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\>v_/ W XYZ • T_; s Pag' \ s _ UV INDEX. Page A SCRAP OF LOCAL HISTORY. THE SOUTH CORNER OF TOW A M ivh Thirty years later, orin 1764 Saanar The name of Kriebel is a common one £m°fo'xlVoO6 far,n C° tm 8°’n Abra- among the Sch wenkfelters. This par¬ bam tor £l,o00—a very large advance ticular family of that name has held The neighbors had changed. In Wor' possession of the south corner of Towa- cester were Abraham and Jacob Wentz* mensing township for nearly 160 years, Caspar Kept-, Melchoir Meschter and or fur five generations. It is a fertii’ a^um-Wei?D8r were on the upoer and quite rolling, hilly region, watere side; Christopher Weigner was on the by the Towamensing creek and it northeast, and Melchoir Kriebel ou the tributaries. The stream here flow I ?aodndy0 allaei? dofnf dp~Germanm08tly extraction ^ch wenkfelters, The westward towards Skippack creek Seetb „( Caspar Krl'b‘;““»- Here, on a knoll by a piece of wood land, is one of the few Schwenkfeltei I EriebePhi^’ I771’ wbl18 churches in the world, and adjacen I S $90 Part“,,r’ are the cemeteries where sleep the dear of past and present generations. I. Sf J1.'*0'1' °r. 11,6 ,arm henceforth 18 but a series of transfers from father The old homestead is just opposite,t the westward, across a narrow valle AbrahadmWK L° htb.e pre8ent generation. and up the slope of the rising groun Abraham Kriebel, born in 1736 and beyond. A two-story stone bouse ver the c coed of tbe line, married Susan- anded in front and of the usual ’farm i nab daughter of George Schultz and house pattern, is the modern residence, his death took place in 1801. In ’l784 ibe ancieut dwelling stood a few yards he bought a narrow strip of twentv 1 southward, on the lower slope of the acres in Gwynedd of Benjamin Wet*/ which remained in the famiiy owner-1 1 ll* • fas dem°l!shed in 1848, and' bore the date of 1734. ’ fb,pfpor a. ong, Penod. The farm was left by will to his sons Christopher and The lands contained in the original tract bordered on four r ads, with Andrew but in 1804 tbe latte? bought Gwynedd and Worcester on two sides the whoie. Andrew Kriebel, born in containmg 490 acres, and comprising 1765, married Maria, daughter of the three present Kriebel farms and George Heebuer and died in 1853—at others Later, the estate of Caspar be age of 88. His son George tbe Kriebel contained 189 acres, now di- I ied6VfKthe !jD6’ b°rn iD 1707, mar- Jvided into the farms of Abraham K. I Krthii°Phlo’ ,dau£bter of Abraham I |?nebel, ^2 acres, and that of * I bK ’ d,ed ln 1869. His son | Abraham K. Kriebel, married Phcebe’ I Theatun‘ KnebeI’ of over e'gbty acres. 1 he latter is at the extreme south daughter of Isaac S. Kriebel, and is the present owner. During ihe present he bas Purchased the neighboring I d; ™ fa,rm’ on the northern side, and now has two as productive farms as anb^bmem,63Wii U ia m/Mark'ham there are in the township. v»?JaTS-Goodson- In 1688 they con¬ veyed their right to James Peters of THE ANDERS FARM, TOWAMENSING. Bristol, England. In 1716, the will of ?tle fer1t,ile lands of this farm, com¬ Si®ea8aPptf8 gave t0 his nephew prising rolling hills, valleys and mead- - 31“} ^ers. Before this time set- ows are divided by the Towamensing In 17M ap ,begUD in the creek. The dwellings are situated on f,,!7 3' T Pe,ter« sold the tract to the bank, ou the northerly side of that Nicholas Lesber, Sr., Nicholas Lesber stream. A new house of modern ap Jr., and James Hill for £160. pearance has been built, but tbe old Five years later, or in 1728, the two one has been allowed to remain. L iKehVllS ll'il made a partition by This homestead has the same earlv which Nicholas Lesber, Jr., got this history as the Kriebel place, for they I or 789 “ores. At that time were together under the English own- I Nicholas Hartstein lived on the Gwyn- ership It became the share of [ edd side, Peter Wentz on the Worces ! 8r ’ iD 1723- lt was' ter side Henry Pennypacker on the part ol 2o2 acres sold by Lesher in 1728 wb‘*e Nicholas Lesher Sr to Cadwallader Evans, of Plymouth.! held the northeast side. Lesher made It is not known whether Evans made improvements and built the dwelling in any improvements, but in 1735 he sold 1734, just before selling the property lot) acres to a newly arrived Sch wen k- In September, 1734, was the time of f ’ na“ed Christopher Weigner, for the coming of the Schweukfelters and ,lb,“ was bounded by lands of Itb,s ^arm,of 169 acres was immediatelv Edward Griffith, on the Gwynedd side ■ 11IchnT choir TKriebeld by,( ;foraSpar £242. Kriebel In 1744»nd Mel bv TOUT/ ?rI6bel’ °n the southwest hu Phbr fLUueDSA 00 lhe northwest, and r6r Stob?,1. l-ed over „D “be by Christopher Rein wait and Christian I Gwynedd side, sold his claim in the Weber, on the northeast-all German or Dutch except Griffith. • | I SW£l50nS1Dg f3r“ t0 Caspar Kriebel im historical facts, while m the vicinity. This Christopher Weigner was a On the old Gulph road there stands bachelor, and had no issue. His sister an ancient looking residence, which Rosina was the nearest heir, but she was pointed out to us as having been I was likewise unmarried. Her heirs at one time the residence of Charles ! were Ann. Anders, wife of Baltser An- Thompson. Clerk of the Firsk-Conti¬ ders; George Hoffsichter, George nental Congress. The house lb ingood Fleigner, Baitser Miller and Melchoir repair and is owned at present by. Mrs. Beer—all except the first living in Naomi Morris, who is a descendant of Europe, at Harpersfield, Liegnitz, Mr. Thompson. The house is now Silesia. In 1764, these heirs conveyed occupied as a iarm. house. On the property there is a private graveyard, f their rights to Ann Anders. In 1780, in which Charles Thompson and his she conveyed to her son George Auders wife were buried, but recently they i for £700. She had then removed to were disintered and removed to Laurel Milford, now Lehigh county. The Hill Cemetery. , - , . next transfer was in 1801, from George There is still a historic history about Anders to his son George. There were the place. Just before tbe war the four George Anders’ in succession. In property was owu by one Harigon 1845, the third George came into pos¬ and quite unusual as it may appear in session, and in 1878 the fourth, known this part of the country, he owned as George S. Anders, inherited the and worked about one hundred slaves, property of 95 acres. As before men¬ and the bodies of them still lie buried tioned, Abraham K. Kriebel purchased at the old burying grounds, spoken the farm during the present yeajc^. of above. At the old residence no relics have been preserved, but at the Some Historical GH«w»V»gs of Mont- residence of William A. Fisher, .Bryn gomery County. Mawr.we were shown an old fashioned Yesterday the Radnor M. E. Church chair, which had belonged to Mr. in Montgomery county located on the Thompson. The chair is very Old and old Lancaster road, was formally valued quite highly by its present opened for services after .being owner. , , carpeted and having the seats re- On the old Gulph road above men¬ cushioned. The service was con¬ tioned, we were struck by the ancient ducted by J- R- Hargas, Presiding look of the mileposts,and on examina¬ eld r, of the West Philadelphia district. tion we found that they had probably ! The old church has some historic been standing since the time of Wm. j history the bulk of which we will relate. Penn. On the front of the stone, fac-: The old church which formerly ing the road, the number of miles to j stood on the site of the present one, Philadelphia is cut and on the back of was erected and ready for worship in the post,cut clearly in the stone and yet the year 1784. Meetings had been plainly .discernible is the Coat of Arms held prior to this, but they were either of Wm. Penn, namely: A shield with [ held at private residences or under the three cannon balls on the face of it. j trees. This was one of the places The road has now passed into disuse j where methodism was first intro and is very seldom traveled except by j duced into America, the first meetings the countrv residents. There are quite a number of histor¬ being held about 1780, in charge of ical places of interest about the John Cooper. After a time,the congregation becom¬ vicinity, but our time being limited a j ing too large for the limited space of full description cannot be given, but the small church, the erection °: a is promised for some future date^y*^ j new church was proposed and during 'the month of May, 1833, the old church was rased to the ground and a new church erected on the site. After the erection of the new church, immense revival meetings were held and largely attended by the residents of tne sur¬ rounding country, and by looking_ tbe church record, we find that quite a number were down as attending from Phcenixville. _ “speaker MUHLENBERG. The present edifice is quite an old- fashioned church, as it lias now been Congressman Brosios' Speech of Presenta¬ built fifty-eight years but is stdl in a tion in the House of Representatives. good state of repair, and bids fair to The exercises in the House of Repre¬ last another half century. sentatives a,t Washington on Wednesday In the graveyard about the church, were particularly interesting, the special there are several old Continental occasion being the presentation -to the soldiers buried, but their resting House of portraits of three Pennsylvani¬ plsce is only marked with a common, ans who had presided over that body— rough stoiie. , , ,. Speakers Grow, Randall and Muhlenberg. We gained some other interesting, Congressman Brosius made the follow- ’<7*:' V: j ing address in presentingentlSg the■ Muhlenberg J berg’s ardent patriotism and liberal ae- portrait: dewnofft'AtS titVd him in an exceptional Mr. Speaker, I could not, if I would, dearee lor such a station, and he was add anything but my cordial approval to elected a member of that body in March, wliat has been so fitly and gracefully said vll?' Se!'Vud’ however, for a single of the distinguished Pennsylvanians yeai, when he was transferred to the whose features, durably preserved on Ass«mbly of Pennsylvania, and canvas, will hereafter occupy conspicu¬ 1781-’82f!PeHker °ft,hat bod>' 111 the years ous places in the tapestry of faces that iml- oJ. He was also a member of the will adorn the walls of the House. Nor council of censors of Pennsylvania 1783- can I, by placing upon the canvas of this 04 and presided over that body. occasion another figure, in any degree Af TvrP0Ilthe orSfnizat>on of the county mar the pictures already there, nor "dim of Montgomery he was commissioned as the laurels that so fitly wreathe their a Justice of the Court, Register of Wills brows. and Recorder of Deeds, lie was a dele But it has seemed to the Representa¬ gate to the Pennsylvania Convention to tives of Pennsylvania in this House that ratify the Federal Constitution in 1787 this noble occasion would lack complete¬ and presided over that body. At the ness if some allusion was not made to an¬ first election for members of Cono-ress other distinguished Pennsylvanian who under the constitution he was a candi¬ rose to equal eminence with those whose date on the anti-Federal ticket. On the portraits have just been presented to the organization of the House on the first House. I have risen, therefore, at the day of April, 1789, he was elected to pre¬ suggestion of my colleagues, to perform side over its deliberations. He had a in a feeble way the duty which they think recognized genius for presiding. He re¬ the occasion imposes, to bring into more mained in Congress four consecutive distinct view than heretofore and place J?.™,’ and was re-elected Speaker of the upon record some observations on the i furd Congress. character and public services of the first It is recorded that when he was nomi- Pennsylvanian who presided over the de¬ liberations of this body. - f/r l Thlrd CocSress tbe address tothepeople contained these words : The Speaker of the first House of Re¬ 1 he contest by which he was placed presentatives under the Constitution, j m a situation to be Speaker of the first f1 rederick Augustus Muhlenberg, was House of Representatives in Congress born in Montgomery county, Pa., on ! will be commemorated for the honor of January 1, A. 4D. 1750. He died in the America as long as the Union lasts ; and city of Lancaster, Pa., on the 4th day of June, A. D. 1811. J f°h-^r\MuhilenberS’s h°uor the conduct which he observed in that arduous and He came from a distinguished family important office ought never to be for- of German Lutherans, a family which gotten. has filled with great credit many posi- At the close of each Congress over : cions of eminence and honor both in which he presided he received a unani¬ | church and State, five of whom have mous vote of thanks for the ability and : been members of this House, a family of courtesy with which he discharged the j scholars, divines, and statesmen, whose duties of the office, to which he replied achievements include the honors of learn- m a few remarks of rare grace and felicity mS> ecclesiastical distinction, and civic renown. which seemed to have set the fashion for ' a hundred years. His father was the founder and patri¬ arch of the German Lutheran church in To intense patriotism Mr. Muhlenberg America, and enjoyed a deserved pre¬ added a rare amplitude of understanding eminence in learning and piety. a wide experience, a firm will, and great His mother was tne daughter of good courage To say that he possessed in a high ' f ather Conrad Weiser, who became the degree that quickness and clearness ^>f pioneer of the Germans in the settlement intellectual perception, that power of. ot i ennsylvarna, and through whom he swift and accurate generalization, the ca¬ is said to have derived a strain of pacity to comprehend by a lightning flash aboriginal blood, and he did not quite not oniy the nearest link, but the “entire conceal how proud he was of that drop of chain of a difficult situation, or that he native American blood, which was per¬ possessed that facility for lucid statement haps the only one that has figured in the which could make a proposition, bow- * parliamentary history of the country. ever intricate, as clear to others as to himself, qualities which have given us in °.f Pio«s parents, he was in his ymith dedicated to the church ; was edu- wA.tm y?trS -SOme masterful speakers, ? cated at the University of Halle and Justlfied by any information i "fiatr ldwe not possess. be 1> oidarned as a minister in 1770. His em- But the assemblage of qualities which m th-e miuistry was of short duiation. The time that was to trymeu’s he is known to have possessed could not -_ souls was at hand. His firm attachment fail to qualify him in an eminent degree to the American cause inclined him to /for the Speaker’s chair at the time he oc¬ more active exertions in its support cupied it. There is no record extant that It was thought by the Germans of raises any doubt that he tilled that most difficult of positions under our Govern th?(nSylJaaia t,1Jat they ought to have in the Contmeutai Congress a representative meat with distinguished ability, consp ol^their particular interest. Mr. Muhlen- cuous courtesy, and entire impartialif ,Q the House at that tune consisted tor’s boy, might catch heroic fire from out sixty-five members, a small assem¬ the recollection of the great and good bly compared with the present House, men of the past who earned and enjoyed and much easier controlled. Disorder the just applause? of having deserved well and tumult had not then been invited by of their country. an unwieldy multitude. The first House And now, Mr. Speaker,as we gaze upon was never suffocated in its own smoke. i these distinguished faces, radiant with Dignity and decorum were among its I the great qualities which were exempli¬ conspicuous characteristics. It was the fied in their public careers, speaking pic¬ initial period in our legislative history. tures w'hich seem as it the painter, attei It was the point of embarkation on out putting upon them the last touch ot his new voyage, in our new ship. Buoys art, had breathed into them the could not be followed. New channels breath of life-, let me express the must needs be marked out. The strength prayer of Pennsylvania, in which of the noble ship would hardly have saved every other State will joyfully unite, it from destruction but tor the skill and that that seat of eminence, that Olympian wisdom of such trusty pilots as Speaker chair which has been filled by illustrious Muhlenberg and his contemporaries, statesmen, will never be compromised by whose experience, knowledge and fore¬ an occupant who will dim the spleudoiijf sight were important agencies in the our parliamentary succession. ■ „ organization of the new Government. Mr. Muhlenberg carried with him to every field of his country’s service that heroic spirit which was a notable charac¬ From teristic of his family, which animated his distinguished brother when, standing ini his pulpit the last time in lull military uniform, poorly concealed by the symbol of his holy office, thrown carelessly over Date,.... him, he uttered those memorable words, •‘There is a time for all things—a time A Scrap of Local History. to preach, a time to pray, and there is a The house and lot of 7j acres, be¬ time to fight, and that time Has come. longing to the estate of Jeremiah An¬ As his brother put conscience into his ders, at Gwynedd Square, was offered j fighting, so did he put conscience into at oublic sale, on Thursday, but was , every public undertaking. not sold. This is a remnant of a much Devotion to duty, fidelity to convic¬ larger place of forty acres, which in tion, loyalty to conscience, the elevation the earlier decades of the present cen¬ of public obligations above private in¬ tury, belonged to Henry Neavel, grand¬ terests, and the subjection of conduct in father of Mrs. Margaret Rhoads, at all situations to the restraints of moral the toll-gate. The present bouse was principle, gems of character fit for a set¬ built by him, and wherein also lived ting in the “ wrought gold ” of the deep moral basis of his life, weiyo the attri¬ his son, David Neavel. The old barn butes which enabled the first Speaker of was struck by lightning and burned the American House of Representatives one August evening, in 1831, and the to adorn with distinguished probity present one erected by Neavel, with every situation to which he was ever some help from his neighbors. lbe called. harvested crops, and meat stored in the The dignity of his character, the ele¬ granary, were burned, but the horses vation of his mind, and his unflinching saved, and there were no insurance ‘ will united in summing up a strong per¬ companies in those days sonality, which left its impress with great distinctness upon his country, and are elements which can not be overlooked in assigning him appropriate rank among the stars of nobleness that glitter on Pennsylvania’s fair brow. United States—it is the cradle of Luther ^ anism. eight congregations and seventy-five min¬ isters. On October 7, the centennial an¬ ... As early as 1733 the congregation of niversary of the death of Rev. Henry *■ Lutherans was organized in Providence, Melchior Muhlenberg will be commem¬ r and ten years later, in 1743, they entered orated by appropriate exercises, in w’hich ■ their first church building in America at the dignitaries and clergy of the Lutheran what is now known as Tappe. John church will take part. Christian Schultz became the first pastor 1 and remained out year, and was succeeded jj by John Casper Stoever. But the real AS OLD LANDMARK GONE. promulgation was given to Lutheranism ■ in America when Rev. Dr. Henry Mel- A SITE FOR THE “TELEGRAM’S” NEW f chior Muhlenberg, at the .solicitation of BUILDING. scattered Lutherans in this country, came | over from Ealle, in Germany. He reached The Boulton Residence on Walnut Street Philadelphia on November 28, 1742, and Demolished—History of the Ancient I he repaired at oti'ce t<^ the scene where Structure—Some Oldtime Scenes. his missionary labors were required. In- A good old house Is like h good old man. I spired with a religious zeal he set to When both sink from sight there are deep work to establish the doctrines of the regrets. ! Lutheran church in this country, and in I prosecution of which he journeyed, with Tears were shod when the ancient Poulton many hardships, through Pennsylvania, j residence, 227 Walnut street, was torn down ; New York, New Jersey, Maryland and last week, to make room for the new and ! Georgia. elegant Telegbam building, to be erected The first tangible result of his work I there. was the erection of a place of worship at l It was a sturdy log house, nicely weather- i Trappe. The corner-stone of this build- < boarded, and had stood the storms aud gloried j ing was laid on May 2, 1743, and the first in the sunlight for full a hundred years. service was held therein on September 12, Hence it was an old landmark—now gone for¬ of the same year. Because of some unac- f ever, a willing sacrifice to Progress and Intel¬ i countable oelay the church was not dedi¬ lectual Enlightenment.

cated uotil October 6, 1745. A.s an inter- 1 AN ANCIENT STBUCTUBE. esting fact in connection with that event ■ Jolly old Jacob Meek—“Pap” Meek, as he ; it is recorded that three negroes were bap- I was called—had the house erected about 1790. j tized at that time. He came down one day from the then remote ! The church still stands and to visitors and wooded districts of Millersburg, In this j is an interesting landmark. Its walls are county, having got tired of farm life and the moss-grown and worn by the ravages of j time, and yet it is in a state of admirable visits of an occasional Indian. And he lived in the old place on Walnut street until he j preservation. Its oddity is as striking | as its antiquity is appealing to the student j went to his fathers in the unknown land at of America’s early history. Entering at the fine, full age of eighty-two years. the south side through an arched door- , I And now the old house is gone, too. J way, the door having been unlocked by a There isn’t anybody in this city who remem¬ Jponderous and rust covered key inserted bers exactly when the building was con¬ iupsiJe down, as was the manner of plac- structed. Boyd Hamilton, Major David jjng locks in early times, the visitor be- Mumma and Col. P. K. Boas recall the fact [ holds the interior as it existed in the days % that already in the year 1825 it looked some- *| of the founders. ! what aged. -dt’s sixty-two years ago. I The vicinity of Third, and Walnut streets and Third streets. looked quite different then from the hand¬ A GOOD TITLE. some appearance it presents in these teeming Here is a concise statement of the owner¬ days. ship of the ground purchased by the Tele¬ AN OLD TIME SQUARE. gram. It shows a mighty tight title: There wasn’t any post office there—by a j “Jacob Meek owned the property from Wal¬ long shot. Instead.popular old Matthew Wil- nut street to Strawberry avenue 210 feet in son’s hotel was directly opposite the site depth. After his death it descended to his where the Telegram’s new building will daughters Elizabeth Crangle and Catherine be located. Matthew is also remembered Poulton. Mrs. Poulton became the owner of 105 as having been proprietor of the tavern feet on Strawberry avenue and Mrs. Crangle that held sway where the Lochiel hotel rules the other 105 feet fronting on Walnut street. now. Wilson’s tavern fronted on Walnut Joseph L. Poulton purchased the interest of street, and by its side was the Masonic hall; his co-heirs and the interest of Mrs. Crangle, further down there was a frame dwelling becoming the owner of the entire property. house. Over where the opera house is was He died leaving Susan Poulton, widow, and another old-time hostelrie, and Duncan’s William Poulton, Louis G. Poulton, Charlotte | corner, with the exception of the Gross house, A. Poulton, Catharine S., Caroline L., Joseph | was about as it is now. Nor was there any L. and Charles W, his heirs. By an order of j handsome capitol grounds there. Instead, an the orphans’ court 110 feet from Strawberry open field stretched away a good distance,and avenue towards Walnut street was sold and it was principally utilized to hang murderers purchased by F. K. Boas. The other 100 feet on. There used to be great crowds in that in depth, twenty-four feet two inches front vicinity when malefactors felt the halter draw, was sold by the widow and heirs in which and Major Mumma says the boys had great Joseph A. Grishaber, guardian of Joseph L. scrambles to secure good views from neigh¬ and Charles W. Poulton, minors, by order of boring trees—which goes to prove that the the orphans’ court united in the sale to this American youngster has always been about as paper.” usual. “Pap” Meek resided in the jail building for AN. OLD WILL. three years, being deputy sheriff, or “under- j “Pap” Meek died about forty-five years ago, sheriff,” as it was known then. During the | and his descendants have lived and owned time he held that position, two men murdered and died in the old Poulton residence ever an old farmer near Bound Top. They were since. brought here, tried and condemned to be They stopped living there yesterday a week hung. One Jamison, by name, a dapper little ago. fellow, so moved the sympathy of Deputy In 1834 Jacob Meek made a will, In which Sheriff Meek’s daughter that she set him free, j occurs this apposite item: but he was soon after captured and hanged, i I Give and Devise unto my Daughter, Elizabeth His liberation created a great furore through- Crangle, her Heirs and Assigns forever my House * out the state. and Lot on Walnut street,wherein Goldsmith lives. THE OLD GIVES PLACE TO THE NEW. Elizabeth Crangle was the wife of the well The property now owned by the Tele¬ remembered Captain Crangle, an officer of gram extends from Walnut street back 100 the war of 1812. He was a coachmaker, and feet, where it abuts on the land and building had a blacksmith shop on the ground now of the city’s board of trade. The last of Jacob ; Meek’s relatives to reside in it was Mrs. Susan , Poulton, wife of Joseph L. Poulton, who died sixteen years ago. She had gone there as a bride from her home in Lancaster county | thirty-three years ago. All that time her! dearest interests were centred about the hon¬ ored structure, and it was with deep grief j that she witnessed its demolition. But the musty logs, still good and strong, had to give space to the inexorable demands of progress, and soon, where once the happy laughter of childhood sang merrily on the air, and where, too, the deep grief of the afflicted j made hallowed the scenes of death, will be heard the hum of the great printing press giving to the world one of the biggest, best and brightest newspapers that the state of [the old poulton house.] Pennsylvania is proud to possess. occupied by the heirs of John C. Herman. With the great Telegram building, the beau-j The captain had his coachmaking establish¬ tiful postoffice and the fine Capitol park clus- j tered together, what more should the people I ment on the rear end of the lot. He was a son-in-law of Jacob Meek. The latter was of Third and Walnut streets want? _gj well off in this world’s goods, and at one time owned the entire block bounded by Strawberry ((jwynedd 11 ne) northwest 85 perches 2- ,

z^Apja ,road and must have passed near the Lansdale railroad station. This tract was narrowed to one fourth of a mile fwhale one and a half miles long. Joseph Tucker retained the strip between the tOCAL HJ^ToKY. olmar road and the Montgomery line he 4»]^1 «^«,.—.. .,, which afterwards became the Jenkins f lie Old Server Place, Hatfield — Tlie Farm property. of 1’lalij) Jenkins. k Edward Lewis that suffered the hardships of a first settler and made such 1 lie former Server place was an old d?Hn0JkmerftS aS ¥ Could' Probably Homestead situated immediately north of mnckS f t' hfeft,me these were scanty and ans a e, and fast being encompassed much of tne tract remained a swampy ! ^est It is not improbable that this was by the/row,n.? town Here is a two-story | lust “e place where Lewis made his itone dwelling, and an annex at the west I home though this is not certain. How ei-d of one itory. It has the old style ong he lived does not appear, but he 'dormer windows. The house is at pres- died without a will and his daughter j ousannah, was his heir. At sonm time demUr°kCTed’ WWlst the barn has been pff-°-t° l76° the Lewis plantation was femohshed. The spring which attracted divided by the sale of the southwest por- tion. Prior to that date Benjamin Ros¬ he LStiret 15 nCar at handL About I e lnS stand old pear trees and the en berger had possession. He was one of the earlier members of the Rosenberger remnant of an orchard. The t the farm was low and level Inti! d °f j famiIY m Hatfield and was a good deal ing to the west. Recentlv n ia " °P‘ of a speculator, as he also bought and dug ud in varin,,cfmy the fieJds were , dam VTk°US fkrm? ln Gwynedd at a later date. Those bearing the name now seem day suitable fo? rakin'" *fi“'r,h**.if MJd be found. A ! t0 kn°w nothing about him. Pie held 106 CwvncL?6 °,ngikal 2S°’ 0r fr0m the ,™„lfo0f“UwS “,es ,rom Uwynedd line to the road, which nasse, northeast of the dwelling. P a^sisr Gse,r I Ro|,enberger sold to one Solo- l,p knM -> °f Roxb°ro.uffb Not long did 5^1 hldT ’ : k cn I763 it was purchased of bell by Jacob Server, who came to stay merly much larger than in rece?" thn^ ItW Pk1Ce P?ld wasjorily Z23°~-indicating I that the existing dwelling was quite a wes't Z'&JTedd°hneXtoevedreda ^ poor one- The boundaries were: Be«in- Si?!ot,bS£Se"'dI? -3 nmg on Gwynedd line thence northlast arrec 1r-anscuie. It comprised 126 I by late William Logan 185^ perches I o ■ More recently it was reduced L. I 83 acres and later ty ybut 44 6 ’ ed t0 thence southeast by late Morris Thomas j 91? perches, thence southwest by Tohn Penn g° °ack t0 tbe beginning William ! Jenkins 185 J perches, thence by Gwynedd ter- aoonnc7°9g:ratedt0 Samuel Carp™ fine northwest 85J perches to beginning. 400 acres, covering a large section of ! Susannah Lewis had married Morris • - uiai luwnsmp 1 J. horn as and inherited the neighboring Hoppel farm on the northeast. She was i line™ thr V0wpath road t0 the Gwynedd a widow before 1763. In 1784 she sold to ! I1 ,"e’ a dlstance of one and a half mifes Jacob Server twenty acres, comprising H«re " °& of a mile “ £ | that portion of the Server farm lying , northeast1 of the present highway. This was of the same width as the farm, but only extended 578 feet back from the ThomasSRo£rtPs:rjohbS’BSeenCaendbyothate road. southwest 468 nerchef tk d °thelrs Gwvnedrl i;AT PCjCfies, thence by \V hilst yet living Jacob Server convey¬ thence nor heastnT6sWneSt J37 perches' WAT ed his homestead to his son, Philip, in ning.” 1 46S Perches to begin- 1799. who 1804 bought five acres more of ■ Peter Hoxworth, making his plantation Logan7 a CorionH?r C°nVeyed t0 James 131 acres. Another generation passed away, and Philip Server by his will gave 31 ■ m his daughter, Margaret, his real estate of (and this daughter married Edward Jen¬ kins, son of John Jenkins, who lived here many years. He died in Upper Gwynedd wise7, andPsoMh2%4rc;esrto ? WeliS**' named Edward Lewis for SinnilshSan* i^k-m872’ at tbe age 83 years. His children were three : Philip, now of Nor- were the boundaries"the? fening^ i ristown ; Mary Ann, wife of Charles D corner of Joseph Tucker, thence bv JL-n» 1 Mathews, of New Britain ; and Charles southwest 468 perche* thence by f. EUil [b. Jenkms, the Lansdale banker -—.... e

In 1861 Margaret Jenkins conveyed 48] acres to the North Penn railroad and to j ©bee Ate Bfnner in the other parties. The remaining 83 acres | onyt'otvrrr. were released to Philip Jenkins in 1872 | Recently we had a spare Sunday by the other heirs. The homestead pass- j ed from the descendants of Jacob Server | on otir hands and the weather being in 1881, after an ownership by the family rather warm we wandered country - of 1x8 years. Chloe and Ann Sutton, ward, among the green lanes and wife of Pierre Sutton, bought of Jenkins.1 fertile fields of Montgomery County In 1883 Pierre Sutton sold to Mrs. Esther Lundy Edgerton, wife of Nathan H. Ed- Arriving tat what was atone time the crerton. In 1891 Edgerton conveyed to famous “Troopdr” hostelry, on the P. Charles Henry Quarles 44 acres including & R.- turnpike, near Norristown, we the buildings. stopped for a breathing spell, at the! When Jacob Server bought this place in 1763 there was a substantial stone roomy old mansion of Mr. El wood house here with very thick walls. This i Rogers, and while there enjoying the had probably been erected by Edward cooling breezes and the kind hospi¬ Lewis, the first settler. Some years af¬ tality of our genial host, we had re¬ terward this was burned, but the walls remained so good that Server re-built lated to ns the following interesting the present house upon them without incident of the dark days of ’77, when tearing down. Whilst this was building Washington and his army of suffering the family temporarily removed to a still- house. Jacob Server had sons, Philip, patriots were encamped at Valley David and Jacob, Jr. Of these David Forge: was killed out west while after a drove ot At the time spoken of, Washington cattle. Jacob, Jr., kept store for a time ascertained that a Tory, living at the in an upstairs room of his father s house, from thence he removed his store to Trappe, Montgomery County, had Skippackville. He became quite wealthy. thrashed a bountiful crop of wheat Philip Server married Margaret Rouden- and was making arrangements to sell bush They had but two children, Mar¬ the same to the British forces in the garet and Elizabeth. The latter married Isaac Shoemaker. Philip Server died of vicinity of ’ Philadelphia. No sooner typhus fever June 16, 1823, at the age ot did the * commander of the American 63 years, and was buried at the cemetery forces learn of this treachery than ho, of the Old Yellow church, North Wales, with a detachment of men, hastened the family being Lutherans. His wife, Margaret survived till May 23, 1839, at from their camp intent upon captar¬ the age of 73 years. ing the Torey’s valuable store of grain « The south corner of the Server farm and confiscating it to the great cause < extended to the present Lansdale station. It is related of Edward Jenkins, the own- of Liberty.. The excursion to the r er, that some sixty years ago he was urg- Trappp/was Buecessful, the stores of tl ed to sell a piece of this meadow and wheat captured and the Torey’s prop¬ h marshy woodland at ^30 per acre. He erty destroyed. In returning Wash¬ refused, saying that some day a town might be built there, when it would be ington and his defcaohment stopped at worth more money. Jacob Server, the the. honse. now occupied by Mr. progenitor of this family, was born Rodgers and . took dinner* while his uary 25, 1728, probably in Germany. His soldiers-foraged in theviolnity. death occurred September 25, 1813, at the advanced age of 88 years. His wife, Tim ©Id house was erected in 1753, - Rachel, born January I, 1724. died Aug¬ and on the third floor may yet be seen ust 27, 1793. At the time of Philip Ser¬ nseoret .compartment used for storing ver’s death there was a prevailing epi^ arms wA other valuables, while in one demic of ague and malaria fevers preva¬ lent throughout this portion of the State. of the old wooden beams may be E. M. A foundthe point of a broken bayonet driven seourely in the wood. The boose- is. a. cosy old farmhouse, but basdxad/several new additions made U it5tn late years- The one time famous Trooper Hotel Is directly opposite the Rodgers’ Homestead, and was so named from the fact of the detachment of cavalry atopping there on this occasion. Mr. W€ o*AfcONOAY AFT N SPENT AH0N6 Rddgers, the present occupant of the ^ pleasant MGR1ES OF THE '-well known In Phoenixville, AST. I He is the last one remaining of a f ^ being a brother-in-law/of Mrs. large Company of Volunteers who GbaHea Rambo. and a broker of Mrs. joined the army under Captain Weber. «alph Channel both of this place. During the time he was in the army its operations were chiefly confined to the city of Philadelphia, Norristown, Valley Forge, etc. He being in con¬ versation on the subject of the Revolu¬ tionary War, trials, troubles and sufferings he stated to the writer that he well recollected when the ground now occupied by Norristown was all one farm and on it was erected a ^HE OBITUARY M AN OLD large house and barn, at one time he REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER beheld from some high ground with other soldiers of the army, the body AN INTERESTING LIFE’S HISTORY UN¬ jof the British Army, then in the vi¬ EAR I HED BY ESOUSHE HOWELL, cinity, passing by and left the building WHILE IN’ SEARliH OF FAMILY undisturbed when soon after a little HISTORY. " band of struggers came after it and set fire to all the buildings. In a few His Great Uramllktlirr Seivcil In Wasli- hours the whole was a heap of ruin and iugton’s Army ami now LiJcs Iturled. at Weilti’s Reformed Cliurclr ishes. Burying Grounds, Mont¬ Later he was married to Catherine gomery County.’ Weber, daughter of Mr. Jacob Weber Esquire Charles Howell has be n vith whom he had ten children, four busily engaged this few years past in sons and six daughters, of whom four preparing a family history of his ions and five daughters are still living family, which is a particularly old one, ;o mourn the departure of their affec¬ and during his researches for his many tionate and worthy father. His com¬ ancestors, he often discovers many panion and one, daughter preceded very interesting incidents. lim to the grave. Recently he journeyed over in Though commonly granted that a Worcester Township, ^Montgomery soldier’s life has a tendency to vice County, near Kulpsville, and while ind immorality, yet in this man’s there found a cousin of his father’s in 3haracter and disposition was always the person of Mrs. Angeline, wife of i und that even and compassionate Charles Geyer, and from her he was 3 firit life in war, injlpeace, in the fam¬ enabled to oofcain quite a fund of fam- j ily and among the neighbors around ily history. Among his gleanings [him, which alone is found in genuine he obtained the following obituary of Christians. In his younger years he connected himself with tne German one Adam Homsher, who was his Reformed Church. He was one of great grandfather and also one of those truly valuable members, of which Washington’s veterans, and whose any church has a right to pride her¬ grave he visited at Went’z Reformed self^ whose, life lay always parallel, whose piety alone shone as a light to Church: all around him. His last, and no OBITUARY OF ADAM HOMSHER, doubt most severe afflietion.he had to contend with was infirmity and old Another and a last (for this vicinity) age, which patience, fortitude and soldier of the Revolution struck off faith in the Redeemer “who is a pres¬ from the roll of the living and num¬ ent help in every time of need.” alone has power to overcome. bered with the dead. Departed this In him the country lost one of those jlife on the 31st of January last, Mr. glorious sons in whom centers the Adam Homsher, who was bom Oct. 7, nation’s pride, the church as an orna- 1764, in Montgomery County, Pa., of ' ment of piety and virtue long to be remembered in the community in which he was a resident the greater which he lived, a friend in need to part of his life. At an early period the extent of his power, the bereaved of his life he entered the army com- family a tender and an affectionate manded by the brave and ever-re- father. May the lesson of love, tne , deep impression of a purely pious and | membered Gen. George Washington. [virtuous example given them, make 8 . ; V* -

..citing and even enduring characters, written with the divine finger on the tablet of their hearts. So on Monday morning last at 7 A Once Prosperous Contractor es His o’ clock, it pleased the master to call his laborer and give him his wages at Mind Through Financial Failure id Dis- the great age.of 93 years, 3 months ?4ppomtnient and Lives Alone, No One and 24 days. Interred on the 3d of February, at Knows How. Wentz’s Church Burying Grounds. Services at the^house by Mr. D. Krie- Soured by losses and disappointments, Jo¬ bel in German, and at the church by seph Dewees, a once-prosperous contractor, j J. Maille in English. Text, Psalms 94th chapter, 19th verse. turned away long ago from human society, The above obituary was written by and for years lias made his home in a cave I J. Maille, English pastor of the Re¬ under a huge rock on a bluff overlooking the formed Church spoken of above, and placid Schuylkill, near the village of Lafay- j the article appeared in the Register ette. and Democrat of Wednesday, Febru¬ Sadly twisted arid warped as the hermit’s ary 16, 1848, published at Norristown, mind is, he seems to have an appreciation of by one Samuel D. Patterson. What nature left, and has selected for his hermitage adds more interest to the above is the' as charming a spot as he could well have j fact that the original copy of the found along that beautiful stream. The pon¬ paper yet remains in the posession of derous rock forming the roof of the home in Mrs. Geyer, and is still in a good state which he is dragging out his declining years of preservation. Mr. Howell related in poverty and solitude stands about a thou¬ us many incidents and stated that one sand feet back from the east bank of the branch of his family could be clearly river and high up on the side of the moun¬ graced back to Miles Standish. tain-like hill, which adds so much to the scenery of that part of the Philadelphia sub¬ ^ L_ urbs. Between the cave and the river bank thunder along the trains of the Pennsylvania *£4 fru i C— /, I and Reading Railroads, shaking the hermit’s^ rocky dwelling as they pass. The turnpike, too, passes along %elow his retreat, givim j him glimpses of the busy world from whiclA he has so completely withdrawn himself. ' A KnOLD LANDMARK- A HOCK FOR HIS ROOF. The rock stands about twenty feet- high Towamencfn Boasts of One of the Oldest and fifteen feet wide with a four foot open¬ Houses In the County. ing at the base that extends back twenty feet. One of the oldest houses in Montgomery The front of the rock is prettily decorated : county is that owned by Hupert Borse, a with natural moss that has a prolific growth | mile southwest of Kulpsville in Towa- owing, no doubt, to the moisture borne on the ' mencin township. It stands on an ele- \ breezes wafted from the Schuylkill. All! around these are growing pretty shade trees I vation some distance from the highway. ■ as if nature itself had designed them to add and was evidently built in two parts. beauty to Joe Dewees’ home in the woods. j The north gable bears the date of 1761,’ There are oak, maple and stramony saplings and was built of stone. The south end on all sides, growing through crevices on the built of plank, is much older, yet well barren rocks in many instances with appar- i preserved. This was built by Henry ently no soil whatever. The interior of the Hendricks, who sold it to his son Jacob, cave contains nothing that could truthfully in 1763. Since about that time it has be called household furniture, and the only been owned by the Borse family. A thing that bears a semblance of it. is a canvas large plantation was formerly attached. covered sleeping couch putrid with age and The house is at present occupied by Mah- f blacked with the smoke from the winter’s fire, j Ion Erb, carpet weaver. The hermit’s clothing is of a fantastical! pattern, with little regard for the styles ot to-day, whether of domestic cut or of foreign] importation, and excites much surprise among those who call upon him. Heavy clothing is necessary in winter time to keep him from freezing to death, but when the summer comes he makes no change, but continues to wear it through the scorching heat of the hottest sun. His headgear consists of a heavy woolen Arctic cap pulled down tightly over his head. Three pairs of pantaloons are gen¬ erally worn one over the other and two coats are carried on the same principle without re¬ gard to the weather. His shoes are only such in name and are worn, as he says himself, not for style, but to protect his feet from being lacerated by the pointed stone over which he travels so frequently. In the winter his WEES ON THE SCHUYLKILL’S BANK. pantaloons are scuffed with oak and maple THE leaves to protect-fiTs legs against the ri^bF tion to boating parties as they pass- by, par¬ and seventy of the blasts. ticularly if women constitute a portion of A WILD MAN OF THE WOODS. them. His sour, bitter disposition manifests It is seldom that he emerges from his cav¬ itself fully when the gentler sex is discussed ern home after retiring at night until 10 and his dislike of them is attributed to dis¬ appointment at the time when ho was one of o’clock the next day. His scraggy beard, the happiest of the bucolic youths of Lafay¬ standing aloft like porcupine quills, does not ette village. receive careful dressing from brush or comb Before taking up his abode in the cave he and with his unkempt hair and blood-shot found refuge at night for months in the hol¬ ! eyes makes him appear a veritable wild man low of an old tree further up the mountain \ of the woods. Where he obtains sufficient side. While there he made a rudely con- 'r structed coffin from boards taken from the food to keep him from starvation is a mystery fences and kept it near his rendezvous under to the people who reside near his cave, for the impression that lie would soon be called 1 during the years of his hermit life he has to his final home. He is an agnostic in his i been seldom known to accept alms. He sas views and a close reader of books aud news- \ pects that those who offer him eatables at papers. times are not prompted by purely charitable WEALTH THAT NEVER COMES. \ motives, but do so for the purpose of creating On every subject upon which people con¬ the impression that he is a pauper. He says ; verse with him he seems rational until money that like Mary of Egypt, who fasted for forty years in the wilderness, his chief diet in I is mentioned and then his mind wanders and summer has been the succulent plants of the he tries to impress his hearer with the belief ■ woods and the vegetable products of the ad- that millions of dollars are coming to him jomiiig fields, eaten raw. He is voraciously from the Astors, the Vanderbilts, Bussell Sage ioncl or tobacco, and at all times keeps a sup¬ and other millionaires throughout the coun¬ ply on hand purchased with the pennies given try. At noon every day he stands in front of him by visitors. his home and glances up and down the pike A WOMAN HATER. for the mule teams which he expects to bring him money far beyond the wealth of Monte Dewees keeps himself isolated as much as ' Cristo. In his delusion ho halts every trav- possible from the society of man and it is eler aud asks him if he has seen the mouey only when people call upon him that he is i for which ho has been waiting so anxiously afforded a chance to converse with any one. for all these years. When he is given a nega¬ Although the river flows near his home the I tive reply he hangs his head in disappoint- % pastime of the angler has no delight or at- ment for a few moments but soon brightens traction for him and ho pays but little atten¬ iup with the expression that it is bound to come anyway. He frequently pulls from his 8

pocket a note book wbicli contains nailing in the peculiar attitude only a the amounts which he ' thinks different tinaman can assume. wealthy men owe him, and he is in his hap¬ Armed with chop-sticks the contents of the different, bowls are turned over and over by piest mood when reading them off to his the eaters In an endeavor to find some piece visitor. more tender than the other. What one will discard another picks up until all have been ONCE A PROSPEROUS CONTRACTOR. satisfied, and then rinsing out the dishes Twenty years ago Joseph Dewees was a with tea, which Is drunk after having per¬ prosperous resident of Lafayette, where he formed duty as dish-water, the “suk Yen,” or Chinese pipe, is produced and passed fr. was born in 1830. His father was Jesse .one to another. Dew.ees, a man of French and Swiss descent, A “lo fon qua,” or "white devil,” as a C casian Is termed, is an ubomination to who owned a large tract of land on the east Chinaman during meal hours. It beina^ A side of the Reading Railroad. The older superstition among the Chinese that thiug eaten In the presence of an uninvited Dewees died before the rebellion and left white man will certainly disagree^with considerable money and the tract of land to them. the family. Joseph deposited several thous¬ - .—I and dollars, part of the proceeds of a portion of his father’s estate, in a bank at Third and v tV |jj ft i C: itf. ■< Walnut streets. When he returned from the army the bank had collapsed and he received but a small percentage of his deposit. He was not daunted by this, but began at once the business of a local mason contractor, and continued successfully until the panic of H 1873. Prior to this his operations were not confined to his home, but he had sub-con¬ tracted for many prominent contractors in the city, and among his jobs was the build¬ * LOCAL HISTORY. Hf ing of the masonry for the clocks at the navy m The Former Thomas Place, Hatfield.- The yard. This was followed by others equally as important. The financial crisis of ’73 Farm of Hezekiah Hopple. forced him into bankruptcy, and his home anrl seventy acres of land at Lafayette, with This lies about "halfT mile northeast other possessions, went under the Sheriff's from Lansdale, on tlkifflpper side of the hammer. To his misfortune in business is attributed the erratic and irregular life Doylestown branch, from which the sur¬ which he now leads in the fortress of the face slopes gently towards the northwest. hills near where he was ushered into this It has been owned by Hezekiah Hopple world. since 1855. There are now comprised in A CHINESE BOARDING HOUSE. it sixty-five acres, and the buildings are connected by a lane with the Colmar How the Almond-Eyed Heathen Makes road. On the southeast side a small strip Himself at Home. was separated from the remainder by the From the Astorlan. railroad. Much of the land is of a nearly A better time cannot be found in which to study John ” Chinaman than when he Is level, meadowlike character, and there engaged In eating. There are no stricter ob¬ is a small bit of woodland at the east servers of table etiquette among the races of the earth than the high caste Chinese; but corner. The two-story house is of. brick among the Tartars or coolies, who find their and is situated very near the upper line way to this country, the rule is directly re¬ of the property. The adjacent spring to versed and it is safe to say that among the laborers, miners, servants, cannery hands, the eastward dictated the site of the orig¬ etc., that have swarmed into the United inal dwelling. The present house was ' States, not a single pure blooded Chinese 1 could be found. A few are here engaged as mostly built by Mr. Hopple, though pre¬ merchants or in the consular service; the viously there was a small one-story balance are descendants of the hordes that house, which had been the home of the swept down from Tartary some centuries ago and conquered China. Thomas family. A habitation existed With these Tartars, and especially where here in Colonial times, and pretty cer¬ 100 of them are fed together and at once, there are absolutely no rules to govern while at the tainly before 1760. table. It is every man for himself to secure This was the central portion of the long the most of the nearest food. As the whistle of the cannery sounds the narrow strip sold by James Logan to dinner hour, there is a general shuffling of Edward Lewis in 1727, an account of sandals along the floor and the Chinamen are hurrying to their boarding house. which has been given in the history of On entering the door each seizes a china bowl and makes fortbe huge cauldron of rice. the Server plantation. Edward Lewis With one scoop of a ladle the bowl is filled had one daughter, Susannah, who mar¬ with steaming rice and a rush is made to se¬ ried a Welshman named Morris Thomas. cure a seat at one of the many small round tables with which the room is filled. It is supposed that the family were Bap¬ On each of those tables has been placed by tists The Lewis plantation was divided the combined cook and waiter bowls contain¬ into two parts about 1750, comprising I so ing pork, fish and Chinese cabbage, a salt sauce, each arttcleof food being dipped in the and a hundred acres, and this was the latter before being eaten. northeast end. About this time a small About ten meu can cluster around each dwelling was built here, in which the table, some standing, some sitting and others son-in-law of Edward Lewis resided. The place-was prettily decorated with red. Morris Thomas was deceased before White and blue bunting, and conspicuous 1760, and his widow, Susannah, remain¬ among the deoorations were the Amerioan flag ed living here all the long days of her and the banner of Holland, the land from widowhood and during the Revolution¬ whloh the original Rittenhoose came to these ary period. In 1784 she reduced her shores. farm to 130 acres by selling 20 acres from About 200 adult members of the famous the southwest end to Jacob Sorver. In family, with their children, gathered together later times the remaining portion has in the qniet enjoyment of the old-fashioned been reduced one half by sales from the ^pionio, and, besides those from Philadelphia, northeast end towards the cowpath. The there were present representatives from Balti¬ ife of Susannah Thomas did not end till more, Lansdale, Bethlehem, Morristown, N. J.; near the close of 1797. Her will was regi¬ Germantown, Norristown, Conshohocken and stered on the 14th of December of that other places. pear. In this she bequeaths her house The rennion was designed particularly to md farm, “Where I now live, compris¬ arrange a history and to give the various ing 130 acres,” to her son Isaiah. Other branohes of the family an opportunity to be- children are mentioned viz: Israel, Ezra, oome better acquainted. Jesse, Amos, Letitia, wife of Henry Sel¬ There was no particular programme of exer¬ ler, Hannah and Rella. The will was cises adopted, bat-in the afternoon Adrian Van witnessed by John Miller, John Grey and Helden, who was deputised to represent the John .Mathews. Government of Holland by the Consul in this After many years Isaiah Thomas be¬ city, addressed the descendants in a compli¬ came involved in financial troubles, and mentary speeoh, which was responded to by in 1819 his property was seized by Sheriff Dr. Rlttenbouse, of Baltimore. Justus Scheetz, who sold 153 acres to An important event in connection with the Evan Jones, Frederick Knipe'and Thos. rennion was the collection of information for Morgan. The Thomas family seem to the genealogical tree and biography which the have reclaimed a portion around the old association soon proposes to issue. Daniel K. ihomestead. Isaiah Thomas had a son, Cassel, who has charge of the matter, was Abiah, who possessed fifty acres, which kept busy furnishing information to members of the family. in 1832 he conveyed to his sons, Hiram It is believed that all the Bittenhonses in and Alfred. These two held it ten years. this country to-day are descendants of one Then in 1842 the property passed from family, and they now number about fifteen the family name after an ownership of a thousand. The original ancestor in this coun¬ century, lasting for three generations. try was Wilhelm or William, who oame from John Jenkins was the purchaser from the Amsterdam in 1688. In Holland the family waB variously called Bittenhnysan and Rittea- brothers, who were school teachers. hnsius, which became Bittenhonse in this Since then there have been transfers : oonntry. On the invitation of William Pena ] 1854, Jenkins to Abram H. Cassel; 1855, in 1688 this William Bittenhonse with his wife, Cassel to Heinrich Hopple, an emigrant his two sons. Garret and Niaholas, and his from Germany, who landed in 1854 and daughter, Elizabeth, came to this city and lived in New Jersey a year. He has re- > denied in Germantown. William Bittenhouse, on his arrival, bought mained in possession of the farm since twenty acres of land on the Wiesahiokoa that time, and improved the buildings. creek, which has since then been called “ the His son, Henry Hopple, is a well known original twenty-acre tract.” On this land, in employe of the Reading railroad at the 1690, he bnilt the first paper mill in America, Lansdale station. and in 1707 he built the old stone house on _i- 1. the bank of the oreek, and now being preserv¬ ed by the Park Commissioners in honor of its being the birthplace of David Bittenhonse. hcffw irs/t- r y' j I The famous old paper mill bad been built 2 three times, and the ruins of the last can be er seen yet. David Bitttenhouse, the celebrated astrono-1 msr, came in for a good share of veneration, many of the men and boys being of the same W 3 name. Tee Memorial Association, under whose auspioes the reunion took place, was organ¬ ized, April 8, 1890, at Maple Spring Hotel, oh 'The rittenhocse family the Wisa&hiokon. Besides arranging for a complete record of the family, it is the inten- tention to establish a library and museum or PICNIC ON THE BANKS OP THE memorial hall. WISSAfilCKOJf. - Hdntlreds of Descendants Assemble and

Enjoy Themselves — Complimentary

Speech from a Representative of the

GoverumsAbpr Holland. ! The HittanhoQBO family, a large proportion of whose members reside within the limits of Montgomery oounty, held their annual pionio and rennion on Tuesday on the banks of the Wlssabiokon, just beyond the city line. SIR WILLIAM KEITH'S MANSION AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. I C , ( 'h/-, COLONIAL GOVERNOR’S HOME

Its Brief Occupation by the Keiths—Dr. Graeme at .Graeme Park—Mrs. Ferguson, Sir William Keith’s Granddaughter, and An Official Paper Eighty-One Years Old Her Romantic History. Posing as a Curiosity.

From the Pottstown Ledger. On an extensive farm, about three miles John M. Ludwick, of this borough, Is the possessor of an old copy of a hotel license northwest of Hatboro and nineteen miles which is something of a curiosity. It is dated from Philadelphia, there stands an old-fash¬ May 2, 1811, was Issued to Henry Ortlip, Mrs. ioned stone mansion whoso existence or his¬ Ludwick’s grandfather, authorizing him “ to tory, perhaps because of its isolation from keepapubllc house, in the County of Ches¬ any railroad, is hut little known or consid¬ ter, lor selling of rum, brandy, ale, cider and ered by the present generation. Yet there all other spirituous liquors, in the house where he now dwells, In the township of are few places in Pennsylvania that surpass Vincent, and in no other iu the said county, in historical associations Graeme Park, as it until the second day of May, 1812, provided was known after Sir William Keith and Lady he shall not at any time during the said Ann Keith left it. The house has always term suffer drunkenness, unlawful gaming been known as the “Governor’s House,” be¬ or any disorders, but in all things observe cause it was erected by and was for some and practice all laws of this Commonwealth to his said employment relating.” years the residence of Sir William Keith The licenses at that lime were granted by when Lieutenant Governor of the Province the State of Pennsylvania, and this one was of Pennsylvania. Built during the reign of issued by Governor Simon Snyder and signed William and Mary, ifo.is a large barn of a by N. B. Boileau, Secretary of the Common¬ wealth. The State capital was then at Lan¬ house, capped with a hipped roof aud high caster, at which city the license is dated, and English chimneys. j where “the less seal ot the State” was at¬ tached. The lull history of this old license Although in an almost perfect state of paper-all thatoccurred In Henry OrlHp's old preservation the “ Governor’s House ” is not occupied, and has not been for some time. Its doors and windows are securely fastened, principally to kcep*>ut vandals, who have, iu time past, sorely mutilated portions of the old manor. Upon the occasion of the writer’s virstu tiie ui/iitsr Liuwevur, iis owner, ivir. Abel Penrose, readily granted permission1 to inspect the interior of the quaint manor, his son kindly offering to be my guide. The rooms on the first floor were large and airy, with walls two feet thick, high ceilings and long windows. The fire-places are I roomy, and several of the high mantels hand¬ somely carved, as was the custom in early days. There are no outside shutters, their place being taken by the folding inside shut¬ ters. similar to those so much in use to¬ day. The north room on the first floor is twenty-one feet square, and was used as thp parlor, or state room. Consequently jt . is thcyJSiiigest apartment in the hopse, _nd Was no doubt in its day the most elegant;

The four walls are stffl. handsomely wains- coted from the floor to the ceiling, while the fireplace is a great curiosity in its way, being adorned with black and white marble tiles, imported at a great expense by Sir Wiliiam from England. Above the mantel of the drawing room a panel hearing the Keith coat-of-arms is said to have once been hung, but this disappeared some years ago.

A handsomely carved oaken balustrade

GOVERNOR KEITH leads from the first to the third story. The floors all over the house are marvelously well preserved, as smooth ahd apparently as little used as the day when first laid down by the early colonial carpenter. An iron plate in In REAR VIEW. the bac thick glass. These “ bull s eye glasses are room on the second floor is cast wi now rare, in fact, they never were very corn- Keith motto, “Remember Thy End, toon, and Mrs. Penrose has been offered as high the Keith eoat-of-arms upon it, an as $20 apiece for them by some of our local decoration in the last century. antiquaries. In the north room, on the sec¬ Keith was the proprietor of an iron fu ond floor, the fire-place was once ornamented in Kew Castle, Delaware, erected previous by Dutch tiles; there were perhaps fifty of 1730, and probably during his administration. H them, but every one has been picked out and So that Keith, the iron master, probably cast1 carried away by self-styled “sight-seers.” his own back plate. An old chronicler in writing about the place in Keith’s day says that the portraits of Sir William and Lady Ann Keith, painted by Lely, hung in a prominent position in the hall and high China mandarin jars stood be- jlside the stairway, which in summer time were filled with rose leaves from Lady Ann’s gar¬ den. The outbuildings,' inclusive of the ie slaves’ quarters, were extensive, as all the er labor of the plantation was performed by o slaves imported from the Barbadoes into the ,tj province by Philadelphia traders. The ten- ; ant houses and stables, by the way, have now all disappeared with the exception of an old stone wall which marks where the slaves’ quarters were. They stood to the west of the mansion, towards a branch of the Ne- shaminy creek, which flows here in a north¬ erly course. Two tall and vigorous sycamore trees stand directly in front of the house at the distauco of about forty yards. These trees denote the principal approach to the court¬ yard, where, no doubt, there was once a gate¬ way, but all traces of it have long since been obliterated. At the latest the Governor must have com¬ menced his improvements in the summer of 1721, for, on the 12th of the next December, he entered into a contract with John Kirk, Tlfl GOVERNOR KEITH’S TEST STONE. mason, for the erection of the mansion. In a small room in the second story there After Governor Keith fell into pecuuinary is a secret closet in the floor; this closet was difficulties and went to England the estate 1 discovered a few years ago by Mrs. Penrose. was sold at auction in 1737 to Joseph Turner, Over the front door are four curious panes of a merchant of the city, for £750. It was then said to comprise 850 acres. In 1739 it y - fffgton. to show ire- was bought From Mr. Tnnterby Dr. Thomasl __ elation fo many kindnesses, visited tho Graeme, son-in-law of Governor Keith, and i fQB&t SParkfPark anaand remaineuremained uvciover night, during the~ a distinguished physician. rneriod . of» the.i encampment_s of\f +!-»£»the armyarniv at.at Whitemarsh, about six miles distant. On the In the fall of 1772 Dr. Graeme died/and by I 30th of April. 1791. Mrs. Ferguson sold her Lis will he devised the whole of Graeme Park estate for $9,333, fo Dr. William Sroub, the estate to his only surviving child Elizabeth. husband of her ward and niece, Anna Aoung., Miss Grac ne's career was a romantic one. She, however, continued to live on the place When quite young she was betrothed to a until her death in 1801. young man who had studied medicine under her father’s tuition, but to complete his med¬ During Dr. Smith’s ownership of Graeme ical studies he went to England, and disre¬ Park he sold off several tracts, which reduced garding his betrothal vows with Miss Graeme, it by 1801 to two hundred and fifty acres, married a wealthy English woman. When which, with the mansion, he sold to Samuel made aware of her lover’s infidelity. Miss Penrose. When Mr. Penrose removed to the Graeme's health failed and her father sent farm he found the land exhausted by long her to England, hoping that a complete and continued tillage, but he at once set to change of scene and association would en¬ work to make it more productive. At his able her to regain her shattered health. Miss death the property descended to his son, Graeme was kindly welcomed by a cultured William I^nrose, who died in 1803, leaving Circle of friends when reaching the old coun¬ try, and was honored wTith the acquaintance the old place to his son, Abel Penrose, who is of George III. When she returned to Phila¬ the presstut occupant. . . Perhaps the most interesting relic ot delphia she made a somewhat hasty marriage, unknown to her father and but a few months colonial days to be seen at Graeme Park is an old stone which, tradition says, was used by before bis death, with Mr. Hugh Ferguson, a the Governor to test the strength ot bis labor¬ Scotchman by birth. Upon gaining posses¬ ers If any applicant for a position on the sion of Graeme Park Mrs. Ferguson and her farm failed'to lift the stone he was refused husband took up their residence there with work. If this he true there must have been the view of leading a farm lile. But the a stronger order of men in those, early days American revolution brought Mrs. Fer¬ than now, for although Sullivan or Corbett, guson’s short-lived happiness to an. end. rnmht lift the weight I anp sure it is beyond, Ju September, 1775, Mr. Ferguson sailed the power of the average man to do so. Mrs , for England and did not return until 'Ferguson is buried in the yard of Christ September, 1777, about the time the - Church, on Second street, where sixty years British took possession of Philadelphia. He previously her grandmother, Lady Ann refused to take an oath of allegiance,to the Continental Congress, and placed himself di¬ Keith, had been interred. E. Leslie Gilliams.^J rectly under the protection of the British. He was made by General Howe commissary general of prisoners, which appointment no - doubt greatly tended to induce him to espouse the cause of the mother country against the entreaties of his wife, who attempted to at lot as. least keep him neutral hv requesting him to stay with her at the park. Her efforts in this . /) direction, however, proved unavailing, and -d-e. the. result was that they never subsequently lived together. When General Howe left the city Ferguson was cited for high treason, but SC. lib KNKFE! NM' F.KnAKl. made his escape to England. On April 2, j 1781, the Legislature of Pennsylvania, on, On Saturday,iSej^fmber 24. the 158th account of the high treason of her husband,! landing of the follow- j and because he was attempting to sell the j anniversary of property, vested the premises of Graeme Park ers of Casper Schwenkfeldt in America in Mrs. Ferguson’s right. In this mention of I was celebrated in the church of that de¬ Mrs. Ferguson one incident in her career must not be overlooked. On Thursday, Oc¬ nomination, which is situated on t e tober 16, 1777. General Washington, in a let¬ Township Line road, dividing Norriton ter to the President of Congress, wrote : “I from Worcester townships, about two yeasterdav, through the hands of Mrs. Fergu¬ miles north of Norritonville. It is a plain son, of Graham Park, received a letter of a very curious and extraordinary nature from two-storv building, with a seating capac¬ Dr. Duel)e, which I have thought proper to ity of from five to six hundred persons. transmit to Congress.” Amongst the clergymen present were Dr. Duche was the rector of Christ Church, Rev. Oscar S. Krieble, Clayton, Berks and at the beginning of the Bevolution I county ; Rev. Edwin S Anders, Kulps- espoused the cause of the colonies, hut when ville, Rev. George K. Meschter Centre the British took possession of Philadelphia, Point; Rev. Wm. S. Anders, of Fairview alarmed at the gloomy aspect of affairs, Village ; Rev. G. W. Babcock, of Lans- Duche forsook the patriot cause, aud his dale; Rev. W. S. Gottshall, of Schwenks- letter to Washington was a plea urging him viile; Rev. H. H. Johnson, of Creamery, to pursue the same course. Why Mrs. Fer¬ Rev. J. B.Hunsberger,Worcester; Rev. u. guson allowed herself to he used for the pur¬ pose of transmitting this letter it is rather R. Brodhead, of Eagleville ; and Rev difficult to understand, as her sympathy was H. Kretchman, Trappe The day proved undoubtedly with the cause of the Colouies. to be a splendid one and it was estimated Several times during the war she made large that there were between 1200 to contributions of clothing and provisions to people present. Members of the church Washington’s army, and it is a current tra- ifrom Montgomery, Berks, J3ucks, Le~

. TTigh ami PluladelpTT^cSuhUes being■ AN HISTORICAL SKETCH. present. The morning services were I I will also attempt here to give a conducted in the English langffttgfe. Rev. ■short sketch ,of the bchwenkfeldians. W S. Anders opened the services at 9:40 1 The Schwenkfeldians were so called o’clock a. m., by stating the object of from Casper Schwenkfeldt, a Silesian their assemblage and announcing the nobleman. He was born in Ossing (now. hymn, commencing :—_ Ossig;, in Lubner circle, in the Principal- O God, beneath thy guiding hand, | ity of Liegnitz, in Lower Silesia, Ger¬ Our exiled fathers crossed the sea. many, in 1490. He was a contemporary And when they trod the wint’ry strand, of Martin Luther, though less familiarly With prayer and psalm they worshiped known, and was a devoted laborer in the same great cause—the Reformation. He thee, etc. died in Ulm in 1562, having written nu¬ [After which Rev. Wm. S. Anders read a merous volumes, comprising a complete I portion of Scripture and offered a very system of theology. By his contempor¬ |appropriate prayer He was succeeded aries he was regarded as an arch heretic. l by Rev. Oscar S. Krieble, A. M., pastor His book was ordered to be burned and of the Washington, Hosensack and his followers suffered many persecutions. j Kraussdale Schwenkfeldian churches, Many of them were sent to the gallows :and principal of the Pennsburg seminary. and at times they were forbidden to Rev. K. is comparatively a young man, marry and were not permitted to bury with a fine, clear-cut face, and with great their dead, except in the highways and fluency of expression delivered a dis¬ thoroughfares. In 1726 they abandoned course about an hour and a half in length. their homes and properties in Silesia and He recently returned from a three went to Saxony, where they remained months’ trip to Germany, visiting Silesia, subject to various vicissitudes, until 1734, Leibnitz and other places, which were vvhen under the leadership of George the homes of the early emigrant Weiss, their preacher,they determined to Schwenkfelders,which were mentioned in come to Pennsylvania. In April of that his memorial discourse, ending in re- year j4 families bearing the names of j counting the trials and persecutions of Klemm, Schultz, Weigner, Heebner, their “forefathers.” Then with a prayer 'Yeakle, Krieble, Anders, Reinwald. ; by Rev. G. W. Babcock and the singing [Meschter, Krauss, Neuman,Weiss, Hoff¬ of a doxology, Rev. W. S. Anders pro- man, Heydrick, Dresher, Seipt, Hart- , nounced the benediction, which ended ranft, Faull, Flinn, etc., started by way i the morning services about noon. As of Hamburg and Altona, to Amsterdam, soon as possible the noonday meal was Harlem and Plymouth, and thence out provided in the basement, which was got- upon the great sea. The entire voyage ij ten up by the wives, sisters and daugh- lasted for five months and they endured 1 ters, who covered the vacant benches many hardships. With the whitest of linen. At each place The storms were very severe, and the tlarge enough to accommodate two per¬ emigrants were huddled together in the sons standing they put immense flakes hold of the vessel namely, the ship St. 5jof snowy fresh made bread, a pound of Andrew, which had been chartered for ^ yellow butter, a saucer of apple butter, a them by their large hearted friends. glass of water and two knives. To this The drinking water was foul and limit¬ * repast all did humble justice, including ed to a small daily allowance. Of the lithe wayfarer and stranger, who were in- [pilgrims who started for the Hudson,one Svited with an unassuming but honest hos- died before they landed at Plymouth. Of Jpitality. At 1.30 o’clock p. m. the ser¬ the Schwenkfelders, about equal in num¬ vices were again opened and the church ber, there were nine who died on the I again, as it was during the morning exer- [way over. The first was a Christopher * cises, crowded to its utmost capacity— lKrieble’s smallest child, which two „ 3 not half the people present being able to hours afterward was sewed into a sack again admittance. Rev. Edwin S. Amders .with a little sand and thrown into the • | gave out a German hymn, after which he sea, and the last was an old man Rein- § read the 103d Psalm and offered the wait von Armenruh, whose body was •1 opening prayer, both of which were in cast into the Delaware. They arrived in i the German language. The next speak- Philadelphia September 22d, 1734. On ,1 er, Rev. Geo. K. Meschter, spoke at the next day all the male persons over I length in English, which was partly his- the age of sixteen years proceeded to the atorical in its character. Excellent ad- State-house, and there subscribed a ■ dresses were then delivered, which were . pledge of allegiance to George II, King of ■ about twenty minutes in length, by Rev. Great Britain, and his successors and of iWm. S. Gottshall, (German) Rev.H. H. fidelity to the proprietor of the province. HJohnson, (German) Rev. G. W. Bab- They spent the 24th in thanksgiving to jscock, Rev. Kretchman and Manlove H. Almighty God for delivering them out of HCalley, a rqember of the Society of the hands of their persecutors, for raising jgjFriends. After the singing of a hymn : up friends in the time of their greatest ■Rev. H. Kretchman offered prayer. j need, and for landing them into a land HAbout 4 o’clock the vast assemblage was jof freedom, where they might worship Hdismissed with a benediction and the peo- Him unmolested by civil or ecclesiastical Iple slowly dispersed to their respective power. This day the 24th of September ! Habodes, some at the distance of many jwas thence forth set apart to be observ- ' ■miles. ^ower. Salford townslup,men phitacTel- ecTby them and'theflT^es^nS&ts, asm Iphia county, aged fifty-three years,. His the German tongue “Gedaeohtniss Tag,’’ , Ibody-.Twas interred in the cemetery “at which we might recall together anct| ’adjoining the Lower Salford Schwenk- remind each other of the beneficence feldian church, . where a handsome shown to us by God in delivering us out stone has been erected to his memory. of the hands of those fierce persecutors He was succeeded by Rev. Balthaser and bringing us so wonderfully to this Hoffman. For many years they could land, to the enjoyment of religious lib¬ •not be said to have had an organization as erty, and also’of "our duties which result a church. The want of an organization, ed from it.” Hence to this day it is so was not felt, whilst there were but few 1 observed in rotation among their families and they were widely separated. churches. Next year Memorial Day will Religious services were held in the be held in Kraussdale, Lehigh' county. homes of the members, once in the up¬ This little Christian band which endured per district, thence in the middle district! so many hardships were of course home¬ and then in the Lower district. While; less , and were now to separate, some there was but a single pastor, there were, settled within the -present limits of the a number of members who creditably city of Philadelphia, in the neighborhood led meetings for worship and performed of Chestnut Hill and Dreshertown; others much of the pastoral work, and at later j in the present counties of Montgomery, periods, a number of churches were Berks and Lehigh, there to convert the built and the ministerial force well sup¬ wilderness into happy homes, that in plied so as to have regular services in many instances have been enjoyed by each district. their descendants till this day. It is -___IflS needless to dwell upon the trials andj hardships of their first years, as such was the common lot of all the early set-j. tiers of Pennsylvania. So separated! and dispersed as were these ancestors (/X^ \J&1/ (Par, they nevertheless remained one in faith, and in the bonds of mutual sympathy and love they promptly set up the worship of ■ SO / their God and Maker in their new home. Then they were without a pastor, but The Watts Family, . fortunately not without a man qualified by many gifts and graces to fill the sa¬ A reunion of the Watts family was cele¬ cred office. That man was Geo. Weiss, brated at the residence of Mrs. P. McCann, and it was he who conducted the first near Blue.Bell, on Saturday, In commem¬ Memorial Day exercises in this country. There were many sects who were driven oration of the 99th birthday of Mrs. Eliza¬ to America by religious persecutions, but beth Watts, m fiber of Mrs. Philip McCann. of them all the Schwenkfeldians are the There were present four children and oner ones which established and has since ' sister in her 88th year. Mrs. Watts has steadily maintained a Memorial Day to commemorate its deliverancei I three sisters and two brothers who have all , and give thanks to the Lord for it lo ", lived past the allotted time of three score George Weiss belongs an honor which and ten. Her husband who served through cannot be accorded to John Robinson, : the war of 1812 passed away to his long Roger Williams, William Penn or Geo. Calvert. This beautiful example set by home about 14 years ago, in his 89th year. the Schwenkfeldians was followed by Mrs. Watts has retained all of her mental neither Pilgrim nor Quaker. We find : faculties and can converse with one about that these Schwenkfelder ancestors on the eve of their departure for America the present as well as many years past, appointed Weiss as a kind of leader or She moves around the house like one who ie! teacher in spiritual things for adults, as had not reached three score and tea. She ye well as catechist for the young, there and is the mother of ten children, eight are , S01 on shipboard, which appointment he ac- still liviDg and two have passed to their cedted and carried out, and that about a year and a quarter after their arrival, long home. Their are 61 grandchildren, tra December 9, 1735- Weiss was formally 128 great grand children and 11 great great appointed, or elected by the ■‘house| -grand children, making a total of 211. fathers” as the first Schwedkfeldian| There were 98 present at the reunion, all t ' minister of the Gospel and catechist in this country, and officiated in of whom are lineal descendants of Mrs. that capacity in a very acceptable man¬ Watts. Mrs. William Watts is a descen¬ ner up to the time of his death. On the! 3rd of March 1740, he was at Goshen | dant of the family of Henry Nace, of Bucks hoppen, where in the evening for the; county and has two brothers and two last time he met and instructed his cate-| sisters, Philip Nace, Thomas Nace and chumens, and on the following morning, Hettie Miller, Sellsryille; and Rachael although in feeble health, and only six : days before his death he preached for Slnfflet, Limerick. the last time to his congregated friends. [ She was horn at Sellersvilie, Bucks His death occured March 11, 174?. ln County, and has until recently. The following tffe her children: Charlps Watts, Henry Watts, From, P X■<£-/*? Cc Wm. Wattsj Jt-rmia V/afcts, Mrs. Mary Hass, Mrs. Lettie Casey, Mrs. Annie Bouchei', Mrs. Philip McCann. Mrs. Julia .. Frederick, Mrs. Hannah Kite. Date, Ju

.' LOCAL HISTORY.

The Springer Property, Towamenein.—The OUl Tteinwalt Place.

