 1767, and in-
cluded "one equal undivided one-fourth of a forge, and one hun-
dred and thirty-five acres of land in the township of Solebury,
County of Bucks, Province of Pennsylvania, near Coryell's
Ferry." The interest of Richard Reading passed into the posses-
sion of John Cox, Jr., of Philadelphia, Thomas Pryor, of Bur-
lington, N. J., and James Janney, of New York, and they on
Jan. 19, 1769, disposed of Richard Reading's one-fourth interest
to Henry Dennis and Benjamin and Thomas Canby. Dennis
having conveyed his interest to the Canby brothers in 1770, they,
March 15, 1771 (D. B. 122, p. 103) conveyed the one-fourth in-
terest to Ichabod Wilkinson and Joseph Wilkinson of Solebury,
forge masters.
Ichabod Wilkinson on that same date, March 15, 1771, pur-
chased a one-third interest in the forge lot from the executors
of William Plumstead, who in turn had purchased this interest
from Thomas Yeardly, Jr., Jan. 31, 1751, the latter being one of
the executors of Benjamin Canby. The interest of the Wilkin-
sons in this forge tract dates to 1760, or earlier, as mention is
made of a conveyance dated April 25. 1760, to Ichabod \\'ilkin-
son for a one-sixth interest. (D. B. 25, p. 404; D. B. 28, p. 103;
D. B. 30, p. 74.) They were forge masters and probably operated
the forge. Later on the Wilkinsons sold their interest in the
forge lot and with this sale the name changed. The executors of
Joseph W^ilkinson by deed dated Nov. 3, 1798 (D. B. 30, p. 74),
conveyed the forge lot, "now known as the Sawmill lot," contain-
ing ten acres five perches to John Poor of Philadelphia, principal
of the incorporated institution called the Young Ladies
Academy of Philadelphia, and Robert Thompson Neeley, and
they in turn conveyed it to John Beaumont, March 26, 1804,
who by deed dated Aug. 14, 1821, conveyed the forge or sawmill
lot to William Maris.
It has already been stated (See The Tean Mill and its Early
Owners) that what is now known as the Parrv mill, was built by
FERRY TRACTS IN PEXXSYLVANIA AND NEW JERSEY 593
Philip Atkinson about 1761, on a twenty-four acre tract, and at
that time an agreement was made between Atkinson and William
Pettit for the privilege of the stream of water running through
the sawmill lot, which was then the next lot adjoining, '"to erect
and build thereon a water grist mill." And it so happened that
a law suit later resulted over the respective water rights of Ben-
jamin Parry and William Maris during which several affidavits
were taken. The following affidavit of Cornelius Coryell shows
the traditional antiquity of the Atkinson or Parry mill-site, and
also the antiquity and character of the forge :
"Cornelius Coryell, Senr aged 88 years, and upwards, was by the
mutual consent of Benjamin Parry and W. Maris examined touching
their respective water rights etc., who deposeth and saith. That he re-
members the property now owned and occupied by Benj. Parry as a
Grist Mill for upwards of 80 years and at that time there was a Saw
Mill on said property, and that the first water works which were erected
on the property which is now owned and occupied by W. Maris
known formerly by the name of the "Forge Property" was about 78
years ago — there was attached to the forge one hammer wheel and two
bellows wheels one of the bellows wheels was on the outside & south
side of the building — the water of one of the wheels (the hammer
wheel) in the inside of the forge ran under the other wheel and out of
the same tail race and further saith not.
CON'L CORYELL.
Swore & subscribed before me at New Hope Sept. 25, 1821.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand & affixed my
notorial seal the day and year last aforesaid.
Lewis S. Coryell,
Notary Public."
It w^ould seem probable that the forge was built some time
between 1745 and 1748, the former the date Canby purchased of
W'ells, and the latter the date of Canby's death. The mill was
built in 1761. There might of course have been a mill there be-
fore that date (1741 as stated in the affidavit), but if this were
true there would have been no occasion for an agreement about
the water-right between Philip Atkinson and William Pettit.
The inventory of the estate of Benjamin Canby helps to throw
some light upon the forge and where the supply of iron came
from. The inventory shows inter alia: "A negro in partnership
with Sarah Coryell" this negro I am inclined to believe was em-
ployed at the ferry, as Emanuel Coryell had a number of ne-
594 FERRY TRACTS IN PENNSYLVAXIA AND NEW JERSEY
groes probably used for the same purpose. Then comes a list
of things in partnership with Joseph Shippen including two ne-
groes, Ephriam and Pompy ; two coal carts and two other carts ;
one anvil in the Jerseys ; one ton of pigs in the Jerseys ; four tons
of pigs; five hundred wt. of anconys; a parcell of coals, and five
hundred wt. of iron pt. worked and a parcel of blooms. Then
follows a list of items, "All his own." It is the Edward Shippen
who was in partnership with Canby, who excites our interest.
The anvil and a part of the pig iron in "the Jerseys" would in-
dicate that their interests led in that direction. And then again
in a deed by the executors of Joseph Wilkinson (one of the
later forge owners, D. B. 30, p. 74), reference is made to a deed
from Joseph Shippen to George Ely dated March 20, 1762, con-
veying one-sixth interest in the forge lot.
Joseph Shippen was a son of Dr. William Shippen, Sr., a mem-
ber of Continental Congress. William Shippen, Sr., had pur-
chased of Jonathan Robeson a tract of ten thousand acres of land
in West Jersey about four miles from the present town of Bel-
videre, where Robeson had built a blast furnace in 1749. William
Shippen placed his son, Joseph Shippen, in charge of the Ox-
ford furnace, as this Jersey plant was called, and for thirty years
Joseph Shippen lived there with his family, in the large stone
house which came to be known as the Shippen Manor house.
The evidence therefore seems to point to the fact that this old
forge at New Hope was supplied with pig iron from Oxford
furnace "over in the Jerseys."
Canby died three years after his purchase of the ferry tract
from Wells, but before his death the property came into posses-
sion of George Ely of Amwell, N. J. Ely succeeded Canby as
proprietor of the ferry tavern and also operated the ferry. He
was a son of George and Jane Pettit Ely of Trenton. He was
born at Trenton about 1706. He married first Mary Prout, and
second Sarah (Tunison) Coryell, widow of Emanuel Coryell.
John Wells, Emanuel Coryell, and Benjamin Canby all early
proprietors of the ferry died about 1748. Canby mentioned in his
will that there was a defect "between George Ely and me concern-
ing the premises where the said Ely now lives by reason of Lease
not being completed, and that it may and shall be lawful for my
FERRY TRACTS IN PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW JERSEY 595
executors to enter into the premises and dispose of them after
giving notice to the said Ely three months."
On the 1st of 2 mo., 1751, David Kinsey and Sarah (Yardley)
Canby, Benjamin Canby's widow, proposed their intentions of
marriage, and early in that year they were married, both of them
being members of the Buckingham Meeting, and almost im-
mediately after the marriage we find David Kinsey supplanting
George Ely as the ferryman, and as the proprietor of the ferry
tavern. On March 15, 1753, we find him petitioning for a li-
cense to keep the ferry tavern. Later on George Ely came into
possession of four hundred and sixty-eight acres of land for-
merly belonging to Emanuel Coryell, in New Jersey, which com-
prised the lands of John Coryell consisting of three hundred and
ninety-eight acres, and the lands allotted to Abraham Coryell at
the ferry, and which at the time Ely bought them were in posses-
sion of Philip Atkinson and his wife, who was Sarah, the daugh-
ter of Emanuel Coryell. She was not of age on Oct. 10, 1760, at
the time the arbitrators divided her father's estate, and she chose
her brother Cornelius as her guardian until June 7, 1764, when
she would reach her twenty-first birthday. She married first
Philip Atkinson, Nov. 5. 1760, by whom she had four children
namely: 1. Hannah, b. 1 mo. 6 da. 1762, who married Joseph
Gray. 2. Sarah, b. 8'mo. 2 da. 1763, and who died 9 mo. 27 da.
1835. 3. John, b. 2 mo. 13 da. 1766, died young. 4. Thomas, b.
2 mo. 13 da. 1766, and who married Hannah Prall dau. of Abram
Prall. Sarah (Coryell) Atkinson married second John Ely. She
died Sept. 22, 1821.
George Ely enjoys the distinction of having operated the tav-
erns on both sides of the river. The New Jersey tavern appears
to have been less popular than the one in Pennsylvania during the
period prior to the Revolutionary War.
About the year 1764 John Coryell, a son of Emanuel Coryell
who had obtained a license for the ferry on the New Jersey side
of the Delaware, became interested in land in the ferry tract of
Pennsylvania. In 1764 or before this date he purchased the
property known as the Maple Grove Farm. On the 5th mo. 9th
da. 1765, John Coryell purchased from Joseph Wetherall and
Annie, his wife, who was a daughter of Benjamin Canby, a por-
tion of the ferrv tract including the ferrv. Ann Wetherall had
596 FERRY TRACTS IN PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW JERSEY
inherited the property from her father Benjamin Canby. John
Coryell also bought from Joseph Mitchell property on both sides
of the Upper York Road at the crossing to Reading's landing or
Howell's ferry. The tract containing four hundred and fifty
acres and the purchase price was £2700. John Coryell operated
the lower ferry and maintained a tavern there. He obtained a
license to keep a house of entertainment in Solebury, Pa., in
June, 1774. But he was evidently operating the tavern here for
sometime before that date. Elizabeth Drinker in her diary Aug.
(or Sept.), 1771, speaks of going to Coryell's tavern on the
York Road where Mr. Drinker was to "meet the commissioners
for improving and clearing the navigation of the river." That
Inn appears to have been located on the present site of Logan
inn. It was early known as the "Ferry tavern," also as "Coryells
Inn" and "Beaumont's tavern." In 1829 it was named the
"Logan House" by the then landlord, named Steel, and has kept
that name or the name Logan inn since that date.
The earlier tavern of Wells is believed to be the building
diagonally across the River road from the Logan Inn. John Cory-
ell was a well-known character of the time. He had a horse
named Valient, which he considered a first-class race horse. We
find, however, on one occasion that his horse was beaten by three
lengths in a race on Staten Island where he ran against Mr.
Waters' "True Britain," Coryell losing his wager of £120. From
his house at Coryell's ferry, Bucks county, he published in the
Pennsylvania Gazette of January 31. 1765, an open letter chal-
lenging Mr. Waters to run his horse again, against "Valient."
Not long after he came into possession of the ferry tract the first
weekly stage coaches over the "Old York Road," began their
weekly trips, which were advertised in both New York and the
Philadelphia papers.
Many distinguished visitors stopped at the tavern during Cory-
ell's time and the hospitality of Coryell and his wife and daughters
was long remembered by some travelers who saw fit to note the
occasion in their diaries. A distinguished gathering stopped there
in 1771, when Elizabeth Drinker, the wife of Henry Drinker,
made note of meeting her husband there, he being one of
the commissioners for improving the navigation of the Delaware
river in accordance with Act of the respective provincial Assem-
FERRY TRACTS IN PEXXSVLVANIA AND NEW JERSEY 597
blies. The intent being to make the Delaware a common high-
way, and specifically to improve the navigation from the lower
part of the falls, near Trenton to the river Lehigh at Easton, the
residue of any subscription raised to be applied to improve the
river above Easton. The commissioners jointly appointed by the
two states were : Joseph Galloway, Joseph Fox, Michael Hille-
gas, Abel James. Samuel Rhoads, James Allen, Peter Knight,
Esquires ; Daniel Williams, Henry Drinker, Clement Biddle.
Jeremiah Warder, the younger, Jacob Bright, John Baldwin.
Richard Wells, Gentlemen. Thomas Yardley, Jacob Orndt, Peter
Ketchline, Harry Kooken, Esquires ; William Ledley, Nicholas
Depui, son of Samuel, Jacob Stroud and John Arbo, Gentlemen.
The Honorable John Stevens, James Parker, and Daniel Cox,
Esquires, Samuel Meredith and Robert Field, Esquire, Doctor
William Bryant, Abraham Hunt. Timothy Smith, Thomas Lowry.
Ashur Mott, John Emley of Kingwood, Andrew Melick, Robert
Hoops and Matthew Lowry, Gentlemen. These are the names of
men prominent in colonial afifairs, of New Jersey and Pennsyl-
vania, some of them residing well up the river in the Minisink
country.
William EUery gives us some idea of travel along the Old York
Road during those days. The following is an extract from his
diary while enroute from Philadelphia to Dighton :
"3rd July 1779. Reached Tompkins about a mile on this side the
Crooked Billet and 17 miles from Philadelphia, where we had good
cofiFee and were well lodged. July 4. Breakfasted at Bennets 10 miles
from Tompkins. (This was at Buckingham.) Dined at Cowels (Cory-
ells) upon fried Chicken, boiled ham and Peas. Our Landlord and
Lady and their well sized daughters were verj^ obliging. This house is
7 miles from Bennets. Lodged at Cahills (Quakertown, N. J.). Our
beds here and at Tompkins were clean and not infected with bugs.
The day was intensely hot. This is 14 miles from the Ferry."
During the Revolutionary War the ferry tavern must have
been the rendezvous of many American ofihcers. Washington,
however, on both occasions that he stopped at the ferry, made his
headquarters on the New Jersey side at the house of Richard
Holcombe. John Coryell became deeply involved in debt, prob-
ably as a result of the purchases of land of John Mitchell on
either side of the upper York Road. The ferry property was sold
from him in 1785 by Samuel Dean, high sheriff of Bucks county,
598 FERRY TRACTS IN PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW JERSEY
under a writ in which Joseph Mitchell was plaintiff and John
Coryell defendant. The sale was held at the public house of
David Forst, in Lahaska, February 14, the deed was acknowledged
in open court May 1, 1782. The purchaser was John Beaumont
Upper Makefield and the price paid was £900. The amount
of land surveyed with the ferry at that sale was seventy-two
acres and thirty-four perches, or a little over thirty-three acres
less than the amount of land purchased from the heirs of Ben-
jamin Canby. The name Coryell's 'Ferry was now doomed to
pass away, though both sides of the river were known by this
name. It so happened that Benjamin Parry and David Parry,
residents of Bucks county, came into possession of the old Prime
Hope mill on the New Jersey side of the river, below Coryell's
ferry-landing and near to Wells Falls. The Prime Hope mills
were built sometime between 1744 and 1747 by Benjamin Smith,
who gave them the name.
The Parrys also owned the flour and sawmill built by Philip
Atkinson on the Pennsylvania side in 1763. These mills are de-
scribed in an advertisement appearing in the Nezv York Mercury
of August 27, 1764.
"To Be Sold.
"A complete new Grist-Mill, and Saw-Mill, situated at Coryell's
Ferry, (15 miles from Trentown) up the River Delaware, that has the
Advantage of a constant Stream of water. These Mills have 12 Feet
Head and Fall of Water; the Grist-Mill can grind 100 Bushels a Day,
and has all the Conveniency for Manufacturing of Flour. The IMill-
House is a new Stone Building, about 30 Feet by 50; a Boat may dis-
charge her Lading directly into the Mill-House. The Situation of this
Mill is very Convenient for purchasing of Wheat, as large Quantities
are brought down the Delaware from Minisink, and must pass by this
Mill. There is also plenty of Wheat to be bought in the Neighbor-
hood, as it is a plentiful Wheat Country. Flour can be transported
from the Mill, and delivered at Philadelphia, at One Shilling and Six
Pence per Cask, Freight.
The Saw-Mill will cut a Thousand Feet a Day; and Logs may be had
in plenty, at a reasonable Rate.
These Mills have belonging to them, a Farm containing 16 Acres of
Land, with a tolerable good Well at the Door. Also, a Brew-House,
Stable, &c. Any Person inclinable to purchase the above described
Mills, &c. may have them at a Moderate Price by applying to Philip
Atkinson, near the Premises, Thomas Atkinson, at Amwell, or James
McEvers, at New York, on paying down One-Third of the Purchase
FERRY TRACTS IX PEXXSYLVAXIA AXD XEW JERSEY 599
Mone}-, and the Remainder may be made in easy Payments, on giving
Securit}-, if Required.
N.B. In Case any Person should prefer hiring the above Mills. &c.
to purchasing of them, may be had at a moderate Rent, with 400 pounds
in Cash, free of Interest, for the Conveniency of purchasing Wheat."
This very complete description of the old mill property en-
ables us even now to identify the old stone stable still standing
on the northeast side of the bridge. It hints at an increasing
trade up the river as far as the Minisink country. The capacity
of the gristmill and of the sawmill are both given and even the
cost of transportation of flour to Philadelphia.
PROPERTIES IX NEW JERSEY AND THEIR OWNERS.
The Holcombe tract in Xew Jersey, included that part of Lam-
bertville north of the Bull line which "begins at the river at a
point near the mill, formerly Werts sawmill, and passes just
south of the Methodist Episcopal church, thence a little north of
the old brewer)', thence over the hill to a boundary stone in the
York Road and thence along the east side of Holcombe's grove to
the distance of a mile from the river." (P. A. Studdiford D.D.
Snell, pg. 268.) The land south of this was taken up in the
proprietary right of John Hutchinson, who sold on February' 14,
1701, a proprietary right to four hundred acres to Benjamin Field.
Benjamin Field then obtained a warrent, and these four hundred
acres were surveyed to him by ^^'illiam Emley, and is duly re-
corded in Revel's Book of Surveys, page 149. ^^'illiam Emley
describes the tract as being above the Societies thirty thousand
acres, and as the date of his order of survey, the "third day of
the first month Anno 1700-1," would indicate, it was made prior
to the third dividend of land above the Falls of the Delaware,
so frequently referred to as the authority for the taking up of
land about Lambertville. Soon afterwards Benjamin Field died,
and his wife. Experience Allen, on Ma}- 29. 1702, sold this prop-
erty to Isaac Merrior and Nathan Allen. On Aug. 10, 1711, thev
sold to Robert Eaton, who in turn sold to Samuel Coate bv deed
dated April 16 and 17, 1722. So far as known Samuel Coate
was the first settler on that tract, though it is possible one Hugh
Howell may have settled there at one time. The deed for John
Holcombe's land, bearing date 1705, is described as "beginning
600 FERRY TRACTS IX PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW JERSEY
at ye uppermost corner of ye lands formerly Hugh Howells, now
Robert Eatons on the Delaware River side," etc. No trace of
possession by Hugh Howell is available except in the phraseology
of the Holcomb deed.
Benjamin Field was such an extensive owner of land within
old Amwell township, that some account of him may be desir-
able. He came to West Jersey from Newtown, Queens county.
Long Island, and settled in Chesterfield 1693. He married Ex-
perience Allen, born 30th day 6 mo., 1669, at Sandwith, Plymouth
Colony, New England. She was a daughter of Jedidiah Allen
and his wife Elizabeth, who had settled at Shrewsbury, N. J.,
about 1684-85. He became possessed of several tracts of land
about Chesterfield and Salem, N. J. On May 19, 1701, he pur-
chased of the West Jersey Society through their agent Andrew
Hamilton five thousand acres of the Indian purchase above the
Falls of Delaware made by Adlord Bowde. That purchase com-
prised two tracts, one of two thousand acres, described as east of
the Society's land adjoining John Clark, and one for three thou-
sand acres on the southeast side of Wishalmensey Indian town and
on the west side of Hockin (Alexauken) Creek, adjoining John
Clark. These tracts were located in the vicinity of Ringoes. He
also purchased Oct. 16, 1701, jointly with William Stephenson of
Northampton, Burlington county, from Sarah Welch of Phila-
delphia, widow of William Welch of London, merchant, John
Guest of Philadelphia and wife Susanna Welch, daughter of
Sarah, one and one-half shares of West Jersey, except the first
and second dividend. Again on Nov. 15, 1701, he purchased from
Francis Collins, bricklayer, of Burlington, one thousand acres
a part of four-sevenths of a share, bought of Edward Byllinge
and trustees of which seven hundred and twenty-eight acres ad-
join the grantee on Caponockon creek, the remaining two hundred
and seventy-four acres to be surveyed. On April 16, 1701, a sur-
vey for three thousand acres were returned for Benjamin Field
out of the societies land near Wishalimensey Indian village, and
on Oct. 2, 1701, a survey was made for three thousand one hun-
dred and ninety-three acres along the line of the Indian purchase
above the falls "lately made by the society on Capenockon Creek
(Neshanic) next Andrew Hamilton's and his own former sur-
vey." The survey for Andrew Hamilton was made by Revel
FERRY TRACTS IN PEXXSVLVANIA AND NEW JERSEY 601
April 15. 1701. "Ye Honble Andrew Hamilton Govr and Benj.
Field of two thousand acres of the West Jersey Societies land,
in Adlord Bowde's purchase along the first eastern line there of
next John Clark." Other surveys were made for Field out of this
same tract ; one for one hundred and fifty acres, another for
four hundred acres which latter survey comprises the lower part
of Lambertville. The Collins Survey for seven hundred and
twenty-six acres on Capernockon Creek ( Neshanic ) was re-
turned Nov. 1, 1701.
Benjamin Field died early in 1702, and his wife, Experience,
was named as executrix. In his will he mentions, two thousand
four hundred acres above the Falls of Delaware. He likewise
mentions four children namely, Robert, Benjamin, Susanna and
Elizabeth, besides an expected child. He likewise mentions his
mother, Susanna Field, and a brother, Ambrose Field. It would
appear that his wife. Experience Allen, died shortly after her
husband's death. Both estates were administered by Nathan
Allen. • Experience Field made her will May, 1702, and in it she
mentions her father, Jedidiah Allen, and makes her brother,
Nathan Allen, executor. The death of Experience Field pre-
vented her from acting as executrix to her husband's estate, and
letters testamentary were granted Nathan Allen as trustee and
executor of Experience Field. The inventory of the estate of
Benjamin Field and his wife. Experience Field, was duly made
June 29, 1702. Most of the early deeds for land, in and about
Ringoes were obtained from Nathan Allen.
Samuel Coate, the settler on the Field four hundred acres ad-
joining John Holcombe's land, was at the time of the purchase,
in April 1722, a resident of Springfield, Burlington county. He
married Mary Sanders at the Falls Monthly Meeting in 1695.
He died the following year after the purchase. His will is dated
Nov. 22, 1723, and the inventory of his estate was made by
George Green and John Holcombe Dec. 23, 1723. His wife, Mary,
is mentioned, and likewise his children, John, Henry. William,
Marmaduke, Samuel and Elizabeth. His will is particularly in-
teresting, as it is one of the early documents mentioning the York
Road, of which the following is extracted :
"I give John Coate 200 acres of my lands next Delaware River by
him freely to be possessed and enjoyed. I give to Henry Coate 200
602 FERRY TRACTS IX PEXXSYLVAXIA AXD XEW JERSEY
acres of my land upon the hill where the new "feele" now is Running
there unto the head line. I give to Son William Coate one hundred
Acres of land upon the hill next to Yoark Road, by him freely to be
possessed & enjoyed."
John Coate, to whom his father Samuel Coate devised the
ferry tract, made apphcation for and received from Governor
Burnet a license to operate a ferry in Amwell township, Hunter-
don county, "from the landing commonly called Coates Landing
across the River Delaware to the Province of Pennsylvania."
This license was signed by Governor W. Burnet 30 day of April
Anno 1726 (Liber AAA of Commissions, p. 192). He sold the
ferry tract consisting of two hundred acres Oct. 15, 1728, to
John Purcell. After possessing the property for nearly four
years John Purcell on Feb. 8, 1732, sold to Emanuel Coryell who
continued in possession until his death. The expression "com-
irfcnly called Coates landing" would seem to indicate that the
Coates family had maintained a landing there for some time
prior to the granting of the license, and further that travel across
the river had grown sufficiently to warrant the employment of a
ferryman on both sides. The same year that John Purcell sold
the two hundred acres, comprising the ferry tract, to Emanuel
Coryell. John Coate sold a tract of thirty acres to John Hol-
combe, deed dated Aug. 4, 1732, this latter tract being on the south
side of the York Road, fronting on what is now Main street, so that
the York Road which originally ran between the Coates and the
Holcombe tract was owned on both sides of the road by John
Holcombe. In this deed the road is called "the King's Road."
John Coate was, at the latter date, a resident of Franklin
township where sometime between 1728 and 1730 he had pur-
chased land, east of the Wilson tract. He was a member of the
Kingwood Friends Meeting as was also his brother Henry Coate.
All of the Coate heirs appear to have sold their holdings in 1728.
William Coate sold his land Feb. 2, 1728. to William Cornwell
of Hopewell. The following is abstracted from that deed because
of the facts therein contained :
John Hutchinson of Hopewell in County of Hunterdon on 14th
day of February 1701 sold to Benjamin Field one full and un-
divided 1/12 part of one of the seven undivided equal parts. Field ob-
tained warrant for survey of 400 acres in the township of Amwell
"fronting the River Delaware joining to land now in possession of
FERRY TRACTS IX PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW JERSEY 603
John Holcomb." This land was left by his wife Experience for the
bringing up of children, and she by deed dated 29th of May Anno
1702 sold to Isaac Merrior (Isaac Marriott) and Nathan Allen both of
Burlington all her deceased husband's' lands. Allen and Merrior in
turn sold Aug. 10, 1711, to Robert Eaton the 400 acres. Robert Eaton
by deed dated 16 and 17 day of April 1722 sold to Samuel Coate of
Springfield in the County of Burlington the 400 acres of land. (Record
of Deeds for Hunterdon Co. begun the 31 day of Jan. 1716-17, p. Zl .
Flemington Records.)
Isaac Marriott was brother-in-law to Benjamin Field having
married first, Joyce OHve a sister of Samuel Jennings' wife, in
1681, and second the 2nd day 12 mo. 1699, Susannah Field,
daughter of Robert and Susannah Field, a sister of Benjamin
Field.
W'illiam Stevenson, who had purchased the tract of three thou-
sand one hundred and ninety-three acres in partnership with
Benjamin Field, married Ann a daughter of Samuel Jennings
Nov. 16, 1699, and was related to Benjamin Field (through the
marriage, of his uncle, Edward Stevenson, to Charity Field a
sister of Benjamin Field).
The next owner of the ferry tract was John Purcell, who, on
Oct. 15, 1728, purchased a tract of two hundred acres from
John Coate. That tract had a large frontage on the Delaware
and was the land willed to John Coate by his father Samuel
Coate. John Purcell appears to have come to Amwell from the
southern part of Somerset county. Four children of John and
Hannah Pursel were baptized at the Readington Dutch Reformed
Church, namely, Thomas, April 9, 1720; John, November 5, 1721 ;
Styntje, March 1, 1724, and Margareth, October 2, 1726. A
Thomas Purcil was a resident of Flatlands, L. I., where he was an
appraisor in 1679, and a patentee in Newtown, L. I., in 1686. He
or some other Thomas Purcell settled near the Raritan river in
Somerset county, N. J., and had several children baptized at the
Raritan Dutch Reformed church prior to 1703. In the year of
1710 he purchased lot No. 68 (Elizabeth bill in chancery) now in
the township of Branchburg north of Hollands Brook, and its east-
ern boundary along the north branch of the Raritan. It contained
five hundred acres and was purchased by Thomas Purcell Sept.
22, 1710, he then being a resident of Middlesex county (Until
1714 the Middlesex courts had jurisdiction over Somerset county.)
604 FERRY TRACTS IN PEXNSVLVAXIA AND NEW JERSEY
In the year 1719 he conveyed the upper half to his son Daniel
Purcell. In 1728 the land was sold to Guisbert Krom. In the
year 1732 Daniel Purcell, then a resident of Wrightstown, Pa.,
executed a deed to his brother Dennis Purcell, then of Dover,
"in the County of Kent on Delawar," for a tract of land in
Wrightstown containing one hundred and nineteen acres in con-
sideration of his one-half share in a tract of two hundred and
forty-eight acres "lately granted and confirmed unto Thomas
Pursell. (father of them sd Daniell and Dennis Pursell) from
William Allen of Philadelphia." "Denes Purcell of Pennsyl-
vania," married Sept. 28, 1728, Ruth Cooper, daughter of Henry
and Alary (Buckman) Cooper of Newton, Bucks county, and
later settled in Bethlehem township, Hunterdon county, N. J.
John Purcell, after he sold the ferry tract, also appears to have
removed to Bethlehem township, for in the year 1738, six years
after the sale of the ferry, he is mentioned in account of Marma-
duke Coate, administrator of the estate of Samuel Coate, as re-
ceiving together with John Coate, certain money for expenses
incurred during the sickness of the deceased Samuel Coate, a
resident of Bethlehem township. N. J. When in the year 1764,
John Emley was appointed land agent of the Barker tract (now
in Alexandria township and a part of old Bethlehem township
but set off from it in 1765), he made a list of forty-five tenants
on Barkers land among them being Dennis Pursley (Purcell) and
Daniel Pursley. That tract adjoined the large tract of William
Allen and Robert Turner, proprietors of Union iron works.
John Purcell possessed the ferry tract for four years, and in
the year 1730, Daniel Howell, residing at the Reading Landing
(now Stockton), endeavored to bring influence to bear to make
his landing the route for the crossing of the Old York Road.
Purcell endeavored to check his designs by petitioning the gov-
ernor of New Jersey, and the governor and council of the Prov-
ince of Pennsylvania. Out of thirty-four signers of his petition
twenty-five of them were residents of Hopewell, some of their
names being found in the Hopewell tax list of 1722; the sub-
scribers of the Presbyterian church of Maidenhead and Hopewell
1731 ; and on the voting list of freeholders for the year 1738.
The importance of this comment seems to indicate that the traffic
from Pennsylvania to New York at that time passed over the
FERRY TRACTS IN PEXXSYLVANIA AND NEW JERSEY 605
road through Hopewell which joined the road to New Brunswick
at Rocky Hill.
Petition from the files of the State Library at Harrisburg, Pa.
Amwell Township in New Jersey.
Janry 21st, 1730/1
To the Right Honorable the Governor of Pennsylvania & to the
Honorable Council:
The Humble Petition of Us the Inhabitants in several parts of your
neighboring Province of Nova Caesarea, Humbly sheweth that where-
as We are assured a certain Person named Daniel Howel is endeavor-
ing to procure a New Road thro your Province from York to Phila-
delphia and is for that end preparing or has actually presented a Pe-
tition to Your Excellency. We thought it therefore our Duty to in-
form you that the said Daniel Howel is acted only by a Private Interest
and that He has already got a Road laid out here to the extreme Dan-
ger of our Country and in opposition to a very good Road and Ferry
here, as well as in your Excellency's' Province of all which We in our
Humble Petition informed our own Governor, and knowing farther
that your discountenancing the said Daniel Howel will in a great
measure defeat his pernicious designs here. We make bold humbly to
petition your Excellency & your Council to give no encouragement to
the said evil Person, We being already extremely well satisfied with
the Road now in Use to that commonly called Well's Ferry which we
esteem by much the convenientest both for Philadelphia or York ;
And your Petitioners shall ever pray &c.
Thomas Winder Richard Palmer
Barthalma Anderson Benjamin Seaverns
Abraham Anderson Robert Akers
Andrew Anderson William Philips
Joseph Phillips Edward burrows
Eliakim Anderson Caleb Carman
Francis Vannoey Robert Combs
Thomas Zinzano Abrham Larew
Cornelius Anderson Joseph Combs
Andrew Linn John pursel
William Coxe John fidler
George (Green) Thomas Morrell
William Crihfeld James Richards
John reed robert eaton
Roger Woolverton Johaanys Buys
John field thomas newman
Andrew Milbourne Jemes Stought.
Daniel Howell was a brother-in-law of Gov. John Reading, an
associate justice of the court of common pleas, and a captain of
the militia. He was not without an influential backing in the
606 FERRY TRACTS IX PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW JERSEY
neighborhood. His son Daniel married JuHanna Holcombe, a
daughter of John Holcombe, a neighbor of John Purcel, and
these influences may in a measure account for the paucity of
Amwell names in this petition. On Feb. 8, 1732, John Purcel
sold to Emanuel Coryell the ferry tract and removed to Bethle-
hem township.
Perhaps no single family has left a greater impression on the
ferry community than the descendants of Emanuel Coryell.
Probably of French Huguenot extraction, the family appears to
have settled in Somerset county early in the eighteenth century
and there we find the name spelled Coryell, Koriel, Koryel,
Coriel, and Coryal.
Emanuel Coryell seems to have had at least two brothers,
namely David and Abraham, who like Emanuel, appear to have
intermarried with the Dutch families who settled there. xA.mong
the records of the Dutch First Reformed church of Somerville
appear the names of children born to David and Elsie Coryell,
Abraham and Catrynte (Catherine) and Emanuel and Sarah
Coryell. Emanuel married Sarah, the daughter of Cornelius and
Neeltje (Bogaert) Teunissen, baptized April 3, 1706. Cornelius
Teunissen lived in the heart of what is now Somerville. N. J.,
and he was a member of the First Colonial Assembly in 1703.
He died in 1731 and a "Manuel" Correll is a witness to the will
which is dated Aug. 24, 1727. This signature however does not
correspond in its character to the signature of the Emanuel
Coryell of Amwell, and is supposed by some to be the signature,
possibly of some other person. Emanuel Coryell appears to have
lived near Bound Brook. In the accounting of his estate men-
tion is made of money for part of a house and lot at Bound
Brook sold by sheriflf. He made his first purchase of land
amounting to two hundred acres from John Purcel, Feb. 8, 1732,
but by purchases made of Neil Grant Jan. 20, 1739; from Thomas
Peget Oct. 29, 1743, and by other purchases, he increased his
holdings to one thousand and sixteen acres of which amount of
land he died possessed early in 1748. Upon purchasing the land
Emanuel Coryell applied for a grant of the ferry and in the year
1733 King George IH granted to Emanuel Coryell of Amwell,
in Hunterdon county, his "loving subject" the right to operate
FERRY TRACTS IX PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW JERSEY 607
a ferry at the place called Coates ferry, New Jersey, opposite
Wells ferry on the Pennsylvania side.
Emanuel and Sarah Coryell appear to have had seven children,
namely, John, Cornelius, George, Abraham. Nellie, William, and
Sarah. John was the eldest son and was made executor in his
father's will. William appears to have died young, but the
other boys lived to a ripe old age. Cornelius who appears to
have been named after his grandfather, Cornelius Teunissen, lived
to be 99 years of age, dying in July, 1831. Nellie, who appears
to have been named from her grandmother also died young. The
records of the First Reformed church of Somerville contain the
following entry: 'June 1, 1740. Nellje, daughter of Emanuel and
Sarah Coryell, baptized." which would indicate that the Coryells
of Amwell still had ties of kinship and religion in the neigh-
borhood, which was along the course of the old road from the
Delaware ferry. Emanuel Coryell does not appear to have held
any civil office during the sixteen years that he operated the ferry
from the New Jersey side, and seems to have been fully occupied
as a ferryman and tavern-keeper. He built a stone tavern at the
ferry, about twenty yards below the present bridge. The old house,
with its ferrv, barns, stable, orchard and meadows, was willed to
his wife Sarah during widowhood. She did not remain a widow
long for she married George Ely. who had purchased from Ben-
jamin Canby the tavern and ferry on the Pennsylvania side.
Emanuel seems to have had quite an establishment, no less than
eight negroes being listed in the inventory of his estate taken Feb.
3, 1748. Shortly before this time there appeared an advertisement
in the Nezv York Gazette revived in Weekly Post Boy of Dec. 28,
1747, in which John Coryell of Amwell advertised for the appre-
hension of a negro man, named James Rouse who had run away
from him while he was visiting Albany, N. J. John Coryell, as we
have seen, succeeded his father-in-law George Ely in operating
the ferry and tavern on Pennsylvania side. From his father's
estate he received a tract of land containing three hundred and
ninety acres, being a tract purchased by Emanuel Coryell from
Neil Grant, his wife and daughter, who possessed the same
through kinship with John Lambert, to whom the property was
surveyed. This property was situated one and a half miles
south of the ferrv.
608 FERRY TRACTS IX PENXSYLVAXIA AXD XEW JERSEY
Some years after the death of Emanuel Coryell a difference
arose between George Ely and Sarah his wife (widow of Emanuel
Coryell) of Bucks county, Pa., John Coryell, Cornelius Coryell,
George Coryell, Abraham Coryell, and Sarah Coryell. Five ar-
bitrators were appointed, namely Langhorne Biles, Jonathan Ing-
ham, Peter Prall, Azariah Dunham and Pontius Stelle. They
made their report Oct. 10, 1760, dividing the land consisting of
one thousand and sixteen acres into four tracts. To Abraham
Coryell (who appears to have been named after one of Emanuel's
brothers), they assigned lot No. 1 containing seventy-five and
three-fourths acres. This lot extended from John Holcombe's
land down the river to the mouth of a small creek. It contained
the plantation house, stables, orchard and ferry. Abraham does
not appear to have resided on the tract because shortly after the
decision of the arbitrators, we find it occupied by Philip Atkin-
son and his wife, Sarah (Coryell) Atkinson, and later by a
Robert* Grant, after which it was purchased Oct., 1765, by Abra-
ham's father-in-law% George Ely, who served during the Revo-
lutionary War, first as a captain in the Second Hunterdon
county regiment, then as a lieutenant-colonel of the third regi-
ment and later as its colonel. Abraham lived in Kingwood town-
ship, N. J., certainly during the latter part of his life and left
five children, namely Sarah, George, John, Joseph and Emanuel.
To George Coryell was given lot Xo. 2 containing two hun-
dred and two and one-fourth acres. The arbitrators called this
the Bungtown lot. It was bounded by lands of John Holcombe,
Gano, Thomas Wilson, and his brothers Cornelius and Abraham.
The boundary line between George and his brother Abraham, near
the plantation house is described as passing through the "grave-
yard." This graveyard is now enclosed within the yard of the
First Presbyterian church, Lambertville, and in it is a most
curious coffin shaped stone, one side of which tells us that Cor-
•nelius Coryell died July, 1831, aged 99 years, the other side that
Abraham died May. 1828. aged 91 years. George Coryell owned
a house built in 1748, and torn down about 1856, located near the
northwest corner of Main and York streets, which during the
Revolutionary \\'ar, was used by General Green as his headquar-
ters, in 1777. The house burned down in the early part of the
nineteenth centurv. George was an officer in the Continental
FERRY TRACTS IN PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW JERSEY 609
Army at the time he occupied the house. George Coryell
had however previous experience as a military officer, having
served as a lieutenant in Peter Schuyler's regiment, raised
in 1759. {Nciv York Mercury, April 30, 1759.) During the
Revolutionary War he served as a captain. The arbitrators as-
signed Lot No. 3 containing three hundred and forty acres to
Cornelius Coryell. This lot lay between the lands of George
Coryell and the tract of three hundred and ninety-eight acres
known as lot No. 4 assigned to John Coryell and previously men-
tioned. He resided on Goat Hill in a house overlooking the old
road to Hopewell and valley below. He married Sallie Shaw and
had eight children, namely, George, Mary, Jacob, Tunis. John,
Eleanor, Cornelius and Joseph. The arbitrators allowed Sarah
Coryell i500, which was to be paid to her by her brothers, Abra-
ham, George and Cornelius. And in their report they set aside
half an acre of land as a burying ground, where the Presbyterian
church is located. This was at that time the family burying
ground.
About the time John Coryell and his wife Elizabeth removed
from their home in Amwell to their new home in Bucks county
the Jersey property consisting of Lot No. 4 and seventy acres of
the ferry tract were offered for sale. An advertisement of the sale
appearing in the Pennsylvania Gazette of Nov. 29, 1764. The
ferry property was then in possession of Philip Atkinson, who
had built the mill at New Hope and who had married Sarah
Coryell, the daughter of Emanuel. The advertisement reads as
follows :
Trenton, October 26, 1764.
By Virtue of several Writs of Fieri Facias to me directed, will be
exposed to Sale, at public Vendue, on Wednesday, the 26th day of
December next, at the Court-House, in Trenton, between the Hours of
Twelve and Five O'clock in the Afternoon a Tract of Land and Plan-
tation, containing 398 Acres (be it more or less) with Houses — Out-
Houses, &c. &c. situate in Amwell, about a Mile and an Half from
Coryell's Ferry, bounded by Lands late Benjamin Smith's deceased,
William Richards and others, now or late in the Possession of John
Coryell. Also the Ferry-House, and about 70 Acres of excellent low
land, fronting the River Delaware, known by the Name of Coryell's
Ferry; on which are convenient Buildings for a Tavern, and has been
a noted and well accustomed House; a good bearing Orchard, with
many other Conveniences, now in the Possession of Philip Atkinson.
610 FERRY TRACTS IN PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW JERSEY
The above Lands were late the Estate of Emanuel Coryell deceased,
seized and taken in Execution at the Suit of John Vanmiddleworth
and Baltus Pickle, and to be sold by
SAMUEL TUCKER, Sheriff.
Oct. 30, 1765.
George Ely purchased all of the above land Oct. 20, 1765.
Not long afterwards the land comprising the ferry tract of
seventy acres was for sale again. It had passed into the posses-
sion of Robert Grant, and was seized by the sheriff of Hunterdon
county on execution at suit of George Ely. The advertisement
of its sale appeared in The Pennsylvania Gazette issue of Oct.
16. 1766, as follows :
Micajah How Sheriff gives notice that on the first of November
he will sell the "well Accustomed House and Ferry, known by the
Name of Coryell's Ferry with about 70 acres of land of excellent low
Land, bounded by lands of George Coryell on the North, East by
King's Highway and west by River Delaware, with a fine bearing
Orchard thereon; the House is built of stone, very convenient for a
Tavern, and has long been a noted and well accustomed house, with a
good Barn, Stables and other Out Houses thereon now in possession
of Robert Grant; late the Property of Abraham Coryell, seized and
taken in Execution at the suit of Geo. Ely and to be sold by Macajah
How, Sheriff."
The ferry tavern on the New Jersey side was kept very ir-
regularly until 1769-1770, when the regular stage route making
weekly trips between New York and Philadelphia on the Old
York Road was established. The first stage passed over the ferry
Sept. 26, 1769. It was a day of much excitement at Coryell's
ferry. In the Pennsylvania Chronicle of July 30- Aug. 6, 1770.
appears the following advertisement :
"Whereas Coryell's ferry on the New Jersey side has been kept very
irregular for some time past, Capt. Donald M' Donald begs leave to
acquaint the public that he now keeps the said ferry in a regular man-
ner and proper and speedy attendance will always be given all travelers
&c. and good entertainment for man and horse.
DONALD M'DONALD.
Thomas Winder of Hopewell owned a very large tract of land
lying between the Hopewell line and the lands which came into
possession of Emanuel Coryell. He was drowned in the year
1733 and left a widow. Rebecca, who later married Edward Col-
lins. He also left six children, namelv Tohn. Thomas. James.
FERRY TRACTS IN PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW JERSEY 611
Jane, Elizabeth, and Eleanor. This land was originally surveyed
to John Clark of Bucks county, Pa., and was purchased by him
from Wilham Crouch and James West of London in seven-
eights of one hundredth of their proprietary of land, and
a land warrant was duly issued for land in the Province of
West New Jersey situated on the "north side of a tract called the
Societies thirty thousand acres." The sale being made by deed
of lease and release, dated Discember 5 and 6, 1700. The lands
of John Clark passed into possession of Francis Hague, who on
January 23 and 24, 1726, sold to Thomas \\'inder. After the
death of Thomas W'inder, mentioned above, the land passed to
the possession of his eldest son John and from him to his brother
James. James Winder and his wife Sarah sold to John Coryell
March 6, 1764, two hundred and ninety acres, excluding ten acres
previously sold to Benjamin Smith January 1, 1744.
Benjamin Smith had previously bought of Charles Woolver-
ton September 23, 1734, a tract adjoining this land containing
twelve and one-half acres, which Woolverton had purchased of
Samuel Green Dec. 31, 1733. Benjamin Smith is a character of
unusual interest as he built the first gristmill on the New Jersey
side, which he named the Prime Hope Mill. Benjamin Smith was
a son of Daniel Smith of Burlington and Mary, daughter of
Matthew Champion. Daniel Smith had three sons and one
daughter, namely, Daniel, Robert, Benjamin, and Katherine, who
married AMlliam Calinder. Benjamin Smith, the son of Daniel,
resided in Trenton adjoining Maurice Trent, and about the time
he purchased the land from James Winder removed to Amwell.
In going security for the administration of Thomas Robertson of
New York, February 19, 1742, he calls himself "Benjamin Smith
of Trenton, merchant," and as administrator of the will of Joseph
Sergent, 1746, he calls himself "Benjamin Smith of Amwell."
He resided near that mill and in the Pennsylvania Gazette of
September 3, 1747, we have an advertisement giving a long list
of property for sale, including a stone house in Trenton, land in
Hanover and Bethlehem township, including one-eighth part of
Sterling Furnace.
The subscriber, Benjamin Smith, describes himself as living at
"Prime Hope Mills within the county of Hunterdon and Province
of \\'est New Jersey." "Benjamin Smith of Prime Hope INIills in
612 TOBACCO AND ITS CULTURE IN BUCKS COUNTY
County of Hunterdon, near Delaware River" offers the same
property for sale in the New York Post Boy of July 7, 1748. This
of course indicates that the Prime Hope Mills was built before
the Atkinson Mill at New Hope. This property he devised to his
son Robert Smith by will dated March 31, 1747, and it included
the gristmill and a tract and twenty-two and one-half acres.
Daniel Smith the eldest son of Robert Smith sold the mill with
twenty-two and one-half acres to Jonathan Pidcock December
30, 1797.
Benjamin Smith also possessed another tract along Delaware
adjoining the Coryell property. The Jonathan Pidcock who pur-
chased this property was a son of Jonathan Pidcock and probably
grandson of John Pidcock an Irish emigrant who early settled
at Neeley's Mills, Bucks county. Pa., and the mill became locally
known as the Pidcock mill.
Tobacco and Its Culture in Bucks County.
BY GREER SCHEERZ, BETHLEHEM, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, January 19, 1924.)
(At the conclusion of the reading of this paper, a practical demon-
stration of old time and of modern cigar making by hand was given by
Martin Sacks of Perkasie, Bucks county, Pa., who rolled many cigars
out of Cuban tobacco and presented them to members attending the
meeting.)
THE tobacco plant is one of the most wonderful plants of
earth, it is used by rich and poor of all civilized nations and
also by savage tribes of mother earth.
