BULLETIN HISTORICAL 50CIETY MONTGOMERY COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA jv^oNN/srowjv

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PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY AT 1X5 ROOM5 IS EAST PENN STREET NORRISTOWN.PA.

APRIL, 1940 VOLUME II NUMBER 2

PRICE 50 CENTS Historical Society oF Montgomery County

OFFICERS

Nelson P. Fegley, Esq., President

S. Cameron Corson, First Vice-president

Charles Harper Smith, Second Vice-President

George K. Breght, Esq., Third Vice-President Mrs. Rebecca W. Brecht, Recording Secretary Ella Slinglufp, Corresponding Secretary

Annie B. Molony, Financial Secretary

Lyman a. Kratz, Treasurer

Emily K. Preston, Librarian

TRUSTEES

Franklin A. Stickler, Chairman

Mrs. a. Conrad Jones

Katharine Preston

H. H. Gansbr

Nancy P. Highley The Old Hughes Mill—1900 THE BULLETIN of the Historical Society of Montgomery County Published Semi-Annually—October and April Volume II April, 1940 Number 2

CONTENTS The Old Hughes Mill Annie Brooke Simpson .... 71 Four Miles of Historic Road Dr. John B. Carrell 78

Annual Excursion to Atlantic City in 1873. . .Francis E. Collins 87 The Old Burlal-Ground near Erdenheim William R. Yeakle 95 Washington's Headquarters at Skippack .B. Witman Dambly 105 Where Washington Crossed the Skippack B. Witman Dambly 112 Pennsylvania German Folk-Lore B. E. Schultz Gerhard, M.A. 117

Tribute to Annie Jarrett Reed and Willoughby H. Reed Franklin A. Stickler 138 Willoughby Henry Reed, 1856-1939 Charles R. Barker 143 Bible Records (continued) 145 Reports 160

Publication Committee Charles R. Barker Hannah Gerhard Chester P. Cook Bertha S. Harry EMHiY K. Preston, Editor

69 The Old Hughes Mill*

By Annie Brooke Simpson

The old Hughes Saw Mill was located in Upper Merion, in the extreme southwestern corner of Montgomery county, on the Chester county line and one mile from the Delaware county line. The exact site formerly occupied by the mill is now in the lower parking space of the Colonial Village Swimming and Skating Club, just above Martin's Dam on Croton road at Hughes road, about two miles north of Wayne. The first person named Hughes to own the mill was Abner Hughes. He came from Wales, was the son of William and Mary Hughes, and brother of Phoebe, unmarried; Hannah, who married Hance Supplee, and Elizabeth, who married William Carver. On November 1, 1800, Abner Hughes and William Carver bought from Isaac Bewley and wife, Ann, 211/^ acres of ground, including the mill site, for the sum of £700. Eight and one half months earlier, January 14, 1800, for £50 less money, Isaac and Ann Bewley had purchased said tract of land from Henry Zook and wife. Henry Zook, on July 8,1799, had "become legally seized in fee of two plantations and tracts of land in Upper Merion township, containing 225 A, bounded by land owned himself, John Elliott and Joseph Conrad." This part of Henry Zook's land had been purchased from William George and his wife, Ann, on July 8, 1791. William George's grandfather, William George, in a will made March 8, 1763, bequeathed to this grandson 100 acres in Upper Merion township. The land bought by William Carver and Abner Hughes in 1800 was a part of this tract of 100 acres. It is interesting to follow further purchases of land

♦Read before the Society November 18, 1939.

71 72 BULLETIN OP HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY from the same owners by Abner Hughes and by his son, Wil liam Hughes, but we are concerned, now, only with the mill site. William Carver and Abner Hughes traded as Carver and Company from 1800 until 1809. Having made their purchase on November 1, 1800, we find their account book opened upon November 15,1800, their first account being with John Elliott. A faithful accounting with careful balancing followed. The last entry appeared on March 16, 1809, reading: "Then settled Thomas Walker's account between Carver & Hughes." On April 3, 1809, Abner purchased William Carver's share of the property for £850, thus becoming sole owner of the mill. It is of particular interest to find in the deed from Henry Zook to Isaac Bewley, January 14, 1800, that a saw mill was on the property at that time. This also appears in the deed from Isaac Bewley to William Carver and Abner Hughes; also in the deed from William Carver to Abner Hughes, with cer tain provisions regarding water-rights appearing in each deed. On November 1, 1800, "Isaac Bewley and his wife, Ann Bewley, for the sum of £700 current la'wful money unto them in hand well and truly paid by the said William Carver and Abner Hughes of the township of Upper Merion in the County of Montgomery and State of Pennsylvania, yeomen, do grant, bargain, sell, release and confirm unto William Carver and Abner Hughes, their heirs and assigns, the aforesaid Messuage or Tenement, Sawmill and tract of land described, containing 21Y2 A. of land. "Together also with all and singular the sawmill and other buildings, improvements, ways, woods, water courses, rights, privileges, liberties. Hereditaments and Appurtenances what soever thereunto belonging or in any ways appertaining. And it is mutually agreed on by the said parties to these presents that the Water shall not be confined by the said Wm^ Carver and Abner Hughes or any other person acting under them, their heirs or assigns, from falling into its natural course leading to the said Henry Zook's Mill Dam more than forty- eight Hours at any one time; but should the Water be longer THE OLD HUGHES MILL 73 Detained the said Henry Zook his heirs or assigns shall have free liberty to enter on the hereby conveyed Premises and draw or open any flood gate or gates that may be erected thereon and give the water full liberty to flow into the said Course or Ditch, the said Henry Zook, his heirs or assigns observing to do no Damage to the Saw-mill works or other works thereon erected but to have the liberties aforesaid, And it is further agreed on and consented to by the said Henry Zook that the said Wm. Carver and Abner Hughes their heirs and assigns shall have free egress and regress to and from a Spring near the head of the said Henry Zook's Mill Dam which riseth at the distance of about nineteen perches from the Northeasterly corner of the said Wm. Carver and Abner Hughes' land and thereon to erect a Springhouse and to have the liberty of a Footpath or Passage to the same the nearest and most con venient way from the hereby granted premises with full liberty and privilege to dig and follow the Spring up the bank and make a Ditch or Barrier against the rising or overflowing of the Water in the said Mill Dam or other floods," The Henry Zook Dam is now Martin's Dam. The spring- house was built and stands today. The spring, which bears the reputation of never having failed, still supplies all the water used at the house. From early childhood, we had been told that prior to the building of the Mill, before water-power was used, logs were sawed by hand, A rip saw was used by two men, one above and one below the log, which was placed across the mouth of a pit. The log was stripped of bark and scribed above and below, and then sawed by hand. This primitive method must have been used much earlier, because water-power was in use in 1800 at the oldmill whichstood at the time of the purchase. In 1801, Abner Hughes wrote in his account book:

Mar. 2. Credit to Isaac Harrison. To 97 days at 2s per day 9£ I4s July 25. To 6 days at the Barrack 2£ 2s July 29. To 1 day cutting to make the water- wheel 5s To 1 day taking the old wheel out 5s 74 BULLETIN OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY

Sept. 2. To 19 Days work and boarding mak ing the waterwheel at 7s per day ... 6£ 13s James Stone's and John Davis' board ... £ 16s Isaac Harrison. To 1% dajrs work at the Dam £ 10s 6d To Boarding the Barrack and putting lin ing on side of the waterwheel £ 12s This totaled 20£ 17s 6d It proves conclusively that water-power was used at that time. In 1816, Abner Hughes built the new mill. The dam built by him is now the Colonial Village Swimming Pool, changed of course. He had the race dug; and the race bank still stands, lined with yellow clay, which never leaked. This clay he had dug from the field above the present upper garage, opposite the mill site. The clay hole became a stump hole; as ground was cleared and stumps were removed they were put into the hole with stones and earth, and from time to time were set on fire in order to let the ground level up. From wild cherry, white oak, poplar, walnut and logs of other kinds of wood were sawed a variety of "stuff," as it was called. From 1800 on, we note the sawing of planks, boards, pieces of scantling, (5) 11s 3d, lath, sled-runners, @ 5^2^, and sleigh runners. One item reads: "To sawing 1076 ft. of Bedstead stuff @ 3s 9d per hundred 2£ Os 3d;" another: "2 prs. bedstead stuff @ 6s per set; 86 ft. for wagon bodies @ 3s 9d per hun dred, 8s li/2d." On March 2, 1805, Jonanthan Roberts paid 46 £ 11s 8d for sawed scantling boards and lath. June 21, 1806, he paid 19£ 9s 4d for 330 ft. of lath. There was: "To sawing 169 posts @ 5d per post. To 722 rails and gate stuff @ 25s per 100 rails, boards, slabs and sled-runners," and there remained "due him 18s 9d for one acre of clover Abner got." In 1804-5, Samuel Henderson purchased "planks, 81 cogs @ 4d per cog; plank for cider trough (5) 1£ 7s 5^d; 448 ft. of lath for a crib, stuff for apple mill and press, waterwheel trunk and pennstock, 22 Vaney (sometimes spelled vainney) pieces @ 5i/^s per piece, etc. amounting to 47 £ 17s lO^d." THE OLD HUGHES MILL 75

When we read that Henry Zook, in 1806, was paid 5s 7^d for oxen used 1^ days, and that John Supplee was employed for 4 days "Braking Flax" in 1808,we wonder how the records of our day will appear one hundred and thirty years hence. Abner Hughes married Catharine Layman. Three daughters, Sara, Phoebe and Mary, were born; then, on June 10, 1816, a son, William, named for Abner's father was born. In less than a month his mother died. It was in that year that Abner built his saw mill. Four years later, in 1820, he moved his family from the log house located on the rear of the lot upon which his newly-built stone house stood, to the house which stands today opposite to the mill site. Its rafters are pegged together, its floors are of heavy oak timber, its mantles, hand-carved. A bakeoven is in the big fireplace of the former kitchen, and fireplaces in nearly every room. As William grew, he, too, learned to run the saw mill; and when Abner died at the old home, at an advanced age, on March 4, 1844, the mill and all its appurtenances, along with the land adjacent thereto including the house, were left to his only son. To each of his daughters, who were all married, he left a house and grounds. These are all on Groton road, in Chester county. Croton road was formerly Reeseville road, leading from Reeseville—now Berwyn—to the Schuylkill at Old Swedes Church. In 1841, William Hughes, son of Abner, married Hannah Maris, of Chester county, whose grandfather, Christian Maris, came from Holland. To them were born five children: Annie, Sarah, William, Jr., Rebecca and Frank. In 1855 William Hughes built the grist mill, adjoining the saw mill at the rear. A new waterwheel of the overshot type was installed, this being the kind that gave more power than any other. To run two mills, more water-power was needed. What had been "Hughes' Saw Mill" was now known as "Union Mills." A Manayunk millwright, William Hutton, built the grist mill. Mr. Cresson, a millwright from Barren Hill, built the waterwheel. For his labor alone he charged $500.00. This wheel was replaced in 1887 by a new waterwheel, the last one to be installed. 76 BULLETIN OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY

Joseph Brown, a nephew of William Hughes, was the first one to run the grist mill. Joseph was the son of William's sister, Phoebe Brown. Farmers brought grain to be ground. Graham flour, or whole wheat flour, was made here, and oats were ground, with corn, wheat and rye. Cracked corn and corn meal were also ground. Mark Supplee was later engaged to run the grist mill. He was a brother of Abram Supplee, a school director, formerly of Matsunk, which is now known as Swedeland. William Hughes, too, was a school director, serving in that capacity for many years. For five years, William Hudson leased the grist mill, and manufactured spools, bobbins and croquet sets. Bobbins and spools were furnished to Bullock's Mill, Conshohocken, and to Norristown mills. In 1860, William Hughes built the barn, which is still standing. Croton road separated the house from the barn. Formerly the road ran between the house and the saw mill below the barn, which was on the same side as the house. During the Civil War gun stocks were sawed by William Hughes for the government, 2" x 3", and two feet long. William'sson, William, Jr., born April 2, 1848; and Frank, born nine years later, January 30, 1857, attended Treemount Seminary. William, Jr., worked later in the saw mill with his father, hauling logs, sawing and delivering lumber. In those days, splendid trees, for miles around in the counties of Montgomery, Chester and Delaware, were bought, hauled to the mill, sawed and cured by drying in the mill yard, piled carefully so that the air could circulate about each board. The sun, rain, snow and wind seasoned the lumber, which was then ready to be sold and delivered to the cabinet makers and undertakers. Walnut trees were in great demand, and lumber made from these was regularly purchased by Mowday, of Norristown, and Kirk & Nyce, of Germantown. Trees, which had been plentiful, grew scarce and had to be found at greater distances, purchased and transported by log teams, consisting of horses driven to a log wagon, one in the shafts and others ahead in single file. As many as nine THE OLD HUGHES MILL 77 horses were used at one time in this way. As trees grew on hillsides, and oftimes in places difficult to reach, the wagon often was overturned, carrying the "shafter" or shaft horse over with it. This flourishing business had necessitated em ployment of men, horses and wagons; but in time there were no more walnut trees to be had. William Hughes, Jr., had married S. Emma Marshall, of Chester county, whose father, William Marshall, was born in Richmond, Virginia. They, my parents and I, were living in the house that William Hughes, Jr., built on the farm his father gave him at the time of his marriage, in 1877. This house is located on Croton road below Martin's Dam. William Hughes, Jr., died in 1906. Frank Hughes, son of William Hughes, Sr., learned his trade as a miller at the Arcola Mills and for many years he operated the grist mill. When his father died, in 1899, Frank inherited the house and the land, including the mill and the quarry. In 1929, he sold the site of the dam and most of his land to be developed as a part of Colonial Village. On March 9, 1939, he, the last one to bear the name of Hughes, died at the old home in his 83rd year. In 1922, the saw mill, unused, had fallen into decay and was torn down; at the same time the grist mill also was razed. Nothing remains today to suggest the"OldHughes Mill," unless one pauses to observe the water flowing from the Swimming Pool, which still runs merrily along the race bank that Abner Hughes "lined with yellow clay that never leaked." Beyond the former log yard one sees the springhouse, above the "spring that never failed." Across the road from the mill site stands the old house. With dignity and with a certain nobility, it faces the woods known as "the One Hun dred Mile Woods." Four generations have called it home, and each one in turn has followed Abner Hughes to rest in the Burying Ground at the Valley Friends' Meeting. The old house, sheltered by the hills, basks in the sunshine and looks out upon one of the loveliest of scenes, with the Swimming Pool and Martin's Dam on either side and the wooded hill between. Four Miles of Historic R-oad*

By Dr. John B. Carrell

Few stop to think what roads mean to the life and history of a nation, but roads are the clearest index to the civilization and progress of a people. A nation's history is written in the condition of its roads. Primeval man had no use for roads, for he was self contained. Barter and exchange being the first signs of awakening civilization, as civilization advances the necessity for roads increases, and finally for more and better roads. Roads are not alone utilitarian, they are defensive and offensive as well—note the history of the expansion of the Roman Empire with its system of roads, many of which have endured through 2000 years till now. Could roads speak, what stories they could tell! All the life of generations passes over them; laughing children frolic and play over their surface as they wend their way to and from the little school house, plucking the daisies and violets from the wayside bank; the marriage procession wends its way to the village church, happy in the prospect which love alone can give; the funeral cortege is seen, as it plods its dole ful way to the burial place, man's last long, long home. Historic roads are those which—^besides all this span of life—have echoed to the measured tramp of armed troops; along and over which all the hopes and activities of centuries have been enacted. Such a road and its environments we now attempt to describe. When Philadelphia was but a village, as we now regard size, it was, even more than now, the center of the business activity among the surrounding communities. Trails, rather than roads, led from the countryside towards this center of commerce. As population and commerce increased, the necessity for better communication in the locality, as well as

*Read before the Society April 30, 1932.

78 FOUR MILES OF HISTORIC ROAD 79 between the two greatest cities in the colony, resulted in the building of the Old York Road, one of the most historic roads in America. These old roads were dotted along their way by little villages, which in time grew into towns. The crossing of two main arteries of traffic resulted in the placing of a tavern on one corner and a store on the other; the change in the method of transportation has resulted in the placing of oil stations on the other two corners, sometimes even in supplanting the old tavern. Development invariably follows the best lines of com munication, the better the condition, the more rapid the development. It is particularly about events of nation-wide interest, which occurred in the four miles of York road between Hat- boro and across the Neshaminy creek, that I wish to speak to you this afternoon. Within these four miles, I am satisfied, more events and more varied have occurred than in any other stretch of similar highway in the country—events national, educational, mechanical, religious, patriotic and his toric; events which have meant much, not only to the com munity in which they happened, but which were national in their influence. The settlers in the vicinity of Hatboro, within a radius of three miles, were in the main Friends, mainly from England with a sprinkling of Scotch-Irish; but near Hartsville the emigration was almost exclusively of the latter nationality. They were of the cream of the early emigration, alert, keen, ambitious. They realized the necessity of educational ad vantages, and early in the history of the community they resolved to found a library, as they quaintly said, "To dispel the gloom of darkness which covered the land;" and so began the Hatboro Library, the third library founded in Pennsyl vania, and the seventh in America. It was in the year 1755 that this project materialized, and for more than 175 years there has been a continuous growth and development, until today the institution ranks with any of the city libraries. After 175 years, it continues as it has through the years, the centre of the cultural and educational go BULLETIN OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY development of the community. The patrons of this ancient library are justly proud of their beautiful building and its irreplaceable contents. Passing through the town, we come to the old Crooked Billet Tavern, now a dwelling house, on the walls of which your Society, through the efforts of Mrs. Mary Robinson, neighbors, and civic committee, have placed a bronze tablet with a suitable inscription. It was one of the earliest taverns in the country. Washington stopped on his way up and down the York road to refresh himself with a glass of wine at this hotel. Hatboro was for many years known as Crooked Billet, taking its name from the sign before the Crooked Billet Tavern, which was a crooked billet or stick. This manner of naming inns is not unusual in this locality, as for instance Bear, Sorrel Horse, Anchor, Bush, Cross Keys, etc., following an ancient custom in England years ago. In the northern section of Hatboro stands a Battle Monu ment, erected in memory of the Battle of Crooked Billet, which was not so much a pitched battle as an attempt to escape a sur prise attack of the British forces, sent out as a punitive force to attack the camp of General Lacey. Coming upon the camp by night, they attacked it on three sides and, because of the failure of the outposts to give an alarm, the Colonials were totally unprepared for defence and retreated through the only available outlet. This was towards the County Line road and into Bucks county, where most of the over thirtycasualties occurred. It was the only battle ever fought on the soil of Bucks county. A movement to have the site of this battle made into a National Park is being sponsored by a committee under the leadership of Dr. John B. Carrell, of Hatboro. The project has gotten so far as to have the proposed Park incorporated in the recommendations of the Tri-State Regional Planning Commission. Farther up the York road, at the crossing of the Street road, there stands a granite marker, which perpetuates one of the most interesting and peculiar events on record, and yet an event which was to revolutionize transportation on the water and thereby has done more to add to the comforts and FOUR MILES OF HISTORIC ROAD gl

intercourse between nations than anything before or since. This stone, which was placed upon this spot by the Bucks County Historical Society through the generosity of Edwin Longstreth, is to commemorate an idea which flashed through the mind of John Fitch as he stood to one side, allowing the chaise of 'Squire White to pass. As it passed the thought flashed through Fitch's mind, "Why could not a boat be propelled by steam?" Now if you can see any relationship between the chaise of 'Squire White and a steamboat, then perhaps you can explain the character of this peculiar and erratic yet undoubtedly gifted character, John Fitch. Fitch was a genius, but apparently lacked the practicality to carry to a successful conclusion his idea. With a friend, he was on his way home on a Sunday afternoon from service at the Old Neshaminy Church near Hartsville, where he had gone to hear a sermon by the Rev. Nathaniel Irwin. He had walked four miles from Johnsville to hear an hour to hour- and-half sermon, which goes to show that they took their religion more seriously then than at the present time. When this idea came to him, he at once began to put it into practice. A model boat was made in the log shop of Sutphin McDowell. The boat had brass gears and was sailed, or rather run, on the creek near Davisville. The trial was a success and a com pany was organized to build a large boat. The record of the organization of the company and the names of the incorpo- rators are deposited in the archives of the Philosophical Society of Philadelphia. It is said that Robert Fulton, for so many years accredited with the honor of being the inventor of the steamboat, was a workman employed in the building of Fitch's boat and stole the idea; but be it said to his credit, he never claimed to have been the inventor. Fitch was a peculiar character, but without doubt a genius. He built clocks, made silverware, made rifles for the Colonial Army, made maps—^which he printed on a cider press—mar ried a woman 24 years older than himself, then ran off and deserted her; but he was the inventor of the steamboat. Long years after his death. Congress appropriated $50,000 to erect for him a monument in the State of Kentucky, where he spent 32 BULLETIN OF HISTOBICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY his last years and finally committed suicide, a disappointed man. Nor is the field in which is set this stone to Fitch's honor without other historical interest, for it,is a part of the farm of Thomas Beans, keeper of the Warminister Tavern, one of our oldest hostelries. He was not only the hotel keeper, but a deacon in the Old Southampton Baptist Church, and happens to have been the writer's great-grandfather on the maternal side. His tavern was not only a stopping place, but a relay station for the Philadelphia-New York Stage Coach, which carried the mail between the two greatest cities. The tavern was in those days the communal center; at the time of the coming of the mail the countryside gathered to hear the news—no one took a newspaper in those days. A quarter of a mile below the tavern the driver of the coach would blow his horn and, on a gallop, the coach would come up to the great stone step in front. Therethe hostlers would unhitch the steam ing horses, hitch four fresh horses to the coach, a crack of the whip and they were off on a run. We think the old York road is no feather-bed now, but then, oh my! My, grandfather, who remembered those old days, said that he had seen the time when the axle of the mail coach dragged on the mud. Thomas Beans was the only one of the family who seemed to have any sporting blood in him. He was a breeder of rac ing horses and had a half-mile track on his farm of more than 200 acres. In the field back of the Fitch stone was the muster field where, to escape a fine, the men of military age met once a year to drill in military tactics. My paternal grandfather, Joseph Carrell, who was a First Lieutendant in the Militia, told an amusing incident of this drill. One of the manoeuvres was to form the squad into a straight line, but the squad was so anxious to see what the ones below him were doing that they kept pushing out and out, until the line became the segment of a circle. The only way they could hold a straight line was to get a team of horses and a plow and strike a furrow, and make the men toe the furrow. After the passing of the Beans race track, the Street road was the race course FOUR MILES OF HISTORIC ROAD 83 for the bloods of the community, it being just a measured mile from the York road to Stephen Yerkes* gate. Pushing on up the York road about three quarters of a mile, on the east side stands a monument in memory of the Log College. This was erected a few years ago by the Presby terian Historical Society to commemorate the founding of the college by William Tennent, pastor of the Neshaminy Church. Tennent was an Episcopal minister from England, who became at outs with his Church and came to the Bensalem Dutch Church in about 1720, after the resignation of Paulus Van Vleck, who founded this Church in 1710. A manuscript written by Rev. Nathaniel Irwin, then pastor at Neshaminy, says that Tennent began his preaching in this community in the barn of James Craven in 1724; in 1727 the erection of a church building was begun, and finished in 1728. Before this he had joined the Presbyterian Synod in Philadelphia. While Tennent was a noted preacher, he is more remembered by his educational work; for from that little old Log College, only about twenty feet square, went forth some of the most noted divines in American Presbyterian history. More than sixty Presbjrterian colleges all over the United States trace their lineage back to that little old Log College, foremost among them being the Princeton University. Without doubt no other college in the United States is of such historic interest as this little house of logs, known as the "School of the Prophets." Another three quarters of a mile farther up the York road is Hartsville, named after the Hart family, which at one time was a large and influential one. It is no smaller than it was 100 years ago, and not a great deal larger; yet in and about this little hamlet are many points of interest. Here is another historic tavern, where the "Warren Company for the Detection of Horse Thieves and Other Villians," as the charter has it—but more generally known as the Warren Horse Com pany—^held their first meeting 105 years ago. In the same room, for a greater part of this century, they have met, and still meet there. Not only is the place of meeting the same, but the ancient and honorable rules still prevail. A fine of g4 BULLETIN OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY

12^ cents is imposed for late attendance, and for smoking or leaving the room without the consent of the president, a fine of 61/4 cents is imposed; and the membership would as soon be seen wearing a straw hat in winter time as to see one of these old rules changed. About a quarter of a mile west of Hartsville, on the Bristol road, is the Old Neshaminy Church. Two hundred and five years it has stood, a mute testimonial to the stability of Christianity. The present church building is not the original one, it being only about 142 years old; but I must confess that it is, even then, much like a wheelbarrow which I once owned. When I sold it at my sale, after using it for 33 years, all that remained of the original barrow was the wooden rim and tire of the wheel. So it is with this old church. It has been renovated three times; but the original contours still remain, sequestered in a grove of ancient oaks—^the primitive forest trees—probably more than four hundred years old— by the banks of the Neshaminy creek, away from the hustle and bustle of every-day life, where only the rippling of the waters and the song of birds break the Sabbath hush. A sturdy, stable band of Presbyterians gather here for worship, as did some of their ancestors 200 years ago. The original church building in which Tennent spoke was in the grave yard a few hundred yards west. The original building was standing when Irwin wrote of the founding; it was not a log church, but a stone building, with the front of dressed stone and galleries on the three sides. Here Tennent preached, and by its front he lies buried. Some years later this old building was torn down and the stone used to build the wall in front the yard. Set in the wall is the old date stone, with the date 1727 cut in it. It was little less than vandalism to have destroyed this old building, for it could have stood for centuries more, as it was a splendid piece of masonry, covered with tiles brought from England. In the old graveyard lie the remains of many Revolutionary soldiers, more than a score of them, for these Scotch-Irish Presbyterians were fighting stock, so much so that the Revolution itself was at times called the Scotch-Irish Revolt. FOUR MILES OF HISTORIC ROAD 85 Again we journey up the York road, crossing the Neshaminy by the old mill. Along the banks of the creek stands the Moland House, now the property of Mr. Sherman Bobbins. On the end of the house facing the York road is a bronze plate, put there in memory of this being the head quarters of Washington. He was here on July 31, 1777, and later from August 10,1777, till August 23,1777, a longer time than the army was encamped at any point in Pennsylvania, Whitemarsh and Valley Forge excepted. Ten thousand troops were encamped along Kerr's Hill dur ing this time, whilethe wounded were billeted among the farm houses of the vicinity. It was at this encampment that the first American flag, the Stars and Stripes madeby Betsy Ross, was first unfurled, and at the same place the noted French soldier Marquis de Lafayette was given his commission as an American Major General. The Colonial forces were here encamped awaiting tidings as to where the British forces which had embarked from New York were bound, and during this time perhaps one of the most important councils of the Revolution was held to plan the campaign which culminated in the defeat of General Oornwallis and his surrender at Yorktown, which was the practical ending of the war and the sundering of the ties which bound this Republic to the mother country. At this council of war there were the following distinguished officers: General George Washington Major General Marquis de Lafayette Major General Nathaniel Greene Major General Lord Stirling Major General Adam Stephen Brigadier General Peter Muhlenberg Brigadier General G. Weedon Brigadier General W. Woodford Brigadier General Charles Scott Brigadier General T. Conway Brigadier General William Maxwell Brigadier General H. Knox, Artillery Brigadier General Anthony Wayne 80 BULLETIN OP HISTOBICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMEEY COUNTY

At no time or in no place have we a record of such a dis tinguished and important meeting of officers during the Revolution. While at the encampment at the Moland House, tradition says that Washington attended church atNeshaminy. As this was his custom, there can be no doubt that this tradi tion was correct. In the light of these well authenticated bits of history we again make the assertion that these four miles along the Yord road are richer in more and varied history than any other in this country. Annual Excursion to Atlantic City in 1873*

By Francis E. Collins

With the advent of spring, preparations were made for the one big outing. Drum corps paraded the streets and fire-bells aroused the excursionistsfor the greattrip. Industries closed and the town was evacuated for a day. The spring of 1873 had come. There were many evidences, marks and signs that the gracious season was at hand. The vari-colored stuffings had been removed from the broken panes of Banjo Hallow's windows, the Hickorytown Corre spondent reported the'first bashful violet, in modest tints arrayed, in a sequestered nook in Marple's orchard. The Spring Poet had released his touching effusion of welcome to the approaching vernal season. The annual war-like chicken argument between neighbors Brown and Black, threatening a renewal of hostilities between their respective forces, had oc curred. The first canal boat of the season had swept majestic ally through the raging canal. The entire crew, consisting of the captain, bowsman and a large red-headed boy, stood at attention on the hurricane deck as they passed the historic Matson's Ford over which Washington's heroic army marched on that memorable day in September, 1777. The tame wild duck with the broken leg had returned to the waters in Frog Hollow, and those happy harbingers of balmy days—^the rob- bin and blackbird—^had come up from the southland, and were industriously engaged in building their summer homes and anixiously scanning the conflicting reports regarding the prospective cherry crop. Anticipated joys were in the air; the Washington Fire Company, recently organized and ambitious to cope success fully with that insidious enemy—fire—^was making strenuous efforts to secure a second-hand fire engine. Street and house

♦Read before the Society April 26, 1930.

87 88 bulletin of historical society of MONTGOMERY COUNTY illumination by gas were promised soon. The days, or rather the nights, of the coal-oil lamp were numbered. That old reliable and essential beacon of safety—^the family lantern, which had lighted the pathway of the townsfolks as they ven tured forth into the darkness of the night, was nearing the end of its illuminating career and would soon take its place among the family antiques as the "light of other days." The Conshohocken Water Company would begin supply ing water to the residents in December. The old town pumps with their shining handles, mute evidence of the many friendly hands that had grasped them, were soon to lose their friends and take their places among the discarded machinery of other days. The old oaken buckets that hung in the wells of many of the residences and in several notable springs in town would also lose the patronage of the people. The Santa Anna Guards would parade again on the Fourth. This burlesque mounted company was organized soon after the borough was incorporated, and had in its ranks several men who had served in the Mexican War. The nonde script company represented General Santa Anna's Mexican mounted troops, the cavalry-arm of their army. In the war with this country, their troops made several masterly ad vances on their capital city, and in every engagement with Uncle Sam's boys in blue, they were awarded second money. After the surrender of their forces to General Scott, their army was in a very shattered condition, consisting of General Santa Anna, two army mules and a bass drum. The outlandish make-up of the local company contributed greatly to the entertainment of the people early on the Fourth of July morning when they paraded through the town. The hospitality of the different landlords had its effect on the gallant troopers, who, long before the close of the march, found it difficult to maintain any semblance of military discipline, while the intrepid warrior, General Santa Anna, sad to relate, was unable to give any commands that could be understood. The people rejoiced that the time-honored organ ization would parade on the Fourth again. To fill the cup of ANNUAL EXCURSION TO ATLANTIC CITY IN 1873 gg happiness to overflowing, the I. 0. 0. F., at their regular stated meeting, decided to give an excursion to Atlantic City in August. This announcement was hailed with delight by the townspeople, the excursion to Atlantic City being the event of the year, an epoch in the social life of the community. Neighbors and friends talked to each other about it, and all quickly decided to go and enjoy the trip and a dip in the restless ocean. The committee decided on up-to-date advertising, and along with spreading the news in the advertising columns of the newspaper engaged a rising young artist who could paint letters. Every board fence that could be secured was blazoned in large letters by this talented young man with the invitation to go to Atlantic City with I. 0. 0. F. on Saturday, August 22nd. Preparations began at once especially among the women to have their costumes made up. The dressmakers in town had a busy time of it. Calico was then in style and made here in the Albion Print Works in many pleasing pat terns, colors, and shades. It took many hundred yards of this material to array the feminine portion of the inhabitants in becoming gowns for the great excursion to the growing city by the sea. The men-folks were not slow in their preparations. No man was dressed up unless he had a pair of fine boots and a box of paper collars handy. A straw hat, a long linen duster, and other minor requisites added completeness to his attire, according to the correct tastes of that period. Thus arrayed he was indeed the glass of fashion, the mould of form, the ob served of all observers. The shoemakers made the footwear entirely by hand. While they were menders of bad soles, they enjoyed an enviable reputation for fine work, and during the summer they were as busy as nailers, pegging away on the important work that must be finished before the 22nd of August. Alarm-clocks nothaving madetheirappearance in town, the Committee, leaving no stone unturned in their efforts to make the excursion a success and guarding against the possibility of missing the train by that great invention sleep, had taken 90 BULLETIN OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY time by the forelock and engaged the town drum corps, an institution guaranteed to awaken the seven sleepers of Ephesus. The contract with this sleep-destroying organization was that they should take the field at two o'clock in the morn ing and march through the town. The Committee urgently requested the leader to omit the dulcet strains so effectively used by the sirens of the fabled islands to woo the unwary mariner to their realms, and instead to play his blithest measures free. The leader assured the Committee that sleep would be at a premium in the town ere the first strain was finished, and added that if his band were tried in any court of justice in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania on the charge of "murdering sleep," the jury would convict them without leaving their seats. Several musicians of note were in this band; it was ad mitted that the bass-drummer was the star performer of the aggregation, and, though he did not have a tooth in his head, was the best drummer in the county. The eve of the great day was at hand and, in the "very witching time of night when grave-yards yawn and ghosts troop forth," the band assembled at Blackburn's Hotel. The proprietor, a lover of music, welcomed the players and pro posed their health, lauding the power of music, its "sweet concord of sounds," its dulcet strains, bearing humanity to the elysian fields in realms celestial, eulogizing the master minds of melody—Bach, Mozart, Schubert—and the rich legacy of harmonies bequeathed by them to a discordant world. By way of limbering up and to make a good impression on the generous landlord, the band played the following appropriate selections: "Oft in the Stilly Night," "If You're Waking, Call me Early," "Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep," "Come Where My Love Lies Dreaming," in which occurred a beauti ful duet for the bass drum and the cymbals, "Go away and let me sleep," "What are the Wild Waves Saying," and the finale, "A Life on the Ocean Wave, a Home on the Rolling Deep." At this point, a hilarious youth who had no music in his soul, but whose system was well filled with that invisible spirit so touchingly referred to by Michael Cas-okhelo sio, requested ANNUAL EXCURSION TO ATLANTIC CITY IN 187S 91 the band to play "How Dry I Am." The disgusting request was frowned upon by the artistic leader, who rebuked the young man for his lack of taste and his frequent visits to the shrine of Bacchus. At two o'clock the band started out. The leader, impressed with the important part the band was to play in this great event, requested the players to make every note count, to accent the forte passages vigorously, the leader selecting for the first piece, number fifteen in the black book, "Marching through Georgia." Through the town they went playing con tinuously. The roll of drums, the squeaking fifes, the deep sounding bass drum and cymbals soon routed sleep from the town. Quickly the houses became illuminated and final pre parations for the great day began. The commissary department in each household had been active for days, and final packing of the baskets was finished on the eve of the excursion, no basket being complete without something stowed carefully within its folds to take off the chill before and after the bath in the ocean. When the "Mom in russet mantle clad walked o'er the dew from yon high eastern hill," the excursionists began converging from all points to the old Reading Station, long known in song and story as "Cologne Castle," reminding one of Moore's beautiful lines, "You may break, you may shatter the vase if you will, but the scent of the roses will cling to it still." In style and architecture, this remarkable building resembled a dry- goods box, the architect no doubt paying more attention to strength than to the wishes and designs of the old masters. The old Schuylkill Canal, that's westward from the station, was then one of the busy haunts of men, mules and canalboats. As the Conshohockenites gathered at the station, they were regaled by the sweet music of the reveille, played on the long boat horns by the captains to rouse their drowsy crews to action to resume their journey to that haven of rest, Penn's holy experiment, the City of Brotherly Love. The Union Army Mule was then extant, and used in large numbers on the canal. He brought up with him to the tow path from the Army of the Potomac a wealth of knowledge gleaned in the cam- 92 BULLETIN OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY

paigns from the Peninsula to the Wilderness to which was added horse-sense of a high order. Thoroughly conversant, in defensive and offensive tactics, he was a match for the most hardened denizen of the tow- path. He understood the language of the driver. It was the same brand as that used by the teamsters in the army, abusive from start to finish. The poor opinion the driver and mule had for each other was mutual. No man was his friend; abuse was heaped upon him and his ancestors in unmeasured terms by the driver. Through it all he held his peace, not rushing off blindly to challenge his tormentor or ancestry, knowing full well he was not listed in Noah's catalogue, and that he would make a jackass of himself if he went down the line very far. Instead, he chose to bear "the slings and arrows of out rageous fortune, the haughty captain's contumely, the whips and scorn of the driver," hoping for an opportunity to catch him off his guard and kick him into the canal. The gathering crowd at the station was evidence of the successful mission of the band through the town. Those who camefrom the townships told of the happenings of the night; how, long before the first gray streaks that tell of the coming morn had appeared in the east, their slumbers were broken by the sound of music, borne on the night wind from the town hard by. What a happy crowd filled with delightful anticipa tions, greeted each other with joyous salutations and ex pressed wishes that all might enjoy the trip and their visit to the seashore. Conshohocken was going well prepared. The family and individual baskets seemed without number, packed full of the best in the land, including the chill remedy. The commander of the 28th Division would have con gratulated his commissary department had he beheld such an array of rations for a month's campaign. At 5 o'clock the whistle of the wide-stacked locomotive, "Union," run by Dad Cooper, voiced loudly its aproach as it rounded the curve at the upper locks. In a few minutes the excursion train pulled into the station, and a vdld rush is made for the cars, and amid much confusion and noise, families and friends get set tled in their seats. The stay-at-homes gathered, gave them a ANNUAL EXCURSION TO ATLANTIC CITY IN 1873 93 noisy send-off, and the excursion is on its way. At Ninth and Green streets, Philadelphia, they leave the cars with light hearts and heavy baskets to make their way on foot to Vine street ferry. Their joyous mood and loud talking startle the sedate natives of Penn's quiet city, who, drawing aside their curtains, look down on the multitude filling the streets, their thoughts going back to the exciting times in the Summer of '63, when word flashed through the city that Lee was coming into Pennsylvania to dictate terms of peace in Philadelphia. Their fears were quickly allayed when they beheld the peace ful crowd on pleasure bent, moving toward the ferry. Crossing the river, on the Jersey side, they embarked on the old-time excursion train that was to take them to the shores of the Atlantic. Hardly had the train started ere the ambitious youths decided that, in order to fully enjoy the beautiful scenery, they must go higher, and accordingly they mounted to the tops of the cars, the roofs of these being nearly flat, and much lower than the passenger cars of today. At frequent intervals, by reason of the single track, the train pulled in on the long sidings for fuel and water and to await the passing of the up trains. The Conshohockenites made use of the stops to gather huckleberries growing in the nearby woods. Four long blasts of the whistle announced that the train was ready to go, but unless everyone was on board, the train did not start, for the boys on the train manned the brakes, which they held until every Conshohockenite was aboard before the train resumed its journey to the sea. The engines used wood as fuel, and were known to that generation as the "wood-burners." The dense, heavy-cutting smoke from the locomotives drenched the excursionists on the tops of the cars, and their joyous mood began to change. Handkerchiefs were seen in evidence, wiping away tears from eyes distressed by the villainous smoke. But after many miles of exciting Jersey scenery, their joyous mood returned, when their keen nostrils scenting the salty air told them they were nearing the end of their trip and would soon behold "The ocean old—centuries old." 94 BULLETIN OP HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY

They arrived at Atlantic City about 11 o'clock and lost no time in fortifying themselves against the coldness of the •water by partaking liberally of the "chill remedy." When about 6 o'clock the train began its homeward journey, the bot tles which had contained the "chill remedy" were now filled with water from the ocean for those who were not so fortun ate as to experience the joys of the excursionists. The tired travelers reached Conshohocken about 1 A.M. Sunday. For many months afterward, all happenings in and around the town were dated as taking place either before or after the excursion to Atlantic City. The Old Burial-Ground Near Erdenheim*

By William R. Ybakle

In writing of the old burial-ground near Erdenheim, we recognize at least two facts, first, that it difltered from many of the old cemeteries in both its origin and its history; second, that it deserved a better fate than its destruction at the hands of unscrupulous persons. The site of this burial-ground is just above a southern slope, close by the location of the original Erdenheim, and at a spot which commands a view of the lower Whitemarsh valley. It was in use as a burying-ground more than two centuries ago, and for more than one hundred and thirty years it was enclosed with a stone wall with gates at either end. Today there is not a trace of it l^t above ground, although the remains of men, prominent through the century from 1700 to 1800, repose there. There is no one living today, perhaps, who knows when the plot was first used as a cemetery, but the earliest marked grave was "John Nichols Knight, died December 29, 1722, aged 40 years, 10 months." There is an authentic record, however, in the form of a deed, dated in 1746, which gives us a definite knowledge of the intent and purpose for which the ground was to be used, and also that it was not to be destroyed. The contents of this deed follows:

DEED Sam'l Farmer & Ux. To Henry Bartleson, Peter Knight in Company, &c THIS INDENTURE Made the second day of September in the Year of Our Lord One thousand and Seven hundred and fourty Six Be tween Samuel Farmer of the Township of Whitemarsh in the County

*Read before the Society February 22, 1936.

95 90 BULLETIN OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY of Philadelphia in the Province of Pennsylvania Yeoman and Mary his Wife of the one part And Henry Bartleson Peter Knight James Stroud in Company &c. of the County of Philadelphia & Province of Pennsyl vania Afors'd Yeomen of the other part. WHEREAS Edward Farmer late of Whitemarsh afors'd Genfn Deceased by a certain Deed of the Eighth day of January in the Year Of Our Lord One thousand Seven hundred and fourty four for the considerations therein mentioned did grant and confirm unto the Said Samuel Farmer (his oldest Son) A cer tain piece or parcell of Land containing Twenty four Acres and three quarters of an Acre of Land Scituate in Whitemarsh aforesaid (being part of five thousand Acres which William Penn Proprietor of ye Said Province granted to Major Jasper Farmer (father to ye Said Edward) & to his two Sons Richard & Jasper by Patent of the thirty first day of January Anno. Dom. 1683 Recorded in Patent book A. page 3. &c may appear And ye Sd. Major being of one Moiety or half part of the Sd. five thousand Acres Seized in Fee devised the Same to Mary his Wife & to ye Sd. Edward by his last Will and Testament duly proved & Remaining in the Register Generals Ofiice may appear & the Sd. Mary & Edward purchased one fourth part of the Sd. five thousand Acres of one Thomas Webb who had purchased the Same of ye Sd. Richard Farmer, and afterwards ye Sd. Mary dyed. Whereupon ye Sd. Edward became Seized of the three fourths of the Sd. five thousand Acres in Fee.

NOW THIS INDENTURE WITNESSETH that they the said Samuel Farmer & Mary his Wife for and in consideration of the Sum of five pounds Lawfull money of Pennsylvania to them in hand paid the receipt whereof they do hereby Acknowledge And thereof & therefrom do Acquit and forever Discharge the Sd. Henry Bartleson & Peter Knight in Company and every of them their Heirs & Assigns by these Presents. HAVE granted Bargained Sold Aliened Enfeoffed Released & Confirmed and by these presents Do grant Bargain Sell Alien EnfeofF Release & Confirm Unto the Sd. Heni*y Bartleson Peter Knight in Company &c their Heirs & Assigns a Certain Lot or piece of Land Beginning at a black Oak thence North three degrees East thirteen perches & six feet to a Small Hickery Thence North Eighty Seven degrees West Six perches to a Stone Thence South three degrees West thirteen perches & Six feet to a Stone. Thence South Eighty Seven degrees East Six perches to ye place of Beginning Containing half an Acre of Land (being part of ye above mentioned twenty four Acres & three quarters of an Acre) Together also with all and Singular the Buildings Edifices Waters Woods Ways Rights Privileges Improvements Hereditaments & Ap purtenances whatsoever thereunto belonging or in any wise appertaining And the Reversions & Remainders Rents Issues & Profits thereof To Have and to Hold the Sd. described half Acre of Land Hereditaments of Premises hereby granted or mentioned to be granted with the appurte- THE OLD BURIAL-GROUND NEAR ERDBNHBIM nances &c to the Sd. Henry Bartleson & Peter Knight in Company &c. their Heirs & Assigns to ye only proper Use & behoof of them the Sd. Henry Bartleson & Peter Knight in Company &c. And their Heirs and Assigms for Ever (for the only Use of a Grave Yard Notwithstanding) Under the proportionable part of ye Yearly Quit-Rent hereafter Accruing for the Same to the chief Lord of the Fee thereof and the Sd. Samuel Farmer & Mary his wife and their Heirs the Sd. half Acre of Land & premises hereby granted or mentioned to be granted with the appurtenances Unto the Sd. Henry Bartleson & Peter Knight in Com pany & their Heirs & Assigns against them the Sd. Samuel Farmer & Mary his Wife to their Heirs & Assigns (& more Especialy against ye Heirs & Assigns of her the Sd. Mary) & against all and Every other persons whomsoever lawfully claiming or to claim the Sd. Land & premises hereby grant or mentioned to be granted with the appurte nances or any part thereof by from or Under him her them or any or either of them Shall &will Warrant &for Ever defend by these presents. And the Sd. Samuel Farmer & Mary his Wife for themselves their Heirs Execut's. & Administ's doth Covenant promise & grant to & with the Said Henry Bartleson & Peter Knight in Company their Heirs & As signs by these presents in Manner following (to Say) that ye Sd. Land & premiseshereby granted or mentioned So to be with the appurte nances Now are free & clear & freely & clearly Acquitted & discharged of from all & all manner of former & other gifts grants bargains Sales Jointures Dowers M'ortgages Rents Arrearages of Rents & all other Incumbrances whatsoever And the Sd. Samuel Farmer & Mary his Wife their Heirs & Assigns & all & every other person & persons whom soever lawfully claiming or to claim any Estate Right Title or Interest of in or to the Sd. half Acre of Land & premises hereby granted or mentioned So to be with ye appurtenances or any part or parcel thereof by from or under him her or them or any or either of them Shall & will from time to time and at all times hereafter at ye Reasonable Request Costs & charges in the Law of them the Sd. Henry Bartleson Peter Knight in Company their Heirs or Assigns make Execute & Acknowledge or Cause So be all and every other Such further <6 other Reasonable Act & Acts Deed & Deeds Device or Devices in the Law whatsoever for the further & better Assurance & Confirmation of ye half Acre of Land & premises hereby granted with the appurtenances unto the Sd. Henry Bartleson & Peter Knight in Company their Heirs or Assigns as by him them or their counsil learned in the Law shall be Reasonably devised advised or required IN WITNESS Whereof the Sd. Parties to these Presents have Interchangeable Set their hands & Seals hereunto dated the day & year first above written Saml. Farmer (Seal) Mary Farmer (Seal) 9g BULLETIN OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY

Sealed and Delivered In the presence of us.