ABOUT AN OLD MANSION. 'This property is about one-fourth of a ; mile southwest of Kulpsville and is now, And the Furnace at Which the First Pig owned by J. Wesley Springer. Here is | Iron was Made in Pennsylvania. an old stone farm house, supposed to have J been built about 1806 by Christopher! Eds. Ledger:—The records of the Penn¬ Reinwalt, great-grandfather of the pres-1 sylvania Historical Society show that pig ent owner. An older log one-story build¬ iron was first made in this country about the year 1725, at Colebrookdale on the ing on the northeast side of the house was Reinwalt’s weaving shop. The farm Ironstone Creek, a branch of the Mana- has never been a large one—only fifty- \ tawny. In the year 1730 a mansion was built there and the property was called eight acres, and there only remains a lot Popodickon. It was here that John Potts, of eight acres attached now. This was | the founder of Pottstown, was born. Cole¬ a Reinwalt property from 1760 to 1882— , brookdale is, I believe, now called Boyer- a period of 122 years, and it is yet in the \ town. Can you, or any of your readers, hands of a descendant of that family. | tell me if the old mansion, teuilt more than All the lands hereabouts may be traced * to an indefinite grant made in 1682 by one hundred and sixty years since, is still William Penn, of 5000 acres, to an Eng-| standing, and if so, who is the present lishman named William Bacon. It is owner. not supposed that Bacon ever saw this | Philadelphia, Sept 28, 1892. country. In 1718, after the long period of 33 years. Bacon conveyed his rights to The old Popodickon Mansion built by Humphrey Murray and John Budd, who 9 Thomas Potts in 1730, is still standing at the next year sold 1500 acres to James Gilbertsville, Berks county, in good preser¬ Steel. The latter lived in Philadelphia, vation. It is of brick, about 40 feet front, was a speculator and held large tracts of and two and a half stories high. In 1816, unimproved land in various places, of Jacob Gabel, the owner, built a stone addi¬ which much was in Bucks county. In tion to the mansion with a small brick con¬ 1720 Steele, wishing to realize, began to nection between them, to-day the old brick sell his land to actual settlers, and con- j portion looks newer and more substantial veyed 150 acres to Herman Hendricks, .j than the part erected 86 years later. and the same amount to Leonard Hen- wj The Popodickon house is now owned and dricks. In 1729 he sold 200 acres to Paul Jj occupied by Daniel G. Gabel, with about Hendricks, the latter extending to Wor- ", 108 acres of the origibal farm; Jacob cester line and beyond: The area near¬ Gabel also owns about 38 acres of the farm, est Kulpsville on the south corner, com- > Royer Levengood 15 acres and Henry G. prising 150 acres, was sold by Steele to J Gable 12 acres of the property, which con¬ Herman Godshalk. This covered the I tained 200 acres or more. later Stover and Reinwalt farms, to¬ John Potts, founder of Pottstown, was gether with various small lots between | born at Germantown, in 1710. Bovertown the two cross roads. . , 1 was not called Colebrookdale, but is a bo¬ Godshalk retained possession .1 rough within the boundaries of Colebrook¬ eastern portion of this purchase, but on jj dale township. Gabelsville, where the the 5th of July, 1727, he sold a curiously fj Popodickon maneon stands, is a mile from shaped piece of 58 acres to William Nash s Boyertown and the site of Colebrookdale for/15. This price indicates no tm- 1 Furnace, where the first pig iron was made provements, and Nash was therefore the H in this State, is near Morysville, about A first real settler on the present bpringer ■ place. The tract comprised two nearly . mile east of Gabelsville detached portions One of these was a. small piece of eight acres, whereon the y buildings stand, and on the upper cross- road. The fact that fiere was a spring and some meadow land doubtless was 1 P that name, said to be the old Pres- the reason this nook was attached to the byterian houso of worship in Pennsy..^™. other 50 acres. To the first settlers a Dr. Collins has for more than fifty-five years spring- and meadow were indispensable. I at intervals devoted considerable time to dis¬ The other 50 acres were southward on cover the history of this ancient church. the brow and summit of the hill overlook-1 Located on the Germantown and Porkiomen mg- the Towamencin. This part is now turnpike, near the 30th mile stone, and about owned by David Stover and Andrew five miles north of Nome town, is to be found Krieble. The boundaries in 1827 were : the plain stone building, long known as the Beginning at corner of Paul Hendricks; Norriton Presbyterian Church. The ancient thence by same northwest 80 perches to grave yard attached occupies about one-fourth line of Henry Hendricks; thence north¬ of an acre of ground, the stone giving evidence east by same 123 perches, and northwest that the place was used for worship as early as 35 perches to line of Jacob Godshalk; 1700, if not prior to that date. thence northeast by same 30 perches and Many of the older tombstones, as Dr. Col¬ southeast 40 perches, and southwest 53 lins certifies from memory (having seen them perches; thence southeast by same toline in 1835-40), are now not to be found. But of John Lukens; thence by same south¬ the reliable, though traditional, items of his¬ west 100 perches to beginning. This tory, which he obtained after diligent search deed was witnessed by Abraham Lukens during the years named, fully warrant the and Joseph Lukens before Sepcimus Rob¬ statements here made. inson. As a result of the investigations by Dr. Nash proceeded to make improvements Collins, be is persuaded that the old Norriton on the north corner of this purchase, Church is the mother of all Presbyterian building a log house, which stood on the j churches in Pennsylvania. The facts and meadow bank about eighty yards south of 1 circumstances comprise the substance of three the present Springer house. Here also historical discourses delivered by him in the was erected a.spring house. He may Centennial Church, 1876, which will be given have built the present weaving shop, at to the Presbyterian Historical Society, and any rate he was a weaver by trade probably issued in print. Nash lived here nearly thirty years, and Daring the Revolution this old church was is mentioned in the assessment of 1734. used by the soldiers for quarters, and later, in ,In 1756, he sold to William Keller, a car¬ 1777, as a hospital. It is known that Gen. | penter, and went, we know not whither. Washington, when tarrying at the Inn located Keller was not of long continuance, be¬ on the Skippack road, in October, 1773, visit- fore 1760 he died, and in March of that ;;ed the church. year, his administrators, Catharine Kel¬ In consequence of the damages that the ler and Abraham Heidrick, sold the fifty- church suffered during the war, the Assembly eight acres to Christopher Reinwalt, or passed an act in 1785, on 17th of September, Rheinwalt for ^191. allowing a lottery, to raise money to pay for the reprirs to the church. The old church property adjoined, and was onoe part of the Matthias Rittenhonse farm. He purchase^ the place in 1734, and evidently From, found the place of worship already located .1 there, and conveyed the property three years later, although himself a worthy member of the Menronite denomination. David Kitten-: .tM.| house was at that time but two years old, [ having been bom in 1732. in Germantown. In 1764 Matthias conveyed to liis son David I Date, /$ez^ p this same farm. Dr. Collins remembers seeing the founda¬ 1 tion walls, and what was left of the Astrono- i mical Observatory built by David Bitten-1 Tills motSeFof churches: bouse, located near the old dwelling on the farm in question. Here, as is well known, A Presbyterian Edifice Established Benjamin Franklin was frequently a visitor. The oldest histories of Pennsylvania extant, Before Revolutionary Times. as well as W atson’s AudsIr, briefly refer to this ancient church and cemetery. An Old Deed from Matthias Eitten- The ancient time-worn deed is dated March, hansen Convoying: Land Upon Which 1737, and recites that this property is a part of 7.482 acres of land, coming from William to Build the Norriton, Presbyterian Penn, proprietor and Governor of the province Church—Pacts In Relation Thereto of Pennsylvania; made to John Penn, Jr., by Bev. Dr. Charles Collins. which the latter sold to Isaac Norris and Wm. Trent, Subsequently Isaac Norris became the We have been shown by Rev. Charles Col- 1 ?-owner and conveyed about 100 acres to ' iins, D. D., of Philadelphia, a deed from Mat- Matthias Rittenhonse, in 1734. thias Rittenhanssn and Elizabeth his wife, the The contract is made between Matthias Bit- 1 parents of the renowned astronomer David tenhausen and Elizabeth his wife, of the town¬ ship of Norrington, county of Philadelphia, j - Rittenhonse,, , , conveying* 0 land in March, 1737-L/O/j,; uponT1 n Oil whichnrtvjiil. is«m to 1—be __ now foundt% the old. Norri-._ t and “ye said Presbyterian Profession of ye Presbyterian church, located in the town- Jm township aforesaid, conveying 72 poles of

. I ■ lionse and grave yard, for ye i ■ ' ' * • i-t.r r Presbyterian Profession of ye tow luscd as a Place of Worship a« Early as said,” adding: Jl “ Now this indenture witnessed by ye said 1700, If Not Prior to That Date—Used Matthias Rittenhausen and Elizabeth his wife, as Barroclrs and Hospital During the for and in consideration of one silver hair Revolution and Visited lby Washing¬ orown current money of England to them in hand paid, by ye said Presbyterian Profession, ton-Given to the “ Presbyterian Pro¬ that they do hereby convey and confirm, fession” hy Matthias Rlttenhousen,

etc., etc. Father ot the Famous Astronomer. Rev. Dr. Thomas Morphy, in his excellent work called “The Presbytery of the Log College,” published by the Presbyterian After prolonged study and research tho Board, about three years ago, says: 'Rev. Charles Collins, D. D„ of this city, has “ It is certain, that in Norriton, we have the J come to the conclusion that the old Norriton very first trace of a Presbyterian enterprise Presbyterian Church, of Montgomery county, within our bounds. A trustworthy tradition affirms, that a plot of ground was purchased is the mother of all the Presbyterian churches . for a graveyard, forerunner of a church, in in Pennsylvania, and the facts and circum¬ the year 1873; no less than twenty-seven stances collected hy him during the past years before the founding of the Presbytery. thirty-five veal's will probably be published It also appears, that a Welshman, named hy the Presbyterian Historical Society. David Evans, was preaching in that region The plain stone building, long known as before 1705. * * . “It comes to light with certainty, that m the Norriton Church, stands on the German- 1714, there was stated preaching in this church town and Perkiomen turnpike, near the by the Rev. Malachi Jones, who at that tame twentieth mile stone, and about five miles became the pastor of Abington. He must, north of Norristown. The ancient grave¬ therefore, while pastor of the latter cnurcn, yard attached occupies about one-fourth of have also supplied that of Nomton. an acre of ground, the stones giving evidence “The church of Providence (or Lower Providence as it was then named) was found¬ that the place was used for worship as early ed sixteen years afterward, in 1730; and as 1700, if not prior to that date. the strange plan was adopted, of holding Many of the older tombstones, as Dr. Col- services in Norriton during the winter season, ! lins certifies from memory, having seen them and in Providence during the summer. iu 1835-40, are now not to be found, but the Unfortunately, the written records of the reliable, though traditional items of history, old Norriton church have been long lost; hut which he obtained after diligent search dur¬ Dr. Collins, accepting the above statement, ing the years named, fully warrant the state¬ regards it as conclusive evidence that the Nor- ments here made. j ritou church had been maintained as a place of worship for at least thirty or forty years its revolutionary history. 1 before the founding of the Providence church. During the revolution this old church was ] The first building was doubtless of logs, used bv the soldiers for quarters, and and established by Hollanders or Reformed later, in 1777, as a hospital. It is known that Dutch ; still, they were essentially Presbyte- General Washington, when tarrying at the in n located on the Skippack road, in October, n8£nong the distinguished men who preached 1778, visited the church. at Norriton, were Rev. Paulas Van Fleck, lj In consequence of the damages that tho Rev. Malachi Jones, Rev. David Evans, Rev. church suffered during the war the Assembly Wm, Tennent, Sr., Rev. John Rowland, Rev. lassed an act on September 17, 1785, allowing Nathaniel Irwin and Rev. George Whitefleld. lottery to raise money to pay for the repairs It i3 the purpose of Dr. Collins to finish |to the church. these historical collections and reminiscences, The old church property adjoined, and was □which will prove deeply interesting, especial¬ 'once part of the Matthias Rittenhouse farm. ly to those having Presbyterian antecedent He purchased the place iu 1734, and evi¬ dently found the place of worship already located there, and conveyed the property three years later, although himself a worthy >,<2-'v ✓ ‘ member of the Mennonite denomination. David Rittenhouse was at that time but two years old ; having been horn, in 1732, in Ger¬ mantown. In 1764 Matthias conveyed to his son David this same farm. Dr. Collins remembers seeing the founda- J tion walls, and what was left of the Astro¬ nomical Observatory, built hy David Ritten¬ house, located near the old dwelling on the , farm in question, where, as is well known, Benjamin Franklin was frequently a visitor ED NOR Rip CHURCH and distinguished guest. The oldest histories of Pennsylvania ex¬ tant. as well as Watson’s Annals, briefly refer MOTHER OF ALL THE PRESBYTERIAN' to this ancient church and cemetery. MATTHIAS RITTENHAITSEN'S GIFT. 1 CHURCHES IN THE STATE. The deed for the church property is dated March, 1737, and recited that, this property m par't of 7,48Sa(cre,s of land, coming IfroSif The burning of the stone mansion of W illiam Pei)nt Brdprietor and Governor of the province dr Pennsylvania ; made to John Mr.- Wm. W. Harrisbn,Harrison, near Glensidej*. Penn, Jr., which the latter sold to Isaac Station, this county, "on. last Saturday) Morris and William Trent. Subsequently morning, removes one of the old land- Isaac, Norris bechme the owner and conveyed l marks of a section which is rich in his-l about 100 acres.,to Matthias Rittenhouse, ; torical recollections. ,The original of thel in 1734. i ma°si°n which Mr. Harrison had scarce-’ The contract is. made between Matthias ly finished rebuilding was the AudenreidJ Riftenhausen and Elizabeth his wife, of the! .1 homestead, and when Mr. Harrison purl township of Norriugton, county of Philadel¬ chased the estate twelve years ago and! phia, and “ ye said Presbyterian Profession I went out to Glenside to live with hisl of ye township aforesaid : conveying 72 poles : tiiey occupied the old frame house of land,” (giving the boundaries,) “for a about which there were so many 'inter-!* meeting house and graveyard, for ye use of esting associations. More than two ye said Presbyterian Profession of ye town¬ ship aforesaid,” adding : years ago Mr. Harrison decided to build Now this indenture witnesseth by ye said the splendid home which was wiped out Matthias Rittenhausen and Elizabeth his of existence by Saturday’s fire. | wife, for and in consideration of one silver The old mansion was surrounded bv half crown current money of England to them some wooden buildings, stables, etc. , in hand paid, by ye said Presbyterian Pro¬ » and, with the idea of removing all dau’-l fession, that they do hereby convey and con¬ firm,” etc., etc. ger from fire to the mansion, Mr. Har- Rev. Dr. Thomas Murphy, in his work on rison started to build a $50,000 stable, so The Presbytery of the Log College,” savs: that these buildings could be dispensed "It is certain that in Norriton we have with The old wooden buildings still the very first trace of a Presbyterian enter¬ stand and the mansion is in ashes. prise within our hounds. A trustworthy tra¬ ,The I°®s t0 Mr- Garrison will reach j dition affirms that a plot of ground was pur¬ above $200,000, instead of $160,000, as chased for a graveyard, forerunner of a church, in the year 1873; no less than twen¬ first named, for examination reveals the ty-seven years before the founding of the tact that nothing escaped ruin, and that Presbytery. It, also appears, that a Welsh¬ even the stone walls which are standing man, named David Evans, was preaching in will probably have to come down before that region before 1705. the mansion is rebuilt. A MIGRATORY CONGREGATION. There is no suspicion that a defective “It comes to light with certainty, that in flue caused the fire, Mr. Harrison in-, 1714, there was stated preaching in this church , dining to the theory that spontaneous1 by the Rev. Malachi Jones, who at that time j combustion, caused by over-heating, may! became the pastor of Abington. lie must, have started the blaze. The family, now! therefore, while pastor of the latter church,’ that the excitement is over, are feeling have also supplied that of Nomton. the reaction and Mrs. Harrison and tliei “The church of Providence (or Lower children are somewhat indisposed as a1 Providence as it was then named) was result Mr. Harrison stood for over an founded sixteen years afterward, in 1730; hour alone in the snow, but half clad,! and the strange plan was adopted of holding watching his home burning; but power-! services in Norriton during the winter season, less to save a single thing, after seeing! and in Providence during the summer.” his wife and children safely housed in The written records of the old Norriton the lodge which stands near the main en- Church have been long lost, but Dr. Collins I trance to the grounds. accepting the above statement, regards it as ! conclusive evidence that the Norriton Church had been maintained as a place of worship for at least thirty or forty years before the found¬ ing of the Providence Church. < The first building was doubtless of logs andI established - by Hollanders or Reformed Dutch; still they were essentially Presbyte¬ rian. Among the distinguished men who preached at Norriton were Rev. Paulis Van Fleck Rev. Malachi Jones, Rev. David Evans, Rev’ William Tennent, Sr., Rev. John Rowland,! Rev. Nathaniel Irwin and Rev. Georg© White- field.

\ fsfig In May of 1 , Governor GookiD From, ..F..CA^k rode out to Edd Farmer’s house to Lf... meet the Delaw tu appointment, before they set out o .. < w their journey to the Five Nations. O tb s occasion they laid before him th< collection they had made of their tributf Date, / X fhe Ming°es> namely thirty- a&A. two belts of wampum of various figures A FAMOUS LANDMARK. GONE- and a loDg Indian pipe called the cala- met, with a atODe bead, a wooden or The Burning of the Harrison Mansion at cane abaft and feathers fixed to it like Glenside. tb.7 said, ring their submission to the Five Na- ft light housework.Icansew, cook,bake

_ ing andsightarealmostperfect.Sheis ^Mrs. CharlotteMoulton,663Waterst., and washalmostaswell ever,andcan a shorttimeago.Previoustothat several miles.1cametoPotlstownonly cane, evenifIwanttowalkadistanceof well withoutone.Ihardlyeverusea travelling corespondent,say1musthave a rapidtaiker,andherrecollectionsarede¬ Her hairissnowywhite,andherhear¬ in thissectionofthestate.Shesaysthat Fottstown, claimstobetheoldestperson thread aneedlewithoutspectacles. The don’t liketobeidle.1,therefore,did much a canetowalk.Thatisnotso1canwalk cidedly interesting. preserved. both,physicallyandmentally. Mrs. Harveydidn’twantmetowork,butI I livedinBaltimore,withthefamilyof she isover103yearsofage,and-well- 4'Rem«rt»blr W«iI-Pre»erve to CharlesBensonindmotherwasowned parents Iknownotihing,butthat have learnedmuchbylisteningtopeo- the Revolutionary'war.Nooneknows I Wehad13children,only3ofwho'mare | about14yearsoldJesseandIaskedour bv LewisSharp.MysisterMatildaand1 when theyweremarriedfatherbelonged Tom IgatnmarryI/willreturntoBalti¬ gether. Itellyouweweregladwhen from thattimeonwolivedto¬ family fromthevariousowners,and by differentmasters.Atlast,however, were hornwhileou,rparentsowned he firstheardofit.Ourfamilyconsisted smiie\that spreadoverfather’sfacewhen in 1house.I’llneverforgetthebroad we foundoutthatwerealltolive Charles Boullertboughtourwhole mother diedfirst.Mybrothersandsisters cannot tellthedate.Iknowthoughthat in theserviceofCharlesBoullert,but1 of 14children.Bothmyparentsdied my birth.1was.borninslavery.I Va., about8yearsafterthecloseof them along.Inthiswayourfamilywas■ were soldtovariouspartsofthecountry. separated. Iamunder,Jg|fiimpression Some ofMr.Boullcrt’schildrenwho master nevermademeworkonthefield. war. but haven’tseenanyofthemsincethe still alive.IthinktheyliV^inVirginia, it betteronthatsideoftheriverthen side oftheSouthriver,whilemymaster’s that 2or3ofmybrothers'AJldsistersare moved toneighboringstatestooksomeof about thefirstworkIdid.Whenwas- commenced todohouseholdwork.My my master’sside,notonlybecause old, whosemotherhadjustdied,I lowed himtocallonmeonlyWedn Dicky Boullert's14-year-oldslaves,am then onMasterCharles'.Befon tending thebabywaseasierwork,but marry. Theyconsented.Rev.Baker day andSaturdaynights.When1was ton isacookinVirginia.EmilyMoses now living.MatildaWashingtonMoul¬ Kohl performedtheceremony.Wecom¬ masters whethertheywouldallowusto I was13yearsoldJesseMoulton,oneo and prettierboysonDicky’splace years inNorth Carolina.CharlesBoul- speut atewyearsinTennessee, and7 master’s housemyhome. When thewar farmer. 1havenotseenany ofmychil¬ Moulton isadomesticinWashington,and menced housekeepinginacabinpre¬ was overIcommencedto rove about.I 1864. AfterhisdeathIagain mademy dren for10years.Myhusband diedin Henry MorionMoulton is aVirginia leri, jr.,ason ofthemanwhousedtobe lantation wasdirectlyopposite.There had totakecareofawnitebaby5we “When quiteasmallgirlIbecamethe uty tocome master now Hves In Washing,^. Just before tlie war there were negroes Of “Cottage Seminary.” Formerly m every plantation wbo could play the banjo. Every evening there was a gath¬ inent Educational Institution, i ering of colored folks. At these gather¬ *ot a Vestige will Remain, ings 2 or 3 performed on the b&hjo and the others, young and old, danced' ji"s , Work waa commenced this morning un¬ After the introduction of the banjo, wed¬ der direction of the owner, John A Sel dings.were much livelier affairs than "be- inger, to demolish the Cottage Seminary, tore. My husband fend some of our boys building on High street, below Baily a' were good players on the instrument.' ■ ciiurch going was another thing that on^offho HhlCt ye3r3 a8°> ™ the seat Of made the negro’s burden feel lighter It \the besfc ^own educational institu- was a day of joy. A negro and liis family tions for young ladies in the countv. Mr often walked as far as 5 miles to church, Hilh S.r

dividing it—one-half the town being in Abraham H. Gasset, of Lower Salford, Baltimore county and the other half in Calls on George F. JP. Wanger, j Howard county. He remembers this local¬ Local Higtorlan—Collection ity well, the old-time narratives and legends of 10,000 Volumes and of old Monocacy Creek and the then wilds many Valuable ■between Baltimore, Washington and Fred- Cariosities. jerifek City, up to the time when Abraham Lincoln's proclamation was the inaugural Abraham H. Cassel, of Lower Salford, this county, the eminent antiquarian ahd his¬ ! step to securing hundreds of thousands of torical writer, was in Pottstown this morn* | free and independent American citizens. ing, having spent last night with George F. I He is proud of his race and refers to the P. Wanger, the local historian. Mr. Cassel days of slavery, when the negro was worth is an agreeable, well preserved gentleman, eleven dollars per pound—the value of an in his 73d year. He has been a bookworm : average slave, according to his figures, from youth, has a library of over 10,000 being $1760. volumes, probably the largest private libra¬ He lias been married three times during ry in this county and his collection of rare bis existence, and has so mauy grandoliil- old books, mannscripts and pamphlets, is i dren that ho claims to have a fit of mental unsurpassed in this country. He has a Bi¬ j exhaustion every time he attempts to count ble printed from movable blocks, in 1470-3, also several Bibles of Luther’s translation, those he remembers, or has been informed 1 of 1523 26. His collection of other very old of, and as the age of progression still con¬ Bibles and German works, early books and tinues there are dozens he knows nothing newspapers printed in Pennsylvania, is par- V of, beyond the fact that Abraham has four¬ ticularly rare and fine. teen, and Susan Jane and her man buried Mr. Cassell has not written many books, eight and has seven still living. bnt the information he has furnished to He doesn’t remember the year when he others, and his writings and contributions was born, but can remember the natives to historical publications,, are very valu¬ 7 cheering for General Washington, and the able. We regret that he was obliged to leave town so early this morning, prevent- i other Presidents since that date. He still ing our holding with him an extended con- * v retains the use of his faculties, and gives versation. The visitor is a great-grandson m ; promise yet, he says, of outliving the pres- of the cslebrated Germantown printer, I J ent century. Christopher Saner, who printed the Bible Dorsey has been a resident of Norristown in German in Pennsylvania forty years be¬ for over thirty years, and settled in this fore it was issued in English anywhere in vicinity after having escaped from the toils, America, ] of slavery. He is a very jovial old fellow, ever ready to converse about his life, and is i very interesting. He can sing quite well, and claims to have been an 'expert in singing and dancing in his i younger days. He was then in possesson I of great athletic powers.

LOCAL HISTORY.

The West Corner at Franklinville—■» The old Linderman Plantation. The Thomas and Castner Lots—The Krieble Farm. ■■■■ _HL__ At the west corner at Franklinville, of Evan Thomas. The last trans Whitpain, stands an old stone house and of the Lindermans on record here barn of uncertain age. The house has in 1767, when John Linderman and hi evidently been built at two separate per¬ sister,Christiana Thomas signed a releas iods. There has been a habitation here to their sister, Mary Castner, aud he since previous to the Revolution. The husband for one of their lots. By that house is supposed to have been built date we may suppose that the widow by Evan Thomas. A lot of twelve acres Linderman was deceased. We presum at this corner was detached from the that a similar release was granted at th late Krieble place by the will of Samuel same time for the Thomas lot, by th Linderman of the date of 1750. Castners, The Thomas lot was at the Within the Krieble farm, to the west¬ corner of the Morris and State roads. ward, are contained eightv-fiye acres, About this time it is supposed that now occupied by Hiram Krieble. Here John Linderman sold the main planta excellent modern farm buildings, tion to Baltus Spitznagle. The transfer and the land is in a high state of culti¬ is not on record. After that time we vation. Here, at some distance from hear nothing further of Linderman. At either highway, was doubtless the site any rate Alexander Colley owned it in of the original buildings on the Linder¬ 11770, and that year sold to Robert man plantation of Colonial times. Up Thomas. The latter was one of the sons the Morris road one-fourth of a mile is a of John Thomas, an original settler of lot, on which is a small dwelling now oc¬ Whitpain, and who purchased, in 1729, cupied by George Hindernach, and for¬ two hundred acres in the upper edge of merly owned by John Ebling. This was . the township. His son Evan built the a lot of twelve acres, detached as long stone house now owned by David Mc- ago as 1750 by will of Samuel Linder¬ Candless, in 1763. Robert Thomas held man as a legacy to his daughter Mary, the farm he bought of Colley for more who married Samuel Castner. than a quarter of a century. In the as- The first occupant here by an actual sessment of 1785 he is credited with 100 settler took place in 1730, when Ann acres. His brother Evan, who remained Whitpain sold 125 acres to Samuel Lind¬ at the Thomas homestead, is credited erman. The latter was a friend and ac¬ with 112 acres, of which twelve acres quaintance of the Leverings and came were in the lot at the corner, opposite with them from Roxborough. The the Singerly place. In 1796, "Robert boundary of the purchase was ; “Begin¬ Thomas sold his farm to John Hallman, ning in line dividing from Jacob Lever¬ for $600. His neighbors then were Sam¬ ing; then by same southeast 185 perches; uel DeHaven, heirs of George Castner, thence southwest by Daniel Levering Jacob Kolb and John Morris, on the 108 perches; thence northwest by Reter southwest side; Evan Thomas and Owen Judehaven and John Merkle 185 perch¬ Thomas on the northwest; Samuel Cast- es; thence northeast by John Thomas ner’s lot, Jacob Levering and lot of Evan and Reis Thomas 308 perches to begin¬ Thomas on the northeast, and the State ning.” road on the southeast. § It will be seen that this grant extended Hallman was not the owner for a long I for nearly 1200 feet along the State road, period, as in 1805 he sold to John Kline. |or from the Morris road to the present The latter died about six years later. In Bnnton line. To the northeast it ex¬ the advertisement in the Norristown r tended over the sloping hill and beyond Register of 1811 of the sale of the place for more than half a mile. It was a it was called the “Whitehall Farm.” It square cornered piece. Here Samuel was bought by Henry Freedly, a merch¬ Linderman cleared land and made his ant of Norristown, and later of Potts- home for twenty years. His death oc-I town. Ten years later the executors of curred in 1750, whilst yet a man of mid-! Freedly sold to Henry Greenawalt. Af¬ die age, and he left minor children. The ter the death of the latter, in 1836, his purport of his will was as follows: To executors sold to George Greenawalt. The his wife, Susannah, his estate, real and farm has been in possession of the Krie¬ persona], duriug her widowhood, and ble family for three generations. John that she should bring up his minor chil¬ Krieble, of Germantown, bought of the dren till of age. Second, that “my son administrators of Greenawalt, and i John shall have the plantation where I 1854 transferred to his son Charles Kri now dwell,” except twenty-four acres. ble. Hiram Krieble, son of the lattei Third, to my daughter, Christiana, >, is the present occupant. John Kriebl twelve acres to be laid off my planta- ■ came from Worcester to Chestnut Hill ■ ■ ^on> perches along Morris road and and though he owned this farm he nev¬ running back 48 perches from same, er lived here having bought it for hi fourth, to my daughter Mary twelve' son Charles. The latter was a very en acres, also fronting Morris road and of terprising farmer, and about the firstl j similar proportions. man in the township who used guano. It will be seen that John Linderman, He built the present house in 1850. His sis itiJu S0D’ inherited the plantation, with death took place August 12th, 1887, in I the exception of these two lots along his 73d year. The former dwelling was Morris road, and therefore had 101 acres. of stone, plastered of a white color, and Mary afterwards married Samuel Cast- which had been built in the era ner, whilst Christiana became the from 1790 to 1800, probably by Robert omas. TEere have years after his father’s death, when he’ successive houses on the premises. The bought sixteen acres additional and con- • old barn was destroyed by a hurricane tiguous of Henry Freedly. Neither did on the afternoon of June 3d, 1852. The Samuel Thomas reside-here, but at the barn was entirely blown down and the 100 acre homestead of his ancestors. out-buildings blown to a considerable This lot was rented for a very long time distance. Mr. Krieble was in the barn —over fifty years, to different parties. taking the harness from a pair of horses Samuel Thomas was without family, at the time of the crush but fortunately and a bachelor. His death took place in made his escape without himself or 1836, and in hi3 will of March 21st of horses being hurt. A large white oak that year, he devised his home planta¬ tree in the neighboring lot, now Berk- heimer’s, was completely twisted off. The in to ms Sister Margaret, “where I] orchard on the Krieble place was nearly now Eve. He was a wealthy man, and destroyed. The storm was accompanied devised four other pieces of real estate by hail. to his brother David, who was also a The Norristown Register of October 4, single man. These comprise a lot of 22 1804, contains an advertisement of this acres m Gwynedd; one of 23 acres near farm for sale by John Hallman. It is Centre Square, and another of 28 acres called “the Whitehall Farm,” doubtless at Franklmville The fourth was a farm from the white color of the house. It is and tavern in Norriton, now the Penn described as containing 100 acres, twen¬ Square hotel. He was a Quaker and gave ty of which were good woodland, 23 acres Gwynedd Meeting $50. meadow, an excellent orchard of two David Thomas, the legatee of the hundred grafted apple and peach trees, Franklmville lot, died in 1843, and this with a number of plums and apricots. portion of his property was adjudged, to In the assessments of 1760, 1762 and a niece, Mary Thomas. The last trans¬ 1764, Baltus Spitznagle, a German, is fer was in 1865, when Mary Thomas, for mentioned as the owner of this place. the sum of $4,241, sold to George Berk- neimer. & He was an owner between Linderman and Colley. Of his 100 acres, just one- THE CASTNER LOT. half was then in forest,—presumably There was one other 12 acre lot, part the upper half of his farm. He had . estate of Samuel LindermaD. de- four children, two horses, six cows and vised in 1750 to his daughter Mary, who five sheep, and twelve acres were sown married Samuel Castner. This has had in winter grain. The Spitznagle family many owners. It was held by the Cast- attended Boehm’s Reformed church. ners during the Revolution, but it is not THE THOMAS LOT. known that they lived there. It was probably rented, if improved at that -We return to the history of the for • time. In the assessment of 1760, one mer Thomas lot at Franklinville, where Lawrence Imel, a German, was a tenant stands the old house and barn. As has on 12 acres^ belonging to George Cast-/ been stated, this came into possession ner, or which two acres were woodland. of Evan Thomas through the right of his wife, Christiana Linderman. He m,a,y P0t have been the lot. In 1793 he sold it to a “reed-maker,” was one of the sons oi John Thomas, named Jacob Walter. In 1797 Walter an original settler of Whitpain, whose sold it to Mdrdeeai Jones, whose death homestead was where David McCandless jj took place in 1821. A very long time now lives, in the northern part of the afterwards, 1859, Mordecai Jones sold to township, which is crossed by the Stony Adam Kern. The later changes have i Creek stream and Railroad. Here he been 1861, Kern to Charles White; 1865, I bought two hundred acres in 1729. Its White to John Upright; 1869, Upright J I is not known that Evan Thomas ever : to Nicholas Guilbert, a native of the Isle I lived at this corner lot, so far detached of Jersey, who became the owner of a • I from his homestead, which was his resi¬ farm in Gwynedd, a mile to the north- If dence. In the Whitpain tax list of 1785 ward; 1870, Guilbert to John Ebling. he is credited with 112 acres. George Hindernach is the present own- J WILL OF EVAN THOMAS. er, having bought of Ebling in 1879. This was registered March 14, 1805. E. M. - 'A j Mention is made of children, John, | Samuel, Joseph, Evan and daughters | Margaret, Susanna and Rachel. His plantation “where I now live, to my son David,” he says. No mention is made of the twelve-acre lot, and we may there¬ fore suppose that it had been otherwise j disposed of, previously, to his son Samu- 3 el. ( Datey.V::U&iJ2,,., It is not certainly known who built 1 the house and .barn, but it is supposed to have been by either Evan or Samuel LOCAL HISTORY. jThomas, probably about the be- ;Inning of this century. At any rate Samuel Thomas owned it in 1814, a few The Old Evans Plantation. Towamenciu.—' Huppert Cassel—The Farm of Isa Snyder—The Old Waggoner Place. ft The present Snyder farm comprises j In the midst of the Revolution, in •1776, Jehu Evans bought the property ol sixty acres, situated about one and a half | the other heirs, for £453, and fifteen shill¬ miles west of Lansdale, in eastern Tow- ings—equivalent to $1211—about eight amencin, and a short distance west of I dollars per acre, a price indicating poor White’s corner. It is bounded on the buildings and indifferent farming. Thel other heirs were the widow Elizabeth, southwest by a highway running from j and children, Jane, wife of Evan Ed¬ the township line road to the Forty Foot wards; Catharine, wife of William Lu road. The farm lands have a compara¬ kens; Evan, Elizabeth, Jane, Margaret tively level surface. The buildings are a and Ellin. Jehu, the purchaser, is called a weaver, and in later documents, a car¬ hundred yards or more from penter. The boundaries at that time way, situated on a little knoll rising from [ were : “Beginning at corner of this and lower ground, where is a spring house. Jacob Updegraff and in line of Philip The very large and commodious barn is Kinsey; then by said Updegraff, north¬ west 139 perches; then by John Lukens new, built in 1877 by Jesse Snyder. The southwest 129 perches to line of Owen stone house, sided with slate is much Hughes; then by same southeast 137 per¬ older than it appears. No one knows the ches to line late of Amos Griffiths; then age of the eastern part, which was the :part!y by Griffith’s and partly by Kin¬ sey’s northeast 134 perches to beginning.’' home of the Evans family in the last cen¬ The witnesses were Humphrey Jones tury. The western, or newer part, was s and John Lukens. These boundaries indi¬ built in 1813 by Yellis Cassell. An aged cate that Philip Kinsey and the Griffith lands were on the Gwynedd side, and that man died in 1884 in Line Lexington, John Jacob Updegraff had just bought the for¬ Price, the teacher. He was born in 1799, mer Edwards place on the Allentown and remembered when a boy of fourteen, road, which became the later Knipe farm. of helping to dig the cellar for this! John Lukens held the later Waggoner house. place on the northwest, and the great Hughes tract lay to the southwest. This was one of the original home Jehu Evans held possession for thirty steads of the township, and the fine years, or till his death in 1806. He was spring to the southward dictated the site married and the first name of his wife was Mary, who survived him. There was of a settler’s home. At the first, two no will and Anna Griffith, of Gwynedd, Welshmon, John Roberts and Edward and the widow Mary, were the adminis¬ Morgan, held the east corner of Towamen- trators. In 1806, they sold to Ilupert, or cin. A recital of an ancient deed says Hubbert Cassell, of Worcester, for $4,537, It- or about forty dollars per acre. These hat in 1734 John Roberts and his wife figures indicate a great improvement of Mary sold to another Welshman named the farm or buildings under the owner- Edward Evans 150 acres here. Whether! jship of Jehu Evans. The boundaries in- Roberts or Evans was the first actual] iicate a new set of neighbors with the settler who built a dwelling here, we do lapse oftime. Frederick Knipe was on the not know. It was the homestead of the| aortheast. Hubbert Cassell had bought Evans family for seventy-two years, dur¬ (the tract above of John Lukens; Edward ing two generations-—from 1734 to 1806. Hughes owned on the southwest; while They were either Quakers or Baptists— aver in Gwynedd were Henry Snyder and probably the former. We know very I lohn Wright, besides the Griffith farm. little about them, although there may be This Huppert Cassell was the decendant a considerable number of the descend¬ ;of Yellis Cassell, who came toTowamen- ants of Edward Evans, now living. Hej cin about 1715, and the grandfather of lived here about forty years, his death Abraham H. Cassell, the antiquarian, of ■ occurring about the beginning of the Rev- near Harleysville, who was the son of . olution. His plantation included the Yellis Cassell. In 1812 Huppert Cassell '» present farms of Jesse Snyder, John Sny¬ sold the farm to this son Yellis, who der and Joseph Thomas. Of it, there owned it for twenty-three years, and here were thirty-three acres on the opposite was the childhood’s home of Abraham side of the road, now included in the farm H. Cassell, of library fame. The next trans- of John Snyder. It extended down to . fer was, 1835, Yellis Cassell to Henry! the Gwynedd line, and the later Waggo¬ Heebner, a Schwenkfeldter. In 1848, ner place on the northwest was part of it. after the death of Heebner, his heirs, It really comprised about 163 acres. In comprising John 8. Heebner, Joel Weig- the enrollment of Towamenciu made in ner, Abraham Heebner, Reuben I August, 1775, we find no mention of Ed¬ Schmeltz, Jesse Snyder, George Suydei j ward Evans, but his son Jehu Evans was and Ann Heebner sold to Samuel Heeb¬ / a member of Captain Springer’s company ner, Of them, JohnS. Heebner yet re¬ of Militia. In the assessment of 1776, sides in Upper Gwynedd, one of the Elizabeth, widow of Edward Evans, was wealthy men of that township. In 1854 credited with 190 acres, and as owning the heirs of Samuel Heebner sold to three horses and five cows. All this in¬ James Slough, now of West Point, and dicates that Edward Evans was deceased! in 1870, Slough sold to Jesse Snyder, son a little before 1775. of Jesse Snyder who married the daugh- ter of Henry Heebner. Jesse Snyder is I an aged man, having been born in has been many transfers: 1855, Youno' !812. He was married in 1836. He was to James Chatwin; 1858, Chatwin to the son of Joseph Snyder, who was born James Leigh; 1859, Leigh to Frederick^ in 1786, and married Sophia, daughter of Schafhirt; 1860, Schafhirt for $5,000 toi Abraham Kriebel in 1811. The father of Lydia "1. Farquarson a Yankee woman Joseph was Henry, born in 1762, who from Warren, Maine; 1862, Farquarson1 married Regina, daughter of Balthazar to Jefferson Lewis, thirty-six acres; 1864 IReinwalt, in 1785, and died in 1836. The Lewis to Francis Lawn; 1871, Lawn to first of the Snyders in America, was Morris B. Shuller; 1874; Sheriff Jeremiah: Heinrich, born in Silesia in 1729, who ■ Larzalere to Thomas H. Wentz; 1874 came to America in 1749, and married Wentz to Samuel Brunner; 1874, Brunner Rosina daughter of Christopher Neuman., back to Shuller. In some way Thomas He lived near the present village of West , Wentz again became the owner, and of Point. • whom Jesse Christy bought in 1885. In The Old Waggoner Farm. 1889 he sold back to Wentz, whose son This is a small farm, now reduced to Harry Wentz conveyed to Joseph W. thirty-six acres, situated above the Sny¬ Thomas the present owner. e. m. der place and separated from it by a highway connecting with the Allentown road. The surface gently slopes north and northeast towards the Towameneiu From, creek. The dwelling has been built in two parts, one of stone and the other of brick. The stone, or eastern end, is evi dently quite old. There has probably been a house here since 1776, when fifty acres were detached from the Evans plan- tation. At present the property has a- non-resident owner, Joseph Thomas, and : the dwelling is untenanted, presenting an abandoned appearance. BRIDGEPORT’S “OLD SWEDES’.’’ The earlier history of this property is of course similar to that of the Evans' homestead, just narrated. After the K 13 3D ANNIVERSARY CELE¬ death of Edward Evans, his heirs in 1776 BRATED YESTERDAY. conveyed fifty acres to John Lukens with the following boundaries: “Beginning at corner of this and Jehu Evans’ land, Washington and “Mad” Anthony Wayne in line of Jacob XJpdegraff; thence partly Worshiped There and Prince Oscar, of by said Updegraff and by Yellis Cassell Sweden, Presented the Church with a northwest 63 perches to corner in line of |7ont. John Lukens, son of Abraham; then by - J same, and John Yeakle, Henry Smith Biiidgepokt, Pa.,1’ and Abraham Heidrick, deceased, south- & Juno 25. — For just 133 west 126 perches to corner of this and years divine services Owen Hughes; then by said Owen Hughes have been held every southeast 63 perches to corner of this and Sunday in Old Swedes’ Jehu Evans; then by same northeast 129 C h urcli, known as Christ Church, which perches to beginning.” The price paid, is located on the west 1 was £200, and the witnesses were John hank of the Schuylkill Lukens (son of Abraham) and Humphrey river, in the lower part Jones. These boundaries indicate XJpde- of th.is borough. The an¬ graff and Yellis Cassell, owned on the niversary ceremonies took place this morn- i northeast; that Henry Smith, John ing, in the old church, x eakle, the other John Lukens and and were conducted by Abraham Heidrieks estate were on the■ I the Hector, the liev. Hr. northwest and Owen Hughes on the A. A. Marple, who has southwest. I had charge of the Lukens held possession for nearly ■noreh and congregation for the past sixteen rs. There was a very large attendance this thirty years, when he sold in 1805 to ornirsg, and the services were of an interest¬ Cassell for £600, or three times ing character. The chancel was gracefully what he gave. On two sides the neigh¬ raped with S wedish and American flags, and bors were changed, Abraham Cassell and he handsome baptismal font in front of the r iedeiick Knipe were in the northeast, ihaneel, which was sent from Sweden, was and Amos Lukens, Joseph Smith, Henry ;overed with flowers and shrubbery. omith and John Newbex-ry on the north A sermon full of historic interest was deliv¬ ered by Hr. Marpie, who said in thecour.se of west. In 1812 Hup port Cassell sold this’ lis remarks: “In keeping our anniversary hls,farm'; to George Cassell for |ve cannot but honor t.hc®memory of Kcv. $2,666, or for over fifty-three dollars per lharles Magnus Wrangel, under whom the S^five times the price in 1776. Xu hurch buildings of t wo of the associated con- 1831 Ceorge Cassell sold to Jacob Waggo- :regations, viz. : St. James, Kingsessing, and uer. fi>r $2200, who owned it for a long ihrist Church, Upper Merlon, were erected. enod. Henry Young bought it of L'he erection of this church was largely duo m ~ o preparations made before Dr. Wraugel chinWi'bT.ffdThs is surrounded hy a grave- •jme to America. In 1758 an acre of land ward, now filled with monuments and tomb¬ •■vas purchased from Ezekiel Rambo and wife, stones'. and enclos’d by a stone wali. In this m was deeded May 7th of the same year t-o old burial-ground a number ot patriots ot the Mounce Rambo, Andrew Holstein, I’ctcr Revolution sleep their last sleep. In lec-ent Rambo and George Rambo, acting as trus¬ vears it has been used as a general cemetery, tees. That purchase, in 1758, is the proof but the church it»c!f belongs to the Protestant . that the descendants in this neighborhood o! Episcopal denomination. _ _ , t he Swedes who had settled on the banks ol' It *s asseHcd as a historic tact that \\ ash- t tie Delaware more than 100 years before were iHcton and “Mad” Anthony Wayne, during putting themselves in readiness to build the the winter at Valley Forge, frequently wor¬ walls of this church as they stand before ns shiped there. . . to-day, forming the nave of the body of Ihc The most interesting event that lias occurrec. building. The transept, chancel and tower at the church in recent years happened on are an additional enlargement made in 1837,56 July Otis. ISTti. when the church was formally years ago. ’ ’ visited by Prince Oscar of Sweden and a After alluding to the erection of the * ‘Gloria retinue o. followers connected ith the- Swed¬ 75 Dei” Church in Philadelphia iu 1700, the ish Government, numbering in all about 7 building of the Trinity Church at Christina, person* This was a red letter day in the Ins now Wilmington, 1603, the Pastor said: ‘‘A Lory of Christ Church, and there were very listofthe families living in New Sweden in itnposing ceremonies. Prince Oscar on that 1003 lias come down to us. The famiiirs num¬ occasion presented to the church an elabo¬ bered 189. and the individuals 03:1. Of this rately wrought baptismal font, constructed of important number only 39 were native Swedes. Swedish marble and containing the simple AU the others were native Americans, and inscription, “Swedish Blessings to Swedish Children, ’ ’ and accompanying the baptismal F they took kindly to Ihc New Sweden wherein L they dweit. They did not either renounce font were two silken Swedish tings. the faith of their fathers. They lived in peace The font now occupies a conspicuous place with the Indians for more than -10 years before in front of the chancel, and the two Swedish William Penn came, though, with a strange flags arc festooned over the chancel in close inconsistency, they fought with the Holland¬ proximity to flic American standard. Dar¬ ers of New Amsterdam, i. o., New York. in" the Centennial year Christ Church had They were not lacking in courage, nor could I two visits from the Royal Commissioners of we suppose that the coanfryinen of Guvtavnsj Sweden, Charles Julian Darnfelt and the Hor.. Adolphus would he deficient in such a quality, i Augustin Bird, and about that time the Swed¬ We know how much he did for the cause of ish Ambassador at Washington, Count Fred¬ the. Reformat ion. ’ ’ erick Wacbmiester and many of the Swedish History of the Church. nobles in the country honored the old Swed¬ Thecbureh as it stands to-day, with the ex¬ ish Church with a visit. ception of additions, was erected in 3761. The Dr. Q. W. Holstein, who has been a warden additions, which were made in 18^7, when two of the church for over half a century, and galleries were removed, consist of a lower, whose father and grandfather occupied that with a bebry, and wings. The structure is position before him, is conversant with the built of brick, and the exterior lias a solid history of the church, and has furnished coating of light colored cement, giving tiie many of the facts that follow. structure a modern and bright appearance. The church, it appears, was completed and dedicated as “Christchurch” on the 20th of WM Jnoe, 1/W, on which occasion the sermon was preached by the Rev. Dr. Charles Magnus I'r.Nicfio- a M1° ,laU keen seat over by t ii© jlas Collins, 1,8!) to 1831. The above weie all Archb-shop °f Upsal, Sweden, the year before sent over by tire King of Sweden and weed to take charge of this mission, which took in | oca ed at -tae Mother Church, “Gloria Dei, ” G!ona T>ei,” in Philadelphia, the c IV, lot'Hte<1 at what, was mother church, and also St. James’s Church, ! ia‘ VV The death of Dr. Coffins, at Kiugnessihg. He is represented to have in 18,d severed lbe connection of tbe church wen a man of extraordinary eloquence, and with tbe Swedish mission. The Episcopal returned to Sweden in 1788 to be ordained a successors chose 1 he Rev. John C. Clav and ujfenwp. wlulo in this country Di\ Wran^el |!;f , ad charge of the three cliurcbes from 1881 preached at Christ Church, Norristown, about tolc.13, and after the separation into distinct once a month, and such was the primitive pai ishes the fust clergyman chosen for child condition o( affairs then that many of the Church was the Rev. E. N. Light tier vim in congregaiiou came down the Schuylkill in 1lUR Wn*,Hen,'y U8CS- D- D., ‘ 185/5 canoes to hear him. At that time the church Vs1.’ Rev>. Thomas S. Yocum, 1801 to property extended down to the Schnvlkill „ » n,d tnen followed the Rev. Octavius tilT' ullf:d. ,luou=h a grove of buttonwood Peunecbieli and the Rev. Edward \ War trees, uie railroads have since cut an iron rmer. ” 1 “ pata through it. i' Dr- Wrange! was succeeded in 1768 by the Rev. Andrew Goeranson, who offlei ded for 11 years, and he was otteu aided by the Rev. From, Gnarles Line, an Episcopal minister, who was tC,d 'S assistant in 1774, so even at that dam the Episcopal service was used at Christ Church, and under the sanction of the Swed¬ ter/fe G. ish missionary. In January, 1780, Mr Goer- ansen was succeeded by the Rev. Matthias Hutlgreen, and in July, 17S6, the Rev. Nicho¬ las Collins took charge and presided over it for a period of-in years, until his death in 1831 rhfnlV Par 1700 there a deef'ed change m the language of the Colony, the Hwed- isn tongue having hce.n gradually giving LOCAL HISTORY. iS ip'r fSe!l' So great tvas tills Change ,that Dr. Collins wrote home: “Although the j \estry received me with great respect, and ac¬ knowledged l heir great obligations to the The East Corner of Towamencin—The KAng of Sweden and his illustrious prodeces- Plantation of Joseph Morgan—Edward sois lor the long continued care of their spirit¬ ual welfare, still at the same time they de¬ Edwards Jacob Updegrave—The clined a continuance of this favor, as the »r at Knipe Farm. charge of circumstances must hereafter make the mission aburdeu to the Crown of Sweden, vithout at;adequate benefit, to the congrcga- This historical sketch relates to a re¬ t on, which has totally lost, the language of gion only a mile west and northwest of £?£ arjf sly the Legislalure, Allentown road. In the earlier history 2 - ThJ°" application of the three ol Tomamencin we find all the eastern nrio‘i»h?r Th° n:une of ‘‘Christ, Church” was portion held by Welsh owners. Thef"' hwlr 7 ven t0 the Hiureli by the (Morgans were all gone before the Rev- \ *,S i°0n as lbe first church budding was erected, and R has ahvavs borne olution, and we know nothing about \ ucL“tT’ T?e T^St0,'S or the church in t?*if names. It is probable \ I “',e"'OJ nP- (o (■he present year were as tiiat Edward Morgan was the real settler. \ | fobows: Charles Magnus W range!, from The Updegraff Plantation and Knipe Farm. \ (1/tiO to 1,1,6; Dr. Nicholas Goeranson. 1763 to Just where Joseph Morgan lived is not certainly known, but probabilities point o the!west side oi the Allentown road as in Gwynedd as early as 1763 the ate , Knipe homestead. Here was ohn Knipe bought a farm of Adam 4 unfailing spring and the site prized Hoffman. This John Knipe died in 1789 _y the earlier settler. A small rivulet ; and Frederick was one of his sons. pursues its way down the meadow gladeL Among other sons were Christian, born westward, and hides itself in the forest.! in 1753, who bought the Bowman farm Here stood, not many years ago a one-! in Gwynedd in 1789 and died in 1813. story log house, but now there is a brick; I David, another of this family, was born house and modern barn, built by Ma¬ 1 in 1751 and died in 1806. Frederick thias Knipe. Near the dwelling stands Knipe was destined to reach advanced a large buttonwood tree. jj. years. He lived in their homestead which The recitals of an old deed says that ' he bought in 1802 for fifty-four years. Joseph Morgan sold his plantation of 150 ", He was born April 3d, 1863, married acres to another Welshman named Ed¬ l Margaret Boas, and died March 2d, 1856 ward Edwards. No date is given for in his 93d year. His wife was twenty-one this transfer, but is was long before the years younger than himself, having been Revolution,—probably before the middle born in 1784, and yet only survived him of the last century. The Edwards fam¬ eight years, her death taking place in ily were Quakers and there are some of 1864. The Boas family lived at the the name yet within the township. After present place of Jacob Zebley, North ?> •■'>1 Bis si a time, probably about 1765, Edward ! Wales. The children of Frederick Edwards died, intestate, leaving no sons, : Knipe and Margaret Boas were Jesse, but four daughters, to whom his lands Abigail, wife of Samuel Fleck; Catha-i descended. Three of these daughters rine, wife of Jacob Heist; Frederick, who married: Elizabeth, to Elias Budner; married Matilda, daughter of John Sidney to John Hamilton, and Mary to Neavel; Sophia, first wife of Levi Barndt, Jacob Updegraff, or Updegrave. The of Chalfont; Phoebe, wife of John Swart- latter was neither a Quaker or a Welsh¬ j)j ley; Mary, wife of Jonas Kline, of Nor- man, but probably of Holland stock ristown; Margaret, wife of Frederick Updegrave bought" the homestead about Beaver, of North Wales; Conrad and 1767 of the heirs. In that year he ob- I Mathias. Of these, Jesse became a Re- tained- ' a release’ fromr T>Budner 1 and1 his ’ formed preacher and was pastor of wife; in 1772 from the single sister, Ra- churches in Chester county, near Phce-I Ichel Edwards and not till 1776 from John nixville. Mathias took his fathers home- Hamilton. ■ stead in 1857, which he retained till 1880! In the tax list of 1776, Jacob Upde¬ when he sold to Jacob Rittenhouse. He I grave is assessed for 200 acres, two hor¬ died in 1890 on a lot near North Wales, I ses and five cows. His name appears in v: where his widow yet resides. The farm? the list of members of Captain Spring¬ now belongs to Allen Swartley, a son-in-1 er’s company of militia in 1775. It is law of Rittenhouse. E. m. probable that a considerable proportion of his farm was in forest at that time. The children of Jacob Updegrave and Mary Edwards were Jesse, Ann, Rachel, Ellinor and Rebecca. In a legal docu¬ ment, one grand child, named Edward is mentioned. The mother of this fam¬ ily was deceased before 1803. Previous to this time, in 1795 Jacob Updegrave had sold the homestead to Edward Up¬ degrave. It comprised eighty-three acres, lying on the west side of the A1 1/ The Centre Square Hotel Sold. lentown road. The boundaries and ' Albert Maucty^of Norristown, has neighbors a century ago were : “Begin¬ purchased the well-known Centre Square ning on Allentown road at a corner of_ Hotel from Ellwood Hart for $15,000. John Kinsey; then along Kinsey’s line This old hostlery has been occupied as a southwest 75 to corner of Jehu Evans; hotel for more than a century. A Ithence by same northwest 140 perches licensed house was first kept on the site to corner of Abraham Cassell; thence by in 1758 and was called the “Waggon.” same northeast in perches to Allentown |j This building was an old stone structure road; thence southeast by said road 84 land was the rendezvous of the Revolu¬ perches to beginning.”—This deed was tionary soldiers, when Washington’s witnessed before Christian Weber. troops encamped at Fort Washington. Jacob Updegrave retained land on the The building was torn down about thirty- east side of the Allentown road—the five years ago, when the present brick present Cassell, Smith and other prop¬ building was erected. Mr. Hart has erties. been proprietor of the place for about six Before 1802 Edward Updegrave was years, having purchased the stand from dead, and in that year his widow Eliza¬ William C. Blackburn, now of Ambler. beth and John Potts, the administrators, A few years ago the building was entirely sold to Frederick Knipe, of Gwynedd, remodeled and a new barn erected on the for $933. This deed was witnessed by premises. This is one of the best known Joseph Lewis and Cadwallader Evans. road houses in Montgomery county. Mr. iMauck will take possession of the prop¬ The Knipe Family. erty in the early fall and will make every kThe Knipe family were of German ex- effort to keep up the good reputation of \tion and Lutheran faith. We find ; this old established house. Mr. Mauck going to close out his carriage and wagon business in Norristown. There are about four acres of good ground at- tached to the hotel. _ son came here a young man, and spent a life time on this farm. His From, death took place in October 1841. He had four children, Absalom, Ann, Eliza and Esther. He became well off, .Cy^zy. and owned two other properties besides this farm. In his will he ordered his Towamencin farm to be sold at the death of his widow, Elizabeth, and John Davis Date, *££?/.£&£ *•«*». :. and Eli Griffith were made executors. ; His son Absalom also had four children, Benjamin, Elizabeth, Margaret and Esther. Of these, Benjamin became a HISTORY. wealthy man and died on his Worcester % farm in the spring of 1893. The Cassell Farm, TowameMcitt—Robert It was not till 1850 that Eli Griffith, Edwards—Joseph Wilson, White’s Corner. the surviving executor of Joseph Wilson, sold the homestead to Joel Davis, of That portion of the plantation of Jo¬ «* the Hatfield family of that name. This seph Morgan, lying on the east side of comprised 76 acres. The last transfer the Allentown road, is now divided into was in 1873 to Abraham Cassell. For¬ ... the various small lots that form the merly there was an old stone farm house just above the site of the present dwell- i nothern portion of the hamlet called ing. Cassell proceeded to erect one of the White’s Corner, together with the Cas¬ handsomest and most costly houses in the sell and Smith farms, and that lot of Na¬ township. He had made much money than Dundore. It is the extreme east in the lumber business in the West. He invested in Florida lands and became corner of the township of Towamencin. the owner of a productive orange grove Edward Morgan was the first of that in that State where he died in 1891. His family here, of which we find trace as family yet reside on the old homestead. early as 1724, and Joseph Morgan may The Bower Farm amT Otlxer Properties. 3D have been his son. As mentioned in The Bower farm is one of some thirty- another article, he sold this to the EcT six acres. The modern brick dwelling is a short distance above White’s Cor¬ wards family. By the date of 1764 ner. The frontage of the farm is narrow we find Rowland Edwards the owner of on the Allentown road, but it extends 127 acres. He is supposed to have lived back to the Hatfield line. Here was for¬ either at the Cassell or Smith place. In merly a one-story house. It is probable 1764 Edwards detached fifty-two acres that there has been a habitation here next to the Gwynedd line to a German, since the time of the Revolution. Will-j named William Springer. In old docu¬ iam Springer, the wheelwright, bought ments, Springer is described as a wheel¬ 52 acres of Rowland Edwards in 1764 wright, who lived in Gwynedd. This % ^nd sold the same to Jacob Updegrave strip reached all the way to the Hatfield in 1774. The boundaries then were: line. The house when built was at the “Beginning ip line of Richard Clayton, late Bower place. Here is now a brick (Hatfield); thence by same northwest dwelling but where formerly stood a one- 45 perches to corner of other land of Up¬ story log house. degrave ; thence by same southwest 161 The Cassell Farm. perches to Allentown road ; thence down said road 64^ perches to corner We will first trace the history of the of land of heirs of John Kinsey ; thence present Cassell farm, in the upper por¬ by Kinsey’s land and of Amos Strettle E tion of the 127 acres held by Rowland northeast 1924 perches to beginning.” | Edwards. This piece of 75 acres was For this £200 was paid, It will be seen ' ,- sold by Edwards in 1770 to Jacob Upde¬ that the shape was long and narrow— grave. who already possessed the Knipe over half a mile to Hatfield and but 743 farm on the opposite side of the Allen¬ (, feet wide at one end. The corner of town road. It was part of Updegrave’s Kinsey's land was the present White’s 200 acres which he held during the Rev¬ Corner. olution. In 1804, when getting old he Updegrave was all the while detach¬ sold this to a Quaker, named Joseph ing portions of his land by sale, and in Wilson, for ^,878. The boundaries then t8ii, he sold the present farm to Robert were: “Beginning at comer on Allen- Edwards. The latter was the father of town road; thence up said road 7a John Edwards, long a widely known cit¬ perches to corner of John Davis ; thence izen of Towamencin, residing near by said Davis 44 perches and northwest Kulpsville. Edwards held for fifteen by same 19 perches to line of Joseph years, but in 1826 he gave up the prop¬ Smith ; thence by Smith northeast 78 erty to Assignees James White and perches to line of Abraham Cassell; ft- Henry Snyder. The former was his thence by same and late John Bucheimer’s father-in-law. He retired after this to a 87 perches ; thence by other land of Upde- small house on another property near grave s southwest 108 perches to line of Kulpsville, now owned by John Edwards. Isaac Schlichter ; thence by southwest 54 In 1826, the assignees of Edwards sold perches to beginning.” This deed was to Samuel Smith. The next transfer witnessed by Isaac Hughes before Jacob was in 1833, when Frederick Bower Clemens. ‘-whIhh bought the same He came to stay. A I generation passed away. By 1869, Bower was dead and his heirs sold the place to Jonas B. Krause. He came to financial grief ten years later, and in 1879 assigned to John C. Boorse. Fi¬ nally, in 1880, 3oorse sold to Samuel H. Smith, the present owner. At White’s Corner, within Towamen- cin, are half a dozen houses. The two at the corner is owned by Charles White. The Whites came into possession here after the assignment of Robert Edwards LOCAL HISTORY. to James White in 1826. At the corner jSTATE OF AFFAIRS FROM 1777 to 1780. there was formerly an old house, part log and part stone. The present one was The following interesting facts regard¬ built in 1848. This corner had been de¬ ing the state of affairs in Montgomery tached by Jacob Updegrave as long ago county during the days of the Revolu¬ as 1807, when he sold two acres here to tion are from the pen of ex-Senator Jones Peter Lukens. It would be tedious for the reader to trace all the various trans Detwiier, of Whitpain. They were gath¬ fers of these small lots. They are owned ered from old documents and books dur¬ jy John Erb, the carpet weaver; Elwood ing the ex-Senator’s term of office some Flowers, Christian Covelens, and Ephraim Moyer. The latter holds a eighteen years ago : three acre lot on which is a brick house. The Association system, after the ex¬ It formerly belonged to Susanna Lunn, perience of its effects from the beginning widow of Thomas Lunn, of Hilltown. of the war, was admitted to be too uncer¬ She sold to Emanuel Zearfoss in 1854. tain to be depended upon in case of The Erb family of German extraction, emergency. The conduct of the Phila- first settled in Goshenhoppen, but have ■j delphia Associators at Amboy in the been here for two generations. The J preceding summer was not near so bad as Dundore lot, extending in a narrow strip that of some of the companies from the to the toll-gate, was detached in 1800, i county after the battle of Princeton, Jacob Updegrave sold nine acres to Jo¬ some of whom deserted in full bodies, seph Yeakle. It has had many owners I leaving only their officers, and, in one since, including Eliza Johnson from 1839 I case spoken of by General Putnam, “only to 1846 ; John Erb till 1850 ; Adam Smith |a lieutenant and a lame man. ’ Thef till 1852, when Frederick Renninger pur¬ time had now come for the establishment! chased. It was bought of his widow, of a regular and permanent militia, and. Susanna Renninger, in 1887 by Nathan to that task the Assembly addressed it¬ Dundore. self. A militia bill was prepared and' E. M. passed. It provided that the city and ■ county of Philadelphia, and the various! counties throughout the State, should bet divided into districts, each of which was] to have within it not less than six hun¬ dred and eighty men fit for military duty. , Over these divisions were placed lieuten¬ ants, from each city and county, and Jh.O. . 114 . sub-lieutenants for each district. Each district was sub-divided into eight parts j- ;] or companies, and each district was to Date, j (>ject its own lieutenant, colonel, major, T captains and other officers. The lieuten- ants and sub-lieutenants took lists ot all tahlneckefis hot^,, Flourtown, was |the inhabitants of their districts, collect-l uilt in 1811 by John Bitting. He was led the fines, and superintended generally ^landlord of the same down to 1845, when the execution of the details of the law. for five years it was rented to various The companies were divided by lots into j- arties. His son Thomas Bitting, the "classes and provision made for calling! resent postmaster of Ambler, became out the classes as they were wanted. jthe owner in 1850 and kept the hotel Persons enrolled, who refused to parade down to 1865 with the exception of one when ordered, were to be fined 7s. 6d. i !year. He made it a popular stopping per day; officers absent 10s. per day; place for farmers going to market. John non-commissioned and privates, os. per Bitting was of German extraction and dav. On field days, officers not attend¬ born in Lehigh county in 1773, and when ing were to be fined £5 and non-commis- a young man came to Germantown. His ■ sioned officers and privates 15s. Com¬ death took place in 1857 at the good old panies were to be exercised upon two, age of eighty-five. days in April, three days m May, two days in August, two days in September, and one day in October of each year. Battalions were to parade once in - lay and once in October. In cases of loss off y militiamen in service, the State I - . -14,111 W mdertook to pay half the monthly pay | he Act of Assembly of that year, which! o sufferers. provided that all persons should perform For Philadelphia county, William] militia duty on certain days of the year, |Coates, lieutenant. Jacob Engle, Sam¬ ’ ■'d be in readiness in case their services el Dewees, George Smith, Archibald I were needed. hompson and William Antis were ap-f The pamphlet referred to contains a ointed sub-lieutenants. (statement of the accounts of Colonel The officers for the county of Philadel- xeorge Smith, a sub-lieutenant of the hia (now Montgomery) were as fol- lounty of Philadelphia, in which is ex¬ ows: First battalion, for the townships hibited, for the information of the public f Upper Salford, Lower Salford, Towa- the amount of fines received and account- nensing, Hatfield, Perkiomen and Skip- led for by him between March, 1777, and ack, Daniel Heister, Jr., colonel; Jacob [April, 1780, together with lists of the Reid, lieutenant-colonel; Jacob Markley, hues composing the same and the names lajor. of the persons from whom received, re¬ Second battalion, Germantown, Rox-! spectively arranged in companies and orough, Springfield and Bristol, John classes. Likewise the disbursements of /Ioore, colonel; Aaron Levering, lieuten- cose monies and payments thereof into nt-colonel; George Miller, major. the Treasury: Third battalion, Cheltenham, Abing- Here follows some of the most inter¬ on, Lower Division of the Manor of esting items: Cash received from the de- Joreland, Lower Dublin, Byberry and mquents of the 1st, 2d, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, [Oxford, Benjamin McYeagh, colonel; i tli and 8th classes, for non-performance [David Schneider, lieutenant-colonel; ?•« n dUtj’ Per Hst 0f filleS> No. 1. olm Holmes, major. ■ ti’.0 0s- ijd- Cash received from the Fourth battalion, Upper Division of delinquents of 1st, 2d, 3rd, 4th, 5th and foreland, Upper Gwynedd and Mont¬ Jth classes of the Fourth Battalion, for gomery, William Dean, colonel; Robert non-performance of militia duty when oiler, lieutenant-colonel; George Right, jailed out, second tour, £18,099 7s. Od. najor. deceived from delinquents of the oth Fifth battalion, Whitemarsh, Ply tnd 6th classes of the Fifth Battalion nouth, Whitpain, Norrington, Worces-' .placed under his direction after the er ami New Providence (now Upper and > Meath of Colonel Thompson, late sub- bower Providence), Robert Curry, colo- iieutenant of said district, £12,947 10s. lel; Archibald Thompson, lieutenant- <«. I he whole amount of fines received icolonel; .John Edwards, major. amounted to £55,767 5s. 10M. Cash' Sixth battalion, Limerick, Douglass, paiCL!?etween May aild November, 1777? Marlborough, New Hanover and Upper to 16„ substitutes hired to serve in the Hanover and Frederick, Frederick Antes, f/f™1 1ciass0s, of the Fourth Battalion, colonel; Frederick Weis, lieutenant-colo¬ f-i’,186 1

•y 'Weaved, ditto, £2 12s. 6d. Tobias Michael Conrad, Paul Rust, Isaac Bond, Sholl, ditto, £7 13s. 9d. Paid Jacob Mar- Joseph Vanbuskirk, Anthony Yerkes,! pole, hauling baggage, £6 16s. Paid Isaac Cadwallader, Robert Austin, EliasJ ' 'V A sundry persons for hauling arms, repair¬ 1 Yerkes (cooper), John Moore, John Ken-j ing arms, for cartridge paper, making nedy, Isaac Roberts, John Neasmith, cartridges, collecting arms thrown away Samuel Shoemaker, William Patterson. ■ «• , at Germantown battle, 14 muskets and Robert Little and William Purdy; | one pair of gun straps, £199 2s. 6d. Arch¬ amount of fines, £1,144 12s. 6d. ibald Thompson, Esq., sub-lieutenant, Captain Bloom's Company, Upper| on account of fines, £3,088 12s. Ikl. Gwynedd—Jacob Wisner, Benjamin Har¬ Cash David Rittenhouse, Treasurer^ at ry, Rees Roberts, Samuel Wheeler,: sundry times in 1778, 1779 and 1780, Melchoir Crible (Ivreible), Caleb Foulke, £36,763 19s. Levi Jenkins, John Erwin, Jacob Smith, The foregoing are oidy some ot the Job Luken, John Dilcart, Jacob Wiout, most interesting items in the statement. Samuel Castner, William Springar, John k The large amount of fines, as it seems to Evans, William Williams, Jacob Hisler,’ : be by the above, were paid by the inhab¬ Jolin Luken, Daniel Hoffman, Thomas; it itants of the 4th and 5th battalions, com- Shoemaker, William Hoffman, John 1 posino- the townships of Moreland, upper Thomson, George Roberts, Jacob Young,; division; Upper and Lower Gwynedd, Isaac Kulp, Joseph Long, Jacob Al-‘

Montgomery, Whitemarsh, Plymouth,’ > bl ight, Isaac Lewes, Amos Roberts, Jo¬ Whitpain, Norrington, Worcester, Up- seph Lewis, David Harry, George Mor¬ 1 per and Lower Providence. ris and liees xiarry; amount of fines. 1 In Plymouth Zebulon Potts paid £100, £935 17s. 6d. ■ Nathan Potts £200, Jesse Wikerline Captain Hines' Company, Montgomery ■ £112 10s., William Stroud £40, David Township—William Fry, Joseph Ambler, ‘1 Brooks £300, John Davis (Snap) £200, Jr., James Roberts, John Hartzel, Ed¬ jP Samuel Cocklin £150, John Lyle £100, ward Morgan, Isaac Jones, Daniel Jones, and Hugh McGinley £54. John Ambler, Joseph Ambler, Sr.,-John In Whitpain Mathias Shoemaker paid Jones, William Childs, Henry Moor ’ll £100, Jesse DeHaven £112 10s, Joseph (Moore), Samuel Thomas, Cadwallader I Hallowell £200, Daniel Yost £450, Ed- Roberts, Christopher Wells, George Gor¬ j ward Koberts £200, Jolin foh&y £200, Jo~ don, Robert Gordon, George Dunaker, »siah Dickinson £100, David DeHaven Robert Parks, John Heckman, William S-20U, Samuel Colston £ 100, and James Hugh, John Drake, John Roberts, Sam¬ Egbert £150. The above fines were paid uel Thomas, Jr., Thomas Layman, Peter by persons in the 5th and 6th classes, Evans, Esq., Enoch Beam, Henry John¬ who were absent from militia duty dur¬ ston, Richard Moore, Alexander Scott, ing the years 1777, 1778, 1779 and 1780. John Rausbery, Ezekiel Shoemaker, Jo¬ A statement of the fines paid by the seph Butler, Edward Ambler; amount of 4th battalion of Philadelphia county mil¬ fines, £924 15s. itia. The fines ranged from £6 to £37, Captain Folio ell's Company, Upper Di¬ according to the different classes, and vision of Moreland—Jesse Jarrett, Na¬ were paid by the following persons in than Shoemaker, Levi Bond, John Spen¬ 1777, viz.: cer, Benjamin Lloyd, Humphrey Water¬ Captain Dull's Company, in Gwynedd, man, John Holwell, John Dubree, Wil¬ t Lower Division—Cillion Wolfinger, Ser¬ liam Shoemaker, John Richardson, Jere¬ geant, £15. Privates, Enoch Morgan, miah Walton, Edward Farmer, Lawrence George Selsor, Conard Gearhart, Joseph Ludenburgh, Peter Bowman, Mordecai Leblon, John Smyth, George A. Snider, Thomas, Nicholas Austin,George Bewly, William Moore, Adam Fleck, John Get¬ | Peter Shoemaker, Caleb Davis, Andrew ter, Ezekiel Cleaver, Hugh Foulke, Gilkey, John Horner, SaipueJ Shoema¬ t Joshua Foulke, Levi Foulke, Jesse ker, John Tompkins, Edward Eaton, v Foulke, Griffith Edwards, Samuel Sid- Luke Billou, Joseph Gilbert, William y^dons, David Morris, Ezekiel Cleaver, Jr., J Millar, Jerret Spencer, Jacob Baker, Bern jfj Daniel Morgan, William Stempel, David jamin Perry, Thomas Perry, Benjamin i 1 Roberts, John Evans, Garret Clemense, Bond, Lawrence Sontman, Samuel i John Everhart, William Roberts, William Barnes, William Ryan, David Perry, Johnstone, Owen Evans, John Sidons, Jacob Walton, Jeremiah Walton, Samuel j Nicholas Rial, Conard Clime, John Sing- Gourley, William Morgan, Thomas f. jer, John Selsor, Jacob Preston and Lloyd, Joseph Butler, Matt Holwell and Thomas Evans; amount £988 10s. Samuel Lloyd; amount of fines, £1,359 Captain Hart's Company, Middle Di- Hp 7s. 4d. Captain Mar pie's Company, Horsham JJ vision< of Moreland—John Wynkoop,Abel i1 Janes,’ John Wright, Herman Yerkes, ‘ 'Township—William Thomas, John Swit¬ Isaac Janes, Elias Yerkes, Yost Yanbus- zer, John Edwards, Stephen Murray, kirk, Samuel Heirs, John Taylor, George John Kenderdine, John Lloyd, Isaac Foster, Elias Yerkes, Sr.,George Yerkes, Parry, John Conrad, Benjamin White, James Harker, Garret Wyneoop, John I f Thomas Nixon, Thomas Palmer, Moses !|Case, Levi Tyson, Jacob Cline, Thomas Lancaster, William Jarrett, Lewis Wool- 1 Mitchener, William Mitchener, John man, Seneca Luken, Abel Dungan, Wil¬ ’Wood, Elisha Thomas, Jonathan Clay¬ liam McLean, John Carvor, David Luken, ton, Isaac Warner, Benjamin Austin, Ja¬ Thomas Ackloy, John Anderson, Samuel cob Comely, Joseph Bond, Benoni Stock- j Cullet, Evan Roberts, Samuel McNair. dale, Daniel Bellen, Henry Johnstone, John Ewers, John Bright, Mordecai - * JH Andrew Llsher^haideTTTinen-9m S and John Clinton; whole amount B.SSS1 frSieT'cCfL 1 JSer,“S S2SJ j—Frederick Ramey, John Lo^Chm er“ JoTph Holdtwetb Chnstopher Zim- p &\S» I

k^SBPStsst ThomL Robert Thomas, Lawrence IS *» ^ T White Samuel Hollo- ■ Adamson, r.,,6 Holt;

amount of fines, £1, h>7 17s- 6d- ti > I ■ aniouuu nn»,,,nmi. Uwer JJuor -sag I iSJctrS,%?», Bennett, Geo^e