For ages past the culture and smoking of tobacco has existed;
Mayen in his Geography of Plants says that "the smoking of to-
bacco is of great antiquity among the Chinese." On very old
sculpture of the Chinese he has observer the very same shape of
tobacco pipes as are in use at the present time. The smoking of
tobacco was found by Columbus to be practiced in the West
Indies where the natives made it into cylindrical rolls wrapped
in maize leaves. It has been prevalent from unknown antiquity
TOBACCO AND ITS CULTURE IN BUCKS COUNTY 613
among the American Indians as far north as Canada. It was
connected with their worship and all their important transac-
tions ; thus the calumet or pipe-of-peace was indispensable to the
ratification of a treaty, and the parties smoking together has
even greater significance of friendship than eating together as
among other nations.
The most important species is the common tobacco of Virginia,
the cultivation of which had extended to the far north before the
discovery of the new world by Columbus.^ The culture of to-
bacco began in Virginia with the first settlement of the colony;
it is recorded that in 1615 the gardens, fields and even the streets
of Jamestown were planted with tobacco which not only became
the staple crop, but the principal currency of the colony in 1619.
Ninety agreeable maidens, young and incorrupt, and in 1621 sixty
more maids of virtuous education, young and beautiful, were
sent out from London on a marriage speculation. The first lot
of these ladies was bought by the colonists for one hundred and
twenty pounds of tobacco each ; the second lot brought one hun-
dred and fifty pounds each.
By 1622 the annual product of tobacco amounted to sixty
thousand (60,000) pounds and it more than doubled in the next
twenty years ; from thence it spread over the whole of the
United States.
Pope Urban the 8th and Pope Innocent the 11th fulminated
the thunders of the Holy Church against the use of tobacco.
The priests and sultans of Turkey declared smoking a crime.
Sultan Amuret 4th declaring its punishment by the most cruel
kind of death ; for instance the pipe stems of smokers were thrust
through the smokers nose in Turkey. In Russia the noses of
smokers were cut off. In the early part of the seventeenth cen-
tury, King James 1st, of England, issued a counter blast against
tobacco in which he described its use as a custom loathsome to
the eye; hateful to the nose; harmful to the body, dangerous to
the lungs, and the black stinking fumes thereof, nearest resem-
bling the horrible Stygian smoke of the pit that -is bottomless.
William C. Merschon of Morrisville, Bucks county. Pa., in-
forms us that tobacco was first cultivated in Bucks county in
1 The first recorded mention of tobacco in America is in Columbus's diary
for November 20, 1492.
614 TOBACCO AND ITS CULTURE IN BUCKS COUNTY
1855, which was the crop planted by John H. Morris on Duck
Island. After it was harvested the crop was sampled by Charles
Muschert and pronounced to be of very good quality. The fol-
lowing year many of the nearby farmers began planting tobacco,
the acreage varying from two to sixteen. This proved to be an
excellent investment. For several years the price ranged from
fifteen cents to thirty-five cents per pound. Mr. Mushon grew a
field of fifteen acres of the broad leaf Lancaster tobacco which
averaged one ton to the acre. After raising tobacco for a num-
ber of years the price dropped from thirty-five cents to four cents
per pound. Owing to the low price to which tobacco had dropped
the farmers refused to plant and cultivate it. The crop of to-
bacco was usually sold to New York and Philadelphia buyers.
In early spring the seed was sown in hot beds and transplanted
as soon as the soil was in condition. The plants were set out
the same as cabbage plants, the planter using either his finger,
a round pointed stick, or dibble to make the holes.
Horace H. Burton of Tullytown. Pa., who for twenty years
past has been the crop reporter of the United States Department
of Agriculture, Lower District of Bucks county, says he is forty-
five years of age, and well remembers the last years of the grow-
ing of tobacco for commercial use in the lower end of Bucks
county, and that he was informed by Henry Brenner, who is one
of the oldest residents of Tullytown. that after the first planting
of tobacco on Duck Island (which was very fertile owing to the
overflow of the Delaware river, which after subsiding would
leave a thick covering of rich soil, so that in planting tobacco
there was no other fertilizing required), that the tobacco was
eagerly sought after and always commanded a good price. Prob-
ably, the first planting took place about 1860 and the claim was
made in the beginning that this island was the only piece of
ground in Bucks county where tobacco could be grown success-
fully. He believes that the first crop of tobacco was purchased
by Batchelor Brothers of Philadelphia, who purchased the whole
crop. Many farmers in the lower end of Bucks county, especial-
ly in the Morrisville, Tullytown and Falsington sections in 1869
and 1870 began the culture of tobacco, the acreage of each running
from eight to thirty. Usually the field in which corn was grown
the previous year was used to plant the first crop of tobacco.
TOBACCO AND ITS CULTURE IN BUCKS COUNTY 615
Rarely would a sod field be plowed under for the planting of to-
bacco. The tobacco was always given a good chance to grow ;
good rich valley land was usually selected and was well manured
with good stable manure, applied during the winter or early
spring just before planting.
Peter L. Hager of Perkasie, who is now past ninety-seven years
of age, and good for a walk of five miles, relates "when I was a
boy of seven or eight years of age, I well remember that tobacco
was grown in upper Bucks county, but only in small patches.
When I became thirty-five years of age, I planted my first patch
of tobacco on the farm of Charles Nace in Perkasie Valley, near
the present town of Perkasie in 1860; and I had a most beautiful
crop."
Josiah Diehl of Perkasie, formerly of the Diehl Earthen Pot-
tery Company of Rockhill, whose potteries have been in existence
for over one hundred years, informs us that prior to the Civil
War, his brother, William, planted a patch of tobacco in lower
Richland township, Bucks county, and raised a very fine crop.
On a certain Sabbath afternoon my brother and I visited
him. When he asked us whether we smoked we replied in the
negative, however, he handed us each a handful of home-made
cigars, and told us that there were a number of persons who had
raised small patches of tobacco. He asked me whether mother
had any smoking tobacco on hand. I replied that she had just
finished her last pipe before we left ; he then filled my coat pockets
with fine crushed tobacco for mother's pipe. On the way home
we tried to smoke, I have not touched a cigar since.
Abraham Hendricks of Perkasie, past ninety-six years of age,
says he very distinctly remembers the planting and raising of to-
bacco in small patches in upper Bucks county when a boy. He
does not remember any large fields planted in tobacco as farmers
and others usually planted for their own use only. While there
were many who made their own cigars, there were also cigar-
makers who went from house to house during the winter months
and made up the cigars the same as the shoemaker and the tailor
who went from home to home and made up their boots and shoes
and clothing. These cigar-makers made up the cigars for one-
half share or for a nominal cash price, the amount paid he does
not remember. Mr. Hendricks planted his first tobacco when he
616 TOBACCO AND ITS CULTURE IN BUCKS COUNTY
moved to a small place near Bridgetown, now Perkasie, in 1860.
Mr. Hendricks was a millwright and carpenter by trade, in the
building of a certain house near his home, Francis Hendrick of
Sellersville, who was known as the foremost mason and plasterer
in the upper end of Bucks county, said to Mr. Hendricks, "Abra-
ham, the price for masons and carpenters at this time working
from sunrise to sunset, is sixty-five cents. I only wish the price
per day would go to one dollar while you and I are in business,
you and I would both become wealthy."
Victor Gross of Bethlehem, Pa., a practical cigar-maker who
for over fifty years sat at the cigar-makers bench, was for a
number of years a tramp cigar-maker, who tramped from Bethle-
hem to Nebraska years ago, says he believes himself to be the
only cigar-maker who can truthfully say that he never took a
drop of strong drink. He says that in years gone by, farmers did
not plant large fields of tobacco as they do now, but only in
patches ; after the tobacco was cured farmers would make their
own smokes, or cigar-makers w^ould go from home to home mak-
ing up the farmers' cigars for halves or a set price was paid in
cash for the work. In making up the cigars they would put a
twist end on the cigar, wetting it with the lips and then using a
common sheep shear to trim off the ends, instead of a cigar
knife as at present. His father-in-law, Mr. Acker of Maxa-
tawney, Berks county, Pa., in 1880 had harvested a fine crop of
tobacco from his patch and hung the bunches of tobacco on nails
in his wagon shed. On a visit to his place he told him that the
tobacco should be taken down and the leaves cured. They took
down the stalks, separated the leaves from the stalk, placed them
flat on the ground, laying one leaf upon the other, placed them in
a tight wooden box which they buried in the horse manure and
left it there for nearly one year when they took it up from the
manure. Upon opening it, they found the leaves cured to a per-
fect beautiful brown. He remained with him until he had made
up all the tobacco into cigars.
Martin Sacks, Sr., of Perkasie, who today will demonstrate to
the society the art of making cigars by the old and the present
day method is seventy-three years of age and has worked con-
tinuously at the bench for fifty-three years, has seen the different
changes as well as the different modes of making cigars from its
TOBACCO AND ITS CULTURE IN BUCKS COUNTY 617
inception. Mr. Sacks says that tobacco requires great care in its
preparation and culture. The seed is first sown in hot beds in
early spring, when the soil is in good condition, which must be
well fertilized with stable manure. The plants are then trans-
planted to the patch or field, using the same method as for the
planting of cabbage, planting them about three feet apart each way.
When the plants begin to grow search must be made among them
every morning for cut worms. After the leaves become larger
search must be made every day for the large green worm, wdiich
hides among the leaves. If one of these worms should be missed
it is sure to eat a hole in the leaf which destroys its value. After
the stalk has matured it is cut down with corn chopper, knife or
hatchet, and laid upon the ground. Horses and wagon are taken
into the patch with a frame built upon the body of the wagon
high enough to prevent the ends of the leaves from touching the
bottom of the body as the stalks are suspended from iron poles or
lath running across the frame of body. They are taken to the
shed and hung up to dry. There they remain for about six weeks
and then upon a damp day they are taken down, the leaves
stripped off and assorted into three grades, namely, wrappers,
binders and fillers. They are then tied in bundles and packed
separately in cases or boxes and stored away to mature, which
takes from two and one-half to three years, when it is ready to
be prepared for cigar making. It now has to be cased, stripped
and dried again and made ready for the table. Mr. Sacks re-
members the first time tobacco was raised in Bucks county, which
took place on Duck Island, and later tobacco was raised extensive-
ly in the lower end of the county.
Charles Scheetz, my father, a merchant at Kellers Church,
Bucks county, in 1860 purchased home-made cigars for the mu-
nificent sum of twelve and one-half cents per one hundred put
up in bundles of one hundred, tied with brown manilla grass rib-
bon one-half inch wide. Cigars were made by farmers them-
selves in the neighborhood during the winter months or by travel-
ing cigar-makers. These cigars retailed four for one cent, and
I have known of five being retailed for one cent. Cigars made of
Spanish tobacco were sold at two cents a piece, and those of half
Spanish, two cigars for one cent. For smoking, or pipe tobacco,
the dried leaves were simply rubbed between the hands and thus
618 TOBACCO AND ITS CULTURE IX BUCKS COUNTY
made fine and used for the pipe. He likewise told me that in
the fifties he bought twenty barrels of good two-year-old apple
whiskey for seventeen cents per gallon, which he retailed at one
"phip" or six and one-fourth cents per quart. Oft times tobacco
was recommended for its medicinal virtue and it was remarkable
how many subterfuges and excuses were made for women to
smoke which was done openly. There was scarcely a
home to be found where either grandfather or grandmother or
mother did not smoke the pipe and sometimes all three smoked.
My mother smoked cigars and claimed it an excellent tonic for
womb trouble. I have heard many old mothers say they used
the pipe for rheumatism ; another would say that it caused sound
sleeping, and thus it went on, I assure you that many a hole was
burned into the pockets of dresses by hot clay and stone pipes.
No apology however, is needed in this twentieth century for
women and young girls smoking, for it has become a recognized
habit. When a small boy while clerking in a store, I sold
hundreds of clay pipes w^ith reed stems for one cent each, and
stone ones for two cents each. The white clay pipes did not come
upon the market until after the Civil War, both straight and
crooked stem ones sold for one cent each.
TOBACCO RAISED IN EARLY DAYS IN LANCASTER COUNTY, PA.
Henry Weaver of Elizabethtown, Lancaster county, Pa., who
is eighty-one years old says, that in the planting and raising of
tobacco in Lancaster county, in early days, the ground was
ploughed in rows ; a forked stick was used to mark spaces. This
was done by turning it around in the hand. At first a hole in
which to place the tobacco plant was made by the finger, later by
a pointed stick and still later a trowel or dibble was used. The
plants were set in rows of hills. These rows were hoed at in-
tervals and by the time the tobacco was ready to harvest the
ground was flat. When ripe the stalks were chopped ofif with a
hatchet with a slanting blow and conveyed to shed or barn where
they were tacked up on a rafter or anywhere in the building,
driving a nail through the stalk to hold them. When dry the
leaves were stripped from the stalk; they were not sorted as
now, the bottom or ground leaves were put on one bunch and the
TOBACCO AND ITS CULTURE IN BUCKS COUNTY 619
top leaves were placed on another pile and then tied together
separately. ""
TOBACCO RAISED IN LANCASTER COUNTY AT PRESENT TIME.
The ground is dug for seed beds according to the size re-
quired by the farmer. These seed beds are enclosed by boards
twenty-four inches high, two and one-half inches being in the
ground, as a protection against cold weather. The beds are then
steamed to kill all insects and seed of weeds that may be in the
beds. This is done by a threshing engine generating steam,
which is led through pipes to the bed ; one whole day is required
to steam an average sized seed bed. After steaming, the ground
is made very fine by raking. While this is being done the seeds
are put to sprout ; they are first wrapped in light weight muslin
or cheese cloth, then wrapped in wool and dipped in water to
keep them continually moist, and then placed in a moderately
warm place to germinate. This requires from one week to ten
days time; after they are sprouted a teaspoonful of the sprouted
seeds is placed in a sprinkling can with water, and this water
with the seeds is sprinkled over the seed bed, thus insuring
uniform seeding. A heavy covering of muslin is then spread
over the bed to protect the plants from the cold. This seeding
takes place during the first week of March. The beds must be
sprinkled with water about every forty-eight hours.
The plants are allowed to grow until they are the size of ordi-
nary cabbage plants, which takes about sixty days from time of
seeding, usually the first week in June is set apart for transplant-
ing them. They are pulled very carefully and planted in large
fields by a special machine, which plants and waters them at the
same time.
Almost as soon as planted, cut worms are liable to chew the
roots here and there. This kills the plant and another plant must
be planted in its place. The large green worms do not appear
until the later part of June. The worms if allowed to eat the
tobacco will chew up a whole plant. This tobacco worm later
(S. Quin que -mac III at a) becomes a huge moth, which when ma-
tured resembles a humming bird. These in turn lay eggs on the
leaves of tobacco which" develop into worms as in other crops.
The tobacco field must be continually cultivated as no weeds
620 TOBACCO AND ITS CULTURE IX BUCKS COUNTY
should be permitted to grow. About the first of July the tobacco
grower must hunt and destroy the worms daily. At the same
time the plants must be continually suckered, that is remove sprouts
that are shooting out and retarding the growth of the plant. In
August it is topped, that is the top is pinched ofif, and as a
result the plant grows no higher, and the strength grows into the
leaves. During the latter part of August and the early part of
September, it is harvested. The plants are cut off at the roots
by tobacco sheares, the same kind as those used to trim hedges,
but the handles are longer so the cutter need not stoop so low.
After they are cut they are allowed to lay a few minutes to
wither. They are then speared on a lath about five stalks to each
one ; these are placed on a wagon ; with a body about forty inches
wide and the laths are slipped along the frame work. About
forty of these laths, filled with tobacco, make a wagon load.
They are then hauled to the sheds and hung up to dry. After
the stalks have dried ( the time varies, usually in November), it
is taken down and put in a damp cellar. A damp day is necessary
for this work otherwise the tobacco would crumble. It is
sprinkled with water and dampened bags or cloths are spread
over it to keep it damp. The tobacco is then taken off of the
laths and the leaves stripped from the stalk. (The leaves must be
damp.) They are then sorted to size and quality; the ground
leaves are the poorest in quality are called wrappers; a bundle or
"hand" of about fifteen leaves is then made; these are laid away
on a pile, still being kept "damp, until a sufficient quantity is
sorted. It is then packed into bundles weighing several hundred
pounds each, and wrapped in paper. It is then sold to the to-
bacco dealer who puts it in cases and lets it sweat.
These cases weigh about four hundred pounds when packed.
After sweating in the case for a year or longer, they are examined
and repacked, and then shipped to cigar manufacturers. Should
a hail storm visit a tobacco field during July or August, the
leaves are cut by the hail and the grower receives half, and
often less than half value for his crop. One large tobacco stalk
will furnish enough seed for a field of fifteen acres.
TOBACCO AND ITS CULTURE IN BUCKS COUNTY 621
REMARKS BY DR. B. F. FACKENTHAL, JR.
My elder brother advises me that he recollects very well that
in 1863, Peter L. Nicholas of Kintnersville, Bucks County, planted
a large field of tobacco. The field lying on the north side of Gal-
lows Run, partly in Durham and partly in Nockamixon Townships.
He employed an old negro (whose only name was Henry), an
experienced tobacco grower, who came up from Virginia during
the war. Henry took entire charge of both the cultivation and
curing of the crop. The tobacco was hung up in the old factory
building which had been erected by Abraham and Henry Houpt
in 1848, for the manufacturing of starch, and known as the
"Starch Factory," where the manufacture of starch was carried
on successfully for a number of years, later the building was
used as a carriage factory and still later by Alonzo Nicholas as a
hay pressing plant. The culture and curing of the tobacco was
much the same as that described by Mr. Scheetz, except that it
was seasoned but a few months, for in the spring of 1864 they
began to manufacture it into cigars. Henry Souders and his two
sons, practical cigarmakers, were employed regularly at this work,
William Lind, a Dane, was also employed there part of the time,
as was also Philip Overpeck, who carried the cigars around in
large clothes baskets to find a market for them. The price, as
my brother recollects, was 31 cents per 100 cigars, of course there
was no excise duty at that time. The experiment was doubtless
not profitable, at any rate Mr. Nicholas did not repeat it a sec-
ond year.
The Bucks County Intelligencer of fifty years ago (1876)
records that :
Four carloads of leaf tobacco grown in the Penn's Manor vicinity
were shipped from Tullytown to be sold in New York. This tobacco
was grown on the farms of Daniel Lauderback, John Brooks, John
Green and Onias Mershon, and was sold from 14 to 20 cents a pound,
making a total of $12,000.
I remember at later periods, when small crops of tobacco were
grown in upper Bucks County, but not on a commercial scale.
When quite a lad the boys of our neighborhood had a small to-
bacco patch of their own, planted in a field belonging to my
father. We planted, housed and cured it in the approved way.
622 TOBACCO AND ITS CULTURE IX BUCKS COUNTY
and during the following" winter rolled it into cigars. \\'e
continued this planting for several years. In the year 1887,
Cooper & Hewitt, owners of the Durham iron works, which in-
cluded five large farms, planted about ten acres of tobacco, getting
the seed from Lancaster. A special shed was erected in which to
house it. The manner of cultivation and treating was about the
same as that described by Mr. Scheetz, though it w^as allowed but
one year to cure, when it was stripped and put in cases. Lancaster
dealers came to Durham to inspect it ; they opened up the cases
and selected a hand at random from each case, and relied on that
for the quality of the entire case and classified it accordingly. This
crop was sold to a Lancaster dealer in 1888, and we were told
that it was of specially good .quality. I had 1,000 cigars made
up by the Lancaster purchaser to distribute among the workmen
at the furnace, and, of course, sent a box to the New York ofifice
of Cooper & Hewitt, which was polite enough to say that the
cigars were of good quality. The experiment was not a financial
success, and was not repeated, and the tobacco shed was put to
other uses, principally for storing farm implements and machin-
ery, bricks, etc., for the iron works.
During a recent automobile trip through the southern states,
I noticed hundreds of log houses for fire curing tobacco, an old
method, that dates back to the early settlement of America, and
the practice continues where the tobacco is not used for cigars,
and therefore dififers from the air drying of Lancaster County,
Connecticut and elsewhere. The cultivation and harvesting are
however about the same. After cutting, the tobacco is strung on
laths and placed on poles in the tobacco shed in much the same
manner as that described by Mr. Scheetz. In North Carolina
the tobacco patches, in the mountains, through which we traveled,
consisted mostly of small clearings, and each grower has his own
drying house.- They are all built of logs, size about 16 or 18 feet
square, and about 12 to 16 feet high to the square of the roofs.
The roofs are made tight, most of them being covered with
shingles, but the gable ends above the square are loosely boarded
with openings between the boards, which with openings underneath
the eaves, provide for ventilation. The fire curing is carried on by
2 The government statistics show that Kentucky grows one-third of all
the tobacco in the United States.but owing to the superior quality North
Carolina tobacco stands first in the value of its crop.
NORTH CAROLINA TOBACCO BARN BUILT OF LOGS.
For artificial diving of tobacco. This etching shows the new and improved
style of building with one large firebox in centre of gable end
and entrance door on the side.
§s
WALL M w ^
SHELTER . OPEN FRONT AND SIDES, BOARD EOOf
GROUND FLOOR PLAN OF OLD STYLE TOBACCO BARN.
Showing two stone fireboxes with galvanized iron pipe flue projecting through
the log wall above the entrance door in front gable to carry off the smoke.
TOCACCO AXD ITS CULTURE IX RUCKS COUNTY 623
means of stone flues, built on the floor quite near the log walls,
and carried around the two sides and the back gable end. These
stone flues project through the log walls on the firing end, forming
the fireplaces, as shown on the rough sketch which accompanies
this paper. The only door is placed in the centre of the front,
and therefore between the fireplaces. The stone flue along the
rear gable end has an opening in the centre where a galvanized
iron pipe, about 10 or 12 inches in diameter is connected, this is
carried across the building on a slight incline, just steep enough
to come out immediately on top of the door, where a verticle
pipe is attached. This iron flue also furnishes additional heating
surface. We did not notice any tobacco drying buildings con-
structed in any other way than I have described, but, as will be
seen by the etching herewith, there is now an improved con-
struction, with one larger fireplace in the center, with the door
on the side of the building. In this improved construction there
is a stone flue along the front gable wall, and all other flues are
of iron, the return flue coming out just above the fireplace. The
time required for fire curing is from four to five days, the firing
is kept up both night and day. The temperature is started at
about 90 degrees, at the "yellowing stage", and after a day or
two is gradually raised until it is finally dried out at from 180
to 190 degrees, which is called the "kilning out". The very
earliest practice among the Indians and the early settlers was to
use both heat and smoke. This produced very dark tobacco, as
in fact the present mode of fire curing produces dark tobacco,
such as is used for chewing, smoking, snufif, cigarettes, &c., but
not for cigars. The dwelling houses among these mountains are
mostly built of logs.
The soil in Cuba where tobacco is grown, is quite red in color,
and that in the Province of Pinar del Rio. on the extreme western
end of the island, where the very best quality of tobacco is grown,
is almost of a vermillion color. It is a fact too, that much of the
soil in Lancaster County, as well as in Virginia and North Caro-
lina, where tobacco is grown, is of a noticeable red color, but
that is of course not significant.
Early History of Neshaminy Presbyterian Church.
BY WARREN S. ELY, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Neshaminy Presbyterian Church, Hartsville, June 7, 1924.)
OUR meeting place today is an historic one. George Wash-
ington worshipped in this church, when his army occupied
the hillside, extending from the ridge above the grave-
yard to the York road, for two weeks. August 10 to 23, 1777
(probably the longest period it occupied any position in the
county), at one of the most critical periods of the Revolution,
wnth headquarters at the Moland house on the York road, where
it crosses Little Neshaminy north of Hartsville. The historic in-
cidents of this camp, where Washington awaited news of the
movements of Howe and his army, after he had sailed from New
York, have been told by our own historian, William J. Buck, and
others, and need not be repeated here.
In the old graveyard sleep many heroes of the Revolutionary
struggle, as well as men and women, prominent in the more
peaceable annals of our county. It is located in the center of the
colony of the first Scotch-Irish emigrants to Pennsylvania, who
had so much to do with the later history of our county, and it
should be the Mecca of their descendants.
Neshaminy Presbyterian Church of Warwick is one of the
oldest Presbyterian churches in Pennsylvania. It was fovmded
under its present name at this location in 1726, but had its origin
two decades earlier on the Neshaminy creek in Bensalem, twelve
miles southeast of here. There has been much speculation and
conjecture in reference to the connection of that early church with
the founding of this one.
The early church, really a Low Dutch Reformed Church, the
legitimate ancestor of the Low Dutch Reformed Church of North
and Southampton, now at Churchville, was originally composed
entirely of descendants of Hollanders on Long Island, Staten Is-
land, New York, and New Jersey, who had migrated to the sec-
tion of Bucks county of which Holland is practically the centre,
but its first pastor, Paulus Van Vlecq, a native of Holland, being
unable to secure ordination from his own church, appealed to the
EARLY HISTORY OF NESIIAMINY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 625
Presbytery at Philadelphia, who licensed him to preach in 1710.
For this reason the church presented the curious anomaly of a
Dutch Church under Presbyterian authority. After Van Vlecq
left here in 1713, the church was without a pastor for six years,
depending on supplies from the Dutch Reformed Churches of
Staten Island, and an occasional preacher sent out by the Pres-
bytery.
Among the latter was Malachi Jones, the first pastor of Ab-
ington Presb)1:erian Church founded in 1714. There being no
other Presbyterian Church in this district, when the Scotch-Irish
begun to settle in Bucks county in 1719. they naturally united with
the Neshaminy Church, and much confusion was caused by the
want of unity between the Dutch and Scotch members of the
church. This continued until each had established a separate
church, the Dutch at Feasterville, in 1736, and the Scotch-Irish
here in 1726.
Rev. William Tennent, the first pastor at Warwick, was born
in Ireland in 1673, and came to Pennsylvania in 1717, with his
wife Catharine Kennedy, and five children, four sons and a
daughter. He was educated for the Episcopal Church, presum-
ably at Trinity College, Dublin, and was for some years chaplain
for an Irish nobleman before coming to America. He appeared
before the Presbytery at Philadelphia. September 16, 1718. and
renounced his allegiance to the established Church of Ireland, and
after examination by the Presbytery, was licensed to preach. His
movements from that time until 1726 have long been largely a
matter of conjecture. As near as can be ascertained from the
meagre references to him obtainable, he remained but a short
time in Pennsylvania, and then removed to Westchester county,
New York.
I made an earnest effort to have the records of the Presbytery
of Westchester examined for references to Mr. Tennent. After
considerable correspondence with Rev. H. G. Mendenhall. D.D..
stated clerk of the Presbytery of New York, and Rev. Thomas
Chalmer Straus, stated clerk of the Presbytery of Westchester.
I learned that the records of the latter Presbytery were in the
safe deposit department of a bank at Peekskill, N. Y., and that
Dr. Straus was their custodian. I arranged to go with him to
the bank and examine the records of the Presbytery. But alas
626 EARLY HISTORY OF NESHAMINY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
for human expectations, after repeated disappointments. I asked
Dr. Straus to make an examination of these records for me. He
undertook the task, but was unable to give the time to the work
that a careful search required. Finding that the records of the
Presbytery did not go back to 1721, he sent me extracts from the
"History of Bedford Church," by Rev. P. H. Hercy, its pastor
1857-1878, which showed that Rev. William Tennent was settled
as pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Bedford May 3, 1720,
but in 1721 he accepted the call and took charge of the Presby-
terian churches of Bensalem and Smithfield in Pennsylvania. Dr.
Hercy sites as his authorities "History of Stamford," Conn.,
"Sprague's Annals of the Presbyterian Pulpit," and "Webster's
Presbyterian Church History." Dr. Mendenhall and Mr. Straus
had previously sent me references to "Cumming's History of the
Presbytery" of Westchester, which stated that Rev. William
Tennent served as minister at Bedford 1720 to 1727. and both
made an earnest effort to help me. but the general resvilt is rather
discouraging.
It is, however, safe to say that Mr. Tennent became pastor of
the Presbyterian Church at Bedford, New York, May 3, 1720,
and that he accepted the call to Bucks county in 1721. He prob-
ably remained the settled pastor of the Bensalem Church and
ministered to the congregations at Smithfield in Byberry, until
1726, though he appears of record as preaching at Bedford at
intervals during the years 1723 and 1724.
The records of the conglomerated Dutch Reformed-Presbyter-
ian Church of "Sammeny and Bensalem,"^ are contained in a
little book now in the possession of the trustees of the Low Dutch
Reformed Church at Churchville. This curious little book was
begun by Paulus Van Vlecq in 1710, and contains a full record
of his ministerial work from the beginning until 1712, and with a
single entry for the year 1713.
From the latter date until 1719. there are but few entries. Then
in 1719 and 1720 there are quite a number of entries of acces-
1 The old church erected by Van Vlecq and his parishioners in 1705, is
still standing, at leajt the original walls, bearing the date stone "1705," still
enclose the church. The inflammable portion of the church was burned sev-
eral years ago, but was renewed within the same walls. It and its little
overgrown graveyard are located on the Bristol road between Xeshaminy
Falls and the Flushing and Newportville road. It has long been known as
the "Presbyterian Church of Bensalem," but has borne many names since
its founding in 1705.
EARLY HISTORY OF NESIIAAIINY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 627
sions by profession of faith, and certificate, including quite a list
of persons "lately from Eerlandt" including Pickins, Wallace,
Logans, and others of the heads of families of the first invasions
of Ulster Scots. A further accession including the Longs, Jami-
sons, Polks, Hares, and others, arrived in 1724.
These are the people who it is stated and believed extended
the call to their compatriot William Tennent in 1721, but an ex-
amination of this book fails to show any mention of his name at
any period. There can be but two explanations of this fact; first
that he returned to New York soon after being called as pastor
in 1721 and did not return until 1725 or, second, that the Dutch
and Irish members of the dual church kept separate records. The
latter theory is probably the correct one, and the Dutch record
was retained by the Dutch officers and passed on down to the
present Low Dutch Church ; while such records as were kept
from 1721 to 1726, under the pastorship of Rev. William Ten-
nent, were brought to Neshaminy Church of Warwick, and are
lost with the records of this church down to about 1789.
It is clearly indicated that there was a good deal of division be-
tween the Dutch and Presbyterian members of the old church,
one being the controlling element for a time, and then the other.
Numerous Presbyterian members left the church in 1714, and
united with the Abington Church, under Malachi Jones, and he
became the joint pastor of both churches in 1719, and con-
tinued to 1721.
An examination of the records in the old church book shows a
great dearth of entries from 1720 to 1724, when they begin to
increase. This seems to indicate that Tennent started a new rec-
ord book in 1721, and when he absented himself temporarily in
1724, the Old Dutch book was reverted to again, only to be dis-
carded on his return, about the close of that year, and begins
again after his departure in 1726.
Certain it is that Tennent was in charge of the old church in
1725 and with the increase of the Scotch-Irish colony about this
locality, began to minister to them in the house and barn of
Jacobus Craven- at Johnsville, prior to being called as their regu-
lar pastor here on the organization of the church in 1726.
2 Jacobus Craven came from Staten Island to Bucks county either late in
1723 or early in 1724. The deed from "William Stockdale to Jacobus Craven
for a 170-acre farm at Johnsville, in Warminster, is dated Jan. 18, 1726, but
it is pretty clearly indicated that he was in possession for some time prior
to that date.
628 EARLY HISTORY OF NESHAMINY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
The tract of land on which the original church at Neshaminy
was built was donated by William Miller, one of the old patriarchs
of the Scotch-Irish settlement, and the church was erected near
the site of the present chapel in the graveyard in 1727. As a re-
sult of the seism of 1741, the congregation was divided and the
"Old Lights" retained the old church, under the leadership of
Rev. Francis McHenry, who had been Mr. Tennent's assistant
since 1739, and the "New Lights" under Tennent and his succes-
sor, Rev. Charles Beatty, purchased this lot and built the pres-
ent church in 1743.
The old Dutch church was probably used intermittently by
McHenry 's congregation until his death in 1757, but he seems to
have devoted his attention more particularly to Deep Run which
had been under his ministerial charge for several years as assistant
to Tennent. A reconciliation was eiYected between the two
branches in 1758, and the old church was abandoned. It was
torn down in 1793, and the stone used for building the graveyard
wall. Its original date stone, marked with the date 1727, and the
initials of the names of William Miller and W^illiam Gray can
still be seen in the wall near the gateway.
The present church w^as enlarged in 1775 and improved in
1787, and again in 1842, after the second division, but part of the
original church still exists.
McHenry was ordained pastor of Neshaminy and Deep Run,
Nov. 16, 1743, and died Jan. 23, 1757. He lies buried near the
site of the old church.
At the meeting of the Presbytery of New Brunswick held May
29, 1742, "Mr. William Tennent Sr. gave into Presby. a paper
setting forth his inability by reason of advanced age to discharge
the work of the ministry unto the congregation at Neshamineh
over which he has for divers years past been an overseer, desir-
ing the Presby. to grant ye congregation at Neshamineh such sup-
plies as they can" and it was "resolved that Mr. Robinson supply
Neshaminy 3 Sabbaths and Mr. Treat as often as his conveniency
will admit until our next meeting." At the sessions of 1743 J\Ir.
Beatty was directed to supply Neshaminy one half of his time,
and the other half at Newtown. A call was later extended to
him as regular pastor and he was ordained Dec. 14. 1743. and
served until 1772, though often on long furloughs after 1760.
EARLY HISTORY OF NESIIAMlNY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 629
The later pastors were Rev. Nathaniel Irwin, Nov. 3, 1774, to
March 3, 1812. Rev. Robert Belville, Oct. 20, 1813, to Nov. 1.
1838. Rev. James Wilson, D.D., Feb. 26, 1839, to June 30, 1847.
Rev. Douglass K. Turner, April 18, 1848, to April 20, 1873.
While little is known of the life of Rev. William Tennent dur-
ing his sojourn in New York state, between the years 1718 and
1721, it is certain that he had educated for the ministry his two
eldest sons, Gilbert and \\'illiam, Jr.. and laid the foundation
of a fine classical education for his two other sons, John and
Charles, who were fitted for the ministry at the Log College
founded by their father near here about 1726. Under these cir-
cumstances we have wondered whether Mr. Tennent had not con-
ducted a classical school somewhere in New York or Connecticut
in connection with his preaching in that vicinity.
The Log College was doubtless started simultaneously with the
founding of Neshaminy Church in 1726 or 1727, but possibly was
not at first located, on the little triangular lot, on the York road
below Hartsville where we know it was located from 1735 to
1745. Tradition says it was started on a tract of fifty acres
given Mr. Tennent by James Logan. This could not apply to
the York Road Log Cabin, as James Logan never owned it, and
when the Carrel farm which included that site was conveyed to
Mr. Tennent in 1735, his residence is given in the deed as North-
ampton township. Right here let me digress a moment and call
your attention to the fact that the original deeds to and from the
Tennents, both unrecorded, were surreptitiously carried away
from Bucks county by a student at Princeton University several
years ago. and are now in the library of the university.
They were borrowed from Miss A. M. Miles, by this student,
who was preparing a thesis on the Log College, who had gone to
her with a letter of introduction from myself, and never returned.
Miss Miles believing for a long time that they had been left, as
promised, in the custody of the Bucks County Historical So-
ciety. These deeds being unrecorded, ought to have been pre-
served in our county, and I believe we, as a society, ought to in-
sist on their return to the county, at least for record, and a copy
preserved in our collections.
Returning to the consideration of the original location of the
Log College, I would say that it is entirely possible that it was
630 EARLY HISTORY OF NESHAMINY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
located at the well known site on a rental ten years before its pur-
chase by William Tennent, as it occupied a very small triangular
lot, a part of the large plantation conveyed to Tennent in 1795,
lying across the York road from the residence and main part of
the plantation, too small to be considered valuable from an agri-
cultural point of view.
However, it is also possible, that the school was originally lo-
cated elsewhere for the first few years. It was originally referred
to as at "The Forks of the Neshaminy," and the York road site
is entirely without the forks. Of course, the term "Forks of
Neshaminy" doubtless referred to the neighborhood settled by the
Scotch-Irish of which this point was the geographical center, in
the same way that the "Forks of the Delaware" represent the
whole district north of the Lehigh and thereabouts, and might
include the York road site. James Logan was the owner of land
in so many parts of the county that assuming the truth of the
tradition it would be hard to locate the tract referred to. It seems
rather immaterial anyway as it must be acceded that it was near
the site of the church where its founder was the pastor.
Recollections of Tennent School.
BV DR. HENRY C. MERCER, DOVLESTOWN, PA.
(Neshaminy Presbyterian Church Meeting-, June 7, 1924.)
ON a lawn grown up with maple and Norway spruce trees,
the main building of Tennent School, built in 1850, by
the Reverend Mahlon Long and his brother, Charles
Long, and named by them after the celebrated Presbyterian
Divine, William Tennent, still stands a few yards from the bank
of the little Neshaminy creek, in Bucks county, about a mile
north of Hartsville.
The School.— In 1865-9 when, I, as a little boy, about ten to
fourteen years old, was a scholar there, the large plastered
house, very white and clean inside and out, with the dining room,
parlor and dormitory and Mr. Long's study in the main struc-
ture, had as now, a north gable for the kitchen and washhouse,
and an east gable, for the school room.
Tennent school was lit by gas, made in a gas house, in
the rear, by a man named Forker, who not only kept the pipes
full of gas, but cut the boys' hair, near the gasometer when neces-
sary. Behind the kitchen garden, there was a horizontal bar,
and rope turnstile, for open air gymnasts, and to the west, a barn
and tenant house, under large Plane trees, lived in by a rather
decrepit man, named Johnnie MacAliese, who helped Forker at
the gas house, and about the grounds. Beyond the tenant house,
there was a deep little gully, overgrown with fox grapes, and a
little farther, a walled graveyard, a remote and very seckided
place, where no one ever came to stop the boys from playing
"Kick the Wicket". Across the road from this, close to the
stream, and under a grove of white oaks, stood the then freshly
modernized, carpenter-Gothic, Neshaminy church. Though his-
toric only in its record, the gigantic trees around it. the utter
seclusion, the stream, bridge, and rarely traveled road, would have
impressed some minds with the place as another "Stoke Pogis"
that waited only for its poet.
The boys thought nothing of Hartsville. a mile away, with its
sluggish inhabitants. The school lawn did for base-ball. Bounds
632 RECOLLECTIONS OF TEXXEXT SCHOOL
did not exist. The the Neshaminy with its noisy mill-dam below,
swimming holes, fishing pools, skating runs, shellbark windfalls,
and reaches of up stream woodland, was everything. Seen from
the high hill, which still keeps off the north wind, this charming
little valley, has yet the peaceful look of those days. You feel
it until you go down among the bungalows, and see the placards,
and red paint in Hartsville. and smell the gasoline on the big
new road.
This hill, topped with its high sky-rimmed tableland, an out
of the way region, crossed by roads that no one traveled, then
shut off home and Doylestown, more completely than the Atlantic
ocean ever did since, and when my father first drove me to
school over it, with my little trunk, in a covered market wagon,
wath a horse named Larry, a never-to-be-forgotten homesickness,
amounting almost to despair, distorted my point of view, and
darkened my youthful days, until at last, when more than one
session had come and gone, Tennent school conquered me.
It did so because, to this day, I have only admiration for it
and its Master — no grievances. If I had these, I should either
have to suppress them, for fear of offending somebody, or write
a eulogy, or one of the so-called "Appreciations", which I will
not do.
THE REVEREXD MAHLOX LONG.
AMien I was at Tennent school, Mr. Charles Long having died,
Mr. Mahlon was there alone. An anonymous obituary notice in
the Doylestown Democrat of February 3, 1892, which should be
correct, says that Mr. Long was the son of Hugh and Mary Long ;
was born in Warminster township, Bucks county. Pa., March 6,
1809 ; studied at the classical school of his older brother Samuel,
in Warwick, Bucks county; w^as graduated from Princeton 1893;
studied Theology at Yale College Theological Seminary for three
years ; was licensed to preach by the Fourth Presbyterian Pres-
bytery in 1845, and was a very^ successful principal of the Acad-
emy at Harrisburg. He and his brother Charles established
Tennent School, in buildings built for that purpose in 1850. The
Rev. Mahlon Long taught it alone for a few years after his
brother's death, and gave it up in 1869. He was the son of Hugh
and Mary Long, and was born in W^arminster township, Bucks
KKCOLLECTIOXS OF TEXXEXT SCHOOL
633
county. March 6, 1809. lie died at his home 4108 Spruce street,
Philadelphia, Monday evening, Feb. 1. 1892, at the age of 83.
In a school catalogue of 1853, the president of Yale College,
several Princeton professors, and a number of ministers, warm-
ly recommended the
school and its masters.
Though I always
looked hard at celebrities
when I had the chance,
Mr. Long still stands
alone, as one of the
most remarkable looking
men I ever saw in my
life. He was very tall,
thin, and reasonably
straight, dressed with
scrupulous neatness, al-
ways in black broadcloth,
with a high black stock,
and at all times, a high
silk hat. His healthy
parchment skin was al-
ways clean shaven ; his
face long and narrow,
with somewhat retreat-
ing chin, and features,
very aquiline, but not at
all Jewish.
The boys said that he
was very fond of pound
cake, and I believe it, for he made no secret of the large iced
discs, that I often saw on his study table. One of my uncles, a
previous scholar, said that he had a habit of shuffling his arms to
bring down his shirt cuffs, but I never noticed that.
\\'hether because of his reverence for learning, his belief in
things unseen, sermons, studies, or what not, he had a peculiar
resonant appealing soft pitched voice, belonging to a distinct, very
rarely heard, almost non- American type, although he was entire-
ly unconscious of it. and never spoke to hear his own words.
634 RECOLLECTIONS OF TEX NEXT SCHOOL
Management. — My association with the boys, and the en-
vironment, was a good deal at Tennent School, but most of its
influence came from Mr. Long himself, and not frorti the other
teachers, who though much with us, have left but little impression
upon my mind. Mr. Long kept us in order without clashes of
authority, though 1 never wondered till later, how he did it. or
why he had a stronger moral influence over boys, than other
teachers encountered afterwards. For 1 have seen whole class-
rooms in disorder, masters utterly unable to control the slamming
of desks, stones thrown through the glass of a window at a kindly
gentleman seated at his desk in Doylestown, and again through
an open window at Professor William Everett, lecturing at Har-
vard, when the latter "brought down the house" by catching the
stone in the air and shouting in his high pitched voice, "Out on
the fly". But no such things at Tennent. Mr. Long seemed to
believe in public rather than private admonition, in continually
telling us that every boy knew how" to "walk straight", as he
called it, and almost never interfered with us out of school.^
He denounced "Printed Rules", or the boy who dared to say
that he didn't know that such and such a thing was "against the .
rules". But this hardly explains why there were no bad breaches
of discipline, no night raids, blanketed windows, bed room feasts,
or cider sprees. At Mohegan Lake School, where I was a later
scholar, there was a cage or strong box prison for solitary con-
finement, but not at Tennent. No one was expelled in my time.
Mr. Long set up for our emulation the lives of eminent men,
college professors, etc. But unlike my old Scotch tutor, Thomas
Hughes, told us no historic stories to excite wonder or reverence
for the past or its glories, such as how Cortez betrayed the Inca
of Peru, or how the Roman General Sertorius swam the Rhone
with his armour on. He had no favorites, made no personal ap-
peal to boys, no friendships, no term of equality, with arm in
arm walks, or Sunday school handkerchief tricks. He was
liberal, never unjust, and won, if not the affection of all the
boys, certainly that of myself, with the respect of everybody,
mingled with some little, but to my mind, not too much fear.
But outdoor exercise was his gospel, always advocated, and
1 According to one of the most amusing of Judge Yerkes" anecodotes, he at
least once misplaced his confidence in boy honour. But that was before my
time. I never saw him encounter any such discouraging set back.
RECOLLECTIONS OF TENNENT SCHOOL 635
often compelled. He would drive a sluggish boy out of the
school-room, or even off the place in play hours. His talks were
easy. His half-holidays frequent. One day he gave us one to
see an ice-crash on Neshaminy, when I well remember his tall
figure in the tempestuous twilight, the dramatic scene, the tre-
mendous noise, water invading the churchyard, and muskrats
floating down the roaring stream on ice cakes. Almost fanatical,
yet loveable, was his inspiring theory, for which I have never
ceased to thank him, that the whole country side was our play
ground, and that there were no bounds at Tennent School. Any
newcomer, who asked questions on this dangerous subject, "got
more than he bargained for".
Punishment. — Here, as at Mohegan Lake School, near Peeks-
kill, New York, the idea of exercise was carried into punish-
ment. No one was "kept in" to learn columns of dictionary, or
play copyist, in the close school-room. We "walked the circle".
But while at Mohegan, "the circle", was a miserable "circus
ring", about two hundred yards in diameter, — an outdoor tread-
mill, at Tennent, it followed a reach of roads up over the north
hill, and down again, about three miles long, which, it was said,
Mr. Long could command with a telescope from the school
buildings. I have been around this circle many a time, to my
advantage, but never dared to cut a corner ! Our master had a
refined, conservative respect, for which I warmly thank him to
this day, for the full curriculum, including the classics, and
nothing but oft expressed public contempt for boys, who by
home pressure, got out of studying latin for a "business course".
He called them "contemptible dribblers", who should "wear petti-
coats", and be supplied with "sugar teats", a name for candy,
which I never heard before or since.
Household Details. — I found no fault with the table, re-
marked no musty butter, doughy bread, or over doses of molasses.
The roast beef was always very good. Facts proved what I
heard Mr. Long tell some of the visiting mothers, that he be-
lieved in "good plain food well cooked and plenty of it".
In those days strict Presbyterians or even Quakers, were not
alone in giving "art the cold shoulder". "Jig saw" and Pullman
car" house decorations were coming in, but horse hair veneered
furniture, and plain white walls, held their own at Tennent.
636 RECOLLECTIONS OF TEN NEXT SCHOOL
There may have been an engraved portrait or two in Mr. Long's
study, but I doubt if there was a picture anywhere else in the
school.
Books and Reading. — I think I remember a private copy of
Captain Mayne Reid's "Osceola the Seminole", and possibly his
"Cliff Climbers", and some odd boy-owned volumes of the brag-
ging little "Young America Abroad" books, and I know that Mr.
Long was very fond of his tine edition of the Encyclopaedia Brit-
tanica, and must have had other books behind the glass cases in
his study, but in our little cupboard library in the school-room,
there was no fiction except "Sanford and Merton", and Mrs.
Sherwood's works, among which stories, I remember one called
"The Noble Altamont", and another, as the one most read by the
boys, "The Monk of Cimes", with the word "Cimes" pronounced
in two syllables, by the boys, to rhyme with the home name of
the Siamese twins. Nevertheless, when one of my uncles sent
me continuous numbers of a thrilling serial story in the old
romance mill called the New York Ledger, then considered a
rival of the Arabian Nights, Mr. Long did not stop my mail,
which he would have done, if he had been a bigot.
