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DA TENTS:

UNITED STATES. GREAT BRITAIN. FRANCE.

June 24th, 1873. May i6th, 1877. May i 8th, 1877.

TRADE MARKS:

UNITED STATES. GREAT BRITAIN. Registered No. 5,896. Registered No. 15,979.

DIRECTIONS.

Use but little moisture, and only on ibe gummed lines. Press the scrap on without wetting it.

DANIEL SLOPE A COMPANY,

NEW YORK.

IIsTIDEX:

externaug from the Plymouth line to the Skippack road. Its lower line was From, ... about the Plymouth road, and its vpper - Hue was the rivulet running to Joseph K. Moore’s mill, in Norriton township. In 1/03 the whole was conveyed to Philip Price, a Welshman, of Upper

Datef w. Merion. His ownership was brief. In the same year he sold the upper half, or 417 acres, to William Thomas, another Welshman, of Radnor. This contained LOCAL HISTORY. the later Zimmerman, Alfred Styer and jf »jfcw Augustus Styer properties. In 1706 Price conveyed to Richard Morris the The Conrad Farm, Whitpain—The Plantation •emaining 417 acres. This covered the of John Rees—Henry Conrad—Nathan Conrad—The Episcopal Corporation. present Conrad, Roberts, Detwiler, Mc¬ The present Conrad farm in Whitpain Cann, Shoemaker, Iudehaven and Hoover farms. It was a strip 140 perches comprises, about 100 acres, and is located (wide, or less than half a mile, but 476 on the southwest border of the town¬ ship, adjoining the Plymouth line. It is perches long. For this he received £100. divided by a road running from the |It said that Richard Morris built a Skippack turnpike to the Germantown house and lived at the present premises turnpike. The surface is quite undulat¬ of Henry C. Hoover, on the cross road, ing with meadow and upland, and with a a mile west of Blue Bell. During his general slope to the southwest. The lifetime, he sold off tracts along the spring of water is one of the best and Skippack road, and next to the Plymouth purest in the township. This is covered line. His death took place in September 1737. by an old stone springhouse. The two- John Rees. story stone dwelling, near the cross road, is of uncertain age, as it has been re¬ The present Conrad farm covers a modelled in modern times and a wing portion of the 150 acres, sold by Morris added. An old stdne barn, formerly to John Rees, a Welsh Quaker, about stood near the highway. It was suc¬ 1733. In 1734 Rees was assessed for this ceeded by a very large structure, erected many acres, and previously to 1733 he in 18o8 by NTathan Conrad. An orchard lived in Plymouth. Rees doubtless covers the meadow slope to the north¬ made the first improvements here. His ward, while a piece of woodland borders selection of a site for his house attests to the highway to the southward beyond a his good judgment. We know little strip of meadow. The property now ■bout Rees, except that he was a mem- belongs to John M. Conrad, of the third >er of the Friends Meeting, of Plymouth, generation of that family who have been (during a long life. His ownership here its possessors. lovered a period of thirty-four years, Before white men lived here and culti¬ /and then he removed—vve kuow not whither. vated these rolling lands of Whitpain, a patent, covering 5,000 acres, was granted The records of the Friends tell some¬ in 1682 to George Palmer, of course then thing about the family of John Rees, underfined in extent and unsurveyed. whose wife’s name was Hannah. The Palmer lived in England, never seeing entries of births are : 1706, Edward, son his American lands. On April 9th of of John and Hannah Rees; 1708, Cath¬ that year, he, by will, bequeathed a arine, daughter of John and Hannah share of the same to his son William Rees; 1710, Rose, daughter of John and Palmer. In 1702, a patent of exact Hannah Rees ; 1718, John, sou of John boundaries, conveying 834 acres, was and Hannah Rees. Besides these, there received by him from Penu’s Commis¬ were other children, perhaps born sioners of Property. This tract was 280 earlier. The entries, coucerniug their perches, or J of a mile wide, by 476 marriages are: 1727, Edward, sou of perches, or about 1$ miles long, or half John Rees, of Plymouth, and Elizabeth Thomas, of ; 1727, Mary, daughter of John Rees, of Plymouth, A second smaller piece was‘rbeginfiiiigl; and William Maulsby, of the same town¬ in line of Richard Morris, then south- f ship ; 1738, Ellen, daughter of John west 125 perches to line late of John Rees, of Whitpain, to Abraham, son of Rees ; northwest by said Rees 29$ perches; ! ; Jacob Roads, of Darby; 1736, Jane, northeast 125 perches to line late of j. ' daughter of John Rees, of Whitpain, to Thomas Ellis ; southeast by late Richard Samuel Davis, of Plymouth. Morris 29$ perches to beginning,” con- , By the assessment of 1761, John Rees taining 23 acres. This piece evidently was credited with 100 acres, of which one- was a narrow strip on the north side, j half remained a forest. Three children near the later Zimmerman lands. Then are mentioned. He had ten acres sown there was a little piece of nine acres, I with grain, and four horses, seven sheepj beginning at side of a road ; then north- , and five cows. In 1767 his ownership east 116 perches ; southeast 29$ perches ; ceased by the sale of this farm to Henry southwest 111 perches along said road, Markhall or Markley. The latter was the and along said road three perches to owner for seven years just prior to the beginning. Revolution. In 1774, Markley sold to Henry Conrad was a life-long owner. John Zimmerman and Zebulon Potts, In 1828 he detached a lot of tour acres the latter, of Plymouth. They bought along the township line road, upon which for speculative purposes, most likely, he built a house, and which stands there ■ three tracts, containing 132 acres, for to-day. In 1838 this house was tenanted : £350. by George Smith and a houseful of The Episcopal Corporation. children. In that year it was bequeathed Few people know that a church cor¬ poration owned a farm in Whitpain for bv will of Henry Conrad to his daughter Elizabeth, who married William Jones. nearly twenty years. Its title was “ The TP AX 1 Society of the Relief of Widows and Children of Clergymen in the Communion of the Protestant LOCAL HISTORY. Episcopal Church of America.” They The Farm of Augustus Styer, Whitpaiu-—The bought of Zimmerman and Potts for Plantation of John Bell—Benjamin Cor¬ £545, in 1777, who thus realized a neat i 7 son. 'sum upon their speculation. The main Will of Henry Conrad. j tract conveyed had on it a dwelling, aud This was made 43 years after his pur- comprised 100 acres. There were two chase of the property, on November 13th, I 1838. It gave his farm to his sou K other pieces of twenty-three and 9 acres. Nathan after the death of his widow. The ownership of this church corpora Five children are mentioned—Benjamin, tion extended down until 1795. It would Aaron, Osborne, Nathan and Ann. The be interesting to know who farmed the amount of $3,700 was to be paid out by Nathan to the other heirs. The name land during this period, or how profitable of Henry Conrad’s wife was Ann the farm was to the corporation. The Osborne. She died December 7th, 1852, over-plus beyond taxes and expenses aged 83 years, having been boru in 1769. i ' probably did not amount to any great Her daughter Anu married John Shull., Benjamin Conrad died unmarried in sum. 1843. The writer is not informed what The next purchaser was Henry Conrad, became of Aaron Conrad. Osborne died then a young man. He is termed a in Philadelphia some 15 years ago. weaver, and paid £550. Antiquarians, ! Duriug his lifetime, Henry Conrad had sold off part of his farm on the west- at least, will be interested in the ©rn side. It was not until 1858, or after boundaries a.century ago : Beginning at; the death of his widow, that the other corner of William Coulston ; thence heirs made a formal release to their brother, Nathan Conrad, of a house and i i northeast by same and land late of 102 acres—excepting the 4-acre lot. ] Richard Morris 248 perches; northwest Previous to this time, in 1851, Nathan , by same 66 perches ; southwest by land Conrad had bought a house and 68 acres late of William Thomas, 248 perches ; adjoining that of Jonathan Wood. This comprised the later farm of Septimus southeast by late David Meredith Roberts and other land. Another (Plymouth line) 65 perches to beginning. generation passed away, aud in 1873, This piece comprised 100 acres, was after the death of Nathan Conrad, the three-quarters of a mile long, but only present owner, John M. Conrad, bought j the old homestead of the other heirs, j J.,072 feet wide. . . ' _ who were Elwood C. Courad and Edwin A C. Con rad. ' TfiVthree sons were admin-1 perches; then northwest 112 perches ; istrators of their father’s estate, who ] then by lands dividing this farm from died in 1872, leaving a widow named land late of Humphrey Ellis southwest Martha. It is said that the preseut 63 perches to beginning. This mortgage house is the one built by John Reese was signed before John Jones. before the Revolution, but which has Will of John Bell. been much altered and remodelled. This branch is descended from Dennis Con¬ John Bell died in Plymouth in the- spring of 1773. His will was made rad, or Kunders, of Germantown, who February 18, 1773, and witnessed by came there soon after the arrival of David Meredith and Nathan Potts. It William Peun.' They were Dutch was presented for registry on May 19th Quakers, and have adhered to that faith of the same year. Mention is made of to the present day in many cases. Dennis Kunders came here from Crefelt, his wife Hannah. He gave to his son on the lower Rhine, and settled in Ger¬ Jonathan Bell “all my laud in Whitpain mantown in 1685. His son Henry of 52£ acres,” upon which yet rested a married Catharine Streeper, at Friends’ mortgage. To his son Reese Bell, he Meeting, Germantown, July 10, 1710. gave £1 5 shillings. He was yet a minor. He took up a tract in Whitpain of 224 To his son John, £5 ; to said three sons, acres, situated southwest of Blue Bell. Jonathan, Reese and John, “my shad His farm was divided equally between fishery on the Schuylkill,” showing how his sons Benjamin and Joseph. the shad used to come up that stream in commercial quantities. Mention is made The Augustus Styer property borders of a niece, Rachel Bell, then a minor. the north corner of Plymouth, and lies to Jonathan Bell and his mother were made the westward of the Conrad farm. It has the executors. since 1853 belonged to William Augustus Apparently quite soon after his father’s Styer. Modern farm buildiugs have been death, Jonathan Bell sold the farm to erected by him on the summit of the Joseph Jones, probably of Plymouth. hill and near the township line road. By this time 92 acres were attached to 3 ‘The site of the old buildings were near a the buildings. Jones did not care to S spring, at a distance eastward, down the hold it, for in 1775 he sold it to John slope near where is now a hay barn. Ettris, or, as in some places it is spelled, j Here was a stone farm house in former “Eldredge.” The latter was the Revo¬ times. The surface of the farm com¬ lutionary owner. It is not known that .-3 prises lowland meadow, and fields at a he lived here—he having other property much higher elevation on the northwest about the south corner of Whitpain. 01 side. He died in Whitemarsh. Ettris was a This has been a separate plantation member and ruling elder in Boehm’s since early times. Its former history is church. He was probably born in involved in much obscurity from the Germany, in 1705. He was buried near failure to record deeds. It is the south¬ the north wall of the church, and his west end of the 427 acres sold in 1703 death took place September 24th, 1780, by Philip Price to William Thomas, of at the age of 75 years. The remains of Radnor. In 1708 the latter conveyed to his wife Dorothy lie beside him since his son Thomas Thomas. Here we lose her death on October 1st, 1790, at the trace of the history for a time. There is age of 82 years. reason to suppose that part of it was The last will of John Ettris had been contaiued in the tract bought by John made September 19th, 1781, leaving his Reese about 1733, as the next year he sons, George and John, his executors. was assessed for 150 acres. The only In 1785 they sold to a woman named record found by the writer showing the Margaret Faberitz, for £460—possibly Reese ownership is a mortgage of 1757, their sister. Later, this Margaret Fa¬ recorded in Philadelphia. This shows beritz married Reese Morris. She had that a piece, comprising 52£ acres, was been the widow of Frederick Faberitz, of sold in 1748 by Edward Reese and wife j Whitpain, and thus was twice married. Elizabeth to John Bell, who came from As early as 1761 we have mention of Merion. Now, John Reese, of the Con¬ Reese Morris among the taxables of Whit¬ rad property, had a son Edward, born in pain. He then owned a lot of 28 acres, 1706, though this may have been another had four children, 15 acres cleared, and Edward Reese. Doubtless improve¬ one cow. It is not certain that he was ments had been made at the foot of the the same man who married Margaret hill prior to that time. Faberitz. It would appear that the John Bell. latter outlived her second husband also. John Bell, lacking money, was com¬ At any rate, she was deceased before pelled to mortgage his farm in 1757 to 1810, leaving Amos Ellis and Benjamin William Logan. That mortgage relates Corson as her executors. She had died the boundaries: Beginning at a corner owning 75 acres. In 1810, these execu¬ of land late of Moses Meredith, on the tors had conveyed the larger part of this, ; new road (Jolly Road;) thence southeast or 47 acres, to Henry Conrad, who im¬ 128 perches ; then northeast 83 perches mediately sold the same back to Benja¬ to a corner post dividing this land from min Corson. The latter bought another the land of John Reese ; by same north¬ piece of 18 acres of Conrad the same, west 8 perches ; then northeast 16 year. This piece Conrad had bought of V

lt~ex- jms^rris min lbU6low lor iii'iH. 7, LOCAL HISTORY. ■ perches along the Plymouth Another portion of the lands of The Duddy Farm, Whitpain-Henry Conard— o^^ret Morris, comprising 28 acres, Wiv^sold by Henry (Junard to Amos Isaac Printner- Richard Edey—Genealogy Ellis. of the Conard Family. Benjamin Corson Tiie Duddy farm is one of the old was the owner here for 22 years. In homesteads of Whitpain. It lies be¬ 1832 he sold his house and oo acres to tween Centre Square and Fort Washing¬ John Conrad. He removed to Upper ton, a mile southwest of the former, and Dublin, where he owned the Knight farm, south of Ambler, comprising 50 on the upper side of the State road. 1 he acres. He died there in 1854, leaving surface slopes northwest towards the five children—Allen, Amos, Margaret, brook that joins the Stony creek at Cus¬ Susanna and Mary. The succeeding ter station. Here are substantial farm transfers of the Whitpain farm have been: 1848, John Conrad to Robert buildings at the distance of some sixty Walker ; 1849, Walker to Edward and yards from the highway. The property William W. Reeves, of Philadelphia, has belonged to John Duddy since 1883. 1853, Reeves Bros, to William Augustus Stye'r, son of John Styer. The earlier history of this area is some¬ Will of Margaret Morris. what hazy. Once belonging within the domain of Zacbariah Whitpain, it had This was made April 18th, 1806. It was registered March 25th, 1809, indi¬ come into possession of Rees Thomas cating that her death took place towards and Anthony Morris, who owned so much the close of the latter year. She ordered of Western Whitpain. In the assess¬ the sale of all her real and personal ment of 1734 it is difficult to say to estate, the proceeds to be divided among her children. These were Christiana, whom it belonged. Susannah, Catharine, Mary, Elizabeth By the boundary of the Yost place, and John—the latter then a minor, and given in 1740, the name of Elizabeth probably a son of Reese Morris. Her daughter Elizabeth was married and had Frank is given as the owner. She was children, Susannah was married to an the wife of George Frank, who owned Infold, and had two children—John and the Zimmerman plantation, and had be¬ Margaret. Benjamin Corson was her came a widow in 1737. Because o( the i son in-law, and he and Amos Ellis were failure to record deeds, the history of the made executors. The will was witnessed by Henry Conrad and Andrew Norney. property for the next 25 years is obscure. The Farm of Septimus Roberts. Henry Conard. V This is situated along the same road The date of the purchase of the farm 4 and northward of the Conrad premises. by Henry Conard was undoubtedly later The highway makes quite a carve m than 1763, as he did not become of age this locality. Hem is a modern Jookme houseTTor many years the residence ot until that year. He was the owner dur¬ - the late Septimus Roberts, Register ot ing the Revolution, aud was an active Wills for Montgomery county. It is adherent of the American cause. Iu 1777 supposed that the land about the dwell¬ he was enrolled as a member of the ing was once contained in the Episcopal Corporation tract. We have no ceitaiu company of Abraham Wentz, and history until 1807, when Isaac Zimmer¬ at the close of the Revolution he had be¬ man sold 46 acres'to William Zimmer- come collector of township taxes along man. Theuie uuuoohouse jois an old one, built~ by% the Zimmermans, hut since remodelled with John Shearer. Known to have the into a modern structure. In 1839 Wil- handling of the public funds, these col¬ liam Zimmerman sold to Joseph Singly. lectors became the object of the cupidity A few years later Singly conveyed to of the outlaw Doans. So the attack John Zimmerman. In 1845^ the latter ; sold 68 acres to Jonathan Wood, and in upon them was made one dark night at I 1851 Wood sold to Nathan Conrad the the cross road where now' stands the same. Three years later Conrad trans¬ Sandy Hill school house, and robbed of ferred to Isaac Haman. The latter the money they had with them. This 'detached about 40 acres on the northeast side, selling the remaining 29 acres to was during the winter of 1783. On the Septimus Roberts in 1866, aud who here 21th of February, a letter was read from i spent the remainder of his life. E. M. the County Commissioners to the Su¬ : * preme Executive Council, sitting iu Philadelphia, stating the circumstances of this robbery. W Henry Conrad was the son of Dennis or Tunes Conrad, and was born May 17, wr* •' ~ 1742. He" married Elizabeth Streeper, i 11870, but on the 10th of February, 1883, July 9, 1169, aud died iu 178G, while yet ^ she obtained a divorce aud resumed her but 44 years of age, and leaving all I maiden name. Under that name she minor children. His will of 1786 ordered | sold the farm comprising 96 acres to the division of his estate between his I John Duddy in 1883. sons David, Jonathan and Streeper as The Conrad Ancestry. I soon as the second became of age. So The name Conrad is spelled in various the house and 57 acres came to David in ways iu the old documents—such as 1795 by release from Jonathan, and in Kuuders, Couard, Cunnard, Cunard, 1799 an adjoining piece of 21 acres from and so on. From the records of the his brother Streeper. family we obtain the facts given below. Meanwhile, Rebecca Conrad, daughter The earliest immigrant was among those ol Henry Conrad, and the youngest converted to the belief of the English child, became of age in 1800. Previous Friends by missionaries sent to Holland to this date she had married Isaac Print- and Germany. Upon coming to America, ner, who in legal documents is called they were largely surrounded by English- an innkeeper. Printner bought the speaking people. Owing to this fact, to¬ farm of 78 acres of his bro her-in-law, gether with their religious associations, David Conrad, in 1805, and the planta¬ they early became Anglacised. Many tion henceforth passed out of the Conrad also married into English aud Welsh name. To it was added a field of 18 families. acres in 1814, on the northeast side, by The uame of the immigrant was purchase from John Markley, who held Thones or Tunes Kuuders, who, with his land on the Skippack road, and was the wife Ellen, came over in the ship “Con¬ first laudlord of the Upper hotel, known later as Gerhart’s. cord,” aud landed in Philadelphia in July, 1083. He came from Crefeld, a city Printner disposed of his Wbitpain of the lower Rhine, a few miles from the farm in 1822 by sale to Susanna Stewart. borders of Holland. He had been born There was a tavern keeper, of Norris¬ in. 1655. Coming to Germantown, he town, for many years, and he is supposed built a house, the walls of which were to have been the same man. Now Su- standing in 1891 at No. 4537 Germantown sauna Stewart had a daughter Julia, who avenue, and was occupied as a barber married a Cuban named Edey. She was shop. In 1705 he gave £10, 11 shillings a widow before 1827, when she received toward erecting a stone meeting house the property by her mother’s will of that for the Friends. He carried on the trade year. In 1838, Julia Edey sold to Rich¬ of blue dyer. At one time he was Re¬ ard Edey, whose ownership lasted until corder for the Court, and was also one. of 1847, when he sold to Jefferson Lewis. the Burgesses of Germantown, where he Richard Edey w'as a military man aud lived 46 years. His death occurred iu Captain of the Secoud Troop of Mont¬ the fall of 1729. gomery County Cavalry. He removed The children of Thones Kuuders were to Illinois. After his death his wife Conrad, Madtis, John, Ann, Agues, wrapped his body in a tarred sheet and Henry and Elizabeth. The latter married kept it in the house for many days. He a Welshman, named Griffith Jones. The is buried at the Episcopal church, Nor¬ other daughters became Anna Streeper ristown. He had sons, Richard and and Agnes Powell. Henry, and also a daughter, who married Henry Conrad, who came to Whitpaiu, James St. Clair, of Norriton. Lewis was was the youngest son of Thones or Tunes,' only a brief holder of the property. In oi Dennis Kuuders, as he was variously 1848 he sold to Isaac B. Oberholtzer, who, called. He was born in Germantown, the same year, conveyed to William p! December 16, 1688, and married Catha- Reiff. The latter sold in 1850 to Caleb Cresson, a Philadelphia druggist. The intone ft sm* death of Cresson took place March 14 I "^,e were first cousins. They came to 1858, leaving a widow, Hannah, and chil- Whitpaiu in 1711, buying 220 acres of dren—Caleb and Sarah Emleu Cresson. Charles Mullen for £175, the land being The younger Caleb Cresson died in 1860, southwest of Blue Bell. There he lived leaving his sister as the sole owner. She 47 years. He had seven sons—William married Andrew Beaumont Leuttler in Dennis, John, Peter, Joseph, Benjamin and Samuel. y-

—TJenuSs Conrad, “the second son in- WASHINGTON’S HEADQUARTERS. Henry, married Lydia Potts, and^ lived in Norriton, where he died in 17SG. He Historic^ouse on the Morris Road in Whit- pain—Paper of Dr. Morris J. Lewis, Read by was the father of Henry Conrad, the Ex=Senator Detwilerat the Fort Washington owner of the Buddy farm. The date of Reunion on Thursday, September 23rd, 1897, the births of the four children of the in Relation to “ Dawesfieid.” latter were: l David, October 7, 1769 ; After the , which married Elizabeth Nanna, and died in was fought on the 4th of October, 177/, the American army retired as far north 1808- Jonathan, born 1773; married as Trappe, some fifteen miles north of Mary Shepherd; died 1846; Streeper, Whitemarsh, and subsequently moved to born July 3, 1777 ; married Saran Mere¬ Skippackville, Towamencin, Whitpain dith ; died January 27, 1860 ; Rebecca, and Whitemarsh, from which last place, in December, the anny moved across the born 1785, married Isaac Printner ; died ■ Schuylkill to winter quarters at Valley July, 1827. Forge. „ , . ,, David Conrad, of the fourth genera¬ In the “Life of Timothy Pickering, tion, had children—Rees, born Ii99, edited by his son Octavius Pickering in 1867, voi. 1, page 177, is a letter written i married Catherine Slyer; died 1885; by Colonel Pickering to his wife, dated ! Lydia, who married James Robinson ; “ Camp at Whitpain, fifteen miles from . Ann, born 1808 ; married Samuel Haynes ; Philadelphia, October 20th, 1777,” and j in the “Itinerary of General Washing¬ died 1881. ton,” by W. S. Baker, 1892, under the, Jonathan Conrad had children Elea¬ heading “Tuesday, October 21st, 1777,” nor, born 1801 ; Henry, born 1803 ; mar¬ the following , taken from Picker¬ ried Catherine Rertolette in 1827, and ing’s journal, appears : “ At Whitpain, deid in 1886 ; Streeper, who married October 21st. The army moved lower down to Whitpain township, within Martha Poulton in 1827 ; Charles, born fifteen miles of Philadelphia, head¬ 1829 ; married Elizabeth Barbara Fry in quarters at Mr. Morris’s.” 1834 ; died 1849. Mary, born 1813 ; mar¬ These two quotations prove without ried Charles Brock; Elizabeth, born 1815; doubt that this was the time that the army was encamped in Whitpain towu- married David P. Reilf: died 1880. ’ ship, having moved there from the camp Streeper Conrad, who married Sara in Towamencin. Some 10,000 men are Meredith, bad Meredith, born in 1801; said to have been encamped in the vicinity of the General’s headquarters, married Rachel Jenkins, 1829 ; died 1874; which was, as above stated, at James Joseph, born 1803, died 1868 ; unmarried; Morris’s. Elizabeth, born 1805 ; married James W. The house is still standing and in good Shoemaker in 1829 ; died in 1855 ; Sarah, preservation, although somewhat altered by succeeding generations. It is now in born 1817, died 1887 ; unmarried. possession of Mrs. Saunders Lewis, the Isaac Printner and wife bad a big grandmother of the above-mentioned houseful of children. Of those who James Morris. The place is now called grew to maturity are mentioned Elizabeth “ Dawesfieid,” from Abraham Dawes, the younger, whose daughter Elizabeth mar¬ wife of Benjamin Bartholomew, and died ried James Morris. The house ‘was in 1860 ; Lindsay, born 1807 ; married built in 1736, which date probably Jane Crull in 1835 ; died in 1875 ; John designates the completion of the house, Thomas, bom 1808; married Hannah as" the property canid into Abraham Dawes’s possession from his father in | Lucinda Reynolds 1833; died lo8o; 1731. Caroline, born 1810 ; married John Hud- Abraham Dawes, the father, bought dleson ; died 1873 ; Catharine, born 181. ; the property from Anthony Morris 3d, unmarried ; Constance, born 1816 ; mar¬ who was the grandfather of James Morris. Anthony Morris 3d bought the ried Branton Holstein in 1836 ; died 1889 ; land in 1713 in connection with Reese Martha, bom 1823 ; married John Cald¬ Thomas, so that the possessionary interest well in 1842 ; Henry, born 1835 ; married in the property, now called “ Dawes¬ fieid,” can with propriety be traced back Isabella McDonnel in 1856, and Anna M. to this date, covering five generations of Letmer in 1868 ; died in 1885. Besides uninterrupted ownership. these were Isaac, William and Hughes, At the time of the occupancy of the who died young. _ place by the army the house faced to the south, instead of to the west, as at present ; the south wing had not yet been built, and the small room to the . north, subsequently to be spoken of as General Washington’s office,, had not been enlarged into the present northern

/-wing. jl. A 1 The latter alteration was made in 1785- The headings of General Washington’s ,86, and the former , in 1821. A broad letters when his headquarters were at pent house extended originally around •Tames Morris’s are rather confusing—see the southern side of the house, just “ Writings of General Washington” vol. below the second story, expanding over VI, by W. C. Ford, viz : the front door into an old-fashioned “Skippack Road, 15th Mile Stone, 25 ! “ Germantown Stoop.” October, 1777.” In Baker's ‘‘Itinerary of General “Skippack Road, 27 October, 1777.” I Washington” under the heading “ Philadelphia County, 27 October, October 30 ”—-is the following entry : 1777.” “At Whitpain— A geueral court-martial, “ Headquarters, near Whitemarsh, 15 - (of which Geueral Sullivan was president, miles from Philadelphia, October 30th, j was held at the Whitpain headquarters' .1777.” the 25th, 26th, 27th and 30th of October, “ Headquarters, near Whitemarsh, 1 lor the trial ot Brigadier General i November, 1777.” Wayne.” This inquiry was called at After he moves his headquarters to Wayne's request—see ‘‘Stilie’s Wayne,” “George Emlen’s,” he heads several of page 84-85, to investigate his conduct'at his letters “Camp at Whitemarsh,” one, the so-called massacre of Paoli. “ Camp uear Whitemarsh, 5 November, Brigadier General Wayne was acquit¬ 1777,” and another “Camp near White- ted with the highest honors. iuarsh, 12 miles from Philadelphia, In the article on Towamencin town¬ November 14tb, 1777,” so that a careless ship, by William J. Buck, in Bean’s reader might easily conclude the two history of Montgomery county, page 1087, .’ “Camps ” to be one aud the same. this event is erroneously stated to have While at James Morris’, General Wash¬ occurred at the Wampole Headquarters,” ington slept in the second story of the. Towamencin, while the same author in then western wing, the bed and bedstead ‘•History of Montgomery county,” upop which he rested being still in the' Norristown, 1850, again erroneously states house and in good preservation. that it occurred at “George Emlen’s ” | General Lafayette was with Washing- the Whitemarsh Headquarters. .j ton at this time and occupied the room On the 29th of October a council of on the ground door immediately beneath: war was held at James Morris’,” at t this arrangement being made, as Lafay- | which it was decided not to be advisable : ette was suffering from a wound of the j to make an attack upon Philadelphia. knee which was received at the Battle of The call for this council of war is printed Brandywine, and could not mount the j in W. C. Ford’s “Writings of George , stairs. During the encampment raiu fell i Washington,” vol. VI, page 143. Ac¬ . almost every day, and the soldiers were cording to the Pennsylvania May mine for compelled during the night to seek July, 1896, page 223-227, in an article on shelter in the neighboring barns, aud the “ Defences of Philadelphia,” by W. several died from exposure and sickness. G. Ford, it is stated that the following The encampment of so many men in the 9®cers were present “ at a Council of neighborhood must have caused some' ” ar held at Headquarters at Whitpaiu distress to the inhabitants, as the follow¬ October 29th, 1777,” viz : ing extract from a letter from Mr. Reed “ His Excellency the Commander-in- to President Wharton, dated “ Head¬ Chief, Major-Generals John Sullivan quarters, James Morris’s, 17 miles from Nathauiel Greene, Adam Stepheu, Le Philadelphia, on the Skippack Road, Marquis de Lafayette, Alex. McDougall- October 30th,” shows: “The long resi¬ Brigadier-Generals, William Maxwell, H.’ Knox, J. Varnum, Anthony Wayne’ P dence of the army in this quarter has Muhlenberg, G. Weedou, Jed. Hunt’ino-1 proved very distressing to the inhabit¬ don, T. Conway, Pulaski.” ants whose forage must be drawn for In comparing the above dates, it will I heir subsistance.” See “The Life and > be seeu that the Court-martial was ap¬ Correspondence of President Reed,” vol. parently suspended on the 29th in order I, page 332, by William B. Reed, Phila¬ delphia, 1847. to hold the Council of War, at which Brigadier General Wayne himself was The most of the trees upon the place present. It is believed that both of these were cut down by the army for their use, meetings were held in the northern wino although those immediately surrounding of the old house, as this is believed to the house escaped. The mill near t.he have been the General’s office. Morris road, known as Wertsner’s mill, In the “Itinerary” previously quoted which was torn down in the fall of 1887, under the heading “Sunday, November was built by James Morris, in part out ol 2nd,” is this entry, taken from Picker¬ wood felled by the army. ing’s Journal, “ At Whitemarsh, about OUR HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT. November 2nd. The Army marched to Whitemarsh, about thirteen miles from Philadelphia.” This was therefore the | The 9r'2*n °f the Name of Whitemarsh Town1 date that the army left “Camp Whit¬ ship—Revolutionary Events of the Vicinity pain ” or “James Morris’s” for “George Including Those Leading up to the Battle, of Emlen’s,” the Whitemarsh Head¬ Germantown-Paper Read by Charles S. quarters having been at Camp Whitpaiu Mann at the Fort Washington Reunion, for thirteen days, October 20th—Novem¬ September 25th, 1897. ber 2d. The most interesting period in the his- rV( tory off a' State—nr' tYuTOtbe heroic and the propriety Governor had period of those of us who sjaud where journey “to look at some land which was time remotely distant “ lentjs enchant¬ afterwards called Springfield. ment to the view begins wfeh the first In a bill of charges, Fairman also notes settlement of its territory and the organi among other items that he was debtor zation of its first system of government. “to a journey with the proprietor and No matter how eventful noi- how im¬ his friends to Umbolekemensin with three portant it may subsequently pecome in of my horses, 12 shillings.” Perhaps the arena of the world’s affair no coii- both of Fairman’s statements refer to temporaneous period can su][plant the the same journey, which was probably romance quaint fascination and the made in 1683. which clings around the chronicles of We have no record of the Governor s ts pioneers and “advance guards of impression of this valley in the hill s em civilization.■ {nil irrafw\IY ^ 1, brace, which be beheld in all its natural Here, in the old colonies and original beauty as he follows the Indian trails States we love to go back through the over its boardering bills, aud guided his annals and traditions of the past to the horse along the winding banks ot the days of the founders, and learn who first Wissabickon as it rippled along its stony gave meters and bonds to the chartless channel through the dense and silent and unknown wilderness, who named forests. But the tact that he directed these counties, towns and villages, who Fairman to survey over 4,000 acres to be built the first homesteads, cleared these reserved as the property ot his wife, leads fields and tilled the virgin soil, who us to infer that his practical eye was framed our laws, gained bur liberties and captivated with its worth and beauty. enlightened the laud with its beacou Gulielma Maria Penn was the charming lights of schools and churches. What and devoted only daughter of Sir Wil¬ manner of men were they and from liam and Mary Proude Springett, of whence did they come ? Darlington, Sussex, England. Her We meet to-day in the very heart of father was a parliamentary Colonel in some of the oldest settlements in the the cause of Hampden and Cromwell. As State. Our country for a full century late as 1738 the Penn family still held formed a part of one of the first organ¬ about 1,600 acres of the former Manor of ized counties in the province. Located Springfield. in the suburbs of the first capital of the In October, 1683, “at United Colonies. One of the oldest, best the request of Jasper Farmer, Jr, on and most heroic cities in America. We behalf of his father, Major Jasper Farm¬ are surrounded by ancient land marks of er, his brother Richard and himselt the Colonial and Revolutionary eras. granted them 5,000 acres of laud, being ot Exceedingly rich in the traditions and the lands by the Indians, called Umbili- associations of our storied and eventful camence, fronting at one end on the past., river Schuylkill, and requested Thomas One hundred and twenty years ago Holmes forthwith to survey or cause to next November yonder hillsides were be surveyed the said 5,000 acres. lighted for nearly six weeks with the Major Jasper Farmar, au officer in the camp fires of the Continental Array. 1 he British Army in the time of Charles II, fields of the Revolution lie encircled was the son of George Farmar, Earl ol about us and l he memorable events of Pomfert: The family name was origin¬ Paoli, Germantown, Fort Washington ally Ricards alias Fermor or Farmar. Whiteinarsh, , Crooked from the female branch of an old Norman Billet and Barren Hill forms one of the family, dating back to the reign ol most thrilling chapters in our national William the Conqueror, beginning A. D. history. „ . r, , „ . 1066. So rapidly bad the fame of Peon s fail In the time of Henry VII they held a and fruitful province as well as of his family estate at Somerton, Oxfordshire, liberal principles of government been England. circulated abroad, that the tide of ial¬ , Major Farmar had lived for many teration which flowed in was something years upon an estate near Cork, in Ire¬ unprecedented, and the growth of his land, but becoming dissatisfied with boiony was truly marvelous. the turbulent condition of affairs by By the date of Penn’s return to Eng¬ which he was surrounded was led to em¬ land in 1084 it is said that more than bark for Pennsylvania. We do not know fifty townships had been settled within that he was either a friend or relative of the original counties of Chester, 1 hila- Penn, but his name and the marked con¬ delphia aud Bucks. sideration that was shown his request This beautiful valley which the Indians for lands might give us grounds to think were loth to relinquish, and to which that he may have been. Penn’s mother’ they loved to return, did not, therefore, family name was Jasper. Governor lontr escape the covetous eye of then- Thomas Peun married Julian Farmar-, troublesome land-graping, pale-faced daughter of the Earl of Pomfret. neighbors. According to colonial records Major Thomas Fairmau, the friend of Penn Farmar sent out John Scull as overseer and one of his deputy surveyor-generals with a number of servants to settle upon who laid off the Manor of Springfield, in he purchased tract aud provide acoom 1 1084 records that prior to that event he - ; "* .. '■ r rf • •, • Ipi0nsideriDie uncertainty concerning the origin and first application of the name. modations for his own family upoTTuleir For the first quarter of a century it was arrival. In July, 1085, the Indians com¬ known as “ Farmarstown. ” In 1720 it was plained to the Governor’s Council that written Farmarstown alias Whitemarsh, some of Scull’s servants had maltreated and thereafter invariably Whitemarsh. and abused them. Major Farmar arrived Ur. Millet, in his history of St. Thomas at Philadelphia, September 10, 1685, on Church, states that the name was derived the Bristol Merchant Captain John from a parish of that name in England. Stevens commander, with his family, con¬ This has been called in question, by sisting of himself, Mary, his wife, and some other authorities, who have claimed eight children—Edward, Richard, Jas¬ that there was no counterpart to the per, Jr., Sarah, John, Robert, Catharine I name in existence, but they are evidently and Charles, and also about twenty ser¬ in error, for localities bearing the name vants and artisans. Whitemarsh exist to-day in Maryland Major Farmar did not live to see his and Virginia. colony established, as his death occurred In 1713 the German inhabitants of just as the vessel came to port in Phila¬ VanBebbers township on the Skippack, delphia. Jasper, Jr. had also died just petitioned the court of Quarter Sessions previous to his father, and as no settle¬ that a road be laid out from Skippack to ment had been effected, Madame Farmar, the “Wide marsh” at Farmars Mill. as legatee of her husband’s estate, made Wm. A. Yeakle, beyond a doubt, in his a partition of which one-half of the 5,000 history of the township, believed that acres by the will became in fee her prop¬ the name was a variation of wide marsh erty, and the other half, that of her sons, originating from the general character of Richard and Edward. Richard soon sold the grassy lowlands for miles on either his portiou and then the widow regained side of the Wissahicon. Others claim possessipn and became owner of two- t hat the name was suggested by the color thirds of the original estate, which, of the clay and limestone soil of the val¬ with Edward’s share, comprised all of ley. Whitemarsh township, southwest of the Whilst Dr. Sheeleigh thinks it possible Skippack and Church roads to the that it may have been bestowed by some Schuylkill. of the early German settlers, who were 1 Madame Mary Farmer died near the either followers of Menno Simon or had i latter part of 1090, and by will be¬ been natives or residents of his birthplace queathed all her estate to her son Eil- at Witmarsum, Friesland, Holland. , ward, who located here at a very early I Down to 1740 the name was variously date, and built the first mill in the town¬ written “Witmarsh” and “ Witmars-I ship on the Wissabickou, which supplied han. ” Lying so close to the thrifty all the early settlers in the surrounding German colony of Pastorious it is not country, even as far north as Franconia strange that the enterprising and aggres¬ and Upper Salford. sive spirits of that vicinity looking from Settliug here while yet much of the the rugged heights of Chesnnt Hill fixed country was in possession of the Indians, wistful eyes upon the vacant acres of the Edward became familiar with their Penns and Farmars as fast as they were language and became a famous inter¬ placed on the market. Among early preter; was also justice of the Philadel¬ families of this race in Springfield were phia county courts for forty years ; was the Ottingers, Heydricks, Yeakles, ■ < elected a member of the Provincial Rexes, Bisbings, Snyders, Streepers, ' Assembly in 1710, and continued to Staleys and Levelings. serve with but few intervals until his In this township English families, like death, November 3, 1745. the Farmars, Robesons, Maulsbeys, Lan- Nicholas Scull, son of Nicholas, who ■- casters, Dickinsons, Mathers, Shepherds, came in the same ship with Farmar, or Gilberts, Woods and others. Welsh John, who came earlier, was also an • j families like the Jones’, Davis’, Morris’, interpreter of great ability, and had few Merediths, Williams’, Potts’ and (Jouls- equals as surveyor. He conducted treat¬ tons were first on the ground, but by the ies with the Indians at Conestoga, 1728, time of the Revolution the families of B at New_ Hanover the same year, and in 1 1729 at Shamokm and the Minisinks,~oTr German lineage had made such encroach¬ {the upper Delaware. In 1744 he was ments upon their territory, that they commissioned Sheriff of Philadelphia outnumbered both the English and i. county, and served in that capacity for Welsh. In a list of 1780 we find Katzs, many years. Hs was made Surveyor Hagys, Millers, Hausers, Shoemakers, | General in 1748, and filled the position Conards, Lentzs, Wolfs, Dagers, Bart- until his death in 1701, when he was lesons, Mitscbels, Ketlers, Hiltners, succeeded by John Lukens, of Horsham. Chessmans, Freas’, Streepers, Fishers, John Scull, a member of this same Snyders, Dewees, Kulps, Acuffs, Aimaus, , family, carried the first printing press Sheetzs, Lukens, Engharts, Egberts and ’ across the , and Rapines. founded the Commercial Gazette at Pitts¬ Here in this province w7as begun that burg, in 1G80. This was the first press harmonious commingling of Taces on a and newspaper in the entire Mississippi broader, more comprehensive scope than Valley. the world ever saw, and in these town- Whitemarsh is one of the most beauti¬ ful of our old colonial names, yet there is .Jjl &ngftiih, Welsh, Germans, uul51-. gjJrODf'8’ aud I,!>sh» Churchmen, Friends t-T—S?®rans> Reformers and Schwenkfei- l)y along”vvit'h i'vast j.ers dwelt side by side. In Upper Dub- ing data. •; ri .m over the line of which the streets of The fleet of Admiral Richard Howe, this village overlap was known as -‘The i which sailed from Staten Island in mid- Flnond',Dublin T°whship” as early as summer of 1777, bound for the head of lbiM to distinguish it from Lower Dublin the Chesapeake and the capture of Phila¬ along the Pennypeck and the Delaware. delphia transferred, as it were, the hor¬ Ihe Burk family purchased a large tract rors, the sufferings, the hardships, and ot land iu the western corner of the town file enthusiasm of war to the peaceful ship situated between the Susquehanna and prosperous land of Pennsylvania. • street road arid the Whitemarsh line as Washington immediatly advanced to early as 1G93 and were probably amoui; meet the enemy, and on the 11th of Sep¬ the first setters, while about the same tember bravely endeavered to prevent date came Fjtzwaters, Spencers, Kirks j Howe’s passage at the fords of the lysons Clearer-;, Conards, Shoemakers Brandywine, but with an army greatly and Lukens, generally English and Ger¬ inferior to the enemy in numbers, arms, man h riends,] who by intermarriage and discipline and general equipment, the' . association with families of English de¬ odds against him were too great. to have [ scent became essentially English them¬ left a reasqnabih hope of victory, and at selves. Somewhat later came other ruf jlQse. Qt t!lat day’s e,igagemeiu' at German names, as Schaffer, Eugard, Ubadford and Birmingham meetiug he Aimaus, HoUpts, Stouts, Ryner and was obliged to withdraw, leaving the others. enemy master df the fielo. One of the most historic churches in The whole irmy retreated to Chester Pennsylvania and a prominent landmark under cover of, Greene’s division, where for miles around is St. Thomas Episcopal the broken columns collected and reform Church of Whitemarsh, dating back ac¬ ed during the night. The next day they cording to wed-fouuded tradition as early marched np through Darby over the as 1695, makii|g it co-eval with Christ’s Schuylkill bridge and encamped near the Church, of Philadelphia, Old Oxford and Falls of Schuylkill. St. David’s, at Radnor, The beautiful Howe’s army lay the night of the 41th grounds upon which it stands having on the field of battle, and remained there been donated by Edward Farmar in 1710 next day. He afterward proceeded to and under the chancel of the old church Concord Meeting House and Village his body lias mouldered to dust. Green. & St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, at Barren Allowing his army only a day for rest Hill, is equally as conspicious as St. and refreshment, Washington re-crossed 1 horaas’ as a landmark and perhaps the Schuylkill and moved out the Lancas¬ more famous in history. ter road, with the intention of meeting As early as 1753 families from the the enemy andi risking another enoa.re! mother church St. Miebaal’s. at German¬ ment. On the 16th, intending to"eain town, who lived in the vicinity, assem¬ ground on the left of the British, he had bled in their homes for worship, and the reached Warren Tavern, where very early corner-stone of the first church was laid that morning information was received by Rev. Henry M. Mublenburg, 1761. that Howe had moved from Concord by Around its walls marched the contending tne E.lgemont roads, and was advancin'.' armies of Howe and Lafayette, and there up the valley to gain the American riirht. the “ Stripling Frenchman, ” by a skilled 1 ne whole army was immediately put in manoeuver, outgeneraled and escaped his motion and made ready to meet the enemy wily foes. Zion Lutheran Church, of Whitemarsh maiched early that morning toward was fouuded in 1818 by members of St'. Goshen .Meeting house, where he learned Michael s Church at Germantown and St. that Washington was only five miles from Peter’s at Barren Hill, in union with the that place. Both armies hastily prepared followers of the Reformed Church, de¬ for action. The advance guards met be¬ scendants uo doubt of the lost church of tween Goshen Meeting House and White Whitemarsh, of which we shall hear Horse favern and were beginning to more this afternoon. skirmish when a terfifie thunder storm It occupies a most beautiful location close to a portion of the old camp-grouud wuSt f0Jth aild the rain '*1 torrents. When the storm had subsided the Ameri¬ where tent marks still remain. cans found their ammunition so badly The handsome new Reformed Church damaged that further action was impos¬ of Whitemarsh, on the opposite side of sible. the street, was recently erected by the The inferior condition of their mus¬ congregation which formerly worshipped kets many ot which were unfit for ser¬ in Union Church. 1 vice—exposed them at all times to an un- The waterpower of the Wissahickon ^ equal enntest with tile enemy, but now was early recognized and put to service in addition to defective flintlocks, their The famous flouring mills of Whitemarsh situation was made extremely serious by and Upper Dublin, ante-dating the Rev¬ the absence, to a vefy great extent, of I olution, are worthy of special notice, but even bayonets. 1 lor the lack of time we must pass them >- Rendered wholly unfit for active ser¬ vice, YVashingtou w|s reluctantly com- pel led To withdraw bis army to a place" of safety. Retreating late that'day and I and Gordon’s tordT .f most of the night in a cold, distressing Remembering Howe’s tactics at rain, over the. deep, heavy roads they Brandywine, Washington was apprehen- reached the Yellow Springs, destitute of j sive that the enemy were endeavoring to tents and baggage, a few hours before I cross the river above and cut off his j day on the 17th of September, and access to the military stores and pro- halted a short time for rest and refresh¬ ! visions deposited at Reading, without ments: j which the American army could not Kl' An examination of their arms and am¬ I exist, returned up the river on the 22d of munition disclosed the alarming fact that September, and encamped at Pottsgrove. ,| scarcely a musket in a regiment, or one On the afternoon of the 22d of Septem¬ charge of powder in a cartridge box, ber, Howe sent a division of his forces to with forty rounds per man, could be dis- take possession of Gordon’s aud Fatland ||> charged. ford. They dispersed the Americans on I', Under these circumstances the army iguard and held the passes until the . decided to retire still farther from the whole British army crossed the river by l' enemy, to Warwick Furnace, a strong midnight at Fatland ford one-half mile position easily defended, in order that below Valley Forge and went into camp thejr might clean their arms and procure between Stony Creek and Swedesford. a fresh supply of ammunition, hoping With an army suffering from the ex¬ yet that they might be able to dispute . cessive hardships and fatigue occasioned the passage of the Schuylkill with Howe by constant marching in stormy weather and make another effort to save Phila- since the , it was : delphia. impossible for Washington to overtake The British did not attempt pursuit of the enemy or give immediate pursuit. Washington during this exceedingly wet Frequently separated from their tents weather. Howe merely united his forces and baggage in the active operations of and remained in camp near White Horse the past fortnight, the troops had been until the 18th when he moved nearer the exposed to heavy rains without shelter. river and encamped in Tredyffrin. More than a thousand were barefooted On the 19th Washington’s main army and forced to march over muddy roads crossed the Schuylkill at Parkersford, aud swollen streams in that condition. moved down the eastern bank of the Cold, wet and hungry, destitute of so ! river and encamped at the mouth of the much essential to their health and com- I Perkiomen. fort, scores of the patriots were obliged ! General Wayne had been sent from to lodge on the damp ground without | Warwick with a detachment of fifteen tent or blanket. In this extremity, when j hundred men to join Geueral Smallwood i Washington’s army wras unable to make and Colonel Gist’s corps of Maryland a forced movement upon the enemy, a I Militia, who were following in the rear of council of general officers was held, and Howe to cut off his supplies and to inter¬ decided to remain at Pottsgrove until re- | cept and annoy his operations. inforcements should arrive and allow the j On the night of the 20th of September army a few days’ rest. Wayne encamped in the woods at the in¬ Unmolested in his advance toward [ tersection of the Darby and Lancaster Philadelphia, Howe leisurely passed I roads in the vicinity of Paoli tavern, down through Plymouth, Whitemarsh, I 1 some three miles in the rear of Howe. Barren Hill, Chestnut Hill and German- : Taking every precaution to insure the town, where the main body was en¬ 1 safety of his command the men were camped. ordered to sleep on their arms with their On September 26th, Washington ammunition in their coats. moved his forces east from Pottsgrove to About midnight the notorious “no Penuypacker’s Mills, on the Perkiomen, . fliut,” Gen. Grey, with a detachment of where he was joined by Wayne’s and British, led by the torries, suddenly fell Smallwood’s divisions, and also Gen. * upon Wayne’s camp in the darkness and Forman, with some 800 rain, drove their bayonets through the militia, increasing his forces fit for duty £1 sentiuels, and charged upon the sleeping to about 8,000 continentals and about patriots without firing a shot. In the 3,000 militia. In a council of General | confusion Wayne’s men endeavored to officers it was agreed to move the army | form in the light of their own fires. nearer the city and wait for a favorable With brutal butchery and without opportunity to attack the enemy. Sep¬ quarter, three hundred of Wayne’s men tember 30th they eucamped on the ; were slain before they could retreat Methactou hills, in Worcester township. under cover of darkness. Smallwood About noon, October 3d, says Ban¬ was within a mile of Wayne, but the croft, Washington announced to his army militia became panic stricken and tied in encamped on Methacton hill, his pur¬ ; confusion, upon the approach of a party y pose to move upon the enemy’s camp at , of British, returning from the massacre. Germantown. He spoke to them of the Having secured his rear from attack success of the Northern army and ex by driving Wayne out of his way, Ho"V ' plained that Howe, who lay at a distance , j, advanced up the Schuylkill, and station- of several miles from Cornwallis, had ■ ed his forces aloug the river, in front of further weakeued himself by sending a ■J the American Army, between Fatland I division into New Jersey to operate ■gainst the defences on the Delaware, hold out nerhaps~General Howe, sepa¬ ft they would be brave and patient he rated from' bis .slipping and derived of might on the next day lead them to supplies, would be compelled to evacuate victory. It was proposed, if possible, to Philadelphia. surprise the camp at Germantown and During the days of suspense and attack both wings iu front and rear at anxiety, Washington again drew nearer the same time. the city, and oi.\the second day of No- ' Alter dark, on the eyeniug of the 3d i vember took a commanding position in of October, the American army silently the heights of Upper Dublin and White- marched down Skippack road toward inarsh. At the foot of the timbered hill¬ Germantown. It was designed to fall side and bordering the level meadows of upou the enemy before daybreak, but, the Sandy Run in the large and sub¬ owing to the condition of the road, it stantial stone mansion, 80x27 feet, of i was after sunrise when the advance George Emlen, now the homestead of guards emerged from the woods on Charles T. Aitnan, General Washington Chestnut Hill. made his headquarters for nearly six | The attack had been made with spirit weeks, while directly tbove, on the sunny and fora time the enemy was driven in slopes of Camp Hill, ixtended the main consternation from his positiou with line of the Continents Army, defended flattering prospects of victory, but owing by a line of fortifications and iutreuch- to the dense fog, darkened by the smoke ments not yet entirely obliterated by the of the engagement, it became impossible plowshares of a century. Half a mile for the troops to act in concert or dis¬ further to the right on the ridge between tinguish friend from foe, a general con- the Sandy Run and the Wissahickon the fusiou prevailed and the confidence felt strong redoubt of Fori Washington was at the opening of the engagement was thrown up to cover tie approach from entirely lost. With infinite chagrin the Germantown road. Washington was compelled to relinquish While still westward beyond the Wissa the victory he had thought within his hickon, 700 Pennsylvtnia militia, com grasp. Two bundled Americans were manded by General Potter, a brave anc killed, perhaps 500 wounded and 400 efficient officer, dug their trenches an< >. taken prisoners. Among the mortally pitched their tents among the faller wounded was General Francis Nash, a leaves of that long and rocky elevatioi brave and very valuable officer. since known as Militia Hill. The Americans driven back over the Here at Whitemarsh Washington was * roads down which they had marched in reinforced by fifteen regiments pf Massa-j the morning took refuge at Penny- chusetts line, under Generals Larned^ packer’s mills until the night of the 8th Paterson and Glover; three regiments of October, when the army moved south¬ from New Hampshire, under Geueraj east some ten miles and encamped near Poor, and Morgan’s corps of riflemen. I the Mennouite meeting-house in Towa- j With the stirring events which filled mensjng. I the eventful period that the army spent Hem in the old Meunonite burvius' ground Gen. Nash was buried on roe' before leaving for tie winter encampmeut morning of the 9th of October with the at Valley Forge I will not further vex honors of war. Remaining just one week your patience, feeling that the ground the army returned on the 16th to Peter will be more completely and more ablyl Wentz’s in Worcester, to the grounds it covered in the program of the afternoon* had occupied previous to the attack on by the venerable father of our local his¬ tory, Win. J. Buck, of Jenkinfown. Germantown. It was here on the 18th that the spirits ’Tis true that our engagements atl of the well-nigh disheartened American Paoli, Brandywine, Germantown, White-; marsh aud Valley Forge, were not the army were relivened and revived by the > victories of Saratoga uor York- news of Burgoyne’s surrender at Sara- jy toga. With thankful heart Washington town, yet, nevertheless, the hardships, ordered divine service and thanksgiving sufferings and discouragements of those, trying days were harder to endure audi to be celebrated by the chaplains at the head of each regiment at 5 o’clock, to be required a stouter, more resolute deter-| initiation than the shock of successful followed by a salute of thirteen cannon arms. and a volley of musketry. Every place where liberty was nur- The evacuation of Germantown by tiwed, every field where patriots died, will Howe, on the 19th of October, led Wash¬ become shrines more precioijs to every ington to change his position to a field less distant from the enemy, and on the succeeding generation. ! _J 21st of October he encamped near the Blue Bell tavern, in Whitpain township, with headquarters at James Morris’s. At this period the gravest concern was felt for the maintenance of Forts Mifflin and Mercer, the twin guards of the Dela¬ ware, which had so long resisted the ad- jj vance of Admiral Howe’s fleet. It was earnestly hoped that if these posts could Chaplain Jones was in the massacre of Paoli, and barely escaped with his life. On the occasion or the dedica¬ tion of the monument to the dead of I From,. J lM2 Paoli, erected by the Republican Ar¬ tillerist* of Cheater county, September 20, 1817, the fortieth anniversary of v ^IrtcciAPifUL (7^. the event (this being the old monu¬ ment which still stands though it was defaced by some miscreant,) although then in his eighty-second year, he de¬ I Date, U F Ml livered an address, giving an account of the affair, which was listened to .'VT- -;. . .?) with the deepest interest by all pre¬ . ■ w sent. Rev. David Jones was born in Netv Castle county, Delaware, May 12, 1736. His grandparents, Morgan and Eleanor VALLEY FORGE CHAPLAIN Evans Jones, were natives of Wales. REV. DAVID JONES PASTOR OF THE GREAT His parents were David and Esther VALLEY BAPTIST CHURCH. Morgan Jones. The grandmother was a daughter of the famous Morgan ap An Eloquent and Aggressive Champion of Rhydderch, a Baptist preacher. the Cause of Independence—TUef^ Reared on a farm, he became a Political Meetings Is preacher in 1761, developing into an There is much in the associations eminent divine. Through earnest that surround us—the contact with labor he gained a knowledge of the high ideals and lofty examples—to ancient languages; became a mission¬ arouse latent qualities and stimulate ary among the Indians of the Ohio to heroic action. In this way it is valley in 1772, and,in 1775, took charge possible to account for the heroic de¬ jof the Great Valley Church. He be¬ votion to country and the unselfish came an army chaplain in 1776. Serv¬ courage of Zook—the soldier who came ing at first with Generals Gates and St. of a race of peace-loving Mennonites Clair, he was with Wayne from 1777 to and Quakers. Whether he would have 1783. developed as ha did amid other sur¬ In addition to his eminent qualities roundings can only be conjectured, i as preacher and patriot, he had a know¬ but there is no doubt that the associa- ledge of medicine and surgery, which I tions of Valley Forge campground had made his services doubly valuable in their influence in shaping hi* career. camp. He could dress a wound, ampu¬ | In this connection it is worth noting tate a limb, and afterwards,if required, that the region within a radius of ten preach the funeral sermon of the vic¬ or a dozen miles of Valley Forge has tim of war’s dreadful horrors. A man i produced many distinguished soldiers, 1 of undaunted courage, he frequently statesmen and prominent public char¬ risked his life in reconnoisances from acters, including Zook, Hancock, Har- which duties his profession might be tranft, Slemmer and others whose thought to have exempted him. He names are prominent in the history of was a ready volunteer whenever he the state and country. Who shall say saw an opportunity of benefiting the that Valley Forge and its patriotic cause of independence, in which he j recollections has not had its influence was a devoted and conscientious be-! in moulding the character and shaping liever. He was at Brandywine and the career of some or all of them ? Germantown, as well as at Paolij and REV. DAVID JONES. his spirited addresses and patriotic fer¬ A conspicuous and picturesque figure vor were everywhere an inspiration to of the encampment was Rev. David his comrades, and especially so during Jones,the chaplain of Wayne’s brigade the winter spent by the army at Val- and for many years pastor of the Great j ley Forge, close to his home. Valley Baptist Church at what is now Resuming his pastoral charge at New Oentreville. He was another Great Valley Church at the close of Muhlenberg in his hatred of opposition the Revolutionary War, he went west and his devotion to popular rights in with Wayne as his chaplain in 1793, the contest between thepeople of the again rendering the most valuable ser¬ colonies and the British King and Par- vices, and his life again being often in liment. He was a thoroughgoing jeopardy. His previous knowledge of patriot, and, though a minister of the the Indian character was of great ad¬ peaceable gospel of Christ, he publish¬ vantage. His skill and good judgment ed a work intended to demonstrate the were a material aid in bringing about righteousness of defensive war. He the pacification which followed. The preached to the soldiers in all parts of Indian troubles being adjusted, he re¬ the campground, and did his best to turned to his home in Tredyffrin, com¬ stimulate their courage and nerve bining agriculture with the proclama¬ them to endurance. He published tion of the truths of the gospel. several other works. . SLKi" -V

again as chaplain in the parenuy, co oegia cue com oat, propos¬ -oi2, his venerable figure in- ing to keep up the contest until the -ng respect wherever he went. His money was paid. The man who dis¬ *>ure life and eloquent words were al¬ puted his account, becoming very most equally effective in the course of much alarmed, took refuge in the his ministrations. The Paoli anniver- house of relatives, close at hand. The i sary was the last occasion in which he latter came out to pacify Woodman, officiated in public. He died February but he refused to yield to blandish¬ | 5, 1820, in his eighty-fourth year. His ments and persisted in having his i remains lie in the burying ground of money in full. The result was that the church at which he preached so the entire bill was paid at once, and a long. He wore to the end the cocked bone of contention forever removed. hat, cue and knee breeches and buck¬ His blustering opponent was never les common in Revolutionary times. again known to threaten Abisha or Rev. Horatio Gates Jones, his son, was anyone else with a “sound thrashing.” also distinguished in the ministry, es¬ Another incident from the same tablishing the Lower Merion Baptist source is the following: Church in 1809, and serving as its pas¬ The captain of a canal boat passing tor until his death in 1853. The chil¬ up the river, died of cholera in Bridge¬ dren of Rev. Horatio Gates Jones were port, then a mere village, in 1836 No Hon. J. Richter Jones, Col. (Jhas one in the vicinity cared to venture Thompson Jones, Nathan Levering near the infected vessel. Three per- Jones and Hon. Horatio Gates Jones, sons.living on the height®, a half-mile the latter the ^well-known advocate of or more from the canal, took charge of religious liberty. the corpse and had it properly in¬ The Welsh stock transplanted to terred at Swedes’ burying ground, a this country has shown itself to be en-1 mile below. The man who had been dowed with great vitality and ability, I employed to dig the grave refused to not only in the case of the Quakers stay to cover tfc^i coffin, so it fell to who came in Penn’s time, of which the the three men to complete the burial. early settlers of Valley Forge and They were Abisha T. Woodman, the vicinity were striking examples, but carpenter; Andrew Keiger, the wheel¬ also in the case of other denomina¬ wright, and Abner Supplee, the black¬ tions- smith. None of the three contracted LATER REMINISCENCES. the disease—nor did they fear it. Thomas R. Supplee, who has fre¬ Strange to say, however, Andrew quently made valuable suggestions to Keiger became a victim of the same the writer, furnishes the following malady in 1850, fourteen years later. Jactsa8.to how a carpenter bill was Speaking of thd Woodmans recalls a settled, in wfficn ngures Abislm story of how William Woodman, Thomas Woodman, a member of tl|6 brother of Henry Woodman, succeeded well knoivn family of that came. in getting rid of ...froublesorpe Irish¬ Abisha inherited from his mother, man who vvanied to Ughc, wnether or Sarah Stephens, a peace loving dis¬ no. William was a teacher in his position, but he possessed that sturdy earlier days, and was for a term assist¬ courage and independence which ant at a school in the neighborhood would not allow himself to submit taught by a Frenchman. Fencing was tamely to wrong or to give way to one of the accomplishments to be ac¬ bluster. He was a carpenter by occu¬ quired at the institution, and Wood¬ pation, and had done some work for a man participated in lessons of this kind person who was disposed to delay until he was quite proficient in the art. payment, and, in order probablv to gam time, to dispute the bill. Later, Woodman was in the habit of Abisha met him at a public place spending a day now and then with ! and the matter coming up, some con¬ John D. Evans, the proprietor of Paoli versation passed between them. The hotel and the farm attached to it, con-' debtor became boisterous, as was his taining at that time 326 acres. Evans wont under such circumstances, and was a former pupil. On one of these m a threatening tone announced that occasions Woodman, when far be¬ he would give Woodman a “sound yond hie prime, related this incident to thrashing” if he did not “keep quiet.” Mr. Evans. His antagonist at once declared that William was an expert fisherman in j lvif the account was to be squared in his day, and spent much time with rod that way it should be done at ones,” and line of tha banks of the Schuylkill and threw off his coat and other su above Pert Kennedy, that part of the I perfluous clothing, as if to make his river being famed then as now for ' Words good. catfish and other finny treasures. One I The effect was to cause the debtor to very warm day he became exhausted1 change bis front entirely. He no by the intense heat and sought the longer spoke of “thrashing” Wood¬ friendly shade of some stunted trees man and utterly refused to “square on the river bank. ihings” in tnat manner. Abisha per- Here he discovered a stem of pecu¬ usted,^ however, and was eager, ap liar growth, shaped at the base like the hjlt of a sword As he always carried 15