IO'’siSris“ Taylor,’ j!,mes I

Jr., Alexander McDowell, Benjamin I £bS^»#@erv Samuel Gardner, Samuel Dickinson, John White, Jesse DeHaven, Peter Shoemaker, Isaac Cleaver, WUU& 1 Adam Boyles, Conard Boas, Adam lay- | lor, Jacob Boas, Battler A etter John •®«aea®S Osborne, Henry Shad (Shade), Barney Weaver. James Egbert, Elias Horning 1 George Greger, Silas Jones, John Davis, Jonathan Tipps (Phipps), Philip i Jsher, giUiglg Adam Hamer, Nathaniel Dowden, John Peck Levi Martin, John Thompson, lacim D..», Dnvid Dews and John Pugh; total fines, £1,106 IQs. mmMahl .John Fitzwater, John Ferrtogei, New Providence, now Upper and Lower Providence, was divided into two companies, as follows : Captain Fran- j sss;‘ff, j*; cw’ Compa^-Cadwallader Evans Jacob Buth, William Lane, Arnold Fox, Mattis Moyer, Richard Umstead, John Bryan, John Heston, JtflW Fotts, M^Fitz- Henry Taney, John Pauling, Owen Amos Lewis, Abnfcv J,»fcens, 1 ■ ! Evans, John Ward, Amos Yanvosm, John | Bathers, John Shrack, Samuel RoseteiiL «s ' Kirk John Wice, Henry Rurner, Wilhajn 1 Abram Moyer, Isaac Pauling, Jacob Horner ttyner Kirk, David Evans, John Yanderslice, Henry Hall, Gonard Stem, James Boreland, James Vaux William Inglurt »nd Ogwj* ,£*■“" 1 Shenherd, James Low, George Gillehan, Joseph DuBois, Thomas Brown, George { | I^Uil*Tm »r »m,»S dSfpAWV**- ot tl,e Fifth BOM. "f ,*•; Clements, John Halwood, Andrew .Hofl, John Major, Thomas Powel Jacob Cas- ' for non-attenfiftuce upon the days of emer¬ ir.hn Moyer, David Evans,Peter ge in the year 1779. The fines ranged Freadley, William Thomas, Frederick ^ 1 from £1 10s. to ^11) 10s. p? , \ Stemrn, Janies Jordan, Benjamin | | Captain Shepherd's Company, P J/~| Evans, Thomas Deats, John Givens,John LnutiA—Thomas Hollowell Beiyamm Shepherd, Jacob Zimmerman, Henry T averino- David Jones, Philip Lloyu, [, Martseller, Adam Ferringer, John Base WillUut” TiPPen> John Wood’ Jamf,s ; Nathan Pauling, William Couch, Daniel Wood, “jami McFarland, John CampeJl j Markley, Henry Rynear, Charles Evans, Jacob Whitman, Stepneu D|V1S, Steppe i Abram Skeen, Andrew Bell, Abram Rv- : Potts John Dickinson, Zebuiou rottS, near and Valentine Polley; total, £687 Potts, John Holmam Jm;. Wikerline David Brooks, Ludwick Kent ! 15s.S* Captain Peterman's Company—Charles1 »»viA Th„m,s D,vls, joto 'St, jS Young, Jacob Shunk, Jacob Buckwal- C'oulston, John Whitman, Ma_rtmWhh_ ter Nicholas Robinson, John Cox, Mat¬ man, David Davis, Christopher Helen, thias Coplan, Anthony Yanderslice, Ja- , John Davis, Andrew DeHaven Samuel cob Longacre, Peter Horning, George Stroud, John Zimmerman John Ey e, AToung Frederick Zimmerman, John Rees Bell, William Ryan, Roberts Lyle, Hammer, Daniel Longacre, Thomas Van-1 fl Thomas Worlow, Joseph Levering, derslice, Jacob Gross, James Hammer, Henry Grubb, Ludwick Shearer, Abra- : Benedict Garver, Christopher Marshall 'ham ^Griffith, Samuel Coeklin, John Michael Horning, Francis Shunk, Wil¬ Scislor, James Stroud, Griffith Thomas^ liam White, Samuel Penepacker, Samuel William Ellis, Levi Trump, Patrick Gordon, William Cox, Jacob Razor,John Conned, Philip Sidner John Colloy Michael Wills, William Gregory,, Petei Umpstead Peter Shunk, Daniel (Jress- man David Longacre and Peter Stump- Derrick Kiwr, Conrad Stemn, John Idol whole amount, £417Y5s. 1 ’ Johu Moor, John Sanders, Peter Gere-’ Captain Johnston's Company, White. hart, Matt. Rittenhouse, Jacob Bean | marsh—-Isaac Lyle,George Freece (Freas) Benjamin Rittenhouse, Christopher Zim’ j Leonard Kulp, William Roary, John! merman, John Bean (shoemaker) Ja^b Shephard, Philip Shubart, James Eake •-niger, Job Hevnor (Heebner), Garret \ Christopher Shupert, Adam Miller, Da’1 Bean, Abraham Hevnor (Heebner) Tolin vid Shoemaker, George Cusman, Valen¬ Morris Henry Rosin, )W SS,'S ti*1® Cnsman, Thomas Deats, Francis Ll It I” Hoopert Cas- Wright John Corn-od (Conard), John pej, John Beam, Sr David •Ldmerir,',fK“ ,n.?rryb Henry Cllnsman,f (lfcohb1^’ -F^1 Custard John Cassei Ho U T, ^oIln Powell, Isaac Wil f Jacob Bustard, Adanj bean, Herman ' oT' Savid Davis, Adam Moyer, Jacob toc Afhu? CUtf Setpr Johns- John'R>trr^ Snider, John Shupert and! ohn Richards ; whole amount, £439 10s. I SmX™ op?jS' Ktktjep fe, I Captain Me Clean's Company White.' MattUnKulCbl'l8|fIiile1’ Waggoner anrl • marsh—-Isaac Mathers, John Hallowed" wt^i Kulp; wbole amount, £889, 10s Joseph Luken, Edward Hopton, John WHo0ne£578°6mit ^ ^ ^ Fifth Batl SberremamUelA Morris’ George Skitten- ger, Geoige Amen (AimaiG Twic MVT&vZ Qmerft °Mce, December jpw«»- -jm- li’ 1 of five per cent, was seph Wood, Samuel McKool Josenh ff?w t,e coIlector for collecting,' Many Janes (Jeans), Thomas Lancaster Sr ot the foregoing named persons, who were Thoma, Lancaster, Jr., Samuel Dean’ fined for not performing militia duty were not disloyal to their country’ Derrick 6Evan’ ®’ Archibald -uernck, Evan Meredith, Richard Mairs Ski6 S8ed °n account of conscience (Morris), James Nettle, Andrew Gulp’ a iY otbers were so situated that thev ) son, Albright Houser, Laurence E^ert I ^ldd not> gfve the cause all the as- Jacob Acoff (Acuff),’Samuel williams’ I slsuncc that they could with monev Morris Malsby, Peter Robinson, Geo“ e

ShitzfhiS ieutF(Scheetz),°?\er \JacobJesse Dager,Rex’ Hen?;Jacob •^sss--fflb.««bytt.(WI0- Kook (Cook), Josiah White, Martin Brown and George Hawker- whn l Jfiiladdmiq County ss.: amount of fines, £555 10s. Thi’s district' $ v divided into two companies ' -t ■ , GaVtam Trump's Company, Nomina flth If !l n^lly ta,"l> *.S,iS3'£ ■ Keasy, Philip Shurs, Amos- Evans, Benjamin Hallowell, Andrew! lifi Pennsyl- Ziegler, John Wentz, David Coulston ■ Abram Jones, Melclior Hevnor (Heeb- , ner), Jacob Base, William Shannon, Isaac - Daniel lost, another citizen qf thel RobertS’mJ0Sepl1 T,yson’ Robert Jones same township, by occupation a black¬ Robert Shannon, Matt Chain, Frederick smith, took the prescribed oath during! i, !,101LiJ0^ah Wood> David Gouldv the same year, and filled many resuonsO Btr«esoi?°a D ’ •udw^ld Wells- Samuel ble positions in his district. P J pi, ,-1 .David Wagonner, Henrv Ihere wa,s another class that would not! Pauling, Josiah Pritten, Nicholas Slouu-lf consent to pay their fines, and aided thef Levi Roberts, Isaac Boulton Cafeb n.”4 rh« u® 'I CVery way Possible dur- I Hjehards, Jacob Painter, Christopher i ? 7 D/f ./Ujtiea! period that the British ! Rittenhouse, Ezekiel Rhoads, Samuel Biown, John Shannon, William Zimmer- f i . *na,1> Christopher Hevnor (Heebner) could to Geoeril on"ey‘u“ j % 1 ; Is?a° Shoemaker, Benjamin Dewees Ja , produce to the city and selling it for (•cob Evans, David Norman, Jacob Wood British gold, whilst the American army! Daiuel Couch, David Supplee William' Rittenhouse, Joseph Dewees, Mattis Mil” I lay.at } a;ley Forge starved, naked and . without shelter, notwithstanding the ur-r ; "a I eL Henry Coulson, Casper Gouldv Ta gent appeals of General Washington for I J cob Mattis, Joseph Wood, Adam Gavlor help. This class was very carefully fj t1"1 Hartleson, John Rednor, George looked after, and were made to pay very dear lor their trouble and pains. *4Thisl | £799 iosS ’ Wh°le ainou*Ayof fines, j was doubtless hard on the Tories but was enforced only upon the more violent -Sn MaH^Re’S- CoMPany., Worcester and dangerous ones, who gave active aid 1 Bean Leonard ReilJam.ln Tyson, Arnold, and comfort to the enemy.” Their real j estate was condemned under a due pro¬ cess of law, and their personal property! Pptpr t^ V v W Ufe'v,-°r (Heebner), 1 seized, as well as their persons, and inf Peter Kisqr, John Bean (weaver), Isaac! instances executed. Johnston, John Davis, Henry Kuln Peter Custard rGnotp.L Up> On the 19th day of July, 1778, William Peter Custard (Custe4 gffi ttS&l Antis, Daniel Heister, Robert Loller Conrad Siple, Henry Hendricks, John! Janies Stroud and Archibald Thompson Davis, Jacob Zimmerman, Christopher! were appointed by the Supreme Execu- ...gt Stover. Abraham Duitwiller (Detwiler) tive Council agents for seizing the estates cob I " f,l W&tfBK forfeited by traitors and Tories and all) rlola I lerftliat assisted the cause of the Brit¬ ish government. ~ philadel- ! The following inhabitants of . “ and phia county were attained Briti8^ proclamation made " hi . — were in Philadelphia :-May 8, 1 John Roberts, of Lower Merion, Thomas Robert Iredale, the younger, and a Tredale 6f Horsham, laborer, J osnua 4"../ tfJ Knight, of Abington, blacksmith ; Jobn Knight tanner; Isaac Knight, h*isbana Henry HugU Fergo^cogm.J Trappe Church," on account of I its quaint .picturesqueness, has become sary of prisoners to d thern. | These were ordered to surren one of the best-known landmarks m selves for trial on or before the 2oth Pennsylvania, and has been frequent y | visited by the artist, antiquary and his- I 1778—David Potts, Potts- » torical student, as it offers facilities toi ; grove! (son of John Potts); Peter ^nd| study not found elsewhere. That the | Jonathan Roberts, sons of J^^than 'poet has not neglected the old sanctu¬ 1 Roberts, of w“lL ary is shown by the beautiful poem, de- j SSTSi; jX Robert's, .-borer, scriptive of the church, incorporated j of Horsham ; John Roberts biacksm , by Longfellow in his “Poems and I bTathan Carver, wheelwright , fsrael Ivans blacksmith, of Upper Dublin This history of this church dates! John Huntsman, miller, Robert Conrad, ■ back to the first days of Patriarch Muh- I mason ; Enoch Supplee, I 1 s ministrations m I e a vann , I liam Evans, carpenter of -Nornngton lenberg’ Nicholas Knight, lime-burner John Par | Here he commenced to labor tnree d s ^ ker John Lisle, Robert Lisle, laborers, after his arrival in Pennsylvania, c- of Plymouth ; Jacob Richardson, carpen- ^ x ember 25, 1742, by holding a preau*.- ter of UPPer Merlon; Stephen Steyer fl ing service in n "b&rn. tei, oi uyp wbitnaiii They were or- I Cto surrenderLemselreslor trial on or before July 9, Wa\

17°78nStephendStyter, yeoman, ’wasordered I tn be arrested for high treason, and at a i meeting of Council, held at Philadelphia, * I January 28th, 1778, Isaac Taylor, yeo¬ man, and John Robeson, cordwamer were ordered to be arrested for high treason in aiding and assisting the enemies of the State and of the United States of America by having mined their armies within the State. Stephen Styer and Isaac Taylor surren- • dered themselves, and were discharged. John Robeson was tried, found guilty o the charges and had his properly confiscated and sold. The deed for the same reads as follows. To Edward Milne, conveying a certain HEINRICH MUHLENBERG.

containing seventy-five acres of land, late I Continuing in his effort.ch«t coHected ■ the estate of John Robeson, an attained together the members of the laun, (, traitor ; seized and sold agreeable to law to j some-fifty odd families scattered over a the said Edward Milne for the sum of seven hundred and fifteen pounds, subject to a I wide expanse of country, andorganized yearly ground rent of twenty-one bushels [them into a congregation. He 5 h and nine-twentieths part of a bualMl of good 3 built this church, and theTcb^ ‘V‘hc s: merchantable wheat, payable to trustees of the University of this State—three J lished the Lutheran Chinch, fourths of which sum the said. Edward • Province of Pennsylvania. Milne had paid to the agents of said county, the remaining one-fourth being reserved for | It was at a vestry meeting held Wed¬ the purpose aforesaid. Deed was dated fifteenth of June, 1782.—Col. Rec., y ol. 1 , nesday January 5. 1/43, that » ‘ .309. I resolved to build a church ot stone •> ■ ‘‘shoes” long by 39 “shoes wide, a Lnestimatcdcostof^ste^ig^

yjjr *f' Wm. I fliio emu OTIC' _ : _ - ___THE OLD TRAPPE CHURCH. -partly - casjb partly materials, while I some members too poor to give either, alitheM^mairLuFhe^cWjdl ju ■ °fieiec*tIleir labor. Preparations were tne province assisting at the services H at once made to prepare building ma- A feature of this dedication servicewas 'j during tbe winter ; even the the baptism of three negroes, furnished 1 children m some families did their share I foi the occasion by Mr. Pawlino- * 17. splitting and shaving the oak j smugles. So earnestly did these early! | German pioneers labor that the corner- J®fone was laid on Monday, May 2.1: !, 1/43, with solemn services in the pres- ^ HI ence of a large multitude. It was at this service that the church | w„fs named the Augustus Church, not | alter St. Augustus, as is often statedM 4 but in honor of the Rev. Augustus H | founder of the Hall Orphanage. ; if" tke auspices of which institution, : ■ Muhlenberg was induced to come to 4 these shores. Strenuous efforts were* I now made by the congregation to finish I the building. Well-founded family PEWTER COMMUNION SET. ■ traditions tell us that during the harv-l ; est time, when the men were gathering i Upon this occasion the Latin dedica the crops, the women wheeled the mom, toiy inscription was placed in the wall : tar and tended the masons so that the o\ei the south entrance. Translation • ’ work should not be retarded. w,th ta Council, I. N. CrofimT F Maisteller, A. Heilman. J. Miller H On Monday, September 12,1743, the first service was held within the bare Hass and G. Rebner, erected from’this foundation, under the auspices of Christ 2 u alls of the church. It is in memorv • *hl.® temPle dedicated by the society a 0 service that the one hundred holding the Augsburg Confession.” ana fiftieth anniversary is to be cele¬ _ . brated on Tuesday next. At the first service it was determined not to con¬ ■ Shortly before the church was dedi-l centrate the church until it was entir¬ cated Pastor Muhlenberg married and ely completed, a desire which was not located in the house still standing, justi ■ accomplished until after a lapse of two northeast of the church. Here his 3 years, on St. Michael the Archangel’s children were born, baptized and raised Day, Sunday, September 29,1745, when three of whom were destined to move the solemn dedication took place in the! in the highest ranks of their country’s presence of several hundred persons service, viz : a I John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg —- O INTERIOR O: 1 CHURCH. fa grandson of Muhlenberg, preached] jpreacher, patriot-soldier, major general I the j ubilee sermon. The ancient struc¬ [in the Continental army, member of ture continued in service until 1853, j ;the Supreme Executive Council, Vice! |when the present church was built, al¬ ’resident of the State, and afterwards! most adjoining the old landmark, andl Jnited States Representative and Sen ' is now not used by the congregation: ator. His statue now adorns the na i except on special occasions, like this« tional halls of Congress. Frederick I (year’s anniversary. Augustus Conrad—preacher, patriot j and statesman, member of the Conti¬ The old Trappe Church stands to-day nental Congress, twice elected Speaker > (almost in the same primitive style as! of Pennsylvania Legislature, also i when built. It is true that some de- Speaker of the House of Representa¬ i cades ago the exterior was dashed or tives in the first Congress under the I |rough-cast, thus covering the pointed; I Constitution ; and Gothilf Heinrich [rubble masonry of old. Fortunately j Ernst, theologian, pastor and scientist, inothing was done to change the out-, I best known for his researches in botany. ! ward contour, there is still the arched; j entrance on the south side, the same j During the revolution the church was 1 old unique portal at the west and the j I for a short time an outpost of the pa- j octagonal projection on the east end, Itriot army. This was in September, (the walls being capped by the samel ] 1777, when it was occupied by General | odd-angled roof. I Armstrong and the Pennsylvania mil- The interior is even more primitive. litia, after the movements in Chester [ Upon entering, you place the key into ] county. Muhlenberg remonstrated ! the old wooden lock upside down, and j | with the soldiers, but was called a (as the door strings upon its rusty hinges, ‘'Hessian.” For the next two years one steps directly into the church.! I the church was almost constantly used, Within are all the identical arrange- by detachments of soldiers for shelter. 1 ments of old. There is the same ptupit j It escaped serious damage and was I from which Muhlenberg, at the age of: | renovated in 1780. 32, first sounded the notes of Luthei The patriarch Muhlenberg was bur- (faith. It hangs like an eagle’s nest, lied from the church in 1787 and Gen¬ ! high against the wall, with sounding eral Peter Muhlenberg just twenty (board suspended overhead. The whole | years later. The centennial services] | arrangement is made oi unvarnisned I were held April 29 to May 2, 1843, on I walnut wood. The ancient pews of, which occasion Rev. J. W. Richards, J poplar and oak are innocent of paint |or varnish, except the white panel] ■upon the pew door, ' trades the number as of old. least accomplished is a source ui those who have had a part, whet Against every high-raised back rests or less, in this effort. the quaint-like holder, bearing the The first step in the direction of _ I privileged rights of the worshiper services was taken when arrangements through its drawn figures 1, 2, 3, were made with the local Woman’s Chris¬ tian Temperance Union for the use of their designating the right place for the newly-erected Temperance Hall. For some light person. The altar table is mov- time the mission was supplied with preach¬ able and is painted white, its place be¬ ing by the different members of the Phila¬ ing in the centre of the church, in front delphia Conference. Then the services of Rev. M. Francis, a theological student .o of the pulpit. Gettysburg, were secured during his vaca The old gallery is a remarkable ar- j tion, and he served them very acceptable rangement, the woodwork is all of oak, I until the time when it became necessary foi him to return to his studies in the semi fastened with hickory pins and au oc¬ nary. casional wroughtiron spike. The seats This struggling young congregation was lise one above the other, and were inf confronted with many embarrassments olden times used by apprentices and and when in the fall of 1890 a call was sent redemption servants. The pews in the to Rev. J. F. Shearer, of Somerset, Pa t east under the gallery were used for accept the pastorate, several ministers or the Philadelphia Conference and others out¬ the vestry or church council, while the side advised and urged hi.s acceptance, and congregation proper occupied the body! this being a mission, such aid was offered of the church. as to justify the hope that a successful work might be accomplished. The call was accepted, and the new pastor immediately began to look for a suitable location for a 1 church building. The congregation already From, owned a lot, but it was in an undesirable locality. After considerable labor and difficulty, the lot upon which the edifice n2'Lsitnds was secured. It is on the corner az-t ot Fifth avenue and Harry streets, two ol the best, thoroughfares in Conshohocken, and in a section where some of the leading denominations have erected churches The church structure is of Gothic archi¬ tecture, the plan providing for a handso tower on the southwest corner, where the MARK’S. main entrance is located. It is constructed of Conshohocken limestone—a buildin" What Ihe Followers of Martin Luther material so well known as to need no com” Hare Been Doing in Conshohocken. mrat. Ordinarily such material makes an expensive edifice, but in this case the The history of the enterprise which lias quarries were so convenient that the church brought the buildingof St. Mark’s Lutheran has cost less than if built of brick, which Church to su ;h a successful conclusion is a would not have been near so handsome and very interesting one, and a repetition of the imposing. many trials and triumphs experienced by The interior comprises a large auditorium tor regular services. To the left is a room many leading church organizations. separated by a wood and opaque glass Conshohocken, located as it is in a sec¬ partition. This room is intended for lec¬ tion of the country where Lutheranism has tures, prayer-meetings, social gatherings, always held a front rank among other relig¬ and the infant school. The main audi¬ ious denominations, was without a Luther¬ torium is unusually well lighted—a feature an congregation until the year 1890. Al¬ wni<;h has been secured by reasou of the though a number of residents were reared in open surroundings. The south and east the Lutheran faith, they were obliged to walls each have large stained-glass worship wi th other Protestant denomina¬ windows, with smaller stained glass wind¬ tions, or inconveniently attend services at ows near the alcoves, which are on either Norristown or Barren Hill. Under the side ot the pulpit. Asa result, the audi¬ circumstances, the Lutheran sentiment torium is pervaded with a warm light, soft in Conshohocken was in a fair way of ex- and full, the blending of the colors in the tinguishment. Through the vigilance of stained glass, which has been arranged Rev. A. H. Fischer, of Barren Hill, the at-i with artistic effect. Throughout the in¬ tention of the Philadelphia Conference was terior the Gothic sr.yle has been maintained directed to this place, and under the direc-; the arches and the alcoves being of that' tion of Conference, Brother Fischer and °f It' The ceiling and waiiiscoating are Rev- Mark Cressman, of Lionviile, an -or¬ ot North Carolina yellow pine, highly ganization was effected ot twenty-five finished, with just enough carved trim¬ members. Others were soon thereafter mings to prevent a monotonous effect, added to the membership. electricity is used for lighting, aud the This body of Christian workers was not ventilating and heating apparatus are equal large in number nor affluent in worldly re¬ to the demands of comfort, and health. The sources. They could forsee that it Would main room will accommodate about four take time, patience and arduous work, to hundred worshipers, and the arrangement say nothing of sacrifice, to bring Lutheran¬ ot the seats is such as to bring all within a ism in Conshohocken into the prominence short radius of the pulpit. which it enjoyed in the adjoining commu The pews, pulpit and furnishings are of nities. That this is in some measure at; hard oak and finished in oil, and the pews mr

n from [Gwynedd. In this will of Thomas Davis so arranged as to tft mention is made of his wife, Elizabeth centre of each, about of an or- ry chair, and by reversing the position and of four children, John, Robert, Davie ’ is adopted to Sunday school purposes, and Gainor, besides two grandchildren this novel arrangement makes itt possible Thomas and Israel Davis. The on< for a teacher to face two pewwfu.ls of daughter was giyen £50, whilst to tht scholars. three sons was willed “the plantation I now live on, containing 225 acres.” These 225 acres did not all lie on the easterly side of the “great road,” but a portion was on the opposite or western side, including the present farm of Sam¬ uel Fleck and other properties. It did not reach Spring House village, from which it was separated by a small lot of 1 eight acres, held by John Adamson and other parties. The three Davis brothers divided the lands they inherited, and all continued to hold possession during

The Fleck Farm, lower Gwynedd—The the Revolution. By the assessment of Old Davis Plantation. 1776, we find four taxables of the name of Davis, in Gwynedd. These were One of the two Fleck farms lying op¬ Robert, David, John and John, Jr. posite to each other on the Bethlehem | Robert Davis held 75 acres ; David Davis turnpike was the property of the late (had 75 acres, three horses and three Allen Fleck, and lies on the easterly side cows; John Davis, Jr., had 75 acres, one of that highway. It is yet the property horse and one cow, whilst another John of his heirs. Here is a large and sub¬ Davis is credited with 170 acres, three stantial dwelling with dormer windows. horses and four cows. Robert Davis It is situated near the turnpike, and is then held at least part of the present about half a mile south of Spring House. Merrill place, whilst David Davis held It yet looks modern, but was built three- the present farm of Samuel Fleck. At | quarters of a century ago. For that (some time, long previous to the Revolu-1 time it must have ranked among the tion, John Davis had acquired full title ' finest of farm houses, such as were only Ho the later Fleck farm by release from.’ built by men of comparative wealth. It his brother Robert and Leah, his wife, bears the date of .1818 and the initials I for 98| acres. “0. J. C.”-—standing for John and Cath¬ After being in possession of the Davis arine Clemens. : family for ninety years and for three, In the rear, to the eastward, are older generations, this homestead was sold by buildings, which faaye stood for a cen¬ John Davis to John Clemens, in 1791. tury, and which were built also by John Tire boundaries and neighbors given in¬ Clemens, when a young man. The clude also those of an earlier deed: house is of stone, and two stories, bear¬ “Beginning at corner ; then northeast,; ing the date of 1793, whilst the barn, by land of Edward Foulke, 75 perches; ' vet in use, has the date of 1792. The thence, by John Adamson and Evan |old house is not inhabited. The farm Evans, southeast 201 parches; thence, lands attached comprise a rolling sur¬ by Robert Davis (now Adam Fleck), face, under a high state of cultivation. southwest 81 perches; then, by land of The farm has been in possession of the heirs of David Davis, northwest 54 Fleck family since 1849, when 120 acres perches to stone in great road ; thence, were purchased. up said road,northwest 33 perches; then, To go back to the beginning of G wyn¬ by last mentioned land, northwest 72 edd’s history, this farm was comprised perches; then southwest 13 perches; within the 231 acres first acquired by then northwest 50 perches,by same land, Ellis David or Davis, a Welsh Quaker. to beginning.” He was one of the sixteen original pro The dwelling and farm buildings of prietors of Gwynedd, who came ;here in the Dayis family were probably quite in¬ 1701—1702. The first dwelling of the ferior, or had become old and dilapidat¬ Davis family, quite probably, but not ed. So the next year (1792) John Clem¬ certainly, was erected near the site of ens proceeded to erect a new barn, and the present building, where the neces¬ The year following, a new house. The sary spring was found. barn was so large and substantial that it Ellis Davis, the pioneer, was dead be¬ is yet in use. He was the owner for fore 1734. By that date his son Thomas , nearly thirty years. He bought the lat¬ was the owner. The latter was probably er Smith farm, to the eastward, and in born in Wales. His life was mostly 1815 purchased 38 acres of John Evans. spent on this plantation, and before the His death took place in the early spring middle of the last century. His death of 1820, administration being granted on took place in the early spring of 1755. the 22d of March, that year. He had His will had been made the 1st of the sons, Jacob and Jesse. The latter ob¬ preceding November, and was registered tained possession of the homestead. As* April 8th following. It was witnessed aforementioned, John Clemens, two I by Edward Foulke and William Foulke. years before his death, erected the pres¬ before Rowland Evans, Esq., all o! ent house by the roadside. m Jesse. Clemens staid here thirteen! a small village with cree years. He sold in 1833 to John F. Stad- through it, and it was a cou, iger, and removed to the Spring House, to ride as far west as the where he kept store. He died about the; River. i close of 1839. In his will mention ison-j If the reader is fond of a pleasant ly made of a son named Ashton, James| suburban stroll, or is a bicyclist, and will Maxwell was the next owner, purchas¬ take a spin of a few miles out what is ing of Stadiger in 1839. His possession, known as Montgomery avenue, but was 1 for many generations past called the I was brief, as in 1840 he was scld out by Old Lancaster Pike, he will, after pass¬ the sheriff, in the person of Artemas ing the old General Wayne Hotel, a Stewart. William Spooner was the pur¬ half mile back of Narberth station, come chaser. In 1849 he sold 120 acres to Al¬ directly upon a quaint looking, olfi stone len Fleck, for $5,082, who remained here building with a rough-cast exterior the rest of his lifetime. on the front on which is a tablet with The Flecks are an old family in Lower the inscription: Gwynedd. They are of German origin, -—J- and Adam Fleck was here as early as Erected 1695. 1735. At one time the family held 300 Improved 1829. acres below the Penllyn turnpike. Adam was a favorite name in the family, and in 1776 we find a later Adam Fleck as¬ The structure is rather small in size, with a peaked roof, and it is built in sessed for 140 acres. the shape of a cross, and is in as per¬ The widow of Allen Fleck, who, with fect condition to-day as when first built, her son, Byron Fleck, resides on the nearly 200 years ago. This is the an¬ homestead, was Elizabeth, daughter of cient Lower Merion Quaker Meeting Henry Miller, whose wife was Lydia House, and through its portals William James, both of New Britain. He was a Penn, and those contemporary with him, prominent man in that township fifty frequently passed to attend Divine wor¬ —- years ago, and at the time of his death, ship, and there still remains on the wall of the interior the identical peg in 1845, he was Commissioner of Bucks on which the founder of Pennsylvania county. E. M. used to hang his overcoat, and also his hat, when the good Quaker felt like laymg aside that portion of his raiment, lhe old church stands at the angle of Montgomery County and a lane that runs back to the Elm Racecourse and the ancient burial ground, about two and one-half acres in extent in the rear, with carriage sheds in front,the •hole be- mg sourrounded by a massive sfle wall, lhe meeting house is open now everv Sunday for Divine service and has been every Sunday for two centuries past; and for many years it has been under the control of the Hicksite branch of the Society of Friends. It is said that owing to the peculiar belief of the Hick- RELIC Of BY-GONE DAYS sites regarding the Saviour, the sect whsn they obtained possession of the meeting house, made an attempt to alter the exterior of the building so as The Oldest Meeting House in the) to dispense with its cross-like architec¬ tural appearance, but the original de¬ State of Pennsylvania. sign has never been interfered with. A REMARKABLE GRAVEYARD. The burial ground connect# with the old meeting-house is a spot of decided HAS STOOD NEARLY 200 YEARS historic interest, and information con¬ cerning it, as well as the meeting house itself, was furnished t# the writer are The Anniversary of the Founding of by Mr. Davis Orum Young, of the Bu¬ reau of City Property Office, who was the Lower Merion Meeting, and born in a room at the old General Wayne Hotel, the window of which the .Erection of the House overlooks the old meeting house and Soon to Be Celebrated. I cemetery. A number jf families, whose names have for generations been associ-i ated with the rise and progress of Phil¬ adelphia have burial lots in the old cem¬ Preparations have commenced in Low¬ etery, and all their ancestors are inter-1 er Merion township, Montgomery Coun¬ red there. An ancient Quaker custom ty, adjoining the Philadelphia County of never burying more than one body in I line, for a celebration to last one week, a single grave, but interring them in of peculiar historic interest, and involv¬ family groups or rows, with a small 1 ing the completion of two centuries of tombstone for each burial, has been co dinned existence of what is recog- [ strictly followed out and gives the cem¬ riized to be the first substantial church etery a peculiar appearance. The two! edifice ever erected in what subsequent¬ most striking groups or rows of tomb-1 ly became the State of Pennsylvania, stones seen as you enter the burial i and at a time when Philadelphia was ground are those of the family or an- ,v*T ~'~- ■" - , PENNSYLVANIA’S OLDEST CHURCH. eestors of George B. Roberts, ’ the lone of the pillars ot the old meeting popular and efficient president of the house. Another family group is that of great Pennsylvania Railroad Company, ma late Ellwood Zell, publisher of the and the late Jesse George, the public Encyclopaedia Americana. The cemetery spirited man who gave to the city of is .kept in admirable order and does - Philadelphia about 100 acres of land not present a very antiquated appear¬ that was added to Fairmount Park, and ance. of which the well-known “George’s Hill” PREPARING FOR THE CELEBRATION. is a portion. Hugh Roberts, the ancestor of President George B. Roberts came When the 200th anniversay is cele¬ over with William Penn and the old brated, it is proposed to have tents meeting house was built under his di¬ erected' in the burial ground and the rect supervision. Percival Roberts, the adjoining ground for the accommodation <' head of the Peneoyd Iron Works, and of members of the Society of Friends William Warner Roberts, a very prom¬ :who come from a distance to take part inent resident of Lower Merion, are jin the celebration. The celebration will - also descendants of Hugh Roberts. 'take up the entire Quaker meeting week r Isaac W. Roberts and wife, the par¬ in May. Several parties are now busy > ents of President George B. Roberts, gathering material for essays and his- , lie side by side in the cemetery. Jesse toncal sketches to be read during the George’s tombstone reads:“Jesse George; celebration and prominent men from i born I! M., 23, 1783, Died 2 M., 14, Philadelphia and different parts of Ihe 1 1873.” He was therefore 90 years of country will be present as specially in- - age and the next oldest was John M. vited guests. It is proposed' to hold two George, of Overbrook, who reached the sessions every day during the anniver¬ sary celebration, and all comers will re¬ age of 85 years. Thomas, Joseph and ceive physical as well as spiritual food. Isaiah George were each over 80 years Among.ihe prominent men who will be of age. The deceased members of the specially invited are John J. Cornell, of well-known Levick family are buried in New York: Isaac Wilson, of Canada, the cemetery, as well as the ancestors and Levi Benson, of Ohio, all of whom (of Colonel Wendell P. Bowman, the are leading speakers and members of i well-known commander of the First the Society of Friends. Shedding and' ; Regiment N. G. P. Colonel Bowman stabling accommodations will be erected , residesi near the old meeting house, on for a large number of teams, as hun¬ an estate that belonged to Rodgers dreds of them will be expected. Bowman, one of his ancestors who came When the celebration takes place the over with William Penn, and who was meeting house building will be restored to its exact appearance at the time it structure, but the latter „„s J'a®^llt,,?nd the main work to bo done to accomplish this will bo to scrape "off more external improvement, ! ^erneut teat was used to roughcast ever, the two churches are < ably the first ones erected in th.«- 'Vel l0r and ^sphiy the stones 'as . wcre originally laid. The rough- „T... . A NOTABLE resort. , - Within a stone’s throw of the ancient renoirf fVJVSi G°ne in lS29’ and with some lepaiis to the root it comprises about nil Quaker Meeting House and fronting oil Montgomery avenue still ^stands, and Sg.si^sfts put 011 the o!d buiIdJ in an excellent state of preservation, the famous old “General Wayne Hotel ” A RIVAL OF ANTIQUITY. which dates back to 1704, it‘is believed, t ^ffie unimportant improvements have but a deed still extaut proves eonclus- taken place at different timos in the in- the hostelry stood there in onor of the building, but groat car?has ..-iir ’ a,ndT was then known as the. Wayside Inn.” In those davs the inn! plidtytaof “arm preserve its original sim- rni.tJ °t appearance. was a place of resort and rest for man . there still stands in front of the meet- and beast, and the site was a part and1 h°"f? an old relic, in the sha“e of i 0m, tie . old meeting house! a stone block, that was used in the olden giounds. There is a well-founded tradi¬ times tor the women who attended meet- tion to the effect that William Penn, when he drove up from the village of w.t0 and dismount from their horses. In those days wagons “ere Philadelphia on Sundays to worship at sauce, but horses were plenty, and the Ii “ld meeting house, used to stop at custom was for the horses to be pro¬ the Wayside Inn” to get his meals, vided with, double saddles, so that the and the name of the place was then v, oman in horseback riding would sit bo changed to the “William Penn Inn.” At hmd the man. Another fel?c "n the in- the time of the revolution the name . tenor of the meeting house is a quaint- ot The hostelry was changed to the looking old-fashioned oak table, that was General Wayne, ’ in honor of the fa-! formerly used to lay marriage cerTit mous Revolutionary General, “Mad An- thony Wayne,” whose home was in thej customUTbeaCur^mCe-Witl1 an ancient . —~ tauic uenevea to vicinity and who personally frequented « e.>s.nelieved to be the place. hhe last6 time8 ltthe buildillg. itself, but , ffio General A\ ayno” has always ,-in. J -- * was-veto useduseu in methe mar- nage ceremony was about CO years ago been a place of popular resort, but About the time the _ Lower Merfon never simply a drinking house, oij tav- ei'n, in the modern acceptation «f the meeting House was built Edward Rees word, and scenes of dissipation have wfth W?m frCT, Wale« to this country never been known there. Of late years o'f ara, Penn- ;'etiled in the sec- the General Wayne” has been the Lon ot country now known as Lower place of a number of prominent w!°£ He rece’ved a grant of land f ndadelphians, among them being the comprising about 1000 acres late Quarles McAllister, the noted rrr ’ etching as far as the present banker; Dr. McClellan, the great sur¬ ' )v!inen>00' Station on the Pennsylvania geon, and his son, Dr. McClellan, the ^ird d°T>n t0 the line of the eminent physician, and also Major Gen- ochuylkill Liver. Rees sold off the strirv era! George B. McClellan, late com- ot land on which the meeting house and I mander of the Army of the Potomac, cemetery stand for a nominal sum, the feuch Philadelphia families as the Cad- lbouUtnt>R90to WTuh would Probably be waiaders. the Biddles, the Montgomerys, about .>_.o0. Ihe meeting house was .Rushes, etc., and among the guests at the commenced as soon as the material of General Wayne” during the late Rebel¬ rfp!1 ,IS constructed was imported lion was the Calvert family, the direct from England, and tradition says it took descendants of Lord Baltimore. considersbie time to finish the building- A blacksmith’s shop oil Montgomery but by the time the meeting house was' avenue, nearly opposite the “General ' f3dLf,°V0eCUpallcjr the eiltil'e snrround- Wayne, stood there during the Revolu¬ country was well occupied by the tion and some 40 years ago while a W,ety of Friends, and the meetin| held near-by, now owned bv Lewis M The had ,a vePl large attendance, I nomas, was being plowed over, a num¬ the late lamented' Edward Rees Price ber of grapeshot, relics of the Revolu¬ £ho was a direct descendant of Edward tion, were unearthed. Lees, resided for many years on a por- A HOTEL FOR 185 YEARS. tion of the original tract, used to be As mentioned, the oldest title deed of fond of saying that he remembered -bAn , hastel,r-v 111 existence is dated when he was a small boy he was com- fiOd, but in the year 1768 a title deed pelled to go very early on Sunday morn¬ in the name of Silas Jones was trans- ings to the Lower Merion Meeting house ferred to Benjamin .Tones, and in 1775 in order to secure a seat in the gallery die title was transferred to Edward even. This was about the commence¬ Brice, and then again in 1795 the title ment oi the Eighteenth century. For was transferred to Abraham Streeuer some years.past the old Quaker meeting and the Streeper family, with which the nouse, the subject of this 'article, has name of lerkes is associated, held pos- had a rival oil the question of antiquity Session of the ancient hostelry until consisting of the Quaker meeting house £^t)4v wlien the title was conveyed to| that has stood for many generations di-! rectly m the rear of the Haverford David loung. The Streeper""and*Yerkos College, about 2 miles from the ancient l.tmilies held possession of the properfv building at Upper Merion. It is claimed longer than any'other, and thev were by some of the old residents of the vi- the ancestors of Mr. Joel Cook, the cmity that the Haverford Church ante¬ .present; financial editor of the “Public dates the Upper Merion oue, but the ttirv ger’ "'hose mother was born at the: records, as well as tradition, all appear . General Wayne.” David Young and his family remained in occupancy of the I to ,\4n v’or °f the latter'structure. Ihe Haverford building is a more primi¬ •General Wayne” from 1883 until 1854.1 tive looking one than the Upi|er Merion) Tr•_ Davis Brown Young and sister, children of David Y’oung, now reside in) neat Jimnesf eiifl wear the General _ first settlement by Welsh Wayne. The title of the hotel was li jiends in 1681. In early days tomb- transferred in 1883 to Mr. James | stones Were not allowed. The older Baird, who is the present owner and part of the graveyard is overgrown occupant of the premises; with grass, in which separate mounds It may he stated as an item of some cannot be distinguished. Here rest an¬ interest that the .'valuation of the hotel cestors , bearing such names as Jones property in the year 1709, when the first and John. Please give this communica¬ tion a place in your columns, and oblige, transfer 'was made, was 20 shillings, JUSTICE!. (about $4.80), and Mr. Baird, who now has possession of the property, has re¬ fused an offer of $30,000 for it. It is understood, and there are rec¬ ords to show it, that the “General From,. Wayne” has been a continuously regular, licensed hotel for 183 years. ^

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Date,

MERION MEETING HOUSE.

Its Bi Centennial to he Appropri¬ ated y Observed. Montgomery County has long been dis¬ tinguished for her historic old church RION’SJJLD CHURCH. buildings, and what is recognized to be the first substantial church edifice ever | More Particulars Regarding Meeting erected in what subsequently became the House and Burying Ground State of Pennsylvania, still stands in i Editor “Philadelphia Record”—Dear Lower Merion- township. This structure 1 Sir—Your article in to-day’s (Sunday’s) is rounding out the second century of its .issue describing the Old Lower Merion [ Meeting House is quite interesting, and existence and preparations are under way I in the main accurate. But your eorre- for a celebration, to last one week, to j spondent is at a loss to account for the mark the end ofthe building’s second one I omission of the name “Harvey” from the hundred years. description of the “Remarkable Grave¬ About a half mile back of Narberth yard. That name is quite legible upon not far from the old General Wayne Hotel “t, .least three tombstones. The omission seems all the nice unac¬ is a quaint looking old stone building countable in view of the fact that the with a rough cast exterior, on the front Harveys were long recognized as among of which is a tablet with the inscription: the oldest, and best-known of Lower j—“Erected 1695, Improved, 1829.” Merion s Quaker families. The Harvey The structure is rather small in size, homestead on the Old Lancaster road, with a peaked-roi f, and it is built in the near Merion Station, was noted as one of the most, beautiful examples of the shape of a cross, and it is in as perfect orsnsylvaziia. mansion in the condition to day as when first built, township. The house stood until re- nearly 200 years ago. This is the ancient ears. Lower Merion Quaker Meeting House, fird Harvey, whose- remains lie and through its portals William Penn, near the eastern wall of (he historic and those contemporary with him, graveyard, was Squire of l ower Merion frequently passed to attend Divine wor¬ for many years. He was noted as a gentleman and scholar. His particular ship, and there still remains on the wall / pleasures were poetry and horticulture. of the interior the identical peg on which He was the first to introduce i ito Lower the founder of Pennsylvania used to hang .Merion a number of then-con¬ his overcoat, and also his hat, when the -- sidered choice novelties, among good Quaker felt like laying aside thatf them the ailanthus and fig tree. portion of his raiment. The old church' Several of his grandchildren have won a deserved reputation in the stands at the angle of Montgomery '• literary and scientific world. Four of County and a lane that runs back to the I his granddaughters—Miss Margaret B. Elm Race course, aud the ancient burial Harvey, Mrs. Dora Harvey Vrooman, ground, about two and one-half acres in now Mrs. J. M. Munyon; Mrs. Peter J. extent in the rear, with carriage sheds Hughes (Gertrude Harvey Hughes) and in front, the whole being surrounded by Mrs. Beulah Harvey Wliilldin—are fre¬ a massive stone wall. quent contributors to the periodical press. Miss Margaret B. Haivey is the The meeting house is open now every author of the poem, “Valley Forge Ar¬ Sunday for Divine service and has been butus, which started the national flower every Sunday for two centuries past; and agitation. A grandson, Dr. Charles H. for many years it has been under the con¬ Harvey, is demonstrator of physics and trol of the Hicksite branch of the Society ' chemistry in the Homoeopathic Medical College. of Friends. It is said that owing to the Thirec generations of Harveys are peculiar belief of the Hicksites regarding represented in the Quaker graveyard, the Saviour, the sect, when they obtined through the grandmother’s branch of possession of the meeting house, made the family the line is extended back # ustL - ;■->

. an attempt to alter tbe exterior of the i'Valley,” and especially in Tils'references building so as to dispence with its cross¬ to John J. Audubon. I have wondered | like architectural appearance, but the sometimes why the Historical Society off original design has never been interfer¬ Montgomery county did not interest it-1 ed with. self in the history of John J. Audubon. I The burial ground connected with the It has only been a few years since that 11 old meetiDg-liouse is a spot of decided learned that the great naturalist lived on j the Perkiomen, and when I was first told > historic interest, aud when the 200th an¬ of it by a tenant on the place, who could ! niversary is celebrated, it is proposed to give me but very little information, ex-; have tents erected in the burial ground cept that a “great bird man” lived there j and the adjoining ground for the accom¬ at one time, it was quite a while before 1 modation of members of the Society of I could verify it. Oft as I have roamed Friends who come a distance to take part through the wood and climbed the hill in the celebration. The celebration will and drank of the pure cold water that take up the entire Quaker meeting week flows from the opening of the mine, or iu May 1894. looked at the old house, I wished I knew When the celebration takes place the its history. Shortly after Mr. Wetherill, meeting house building will be restored the present owner, purchased it, my to its exact appearance at the time it’was wish was gratified. Perhaps I can supply built, aud the main work to be done to few more items of interest that “Ped- accomplish this will be to scrape off the strian’ ’ omitted. cement that was used to roughcast the ex¬ At one time lead was mined on the; terior and display the stones as they were property. The shaft was near the house. originally laid. The roughcasting was 1 It was 275 feet deep. This shaft has done in 1829, and with some repairs to since been filled and a pine tree stands the roof comprises about all the improve¬ on the spot. Audubon came to the place, ments put on the old building since 1695. when a young mam, from New Orleans, There still stands in front of the meet¬ as clerk for the lead mining company. ing house an old relic in the shape of a His father owned the place afterward, stone block, that was used in the olden and I think started the copper mines. It times for the women who attended meet¬ was there that Mr. Audubon became ac¬ ing to mount and dismount from then- quainted with the lady that became his horses. In those days wagons were wife. Her father lived on the next scarce, but iiorses were plenty, and the place below, on the opposite side of the costom was for the horses to be provid stream, about half a mile distant. It is ed with double saddles, so that the woman related that they would signal from the in horseback riding would sit behind the upper stories of their respective homes. man. Another relic in the interior of| In this old house, now called “Mill the meeting house is a quaint looking Grove House,” the last of the colonial old fashioned oak table that was formerly Governors lived—John Penn. When the used to lay marriage certificates on in main part of the dwelling was built I accordance with an ancient custom. do not know. An addition bore the mark The old table is believed to be as ancient of 1763. The main part did not have as the building itself, but the last time any date, or at least none could be found it w^s used in the marriage ceremony when Mr. Wetherill began to repair it. was about 60 years ago. All that could be seen were some Ma¬ For some years past this old Quaker sonic marks, but no date. A former meeting house has had a rival on the tenant told me that his son had discover¬ question of antiquity consisting of the ed the opening of a cave in the wood sup¬ Quaker meeting house that has stood; posed to have been a retreat of Audu¬ for many generations directly in the rear1 bon’s. I never was able to verify this. of Haverford College, about two miles I do not wonder that Audubon loved this from the ancient budding near tbe Gen¬ place, and am not surprised that he; eral Wayne. It is claimed by some of I Caught inspiration from his “environ¬ the old residents of the vicinity that the! ments,” and I can almost imagine howl Haverford church antedates the subject; he must have felt, as he stood in front of this sketch, but the records, as well as! of the old house, and looked down to-J ward the river, and saw the evening sun j traditiou, all appear to be in favor of the casting its last rays against the hills, latter structure. making them resplendent in their autum¬ nal glory. Dull, indeed, must be the soul that does not catch some inspiration From, in wandering along the banks of the “Beautiful Perkiomen.” D. L. Crater. Narcissa, Pa. PlHUHP ~ ■ j^Fate, $Z.££ /■.?'/J • VMM* Audubon and the /erkiomen val- lIev. Editor of the North Wales Record : I was very much interested in “Pe¬ destrian’s” account of “The Perkiomen e building was th on May 2, 1743, the was ]. exercises were held. More than years were consumed in completing the structure, and if was cot dedi¬ cated until September 29th, 1745, ITS150Tii ANNIYEPiSAHY."' the occasion being marked by the baptism of three ne -roes. | THE 'Sr'ESttO!--CEW-n^N!A ALOFTHE! OLD About this time the pastor. Henry LUTilERA H CTTOBCH AAT TRAPPE. Melchoir Muhlenberg, married, and 'occupied a dwelling, still standing (.YDtere Sin!sE<-

From ,.. ..(2Lr.r

Date

looal History.

The Fleck Lands and Family of Gwynedd —Conrad Fleck, tile Immigrant—Adam Interesting Old Dwelling House at Fleck and Descendants. The Fleck family have been for four or Ringing Rocks Park. five generations extensive landholders in Lower Gwynedd. The present sketch A Description of Some of its Odd Cliai- is intended to more particularly give an acteristics—The Kailway Company account of the original properties held AVill Permit it to Remain as by those of that name. Their land a Park Attraction. was between Penllyn and the Spring- house, on the southeast side of the turn¬ On the premises of tbe Rioging Rocks pike, and was crossed by the Bethlehem Electric Railway Company (the Mensch road. It comprised three hundred and farm,) stands an old dwelling house, built fifty acres, and was a mile in length from east to west. It is now contained probably more than one hundred and in the farms and lots of Adam F. Hoover, fifty years ago. It is built of well hewn estate of William A. Platt, William B. logs and nicely dressed red sand stone, Churchman, Henry Markoe, William 0. B. Merrill, and Samuel Fleck’s estate. (probably secured on the place,) and is di¬ Their first seat or foothold here was vided into four rooms on the first floor and at the present Hoover premises, for many three on the second. An immense stone years past in tenure of John Fry, and chimney occupies the middle of the build¬ which was obtained before the Revolu tion. ing. The partitions are plastered (which was CONRAD FLECK not nsnal in those days, except in the best was the American ancestor of the pres¬ \ of houses,) the studding being hewn. The ent family. He was a German immi¬ am plastering lath are split hickory withs (or grant and a Lutheran. The time of his light hoop poles) which are platted together arrival is not known, but before coming after the manner that baskets are made, j to Gwynedd he lived in the Northern There are no nails used in this work. In- j Liberties, Philadelphia. Towards the stead of sand, lime and hair, for mortar, a close of his life he bought a plantation tough clay, mixed with rye stray, is used, j here of Christopher Rex, of Flourtown, and at this great age it is still in good a speculator and landjobber of that day. order and may last to the end ot time. Tbe: This purchase was made in 1764. Here Ringing Rocks Railway Company leave in was already a house, and a fine spring contemplation tbe restoration of thisbnild- westward of it had decided the site of ing to what it once was as a relic of the the first dwelling. Improvements had long ago. been made here probably fifty years be¬ There is no doubt that in its day this fore. The previous history of the land milding was one of the very best dwelling was as follows: douses in this pait of the country. It has William John,a Welsh Quaker,had, in the great open fire place, the double dcors, addition to the whole upper third of the the upper and lower divisions, the great township of Gwynedd, been granted an¬ garrett with its high unsealed roof, through other piece of 322 acres in 1701, extend- the crevices of which the snow used to find ■ ing from the Whitpain line northeast it way on to our beds “in the days when nearly a mile, and being three-quarters we were boys.” It has the great porch of a mile in width. At his death, in around the outside on which the seed corn ; 1714, his three daughters, Ellen, Gainorl nsed to hang by the ears until planting and Catharine,became heirs to this land.j time. No doubt this old relic will be a In the same year (1714) they sold the! i matter of interest to the Ringing Rocks same to a Welsh tailor named Owen; Park, and in this contemplated work the Roberts, for £120. Roberts built a house R. R. E. Rw. Co. give bnt another evidence on the Houston place before 1719. In I of their desire to give to our people all the 1715 he sold off the northern half,; enjoyment they can. or 15£ acres, to Lewis Williams.; Of the next transfer we have no record, but in 1750 one Hannaniah Pugh was the owner, The plantation of 144 acres conveyed f BE »■» to Conrad Meek, In 1764, by Christopher' succeeding the inferior one of the first Kex was bounded as follows: Beginnin» settler here. These improvements, made at corner of Edward Foulke, thence part=-1 at such a time, indicate that Fleck was ly by same and Thomas foulke south¬ either making money or had previously west 163 perches ; thence by Rev. Nan- acquired a considerable sum. The barn na southeast 156 perches ; thence by Ev- " was a large and roomy one for that per¬ an Roberts northeast 127 perches ; then iod and yet does good service. A few by Lewis Williams northwest 72 perches; • years later he began to branch out and thence northeast 17 perches tonne ol ^ purchase adjoining lands. The first was jlhomae Davis; thence by same north" I a lot of fourteen acres, bought in 1784 of .west 84 perches to beginning. James Roney, which then had a house I Conrad Fleck did not live long to re- 1 on it. Roney had bought this in 1772 feide on this property, for he died in mid¬ of John Shebmie. This appears to have dle life, three years afterwards. His ; been down the cross road to the Bethle death occurred in the sprint of 1767 hem pike (the old road to Foulke’s mill) .when one of his sons was vet a minor’ and adjoining the present Dager place, jHis will was made on the'8th of Anri! inhere, by the roadside, stands an old and registered May 9th of that year ' It me-story stone house, which may be the | was witnessed by Wen die Veijer and 'same that was standing in 1784, when fleck bought the lot of Roney The [.“Tin SvSfh" "•“■w - Flecks used it for a tenant hopse for their farm laborers and others. WILL OF CONBAD FLECK. The next purchase was a larger tract, of In this document mention is made of 91 acres, bought from the guardians of |his wife, Anna Maria, and several cbil- Robert Davis, who were Levi and Jessie jdren : Adam Peter, John, George, Eliza¬ Foulke. This was bought in 1789 and beth, wife of Leonard Neidich, and An ■ comprised all that eastern portion of the na, wife of Jacob Kneedier, of Horsham. Merrill farm beyond the turnpike, and Adam> the eldest, 1 also some lands where the present build¬ got £100 and the homestead. . The other ings are, on the western side. It was children got the residue of the estate to part of the 225 acres once held by Thom¬ be equally divided among them. How as Davis. Another small purchase of r?rnh»Ja8-lfhisresidue is not stated. but four acres was made from one Kaodv, probably it was a considerable sum, and later a tract of 67 acres, now partly showing that Conrad fleck was a man comprised in the farm of Samuel Fleck, of property and had considerable belong- was bought from Isaac Davis in 1801. m05> besides the Gwynedd farm. J.,hn lor this Fleck paid £1319. Previous to ofe Probably in Philadelphia, and his second wife Ma- thence by same southeast 203 perches, and northeast 45 perches^to corner of reached^hf' born in 1749- ’ She this and John Clemens, in line of Adam year! dIn i77f /I® -‘,f ninety-flye years in 177o, part of the other heirs1 Fleck’s other land ; thence by Clemen’s s gned a release to Adam for the home- * northwest 54 perches to corner in great stead, whilst that of his brother Peter [road leading to Bethlehem; thence up was not signed till 1782. In the Gwy. said road by Clemen’s land northwest nedd assessment of 1776 Adam Fleck 32 perches to corner in said road ; thence by Clemen’s land northwest 72 perches, as having three16 °rhorsesnel' of and 140 «»«»,six cow« and and southwest 13 perches and northwest 50 perches to corner of first mentioned in'Gwvn’ed!!4 br,other> Geoi'ge, also lived road ; thence along said road southwest horses and n-nd WaS ,aSsessed for two- 49 perches to beginning. was nrnh7hfb C0WS’ but no iand. He I was prooably a renter. Concerning the Al the present Merrill farm Adam Fleck built a house and barn for his son, ConrTd Fl^tfh the - 0ther chifdSn of Jacob. The latter bears the date of 1804, investigations ^ has not ^ and the house was built within a year or two from that time. The records of the »U enter- prises nor all improvements were stifled old Yellow Church show that Adam Fleck was one of its members in 1793. iar Welgfin?T, °fthe Revolutionary It was then under the pastorate of Jacob V. Buskirk. The burial place of the k Fleck’s, however, was at St. John’s church. g across and devastating the countrv Belfry, WILL OF ADAM FLECK. Adam Fleck had a long and prosper¬ ous life. His death took place April 27, »oCt,eS°byh,7„&!trf° "“X ?'m’ /• 1820, at the age of 81. His wife survived ™PEbabb- tallUbort the S« tX --PLEHl THE PREMISES OF ADAM FLECK IIOOV ER. him, her .Ttoth taking"P» This was the original homestead and 1.844, at; the age of 9e years. Hu ^ is situated on the Penllyn turnpike about half a mile from that station. It SKs Ss^.Mana Margaret, is now held hv the heirs of the late own¬ er Adam F. Hoover, who was a relative SdSTtbeufaal privileges of houseroom of the Fleck family. His father, John ete He then says : I give to mj sons, Hoover, married Catharine, daughter of Jacob and Daniel, the following Pr0Per‘ Adam Fleck. This property came into ties' The 140 acres which was devised possession of Daniel Fleck in 18.21, a yea to me bv my father, Conrad F.eck, four- after the death of his father, but he had , teen acres, which I hold by deed from alwavs liyed there previously. In the lames Roney ; about 91 acres which I farm. ” there. t ____ werer 156 acrest aroc and twol.W dwell-1 hold bv deed from Jesse and Levi Douifee ings, one a tenant house. Daniel Fleck as guardians of Robert Davis ; about fom married Mary Martin, of Upper Gwyn-, acres which I bold from ^oiej, edd. He removed to Philadelphia and • and so much of the plantation which I was an innkeeper in the Northern Lib¬ hold bv deed from Isaac Dayis which is erties. His children were Christian, Marv, wife of David Kiy.pe; L len Rob- ■ bins and Rebecca Hillegas. His death took place in 183o. Christian Kei®®1 w?~ i the administrator of hts estate, who, m 1836, sold the same to Adam F.( i I In 1885 ten acres were sold off the south- | west side to William A. Platt for $3806, who proceeded to erect a fine country |-, ing tract of land, adjoining the other , seat and otherwise improve the property. ■ which mv son Adam (now deceased) did A meadow stream passes through the , fr» Warm ah his widow, until hei occupy, to Hannad, ms w > other Hoover estate, running westward and »renllare mentioned I: John, MargaiM falling into the Wissahickon near Pen- , Mary, wife of Frederick Runier ; Catha¬ llyn. It was part of the water power rine wife of Jacob Hoover ; Susannah, that in former days propelled Foulkes wife of Jacob Weber. The will was mill. witnessed by John Marshall, Philip THE MERRILL FARM. ,, Hoover and Frederick Conard. This farm was the eastern part of the j Adam Fleck was born in 1739, and was | Fleck lands. It has belonged to William therefore 25 yeavs old when his father | 0 B. Merrill since 1871, who has much came to Gwynedd. He was twice mar¬ improved the appearance of the build¬ ried. The last name of his first wife is ings and their surroundings, which are unknown. She was buried at Puffs on~the western side of the turnpike to | church, but has no memorial stone. He Ambler. The house and barn have now , death occurred before the Revolution. I stood for about ninety years. The acJ k -- He died on the present Me^n'1 M quisition of this land by Adam Fleck | whither he removed towards the close o from the guardians of Robert Davis, in * his life. John Fleck, one of his sons 1789, has already been told. It fell to was born in 1790 and died m 1842 It is the share of his son, Jacob 1 leek, in said that the first Adam F eck intended 1821, but who had previously resided i that his son Adam should have the oug •0 here. The wife of Jacob Fleck was A fir inal homestead, but that his death caus¬ Mary Hallman. They had children, ed a change of plans, and his son Daniel Henrv, Allen, Catharine, wife of John Kul.ler, and Mary Ann, wife of Charles r°Norm of the descendants of Adam Berk'bejiner, The death of Jacob Fleck Fleck whom the writer has seen know, took place in 1824, at the age of 41. In the maiden name of his wives. They | 1836 the eldest son, Henrjq took posses¬ w ere sisters, however, and he married sion of the farm and owned it for the I the eldest first, whose name was Magda¬ next 25 years. In 1871 he so.d to Mer- lena. His children by the first wife were rill for $16,000 the 100 acres, and so the Daniel Adam, Jacob, Mary and Catha¬ farm passed from the Fleck name after ; rine ’ Meanwhile, the younger sister an ownership of 82 years. had’married and had daughters, Betsev THE FARM OF SAMUEL FLECK. and Ann. Of these, Ann married a Wier, This comprised the northeast side of; and Betsev married John Kuhler. Being the Fleck tract. It bordered the Bethle-; left a widow, this sister of the first wife married Fleck and had three ch. dren I hem turnpike, by the side of which was Tohn Margaret and Susan. Ot toese, the dwelling. It also reached to the mill the latter onlv was married, and she had ( • road and the fenllyn and Springhouse Sree husbands-Joseph Bisbing, Jacob road. This homestead has long been the residence of Samuel Fleck,but as yet is of Weber and Samuel Bisbmg. Of the four sons of Conrad who came) , the estate of his father, Samuel Fleck, re- with him from Germany, two went to 7 cently deeeag d The surface moitly level, iB a den essiup between two s*°Pes- 1he what is now Blair county^ThevTef. Theqp were George and Peter. iney / western comer and a wooded hillside numerous descendants there, who claim¬ bordering the Penllyn turnpike have, ed relationship to the family in Mont¬ been sold" off, in recent years, to Henry Markoe and William B. Churchman, who gomery county, and between whom its "weremade; have erected lane country seats thereon At the homestead are modern farm build-1 mgs These were built by the late Sam- ue1 Fleck the barn in 1851 and the house | ln l8&7- .They succeeded structures that ! !?er® Qaitu oto, probably relics of the jUavis ownership jn the }ast century, the tormer house was of stone, large in si^e, and hip-roofed, ft stood about where is the present lane. It has nor 1 been ascertained where was the original Davis house, but it was either here or ion the opposite side of the road, at the Ai\ historic RELIC. ^ len l!eck farm> When the sons of Thomas Davis divided his property A Powder Horn Made at Valley Forge this was the portion of one named David Davis, who came into possession in 1772. In ’76. 'At Liat time, then, we may suppose a Mrs. Anna M. Holstein, of Bridgeport, house was built there, if there had not Regent of the Valley Forge Memoriel Asso¬ I been one built earlier. ciation, has received from Charles F. As above mentioned, Bobert and John Rockwell, of Wayne County, an interesting Davis gave £ release to their brother relic for the Valley Forge museum—an David in 1772, for this portion of their lather s estate, David Davis died Integ¬ old powder horn made from the horn ra6’ leaving a widow named Leah, who of an ox that was killed for beef for afterwards married Arthur Bradis. Leah the troops during their encampment there Davis had tour children, Isaac, Elizabeth, more than a century ago. The horn was Dayid and Tacy, No partition of the made in camp by Mr. Rockwell’s father, estate being practicable, Isaac took the jJabez Rockwell, who was one of the sol¬ property^ 1792 paying out £887 to the diers that passed the winter of 1777 and other heirs. Of Isaac .Davis, Adam Fleck 1778 and Valley Forge. Three widowed bought in 1801 paying $1819 for 87 acres daughters of the old soldier are yet In the deed-a house is mentioned as be- mg on the property. living at the age of 81, 83 and 86 years, which as far as heard from stands without win3nhfa8*neen ^ld !n account of the will of Adam Fleck, this pronerfv a parallel. gefcher with 23 acres additional, was ’de- vised to Hannah Fleck, widow of his son Adam, during toe minority of her son Samuel. Adam Fleck, her husband From, was one of the militia who went into camp at Marcus Hook in the fall of 1814 for the defence of Philadelphia. Be- I turning from thence, he was taken with (M, the camp or typhus fever,and died Feb ruary 15, 1815, at the age of 38. He had : Date^F'£i£r:_._..,Z many years previously married Hannah W°rcef?v’ His children were Charlotte, wife of Jacob Smith : Samuel Mari^w^6d KniPe-°f Gwynedd• THE OLD ZION CHURCH. Maria, wife of Frederick Hoover - Eliza wife of John Holland ; Adam, who mar- IK ned Mary Dannehower, and Benjamin A Centennial to be Celebrated who married Caroline Smith. Irvin'Fleck’ ot Springhouse, is a son of Adam. The Two Years Hence. Sh22 ism'8 famL!y sur.vired :i:! Au- gust 22, 1861, leaching her eightieth It Was Built in 1786, Ig Still In Use and a Good and Substantial Kdlfice—Brief Of these children, Samuel was bom on Sketch of the History of the Ven¬ i*04' -aild in Purso»nce of erable House of Worship. his grandfathers will took possession ot oni Hr” UV 82! This he held during a The fact that preparations are now mak¬ 8«f h- H/? death t00ii Place Jane 9, 18!ys children were : Charles Han- ing for a celebration of the centennial of nah wife of George Johnson, of North Trinity Lutheran Church, Reading, in May Wales; A1 mon, Samuel, Margaret, and next, reminds ns that two years hence Emma, wife of Abel K. Shearer nf Pottstown will have an important church North Wales. Of the grandchildren of Adam Ifock M,,. Eliza Hoj|an ot anniversary to observe. In 1796, (as is shown by the date in figures on the lower liviLWaShlng n> 18 the on!y one *et _ E. M. part of the west front wall thereof,) the SV' brick chnrch at the north-east corner of Hanover and Chestnut streets, still in fall me as a honse ot public worship, by Zion’s nearly all the men without their coats; Reformed congregation, Rev. C.S. Wieand, of course they wore shoes and coats iu pastor, was erected. In 1896, when a winter time. It is very likely, however, hundred years shall have rolled away since that either the old-fashioned fire-places or the edifice was built and dedicated, there some other mode of heating was used, un¬ shoald be, and of conrse will be, e citable less the weather of eighty, ninety or a commemoration thereof,by jubilee services hundred years ago, in the late fall, dnring Zion’s Church, known also, for many the winter and in tbe early spring time, years as the “Old Brick Church,” was was a good deal milder than in these latter ilt jointly by the ministers and people davs. two congregations, the Lutheran con¬ The preaching and other services in the gregation of which Rev. John Ludwig “Old Biick Church” were conducted in Voigt was pastor, and the Reformed, of German until 1834; on April 13 of that which Rev. Frederick Dellicker was pastor. year a meeting was held and an English Before that time both congregations wor¬ congregation formed, a movement whicn shipped in a log church, which stood at the also encountered great opposition. A call south east corner of the churchyard, on the was extended to Rev. John W. Richards, site now occupied by the Emmanuel Lnth- who preached his introductory sermon on eran Church. The lot on which this early Whit-Sunday, May 18. 1834 house of worship was built, and on which The above is but a short chapter of the j stands Zion’s and Emmanuel Churches, (also history of Zion’s Church. Two years hence ■ occupied by the old burial ground,) ex¬ a full sketch of the annals of the oldt tending from Chestnut to Walunt streets, bnilding and the pastors and congregations I and along Hanover street 300 feet, is which have worshipped there, will of. believed to have been donated by John course be read and form an important part Potts, the founder of Pottstown, soon afcer of the proceedings of the Centennial Jubi¬ he laid out the town, in 1753-4, and the lee. .log church was built about 1760, or a few years later. , , , , The primitive structure, erected by the first settlers of this region, and constructed From,. of logs cut from the forests along the Schuylkill and Manatawny, was after the /J/1 lapse of thirty-six years, found to be too t..£:LdA,,.L/2z.^> small to accommodate the increasing num¬ ber of worshippers, so it was resolved to begin the • rection of a new one, larger and Date, more substantial, for religions purposes, Plans were made and the question of rais¬ ing the means for what was then a pretty great undertaking, was given earnest con¬ LOCAL HISTORY. sideration. A builder was consulted and, he made, in writing what he called a “Ruf ROSE VALLEY AS IT WAS IN DAYS Carqulation” as to the proposed new GONE BY. church, which he fixed at £1657, 10s, or The Old Gilkeysou Tavern—Faust Tan-f $4420. _ i The first subscription book was opened yard—The hands of the Burkes—The Bradis Property. on February 23. 1796 and the amount ob¬ tained was £1554 10s, 5d, or $4134 24. Half a mile northeast from Ambler is The largest sum given was £50; pastor the intersection of the Bethlehem road Voigt subscribed £25 and pastor Dellicker and the Prospeetville and Broal Axe £3 lfb. The cost of the church, however, turnpikes At this crossing was a ham¬ exceeded the estimate, about $6000 being let, with dwellings at the four corners! the amount expended. The number of j long before Ambler was known. In the Kicks used is 195,000, which cost 45s, or ( olden lime it was called “Gdkev’s Cor-) JJ6 per thousand. A frequently charged item ner,” and more recently. Rose Valley. Aj expense in erecting the church, as is few yards away passes a stream coming) shown by the papers and documents still from the meadows and forests to the preserved, was called “wiske, ” an article eastward, hastening to join the Wissa-I which bad to be supplied to the mechanics, hickon. There are now six dwellingsl and without which, in those days, no im¬ close at hand, and the outward growth; portant work could be done. The church of Ambler has nearly reached and en¬ was completed and dedicated toward the compassed the old cross-roads corner. close of the year 1796 On consecration On the east are the Faust dwelling day nearly every member gave a silver and tannery ; on the west is the Henry! dollar when the collection was taken. The j dwelling, long the residence of George; entire debt of the church was not paid oil j W. Ruch, his son in-law. Here the main until 1807. house is .modern, but in its rear yet Zion’B Church has been refitted and the stands jhe stone kitchen, which is of! inside portion remodeled once or twice great age—once owned by the Bradis since its erection. Stoves were introduced family. On the south is a stone dwell¬ in the chnrch in 1812, after strong opposi¬ ing. with a barn of like material, having! tion. It is arserted that before that the tlie appearance of a century’s uje -sup I building was not heated, and that in sum¬ posed to have been erected by the Burkes ] mer the boys came to meetings barefoot and L 'in ! c? 1 ’ rd fronti* the south, is do vJ r(°:,e. housp> with dormer win ,v's' ,If is not the old Gilkevson tavern it stands on its site. Latteifv at i- ™ jtmies it has been used as a store, and |“ w, V3 A0 be ,rans!o: inad into a meat iis E^"!?n;aSth« '”">1 “.-on which’ jinai ket On all these corners there have ,.l8.10 _G‘lkeyd0n b night of thehURlan|ha-bltalions since rhe me piopeity, comprising seven acres -rod earl er RfV(dutlon’ and Probably much earlier. In the rear, to the north rises a ;houSe,of the heirs of John Burk and which the latter had bought of f lS dresent Th^ kn°1!’ where the Dresent ihomas mansion, formerlystand9 the fbis' fb^ |lhf Cleav,er family. Beyond th s, the highway descends to another 1 hut it was a 'SUfc'&gStf' n vale through which ripples a si ream un¬ der he turnpike bridge, and which for- !lher nllin0Pe nd Paag’s mill and the fulling mill of Arthur Bradis The “lit ™?V-lr<]mrter of »' mile. e W haS a varief>’ of Picturesque rolling slopes, probably soon to be : far» Tso'Ic'rTSf S rif11”86 0f ? which was inherited by his sonata 30(3 growth1 WUh U,e extensioa of Amblers ! Ih.s is the present farm of Elliot Thom-'

The Ohl Gilkeyson Tavern. The Burke Family and Lands. This was a famous hostelry in the old- These deeds to Andrew Gilkevson so ,en time. It was but natural then that ja public house should be established at the intersection of two such important a nule eastward of Ambler, is now thf roads. It would take toil from the mar¬ ket travel c-.ming from both Bucks and Montgomery^ 2. j counties wPKingseeking rniladePhiladel¬ phia. Here wa* an «_, ™ uel phla- ^a3 an inn for over 60 years from fatherTo^on fo? ZWi.Z*** o from 1down to about 1838. Possi¬ bly there was one here before the first named date. It is not known by the

iTev on SeH Wlbelongedh7ee C? leto Andia family'ew of Scottish ong,n)and CHtI1e he y 1 commission in the army and timref a was an officer under YVTd’iam Ill ' n"rb man in the time of the Revolution The lu.ent history of Montgomery county |places the date of his becoming the landlord as 1778. In.1787 it was the on i P&E&8i&l5& i C7S7 T, ,n UPPer Dublin. At that t.me he did not own the property and must have been a renter. BjsP first !»ar

hn7xEt7ce1eTate’°f Wh,'Ch '!”ae Se busSnet bee" en^®d ^

, ™S P,lr^base at this corner, made in i »as a coat 0f arms of the family a buck jted.mng beneath an apple tree T family were Episcopalians, and many of Wmefto Ptfil I fading from North the name repose m the lofty cemetery