John Burk Nicholas Knight Pat Menan

A subsequent deed, continuing the trusteeship, reads:

A DECLARATION OP TRUST. Acre in J Whitemarsh for a Peter Knight /Grave Yard&e. to George Hooker, Nicholas Kline & Com. Viz., Patrick Menan, Bart'l Bartleson & Peter Bartleson

THIS INDENTURE and declaration of trust. Made the second day of August in the Eleventh Year of the Independence of the United States of North America, and in the Year of Our Lord one thousand Seven hundred & Eighty Six. Between Peter Knight of the City of Phila delphia Merchant, (the only surviving trustee of the burying ground Situate in Isaac Williams land in Whitemarsh) of one part. And George Hocker, Nicholas Kline, Patrick Menan, Peter Bartleson and Barth Bartleson, all Yoemen of the other part, Inhabitants of the County of Montgomery in the State of Pennsylvania and chosen trustees to be for the future of & for the Said burying ground &c. Whereas Samuel Parmar and Mary his wife by their deed dated the second day of September in the Year One thousand Seven hundred and fourty Six did grant and confirm unto Henry Batleson late of Whitemarsh aforesd. deceased & to the Said Peter Knight trustees, A certain Lot of one half Acre of Land in Whitemarsh aforesaid for a Burying ground and for no other Use whatsoever as in and by the Said Recited Deed upon Record in the Rolls Office at Philadelphia in Book H. Vol. 16 page 557 &c. may at larg appear Now This Indenture Witnesseth that the Sd. Peter Knight for and in consideration of five Shillings lawful money of the Said Province or State of Pennsylvania to him in hand paid by the Said Trustees the Receipt whereof he doth hereby acknowledge and thereof & and therefrom do Acquit & forEver discharge the Said Trustees their Heirs & Assigns and Successors by these presents. And for divers other good causes & considerations him thereunto Especially moving Hath granted bargained and Sold Released and Confirmed, and by these presents doth grant bargain and Sell Release and Confirm unto the Said George Hocker, Nicholas Cline, Patrick Menan. Peter Bartleson and Barth Bartleson and to their Heirs and Assigns & Successors the Said burying ground Beginning at a Stone where a black Oak Stood THE OLD BURIAL-GRCtrND NEAR ERDENHBIM 99 about a half perch from the South East Corner thereof, thence North three degrees East thirteen perches and Six feet to a Small Hickory, thence North Eighty Seven degrees West Six perches to a stone, thence South three degrees West thirteen perches & Six feet to a stone Thence South Eighty Seven degrees East six perches to the place of Beginning containing Eighty perches of Land being one half an Acre be the Same, more or less Together also with all and Singular the buildings Improve ments way woods waters Bights liberties Privileges Hereditaments & Appurtenances thereunto belonging or in anywise appertaining, and the Eeversions and Remainders Rents Issues & profits thereof. Together with all the Donations that are given or may be given to the Use of the Said Burying ground To have and to hold the Said half an Acre of Land Hereditaments & Premises hereby granted or mentioned to be granted with the appurtenances unto the Said George Hocker, Nicholas Eline, Patrick Menan Peter Bartleson and Bartle bartleson, and to their Heirs & Assigns, to the only proper Use and behoof of them the Said George Hocker, Nicholas Klyne, Patrick Menan, Peter Bartleson and Bartle Bartleson and to their Heirs and Assigns for Ever, In Trust Nevertheless for the Use of the Said Burying Ground, and building a House of Worship thereon, and keeping the Said House and the walls around the Said burying ground and the Roofs & Gates with Locks & Keys in decent order and repair; to the only proper Use and behoof of the Said Burying ground' & for keeping in good order & decent repair the Said House, Walls, Roofs and Gates & Locks forever. And for no other Use intent or purpose whatsoever, any thing herein contained to the Contrary in any wise Notwithstand ing. Under and subject to the yearly Proprietary Quit Rent hereafter accrueing for the same to the Chief Lord or Lords of the Fee thereof, And the Said Trustees do hereby promise Covenant and grant by these presents (Each for himself his Executors & Administrators & not jointly nor one for another) that they will truely Use their utmost care and Endeavours at all times hereafter during their trust to oc- complish fulfill & perform faithfully the trust and confidence reposed in them, (when it is needful) with Honour & fidelity. And at any time When required they shall render a just and true Accompt of all the money, gifts, grants & donations that is, or hereafter may or will be given, or devised, to the Use of the Sd. burying ground, all which Accompts shall be kept in a fair book for the purpose. And when the Sd. Trustees, by age or infirmity become unable to perform the duties of the Sd. trust; then they Shall Transfere and Convey the Said trust to some other fit persons that may be able to do the Same In Witness the Said Parties to these presents Interchangeably have Set their hands and Seals hereunto. Dated the day and Year first above written. Peter Knight (Seal) IQO BULLETIN OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY

Sealed & Delivered in the presence of us.

Jacob Wagner Henry Bartleson The Twenty Sixth Day of September came before me the Subscriber one of the Justices in and for Montgomery County—Peter Knight and acknowledged above Indenture to be his act and Deed Desired it May be Recorded as Such; Witness my Hand and Seal Henry Scheetz (Seal)

We have, therefore, conclusive proof that on this plot was established a burial-ground and that it was to be con tinued as such. William A. Yeakle, in his History of Whitemarsh, mentioned this burying-ground and fortunately listed the names and dates which he found on the tombstones. The following is quoted from his writings: "On the property owned by Lewis A. Lukens of Conshohocken, adjoining the Williams school, is an old grave-yard that dates far back into the early days of the township and has never, to my knowledge, been referred to by any one curious in old-time things. It contains the graves of quite a number of persons prominent in their day and gen eration. It was originally enclosed by a substantial wall, and was of quite considerable size. The walls are at present in a dilapidated condition and at some time, and probably in the near future, the walls may find their way into fences and buildings and the land be devoted to agricultural purposes, as it appears that none of the descendants give it any considera tion or care. I will here give a list of those buried in the yard, as in a few years it may not be known who repose in its limits, viz.:

John Nichol Knight, died December 29, 1722, aged 40 yrs., 10 mos. Susanne Menan (child), died February 20, 1763. Susanne Menan, died October 28, 1787, aged 71 years. Sarah Menen, died December 12, 1796, aged 39 years. THE OLD BURIAL-GROUND NEAR ERDENHEIM

John, son of Patrick and Susanne Menan, died at Penn's Neck, Octo ber 12, 1768, aged 25 years. Patrick Menan, died February 5, 1791, aged 80 years. Levi Trump, died November 8, 1784, aged 29 monttis. Mary, wife of Jacob Siddon, Died May 24, 1797, aged 26 years. Bartle Bartleson, died February 17, 1777, aged 80 years. Elizabeth Bartleson, died March 24, 1769, aged 60 years. Cephas Bartleson, died September 15, 1783, in his 56th year. Elizabeth Bartleson, died August 13, 1783, aged 43 years. Susanne Bartleson, aged 1 year, 3 months. George Bartleson. Aged 9 months. Margaret Heinch, died November 11, 1763 or 5. Nicholas Knight, died November 7, 1787, aged 69 years. J. K. (probably Knight), died 1758. Elizabeth Colemen, died August 29, 1746, aged 68 years. Catherine Coleman, died April 11, 1746, aged 3 years. Elizabeth Colemen, died April 26, 1746, aged 19 months. Christopher Mason, died December 3, 1780, aged 46 years. Ann Mason, died May 6, 1802, in her 75th year. Peter Mason, died October 30, 1804, aged 38 years. Charles Bilger, died August 9, 1821, aged 6 years. e. q.

Mention is made, in the same article, that there were a number of unmarked graves and that persons by the name of Kline and a George Heydrick were buried there. Patrick Menan, whose name appears in the list, was a surveyor, school-master and a writer of deeds. He was a witness to the deed first mentioned in this sketch. He taught a school somewhere within the present limits of Whitemarsh township and historians have it that Dr. Rittenhouse and other prominent men attended his school, when young men, to receive his teachings in the higher branches of learning. Referring again to the grave of John Nichols Knight I will quote once more from the writings of W. A. Yeakle: "John Nichols Knight, whose grave is marked with a curiously wrought stone, with lettering in quite old style, both in spell ing and form, lies in this yard. The stone is quite large and deeply paneled and indicates a gentleman of wealth. His death accurred December 29,1722—thus recording one of the oldest marked graves in the county, with few exceptions." e. q. 102 bulletin of historical society of MONTGOMERY COUNTY

At this point I might relate my personal and first-hand knowledge of the cemetery. I can remember when, as a pupil at the Williams school which stood about three hundred yards distant, being in and around the burylng-ground many times and reading the inscriptions on the stones. I remember at that time (1904-1908), the stone wall had partially fallen at sev eral points and I have a recollection of an iron gate swung open against the wall. The enclosure contained many marked graves and several of the stones seemed to be unusually large. One, in particular, stood out from the rest. It was larger and more elaborate and bore certain symbols, carved in bold relief, around the top. Evidently I had been told that the work was done in Europe as I always associated that thought with the stone, and the story seems to be authentic as records exist which corroborate it. This-record will be mentioned later. During the time I attended Williams school and a number of years previous, the surrounding ground was owned by Robert N. Carson and the school-children were allowed to play over the property at will. Sheep grazed over the land and also kept the grass closely cropped in and about the grave-yard; consequently, during my recollection, the cemetery never pre sented an unkempt appearance in that respect. After the death of Robert Carson the property changed ownership and sometime during the course of transfer, in 1916, it was discovered that the old burial-ground had sud denly disappeared—wiped from the face of the earth. There followed an investigation on the part of my father, Samuel Yeakle, who had been interested in the cemetery. Upon being questioned on the matter, the new owner informed him that he knew nothing about it and that he supposed the executors of the Carson estate might know, if any one did. A respresentative of the Carson estate was next seen and he declared that the new purchaser had stipulated, in the condi tions of sale, that the old grave-yard must be destroyed. This same representative also said that he did not know what had become of the walls or the grave-stones but that possibly the contractor, who did the work, might know. The contractor was next questioned and replied that he did not know where THE OLD BURIAL-GROTJIO) NEAR ERDENHEIM IQS the stones were and that, in all probability, the workmen had broken them and thrown them away. Those were built for permanence and were not easily demolished and necessitated speedy and laborious action to accomplish the destruction almost "over night." This briefly is the story as far as we know it. It is regrettable that the old burying-ground should come to such an end, and a whim of fate emphasized this more forcibly, six years later, when Mr. and Mrs. McAllister, of Media, called at the home of my father. Mrs. McAllister was searching for the grave of her ancestor, John Nicholas Knight, and had, with her, complete records of her lineage. There are some hastily written notes which my father apparently jotted down at the time and I will quote from them in part: "On Sunday, June 18, 1922, Mr. and Mrs. J, Cook McAllister and family called on us, at Fort Washington, about an old burying-ground in Whitemarsh township which she called the Knight burying-ground from the fact that her ancestor, John Nicholas Knight, was buried somewhere in a private burying-ground in this vicinity but did not know where. I was very sorry to inform her that this old grave yard was entirely destroyed and the beautiful tomb-stone of her ancestor was no more to be seen but had been ruthlessly taken away and broken up together with all the stones still remaining in the yard at that time, a sad occurrence, indeed, to relate. The above Mrs. McAllister is a lineal descendant of the above John.Nicholas Knight. "John Nicholas Knight married Margaret Hillseebach, daughter of the Mr. and Mrs. Hillseebach, who came from Germany to America, about the year 1700, with John Nicholas Knight and his wife, the daughter of these parents. Mr. and Mrs. Hillseebach were buried, it is said, in the above burying- ground. John Nicholas Knight died and was buried in the old burying-ground, which Mrs. McAllister's records say was near the farm and it is inferred that he gave the ground for a burying-place and house of worship. Mrs. McAllister's records state that the widow of John Nicholas Knight sent to Germany for the tomb-stone of elaborate workmanship, which 104 bulletin of historical society of MONTGOMERY COUNTY was a bluish white marble slab, ornamented with hour-glass, cross-bones, rosettes of hearts and much chisel-work, which agrees with my recollection of this old stone. Margaret, wife of J. N. K., born in Germany August 13, 1684, died June 3, 1745, and was also buried in this old yard. She was a very worthy woman and kind neighbor, and a most estimable Christian. From a quarry, on her own land, the stone was used in the erection of the Plymouth Meeting House. "Mrs. McAllister says J. N. K. settled near Hickorytown, and not far from this old grave-yard, which needs some ex planation. J. N. K. and wife had seven children. Elizabeth, the oldest daughter, married Bartle Bartleson and both were buried in this old grave-yard. Cephas Bartleson, a son of Bartle Bartleson, died and was buried in the same yard, as we have the records also. Susanne Knight, daughter of J. N. K., married Patrick Menan, the Irish school-master, a man well educated. In the list of W. A. Yeakle's History, a daughter, Susanne, of P. Menan and wife, died and was buried in the grave-yard (marked), another daughter, Margaret, buried in the same burylng-ground (not marked in W. A. Y. record)."