a sharp knife ,with him, he soon con¬ verted this into the resemblance of a si. • r a s, irmn ipni *./1 ‘V U GU 1 •word, with a point, similiar to those spo e DMel ©bs r, who made an used in fencing. He was much pleased ei< qu at app a to Pen Sv ’ V i;lians to [ with his toy and soon had an oppor¬ Stft J by thu Whig taw ff pc>licy and tunity to make good use of it. vo:e or/Clay an d W' men s ill | A strolling Irishman, full of whiskey livin i; tended tb is gu meet- * ! and anxious for a brawl, happened ing w * 1 irec 1 the speec h of Webster. that way shortly afterwards, and ad- i ne mr-eti , g w 38 C' order by I dressing Woodman, asked his name, Da d Z>:u k flatter of General Zook, i Having been answered, he declared he bung chairman of the committee | that he had promised himself the of Arrangements. pleasure of whipping Woodman the Jonathan Roberts, ex-United States nrst time he met that person. As the Senator, of Upper Merion, then ad Irishman would not be placated vanced in veal’s, presided. Robert « man’8 only alternative was to Iredell, of Norristown, now far ad¬ I **£ht or take tojthe river. Not caring vanced in the eighties, was one of the for the latter, he used his wooden Vice Presidents. sword very effectively. Whenever the As the apostasy of Tyler destroyed bully struck at him he parried the the fruits of the Harrison victory, so blow by means of his skill in fencing, the nomination of Birney by the ex¬ and as opportunity offered, punched treme Abolitionist faction, defeated I his antagonist in the face and body Clay. The Mexican War followed, unuil the Irishman was glad to cry with its results, which seemed to in¬ “Enough” and leave the vicinity trench the slaveholders of the country much the worse for the ©ncouotor. in power for a century to come. Fif¬ teen years of ceaseless agitation fol¬ POLITICAL MEETINGS. lowed, ending in the Rebellion. The The political meetings held at Val¬ principle of devotion to human free¬ ley Forge in the Harrison and Olay dom which animated the Revolution¬ campaigns have been alluded to in ary heroes at Valley Forge was finally these articles These were probably established by the Emancipation Pro¬ the largest demonstrations of the kind clamation of which ever held there. made every slave a freemaD, and re¬ ioT«ha Harriaon meeting on October 1, moved forever from the United States 1840, was a tremendous gathering of the blight of serfdom. the people. Five to eight thousand Ell wood Roberts persons were present, a large number of whom were ladies. Delegations with banners appropriately inscribed, were present from various townships of Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties. There was also a large dele¬ gation from Berks county. General Isaac Wayne, son of Gen¬ eral Anthony Wayne, presided. Many Revolutionary soldiers, bearing in their hats the inscription, “A 76er ” | Bate, /tfy were on the stage. Speeches were made by Hon. Jonathan Roberts, of Upper Merion; General Smith, of Florida; Edward Joy Morris, of Phila¬ HISTORIC BRUM. delphia, and Ool. McKinney. Among the devices was a log cabin Used at Valley Forge and Carried Daring formed of dahlias, from Radnor. The tile Revolution toy a Conshohocken Boy. ladies of the Great Valley presented a George Field,formerly of Pniladelphia. beautiful banner, the work of their now a well-known citizen of Reading,has own hands. an historic drum, which he intends at his The campaign of which this was an death to present to the Pennsylvania interesting episode, ended in the tri¬ Historical Society. It was originally the umphant election of the “Hero of Tip- property of Peter Shade, who was a pecanoe,” by an unparalleled major¬ drummer boy in the war of independence ity. A few months later the hopes pf and lived in Francisville, then a suburb of Philadelphia. Shade was with Washington at Valley cleafrof’Sne^^ by the in a tm ih ; fr, r his Presi(ient, Forge, and died in 1838 at the age of 80 offi ce. The’he rr-:d- /iawT'tmn-m°the years. Shortly before, he presented it to I the story of * his old friend, James Field, grandfather cess-. , Job T of the present owner. During the Civil 1 as vii _[ 'ei.^te,d with him War it was carried throughout the en¬ e itco. ‘ ’ ~° Gare for its rep- tire struggle by Albert Wood,of Consho¬ • Toe Olay ,n< hocken. It is inches in height, and was ey-n hi S or, October 3, 1844, the drumhead is 17 inches in diameter. er*’ two The inscription shows that it was made and later repaired by Henry Farley, in, Germantown. / ! still to be seen near its ancient locality. George Custer wrought woolen fabrics here at an early date, and about 1820 Be¬ thel Moore established his enterprise, and, prospering: gave to the vicinity the name of his old home in distant Wales: Balligo- /f mingo. Custom has abbreviated this to Balligo,” by which, this lovely valley and stream are popularly known. Date, '*7 7. .. When the Revolution swept over the colonial provinces these hills aroundechoed with the tread of British troops, and later on when Washington led his discouraged j THE NUGENT COLLEGE army toward their winter retreat in the vf snow-bound glens of Valley Forge, the Gulph, and its flanking slopes, became the ( A Sketch of the Historic “College” at Gulph site of the last bivouac of that weary Mills read by S. Gordon Smyth at the march. But long before these events had ' Historical Society transpired, this section of the country had formed a part of the great Welsh barony, In the lower end of Upper Merion, in a of which our friend Thomas Allen Glenn nook almost hidden by the high ridge of gives faithful description in “Merion in hills which form the southern limits of the the Welsh Tract;” and the particular por-j township, lies the hamlet of Gulph Mills. tion of it to which I shall refer, is a small farm of less than an hundred acres adjoin¬ The high-arched bridge, the smith-shop, ing Gulph villiage on the lower side, and the country store, the village school and a subsequently becoming a moiety of the chance house or two somewhat modernized many thousands of acres constituting the and the old inn are there, much the same “Manor of Mount Joy:” that immense pa¬ as in other days, except that the ion, long trimony devised by William Penn to his ago familier to our fathers as the “Bird- daughter Letitia, wife of William Aubrey, j in-Hand,” has materially changed since the from whence it passed, in turn, to hei time its cheery custom attracted the pass¬ neice Guilema Marie Penn, ^.fterward it ing traveller to inviting rest. More than fell to the possession of John Stephens in a half century ago Perry Hunter bought, 1761, upon payment of £80. In the same and had it remodelled for a residence, and year, Stephens transferred it for the sum it is now the chief dwelling there, dignified of £40., to Jacob Weigerline. The thrifty | by a sober reputation and substantial dura Jacob managed to realize handsomely on his investment, at the end of two years he bility i The grist-mill, from whence in part sold his land to John Hughes and this is a came the villiage name is farther up the record found among his papers:— neighboring stream, in what is properly Jacob Weigerline, Yeoman, of Upper Merion, County of Philadelphia, agrees to called the •‘Gulph.” It was built 1747, and up to a couple of years ago steadily sell to John Hughes, merchant of Phila¬ delphia, the 90 acres for £394.” By this fulfilled its mission. In 1895 it was de¬ transaction it thus became part of “Walnut stroyed by fire, and since then, has stood a Grove” plantation which has been the seat picturesque ruin beside the useless pond. of the Hughes family for many generations. I Below the mill are the manufactoring At that time John Hughes was one of settlements and their busy establishments, the King’s stamp officers. History tells us for the brook that pours its tumbling that this was a very objectionable business, flood along the western slope, has had, for and became, in tim«, extremely obnoxious an hundred years, the potency to attract to, to the people. Notwithstanding these and make the valley resound with the clangor of industrious life Alulling-mill facts it is of record that Mr. Hughes per¬ formed his duties faithfully. It was while was the first venture. It stood upon the absent some where in the East that the site now marked by Bullock’s Woolen stamp-officer wrote his son Isaac upon Mills; below it, and near the river bank whom had devolved the management of there had been a saw mill, and the dam is the large estate,—a letter, from which-1 ters, and, to quote again from Mrs. Hol¬ quo:e the following: stein’s memoirs we learn that Hannah “Piscataque, September 5, 1769. “On Holstein Hughes, the Colonel’s widow my return, I expect to find you married, who had still continued to reside at “Pop¬ when you may expect to receive a deed for lar Lane” four years later, married the . j the Weigerliue place.” On October 5th, Rev. Slator Clay who became afterward, • •*, just a month later, Isaac Hughes married the rector of Old Swedes Church at Bridge¬ | Hannah Holstein; the clergyman officiat¬ port. Within the next three years John ing was Iiev. Wm. Currie a descendant of Hughes had disposed of “Poplar Lane” , that Prof. David Currie who emigrated homestead in odd parcels to various per¬ fiom Scotland in 1730 and entered the ser¬ sons; the larger tracts were bought by vice of the Lee family of Virginia, as a 1 homas Lowry. After some years of pa¬ tutor. tient waiting Lowry succeeded in gathering The new property was admirably situa- together again the most of the dismem¬ '' ted and was undoubtedly a very desirable bered parts, amounting to about 78 acres, , possession, but whatever sort of improve¬ and sold them altogether, in the year 1821, 1 ments the place possessed they probably i to George Nugent, a merchant of Philadel¬ stood upon the crown of a kuoll rising to phia, for the price of $8000. the eastof the village, far above Gulph The new owner was not a farmer, but a , ft creek, so that they commanded a view of successful business man of the city, and the valley, and were about a half a mile represented a very prosperous and influen- from the homestead at “Walnut Grove.” Itial etement who were beginning to buy up, When Isaac Hughes went to live at his for country seats, some of the better farms new home he gave it tho name of “Poplar near Philadelphia. There were several Lane.” 1 here is an old oil painting hang who did the same, and not far away were ing in Squire.Kinzie’s office, which repre" George and Peter Pechin, sons of Peter sentsthe “Bird-in-Hand” hotel, and the Pechin a French merchant, Peter Legaux, scattering buildings, and also, the Hughes the scientific viniculturist whose place was place up on the hill, with its long, double at Spring Mills, and others. row of Lombardy poplars bordering the George Nugent very promptly settled j lane leading toward the Matsunk road. upon his purchase, and began to cut a fig- j When the colonies declared their indepen¬ uge in the locality. He was supposed i dence and patriots hastened to the call of to be of Irish nativity, but a gentlemen of I arms, Isaac Hughes was among the first culture and education, and through long to respond, but we need not, here and now, intercourse as a commission merchant dwell upon the achievements which trading with the French West Indies, he j crowned his valor, other than to say, had acquired the manners and polish of a person of that race; he had too, become j toh“Pm!lar — hetoturned to Poplar Lane” having won a CbloneTr quite wealthy in his business, and “Poplar | commission and lasting glory. Laue” gave him the opportunity to spend Passing over the brief years following some of his surplus cash, and give free his return from the war, we quote from scope to the peculiar ideas which Nugent the annals of the Holsteins, this reference developed from time to time; and so, to the closing scenes of his life: “but a among the study descendants of the Swed¬ short time before his health failed, Colonel ish and Welsh settlers, he brought his Hughes built a new home for himself and family, whose temperaments, previous family on the hill overlooking Gulph creek. environment and social affiliations con¬ They had occupied it but a short time when trasted strangely enough but blended in in the prime of life, the summons came to with the quiet, unassuming manners, hab¬ rest from his labors, and heentered upon its and pursuits of his neighbors. ife eternal.” He died, April 26, 1782, at Among the changes wrought upon the the age of 34 years. By his will, “Poplar property, was one to tear away the old barn Lane” was bequeathed to his four daugh¬ which had always been ample to house the ters: Ruth, Rachael, Sarah and Hannah, crops and stock of the farm, and to erect, and “Walnut Grove” became the inheri¬ in its stead, an enormous and elaborately tance of his son J ohn. planned stone structure, with a mammoth . About 1800, this young man acquired bridge way, required because of the great “Poplar Lane” by purchase from his sis¬ height of the main floor. The new barn -na'Cructed, it was said, because of a utemplated extension of his landed pos¬ by the way of sundry ten-plate sto sessions, and was thought, by others, to neighborhood. have been the result of a lack of knowl¬ Many other stories are told of the unique edge of the economic necessities of the propqgated by Mr^JIugen^ particn- '{arty witK'refefeiice lb1 iSMnlg aha stbeir case. The building would accomodate a raising matters. They were not always large number of cattle and fattening stock, j found practical among the farmers of his and storage for crops, exceeding the most j day, but generally provoked a kind of extravagent expectations from an 80-acre | ridiculous criticism, which kept him more farm. Two large, one story stone sheds, j or less antagonistic with his neighbors In flanked the stock yard, each of them was agricultural affairs, although, for his per¬ divided longitudinaly through the center, sonal and social qualities he was otherwise the inner divisions being intended for sheep I respected and esteemed. Mr. Nugent was and pigs, opened upon the quadrangle, while quite successful in raising and curing pork. the other portions offered, on the one side, Much of it found its way to the city mar¬ a shelter for the field stock, and on the kets. Some went annually to the far west other, storage room for the farm imple¬ where he had a daughter, an army officer’s ments and machinery, access being dad wife, at some remote military post. A through a series of arched openings. Later large portion of it was also reserved for on, as the family grew larger and enter¬ the harvest time and is still held in remem¬ tained more extensively: the Nugents kept brance by those who found it the principal! open house for all their friends, and there part of their field-day fare. were people constantly going and coming,— George Nugent had a large family of the mansion was remodeled and enlarged; the sons and daughters. There were two sets addition being ornamented with an impos¬ of children: George Jr. and Eugene, being ing colonnade on the southern front, which sons of the first wife, who was a West has since been the admiration of the artis¬ Indian, and the others were: Ellen Eliza¬ tic traveller who may pass that way. beth, , Rosanna, To¬ Some of the older residents of the com¬ bias Wagner, Charles, John and Maria. munity, yet Irving, speak humorously of Their mother being Rosanna Smith, of | the method adopted by Nugeat to protect Philadelphia, Mr. Nugent’s second wife. the splendid orchard which he had set out They are all well remembered by many of | on the hillside toward the village. It was our older folks as being bright and pleas¬ i well stocked with choice fruits of different ant young people and socially popular with 1 varieties and in the bearing season offered our leading families. 1 a tempting refreshment to the youth from The elder Nugent established his son the neighboring mills. The boys did then, George in the woolen manufacturing bus¬ as they still continue to do in other places, iness on Gulph Creek, under the hill near they took the fruit for the sole pleasure the homestead, and the remains of the old 'j and profit of robbing Nugent’s orchard. mills are still to be seen overgrown with a ( To stop this annoyance taxed even the in. wild growth of wood, having never been genuity and originality of the fertile-min¬ rebuilt after a third destruction by fire, a ded farmer generation ago. Afterward, George be¬ He rose to the occasion however, when came associated with Bethel Moore; at the he sent John Latch off to Columbia, Pa., end of a brief, but unsatisfactory experi¬ not long after the completion of the rail¬ ence, the partnership dissolved and litiga¬ road from Philadelphia to that point, to tion followed; the result was that Bethel buy car loads of pine boards, with which Moore continued in the business, while he was determined to fence in his orchard. ' George Nugent Jr. went to Philadelphia My informant tells me, that when the lum¬ and began business anew. In tho course ber came, it was unloaded at Morgan’s Cor¬ of time he made a large fortune, which ner and then hauled from there to the “Col¬ during his life-time, and having no family, lege” farm, by eight and ten horse teams. he used generously for benovelent purposes The timber land on the adjacent hills, sup¬ In connection with the charities of the Bap¬ plied the posts and rails, and soon a fence tist bociety, for he had long been a mem¬ 12 feet high, it is said: encompassed this ber of that denomination, and had risen to Ilesperidian garden. The stockade stood prominence in its organization. His last for many years and eventually disappeared years were devoted to deeds of philanthro¬ py among the suffering and needy. He died In Germantown, in 1883, mourned i and honored by all who knew him. could do nearly as they ‘pleased, school 01 Eugene,—his pother: I have no pres¬ could be adjourned for the day by any ent knowledge. These boys were much juvenile demonstration made during older than the rest of George Nugent’s study hours, then the boys ■ would make ■ Children, and had been educated at “Cler- for the barn and find recreation and re¬ tmont” in Philadelphia County. Ellen and laxation in sundry games in and around Rosanna were sent to St. Mary’s Hall in the big structure. It is small wonder Burlington N. J., but for the rest, Mr. then, that the existence of the “College” Nugent determined upon a more conveni¬ was brief, covering a period of a year or ent and elaborate plan for their education. more, possibly longer, when it was found He resolved to build a school at home. to be a hopeless undertaking and princi¬ ; In 1836 as near as I can ascertain or pally because of the lack of patronage: approximate, Mr. Nugent erected a build¬ The venture was abandoned, the Rev. ing at the lower end of his farm, at the Shaw departed the boys left for other angle of the Conshohocken road, adjoin¬ scenes and soon the halls and dormitory ing a dwelling he had previously built for of the Institute lapsed into a state of in- his son George, while he was in the wool¬ ocuous decay. Por perhaps a year or two this condition of things lasted, when en operation on Gulf Creek. This school building is of stone, two stories high, finally—“The Academy of Natural Sci¬ with basement and attic. It is about ences” an organization of the leading citi¬ zens of the county, then temporarily lo¬ 20x42 feet in area, with walls 2$ feet thick, and most durably constructed. The cated at Norristown accepted the offer of Mr. Nugent to give them a home in the rooms are the full size of the building, old institute. well lighted, and heated by four open As near as I can leam they began to fireplaces in each room, two on each side. At the gable end of the building there are meet here about 1840 and soon the college fan-light windows, two for each story. resounded with the discussions of some of the ablest and most advanced thinkers The basement was intended for a lec¬ ture Ifall, the first and second floors for of that day. Among the members of the organization at this time were: Dr. Hi¬ study and recitation rooms, the attic prob¬ ram Corson, recently deceased, Hon. Jon¬ ably intended for a dormitory for possible athon Roberts, ex-Senator of the U. S. boarding scholars, as it afterward de¬ veloped that the community should share then collector of Customs at Philadelphia, Daniel H. Mulvaney, of the Norristown in the advantage to be derived from the Bar, Peter Brown, Samuel Tyson, and convenience of a select school in their vi¬ a number of otner gentlemen. cinity, and those from a distance could be iw6 toJlmfi there appeared and accommodated as well Nugent gave the lectured before the society some of tile name “The Collegiate Institute” to well known men of the county. Joseph his enterprise, and engaged the faculty H. Chandler, editor of the old U. S. Ga¬ which he domiciled in the dwelling ad¬ zette lectured here in June 1840, and Hon- joining and opening into the college halls. Jonathan Roberts addressed the Acad¬ In my investigations, I have discovered emy Sept. 27, 1842, upon the subject of these facts, that a few day scholars from “The Origin and Progress of the Human the neighborhood attended, and no board¬ Mind.” Through the courtesy of his ers that I have heard of. They were daughter, Mrs. Samuel Tyson I am per¬ Wallace William, and Davis Henderson;’ mitted to quote from his introductory re¬ Henry Potts: George and William H. mark upon that occasion Mr. Robert’s said Holstein, John J. Hughes, and possibly in part, as follows: “I meet you ont his oc¬ one or two others. The faculty consisted casion with much pleasure after a long of Rev. Mr. Shaw, an episcopalian clergy¬ separation. I am glad to find that in that man and his family, and the curriculum, time praiseworthy efforts have been made being the ordinary course of studies pe¬ to continue the meetings of the Institute. culiar to the grammar schools of our day, I take my place among you with feelings including, music and languages. The of undiminished solicitude that we should studies were unsystematicaly taught, and carry out, so far as we can the public the discipline quite lax, as I am told by one spirited purposes of our patron who has of the former scholars that the boys done so much to accommodate and en- A .)

.. _ __;_; v _ ' ^ourage this undertaking. We cannot Eugene, Charles, John and “Toby”, clu 'Dut venerate his purposes in laying this early and Unmarried. foundation. It was utility and not fame I Rosanna and Maria, both married, and which actuated him, he,we may be assured went away, but Ellen Elizabeth is best re¬ seeks his reward only in the benefits— membered', as she was a romantic person that may thence be derived to the neigh¬ and eveitiitally acquired a national reputa¬ borhood. JSo much having been done, tion. She was a beautiful, cultured young the obligation seems devolved on us to use woman, with charming ways and a winning due efforts to promote so laudable an end. disposition, and in her day, was considered In the attempt at Norristown to get up the belle of the country round. an institution of this kind, the want She had many admirers, among them, of a suitable accomodation for our meet¬ some of our well known residents, but not ings for a lecture room and for a cab¬ the least of them was the late Isaiah V. inet presented insuperable obstacles to Williamson; the Founder of the Trade- success. Here, all the requirements are School which bears his name in Delaware gratuitously furnished to us. A failure, Co. They became estranged, however, and usefully to appropriate them could never he never married; Elizabeth married, after be sufficiently regretted. I will not al¬ a romantic courtship—Lieut Harry Whar¬ ton, son of Judge Wharton of Phila., and a low myself to contemplate such a result, graduate of West Point, and went with him It is thus I am now led to appear before , you.” to the frontier of the West, in~those days, a heroic undertaking for a woman accus¬ George N ugent died in 1849 and by the tomed to refined surroundings. | terms of his will this part of his property For some years they resided at Forts was left to his widow, with certain dower Laramie, Kearney, Gibson and Leaven¬ rights, and two daughters. At the end of worth, and then returned here in time to see a year it was sold by the executors to the her father die. When the civil war began trustees of Gulf Lodge of Odd Fellows, 'Capt. Wharton went to the front, and hi/ since which time the “college” has passed wife joined him. As Capt. Wharton ros4 through many vicisitudes. It still stands through various grades to a Colonelcy, his,1 at the angle of the road leading fr om the wife became more generaly known. During i Gulf Brewery to Berry’s Corners. It is the Peninsular campaign, Col. Wharton surrounded by a grove of locust trees but commandeda regiment the seconb Delaware); you will recognize it at once by that aca¬ and a near relative of mine who was on the demic dignity which still clings to it, staff of General Woodward, commanding “though ’tis 60 years since” it founder’s the Brigade to which Col. W harton’s Regt. folly made it an object of curiosity an d pity. was attached—met Mrs. Wharton socially, and has spoken in high praise of her gen-1 Daniel Kinzie is its present owner, and ral character. She was the soul of the camp, 1 from a temple of justice with the veners and many a dull and suffering hour was re-1 I able squire as its president judge, let us lieved by her gentleness and generous atten¬ hope it may never degenerate to a less tions. Her charming graces of person and glorious destiny. manner were irresistable: there was no Concerning the dispersion and future for¬ gloom her vivacious nature could not dis-1 tunes of the Nugent family after the death pel: wealthy, brilliant and tender, she re-* of the father, in 1849, there remains but lieved the suffering, cheered the disconso-1 little more to be said, but they left an im¬ late, and imparted courage to the wavering. | pression upon the people who knew them, At the close of the war, the Whartons set-, that is at once sad and pathetic, for tragic tied first at Washington, then came later circumstances darkened their remaining to Baltimore where their home became the years. center of the fashionable social circle of the At the death of her husband, Mrs. Nug¬ military and naval families, as well as ent returned to Phila. and resided with those of private life, until the tragedy of her sister. Dr. George W. Nugent married General Ketchum’s death made Mrs. Whar¬ a lady of this county, and finally settled in ton the victim of a chain of circumstance Hazelton Pa. where he practiced his pro¬ most painful and unfortunate, to unravel fession forTseveral years. He and his wife which,a most brilliant and formidable array are both dead, but left surviving them, a of legal and medical talent, labored success- daughter. " 7 9BT \

fully. At a long and notable trial Mrs. jin this country was JohnTlavard/tnentfoncd Wharton wag acquitted. Broken in health 'above, who owned a tract of 800 acres of land i and prostrated in spirit, she returned once mostly lying between the villages known as I more tq the scenes of her old home in Upper j Howellvllle and New Centreville, aud com- j prising the old Ritter, Wilson, Roberts aud Merion, and became a frequent visitor in- , Davis farms, as well as that of A. J. Cassatt. the circle of her old friends and former ' The elder John Havard bought the land from companions. David Powell in 1707. John, whose parents Colonel Wharton had died before these were David and Mary, and who was born in Wales, in 1074, married in 1700, Margaret, events transpired,also,then son Major Whar daughter of Jobn and Elizabeth Lewis, of ton—Mrs. Wharton lived in this county un-» Haverford. They lived in the house on the til a year or two ago, when she too, passed Cassatt property, occupied until recently by their descendant, David Havard, not far away, survived by an only daughter. | from Howellviile. “Poplar Lane is still an attractive old Johu Havard was twice married, his sec¬ place, and it has seen bette- d-ays, but none ond wife being Sarah Evans. He had two children by the first marriage, Mary, who more interesting than those of the era of married Herbert Thomas, and Margaret, who George Nugent, and his luckless “College”. married John Hibberd. The children of the second marriage were John, Ann, Hannah, S. Gordon Smyth Elizabeth, Sarah, David, Samuel and Benja- [Feb. 13, 1897. I min Havard. Much has been given in refer- ~ *-- j ence to this generation in previous articles of i the series. John Havard married Miriam Thomas. The house which has been described as Du- Fi'om, <~r~ portail’s quarters was their home, their only child, Mary, marrying William Davis, whose interesting reminiscenses of the en¬ campment have been noticed. David Havard, also previonsl y mentioned, ! married Susanna Malin. They lived at the older house, near Howellviile, with 300 acres, Date, and had three children—Sarah, who married Jonathan Miller; Benjamin, who married Mary Jones, and Jane, the wife of Hauaniab Walker and mother of Havard Walker, who lives near Valley Meeting at an advanced age. Samuel, brother of John and David Ha¬ vard, was mentioned as living at the mansion occupied by Lafayette as his headquarters, Tile Earlier Harvards and Their with his two maiden sisters, Hannah and Sarah. He never married, and died in 1808. Descendants. The other branches of the family have al¬ ready been noticed.

Like Most of the Settlers of the VI- THE EAGLE SCHOOL. The fact that the Beavers, tvh* owned the I cinity They Are of Welsh Origin— farm now occupied by Harry Warburton aud The Old Eagle School and the Bury¬ belonging to the estate of Frank Jones, where ing Ground Adjacent—Story of the Count Pulaski was quartered, were of German Famous Gun of Devault Beaver origin, has been previously mentioned. The family are buried in the grounds attached to Written by a Resident of tho Neigh¬ the old Eagle school property, at Strafford stft- j borhood. tion on the . The fol¬ lowing are among the inscriptions on grave- | There are none of tho families whoa© ances¬ stones therein : tors resided on or near Valley Forge Camp- Devault Beaver [frequently mentioned in ■ ground at the time of the occnpation by the this series of papers] died Oct. 13, 1837, aged t American army, whose history exceeds in 81 yrs. 2 ruos. 13 d. interest that of the Havards. They kavo John Beaver [Devault’s father] died Dec. j been more or less prominent in that portion 15,1777, aged 55 years. of Chester county for nearly two centuries. Margaret Beaver, relict of John Beaver, j Many descendants reside in the vicinity, they died March 9, 1816, aged 90 years, 6 m. 25 having intermarried with the Walkers, days. Davises, Stephenses, and many others. Be- : Margaret Beaver, consort of Devanlt fore passing from the old Havard homestead, Beaver, died Jan. 22, 1843, aged 83 yrs. 11 it is well to givo some additional details as to mos. their ancestry. Later members of the family are also The Havards are of Welsh descent, as may buried here. be readily imagined, like most of the old This little graveyard bears witness to the families of Tredyffrin. Their first ancestor religious uses to which the old building was dedicates ItTtimes past, ifllhough the absence of an early record surrounds it-with mystery. According to a pamphlet recently issned, ) put in o xj&, and the i propose to con- which was prepared by Henry Pleasants, | tinue prizes offered las , to public school Secretary and Treasurer of the Board of ' pupils in Tredyffrin, l Upper Morion and ad- Trustees of the property, appointed by the joining townships. se building' will be Chester county court, Christian and Marga¬ made a library and lreading room, and he ret VVerkheiser set apart, just prior to the open for religious.services by sneh denomina¬ Revolution, two acres of land for the gen¬ tions as may desire to hold them. eral use of the neighborhood for religions and DEV AULT BEAVER’S GUN. educational purposes, and also partly for There is probably no other incident of en¬ the repose of the dead. Tradition declares campment times which so deeply impressed i that the Lutherans of Trappe Church aided the residents of the vicinity, and has so large¬ in the construction of a rude log building ly entered into campgronud traditions as the that stood a little north of the existing struc- I killing of one of Wayne’s soldiers whom he tore, which was long known as the “ Luth¬ fonnd milking his coiv, by Devanlt Beaver, eran Church,” and where religions services mentioned above. Miry Jane Walker, daugh¬ were often held. The present structure was l ter of Havard Walkhr. in a paper prepared erected in 178S. recently for a literary association of the Its principal use has been for school pur- j neighborhood, thus pleasantly tells the poses, among the older teachers being Brin- STORY OB THE GUN. ton Evans, Andrew Garden (or Gardiner, pre¬ Every section of country, every neighbor¬ viously mentioned in this series), a fifer who hood has its story, its traditions, its interest¬ ing associations. Happy for its people if some served in the Revolution; “Schoolmaster able chronicler gathers the legends and tells Ehrens,” who taught about 1812; William the tales. To do this well, or to do it best, the Simpson, 1825. and Adam Siter, 1835 to 1840. writer must have been h imself a dweller in the The last election of trustees occurred in the place, and lovingly imbibed the spirit and in¬ old bnilding about 1835. When the public spiration of the surroundings, natural, social school system was organized, the control of and historical. Everyone knows how Irving the property passed without question to the has sketched the far away real and mythical dwellers of the Catskills and the region round¬ Board, and a school was maintained, the about; how Burns and Hugh Miller and teachers officiating during this period being Scott have painted glowing word pictures of Alice Lewis, Lewis Pearce, Job Pugh, Wil¬ the country and the country-folk of Scotland; liam Bell, Wesley Everson, Ellwood Thomas how the rural homes bf England have given and others. In 1872, a new building having up their secrets to the pen of more than one been erected at Peehin’s corner, a quarter of a able writer. mile distant, the key was handed over to the Though our own country is young in years, many are the incidents of interest that have Union Sunday School which met weekly in occurred since the white man made it his the bnilding. home, and others besides Irving have writ¬ Episcopal services had been held in the ten lovingly and charmingly of his early bnilding from 1845 for some years, and it ap¬ home surroundings. Evod our quiet valley pears to have been the intention, finally has had its story told. Two or three years abandoned, to erect an Episcopal chapel on ago some one wrote us up for Harper's Maga¬ the property. The last service of a religions zine, and did it well. Various other attempts' have been made and many blunders gone character was held in the fall of 1873. In into print. Lately, one to the manner bom the spring of 1874, Peter Mullen, a well- has taken up tho pen, and given us and our known colored resident of the vicinity, took | ancestors to the reading world. Not only is possession of the unused bnilding, it being tho Family History of Lewis Walker and his alleged by him that occupancy was to be an descendants told in the book of that name equivalent for keeping the graveyard in order, lately published, bnt most of that of the in pursuance of an arrangement with families neighborhood, as the family was connected in marriage with almost all the other colonial whose dead were buried there. settlers between the “ Hills.” Litigation followed, but little progress was The material has been collected with made in settling the title to the property, the patience, fidelity and research, and the narra¬ building, meantime, fast falling into decay. tive attractively told. The book will repay In 1888 a historical sketch by Julius F. investigation by thosa not personally interest¬ j Sachse, the well-known local historian, which ed in its contents, and the ohildren of appeared in the Village Record, recalled atten- later generations will be very grateful to i tion to the matter. In March, 1891, the think that tho tales their grandsires used to tell have been thus preserved. And no one j School Board attempted to sell a portion of could have better done tb3 work, perhaps, the property for $200, and a bill in equity was than Priscilla Walker Streets, the author. invoked to annul the sale. These proceed¬ While this work was in preparation, and just ings, comparatively recent, resulted in the before it was published. Ellwood Roberts, of decision that the trust was a subsisting - the Norristown Herald, an interested trust and T. R. Jaquette, Elijah Wilds, 1 student of local history, has been making John S. Angle, M. D., D. S. Newhall and frequent visits to the old farms, however, and inquiries into the family and neighborhood Henry Pleasants were appointed to hold the recollections, publishing the same in that property and utilize it for the “general good paper. of the neighborhood for religious, educational •In his account last made he tells his readers and burial‘purposes.” The property has been of the historic gun that killed the soldier. Where there are many wild berries it takas many pickers to gather all the fruit. Many a quart has rewarded the patient searcher after ■ the first party thought they had picked the hushes clean. So the collector of reminis- 23

con ccs -,v dignation mat mson tne hearts of tho Itfitle name, having conveyed tho property to I community In the long ago, when orfe of their David Camming in 175S, who, with his wife, nmnuer a resident farmer and property owner, deliberately took his gna and shot to Sarah Camming, conveyed it to Abraham death the American soldier while milking his Daunehower, the great-grandfather of Georgo, cow, lingers to-day in the memory of their the recent owner, in 1762. descendants, and from father to sop in many Abraham Dannehower W3S the first of tho households the story has gone down. Ellwood family, which is of German origin, in this Kobarts tells his reapers a little more, that the country. There four generations of the fam¬ ili-lated gnn. years afterwards, unexpectedly ily have resided, the property descending from ompt'ort one of its barrels of the lead it con¬ tained into the hands of a smith who was father to son in regular succession. It is hoped that the house will be put in repair and while life lasted? °f th<5 ^ remainiug there preserved from ruin for several generations to Bnt there are still berries to pick. Some- | come on account of its old associations. whore between 1815 and 1821, the old gnn Abraham Dannehower, the purchaser of the came into the possession of Hananiah Walk- homestead, camo from Germany prior to er, my grandfather, probably by public pur¬ 1755. He died in 1789, aged 67 years, and his chase. After his death it still remained at wife Catherine in 1798, aged 74 years. His this house, and was taken from here to be cleaned, to the shop where the accident re- j children were George, Abraham, Henry, corded occurred. i John, Catherine, Elizabeth and Sarah. George [ Years afterwards some straggling wild died in 1793, aged 45 years. Abraham resided ducks on their journey to or from a warmer on the farm he bought from Samuel Evans, clime, alighted in the meadow marsh, and as on the lower side of tho Bethlehem road, all men and boys seem anxious to shoot un- above Springbonse. i trfnir t same, my nncle, whose home was here, The family have become connected by mar- I !?°k ke°ld and ntaalthily crept towards i „e feather.y strangers, and, raising the I riage with many others in that section of the when the old gun, county. Of the second generation Catharine not satisfied with the mischief it had already married Jacob Snyder; Elizabeth married done, exploded, injuring another victim, who Philip Hurst, and Sarah became the wile of speedily sought the houso where, moaning Philip Fettermau. with pain, he walked the floor as I recall it until a doctor arrived to attend the injury’ ii-om which he entirely recovered. The doctor being something of an antiquarian, begged the broken gun stock as a relic which he after warns deposited with the Chester County His- | toncal Society at West Chester, and a part of The Lower Providence Presbyterian wooded barrel we keep among the curios ?£ ih° r S° t£e old gna has finished !to. deatil dealing work, and will never do Church and Burial Grounds. injury more. It has been stated in a previous article that An Old Building Modernized—Some the identical gun is now in possession of a of tlie Inscriptions on Stones In the member of the Brooke family, but the dis¬ crepancy can probably be accounted for by Graveyard—Records ot the Fast— the fact that Devault Beaver owned a number The Stinson Lot—Excellent Condi¬ of guns. There is no question as to the iden¬ tion of the Grounds, or has been an W. Rabiukfim, appointed at the winter alteration of the partition to divide the meeting ot the Rucks County Historical rooms more equally. Society last January to place a t.aoiet on the old Campbell house, near Harts'viile, r to mark the site of Washington’s head¬ quarters in 1777, visited the place last week. Alter an inspection of the house the committee mentioned decided to erect a tablet on the budding, containing the fol¬ lowing inscription : “Iu this house Gen¬ Personal Reminiscences and Hr ,itor''r °‘T “TTk eral George Washington, 0 rumander m itv. which is a Part and Parcel stead in Montgomery Cour Chief ot the Army of the United States fm. Penn, Proprietor had his headquarters from August 10 to of Five Thousand Acre! '*. , August 23, 1777. Here the Marquis de a Warrant for Samuel Latavette first joined the American and Governor of the Pro' Wl *C Army.” The old Campbell house is of much his¬ Claridge to Locate. torical interest. Dming the Revolution it was the farm house belonging to the By Albert S. Paxson, Es estate of John Moland, deceased, his fam¬ ily probably occupying it at the time. Ia August, 1777, the en¬ F all the beauty woven and cliff- i camped about it and Washington took up bound vales in Eastern Penn¬ his headquarters in it. sylvania, of which Montgom¬ Thfl Oanrinontol army w0.0 Lot™ log ery county furnishes a goodly about Philadelphia at the time awaiting number, few, it any, surpass in beauty information regarding the destination of Howe’s fleet, which had left Row York the one in Aldington township on the some time previous. The army retraced line of the Reading railway extension to its steps after marching from New York New Hope. There are those of a wider range and more extensive vision, but the Sf> f 1

ous manTTooa were heard ot currency, • cvv from Hillside station and Cemetery crop prospects, tariff rates, doings or ridge is the admiration of all beholders. not doings of Congress and Legislature Hedged in on one side by the famous and whatnot. The younger element like¬ Edge Hill range the eye coders the little wise had their inning, for here were vale that is bounded on the North and found fair women and brave men vieing West by rising, cultivated ground and with each other as to which could wear wooded heights. It is a scene of pastoral the sweetest smile. To the writer’s view, beauty, for here mid leafy June nature is woman won ! Ladies, most people would at her best ; flocks and herds roam at call them, but I adhere to the old and will, cropping rich herbage from meadow time honored name of “woman,” for was and upland, or, when the demands of not a “woman” the mother of our Saviour? nature are satisfied, lazily lying neath the Was it not a “woman” of Samaria that shade of some spreading tree chewing had a little chat with her Lord and their cuds with composure. A gentle Master at the well about the waters stream meanders through the little vale therein and the water of everlasting life and the finny tribe seek shelter under the offered her ? And now mark good read¬ overhanging bank as the small boy essays er she has never been known as the the fisherman’s luck. “Lady of Samaria.” Maidens fair with Memory delights to linger, when in song and merriment served to enliven boyhood, of the sports by the brook in the day. The writer looked upon this the meadow, the willow whistle loiter¬ scene of enchantment with much satis¬ ings, the musk-rat routs and calamus faction but being somewhat timid did not pickings. Calling to mind in after life catch the full text of their merry chat. these childish scenes affords as much Am inclined to think their aims may pleasure perhaps as the actual realization have been Napoleonic with conquests in in childhood. view. And why should they not make It was upon the longest day in the conquests ? year meeted out to us, when the sun “For their’s was a loveliness ever in motion cast its shortest shadow, that the writer — which plays, looked upon this scene of enchantment, Like the lapse upon autumn’s soft shad¬ owy days; and seeing the stars and stripes grace¬ Now here and now there giving warmth as fully toying and playing with the passing it flies breeze, from the flag pole at the old From thejr lips to their cheeks, and from Tyson homestead, he made a pilgrimage their cheeks to their eyes.” thither. The day was an inviting one— j The entertainment was gotten up by for May with its buds and blossoms had j Mr. and Mrs. Johnston in exquisite good j borne their beauty and fragrance to join taste and nothing spared to make it a | hands with June in her summer baptism success. The cards oL invitation bidding j of jubilee. • the guests thither, read:—“At home, i TEe~ciay was moreover an eventfuTWer June 21, from 5 to 8 P. M.” With many for here upon the shaded lawn were kind words at parting with host and gathered a large assemblage to con¬ hostess, at an early hour in the evening gratulate William Johnston and his wife, the guests sought their respective homes Elizabeth H. Johnston, nee Tyson, on and the Tyson homestead was again left the twenty-first anniversary of their to home rujle. marriage. It was an interesting assembly Mr. and Mrs. Johnston’s guests on this representing the intelligence and worth happy occasion were well known people of that highly favored land. All ages of the neighborhood and of Philadelphia. were represented, and from the whitened Here are a few of their names : locks of the patriarch down to the Sirs. Agnes Paxson, Miss Sallie T. Paxson, prattling child all were joyous. Age for Mrs. Anna B. Hallowell, Mr. and Mrs. Charles a season gave back its youth and spring¬ S. Paxson, Mr. and Mrs. Hutchinson Smitti, time and joined with young and merry Mr. and Mrs. William H. Vandegrift, Mr. and Mrs. Canby 3. Tyson, Miss Hannah Coggins, hearts as if in evanescent taste of youth Miss Ellie Humphries, Mr. and Mrs. John W. and joy in natures’ rejuvinescence. irving, Mr. and Mrs. Jacob L. Tyson, Mr. and It was a goodly picture, to look Mrs. John A. Johann, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Comly, the Misses Kirk, Miss Mary Kelly, Mr. upon, as seated around the festive board, ' and Mrs. Xanthus Smith, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph the old discussed, from long drawn S. Goodbread, Mr. and Mrs. Jolm T. Comly, memories, events fast passing into Mr. Frank H. Frctz, Mr. and Mrs. David New-1 history, while from those in more vigor- J port, Mrs. Robert E. Potter, Mr. Frank F Jot-1 ter, Miss Lottie F. Potter, Mrs. S. P. Lukens, had a wide reputation, and was hauled Albert, S. Paxson Esq.,Mrs. Emma Tyson, Mr and Mrs. Edwin Stapler, Mr. StokesKirk, Mr. long distances for building and other and Mrs. J. H. F. Sexton, Mr. and Mrs. Charles purposes. The lime used in the mason¬ H. Kirk, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Dobbins, Mrs. ary and brick work for the State House, George Menckic. Mrs. Ellie Betts, Mrs. Jarrett or , so called in Phila¬ Penrose, Mr. and Mrs. William Penrose, Mr. delphia, which was in course of building and Mrs. SamuePj. Penrose, Mr. and Mrs. B. Jarrett, Mr. and Mrs. Robert W. Davis, Mr. from 1729 to 1734, came from these kilns. and Mrs. Alfred K. Williams, Mr. Walter Wil- Watson the historian, in his “Annals of jliams, Miss Mary K. Williams, Mrs. John Philadelphia, makes mention ot the tact j Jackson, Mrs. William Mason, MissSallieT. that “the lime was from the kilns of the |Hallowell, Mr. and Joseph Kirk, Mr. and Mrs. Tysons.” From this it would appear Alfred Moore, Hon. Edwin T. Hallowell, the that the quarries were worked in the f Misses Hallowell, Mr. and Mrs. John Kelly, long gone by and by reference to brief of [Mrs. George Kelly, Mr. and Mrs. John Lloyd, Dr. and Mrs. Walker, Mrs. A. R. Thompson, title later on in this article it will be seen Mr. and Mrs. Philip R. Theobald, the Misses that John Tyson, the elder, and grand¬ Lukens, Mr. and Mrs. Milton Warner, Mr. father of the John of whom we write, and Mrs. Frederick Fowles, Miss Romig, Dr. held title to that estate then, being the Howard Wilson. one who took title from Hallowed^ At And now, kind reader, leFUs'roil back the car of time sixty years or more and the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home fair in call up from “the well of memory’s deep Philadelphia in 1865, the managers of the flowing spring,” events happening at this Montgomery county table made a rather same place, under the guidance of John unique donation as the following note will show:— Tyson, grandfather of Mrs. Johnston. (Scene, quarry and lime kiln lot- Tyson’s Lime Kilns) Abington, Montgomery county. J present, John Tyson and sons, Joseph, “One hundred bushels of lime to be Jacob and El wood,—time, 1.30 P. M.) — sold in front of the State House on Wed¬ “Now boys bring in the oxen from the nesday morning, November 1st at eleven meadow, yoke them and haul up stone to o’clock. The lime is from the same the kiln, for it must be fired and burned quarry that Independence Hall was built out next week as the lime is promised to from. The proceeds to be turned in to a builder in Northampton township, the treasurer of the Soldiers’and Sailors’ Bucks county, and must be delivered Home fair by the chairman of the Mont¬ then.” John Tyson had a methodical gomery county committee. The lime way of doing business and seldom failed will be delivered one mile from the in his purpose. At the appointed time State House.” The price it sold for was his five-horse tandem team with the doubtless a goodly sum of money. ($1.00 promised 100 bushels of lime were on tne per bushel J. T ) way thither. It was the writer’s pleasure John Tyson was a man of strong con¬ to spend many happy days at the old victions, but had a due regard for the j homestead about the time referred to and feelings and opinions of others. He was he therefore knows whereof he speaks. a consistent member of the Soci ety of It was no uncommon thing in those Friends and a constant attender of the | days to have oxen do much of the heavy twice a week meetings at their time hauling about the farm, and occasionally, honored building near Jenkintown. No as in this case, in the quarry. When so business was so pressing with him but used they were shod not as horses, but that he could take part of a day in the with shoes in halves to suit the parted middle of the week and lay aside worldly hoof. The writer has one stored among cares and hold communion with the i his relics, but they are very scarce, and Giver of every good and perfec( gift. ! as was said about an old book—“very He held the traditional faith of his rare, out of print.” Lime burning was fathers as handed down by Fox, Penn I carried on extensively by John Tyson and Barclay: j but entirely different from that practiced “ He worshipped as his fathers did, now. Wood was used instead of coal, And kept the faith of olden days, j and a large arch was turned of the stone And howsoe’er they strayed or slid, 1 in filling the kiln, thus forming a large He loved the good old ways; ‘flue or cavity wherein many cords of The simple tastes, the kindly traits, The tranquil air and gentle speech, wood were burned before the stone was The silence of the soul that waits changed into lime proper. The lime For more than man to teach.” from those kilns was highly esteemed, At the time of the unfortunate division in the Society of Friends in 1827, John Mary Ann, Agnes, Sarah, Rebecca, Tyson cast his lot with the followers of Ruth Anna and John (who died at the Elias Hicks, as his views were more in age of four years). accord with those of Friend Hicks than Agnes is the only one living, being the with those of the other branch of the widow of Charles Paxson, a well pre¬ society. Whatever may be said of his served old lady neaping the 80th mile teachings he was a man of strong will stone on life’s journey. Her home is at power, and his utterances gave no un¬ Jenkintown. certain sound, but stirred society to its The appearance of the place now, I inmost depths. He broadened anew the with the many changes, call little to avenues to thought a id ploughed deep mind as things were wont to be in the furrows through old seed fields of days of John Tyson. The quarries have opinion. He held that there were other not been worked for many years, the old guidances given man beside the written kilns have been removed and the ground law—even the light within-that innate handsomely graded, making a beautiful principle, that Divine monitor that has lawn, the long rows of hundreds of cords been with man from the beginning and of wood, used in burning lime formerly will continue until life’s pilgrimage is are no longer seen, and the whole sur¬ ended, that it is not of man or his teach¬ roundings are transformed from an ings but is bom of God and implanted in active business plant to the finer environ¬ the breast of every human being where- ments of a handsome country seat. The ever mankind are found, in all countries change in the old mansion is no less and all climes, differing only in degree as marked than its surroundings. The good its admonitions are heeded ; that the un¬ taste of Mr. and Mrs. Johnston, with tutored children of the wilderness are that of a skilled architect, leave no sem¬ not insensible to its Divine influence. And blance of the old farmhouse. Additions here as an illustration aptly comes in the and improvements have made it a build¬ Indian maiden’s reply to the missionary ing of completeness—every room neatly- who sought to convert her to his fadh furnished but not gaudily and adapted and mode of worship. Stretching her for the purposes intended. May the bared arm Heavenward, she replied: present happy family long live to enjoy “ G id speaketh afar in tlie forest, and says, the fruits of their labor and witness Behold in the woodland so wild, many anniversaries as enjoyable as the With its heaven arched aisle, one just closed. The true church of my child.” Mr. and Mrs. Johnston have three With all due deference! to different children—two boys and a girl, William J., sects and an acknowledgement of their aged 17, John Carroll, aged 6, and good work in the Christian world, the Emeline Gladys, aged 18 months. “church of my child” is a living faith and The following brief will show the line leads unerringly to the life eternal. of title to the old Tyson Homestead from May we not believe that the teachings William Penn down to William Johnston, of Elias Hicks are in accord with those the present owner : of the Indian maiden. “Warrantfrom William Penn to Samuel In the matter of dress and address John Clarrige to Locate 5000 Acres in Penn¬ Tyson conformed closely to the old land¬ sylvania : marks of the society and his identity was “ William Penn, Proprietor and Gov¬ unmistakable; “he was known by the garb ernor of the , he wore.” He lived to a good old age gives to Thomas Holmes in right of said and finally entered into rest and was laid Clarrige a warrant for 2500 acres, bearing beside those of his kindred in the old date of Seventh month 3d, 1684, and burial ground at Abington. His life layed out by the Surveyor General’s or¬ was not a very eventful one but he has der, June 5th, 1695, and confirmed by left us an example of integrity and well patent from the Commissioners the 29th doing which we might do well to follow. of 1st mo., 1688. By will of Thomas John Tyson married Sarah Paxson, Holmes, dated December 10th, 1695, daughter of Jacob Paxson and sister of Silas Crispin, sole execu'or, was given the late Thomas Paxson of Buckingham, authority to sell and make title to 1500 Bucks County, Pa., November 15th, 1810. acres of the 2500. Deed of Silas Cris-j There were born unto them nine I , executor of TJhomas Holmes, to John children: Joseph C., Jacob P., Elwood, j Hallowed, of Darby, Chester county, for a tract of 630 acres in Hill-Town, dated . ■in# vM;/

June 15th, 1696, being part of the "2500 | takes and accepts the hom^teacrenct ot acres mentioned above. The consider¬ the farm containing 84% acres with the ation therefore being £$8 16 shiPings ! original buildings, at the valuation. Upon with a yearly quit rent of one English : die 4th day of June, A. D. x8l9, Jacob P. silver shilling for every 100 acres, or the i Tyson and Mary B., his wife, sell and I value thereof, to be paid as follows: To convey unto Toseph C. Tyson 4 acres and the chief proprietor or his assigns 105 perches, being part of the 72# acres yearly and every year at Philadelphia, mentioned above and adjoining Joseph the sum of seven pence half-penny En- jC. Tyson’s homestead farm. Joseph Ci I gHsh money or the value thereof, and to Tyson dying intestate, leaving a widow'" j Silas Crispin, his heirs and assigns, to be since deceased, and issue, 5 children’ j paid in Philadelphia yearly, the remain- Tacie F.,Anna Mary, Elizabeth H., Jacob ! der, being 5 shillings 8 pence English L. and John K. Tyson, to whom the real j money, or the value thereof. I estate under the intestate laws did de- Upon the eleventh day of fourth month, 1 scend. On the 8th day of March, 1879 | then called June, John Hallowed, Sr., | the interest of John K. Tyson in said by deed of trust conveyed to Thomas real estate was purchased by Tacie F. Hallowed of Abington, in the county of 1 Tyson, Anna Mary Tyson and Elizabeth Philadelphia and Thomas Hood of Ne- H Johnston, and John H. Tyson and topcom, near the city of Philadelphia, a 1 wife by deed dated November j Sth 183c I tract in Hill-Town, alias Abington, con¬ confirmed to the said Tacie F Anna taining 410 acres, in trust for John Hal¬ Mary and Elizabeth H. their title’to said lowed’s youngest sons, Samuel and Ben¬ 4 acres and 105 perches of land. Upon jamin, to be divided between them when the nth day of February, 1886, John W. they become 21 years of age. The above Irving, Tacie F. Irving, Anna M." 410 acres being part of the 630 acres noted Tyson, William Johnston, Elizabeth H. aDove. Benjamin Hallowed, one of the Johnston, Jacob L. Tyson and Ella brothers above referred to, coming into Tyson, heirs of Joseph C. Tyson, con¬ possession of one-half of the 4T0 acres veyed to John Johnston of Easton, the held in trust for them by a deed dated 83X acres. Upon the 17th of February the 1st day of 4th month, then called same year, John Johnston by deed con’ June, A. D., 1717 conveyed to John Tyson veyed the same tract to William Johns¬ 150 acres, being part of 205 acres, the ton, the present owner, who with his one-half of the 410 acres as in the previ¬ tamily now reside thereon. Upon the ous deed to Benjamin and Samuel Hallo¬ 21st day of April, A. D„ ,890, Hutchin¬ wed. By will of John Tyson, dated 31st son Smith, Trustee, appointed by the of 3d month (called March), 1766, he did Orphans Court of Montgomery county, devise among other th:ngs 145 acres of to make sale of the real estate of Jacob the last mentioned tract to his son Joseph yson, deceased, containing 78 acres I Tyson. By the will of the above named peTrcKhes’ made sa]e of the same to I Joseph Tyson, dated November 17th, Wilham Johnston who has become own- 1 1785, he gave ad of the above mentioned er of the whole Tyson homestead farm tract of 145 acres, the mansion or dwell¬ containing x45 acres originally, but by ing house thereon to his son, John Tyson- later surveys, 156 acres of land By the will of John Tyson last men¬ While the title of the old Tyson home tioned, dated 27th day of 7th month, 1847, has in a measure changed in name, not he directed that the above mentioned so the blood ; a proportionate quantity or plantation or tract of land (containing by the original yet remains, is carried down a late survey 156 acres, more or less) be the stream of time, and the pulse will divided by a certain line making 72)4! register its ebb and flow through comm* generations. & acres where his son Jacob did reside, and he further ordered and directed that his farms and lots be valued as therein direct¬ ed, and being so valued he did give and From, devise to his son Jacob P. Tyson, to¬ gether with other property, the choice or refusal of 72X acre£ at the valuation. ..c^o ^i^hrur* ft1* Jacob P. Tyson accepted the above tract at the valuation. Joseph C. Tyson, also j Bate, C%A. 2- 0 - / under the will of his father, John Tyson, . - . * t IN HISTORIC OLD CHURCH • 9 9 * ™

Boehm’s Reformed Congregation Was From, Organized 157 Years Ago.

SESQUI CENTENNIAL 0? SYNOD .®. \

Observed with Impressive Memorial Date, d-cA 1~?■«■ . . /IT . 7. ; Services on the Site of a Building in Which Revolutionary Soldiers Died—

Crowds Addressed by Clergymen. bfrf- a - * - -v- . --—- ,‘‘n— Boehm’s Reformed church, at Blue Bell, was orowded yesterday by representative HISTORIC ANNIVERSARY. members of the denomination from all parts of Montgomery oountv. It was the 120 Years Since Washington’s Ann}' occasion of the Sesqui-Centennial of the organization of the synod of the Reformed Encamped at Pottstown, Church In the United States. Unusual interest centred around the event from the fact that Boehm’s churoh Is believed to be A MEMORIAL TABLET NEEDED, the oldest Reformed church in the United States. It was organized 157 years ago by Tli.3 Stay of tlio Patriots Her© Was at Rev. John Philip Boehm. The memorial services were in charge of a Critical Period 5» tbe Progress of the pastor, Xev. D. Ui Wolf. In the morn¬ tUc itevolnt louary Conflict—Tlie For¬ ing Rev. F. W. Good, D. D , of Reading, ces Re mi era,tt)d. delivered an historical address on “Boahm Yesterday, 120 years ago (Sept 26, aud Boehm’s Church.” Ia the afternoon 1777), General Washington broke ckmp 1 Rev. John H. Sechler, D. D., a former at Potistown (then PottsgroVe) and; pastor of the First Reformed church, Phila¬ marched down the "great road” (Pev- delphia, addressed a crowded house on kiomen and Reading Turnpike) to Lim¬ “The Present Condition and Future Pros- erick where they turned to the left and peots of the Reformed Church.” He was went into camp at Parm'ebaokev’s Mills followed by Rev. C. E. Schaeffer, of Nor¬ (Schwenksville). When Gen. Washing¬ ristown,on a paper on “Michael Schlatter.” ton was encamped here he ‘had 8000 He said Schlatter was born 1718. He was Continentals and 2000 militia, a total the second pastor of Boehm’s ohurch. A force of about 10,000 men. They were j bible was exhibited In the ohurch which foot-sore and weary, and almb'st en¬ was one of several Schlatter brought from tirely without tents. The period was an Europe for distribution. He died atChest- anxious one for the great Washington nut Hill, 1790. and his compatriots. They had suf¬ fered a serious defeat at Brandywine cn Rev. H. T. Spangler, D. D., President of Sept. 11, but bo determined was Wash¬ Ursinns College, delivered an appropriate ington to prevent Philadelphia falling , discourse in the evening on "The Educa¬ into tli; hands of the British that he, tional Work of the Reformed Churoh” and was continually on the alert to give ail- ! Lawrence Shaw read a “Bit of History and other battle to his antagonist. He ac»-| Statistical Report ” •cordVngly marched frpm the Falls of The original Boehm’s church was erected Schuylkill in the direction of Ilowe*^ in 1740. During the time the British oc¬ Army, and at Warren Tavern, Chester cupied Philadelphia it was u^ed as a hospi¬ county attacked him on Sept. ICth. At tal by General Weeden’s Brigade, which the same time a terrific rain stdrih be¬ was encamped on the farms of James gan to rage which stopped hostilities, Morris and George Gregor, now the btcause their powder was wet. On the 19th of September Washing¬ Saunders Lewis estate, and farm of W. H. ton’s main army crossed the Schuylkill Brayton. Several Continental soldiers river into Montgomery county at Par- died In the churoh, and were buried in the kerford, and marched to the Perkiomeii, yard adjoining. at Trappe and Evansburg. On Sept. A second church was built in 1818, 46 by 22 the Continental army marched up 50 feet, at a cost of $4000. In 1870 it was the pike and went into camp at Potts¬ remodel ed to its present size.at a cost of town. This movement was made to I nearly £6000. protect the supplies Of the patriots, at ! Reading, which Washington was led to j believe Howe intended to make an ef- • V'

j fort- tc ' capture. On the afternoon _ j that day Howe and his army crossed atestone on the western gable .of j the Schuylkill at Gardner's and Fatlard the house tells of its erection in 173S by “ H. J ford, a short distance below Valley S.,” and that it was repaired in 1816 by Ben- j Forge and proceeded in the direction jarnin Weber. of Philadelphia. Originally this was a part of the extensive With h.n army suffering from the ex¬ tract owned by , from whom cessive hardships and fatigue oc¬ Norristown was named, and later it was held casioned by constant marching in by James Logan and Israel Pemberton. stormy weather since the battle of The initials on the datestoue are for Hance I Brandywine, it was impossible for Supplee. His son Peter became the owner, | Washington to overtake the enemy or subject to certain rights of Hance’s widow, give immediate pursuit when he learned Magdalin, left her by his will, one of which I of Howe’s real whereabouts. was that she was to have a residence in a part i The condition of the patriots when of the old homestead during her life. Hance they arrived here was deplorable. Tliej* Supplee died December 16, 1770. His grand- | .bad been exposed to heavy rains, with¬ son, whose name was also Hance, was born in 1 out shelter. More than a tnousand were 1768, and he was an eye witness of what hap¬ barefooted and forced to march over pened at the Snpplee farm on October 3, 1777, muddy roads and swollen streams in ! the day before the battle of Germantown. His j that condition. Cold, wet and hungry, life was very loug, his death taking place in i destitute of so much essential to their [ 1859 at the age of 92. His mother dying health and comfort, scores of patriots when he was a child, February 27, 1777, the were obliged to lie on the a amp ground boy came to live with his grandmother, Mag¬ without tent or blanket. In this ex¬ dalene, who was then a widow at the Supplee farm. - tremity when Washington's army was ' unable to make a forced movement upon It is from the testimony of this Hance Sup¬ the enemy, a council of general officers plee that we know that a military council was held, and decided to remain at was held on this secluded farm previous to Pottsgrove until reinforcements should the attack on Germantown. His words were : “ I was a boy of nearly ten years, living arrive and allow the army a few days’ rest. with my grandmother, near the Skippack road. Washington and his army were en¬ It was 9 o’clock in the forenoon of camped in the neighborhood. Gen. Greene Sept. 26, 1777, when the patriot army had his headquarters at our house. Washing¬ broke camp at Pottstown, on their ton called to see him and they had a long inarch in search of the foe. The move¬ talk by themselves. The next day, October ment ended in the battle of German¬ 3, Washington called again with other officers, town, after which Washington went into and ail being mounted went into the meadows, winter quarters at Valley Forge, and formed a semi-circle, facing Washington. The arrival and departure of Wash¬ They stood in this position for a considerable ington and his brave army at Pottstown time, and afterwards each officer went to his is a matter of great historical interest, command. Gen. Greene came into the house and a memorial tablet to commemorate and went to his room. Tne soldiers were the event should be erected. The Mont¬ around the hills in camp. gomery County Historical Society is “ The next morning not a soldier or officer doing a good work in the marking of could be seen around, and a battle was heard places made famous by reason of the going on. Sonre time in the afternoon the movements of the revolutionary pa¬ soldiers were in full- retreat up the Skippack triots and we hope to see a suitable road, in a demoralized condition. They memorial stone erected in Pottstown would go at times very slow, seeming ready at no distant day. to give out. Then a report would come that they were being pursued by the British, and they would go on a full run. A trooper was A HISTORIC FARMHOUSE going along up the road with a foot soldier fl <•**“ - riding on behind. Opposite my point of view The Old Supplee Home In Worcester the hindmost dropped off, of which the caval¬ j Which Was Visited by Washington ryman took no notice. ‘‘The foot soldier was found to be dead, 1 —The Military Council Prior to the having been shot through the body, and was Battle of Germantown. buried on one side of the road, on the form. Hance’s grandmother’s horses were taken to In the eastern portion of the township of help on the retreat. He was sent to bring Worcester stands a stone fannkonse, one of them hack, but they were retained till next the oldest dwellings in that vicinity. It is day, when they were returned.” about a mile northward of Belfry station, on j The boy saw Washington, whom he describ¬ the Stony Creek railroad. The borongh of j ed as a “ tall, heavy man, over six feet, with North Wales lies two miles to the east, and j a dignified look and slightly marked with the village of West Point half-way between small-pox.” the two. The surrounding farm is part of The narrative of Hance Supplee was given 'the northern slope and summit of Methacton 1 in 1844 to his grandson, Thomas R. Supplee, Hill. - i now a citizen of Philadelphia, and well '”WTTr»t— known to many Herald readers. camp tires ofThe continental army. 1 he fields of the Revolution lie encircled about us, and the memorable events of Paoli, Germantown, Fort Washington, Whitemarsh, Yallev Forge, Crooked From, Billet and Barren Hill form one of the most thrilling chapters in our national history.' „ ^ . So rapidly had the fame of Penn s fair and fruitful province, as well as of his liberal principles of government,. been circulated abroad that the tide of immi¬ Date,dzr VL.l gration which flowed in was something 11 unprecedented and the growth of his colonv was truly marvelous. By the date of Penn’s return to Eng¬ our historic 'environs. land, in 1684, it is said that more than 50 townships had been settled within the Extract of Paper Bead by Charles S. Mann original counties of Chester, Philadelphia at the Fort Washington. Meeting of the and Bucks. This beautiful valley, which Montgomery County Historical Society. the Indians were loath to relinquish and to which they loved to return, did not The Gazette has already published . therefore long escape the covetous eyes of the portion of the paper of Charles S. their troublesome, land-grasping, pale- Mann which relates to the movements faced neighbors. of Washington and his troops in Mont¬ Thomas Fairman, the friend of Penn gomery county. The first part ot the and one of Ins deputy surveyor-generals, paper, which we print below, covers the who laid off the manor of Springfield- history and events in this part ot the 1684— records that prior to that event country previous to the Revolution: he and the proprietary governor had The most interesting period m the taken a journey “to look at some land history of a state—in truth, the heroic > which was afterward called Springfield.” period to those of us who stand where In a bill of charges Fairman also notes time remotely distant ‘’lends enchant¬ among other items that he was debtor ment to the view”—begins with the firs- “To a journey with the Proprietor and settlement of its territory and the organ¬ his friends to Umbolekemensin, with ization of its first system of government. three of mv horses, 12 shillings.” Per¬ No matter how eventful nor how im¬ haps both of Fair man’s statements refer portant it may subsequently become in to the same journey, which was probably the arena of the world’s affairs no con¬ made in 1683. temporaneous period can supplant the We have no record of the governor s quaint fascination and the romance which impression of this valley in the hills clings around the chronicles ot its p»on- embrace, which he beheld in all its nat¬ neers and “advance guards of civiliza¬ ural beauty as he followed the Indian tion ” Here in the old colonies and trails over its bordering hills and guided original states we love to go back through his horse along the winding banks of the the8annals and traditions of the past to Wissahickon, as it rippled along its stony the days of the founders, and learn who channel through the dense arid silent first save metes and bounds to the chart- forests; but the fact that he directed less and unknown wilderness; who nam¬ Fairman to survey over 4000 acres to be ed these counties, townships, towns and reserved as the property of his wife leads villages; who built the first homesteads, ns to infer that his practical eye was cap¬ cleared these fields and tilled the virgin tivated with its worth and beauty. soil- who framed our laws, gained our Gulielma Maria Penn was the charming liberties and enlightened the land with and devoted only daughter of Sir William its beacon lights of schools and churches^ and Mary Proude Springett, of Darling¬ What manner ot men were they, an ton, Sussex, England. Her father was a from whence did they come . . parliamentary colonel in the cause of We meet today in the very heart of Hampden and Cromwell. As late as some of the oldest settlements m the 1738 the Penn family still held about state. Our county for a full• 1600 acres of the former manor of Spring- formed a part of one of the first or|a field. . ized counties in the province, located in In October, 1683, William Penn at the suburbs of the first capital of the the request of Jasper Farmar, Jr., on united colonies—one of the oldest, be behalf of his father, Major Jasper Farm- and most historic cities in Amenca >V e a,r, on "[email protected] of his brotlior JRichErd End are surrounded by ancient landmarks o himself,” granted them 5000 acres of the Colonial and Revolutionary eras land, being “of the lands by the Indians exceedingly rich in the traditions and called Umbilicamence, fronting at one associations of our storied and eventful end on the river Schuylkill,” and re¬ quested Thomas Holmes “forthwith to P'aOne hundred and twenty years ago survey or cause to be surveyed the said next November yonder hillsides were 5000 acres. lighted for nearly six weeks with ^the [5

linterpreter. He was also justice of tne Major Jasper Farmar, an officer in the Philadelphia county courts for 40 years; British army in the time of Charles II, was elected a member of the provincial was the son of George Farmar, earl of assembly in 1710 and continued to serve Pomfret. The family name was original¬ with but few intervals until his death, ly Ricards alias Fermor or Farmar, from Nov. 3, 1745. the female branch, an old Norman fam¬ Nicholas Scull, son of Nicholas who ily dating back to the reign of William came in the same ship with Farmar, or the Conqueror, beginning A. D. 10(16. John, who came earlier, was also an in¬ In the time of Henry YU they held terpreter of great ability and had few a family estate at Somerton, Oxfordshire, England. equals as surveyor. He conducted trea¬ ties with the Indians at Conestoga in Major Farmar had lived for many 1728, the same year at New Hanover, years on an estate near Cork, in Ireland; and in 1729 at Sbamokin and the Mini¬ but becoming dissatisfied with the tur¬ bulent condition of affairs bv which he sinks on the upper Delaware. In 1744 he was commissioned sheriff of Phila¬ was surrounded, he was led'to embark delphia county. He was made surveyor- for Pennsylvania. We do not know that general in 1748 and filled the position he was either a friend or a relative of until his death, in 1761, when he was Penn, but his name and the marked consideration that was shown his request succeeded by John Lukens, of Horsham. for lands might give us grounds to think John Scull, a member of this same family, carried the first printing press that he may have been. Penn’s mother’s family name was Jasper. Gov. Thomas across the Allegheny mountains and Penn married Juliana Farmar, daughter founded the Commercial Gazette at Pitts¬ burg in 1786. This was the first press of the earl of Pomfret or Pontefract, in Yorkshire. and newspaper in the entire Mississippi valley. ^ According to Colonial records Major Farmar sent out John Scull as overseer, Whitemarsh is one of the most beau¬ with a number of servants, to settle up¬ tiful of our old Colonial names; yet there on the purchased tract and provide ac¬ is considerable uncertainty concerning commodations for his own family upon the origin and first application of the their arrival. In July, 1685, the Indians name. For the first quarter of a century it was known as “Farmarstown.” In complained to the governor’s council that some of Scull’s servants had mal¬ 1720 it was written Farmarstown alias treated and abused them. Major Farmar Whitemarsh, and thereafter invariably arrived at Philadelphia Sept. 10, 1685, on Whitemarsh. Dr. Millet in his history board the Bristol Merchant,Captain John of St. Thomas’ church states that the Stevens commander, with his family, name was derived from a parish of that consisting of himself, Mary, his wife, name in England. This has been called and eight children—Edward, Richard, in question by some other authorities, Jasper, Jr., Sarah, John, Robert, Catha¬ who have claimed that there was no rine and Charles—and also about 20 ser¬ counterpart to the name in existence; vants and artisans. but they are evidently in error, for lo¬ Major Farmar did not live to see his calities bearing the name Whitemarsh colony established, as his death occurred exist today in Maryland and Virginia. just as the vessel came to port in Phila¬ In 1713 the German inhabitants of Van Bebbers township, on the Skippack, delphia. Jasper,' Jr., had also died j^t petitioned the court of quarter sessions previous to his father, and, as no settle¬ that a road be laid out from Skippack ment had been effected, Madam Farmar, to the “wide marsh at Farmar’s mill.” as legatee of her husband’s estate, made Hon. William A. Yeakle in his valuable

n,Inartlt101? by which one-half of the history of the township believed beyond ^000 acres by the will became in fee her a doubt that the name was a variation of property and the other half that of her “wide marsh,” originating from the gen¬ sons Richard and Edward. Richard eral character of the grassy lowlands for soon sold his portion, and then the wid¬ miles on either side of the Wissahickon. ow regained possession and became own- Others claim that the name was suggest¬ er of two-thirds of the original estate, ed by the color of the clay and limestone vhmh, with Edward’s share, comprised soil of the valley; whilst Dr. Sheeleigh a‘1°f Mhfiemarsh township southwest thinks it possible that it may have been of the bkippack and Church roads to the bestowed by some of the early Germans Schuylkill. who were either followers of Menno Madam Mary Farmar died near the Simon or had been natives or residents latter part of 1696 and by will bequeath¬ of his birthplace, Witmarsum, Friesland, ed all her estate to her son Edward who Holland. Down to 1740 the name was located here at a very early date and variously written “Witmarsh” and “Wit- built the first mill in the township, on marshan.” the Missahickon, which supplied all the Lying so close to the thrifty German early settlers in the surrounding coun¬ colony of Pastorius, it is not strange that try, even as far north as Franconia and the enterprising and agressive spirits of Upper Salford. Settling here while vet that vicinity, looking from the rugged 'much of the country was in possession heights of Chestnut Hill, fixed wistful of the Indians, Edward became familiar eyes upon the vacant acres of the Penns with their language and became a famous and Farmars as fast as they were placed] and Lafayette, and there the “stripling Upon the market. Among the early Jrenchman” by skillful manoeuvre out¬ families of this race in Springfield were | generaled and escaped from his wily foes. the Ottingers,' Heydricks, Yeakles, Rexs, Zion Lutheran church of Whitemarsh, Bisbings, Snyders, Streepers, Staleys and was founded in 1818 by members of St. Leverings. Michael’s church at Germantown and t In this township English families like j St. Peter’s at Barren Hill, in union with ^ the Farmars, Robesons, Maulsbys, Lan¬ followers of the Reformed church, de-1 casters, Dickinsons, Mathers, Shepherds, scendants, no doubt, of the lost church Gilberts, Woods and others, and Welsh ot Whitemarsh, of which we shall hear families like the Joneses, Davises, Mor¬ more this afternoon. It occupies a most rises, Merediths, 'Williamses, Pottses and beautiful location, close to a portion of Coulstons were first on the ground; but the old camp ground, where tent marks by the time of the Revolution the fam¬ still remain. ilies of German lineage had made such The very handsome edifice of St. Paul’s encroachments upon their territory that Reformed church of Whitemarsh, on the they outnumbered both the English and opposite side of the street, was recently the Welsh. In a list of 1780 we find erected by the congregation which for¬ Katzs, Hagys, Millers, Hausers, Shoe¬ merly worshiped in the old Union church, makers, Conards, Lentzs, Wolfs, Dagers, a mile below. Bartlesons, Mitschels, Ketlers, Hiltners, The water power of the Wissahickon Cressmans, Freases, Streepers, Fishers, was soon recognized and put to service Snyders, Deweeses, Kulps, Acuffs, Aim- by the early settlers. The famous flour¬ ans, Sheetzs, Lukenses, Engharts, Eg¬ ing mills in Upper Dublin and White¬ berts and Rapines. Here in this prov¬ marsh, ante-dating the Revolution, were ince was begun that harmonious com¬ known and noted far and wide, and cre¬ mingling of races on a broader, more ated a market for the great grain crops - comprehensive scope than the world had of the rich surrounding country. ever seen, and in these townships Eng¬ Several of those mills supplied meal to lish, Wrelsh, Germans, Hollanders and the Americans during the campaign of Irish, Churchmen, Friends, Lutherans, 1777, and were, no doubt, strong points Reformers and Schwenkfelders dwelt in favor of Whitemarsh as a campground 1 side by side. for Washington’s patriot army. They ! Upper Dublin, over the line of which are deserving of a more extended notice, * the streets of this village overlap, was which the limits of this paper will not known as “the second Dublin township” allow, along with a vast amount of inter- d as early as 1693, to distinguish it from esting dates. We must at present pass's Lower Dublin, along the Pennvpeck and 3 them by. the Delaware. The Burk family pur¬ chased a large tract of land in the west¬ ern corner of the township, situated be¬ tween the Susquehanna Street road and the Whitemarsh line, as early as 1698, and were probably among the first set- From UAAf... | tiers; while about the same date came ' Fitzwaters, Spencers, Kirks, Tysons, Cleavers, Conards, Shoemakers and Lukenses—generally English and German Friends who, by intermarriage and asso¬ ciation with families of English descent, became essentially English themselves. Date, (kirH Somewhat later came other German names, as Shaffer,Engard, Aiman, Houpt, Stout, Dresher, Rynear and others. One of the most historic churches in Pennsylvania and a prominent landmark for miles around is St. Thomas’ Episcopal INDIAN CREEK church at Whitemarsh, dating back, ac¬ cording to well-founded tradition, as early as 1695, making it co-eval with CHURCH’S JUBILEE. Christ’s church in Philadelphia, Old Ox¬ ford and St. David’s at Radnor. The . beautiful grounds upon which it stands Three Days’ Celebration of Its were donated by Edward Farmar in 1710,

and under the chancel of the old church ' Sesqnicentennial Anni¬ his body has mouldered to dust. St. Peter’s Lutheran church at Bafren versary Begins. Hill is equally as conspicuous as St. Thomas’ as a landmark and perhaps more famous in history. As early as THE PROGRAMME OUTLINED. 1752 families from the mother church— St. Michael’s at Germantown—who lived in the vicinity assembled in their homes for worship, and the cornerstone of the Pastor’s Twenty-Fifth and Sunday first church was laid by Rev. Henry M. Muhlenberg in 1761. Around its walls marched the contending armies of Howe School's Thirty-Third Anniver¬ saries to Be Observed—Sketch of the Church's History. forty-six heads of families had agreed, according to their individual ability, to I contribute arnually fifteen pounds in ' money and produce toward the support of a minister. -A Special Despatch to “The Press.” This, it appears, was not considered Telford. Oct. 23.—The opening exercises | lucrative, for it was not until 1753 that of Christ Reformed Church’s sesqui- the people Had a regular pastor, Rev. Jacob Riesz taking charge of the small centennial at Indian Creek were held ’ I band. During his administration a new- this evening. In addition to the cele¬ church was erected. It was a log struc¬ bration of the 150th anniversary of the ture, ‘‘floorless and stoveless.” He served chutch, the twenty-fifth anniversary of the congregation until 1766, when Rev. John Christopher Gobrecht succeeded the pastorate of Kev. Jacob Kehm, and bim. Rev. Casper Wack followed, and the thirty-third anniversary of the Sun¬ was installed in 1772. In 1775 a new stone day, school of the same church, will he church was built on the site of the old celebrated. building. Rev. Wack’s successor was Rev. John An interesting programme has been ar¬ Theobold Faber, who served the congre¬ ranged for the event, which is to con¬ gation un*!l 1787. wheni he died while de- tinue for three days. Among the fea¬ tures are a Christian Endeavor rallv, a reunion of Rev. Kehm’s catechumens of the last twenty-five years, a com¬ munion service and a sermon by Rev. E. V. Gerhart, D. D.. president of the Theological Seminary of rhe Reformed Church at Lancaster. ^he services began shortly after 7 o’clock, the choir of the church render¬ ing specially prepared music for this occasion. The pastor conducted the de¬ votional exercises, and. after singing bv the congregation, J. Howard Gerhart delivered an address of welcome. Rev. Ji G. Dengler, of Sellersville, responded. THE CHURCH’S HISTORY. Rev. Jacob Kehm then gave the history cu the congregation and church from its beginning ini 1746 to the present time. To Rev. Michael Schlatter properly be¬ longs the honor of establishing the doc¬ trines of the Reformed Church in this 900nr=dKnity'a He Preacbed here October 30, 1(46, and records in his diary that

liev. Jae:ob Kehm, Pastor ot the‘Congregation.