School Memories. — We had no night entertainments, no
shows, etc., and I remember feeling sorry that the offer of a young
traveling tutor, who wished to read aloud the "Prisoner of Chil-
lon", was turned down. I remember one of the teachers, a small
dark man, who was fond of history, and I think sometimes read to
us passages from "The Lady of the Lake". Otherwise, as before
remarked, the under instructors made little impression upon me,
except Miss Rebecca Ely, Mr. Long's step-daughter, with whom
I had a never to be forgotten, though long forgiven, mental
clash. Her efforts to teach me music had got as far as my
playing "The Lorelei" pretty well, on the piano, when one day,
some sort of mental paralysis baffled my efforts to count time.
Her exasperation at my apparent stupidity, ended in a brain
panic, such as in algebra, in later years, nearly lost me my
degree at Harvard College, or as still makes chemical formulae
for me as meaningless as the buzz of a discordant telephone. I
exonerate entirely her father, who at her request flourished a
long stick over me and the piano, but it made matters worse,
ending in my final abandonment of music at the request of my
RECOLLECTION'S OF TENNEXT SCHOOL 637
parents. In consequence, though very fond of folk-music, I
have never got beyond whistHng, and a Httle fiddhng by ear, and
miss the convenient famiHarity with the piano, of my musical
friends.
Tremendously impressive were the Sunday afternoon lectures,
omitted at Mohegan School, given by Mr. Long, in which he
said that he did not "mince matters", on the vices of boys, and
the dangers of city life, again and again illustrated by the case
of a boy wrecked by dissipation in Philadelphia, who. like the
terrifying subject of Ibsen's Ghosts, came home to Hartsville
to die and was buried in the graveyard nearby. Otherwise on
Sundays after church we learned by heart passages from the
Bible, none of which as assigned to me. seemed well chosen, or
ever correctly stuck in my memory, as for instance Psalms
XXIV, 7-10, beginning, "Lift up your heads, O ye gates ; and
be ye lifted up ye everlasting doors", where the similarity of
metrical phrase in verses 7 and 10. baffied my boyish memory,
and brought reprimand, if not punishment. But if Mr. Long
did not impress me with this passage, he did most deeply with
another. Mark XIII-35, continually read to the slippered boys
at bed-time-prayers in the dining room. You could heard a pin
drop, when by these, perhaps the most omnous words in the
whole Bible. The coming of the master is associated with
the passing hours of evening, midnight, the cock crowing, and
dawn. The verse ends with "what I say unto you. I say
unto all. watch", and if anything could have added to the tre-
mendous effort of the final sentence, and sent us trembling up-
stairs, it w'as the loud reverberating clap of the big Bible at the
last word, "watch".
The Boys at Tennent. — Hazing was not practiced, nor even
thought of at Tennent when I was there, among about thirty
boys, mostly from Philadelphia, with some from New Jersey,
Delaware, and Maryland, and a few from the neighborhood, but
none from Doylestown. There was little mischief or deviltry,
and I remember no fights, but what school is without bullies?
One sluggish fellow would sit in the lobby making jack straws
with a six-bladed knife, open at all angles beside him, and threw
it at any one who dared come in and leave the door open. Yet
no one was hurt. I took him to be a bullv because he often
638 RECOLLECTIONS OF TEXXEXT SCHOOL
would say in a crowd of boys, "Do you see that little fellow?
He is all alone. He's got no friends. Why don't you knock him
down, and lick him ?" But as nothing ever happened, J thought
since, that he was a satyrist, and that I had misjudged him.
Big J. L. took delight in what he called "drapping" me. In
other words, I was to stand up at his imperial command, and be
knocked down, by a J. L. Sullivan blow, from him on the chest.
HI ran, he chased me until he caught me, and if I wouldn't be
"drapped", he "licked" me. But when all is considered, I de-
served his punishment, for being devilish enough to get the
nickname "smirker" fixed upon a school mate relative who was
afifected with a nervous uncontrolable twitching of the mouth.
Still I felt sorry for a poor little English scholar, whose mother
was employed as a servant at the school, when boys, not repri-
manded by Mr. Long, who twanged their American r's "made
fun of him, for dropping his h's.-
D. from Wilmington, Delaware, was one of the finest swim-
mers I ever saw, and I tried in vain to copy a wonderful trick
he had of scissoring the water with his legs, that sent him ahead
like a duck. He was also a young pugilist, whom no one dared to
bully, and was said to have learned both arts from the sailors on
the river wharves. I remember that while swimming ahead of
everybody, with neck and shoulders out of water, he would shake
his curly head like a Spaniel. My only accomplishment, learned
on the long reaches of the frozen Neshaminy, was fast skating,
at which, when I went later to Mohegan School, and had a lake
to race on, I thought I could hold my own with any one. I re-
member Robert Pleasanton, as pleasant as his name, the jolly
- At that time, the general, more or less instructed English voice in
Doylestown, in and about Philadelphia, Harrisburg, etc., as I learned
to speak it, was very strident and rasping, and keyed to a more pierc-
ing, sharper edged r than now. No doubt in this matter, as Arnold
Bennett says, "when I was born I was done for". But being guilty
and not conscious of the point. I would not have noticed it, if my
southern cousins had not continually laughed at me for it, and if at
Mohegan Lake School, I had not been ordered by the principal to
stop whining.
Since then, the Pennsylvania-Ohio Valley voice, probably from for-
eign admixture, rapid transit, etc, has grown softer. But we were not
instructed in those days to tamper with the old established phrase "not
at all", by making the last word rhyme with the shoemaker's instru-
ment, or to croak two syllables into the words known, shown, hewn,
and grown, etc.
RECOLLECTIONS OF TKXXEXT SCHOOL 639
adventurous Ralp Gurley, and the envied maker of jack straws,
George Earle. With the respectful admiration of one of the ht-
tlest for one of the biggest boys, I placed the alert handsome
athletic intelligent master of base-ball, T. Corwin Cheston, with
his ruddy English face, and close curled auburn hair, at the top
of everything in the school, and I have not forgotten his kindly
telling me that if I wanted an interesting story, I should read
the article "Hercules", in Anthon's Classical Dictionary.
I remember the gentle refined Jewish Marcus Simon, who gave
me a tin Japanned box, which I still have. Also George Hotten-
stein, because he painted in water colors, so as to thrill me with
the picture of a hay field, with wagons, men, and hay stacks,
under a very blue sky.
My uncle, Arthur Chapman, though he never showed any great
at¥ection for the school to me, was nevertheless fond of repeating
a doggeral rhyme composed by some boy in his time.
"Remember friends, remember, when our college days are gone,
The days we spent at Tennent, the school of Mahlon Long."
But when I ventured to test this in later years, on one of my
schoolmates, R. H. P., I received a very severe snub. It was in
1882. I was reading law with his cousin in Philadelphia, at the
office of Messrs. Freedley and Hollingsworth, and wdien he came
into the room to see his relative, and on my enthusiastic attempt
to recall my self, and old times at Tennent School, remarked
that what I referred to had happened so long ago, that he had
forgotten all about it, I felt that a hogshead, rather than a bucket
of cold water, had been thrown over me.
Oratory. — I have a vivid recollection of original compositions
and orations from "Sargeant's Standard Speaker", the first high-
ly helpful to boyish ambitions, the second inspiring, but sometimes
ridiculous. We missed "Eugene Aram", "The Battle of Blen-
heim", "The Mistletoe Bough", Charles Kingley's poems, and
Byron, and it was too soon for "Barbara Freitchie". But we
had "Old Ironsides", "The Burial of Sir John Moore", Patrick
Henry's "Give me Liberty or Give me Death", "Burr and Blen-
nerhasset", "Marco Bozarris", "On Linden when the Sun was
law", and "I am amazed my Lor at the attack the Noble Duke
has made upon me", never very well memorized. "Ye crags and
peaks, I'm with you once again". — was ruined several times by
640 RECOLLECTIOXS OF Ti:XXi:.\T SCHOOL
a thick lipped boy, who was put oil the stage for persistently
saying, "onct" for once.
Memories. — Mr. Riegel may be with us at this meeting. If he
is, does he remember the boots his father made for the boys at
Tennent School, when we used to go up to his white house on
the north hill, to try them on? Were any of them, which I
heard were made of a kind of leather called "French Kip", ever
too tight? If so, whose fault was it? I prefer to blame it on
the boys, my self included, who wanted small aristocratic looking
feet, whether nature had thus favored them or not. Some of
us suffered in consequence.
Another memory of Tennent School is Sunday Church, walked
to in procession, and terrible sermons, generally from visiting
ministers, heard never at Xeshaminy, but more often at Harts-
ville, and once culminating at the little schoolhouse chapel at
Newville. John Knox never could have out done this last. It
was about the unpardonable sin, and the "grieving" of the spirit.
— The interview after church. — The boys' last chance, as he went
down those creaking stairs, that particular afternoon. If Mr. W.
preached it to do the boys good, he failed. He only scared
them, and hurt his cause, by making it harder for us in later
years to meet the gigantic blunder of the atheist, who blames
Christianity for what goes on in churches.
These boyish processions with Air. Long at their head, did not
always lead to church. Twice they took us to what then ap-
peared a primeval boys' paradise, beyond the dreams of Captain
Mayne Reid. A place still called "Dark Hollow". Dark with
hemlock trees, with a mill-dam. water-fall, and swimming-pool
of unfathomed depth. Though now robbed by time of its mill-
race and dam, and nearly ruined by the modern man, with his
gasoline saw, I have never lost trace of this inspiring fastness.
But another place that I met with on one of Mr. Long's never-to-
be-forgotten picnics, was less definite, a sumptuous farm house,
the finest I ever saw, proudly stocked with fowls and animals,
overloaded with the goods of the earth, a place to rival Horace's
Sabine Farm, or Ruben's Summer Elysium, at Laaken, a glor-
ious place, on the south sloping bank of a stream. The buildings
full of busy people, everything shining, the barns magnificent.
But. — where was it? Who lived or lives there? To this dav, it
SCHOOL BOY MEMORIES 641
remains a mysterious elusive vision, which I have often tried,
but always failed, to trace.
In looking them over, I fear that these recollections of a boy
thirteen years old, may seem trifling and incoherent. They make
no attempt to throw any new light on the history of Tennent
School, to establish the value of refined private instruction on
the community, or name noted scholars. But if they do not ex-
press my reverence and veneration for Mr. Long and his labours
for civilization their purpose fails.
School Boy Memories.
BY HON. HARMAN YERKES, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Neshaminy Presbyterian Church, Hartsville, June 7, 1924.)
IN obedience to an outstanding promise of some years to make
a few remarks at the proposed meeting of the Bucks County
Historical Society on this occasion, I realize the primary ob-
ject of this meeting, is to revive recollections of Tennent School,
the memories of my associations with which are always near to my
heart. I may, therefore, be permitted, in advance of referring
directly to my association with this school, to call attention to
the fact that, prior to its opening, the community in which it was
established had been an educational centre, for generations
theretofore.
The founding of the old Log College, the mother of Princeton,
has been so thoroughly commented upon before this society and
in general history that I will only recall that the actual spot of
its origin on the Neshaminy hills of Bristol road, by Rev. Wil-
liam Tennent, was within sight of the home of the Tennent
school, while its permanent and more noted abode in the old Log
College, of which I am the proud possessor of a print, forwarded
me from California, stood within a mile of this spot.
But Log College, though the forerunner, was not the only
educational institution from which the founders of Tennent
school drew their inspiration. Long before the enactment by the
legislature of Pennsvlvania of the act of 1854, to creat a common
642 SCHOOL BOY MEMORIES
school system in Pennsylvania, the old-time residents of this
community had devoted themselves to unusual efforts in the ad-
vancement of education. Within my memory, there were the
Loller academy at Hatboro, founded by the munificence of Rob-
ert Loller, and other educational institutions such as the Hart
school on the road from Johnsville to Richboro, the eight-square
schoolhouse upon the county line road south of Johnsville, in my
knowledge about the only brick school house in this county, al-
though, at a recent meeting in my town, eminent school author-
ities vigorously advocated the abandonment of the "Old Red
School Houses." There was the school at Darrah's woods sug-
gested and patronized by Robert Darrah and his neighbors ; the
school on the York Road at the Lane's, end of my uncle, John C.
Bean's residence in the founding of which he was an active party
and of which my cousin, Sarah Yerkes, afterwards the wife of
Rev. Andrew Jackson Hay, was a teacher, succeeded by Dr.
Nicholls, who later taught in the Middle Street Road school-
house, and which, my diary shows, I assisted in moving from its
roadside location on the 13th day of April, 1862, it having been
occupied as a township schoolhouse until the completion of the
Street Road schoolhouse and afterwards by tenants on the farm.
Not to be forgotten are the schools on Kerr's hill established by
Samuel Long, the brother of the founders of Tennent school and
also that of Rev. James P. Wilson along the York Road, upon
the farm now of Robert H. Engart. Dr. Wilson, upon his
resignation as pastor of the Neshaminy church, was assigned the
presidency of the Delaware College at Newark, Delaware. The
last survivor of Dr. Wilson's school, G. Morris Dorrance, is en-
rolled amongst the first of the pupils at Tennent school, indicat-
ing that Rev. Wilson had then closed his school. The teachers
in all of these designated private schools, supported by residents
of the neighborhood, were of a superior class and many of them
were continued in their profession after the adoption of the pub-
lic school system under the Act of 1854.
The memory of Tennent school and its surrounding educa-
tional influences will always be associated with Roseland Female
Institute at Hartsville founded and conducted by the Rev. Jacob
Belville. The few surviving scholars of Tennent cannot forget
the days when they enjoyed the pleasure of meeting in the daily
SCHOOL BOY MEMORIES 643
exercise upon the surrounding highways, the long processions of
the girls whom they met in like parade from Roseland and, in
spite of the watchfulness of their teachers, exchanged not only
glances but complimentary remarks and signs with each other.
It may be incidentally remarked that, in those good old days,
vigoKous physical exercise was deemed beneficial to the health
and vigor of mind of youth, and the practice of carrying school
children to and from their homes in busses, as now, was un-
thought of and would have been condemned by sensible parents
and taxpayers as detrimental and foolish.
The time limit of this society to speakers will not admit of my
referring in further detail to all of these institutions of learning.
Giving preference to the ladies and following my own inclination,
I will briefly refer to the Roseland school and its founder, the
Rev. Jacob Belville. His father, the Rev. Robert B. Belville,
came here from Mai-yland in 1813. As pastor of the Presbyter-
ian church, he was unusually active and, later, took a promi-
nent part in the dissensions which resulted in the division of the
Warwick church congregation and the formation of the Warmin-
ster church in the village of Hartsville. He and my grand-
father, Rev. Thomas B. Montanye, pastor of the Southampton
Baptist church, were on very friendly terms and with the one
exception which I am about to narrate, and related to me by my
mother, had no differences. My grandfather, who, to eke out his
compensation of $300 per year, the prevailing clergyman's salary
in those days, largely payable in farm produce, was obliged to re-
sort to other pursuits besides preaching, and he became a- farmer
on the old farm in Southampton township. His outdoor labors
gave him a ruddy appearance and a friend, whether through mis-
chief or otherwise, made the statement to him that Mr. Belville
had said he was brandy faced. Afterwards, in driving on the
road accompanied by my mother, then a young girl in the healthy
complexion of youth, he met Mr. Belville. My grandfather
halted and called to Mr. Belville, "Mr. Belville, I want to in-
troduce to you my brandy faced daughter." The turning of the
joke upon him was appreciated and thereafter, so far as known,
taunting remarks ceased. His son, Rev. Jacob Belville, for many
years, not only conducted his young ladies' school but was the
active pastor of the withdrawing church.
644 SCHOOL BOV MEMORIES
The bitterness, growing out of the contention in our courts
at and before the final separation of these churches, was long
prevailing and it may be noted that but few of the original
pupils enrolled at Tennent, were of the families of those who
associated themselves with the Warminster church. Mr. Bel-
ville being an eloquent speaker, during the Civil War, was attive,
prominent and influential in arousing the military spirit in sus-
taining the cause of the Union and, frequently, attended public
functions such as Ladies' Aid meetings and other public assem-
blanges. I came to know him very well through the regard
which my mother always held him in. Although she was an
active member of the Baptist church, by her request and direc-
tion, Mr. Belville officiated at the marriages of her children dur-
ing her lifetime and, at her death, conducted the funeral services
over her remains. His sister was twice married, her first husband
being the Rev. Dr. Ely by whom she had three children, Robert
B. Ely, who served in the naval forces during the Civil War,
Rev. Geo. Wells Ely and Rebecca Ely. She became a widow and,
during my attendance at Tennent school, was married to Rev.
Mahlon Long and, with her children, came to the homestead
where she lived in harmony with Mrs. Charles Long, then a
widow, and her husband's sisters, who, following the death of
his brother, had conducted for Mr. Long the boarding house.
Of all the pupils in the school, Mr. Long selected me as the only
classmate of Miss Rebecca Ely, who pursued her studies at home,
and he favored us by hearing our recitations in his private li-
brary. Whether this preference was due to my good behavior
and modestry or to the fact that my father was a cousin to the
Longs, I was not informed, but with pleasure, obeyed orders.
This opens the door for the narration of some school boy pranks.
On one occasion, while one of our private recitations was being
held in his library, a great disturbance and noise arose in the
school room, the boys being indifferent to the attempted correc-
tions of the assistant teachers. Mr. Long promptly dismissed our
recitation and returned to the school room. At the noon recess,
he said to the boys, "you are dismissed until the afternoon
session excepting those boys who created the disturbance in the
school room, they will remain." After a moment, every boy in
the school, including myself, probably the only innocent one.
SCHOOL BOY MEMORIES 645
arose and walked out and the school room was left empty with
no criminals to punish. Underneath the school room at the bot-
tom of a closed stairway, was a room called the lobby in which
every boy had his separate box or closet for keeping superfluous
clothing, with a drawer at the bottom for overshoes, etc. One
night, after I had gone to my home, the boys assembled in this
lobby and, with a spirit of mischief, piled these small drawers in
a pyramid at the foot of the stairway. They then extinguished
the light and started a racket. As anticipated, Mr. Long quietly
walked down the steps to catch them in their mischief and, of
course, in the darkness walked into the pile of boxes that fell
around him in every direction, and, the boys scampered away.
Notwithstanding such ungrateful treatment, for he was extremely
kind and considerate as well as forgiving towards his pupils, he
was held in high regard by them, for, with great patience as well
as learning, he supervised their studies and corrected them, only,
when necessary for their own welfare and to maintain proper
discipline in the school. Deferring for the present further nar-
rations of experiences at the Tennent school illustrative of its
home-like, instructive and enjoyable character, which I apprehend
may have been referred to by Dr. Henry C. Mercer in his paper,
I will briefly call to memory the other schools to which I have
referred.
In its day, Loller academy was the most prominent seminary
in this neighborhood and, for many years, was presided over by
Hugh Morrow as principal and I can recall a feeling of envy, as
a small boy not yet of school age, with which I observed my elder
brothers, the Montaynes', the Twinings', the Sprogells' and the
other larger boys of the neighborhood departing to and return-
ing home and heard their experiences and adventures at Loller
academy.
Hatboro, of itself, possessing the oldest country library in the
state, was an active and highly favored institution of learning
prior to the birth of Tennent school. The Hart school, the eight-
square schoolhouse, the Beans and Darrah schools were "private
schools" depending largely upon the educational spirit of the com-
munity. They were all located within the township of Warmin-
ster and conducted, under the supervision and care of the resi-
dents, prior to the final formation of the present common school
646 SCHOOL BOY MEMORIES
system and ihe construction of the present township schoolhoiises
which occupied some years. I can say, without contradiction, that
the teachers of those schools, although, upon the authority of the
late Hugh B. Eastburn, their salaries ranged from $17.92 to
$21.57 a month, were of high order. Several of them
were respected and learned clergymen whose compensation from
their churches ranged around $300 per year and was, therefore,
correspondingly meagre. I can recall the following, most of
whom were my teachers at the then known Locust Grove school,
first attended by me. Rev. Alfred Earl, pastor of Southampton
church, Joseph Nichols, who, later, conducted a prominent private
academy at Columbia, Pennsylvania, and with his wife (who was
Emily Darrah), was active in hospital and war w^ork. He was
the father of H. S. Prentiss Nichols, Esq., leading attorney in the
offtce of the Pennsylvania Railroad company. There was also
the Rev. D. K. Turner, James D. Scott, the author of early edi-
tions of maps of Bucks county, Elijah W. Beans, later a promi-
nent lawyer at Norristown, Lydia Anne Ellis, Elizabeth Croas-
dale and Samuel Croasdale, afterwards colonel in the 128th
Penna. Regiment and, who was killed at the Battle of Antietem.
Some of them I remember more distinctly for personal reasons.
The only punishment as a school boy, that I can remember was
from Mr. Scott who once pulled my ear for loud talking, and
Elijah Beans, who, I being left-handed, insisted I should write
with my right and would crack me over the knuckles of the left
hand with a ruler or stick whenever he caught me using, in that
hand, a pen or a pencil. But of all my recollections, I have to
this day a devoted feeling towards the only two female teachers
by whom I was instructed, Lydia A. Ellis and Elizabeth Croas-
dale. Miss Ellis controlled the children in her school through
kindness that was almost affectionate, and Miss Croasdale, not
only by her kindness but her deep interest in her pupils, was
highly regarded and gratefully remembered by them. As Miss
Croasdale was a native of and, for a long time, a resident and
teacher in this community, it may be of some interest to refer to
her later career as a teacher. After making her fine record here,
being interested in the arts, she went to Europe for the purpose
of pursuing her studies, and became a graduate of fthe Govern-
ment Art Training School at South Kensington, London. After
SCHOOL BOY MEMORIES 647
her return, she, in October, 1862, became connected with the
Philadelphia School of Design for Women and, in 1873, was
elected principal. Her election, as declared by the board of trus-
trees, was justified on the ground that such services as hers were
needed "on account of the importance of schools of design for
art, manufactures and, particularly, on account of the need for
training of young girls in the principal and practice of such de-
sign." She is described as an untiring worker and successful
official. After having been principal of the school of design for
many years. Miss Croasdale was obliged, on account of her ill
health, to sever her connection with it. In 1886, Miss Emily
Sartain, daughter of John Sartain, the famous engraver, artist
and publisher, was elected to succeed her. Miss Sartain had also
pursued the study of art abroad. She was succeeded by her niece,
Harriet Sartain, famous in art work and the present dean of this
great art school. She is prominently connected as an officer and
member of a number of art associations of Philadelphia, and,
being a lover of the beautiful in nature, maintains a summer home
along the banks of the Delaware in Bucks county.
Prior to the Act of 1854, the school directors in many of the
towmships, under the old law, passed in the thirties, had taken an
interest in providing for the erection of schoolhouses by the as-
sistance of the township at points convenient for the attendance
of scholars at private schools, for in those days, whatever the
distance may have been, it was not deemed necessary that the
children should be conveyed to the doors of the schoolhouse by a
conveyance at the public expense, but the parents attended to
such necessity, if it existed, and exercise, in those days, was not
considered injurious. In line of this new policy, in 1841, the di-
rectors of Warminster township, John Betts, John Engart, John
C. Beans, James Hart, Amos Snyder and Joseph Barnsley se-
cured the three lots on the Street road, occupied until recently,
by schoolhouses. There being no county superintendent in those
days, they, of course, cooperated with the advice of the secretary
of the commonwealth who performed the duties of state superin-
tendent, and it was not until June 5, 1854, that Joseph Fell was
elected the first superintendent of the county schools in Bucks
county. He inaugurated the district institutes comprising two
or more townships where the subject of education was discussed.
648 SCHOOL BOY MEMORIES
During the period of Miss Croasdale's services as teacher, I be-
came a student at the Tennent school and remained there as a
day scholar until 1861, going from and returning to my home
daily, almost always on foot, a distance of about three miles. I
met my daily companions in this pilgrimage at appointed places
on the road and we usually accompanied each other. Among
them were Stace B. Beans, Hutchinson P. Yerkes and the Laugh-
lin boys.
Prior to I860, several of the pupils at Tennent had attended
the Williston seminary at East Hampton, Mass., and the reports
of their advancement, as well as experience in depending upon
themselves, being favorable, others followed them in later years.
About the beginning of December, 1861, after my brother had
returned from this school, I left my home and, unaccompanied,
reached East Hampton in the night of December 4th, and the
next day met several of my Tennent school companions, who
had preceded me in previous years. To illustrate the apprecia-
tion of the instruction given his pupils by Mr. Long, on the 6th
of December, I took my examination and, to my satisfaction, I
was admitted to the senior class, to graduate in 1862, in which
I pursued my studies until the end of the term, and further, I
learned the course of instruction I had pursued was really in
advance of that famous institution, on some subjects. I gradu-
ated the following spring, in 1862. No better evidence could be
cited to indicate that Tennent school, in its instruction of pupils,
was up to date with the highest preparatory institution in the
country.
The inquiry may arise as to why so many of the boys from
Tennent school attended at East Hampton to finish their educa-
tion. The explanation is at hand. The Rev. D. K. Turner came
to Hartsville to teach a private school and, as preacher at the
Neshaminy church of Warwick, by transfer from the East Hamp-
ton Congregational Association of Massachusetts. It was through
his advice and regard for him that induced the parents of these
boys to continue their education at East Hampton.
I may be excused for reference to a personal experience to ex-
press my devotion to the memory of one who was influential and
highly esteemed in the conduct and management of the Tennent
school.
SCHOOL BOY MEMORIES 649
It was the habit, encouraged by our instructors, to spend much
time in play upon the banks of the Neshaminy, where, in proper
season, was our daily bathing place and, in the winter, no greater
enjoyment was ever indulged in by the boys of this school than
skating upon the frozen waters of the stream. One occasion of
this kind came near being fatal to me. A crowd of boys in their
mischief, gathered around some men engaged in cutting ice, for
storage, and teasing them, when one of them, in the heat of pas-
sion, or under other exciting influence, suddenly threw a heavy
axe into the crowd which, unluckily, struck me in the ankle and
nearly severed my foot. That accident has, probably, controlled,
more than anything else, my pursuits in life. I refer to it, how-
ever, more for the purpose of mentioning a lady long connected
with Tennent school, whose memory I, and all who knew her,
have revered and blessed, Mrs. Charles Long, the widow of
Charles Long, who, with his brother. Mahlon Long, founded this
school. If the word angel can be applied to human creatures,
then Mrs. Long was deserving of it and will always be so re-
membered by those who knew her. I, confidently, believe that
she saved my life through her skill, tenderness and attention
following that accident, of which I am reminded, in my move-
ments and instructive caution, every day of my life. Of the boys
who were here in my day, for nearly all have gone to their final
rest, I can recall the names of so few that I will not mention
them in apprehension that I may be charged with forgetfulness
in overlooking a former associate and companion. Rev. Jacob
Krewson, more than three years ago, informed me that not more
than five of the boys who attended the school at that time were
living. He has gone to his final resting place. I recall, how-
ever, an amusing incident which occurred in connection with my
attendance at this school. On a Saturday afternoon, a few of the
boys, thoughtlessly, engaged in playing a game of cards, at that
time not favored as now by the pious attendants of this church.
Their game was in progress on the church steps when a young
lady Sunday school teacher appeared around the corner to enter
the church door. Such a scamper by the boys as took place was
most amusing. For some days, we lived in apprehension that
this pious young lady teacher might report us to Mr. Long.
However, nothing of the kind occurred and it is a satisfaction
650 THE OLD YORK ROAD
to me to feel that I at least was forgiven for afterwards I was
called upon to act as groomsman at her wedding. That she has
either forgotten the incident or has forgiven us is proved by the
circumstances that, while still amongst us, she has never referred
to this incident.
In concluding these reminiscences, of more personal interest
to me than to any one else, I am constrained to repeat the words
of the Arabian bard who, as he came to the sea shore, spoke
aloud to the waves and exclaimed :
"I came to the place of my birth and cried, 'Oh! the friends of my
youth, where are they?' An echo answered, 'Where are they?' "
The Old York Road.
BY CAPTAIN R. C. HOLCOMB, (m.c), U. S. N., PHILADELPHIA, PA.
(Neshaminy Presbyterian Church, Hartsville, .Tune 7, 1924.)
SOME apology is needed for attempting to tell once again
the story of the Old York Road. Hotchkin and Mears have
written books on this subject, and Faris, in his "Old Roads
Out of Philadelphia," has given us an abbreviated though inter-
esting account of it. But all three of these books carry us only
from Philadelphia to the Delaware river at New Hope, hardly
one-third of the distance, and leave the rest of the route to the
imagination. In my paper I have tried to tell the story of the
road and its earlier route more in detail, and have endeavored to
point out, as nearly as I can determine, what route our ancestors
followed after they reached the Delaware river. The Old York
Road was never a favorite route to New York, until stage coach
days, and an older route had" existed long before the days the
hosts of English people came to West Jersey and Pennsylvania.
To trace the course of travel over the Old York Road, it is ad-
visable to review the course of the older routes to New York.
THE PERIOD BEFORE 1682.
An old and ancient Indian trail led across New Jersey from
the Falls to the Raritan river, where New Brunswick now is lo-
THE OLD YORK ROAD . 651
cated, and thence along the Minisink path to the sea, near the
mouth of Shrewsbury river. This route was well known to the
Dutch and Swedes. The Swedish engineer Lindstrom, on his map
of 1654-5, shows several trails coming into the Delaware below
the Falls. Augustin Herrman also notes the path on his map
of 1673.
George Fox, the Quaker writer, gives us a good idea of a route
in the days of 1672.^ He seems to have crossed the Delaware
river from New Castle. There must have been some settlements
on the West Jersey side though he does not mention them. Fop
Jansen Outhout had obtained a deed from Governor Carteret,
October 4, 1665, to purchase a tract of land from the Indians
there. (E. Jersey patents Liber 1, pg. 35.) He had previously
obtained a license to keep an ordinary over against New Castle.
He was still living there when Fen wick arrived in 1675 and set-
tled Salem. He signed his name to the West Jersey concessions.
and was a member of the court at New Castle under Andros juris-
diction in 1676. He gave Fenwick much trouble, because Fenwick
had interfered with his right to the terrain in Salem bounds. ]\Iany
other Swedish settlers, resided in the same region, and the names
of twenty-three or more appear on Fenwick's copy of the con-
cessions. A host of others appear in the list of those who paid
quit rent to Samuel Hedges, Fenwick's son-in-law. Fox makes
no mention of any settlement there. Thus he writes in his journal :
"1672 3 mo The Town we went to was a Dutch Town called New
Castle; wither Robert Widders and Geo Pattison came to us next
morning.
We departed thence, and got over the River Delaware, not without
great danger of some of our lives. When we were over we were
troubled to get guides which were hard to get and very changeable.
Then we had that wilderness country to pass through, since called
West Jersey, not then inhabited by English; so that we travelled a
whole day together without seeing man or woman, house or dwelling-
place. Sometimes we lay in the woods by a fire, and sometimes in
the Indians wigwams or houses. We came one night to an Indian
town and lay at the King's house who was a very pretty man. Both
he and his wife received us very lovingly and his attendants (such as
they were) were very respectfull to us. They laid us mats to lie on;
but provision was very short with them, having caught but little that
day. At another Indian town, where we staid, the King came to us,
1 John Burnyeat, who accompanied Fox, also wrote a journel, which gives
the journey to Oyster Bay in detail.
652 . THE OLD YORK ROAD
and he could speak some English. I spoke to him much, and to his
people, and they were very loving to us. At length we came to Middle-
town, an English plantation in East Jersey, and there were some friends;
but we could not stay to have a meeting at that time, being earnestly
pressed in our spirits to get to the half years meeting of Friends at
Oyster Bay in Long Island which was near at hand. We went with a
friend, Richard Hartshorn, brother to Hugh Hartshorn, the upholsterer
in London, who received us gladly to (his) house where we refreshed
ourselves, and then he carried us and our horses in his own boat over
a great water which held us the most part of a day in getting over,
and set us upon Long Island."
Upon his return, Fox took another course. From the Raritan
river there were two paths to the Delaware ; one known as the
upper, the other as the lower path. These paths are shown in
Map II of the Elizabethtown Bill in Chancery. On that map
they are shown as the "Upper Road from Zuidt river to Nieuw
Amsterdam," which starts from the Delaware just above the
Assunpink creek at what is now Trenton ; and the lower road,
which is called the "Lower Road from Zuidt river to Nieuw
Amsterdam," starts from the river at Burlington ; both reach
Raritan river at what is now New Brunswick. Burlington Island
is called "Tinnakonk Eyelandt" on the map prepared by Lind-
strom the Swedish engineer. It was called Upper Tinnakonk to
distinguish it from the Lower Tinnakonk where Governor Printz
made his residence. Fox calls Burlington island, "Upper Dini-
dock." The island was also sometimes called "Matineconck" and by
that name, one Peter Jagou, had obtained from the East Jersey
proprietors a license, dated June 18, 1668, to keep an ordinary on
Delaware river over against Matineconck Island. (E. Jersey
Deeds Liber III, pg. 20.)
As to the house where they slept, the night before crossing the
Delaware, it had belonged to Peter Jagou and had been raided by
the Indians in 1671, and the raid had been a subject of investi-
gation by the officials of the Delaware river district and by Gov-
ernor Lovelace in council at New York. The raid had resulted
in the death of two of the Dutch settlers, and had been a wanton
act on the part of the Indians. The sister of one of the Indians
dying, the Indian, called Tashiowycans, in his grief declared that,
as Manetto had killed his sister, he would go and kill some Chris-
tians, and, thereupon, the murders at Matinconck resulted. Peter
Jagou and Hendrick Jacobs were in possession of the island.
THE OLD YORK ROAD 653
(N. J. Archives, Vol. I, pg. 286.) Several settlers resided there
about that time. On May 14, 1678, Governor Carteret gave a
certificate to Cornelis Joris. Jurian Marcellis and Jan Classen
alias Jan Swart that when he visited Lay Sie (now Lazy or Lassa)
point in 1666, stating he found them residing there opposite
Matinconck Island and had promised to confirm their Dutch
patents.
Fox tells of his return journey in the following words, 1672,
27th 6 mo. :
"Being clear of this place (Gravesend) we hired a sloop and the wind
serving, set out for the New Country now called Jersey. Passing down
the bay by Couny-island, Natton-island, and Stratton (Staten) Island
we came of Richard Hartshorns, at Middletown harbor at about break
of day the 27th of the 6 mo. Next day we rode about thirty miles
into that country, through the woods, and over very bad bogs, one
worse than all the rest; the descent into which was so steep that we
were vain to slide down with our horses, and then let them lie and
breathe themselves before they would go on. This place the people of
the country called Purgatory. We got at length to Shrewsbury, in East
Jersey and on first day had a precious meeting there to which friends
and other people came far, and the blessed presence of the Lord was
with us. The next day we passed away and he (John Jay) with us,
pretty well, about sixteen miles to a meeting at Middletown through
woods and bogs and over a river (South River); where we swam our
horses and got over ourselves upon a hollow tree. After the meeting
we went to Middletown-harbor, about five miles, in order to take our
long journey next morning through the woods toward Maryland, hav-
ing hired Indians for our guides. I determined to pass through the
woods on the other side of Delaware Bay, that we might head the
rivers and creeks as much as possible. The nineth of the seventh
month we set forward, passed through many Indian towns, and over
some rivers and bogs. When we had rid about forty miles we made
a fire at night and lay by it. As we came among the Indians, we
declared the day of the Lord to them. Next day we traveled fifty
miles as we computed, and at night finding an old house which the In-
dians had forced the people to leave, we made a fire, and lay there at
the head of Delaware Bay. The next day we swam our horses over a
river about a mile, twice, first to an island called LTpper-Dinidock, then
.to the main land, having hired Indians to help us over in their canoes.
This day we could reach about thirty miles and came to a sweeds
house where we got a little straw and lay that night. Next day, having
hired another guide, we traveled about forty miles through the woods
and made a fire at night by which we lay and dried ourselves, for we
were often wet in our travel. Next day we crossed over a desperate
river which had in it many rocks and broad stones, very hazardous to
654 THE OLD YORK ROAD
US and our horses. From here we came to Christian-river where we
swam our horses over and went ourselves in canoes; but the sides of
the river were so miry, that some of the horses had Hke to have been
laid up. From thence we came to New Castle, heretofore called New
Amstel and being very wearj^, and inquiring in the town where we
might buy some corn for our horses, the governor came and invited
me to his house, and afterwards desired me to lodge there, telling me
he had a bed for me and that I should be welcome."
Shortly after the settlement of Burlington in West New Jersey
in the year 1677, by the Yorkshire and London Company of
Friends, Danker and Sluyter passed on their way from New York
to visit Augustin Herrman who then resided on the shore of
Chesapeake bay. They took the upper route across the Jerseys
which led directly to the Falls of Delaware, so-called at that time,
and where Trenton is now located. They were a party of seven,
consisting of Dankers and his comrade Sluyter, of Ephraim Herr-
man a son of Augustin Herrman, the new bride of Ephraim, her
brother and two servants. They left Piscattaway the morning of
November 16, 1679, and Dankers tells of their journey as follows :
"We rode about two English miles through Pescattaway to the
house of one Mr. Greenland (See Whiteheads Early History of Perth
Amboy 402) who kept an ordinary (tavern) there. We had to pass
the night here, because it was the place of crossing the Millstone
(Raritan) River, which they called the falls. Close by here, also, was
the dwelling of some Indians who were of service to this Mr. Green-
land in many things. We were better lodged and entertained here for
we slept upon a good bed, and strengthened ourselves against the
future.
17th Friday. As the water was high in the Kill or Millstone river,
Ephraim would not ride over the fall, on account of the current of
water, which made it dangerous. He therefor, determined after break-
fast we should be set across in a canoe, and the horses should swim
across, as they did. We reached the other side about nine o'clock and
proceeded on horse back. The road from here to the Falls of the
South river, runs for the most part W.S.W., and then W. It is noth-
ing but a foot path for men and horses between the trees and through
the small shrubs, although we came to places where there were large
plains, beset with a few trees, and grown over with long grass which
was not the most. When you have ridden a piece of the way, you can
see over the lands of Nevesink far oflf on the left hand, into the ocean,
affording a fine view. The land we rode over was neither the best, nor
the worst. The woods consist of reasonably straight oak and hickory,
with some chestnut, but they are not verj^ close. They would there-
fore afford tolerabh' good tillable land: but we observed the best pieces
THE OLD YORK ROAD 655
lay here and there along the creeks. We saw many deer running be-
fore us out of the road, sometimes five or six together, starting off at
the sound of the horses. When about half way you come to a high,
but very rocky hill, which is very difficult for man and beast to walk
upon. After crossing it, you come to a large valley, the descent to
which from this hill is very steep, by a very shrubby road; and you
must dismount, in order to lead your horses down carefully, as well as
to descend carefully yourselves. We were in the middle of this valley,
when a company met us on horse back from South River, (Delaware).
They were acquaintances of Ephraim, and some of them were his re-
lations. They wished each other welcome, and mutually inquired after
various matters, after which we separated, exchanging one of our
horses, which Ephraims brother rode, and which was to be sent back
to the Manathans, for one of theirs, which must return to South River.
We rode on a little further and came to Millstone river again, which
runs so crookedly that you cross it at three different places. After we
crossed it now we took the bridles from the horses in order that they
might eat something, while we set down and dined together, upon what
we had in our travelling bags. We remounted in about an hour, and
rode on continuing our way and course as before. About three o'clock
we came again to Millstone river, which we again waded over, but it
was gradually become smaller. Resuming our route we arrived at
the Falls of the South river about sundown, passing a creek where a
new grist mill (Stacy's mill) was erected by the Quakers who live
hereabouts in great numbers, and daily increase. But it seemed to us
as if this mill could not stand long especially if the flow of water were
heavy because the work was not well arranged. We rode over here,
and went directly to the house of the person who had constructed it who
was a Quaker, where we dismounted, and willingly dismissed our
horses. The house was very small and from the incivility of the inmates
and the unfitness of the place, we expected poor lodgings. As it was
still daylight and we had heard so much oi the Falls of the South
River, or, at least, we had imagined it, that we went back to the river
in order to look at them; but we discovered we had deceived ourselves
in our ideas. We had supposed it was a place where the water came
tumbling down in great quantity and force from a great height above,
over a rock, into an abyss as the word falls would seem to imply, and
as we had heard and read of the Falls of the North river and other
rivers. But these Falls of the South river are nothing but a place of
about two English miles in length, or not so much, where the river is
full of stones almost across it, which are not very large, but in con-
sequence of the shallowness the water runs rapidly and breaks against
them, causing some noise, but not very much, which place, if it were
necessary could be made navigable on one side. As no Europeans live
above the falls, they remain so. This millers house is the highest up
the river hitherto inhabited. Here we had to lodge, and although we
were too tired to eat, we had to remain sitting upright the whole night.
656 THE OLD YORK ROAD
not being able to find room enough to lie upon the ground. We had
a fire however, but the dwellings are so wretchedly constructed, that if
you are not so close to the fire to almost burn yourself you cannot keep
warm, for the wind blows through them everywhere. Most of the
English and many others have their houses made of nothing but clap-
boards, as they call them there, in this manner. They first made a wood-
en frame, the same as they do in Westphalia, and at Altona, but not so
strong; then they split the boards of clapwood, so that they are like
coopers pipe staves, except they are not bent. These are made very
thin with a knife, so that the thickest end is about a pinck (little
finger) thick, and the other is made sharp like the edge of a knife. They
are nailed on the outside of the frame with the ends (edges) lapped
over each other. They are not usually laid so close together as to pre-
vent you from sticking a finger between them, in consequence either of
their not being well joined, or the boards being crooked. When it is
cold and windy the best people plaster them with clay. Such are
most all the English houses in the country, except those they have
which were built by people of other nations. Now this house was new
and airy; and as the night was very windy from the north, and ex-
tremely cold with clear moonshine I will not readily forget it. Ephraim
and his wife obtained a bed; but we passed through the night without
sleeping much.
18 Saturday. About ten o'clock after we had breakfasted, we stepped
into a boat, in order to proceed on our journey down the river. The
ebb tide was half run out. Although there is not much flood here as
it is stopped by the falls, yet the water rises and falls with the ebb or
flood, or through the ebb or flood, because the water although it runs
down, increases in through the flood, in consequence of its being forced
i.p, and is diminished with the ebb because the ebb gives it so much
the more course to run down. We went along, then, moving with the
tide; but as Ephraim was suffering with quartan ague, and it was now
its time to- come on, we had to go and lie by the banks of the river in
order no make a fire, as he could not endure the cold in the boat. This
continued for about an hour and a half. The water was rising, and we
had to row against the current to Burlington, leaving the island of
Matinikonk lying on the right hand. This island, formerly belonged to
the Dutch governor, who had made it a pleasure ground or garden,
built good houses upon it and sowed and planted. He also dyked and
cultivated a large piece of meadow or marsh, from which he gathered
more grain than from any land which had been made from the wood-
land into tillable land. The English governor at the Manathans, now
held it for himself, and had hired it out to some Quakers, who were
living upon it at present. It is the best and largest Island in the South
river; and is about four miles in length and two in breadth. It lies
nearest the east side of the river. At the end of this Island lies the
Quakers' village Burlington, which east side of the river the Quakers
have entirely in their possession, but how they came into its possession
THE OLD YORK ROAD 657
v^e will show in another place. Before arriving at this village we
stopped at the house of one Jacob Hendricks, from Holstein, living on
this side. He was an acquaintance of Ephraim who would have gone
to lodge there, but he was not at home. We therefore rowed onto the
village in search of lodgings, for it had been dark all of an hour or
more; but proceeding a little further, we met this Jacob Hendricks in
a canoe with hay. As we were now at the village we went up to the
ordinary tavern, but there was no lodgings to be obtained there, where-
upon we reembarked in the boat, and rowed back to Jacob Hendricks,
who received us kindly, and entertained us according to his ability. The
â– house although not much larger than where we were last night, was
somewhat better and tighter, being made according to the Swedish
mode, and as they usually built their houses here, which are blockhouses,
being nothing less than entire trees split through the middle or squared
out of the rough, and placed in the form of a square upon each other,
as high as they wish to have the house; the ends of these timbers are
let into each other, about a foot from the ends, half of one into half of
the other. The whole structure is thus made without a nail or a spike.
The ceiling and roof do not exhibit much finer work, except among the
most careful people who have the ceiling planked and a glass window.
The doors are wide enough but very low, so that you have to stoop in
entering. These houses are quite tight and warm; but the chimney is
placed in a corner. My comrade and myself had some deer skins
spread upon the floor to lie on. and we were, therefore, quite well ofif,
and could get some rest. It rained hard during the night, and snowed
and froze and continued so, until the 19th Sunday and for a consider-
able part of the day affording little prospect of our leaving.
OLD CROOKHORN, AT FALLS OF DELAWARE.
About the same time there was a road extending along the
western shore of Delaware river, all the way from Marcus Hook
(below Chester, Pa.) to the Falls of Delaw^are (opposite Tren-
ton). This road had been duly taken under the cognizance of the
court at Upland (now Chester). A tract of land some sixteen
miles along the Delaware, eight miles above and eight miles below
the Falls had been purchased from the Indians by the Govern-
ment of New York, the purchase being made about the time
John Fenwick and his party arrived in the lower reaches of the
river for the settlement of Salem.
On September 23, 1675, the sachems Mamarakiekan, Aurick-
tan, Sackoquewan, and Mameckos deeded to Governor Andros
of New York, a tract of land on the west side of the Delaw^are ex-
tending eight or nine miles above and the same distance below the
658 THE OLD YORK ROAD
Falls.- The names of these chiefs, as written in the signatures to
the deed are given as Sackoquenam, Alamakackickan, Arisicktan
and Mameckos. The consideration for this conveyance was 60
fathom of wampum, 6 coats of Dufifles, 6 blankets, 6 coats of
douzens, 6 shirts, ^ an anchor of powder, 40 bars of lead, 6 guns,
6 kettles, 30 axes, 50 knives, 2 anchors of rum, 50 looking glasses,
50 combs, 30 hows, 20 pairs of stockings, 10 pairs of shoes, 100
tobacco pipes, 1 pound of paint, 100 awls and 100 jews harps.
(Hannas Wilderness Trail, pg. 91.)