We have, in the above, a sad example of what can happen through the ruthless destruction of the only tangible connec tion between those living today and the ancestors whom they honor. Many who were buried in this cemetery were men actively interested in the betterment of their community—substantial, dependable men, leaders in the cause of advancement among the early inhabitants—^yet the ground in which lie their re mains was desecrated through selfish ideas without consult ing or considering any one who might have had an interest in that plot of ground, and whatever the motive for such an act, the fact remains that the memories of these men will live, despite the efforts of those who sought to erase the evidence of their last resting place. Washington's Headquarters at Skippack*

By B. WiTMAN Dambly

The Skippack road has been traveled for two centuries. For 150 years its historic interest in Skippack township and village consisted in the fact that Washington's Army traversed the old road more than once at the time of the Battle of Ger- mantown. It was not known to a certainty that the marching army, advancing or retreating, halted for any length of time at any point along Skippack road between the Worcester Headquarters and the Schwenksville Headquarters, a dis tance of between 7 and 8 miles, according to the old mile stones erected about 1760. True, while mention of the encampment of Skippack in authentic documents was more than a suggestion, and served to raise the question, it did not mean much. The real story was a mystery. The solution came by chance. We are told that "chance is a word void of sense. Nothing can exist without a cause." In this instance we had the element of chance, but we also had the cause. The successive steps are interesting, and the historic chain wrought'by welding together a number of small links is complete beyond the peradventure of a doubt. Before I was born, a Johnson family, sturdy people, known for their native intelligence and patriotism, lived on the 45- acre farm on Skippack road where stands the 24th milestone. I first learned to know the Johnsons after their removal from that farm. Elizabeth, married to a Fuss and later to a Hallman, was bom on that farm February 1, 1820, and died at Lansdale, September 14, 1917, aged 97 years, 7 months, 13 days. She told us that her parents told her that the children went from the home through their own field to Skippack road, where the milestone stands, to see the soldiers going up and down the road. Elizabeth (or Aunt Betsy) Hallman, as she

*Bead before the Society February 22, 1936.

105 100 BULLETIN OP HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY

was affectionately called by everybody who knew her, related, and other members of the Johnson family agreed in this, that on one occasion several sick soldiers were lying on the bank at the roadside near the milestone. Here an old lane leads to the farm buildings. The patriotic mother (a Johnson) came out to the road with soup and other food for the sick men. Another version is that the Johnson family took the sick soldiers to their house and nursed them until well enough to join the rest of the army. Little stories like these are about all we knew about Washington's army in Skippack. However, within a week I was told by a citizen of Towamencin township, a former pupil of Fry's school in that township (the school that is nearest to the headquarters farm) that the children were taught that Washington stopped on this farm. The rest of the story was discovered in 1927—the year of the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Germantown, in fact, as a result of that celebration. The discovery started with the question, "Who was Joseph Smith?" Mr. E. W. Hooker, a member of this Society, and an inquisitive newspaper man, asked the question. The "Mont gomery Transcript," at Skippack, permitted the use of its columns to make the same inquiry—"Who was Joseph Smith?" Not merely wn answer, but the answer, and the key that unlocked the secret, came from Robert B. Souder, of Souder- ton. His father, the late Jacob G. Souder, until 10 or 12 years ago owned and farmed about 30 acres of the headquarters farm about to be described. When the late Mr. Souder sold his farm and moved to Souderton, he had in his possession a number of old papers. One was a draft of a farm in Skippack township owned by Joseph Smith prior to the Revolution. Examination of the draft proved that here was the beginning of a story that led to an important discovery. The draft was made by David Schultz, a Schwenkfelder, of the upper end of Montgomery county, a widely known and excellent surveyor who lived near the present borough of East Greenville. The draft was made in 1775 for Joseph Smith, and the location of the farm was in Bebber township, the original name of Skippack township. This farm of 127 WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS AT SKIPPACK IQT acresand120perches duringtheRevolutionaryperiodcontained but one set of buildings—Joseph Smith's stone house and probably other out buildings. Today, there are four sets of buildings on the tract, and the land- is owned by seven owners—^Kulp, Cassel, Kerr, Kulka, Wilkie, Bean and Speller. Three of the owners are newcomers, with names not native to the soil of Skippack township. Who was Joseph Smith? In addition to the name of Joseph Smith, the owner of 127 acres, and presumably a farmer, the assessor's list of Skippack township for 1766 (11 years after the Schultz survey) contained the name of Joseph Smith, Sr., tailor. His children were Jacob, Henry, Joseph, Katherine, and John. Joseph Smith, Sr., died August 8, 1782 (5 years after he was host to Washington), aged 76 years, 9 months, and 8 days. He is buried in the Lower Men- nonite burial-ground south of the village of Skippack. John Smith, son of Joseph, was captain of a company of militia from the region of Skippack. This fact is probably the reason why Washington established headquarters at the Smith house, and camped his army on ground adjacent to the head quarters. This Captain John Smith was killed or wounded in the battle of Germantown. One Joseph Smith, beyond doubt son of Joseph Smith, served in the regiment of Pennsylvania artillery commanded by Colonel John Eyre, and was taken prisoner at the battle of Germantown. Thus, Joseph Smith had two sons in that battle. It is not far-fetched to assume that this was one reason why Washington and his army occupied the Joseph Smith premises. But there may be an additional explanation. The Smith house stood (and still stands) within a short distance of a stream, in fact two streams. The Towamencin creek, flowing in an easterly direction, empties into the Skippack creek precisely at the point where the Smith house stood, and near where the waters of the two streams were dammed, and furnished power for a mill. The eastern end of the dam was on Joseph Smith's land. Washington's camp at-Falls of Schuylkill was close to a stream; at Schwenksville he had the Perkiomen; at Worcester 108 bulletin op historical society op MONTGOMERY COUNTY he was near Zacharias creek, and at Skippack he had the waters of the Skippack and the Towamencin. In 1755, when the David Schultz draft was made, the Towamencin creek, it appears, was unnamed. The David Schultz draft shows the stream but designates it only as a "branch of the Skippack." The former Joseph Smith tract, now established beyond questions as the Skippack headquarters, today is still intact, excepting that a public road has been cut through it from Skippack road (a short distance below where the milestone stands) in an easterly direction to the Towamencin line. The length of this cross-road is about one-fourth of a mile. The ownership of the tract in 1755 extended (and of course to this date extends) to the middle of the Skippack creek. The headquarters tract, or site, was marked by three signs and a flag when the pilgrimage was made during the Ger- mantown anniversary celebration October 1, 1927, The encampment ground had a good elevation. The Joseph Smith house was on the extreme northwestern end and was the lowest point. No doubt much of the tract was wooded. The oldest residents in 1928 remember when there were several smalltractsof woodland on whatwas the original127-acretract. Describing it from the David Schultz draft the tract had a frontage of 255 perches, or more than 4000 feet on Skippack road, or as the description reads "by the road that leads to Philadelphia;" it has a uniform depth of 1280 feet, or 80 perches, to the Towamencin line, and forms part of the divid ing line between Skippack and Towamencin townships for 4224 feet, or 264 perches. Joseph Smith's was the only house on the tract, to the best of my information. The original Joseph Smith home and head quarters is still standing. It is the home of the owner of 45 acres of the original tract. The owner is Francis F. Kulp. The home has two stories and, of course, is built of stone. It was plastered during the recollection of the oldest residents. I am told there is a date stone, but it is covered over. From several sources I have it that the house was built between 1700 and 1800. All agree that it is the same house that stood when Washington was there. WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS AT SKIPPACK ^09

Descendants of two former owners of the farm inform me that the house had one-story frame addition; that this frame part was moved about a hundred feet and placed over a walled-up spring and that Washington occupied that spring- house also. In another location, not far from the house, stood a log house that is still well remembered by the oldest resi dents "with whom I recently spoke. I spent some time at the headquarters house on Friday, February 17, 1928. I have always known the property, but looked upon it with more information, a new and different interest and greater admiration than ever before—perhaps because "the place where shining souls have passed imbibes a grace beyond mere earth, and some sweetness of his fames leaves in the soil its unextinguished trace that penetrates our lives." The Joseph Smith house was five miles from Schwenks- ville and two and a half miles from the Worcester head quarters at the Wentz house. Washington occupied the Smith house between September 29 and October 2, 1777. On the first named date his army left Pennypacker's mills and arrived at the Wentz house in Worcester on the latter date. Washington's account books, as annotated by John C. Fitzpatrick, assistant chief of the manuscript division of the Library of Congress, a trustworthy source, furnish the link that connects the entire story and removes all doubt of its authenticity. These records say that on October 2,1777, Wash ington paid Joseph Smith 2 pounds and 15 shillings "for the use of his house and the trouble caused" while quartered there. Under the same date there is the record of an additional pay ment made to Joseph Smith of 11 pounds, 19 shillings and 6 pense for sundries—evidently supplies of various kinds. While the records thus far searched furnish meagre infor mation on the headquarters, there is sufficient to excite inter est in the subject and to stimulate further investigation. As time passes we are likely to learn more about the subject. What has been discovered and narrated here, however, settles the question of the whereabouts of the army between Sep tember 29 and October 2,1777. 110 bulletin op historical society of MONTGOMERY COUNTY

Most of the information about the Joseph Smith family must be credited to a Germantown genealogist, Miss Marian A. McGrath. Miss McGrath is engaged in tracing the gene alogy of a well known Smith family in Philadelphia. The ex change of questions and information on the numerous Smith families in eastern Pennsylvania in conferences between Miss McGrath and Mr. E. W. Hocker have made it possible to pre sent much that you have just listened to. My debt to both is cheerfully acknowledged. To bring down to date the transfers of the historic Smith ground and to connect its ownership with living descendants of former owners may not tje uninteresting, although I realize that to do this will add little to its permanent historic value. Joseph Smith, in 1786, sold part of his holdings to his son Jacob and part to Casper Johnson and Joseph Eaton. Casper Johnson conveyed to Joseph Johnson. Later the 45 acres was owned by Wm. Johnson, who died at Skippack July 17, 1897, aged 87 years. Two sons of William Johnson are still living—Charles H. Johnson, of Bridgeport, aged 78, and Joseph Johnson, of Royersford, aged 74. Miss Edith Fryer, of Bridgeport, aged daughter of Barney Fryer who was also an owner of the former Joseph Smith homestead, is still living. These three persons have good memories, and have furnished links in the chain of information here presented. They retain a lively interest in the Revolutionary history of Skippack, especially the Smith headquarters farm, formerly owned and occupied (as I have just stated) by their sturdy forebears. One of their chief characteristics, without regard to sex, was ardent patriotism. They are fine examples of man hood and womanhood. My personal tribute to the dead of these patriotic families and to the few members still living, is that "duty to country, support of its Constitution, obedience to its laws, respect to its flag, its defense against all enemies, was their abiding creed— the highest standard of citizenship." Twenty-two years after the army was encamped at Skip- pack, and Washington was quartered there, he passed away three years short of the time allotted to man. WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS AT SKIPPACK m

EXTRACTS FROM DRAUGHTS

A Draught of a Tract of Land Situate in Bebber Township in the County of Philadelphia and Province of Pennsylvania Beginning at a White Oack in the Line of Robert Jones's Land Thence by the Same South West, 80 Perches to a Black Oack a Comer of Henry Cassels' Land, Thence by the Same and upwards by the Road That Leads to Philadelphia. North West 266 Perches to the Middle of Skippack Creek. Thence by the Same upwards North East. 30 perches to a Mill Damm, in a Line Late of Gerrit de hofens Land, Thence by the Same South 60** East 8 Perches to a marked hiccory. Thence by the Same North East 20 perches to a Stone and North 56° West 12 Perches to the Middle of Skippack Creek. Thence by the Same and by land of George Merkle North 36 Degrees, East, 31 perches to the Line of Henry and Christian Brennemans Land, Thence by the Same and by Land of Jacob Godshalck 'South East 264 Perches to the Place of Beginning Containing One hun dred and Twenty Seven Acres and 120 Perches of Land Surveyed for Shmith on the 8th day of April Anno 1755 David Shultze

A draught of a Tract of Land Situate in Skippack Township, being part of 140 acres conveyed by Joseph Smith to his son Jacob Smith, and reserved by him, said Jacob Smith, as he sold the other part thereof to Casper Johnson, and five acres thereof sometime ago to Joseph Eaton, containing twenty six acres, and joining Lands as you see in the drafft Set down and surveyed at the request of said Jacob Smith the 26th day of June, 1786 Henry Sweitzer

Count not the cost of honor to the dead I The tribute that a mighty nation pays To those who loved her well in former days Means more than gratitude for glories fled; For, every noble man that she hath bred Lives in the bronze and marble that we raise. To lead our sons as he our fathers led.