livering a sermon. Rev. John Michael Kern then became pastor, and later Rev John William Ingold. Rey. John Senn assumed the pastorate after Rev. Nicho¬ las Pomp was called to Easton. Rev J Andrew Strassburger took charge of the church affairs upon the death of Rev Ilev-. Strassburger resigned Julv 15. 1854, having served for over thirty-six years. The old church was razed and another put in its place in 1826, with gal¬ leries along three sides. Rev. Joshua H. Deer occupied the pul- pit for three years. In 1857 Rev. Peter Fisher oorrmer.ced his ministerial work The twelfth and present pastor is Rev. Jacob Kehm, of Sellersville, who received a call from the Indian Creek Church in the Spring of 1871. Under his care the congregation has steadily grown and now lias 400 confirmed members In 1880 the present brick edifice was dedicated "This congregation,” said Rev Kehm has been the mother of all Re¬ formed congregations in this neighbor¬ hood, seven in all. It has also given aJ good number of its membership to the Reformed churches in Philadelphia.” J he church nas a prosperous Sunday school and an active Society of Christian Endeavor for young people. lan

W- CHRIST REFORMED CHURck INDIAN CREEK, pa which he prizes very highly, are some eight or ten deeds, the most in¬ teresting of which is one bearing the date 1709, or, as it quaintly puts if, “ be it remembered, etc., on the 23d of April in the eighth year of the’ reign of Queen Anne of Great Britain,” etc. The deed is written on heavy sheep¬ skin in dark ink, the handwriting be¬ ing of that careful ornamental sty le then used in legal documents. It is y^AN HISTORIC HOTEL. still perfectly legible, and purports to be a transfer of the property from The General Wayne Likely Soon to Have “Edward Rees, of Merion township, a New Landlord—Built in the Year Philadelphia county, Province of 1704—The Present Proprietor Has Pennsylvania, a yeoman, on the one Deeds for the Property Extend¬ part, and Robert Jones, a 3’eoman, ing Back to the Year 1709. on the other part.” Rees being un¬ able to write, placed “ his mark,” A Quaint Instrument of “ E. R in the middle of the line ! Queen Anne’s Time. where his name was written. At the As soon as the negotiations can be end is the great seal of the province, satisfactorily agreed upon the famous and the signatures of Joshua Law¬ old General Wayne Hotel, located in rence, Richard Heath and Richard I Lower Merion township, Montgomery VFaltoo, witnesses; Nathan Stan bury, , county, near Narbertb, will probably justice of the peace, and Richard | pass into the hands of new owners. Heath, Deputy Recorder of Deeds. The present owner is James Baird Mr. Baird has nearly every other I who has held it for about fifteen deed of transfer from that date down years. The prospective purchaser is to the present time, one being a trans¬ Edward Odell, lessee of Belmont fer drawn up March 25, 1768, from Driving Park, last year, and the Silas Jones to Benjamin Jones, who place is valued at $36,250. in turn, in 1775, handed the estate The property is perhaps one of over to Abraham Streeper, of Lower the most interesting historic spots Merion. throughout this section of Pennsyl¬ THE OLD HOTEL. vania. It comprises a piece of land Just when the hotel itself was something exceeding three acres in built is not exactly known, but it is extent, situate on what was formerly supposed that it was about 1704 Old Lancaster pike, and just below when the original grant of the land Quaker Meeting House lane. On the was procured from William Penn. property directly adjoining it stands The hotel was first known as “ The the famous Lower Merion Quaker Wayside Inn,” and was on wbat was Meeting House, now over two hun¬ then Old Lancaster road, which was dred years old, in which Penn fre¬ the leading avenue from Philadelphia quently worshipped and where is to the southern part of the State. still shown the bench he occupied Farmers made the country inn their and the peg on which he hung his favorite stopping place, and no doubt hat. In the rear is the cemetery, the words of the present proprietor, beneath whose sod the remains of “ You know you can’t make a church people who spoke and walked two out of a tavern,” have been very true. hundred years ago are buried. According to the history of Mont¬ ANCIENT DEEDS. gomery county, General Anthony Mr. Baird has some very interest¬ Wayne, known as “ Mad Anthony,” ing documents in his possession, stopped there in 1792 on one of his showing the various owners’ right to western expeditions against the In¬ possession since 1704. In a badly dians, and from that event it took its stained and much worn envelope, present name. In 1806 it was kept by Titus Yerkea, and in 1824 by William fslopes northwest and also southeast froth-) Matheys. From 1838 to 1883 it ! the meadow bordering the stream, anil is remained in the family of David crossed by the Stouy Creek Iiailrtad. Beyond, on its northwest side, is the Young. From 1806 to 1867, the road separating from Worcester. elections of the whole township were We have seen no deed to Bernjart held there and hence many exciting Shearer, and probably none has been scenes transpired within its walls. preserved, but a recital in a subseqient Before 1851 a post office, probably deed says that he bought 115 acre* of AothoDy Morris, John Armit and TVil- the first in the township, was%stab liam Thomas. It was among the latest lished there, but was removed about pieces of laud retained by the heirs of the .thirteen years ago to Academyville. Whitpain family'. Here are the bounda¬ The place around the hotel was ries then :—“Beginning in line of John first known as the village of Mer¬ Thomas ; thence southeast 200 perches ; southwest by land of George Kastner 92 ioneth, as it was so called by Gabriel perches ; northwest by Charles Kreps 200 Thomas in his “Accouut of Pennsyl¬ perches ; by Richard Osborn northeast 92 vania,” in 1696. perches.” The latter owner lived in. Worcester. It will be seen that this was a square cornered tract, with no angles. The length of 200 perches shows that it extended over the hill to the southeast. The name of Beruhart Shearer appears ' From, CRjz. ;. in the list of Whitpain taxables for 1700' as the owner of 115 acres, of which 50 acres were cleared and 00 remained in | .. Iorest. He had thirteen acres sowii in ■ grain and was taxed for three horses and live cattle. if he had cleared fifty \ Bate, . acres withiu two years after his purchase, Ah. it was pretty rapid work, and this state¬ ment leads to the supposition that he hail :•==--- [ ulled^ the laud as a tenant belore 1758. in 1792 ihe names of Valentine, John,’ Beruhart, Ludwig aud Lawrence Shearer LOCAL HISTORY. » ere ou the assessment list. Beruhart Shearer did not live many The Shearer Homestead and Family_Bern- I years in his new house in America. Ilia hart Shearer, the Immigrant—Lawrence j death occurred about 1707, and he left Shearer—The Frick Farm, Whitpain. no will. His children were four sons •j There were many immigrants of the and two daughters. These were Lorentz, name of Shearer who came to Pennsyl¬ nr Lawrence, Valentine, John, Ludowiek, vania from Germany during the last or Lewis, Barbara, wife of George century. The list comprises 52 names of Renner, and Regina, wife of Adam those coming from 1739 to 1772. The Renner. In settling up the estate the name was variously spelled, but all evi¬ late named heirs, in 1708, sold the home¬ dently belonged to the same class. stead to Lawrence Shearer, their co-heir, The Shearer family of this vicinity are and who remained the owner until his descended from Beruhart Shearer, or death at the close of the Revolution, Scherer, who landed in Philadelphia tie paid £600 to the other heirs for : September 15th, 1749. Lorentz Scherer the farm—a price indicating that their I came over on the same date, and Valen- lather bad made good improvements. tine Scherer on September 5th, 1748. The deed was witnessed before Charles Bern hart Shearer belonged to the Re- Joly, a Whitpain justice. None of the, formed faith, and became a member of Whitpain Shearers appear in the list off Boehm’s church. He settled iu the Captain Abraham Wentz’s company off j upper edge of Whitpain, less than half a j militia, organized in 1777. mile northeast of Belfry station, and I Now, Lawrence Shearer evidently died probably made the first improvement! when a man of middle age, as he left a j upon the land that he then bought It. widow and all minor children. As if was nine years after his arrival that his anticipating death from some lingering purchase was made, or in 1758. The sur disease, he made his will on November rounding country had been settled many 11th, 1780, and he died in the early years before, though this particular spring of 1783. The name of his wife tract may have yet remained in forest. was Ann Mary, but no tradition has It was the Frick farm of later times handed down to us her maiden name. covering a territory crossed by the Stony To this widow was left his personal Creek, here but an infant stream There estate, “ out of which she shall bring up he built his house by a spring that issued my younger children until my son John j forth on the meadow bank near the is 21 years of age.” He requested that brook, and where now is a large stone the farm be worked by the heirs until ! farm house. The surface of the farm that time. If the wife continued a widow, her son John was directed to build her a “convenient and suitable house ‘H. upon such part of my plantation as shall Tfrooks; jEliza, who married Jacob J fall ^o my second son Jacob,” together Weber; Mary, who married Harry F. with a garden, and feed for one cow, as Moyer ; Euphemia and Amanda. well as firewood. She was also to have £9 The old Shearer homestead, in Whit- yearly. Next, as to his real estate, the pain, was sold to Henry Frick in 1849, testator says: “To my son John one- who paid $3,150 for 114 acres. It had half of my plantation whereon I do now been in possession of the Shearer family live.” The other half was to go to the for uiuety-one years. Henry Frick was younger brother Jacob, which was ad¬ a young man at the time of his purchase, joining land belonging to the heirs of and he retained possession during a long Thomas Hallowed. The two were to life. After his death it was sold in 1895 pay £000 for the land. They had sisters to William Frantz, for $4,600, paid for —Elizabeth, Magdalena and Catharine, 114 acres. and the £000 was to be equally divided In 1871, the administrators of Jacob ^ ainoug the five children. The will was W. Shearer sold his North Wales farm, 7 witnessed by Evan Thomas, who lived on comprising 117 acres, to Jacob M. Swart¬ * jthe pregent McCandlass farm, and by ley for $7,356. In 1839, over thirty years SlpIelchoiV Wagner, of Worcester. It was before, Shearer had paid $5,507. - As is Hfcntered for registry April 4th, 1783. well known, after the death of Jacob Mafly years afterwards, in 1797, the Swartley, his heirs divided the property, sisters made a formal release to John, selling it out in building lots, and a con¬ and the same year the younger brother siderable portion of the old farm is now Jacob conveyed to John his half of the covered with dwellings, aud the whole is homestead, and so it was united again included within the borough of North under one owner. Wolpc John Shearer lived to be quite an old Valentine Shearer man, or for 64 years after his father’s will | In this account of the Shearers, some was made. He married Elizabeth notice is due to Valentine Shearer, prob¬ daughter of Benjamin Weber, about ably a brother of Bernhart Shearer, 1793. Their children were eight in whose posterity in one line we have number—Mary, Jacob, John, Susan, wife traced. Valentine was born in Germany, of Joseph Knipe ; Benjamin, Joseph, in 1722. He sailed for America in the Jesse and Elizabeth, wife of Joel Sellers. ship “Edinburg,” arriving on the 5th ■ Elizabeth Sellers was deceased before of September, 1748. In 1762 he bought 1844,leaving two children—Gilbert L. aud the former Robinson mill, at Custer Anna M. Sellers—both then minors, with station, and fifty acres for £365. He Adam Kneedler as their guardian. lived here during the days of the Revo¬ The death of John Shearer, the third lution, aud for many years thereafter-. in descent from Bernhart Shearer, took In 1771 he bough 18 acres adjoining, in place on September 20th, 1844, at the age Worcester, am in i 779 ninety more acres of nearly 79 years, and he was buried at in N.orrijtofie So he owned the -whole Boehm’s churchyard. He was born in corner about G«st;e^ station. The stone 1765, and was about 18 years of age at the barn, yet standing, was built by him in time of his father’s death. 1776, as the date and initials on it tell. Jacob Weber Shearer was born Decem¬ He built the present house in 1792. ber 17, 1794. He was a soldier in the There is a curious tradition that he pos¬ war of 1812, as was also his brother John. sessed a pet snake. It was a big hliek They went with the militia to Camp Du¬ ■ fellow, and his wife used lo feed t ie pont, at Marcus Hook, in the fall of reptile daily with mlTTE It was a sort of 1814, staying there until the following pet that not many people would fancy. December. He married Elizabeth, The death of Valentine Shearer occurred daughter of Joseph Knipe, of a Lutheran September 18, 1809, at the great age of family. He bought the later Swartley , ■f 87 years, and he was buried at Boehm’s farm in Gwynedd, and which is now | church. Ilis daughter Mary was his partly covered by the buildings of the' only surviving child, and she became borough of North Wales. His death owner of the mill and farms com¬ took place July 24, 1869, in his 75th year. prising 159 acres. She became the His widow Elizabeth survived him until. wife of a Lutheran preacher— -Iiev. May 31, 1878, being then in her 78th Henry Gpiseubeimer—who came from year. They were buried in the Lutheran Whitehall,Lehigh county. The preacher- cemetery, North Wales, where their farmer was not prosperous, and so, in daughter Amanda had previously been 1821. the Sheriff seized his property, and interred, whose death occurred Decern another preacher, Rev. George Wack, ber 29, 1858, in her 28th year. was the buyer of the mill and 68 acres. The children of Jacob W. Shearer were According to the will of Valentine three sons and seven daughters, viz Shearer, He had at least two other daugh¬ Franklin, now living retired in North ters, therj deceased. He speaks of his Wales; John, of Lausdale ; Abel K., the daughter Margaret’s children, who were well-known lumber merchant of North Mary, Henry aud Rachel Berkheimer; Wales; Catharine, wife of Ephraim also another grandchild, John Rogers. Neavel ; Sophia, who married Edward L. To each of these he gave £100. He men¬ •Joues ; Isabella, who married George L. tions also Valentine, son of his brother — 5P5'''3r v - - • -. - - - 1 Ludwiek Shearer. E. M. T’T

' V

J ■ / r j rr~r~j- > y ■ / / r■* any rate. Socially, ho was a great favorite ; ho was musical and a good fencer ; he dancect well, was clever at sleighl-of-hami, and pro¬ | digiously strong ; he could stuff birds, train From,^c c ^ dogs and shoot with marvelous dexterity— altogether he was popular iu the sense of ex¬ citing attention. P CA0-.fr /'» 7^crt<^^. As a youth of eighteen he had come from France to live upon the estate which his father, John Audubon, had bought while on a visit to Pennsylvania the same year the sou E Date; '

- upon it stands a very old house. Within several hundred yards of the GWYNEDD’S BICENTENNIAL. meeting house stands the Gwynedd store, which had been in the possession of the Jenkins family for 102 years last spring, A Move mem to Commemorate Properly four generations managing it in succes¬ the Settlement ot the Township—The sion. Edward Jenkins opened the store in 1796. He was succeed by Charles F. Old Friends’ Meeting: House—Descend¬ Jenkins and then William H. Jenkins. At present Walter Jenkins is the pro¬ ants of the Early Settlers. prietor. There has been a post office at this place for eighty years. Two hundred years ago Gwynedd A house which was built about 174 township, in Montgomery county, was years ago, located above North Wales purchased from William Penn and set¬ ana now the property of Mr. Danehow- tled by a company ol fifteen men from er, is at present being demolished. It was a quaint structure with a huge peak¬ Wales. There is at present a strong agi¬ ed roof and massive stone walls. tation among prominent people of the The coming bicentennial celebration township, numbers of them direct de¬ will also be the occasion of a reunion of scendants ot these original settlers, to the old families. commemorate the bicentennial of this event and the movement, without doubt, will be successful. Although l o plans have been arrang¬ ed, as no meetings have been held for this *\ v * purpose, residents of the seotlon are look¬ bonoraoie exceptions; actually terrorized j those under their chargeuntil, very natural!} , they failed in their lessons, and fear brought \ on them the punishment which was so mnch dreaded. How delicate and nervous children From, . were able to imbibe learning at tt!T under such circumstances and iu such an atmosphere, is a mystery that defies solution. Few parents of the present day would care to subject their children to such an ordeal as too many were compelled to endure in order to acquire the Bate, ^**y±L~? merest rudiments of an education a century ago. . . It may be alleged by way of criticism on this portrayal that the pioture is overdrawn, but \ the experience of our ancestors fully corrob- otates all that has been said. It would be SOME OLD SCHOOLS very desirable to show that a different and a ! better state of things existed a hundred years ago, but fidelity to the truth of history leads OL UPPER MERION. one to an entirely different conclusion. That there were humane teachers who deprecated j severity and led their pupils onward in the A Century’s Progress in Methods \ pathway of obedience by love, is undeniably j of Mental Training:. true. But these were exceptions to the gen¬ eral rule, and it is the great mass of schools ■< that are now under consideration. Parental Severity Was tlie Rule a Hundred discipline was harsh at that time, iu many cases to a degree that would now be regarded Years Ago aud Even Eater—Recent as inhuman, and school authorities generally Owners of tire Holstein Butldin g— upheld such severity. Teachers a century ago were almost invari¬ The Old House on the Stewart ably men. If the discovery had been made Homestead Xot the One in Which that women are naturally the best fitted of He Resided, Although It Occupies the sexes to ‘‘teach the young idea how to shoot,” it had not been carried into effect.,! the Same Site. When the public school system came into use I there was opposition to the employment of In the closing years of the century a back¬ women in the capacity of teachers, and itl ward glance may very appropriately be taken, took many years to overcome the foolish pre- l with a view to making a comparison between judices that prevailed on the subject. Thej the educational methods in vogne now and at maintenance of order, it was argued, was of f paramount importance, and how could it be its beginning. It is a long stretch of time j from the old log building which prior to 1798 expected that a woman would be able to jlis- ! occupied the site where stood later the Union cipline refractory pupils? _ T | School, endowed by the bequest of William Even after the privilege of teaching bad Stewart, to the public school system, which been grudgingly accorded to those whom God has been in force for more than a half-cen¬ and nature endowed with the qualities neces¬ tury. sary for successfully impartiug instruction to Great as is the lapse of time, the difference j youth and leading them jnto the pleasant in methods is even more remarkable. The paths of knowledge, it was considered entire¬ old harsh discipline prescribed severe corporal ly out of order to give them the same compen¬ punishment, which was inflicted for compara¬ sation that had been paid without a murmur tively slight offenses. Mankind were groping to the opposite sex. The admission that wo¬ toward the light, but the notion prevailed men were as a rule the better teachers, was that the rod was an important aid in main¬ finally wrung from relnctant school authori- taining order, whereas its principal effect was | ties, bnt it was accompanied with the firm re¬ to demoralize pupils and teachers alike, and solve that the sex should be paid only half as ( to make all reckless as to their conduct. mnch for their services. How well it has All this iB now changed. It has been dis¬ been kept, is a matter of history, familiar , covered that kindness and gentleness are the to all. , best aids in maintaining order ; that they are Another paint in connection with school much more effective in conquering stubborn, management a century ago, was the very er¬ rebellious and disorderly pupils than blows roneous idea prevailing in reference to sanita- and other violent measures could possibly be. tion. Strange as it may appear, this defect The teacher of a cejutnry ago, with flis bundle has endured to onr own time—a relic of the I darkness and ignorance of the past. Little of rods, would not be tolerated at the' present time in any well-regulated school. care was thought to be necessary in the con¬ The change from violence to gentleness has struction of buildings devoted to educational been beneficial in more respects than in the purposes. Pupils were crowded into small direction of humanity. The schoolmasters of: rooms whose ceilings were low and whose the olden time (there were of course many ventilation was almost entirely overlooked. In winter, an overheated stove was supposed to make all comfortable. Those who sat near _ if "were feverish wft{i "Neat'; "thoseala (Hsfance i > were quaking with chid. Eveijy breath, it f the kitchen (to the bedroom it was n would seem, must have been coutagion. to go outdoors. It is yet too soon to sing psalms of triumph . THE TRAPPE SCHOOL. over progress ill this r< sped. There has been Francis Murphy, who has been mentioned wonderful advancement in respect to sanita¬ as a teacher at the Union School, taught for tion, but there are districts not very remote many years in the old Trappo school house, from the cities-tbfe suppose! centres of civil¬ ( ying in 1855, at the age of eighty-five years. ization—in which antiquated ideas on thj^as It was built several years prior to the first well as on other subjects, still prevail. The- Lutheran church, which was erected in 1743.' light of progress has dawned, however, and it \ov. Henry M. Muhlenberg taught there and j is impossible to foretell what another century was succceedod by Mittleberger. Murphy, i " may not acomplish. may be added, seems to have had a varied ex Even a half-century ago or later, the old- perience in teaching. In 1812 he taught a time uotious were still prevalent to a decree the school below Fort Washington, whicR : of which few of the present generation are was founded in 1773, incorporated in 1797, an I conscious. There has been a wonderful ad¬ nsed until 1SG9, when the present buildin vance in art and invention in the last fifty or was erected. The writer taught here in 187 , sixty years; scientific discovery has made ana ’74. His maternal grandmother was i wonderful strides—so wonderfnl that the attendance from 1807 to 1813, and she or h( progress of achievement is almost miracnlons. brothers and sisters were pupils of Murphy, From Morse to Edison is a loug way, but the Among,teachers of the earlier times besides'' progress in methods of teaching has been Murphy at this school were Ezekiel. Hill, fnll.v ai marvelous, if not more so. There is ;homas Livezey, Robert Kerr, John M. j much to be done before the work of intellect¬ Jones, Daniel Sellers, Samuel Davis, Thomas ual training shall approach perfection, but the Bitting and others. Ellwood Roberts. gain has been already so great as to warrant the belief that much more will be attained in due time. HOLSTEIN SCHOOL’S LATER OWNERS. The building in which was kept for*many From,... . years the Holstein School, passed from the' Holsteins to Henry Novioch and from him in the shape of an assignment for the benefit of creditors to Charles H. Stinson and Ralph W.' E i ..Z3. Novioch. The deed from William H. Holstein and wife to Novioch is dated April 1, 1854. Tne Date, . . / deed of assignment bears the date July 10 1858. An assignees’ deed from Messrs. Stinson and Novioch to Mr. Holstein was executed AAAftA i March 4, 1859. April 11th, 18(14, William II. Holstein conveyed the property to John T. SOME OLD SCHOOLS Mclnnes, the consideration being $900. It thus became incorporated with the linie- Kun anq gunfrry property of John T. Mc- OF UPPER MERION Innes, brotlnjr of Hngh Mclnnes. i ' June 26, lt»9, John T. Mclnnes couveyed I the propertyj.tu Hugh Mclnnes who owned A Log- Building; in Use a Hundred it until Jan iary 3, of this year, when it was conveyed to Mark R. Haguer who had leased and Thirty Years Aro. it for a numlir of years. The property comprises 25 acres of land Abandoned fop Educational Purposes, and limekilns located at the intersection of the King-of-Prnssia turnpike road and the It Became the Dwelling of Silas Chester Valley railroad. Supplee, a Revolutionary Soldier— THR STEWART HOMESTEAD. Reference has previously been made to the The Little Known of Its History. Stewart homestead, now occupied by Eliza¬ beth Moore Thomas R. Supplee, whose remembrance as to suoh matters supplies con¬ The details heretofore given in connection siderable information, states that all the with the Union School, the Holstein School present dwelling was built by William and other places of learning in Upper Merion, Carver. Ho recollects that a portion of the belong to what may be regarded as an authen¬ old log hou: e which was occupied by Stewart tic period of local history. Where the facts was still standing in his early childhood. which have been given have not been derived I he principal part had been taken down from written records, they have come from years before by Mr. Carver, and that which j persons advanced in years whose recollection ■ remained .was replaced by a new structure can be trusted as to the events of their youth. j about 1844 or 5. Abner Supplee, father of i Thomas, li ed there with his cousin, Jesso There was another school in Upper Merion, ( arver, in 1316, in the old log structure. It however, as to which it is extremely difficult was but one story in height, and to pass from to obtain any accurate information, it having I - — 1 long siuce disappeared. In the list of Upper Merion landholders in 1734, Andrew Suppieo’s name is mentioned as owning fifty acres. The village ~at one time known as Matsunk ^teachers has been retained, remarkable as the j and now called Swedeland, is located partly | fact may appear. on this land. Andrew Snpplee was a son of It has been seen that three generations of Andreas Sonplis, a French Huguenot who left ( Supplees were horn and lived on the land in ( ' France about the time of the Revocation of I the vicinity which was owned by the family, j j the Edict of Nantes by the French King, The school days of these ranged from 1703 to I Louis XIV. Andreas went first to Holland 1790. It is probable that Hance, born in 1714, i where he married a Gerrnun girl, Gertrude or his father, had this school house bnilt, with j Strnssingor, joining with a company of Ger- the aid of the adjoining farmers—the Yo¬ -j man emigrants on their way to America. Ha cum, Rambo, Henderson, and Hughes fam¬ j and they became the settlors of Germantown. ilies. If bnilt by Hance Snpplee it was prob¬ Andreas Sonplis is marked as a lot holder ably erected betw_een 1740 and 1750, perhaps in Germantown in 1685. From him are de¬ about 1745. scended all bearing the name of Snpplee in If his father built it, the date was probably this and adjoining counties—now a very l fifteen or twenty years earlier. A brother of numerous family, and probably more numer- the latter, Jacob, bought 105 acres of adjoin¬ 1 ons in the past fifty years in Upper Merion ing land in 1741. In his will Jacob instructed than in any other locality. his executor that a certain portion of his Andrew, the son, mentioned above, was (estate was to be set apart to school bis minor born in 1688. On reaching manhood he se t¬ children. His own education was evidently tled near what is now the village of West somewhat defective, as he .signed his name Point. He became the owner of considerable with a mark. Andrew, whose will was pro¬ j laud, holdings at the time of his daath about bated in October, 1745, wrote his name. ' 1400 acres, ofwhich a tract of 140 acres was Jacob’s children were undoubtedly educated in Upper Merion. Tho name of his oldest son in the old log school house, and Hance’s also was Hans, or Hance, as itl became later. He hr most of them, while many of his grand¬ was born July 14, 1714. He became in time children went to school there. the owner of the Ucper Merion tract. He It was abandoned as a school prior to 1806— married, August 8, 1736, Magdalen, daughter nst how long before it is impossible to say, ( of Peter Dettarer, and fourteen children were >ut probably not more than a year or two. born to them. Thomas R. Snpplee says in this connection : Hance Snpplee died December 18. 1770, and “ My grandfather went to school in the old the Upper Merion property was divided into log building known as the Snpplee School two farms—one of eighty acres going to his about 1774 to 1776. He was the son of An¬ sou Andrew, and another of sixty acres to his drew, who owned the eighty-acre farm. His son Isaac. name was Hance Snpplee and he was born On the Isaac Supplco farm, on the road March 4, 1768. His mother was Mary leading from Swedeland to Gc.lf, on an Zimmerman, who died February £7, eminence known as Flint Hill, from the fact 1777. After her death he went to live with that it was covered with flint boulders, was his grandmother, Magdalen Snpplee, widow erected a log school heuse, so far back that, of the elder Hance Supplee, who resided in to use the antiquated 1 gal phraseology, the Worcester, not far from the Skippack road. memory of man runneth not to the contrary. While there he witnessed the retreat of the It is tho ugbt by some that it may possibly Americans after the attack on Germantown have antedated the one built by the Swedes in October of that year. After the death of Andrew Snpplee in 1806, my grandfather at the church, or the original building on the went back to the eighty-acre farm in Upper site of the Kiug-of-Prussia school, though Merion. I this may be regarded as doubtful. It is cer- “ Hance Supplee lived in the vicinity of ! tain, however, that the children of Andrew the old school house until 1812. My father, j and Isaac Snpplee were educated there be¬ Abner Snpplee, was born in 1801. He was a | tween the years 1770 and 1790. pupil at Swedes’ School while his father When other schools attracted its pupils, it lived on the Upper Merion farm. Silas Sup¬ was abandoned, so far as educational purposes plee was living at that time in the Supplee were concerned, and it became the home of sohool bouse. He gave me information in Silas Snpplee, a soldier of the Revolutionary reference to it. War. He lived there with bis wife who was a " My grandfather removed from the farm member of the Rambo family, until about in 1812. His brother Zimmerman then took 1813. Silas was a distant cousin of the Sup- the farm, dying in 1849, when his son, Hen¬ j plee who owned the property at that time. derson Snpplee, succeeded him on it. Hen¬ He was very old and infirm, and his wants derson died in 1893 in Norristown at an ad¬ were attended to by the Snpplees and the vanced age. His widow, Catharine Supplee, Rarubos, his own and his wife’s kinsmen. .is still living. Zimmerman Snpplee, son of Andrew, be¬ “ Henderson and Catharine Supplee were came the owner of the eighty-acre property in married in 1834. Her father-in-law, Zimmer, 1812. He took the old man to his home soon man Supplee, lived in the same houso until afterwards, and kept him there until his his death, fourteen or fifteen years later. She 1 death. Silas Snpplee is supposed to have also heard from him what I have already been buried at Swedes’ Church burying noted as to what is known of the Snpplee ground, but his grave is unmarked. School.” Ellwood Roberts. The Snpplee school house was demolished later, and all that remains of it is mere tradi¬ tion, handed down from one generation to another. Not even the name of one of the THE OLD SCHOOLS 11 OL UPPER MERION

Formative Influence of Educational Agencies. From,.

Alternation of Teachers and Pupils at cAcr r r uj (J ^ the Holstein and Adjacent Schools

Increased the Average of Attain¬ ment—Examples of What Early Cul¬ ho,;)*- fMf- 1 ture Has Achieved.

Before leaving that section of Upper Merion in which are located the old Union School, A EELIO FEOM VALLEY FOEGE. the Holstein School, the Roberts School and others, it may not* be amiss to call attention Razor With Which Washington’s to the influence exerted by them upon the Soldiers Were Shaved. intelligence and general culture of the com¬ John R. Tyson, the barber located at munity. They may be considered together, at No. 21S West 'Main street, was the because they were all situated within a radius recipient this week of two unique and of two or three miles, and teachers as well as handsome barber poles for his shop pupils were interchanged to a certain extent window from friends in Denver, Col. among them, giving to all the opportunity to They are About I6V2 inches in height profit by the best talent. and master pieces of workmanship Allusion has been made on previous pages in design and finish. Mr. Tyson is al¬ to the influence of teaohers upon the careers so the possessor of a relic in the shape of pupils. It may be assumed that the of a razor found upon the historical intellectual standard of any locality is camping grounds of Valley Forge by fixed largely by its educational institutions one of the citizens some twenty yeai>.- and influences. Upper Merion owes to its ago, while excavating near twelve early schools much of the attainment that feet 'beneath the suface. Engraved has marked the township and the districts upon the face of the blade is the ie- adjacent in later years. gand, “Army Razor, 1776.” The blade Jonathan Roberts, statesman, United States is in a fairly good state of preserva¬ Senator fora time, and prominent during a tion and is highly prized by Mr. Tyson. long life in national affairs, is an earlier in¬ stance of the kind, and General Samuel K. C tlonial Bouse to be Torn Down. Zook is a later example of what the forma¬ tive influences of Upper Merion have accom¬ The oldest house in Gwynedd town¬ plished. Zook was a descendant on his ship, built in 1712, is at present being father’s as well as his mother’s side of peace- torn down to make rc'om for a more loving ancestors. The writer has mentioned modern 'building. It is a large and in an earlier series of articles on the same substantial stone structure two stor¬ vicinity, that the recollections of Valley Forge ies high, with an attic, is of the col¬ Campground, so close at hand, probably had onial type and stands on the pike lead¬ their share in determining his career. ing to West Point, about one mile To this may be added the suggestion that from North Wales. Stones in the his teaohers also bad their share in the form¬ wall bear the date 1712. The place la ation of a hero who died for his country, who supposed to have been constructed by had he lived would no doubt have achieved Wiliam John, one of the edrly Welsh the highest honors in electrical science, of settlers, whose tract of ground cov¬ which he had given evidence by his achieve¬ ered the site of the ancient building. ments in telegraphy, then in its infancy. These are merely examples. Schools and teachers cannot supply the lack of mental ability. Their office is to educate, that is, to bring out, to develop, to call into action God-given faculties, which would otherwise lie dormant and neglected. From-,.... c. ■/. The school and the library, a generation or two back, were the principal factors in determ¬ ining the intellectual average of a commun¬ 1 .¥1 ity. To these have been added in modern years the civilizing influence of the daily newspaper. Reinforced by such an educator, t Date, . there ought to be, in the century to come, advancement many times grpater than in the Y® t___ one about to close. \ AN EAttLY TEACHES. It should be mentioned in this connection that one of the early teaohers at the Holstein School was Joseph Crawford, grandfather of ex-Register of Wills Joseph .C. Crawford, of West Consbohooken. His parne was inad¬ vertently omitted from the Uet. Movement to Commemorate an Old Eixwpob Roberts- Township’s ^Settlement.

'IONEERS CAME FROM WALES husbands and fathers, were .preparing | onsjlit n Tract of Land in 1GOS. places of shelter for their families and i their cattle, hence the fact that the j Many Direct Descendants of the formal occupancy of the bind was de¬ Colonists Still Living—Some cayed until November. The coming of the colonists waif lies-, Ancient Lrmlimirki, teued by Hugh Roberts, who had come to this country from Wales some years before, with a colony of 100 jersons. Gwynodd, Pa., Jnn. 20.—The settlement Early in 1697 he visited Wales, with fascinating word pictures of the oppor¬ f Gwynedd township by the Welsh two tunities offered for the country adjacent enturies ago is to be made the occasion to Philadelphia for dwelling in peace '/ a ce^'>ration, a few months hence, in a land of boundless resources. A di¬ lie character of which will he in keep- rect descendant of this enthusiastic ig with the dignity of the township j orporation and the proud ancestry of | Welsh-American, Ellwood Roberts, of Norristown, was the prime mover in the nany of its residents. The bicentennial I j uv versary of the settlement of the agitation for the bi-centennial observ¬ own ship will occur in November, the ] ance. Other families in the township aonth in which the band of fifteen im- | who are descended from original set- lers are the Evans, Jones, Foulke and migrants from Wales entered into pos-I •ession of 7S20 acres of land, which they Jenkins. purchased of William John and Thomas . SOME OLD LANDMARKS. wan, who preceded them from Wales The oldest landmark of colonial days a year as representatives of the in Gwynedd was a house that, until a elsh company. The land was originally few weeks ago, stood along the turn¬ deeded by Penn March 23, 1681. to Rob- pike leading to West Point, about a *rt Turner, by whom the title was con¬ fourth of a mile from North Wales. ( veyed to_ John and Evan, March, 169.8. The date stone in the gable will bore The bicentennial celebration, how¬ the inscription, “W. J. 1714." In that ever, may occur in July. when year the house was built by William the settlers reached Philadelphia, John, one of the representatives of the having sailed from Liverpool in Wei h Company. For years it was Vpril. In the eleven weeks' con- owned by the Dnnnehowers, descending -iiimpd by the voyage, sovs the from one generation to another. Re¬ narrative of Edward Foulke, which has cently the property was purchased of been made a part of Howard M. Jen¬ George Dannehower by J. W. Clare, ! kins' exhaustive sketch of Gwynedd's who, a few weeks ago, demolished the j '•arly settler3. forty-five passengers and building to make room for a more mod- ' !hree sailors died of an epidemic that eru structure. toke out on shipboard soon after they -ailed. Another instance of long continued family possession is furnished by the ; he women and children of ihe col¬ onists who had made tlm gruesome Gwynedd store, which has been in the voyage to escape persecution, found possession of the Jenkins family for homes among kinsfolk in Philadelphia 102 years, four generations managing it and Merton, while the sturdy Welsh nen, in succession. Edward Jenkins opened the store in 1796. He was succeeded by Charles F. Jenkins anti then Wunam ! H. Jenkins. At present Walter Jenkins SamutT Medary, v.T.o removed fb Ohio, is the proprietor. There has been a where he engaged in the newspaper | post office at this place for 80 years. i business, was twice elected State Sen¬ Within 100 yards ot the store is the ! ator and became prominent in politics. Gwynedd meeting house, which was FTe declined the post of Minister to erected in 1823, on the site of the first, Chili offered to him bv President Pierce, built in 1709, and the second in 1712. but accepted the Governorship of the The latter was occupied by the Friends Territory of Minnesota, to which he until it gave way to the present modest was appointed by President Buchanan. structure, whose capacity is far beyond Charles Roberts, who removed to Phil¬ the attendance ordinarily. The Gwy¬ adelphia. took charge of the Pine Street j nedd Monthly Meeting of Friends was Friends’ School, and was elected to the j not established until 1714, two years Legislature. after the first meeting house went Joseph Roberts, who. as teacher at down before the march of progress. the William Penn Charter School^ had Another old church, whose institution as his pupils; among others, Horace is virtually part of the history of Gwy¬ Binney. Thomas P. Cope, Francis Gur¬ nedd, is that of the Baptists, in Mont¬ ney Smith, Charles J. Ingersoll and gomery township. The Montgomery William Rawie. Church was organized in 1719, is the TOWNSHIP'S NAME DROUGHT FROM oldest Baptist congregation in Mont¬ WALES. gomery County, and the fourth oldest At the time of its settlement and for in Pennsylvania. Fifteen years later many years afterwards the township the Schwenkfelders arrived and settled was known as North Wales, a name in the upper end of Montgomery County, that was transferred to tlie flourishing and in 1740 Boehm’s Reformed Church, borough a mile away. Gwynedd, a geo- V at Blue Bell, was built. Ac the latter graphical designation among Welsh peo¬ church but recently the sesqui-eentennial ple more than a thousand years ago. anniversary of the formation of the was eventually applied to their block of first synod of the church in the United Pennsylvania land, and from that ap¬ States was celebrated. These latter plication the township took the name it events are not in anyway connected with bears to-day. the early career of Gwynedd beyond the Now that the township is about to pass fact that, perhaps, they were indirectly its two hundredth milestone, it is ex¬ hastened by the settlement of the town¬ pected that one outcome wall be a his¬ ship by the Welsh and the religious tory suppleninental to that by Mr. fervor which their devotion aroused. Jenkins, showing its relative impor¬ GWYNEDD IN THE REVOLUTION. tance as a division of Montgomery County. The plans for the celebration I Whilst within a few miles of the Con- , are still in embryo, no meetings having ' tinental and English troops Gwynedd 1 been held, but the residents are looking saw little of the movements of either, forward with deep interest to an obser¬ arid what little is known of the invasion vance of the township’s bicentennial, an !j of the township by the British is gleaned i event that it is predicted will attract from a diary of Miss Sally Wister, aged I not a little attcution in the mother coun¬ 15. a daughter of Daniel Wister, who try of its original settlers. kept a journal of her observations from ! Part of the land which Edward Foulke, | September 25, 1777. the' day on which one of the Welsh argonauts, settled is i [ Howe and Cornwallis reached German¬ town. until .Tune the following year. still in possession of the family. His Bright Miss Wister, by her forethought, descendants, who have multiplied in such was in later years able to contribute an numbers in the two cenluries elapsing interesting page to the history of the | since the arrival of the progenitor that Revolution. She says in her journal that many of them have been lost sight of, on October 19, 1777. there was ‘‘the are arranging for a family reunion, to greatest drumming, fifing and rattling i occur immediately after the Gwynedd bi¬ of ‘waggons’ ” ever heard in the neighbor¬ centennial celebration. This gathering hood. That the commotion was pro¬ of the Foulke family will be held at the j duced by the British marching from Ger¬ Gwynedd Meeting House, of which Ed¬ mantown. For several days General ward Foulke was one of the founders. Smallwood, of King George’s army, occu¬ At a recent meeting of descendants of pied her home as his headquarters. Edward Foulke an association was formed. The president is William Dud¬ DISTINGUISHED SONS OF GWYNEDD. ley Foulke, of Richmond, Ind., vice presi¬ Amongst Gwynedd’s sons who at¬ dent of the Civil Service Association tained distinction, carving out careers Howard M. Jenkins is secretary. Among of which there is still cherished in the those who enrolled as members are Hugh j township a pardonable pride, the his¬ Foulke, Letitia Foulke Kent, Samuel torian mentions the following: Fmlcn, Nancy C. Crossou, of Norristown; Dr. Carhvallader Evans, born in 1766, Frances C. Day. Dr. Richard C. Foulke, who studied medicine under the direc¬ of New Hope; William L. Foulke and tion of Dr. Thomas Bond, of Philadel¬ Edward Foulke. of Washington; Anna phia. F. B. Neff, Charles Edward Foulke, John Evans, second, one of the first Fannie C. Yocum, Anna Spencer. Han¬ residents of Gwynedd to take a stand nah C. Bacon, Edwin R. Booth and Jen- against spiritous liquors. • nie Foulke Booth, of Jenkintown; George Cadwallader Evans, Jr., a member of M. Warner, George Herbert Jenkins, the Legislature from 1790 to 1798. and Edward M. Wister. Dr. Edwin Morris, Speaker of the House during his last Elizabeth B. W. Warner, Bertha G. term. He was a director of the Bank Yocum, Dr. Joseph K. Corson, U. S. A.; of the United States. Charles F. Jenkins, Samuel F. Moore. Susan W. Comfort. Frank Foulke and Mrs. .T. Foulke Rutter, of Brooklyn; Wil- I lininGpFot’.lkfV Rebecca Foulke' rock is a bout eigne or nine feet across I Robert R. Corson, Jesse .Foulke Spencer, the base and resembles in formation a William Wistar Comfort, Thomas Wis- ! tar, Abigail W. Foulke. of Gwynedd; huge caldron, the inside or hollow Emma L. Thompson. Dr. Joseph L. part of which is as smoo’h and regular Thompson, Dr. Joseph Foulke, Anna F. in form as the interior of an iron Levick. Charles W. Foulke, E. Francea kettle. A very remarkable feature of Foulke, Caroline Foulke and Mary Jen¬ this rock is that the kettle-like cavity kins Ambler. "r^ is perpetually filled with water, of which it contains about a barrel, and of which there is no visible source. In this miniature pond, the bottom of which is covered with moss, an intrepid ’ . frog makes his home, and as there is no other water within a considerable distance of the “Indian kettle,” that [ c?//*?. .. fact helps to substantiate the claim that it is never empty. According to the chronicles handed I Date << v • ./-^7 down from colonial times, the Indians then living in that locality cooked their food in the rock by casting heat¬ ed stones in the water. This primitive culinary operation must have been very tedious, but it would no doubt have been highly interesting to wit¬ STORY OFTHfiROCKS- ness. SOME CURIOUS FORMATIONS IN MONTGOM¬ The stones used by the Indians to ERY COUNTY. boil water were of the species com¬ The Indian Kettle—Hanging Rock—Saul’s monly known as iron stones, which Rest—Spring Mountain—Ringing they had collected from different parts Rocks. of the mountain for this especial pur¬ pose. These stone3 which were nearly About two miles northwest of the round and of a uniform size, were little village of Schwenksville, in the very heavy and possessed the quality county of Montgomery, is a bit of of retaining heat to a remarkable de¬ wild and cultivated country known gree. When not in use they were to that locality as Spring Mountain. usually arranged in a conical-shaped As its name implies it is of a moun¬ heap of the sams style in which the tainous character and is almost inac¬ modern artilleryman arranges cannon cessible, except on foot, which ac¬ balls, and to which they bore consid¬ counts for. it not being more widely erable resemblance. known as one of the most interesting After the tide, of civilization had- spots in the state of Pennsylvania. forced the Indians to take their de¬ Here are located in liberal profusion parture for more western regions these a number of interesting and romantic cooking stones were found in their objects, any separate one of which customary place beside the “Indian would obtain fame and renown for a I kettle,” but none of them remain at locality more accessible to the excur¬ 1 the present date, having long since sionist and pleasure seeker. In this been appropriated by relic hunters. spot, created in one of nature’s most About 100 yards from the “Indian extravagant moods, lie in chaotic con¬ kettle,” and farther up the ascent is fusion innumerable rocks and boulders “catching-me-not-rock.” Literally of every conceivable size and shape, speaking this is a collection of rocks embodying some of the most remark¬ and not, as the name would lead one able geological formations in the to suppose, a single rock. The ie rocks country, and attached to which is con¬ are also of a very interesting character, siderable historical romance of a local character. not only from a geological point of view, but from the occurrence to which From the time that this region was they are said to owe their name. first vacated by the American Indians, The story runs that in 1840, a cer in 1724, four years prior to their return tain young man named John, who was and subsequent defeat in battle, there hired on the farm of Samuel Alderfer, have been transmitted from one gener¬ was wauted by the civil authorities ation to another and among the local inhabitants up to the present date, for some infraction of the law. John happened to be chopping wood in the legends and tales which contain just vicinity of these rocks when the con¬ sufficient historical truth to insure their stable made his appearance and com¬ general acceptance and perpetuation. manded him to surrender. Instead of In a spot somewhat cleared of under¬ brush their lies a large boulder known allowing himself to be arrested, how¬ as the “Indian kettle,” the name of ever, John dropped his axe and sprang through the natural tunnel formed by which was derived from the fact that it was known to have been used for the rocks. As the constable followed cooking purposes by the Indians, The him, John climbed back over the top, and while the constable was climbing 52

alter him again went through the tun¬ nel. It seems John was entirely too nimble for the officer, who was a very determined man, and was loath to give up the chase. The result was, that the pursuit lasted from noon till night, when the constable finally withdrew from the field in disgust, allowing the intended prisoner to make his escape* Little did the nimble-footed John dream that while he was making tracks around that rock he was at the same time making history. “Hanging Rock” is another remark¬ able feature of Spring mountain. This boulder, weighing hundreds of tons, is perched upon several other large rocks near the summit of -the hill and G rests in such a manner as to leave about seven-eighths of its bulk pro¬ jecting into space. On the western slope of the moun¬ Movement Under YMy to Com¬ tain are the “,’’ which, memorate An Old Town¬ when struck by a hammar, emit a clear, bell-like tone of a high or low ship’s Settlement. pitch, according to the size of the rock. If some enterprising musical genius could succeed in arranging NATIVES CAME OF WALES. these rocks into a musical scale accord¬ ing to their tones he might be able to give an open air concert on a natural Bought a Tract of Land in 1698 xylophone, as has been done with the Many Direct Decendants of ringing rocks of Stony Garden in Hay¬ cock township, Bucks county. the Colonists Are Living. These rocks are piled promiscuously The settlement of Gwynedd township on top of each other as if they had been cast up by a gigantic explosion by the Welsh two centuries ago is to | or some internal eruption of a volcanic be made the occasion of a celebration, j nature. In some places the under sur¬ a few months hence, the character of faces of the rocks are covered with a which will be in keeping with the dig- I whitish mould, showing unmistakable nity of the township corporation and j evidences of the presence of gas, of the proud ancestry of many of its resi¬ which there is at times a distinct odor. dents. The bicentennial anniversary i There seems to be a division of opinion of the settlement of the township will [ as to whether this arises from some occur in November, the month in which subterranean nool of stagnant water the band of fifteen immigrants from i or whether it is natural gas. Wales entered into possession of 7S2(> | About 200 yards above the ringing acres of land which they purchased of rocks, on the western slope, is another William John and Thomas Evan, who curious natural formation, which has preceded them from Wales by a year : been designated “Saul’s Rest” on ac¬ as representatives of the Welsh count of the striking resemblance it Dears to the Biblical narrative wherein company. The land was originally Saul slept when David cut off the hem deeded by Penn, March 23, 1861, to of his garment. While the engravings Robert Turner, by whom the title was representing the cavern in which Saul conveyed to John and Evan, March, rested may possibly not bear much l(i9S. The bicentennial celebration, resemblance to the actual scene of the however, may occur in July, when the occurrence, there is no denying the settlers reached Philadelphia, having fact that the “Saul’s Rest” of Spring sailed from Liverpool in April. In the I Mountain seems to be almost an exact eleven weeks consumed by the voyage I reproduction of those iliustrations, and says the narrative of Edward Foulke, if it were appropriately situated in the which has been made a part of How¬ holy land there is not the slightest ard M. Jenkins’ exhaustive sketch ol doubt that it would be universally ac- Gwynedd’s early settlers, forty-five accepted as the original subject there- passengers and three sailors died of an epidemic that broke out on shipboard There are also many other objects of soon after they sailed. interest on the Spring Mountain, and, The women and children of the col¬ though the way be rough and weary, onists who had made the voyage the explorer will be amply repaid for to escape persecution, found homes the fatigue and discomforts of climb¬ among kinfolks in Philadelphia and ing rpeks and trudging through under¬ Merion, while the sturdy Welshmen. brush. ___ : husbands and fathers, were preparing which they wanted Wheeler to repair, | places of shelter fqn their families and but at that time he was kept so busy their cattle, hence the fact that the turning out swords for the fathers of t | formal occupancy of the land was de¬ the present sons of American Revolu¬ layed until November. tion that he could give the guns of the The coming- of the colonists was has¬ jwiley redmen no attention, which tened by Hugh Roberts, who had come |would seem to indicate that almost a to this country from "Wales some years century and a quarter ago Gwynedd before, with a colony of 100 persons. A was enjoying a business boom. direct descendant of this enthusiastic At the time of its settlement and foi Welsh-American, 1011 wood Roberts, of many years afterwards the township this borough was 'the prime mover in was known as North Wales, a name the agitation for the bicentennial ob¬ that was transferred to the flourishing servance. borough a mile away. Gwynedd, a The oldest landmark of colonial days geographical designation among in Gwynedd was a house that, until Welsh people more than a thousand a few weeks ago stood along the turn- yeais ago was eventually applied to F modern structure. an observance of the townships bicen¬ Another instance of long continued tennial, an event that it is predicted family possession is furnished by the will attract not a little attention m the Gwynedd store, which has been in the ! withcr_country of its original settlers. possession of the Jenkin family for 102 years, four generations managing it in succession. Edward Jenkins opened THE OL0 SCHOOLS H the store in 1796. He was succeeded by Charles F. Jenkins and then "Wil¬ OF UPPER MERION; liam Jenkins. At present Walter Jen¬ kins is the proprietor. There has been a.post office at this place for 80 years. A Site Set Apart for Educational Within 100 yards of the store is the Purposes Prior to 1768. Gwynedd meeting house, which was erected in 1823, on the site of the first built in 1709, and the second in 1712. Historic Surroundings of the Struc¬ The latter was occupied by the Friends ture Near Gulf Mills, Erected ou until it gave way to the present mod¬ est structure, whose capacity is far be¬ Hand Owned by Early Welsh Set¬ yond the attendance ordinarily. The tlers of the Township—The Ruined Gwynedd Monthly Meeting of Friends was not established until 1711, two j Mill Which Considex’ably Antedates years after the first meeting house the Revolutionary War. went down before the march of pro¬ gress. One of the most romantic and pictur¬ INDIANS IN GWYNEDD. esque neighborhoods in the vicinity of While history records no depreda¬ Norristown is the location known in Co¬ tions by Indians in Gwynedd, the town¬ lonial times as The Gulf, and more recent¬ ship, as late as the Revolutionary per- ly as Gulf Mills. Within a short distance i iod, was the abiding place of remnants are to be found some of the finest views j of some tribe of redmen. it is relat¬ in the Schuylkill Valley, the steep wooded ed on the authority of persons who hills forming a pleasing background to have preserved the records and corres¬ many delightful glimpses of rural scenery. pondence of some of their ancestors In summer visitors are attracted from far that while the British occupied Phil¬ and near by these. In winter the land¬ adelphia a number of Indians visited scape is shorn of its finest features, but, the smithy of Samuel Wheeler, a cut- I from many points, the eye rests upon a iter and toolmaker, who made swords I magnificent stretch of country. At one of for the Continental Army. The In- I these, a short distance above Gulf Mills, dians had obtained a number of guns, | the view eastwardly to the river, and miles beyond it, is unrivaled in this sec¬ dence 7<5r the teachIP in 1816. and substan¬ tion of Montgomery county. tially tie same to-day, but little altera¬ The origin of the name is apparent to tion baling been made in the old struc¬ all who visit the rocky glen where Gulf ture, beyond adapting the addition men¬ Creek breaks through the line of hills tioned; to school uses, as the number of which bound upon the south the fertile pupils became larger. tract known as Chester Valley. To one The site is a part of a tract of five approaching the gap a chasm yawns ahead hundred acres conveyed by John ap John which can be designated as a gulf without and Thomas Wynne, both well-known any great stretch of the imagination. The preachers among Welsh Friends, to John American troops came here from White- Roberts, by a deed dated August 17th, marsh in December, 1777, crossing the 16S2. John Roberts, by his will, author¬ Schuylkill on a bridge formed by backing ized his executors to confirm to Thomas wagons upon each other, at Swedesford— David the sale of the property. almost within sight across the hills of In pursuance thereof, the executors of Upper Merion—remaining a week before John Roberts, who were his sons, John going to Valley Forge, a snow that fell Roberts, wheelwright, Matthew Roberts, ■ meantime suggesting the importance of blacksmith and Joseph Roberts, cooper, > seeking at once a permanent camping executed to David a deed of release dated j place for the winter. April 18, 1720. This opening in the hills is the natural Thomas David in turn bequeathed the gateway from fertile Chester Valley to tract to his daughter, Ann Roberts, who Philadelphia, and it was for the purpose was also his executrix. She bequeathed of guarding it against any sudden incur- i the farm to her son Ellis Roberts, pro¬ sion by the British that the thought of vided he should release to his brother making it the site of the camp was at one Daniel his own interest in a tract of similar time entertained by Washington and his size in Upper Dublin; otherwise it was to officers. descend to her son Daniel Roberts. Her i The site of the camp is appropriately will was made March 6, 1745, and proved marked by a huge boulder, suitably in¬ May 23, 1746, her death having meantime scribed, erected by the Sons of the Revo¬ occurred. lution some years ago. Close by are the Ellis refused to give up his right in the picturesque ruins of the old Gulf Mill, Upper Dublin tract, and the Merion farm built in 1747, operated during the Revolu¬ went to Daniel Roberts. Daniel Roberts tionary war by John Roberts, and for resided on the tract. He sold to different more than a century later, by others, it purchasers, the portion on which the having been ruined by fire three years ago, school house stands passing to Jonathan just after new and expensive machinery Sturgis in 1768. Sturgis sold the property had been put in by Its owner, Henderson to David Matthew Briggs, “innholder,” Supplee. It seems a pity that the histor¬ his deed being dated April 3, 1783. This ic old mill should not have been rebuilt, deed recites that Daniel Roberts, during to rumble on another century and a half his ownership of the farm, gave a long j or even longer, but fate has decreed other- lease of a lot of a half-acre on the north wise and the ruin remains, the stream side of the Ford road, to trustees for that formerly propelled the machinery school purposes, and goes on to say that flowing idly on its way to the Schuylkill, the said lot is excepted and reserved for two miles distant. the use of a school for the neighborhood Several hundred inhabitants people the as fully expressed in the lease aforesaid. village that nestles on the slope of the The precise date at which the school frowning hills. In Revolutionary times house was built is uncertain, but in 1785 the hotel was kept by John Roberts, the Jonathan Roberts was a pupil there, walk¬ sign giving name to the village, “Bird- ing daily four miles from his father’s | in-Hand.” The pest office was so called home near King-of-Prussia. Edward Fer¬ for many years, but in 1830 the name was ris was the teacher in that and the follow¬ changed to Gulf Mills, which it still re-^ ing year. , tains. There are few prettier villages in Of the two original grantees of the the valley, and none whose atmosphere is tract from Penn, John np John never came more conducive to rest, remote as it is to America. from all disturbing influences of almost Thomas Wynne, the other, settled in every kind. what is now Lower Merion. His daughter Passing the ruined mill and following Mary married Edward Jones and preceded j "the road that winds along the hills, be¬ him with her husband and two children, tween Upper and Lower Merion, towards Martha and Jonathan, in the ship West Conshohocken, a few hundred yards “Lyon,” arriving August 13, 1682. further on the traveler reaches Gulf Thomas arrived the following November Church, a modern structure. in the ship “Welcome,” with William Close at hand is a long low building, its Penn. He was a physician as wen as a end towards the road, in which have been preacher. Accompanying him were his educated four or five generations who wife Elizabeth and two daughters. He grew to manhood or womanhood in the was speaker at -the second session of the I vicinity. This is the Gulf School, built Colonial Assembly, held at Chester in De- I considerably more than a century ago, cember, 1682. He and John ap John had I enlarged by an addition buiit as a resi¬ bought a large tract of land, said to have I been five thousand acres in all. He died Hughes, prior to iiis graduation from the in 1692 and was interred in Friends’ medical department of the University of [ ground in Philadelphia. His executors Pennsylvania in June, 1826. were and Griffith Owen. It is related of McIntyre that in earlier His residence was on the site of Wynne- years he acted at one time as a messen¬ wood, Lower Merion, the Jones family ger between banks in New York and residence for many years. those in Philadelphia, frequently carry¬ ELLWOOD ROBERTS. ing large sums of money and always with safety. He often remarked to his pupils that he might readily have en¬ riched himself by proving false to the j! THE OLD SCHOOLS trust reposed in him. He chose the path of honesty, only to be discharged in order j ~ OF UPPER MERION to make room for another who wanted the position, when he drifted into teach- t tag. Gulf Mills Had Little Interest in Dr. Hughes was a brother of Benjamin I B. Hughes. He removed afterwards to Colonial Days. ! North Carolina, where he married, reared ! a family, and attained great success in the practice of medicine. i It Was a Point of Strategic Value Among the pupils during the period During the Revolutionary War— from 1816 to 1824 were the following: Catherine, John, George, Elmira and Teachers and Pupils at Gulf School Elizabeth Righter, children of George and During the Early Part of the Pres¬ Ann(Wagner) Righter; Elizabeth, Jane, Sarah, Mary and George DeHaven, chil¬ I ent Century—Reminiscences of Mrs. dren of Isaac DeHaven; Ann, Samuel and B. B. Hughes. George Henderson, children of Davis and Margaret Henderson; W’illiam, Mary Ann, Thomas Allen Glenn, in his “Merion in ; Louisa and Naomi Thomas, children of the Welsh Tract,” speaks of Gulf Mills Reese and Rebecca (Brooke) Thomas; in Colonial days as the terminus of the Thomas, Mary Ann, Samuel and other main highway leading from Philadelphia children of William and Mary Morgan; through Merion, adding that, prior to the Susan, Mary Jane, George and John Wag4 Revolutionary period, the locality pro¬ ner, Slater, Rachel, Collin, Theodore ana duced but little that is of interest now I Benjamin B. Hughes, children of John even to the local historian. 1 and Hannah Bartholomew Hughes; Mary With the British in Philadelphia, how¬ j Jane, Mark, Benjamin and Jones Brooke, ever, it took on Dew interest as a point children of Nathan and Mary Jones of some strategic value. A line of out¬ ! Brooke; William, Brooke, Rowland, posts extended from the Schulykill, Samuel, Elizabeth and Caroline Jonel, where is now West Conshohocken, along ! children of William and Margaret j the line of hills bounding Chester Valley Brooke Jones; Benjamin, Julia, Rebecca, 11 on the south, to Paoli. The old mill was Hunter, Mary, Hugh, James and Nathan ! steadily operated, but it was the only i Brooke, children of David Brooke. manufacturing industry in the place un¬ Some reminiscences of the young people til the coming of Benjamin Brooke, the of that period and neighborhood are of ancestor of a numerous line, who was a interest. They are furnished by Mary very remarkable man in many respects. Brooke Hughes, widow of Benjamin The claim has been made that he was the j Hughes. inventor of the screw auger, but refer¬ She is in her eighty-seventh year, sur¬ ence to what his contemporaries have viving nearly all her generations. She re¬ written on this topic shows that he in¬ tains her faculties to a remarkable degree, troduced improvements in its manufac¬ and especially the recollection of events ture which greatly increased its value happening in her youth. She resides and cheapened its cost. He established a with her stepson, John J. Hughes. forge operated by water power, and was Elmira Righter married Ross Broades, a pioneer in this county in several adap¬ who died within a year or two. She died tations of the iron industry to the needs several years ago, leaving a family. of common life. Further reference will Catharine (familiarly Kitty) Righter be made to him later, in order to give married J. Henderson Supplee, son ol' reminiscences which have never before Zimmerman Supplee, who died in Norris¬ been published. town several years ago. She is living at At the opening of the present century, a very advanced age, residing in Consho¬ the Gulf school had become fully estab¬ hocken. lished, and pupils were drawn to it from Elizabeth DeHaven married Jonathan all the country round. In 1816, Michael Matson. Jane DeHaven married David Burns, an Irishman, as the name indi¬ Zell. cates, was the teacher. His predecessor Ann Henderson died young. On a visit was another Irishman named McIntyre. to friends in Norfolk, she was attacked Burns’ successor was Dr. Isaac Wayne with illness which proved fatal. James Brooke taught at Gulf School e is still living, residing in Phil- -a, at a very advanced age. Rachel Hughes married Dr. Jacob De- ■vees, a well-known man in his day. He THE OLD SCHOOLS lived in the vicinity of Trappe most of his life. Caroline Jones married Isaac Leedom, lL OL UPPER MER10N who died about fifteen years ago. She 'rs died in Norristown about three years ago at an advanced age, having been parti¬ Teachers at Gulf in the Earlier ally blind for some years. Isaac Lee- dom’s brother, Silas J. Leedom, resides Part of the Century. on Willow street, Norristown. He is about ninety-four years of age. The Career of Jackson Orr Who Was family have many connections in this vicinity. Noted for His Eccentricities—Char¬ Mary Ann Thomas died a few months acteristics of Benjamin Brooke, Pa- ago, unmarried. Naomi died about a year j