On September 18, 1679, Captain Edmund Cartwell. the high
sheriff on Delaware, wrote to Governor Andros at New York re-
garding the land in the purchase. It appears that he had made
some surveys of land such as are shown on the map obtained by
Bankers and Slyter at New York in 1679, and his letter informed
the Governor that while making these surveys on the west side of
the river Delaware from the Falls southward to the lower end
of Orechton Island, here Matapis and Ockenichan^ stopped him
from proceeding further, saying they were owners of the land
below and had not yet been paid their title. About the Falls on
that side had long been located an Indian plantation, shown upon
the map recently brought to light by Colonel Paxson of Phila-
delphia, and which map was used by Penn to advertise and illus-
trate his purpose to colonize Pennsylvania. Lindstrom, writing
of this region says, "Along the west side of the river from
above the Falls of Asinpinck to the Island Menahosick and lower
down to Sipaessing, the country is everywhere level, naturally
favorable to raise maize. It has been inhabited and cultivated
from time immemorial by the Indians." (Geographia Americana.)
During 1679 several grants were made by Governor Andros of
New York to land directly opposite the lands held on the east
side of the Falls by John Lambert, Mahlon Stacey, and William
Emley of West New Jersey. The lands of all except Thomas
Woods are shown on the map used by Dankers and Sluyter.
John Woods' house is mentioned in Penn's purchase from the In-
dians, and his lands are shown on Thomas Holmes' map. John
Woods arrived in the Shield in 1678, having come from Atter-
2 The tract corresponds with that conveyed to "William Penn by the Indians
in 1682. (Penna. Arch. 1st Series, Vol. I, p. 47) the bounds being practically
the same.
3 One of the grantees mentioned in the deed to Penn.
THE OLD YORK ROAD 659
clife in Parish of Sheafield, County of York. John Ackerinan
and his son held three hundred and ninety-four acres. The elder
John was one of the first overseers of the road from Marcus
Hook having been appointed by the court at Upland in 1681 for
that part of the road extending from Samuel ClitT's house near
the present location of Bristol to Gilbert Wheeler's house at the
Falls. Robert Lucas of Deverall, Longbridge, County of Wilts,
yeoman, had arrived in the river 4th of 4 mo. 1679, in the Eliza-
beth and Mary of Weymouth. He made a purchase of one hun-
dred and forty-five acres and the following year his wife Eliza-
beth arrived in the Content bringing their children, John, Giles,
Edward, Robert, Elizabeth, Rebecca, Mary, and Sarah. Samuel
Seyle had two hundred and eighteen acres and Richard Ridgway
the same amount. Richard and his wife Elizabeth came over
from Welford. He was a tailor. They arrived in the same ship
with Gilbert Wheeler, the Jacob and Mary, which arrived in the
river 7 mo. 1679. Their children were Thomas, b. 25, 5 mo. 1677,
and Richard, b. 27th 2 mo. 1680. Robert Schooley came over
in the "Shield" in 1678 and purchased two hundred and six
acres. His brother Thomas came in the "Martha" in 1677, and
took up land next to his brother. Robert and Thomas Schooley.
both then of "Crewcon" as that district was then called, signed a
petition that no liquor be sold to the Indians. William Biles of
Dorchester in County of Dorset and Johannah his wife arrived
in the Delaware, on the "Elizabeth and Sarah," from Weymouth,
4th of 4 mo. 1679. He took up three hundred and nine acres of
land. Gilbert Wheeler of London, fruitier, and Martha, his
wife, arrived in the river 12th 7 mo. 1679, in the ship "Jacob and
Mary," Mr. Daniel Moore, master. Children, William, Briant
and Martha Wheeler. Servants, Charles Thomas, Robert Barson
and Catherine Knight. Gilbert Wheeler owned a proprietary
right in West New Jersey, but for some reason he elected to
settle on the west bank of the river where he took up two hun-
dred and five acres including an island in the river. The records
of the court at Upland show that in March, 1680, Thomas Kerby
and Robert Drawton, servants, sued Gilbert Wheeler for wages.
Kerby wanted pay for seventy days between October 7, 1679, and
January 7, 1680, "so much as is usuall to be given pr day wch is
fower (4) guilders pr diem wth costs." The court allowed Ker-
660 THE OLD YORK ROAD
by and Drawton each fifty stivers (two and a half guilders) per
day, the latter to be paid "in corne and other good pay in ye
river." (Scharf and Wescotts History of Phila., pg. 136.) Gil-
bert Wheeler did not get along very well with his neighbor Wil-
liam Biles or Byles, whose occupation is given in the book of ar-
rivals as a "vile monger." This has been translated to mean
a phial or bottle seller. At any rate, on April 12, 1680, W^iUiam
Biles "member of the new court at the falls of the Delaware" ap-
peared at New York and obtained a warrant to summon Gilbert
Wheeler "to appear here for selling drink to ye Indians." The
same day a petition from "the inhabitants at the falls," dated the
12th and a return from the "Court of Creekcorne at the falls"^
sending in the names of four magistrates "according to order"
was read before the governor and council. On September 13,
1680, a petition of the inhabitants of Creekhorne on the Delaware
was received. They charged Gilbert Wheeler with selling rum
to the Indians and state they suspect William Biles to sell rum
himself. (Davis History of Bucks County, pg. 106.) Thus the
bottle seller was himself accused of ancient pastime now called
bootlegging. Sometime later, July 13, 1693, Gilbert AMieeler
was appointed a justice of peace. (Penn Arch Vol. IX, p. 744.)
In the early fall of 1682 the Upland court appointed William
Biles overseer and surveyor of the road from the falls as far as
Poquessing creek. This was one of the last official acts of this
court as shortly afterwards the territory was turned over to the
agents of William Penn.
William Penn, when he came over, took up his manor of Penns-
bury just below these settlements of the Crookhorn. One of the
early courts under Penn's jurisdiction met 4th day, 1st month,
1683, at the dwelling of Gilbert Wheeler, "Present, the governor
William Penn, with justices James Harrison, Jonathan Otter,
William Yardley, William Beaks and Thomas Fitzwater. Phineas
Pemberton clerk." The next court was held at Pennsbury and
the next again at Gilbert Wheeler's on the 7th of 8th month,
1684. (W^atson's Annals, Vol. II.)
The road across the Delaware from the west shore, according
to the records of the court at Upland, ended at Gilbert Wheeler's
4 The village or town of Crewkherne near the borders of Dorset was prob-
ably the birthplace of William Biles who gave the name to the town at the
Falls. (W. S. E.)
THE OLD YORK ROAD 661
house. Many travelers stopped there who took the hind route.
Col. Cuthbert Potter, a representative of the council in Vir-
ginia, reached the Falls July 18, 1690, and called at Governor
Penn's at Pennsbury and lodged at Gilbert Wheeler's ; the next
day he took horse and guide across the Jerseys to John "Onions"
(Inion) at what is now New Brunswick.
OLD NOTTINGHAM, AT THE FALLS OF DELAWARE.
Lindstrom. in his Geographia Americana, has left us a de-
scription of the river as he found it (1654-56). As to the region
of the river between Burlington Island and the Falls at Trenton,
he gives the following account :
"From Teackonick up to the Falls of Asinpinck and above it, along
the East side of the River, the Country is fine and good, suitable to
raise black and blue corn, Sweedish grain &c. The level part is well
suited for pastures, the Indians have a long time inhabited this part,
and still occupy' it. Larger vessels than those drawing five or six feet
of water cannot sail higher up than the Falls of Asinpinck. Here are
few or no flats. It is inconvenient to land on account of the many
sandbanks and shallows. No vessels of a larger size than Boats and
Canoes can sail up higher than to the Falls nor above it."
The Yorkshire Company of Quakers, the preferred creditors
of Byllinge, chose their one-tenth share as this land from the
Falls of Delaware down to Burlington.
The district at the Falls of the Delaware, on West Jersey side,
when first organized into a township, was called Nottingham.
Several local historians tell us that it received its name from
Isaac Watson who came from Nottingham in Old England.
There is some anachronism in this statement as Isaac Watson
was a little boy, aged between 10 and 14 years, when William
Emley, Mahlon Stacy and Thomas Lambert were executing deeds
for land, calling themselves residents of Nottingham, at the Falls
of the Delaware. Isaac Watson was born at Fairfield, Notting-
ham, 1670, and with two brothers and a sister had accompanied
his father, William Watson, to West Jersey. -"^ Before 1688 there
were no townships or constabularies in West Jersey. According
to the minute book of the Supreme Court 6 Mo. 6, 1688, Burling-
ton county was divided into townships, and the respective di-
5 Isaac Watson became quite prominent later, the reference probably should
be to William ,his father, who was a handholder long- before the division into
townships and one of the purchasers of Indians. (W. S. E. )
662 THE OLD YORK ROAD
visions of each constabulary or township as recommended by a
"grand inquest" was approved by the court. "Nottingham town-
ship to lye between Crosswicks Creek and Delaware river and
northward soe farr as at present inhabited." Other townships
approved and bounded were Chesterfield, Mansfield, Springfield,
Willingborrow, Northampton, Chester and Eversham. (N. J.
Hist, Proc. Ill 7:36.)
Before that date the district at the Falls was known as Not-
tingham. Thomas Lambert purchased one-twelfth of a share of
West Jersey from Mahlon Stacy, January 29, 1678, and March
12, 1679-80, he purchased one-half of one-sixth of a share from
Robert Stacy and in this latter deed he is called "Thomas Lam-
bert of Nottingham near the Falls of Delaware." (W. J. Deeds
Liber B. pt. 1, p. 313.) In a deed dated January 22, 1683-4,
Mahlon Stacy sold one hundred acres of land to Robert Pearson
in which the grantor calls himself "Mahlon Stacy of Nottingham
at the Falls of Delaware." (W. J. Deeds Liber B pt. 2, p. 505.)
The same year, March 15, 1683-4, "William Emley of Notting-
ham near the Falls of Delaware" sold one-thirty-second of a
share in West Jersey to John Full wood. It is thus evident that
the district was called Nottingham from its earliest settlement.
Others whose names are mentioned as residents of Nottingham
before 1692 are Robert Schooley, John Lambert, William Wat-
son, John Abbott, Robert Chapman, Thomas Gilbertthorp, Robert
Murfin, James Pharow and Joshua Wright. A list of those taxed
in Nottingham in the year of 1695 is as follows : Mahlon Stacy,
Thomas Lambert, Ann Pharo, John Lambert, Jr., Robert Pear-
son, Samuel Overton, Thomas Gilbertthorp, William Ouicksall,
William Watson, Sarah Scholey, W^illiam Biddle, Matthew Clay-
ton, Nathaniel Petit, Moses Petit, Jonathan Davis, Ralph Hunt,
Theophilus Phillips, John Lambert, Sr., Joshua Wright, Martin
Scott, John Rodgers, John Abbot, Ann Watson, William Hixson.
Anthony Woodward, Thomas Tindall, Isaac Watson, Benjamin
Maxle, Joshua Ely, John Lees, John Brearley, Richard Ridgway,
Thomas Green, Samuel Hunt, Charles Biles, Thomas Smith,
Thomas Coleman and John Richardson.
THE OLD ROADS ACROSS NEW JERSEY.
One of the earliest maps we have of the vicinity of Trenton is
of Mahlon Stacy's plantation, the survey having been made by
THE OLD YORK ROAD 663
William Emley, Jr., in 1714. The plantation at the ferry which
shows the old road is called on this map "Ruth Beaks planta-
tion." Ruth Beakes was a daughter of Mahlon Stacy. She had
married first William Beakes a son of William and Mary (Wain)
Beakes, who on November 26. 1707, had purchased from Mary
(Emley) Hayward, daughter of William Emley, the one hun-
dred acres including the ferry tract which had been left to her
by her father, William Emley, in his will dated April 25, 1704.
The elder William Beakes was, as we have seen, a member of
the first court meeting in Bucks county, over which Governor
Penn presided.
The earliest ferry extended from Gilbert \\'heeler's land on
the Pennsylvania side to William Emley's land on the West
Jersey shore. Just before William Penn took over the govern-
ment of Pennsylvania the court at Upland had laid out the road
from Marcus Hook (below Chester) to the Falls of Delaware
as follows :
Overseers for High Waves nominated & elected at the Coi't Alarch
14 1681 ffor one yeare next ensueing; for the repayring of the High
Wayes within their respective precincts which is to be done before the
last day of Maye next, ut sequitr.
Wooley Rawson from Marcus Creek to Nanians Creek.
Robert Wade from Namans Creek to Upland Creek.
William Oxley from Upland Creek to Ammersland.
Mons Stawkett from Ammersland to Karkus Mill.
Peter Yokeham from Karkus Mill to Schorekill ffalls.
Andreas Rambo from Shorekill ffalls to Tawcony Creek.
Erick Mulickay from Tawcony Creek to Poquessink Creek.
Clause Johnson from Poquessink Creek to Samuel Cliffs.
John Akraman from Samuel Cliffs to Gilbert Wheelers.
This road was one of the ancient highways along the river
through the state of Pennsylvania on the route to New York
city. Samuel Cliff lived in a house near the present site of
Bristol. Presentment was made by Thomas Wynne the "Aturney
Genrl" at the grand inquest of Philadelphia County to the first
court of Pennsylvania which met in 1683. "that the Kings road
from Scuilkill through the City of Philadelphia to Neshameney
Creek may be marked out and made passable for horses and
carts where needful and that the county of Chester may join
with this county in Scuilkill ferry and that the county of Bucks
664 THE OLD YORK ROAD
in the ferry over Neshameney and that the places of the ferries
over Scuilkill and Neshameney may be ascertained."
When the second court met, there was presented the need of
a "bridge or ferry over Takonie, Peunebecca, Poetquessin
Neshamaney and in general over the whole of the creeks in the
Kings road."
Then came a third court meeting 7th 1st mo. 1683, when John
Day and Thomas Phillips, overseers of the city highways, were
presented, for not proceeding with their duties, and Erick Mulli-
ker, Walter Forrest and Samuel Allen, overseers of the county
highways, were presented for not beginning to build a bridge
upon Conaxen creek in the Kings High Road according to the
order of the court. (Penn Mag. Vol. 25, p. 404.)
That road along the river was the earliest post road. In July,
1683, William Penn issued an order for the establishment of a
postoffice, and granted to Henry Waldy (Waddy ?) of Tekonay
authority to hold one and "to supply passengers with horses from
Philadelphia to New Castle or to the Falls." The rates of post-
age were to wit : Letters from the Falls to Philadelphia — 3 d ; to
Chester — 5 d ; to New Castle — 7 d ; to Maryland — 9 d ; and from
Philadelphia to Chester — 2 d ; to New Castle — 4 d ; to Maryland
— 6 d." This post went once each week and was carefully pub-
lished "on the meeting house door and other public places."
(Watson's Annals, Pemberton family records. Vol. H, p. 392.)
On the New Jersey side, the upper road, or the road from
the Falls, crossed the Assunpink toward and through what is
now Lawrenceville and Princetown, reaching the Raritan river
at what is now New Brunswick. Here John Inians, a merchant
of New York, bought Lot No. 4, August 6, 1683, and here he
established a ferry. This was the crossing of an old Indian path
and nearby was an Indian burying-ground. The greater part
of the way along the path lay within the jurisdiction of East
Jersey, as the partition line between the two divisions lay only
a short way from the Falls. At a council held in Amboy, the
capitol of East Jersey, on the 19th of April, 1686, John Inians
presented a paper in which he set forth that he had been at a
considerable expense to accommodate the country in making a
road to the Falls from his house upon the Raritan, "wch is six
miles shorter than formerly, and hath f furnished himself e wth
THE OLD YORK ROAD 665
all accomodac'on as boates canoes etc. ffi-tting for fferrying over
the Raraton river all travelling wth horses and catle, etc. Desire-
ing this Board will bee pleased to order its being a publicke road
for the use of the country, and setle the rates for the f ferry &c,"
which, being read, it was agreed and ordered that the commis-
sioners appointed by Act of the General Assembly for the laying
out of all highways, landings, and ferries, repair to the ferry,
inspect the same and make their report to the Secretary's Office ;
and as to the fees, rates for the ferry, the same must be settled
bv Act of the General x\ssembly to which end this Board will
take care to recommend the same to the house of deputies.
(Records of Gov. and Council — East Jersey, p. 132.)
The West Jersey proprietors, having their capitol at Burling-
ton, were naturally more interested in developing a road across
the provinces from this point. That road was called the road to
Shrewsbury where, as may be seen by the census, taken by
offi,cers of the Dutch fleet in 1672, a number of Quakers were
settled at this time in East Jersey. (W. J. Deed — Feb. 21, 1682
— N. J. Archives, Vol. XXI, p. 350.) The town of Perth
Amboy was laid out by Samuel Groome in 1683, and the new
Quaker proprietaries there saw more profit and naturally favored
a road from their capitol of East Jersey at Perth Amboy to the
capitol of West Jersey at Burlington. Gawen Lawrie, the
deputy governor under Robert Barclay, wrote a letter to the
proprietaries in London, dated 1st mo. 2 da. 1684, in which he
stated "I am setting up a ferry boat at Perth (Amboy) for men
and horses to go and come to Burlington and Pennsylvania and
New York. Also I am treating with one to set up a house mid-
way to Burlington to entertain travellers, and a ferry boat to go
to New York; all which is for promoting Perth (Amboy), that
being the center."
No action seems to have been taken by the East Jersey pro-
prietors in the matter of Inians petition to make his road to the
Falls a public road. This was not in the route of Lawrie's road.
As the settlements along both sides of the Delaware river in-
creased there is no doubt, though offitial action may have been
lacking, that many travelers sought the route to the Falls of
Delaware. We find William Bradford, the printer, when on
March 14, 1688, he gave notice of his proposal to print a Bible,
666 THE OLD YORK ROAD
announcing that subscriptions therefore were to be received at
Phineas Pemberton's and Robert Halle in the county of Bucks;
at Mahlon Stacy's mill; at the Falls, at Thomas Budd's house
in Burlington ; at John Hasting's in the county of Chester ; at
Edward Blake's in New Castle; at Thomas V. Woodroof's in
Salem; and at William Bradford's in Philadelphia. (Scharf &
Wescots History of Phila., Vol. I, p. 222.)
When Andrew Hamilton became governor of East Jersey, a
new interest was aroused in the matter of roads. In the year
1692 he was appointed Postmaster General of America under a
patent which made the mails his special perquisite, and, on July
23, 1695, he and eight others, the highway commissioners of
Middlesex county, East Jersey, gave a certificate that the road
between John Inians and Clas wicks (Cross wicks ?) bridge was
well cleared and the best road to Burlington (N. J. Archives,
Vol. XXI, p. 253.) Then at a council held at Perth Amboy.
March 4, 1696, Governor Hamilton presiding, two bills were
presented, one concerning ordinaries and the other concerning the
highway to Burlington. The following day three deputies, John
Browne, Jedediah Higgens and Richard Salter, brought before
the council the bill concerning the road to Burlington, it having
been rewritten and passed both houses. In Governor Hamil-
ton's time, one Dellman operated a wagon over the road from
Burlington to Amboy under no regulation as to the time of go-
ing or of the price of carrying the goods. Shortly after that,
Feb. 5, 1698, a confirmation was given to John Inians and his
wife Marie for their lifetime of the ferry across Raritan river
in return for building and providing boats for travelers on the
great road from Boosten (sic) to the west to Philadelphia; with
obligation to ferry over free the post and his horse and public
messengers. (E. J. Deeds Liber F, p. 543.) They received this
confirmation just in time for John died the following year.
The English settlements in A\'est Jersey began 1675 when
Fenwick settled at Salem. The settlement at Burlington was
made 1677 and Penn secured his patent to Pennsylvania in 1682.
When in the year 1703, the governments of the two proprietary
provinces of East and West New Jersey, were united under one
government, with the seat of government of an uncertain or
THE OLD YORK ROAD 667
shifting character, sometimes at Budington, sometimes at Perth
Amboy, but most of the time at New York, a new impulse for
a road arose at least from the Jerseys to New York. Lord Corn-
bury granted a license to Hugh Huddy to establish a stage wagon
from Burlington to Perth Amboy. This license, dated April 11,
1706, was for a term of years and prohibited others from under-
taking a stage in opposition. The colonists complained of this
patent as a monopoly "destructive to the freedom which trade
and commerce ought to have," and the quarrel which arose over
that and other matters between Cornbury and the New jersey
Assembly ultimately led to his removal.
There was at that time a ferry from Burlington to Philadel-
phia. A warrant dated December 11, 1704, had been issued to
John Reeves, Henry Tuckness, Thomas Biddle and William
Bagley for a ferry which saved the trip over the bad road through
Pennsylvania (N. J. Liber A. A. A. Commissions, pp. 27, 29.)
The road from Philadelphia to the Falls had been in very bad
shape for the use of cart or wagon. The Council of Pennsylvania
took due note of its condition and on August 15, 1700, passed an
order in council which was duly transmitted to the respective
counties to bring to the notice of the overseers, courts, justices,
etc. Thus read the minute :
"Ordered in council yt the King's Highway or Publick Road & the
bridges y^'^^ from ye town of Philadelphia to the falls of Delaware yt
now are, be wth all expedition sufficientlie cut & cleared from all timber
trees & stumps, Loggs & from all other nusances whatsoever yt ye
same with all passages in & out of all creeks & Branches may be made
passable, comodious, safe and easie for man, horse, cart, waggon or
team be y^ rescive (respective) overseers of Highways and Bridges
wthin their rescive precints, townships and Counties of Philadelphia &
Bucks, according to Law. And yt ye respective Courts of Justice &
Justices of ye peace in ye sd Counties Cause ye same be dulie pformed^
& the Laws in those Cases made & provided be strictlie put in execuon
undr ye rexive yrin contained & yt ye SeC'e take care to send a Copie
of this ordr to ye Counties of Philadelphia & Bucks respectivele."
That the road was avoided as much as possible there is abun-
dant evidence. Merchandise was shipped down tthe river by
boat, and passengers too preferred this route.
By the year 1711 the papers in Boston were beginning to pub-
lish the rates of letter postage from New York to Bridlington
(Burlington). An abstract of an act of the assembly, giving the
668
THE OLD YORK ROAD
rates through the New Jersey jurisdiction was published in the
Boston Nezvs Letter Monday Jan. 28, Feb. 4, 1711 :
Rate for letters, packets, etc.:
From New York to Perth Aniboy
and Bridlington and for each
of those places to New York
and from New York to any place
not exceeding 100 English miles and
from those places to New York.
From Perth Amboy & Bridlington
to any place not exceeding
60 English miles and thence
back again.
From Perth Amboy & Bridlington
to any place not exceeding
100 English miles and thence
back again.
s d
Single 6
Double 1
Treble 1 6
Ounce 2
Single .0 4
Double 8
Treble 1
Ounce 1 4
Single 6
Double 1
Treble 1 6
Ounce 2
THE EARLY FERRIES.
Early in 1717 the New Jersey Assembly passed an act fixing
the rates of the more important ferries, then in operation for
carrying passengers between New York and Philadelphia (Act
of January 26, 1716-17). There were at that time two ferries
from the Jersey shore to New York, mentioned in that act. One
from Weehauken and one from Perth Amboy, the capital of
East Jersey. Between Weehauken and Perth Amboy was a long
stretch of low marshes skirting the coast. Travel was not of
great proportions, and most of those who traveled did so on
horseback and furnished their own horses. There was a ferry
from Perth Amboy to Captain Billop's landing on Staten Island,
and a ferry known as Redford's ferry across the mouth of Rari-
tan river at Perth Amboy (the terminus of Lawrie's road), at
all of which places the rates were duly fixed. At Inion's ferry
(now New Brunswick) the rate fixed for a horse and man was
four pence, and for a single person two pence. No mention
being made of the charge for any vehicle, it may be assumed that
in those days there was not much travel in that fashion. Rates
were also fixed for the ferry from the Falls of Delaware to
Burlington and from Burlington to Philadelphia. The schedule
THE OLD YORK ROAD 669
from Burlington to Philadelphia is very elaborate and would
indicate a fairly active commerce between these two places.
Below are the rates fixed for this river journey of some twenty-
five miles from Burlington to Philadelphia, a distance which com-
pared with the long water journey from the foot of ^^'hitehall
street, New York, to Perth Amboy.
"Hire of a boat in Winter for a single passenger from Alichaelmas to
Lady Day S shillings and 9 pence.
Single passenger in Company, one shilling.
In summer 4 shillings 6 pence.
Single passenger in company 9 pence.
Flour per ton 6 shillings 8 pence.
Bread per ton 5 shillings 9 pence.
Rum per hogshead 2 shillings 3 pence.
Flour per ton from Farnsworth^ to Phila 10 shillings.
Wine in pipe, 3 shillings 9 pence.
Everything per barrel 9 pence.
Beef per quarter 7 pence 1/2 penny.
Hogs, Sheep &c per head 7 pence 1/2 penny.
Meal, Salt &c per bushel 2 pence."
No rates are established for a ferry from Burlington to Bristol
or from Gloucester to Philadelphia, though ferrys had been
operating from these points under Jersey patents, franchise war-
rants, or licenses for sometime. And a ferry across the Delaware
at the Falls had been licensed by the court at Upland as early
as 1675.
There are other ferries not noticed in the act of 171~ which
are of sufficient importance to command our interest. One of
them is the ferry to Communipaw, which was a very old ferry
established in 1661, during the time of the Dutch. That ferry
crossed to a strip of land known as Bergen Point, upon which
was located the two Dutch settlements of Bergen and Communi-
paw. The ferryman there had a monopoly, and in the year of
1662 he complained that the authorities of Bergen had authorized
the inhabitants to "ferry themselves over whenever they pleased."
to the detriment of his privilege. (Albany Records XIV, p. 27;
XIX, p. 28, 36, 437; XXIV, p. 398.) That ferry was placed
under due regulation by Governor Carteret in 1669. Rates were
established "for the transportation of Corn, Barrels, and Half
G Farnsworth's landing, mentioned in the rates, wa.s later sold to Joseph
Borden in 1735 and became the site of Bordentown.
670 THE OLD YORK ROAD
Barrels of Beer, other goods and liquors in Casks, Horses, Oxen.
Cows, Hogs, Sheep as well as passengers in fair weather. And
"by night or in unseasonable weather," the rates were as the
parties might agree. The ferryman was obliged to keep his boat in
readiness at all times, but more particularly upon three days in
the week to be agreed upon unanimously by the inhabitants of
Bergen and Communipaw, when he was obliged to attend
punctually.
On June 21, 1669, Pieter Hetfelsen received a license to
operate the ferry between New York and Communipaw, he hav-
ing been elected to that position by the people of Bergen and
Communipaw. On March 10, 1670, ,Hendrick Cornelissen ob-
tained a license to keep an ordinary at Bergen. But this feri-y
was not a general utility to the other towns. Between these
settlements and Elizabethtown lay a body of water known to the
Dutch as Atcher Cull, or Back Bay, later called Arthur KuU, now
called Newark Bay. And between the upper part of the Ber-
gen peninsula and Newark, lay a long stretch of low marsh land
and two streams the Hackensack and Passiac rivers.
On March 2, 1684, Governor Lawrie wrote to the proprietors
of East Jersey in London, telling them of the two ferries he was
establishing, one from South Amboy to Perth Amboy, and the
one from Perth Amboy to New York, and of the building of a
road to Burlington. All for the promoting of Perth Amboy.
Thus did the East Jersey proprietors seek to develop Perth Am-
boy as the ferrytown to New York. The Lawrie road to Burling-
ton did not go near Inions ferry, but crossed the Raritan directly
to what is now South Amboy at Redford's ferry previously men-
tioned, the route crossing the South river towards Spotteswoode.
In spite of efforts to make that the public road there was a
strong tendency to use the old path, which crossed the Raritan at
Inions ferry, and thence to Piscataway, to Woodbridge, fording
the Rahawick (Rahway river), thence to Elizabeth Point, whence
a ferry would transport the traveler about Bergen Point to
New York.
When Danker and Sluyter crossed from New York in 1679,
they record that the tavern and ferry at Elizabethtown were
kept by a French papist. These towns and outbounds were
slowly increasing in population. The census taken in 1673 by
THE OLD YORK ROAD 671
the Dutch Admiral showed. Elizabethtown had 80 men, New-
ark 86, Woodbridge 65, and Piscataway 43. That did not repre-
sent the population, but only the men who were called upon to
take the oath. George Scott of Pitlochie, estimates the population
in 1685 as Piscataway about 400, Woodbridge 600, Elizabeth-
town 700, Newark 500.
The first measures for laying out a highway seem to have
been taken in November 1675, as it was enacted at that time
that two men from each town should be appointed to lay out
the common highway.
In 1688 each town was obliged by law to keep an ordinary
for the relief and entertainment of strangers under a penalty of
forty shillings for each month's neglect and none but ordinary
keepers were permitted to retail liquors in less quantity than
two gallons. And then in 1695, a tax for five years was laid
upon the innholders along the route of the old path through
Piscataway, Woodbridge, and Elizabethtown, to prevent the road
"'falling into decay." The amount required for upkeep was £10
annually, of which amount £3 was paid by the innholders of
Piscataway, 50 shillings by those of Woodbridge and the balance
by those of Elizabethtown. The road to Amboy became a popu-
lar route of travel, but not to the entire exclusion of the old route.
In 1684 a road was laid out from Piscataway to Perth Amboy
making it possible to use the path from the Falls of Delaware
to reach Amboy. In 1693 the proprietors directed Governor
Basse to procure from the assembly a specific act making Lawrie's
road the public road, and providing for its good condition, but
uo such endorsement was secured. This attitude probably helped
to delay for a long time the license for Inions ferry. The fol-
lowing is a list of some of the early ferries licensed in New
Jersey a record of which is still preserved:
1687, March 1. Grant of a ferry from Glovicester to William Ro\'don.
1698, Feb. 5. Grant from E. Jersey See. to John and Mary Inians,
Middlesex Co.
1704, Dec. 11. Burlington to Philadelphia, Warrant to Henry Tuck-
ness, John Reeves, Thomas Biddle and William Baglej^
1704, Dec. 11. Burlington to Bristol. Warrant for ferry to Christo-
pher Snowden.
1707. Aug. 22. Gloucester ferry franchise granted to John Spey.
1710, Jan. 6. Gloucester ferry license to Dorothea Medcalf.
672 THE OLD VOKK ROAD
1721, April 22. Burlington to Bristol Patent granted to Thomas
Hunloke.
1722, Nov. 26. Gloucester ferry license granted to Joseph Hugg.
1726, April 30. Amwell, Hunterdon Co. to Pennsylvania license granted
to John Coate.
1733, Jan. 7. Amwell, Hunterdon Co. to Penna. Grant for a ferry
to Emanuel Coryell.
1733, July 30. Gloucester to Philadelphia, license for ferry granted to
Richard Weldon.
1739, Jan. 21. Gloucester ferry. Patent issued to William Cooper.
The road from Trenton to Perth Amboy early became a popu-
lar route. About the year 1745, John Dalley of Kingston, N. J.,
made a survey of the old road and set down markers each two
miles, and published two maps, one dedicated to James Alexander,
and the other to Chief Justice Robert Hunter Morris. Originals
of these maps are located in the New York Historical Society.
They are excellent in showing the location of the old houses and
taverns along the route and the roads coming into it. The fol-
lowing advertisement appeared in the Pennsylvania Gaacttc of
September 12, 1745 :
"Whereas John Dally of Kingston, in New Jersey, Surveyor, hath
made an actual Survey of the Road from Trenton to Amboy, with the
River from Amboy to Brunswick Landing; and hath set up proper and
durable Marks at every two Miles Distance, and at all publick Roads
turning out, that Gentlemen and Travellers may know the Distance
from Place to Place, and whither the Roads lead; which has been done
by Subscription, tho" far short of a Sufficient to defray the Charge
thereof; and is now inclined to continue the same to New York and
Philadelphia and to make and print a map of the whole, if he can meet
with suitable Encouragement. This is therefore to propose to the pub-
lick a Subscription for that Purpose which if a sufficient Number of
Subscribers appears to defray the Expense, and make up the aforesaid
Deficiency by the iSth of October next, shall be immediately begun,
and completed as soon as possible. The Terms are, that besides putting
up the Marks aforesaid, a Map shall be printed, on large and good
Paper, of the whole Road from Philadelphia to New York, in which
shall be noted every remarkable Place or Object, as Houses, Brooks,
Creeks, Bridges, &c. &c. with their Names. That every Subscriber
paying Five Shillings, one Half at Subscribing, and the other Half at
the Delivery of the Map, shall have one of them; and that the Subscrib-
ers Names shall be printed in the Corners of the Map. Subscriptions
are taken in by A. Reed, in Trenton, James Leonard, in King's-Town,
Paul Miller in Brunswick, James Parker in New York and B. Franklin
in Philadelphia."
THE OLD YORK ROAD 673
About that time a road map of the British colonies was pub-
Hshed by Lewis Evans, in accordance with an act of parHament
of 1747, which shows the old roads out of Philadelphia, both by
way of the Bristol road and the Old York road. The distances
given on that map over the former route from Philadelphia, is as
follows :
To Bristol 20 miles, to Trenton 30 miles, to Brunswick 59
miles, to Amboy 68 miles, to Elizabethtown 79 miles, and to
New York 96 miles. The Old York road he carries only so far
as the North Branch of Raritan river, and does not show the old
road up the Raritan laid out in 1684. This map shows the town
of Hatboro on the Old York road, which is the earliest reference
I have found to this name. Lewis Evans credits Nicholas Scull
with some of the information he obtained with reference to
Pennsylvania, and Nicholas Scull's map, published in 1759, is one
of the most interesting road maps of this early period. Two years
before his map was published Bradford, the printer, produced a
book entitled "Book of Distances Within the Improved Part of
Pennsylvania." An original copy of which is in the Ridgeway
Library of Philadelphia.
The following are the distances given in that little book over
the road to Trenton, and over the Old York road to Wells ferry :
Road from Philadelphia Court House to Trenton.
Ms. Qrs. Prs.
To Pools Bridge
To Frackford Bridge 4
To the Widow Mc Veaghs 5
To Oxford Road 5
To the Sign of the Star 7
To John Halls 7
To Pennypack Bridge 9
To Widow Amos (Red Lion Inn) 12
To Neshaminy Ferry 17
To Bristol 20
To the Widow Martins (Tullytown) 24
To Pennsbury Road 26
To Trenton Ferry 30
2
65
3
56
3
10
3
54
2
55
3
46
3
36
3
00
19
1
49
30
70
2
38
674 THE OLD YORK ROAD
ROAD FROM PHILADELPHIA COURT HOUSE TO WELLS FERRY.
Road from Philadelphia Court House to Wells Ferry.
Ms. Qrs. Prs.
To Pools Bridge 2 65
To Armitages (Milestown) 7 2 8
To Jenkins (Jenkintown) 10 1 60
To the Billet (Hatboro) 16
To Bristol Road (Hartsville) 19 2 58
To S. West br. of Neshaminy Creek 20 46
To Neshaminy Creek (Bridge Valley) .... 23 2 24
To Watsons (Bushington) 25 2 24
To New Town Road (Buckingham) 26 3 24
To Buckingham Meeting House 28 1 69
To Wells Ferry (New Hope) 33 1 19
THE OLD YORK ROAD THROUGH PENNSYLVANIA.
Early in the year 1711, at a meeting of the council of the
Province of Pennsylvania, a petition was read praying for a road
to begin at John Reading's landing in Amwell, New Jersey, and
to extend from that point direct to Philadelphia. Reading's
landing was located about nineteen miles above the Falls of the
Delaware, but owing to the course taken by the river the distance
from Philadelphia in a direct line was not much longer than the
distance from Philadelphia to the Falls. There was no Trenton
in those days and a survey of the plantation of Mahlon Stacy
made by William Emley, Jr., in 1714, with an excellent map,
showing the limited habitations there, is deposited with Basses
Surveys, p. 85, (Sec. State, N. J.). One of the promoters of
that road was a Jerseyman, John Reading, a member of the
council of West New Jersey, proprietors. The Lotting purchase
of the West Jersey Society of June 20, 1708, had extended the
bounds of West Jersey territory to a point a little above Reading's
Landing at the present site of Stockton, and the same year the
township of Amwell was set ofif from Burlington county. Mat-
ters Avere getting into shape for a further sub-division by the
purchase of the West Jersey Societies Great Tract, the survey
for which was returned by Daniel Leeds in June, 1711. The in-
fluence of John Reading at that time was at its height. His
name was soon to be under consideration for appointment to the
governors' council.
On the Pennsylvania side a steady increase of population was
THE OLD YORK ROAD 675
Avorking its way into the woods back from the river. There was
a road laid out in 1705 from the house of William Cooper in
Buckingham township to the Delaware river at Bristol. And that
road crossed the path leading to Solebury, later to be the Old
York road. Along that path doubtless many of the inhabitants
made their way, and it probably continued toward Round Meadow
(now Willow Grove), where some Welsh and English families
had by that date settled. The Welsh road, so called, had been
laid out to North Wales in 1702, so that the time was ripe in
Pennsylvania as well as in New Jersey to consider a new route
to New York.
At the meeting of the council held in Philadelphia January 27,
1711.
"A petition of several of the inhabitants & freeholders of the town-
ships of Buckingham and Solebury was read praying that a convenient
road may be laid out and Established from those upper parts to Phila-
delphia according to the courses and manner following, vizt. : To be-
gin at the side of the river Delaware opposite to John Reading's land-
ing from thence the most direct and convenient course to Buckingham
Meeting house & from thence the most direct and convenient course
through the land of Thomas Watson on the north side, And from
thence the most direct and convenient course to Stephen Jenkins on
the w^est side of his house, and from thence the most direct and con-
venient course to the house of Richard Walln now in possession of
George Shoemaker, And so forward the most direct and convenient
courses to Philadelphia, which said Petition being signed by a great
many of the inhabitants; and the said road promising, as intended to be
laid out, to be of great use and service to the Public. It is therefore
granted by the Board, and it is Ordered (as desired) that Thomas Wat-
son, Jno. Scarborough, Jacob Holcomb, Nathaniel Bye, Matthew
Hughes, Joseph Fell, Samuel Cart, Stephen Jenkins, Thomas Halli-
well, Griff. Miles, Job Goodson & Isaac Norris or some six of them
do lay out the same Road and make their return of the courses within
6 months from this day." (Penna Colonial Records, Vol. II, p. 542.)
The jury appointed to lay out the road consisted of twelve men,
six of whom Avere residents of Buckingham and Solebury and six
of Abington, Philadelphia, or old Bristol townships. In due time
they made their report of the survey.
The road began at the Delaware river opposite to John Read-
ing's landing on the five hundred acre tract of Barsilian Foster
to whom it had been surveyed in 1696, thence across a corner
of the lands of George Pownal through the lands of Randall
676 THE OLD YORK ROAD
Spikeman, which later came into possession of Samuel Eastburn.
Thence along the northwest border of the lands that John Scar-
borough had purchased from Jacob Holcomb in 1709, thence
through the lands surveyed to James Pellar in 1689, to the Buck-
ingham Meeting House built upon land given by James Streator
in 1705. From the Streator tract the road passed along the
boundary between Joseph Large and Richard Lundy, the south-
west part of the Lundy tract being in possession of Matthew
Hughes one of the commissioners for laying out the road. Thence
along the boundary between the lands of Uriah Hughes and
Elizabeth Archibald on the northwest and the Francis Rossel
tract on the southwest, the latter tract then in possession of
Thomas Watson, Sr., another of the commissioners for laying out
the road. The house of Thomas Watson is the last land mentioned
in the petition until the road reaches the house of Stephen
Jenkins. From the swamp road which marks the end of the
Watson tract the road crossed diagonally the large Mayleigh
tract of 1622 acres, which extended almost to the main branch
of the Neshaminy which flowed through the lands which had
come into possession of John Rodman in 1703. This was a large
tract now in Warwick township containing 3325 acres. Thence
the road crossed the corner of the Benjamin Furley tract through
lands which came into possession of Henry Jamison in 1728.
This Furley tract being the outlying tract shown on Thomas
Holme's map of 1687. Then the road continued across the
land of James Boyden, where it crossed the west branch of the
Neshaminy and into Warminster township. There it passed
through several tracts one of which came into possession of
Martha Todd in 1726. Thence across the lands of Able Noble
(son of William Noble) into what is now Montgomery county.
That land fell into possession of Abie's children, one of whom
was Job Noble, the blacksmith to whom John Wells left a legacy
of £50. His lands lay on both sides of the York road, next to
the county line. From Able Noble's land, the course of the road
can be traced on Thomas Holme's map of 1687. The lands of
Henry English adjoin on the northwest the lands of Able Noble,
and in our course toward Philadedlphia the road passed
through the large tract of Samuel Carpenter, through a
part of the Manor of Moorland where Hatboro is now located
THE OLD YORK ROAD 677
into the tract of Samuel Clarridge, who later sold to Thomas
Holme, and whose executors sold a large part of it to John Hallo-
well. Further on we note the tract of Josh. Cart, John Barnes
(who gave the land for Abington Meeting), Richard Walln, Toby
Leech and others.
From the habitations that clustered about the crossing of the
road from Bristol to the house of William Cooper, the road
seemed to pass through many miles of a wilderness until it ap-
proached the crossing of the Welsh road, which road was laid
out in 1702 from Gwynedd to the mills on Pemapack. And in
1704 a road had been petitioned for by the inhabitants of North
Wales, which cartway was to extend from Philadelphia to North
Wales passing through Germantown. That was the beginning of
the Germantown road. And into this latter road at what was
called Rising Sun the petitioners had planned to join their road.
In the year 1711, a petition signed by sixty persons prayed that
Welch road be reviewed, and a committee consisting of Thomas
Kinderdine, Robert Jones. John Cadawalader, Rowland Hugh,
Owen Evans and Thomas Canby. was duly appointed, and made
their report the following year. Until the neighborhood of that
road is reached little is said of the habitations and then the
courses reach the house of Stephen Jenkins. William Jenkins
the father of Stephen Jenkins, had purchased from John Barnes
a tract of four hundred and thirty-seven acres. June 16, 1698.
William Jenkins died in 1712, his will dated 11th of 12 mo..
1711, was proved August 16, 1712. In it he bequeathed his
dwelling house and plantation to his wife Elizabeth. He had two
children, a son Stephen and a daughter Margaret. Stephen mar-
ried Abigail the eldest daughter of Phineas Pemberton of Falls
township, Bucks county. 14th 2 mo.. 1704. He resided on prop-
erty half-a-mile north of Jenkinstown. near Noble station. His
buildings burned down in 1717. and the Abington Meeting raised
a subscription to help supply the faiiiily with corn through the
emergency.
The next house mentioned in the report of the committee was
the house of Richard Walln then in possession of George Shoe-
maker. Richard Walln was one of the original purchasers from
W^illiam Penn, and his name will be found on Holme's map along
the line intended by Holme to be the course of Susquehannah
678 THE OLD YORK ROAD
road. Richard Walln had married Anne Heath, a daughter of
Robert Heath. And Sarah, a sister of Richard WaUn, mar-
ried George Shoemaker 14 12 mo. 1694, who had embarked for
America in the ship "Jeffries," arriving in Philadelphia with three
brothers and three sisters. His father died on the voyage over.
He was at the time of his marriage a young man aged 23 years.
The house, located in Shoemakertown or O'gontz, as it is now
called, was frequently used as a meeting place for Friends of
Abington and vicinity, before the meeting-house was built, and
from that point the road was carried to the end of Fourth Street,
in Philadelphia. Both ends of the road as surveyed were shifted.
Before 1719 the road ceased to run to Reading's Landing, and
shifted to a crossing some three and a half miles below, while the
route at the Philadelphia end had to be reviewed several times
before it was satisfactory.
At a meeting of the council in Philadelphia November 3, 1711 :
"Whereas by an order of the Council of the 27th of January last,
grounded upon a petition for laying out a road from River Delaware
opposite John Reading's landing to Philadelphia the persons to Lay
out the same made return which return was objected against & a
petition exhibited that there might be a review granted.
It is therefore ordered that some six of the persons first appointed to
lay out the said road together with Samuel Richardson, Thomas God-
frey, Geo. Shoemaker, Henry Bennet. Isaac Knight, Peter Chamberlain,
Daniel Thomas & Toby Leech or some four of them make alternations
therein as may be thought most convenient, and make their return into
the Secretaries Office ye 24th inst. in order to be confirmed." (Penna.
Colonial Records, Vol. II, p. 563.)
Within the three weeks limit set by the council a review was
made duly signed, and sent to the council at Philadelphia.
The road from the river Delaware opposite to John Reading's
landing to Philadelphia being reviewed and returned :
"Beginning at the side of the River Delaware in The County of Bucks
opposite to John Reading's Landing & running from thence South
West thirty perches, thence South thirty five degrees west sixteen
perches, thence South ten degrees west thirty four perches, thence
South So. West one hundred and seventy perches, thence So. Eighteen
degrees W. forty perches, then S.W. eighty perches, thence S. fifteen
degrees W. forty perches, thence S.W. two hundred & fifty four perches
thence So. Twenty D., W. seventy perches thence S.W. 640 perches to
Buckingham Meeting House, etc. etc. etc."
(The land of Thomas Watson, Stephen Jenkins, and the house of Rd
THE OLD ^ORK KOAD 679
Walln now in possession of Geo. Shoemaker are mentioned and the
courses given to the end of 4th St. from Phila.)
Witness our hands this 24th of Nov. 1711.
Toby Leach John Scarborough
Peter Chamberlin Thomas Watson
Geo. Shoemaker Stephen Jenkins
Isaac Knight Nathaniel Bye
Henrv Bennet Matthew Hughes
Griffith Miles.
(Penn Colonial Records Vol. II, p. 566.)
Again complaint was made, and the following year at a meet-
ing of the council held October 16, 1712, a petition of some of
the inhabitants of Philadelphia county was read and the follow-
ing resolution for a further review was adopted :
"Whereas, divers of the inhabitants of the City and County of Phila-
delphia by their Peticon now Exhibited & Read pray an alteration of
a new Road lately laid out from The River Delaware in Ye County of
Bucks opposite to John Reading's landing To Philadelphia that in Lieu
thereof the Road formerly laid out from Nath'll Pools to William
Coates Corner, and so over the Govr's Mill Creek to ye said mill land-
ing place & from thence in a direct Course to the end of ye lane be-
tween ye lands of Isaac Norris & Job Goodson may be made the Pub-
lic Road from this City to joyn ye said new Road at the Lane afore-
said. It is therefore Ordered that Rich^ Hill, Jonathan Dickinson,
Thomas Masters & Job Goodson, Richard Walne & William Coates or
some four of them do lay out the same accordingly; and at the same
time they view the Land of Hans Neys who Complains of great Damage
done him by The Courses of said Road & give him such relief as may
be reasonable."
Here Hans Neys or Nice is also asking for relief. Hans con-
tributed the name Nicetown to a northern section of Philadelphia.