1“?maisn. In ™173o ’;:";Edward ch,Burke"ci>. s?ave n east 54 perches, thence by irox dicnbed |d®®d for a 1house and 25 acres to hfs sec ^ southwest 54 perches to - ond son, Edwsrd Tn it'tq m Ph ladelphu road.thenca by sa.na s "th? Edw'atcl Bnr^Vwi F „ “ ning ” "rses 3d Pe^hes to begin- P ,7' f' e *-vvo otb.er lots bought bv I D miel M 'v Eachel^wife her^son« u^b, and after her death to G Ikeyson at that time were flr“t' - Im I ed t n S ThMcVaUgh' who acrth of the tavern eaicinESo. This would indicate that mad o f lng the -Bethlehem .a Burke house existed at Rose Valiev as oau, on which was a stone house This I assefsed f J 39nIa 1734o7e Blrkes wei’e 6®d a^d^urk7,'KK?acres^o^Btuoh f776k5o7d2(Jt) Ed"ard Burke. Jr. In Bur6ke078 toSpWre ?ss®ssad to Edward ouiKe, /8 to Edward Burke, Jr and 60 acres to John Burke. The latter was «u- pervisor ot Upper Dublin from 1774 "to I 786’7he dWa7 lHrke 1774 to \U8b. The original Burke tract extended along Susquehanna street above Keisel’s corner a short distance, and included the WWS“» «"« m* oi tdiiol'S1'' site of the old Gilkeysqn tavern and up T5e Bethlehem road also some distance, | j Dr. John Jones made his but not to the Gwynedd line, from which , May 14, 1840, and died 'it wa3 separated by the Harmer tract, of after.t A*His property* V J liVAUhere wasTV left II l o I ione-fpurth of a mile in width. widow, Hannah, during herlifeteme. She To return to Andrew Gilkeyson. He; was a religious woman, and one of the |remained the owner of this and the ; founders of Upper Dublin Dunkardl mother properties he had bought till, his church in 1840. She was a resident here v death, in 1814—a period of 29 years. It.I during the exciting Presidential cam¬ is thought that he continued -landlord) paign if 1844 Previous to the election ’'all his life. a prayer meeting was being held at her house oue evening. She kept a parrot J ‘ Tlie "Will of Andrew Gilkeyson. and that bird was a good Democratic par¬ -• Andrew Gilkeyson;. had been a pros¬ rot. So, in the midst of their devotions, perous business man and acquired con¬ said parrot unmidful of the proprieties siderable property in lands and money. ot the occasion startled the worshippers His will was presented for registry No¬ by shrieking, “Hurrah for Polk and Dal vember 25, 1814, indicating his . las;’ The silkworm speculation raged death a short time previously. The I about 1842, and during this period, a main provisions of this’ will were as|; large building was erected here for the business and a mulberry tree planted. The name of his wife was' Edith, to lu 1_65 the executors of the estate of whom was left various provisions for Dr. Jones sold the lot at public sale held her support. There were five eons and August 10th. John D. Jones was the pur¬ four daughters, viz: James, Elias. An- chaser, paying $4,500. The latter sold it " drew, Samuel, Joseph, Esther, Edith, in several pieces, viz: 1868, cm acre wife of Jacob Weiss; Jane Fitzwater and a quarter to Nathan Cleayer, on the and Harriet. “To my son James, the the hill top; 1877 to David Dunnet, the| plantation where he now 'resides, com¬ old tavern house and 131 perches, and prising 50 acres, which I purchased of finally in 1889 to Edward H. Johnson Ann Collins; also seven acres which I 111 acres. Dunnet kept store here for a purchased of the heirs of Thomas Han- number of years and then remove.! to1 way’s wife Susannah ; also a right in a Pniladelplm. In 1891 lie sold to V n-1 tract of 109 acres in Horsham, which I ginia F. Oavender. The latter was sold bought of Leonard Thomas. out by the sheriff in 1892 and Edward To my son Elias, five acres on which H. John.on is the latest owner. is a house, to be surveyed off the south It may be of interest to learn some¬ side of the place where I now live, and thing of the children of Andrew Gilkey¬ purchased of the heirs of John Burke. son, in additiou to what has been told. To my son Andrew, a lot and one- Andrew Gilkeyson, Jr., kept store for a half an acre, which I purchased of Ed¬ number of years on the eact corner at ward McVaughg also the discharge of a Rose Va]ley. He had a wife Margaret note of $500, which I hold against my Acuff, but no children. His will was son Andrew. registered January 23, 1854, and be was To my son Samuel the house and lot buried at St. Thomas’ Episcopal church, of eleven acres where I now live. \Vhitemarsh. HD estate went after his To my son Joseph, the property I wife’s death to his nieces, Tacy Ann bought of the heirs of John Burke, of McIntosh and Harriet Foering, daugh-fl seven acres. ters of his brother Samuel. VVe find, The several daughters were left money record of the death of Edith, sister of| legacies. the above brothers, in February 1841. The old tavern house know as “Gil- She had children, Edith and Elias. kev’s” remained a public house down to E liili was a favorite name in the family, about 1838. After the death of the first and there have been se\eral of that Andrew Gilkeyson it was owned by his name, somewhat to the confusion of the son Samuel Gilkeyson. Andrew kept a his orian. James Gilkeyson, another! store on the east corner, and a post office brother, died about September 1858.J was established here in 1827. The later Five chidren are mentioned in his will,) history of the north corner at Rose Val¬ Charles, Andrew, Samuel, Edith audj iev inav thus be traced : In 1838, after Marv. He gave the present farm off the the death of Samuel Gilkeyson, Eliott Thomas to the two sons first* Sheriff Artemas Stewart sold the old named. Mary married Robert Scauet* tavern house and ten acres to David and her children Howard aud Cecilia,! A cuff, and in 1840 Acuff sold to Dr. John mentioned in the will. The laqj Junes. The latter on April 1st 1840 are ter became the wife of Levi Clayton, of| bought four acres addition d in the rear, Springhouse. The will of another Edith I up the Bethlehem turnpike of Andrew Gilkeyson is recorded in June 1841. Gilkeyson so that Dr. Jones came into possession of fourteen acres. He was a The Faust Tannery. prominent physician. His wife was This is on the east corner at Rise Wil¬ Hannah, daughter of Christian Dull, i e ley by the side of a brook which flows Springhouse tavern keeper. Meanwhile through Ambler into the Wissahickon. the tavern had ceased to be licensed. Tbe Faust residence is the dwelling on The two last landlords were Elias Det- the si >pe southeast at some distance wiler and Samuel Ayres. The latter was from the Bethlehem road. Alvin D. also a blacksmith. The tavern was a fa¬ Faust also owns the corner house, for¬ mous stopping place for sleighing pa>Ues merly the Gilkeyson store, now tenanted m the winters of the_olden tune. — I by Jesse Wagner, one of his employes. The Henry IiOt. Tlie tannery here was long ago estab¬ On the west corner at Rose Valley is a lished. The time is not known to the modern stone house built by the late writer, but it was somewhere between Jonathan Henry 1853. A very old stone 1790 and 1810 by David Thomas. In 1776! kitchen in the rear has the appearance John Burk sold to David Thomas a of having stood more than a centurv. piece of land along the brook and the This house has long been the home ofl slopes rising from its banka, comprising George W. Ruch, whose wife, Amanda, 241- acres, with the exception of two was a daughter of Henry. The wife of’ acres reserved by Elward Burk as a Jonathan Henry was Sabina Fisher j meadow. The site of the present tan whose father, Henry Fisher, lived’ yard was not contained in this, but was at the Bergenstock farm. To the contained in an acre at the corner, then west the hill rises, steeply, and the ridge ' held by Edward McVaug'i. This was is largely composed of building sand, ! bought in 1789 by Andrew Gilkevson for This was originally part of the Burk £70—indicating a very inferior home. estate, being detached in 1793, when ' The next year (1790) Gilkevsoa sold to Elanor Fitzgerald, Nathan McVeagh, of l David Thomas J an acre close to the’; Little Britian, Lancaster county, Joseph, stream for £22. and on this tiie tan yard John, Mary, Benjamin and James Mc- was built. Gilkeyson reserved the house Veagh, of Cecil county, Maryland, sold , and it was held by his family for two to Arthur Bradis, fifty-four acres. generations. We may fairly conclude This Arthur Bradis, or Broadis, first that the half acre was bought for the made his appearance as a land holder in purpose of a tannery, and that it was this vicinity in 1759, when he bought a established soon after 1790. David fulling mill and eighty acres of Daniel Thomas held tiiis valley land for thirty- Morris. The fulling mill was in the up¬ isix years or from 1776 to 1810. In the per part of Ambler on the stream there [ latter year he sold to Jamea Rutter a tan flowing, and near the railroad crossing | yard, a house and 25J acres of land. of the same, and hereabouts Bradis Rutter was a young man on coming doubtless lived. It was bought in 1832 j here, and remai ned the owner for over by Andrew Ambler, of Mary Davis, a jforty years. He belonged to a Quaker daughter of Bradis. This portion of the: family, and the name is common about Bradis estate earliest acquired did not Pottstown. He had a man working in belong to the Burk estate, but was part ' his tannery who came from Upper Ma- of the narrow strip originally owned by cungie, Lehigh county. His name was William Harmer, which extended to Alvin D. Faust. To him he sold in 1831 Susquehanna street along the Gwynedd seven acres for $3000 and id 1855 he sold: line, but was only one-fourth of a mile in him 28 acres more, comprising part of width, and comprising 250 acres. three tracts bought by Rutter in 1810, The 55 acres bought sn 1793 of the Mc- 1813 and 1827 from David ThdmasJ Veaghs was 1688 feet long, reaching in¬ Samuel Maulsby and Baltis Hoffman. to Ambler to Main street and just one- The corner tenant house was bought in; quarter of a mile wide. A recital relates 1871 from Tacy McIntosh and Harriet that in 1773 the land was in tenure of Foering, heirs of the second Andrew one Abraham Hallas, who may have Gilkeyson. The elder Alvin G. Faust lived in the stone kitchen 120 years died in 1884 and Catharine Faust was his ago. Peter Broodes, the son of Arthur administrator. The son of the same Broodes, died in Philadelphia in 1830. Hj name is the present owner of the tan In 1835, his executors sold a part of his yard, two dwellings and 38 acres of laud estate at this corner to Jonathan Henry at the east corner of Rose Valley. for $900. In the year previous the ex¬ The South Corner at Kose Talley. ecutors had tried to sell the whole 24 acres then remaining, but there was no ;• . This was also a Burk tract. Through bid exceeding $1800. The next year the g| it tire brook flows westward, and its Sandy Hill, then covered by heavy tim- , banks on either side have become cover- ber, brought over $4000. Wood for fuel 1 by the advancing growth of Ambler. A was very valuable at that time, because remnant of only a few acres remains coal had not come into general use in x intact of 24| acx.es. sold by Edward Me- Philadelphia. e. m. Ji 3 V augb, a grandson of Edward Burk to John Burk, in 1789, We may conclude that there were buildings here at least since that time, and that the old barn by the roadside has stood for more than a century. John Burk was then a young man. Fifty-four years afterwards, in 1843, his will ordered the sale of his lands, and in 1848 his executors sold to Isaac Thomas the same tract. Another Tgeneration passed away, and in 1876, the executors of Isaac Thomas sold the cor¬ ner of four acres^lb"Samuel Whitcomb who, in 1881, conveyed to Jacob M.’ Lowden. The present owner is Allen JBerkheimer. D. Markley, Hatboro; Recording - tarv, Mrs. A. Conrad Jones,Norristown; Treasurer, Wm. McDermott, Consho- From, bocken; Librarian, Mrs. Sarah S. Rex, :z‘ Norristown; Trustees, Jones Detwiler, Blue Bell; Wm. McDermott, Consho- r*/ A, a. hocken; J. K. Gotwals, H. W. Kratz and Ell wood Roberts, Norristown. New members were admitted as fol¬ Bate, <2>. lows : Mrs. Ella Knox Fornance, Mrs. Mahlon Preston, Mrs. A. B. Longaker, Mrs. H. H. Fisher, Mrs. H. W. Kratz, Norristown; S. M. Smythe, Consho-I hocken; R. P. Garsed, Norristown; IGAL HISTORIANS MEET > ■- Samuel Yeakel, Flourtown; S. K. Andersi Norriton; L. M. Childs, Dr. J. C. Spear, The Montgomery Society Elects Norristown; Frank Ramey, Plymouth; Dr. G. N. Highley. Officers for the Current Year Jones Detwiler of Blue Bell read an PI interesting paper on the “State of affairs existing between 1777 and 1830 in the SOME DOCUMENTS RECEIVED.! 5th Battalion Militiamen,” composed of men residing in the lower end of the county. A Number of New Members Tak-| en in at Yesterday’s An¬ nual Meeting. From,

The annual meeting of the Montgom¬ ery County Historical Society was held I in their rooms in the Court House yes-1 terday afternoon. The following books | were reported as having been receivedl since the last meeting : Constitution of the Philadelphia) Society Sons of the Revoiution. Memorials of the Moravian Church. Annals of Buffalo Valley. Moravians in New York and Connecti¬ Colonial Army Headquarters inj cut. Stille’s Major General Wayne. Montgomery County. Year Book Society of the Sons of the Revolution New York, 1893. Several pamphlets bearing on the same MANY STILL STANDING. subject. Numbers of the Annals American Academy of Political and Social Science The Father of His Country at for 1893. Schwenksville, Whitemaash Sermon in Christ Church,Philadelphia, by Rev. G. W. Hodge. and. Other Local Points. 1 By the payment of the sum of $35 to| the publishing fund of the Historical JISIT any old town in the thirteen 1 Society of Pennsylvania , 18 bound! original States to-day and you are 1 volumes of its publications have been sure to find a “Washington’s Head¬ acquired and all the society s publica-; quarters.” The history connected tions for the next twenty years will be received by the Montgomery County So-1 with the majority of these buildings is Iciety. usually merely traditional and often with¬ The docket of John L. Wentz, a jus-j out the slightest foundation in facts. It is Itice of the peace of Whitpain township; strange that, with all our modern histori¬ two photographs of ancient barns in cal research in other directions, little, if I Franconia towbship, one being built in[ any, attention has been paid to the dis¬ ’ 1755, the other in 17G8, were donated to I proving or proving, as the case may be, the Society. , of these traditions. Secretary Harrity has sent the society It is now considerably over one hun¬ volumes 15, 17, 18 and 19 of the Penn-| dred years since Washington occupied sylvania archives. his last headquarters of war, and it is The following officers were elected time that some effort was made towards for the ensuing year : President, H. C. authenticating and properly marking Hoover, Norriton; Vice Presidents, these historic houses. Montgomery conn- T. W. Holstein, Upper Merion, Joseph tv has several of,these historic structures ornance, Norristown and Senator A. I Valley Forge, of course,being the most The Revolutionary General’s first head¬ Camp Hill, on which part the left whig quarters in this county was probably the of the army was posted, is directly to house of John Potts, erected in 1753 by the year of the house, and it is said that the founder of Pottstown. This house, some ef the caves or dug-outs which which was a notable building in its day, the soldiers were compelled to make is now occupied as a hotel. Soon after¬ to shelter them are still to be seen. Some wards he took up his headquarters at of the most interesting and important Pennypacker’s Mills,now Schwenksville. jevents of the whole war transpired while The house occupied by him was the home !Washington occupied his Whitemarsh* of Samuel Pennypacker, the owner of the [headquarters. Under date of November mill. This building, a 2-story stone build¬ [7, in the orderly book, is to be read the ing, is still in existence. j following curious entry : After the battle of Germantown the ar¬ “Since the General left Germantown, my marched from Pennypacker’s Mills to in the middle of September last, he has Towamencin, where Washington’s head¬ been without his baggage, and on that quarters were at the farm house of Fred¬ account is unable to receive company in erick Wampole, a mile above Kulpsville. the manner he would wish. He never- This dwelling was taken down in 1881. the less desires the generals, field officers October 16, 1777, the army moved from and brigade major of the day to dine Towancencin to Worcester and the Gen¬ with him in the future at 8 o’clock in the eral occupied the bouse of Peter Wentz, afternoon.”_ | While at Whitemarsh Washington heard of the evacuation of Fort Mifflin, and informed the President of Congress of the fact. To show the extremity to ^ vhich the army was reduced for shoes L- at this location the following extract, under date of November 22, may be made from the orderly book: “The Commander-in-Chief offers a re¬ ward of $10 to any person who shall by 9 o’clock on Monday morning produce the best substitutes for shoes made of raw rA hides.” On November 24 a council of war was held at the general’s headquarters to con¬ sider the expediency of an attack on the WASHINGTON S HEADQUARTERS AT VALLEY enemy’s lines at Philadelphia. The coun¬ cil adjourned without comiDg to a decis¬ still standing on the road from Centrej ion and the Commander-in-Chief dis¬ Point to Heebnersville. The house is a patched a special messenger to General substantial stone dwelling and was erect¬ Green at Mount Holly, N. J., requiring ed in 1728. On October 21 the army mov¬ of the other officers their written opinion. ed to Whitpain. within 15 miles of Phila¬ In comparing them eleven were found delphia. The Commander-in-Chief’s head¬ |against making the attack and only Stir¬ quarter’s were at the house of James ling, Wayne, Scott and Woodford in fa¬ Morris.between Skippack and the Morris vor of it. roads and about a mile west of the pres¬ On December 13 Washington took up ent village of Ambler. his headquarters at the Gulf Mill. Thejl| In 1736 the original building, a stone house he occupied was the residence of structure, was built by Abraham Dawes, Lieutenant Colonel Isaac Hughes, Penn¬ father of Mrs. Morris. This property sylvania militia, and was known as Wal¬ contains about 200 acres and is now call¬ nut Grove. It was built prior to 4748 by ed Dawesfield. It is still in the family, his father, John Hughes, stamp officer. the present owner being Mrs. Saunders This house which was a notable building [Lewis, of Philadelphia,a great-grand¬ in its day, was taken down about twenty- daughter of Abraham Dawes. five years ago.

Washington’s Whitemarsh headquar¬ •vl. The old house occupied by Washington ters were a large stone house about half as his headquarters at Valley Forge is mile east of Camp Hill Station, on the still standing. Its history has been more orth Penn Railroad. This house is still than once related in these columns. From standing. It faces the south and is two the time Washington left Valley Forge and a half stories in height, 80 feet front until the early fall he was more or less nd 27 feet in depth. In 1854 it was mod- constantly on the move and icuthe field. \ rnized and a large wing, originally the lining room,removed from the west end. nough of the old building remains how- ives, to determine its appearance during he days of the Re volution, when it was a port of baronial hall, both in size and [character, occupied by George Emlen, V who dispensed liberal hospitality to all ing beneath his roof. gle house, with ninety-two acres, has 2 1857 been owned and occupied by 'les T. Aiman, a prosperous farmer. y/ ; r.

haved very badly and- profa churchy in various ways. Their time was

From, />* i_ spent in carousing, drinking, and in»com- TVDfv dLprf?at!0LjS', These tro°P8 stole all of Dr. Muhlenberg’s chickens and turned his horses into hi3 buckwheat fields. About one-fourth of a mile from the church still stands Muhlenberg’s house; the window from which he observed the depredations committed by the Colonial troops, is still pointed out to the visitor. Some of your readers may think that MUHLENBERG AND HIS WORK. Muhlenberg sided with England in the Revolutionary struggle. Although he never The Patriarch of the American Luth¬ had been an admirer of General Washing¬ eran Church-UA Bit of ton, and did not consider him a skillful Early History. commander, yet Muhlenberg strongly es¬ Written for the Johnstown Tribune. poused the cause of the Colonists in their The Trappe is a sinail town situated two struggle against British oppression. and a half miles from Collegeville, Mout- I his old church at Ihe nappe is very in¬ gomery County, Pa., and is a town famous teresting to the visitor. As you enter the in Revolutionary-War times and in the his church you can see the old inscription over) tory of the Lutheran Church. Some time the entrance : ago your correspondent had the pleasure of Sub Remlgio Christihas Aides Socle- ! a visit to this Mecca of Lutheranism. The tati Augustanre confess Deaitaee De„i- : place was originally called New Providence. catas Exipso Fundarnento exstruxit : How it came to have its present name is not Henricus Mel.-hi^r Mulenberg Una cum : • ensunbus I .N. . rosmauof Marstele- : certain. Tradition says that the place was ro a Helmano.I Mullen*. H. ±tasio. et 1 at first settled by the followers of Roger ; Cj. Kebnero. a. H. Mdccxl.hi. : Williams, who thus named it to distinguish ; it from Providence, Rhode Island, but the i Tne pulpit is one of the old tashiuned “New” was soon dropped, and the townj , kind with a flight of stairs leading up to it. was known for some time as Providence ; it I the pews have straight backs ; afewofthe! ia now more familiarly known as the Trappe. p;ws have locks on them. The two coilec-l What gives the place an especial interest1 tion bags, with long handles, can be seen! to Lutherans is the fact that here stands the i hanging on the walls. The posts that sup venerated “Augustus Church,” of which I port the galleries, are hewn out of logs and 1 Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, “The Patri-; are not planed. The benches on thegal-l arch of the American Lutheran Church.” ) leries are very rough, not having been was the founder, over one hundred and fifty planed, and the backs are high, aud do not* years ago, and of which he was the pastor have the appearance ot being very comfort ' for thirty five years. It was in January, | able. The benches for the-choir are made) 1743, that the congregation resolved to iu the same manner, and present a marked erect a house of worship ; on May 2d of) contrast with the comfortable choir chairs of the same year the cornerstone was laid. I churches of the present day. The organ is f'he following September, although the! still on the gallery ; it is painted white, is. church was still incomplete, the cougrega very high, aud, in its exterior appearance,! tion began to use it, so eager were they to resembles a cupboard. have a church, and on October 6, 1745, the Of course, this old church is do longer dedication took place. At the dedication, I used by the congregation, but it is kept ud Muhlenberg publicly examined three negro) as a relic by the interest of a fund created slaves on “tne fundamental doctrines of the for the purpose. In 1854 the congregation! word of God,” and baptized them. erected for their use a new aud commodious, The people of The Trappe endured church near the old one. many hardships during the Revolutionary Having viewed the interiors of both the) War ; especially was this true shortly after old and the new edifices, your correspond-) the battle of Brandywine, which took place ent, in company with the pastor—Rev. Dr.)■ September 11, 1777. Soon after this fight Kretschmau—visited the grave of Muhlen-f the battle of Warren’s Tavern took place berg. This is alongside ot the east wall of Washington retreated crossing the Schuyl¬ the old church. A plain slab marks thef kill River at Parker’s Ford hud marched resting place of this eminent Lutheran di-! toward The Trappe, coming out on the vine. The following inscription, in Latin,' “great road” just above the old Augustus is on the slab : church. On September 22d the American “Sacred be this Monument to the Mem ) Army encamped on the hills above the town, ory of the Blessed aud Venerable Henry some of the troops encamping in the town. Melchior Muhlenberg, Doctor of Sacred i Soon the British crossed the Schuylkill and Theology and Senior of the American! it seemed to Washington that they would -Lutheran Ministerium ; Born September (i move on the Trappe, but they did not. The 1711, Died October 7, 1787. Who and Colonial troops next went to New Hanover, What He Was, Future Ages Will Know a part of the army going to Schwenksville, Without a Stone.” and some returning to the Trappe. These Beside Muhlenberg lie the remains of troops occupied the old Augustus church, his wife and son—General John Peter Gab and also the schoolhouse. The soldiers be¬ riel Muhlenberg. On the slab that marks his grave are the following words : having gone over to see a friend in “ Sacred to the Memory of General Peter Muhlenberg; Born October 1, 1746, Died another company, and, knowing th >t October 1, 1807. He Was Brave in the l.e would not return until late, I Field, Faithful in the Cabinet, Honorable started up to have a talk with my in^All His Transactions, a Sincere Friend, friend (the Seargeant). I found him and an Honest Man.” land my chum seated on their hunk An interesting anecdote is told of General Muhlenberg. He was preaching in his [writing letters, so I seated myself on church one Sunday at the outbreak of the jii cracker box with my back io the Revolution ; when he was through with his fire. I had not been there long when sermon he said: “There is a time to 1 put my hand into my coat pocket, preach and a time to fight, and the time to [and there happening to be some car¬ tight has come.” He threw aside his pulpit gown and appeared in full uniform as a tridges there’ I took one and dropped Revolutionary Colonel. Enlistments began it in'the fire. It exploded, sending at once, and Rev. J. P.» G. Muhlenberg the ashes all over my back. I jumped marched into the field, and served with as if I had been shot, and 1 could see great distinction until the close ol the War. [the seargeant’s eye snap as he called He was promoted at various times, until he I became a Major General, Many persons out: “You think you’re smart out* believe lhat this incident occurred at The there, don’t you?” I waited a little Trappe church ; this is erroneous ; it oc¬ (while, then I took my seat again and curred in Virginia. A short distance from sergearnt resumed his writing. At the Muhlenberg graves is the grave of Gov. first opportunity I dropped another; F. R. Shunk ; a high monument has been erected over it. oITiI, wcnt;so did the sergeant; he was It will amply repay any one to visit the not a minute in pulling off his boots old church and graveyard at The Trappe. land rushed out after the culprit, but Rev. H. C. Salem. finding no one, betook his position Scalp Level, Pa, behind the chimney of another tent and wait d for the return of the man who had the audacity to throw a car¬ From, tridge down his chimney, but the night, being very cold he soon tired jof his job and c .me in the tent and began Ins writing again. Anxious for a little more fun I dropped in Date, j the third cartridge. That was more than the sergeant could bear. Jtunn¬ WAR REMINISCENCE. ing from his bunk he caught up a (mess pan of water and rushed out, . Fun in and About Camp. this time bent on revenge; as no one was to be seen, lie toox his old posi¬ BY EDGAR M. STRANG, LATE OF SIXTH PENNA. tion behind the chimney again,deter¬ CAVALRY. mined to have his man or freez: at As the winter evenings in cam]) his post, and there he stood until the were genet ally dreary, the men would water in the pan was nearly frozen r.-sort, to different schemes to create over and he quite frozen through. a little amusemept, chief among When my tent-mate had return¬ whT,h was throwing cartridges in ed to our tent and not finding me each other’s chimneys. Many a pot there, came to the conclusion that J jof coffee or mess pan of bean soup was up at the sergeant,’s.qunrters, so was sent flying across the tent just with his hands in his pockets and as their owner would he counting on l)is head drawn down in his coat col¬ a good supper. But as nearly all of lar he came along up the line resem¬ the tnen were «iven to those kind of bling some one about to commit a 1 tricks there was not much excuse for crime. The sergeant saw him coming lone getting angry when lie lost his and was sure he had his man, and as I supper in that way. Glenn reached the front of the tent There was one man, however, who lie halted and was in the act of peep. , never indulged in thosekind of tricks. ing in when the sergeant made a rush jSeargeant Pitman of our Company for lnm. [leaning him coming he entered the service to help put down turned just in time to receive the j the Rebellion and when he burned a contents of the pan right into hiss| cartridge it was for that purpose. face. The cold water took his breath jOne very cold night my tent-mate and all he could do for a few minute,rj W;is to puff an! blow and try to re- the, antique furniture a: £!nn it. When lie had done so he’ oak flooring all fastened tog< sh/nited: “Wliat did you do that for?”) wooden pins or wrought i Iiat did you tlirow cartridges make a strange contrast down my chimney for?” yelled the! churches of to-day. sergeant. In the church yard adjoining the old church, the same: contrast is noticed; Then came the denials from Glennj alongside the; handsome marble and and the accusations from the ser- granite monuments of to-day, yon find geant until I was afraid they would) the old rough weather beaten stones of come to blows, so I went out and ac¬ a century ago The graves are now sunk so low that their position can knowledged that it was I that had I scarcely be located. thrown the cartridges in the fire: Here, too, stands the bandsome^mon- but the sergeant would not acknowl- ument erected by the State in memory edge that he believed it, but said I of Francis R. Shunk, Governor of was saying that to shield Glenn. Pennsvlvania, born at the Trappe, August 7th, 1788, and died at Harris As Glenn was wet to the skin, I was burg, July 20th, 1848. The monument tearful he would have a chill, so I has¬ was erected July 4th, 1851, and con¬ tened him off to our tent and marie I tains the coat of arms of the State, a hot fire and dried him off the best along with a lengthy epitaph. The I could. A few nights after, while handsome monument is, from the ef- fects<)f the weather, cracking consid¬ sitting alone in my tent, I heard, erable and will need attention before something drop down my chimne}’, long. and, thinking some one was about Iu the old grave yard, there are also to give me a salute. I turned my j several old tombstones. The grave of back and waited, but none came. I the first pastor of the little congrega¬ tion is directly in the rear of the made up my mind that it wasa piece church, and contains the inscription, .of mud that had fallen from the chim¬ “Sacred to the memory of Henry Muh¬ ney, as we used it instead of mortar lenberg, first pastor, born Sept. 6th in building.^ I always kept a back 1711 and died Oct. 7th, 1787. log on my fire, and on retiring for) Here, also, lie the remains of Gene ral Peter Muhlenberg, a soldier,cabine the night I would cover it with offiaer, and statesman; and his epitap^ ashes, and by so doing I could keep is worthy of pub'ination on account of my fire all night. the strong terms it is couched in. Thfe To be continued. inscription on the flat old fashioned tomb reads as follows: “Sacred to the memory of Gen. Peter Muhlerberg, born October 1st, 1746, departed this life October 1st, 1807. aged 61 years. From, He was brave in the field, faithful in the cabinet, honorable in all his trans¬ actions—a sincere frier,d and an honest ynfl,n. The 100th anniversary of the old church was recently celebrated, and : Date, Y' / g gg/, drew crowds from far and near; so glUUiUgreat was" the--- -interest felt in the oldi Historic building. OLD TRAP PE CHURCH.

A Historical Spot Along the Reading From,..... PlUe in Montgomery County.

Over in Montgomery county along the Philadelphia and Reading Pike, is a quiet yet historic spot. In the church yard aimost side by side with a new and modern edifice stands a low T)ate,/3fez4, -F 3 ''*V weather beaten stone structure. This is the original old Trappe Lutheran Church, and the date in the Latin in¬ Old Documents. scription over the door, states that it was erected in 1743. The old historic building has been ■TWO OLD DOCUMENTS OF GREAT INTEREST preserved as nearly as possible in its primitive condition. The outside and the interior of the building has been f reserved intact. Inside the building, Mr. B. Brooke Adams of Upper Merion has in his possession two old documents of IgTelThTstoric value. They relate to au es¬ Mr Brooke says that Ann Rees’ dower tate settled by his mother’s grandfather. is paid up to her death, and she died the The following is a copy of them m full : 16th of September, 1793. Know all men by these presents, That i Know all man by these presents, That I |w, Samuel Brooke of Upper Me non |the within named John Cross, for and in |Township, Montgomery County, and o a consideration ot the sum ©t thirty pounds 1 Brooke ot Radnor Township, Chester lawful money of Pennsylvania, to me in Jconnty, are held and firmly bound unto hand, paid or secured to be paid by Paul John Cross of Upper Merion Township, in Bukys. of the city of Philadelphia, the re¬ the just and mil form of one hundred and ceipt whereof I do hereby acknowledge, S si sty-six pounds, thirteen shillings and have assigned, transferred and set over, Ifour ponce of gold and silver money as > and by these presents do assign, transfer Snow passes to be paid to the said John and set over to the said Paul tfukys, his^ - ¥jros* his certain attorney, heirs, executors, executor and assigns all my right title and [administrators, assigns, to which payment • interest in and to the within obligation and Li and truly to be made, we as hereby the moneys thereby payable subject to the bind ourselves, our heirs, executors, ad- payment of Ann Rees, dower during bei jmiuistrators, and every ot them join J life as appears in the condition of said land severally firmly by these presents bond in witness whereof, I have here unto [sealed with our seals, dated the first day set my hand of seal this twentv-ninth day 1 of May, Anno Domino, one thousand seven of February, one thousand seven hundred^ [hundred and eighty six--1786. and eighty-eighth. I The condition of this obligation is t.ut.o John Ceoss. (that if the above bound Samuel Brooke and Sealed and dslivered f Lindsay Coats, 1 John Brooke, or either ot them, their, o. in the presenca of \ John Roberts.

[either of their heiis, executors, or admin- I, James Morris, Esq , Register for the lietrators do pay or cause to be paid unto I probate of wills and granting letters oi : lAnn Rees of Upper Merion Townsh.p. administration in and for the county of jaforesaid, the sum ot five pounds money at- Montgomery in the Commonwealth I fords on the first day of April next, and a Pennsylvania. alike sum of five pounds yearly and every To Elizabeth Brooke and Jesse Brooke [year after during her natural lite. A Uen administrators of all and singular,the good *®f her dower of and in a certain eighty and chatties of Samuel Brooke, deceased, [acres of land, sold by the said Cross and greeting. (Richard Balce to the said Brooke, and at Whereas the said Samuel Brooke, lately [her decease to pay or cause to be paid un died intestate (as is affirmed) having,whilst |to the said John Cross, his heirs, executors, he lived, and at the time of his decease, [administrators, or assigns the sum o) divers goods and chattels, rights and eighty three pounds, six shillings, and credits, within the said county, by means Light pence money as aforesaid. But it in whereof the full disposition and power of ’ lease the said Ann Rees should happen to granting letters of administration thereof (die before the first day of April, Anno is manifestly known to belong to me: I|| [Domino, one ihousand seven hundred and therefore, desiring that the goods and eighty-eight, the said money is not to be chattels, rights and credits, which were of -come due until the said John Cross, until the said deceased, may be well and truly ■the said first day of April, then this obli- administered, converted and disposed of Igation to be paid and of none effect or according to law, do hereby grant unto yon lelse to be and remain in lull force and vir the said Elizabeth Brook and Jesse Brooke, i jtue at law. Samuel Beooke, (in whose fidelity in this behalf I very John Beooke. much confide) full power, by the tenor of ^ Sealed and delivered f ISAAC Rees, these presents, to administer the goods and in presence of l Moses Davis. chattels, rights and credits, which were of September 11th, 1792. Ido hereby ac-i the said deceased, within the said county; ^knowledge to have received the sum ofj as also to ask, collect, levy, recover and [thirty pounds, being the .merest or dower! receive, the credits whatsoever of the said (coming to me agreeable to the condition ol deceased, which at the time of bis death [the within bond and which is paid up to , were owing or did anyway belong to him |the first day of April 1792. and to pay the debts in which the said de¬ Witness : Lindsay Coats. ceased stood obliged, so far forth as the said her Ann x Rees ■ goods and chattels, rights and credits, -O,-’ .

■T.'- *■ : A extend according fixate ana order of law, ■ usurely approached tfie* river nt-,„ | - especially of well and truly administering the goods and chattels, rights and credits, the place then called Swedes Ford. cvv -.A-- which were of the said deceased, and mat¬ By their diess they might have been w ing a true and perfect inventory and con- known as troopers of the Continental scionable appraisement thereof, and exhib¬ army, and their leader, as Capt Allen iting the same into the Register’s office, at McClane, the daring partisan ranger [ Norristown, on or before the second day of of the old Maryland line. March next ensuing; and also a trne and jnst account, calculation and reckoning, o* “Halt !’’ cried the Captain as they! >-r. came to the ford. your administration, upon yonr solem oath j to render at or before the second day ot “Dismount, boys and feed quick F i March, in the year of our Lord, one thous- i • • Now, Bill, give us a blast from your ■Jand seyen hundred and ninety three, or horn.'’ 1 . when legally thereunto required. And I A few notes of the bugle sounded| ■do, by these presents, ordain, constitute land depute you, the said Elizabeth Brooke f- across the river, and were quietly an¬ land Jesse Brooke, administrators of all and swered from the other side. 1 singular the goods aud chattels, rights and Having given his orders, the Cap gj credits, which were of the said deceased, tain of the company, with his servant,I q within the limits aforesaid,saving harmless, entered the stream at the ford, riding and for ever indemnifying me, and all slowly along as if to ascertain its other officers, ^gainst all persons, by reason of your administration aforesaid,and saving depth. As he gained the shore, he all others their rights, &c. In testimony was met by several American officers, whereof, I have caused the seal of the said who seemed to be awaiting his arrival- office to bo hereunto affixed. Dated at After a short consultation with them, Noriistown aforesaid, the .,econd day of he returned again to his company’ February, in the year of hr Lord, one who were busy finishing their hasty thousand seyen hundred and ninety-twa. early breakfast. Samuel D. Shoemaker, Dept’y for I James Morris, Register. “All right, boys” said the captain, “and before to-morrow our army will be safe on the other side of the river, on their way to Valley Forge. No ’ for the camp.” In a few moments the merry troop¬ ers were again in their saddles, and soon disappeared in the thick forests that then covered the greater part of the country. They had been scouting Old all night towards Philadelphia, and found the enemy quietly resting in

Washington’s army crossing the their lines, were returning to report

SCHUYLKILL MORE THAN AN HUN¬ to Washington at headquarters. DRED YEARS AGO. Swedes Ford, to which we have in¬ troduced the reader, is made memor- IBY REV. A. J, WEDDELL, D. D. ab e in the annals of the Revolution, by the passage of the American army’ under Washington, on its painful and Just as the early dawn was beginn sorrowful march to Valley Forge. The ing to brighten the hills that bound Ford is now entirely obliterated, and. lithe valley of the Schuylkill, on the even its exact locality is scarcelyf 112th of December in the year of our know. Tradition place it about fifty!

■Lord 1777, a small party of horsemen or a hundred yards above the lower bridge. It was marked on the Norris- 63

now became (the town side Dy a large wma» tree, an scene of military activity. On the on the Bridgeport side by two pines western side of the river was jiftr-l and the old Swedes Ford tavern still shaded Gen.'Potter’s brigade, guard-' standing. But the willow and the ing the crossing. Scouts patrolled the pines have long since disappeared roads leading from the city. Soon the under the hand of time and man ; and long motley train of baggage wagons •v. the old Ford once the highway of and rude ambulances, with the sick and armies, now exists only in history and! wounded cam'e pouring in from the [song. Ridge road. The yel's and shouts o f A hundred years ago, the river Schuyl¬ the drivers, the rumbling of heavy kill rolled along in all its native wild- | wheels over the frozen ground, and I ness and beauty. No bridges spanned |y> ■ the neighing of horses, filled thevalleyl [it 3 no dams obstructed if waters asyl with the discordant and confused! jthey murmured on through banks ; sounds of a hurried military move-! guarded and shaded by the primeval ; ment. forests. Towns there were none. The In the distance was heard thel old Swedes’ Church, and a few scat¬ bugle’s blast,the shrill note of the fife,I tered farms and houses occupied the , ^ and fie rattle of drums, as the regi-J [grounds upon which Norristown, ; ments, brigades and divisions of th I Bridgeport and Swedesburg now j * Continental army, with banners soile (stands. and torn in battle, came marching onl It was the darkest hour in the iear- to the Ford, and spread out over the! jful struggle for American Indepen-i narrow plain. dence. The battles of Brandywine It was an army in rags, covered® and Germantown had been fought and with the blood and dust, and black n lost. The British, under Lord Howe, ened in the smoke of the ill-fated® inspired by their victories, had jfield of Brandywine and Germantown,® Larched into Philadelphia, and held through which they had just passed. the metropolis in an iron gnp. Some still bore the unhealed marks o Upon the hills of Whitemarsh lay [r- i recent wounds, Many were without! I the remnant of the American army, shoes or stockings, and stained with! ^disheartened by defeat, almost des their blood, the rough frozen roads Ititute of clothing and provisions, and over which they marched. I exposed to the cold blasts and snows But it was a grand army. Men of winter, which had already set in whose names have become immortal [with all its severity. The troops were there. Under the old forests at [needed shelter and rest, and having Swedesford, were gathered the heroes; jfailed to come to a decision in a coun- l of Washington, Lafayatte, Baron [oil of war, Washington determined to jDeStueben. Green, Knox and Wayne, [place his army in winter quarters who humbled the pride of England [among the wooded hills of Valley upon the plains ofY rktown, gave a [Forge. country to a nation, and freedom to a On the morning of the nth of icontinent. [Decemher, 1777, through a deep snow But, as the enemy hearing of the [that had just fallen, the weary marc’^ iretreat of the army from Whitemarsh jbeean. It was interrupted, however,‘I might be hastening in pursuit, there [by a foraging party sent out by Lord was no time for delay. The river [Cornwallis, that appeared during the being already swollen by the winter [day on the western side of the river rains and snow, the baggage wagons (The enemy, having returned to the® were hastily drawn into the Ford, and the march was resumed. 1

‘ C rv Jw on thcm“ was fo^ed a femporary bridge, over which the infantry of the patriot army passed. As the night advanced, the last division crossed, and the calvary that had remained, behind, guarding the rear,came dashing through the wintery [Date, .^6 /If- river, and all were safely landed on the other side. The hard day's work was done. Camp fires blazed through the surrounding forests and in the open fields, lighting up river and skyi with their cheerful blaze, and soon! nearly ter, thousand weary soldiers lay wrapped in slumbers in their snowy| Mysteries Which Surroun bivouac upon the banks of the Schuyl-: the Old Roberts Mansion kill, j House. Such is the story of old Swedes’ i Ford, more than an hundred years AN UNDERGROUND ago. Now, how changed the scene j -• The forests have disappeared, flourish mg towns have bet n built where the How Thomas Boberts Betrayed the veteran patriots trod ; railroad trains, American Oause_A Fight in a rush with wings of speed over the1' Hallway and^ie Escape—The ground on which the heroes of the Final Ending, revolution marched with bleeding! feet. 6

■ But as we stand beside the tranquil) EARLY a mile from Ardmore 'river, over which they passed, or! Station, on the Penns ylvania wander among the hills of Valley j Railroad,on the old Mill Creek Forge, the winter encampment of over; Road, in the Valley of the one hundred years ago, where all suf-l Mill Creek, a plot u r e s q u e fered and many died, we cannot for-' stream, which j - - —-ir-; '-'i flowing b e- get the sacrifices which they made,nor! Vv tween the hills | of Lower Mer- cease to prize the glorious land which) . ,, _ , ion empties in-i to the Schuylkill River, in the heart of we have received from them, as the! that romantic and beautiful section of country anciently settled by those Welsh heritage of freedom, and the legacy of; Quakers, who seeking to worship after uheir own fashion, came hither into the their patriotism and valor. Not one! woods of Penn, stands yet, although fal¬ ling fast into uter ruin, what was once of that heroic Spartan band now sur¬ a very handsome Colonial dwelling; the possessor of a Revolutionary history, vives. They are all gone ; but. and the country folks say, a ghost. Driving down the “creek road” from Their rest Is glorious—for they sleep Ardmore, and passing the Summer homes In freedom's so bravely won : of A. J. Cassatt, Effingham B. Morris, J. Layton Register and others, you come A nation's banners round them sweep upon the old house suddenly at a turn in A world is now their own : the road just by the Craft Rolling Mill ! And names like their’s shall ever be. and are at once struck with the lonely! I and picturesque appearance of the place.' The watchword ol the brave and free. Although it was gravely asserted in open court in the year 1778 that the plots hatched here proved exceedingly hurtful to the American cause, and if entirely successful might have been disastrous, and although the owner of the property, John Roberts, suffered a traitor’s death for his part in the plot, yet strange to say the local historians tell us little of the affair, and tradition has curiously distorted an interesting story. As the papers relating to the case are said to have disappeared within the memory of man from their depository at Harris¬ burg, and as such parts of diaries kept " ROBERTS MANSION, MILL CREEK.

by persons then living- who were either It is said that through this way Rob- interested or connected with the case erts’ friends were conducted to and from as might shed some light on the sub¬ ■the house. Be this as it may, several ject have either been mutilated or pur¬ posely omitted from publication, and as of the despatches concocted here were many papers bearing on the matter were (found amongst captured British baggaa-e lately destroyed by a descendant of one ; and enough of the plot exposed to war- of Roberts’ friends, little more than the *S,nt/-fhe a:frest 111 the Fail of 1777 by bare facts of a Revolutionary scandal ,the Council of Safety, of a dozen or |which involved a number of the best spirators ® m°St .prominent of the con- (Philadelphia families of that day can be given. As Hi®-, English army was advancing- OLD JOHN ROBERTS. upon Phi adelphia from the head of the Chesapeake there was little time to At the commencement of the Amer¬ i^tard tJ?e ®usPected Friends, with ican Revolution there dwelt in the Mill scant examination, were hustled off to Creek house a Quaker named John Virginia under a strong Continental Roberts, usually described as “miller,” °winS- to the confusion exiting to distinguish him from others of the at the time, and to the imperfect in^ formation, John Roberts escaped 1m" name living nearby, to whom, however, ; mediate connection with the affair he was not related. This Roberts, be¬ was unmolested. anair and sides being a very wealthy man, owning “tetter for you had it been,” exclaim several large mills, and having a large Chief Justice McKean, "had ™ interest in the Principio Iron Company, of Maryland, was very influential with Friends and withal a heartv Tory. Not content, however, with expressing his StrSi™ Sf ’;£««"*• “a aS?t«”S5 offensive opinions openly to his patriotic neighbors, he seems to have felt it his St •“ duty, having been formerly the King’s Magistrate, to precipitate himself into £S' -SI Fa°ls1? some active service wherein he might demonstrate his undying loyalty to his Most Gracious Majesty, King George III. He found many Philadelphia Quakers with as deep rooted Tory principles as his own, and being at the very seat of the Continental Government, they con¬ ulk«rsr!i,.’,n'iS ceived the idea that they could be of infinite use in acquiring information likely to be needful to the King’s armies and conveying the same to British head¬ quarters. The meetings, for purooses of safety, were frequently held at the fPsSIf; [ Mill Creek House, and it was charged against Roberts at his trial, among other things, that he conveyed or assist¬ SaSllSE’S'5!,!£“”'* •» ed to convey the treasonable despatches Pied by the King’s troopl WaS occu His dwelling was certainly well suited the bird had flown. for such meetings. Its very lonely situa¬ tion was greatly in its favor, and curi¬ ously enough from the cellar a covered onRthertlS5Hiaof escaP«l when. passage way extended underground to tthe distance of nearly half a mile. terminating at one of the mills. This serted thaf him. It had been as- passage had a secret entrance from the cellar, and afforded not only an excel- lent hiding place, but also a safe means seemed to confirm the belief Th» a S°nS of escape should the house be surround- licans finaHy burst into thf’ The Amer" ed. fashioned billed one of Roberts? sons !was shot down in the scuffle^that foh ■'Ufe. , 7.'

• VT.V. 66

HALL OF THE --—--—- in vam ■ his ramiiy tiung tnemseiVes Wi lowed and others captured. General their knees before assembled Congress.; Potter, sv.'ord In hand, led his men t AN EXAMPLE NEEDED. other parts of the building, but the bird His life indeed might have been spared! hSome ver' say that one of the defenders had not a few known the full extent oft the black treason that had nearly; _ caused so much injury to the American* cause. A terrible example was needed,: E>i-d ssa and Roberts, as the most guilty, was ad-i t wen tv-one head of cattle, al^ thirty judged to suffer. Soon after his trial he| was led out on the City Common, and in ssr,?%,„”t!rstraw. They alf°om L £ne of Roberts’:.“4 company with one Abraham Carlyle, . M?l?£ but this, according to tradition, is I who had also been convicted of a minor said to* have been poisoned, and many treasonable offense, was hung to death, So’diers were afterward violently ill and his body was laid at rest in the and some died. It was probably the loss i ground of the Merion Meeting. It is of his goods, valued at five hundred pounds, that prompted this unhappy said he died bravely, and with “Long live King George” on his lips. I The plantation being forfeited was sold "SS “Sft 'conSmp"™,/•; «««• and the house has only been ten¬ anted since at long intervals, partly on #?Roberts siaaf^a as a person graftlikely to be of account of the loneliness of the spot, I and partly because the neighbors insist SeAfier some6 parley, he consented, and that the place is haunted. There have I • accordingly, early on the morning of certainly been some very strange mani- ,, December H, 1777, a strong force under testations in the ancient house which the command of Cornwallis, crossed the have frightened several persons very I Schuylkill and advanced toward whaly. badly, but from what natural causes I tbev mav have sprung is left for those;-,, for^eBasnguidaeTrrode John curious to discover. The country peo¬ ple have long related how Roberts, har- . S, mrny°LuSeerrnhur^rSto ^he ing, as they say, ground up glass, mixed it with the flour furnished by him to the 1 American troops, and was hung, there- x aisa ss1 ^rj.’Strs fore, upon a tree which they point out, ] 18S& S* SSf a««.«w and buried under it, and further that his ghost still haunts the house. Anyway I the old manse is doomed to an early des¬ truction to make room for a new villa, and soon the hum of the trolley will 2;, ns;, ss take the place of the moan of Roberts _g ghost and the haunted house of Mill t Creek remembered only by the oldest in- 1 Ittrial ”srffgsfor his life. Although defended by habitant. THOMAS A. GLENN, I able counsel, among whom d^ns El Bourdinot, member of the Co:n$£OUgh i Congress from NewJersey,Thomas Mc- the unceasing efforts of Thomas Kean, Charles Thomson, and ^ ed 8sa v“S sst^a 1? s; its wkSE P T&9JW' m ‘ Yjhouse, conveyancer, real estate and‘in- Hsu ranee officers, a building and loan as-< From,./2:.Y^ :ZS/^ -isociation, library association and otherj ■ institutions of learning and usefulness,j ■ and about three hundred and eighty! ■inhabitants, sixty-five of whom ° anJ .(33. ! jfree-holders. Your petitioners arc! anxious to have said village incorporated! jS ■ land made a body politic with the name,I Date, F/&±z4z^_ *J/./£%%;?, | jstyle and title of the borough of North! , Wales, whose boundaries shall be as fol¬ NORTH WALES7 lows, to wit: Beginning at a stake set* Jfor a corner in a public road in the line' of lands of Frederick Beaver and Daniel ITS CORPORATE HISTORY ttfuRINGmii THE Kenderdine; thence south 60^0; east re-, LAST TWENTY-FIVE YEARS TOLD IN A SERIES OF FIVE ARTICLES, OF WHICH Kspeetively by lands of said Kenderdine, THIS IS THE FIRST. David Moyer, John M. Nice and Joseph • IK. Anders 111 perches to a corner in On August 20th, 1894, North Wales, as land ol said Anders; thence by the samel an incorporated borough, will be just south 42^°; west eighty-five perches to twenty-five years old,and the writer deems the Spring-house and Sumneytown turn-j the occasion sufficiently noteworthy pike; thence, by the same, south 60°;; to merit some notice, especially as it has east twenty perches to a corner of Sam-? been more or less authoritatively stated uel R. Bird’s land; thence, by the same,, that the borough’s twenty-filth birthday, south 30°; west twenty-eight perches to will oe made the occasion of a quarter- a corner; thence, by land of Moyer and centennial celebration. Aside from .this - Shearer, aforesaid, Jacob W. Shearer1 tact, it must be interesting to the tax¬ and George Wolf respectively; north payer to compare the former with the 60°; west 114 perches to a maple tree on ater both as to the financial statements land of George Wolf; thence 41§° north; and tne election of officers; how the list S [east 113 perches to the place of begin¬ <>t taxables and taxed has been increased- ning.” how son succeeds father in office; how’ The petition from North Wales village after period of twenty-five years, North I a was filed on November 16th, 18G8, and! " ales is once more in the hands of the approved by the Grand Jury four months: same constable. New citizens, both later-—February 16th, 1869. It was those who have grown up from childhood “continued” on the same date; that is, an ..UKI those who have moved to North opportunity was thus to be given inter- | iVa.es trom other localities, will now be jested parties to file a remonstrance, which .enabled to know the why and wherefore ■" ithey did on April 14th, 1869, but the jot certain ordinances and regulations. Judge dismissed the case until June 21, io the oldest inhabitant” it brings when the remonstrants and petitioners, ' back recollections, some fond, some ;teu witnesses on each side, were heard. [otherwise North Wales had its earl'y 1 with the result that on the following troubles, that made their interesting iff August, on the twentieth day thereof, of not altogether profitable and enjoyable . the year 1869, the petition was granted, appearance. One cannot help but notice’ll I and North Wales was incorporated as a that the men who early in its history 'borough. In granting the petition the Identified themselves with the boromffi’sf Court concluded with: “And now, to best interests are still its most earnest j wit—August 20th, 1869, the Court con-1 supporters; watchful of and ambitious ’ firms the judgment of the Grand Jury, tor its growth now as then. In making-1 jand decrees that the said town of North M application for a charter for the borough! Wales be incorporated into a borough in } rlLNnrt\WaloS’ through Clerk of | conformity with the prayers of the peti- > the Quarter Sessions to the Court of jtioners; the corporation, style and title!* -Montgomery county, in 1868, I. P. Quill- thereof shall be ‘The Borough of North man,at that time the Court’s clerk,found Wales;’ that the boundaries thereof |?WioT7tOPreSeilt the foIlo-»Sex- shall be as set forth in said petition for incorporation, and that a special borough l ‘,‘ThaJi the Petitioners are freeholders election shall be held at the public house aRd citizens of the village of North of Abel Lukens, in said borough, in ac¬ Wales, situated on and along the Spring-1 cordance with and subject to all the pro¬ ihouse and Sumneytown turnpike, at tiul visions of a separate election and school near where said road crosses the North district. The Court further decrees and Pennsylvania railroad in said township of fixes the first election in said borough, Gwynedd and county of Montgomery for electro-i of officers provided for by aforesaid; that said village is a thriving law. at toe said public house of Abel L owing, rapidly-increasing and active I Lukens, on the 21st day of September, business town, containing a depot, lum-'fe 1869, between the hours <■.' -fight o’clock, er yard, coal yard, three general stores 'll a. ni., and six o’clock, p. , of said day, fee^f s?016’ H°0t’ Sh°e ancl trunk store’, I and designates Abel K. S .carer to give /fed store, flour mill, two hotels res-ff* due notice of said election and the man¬ aurant, saddiery, harness maker, shoe-1 ner thereof, and the Court further de¬ shonT’ “acksuiith,, sh<>ps, wheelwright! crees that Augustus W. Dectra be Judge shops steam moulding, sash and door land I. W. Warn pole ami George Youn kiln, churches,school" 'the inspectors of said election.” ) , 'fences; that Mair At the 'special election held on tne ullcll southward to Washing! that tile Street Commissioner re^l a salary of $3 per day; that.thatI of Montgomery avenue vacated by ssa I the" lengthening of' the street and the [changing of tfle street’s line was sold to| ■ r Noah W. Weikel; Judge of Election*, Vu°'ustus W. Dettra; Inspector, Geoige M il¬ W Nyce! There -s a tie vote for Abel Johnson; * l-hat I Lukens and John S. Knight tor Inspec- orristo a'u, wasj /i tor Assessor, Daniel Kenderdme, Au apmffnted boro igh soli, or at a sala: ■y (if I I v ' , Hp'it v W. Mover: School Direc- l$25 per annum: that the amount of the I J tors—for short terms, George Schlotterm treasurer’s bonfl was hx>.itix.s.l ataw bt,0 *. wi. u[ • and William Wilson; one year, Di. 1*. tv. sureties to he approved by the Council; | Johnson and Leidy Gerhart; two yean | that it was declared an dlegal act- to al-| I-aac G. Freed and John Ivline, .. astices low any car, stage, wagon, carnage o the '" ace Isr.r.c W. Warn lr, and other vehicle upon or to lead or drive horse or other animal on the pavement.*! under a penalty to suit the crime one- j firmed the newly-elected burgess and half of the fine to be given to the mloin - dcouncilmen, with a single exception Jo er- that an ordinance was passed lequn ■ tsenh K. Anders, who was affirmed bi,V all sleet, hail or snow to be removed! lithe burgess, George Schlotterer. Tie from every pavement belonging to .,1 1 first Council organized by oh

THE “HARRITON- MANSION, 1704.

Iced a large date-stone built in the wall; Some time in tne year 1717 Richard It bore the following inscription:— H_rrison, Jr., came into the Province of "HARRITON FAMILY CEMETERY. Pennsylvania from the western shore of ANNO 1719." Maryland, where his people had settled two generations before, in what was On the reverse of the stone facing in¬ then Calvert County. The elder Har¬ side the enclosure another inscription rison was said to have been a friend of conveyed this information, to wit:— the great Quaker George Fox. The son was or the same religious belief and THIS STONE IS OPPOSITE THE DIVISION strong in its convictions BETWEEN TWO ROWS OF FAMILY GRAVES Harrison’s stay in Pennsyl¬ WHEREIN WERE INTERRED vania he met and wooed Miss Mary Nor- RICHARD HARRISON r<'S'-JVh0^e Xather’ !saac Norris, was one (DIED M.ARCH 2, 1747) jof Penns Councilors. She was a grand- ! daughter of the Colonial Governor, AND A NUMBER OF HIS DESCENDANTS ^loy,d' Thls lady became Rich^ ALSO ard Harrison s second wife. It had been CHARLES THOMSON, previously arranged that Mrs. Harrison SECRETARY OF CONTINENTAL CONGRESS, hifchnlfri g° In‘° Maryland, where her DIED AUG. 16, 1824, husband as a large tobacco grower and AND 1 e - hi °I

,ame to America about 1650 from Bryn "same house and ground shall Mawr in Merionethshire, Wales, antedat- i “after be exempted and reserved ing Penn’s arrival several years. “said tract, of land in Merlon “shall remain and continne to be fc ATTACKED BY PIRATES. “service of a meetinghouse and This tract was located in Merioneth “terment.” Township, not far from Philadelphia. By the death of Mrs. Harrlson- Here Richard Harrison settled, hut not wldow—and partition proceedings amou before he had experienced the lose of the then living heirs, the title to his household goods that had been plantation was settled upon Kann shipped by vessel from Maryland. This Harrison who afterward married Charles event happened on the voyage up the Thomson, a prominent scholar and| Delaware River, at some point a few’ teacher. This event took place in 1774. miles below Philadelphia. An attack Charles Thomson was one of that ve- was made by pirates, who seized all the markable group of men which the furniture and valuables, but consider¬ ditions of those times produced. He had ately landed the slaves at some point on been born in the North of Ireland, in the river. 1729, and was but ten years of age when J The house where Harrison took up his his brothers and he landed at New Cas- ‘ abode is still standing on the old farm, tie, Del. He found friends at once rt Had been built by Ellis in 1704. It is among the people there. Quick to recog¬ said that ail of the material used in its nize the lad’s native qualities, a chance construction was drawn to the site in was procured for him of entering Dr. Alli¬ the panniers of pack-horses. Harrison son’s Seminary, at New London, Pa. finished the clearing of his estate, to Here his abilities were rapidly developed; which he gave the name of “Harriton,” becoming particularly proficient as a and began the cultivation of tobacco. classical scholar, and afterward return¬ This became his principal pursuit until ing to New Castle to become a teacher finally, by continuous cropping, the soil in the Friends’ School there. became so impoverished as to make to¬ COMING TO PHILADELPHIA. bacco planting an unprofitable business. It was not long after the family had It was while thus employed that he gotten comfortably settled in their new came under the notice of leading men, home before a new experience presented not the least of whom was Dr. Franklin, itself. The negro slaves that had been who eventually sought Thomson’s ser¬ brought from Maryland had shown signs of discontent and wanted to re¬ turn to the South. The family tradi¬ tions say that the. scheme was to de¬ stroy their master and mistress by poison, and only the timely discovery of the design, by what might be termed a miraculous interposition of Providence, was the means of saving the family. KILLED THE CAT. The circumstances were about as fol¬ lows: One morning while the family were seated at breakfast, and during the brief interval of silence which usually precedes a meal In the Society of Friends, a knocking was heard at the | front door, which opens directly into the om used as the principal living apart¬ ment. Mr. Harrison called out to his would-be visitor to enter, but there was I no response, and the knocking continued. I Mr. Harrison then re. n.-stily from the; table, and in so doing precipitated its contents upon the floor. No one was found at the door. But In the meantime the family cat had been regaling itself with the spilled chocolate, I ■when it was suddenly seized with con¬ vulsions and died in a short time. These' incidents seemed to have a mysterious I effect upon the negroes. Their super-1 stitious natures foresaw in these strange I happenings some awful retribution, and they presently confessed to their master Richard Harrison, Jr. how they had planned to murder and plunder the family and then flee back to Maryland. Richard Harrison was noted for his re¬ vices as an assistant in the first acad¬ ligious devotion, and in 1730 he caused emy established in Philadelphia. to be erected on his property adjoining Taking an early interest in the public the little cemetery, a small meeting affairs of his day, Thomson also became house, which ‘‘was of stone, one-story earnestly interested in the welfare of the high and about 15 by 30 feet.” Here the f Indians. His influence among them was family, with friends and neighbors wor¬ extensive, and they recognized in him a shipped for mahy years. The meeting¬ faithful zealous friend, whose word they house was destroyed in 1819. Richard , i implicitly trusted. In view of these Harrison died In 1747, leaving to survive | facts, one is not surprised to find it re¬ him a widow and four children. corded that, in the year 1756, he was HARRISON’S WILL. adopted into the Delaware Tribe at Easton. They gave him the name In his will the following clause was “Wegh-wa-law-mo-end”—signifying “a found regarding the meeting-house and man of truth.” Frequently, Thomson cemetery. referred to this circumstance, and hiS| "And, whereas, I have erected a certain general connection with them by saying meetinghouse or place of worship on part of that he was half Indian himself. “my said tract of land in Merion Township This intercourse with the Indians, his ‘‘aforesaid. No*-, therefore, tt is my will, j familiarity with their mode of life, af¬ “and I do hereby declare, that the said meet- forded him an opportunity of study, "inghouse togetler with a square piece ofj which resulted in the publication in Lon¬ “ground containing, by estimation, two acres don,in 1759,of“An Inquiry into the Causes ‘‘at least, adjoining to the said house, where of the Alieniation of the Delaware and "several of my children lie interred, shall not Shawnese Indians, with Notes on Indian "be sold by mji said trustees, but that the; Customs, by the Editor.” 71

w.*'' -

THE OLD BURYING GROUND.

MADE COLONIAL SECRETARY. tion to General Washington, then at Mount Vernon. The disturbance throughout the Col¬ Leaving New York April 7, 1789, onies regarding British persecutions, the Thomson reached Mount Vernon a week enforcement of obnoxiou^laws, and in later, a journey now of but a few hours. other ways goading the people, produced Presenting the certificate to thePresl- the incident of the closing of the port dent-elect, Washington replied In part as of Boston by the English King. During follows:— the sequent agitation which followed, ‘‘Upon considering how long time some of the gentlemen of both houses of Con¬ Thomson must have taken a conspicuous gress have been at New York, how anx¬ part, for he became the secretary of a iously desirous they must be to proceed gathering of Colonial delegates whose to business, and how deeply the public deliberations, ultimately resulted in the mind appears to be Impressed with the combination of the delegates into a necessity of doing it speedily, I cannot general congress which passed into his¬ find myself at liberty to delay my jour¬ tory as the First Continental Congress. ney. X shall therefore be In readiness to They met In Carpenters’ Hall, Phila¬ set out the day after to-morrow and delphia, September, 1774. Peyton Ran- shall be happy in the pleasure of your dolph was chosen president, and Charles company, for you will permit, me to say i that it Is a peculiar gratification to hav< Thomson, secretary. Although “unaware- received this comunication from you. at the time of the honor bestowed upon him he subsequently met the messenger, THE JOURNEY TO NEW YORK. while driving into the town from “Har- Washington began on ^ April 16, 1789. riton,”- with his wife, Hannah Harrison, whom he had lately married. that memorable inaugural journey, in Mr. Thomson took the office conferred the company of Charles Thomson and upon him, temporarily for a year. At', | Colonel Humphries, arriving in New York the end of that time, he declined the sal- §; on April 23, amid a din of rejoicing, ary due for his services, so Congress ,j which had continued with unabated | thereupon voted to Mrs. Thomson a-; enthusiasm from Mount Vernon to Fed¬ handsome silver urn in recompense, they eral Hall, where he took the oath of of¬ said, of having deprived her of her hus¬ fice as the first President of these United band’s society. States of America. Thomson was persuaded to continue In After these excitements Charles Thom¬ the office to which he had been appointed son retired to the privacy of “Harriton,” for fifteen years, serving continuously, giving himself up to those literary pur¬ until the first meeting of Congress under suits of which he was so fond. Being the new or present Constitution. In his, eminently fitted for the task, and be¬ official capacity, as secretary, it became' cause, also, of the peculiar advantages his duty in 177G, to read the Declaration which his former position had given him, of Independence to the assembled Con¬ he prepared a history of the Revolution, gress, after the instrument had been i but fearing, however, that the publication drafted by Jefferson and had been ap¬ i of this work might give pain to the de¬ proved by the committee. scendants of some of the principal char¬ ENVOY TO WASHINGTON. acters therein described, he destroyed the | When at last the new Constitution had j manuscript, and thus posterity has prob- ! ably lost something that would have been ibeen ratified by the majority of States useful and authentic. and the House of Representatives had About 1798, Charles Thomson and his 'convened at New York for the purpose wife, having no children, joined in a of counting the electoral vote in accord¬ deed, conveying the plantation of “Har¬ ance with its provisions, it was found riton ” unto Charles McClenachan, a that George Washington had been unan¬ nephew of Thomson's, reserving unto imously elected President of the United themselves simply a life interest In the ,States. Charles Thomson was delegated estate, and still continuing to reside !by Congress to carry the notice of elec¬ thereon. Mrs. Thomson died In 1807 and was buried in the family cemetery. ~ FrEST''AMERICAN TRANSLATION. Laurel Hill Cemetery, wishing 1 the benefit to be derived from the In the following year Thomson brought1 session of a few distinguished t_ out a translation of the Scriptures, a buried within their grounds, made over-1 work upon which he had been engaged; tures to the ’’Harriton” heirs for per-' for several years. The Old Testament mission to move the bodies of Charles ! he translated from the Septuaglnt, the, Thomson and his wife to their beau¬ tiful necropolis on the banks of the production being the first English trans-j Schuylkill. After considerable corres- ’ lation of the Holy Bible accomplished in pondence between the parties concerned this country. , ,, the application was refused. Between the years 1(95 and 1810, the little cemetery in the woods began to cause contentions. Outsiders wanted to bury their dead there, which was finally permitted; hence, one may see over on the left of the lot a series of strangers graves, bearing the names of Cochrane, Elliott, Roberts and others, having no family connections with the Harrisons. On the right hand side of the grounds, as the old household domestics dropped off, there they were laid away, until in time, two well filled rows of graves, Date, ¥'.'/???, each with its rough headstone, took up | | one end of the cemetery. The center of the ground was reserved for the family burials. HISTORY OF At the beginning of the present cen¬ tury, the Baptists having come into the neighborhood, Charles McClenachan ^_JENKINTOWN. gave to them a plot of ground at the corner of the Gulf and Roberts Roads for church and burial purposes. In the church that was subsequently built there; Thomson worshipped in the latter years; Interesting Facts About the Pioneers I of his life; and the first pastor of it was Rev. Horatio Gates Jones, famous of This Community—Old in his day. This church now, by the way, has been reft of its primitive: York Road. style of simplicity, and the visitor sees I in its stead a battlemented nondescript. I .Mr. George W. Childs contributed to! Jcnkintown was incorporated Dccemberi this church a handsome memorial win¬ dow, dedicated to Charles Thomson. | 8, 1874, and all its territory, comprisingB OTHER WRITINGS. an area of 248 acres, was taken froml Thomson continued to wield the quill, Abington Township. Its extreme length | and in 1815 appeared "A Synopsis of the • Four Evangelists, etc.,’’ published in from north to south is about tlirec-cpiar-1 Philadelphia. Other writings followed. ters of a mile. The main or business por-g He still resided at Harriton, and died; there in August, 1824. Among his lit-; tion of the town is situated along York; erary remains was a valuable paper avenue, opened through here as a high-1 entitled, “Critical Annotations on Gil¬ bert Wakefield’s Works,” which was way from Philadelphia to the Delaware | presented some time later to the Mas-, River in the fall of 1711, and turnpikcd| sachusetts Historical Society. The old from the Rising Sun to Willow Grove ini secretary wished to be buried beside his wife, and there he was laid. 1804. The station of the North Pcunsyl-I Through life Thomson had always been popular. He had a dignified man¬ Ivania Railroad, situated in the southwest-l ner and was an affable and courteous! ern corner of the borough, close to the I speaker. While in Congress he was said to have been “the very life of that Cheltenham line, is 8 1-10 miles from! body.” When age grew upon him he did not require any artificial aid to the Philadelphia, 46 from Bethlehem and Sol faculties; never used spectacles; his teeth remained sound. He was regular from New York. The road was opened] in habits and vigorous in body, but his for travel in 1856, and the branch to Newl mind unfortunately fell into decay, his brilliant intellect became clouded, and York in May, 1876. A considerable I he soon became a mental wreck. The ashes of Thomson were not des-j amount of business is done here, as may I tined to rest undisturbed beneath: thei be well supposed, it being the stopping! old “Harriton” oaks. Trouble arose from certain citizens of Lower Merion place for over 50 daily passenger trains I wanting to get possession of the cem¬ etery for public use. The Legislature) each way and on Sundays over 25. Gor-jj was petitioned tothat elid) but tHe| don, inhis “Gazetteer of 1832,” mcntions| plan v/as frustrated by the heirs appear¬ Jcnkintown as containing 30 dwellings, 2I ing before the Legislative committee and proving title. hotels and 2 stores. According to Lake's | Again, in 1833, another attempt was Map, published in i860, it contained at jj made by interested parties to wrest possession of the cemetery from the; that date, 50 houses, 2 hotels, 2 stores | owners, and the crisis was reached) nnd an Episcopal Church. This was the I when some persons notified the owners that they would present themselves first church built in the town. at the cemetery at a stated time to take possession of the burial place. This The earliest mention yet found of the I produced a notice from the owners that name of this borough is on Nicholasl anyone found trespassing <3n the "Har-1 riton” estate would be summarily dealt Scull’s Map of the Province, published ini with, and so ended that scheme; but it was reserved for the year 1838 to 1759, wherein it is called “Jcnkeu’sl witness the consumnation of a bold and Town.’’ William Scull, on his map of! outrageous plan. The promoters of the 1770, denoting it as “Jenkins.” William Calla, which then stood on the present Jenkins, the founder of the family, came Cottman House property. Mr. McCalla, ' from Wales, and it is known that he at > in connection with John Brock, Joseph , least resided in this vicinity in 1697, and Hillman, James Burson, Charles Mer¬ took at that time an active part in pro¬ edith, Charles Stewart, Alex McCalla and moting the erection of the Friends’ Meet¬ Eljiah Tyson, established a semi-weekly ing House. He purchased June 17, 1698, line of stages from Philadelphia to Bethle¬ jfrom John Barnes a tract containing 437 hem, by way of Doylcstown in 1800, ex¬ acres, located on the present York Road, changing horses here, the fare through be¬ about half a mile north of the borough < ing 12.75. boundary. This property in 171.2 was | THE BANK. inhabited by his son Stephen, who con- | The Jenkintown National Bank was . I tinned to reside thereon in I734> and had ■ authorized to commence business by the 'a son, Phiucas Jenkins, rasiding near-by. I Comptroller of the Currency April 17, | In the Assessment of Abington for 1780 | 1S75, the subscriptions therefore having mention is made of Phincas Jenkins, Sr., 1 commenced on the 25th of January pre¬ undoubtedly the former person; William,!% vious. Its original capital was $50,000 Lydia, a widow, and John and Jesse Jen- i| Ianci increased July 6, 1S76, to $70,000^ kins, the latter probably brothers. In | and in January, 1884, to $100,000. The 1779 Sarah Jenkins was licensed by the* bank was opened for business in Ma¬ Court of Quarter Sessions to keep here a :jg sonic Hall May 3, 1875, where it re¬ public house, and herein is undoubtedly 1 mained until the completion of the pres¬ seen how the name got to be applied, as 9 ent building, March 4, 1880.—History of this public house may have been in the S IMontgonicrjr Count}-. family and kept even several years before jfl [We will gladly supplement this liis- 1759. It has been ascertained that •his* !tory of Jenkintown with any facts sent inn stood a few yards below the present to the Times office.] * limits of the borough, and surrounding it | in Abington township was originally I taken up in 16S4 by Sarah Fuller and I John Barnes. The former’s purchase I From, contained 250 and the latter’s 600 acres. M John Barnes and Joseph Phipps were ■ among the earliest settlers. The first ■ highway up into this section from Phila- K dclphia was the York Road in 1711, be-l Date, "/■tY'Y'i side which, at said date, Stephen Jenkins! resided, who was one of (the jurors that assisted in laying it out. The road from , f A GLOOMY, GRAND Fitzwatertown by Weldon and through: j the borough to Abington Meeting House • | was laid out in 1725. Thomas Fitzwater, I OLD MANSION. at this date, carried on lime-burning at! : the former place. The aforesaid roadH now forms East and West avenues. The Age and Association Make road known as Washington Lane was the Morris House in Mont¬ confirmed from Germantown to the Meet¬ gomery County a ing House in 1735, and now forms tin eastern boundry of the borough. From, Notable Edifice. the laying out of these early roads it is evident that at tills period this section must have been taken up and prettj' well STRANGE RELICS OF OLD DAYS settled. The great centre, however, ap¬ pears to have been the stand licensed to High Ceilings and Massive Staircases Stephen Meshon in 1787-88. By an act of Assembly passed March 31, 1797, the That Have Survived Several Gen¬ Third Election District was composed of erations of Owners—Story of the Townships of Abington, Cheltenham and Moreland, which were required to the Building. rote at the public house of William Me t we are 5. pE histori- meiise rooJrisV-Is tl A short - fire-places and mantles ... Philadel- - The fronts of these on the brings us to of black marble and the fi Marsh, Mont¬ on the second floor of light gomery County, a v^hich are enamelled curiou. short distance from Besides the main stairway_ Fort Washington, two others, one at each end of the ho and the famous old —semi-concealed, dark, winding ai fort in which the let in the partition walls, and le;_D American soldiery from the cellar to the garrets, and com¬ intrenched them¬ municating with the rooms in the house. selves after their One of the garrets is nearly 100 feet long defeat at the battle and 20 feet wide; instead of rafters the of Germ a n t o w n. roof is supported by heavy oak beams There is a substan¬ on which are laid three-inch planks. tial mansion, which This room in 1854 was fitted up as a is notable for its lodge room for the Free Masons, who in age, the associations that year split from a Germantown connected with it lodge, but wras never occupied by them and the simplicity on account of the' death of the owner of its architecture. It stands back from of the house, who was one of the se- the Bethlehem pike, several hundred ceders. Many relics are hidden away yards, and is shaded by venerable white in these garrets, collected from time to pines and other trees, some of which time by former owners. They include have weathered a hundred years. The a bundle of war arrows, the flint heads house is large with a brick front—the of which are said to be poisoned, taken bricks with which the front was built from an Indian warrior supposed to have came from England, being brought over been one of a band attached to the as ballast of a ship—and many windows, British army; two that belonged also to over the caps of which are ornamenta¬ an Indian brave of the past; a ghastly tions. collection of human bones in a box— .bones that once forme_d the skeleton of|