ago. Louisa Thomas became the wife of triot. Inventor and Improver of '■ Amos Corson. Both are long deceased. Tools Used by Farmers and Me¬ Susan Wagner married Jacob Roden- baugh. Mary Jane Wagner married a chanics — Two Ways of Making man named Hunter. They emigrated to America Independent. Van Diemen’s Land and never returned. Elizabeth Wagner married Rev. Godfrey Hauck, a pastor at Gulf Church. All progress, in educational matters, as Mrs. Hughes, it may be mentioned, did in every other direction, is relative. The not obtain all her education at Gulf advance from Mrs. Sturgis’ primitive School. When only four or five years old, school room and her primitive instruction in 1815, she became a pupil at the Flint to that of the public system in vogue at Hill or Supplee school, previously men¬ present, is notable, indeed, but there is tioned. She distinctly remembers this ex¬ yet abundant room for improvement. In perience. The teacher was William Hor¬ the century to come, on the threshold of ton. Among her school mates there was which we stand, a nearer approach to per¬ Elizabeth Rambo, who became the wife of fection may be noted, but the dawn of George De Haven. She was the mother of the twenty-first, a hundred years hence, R. R. De Haven, of Norristown. Other will doubtless show much lacking that is pupils at the time were Cleaver and Ivins desirable. The best method of instruc- j Rambo, Susan Reese, Abbie Reese Philip tion is that which leads the child natu- Reese and Betsy Stephens. Zimmerman supplee, J. Henderson Suppiee- and Mary , rally to inquiry and research; which calls Ann Supploe. forth and develops the latent faculties When he left the Supplee school, where with which every rational being is en¬ he taught some years, Horton became a dowed; which brings out to the fullest ex¬ peddler, carrying a pack on his back, from tent the capabilities of the childish mind. oor to door, in which capacity he is bet¬ The teachers of the present day err, per¬ ter remembered, perhaps, than as an in¬ haps, in doing too much for their pupils, structor of youth. whereas their predecessors of a century Mrs. Hughes left Gulf School a year or ago were unable, with the aids at hand, H two before! arriving at womanhood, and to do enough. It is only by comparison— ' attended a; school for girls only, kept by putting the results of to-day with those ' Sturgis in a little room over a of a past age—that the actual attainment Gulf Mills. The building can be measured with any degree of ac¬ curacy. There may be but little gain confl-t- Stan^ns’ thou^ in a dilapidated from year to year, comparison between be toth^c h ?■ Chil(iren of to~day would °,th t0 belleve that it served as a distant epochs being necessary to show it. school room seventy years ago. To return to the Gulf School lot, the ELLWOOD ROBERTS. property adjoining, nearly two hundred acres in all, which was purchased by David M. Briggs from Jonathan Sturgis, as previously stated, was conveyed, March

i 31, 1796, by Briggs to Samuel DeHaven. t* From,. / This conveyance, like the preceding, ex¬ cepts the schoolhouse lot from the trans¬ fer. Levi Pawling and John Hughes j were the next purchasers. April, 1810, it j 'j passed to Benjamin Brooke. All the deeds i mentioned recite the exception as to the schoolhouse lot. The will of Benjamin j Fate, /Cj Brooke, dated August 28, 1824, authorized j i his executors to sell the property, which j they accordingly did in . 1835, John Wag- j I ner becoming the purchaser. The con- i ! veyance to Wagner was by Rees Thomas, J , may/ha\J had its influence" in'shaping his Brooke and Benjamin Brooke destiny/ Two farmers, who‘were unaware executors. of his^ieing at hand, were discussing the It is the first which does not include neigjfDoorhood gossip. the school lot in the description given, ilacksmith Yost has a new appren¬ the boundaries in the deed passing around tice” said one. it instead, apparently recognizing that “Who is he?” queried the other, the “long lease” of Daniel Roberts, near¬ Ben Brooke,” was the answer. ly three-quarters of a century earlier, “Not lazy Ben Brooke,” came the sur- had settled the matter for all time to I prised remark. come. Benjamin Brooke, it may be men- I “The very same.” tioned, resided in the house now occu¬ The boy listened to the colloquy, and pied by John Fulmer, che President of resolved from that moment to show that the present School Board. With the ush- he was going to be of some account In ering in of the common school system the world,” said his granddaughter, in about 1836, the.property passed to the narrating the incident to the writer. His School Directors of the township, and subsequent career as a mechanic, an in¬ their authority over it has never been ventor and an improver of ordinary tools, questioned. shows how well he kept his resolve. The change of the name of the post Benjamin Brooke was born in Limerick office at the place from Bird-in-Hand to Ninth month 24, 1753. In his twenty- Gulr Mills was due to the fact that there third year he married Anna Davis. About (was another Bird-in-Hand in Lancaster this time the Revolutionary War broke I couuty to which letters were often mis- out, and he volunteered his services in sent. the pati iot cause. He became succes¬ Succeeding Dr. Isaac Hughes, already sively Lieutenant and Captain in the ser¬ mentioned, the teachers in the school vice of his country. His most notable were Eli Griffith, who remained several achievements, however, were In the di¬ years; J. Brooke Jones, John Ramsey, rection of cheapening and improving the Jackson Orr, James Brooke, Elmer Brown tools used daily by farmers and me- John Allen and others. Jackson Orr is Lgftanics. including _the_ auger, _ scythe, remarkable on account of eccentricities sickle, spade, shovel, and various arti- which were more than ordinarily notice- cles of smithing and cutlery, most of able, to say the least. He always went to I which, prior to his time, were imported the school on horseback, with a gun on from England or elsewhere. The time his shoulder. He was very severe, using had come when America was to be inde- i pendent of the mother country, in more which P.T!! “ent of Pupils a whip *hich consisted of a leather strap divid- senses than one, and Benjamin Brooke was the man to aid very materially in the | ^rDefaLthe 6Ud’ somewhat in the man- ■ j ner of the cat o' nine tails used for flog- work- ELLWOOD ROBERTS. : ln the navy before that cruel form of diversion for a ship's officers was le¬ gally abolished a few years ago. Orr had the appearance of a Spaniard, and his pu¬ THE OLD SCHOOLS pils, it is said, were thoroughly afraid of ^ OL UPPER MERTON

Decay of Families in the Course of a Few Generations.

The Abandoned Crooked Lane Build¬

ing and the Kaiser Tragedy—Why the Spot May Have Been Chosen

for the Murder-Present Ownership of the Property.

th +i®sson ls more clearly-enforced by the stddy of the history of the past than the decay of prominent, families in the tCrVf a generation * two. Some of the old names , are retained ih neighbor- oods while others disappear altogether, -out those that remain have largely lost E1” "»>“><*—■ Prosperity Ees“ family m one generation only to mar its neTt ‘ff al^ usefulness in next or the ext after that. AVealth has its uses, but | * to be regretted that it too often *m h • « *. . * jils its children. Persons who are scously to himself, at the time, an im- ought up under adverse circumstances varlous links of the chain of testimony ome to the front and take the places which convicted Kaiser, so completely which seem of right to belong to the corroborated by subsequent developments petted offspring of those who formerly in this remarkable . case—probably the possessed the land. Position in society is most remarkable in the annals of crime certainly far from being hereditary in in Montgomery county. this country, however it may be in others. OWNERSHIP OP THE PROPERTY. The children of the poor take the lead in The old schoolhouse belongs to John J. almost all kinds of enterprises, leaving to Hughes. After it was abandoned for edu¬ the descendants of prominent families a cational purposes in. consequence of the subordinate part in the great drama of erection of a new building in the vicinity life. There are exceptions, as a matter of —the one known as the Bird-in-Hand course, but the great majority of cases School—the Directors decided to sell the follow the rule. The trouble is probably property. On making the necessary due largely to the failure to train chil¬ search, they discovered that they had no dren to habits of industry, regardless of right to do this, the lot having been con¬ their prospects in life. Wealth is transi¬ veyed to their predecessors for a nominal tory in its nature, and cannot compensate consideration by Robert T. Potts, as in i for the |lack of industry, ambition or the event of its abandonment as a school, I energy. the lot reverted to his heirs. THE CROOKED LANE SCHOOL. The heirs of Mr. Potts supplied the de¬ The Crooked Lane School building con¬ fect in the title, however, by joining in a | veys a rather melancholy impression to new deed, which conveyed it in fee sim¬ one who notices it for the first time, part¬ ple, and Mr. Hughes became its owner, as ly because it no longer serves the useful a I i-Milr .gtata.l_ ■ " " 1 purpose for which it was intended, part¬ Tlere are those who imagine that the ly because of the Kaiser tragedy which makng of education entirely free to all— occurred in its immediate vicinity. With¬ litenlly, without money and without in a stone’s throw is the spot where the prici—has a tendency to destroy the feel¬ deed was done— ing of sturdy independence whifch char- “Murder, most foul as in the best it is; acteUzed our forefathers a century ago. But this most foul, strange and unnatural.” In Europe the question is being agita¬ Just across the Gulf road from the ted— s free education pauperizing the abandoned building is an unused quarry masse? It is quite natural that earnest with quite a depth of water. investigation should be made to ascertain I Surprise has been expressed that this the ciuse operating to create the vast particular spot should have been selected army of tramps that now annoy and prey for the murder by the conspirators. There upon almost every community. was a purpose, no doubt, deeper and Another query has been suggested—Do darker than is apparent to the mere our schools of to-day, with all their boast¬ casual observer. Along the margin of the ed equipments, turn out such earnest men quarry at the roadside is a slight fence and women as did their rude and illy- which could have been readily over¬ furnished predecessors in the early part thrown, and the vehicle, horse and hap¬ of the present century? less victim of greed and crime tumbled An emphatic negative may be given to down the steep bank into the depths be¬ the first query. There can be no danger low. The claim could have been made to free institutions from the education of that the horse had run away, broken down the people. The greatest danger lies al¬ the fence, and thus caused the catas¬ ways in ignorance. Intelligence is con¬ trophe. \ servative; ignorance is destructive. The If such a design were entertained, the tendencies of the time in the direction of appearance of Benjamin Hughes just as education are right. Learning should be the foremost carriage reached the quarry, as free as the air we breathe, or as the disconcerted the plan, and made a resort water that falls from the clouds. to the pistol of the assassin a necessity As to the other query, the mere inti¬ in order to carry out their schemes. The mation, perhaps, is sufficient to cause gateway into which Clemmer turned the teachers and others interested in educa¬ vehicle in which he and Lizzie DeKalb tion to look around them and to discover, rode, and in which she waited while he if possible, any defect that may exist in went forward only a few yards to per¬ the system itself or in its administration. form his dreadful part in the tragedy, is There is always danger of degeneracy but a short distance from the old school- where there is an invariable routine pur¬ house.. sued. In the other direction towards Gulf In this connection may be introduced Mills, is the short but steep hill which the observations of Dr. George W. Holstein in Clemmer team was ascending when Mr. a paper read at a meeting of the Mont¬ Hughes passed them and became uncon¬ gomery County Historical Society, held in sciously to himself, at the time, an im¬ October, 1881, in Stewart Fund Hall, portant instrumentality in forging the whose origin has been traced in a pre¬ the old names are retried in neighbor- j vious article: “It would be false to the promptings of 59

my own nature if i could bring this paper to a close without reference to a matter same law which governs all animated of deep personal interest. This retrospect (creation rules in the nature of man, through the years of the sleeping past teaching t-lje lesson that if good results awakens recollections of the fact that the are desired in matured existence, the seed very ground we now occupy was the thea¬ should be sown, the germ implanted in tre of events that gave rest to several the early springtime of life.” years of the bright morning of my life. A TEACHER AT MERION. “Nearly half a century ago I entered The old Abraham School has been men¬ the old school house here as a pupil un¬ tioned. One of the teachers there was der the guidance of Thomas Brown, Jr., John Benson Buzby. He was a —one of the kindest men and best teaeh=- Ison of John and Jane (Benson) Buzby, ers it has ever been my privilege to I was born at King-of-Prussia, and wa3 know. To him I am indebted more than j educated at the old Union School, his last to any other individual for the education teacher being Mr. Brown, alluded to so I was permitted to attain. freely by Dr. Holstein above. Mr. Buzby “I found myself in the midst of boys ' was especially strong in mathematics. and girls coming in from the surrounding He was engaged with the engineer corps neighborhood with whom it was a plea¬ which surveyed a railroad route up the sure to associate, and whose rapid pro¬ Perkiomen in 1835. gress in the various studies was so The corps was broken up by the kill¬ marked that it required a constant strug¬ ing of George Willauer at Sumneytown, gle to keep up. a glance over the field he being stabbed in a barroom fight at at this distance forces the conviction that Sumneytown. The case attracted much | this is indeed a world of change. attention at the time, eminent counsel be¬ | “Our good teacher has long since found ing engaged on both sides in the trial. 1 rest from the busy turmoil of life. Many Buzby was not in the melee. The wagon of the pupils have followed him to that which conveyed the corps from Greenlane better land; some have risen to distinc¬ could not take all so that he and another tion and filled honorable positions in the were left behind. The w'hole party had to various walks of life. Each of the pro- fly to save their lives after the stabbing, I fessions, divinity, medicine and law, has Willauer's friends being greatly enraged. received its votaries from among— out¬ The persons indicted for the murder numbers; agriculture has engrossed the were Joseph Ogilby, Jr., John West attention of a large proportion. Nevins, John Naglee, Jr., Ormes B. “Several entered the military service of Keith and Herman Houpt. The trial commenced on February 24, 1836, and | our country during the Rebellion—some rising to distinction, _such as George W. ended on March 4, with a verdict of ac¬ Bisbing, Captain of Co. C, 51st Pa. Regi¬ quittal.. ELLWOOD ROBERTS. ment, fatally wounded at the battle of the Wilderness; Samuel K. Zook. General of | 1st Brigade, 2d Corps, Army of the Poto- [ mac, killed at the A HASTY GLIMPSE | both noble, brave, gallant patriots. Others I have done good service in the civil offices OF QUAKERTOWN of their localities—one is now a distin¬ guished member of the Legislature of our state, sent from this his native county. The Locality Known for a Century as The girls, too, were bright and intel¬ lectual, and under the training of our be¬ the “ Great Swamp.” loved teacher, studious and ambitious, ex- 1 citing a spirit of emulation among the Peopled by Descendants of English boys not to be outdone. Some of them have attained positions of responsibility and Welsh Friends and Germans as leading matrons in the communities Wh° Came to America to Find a around them, such as Mrs. Sarah Roberts , Tyson, Mrs. Mary Cleaver DeHaven, Mrs. j Refuge From Religious Persecu¬ Catharine Cowgill Stokes, Mrs. Sophia El¬ tion-Changes of Two Centuries- liott Shaw, Mrs. Elizabeth Henderson ewer Than in Most Localities of Southworth and others. Some few are in the audience before me to-night, and can Eastern Pennsylvania. i bear testimony to the truthfulness of the statements made. ! “In those bright, pure, early spring pi‘‘,ph,.!7h. “"...'ri ”u“ < » ;days of our lives, friendships were born ™ land attachments formed that have come ; rr down through all the years in their fresh- jness and will continue to the end Whilst s.S‘r,r“y,r‘*’« «- j time has been making sad inroads upon ■ I the physique, marking ita course by lish and Welsh Friends or of°i.by EnS' (Wrinkles, gray hairs and failing sight yet the impressions made on mind and he-t bear testimony to the fact that the Iigi°US the community ^ham 'w;

'

' a very remarkable’extent; retained 1;B¥ time were laccustomed to, sit1 and string| characteristics which have marked it their beads or fashion their rude "imple¬ from the beginning. The phlegmatic ments. Teuton and the imperturbable Quaker Samuel Foulke was Treasure!1 and have lived side by side, generation after guiding spirit of this organization as of generation, for nearly two hundred years others of his day. It was kept up until without a difference to disturb the se¬ the Peace of 1759, and accomplished good renity and mutual kindness and forbear¬ work for humanity. The Richland li¬ ance which have marked their inter¬ brary was organized in 1795, and is still in course. existence. The sight of the first house erected in A school was established by Friends at the settlement by Morris Morris is occu¬ a very early date. The building was re¬ pied by a quaint structure, the successor, placed by that now standing in 1857, the a century ago, of the original log house, old one being torn down in 1860. The old it stands at an angle with the wide ave¬ meeting-house, often enlarged, gave way nue extending to the station from the to a new one in 1862., older portion of the town and known as Charles Strawn, the Postmaster of Qua¬ Main street. The name Morris has disap¬ kertown, has a taste for old relics. He peared from the vicinity as have those of exhibits a maj) of Pennsylvania, dating others of the old settlers, although the back to 1792, which he inherited from his large majority are still represented in the grandfather, Benjamin Foulke. The citizenship of the borough. place is marked on it as “The Swamp." Among the first settlers were Edward The counties of the state then in exist- Roberts, Thomas Roberts, Peter Lester 'ence were few, the greater portion of Abraham Griffith, Thomas Nixon, Thomas Pennsylvania being a wilderness. Lancaster, John Edwards, John Ball and Mr. J. G. Stauffer, of the Free Press, others. The largest landowner of earlier is progressive, intelligent and courteous, times, Griffith Jones, a Welshman, never Ias are newspaper men generally, and he reached America. His holdings, includ¬ cheerfully extended valuable favors to his ing several thousand acres, were rapidly visitor. absorbed by others. Quakertown was made a borough in The term “Great Swamp’’ included a 1854. In 1832 it contained 40 houses. It large tract of country, embracing several has been much extended so as to include townships adjoining Richland, as it was Richland Centre. Its homes are substan¬ termed when tit was organized and laid tial, comfortable; its people generous in out in 1734, extending even into the ad- their hospitality to strangers. Its popu¬ j joking counties, 'Montgomery and Lehigh. lation was 2200 by the last census. When ■ While the settlement now Quakertown the writer was principal of the public was the central point, its members lo¬ school in 1865, only one assistant was cated in Springfield, Rockhill, Milford, needed. There are now twelve teachers, Saucon and elsewhere. Here their de¬ Seward M. Rosenberger, a descendant of scendants lived for generations, founding - . ■ an old family in the vicinity, being prin¬ substantial homes, many of which exist cipal. There are three buildings and 500 at the present day, in nearly their origi¬ pupils. Quakertown has nine churches nal condition. and many industrial establishments. An hour’s ride from Norristown on There is a wealth of unwritten history Saturday morning brought the writer to in the shape of traditions. The place has this interesting German-American bor-' long been known for the longevity of its ough, and in contact with its hospitable, people, centenarians and nonagenarians kindly, intelligent people—many of them being more common than elsewhere. connected with him by the ties of a com¬ These old people are fond of telling what mon aneestry. The story of the six or they know. Their simple habits and free¬ seven generations that have passed is dom from exhausting excitements that be¬ recorded with tolerable fullness in thej set the denizens of cities, prolong life Meeting record books, two of which (the and keep memory and other faculties in earliest) have been lost for nearly a dozen, their normal condition even in old age. years, but were found within a few days.! The North Pennsylvania railroad, fin¬ Here at Great Swamp was organized! ished to the Lehigh, river January 1st, I the first. Society ever gathered for main¬ 1857, was the foundation of Quakertown’s j taining -friendly relations with the ab¬ gro3vth and prosperity. A trolley line ! original inhabitants. It was called “Ye through the town, to Trumbauersville, ; Friendly Association for Regaining and three miles distant, in one direction, and ] Preserving Peace with Ye Indians.’’ All to Richlandtown, four miles, in another, ! through the bloody and devastating wars is in course of construction and will be : v ith the infuriated red men, lasting for completed by midsummer. It will stimu- | 3 ears, there was no clash between them late improvement as a matter of course. and the followers of Penn at Richland. ELLWOOD ROBERTS. Under a giant oak on the grounds deeded by Morris Morris to the Society for the! , erection of a meeting-house and school, ten acres in all, which stood until within four of five years, when it was blown i down by a storm, the Indians of the olden - St 61

tell ? Wore than a huodrecTyiSSrs ago, or about 1792, two young men from the north of Ireland, from near tbe city of Belfast, where the people are often denominated “Scotch-Irieh, ’ emigrated to America. By trade they were iullers and dyers, craftmen in the art of wool manufacture, dyeing full¬ ing, carding, spinning and weaving wool into the fabrics used in those days. These young men were Neal and Hugh Graham—two brothers. Neal decided to stop in northern Chester county, while Hugh concluded to go farther west, that is, beyond the Alleghany mountains. The brothers thus separated and never saw or heard of each other, though it is believed that the decendents of Hugh Graham And By Whom it Was Op¬ live in Clarion and neighboring counties, of this state. Neal having decided to stay in Ches¬ erated Long Ago. ter county, found for himself a wife, a Miss Sharpe, and proceeded to provide Erected In the Cloelns Years of the a home for himself and his companion Accordingly he bought a tract of land East Century by an Imlgrant, In 1 at the head waters of Pigeon Creek, North Coventry, at the Foot of the property now owned by Ammon Wartman. Whether the log dwelling the Chestnut Hllis — Traces was then on the place or whether Neat of the Mill Dam — Pare Graham built it, we are not now able to say, but he erected thereon a suit¬ Spring Water — The able building for his business, a small Watering Trough. wool mill. He built the dam alluded to above, In going' from Pottstown to the Falls with its wide breast—wide enough for of French Creek by way of the Chest¬ the public road to lay on it. The road nut hill route, no doubt many have was changed to cross from the east to the west side of the creek, over the wondered why there should be such an dam breast, for the dam now occupies appai'ently unnecessary bend in the the o d roadbed. In the wooden mill road, with two such sharp angles,with¬ thus planted in the back woods, he in a few yards of each other, near to labored lor a time, but on account of the difficulty in reaching his place of ■what every one knows as the “stone business from the then settlement, he water trough,” located at the foot on decided to seek another place, one tfie north side of the bill,now the home more easily reached, and that prom¬ of Ammon Wartman, formerly John ised better results. Accordingly be sold his Chestnut Hill place and re¬ Hunsbergers place. moved to Pugh town, where he built an¬ While the road could have been other woolen mill in which he labored made a straight one, and there is good until he died. His remains, and that reason for saying that it once was of his wife, are buried in the grave- straight, there is also a reason for the yard adj >ining the Vincent Baptist peculiar bend in the road. By a care¬ church. Chester county. ful examination of the ground it will Neal Graham's woolen mill at Pugh- be seen that tbe short bit of wood be¬ town stood a few rods below the tween the angles is located on the northern end of the stone bridge over breast of an old dam. which at one the French Creek, and until recently time existed in the small stream of traces of the old building could be water that flows down from the moun¬ seen. Fifty years ago the walls, the tain side. This dam has long ago dis¬ large shaft and part of the water appeared, having been filled up from wheel attached to it, were still there. washings and grown over with trees, j The race; too, that brought the water bushes, green briars, vines, wild j from the creek to the mill, was intact, flowers, rank weeds and grass and and some water yet in it. The stone everything. bridge over the creek has anarch span¬ A marshy, swampy bed occupies the ning this race, showing that the race is place where the water once stood older than the bridge. deeply impounded, ready to do service Neal Graham raised a family of nine for man. But who built the dam, and children, four sons and five daughters. what was it put there for ? Who can Of the sons, the oldest was James, who remained in Pughtown. He was tne lather of James Graham of Pottstown. 1 he second son, William, who settled' down near Chester Springs, where, ini addition to farming, lie was overseer of the mines then worked near his place. From,.I Thomas J., the third son, followed' teaching for many years, and lived near Pine Swamp, in Warwick town- ship. Later on in life he came to Pottstown and was in the employ of the P. & R. R. R Co. as bookkeeper in Bate, . I their shops at this ploce He was the father of Daniel P Graham, and Thos J Graham, sewing machine agent, of this place. Isaac, the other son,owned and carried on the flouring mill on the FOULKE DESCENDANTS. upper waters of the Conestoga, about a J half mLe east of Morgantown, and Tlie Descendants of the Welsh Emigrant what is now called Willow Glen, Trace Lineage to Rhirid Flaidd and to Of the daughters Mary married John Four Royal Houses—Red Wolfs Clan. • ^armon.yville; Margaret mar- ried Henry Kurtz. She was the mother Descendants of Edward Foulke, who ■ of Rev. Samuel W. Kurtz, atone time was one of the leaders of the party of I pastor of the M. E. church of Potis- Welshmen who settled in this country town. Elizabeth married Samuel Kurtz about Gwynedd 200 years ago, will hold a family reunion in the latter part of May, immediately after the bicenten-i ! All these three couples lived in Wal¬ mal celebration of the township of lace township. Henry Kurtz was a Gwynedd. The descendants, direct and farmer, while Samuel was a miller, collateral, number many men who are! i The fifth of his daughters, Rachel, well known both in Pennsylvania and newer married and made her home throughout the country. Part of the!' with her brother, Isaac, near Morgan¬ original land which Edward Foulke set-r town. She is the only one of the tied is still in possession of the family, family now living and is quite ad¬ being held by the heirs of Jesse Foulke. ; vanced in years. But to return to the The reunion will be held at the old! original home of the subject of thi3 Friends’ meeting house, at Gwynedd, of \. narrative, the little home—the old log- which Edward Foulke was one of the I house and log barn and the little primi- builders and a prominent member. i tive woolen mill in the sequestered In 200 years his descendants have mul-l i nook in the shades of the Chestnut tiplied to such numbers that the familyl i hills It may not have been a wise se- genealogists have lost count of them. I ! lection for such an industry, as we On the collateral branches of the family! look at it now. I tree are such well known families as the! But, then every farmer raised sheep Wisters, Wistars, Edwards, Evans, Jen-1 and produced his own wool, made or kins, Luke ns, Corsons, Glenns, Comforts,.'! had made for him his own woolen Emlens, Amblers, Spencers, Yocums,! yarns, blankets, coverlets, flannels, Days, Levicks, Moores and Cressons. A wj woolseys and so on. But aside from very large number of men and women, nj this,, the place selected hud other members of colonial societies, are mem-9 qualities to recommend it. It was pro¬ beis because of their descent fromEd-B tected from the cold blasts of winter j ward Foulke. by the wooded hills westward. There I Among the members of collateral |l was meadow land, an almost necessity branches of the family was Owen ! in those days for cow hay. There was Jones, provincial treasurer of Pennsyl-!| timber for building and fencing, vania and member of the provincial [I another necessity of the time, all for J assembly from 1695 to 1697, whose moth-'I the cutting. The land was fertile, the er was Gainor Owen, daughter of Robert ! soil deep and mellow, and. above all, Owen, and whose grandmother wasH there was an abundance of the purest" Mary, daughter of Dr. Thomas Wynne, I spring water for the cattle and the ■ who was speaker of the first assemblyI I family. Indeed, near the door was a from 1682 to 1683, judge of the supreme® spring the eq al of which it would be court from 1686 to 1690, and president of, ^ hard to find anywhere, strong, lasting, the assembly from 1687 to 1688. It was I cold and sparkling, pure and delicious, Sally Wister, (oven Jones’ granddaughter I and there are those who declare that and a descendant of Edward Foulke,! the water has rare medicinal virtues. who wrote the much-quoted Revolution¬ The stone w ater trough is so well ary journal in the old Foulke mansion at known by the horses that travel that Penliyn. way, that they instinctively turn to Edward Foulke was born in Wales j the trough and unbiddingly drink and July 13, 1651, and with his wife Eleanor ■ we have never heard of a horse being lived at Coedy-foel, near Bala, on Lake ! foundered by drinking at that plaee Bala, Xortli Wales. He left there in no matter how hard he had been driven. • search''of religious freedom, setting out . Foulke, FI. Francis Foul Ice. TJarofin^ with a number ot other Welshmen on IjFoulke and Mary Jenkins Ambler. April 3, 1(598, for the new world, where Descendants of Edward and Eleanor some years before some of his country-1 IFoulke, Welsh emigrants, who settled men had found peace and prosperity in I I at Gwynedd 200 years ago, met Wednes¬ the Welsh tract, west of Philadelphia, jfe day at 921 Arch street, Philadelphia, to They sailed from Liverpool on April 17i ' plan the bicentennial celebration of that !and from Dublin on the ship Robert and event. The celebration will be held at [Elizabeth on May 1. They were on the Gwynedd on Monday, May 30, the day voyage 11 weeks, during which, to quote . preceding the bicentennial of Gwynedd |Foulke’s journal, “the bloody flux set f township. Addresses will be made, in and carried off five and 40 of the papers read, and an exhibition of MSS., (party, but through the providence of coats of arms, pedigrees, portraits, sil¬ (God I arrived safely with my four sonsr houettes, marriage certificates and an¬ and five daughters.” cestral furniture will be held. The fol- The man who cast his lot so confident¬ , lowing were elected officers of the family ly as a pioneer, for all he was a modest r; reunion: farmer, traced his descent to kings. The President, William Dudley Foulke, of Welsh genealogies showed him a de- j* jRichmond, Ind., vice president of the scendant of Rhirid Flaidd, a chieftain [Civil Service association; vice presidents, living in Penllyn in the time of Henry Hugh Foulke, Samuel Emlen, Rebecca II, and he bore the Flaidd arms, with a IFoulke Corson, Charles M. Foulke, of ■wolf’s head for crest, and the motto Washington; secretary, Frank Foulke; Blaed Rhuda Ar Y Blaen,”—“The Red assistant secretary, Joseph T. Foulke, Wolf to the Front.” Ambler; treasurer, Edward M. Wistar, Rhirid Flaidd himself traced his line F ’ 905 Provident building. to Gynedda AValdig, a native chieftain Howard M. Jenkins, who presided at of Cumberland, who, according to the ' the meeting, appointed the following Triads, lived in the fourth century, was executive committee: one of the first to embrace Christianity, „ Frank Foulke, of New York; Wm. G. and who devoted much land to the Foulke, J. Roberts Foulke, Daniel Christian missionaries. Through other Foulke Moore, Phoenixville; Abigail lines Edward Foulke claimed descent of W. Foulke, Gwynedd; Jesse Foulke the ancient princes of Wales as far back I ' Spencer, George Rhyfedd Foulke, West as Roderick the Great, in the ninth cen-1 1 i Chester; Robert R. Corson, Lydia A. tury, whose descendants, Foulke’s ances¬ Foulke AVilson, Wenona, Ill.; Letitia tors, married into the royal family of Eng¬ Foulke Kent. Gwynedd; Mrs. J. Foulke land. In this way he claimed, on what Rutter, Brooklyn; Dr. Joseph K. Corson, is regarded as good ground, descent from Joseph T. Foulke, Ambler; AVilliam Eleanor of Castile, daughterof Ferdinand AVistar Comfort, Haverford college ; III; Matilda, daughter of Malcolm III '.Tames Emlen, Mrs. Anna Foulke Bacon of Scotland; King John of England, and Neff, Joseph F. Foulke, Stroudsburg, the counts of Valois and Vermandois. , and. Charles, A meeting of descendants was held recently at the office of Mr. Ploward M. [Jenkins, of the Friends’ Intelligencer, 21 Arch street, Philadelphia. Mr. Jen- [kins has undertaken to correspond with From, all the descendants who send him their ddress. Those at the meeting included: 'Hugh Foulke, Letitia Foulke Kent, Sam¬ uel Emlen, Nancy C. Cresson, of Nor¬ ristown; Frances C. Day, Dr. Richard C. 3-7 iFoulke, of New Hope ; William L. Date, Foulke and Edward Foulke, of Washing¬ ton; Anna F. B. Neff, Charles Edward Foulke, Fannie C. Yocum, Anna Spen¬ cer, Hannah C. Bacon, Edwin R. Booth ■ —,— and Jennie Foulke Booth, of Jenkin- town; George M. ’Warner, George Her- ! bert Jenkins, Edward M. Wister, Dr. Edwin Morris, Elizabeth B. W. Warner, YftLIIABLEJELIC SOLD Bertha C. Yocum, Dr. Joseph K. Corson’ l"U. S. A.; Charles F. Jenkins, Samuel F. Moore. Susan W. Comfort, Frank Foulke Queensware Used in the and Mrs. .T. Foulke Rutter, of Brooklyn; Wm. G. Foulke, Rebecca Foulke Corson,’ Days of the Revolution. Robert R. Corson, Jesse Foulke Spencer, If William Wistar Comfort, Thomas Wis- tar, Abigail W. Foulke, of Gwynedd; William H. Eeppert, of This Bor- Emma L. Thompson, Dr. Joseph L.’ oneli, Buys a Tea Pot That Has Thompson, Dr. Joseph Foulke, Joseph T. Foulke, Esq.^AnnaF. Levick, Charles Passed Through Hard Scenes— A Cup and Sancer With a History-Sale Took Place Near Conjto, on Satur¬ LOCAL HISTORY.

day 'Afternoon. The Berkheiiner Plantation in Whitpain At the sale of John Reppert, held in —The Farm of Morris Jarrett — Allan U.jper Hanover township, on Saturday, Corson Charles Kerpei fcn Interesting a large number of old dishes were sold Article from the Pen of E. I". at prices ranging from sixty-five cents There is a large farm in southern to over one dollar apiece Among the , VV mtpain comprising 107 acres, situated lot were pieces that are considerably ii j lun,ct;ion of five roads, locally called Sandy Hill from the manifest over 100 years old, many nearly 200 quality of the soil. The surface gentlv years. A number of Pottstown people slopes northward from this point, and attended the sale, and W. H. Reppert, the farm is bounded bv roads on everv side except the northeast. The present Reynold avenue, was the purchaser of handsome stone dwelling is modern and a number of the queensware relics, t«-ruS k-v Charles Iverper in 1869. among them an old tea pot which was Ihe large and commodious barn was used during the days of the American ’ erected by Morris Jarrett, succeeding one that was struck by lightning and revolution, and is said to have been in ll8Q9UThd w? firf S", th service in the Lutheran church at 18,)_. The latter had been built bv Allan Swamp during the time that sanctuary ^ Corson m 1844. In the rear of the new was turned into a hospital to accommo¬ house is an old one of stone, uninhab¬ date the many wounded heroes who ited since the new one was built, and fell in the bloody battle of German¬ used tor storage and other purposes. It l town in 1777. is ot two stories, with one room down I A cup and saucer, manufactured in stairs and two in the second story. On England during the reign of King the west end is a one-story stone kitchen George III, and supposed to have been attached, with one room, and seemingly brought to this country by John Rep- ,as old as the main house. In the rear is pert’s great-great-grandfather in the a cave, wherein is a spring of water. good old Colonial dyead, whither he had come in 1749. Tlie 65

;latter did not live here, out in the old! Michael hawk. louse yet existing near the residence of . h Ahis document was written June 9G ! Houst°n, near Ambler. Haage 1 April ai° ir77g7SteSd to Philadelphia on was the ancestor of the family who so l April 1-, 1 / t 7. He died on his planta- long owned the mill hearing tlieir name V:'rG'Vy,"d<1 township, Which was on the Bethlehem turnpike, and whose f left to his son George, then a minor. As possessors were his grandchildren nal?rRp>4rpn IOned’ hi-S daughter, Susan- Row Michael Haage h'ad a daughter ' ’ received the Whitpain named Susannah, who married a Luth-y tfar“ ^ 1°0 acres and after death it was eran named George Berkheimer. The togo toher chiidren. He had another latter was the son of a German immi-I i; daughter Hannah, wife of Henrv Neff, grant who came to America about 1750 of Maryland, to whom he left £200. and it is supposed settled in Worcester! I £40 twp flier bequests, one of I At any rate, his son George was in Whit- fnd nf ;l- ln Berkheimer, a grandson, | pain in 17 73, and of enough prominence a.nd £2o to his granddaughter, Catha- '& and character to be one of seven trustees nne Berkheimer. There W'as one small ” 1 to whom was deeded the land upon which public bequest—that of £10 to “White- ( was built St. John’s Lutheran church marsh English church,” for keeping the * soon after. The will of Michael Hawk graveya-rd m order. It was mentioned . was made in 1776. In this document the ■ p u Conrad Smith then occupied the testator says: I bequeathe to my daugh- ! MarwT^d plantation A sister-in-law, tet, Susannah Berkheimer, my house and Mary Isaacs, was noticed. His cousins Tnnp«a>’01TkWhlCh 1 bought of John Conrad Diderow and zachariah Diderow [ Jones. ihe property was to goto her children at her death. His Gwynedd LS 'Vere “ade “• plantation ot 165 acres was granted to Michael Hawk came from New Hano- ! his son, George Haage. \ei._ 1 here is record of Michael Hawk 1-mi1 ngTi^eorge Berkheimer we buying a farm of 168 acres in Providence I know little. His name appears in the I township m 1744. In olden times the enrollment of the Whitpain militia,made : a 1 wavs pronounced Hawk m - 7, as an actiye member. One tri- US became trariHormed into j-1 fling anecdote comes down to us from Haage. tne olden time concerning his good wife Susannah She had a do| of which she the berkheimer family. was quite fond. One morning after she I In closing we willwin notice some facts had duly said her prayers, with the ortho¬ Bert1rn-1Dg th r descendants of George dox ending of “amen,” her hearers were ! the Jrmer’ J?hn Berkheimer, one of dro ly Partied by the quickness of her the sons, was born at the Whitnain aliveyetd’1 German’ “Is Hie d«g homestead in 1775 He died in 185 and Has buried in St. John’s churchyard In George and Susannah Berkheimer were son«adTminiStraj10n mention is made of the parents of six children: John som, Jesse and Andrew. He married ia(i0b’ William’ Catharine, wife to St townfh-’ °f tPi-Vm°uth, and lived Rumer'1 FetZ°r’ and Mary> wife of Henry n that township, about half a mile south I of Narcissa creamery. Besides the twn The death of the elder Berkheimer sons above named' there was another SmeiV837-at an advanced age" ??raed George,* and daughters—Can’ fiir "f16 above named heirs united in rr HeaibSSee“ dJe™ZS\'vife of AllanHang Yy.VV Corson,rr0Perty whosehgrantin ownership" a deed con- to riedanci had children? tlre"' ' The tmnqe M''! .qi,arter Of a century. Geciige Rerivheimer staid in Whitpain Ihe house he lived in would not suit a He had children: Jacob, John and Ma™ modern fanner’s requirements, but the imm?edbTmUenH0Upt- 0f these Jacob original barn was less suitable for his JoH Sry Deavres’ and had children- fn4rPos3 and so Jj® built a new one in ohn, A ilham, Martin, Jesse Charles 1844. His ownership ended in 1861 when and Susannah, wife of’ Nicholas Ref he sold to Charles Iverper, of Spring- ried GHisgfir?terk-^eimer was Gvice mar- K“d whose possession lasted for the | 1? nv!fe was Miss Engard next —3 .years. Iverper became involved j Jacob Berkheimer camp tn in financial difficulties, though he had 1824 of Sheri|ephiripbBo^f. in g^atly improved the property. So the es- thfoSw^l°ng and sold the farm on the the 26th of November, 1884, when Mor- present property of Allan Berkhet on the east side of the Bethlehem turn- |purchased the pre£ent °'vner> was the P ve. near Ambler borough. In 1Q47 The skirmish at the Rex bridge at the oe sdld this farm to his son 0 1 crossing of the stream above Sfe ’ BroSI Berkheimer. The latter died if 1^70® Axe, took place after the battle of Ger mantown, and within half a mile of the [old.Berkheimer farm. A relic oFthat afiair was found on the farm a long time acres. The venemble^ Geome^l 72 afterwards, in the shape of a cannon ball mer, of Franklinville is oS Berikheimer married MnrfNmmf I £31 VVV,;-. '• H P camT~ HTscn uaraiweretjfTafles^reS^n: William, Susan, wife of Jesse Barnes, *1 heimer are the sous and Julia Ann, who remained single. [jt heimer. The children of Charles Berkheimer I The farm of John Berkheimer, lying were Allen, Mary, wife of David Dun- ■ half a mile northeast of Sandy Hill, net, and Anna, wife of Milton Ruch. comprising 44 acres, was bought in 1847 Jacob Berkheimer, ancestor of these de¬ of Mary Ann Williams by George Berk¬ scendants, died in 1869, at the age of 86. «§• heimer' This is part of the original William Berkheimer removed to North¬ Davis plantation of over 200 acres and umberland county. He was a farmer, which fronted upon the Skippack road. living near Milton, on the Susquehanna, In 1800 this part had been sold to Rich¬ 4 *. - and became quite wealthy. It is related ard Duffield. John Berkheimer, son of that near the close of his life he told his • Jacob and grandson of George, now wife that now he was rieh enough to re¬ owms the property, which he has recent¬ tire. He proposed building a new barn ly much improved, and removing to a lot that he owned. Before he could accomplish his plans he < sickened and soon after died. It was known that he had much money con¬ cealed about his premises, and after his . death an active search was made for it. From It was at length found in an iron pot, and this was hidden under a pile of • wheat. It was all in gold and silver—• 7 from a road leading north from the'toll state of Delaware, where she died. Ru- gate, on the “Limekiln pike,” which mer was the son of Frederick Rumer, J passes through Fitzwatertown, Edge Hill, and the family lived in Whitpain, at the ; etc., on to the city. present Edward Phipps place, a mile £ southward of Blue Bell. Henry Rumer f The yard has three walks in it, of good had children: Mary, Esther and Susan. 1 width, covered with crushed stone. These They lived in Christiana Hundred, walks are equidistant from each other, about 12 miles southwest of Wilmington. - and the four spaces between are allotted There is a family of Berkheiraers liv- ; ing near Sandy Hill school house, Whit- ,A for tiie dead. To the right in the yard as pain, where reside William D. and you enter the gate, may be read, “ Alice Charles Berkheimer. Here Jacob Berk¬ A. daughter of John {and Elizabeth heimer, son of George Berkheimer, " Fitz water, Sept. 1854, Dec. 22nd, bought 52 acres in 1859, of Henry W. E Bonsall. He had married Tacy Deaves, * ’69.” Then in a quite distinct place on daughter of Jesse Deaves. The wife of ~ the stine, it says, “Our only child. the latter was Susannah, daughter of Death lies on her like an uuiimel/, frost Jacob Weber. The latter had bought a ' upon the sweetest flower of allfthe field.” farm here of 130 acres before 1825, and in his will of the last date he conveyed Jacob Fiizwater, born Sept. 19'hJl7sy, the same to his daughters, Margaret, wife ■ died 4th month 1876 ; died in Nor|»u\\ i. of Daniel Williams, and Susannah, wife ' Tacv Firzwater, b. Feb. 25, of Jesse Deaves, the latter getting the 52 | Mar. 22, 1876, wife of the former. acres. Charles and William D. Berk¬ Then comes a Jacob Fife water Mbi T, 1880, d. 3 mo. 25th, 1877. IfSme000 ' an>' them. ,J fatted them out_ with needles, pins, -d, Duttons and other small onists m this vicinity was Henry Antes; articles considered trifling at home, a native of Germany, who owned a large but in army life invaluable, and the plantation, built a mill, became a lead¬ dear creatures would present them to ing man in the community, was a prom¬ their lovers upon their departure to be¬ inent leader in'Christian work in Penn¬ sylvania and was for many years a Jus¬ come soldiers. tice of the Peace. He died in 1755, and The one carried by Comrade Clauser, was buried upon his own farm, upon the and now in the keeping of his niece, is bank of Swamp creek, at the western ex¬ in good preservation, notwithstanding tremity of Frederick township, Montgom¬ it was with its owner in Libby prison, ery county. For more than a hundred Richmond, Va., for several months A years his grave was almost forgotten. threaded needle is still in the ‘ com¬ Within recent years, however, Penn¬ sylvania historians learned of its exist¬ panion” and probably the last use ence, and drew attention to it and to him ! made of it was to tack a “gallus” button whose dust rests in it. Last evening at | on Soldier Clouser's trousers. Fagleysville, a village which has sprung Mrs. Mauger is justly proud of the up close to the scenes of Henry Antes’ relic and ‘cherishes it as a valuable keepsake. Her father, Samuel Becker, now a well-known farmer of Union ' township, Berks county, is also a vet¬ eran of the late war. The souvenirs of the bloody struggle of a generation ago are becoming more precious as the passing years lengthen the time when they were used by the j “boys” in uniform.

TYPICAL FALKNER SWAMP HOUSE. labors, the people of the neighborhood gathered to listen to a paper, prepared by Henry S. Dotterer, of Philadelphia, upon the life and labors of the pioneer. An object of the meeting was to take steps to make such improvements to the pri¬ vate burial place of the Antes family as I All HONORED NAME by reason of many years of neglect it needs. A purpose entertained by many also, is the erection of a monument of na¬ tive Frederick township granite to suit¬ IN PENNSYLVANIA ably commemorate his worthy career and his services to the community and the province. Mr. Dotterer, who recently visited the native place of Henry Antes in the Pal¬ Life and Labors of Henry atinate, gave some of the results of his researches in the course of his paper. Antes Described by a Continuing, he said: “In 1723 we first find the name of An¬ Philadelphian tes in the Pennsylvania records. On the 20th of February, of that year, Frederick Antes bought from Hendrick Van Beb- ber one hundred and fifty-four acres ofJ land, a part of the tract of 22,377 acres TOLD AT FAGLEYSVILLE in Mahanitania. The Manatawny tract was part of the land granted by William | Penn to the Frankfort Company, an as- j sociation of enterprising capitalists of A Village Close to the Scenes of Frankfort-on-the-Main. it fronted on the Schuylkill River, in the vicinity of the Pioneer’s Labors—His the present Pottstown. Hither, doubt-; less, came Henry Antes with his father. Notable Career “In the Crefeld division of Germantown lived William Dewees, paper maker, and owner of a paper mill on the Wissahick- on. Henry Antes soon after his arrival A few miles east of Pottstown is. the in the New World, engaged in partner¬ Swamp creek valley, known in early times ship with Dewees, in the building of a as Falkner Swamp. One of the early col¬ paper mill and a grist mill on Wissahiek- on Creek. About this time, or on Feb- ruary 2, 1720, Henry Antes found a help¬ .pupils were transferred to Oley. Upon mate in the person of Christina Elizabeth I the establishment of the school, Antes Hewees, daughter of the paper maker. I went to Bethlehem and gave his whole On September 2 173o, he purchased time to the‘•temporal affairs of the Mo- : f ravian Brethren. He had charge of the V. acres of land in Frederick town- stnp, on Swamp creek, close to or construction, at their various settlements, I adjoining the farm of liis father. Imme- ot mills, bridges, dams and houses. On December 1,>, 1745, he was appointed a Justice of the Peace of Bucks county, which then included the present Lehigh aE^ -Northampton counties. On October -i,l 143, he was appointed business man- . ager for the Brethren, taking the legal ' care ot the community’s extensive prop¬ erties. In April, 1750, he withdrew from this connection with the Moravians, the cause being a change introduced in their j manner of worship; but his relations! with the membership continued to be j most kindly and affectionate. Tie resolved to accompany a survey- I mg party. In the overland journey to j North Carolina and in the prosecution ot their work, the party endured severe hardships They were all taken sick; an nod met at his house in Frederick town- ship. At this time he offered the use of his plantation, the buildings and mill for the use of the Brethren as a boarding FIRST EXECUTION school tor boys. On tne 3d of June following the school was opened, and it was continued until 1750, when the k AT NORRISTOWN • ip-esuaably John1 Bijown kh the popi^ation of Montgomery John Brown, Who Suffered Death almost entirely composed of the sects of Friends, Dunkards for Burglary. nonites, who were knpwn ,to b'_ _ to the shedding of blood, hoped to escape conviction hy a jury for a capital offense despite the recommendations of the The Difficulties Encountered hy the Hon. Judges Thomas McKean and Sheriff in Carrying Out the Mandate George Bryan, of the Supreme Court of of the Court—Original Documents Pennsylvania, under whom he was tried, elected to be tried under the old code, and Bearing on the Subject — Other on the 24th day of March, 1788, he was, Hangings in the County. after an impartial trial, convicted In man¬ ner and form and sentenced to be hanged by the neck till he was dead. The following history of the first exe¬ The transcript of the record was duly cution 'in Montgomery county, that of forwarded to the Governor of the State Jbhn Brown, for burglary, in 1788, sug¬ and the Supreme Executive Council, sit¬ gested by the conviction and Sentence of ting in the city of Philadelphia, April 2d, Charles O. Kaiser, £ot murder, is fur¬ 1788, and consideration was postponed nished by Mr. John Slingluff, who has from time to time until on Monday, April made considerable research, unearthing 7th, 1788, the warrant for his execution the documents bearing upon it, and giv¬ was issued to Francis Swaine, High Sher¬ ing them in their original form: iff of the county, fixing the date for the execution on Saturday, April 12th, 1788, Happening to look over the Pennsylva¬ between the hours of ten and two o’clock. nia archives and colonial records recent¬ In the meantime the criminal had sent ly I found some data of the case of John a petition to the Governor and Council Brown, the first person executed in Mont¬ asking for a commutation of sentence, and gomery county after its separation from the Judge of the court had also sent a the county of Philadelphia, and the one communication to that Honorable body hundred and tenth anniversary of the upon the subject. event being now approaching, I venture Preparations were made by the Sheriff to call attention to it, in the hope that it for the execution and the scaffold was may have some effect in fixing locations erected on Airy street just behind the in our local history, presuming that X .prison, but being in view of the house in have for some years been a grandfather, which resided Col. Craig, an old revolu¬ and remembering that what I know of the tionary soldier, he, on the morning of case was acquired in my early childhood the execution, cut down the scaffold and from my paternal grandmother. Sitting had it hauled (my grandmother said by a on her lap she told me the story, as I re¬ pair of oxen out the Swedesford road) to a member it now. John Brown was a dis¬ point on what is now Elm street near the ' reputable white man, already convicted corner of Willow street. In my boyhood and pardoned at least once for the crime days there was a large and handsome tulip of burglary, which then carried with it the poplar tree standing there, and she said punishment of death. that was close to the scaffold. The Sher¬ The charge for which he suffered death iff and his deputies mounted their horses was that of burglary; and, as I remember, and started to Philadelphia to lay the he acquired somebody’s horse as a part of matter before the Council, but better the burglarious enterprise. Having been counsel finally prevailed, and they return¬ found in the possession of the horse, he ed in time enough to carry out the war¬ was arrested and committed to the Nor¬ rant within the hours prescribed. Nearly ristown jail, which, I believe, was the eighty years passed by before there was structure we remember in early years as again a legal execution in our county, occupying the place on which stands our when Haddop met his fate in the north present court house.and bounded by Penn corner of the Prison yard; and since then street, the Court House altey, Swede and Curley and Wilson have been hung in the Airy streets and the property of John prison corridor. The persons named in Dykes, now the Preston property—a terror¬ 'i . the notes of the Brown case were promi¬ izing two-storied stone plastered building, nent people, and their progeny are still which I passed daily on my way to school, S among us. The Sheriff, Francis Swaine, on Church above Airy street. At or just in 1814 became the first president of the before the commission of the crime and Bank of Montgomery county, and having the trial of the case, the General Assembly removed from the Trappe to Norristown of Pennsylvania had revised the penal was made the first President Jf , the old code and changed the penalty for burg-1 Norristown Fire Company. Col. Craig lary and many other crimes from death was the tenant of the University of Penn¬ to imprisonment at labor, and it appears sylvania, and farmed the old Norriton that some latitude was given to the per¬ farm which, covered, I think, the territory sons charged with crime, inasmuch as from Mogees to Stony Creek, and from the they were permitted to plead and be tried Schuylkill to Elm street, and my impres- under either the old or the new code. 7* 7

sion is that he resided in the old stone the penal laws of~Elns State, and that house on Swede street that was after¬ against the earnest recommendations of wards occupied by George W. Potts, and the court to do so, he obstinately refused, upon the site of the house now occupied and insisted for the sentence under the by Hon. Charles H. Stinson. Jonathan former laws being pronounced against Roberts was afterwards a United States him, which was at length passed. Senator from Pennsylvania; Wm. Moore e conceive it proper to inform Coun¬ Smith was, I think, afterwards a trustee cil that the Petitioner is an old Offender, and was pardoned in the year 1785 for a of the University of Pennsylvania, and the Burglary, in order that they may the bet¬ Bairds and Pughs are followed by de¬ ter be enabled to determine upon the scendants still among us. Recent histor¬ length of time he ought to labour for the ical publications have thrown some light I Public on condition of a Pardon, to which upon the locations in the town, and espec¬ I indulgence we have no particular objec¬ ially that of a farm house somewhere be¬ tions. tween Markley, Barbadoes, Egypt and THO. M’KEAN, Penn streets, but from the facts of the GEO. BRYAN. j Philadelphia, April 5th, 1788. Brown case it seems that that could not His Excellency the President & the have been in 1788 the farm house of the Hon’ble Supreme Executive Council of Norriton farm, as from that point the Pennsylvania” scaffold on Airy street would hardly have iirF tt T-i , mnu £ U, lloo. been visible. The river Schuylkill and lo His Excellency Stony creek have seen some changes in the Esq r, governor of the State of Pennsyl¬ vania and the Honorable Council- the I Jf* fentury- The turnpike, now Egypt Humble Petition of John Brown Lan¬ tree,, seems to have crossed Stony creek guishing Prisoner Confined in this Jeil j CQC3lderably northeast of the present under Sentence of Death. Your Poor Pe¬ : dge,Jand Probably crossed the breast of titioner Labours under the most painful the old dam which was about opposite Confindment, Distatdue of friends but God and your Honors, your Poor Petitioner | P£Dn stj'eet, and furnished the water by a Humbly Shewreth, that During his Trial race running down where Markley street haying No body to speak in his Behalf’ ifo°oTof%an Council receives some said John Brown on Saturday, the twelfth inroimation from the Judges " day of this month, between the hours of ten ‘‘Judges of Supreme _ Court' to Council and two of the clock of the same day at the 1788.” usual place of execution.” ‘‘Wo- the subscribers, do humbly certify Saturday, April 12th, 1788. that the within petitioner, John Brown’ “Council being informed that the Sheriff of the county of Montgomery has been op- was tried betore us, that he had counsel fr°nm n ex®cution of the warrant issued assigned him in his challenges and to %BToav,rd °n the seventh instant, in make his defense, and upon fair hearing the case of John Brown, and the time allow- was convicted by an impartial Jury on ev? I ed in the said warrant being in the onininn idence entirely satisfactory to us- that be ! of Council too short-thereupon opinlon was informed, that instead of the’sentence re,d’t Tbat a warrant under the less seal of the state be now issued, for extending the of death, he was entitled to crave the nun time of the execution of the sentence or the ishment inflicted for such an offense hv court upon the said John Brown until six the Act of Assembly for the amendment of o clock in the evening of this day, which warrant the Sheriff of the said county is county, it- appears that r am charged wit. I commanded to execute at his peril, and if opposing the execution of a criminal by tha 1 further opposition be given that he call in name of John Brown, on Saturday, the 1-thV the aid of the good people of the county of April last. I cannot find words to ex-\ aforesaid.” press my astonishment of the representation “Francis Swaine (Sbff.) to Pres. Muhlenberg of the business; nor did I think it possible 1788.” that the Sheriff could ever have attempted Montgomery Co., April 19th, 1788. to state it as he has, or that he could ever “Sir, wish to hear more of his conduct in that af¬ Being informed that my conduct previous fair And permit me to assure your Excel¬ to the Execution of John Brown, has been lency and the Honorable Council that my misrepresented, and conceiving it to be my feelings on this ocoasion cannot ;be de¬ duty to lay a state of facts before the Hon¬ scribed, and I do most solemnly declare upon orable the Supreme Executive Council, I beg Honor, that I never had the most distant idea leave to address these lines to you, and to I of anything of the kind, nor can I think that give a true statement of the matter, and there is any member of your Honorable which a number of respectable witnesses can Body with whom I have the honor of ac¬ testify When the warrant was delivered to quaintance, that ever gave Credit to it. ; me on Tuesday the 9th instant, I immediate¬ Can it he nossible that a Man who has ly proceeded to Norristown jail, and on Wed¬ i served you faithfully from the commence¬ nesday morning communicated the same to ment of the late war to the end of it, in the unfortunate criminal, and then con- oilier to establish the present government—a I suited a number of the Inhabitants, among man that has gone forth on every occasion | the rest Doctor Shannon, Mr. Lawrence, Mr. to support the Laws of his Country—I say Pugh, etc., which was the most eligible spot can it possible to suppose him capable 01 to erect the gallows; on which the last men¬ such an act? Let me assure your Excellency tioned gentleman said he thought the best It was not the case; and let me hope your place was on a cross street, near a lot of Col. Honorable Body will pardon me in saving Craig’s; I reply’d I did not wish to offend Col. that there is scarcely one word of truth in Craig by erecting a gallows so near his lot, what he calls a state of facts; and I flatter but would rather get as near the back of the myself the certificate which I forward with jail as possible; accordingly, we fix’d the this, together with my own statement of the spot nearly behind the jail on a public street; matter, will place my character in a differ¬ the next day my Deputy came to my house j ent point of light from that which the Sheriff and informed me that Col. Craig was very , wished to place me in. And permit me to much irritated that I should attempt to ereot add that I feel great pain in being brought a gallows on any of the streets, that it shoujd forward before your Honorable Body m a not be erected on any of them, nor any part dispute with a man that the records on your of the plantation, and swore as soon as a files contain charges against, and charges gallows was ereoted he would cut it down. I that a jury of twelve respectable characters immediately went to Norristown to know decided upon, which decision was handed what was best to be done, and consulted sev¬ eral of the people, informing them at the him with every mark of infamy. “I have the Honor to be with every senti¬ same time, that it was entirely immaterial ■ ment of esteem and resmect Your Excel¬ -to me where the gallows was erected. Mr. lency’s Most Obed’t and Most Hbl. Ser- Jonathan Roberts, one of the Commission¬ ers for Public Buildings, said he thought the Vallt’ THOMAS CRAIG. burying ground a proper place; but which was' as much in view of the towD as any “Directed. _ other spot; this was ienced in by Col. To his Excellency Benjamin Franklin, Es¬ Craig. He there mentioned the public land¬ quire, President of the Honorable the Su¬ ing on Schuylkill, but that was fenced in preme Executive Council of the State of also. He then went to Col. Craig, but nothing Pennsylvania.” T . „ was done; he went a second time and re¬ “Statement of Wm. Moore Smith—John turned and inform’d me I should walk with Brown, 1788. On Thursday preceding the Saturday ap¬ him to view a spot on Stony creek, near the j bridge, that he thought Col. Craig would pointed for the Execution of John Brown, I have no objections to that place; I imme¬ returned to my home at Norristown fiom diately went with him accompany’d by Mr. Smith, Mr. Baird and the Clergymen, who at¬ ^I^was informed that the Sheriff had fixed tended the Criminal. When we came to Col. on Airy street as the place of Execution, Every person with whom I bad any con¬ Craig’s house I saluted him in a friendly i, manner, conscious that I had given him no i versation on the subject, seemed dissatisfied offence, and intended to speak with him on ' at the conduct of the Sheriff. His Deputj the subject, but before I had uttered three had been sent up to the Trap, where the Sher¬ words, he got into a most violent passion, iff lives, with some message on the subject. ■which burst forth in a torrent of abuse. The In the afternoon the Deputy returned He company, amazed, I presume, at his con¬ said he had delivered a message to the Sher¬ duct, broke up and the place was left unex¬ iff to the following purpose, That the amined; the day being nearly spent and no streets of the town ought not to be made place fix’d upon, I directed the Jailer to have i the place of a capital Execution and that the gallows erected near the Jail Wall, which the Trustees of the University had engaged, is public grouncint was accordingly erected at the time the town was laid out, to grant there in the night, and everything in readi¬ lots for any public purpose when called upon ness, but on Saturday morning about 8 and that there was full time enough for the o’clock, to my great astonishment, Col. Craig Sheriff to apply.” 4