At a meeting of the council January 14, 1712. report was duly
made by four persons, which carried the road over courses which
maps made during Revolutionary time showed then to still
pertain. There was also read the return made by four of the
six persons appointed at the last council for altering the new
road laid out from Delaware in Bucks county, opposite to John
Reading's landing to Philadelphia, so far as between the end of
the front street of Philadelphia to the lane between I. Norris
and Job Goodsons plantations in these words :
"In pursuance of the order the Gov'r & Council We the persons there-
in nominated have laid out the Road thereby Directed Beginning at
the North side of Vine St in the middle of the front street of the City
680 THE OLD YORK ROAD
of Philadelphia and Delaware side and thence proceeding by the sev-
eral Courses and Distances therein after following vizt: — North Twenty
two Degrees, Easterly fifty six perches to Danll Peggs porch; North
Twenty one Deg. Easterly sixty-one perches N. one deg. W. sixty six
perches N. two Deg. W. sixteen perches over the marsh & mill Creek;
N Twenty two Deg W. thirty perches N. fifteen Deg. and an half W.
thirty perches N. Eighteen Deg and an half W. forty four perches N.
four Deg. W. Sixty perches, North one Deg. East forty perches N.
Eight Deg. East Eighty perches N. fourteen Deg. & an half W. twenty
nine perches N. four Deg. W. sixteen perches N. two Deg. E. Eighty
perches to the land between Isaac Norris & Job Goodson the place
to which we are ordered to carry the said Road.
In Witness Whereof we have hereunto sett our hands & Seals the
Seventh day of January in the Eleven Year of Queen Ann Annoy
Domini 1712.
Richard Hill Thomas Masters
Jonathan Dickinson Job Goodson."
The course of the road up to perhaps the time of the death of
John Reading in 1717 was directed to opposite Reading's land-
ing at what is now Center Bridge, Pa. But that route was not
used to any extent longer than the first years. Certainly by this
latter date John Wells began the operation of a ferry opposite
to what is now Lambertville and applied for a license. About
thirteen years later the inhabitants submitted petitions praying
that the road to Wells ferry be established as the official road,
that the township might be freed the expense of upkeep for the
upper road, then declared useless and overgrown.
Solebury ye 15th of 3 mo 1730.
To the Governor and Council in Philadelphia Sitting
The Humble petition of John Scarborough John Dawson Benjamin
Canby and divers of the Upper inhabitants on Delaware Humbly
Sheweth
Whereas there was formerly a road laid out by order of the Gov-
ernor & Council from the river side against John Reading's Landing
along by Buckingham Meeting house down to Philadelphia on promise
of the Inhabitants of West Jersey laying out a Road on the other side
to accommodate it for a road to New York it being proposed to be the
nearest way. Instead of so doing they laid their road down to the
landing against John Wells ferry and on that foot was an order of our
Court granted for a road to be laid out from Wells ferry to answer the
Road on the other side to come into the former road at Buckingham
Meeting House to answer the end of the other. And there was a ferry
settled by law to accommodate it which rendered that part of the former
road useless for the use intended upon the laying out of the second that
THE OLD YORK ROAD 681
better suited the purpose. Your petitioners finding that some persons
want it opened although it has not been cleared nor used many years,
which will greatly dammify your petioners lands and be a great charge
for the Township to maintain two roads for one use within 3 miles one
of another. Therefore we humbly request that 3'ou will grant an order
for the making void that part of the said road from the River against
Reading's Landing that was, and Buckingham Aleeting House, and your
petitioners shall ever pray as in duty bound.
Edmund Kinsey John Dawson Thomas Watson
Edward Hartley John Scarbrough Matt Hughes
Thomas Hartley Benj. Canby Thomas Canby
John Hartley John Watson Nathaniel Bye
John Skelton Thomas Heed Joseph Fell
Edward Beck Thomas Robinson Ja Holcombe
William GifTon Sani'l Eastburn Enoch Pearson
Joshua Ely Thomas Canby, Junior John Bye
John Heed John Preston John Hill
Joseph Large Thomas Gilbert John Rich
Richard Norton
The above petition (signed by all five original Solebury pe-
titioners of 1711) indicates that the road to Readings' land-
ing had long been in disuse and that it was overgrown and would
have to be cleared to be put into condition for use. The real
occasion for the petition being that Daniel Howell, son-in-law^ of
John Reading, was attempting to establish a ferry from Reading
landing and there was an organized attempt among some of the
inhabitants of Pennsylvania and New Jersey to defeat him. An-
other petition on the same subject, but without date, is filed with
the records at Harrisburg, the petition was probably presented
early in 1731 and reads as follows:
To His Honor the Governor and Council in Philadelphia
Sitting
Whereas there was a road laid out from Philadelphia to the River
Delaware opposite John Reading's landing many years ago by order
of the Governor and Council, upon the Promise of the said John Read-
ing and the inhabitants of West Jersey laying out a road from the said
John Reading's landing aforesaid to New York. — But instead of bring-
ing their road to the said John Reading's landing aforesaid (they to wit)
the inhabitants of West Jersey aforesaid, brought the road opposite to
John W^ells about three miles below the said Jo" Readings. Which
obliged the inhabitants of Solebury aforesaid to Petition to the Court
of Quarter Sessions in Bucks for a road from John Wells into the for-
mer Road near Buckingham Meeting House, being near five miles.
And a ferry being settled unto the said John Wells by an Act of As-
682 THE OLD YORK ROAD
senibly of the Province whereby the road to New York might be ac-
comadated which renders that part of the aforesaid road from Buck-
ingham Meeting House to the river opposite John Reading's landing
aforesaid, which is now Daniel Howells, useless and unnecessary. And
the said Daniel Howell endeavoring to force us, your petitioners to open
the road from Buckingham Meeting House to the River as aforesaid,
thereby to promote a ferry which would be a great damage to your
Petitioners in cutting our lands, and also to said John Wells in par-
ticular.
And Whereas some time since some of the inhabitants of Solebury
aforesaid Did Humbly petition his honor the Governor & Council
aforesaid that that part of the road from Buckingham Meeting House
to the river opposite Daniel Howell's Landing, formerly called John
Reading's Landing might be disanuled, and that part from Buckingham
Meeting House to John Wells ferry might be established in the room
thereof.
And Whereas some other persons of the inhabitants of Solebury afore-
said has petitioned his Honor the Governor that that part of the road
from Buckingham Meeting House to the river opposite Daniel Howells
landing might be opened. But since the aforesaid petitions has been de-
livered in order for a hearing the inhabitants of Solebury aforesaid have
met and upon further consideration hath generally concluded that if in
case the Road was opened to the river opposite to Daniel Howells
landing aforesaid, it would be very injurious to some of the inhabi-
tants' lands, and also the place of the river against Daniel Howells'
Landing is not commodious nor necessary for a ferry in as much as the
said John Wells ferry is but about three miles below the said Daniel
Howells' landing.
Also the aforesaid John Wells having kept the ferry divers years,
with good boats, very good accommadations in his house for travelers,
A man well beloved of his neighbors for keeping good order in his
house, has always behaved himself well to all persons as becomes him
in such high vocation, therefore the humble request of your petitioners
is that you in your Wisdom would consider the premises aforesaid and
your favoring our request will much oblige your Petitioners ( )
and ( ) we shall in duty bound ever pray.
We the subscribers to this Collum
of the above petition do certify that
we know the matter contained in
the said petition to be true & therefor
pray the Governor and Councils
consideration of the same.
Thomas Canby James Paxson
Matt Hughes Henry Paxson
Jno Kirkbride jr. John Rathmell
Abra Chapman William Chadwick
Jere Langhorn John Bye
THE OLD YORK ROAD 683
Christ. ( ) Jos. Lupton
A. Hamilton Enoch Pearson
Isaac ( ) ♦ Thomas Canby jr.
John Heed Gefifery Burgas
John Scholfield John Scarborough
John Pownall Samll Eastburn
John Hough Thomas PhiUips
Henry Roberts ' Phill (Pary ?)
Francis Hough John Wells
Thomas Hartley Jonathan Dawson
Joshua Ely Roger Hartley
John Skelton Edward Hartley
John Dawson Geo. Pownall
The course of travel to New York through the Jersies, from
Wells ferry at the Amwell crossing, took three different routes,
namely, the Hopewell road, the Amwell road and the Old York
road, each of which are identified with a different epoch. It
must be clearly understood that when the road was authorized
through Pennsylvania in 1711 very little settlement existed above
the Amwell crossing on either side of the river. From Pennsyl-
vania, the main traffic was to Perth Amboy, the capitol of East
New Jersey, through Burlington, the capitol of West New Jer-
sey, and from Perth Amboy, the ferries made their way to New
York. Another route from Philadelphia was by the old road to
the Falls and thence to Perth Amboy, crossing the Raritan river
at New Brunswick. And so some of the earliest travel made its
way from the Amwell crossing to the crossing at New Brunswick,
and to this point over Hopewell and Amwell roads. The Hope-
well road ran from the ferry to Hopewell and then joined the
old path from the Falls of Delaware at the region of Rocky
Ford. The other route passed along the north barrier of Neshan-
ic mountain, through Ringoes, crossing the Millstone, thence
down the general course of the road now known as Amwell
avenue, to New Brunswick. That was the more favored route
until the ferries at Prowles Hook began their regular operation,
which made it feasible to cut out the trip through New Bruns-
wick and go by a more direct route. The road to Ptowles Hook
was the stage coach route. That is the route known in New
jersev as the Old York road from the Amwell ferries.
684 THE OLD YORK ROAD
THE HOPEWELL ROAD.
By the year 1710 Hopewe-ll township began to show many
evidences of settlement, the name Hopewell having been in use
as early as 1688, when on May 20th of that year two hundred
acres were surveyed to Andrew Smith. (W. J. Deeds Liber B
pt. 1, p. 214.) The Hopewell tract was resurveyed to Daniel
Cox, Jr., in 1707, and after that date there appears to have been
growing evidences of settlement. By 1720 the tax list con-
tained one hundred and thirty-seven names, the quantity of lands
in possession being 16,995 acres, more than one-half of which
was taken up by settlers. It would seem reasonable therefore,
that at this early period, a traveler might seek the route toward
Hopewell. We have already seen that when Daniel Howell at-
tempted to reestablish the ferry at Reading's landing, the ma-
jority of those signing the petition, which was forwarded to the
governor and council of Pennsylvania, were residents of Hope-
well. The road from the Delaware through Hopewell passed
through Samuel Coates land over Cottage Hill to Hopewell and
joined the road from the Falls of Delaware (Trenton), just be-
fore it crossed the Millstone at Rocky Ford. The point where it
joined the road is shown on John Dalley's map of 1745, and it is
called the Hopewell road. This route followed an old Indian
trail which led from the Amwell crossing to the Indian village of
Wishelemensey, lying between Ringoes and Rocktown, thence
through Hopewell to the Minneponasson village near Bardon's
Brook and joined the path from the Falls to New Brunswick at
Rocky Hill. It was over that route that Washington marched
his army in 1778, enroute from Valley Forge to fight the battle
at Monmouth. While it appears that during the early days some
of the travel followed that route, it does not appear to have been
the route favored by John Reading."
THE AMWELL ROAD.
The Amwell road took a course as far as Reaville over the
road now commonly known in Amwell, as far as Reaville, as the
York road, and in Somerset as the Amwell road. There is every
evidence that that route was used as early as the route through
Hopewell. The petition just referred to, dated 1731, states that
there is already a road through the country "in opposition to a
THE OLD YORK ROAD 685
very good road and ferry here," and this road was none other
than the York road through Am well. The will of Samuel Coates
dated 1722 calls this road the "Yoark road," and in deeds and
other references about that time it is called the King's Highway
or the York road. It is referred to by the former title in a deed
dated May 9, 1724, from Francis Moore to John Dagworthy for
one hundred acres of land in Ringoes. The same title is used for
the road in land bought by John Holcomb from John Coate in
1733 and that is the road known in Am well as the Old York road.
The Old York road began opposite Wells ferry just below
Holcomb island on land surveyed to Benjamin Field, and then
passed through the lands then in possession of John Holcomb
through a tract surveyed to Robert Dimisdale. thence through a
two hundred and sixty acre tract purchased by John Holcomb in
1709, thence along the border of the Biddle tract of one thousand
five hundred acres to Benjamin Fields' large three thousand acre
tract, and thence through a large tract of three thousand one hun-
dred and ninety-three acres belonging to Field and William
Stevenson, and a tract of two thousand acres belonging to Gov-
ernor Andrew Hamilton and Benjamin Field described as being
"in the Adlord Bowde purchase along the first Eastern line there-
of." Through those tracts the road coursed from Lambertville
through Ringoes to Larison's Corners. The state road now turns
out of the Old York road at that point to go to Flemington, but
there was no Flemington in those days, Samuel Fleming not having
purchased his land, at the present site of that town, until 1756.
From Larisons Corners the road passed to Reaville and midway
between these points stood the old church that John Reading, Jr.,
attended after its organization. From Reaville the road con-
tinued to Clover hill over the county border into Somerset county,
but no longer under the name York road. From Clover hill to
Neshanic the road passed through a large irregular tract of land
purchased by John Bennett in 1683; thence through Flagtown in
the Peter Sonmans tract; thence through a tract of three hundred
and twenty acres purchased by Isaac De Riemer of Sonmans,
March 13, 1711; thence through the upper end of the Harligen
tract purchased by a Dutch company from Long Island from
Sonmans June 10, 1710; and thence through the lands taken up
in 1690 by Clement Plumstead to the Millstone river, through the
686 THE OLD YORK ROAD
large tracts of William Dockwra, John Harrison, Daniel Cox,
to John Inions Raritan lot at New Brunswick. Several Dutch
companies settled along the route of that road and in the large
tracts mentioned all of which tracts had been taken up before the
year 1700. Certainly by the year 1710 when the Dutch company
settled the Harlingen tract, there was need for a road and what
is now known as the Am^well road was soon after opened for their
accommodation. A bridge was probably built across the Mill-
stone by 1720, the road passing through Middlebush on the way
to New Brunswick. And so the road has been called the Amwell
road by the inhabitants of Hillborough township, and by the name
York road by the Amwell inhabitants.
Teedyuscung, the Delaware Indian chief, called it the Bruns-
wick road in 1756. He claimed a tract of two thousand five hun-
dred acres along the road which he said had never been sold but
reserved for the use of the Indians. Thus he described the tract :
"Beginning at Ringoes and extending along the Brunswick Road to
Neshannock Creek, thence up the same to George Hattens, thence in a
straight course to Pettit's place, and so on to a hill called Paatquack-
tung (Copper Hill) thence in a straight line to the place of beginning,
which tract was reserved at the sale and marked out by Wawhaway
who is alive." (Smith's New Jersey, p. 445.)
DUTCH REFORMED CHURCHES.
The settlements which extended along the Amwell road from
New Brunswick were mainly of the Dutch. One can trace the
progress of the Dutch settlement through the Dutch Reformed
Churches of East Jersey from its earliest settlement. Among the
earliest are those of Bergen (1660), Hackensack (1686),
Acquackanock (1693). Freehold (1699), Raritan (Somerville)
(1699), Middletown (Holmdel) (1699), Second River Belle-
ville) (1699), Three Mile Run (Franklin) (1709. Of eleven
churches in Somerset county, during revolutionary time, seven
were Dutch Reformed. And along the old road the invasion of
the Dutch Churches entered Hunterdon county, where one of the
oldest Amwell churches still stands at Pleasant Corners. First
called the High Dutch Calvenistical or Preisbeterian Church ; in
1800 German Presbyterian Church of Amwell; 1809 Amwell
Dutch Reformed Church; 1810 United First Church of Amwell.
At Millstone is a Dutch Reformed Church dating from 1767.
THE OLD YORK KOAD 687
At Neshanic a Dutch Reformed Church dating from August 25,
1752. And at Clover Hill on the border of Hunterdon county a
Dutch Reformed Church organized 1834 which became Presby-
terian in 1838, and remained so until 1862, when it again became
Dutch Reformed. In contrast to these Dutch Reformed Churches
along the Amwell Road, are the old Quaker Meeting Houses at
Abington, Horsham, Buckingham, and Solebury, and the old
Presbyterian Churches, spreading their influence over the Old
York road of Pennsylvania.
THE OLD YORK ROAD THROUGH NEW JERSEY.
There is an old map of East Jersey sometimes called the Keith
map, but more correctly known as the Reed map of 1685. It was
published in Whitehead's "East Jersey under the Proprietors."
That map shows very plainly the early taking up of land by the
East Jersey proprietors. There is a line of lots extending from
Elizabethtown along the foot of Wachung mountain toward Green
Brook and Bound Brook and along the north boundary of Rari-
tan river to the north and south branch. And there is another
map in possession of the New York Historical Society published
in Bolton's Indian Paths of the Great Metropolis (Heye Mono-
graphs), which shows all of the land tracts, along the north side
of the Raritan, purchased from the Indians from Bound Brook
to the boundary between Somerset and Hunterdon counties. And
all that land was purchased by 1688. Reference may also be
made to purchasers of one hundred and forty-two lots, and the
date of their purchase, on map No. HI of the Elizabethtown bill
in Chancery. It was along these settlements that a road was to
make its way later to join the road from the Delaware. A large
part of it was an old Indian path to which reference is made
from time to time in the old Raritan deeds, notably one of Cod-
rington's deeds. The scattered settlements, largely of Dutch,
found their way to Holland's brook, and even as far and beyond
the Cushetunk hills, in Hunterdon county.
The earliest road that went to those settlements was known as
the "Road up Raritan," Capt. Thomas Codrington, John White,
James Graham, Peter and Jerome Van Nest, and Cornelius
Tunison all settled early along the north bank of Raritan river
between the north and south branches and Bound Brook. The
688 THE OLD YORK ROAD
road up Raritan was opened in 1684 as will appear from the fol-
lowing memorandum. Liber A p. 433, Deeds and Patents of East
Jersey.)
"Memorandum that whereas by Virtue of an act of Assembly, we the
persons under subscribed were by Virtue of the said act appointed for
laying out the highways for the county of Middlesex, in prosecution
thereof, the twenty sixth, twenty seventh and twenty eight days of this
instant, we have marked and laid out the Ways as follows: On from
John White's' plantation on Raritan River along upon a ridge of up-
land on or near the old Indian path to the north side of Captain
Codrington's and all the meadows down to Major James Gyles, at
which place there is to be a bridge for horse and wagon; from there to
along the upland near the meadows on Raritan River to Bellowes plan-
tation, and through his cornfield as the trees are marked; from thence
to Aaron Jacob's through his field, his house being in the middle of the
highway as the trees are marked; from thence by marked trees to Vin-
cent Rungimone's' land; and it is agreed that there should, be a foot-
way elevated along Raritan River side through the long meadow, con-
tinued to Captain Codrington's and upward, and from there down to
the river, the highways to be taken- one halfe out of Hopewell Hull's
lott and the other halfe out of Vincent's Lott being in all one hundred
feet in breadth, and from Vincent's by the line of marked trees to Cap-
tain Greenlands; and from thence in the old road to Piscataway; and
from thence in the old road to woodbridge; and from thence along the
ordinary road above Captain Pike's second creeke; and from thence by
line of marked trees through the woods along the east side of Captain
Pike's fresh and boggy meadow; thence into the highway that leads
into the market-place in Amboy, and from the highway that leads into
the Sound through the said market place by a line of marked trees to
the north side of James Reed's fence and thence by the west side of
Captain Codrington's land; and thence along the northmost end of
Woolfe's swamp from thence by a line of marked trees into the road
leading from Piscataway to Woodbridge; from Woodbridge the usual
road to the corner of Samuel Smith's' land; and from thence by a line
of marked trees over the upper branch of meeting house brooke; and
from thence by marked trees to the First Branch of Raway River;
from thence by marked trees to the Second Branch of said river.
Dated the twenty-eighth day of the month called June one thousand
six hundred and eighty four.
Gawen Lawrie Samuel Downds
Conrad Slatter John Greenman
Hopewell Hull Samuel Moore.
Here was a road that passed from John White's plantation
not far from the present location of Somerville thence along the
river crossing the Sacunk or Bound Brook, and thence along the
THE OLD YORK ROAD 689
setflements on the east side of the river to Captain Greenland's
plantation, which was near Inion's ferry, and thence into the
Piscataway, Woodbridge road to Amboy. From Perth Amboy
the road then led north toward Elizabethtown, the description
being carried as far as the second branch of Rahway river. This
road was not a very direct route to New York, and favored the
Perth Amboy route. From White's plantation, the old Indian
path referred to, led along the general course of the dotted
line shown in Reed's map of 1686 to the forks of the Raritan.
One of the branches of the path followed the course of the river
into Hunterdon county, which was at that time a wilderness in-
habited only by the Indians.
A more direct route of the road up Raritan was opened up
later which crossed from the old settlement of Piscataway to
the settlement at Bound Brook. And certainly by 1686, settlers
were finding their way by this route or an even more direct
route, from settlements on the west side of the north branch
to attend church at Woodbridge. These settlers had located on
the tract of Lord Neil Campbell at the forks of the Raritan and
along the west side of the north branch. And it seems very
probable that in their route they passed through the settlement
along Cedar Brook to the eastward of the present Plainfield.
Here there was an early Scotch settlement. Among those settled
here was Robert FuUerton, who writing to his brother on Jan-
uary 7, 1685, says :
"Since that time (the date of his last letter Nov. 1684) we have
possessed our Selves in the above mentioned plan 11 miles from New
Perth, four from Raritan northward and 12 from Elizabeth town; we
have the honor to be the first Inland planters in this part of America,
for the former Settlements have been by the river sides, which are all
possessed by the Quit renters: which I would have grudge at had I
not found the goodness of the land upwards will countervail! the trouble
of transportation to the water."
In March, 1685, he writes to his brother :
"We have chosen our chief Plantation and yours two miles further
up Country close under the blew mountains" (Watchung).
Thomas Gorden writing from Cedar Brook, February 16, 1684,
in a letter intended for George Alexander, Advocate, Edinburgh,
says :
690 THE OLD YORK ROAD
"There are eight of us settled here within hah' a mile or a mile' of
each other, and about 10 miles from the town of New Perth or Amboy
point, so that I can come or go in a day either on foot or horseback,
viz: Robert and Thomas Fullertouns, James Johnston of Spottswood,
John Forbes, John Barclay, Doctor John Gordon his servants, Andrew-
Alexander and myself."
James Johnston writing from his plantation at Blew Hills says :
"There is a Flee by the salt marshes most troublesome in sum-
mer, but it is not so in the uplands." Thus he refers to the mos-
quito one of the original inhabitants of East Jersey. Referring
to Reed's map we may find the plantations of Fullerton, Forbes
and others along the upper reaches of Green brook and Bound
brook at the foot of the "Blew Hills." And along this course
when the stage coaches began their operation along the Old York
road in 1769, they journeyed over this route from Bound Brook
to Elizabethtow^n. The early course of the road is very in-
definite. In the year of 1720 William Sharp and John Campbell
both residents on Lord Neill's plantation in 1686 made the fol-
lowing despositions.
"William Sharp of Woodbridge in the County of Middlesex in the
Province of New Jersey, yeoman, aged about fifty-seven years, maketh
oath on ye Holy Evangelists of Almighty God that he thus deposeth,
from one thousand six hundred and eighty-six (1686) that he settled
upon the north side of ye Raritan River near the meeting of North and
South branches, he used yt road which was commonly called and es-
teemed the highway said to have been laid out by the authority of ye
government of the province of New Jersey. During the nine years
that he lived there, the highway led from Bound Brook near to Mr.
Giles house, through the land late in the tenor of John Rudyard, and so
behind the improved land of Capt. Coddington, Mr. White, and ye other
inhabitants unto ye North Branch of ye said river, to the upper end
of a plantation on ye west side thereof.
William Sharp, April 29, 1720."
"John Campbell of Piscatua in the; county of Middlesex in the province
of New Jersey, aged about fifty eight years maketh deposition on the
Holy Evangelists of Almighty God that in the year of our Lord 1686,
this deponent was coming down Raritan river with several of the ser-
vants of Lord Neil Campbell going to Woodbridge meeting. There
being no way this deponent knew but through the enclosure of Mr.
John White, deceased, they were stopt by Mr. White by his gate for
some little time, but then not before this deponent and other servants
returned. Ye said Mr. White went to Amboy to Governor Lowry and
complained against them, who were called before the said Governor
Lowry, and answered they knew no other wav. The Governor said
THE OLD YORK ROAD 691
there should be a way to go up the country clear of Mr. White and the
other inhabitants improvements. Accordingly, before this deponent,
with others aforesaid, went up the way marked out, leading from Bound
Brook near Mr. Giles house, through the lands late in tenure of Mr.
John Rudyard, behind the rear of all the improved lands behind his
fields, and so several inhabitants on the said Raritan River, to the North
Branch thereof, at or near the upper end of a plantation on the west
side of the said branch belonging to Peter Van Voste (Neste), and that
during the space of nine years that said deponent lived up the Raritan
and South Branch thereof, he always understood that to be ye highway
laved out by ye authority of ye government of East Jersey.
John Campbell, April 29, 1720."
"Peter Van Nest of the County of Somerset in the provice of New
Jersey yeoman aged about sixty years, Maketh Oath on the Holy
Evangelists of Almighty God that this deponent to the best of his knowl-
edge, in the year 1686, Hendrick Cosendal and William Richardson
came to this deponent's house and told him that by order of Governor
Lowry, the Governor of East New Jersey, they had been marking out
a way leading from Mr. Codrington's' land behind the improved land
of Mr. White and so leading across a brook called by the name of the
deponent, Peters brook, near the place where he hath since erected a
grist mill, and continuing behind the improved lands belonging to the
inhabitants to the North Branch of Raritan River near to a place
whereon William Dunlap then lived, which is near to the upper end of
a plantation on the west side of the said branch belonging to the said
deponent. Some time after in the time when Col. Hamilton was Gov-
ernor of East Jersey this deponent was chosen overseer of ye highways
by ye inhabitants of Somerset, and according to ye law or custom of
ye said province of East Jersey he called ye inhabitants of Somerset
together and repaired yi said highway from Bound Brook to that
place, on ye north Branch aforesaid, and that ye said highw^ay con-
tinued without any alteration, so far as deponent knoweth until within
this four or two years that Jacob Rapeties fenced in part thereof, and
further this deponent sayeth not.
Peter Van Neste, Jurat Coremus, Wm. Eier, April ye 29th 1720."
(Snells History of Hunterdon and Somerset Co.)
The bridge across Bound brook was authorized in 1728 and in
the act reference is made to the road leading from Piscattaway
to Bound Brook in the following words :
"And it is further enacted by the Authority aforesaid that as soon
as may be convenient after the publication of this act there shall be a
bridge built over the Bound Brook in the most commodious place on the
north east side of the road as it lies from Piscataway in the county of
Middlesex up Raritan River; which bridge shall be built, rebuilt and
amended at the equal expense of the county of Middlesex aforesaid
and the two upper precincts of the county of Somerset."
692 THE OLD YORK ROAD
It was not "convenient" however for the bridge to be built
until 1731 and a little pressure had to be brought to bear by a
supplementary act, providing "pains and penalties" for those per-
sons who refused to perform the duties thus imposed upon them.
The road to Piscattaway led. according to Deshler, from Piscat-
taway through Metuchen, to New Market to Bound Brook.
Fragments of the old Raritan road from Elizabethtown still
exist passing to the eastward of Westfield and Plainfield, through
which towns the stage coaches later passed. A part of this old
Raritan road so called, from Willow Grove to iVlton and Avon
Park may still be traced. There is however a paucity of informa-
tion as to how our ancestors traveled to New York over that
part of the Old York road from Bound Brook. The eflforts of
the Scotch proprietors were all directed toward making Perth
Amboy the principal town of East Jersey, and it is quite natural
that they should lay their roads in that direction. Such a course
would have been acceptable to the many emigrants that came
from Long Island who could cross at Billop ferry to Staten Is-
land and across the island to ferry the Narrows to Gravesend.
Lawrie never lived in Perth Amboy, but continued to reside in
Elizabethtown until his death in 1687, notwithstanding the ex-
pressed wish of the proprietors that he remove to Perth Amboy.
Later governors, however, did reside in Amboy.
John Reading, Jr., describes in his diary, a trip to Elizabeth-
town from his father's house in Amwell. But he did not take
the course down the Raritan road. In April. 1715, he with
others, left his father's house at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, reach-
ing Solomon Davis house on the South Branch of the Raritan
between 8 and 9 that evening. They left the house of Solomon
Davis at 11 o'clock next morning, went to the North Branch of
Raritan as far as And. Denike's house, thence across to Jacob
Peat's house on Passiac, arriving there at 8 o'clock. From
thence they followed that river to the road leading from Whip-
paning to Elizabethtown.
It was not until the year 1764 that we hear much more about
that part of the old road through Somerset county, and at that
time it was relaid jointly by surveyors of Hunterdon and Som-
erset counties. There were also active measures taken the fol-
lowering year, 1765, for opening the road from Powles Hook, to
THE OLD YORK ROAD 693
Newark, and in 1769, the first stage coaches were advertised to
go over the "Old York road" from Powles Hook to Newark to
EHzabethtown to Bound Brook to the North Branch of Raritan,
to Coryell's Ferry to Crooked Billet to Philadelphia.
Before 1764 much difficulty had been experienced keeping the
Raritan road open until action was taken by a Board of Justices
and Freeholders of Somerset county. (Road Book No. 1, pp. 63
and 64.) Among the surveyors at that time were Richard Hol-
combe who resided at Coryell's Ferry, Abraham Prall who resided
between Ringoes and Reaville, then called Manners Tavern, and
later Greenville, and four others of Hunterdon county, namely,
Samuel Barnhardt, Benew Dunham, Henry Traphangen and
Andrew Emas. Thus they recite in part their action :
"Whereas it hath been found by many years experience that that
part of the Raritan Road, so called, on the north side of Raritan River
leading from North Branch of said river down the same to Bound
Brook, hath been subject to Sundry disputes and difficulties attending
thereto, and in order for remedy, v^^hereof application hath been made
by the inhabitants of Bridgewater, in Somerset County, to us whose
names are underwritten and subscribed, being twelve surveyors for
roads and highways for the time being, six of us residing in the County
of Somerset aforesaid, and being legally chosen for that purpose and
the other six residing in the adjacent county Hunterdon, and being also
legally chosen for that purpose aforesaid, that the said road, being dis-
advantageous to the oner and oners the lands through which it passes,
praying the same may be altered and regulated by us said surveyors at
our discretion, and after public notice thereof advertised for at least
twenty days agreeable to law in such cases made and provided, we the
surveyors above cited, having met on the premises for the same purpose
and after hearing the grievances and allegations of the inhabitants afore-
said, do agree, and pursuant to the power and authority given to us by
law of the province of New Jersey and in discharge of our duty to alter
and regulate the said road we do determine and herein certify that the
said road shall run and be continued as a public four yard road as fol-
loweth: — viz: —
Beginning at the Bridge by the mouth of the north branch of said
Raritan River b}^ the foot or east end of said bridge, on the east side of
said branch, and from thence to run down said road x x x x to a sign
post of Garret Garrison; thence x x x x to a black oak tree; thence
X X X X to a white oak tree near said John Biggs; thence x x x x to
Garret Roebooms line; thence to the line of land belonging to Jacob
Vanostrandth Esq.; so continuing said course north x x x to the black-
smith-shop now belonging to said Vanostrandth to land of Samuel
Staats Coejmans, Esq., and so continuing the said course x x x x to
694 THE OLD YORK ROAD
Jonathan Runyans line and so continuing to the line of Cornelius
Middaugh; thence x x x x to Geo. Middagh's line; then x x x x to
the gate of the parsonage land of the Dutch congregation now in
tenure and occupation of the Rev'd Mr. Hardenberge, and so continu-
ing running x x x x to Phillip Tunisons line; thence south to Fritts'
Hotel to Peters Brook, so called, thence x x x x to the line of Derrick
Van Vetchens land; thence x x x x to Cornelius Van Homes land,
thence on the same course x x x x to a road leading to Cornelius Van
Horn's dwelling house, thence x x x x to Middle Brook; thence x x x x
to the house of Benjamin Harris; thence x x x x to the middle of Bound
Brook stone bridge.
In testimony whereof we, the surveyors aforesaid, have hereunto set
our hands this thirtieth day of June, Anno Domini, one thousand seven
hundred and sixty-four, and in the fourth of His A'[ajestye"s reign.
William Lane Samuel Barnhardt
Peter Dumont Benew Dunham
Garret Voorhees Henry Traphagen
Peter Van Pelt Andrew Emaus
Benjamin Taylor Abraham Prall
Samuel Brinton Richard Holcombe
Surveyors for Somerset. Surveyors for Hunterdon.
Recorded the 30th day of June 1765.
(Snells History of Hunterdon and Somerset Co.)
The Old York road through Amwell may be traced from the
"bridge at the mouth of the north branch," which was a site of
one of the earliest settlements in Somerset county being a part
of lot 23 of the Elizabethtown Bill in Chancery, and purchased
by Andrew Hamilton, October 13, 1687. Just above the mouth
of the North Branch there was a small island. In 1733 a bridge
was built from the east shore to this island, and from the island
to the west shore, which gave the name "Two Bridges," to the
community. The island was long since swept away. In 1706 a
tract there of two hundred and seventy-five acres w^as in posses-
sion of Solomon Davis. John Reading in his diary during 1715
and 1716 mentions stopping at Davis's house on the way to or
from Elizabethtown. Solomon Davis sold his land to Andreas
Ten Eyck in 1716 and removed to the Delaware river near Minis-
sink island where John Reading speaks of again visiting him in
1719. From that point the path led toward the Indian village of
Mensalockanke, near High Bridge. But near the junction of the
North and South branches a path branched ofif toward what is
now Centreville on Pleasant Run. PJeasant Run was early
known as Campbell's Brook and is the boundary between Somer-
TIIF. OI.l) VOKK R0A11 695
set and Hunterdon counties. This brook falls into the South
Branch about two miles from that point. Along the Raritan
water-shed are two Indian village sites of importance. These are
Tukaramahacking at the junction of the North and South
branches, and Racahvawalaby at Bound Brook. Prof. Philhower
traces the trail up the Raritan as passing through Metochan,
Managueskake village, at New Market, thence at Matape's wig-
wam at Rackahackwae to the mouth of Middle Brook, thence to
Rackawackahack at Manville, thence to Matanique Island and
Tuckaramahacking up the Neshanic river to Wisomancy (Wis-
helemensy) at Rocktown and thence to Nissalamonca at Lambert-
ville.
In 1745 Am well township appointed separate overseers for
each of the main roads in the township, called the Swamp road,
the River road, the Raritan road and the York road. William
Hixson and Johannes Williamson were overseers for the York
road. On September 28, 1734, a road was laid out from the
South branch of Raritan river to the Delaware, which appears to
have run to Howell's ferry. The earliest supervisors of high-
ways of which we have record in Amwell township dates from
1721, when among the officers of Hunterdon county, George
Green and John Holcombe were appointed the surveyors of high-
ways for Amwell township. There has been a growing popula-
tion throughout the Jerseys.
Hunterdon county increased in growth rapidly. In 1727 a
sherifif's census taken for Governor Burnet reported a population
of 2),2)77 . Burlington county at that same time having a popula-
tion of 4,039, the largest in the province. A report to the board
of trade in 1738, showed an increase in Hunterdon county to 5,533
having by then exceeded the population of Burlington county
whose reported population was 5,238.
By 1745 after Morris county with 4,436 inhabitants had been
separated from the Hunterdon county, there still remained a
population of 9,151, the largest county in point of population
within the state. By 1790 she still maintained the lead of all other
counties with 20,153 inhabitants. By 1800 she dropped to fourth
place, her three competitors were however within only a few hun-
dred above her. Essex county took the lead in 1830 passing a
full 10,000 over her two nearest competitors, Burlington and
696 THE OLD YORK ROAD
Hunterdon, between which two counties there was only a differ-
ence of forty-seven.
FERRIES.
One great obstacle to travel in the early days was the ferries.
Those across the smaller rivers were bad enough, but the exposed
trip to reach New York by water from Amboy, added much to
the hazard. The boats used for ferry purposes were compara-
tively small, adapted only for the carrying of passengers, were
propelled by hand or sail, and weather, tide and season all had
to be considered.
As to the ferries to accommodate the Old York road during
the very early period of its existence, we may assume that in
1712 when the road was first organized, that John Reading pro-
vided some means of crossing the Delaware. He had previous
experience as a ferryman in Gloucester, having secured the li-
cense for the ferry from Gloucester to Wicaco in 1695. There
is no evidence to indicate that there was a ferryman on the
Pennsylvania side opposite his landing until Joseph Mitchell
settled there in 1765 many years later. Certainly John Wells
began to operate his ferry by 1717, three miles below the Reading
landing, which was certainly the popular ferry for many years
thereafter. By 1730 the upper York road, on Pennsylvania side,
was in disuse and though Daniel Howell, the son-in-law of Colonel
John Reading, was endeavoring to obtain a license for reestab-
lishing the old ferry, there was much opposition, by certain parties
in each of the provinces. It was not until October 25, 1746, that
Benjamin Howell, a son of Daniel Howell, obtained a patent for
a ferry at that place, from the Province of New Jersey. (AAA
of Commissions, p. 264), and even then the ferry was not the
favored route. Certainly after 1726, the Wells ferry route main-
tained a ferryman on each side of the river. There is a map of
Buckingham township. Pa., prepared in 1726 on which the "York
road falsely socalled" is laid down. The words "falsely so
called" might indicate that the road was not a popular route to
New York in those days. Inions ferry at New Brunswick, and
the several ferries at Perth Amboy, to New York, to Staten Is-
land and to South Amboy were all established before 1711.
The bridge across the Millstone to accommodate the Amwell road
THE OLD YORK ROAD 697
was not built before 1720, and to get to Powles Hook from
Newark, both the Hackensack and Passiac rivers and several
miles of swamp had to be crossed.
In the year of 1765 an act passed the New Jersey Assembly
for laying a road from Newark to the public road from Bergen
Point to Paulus Hook on Hudson's river, and for establishing
ferries across the rivers Passaic and Hackensack. Daniel Og-
den, Daniel Pierson, Joseph Riggs, Jr., Nedmiah Baldwin, Es-
quires, and Joseph Hedden, Jr., Caleb Camp, Usal Ward, Joseph
Rogers, Jr., and Thomas Brown, of Bergen, were appointed
trustees to lay out the road and erect the ferries over Passiac and
Hackensack rivers. They were empowered to raise donations for
that purpose not in excess of £5,000; to build ferry houses; and
make causeways, and the owners of the soil would be pennitted
to keep the ferries should they please, the governor and his
retinue to be privileged to pass the ferry free of charge. Within
four years of that act stage coaches were operating over the Old
York road to Philadelphia and continued up to the time that
travel by stage came to an end. Powles Hook developed rapidly.
By 1804 upwards of twenty stages a day arrived and departed
from that point.
In 1802 there were but fifteen persons living on the Hook. In
1829 it was incorporated as Jersey City, and is now (1924) the
second largest city in New Jersey with a population of 300,000,
Powles Hook, or Paulus Hook, provided a ferry immediately
opposite to New York without the necessity of the long water
journey from the East Jersey Capitol to Perth Amboy.
When the ferry was opened to Powles Hook in 1764 the landing
at New York was on property of Abraham Mesier and the land-
ing at Powles Hook was managed by Michael Cornelison. The
old road from the ferry ran to Bergen hill, thence across the
Hackensack river, through the marsh to Passaic river at the old
plank road bridge, thence up the neck and Ferry street into
Newark.
The stage coach when it began its operation in 1769, proceeded
from Powles Hook through Newark, and Elizabethtown to
Bound Brook, thence to Obadiah Taylor's house on the South
branch of Raritan, thence to Coryell's Ferry, thence through
Crooked Billet to Philadelphia. The advertisement for the first
698 Till-: OLD YORK ROAD
Stage coach appeared simultaneously in the New York and the
Philadelphia newspapers. I'he following advertisements as they
appeared in each newspaper are quoted. It will be noticed that
the route is called even at that early date, the Old York road.
PENN CHRONICLE
Sept. 18-25-1769
Phila. Sept. 25, 1769.
THE NEW STAGE
To New York on the Old York Road.
Sets out tomorrow 26th inst. from the sign Bunch of Grapes in Third
St. at Sunrise, proceeds by Crooked Billet, Coryell's Ferry, Bound
Brook, Newark and from thence to Powles Hook opposite to New York.
It will set out regularly every Tuesday Morning during the Winter
Season; perform the journey from Philadelphia to Powles Hook in
Two Days and exchange passengers at the South Branch of the Raritan
at the house of Obadiah Taj^or formerly kept l)y Daniel Seaburn, on
Wednesday morning, when one stage returns to Philadelphia and the
other to Prowles Hook. Each Passenger to pay 10 shillings from
Philadelphia to the South Branch and 10 shillings from the South
Branch to Powles Hook, ferriage free, and three pence per mile for any
distance between, and goods at the rate of twenty shillings per hundred
weight from Philadelphia to New York.
That part of the country is very pleasant; the distance and goodness
of the road not inferior to any from this to New York. There is but
one ferry from this to Newark. The road is thickly settled by a num-
ber of wealthy farmers and merchants who promise to give every en-
couragement possible to the stage. And as the principal proprietors
of the stage live on the road, the best usage may be expected.
NEW YORK GAZETTE OR WEEKLY POST BOY
October 2, 1769
(View of a stage drawn by four horses.)
A new stage is now erected to go from New York to Philadelphia
by way of Powles Hook, from thence through Newark and Elizabeth-
town to Bound Brook, and the North Branch of Raritan, to Coryell's
ferry the only ferry between Newark and Philadelphia, noted for its
shortness and conveniency over the River Delaware. This Road is
known by the name of the Old York Road through the finest, most
pleasant and best inhabited part of New Jersey. It is. proposed to set
off from Powles Hook every Tuesday' Morning by Sun-rise; for which
reason Passengers should cross the ferry at Powles Hook the evening
before and on Tuesday Evening to meet the Philadelphia Wagon at
the South Branch of Raritan where there is accomadations for Travel-
ers. The wagon from Philadelphia sets out also on every Tuesday
THE OLD YORK ROAD 699
Morning from Joshua F. Davenport's sign of the Bunch of Grapes on
Third Street and proceeds over Coryell's Ferry to the South Branch
of Raritan v^'here they meet the Newark Waggon and exchange their
fare there, each Waggon returns to the place they set out from by
Wednesday Evening. In this stage there are but three ferries in the
whole to be passed and the Roads in general good. The price for
each Passenger from Powles Hook to Philadelphia will be Twenty
Shillings Proc. or Ten Shillings to each Waggon, ferriage to the Pas-
sengers free. Any goods will be carried in Proportion to their Weight
and Bulk and as there will be but two drivers there will be less danger
of Mistake and all possible Care shall be taken that Justice be done the
Public that shall please to employ.
their very humble servants
Joseph Crane
Sept. 25, 1769. Joshua F. Davenport
Here is the promise to make the trip across New Jersey in two
days. Before the year 1733 travel across New Jersey was a pre-
carious undertaking. DeHman's wagon, in Governor Hamilton's
time, was an uncertain factor. Cornbury's license to Hugh
Huddy. who made the trip once each fortnight, was considered a
monopoly. When Franklin made his trip in 1723 he walked from
South Amboy to Burlington and his whole trip from New York
consumed a little over five days. When the regular stage coaches
were started in 1733, once each week, the journey lasted three or
more days depending upon weather and the elements, the trip
being made from Burlington to Amboy. In 1738 the Trenton-
Brunswick stage made the trip twice each week and the wagon
seats were provided with springs and the top covered so that
the passengers might "sit easy and dry." Joseph Borden started
the Bordentown route from what was formerly known as Farnes-
worth's landing, in 1740, and it was a three-day trip. Then in
1766 John Barnhill and John Masherew (Mersereau) gave notice
that from xA.pril 14th to November 14 that year they purposed to
operate "flying machines" which would perform the journey in
two days making the trip twice each week. The Nczv York Post
Boy, of 1768, calls attention to the fact that, with two wagons
and four sets of horses, persons might then go from New York
to Philadelphia and back in five days, and remain two nights and
one day in Philadelphia." (W^m. H. Benedict, Proc. N. J. Hist.
Soc. Vol. VII.) This was a wild and hectic journey for those
days and it cost 20 shillings each way. This in brief was the
700 THE OLD YORK ROAD
Status of Stage travel when in 1769, they began operation over
the Old York road. During the revolutionary period the stage
travel over the road was discontinued, but even when resumed it
was still practically a two-day journey. The advertisement of
1827 over that route shows a four-horse coach, housed in with
baggage on the rear like the old English Oxford coaches. They
left Philadelphia three times each week at 8 A. M. of one day,
passing through Lambertville, Flemington to Centerville on the
border of Hunterdon county, where they stopped for the night.
The next morning they were away early for Somerville, Bound
Brook, Plainfield, Elizabethtown, arriving in New York about
2 P. M. The through fare being $3.50. Bridges were a great
convenience. We have already seen that there was a bridge
across the Raritan North Branch in 1764 and also at Bound
Brook when the Old York road was opened. The act to build
the bridge across Delaware "At Joseph Lambert's formerly
Coryell's ferry," passed the New Jersey legislature in 1809. (34
Sec. 1 Sit Statutes 176.)
The earliest roads through the Jersies and Pennsylvania wxre
wilderness trails used by the Indians, and though when first laid
out were marked by the surveyors and overseers as of greater
width, were frequently little more than foot paths. The Old
York road through New Jersey was an Indian trail of this char-
acter. Along the Raritan river, reference is made to this trail
in Codrington's deeds, and also in the memorandum of those who
laid out the road. Near the head of the South branch of the
Raritan was the Indian village of Tamarmahacking and from
there a path led to the Indian village at Wishelemensey not far
from the site of Ringoes. There another Indian path crossed,
which came up from the Falls of Delaware. From Wishelemen-
sey the path led to the Delaware, which it crossed. On the Penn-
sylvania side of the river, near the upper branch of the Old York
road and on the Croasdale tract .was located the Indian town
Tcoqueminsey. And thence the path was directed through the
Indian plantations at Lahaska now Buckingham. From there
the path led to Neshaminy and down that stream was the Indian
village of Playwicky. Over New Jersey was a veritable net work
of path or trails leading to the old settlements. Taverns and
mills appeared early along these old paths or trails.