These monuments of manhood strong and high Do more than battleships to keep our dearbought liberty They fortify the heart of youth with valor ivise and deep; They buUd eternal bulwarks and command Eternal strength to guard our native land. Where Washington Crossed the Skippaek*

By B. WiTMAN Dambly

Washin^on crossed the Skippack 150 years ago. This statement immediately arouses interest, and our interest is heightened by the further fact that after the disastrous battle of Germantown the army retreated up Skippack road, going to Pennypacker's Mills, and pursued as far as Blue Bell by the English cavalry. The wounded were taken into private houses on and off Skippack road and into churches in Whitpain, Worcester and Skippack townships. Going toward Skippack, and on the south side of the creek, the milestone stands that says 24 miles to Philadelphia. Here the Skippack road in Washington's time veered to the left, and crossed the Skippack creek about two hundred feet below the present bridge. This bridge, be it noted, was built in 1827 (one hundred years ago this year). Crossing the stream, the road continued in a westerly direction and passed in front of the oldest house in Skippack. At present, and since 1827, the road passes about 100 yards in the rear of this house. This is the Skippack road as we at present know it. The jury that fixed the site for the bridge naturally chose the narrowest point on the stream and the road was re-located. On the old road, then, Washington crossed the Skippack, 24 miles from the center of Philadelphia, about 17 from Germantown and 10 from Norristown. In crossing the Skippack, and following the Skippack road, he soon reached the center of the township. An authentic record says, no township within the limits of the present county was settled so early; and it was settled by the plain people. Let us pause for a moment at the point where Wash ington crossed the Skippack. Here the Forty-foot road inter sects the Skippack road. On each of the four corners stands

Read before the Society November 19, 1927.

112 WHERE WASHINGTON CROSSED THE SKIPPACK a house. On the west is the oldest house in Skippack, just re ferred to. It was built in 1783, and still is a most substantial building. Before Washington crossed the Skippack here, this old stone building was a hotel. On Sundays church services were held in a portion of the building. One of the pioneer Reformed preachers (either Michael Weiss or Jacob Schlat- ter) rode on horseback from Germantown to preach here, and frequently his wife rode with him on the same horse. The farm on which stands this one-time hotel and place of wor ship, now the dwelling place of the present owner, during my boyhood was owned by Jesse N. Scholl. It is now owned by Warren Z. Cole. The houses on the north, east and south corners are old brick homes,, and the brick came from a clay deposit and brickyard on the farm on the north corner, about 500 feet from Skippack road. This square, with a property on each corner, during my boyhood was called Lincoln Square, and here's the reason. The owner of the farm on the north, con taining the brickyard, was Barney B. Fryer. He was very tall (more than 6 feet) and slender, and reminded everybody of Abraham Lincoln. He was, of course, a northern sympathizer during the Civil War and an ardent Republican, and was a striking figure astride a little horse in political or patriotic parades in Skippack. Hence, Lincoln Square. The last of Barney Fryer's children (a daughter) is still living in Norris- town. In the attic or garret of the Fryer home a war-time organ ization met, which called itself Union League. It was a secret patriotic organization, and the doors were guarded and barred during the meetings. The parent organization met at Trappe, with about 30 members. The age limit was 18 to 60 years. The membership fee was $80.00. The object of the organiza tion was to find substitutes for drafted men, who for their own reasons did not want to go to war. Three of the reasons given to me by a former member of the League were: some men were married and did not want to go; some were hired men on farms and were needed; some did not want to go on general principles. When one of their number was called who 114 bulletin of historical society of MONTGOMERY COUNTY did not want to go, the League sent to Philadelphia and hired a substitute, paying $250 for the substitute. This kept the members at home. One drafted man who would not join the League, but did not want to go to war, was obliged to pay $1100 for a substitute. The Union League at Skippack was a branch of the Trappe League. It had about 20. members. Regular meetings were held and the Bible, prayer books and singing books were used. The passwords at the door were Lincoln, Liberty, Law, League. The organization was started by Barney Fryer late in 1861, and he was its president. News of the progress of war was furnished the League by private methods, which kept it fully informed at all times; but the public did not know how. The Trappe Union League furnished five and the Skippack League two substitutes. The Trappe and Skippack Leaguers frequently attended the meetings of the Philadelphia Union League, so that it is correct to say that in 1861 to 1865 the Philadelphia and the Trappe and Skippack Union Leagues had much in common. Not so in 1927. In the old brick house on the east corner of the square on Skippack road, near where Washington crossed the Skippack, during my boyhood and early manhood lived a millwright of more than county-wide reputation. His name was Frederick D. Zandt. He was expert in his line. After fitting up a grist mill from top floor to big water wheel, the entire mill works would be put in motion as a try-out. The old millwright would stand and listen and, notwithstanding the hum and noise, was able to detect by his sharp ear the least fault (if any) in the construction of any part of the running machinery. He built practically all the large old-style wooden overshot and under shot water wheels that preceded the later turbines in central Montgomery county. He also built mills in the South. Only one old water wheel remains in the Skippack section, and that is at Center Point, I think it is an 18-foot wheel. It is an overshot wheel and is run by a single inch of water. This wheel propels a run of chopping stones, the housewife's wash ing machine and a grindstone at the same time. In winter, when coated with ice, this majestic old wheel, a reminder of WHERE WASHINGTON CROSSED THE SKIPPACK 1^5 other days, is a thing of beauty. The old millwright followed his trade for 50 years. His earthly wheels stopped turning in 1901. On the south, or fourth corner of Lincoln Square, still nearer where Washington crossed the Skippack, is an old brick house (now plastered). When I was a boy this was the dwelling of George Shoemaker whose little old frame mill, located a hundred yards south of the dwelling on a mill race, was a busy place. Only the race remains. Mr. Shoemaker was a fine old gentleman and gentle miller, whose kindly face, white hair and meal-covered hat any boy would always re member. The old miller belonged to the Shoemakers long prominent in Philadelphia's commercial life. Thus I have covered the four corners of Lincoln Square, near where Washington crossed the Skippack in 1777, 150 years ago. This is the east or south gateway to old Skippack, through which the retreating army of Washington passed toward Pennypacker's Mills and made the old road and village his toric. Both the road and the village were here as early as 1714. The temptation is strong to wander off the main street of the old village and again recite the story of the plain people, and why and how they came to Van Bebber's township. For, 'tis a story all too little known outside this Society, and too important in its consequences not to be well known. In conclusion, word about the old village on the old road just above where Washington crossed the Skippack. After the Civil War a tall victory pole was erected in the school grounds. I do not know how high it was, but it seemed like a hundred feet to a little school boy. The school ground was and still is about two city blocks from Lincoln Square and the house where the Union League met. This may account for the victory pole on the school ground. The two oldest buildings in the village are stone houses, one with 1818 on the date stone and the other built in 1822. The latter was a hotel, literally a roadhouse during covered- wagon days, before the railroads, when grain and flour were hauled from upper counties down Skippack road to Philadel- 116 bulletin of historical society of MONTGOMERY COUNTY phia in wagon trains and all kinds of merchandise was teamed back. In the rear of the old hotel, built in 1822, during my boyhood stood a stone barn or hotel shed, at least 100 feet in length with many stable doors. This stable room was re quired for the many horses on the road. I am told the old road was lined with loaded covered wagons, and that the teamsters, in mild weather, slept on blankets alongside their wagons to guard their freight. Yes, the old town was an important place. When Washing ton crossed the Skippack, the old village was the largest town on Skippack road between Germantown and Allentown. There were two or three hotels or roadhouses, a tobacco works or cigar factory, a wholesale liquor store, a hat factory, a Literary Hall, a printing office that published an influential German newspaper from 1844 to 1898, and published num erous religious books for the plain people. For a century, a property on the old main street has been and is today a physician's stand. The importance of the old town is further shown in the fact that, before Norristown was chosen as the county seat at a meeting at the old Jeffersonville Inn, I am told Skippack was proposed as a suitable (because central) location for the county seat. I close with Bacon's tribute to the Historical Society of Montgomery County and all similar organizations today. He says: "Industrious persons, by an exact and scrupulous dili gence and observation, out of monuments, names, words, pro verbs, traditions, private records and evidences, fragments of stones, passages in books that concern not story, and the like, do save and receive somewhat from the deluge of time." And of the old Skippack road and the place where Washing ton crossed the Skippack this truthful quotation: "Men's monuments grown old forget the names they should eternalize, but the place where shining souls have passed imbibes a grace beyond mere earth. Some sweetness of their fame leaves in the soil its inextinguished trace, that penetrates our lives and brightens them or shames." Pennsylvania German Folk-Lore*

By B. E. ScHXJLTz Gerhard, M.A.

This last year the writer met people from the far west, who were of the firm but erroneous opinion that the Pennsyl vania Germans were the direct descendants of the Hessians who fought in the American Revolution! Such an impression seems passing strange; but when one hears the same remark made by people in Philadelphia, credulity might well blush! The mass of misinformation and crass ignorance regarding these people is at times as provoking as it is ridiculous; and one needs not to go far west, or in any direction, to find such a condition of affairs. Probably there is no class of people in the eastern section of this country about whom there is a greater amount of misinformation than there is about the Pennsylvania Ger mans ("Dutch"). They have been slurred and maligned time and again; and not infrequently have they been referred to as being ignorant, uncouth, uncultured, and exceedingly su perstitious, and especially so by people who fail to inform themselves of the real character and commendable traits of these people. It is with the hope of correcting some such mis conceptions and slurs that this article has been written. The early German settlers came chiefly from the Pala tinate; a few came from Baden, from Swabia and from Switzerland. All of them settled in the southeastern counties of Pennsylvania, and all spoke the dialect peculiar to the section of Germany from which they migrated. From these various dialects there developed in a very short time the Penn sylvania German dialect, a blending of the various forms of speech which the different German immigrants brought with them, but in which the forceful and expressive Palatinate dialect predominates. Anyone speaking Pennsylvania German

Read before the Society November 17, 1928.

117 118 bulletin of historical society of MONTGOMERY COUNTY

"Will find himself at ease in the Palatinate region even today. Whatever the Pennsylvania German dialect may or may not be it is assuredly never garbled English. These people have undoubtedly the most extensive folk lore, rich and poetic, of any people in this country. It consists of charms, witchcraft, pow-wowing, legendary romances, beliefs in hob-goblins and ghosts, in lucky and unlucky days and in the curative power of magic. These and many other forms of superstitious belief, which have been handed down from generation to generation, are a common heritage from the great Germanic races once occupying the immense expanse of country of northwestern Europe as far as Ultima Thule; the land of fancy, the land of impenetrable and illimitable forests, of merciless winters, of bleakness, of gloom, of fog, the land of the Nibelungens—i.e. the people of the land of the mists—^the land of Siegfried and Brunhild, of King Arthur and his Round Table, the land of Beowulf, and of the Druids of eld whose customs and traits both Caesar and Tacitus have described. Living in an atmosphere such as these people did, is it any wonder that their progeny should be somewhat superstitious under the spell of the supernatural? Consequently it is to be noted that these characteristics and forms of supersitious belief are not necessarily original with the Pennsylvania Germans; they are not peculiar to them alone; they are in the main not indigenous to Pennsyl vania. Of over two thousand superstitions, gathered and recorded by a friend of the writer, "only twenty per cent are of Pennsylvania German origin, a percentage which can easily be accounted for by the large number of variants, many of them occuring only in a single county. The rest are exact survivals of importations from the old country."^ And there are seemingly other sections of this big country which are equally superstitious.^ It is remarkable how much of ancient