" I - ; tion wus given to him. If'was agreed tffSn j !?e he had no objection "to any 6pot, pro- i to walk to the point of Stony Creek to view { ? ‘1 ?Ut 0f °»e sl^t of theinhabi- truits of the town and with the consent of! the spot. As we came down as far as Col. Craig’s door, the Sheriff went up to speak the trustees of the university; I told the to Ool. Craig—Col. Craig desired him to be I ^ol, 1 doubted the time being too short for 1 suoh an Application, he insisted upon its be- gone as he chose to have no Conversation with him; On the Sheriff asking his reason ! i££td0nie\,?nK himself that such con- he received for answer "that he was an im¬ irnlt m:lght,be obtained at least from those pertinent Scoundrell”—which was the only ® .wJl° .had -‘be management of the farm, and that the Sheriff had timely notice harsh term he used. The Sheriff went away to the Tavern. I had no further conversa¬ for making such application; I then return¬ ed to the Sheriff and informtd him how mat- tion on the subject at that time, but con¬ cluded he would have the Gallows erected at tnZSh?°.0d an<7 gave ll as my opinion that he the mouth of Stony Creek. The next morning w n application to the trustees, but Shewed no disposition for complying the Gallows was discovered at the side of the he principal street of the town, between the rJ£Sc,prop?,sed t0 tbe Sherlff a strip of'land over Stony Creek, adjoining Schuylkill which Court house and Goal, in the full view of most of the houses erected in the town. Col. panypanf ofofs S. Baird and W. a!ldM. Smith, goin~°om- Craig went up and cut it down. As soon as he came back, he requested me to find the fan ^£en 1 ,eft Noi’ristown, fully sat- Sheriff and inform him that he might have l?at the .a^orcs’d place would be the his Gallows taken to any part of the farm rtf WW ^edition; this being the substance Of what passed between the Sheriff and Col. and no opposition should be made but that f” as far as memory serves me he was not to Insult- the Inhabitants by at tnis tirne. erecting it at their Doors. *PKjitneS\iWherePf 1 have hereunto Sub- I found that the Sheriff and his Deputy had spnbed my Name. « set off on horseback to the City. I ordered my horse and instantly followed, and over¬ "JONATHAN ROBERTS.’’ took them about three miles from Norris¬ II y , town. I desired the Sheriff would come back that he should have every assistance, that the frame of his Gallows was removed to an unexceptionable spot, and qould soon be put up. He refused to come back. I then requested he would send back his Deputy wbo might direct the Overseer of the Con¬ victs to put up the frame on the spot to which it was removed—for the Sheriff, I understood had left orders that no person under his Di¬ rections should lend the least assistance He would not suffer his Deputy to go back I observed to him that he was making bad worse, and would certainly ruin himself for If his conduct was improper and insult¬ ing to the inhabitants of Norristown he would acquire many Enemies and very little Credit—but if on the other hand, he had the right to erect the Gallows at whatever Door he pleased, a Sheriff with the Power of the A '. n l the name of Davis tify the neglect of his Duty, because opposed by an Individual. After some time he prom¬ .vus / ’ V. -Cl f? Pugh, in presence of the Sheriff, that he and l would wait upon the Col., and Endeavnr- Rectify- any misfake betw^ff-tfiem to which the Sheriff fully assented to, and said he was sorry that any misunderstanding i or uneasiness should have happened between him and the Col. or other Inhabitants on the occasion, Pugh and I accordingly waited upon : FAMOUS CUP the Co!, apd Informed him of our Bus! i ness, he told us it was true he had forbid the Erection of the Gallows In the proposed i place that he thought It as Great an ft suit 1 DF VALLEY FORGE as could be offered to the feelings 0f anv people If Done in the place proposed- I then ! asked the Col, where would be a proper place I ontents QueiffeliJfl the Lins oi Washington. i. Patent^ from William Penn to Abraham Rev. Maxwell Rowland is the owner of Pratt for 86 acres of land in Dublin town¬ a china drinking cup from which Washing¬ ship, county of Philadelphia. It is dated ton drank during the time he was en¬ October 28th, 1701. The signatures of camped with hist army at Valley Forge. Penn’s Commissioners, made on parch¬ The cup is a very handsome vessel and ment, are as clear and distinct as the day will hold about a pint and a half. It was they were written, although nearly two bequeathed to Mr. Rowland about fifty centuries have elapsed. years ago by Miss Martha Miller, who died A pewter spoon of antique design, dug up at Washington’s headquarters, Vallej about that time in Philadelphia, aged 88 years. The cup is embossed with roses Forge, In 1860. Copies of newspapers: “Herald of Lib-, and violets in their natural colors and it erty” Oct. 21, 1799, published at Washing¬ also contains a highly colored portrait of ton, Pa., by John Israel; Norristown “Her¬ a British officer with red coat, ruffled ald,” May 8th, 1816; “Lancaster Intelli¬ sleeves and cocked hat. The cup was smuggled into America before the Revo¬ gencer,” March 15th, 1803; . “Poulson’s lution from England by Miss Miller’s American Daily Advertiser,” Philadelphia, brother, who was a sea faring man. Dec. 22, 1801. The cup was kept on the mantle piece Mr. and Mrs. Philip E. L. Munyan have of the Miller home near Valley Forge as donated “History of the United States,” in an ornament, and it was greatly admired two folio volumes, by John Howard Hin¬ by the neighbors. One day Washington and a member of his staff stopped at the ton, A. M., published in 1846. Miller home and asked for a drink of Dr. Ellwood M. Corson has handed to water from the well. The Millers felt the Librarian “Works of Josephus,” ih honored at the visit of their distinguished one large volume, which belonged origin¬ guests, and the China cup ,was taken from ally to John and H. E. Gross. The vol¬ the mantlepiece and handed to the great ume was left at Dr. Corson's office one day general who drank freely from it, for the when he was out. Within it was a card day was warm and he and his aid were bearing this inscription: thirsty. . , , After that the cup was highly treasur¬ “Compliments of A. de Figaniere, to Dr. ed by the Miller family and they looked Corson, to whom I was requested to pre¬ upon it as their most valuable heir-loom. sent this volume, so that he might give • — w -*—** - it to the Montgomery County Historical Society, from the heirs of the original owners. Third-mo. 16, 1898.” Dr. George W. Holstein has donated a number of original documents of great From, value from the standpoint of local history. They include the following: Commission of George W. Holstein, fa¬ ther of Dr. Holstein, as cornet of a troop of light horse, First Brigade, Second Di¬ vision, Bucks and Montgomery, March 31, DatepiaJ4 2LA0t. 18°L Commission of George W. Holstein, ad Second Lieutenant of the Second troop of Horse, dated August 8, 1807. ' - ‘r re... 1 Another Commission of George W. Hol¬ stein as First Lieutenant of the troop of THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY horse attached to the Fifty-first Regiment of Pennsylvania militia, August 3, 1811. Another as Captain of the Second troop Many Important Acquisitions to of cavalry attached to Ninety-second Reg¬ iment, August 1, 1814. Its Collections. Another as Captain of the Federal Re- mihlipon Trnnn of AUKUflt

Valuable Donations Received From Another as Lieutenant Colonel of the* Various Sources—Local History Day Second Battalion of Volunteer Militia, Sec¬ ond Brigade, September 19, 1822. in the Schools. Two of these commissions of Col. George W. Holstein bear the neat autograph of The library and museum of the Mont¬ Governor Thomas McKean, two others gomery County Historical Society have le bear the hold dashing signature of Gov¬ cently been enlarged by a number o va. . ernor Simon Snyder, and the remaining ; uable contributions. Among them are the two that of Governor Joseph Hlester. Dr. Holstein presents also a muster roll . following d9nated by Miss A. L. Ralston of the Volunteer Company of Cavalry com¬ Original Commission of Richard manded by Captain Holstein, containing i hs Secretary and Clerk of the ou°;cl many names well known In Norristown, the Province of Pennsylvania, by and vicinity, three quarters of a century nor Hamilton, dated Nov. 24, 1748 It h ago. This was the Company known as the j the great seal of the province attached t Federal Republican Cavalry. Also the following original invitation to it. MUM lil. ^ participate in the receptionto General La- T Jv

when he visited'‘Philadelphia‘in io-4, directed to Colonel George W Hoi- stein and including also Col. William A LANDMARK TORN SWAY JwcV6n C+° • BT1UrL

SirB. Phila., 27 Aug., 1824. Onr |)hane9vllle Correspondent Sends In compliance with a resolution of the mil- an IntePestlnc Write-Up of an Old LifLTm t f for the reception of General Lafayette, and my own feelings, I resDect- Honae Bnllfc Before the Revo¬ fully invite the Volunteers of the county of lutionary War-Now Removed. Montgomery to join a parade of the Volun- f^e fsf Division Penna.. in honor of that distinguished patriot and friend of free¬ | . old house where Mrs. Betsy dom, Gen. Lafayette, and for the purpose of ut was born in was torn down last n^Phn^i itbh- vet®ran General into the city ?I PhilaJclphia. Due notice will be given in isday. It was a log- house, 18 by 24 andInd S?of btheth° Sdaynnts of, oescort.f the «me of his arrival feet, one story high and was built in a Your acceptance of our invitation will be stubble field over a hundred years ago. esteemed a favor to myself and the gentle- t men under my command. gentle v A new frame house, 22 by 30 feet, will I!: 18 inten<3ed to have a division narade ) take its place. The site is only about each officer present will have the command / his rank and seniority entitles him to ISd / one-fourth mile west of Mrs. Betsy you may rest assured, gentlemen, t will be / Trout s. present home. She moved I from this place to her present home about 60 years ago. fTom tle6 countyrySatiSfaCt°ry l° their fri“^ I have the honor to be with great resDeet Three Germans by the name of Min- your most obedient s respect inger emigrated from Germany in the ROBERT PATTERSON, eighteenth century One of them took „ . Brigadier General And Senior Officer of Volunteers up his abode in Bucks county, one in Col. George W. Holstein, Col. Wm. Powel Chester county, and the other, whose Col. - Burke, Major Wm Mathews* name was Yost, in Earl township, Captain P. S. Markley, Lieut. R. B. Jones' Committee of Montgomery County. ’ Berks county. The farm where he Those commissions which were issued settled is situated on the road leading prior to 1812 are dated at Lancaster, then from Shanesville to Boyertown, and is the capital of the State. In sending these at present owned by Isaac Moyer. documents as a gift to the Society Dr He had two sons by the name of Holstein mentions the proposition to un¬ Fred, and George. Fred, remained on veil a monument to Lafayette at the Paris the old homestead and George moved Exposition in 1900, sayingj on the farm that is now owned by “It seems to me that the children of this county would be especially interested in John Kuser. Later he built this old the undertaking, as General Lafayette is so house. George and his brother, Fred, closely identified with much that occurred did the^vork. They were their own ' oieuteionUrmS the Peri°d °f the American Rev- carpenters and masons. They were! was the friend and confidant of Gen quietly working at their little home! Washington while at Valley Forge Hll when the Revolutionary war was courage and military zeal gave inspiration raging, and the “red coats’’ were de¬ stroying property in other parts of the country. After George had finished C0.G v,1? oaca3iori of his reception in Phil¬ his house he moved into it and after¬ adelphia, In the Autumn of 1824. wards a daughter was born to them, I enclose an invitation extended to them who was to live a century afterwards ' by General Robert Patterson, the officer in command, which I recently found among my and who is the oldest woman in Berks father s papers.” s my county. About sixty years ago Isaac A long step In advance has been gained prumheller bought the property and in the establishment of Local History day he and his wife lived there until his m the public school of the county Valley death. Then it was sold to John Forge Day, Monday, December 19, being Ivusei about twelve years ago. Two the anniversary fixed upon and approved and a half years ago the widow of Mr. byHiSt0n.Cal SocietY and the school Drumheiler, who is now 82 years of a^,b^rB^es’ „ A committee on program will be named soon, in order that suitabla age, longed very much to move into exercises may be held her old house, 60 Mr. Kuser gave her a welcome home again in her old abole. She moved a second time to her old From, home with joy, but when she had to move again when it was torn down, she went in great sorrow. She now moved to Pricetown, and after she was gone a short distance she looked back to take the last glance at her resi¬ dence where she and her husband Dat ■<: yL <• f / '/ff spent many thousand days in happi¬ ness. But now the moment had ar¬ rived when she had to part with her house forever % I during part of the colonial perioc was th£ Emlen plantation. Previous to their ownership it was held by the Scull family. These were all distinguished From, 'and wealthy people, and the Ernlens were Philadelphia merchants. The Sculls held a large tract, in White- marsh also. A brief of title says that in 1691 William Penn granted 500 acres to Henry Patrick, whom the sheriff sold ;out the same year to John King. Date,' The latter immediately conveyed the land to Nicholas Scull. The first Nich¬ olas Scull made his will in 1703,bequeath¬ ing his lands to his six sons after the death of his widow, Mary. Of these LOCAL HISTORY. sons Nicholas was the eldest, and who obtained releases from his brothers for the Farm of Charles X. Aiman—The Em- part of the property. In 1717 the heirs len Plantation, Washington’s Headquar¬ of the first Nicholas Scull sold to Ed¬ ters—The Scull Family-Interesting His- ward Farmar a house and 200 acres, and

torlcal Sketch from E. M. the latter was the owner _ until 1740, when he sold to Jacob Colliday. This historic property is situated In 1746 George Emlen bought of Col¬ )along the Bandy Run,Hi 'half '" a mile east¬ liday for £625. The price paid indicat¬ ward of Camp Hill station. The ed improvements of some value. The situation is romantic. The pretty brook names of the sons of the first Nicholas flows through the meadow in front. ^ A Scull were Nicholas, Jaspar, John I thriving’orchard covers the field west- James and Joseph. We find mention of (ward of the house. In the rear rises the Emlen family as owners of real estate steep, forest-crowned hills. The dwell - 'in Philadelphia in 1727, and that the ]ing is of stone, a relic of _ the grandeur 'father of George Emlen also bore the of the olden time, v^hen it was consid¬ Isame name. ered one of the best in Montgomery The second George Emlen was quite a county. It is very long, extending for .wealthy man. He owned many proper¬ 83 feet from east to west, ana evidently ties in*Philadelphia, as well as in Mont¬ built in at least two portions. Ine gomery county. His will v>ras made in eastern end is the oldest, very substan¬ 1772. His property was left to his wife, tially built, and supposed to have been Ann, during life time, and then to his erected by the Sculls, or by Edward five sons, George, Samuel, James, Caleb iFarmar. The major part of the house land Joseph. The latter died m 1/84. 1 was built by George Emlen probably (James was a miller and lived in Chester | soon after liis purchase in 1746. I here county. The three others were city I are no date stones on the house. A wmg merchants. Besides the 200 acres bought formerly extended from the west cor¬ of Colliday, George Emlen had bought ner, but which was demolished by the 27 acres in 1746 of Nicholas Scull, lying 'WS& ; present proprietor. Formerly a 1ne in Upper Dublin. He owned also a I driveway came in from the west to the limekiln in Springfield and another tract porch at that end of the house. That in Upper Dublin" of 40 acres, bought of “ was obliterated when Mr. Annan planted John Elliot in 1757. In 1790 the other the present orchard. The old stone uam heirs of George Emlen sold to then- stood near the present one, which was brother, Caleb Emlen. the old home¬ erected in 1884. The dwelling is just stead. The latter had not long to live, within Upper Dublin township, but a for in 1796 his will was made, convey¬ small part of the farm is m Springfield. ing to his wife, Mary. The next con- ‘ Curiously enough, the township line •veyance was in 1811 from Mary Emlen masses between the house and the spring- to Isaac Wampole, who the next year |bouse. The old spring-house was a tew sold to John Stuckert for 810,000. The yards away, but in Upper Dublin. The will of Stuckert was made m 1820, or¬ west room, now the parlor, appears dering sale of his estate. In 1829 Ins '.yen yet, when modern houses are so widow, Susanna, then of Germantown, itucIi ' larger than the olden ^ ones, as his administrator sold to John p. racious and commodious. • rt was m Fry 161 acres. Fry came to financial iis room that General Washington per grief in 1832, making an assignment to brined official business, and it was in Paul Jones. In 1833 Jones sold to John his room that a conclave of officers sat Fitzwater, a limei)urner, the farm, 1} nig o consider the case of General Anthony partly in Upper Dublin and partly m Wayne, in regard .to the massacre at Springfield. The last transfer was made >aoli. These premises were the head in 1858 from the administrators of John quarters of Washington from Oct. 20 Fitzwater to Charles T. Aiman, convey- :o Dec. 4, 1777, when the army left on ing 92 acres, hounded by lands ol Euk- ts march to Valley Forge. ens Paxson, Daniel Stout, Jonathan This is one of the ancient homestead.. Stout, Abram D. Lukens, George Stout if the township. In early times and Ui' '.W * ■

I,- I" A hams, farm, and The establishment was moSelled upon the Dreshertovi road. As an illustra¬ the monastery of the Hunkers, or Seventh tion of the immense increase of prices Hay Baptist-!, at Ephrata, which had been of land in this vicinity we may compare founded in '732-33 by Conrad Beissel. It the $9341 paid in 1858 with the sums ceased to be used entirely in March, 1739. lately paid for properties in that vicin¬ Thirteen years afterward Joseph Gorgas ity. Strange to say, in Beag’s history bought ground on the Wissahiekon, where he erected a three-story stone hoiise, of Montgomery county there is no men- which is mow called the monastery. Ha , tion of the Emlens as landholders.in the lived there until 1761. It ;is a matter of i: lists of 1776, in either Springfield or tradition, but by no means of proof, that Upper Dublin townships. Gorgas and others of the Seventh Day Charles T. Aiman, the late owner, Baptists resided at this house for pur¬ died Feb. 6, 1898, in his 77th year. poses of seclusion and religious medita¬ Formerly he had been a butcher by tion. The attire of the monks was like occupation. He had been twice married. that of the Catholic Capuchins, or White His children were Charies K., of Glen- Friars. There was a place near the Mon¬ astery, below- the country bridge, where side; Jacob; Harry, of Jenkintown; the monks administered the rites of bap¬ George, residing on'the farm; Lincoln, tism. of (Ireland ; Ellen and Sarah Ann, resid¬ Watson’s Annals state that if the house ing on the homestead. The estate is should have been built as early as 1708, shortly to be sold. when Kelpius died, it may have been con¬ The stay of the American army was structed by the forty students from Ger¬ during the weeks succeeding the battle many, but if it was built by Joseph Gor¬ of^Germantown, and in the later fall of ges, a Tunker (or Dunker) Baptist, who intended it as a branch of the brotherhood 1777, which was quite a depressing per- i established at Ephrata, near Lancaster, iod for the struggling cause of American ! he must have built it before the year 1745, independence. The neighboring heights when Conrad Matthias, the last of the on the northwest derive the name Camp Ridge Hermits, died. It is mentioned in Hill from being the site of the encamp¬ the “Chronica Ephrata” that there was a ment of the troops during that period. brotherly affinity between the Ridge Her¬ From here the army marched shortly mits and those at Ephrata. afterwards to the more secure quarters Francis Howard Williams claims that at Valley Forge, to undergo the hard¬ the community at Ephrata was organized ships and privations that have made the and buildings erected there subsequent to that at Wissahiekon, and states that it is stay there memorable in American his¬ tory. through (Conrad) Matthias (who carried forward the work begun by Kelpius) and Conrad Beissel (who later became assoc- iated with Matthias) that we may claim a continuous existence for the society of th<5 ‘Woman of the Wilderness’ and its sur¬ vival in the Ephrata community. The building known as the Monastery may ba regarded as the nexus between the cav-| erns of Kelpius and the first conventional building at Ephrata. The latter was not erected until 1736, but long before that date the living principle of the community was germinating in the bosom of the en¬ Dcite{ tire society. * * * Beissel in founding 2.. an ‘Order of the Solitary’ was not in sym-- pathy with many of the practical ideas of the Dunkers; he was from the first a Pietist, and through the medium of th$ --i-—,y sect of the Seventh Day Baptists carried forward the mission of Kelpius. Out o( THE OLD JOHASTEEY. this tendency a mysticism and profound introversion, which controlled the thought of Beissel, sprang the visible Ephrata A on the Wissahiekon With community. W1 Interesting History, Which Has The monastery building is a three-and- Passed Into the Custody of the Paris a-balf strjry ancient stone building of ob¬ Commissioners. long shape and is situated about a mile above the Rittenhouse street entrance to The old monastery building on the East the Park drive, and command* an excel¬ lent view from the drive. side of the Wissahiekon, above Kitchen's The records of the Recorder of Deeds" lane, has passed into the possession of office in the City Hall, Philadelphia, so the commissioners of Fairmount Park. It far as can be learned, give no account of Is supposed to have been erected In the the ownership of the property before Jo¬ sarly part of the last century, although seph Gorgas became possessor of it. Af¬ the e^act date is unknown. It succeeded ter Joseph Gorgas went to Ephrata the one whien was erected by Alexander Mock premises, with a farm of about seventy John Relssman and Harry Hoecker, Dunk- acres and a grist mill at the foot of the ers, wno belonged to the church at Beb- hill, fell to his son, John Gorgas, and was sold to Edward Mildner June 8, 1751; CaIIed Beggarstown, Milner sold it to Peter Care, or Case, oii established in the northern part of Ger¬ March 17, 1775. Caro, or Case sold it to mantown in 1782. 78 r . m;

John IJvezey dm iary 19, 1808, was fine of the leaders of the party of subsequently was | pwi)ed by a man named Welshmen who settled in this country Longstreth, who Bade the grist miil into about Gwynedd 200 years ago, will hold a paper mill. Onj Vugust 10, 1832, Joshua Garsed & Co., manufacturers of flax; a family reunion in the latter part of I thread, twine, etc., purchased the prop¬ May. immediately after the bicentennial erty. Mr. Garsed resided in the house, celebration of the township of Gwynedd. and, it is said, closed up majny of the win-* The defendants, direct and collateral, 1 dows. In 1800, it is said, the house ha

motto “ Blaed Rhiida Ar \ Blaen them into three, to group these three “ The lied Wolf to the Front.” Rhiriel Flaidd himself traced his line into one. to Gynedda Waldig, a native chieftain of These three yards are as interesting and Cumherland, who, according to the worthy of as much reference and detail Triads, lived in the fourth century, was as any likely that we have given, but one of the first to embrace Christianity, and who devoted much land to the cycles of time have made such changes, Christian missionaries. Through other generations have gone, others are on the lines Edward Foulke claimed descent of stage of life, endeavoring to meet the great the ancient priuces of Wales as far back duties that confront them, and in a meas¬ as Roderick the Great, in thq, ninth een- tury, whose descendants, Foulke’s an¬ ure, “ forgetting those things which are cestors, married into the royal family of behind, and reaching forth unto those England. In this way he claimed, on things that are before,” that it is that what is regarded as good ground, descent graveyards, like many other matters, get from Eleanor of Castile, daughter of Ferdinand III ; Matilda, daughter of neglected, overlooked, etc. For, on we Malcolm III of Scotland ; King John, of j go, mingling with the busy, jostling England, and the courts of Valois and J throng. And since these interments in Vermandois. Descendants of Edward and Eleanor | these old yards, what time has passed Foulke, Welsh emigrants, who settled at away, and what great events have hap¬ Gwynedd 200 years ago, met recently at pened ! And even as we write 0, inexor¬ 921 Arch street, Philadelphia, to plan the able Time ! thou art dashing on as if im¬ bicentennial celebration of that event. The celebration will be held at Gwynedd, patient of the awful catastrophe by which on Monday, May 90th, the day preced¬ thou art predestined to endless ruin. ing the bicentennial of Gwynedd town¬ Nothing can stay thee, Time, in this mad ship. Addresses will be made, papers career, or bribe thee for a moment’s re¬ read, and an exhibition of MSS, coats of arms, pedigrees, portraits, silhouetts, spite. We seem to be on an enchanted marriage certificates and aucestral furni¬ island, projected between the eternal was, ture will be held. > and the everlasting to be. A The Antes graveyard is in the north¬ western corner of the township. There are but three graves visible, with head and foot stones, but one grave has a stone From,.. . with simply “ 1749.” We give the in¬ 0:V(!/i/'d.o In scriptions on the others, which are in Ger¬ man, but herewith are translated. The place is enclosed, has an old post and rail fence, and has a deserted look, I Itnjlfuui f P>' l'uhen in Gott Die Gebeine des gewesenen Vallentin ScheJkop, . . ''unde gebohren den 9 ten tag Julv im jahr unseres Herren, 1749, verchlichte sicb rmt V eronica ernes gebohren Mever zeugte 8 kinder namlich : 3 sohne and 5 tochter, und starb auf den 8ten October Nach dem er sein alter auf 73 iahr 2 monathe und 22 tage gebrackt hatte. I J 19 eADT If chent®xt, war p9a]m 90, verse - - f 12. Lehre uns bedenken das wir sterben r mussen auf das wir klug werden.” .br* translation. Here rests in God Valentine Schelkop. Date, . He was born the 9th day of July, in the year of our Lord 1749. He got married

to Veronica Meyer, begat 8 children, 3 ‘ " ^ “ “ " * * * * eons and 5 daughters, and died on the 8th A Few Facts of Local History. of October, 1822, aged 73 years, 2 months Mr. Thomas. Williams was kindguougl and 22 „

Tlie pupils came from Bristol, Springfield and Cheltenham townships. The school W AGES SELLER Fi MILL* house was in use until 1784 ; it was 20 feet Information Concerning: the Wagen- I high and 16 feet wide; there was an seA> Herr, Haag:, Swlnehart, Walter, j opening in the wall, about two feet square, Royer, King and Schrack Branches. 1 and visitors often wondered what such a hole could be used for and they were told Kliddleburgh, Pa., March 14, 1898: Edi- I that this hole was to hold a log. The tor Herald’’—In my researches concern¬ ing the history of one of the pioneer fami¬ I boys were sent out in the woods to get a lies of Montgomery county, I am con¬ I log> which they used to slip in this hole; strained, with your permission, to use the one end being iu the fire which was just columns of the “Herald” to clear up some inside of this hole, and when the end was points now shrouded in mystery. burnt off they would slide the log in Christopher Wagenseil paid quit rent on 150 acres of land in Hanover township further and let more burn, then push it prior to 1734. His last will and testament in again and so on, this saved the trouble on file in Philadelphia, probated October, of splitting the wood and putting it on 1762, names his wife, Anna Christina, only son John, eldest daughter Ann Mary the fire piece by piece. This school was married John Derr, and Elizabeth Cath¬ standing ten or twelve years ago. Cedar erine married David Haag. and cherry trees had already begun to In his will, Christopher bequeaths half grow within the space between the walls. of a tract of 101 acres to his only son John, and mentions that the other half had In 1784 the locality of the school was been sold to his son-in-law David Haag. changed to a place on the County Line} The Perkiomen creek was to be recognized near the Limekiln Pike. as the dividing line between David Haag’s The first free public school iu Chelten¬ purchase and John Wagenseil's legacy. John married Margaret Kornnetter, ham Township was built at Harmer Hill; daughter of Andrew Hornnetter, and they it is now called Audenreid school. had four sons and four daughters. Of the Mr. Williams told us about the first ride sons, the lineage has been traced, but he took on a railroad to the city. nothing is known of the families of John's daughters. The daughters of John and “I and mother started for the city in Margaret Wagenseller are: Catherine, themorning. We rode from Germantown born December 3, 1764, married Conrad to Philadelphia in the cars. I was about King and died in 1820. They had nine seven or eight years old. It was very children. Susanna, February 2, 1768, mar¬ ried Conrad Swineheart; Anna Maria, May slippery that morning and the tracks were 20, 1770, married Benjamin Royer, of Roy- I very wet and icy and the cars would not ersford, and Maria Margaretta, June 2, istay on the tracks; there was no ties under 1772, married Mathias Walters, of Phila¬ the rails and they would slip out of their delphia county. The writer would like to have a full list of the families of David places. When we got near Nicetown the Haag, John Derr (Dur), Conrad King, car jumped the track, the men put it on Conrad Swlnehart, Benjamin Royer and again and it got off the track about three Mathias Walters. It is said that John Derr times before we reached Philadelphia; it at one time owned the land where Penns- j burg now stands. took us three or four hours to get to the The examination of the old Pennsburg city. We walked home. church records, and Rev. Casper Stoever’s . “My brother and I used to go to the baptismal and marriage record and other city every year about Christmas time and records reveals several facts of import¬ ance. I give the data I have. Perhaps we used to sell rabbits which we caught; someone can supply the connecting links. we got a levy apiece for each rabbit. But From old Pennsburg church records: we never rode to the city, we always June 1, 1765, Matthias Walter was elect¬ ed elder. walked. Mabki, Rhoads in. Cheltenham John George, son of Mathias and Eliza¬ School Arews. beth Catherine Walter, born March 5, 1742, baptized June 4, 1742. Sponsors, George and Anna Margaretta Heilig. Maria Barbara, daughter of Mathias and Anna Maria Walter, born February 1, 1757, baptized March 6, 1757. Anna Margareta, daughter of Mathias and Anna Maria Walter, born May 2, 1758. a=^ Elizabeth Catherine, daughter of John ; and Anna Maria Derr, born November 11, 1760, baptized November 14, 1760. Spon¬ Date, X.L ...Ifrff; sors, David and Elizabeth Haag.

' s Fronv Casper Stoever’s record: Wr John George Haak (probably Haag or Hawk liow) and wife, Maria Susanna, RELICS OF WA born November 14, 1734. _ John Ueorge Haag, Jr., and wife, Anna An Exhibition at Beec' Margaret, Maria Barbara, Septem¬ Is Attracting Much ber 15, 1755. Sponsofs, Conrad Christ and Veterans and Others Maria Barbara Haag. Anna Catarina, born November 21, 1757. tribute to the Varle George Michael, born May 12, 1762. Collection. John Nicolaus Haag—John Nicolaus, born March 27, 1757. No more appropriate display for these John George, born July 9, 1758. days of war excitement could be ar¬ Maria Catarina, born September 13, 1763. ranged as a store attraction, than is to Married—-Feb. 1, 1731, Joseph Mayhew i be seen in one Of the bulk exhibition and Elizabeth Swinehardt. May 30, 1756, | windows at Beecher’s store. It is a John Nicolaus Haag and Anna Maria Red- I most interesting collection of war relics ebaugh. set in the midst of a tasteful arrange¬ From marriage record of New Hanover ment of the United States and Cuban Lutheran Church: flags. The contributors to the exhibit March 28, 1750—Ann Maria Haag mar¬ are principally local veterans of the ried Mathias Walter. civil War and they Were arranged for March 13, 1808—Andrew Hbhrnetter display by W. H. Ran, window decor¬ married Margaret Gotshall. ator at Beecher’s.. January 22, 1779—Catherine Honnetter Among the most noteworthy objects married Henry Schweinhard. From other records: to be seen are paper cartridges of the September 7, 1748—David and George kind used in the late war;‘cavalry re¬ Haag arrived. volver carried by Gen. “Phil” Kearney September 11, 1732, September 14, 1754— in the Mexican war; swords used by the Swineharts arrived. late M. Edgar Richards and Mark H. September 15,1749—Peter Lange arrived. Richards; a tin cup owned by Isaac August 28, 1733—Shreyack (Shrack) ar¬ Dennis, bearing the names of 23 en¬ rived. gagements in which it was carried; an (Note.—Jacob, son of John Wagenseller, old gun that was pulled from the At- married Martha Shrack.) Clantic Qftsan_by the late Lindley R. Catherine Walters died April 25, 1817, Beecher; Mexican sword shield of 1812; aged 56. gun captured from a rebel; Service Catherine Maria Walters died August haversack contributed by I. J. Decker; 18, 1787, 18 years, 19 days. Confederate shell taken from a mill Margaret Walters died September 1, dam after the battle of Gettysburg; 1839, aged 81 years, 10 months. bullets from Bloody Lane,” and “Great George Walters died July 13, 1846, aged Corn Field,” at Antietam,owned by Col. 83 years, 9 months. 'H. A. Shenton; pistol that was taken Some of the above dates may be for¬ from a rebel prisoner at Chaxicellors- eign to the writer’s purpose, but no doubt ville, and many other very interesting most of it will be available for the pur¬ things. Go take a look at them. rrr'nrrrv -tr’ pose intended—to get a complete list of thechildren of those mentioned above with dates of birth, marriage, etc. I have a list of the children of Conrad King but no dates. The writer has no information From■fib 'VJrFJjJS as to the time when Christopher (Stoeffel) Wagenseil arrived, nor who was his wife Anna Christina, or when or where they ... were born. Christopher was paying quit rent on 150 acres in Hanover township prior to 1734, hence he must have arrived previous to that time. The name is now Date, Cbfii * I -t i .w 1 spelled Wagenseller. Any information pertinent to the researches mentioned above will be gratefully received. GEORGE W. WAGENSELLER. THE LEIDIG BURYINGGROOND.

The Account of the Frederick Grave¬ yards of Last Week, Continued. From,.. | Henry Antes, the great preacher and pion^dL not only of Frederick township, Jr;.. where' the father and sop located in corn" .7.. ing to America, but. his (fame as a preach- Bate, llJJ.

mmm er and a man of strong force of character, extended quite to distant places, was a I an aere mare but ft is not'eiicfosed. Henry j Kiauss left a legacy of 5 pounds for the j man of considerable ab ility, and a great yaid. The wall, which is quite good, was biblical scholar, and Rev. Muhlenberg at put there in 1783. the old Trappe church was contemporan¬ This yard is as well cared for and seen eous with him and in these respects, and was a recognized leader among men. after, as any graveyard, likely, connected Their religion was a principal, not a j Wltb a church- Many that passed away formality, and a prototype of these men I *0Ilg a£°’ antl resting here, are not forgot¬ ten, as their graves indicate. A mammoth j in our time, was the Rev. Samuel Aaron, ' oak tree stands quite near the entrance, j of Norristown, who possessed an uncom¬ mon endowment of mind. on the outside, which seems to have a significance in being there. Great national differences were agita¬ ting our nation and menacing the na¬ This yard is called the “ Leidig Yard.” tional fabric, in his day, and Aaron j 0ne George Moore, an esteemed citizen though of a strong religious feeling, was of that neigborhood, owns, and his father before him, the property that extends and vehement in his denunciations of American includes the gravegrouud. slavery, and the temperance cause had in him a powerful and unswerving advocate. Passing about through the ground we Every age produces its people for the see the names on the head stones of Jos¬ I necessities of those periods. Moses ;and eph Bitting, Frederick Weiss, Heinrich | Paul formed the religious ages of the old Sassaman, Catharine Stetler, Benjamin t and new Dispensations ; David added the Sneider, George Michael, Michael Krebs Johannes Herger, Daniel Krauss, etc. poetic element, and John the reflective, I sentimental element. J Wm. E. Cobson. We get a Washington for the Revolu- j tion, and a Lincoln for our late, great na- j tional trouble ; and the war songs kept A pace, too, as the War of the Revolution From, ^ gave us “ Yankee Doodle,” the war of 1812 gave us the “ Star Spangled Banner,” a and the war of our late, great conflict, gave U3 “ Rally Around the Flag, Boys.” But Henry Antes was just as great in Date (lJ\< < (X dr/f ( his way, as the others were in their way. And a poet of a back period thus refers to him : “ He stood by the side of Whitefield, Sr And prayed in the German tongue, LOCAL HISTORY. When the clarion voice of the preacher / O’er the hills of Frederick rung. \ aluable Historical Sketch of Properties They knew not each other’s language, about Three Tuns and Maple Glen by F. Nor did they need it then ; M.—The Campman Farm—Former Tyson fej For the one cried, Hallelujah ! Property. And the other said, Amen 1 I This property lies on the Horsham The Leidig yard of which we will now border, adjoining the Butler pike and speak, is about-oqe mile south of the Antes half a mile northward from Three Tuns. i yard, and the manner of its location shows Plere is an old stone farmhouse, on a { a commendable and creditable spirit meadow bank, with dormer windows. The surface slopes gradually northeast | among the property holders there, at that towards the Neshaminy. This is one of ‘ period, which was over 130 years ago. the older homesteads in the township, The yard was taken from lour farms | a habitation known to have been there ; which came together at right angles, and j since previous to 1743. At that date a each owner of the farm gave 10,890 sq. farm of (>4 acres, having a house there- »on, was detached from the plantation ^ feet, or j- of an acre, making an acre of Charles Hubbs and sold to a Welsh¬ | square. The names of these people that man named Ellis Lewis. This piece gave their land for this purpose were Rev, was the northeast end of the Hubbs I Johu Philip Leydich, Henry Smith, tract. After a time it became the home of John Lewis, to whom his father ) George Michael, Christian Stetler; and I willed the property on Dec. 8, 1774_ | the latter left in his will at his death i of f‘_where my son John now dwells.” In fl77G John Lewis was assessed for three El°£gglillIlL^O-SOIv^_!»it the land an- ' f, V

_ _H n Ipeared to have been part of the ■way, o: ■reekHimareaTNew' C'as- ••.acres taxed to Ellis Lewis, the latter “tie county Delaware, and by Samuel [probably yet living. John Lewis was Kastner to Amos Lewis and CadwTallader [enrolled In Captain Samuel Mann’s Evans. Some of the present property [militia company. Among the records [came from the old Timanus estate. A Sof Gwynedd Friends is mention of the i house was here in 1800, when Lewis [marriage of “Ellis Lewis, of Upper land Evans sold 34 acres to Mathias (Dublin, to Ellen, daughter of John Houser. The latter held possession till ■Evans, of Gwynedd.” This occurred 1822, when he sold the same to Jane [as late as 1764/and he was probably a Hones, who also received a lot of 10 Ibrother of John Lewis. In 1733 there acres adjoining by will of her father, [ is a record of the marriage of Eliza- Amos Lewis. Ibeth, daughter of Ellis Lewis, of Upper That portion of the farm originally 'Dublin,to William Spencer, of Whit- within the Timanus estate was obtain- f pain. In 1736 there is a record of the in 1828 of Samuel McNair, who sold i marriage of Jane, daughter of Ellis Jane Jones 28 acres and part of the Lewis, of Upper Dublin, to Enos Lewis, land which Conrad Timanus had con¬ [of Newtown, Chester county (now Del¬ veyed to McNair, Sr., in 1802, a house aware). In 1772 John Lewis, of Upper ancl 71 acres. In 1816 the elder McNair Dublin, married Hannah, daughter of _ -had died, conveying to his son Samuel. : Jacob Shoemaker, of the same township. Jane Jones died, leaving sons: Lewis, This probably wTas the John Lewis HClement, John L., and Henry. In j who lived at the Campman place. ■1842 it became the property of Clement In .1774 the neighbors mentioned Hand Henry Jones. After the death of I were John Barnes, Jacob Timanus, and fc the latter Henry Jones became the sole Garret Clemens. John Lewis, having H owner. He sold to Andrew Fisher in been the owner during, the Be volution - ■U$5, who conveyed the next year to ary period, held possession till 1784, homas Lightfoot. This was the home when he sold to Conrad Charles Tima¬ f the latter for a quarter of a century. nus for £500. The latter kept it for He was a member of the society of 1 eight years. The next owner was Lew¬ fiends and an ardent prohibitionist, is Stanert, who bought of Timanus in e sold his home and 64 acres to Ella 1795. Stanert had previously owned Anderson. ] the Haag mill property. He was the . R HINGE PROPERTY—JACOB TIMANUS. ? owner till 1808, when he sold to Peter hH •Tyson and Jonathan Kimbell for £1612, This handsome homestead is at the north corner at Three Tuns, the dwelling 10 shillings—the latter of Bedminster, being a little distance from the two : Bucks county. It then became a Tyson ■ (property in 1808, and continued such ■highways. In 1897 it belonged to J. Henry Binge, who had rebuilt and I for 66 years. Peter Tyson and Kimbell greatly improved the appearance of the [conveyed to William Tyson in 1819, but b mansion house. This is a part of the jit was immediately transferred back Jones property, the history of which is to Peter Tyson. The latter ended his given in the account of the Anderson life in the winter of 1830, and admin¬ homestead. It was owned by Henry istration was given upon his estate on Jones from 1842 to 1877, who held 73 the 1st of March of that year. His son acres. In 1877 he sold the house and 14 ;William came into a lifelong posses¬ acres to J. H. Binge. Originally this sion. His will was registered Feb. 9, is believed to have been the site of the 1874. In this he made his wife, Han¬ home of J acob Timanus, and later of nah, and son, Thomas F. Tyson, exe- Samuel McNair. As told in the ac¬ jCutors and ordered sale of the farm, count of the Three Tuns hotel, Charles [which later was sold to Daniel Camp- Hubbs sold 71 acres to Jacob Timanus, Iman. An old deed gives the boundar¬ 3a German Lutheran, in 1751. Timanus ies of the tract bought in 1743 by Ellis probably built the first dwelling here [Lewis from Charles Hubbs: Beginning about that time. He owned the prop¬ at corner by great road (Butler turn¬ erty down to his death, in 1783. His ip ike) ; by land of John Barnes and Ho - son Conrad came into possession by an [and Hugh (Horsham line) 162 perches; act of partition in 1801, along with his yy Hugh’s land (Gwynedd line) 64 sister, Elizabeth Yenner, and these two rerches; by part of same southeast 162 sold to Samuel McN air in 1802. perches to near a spring; along the .went road northeast 64 perches to be¬ HINDERNACH FARM—JOSHUA Y. JONES. tinning. The present Hindernach farm lies on ANDERSON, FORMER LIGHTFOOT FARM. both sides of the Butler turnpike, a This is an attractive home, a short short distance northeast of Three Tuns. [distance northwest of the crossroads at The farm buildings are on the east¬ Three Tuns. The dwelling stands at a erly side of the highway, as well as the little distance from the Springhouse largest portion of the farm. It is one Jroad, and has latterly been much im- of the fine farms of the township, and [proved by the Anderson family. has been held by Hindernach since This is a fragment of the old Kastner 1883. The surface gently slopes toward plantation, the history of which is told the turnpike from either side, the elsewhere. It is a part of a piece of 64 of which is downward towards lacres detached in 1799 by Thomas Han- north, and in the direction of :rr ■ A*. 81

brancl^i^ttieNesmaminv. * 1 became the wife of Dr. TTTT " Wilson f-nPliS Pr.°^rty appears to be parts of oi Jenkintown. Another duaghter was two original or ancient grants. The Anna M. Jones, and the only son was southeastern portion was within the ii i ■ J°nes> who removed to Fhila- patent to Jacob Isaacs, owned later delphia The mother of these children in Isaac Isaacs and by Robert Heaton was Catharine Anna Fry, daughter of an account of which is told £ ■Joun Fry, of Germantown. Joshua Y where. The upper part has the Jones died in 1879. same history as the Ilubbs and Kaetner This family of Joneses were Baptists, and not Friends, as were the other Concerning the southeast side the ear- j ones families in the same neighbor¬ y history is obscure. We know that a hood. Dr. John Jones lived upon the house had been built here previous later Jonathan Shay farm, on the Welsh to h47, and that Derrick Tyson owned road, m Horsham. He married Han-j i. and oO acres. Of whom or when Tv- nah Dull, daughter of Christian Dull, ! son bought it is not told. He was one Gwynedd, who had been a major in of the earn- landholders in the town- the Revolutionary army, and who kept ship, being assessed for 100 acres in j the Sprmghouse tavern for many vears. j i The latter were situated else- Mary Jones, the only daughter of Dr. where and which he had bought of John Jones, married Dr. J.F. Stadinger, 1 Samuel. Spencar m 1784. In 1747 Tvson wno hved in various places, closing his life in Collegeville. His °USeand 50 acres t0 J'acob son, Charles SSa^ls. D. Jones, was also a man of talent, and , In. 17'n^Timanns added 71 acres represented Montgomery county in the bought of Charles Hubbs. Conrad Tiin- assembly for several years. The other anuh appears to have owned this, alono- sons, besides Joshua, were Roberts W! h the later Ringe place, amounting Jones and Thomas Jones. to 121 acres, which he sold to Samuel REX FARM—MANN PLACE—FAMILY. McNair m 18&2. In 1830 the voS Samuel McNair, having removed "to The Rex farm lies southward of Penn V\ arm ins ter, conveved to I)r John vilie, or Maple Glen, and is bordered ■Tones, of Horsham. The will of John by the Welsh road and the turnpike ■Tones was made m 1840. In this docu- leading to Jarrettown. The buildings ment mention is made of his two son* are upon a knoll, and connected with Joshua \ . .Tones and Charles D. Jones’ the turnpike by a short lane. Here is together with their sister, Mary Stadin- a large stone house.- and the surround mgs indicate that the site was selected „ ,®r' ■ J°nes became the own- by an early settler as his home. The J1. “184o, when there was conveved to surface of the farm is gently undulat¬ him 80 acres for §5278. He was quite ing, comprising a due proportion of a notable personage and was known as meadow and upland. a prominent Democrat. The nroDer -in an account of the neighboring ty belonged to the jones fam]ly Pti]1 Lewis property mention is made of the 1881, when!the executors of John R Heatons, of whom Robert Heaton be¬ Jones conveyed to Thomas T Tvson' came owner of 839 acres in 1703. In who soon died. In 18S2 the executors the absence of authentic records to the T>of. Tyson m turnILUI1 sold toI John H contrary, it would seem probable that Ringe, It was in 1883 that m 1734 this was included in the 100 acres then assessed to Thomas Heaton. htterrb ?° ^sL’Hindernfchge The attei belongs to a family of the ex He know that John Mann owiuM this treme north of Bucks county, ii Dur¬ )C ore 1//2, but whose home was in ham, and his brother was a'member of Horsham At that time John Mann the assembly from that county conveyed to his son, John Mann, Jr., f. CrV. -Tones, though the owner of 1.50 acres. In 1776 the latter was assess¬ this farm from 1830 till his death in ed tor loO acres, three horses and four cows. !viw’’i Vs a resident of Horsham to which township he came in ISOo , ,i THE MANN FAMILY. Charles Mann, of Horsham, has furn ■, Joshua Yardley Jones, was born ished the following account of his fam in 1806 graduated at the UniverHtv of lly and their lands. John Mann Sr Pennsylvania in fS80,andalW wTis his great-great-grandfather, who pracHce He COntinued his extensive came to Horsham township and pur¬ nof Franch R G«ver- chased the old family homestead in 1748 cian in lS4'i h! ‘Unb lazaretto physi- He possessed a farm in Warwick and pol tic • it ®fring Prominent" in another in Warminster, Bucks coun¬ i Lies, ne was the nominee of ti,n ty, and the homestead farm in Hors¬ ham, now occupied by Charles Mann and the later Rex farm, in Upper ■ in ' ■ lle "‘as appointed hv Dublin. These four farms comprised S"grC?,Zn?d “? ««S5S of 425 acres. For some years previous to /■■A 1^2 his son, John Mann, Jr., had oc¬ cupied and conducted the farm. This conprised the present Rex farm and al- ■ ■rm

He ■ yC ui worse .Lennar • i " ' ' 5#"S, Henry HoSpt, jS -, —izabetlwnK^Paraii. there they passed most of their davs “raSTfr *4? M“ple Gl“ store, tie till they disposed of the farm and re- rnnrf ! 'k. i Rl«ge»' west of the Welsh road, and also the farm, of Thomas moyed to Philadelphia. Samuel Mann Gamble. The boundaries of the 150- i sold a farm in 1847 to Amos S. Lukens ?, acre tract were from the old Tyson" or g comprising 69 acres. Also in 1847 he .i Present Button farm, on the southeast y sold_a farm to Thomas J. Kitts, com ■ up along the west side of the Welsli | prising 90 acres, and who the same road to the old Dr. Jones, or present year conveyed to Joseph Rex, father of John M. Rex. Joseph Rex died in J the spring of 1883, and his administra- “The ^lewif , -*fi tors were Amanda Rex, John 31. Rex mlK. I'! and George Rex.

11! .r AfLeF ^^e turnpike was onenen WILL OF JOHN MANN. | thronsh from Jarrettown to the Butler This will, registered towards the close road the original tract was divided and ■ of 1819 gives privilege to his wife, ■4 subdivided. The preent David Lukeus Elizabeth, of “living in new end of mv Phased from either d welling. ” An apprentice girl, Sidney hn/uiel MlnnT°f Thomas Kitts, and Brown, is mentioned. Also two appren¬ . | built upon by John Scotten, an elderly tice boys, William Hendricks and ‘ W ’>nh°p;0)ah?G ended llis ^ys George Boren. The farm was divided ■I! ith of ere.Mo m, Then■ or it11 passed into the hands into two equal parts of 75 acres each. Mathias Stinson and others to the The lower one, or the Rex farm, was I present ownership. wined to his son, Samuel. The upper ■ The Lenhart £...... |Q..iUtJ ,Ijennai;t property came off of one was ordered to be sold, but which ■ Stinsons, and the house and shops >_amuel Mann bought of the executors, | were built about 1860 by the late Jacob lire legacies were: To son John, $1067 • I nfV .enliait, and are now in possession to daughter, Alary Fenton, $1067; to f of bls ®011» George“W. Lenhart. daughter, Margaret Craven, $1067; to j n JhG f of Mrs’ Ellen Gamble and son William, $1067; to daughter, Eliza¬ | her son Thomas was a tract of thdMann , beth Mann, $1467; to son James, $800- ; , larm, purchased of the latVTJhaDes to son Joel, $800; to daughter, Sarah |T*3 "dl° erectef the farm buildings. Mann, $1467. The 10 acres which have been in the Of these heirs John went to the neigh- [ .pv: uromers borhood of Doylestown, where he mar¬ I nossrtei* w I f 5sate*nd He?p y»k ”i>*was built up¬ ried Mary, daughter of Benjamin Snod- on b\ the first named about 1860, and S3’ass, , a soldier of the Revolution. I probably had been sold off the Tea« tract. Their son, Beniamin, served in the! war of 1812. James Mitchell Mann John Mami) Jr„, was born Ju! 23 also .settled at Dolyestown, and from i ; 2'f Ee famed Elizabeth McLaugh- these brothers have descended the im, of Bucks county, in 1765. T&y Manns of that vicinity. were the parents of the following chil¬ The most distinguished son of the dren: John, born 1766; Mary, 1768 = family was Joel Kennedy Mann, who Maragret, 1769; William, 1771'; Anne’ settled on a farm in Cheltenham He 1779- in1^8411’ \778; James Mitchell,’ served in the assembly from 1817 to i-nJ Joel Kennedy, 1781; Sarah 1784 1820, was state senator from 1824 to 1829, and Samuel, 1789. Johntiuuii jiann,Mann .Jr and served four years in congress, from Pty t- wasTT a leading citizen andami man of affairs 1831 to 1835, succeeding John B. Sterin- colWmf ?Uibhn at- thatfme. He was ger, another son of Coper Dublin. the Eio-i- h 4axes 111 and raised - _ ' E. 31. 1 nil™ 8£ h.^^Pany of the Fourth bat- ■ ta ion Philadelphia county militia, and LOCAL HISTORY. was. chosen captain of the same. He Trenton “r the *Wolutionary war at Historical Sketch of the Former Streeper . ’ Germantown .and oilier eiisra0’©- Farm, Now James Mooney’s, in the South ments m the campaign of 1777 He Corner of Whitpain—Prepared by E. M. iiiaS18oIed “ f Tber of the assembh- nnint V d llad previously been ap- The Stannard property lies adjoining R c. +u0Unty commissioner, in 1790. the Whitemarsh line, bordering the ins death occurred Nov. 7 1819 Flo Plymouth road, and is near the south aim most of his faimlv were turned at corner of Whitpain. It is one of the i Abingt on ‘iwuvwiiauPresbyterian enurenchurch yayard,, of lmu^’1?£d homesteads of the township. j which church he had been senior elder I he farm comprises 67 acres of undulat- tor in an v years. Elizabeth, his widow,' ,,w surface, but generally sloping tow¬’ ! died m 1827. ards the southeast. The buildings are! ido® W1,!l-°f 'Iolln Maim was made in I modern, and at some distance from the hf ’’ f akmg John Mann and Joel K highway. The present owner, Edward J. j Mann his executors. These sold to Kam- btannard, came here in 1876 from Yer- I nn i f 111 1822 two tracts of 28 acres ^nont, and has greatly improved the I u acres, or 75 altogether. This [property. ’vvas unmarried and lived The original ownership of this im- ( mediate region is involved m some ■ ,< ■doubt, but for a long period in colonial the farm was rented to'Wilburn Kills ■times it was held bv the Harry family Ihe next owner was Jacob Weber |\\ho were of \\ elsh Quaker origin. Be- of Sanders between 1796 and 1800. Weber staid here the next {or lliocken on the eastern side. The rec- acres. jords of the Friends say that in 1731 During his life time Jacob Weber had ' IMary, a daughter of David Harry, of bought a lot of six acres of Aciuilla Tool ' Inhitemarsh, married Abraham Dawes in 1800. Daniel Williams married this B-Jr., ot the same township. In 1734 he daughter Margaret, and thus came into J was one of the 48 taxables of that town¬ possession of the homestead. Susannah i , ship. Weber married Jesse Deaves, and whose I The boundaries of the tracts bought daughter Tacy married Jacob Berkheim-1 "hi.Ptain were, beginning er, father of Charles and William D. Iwith the lower piece: Beginning at post Lerkheimer. This upper portion of the at south corner of John Ward, south¬ farm had been bought by Jacob Weber west bv late John Cobain (but now of of Samuel Felty in 1825. Hugh Alash) 112 perches to meadow There have been only two transfers I and in 1 lymouth line: northwest by since i825 In 1833 Daniel Williams same 144 perches: northeast by Mary sold to \\ i 111 am Zorns, of Whitemarsh Bradwell 112 perches; southeast'through and who is well and favorably remem¬ a piece of meadow in land of Daniel bered by many persons yet living. In Fmerau 144 perches to beginning. 18/6 he sold to Edward J. Stannard 67 The second piece, also of 100 acres acres for $14,000. SP at I-’OSt dividing from land of REINHART, FORMER ETRIS FARM. Wilham Palmer in Plymouth line, by The farm constitutes the extreme south said Palmer northeast 145 perches : bv corner of Whitpain, being bordered bv now or late Charles Mullin southeast a road separating from Plymouth and HI perches to line of John Ward- bv by the Plymouth road on the southeast. ; line of John Ward and late Hugh Alash Here, in a little valley, are the build- southwest 145 perches to Plymouth line- lings, whose site indicates long occu¬ by said hue northwest 111 perches to pancy as a human habitation. They beginning. It will be seen that these ire substantial stone buildings of the pieces bordered the Plymouth line for armliouse pattern. The farm lands are -on perches, or over three-quarters of a loping towards the southward. For mile, and the upper piece extended many years past this farm has been the J from thence northeast nearly half a property of John K. Reinhart, but has | mne Ihe lower piece was only about changed hands many times during the one-third of a mile wide. present century. This portion c-ame in¬ According to the assessment of 1760 to possession of John Etris by a deed we know that John Harry was the own¬ from Joshua Brynes, of Philadelphia : er of a part of the lower tract, when lie - m 1763, who sold him 67% acres.' was assessed for 50 acres, of which 30 lEtris came from Whitemarsh." In 1758 i acres remained in forest. It is known Joshua Brynes was a merchant, of Wil-

Tinvi/l R Harr-V- aS °lle 0f tlle SOUS Of mington, Del. This originally, alono- David Harry. There were two other with the Mooney farm, had been the men of that name then living, who extreme southwest portion of a oTant were Samuel Harry, of Whiptuin, and made in 1704 to Thomas McCarty, of Rees Harry, of Gwynedd, probably also 250 acres. The homestead of this " tract hell aV,ld •Harry- Samuel Harry i was the later Funk residence. An old ft liekl land adjoining. deed shows that McCarty’s land went | was in 1768 that John Harrv and . to the Plymouth line from the Skippack " wife Rachel sold 100 acres to Johii San¬ road and extended 00 perches alono- the 1 ders, and it was the latter who held township line, but did not include the J possession during the time of the Revo- Stannard farm. The upper boundary of , lati.0n; Tt 1,80 iecTaVe a mortgage for ahe tract was 450 perches long, or "lR I £-/b to Leonard Shallcross, of Phila in lies. McCarty held possession till Sa-.alld J)y which we learn the 1724, when he sold to George Reinich boundaries as they were in 17(>8 Tip ras the o\\ ner for 50 years. In 1785 ■MHiwiiPir^1, In 1731 EeiniHl sold to P rL ' { • ^ • 1 ,r'

of Kingsessing. In 1737 a among whom the property more permanent owner bought it, being equally divided. Daniel Brynes. In 1753 Daniel Brynes To son Andrew, five shillings, in lieu sold to Caleb and Daniel Brynes, Jr., of his share, he having already had 200 the 250 acres. It would appear that at acres in Tulpehoeken, Berks county. a date unknown Joshua Brynes had That the £200 paid on the plantation come into possession of this portion of of my son George be considered part of the Brynes tract, and who in 1763 sold to his share. John Etris. That the £200 paid on the plantation John Etris was a ruling elder in of my son John be considered part of Boehm’s Reformed church for many his shaie. years, and his tombstone stands in the That the £50 paid to Jacob Scheetz rear of that building. It tells that he be considered part of his wife’s share. died Sept. 24, 17S4, at the age of 75,y I will that my plantation in Whitpain having been born in 1709, probably hi be sold, unless my son-in-law Faberitz Germany. His wife, Dorothy, born in shall take it. 1708, died Oct. 1, 1790, at the age of This referred to the later Augustus 82. Styer and other lands, of which Etris In 1776 John Etris sold 67 acres to his died the owner. It was taken in 1785 son, George Etris. The latter had a by Margaret Faberitz, by that date a brother John, to whom George Etris widow, and who later married Reese sold the farm in 1787. The Etris family Morris. appear to have left this part of the The witnesses of the will were Joseph country and in 1793 John Etris is re¬ DeUaven and Patrick Menan. corded as being a Philadelphia mer¬ George Etris, mentioned above, was chant, when lie sold to Joseph Ingles. one of the militia, and in 1776 was en¬ Neither did his brother, George Etris, rolled in the company of Captain Abra¬ live on the farm in 1785, for in that ham Wentz. In old documents the year one Lawrence Egbert is assessed as name is sometimes spelled Eldndge. the tenant on his farm of 29 acres. In THE STREERER, NOW MOONEY'S FARM. 1800 Nathan Shoemaker became the owner, and which he continued for 13 This’was the upper portion of the years, when he sold to Robert Kennedy. old Etris estate, and detached from the The next transfers were: 1815, from lower portion in 1782. The long stone Kennedy to Henry Klain; 1823, as farmhouse presents a handsome appear¬ signees of Klain to John Smith; 1831, ance, as it faces the south, and overlook¬ Smith to George Hellerman. The latter ing a sloping meadow valley, where is was a Mennonite minister, who preach¬ an old springhouse. The dwell ing is ed at Germantown and Phoenixville. shaded by a large buttonwood and other He was a very handy man with tools, trees. The barn in the rear is of stone, and his neighbors thought he could an old-time structure, built about 1800 make or repair almost anything. He by John Jones, a stone mason, and died Feb. 12, 1867, at the age of 72 grandfather of Jones Detwiler. The years, and he was buried at Upper Prov¬ surface of the farm is broken and hilly, idence meeting house. His wife, Su¬ extending northwest to Sandy Hill and san, died in 1878, aged 78 years and live the Creamery road. months. In 1782 George Etris sold this portion George Hellerman sold in 1843 to of his estate to Wendell Kingfield. In the assessment of 1785 Kingfield is Jacob Sent/., of Schuylkill county* and who held possession for 15 years. The rated for a farm of 50 acres. A single succeeding transfers have been: 1858, lone tradition comes down concerning Sent/ to James McLaughlin; 1861, Mc¬ him. This is that he had a turkey Laughlin to Patrick Plipwell; 1862, which could eat a quart of corn at one Hipwcll to John Pickering ;1865,Picker¬ meal. In 1796 Kingfield sold to Ulrich Schla- ing to Thomas P. Smith; 1868, Smith to John E. Smith ; 1870, Smith to John ter for £725—a price indicating pretty E. Reinhart. good buildings, or at least a good house. The land abutted Plymouth for WILL OF JOHN ETRIS. 1120 feet. Of Sc hi ate? we know that he John Etris made his will Sept. 19, was a noted weaver in his day. He wove fancy coverlets and fine toweling, 1784; then “being very sick,” and liv¬ employing five or six hands. People ing in Whitemarsh. lie died five days came from far and near to his place. later, and was too weak to write his He had a strong dislike to Enoch Sup- name. The principal provisions of the plee, of Norriton, who had a woollen document were: mill. He would never allow anything Ordered sale of his estate, real and to be woven in his shop that had been personal, at public vendue. spun or carded at Supplee’s mill, nor To wife; Dorothy, one-third and a good milk cow. if he could help it would he allow any¬ thing to be taken to that mill to be fin¬ Had seven children, viz. : Andrew, ished. Fie was a member of the Demo¬ Henry, George, John, Mary, wife of cratic Republican troop of Montgomery i Jacob Scheetz ; Catharine Kunkle, and countv. ii_A Margaret, wife of Frederick Faberitz, ■ir In 18:10 Schlater gold to Maurice WT °ne? extender! to Kensall 52 acres for $3695. Kensall t lat day Many of the boys wore com¬ came from Plymouth. His wife was a plete uniforms, patterned after the sol- Hamer. He went, to Lancaster county, < iei> in the field. Brass buttons and where he died. He sold to Samuel soldier caps were worn by nearly every Streeper in 1839, who came to stay a joy. it was no uncommon sight to see life time. He kept the farm in most the boys drill to the sound of the drum excellent, condition, and was regarded and fife, and with wooden guns and as a model farmer. He died there and even sticks for weapons. During one m 1891 his estate was bought by James period of the war Island Xo. 10 was a Mooney, the present owner. strategic point much discussed. A little For the benefit of antiquarians the island in one of the home creeks was boundaries of the Mooney farm in 1782 given that name, and mimic gunboats are given, when George Etris sold it to proceeded against it. Many were the Wendle Ivingfeldt for £400. There J bitter quarrels among some 6f the school was already a hosue upon it: “BeMn- I children over national affairs, even the ning in line of late Michael Hawk, now ' girls taking part in it. George Berkheimer, being a corner of The patriotic spirit was kept awake [ late John Harry and John Sanders; by in various ways. War songs, such as said Sanders’ line southeast 73X perches Marching Through Georgia,” “John I to corner of this and George Etris’ I Biown s Body Lies Mouldering in the other land; by Etris’ line southwest 123 ' Grave ” “We’ll Hang Jeff Davis on a perches to Plymouth line; bv said town¬ ^our Apple Tree,” and “When Johnny ship line northwest 68 perches to corner Gomes Marching Home Again, Hurra'” of John Wood; by said Wood, Richard were heard everywhere. Envelopes of Jackson and George Berkheimer north¬ lette/s coming from friends in the army east 116 perches to beginning.” were adorned with pictures of tents Richard Jackson, mentioned above, j guns and flags in the popular colors of was a wool comber, who in 1760 owned ied, white and blue. Great union mass a lot of eight acres, half in forest. It, meetings were held. The parades con¬ must have been at or near the present ■ nected with these events were somethin® Weidner property. E. M. that no boy of that period could forget One of these parades, starting from Jarrettown. had a team in the line MEMORIES OF '61-65. |coni posed of 35 horses, one for each fate of that period. All the horses and A Correspondent Writes the “Gazette” of wagons were profusely decorated with Stirring Times of the Civil War—As a flowers, evergreens and flags. One of Boy Viewed the Scenes-Currency and the marshals was a cavalryman, home on a furlough. To see him, in his gay Bo^Os—Prices of Farm Products. uniform, riding up and down the line Hearing the newsboys in the citv on on his spirited horse, was an inspiring a recent Friday evening, and noticing sight, at least to the writer. This ex" i the suppressed excitement of the peo" cavalryman still resides in Jarrettown, I 9.’1'eiJun thus showing ' that, the north was by no means a unit is now stamped, thee had better wrl at that time. home. igj One ‘Saturday, early in April, 1861, A visit to Camp William Penn, near ' the writer, ahhough a very small bov fgontz, was a memorable one to me at the tune, can well remember news fins was a camp of instruction for col-' brought from the city by his father that ■ ored people. The great crowds of visi-A : Sumpter had been fired on bv the reb- tors, the many avenues of tents, the sohH e s, as v-e called them. Bht for this • hers drilling, the sham battle in tin.* o\ ert act the war would not have ^tart afternoon, the bands of music, the «en-i* ed so soon or might possibly have' been trys pacing up and down, all make up a averted. The northern war spirit was picture that I could never forget. Dur- 1 aroused by this act and nothin”- could ing the sham battle in the open held ^ s op it The destruction of the" battle¬ some of us got. in the space between i ship Maine m Havana harbor will g0 the contending lines, thinking thatl down m history m a similar wav would be a good place for observation I Jhe patriotism aroused among the older A great hallooing from sonic of the* rtlerlies showed us we were liithi* lor Ho^glad we were in the early sum¬ wrong place. The next moment the op-1 mer of that year to see the soldier boys Iposing forces came together in grand come back again. The war was over charge just where we had been. Lots of at last, and the country entered upon a ■noise from the blank cartridges fired season of prosperity and advancement was the ending of this desperate battle. Of the manv'hospitals in the vicinity such as the world never saw before. of Philadelphia for sick and wounded WM. DE PREFONTAIXE. soldiers those at Nicetown and Chestnut Hill were the only ones I saw. These buildings were quite large, but were made of rough, unplaned lumber,white¬ washed. That at Nicetown was situated | where the ball grounds now' are, near From, [Wayne Junction station. The draft was a disturbing feature to those with responsibilities at home. ry The enrolling officer was an unwelcome visitor with many. At one time the need of the government, for army horses led many who had good animals to fear Date, a/u,i . they might be conscripted. Paper money was the only.kmd we saw for years, excepting pennies. Many farmers, attending the city markets, AH HISTORIC! WAG OH- carried small books with them foi the purpose of keeping their fractional cur¬ formerly Owned by Winter Wovendea. rency straight. This consisted of three, Mow me Properly Ot the untie.. five ' 10, 25 and 50 cent notes. Many County Historian Society. people were afraid to invest money m , the bonds issued by the government to 4 iate addition to the collection of pay the expenses of the war. I remem¬ relic0, in the rooms of the Bucks Boun¬ ber hearing a discussion among some ty Historical Society in the court house business men about them. One ot at Doylestown. is the generous gift o them, a shrewd lawyer, declared that, an interesting wagon from Mis.- lhom tlie bonds would not be worth 10 cents “ c m..** or Plymouth to«r» a wagon load in a little while Later) .hip this county. Information of its on when he began to see how the war, existence was secured from Robert would end, he thought they were a very Eastburn, 1'ardley, and William Li\- good investment. The depreciation of the currency ant “SAlwSS't have Won obtained the activities of war caused a great m »«”» b. noi-tbern Montgomery crease in values of all kinds. Storekeep¬ by the great landscape painter, Thom ers who bought large stocks of good! as C. Hovenden, and represents a type iust before the war, when low price of imerioan wagon important ftonjan prevailed, were made wealthy by t-n< historical point of view from the fact wonderful increase of values. hor th of its well known use for transpoi U farmer even times were good. .butte tinn of settlers from the eastern to the sold for from 60 cents to $1 _ a pound! Western parts of the United States be¬ and everything else at similar rated fore railroads were used. Onio«s were worth §4 per bushel at on| Its boat-shaped body, hickoiy I timjpcluring the war. bed. fastened with wrought iron na s toward the close of the war we sav and, bolts, roofed with an ad ustable (foe of its sad effects in the cripplec canvas cover, tied down «Pon siX »| soldiers to be seen everywhere. At ttij able hickory bows, rests upon the or street corners of the city many of thei ,S!^l lolir’m,i ron-1,rod y.nean.mnr ; gained a livelihood bv means ot a Iran ed upon wooden axles. 1 he ,nj^ole organ. Some of them had one arm o-uided bv a roughly cut sapphn0 1 some were minus a leg, and some witl i mounted with wrought iron head both lower limbs gone. i How sad we all felt when the news eljnGeneral construction the wagon came of the death of Lincoln by the resembles its far heavier prototype, the hand of an assassin. The great victories a so-called Conestoga, of -lx horse draft, of our armies, the surrender ot Lee and i supposed to have been >n; e"‘flhe Johnston, and the capture of Lavp I Lancaster county and - could hardly atone for it. _ The I hill s | transportation ot merchanais del phi a Enquirer, containing the news the chief- highways before the daj. was surrounded with a wide margin o railw s. licriit' w h i 1 black. While the body of the martyr This wagon, however. is lo" R president lay in state in Independence the other was exceedingly H hall, I remember an elder brother gon 0 I two horses did the wAkof six to the city to view the remains with i„c i, thi-ooEl, TncbdibS the countless other thousands. with the 'Samily of its owner, dogs, ohioIcons, frying pan.C'Infrfi, ovens, the flint-lock rifle and a greasa r jSunday School was organized in 1851 in pot or horn, hanging from the hind the Gwynedd school liouse and continued axle along byways, over the rough !for some years. It was conducted large¬ lorded streams and across'the liMi ! grass of the prairies. ly by Baptists. While these services The wagon was built originally in were preliminary and led to the estab Pennsylvania for the accommodation lishment of the Gwynedd church, after¬ or a single emigrant family, for its wards known as the North Wales Bap- transport across the Allegheny Mourn tarns -and -served Mr. Iltivendeh as a tist church, they were also the means of - moc,el for pioneer transport in his last establishing Baptist services in Lans¬ [painting, called “Westward Ho.” dale. . This is the prairie” schooner. Leaving A meeting was called July 12, i860, at the beaten tracks of railway you find V ln the last days of its prolong. the house of James Bean, in Gwynedd, existence toiling its way across the to consider the expediency of organizing Lreat Divide hunting a home in the a Baptist church, which was afterwards ihigh valleys of Wyoming or by the colored canons of the Yellowstone, known as the Gwynedd church. It was where not ten years ago one of these located near Kneedler station, on the | wagons were encountered bearing a Stony Creek Railroad. The house was settler and his family, who in their removed a few years ago for want of use. toilsome journey from Wyoming to _ regon in their “prairie home” had Soon after the organization of the orgotten the day and date of th& chuich. the brethren of Gwnyedd inaug- month. urated preaching services in Lansdale, L. The flft is a valuable specimen and which continued at irregular intervals j Jciety0*-1 hl&hly aPPreeiated by the r,o- for several years. The meetings were ' held in the second story of the building on Railroad street, now occupied by James B. Edwards as a shoe store. Rev. Samuel L. Cox. pastor of the Gwynedd From church, and his successors, Rev. Maris Gibson and Rec. N. B. Baldwin, had charge of the Lansdale mission. The services were well attended by people from the village and surrounding coun¬ Date, A" £./Jjl try. At that time there was no public house of worship in Lansdale. During the pastorate of Rev. N. B. Baldwin in 1867, the abstract of the let¬ r=r~=--~- ter to the Association says, “They have « HISTORICAL SKETCH a good Sabbath School and a flourishing branch at Lansdale, where every two A Ot tho First Baptist Gliurcli of Lansdale, weeks they have also the preaching of _By A. IS. Tliomas God’s Word.’’ The Baptists were pioneers in the es¬ While the Baptists were the first to tablishment of public religious worship f conduct religious services in the town, it was not until 1883 that the interest in Lansdale. Early in the sixties, be¬ took definite shape and gave promise of fore the organization of any church in an independent church Early in the the town—then but a small village of a spring of 1883 Rev. J. A. Aldred, who few hundred people-the Baptists were had been recently called to the pastorate of the North Wales Baptist church, vis here preaching the Word. As early as ited Lansdale and took a survey of the 1835 there was occasional preaching in j field. He conferred with a few Baptist the old Gwynedd Eight Square Stone I people who were then living in the town school house. These services were held i —perhaps not over half a dozen all told — and, after a conference, it was de¬ by Revs. Robinson, William Mathews I cided to begin the holding of Sunday ser- w and George Higgins, pastors of the vices at some convenient place. Freed’s Montgomery Baptist church In the hall was engaged for the purpose, where winter of 1849 5° Rev. Mr. Higgins held two or three meetings were conducted by a protracted meeting, when several per¬ Mr. Aldred. The attendance was en¬ couraging, but from some cause the sons were converted and baptised. A brethren were unable to secure the hall ■ SjsBp ■.'•V ..