THE OLD YORK ROAD 701
Of the mills of greater importance along the Old York road
soon leaving Philadelphia, one came to the governor's mill,
built in 1701. Further along the road at present Ogontz
was Shoemaker's mill. At Round Meadow near the Old
York road was the Parry mill built in 1731. There is an old map
among the Smith manuscript (Vol. II, p. 158) at Ridge way Li-
brary, it being a resurvey of a part of the Moreland Manor,
made for Samuel Preston More in 1745. This map shows a
short section of the York road with Thomas Parry's mill near
by, on a branch of Pennypack creek. At the Pennypack there is
an old stone mill built in 1724. The next mill is located at Bridge
Valley on the Neshaminy. At New Hope there was the Heath
mill and the Atkinson mill, later called the New Hope mill. On
the New Jersey side of the Delaware, was Benjamin Smith's two
mills called the Prime Hope mills. About four miles from the
ferry on the Alexauken was another mill belonging to Benjamin
Smith. That mill is a very old one having been rebuilt before
1752, at which date it was advertised for sale in The Pennsyl-
vania Gaactte, No. 1234. There were mills along the South
Branch of Raritan not far from Three Bridges, and one of those
was the old Holcomb mill later used as the Flemington Water
Works. Mills were also located not far from the bridge near the
forks of the Raritan, the V^an Home and the Leake mills. The
Van Nest mill was located in the present village of Somerville.
All these mills had their influence upon the development of the
old road.
TAVERNS.
Mention has already been made of the license of Peter Jergou
who kept an ordinary at Lazy or Lasse point near the end of Bur-
lington Island as early as September 10, 1688, and about him was
a small settlement. When Danker and Sluyter passed through
Burlington in 1679, as we have already seen, they arrived after
dark and as no lodging could be obtained in the "ordinary tavern"
they went back to Lazy Point and lodged with Jacob Hendricks.
Some of the early tavern keepers or innholders of Burlington
before the year of 1700, were Abraham Senior (1688), Richard
Bassnet and Henry Grubb (1697.) At Salem bounds Fopp
Jansen Outhout had received his license to keep an ordinary as
702 THE OLD YORK ROAD
early as March 25, 1669. Some of the early tavern keepers of
Salem were William Hull and his wife Elizabeth (1692), Ben-
jamin Acton (1694), Michael Hall (1702) and James Ridley
(1705). At Perth Amboy some of the early tavern holders were,
Robert Cole and Samuel Gibson who had ordinarys there as
early as 1688. Robert Cole and his wife Mary (widow of Ed-
ward Walton) had come to Jersey in 1684 as indentured servants
of the Scott's proprietors for four years and four years later we
find him buying land in Perth Amboy (1688) giving as his oc-
cupation, an innholder. In 1700 Cole and his wife were witnesses
to the will of Mary Inions, wife of John Inions who kept the
ferry and tavern at New Brunswick. Other innholders here were
John Hooks, 1694, and English Smith. Travelers passing be-
tween Philadelphia and New York have left us mention of the
houses where they stopped. Colonel Potter of Virginia on July
18, 1690, upon reaching the region of the Falls of Delaware
stopped at Mr. Penn's (at Pennbury), and lodged at Mr. Wheel-
er's (Gilbert Wheeler) who resided on the Pennsylvania side.
Danker and Sluyter in 1679 stopped at the house of Henry Green-
land at Raritan river and at the house of the miller (Mahlon
Stacy), on the west side of Delaware. Colonel Potter when he
crossed the river, hired a horse and guide hoping to reach Eliza-
bethtown that night, but he got no further than "Onions" (John
Inions) at Brunswick. On the twentieth he reached Elizabeth-
town and lodged there with Colonel Richard Townley. Some
travelers also mention stopping at the house of Henry Green-
land who lived the opposite side of Raritan to John Inions. At
Woodbridge, Richard Powell kept an inn in 1689, and Benjamin
Donham by 1706 or before. As for occupation, the early tavern
holders perhaps did not make a living from tavern keeping
alone. Many of them like Gilbert Wheeler, and John Inions,
were occupied with a ferry and a large plantation. Benjamin
Acton of Salem called himself a weaver by occupation, and he
also acted as a surveyor for the Penn interests, making the
greater part of their surveys in Salem bounds. Henry Grubb was
a butcher and market-keeper. As late as 1783 Dr. Johann Schoepf
a surgeon of the Ansbach troops recites an experience which
shows the versatile accomplishments of some of those old inn-
holders.
THE OLD YORK KOAI) 703
"From Boundbrook we came to a mountain where Washington's
Army encamped in 1779 and farther through an extremely well culti-
vated region over the Millstone river. In the Raritan a law compels
millers to leave a 40-yard passage way over the dams during the run-
ning of shad, which formerly came up Raritan in numberless schools.
In the tavern at Black Horse we found quarters for the night. The
landlord told us he was a weaver, a shoemaker, a farmer, a farrier, a
gardener, and when it can't be helped, a soldier. 'I bake my bread,
brew my beer, kill mj' pigs, grind my axe and knives. I build those
stalls and that shed and I am barber leach and doctor.' The man was
everything at no expense of a license." (Schoepfs' Travels in the Con-
federation.)
In another part of his journal he makes reference to the curios-
ity of some of the early innholders, as does likewise Andrew
Barnaby writing in 1759. "At the inn at Brunswick," writes
Schoepf, "nothing was to be had till it was known where we came
from and wither we were bound. I asked for a room and the
woman of the house bade me in a most indifferent manner 'to
be patient'," and further, "Six miles from Princetown we came
at JNIaidenhead ( Lawrenceville) of five or six houses. After
sunset we arrived at Trenton. There the landlord permitted us
to go to bed unquestioned, being not yet done with several other
guests arrived shortly before. The taverns on the way were in
other respects very good, clean, well supplied and served." To
illustrate the curiosity of the innkeeper, both Andrew Barnaby,
1759, and Dr. Schoepf, 1783, tell a story about Benjamin Frank-
lin which was frequently told in those days. Because Franklin
could not get served until the curiosity of all concerned was fully
satisfied, it was his custom to assemble the landlord, mistress,
sons, daughters, men-servants and maid-servants and thus ad-
dress them :
â– 'Worthy people, I am Benjamin Franklin of Philadelphia, by trade
a printer, and batchelor. I have some relatives in Boston to whom I
am going to make a visit; my stay will be short, and I shall then re-
turn and follow my business as a prudent man ought to. This is all I
know of mj'self and all I can possibly inform you of. I beg therefore
you will have pity on me and my horse and give us both refreshment."
(W. H. Benedict, Proc. N. J. Hist. Soc, Vol. V.)
Until about the year 1750, travel by stage coach was not a very
extensive occupation. Much of the travel was done by horse
l)ack, and goods were often conveyed in the suggan saddle or by
704 THE OLD ^OKK KOAD
pannier. Wagons, however, were advertised "whenever freight
presents." Thus the American Weekly Mercury of February 18-
25, 1729, offers :
"The Plantation called Redford's Ferry (South Amboy) over against
Amboy is to be lett, with a good dwelling House, Kitchen, and Stable,
Scow and Canew. Any Person that has a mind to hire it, may applv
himself to Gabriel Stelle, who lives at the said place and agree to Rea-
sonable terms:
N.B. There is also a Stage Waggon kept at the said ferry for trans-
porting of Passengers and goods from thence to Burlington, and doth
attend whenever Freight presents."
And at EHzabethtown, the other terminus of the road across
New Jersey at about this time we find an offering made to the
male sex in the Nezv York Gazette of October 16, 1732 :
"There is good entertainment for Men and Horses and Horses to let
at all times by William Donaldson at the Rose and Crown in Elizabeth
Town, New Jersey."
Acts regulating ordinary or taverns passed the New Jersey
Assembly in 1709 and in 1719, the latter, an act to restrain
tavern keepers and retailers of strong drink from crediting any
person more than 10 shillings. Previous to this time in 1677 the
East Jersey proprietors authorized "ordinary keepers" to charge
strong liquors by the gill not to exceed 10 s. 8 d. per gallon ; per
quart 2 s. 6 d. ; good wine 7 s. per gallon ; cider 4 d. per quart ;
and, meals each 8 d. ; oats 9 d. per day ; pasture by week in sum-
mer 1 s. 6 d. ; and in winter 1 s. 8 d. The act passed March 15,
1738-9, provided that thereafter licenses should not be issued by
the justices, but by the Court of Quarter Sessions: Innkeepers
were prohibited from gaming or allowing others to game. They
paid 6 shillings or more for their license, which v.'as good for one
year, and the clerks of the court furnished the constables with
lists of those so licensed. The constables were required to visit
the taverns and report to the courts and were further empowered
to make a search and prosecute oft'enders. Any tavern keeper
entertaining or harboring an apprentice, white servant, Indian,
mulatto or negro servant or slave was liable to a fine of 20
shillings for the first offense and 40 shillings for the second. The
Justices of the Sessions had the right to fix the prices of liquors,
and entertainment for man and horse. They were not to trust,
or to permit persons to misspend their time nor to take a bill of
THE OLD YORK ROAD 705
liquors sold or drank in excess of 10 shillings. Furthermore they
were assessed yearly for the relief of the poor not less than 40
shillings or more than 3 pounds. In 1751 another act was passed
prohibiting the sale of strong liquor to servants, negroes, and mu-
latto slaves and to prevent their meeting in large companies, from
running about nights, and from hunting or carrying a gun on the
Lord's day.
Mails of that early period were carried largely by boats or post-
riders. In the year of 1709 an act passed the Assembly for the
encouragement of postoffices. Only fragmentary information is
given as to who carried the mails. (See Groivth of Our Postal
Facilities, by Wm. H. Benedict, Proc. N. J. Hist. Soc, Vol. VII,
No. 3, p. 217.) There is a will of one David Bissett of Perth
Amboy, a shoemaker, dated February, 1727, who in a codicil
made certain provisions "if my son John should follow my Buse-
ness of Riding post." In 1733 letters were left at the house of
James Nelson in New Brunswick. And the American Weekly
Mercury of September 5-12, 1734, announcement is thus made:
"Public notice is hereby given that there is now a Post Office settled
at Trenton at the house of Joseph Reed Esq.; his son Andrew Reed
being appointed Post Master where all persons may have their letters
if directed for that county: also where they may put in their letters di-
rected any Parts and due care will be taken of them, the said Andrew
Reed having qualified himself for that office."
And this office served Amwell township for a great many years.
Up to the year 1800 we find the names of Amwell residents ad-
vertised as having undelivered letters at the Trenton office. And
in the very early days the posts did not go with speed. Their ir-
regularity is noted by a New York paper in 1704 wherein it is
announced "Our Philadelphia Post is a week behind and not yet
com'd in."
Wagons were scarce. The tax lists show very few vehicles.
In Philadelphia in 1697 there were only thirty carts and other
wheeled vehicles. In 1717 when John Holcombe and Samuel
Green made a list of the property of John Reading they listed
one Wagon and Cart, valued at seven pounds. Mr. Nelson has
referred to the homemade wagon of Simon Van Winkle (1719)
without tires as being one of the early carts of Pompton Valley.
(Proc. N. J. Hist. Soc. Vol. V, p. 130.) In Bucks county, Thomas
706 THE OLD YORK ROAD
Canby, Richard Norton, Joseph Large, Thomas Gilbert, and per-
haps a few more had wagons before 1745. John Wells was the
only person who had a riding chair. From then on to 1750 a few
two-horse wagons were introduced. The inventory of property
of William Logan of Readington, N. J., in 1747 lists among
other items one "pleasure slay." Pennsylvania developed a wagon
about that time known as the "Conestoga" wagon. Its bed was
curved to prevent the shifting of its freight over the hilly roads.
At the solicitation of General Braddock, Benjamin Franklin in
1755 advertised for one hundrded and fifty wagons to assist
Braddock in his expedition and supplied them too By 1761 pas-
senger vehicles began to make their appearance. "Twenty-nine
Philadelphians were the proud possessors of chairs, chariots or
other wheeled vehicles for passenger transport. The list compiled
at the time included the names of the proprietor who owned one
chariot, the widow Francis, David Franks, William Logan,
Samuel Miffin, Charles Norris, Isaac Pemberton, John Ross, a
chaise each, (this was the French vehicle that the new England-
ers spelled "shay"). There was in the city one Landau, "capital-
ized out of respect to the vehicle," as was also the single "4 Wheel
Post Chaise." In addition to the vehicles named there were
others of minor importance which compilor said were beyond his
attempt at reckoning. (Romance of Old Phila., J. T. Farris, p.
249.) By 1794 there were eight hundred and six two- or four-
wheeled coaches in Philadelphia county. (Old Roads Out of
Philadelphia, J. T. Farris, p. 24.) In the Amwell tax hst of
1790, Jasper Smith paid a tax for one phaeton. Tired travelers
in the early days arrived at the taverns after a racking journey
across the country. The seats had no back, the wagons had no
springs before 1789. Often they had no covering, the roads were
rough, the harness broke, and there were other aggravating de-
lays and exposures, which took the pleasure out of traveling. Dr.
Schoepf thus describes the New York-Philadelphia coach in 1783,
when travel was resumed after the Revolution.
"A diligence known as the Flying Machine makes daily trips between
Philadelphia and New York, covering the distance of 90 miles in one
day, even in the hottest weather, but at the expense of the horses,
only three times changed in the journey. Thus the last trip two horses
died in harness, and four others were jaded. These flying machines are
in reality only large wooden carts with tops, light to be sure, but neither
THE OLD YORK ROAD 707
convenient nor of neat appearance. They carry from ten to twelve
passengers, are drawn by four horses only, go very fast. The charge
for the journey is 5-6 Spanish dollars the passenger. (Travels in the
Confederation.)
Jansen writing of his trip from Philadelphia to New York as
late ill 1806 in his book entitled The Stranger in Auicrica, thus
describes the coach :
"The vehicle, the American State Coach, which is of like construc-
tion throughout the country, is calculated to hold twelve persons, who
sit on benches placed across with their faces toward the horses. The
front seats holds three one of whom is the driver. There are no doors
at the sides, the passengers get in over the front wheels. The first
get seats behind the rest, the most esteemed seat because you can rest
3'our shaken frame against the back part of the wagon. Women are
generally indulged with it, and it is laughable to see them crawling to
this seat. If they have to be late they have to straddle over the men
seated further in front." (Stage Coach-Tavern Days, Earle.)
But the greatest trade of the tavern came from the many
wagons engaged in transporting raw material and supplies to
the forge, the mill, the market, or the city. By the year 1760 be-
tween eight and nine thousand wagons were engaged hauling sup-
plies of various kinds to Philadelphia. Taverns began to dot
the roadsides, some of them with accommodation for one hundred
or more horses, and in the larger settlements and cross roads
more than one tavern keeper made a living.
The taverns of Philadelphia date from its earliest times, the
Blue Anchor tavern and Penny Pot tavern being the oldest of
these. But there were innumerable others taking their names
from sign boards as "The Wounded Tar," "The Top Gallant,"
"The Jolly Sailors," "The Two Sloops," "The Boatswain and
Call," all of which, as may be inferred, catered to the entertain-
ment of sailors. "The Jolly Post Boy," and other signs of this
character catered to the post. Other signs catered to the yeo-
man. One sign in an alley running from Spruce to Lock street
was called "A Man Full of Trouble." It bore a picture of a man
on whose arm a woman was leaning, and a monkey was perched
on his shoulder, and a bird, apparently a parrot stood on his
hand. The woman carried a hat box, on the top of which set a
cat. It is hard to understand what there was in this sign to lure
a man into the tavern. Signboards belong to the days w'hen
708 THE OLD YORK ROAD
servants and others could not read and needed something more
illustrative than letters which to the untutored were as unintel-
ligible as hieroglyphics. It has been suggested by someone that
a modern signboard suggesting an idea of wine, women and song
might consist of a quart bottle of wood alcohol, a trained nurse
and the hymn "Nearer, My God, to Thee."
Starting our trip at Front street at the corner of Xorris alley,
we may course along the Old York road, taking note of some of
the taverns that existed in 1769. When the first survey was made
in 1711 the York road was brought into the city at Fourth
street, but this was promptly changed the following year and the
road took the course of the old road to North \\'ales through
Germantown from the division of old Front street into the Frank-
fort and Germantown road. To the north of the lane was the
old slate roof house built by Samuel Carpenter before 1700,
occupied by \Mlliam Penn about that date. Later occupied by
James Logan, W^illiam Trent and Isaac Norris. Norris pur-
chased it in 1709 and continued to reside there until 1717 when
he removed to Fairhill. In 1764, just before the stage coaches
began their operation, the house was leased to Mrs. Graydon and
became a fashionable boarding house. Daniel Pegg's porch may
have been at Pegg street, a little street not far south of Noble
street. The Sign of the Jolly Post Boy was an inn located not
for from the junction of the York road or Germantown road and
the Frankford or Bristol road. This was the house of William
Coates located at the southwest corner of Green and Front
streets. It had been purchased from the Coates family by Gen-
eral Worrell and as a noted inn was offered for sale in the Phila-
delphia Chronical of March 21, 1758. The "Governors Mill,"
so called, stood near the present Second street and between the
present Girard avenue and Canal street. It was built in 1701 and
burned down in 1740. About 1760 it became the Globe mill for
the manufacture of mustard and chocolate and thus it was en-
gaged when the stage coaches began their operation in 1769.
On Sixth street, across from Germantown avenue, was located
the seat of Isaac Norris which he called Fairhill. He had re-
moved there in 1719. It has a famous garden and when Isaac
the elder died in 1735 it passed to his son also named Isaac, who
died in 1764. Isaac's daughter, Mary, married John Dickinson.
THE OLD YORK ROAD 709
The house was abandoned by the family during the Revolution
and was burned by the British November 1777. It was rebuilt
after the Revolution.
The Old York road leaves Germantown avenue to course on
under its old name near the old Rising Sun tavern. That tavern
was opened by Mary Davis in 1764 and was burned by the British
in 1777. Several other inns were opened later at that point, the
trafiflc coming down Germantown road from the Old Reading
road and the road from Bethlehem.
Not far from the Rising Sun for nearly a mile along the road
were the extensive grounds of Stenton. The original estate ex-
tended from the east side of Germantown road to the west side
of the Old York road. Stenton was built by James Logan about
1728. He calls himself "James Logan of Stenton" after 1732.
The mansion stands on the west end of the estate near the Ger-
mantown road.' General Howe occupied it as his headquarters
just before the Battle of Germantown. When the stage coaches
began operation in 1769 it was occupied by William Logan the
eldest son of James, and who died in 1776.
After passing the old farm of Jan Lukens came the tavern of
Widow Jenkins. Sarah Jenkins tavern in Jenkins town was
opened about 1759, and was later called "Barley Sheaf" from its
old sign board. Not far from that point was the old Abington
Meeting. It is not on the Old York road, nor does it face it,
but it was so much the life of the road and vicinity for so many
years that one can hardly afford to pass the district without noting
it. Not much further on was the sign of the Square and Com-
pass, conducted by Mary Moore in 1787. This is the third tavern
after leaving the Germantown road run by a woman. Earlier
licenses were granted in Abington to Thomas Cooper (1766),
Joseph \\'atkins (1774), Sarah Jenkins (1779). Thomas Dugan
(1779), John Phipps (1779), Stephen Meshon and Mary Moore
were both granted licenses in 1787. At Round Meadow now
Willow Grove was the old tavern built about 1732, and kept by
John Paul in 1768, then being known as the "Sign of the Wagon."
At that point the Easton road branched off toward Doylestown.
The tavern was offered for sale in 1768 by John Paul as having
a farm of one hundred and two acres and a stable to accommo-
T It is still standing- and is owned by a patriotic society.
710 THE OLD YORK ROAD
date one hundred horses. This gives an insight into the amount
of traffic that passed over the old road at this time. Joseph But-
ler (1779) and William Heaton (1786) later kept that old tavern,
it was then known as the Red Lion. It was often referred to
as "the best hostelry between Rising Run and Coryell's Ferry."
The next tavern of note was the old "Crooked Billett' located
in Hatboro. That tavern had existed since or before 1752 and
was long known as the Crooked Billet. It was so called in the
Pennsylvania Gazette October 12. 1752. John Dawson is said to
have kept the tavern at an early date. His name is on the More-
land tax list of 1734. David Reese is said to have kept the tav-
ern in 1759. In 1766 it was kept by David Lowborough. Wash-
ington stopped there in 1777 and called it the "Billet Tavern," and
here he paid a bill of dinner for his staff amounting to £20, the
bill receipted by John Tompkins is dated August 10, 1777. Tomp-
kins kept the tavern at that time. In Warminster township at
the intersection of the Street road with the Old York road is a
monument erected to John Fitch who resided near there at one
time. In 1785 he built a steamboat which he operated on a pond
near Davisville, Bucks county, and in 1788 he built the steamboat
that made several successful trips to Philadelphia and Burlington.
There was a tavern at the Cross Roads (Hartsville) from a
very early date. Thomas Linter petitioned to keep a public
house here in 1730. John Baldwin was there in 1744 and James
Vansant in 1748. In 1754 William Barnhill leased the tavern
and operated it under the license transferred from his predecessor
but when he made application for a license at the May Sessions,
1755, the court declined to give him a "recommendation" and the
tavern was without license for several months. Several numer-
ously signed petitions were presented to the court praying for the
reopening of the tavern. One was signed by nearly one hundred
persons "resident in New Jersey, the Forks of the Delaware, and
beyond" who stated they had been entertained at that hostelry for
many years, "it being the end of their first day's journey out of
Philadelphia." The court finally granted the recommendation.
Bradfords little road book of 1759 calls this point "York Road
by Griffiths." Washington in his correspondence, 1777 calls the
place "the Cross Roads." About 1780 Colonel William Hart
THE OLD YORK ROAD 711
took the tavern and continued to operate it until 1817. And from
his tenure here came the name Hartsville.
Just after one passes the Little Neshaminy is the old Washing-
ton headquarters, built about 1763. On the wall of the house
is a tablet, placed by the Bucks County Historical Society, with
the inscription : "In this house Washington had his headquar-
ters from August 10 to August 23, 1777, with 13,000 men en-
camped near. Here the Marquis de Lafayette first joined the
army."
James Ratcliffe was proprietor of a tavern at or near Jamison
in 1749. It is believed he operated a tavern both prior and after
that date at Bridge Valley, two miles further up the road where
it passes the main branch of the Neshaminy. In 1755 John Barn-
hill, the great-great-grandfather of Theodore Roosevelt, pur-
chased a tract of land including the site of Jamison tavern and
succeeded David Lindsey as the proprietor of the tavern there.
He removed to Philadelphia in 1761 and became an innkeepei
there on Second street. When George Hughes applied for
a license for the tavern at Buckingham in 1752 he stated that the
nearest tavern on the south was at Neshaminy bridge and the
nearest on the east was "Canby's at the Fen-y.'"* The old tav-
ern at Jamison has burned down though part of its walls still
stand. The old tavern at l^ridge Valley is still standing and was
remodeled last year as a summer home of a Philadelphian. Not
far from this Bridge Valley tavern was the home of Lieutenant-
Colonel William Baxter, who commanded the Bucks county Bat-
talion of the Flying Camp at the battles of Long Island and Fort
Washington in 1776, and was killed in the latter battle. The
house stands but a short distance from the abutment wall of the
bridge. At Buckingham is the famous Jamison tavern of 1763.
The tavern stood on property once owned by Thomas Canby.
Canby sold to Samuel Blaker in 1747. The first effort to obtain
a license "where one part of Durham road crosses York road that
leads from Canby's ferry (New Hope) to Philadelphia, and near
the road that leads from York road to Butler's mill and North
Whales". (The latter road led through what is now Doylestown.)
This petition was refused. Henry Jamison purchased the land
from Samuel Blaker and applied to the court for a license in
8 This was Benjamin Canby'.s at Wells Ferry now New Koije.
712 THE OLD ^'OKK ROAD
1763, and his petition was allowed. During Revolutionary time
it was known as Bogart's Inn. Bogart married Jamison's widow
and fell heir to the task of host. It is now known as the General
Green Inn.
Not far from the old inn we pass the estate of Col. Henry D.
Paxson now known as Elm Grove, and at the top of the hill
beyond stands Buckingham Meeting House. The first Bucking-
ham Meeting was commenced in 1705 and is mentioned as one
of the land-marks in laying out the Old York road. A second
was built in 1731. This was destroyed early in 1768. And the
present meeting was built to take its place and finished before the
close of the year. During the Revolutionary war it was used as
a hospital and several dead were buried on the east side of the
old road as it then coursed. Passing through the village of
Lahaska we come next to the Great Spring, a wonderful flow of
water, and further on the old home of Samuel D. Ingham, a
cabinet officer to President Jackson. The next tavern of note was
the Old John Coryell tavern at the ierry.
After crossing the river, on a seventy-one acre tract, was the
old tavern built by Emanuel Coryell, both of these Coryell taverns
have been described at length elsewhere in this volume. At the
west end of the village of Lambertville stands the old Holcomb
house, twice used by Washington as his headquarters, once in
1777 and again in 1778. In a house on Bridge street, near the
corner of Union, James W. Marshall, who discovered gold in
California, passed his boyhood days. The next tavern was one
of the oldest and most historic taverns of old Amwell, long known
as Ringoes tavern. This was located in the Field three thousand
acre tract, not far from the old Indian plantation of Wisshel-
amensy. It was at the crossing of the York road and a road
leading from the Falls of the Delaware (Trenton) through Pen-
nington. The earliest tavern keeper there w^as Theophilus Ketch-
um, who bought twenty-five acres August 25, 1726, and who
died early in 1730 and who was succeeded by Philip Ringo.
Ringo kept the tavern for many years, and was succeeded by his
son and grandson both named John Ringo. In 1779 it was kept
by Henry Mershon. The old tavern was burned down in 1840.
For many years it was the center of many of the activities of
Amwell township. After passing the tavern at Pleasant Cor-
THE OLD YORK ROAD 713
ners, where the present road turns off to Flemington, was lo-
cated the old Dutch Church, which dates to 1747 or before that
date. Across from the church are two gravestones of which we
may pause to take note. One is a large gray stone standing out
prominently over the wall which reads, "In Memory of Johann
Peter Rockefeller who came from Germany about 1723, Died
1763. He gave this land for a burial place for his family, its
descendants and his neighbors. This monument was erected in
the year 1906 by John Davidson Rockerfeller, a direct descend-
ant." The original Rockefeller farm was about one mile west of
Rocktown, or several miles away, and when Johann Peter died
he left one-half acre on this farm as a graveyard for his family
and neighbors. When the Rockefeller Family National Associa-
tion was formed the location of his farm was not accurately
known, and the stone is therefore incorrectly located. Several
stones give hint of the old Dutch settlers. One reads "Hier Ligt
Johannes Pambus ist gebohren den 12 May 1720 gestoben den
1 Sepdemper 1757 \Ym. Schulmeister Vor Lesser clergemyne
Dieser Kirchen, Amweyl." A schoolmaster, probably sexton, and
reader of the old Dutch church.
Further on down the road toward Reaville is the site of the
old Amwell First Church in the midst of the graveyard on the
left. This was on the lands of Peter Prall whose father, Aaron,
had purchased seven hundred and fifty acres along that road in
1716. Peter gave the land upon which the old church was lo-
cated. It was the first Presbyterian church of those parts, and
was attended by Governor John Reading, who upon his death
1767, presented ten pounds to purchase a silver chalice. He is
buried in the old graveyard, and a monument erected by some of
his descendants marks the site of his grave. John Reading
previously attended the old Dutch Church of Readington, where
the birth of most of his children was recorded.
At Reaville was located the old Manners tavern. John Man-
ners was an early resident of Amwell, being one of its first as-
sessors in 1729. He settled in Amwell about 1718, owning about
four hundred acres in 1728. Several John Manners resided here
during a period of the next one hundred years. \\^hen Delaware
and Raritan townships were erected from old Amwell in 1838,
one of the bounds then given was "thence southwardly along the
714 THE OLD YORK ROAD
middle of the said road (from Clover hill) to said Manners tav-
erns, now called Greenville, where it intersects the Old York
road leading to the village of Ringoes."
The next tavern along the road was at or near Three Bridges
in Readington township. It was located on a tract of two hun-
dred acres sold by Joseph Kirkbride about 1712 to Jerome Van
Est and Daniel Seabring lying partly along Campbell's Brook.
Daniel Seabring was a member of the old Readington Dutch
Church from its organization in 1719. He was a commissioner
of highways in 1726. The advertisement of the Old York road
stage coaches, published in the New York papers, state that they
will exchange passengers at the South Branch of Raritan at the
house of Obadiah Taylor, formerly kept by Daniel Seaburn
(Seabring).
Possibly John Biggs kept a tavern at the present site of Cen-
terville, at Campbell's Brook now Pleasant Run, between the
north and south branches. Biggs had located there by 1720 and
his name frequently appears in the old township records, he
built a substantial house there about 1745. After the Revolution
the stages altered their route so that they changed passengers and
stopped over night at Centerville and from Three Bridges, pro-
ceeded through Flemington, no longer passing along the road to
Reaville.
The Raritan river was passed at what is now Milltown. In
1748 reference is made to "to ye old road to ye mills" * * ^ *
"and so across ye main river to ye great road." When the Law-
rence line was run in 1743 it brought all the Raritan district al-
most to the site of Somerville into Hunterdon county. When
the old road was resurveyed in 1764 reference is made to "Fritt's
Hotel," between the beginning of Philip Tunison's line and the
line of Derrick Van Vetchen. There, on the site of Somerville,
town meetings were "held at the house of Cornelius Tunison,
innkeeper" on the "Great Road" .in 1770 and were continued by
him until 1798. After Colonel Simcoe burned the old court-
house on the Millstone in 1779 an act passed the legislature the
following year to build a new one at Somerville. George Mid-
dagh kept a tavern on the Graham tract from 1750 to 1756 where
the town meetings were held. Later they were held at the tav-
THE OLD YORK ROAD 715
ern of Cornelius Bogert, 1756 to 1764, who sold to John Arrison
and the town meetings were held there until 1769.
There was a tavern at Bound Brook antedating the Revolution.
It stood on the site of the house of George Cossart who was one
of the earlier purchasers in 1700, of the site where this village
stands. The first house built at Bound Brook was said to have
been built by Captain Thomas Codrington about 1683.
After leaving Bound Brook the old stages directed their
course toward Elizabethtown. What course they took from that
point is now difficult to say. They probably passed through
Ouibbletown (now New Alarket), through what is now known
as Avon Park, Alton and Willow Grove, part of which road is
still known as the Old Raritan road. That route would have
taken them along the region of the earliest settlements shown on
Reed's map, and previously referred to as the settlements of
Gordon, Barclay, the Fullertons and others. Fadden's map of
1777 shows a road to Elizabethtown taking this general course,
with Letle's tavern noted as on that road. During the Revolu-
tion there was a guard consisting of two officers and forty-two
men stationed at Quibbletown, and Washington, June 25, 1777,
dated some of his correspondence from "Camp at Ouibbletown."
John Hill's map of Elizabethtown 1777, shows only three roads
passing out, one to Newark, one to Connecticut farms and one
to Rahway.
Near Elizabethtown a tavern of great note was the old "Wheat
Sheaf Inn." This was a famous old stage-house and inn built
about 1730 (located about two and a half miles from Elizabeth-
town on the Old Philadelphia Post road (now Rahway avenue).
The first landlord was Henry Broadwell who conducted it as "The
George Tavern," for some years prior to 1764. At that date
Broadwell rented the inn to Sovereign Sybrant who named it the
"Sign of the Roebuck." It was named the Wheat Sheaf by
Wilkinson its next landlord. A succession of owners carried on
a business there. It was torn down in 1919.
From that point on to Newark the way grew more and more
busy with traffic. After the Revolution, Plainfield began to
grow, and the stages passed through that town developing the
taverns there. From Elizabethtown to Newark the stages had
company of the stages traveling the more southern Jersey route.
716 THE OLD YORK ROAD
and as illustrating the extent of this travel by 1830, the follow-
ing is quoted from Gordon's Ga:;citcr of New Jersey published
in 1834:
"This place (Kingstown, N. J.) was once remarkable for the num-
ber of stages that passed through it, for New York and Philadelphia,
the passengers of which, commonly dined at the hotel of Mr. P. With-
ington. Before the completion of the Bordentown Amboy railroad,
49 stages loaded with passengers, between the two cities have halted
here at the same time; when more than 400 harnessed horses were
seen standing in front of the inn."
The railroad over from Bordentown to South Amboy was
opened February, 1833. Until September of that year the car-
riages were drawn by horses, and at that time steam locomatives
were applied to one of the three lines that operated over this
route.
With the invention of railroads, taverns began their decline,
though the comparative cleanliness and convenience of modern
travel was a long time coming to pass.
The Samuel Hart Collection of Manuscripts, 1777-1877.
BY WARREN S. ELY, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Xeshaniiny Presbyterian Church, Hartsville, June 7, 1924.)
SOMETIME ago there was presented to our Society, by the
the family of the late Samuel Hart of Doylestown Town-
ship, a basket full of old papers, consisting of letters and
business papers of the family, covering three generations, and
practically a century of time, numbering 1,500 to 2,000 pieces of
manuscript, which has suggested making a record of the follow-
ing historical notes, largely gathered from them.
Samuel Hart, Sr., was born Nov. 1, 1783, and died Nov. 25,
1863. He was one of the most active business and professional
men of his time, for a full half century filling numerous public
positions and keeping in active touch with all the afifairs of his
time. His father died when he was but fourteen years of age.
and Col. Robert LoUer of Hatboro, a noted surveyor, justice, and
philanthropist, was appointed his guardian, and virtually adopted
him, taking him to his home and superintending his education,
teaching him the art of surveying and conveyancing and making
him his assistant along these lines.
Col. Robert Loller was himself a remarkable man. He was
born in the year 1740, and like his ward and protege, Samuel
Hart, was left an orphan when young, and spent the later years
of his boyhood in the home of an uncle, Alexander Foreman, of
Montgomery County. He acquired a good education and was for
many years a prominent surveyor and justice of the peace. He
was one of the most active patriots in the struggle for National
Independence, and his Commission as Lieutenant Colonel of the
Fourth Battalion. Philadelphia County Militia, as well as num-
erous other papers pertaining to his service, are among the Hart
papers. He was paymaster of Pennsylvania Militia, and one of
the Commissioners appointed by the Council of Safety to seize
the effects of men "who had absconded from their homes and
families and entered the service of the British Army," and also
of those detected in carrying provisions to the British Army in
Philadelphia. Among the Hart papers are also his reports as pay-
718 THE SAMUEL HART COLLECTION OF MANUSCRIPTS
master and numerous lists of horses and wagons seized while
carrying produce to Philadelphia and of goods and estates, of
those rendering aid to the enemy in other ways, which had been
confiscated and sold.
With the organization of Montgomery County in 1784, he was
commissioned a Justice of the Courts, and also Recorder of
Deeds and Register of Wills of the new county, and was an As-
sociate Justice of the County Courts at the time of his decease
October 1, 1808.
A number of neatly executed drafts of surveys of lands in
Bucks and Montgomery Counties, made by Col. LoUer, John
Hart. Samuel Hart, and others, numbering in all about 50 pieces,
are found in the Hart collection, as well as papers relating to the
settlement of the estates of Col. Loller and his wife, Mary. There
are also two lists of "Subscriptions of Inhabitants of Moreland
toward a fund to relieve the sufferers from the Plague in Phila-
delphia 1797-8." Loller Academy at Hatboro was founded and
endowed under the provisions of his will. He was a subscriber
for the Pennsylvania Gazette from 1784 until his death.
Samuel Hart succeeded to the business of his guardian and
foster father at his death. He married January 6, 1806, his
cousin Mary Hart, daughter of Col. William and Elizabeth
(Means) Hart, of Hartsville. and for twenty years or more re-
sided in the neighborhood of Hartsville, where he was a Justice
of the Peace and followed the business of surveying, conveyancing
and settlement of estates. He was a member of Neshaminy Pres-
byterian Church of Warwick, and served as a trustee of the
church from 1810 to 1823. Some of his accounts as trustee and
a subscription list for the benefit of the pastor in 1816, are
among the collection. His wife died February 28, 1828, and a
year later he married secondly Amy (Kinsey) Mathews, widow
of John Mathews, of Wrightstown, and daughter of Benjamin
Kinsey of Buckingham. She was a member of the Society of
Friends, and he united with that Societ}^ and removed to Doyles-
town Township, where the remainder of his life was spent.
Samuel Hart, Jr.. from whom this collection was acquired, was
the only child of the second marriage. Samuel Hart, Sr., M^as
commissioned Surveyor for Bucks County in 1809, and filled that
position for many years. The original commission for this position
THE SAMUEL HART COLLECTION OF MANUSCRIPTS 719
in 1809 and 1812. those for Justice of the Peace in 1819, for War-
wick and Warminster, for Buckingham and Solebury in 1833, and
for Canal Commissioner in 1832, are among the collection. He,
however, filled the position of Justice of the Peace and that of
Associate Justice of the Court, for many years, after these dates.
His correspondence with men of prominence was exceedingly
large, and he settled numerous estates and did an immense amount
of conveyancing. His knowledge in reference to these matters was
well known, and he was called upon to settle estates far from
his home district. He was named as one of the executors of Col-
onel William Erwin, of Erwinna, and personally conducted the
settlement of that large and complicated estate, as well as that
of Thomas G. Kennedy, the distinguished son-in-law of Colonel
Erwin. There are hundreds of letters from members of the Er-
win and Kennedy families, among the collections, covering a
period of many years, one of which refers to him as "the oracle
of the family," and he was indeed the oracle not only for this
family, but for many other families, and individuals on business,
professional and political subjects.
THOMAS G. KENNEDY.
Thomas G. Kennedy was sheriff of Bucks County from 1816
to 1820, prothonotary in 1808, and again later was one of the
candidates of the administration democrats for congress in 1828,
against Samuel D. Ingham, who carried the county by 500 votes.
Member of the Pennsylvania Assembly in 1809, and was promi-
nently identified with many of the more important industries of
Bucks County.^ He was superintendent in charge of the con-
struction of the Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania Canal ;
one of the projectors and builders of the Philadelphia & Trenton
Railroad in 1832-4, the first railroad across Bucks County, and the
first secretary and treasurer of the company. He was really the
main sponsor of the road. Papers among the Hart Collection
show that when there was a halt in the affairs of the company
after sufficient stock was subscribed, for the reason that some of
the directors held more stock than they could pay for, Mr. Ken-
1 On a fly leaf of an old book of "Commentaries on English Law" in the
possession of the Chapman family, is written in his well known hand, "I com-
menced the Study of Law under Abraham Chapman, Esq., the 12th of No-
vember, 1808. Thos. G. Kennedy.'
720 THE SAMUEL HART COLLECTION OF MANUSCRIPTS
nedy associating himself with Richard Morris, agreed to build the
road, taking in payment therefor the surplus stock of the com-
pany. The original agreement of Kennedy and Morris with the
directors of the railroad company, dated December 5, 1832, is
among the collection. His monthly reports to the company, show-
ing the progress of the financing and building of the road, various
contracts for bridges, etc., numerous letters and other papers re-
lating thereto, are also among the collection.
Mr. Kennedy was also the prime mover in the enterprise to es-
tablish lock navigation in the Neshaminy Creek from "Tideway
to Bridgetown," in 1831-2, under a charter granted to the
"Neshaminy Lock Navigation Company," by the Legislature and
Governor Wolf in 1814, and a supplemental Act passed January
11, 1832. The Commissioners named in the original act and
charter were John Hulme, Jonathan Buckman, Joseph Richard-
son, Jr., and Anthony Taylor. The latter was the only survivor
of the Commissioners in 1832, and it was on his petition that the
Supplemental Act was passed, which made Anthony Taylor.
Thomas G. Kennedy, Joseph Jenks and Thomas L. Allen com-
missioners. Books were immediately opened, viz : on March
3, 1832, and 200 shares were subscribed for, and the first install-
ment of five dollars per share paid in. The subscribers were:
Shares
Augustine Mitchell . . 5
John Flowers ... 5
Joshua Richardson . 5
Clayton N. Richardson 5
John Dorrance ... 5
Alexander Boyd . . 10
Joseph M. Downing . 10
Thomas Wood . . .10
Total shares at par of $50 200
The original and supplemental acts and charter are in the Hart
Collection. The company was to have the right to acquire by
condemnation such property as was needful for the successful
construction and operation of the waterway, and also to acquire
and operate mills and manufacturies along its banks. Several
meetings were held, stock subscribed and transferred, officers
Shares
Anthony Taylor
30
Thomas G. Kennedy
30
Joseph Jenks .
30
Thomas L. Allen .
30
George Harrison .
5
Isaac Hulme . .
5
Isaac Otis . . .
5 â–
Joshua C. Canby .
10
THE SAMUEL HART COLLECTION OF MANUSCRIPTS 721
elected, etc., but the building of the Philadelphia &: Trenton Rail-
road seems to have overshadowed the enterprise and caused its
abandonment.
Thomas G. Kennedy, (a son of James Kennedy, who died at
Newtown January 7 , 1824, aged 82 years) was born January 2.
1783, he married first Violetta Hicks, who was drowned in New-
town Creek a few years later in an effort to rescue her only child,
who had fallen into the creek. He married second. May 29, 1819,
Juliana, widow of William L. Dick, and daughter of Col. William
Erwin. of Erwinna. She died May 28, 1823. and he married
third, November 15. 1824, her sister, Rachel (widow of Charles
Howell, of Trenton), who survived him many years, and was
the mainstay of the Erwin family. He had one son by his sec-
ond wife, Erwin Kennedy, and by the third wife, a daughter
Achsah, who married Samuel C. Robeson. Thomas G. Kennedy
was living at Newtown during his early married life. After his
marriage to Mrs. Dick, he lived for a long time in Erwinna, and
became a land owner there. When he became interested in the
building of the Philadelphia & Trenton Railroad, in 1832, he was
living in Bristol, where he owned considerable real estate, in-
cluding the Cross Keys Hotel. His son, Erwin, was a student
at Bristol College, and bills for his tuition are among the Hart
Collection. After the construction of the railroad was begun,
he removed to Philadelphia, and resided there until its com-
pletion, and then returned to Erwinna, where he died suddenly
May 14, 1836, in his 53d year.
SAMUEL HART.
Judge, Hart, as he was familiarly addressed in the numerous
letters, was closely associated with and evidently the business ad-
viser of Enos Morris of Newtown, a member of the Bucks
County Bar, a large landholder and prominent business man of
the county from 1800 to his death in 1832.
Gen. Francis Murray of Newtown, a veteran of the Revolu-
tionary War, had several years prior to his death acquired a
tract of 4,000 acres of land in what was then Northampton
County, but became successively Wayne and Pike Counties. This
tract was acquired by Enos Morris at the death of Gen. Murray,
and held by him until near the time of his death. A voluminous
722 THE SAMUEL HART COLLECTION OF MANUSCRIPTS
correspondence with his agents at Stroudsburg and elsewhere in
reference to the sale of portions of this tract, its improvement,
the payment of taxes thereon, etc.. and drafts of the tract, in all
100 pieces of manuscript, are among the Hart Collection. Judge
Hart was administrator of Enos Morris estate and a large num-
ber of papers relating to his business affairs in and about New-
town, including deeds, leases, etc., are among the collection.
Mr. Hart was also interested in claims of Revolutionary vet-
erans for government and state lands and a number of printed
"Regulations for Soldiers Claiming Military Bounty Lands" are
among the collection.
There is also a draft and papers showing the resurvey and
alteration of the State Road at Lumberville laid out in 1830 from
Easton to Willow Grove, and numerous miscellaneous papers re-
lating to his business as justice of the peace, and conveyancing,
including briefs of title, and correspondence relating thereto,
covering the period from 1800 to 1860. Also papers relating to
the erection of the Friends Meeting House in Doylestown.
POLITICAL AND HISTORICAL.
Judge Hart was evidently not much of a politician, as the term
is generally defined, but was quite as evidently interested in poli-
tics, county, state and national, during the whole period of his
active life, and original letters from Congressmen and other of-
ficials show that his opinion was sought and prized on political
questions of the day. He was nominally a Democrat of the Old
School, but vigorously opposed candidates of his own political
faith whom he did not deem fit for the office to which they aspired.
When William Findley was the Democratic candidate for Gov-
ernor in 1817, Judge Hart probably gave him nominal support,
though not pleased with his selection. After his election, he pre-
pared the following "Draft of a Letter to William Finley."
The rights of a citizen of Pennsylvania are mine in common with my
fellow citizens and in that capacity I beg leave respectfully to address
the Chief Magistrate of this Commonwealth — Without having anything
in view for myself or to ask for my friends, my object is purely to give
correct information so far as I know, of the general opinion of the re-
publicans of Bucks County relative to the public officers in the county
within the control of the governor. Mr. Watts and Dubois who are
constantly in the habit of doing business in my presence in the time of
THE SAMUEL HART COLLECTION OF MANUSCRIPTS 723
Court are so far as I am capable of judging good officers — and my be-
lief is that, deducting those who want one or the other of their situa-
tions for themselves or friends a very large majority of the citizens of
Bucks County would be gratified by their continuance in office.
As to Mr. Pugh I consider myself better able to give opinion, with
him from the time of his appointment unto the present day, I have been
in the habit frequently of doing business in his office and from every
observation made by me (which from the circumstances in which we
were placed, having been competitors for the office at the time of his
appointment) would be likely to be as strict as my abilities would admit.
I believe him to be as good an officer as any other man in the County
of Bucks would make — I know of none that in my opinion would
equal him — and further I believe that there is not one disinterested
man of character and standing in the County who would wish to have
him removed from the office which he now holds and much better than
any who are willing to accept the appointment so far as I know — as
to the other two I do not know of any applicants equal to the in-
cumbents therefore have nothing to say respecting their successors.
So far as relates to the principle of rotation of officers I have nothing
to say — if however, this principle shall ])e recognized I beg leave further
to state T. G. K.- is in my opinion as well qualified to perform the
duties of Prothonotary as anj^ other man in the county.
When Governor Findley was a candidate for reelection in
1820 Judge Hart bitterly opposed his candidacy as is shown by
the following letter written to some other public man whose name
is not disclosed. If it were not that Samuel D. Ingham's name is
mentioned in the letter. I would take it for granted that the letter
was addressed to him, as they often discussed political questions.
The letter referred to is as follows:
Dr. Sir: Jan. 2Sth, 1820.
Your friendly communication of the 18th was received this day and
adds one more to the many obligations I feel for your attention and
Politeness.
Relations to most of the great questions at issue before the repre-
sentatives of the Nation and mentioned in yours as I feel myself en-
tirely unable to adopt an opinion, on these subjects I must trust to the
wisdom of the members of Government — in whom I have full con-
fidence, for an investigation sufficient to enable me to form an opinion
satisfactory to myself would require more documents than I possess
and more time than I can spare — admitting my ability as sufficient.