■ THE MORRIS HOUSE-fHOPE LODGE." "iou enter through a door of more than a half-grown boy; also an immense'. ordinary large size, by means of soap- palm-leaf.... fan, used by servants morel1 Stone steps, and underneath a portico than 125 years ago to keep the flies from supported by large columns, quaintly the dining table of Samuel Morris, one! carved, and find yourself in a hallway of the owners of the place. In the old-'? which is 40 by 20 feet, which divides the fashioned commodious kitchen still! house into two equal parts. Leading stands the original large open fire-place' therefrom are many doors, with arched wherein hangs the ancient crane. and keystoned tops and columned sides. The exact age of the mansion is un- J The main stairway which leads from known as there are conflicting stories this hall to the garret is wide enough as to who erected it: but it is agreed!^ for a public hall, and rises by easy flights that It was built not later than 1733. It1 of broad, low steps, from story to story, , is stated that the house was erected' J and is enclosed, except on the landings, about 1721 by Henry Hope, the first own- \ where there are richly carved balu¬ er of the property, after whom the place strades. It is In this hallway that the stately dames and gallant courtiers of was named “Hope Lodge Farm;” but it olden times danced in the cotillion, or is claimed by the descendants of Samuel sat around the plentiful table of theii Morris, the second owner, who was also1 hospitable host. the possessor of a large mill on the Wis-! All the ceilings are 13 feet high and the sahickon near by, that he was the build¬ rooms large, with numerous doors er, and this claim seems to be the better throughout the house. The greater part founded one. of these doors open into closets which Samuel Morris was. the eldest son of are indeed rooms large enough to hold Susannah Morris, the eldest daughter of: a bedroom suite. Every chamber has Robert and Susannah Heath, who came ' at least two of these commodious closets, to Philadelphia with William Penn in 1701. Susannah Morris was a noted min- he Society of * 1 known for many y cmrs- a^Mnc Bower journeys to England to preach, Merion Baptist Church of Montgomery i during one of which, in 1731, county, anil what is now looked upon as ' shin wrecked. Samuel Morris, like most one of the oldest Baptist places of wor¬ of the Friends of that time in that sec¬ ship in the State of Pennsylvania. Old- tion. was a strong royalist, even going tie Baptists residing in the vicinity of so far, it is said, as to driveh 1 s cat tie Bryn Mawr, and with whom the writer to Philadelphia for the use of the British soldiery after the battle of Germantown conversed, are divided in opinion as to •rather than let the Americans have whether the “Old Valley Baptist [Church” at Valley Forge does not ante¬ thOrTthe death of Samuel Morris the prop- date the church near Bryn Mawr in its ertv passed into the possession of Joshua rection, but there seems to be a very Morris a brother of Samuel Morris, and eneral belief that the two churches bv him it was sold to William West. He entioned are the oldest of their denom- died in 1782. April 17. 1784, the executors nation of any now standing in the State, jj eranted the premises to John Wilcox and Joshua Emlen to the use of James When first erected the Lower Merion Horatio Watmough for life. He was a aptist Church was a very plain-looking ; general in the Revolutionary army, and building, with no architectural preten- • was a grandfather of the wife of General tions, and it was fairly in keeping with Russell B. Thayer. After residing on $ the primitive-looking old Quaker Meet- s the property for some years he rented I Ln® . House still standing at Lower it to the well-known Steel family, of "Merion and Haverford township;'but re-! Germantown, who lived there nine years, ently the church has been remodeled, and he took up his residence on Price Street Germantown, where he died, Jan¬ and when reopened a presentation ad¬ uary 26, 1812, leaving a widow and the dress was made by the late ex-State i following children, to whom the property Senator Horatio Gates .Tones, whose | descended: John G., Maria Ellis, who ncestor, Rev. Horatio Gates .Tones, D. married Joseph Reed; Margueretta., who a., was the pastor of the Lower Merion married John Sergeant, and Edmund aptist Church from 1808 to 1853. Watmough. On June 19, 1829, Joseph The remodeled church contains a Reed, the husband of Maria Ellis, made large and beautiful memorial window, an assignment of all his estate to Eli K. Price, together with his tenancy by presented by George W. Childs, and courtesy. Eli K. Price granted the ten¬ erected to the memory of Mr. Charles ancy, September 15, 1829. to John ’ Ser- Thompson, who. was secretary of the tjgeant, the husband of Margueretta. Continental Congress, and who presented " John G. Watmough. the eldest son of the land on which the church is erected, General Watmough. and one of the heirs, took an active part in the War of 1812 and who laid the corner-stone of tt and was wounded during an attack on original church building. The bell in the Fort Erie. He was elected a member new tower of the church was presented of Congress in 1830, and was subsequent- by Robert N. Lee, of Bryn Mawr, and lv a High Sheriff of Philadelphia and at the organ is a memorial from the humor¬ °5® time held the position of Surveyor ist, Robert J. Burdette, for his wife, £<■ of the Port. Portions of the estate in whose remains are interred in the old 1830 fell into the hands, by purchase, of burial ground connected with the Lower Jacob TVentz, and on his death, in 1855, Merion Baptist Church. by heirship to Thomas Wentz, the pres¬ The old.church was not erected later ent occupant of the old mansion. than the year 1808, and for many years E. T.-S. m it was the only Baptist place of worship for many miles around. The first Bap¬ tist preaching in Merion was by Rev. Thomas Fleeson, who resided in Rox- borough, where he preached. He was a son of the Hon. Plunket Fleeson, one of j the Admiralty Judges. He was for four years an attendant at Christ Church, Philadelphia, where he played the organ. In 1767 he was baptized by the celebrated Rev. Morgan Edwards, and then became a member of the Phila¬ delphia Baptist Church. In 1775 Mr. Fleeson was licensed to preach, and in April, 1800, he became a member of the Roxborough Baptist Church, which was the only church in that vicinity for more than a quarter of a century. In the olden time it was the'custom I for Baptist preachers to visit places [that were destitute of religious instruc- |tion, and Mr. Fleeson found his way to 1 Merion, where he preached in a school house in what was called “Thomson’s TV oods.” There was an old grave yard» near this school house, with a stone ' wall around it, and known as the “Har- jriton Family Cemetery,” and Mr. Flee-' J son often preached in this old cemeterv, The Oldest Baptist Church in the land was thus employed until the erec¬ tion of the Lower Merion Baptist State of Pennsylvania Church, when he was afforded better I facilities for preaching. It was about the year 1806 when Rev. Just on the outskirts of the beautiful Horatio Gates Jones came from Salem, surburban town of Bryn Mawr, and situ¬ N. J., where he had been pastor of a ated ou a very picturesque spot near the church, to Roxborough. He was the junction of the “.Old Gulf Road” and ycungest son of Rev. David Jones of I Roberts lane, stands what has been the Great Valley Baptist Church," SKlU'V V m \ tv Dublin Church, and not long after* tu< church was opened the propriety of form ?7Qq e-niagre(! I®, tllIeT Indian wars of mg a State Convention was suggested 1193, 94 and 96. He was a voung and and the matter was referred to Rev promising preacher, and it was through Horatio Gates Jones, Thomas B. Mon- the invitation of Mr. Fleeson that he tague Joseph Matthais and James E was induced to visit Merion, and for i Welsh. The effort was not at first suci some time he preached at private houses cesslul, but the nuitter was persisted i: and at different places, until he became : and a State Baptist Convention wa i the regular pastor of the Lower Merion held si,me years afterwards. $ Baptist Church; and in May, 1808,. he1 It was not until the year 1812. it b was priviledged to baptize his first con¬ ■ stated, that the first charter of Lowe] vert in the water of Mill Creek. Merion Baptist Church was obtained During his recent visit to the Lower and its coporate name was "The Trus¬ Morion Baptist Church the writer was tees of the Baptist Church in the Town¬ ^ informed that, as soon as it was deter- ship of Lower Merion and Countv of I mined to organize into a regular Gospel Montgomery.” The first president of Church, the few Baptists who were i the board was John Curwen, a narnd . living about Lower Merion in those days well known around Bryn Mawr. Sub- got together to push forward the under¬ sequently Mr. Abraham Leverington was taking, and the Bev. 'William Rogers and ■ elected the president of the board, and \ Rev. William Stoughton, of Philadel- tne present well-known cemeterv of that l phia, were invited to assist in the in¬ name at Roxborough is called after that teresting proceedings. Fourteen articles iamily. l he present president of the | of faith were prepared and declared to board, Mr. Robert N. Lee, resides in be the belief of all who joined the very comfortable style on the outskirts church, and the first article read: ‘‘That °f, °n the old Lancaster ‘ ihe Holy Scriptures, as contained in the .pike, Withm a year or two past the | Old and New Testaments, were given by' I charter of the old church under descrip¬ •' divine inspiration, and are the rule of tion has been amended, and it is now faith and practice in the church of Jesus known as the “Lower Merion Baptist Christ." 8 Church of Montgomery County.” On October 5, 1808, the c-hurch made, I^e present and ninth pastor is the t application, and was regularly admitted into the Philadelphia Baptist Associa¬ Rev Isaac Walter Goodhue. Mr. Good- tion. "When it was resolved to build the hue became pastor of the church on Au- church a subscription was taken up, gust 16, 1891. He was born in Boston, and $1800 was realized. Peter Gilchrist Mass., March 22, 1S62, and was bap- and Francis Sheetz were appointed the tized when 11 years of age at West first deacons. Measures were also taken Meriden, Conn., and was educated at to lay out the graveyard that adjoins the, public schpols of Hartford, Conn the church. The first pastor used to i\y- Goodhue Was licensed by the Fifth come seven miles every Sunday to TV ard Baptist Churc-h of Houston Tex¬ preach, and drive or walk over rough as, and was ordained at Bristol, Bucks country 'roads, there being no railroad. County, Pa., July 13, 1890, and he left The Merion Baptist Church was original- ;jv built on the. same- plan as-- the TLow -wen of Lower BMLion1SBap\lsfeCc“u%PhaSt^(

r- . i&dB iSufiSr 4: _ Baptist Church has beeeri erected at, | Moyer; School Directors, Dr. B. K. 0 1 Mellon Square, now called Gladwyne, Johnson, Leidy L. Gerhart and Jonas M. about four miles from the church, where Sunday School is regularly held, and Harley; Auditor, H. W. Moyer; Justice services are held there every Sunday of the Peace, David Moyer. In this • evening by the Rev. Robert J. Burdette. year the subject of street lamps was The ground now owned and occupied- ‘first agitated, and Council decided to by the Lower Merion Baptist Church is ' put the question to the tax payers at the a very attractive and romantic spot, and;^ 1 spring election, and this was done, with covers about seven acres, including the: the result that 81 ballots were cast—57 cemetery. _- for the lamps and 24 against them. Six¬ teen lamps, costing $18 per dozen were ordered and erected upon unpainted wooden posts. The necessity of a lock¬ Wt From, up also became well established, and a > I committee was accordingly appointed to ]procure the land belonging to Daniel K . Kenderdine, adjoining the property of jFrederick Mull, on Third street, for the lerection of a suitable stone building. Bate, This they did, and a building 14x18x19 feet was erected by contractor Frederick j Wolf, who was to receive originally $335 ; NORTH WALES. for it, but whose extra work entitled him t to receive $345, which was given him,and ITS CORPORATE HISTORY DURING THE the building accepted. It contained two LAST TWENTY-FIVE YEARS TOLD IN A apartments, and $54 was paid for the: SERIES OF FIVE ARTICLES, OF WHICH land on which it stood. The names of THIS IS THE SECOND. five streets were changed this year—that! In 1870 several laws were enacted for of Main to Wales street; Chestnut to the government of the borough, among Church street; Broadway to School which was the one that authorized the; street; Depot to Montgomery avenue, election of a President, clerk, treasurer,! land Washington street to Washington street commissioner and such other offi¬ I avenue. Taxes were assessed on $75,239j cers as would become necessary in the ' worth of property, but it appears that borough’s business on the first meeting I this was not sufficient to meet the ex¬ night in March; it was decided to hold penses of the borough, and $1,100 was meetings on the first Wednesday night of | borrowed—$100 from M. S. Stover and each month, adjourned meetings as often j $1,000 which E. K. Freed procured. and at any time desired, and special in 1871 meetings at the request of two Council-;, men; the President was to preside at all J mattresses, benches and blankets, at a ■meetings, but in his absence his place j ij cost of $11.50, were procured by David could be supplied by the appointment ot , Smith for use in the lock-up, which had a President pro tempore, who for the evidently proved its necessity, as Con- time being should exercise and be vested J|stableI !stable Weikel in hishi report says that he with the same powers as the President; j had cared for 27 tramps from July, 1870, an ordinance was passed that enacted !t.o March, 1871, eleven of whom were || that no money was to be paid out of the I Irish, including four females; eight I the treasury but by orders granted by Germans, one Englishman,” 1 - four from

Council. Rules for Council’s President New York State, one from Maine and 1 ’V- n say that he shall preserve order and de-; two from Pennsylvania. Michael Hasty corum in debate and shall always prevent received the contract to light the street personal reflections; that Councilmen ’ lamps at a salary of $45 per annum for when about to debate shall arise and ad¬ -the sixteen lamps, and was allowed 75 dress the President, and can be called to cents a quarter for matches. The same order by any member. If the member borouo'h officers were elected this year as offending becomes too obstreperous, he last, and at its March meeting Council can be expelled from the Council Cham¬ organized as follows: President, II. 1. ber. Every ordinance shall receive three Moyer; Secretary, I. W. Wampoie; several readings, and can only be re¬ Treasurer, A. K. Shearer; Surveyor, I, pealed upon a two-thirds vote of the G Freed; Street Committee, E. M. members present. Lukens and J. M. Harley; Lamp Com¬ mittee, E. K. Freed; Lock-up Commit¬ in 1870 tee P. Slough; Borough Regulators,who the annual election for borough officers it appears performed the same functions took place at the public house of Abel; for the borough as the County Commis¬ Lukens, with the following result: Bur¬ sioners do for the County, George Cath- gess, I. G. Freed; Council, E. K. Freed, Irall and I. G. Freed. The clerk’s salary 3 years; J. M. Harley, two years; Enos for the year was fixed at $70 and that ox I M. Lukens to fill vacancy caused by the the treasurer at $18. S. S. Erb offered to absence of David Smith, Sr.; For Con-: light the lamps for $100 a year, William stable, N. W. Weikel and Charles G. Clark for $75 and Christian Cook for the Eaton each received 48 votes, and Coun¬ same figure, and upon Council putting: cil elected Mr. Weikel; Judge, Abel to ballot the names of the last two gen¬ Lukens; Inspectors, E. K. Freed and J. tlemen Mr. Cook received the appoint- M. Weber; Assessor, Daniel Kenderdine; Second street was Assistants, William Wilson and David opened irom walnut to School street,, I School to Wales street, and Second street! in 1873 !from Church street to the borough line, jibe election resulted as follows- R, I throug h land deeded to the borough by gess, H, F. Moyer; Council, E. iv ■ David Smith. A culvert, co-jointly paid iPreed. J. M Harley, William Miller J.’I for by the borough and Gwynedd town-1 William Constantine and I)a-| ;ship, was put in on Wales (Main) street, j vid Richards; Constable, N. W Weikel r at Beaver s road; a system of fire protec¬ W iv' Fyle; InsPectors, James tion received some attention from Coun¬ Wood;Uff aml Asa Thomas, Jr.; School! cil and was then laid on the table sine[ : Directors, H. F. Moyer, fifty-ballots eacTT^ idie, and an ordinance was passed prohib¬ being received by John Weingartner and iting the pasturage of cattle or other ani-S J. H Leister; Auditor, I. W. Wampole mals in the public streets under a pen-, Jr.; Justice of Peace, A. W. Dettra’. alty of $2, which was to be collected by Council s re-organization resulted in the ■exposing the animal impounded at pub¬ election of the same officials as last year lic sale if required. and the President appointed the follow- in 1872 mg committees—Street, J. H. Leister jone of the most important things done by and David Richards; Lamps, J. M. Har-| Council was the passage of an ordinance .ley and William Miller; Lock-up Wil-I liam Constantine. John Mann’s wanted) 1o the effect “that no theatrical exhibi- ,1ion, circus performers or menagerie or to light the lamps for one year [ stage plays, rope dancers or other shows John Ashford $125 and N. W. WeikelI or exhibitions of a like nature, or the $120, and as Mr. Weikel was the lowestl sale of soap, medicine or other commod¬ bidder he received the contract. In this! ity put up in boxes, packages or other¬ year a new pump was placed in the town f well on Lumber street. Samuel II. Gor-t wise containing a prize shall hereafter be allowed within the limits of the borough don alleged that the borough had nol 'light, in their attempted remedy of I without a license from the borouo-h’ which may be granted by the burgess ulrainage defects on School street, to iu-f upon the payment of a sum not exceed- Iter fere with his water course, and a com-f ;ing $10 for the use of the borough, and inittee was appointed to examine the re-1 jit' any person or persons shall attempt to Icording of Mr. Gordon’s deed and to con-| •violate the permissions of this ordinance psult Attorney Charles Hunsicker in re-f !ie or they so offending shall forfeit and »ard *° ,the matter. This committee! pay a flue of not less than $5 or more ijcould find nothing in the Recorder's of¬ ban $50 in addition to the license fee.” fice to justify the plaintiff’s claim, and t was also decreed that every drunken upon the advice of Mr. Hunsicker they disorderly character seen upon the proceeded with the repairs. Jacob M. I itreets should be arrested and fined $2 bwartley gave the borough sufficient nis money to go to the constable. ■ land west from the Springhouse aud I Christian Cook, as a lamplighter, did not tburaeytown turnpike, at the junction of give eminent satisfaction, and he and the -School street with the pike, to make a borough’s attorney, George Corson, were 43-feet wide street and the borough also both discharged, Mr. Cook’s vacancy be¬ acquired enough laud to make of whatl ing filled by .John Mann, who received is now known as Shearer street a thor-j joughfare. Both acquisitions were prop-1 $100 for his work and $5.80 for every ad¬ jerly ditched. 1 ditional lamp lighted by him. Samuel in 1874 Bib asked $125 for the same service. Jesse Hendricks asked that the defective the election result was as follows- Bur- drainage of School street be remedied, so 'gess, S. H. Shearer; Council, J. H. Leis¬ that his place would not be “washed”’ at ter, H. B. Mull, David Richards, David | every storm; weeds were ordered re¬ Baker, Sylvester Bright and Evan moved from pavements, trees that inter-: B. Kepler. Constable, JST. W. Weikel; i fered with the lamp’s light were or¬ Judge, John Lock; Inspectors, Joseph! dered either trimmed orto be removed,the L. Bean and A. K. Shearer; Assessor, f northwest side of School street was Percival Slough; School Directors, N. I paved, Constable Weikel reported that W. Weikel and Sylvester Bright; Audi-1 the lock-up had had 70 occupants the tor, H. W. Moyer; Justice of the Peace, I past year—00 lodgers and four prisoners. ■J. II. Leister. E. B. Kepler was Coun-i 1 he election resulted as follows: Bur- cil’syresident; A. W. Dettra, Secretary;! gess. LG. Freed; Council, E. K. Freed, E. K. Freed, Treasurer; Wilson J. Sim John M. Harley, E. M. Lukens, A. K. Surveyor; W. J. Sim and K. W. Weikel Shearer, William Miller and John Wein- Borough Regulators; Street Commis’i gai tner. d he rest of the officers were sioner, M. S. Stover; David Baker aud I 'the same as previous. Council organ-, H. B. Mull, Street Committee, and J. lzed as -follows: President, E. K. Freed- H. Leister and Sylvester Bright, Lamp Clerk, I. W. Wampole; Treasurer, J. M.| Committee. The clerk’s salary was! Harley; Surveyor, I. G. Freed; Commis¬ fixed at $50, aud the treasurer’s atj sioner, Mathias S. Stover; Lamp Com¬ $10.50, this latter official's bond being! mittee, William Miller and J. M. Harley;! reduced to $500, of which David Moyer [ Street Committee, John Weingartner and! this year became his surety. Mathias f Enos M. Lukens. A crossing of “two!, Stover resigned his position, aud was thick^ planks filled in between with small* succeeded by David Baker, who also re-1 .signed, and during the remainder of the! was laid over PoPlai' street, on H ashington avenue. j year the position was attended to by Ja- |cob Leister. N. W. Weikel resigned his| W am pole. It" mTgSt“oF[ iJ^amiss to [position as lamplighter, and John state in passing that this was I. W. Mann filled his place, agreeing to per iWampole’s first term as Justice ot the form the duties for six months. The Peace in North Wales, and that he has lamps were permitted to be extinguished been continuously in office ever since. at 9.BO p. in.—a half-hour earlier than In re-organizing, Council elected as its 1 during the previous years. The North President, J. H. Leister; Olerk, A. Penn. Fire Insurance Company, which Dettra; Treasurer, E. K. Freed; Survey-■ at that time occupied what is now or I. G. Freed; Regulators, I. G. Freed J| Childs’ Drug Store, on Main street, of¬ and A. W. Dettra; Street Commissioner, j fered Council the use of its room for 810 Jacob G. Lutz; Street Committee, David | per annum, and the proposition was ac¬ Baker and H. B. Moll; Lamp Commit-W cepted. Enos H. Cassel accepted the ■m tee, Sylvester Bright and E. B. Kepler, j [deed for the lot of ground vacated by the The clerk’s salary was fixed at $50 and I borough on Montgomery avenue, and the treasurer’s at $15.50. If we may be I I for which he paid $75. Some little con- permitted to criticise, we might say that Itroversy was incited the previous year Councils of early years were somewhat m lover this plot of realty, Mr. Cassel re¬ extravagant in the payment of salaries, I fusing to accept a deed from Moyer & as will be seen by comparison with some I [Nice, the original and actual owners by of the amounts paid to common laborers [purchase of the ground. He accepted a in later years. It was found necessary M I deed from the borough, however. The to borrow $800 from Henry Frick in this | [borough this year made complaint to the year. The office of care-taker of the 1 Court that Lansdale was derelict in fail my lock-up was created, and John Manns ling to comply with the State law regard was given $1 per month to attend to the 9 [ing the providing of a lock-up, and that duties. J. G. Lutz resigned as Street fl Jin consequence the North Wales institu¬ Commissioner and James N. Clemmei 4 tion was too frequently overcrowded. was appointed in his place. It was re- [The North Penn. Railroad Company solved that the borough would do with- J [agreed to construct a culvert from 5th out the use of the lamps for three [street to and across Walnut street, if the months, the money thus saved to be dej [borough would bear half of the expense, voted to street repairs. It was in this* [which it agreed to do. The southwest year that Council received a _ petition* [side of Fifth street, from William! from the property-owners of Main street, 1 [Quinn’s to the railroad, was ordered asking that the borough would bear one-* [paved with boards, at least, and it was the half of the expense of making the street! [wish of Council that the pavement more passable, and stating that the turn-|_, [should be six feet wide, although four! pike company had decided to contribute ■ [feet directly in the middle, between curb one-half of the expense of the repairs. jH land property line, would answer. Tim So much in earnest were the petitioners [southeast side of Walnut street and that besides collecting $50 for the pur-| [Shearer street were paved this year, chase of material, each property-owner I land, owing to the generosity of Daniel furnished a team, gratuitously, for^ au^ [Kenderdine, who released the land, number of days. The result was a six-1 [School street was opened from Third inch deposit of crushed stone from Wal || |street to the railroad. In constructing nut street to the railroad, the stones be- to [their pavements the property-holders ing n'cely held together with many cart- H [observed the ordinance: “Be it ordained) loads of earth. Two ordinances passed | [and enacted by the authority of the this year said that: “Any damage done m-t [Borough Council that no less than three i to borough property by minors should [string pieces shall be placed under the be repaired by such minors parents or [board pavements, the one to be within guardians. Besides this a fine of $1 was [two inches of the outeredge of the curb imposed, collectible if necessary, by due process of law.” The Street Commis-; NORTH WALES)/ sioner was ordered to construct or repan 1 pavements ordered by Council, and neg-| jlTS CORPORATE HISTORY DURING THE lected by their owners, and to attach toH LAST TWENTY-FIVE YEARS TOLD IN A the actual cost an addition ot 20 per. SERIES OF SIX ARTICLES, OF WHICH cent., the same to be secured oy a lien on■ THIS IS THE THIRD. the property. School street’s west sideH . The year 1875 made the fifth of Con¬ was this year paved with boards. stable Weikel’s. tenure of office, and the in 1876 borough authorities were loathe to part the list of taxed and taxables had so in¬ with him, but his resignation from that creased that it was found necessary to office was made necessary by his removal appoint a tax collector, Janies N. Glem- elsewhere. The borough election this mer receiving the appointment. He t year resulted as follows: Burgess,Charles filed a bond in the sum of $300. Election ... I G. Eaton; Council, David Baker, S. result: Burgess, Hiram C. Potter; Conn- g Bright, J. H. Leister, David Richards, oil, J. H. teister, A. K Shearer, WU- I E. B. Kepler and H. B. Moll; Constable, liam Constantine, Daniel Kohl, Petei I James N. Clemmer; Judge, Abel Luk- Lalley and I. W. Warn pole, Jr.; Judge, U ens; Inspectors, H. W. Moyer and S. Abel Lukens; Inspectors, Isaiah Anders k Bright; Assessor, Percival Slough; As¬ and William Pope; Assessor, John E. sistant Assessors, Jonas M. Harley and Ashford; Assistant Assessors David Dr. B. K. Johnson; Auditor, H. W Moyer and William Miller; Constable, J • Mover; Justice of the Peace,_I. W 1ST. Clemmer; School Directors, Enos M. J and Joseph K. Anders. Council'.offi-i Lukens and H. W. Moyer, Auditor, | cers during the year: President, E K I i Milton Rhoads, Council organized as Freed, Secretary, I. W. Wampole; Street! follows: J. H. Leister, President; A. W. „ , Committee, M. R. Swartley and .hma- Dettra, Clerk; E. K. Freed, Treasurer; j than Scott; Lamp Committee, I. W.l J. N. Clemmer, High Constable; David ... Wampole, Jr., and John Weingartner;| Baker, Street Commissioner; I. G. Lock-up Committee, Charles G. Eaton;| Freed, Surveyor; A. K. Shearer and J. N. Clemmer, Street Commissioner;! Peter Lalley, Street Committee; William II. W. Moyer, treasurer; I. G. Freed.! Constantine and I. W. Wampole, Jr., J Surveyor. As treasurer, Mr. Moyer’s! Lamp Committee; Daniel Kohl, Lock-up bond was increased from $500 to $1,000.1 Committee. Council’s meeting night The clerk was to receive $40 and the! was then changed from Wednesday !•;. treasurer $15 for their services for the) night to the first Monday night in each 1 year. There were now 22 lamps within [ month, and as Councilman Shearer of- \ the borough’s limits, and these John E.l fered the use of his office for $1 per Ashford offered to attend to for $110,1 night, the meeting place was also! and a monthly report of his at the time! changed. The Street Commissioner was must have been thought very queer;! entitled to receive $1.75 per day; common I that the same quantity of oil in some] l: laborers, $1.50; man, horse and cart, j lamps burned two nights; in others, six! $2.75. William Clark received the con¬ nights. Charles Garner’s horse rani M: tract for lighting the borough’s lamps, at away and demolished a lamp and post onL a salary of $96, and even at this figure Second street—the first damage a lamp) he did not give satisfaction, and was committee had had to report. The bor-f ! told to either improve his service or re- ough did not have to stand the expense, I : sign. A storm in September blew many however, as Mr. Garner promptly camel posts over and in several instances broke j forward and footed the bill. William! the glass case and globe. In September Nutz was appointed tax collector; the! ut was decided to submit to the voters' treasurer at a monthly meeting reported! ,the right to say whether the borough I 32 cents on hand; the lock-up was white-1 I should or should not continue its use of washed at a cost of $1, and Charles! street lamps, but at the October meeting) •Eaton was given 32 for burying a dog,I Council revoked the opportunity. For! were some of the incidental happenings! the first time in its history, North Wales! for this year. Mark Fretz complained! |this year levied a tax upon dogs—male, of the drainage of Second street, think-1 $1; female, $2. It was made a misde¬ ing possibly that by so doing he could! meanor to throw ashes, dirt or other; ■ cast the blame therefore on some one! rubbish in the streets or gutters and else, but Council ordered a 30-inch-] was punishable by a fine of $5. The ex- i ■ square board trough in front of his resi-. ecutors of the Daniel Kenderdine estate j clence and threatened to place it there! paid into the borough treasurey $139,due; with 20 per cent, additional expense if he] Ithe borough for the pavement they had did not attend to it himself. Second! ■laid in front of deceased’s property onj ■ street was paved from Walnut street to| jSehool street. During April Burgess Julia Beaver’s residence, and Third! I' Potter communicated to Council that! • street from Fred Moll’s to School street. [ the pavements were in dangerous con¬ in 1878 dition, and recommended that such pave-! Jonathan Scott loaned the borough $400 aments as were not repaired by the 1st day i for one year only, and he was to receive of May, be attended to by the Commis- six per cent, interest for it. Tobias Ob- Isioner and an extra cost of 20 per cent, j erholtzer wanted a culvert placed on l added. East Montgomery avenue at Fifth street IN 1877 and offered to construct the same free of reduction occurred in the tax levy— charge if the borough would find the 1 from 5 mills to 4} mills on the dollar,and! material. This it did, and whether this I James N. Clemmer was again given the culvert was not made right, or whether ■ position of collector, although his bond Council failed to provide the “was increased from $300 to $500. The proper material or enough of it is a ] Collection of tax must have been rather question. It is a fact, however, that j a helter-skelter operation this year, for, Toby’s culvert has always been a nuis¬ ii as we learn, “the Commissioners had not ance, and will continue so until replaced 1 yet returned the triennial assessment by an iron one. Barbara Axar purchased duplicate, and that all tax collected on five feet front of ground between her ‘ the 1875 basis should be received with property and the lock-up for $25. The the understanding that with the return annual borough election resulted as fol¬ of the duplicate the borough would have lows: Burgess, Daniel Kohl; Council, E. the authority either to collect extra or K. Freed, C. G. Eaton, I. W. Wampole, W'- rebate overcharges.” The election result¬ Jr., M. R. Swartley, J. H. Leister and ed : Burgess, Mathias Stover: Council, E. David Baker; School Directors, Dr. B. K. Freed, Charles G. Eaton, John Wein- K. Johnson and S. Bright; Constable, J. gartner, Jonathan Scott, Mahlon Swart- Clemmer; Justice of the Peace, W.E. ley, Isaac Wampole, Jr.; Auditor, Fran¬ y; Assessor, Peter Lalley; Judge. cis Anderman, Sr.; Judge, Abel Lukens; Abel Lukens; Inspectors, William F Inspectors, William F. McCracken and A. 'McCracken and Hiram Potter; Auditor, W. Der-tra; Constable, J. N. Clemmer William Pope. Re-organized Council: School Directors, Isaac W. Wain President, E. K. Freed; Clerk, I. w. ” T? ’t^ESSSBwWF’ For the first and last time since its fWatnpole; Treasurer, .John M. Harley, I erection the lock-up was for the once Constable, J. N. Clemmer; Street Com-, "turned into a hospital and Dr. W. E. Ely jmissioner, Jonathan Scott; Surveyor, 1. presented a bill for medical services G. Freed; Street Committee, M. K.. upon one J. Boyd. The rate of interest ISwartley and J. H. Leister; Lamp Com¬ on borough indebtedness was reduced mittee, L W. Wampole and David Baker;. from 6 to 5 per cent. Jonathan Scott’s 5 Look-up, C. G. Eaton. An ordinance loan of the previous year becoming ; passed this year says that “no sod,; ^ due, Council appointed a committee to iground or other material shall be re-. hustle around and get it for him, with |moved from any lot or other property be- |the result that $100 was secured from Ilonging to the borough without first Daniel Kohl and $300 from Thomas Lay¬ J gaining the consent of Council. A fine man. Dr. B. K. Johnson purchased the ] of $5, to be sued for with costs, if neces¬ H. D. Kneedler property on Main street sary, will be imposed for non-com plience and satisfied a borough lien on the same ] with this ordinance.” Seven citizens of for $20.48, due for the construction of North Wales wanted to light the bor- pavements. No Council meeting was Iough’s lamps this year: John E. Ash¬ held in December as a quorum could not ford for $100; W. A. Smith, $100; John |be secured, Messrs. I. G. Freed, I. W. Quinn, $9ffi S. W. Knight, $100; J. C. Wampole, Jr., and H. B. Moll being the I Potter, $8(R J- Gh Lutz, $72; Jacob only members present. | Rorer, $60, Mr. Rorer of course receiving ithe contract. The assessor’s books show ^NORTH WALES. 7 I (the following taxable property : P | Improved real estate. [TS CORPORATE HISTORY DURING THE ] I Unimproved real estatej. 6,(57.00 LAST TWENTY-FIVE YEAKS TOLD IN AS I Yearly incomes...•• SEKIES OF SIX ABTICLE8, OF WHICH ' I Forty horses...... THIS IS THE FOURTH. j Six cows. iSnrn | Six carnages... Early in 1880 the first official notice of North Wales’ dilapidated pavements was j Total.*203,930.00 taken; the citizens had experienced in- '

This sum at the rate of 4$ mills on the \ conveniences and dangers enough to I dollar would yield $917.72—the borough’s! make them wish for something better, re- : [income for the year. Jonas M. Harley gardless of cost, and public sentiment! |became John M. Harley’s bondsman as became so pronounced in favor of im¬ (Treasurer, in the sum of $800. ^ West provement, that as a preliminary step; | Montgomery avenue was opened from Council passed an ordinance that said thatj I Main street, west through lands of E. K. all broken and insecure board pavements! [Freed and H. W. Moyer, to the borough ■ should be repaired by their owners with-’ [line and Gwynedd township. The first; in thirty days or the Commissioner would: [ordinance prohibiting the shooting ot attend to them, with an additional cost; [guns, pistols, squibs, etc., except on of 20 per cent, added. Francis Kile sue-J | July 4th, was passed this year. reeded Abel Lukens as proprietor of the| Main Street Hotel, and the election held! in 1879 . gal at this public house in the spring oil [the borough election resulted as follows:! A 1880 resulted as follows : Burgess, Daniel I [Burgess, Daniel Kohl; Council, E. K. Kohl; Council—Elias K. Freed, Isaac! (Freed, Isaac Wampole, Jr., C. G. Eaton, Wampole, Jr., Mahlon R. Swartley, [ ]M. R. Swartley, H. B. Mull and O. M. Henry B. Mull, Oliver M. Weber a:ui J Weber; School Directors, E. M. Lukens * George L. Frick; Directors—Francis Au- land I. G. Freed; Justice of Peace, A. W. derman and Wilnier H. Johnson; Justice; iDettra; Constable, J. N. Clemmer;.. of Peace—I. W. Wampole. Constable— [judge, Abel Lukens; Inspectors, W. F. J. N. Clemmer; Judge of Elections—j |McCracken and J. A. Gerhart; Assessor, t Abel Lukens; Inspectors—William F. [.Tames Billiard; Assistant Assessors, J. McCracken and Percival Slough ; Asses- , [M. Harley and Jesse Hendricks; Audi¬ sor—James Billiard; Auditor—Horace • tor, E. B. Kepler. The same executive G. Lukens. Council this year under¬ I officers, with the following few changes, ■ took to dicker with Jacob Rorer con¬ [were elected this year as last: Street|| cerning his application to light the bor¬ [Committee, H. B. Moll and M. R. Swart- ^ ough lamps. Mr. Rorer’s bid was $5 (ley; Lamp Committee, I. W. Wampole per month, but, Council thinking this land O. M. Weber; Lock-up Committee, was too high and that the work should j [C. G. Eaton. Council’s meeting place be properly done tor $4, attempted to [was changed to ’Squire Wampole’s of- make Jacob think so too. But Jacob [fice, and he was given a salary of $40 per could not be convinced, and as* there [annum, which included hire of office. were no other bidders and the lamps had | Jacob Rorer again received the contract, to be lighted he was given the contract. j to light the lamps at the rate of $5 per '■'£ Enos Kulp owned a pavement on | month. A tax of five mills was laid on » Walnut street that gave pedestrians con¬ [the following property: siderable trouble, and he was ordered to [Improved real estate.1175,336.00* permanently repair it. The tax rate was [Unimproved real estate. 7,100.00 ■ reduced from 5 to 2 mills on the dollar, [Fifty-one horses..-. 2,470.00 J and was levied on the following assessed | Yearly income. . 17,335.00 1 Twenty five carriages. 1,375.00 property : | Dogs—male, 18; Improved real estate..... female. 0. Unimproved real estate.• • • • Y early income... • I Watches, 8. Fifty-seven horses...\- Thirty-nine carriages.| 1,585.00 Total.... • • .¥203,856.00; , male, 25; female, 15. for them, at the usual 20 per cent, Watches, 14. tion to the original cost; to purchase a I new pump for the town well, construct a| Total.$314,185.001 new platform aud allow the bottom of th This year the Grand Jury called atten- pump to reach to within eighteen inchesl tion to the need of a flagman thef of the bottom of the well, thus makingl Main street crossing, and Council passed it impossible for the supply to be ex-1 an ordinance compelling the railroad hausted, and as there was a great scar-1 company to comply with the recommen¬ city of water this year it was decided! dation. E. K. Freed was appointed as that only property-owners whose deeds] the committee to consult with the gave them water rights should be al¬ Springhouse and Sumneytown Turnpike lowed to use the water from this well; to Company in reference to their giving the appoint Charles E. Baker tax collector. borough the right to as much of the Mr. Baker asked for exonerations! turnpike as comprised North Wales’ amounting to $15.98. Main street. in 1881 in 1882 there were several changes in the list of the second constable resignation took | borough officials, as is evident from the place, James N. Clemmer being succeed¬ ■following election retiirns : Burgess— ed in the service by John C. Potter. AI Daniel Kohl; Council, E. K. Freed, I. i portion of the year but five Councilmen W. Wampole, Jr., H. B. Mull, J. H. attended that body’s monthly meetings, I Leister, William Miller aud Samuel H. Samuel Garner having removed to Phila- Garner; Directors—William Constantine delphia in 1881. A tax of two mills was and Thomas Durrin; Constable—James fm, ¥ levied on the following property, which N. Clemmer; Judge—William F. Me tax amounted to $700, the only gold lever Cracken; Inspectors—A. Jones Stetler watches in the town being owned by and William A. Smith; Assessor—James Peter Bean, Charles Bean, E. K. Freed Billiard; Auditor—Harry S. Beidler. At aud George Frick : the Council meeting held in May the Improved real estate.$285,275.00 - following gentlemen made application to Unimproved real estate. 9,575.00 : Yearly occupation. 21,000.00 light the borough lamps; Harry Ma- Sixty-one horses. 2,685.00 . Quillian, who wanted $6 per month; Two cows. 50.00 Nineteen carriages. 865.00 ; Samuel H. Daub, $5.50; A. S. Klausen- Watches—4 gold lever, felder, $5, and James Allebach, $4.75, 7 gold and silver, Mr. Allebach of course receiving the 2 valued at $30 each. Dogs—18 male, contract. It was resolved to get rid of 4 female. the borough debt by April 1st, and the money owed Messrs. Kohl and Mull was Total... .$319,450,001 paid on that date, and the borough for Election result : Burgess—Oliver M.f the second and last period in its history Weber; Council— -I. W. Wampole, Jr.,I was for the time being free of any in¬ H. B. Mull, Dr. B. K. Johnson, Jona-I cumbrance. The borough surveyor, ow¬ than Scott, John Weingartner aud Isaac! ing to the location of a mill property on Hiestand; Directors—H. W. Moyer andl West Montgomery avenue, found it im Dr. H. F. Slifer; Justice of Peace—Wil-I possible to give the line of the street Ham E. Ely; Judge—Mahlon R. Swart- [ without an angle therein, on one side of 'ley; Inspectors—Aaron W. Snyder and| the street only, from Main street to Bil¬ William A. Smith; Assessor—J. E. Ash¬ liard’s alley. Although the old mill has ford; Assistants—Mathias S. Stover andl long since been razed and sold for kind¬ [John M. Harley; Auditor—Jonas M. [ ling wood, the angle in the street still re Harley. There were two nominations! mains. So many of North Wales’ own for President of Council—Jonathan! citizens and those living directly outside Scott and John Weingartner, and it re-1 the borough lines wished the limits ex [quired five ballots to give Mr. Scott the! tended that a meeting was suggested, to election. For the Commissioner plum, [ take place in Kile’s hall sometime in the worth $1.75 per day, there were five ap-i early fall, but for some reason the meet¬ plicants—William Nutz, David Baker, [ ing was not held, and the extension post¬ James N. Clemmer, Adiu Hibbsand Eph¬ poned until two years later. The culvert raim Neavel, and upon the fourth ballot constructed by Tobias Overholtzer was taken it was found that Neavel was! condemned, ordered removed, and in its \ M Council’s choice. The Street Committee! place a. stone ditch was laid. It was this that year was Isaac Wampole, Jr., andi. year decided by ordinance to construct a Isaac Hiestand; Lamp Committee, Johnj stone culvert in front of Jonathan Scott’s Weingartner aud H. B. Mull; Lock-up| premises on Main street; to reduce the ICommittee, Dr. B. K. Johnson. On thei tax on dogs—male, to 50 cents, and fe¬ fourth of May it was ordained andt male to $1; to pave the northwest side of enacted that “all streets ordered pavedF iWest Montgomery avenue from Main in North Wales in the future should be I street to Billiard’s alley; to cut the over¬ paved with brick, slate or stone, the last] hanging branches of all trees, leaving a two materials to be in slabs not less than clear space of eight feet between the two feet square; aud further, that as the pavement and the rirst limb, on the pave¬ present board pavements become dilapi¬ ment, and ten feet in the street, this dated they shall be replaced with mater¬ trimining to be done by the property- ials as aforesaid.” The position of con¬ holders within a reasonable time, or the stable now came to be worth something Street more than glory, for we glean from the_ | [records that John Potter recei ved $15 per ough council m connection witlT being [annum for police duties and $12 per an¬ burgess of North Wales, and didn’t seem num for janitor services in connection to care an iota whether Messrs. Dr. B. K. [with the lock-up. Besides these posi Johnson or Elias K. Freed wanted the Itions, Mr. Potter was this jreartappointed] same position or not. Finally Dr. John-I Itax collector. The clerk’s salary was in¬ son withdrew from the contest, and the | creased to $45 per annum, but the treas¬ race was then between Potter and Freed, > urer still received the same amount—$15 and upon balloting it was found that (Because the overhanging limb of a tree Potter had received three votes and; jplaj ed havoc with Hunter Van Leer’s' Freed two votes, and that one blank bal¬ carriage, while he was driving on Second lot had been cast. Potter then peremp (street, the borough was compelled to pay torily announced his election, but was! for these damages, amounting to $2. not sustained by Council, and after a[' I James Christman received the position of special meeting, in which no business! (borough lamplighter, at a salary of $4.5(1 could be done on account of Council’s! (per month. The first recorded com¬ sentiment in the matter, Potter was oust] plaint of a nuisance in North Wales was ed, and I. W. Wampole, Jr., unanimous¬ heard this year—that of a slaughter ly elected to the Presidency. There! [house on East Montgomery avenue, and were two candidates for the Secretary-! jin ordering this remedied, Council also K ship—-Charles H. Meredith and 1. W. ,enacted that it would from this time Wampole, Sr., the former promising to[ (forth be unlawful for any fowls to run at attend to the duties for $25, and the latter! large in the streets of the borough lim- $40. Upon being asked to reduce hisfig- Jits. Regular blue crossing stone was for ure, ’Squire Wampole refused, but prom- the first time purchased of Isaac Landis ised in addition to clerical duties a meet- Jat 23 cents per foot. Elm avenue was ting room, light, heat, stationery, safe!? (ordered to be graded down, curbed and keeping of documents, ventilation,drink¬ (paved, from Main street to Kohl’s alley ing water and cuspidores, and he was m tendered the position. It took five bal- | in 1883 lots to elect a borough treasurer, the ean-[ , (Council probably began to feel its im- didates being H. W. Moyer and F. S. ! jportance and as a legislative body to dis- Kriebel, and upon the last ballot Mr. j |play dignity upon occasion and exercise Kriebel was elected. The Street Com- ( j I some authority as an organization. The mittee was this year increased from two j ] I Committee appointed by Council to meet to four members, as follows: William ] |the stockholders of the Springhouse and! Miller, Peter Laliey, E. K. Freed and , lSumneytown turnpike company at Dr. B. K. Johnson. W. A. Smith was | I Mainland, with a view of leasing or pur-j appointed a committee on lamps and I. || | chasing the pike through North Wales, W. Wampole on the lock-up, and Charles [did not have a very satisfactory meeting, K. Aiman was elected Surveyor. A tax for the turnpike authorities refused either of 2j mills was levied on the following ito sell or lease the pike, and as Council property : | was not in a position to repair another or¬ Improved real estate...$296,595,001; ganization's property, and probably felt W. Uniniproved real estate...... 9,385.00 f little piqued at the arbitrary action of Yearly income. 21,675.00- Sixty-four horses... 3,295.00 ; [the company, it is safe to say that repairs Five cows.. 140.00! [to North Wales’ Main street were very Thirty-six carriages.. —.. 1,190.00;; Watches-—12 gold. !few this year. The election result: Bur- 1 common. jgess-—Hiram Potter; Council—Isaac| Dogs—15 male, Wampole, Jr., Dr. B. K. Johnson, E. K. 3 female. Freed, W. A. Smith, William Miller and Total. .$332,280.00 ! ? | Peter Laliey; Directors—Rev. G. D. ] Foust, A. S. Miller and A. K. Shearer;, Messrs. Johnson and Foust petitioned Judge—M. R. Swartley; Inspectors—-A. Council to inspect the alley in the rear of jW. Snyder and William A. Smith; As-1 their Main street premises, which it did,); jsessor—Joseph F. Craven; Constable—J. and the alley was shaped up and more!| |C._ Potter; Auditor—Horace G, Lukens. properly drained. Billiard’s alley, from . I Hiram Potter attempted to create a sen- the railroad to Shearer street, was also * Jsation at Council’s re-organization meet-1 given some evidence of ownership. This £ I ing in March by announcing that all his year the borough adopted a new variety (acts as burgess of North Wales during of lamps, and was sorry it did so after / flthe previous year were not lawful ones', seeing seven of them burst the first night ' /because he had not been sworn in by the they were lighted. Three proposals were J proper authority. As we fail to find.! received for attending to the borough anything of the burgess’ doing so very lamps—one from Adin Hibbs, who : important during the 1882 term of office, wanted $72; Henry Cook, $72, and John jit probably would have beeii just; as well (Smith, $70. A. S. Swartz received the had Mr. Potter spared Council the ner-’ appointment of borough solicitor, at a 3 vous shock it no doubt experienced, and salary of $10. Pavements were laid on , from which it did not recover for several j both sides of West Montgomery avenue, :-I years, if quarreling, bickerings and argu- on southwest side of School street from • jments and enforced compromises are Third street to the railroad; forty marble | nervous diseases and can be taken in evi- i corner stones were ordered and put in at Ideuce. But Potter was not satisfied the suggestion of E. K. Freed; Dr. John-1 [with having created a miniature disturb- son interviewed the turnpike company lance. He wanted to be president of bor- ‘ with some success; Jesse Hendricks filed JjeclTons because the curb line on The turnpike company aslcea perttU06!Or School street would necessitate some re¬ to lower the grade of the hill south o grading of his premises; Treasurer the railroad, which permission w Kriebel at one time reported $642.36 on granted them, but by doing so a stretc hand; the tax collector asked to be exon¬ of mire resulted that caused Georg erated from collecting $40.99; and a car¬ Kramer to stick fast in the mud with hi load of blue sandstone that was intended two-horse team one day on his way to to be used for curbing was condemned, Philadelphia. He accordingly presented were some of the incidentals ot this year. a bill to Council for $7, lost by him in de¬ layed marketing, and to avoid contro¬ in 1884 versy the bill was immediately paid. a final agreement was made with the The Clerk’s salary was raised to $45, and Springhouse and Sumneytown turnpike the tax rate levied at 3^ mills. Three company, and on May 5th the borough j ordinances passed this year say that “no was granted the privilege of using the person shall be allowed to lounge around turnpike for a width of twenty feet comers, trees or the post-office buildingl through North Wales, ten feet on each under a penalty of $2.50, or be eonfinedi side of the street, seven of which were to in the lock-up for twelve hours, and fori be used for pavement and three for a serious offense he may suffer both pen¬ ditch. This agreement was to hold good. alties;” “no shooting of fire works, | for a term of 99 years. The first of the: squibs, guns, etc., shall be allowed on jlamps at present in use in North Wales the 4th of July,” and “ball playing and ! was adopted this year, the novelty being other games shall not be permitted upon I introduced by William Wampole, wh o the thoroughfares of North Wales.” The was paid $5.50 for it, and it was erected same penalty was prescribed for disobey¬ 'at the corner of Second and Walnut ing these two latter ordinances as for the

streets. The election result was as fol¬ first one.JUC._ 1___— ■■■ lows : Burgess—H. C. Potter: Council NORTH WALES. v -Peter Lalley and Aaron Frick, one year; Charles Dotterer and I. W. Wam¬ ITS CORPORATE HISTORY DURING THE I pole, Jr., two years; Dr. B. K. Johnson LAST TWENTY-FIVE YEARS TOLD IN A and H. W. Moyer, three years; Directors SERIES OF SIX ARTICLES, OF WHICH | -H. S. Kriebel and W. H. Constantine; Judge—M. R. Swartley; Inspectors— THIS IS THE FIFTH. Charles E. Bean and Harry S. Brooks; The year 1885 will long be remembered I Assessor—J. F. Craven; Constable, J. C. by residents of North Wales as one ot| Potter; Auditor—H. S. Beidler. Coun¬ ‘peculiarly interesting Council meetings, cil organized as follows: Dr. B. K. and because it gave them an intimate Johnson, President; I. W. Wampole, acquaintance with matters they had often Secretary; M. R. Swartley, Treasurer; heard or read about—dead-locks, troubles I I. G. Freed, Surveyor, and J. N. Clem- with individuals, factions, separately aiull mer, Street Commissioner. The Presi¬ collectively. Indeed,some of the happen¬ dent appointed as his committees: Streets, ings that transpired must have remindec 9 Charles Dotterer, Aaron Frick, Peter North Wales of the actions of little chil-| Lalley and H. W. Moyer; Lamps—I. W. dren, who, having committed a wrong| Wampole, Jr.; Lock-up—Dr. B. K. or taken too muck unwarranted autnoi- Johnson. It was decided that the Street itv into their hands, and being reprove, 1 Commissioner should report every day’s for it, find satisfaction in becoming sullen work to the Secretary in the evening, or indifferent—in short, being uncom-l when he would be assigned duties for fortable themselves, they seek by van-1 the following day. An ordinance was ous trilling devices to keep every onel enacted making it compulsory upon the else around them uncomfortable also. I prospective builder of a frame dwelling- It appears that Messrs. Dotterer Lai y to receive spispecial permission from Coun- and Potter had had torn up considerable jcil. In this year the much desired ex- board pavement on Second street, toil tension of tlthe borough limits was grant¬ which they presented the owners withl ed, taking in all or portions of the fol¬ bills The owners refused to pay andl lowing properties: S. R. Gordon, J. M. appealed to Council, which body, or atl 'Swartley, Joseph W. McCracken, Eliza¬ least one-half, sustained them, and set¬ beth Ruth, W. S. Ray, W. Z. Wambold, tled the cost upon the Street Comm ttec. Abel Penrose, Prof. S. U. Brunner, Ja- The bills as rendered called for $lo8.1i 'cob L. Young, J. M. Harley, Catharine indebtedness, and several years time Haas, Jacob Zebley, H. R. Swartley and elapsed and much unpieasantness rtsult- Joseph K. Anders. Jacob Rorer was ap¬ ed in the endowing to this Street Com¬ pointed tax collector. In lieu of a pave¬ mittee’s hasty action. The inmutes of ment as regularly ordered, E. K. Freed| Council for this year and the year pre¬ and J. H. Leister were given permissiqn vious bristle with exhibitions of ab¬ to lay three widths of crossing stone in senteeism, objections from some one to front of their business stands—the steam almost every important motion advanced, mills and the hardware store—on Main compromises and refusals to vote at all street. They had their curb line hr Tome instances. One member agreed! changed, as did also the other residents to vote for a borough loan of *700 upon of the east side of Main street, from i condition that Council should pass a bill the railroad to Walnut street, and it was for $3.50, in which he was interested, foi decided that the curb stone put in should r be six inches wide and 24 inches deep.J Charles N. Weikel; Council—Jona¬ i min inlet to the Main street culvert was than Scott, 3 years; H. B. Moll, 3 years ; j fj closed; and Fifth slreet was made 34 feet, Jacob H. Leister, 2 years; Justice of in width were the most important items Peace—I. W. Wampole; Judge—M. R. jot- interest this year. Swartley, Inspectors—C. E. Bean and in 1886 William H. Brooks; Assessor—Enos M. the borough got rid of those Councilmen Lukens; Assistants—John M. Harley whose continued contentions were the and William Rodenboh; Constable—Ja¬ first and last the town has witnessed in cob Rorer; School Directors—Dr. H. P. its twenty-five years’ history, and har¬ Slifer and II. R. Swartley; Auditors—J. mony once more prevailed. John A. L. R. Whetstone, Wilfred H. Shaw and Gerhart appeared before Council and David H. Krause. It was resolved to |claimed damages for water forced into make needed and permanent repairs on his mother’s cellar during a storm, but Main street, and for this purpose $270 according to a State law Council had no worth of crushed slag was ordered from right to give damages, but consented to the Edge Hill Furnace Company. The .open a drain on Second street to Enos work of putting it on the streets was put j Lukens’ property for Mrs. Gerhart’s ac¬ out to contract, G. B. Johnson wanting commodation. The voters this year 25 cents per ton; Samuel R. Gordon 29 elected North Wales’ tax collector—Mil- cents, William Constantine 30 cents, and ton Rhoads—the remainder of the elec-, James N. Clemmer “one cent lower than tion resulting as follows: Burgess—Oliver the lowest bidder.” Mr. Clemmer re¬ M. Weber; Council—John Choyce and ceived the contract and bis services were Francis Andennan; Judge —Malilon R. worth $102.59, which added to the cost Swartley; Inspectors—Theodore Harden- of material made an expense of $372.79 felt and Hamilton Kile; Assessor—Enos for road repairs on one street only this M. Lukens; Constable—David Baker; year. If everything was done on this School Directors—Dr. D. H. Bergey and basis, it is readily understood why the Rev. G. D. Foust; Auditor—William borrowing of $1,900 was necessary. The • K. Johnson. Previous to election, Jacob slag was put on nine inches deep and - Leister moved and Charles Dotterer twenty feet wide, and is still, ten years ! quickly seconded the discharge of later, doing good service. For any office | ’Squire Wampole, as secretary, but they! that had a salary, however small, con¬ failed to oust him and the ’Squire re- nected with it, there were several con¬ I signed one month later, and was succeed¬ testants. R. K. S. Allebach and I. W, ed by I. G. Freed at Council’s re-organi¬ Wampole each wanted to be Council’s zation, at which time it took fourteen clerk, but as only one member, Charles ballots to decide whether- Mr. Freed,; Dotterer, who accused ’Squire Wampole R. K. S. Allebach or Milton Rhoads- of “doctoring the minutes,” wanted Mr. should be Council’s clerk for the year, Allebach, and the other five Oouncilmen acob Rhoads presented a bill for 300 wanted to retain the ’Squire, why, he oads of filling for Main street, and in was of course given the position. Seven ontesting his claim Council called upon; gentlemen wanted the position of Street . James N. Clemmer, who testified that; Commissioner—James Allebach, David' 100 loads had been paid for, and that Baker, William Nutz, A din Hibbs, I therefore the borough owed Mr. Rhoads Christian Cook, W. A. Smith and C. S. for only 200 loads. Thereupon “loud Bird, and upon a vote being taken, Mr. and angry” discussion ensued, which re¬ Allebach received the appointment. La- . sulted in the bill being laid upon the borers were to receive $1.25 per day, the’ table, and as we fail to find that it was ! Clerk $45 per annum and the Street Com¬ ever taken up or protested further, sup¬ missioner $1.50 per day. To light the pose it was eventually paid. The fragile ; borough lamps there were four applica¬ and threatening condition of the terra tions—James Fine, $84 per annum;: cotta chimneys on the Third street tene- Henry Denner, $100; Adin Hibbs, $140, ment houses were called attention to. and as a scare, probably, to the other Upon the dissolving of the old Council, three contractors, and with a view of Jonathan Scott arose and extending his keeping the figures down, Messrs. Luk- ; hand to Isaac Wampole, Jr., congratu¬ ens and Supplee put in a joint bid, which, lated him on the faithful and impartial when opened, was found to announce manner in which he had discharged his that they thought the job worth $300 per duties as President and member of Coun¬ year. But Council didn’t think so, and cil. and appreciated the pleasure of being gave James Fine the contract, he, how- ' in Council with him nine years before,and ever, getting an “elegant sufficiency” af-J s said that he had on more than one occa¬ ter one night’s duties. He resigned. W. sion been specially benefitted by his just C. Rumford, at $95 for the year; Amos •: and wise counsel. Whereupon the Pres- Dettra, $9(3; Jonathan Harrar, $95; Adin dent replied, saying: “I did not know [ Hibbs, $108, and Benjamin Rorer, $108, that I had been of especial benefit to any then offered to light the lamps, and after one, but [ well remember being in Coun¬ five ballots, Mr. Rorer got the contract. cil at the time alluded to by Mr. Scott; Daniel Kohl offered to sell $10 worth of L that I always tried to do my duty to the street on Elm avenue; one-dozen of thej . best of my knowledge and belief; that I new tubular lamps were purchased;: have been a member of Council for the Joshua Boyles’ pig pen nuisance was! last ten years, and that the .first seven condemned; Jonathan Scott succeeded in years thereof hail been spent in peace, making the borough pay the tax then and the body’s deliberations were har- and thereafter on borough bonds; the ■■■ V.': ,‘>l .B- -. ■ . - I was accepted. The election, held at the | ■TiiTmTous and pleasant,but (luring ttic public house of Jacob K. Schwenk, re¬ ■ last three years they have been very dis- sulted as follows: Burgess—O. M. Hsatisfactory to me as well as toothers, ; Weber; Council—William Barger and Rand I ask forgiveness if I have uninten- Rhine R. Freed; Judge—M. R. Swartley; | tioually wronged any one, and I fully Inspectors—Theodore Hardenfelt and Ir¬ ’■ forgive those whom I have just cause to vin S. Weber; Constable—J. N. Clem- ■ claim have wronged me. I hope the ill- mer; Tax Collector—Harry Brooks; Di¬ J will and hat red that have existed may die rectors—J. Fennel Berger and H. S. ■ out with the adjournment of the present 1 Council, and I hope and trust that the \ Kriehel; Auditors—W. C. Wood and W. incoming Council’s actions and delibera¬ R. Childs. The assessor’s book shows tions may be founded upon the princi¬ that the taxable property of North Wales ples of love and justice.” The tax of was valued at $395,640, and at the rate of three mills, this would amount to an in¬ three mills, amounting to $1,188.67, was come of $1,297.10. Mr. Brooks asked : levied on the following: and received an abatement of $37.79; ex¬ |Improved real estate.$351,750.00 Unimproved real estate.... 8,770.00 onerations of $19, and a commission of ; Seventy-six horses. 4,510.00 $26.69, making the net proceeds of the i Two cows. 00.00 tax duplicate $1,213.64, which was hand¬ : Household goods, value over $200. 200.00 -j Occupation. ed to the borough, and out of which Uj Thirty-nine carriages. 2,080.00 came $337.81 for labor on streets, $391.89 for materials, $279.03 for lighting lamps Total.$396,225.00 and materials, $27 for expenses of lock¬ Hi Walnut street, from Pennsylvania ave- up, and $21.83 for printing. Quite a •v■! nne to the railroad; Fifth street, from number of tax-payers petitioned Council Lq Walnut street to West Montgomery ave¬ for a bridge across the railroad at the nue; and Montgomery avenue, between corner of Pennsylvania avenue and ■ Second and Third streets, were curbed Washington avenue, and a committee of and paved this year. The Second street three was appointed to find the most pavement difficulty began to be adjusted, suitable location and the probable cost. & Isaac Wampole, Jr., paying into the But the committee was well aware that.a S treasury $50 as his share of the transac- bridge at that place at that time was not f'i tion. A committee was appointed to sit only impracticable,owing to a scarcity of with committees from Royersford and legitimate funds, hut that in reality it jSi other boroughs at Norristown to prepare was unnecessary. So it contrived, by §*? a petition for the Legislature asking that monthly reports of “progress,” to have ; jj all boroughs in Montgomery county be the subject “laid on the table and the ;>;? given the same privileges as Norristown committee discharged” early the next | in the adjustment of their damages for year. The owner of the Bechtel prop- |! new roads. The Water Company sent a B erty became rather obstreperous and si communication to Council asking that rnanaged to make the lives of the Street body to engage twenty hydrants, at Committee almost unendurable by the gl $13.50 each, or $350 for the twenty for erection of fences in Second street, which J , one year, and saying that the Company had been a thoroughfare for the required ^ would guarantee to keep an adequate twenty-one years, and by placing a I I supply of water in the tank to meet the hitching post in the gutter on Main demands of any fire. Charles Dotterer street, and by building a porch roof that : paid ten cents for a crossing stone, and drained water down the necks of passers-! i was given a receipt. Jacob Rorer was by. Eventually everything was nicely I j discharged as high constable, owing to remedied by Council again taking pos-| 1' his acceptance from the Government of a session of all the land between the Kuhn | S i contract for carrying the mail, and property and the railroad, and passing anf | swearing to attend to these latter duties ordinance, shortly after repealed, how-1 p to the exclusion of all others. Adin ever, which said that the supports to all£ | Hibbs offered to light the lamps for $10 awnings and that all hitching posts must] S per month; H. C. Dotterer, $9, and W. be placed at least eight inches inside the] : j H. H. Gibbs, $8, Mr. Gibbs receiving the curb line. The borough’s first law suit! 3' contract. took place, when it was compelled to as-j in 1887 sume the defensive against Isaac Landis, jj the citizens of the borough asserted who sued the borough for curb placed on ;■ themselves regarding the water supply Second street to the amount of $34. Be-1 .■ and fire protection,and thirty-five ofthem fore a local magistrate he secured judg-| presented a petition requesting Council ment, and the Council in the interests of to take some notice of the Water Com¬ the tax-payers was compelled to appeal. pany’s proposition. Acting on the senti- Before the ease came to a trial by jury, ment of the town, the Company present- the borough paid Mr. Landis his de¬ -■ ed a new suggestion, saying that for $150 mands. Daring 1886 the borough was per annum they would furnish the bor- compelled to enter a lien against the es¬ / ough with twenty hydrants, and would tate of Thomas Rogers, deceased, for keep a reasonable amount of water in its ; curbing and paving the street on Elm , tank, but that a continual fire would not avenue, and when the I. O. O. F. pur- be kept in the engine at the pump house. ; chased the property in 1887 they notified j An inflammable ‘substance would be S Council to send a representative to Nor- V ' placed under the boiler, so as to get ij ristown to receive the debt. This Council! I steam up as quickly as possible in an Bdid, and Jonathan Scott accordingly re-j emergency, however. This proposition ■ ...—j «« — :pal and interest at |six per cent. The Clerk’s salary was this! at twelve hours per nTgnt, it would I year reduced to $37; the Street Coin in is-1 be 365 nights or 4,380 hours’ burning at a Isioner’s increased to $1.70 per day and a| cost in proportion of $607 per year. I laborer’s to $1.35; the surveyor was to[ Upon the petition being presented it was (receive $3 a day and the-constable,for po¬ found to contain 136 names for the im¬ lice and janitor services, $24. There was I provement anti 67 against it, some of the lone fine this year for violation of the| petitioners hiving voted both for and [Fourth of July ordinance. against the petition. It was then re¬ in 1888 solved to light the lamps as follows : All night and every night in which the moon John Potter sued the borough for the re-, does not appear until 12 m., and on Jcovery of monies due him for work on rainy, cloudy or threatening nights they (streets, and a portion of which Council! are to be lighted also. William Gibbs |undertook to keep back for Mr. Potter’s; was given $15 per month, to attend Itax. But he paid his tax, and R. R. to them. It was decided to pur¬ I Freed, for the borough, paid $3.(52, the| chase 260 feet of hose at 68 cents per |costs of the suit. Election result: Bur¬ foot, and a 30-foot ladder at 18| cents per gess—A. J. Rhoads; Council—A. K. foot. Two fires occurring scarcely a IShearer and J. H. Leister; Collector—R. j week apart, a citizens’ meeting convened IK. S. Allebach; Assessor—E. M. Luk- in Amusement Hall, at which Judge jens; Assistants—Jonathan Scott and H. Hamburger presided and Rev. G. 1). IW. Moyer; School Directors—H. R, Foust acted as secretary, the meeting re¬ jSwartley and Rev. II. H. Bodine; Con- sulting in an offer of a reward of $500 for Jstable—W. II. II. Gibbs, and Auditor— the capture of the incendiary who was |J. L. R. Whetstone. Council's re-organ- responsible for the fire at the planing |ization, in which the Clerk was for the mill and the hay press—both the proper¬ [only time in the borough’s history given’ ty of A. K. Shearer. Seventy-five bills Ithe right to vote, resulted as follows: containing this announcement were dis¬ (President—Francis Anderman; Clerk—I. tributed over the county, and a notice JG. Freed; High Constable—W. H, H. was inserted in the Record for three I Gibbs; Treasurer—M. R. Swartley; months. The first oil bid was received— (Street Commissioner—James Allebach: from Weingartner & Son, for 10£ cents a (Solicitor—Harry Brownback; Surveyor— gallon; sewers were laid on Pennsylvania (I. Gr* Freed (John H. Dye other eandi- avenue and Third street, and $3 charged: Idate). Council’s place of meeting was for the connection of a property; the I then changed for the last time to Springhouse and Sumneytown turnpike I Amusement Hall—and a nightly rental company proffered the borough $150 for | °t was paid. The fire company this I repairs to the Main street, which was re¬ I year became an organization, with Wil- jected; forty ,corner stones' were ordered Iliarn Barger as Marshal. It was resolved! at a cost of 50 cents each from James Jto purchase a hose carriage, from a dis- Billiard; the first pavement was cleaned Jtant manufacturer, but upon "estimate?! of snow at the order of the burgess; and I secured by a committee, it was found;' it was decided to charge for and compel that the work could be done just as ■ the use of permits for digging up the ■cheaply at home, and S. Bright was ac¬ streets—the permit to cost 50 cents, and cordingly given the job. Then there! the property owner to be fined $5 and I must be a place to keep it, and a resolu¬ costs for failure to procure one, and to tion was passed and plans adopted saying keep a light burning ■ at night above the, Ithat a frame building should be erected i diggings, and to be responsible for all Ion the lock-up lot on Third street, and! damages resulting, were the minor hap¬ Ithat its dimensions should be 12x18 feet, penings of the year. Iwith a tin roof .sloping both ways. The (foundation was dug for this structure,! in 1889 | when it was decided to move the location the election resulted as follows: Burgess lot the lock-up to East Montgomery ave¬ —C. R. Addison ; Council—Francis An- nue, and build the hose house in conjunc¬ derman, 3 years; O. M. Weber, two tion with it. The first suggestion fora years, and Thomas P. Scott, one year; borough Board of Health was received Collector—Charles E. Bean; Assessor— this year, Council finding itself unable E. M. Lukens; Directors—Jonathan Trego to cope with the 'hog pen nuisance, and and Rev. G. D. Foust; Judge—M. R. the suggestion failing to become a mo¬ . Swartley; Inspectors—William G. Luk- tion, an appeal to the State Board was | ens and Wertz Weber; Constable—W. H. threatened^ This action frightened the | H. Gibbs; Auditor—W. R. Childs. The o(lenders, about a dozen in ail, into reno¬ borough’s finances ran behind once more, vating alt-and removing entirely some of [and it was found necessary to borrow the offences. ‘‘Should the lamps be '$1,200—$200 from George Ketterer; $300, lighted all night and every night” next Anna Stover; $500, Building and Loan claimed Council’s attention, at the in¬ Association, and $400 from Mathias stance ot a petition and the appearance ■ Stover, but to the credit of the borough’s before Council of several prominent eiti-. finance committee, be it said, it was zens. Isaac G. Freed read an estimate in found possible to pay off this indebtedness which he stated that the lamps were at by January 1st, 1890, by the issue of 4 present lighted fifteen nights every per cent, bonds, payable in five years, month, 195 nights or 585 hours in the which were exchanged for the borough year at a yearly expense of $150, and eon- script in every instance but the Buildin_ Association, whose constitution would gtfrt! Owing to the removal of NORTH WALES. I^lrger to New Jersey, his resig- fire marshal and councilman the last of a series of six ARTICLES I ^g“Wary. The value of taxable UPON ITS CORPORATE HISTORY THEl -Was $461,200, upon which the bond issue—increase in the TAX I taxTevy of four mills produced a gross LEVY AND TAXABLE PROPERTY DURING] income of $1,891.80, in connection with THE PAST TWENTY-FIVE YrARS AI $47 dog tax. The auditors’ report tor STONE CRUSHER, ELECTRIC RAILWAY. 1889 shows the borough assets to be | ELECTRIC AND GAS LIGHTS THAT ARE| $644.98; liabilties, $60.28; receipts, $4, ■ NOT FORTHCOMING—EDEN WITH MOD¬ 107 15 and expenditures of $1.20<).Jl tor EL MODERN IMPROVEMENTS. streets and $430.77 for lamp service. In 1890 it was decided to issue thel Since the time of Hiram Potter tne bur-: bonds suggested the year previous, but o-ess of North Wales was simply an otn- the amount was cnanged from $o,550 to| cial to be called upon in an emergency ex¬ $6 000—the holders of the additional five cept in this year, when C. R- Addison bonds feeling amply protected as the made his debut and proceeded to make taxable property of the borough was things hum. He exercised, commend-1 valued at $461,200. These bonds were ably" his power of veto, and refused to all to be of the par value of $100, and o-ive his signature to a batch of ordi¬ hence there would be sixty of them, all I nances, including one to curb and pave drawing four per cent, interest, payable Shearer street,from Pennsylvania avenue ■ semi-annually, the entire issue to be re¬ 1 to Centre street, and another to eontis- deemed by 1910 at the rate of two andl l cate all hogs and pens in the borough af¬ three each succeeding year. Each boncll ter a certain date. The burgess, m con¬ is subiect to an annual tax of .0011, pay-1 nection with his veto, sent a message to able by the borough and not by the bond-1 ; Council in which he recommended the holder. As the lock-up was moved from curbing of Shearer street to Swart ley Third street to East Montgomery avenue. I street and the fining of the keepers of the its former site was for sale, Council I offensive swine. These recommenda¬ . placing its value at $300. Thomas tions Council framed into an ordinance ■ Bright offered $250 for it, but was re¬ and passed. There were now 33 lamps fused, and two months later it was sold in the borough, and these 'William Gnbbs to Mary Axer for $275. Noah Weikel, was given $15 per month to light. The after an absence of several y e*rs^°!icejj hose house was ..insured in the Lahas- more became a resident of North Walef, B ka Insurance Company for $500. Case- :? ' and was immediately elected Constable! line lamps were ousted, the tubulars tak- by the citizens, and has ever sincere-4 in t: other good things it was dropped. The ond and Third streets on the same thor¬ ' narrow escapes made by persons and ve¬ oughfare—asking Councd to lay a system hicles from being injured by trains at the of drainage, it was decided so to do at the Walnut street crossing, caused Council property-owners’ expense. As a result to pass an ordinance saying that no car all stagnant water and slops that weie train, engine or tender could run through formerly surface drainage, and thus the borough at a rate exceeding five threatened all kinds of malignant dis ! miles an hour, and that the penalty tor eases, now run through buried eight- the first offense would he $2, and tor of- inch terra cotta pipes into Beaver Road. I fences subsequent the penalty would be An ordinance was passed making it com¬ pulsory to muzzle all dogs during warm $5. weather. The borough Board of Health] in 1893 was a creation of this year, and had pub¬ a communication was received from the lished as one of its initial acts, an oi c v railroad company asking permission to nance of 37 sections—the longest by tour place a flagman at the Walnut street times ever adopted by Council. Judge crossing in lieu of safety gates at Main Herman Hamburger was elected as its and Walnut streets, and the slowing of President, Dr. D. H. Bergey as Secre- £ all trains. This request was acceded to. I Itary, the first named gentleman to serve U. K. Schwenk, who, with his family, re I .T TC ficl . four years and the second five years. moved to Reading, this year tendered his Dr Hi F. Slifer, elected for three years; resignation as Councilman. The ques- W. T. Trego, two years, and A. K. tion as to whether the borough should or •Shearer, one year, comprised the remain¬ should not have electric lights was sub¬ der of the Board. The Secretary was to mitted to the voters at the February receive $25 per annum, but after serving election, who decided iu the affirmative possibly five ninths, resigned moved to mm by a majority of 44—108 for the improve¬ Philadelphia, and was succeeded by W. ment and 64 against it. For the first R Childs. Dauiel Kohl was elected time in the borough’s history Council- Health Officer, at a salary when on duty men appeared at the re-organization UIDU ^ w --- of thirty cents an hour. It was decided meeting in March without their creden this year that electricity only could he a tials. The clerk had his salary increased better illuminant than our street lamps, from $37 to $50, and William Gibbs was and hence a proposition from a Phcenix- the only bidder for the lamps, receiving ville company to light North Wales with 16_per month for his services. I he Igas received no official action, altlioug] people who were ambitious, persevering we remember the matter as exciting no ,^and cultured and who, not content; little interest at the time. Jacob G. with the appearance of things upon their! Lutz wanted 13 cents per lineal foot to ai rival, immediately began to remedy lay School street’s drain; J. R. Grad-, defects and institute improvements. jwohl, 14; B. G. Rosenberger, 20, and With the laudable co-operation of the jGeorge Hill, 20, Mr. Lutz receiving the. life-long residents of the town, they have;,, j contract, and John Weikel the superin-, succeeded, and nobly, too. Possibly' j tending of the job. there are other towns, in this State as| [We extend our sincere thanks toMr.i pretty, as healthy, as wisely-governed, [Isaac G. Freed, and to the borough coun-i and as financially sound as is North oil for the loan of its documents, and es¬ Wales, but there are none, we are sure,1 pecially to Mr. Freed for suggestions and that in the same length of corporate ex-1 r [information concerning matters of inter-[ istence surpass it in these directions.; est which we have used in the foregomo- Excellent road ways, substantial stone, particles.] ■ a| and brick pavements over the entire? -- town, nicely shaded streets, a school sec-I ( This week the Record completes its ona m none in the county, an Academy' E I fHicles upon the corporate history of the to which North Wales’ best citizens ■ borough of North Wales, and while it : point with pride, drainage system almost J has been the aim of the writer to presentH perfection, ample protection from fire, ('. fn interesting review, he trusts what has 'y both as to warnings and facilities to cope ,been written will be of benefit to Council with the fiercest blaze ; lamps that burn j I now in control of North Wales’ interests, brightly all night and every night ; anl land to such of our citizens as may in abundance of soft, pure and cold artesian; | *he hereafter years be called upon to make well water, furnished at a reasonable 5- [laws tor tbeborough and wisely disburse price by one of the chartered organiz-fr’:' While several old and prac- ations of the town; a handsome bank (fy fiscally “dead-letter” ordinances have,1 building, whose appearance is an external ■ W been discovered, it is very evident that evidence of the sterling worth of the in¬ 1 several new ones may, with great pro¬ stitution ; a prosperous Building and priety, be immediately enacted. The &• Loan Association; a vigilant Board of yfact is a noticeable one that the town did Health, whose energetic efforts for an dnot thrive until the advent of a newspa- even more sanitary North Wales areB Iper, and that such an enterprise was i bearing good fruitage; an ambitious® ■necessity to the best interests of the Board of Trade ; a wise and enterprisingM place has now been conclusively proven. Council—all property-owners ; fourf- Jlhe towns financial income, its im- 1 cfaurches ;. 1,500 people whose intelli-fH proved and unimproved property valua- gence, sociability and hospitality are well I jtion remained at about the same figures ” worthy of cultivation ; and last, but not A; ■ lor years; pavements on many streets least,, a quantity of land elegantly situ-re [were greatly needed, but were not forth-: atedjust within our borough limits, and. , coming—those thoroughfares that did subject to yearly improvements by the? make pretensions to respectability having borough,or in the vicinity of North Wales,: >■ [ board pavements, which from time to time and thus exempt from any hut township , became more or less dilapidated, and taxation, either of which tract or portions. whose dangerous condition caused more ;hereof are for sale on easy and mutually .than one threatened law suit to the own. satisfactory terms, are inducements that ers; street lamps there were none; no Uorth Wales, through its newspaper, protection from fire; every storm washed vishes to present to that person, persons,; I, , unmacadamized streets into holes >rganization or institution which is look-! £ [and ruts; crossings consisted of some-l ng for a new home or business site. (times one piank, sometimes two, more ' c. M. M. lfrequently none; lawlessness of one kind jor another, generally trifling, however .except during the period of the building fjof the Stony Creek and North Penn rail¬ From, roads, went unpunished, and there was jno place to confine offenders even if ar- IZ fS entertainments few and of a I doubtful character; and waste water, gar- bage and other refuse drained to the front of a residence, and no sewer or gut- Date, ; u®r off were inconveniences borne by the citizens of North Wales dur¬ ing its infancy with a martyr-like spirit (worthy of a better cause. It was cheap- AN OLD STORE STAND. that was its only excuse. But with all In the Ownership of One Family for wL^umeilt? toward economy, who a Century. \vouid change the then for the now? Not The store property at Gwynedd, belonging y any means is the present prosperous 7 to William H. Jenkins, has been in the own¬ looK of North Wales due entirely to the® ership of himself, his father, and grandfather, ,tS but its news- exactly a centnry. On the 10th of April, Papei does contend that it was instru-B 1794, John Martin, of Gwynedd, and his mental m bringing to the town a class of wife, Helena, conveyed to Edward Jenkins, of adjoining the public sqaure, on prM the same township, two tracts oi land, one of vate terms. The price, however, is said to three acres, the other of fifty and a quarter acres. The smaller was that on which the be in the neighborhood of $21,000. The store now stands. Part of the present store building is one of the landmarks of revolu-| building was then standing, having been tionary time, since when numerous altera-| built in 1799, and occupied during the Revolu¬ tions have been made and additions erect¬ tion as a hotel. Edward Jenkins was in thei ed, until now the store and sheds are practi¬ storekeeping business when he made the pur¬ cally one continuous structure from Main chase and it may have been that he had, street almost to Penn street. The lot has a rented this property of John Martin duringi front of 60 feet on Main street, but is only the year preceding the purchase ; it is certain, as already stated, that conveyance of the about half that width on Penn street. Lo- property was made April 10, 1794, and that c ited as it is, in the business centre of the Edward Jenkins then took possession. borough, bounded on one side by the pub The deed for this conveyance recites : lie square, it is one of the most desirablej “This indenture, made this tenth day of pieces of realty in the county town. It has ; April, in the year of our Lord 1794, between been iu the market several years and there John Martin, of the township of Gwynedd,j have been frequent negotiations for its con¬ in the county of Montgomery and Common¬ veyance. It has been regarded as au avail¬ wealth of Pennsylvania, saddler, and Helena able site for hotel purposes and at one time his wife, of the one part, and Edward Jenkins, of the same place, merchant, of the other the erection of a building for Masonio pur- ... part; whereas, Owen Ferris, and Jane, his poses was looked upon as an early probabil¬ wife, by indenture dated the 23d day of April, ity. This project, it is hinted, has even 17S2, did grant unto the said John Martin, now not been abandoned, although the party hereto,” etc., etc. future of the place is as yet uncertain. Edward Jenkins thus established himself Mr. Koplin will, however, continue to in business at this place in 1794, and contin¬ occupy it with bis large hardware, stove and ued until his death, in 1829. He was then succeeded by his son Charles F. Jenkins, tin roofing business. who continued until his death, in 1867. Since The original building, which still re¬ mains, possesses some historic interest. It B was formerly a hotel, known as the Gen- ■ eral Washington, and it is a mooter! ques-fj tion whether General Washington did not

once lodge there. By some persons it is,, held that it was iu a building on the site , now occupied by Dr . Malilon Preston s of- » flee that the father of his country was a guest. It was in the present hardware stove, . when it was known as the General Wash- I ington Hotel, that the first court in Mont-j gomery county was held, so the historian | says, Setember 28, 1785, with Fred A. k Muhlenberg, James Morris, Henry ScheetZ|j and William Bean sitting as Justices. AU the first quarter sessions a colored mam, known as “Negro William” was sentenced f to receive nineteen lashes. Another eul-l prit, having been found guilty of two lar- cenies, was sentenced to receive fifteen lashes on the bare back. Au aged resident tells of au exciting, scene he once witnessed at the General Washington Hotel, when there was a pauie t amongst stockholders of the Philadelphia, , Germantown and Norristown Railroad, who were frantic to get rid of their hold¬ ings, lest it be assessed to meet the indebt-1 edness of tire road. Stock was being sold) one day at the hotel, at a mere song, being regarded as worse than worthless. Menj fought, for a front place ^ the crowd of sel¬ lers and few buyers, and iu their frenzy climbed over beads and behaved morel like demons than men. The scene is re-; membeved by a number of the older inhab¬ itants. Tire late Daniel Quilliuan purchased the property of Dr. Samuel Ereedley, April 1st. ' ^5, for $7200. and found the enemy quietly resting in their lines, who were returning‘to report to Washington at headquar¬ ters. Swedes’ Ford, to which we have introduced the reader, is made mem¬ orable in the annals of the Revolu¬ tion, by the passage of the American Army, under Washington, on its painful and sorrowful march to Val¬ FORD. ley Forge. The Ford is now entirely obliterated, and even its exact local¬ ity is scarcely known. Tradition Washington’s army crossing the places it about fifty or a hundred SCHUYLKILL MORE THAN A yards above the lower bridge. It HUNDRED YEARS AGO. was marked on the Norristown side by a large willow tree, and on the Just as the early dawn was begin¬ Bridgeport side by two tall pines, and ning to brighten the hills that bound the old Swedes’ Ford tavern still the Valley of the Schuylkill, on the standing. But the willow and the 12th of December, in the year of our pines have long since disappeared Lord 1777, a small party of horse¬ under the hand of time and man; and men leisurely approached the river the old Ford, once the highway of near the place then called Swedes’ armies, now exists only in history Ford. By their dress they might and song. have been known as troopers of the A hundred years ago, the river | Continental Army, and their leader, Schuylkill rolled along in all its na- |as Captain Allen McClane, the dar¬ jtive wildness and beauty. No ling partisan ranger of the old Mary¬ bridges spanned it; no dams obstruct¬ land line. ed its waters as they murmured on “Halt /” cried the Captain as they through banks guarded and shaded came to the ford. by the primeval forests. Towns “Dismount boys and feed quick. there were none. The old Swedes’ Now, Bill, give us a blast from your Church, and a few scattered farms horn. ’ ’ land houses occupied the ground upon A few notes of the bugle sounded which Norristown, Bridgeport and across the river, .and were quickly Swedesburg now stand. answered from the other side. It was the darkest hour in the fear¬ Having given his orders, the Cap¬ ful struggle for American Independ¬ tain of the company, with his ser¬ ence. The battles of Brandywine vant, entered the stream at the ford, and Germantown had been fought |riding slowly along as if to ascertain and lost. The British, under Lord its depth. As he gained the shore, I fowe. inspired by their victories, he was met by several American offi¬ [had marched into Philadelphia, and cers, who seemed to be awaiting his held the metropolis in an iron grip. arrival. After a short consultation Upon the hills of Whitemarsh lay with them, he returned again to his the remnant of the American Army, company, who were busy finishing disheartened by defeat, almost desti¬ their hasty early breakfast. tute of clothing and provisions, and “All right, boys,” said the Cap¬ exposed to the cold blasts and snows tain, “and before to-morrow our of Winter, which had already set in army will be safe on the other side of with all its severity. The troops the river, on their way to Valley needed shelter and rest, and paving Forge. Now for the camp.” failed to come to a decision in a In a few rnoinen ts the merry troop¬ council of war, Washington deter¬ ers were again in their saddles, and mined to place his army in Winter soon disappeared in the thick forests quarters among the wooded hills of I that then covered the greater part of Valley Forge. the country. They had been scout¬ On the morning of the 11th of De¬ ing all night towards Philadelphia, cember, 1777, through a deep snow