) • : a further use, anotney were ob'lfgeabo been e^tabhshed^h^ieea^^aSunday move. They looked elsewhere for ac school was lelt. A meeting was held commodations, and by the courtesy of February 15, 1885, when a school was or¬ the Evangelical church their building, on ganized by the election of officers and Mount Vernon street, was leased. Ser¬ teachers. Rev. J. A. Aldred presided vices were held there on alternate Sun¬ and Mr. S. D. Hull acted as secretary. day afternoons, until the close of 1884, The following were elected : Superin¬ the meetings being in charge of Mr. Al- tendent, A. K. Thomas; Assistant Super¬ dred, who labored earnestly to establish intendent,Clarence D. Hotchkiss; Treas¬ the new mission. urer, Geo. Hallowed; Librariar, Harry The mission gave promise of a bright llotzell; Secretary, C. D. Hotchkiss; future, and the brethren sought a build¬ Bible class teacher, S. D. Hull; Superin¬ ing site on which to erect a meeting tendent Infant Department, Mrs. Geo. house, for it was evident that the inter¬ Hallowed; Reserved teachers. Mrs. A. est had come to stay. November 15, ]K. Thomas, Geo. Hallowed, Mrs. S. D. 1883, the North Wales church appointed Hull, Mrs. Garner, Mrs. Kochersberger. A. K. Thomas, S. D. Hull, John M. Har¬ The Sunday scoool has been an impor ley, Geo. W. Castner and Isaac Freed a tant factor in the progress of the church ommittee to purchase a lot. A number and from a very small beginning has ;of locations were considered. The old grown to an average attendance of about Evangeliacl church was offered for sale, 130 scholars and a membership of 200 at what was considered a reasonable March 4, 1885, the North Waleschurch price. But the committee finally chose appointed Eliza Beam, Mary Stovir, he lot at the corner of Broad and Third Mrs. [er.kins, Ann Rhoades and Mrs. Sttreets, which they purchased of Mr. F. Asa Thomas a committee to provide for jwW. McDowell, who had recently bought the entertainment of guests at the dedi¬ the entire tract on Broad street, from cation of the chapel, which took place Second street to Fifth street. Third Wednesday, March xi, 1895. The build¬ Jstreet was just being opened, and the ing was well filled, every pew being oc¬ lot seemed to be “out in the country,’’ cupied by visitors and friends of the but the wisdom of selecting this site is cause in the town. These pews have now apparent. long since given way to the chairs, now A committee was authorized to solicit in the auditorium. The dedication ser¬ subscriptions for the payment of the lot, vices consumed the entire day. In the and it was but a short time before the morning. Rev. Dr. William Oathcart R debt was paid and a substantial amount preached eloquently from Jqhn X , placed in the building fund. 28-29, his theme being “Eternal The trustees of the North Wales church Life.’’ In the afternoon Rev. Dr. and Messrs. Thomas and Hull, of Lans¬ Peddie, a loved and brilliant breacher of dale, were appointed a building commit¬ Philadelphia, spoke on “A Personal tee. Plans and specifications were made Christ the Inspiration of Life.’’ It was by Palliser, Palliser and Company, of 1 an exceedingly tender and helpful pre¬ Connecticut, and on August 7, 1884, the sentation of the truth, full of encourage¬ mother church empowered the trustees »i ment to the struggling band, which had lo build a chapel at Lansdale. Bids planted the great Baptist cause in Lans¬ were opened September 10 following, the dale. figures ranging from $3.~5° t0 $6,000. Rev. N. B. Randall, then pastor of The conti act was afrerwards awarded to the First Baptist church, Norristown, de¬ John Gerhab, of Telford, who agreed to livered the closing sermon, his subject do the work according to the plans for being, “The Attracting Power of the @2450. He proceeded at once with the Cross.” Other ministers present besides work of building, and about January the above and Pastor Aldred we re Rev. 1,1885. turned the edifice over to the N. B. Baldwin, of Montgomery Baptist owners. church; Rev. J. Phillips, formerly of the This chapel was, we believe, the first North Wales Baptist church; Rev. C. T. building erected in Lansdale after plans Frame, of Hilltown; Rev. L. G. Beck, made by a professional architect, and its formerly secretary of the State Mission progress was watched with no little inter¬ society; Rev. W. H. Conard, secretary est. The church completed, the mem¬ of the State Mission society; Rev. Mr. bers set about furnishing the auditorium. Rowland, of the Reformed church, and The room was nicely carpeted, and the Rev. J. G. Bickerton, of the Lansdale pulpit fitted out with suitable furniture, Methodist Episcopal church. the latter the gift of a friend. At the time of the dedication of the The organization and erection of the Chapel there were scarcely a dozen act¬ Lansdale Methodist Episcopal church ive workers on the ground, but this num¬ followed in 1871 and in 1876 the Evange¬ ber was occasionally swelled by friends lical church was erected. This was fol¬ from North Wales, who came up to wor¬ lowed in succession by the Reformed ship at the new Mission. Through the church in 1877, the Baptist in 1884, the ^ ,/5- earnestness of Pastor Aldred and the few Episcopal in 1890, the Lutheran in 1803, J friends of the enterprise, however, a the United Evangelical in 1S85 and the spirit of aggression took hold of the few Brethren in 1897. and the work proceeded favorably. having I Regular preaching services 1 - ■ ' ) j The first business meeting was the chapel April io, 1885, with Mr. Al- cents each. Mr. Beck was a dred as moderator, when Casper Lay¬ mires 0inlI!h MaStCr' and had a sPeciaI man, Carrie Hunsicker, Mamie Leaver, church he Success of ihe Lansdale Mamie Garner and Emma Dubree re¬ lated their Christian experience. They DuhMr IT £^Urch havin£ organized for were the first to be baptized in the church public worship, a council of recognition pool, the ordinance being administered naSr88iledRn lVlapeI Th”rsdayg May by Mr. Aldred the following Sunday. 3. 386. Rev. N. B. Baldwin, pastor of The venerable Mr. Layman was the first Montgomery Baptist church, was moder- *0 receive the ordinance. Baptisms fol¬ clerkandAR’ K' Th01Jlas> of Lansdale, lowed at short intervals and the new or¬ , er,k' After prayer by Rev. J. A. Al- ganization increased substantially in dred the following churches reported membership and influence. The first rnmp3 CS present: New Britain, Mont- communion service was held in the gomery, Norristown, Mount Pleasant, chapel in August, 1885. jenkintown Hatboro, Grace, Philadel- As the work prospered it became ap¬ phia North Wales, Ridley Park. Pas- parent that to 1 secure, the best results tor Beck read a brief history of the it was advisable to form an indendent church and answered several inquiries as church organization and not depend the outlook for the new enterprise on the support of the mother church, He said there was a debt of £2000 on the which had up to this time assumed the about^o and 3 nom,nal membership of financial obligations of the mission. After due deliberation this course was ^'scu®s,°" ,he council on motion decided upon, and accordingly, on Janu¬ Cona,d declared itself ary 27, 1886, the following were dismiss¬ satisfied with the evidence presented and ed by letter from the North Wales church arranged. «■> the ---following piprogram UH I dill to be | to organize the First Baptist church of I carried out at the coming service: Lansdale: S. D. Hull and wife Isabella Preliminary service by the moderator- V., J. F. Garner and wife Emma, Mrs recognition prayer, Rev. J. L. Sagebeer-’ Wilhemina ICochersperger, Carrie Hun¬ hand of fellowship, Rev. Mr. Hutchison- sicker, John Cresson, Sarah Singerly, charge to pastor, Rev. Mr. Randall ’ Minnie Weikel, Casper Layman and wife churge to church, Rev. J. A. Aldred. ’ Mary Ann, Matilda Morris, Emma During Mr. Beck’s pastorate the George, A K. Thomas and wife Ellen church was recarpeted and over $900 J., Isaac Hunsicker and wife Maggie paid on the church debt, leaving g7oo Mrs Charles Johnson, Mrs, John Mush- still unprovided for. The rapidly in- bach, Morris George and wife Clara, creasing attendance at Sunday school Charles Moore and wife Alice G., Mattie made it necessary to enlarge the infant Cresson, Annie Mushbach, Lillie Beid llriSS f°Tf nMr'r Beck Iabored earnestly ler, George Hallowed and wife Lizzie, and faithfully for the welfare of the Mrs. L. Brunner, Allen Thomas and church, but advanced age and diminish- wife Ann Rebecca, William Fly, Lizzie ed physical strength compelled him to Fly, Mamie Lardner, Minnie Cassel. cease active pastoral work, On the The first trustees were elected at the completion of his labors with the Laos' organization of the church March 15, dale church he connected himself with 1886, as follows: Allen Thomas, N. s’ elHw.h ,UKCh’ Philadelphia, ,n whose Beidler, D. Vaueman. fellowship he passed to his reward, and The matter of selecting a pastor to eterya'd l° reSt the New Britain cem' serve the young organization received consideration at this time. After debat¬ September, 1886, the church made ing the matter for some time, Bros. Vane- .appheatmn for admission to the North man ana A. K. Thomas were appointed i. 1 hiladelphia Association of Baptist a committee to confer with Rev. Levi churches. Bros. A. K. Thomas, U. S G. Beck, of Philadelphia, relative to^'ac BeaverH- f- Garner and S. D. Hull were cepting the pastorate. In response to the’ the first delegates from this church to sit committee’s inquiries, Mr. Beck agreed in that body, the sessions convening in to accept if the church would guarantee Germantown ;Sept. 28, 1886. £ him $300 a year. ,v£-he fi!.St deaPons were elected Sept. 6, At a special meeting held March 22 1SS6, and consisted of Bros. U S Beav following it was decided that Mr. Beck 'erAUGVanneman and Allen Thomas. be accepted as pastor for one year. Mr. On Angust 29, 1S87. a unanimous call Beck served in that capacity faithfully to the pastorate was extended Rev H from April, 1886, until July, 1887. Dur¬ J. Hamilton, of Mullica Hill, N 1 'but ing that time he resided in Philadelphia, after some weeks of deliberation Mr coming to Lansdale on Saturdays to con¬ Hamilton declined the call. The church ' duct the Sunday services. During his then invited Rev. D. R. Landis, of Phfla pastorate the stationary pews were re¬ delphia, to preach tor a period. A call moved from the auditoriumand replaced was tendered Mr. Landis, but he also by the chairs. Mr. Beck took an active declined, afterwards removing to Wy part in this change, going among his nu¬ SE5' ch"s

and valuable church workers. • V mate of Mr. Johnson’s and pastor-elect of The church was not long without a Montgomery church,read the Scriptures. pastor after the departure of Mr. Grif Rev. J. II. Chambers, of West Chester, fith. Several candidates were heard and preached the ordination sermon from a choice was made at a meeting held the theme, “Church Building, Construc¬ March 23, 1891, when a unanimous call > tive and Destructive.’’ Pastor T. C. was extended Rev. E. A. Rook, a mem¬ Davis, ot New Britain, offered the or¬ ber of the graduating class at Crozer daining prayer, the candidate kneeling Seminary in that year. Mr. Rook ac¬ while the pastors laid their hands upon cepted the call and entered upon his his head. The charge to the church was duties in April, after ordination in the delivered by Rev. D J. R. Strayer, of Spring Garden Street church, Philadel¬ Cold Point. Pastor T. J. Denchfield, of phia. The installation services were Ambler, charged the candidate. held Thursday evening, July 9th, in the Under the leadership of Pastor John¬ Lansdale church. Mr, Rook continued son the church has made marked and as pastor until September 1, 1892, when T-#- substantial progress along all lines of he resigned to accept the call of the Con- Christian work. The membership has shohocken Baptist church. Mr. Rook steadily increased and the working force was an active worker, and during his brought into more active service for stay with us he had the pleasure of re¬ God. Several improvements have been ceiving into the membership of the made to the property, the most marked church several persons whose influence of which is the erection of the annex to for the cause of the Master has been felt the main auditorium and the commodi¬ by the church and community. ous and attractive parsonage adjoining. Again the church began to look about While these improvements are note¬ , for a leader, and September 25, 1892, worthy and in the right direction, it is tendered a formal call to Rev. E. D. plainly evident that before many years Shull, then of Ambler. Mr. Shull ac¬ it will be necessary to provide even cepted verbally at a business meeting of greater facilities for our increasing con¬ the church on the above date and enter¬ gregations and Sunday school work. Let ed at once on the work, continuing until us hope the day is not far distant when the fall of the following year, when he the lot in front of this chapel will be oc¬ tendered his resignation. During Mr. cupied by a church building capable of Shull’s brief pastorate several persons supplying our needs tor many rears of were baptized and received by letter steady growth. from neighboring churches. Mr. Shull CONSTITUENT MEMBERS. shortly afterwards moved to Vincentown, Followin list of constituent N. J., where he; became pastor of the members of the first Baptist CKurcnorf -1 ’ A Lansdale, at the organization on Febru¬ edd, only a few miles, a little by Towa- ary 15th, 1886: mencin ; not so much by Lower Provi¬ Allen Thomas Miss Mary Lardner Sirs. Allen Thomas Miss Ella George dence ; Norriton on the south and west, D. Vanneman Miss Minnie Weikel A. IC. Thomas Miss Anna Mushbach but Perkiomen on the west, and Whitpain Mrs. A. K. Thomas Morris George on the east, about the same. It has over U. S. Beaver Mrs. Morris George Mrs. U. S. Reaver Miss Mamie Beaver 19 square miles, and nearly 11,000 acres George Hallowell Mrs. Annie Brunner Mrs. G. Hallowell Mrs. Matilda Morris of land. The well known Skippack Road •John F. Cresson Mrs. Lillie Beidlcr extends through it some half dozen miles, J. F. Garner Mrs. Mary A. Layman Mrs. J. F. Garner Miss Mary Garner from Cedar Hill, above Centre Point, to a S. D. Hull Charles Moore Mrs. S. D. Hull Mrs. Charles Moore short distance below Bethel Hill, where it Miss Minnie G'assel Miss Mattie Cresson joins Whitpain township. William Fly Mrs. Sarah Singerly Miss Mary Fly Mrs. Kochersperger The name Worcester was gotten from Miss Lizzie Fly Isaac Ilunsicker Mrs. Isaac Ilunsicker Mrs. Priscilla Johnson England ; and the eloquent Armitt Brown Mrs. Paulino Musbach Mi9s Carrie Hnnsickei at Valley Forge, at its centennial in June, Eliarn Davis. , as the orator of the day, in that DEATHS. 1878 Casper Layman Died Feb. 12,1886 magnificent and masterful speech that Sarah Singerly Died July 2, 1860 stirred the literary world and American Anna S. Martin Died Jan. 8, 1891 Emma George Died April 10,1891 patriotism, in a beautiful apostrophe to Pauline Mushbach Died May 18, 1891 Harry 1). M. Weikei Died Juno 3, 1891 Liberty, thus speaks of Worcester : “ That David Vanneman Died June 21. 1891 Liberty which confronted the Armada on Mamie Shong Died Jan. 6, 1893 Matilda Morris Died May 9, 1S94 the deck with Howard, and rode beside Ida Coryell ) M. Martin i Died July 7, 1893 Cromwell on the field of Worcester,” etc. Mary A. Layman Died August 17, 1S93 Perhaps the reader knows that this great Mrs. Allen Thomas Died August 12, 1897 battle in England was fought September 3, 1651. This graveyard of the Wentz family, of over a century and a half ago, is in the From, 7a 'LrTJt4r

c ./^ ... north of the Skippack road about six hun¬ dred yards, in the midst of a cultivated field of a large farm, owned and occupied Date, .6. by John F. Fisher. The ground has a elope toward a small brook which finds an outlet in the Zachariah creek. The place is about 60x60 feet. It was with more than m ordinary interest that we looked at this WENTZ GRAVEYARD. place. The dead, by the dates on the stones, were here years before our Revolu¬ A Fong Neglected Graveyard—An An¬ tionary fathers shook the centuries from cient Place of Burial of the Wentz their grooves, and gave a new common¬ Family in Worcester Township. wealth to civilization. The reader can know that the accounts In this greatly forsaken looking place, of the graveyards in Frederick are not ex¬ there were no doubt, tears for those who hausted yet, by several yet to appear, but died and were put here, and mourners at I for a reason of our own we go over this the humblest grave. The tombstones at week into Worcester. this place at first to attract the visitor’s at. This is a big township, reader, as is tention, have inscriptions that read as fol¬ likely known, and is the most central lows : “ In memory of Peter Wentz, who township in the county. It has a large departed this life, Sept. 13th. 1793, aged village called ‘‘Centre Point,” and it is j75 years, 9 mos. and 24 days. Rosanna very properly named, being about in the Wentz, died May 22nd., 1794, aged 76 centre of the county. Calling this place a jyeais, 5 mos. and 15 days. These graves village, would be calling a little lawn a jare side by side, and likely husband and curtilage. j wife. Then we see “ P. W.” and " W. The township of Worcester is butted by W.,” the former meaning Peter Wentz, | six townships, not so very much by Gwyn- land likely the father of the first mention- jed. Both stones of these two graves have impressive look from the generations of time that have passed over them ; and Walter Scott, with his “ Old Mortality at ; work ” would not be a matter of greater consideration and contemplation than these old graves and the weird look of things there generally. Mary Wentz, died April, 1776, aged 17 mos., 2 weeks and 3 days. Elizabeth . Wentz, daughter of John and Susannah Wentz, died Feb. 11th, or 1st, likely, , — months and days. This stone 1779 15 fejSAfe.%* tiujLia lays flat, and is embedded in the ground. MERION CHAPTER. Margaret Wentz, daughter of John and ; Susannah Wentz, born Jan. 5th, 1766. These two graves, Elizabeth and Margar¬ Thefollowing Interesting Paper et, are side by side, and the headstone was Read by the Historian, leans over near to the grouud. Miss Margaret B„ Harvey. About 6 of the grave stones are of marble,

the rest of good, flat field stones, many of i WASHINGTON’S CROSSING AT MANA¬ them with just the initials on them. On YUNK. a sandstone is “ P. W., 1799.” This like¬ ly was a Peter Wentz. Then “ E. W. L.,” 1 What are we here for 7 This question is almost sure to arise and the date “ 1774.” Then there were in the minds of some of our members. other dates of “ 1743,” “ 1752,” “ 1753.” Few of us have ever stopped to think The yard, or original place, is 60x60 feet, of the Manayunk Bridge as an historic and at one time had a good wall around I locality. Fewer still seem to realize it, but went down, as the aged and es- ' that Manayunir is a pretty, poetic teemed, Mr. Joseph Vanfossen, the almost name. We have thought so much about the dingy factories that we nonagenarian of Centre Point, informs us, scarcely think of the beautiful river as over 60 years ago; and the stones lay being here before the factories were. around there and are a nidus for snakes, Manayunk is the Indian name of the I etc. The place looks as if there might be Schuylkill River. The early colonists 25 or more interments there. spelltd it “Manaiuug.” The ending ung means river, or stream in the We will be allowed to say that iyis place L'.uap language. Thus Karnkung was in this neglected condition, out ,j-jj'a well what we know as Cobb Creek. Passa cultivated field, as the farm of 70 acres is, J >unk was a s'ream below the old City is as an objectionable feature as an oasis 1 <>f Philadelphia, in what we call " The in the desert is in fertility so desirable. Neck.” Tini< urn, one of our old town slops on the Delaware, is a corruption The farm buildings are north of the i of ftnnekong or Tennikung. the yard some four or five hundred yards, Schuylkill is Dutch. It means hid¬ and are in a quite creditable condition,- den creek. This name was given by 1 considering the great lapse of time since the early Dutch explorers who sailed the south end of the dwelling was erected, up the Delaware past League Island, 1754, which date is well cut on a stone, in and did not discover the mouth of the Schuylkill until their return trip. The the wall, to the right of the door as you ending kill is Dutch for siream. It enter, with also the initials on the stone of is quite common in New York State, “ P. H. W.” Then on the north end, where they have a Peekekill, Fishkill, about in the same part of the wall, is “ L. etc. Also in Northern Pennsylvania W., 1813.” The house has a cornice ' and Delaware. We have forgotten all about the orig¬ around at the gables, and its structure, inal beauty of the name Manayunk. masonry and architecture, would be a We have thought so much about Man¬ credit to any period. It is a well preserved ayunk as a manufacturing town that specimen of the better class of Colonial we scarcely realize that, at the time of days. Wm. E. Corson. the Revolutionary War there was no

TCV —v-yjCT|jir-Li-|» '*} village here at all. yg|gr*;. ■; Manayunk was not founded until about 1832. The founders were Cap¬ tain Towers, Charles Y. Hagner and some otners. People tnougrn lriev were crazy to build so near the river Gr“°„WLiae,?“l‘i”8t0n’“ 8ei where the terrible freshets would 3 Ft]ls of the Schuylkill, their buildings away straight along the Ridge Road to Green k,iT5C RL?P Road followed the Schuyl¬ Lane-right up through Roxborough. kill from the neighborhood of the Di es, fnrETew £titp °f lLe way is accounted ent Laurel Hill to the mouth ofP| he for. We have the following p issage Wnsahicbon then turned up the slope Vfvvr1Ji°Urnu11-of Lieutenant James u d 8tfr“Pk tb® ridge between the val McMichael, published in the Peansv1- ih^konnicaon. Jtft SdoesfUjlbm so stillaDd theTheW Wrr>s>a YoTaxyArchives’ Second Series, friun the Wissahickon, leading a£ “September 14. At 9 a. m we the river bank to Manayunk wasnot marched from camp near Germantown a,d ,°ut until after theyilkge*as N. N. W. for a few miles uP/the great founded. It was thought, in eaX road from Philadelphia to Reading days impossible to build a road so HH,1Dg W- S W ’ we crossed the near the river and through the ru^ed Schuylkill iu the Centre between Ph;la ravine where rushed a rapid stream delphia and Swedes’ Ford, eight miles Utile as we think it now the Schuvl from each We reachtd the great road Jjm \a„3 tben fu’l of rapids. Some mly to Lancaster at Merion Meeting, and still be seen between Flat Rock and proceeded u.p that road, when we en¬ b1 fDre5 ’Jfk £Ut these were still more camped in opm field, being denied ' in iQ.ji the lairmount Dam was built every desirable refreshment ’> T them21, d the Water backed up over „f5.rsfrembtr that tbe °!d city of Philadelphia then only extended as , where the Manayunk Bridge ar up the Schuy lkill as Vine street tow stands, was a ferrv then called Norristown is Swedes’ Foid This is uevcrings Ferry. And there was a eight miles from either, as shown by til fh„^e-rf ,!b till 1.832, or later, or un- the railroad time tables. t the vi.lage of Manayunk was founed. . Ybe ?a“P. near Germantown is on I here is a tradition that the streets lght of the famous, or infamous Queen of Manayunk were laid out by follow- Be8ervoir. It is about as near c?wPatbs d°wn the hill to the the Falls of the Schuylkill. This spit old r A similar ^orv is told of other has been marked by a granite memo- Bmt™WnR f?nably New York an<1 i-ho i B,ut the- actual formation of Sel„luUonereCte<1 bj lhe S0”S 0f lbe that fhf/i8 °rr W<-JUld 8eem t0 8how Now here we are-at the principal truthh tdltl°n 18 hsre founded on point between the Germantown en¬ campment and Merion Meeting. 1 r R'dge Road to Levering’s As far as history is concerned, the terry down over the rocky slopes ex¬ history of this crossing is a lick be¬ tended Green Lane, which in those tween the stories of the battle of the reality”^ haVe been a green laQe in Brandy wine and the massacre of Paoli wdl be remembered that the battle Levering’s Ferry extended from old ot the Brandywine took place on Sep¬ ; Roxboroughtownship to Lower Mer- tember 11th. The massacre of Paoli Pbi,fltd°TnhShip- Botb were then in on September 19th, or as it happened Philadelphia county. Montgomery about midnight, on the 20th * county was not cut off until 1784 ^ In the summer of 1777, the British lf we know the lay of the land, finding it impossible to reach Philadel- we may soon know what we are here phia by way of New Jersey, embarked at Staten Island, sailed down the At- We all know that we erected a mem¬ lantic Ocean to the Chesapeake Bav orial stone to mark the site of Wash¬ and up the Bay to Elk River, where ington s encampmenti Lower Merion theyjanded’ intending to march np September 14, 1777. We know that through Maryland, Delaware ana locality8onntba?r!fy encamPed that Chester county into Philadelphia. loca.ity on that day, and on the next Washington’s army left Philadel- t“wa,ds PaSli °‘d L“tast“ P.k& 'n^n118*' ^h, and crossing the Sehuy.kill at Market street, marched M?ZT°gt°a’‘Armj get to county h6 Darby Road and into Chester Up the old Meeting House I*no After some skirmishing, the two ^ Root Hollow Sad armies met on the battlefield of the Brandywine. The battle was indeci-

Le“° ta™ £“f"8‘°n’‘ AraV get to Ou September 12th, the Americans r Down Green Lane from the Ridge marched through Chester, thencl Z I uavby, and encamped near Market /eet bridge. Oa September 13th, they crossed the THE MANN FAMILY. Schuylkill bridge at sunrise’, turned to! the left to avoid the city, and proceed¬ Descendants! of John Mann Who Have Lived ed to the Falls of Schuylkill, and at 11 in Bucks and Montgomery Counties. a. m. reached the site of our former The following sketch of the Mann encampment at Germantown, where family is from the pen of Edward we encamped and put up our tents, Mathews, of Lausdale, the local histori¬ which we have been without for a an of Bucks and Montgomery counties, week. contributed to the Ambler Gazette: (See Lieutenant McMichael’s Journal) Charles Mann, of Horsham, has furn¬ The Schuylkill bridge was a ¬ ished the following account of his fam¬ rary bridge of boats, which had been ily and their lands. John Maun, Sr., built at the middle ferry, where the was his great-great-graudfather, who present Market street bridge stands. came to Horsham township and pur¬ chased the old family homestead in 1748. This temporary bridge is described in He possessed a farm in Warwick and Schaf & WestcoLt’s History of Philadel¬ another in Warmiuster, Bucks county, phia. and the homestead farm in Horsham, now Washington’s army encamped at occupied by Charles Mann, and the later Queen Lane on September 13th and Rex farm, in Upper Dublin. These four the morning of September 14th. They farms comprised 425 acres. For some had previously encamped on the same years previous to 1772 his sou, John site from August 1st to the 8th. They Mann, Jr., had occupied and conducted were then on the way from Crooked, the farm. This comprised the present Billet, now Hatboro, to White Marsh. Rex farm and also the properties of It was from White Marsh that the George Lenhart, David Lukeus, Henry army proceeded into Philadelphia, Houpt, Joseph M. Simmers, the Maple thence to Chester county. Glen store, the farm of J. H. Ringe, west The movements of Washington’s of the Welsh road, and also the farm of Thomas Gamble. The boundaries of the army in the neighborhood of Philadel¬ 150 acre tract were from the old Tyson or phia in the summer and early autumn present Button farm, on the southeast, of 1777 are exceedingly interesting. up aloug the west side of the Welsh road They are all over familiar ground. We to the old Dr. Jones, or present Hinder- wish there were a dozen Chapters in nacb place. Thence it extended across the old counties of Pennsylvania to | to and down by the old Lewis, or present mark all the historical spots. But, for Wilraer Atkinson farm, to the Button the present, we must content ourselves line again. with visiting the storied localities of After the turnpike wasopened through our own territory. from Jarrettown to the Butler road the And now we know what we are here original tract was divided and sub-divided. for. To visit the place where Wash¬ The present David Lukens property was ington’s army crossed from old Rox produced from either Samuel Mann or Thomas Kitts, and built by John Scotten, boi’ough township into Lower Merion, au elderly Friend, who probably ended in order to reach the Old Lancaster his days there. Then it passed into the Road, which would take up to the hands of Mathias Stinson and others to Chester valley. the present ownership. Washington had reason to believe The Lenhart property came off Stin¬ that Howe’s army was moving about son’s and the house and shops were built the valley. In fact, the movements of about I860 by the late Jacob W. Lenhart, tue two armies, ia the vicinity of Phil¬ and are now in possesion of his son, adelphia during this whole period, was George W. Lenhart. . a game of hide-and-seek. Howe always The farm of Mrs. E0*u Gamble and her expected to entrap Washington, and son Thomas was a tract of the Mann farm, Washington always knew how to out¬ purchased of the late Charles Teas, who wit him. erected the farm buildings. And one of the ways in which Wash¬ The 10 acres which have been in the ington outwitted Howe was by cross possession of the three Houp t brothers, ing the Schuylkill, here at Levering’s Levi, George and Henry, was built up by the first named about 1860, and probably Ferry and marching up into Merion. had been sold off the Teas tract. John Maun, Jr., was born July 23,1742. From, c <•>/?(. He married Elizabeth McLaughlin, of > ij Bucks county, in 1765. They were the parents of the following children : John, . born 1766 ; Mary, 1768 ; Margaret, 1769 ; 1 ■1 William, 1771 ; Anna, 1774 ; Elizabeth, 1 f ;• 1778; James Mitchell, 1779; Joel Kennedy, - 7, '* ? S ' % 1781; Sarah, 1784, and Samuel, 1789. Date, 9 John Mann, Jr., was a leading citizen and man of affairs in Upper Dublin at that time. He was collector of taxes in 99

Sfhe^b'h-Pany <^Be Fourth battalion, Philadelphia county, nnlitia, and was chosen captian of the same. He served in the Revolutionary war at Trenton, Germautown and other engagements iu the campaigu of 1777. inionq8 elejtudJa me'»berof the assembly in 1803, and had previously been appoint- en county commissioner in 1790, His death occurred November 7th, 1819. He and most of his family were buried at Abington Presbyterian church yard, of which church he had been senior elder »'». , J'le will of John Mann4o4s made iu lol >, making John Mann and Joel K Mann his executors. These sold to Sam- uel Maun in 1822 two tracts of 28 acres and of 47 acres, or 75 altogether. This bamuel Mann was unmarried and lived with his sisters, Elizabeth and Sarah. membered by Aged ‘Squire I. W. I here they passed most of their days till Wampole, of North Wales. ^elu \Sp^ei.of the farra and removed to Philadelphia. Samuel Mann sold a North Wales, May 10th, 1897. farm m 1847 to Amos S. Lukens, com¬ prising 69 acres. Also iu 1847 he sold a B. Witman Damblv. tarm to Thomas J. Kitts, comprising 90 Dear Sir: Reading the history of acres, and who the same year conveyed Towamencin township, published in to Joseph Rex, father of John M. Rex I the “Montgomery Transcript”, was Joseph Rex died in the spring 1883 and very interesting to me, who was born h's administrators were Amanda Rex : in the North corner of the township John M. Rex and George Rex. ’ eighty years ago, on the farm now own¬ Wi!,) re8'stered towards the close ed and occupied by Rev. Michael kVu Privileee to his wife, Eliza¬ Moyer. Having spent the first fifty beth, ot living in new end of my dwell¬ years of my life in the township, mam ing. An apprentice girl, Sidney Brown of the names and places mentioned are w^rntU>ned'J Also tvvo apprentice boys’ quite familiar to me. But I notice William Hendricks and George Buren. several errors which I would like, with ihe farm was divided into two equal !your permission, to correct. parts of 75 acres each. The lower one, The writer says that in the time of or the Rex farm, was willed to his son the Revolution, when General Wash¬ Samuel. The upper one was ordered to ington had his headquarters in thf be sold, but which Samuel Mann bought Wampole house, a Tory was hung on of the executors. The legacies were : To an apple tree in Lower Salford town son, John $1,067; to daughter, Mary Feu- ship, about 154 yards from the turnpike 4?Dn«V’.067; to daughter, Margaret Craven, j road. The distance from the turnpike |l,0b7; to son William,$1,067; todaughter to the place was more than 354 yards, Elizabeth Mann, $1,467; to son, .Tames I and within 200 feet of the township $80° to son, Joel, $800; to daughter, line on the south-east side of the Skip- Sarah Mann, $1,407- ® ’ pack creek. A man, who I always and Of these heirs John went to the nei^h- very often heard 9poken of as a deser¬ borhood of Doylestowu, where he m°ar- 1 ter from Washington’s Army, was hung r.ed Mary daughter of Benjamiu Snod- to the limb of a large walnut tree, the g'as®! & soldier of the Revolution. stump of which was frequently pointed ,r iafor S°t*’ BeuJ’a'nin, served iu the war out to me when a boy, by old men of "V812, iames Mitchell Maun also set- the neighborhood, once by Joseph Hen¬ ted at Doylestown. and from these dricks, the great-grandfather of Judge brothers have descended the Manns of A. S. Swartz, of Norristown. It is that vicinity. not likely that there was an apple tree The most distinguished son of the in the vicinity large enough on family was Joel Kennedy Mann, who set¬ J which to hang a cat. The land on tled on a farm in Cheltenham. He served I which the execution took place nevoi in the assembly from 1817 to 1820, was belonged to Abraham Nice, as the wai¬ State Senator from 1824 to 1829 and ter says. Amos Richards, J know, f!'T£a/°Uryea'? Cong'ess, from 1831 owned it long before Mr. Nice came tc to 1835, succeeding John B. Steringer the neighborhood and bought theHen- another son of Upper Dublin ^ i dricks farm. Richards built a frame house on il ' (a G-acre lot) and afterwards sold it tc-

. * fiy father, who owned it a long time, t is now owned and occupied by a man pby the name of Gasseh . che “Transcript” of March 12th. 7 LOCAL HISTORY. *1 issa- fogies—members of the Reformed ' hickon and from a stream arising a church worshiping there. ’1 couple of miles westward in W hitpam. In talking the matter over one da3 In 1733 Morris Morris bought mil , with my father, the line of whose land house and farm from the heirs of W il- was within 30 feet of the church, 1 liarn Manner. Morris had been born proposed to him that if he would give ! in Wales, Aug. 5, 1677. In the same a strip of ground and pay half the cost j year (1733) he verbally granted a halt of a suitable building I would pay the I interest in the property to his eldest other half and furnish the same for ■ son, Samuel Morris. In 1746 Samuel Sunday school purposes, which propo¬ \ Morris conveyed bv deed to his brother, sition was at once accepted, as he was H Daniel Morris, who died 111 I/06. In a friend of.the Sunday school, and sc I 1771 Joseph Morris bought the mil , the was I. I then had a neat brick build¬ H, dwelling and 94 acres, and placed his ing erected near thp church in which I son James in occupancy. This Joseph the Sunday school was kept many > Morris was not related to the prei ions years. It was the first in that part ol B owner, but was a son of the tliircl^ An- the county and which I entered as ? ■ thonv Morris. On June 23, lno, he teacher in my 17th year. Six years af¬ f sold the property to Joseph Oetwuer. I terwards I was elected superintendent, I The mill was demolished in 186/ py $yhich position I filled by being -an¬ K orders of Ann Jane Mercer, founder nually elected for a term of twenty- H of the Merger Home, after it had con¬ seven years, until I moved to my pres i' tinuouslv been in operation for upwards ent home in North Wales. KJ Of 175 years. The first Joseph Detwiler In the “Transcript” of the 12th ol in 1777 bought 13 acres lying m Whit- February 1897, the writer says, thal D pain of Morris Taylor. His will was the Dundore (9-acre) lot, extending in | made in 1786, leaving the mill and lit a narrow strip to the tollgate, in the I acres to his son Joseph. In 1796 the extreme east corner of the township, m second Joseph Detwiler added 20 acres was owned by Eliza Johnson from 1839 more, lying in Whitemarsh, by pur- to 1846. This is a mistake. It never El chase from George Rex. lhe mill had belonged to Eliza Johnson, which I I been rebuilt, in 1771 by Joseph Morris. know from the fact that in 1846 I_ sold . | Bv 1S41 the second Joseph Detwiler was the same to John Erb, as the assignee |: deceased, leaving a widow and children of Eli Johnson and wife. ( —Jacob, Benjamin, Ellis, George, Jos- Very respectfully, I eph, Catharine, wife of Daniel Beaver , I. W. WAMPOLE. j Mary, wife of George H. Spencer, and | Elizabeth, wife of Owen Smith. In j I the same year these heirs conveyed to B their brother, Jacob Detwiler, who in j 1842 conveyed to Owen Smith. He was 0 not prosperous, as in 1846 Sheriff Wells I sold his property to William Earnest I . who was the owner for the next E vears. In 1856 Abraham I ulmer, from j Dovlestown township, Bucks county, bought it, but was only a temporary l holder, selling the next year to Enos L. 1 Reiff a house, mill and eight acres, m I 1859 Jacob L. Reiff bought of his father H and held possession till 1871. Edwaid Bate/, ' /?../0l Plainly bought it the latter year 11 mill had then been shorn of all the at-

IJLtllt J f f tached lauds but 31 perches—n.c ll iau- »le between the roads—together with the from an English Quaker family that dwellings on the south corner of the cross loads. Ann Jane Mercer bought the earliel' ^ttlers of Mont- gomery township. In 1721 property in 1884 of Plumly, and the Joseph Ambler bought 90 acres*'of William null was kept running until about 1887. Morgan, situated on the Horsham road In 1888 C. William Bergner, owner of a rude east of Montgomery Square. ’ the splendid country seat a short dis- ^ome years ago this property was own- tance southwards, came into possession of the old mill site. The large stone S&SrifT^J°rberts- Edward Amb- he i te uithie farm of his lather in farmhouse on the west corner of the U68, and willed the same to his broth- *- cross roads is in Upper Dublin, as well er John m 1770. In 1794 John Ambler as a portion of the farm lands. Its conveyed the homestead to his son Ed- history is that of the mill, and it has \aid, who died there Jan. 1 1838 been in possession of the Detwiler fam¬ ily since 1775. The third Joseph Det- mubra" ATblm Was the son of Edward and Ann Ambler. He married Mary wiler died a few years ago, and the Johnson, of Quakertown, May 14 182? property has since been held by his heirs. daughter of Benjamin-uenjaini: and Abigail Johnson, of Richland. The 24 acres ISAAC AMBLER’S FARM—ANDREW AMBLER )y/Andrew Ambler in 1832 was The dwelling here is on the site of m the northern part of Ambler, where an old homestead of the last century. It is situated on the west side of the Beth- 9 ChS 0. Si'1""* 0™' b>’ lehem road, less than a mile north of r he town of Ambler was not named Ambler. The buildings stand upon cffi for Andrew Ambler, but from his wid¬ hi Iside rising steeply from the meadow j ow. bhe was a woman of much influ¬ below, through which flows a mil ’ ence and intelligence. After the great stream to join the Wissahickon. The accident at Sandy Run on July 4 1856 turnpike here crosses the stream amka •s le rendered much assistance to the ravine by a stone bridge. In the oldeiB wounded and the suffering. The rail time this was a tavern stand. The farn lies along the northwest borders of Up per Dublin, and slopes towards tin southeast and south. This territory wa 35 mi3£„prcviousl5' haJ l>ee" of course included within the paten REES DAVIS, THE MILLER. granted to William Harmer in 1684, and a part of the lands which came ’ inti In all probability Rees Davis, a Welsh¬ the possession of Daniel Morris in 1731 man, was the builder of the grist mill It is not certainly known when Harmei ’ later known as Haag’s, and "the time and Morris made their first improve¬ inav have been soon after 1718 In ments, but Harmer had built a fullim that year he yet lived in Whitemamh mill before 1727. In 1759 Tacy Morris* S A”, / h“’ executor of Daniel Morris, sold' to An-' ration of 196 acres m Upper Dublin plrew Brad is the mill and 24 acres. forms""??1-6 mil/ site adjacent Benjamin Davis, however, held the site /A, ;i nTins purchase was made from ot the dwelling and at least part of the I avid Davis, and the tract already had I a™ before and during the Revolution, in lir0- °VL ■ Her<: are tbe boundaries mlliam J. Buck says he was an inn¬ in DU. Beginning at corner of Wil keeper here from 1758 to 1772. He had lam Harmer; then southeast by same a son Isaac, who married Marv, daugh¬ 1-8 perches; northeast by Edward ter of Arthur Bradis. Burke 24o perches to corner of Thomas Bradis acquired a larger piece of 55 perch118 ’ norths by Siddons 128 acres in 1793 by purchase from the chil¬ perches; southwest by John Hughe dren of Daniel McVaugh, heirs of the (Gwynedd line) 145 perches to begin original Burke estate. In 1809 the ning Doubtless David Davis had not will ot Bradis conveyed to his daughter ThlWhir b0Ugllt of,Willia>n Harmt Mary Davis, this part of his estate! the Whitpains may also have had an interest in the tract. in 18o2 Mary Davis sold to Andrew Amber his farm. In 1833 Ambler In 1/18 Rees Davis sold off 88 acres to bought o9 acres additional of Arthur for iS^Thini,n£il, Stephen ^lelehoir Bradis, Jr., and Daniel Jones, execu- toi 4.44. This land Jay on the west side of the turnpike. The boundaries of iqoSi ^>eJ:er Bradis, who had died in this piece were: Bcdmiin.+ loot; so that Ambler came into posses¬ of John Hughes, being place w4icre ’!im! sion of about 83 acres, a small part of great Gwynedd road crosses the tovn- which was in Gwynedd. Ambler died line; southwest by Hughes’ land in 1869 His heirs mentioned were 132 perches to corner of William Har¬ Joseph M E. Ambler, James E. Ambler, mer; southeast by Harmer’s land 128 Edward H. Ambler, David J. Ambler perches; northeast 94 perches by Edward Lewis J. Ambler Evan J. Ambler and Andrew Ambler, Jr. In 1869 the pres¬ Burke to Gwynedd road; by courses of said road- 136 perches to beginning. ent owner, Isaac E. Ambler, came into This land bought by Melchoir covered possession of this portion of his father’s | the later Ambler farm. The old deed Fsays Tfiat it M'fl1 BWiWged to William sons VVlTnam, Jacob, John and Lewis Harmer, Zachariah Whitpain, John J and daughters Nancy, Catharine and Whitpain, Griffith Owen and Samuel [ Hannah. In 1795, after the death of j Morris. In 1735 Stephen Melchoir sold '' j his father, William Stanert bought the I to William Melchoir, his son. property. He was a miller, but remov- BENJAMIN DAVIS—REES DAVIS. |led to Germantown, so that in 1797 he A Welsh family named Davis were II sold to George Haag for £480. ; early settlers along the Bethlehem road, GEORGE HAAG. less than a mile north of Ambler. They ' George Haag was the son of Michael held land on both sides of this highway J Haag, a German. The latter came into up to the Gwynedd line, and including I a: possession of the plantation of Abraham I the site of Haag’s mill, the Ambler ■■ I1 Nauna, in Lower Gwynedd. This was farm and other properties in that vi- I & the later Fritz farm and other proper- I cinity. ? ties, recently occupied by Jacob C. Benjamin Davis, the innkeeper, ac- . H Rile. George Haag, the son, inherited quired his land from several sources, jj from his father in 1791, but later sold to , The name of his father was Itees Davis, § other parties. His will was made in who had acquired 100 acres before 1734, 1824, wherein mention is made of three i as he was assessed for that amount. 1 sons and three daughters. The latter I His will was made in 1738. , were the owners of the mill and a lot of WILL OF REES DAVIS. 10 acres until their death, a few years To his youngest son, Issachar, 20 acres j ago, and in 1897 the property was yet i—“part of tract I now live on, to be held by their heirs. William Acuff was : laid out for him from the mill along ; a brother-in-law of George Haag. The f the great road to Edward Burke’s line.” stone tenant house fronting the turn¬ His mother was to bind him to a suit¬ pike, near the old Haag house, was able trade. ‘‘To eldest son, Benjamin, erected in 1808. the remainder of my land, comprising FORMER WEISS FARM. £ 95 acres, together with half of grist : This is a little property of 32 acres, mill.” His widow, Margaret, was to j now belonging to John Ringe, Jr. The have the other half. ‘‘To daughter stone house is at corner of the turnpike Jane, £30. To son-in-law, James Rob¬ and a new road, connecting with Sus¬ inson, and wife, Mary, with nine chil¬ quehanna street. This farm adjoins the dren, 11 shillings. ’ ’ Haag property on its northerly side. The overseers of the will were Ellis It has been a separate estate for a long | Roberts, John Humphrey, Robert Rob- time—perhaps since 1762. At the lat- , erts, John Jones and John Evans. The 1 ter date Benjamin Davis sold 32% will was registered April 1, 1739. ' acres in Upper Dublin to John Snyder, It appears by the will that the later whose will of the same year conveyed Haag mill was" in existence in the time it to his son, George Adam Snyder. of Rees Davis, and had probably been The Snyders held several tracts along built by him prior to 1734. It will be the Gwynedd border and in both town¬ I seen that in 1738 a house existed on the ships. Their homestead was at the byroad running over the hill eastward Gillin place. They also held the Young to the turnpike at the Dunlcer church, farm. The will of George Adam Snyder and that there Issachar Davis lived,‘‘on wras made in 1792. He had four sons, the road laid out from the mill to the Adam, Jacob, George and John. These great road to Edward Burke’s line,” Snyder heirs conveyed a house and 88 and to which was attached 20 acres. 1 acres in 1801 to Baltzer Earnest, Ed¬ The residue of the land of Rees Davis, ward Burke and John Burke, and in comprising the much larger piece of 95 j 1802 John Burke obtained the 32% (acres, came by his will to the possession 1 acres. This he owned for a long time, of his son Benjamin. This, doubtless, or till 1834, when he sold to Edward comprised the present Ambler farm, and Burke for 82000. Another generation probably land on the opposite side of passed away and after the death of Ed¬ the road. ward Burke hisVwidow, Ann, in 1874 LEWIS STANERT. sold to Emanuel C. Weiss. The next Lewis Stanert was a miller and owned transfer was made in 1888, when Weiss the Haag mill for 40 years, from 1755 to sold to John Ringe, Jr., and removed about 1795, including the Revolutionary to Whitemarsli, where he bought a farm period. In 1770 Lewis Rynear, a ten¬ if near Broad Axe. E. M. ant, was assessed for the mill, 80 acres of land, two horses and eight cows. The records do not say when the mill From,

* .. . .. THE MARKLEY GRAVEYARD. giowth, is an old family cemeterv. It was the burial place of the Johnsons and the An Old Burial Plot in Perkiomen Dimmings. This spot was selected, as near, Township. ly all old family cemeteries are, because of its worthlessness as farm land. Some About 50 yards up north from the road strong, sharp depressions are in the ground I leatiiug from Skippackville to Schwenks- , about it, and it had at one time around ville, and perhaps mid-way between the it a well-plastered wall, and the best stone two towns, and but a hundred or more to be found in the neighborhood, was used paces back, from “ Markley’s school ; in the erection, but time and vandalism house,” a creditable looking building of have obliterated everything that the de- brick, without any pretensions, ample ; ceased who are interred there, had placed play grounds, shaded, &c. This place is about their final abode. Some of the trees : in keeping, as other school houses through have quite a diameter, and some are quite i the German districts are, with the ways small. Some of the trees in their growth and habits of the German people, who are upset the walls. The place enclosed was proverbial for their industry and simpli¬ f 30x40 feet, and we suppose from appear¬ city, and eschewing anything in their bus¬ ance there are 17 graves there, only one iness superfluous ; and hence are likely to tomb stone remaining now, and it has have more wherewith to meet the necessi¬ ties of life. this inscription : “ Jacob Johnson,.born Feb. 14th, 1754, died June 6th, 1816.” We are led into this train of thought by Perhaps the young reader will care to the lavish expenditure, that cannot be be refreshed in his memory, of the geog¬ well boine, at other school houses that we wot of. raphy of Marlborough township, which is at the nearest point 20 miles from Norris¬ This grave ground, enclosed with some town, northwest, and has had an interest¬ straggling wire fence, is, in size, 30x20 feet, ing history on account of its powder and and has over a dozen interments. Only linseed oil mills, and the recent heavy ex¬ two have marble head stones. The others plosion w’as at a mill at the extreme south¬ have large, flat stones. Several have init¬ western part of the township. Sumney- ials, or at least 2 letters, and, reader, they town, one of the oldest towns in the coun¬ are hard to get at what they are, whether ty, is in the southern part of the township. a “J.”ora “ G.” an “ S.” or an 11 L.” Green Lane is a strong mile above this The inscriptions on the marble stones are place. intelligible enough, though nearly three- General William Schall, who spent the tourths of a century of time has passed last thirty or more years of his life in Nor¬ over them. On one 6tone it reads: “Philip ristown, who resided on Main street, near Markley, bom Nov. 4th, 1773, died Feb’y Mill, and who has sons here in active, 6th, 1845. aged 71 years, 3 mos. 2 d.” prominent business, had a large forge at “Ann Markley, died Sept. 19th, 1829, Green Lane and charcoal furnace and aged 47 years and a few days.” These two manufactured stove plates, the kind used people were evidently man and wife, who in the wood stoves of years ago. the others are we could not learn. Green Lane borough came out of the Trees are growing around in this place, territory of Marlborough, The township and it has a forlorn and forsaken look. has a length of five miles and a width of Two small runs of water'form a confluence just below the ground, and the place is on three miles, and three pikes come together at Green Lane. a good elevation, and the ground and lo-i cation unsuitable for farm culture, and Sumneytown had a newspaper many years ago, published by Enos Benner, call¬ does not interfere with the farm tillage of the property it is on. ed the Bauren Freund, but in 1858 was merged into a paper published at Penns- Our manuscript having got mislaid we burg. A paper called the Der Advocat will take the reader into a township that was published there years before, and was we have not as yet asked attention to. the first German weekly paper in the About one mile northeast of the small borough of Green Lane, in the township county- W m. E. Corson. of Marlborough, in a very secluded place, among a cluster of trees and useless under- ( p - 'DanieT ana ' Mary' i'ledt, a Newjersey lady. Here he remained four years. In 1790 he accepted a call to the churches {of Germantown and Frankford, where From ' he remained twelve years, preaching in both the English and the German languages. But few of the Reformed & preachers of that day could do that. Whilst living in Germantown, he came ' into intimate personal contact with a Date, / /0t most notable individual—no less a person¬ age than George Washington, then serv- J iug his second term as President of the Uuited States. The year 1793 was that 'pLR CJ f tJtll J of the memorable pestilence of yellow THE HERMAN FAMILY AND fever in Philadelphia. Congress fled to THEIR Lancaster. The seat of the national GENEALOGY. | government was yet in the Quaker City. “As long as a Welsh pedigred” has President Washington retreated to Ger-! become a proverb, because that/people mantown during part of this troublous delight in tracing a long line of apcestry. time, and during which the house of Dr. Many English families, here as well as Herman was his home. It is related that abroad, proudly trace their stock for Washington was his intimate friend, more than 800 years back to the days of and who was wont to take the Reformed William the Conqueror. So also the preacher into his confidence concerning better class of German families have many public affairs. pedigrees of many centuries. That of In 1802, Dr. Herman removed from the Herman family is an example of this, Germantown, having been called to i having a family tree reaching into the the pastorate of the Falkner’s Swamp, ■ far away past for more than 400 years, or Pottstown and Vincent churches. At some time soon after 1400. Such a fam¬ his house at the Swamp, in Montgomery ily tree is in the possession of Dr. Am¬ county, he established a training school brose C. Herman, of Lansdale, who has for preachers. Here his own five sons furnished the writer with many interest¬ and eight other youug men passed under ing particulars concerning his family. his instructions, and afterwards became That the Herman family was eminent, useful ministers of the Gospel. They, and noble, and wealthy in the old laud, served the churches ofTrappe, Coventry, is shown by the fact that they had a coat Pikeland, Rice, Berger, Spiez, Amity, of arms, which Dr. Herman proudly ex¬ Royers and Oley. It is indeed rare for hibits. That one of the ancestral line one preacher to have five of his own sons performed heroic deeds for his country, enter the ministry. This eminent man i is evidenced by the statue which com¬ of God was a preacher for sixty years, memorate his name now standing in a during which time he baptized 8,555 per¬ German city, and of which he has a sons, confirmed 4,600, married 2,600 photograph. He was called the “ Liber¬ couples, attended the funerals of 2,280, ator” from his successful efforts in be¬ and preached 10,000 times. During his old half of his country’s freedom. age he was afflicted with cataract, entailing loss of sight. Worn out with age and Lebrecht Frederick Herman. multifarious labors, the end of his long It is of the American branch of the and useful life came to a close at Boyer- family that this sketch will relate. They town, January 30, 1848, at the age of were not among the earlier Germau im¬ over 86 years. His interment was in the migrants. The first that crossed the sea cemetery at Pottstown. was a Reformed clergyman, Rev. Le¬ Below is an outline of the career of the brecht Frederick Herman, who became five sous of the first Dr. Herman : eminent in his profession, was multifari¬ Charles Gebler Herman. ous in useful labors, and won the title of Doctor of Divinity from the authorities Born in Germantown, October 24, of his church. He was born in Guster, 1792 ;died in Maxatawney, Berks county, in Anhalt-Cotheu, October 9, 1761, the August 4, 1863. Ordained in 1810. son of Frederick Gotlieb Herman. He Lived at Kutztown, where he was pastor was highly educated, spending six years from 1810 to 1861. He was an author, at the Orphan House, in Halle, and then and published works in German. took a three years’ course in theology in Frederick A. Herman. the University of that city. He finished Born in Germantown, in 1795. Died his studies in 1782, and began preaching at Turbotville, October 30, 1849. Or¬ in Bremen. In 1786 he was sent to dained in 1815, and was pastor at New America by the Reformed Synod of Hol¬ Holland, Lancaster county. land. He landed in Philadelphia and soon after his arrival he was appointed Augustus L. Herman. pastor of the congregations of Easton, Born at Falkner’s Swamp, in 1804' Plainfield, Dryland and Greenwich. He Died in Reading, December 31, 1872- married Mary Johann, daughter of Ordaiued in 1823. A pastor in Berks county from 1823 to 1872. '■ '

Reuben T. Herman. Born at Ealkner’s Swamp. Died in Norristown. Ordained 1829. Pastor at Baumstown from 1829 to 1836. Lewis C. Herman. a(.Bprn,.i“ N®w Hanover, in 1813. Died 18^arlple; July 18. 1884. Ordained in 18t>3. Pastor at Friedeusberg, Berks county, and Pottstown. K

faSer ofCDrrlf HermaD- grand- tner ot Dr. A. C. Herman, of Lansdale preaehed at DeLongs, St. Peter’s, Dunk-

Merlst<»" *t 12 cornerstone Sj,"6 Ke““* iledications and organffe/ ave tions. He married Esther, daughterV ;PKC°b n b,aS8am?n, January 14 1815 rhey had six children, three sons and three daughters. He died August 4 1863 after a busy and useful career in the 71st year of his age. ’ 10 tlle His son, Rev. Alfred Jaspar Herman was born in Maxatawney, Berks countv’ iTui; “■ ™ eduS ordained to the Reformed“?0i”°rJ *'h“ Dedicated Saturday by the Ftefs“r,eP%'"h th“ H„? beoerg4 and’wfand VVessnesvi beU u]gSVilIee churches’ Weissen- Re j married Isabella Grim. His three chtl Historical Society. ! Beck W of6 Heck? W,fe Dr‘ R^htrd H Herman i Dr- A™brose C. nerman, of Lansdale, and Geora-e O Herman, of Berks county ® •oLXf ™ bo,H„9T.;: sns»to MR. HOBSON’S ORATION S™ * W eolered Kut/to.o School, where he studied two years At *he a£e ,of fourteen he entered the sopho Response of President Fornance to College Lanf fP™ok.lin and Marshall Presentation Address by W. XV. Potts—Music by School Pupils—Other

Observances on tbe Occasion.