Notwithstanding we are pleased sometimes to be noticed by the
great men of the nation, and I have known a whole company con-
founded by an account delivered second hand from a member of Con-
gress when the relator did not understand all his friend had related to
2 Thomas G. Kennedy.
724 THE SAMUEL HART COLLECTION OF MANUSCRIPTS
him, it serves to make us of some importance and may be of advantage.
On "something of state poHtics" I am indebted to you, when that debt
is discharged I am willing that the subject so far as relates to the pres-
ent administration shall remain forever without a name between you
& I — It is a hard task to commit my sentiments on this point to paper,
when addressing you, for I am not disposed to believe every man cor-
rupt whose sentiments differ from my own, candor however obliges me
now as on all former occasions to be explicit.
I agree with you in believing that the present appearances indicate
the probability of the reelection of Wni. Finley as Governor, this con-
viction however does not reconcile me to the measure, my heart bleeds
for the honor of Pennsjdvania. Low indeed must be her situation,
when a man notoriously convicted of using the public money for his
own private purpose and his Official influence in creating sinecures for
his friends (when he had not appointments for all) shall be reelected
for her chief magistrate — at the time of his election I believed him
weak in mind and too much incumbered in property to be able to per-
form the duties required with fidelity, most of his measures which have
come to my knowledge since have tended to confirm this belief and to
add to it the belief of wickedness, or coruption if you please, while these
convictions remain no earthly consideration shall tempt me to be
instrumental in detaining him in his ill gotten situation.
As to the hostility of Binns being favourable to him, I agree with
you, & altho Air. Ingham took much pains to convince me that he
Binns was tolerable, I have a long time marked him as a villain, great
in proportion to his ability — this notwithstanding only adds another to
the many cases we have both seen, where we are more injured by
officious friends than open enemies — I abominate those editors who un-
dertake to dictate to the people, and I hope to see the time when they
will take their rank as disseminators of public information, instead of
directors of public sentiment.
If Mr. Finley be selected by the Delegates of which I have now
scarcely a doubt I should take great satisfaction in seeing him "hurled
from the seat" (which in my opinion he has disgraced) by an abused
and indignant People and then I hope we should never see that in-
famous practice, of the few disposing of the privilege of the whole, re-
vived in our day — & if the Democratic party in Bucks County has no
other way of regaining their ascendency then by rallying under the ban-
ners of Wm. Findley I sincerely hope it may continue to "Languish" — I
have done — I hope no expression in the foregoing may be construed
as a reflection on you — be assured that they are not meant as such.
Sincerely yours,
S. HART.
Gov. Finley was defeated for reelection in 1820 by his op-
ponent of 1817 Joseph Heister, and Sanuiel D. Ingham became
Secretary of the Commonwealth under Heister.
THE SAMUEL HART COLLECTION OF MANUSCRIPTS 725
Fourteen years later Robert Ramsey then a member of the
23d Congress from Bucks County wrote the following letter to
Judge Hart. Mr. Ramsey was also a representative in the 27th
Congress, and a member of Pennsylvania Assembly in 1829-31.
Washington Citv, Jan. 15th, 1834.
Sir:
I am sick of party spirit such as exists here that would sacrifice the
Publick good at its unhallowed shrine and the communications I re-
ceive from politicians in Bucks are no better, and I hope this will
apologize for my asking your opinion, and that of the Publick as far
as known to you on w^hat I begin to think a small matter the restora-
tion of the deposits too the Bank of the U. States but here it is treated
as if the salvation of the Country depended on it. I think they ought
not have been removed from it. But they have been removed and the
question shall they be restored is what I must meet. I am willing to
represent my constituents on this and all other questions that may
come before the house, if I could know what their wishes are. I know
if you write to me on this or any other subject it will be in sincerity
and truth would to God I could say the same of all others that are
writing to me.
Yours Truly
To Samuel Hart, Esq. ROBERT RAMSEY.
The following Power of Attorney of the heirs of Rebecca
(Weir) Simpson, including the parents of Gen. Ulyses S. Grant,
to Samuel Hart, to collect their legacy, under the will of Samuel
Weir and a letter of Jesse R. Grant, the father of the General,
which accompanied the Power of Attorney, are among the Hart
Collection. Samuel Weir, the father of Rebecca, had died in
New Britain Township in 1811, leaving a will, by which he de-
vised to his son James Weir, a farm in New Britain Township
for life. At the son's death it was to be sold, and the proceeds
divided among the testator's then surviving grandchildren. James
Weir, the son, died A,ugust 6, 1834. at the age of 78 years, and
the money adjudged to the Simpson heirs, above mentioned,
amounted to about $170 each. Both the Power of Attorney and
letter are badly weather-stained, so much so, as to make them
almost illegible. The P'ower of Attorney is as follows :
Know all Men by these Presents, that Whereas Samuel Weir late of
Bucks County, in the State of Pennsylvania, did in his life time will by
entailment a certain piece of land (to wit) about one hundred and forty
acres being and lying in said county of Bucks to his son James Weir
which after the death of the said James was by provision of said will
726 THE SAMUEL HART COLLECTION OF MANUSCRIPTS
to be sold and the proceeds thereof to be equally divided among the
surviving grandchildren of the Said Donor having been legally in-
formed of the demise of the first donee and also of the sale of the
land by James Finley executor of said will Now Know Ye that we the
undersigned legal heirs to said will to wit James Griffith and Mary his
wife, late Mary Simpson of Clermant County, Ohio, Samuel Simpson
and Jesse R. Grant, and Hannah his wife, late Hannah Simpson, all of
Georgetown, Brown County, Ohio, have and by these presents do make
ordain constitute and appoint Samuel Hart of Doylestown, Bucks
County, and State of Pennsylvania, our true and lawful attorney for us
and in our name and for our own proper use and benefit to ask demand
and receive of James Finley executor aforesaid or any other person or
persons authorized to do said business our proportion of said estate and
we do also further empower our said attorney to do and perform any
and every other necessary act touching said premises as legally and
lawfully as we ourselves could do if personally present.
In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands and seal. Done
at Georgetown this ninth day of June one thousand eight hundred
thirty fiive.
Signed and sealed in James Griffith [seal]
the precense of Mary Griffith [seal]
Robert Hunt Samuel Simpson [seai.]
Michael N. Ammen Jesse R. Grant [seal]
Hannah Grant [seal]
It is certified by Alichael N. Ammen, Mayor of Georgetown.
The following letter from Jesse R. Grant, father of Gen. U. S.
Grant, is among the Hart Collection :
Georgetown, Ohio, June 26th, 1835.
Samuel Hart, Esq.,
Dear Sir:
I reed a letter from you some time last spring informing me that a
small legacy was ready for the Heirs of Samuel Weir of whom my wife
is one. You inform me that you would act as an agent to draw the
money that a Power of Attorney must be executed and acknowledged
before the Mayor of the Corporation or Chief Magistrate with the Pub-
lic Seal and if the Mayor has no public seal our Justice of the Peace
are all upon an equable line. There is no Chief Magistrate, neither
have they a public seal but as the oldest judge is legally recognized as
the chief magistrate of the Councill I had an acknowledgment taken
before him and the clerk's seal thereto affixed And as the Court was in
session at the time and the President Judge here I obtained his cer-
tificate to the legality of the other proceeding. A Power of Attorney
legally drawn and executed was forwarded by Mr. Wm. Shepherd a
respectable merchant of this place Certifying but was rejected for the
THE SAMUEL HART COLLECTION OF MANUSCRIPTS 727
reason of legality of the acknowledgment & since Mr. Shepherd's re-
turn our Corporation have procured a public seal for the Mayor's
office and I have made out another Power of Attorney in strict ac-
cordance with the letter and your instructions. This I have for-
warded to you and hope you will an early attention. You will allow
a proportion to Hardware Merchants No. 188 Market St..
Philadelphia, on the receipt of Mr. Shepherd, and take their receipt for
the same and forward it to me. Unless you may have some business
in the city you may probably be able to forward it by Uncle Benj.
Hough or some other safe correspondent. As we already incurred a
great deal of expense our wish is to avoid any more, but meet all in-
cidental expense out of the money before you pay it over. Write as
soon as you can attend to the business and give me the particulars. I
formed the acquaintance of one Esqr. Shaw of your place about this
time last summer during our passage from Doylestown to Bristol, pre-
sent him with our respects and accept the same yourself.
JESSE R. GRANT.
Samuel Hart, Esq., Doylestown.
N. B. Upon a consultation with Air. Shepherd I will change my in-
structions on the subject of paying the money in Philada. You may
procure a draft on any one of the banks in Cincinnati for the amt. and
forw^ard it to me by mail. Air. Shepherd informs me that the U. S.
l)ank will furnish a draft at >4 or Vz per cent. Have the draft made
payable to me individually, it will save trouble in having it endorsed as
the parties live remote from each other.
^ _, . J. R. GRANT.
Georgetown, Ohio.
June 27
Superscription
SAMUEL HART, Esqr.
Doylestown, Bucks Co.
Pa.
The following letter from John F. Watson, the author of
Annals of PhiladclpJiia and Pcimsylz'auia, i)i the Olden Time,
seemed on tirst reading to throw new light on the latter days and
manner of death, of Tamenend (St. Tammany), the noted Indian
Chieftain, but a careful examination of the records show that
Mr. Watson had confounded Tamenend with Moses Tatamy, a
somewhat erratic and Minor Chief of the Delawares, who was
closely associated with the Moravians at Nazareth, zvJiose son
W'illiam Tatamy was shot by an over zealous and youthful Ulster
Scot at the time an Indian Treaty was being arranged for at
Easton in 1757. The name was sometimes spelled "Tademe" and
728 THE SAMUEL HART COLLECTION OF MANUSCRIPTS
the euphonious similarity of the names probably led Mr. Watson
astray. Even then he was mistaken about Chief Tatamy being
killed, it being his son who was shot.
Neither have we been able to find anything in the published
works of Heckwelder to correspond with the quotation given in
the letter of Mr. Watson. However, there were a few "Essays"
of Heckwelder published by the American Philosophical Society
prior to the publication of the second edition of Watson Annals
by that Society, which we have not been able to consult. Mr.
Watson did not publish the story told in the letter in his second
edition of the Annals published in 1856. This would indicate
that he had discovered his error. Neither did it appear in the
first edition of one volume in 1830.
Letter of John F. Watson, to Samuel Hart, Esq., of Doyles-
town, postmarked Germantown, June 7 :
^ _. Germantown, June 6, 1836.
Dr. Sir:
Thank j-ou for your kindness & attention in renumerating the extract
from your early Court Records — I take this occasion to tell you that
the James Harrison therein mentioned as Justice of the Orphans Court
(James Harrison) was the Agent for Wm. Penn & dwelt on Penn's
premises at Pennsbury Manor — Phineas Pemberton, the Clerk, was
the Son in Law of Harrison. Both were Friends and came from Eng-
land together. Harrison was also a puhlic friend.
The present James Pemberton Parke of Philada: is the descendant
of Phineas Pemberton & has in his possession a quire book of cap paper
covered with Buckskin, of Indian tanning, earliest records of Bucks
County — several things there in must be interesting some day to families
now of your County. I tell the fact now to you, to keep up the tra-
dition, at least, of such a fact. It gives the names of several first set-
tlers & of all their household & from whence, & by what vessels &
when they came — It contains also several proceedings in Courts, of
which Pemberton was the Clerk.
If you should ever find leisure, & inclination, to while away a little
time, among the early records of your County, I should like you to
make any brief extracts of any such things as you may think surpris-
ing, useful or agreeable to the present generation. Whatever may
strike you as strange or explanatory of difficult points in our historical
facts, may be a good rule of action.
As you have said, on the tradition of the neighborhood, that King
Tamanend's grave lies near Dojdestown, close by the stream of the
Neshaminj^ I will for your information, add some facts that may pos-
sibly tend to elecit some further facts bearing upon the case — We know
from our State Records that Tamanend must have had his residence
THE SAMUEL HART COLLECTION OF MANUSCRIPTS 729
somewhere near that stream. l)ecause as Sovereign of the same, he
makes his treaty with Wm. Penn on the 23d of 4 mo. 1683, for the
lands of Tamanend & Metamaquan "near Neshemenah Creek and
thence to Pennapecka" — the present Pennypack Creek — If Tamanen is
really interred at the place alleged, some traditionary facts should now
be gathered (perhaps through inqueries in your Doylestown Gazette),
whereby it may be attempted to be reconciled with the facts we now
have in pi-int from Heckwelder. He says, "This person was for many
years the principal chief in the Forks of Delaware & resided on the
Nazareth tract, as the town called Walamika, when the Brethren (the
Moravians), purchased the Manor. He was friendly to all white peo-
ple & therefore in esteem among the brethern, who invited him to re-
main as long as he choose to stay on the land and be their neighbor but
such was the wickedness of some people who came and settled in those
parts, that a young Irishman with a gun meeting him in the road,
(Where?) shot him dead."
To help you as to date, you may bear in mind that Count Zinzendorf
as head of the Moravians, came to this Country in 1741-2, & that there
were many Indian aggressions on the inhabitants in the country around
Bethlehem, Allentown & Nazareth, at the time of Braddock's defeat in
1755 — In this last period, Tamanen may have been killed (very old
too), by mistake or for revenge upon his race.
The period of "St. Tamany's" death seems therefore not too remote,
even now, to be inquired into more fully. If his wife or any of his
Ancestors, had been before buried, at his present alleged resting place,
l)y the Spring, & near to Neshaminy Creek, it may have furnished a rea-
son for bringing his body to that place to have been there interred.
Your tradition as it generally stands, of his being sick there first &
being buried there, while on a traveling excursion to some public meet-
ing or treaty, will not answer, unless made to reconcile more har-
moniously with the well ascertained history of him, as given by Heck-
welder — or else the burial must be set to some other Chief.
I have written out these leading facts intending, that if they should
not be used by j^ou, that they may some day, be put into the hands of
some gentleman of leisure, who may posses good feelings toward topics
of this kind. They are wholly intellectual & may therefore be perused
by some one con amore.
You were so kind as to invite me to visit you — I feel as if I had good
will to the measure (?), at some future day, when I may want a Sum-
mer ride, or to take a holiday jaunt somewhere. Next 4 July, for in-
stance — includg Staty. & Sunday the 2d & 3d. — These are only dream-
ing ideas now vaguily floating in the mind — I understand you have an
Indian mound called "the Giant's Grave" & also "an Indian Burying
Ground" on a High Hill — I might choose to visit such remains of
olden time.
I wish that if they have real bona fide chairs of Wm. Penn at Attle-
730 THE SAMUEL IIAKT COLLECTION OF MANUSCRIPTS
boro library, that they would give them to "the Penn Association" in
Philada for preservation in the Penna. Library.
Yrs. with respect & regard,
JOHN F. WATSON.
N. B. I love to inspire any man like you whose business leads him
to see & examine old records, to be my disciple — If you meet with any
traces of Indian treaties in 1681-3 in Bucks Co. notice them, — also any
date when Penn is present, also where in 1682-3 as his presence at
given places is much wanted to elucidate better the time of the Treaty
tree at Kensington.
I see now, that he was at your Orphans Court on 4th 1st mo. 1683.
Be sure to give facts if you find any trace of a city of Philda projected
either at Penns b'y- or at Bristol— then called Buckingham.
The Indians under Isaac Still all left Bucks Co. in 1775 & went to the
"ffar west" at Muckingum.
Superscription,
Colo. Samuel Hart,
Surveyor &c.
near Doylestown, Bucks Co.
Written on outside of folded letter just below the red wafer seal,
Perhaps the Officers would trust me to have the Records out a day
or night or so, to read them at a house nigh by — for a thorough reading."
The following letter of Hon. Samuel D. Ingham, to Judge
Hart, is intensely interesting as it shows his interest in political
matters, notwithstanding the fact that its date is twenty years
after his retirement from active participation in political affairs,
and after, as stated in the letter, he had "utterly eschewed poli-
tics." Mr. Ingham, as above stated retired from active partici-
pation in political afifairs in 1831 on his resignation of the Office
of Secretary of the Treasury under President Jackson, but long
after that period he continued to write occasionally on the sub-
ject of the tariff, being an ardent protectionist.
It is very much to be regretted that just prior to his removal to
Trenton in 1849, he destroyed all his correspondence. His son
William Armstrong Ingham, in his memorial of his father, writ-
ten in 1910, says of this incident :''
Just before his removal he spent several days in going through his
accumulation of letters and destroying almost everything of interest.
He said that he had seen so much mischief caused by the posthumous
publication of private letters, that he could not allow his correspondence
to remain.
This idea seems highly commendable, but, if it had been universally
•■! See Vol. IV, page 19, of these papers.
THE SAMUEL HART COLLECTION OF MANUSCRIPTS 731
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.
We agree with the MemoriaHst. that it was extremely un-
fortunate that Mr. Ingham took this view in reference to his cor-
respondence, as it evidently covered a wide range, and would
have given us a vast amount of information on local, state, and
national afifairs and incidents, that are unobtainable.
Copy of letter of Hon. Samuel D. Ingham, to Samuel Hart,
Esq. :
Trenton, Feb. 25, '51.
My Dear Sjr:
I was pleased with the sight of your well known autograph, and
glad to see no sign of tremulous old age, a property that mine cannot
claim. I am only busy in looking over some men that I have employ'd
to fill up about 3 acres of brick mud holes in some land that I have
bought for my amusement — It would give me great pleasure to have
you spend some days with me in common about old fashioned times,
for I too have utterly eschewed politics, satisfied that whether for good
or for ill, my work in that harness is done — I cannot follow meteors, &
the old guides & landmarks being repudiated by this wise generation I
prefer rather to stand still, than grope in the dark with the chance of
falling into the ditch.
I send you the pamphlet — the crisis we are aproaching rises from
the over valuation of gold at the mint — It is reduced in value in the
market whenever (?) silver apparently rises and being worth more
gold than it is valued at — The entire coin is brought up to mint and
export then is no danger of a reduction in property, but we are on the
eve of a shower of Shinplasters — If Congress will do what I have pro-
posed, 4 weeks' work at the mint will not only prevent this, but they
will permanently avert such a contingency in future — my paper was
prepared & published by request of some gentlemen of the bank here,
& they have sent a copy to each member of Congress & chief officers
in the Government at Washington, but they will do nothing this ses-
sion, be it so, you & I can get along with the rest.
Very truly Yours,
S. D. INGHA^^r.
Another letter among the collection is that of James S. Davies
of Moreland to Samuel Hart dated 6th mo. 28th, 1823, giving a
full copy of a letter of Elias Hicks to \Mlliam B. Irish. The
latter is interesting as giving first hand information as to the
somewhat peculiar religious views of the involuntary founder of
the Hicksite branch of the Society of Friends. Elias Hicks al-
732 THE END OF OPEN FIRE COOKING IN BUCKS COUNTY
ways disclaimed any intention to found a Sect or participation in
the founding of the branch of the Sect bearing his name, it being
founded on views expressed by him. Though not an autograph
letter, it appears to contain the full text of the letter, including
the signature.
There are also quite a collection of family letters, written to
Samuel Hart by his sons. Those from his son Nathaniel (the
father of our present postmaster at Doylestown), who died in
Missouri in 1862, as a result of service there, are of interest as
showing the condition of public sentiment on the war in that state.
The End of Open Fire Cooking in Bucks County.
BY FRANK K. SWAIN, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Tohickon Park Meeting, October 11, 1924.)
DURING the Civil War my grandmother, Rebecca Swain,
then living in a log house which stood on the right side of
the Swamp road just beyond the second right road and
about one and one-half miles south of Pools Corner, continued to
cook in the open fire until about 1866, when, on the death of her
son, my uncle, Luther H. Swain, she came into possession of a
small cast iron wood burning cook stove which he had recently
bought with other things after his engagement to be married, in
order to set up housekeeping. His sudden death by a fall, while
working as a carpenter on a building in Philadelphia, put an end
to all this and brought the stove into my grandmother's possession.
This stove, which I myself saw later, was about three feet wide
by four feet long or deep and about two feet six inches high,
standing on four -adjustable iron legs, which often came out in a
troublesome manner. The firebox, intended only for wood and
never for coal, was encircled on the bottom and front by three
iron grate bars and the front of the fire was closed with two cast
iron doors. The hearth, about three inches lower than the fire
box, extended forwards about eighteen inches, so that when the
fire doors were open the extra embers could be raked down into a
dish-like area. The top of the hearth was covered with two oval
THE END OF OPEN FIRE COOKING IN BUCKS COUNTY / .^O
lids and an adjustable central rim. The lids and cross piece, or
rim, were removed when cooking was to be done directly on these
hot embers. This served for grilling mackerel, etc. Other cook-
ing was done on top of the stove with the lids on, and at other
times one or both of the oven lids were removed. A similar lid
arrangement covered the top of the firebox and a third lid cov-
ered the posterior oven which included the whole interior of the
stove, back of and under the firebox. To accommodate a long
oval washboiler, the oven lids and the center X piece were re-
moved. The oven opened on either side with two doors, one a
large back door, the other a small door opening upon the shallow
forward extension under the firebox, thus making four doors in
all to the oven.
My grandmother could not have come into possession of this
stove, so as to substitute it for her open fire cooking, until about
1866 or 67, when my uncle died. After that she continued to use
it in the log house until she removed to another house in Centre-
ville. I saw the stove in use by her, in her still later home on
Burnt-house hill, about a quarter of a mile north on the turnpike,
northwest of Centreville, about 1885 to 1889. She was then
using it in the outkitchen, and had a coal-burning stove that she
used in the house kitchen, and which was allowed to go out in
â– summertime, in order to keep the house cooler, and also because
wood was plentiful, and coal could be saved, without shifting
stoves from one kitchen to another, and then in winter shifting
them back again.
This old stove therefore proves that the earliest type of the
wood-burning stoves continued in use from the time of the aban-
donment of cooking in open fires until 1889. My grandmother
also used, in the central room of the old log house, a very large
ten plate stove, but nevertheless continued to cook in the open
fire, and used the latter only for occasional cooking, and for
heating the remainder of the log house, exclusive of the kitchen.
This shows that the ten plate stove did not supersede the open
fire for cooking at that time, and that the latter was not finally
abandoned until the advent of the cooking stove to which I have
referred.
Life Near Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1850.
BY EDWARD BRADFORD THOMAS, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.
(Tohickon Park Meeting, October 11, 1924.)
(Notes in unaltered form by Dr. Mercer from information given to
him by Mr. Thomas.)
MR. THOMx\S describes an old log house near lone, about
thirty miles east of Grand Rapids, occupied by his step-
father. Clarion Rice, as follows :
Mr. Thomas lived in this house when a lad of about seven years.
The "shakes" (shingles) for the roof were three feet long by
eight inches wide, and one-half inch thick, made of white ash and
split out with a frow. His stepfather built the house, with the
help of neighbors about twenty years before Mr. Thomas went
out there. The floor of this log house was of native earth, except
in the middle, where a board floor covered the cellar, a pit about
five feet square. The garret was reached by an open staircase built
against the wall. At one of the gable ends of the house there was
a window in the board wall. The boards were brought from a
sawmill near by run with water power. Five or six of the chil-
dren slept on the garret floor. The parents slept in a bed in
a single room at end, partitioned off with a curtain. Edward,
then a lad, slept in a trundle bed, pushed under the large bed in
the daytime. A window was cut in each long side of the house,
one of which was next to the only entrance door. This door opened
inwardly, made of boards placed vertically, with battens nailed
across with wrought iron nails clinched. The hinge-hooks were
of iron, such as were used in Bucks county barn doors, but the
hinge-straps were made of wood, with holes to fit the hooks.
Latch and latch staple also of wood with a latch string running
through hole in door, drawn in at night. Fireplace in middle
of one gable, back built of stones set flush with large square
opening. Chimney and jambs of sticks smeared with clay inside
of the house, funneling upwards through the garret floor and
roof. Lintel an iron bar. Logs in wall of house not squared
and not sawed off at corners where they projected several inches.
Chinks between logs filled with long splints of wood pegged in
and then smeared with clav. Often resmeared in the autumn or
LIFE NEAR GRAND RAPJDS, MICHIGAN, ABOUT 185O 735
retouched. A child inside of the house would push a straw through
the chinks to show the father where to smear. Cooking was
done in open fire. Bread baked not in kettle-oven, but in tin
kitchen, like those used in Bucks county, but without the spit,
called by him a spike. A crane was put in the fireplace and
boiling done in iron and brass kettles. Gridiron and long handled
frying pans were used. No samp mills used and no querns.
Grain, hominy, etc., ground and made at neighboring gristmills,
and paid for in toll. Fanning mills like ours with crank for
grain. Corn shellers not home made. Sometimes shelled corn
sitting on the back of a shovel. Saw Indian woman bake short-
cake on flat stone. The stone was heated in a fire, swept ofif
with a brush, flour sprinkled on, batter mixed in tin basin, then
spread on stone and basin turned over it. It required about
twenty minutes to bake on open wood fires. Wool was carded
in water-run gristmills. These mills produced rolls or rovings
about three feet long and as thick as ones finger. Out of one
roving about twenty twirls were necessary to spin it, and Mrs.
Rice spun, but she stopped continually to start the wheel, and
sometimes she doubled, and spun thread on the wheel into a
heavier yarn.
There was a spring at this house and a well was not required,
but at another house where Mr. Thomas' step-father dug a well
forty feet deep, a windlass was used to draw the water. Well-
sweeps were very common in that community and were gen-
erally used where water was shallow. Shoes were bought from
towns, and not made at home. Earlier settlers often wore moc-
casins obtained from the Indians, who often camped in that neigh-
borhood in 1856. When ordering maple sugar from the Indians,
on one occasion the Indians returned without it, saying that In-
dian squaw had washed papoose in one of the wooden troughs of
fresh maple syrup. They had one maple tree on their own tract,
and made sugar themselves. The sap was boiled down in three
iron kettles, which held about five pails each. The last kettle
made the thick syrup. As no fishing was done, no nets were made.
His stepfather farmed eighty acres by first cutting out the un-
derbrush, then sometimes, wnth ten or twelve yoke of oxen on
one large plow, ripped through the roots with a sound like that
of firecrackers. A man followed the plow with hand spike to
736 HUNTING, TRAPPING AND FISHING IN BUCKS COUNTY
pry out coulter when caught under large roots. Sowed crops,
then girdled trees in spring, cut them down when dead, cut them
in pieces and burned them up. His stepfather had a wooden sled.
He took his ox-cart with him from Conway, Mass., by canals,
lakes, etc., to Detroit, then drove through woods, cutting down
trees when necessary. He bought oxen and a cow in Detroit.
The cow got away in the night, depriving them of a milk supply,
but the disaster was remedied, when the cow was found next day
tied to a tree at a log house, several miles ahead, having fol-
lowed the forward trail.
Hunting, Traping and Fishing in Bucks County.
BY THADDEUS S. KENDERDINE, NEWTON, PA.
(Tohickon Park Meeting, October 11, 1924.)
IN my childhood days the country along the Delaware river
for at least four miles between Lumberville and Centre Bridge
in Bucks county was a wooded forest. In places this forested
area extended a mile and a half inland, in heavy and level
reaches, while beyond, farther back from the river there was
good farming country. The wooded area must have amounted
to six hundred acres of forest untouched by the woodman's axe.
Through this flowed the historic Cuttaloosa creek. This terri-
tory, so well watered and forested made a natural game preserve
for beast, bird or fowl. Of course during my time bear, deer
and wolf had long since disappeared, as well as wild turkeys,
though an occasional eagle was seen. There was however plenty
of small fourfooted game, sucl"" as foxes, raccoons, opossums,
rabbits and squirrels, and bird game from pheasant to robin, for
there were no game laws then. There were fishes from catfish
to "sunnies." Wild pigeons had not yet ceased to exist, and in the
middle forties I went in the back part of the woods with my
father to shoot or trap a large flock that we heard was there.
My father was armed with a long fowling piece which he had
brought with him from Montgomery county, where he had suc-
cussefully hunted these pigeons, but it was a case of more hunt-
ing than finding, the pigeons had flown, we therefore tramped
HUNTING, TRAPPING AND FISHING IN BUCKS COUNTY 7Z7
the woods in vain. At other times I hunted with my brother,
Watson, but I was too young to do anything but carry the game,
though I enjoyed the vicarious sport. With dog and gun we
roamed the forest primeval, looking upward for squirrels and
birds and downwards for rabbits. My brother had heard of
hunters so restricted by circumstances, that they had neither
bullets nor metal retorts wherewith to melt lead, and, profiting
by their experience, he extemporized a melting-pot by hollowing
out wood, and placing in the cavity, layers of shavings and chipped
lead, and with his lungs for a bellows, the lead was fused and
run into his hand bullet-mold. The shavings in the bullet-mold
were not fired with matches but with flint, powder and punk, al-
though we had matches in our pockets. In fact the work might
have been done with modern conveniences, and moreover there
was no need of bullets for there was no game of bear or deer
size requiring them. The whole scheme had a Davy Crockett,
Nick-in-the-Woods, Tom Sawyer flavor, which appealed to boys
reading backwoods tales.
By the time I was twelve years old I had a gun of my own,
something long wished for, but not secured for lack of money to
buy one. But in the nick of time there came a lift from my father,
who offered each of his children 25 cents a year for every year
they were old, if they would do without cofifee for one year. We
all accepted his challenge, and at the end of the year I was
handed $2.75, which with the addition of my rabbit and nut
money, enabled me to buy a gun for $6.00. But the only time I
ever went hunting with it I shot but one single bird, a poor robin.
It was ten years before I went hunting again, and then with a
government rifle placed in my hands for standing off Indians, but
just then released for more specific purposes. This was when I
went on a bufifalo hunt. I singled out a big bull bison from the
herd, fired at and hit him. J^ut he did not drop, even at my second
shot. I was alone and it w^as night fall, I was afraid to continue
the fusilade, lest I might be the hunted instead the hunter, I
therefore hurriedly left him alone amid the Platte sandhills, as
the rest of the herd had scattered. Meanwhile, I got lost in the
darkness on my way to camp, which I only reached by hearing
shots fired by my comrades to locate my whereabouts. I can only
say that there was no sport for me in these two experiences of
738 HUNTING, TRAPPING AND FISHING IN BUCKS COUNTY
shooting bird and beast. I have always been ashamed of both
shootings, and mention the buffalo hunt only as a comparison be-
tween my two hunting episodes.
As for trapping the four legged victims were 'coons, 'possums,
muskrats, rabbits and squirrels ; and of birds, partridges and
pheasants. The box-traps were "gins," those of open or slat-
work, dead-falls and snares, all of them sprung with the figure
4 trap-sticks, consisting of "standard," "flyer," and "treadle."
The box-traps were boy-made with trap-sticks placed either in
front or rear; if in the latter way, the rear end of the trap was
made high or on the level with the raised lid, in order that a
string from the top would more readily accommodate itself to
rear sticks. The treadle extended forward, so that the game
nibbling at the bait sprang the lid. Seeking the results from a
sprung trap was rather risky, for the victim, instead of being a
harmless rabbit, might be a fighting varmint or a polecat. Then
there was the dead-fall, held in suspension by the conventional
trap-sticks, which left the victim harmless. For birds a trap was
made of slats one inch square, built cob-house fashion, drawn at
the top like a flat, truncated cone to a two-foot top covered with
boards. This was made without a nail, the whole was held to-
gether by pressure from a stick laid across the top and tied at
the ends to the lower slat. Grain scattered under the trap around
a branchy-ended treadle, attracted the birds. It was lucky if
there were no crows among the visitors to these traps. Unlike
other traps, this attracted day game. The snare must not be for-
gotten. This was composed of a light, springy sapling, bent to
the ground with a noose attached to its end, reaching down to
trap-sticks, so that when the danger-end of the treadle was dis-
turbed by pheasant or rabbit, something happened ending with
suspension, without act of judge or jury. This sounds cruel, but
instantaneous death was merciful as compared to the lingering
suffering brought on by neglected steel-traps or box-traps, where
the victims died from pain and hunger. Trapping game was a
boyhood delight, and the suffering of beast or fish did not enter
very much into boy philosophy.
Before the sawmills were built on the Cuttaloosa, there were
plenty of fish in the stream, but thereafter the sour sawdust from
hard wood, lodging in the eddies, drove away or killed the fish.
HUNTING, TRAPPING AND FISHING IN BUCKS COUNTY 72>^)
The tishing up the stream was done at night when the fish were
asleep and less wary. The implements were the "gig," and hand
net. The gig was made of the trident class, on a minature scale,
barbed and with a six-foot handle, while the net swung at the end
of two five- foot handles, the far ends of which were used for
disturbing the fish underlying stones. A torch was required, and
the one we used was almost as primitive as that used by the Briton
cave-man, or as the odd bullet contraption used by my brother,
which I have described. This torch was made of a tightly bound
handfuU of rye straw, a quiver of which was needed for con-
tinuous gigging. For this sport, the force needed was harpooner,
torch-bearer, whisp-carrier and a boy to tote the catch, which
was, of course, the writer of these chronicles, who felt as im-
portant as any of the party. After a hastily-eaten supper, the
fishing up the Cuttaloosa was started, my father in the lead.
This kind of fishing had been an old-time sport of my father
along the wooded Little Neshaminy creek. Starting at the mouth
of our local stream we fished up stream for hundreds of yards,
prodding under stones and roots, and then gigging the startled
suckers and catfish. Waving of the straw torch to excite a blaze,
wore it out, and it required frequent replacements. It was splen-
did sport and quite exciting when a good strike was made, and
the results handed over to me. This and the flaring of the torch
through the darkness are strong in my memory, and I shall never
forget that night cruise up the waters of the Cuttalossa. I have
no recollection of but one of these expeditions, but I do remem-
ber another outing with a fish net.
In my California days, ( although I never mined, ) robbing sluice-
boxes was considered the sin of sins, ranking higher than "self
defence," in killing. In our peaceful Solebury township region,
robbing traps, while of a minor sort, was considered bad enough,
and the criminality one of the meanest. An odd event was con-
nected with our home trapping. My two older brothers, about
1848, visiting one of the outposts of our game preserve, on our
own land, a mile and a half from the Delaware river, caught a
poacher early one morning lifting a rabbit from one of our sprung
traps. And what did this specialist do ? Take to his heels ? Not
a bit of it. He politely handed the stolen rabbit to the lawful
owners, and in a sort of "heaping coals of fire on their heads,"
740 RANDOM NOTES ON FORGOTTEN TRADES
gave the boys a lecture on the sinfulness of stealing, as if he had
done the deed under the pressure of self-sacrifice, pretending to
give them some good advice, saying that this should be a lesson to
last them a lifetime, viz, not to take things not their own. This
Pecksniffian manner was kept up till the boys began to think them-
selves the guilty parties. They uneasily made preparations for
setting their trap again and getting away from the hypnotic in-
fluence of this would-be thief. There must have been some
kleptomania about the transaction, for the young man was of
good family ; however our boys got the rabbit. It is a matter of
interest to know that this person got a college education, studied
law, went west, got to be a law judge ; in the meantime deserting
his ancestral religion and politics. This was but natural, as he
had got into different surrovmdings and he went with the Romans,
by doing as they did.
Random Notes on Forgotten Trades.
BY DR. HENRY C. MERCER AND HORACE M. MANN.
(Tohickon Park Meeting, October 11, 1924.)
NEW STOVE AT REDDING FURNACE IN 1 749.
(Found in Christopher Sauer's Newspaper "Pennsylvania Bericht"
of Sept. 1, 1749, and translated from the German by Rudolph P. Hom-
mel, Sept. 29, 1918.)
^^ A RATHER new kind of iron stove is being cast at Redding
/~\ Furnace, by which one can heat a big room and also can
cook, fry and bake upon the stove within the room, so
that no smell thereof will be noticeable in the room. This kind
of stove can be seen at the shop of the printer of this (paper)."
In the same paper the new calendar for the following year
(1750) is advertised. In this calendar the following advertise-
ment is found : "William Branson in Philadelphia makes known
that from him may be obtained iron rollers or wells for cider
mills, besides iron stoves and other iron ware."
RANDOM NOTES OX FORGOTTEN TRADES 741
OLD GLASS WORKS IN BUCKS COUNTY.
(Information to Dr. Mercer by Mr. Frederick Brucker of Hagers-
tovvn, Bucks county.)
Mr, Brucker heard that a glass works or factory had once
existed near H. Yost's mill, and connecting this statement with
the notes on the subject gathered by Mr. R. P. Hommel, I at
once visited Samuel Berger, then living close to the mill in
question, who told me that he had formerly owned (but since
sold) the field on which a glass factory was said to have existed
a long time ago. He also said he had often plowed up pieces of
slag or imperfect glass in the said field and promised to get me
one of these pieces. The field aforementioned lies about one and
one-half miles northeast of Blooming Glen in Bucks county, near
the left side of the road going north from H. Yost's mill to
Hagersville, about a quarter of a mile from the mill and on the
property marked W. Yost, 47, on Smith's map of 1876.
In going over the tax lists of Bucks county we find an entry
for a Peter Mason, glass works, in 1781. Peter Mason con-
tinues to be taxed for the next three years, but the word glass
works, does not again appear in connection with his name.
EDWARD Marshall's rifle.
(Information written by some member of the Pursell family. Orig-
inal manuscript in possession of Capt. J. G. Dillon, Philadelphia, who
is writing a book on rifles. Given to Horace M, Mann, April 26, 1922.)
"Edward Marshall's rifle was a medium long one, made in some other
country and set up here. This rifle had a hole in butt, in this hole was
placed an adders tongue and something else but can't say what it was.
And the hole was plugged up so he could not loose them. The stock
extended to end of barrel. It was a walnut stock but am not sure. Ed-
ward Marshall was my great, great, great, grandfather. Martin Marshall
was my grandmother's father, that was Edward Marshall's son. He
was my father's grandfather. Edward Marshall was a believer in
witches in those days. A conjurer in Philadelphia put the two things
in the butt of his gun as it had failed to kill anything. The conjurer
loaded his rifle by cutting a quarter in four pieces. The conjurer told
him to go home which he did. There had been a buck deer coming
every day and looking over the garden wall at him and he had failed
to kill this deer. That is what made him take his gun to a conjurer.
After arriving home in a day or two the deer appeared at the same
place. Marshall took his rifle and stood on his porch and fired at him
him and the deer ran ofif, when he looked where the deer was standing
742 RANDOM NOTES ON FORGOTTEN TRADES
he found the rim of a home spun petticoat. I suppose he thought this
came from the witch. His first wife was killed by the Indians. They
watched him when he left the house and started to go after his wife
and daughter. The daughter saw them coming and tried to go for her
father but one of the Indians shot her and she fell in a pool of water,
and she 'came to' enough to reach her father and son where they were
chopping wood. Grace was the name of this • daughter whom Moses
Ridge married afterward. The old Marshall rifle is in Belvidere, N. J.,
owned by Samuel Myers."
This last statement of the manuscript is, or course, incorrect,
the Marshall rifle being in the museum of the Bucks County His-
torical Society, numbered 10,780. This rifle is a flint lock fifty-
three and one-half inches long, with a very large bore, heavy
M'alnut stock, patch pocket with wooden lid and heavy brass
trimming. On the top of the barrel, near the hammer, is stamped
Rothenberg (therefore from Germany) which agrees with the
manuscript that it came from "some other country." On the
under side of the butt, about six inches from the heel, is a deep
hole which may have been made by the conjurer. There is also
a shallow scratch imder the brass heel plate, but this is not deep
enough to hold anything. The adder also is not known in Bucks
county today, nor in fact, is it found anywhere in the eastern
United States.
â– Mi
MARSHALL'S RIFLE.
In Museum of Bucks County Historical Society.
SIIILLALAII.
(Information given to Horace M. Mann. May 7, 1924, by James
Redmond, formerly of Leinster province, Ireland, aged about 90 years,
now living in Doylestown.)
A stick or cane cut from the blackthorn and known as the
"Mother of Sloe." The stick is cut about three feet long and
usually has a knob or handle in the upper end. Its purpose or
use is that of a cane, and while it is often used in fights, Mr.
Redmond does not think they were made primarily as a weapon,
but as a walking stick. The hole in both specimens in the muse-
um, he knows nothing about, and thinks it was bored later to
hang it up as a wall decoration. Both specimens in the museum
RANDOM NOTES ON FORGOTTKN TRADES 743
collection are shorter than the ones he was accustomed to in
Ireland.
Of the two specimens, referred to above, museum No. 18,008,
was presented by Alexander McLees of Morrisville, January 9,
1922, and w-as brought by Mr. McLees from near Ballycastle,
County Antrim, Ireland. Museum No. 19,414, was presented by
Mrs. William R. j\l€rcer, and was obtained by her father, Mr.
Dana of Boston. The term "Shillalah," is taken from a barony
and village in County Wicklow, Ireland, near which there was
a forest of oaks out of which cudgels were cut. (New English
Dictionary, 1914.)
doctor's iron mortar used f-or making scythe rifles by the
CHAPMAN family OF WRIGHTSTOWN, PA.
(Information by James Redmond, to Horace M. Mann, May 7, 1924.)
Mr. Redmond worked for Isaac Chapman, Wrightstown, son
of Dr. Thomas Chapman, from 1861 until 1869. He used this
mortar for grinding stone or sand with which to make scythe
rifles. In making these rifles a piece of wood about eighteen
inches long, two to two and one-half inches wide, and about an
inch thick, was cut out and a convenient handle worked on one end.
The balance of the piece was scored and pitted with the teeth
of an old hand saw, these pits and holes w-ere filled in with soft
tallow and then covered with sand, pulverized in the above mortar.
A good hard grit stone, like flint, was used. This was first
broken with a hammer and then pulverized in the mortar. When
the rifle wore smooth, more sand was dusted on it. In rifling a
scythe with a new rifle which was too rough, he would use the
sides or edges of the rifle on which there was no sand to smooth
ofif the sometimes roughened edge of the scythe. This mortar is
now in the museum under No. 11,631 and was presented l\v
Mrs. Ruth Ann Chapman, Wrightstown.
AXE whetstones AND HOME MADE GRINDSTONES.
(From information in letters of Col. Henry W. Shoemaker to Dr.
Henry C. Mercer, during the summer of 1924.)
In letter of July 23, 1924, Colonel Shoemaker writes that \\'.
J. Phillips of McElhattan, Pa., born 1862, told him that:
"When the pioneers arrived in a locality where they planned to re-
744 RANDOM NOTES ON FORGOTTEN TRADES
main awhile thej' made hand dressed grindstones, I have seen one used
by my grandfather. It was cut out of a dark stone. I have also seen
hand made whetstones. The modern grindstones are cut out by machin-
ery and the modern whetstones ground out on emery wheels. When on
the march the pioneers rubbed their axes on the whetstones or on other
stones, but they kept an 'edge' on their axes far longer than today,
they never cut into roots or rocks and cut their stumps high in the
clear original timber."
Mr. John C. French of Roulette, Pa., writes in a letter of July
11, 1924:
"Tell him that fine grained sand-stones were often found in streams
which served as w^hetstones for axe and knife. Most men carried small
tine whetstones with them, which served to finish the edge of axe or
knife after sharpening with coarse stones. Some carried file and small
whetstones. When lumbering began, grindstones were taken into the
forest or made near the work from fine sand-stone ledges, as at Canoe
Place. (See Anniversary Newspaper of May 29, 1924, Port Allegheny
Reporter,) Daniel Boone carried bullets and his friends brought lead
and powder by boat and by team of horses and oxen."
In a letter of August 12th, Colonel Shoemaker w^rites :
"From information furnished him by 'Squire Thompson of Couders-
port: The secret of the old axeman was that they knew how to keep a
blade in order. Many M'ould put a careful edge on their axes before
starting on a journey and they would never see a grindstone for weeks or
months. Whenever they had a little leisure time you could see them
sitting on a stump dressing their blades with fine river stones. I have
seen some fine natural whetstones picked up along the Allegheny
River, used for this purpose. When they located at a new home the
first thing they did was to carve out a grindstone. Then they were
happy."
Charles A. Crawford, born about 1862, son of John W. Craw-
ford, an old woodman, gave Colonel Shoemaker the following
information forw^arded in a letter of August 1, 1924.
"When the pioneers were traveling through the country they found
smooth stones along the creeks and rivers and could keep an axe in
fine condition that way, but before leaving civilization they ground their
axes on a grindstone and put them in the best of order. I have seen
an old home made grindstone, partly finished, that was ploughed up
near my home. It was fourteen inches in diameter and about two
and one-half inches thick, the hole had already been cut in it but it
had been discarded while still unfinished. It was made from a fine
piece of sandstone. I took it home and will hunt for it and if I can
find it. Dr. Mercer can have it. (Presented to museum Sept. 3, 1924.)
ANDREW ELLICOTT, THE GREAT SURVEYOR 745
Paul H. Mulford, Wellsboro, Pa., writes Horace M. Mann,
August 25, 1924:
"I had a whetstone which has been in our family some ninety or
more years, but last Spring loaned it to a workman who lost it. We
know of no other like it. All the old men I knew selected a native
stone of proper texture and wore it down to fit their needs, in fact I
have seen Mr. Swope, now dead, pick up a stone and work it down for
his whetstone."
Abraham Burket, for fifty years a woodsman in central and
southern Pennsylvania, who died recently, told Colonel Shoe-
maker, that he had heard the old folks say that the pioneers took
mountain stones which they ground down to a convenient size
for carrying around with them. These they used in sharpening
their axes and knives.
Charles Weaner, an aged woodman of Millersburg, Pa., also
told Colonel Shoemaker the following:
"I have seen some very good whetstones that some of the old pioneers
said they found in rock strata on hills. Whenever possible they carried
grindstones with them in search for a new home."
Andrew Ellicott, The Great Surveyor.
BY WARREN S. ELY, DOYLESTOWN, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, January 17, 1925.)
AMONG the natives of Bucks county who achieved a na-
tional reputation probably the most eminent was Andrew
Ellicott, the great surveyor-general of the United States.
He was born in Solebury township, Bucks county, January 24.
1754, and died at West Point, New York, August 29, 1820.
Andrew Ellicott, the grandfather of the surveyor (with his
father, who bore the same name), came to Pennsylvania on a
visit in 1730 at the age of 22 years. Andrew, Sr., had been en-
gaged in the textile business at Plymouth in Devonshire, Eng-
land, and having met with business reverses accompanied his son
on a visit to the New World. The young man was agreeably
impressed with the land on the Delaware and especially im-
pressed with a young lady named Ann Bye, a daughter of Na-
746 ANDREW ELLICOTT, THE GREAT SURVEYOR
thaniel Bye of Buckingham. He sought and obtained member-
ship in Buckingham Monthly Meeting where the young lady
held membership and in 1731 he married her and purchased a
farm of sixty acres in Solebury bordering on Buckingham town-
ship a short distance below Peters Corner, the late Frederick
Pearson farm. The log house in which the family lived for over
half century was torn down in 1855.