/ :JP- . , that had just fallen, the weary march bridge, over which the infant began. It was interrupted, however, the patriot army passed. by a foraging party sent out by Lord As the night advanced, the Cornwallis, that appeared during the’ division crossed, and the cavalry day on the western side of the river. had remained behind, guarding the1 " The enemy, having returned to the rear, came dashing through the win¬ i city, the march was resumed. try river, and all were safely landed; Swedes’ Ford now became the on the other side. The hard day’s scene of military activity. On the W- work was done. Camp fires blazed western side of the river was mar-; through the surrounding forests, and ■'shalled General Potter’s brigade, in the open fields, lighting up river guarding the crossing. Scouts pa¬ and sky with their cheerful blaze, trolled the roads leading from the and soon nearly ten thousand weary city. Soon the long motley train of soldiers lay wrapped in slumbers in baggage wagons and rude ambu¬ their snowy bivouac upon the banks lances, with the sick and wounded of the Schuylkill. came pouring in from the Ridge road. Such is the story of old Swedes The yells and shouts of the drivers, Ford, more than a hundred years the rumbling of heavy wheels oyer ago. Now, how changed the scene ! the frozen ground, and the neighing The forests have disappeared; flour¬ of horses, filled the valley with thej ishing towns have been built where discordant and confused sounds of a the veteran patriots trod. Railroad hurried military movement. trains rush with wings of speed over In the distance was heard the bu¬ the ground on which the heroes of gle’s blast, the shrill note of the fife, the Revolution marched with bleed¬ J\. and the rattle of drums, as the regi¬ ing feet. ments, brigades and divisions of the But, as we stand beside the tranquil Continental Army, with banners j river over which they passed, or soiled and torn in battle, came wander among the hills of Valley marching on to the Ford, and spread Forge, the Winter encampment of out over the narrow plain. over one hundred years ago, where It was an army in rags, covered! all suffered and many died, we can¬ with the blood and dust, and black-i not forget the sacrifices which they ened in the smoke of the ill-fated made, nor cease to prize the glorious fields of Brandywine and German¬ land which we have received from town, through which they had just them, as thoheritage of freedom, and passed. Some still bore the un¬ the legacy of their patriotism and healed marks of recent wounds. valor. Not one of that heroic Spar¬ Many were without shoes or stock¬ tan band now survives. They are ings, and stained with their bloodj all gone; but, the rough-frozen roads over which Their rest is glorious—for they sleep they marched. In freedom’s soil, so luavelv won: ■ A nation's hauliers louttd ihem sweep, But it was a grand army. Men A world is now their own: whose names have become immortal And u .tries like their’s shall ever he were there. Under the old forests at The watchwords of the It rave and five. Swedesford, were gathered the heroes —Rev. A. J. WEnDELL, D. D., ijj of Washington, Lafayette, Baron De Norristown Defender. Stueben, Greene, Knox and Wayne, W" 'Vii.di " " who humbled the pride of England upon the plains of Yorktown, gave a country to a nation, and freedom^ to a continent. But, as the enemy hearing of the retreat of the army from Whitemarsh might be hastening in pursuit, there was no time for delay. The river being already swollen by the Winter rains and snow, the baggage wagons were hastily drawn into the Ford, and on them was formed a temporary; Ramsey’s Hall, Bryn Mawr, on Fri¬ day evening last, and were delight¬ f rgA fully entertained with music, speeches, • | reminiscenses and presentation exer¬ cises of a very pleasing character- OV. The Post received a handsome crayon iportrait of the brave and distinguished soldier, statesman and citizen, Col. Date, *3 Owen Jones, late of Lower Merton, in whose honor the Post has been named, The Old Simpson Homestead. jfrom bis widow, who has so kindly Emanuel Stocker’s residence, below remembered the comrades in this as Pleasantviile, is quite an old house and i well as other gifts to the Post. bears a little history. In it the mother The camp fire was called to order of General U. S. Grant was born and lived until quite a young lady. Her at 8.15 p. M., Comrade Frank A. father, John Simpson, sold the place and Hower presided. Rev. J. Dungan, ox afterwards moved to the West, when Radnor M. E. Church, began the ex¬ 1 after a short while this young Miss Simp¬ son married Jesse Grant, the father of ercises of the evening with prayer. General Grant. The house has still The Bryn Mawr Cornet Band played the same appearance as when John Simp¬ son left it, except recently a new roof j inspiring selections cf music during was put on, new cornice made and two the evening, and was rapturously ap¬ new dormer windows put in. The in¬ plauded. The Bryn Mawr Quartette, terior, with the old fashioned fire place, reminds the older folks of years ago |l,d by Mr. Morris Weber, sang some when stoves were unknown to them. patriotic hymns and songs which met The doors of this old building are made , in the oid panel pattern. The time oiN with enthusiastic approbation. Col. the building of this historical house is || Owen Jones Fite and Drum Corps unknown, no records being found. Gen¬ enlivened the evening, preceding the eral Grant had said that his mother’s Hj family had lived in Montgomery county, opening of the campfire, with choice for generations, but had little intorma- , marshal music, which had a tendency tion about her ancestors. Her family ; had never taken an interest in geneology, of attracting a large crowd. so that his grandfather, who passed this Major R. R Corson, of Norristown, life wrhen the General was but sixteen was to have made the presentation years old, knew only back to his grand- m father. General Grant’s grandfather, speech. He disappointed the Bos J John Simpson, moved from Montgomery not being present. Comrade Hon. county to Clermont county, Ohio, about i the year 1819, taking his four children,, Ijosiah S. Pearce, who was to receive three girls and one boy, Mrs. Grant be¬ the portrait on behall of the Post, con¬ ing the third child anu was then over sented to the change of program a,nd [twenty years old. Mrs. Grant visited Newtown in 1875, but probably never in a very eloquent speech presented visited her birth-place since she left it the life-like picture, at the conclusion in 1819. of which he was loudly applauded. Comrade James Beale received the portrait for the Post in a most appro¬ priate and interesting speech, which met the hearty accord of all assembled. Comrade Isaac A. Cleaver, ot Ber- j-wyn, was called upon for a speech and responded in his usual happy ni *111 ^ er Comrade Capt. L. D. Spiece favored the audience with an address which 4N 01’EN CAMP FIRE.1 was full of patriotic sentiment and was vigorously applauded. PRESENTATION OF COL. OWEN JONES’ Captain of Col. Owen Jones Camp, PORTRAIT AND OTHER:r EXEEXERCISES. Sons of Veterans, Elwood T. Carr, responded to the call for a speech, and

carried the audience away with delight A Brief Sketch of Col. Jones’ Lite | at the eloquence of the inspiring ad¬ and Death. dress which he delivered. A large number of the comrades Mr. Strong, of Villanova, responded and friends of Col Owen .Tones Post, to the call for a speech and pleased .No. 591, Grand Army of the Repub¬ everyone present by liis interesting lic, assembled at headquarters, in and vprv able address. 96 Mr. MorriiTWeber favored the au¬ manhood until his deau dience with a comic song, which was loudly applauded. the most prominent and Honor* The quartette, with the audience as-! zens of Montgomery county e sisting, sang “My Country ’Tis of the State of Pennsylvania, was a s Thee,” after which Rev. Mr. Dungan of Jonathan and Mary (Thomas)Jones closed the exercises with the benedic- and a descendent of Edward Jones’ i tion. who was a native of Wales, and came ; The visiting comrades and friends thence to Pennsylvania nearly two of the Post, who participated in the centunes ago settling on lands pur. exercises, remained after the audience chased from William Penn and which had disbursed and were served with forms part, of the estate that has been refreshments. held in the Jones family from that _ The entertainment committee con¬ time to the present. A larger portion sisted of comrades Allen L. Bevan, of the property which descended Maurice O’Neill, William Gray, J. B. tin ough successive generations to Col Danaker, James Beale, Joseph A. < >wen Jones came in possession of his Morris and H. C. Bevan, who desire ancestors through the marriage of a in this public manner to express their son of. the original settler, Edward thanks to all who so generously aided Jones, with a daughter of Thomas I in making this camp tire a success. Wynne Speaker of the First Colonial ,'Col. Owen Jones Post, No. 591, Assembly of Pennsylvania, who took Department of Pennsylvania, G. A. R., up lands adjoining those of Edward was organized August 1889, and Jones. By that marriage the Wynne the name of this popular, distinguished and Jones lands became united in one and patriotic citizen and soldier, of estate, which, in honor of the Wynne Lower Merion, was unanimously family, received the name which it still bears—Wynnewood. adopted as the honored title tor a vet¬ eran organization that is recognized In the Wynnewood mansion, on as one of the most prosperous in the1 this estate, Owen Jones was born Department. In its brief history it; December 29, 1819. On reaching has accumulated considerable property! the proper age, and having passed and war relics and has a substantial! through a preparatory course of study fund on reserve. Comrade W. H. he entered the University of Penn¬ Ramsey was elected Commander at! sylvania where in due time he gradu- the first muster for one year. The afed and commenced the study of law annual changes in Commander were : (,)f William M. Meredith, Second year, Maurice O’Neill; third o Philadelphia. At the conclusion year, H. L. Litzenberg ; fourth year, of his law course he was admitted to J. B. Danaker; fifth and present year,,1 the bar in Philadelphia and soon af-i Allen L. Bevan. The Post meets! terwards, May 19, 1842, wras also ad¬ every second and fourth Friday! mitted to practice in Montgomery nights in the month in Ramsey’s! county. But having a preference f< r Hall, Bryn Mawr. the puisuit of agriculture, rather than The crayon portrait presented to} for the practice of his profession, he j the Post by Col. Owen Jones’ respect- gave his attention chiefly to the form- j l ed widow, and which is highly prized er, becoming deeply interested in the ! and will be cherished by the comrades raisiug of fine stock and everything while the organization continues in tending to the promotion of improve-! i existence,, we are assured by comrade! ment in methods of farming. Hon. Josiah S. Pearce, who has had! In 1856 Mr. Jones received the' the pleasure of many years personal! Democratic Congressional nomination! acquaintance* with Col. Owen Jones,! for the Fifth District, which then cm-1 is as life-like as it is possible braced Montgomery county and some! for an artist to make, and the resem-i Northern wards of Philadelphia. He blance is true to nature. was elected and served in Congress from December 1857, to March 4 A brief synopsis of the life aDdl 1859. public services of the late Col. Owen! On the breaking out of the great Jones may be of interest to the com-l war of the Rebellion, in April, 1861, rades and the public in this connec¬ tion. he immediately became prominent as one of the most earnest and active Col. Owen Jones, who, from early j supporters of the government and the country he had done Ms duty and Union. Under the legislative act of (had done it well. From the officers May 15th, of that year, for the forma¬ and men who served under him he tion of the "Reserve Volunteer Corps had won the full measure of that res- of the Commonwealth,” to include [pect and love which soldiers always one regiment of mounted men, he at give to a brave, generous and humane once commenced the raising of a com- commander. On all the muster-rolls panv of cavalry, which he recruited of Pennsylvania, there could not be almost entirely at his own private ex¬ found the name of a truer patriot or a pense. The company, which was more gallant and conscientious officer made up in Lower Merion and ad¬ jtkan Col. Owen Jones. joining townships was soon filled and Returning from the army to his moved to the rendevous at Camp beautiful home atWynnewood, Col. 'Curtin, Harrisburg, where it became Owen Jones resumed the peaceful Compauv B, of the first Pennsylvan a vocations which had been interrupted Cavalry” It was afterwards desig¬ by bis departure for the field of war. nated as the Forty-fourth Regiment of In these pursuits and in the enjoy¬ the State Volunteer forces and placed ments of domestic life he continued under command of Colonel George through a period of nearly fifteen D. Bayard. Prior to this, August 5, years which brought him to the close 1861, Captain Owen Jones, of Corn- of his honorable and useful career. pan v B, bad been promoted to the Early in the evening of December "grade of Major. In September the 25th, 1878, he set out from his home 1 regiment moved from Camp Curtin alone on foot, intending, in company I to Tenallytown, Md., whence on the with his near neighbor, Mr. Louis ! 10th of October it crossed the Poto¬ Wistar, to spend the|evening in a so¬ mac River into Virginia. A few cial way at the house of their mutual 'weeks later it first saw actual service freind, Gr. George S. Gerhard. On in the battle of Dranesville, where it leaving home he directed the coach¬ took a leading part in the attack, man to call for him at the doctor’s which resulted in the complete route house at ten o’clock. At that hour of the enemy. the man went with the carriage, but On the 3rd of January, 1862, upon oa reaching Dr. Gerhard’s, was told the resignation of Lieutenant-Colonel that Colonel Jones had not been there. Jacob Higgins, Major Owen Jones He received the same answer at Mr. . was advanced to the higher grade, Wistar’s A search was then made and in the following May he was pro¬ along the way and about an hour later moted to the colonelcy of the regi- bis body was found, lying face down¬ regiment, Colonel Bayard having ward lifeless and cold, within fifty been made a brigadier-general. yards of Dr. Gerhard’s residence. While under command of Colonel His death had evidently been instan¬ | Jones the First Cavalry performed taneous and the result of apoplexy. severe and continuous services, and The remains were buried in the fam¬ fought gallantly in a great number of ily vault at Laurel Hill. The funeral | engagements. At the battle of Fred- was attended by a large concourse of lericksburg, December 11 to 13, 1862, people. His death was deeply jCol. Owen Joues acted as brigadier- mourned by all who knew him general, and commanded a full bri¬ Col Owen Joues was married iSo- gade, occupying a position in the ex¬ vember 4th, 1841, to Mary, daughter treme left and in advance of General of Isaac W. Roberts. Their children Franklin’s Corps. were four in number. The widow In January, 1863, Col. Owen and one son are the only survivors Jones, with his regiment, took part and reside in the family mansion, jin the famous, but profitless, “Mud [where the husband and father was March” of General Burnside’s army Iborn and which was Ms home dunug ! up the Rappahauock, and then, after jail the years of his f] three days of severest toil, along im¬ passable roads, back to their former [position. This was the last of the I military operations in which Col. Jones participated. On the 30th of January, 1863, he resigned bis com¬ mission and left the service. To his and girders. Timbers such"as' generation would put into a bi ing were used in the construct, story chopping mill; the axe there a century and a half ago covered up by the dust of ages, but th cak is just as good as ever.

A DUNI%

Years ago the Perkiomen furnished power I for driving a flour mill in every mile of its length from its mouth to far up near its source, but this state of things has changed with the improved methods of milling and the absorption of trade by mills erected close to markets and railroads. The picturesque overshot water-wheel has to a very great ex- : tent ceased to turn. It was very artistic, and a good millwright could fashion one at a rea¬ sonable price. When they were put in tur¬ bines were not so efficient as they are now nor so practical. The old mill-wheel was very inspiring to the poet, who saw the water splasb- poets, hf hundred-soled boots and inherited ing from it in silvery spray, who made music hats, of doubt of the stranger and dumb, of the rumble of the ponderous shaft; but the yearning, silent love for the native soil which poet ought to have been on hand on some cold never has conquered and never will conquer winter morning when all was frozen solid to the immutable persistency of race—this is our hear an able-bodied Pennsylvania Dutchman Rhine, the country of those “Pennsylvania saying something exhilarating about that Dutch,” whose learned men, lawyers, divines i domda wasser-rote.” There is nothing and editors will, to a man, gravely halt you poetic to the mill-owner about going down and tell you before they let you go a step fur¬ into a wheel pit with an axe to knock off the ther that they are not Dutch, but Germans. chunks of ice so that the mill can be started Yes, this is our Rhine, and why the traveler and the convenience of the turbine has, alas,’ Seeks it so little and lingers so briefly over its done away with the green mossy forebay and quaintness is a mystery. the rest of the lyric accessories.

It was for the water power that the early And the houses in which these millers German settlers came here—the power that lived , Built of stone, laid in such mortar as would turn mills, the power that would re¬ jis not mixed in these degenerate days, strong, mind him of the rushing brooks of the Father- comfortable and homely, and one day therein land, with their brown stones and fir trees, (telling another. But in one thing there is their nixies and undines. Here they built change. There is no longer the store of ances¬ the grist mills, saw mills, oil mills and full¬ tral clocks, spinning wheels, willow ware, delft ing mills that once were in full splash on the and pewter that there once was. Trutlrto tell banks of the Perkiomen. And here they still the Pennypacker and the Rittenhouse Ger¬ stand, for they were built, like the houses, to man has parted rather easily with his treas¬ last, and their foundations are as solid as ures, and when the insidious collector first' when they were first laid. The first thing came poking his nose into the old kitchen that strikes the visitor to one of these old dressers up that way the prices were nothigh flouring mills is the apparent profligacy of enough to have made the sin of sacrifice building material, particularly of posts, beams. Yenafi by^any means. But though he sells his heirlooms the German—let us call him so, cups ana saucers that never had. any since he refuses to be Dutch—the Penny- other duty than that of gracing the packer German, has not changed his Christmas feast, and one can imagine spots. There is a man of that country on the care and concern of the housewife whom two itinerant townsfolk called the other lest some accident befel the long-stemmed day. The countryman was said to possess wine glass or the fragile bowls and deep-set the finest treasure of bargainable house ware plates, while meeting their mission as part¬ for miles and miles. Whether he would sell ners to the season’s wishes of peace and good or not was a question. But he had the china will. If in the figures on this china blue set —it was there. The man lives in a little a thin gilt line graces the curves and bumps two-story stone house with two rooms on each the set may be put down as a priceless treas¬ floor and an attic above. That is all there is ure, for gilt is the heirloom mark of genuine g,!to the simple establishment he maintains— antiquity. The Shunks, the Wolfs, the Rit- but in one of those rooms there’s a sight to ners and the Hiesters set the pace in the early ) make a collector’s head swim—two big dress- century for the blue and pink china closet Bjers full of the most beautiful specimens of treasures, and this pace continues to-day in ' _l pottery, aud pitchers and tea pots of the the sacred heritage bequeathed the sons and , ! quaintest designs, and meat plates orna- the daughters from the old folks. I mented with flowers of such gorgeous colors If the sojourner in Pennsylvania Deutsch¬ Si; that one wants to see the like in reality just land is lucky enough to have friends among f | for the sake of the sensation. There are also the residents, he can get a pretty fair idea of ||j some old guns and a couple of high clocks, what hospitality means. There is no such I but the china is the thing. The history of thing as coming in on them unexpectedly and 1 most of the stuff the old man knows for finding them unprepared. The head of the ■! "achtsiche yahre.” The corner cupboard ^ iaTm house at which we stopped the night ■ speaks almost as much English as he does, was simply glad to see us, and before supper although he was horn in Montgomery county, time we were old friends; religion, political Pa. He is well enough acquainted with rom- economy and the crops were argued and dis¬ V: mercial United States language to say “ Zwci cussed. At supper we were told to pitch in [huntertd tollar” when you ask him "how and help ourselves, and what we wanted we much?”—but hardly familiar enough with had but to reach for. The longer the reach , German to get along with high school lin- and the oftener the better satisfied felt the Bguists._ _ _ host. It took a long while to get that meal into And the china closet treasures—how they us, because there was a good deal of time in¬ rest and grow quaint in the three-cornered volved in loading us up with Pennsylvania sideboard just as they were placed by the Dutch conundrums, too. Our entertainers’ good trau in the long ago. If they did not had a pretty good store of humor that was come from Leyden or the Darmstadt coun¬ very fully drawn out when we tried to an¬ try perhaps they wear the Municher edge, swer their "jokes.” “ Vas fer en asel kom- and if the wonderful figures on tne face mernetrida?” Then they laughed because icould speak tho family chronichen nach- we didn’t know that it was “a hunasel.” | Irichten would be found written in them. The point of this is lost in translation. Piles of dinner platters in dark blue with not “What kind of a mule can’t be ridden?” a nick in the rim, cream jugs and tea pots and the answer is, “ A hornet.” That’s a whose curves and finish are never met with in funnv joke for in American to laugh at, isn’t this degenerate day. This is the outfit, com¬ it? We didn’tj laugh. “ Vas fer en vurreck plete in heavy sized covers and thin-rimmed kommer net shpinna?” was another. Wo 100

CHINA.

had to WUCi-1 spun. Then they gave us another: they got Ludvarreck (apple but- gesht tsu der deer rei und glensicbt net; vas gesht auf derofa’ und fer brend sich net; vas gesht auf der tisch uud ^sham^t_sicl^net The answer to that is “ the sun.'’ The Min goes through the door aud looks not; it goes I into the stove and burns not; it gets on the I table and shames itself not. And just listen [ to “ Susanna ” in Pennsylvania Dutch : O Susanna! Weiuet nicht fur mich, Ich kom’t fun Alabama hier Tsu slipiela sticbt for dich.

A good-natured, jovial man was onr host} aud his warm heart soon melted the partition between us. He was thoroughly versed in the Scriptures and given to argument, prov-1 ing by holy writ the purity and perfection of I his faith. After we had gone over into the large room beyond the hallway, ho started in on us. For the sake of argument, knowing his aversion to brass buttons and glittering apparel in particular, and to music in gen¬ eral. we maintained that the Salvation Army lias a very advanced style of Christianity. We cited the numerous instances of good accomplished through the influences of this organization. He stoutly contended that it was all wrong and that no good could come out ANCESTRAL SPINNING WHEEL. of it. *" Dose people better be left in the gut¬ ters if it takes all dat noise und such tings to get ’em out; it ain’t right. Vy, no C'hris- Iter) was the kind of tow that couldn’t be tain could go to dat Yorlt’s Fair. Supposo you haf a /?hristians’ Fair ; how many people . ..«■ T.Al lot

VILLAGE STREET. ivould go to It? XintTHs" noise "and'sh 6 wTsf] on tne oilier side? contrive to give" the corner not right.” It looked as if the old gentle¬ a charm that the modern silk upholstered man’s objection to the wonderland at Chicago divan can’t have. You need only look at the was, after all, chiefly on account of its name, polish on that particular section of the top of the World’s Fair, and that smacked too much the chest and to observe where the paint is of the category of the world, the flesh and rubbed off the framework of the high mantel the devil. to know how magnetic the spot is. It is the Ministry as a profession was also one of the favorite resort of the man of the house on a subjects that came up for his condemnation. ; Sunday morning—that is, when the young They have what is termed the chosen minis-,| folks have taken all the teams and his meet¬ istry. Word is passed around, say, at a cer- % ing-house happens to be closed for want of a tain time that a minister is to be selected. preacher. Then he gets down the old Bible Any member of the congregation, having in f; that his forbaers brought from Nuremberg mind a man whom he thinks can look well '* more than a century and a half ago. and he after the spiritual welfare of the flock, pre- ' finds the same interest in it that they did in sents his name to the Bishop, who presides ■■ their day. at the selection. As many hymn books as In the opposite corner of the kitchen stands there arc candidates are then taken and into the grandfather clock, one of Hagy’s master¬ one of them the Bishop has slipped a paper pieces, and one of a collection of six which an bearing the words, “ This is the lot.” Prayer old-time progenitor had made for his daugh¬ is then offered for Divine direction and ■ ters. According to the old man’s will the choice. The books having been thoroughly j contract price for the six was $500 and the mixed are then laid out in a row and each | clocks were to be given in turn from daugh¬ candidate selects one of them, and Die man ter to daughter from one generation to an¬ in whose book the lot is found is the ‘*nraedi- other. In the closet alongside of the clock is ger ” for the term of his natural life." How¬ an old china tea set of wonderful delicacy ever strange this^vay of selecting administer and beauty. The cups are hell-shaped and may seem, we were unable to learn that any are ornamented with a little blue flower. mistakes in a choice had ever been made by There is not a nick in any piece and not a our friends up here. piece missing, and it has an authenticated history running back for 125 years. Some The most comfortable spot in a Pennsyl- day when a “new household fire is lighted ” vania German house is the corner of the the venerable timepiece and that tea service ' will be part of the bride’s dower, along with kitchen, the seat on top of the old wood- a store of homespun and homewoven linen j chest—die holz kist. A great fireplace, long that was finished, part of it. generations ago, since boarded up on account of the introduc¬ and some of it within a few years. Perhaps tion of a modern cook stove, was the original in the lot is the weaving for the shroud and reason for the existence of the wood-box, but the shrunken ends may conceal the funeral text within the folds. as the Pennsylvania German, like everybody All the books that have been written on else, knows what comfort is when he gets it, the Pennsylvania Germans are not big that corner and die holz kist stay where they enough to explain why that element of our were put in the first place. The sun stream¬ population is any more thrifty than another. ing in through the deep-framed south win¬ I he thirteen national banks of Lancaster owo dow, and the genial warmth of the wood fire their success to the frugal Dunkard. Mennon- ite or Amish farmers, who have furnished most ,£ie brawn that makes "Lancaster county consistency of a brick, but i nat it is in the commercial and agricultural tersive quality. world. You can drive for two miles along The same woman would as soon tlie corn-field of a certain farmer near Newj buying her meals ready cooked Holland ; ho has a barn that is a regular Lib- J canned or preserved goods of any s matoes, corn, etc., don’t cost much i but they are too high when ther stuff as theirs to be had. The cut from the cob and dried, then away in long, coarse cloth bags fori use; tomatoes are boiled and put earthenware jars, while apple cbuitz—v Pennsylvania Dutch household wo complete without its opportunities 1 dyspepsia healing dose of chnitz and ! The man is monarch of pretty nearly all surveys—outside of his house on his own prop-1 erty—but inside the woman is supreme. She i attends to all the economies of her world, ar ’ as before indicated, she generally knows wl; goeth on in it. • Her sphere of action may es tend as far as the poultry house, and usually, too, she has the care of the garden on her hands, spading, raking, seeding, and looking after the crops there—and then if she isn’t very busy in the house about harvest time a place may be made for her in the fields, where she may be useful driving horse rake or forking hay or something of that sort. She does this, not because she has to, but because she prides herself on her ability to do hard work; she comes of a stock that is famous for what it can accomplish, and she has a personal in- terest in maintaining that reputation*Herl latest child maybe but a few days old. but] she is about and stirring around getting rid of I the work which has accumulated during herl confinement. These Germans’ appetite for| work seems to grow by what it feeds upon. And it is that that makes Easton, Allentown, I Reading, Lancaster and the other cities and towns wherein the Pennsylvania German figures so prominently, the livest business A COUNTRY SQUIRE. towns in the State. It is these big-headed, I brawny people you see ki the Beading Court House on a court day that have made and eral Arts building for size, great tobacco ■ kept Beading the great substantial country bouses and farm machinery and appliances town it is. Thomas and Bichard Penn, who that altogether aro calculated to bring that laid it out in 1728. had not anything to do little bit of the earth to as near a farmer’s with making those miles of plain red brick paradise as it is possible to get it. And hard i houses of to-day. with red roofs on top and work has done it all. He has lived the sim- [ red pavements in front of them. It was the pie life his fathers have lived before him, man ofa typsof John Hartranftof three gen- and the principle of early to bed. early to risel ! erations ago that did the most for this sec¬ has given him a strong grip on the things of | tion. And it is the same clannish lot who have this world. made Allentown prosperous; the people who He comes of the same stock as that which (remember the burning of the town on Ascen¬ laid out New Holland in 1722 and opened sion Day long ago al ways bear in mind the sins the cloisters of Ephrata in 1724, and that has j they should atone for in church with every kept it a beautiful, wholesome country townj recurring celebration of the day (and on the ever since. He has heirlooms which have come ; afternoon of the last Ascension Day most of to him from his father, who got them from his ' them went to the ball game). father’s father, while his wife, perhaps, has j, her stores of linen or dishes which came from You never seethe Mennonitcsor theDunk- her mother and her grandmother the same ards sporting whips on their teams. There’s way. The linen she will save as far as possi- ] no mistaking the carriage and the heavy gait hie and distribute in valuable portions among of the sleek hay which is part of the outfit. her daughters. Her dishes are displayed on “A merciful man is merciful to his beast*” state occasions—the blue pattern at Christ¬ mas, the pink set at Thanksgiving—and after seems to he their rule of action in this partic¬ each feast everything is carefully washed and ular. but one of the worldly residents told us packed away against the next celebration. | tlmt if you looked right sharp iu the bottom Both of these people dress in the same style of the carriage you might find a hickory stock as their neighbors who, maybe, being helped i with a whip-lash fastened to the end of it. by their brethren to get a start in the world j This is just taken along for emergencies. It’s again after some serious calamity, look no a queer sort of carriage. The type is peculiar more prosperous than any one else around to these people. It has two scats, the for¬ them. The woman of the house will make ward one a jump scat, and is most uncom- her own soap—the best bought soap is not; fortble. It is an odd sight to see all these good enough for her. She attends personally relics for miles around gathered together at to mixing the lye, to the slow fire, the proper oue place—outside the old meeting house ou mount of stirring, cutting up the cages and I a Sunday morning. The horses look alike i© final storage in the attic where, spread j and the carriages as like to each other as one on a back number of the Familien Blatt Waterbury watch resembles another, but no Unabhaengiger Bote, it hardens to the mistakes are made, even though they don’t rw- fang? 7 '"ty • jap?* — 103

DOING THE FAMILY SHOPPING. bade players come to restore his drooping 11aw*th

SOAP BOILING, OLD-FASHIONED joGL rusty brass knocker. Avery little and as not very old woman came and opened the top properl)' surveyed until January 26, 1737. half of the divided door and listened pa¬ tently to our rather verbose explanation Then 38] acres of it, besides allowances, about the bit of crockery. When we finished was set aside for the use of the church and she said: "Ich verstehe net; ich ken net Anglish schwetze.” We tried to draw a pic¬ school, the deed of which was made and ture of the lemon-colored teapot of superb recorded at Philadelphia on February 7 of shape, but our drawing wasn’t much better than our English. She was evidently so the same year. The final settlement for it, .Dutch that she couldn’t understand English was made January 12, 1738, by Michael ( pictures. After springing on her all the Ger¬ man we could about verkauft and bezahlt, Royer (Lutheran) and Jacob Keller (Re-1 we gave it up, and the little teapot with the formed). They paid for the land £5, 19s.,) flower planted within it is still at the window 9d.; to the general surveyor, for warrant . W. H. E. J and return, 9 shillings; for the patent from the proprietor’s secretary, £1, 5s.; to Mr. Brockden, for recording 5 shillings; “and From, dan Grassholdfur die muhe-waltung,” 7s., Od.; total, £8, 9s., 3d.—or §23.34.

Up to this time and for some years later the Reformed worshipped with the Lu¬ Date, therans, as they were without a pastor, and thus unitedly occupied this school HISTORY OF THE OLD GOSHENHOPPEJ house as a church until in the Spring of CHURCH. 1744 tiie two congregations began the building of the first church. It appears The Old Goshenhoppen church is situat¬ the masons began work on May 9 and on ed in Upper Salford township, about hal: Monday, the 14th of the same month, the a mile from Salford Station, on the Perkio corner stone was laid. In this year only men Railroad. It was a union church erect¬ the outside of the church was finished. ed and owned by the Lutherans and Re¬ The carpenter work inside was not finish¬ formed, the first account of which is as fol¬ ed until 1748. In that year an agreement lows: In 1732 a tract of land was procur¬ was made with a carpenter to finish the ed by warrant for the purpose of erecting inside of the same for £15, which agree¬ a church, upon which they jointly erected; ment says that for this sum he must put a log school house in the Fall of that year up the gallery and all the necessary pews -- — — and which was also used as a church for < -V L i, __ Jacob William Dechant, 1818-33 and Denches and paint them. The pulpit | Andreas Hoffman, 1833-50 was made by Gabriel Schuler, who pre- Robert Vancourt, 1850-03 seated it to the church. The expense ofj Augustus Dechant, 1803-91 building this church is not exactly known, * .. J. L. Roush, 1894- ; as the members of the two congregations The congregation at that time consisted J did much of the work themselves, but at of about 45 families. the final settlement in 1751 a debt of £30 This venerable old church was a sub-I was found against the church, was made stantial building and stood until 1858,t| up and paid by collections in the neigh¬ when the two congregations resolved to borhood and at other places. build a larger stone church with a hand-6 some steeple and bell. This is generally! On a large stone over the entrance was believed to be the third but it is really on¬ inscribed in German: ******************** *+ ly the second church building, as the first! * THE UNITED LIBERALITY OF THE * one of 1731, although used a while for a| * LUTHERANS AND REFORMED * * ERECTED THIS TEMPLE. * church, was only a school house, Hence I *J, CONRAD ANDREA, LUTH. PASTOR.* *» ******************** the present is but the second church. The At the right of the entrance on the east school house, as above stated, was built in side were the names of the Lutheran 1732; the first church in 1744, and the pres- building committee, to wit: ent one in 1858. Michael Royer Balthasar Gerlacli The corner stone of the old church, Philip Gabel Conrad Schneider among other things, contained a bottle of I On the opposite side were those oi the wine, hut after being in there 114 years it | Reformed building committee: had neither taste nor color, being of a Christian Schneider whitish yellow. The manuscripts were en¬ Christian Lehman Bernhard Arndt tirely illegible. It also contained two old I *Adam Meirer coins. The date of the one was 1695, of The above liev. J. C. Andrea was an| which I took no note, hut the other I took expelled minister from Germany, who I without any recommendation, insinuated! to he what is known among numismatics himself into their confidence, so that he as the “old pine tree shilling,” having on became their pastor. But his conduct was I the one side a pine tree with the inscrip¬ so grossly bad and immoral that they soon tion “Massachusetts around it, and on the found that he was more injury than good | other side “Englandian” and the date to the cause of Christ. During his short! stay with them he was twice imprisoned 1652. Both of these coins were again put and after they discharged him he went to in the new stone. Germantown, where he died a miserable! The above sketch is, I think, substan¬ death. The Lutheran ministers after An¬ drea were: tially correct, except in the spelling of the Lucas Rails, 1751-53 names I find so many discrepancies, part¬ Friederick Schultz, 1753-51) ly from wilful change and the carelessness John Joseph Roth, 1759-71 Frederick Neimeier, 1771-72 of the earlier scribes, that in several in¬ Conrad Rosller, 1772-95 stances I could hardly guess at the true Frederick Geisenhaiiner, 1795-97 John Geo. Roeller, son of above, 1797-1810 j original; therefore I did not attempt to Engelbrecht Pelxoto, 18-11-04 give them, but gave them nearly as I Frederick Walz, 1865-93 Rev. C. R. Fetter, 1893- found them.—By Abram II. Cassel, in Hit The Reformed ministers were: IIarleysville New*. Jacob Reiez, 1751-06 Johan Thomas Faber, 1706-80 Johan William Sugold, 1780-81 Frederick Dilleker, 1781-84 Frederick Wm. Vonder Schlotte, 1784-80f Johan Thomas Faber, Jr., 1780-88 Albert Helfenstein, 1808-11 Albert Zent, 0 month in 1811 Frederick Wm. Vonder Schlotte, 1812-18! Ibrf the southwest "side of tlie Skippacl |road, about a mile southeast of the! Broad Axe. It lies midway on the long From, ]slope which rises from the Wissahickon, * and extends northwest to the Wliitpain line. The general lay of the surface in¬ clines towards the southeast. A short ,Gk; lane connects the highway with the buildings. The two-story stone farm house was erected in 1797 by Christian Bate. y/ff-y. Loeser. A. few yards south stands a much older building, now used as a ten- They Attained Patriarchal Ages. $ ant house. It may have been the origi- |P ; nal dwelling. . From Howard M. Jenkins’ “Historical If we go back to the beginning we .5 Collections of Gwynedd,” Montgomery find this to be part of the lands granted A county, a friend at Norristown sends us by patent from William Penn to Robert, this interesting paragraph. It tells a Asheton, in 1687. These comprised 314 v story of old age that is rarely paralleled: I acres, extending down the Skippack Isaac Jones came to Montgomery while; - road one mile and 330 feet, or to the quite a young man. He was the son of Lancasterville road. It was less than David and Katherine Jones, who came half a mile in width. The old bound¬ from Wales in 1699, and settled in aries were: “Beginning at black oak, Merion. Isaac was born 7th mo. 6th, 1708, standing in Edward Farmer s line, and married, 1728, Elizabeth Lewis, thence northwest by line of Farmer 340 daughter of George, she being 18 and he' , I perches: thence northeast by line of. 20. Notwithstanding this early mar¬ I Mie.ah Thomas 148 perches; thence: riage they lived happily together for I southeast by land of Edward Lupton, seventy years. Old George Lewis, it is Joseph Knight and Daniel Guass, 340 said, made an agreement with them, a few ■ perches; thence southwest .148 perches years before his death, by which he gave | to beginning.” . , „ M them a life right in the real estate, in re¬ ’ It was nearly forty years later before £* turn for board and clothes, a room in his this tract of woodland was divided house, the use of a riding horse, and two I among actual settlers. One of these; ^ barrels of cider a year. He reserved the pieces was of 108 acres, sold m 1726 by , right to cook for himself, if he preferred, Robert Asheton to a Welshman named in which case they were to pay him £12 a David Davis, who probably was a jyear, in lieu of the “diet.” Quaker. The records of the Friends say| Isaac Jones had purchased, in 1746, I that in 1735 David Davis of White j some land of Thomas Jones, Jr. On this marsh, married Mary Woodworth. he built, in 1765, a large brick house, These 108 acres comprised the present- | which stood for more than a century. In : Kehr farm and nearly all the adjoin-^ Sit, in 1798, he died, past the age of 90, ^ ino- Weiss premises on the northwest. land his wife, surviving two years, at- 9 The boundaries in 1726 were: “Begin¬ Stained an equal age. Their son Isaac t ning at comer of Abraham Dawes;, Imarried Gainor Ambler, and this couple■ then by same southwest 141 perches; lalso died in the old’, house, after a mar¬ thence southeast by land of John Han"j ried life of nearly seventy years, Isaac, in 1123 perches to line dividing from Edward; 11840, aged 98, and Gainor, June 20th, • I Robinson ; thence by same northeast 11847, in her 93d year. Isaac’s sister, 9 1141 perches; thence northwest 123 [Ruth, who had lived there all her life, v' ■ perches to beginning.” For this land I died in the same house, at the age of 88, I Davis paid £61. ., _ . . land Mary Roberts, daughter of Eldad, : I In the tax list of 1734 David Davis is Swho had made her home with the jfl ^assessed for only 50 acres, indicating J Joneses, died there also, in 1859, aged ■that between 1726 and 1734 he had sold nearly 93.—Lehigh, Register. off half of his purchase. This sale of ■the upper half of his farm was made in 1732 when he conveyed the present ; Weiss farm to Samuel Gilkey. There From,.... ■ is nothing on record showing this trans- i fer excepting the recital of a mortgage Liven by Gilkey in 1757 to Thomas t A/LRi. /'}'a7?£4L Evans, stating when he had bought his farm ' of.. David—. 1 . K DavisY \ • and_ __ . 1 Rachel,14 r, Ty rr\ I hisr \ Y ('s \ wife. The latter continued to hold /( I possession during his lifetime. The Date, yy -7 ■ time of his death has not been ascer- ■ tamed by the writer, but it was prior to LOCAL HISTORY. , I the Revolution and probably between 1760 and 1770. His son, Edward Davis, in¬ JTIIE KEHIi FARM, WHITEMARSH—THE herited his father’s land estate, and FORMER DAVIS PLANTATION—THE j altogether the Davis ownership lasted 64 KEIIR FAMILY—THE WEISS FARM—j THE FORMER GILKEY PLACE. ^ In the assessment of 1776 we find Ed ; ward Davis rated for the same farm and The*Kehr farm of 57 acres is situated

m. 1 Art. ' taxed for two horses and two cows | included in the 108j- acres sold in 172G wife was a daughter of Samuel Gilkey. by Asheton to David Davis. The latter I Before 1790 Edward Davis was dead, appears to have cut his place exactly in I leaving a widow and seven children. In two in 1732, when he sold the upper that year his sons, Jesse and Issachar half to Samuel Gilkey, a mason. It was Davis, sold the house and farm of 57 about this date when the first buildings acres to John Snyder, a Philadelphia were elected by Gilkey. The assessment innkeeper. The latter held it but one, of 1734 rates Gilkey for 50 acres. The year. In 1791 he sold to Christain old records of St. Thomas’ Episcopal Loeser, who bought and sold several ad-J J> church, Whitemarsh, says that “in 1742 joining properties during the last decade Gilkey helped to repair its roof, and we of the last century. At that time Jacob presume that he was an Episcopalian.” Styer and Martin Farriuger owned on Samuel Gilkey came to need money, | Ithe lower side; the Jarrett estate (now and so on the 29th of December, 1757 ITarner’s) was on the southwest, and he gave a mortgage on his place to| Walter McCool held the Weiss farm. Thomas Evans, of Gwynedd, for £50. An old sale bill has been preserved in This was satisfied in 1764. The bound¬ he Kehr family for nearly seventy aries of his farm then were: “Beginning years. It was printed in Norristown by at the corner of Abraham Dawes (north David Sower, in 1825. It describes the corner in Skippack road;) then by same farm then in the following terms: “A southwest 141 perches; thence southeast ‘valuable farm of 57 acres, adjoining by John Hank 61^ perches; thence north¬ lands of John Slinglutf, John Earner east by David Davis 141 perches; thence and heirs of John Farringer, of which northwest up Skippack road 61.j perches ten acres are timber.” A stone joiner to beginning.” The frontage on the shop is mentioned, which was the older road was 984 feet. The life of Samuel house of the Davis family. The place Gilkey on this farm was nearly thirty- was advertised by the administrators of five years, or from 1732 to the closing Christain Loeser, who were Henry Cook month of 1766. He died about the and John Slingluff, both his sons-in-law, ' . beginning of December, 1766, and his and Cook lived on the property. Sling- will was registered on the 16th of that luff, who lived on the Weiss farm, had mouth. In this, paper he ordered the married Catharine Loeser. sale of his plantation, reserving, how¬ The purchaser in 1825 was John Kehr, ever, the tenant right of James Moore for whose grandson, Charles Kehr, yet owns three years. The children mentioned are the property. He paid $40 per acre, be¬ Mary, Catharine, John, Samuel, Ellinor, sides paying a mortgage of $1,413. In Walter; also Elizabeth, then deceased, the deed he is described as a miller from leaving one child. Samuel Gilkey, his Whitpain. The father of John Kehr son, and his son-in-law, Edward Davis, came from Germany prior to the Revo¬ were made executors. Abraham Dewees lution. His name was Frederick, and and Samuel Morris were made over¬ he was born about 1740. He was a seers of the will, which was witnessed by Joseph McClellan, Samuel Morris and miller and ground wheat for Washing¬ Derrick VanPelt, the tavern keeper up ton’s army at Valley Forge. He lived at at the Broad Axe. Reading, made a fortune of $10,000 and To whom these executors sold is not afterwards lost it. His son John, who known, but ten years later Walter Mc¬ was also a miller, was born in Reading. Cool was the owner. In 1776 he was as¬ He afterwards made removals to Potts- town, Norristown and to various mills in I sessed for 50 acres, one negro slave, two horses and two cows. McCool was the this part of the country. John Kehr had ‘ owner for twenty years after the latter two sons, Francis and Frederick. He date. His death occurred in the spring was born in 1776 and died 1851. Of of 1796, and his will was registered on these, Francis purchased his father’s| May 10th of that year. In this docu¬ estate. Frederick died in 1884, aged 72! ment he leaves to his wife, Mary, “all years. His son, Charles Kehr, married the new end of the house I now dwell Agnes, daughter of Henry Magee, of ,” and the usual thirds of the income Horsham, and this has been their home for many years. The old mansion built of his estate. He had daughters, Laura, Elizabeth and Catharine. To his son, by Loeser in 1797 is yet a comfortable! Samuel, he gave “the plantation where I residence. now dwell of 58 acres.” The executors TIIE WEISS FARM—THE OI.D GILKEY of the will were John Wilson and Thomas PREMISES. Lancaster. This, like the Kehr farm, lies on the! This Samuel McCool was assessed ml southwest side of Skippack road, and is 1780 as a tailor. He did not hold his further up the great slope that rises father’s farm many years, but at some) northwest from the Wissahickon. The time, not now known, he sold it to Chalk- farm buildings are connected by a short ley James. The latter came to grief inj lane with the highway. Here a spring 1807, when Sheriff John Henderson sold dictated the site Of the original dwelling. the farm to John Slingluff for £1,230. The present house seems to have been Slingluff owned the farm for a lifetime. built in three portions at as many times, His death occurred in 1842. His sons, and the eastern end is not now inhabit¬ Samuel, Henry and William, were the ed. This farm of fifty-eight acres was executors, who sold the premises at pub¬ included in the original patent to Robert lic sale to John Funk, of Cheltenham. Aslieton in 1687, and nearly all was| i In 1345 Funk sold tc^Wuiiam^fingTii Groff did not long survive Wentz, ancf ) I who in 1856 sold to John Funk, Jr., for came to grief financially. He erected a *■'; 1^8,000. The death of John Funk was in large brick structure for a new tavern,j* j 1875, when his will bequeathed to his which stands to the present day. The,,); 1 widow. In 1878, Ann Catharine Funk enterprise ruined him. At that time it|s .(conveyed to Clement Comly. The will was reckoned a wonderful house—the. i of-Comly conveyed to his son Osborne largest in Montgomery county, outside of Comly, now a resident of Ambler. In Norristown. Groff was born August 24th, S1886, Comly sold to Emanuel C. Weiss, 1787, and died June 15th, 1828, being the present owner, who formerly reside;’ then only in his 41st year. His remains , a mile north of Ambler.—Ambler Oaz, lie in St. John’s church yard, Belfry. '-y His widow, Elizabeth (Daub), survived ’ him down to 1860, being then 68 years of age. From,.... The tavern built by Groff became - known as the brick tavern. It was pur-C chased in 1844 by Philip S. Gearhart, tAfoSljjL (3Zr fl who kept it for many years. Some eight or ten years ago it was used as a private seminary by Rev. D. .. Date, '-. Levin Coleman, a Lutheran minister,*; 4 1 and on the spacious green lawn in the * leafy month of June were witnessed many IA REMINISCENCE OF SEVENTY YEARS graduation scenes that yet have their AGO. pleasant memories. —Lansdale Republi¬ can. ijTHE TWO INN KEEPERS AT CENTRE SQUARE. From | In former times when country taverns ,.CEk^rd. - jwere more plentiful than now, there were ■two inns in the hamlet of Centre Square, * |over in Whitpain. One, which had been J established before the Revolution, yet jexists at the corner, where the Skippack land the State roads intersect. The rival Date,sfl t F-(.^. £ linn was opened later, or in the year 1804, I by John Markley. Along in the decade |between 1820 and 1830, these taverns ■ were kept by Samuel Wentz and Henry (THE OWEN HOUSE |H. Groff—the latter being landlord of the newer, or upper one. Groff belong •jed to the well-known Upper Salford fam¬ AT WYNNEWOOD. ily of that name, and had been a fuller . (by trade. In 1816, he bought the prop¬ erty, comprising also 37 acres of land, of Old 1Johu Leidy, who had removed to Fran- It Is Now .Two Centuries Iconia. The land attached fronted the ] Skippack road for 73 perches. This tav¬ and Full of Historic ern property he held till his death in 1828. a Tradition says there was a good deal of Interest. I bickering and ill feeling between the two j landlords, who were so close to each other. It was a rough and tubulentj time, when there was much drinking and ■ROBERT 0 WEN’SDESCENDANTS I many fights and brawls, in comparison with the present. One evening Wentz I attended some public meeting held in Men of Welsh Ancestry Who Have Won |the hall above the stables of his rival’s inn. He was called out, and came down, Distinction in the Councils of q whereupon he was set upon by the hos- atler of Groff’s, and so badly beaten that State and Nation and in the |he died in a few days thereafter, as a .consequence. No public notice was Professions, taken of the cause of his death, and the name of his assailant has now faded from men’s recollections. This tragic HAT Is perhaps one of event occurred on the 7th of September, me best exs.mples 1826. Wentz had married into a Baptist in Lower Merlon family—the daughter of Colonel Thomas or the durability of colonial build¬ Humphrey, and he and his wife lie buri-; ing Is the Owen aed in Montgomery church yard. Wentz j house, upon the Jwasayoung man, being about six weeks, estate of the late Colonel Owen less than thirty-four years of age. His Jones, on Mont¬ death occurred September 11th, 1826. gomery Avenue, His wife, Eliza, survived him nearly opposite Wynne- wood Station, on (thirty years, her death occurring August l28th. J1855, in her 57th year. 110

THE OWEN HOUSE, ERECTED IN 1695 tru the Pennsylvania Railroad. This man- — Mr proger, “a very ancient house slon, which a quarter of a century since for out of it came the Earls °f was very generally known throughout broke of the first line, Pembroke of the second line, the Lords this section as the “William Penn Herbert of Cherbury. the Herberts or house," from the fact that Penn often made It his stopping place whilst travel¬ Coldbrook, Rumney, Cardiff ana rorK ing through these parts, has weathered the storms of a full 200 Winters, having been erected during the year 1694. A corner-stone bears the date ■ 169d, the time of its completion. Aside from its Dukes of Beaufort— And pray, ■ x mere antiquity, this building should be dear sir who lives there now? I do of more than usual fame, not*pnly be¬ =ir ” “Then quickly come out of it cause of its connection with the Proprie¬ yourself, sir, or ’twill tumble down and tor and its near relation in many ways crush you.” to our local history, but also as the THE OWEN FAMILY. home of the Welsh ancestors of a num¬ Although deserted a halt ber of distinguished Philadelphia fami- bv its former occupants the_ old house, U Until recently, despite some alterations deserves more than a penn- made in 1873, the place was almost iden¬ In 1690 there came from Wales to Penn tical in appearance with the old Welsh sylvania one Robert Owen. Like aU I manor house alter which it was mod¬ Welshmen he possessed a Pedigree th t eled. Within the last few weeks very reached back to a hundred Cymric prln extensive "improvements” have changed ces, whose very identity has its aspect. Thus do the relics of Provin¬ amid the red desolation offorgotte cial Philadelphia disappear. , , , In this country home, in colonial resided at various times tne ' S sSrCo? I pooTVe^ ^enTfemin, Cymric forefathers of such families ^med Owen fpW who d*elt in a as the Cadwaladers, Wisters, Biddles, Dickinsons Whartons, Lewises and their Ss beside a^mounTJn’/adtading' ?umeroSs rarnmcation’s It is wellknown that the Duke of Fife, the husband of the Prince of Wales’ eldest daughter, tracer theuf Of the beautifuT lake of Pemble- feSpCo^ibfe0rSe S1S Robert Owen early in life allied

manse. ther peace “one of the greatest families | Probably the father of Colonel Jones I hen. he began building the handsome In these parts. hither to Pennsyl- lansion house on a nearby sRe, and *«L hroufht ]dren and being of vania hts wite auu tucked his pedi-i bandoned the ancient homestead nau a practical turn of mind tucked fce_ i mind -the story told of a Welsh cas safely away^n, ™eythen called it.1 e once owned by a kinsm Dunder of this very es^e. A granger g:an to :faim, nrF "'Ierion seeming to him for a livelihood, h^ie£°rchased, by deed aving met a certain Mr. Pro„e:r nea is manor of Gwarynder, the seat otm _ | Fifth and Sixth month.’169L from oated h irtn an'u . Governor, a tract rogenitors of the Herberts, \efore What is this ancient mansion betore Jfh?iTacrts?\t Resent Jones estate, ex- si” “That, sir, is Gwarynder, repnecy

■ v tending from near tfie present Wynne- AN HISTORIC GATHERING. wood to Ardmore, and northwest of the railroad. Upon this he ereceted a tem- In this old house soine years after iporary hut of logs as a shelter for his its erection gathered the representative family. men of the Welsh Barony to oppose en¬ j No time, however, was lost in com¬ croachments made by English settlers, mencing the stone structure yet stand- on their rights. It was, however, some time previous to this that these men, I Robert Owen, Griffith Owen, Dr. Ed¬ ward Jones and others, penned what Is an early example of that spirit of inde¬ pendence, which a little less than a cen¬ tury after swept over the colonies. Although only an address to the local authorities, this paper has a ring In it which we fail to find in the usual hum¬ ble and cringing petitions which the ma¬ jority of the English settlers were ac- I customed to present witn many apolo- , gies to the agents of the Proprietor. “We are,” says this paper, “descended from the Ancient. Britons, who always in the land of our nativity, under the | Crown of England, have enjoyed that liberty and privilege as to have our bounas and limits by ourselves within which all causes, quarrels, crimes and titles were tried and wholly determined by officers. Magistrates and jurors of |our own language, who were our equals. Having our faces toward these parts we made mention to- our Governor that we might enjoy the same here, to the Bobert Wharton. intent we might live together here and enjoy our liberty and devotion.” It is not surprising that we find among the descendants of the men who edited this ing, which he modeled as a minature of address such patriots as John Dickin¬ his ancestral home. The house was fin¬ son, Owen and Clement Biddle, General ished the latter part of 1694, but it was John Cadwalader and a score of their not until the first of the following year companions in arms. that the family moved into their new The question of the location for a quarters, having first invited their Cym¬ ric neighbors to a great feast. It is meeting house for Merlon was discussed doubtful if this old time reception would [in the old house and Robert Owen, Ed¬ rival the entertainments of the descend¬ ward Jones, Cadwalader Morgan and ants of the persons present on that j Thomas Jones appointed trustees. They occasion, but inasmuch as we are in- acquired by deed, dated 20th of 6th month, formed that there was a sufficiency of 1695, a lot whereon now stands the meet¬ If good venison, brought in by the In- ing house, near the General Wayne Ho¬ ™dians, roast mutton, roast ox, kid seeth¬ tel," on Montgomery Avenue, just past the ed in milk, also oceans of cider, rum city line. Robert Owen superintended from Jamaica, and greatest of all deli¬ . the erection of the first building, which cacies to the Welsh palate, jfine cheese was partly of logs, and here Penn often preached, riding down from the Owen jand abundance of milk, we may imagine house with some of the fair Quarker- jthat the guests fared passing well. esses ((it Is rumored that he never so EARLY COLONIAL LUXURIES. favored those old or ugly) perched on a We are also informed that the table pillion behind him. Owen, having been was covered with fine linen and mention commissioned a justice,, the Merlon i Court was held at his home. Jis made of knives, forks and spoons, not to speak of napkins, all of which lux¬ OWEN’S LAST DAYS. uries were unknown to any but a very In this wild retreat he passed the few .few of the first settlers. No doubt these simple and kindly Cymric Quakers had a remaining years of his life pursuing ■’grand time around the groaning tables, : with unremitting care the various du¬ whilst giant logs of primeval hickory ties of Magistrate, member of Assembly, ■ spluttered and blazed merrily in the planter and preacher; “whatsoever he s* great fireplace. We do not know how took in hand,” writes his friend, “he I long the festivity lasted, but perhaps this did with all his might.” In the even¬ I Is just as it should be. We may, how¬ ever, be certain that membership in the ings he occupied himself with writing society of Friends did not prevent a or with his books and amongst the latter quiet dance; and we are equally sure that were volumes on religion, history and the elder guests had a good old fash¬ geneology. In 1697 his wife having died ioned chat about the length of their re¬ suddenly, he succumbed to one of the spective pdeigrees and old friends in epidemics which in those days swept W cll6S. over the plantations, and in the same It may even be true as related by a jyear was burled in the Merlon meeting base scandal-monger of that day that i ground. snatches of song were heard that night The children of Robert Owen were, in in the Merlon woodland by Evan Oliver after life distinguished as few who are the Proprietor’s wood ranger, and if so left orphans at an early age in a strange we may take it for granted that the land. Evan Owen, the heir, inherited the tune which was wafted through that plantation and homestead. He moved to starlit TV inter's eve, past the wondering Philadelphia, and became a Provincial Indians to the listening ear of that half Councillor, a Judge, and held many im-. frozen ranger, was the air of some portant positions besides. In 1707, he fierce old British battle song, chanted sold the old house and plantation inher¬ centuries before by the chieftain ances¬ ited from his father, to his brother-in- tors of these Welsh Quakers, to their law, Jonathan Jones, son of Dr. Edward Woad tatooed followers, when on the Jones of Merion. Jonathan married' beach of the swamp of Romney, amid Evan’s sister Gainor Owen, and the the swirl and rush of the high tide, posterity of this couple continued to live the Roman legions burst upon the Bri¬ tons reeling line. in the old house up to fifty years or so ago. gtgBlIHMa Here Owen Jones, eldest son of Jona¬ than and Gainor was born In 1711, He became a very distinguished man in his day and held the high office of Treasur¬ er of the Province for many years. His direct descendant, the late Colonel Owen Jones, was a member of Congress in 1856, and afterwards colonel of the First Pennsylvania Cavalry. His only son, Awbrey Jones Esquire, dying unmarried the family ceased to be represented in the main line, but Colonel Jones' widow, who now owns the property, is also a descendent of Robert Owen, the founder. Owen Owen, second son of Robert, rose to be High Sheriff and Coroner of Phila- : J delpbia. His daughter Sarah married John Biddle. Their sons were Owen and Clement Biddle,, of the Revolution, an¬ cestors of a well known line of Phila¬ delphians. John Owen, brother of Owen, became High Sheriff of Chester County, I a member of Assembly, Collector of the Port, and an officer of the Land Office,! of Pennsylvania. From him are descend¬ ed the families of Haines, Hibbard,Maris Pennell, and many others whose names are familiar to us in various professions. THE FAMILY TREE. Owen Jones, Born 1711, Colonial Treasurer Robert Owen, the younger, married a daughter of Mayor Hudson, of Philadel- Pennsylvania. phla, and their daughter, Hannah Owen, became first the wife of John Ogden, whose granddaughter, Ann Ogden, was Revolution^ whose daughter, Frances, the wife and assistant of Hezekiah Niles, married in 1800 Lord Erskine, from whom proprietor and publisher of “Niles' Reg¬ the present Duke of Fife and a number ister.’’ Hannah Owen married secondly of other noble English families come. Joseph Wharton, of “Walnut Grove, Marla, another daughter of General and was the mother of Robert Wharton, Cadwalader, married Samuel Ringgold, many times Mayor of Philadelphia, cap¬ of Maryland, and was mother of that tain of the City Troop and colonel of the gallant soldier, Major Samuel Ringgold, First Pennsylvania Cavalry. killed in Mexico 'in 1846. His brother, After the decease of Robert Owen, Sr., Cadwalader Ringgold, was Rear Admiral, in 1697, and during the minority his ,XT S N. Mary, a daughter of the first children, his nephew, John Cadwalader, John Cadwalader, married a Dickinson, is said to have kept school in the Owen of Delaware, father of Jdhn Dickinson, house and married the daughter of Dr the celebrated statesman of the Revolu¬ Edward Jones, sister to Jonathan Jones, tion, , who had married John's cousin, Gainor. In all the years that have passed the Here, perhaps, his son. Dr. Thomas descendants of the founders of the old Cadwalader, Was born, but about this house at Wynnewood have contributed time John Cadwalader removed to Phila¬ to the welfare and and prosperity not delphia, where the family have since onlv of Philadelphia, but of the United lived. Dr. Thomas Cadwalader became a States. They have been In heir day famous Philadelphia physician and was equally eminent In arms, on ne bench, ’ather of General John Cadwalader, of the at the bar. in finance, in lette.s and in v \ ‘ - the halls of Congress. ' They have fought beside Washington, Lafayette, Scott and [ shocks was much damaged. The tops of Grant. In debate they have faved the shocks were quite green. Heads of Adams, Clay, Randolph and Webster, ! wheat standing grew in the same man¬ I??d-r,he1r voices have also been heard In ner. 'the English House of Parliament. Among ithelr number can be reckoned those phy- ! *7*>r November 11—‘-My ink freezes, jsicians who to-day stand at the head which obliges me to conclude," writes a or their profession in this country. I. There is something more than accident merchant of Philadelphia at that date. ;m all this. It is the direct result of the December 20—The Delaware full of jmfusion of that straijt of fighting Cymric ice, and the ship Prince of Orange, which Quaker blood introduced into Pennsvl- vanla by that little band of less than is going with a flag of truce to the Span- jone hundred Welsh gentlemen, who [yielded not one inch to opposition, but dangPerSOnerS St‘ AuSustine is in great ■ suffered often greater injustice and un¬ deserved punishments for those prin¬ 1721. November 12—Snow deep and ciples in which they believed—men who frost severe. [when they took a matter in hand did it • I7?1' -Ppp^ber 19—No vessels ar¬ with all their might; men who feared no foe, nor ever fled a friend, fit children rived at Philadelphia, the river being full I of the noble race from which they of ice. sprang. I'722j c FeJ5ruaiT 6—The Delaware THOMAS ALLEN GLENNj opened for first time during the winter. 1723- River free from ice, except for a short period in December. From, 1725 March 3—Snow feil near two feet last night,which has not been known tor some years. 1725. December 21—River is full of . L. lcre-No arrivals or clearances till the 18th C& of February. 1727 Very hot summer; so called and referred to many years afterwards. 1727. October—Shocks of an earth¬ quake were felt in Philadelphia, New REMARKABLE WEATHER OP THE York and Boston, which set the clocks PAST. to running down and shook china off the I shelves. Some Valuable Data Concerning the Weath¬ 1728. January 23~“We have had er Nearly Two Centuries Back, very hard weather here for nearly two : weeks so that it has frozen our river up James Detwiler, of Whitpain, has pre¬ I to such a degree that people go over .daily, and they have set up two booths served much valuable data in reference tqnjhe ice about the middle of the river." to the weather of past times, together [The river continued fast till March 5th. j with much fuller records of the same 17th29’ Delaware closed till February [made by himself during his own lifetime, i Below we give some items taken from J73I. January 20—We have here such a deep snow, the like not known these [ the early pages of his manuscript. several years. River full of ice so that 1702, October 8—Isaac Norris says no vessels can pass. On January 13th a [ “We have had a snow and now the north¬ large panther was killed near Conestoga. west wind blows very hard. The cold is Also one near Shrewsburg, New Jersey. |The river continued closed till February great, so that at the falling of the wind, the Delaware at Philadelphia was filled *731- February 16—’Last week we had with ice.” On the 10th, he adds “there is the greatest flood in the Delaware ever a sign of thaw, and he hopes vessels will known since the great flood at Delaware get out.” Falls in 1692. 1704-5. The severity of this winter is 1732- Smallpox prevailing to an thus expressed by Isaac Norris, Sen.; alarming extent this year. The river “We have had the deepest snow this was fast from January 4th to February winter that has been known bv the long¬ 22d. est liver here. No travelling^ all ave¬ 1733- In the month of February the nues shut, the mail has not gone these ice in the Schuylkill broke up with a six weeks, the rivers fast, and the peo¬ freshet and came down in cakes of great ple bring loads of hay over the Delaware thickness in a terrible manner, breaking as they did in 1697-8. Many creatures great trees, where the flood overspread are likely to perish.” Kalm says: “Many the low land. It carried off the flats of stags, birds and other animals died, and two ferries, and the water was 2J feet the snow was nearly a yard deep.” deep on the floor of Joseph Grey’s' mid¬ 1714- February—Flowers seen in the dle ferry. This is much higher than any woods, flood before in that river. 1716. Oct. 21—Dark day. The peo¬ 1734. Hot summer. The weather has ple were forced to light candles at din¬ been so hot this July for a week past that ner time. has not been known in the memory of 1719- A very wet harvest. A great men, except that of the summer of 1727. quantity of wheat secured in Byberry be¬ Many of the harvest hands fell into con¬ fore the rains commenced and placed in vulsions in the fields, and ’tis said that in Her parents were at that \ some places a multitude of birds were service and ownership of found dead. The names of five inhabi-| who owned a large property at tants dying of the heat are given. town, and was of that humane cl 1740. There fell a great snow, and people who always made their serv the weather was very cold. The snow feel that they were free rather thaL was more than three feet deep, ihe servile chains. Mary’s parents,therefore back settlers subsisted chiefly on the car-; felt in their gratitude for the goodne cases of deer found dead, or lying) of their employers in duty bound to < around them. Great parts of the gang all they could to further the interest of of horses and cows in the woods also) the Howell family by a faithful service, died. Ten or twelve dead were found and towards this end Mary, when but 12 in the compass of a few acres near the years of age. was pressed into service springs. The chief severity was in Feb¬ and made to do numerous little turns ruary. Many deer came to plantations housework and run the errands and ted on hay with the other creatures. The army of General Washington was Squirrels and birds were frozen to death. at that time located in the woods at Val¬ The top of the fences were so covered ley Forge close to the Howell farm, aaA that sleighs and sleds passed over them therefore Mary had many an opportunity in everv direction. Kalin says the se-, to watch the manoeuvres of the soldiers. vere weather began on the 10th of De- In her many romps among the men at the cember, and continued till the 13th 01 encampment she had ample opportunity March, and some of the stags which to come in contact with General Wash¬ came then to the barns to eat with the ington, who more than once had patted cattle became domesticated thereby. her on the head and had spoken words of The Delaware was crossed on the ice in kindness. sleighs on the 5th °f March and did not Later in life she married and settled open till the 13th of same month, ihe down to a thrifty life. She was the ground was covered during the winter mother of nine children, all of whom, with a deep snow, and the rays of the with her husband, she buried during her sun were constantly obscurred by a mist, lifetime. When she had almost reached which hung in the upper regions of the the century mark she became an object; air. On the 19th of the following Do- of charity and was cared for by Gbris-I cember, the Del3.wa.re was frozen and. tian people. Her piety was always a re-J remained closed till the 19th of March mark by those who knew her. 1741- She has now been an inmate of thw Home for Aged and Infirm Colored Per-1 sons for many years.