I gan at Tontonlopton, RBerks med,Cal county, practice where behe’ [n 1890 T* y,!arS’ oomingyt’0 Lansdale There was a large attendance at the known ’as f he TWdl a“d favorably Known as a practitioner who keeps celebration, those present including mem¬ bers of the Society, residents of the vi- 1 in'hifnmf the advaDce °f knowledge in his profession and was not afraid to 2 cinity, pupils of the Lafayette School, with their teachers. Miss Sybilla Staley Si. oto7an£S antitoxin0?S °inf cdiphtheria,?re' ~when ttS and Miss Lottie Kerper. About fifty of the pupils were present, and they rea- j adoptf’it “ft c®“servative- refused to adopt it. His wife was Alice, daughter jdered very effectively at various points I of Thomas C. Brenig, 0f B^enigsville in the program the following patriotic 'selections: “Our Own Fair Land For- ' dftftoSS‘nd wh0 ever,’’ “Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean.” and “America.” This was a very pleas- j inS feature of the exercises and a hearty try a minister of the Gospel for each vote of thanks was given to teachers and generation for the last 200 years until I Pupils, as well as to Mr. Kirkner for the the present one was an exception tE use of the pavilion, Mr. Boyer for the use biothei of the immigrant to America of seats from the hall, and to the speakers was a philologist and went to rX J for their addresses. but was never more heard of. Their sis’ A picturesque scene was presented at ter married a step-uncle, Henry Herman' the monument, to which the audience pro¬ Augustine Herman, a cousin of Dr A ceeded after the first-named selection had , r.raa!l- 'f Prmcipal of the highest been rendered, four or five hundred per¬ Sch.°o1. “ Wolfen, in Anhalt, German? sons being grouped around it. Two of the and with whom Dr. Herman’ bold? pupils were selected to unveil the monu- respondence, and who was visited by his father while on an European trip. 7

E. AT

W. V "

ment, Misses Lillian Kerper and Carrie enjoy, it is well to consider" that our en¬ Beale, each, about twelve years of age. joyment of those blessings tvas secured As Mr. Potts concluded his address, and largely through the help of the people of Mr. Fornance rose to accept, they very another nation, the people of' France. gracefully removed the “Stars and And in honor of that brave Frenchman, Stripes,” being the flag recently pur¬ Lafayette, who helped us most of all, we chased for Historical Hall, Norristown, have met here to-day. Having been pre¬ which draped the monument. viously wounded at the battle of Brandy¬ On returning to the pavilion for the wine and afterwards nursed back to rest of the exercises, Ellwood Roberts health by the Moravians at Bethlehem, made an earnest appeal for funds to aid in paying for the monument. The collec¬ Lafayette entered into the camp with Washington at Valley Forge. From tion was taken by Messrs. George Corson, there, in May, 1778, in command of a Plymouth Meeting; Preas Styer and W. body of men, he marched to Barren Hill H. Weber, Norristown, and it netted and encamped here for the purpose of $23.48, a very good showing. The bene¬ watching the British at Philadelphia, and diction was pronounced by Rev. J. B. in order to intercept the predatory bands Focht, of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church. sent out from there. In Irving's “Life of The fine weather contributed greatly to Washington,” this camp is mentioned as the success of the occasion. In the course of the proceedings an in¬ follows: “The Marquis crossed the Schuylkill on vitation to attend the Bicentennial of the the ISth of May and proceeded to Barren Settlement of Gwynedd, to be held at Hill, about half way between Washing¬ Friends’ meeting-house, in that township, on Tuesday, May 31, was read and unani¬ ton’s camp and Philadelphia, and about eleven miles from both. Here he planted mously accepted. his cannon facing the south, with rocky Several valuable donations, including ridges bordering the Schuylkill on his bullets from the battlefield of Gettysburg; right; woods and stone houses on his left. old papers by Henry M. Hellings; a badge Behind him the roads forked, one branch worn at the reception to Lafayette in leading to Matson'6 ford of the Schuyl¬ 1824, by Miss Kate Hellings, and other ar¬ kill, the other by Swedes’ ford to Valley ticles were received by the Society. Forge. In advance of his left wing was A rousing vote of thanks was given to McLane’s company and about 50 Indians. Mr. Henry M. Hellings for his donation of Pickets and vldettes were placed in the the stone which composes the monument, woods to the south, through which the and the permission to erect it upon his roads led to Philadelphia, and a body of land. The suggestion was made at the 600 Philadelphia militia were stationed to meeting that the citizens of the neigh¬ keep watch on the roads leading to borhood assume the care of the memorial Whitemarsh” stone and preserve it from injury or de¬ Through the failure of the militia to facement in any way. guard the road, he was nearly surprised In calling the meeting to order, Presi¬ and almost captured. dent Fornance said: He learned that a large force of British The Historical Society of Montgomery moved out to Philadelphia to capture him. County holds this meeting in honor of the He effected his escape and, crossing at memory of Lafayette. One hundred and Matson's ford, got safely back to Valley twenty years ago, with his little army of Forge.__,_-T 2100 men and accompanied by 50 friendly To commemorate that event we mee Indians, Lafayette encamped at this place. here to-day and dedicate this memorial A full account will be told you to-day of stone. The committee of the Historical his encampment, its object and its results. Society having it in charge have com¬ To keep alive in this community the re¬ pleted their work and turn it over to the membrance of that event we have called custody of the Historical Society. this meeting and we will to-day dedicate L ^ If ^-.4* 4 L f CJrtolo + TT T a memorial stone erected in his honor. it, and thank the committee for the suc¬ The Historical Society seeks to encour¬ cessful termination of their pleasant task. age an interest in the history of the coun¬ In the custody of the Historical Society, S ty. One object of the Society is to secure j and with the help of the patriotic citizens the instruction of the children in local of Montgomery county, this memorial history. An effort is being made in that stone will be maintained as a lasting direction through the public schools of the token of our grateful memory and respect county. Having that purpose in mind, for the chivalrous Frenchman Marquis de the children have been asked to partici¬ , la Fayette. pate in this meeting. Not only that they MR. HOBSON’S ADDRESS. may enliven the meeting with their music, We are met on this beautiful Spring after- but also that they may receive an object non, surrounded by fertile fields, clothed in a ! garment' of green, in the vicinity of largo and, lesson connected with the event we meet [| prosperous cities, of world renown for tlielr to celebrate. commerce and their philanthropy, in tho Iij accepting the stone Mr. Fornance midst of the great Keystone Commonwealth, I within whose borders have heroes starved, said: jj and fought and died in freedom’s holy cause; In these exciting times, when we are 'j citizens of the largest and truest Republic engaged in a war with Spain to secure for j upon which the sun of heaven shines; re¬ joicing in our present attainments; proud of Cuba the blessings of liberty which we our illustrious history. We throw aside tha mpressing duties of the present^ For the time ' \ 'WKm- 107

urged himTcTremain. 'Tte^^Irned them' all I | for toil and danger in p. distant land, and ait a&til $£X r>,i„,T,“;«;tw„" i almost hopeless cause. His family pleads in ' from a iWioiJlre need, camer?me to our assistanceassistanco vain. His king refuses liis assent. The Eng- i Die to an,d’ and from a strange peo- i l*sh Embassador remonstrates. The French P. ' fisht our battle for us and so link government, issues orders to detain the vessel grea™ nation w“e With this p?opls and tblb purchased by Lafayette and for the arrest of tO h^ , loiV We are not adding anything his person. His vessel eludes the order and I „ Srfr,e &y what vve d0 and say here thi! is removed to Spain The order of arrest is 1 onrt a^?D^ tbls wreath of our affection • executed hut by stratagem he escaes to the 1 d bv h^n m3l"bra,1Ce at tbiS spot hallow Spanish port and is safe on the ocean wave. the^scene oTonf o’f ^ tWs hfsto, ic ground, How it must grieve the noble Spaniard to-day I that its ports ever sent a vessel on a noble 1 8““lve“,andrdofng mission of liberty. No ships bent on such task could leave to-day. But even at sea ! !, two British warships chased him, but his EBhSJk?™^ eng vessel was as illusive as is the Spanish arf^r«SftSSKE-»sssz squadron of to-day. After a stormy voyage •feohi’ has- aIr<;a(i>' been written. Nothin" our of two months he landed at Georgetown, D. r feeble voices can utter will add to his pfrfect • C., and took his journey to Philadelphia to meet the Continental Congress. • He was 19, tall, slim, with red hair, not . able to speak English except in a. brokon . manner, he was received coldly by Congress, l but their hearts were soon won by his asking Si | the privilege of joining the American army on two conditions: first, that he might serve Bethel^an^of ^Ph tbe 3\0ne- Tbe S j as a volunteer without command; second, that he would receive no pay for his services! ! On July 21, 1777, his services were accepted j and Congress gave him the rank of a Major I.General of the United States. Next day he iSHlW ; met the noble Washington, who was com¬ pletely won by his engaging character. Thu3 began a friendship of these two great men that continued with singular devotion till erected. EveryHr* memorial “• wss stone ;» is h:zsneaking death. in sublime voice the same thought “Faith ine siory oi ms military genius, what he ful and successful effort must not die ” If aid ana how well he fought here and else¬ cryout.” h8ld their peace “‘he stones win where will be more eloquentlv told by the principal orator of the day. His wounds at Cauntv ?iStri0oriCal Society °f Montgomery Brandywine received while fearlessly trying ^a“ty is doing a grand work in markin" to rally some retreating soldiers, won for him with appropriate monument the many his- an approving report by Washington to Con¬ f/lcpS s T’lthin ‘he confines of our conn- gress. Congress in turn responded by giv¬ 1 Rces however are but the skeletons ing him command of a divfsion'of troops. They are rememberd and deserve to be 1 In the language of another “Just 20 years membered only on account of what man has old, an enthusiastic friend of popular liberty there accomplished. Man and his achieve- in whose battle he had just poured out his ®ABt® are the fiesh and blood that give life own blood, eager for honorable fame, the snotsbtlBunkerd J“m?rtaIity to the historic spots. Bunker Hill is Bunker Hill because acknowledged favorite and friend of the greatest of patriot generals on earth, he was America's undisciplined farmers there struck already honored with rank and authority of m-T w,!b;rty “d human enfranchise- tho foremost worth. He has won a place nunt. A alley Forge means that Gen. George among the world’s Immortals, and yet a boy Washington and Ills band of patriots could in vears. What his friends had counted folly endure any hardship or privation for the hcly and the state disloyalty, he had justified as cause in which they had enlisted. Appomat- valor and glorified with fame.” I m?£nf Grant. Winchester means Sheri- j dan. W aterloo means Wellington. Trafalgar His masterly withdrawal frpm this place and his heroic conduct at the Battle of Mon¬ means Nelson. Mobile means Farragut Ma¬ nila means Dewey. Barren Hill means the mouth bvon for him special votes of gratitude Marquis de Lafayette. means me by Congress. When France declared war against England 1 Lafayette was born September 6 17^7 ahnni 1200 miles south of Baris?; France ' When“ in February, 1778, Lafayette, by advice of Washington, returned to France for consul¬ =fl°fmat faIlant father died upon the tation with the king His services there prov¬ rtw 6fli d -01 Mhlden- At 13 years his mother died, leaving him a great fortune. At 16 ed of great value to the American cause He created much enthusiasm amongst the ’ peo¬ ya?‘,'s hef ma.tried the daughter of one of the noblest families of France. At 19 years he ple and persuaded the government to an un¬ qualified support of the war. For six months was captain of dragoons in the garrison of he remained in France. Franklin, in March j Me„z. It was there, at an entertainment giv- en by the Commandant, a relative, In honor 1779, wrote, “The Marquis de Lafayette, who’ of a visit by the brother of England’s king during his stay in France has been extreme¬ lie learned of an incident of intelligence re- ly zealous on all occasions, returns again to fight for us. He is infinitely esteemed and ceived that morning by the English Prince beloved here, and I am persuaded will do ^°?aL?nd0nVtbat the Congress of Rebels at ■ everythiug In his power to merit a continu- Philadelphia had issued a Declaration of In¬ S ance of the same affection from America ” dependence. “At the first news of this quar¬ On his return Congress passed a special rel my heart was enrolled in it,” said Lafay¬ resolution of welcome and placed him in ette, many years afterwards. Before he command of the defences of Virginia He slumbered upon bis pillow he had resolved took an active part in the subsequent mili to devote his life and fortune to the cause ' tary events and was an active participant in The self devotion of Lafayette was twofoid, the siege and surrender of Yorktowu til st to the people maintaining so unequal a The war brought to a successful' close struggle for national existence and against he returned to France, where the French foreign oppression; secondly and chiefly to 1 Minister of War announced to him that he the principles enunciated In their immortal should hold the same rank in the Fren-n Declaration, “All men are created free and army that he had held in America and th'nr equal, and endowed by their Creator with his commission should date from tho L , certain inalienable rights among which are render of Cornwallis. c SUI" life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness ” His subsequent services to his native lenri His resolve was firmly fixed. Nothing could were hardly less important and glorious t " tempt him! from his purpose. Youth health those rendered to us. s Ulau j fortune, tje king’s favor, domestic felicity / -> 8

■Time lor bids to dwell upon these at length, vseorge "W.'1 Bartholomew, William suffice It to say, he served as a member of Potts, Mrs. A. Conrad Jones, Hou. I the Assembly of Notables iri 1787 and for the Pennypaeker, Dr. W. H. Reed and | next five years remained ono of the most conspicuous actors as he was the wisost and Roberts. l most generous^ in thel Jigfficiuipua career of The committee divided, the first three ' the French Revolution! He was the only1 attending to the Barren Hill Memorial, the man in France in whom all—king, iourtier and people—had perfect faith. I-le was known others to that at Pennypacker’s Mill. to be "absolutely incorruptible, a patriot The Barren Hill stone is of white mar¬ whom neither fear nor favor could move ble in the form of an A tent. It stands on from his simple duty. In 1789 he brought forward a declaration of the rights of man, a substantial foundation, and is handsome¬ modeled closely after the Declaration of In -, ly lettered. dependence, which was enthusiastically The following are the inscriptions on the adopted by the National Assembly. Lafay¬ ette was appointed Commander-In-Chief of stone: the National Guard of 300,000 citizens. For On the ground in the rear of thiee years he held this dangerous Post this stone the American troops under through a period of popular frenzy. He Lafayette were encamped from the bravely resisted the maddened populace when 18th to the 24th of May, 1778. they sought to murder the king. He saved the Queen from brutal murder in October, 1789, and stood between the raging mob ana About three hundred yards trembling men and women whose blood the southwest of this place were encamp¬ populace clamored to drink. He many times ed the Indians "Who were a part risked his life to rescue others. He advo¬ of Lafayette’s command. cated in the Assembly the principles of a true republic, religious toleration, trial by jury, freedom of the press, abolition of titles ana Erected by the Historical Society of Mont¬ the destruction of all special privileges to gomery County, Pa., 1898. any class. , ' When the furv of the Revolution culmi¬ nated in the march of the King and Queen to the scaffold, Lafayette quit France to the ! neutral province of Belgium. Here he was I made a prisoner and sent to Austria, where | he was kept for five years in unwholesome 1 prisons. In 1797 he was released by Napol¬ eon. He retunied to France when Napoleon was in his gloiy. But nothing could change his devotion to Republicanism. In 1803 he votod against the life consulate of the Great Napoleon and later he voted against making him Emperor. In 1824 upon the especial invitation of the President and Congress of the United States he revisited this country as its guest, ana his reception was the greatest ovation ever given by a free people. Congress voted him a gift of $200,000 and a township of land Old vet¬ erans and comrades in arms fainted from emotion at seeing their old commander. Upon his return to France he was still active in public affairs again taking command of the National Guard. He died at Paris, May 20, 18o4, full of years and of honor. One of his biographers has beautifully said Lafayette In some sense was tne of happy fortunes—horn of distinguished pa¬ rentage. heir to an affluent estate and an early favorite among the most important peo¬ ple of Uis country. But be owed bis high place in the esteem of men chiefly to his own worthy achievements. He was a purest ideals, living always for some pm ctple that appealed to his nodest self. He was from first to last a lover of his fellow men, an earnest worker for the renovation society, a statesman whose motixe no one in a time of unusual distrust, suspected A'cit izen who did his duty without hesiUtion or

fear chivalrous to his enemies, unwavering - in friendship and possesed of a liumanRy that embraced the whole world In 1:te sympathy. He stood next to Washington in the affection of the American people, and he retained respect and confidence of thepefP^ of.his native France longer than al ? °the-Tvpc j'“d of that nation of great enthusiasm. He loved the favor of the people. but he love.d :mo I- irirvx fS S Hi

laureled leadors of liberty of man. THE MONUMENT. Date, The monument, as well as that at Pen nypacker’s Mill, Schwenksville, was erect¬ ed under the supervision oE a memorla committee of the Society, consisting c 121

Chose our officers, and lay" there until the 7th of July, when we got orders to march next morning. When on parade our 1st lieut, came and told us EXTRACTS FROM THE DIARX OP he would be glad if wre would excuse AAROM WRIGHT, WHO SERVED EOR A TEAR. him from going, which we .refused ; but, on consideration, we concluded it Ihe trouble with the average was better to consent; after which he historian is that he is so much im¬ said he would go; but we Said, ‘you pressed with the dignity of his task shall not command us, for he whose that he forgets to be human, and, worse mind can change in an hour, is not fit ij still> he forgets that his readers are to command in the field where liberty human. Was it not Carlyle who is contended for.’ In the evening wre wanted a history that would tell what chose a private in his place. The next I what sort of trousers a historical morning we marched on board the II personage wore ? The average reader boats with as good spirits as ever men f wants to know just that. It is in I did. books that don’t pretend to be his-1 “July 13—We reached Reading, I tories that one finds the things! Where we got our regimentals, knap¬ j that make history. The Paston' sacks and blankets.” ' letters were not written for history, Of course, all that is changed now. | while Rvmer’s Foedera were compiled but it makes a man who has served as history, yet the letters are as good as long even in the^Natioual Guard think the Foedera, in their way, and perhaps of old days, when he went on duty j they explain things in the Foedera. without knowing when he would get! The diaries of the people who carried anything to eat or wear. the muskets in the Revolution and the “July 20—We left Reading, after a* civil war, the letters home of the men great dispute about money. Some of behind the guns are going to make the us got ten and some fifteen shillings ; history of this county. In fact, they’re marched six miles, where we encamped making it now, and they’re making it near a run and got half a loaf of bread all the better for not “assuming the and half a pound of meat each man.” dignity of history,” After a time they went on to Bethle¬ Aaron Wright, a young Penn¬ hem, where the Moravians had their sylvanian, enlisted in a company of chief settlement; and thence in time riflemen in June, 1775, and with his they marched along to the Hudson, comrades marched to Boston, where he which they crossed at New Windsor. ! served as a coast guard for a time. He On Aug. 26 they crossed the Connecti¬ kept a diary. Probably he didn’t have cut near Hartford. “After marching time to put down the moral reflections ten miles we catched a tory ; took him that as a rule seem bound to come two miles and tarred and feathered him when a man keeps a diary ; perhaps, tor saying he was sorry to see so many too, he w^as too busy to put down the men going to fight the Kiug, and that immoral reflections that Mr. Pepys put he had sent letters to Gage’s camp. He down. At all events, his diary tells its story, and tells it well, so it ought said his name was Joseph Brooks. [ to be considered a good diary. “Aug. 30—Reached Dudley, Mass., It began on June 29, 1775, and ended where a man was found guilty of steal¬ July 4, 1776, when he was discharged, ing ; said his name was Benjamin Johnson ; but it was Patrick. and*thirty-six years ago it had what circulation the “Historical Magazine of “Aug. 31—Marched to Weston and that city could give to it, which wasn’t staid all night ; thence through Farrn- I much. Here, now is the diary : ingham, Watertown, to Cambridge, “Northumberland, Pa., June 29, where a college was kept, called Stough¬ 1775.—We were sworn to be true and ton Hall ; thence to Prospect Hill. faithful soldiers in the Continental “Sept 10—Great commotion on Pros¬ army, under the directions of the Right pect Hill among the riflemen, caused Honourable Congress. After this we by the unreasonable confinement of a AD"|eant; by the Adj iv^tnt of Thomp¬ “ Oct* 18—The regulars made a great son’s regiment,, and before it was over parade and beating of drums, but durst thirty-four men were confined, and two not come out. A parcel of our Ser¬ of them put in irons at Cambridge. geants, with the sergeant-major, got On the 12th they were tried by a court- confined for their drunken behavior martial, and one was whipped seven¬ and 2 of the sergeants went into the teen lashes for stealing and drummed main guard house.” A week later the out of camp.” t riflemen started for Portsmouth, where Life at Prospect Hill was not wholly they did coast guard duty for a month, unexciting, even though the men didn’t until Dec. 1st. They celebrated their get a chance at /m enemy every day. return by an accident of the kind they John Kelly shot a friend for stabbing had had before. This is the way Aaron him, and a day after a musketman ac¬ Wright describes it: cidentally killed another one. Theu “ Dec.—1 John M’Murtry, in Capt. on Sept. 20 “the Red Coats fired eight Chambers’ company, killed John Penn bums and four cannon at our people on by his rifle^oing off when, as he says, Plowed Hill, which did us no other he did not Know it was loaded.” [It hurt than kill one steer that was in a will be noticed that even 120 years ago pasture 300 yards from Plowed Hill. the same ignorance existed in regard to “Sept. 21—The Red Coated Phillis- firearms as exists now.] “ He was tines fired 81 cannon aud 3 bums at the I cleaning the lock and put it on and Sons of Liberty, who were building a primed it to see how she would fire. It parapet, to secure themselves against shot through a double partition of inch the diabolical rage of the parliament¬ boards aud through one board of a ary tools on Bunker Hill. All they berth, and went in at Penn’s breast did was to wound two men, which and out at his back, and left its marks happened by a stone which a bullet hit, on the chimney, Penn put his hand and drove it against a man’s leg but on his breast, and as ;he turned around did not break the bone; the other a sod fell down dead, aud never spoke more. raised by the same ball, struck a man “Dec. 10—In the morning the drums on the thigh and broke it. In the in Col. Little’s regiment played and meantime our Sons of Freedom shot the fifes played, and the men were all twice at the Philistines.” paraded to._see who would list for a The armies do not seem to have been I year, and about two-thirds of them fol¬ very much in the way of marksmen, lowed the recruiting drum. according to Rifleman Wright. At all “ Dec, 12.—As i was looking over the events, he says they weren’t, and as ‘New England Chronicle,’ vol. viii, we’re going by his count, we cannot go No. 384, for Thursday, Dec. 7, 1765, I back on the returns. happened to cast my eye on Monsieur “ Oct. -3—The regulars below Rox- Voltaire’s letter to his friend at Am¬ bury fired eighty-six cannon at our sterdam after the defeat of the Span¬ people, and killed two cows and shot iards before Algiers. He says : * * * the arm of a musketman who stood Great Britain is just now engaged in a behiud an apple tree. The Philistines war of more consequence with her col¬ on Bunter Hill were peaceable. onies. Doubtless to know the cause of “ Oct. 7—Peace with our enemy, but that civil war between mother and disturbance enough with rum, for our daughter, which has already cost the men got money yesterday. lives of hundreds, and is likely to “Oct. 15—Our clergyman preached throw the whole nation into convul¬ with his hat on.” sions, it is in one word this, the daugh¬ On Oct. 17 the riflemen had trouble. ter colonies say: “ We will supply you They “went and attacked the regulars’ with everything in our power, cheer¬ floating batteries below Roxbury, but fully, freely and voluntarily.” But the to our sorrow one of our cannon burst- mother country replies: “Because you ed, killing two of our men, and wound¬ will give everything cheerfully, freely, ed the Captain and six others very aud voluntarily, you are rebels and badly; but the residue, by the help of your throats must be cut.’ ‘Which is God, came home with the battery. --w ■_; pretty d—d near the gasefi think.” | On Jan. 9, 1776, Major Knowlton, j who later was killed at the battle of Harlem, made an incursion into From, .Jfe. Charlestown. They found one woman and six men in one house ; one man they killed because he wolildn’t surrender, but the others they brought I back to headquarters. They burned Bate, ten houses, in one of which, according to the woman, there were seventeen

! men. They also brought away six MM3, * a J muskets; all of which was done with¬ out the loss of a man. On March 9 the OLD GRAVEGROUNDS. British began to cannonade the Americans, and kept at it all night A Q.uite Old Graveground Ou a Farm ‘‘We lost four men by one ball and one in Frederick Township.—Also in by another, each of whom, at a Same Township, in an Ob¬ moderate computation, cost the scure Place, a Boyer butchers 350 pounds powder, besides Family. 9 - balls, of which the Continental army j The reader is taken again over into gathered 900 to-day the least of which Frederick township, a large, as we have weighed 6 lbs., some 9, 12, 18, 24 and heretofore stated, triangular township of 32 lbs. each. Of the two latter, 250 the county, lying in the northwestern part, were picked up. and the old graveground, that we will ask “March 11—Yesterday his Excel¬ the reader's attention for a spell, is west lency in the evening or¬ of the rather attractive village of Zieglers- dered some of the troops on ville, about two miles. The trades, too, all Dorchester Neck to go with piques and seem represented in this place, and there and spades to a hill near Roston and is life and activity around there. begin to work. As soon as it was The dwellings are of brick, large and at¬ dark they were ordered away, and the tractive. The great Inn of the place is in butchers cannonaded the hill all night the acute angle, formed by the junction of while our people at Lamb’s Dam can¬ the Perkiomen pike and the “ Great nonaded Boston likewise. But our peo- Road,” that leads off to Boyertown, via ple wrought iu peace and safety till Obelisk, New Hanover Square, etc. Dr. morning, when lo! the Grand Butch¬ Faust, of the place, looks after the ills of er’s surprise ! He saw he had spent his life, and good schools are in the place. powder and ball for nothing, while we Zieglersvilie is two miles above Schwenks- had made a first-rate fort a mile from ville, and it avails itself of railroad facili¬ the ground, with six 18-pound cannon ties at Delphi, one mile below. in it.” This Sesqui-Centennial graveyard is on This was the end of Private Aaron the farm owned and occupied by Hon. Wright’s experiences at or near Boston. | Samuel Faust, ex-member of the Legisla¬ On March 15 the battalion of riflemen ture. The Sciota creek is but a stone’s started on their return march to Penn¬ throw from where these slumberers rest. sylvania. They didn’t get home at The place is about a quarter of an acre or once; they were detained in New York more and not enclosed. It gets mowed and then were busy in New Jersey for occasionally, and the stones at the graves more than three months. Finally they j are taken out and set aside till the work is got back home, and on July 4th, 1776, done and then replaced, the idea being they were discharged. What became that they wouldn’t be in the way to ob¬ of Wright after that the dairy doesn’t struct the scythe, etc. say. Time is dealing heavily with this piuce ; the grave stones are getting down, lean¬ ing over, and several are broken off. I From the inscriptions on the stones, there ave been no interments ti nmany years, anc* there is 'no appearance in\ r other ways of any burial being made • there for a long time,ime. The inscriptions on ihe stones are prm cipally in German, but wee ould read the lames of Faust, Christman, Grob, Huns- erger, Miller, Keimer, Sehwenk, Smith, Walt, Yost, Zieber, etc. « The land where this graveground is, is rather of an alluvial nature, which is usual¬ ly the case, more or less, near strong streams. The places of interment that we have given an account of, seemed to us strange that the dead were ■ put in such FAMILY places, but churches and church burying- grounds, years ago, were quite few to the area and far apart, and the dead had to TALK ANCESTRY go somewhere, and the place was upon a property, the owner of which was of the denomination of religion burying there, Big Gathering of the De¬ the person agreeing to have the place for scendants Gather Up at a cemetery on the propert . We suppose the place has from thirty to Gwynedd forty interments. It is, as we have stated, on the farm of Hon. Samuel Faust, ex¬ member of the. Legislature, about six hun¬ BRILLIANT ADDRESSES dred yards south of the farm buildings. What the name of the yard is is difficult to get at, hut the consensus of opinion in¬ Papers Bearing on the Early cline to the name of Christman. Still in the township of Frederick, and Settlement Read by Learned east by north of the yard just referred to, Men—Lunch in a Tent about two and a halt miles, and two miles above Zieglersville, and short distance east From a Staff Correspondent. of the Perkiomen pike, on a farm property GWYNEDD, May 31.—Residents of owned by Willoughby Smith, there are Gwynedd township and many guests as¬ some graves down in a meadow, some sembled at the old Friends meeting house three hundred yards from a road leading below North Wales yesterday to the num¬ ber of 800, to do honor to their forefathers east from the pike, towards the Perkio¬ who just two centuries ago began the ar¬ men. A slight stream of water passes duous task of turning the forests of Gwy¬ down through this meadow, and on a nedd into what is now one of the most slight elevation, on the right hand side, picturesque and fertile sections of country in Montgomery county, or the State. The among a jungle of hazel nut bushes, are occasion was one worthy of note. There the graves of a Boyer family. Reader, it is were sturdy yeomen, artisans, tradesmen, really painful to look at this spot. Inscrip¬ lawyer's and judges of Welsh, German and tions are about in this way : “ Catharine other descent sitting side by side and face to face in the old meeting house standing Boyer, who departed this life 10 Feb’y, on the side of that in which the first set¬ 1826, aged 92 years, 6 mos.” “- tlers worshipped almost two centuries ago. Boyer, 1797.” Then again we see “- Could these worthy pioneers have been present they would have had ample rea¬ July, 1726.” Then “- 1722.” son to tremble at the thorough research Then verbatim, ue Biermly n sie gebeiue which was given their actions, had they not been such worthy and honorable speci¬ von febu lyena, 1753 flin of ser 56 ialy r 8 mens of true manhood. Nor were their mon ud aud 1 tag. Where the blanks are actions the Bole topic of discussion, for learned jurists traced the effect the laws given that part of the gravestone contain¬ they had a part in instituting exerted upon ing the inscriptions was broken. the community, the changes which they It might be needless to say that there is had undergone, and also showed what dan- i gers must be averted in the future. _ ! no enclosure there. W. E. Corson. 125

Howard W. Jenkins, wno was largely theme was me lownsrnp in neiation to instrumental in starting and arranging the State,” in which he traced the town¬ both the bicentennial celebration and the ship from its earliest time; .told of its in-’ boulke family reunion on the day before, [luence and powers in their State and re-J opened yesterday’s gathering. Mr. Jen-1 buked the growth of State officialism in kins introduced Jason Sexton, State As¬ these minor divisions of the country. semblyman of the county, who presided “Throughout our entire history of 200 at the day s session. He was handed a years,” he said, “the officers of the town¬ gavel sent to the meeting by friends in ship governments, who have almost uni¬ Merion and made from a rafter of the versally served without pay, have not even been suspected of that faithlessness to public duty or the favoritism s, dishonesty, bribery and cheating which we now con¬ stantly hear charged, sometimes proved and oftener uncontradicted, against the high salaried State officials who adminis¬ ter so many of the duties once confided to the controi of the township or local gov¬ ernment. In every direction we hear the pnurmurings of the storm. Whether it shall assume the force of a tornado against official corruption and engulf the faithless public servant depends’ upon what the people in these elemental repub¬ lics shall determine. The nearer to the influence of the family circle we bring gov¬ ernment the better, fairer and honester will it be.” GERMAN SETTLERS. "The German Settlers of Gwynedd” were described and located in a paper by Septimus C. Kriebel. Prof. M. D. Ear¬ ned, of the University of Pennsylvania, followed with a short address in German and District Attorney Swartley, of Bucks bounty, spoke several words in the “Penn¬ sylvania Dutch,” the language commonly spoken by some of the descendants from 'the early German settlers. With this the assemblage adjourned for the dinner hour and enjoyed the meal in a large tent on the grounds. JASON SEXTON Miss Mary Foreman, a direct descend¬ ant of the early settlers, superintended old Merion meeting house, to be used dur¬ the planting of a memorial tree, in ing the session and then presented to the which ceremony a child from each part Montgomery County Historical Society. of the township took part by throwing a HART’S ADDRESS. shovelful of dirt around the tree. Miss Foreman then recited an original poem. Elwood Hart, of West Point, was ap¬ William Dudley Foulke, of Richmond, pointed secretary of the meeting and a Ind., gave an extended address at the af¬ long list of vice-presidents, secretaries and ternoon session upon the “Mission of committees, composed of prominent citi¬ William Penn and the Pennsylvania Set¬ zens of the township was read, after tlers,” in which he told of Penn’s high which Mr. Sexton made an address. None icle-als for his colony and why some of he said need trace their ancestry very them had to be abandoned, not from a far back to get on the other side of the lack of merit in them but from a lack water. There was an intermingling of of merit in those for whom they were bloods in this country of which all should formed. He also explained how in ex¬ be proud. treme cases it is impossible to carry out An extended sketch of the arrival, set¬ the doctrine of non-resistance. The prin¬ tlement and characteristics of the mem¬ ciples of Friends will, however, in nine- bers of the original Welsh Company which tv-nine cases out of a hundred, avoid war. settled Gwynedd was then given 'by Mr. The brightest points in Penn’s principles Jenkins, who is a descendant of Edward were honesty, justice and fair dealing. Foulke, one of these immigrants. Their He then referred to the Cuban war and lands and even house were located by also corrupt politics. The die is cast in him, the result of years of search on the the war, he said, and then made an ear¬ subject. The colony soon sprung into nest appeal for the support of the Gov¬ prominence from the concerted manner in ernment and Executive. which its settlement had been undertaken. There was an enemy at home, however The settlers had purchased the entire more dangerous and deadly than war, the township, consisting of 11,449 acres of impa who will sell his country for base land, ana there are to-day properties in fain. He is just as much of a traitor as |the township which have come down in Senedict Arnold. The address concluded Hie family directly to their present owners. thus with an earnest plea to defeat corrupt | A native Welshman, Rev. J. R. Evans, methods in politics. gave a short address in Welsh, which was OTiLER ADDRESSES. pighly appreciated by those who had lost Other addresses at this session were on their mother tongue. He was followed bv “The Schools of the Township,” by Mrs. Judge Hannon Yerkes, President Judge of John Zefferte; “Gwynedd Past, Present Bucks county, whose great-grandfather and Future,” by Edward Matthews, read was married in the meeting house. His *— « • . ■>' * trr\i m . i • ■ tv i , . , / A. K. Thomas, ancf^wi original com¬ memorative poem was read by Elwood to 1083, judge of the supreme court from Roberts, of Norristown. The exercises 168(5 to 1690, and president of the as¬ concluded with short addresses by Wil¬ sembly from 1687 to 1688. It was Sally liam Drayton, Joseph Fomance, president Wister, Owen Jones’ granddaughter am of the Montgomery County Historical bo- a descendant of "Edward Foulke, win wrote the much-quoted Revolutionary journal in the old Foulke mansion ai speaking in Welsh, and George Herbert Penllyn. Jenkins. Edward Foulke was horn in Wales • Letters of regret were read from Cover' July 13, 1(551, and with his wife Eloan- nor Hastings, Congressman Irving P. or lived at Coed-y-foel, near Bala, oil' Wanger, Colonel Hall, president of the Colonial Society of Pennsylvania; Dr. W. Lake Bala, North Wales. He left there C: Schaeffer, Superintendent of Public In¬ in search of religious freedom, setting struction; Dr. M. M. Richards, of Read¬ out with a number of other Welshmen ing; Judge Swartz and General W. W. H. i on April 3, 1698, for the new world, Davis, president of the Bucks’ County where some years before some of his Historical Society. S. C. K. j countrymen had found peace and pros¬ -... i. • iPRPi® perity in the Welsh tract, west of Phil¬ adelphia. They sailed from Liverpool

■ on April 17 and from Dublin on the ship Robert and Elizabeth on May 1. From, The man who cast life lot so eonfi dently as a pioneer, for all lie was i modest farmer, traced his’ descent " kings. The Welsh genealogies shuwl (ImMjl /- . lim a descendant of Rliirid Flaidd . chieftain living in Penllyn in the tin of Henry II, and lie bore the Fluid^ Date L/ML arms, with a wolf’s head for crest, an, the motto “ Blaed Rlmda Ar Y Bluett' The Red Wolf to the Front. Rhirid Flaidd himself traced his lin FOULKE REUNION. to Cunedda Wledditr, ;i native chiefta of Cumberland, whe, according to thj Descendants of the First Settler Gather at Triads, lived in the fourth century, wa- one of the first to embrace Christianity Gwynedd to Celebrate the 200th Ann er- j and who devoted much land to thp sary-Historic Reunion of the Large Fam¬ l'| ily at the Meeting House. lines Edward Foulke claimed descent o ■ ancient princes of Wales as far back a; Descendants of Edward Foulke. who I Roderick the Great, in the ninth cen-j was one of the leaders of the party of tury, whose descendants, Foulke’s an Welshmen who settled m tins counti > Icestors, married into the royal family about Gwynedd 200 years ago held a (of England. In this way lie claimed, family reunion on Monday, May do. * 1 on what is regarded as good ground, Gwvnedd meeting house- Ihe di 1 family reunion; President, William them" On the collateral branches of Dudley Foulke, of Richmond, Ind., he family there aye such web-knoun I vice president of the Civil Service as¬ families as the Winters, }£ sociation; vice presidents, Hugh Foulke, wards, Evans, Jenkins Li kens, Lor Samuel Emlen, Rebecca Foulke Corson, sons, Glenns, Comforts, Lmlens -id¬ Charles M. Foulke, of Washington; sec¬ lers, Spencers, Yocums, Days, Eei jkK retary, Frank Foulke; assistant secre¬ "Moores and Cressons. A iei\ tary, Joseph T. Foulke, Esq., Ambler; number of men and women, inemhen j treasurer, Edward M. Wistar, 905 Prov¬ of colonial societies, me mem a . ident building. Executive committee: cause of tlielr descent from lain aid Frank Foulke, of New York; Wm. (5. Foulke. . , Foulke, ,T. Roberts Foulke, Daniel Among the members of collateiJ .Foulke Moore, Plioenixville; Abigail I branches of the family was Owen Jones, j W. Foulke, Gwynedd; Jesse Foulke ' provincial treasurer of Pennsylvania ai d i Spencer, George Rhyfedd Foulke, West member of the provincial assembly^ tor Chester; Robert R. Corson, Lydia A. two years, whose mother \sas (.amor ; Foulke Wilson, Wenona, III. : Letitia Owen daughter of Robert Gwen, am Foulke Kent, Gwynedd; Mrs. J. Foulke who e grandmother was Mary dang - i Rutter, Brooklyn; Dr. Joseph K. Cor¬ ter of Dr. Thomas Wynne, who was son, Joseph T. Foulke,Ambler; William ‘ the assembly from P>b- I Wistar Comfort, Haverford college; mi";>A'

fiffvse»n irikmis MKKTI HOI SK Janies Emlen, HrsT Anna Foulke TJacon Neff, Joseph E. Foulke, Stroudsburg, h.y ?he i-ecoms wincTi "liave’IieimTompui^ Pa., and Charles F. Jenkins. id in recent years, naturally gave the A special train from the Terminal memoers of this new organization a conveyed nearly 250 of the reunionists, feeling of superioritv over the Colonial the names of the families represented Panics, Daughters of the Revolution being among, the most prominent in the Society of the Cincinnati and similar history of Philadelphia and eastern societies of a vounger period than thev Pennsylvania. A stop was made at -dr. Edwin Rhodes booth exhibited Penllyn and a visit made to the old :P\ ■ a cnart snowing the descent of Edward ■. P *.t Foulke mansion, near by, now the prop¬ ami Eleanor Foulke in the male line erty of the Wharton estate, and occu¬ from Rl_nrid Flaidd, lord of Penllvn pied by J. A. Caldwell, Jr. Here, on in the time of IJenrv II, and to liis'an¬ the veranda of the old, rough cast stone cestor, Cunedda Wleddig, who flourish¬ dwelling, one of the members of the! ed in the fifth century as governor of Roberts family sang several songs in the |Venedotia, or Gwynedd, in Wales, Welsh language,a tongue quite unintelli¬ i H(jnee the names of the two towns vis- gible to those present, but the singing ji jtc*(l Monday, which both lie upon the dispelled the prevalent idea that^the /00 acres purchased by Edward Foulke spoken language is as rough and rugged on Ins arrival in this countrv, in 1008 as it looks in print. from Coed-y—foel, near Rala. Wales.’ This being a first meeting, the mem¬ flu arrival at Gwynedd the oomnanv bers of tue party were unacquainted went hist to the house of Mrs. Charles with each other, and there was a great <). Beaumont, a short distance from the deal of climbing of genealogical treesC meeting house, where were exhibited among them in establishing their rela¬ among others the following- tions to each other. All had been put Rhot^raph °f Coed-y-foel, one mile upon common ground by circulars, ~i«- t south of Bala, where Edward Foulke sued by the projectors of the meeting, the emigrant, was horn and raised. giving astmuch as possible of the gen- nt Penllyn, home of Edward I ■alogy of the Foulke family prior tef its ; T;a . c and lacv Foulke. transplanting upon American soil. The Photograph of Glaus Oyn, on Lake great antiquity of the family as shown Bala, owned hy in 1,504. . . _ I lendreM;i wr, where ancestors of ie in commemorative oiTus century, find half n mile from Coed- The opening address was made b. foel. William Dudley Foulke, who had stray! Stable attached formerly .1 Quaker ed out to that famous Quaker settle- meeting house. ment, the city of Richmond, Ind. Be- Runawefog, on Lake Bala, two miles fore dinner the assemblage had 1 >een from Bala. 1 uilt in the tilth century. photographed* in a body in front of the One of the .houses- 1)V church. rants, lord of Penllyn hom 1154 to Air. FoulkeCalled the meeting to or¬ 11 St>. Also.ii room in said house, con¬ i-i.Vv der with a gavel made from the beams taining a clpain bearing date of 1161. of the old meeting house in Merion, Llandorfur church. two miles from built in 1695. He said in part: It, may Bala, when? were buried ancestors of be truly said of Edward Foulke and of Edward Fojilke, beginning with Robert his descendants that they were eminent¬ Lloyd, wlm) died in 1561 —great-grand¬ ly decent people. The church he help¬ father of Howard Foulke. ed to build here did not have a steeple, Photograph of home of Meredith, in but the worship within its walls was Gwynedd, iccupied from 177G to 1815 none the less sincere and hearty. Blood by Caleb Foulke. is thicker than water. It is according¬ The Trewherrvn stream in Wales. Also ly a good thing that people of the same valley of t.lje Trewherrvn. kith and kin should come together. Gweng-Breeiditn-be, the home of the It is one of the marks of a good family :■ Lloyds, the ancestors of Edward Foulke, that its members do not fall out. He I Merionethshire, Wales. had never known of any lasting disa¬ Old Foulke mill, Penllyn. greement. among the members of thisl Present Foulke house, Penllyn. family. We rejoice very little over the Photograph of Joseph Foulke, fourth shortcomings of our friends and neigh¬ in descent from Edward Foulke. bors. The Welsh blood is hasty and Dr. Antrim Foulke, who built house choleric, but in this case it has been where these exhibits were shown. Also well softened with the peace principles ! his wife, Letitia Lancaster Foulke. lof Quakerism. Today we see that we do Photograph of David Foulke, sixth |not look alike. Neither do we all think in descent from Edward. like or act alike. In some the old Hat and gloves worn by Welsh wom¬ Adam is more nearly extinct than in en. pthers. A Foulke is apt to have strong China ware and wine glass, 200 years convictions, and to hold on to them old. Exhibited by Ellen li. Evans. enaciously. They do not in the least Marriage certificate of 1754. Thomas .inderestimate themselves. If we were Foulke, of Richland, Bucks county, and shamed of ourselves we would not be Jane Roberts. ere today. We differ greatly in our Sampler made bv Marv A. Jenkins, allings. We are farmers, mechanics, 1830. radesmen, merchants, physicians, law¬ An English Bible, brought from yers and preachers. In whatever oceu- Wales by Edward Foulke; printed in ation we do our work well and are London in 1599 by the deputies of the ■■H onest toward all men. While a ma¬ queen’s most excellent majesty. Owned jority of us continue to be Friends, yet by Stephen Foulke, Quakertown. ■ery many have adopted other forms' of Damask napkin, supposed to be the aith. In polities the most of us are first in America; woven in England, epublican, because that party freed but the flax grown in Pennsylvania and he slave. But there are others who spun by Susanna Evans. 'ollow other political banners — even Fan owned by Jane Jones, wife, of mugwumps. Some of us think we can Caleb Foulke, in 1762. .trace our ancestry back to the fourth 1752, a wallet owned by Martha Jones. ■ 'century. That is a very long pedigree, 1762, slippers worn by Jane Jones. but after all it is present worth that 1 • 1764 to 1776, silver spoons owned by makes the man. A pride in ancestry Owen Jones. has its value. It simply gives one a Family tree of Foulke family. good starting point, an incentive to be | Portrait of Owen Foulke, son of Ca¬ worthy of those who have gone before. leb,member of Philadelphia City troop; It does not stand for ultimate success. born in 1763, died in 1808. Some of our ancestors lived in feudal Foulke coat of arms castles and were kings and princes. 1762, marriage certificate of Caleb They are no more worthy of our regard Foulke and Jane Jones than the plain Quaker farmer who came China ware owned by- Lettie. Kent; to Penllyn 200 years ago, lived a quiet very fine. and useful life, and was the progenitor Copy of parting admonition of Ed of all of us. ward Foulke to his children. He died “Edward Foulke’s Ancestry,” by in 1741, aged 90 years. Charles M. Foulke, of Washington, was During the day two trees were plant¬ read by Eleanor Foulke, of Quakertown. ed on the meeting house grounds, one It was a genealogical account, bristling a spruce, in honor of Edward >'ith unpronounceable Welsh names. Foulke, and the other a white oak, ’ ear-— ' :'v

old W elsh family me centre of the hr,use," with a farm names changed open fireplace. On the same floor is the withh each nine generations. Tlu iamily name was formerly Lined and cheese room. The kitchen was cleanly kept. In the sleeping rooms were high was adopted about 150Q. ’Then’tho ac¬ feather beds. In the sitting room was count goes back to the lords of Penllvn . i win it ac who lived in the time of Henry VI 'to a collection of Welsh and English hooks. Edward III. Back of that we trace to Edward and Eleanor Foulke’s De- ■ seendants, ” was the title of a paper by I the kings cf Gwynedd. Durim* the Susan Foulke Lukens, of Conshohocken. 1 14th _ century three of our ancestors nourished m the Frefflch wars and one .The descendants of Edward Foulke have !) been numerous. The posterity of the ? was knighted On the field of Agincourt. sons only is well known. Many are 5 I he writer presented a connected «-ene living in and around Baltimore. ’ The alogy for the 500 years before the emi¬ writer essayed only to mention some of gration to America down to Edward 1-oulke, horn in 1(551, and who in l(j,s-> the more distinguished of these people. " I) married Eleanor Cadwallader. Among them was Cadwallader Evans' ; for many years member -of the assem- ■ ■ Edward Foulke and the Narrative of bly. The last office he filled was that ■ ihs Keinoval,” by Howard M. Jenkins. of a Harrison elector in 1840. Judah ^®of Gwynedd, was a paper in many re- Foulke, grandson of Edward, was col¬ ■ Speets similar to the one read on Tues- lector of excise in Philadelphia, and Bday and printed elsewhere. In Wales for a long time sheriff of that city. Edward 1-oulke was the tenant on the tarin owned by Roger Price, sheriff of He was sealer of weights and measures, “Ofr- ai wealth'\merchant. He married Merionethshire. To this day it is in arker and had lour children. Or* Jpossession of the Price fami'ly. Many ,’f ^ese was Dr. John Foulke, who died neighbors had come to America in 1796. It is related that he was so ■ lo years before and settled beyond the much older than his wife that she was I Schuylkill. Letters from the latter gave his v idow for 64 vears. He was secre¬ ,|a good account of Pennsylvania. He tary of the American Philosophical (was not a Friend till a short time be- society. From Hugh Foulke, who went tore his coming. The advice of his ■ to Richland, are descended all the I wife decided the doubtful decision H i ^uuuuiu decision Foulkes of that region and many else¬ ■ whether to go or not. In sailing across where. His wife was Ann Williams. ■the ocean "their vessel followed' tin His descendants number over 500. His ■ hack traversed by Madoc 400 years be oldest daughter married an uncle of wh° ^ien discovered ’America Daniel Boone. His son John served in MIHs first home was of logs at Penllvn. the assembly from 17(55 to 1785. Cad¬ ^ ilns was succeeded by a better one "in wallader, his son, was a noted man. |E-M. He gave £5 to help build the Another son, Theophilus, was a mem- : i i i lneetmg house on this spot. His her of the legislature. Howard M. Jer.- eldest daughter, Gwen, married Alex- kins is a descendant, of this branch of vmo ^wards> _of Montgomery, in the family. The Fouikes once spelled t GIG. He was 4/ years of age upon the name with two tf's. Thomas i coming to America. His wife died in 1-oulke, the inheritor of the Penllvn j His own- death eeuincuoccurred illin 1741. homestead; built a milk house in 1728, * at the great age of 90. Both were bur- c---y . uere our- which bore his initials to recent times’. | ied near this meeting house,but no man He had eight children. One of his I knows the spot. The qualities of this daughters married ’Squire Rowland Ev- ,| ancestor were such as in all times have ans, a member of assembly. Amon<*| dignified human nature, such as cour- the descendants of Thomas Foulke were| age, perseverance, honesty and faith Edward, of Philadelphia, who left u| it A ' t ,to Coed-y-foel, the Welsh large family; Joseph Foulke, of Gwvn-1 Home of Edward and Eleanor Foulke ’: edd preacher and teacher, and William 1 was a paper by Edward M. Wistar, of -Dudley 1-oulke, presiding officer cf this j Philadelphia. He had made two visits meeting The old house at Penllvn was f to the ancestral home, one in 1888, and the headquarters of General Smallwood the other in 1892. Bala is situated in in the Revolution, and where Sally one of the most beautiful and attractive! regions of North Wales, and can he \J istar, then a young woman, wrote that 2 charming diary of her youthful davs 1 reached by rail in three directions within sight of the camp of the sol¬ Coed-y-foel is north of Bala, in the val¬ diers. The old Foulke grist mill, now I ley of the Trewherryn, a stream rather no more, was built by Thomas Foulke j larger than the Wissahickon. The on the west side of the Wissahickon farmhouse reposes under the shelter of near the present bridge, in 1740. The '] a rounded hill. It is a long, low, two writer traced in detail the posterity of and one-half story house, facing the Thomas Foulke, of Penllvn. A mono- 'I south. According to the custom of the them all they have not furnished a sin- I country, the woodshed, creamery, gran gle disreputable personage. ai ies and other outbuildings are under one roof. The farm comprises 100 At the close of the regular program acres, but the Price family are owner* there was time for a tew general re¬ of 60,000 acres. The living room is in marks. William G. Foulke took the opportunity to present Howard M. .bn- ISO

kins with a handsome cane. It was cut from the farm occupied by Edward The various committees in charge Foulke, in Wales, and brought here by i were: one of his descendants. Mr. Jenkins Hon. Jason Sexton, chairman. ( responded with his acknowledgements. ! Committee on finance—Harry s Low Joseph T. Foulke, of Ambler, read a |crv, John S. Hecbner, William I>. short poem which was the gem of the Heelmer. Thomas S. Gilhn, L. F- Oan- occasion. It was a satire on pride of ehower. Wilmer H. Johnson. Ireasur- ancestry. He did not give the name of ' ( r. A. K. Shearer. its author. Charles F. Jenkins read a Committee on invitations and recep- paper concerning the Foulke name. It ,} ,n _ Howard M. Jenkins, Joseph^ S. is of Norman French origin, meaning Evans J W. White. Charles S. Jen “the bird of the marshes/’ He gave avinan, John : v- ins, Jr.. S Ellwood 1 the various old spellings, which seemed Jones. A. K 1 homas. l)r. AL R. to be according to the varying tastes of Knapp, Ellwood Hoot. S, U. Brunner. the writers. Committee on program — Howard AL ■ _ Tha-dosing act of the reunion was Jcnkii- -AVilmu. H Johnson, K H<, i the reading of Edward Foulke’s exhor Lavinah, John Jones, Dr. H. 1. >. tation to his children. This was rear Committee on badges — Waltci n. by Samuel Euilen. of Germantown. _ Jenkins, A. K. Shearer, John .Tones. | GWYNEDD BI-CENTENNIAL. Committee on local arrangeme nts. in | ;charge of house and grounds — George ■ Tlie 200tli Anniversary of the Settlement W Castner, C. S. Jenkins, Jr., J. F. Dancbower, A. K. Thomas, I Wilmot IIarvev. Theodore Fleck. A beautiful morning on Tuesday as¬ Committee of ladies to assist the cmn-| sured a fair summer day for the Gwyn¬ Imittee of local arrangements * 1 ' | edd bi-centennial. The assemblage \ ibgail W. Foulke, Mrs. M L Knapp, | slowly gathered in the Friends’ meeting Miss Marv H. Forman, Miss Blanche I house, built just 75 years ago, till it | JN Walton, Mrs. George Castner, Airs. was nearly filled with people from var¬ I V K. Shearer, Airs. Harry K. S\\mt ious parts of the township, North Wales ■ lev, Aliss Bella Lutz, Airs. II K Slifer, and Lansdale. The meeting was called $M'f< W B. Hecbner, Airs. Wilmer H. | to order at 10.20 byHoward M. Jenkins. I Johnson, Aliss Alary Jenkins Aire Ja- After silent prayer, audible prayer was ison Sexton, Miss Florence Jenkms.Miss offered by I lev. Haas, pastor of the Hot tie Shepherd, Aliss Lilly Al. 1ure, Montgomery Methodist church. Secre¬ Aliss Phoebe Shoemaker, Airs, Charles tary Ellwood Hoot announced a long list W. Fleck, Airs. Jacob A. Heelmer Mrs. of ’ vice presidents and secretaries, I Ellis C. Kent. Mrs. Abraham H Duk- drawn from all parts of the township. ■ inson, Aliss Anna B. Evans, Airs. -I. Presiding, Officer Jenkins announced ■ Wain Manx. Airs. B. F. Hanehower that the gavel used was taken from the I Mrs. Charles A. Livezey, Mrs. John old meetinghouse 1 milt in Merion in ■ Lefferts, Airs. Charles Edward 1005, and that it would he presented to 'Airs. Ilosea K. lvriebel, Airs. W l 111 am the Montgomery County Historical so¬ ■ Childs, Airs. A. K. Thomas, Mrs . *• ciety. ■ ]). Heill, Airs. Ellwood Hoot, AIi.. I Charles L. Jarrett, Airs. H. W. -'loyer, •i' Airs T P. Scott, Airs. H. AL Wood- mansee, Airs. John F, Condy Airs. ;Alahlon K. Swartley, Mrs. Howard AL ■ Schultz, Airs. Frank S. knebel. Hon Jason Sexton spoke briefly and ■ said in part that he almost regretted ■ that bv birth and rearing he had not B been a townsman of GAvynedd and ot M Montgomery county. None of us have I to go back far to reach ancestors w ho lived across the sea. 200 years is but a I short time as measured bv ;i of nations. This is an interesting and I consecrated spot to each of us here. The speaker contrasted the conditions that met our ancestors two centuries aga There was hardship, discouragements and suffering, to pass through, had to break the tender ties that bind men to their old homes. They had to make a long journev of three month, across the ocean. ‘A wilderness con- ' '/mu min im ii ci#> iiuui Liiir little city on the Delaware. It is- hard tion by which lay judges w'ere abolish¬ for us who have, been reared in homes ed. It was a mistake to make the of comfort and luxury to realize the courts consist wholly of lawyers. The hardships endured by these early set¬ judge closed his address bv an eloquent tlers mIio started life in lowly cabins. peroration that held the close attention These humble cabins had their charms, | of the entire audience. but we would hardly uish to go back to The last paper of the forenoon Mas them, or even to the great chimney cor¬ one by Septimus Kriebel, Jr., of North ners, furnishing all the heat and where Wales. He said the German element alone cooking was done. The early holds an important place in the settle¬ settlers Mrere willing to endure all these ment of Gwynedd. The Germans came hardships in order that themselves and into the township from 30 to 40 years their posterity might enjoy the blessings after the Welsh. They held steadfastly of civil and religious liberties, such as to the land they first occupied, and could not be obtained in the old land. rapidly increased in relative numbers. They taught their children well, and Their first settlements were made in the from them spring worthy citizens of the north and west, but soon after in the follow’ing generations. The latter Mere south and east. They embraced Schvenk- the men Mhose courage resulted in the feldters, Lutheran and Reformed. As Declaration of Independence and, in soon as they could they built churches another century, in the freeing of the in central places for their worship. slave and the founding of a more per¬ W henever a W elshman had a property fect union, based on principles that to soil a German bought it. Like the shall endure in freedom and glory. W elsh PHends, they had sought Amer¬ Rev. J. R. Evans, of Philadelphia, ica for greater civil and religious liber¬ made an address. He is a native of ties. Just beginning to come into Wales. He spoke a feM' minutes in Gwynedd about 1735, by 1776 they! Welsh, which Mas interesting for its numbered 55 out of 114 taxables, or not novelty, but of u'hich scarcely a single quite half. Mr. Kriebel then traced in individual understood a single word. detail the various German settlers, lie- He came to America in 1889 from Bala. inning with Melclioir Kriebel, Mho In conclusion he recited a Welsh hymn. first made his appearance in the north¬ _ A paper Mas rear! by '.Jmfge~H'armon“ west. at the later Kittenhouse homestead. ierkes, of Dpylestown, on “The Town- * Nearly as soon came John Fry, who ship m Its Relation to the State.” bought 100 acres along the Allentown ibis paper u-as one of profound inter- road. Also George Grossinger, in the est In commencing he recalled the fact same locality 1ihe west was Chris¬ mat in 1750 his great-grandparenst, topher Neu-man and the Hoots, George Herman \erkes and Sarah Sproul, had Snyder and Abraham DannehoM’er. Is-, been joined in marriage in the Gwyn¬ aac Kulp, a Mennonite, settled a mile edd Friends meetinghouse. He pro¬ j east of North Wales, in 1769. Conrad ceeded to outline the system of govern¬ Fleck came in 1764 to the vicinity of ment in relation to the toM’nship and J Penllyn. There are other names, such the county. We derive the township as Shoemaker, C’leinmer, Lulcens, Sny-I idea from the earlv Saxons who con¬ j der and Kittenhouse, Philip Heist, quered Britain. The various colonies C lemens, John Troxell, John Eisenhart, of America differed in their internal jl Martin Raker, Jacob Heisler and Chris-1 government. In New England the town¬ tian Dull, the latter kept, the Spring-1 ship was made the unit of government house hotel or tavern for many years.f In the south it Mas the parish, but in Troxell had the mill later Mumbouerv.. Pennsylvania, as a colony, it was the Martin Raker lived near Lansdale, now] county. This continued during the the property of Charles F. Jenkins. whole colonial period, during which Hosier kept the Kneedjer hotel. Eisen-, the people were deprived of many of hart lived near the Hofsham and Upper! the rights,they later obtained, it' was Dublin line. Martin Swenk on'ned thej the governor who appointed the county later Shearer farm, North Wales. The officials. It was the courts that appoint¬ Heists opened a tavern near North! ed the overseers of the roads. The peo¬ W ales,. v.'mere James D. Cardell now ple did not choose their squires The lives, in 1784. In the lower part of the " hole franieu'ork of Penn’s colonial svs- toMnship we have the names of Henrvl tem evinced a fear of trusting the peo¬ Bergey, the tax collector in 1776; Geo" ple. The evil effects of this was miti¬ Shelmire, Michael Haag, John Sperry gated by the character of the people and Michael Hoffman. Many of these who were at first mostly Friends Later were men of means, owing farms rang¬ other elements came in' and the Quakers ing from 20 to 300 acres. They owned Mere outnumbered. Then serious trou¬ grist, and saw mills and all the' taverns. bles arose. The people did not have The speaker traced the coming of the their rightful share of liberty till after Schwenkfeldters, alnl also the reasons the Revolution, when the township that impelled the emigration of the became more recognized. The judge Lutheran and Reformed and the found¬ ing of their common church at North | advantage over TTTo .sc wild ha< lmrch. The present generation o here before he came. He was eminent their descendants are emulating the ly tolerant of all religions and all races. merits of their fathers and will leave a ; The result was that by the time4 of the record equally as honorable. The peo¬ Revolution Pennsylvania contained a! ple of Gwynedd have almost forgotten more mixed population than any other that they are descended from different colony. He left the people free to nationalities, and are united for the change his form of government at their] advancement of the township and- in will. In the main its essential charac¬ ■ fulfilling their mission of being good ters remain the same to the present day. American citizens.' He believed that the character of the Previous to.the reassembling at 2 men who administer a government is o’clock a memorial tree was planted, of the first importance, ami that the which it is hoped will be growing in constitution is of secondary value. 199S. His universal peace policy broke down when put to the test in the French and The first paper read was William Indian war of 1750. But the spirit of Dudley Foulke’s, on “The Mission of the colony he founded was that of hon¬ William Penn and the Pennsylvania esty, truth, justice and fair dealing, Settlers.” It was an estimate of the which gave it peace tor the first 70®^ character of Penn, and of the character years of its existence. His was an ex-| of the colony he founded. No abstract periment never before tried in the can do justice to this admirable paper. world’s history, and showed itself suc¬ Penn is variously estimated in history. cessful in the"main in securing the lib- The world is not yet agreed upon his erty. the advancement and the prosper- merits. On the one hand he is almost ity of the people. deified as an angel of wisdom and good The next paper was read by Mrs ness. On the other he is condemned! John Lefferts. of Upper Gwynedd, con- as a failure and his colony derided eerning the schools of the township and] , more backward than any of its northern their history, and which is elsewhere|> sisters. The truth lies between these j printed. two extremes. There is no discounting Ell wood Roberts, of the Norristown i the personal merits of Penn—his hon¬ Herald, read a poem, “The Lessons of) | esty and sincerity. The doctrines of Two Centuries. ” He premised by say¬ Quakerism •which he exemplified mark¬ ing thatUitu hismo first acquaintance-- with the ed an important erj, in the history of | Gwynedd people commenced in 1865 religious thought and action, but they The last paper was read by A. K. are not the last word which the civil¬ Thomas, for the writer, Edward Math¬ ized world has to utter. They were but ews—“Gwynedd, Past, Present and a step in the progress of man. After a Future,’'’ presented in full elsewhere, while it was found impossible to carry A brief reference to the history of out in the affairs of government the Gwynedd meeting house was prepared principles of the Friends, especially in and" read by Joseph T. Foulke. He a community where not all were said: “ Bv way of introduction I may Friends. This was also the case where sav that I have been requested to give a state was surrounded by peoples who I ta brief account of tin* meeting house, were strangers to the tenets of universal .. fa ml in doing so I feel inspired by the peace. To preserve order or to repress sentiment expressed by Macaulay w hen crime, force is necessary—else we have he says ‘It A subject, in which 1 love anarchy. If force he necessary, then to forget the accuracy of a judge in the the utmost force may be necessary at veneration of a worshiper and the grat¬ times. This means war. To put. down itude of a child. ’ ’ ’ a riot bv force, and then to put down a Mr. Foulke’s paper was as follows: great rebellion, as we did in the Civil Upon the spot where we are now gath¬ I war, is really the same tnmg,"biny ered, 19S years ago, surrounded then as last is a thing of greater magnitude.„ ■ ! now, may we not believe, by the same The principles of Penn and the Quak- sweet scenes of nature, our ancestors lers, however, would preserve peace in erected a plain ami humble structure 99 cases out of 100. Penn’s merits as ] in which to worship their Heavenly a lawgiver were great, considering his1 He Was solicitous that under his ] Father. age. The log meeting house of 1700 was I frame of aovernment no one man should ot gov err ] the first place of public worship in the lever havijan autocratic rule not even j township of Gwynedd. The site was ! himself. IHe formulated the doctrine’ well chosen, the location being central that therdmust not be taxation without aiul the landscape of almost exquisite represen tat ion. His treatment of the! >eauty : far away to the east and south | Indians will always remain a shining may be seen the hills and valleys ot light in his crown of glory. In this he! Montgomery county, and to the west was even then beyond the code of the*, the great hills beyond the Schuylkill I present day when a strong nation deals river, and among them, towering above with an inferior people. He was grant¬ them all, the Valley Forge, destined ed the whole territory of Pennsylvania, nearlyja century later to play so im made no attempt to gain any porta'nt a part in the story of the Revo lution. OLDEST HOUSE IN LOW Eli GWYNEDD—Pioperty 01 Frank Houston.

gtliere are no stones to mark the spot” their final resting place. Owing to the rapid increase in the number who attended the meeting it was found necessary, to. build another and larger structure, wnicii was accord¬ ingly done in 1712, and on the 10th day of the ninth month of that year the first meeting of worship was held there¬ in. Tli is meeting house was of stone, and much larger than the first one; it, too, built on the same site as the for- |j mer, as well as the present one. Con¬ cerning the meeting house. Joseph Foulke i in his journal says: “Hugh Griffith as¬ sisted in building the meeting house in the years 1/11-12. The subscription paper, the preamble of which is in the Welsh language, is yet in our posses¬ sion. Some of the members contribut¬ GILLIN HOMESTEAD. ed as much as the worth of 100 bushels Second oldest in Lower Gwynedd. of wheat in that day. The house they erected was a permanent, commodious Those who attenHeTtriTs meetnm ol" stone building, with two galleries for the long ago were among the principal the youth, and several principal rafters settlers of the township, and consisted in a hip roof, firmly united,so that tak¬ of such men as William Jones, Cadwal- ing it down in 182:! in order to build a lader Evans, John Hugh, Robert E#ans new house, we found no small difficulty Hugh Griffith, Owen, Evafe iMvard in separating the ancient woodwork.” ‘ Loulke, John Humph rev Sid Rhbert This meeting house existed more than Jones,, most if not all of whom lie bur¬ 100 years, but it was torn down in 182;!, ned in the grave van 1 adjoining, hut and another, the present one, built up¬ on the same spot. '? • ; V. «. . _L_ _ _ , _ _ _ jp^ Mie present meeung house wa^bml t! i/y Isaac Hallowed, tin1 father of John ; Hallowed, and the grandfather of Isaac J. Hallowed, who owns the store at the Spring-house. Joseph Foulke in a letter to a friend written in the year 1823! speaks of it as follows: “The "house is progressing, and will probably in a few 4 weeks be ready to hold meetings in. It looks very handsome indeed, pebble- dashed outside, and the inside so con¬ structed that those who occupy, the gal¬ lery seats have the face of nearly all in the house.” And in a letter written to Hn another friend six years later he says: I “I may just inform thee that the first I monthly meeting that was held in the H new house at Gwynedd was on New Year’s day, 1824, and it so happened j ! that the last monthly meeting was on the same day (New Year’s day, 182!)). ||| CHARLES LIKENS’ PLACE. The number then was estimated beween I two and three hundred. ’ ’ The 75 years that have elapsed since f £ the scenes of the past quarter of a cen¬ then have left upon it few traces of ? tury, and mingled with the recollections their flight. Its walls and the wood j ') of the silent meetings for worship held - work within are substantially as good | ( in this venerable building come the fra- | now as in the days of its construction. H ’ granee of flowers and new mown hay This meeting house, as well as the I wafted through these open doors and ancient one which it superseded, has I windows bv the west winds of many a been the scene of some notable occa- I ! summer morning, the songs of the sions. It was the custom in the old £ birds and the sighings of the great oak I days to have marriages entered into and trees that surround this hallowed spot. [solemnized in meeting houses. Howard i and the loved faces of the grav-haired M. Jenkins in his historical collections I fathers and mothers who sat side by relating to Gwynedd refers to the first iy> Aside in these galleries in the solemnity marriage that is recorded in the books I I of a religions gathering. These scenes I of Gwynedd monthly meeting as having || I. all come back to me, as one by one I I occurred in the old meeting house. It; ri see them reflected in the mirror of was in the year 1714, when two cousins, i i memory. And while the departed Sarah Evans and Ann Evans, of Gwyn- ® years have carried with them so many [ edd, married two bridegrooms from the H of those who formed the large assem- Welsh tract beyond the Schuylkill, Ed- H ' blies that gathered within these walls, ward .Tones, of Radnor, and William || thev have left to those that remain, as [ Roberts,of Merion. “These marriages,” not the least portion of their inherit¬ he says, “took place as was the usage I ance. this historic,and to them precious in the meeting house in the presence of structure, in which there may descend, a large assembly. * * * It needs II upon them, as did upon their fathers, little imagination to picture the stir the f the unmeasured bless ini? of the Lord. * double wedding would cause in the set¬ tlement, or how livelv a topic of con¬ TOWNSHIP ADDRESS. versation it must have made from the hills of Gwynedd away to the farthest Delivered by Howard M. Jenkins at the farmhouses of Radnor and Haverford ; Gwynedd Bi-Centennial Celebration — nor is it difficult to see the two young / wives mounting on horseback behind Early History. their husbands, and riding down bv At the beginning of tlie year 16GS, 10 the rude road, through Plymouth to the d. years after William Penn bail first come . ford over the Schuylkill at Spring Mill, to Pennsylvania, the region familiar to with curious, but not unkind eyes gaz- ' us as Gwynedd, and which now lias a s big upon the cavalcade from every cabin population of perhaps 4000 persons, was that stood along the way.” l a forest and a solitude. No white man But this spot has known of scenes was living, and, it may be confident!) [ and occasions less joyous than the one E; said, none ever had lived within its I just referred to. It has beheld earnest limits. If any had visited it, passing I ones gather* d within its walls in all tl e through its woods, fording its streams ( beautiful solemnity of a silent inerting, and crossing its rolling uplands, he Had lor appearing in voef.l exhortation and come as an explorer and surveyor, tor I prayer, and it has seen them ore by purposes of casual examination. lone depart to return no more. We have no means <4 knowing vhat At least one there- is among you today number of Indians or whether any were , whose thoughts earn- him back through . living in these woods. The bricl ac- count which we have of the white jieo o sold it. When it was surveyed, four pie, to which I shall in a moment refer, years later, hy David Powell, a Welsh makes no mention of the Indians. My surveyor from Merion, it was found to own judgment is that probably none of contain 11,449 acres, and the settlers j the natives had a permanent home ltere. # then paid William Penn for the large . The Indians of Pennsylvania were few. quantity. There are probably 500 people in the (Robert Turner had been earlier a [state now to one that was here before merchant of Dublin, and was an early [the white men came. The Indians emigrant to Pennsylvania and became would hunt and trap mostly in wilder one of the most energetic and prosperous ■egions than this, and fish in the citizens of Philadelphia, fie had ac¬ streams larger than the Wissahickon quired" by purchase from Penn the right .nil Trewherrvn. Their little clearings, to 10,000 acres. Possibly Robert Turner |m which the women planted the corn, may sometimes have ridden up into he beans and the few other vegetables the woods to see his land, but with hat made up their agriculture, would equal possibility he may never have >e more aptly in the valleys and the seen it at all. [bottom lands, where the forest was less! The two Welsh farmers, William John lifticnlt to deal with and the soil of and Thomas Evans, are described as Igreater native richness. There are some both of the county of Philadelphia, traditions of Indians in Gwynedd, and yeomen.” They were consuls. Their many arrow heads and some stone im¬ homes were near Bala, in Merioneth- plements, the evidences of their pres¬ Ishire, one of the northern counties of ence, have been picked up, but I still Wales. They had come to Philadel¬ think that these are to be regarded as phia probably the previous autumn. indicating occasional visits and brief They had come as the represen¬ stays, and not a settled and maintained tatives of friends and neighbors, who ■occupancy. had decided to move to Pennsylvania Some of the adjoining townships had and who had sent over these agents in at the beginning of 1(198 some white advance. occupants. In the 17 years that had The settlement here was in fact an passed since the grant df Pennsylvania outgrowth of the earlier settlement to Penn settlers had come into Hbrsham, west of the Schuylkill, on what was Upper Dublin and the lower portion of ailed the “Welsh tract,” or Merion, Whitpain, but -portlr and west of-Gwy¬ Haverford and Radnor. That settlement nedd the woods were unbroken; no axe had begun immediately after Penn’s had waked the echoes in their depths, :rant, and had grown and prospered. ,nd no white man’s fire had been kin- The settlers there were closely connected in many ways with those who came here. One of the Merion men, Hugh Roberts, a preacher among the Friends, had made a visit to Wales in 1697, and it was he who in a large measure organ¬ ized this new party of emigrants. He came back in the same ship that brought them over. This main body followed in the sum¬ mer of 1698. The narrative of their migration, written by Edward Foulke, was written in the Welsh language in 1702. It reads: ‘ ‘ I was born on the 13th of Fifth month, 1651, and when I arrived at mature age I married Eleanor, daughter of Hugh ap Cadwallader, of Rhys, of the parish of Spytu, in Denbighshire. I had by my said wife nine children—Thomas, Hugh, Cadwallader, Evan, Grace, Gwen, Jane, Catharine and Margaret. We lived at a place called Coed-y-foel, HJTG5I KOITTjKK VI.AC'K. a farm belonging to Roger Price, of Rhiwlas, Merionethshire. We set out for Pennsylvania on 3d of Second lied. One who stood There we now month, 1698, and came in two days to are would have been upon the border of Liverpool, where, with divers others civilized life, a pioneoi at the edge of who intended to go the voyage, we took i far-stretching wilderness. shipping the 17th, on board the Robert (*n the 10th of March, 1(398, two and Elizabeth, and the next day set sail Welshmen, William ap John, or Jones, for Ireland, where we arrived and staid md Thomas Evan (Evans), received till the 1st day of May, and then sailed from Robert Turner the deed, for a tract, again for Pennsylvania, and were about which was this township. It. was sup II weeks at sea. The sore distemper, posed 1o contain 7820 acres, and Turner loody flux, broke out m the vessel, of back to him. That portion of Lonsdale "which died five and forty persons in our taken .from Gwvnedd goes back to this passage. The distemper was so mortal1 ■ tract, jMore than another fourth. that two or three corpses were thrown acres, was taken' i>y the tour Evans' •overboard every day while it lasted. I, rotlic Thomas, Robert, Gadwallader with my wife and nine children, escaped and (>\\ en, and their holdings lay in a that sore mortality and arrived safe in ■ im par block in nearly the middle of Philadelphia the 17th of July, where we the tow nship, extending in a line some- were kindly and hospitably entertained what s outh of the borough limits of by our friends and old acquaintance. North Wales down to the neighborhood “I soon purchased a tine tract of land" [of the liurnpike bridge over the Trewher of about 700 acres, 16 miles from Phila¬ ryn. The tracts of Evan ap Hugh, 1068 delphia, and on a part of which I set¬ acres, ajnd Robert John. 720 acres, lay tled. Divers others who came over sea around North Wales, and out of them;A with us settled near me at the same that borough is taken. Edward Foulke’sI time. This was the beginning of No¬ land, 712 acres, lay north of Penllvnl vember, 1698, and the township was 'turnpike, extending from Springhousel called Gwynedd or North ales. ” to the Whitpain line. East of Spring-1 house to the Horsham line lay John I The interval between their arrival in Humphrey’s tract, 514 acres. John I July and November we may be sure had ' Hugh’s land lay across the lower end of been occupied in building houses. The : the township, and that part of Ambler clearing of the woods had been begun j ] borough taken from Gwynedd comes | The women and children had been from his tract. housed during these months with the Jg Welsh people of Merion or Philadelphia, We know pretty positively where sev¬ while the men were chopping, hewing eral of these settlers lived. William and building. John’s house is less certain than some The number of settlers was probably others, but it seems fairly sure that the less than 100. We know the names of old stone dwelling, having the date 1712 most of the heads of families. They in two places, which stood on the West include William John, Thomas 1*.vans Point turnpike until the present year, and his three brothers, Robert, Cadwal- was built by him. The tradition is lader and Owen; Edward Foulke, John that an.older lo£ house stood near this Hugh, John Humphrey, Hugh Griffith, dwelling, and was the one built in the Evan Robert and Ellis David. Two summer of 1698. Robert John lived brothers of the Roberts family, Cadwal- within the present borough of North I lader and Morris, are said to have come Wales, at or near what was formerly in the same ship with the Gwynedd Jacob W. Shearer’s place. Thomas company, but this is not certain. They Evans lived at the present house of did not settle in the township till two James D. Cardell. Robert Evans’ house or three vears later. S stood where the old house on the < meadow bank, belonging to Silas White, As the sharp frosts of November sat • now is. Gadwallader Evans’ was at the in the Welsh immigrants were in their present Hollingsworth place. Owen houses. The cabins they had built ■ Evans lived where Joseph S. Evans, his were, of course, of logs. Two years ( great-great-grandson, now lives, and later William Penn, accompanied by this place, it may be mentioned, has his daughter Letitia, rode up to see the 5 come directly down 200 years in the Gwynedd settlers. They were enter¬ same family, a case unique in Gwynedd tained Over night at the home of and very rare in Montgomery county. Thomas Evans, which stood half a mile The original house was probably a log up the road from here, where James D. • - house, nearer the turnpike. Edward Carded now lives. The dwelling of Foulke’s house was at Penllyn, on the Thomas. Evans was superior to the ! : site of the present house belonging to others, because it was built of barked the estate of D. C. Wharton and occu¬ logs. As William Penn ascended steps pied by J. A. Caldwell. John Hum¬ on the outside to go to his chamber tor phrey’s house stood near the Spring- the night, Hugh Evans, a lad, going house, on the turnpike, at the place ater, looked through the crack of up formerly of Reuben Yocum. the logs and saw him on his knees giv¬ The township was named Gwynedd ing thanks for so good and peaceful a J: or North Wales. Eor many years either], shelter. name was applied to the township. The The whole of the township was soon meeting house was very commonly j; portioned out. Deeds, were made to spoken of in the old journals as that at the other settlers by William John and North Wales. The name Gwynedd was Thomas Evans within a few months. 17 that of the Welsh settlers. For more tracts were made, the largest of which than a thousand years the name had by far Was that to William John. He been applied to the northern counties retained about one-fourth of the entire of Wales, from whence these settlers came. purchase, 2866 acres. The whole upper end of the township, extending, down¬ ward as far as the West Point road, was his, and titles now in all that section goJ

-' . K;t 4 137

JOSEPH FOULKK I’HOPEKTY.