Andrew EUicott. Sr., is said to have remained in Bucks county,
and died in the old log house. Andrew Ellicott, the son, was a
weaver and followed that trade in connection with tilling the
soil, until his death in 1741. His widow married second,
George Wall and was the mother of Colonel George Wall of the
Revolution ; sheritT of Bucks county, and a member of Supreme
Executive council, and a daughter, Mary Wall, who married a
Dixon. By Andrew Ellicott she had four sons, Joseph. Andrew,
John and Nathaniel. Joseph, who was the father of the sur-
veyor-general, was born in 1732 and was a great clock-
maker and mathematician. He married in 1753, Judith Blaker.
a daughter of Samuel Blaker of Buckingham and a descendant
of Johannes Bleikers, one of the thirteen founders of German-
town. In 1766, Joseph Ellicott went to England and received a
substantial legacy inherited from his mother's family. Soon
thereafter he and his brothers. John and Thomas, made an ex-
tended trip on horseback in search of mill-sites. They finally
located a large tract of wild land on the Potapsco river in Mary-
land, where Joseph and John erected large mills about which
eventually grew the town of Ellicotts' Mills, now known as Elli-
cott City. Joseph died there prior to 1788. He was sheriff of
Bucks county, 1768-9. He and his brother. Andrew, and their
half brother. Col. George Wall, purchased the mill tract at Lum-
berville in 1762, which, after the erection of the mill, the Ellicott
brothers conveyed to Colonal Wa.\\. Andrew, the second son was
a farmer in Plumstead and Buckingham tmtil about 1796 but
eventually joined his brother and nephews on the Potapsco.
whither his sons had preceeded him. Thomas and Nathaniel.,
the other two sons of Andrew, the pioneer, lived and died in
Bucks county. Thomas was a miller and millwright and owned
the Carversville mill at the time of his decease. He left seven
ANDREW ELLICOTT, THE GREAT SURVEYOR 747
daughters who have numerous descendants in Rucks county. Na-
thaniel died childless.
Quite a number of the clocks made by Joseph EUicott. are
still in existence. One of them is now the property of the Reeder
family of New Hope. His most famous production was a musi-
cal clock eight feet high with four faces. It recorded time from
seconds to a century, and also illustrated the movements of the
earth, sun, moon and planets and played twenty-four tunes.
The Ellicotts were all Quakers but were not strongly impressed
with the testimony of the sect against defensive warfare. Every
one of the four brothers and such of the sons as were old enough
were "dealt with" for participating in trainings or other activ-
ities of a w^arlike nature in the early part of the Revolutionary
War. Nathaniel and Thomas were reported to the meeting for
being engaged in the manufacture of bayonets, and others of the
family for paying fines.
About the time of his marriage, Andrew Ellicott, the surveyor,
was dealt with for training, and consequently he married Sarah
Brown at Newtown, Bucks county, December 31, 1775, without
the formality of "passing Meeting." His name was therefore
omitted from the certificate by which his mother and the other
children transferred their membership from Buckingham to Gun-
powder Monthly Meeting in September, 1777. He and his wife,
however, continued to affiliate with the society after their re-
moval to EUicott's Mills, although he was almost immediately
commissioned captain of a company in the Elk Ridge Battal-
lion and later rose to the rank of major.
Andrew Ellicott inherited a taste for the higher mathematics
and mechanics from his father whom he assisted in the manufac-
ture of clocks at the age of 15 years. He was therefore educated
along those lines under the special care of his father. He was
probably a student at Williamsburg University, as that institu-
tion conferred upon him the honorary degree of Master of Arts
in August, 1784. In 1782, he published the "United States
Almanac" which contained much useful scientific data in addition
to the mass of general information. A patriotic biography of
"Madam Britain," giving a humorous account of our separation
from the mother country, was one of the features. His scientific
attainments attracted the attention of Washington, Jefferson,
748 ANDREW ELLICOTT, THE GREAT SURVEYOR
Franklin and other eminent men and he became a member of the
American Philosophical Society of Philadelphia.
On January 2, 1786, he was elected a member of the legislature
of Maryland. He lived for a time in Baltimore and was an in-
structor in mathematics in the Baltimore Academy.
In 1784, Major EUicott surveyed the boundary between Penn-
sylvania and Virginia, both south and west. During his many
surveying expeditions "on the edge of the wilderness" he kept up
a correspondence with his wife, and many of his letters to her are
published in Mrs. Mathews' book, Andrew EUicott, His Life and
Letters. They give a vivid touch of reality to the heroic work he
was doing on the frontier in fixing boundaries, establishing forts,
etc. His references to the great projects in which he was engaged
and the men with whom he came in contact, many of whom were
prominent figures in public life, is refreshingly simple, natural
and instructive. Under date of July 2, 1784, he writes from the
Virginia line that he saw Abraham Doan, the Tory outlaw, and
his cousin Hetty, taken to jail. On November 15, 1784, a letter
to his wife says, "Yesterday I fixed the southwest corner of
Pennsylvania." In April, 1785, he was ordered by the Supreme
Executive Council of Pennsylvania to survey the boundary be-
tween Pennsylvania and Ohio. In this expedition he was accom-
panied by his brother Benjamin, who, with another brother,
Joseph, both eminent engineers, assisted him in most of his sur-
veys. David Rittenhouse, the eminent astronomer, was also as-
sociated with Major EUicott in some of his surveys and there was
a close friendship between them.
In 1787 and 1788 Major EUicott and Andrew Porter, as com-
missioners of Pennsylvania, surveyed and located the line be-
tween Pennsylvania and New York from the Delaware to Lake
Erie. In the latter part of 1788, he surveyed the Islands in the
Ohio and Allegheny rivers and in 1789 surveyed the tract of land
on Lake Erie purchased by Pennsylvania of congress by Act of
September 4, 1788. In 1789, he removed with his family to
Philadelphia where he continued his residence for a number of
years. He was for some years professor of mathematics at the
Episcopal Academy, Philadelphia. He was one of the staunch
supporters of John Fitch, the inventor of the steamboat ; a mem-
ANDREW ELLICOTT, THE GREAT SURVEYOR 749
ber of the Steamboat Company and joined Rittenhouse and others
in a number of the certificates and petitions in Fitch's behalf.
In 1790, congress having fixed the site of the national capital
on the Potomac, Major Ellicott was directed to survey and lay
out the District of Columbia. He began this work in February,
1791, and together with the laying out of the city of Washing-
ton, was employed thereon until May, 1793.
For the laying out of the city of Washington, congress had
selected Major Pierre Charles L'Enfant, a distinguished French
engineer who had come to America in the train of the Marquis de
LaFayette in April. 1777. However the plan submitted by L'En-
fant did not suit the commissioners who had the matter in charge
and the French engineer resigned and refused to surrender his
plans. The plans of the national capital as laid out were there-
fore solely the work of Andrew Ellicott and his assistants, prin-
cipal among whom were his two brothers, Joseph and Benjamin,
to whom he left the completion of the work on his retirement
in 1783.
Major Elliott was appointed surveyor general of the United
States in 1792 and in April, 1793, was one of the commissioners
to lay out a road from Reading to Presque Isle on Lake Erie.
His letters referring to the trouble, encountered with Cornplant-
er and other Indian chiefs while at Le Boeff and Presque Isle,
are intensely interesting. He laid out the town of Waterford at
Le Boeff in 1794 and in 1795 superintended the erection of Fort
Erie and laid out the towns of Erie, Warren and Franklin.
The crowning achievement of the life of Major Andrew Elli-
cott was the survey of the boundaries between the United States
and the Spanish possessions in the south and west, begun in
1796 and completed in April, 1800. His journal, a large quarto
volume published in 1803, gives a detailed account of these sur-
veys made in accordance with the Pinckney-Godoy Treaty of
October 27, 1795. It contains many maps of Florida, Louisiana
and the country bordering on the Ohio and Mississippi and notes
of the utmost interest historically in reference to that section,
which was so soon afterward to become a part of the United
States through what is known as the Louisiana Purchase.
A letter written to his uncle, Colonel George Wall of Bucks
county, from Philadelphia after his return, is as follows :
750 ANDREW ELLICOTT, THE GREAT SURVEYOR
"Philadelphia, May 25. 1800.
Dear Uncle:
It is with pleasure that I acquaint you with my safe arrival, and re-
turn to my family and friends after an absence of three j^ears and eight
months. Since I saw you last I have been exposed to hardships and
dangers and constantly surrounded with difficulties, but owing to a good
constitution and perseverence, I have completed the arduous task en-
trusted to me by my country.
I wish much to see you and famil}^ and intend paying a visit to my
friends in Bucks in a few weeks. At present I am indisposed with the
ague and fever. I expect Doctr Rush to see me after breakfast.
Please to give my respects to your family and believe me to be
Your aflfectionate nephew,
Andw Ellicott."
The original letter is among the collections of the Bucks County
Historical Society.
Major Ellicott after a year of retirement from public office,
spent in Philadelphia editing his journal, was appointed secre-
tary of the Pennsylvania Land Office, October 3, 1801, and filled
that position until April 4, 1809, residing during the greater part
of the time at Lancaster, then the state capital.
He was appointed professor of mathematics at the United
States Military Academy at West Point, September 1, 1813, and
filled that position until his death in 1820. He was, however,
frequently relieved from the position, to supervise important sur-
veys for the government. The strain and exposure of his last
survey in 1819 probably hastened his death. He died in New
York from a sudden attack of illness contracted while on a visit
to his daughter in that city August 28, 1820.
Joseph Ellicott, brother of Andrew, born in Bucks county,
November 1, 1760, was only slightly less famous than his
elder brother as a surveyor and engineer. He was associated with
the major in most of his important surveys, excepting that of the
Louisiana territor>^ After the completion of the plans of the city
of Washington he was employed by the Holland purchasers in
New York to survey their lands, and became agent for that
country in 1800, with headquarters at Batavia, New York, where
he died August 18, 1826.
He laid out the city of Buffalo and was often referred to as its
founder. He was a zealous advocate of the Erie canal and one
THE LAST OF THE FILE MAKERS 751
of the engineers in charge of its construction, serving as canal
commissioner of New York for several years.
Benjamin Ellicott, another brother of Major Andrew Ellicott,
was associated with the latter as engineer in many of his notable
surveys, including the laying out of the city of Washington. He
was lieutenant-colonel from Huntington county, Pennsylvania,
during the Revolution but was a resident of xA.nn Arundel county,
Marvland, in 1797.
The Last of the File Makers.
BY HENRY K. DEISHER, KUNTZTOWN, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting-, January 17, 1925.)
DURING the summer of 1924 Dr. Mercer requested me to
supply a few missing links in the museum, one of which
was early file making.
i\Iy first move was writing to several file manufacturers, ask-
ing whether there might be any old hand tools laid away in some
remote corner of their plants, and if so I would relish to rum-
mage, by permission. This produced nothing. However, Henry
Disston & Sons sent me a booklet "The File in History" which
supplies much valuable information. It illustrates and describes
files and rasps of copper and bronze as early as 1000 to 1200
B. C. The oldest iron file recorded, was made by Assyrians dur-
ing the seventh century B. C. It is remarkable that this file is
the exact shape of the modern tool.
Many collections of Indian material contain stone files, flat,
round and grooved ones, but for want of a proper name, arch-
aeologists call them abrasive stones, just as the name sand paper
signifies its make-up, but a more appropriate name would be
file paper.
After file making became an industry, Germany took the lead,
but the thirty years war paralyzed the business and the center of
file making shifted to Sheffield, England. It is recorded that
there were a few file-cutters in Philadelphia in 1698, and in
Pittsburgh about 1829.
752 THE LAST OF THE FILE MAKERS
The first file-cutting machine was invented by an Itahan in
1502, followed in later years by many patents and improvements.
Like the first power saw-machines, many file machines sufifered
the fate of destruction by hand-cutters out of revenge, believing
machines would mean starvation for their families. File making
by machine did not become an industry in America till 1840 and
not on a large scale till 1864 by Chas. H'essen and Amos Pax-
son, Philadelphia.
Owing to the enormous consumption of files in the manufac-
turing of saws, Henry Disston & Sons established a file factory
in 1866. However, this was not new for Dr. Mercer. He wanted
something more substantial, things that could be looked at and
handled.
Speculating what next to do. it dawned on my mind that
about thirty years ago, a man traveled around calling on mechanics
and users of files, gathering worn-out files for re-cutting. In-
quiry among elderly trades people developed the names of
Freese, Blankenbiller, ^^'erner and Sweitzer, somewhere beyond
Reading.
During my half century collecting Indian implements, the names
of Wyomissing and Angelica creeks had become familiar, and I
thought possibly some early industrial plants might be located
along these streams among the Cumru hills. I wrote to Dr. Mer-
cer asking whether he would pay the expenses if it turned out a
wild goose chase. His answer was, "Go ahead. I have been
chasing wild geese for twenty-five years."
Therefore early on the morning of October 8, 1924, with my
friend William H. Siegfried, we were speeding in his car to —
somewhere beyond Reading. It was a beautiful day, and driving
along the creeks through narrow passes, the blue sky above and
the steep hills and woods clothed in their autumnal glory, was a
delight, and why should not good fortune smile on us ? The name
Freese was unknown; Blankenbiller was reported to have died
years ago ; Sweitzer turned out to have been an axe maker, so our
last hope was Mr. John A. Werner. Stopping at the village store in
Angelica, we were directed to his place just a few hundred feet
ahead. We came to a long old stone building, set in a high em-
bankment, along the road. Going down a flight of large stone
steps and entering, I came to a stop. The evidence of an industry
THE LAST OF THE FILE MAKERS 753
was apparent. The strange surroundings, with the rushing water
through the tail race under the floor, brought on a weird feeHng.
At the farther end was an elderly man, tall, well built, white hair,
slightly stooped shoulders. I rubbed my eyes. Was I dreaming?
Was this a Rip Van Winkle story? After introducing Mr. Sieg-
fried and myself and telling him we had come for information
and material for a Historical Society, I asked Mr. Werner "How
long have you been working in this place?" "thirty-eight year."
"Was this a file shop prior to your time?" "Oh yes, fifty-six
years." "May I ask your age. Mr. Werner? "Seventy years to-
day." "Did people work for you at any time?" "Yes, two sons
worked with me till they were called to war, but after their re-
turn they followed other trades, and I cannot continue much
longer, due to rheumatism and age." After granting to give the
desired information, I followed, him for five hours, making notes,
while he attended to his duties.
There was a large blacksmith hearth with a stone oven, and a
deep cast iron pot imbedded alongside; the old anvil, a special
shape for smithing files ; three enormous vats filled with harden-
ing solution ; old drying stoves ; two grindstones. 6 ft. diameter,
10 in. face. He said that he and his sons used to wear out a
car load of grindstones in 15 months. Tbere were ample work
benches and three file-cutting anvils.
The processes in file making are: 1. Cutting bar steel to
length. 2. Forging into desired shape — on file boss. 3. Forging
and cutting tang. 4. Annealing or taking temper out of steel.
This is done in the stone oven by placing a pile of files on iron
cross bars above a hot wood fire 4 to 6 hours. At the proper
stage the oven is sealed and allowed to cool 24 to 48 hours, ac-
cording to size of files. 5. Smithing — taking out bends and
twists caused by heat. 6. Grinding — to remove scale produced
by heat ; also to provide a smooth even surface for cutting. 7.
Dipping in lime water and drying quickly in drying board. 8.
Scraping or stripping. A special file is used to remove a glaze
formed on the surface by grinding. 9. Slight oiling to facilitate
movement of cutting chisel along the surface. 10. Cutting. This
is the most important and interesting operation. The file-cutter
must do accurate and eiTective work at close range. Hence re-
sistance above and below must be perfect. To meet this condi-
754 THE LAST OF THE FILE MAKERS
tion, the anvil is made from solid rock, weighing 1100 pounds,
which is sunk in the ground to a suitable depth. A steel anvil
6 in. by 6 in. is sunk and leaded in the top of this stone. Chisels
are made of finest hardened steel w^eighing 1^ to 3 ounces, and
the adz-shaped hammers weigh 4 to 7 pounds. Sheet lead is laid
on top of the anvil; on top of this the file-blank. A leather
strap, ends fastened to one side of anvil and passed over opposite
ends of file, and down to the floor, where the operator's foot in
the loop holds the file firmly. Sitting and bending over the
anvil, the operator begins at opposite end, and, with remarkable
dexterity, drops the hammer at an average speed of 150 strokes
a minute. The chisel is moved at the same speed absolutely by
sense of touch. A skilled file cutter will do work equal to the
accuracy of a machine and only an expert can tell the difference.
11. Straightening. This is done on a lead base with a lead maul.
12. File covered with a paste to protect teeth during hardening.
13. Hardening. File is heated by immersion in molten lead ;
then withdrawn and plunged in a hardening solution, moved back
and forth till partly cooled. 14. Final straightening. \Miile the
file is still hot, it is straightened by bending between two iron
bars ; supplemented by holding it on hard wood set endwise and
struck light blows with wooden mallet. 15. Scrubbing — to re-
move all paste, then dipped in lime water and dried quickly to
prevent rusting. 16. Tang heated for softening to prevent break-
age. 17. Final oil bath to keep from rusting. It was fortunate
that I could purchase almost a complete outfit for your museum.
It was now late in the afternoon when we left the place. The
sun was near its horizon, and the end of the day reminded me
of the end of the hand-made file industry, the last of the file
makers.
The Colonial Carpenter.
BY DR. HENRY C. MERCER, DOYLESTOWX, PA.
(Doylestown Meeting, January 17, 1925.)
AMONG the tools of ancient type, and universal interest,
exhibited in the Museum of the Bucks County Historical
Society, those pertaining to the construction of the house
may be regarded as of unusual importance.
In attempting however to show and explain them at the meet-
ing of the Society in January 1925, Dr. Mercer realized that any
thorough presentation of the subject would not only exceed the
bounds of a single paper, but preclude reasonable illustration in
these proceedings. It therefore seemed desirable, after classify-
ing and photographing a representative series of the specimens
now at Doylestown, or elsewhere obtainable, to utilize an oppor-
tunity then ofifered, for publishing a fully illustrated account of
them in a sequence of articles in Old Time New England, the
Bulletin of the Society for the Preservation of New England
Antiquities, published at the Harrison Gray Otis House, 2 Lynde
Street, Boston, Massachusetts. These descriptions and pictures
have appeared in the Bulletins for April, July and October, 1925,
and January and April, 1926, and when finished, in three or four
more installments should finally comprise a book with about two
hundred illustrations entitled :
HOW WAS THE HOUSE BUILT
A HANDBOOK OF THE TOOLS OF THE LUMBERMAN, CARPENTER
AND JOINER OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
To be presented, in an edition of about five hundred copies, to
the publication fund of this Society.
Editor.
History of the Lucy M. Burd Industrial School.
BY MISS LUCY M. BURD, BEDMINSTER, PA.
(Lucy Burd School, Bedininster Township Meeting, October 17, 1925.)
DR. MERCER requested that the story of this home be told
here today. Twenty busy years have passed since I began
in 1904 and every day filled with cares and duties. All to
be told in fifteen or twenty minutes, it really seems more difficult
than the work did.
The home was started with an earnest belief, that if children
could be taken at the right time, and placed in a wholesome en-
vironment, they would grow to be useful men and women. Was
such a home needed? Had the state already supplied institu-
tions, homes, and various places sufftcient to meet these important
conditions? Opinions were obtained from various sources. A
judge in one of the neighboring counties thought that if youth
could be bridged over a certain period of their lives, it would help
to solve the great problem. Once upon a time there was a man
who was sentenced to be hanged in his home town. A boy was
eager for the day to come and most anxious to see the man give
his life for the crime he had committed. He was pleased and
excited with the thought that he might see this horrible sight, but
his parents feeling that it was not good for him planned a two-
week visit to his grandparents. If by any possible chance this
boy should have witnessed the tragedy, no one is able to tell what
the aflfect might have been upon his youthful mind. Would it
have sickened him, or would it have increased his desire, and
helped to harden his feeling for such scenes ? He felt tbat his
visit had been on the safe side. This able judge said, "the hard-
est thing he had to decide was what to do with a boy that stood
before him waiting for his sentence. What picture or scene had
come into his life to create wrong doing?" A judge of another
county said, "When a man comes before me who has committed
a crime, the law tells me what to do with him, but his hardest
work was to dispose of the boys. There was no proper place to
send them, and conditions were such that they could not return to
their homes. "If it were mv bov," he said, "I would rather follow
HISTORY OF THE LUCY M. BURD INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL 757
him to the grave than to a reformatory, 'llierefore what must I
do with the boy of my fellow man ?" When attending a sick child,
a doctor was asked how it effected him when he knew the child
would not get well. He replied that it was looked upon as a
matter of business. A man who had accumulated great wealth,
was consulted as to the advisability of such a home as this, he
replied, "I am not in sympathy with the work and would like to
see such boys thrown into the river." We felt differently, and
thought that life-savers and swimming- wings should be given to
every child. Therefore the home was started.
The years 1903 and 1904 were spent in Philadelphia, a portion
of that time was spent in studing the "Incorrigable Boy." As each
individual trouble was seen and better understood, we felt the
country surroundings would do much toward helping him to live
in a bigger world and lead a better life. Years ago Judge Wat-
son said : "Never take the rags from a beggar unless you can
give him something better." We find scores of children, clothed
in destructive rags. Wliat has the country to offer them? A
thousand good things can be given in exchange. 'Tis spring!
The frog eggs, the toad eggs, worms that must be dug, fish that
are waiting to be caught, the birds and their nests, the butterflies,
the stars, the sunset, the cherries that we must climb the tree to
pick, the berries, the woods, the squirrels, the rabbits, the chip-
munks, space to throw a stone, swimming, snow-balling, the snow-
man, coasting, three meals, a bed-time and a rising time, a bath,
clean clothes, the bed-time stories, the Sunday school. All these
rightly used, belong to the boy, and will be helpful suggestions
rather than destructive criticisms. The next thing was to find a
place for such children to call home. Mr. and Mrs. W^illiam H.
Slotter in the year of 1904 gave us the use of a house and
enough ground for a garden for one year. Therefore in March,
1904, the home was started, with fifty dollars invested in furni-
ture and one boy, who had not eaten at a table or slept in a bed.
for two years, he was the first one to call this place "home." To
be thoughtful of each other, cooperating whenever we could,
were the principles on which w^e built our home. At first our
home was open only to juvenile court boys. It only took a few
weeks before we numbered seventeen, then twenty, which was
all we could care for. The first year was a hard financial struggle.
758 HISTORY OF THE LUCY M. KURD INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL
but the children were happy. All that we had to depend upon
was a little money that a few of the boys could pay, with a small
amount of my own, to provide food and clothing, and furnishing
the house. We owe much to Mr. Lewis Keller, who allowed us
to buy without money, and trusted us until we could pay. Mr.
Charles Eastburn and his wife were the first to send a donation
of money. We economized in every possible way. One little boy,
who had charge of the milking, said that we were using more
milk that he could afford to give us, and suggested that we do
without milk on our oatmeal for one week, but insisted that the
cats should have their full share. Every boy agreed to this
frugal plan.
After leaving here this boy entered the Trade School in Phila-
delphia and graduated as an electrician. His brother studied
business methods, and three years ago they went into the electrical
business on their own account. They are now wholesale con-
tractors in Philadelphia, and expect to do $300,000 worth of
business this year. The brother was a great traveler, and never
stayed very long in one place. We speak of his resources with
some pride. When he was sixteen he had visited a great many
states, and then thought he would like to make a trip abroad.
He had an opportunity to sail on a Norwegian vessel. When
they landed in Germany, the vessel hired two of their own
countrymen and refused to take the boy any farther. Having
neither money nor friends, he was resourceful enough to know
that we had an American consuls in Germany, and inquired until
he located one. He told his story, and our consul sent him
home with some good advice. This boy was the only member' of
our family that ever crossed the water to confer with a diplomat.
At that time we did not have the means to provide for a teacher,
and we found it most difficult to do the work and keep the chil-
dren interested. Occasionally runaways would result, but they
were always glad to get back, and would describe their trips with
the greatest interest. Five little boys started to Philadelphia,
without permission, to see a parade. Mr. Slotter started after
them, but failed to find them. Later in the day we received a
telephone message that the boys were at Chalfont, tired, hungry
and ready to come home. After they got here, one little fellow
said, "Mr. Slotter, it was too bad vou did not look on the other
HISTORY OF THE LUCV M. BURD INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL 759
side of that big tree. I was standing there as quiet as could be !"
They had taken a loaf of bread that had been left by the baker
at a gate, and Mr. Slotter said, "George, who took the bread?"
"I don't know, Mr. Slotter, I walked right along and looked
straight ahead." Mr. Slotter then said, "George, did you have
some of the bread?" He replied, "Oh, yes, they gave me a piece !"
All our boys discussed religion, politics, and all grades of so-
ciety. Those boys who were sent by Judge Davis of Philadelphia,
felt that they were quite superior to any other boys who had been
sent by other judges. A little boy. of six years, whom Judge Davis
had sat upon his knee, and to whom he talked very kindly, felt
that he belonged to the judge. After Judge Davis' death, he came
to me with clasped hands and said. "Miss Burd, who will be my
judge now?"
In politics they agreed with Mr. Slotter, but one boy felt that
Thomas Jefferson knew more than any other man in history, so
he felt it his duty to be a Democrat. Many of the children knew
no creed by name, and when a boy was asked. "What was a
rabbi?" he said: "It was a man who killed chickens." A few
days later we studied about John the Baptist living on locusts
and wild honey. We had spinach for dinner one day, and one
boy refused to eat it because he did not like it. He was reminded
of John the Baptist and his meagre diet, and said, "Well, I'm
not John the Baptist; I'm John the Presbyterian." He is now
a member of the Presbyterian church.
Our school was incorporated in 1909. At that time a few girls
were admitted, which helped to make our home a more normal
one, and added to the happiness and contentment of the other
children. A library was started very early in the first year, and
the children became interested in books. We tried to emphasize
our school-wook by having them in school a portion of the day,
and a study hour in the evening.
One of the girls entered West Chester Normal School and
graduated in three years. Others entered high schools in Phila-
delphia and in Easton, Westtown Boarding School, and one grad-
uated from Wisconsin University. She is now working and sav-
ing towards a degree. Two of the girls graduated from Banks
Business College, and one of them became secreteary to the
president of the college. Another girl obtained a position with a
760 HISTORY OF THE LUCY M. DURD INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL
professional man, and remained with him until her marriage. Her
work was so appreciated that both the man and his wife have
kept up their interest in the young couple, and helped them to
purchase a country home, spending the majority of their week-
ends with them, advising and giving his professional services free
of charge. Another, who graduated from the Mount x\iry School
for the Deaf, has been taken into Hoskins store, and is giving
very satisfactory services as a messenger between departments.
She is the first girl of this type to work for this firm and they
are very well pleased with her interest and attention.
In 1910, Miss Leah F. Slotter, a lady of high principles and of
strong character, came to spend her vacation with us, and liked
the work so well she stayed with us ten years. Her influence for
good was felt among us all. She was a wonderful help, and in-
troduced the study of music into our home. We had planned a
recital, the night proved to be very stormy, but it kept none of us
away. I shall never forget the interest the girls took in planning
and preparing for that entertainment, and how they dressed
themselves in their best, for the occasion.
The children's birthdays were always remembered, and special
suppers were given. Our Christmases were especially happy, and
there were gifts for all. We are indebted to the Saturday Club
of Wayne, which, for many years, sent gifts to every child.
The Presbyterian School of Langhorne always sent a turkey.
For some of the comforts we enjoy today, we can thank Miss
Eleanor Folke. She started a fund for the plumbing by emptying
her pocketbook while on a visit here. Mrs. LeBoutillier, of
Wayne, has for several years given us a donation of money,
which has made it possible for us never to turn a child away be-
cause he could not pay.
We try to put a little touch of home into their lives whenever
possible, and life is made up of little things. Whenever they went
fishing and brought home fish, no matter how small, they would
be cooked if they cleaned them. One day I found earthworms
crawling over the piano. I said, "William, what does this mean?"
He replied, "Darwin says worms have hearing. If you put
them on the piano and strike several keys they will move, and
I was just trying to see if it would turn out to be so."
A little boy. watching a bird build its nest, then the arrival of
HISTORY OF THE LUCY M. BURD INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL 761
the eggs and four little featherless birds, came to me with the
following original thought :
I wonder how the little birds,
Stay happ3^ crowded in their tin\- nest,
And how they know their mother.
And how to stretch their necks for food.
And why they hold their bills toward heaven —
Is that the way they say their blessing?
In 1918 we met our first great loss. The barn and all the
crops were destroyed by fire. Mr. Slotter was in the horse entry
at the time, and there were men on the barn floor getting out
the reaper. The fire was discovered by a girl who was sweeping
the porch. She at first thought it was dust being raised by a boy
sweeping the garage. She called to the boy when she realized it
was smoke and not dust, and he ran into the barn to warn Mr.
Slotter. Mr. Slotter turned around, and began shooing him
out, saying, "Don't come around here with any of your tricks."
The fire made rapid headway and Mr. Slotter soon realized its
seriousness. He rushed forward to release the horses. He was
also able to drive out a few pigs, but the most of them and a
valuable bull were burned to death. Fortunately the cows were
in the meadow. During the height of the blaze, the telephone
rang. It was a brother of one of the girls. He had just reached
Camp Crane, Allentown, from Cainp Greenleaf, Georgia. Notic-
ing the tremor in his sister's voice, he inquired the cause. When
told that the barn was burning he dropped the receiver with an
exclamation, and ran out to ask leave of absence from an officer,
although he knew an order had been issued that no leave of ab-
sences would be granted. The circumstances being unusual, he
was given a thirty-six hour leave, and spent his furlough in help-
ing to clear away the debris. "Helpfulness" was the keynote of
the neighborhood, and everyone who could do so lent a hand,
helping to save a few small buildings. A few boys sat on the
house roof, busily sweeping burning embers that blew over from
the barn. The boys felt the loss very much, as the barn had been
a real gymnasium to them, they had taken many a flipper ofif its
beams into the mows below. They would be exercising when
Mr. Slotter thought they were working, and when they saw him
approaching the one on guard would shout a warning cry, call-
762 :medicixal herbs and plants
ing "Peaches." For sometime Mr. Slotter thought peaches was
a game they played, it was a game, and he was "it." Later he
learned it was a signal that he was coming, and it was time for
them to get back to work.
Mr. Slotter owes his youthfulness largely to those tricks and
games with the boys, and the boys are indebted to him for prin-
ciples that will serve as sign-posts along the path of life.
The number of children having grown beyond the capacity of
the house, it was decided to put up a school building rather than
rebuild the barn. Therefore the farm below, with good buildings,
was purchased for less money than it would have cost to put
up a barn.
A greater loss occurred in 1921, when fire destroyed the barn
on the newly purchased fann, and all the cattle and other stock
with it. The origin of either has never been known. We owe
the Dublin Fire Company our thanks and gratitude for the work
they did in both instances. The insurance companies refused to
pay the full insurance, which made our loss still greater.
In 1924 our straw-shed burned down. We know the origin
of that fire. A five-vear-old boy found a match, and he and an-
other little boy went out to the shed and struck it to see how
long they could hold it in their hands, not knowing that hay would
burn. As soon as it began to burn their fingers, they dropped
the match into the hay. They rushed to the house to tell us
that the shed was on fire. I want to say that we got every
penny of the insurance of that loss. Mr. Carlile Hobensack had
it in his charge. I am not here to advertise his business, but I
can commend him for doing the right thing.
Many of our boys and girls, by this time, were quite grown
up, and they formed an organization known as "The Blueburd
Club," the idea of which was to assist the home financially, in
a small way. They edited a small paper, to which many people
subscribed, and in that way they were able to install an electrical
plant. The Allcnto'ivn Morning Call published the paper free
of charge. One of the issues of the paper contained an extract
of an article, that Ella Wheeler Wilcox had had published in
several newspapers, telling about our school and its work. Mrs.
Wilcox was very much interested in our school, and had planned
to visit us. She had her publishers send us several of her books..
MEDICINAL HERBS AND PLANTS 763
I know you would like to know more about the success of this
home. There are two ways of measuring success — the one mak-
ing a life; the other, making a living. Today, with shrewd
business ideas, one can make a living, and acculumate great
wealth. To make a life, requires finer workmanship. When
the sun goes down, we have no bookkeeper able to balance the
profit and loss sheet. If there is a deficit, it cannot be made up
by saving a little here and a little there, it is lost forever. Only
the other day I heard a man say, "If I had my time to live over
again, how diiTerently I would do !" Showing us that a deficit
when the day closes means a deficit when life ends.
It ain't so far from right to wrong, the trail ain't hard 'to lose,
There's times I'd give most anything to know which one to choose,
There ain't no signboards on the road to keep you on the track;
Wrong's sometimes white as driven snow, and right looks awful black.
I don't set up to be no judge of right and wrong in men,
I've lost the trail sometimes myself, I may get lost again,
And when I see some boy who looks as tho he'd gone astray,
I want to shove my hand in his and help him find the way.
Herbs and Plants Used for Medicinal Purposes by Colonial
Settlers.
BY MISS JULIA B. ABBOTT, BRISTOL, PA.
(Lucy Burd School, Bedminster Township Meeting, October 17, 1925.)
THERE was an Indian trail in colonial times that led from
below Philadelphia and South New Jersey to Easton and
above. It followed the course of the Delaware river more
or less closely. On the New Jersey side it ran at the foot of a
bluff varying in height from thirty to eighty feet above the river.
On this bluff just outside of Trenton, in a brick house built in
1797 by Samuel Abbott for his bride, Lucy Laurie, a cousin of
the Annie of the famous song, I found an old Quakeress who
had been a practical nurse and knew the uses of the herbs of her
mother's garden and also of the fields and woods.
She led me into a room on the south side of the house from
which viewpoint the river and also Penn's Manor could be seen
at a distance. The furniture in the room, with its Queen Anna
764 MEDICINAL HERBS AND PLANTS
and Chippendale chairs, hair cloth covered sofa, tilt-top table,
and even the hair wreath in a deep frame, all gave the room a
decidedly colonial atmosphere, which was enhanced by the little
air-tight stove, in which a fire was burning brightly. The years
between then and now had vanished, it was 1797 once more.
After the usual inquiries as to the welfare of mutual friends and
relatives, Martha said :
"Now just let me close my eyes, and I will see mother's garden just
as plain as can be. There are hoarhound, for coughs and colds. I re-
member sister Sarah made me some syrup once, and forgot to put the
tar in a bag. Thee sees she should take hoarhound and molasses, with
tar in a bag, and then boil it all together: but this time she forgot about
the bag, and the tar got in my teeth. Then there were always babies
to make catnip or catmint tea for, when they had colic. Next to the
catnip was a clump of comfrey, the Greek name of which means 'to
grow together,' probably derived from its healing properties; its roots
were sticky and mashed with fat pork it was used for bruises; it was
also a good poultice for sore throat and inflamation of the intestines.
Sage, of course, was always put in sausage and goose stuffing, it was
thought to aid in digestion of the fat and stimulate the stomach. Next
to the sage was 'spinkard,' (by which I judge she meant spikenard),
the roots of which are aromatic, and the extract was used in perfume
and burial spices. I must not forget camomile tea, that was a stimu-
lant, and its leaves and flowers were both used for fomentations and
poultices, the essential oil is light blue when first extracted. The chil-
dren used to say 'Campfile tea, it cured me,' but I just don't recollect
what it cured us of; I guess it was good to purify the blood, for in
those days, 'all the ills that flesh Avas heir to,' were thought to be caused
by impure blood. (Of course the campfiile was cinquefoil.) Dogwood
was good for chills and liver complaints, but I don't remember ever
taking it."
Here the old lady paused and again closed her eyes for a few
moments, and after coming out of her dream, she told me the
following story :
"Of course, I don't remember it. but Ann Satterthwait used to tell
me, that when I was four years old I went up garret and got two
onions, which I roasted in the ashes of the hearth, (we did not have
stoves in those days), that every once in a while I would look at them
and turn them over. When I thought they were done I ate them for
my cold, and I guess they cured it too." (Even I remember using a
poultice of roasted onion for ear-ache, though I suppose it was the
heat, rather than the onion that was the curative principal.) "Now let
me see what more was in the garden. There was marjoram, thyme,
and basil, but they were used only in cooking. Back in the corner was
MEDICINAL HERBS AND PLANTS 765
fox-glove, digitalis, good for the heart and still used, and next was
balsam-apple; we always had a bottle of that on the kitchen mantle
for cuts and sores. We poured whiskey on the apples and let it stand
for si few weeks, when it was ready for use. Then there was a bed of
chives for the turkeys, it was chopped fine and mixed with the young
turkej''s food. There was rue an ancient emblem of sorrow, it was
cultivated for its aromatic and medicinal properties; it was called
'herb of grace,' and was used as holy water, to sprinkle against witch-
craft, but of course we were Friends, and that is just hear say. In the
fields we gathered dandelions, good for chills and fever, and for your
blood too; and so too is boneset, exaporium and tansy. Ellis always
gave tansy tea to horses for colic, it is a bitter tonic and its young
leaves are good for flavoring puddings. Pennyroyal was also used as
a flavoring. I wish I could get some now, but I guess it has all died
out. (I told her that some was growing on an adjoining farm.) Wild
carrot tea (she continued), is good for kidney trouble and j-arrow is
used as an astringent, and good for asthma, as is also jimson weed.
Stramonium was used for poltices to allay inflamation; and don't for-
get the mayapple (mandrake); some say it is good for the liver. (Any-
one living in lower Bucks county, surely knows, from the signs painted
on the sides of many barns, the suggested benefits to be derived by
using Schenk's mandrake pills.) Wintergreen is good to flavor candy,
but it was also used for rheumatism, (and still is in Baum Analgeseque.
In my own home an Hungarian maid was delighted to find some may-
apple, from which she made a syrup just as they did in her old home.)
Peppermint was good for babies colic, and spearmint was used only
for mint sauce, to serve on roast lamb." After a few moments of silent
thought, she suddenly opened her eyes and said: "Why Jule what about
bam (balm), we used to have that but I have forgotten what we used
it for. Balsam was used for consumption and to make people sleep, we
used to call it 'life-everlasting,' or 'live-forever.' Then there was smart
weed and heart's ease, both used for poultices to allay inflamation. The
yellow dock and burdock were used as astringents, and mother used to
use sassafras and spicewood used to purify the blood and for making
harvest beer. Lavender was used to keep the moths away, and to make
the linen smell sweet, as it still is."
Being very tired, by this time, my hostess began to nod, and
stepping suddenly back into 1925. I made my adieu with regret.
The Proctor Family of Upper Bucks County.
BY PROF. WILLIAM H. SLOTTER, DOYLESTOWN^ PA.^
(Lucy Burd School, Bedminster Township Meeting, October 17, 1925.)
FREQUENTLY things unrelated to the work in hand at-
tract our attention and enlist our interest. Twenty-five years
ago I chanced to dine at the home of John Proctor at
Blooming Glen in Hilltown township, who in the course of
conversation, while at the dinner table, gave me a sketch of the
history of the Proctors in that part of Bucks county. He said
that they were all descendants from the same ancestor who
was an officer in the Continental army during the Revolutionary
War. He was probably born in Ireland, but at the outset of
the war he and his wife lived in Philadelphia. I have no
record at hand to show when he entered the army, but in 1777
he was a colonel, and may have fought at the battles of Brandy-
wine, Chadd's Ford and other places in the vicinity of Phila-
delphia. In the fall of that year, when Washington and his army
went to winter quarters at Valley Forge, Colonel Proctor was
with a division of the army that spent the winter at Easton.
Colonel Proctor's Christian name was not given to me. At the
time of the battle of Germantown, his wife and child lived at
Germantown. Late in the fall she with her child, a boy about
three years old, started to walk to Easton, a distance of about
fifty-five miles, to spend the winter nearer her husband. John
Proctor, my informant, is a grandson of Colonel Proctor and this
brave woman.
He did not know what route they took from Germantown, nor
how long they were on the way, or what hardships they suffered
prior to reaching a farm house, three miles northwest of Pipers-
ville, which is the farm now occupied by the Lucy M. Burd
Industrial School, in Bedminster township, where we are as-
sembled today. He said they arrived at this farm home late
one cold snowy evening where the mother asked for something
to eat, and lodging for herself and her baby boy. They were
1 Mr. Blotter was superintendent of public instruction for Bucks county
from June, 1887, to June. 1902, and was therefore filling that office when this
history was related to him.
TIIK I'ROCTOR FAMILY OF UPPER BUCKS COUXTV 767
taken in, warmed and fed and given a comfortable bed to sleep
in. It continued to snow during the greater part of the night, but
by morning the storm had passed. The day was bright and
cold, but the snow was too deep for the woman to continue her
journey on foot. She was, however, anxious to get to Easton,
and her hospitable host therefore offered to take her, presumably
on horse back. She gladly accepted his kind offer. For some
unknown reason, it was decided that the little boy should remain
with the farmer's family, until the mother could return and get
him. The details having been arranged, Mrs. Proctor, no doubt
with a heart filled with sorrow at parting with her boy, and with
gratitude as well, now bade good bye to her hostess, who too had
a son about three years old. Then turning to her baby boy, and
without apparently at least, any premonition that she might never
see her child again bade him good bye. Think of the confidence
these two women had in each other. Mrs. Proctor and the farmer
then set out for Easton, which they reached sometime during the
day, where Mrs. Proctor joined her husband, a happy woman who
had won the prize of her adventure. The farmer returned to his
home, bearing the latest messages of motherly love to the little
boy in his new home with the farmer and his wife.
The most coveted joys are often the most fleeting. This seems
to have been true in Mrs. Proctor's case. Not many days after
her arrival at Easton, she took sick, and after a brief illness, died.
It appears that her death must have been unexpected, for no part-
ing message came to her child, whom she had entrusted to
strangers at the farm house in Bedminster township.
Children, as a rule, quickly adapt themselves to their environ-
ments. This little fellow found a playmate, of about his own age,
in his new home. A child of three years of age, soon forgets an
absent parent and clings to the people in a home that supply his
wants. So this little child could not have appreciated his loss in
the death of his mother, even if word had come to him. This
temporary home became his abiding place till he grew' to man-
hood, married and founded a home for himself and his family.
If Colonel Proctor visited the boy at any time between the
time of his wife's arrival at Easton in 1777 and the close of the
war, my informant did not say. He did however say that when
the boy was about ten years of age, the father, accompanied by
768 THE TROCTOR FAMILY OF UPPER I'.UCKS COUXTV
an army friend, came to claim the child as his own. The son,
naturally did not know his father. When the father explained
that he came to take him to his own home, the son began to cry
and refused to go. The more the father tried to get his confi-
dence, the more excited the child became, bursting out in spasms
of crying and pathetically appealing to the people, who had been
the only guardians he knew, not to allow this stranger to
take him away. These earnest appeals won for himself the
sympathies of the father's army friend, who now said to the
father, "Why worry your child? These people seem to be good
to him. He likes them and is happy here. Why not let him re-
main?" The father replied, 'T want to send him to school and
educate him." "Well," said the friend, "wait till the boy is fifteen
or sixteen years old and then your intentions will no doubt appeal
to your son." The father, therefore, reluctantly yielded to the
suggestions of his friend and permitted the son to remain till the
time suggested by his friend. The father, however, never re-
turned; whether death claimed him before the son reached the
age named by the friend is not known. John Proctor, who re-
lated this story to me, was a farmer in his younger years.
Joseph, a brother, was a blacksmith, and Samuel, another brother,
was an hotelkeeper at Dublin. If there were more children in
this family, I failed to learn their names.
NOTE BY EDITOR.
In the Pennsylvania Magazine of History, Vol. IV, pp. 454 to
470, there is a full history of the military services of General
Thomas Proctor, who is probably the Colonel Proctor referred to
by Professor Slotter. Thomas was born in Ireland in 1739, the
eldest son of Francis Proctor, who emigrated with his family to
America sometime before the revolution. On December 31, 1766,
Thomas, who was a carpenter by trade, married Mary Fox.
(See Pennsylvania Archives, Second Series, Vol. 11, p. 201.)
On October 27, 1775, he was commissioned as captain of artil-
lery and recruited a company. He served gallantly throughout
the war, and his services were so much appreciated that he was
given positions of trust in the army. On February 20, 1777, he
was advanced to the rank of colonel. He took part in the battles
of Trenton, Brandywine, Chadd's Ford and Germantown. In
the winter of 1777-78, he lay with his regiment at Valley Forge.
THE PROCTOR FA.MILV OF UPPER BUCKS COUNTY
769
On May 8, 1779, he was commissioned as "Colonel of Artillery
in the Army of the United States," and detailed to do service
with General Sullivan in his campaign against the Six Nations of
Indians to punish them for their atrocities in the Wyoming Valley.
He joined General Sullivan at Easton on May 20, 1779. On
December 25, 1782, he was commissioned as Major of Artillery.
After the close of the war. viz, on April 12, 1793, Governor Mif-
flin commissioned him as Brigadier General of the Mililtia of the
City of Philadelphia. He served as sheriflf of Philadelphia from
1783 to 1785.
Mary was evidently his first wife and died young, and the
Mrs. Proctor mentioned by Prof. Slotter may have been his sec-
ond wife, and if so it is evident that he was married three times,
as we are informed by Poulson's Daily Advertiser, of March 27,
1804, that "Sarah Ann, spouse of General Thomas Proctor, died
March 23, 1804." The same newspaper, issue of March 27, 1806,
notes the death of General Proctor on March 16, 1806.
He passed away on Sunday, March 16, 1806, at his home on
Arch street, between Fourth and Fifth, Philadelphia. During
the latter part of his life he was harassed by financial troubles.
Prof. Slotter's informant (John Proctor, a grandson) says
Colonel Proctor was stationed at Easton during the winter of
1777-78. This must be a mistake, if in fact Colonel Thomas is
the Proctor referred to, as his movements during his military
campaign are a matter of public history. The statement related
by Prof. Slotter, is after all a family tradition, and the circum-
stances of Mrs. Proctor's journey might just as well have re-
fered to the winter of 1779-80. In 1779, General Proctor was
40 years of age. The son, left at the farm house, according to
Prof. Slotter's story was then but three years old, and was doubt-
less a child of his second marriage.
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