From, C/2 . .C^rC. - - r

Mar y McDonald yr~' Older than the Ilevi ntion. ,|$ Be ^ __ _ About theG'v'“J " in Mary McDonald to-day Celebrates her county is at- _ , 128th birthday in the Home for Aged and It is the Ow«n Jones house, __ Infirm Colored Persons, Belmont and just two hundred years ago. In this; Girard avenues, Philadelphia. She is a try home, in Colonial days, resided t forefathers of the Cadwalladers, Wi hearty and cheerful old soul, who re¬ Biddles, Dickinsons, Whartons and LLewis; members General George Washington families The old stone mansion was built j about as well as most people do who; by Robert Owen, an emigrant from Wale have passed the century mark, and in who was afterwards a member of * spite of her years she goes about unas¬ -gemo'y^ sisted, eats and sleeps well, can see good r and in every way enjoys life as well as the other inmates. According to her own account she was : born on July 11, 1766. This age is cor-i A ■ roborated by the facts which follow in the wonderful centenarian’s story, and by facts that she well remembers in her early histcvy. She was born near Nor-I ristown, and like most of the colored; people had to put her hands to work at an early age. gaged in a struggle for existence. The Friends counseled peace, and refused as a rule to take up arms. The others had no conscientious From,, scruples against bearing arms, and they heartily espoused the cause of independence. Sectar¬ ian lines were not strong enough, however, to hold the various religionists. The original company of Captain, afterwards Gen. John Lacey, who commanded tbe Americans at the battle of the “Crooked Billet,” was almost Sentirely composed of young Quakers. Lacey i was selected for the command at Hatboro be- | cause of his familiarity with the vicinity. Judge Yerkes referred to the legacies of antagonism between the diflerent religious faiths, more pronounced in the vicinity, per¬ haps, than at any ether point in tbe three rge Turnout at the Tri-County counties. “For more than a hundred years the neighborhood was a centre'of activity and Historical Meeting. agitation. The voices of Lucretia Mott and other anti-slavery men and women were heard at Horsham Meeting, a sort of rallying ADDRESS OF MR. STRASSBURGER. | point for Friends of two counties, and the old Loller Academy was the scene of debates in which the disputants were Democratic leaders Judge Yerfees Presides and Interest- like General John Davis, and Josiah Randall ing Papers are Read by Gen. Davis, and other Whigs. The Union Library founded in 1755 and still in existence had Gilbert Cope, S. Gordon Smyth and done much to determine the character of the Others—Bountiful Collation Served- neighborhood, being the shrine of learning, information and mental culture. In conclu¬ Those in Attendance. sion he extended a hearty welcome to all j present to the feast for mind and body which * , -- The Inter-County Historical Reunion at awaited them. He introduced Gilbert Cope, Hatboro on Tuesday proved to he even, a of West Chester, who read for H. Rush Ker- greater success than its projector, Senator A. vey, who was unable to attend, a paper on D. Markley, expected. It was held under the “ The Bibliography of Chester County.” auspices of the Bucks Historical Society, • Mr. S. Gordon Smyth, of West Consho- whose President, Gen. W. W. H. Davis, con¬ hocken, read a paper on Valley Forge, givin tributed largely to the success of the under¬ many interesting details as to the steps taken taking. There were few participants from to form a public park, including the encamp¬ Chester county, Bucks and Montgomery fur¬ ment and fortifications of Washington’s army. nishing each an equal number of guests from He traced the route of the patriot army from a distance, while the citizens of Hatboro and the crossing of the Schuylkill at Matson’s and vicinity, by their attendance and otherwise, Swedes’ fords, the temporary encampment at manifested much interest in the proceedings. Gulf Mills, and the final movement to Valley The party from Norristown enjoyed the Forge heights on December 19, 1777. Mr. trip vCry thoroughly. Liveryman John Jar- Smyth entered upon a minute description of a rett, who drove the “Dauntless,” never . recent visit to Washington’s Headquarters and paused for a moment from the time he left other places of interest in the vicinity, devel¬ Norristown until he drew up at the Baptist oping many points that would escape an ordi¬ Church, in which the Reunion was held, mak- ■ nary observer, and showing entire familiarity ing the distance in a little more than two with his subject throughout. ‘| honrs. Those in attendance from Bucks Mr. Cope read an original paper by him¬ county and elsewhere were mostly grouped self, “ A Philosophic View of Ancestry.” He around the church, which was well filled started out with the proposition that all our when General Davis called the meeting to traits are inherited directly from our ances¬ order, naming Judge Harman Yerkes as per¬ tors, though modified by our surroundings. There are, however, diversities in those hav¬ manent ohairman. Rev. S. D. Hotchkin, of Bustleton, offered a ing the same ancestry, and in the universal brief prayer and Judge Yerkes made the in¬ struggle for existence those possessing some slight advantage arising from this diversity troductory address of welcome. It was a happy thought, he said, that sug¬ will have tbe advantage and crowd out the gested Hatboro as the place for a reunion of weaker. Modifications have thus arisen and the Bucks, Montgomery and Chester Histori- i been perpetuated from age to age until the cal Societies, because around this centre clus¬ present time. This idea of progressive development was ter a series of events that illustrate the char¬ acter and progress of the Revolutionary upheld as opposed to the doctrine of the “ Fall of Man.” “ I do not believe in man’s fall,” struggle. The speaker eulogized the Scotch-Irish said the speaker, “ but in his rise. All the Presbyterians who founded the “Log Col¬ good traits in human character have been de- lege,” not far away; the Friends whose I veloped by the conflicts for supremacy, and what we call evil is only an abnormal develop¬ [meeting place is at Horsham, a mile or two dis¬ ment of something intrinsically good when tant; and the Baptists, who early established themselves on the Pennypack. At the out¬ under proper restraint. “ In our present condition we owo much to break of the Revolution all these were en¬ the sufferings and conflicts of the past ages, I Thestudy and may feel great encouragement in the out-1 the humble as look for the future of our race are cheap and plenti: easily obtained; and At the conclusion of Mr. Cope’s paper, the torical knowledge is eni meeting adjourned for dinner, which was he takes; every avenue served in the basement of the church, the bill information is open to h of fare including hot coffee, rolls, cold tongue, stand at the doors of the ham and beef, relishes, sauces and other sub¬ inviting him to enter and stantial. About sixty occupied the tables at treasures within. once and a full hour was devoted to the re¬ Historical writers have ever freshment of those in attendance. The ladies the difficulty of securing trustwi liable evidence of events. Sir of Hatboro deserve great credit for their hos¬ leigh, while writing his history of pitality and devotion to the comfort of their witnessed a street fight; he saw it ft _ guests. The committee in charge included ning to end, and thought that he nm Mrs. Lewis Walton, Mrs. Gove Walton, the cause of it. Sometime thereafter Mrs. Elmer Walton, Mrs. A. D. Markley, Mrs. ing it to a friend he found he had mil Paul H. Markley, Mrs. Paul Jones, Miss hended the whole thing. From this he con¬ Maunie E. Goentner and others. cluded that if he was not able to properly comprehend things that passed under his ve— The first address of the afternoon was that eye that he was not competent to write a h of J. A. Etrassburger, Esq., of Norristown, on tory and form correct conclusions of “ The Uses of History.” He said : that occurred in the distant past and iff;-. Chairman—Ladies and Gentlemen.—The upon threw his manuscript into the fire. study of history is receiving more attention in The importance of collecting and preserving recent years than was formerly accorded to it. accurate statements of historical facts must Students are realizing more and more every be self-evident to all; for in order to arrive at year its importance and value as an educa¬ correct conclusions our promises must be tional factor. It is now taught in our univer¬ true. One of the duties of historical soaieties sities in a systematic manner where hereto¬ is to see that the records it collects and pre fore it received very little attention. Nor is serves for future reference are correct and re¬ this study of it confined alone to universities liable so that no one can he able to point with and schools. The study of it by the general the finger of scorn to the facts it vouches for student has become almost universal. ~ His and pronounce them false. The study of his¬ torical societies are scattered over State and tory recommends itself to the statesman. A counties, and historical investigation is en familiarity with it is, in fact, necessary to couraged by them and they are doing a good good statesmanship. Freeman says : “History work in gathering and preserving for future is the politics of the past; politics is the history generations the records of local history which of the present.” The good to be derived 1 ■without their efforts would be Jost. The from the study of the lives of those who have study of history is distinctly a study of the governed in the past is incalculable to those hnman race and as such is of interest to every who wish to be leaders in their age. The one. In the consideration of the uses of his¬ strongest and most effectual work, the great* tory it is well to hear in mind its definition j diulomatic successes of our own republic, —that is, that history is a methodical record have not been the achievements of an indi¬ of the important events which concern a com¬ vidual creation ; but have all been brought munity of men, usually so arranged as to about by men who were students of history show the connection of causes and effect. It and who had studied the effect of similar ac¬ does not deal so much with one man as with tions on other nations in past times. Ancient all men, and with them as members of q. com¬ and modern history are much the same ; the munity, and not so much with isolated facts only difference between the past and present concerning men and communities as with the is in development, and the more closely we causes and results of facts. Persons who study the subject the more we are surprised to have not the opportunity to leave their find that each event as it passes along is but a immediate neighborhood and whose repetition of past history, simply modified by observation is limited to a very surrounding circumstances. The student of narrow circle can by means of the ancient and mediaeval history will find that study of history gain a comprehensive knowl¬ anarchism prevailed at that time, the same in edge of the world. History addresses itself principle as to-day although differing in form. to our reason and deals with the realities of As American citizens we have reached that life rather with the supernatural or flotf period in the life of our republic when every tious; and for every class of men has peculiar educated man needs to be a statesman ; the and appropriate advantages. It treats of the clays of economical simplicity have passed stirring and changing activities of mankind, away. Prosperity has rolled into our country and gives ns the advantages of their expe¬ until even the men who have grown along riences. with it and have tried to keep abreast with A people who have no time, except that the times are, when they stop to think, ap¬ which they must employ in their struggle for palled at the enormity of the great wealth that subsistence, whose energies are devoted ex¬ surrounds us. Great wealth brings with it clusively to gain a livelihood or a competence, great temptations and great vexations ; and and who have no time to devote to the social the centralization of wealth in the hands of a qualities of men can hardly be said to have few wealthy men and fewer wealthy a history of their own, and much less to take centers on the one side and the an interest in the history of others. There are discontent and murmurings of the dis¬ countries and people where the social ohanges cordant elements on the other, are responsi¬ from generation to generation are so little that bilities that confront our beloved land to-day a narration of the events of one age differs so ias never before. The most sanguine among slightly from the annals of another and the us cannot fail to see that this tendency of the condition of the ancestor is so near the condi¬ accumulation of wealth on the one hand and tion of the descedant that the very subject the riotous discontent on the other are a men¬ matter of history is wanting; for how can ace to the perpetuity of our republic, and that there be a methodical arrangement of im¬ they are undermining the foundations of our portant events with cause and effect in such free institutions. We are in need of leaders cases. Changes and variety in the life of a who have been close students of history and nation as well as in the life of an individual political economy, for the two are closely 're renuisite to make history. allied ; leaders whose judgments have been W* ir ft.*- a beautiful and glorious environment sur¬ broadened by a thorough knowledge of' the rounds ns—an environment that cannot fail, successful statesmen of past ages and the if we hut study it, to broaden and elevate ur methods employed by them to extricate their lives and characters. No poet no matter how countries out of difficulties in times of great high his flight of imagination may soar can peril and danger. Our country can, indeed, easily find a more beautiful subject to profit by the examples of Greece and Rome, dwell upon than the quiet and magr anim-jns which both fell when money and pleasure deeds of our own William Penn ; no dramatic tempted its people away from the higher and writer can find a nice fit subject for great nobler duties of citizenship. tragedy than the sufferings of the American Our own experience, as well as the experi¬ army at Valley Forge , and no writer of his¬ ence of others, supplies us with the highest torical romance could choose a better subject rules of conduct. If we apply the lessons for elaboration ox adornment than Lafayette which we learn in this way to our own lives, at Brandywine, or Washington and his shi ,er- and encourage those with whom we are ing men crossing the Delaware. brought into contact to do the same, we can The great national epic poems of the world do a great good, not only to ourselves but also are but a recital of the heroic deeds of its to others—we can by our example and most illustrious people to which they belong precept, as individual citizens, help to keep The poet has taken these deeds and woveu alive a love for our country and its freedom, around them beautiful and sometimes fanci¬ and hand it down to our children as the ful and magnified ideas until the hero be¬ greatest heritage. Our forefathers bought comes immortalized. If we had a Milton, a § freedom through the bitter sufferings Dante, or a Shakespeare to rise among us, he - of war. We do not acquire any¬ would need no more inspiring theme than the thing by hard work without clinging to iffi-, historical events which our own counties could with tenacity and refusing to give it up. The V supply. The old adage that there is nothing lessons which make the most lasting impres-' | new under the sun was never more applicable sions are those which we learn through suf¬ | than in its application of history to literature: fering and pain. V If the great dramas were merely the inven¬ i It is said that one of the most distinguished tion of the men who wrote them they might uses of history is the aid it lends to virtue soon fail to interest ns. Milton’s Paradise and that by continually reading of the virtue, Lost is a recital of the conflicts of the Chris¬ bravery and generosity of others a lasting im- ■ tian Theories of the world. The great Greek pression is made upon ns and a disposition is Tragedies were taken from the historical created in us to imitate the worthy deeds of legen ds of Greece, and it is said that Shakes¬ others. We can readily see the soundness of peare has not created a single plot of any of this theory, for in history we find those ex¬ his great plays; that every one of them is amples repeated again and again and a care-!■ J founded on some historical fact or legend ful reader has their acts continually before | woven in such beautiful form as to most affect him. But while it cannot be denied that the imagination. history aids virtue it must be borne in mind I have called the attention of a few of the that the habit of virtue must be in our pos- uses of history, necessarily briefly. Our his¬ session before we tempt experience. History torical societies have an extensive and highly cannot give ns virtue, it can only teach the important work before them in their duty of worth of virtue. If we go out into the world stimulating an interest in the study of local to seek virtue we may he lost by the wayside. % history and an investigation into the rich Virtue must accompany us from our homes1 mines of historical wealth which surrounds and be with us, and a part of us and surround; ns on every band in these three counties. If us as a protector and guide and even then we the few remarks that I have made have help¬ are in danger of the allurements and tempta¬ ed to awaken an interest in the advantages to tions of wickedness. be derived from the study of history, especi¬ It is perhaps upon the uses and value of ally local history, to which all that has been local history that our thoughts are dwelling said in regard to general history applies with to-day. We have before us representatives equal force, then I am glad to have had the from three adjoining counties. Each one cf pleasure of appearing before you. these counties has a wealth of local history Rev. D. K. Turner, of Hartsville, read a and it falls upon the members of paper, “ Robert Morris, the Financier of the these different historical societies to Revolution,” reciting the services of that keep alive the interest and enthusiasm eminent patriot to the American cause, and for the historical events that have occurred . within our borders. The argument has often | mentioning his large holdings of real estate in been used by critics that it is of no use to the Bucks county and elsewhere, his pecuniary human race to read of the intrigues and base losses and imprisonment for debt in his old designs of the nations that have passed away. age, and other particulars. That much had better be forgotten and that: The most lengthy paper of the day was that the mantle of oblivion had better be spread j of General Davis on “The Battle of the over the wickedness of the past. This is a criticism with which wo can not agree, tor we Crooked Billet,” largely made up of facta! believe that a study of history especially of gathered from recollections and reminis¬ the characters of the great and the good of cences of fifty years ago, when the writer was times past calls forth our admiration and that ; able to collect these from aged eye-witnesses we can and do derive great benefit from the of the scenes he described. He commenced same; that we can and often do emulate the by observing that the Delaware-Schuylkill examples of the good anu. that we form for ;■ valley is richer in Revolutionary history than ourselves the highest and best character by a continual study of their lives, and that by any other section of the country. knowing the dangers, the distress, the grief General Davis detailed the appointment of and the suffering that wickedness brings to Gen. John Lacey to the command of a regi¬ those who revel in it, we are taught to shun j ment stationed in the vicinity to watch the it and that both on account of its inherently , peninsula, his moving down the York road to being contrary to the moral law as well as on ) Edge Hill and his return to Crooked Billet account of the evils it leads us into we learn with his whole force, four hundred men. He to avoid it; that a study of history quickens our discernment and supplies us with a encamped in the wood of Samuel Irvin on the „ - knowledge of the world, that it enables us to east side of the, York road, where he was at¬ tacked May 1, 177S, by a large, body of British counteract evil designs against us and teaches troops, suffering considerable loss and lalliug to endure with fortitude the trials that we back two miles to what is now Johnsville. must unavoidably suffer in our lives. What

/ . MW*" // iie enemy was within two liifncTred' wards / /when discovered. The Americans thence en¬ tered the York road, where Harts ville now stands, and moved back to the scene of the conflict. The British had retreated. After burying his dead Gen. Lacey fell hack to the Neshaminy. The cruelty of the British to Americans captured in the battle was proved by conclusive evidence, that derived from par ticipants in the events of that period. The paper was the concluding exercise, and it was listened to with deep interest, especially by residents of the vicinity, who composed a large portion of the audience. Among those present in addition to persons TM-eom already named were the following : Doylestown —Alfred Paschal l’ Henry J Shoemaker, Jos. W. Shelly ; Miss Emma Arm¬ A GCOD MEETING HELD YESTf strong, of Merchantville, NT. J. ; Misses Eleanor H. Davis, Mary Donaldson, Jennie R. Miche- OLD MONTGOMERY. ner, of Germantown ; Minnie Neelds, Shamo- km ; Frances Ruckman. Emma, Fell, Philadel¬ phia; Miriam Watson, Jennie Watson ; Messrs. Members of the Historical Socle Edw. H. Ruckman, Howard I. James, John R Chester, Bucks and Montgomery I Lear, Joseph Fell, Philadelphia ; John Ruck- mar, Robert Lyman. Counties Meet at Hatboro-Iuterest Solebury — John S. Williams, Thomas 1«S Papers Read In Which GUbe Ruckman. Cope and R. Rush Kervey, of IV... I Buckingham—Albert S. Paxson. Chester, Have a Prominence-] Lower Makefield —Joseph, Swartzlander Contributions In Pull, Etc. and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Thos. Knowles. Bustleton—Wm. W. Ridge. Langhorne—Col. Alfred Marple. toliing °( £,e be]1 the steeple of the La.haska—Richard R. Paxson. , ^aPtlf't Church yesterday morning Davisville—Mrs. Dr. Sels. called together what was the greatest int West Chester—Jos. Thompson. iy-.?ll-eet,,n8 of historical societies Philadelphia—Judge Michael Arnold, Col held within the State. As is done annua Henry D. Paxson, J. A. M. Passmore. the historical societies of Bucks, Chester t •Chester—H. G. Ashmead. Montgomery counties convened tor the c Norristown—Mr. and Mrs. Joseph For- •cussion of papers of historic value, which 1 nance, Mr. and Mrs. Jacob L. Rex, Miss Mary members ol the societies of the three cou Rex, Mr. and Mrs. Henry W. Kratz, Mr. and read and submit. i Mrs. Jacob A. Strassburger, Mrs H H State Senator A. D. Markley was eng Fisher, Mr. and Mrs. Ellwood Roberts,no Derrs, Mr. s'.S. for some weeks past in concluding ar: •, IGoraon -r A1V1 till Smyth,vrtVi Rev.D ^ A.A A.4 HrMarple, > Dr.' W _H ments tor the meeting. Reed, Mr. Charles A. Shaw, Mrs. Theodore Shortly before 11 o’clock the meeting W. Bean, Messrs. Wm. W. Potts T P calledoilorl t/vto order in_ ilthe l body j oft the. > church■ ° . ™ Smith, H. C. Hoover. ’ General W. W. H. Davis, who introdm Jarrettowu—Dr. and Mrs. E. S. Wilson. the Hon. Harman Yerkes, President Judge i SheeieighlarS'1 ^Saac Conard, Rev. Matthias ol the Bucks County Court, who, atter prayer by S. F. Hotchkin, of Bustieton, made the Mont Clare—Jos. Fitzwater. introductory address. Blue Bell—Jones Detwiler. ‘‘It was a happy thought,” said the Judge, Conshohocken—Mr. and Mrs. Wm. McDer¬ 'that suggested Hatboro for the Conventior mott, Mr. and Mrs. Jaweod Lukens. of Bucks, Montgomeryand Chester Counties Hatiield—J. Y. Heckler. Historical Societies, because of theinterestin Bryn Mawr—Dr. and Mrs. Goentner events that have clustered around it.” Afce Hatboro—-Mr and Mrs. Samuel S. Thom™- a lew words more the Judge welcomed thos son. Dr. J. B. Carroll, Dr, W. E. Doughtv! who had come to the Convention, and calle W. H. Yerkes, Jr., Alfred Cope, Samuel J. upon the first speaker. Darner, Hon. I. N. Evans, J. B. Jones, Geo. II. Rush Kervey, of West Chester, was to C Yerkes, John Davis, C. C, McNair. James have read the paper entitled “The Bibliogra¬ Mr. and Mrs. Albert French, Dr. phy of Chester County,” but was not able to W. T. Robinson, and many others. be present. In his absence it was read by Gilbert Cope, and we give it place here in The Norristown delegation reached the its entirety as follows: Herald office on the return at 6.80. The To the membeisof the Historical Societies route home was by Ambler, Broad-Axe and of Montgomery, Bucks and Chester coun¬ the Sandy Hill road, that going having been ties : Gentlemen:—Some months ago a his¬ by Penllyn and Three Tuns, thus enabling torian, one who Is known among you as an the party to enjoy each way the beauties of a eminent jurist, a lover of books and a val¬ different landscape. One and all pronounced! uable contributor to the literature of- his na¬ tive county, facetiously asked: “What has the trip delightful throughout, the weather Chester county done In the literary field that proving to be all that could be desired for the slie should boast of her record?" journey. It comes within my province to tell you to-day, in brief, what Chester county authors Before leaving Hatboro, the party were have done. driven to the battle monument a hundred in the “Bibliography of Chester County," yards above the church on York street. now In course of preparation by the writer, are included all books by native-born au¬ thors; books prepared while their authors were residents of the county; and all publica¬ tions that relate directly to the county or its people. These represent two hundred and slxry-flve authors, and aggregate about eight hundred publications, covering almost every branch of literature. A hasty review of some of these, chronologically considered, is mm 1A

__ presented. It was long , subsequently chosen President of the _ad tidings of liberty were -T—. _lege, but generously declined in favor of throughout this fair land; long befoto Dr. Witherspoon. His published works em¬ Washington and Lafayette were born and brace three pamphlets, the last one being is¬ i while yet tbe Indians traversed the lonely sued In 1799. The Blair books are all scarce. shores of the Delaware, that there came to In 1748 David Evans, of this county, pub¬ what was then known as Chester county a lished the “Law and the Gospel.” He had j Quaker emigrant, by name Caleb Pusey, prepared a “Welsh Biography” in 1739 (the ! to whom is accredited the honor of being manuscript of which is in the possession of the first of our Chester county authors. In Judge Penny packer.) This was never pub¬ 11696 he wrote and published a pamphlet of lished. A little pamphlet with the following ! four and a half pages, which, so far as can be tit e, according to Babin, was published in 'learned, was the first book written within 1774: “To the Representatives of the 1 ree ■'tithe icounty. It was printed, however, in men of the Counties of Chester, Bucks and London. This was eight years before Philadelphia, Now Met at the State House. America’s first newspaper (the “Boston News * * * A Great Number of Your Constit¬ Letter”) was issued. His second book, uents. Chester county, May 9, 1774.” 1 have 1 “Satan’s Harbinger Encountered,” was pub¬ never met with a copy. The histories of lished by lteynler Jansen, Philadelphia, in John Bartram and his grandson, William, 117C0. The work is now exceedingly rare. A and their works have been frequently pub- j •Scopy sold at the Brinley sale some years ago lished and will not be reviewed here. The 'brought one hundred and seventy dollars. former was the earliest native American hot- • 'The “Harbinger” was followed by five anist, and the founder of the first botanical kmaller books, all published prior to 1705, garden on this continent. He was born near Caleb Pusey was a native of Berkshire, Darby, Delaware (then Chester) county. His : England. He was born in 1650 and with his "Book of Travels” was his first work, and wife, Ann, emigrated to America In 1682. By appeared In 1751, following which came his trade he was a lastmaker. His place of resi¬ "Description of East Florida, etc., in 1.6b. dence within the limit of this county was at A third and much enlarged edition .“the Chester Mills.” The establishment of was printed in London three years later. rthese mills was by virtue of a partnership Valuable papers had been contributed by formed by verbal agreement between Wil¬ him to the “Transactions of the American liam Penn, Richard Townsend, Caleb Pusey Philosophical Society ” as early as 1740. His Sind others. They were first built in 1683 and son, William Bartram, inherited the botani¬ tebuilt in 1699. Caleb Pusey was a prominent cal tastes of his father and was possessed of man of his time, and filled many positions considerable skill as an artist, reproducing of trust. He was a juror, Surveyor, Sheriff, with his pencil the various obiects of vege¬ Justice of the County Court, a member of table and animal life. Of his writings his She Provincial Assembly and of the Execu¬ volume ol “Travels,” first published in 1791,1s tive Council. His name constantly appeared the most important. It has been republished in the minutes ol the Society of Friends in London,Berlin, Haarlem andui? among those who were most active in set¬ English edition on large paper was also puu- tling difliculties. He frequently appeared In lished. The eminent botanist, Humphrey qhe ministry and some times employed his Marshall, was a contemporary oftheBart- ien in the defense of the doctrines of his sect, rams Mmy Marshall, his mother, was a - lit was from the papers Caleb Pusey that sister of Elizabeth Hunt, Who was Jr. Smith and Robert Proud, early historians 4 the mother of John Bartram. Thus jf Pennsylvania, obtained much of the ma- the two leading American botanists erial from which their histories were com¬ ot that day were first cousins. Humphrey posed. He removed to Marlborough in 1727, , Marshall published but the one work, There he died the following year. Immediately following the Pusey publlca- ions came the Taylor almanacs. Jacob fojeM Trees a“d |hurbs, etc. T^^ was L'aylor, of Chester county, also a member of he Society of Friends, was commissioned purveyor-General of Pennsylvania in L05, and held the office until November, 1.33, miiy i“aiSe|oousJfif1“ii1ajrBeR5tr.pn-,>l)L.?te Then he retired to Thornbury township, i-where he died in 1715-6. For many years he if,ZtSlSS,Tro.>s*. arepared the necessary calculations for an I Urnanac, together with verses of his own Sis Composition and other matters, which were published by Isaiah Warner, William Brad- ■ ord and perhaps others. His first almanac was printed by Reynier Jansen, Pbiladel* phia, in 1702, the last one in 1715; in all,about forty-eight almanacs. _ Futhey and Cope, in their “History of '^iohD^Cbtirchnmn^tmdlfis |randsom Johm Chester County,’’state that there'wa® wihiiRhfrt bv Andrew Bradford, Fhiiauei loth of Nottingham Cfies.w co^oc^ty of ; phia, 1720, entitled “Some of the Dying conspicuous members ”,,_inowu minister Words ol John Pierce.” I have not been Friends. The former a well known Ac. able to obtain nor even see a copy of this , for forty years and the autno^o cbrlstiaa book. John Pierce belonged to one of the | count of Minister of Christ*’* early families of Kennett township. The pastorates of the B i al rs c o m menee about 1740, and from these worthy ministers we have several works of a ral|£l9.u!5 character. Samuel Blair, t*6 ®^er, ’wa W^-man of. scientific ™ledge who at- native of Ireland. He was the first pastor or ulotedt“ attention of such eminent men FagD’s Manor Presbyterian Church, anti a b r George W ashington,Thomas Jefierson and learned man. He also establishedaclassicai others Ind who visited Europe on the Invl- the roval society of London. Later he visited Europe the second time, spending the winter in the high latitude of St. Peters- . r£y t?nccia his great object being the dis- asasfff&’Ss.TS the law governing the constant varfation, dm ind declination of the mag¬ ford in 1752. John Blair, a younger brother netic neeUle in different parts of the earth. of Samuel, was also a minister, and for ten TTnon his returning voyage after a third visit mPFuropef his papers were lost or thrown Sears had charge of the Manor Church. He It the same time superintended the grammar nvemornd with the cargo during a storm. s«hnni ^mch his brother had established. His death and burial occured white at sea. John Blair was chosen .^^^oneg^oT New' Jefseyf'He^wa^the'^.utho? <§°a*ntunber of works the first of which bears date 1761. Samuel Blair, Jr., was an acomuplished “fiDlthe °eldOT°St0Samuel ^alr He was a graduate of the College of New Jersey and a tutor in that institution, He wmmm “A Variation or Magnetic Adams In 1784, AtJas, and a btereographic ^refection of the of 118 pages, ai_„ Spheres, etc.'* Inscribed to George Wash- said that it was xzuzj ington. It was mounted on canvas and on oak rollers, the size being 25x27 inches. The volume, containing the j wars in Kentucky, that ?7^hVs a ?eA rare one* A c°Py of the Boone took its rise, that PWltdVbia 1S in the Rid=^a/Library, torical character. Theappol It is rather remarkable that the name was greater than the work it even of a man whose history is one of the forty-eight pages of the m most interesting in the annals of our State— seventy pages of the append..... that of John Filson, the first historian of and a half of the latter contalnt .Kentucky, and the author of the rarest of all tlve of Colonel Boone. It begins v first coming to Kentucky, in 1769.' Chester county books-should almost have passed from the memories of the living. He page is a very full one, there be was a Chester countian by birth. His grand¬ than one hundred and thirty-five father, John I, came to America prior to 1740 Another eminent Chester countian and settled in EastEallowfield township,near bas been slow to acknowl where the old Hoe Bun Presbyterian Cnurch William Maclay, of New Garden town now stands. John Filson was of Scotch Irish a member of the first Congress, who origin. Early In life he had had the advan¬ bis seat there as the first Ben tage of some instruction from Rev. Samuel from Pennsylvania, and who fls objected to the presence of Wa P inley at the Nottingham Academy. He is also known to have understood the French Ington in the Senate during the tran language, and to have had some knowledge action of business, and who was the leader < cl the Greek and Latin languages. Borne the movement that resulted In the formation upon the tide ot land speculation, which was of the Bemooratic party. His “Journal ” Vw sweeping from all directions toward Ken- bave been two separate editions k® made his way to the Elkhorne, published, are by George W. Harris, of Har- purchasing land in Fayette county. Mr. i risburg, in 1880, and the other, by Edgar Mac- Ranck in his “History of Lexington” men- ' Clay, of New iork, a collateral relative, was not given to the public until 1890. The Flls°E as teaching school in that place in 1782, and writing the adventures of Hamel “Journal” begins with the 24th of April, 1780 feene in the fall of that year. Filson saw and ends the 3d of Mai ch, 1791. it lives the ' the tide of immigration flowing in and fore¬ Eoa118!1.0118 tbe open and secret sessions, saw a great country there in the future and •with his observations on contemporary icoDcluaed to write a book and draw a map statesmen, etc., never before published. y Hhat might help to people it more rapidly, in^KV,ab0,u? tbe close ot the eighteenth cen- flie was a surveyor and had the assistance of tury Herrick & Sharpless, of West Chester, tench pioneers as Haniel Boone, James Harrod, started the publication of “The Literary others. In 1784 his work was ready Magazine,” a monthly magazine, averaging ;for publication. There was no printing about fifty-six pages eacb. its existence .press west of the Allegheny Mountains was ot a short duration. The first number made his way to Wilmington, Belli appeared in January, 1797, the last in .June ,b®. sameyear, six numbers in all, three ^Publishers. The map was taken of which were illustrated. Philip Herrick! to Philadelphia, where it was engraved by H the partner of Sharpless, had come from a?d prInted byT. Rook. iThis map Philadelphia to West Chester and in parf- , tbe,,£irsAever made of Kentucky. It pre- nership with Jones & Hoff, had on jin ,tine,e cooties of Jefferson, Fay- ™ry.4Ai794’ lssued tbe first number of the neoin, into which the district of West Chester Gazette, said to have been the Kentucky was then divided, and gave the ^t Pnntlng hone Wlthin the present limits topography of the county with wonderful of Chester county. For want of patronage her ofafortsJta?rttHCeab)e featurels thenum- the firm dissolved six months afterward. ™JLof,£orts,n1^la down upon it, there being As we enter the third century of the liter¬ ihof i,bKE The work "7a.s so well done subsequent maps of Kentucky have ary h,st0ry0f Chester county (for two hun- been but little more than reproductions. It ^,ed7eare ba7e Passed.slnce the first Chester *Pw!ty Pampblet was written) we find our- S?'?? the Congress of the United wbllh °Ir^helmed with the publications In Z-i.-. . d 1° Gen„erai George Washington. which are being issued. They have In N85 he returned to Kentucky, consuming come In with such rapid succession twenty-six days In the journey. He soon and in such numbers that it would he caught the excitement relative to the Illinois Impracticable to even namethem here This country and mads several trips into that ^^i™aS?Ja,Fly totbe growth in our new region and wrote descriptions and jour- population, the advancement in education .a.dveuture, which were designed for a“d tbe marked reduction in the cost of publication, but were never published; these printing. Early In 1800 Hr. Hugh WUUam- Si’oCrlptS| however, four in number, were f?uud umoug the papers of General George DTM0f prepared his “History R. Clark. They are now owned by Hr. Lyman Carolina,” published in two vof- ®>awork which to day isaccepted as the C. Draper, of Wisconsin. In 1786, he again 1 best history of that .State. Hugh Williamson returned to Chester county, traveling all the -nher* ?,octor’ preacher, lawyer and phlloso- way on horseback,a perilous journey through Rber. He was appointed by. the American an Indian country and unbroken wilder- Philosophical Society on a committee to oh ness, over mountains and across rivers, a serve the transit of Venus. Hewmrel distance of eight hundred miles. The same ' £,®bta*,lve ln tbe House of Commons of-North year we find the great distance between Carolina, a member of the Continental Con Pennsylvania and Kentucky had again been Sress and one of the few mimblls sent to'1 crossed and he was once more among the Annapolis to revise and amend the Constifn pioneers, whose history he had written, and tmn of the United States. The mst’ With whose history he had identified his own. of clJv, record Published in the county On October 1, 1788, while on an exploring of Chester, and indeed one of the earliest 1 and expedition to the Great sued In the United States, was that of tai' Miami. Filson separated from his compan¬ “Sharpless Family of North^Imerica.” Thll ions and disappeared in the wood, and was ^fas ®orupllein to health and happiness, but what more P/crno11 ^ reas°hable to suppose that an proper subjects for contemplation can we Ifock FthLTCeiS/prang fro“ 8 common have than the vital conditions of our exist¬ r° ogists can trace id the char¬ ence? A person may eDjoy perfect health acteristics of each race an adaptation to their Without knowing that there is anv such ’ J*.nd we are ied to conclude science as physiology,but this does not prove I lhat all the diversity has been gradually! that such knowledge is useless. ! ™/?i°pe!» ^the operation of natural forces There are some who think that the study of1 through long periods of time. history proper, that is, the actions of man¬ The evidence, so far as there is any evidence. kind collectively, is all very well, but to nar¬ savaees^nf^n6 88 t0, 0Ur descent from row the field of inquiry down to a few I J, es- la a!1 organic life there is n genealogical lines is a kindi of dilettante tendency to excessive reproduction and 'his *“«uement, productive of no results. After bW about a strugglf for exlswnce. in of any study depends largely on ^b lb,«Weaker go down and the strong “L® spint and method in which it is entered survive to continue the race. A"ain it is .eueh ls lhe correlation of all thinning out of the weak! coupled! ai& earnest investigation of any ever-present tendency to diversity! subject strengthens the mind and involves that we owe our physical development. Thai fs>m?iriii01Wltedget?fkl.ndre(1 subjects. History ' ™i™eSa10D,’ “survival of the fittest,” lsl is mildly interesting to the masses, but those ev.en by very iuteUlgentl who study it philosophically are rarer than people. It does not mean the fittest accord-fi Genealogy is intensely fasc?- ing to an absolute standard, but those best! Pafing to its devotees and leads to more or The*/ t0 tJ?8lr situation for the time being.! less knowledge of history. Those who trace 6 of man for existence is not* their ancestry to the settlement of this with his fellow man alone, but also with the ppnntrywin necessarily learn something of inferior animals, with the vegetable creas hofimeU Hmvent,’ and their interest will be vu Vf?,n Wltb bis own appetites and pasl Si migrations and new discoveries ?ho!e anc^to?s °WlDg tbe part taken by H be comes into conflict with new clrcuml stances, and those which may have seemed! ha°vP??,?t?eS cmnceptfon I Ibitbmo the fittest go do “n berore the “ewi u °*v.the vastness of space, of the sublim¬ . conditions. At the present time the ity of the mountains, or of the infinite wh^h^raCe’ or at least that part of it. It variety of objects upon the globe It is said are most interested, Is struggling , tbere are races of mankind who cannot I JLub tobacco and alcohol. The result may comprehend numbers beyond a half dozen1! .r,ac,e wbich will be able to witb-l and similarly with many persons the idea ! rnher t P?js°uous eflects; but there is an} of ancestors is limited to those within their othei side to the question and unless they personal knowiedge. All else is /“norldE* area positive benefit the advantage will bel Even with the masses the idea is that of n ! on the side of those who abstain. The stru^-l t)nrft°iW /in®,mnning back a few generations gle for existence is just as bitter to-day as Tt? till it is lost in darkness, a truer concention wiJ1 aIwaye remain, though1 would be to think of one’s self as a fib e tio/Uaw/estatI°?s are ln a different direc-L a with base wider than its Gom are advised when about to run a) sphere!°r 81111 beUer’ as *» *be cenier of a raceto lay aside every unnecessary weight, !^,Lybetber we will or not the divine law- By the researches of myself and others r I must ever operate to the same end. There am enabled to present a chart of a la4e' wheeh? immediate Indications that the number of the ancestors of my children fn 1 wheels of time are coming to a standstill, [ ^arJyancases they are traced to their ?^ans I aud alier a few million years there will Atlantic homes, and so tar as known thav’ from very diflerent state of society were all from Great Britain, though th^rais from anything we now know or conceive. probability °f some Swedish blood in two Inful thought has haunted me in unitfi with ViT? u?\ms the e®tablished lines Ration, to my ancestry. Did they, as Cath- J*16 historic families of the Old an active part in burning to death World, and once within this circle there Jl^uu®ands of their fellow beings for the ae6ms scarce a limit to their ramifications 5,®esy of Protestantism, or as Protestants One of these lines leads through thirty-four i ln a 11116 treatment of the generations to Louis IV., King of France' j Jbe most barbarous cruelties throug h thirty-six generations to (S’ I ' ever devised by human beings have been per- Kingofall Wales. Anotherllneleads through [™dm behalf °f religion, and thm ‘not twenty-one generations to Edward I of tb® religion of pagans, butone whose Founder Wifiomth0? whom we may trace through whn your enemies; do good to those j William the Conqueror,Alfred the Great.and !,.t0.Afe y°«. and pray for those who de- ^o Woden, King of the Saxons, fifty-six ®pltefrrlly use you. Did they gloat over th e generation back. There Is nothing peculiar ahpa1 lhis, tor we are ail descended from the belie/belief ln//le witchcraft,^?‘2isa «ds when°f p00r undergoing victims of I r^ya'ty. It is only that some of us are able the most cunningly devised tortures? It • Ibe hnks in the chain: that is nrn- vr°E)d have been an intense relief to reel In¬ vided the published pedigrees are correct but stead that I was descended from well-con¬ it cou.d scarcely be otherwise. With each ducted apes, animated only by a love of ; successive generation backward the number their own kind. But this could not r af|ifn^Sii3rSi S*it'lieoreUoally dout>led, and by 1 - stage81 ieaHSt without this Intermediate a little calculation we may find that Edward * ‘s;?tee* And now 1 come to an- I. would be only one of a million, or in other [ ?tber proposition. All of the good traits in human character which may be dreDdretfs s bloodhwuOCe comes'mill ifromorith thatpart source of m y chibOar- classed as sympathetic have been evolved tainJy this is nothing to be proud over and r in the fierce conflict of opposing interests very much suspect that ifP the gentleman during which all the emotions are called could appear in the flesh we would not care into play and those which are beneficial are I to associate with him. His descendants at k*1,1 ly s,rengthened. At an early period a very moderate computation^would out¬ selfish traits predominated and each Individ, ual contended for his own preservation; but “The Battle of the Crooked Billet.’’ The mgth,perhaps as an outgrowth of the par- paper was mainly made up of the Geueral’s al instincts,a number combined together mutual advantage, and a common inter¬ I recollections and reminiscences of talks had est was developed. With the successive I with the oldest men of tne county. The stages of civilization these combinations in¬ paper commenced: creased in size, the conflicts became uaore “The Delaware-Schuylkill peninsula, in¬ fierce and far-reaching in their results, ana cluding both banks of these rivers, isricher in now the Utopian dreams of the time when Revolutionary history than any other section the whole world will form one vast com¬ monwealth and all warfare will be laid aside. of the country.” . . , , We are told that offences must come, and After recitiDg the encampment and trials of I for one accept the fact as a necessity in the Washington’s army at Valley Forge, General evolution of humanity; and that while wars Davis told of the appointment of General and fightings area measure of °«r barbar- John Lacey, a Quaker, by Washington to ism they are in the line of progress. The take charge of a regiment to guard the penin¬ human instincts may be divided into two classes, both based on the fundam e n ta 1 idea sula. Continuing, General Davis said: of self preservation; one of which seeks to at¬ “Near the close of April, 1778, we find tain the end by individual effort, and the Lacey moving down York road as far as Edge other by a combination of effort. -The latter Hill to watch a party of the enemy, but, appears likely to predominate, and it is for learning they had gone to Philadelphia, he S?pose that penal taws are framed, to returned to the Crooked Billet with his noble restrain the individual for the benefit of the force, about 400 militia. He encamped in a “l have at length reached this conclusion, wood owned by Samuel Irvine, on the east that Omnipotence admits of no other power, side of York road, at the end of this village. I that so far as there has been aplan in crea^ Here he was attacked at daylight, May 1, by i tion it has bten carried out, and that wnue a large body ol British. General Lacey suf- it is not ours to criticize the plan we may seek for its keynote. To my mind this key¬ fered considerable loss in kiiled, wounded note is evolution, the most sublime theory and prisoners, and was obliged to fall back a ever propounded, and of universal applica- couple of miles.” ... tion.P I see not only the material universe The plan of attack and the description of brought to its present condition by the opera¬ the battle were next outlined by General tion through untold ages of unchang¬ Davis. The enemy was within about 200 ing laws? but also organic life evolved v,y° the same laws from some form yards of Lacey’s quarters when discovered. 1 so simple that hitherto its beginning has Lacey dressed hurriedly—even Garried some •scaped and may ever continue to escape of his clothes in his hands as he rode to the ?h^ observation of man. This life once front on his charger. Seeing himself hemmed started has, by the inevitable tendency to in on every side Lacey ordered a retreat, variation, developed into ailthe vast variety moving by column to the left in the direction of forms around us and including ourselves Th* constant struggle for existence and the of a wood, across open fields, the wagons survival of the fittest (under the circum¬ following, in full view of the enemy. A stances! '.has produced not only the physical stand was made in the woods. form, but also the animal instincts, the After a desperate but useless fight, a fur¬ moral sentiments, and the intellectual ther retreat was made to the woods near the faculties cf man. I recognize no such thing Bristol road, by the present site of Johns- as evil except as an abnormal development ville. They then entered the Lork road, of something which is in itself intrinsically good. Our animal passions, which underlie near what is nowHartsville.and moved back our very existence, and therefore beneficent to the scene ot the latei conflict, hoping to In purpose, may when In excess lea,d us to a take the enemy unawares. They had re¬ violation of the moral law. This arises from treated, however, and had taken their dead a want of equilibrium In our faculties, yet and wounded with them. The loss was not an equilibrium would perhaps be fatal to | heavy on either side. fUIt might°lbe suggest ed as a corollary to my Alter burying his dead General Lacey fell proposition, that we are the product of our back to the north bank of the Neshaminy, ancestors and our environment, that the above the Cross P^ads, now Hartsville.' I same may be said of our ancestors In every Conclusive evidence is shown that the Eng- , generation; and this would Inevitably lead l lish were extremely cruel to those of the ! to the conclusion that man is the product of | his environment alone. It may a so he in- i American soldiers who were captured in the 1 ferred that I have little faith In the fall of manrbut on the contrary much in his rise. ^Then followed stories which General Davis We frequently meet with pictures contain¬ had from ofticers and soldiers who were in ing concealed figures which escapeour notice the battle of the Crooked Billet. Hatboro until nointed out by another, when they some forty years ago was always called appear so plainly that we wonder we did not “Crooked Billet.” In fact, this was the only see them at first. I can scarcely expect to make others see at once as I do in this matter, name it had...... and I have no quarrel with those who think In 1861 a monument was erected on the site differently. If some one whispers “material¬ of the conflict in memory of the patriots who ism ” I reply that we know nothing of spirit fell there. Many of those who were in the except as it is manifested In matter, and church visited the monument after the meet¬ nothiDg of matter except by the manifesta¬ tions of the spirit. Both are alike divine to me. ing. In considering our inheritance from the past ages there Is much to cause a feeling of sadness on account of the violence and oppression which have reigned, yet with reverent thanklulness for all the benefits to us, we should look forward with good cheer for the future of our race. Gilbert Cope. The subject of which J. A. Strasburger, Esq., a prominent member of the Norristown bar, spoke on was the “Uses of History. His subject was made an interesting one and < i ffc I was well handled. , _ , -u Eev. D. K. Turner, D. D., of Hartsville, read an exhaustive biography of “Robert A LEGEND OF OLD SWEDES’ FORD. Morris, the Financier of the Revolution, j and also brought up interesting facts which ! occurred to the Revolutionary statesman. r GENERAL DAVIS’ PAPER. Washington's Army Crossing the A most interesting paper was that of Gen¬ eral W. W. H. Davis, of Doylestown, entitled Schuylkill More Than a Hundred Years Ago. bv a large willow tree, and* Bridgeport side by two ta Just as the early dawn was begin¬ pines, and the old Swedes’ 'tavern ning to brighten the hills that, Ford still standing. But the willow and bound the Yalley of the Schuylkill, the pines have long since disappear, on the 12th of December, in the ed under the hand of time and man- year of our Lord 1777, a small party and the old Ford, once the highway of horsemen leisurely approached of the armies, now exists only in his¬ the river near the place then called tory and song. Swedes’ Ford. By their dress they might have been known as troopers, A hundred years ago, the river of the Continental Army, and their! Schuylkill rolled along in all its na¬ leader, as Captain Allen McClane, tive wildness and beautv No the daring partisan ranger of the! bridges spanned it; no dams ob¬ old Maryland line. structed its waters as they mur- “Halt!” cried the Captain as they muied on through banks guarded came to the ford. and shaded by the primeval forests, “Dismount boys and feed quick. downs there were none. The old Now, Bill, give us a blast from vour Swedes’ Church, and a few scatter¬ horn.” ed farms and houses occupied the A few notes of the bugle sounded ground upon which Norristown, across the river, and were quickly Bridgeport and Swedesburg now stands. answered from the other side. Having given his orders, the Cap-1 It was the darkest hour in the tain of the company, with his ser¬ fearful struggle for American Inde¬ vant, entered the stream at the ford, pendence. The battles of Brandy¬ riding slowly along as if to ascer¬ wine and Germantown had been tain its depth. As he gained the fought and lost. The British, under shore, he was met by several Ameri-! Lord Howe, inspirrd by their vie can officers, who seemed to be tones, marched into Philadel awaiting his arrival. After a short phia, and held the metropolis in ar consulation with them, he returned iron grip. Upon the hills of White again to his company, who were marsh lay the remnant of the Ameri busy finishing their hasty early can Army, disheartened by defeat breakfast. almost destitute of clothing anc provisions, tnd exposed to the cold “All right, boys,” said the Cap¬ blasts and snows of winter, which tain, “and before tomorrow our had already set in with all its army will be safe on the other side severity. The troops needed shel¬ of the river, on their way to Valley ter and rest, and having failed to Forge. Now for the camp.” come to a decision in a council of In a few moments the merry war, Washington determined to troopers were again in their sad¬ place his army in winter quarters dles, and soon disappeared in the among the wooded hills of Valiev thick forests that then covered the ! Forge. greater part of the country. They had been scouting all night towards On the morning of the 11th of De- Philadelphia, and found the enemy jeember, 1777, through a deep snow quietly resting in their lines, who that had just faden, the weary march were returning to report to Wash¬ began. It was interrupted, howev¬ ington at headquarters. er, by a foraging party sent out by Swedes’ Ford, to which we have Lord Cornwallis, that appeared dur¬ introduced the reader, is made mem¬ ing the day on the western side of orable in the annals of the Revolu¬ the river. The enemy, having return¬ tion, by the passage of the American ed to the city. the march was re-, sumed. Army, under Washington, on its painful and sorrowful march to Val¬ Swedes’ Ford now became the! ley Forge. The Ford is now entirely scene of military activity. On the| western side of the rivers was mar-| obliterated, and even its exact local¬ ity is scarcely known. Tradition shaded General Potter’s brigade,! places it about fifty or a hundred guarding the crossing. Scouts pa * -trolled the roads leading from thej yards above the lower bridge. It city. Soon the long motley train of! was marked on the Norristown side bagfag« wagons and rude ambu- idances, with. the sick -wounded (ratne pouring in from the' Ridge Such is the story old Swedes' Ford, more than a hundred years ijj r°ad- The yells and shouts of the drivers, the rumbling of heavy ago. Now, how changed the scene! wheels over the frozen ground, and The forests have disappeared ; flour¬ the neighing of horses, filled the va!- ishing towns have been built where the veteran patriots trod. Railroad jley with the discordant and confused v (sounds of a hurried military move- trains rush with wings of speed over i ment. the ground on which the heroes of the Revolution marched with bleed¬ In the distance was heard the ing feet. bugle s blast, the shrill note of the But, as we stand beside the tran¬ hie, and the rattle of drums, as the quil river over which thev passed, or regiments, brigades and divisions wander among the hills of Valley of the Continental Army, with ban- Forge, the winter encampment of ners soiled and torn in battle, came over one hundred years ago, where marching on to the Ford, and all suffered and many died, we can spread out over the narrow plain. not forget the sacrifices which they It was an army in rags, covered made, nor cease to prize the glor¬ with the blood and dust, and black- ious land which we have received ened in the smoke of the ill-fated rom them, as the heritage of free- fields of Brandywine and Gertaaa- om, and the legacy of their patri¬ ■ town through which they bad lust otism and valor. Not one of the"hero- passed. Some still bore the un¬ io Spartan band now survives. They healed marks of recent wounds. are all gone; but, Many were without shoes or stock- nigs, and stained with their blood Their rest is glorious—for they sleep the rough frozen roads over which In freedom’s soil, so bravely won : they marched. A nation’s banners round them sweep, A world is now their own : But it was a grand army. Men And names like their’s shall ever be . whose names have become immortal : The watchwords of the brave and free. were there. Under the old forests jat Swedes Ford, were gathered the —-Rev. A. J. Weddell, D. D., in !heroes of Washington, Lafayette, Norristown Defender. P™rrDe Stueben, Greene, Knox and Wayne, who humbled the pride of England upon the plains of Yorktown.gave a country to a nation janat freedom to a continent. But as the enemy hearing of the retreat of the army from White- marsh might be hastening in pur¬ suit, there was no time for delay ■ The fiver bein^ already swollen bv ;the winter rains and snowjlhT ba^-l A JURIST TALKS HISTORY. .gage wagons were hastily drawn inlo (the Ford, and on them was formed a temporary bridge, over which the STIRRING EVENTS IN BTGO'nE TIMES RECALLED. infantry of the patriot army pass-

Judge Harman Verges’ Address of As the night advanced, the last Welcome Delivered at the Inter- Qivision crossed, and the cavalry that Counfy Historical Meeting at Hat- had remained behind, guarding the boro on July IT, 1894. rear, came dashing through the win- ;tiy river and all were safely landed Judge Harman Yerkes, of Doylestown, on the other side. Tne hard day’s who presided at the Hatboro inter-county meeting of the Historical Societies of fWh°rm Ww?°ne- CaroP fires blazed Bucks, Chester and Montgomery on ! through the surrounding forests, Tuesday, made the following excellent ,and in the open fields,lighting up the address upon taking the chair: ! 'I' an^eoon nearly ten thousand Ladies and Gentlemen .-—It was a happy her« ^ s°ld.lera laJ wrapped in slum- thought that suggested Hatboro as the place for the joint meeting of the Histori¬ hflnVn u snow-v bivouac upon the cal societies of the counties of Chester, banhs of the Schuylkill. 1 tionand intolerance arc-« .9 and Montgomery. About this young men, as unquestionably ... _ ,,t , of historical interest a series of case with the notorious Doan family., to is cluster which, here, more perhaps abandon the practices of peace and to than elsewhere, illustrate the evolution openly join the ranks of the Royalists. of the people of these counties out of the Thus religious feeling, as in all great maze of bitter, not to say bigoted, lellgi- upheavals, had much to do in shaping the1 ous and social differences which so course of events in this locality. L greatly multiplied the difficulties and But other influences were at work also. fmbarrassed the efforts of the friends of While the leading Friends counselled; American Independence in establishing peace and submission to wrongs rather free democratic government in this land., than open war from the pulpits along1 For the possession of the beautiful val¬ the Pennypack and the Neshaminy, Na¬ leys and fertile hills and plains enclosing thaniel Irwin and other bold spirits thun-1 them, from the time when Tammany dered forth resistance to tyranny. Mov- [ and his associate chiefs, in I681-8d, ing no and down, in and out, amongst all granted to Penn the lands along and be¬ these'discordant elements were the men tween the Neshaminy and Pennypack of prominence, wealth and power in the creeks, there appears to have been quiet community, greatest and most influen¬ but determined struggle ^tween the tial among whom was the able, etoquent various elements of earnest and rugged and persuasive Joseph Galloway, his final characters who first settled in the parts.„ false step supported by Jonathan Wal¬ Here at the confluence of the big ton and other more agressive spirits and “little” Neshaminy gathered a amongst the Loyalists. Galloway first \ sturdy Presbyterian band under the lead led in protests and counseled resistance, I of the learned and wise Tennant and the then, appalled at the consequences, to his I brave Beatty, while, to the north, as far high position, of possible failure, repudi- I as Bedminster and Tintcum, they found ating independence and deserting family aggressive support from the Scotch- and country, lost all. . Irlsh adherents of the same faith. What Who to-day can reckon the influence j ancestry has left a greaterimpress upon upon the final conduct of the people of B the history of our country than tnese . this neighborhood of Joseph Galloway i What institution of learning of such as he passed through here on his frequent ■ small pretentions has exerted an equal visit to the Fergusons over there at t influence with the Log College in devel¬ oping the highest civilzation and virtues Graeme Park ? On the other side, never wavering, and I °*Nowhered'ln Pennsylvania were the present at every public gathering, could M be seen the handsome and impressive I more'aggressivetheir Henry Wynkoop, counselling all to stand >> tenets and in occupying the soil than firmly by his friend Washington. Thenj ' along the belt of country upon which old there were the Rev. Nathaniel Irwin, | Horsham meeting house stands “h* ®x- John Fitch, the inventor of the steam¬ tending from West Chester to tkg Dela boat, the Beatty family. Colonel Joseph ware. It can confidently be asserted that Hart, Captains Andrew Long and Henry no influence was greater in uniting the Darrah and others of their followers who j families of the three counties in a coin made the townships of Warminster, W ar¬ wick and Warrington famous supporters mon brotherhood than the common meet¬ of the Revolution, while on this side of ing ground at Horsham, where all were wotit to gather in social and religious in- the line Dr. Edwards and Judge Sommers terCourse. But the Friends and Presby¬ contended with greater odds. terians were not the only ones to contend j Sectarian lines failed to hold all follow¬ for the possession of this rich heritage ers within them. From Hilltown Cap¬ along the Pennypack. Under the leadof tain Thomas led a company of Loyalists ■pnton and Watts, the Baptists early es¬ into Howe’s camp, at Philadelphia, while tablished themselves while their brethern Lacey, the Wrights town Quaker, xnarcln from Wales planted a colony above the ed his company to the storming of the Neshaminy at New Britain and Hilltown, Canada posts, afterwards to return and where through long years they have car¬ command in the action which occurred ried on a. tenacious though losing effort almost on this spot. 177R for possession with the home loving and On the morning of May 1, 1778, the conservative Mennonites. . most important outpost of the patriot 1 At the outbreak of the Revolutionary army at Valley Forge was stationed here, War all these forces were engaged in a at the Crooked Billet commanded by successful struggle for material advance-, General John Lacey, who, doubtless, was ment. Intermingling with each other . selected for this difficult command in the in the pursuit of their various enter-; hope that his Quaker affiliations might prises, of clearing the land, trading and have some'influence in suppressing dem-1 intartrading, little hud occurred to sharply define their differences of opinion i or to kindle the smouldering fares of an¬ communication of the mhabitants be tagonism and bitterness which their l strongly divergent sentiments inevitably developed in a time of Civil War. The and St his movements to General Friends, then in the first growth of their peculiar views upon the question of war, WNohsimTlar task was ever assigned a were not inclined to abandon their new commander under more difficult circurn teachings and to take up arms. y counselled peace and submission to the exactions of the pother Country. whetted 1 On the other band, the Presbyterians and Baptists, not entertaining any con dogged the footsteps of his co^and, as scientious scruples upon the subject o for safety it shifted its camp from place war were willing and even eager to ro office During the Winter twenty- ascribe to the peaceful counsels of the five^! his command were betrayed ffito Friends motives of cowardice and treach^ the hands of the enemy at bmithheld ery to their neighbors, and bypersecu and on the 6th of March his own men had local advancement, glory and happiness ? aggravated the situation by burning a Every index will point to that plain j number of barns and wheat stacks about but ?Pr??slVu building down the street .Byberry meeting house, while he had which holds the precious volumes of the caused the cattle of the farmers to be Union Library, founded in 1755, and driven to Doylestown so as to prevent where so many of us have found so much | them falling into the hands of the British. pleasure. As we glance over the names It is therefore not a matter of wonder j of the contributors and members, what a that, notwithstanding every precaution, galaxy of noble men and women is un¬ ithe British troops were piloted so as to folded and what an illustration of how all evade Lacey’s sentries. When we shall however differing, worship at the com¬ hear from General Davis of the cruelties mon shrine of learning and information. perpetrated upon that day we may more Uihere.are William Allen and Lawrence thoroughly understand the bitterness of (Growden, Chief and Associate Justice of feeling which then prevailed between Pennsylvania: Joseph Galloway, Dr Patriot and Loyalist in this community Thomas Graeme, Elizabeth Ferguson j and can realize its influence upon after P®“n thf Proprietor, Alexander i events in its development. Graydon, Dr. Oliver Hart, Daniel Clv- For long years whatever of public I mer, Robert Loller, Joseph Hart, Rev. moment was undertaken here was ag- Joshua Potts, Nathaniel Irwin, Gen. John [ gressively done and vigorously resisted. Davis, the Lukens, the Jarretts, the I he second Masonic lodge in Bucks coun¬ Redells, Lloyds, Spencers, McNairs, and ty, which was located at Beans’tavern, other families whose works have left a i over in Warminster, was fiercely assailed ! , *lng imPression upon the civilization during the antl-Masonie fever and com- of the century. To the strangers who 1 pelled to surrender its charter, while your: are here to-day, on behalf of my oid most prominent citizen, Dr. John H. i Ald 7ou. a hearty welcome to I Hill, was defeated for Congress through the feast, both of mind and body, which h the same feeling. This place was also on now awaits you. ■p» the line of the most aggressive and active . “ underground railroad,” where the anti- f slavery, society which was an early friend ,to Ike local library, found strong sup- j porters among the Friends. That there Fi'om, I ! was a strong antagonism was developed in 1823, when the kidnapping of a colored1 boy from his master, who had arrested him, resulted in a riot in Hatboro and led to the participants being taken before the! United States Court, in Philadelphia, where they found themselves much in Date the same plight that the Debsites of Chicago now are. Horsham meeting house and old Loller Academy have again and again resounded A to the eloquence of Lucretia Mott and Old “Harriton,” Charles C. Burleigh preaching universal freedom and Christ the Prince of Peace,!; and the walls of the academy have re¬ Near Bryn Mawr. echoed with sharp and exciting forensic contests, never to be forgotten bv those: who heard them, over the prominent WRITTEN BV S. GORDON SMYTH Of WEST questions of the times,between these able disputants and General John Davis UONSHOHOCKEN FOR THE PHILADEL¬ Josiah Randall, E. Morris Davis, Alfred Larle and numerous bright men whose PHIA PRESS. ambition, whetted by love of intellectual combat, attracted them as by common consent, to this centre of intellectual ac¬ 'On the northern edge of Bryn Mawr tivity and public political agitation. In no other locality in these counties, during * there stands a broad tract of fine timber, more than a century, could there be found a greater mental development and activ¬ many acres in extent. Throagh this growth ity than here. And now that the angel of peace seems from a point on the old Gulf road near to have spread her wings over the graves Taylor College a path leads diagonally of all the combatants and as their chil¬ dren vie with each other in singing their across to a road on the opposite side, praises; when the political and sectarian rancors of old have departed; when the which bears off in the direction of the shriek of the iron horse signalling the) dawn of progress, ease and security is highlands of the Schuylkill One day last heard in your midst, and other thoughts Autumn, having occasion to take a short suppress that old stern desire for conflict and discussion, let the local historian out in my journey to Conshohocken, I rode come upon the stage to commemorate the abilities, virtues and honesty of pur¬ f along this path and chanced upon a carious pose which distinguished the inhabitants burial-place in the very midst of the forest. * ofthe vicinity of the old town of Crooked Billet, and lest he should overlook it let It seemed very ancient, and so mysterious me now ask you one and all: What was the one great influence which, more than looking that I determined to linger loDg the preaching of dogmas and sectarian¬ ism, the enrollment of battalions and the •enough to make a brief examination. clash of arms or the eloquence of orators As I approached the enclosure I noticed and disputants, has contributed to your ——mHB a large date-stone built in the wall ; it bore the following inscription : Maryland, where his people had settl .two generations before, in what was then Calvert County. The elder Harrison was' On the reverse of the stone facing inside said to have been a friend of the great the enclosure another inscription conveyed Quaker George Fox. The son was of the same religious belief and strong in its con¬ information, to wit : victions. THIS STONE IS OPPOSITE THE DIVISION During Harrison’s stay in Pennsylvania BETWEEN TWO ROWS OF FAMILY GRAVIS i,he met and wooed Miss Mary Norris, WHEBEIN WERE INTERRED whose father, Isaac Norris, was one of

RICHARD HARRISON i Penn’s Councilors. She was^ a grand daughter of the Colonial Governor, Thoma (died march 2, 1747) ■ m ,i Lloyd This lady beiame R chard Harri AND A NUMBER OF HIS DESCENDANTS Ison’s■cnn’a aonnndsecond wife-wife. ItTt had been previouslDreviousli ALSO arranged that Mrs. Harrison was to go in CHARLES THOMSON, Maryland, where her husband—as a large SECRETARY OF CONTINENTAL CONGRESS, tobacco grower and slave holder—had an extensive plantation, and there reside for DIED AUG 16, 1824, year or two, and then, if she found it un¬ AND desirable, Harrison was to dispose ot his HANNAH THOMSON, |interestsinfarmfii theretlmro and move into Pennsylva¬Pennsvlva- . WIFE OF CHAS. THOMSON, DAUGHTER OF nia ; be that as it may, we find the fact1 i ' chronicled that he did return to his wife's!; RICHARD HARRISON, GRAND DAUGHTER OF native land, where he purchased a large ISAAC NORBIS AND GBEAT GRAND DAUGH¬ plantation of about 700 acres, mostly in| . TER OF woodland, from Rowland Ellis, who came GOVERNOR THOMAS LLOYD, to Americi about 1650 from Bryn Mawr in DIED SEPT. 6, 1807 Merionethshire, Wales, antedating Penn’s| This little cemetery secluded and remote arrival several years. though it is and immersed in the gloomy ATTACKED BY PIRATES. half-light of the forest has a tidy, well- This tract was located in Merioneth | kept appearance. Several moss grown township, not far from Philadelphia. Here! mounds are to be seen, but by reason ot Richard Harrison settled, but not before hel old established custom still prevalent had experienced the loss of his householdl among the Quakers in the earlier inter¬ goods-» that. » i 1had vl.__ been shipped1 Kttby vesselrrnanal frArvlfrom [ ments here common flat, unhewn stones -a/r_1_JMaryland. This ouanfevent happened"hartnpnpfl nnon thelt.Vlft had been used to mark the grayes. I saw voyage up the Delaware River, at somef nothing in either of the two rows described1 point a few miles below Philadelphia. Anl as family graves to indicate which one attack was made by pirates, who seized allj might contain the bones of Richard Harri¬ the furniture and valuables, but consider¬ ...I son or his distinguished . son in-law ately landed the slaves at some point on the , ■ Charles Thomson. river. RECENT GRAVES The>ome where Harrison took up his The graves of recent years, however, abode is still standing on the old farm. ItJ have marble head and foot pieces, more had been built by Ellis in 1704. It is said! modern in pattern. Two of them desig-f that all of the material used in its construc¬ nate the graves of Levi Morris and his! tion waa drawn to the site in the panniers wife, Naomi ; others mark where them ■Of ’pack-horses. Harrison finished the children lie. One other testifies to thej fclearing of his estate, to whieh he gave the ■ resting place of Charles McOlenachan (who) j name of “Harriton,” and began the culti was Charles Thomson’s heir) who, dyiDg irj vat.ion of tobacco. This b came his prioci 1811, left as his heiress a child then but pal pursuit until finally, by coDtinueu.-[ six weeks of age. This child became Mrs.. cropping, the soil became impoverisbe 11 Levi Morris, and it may be said of her| as to make tobacco planting an unprofitable | thit ahe had been the mistress of “H trriton’’ | business almost the whole of her natural life of j It was not long after the family had got tea comfortably settled in their new home!" nearly 82 years. Some time in the year 1717 Richird! 'hetore a new experience presented itself Harrison, Jr., came into the Province of! The negro slaves that had been brought Pennsylvania from the western shore off vfrom Maryland had shown signs of discon-l tent and wanted to return to theSouth. ' “ground shall forever hereafter be exempt¬ The family traditions siy that the scheme f. ed and reserved out of my said tract of was to destroy their master and mistress by J ! “land in Merion aforesaid, and shall re yoison, and only the timely discoyery oj “main and continue to be for use and ser¬ the design, by what might be turned a mi-fe vice of a meetinghouse and place of in raculous interposition of Providence, was 11 “terment.” jthe means of saying the family. By the death of Mrs. Harrison—the killed the cat. j widow and partition proceedings among | The circumstances were about as follows: the then liying heirs, the title to the plan¬

•(was no response, and the knocking contin j and was but ten years of age when his j -ued. Mr. Harrison then rose hastily from brothers and he landed at New Castle, the table, and in so doing precipitated its J Del. He found friends at once among the contents upon the floor. j people there. Quick to recognize the lad’s ;-' No one was found at the door, but in native qualities, a chance was procured for V the meantime the family cat had been re- ! him of entering Dr. Allison’s Seminary, at , gating itself with the spilled chocolate New London, Pa. Here his abilities * were when it was suddenly seized with convul’ rapidly developed; becoming particularly sions and died in a short time. These in¬ ! proficient as a classical scholar, and after- icidents seemed to have a mysterious effect ! ward returning to New Castle to become a upon the negroes. Their-— superstitious na"liH teacher in the Friends’ School there. lures foresaw in these strange happenings COMING TO PHILADELPHIA, some awful retribution, and they presently — [ It was while thus employed that he confessed to their master how they planned came under the notice of leading men, not to murder and plunder the family and then flee back to Marylan i. the least of whom was Dr. Franklin, whe eventually sought Thomson’s services as an Richard Harrison was noted for his re¬ assistant in the first academy established ligious devotion, and in 1730 he caused to in Philadelphia. be erected on his property adjoining the Taking an early interest in the public little cemetery, a small meeting house, affairs of his day, Thomson also became which was of stone, one-story high and : earnestly interested in the welfare of the about 15 by 30 feet.- Here the family, Indians. His influence among them vvas with friends and neighbors worshipped for extensive, and they recognized in him a many years. The meeting -honse was de faithful zealous friend, whose word they Cr? ‘"1819- Harrison died in implicitly trusted- In view of these facts, one is not surprised to find it recorded that in the year 1756, he was adopted into the HARRISON’S WILL. Delaware Tribe at Easton. They gave him the name “Wegh-wa-law mo-end”—signi- J”, hiS w;u the following Clause was pound regarding the meeting-house and jfying “a man of truth.” Frequently, cemetery : I Thomson referred to this circumstance, and !, ‘‘A.Dd’ ^hereas- I have erected a certain his general connection with them by saying meetinghouse or place of worship on part i that he was half Indian himself. of my sa,d tract of land in Merion town This intercourse with the Indians, his familiarity with their mode of life, afforded tel? afTaid‘ N°W’ therefore, it is my j iim an opportunity of study, which re- “sTid m t t h6r0by dtClare> thai the ( said meetinghouse together with a square j suited in the publication in London, in piece of ground contaioing, by estimation, 11759, of “Au Inquiry into the Causes of the iu s? estimation. «acres at, . Uo acres at least, adjoining to the said Alieniation of the Delaware and Shawnese ( house where several of my children lie lludians, with Notes on Indian Customs, by * jthe editor.” “ n r ' n¥\n0t be so^ by my said trustees, but that the same hoU8e and MADE COLONIAL SECRETARY. ^_ The disturbance throughout the Colonies Tously desirous they must be to proceed to ) tegarding British perseoations, the enforce¬ msiness, and how deeply the public mind ment of obnoxious laws, and in other ways appears to be impressed with the necessity goading the people, produoed the incident of doing it speedily, I cannot find myself at of the closing of the port of Boston by the liberty to delay my journey. I shall there¬ English King During the subsequent agita¬ fore be in readiness to se. out the day after tion which followed, Thomson must have to-morrow anl shall be happy in the pleas taken a conspicuous part, for he became the ure of your company, for yon will permit secretary of a gathering of Colonial dele¬ me to say that it is a peculiar gratificition gate whose deliberations, ultimately re to have received this communication from suited in the combination of the deleg tes you. into a genera) congress which passed into history as the First Continental Congress THE JOURNEY TO NEW YORK. They met in Carpenters’ Hall, Philadel¬ Washington begin on April 16, 1789, phia, September, 1774 Peyton Randolph that memorable inaugural journey, in the was chosen president, and Charles Thom company of Charles Thomson and Colonel sin, secretary. Although unaware at th Humphries, arriving in New York on April; ' time of the honor bestowed npoo him h 23, amid a din of rejoicing, which had con¬ Igjsubsequently met the messenger, while] tinued with unabated enthusiasm from ^driving into the town from “rlarritou,” Mount Vernon to Federal Hall, where bet with his wife, Hannah H rrison, whom he took the oath of office as the first President j had lately married. of these United SUtes of America. Mr. Thomson took the office conferred After these excitements Charles Thom upon him, temporarily for a year. At the son retired to the privacy of “Harriton,” end of that time, he decli ted the salary giving himself up to those literary pur due for his services, so Congress th reupon suits of which he was so fond. Being] voted to Mrs. Thomson a handsome silyti eminently fitted for the task, and because, I urn in recompense, they said, of having de- also, of the peculiar advantages which his prived her of her husband’s society. former position had given him, he prepared Thomson was persuaded to continue in a history of the Revolution, but fearing, the office to which he had been appoin'.e howeyer, that the publication of this work, I for fit'teen years, s rving continuously, un might give pain to the descendants of sornel ,il the first meeting of Congress under the of the principal characters therein described*> new or present Constitution. In hio offi he destroyed the manuscript, and thus j cial capacity, as secretary, it became hisl posterity has probably lost something that i dcrty in 1776, to read the Declaration of In would have been useful and authentic. dependence to the assembled Congress, af¬ About 1798, Charles Thomson and bis • ter the instrument had been draf.ed by wife, having no children, joined in a deed, Jefferson and had been approved by the conyeying the plantation of “Harriton committee. unto Charles McClenachan, a nephew off Thomson’s, reserving unto themselves | ENVOY TO WASHINGTON. simply a life interest in the edate, and still I When at last the new Constitution had continuing to reside thereon. Mrs. Thom* been ratified by the majority of States son died in 1807 and was buried in the f and the House of Representatives had family cemetery. convened at New York for the purpose of vtpstFIRST AMERICAN*\nti TRANSLATION. count ng the electoral vote in accordance In the following year Thomson brought with its provisions, it was found that out a translation of the Soriptures, a work George Washington had been unanimously upon which he had been engaged for elected President of the United States. several years. The Old Testament he Charles Thomson was delegated by Con¬ translated from the Septuagint, the pro¬ gress to carry the notice of election to Gen¬ duction being the first English translation eral Washington, then at Mount Vernon. of the Holy Bible accomplished in this Leaving New York, April 7, 1789, Thom¬ country. son reached Mcunt Vernon a week later, Between the years of 1705 and 1810, the joarney now of but a few hours. Present little cemetery in the woods began to cause ing the certificate to the President elect, contentions. Outsiders wanted to bury Washington replied in part as follows : their dead^there, which was finally per¬ “Upon considering how long time some mitted; hence, one may sea over on the of the gentlemen of both houses of Con¬ left of the lot a aeries of strangers’ graves, gress have been at New York, how anx- bearing the names of Cochrane, ElliJt, ■_ ,. * ' • Roberts and others, ha vine: no family con¬ Again, in 1333, another attempt was| nections with the Harrisons. On the right made by interested parties to wrtst po, hand side of the grounds, as the old house¬ session of the cemetery from the owners, . hold domestics dropped off, there they and the crises was reached wneu some were laid away, until in time, two well persons notified the owners that they would filled rows of graves, each with its rough present themselves at the cemetery at a headstone, took up one end of the cemetery. state! time to take possession of the burial ; The center of the ground was reserved for place. This produced a notice from the the family burials. owners that anyone found trespassing on At the beginning of the present the “Harriton” estate would ba summarily century, the Baptists haying come into the delt wiih, and so ended that scheme; but it neighborhood, Charles McClenachan gave was reserved for the yeir 183S to witness, to them a plot of ground at the corner of he consumnation of a bold and outrageous the Gulf and Roberts Roads for church and plan. The promoters of the L .urel Hill burial purposes. In the churoh which was Cemetery, wishing to have the benefit to subsequently built there Thomson wor¬ be derived from the posses non of a few shipped in the latter years of his life; and distinguished bodies buried within their the first pastor of it was Rev. Horatio Gates grounds, made oy mures to the “Harriton” Jones, famous in his day. This church heirs for permission to move ihe bodies of now, by the way, has been reft of its prim Charles Thomson and his wile to their itive style of simplicity, and the visitor beau lful necropolis on the banks of the sees in its stead a battlement nondescript, Schuylkill. After considerable corres¬ Mr. George W. Childs contributed to this pondence between the parties concerned church a handsoms memorial window, the application was refused. dedicated to Charles Thomson.