Treatment of Great Men. It Plataea, and one of the greatest that It is a remarkable fact that the world i Greece ever produced. lias always treated her great men with Hannibal, after all lie had done and neglect, ingratitude, and sometimes ev¬ 1 endured for his ungrateful country, was en with shocking cruelty, while ignor¬ not even granted a home in his old age. ant and worthless men have been treat¬ He wandered from one country to an¬ ed with earth’s greatest honors, and other, hoping to find rest somewhere. have reveled in every luxury. Put lie was persecuted and pursued Milton while writing his sublime everywhere by the unrelenting Romans. poem, labored under ah the afflictions Weary of such a life, the great Garth- Madness, old age, and poverty, a genian, on the eve of being captured, w hat an ornament he might have been drank poison- and expired. at. court, and how much he might have Julius Caesar, the greatest man of been aided, yet he was unnoticed and ancient times, was murdered; that, left to die in poverty and neglect. too, by a pretended friend, and one Themistocles, after all the valuable whose life he had formerly saved. Poor services he had rendered his country reason that he gave for murdering a was compelled to flee for his life. He friend and benefactor, ‘'Not that I lov¬ went to Persia, was received with the ed Caesar less, but Rome more.” greatest joy by Artaxerxes, and lived Cicero, the greatest of Roman orators, m great splendor; but when that mon¬ was put to death. arch proposed fitting out an expedition Socrates, the wisest and best of the against Athens, and giving the com¬ Athenian philosophers, was falsely ac¬ mand to Them istocles, the noble Greek cused and sentenced to drink hemlock. rather than tight against his country’ Demosthenes, who had served his Idh*! ns it hatl treated him, put ail I country so faithfully, and who had so end to his life bv poison. Thus died | often aroused the patriotism of his the hero of Marathon, Salamis and country with his eloquence, was at last • I fKflBS

coJ^pcne^ToTonimit suicide, or "charter of the bishop to appoint Align- i || to tlie hands of one who had enslaved can ministers* gjvoqld 20 colonists request his country. With his education, his ^ T ' ,11it.. ' I . . ..1 mighty mind, and his love of liberty, He divided bis territory into the'three, it is not to be wonderd that he did so. counties of Bucks, Chester and Phila- Thus was Athens deprived of her great¬ Aelphia, and in 1683 met with rcPr®^' est orator, and of her greatest patriots. tatives chosen by the people of these Columbus, who had been so persever¬ ' districts and adopted a constitution ba.- ing, finding that undiscovered land, ed upon popular suffrage. All mag . which he believed to be in existence, drate and officers were to.he chosen by was sent home in chains. And, after die people. But the unit of popular the death of his noble patron, Isabella, wilLwas the county. The system prov¬ this great man was let to die in neglect, ed too unwieldy to work well m a thm- - and the land for which lie had nnder- i]y populated country where the settle¬ I gone so much trouble, and for which he ments were widely separated and often " 'had braved all the perils of an unknown entertained opposing views of the' eon ocean, was not even honored with his duct of affairs, and the people demand name. —Ex. ed a change. Instead of accepting the i system which bv trial was known to be TOWNSHIP AND STATE. best adapted to primitive conditions, that of confiding the right of seif-gov¬ Paper on Their Relation, Read hy Hon. ernment to the smallest unit of popula¬ tion and political organization, he was Harmon Yerke* at the Gwynedd Bi-Oen- induced to revise the character upon tennial—Efficiency of Bocal Government the basis.of representation hy county y,: as Against the State’s Centralized Power. llTThenew instrument provided for an Last week we published a synopsis of assembly of four persons from each Judge Yerkes’ valuable paper on The county, elected hy the people, white the Township and State,” read at the bi¬ ■ t.jffc executive council was to he appoint e centennial. In full it is: by the governor. This deprived the My friends and neighbors. —I or 1 can people altogether of the power to con¬ address you as such since the minutes trol the selection of the general execu¬ of Gwynedd monthly meeting record tive or administrative offices of the col- ' that Herman Yerkes, of Plymouth, and I ony. In the local county government Mary Stroud,of Whitemarsh, were mar- the wings of liberty were clipped, the hied here, by Friends’ ceremony on ■ People were given a voice but not full First month 22, 1750. I am indeed in¬ power in choosing the local officers. debted to that sensible step by my Sheriffs, coroners and magistrates were great-grandparents for the privilege oi nominated by the governor who was Jsirticipating in the interesting proceed¬ it! select from names handed m by the ings of this day. . freemen We thus see that the scheme When Penn became proprietor lie of government adopted by the proprie¬ brought here many settlers of deep re¬ tor Eliminated, apparently with studied ligious convictions who, outraged at the ■care self-government by the township corruptions, intolerance and worldliness o • other small division, and constituted I of the established church, sought relig¬ the county the unit of local power. ious freedom and favored an entire sep- This was wielded through the countv x aration of the church from the goiern- I courts, comprising magistrates selected . ment. For this and other reasons he by the governor. They appointed an ■instituted a marked change in the sys- 'commissioned officers to admins r ■ tem of government and introduced some w. affairs in the townships features' which were entirely new. He County taxes were levied for the it was, in the broadest sense, a refoimer, i support of the poor, built mg Hilaries and while possessed of greater wisdom, or repairing them, paying the salaries displayed a tendency to that marked of members belonging to the assembly characteristic of all reformers, experi¬ . paving for wolvesf heads, expenses of mental government. He declared him¬ judges ” with many other necessary self committed to the “holy experiment charges. The roads were maintained >V creating a free colony for all man¬ and the poor cared for by township kind,” and realizing that government overseers appointed by the coin conducted strictly upon old lines might defeat his object, he proceeded to or¬ qUSauch waif the character of government ganize his with a guarantee of religious throughout the proprietary period, ine liberty untrammeled by sectarian influ¬ voice of the unit of population as r i ences He invited to his settlement not resenting the famffy and smallest terr only men ol his own tenets, but wel¬ . itoriai division,division. as 'itit had always pre¬pry comed all classes of religious creeds vailed under Anglo-Saxon government which had revolted against the corrup¬ tion of the church through connection with the civil administration. L et. un¬ der his broad promise he could not • the right incorporated in the royal While Penn was earnest m his prom- lse to grant tils peopiFTmrri'gnT~oT~s:e [government, and his good faith has merits were granted serf-government in :ever been questioned, possibly his own purely local matters and permitted, to experience of persecution for" religious choose their own officers. They were belief warned him of the violence of allowed to provide, within themselves, opular prejudice and religious frenzy tor local charities, maintenance of ind induced him to avoid the dangers roads, the support of the schools and of committing power to the popular the levying and collection of local taxes, [control of small territorial divisions in etc. Justices of the peace were elective [the first experiment of granting abso¬ bv the local community, and taking the lute religious freedom. Therefore his place of the friendly arbitrators, settled frame of government was builded upon small differences among friends and the idea that the will of the people neighbors and supervised charities and could be more temperately and deliber- the like. atly expressed by social discussion than The strong convictions of the Quaker through township self-government. The and German reformers, however, had freedom of the people in town meeting made too great an impression upon pub¬ to choose their own officers and deter¬ lic opinion to admit even of a sugges¬ mine the character of their local gov¬ tion of a return to the parish establish¬ ernment was denied. The peaceable ment in local government. designs of the Friends and the well- This reaction from the experiment of known disturbances and discontent of¬ lodging the unit of political power in ten arising from the exercise of the the county seems in many instances to suffrage, no doubt, had a marked influ¬ have gone to another extreme. We find ence in determining the new departure. local acts of assembly whereby town¬ As the head of a religious sect advo¬ ships were sometimes invested with ex¬ cating the widest freedom of discussion traordinary powers. The abuse in this and yet weighted with the idea of the direction became so great that the con¬ old order of things, where the ecclesias¬ stitution of 1874 prohibited altogether tic wielded great power in govern¬ local legislation regulating the affairs of ment, Penn, no doubt, expected that townships. The frequent hardships his governing county magistrates, in caused Ire such a radical change in the close touch with the Friends’ meetings, organic law have caused the pendulum would ascertain the popular will through to again swing to the other extreme and • that association; he rejected the local , by general legislation the courts are popular self-government as dangerous -clothed with increased powers over local to peace and harmony. Aiming to pre¬ affairs as the only constitutional relief. , vent disputes among neighbors,- he bar¬ This mistake,, for it is a mistake, may red the vocation of the lawyer and pro¬ be fraught with evil consequences, by vided for the settlement of differences undermining and destroying confidence i through the agencies of arbitration and in legal tribunals through requiring them friendly advisers. On the other hand to meddle in every petty local adminis¬ he unhesitatingly appropriated that trative affair. The danger is aggravated forum of the lawyers, the organization by that other mistaken provision which of the courts, as the best adapted to weakens the strength of courts of jus¬ carry out the executive duties of his tice by discouraging popular interest in government,, thus showing method and the personnel of the tribunal. I refer jstatesmanship in his plan. He consti¬ to the removal from the bench of lay tuted his courts of lay members ap¬ judges who were always selected frorii pointed by the general executive. These the representative business men and [administrative bodies performed their were therefore so well qualified to dis¬ V ' duties scTaccepfably that it was 15 years charge those functions, many of them after the declaration of independence of recent creation, of the courts pertain¬ before lawyers Were admitted to share ing to local administrative affairs. It k%: in the executive functions pertaining to is as unwise in the year 1898 to consti¬ them. tute exclusively of lawyers a court up¬ But as new elements entered into our on which so many purely administra¬ citizenship the expression of popular tive duties fall, as prior to 1790 it was opinion through the Sabbath and week unwise and inadequate to form a court day meetings and interchange of exclusively of laymen, clothed with the thought amongst the Friends became performance of many judicial duties. less representative and proved unsatis¬ But the greatest danger which threat¬ factory, for, in many localities, a ma¬ ens local self-government in Pennsylva¬ jority of the inhabitants belonged to nia is the strong tendency towards con¬ other religious societies and did not at¬ centrating the administration of affairs tend the Friends’ meetings. strictly local in the hands of stafe offi¬ Local discontent in widely separated cialism. This we owe to the cunning of settlements forced a change in favor of the professional office holder, who increased local self-government, and af¬ offers temptations to the voter and ap- ter the Revolution much of the power Peals to his short-sight cupidity by pro¬ of governing the smaller divisions exer¬ posing that in return for appropria¬ cised by the county was transferred to tions for local purposes the townships the townships, who by successive enact [shall surrender their right of local self- government to the commonwealth and j appoint 1US __and ottener uncoruramctea - iOTied the machine in polities, the en against the high-salaried, arrogant and gingers of which fully understand that irresponsible state officials who admin¬ , the further removed from the observa- ister so many of the duties once confided '1 tion of the local assemblages, who are to the control of the township or local fond of discussion and criticism, the government. The evils of the abuse of I official is, the less he is watched. the centralized system of government Hence we have propositions, often are impressing themselves upon our | i thoughtlessly promoted by well-meaning people. men, for state control of highways, of In every direction we hear^the line of j the poor, and local charities, the- the storm. Whether it shall assume ‘ schbols, etc., as already we have over the force of a tornado against official our local banking and other institutions I corruption and engulf the faithless pub¬ by officials appointed by the heads of lic servant depends upon what the peo¬ departments and not answerable for! ple in these “elemental republics” of their conduct to the people of the local¬ our commonwealth shall determine. It ity whose affairs they regulate, and en- is to the home and the family fireside, I tailing upon us that condition for which where the influence of the church and the king of England was arraigned in religious bodies penetrates, where the that he had “erected a multitude of Bible furnishes the precepts of life and new offices and sent hither swarms of where the love of parents finds response officers to harass our people and eat in devotion to the mother and honor to their substance. ” the father, that we must look for the Yet we can assert with some confi- u lesson of purity in private life and.con¬ dence that our system, w'ell administer¬ sequent honesty in public conduct of ed, secures to the people every element; affairs. The nearer to the influence of of local self-government essential to the family council we bring government their happiness, while it permits | V. the better, freer and honester it will be. neither the town will of the New' Eng¬ How then shall I estimate or describe land system or the county control of the that power which, as a little leaven, is southern and western administrations the essential to life of every free gov¬

to predominate. . •<>. ernment and has made us the great It embodies many of the best features people we are. I refer to the social of both. It divides between the county influence and function of the smallest and township the responsibility for local unit of population, best represented here management, while the party caucus, by the township. regulated by law, gives fair expression The contemplation of the hardships to the will of the people, as represented and dangers which our colonial ances¬ in the lowest unit of political organiza¬ tors endured reminds us that the charm of country life is not all due to the tion—the township. As the result of ■ careful and honest effort and changes loveliness and beauty of blooming nature adapted to new conditions we have ' as we see it today, nor to the gmnd maintained a wise relation to the town- ranges of hills and forests, set off by the /-3 ship or unit of governmental authority peaceful valleys and babbling streams. towards the state and county, and have In the long and dreary winters these, gained the advantage of combined action even, are uninviting and repellant. to the general welfare. While the orig¬ Neither is there pleasure to be found in inal scheme of the great founder has the daily plodding of the husbandman undergone necessary modifications, wre or in the monotonous toil of his com¬ owe to him many blessings due to regu¬ panion, Our ancestors endured greater lations found nowhere outside of Penn¬ hardships amid the dangers of treach¬ sylvania. erous savages and prowling wild beasts But the price of liberty is eternal as they toiled to level the forests and to vigilance. The limit has been reached prepare the soil for cultivation, and wrhen it becomes the duty of the free¬ lived in humble habitations, without man to sound the alarm against undue many of the common comforts of life. encroachment by centralized power upon Such were and are the hardships of that best guarantee of honest and pure country life. They inured the sons and management of public affairs and per¬ daughters to undergo privations, great! sonal liberty, local self-government physical labors and close mental applica¬ maintained wdthin the control of the tion without exhaustion or discontent. smallest division of territory and the But there are social conditions which unit of the body politic, the township rounded out the characters of the men and its families. and women whose descendants are proud Throughout our entire history of over to honor and imitate them. Amidst the 200 years the officers of the township occupations of country life families live governments, who have almost univer¬ more together and for each other; they sally served without pay, have not even visit among neighbors and in trusting been suspected of that faithlessness to confidences share their thoughts, bur¬ public duty, or favoritism, dishonesty, dens and pleasures. As they meet to¬ bribery and cheating, which we now gether at the church, the meeting house, constantly hear charged, sometimes the school, cross roads store or shop, at , -v --r

* elections, at public entertain¬ patent was given W Lhlfl'lKW Willi lo ments, or in visiting, they consider, Joseph Nash for 99 acres. This seems suggest and approve measures of com¬ to conflict with another older brief of mon welfare. When their dead are to title by which 540 acres were granted in be put from sight the loss is the com¬ 1685 to Matthew Perin. Of this more munity’s loss, and all sincerely mourn. later. This may have been within the When children are born and marry early grant to William Sal way. the communities rejoice as for their own Joseph Nash was a blacksmith as well and bless them. *»as a farmer. He made improvements, These social functions and duties and so a house was certainly here soon cement together the country community. after 1740. His will was made Dec. 21, When a measure desirable for the com¬ 1766, in which he says: “I give to ray mon welfare is once agreed upon they son, Joseph Nash, all my plantation select through their township meeting, in Upper Dublin, where I now live; al¬ without jealousy, the most prominent so my smith tools, watch and cc-lt; he { citizen to appear for them before the to pay my debts and funeral expenses.” larger assemblage of repesentatives. The second Joseph Nash was the own¬ I From such men, whose ability for er during the Revolution, and down to public services the social life and polit¬ 1787. In 1776 he was assessed for 100 ical training in the township first de¬ acres, two horses and three cows, and veloped and presented to notice, have was also enrolled in the militia _ com¬ come your leaders, your great presidents, pany. He did not carry on dairying generals, statesmen, lawyers and fore- very strong, for all he was so near Phil¬ : 1 most workers m every profession and adelphia market. The city was not ! class. large enough to absorb very much but¬ Washington meeting with his fellow ter, and probably many families used citizens at Alexandria to devise means but little milk. In 1787 Nash sold to of internal improvements, Lincoln on a Thomas Leech. The property was thus store counter in the Illinois hamlet ar¬ bounded: Beginning at corner of guing public questions with his neigh¬ Thomas Fitzwater, now of John Fitz- bors, Webster discussing rotation of water, in line of Springfield manor; crops and the merits of cattle with the thence by Springfield line southeast 99 New Hampshire farmers, and Grant perchesby late Rynear Tyson, now learning the lesson of defeat, persever¬ Matthew Tysdn, northeast 172 perches; ance and patience as he carted wood to then northwest by William Lukens 97% the little town of Galena, are tvpes' of perches; by said John Fitzwater south¬ the social development in which is best west 172 perches to beginning. This learned the lesson of keeping in touch indicates that the farm extended north¬ with the opinions and purposes of the east for over a half mile. The price homes and home-makers of America. paid was £750, and the deed was wit¬ Today while we honor the achieve¬ nessed by Samuel Erwin and Thomas ments of our ancestors and accord to Potts before Henry Scheetz. them their full dues let us not forget Seventeen years later, or in 1804, it that we owe to our descendants the duty became the turn of Leech to die, and of preserving for them our institutions by his will the property was conveyed *4 ■ to which we owe so much of happiness to his wife’s son, Isaac Tyson,the latter and prosperity. to pay £1000. Thomas Livezey was the executor of Leech, who had come from LOCAL HISTORY. Abington. The death of Tyson took place in November, 1835,leaving widow, rhe Soutli Corner ot Upj>er Dublin—Farm Marv, and four children, Leech, Ezek¬ of Samuel Korer—Joseph Nash—Grant to iel, Rebecca, wife of John Evans, and Ruth Tyson. The administrators sold Matthew Perin—Samuel Noble—Stout and in 1837 to Jacob Yeakle. The two sub¬ Cannon Farms. sequent transfers were: 1845, Yeakle to The south corner of Upper Dublin Charles Stout; 1852, Stout to David caches to Edge Hill station, where are Rorer. In 1858 the children of David Iso the corners ofAbington and Spring- Rorer, who were Eli, David, Louisa, field. The whole region thereabouts is wife of Nathan Birehall, and Ellen, fertile and highly valuable, and in re¬ wife of William Thomas, sold to _their cent years has become densely popu brother, Samuel Rorer, for $18,173, a lated. The soil contains much lime¬ good price for land for farming purpos¬ stone and there are quarries not far es, but a very small price compared to awa’ both in Springfield and Upper what land in that vicinity has sold for Dub' in. Here is or was the farm of in recent vears. Samuel Rorer, comprising 107% acres. MATTHEW PERIN -MARMADUKE COATS. The farm buildings are a short distance Matthew Perin held the first grant for north from the station, near a brook a tract of 540 acres in the southern part that goes to the Sandy Run. This prop¬ of Upper Dublin, acquiring his title erty came into the hands of the Rorer long before the township was formed. family in 1852. One brief of title traces An old brief of title says: “Whereas history of it back to 1740, when a LB SmTthsoT^to icholas Mine, an inn- .atthew Perin, of Taunton, St. iVlhfv~| keeper. He held it till 1808, when Magdalene, in old England, merchant, Thomas Livezey, a justice of the peace, owned this land,comprising 500 acres.” [bought it for$6600", comprising 89 acres. In 1695 the will of Perm conveyed the It extended for 179 perches along the same to his wife. Edith. In 1700 the Springfield line and ran back 86 perches tract was ordered surveyed by William [northeast. The next transfer was in Penn, when they gave the following 1819, when Joseph Paxson bought it for I boundaries: Beginning at corner in >8500. It was the Paxsons’ for a life- . 1 road known as Susquehanna street, be¬ time, or till 1853. Then Paxson sold to ing likewise a corner of an old line of Daniel Stout, storekeeper, of Chelten¬ trees reputed to divide this land from ham, 91 acres for 812,000. The death land of late Thomas Fitzwater; thence of Daniel Stout took place in 1861. The southwest by said line 527 perches to farm thenceforth was occupied by line of the manor of Springfield; thence Charles D. Stout for many years. It ' northwest 164 perches to line dividing passed out of the possession of the Stout, I from Nicholas Scull; thence by last line family in 1889. As showing the rise : northeast 527 perches to the Susquehan- in the value of property in this neigh¬ i na road ; thence southeast by said road borhood it may be stated that the farm j 164 perches to beginning. It will be brought the sum of 836,400, or §400 per seen that this tract went all the way acre, paid by George Apel, a Philadel¬ 'from Springfield to the Susquehanna phia merchant. In the deed of con¬ \street, and was over half a mile wide. veyance appear the names of Charles D. After the death of Perin Robert But- Stout, Hannah, wife of Harmer Gilbert, Iton, only son of his widow, became the and Anne, wife of Harper Nice’ of |owner, and who in 1725 sold to Mar- A' Whitpain. Since then the land has been /iinaduke Coats, of Burlington county, much divided into building lots. i New Jersey. He wars not long the own¬ THE CANNON FARM. er, for in 1728 his will conveyed his 'property to his daughter Hannah, wife This is a large farm of 175 acres in iof Isaac Cooper. For some reason no the southern part of Upper Dublin, near such name appears in the tax list of the Sandy Run. The homestead is some Il734, furnished by Buck. The Coopers distance west of Fitzwatertown, the •owned it for a long time, till in 1762 ! house being on a bank on the north side Isaac Cooper sold 360 acres to C. West of the stream. The barn is large and and Samuel Noble. At the latter date new7. A meadow of remarkable length hooper lived in Newton, Gloucester extends for over a mile westward to county, New Jersey. Samuel Noble was fi Camp Hill station. The farm lands |3a Philadelphia tanner,and the two were stretch northward over the wooded hill¬ |sons-in-law of Cooper. side to the Dreshertown road. The In 1765 the will of Cooper conveyed property is now owned by Mitchell one-third of his former land to his Harrison. .daughter Elizabeth, wife of Aquilla This large and valuable property has Jones. There in 1768 the three daugh¬ the same early history as that, of the ters and their husbands, West, Noble ■ Rorer and Stout properties already re¬ land Jones, made partition, when Noble lated. It is part of the lands devised got 186 acres. This became the later in 1728 by Marmaduke Coats to his [Cannon farm. The share of Aquilla daughter Hannah, wife of Isaac Cooper. Jones became later the Stout farm, The 540 acres were held by the Coopers next to the Springfield line, while the for 27 years, or till 1762, when sold to [share of West was nearer Fitzwater- his sons-in-law, Samuel Noble and town. Neither the names-of Noble, Charles West, and in 1765 one-third to West or Jones appear in the tax list of Elizabeth, wife of Aquillla Jones. The 1776. They were probably non-residents portion of Samuel Noble was 186 acres. i and the tenants’ names given. Noble was probably a non-resident, as in the list of taxables given byBuck for THE STOUT FARM. 1776 his name does not appear. Neither This old property is now fast being was he enrolled in the militia company. I covered by the houses of the village of His will was made in 1784, conveying Oreland. The old stone mansion, has his farm.to his daughter, Hannah Nor¬ .been demolished. It stood on rising ton. She was deceased by 1793, and her ground, overlooking the valley of Sandy administrators conveyed to her son, Run to the north, and of lower ground Samuel Norton, a Philadelphian. The I to the south in the valley of Springfield. property passed out of the hands of the . It was partly surrounded by tall ever¬ Nortons in 1801 by sale to Elijah Luk- green trees. This was the share of l ens, limeburner, who the next year 'Aquilla Jones. After his death, in " sold to Thomas Fitzwater 167 acres. It 1804, Elizabeth Jones, his widow, sold was then bounded by lands of Elizabeth to William Smith. In the deed it is Jones, John Fitzwater, Jacob Fitzwater, recited that this was part of the 540 Elijah Lukens, John Fry and Joseph .acres held by Marmaduke Coats. The Paxson. From thenceforward for 30 farm brought £2000 in 1804, and there years it was a Fitzwater place, or till was a house there then. The next year 1832, when his heirs conveyed to Jos- eph Paxson temporarily,but later 7n poftIbh'.“'"_rffie nrs^Ameriean~annestor[ came into possession of Jacob Fitzwat- was Thomas Fitzwater, who came from er. Another long period and in 1856 Middlesex, England, in 1683. He was Jacob Fitzwater sold to Lukens Paxson. ■ a preacher among the Quakers. He It passed from the Fitzwaters in 1867 ra died in Philadelphia Oct. 6, 1699. by sale to Garret Hendricks, who in if A ith him came his sons, Thomas and 1868 sold to John Cannon for $24,700. George. _ The second Thomas Fitzwater ( There have since been two more trans¬ was in Upper Dublin early in the last > fers: 1875, John Cannon to Thomas C. century. William J. Buck says he fol¬ Cannon; 1895, Thomas C. Cannon to lowed limeburning, and had a mill in ■ Mitchell Harrison, of Springfield, for 1705.^ In 1729 lie was collector of tax- $43,872, paid for 175 acres. The death es. The village of Fitzwatertown was I of Cannon followed in 1896. named from this family, and near THE NOBLE FARM. which was the mill. In 1734 the name l The early histoVv of this property has of Thomas Fitzwater appears among the £ already been given in the account of landowners, but no amount is given. the Stout farm. In 1768 it was the Ahile we have traced the ownership] part that fell to the share of Samuel of 422 acres to Thomas Fitzwater, there , Noble, whose share was 186 acres. On appears to have been no formal con¬ the upper side this was bounded for veyance to him earlier than 1738. that .• 139 perches of George Emlen and John the writer has discovered. This was a $ Fitzwater, and on the southwest for 167 piece of 200 acres, unimproved, and * by the later Stout farm, then held by bought of Thomas Salway for £30. Its ' Aquilla Jones. Charles West held the extension was all the way from Sus-, northeast side. quehanna street to the Springfield line, Samuel Noble, probably a non-resi¬ as follows: Beginning at corner of Sus-1 dent, held during the Revolution. In quehanna street; then southwest by I 17S4 his will conveyed to his daughter! Matthew Perin 480 perches; southeast I Hannah, wife of Samuel Norton, a by marked trees 64 perches; northeast I Philadelphia, merchant, the 186 acres by other land of William Salway 480 f In 1793 she died, and it became thel perches to Susquehanna street; north-1 property of her son, Samuel Norton. It west by said road., 64 perches to begin- I passed out of the Nortons’ hands in ning. It is evident‘that this was a I 1S01 by sale to Elijah Lukens, a lime formal ratification of a deed made long I burner, for $5000. Lukens was only a before 1738. The shape of the tract is 1 temporary owner, for in 1802 he sold peculiar, being one and one-half miles I 167 acres to Thomas Fitzwater, then long and only one-fifth of a mile wide. bounded by Elizabeth Jones, John Fitz-, water, John Fry and Joseph Paxson. The second deed to Thomas Fitzwater ■ For 30 years Thomas Fitzwater held included 222 acres conveyed in 1740 by 1 the great farm and burned lime. He Tulm Penn, Thomas Penn and Richard 1 died intestate, and in 1832 his heir: enn. This covered the later “Ever^l conveyed it to Joseph Paxson. Ther green ’ farm. The boundaries were-I was another long period of Paxson’ Beginning at corner of Joseph Nash ’ ' ownership, or till 1867, when the latte: and on line of Springfield; by latter sold to Garret Hendricks. The las line northwest 68 perches; bv Isaac transfer was in 1868 from Hendricks to Cooper northeast 535 perches to‘line of John Cannon for $24,700, paid for 175| John Kirk; by same southeast 73 perch¬ acres. es; by late William Lukens and late THE “EVERGREEN" FARM. Joseph Nash southwest 535 perches to beginning. The extreme narrowness of This property has been so called this grant, of only about one-fifth of a because the dwelling had many ever¬ mile, while its length was one and green trees about it. It was from quite three-quarters miles, will be noticed. early times one of the separate proper¬ ties of the south corner of Upper Dub-j JOHN FITZWATER. lin. It lay between the later Rorer and The death of the second Thomas Fitz¬ Stout farms, with a rather narrow front¬ water took place about 1748. His will age on the Springfield line. The build¬ was made in 1742. In it he says: “I ings are about half a mile eastward of give to my son, John Fitzwater, the Oreland station. The property has now executor of this will, all my plantation passed into the hands of a Philadelphia ; and house where I now reside.” John" syndicate and been much divided into Fitzwater was the owner of his father’s building lots. The modern farm had lands for a long time. In 1776 he was 75 acres. | assessed for a mill and 300 acres. In) The Fitzwaters were from early times the militia company were John anti one of the most prominent, families of Mathew Fitzwater—the latter his eldest! Upper Dublin. They were Friends, and son. of English origin. They were millers, WILL OF THOMAS FITZWATER. limeburners and farmers, and took an . Tllis was registered in 1748. He men-1 active part in public affairs. They tions his wife, Mary, to whom he gavel owned large tracts of land, of which a house for her residence. Sons!* the “Evergreen” farm was only a small Thorn as, (Jeorge and John, are men -H Honed. The daughters were JJeuora cided that the monthly meeting at the1 Lukens, Sarah Robinson and Hanna Falls should he divided into two parts, Fitzwater, besides a son-in-law, Joh the one to be held “about the Nesham- Davis, probably the husband of a de iny ” The first Falls meeting house ceased daughter. The son George go was built in 1690. This Xeshaminy £120 and Hannah £20. The others meeting was near the stream Neshami- had probably been already provided! ny, and the courts of Bucks county for, as they received only five shillin sy were held in this house in the year each, except John, who inherited the! 1692. About the year 1706 the name plantation, as above mentioned was changed to “Middletown meeting InTn i7«n1780 John.Tniin Fitzwater sold off 1 IS,_ and so continued. As early as 1/04 acres of the northeast portion ot this | meetings for worship were sometimes tract to his eldest son, Matthew Fit?.-, held at Friends’ houses, and in 1710 a I water, for £400. This included the mill, meeting house was built and a meeting property. Fie retained the later Liei- settled therein. In 1701 application green’’ farm himself, which an oldj was made by the men settlers above | boundary says he held in 178/. Thence Wright-stown to have a meeting for forward the Fitzwaters continued to be worship weekly among themselves and the owners down to 1861. In 185/ a others who might wish to meet with later John Fitzwater died, leaving a them, to which the Falls meeting as¬ [widow, Margaret,and children-George, sented. This gave a fresh impetus to John, Jacob, Charles, and Chailotte, i move northward, into central Bucks, wife of Robert E. Potter. In 1861 and in this they were not disappointed. Charles Fitzwater sold to John Cannon Gathering together their household 75 acres for $8080, and who had receiv¬ effects, with flocks and herds, they be¬ ed the property by a conveyance from gan their toilsome journey. Traveling Jacob W. Fitzwater, trustee of estate ot was not as easy then as now. Few John Fitzwater. It was in this house roads were opened or bridges built, that John Cannon closed his life. The streams had to be forded an/1 Indian will of the first John Fitzwater was trails or paths led through trackless for made in 1794. His sons Matthew and ests or thick growth of underwood. John were his executors. Daughter,., Nothing daunted, they pushed onward, Marv Spencer and Sarah Lukens, are having an abiding faith that Bucking mentioned, who received lands and ham was a land of promise, favored monev. 40 acres adjoining land ot Hen¬ above all others. In addition it called ry Barnhart were willed to his son to mind that, Buckingham in England, John. F. M the home of their childhood. And now after a journey of two days the summit OLD BUCKINGHAM MEETING. of our mountain is reached. As it was the first prominent feature in the land¬ Personal Reminiscences and Sketches Pa¬ scape view on the way thither, thej per Written by A. S. Paxson, Esq., and must have viewed it with a measure of Read at the Young Friends’ Association delight, and from its crowned summit what a wondrous world of beauty met at Buckingham Meeting House their enraptured gaze. In the long range It covers a long period of time, some of vision far away Haycock mountain, thino' over two centuries. Of the latter with its rounded and blue summit, rose halfBof the present century the writer high above intervening hills. But has much personal knowledge, and the thither their steps were not led. Their fore part thereof he has learned through, ! eves rested on a beauty-woven and el iff- parents and others equally well inform¬ bound valley beneath their feet, their ed of what has transpired. Concerning future homes. While civilization and the time preceding this, we rely upon refinement were yet in their infancy official records and the writings that the work of felling the forest was under prominent members of the meeting have way and the woodman’s axe was heard left behind them. on every hand, stilling the wind muses In order to arrive at a correct under of whose murmuring ^boughs swept standing of the status of this meeting gently over its rivulets and meads and -we shall have to go back to a time floated in melody over the crystal rip¬ somewhat anterior to Penn’s arrival up- ples that burst' forth so mysteriously on the shores of the Delaware. As from pebbled bottoms in the distant earlv as 1680 meetings »f worship were hills. Our little colony of Friends lo¬ established about- the Falls, even before cated mostly adjoining this meeting’s the land bore the name of Pennsylva¬ property, and as the spring opened their nia, and those Friends who were settled husbandry commenced, and as May from Bristol upwards used to attend the with its buds and blossoms and June meetings for business at Burlington. with its summer baptism of jubilee The New or West Jersey colony of I opened up the summer our Friends felt Friends obtained patent from Edmund as though they were in the real as well Andros and located on the west side ot as the ideal land of promise. As early the Delaware, before the grant v> as as 1705 Friends met together and held made to Penn. At the yearly meeting meetings for worship at private houses, held in Philadelphia in 1683 it was de¬ a meeting house on a 10-acre lot of J amt's Straete^sland^ariTl in 17(W inends, and'toHieliloreirnammousHie^ ■*< I they desired to have glass windows put tore they undertake the work. And as 111 *ame’ and Joseph Kirkbride we hay*-vmwed the several places in and William Biles offered to pay the < ebate, we aie of the opinion that the expense thereof. This house was' built most convenient place to set a new si ot logs cut from the nearby forest. In ' meeting house is on the hill on the 1720 they found more room required I south side of the yard.” Signed bv and yet again in 1729 they added an ad’ f WooW1 IV1wbnUle’ Jaines Moon, John clition IB feet square of stone. It is I n’i Wll,llam Faxson, Thomas now difficult to locate the house where- E Heston’ J°Sep 1 HamPf°n and Jacob in Friends first met in 1700, before the | first log meeting house was built, as | The old roadbed is yet to be seen they met at the house of William Coop¬ lear the graveyard wall on the north er, alternating at John Gillingham’s I Mde of the meeting house. Additional James Straeter’s and Nathaniel Bye’s’ ' ground was secured the same year but hut it is probable at the house of Wm.’ unt,n the Eleventh' month, Cooper on the Ash property, a short 1 (o / tliat work was com menced on t h e I distance west of us. The first meeting * ° ,the Present structure. In house in the graveyard on the original 1 when Straeter conveyed 10 acres and gave quick notice to the worship- in trust to build a meeting house on pers that their house was on fire The and for a burying ground.” Where next montldv meeting was held in the interments were made before this I am old stable. It was concluded to hold unable to say. Tradition has it that the monthly meetings at Plumstead un¬ tfie present yard was once an Indian til the new house should be finished field or clearing and may have been in' 1 p ep-mterly meeting next ensuing used for burial purposes, or maybe m the lifth month at Wrightstown Friends held over for a time, or until Monthly meetings were resumed in the they saw ,a fitting place to lie in ’peace. new house m the Second month, 1769 But this is somewhat speculative, as I and on New Year’s day, 1770, the com¬ have no recollection of attending anv mittee reported the cost of land, mater- funeral before the present yard was 11 m'kmanslHp amounted to £736, used for that purpose. At a quarterly iJs, l^d. The house is 40 by 70 feet meeting held at the Falls in 1720 we m size. The walls are of good grb learn: “Whereas Friends of Bucking¬ stone, nanow pointed, with a concave ham, hitherto belonging to Falls, bein<* plaster cornice at the eves and contin¬ greatly increased in number and have ued around the ends. The inside shut- tor a long time with hardships traveled ters making two apartments when de- a great way, move to have a monthly hnfri Viar^ I polishe(1 " Hite cedar, and meeting of their own. Although loath hokl their lustre to this day. The floor to part with their good company, they is of yellow pine and shows little wear grant Buckingham a monhly meeting. ’ ’ xor more than a century’s use The It is a significant circumstance that the benches or seats are of softer wood membership then did not vary much poplar, that yields readily to a sharp from that now. In 1761 it was decided knife, and the initials and names of to build a new meeting house, and the some of our ancestors as now seen there- committee appointed to locate it, not on cad to mmd those youths who took being able to agree, called upon the little stock m the sermons. The writer 1 quarterly meeting for advice, and re- 1 is not supposed to have taken anv part,; ceived the foilowing answer: “On the m cutting those symbols. ' 1 l 2ptli day of ye 1st month, 1762- We The outer doors are hung with heavy the subscribers, appointed by the quar¬ strap hinges, which formerly, and per¬ terly meeting to assist you with some haps now, emit a peculiar sound when advice respecting some difficulty arising opened. They sang the same tune 100 among you m regard to the buildim- of veam ago The high seats look solemn a new meeting house, and having fully • like and seem to say: We were filled heard the members of your meeting on he latter part ot the last century The the matter, and it appearing evident to two great wood stoves that warmed the us that there is a great disagreement worshippers would tip the scales at well among you concerning the place where- nigh a ton, and have long since been on to set the building, and considering the danger and hurt that mav ari=e to cite5teP coalSl \\ hat has become,mrninK of the"Mhra old societ.V jf such .disupion castings I am unable to sav- probably &noiiI7l subsist, we carefully advise that gone to some foundry and melted un a friends endeavor to divest themselves old iron. What a relic of Xen of private views and consider what may time would they now be, and hunted ^os^contribute to the general good of ■2E.foi.our historical society. The an¬ mmaaa^mmsax •—h\a ’Ysrrrsfpr'~% bullet b&S an'' oi Samaria that had a little cha iiierceiMlie partition, grazed the win- with her Lord and Master, when she came to draw water from the well in Whar’s vale, as to the value of the IS The monthly meetas m waters thereof and the waters of ever¬ lasting life vouchsafed unto her. T er ?]S£™SS;s"SS!h on I isno mention anywhere of onr Savmn, ISnt of the hot,* SS-S having an interviewjrview withwxhlm. any of Samaria. Yet withal it must be ac¬ cepted that every good and true woman , is a lady, as is recognized by the world |

S£»HrSfiby the soldiers, who sat in eetn g atThere has been little preaching in j ‘with their muskets stacked near the this house for a long time, but an oc¬ casional instructive discourse is heard. dThe old horse blocks, yet stahdrng, In the main, however, the worship h .>. been of a meditative and spiritual char¬ / ; acter and this may be aptly illustrated ^"i^t^to'^omof^ed's ?n aVcw lines, giving the views and ■ feelings of one at least ^th^.,t“ese ) walls a year or more ago. He writes. T iare been to Quaker meeting, and shall go | S "oldlSs hpoi'the turnpike just be- ZeroKng the meeting ground .from It was^so’'quiet and so neat, so simple and so The anils’seemed to gather there, from off the 1

cut down in making the turnp.ke the And foWrtheirewings in quietness, as though There^KlSfed organ there.no costly b0,Sf and” wPaTo„“'o7 .hie who To helpyou.8raise your thoughts to God, and holi- | dng another- grave m £ mom s But sittinVstuiTn silence, we seemed to feel and | S “he oM oaks that have a history »d The stm°small voice that entered in and told the 1

The wam were' free from paintings and costly h, their yonng days the eagle and wild deer were U'eir companion^ t . That i'n°our°modern churches seem to play so ! For itseems they ’each endeavor to please the eye I

And loveaflthoughts of plainness in every church |

pale faces came^and deawlthe. fore^ TheTewasPno’bustle, noise or stir, as each one j

But stlence 'settled over all. not solemn, hut so |

As eachone in his quiet way implored for stiength

Theri”htnf?om wrong in everything, and asked

It seeniMlmvhen X°’was there, so peaceful and so'

That I was in God's presence, and there to do his nearly fuifilled- At tne kened ■ ! The simple, peaceful quiet did more to move my |

Than any Worship yet had done, with all its show they saw the the ■>- v,y- and ait. . . i mountain pass Tiyiay the iron horse The feeling and experience of this | I individual a? above pictured has doiibL : lees been that of countless others dm bringing congenial spir to What I in® present and past times. He may i sav that no more acceptable womb lean be offered, for we have it unf°Wed j unto us that “hod is a spirit, and that t0 worship him we must vo.sh.p him the standard Of tdin.rnuiuy b t -!in spirit and in truth.” In easting our long gone It was not maniac ^ leyes1 around, and within this historuj building, let us call to mind those w ho W°Twnlk Yon will observe that I helped to plan and finally did the work |Edward Good, grandfather of the late Serl to' the old Pearson Good, did the carpenter work, Sfte°.nX?of all living”. There is and its condition now shows the bn - £e highest authority for. so doing for I x l.nve been a master liana. 1“ tliias Hutchinson laid the walls and | I their solid masonry, as now seen aftei I defying the elements tor much more ! than a century, is a living witne.s that I they were put. there for no temporal y Inurpose- They ha™ many modern structures and

i. " / lamv survive many that will tu? erectec I in the hereafter. We build iiastiJv hi I these walls that uni tell them for their 1 the present day and do not look forward ; tuturcs pathway on life’s journey. The first year of their married life was I f°i future wants. Mathias Hutchinson j was grandfather, to the late Ann J. Pax- spent at his father’s, near Abington j son, and a man of much more than or- meeting, but in 1810 they moved to the I dinary mark. He came up from t!i larm adjoining this meeting’s property halls in 17(15 and claimed the liahd on the west. Thomas Paxson thus early Elizabeth Bve, one of Buckingham’s in life took an immediate and deep in¬ fairest daughters, which he held safely $ terest m this meeting, was chosen clerk until they made a final union of both ?oon thereafter, and finally elder, which heart and hand. He seldom failed i 1 position he held at the time of his death. He took an important part in anything Ire undertook, was a man of w many parts, and if need be, turned his I all business meetings, and upon com hand to diplomacy. A little incident, .< mittees where ripe judgment was need related to me as having occurred, by 2 ed his name was found. He was a the late Joseph Fell, will serve as air strict disciplinarian and held closely to illustration. \\ hen the meeting house rl the time-honored practices and disci was about completed and turned over to I phne of the society. In the matter of the committee he desired that the in¬ dress and address, now much lost sight itials of his name (M. H.), as builder of, he adhered closely to that of early 1 might be placed in the gable wall Friends, and from youth upward and Friends thought this savored somewhat through life no deviation was made of the monumental, and the request was I therefrom ‘‘He was always known by the garb he wore. ’ ’ denied. Matters thus rested for a time, or until he bethought of another plan Thomas Paxson died on the 19th of to accomplish his purpose. Accordingly Fourth month, 1881, in the 88th year one day he inquired very innocently of his age, and his wife on the 21st of no doubt, if the initials “M. H..‘” Third month, 1883, in her 92d year 1 hey were buried in the yard belonging which would represent ‘1 meeting to this meeting, where rest my ancestors house,” had not better be placed in the gable end. To this the for several generations. They died as committee_ they had lived, consistent members of readily assented, not seeing the point I that excellent society, the society of that “M. FI.” represented Mathias 1 Hutchinson, the builder. The lineage Friends The Master’s summons of Ann J. Paxson was as fully marked found them with their Joins girt, their on the paternal side. Her grandfather, staff m their hands, and their lamp William Johnson, came over from Ire¬ The memory of good parents land in early manhood. His motive should always be cherished. The in¬ for the change may perhaps be explain¬ fluence of good lives cannot be too lono- ed by the motto on the family coat of perpetuated. It. strengthens those who” arms, “Ubi Libertas, Ibi Patria. ” He following m their footsteps, strive to emulate their virtues. may have seen even then the cloud that Having thus overshadowed his beloved native land, , O ----- given someCUIIIC accounta*. of and possibly discerned in prophetic the present meeting house and the two vision her subsequent fearful struggle former ones which were located in the with oppression and power. He was a graveyard, let us retrace our steps and thoroughly educated and scholarly go backward to the first organization of man, as his many writings and lectures the meeting m 1720. The first clerk left behind him fully attest. This ThnJ vTr Fanby-- He from hasty sketch of Ann J. Paxson would thorn, Yorkshire, m England, and be incomplete without some mention of, reached Bucks county in 1683, in com¬ her partner and companion on life’s pany with his uncle and guardian pathway. Thomas Paxson,from Abin^- ' Henry Baker. At that time he was \ ton, Montgomery county, made frequent H ‘ h 6’ 311,1 18 dW^ed to have visits in the early springtime and sum¬ had little means at Ins disposal. We mer of 1817 to the hospitable mansion are led to this belief from the fact of of Samuel and Martha Johnson, where¬ his indenture to pay his passage < at Horace and Fannie Broadhurst now The following extract is taken tVdlh reside, and his visits became frequent minutes of Friends held at the house of and prolonged. And this is laid at the i„ -h®lJIon",l)t e 5th of Sixth month, door of Ann Johnson, a member of the 168o: Henry Baker hath brought in family visited, whose rare intellectual account of disbursements about the endowments and other characteristics bringing of Thomas Canbv into this of the true woman were well calculated country and they both, viz. : Ilenrv to captivate. The friendship thus Baker and Thomas Canbv, have refer- formed resulted finally in his asking led the length of time the said Thomas her hand,a very proper thing,no doubt” Canby shall serve the said Henry Bak- and it seems it was not withheld, for ei, for the said charge and his passage we find that while the mountain yet and it, is the agreement and judgment held its autumnal shades of rich beauty of this meeting that the said Thomas m changing leaf the fitting vows of love Canby shall serve the said Henry Baker- and constancy within five years from this day, and at‘the ex¬ piration of this term the said Henry SovHh^aul Thomas uan- vidua 1 states. Remarks were made by Jo¬ Baker shai and corn and what other seph Flowers, Mary R. Livezey, Mary Jane tliino's'are^aUowecl by law to minors so! Walker' and others. Mary J. Walker read an Interesting -ou-lit over, and that the indenture | i sketch of the Shakers at Mount Lebanon, shall°accordingly he drawn and sealed hy giving some particulars of the belief and S party, tVwhich customs of the followers of Ann Lee. parties declare their satisfaction. Remarks followed hy Mary R. Livezey,; At the expiration of this term, which Joseph Flowers, Isaac Richards, William to our view now’ would seem largely m , excess of any sum needed for one passage West and others. Bllwood Roberts spoke on “Henry of a bov from England to Pennsylvania, Woodman, the Valley Forge Historian,' young Canby settfed at Abington Mog, giving the salient points of his life, bis j gomery county, and m 1693 married ancestry and other particulars of general Sarah Jarvis, and after a few jears interest, exhibiting a photograph of moved to Buckingham, in our county^ Woodman, from an ambrotype taken In and purchased a farm on the 1854 when he was in his fifty-ninth year, I road a short distance below Gentie- Extracts were also read from recent let- ville supposed to be the same premises ters from Woodman’s daughter, Mary I now’occupied by Joseph Anderson H s ( | Smith Woodman, of Pineville, Bucks fir«t wife died here in BOS, anu 11 i June 1709, he married Mary, daughter county. Henry Woodman was born in the old of Evan Oliver, who came from Rad¬ norshire in Wales. She died, however, 1 Woodman Homestead on Trout creek, his ! mother, who was Sarah Stephens, daugh- earlv in 1721, and shortly thereafter j ter of Abijah Stephens, becoming the wife , Oanbv located on what is non known , of Edward Woodman, of Hillsboro, North ! as the Stavely homestead, over the lme Carolina, a soldier of the Revolutlnary in Solelmry. war and one of those encamped at Valley | Forge. I "When discharged in 1782, at New York, j Ihe and several companions started on i their Veturn to North Carolina. Conclud¬ ing to go home by way of Valley Forge, Woodman was taken sick, and remained j in the vicinity. Edward and Surah, Stephens Woodman had a number of (Children—Ruth, V"i13&am, Abisha, He.hryj id Mary. Abisha was the father of larah Woodman, wife of William B. [aim, both now deceased. Henry Woodman was born in 1795, Cti Jhristmas Day. Brought up amid ttW surroundings of the campground, at Val ey Forgo, and imbibing his impressions' association. >f the American occupation of the vicinity m 1777-8 from his mother, who had a re¬ lapsing Session for the Summer at markable memory, toe afterward commit- cd these recollections and Impressions to Valley Meeting — Historical, Bi¬ vriting, producing an exceedingly Yalu- ographical and Other Features of ble record of the encampment the Program. Early In. life he began teaching-in th« dcinity, varying this occupation with that Notwithstanding the thunder shower f conveyancer and surveyor. Havard which broke just before the time 1 ,’allcer has the compass which he used closing session of Norristown Friends As ihile engaged in this occupation. sociation for the summer at Valley In 1S27, Henry Woodman married Mary, Friends1 meeting yesterday, a fair auai laughter of Benjamin Smith, of Wrights- own, Bucks county, settling there and he¬ ence was present. Atarv R Walker read a portion of Jan mming a valued minister of the Society ney’s History of Friends giving Re views if Friends. He wrote his Valley Forge of Elias Hicks on''Salvation hy Christ. lapers about 1850. He regarded the death *m the cross as a During the last half-dozen years of his type of that spiritual atonement which life, he was bereft of hds mental faculties Sst he felt in the heart of the repentant to a certaiu extent, injuries received from sinner. The expression blood of Ian animal while driving a herd of cows Lamb,” be explained as meaning the spit ! from the pasture to the barn, aggravating the "difficulty very greatly. He died itual life of Jesus. by Lillian Zimmerman read an t^tc 1-879, within one day of completing hi- Lyman Abbott, on “The Secret of Peace^ eighty-fourth year. His widow who had Sarah Flowers, of Wayne, read been an invalid for many years, died ttore« graphical sketch of Elizabeth Newport, a years later, both being buried at Wrlghts- well-known minister of the Society of town. They left numerous descendants, they being among the most intelligent an Friends, dwelling particularly upo deep spiritual insight in addressing lndl- substantial citizens of Bucks county. trusted men of the nation; and as a Henry’s j> parents are buried at Valley^ scientist he was recognized abroad as rtends’ ground, one of the neatest and well as at home—indeed, one of his many I best kpPt graveyards of the Society in this distinctions was a foreign membership | country. WUtlhin its limits repose the re¬ in the Royal Society of London, then mains of a number of Revolutionary offi¬ the highest honor that could be bestowed cers and soldiers who died fluring the en¬ upon a man of learning. It is a proud campment at VaiDey Forge. Ithlng for Montgomery County to own harvard Walker, the oldest resident, of hrfh as one of her citizens, and, most brilliant in the galaxy of those who the vicinity, exhibited a bill and receUpfi were born or who lived within her bor¬ from Woodman while teaching school, ders, this scion of an i.umble household for tuition for three months*, of himself will be held up as an “ensample unto and brother tiewts, render,ad to their men” for generations still to come. father, Hananilah Walker, and dated sev¬ David Rittenhouse was born April 8; enty-seven yearns ago, in 1821. It attract » 1732, in a small stone house which still ed much attention. Havard 'Walker and; stands, within the present limits of Fair- Mary Walker are thought to lVe the only* mount Park, near Germantown. Accord¬ f-WIS****** - - Ad^~— ■ • - - --— ing to the testimony of Its date stone, the house was built in 1707. His father ■ was Matthias Rittenhouse, great-grand¬ son of the Willem Rittenhouse who, more than twm centuries ago. established the Fi'om, first paper mill In America and gave to Philadelphia the credit of cradling an infant industry that has grown into the industrial giant of to-day. His mother was Elizabeth Williams, the daughter of Evan and Dorothy Williams, of Wales. When David was only 2 years old his parents removed with the small family I . that then blessed them—later there were ten children altogether—to the farm which Matthias had bought in Norri- lon, about twenty miles from Phila¬ delphia, out on the Germantown Road.

Something of Interest About Pennsylvania’s Great Phil¬ i II osopher and Statesman.

"When Pennsylvania was called upon There the boy, as soon as he w.™-™™ to place in the Capitol at Washington-, enough, was put to the ordinary work of the statues of her two worthiest sons, the farm; boy’s work in those dars be¬ she ought to have taken her Warrior gan at a very early age, for it was at Wayne; and beside him set her philoso¬ a time when there were no labor-sav¬ pher. Rittenhouse, who in his ancestry ing devices, and when the earth yielded best represents that quiet and peaceful her increase onlyliiter a great deal of persuasion. religious thought which led to her set¬ He displayed a genius for mechanics at tlement. and in himself the highest in¬ a very early age, and it is said that tellectual plane she has yet reached.” when he was 8 years old he had con¬ Such is Judge Samuel W. Pennypack- structed a miniature water mill. How er’s glowing tribute to two great Penn¬ many homely turns his handiness had sylvanians, and his reference is sufficient taken before he constructed his first to invest with more than ordinary Inter- clock (at the age of 17) may be conjec- uied, but it is not at all presumptuous est any description of the home and o imagine that he had become an ex¬ haunts of those distinguished men. pert ot more than ordinary skill, as he ; The latter of the two whom the Judge was able to persuade his father to ad-j has thus delighted to honor, is David vance him the money with which to buy, Rittenhouse. who grew upas the son of a some tools in Philadelphia so that he - well-to-do and hard-working farmer into could embark regularly in business as do a most useful and illustrious manhood clock and mathematical instrument mak- He became one of the most implicitly hl’ thwork-sh°P he had erected by the loadside on his father’s land '■"w,., ■ -Ju fti1fenbou5eS ^omft orn

Fb'Tit

um.UHUi.yj.

GernwiCow

]~ Perhaps the greatest stimulus the mind , of the youthful philosopher had received, and which in all probability contributed more than anything else to the forraa- I tion of a career that was destined to bo j so far reaching in its influence, was his i access to a box of carpenter’s tools, a ! few elementary books on arithmetic and , ~ oRs ancT papers seem to have I Woulcf'jfiot recur un fTTTS7i."-The anxiety, teimined the bent, of his life, and tlie fear that something would happen to iniluenee they had upon his mind is J render»all that had been done as useless, lustrated by the story his brother 13 y the suspense must have been something jamm tells of the calculations' y stupendous—but on the morning of the y.lnch he covered the plow handles, d long-looked-for day the whole horizon fences and other available places wane ] spread before the observers at Norriton pursuing the avocation that kept his feet i in the perfect glory of a June morning. only to the earth. When the time came for the observation And in later years it was no slight I and the astronomer had witnessed the thing tor him to make the acquaintance | wonderful sight through his telescope, of a young schoolmaster, Thomas Bar¬ j the rAction was so great that ho faint- ton, who had opened a school in that ed. Jhe_ observatory, by the way, was vicinity in 1751. Mr. Barton was a grad¬ uate of Trinity College. Dublin, and a only a temporary structure built of logs man of rare 'intellectual force, so the and to-day no trace Of it remains, save companionship of a friend like him was what is said to have been its founda¬ of tremendous advantage in augmenting tion of large rough-hewn stones. the intellectual equipment of the far¬ > mer's' son. Another concern of Rittcnhouse’s while Through him David was supplied with bf' hyed at Norriton, and one which was ' boo.ks from which he obtained a knowl¬ also highly honorable to his fame,” was edge of Batin and Greek, and bv which the completion of his orrery, a most i~ a world of knowledge was eventually i gentous bit of mechanism designed to ■ opened to the eyes of the young student. ! lustrate the movements' and "phases It has been said that bv the time he the various celestial bodies: bv the t j was 24 he. had become "the rival of two mg' of a winch the dials could be s. 6| of the greatest mathematicians in Eig. any period of time in 5060 years e jlropo"—Buch tv--?.s the record of a citizen of forward or backward, and in a l’noi the relative situation of any member of rosun^-hfJ.7 Cou£ty, and such was the me .solar system could be ascerta: "firsV' ^ ° tu be-plainly traced to the , speaking of this of hoopf th r~the Ending of a collection p;p°e °f astronomer’s handiwork, « meagre indeed as com- said. He has not indeed m de a woiid.but I ^ wLth the schoolboy of to- pe ?,ras, 'by imitation approached nearer s a large boxwood bush political questions depended — and in uU dey now farms tlie place and which his ability was never assailed. hv curious visitor the deed 1 lie satisfaction with which he, perform- 1 by which Matthias and Elizabeth Kitten ed the most difficult tasks led his friends to recommend for him a public position R°UeVo°u€eyed th® pvoperty t0 Uavid that would give employment to his rare I The present owner’s illustrious prede¬ taient, but the doctrine that "public of¬ cessor came I Imre, as before stated in fice is a private snap” did not find ip- j Ud, and he lived there until 1770 when horsement with him. He refused official the*hrVaa Ph,ladelphia to enter upon position while he lived in Norriton al- 1 t0 though he admitted that "the reputa¬ was destine !'ar>yr “‘’ usefulness, which was destined to mark him as a nre- tion, of the office would be very agreea- eminent American. But still n adds a ■ it may be, thoussh. that this astute fomerv Coumfa t0 pIace for Mont- 1 young man knew that he could not pav 11 ?tn}Sry. wountians to know that the name bills with the refutation. Then too it J?nd hiVI rvs. 1 HbnhagbSVfc““

\ ss& «as>a»A as IfSalrSiHi'S i tav:«ss^?ww v'sn*

"Mi o« y-Maajeg^l came to David -■ aft*airs after ho sociationmoved to wthPhiladelpnia^m r^iTnhia in ^1770, hiswouldtory beof. to Quote in extcn. ^ remainder of lt°heQrcity for almost the^rcmayid^. his Ufe, as he was . p es were com " tied with it. Honora J q£ the ]earned fcrred upon him by Opportunt- ii.stitutions in the coun^tryf Wg talent lies fortheem .»“aary questions in sei.thnft wag -unanimously were multiplied. estate by its first, elected treasurer °^h®hff Election was leKislat.ve body “ vears in succession, repeated for tweiv . He was one of | untilthat remarkablehe fthf'uy.i e..rCounc0uncil orof Safety,traovt li-a body endowed w'tly tlie most ex un. ■•nary P^ers- it was anwarranted b | knowm to the laws a Director of i the Constitution. „ ue Tyas pro- the Mint for three ^, e_brovost the ptniversiVy of ^P^misylvmiia^^anct^ war^^t

Te varfous smijg™ rendered his fel-j lows in his own time onest SOn of a| And T,r"sunii4 Norristown farmer s&XTnited .Cp” States,4J .the legislaturefl&ssrs o^ p»“- of

•SHESAAmerican citizen.___ is 5e~“ »si

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