OTHER WHITINGS. From,.

had been part of the tract of Daws, acquired in 1726. This is now di- From vided into many portions. For it Hall¬ owed paid $300. It extended along the Plymouth road one mile, and down the Skippack road nearly one third of a mile. , C^C. -Y In former times there was a log house on ; the southwest end, near the present Shep¬ herd farm house. According to the rec¬ ords of Gwynedd Friends’ Meeting, Jos¬ eph Hallowed married Sarah, daughter of Rees Nanna, in 1742. The Oddest House.-—Perhaps tl ^oldest house id MontKpmery county is The death of Joseph Hallowed took at Wynnewood, in Lower Merion town- place in 1759, then theownerof 194acres. jship. It is the Owen Jones house, built He left a widow, Sarah, who afterwards ;in 1694—just two hundred years ago. In married Thomas White. The latter was this country home, in Colonial days, re¬ also deceased before 1773, when the sided the forefathers of the Cadwalia- estate was settled. The sons were Jos¬ ders, Wisters, Biddles, Dickinsons, j eph, John, William, Thomas and Samuel. Whartons and Lewi9 families. The old) According to the provisions of the will I jsrone mansion was built by Robert some 41 acres were sold to pay debts. | Owen, an emigrant from Wales, who! ! Joseph, the oldest son, bought the r was afterwards a member of Assembly. mainder in 1773 and immediately con-j veyed it to his brother Thomas. It was i John, Jr., who remained on the home¬ From, stead, which he bought of his brother in 1775, comprising 132 acres. The portion along the Plymouth road towards Broad Axe was sold off at various times in lots. In the tax list of 1776 John Hallowed was assessed for 120 acres, three horses and four cows. The deeds to the other parties after Joseph Hallowed’s death were: 1760, to James White, 20 acres; HISTORY OF NEAR-BY PROPERTIES. 1770, to James White, 16 acres ; 1765, to John Wilson, 16 acres ; 1773, to Thomas * The Schlater farm is situated a mile southwest of the Broad Axe, and fronts Cox, 11 acres; 1782, to Henry. Scheetz, upon the Plymouth road. rl’h£-dwelling 2 acres. The lot sold to Wilson was the is connected with the turnp'Hfejby a lane south corner at the Broad Axe cross of some length. Heie is a stone farm roads, whilst Cox got the next lot below. house, built in two portions. The oldest,, Finally, in 1786, John Hallowed sold or eastern eud, was erected by John Hall¬ the remaining plantation of 126 acres to owed in 1785. The western, or newer end, Acquilla Tool, for £875. The Hallow¬ was built by John Schlater. The barn wasj ed’s had owned it for 45 years. In 1794 also built by him, or raised higher, suc¬ Tool conveyed to Jouathan Thomas, and ceeding- the original and much smaller in 1796 it came into possession of the building. The s'xty acres of surround¬ Schlater family, where it has remained ing farm land are either level or gently for nearly a century. John Schlater, sloping, a tract of excellent land and in a coming from Spring-field, was the pur¬ high state of cultivation, as is the case chaser, paying £1,350. The farm was with most Whitemarsh farms. then largely woodland. According to Concerning the very earliest history of 1 records in possession of his grandson, he th;s farm we have scanty information. was born April 22(1, 1764, and his wife, It appears to have been within one of Catharine, on the 18th of December, 1770. Edward Farmar’s grants. By the date She was the sister of General Henry of 1720, John Hank, a member of Gwyn- I Scheetz, of Whitemarsh. Their child¬ edd Friends Meeting, held this property, ren and their births were : EWzabetb, and also the Hamer place. In 1741 Tho¬ Jure 15th, 1791 ; Isaac, March 23rd, 1793 mas Potts sold 100 acres to Joseph Hall¬ Sarah, April 1st, 1795 ; Samuel, Febru owed. of Abington, having the following ary ISth, 1797 ; Daniel, February 18th, boundaries : “Beginnino- on a line divkl-; 1799 ; John, May 12th, 1801 ; Ann, No¬ ing Whitemarsh from I hitpain ; thence! vember 18th, 1003 ; Jesce, October 18th, by same northeast 148 perches; then . 1807 ; Henry, October 10th, 1809 ; Mary,. southeast by marked trees 108 perches; May 22d, 1812. Of these daughters, Anna then soutln, estby Joseph Williams PI ) married Samuel Harner, and Sarah w?sj perches; then northwest by William the wife of Frederick Nuss. Trotter 108 perches to beginning.” Iti One of these sons, Jonu Schlater, Jr.,1 will be seen that Joseph I. illiams then married Hannah, daughter of Christian Loeser, and bought lus father’s home¬ held the lai,e Harner farm, and Thomas! stead in 1850, and which was acquired by1 Trotter held the lands on the southwest the present ov ler, Frank Schlater, in side. On the northeast all was woodland. 1874. In his possession's a deed which is; Joseph Hallowed later acquired 94 quite a curiosity to many, being the! acres, extending along the Plymouth original conveyance made to Thomas uj road to the Broad Axe in 1757. He Asheton, in 1607 by Edward Shippen, I bought this from Nathaniel Davis. It ''Thomas Stongnga and James Logan, of lands

. from the Broad Axe coiner along both! some snow. There was a heavy frost on the Plymouth and Skippack roads, part, the 30th. In the summer a certain kind of which were afterward acquired by the of worm cut off almost all the leaves of Hallowells. the trees in Pennsylvania, avoiding only The ancestor of this Schlater family the laurel bush, the leaves of which are I was a German immigrant, John Caspar poisonous to some animals. Prof. Kahn, I Schlater, who came to America in 1.51 the Swede traveler, mentions the exces¬ land settled in Upper Dublin, near Fort sive annoyance of wood lice, everywhere I Washington. He had four sons, Caspar iabounding in the woods. Caterpillars, I John, Lirich and Jacob.—“A. M.," in1 !too, came in such numbers as to destroy B Ambler Gazei'e._ . — entire forests. 1751. The winter only of moderate severity. Iii October of that year the streets of Philadelphia first began to be illuminated by lamps. There was nothing remarkable about the weather during 1752, 1753 and 1754, except a violent hailstorm on June 6th of the latter year accompanied by a water spout in the Delaware opposite Kensing¬ ton. In 1756 the first mention of snow was not till the 18th of March, when a vio¬ lent storm from the northeast did much damage. , The weather of 1757 and 1758 present¬ Some Remarkable Weather of the' Vast, ed no unusual phenomenon. A small i We continue the extracts from the shock of earthquake was felt on March manuscript of Jones Detwiler. 18th of the latter year. I 1741* Jan. 8—Watson says *‘0ur river 1759. No rain fell during the month has been fast for some time and we of May. Old English annals mention the heard from Lewes, Delaware, that ’tis same lack in the years 1359, 1459, 1559, 1 all ice towards the sea. and 1659. On December 26th there was March 5—The severity ot the winter a remarkably low tide in the Delaware, i complained of throughout the country, owing to a hard gale of wind. cattle dying for want of fodder, many 1760. March 17—A very deep snow deer found dead in the woods, and same fell, which shut up the roads. The I came tamely to the plantations and fed Speaker,, of Assembly and the majority with other creatures. of the members were unable to get to March 13—River navigatable. Winter town. The snow was in some places . Jong and extremely severe. seven feet deep. Franklin's Gazette April iq—We hear from Lancaster says: “The greatest fall of snow ever jcounty that during the great snow,which known in Philadelphia sinceitssettlement. in general was more than three feet in The wind was from the northeast and idepth, the back inhabitants suffered snow fell incessantly for eighteen hours.” much for want of bread: that many fam¬ During the previous winter the streets ilies of new settlers had but little to sub¬ were muddy one evening, but before sist upon but the carcases of deer they morning the Delaware was frozen so that fond dead or dying in the swamps or people crossed it to Jersey opppsite the runs near their houses. The Indians city. There had previously been no ice feared a scarcity of deer and turkeys. ion the river. On June 20 was recorded The winters of 1742, 1743 and 1744 la remarkably murky day. were quite mild and there is no mention i 1761. Nothing remarkable. jof ice in the Delaware except once. 1762. On January 14 a violent north¬ On November 1st, 1745, the weather east storm occasioned higher tides than ' was remarkably cold for so early in the j known for years before. During the i season. The Delaware was frozen over at summer there was the severest drought Burlington and many boys were skating ever known in America. No rain from on the Schuylkill. There was no remark the 1st of May till September. able weatherduring I746and 1747.In 1748 I There was nothing remarkable in 1763, [ the river was closed for a month pre¬ ' but in 1764 the Delaware was Irozen in vious to March 9th. On May 4th it ap¬ I one night, and passable on the morning peared 10 rain brimstone, which was ' following the last day ot December. A I found to be floss from the Jersey pines, ; heavy snow followed and it remained j 1749- The principal events this, y^af closed till the 14th of February 1765. In were the great quantitlesPof seventeen the 21st of July, 1764, a great firy meteor [year locusts about the ist of June and was seen in the evening, about fifty de¬ The severe draught in New England, grees above the horizon. It was of big- I whose people sent to old England for 1 ger apparent diameter than the sun. It [hay. On the 17th cf December there exploded in sight of the city, with a was an extraordinary appearance of the noise like the springing of a mine, with aurora borealis which moved from the thousands of streaks of fire diverging. northeast to northwest and back again. 1765. The winter was very severe. I7SO. The month of Mav was the An ox was roasted on the Delaware in coldest ever known,.severe frosts and February, which being a novelty, drew great crowd of people. On March 28,1 next morning a nor a great snow storm prevailed falling to came, falling two the depth of 2j feet. A great number of all the fruit that year, trees were destroyed; some torn up by cold commenced early in ] the roots, others broken off, and the leaves had hardly fallen roads so bad that traveling was stopped. trees and many of the trees At Ft. Pitt,the Allegheny and Mononga- were putting forth a new grc hela were passable on the ice for six 1780. This was the coldest weeks. since 1740. The severe cold laste 1766. The winter quite severe, and the middle of November, 1779, Delaware frequently closed. middle of February. During that long 1767. A great thaw on January 8th, period there was not enough warmth in broke up the Schuylkill ferry, carrying the sun’s rays to melt the snow on the off boats and houses. The temperature ground, nor in the least to effect the ice' was 22 below zero on the 2d of Tanuary that bound the creeks and rivers. One and 20 below on New Years’day^ snow followed another till the ground 1768. March 24—A violent snow wss so covered that it was difficult to go stom, and on June 11 frost plentiful. from place to place, and the ice upon 1769. The Delaware navigable all the rivers was used by man and animals1 winter. On March 16th, the tide so low, 1 in place of roads. The cold winds were the ferry boats could not cross the I so piercing that wild turkeys were found Schylkill, for the Delaware tide was frozen to death in the forests and domes-, 2i feet lower than ordinary low tide. tic fowls fell frozen from their roosts. September 7, a great flood from a north¬ The deer and buffalo found shelter from 1 east rain storm, many trees were broken the blasts around the cabins of the set-' off. tiers, and all kinds of animals perished' 1770. River closed for six weeks, in the forests for want of food, which! or till the 16th. In September was a was buried beneath the snow. The great gale, and on the 1st of October a fierce wolf and panther, which usually! snow storm prevailed. This was earlier skulk about the boundaries of the set-! than was remembered by the oldest in¬ tlements only by night, now came .near habitants. It was the day of the general in broad daylight in search of the bones j election. and offalls thrown from the cabins. No 1772. Delaware closed till February rain fell, and the prisoners were! t 20, from 26th of previous December. compelled to obtain water for drinkingi The cold of January was excessive, but and cooking by melting ice and snow.Bj by February 20, the temperature rose to The Northern and Western rivers were 65 degrees. Six inches of snow fell on tightly bound by ice, and even as far' 2d of April. south as Nashville the Cumberland wasfe-S 1773. On May 5—Snow fell several frozen for the safe passage of emigrant inches deep. This was succeeded by trains. The Delaware at Philadelphia!*'1 the greatest crops of wheat that had had ice three feet in thicknessaud Chese-'i been known for thirty years. peake Bay and Long Island Sound were 1774. The Delaware closed for over frozen over. During the month of Janu- J a month, or till after the middle of Feb¬ ary the temperature never rose to the j ruary. On the 3d and 4th of may there freezing point. The Delaware did not 1 v/as heavy and deep snow breaking down become navigable till the 4th of March, trees. Snow fell deeply on Christmas having been closed for three months.! j week of the following December. Public roads were opened across it in J 1775. Was a snowy winter. During various places to the Jersey shore. Thei--.| the summer the mercury fell 20 degrees depth of the frost in the ground was four j in one and a half horns. On September or five feet. Many plants were destroy- 3d, was the highest tide ever known. 3yg| ed, and multitudes of squirrels and part¬ 1776. A deep snow fell on the 19th of ridges perished. On the 19th of May December, stopping the navigation of great darkness prevailed candles becom¬ the Delaware. ing necessary. Birds became silent and 1777. Winter began on the 14th of fowls retired to roost. November. On the 27th of that month The Summer of 1780 was uniformly there appeared a great and surprising warm, the mercury standing at from 80! Nothern light—as red as blood. The to 93 for many weeks, and at 95 on the!. Delaware was closed on the last twelve 15th of August. It was also dry. Corn! days of the year. In August it was suffered, and there was little or no sec4j very hot, there being 14 days in success, ond crop of hay. This year plaster of sion when the thermometer was above Paris was first used in grass. 1781. This winter was remarkablyi1* 88 degrees. 1778. In January the weather was mild, so that the earth was scarcely fro¬ zen half an inch in depth, nor the small¬ very cold, and the American troops est ponds covered with ice strong enough were suffering at Valley Forge. Cider to bear a dog. On January 23 a violent was very scarce in Philadelphia. snow storm and gale tore up trees and 1779. Remarkably mild winter. In unroofed houses. February leaves of willow, blossoms of 1782. Thermometer down to four be¬ peach, and flowers of dandelion werej low zero. Delaware closed for two seen. On March 22 all the orchards weeks ending February loth. The fol¬ were in blossom and the meadows as lowing summer was one of the greatest green as in the month of June. The; droughts. No rain fell for two months. No second crop of hay. Corn failed in Washington and his heroic men, as any mar¬ many places, and the fodder cut for cat¬ tial achievement since the baptism of the na¬ tion in the blood of the Revolution. tle. Newly planted trees died. Cattle It has been truthfully said, and by no less were driven many miles to water. The a one than Lossing, whom, from his position I earth became so inflammable in many as one of the leading American historians, places as to burn about a foot below the declared, “ that if there is a spot on the face surface. Crabs which never forsake salt of our broad land, whereon patriotism should water, were caught above Philadelphia, delight to pile its highest and most venerated monument, it should be in the bosom of that sixty miles above their usual habital. little venerated vale on the banks of the i Springs of water and large creeks were Schuylkill.” dried up m many parts of the State, Mr. Smyth gave an outline of what has j Kocks appeared in the Schuylkill, never been done in the direction of securing the jobserved before. On one was cut the land for the Park, adding an account of the ' r 1 ^j°1 - ^le atmosphere during part work of the Centennial and Memorial Asso¬ ,ot the day was filled with thin mist. The ciation at Washington’s Headquarters. This |season was sickly in the country dis¬ was followed by a brief sketch of the events tricts. Great flocks of wild pigeons were and movements leading up to the occupation |so numerous as to obscure the sun. of Valley Forge by Washington. He also de¬ t . i7^3- Very hot summer—the hottest scribed the memorial stone at Gnlf Mills erect¬ since 1769. This was locust year. ed by the Society of the Sons of the Revolu¬ tion to commemorate the temporary encamp¬ ment of Washington’s army at that place; also the route taken in the movement to Val¬ ley Forge December 19, 1777, and con- 1 tinned : i Here we find, near each other, two comfort¬ able and substantial stone dwellings, now oc¬ cupied respectively by Mrs. Mary Jones and Richard Peterson. Mrs. Jones’house was the domioile of Gen. j Date, Knox, while that of Mr. Peterson was the headquarters of the Marquis de Lafayette. A covered bridge spans Valley Creek, at the entrance to the narrow ravine, through which ; the creek pursues its course toward the Forge, IVAILEY FORGE CAMP-GROUND. thence to the river. Our road leads down the I defile, and along the margin of the stream, while the dark wooded hills rising high above, The Location Which Is to Become with their wild scenery, made the surround- | ings very picturesque, and it seemed to me, a State Park. jto rival even the wild beauty of the Wissa- hickon. Presently we reach a spot on the road, where the creek’s bank becomes a | Paper Bead by S. Gordon Smyth at j little wider, - nd learn from a signboard the Hatboro Historical Reunion on fixed to a tree nearby that here was I July 17th—Sketch of the Measures located the original forge. It was built in 1757, but was destroyed by the British Taken to Acquire the Band—The | early in 1777. It was rebuilt in 1793, hut Occupation by Washington and His J eventually disappeared, through the damming up of the creek, whose backwater rose above , Army. its site, and made further occupation useless. The iron used there was carted all the way The State of Pennsylvania has within her ..;from Warwick furnace, on the south branch j borders the localities of two great events, rep- I of French creek. | resenting two phases of |:ar. One, the con- An old woodland appears to have led from | diet of battles, where a house was divided 1 this point, toward the summit of the ridge, to the vicinity of the entrenchments. On the j against itself; and the other, the camp of re- j road side, farther on, one may see Holstein’s jpose dnring the darkest period that any spring, one of the many sources of pure water- nation has ever experienced, each one in itself supply to the soldiery. On either side hills wielding a mighty influence in one and the grow wilder; and rising higher, reminds us other of the two most devastating wars that very much of the Hudson highlands in min¬ ever stained the face of the earth. Adams iature ; of “Storm King” and “Dunder- - connty may, indeed, proudly possess one of berg;” but these local eminences are termed Mount Joy and Mount Misery, through some the most renowned fields of action known to connection with the legendry of the camp. modern warfare, but Montgomery connty Emerging from this pretty vale into the open j claims the distinction of having within her and more level country, the road skirts the I limits a spot fully as famous—because, to edge of the millpond, and in a moment or I quote the words of our eminent journalists, two we enter the village itself by the side of j “ Gettysburg was only fought to maintain what some idle factories. The village seemed a I the sufferings of Valley Forge made possible.” scattered and lifeless one ; the few industrial establishments there have ceased long ago to Gettysburg, though it may be the greatest stimulate the inhabitants, and appear as if by : battlefield of recent times, stands not alone common consent to have fallen into common the one and only altar of the land whereon decay with rows of ruinous tenements beside sacrifice was made to Liberty and Valor and | them. Riding a few rods down the quiet, 'Victory, but "Valley Forge, too, likewise con¬ though principal street, which also leads to secrated—has been exalted, ennobled and en¬ and from the station we at last drew rein shrined within the hearts of the American before the old headquarters of the immor¬ people: as much entitled to the glorious trib¬ tal Washington and receive a cordial welcome ute of Fame, in the precious memories of from Ellis Hampton, the general custodian of this historic property. At this point Mr. Smyth gives a description of the Headquarters and the Revolutionary relics displayed, which are familiar to many of our readers. He concludes as follows : Having brought our visit to a close, we mount our horses and, taking the old Gulf road, which divides the camp grounds, we leave the headquarters and ascend Carter’s hill—as Mt. Joy is commonly called—to seek for the fast disappearing remains of the earth¬ works, whose long, irregular lines extend en¬ tirely around the southerly and eastern slopes near the summit, and command the approach to the hills from those directions. The summit Landmarks of North Wales. of Mount Joy has an altitude of 426 feet abcve The oldest house in North Wills I sea level, and probably about 300 feet above (within the borough limits) is that oil the creek in the valley below. From its heights a magnificent view of the surround¬ Mrs. Lavina Kenderdine, at the corner off ing country is obtained, in which figure prom¬ Main and School streets. It was built of I inently the towns of Phcenixville and Norris¬ brick by Anthony Barnhart, about 1837, [ town and the lowlands between them. in which year he purchased the property, j, Bushes and briars and small cedars abound comprising twenty acres, of Dr. Amos* onThe hilltop, but the redoubts and entrench¬ Griffith. This lot has been a detached l ments are still visible, and may be found ' without difficulty. Here, it was said, the piece of property since 1762, when it was| ground was strewn with dying soldiers, who, j bought by Joseph Lukens. Before the) when dead, were hastily , - erred where they i brick house was built there was a long,? lay ; yet, over all these neglected acres, only j low log house of one and a half stories, a mound or two may be found that marks a ; once the home of Griffith Owen, a famous! heroes grave. A short way down the hillside, clock maker. The tenant house ofl toward the Port Kennedy road, Fort Hunting¬ frame, now unoccupied, on Main street, [ don can be found, in a clump of trees ; its lines and breastworks are in good form and owned by Mrs. Kenderdine, was first! well preserved, barring only the oaks and built for a carpenter shop in 1842 by, other trees that have overgrown it ; and then, Barnet Beaver, brother of Frederick | further on toward the river, in the woods where ; Beaver, and stood at his farm gateway. the huts had been built, the pitted surface It has been twice moved and then trans- S speaks plainly of their location ; these, then, formed into a dwelling. The walls of IE with the two forts along Washington Lane, and the other place I have mentioned, are Gold’s tavern and of Judge Hambur-1 about what is left of that famous encampment ger’s house are much older than the! for human eyes to see. Kenderdine house, but these houses havel Again crossing the Stephens farm, and been very much altered and remodelled, f reaching the old Port road, we pause for a so as not to be really the original dwell- while and lingeringly look back upon a spot, well worthy of all the work that has been done toward establishing it, as one of the most famed in our glorious country. The quaint old house, nestling below us, and the American standard floating aloft, seemed to bring the past back again as real as though it were but yesterday that these hills echoed the reveille of the camp, or the soil covered the emaciated form of some patriot who had been honorably mustered out by the Great Captain. To-day, the State nobly honors Valley Date, Forge, and all its precious memories, by add¬ ing the hills, the forests and the farms, over which trod a body of martyrs and where many An Old landmark. a famished veteran turned out upon his last The residence of Edwin M. Doi^dsen, parade, that his country might he left a grand legacy for the oppressed of every land, and on the road leading from Montgomery- that these beautiful hills and the valley might ville to Doylestown, just beyond the| be a monument and an object of love toevery county line, is one of the old landmarks. T»atrintjf». that cuioVS tn-H.'l V the bless¬ i of that neighborhood, and with a history . ings for whioh they fonght, and bled and almost as interesting as the times in died—those immortal heroes of Valley which it was built—or the old portion ol Forge. the dwelling. Its erection took place ( “ On Fame’s eternal camping ground Their silent tents are spread, |sometime before 1760, by the great-; And glory guards with solemn round grandfather of Mr. Donaldson, and it [ The bivouac of the dead.” has been in the family ever since. TheB ceilings are unplastered, and the primi-H tive joists are hewn almost as smooth as though they had been planed. An inter¬ esting collection of ancient relics adorns < the walls—portraits and paintings of the family that are greatly valued for the' history that surrounds them. A century club from the Islands of the Feejee, of iron-like hardness, stands in a corner oft ' the parlor, and was no doubt regarded as quite ornamental by the savages whose ownership it once was—judging from the ^carvings upon it. Mr. Donaldson’s home! (Binder, and mother of W. J. Bindet and His a model abode of culture-and refine-' Mrs. J. H. Binder, Was born in the old Hinent. Few farmers take more pride in honBe. She used to relate that one day, ■ keeping their homes so than he, and in about eighty years ago, her parents went H this commendable trait he is shared by (visiting and that evening a terrible storm ■ his wife and daughters. raged there and carried the honse roof away; but owing to the roar of the storm she and the other children did not know the roof was gone until they went to bed and saw the Bky above them. Mr. and Mrs. Steltz, while returning about mid¬ » night, saw a house roof lying along the road, (now Charlotte street) bat had no id thought that it came from their own honse until they reached home.

i OLD FARM BOOSE BURNED, From,

No Plug Near and the firemen did Not Go Into Service, Date, . Tiie Building was a Time-Honored Struc¬ ture on Hanover Avonue, Owned by Mrs. Patrick Welsh—Probable The De Haven Family; Work ol an Incendiary.

Between 1.30 and 2 o’clock on Sunday A SHORT SKETCH OF ONE OF UPPER (morning, flames were seen issuing from the MERIONS FIRST FAMILIES. old farm honse owned by Mrs. Patrick Welsh, on Hanover avenue, near the north Jacob De Haven, of Revolution¬ borough lice, and soon the fire was master of the sitnation and destroyed the entire ary fame, a wealthy Frenchman of structure. The building wits constructed noble birth and ancestry, immigrated of logs and weather-boarded, a primitive with his three brothers—Samuel, dwelling, erected, probably, in colonial times, or soon after the revolutionary war. Edward and Peter—in the ante-Revo- '■It belonged in the past, to some of the lutionary times. He came from the (early settlers of this vicinity—at different i periods, to Jacob Steltz, Joseph Missimer, border of France—the border prov¬ | William L. Sands and M. Burr Casselberry inces between France and Germany— —the last named owner sold it to the Pottstown Land and Improvement Com- between 1750 and ’60. The De jpano, with the farm of about 84 acres; Haven family were wealthy from the later it was the property of Jacob Baver and of Patrick Welsh. For two weeks start in this country being possess-d the house was vacant, Levi Bickel and of immense wealth for those days- (family having moved out in Jnlv. The Pottstown fire department turned The De Havens (in French) made- out, with its usual promptness, but could , their money in vine culture (v.nt- do nothing, as the nearest fire ping was on yards) in France and brought it to Charlotte street, a distance off and the hose would have to be run over a deep ravine. America. The firemen were compelled, therefore, to The De Haven’s settled with the abandon the effort to extinguish the flames. Swedish settlement,near “Swedeland” The Ere broke ont in the second story, at the Gulf, in Upper Merion Town¬ and was undoubtedly the work of an in¬ cendiary. The loss is probably $700 to ship, Montgomery County, Pennsyl¬ $1000. It is said that there is an insur¬ vania, where they located on a grant ance of $500 on the building. The Potts¬ town Mutual Fire Insurance Co. had a of land purchased of Penn—k..own as !$400 policy upcn it, which was canceled in one of the “Penn Grants’’—a strip 7I (1891. to 8 miles in length extended from Nearly one hundred years ago this ven¬ erable d welling and the farm (since cat np Roxborough to the gulf. The land into building lots,) was owned by Jacob was held in entail by the eldest bteltz. On the 5th of August, (jnst 92 years before the date of the fire,) his brother, Jacob, for the others, who daughter Mary, afterwards Mrs. John used its products later during the Revolution to supply the Continental lone time owned all RebelTJitTaT^iel army while in this section of the Gulf, but was cheated out of much of! c untry. his lands. He once lived at the The De Haven’s donated the lard Trap. to the old Swedes Church at Swede- John, eldest son of Jonathan, was land” upon which it was built, for born at the Gulf, in Upper Merion, which the descendants for all time to Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. come were given a family birth right He received land there from his to lots in the burying grounds. Alii grandfather, the “old De Haven the early De Haven’s were interre d I homestead,” where he lived and here and in fact they and their de-| died . Here his family was raised. scendants make up almost e>clusively John De Haven received a good edu¬ the burials at that place. cation for the days ir. which he lived The original lands became gradually j —a self educated. He attended the divided and sub iivided among the| old Gulf school and completed his sons and their sons, in farms, ;nd to¬ studies at home. He learned the, day their descendants still hold most trade of Shoemaking, as well as farm¬ of the land. ing, from his grandfather and con¬ It is sad to state after his services ducted the former trade at a shop rendered the country, that because of! near his house on his land, employ- ■ his sacrifices the later years of (Jacob)j ing men to carry it on for him. Hei De Haven's life was passed in deep! was a good farmer and took pleasure! pecuniary embarrassment, and that he in going among a few friends at har-| died comparatively poor in the year vest and working with them for his of 1812. His remains are supposed | own recreation. The people elected! to lie in the old Swedes burying him Assessor and Tax Collector for ground, though no tomb nor monu Upper Merion Township, which j me..t of any kind marks his resting office he held with credit for many j place. years. MU The next brother, Edward, emi¬ Samuel, brother of Jacob, bore armsj; grated to Kentucky, where he settled. in the struggle as a Revolutionary The youngest brother, Peter De soldier among those heroes who gave! Haven, liyed in Philadelphia, and ac-l us the heritage of liberty and free cumulated great wealth by manufac-i government we enjoy. turing arms and supplying ammunition; Te also gave money an 1 supplies r tojjthe -government for which he had 1 o the army from his land at the Gulf,! [a special contract, and for which hei j i: 1 Upper Merion, Montgomery! received large sums on account ;ronr ! County, Pennsylvania, where he lived| the Provincial government of Pen.i-t and died. He donated t"e sylvania and the Colonial government. L land to the Gulf Churc^ and) At the beginning of the war leterj churchyard upon which they 'now j De Haven conducted with care andi st ind. His lands were divided among attention the public gun factory and* the sons, in farms, and have come ‘powder mills of the Province of Penn-l iown through their children to the I isylvania situated at Philadelphia at f present holders. John, eldes: son of j Third and Cherry streets, at French f ■samuel,held farm land from his father [('reck in Chester C.unty, at Hum- land also conducted a tannery and melstown, in Philadelphia County, ctore at the Gulf. In his old age he and at odier places during the war lived with his grandson, John, whom } The factory repaired old muskets asi he raised. 'Iwell as making new ones. Public Jonathan, eldest son of John, at si military stores and barra -ks were kept close proximit,- to the factory. In we cannot but honor the memory of Rev 1778 after conducting ihe factory two Charles Magnus Wrangel, undqc whom the years, the state asked Congress to take church buildings of two of the associated the factory, at which time De Haven congregations, viz. : St. Jamet, Kiagsess- (and his son offered to purchase it of ing, and Christ Church, Upper .Merion, the State. De Haven v.as ordered by were erected. The erection of this church the Council of safety in 1776 to make was largely due to preparations made be¬ public the process of boreing gun' fore Dr. WraDgel came to Americ'. In barrels, 1758 an acre of land was purchased from De Haven was appointed agent for Ezekiel Rambo and wife, aud was deeded forfeited estate in the County of May 7th of the same year to Mounce Ram¬ Philadelphia, but declined the office. bo, Andrew Holstein, Peter Rambo and He was appointed a:,d commissioned George Rambo, acting as trustees That Health Officer of the Port of Phila¬ purchase, in 1758, is the proof that the de¬ delphia, and was once one of the as- scendants in this neighborhood of the sessors of Philadelphia and County. I Swedes who had settled 00 the banks of Later he was appointed a commis-' the Delaware more than 100 years before -sioner tor the state to purchase hay were putting themselves in readiness to. for the use of the Continental army in build the walls of this church as they winter quarters. stand before us to-day, forming the nave Peter De Haven was appointed a of the body of the building. The transept,1 member of a committee from the chancel and tower are an additional en North district in Philadelphia in July largeroent made in 1837, 57 years ago.” 1779 (an . endorsed at a town meet¬ After alluding to the erection of the1 ing) for the purpose of relieving the r* ‘Gloria Dei” Church in Philadelphia in general distress by raising money by 1700, the building of the Trinity Church subscription to bu solicited from at Christiana, now Wilmington, 1698, the house to house for the service of the Pastor said : ‘‘A list of the f imilies living' United States, the money thus raised in New Sweden in 1693 has come down to to be considered a loan payable in us The families numbered 139, and the individuals 939 Or this important num¬ three years and receivable in payment ber only 39 were native Swedes. All the of tax-fs. others were native Americans, and they * took kindly to the New Sweden wherein they dwelt. They did not either renounce From,.... the faith of their fathers They lived in peace with the Indians for more than 40 years before William Penn came, though, A.alOktJ. zAA.&AL*=*... Ohz, with a strange inconsistency, they fought with the Hollanders of New Amsterdam, Date, i. e., New York. They were not lacking in courage, nor could we suppose that the ’ countrymen of Gustavus Adolphus would! Swede’s ‘Church. be deficient in such a quality. We know how much he did for the cause of the Re¬ formation.” SKETCH OF CHBIST (SWEDE’S) CHTTRCH HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF SwEDELAND. The church as it stands to day, with the exception of additions, was erected in 1760. The additions, which were made in 1837, li Swede’s Church of Swedeland is over when two galleries were removed, consist one hundred and thirty-four years old. In )f a tower, with a belfry, and wings. The a recent sermon, the pastor, Rev A A. itrncture is built of brick, and the exterior; Marple, said, in keeping our anniversary ias a solid coating of light colo-ed cerne- t, giving the structure a modern and bright ippearance. The church building is anr Swedish flags are festooned over the chan- j- cel in close proximity to the American winded by a graveyard, now filled with onu meats and tombstones, and enclosed standard. During the -Centennial year Christ Church had two visits from the. iy a stone wall In this old burial ground Royal Commissioners of Sweden, Charles number of patriots of the Revolution Julian Damfelt and the Hon. Augustin Asleep their last sleep. In recent ye rs it Bird, and about that time the Swedish Ihas been used as a genera! cemetery, but Ambassador at Washington, Count Freler -j |the church itself belongs to the Protestant Ick Wachmiester and many of the Swedish ! Episcopal denomination. nobles in the country honored the old It is asserted as a historic fact that Wash Swedish Church with a visit. ington and “Mad” Anthony Wayne, dur Dr. G. W. Holstein, who has been al iug the winter at Yalley Forge, frequently warden of the church for over half a cen-l worshiped there. tuiy, ard whose father and grandfather oc¬ The most interesting eyent that has oc¬ cupied that position before him, is conver¬ curred at the church in recent years hap sant, with the history of the church, and pened on July 9th, 1876, when the church has furnished many of the facts that fol-| was formally visited by Prince Oscar of Sweden and a large retinue of followers low. r 7*’ The church, it appears, was completed! connected with the Swedish Government, and dedicated as “Chiist Church” on the] numbering in all about 75 persons. This of June, 1760, on which occasion t.bej was a red letter day in the history of Christ :25th sermon was Breached by the Rey. Dr. Chas Church, and there were very imposing Magnus Wrangel, who had been sent over ceremonies. Prince Oscar on that occasion by the Archbishop of Upsal, Sweden, the presented to the church an elaborately year before to take charge of this mission, wrought baptismal font, constructed of which took in old “Gloria Dei,” in Phila¬ Swedish marble and containing the simple delphia, the mother church, and also St inscription, “Swedish Blessings to Swedish James’ Church, at Kingsessing. He is Children,” and accompanying the baptis¬ represented to have been a man of extra¬ mal font a ere two silken Swedish flags ordinary eloquence, and returned to Swe¬ The font now occupies a conspicuous den in 1768 to be ordained a bishop. place in front of the chancel, and the two ■■ _/< : Whilejin this country Ur. Wrangel preached 4 was officially connected, __ at Christ Church, Swedeland, about once took a dees interest in the Swedes of Up- || ' a month, and such was the primitive con¬ per Merion, and he made visits there. He dition of affairs then that many of the con- is buried at the Old Swedes’ Church, Phil- ,■ gregation came down the Schuylkill in ca- M: adelphia, and there is a tablet in the Boes to hear him. At that time the church ' church to his memory. property extended down to th« Schuylkill The old church mr Norristown was I river, hod through a gr.ive of buttonw dfl formerly connected with old St. James’s trees, nut the railroads have since cat an Church, at Kingsessing, and both were un- jiron path through it. ; der the charge of the mother church, Dr. Wrangel was succeeded in 1768 by ‘ Gloria Dei,” in Philadelphia, from 1760 jthe Rev. Andrew Goeransen, who officia until 1843, when they were separated by [ted tor 11 years, and he was often aided by the Legislature, through the joint applies [the Rev. Charles Lute, an Episcopal minis-L| tion of the three churches. The name of [ter, who was appointed his assistant in Christ Church” war originally given to j 1774, so even at that date the Episcopal the church by the S vedish settlers as soon service was used at Christ Church, and un- as the first church building was erected, jder the sanction of the Swedish missionary. I and it has always borne that name. The jin Jann-ry, 1780, Mr- Goeransen was sue- I Pastors of the church in succession up to . |ceeded by the Rev. Matthias Hutigreen, L : the present year were as follows : Charles land in July, 1786, the Rev. Nicholas Col- | { Magnus Wrangel, from 1760 to 1768 ; Dr lins took charge and presided over it for Nicholas Goeransen, 1768 to 1779 ; Mat¬ ja period of forty five years, until his death thias Hultgreen, 1780 to 1786. Dr. Nicho¬ ®in 1831. las Collins, 1786 to 1831. The aboye were After the year 1760 there was a decided all sent over by the King of S weden and [change in the language of the Colony, the were located at the Mother Church, “Gloria jSwediah tongue having been gradually M Dei,” in Philadelphia, and located at what [giving way to the English. So great was was called “Wiecaco.” The death of Dr- this change that Dr Collins wrote home : Collins, in 1831, severed the connection of Although the Vestry received me with the church with the Swedish mission. The great respect, and acknowledged their jj j Episcopal successor * chose the Key. John [great obligations to the King of Sweden C. Clay, and he had charge of the three ;and '.is illustrious predecessors for the! churches from 1831 to 1848, and after the long continued care of their spiritual wel ^ J separation into distinct parishes the first j fare, still at the same time they declined a clergymen chosen for Christ Church was ■ continuance of this favor, as the great the Rev. E N. Lightner, 1848 to 1855, and change of circumstances must hereafter V ■ then Wm. Henry Rees, D. D, 1855 to [make the missiou a burden to the Crown off 1861, then Rev. Thomas S. Yocum, 1861 to Sweden without an adequate benefit to the 1870, and then followed the Rev. Octavius congregation, which has totally lost the I Pennechieif and the Rev. Edward A. War- language of their ancestors. They have V : riner. therefore signified their intention of provi¬ ding for themselves after my departure.’’ * At the meeting of the vestry, held in ■ July, 1786, at the beginning of Dr. Col-.I

1 lias’s time, it was “Resolved, That, when I ever his Majesty cf Sreden shall think im¬ proper to grant his reeWl to the Rev. Mr. |1 [Collins, the mission to these congregations ‘V will undoubtedly cease” To meet this contingency they made application to the I : Legislature for an American charter, which A Valuable Old Book. was granted on September 10th, 1787. The Joseph Bosler, of Ogontz, Montgomery m county, has in his possession a valuable Archbishop of Upsal having submitted this old book, containing all the records of action of the congregation to his king, re¬ Cheltenham township back to 1765, which tells an interesting story of a progressive ceived the latter’s decision on Jane 25th, community. In 1765, the taxes of the 1789, approVing the reasons and sentiments township for road purposes aggregated lex pressed twenty-two pounds, seven shillings and four pence, or, in round numbers, $112. Dr. Collins resided n.-.ar the old Swedes’ In 1844 they had only risen to $615,63, but [Church, in Philadelphia, with which he this year the grand total is $20,649.58. The township now Claims some of fEe] Stony Creek, and a meadow ; finest drives'in the United States. The southeast side of the same just school tax, which in 1844 was only $514.25,! junction with' the Schuylkill, is this year $19,349.11. With, good roads I a small cleared field on the so and good schools it is no wonder that side of Egypt road,south of Pebble Rur Cheltenham enjoys a high degree of pros-1 On the latter was a saw mill just befor perity. ; ... J, it joined the river, and on the west side of the same. This is why it later was called Saw Mill Run. The messuage or j From, s t tavern house, the grist mill and the saw mill are the only buildings marked on the present site of Norristown. . There was wood land on the north¬ west side of Stony Creek, about where Elm station now is. There was a large Date, field along on the northeast boundary of the plantation. A branch of the Egypt ■a road ran over Sandy Hill, as it does to¬ TUB SITE OE NOKBISTOWN IN 1771. day, and there was a meadow on the : ~ ' < west side of Pebble Run, above the saw Jacob Metz, of Lansdaje, has a draft mill. This was about where the Read¬ ing depot is now. The amount of clear¬ 543 1771 of ^ acres, made in , covering the ed land within the 543 acres, did not central portions of Norristown at that compose more than one-fourth part of period. This old piece of pasteboard is the whole. A great forest of 400 acres, a very interesting article at the present covered the present site of many build¬ ings and happy homes. There was a time. At the bottom of the same we ferry across the river, just west of the find written: “Called Norriton planta-, junction of the Stony Creek. Another tion and mill tract, 18 miles from Phila-i ferry, called Swedes Ford, is marked below Pebble Run. delphia, and that part of Barbadoesi The property owners on the northwest Island in the river Schuylkill,containing side were John Chain and James Evans; 88 acres, which is right opposite to said on the northeast were Andrew Craw¬ mill dam, mill race, mill pond, messuage ford and Robert McDowell, and on the southeast were lands leased to Andrew house, barn and other buildings of the Crawford. farm. The whole premises, fast land So much for the revelations of the old j and island, will be sold together by pub¬ draft. A few data collected from the re-j lic vendue on Wednesday, the 27th of cent county history, wiH elucidate the February, at the tavern of Archibald’ prior history of the tract. The 543 acres: Thompson in Norriton township." were part of the manor of William Stadt, An inspection of this draft reveals granted in 1704 to William Penn, Jr.,- many interesting facts, some of which who immediately conveyed it to Isaac, may not be known, even to antiquarians. Norris and William Trent. The former! On it, and running on about the same acquired the whole in 1712. This manor] bed as the present Main street, is mark¬ was changed into a township in 173°, j ed Egypt street. The Mansion house when there were 25 taxables therein., then stood near the Stony Creek and on | Isaac Norris or his sons built the mill onl. the northeast side of the Egypt road. It | the Schuylkill, and made a dam on the. must have been near the present site of; Stony Creek. By the date of 1758 the the Ilartranft house, which may there-) Noiris farm house on Egypt road had fore be reckoned as the oldest site of a 1 become a tavern, and was probably leas¬ dwelling in Norristown. ed to other parties. In 1766 Archibald There was a dam on the Stony Creek, j Thompson was the landlord. In 1776 probably just above the Marshall street Thompson was assessed for eighty acres. crossing. A race course led from this; He was a Colonel in the patriot army of dam to the grist mill, which was along the the Revolution, but died in November Schuylkill, a short distance below the; 1st, 1779. His widow, Hannah Thomp¬ mouth of the Stony Creek—probably j son, kept the inn for many years after¬ near the foot of Swede street. wards, and is so mentioned in 1784- One A road leading to the mill crossed the autumn day, September 7, 1777* the Egypt road about where is now Swede British came along and burnt the tavern street. It ran northward beyond the house, as the property of a noted rebel. boundaries, and doubtless became the In after years the widow Thompson re¬ line of the State road. ceived .£870 from the State as compen¬ Within the present boundaries of Nor¬ sation for her loss. ristown there was much woodland, es¬ At the public vendue held at Thomp¬ pecially to the east along Pebble Run. son’s hotel, in February 1777, there may This is now called Saw Mill Run, but we have been no sale effected, but on the presume there was some reason for its J 17th of September of the same year the old name, on account of its pebbly j whole plantation was sold by Charles shores. Norris to John Bull. The latter was a In 1771 there was cleared fields on native of Providence township. He was both sides of the Egypt road near the a man of mark, was jucttce of the peace,and a colonel in the Revolutionary • .1 armies. In 1779 Colonel Bull sold the property to Dr. William Smith, of Phil¬ adelphia, for £6000. He moved to Beckley county, Virginia, and that was the last we hear of him. Montgomery county being erected in I1784. Dr. Smith laid out a town site on I his plantation in 1785, and public build- lings were erected, yet up to 1820 most of the river front remained farmed land. E. M.

PENNSYLVANIA HAS ONE GOLD MINE, WHICH IS IN MONT¬ GOMERY COUNTY, AND CAL REED OWNS IT.

I “My name’s Reed : I live upon the old old ’49er, who was visiting relatives in the I Heffeltrigger place; I’m runnin’ a drift in neighborhood, saw the mists ot early morn¬ ing rising from the hillside just above the j the hill there.” house; he was at once struck with the like- That was the way he introduced himself to I ness of the picture to the familiar scenes of us. He was Cal Reed, a man whose business * his pioneer days. He examined the place, ! is probably unique in Pennsylvania’s indus- and then pronounced the prospects for min¬ trial enterprises. We met him in the old J eral good/ In his opinion not a single ele¬ Sumneytown store where he was laying in a ;5 ment—except the trifling detail of some actual pay dirt—was wanting to make that I stock of provisions. The peculiarity of his ■ Ridge Valley panorama like a bustling Cali¬ | purchases—which embraced a quantity of fornia gold field. That was enough for Cal. [bread and almost as big a bulk of “cut’1 He went into mining at once. pl.ug”—would have been enough to excite our curiosity, even if his uncommon outfit J Buthe did so in an intelligent way. and hadn’t stamped him at once as something dif¬ his theory, he says, is sound mineralogy. ferent from the rest of the natives in this Nailed to one of the beams in his kitchen is quaint section of the State. The most strik- his bookcase, filled with Dana’s Text , ing features about his make-up were a long Book,” geological surveys and similar publi¬ cations. The book case is made of a dyna¬ 1 brown beard, reaching to his ■waist, and a mite box, and the books are well enough broad-brimmed sombrero—the last a relic, we I worn to show considerable use—and any way afterwards learned, of a scouting expedition i Cal is so full of the subject that you won’t down through New Mexico and Arizona some ; have to look at the stray things of the library I seven or eight years ago, He looked atypical to find outflow miich the books have been miner or frontiersman. Conventionality was , I read. “ Why, boys, this whole hill has every I indication of zinc and lead and silver, and if I simply set aside, and we made ourselves jl don’t strike that old fellow’s gold, I’m I acquainted in short order. going to hit sixty-cent silver, you can bet “Maybe you’ve heard people talk abouti your pile on that.” j my gold mine. You’d like to see her? Well, 1 I Cal is not the first man who has had faith if your legs are good for a couple of miles in Montgomery county mines, ! over the hills I guess you can see her all i Generations ago this part of the county j had the name of being rich in minerals. In j right.” 1730 a large tract of land was taken up in And Cal shouldered his bag of bread and t Upper Suiford torvnship. Shafts were sunk tobacco, we loaded up our traps, aud started. land operations on an extensive scale rvere It takes a stretch of the imagination to j ■prosecuted. But the capital soon became as realize that Philadelphia is only thirty-five scarce as the mineral, and the mines were miles or so from all the wildness and beauty : [abandoned. Spasmodic attempts to reopen of nature through which the trip led us. I them were made, but they never amounted ; to much, and so the wealth that came down The East Swamp creek has no charm -want¬ I from them is chiefly in the shape of tradi- ing, and the fisherman, the artist or the idler • | tions. The woods are full of stories of mines of whatever sort will find everything coming; rich in mineral, once known to the aborigines I his way up here among the waters and rocks I and to some of the early settlers, but now lost of northern Montgomery county. in the obscurity of years, and then was not Cal Cal’s place stands on the western slope of | directed to his gold veins by the divining rod ? If a man up in that country wants to find Ithe Ridge valley creek, and stretches for, water the forked switch will point out where |abouthalf a mile from the old Dundee or; the well ought to be dug and make no mis¬ | Dietz mill property, to the south. It isn’t a take. And if he wants mineral the divining (very broad strip, but measured over and I rod will spot that with almost the same pre¬ around the surfaces of the rocks it is the big¬ cision. It doesn’t work so well on minerals gest place of its size in the United States. It Ion account of so many kinds being in the consists largely of granite boulders, some of I ground, and confusion necessarily results. them as big above ground as a block of I The miner who knows his business, however, houses; a fine quality of soii in between and who has a knowledge of the formations, them affords a good living in the shape of can make order out of the vagaries ot the ■farm products. For years it has had the rep¬ divining rod, jind enn locntc tlic stic&lvs witn utation of being rich in mineral. Once an .almost the same ease that one follows a path 7 144

CAL S HOUSE.

across the meadows. But as to uncling'water”’ winter time when there was snow on the —well, that’s just as easily done as letting: ground, but the presence of water in the form down a bucket over the side of a ship. All of snow does not interfere with the virtue of you have to do is to get a forked twig, from a the rod. The vein was located and its course birch tree preferably, cut it so that it re¬ staked out so accurately that when spring sembles a Y, with branches about fifteen came Cal was able to go ahead with work on inches long and a leg of an inch or two. Then j his drift. This was planned so as to cut the grasp the branches, one in each hand, with 1 vein at right angles. When the vein is the palms of the hands up, and with the leg I reached, the idea is to follow that along until of the Y pointing up. The prospector then a pocket of the real metal is found or until braces his elbows close to his sides and holds quartz rich in promise is struck. his body as rigid as possible. The leg and! branches of the Y are at right angles. The tunnel is now cut into the hill about forty feet. It don’t go in quite as fast as it It takes a man with some “ magnetic force,” ; might. If the rock were not quite so hard, | so Cal says, to complete the conditions most the six miners now at work would advance! favorable to very reliable results. Cal is as further than four feet a week. They are now I full of this magnetism as his farm under¬ at work on what Cal calls the “banging.’ ground is abounding in veins of mineral and The term is familiar to expert miners, hut1 water, and the way the divining rod shows it for our benefit he explained that it was the! when he starts out is enough to convince the layer of hard rock lying next the leaders, or! most skeptical. With his bended arms rigid thefr streams of metaliferous rock connect-! against his sides he started out from the ing or leading to the real veins. This “hang- j back of his house across the sod towards the ing” is so hard that when a man hits the! spring in the gully below. It was down there, i drill with his hammer, the hammer flies back [ by the way, that the ’49er said the gold to the man’s shoulder as if it had a strong j was to be found. Soon the leg of the Y dipped spring to lift it. until it was pointing downward, and when Cal’s Western experience among mines and ; Cal threw it into its reversed position it re¬ mining men has given him a knowledge off mained there. methods that he applies with great advantage “That’s water, boys; mineral wouldn’t be hero. For example, he has his men working in such a narrow vein.” night and day, in shifts, and his whole plac Further on, the rod dipped again and again i is laid in full accord with a mining camp. after being reversed. Its movements indi¬ On Mining Spur No. 1 stand his house, barn cated the existence of something in the earth and pig-pen. His orchard and one of his po- that was very attractive and something big. j tato patches are on Mining Spur No. 2. But That meant mineral, sure thing. Coming ' in Mining Spur No. 3 is the pet of all, the back up the hill, Cal checked up the results j “drift in the hill.” And when Cal comes of the down trip, and showed how true it all I out of the mouth of the tunnel smoking his is. “Oh, I know where they all are; I’ve short black pipe, and wheeling a barrow-load | been over every inch of this ground lots of! of blasted fragments, the wholei scene is Colo¬ times and I’ve got ’em all located,” he said rado, California, anywhere but Pennsylvania. The vein in mining spur No. 3 was found > “ Warc’a bissel; du das picta uoch net CAL REED AT THE MOUTH OF HIS SHAFT. mache! Drecky g’macht. IcfTmus' wie en could ever get to )t allot dark. A man witu mina gucka!” and then Cal reaches down for a fairly good pull could shoot an arrow lrorn a handful of moist clay and plasters it over the highway on the further side of the creek his hat and shirt—in fact wherever it will do to the house that nestles on the slopes on this the most good in making him “ look more side. But if he wanted his arrow back again like a miner.” Then we take his picture. he would have to travel over a mile and a half of awful roads, sometimes along the Cal’s house is most picturesquely situated brink of cliff's that fall away from the path along the hill on the west bank of the Ridge with a sheer drop of fifty or sixty feet to the Valley creek, a branch of the East Swamp. rounded boulders below. It hasn’t any neighbors, at least such as one ' ’'On a shelf in his kitchen Cal stores his ! dynamite for use in the drift. As it comes would like to own. The nearest house is from the factory it is a harmless-looking about a half mile further up the creek, but yellowish compound, and it kept on the shelf that has the haunt of a little girl as tenant. . back of the stove it isn’t at all dangerous. Beyond that, about a half mile or so, some He gets it in sticks of about five to the people are living, but on account of the fear pound, eight or ten inches long and an inch of being held up by the residents at “ die and a half in diameter, and he keeps as spook platz.” callers don’t droi> in on Cal of much on hand as would blow the whole an evening with any sort of frequency. The shooting match over into the next county. place is really in the wilds, for it is practi¬ The sticks have the consistency of well- cally inaccessible to any except a native. It;, frozen ice cream—and just to show us what . might just as well be surrounded by a Chinese: milk-and-honey sort of stuff it was, Cal cut wall or stand within an enormous fire-proof off' a good-sized “chew” from one of the safe, for surely none except him that hath sticks with his penknife on to a piece of business herein or that knew the combination newspaper—and we lit out for the woods. • - - - ■ -■■->■

■ s«S It aihTTiurtm' anything, boys- look here.” ; Then ho put a match to the paper and the stuff went up sizzling into rich black smcke. “But if I had chucked a handful of mudl From, over' tljat when the fire wasburnin’”—and) Cal turned his eyes on us twice in silence. He has,a peculiar habit, when he wants to be particularly impressive or to rebuke a foolish question, of rolling his eyeballs twice at the questioner—and on this occasion his double-barreled glance was most suggestive. Bate, / That old California gold-diggar started the bee a-buzzing in the bonnets of some of the people up here when he thought the place prospected well. Old Heffeltregger sunk a CENTRE SQUARE CHURCH hole, but he didn’t find his fortune there nor could he find men enough to help dig the hole. The place had a peculiar reputation St.John’s Lutheran Celebrates lor “ spooks,” and whether it was the opinion of his neighbors or the facts about the place, Its 125th Anniversary. he couldn’t do anything but work his dig¬ gings alone. When he died the spooky char¬ acter of his farm grew and in direct ratio the value of the place decreased. It sold for a AN EDIFICE WITH A HISTORY song, almost, and Cal bought it because, he ’ said, he was anxious to see and own a ghost. One night he sat in the kitchen at his Life of a Religious Organization house playing cards around an old table. The same room served as parlor,store-room, maga¬ Which is Interwoven With zine, library, as well as smoking-room. We Revolutionary Events. had listened to Cal’s story of old Heffel- tregger’s experience and the uncanny trips ISTORIC old St. John’s Lutheran the man—or rather his spirit—is said to make H to his old stumping grounds, when, close to Church, at Centre Square, cele¬ midnight, a noise was heard out in the woods. brated its 125th anniversary yester¬ Cal said nothing but just reached for his gun behind his store-box sideboard and started for day, and the little village never the door. Judging from the expression on had so many persons within its bounds. his Jace, it was something he was aecustomed to when we. could ask him what, he said : l To the number of 3000 they came from “Boys, I don’t know; they say she’s all parts of the surrounding country in haunted. I all sorts of vehicles. There were many “No, I never saw a ghost,” he continued, prf’sent who had not' visited the old “ but one night I beard a sound that makes church since childhood, and the meeting the water come to my eyes every time I think of old friends and relatives made the of it. I was settin’ up on my bed, thinkin’ event in many ways a gala one. about the mine, when I heard a voice over The exercises lasted the entire day and there in the next room exactly like a man i evening. Outside were stretched long groanin’ in pain. I climbed down the ladder tables, from which the thousands of from my room and started to investigate it. visitors were ‘served, under the direction The sound came from the corner i^there of Mrs. E. L. Rodenbach, the chairman of ihe Entertainment Committee. where I'kept my seed potatoes. It was awful. Rev. J. L. Becker, president of tiie I lit the lantern and went in, and as soon as I got there the noise stopped. Then I com- | conference, welcomed the guests, and menced cut-in' up potatoes, and after I had i after the singing of several hymns and been at that ten minutes or so I thought I’d an eloquent sermon on the Lutheran go to bed again. I’d no sooner got outside' Church in general by the Rev. J. C. N. and shut the door, when that infernal Park, of Beaver Falls, Pa., the pastor, groanin’ started up again. I opened the door Rev. C. C. Snyder, read a history of the and went back, and it stopped. But I church,which had been prepared by Miss couldn’t stay in there to humor anything or r’lovn A anybody; I had to sleep, so I went up to bed for good, but I couldn’t shut out that terrible The life of the church is interwoven noise. Boys, there’s only one thing, out¬ with the history of the Revolution. Many side of a human, that can make a noise Lutherans who were driven to this coun¬ like that, and that’s a squirrel in matin’ time, ■ try 160 years ago took up their residence but it’s ’way past matin’ time for squirrels.” in that, section, but were too poor to By this time Cal’s voice had gotten deep build churches. In 1743 St. Michael’s, and very earnest, and he spoke slowly. Asif ; Philadelphia, and churches at German¬ to heighten the situation just then a screech 1 owl in a walnut tree back of the house began l town, Trappe and New Hanover were his dismal crooniDg, the oil in our lamp was built. In 1769 Rev. John Frederick giving out, and the light sputtered and flick¬ Schmidt took charge of St. Michael s, ered. But we saw Cal turn his eyes twice r Germantown, and in the first year of his upon us in his mysterious, quizzical way. ministry he organized St. John’s, at “Boys, I don’t believe in ghosts; but, tell Centre Square. For the first year the me, what was it I heard?” people worshiped in private houses, but We gave it up. in 1771 the first church was built, and the -r~ - — — . —r— m ' records of two show the names of for rs. Rev. Mr. Schmidt was a lervant patriot and openly advocated the cause of the colon¬ ies in the pulpit. From, So bitter were the British that they used the church in Germantown as bar racks, tore away the organ and carried away the furniture. Being deprived of his principal charge, Mr. Schmidt gave most of his attention to St John’s and while there tendered the church for use Date, as a hospital for soldiers wounded in the battle of Germantown, and many of THE SNYDER HOMESTEAD, TOWAMEN- those who died from their wounds were buried in the cemetery back of the CIN—THE SNYDER FAMILY. church. The farm of Jesse Snyder, recently de-j General Washington had quarters near¬ ceased, in Towamencin,has been possess-li by and was a daily visitor to the hospi¬ ed by the Snyder family since 1812, when tal. Pastor Schmidt was 17 years at St. eighty acres were bought by Joseph Sny-J John’s and at Germantown, and so great der of Edward Hughes. It is 1^ miles 1 was his attachment for his churches that below Kulpsville, on the northeast side ' he is said to have declined a call to New of the turnpike, and reaching to the ; I York city at a salary of $1455, a large Gwynedd line. The surface is unite un- j i sum in that day, he at the time getting dulating, with a meadow', narrow, but of i I but $484. Rev. Anton Hech was the next great length, in front of the farm build- pastor, Rev. Jacob Van Buskirk who ings. The present house was built by i ! had been educated for the ministry by | Jesse Snyder some forty or fifty years; I Muhlenberg, became pastor in H793] and ago, but there was a house there in 1812, ; remained until 1794, He died suddenly and probably for a long period previous. while mounting his house to attend ser¬ The price paid by Joseph Snyder to j vice. Rev. Henery A. Gessenhainer Hughes was $4,404. succeeded him, to be followed by Rev. The late Jesse Snyder was born in f I Dr. Chas. Wildbahn. Rev. J. C. Reben 11812, and on November 17, 1836. he: ack ministered there until 1810, when he- married Maria, daughter of Henry Heeb- was succeeded by Rev. John Wiand. ner. They had eleven children, born Then came Rev. George Heilig and Rev. (between 1837 and 1862. His father,, Jacob Medtart. Rev. Mr. Medtart was Joseph Snyder, was born September 17, unable to speak German, and from that J 1786, so that he bought this property time forward services were entirely in when a young man of twenty-six. On English. In the cemetery all the tombs- the 25th of April, 1811, he married So-1j stones prior to this time are in German. phia. daughter of Abraham Kriebel.: In 1856 Rev. John W. Hasslcr became ~ hey had five children, Jesse, Margaret, ‘ I pastor. He subsequently went into the annah, Elizabeth and George, born be- i ween 1812 and 1821. Of these, George i (army as a chaplain and served through!-u -thecivil war. Rev. Mr. Rightmeyer, E. 5 a well known and wealthy farmer of L. Reed, H. M. Bickel. Leven Coleman, ■ Fpper Gwynedd. Joseph Snyder, theS and J. C. N. Park followed in the order father of this family, died December (named. In March of this year Rev. 1858. (Charles C. Snyder received a call, mak¬ This branch of the Snyder family have1 ing the seventeenth pastor since the or¬ been Schwenkfelders for several gener-; ganization of the congregation 125 years ations. Their progenitor, Henirich ago. Six of the old pastors are liviug; \ Schneider, was a Lutheran, coming from (Revs. Reed, Park, Strodach, HasslCr, Germany, and not from Siberia. He Wardelich aud Coleman, and they were i was born August 3, 1729, and came to America with his father when a youth of present yesterday. jtwenty, August 30, 1749. A romantic . Rev. R. D. Roeder conducted the ser¬ (story tells how Schneider eventually ■■ vice in the afternoon. Rev. Mr. Shee- changed his religious faith. His father leigh, of Fort Washington, read a poem had bought the latter Amos Jones’ farm in commemoration of the event, and a at West Point, Upper Gwynedd, in 1750, sermon was preached in the evening by of Edward Williams. A Schwenkfelder Rev. J. H. Wardelich, and addresses neighbor, named Christopher Neuman, were made by Rev. E. L. Reed, on “The lived on the Morris road, owning the 1 Permanency of the church,’’and Rev.D. later Hoot and Burnside farms. He had Levin Coleman, on “Twenty Years Ago.”| a daughter Rosina, who attracted the at¬ The present church building was tention of young Snyder. Her parents j | erected in 1834 and remodelled in 1881. objected to her marriage out of the ; | The present membership is 151. The church—especially to a gay and rollick-: (incomplete church records shows that ing Lutheran—a sect which had been! the several clergymen during their repec- rseci#ting their own for generations in I \ tive pastorates there baptized 1045 chil- So Snyder was told that hisjj jdren, confirmed 835 persons, married 437 would be in vain—not even if (couples and officiated at 393 funerals. __ wanted him, which indeed she j But he was a bold and audacious ^ ■Hi , aud this only made him the morel resolute to get her, and when both par- '• —'3ri * ties are agreed about sucnAhings a wayl I is generally found. So one dark night e had to stay for twenty-four-Bbui j, in 1756, Snyder saddled two horses, and| where all might gaze upon his laughable, mounting a convenient ladder he pro¬ position. After the soldiers had stayed cured Rosina from the second story I awhile and they and their horses had window, and the two rode gaily away) eaten up all the hay and grain and fatl through the forests to Philadelphia, | sheep, the calves, his pigs, his hams, the where they were married. Next morn- chickens and whatsoever else that wasl iling Christopher Neuman and his wife! good about the premises, they went their) Susanna arose, but no daughter came way—telling Snyder to make out his down to get the breakfast and milk the | little bill and present it to the Continen¬ cows. In his grief the father exclaimed in tal Congress. As they went they took German: “Now I know that this Lutheran! along a fine young mare—a favorite of has carried off my Rosina.” He mount¬ the family. After a night or two the ed a horse and made hot pursuit, but the I sagacious animal broke loose and thread¬ fugitives had too much the start. ed her way home. The family hoped the But the marriage, thus irregularly ef-. soldiers would not return to claim her. | fected, proved a happy one after all, and But they did and the poor beast was O" ; the couple lived together in peace and taken again, henceforth to be driven be¬ harmony for many a long year. Snyder fore the teamster’s lash, to bear the hard¬ settled down and became a sedate and ships of long marches, to be startled by prosperous farmer, and his wife’s pa¬ the thunder of artillery, or perchance to rents became reconciled to the match. be slain in battle.—Lamdale Republican. Rosina remained a Schwenkfelder, and constrained her husband to adopt her Sown faith, after the manner of most wo- amen in such cases. From, During the Revolution the farm and property of Henry Snyder was preyed pon by both the British and American 7 roops, inflicting considerable losses. Concerning these events, some interest- ng stories are related by his descendants. Bate, His death took place April 3, 1797, whilst jlz ’ is widow survived him till 1804. Tradi- ion relates that he was a man of athletic “THE SPRIN6H0USE TAVERN.” [mould and great personal strength. His children were Rosina, George, Christo¬ AN INTERESTING HISTORY OF AN OLD pher, Henry, Christian, Abraham, Isaac, HOSTELRY. Susanna, John and Regina, born between In the history of Gwynedd from its 1757 and 1776. earliest period this has been a noted Henry Snyder, the second one of these vicinity, around which cluster many sons, was born November 22, 1762, and memorable occurrences. In 1698 John 'married Regina, daughter of Baltharza Humphrey settled here, and the Friends Rhinewalt, May 10, 1785. They had held their first meeting, for worship. six children, Joseph, Abraham, Isaac, Mention is made of a road being in use Job, Regina and Elizabeth, born between from here to the Pennypack Mills in 1702. 1786 and 1798. The death of Henry Soon after 1704 the road was extended Snyder, the father, occurred April 2, from the city, by this place, to the North 1836. Wales Meeting House, a mile and a half Among the incidents of the Revolution distant. A bridge near by is mentioned occurring at the old Snyder farm at West as having been constructed before 1711. Point are the following: The American The road leading4 from here to Richland troops partly quartered themselves in wras confirmed in 1717, and was the com¬ the barn to the southwest, and ate in the : ;..w S mencement of the present Bethlehem open air. They ransacked the house for road. From this point to Horsham Meet¬ every dish, cooking utensil or bit of ing House the road was confirmed in 1723, crockery. One soldier in a humorous and the Goshenhoppen or Sumneytowu mood, finding himself short of a plate, road in 1735. We see by this date that found a tar horn, used for marking sheep, through the construction of these several and cleansing it after a fashion, made it highways and the extension of settle- his dish, eating from it with great relish. iments farther into the interior this spot The family themselves were left destitute was calculated before long to become, in of sufficient knives and forks for their consequence, an important traveling own use. So Henry Snyder, Jr., a boy centre. of fourteen or fifteen, determined to get The town of Bethlehem, on the Lehigh one back from the soldiers, and stealthily river, thirty-eight miles distant, wasf going* out, seized a knife and made for founded in 1741, and all travel from fj the house. A soldier perceiving him there and the surrounding country, as rushed at him with a drawn sword, and well as from Allentown, to Philadelphia, almost frightened the boy out of a year’s was confined to the road passing by this growth, who dropped the knife and fled. place. It is probable that it was not long Whether done in grim humor or in earn¬ after the latter date that the first inn was est, the soldier was called to account for located here, but at what exact time and his joke and duly punished. His com by whom we are unable to say. iienja- rades put him in a sort of rail pen, where! ! min Davis kept a publicJiouse_at_tbis ■mw' point frora-i to 1772. In April,. 1758, | By accepting these several charges he I Daniel Kunckler, on his journey from was placed in a delicate position, muchj Bethlehem to Philadelphia, with six more so through a considerable majority f Indians in his charge, mentions stopping of the surrounding population being bent ' here. In a table of distances on the on remaining neutral during the contest. Bethlehem road, published in 1769, Among his other duties was to report the “Benjamin Davis” is mentioned as be¬ flues of delinquents for not attending the ing sixteen miles from the city. The Imusterings. No sooner did the war first stage line passing through the close than slander was busy to ruin his present county was started in September, character and business. In the Philadel- 1763, from Bethlehem to Philadelphia, delphia Gazette of February 17, 1783, he making one weekly trip and stopping at was induced, in consequeiice, to have in¬ this inn. serted an advertisement offering a reward The road from this place, by the pres¬ of one hundred guineas for the author of ent Penllyn to Boehm’s church, was laid a report that he was “privy in robbing a out in the spring of 1769, and mention is collector.” Some of the neutrals, or made in the report of its “beginning near rather, disaffected, in attending the a stone springhouse in Gwynedd road.” Philadelphia market, reported there that Here we can perceive what has led to the himself and wife had been guilty of mur¬ origin of the name. This fact is further dering one or more travelers, who had confirmed in a description of the tavern stopped at his house, for their property. in 1827, wherein mention is made of a To this he also replied in the spring of “durable spring of water a short distance 1789, and again offered a similar reward. from the door, over which is a stone He states as to the latter that he had milk house.” General Lacey mentions seven children, “several of them young the “Springhouse Tavern” in his dis¬ and helpless.” That such reports were patches of 1777, and the name is also damaging to the keeper of a public house mentioned in a report of a raid made in we do not wonder, even if they have this direction by the British in February, never been proven. With it all, Chris¬ 1778. That it is a striking and peculiar tian Dull outlived many of his enemies, name there is no question, and it must, throve in business and attained to a | therefore, have originated here from just I good old age, closing his career as the ] some such local cause. landlord of the Springhouse Tavern | Christian Dull, or rather Doll, in the about the beginning of 1822. German, of whom we shall give a few, He made a will, appointing John, additional particulars, succeeded Davis Roberts one of his executors, but Roberts | as inn-keeper. He was a native of Perki- died in 1823, aged seventy-three years, omen, and his father, bearing the same and therefore did not survive long enough I name, is mentioned in the census of that to assist in carrying out the trust. John township, taken in 1756, as having seven Roberts had been for many years a store¬ children and renting from Solomon Du- keeper here, and on the most friendly Bois one thousand acres of land, whereof terms with Mr. Dull. The property was two hundred are cleared. John Dull, i advertised at public sale November 8, who was probably a brother, is mentioned 1827. It was described as “that well- as a taxable and residing there in 1776. known stand, commonly called the | It is likely that Catharine Doll was also Springhouse tavern, situate at the junc¬ one of those seven children. She was;;, tion of the Bethlehem pike and the married in this county to Charles J. Allentown road, eighteen miles from Krauth. Their son, Charles Porterfield: Philadelphia, containing nineteen acres of Krauth, D. D., LL. D., who died in 1883, land, a commodious stone tavern and aged sixty years, was one of the most I stone house, in which store has been kept eminent divines and scholars in the ; for more than thirty years past and stab¬ Lutheran church. Christian Dull re- |? ling for more than one hundred horses.” moved to the Springhouse in 1772, where Mention is made, besides, ot two other jj he was rated in 1776 as holding a tavern, dwellings, a blacksmith and wheelwright eight acres of land, a horse and cow.. shop, and an adjoiuing farm of one hun¬ The Revolution breaking out, he actively dred and twenty-six acres, with good espoused the cause of his country. Ow-. buildings. This all denotes that Chris¬ ino- to the connivance of some well-to-do tian Dull, in his residence here of half a people in this vicinity concerned in furn¬ century, certainly did much for the im¬ ishing supplies of provisions and infor¬ provement of the place. The extensive! mation to the British in Philadelphia, stabling will show what an amount ofl General Lacey stationed a portion of hispj travel and hauling must have been ex¬ men here for a short time to make arrest s ■ clusively confined to the high-ways, since and intercept and check such practices. [L so much reduced by railroads. An The American army suffering greatly additional stage line was placed on thej in December, 1777, for clothing, at & road from Bethlehem in 1797, which also! Valley Forge, he was appointed to collect® stopped here. What greatly added to I such supplies in his vicinity and forward the business of this stand was its suita¬ them at once for their use. For the partH ble distance from the city for all travel¬ he had taken in the war, on the organ!-■ ers or market men stopping in coming or I zation of the Fourth Battalion of Phila-B going that way. In October, 1804t_Alex-l delphia County Militia, commanded by* ander Wftlson, t^ie distinguished ornithof Colonel William Dean, he was chosen logist, with his two companion."’1, on their and commissioned a captain of one of the pedestrian journey from Philadelphia to companies to be raised in his township the Falls of Niagara, remained {over uir1"" cTTere./andlTn his poem of “TFie Forest¬ great day at the Towamen ers” gives the following amusing ac¬ felder meeting house. It count;: anniversary of the day when “The road was good, the passing scenery gay. held their first thanksgiving se Mile/after mile passed unperceived away, landing in Philadelphia in 1 Till in the west the day began to close, And, Spring-house tavern furnished. us re¬ meeting house is in a retired, but pose. ful location, in the valley of the T Here two long rows of market folk* were seen, mencin creek, surrounded by a rolli Hanged front to front, the table placed be- country of fine farms under excellent til j ) tween. Where bags of meat, and bones and crusts age. The west corner of Gwynedd, of bread, south corner of Towamencin and the «« And hunks of bacon all around were spread: joining portions of Worcester have long One pint of beer from lip to lip went round, been a compact settlement of the descend- A'nd scarce a crumb the hungry house-dog andts of these persecuted immigrants, found; whose purchases of land hereabouts were Xorents of Dutch from every quarter came, P.igs, calves and sour-crout the important made in 1735 and succeeding years. l theme The present brick church building is of While we, on future plans resolving deep, , recent erection. It succeeded another Discharged our bills and straight retired to one, which stood some forty yards to the sleep.” westward, within the shadow of a dense From “the two long rows of market piece of woodland, and in front of which folks” described, we can judge of the was the old grave yard. The tombstones ixtent of Christian Dull’s business at in this old yard, though numerous, are to that time. This description of the eco- the memory of members of a surprising I i.omical arrangement of farmers taking few families. They are principally the ) tqeir provisions along in going to mar¬ families of Anders, Heebner, Schneider, ket is no doubt true, and was even car¬ Weigner, Seipt, Drescher, Schultz and ried still further, by their sleeping on Rhiuewalt. This edifice- is comfortable, the bar room floors at night. Gordon, in but exceedingly plain within. It has a his “Gazeteer of Pennsylvania,” pub- basement, and in winter the worshippers fished in 1833, has well said that the! are warmed by a heater. There are no Springhouse is “a noted tavern.” Four lamps, as there is no evening service, and incorporated turnpikes meet here, the usually only once on three Sundays in first constructed from Chestnut Hill in the day-time. 1804, and the last to Penllyn and the The first or second generation of these Blue Bell in 1873. John W. Murray had pious people passed away before they had the post-office established in 1829. The any meeting houses. Their meetings in completion of the North Pennsylvania those early times were held in private Railroad to Bethlehem, in 1857, was the houses, whilst their anniversaries were first great blow to the travel on the roads, j held in some large barn. which has since more and more dimih-j Monday was a beautiful day, and the ished through the construction of other! attendance was quite large. The house railroads. The old stand here was kept overflowed, and even extra benches were by David Blyler for some time. On the not sufficient to seat all the people. Ser¬ opposite corner another public house was vices commenced at 9-30. Rev. William established by Thomas Scarlett, and kept I S. Anders, who lives in Worcester, and is as such for many years, now occupied as one of the regular ministers, opened the a store all(f for the post-office. On the| meeting. Before giving out hymn 129, division of Gwynedd into two districts,! he spoke a few words in German appro¬ in 1876, the voters of the lower section | priate to the occasion, connected with the were authorized to hold their elections at I migration of their forefathers from Silesia the present public house on the site of1 to America under the stress of persecu¬ the famous old hostelry, whose name it J tion. Nearly all the services of the fore¬ perpetuates. noon were in German. The singing seemed confined to the male members of the congregation, who sat on the oppo¬ From, site side of the house from the women. Mr. Anders followed the hymn by the reading from the 8th chapter of Deuter¬ onomy and the offering of prayer. The main sermon of the morning was preached by Oscar S. Kriebel, of the Date, Sty Perkiomeu Seminary, from a text found in Matthew, 5th chapter, verse 10. He * SCHWENKFELDEE ANNIVERSARY, rapidly sketched the story of the rise of free religious thought from the ecclesi The I60th Anniversary Celebrated at the astical thraldom of the Middle Ages- '■ Towamencin Church—Addresses by Key. the various reformers that one after Chester Hartranft, of Hartford# Conn., a»d other had endeavored to inaugurate a new Rev. William Anders. era of personal righteousnmess and national regeneration. Anion were the Italian Savonoralo, the Bo- Monday, the 24th of September, was a hemian, and John pioneer 'obliged tolodgein a cave for tEelpace ofrSt , ^ w__"ngiatfafamr the * Torn) ati on two years to secure safety, though he was i® first translation of the Scriptures into the * of noble blood and born to a palace home, . English tongue. he yet died in peace at last. There is no The address of Mr. Kriebel lasted an account of Christian experience equal to hour. He was followed by Rev. Noah the last hours of this man of God. The ex-, Schultz, a Methodist preacher,, of, periences of the leader was that of his fol¬ Berks county. The last speaker of the lowers. Silesia was a land of extraordina¬ morning was Rev. S. M. K. Huber, of ry beauty. Every prospect pleased, but Wentz’s church, who closed with a ten cruel men and rulers dwelt there. The minutes speech in English. _ ' ' sufferings of these persecuted people were At noontime was the unique festival - simply indescribable. Even periods of peculiar to the day, and which has no t peace were worse than that of the thirty- Parallel the world over, in the basement | years’ . war. Finally the most onerous people were fed, not in cooked meats | taxation, instigated by the Jesuits, drove hot food, but they simply dined on them forth to America. bread, butter and applebutter, washed God has permitted persecution that his down with cold water. It was a meal saints may obtain a polish and a vigor not , designed to typify the hardships and pov-! otherwise procured. It- evolved much city of their ancestors when they first kindness of the brethren towards each came to America and met to give thanks other. It had the effect of differing their for their preservation from the perils of a doctrines the more widely. It produced long journey to a free land in the wilder¬ a profound spiritual depth of character. ness. It is said that in former times cider It sifted the wheat from the chaff. was also allowed, but inasmuch as some ^ It took the shape of providing a great of the worthy brethren sometimes drank t volume of literature which was brought 3too much when that drink was too much in manuscript form to America. The fermented, the temperance reformation % Schwenkfelders represented the idea of banished this tempter from the list of freedom of conscience—the right of pri¬ viands. vate judgment—which has been the corner In the afternoon the crowd was even i , - " stone of the American State. Schwenk- greater than in the morning. The main '; feldten personified spirituality in religion. |attraction was the expected address by He put the essence of religion to be man’s Rev. Chester llartranft, now of Hartford, direct communion with the Father and Conn., he being one of those people who the Son. He stood for simplicity in daily !had strayed away into Yankee-land, and life, or in antagonism to an overwrought also into another sect. He is a professor luxury of living. The speaker closed * in a Theological Seminary of the Re- - with "an exordium to his hearers to imi-' - j formed church in the city of Hartford, tate the virtues of their ancestors, their and carries a D. D. to his name. The faith, their spiritual life, their zeal for; services opened by singing, which was l education. superb in its chorus of male voices, and a ■ T This address was followed by a few reading from Psalms by William S. An¬ words from Rev. Eroadhead, a Presby¬ ders. Prayer w'as offered in German by terian clergyman, of Jeffersonville. Rev. ? Mr. Huber. John Naile, a retired Reformed minister, , We have no space for more than a brief of North Wales, now 94 years old, made notice of the grand address of Mr. Hart- a short address, and the pastor of the rauft. It was the address of a scholar Bethel Methodist church, who said that' and a teacher of men—of a man used to , persecution unites all Christians on the- speaking to critical classes of students in j face of the earth. We all stand as raem-f \;5 an institution of learning. 1 bers of the invisible church of God, He said he came not simply as a guest ) f The day’s exercises closed at 3.10 by, fo and a historian, but as being one by birth -jging a German hymn, and the bene- , and kindred ties with those people. fiction by Dr. Hartranft. E. M. 1 Though he had wandered far away he - greeted them as brethren and companions jAST" ' ■ in the faith of a common Lord. This is commemorative day. Our memories are the great conservatories of our ex¬ periences. This is a day for the repro¬ duction of the past. It is an appeal to the hallowed gift of memory. It is a day that has its roots in the long ago past. We live now, and are what we are, be¬ cause our forefathers lived before us. If there was any community of which persecution was the richest heritage It was the Schwenkfelders. This was the case from the dawn of the Reformation down to the time when the ship St. An¬ drew brought them across the sea to America in 1734. Schwenkl'eldt was driven from his native \ land for the sake of his faith and none of the Imperial cities of Germany could give him an abiding refuge. He actually was

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