IE. M. Pogel, "Beliefs and Superstitions of the Pennsylvania Ger mans." Philadelphia, 1916. 2Daniel Lindsey Thomas, "Kentucky Superstitions." Danville, Ken tucky. PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN FOLK-LORE HQ folk-lore is even today believed in by intelligent people, as well as by the illiterate, who know nothing of Pennsylvania Ger man. There are hosts of people who hesitate to set out on a long sea voyage on a Friday, or even to pass under a stand ing ladder! Many superstitious notions are the result of keen observa tion (a noticeable Germanic trait), and all too frequently of erroneous deductions. Finally these notions were crystalized into pithy sayings and phrases. They might be well worth studying, for they show the mental development and dominat ing principles of the people making and using them. They cover a wide range of subjects; they touch life and its activi ties at many points from birth to death—at the birth or baptism of a child, at a wedding or at a funeral, in the sowing of seed or in the reaping of grain, or in the curing of disorder in man or beast. Many phases of common life were inter spersed with these beliefs. The belief in the supernatural is virtually as old as the human race; and man's curiosty and eagerness to fathom the mysteries of life and to gain foreknowledge of what is seemingly forbidden is equally as old. It is this element of curiosity and daringness, this feeling of eagerness and the desire to know that raises him above the lower creatures. It adds zest to life, whether with Milton we "eat the fruit of that forbidden tree," or with Saul we go to consult the Witch of Endor. It is worthy of note also that many of the greatest dramas of modern life begin under the spell of the super natural. And again, verily all the people who settled in the Penn sylvania German section of this commonwealth in times past came here to escape religious persecution. Their faith was boundless, staunch, unflinching. They were of the tribe of Stephen of old, willing to be stoned rather than give up their religious principles. They verily believed that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. With the same religious fervor with which they clung to their Christian belief, they cherished and actually took for gospel truth some of the simplest and plainest superstitious 120 bulletin of historical society of MONTGOMERY COUNTY beliefs looked upon by succeeding" generations as surpassingly incredible. Burton says in his "Anatomy of Melacholy," "Where there is any religion, the devil will plant supersti tion." Some of these "charms," "cures," and "formulas" they guarded and revered as they did Holy Writ, actually believing, as many people still do, that if you take two lighted con secrated wax candles, one in each hand, and walk around the house with them during a thunder storm, lightning will not strike your house. And yet thunder storms come and go where they list, wax candles or none. And furthermore, two hundred years ago settlements in this region were very sparse compared to what they are now. People then lived for the most part on the frontier— that is to say in the back woods—miles and miles away from a doctor or any medical aid whatever, or even from a neigh bor. There may be some excuse then for the practice of some mysterious performances and divinations. Just as a drowning man will grasp at the last straw, so will a person in agony frequently resort for relief from anguish and pain to agencies which turn out to be naught but superstition and humbug. What would you do, living away from the haunts and habitations of men, with a child sick unto death with the most loathsome disease, diphtheria, and no medical aid whatever to be had? You would move heaven and earth to get relief from pain and anguish; you would resort to the simplest, the most innocent and most harmless, nay, the most foolish treatment. You would prob ably have a woolen string dipped in goose fat tied around the child's neck, the act to be performed by a married woman who had not changed her maiden name. Where faith is strong and the imagination is lively and alert, cures which seem to border on the miraculous are often effected; and this is indeed often the basis of miracles as applied to bodily afflictions. Really, to what extent does the medical profession believe in the virtue, power, and efficacy of medicine? Probably the most of us are agreed on the proposition that the rubbing is half the liniment. We once PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN FOLK-LORE ^21

came into a doctor's office as a woman patient was leaving. The doctor had a perplexed or annoyed look on his face. "A serious case?" we asked. "No," he said; "there is nothing wrong with her, only she thinks there is. I prescribed a little sugar water for her; she feels better if she knows she is tak ing medicine." Probably the most innocent of these superstitious beliefs is the efficacy attributed to charms and witchery; they have thrown a spell over all peoples at all times. Thus we read in ancient Latin, "Terra, Terra pestem teneto, Salus hie maneto!" This was the Roman's charm to cure footache. "Earth, oh Earth thou shalt hold this pest, and Health, you here remain!" Many a jargon of words is spoken and many a superstitious practice is indulged in to effect some simple cure or to gain a little foreknowledge. Here is a charm that comes from Lebanon county, take a looking glass and go backward down the cellar steps and you will see in the glass the form of your future spouse.^ And really, how many people have laid a piece of wedding cake under their pillow or have tugged at a wishbone for the same purpose? In another section of the state salt-cake used to be eaten. It was made extremely salty and eaten by girls, who then went to bed backward and without drinking. Of course the young man of whom they dreamt was to be their future hus band ! If you melt lead and pour it into a cup of cold water you will discover some sign of the occupation of the same in dividual.^ Some women are careful never to remove their wedding rings; others again are cautious not to look at the moon over their left shoulders. Some men carry a rabbit's foot in their pocket to insure good luck; others wear an iron linger ring made from a horeshoe they found with all the nails in it as a preventive against rheumatism. And the horseshoe itself as

^Gibbons, "Pennsylvania Dutch and other Essays." Phila., 1882. 4See also Prof. Karl Knortz, "Amerikanischer Aberglaube der Gengenwart." Leipzig, 1913. 222 bulletin of historical society of MONTGOMERY COUNTY a symbol of good luck has become proverbial. Many of these charms and talismans were used for the purpose of curing bodily ailments. Here are a few of them. To cure toothache—Take a needle and stab the aching tooth with it until you bring blood; then take vinegar and meal and some of the blood and mix; then put this batter in a piece of cloth and wrap it around the root of an apple tree, wind the thread around it very tight and cover the root with earth. To check hemorrhage—Begin at 50 and count backward to 3, when you have come to 3 you are done. To cure baldness—^Rub the scalp with the hemispheres of a divided onion (this was a strong charm if the vegetable was fresh). To cure fits—Take off the child's shirt, turning the shirt inside out while doing so, and then burn the garment. To destroy warts—Stick a pin through the wart and then give the pin away, the wart will follow the pin. Wart Lore is voluminous. To remove them rub them over with a black snail, then impale the snail on a hawthorn tree; or fill a bag with as many pebbles as you have warts, then throw the same over the left shoulder; the warts will pass on to the person who picks up the bag. Tie as many knots in a string as you have warts, then bury the string under the eaves; as the string rots the wart will disappear. The cures for warts are legion. To cure whooping cough—^As this disease was called the "blue cough" (the one afflicted usually becomes black and blue in the face), and acting on the principle that "like cures like," let the child drink from a blue glass tumbler to cure the "blue cough"! To cure mumps—^Rub the swelling against a pig's trough. If the patient is too ill to be taken to the pig sty, take a chip from the trough to the house and rub it on the swelling. To prevent accidents—Carry with you the right eye of a wolf, and have it sewed to your right sleeve. The charms believed in by soldiers of old to escape harm (to be "Kugel- fest," "Shot-proof") are likewise legion. To make the best cider vinegar—After the cider is put into the barrel, call up the names of the three crossest and most sour-tempered women in the community, and in a loud voice utter their names into the bung hole and cork it up at once. PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN FOLK-LORE X23

You will have the best and the strongest vinegar in the neighborhood. Erysipelas was far more prevalent and more common formerly than it is now. Everybody had erysipelas formerly, just as everybody has tonsilities and appendicitis now; for diseases, like fashions, have their day. According to the dialect it is known as "wild fire." And to cure it you take three shovelfuls of "live" coals and throw them over the patient, at the same time whispering, "Wild fire, I drive you, chase your self in the name of the Trinity." Erysipelas, hemorrhage, nose-bleeding and bleeding from wounds were very common ailments treated by charms and amulets. To recover stolen property and to bring the thief to con fession was another favorite theme on which to practice some forms of magic. From the doorsill over which the thief has passed, take three splinters in the name of the Holy Trinity. Fasten them to a wagon wheel removed from the spindle and through the hub pronounce this prayer, "I pray thee. Thou Holy Trinity, to constrain the thief who has stolen my prop erty to be stung by remorse so that he returns the article to its rightful owner " The wheel was then replaced and fastened and given three revolutions, after which the stolen goods were expected to be returned. We have been informed on good authority that this in cantation was used ony a few years ago by a Pennsylvania veterinary surgeon who had been robbed of some money. His son had assisted him in turning the wheel, but without results. Verily, how the son must have laughed up his sleeve, for he himself was the thief! And here is another of recent date and rather "colorful." In 1916 negroes had a picnic at Mt. Joy, Pa., and white mothers brought their little children there to have them kissed by the little negro boys and girls to ward off the whooping cough which was prevalent in the neighbor hood! Garlic is still used as a charm against vampire bats in the wilds of modern Bolivia and, according to legend, was used against human vampires in medieval Hungary, although the countries are far apart and communication between them is 124 bulletin op historical society of MONTGOMERY COUNTY unlikely. The malignant bats suck the blood of animals and of human beings in the South American jungles. The natives put strings of garlic around the necks of their cows, horses and mules. The people of Central Europe in early times are said to have believed in human vampires and to have hung garlic over the beds of victims. It is not yet a hundred years since the rural inhabitants of North Carolina stealthily placed Bibles under the pillows of their sleeping children to charm away the same witches that people hanged in old Salem a hundred years before, when they thought they had found witches in human form. Many of our customs go back to the Dark Ages; they are beyond doubt based on superstition. Many people still sit up with their dead at night, because long ago our forebears kept vigil—held a "wake" by night lest evil spirits bear the corpse away. The hilarity, enlivened by a bottle of "schnapps" passing back and forth over the bier, was at times gruesome.® This ancestral belief in omens and charms seems to run through the veins of all humanity. "The Northener listens for the werwolf; the Eastern housewife carefully sets the head of her bed to the north; the Southern negro sings over his dead to charm away evil spirits; and the cattleman on the Western Plains watches for suspicious signs in the mood of his restless cattle." Probably one of the strangest and yet most interesting of all these quaint customs was that of pow-wowing, or the use of magic formulas for the cure of certain diseases. The word "pow-wow" is of Indian origin. In English it is "con juring" for sickness, and means a mumbling or muttering. The German word is "brauchen," a simple and common word, but it is difficult to give it its proper connotation in this connection. It comes from the Gothic "brukjan," to use, to enjoy the usufruct thereof; the English equivalent is "to brook," to use, to enjoy, to endure.

BJust at this writing a member of the writer's Night School class asked to be excused in order to attend a "wake." PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN FOLK-LORE ^25

Seemingly the custom is as old as the Germanic tongue itself, for some of the earliest remains of Old High German and Old Saxon poetry are the "Segensformen," i.e., set forms for a benediction, etc. Here we have the "Hundesegen" and "Bienensegen," formulas to cure dog bite and bee sting. These differ but slightly from the formulas for pow-wowing and date back to the tenth century. The art is still practiced by people of German descent in North Carolina, and is therefore also not peculiar to the Pennsylvania Germans alone. It is also still practiced in certain parts of Germany.® Pow-wowing is more of an art than these simple charms and prescriptions of harmless, homely, and home-made remedies and the repitition of a jargon of words; it has its formulas and prescribed methods of application. Though based on ancient superstition it possesses a grain of scientific truth, for it approaches hypnotism in that the practitioner undertakes to effect cures of various ailments of man and beast by making certain movements with his hands and mumbling formal cabalistic sentences. It is, we may say, more "scientific." The method of practice was held in great secrecy, almost as much as any obligation a person may take in joining a secret order. It was a subject not to be made light of or even to be talked about. Nor was the art transmitted indiscrimi nately, but always to one of the opposite sex; from man to woman, and then again from woman to man. The treatment was applied to both man and beast, and invariably for chronic diseases only: rheumatism, sprains, skin disease, erysipelas, sweeny, marasmus, goitre, and the like; and then also to ease the pain from cuts, burns, bruises, and to stop nosebleeding and blood flow. The treatment was usually given in conjunction with some force or aspect of nature; under the spell of the sun or the moon, or some sign of the zodiac. Not infrequently one can write best from one's own ex perience and observation; and so the writer feels constrained

6Kuhns, "The German and Swiss Settlements of Colonial Pennsyl vania." Henry Hoet and Co., New York, 1901. 126 bulletin of historical society of MONTGOMERY COUNTY to admit that he remembers that when a boy, just old enough to sit astride a horse, he was sent with an animal afflicted with sweeny to a practitioner, who applied his treatment at sunrise and at sunset, and always three times in succession; one morning and two evenings, or two evenings and one morning, and always when the sun was just peeping up be hind the horizon or was dropping down behind it. The afflicted part of the animal was always turned toward the sun. The practitioner stroked the afflicted part with the flat of his hand, beginning at the top of the horse's neck down over the front shoulder, over the foreleg, over the hoof, and he was sure to touch the ground. This would seem to serve as a lightning conductor or ground wire for leading off the devil or disease. And all the while he was muttering to him self—^he was pow-wowing. He went three times over the afflicted part at each treatment. We also knew another practitioner who applied his craft under the influence of the moon. If man or beast were afflicted with sweeny or marasmus, both of which indicate a wasting away of the flesh, it was self evident that the treatment in order to be efficacious, had to be administered during the in crease of the moon so as to get the wasting flesh to return. If on the other hand it was a case of rheumatism, erysipelas, or the like, it was only reasonable to apply treatment when the moon was decreasing so that the ailment would decrease along with it. We hapepned to know in times past four such practitioners in a distance of six miles. They were all well- meaning, God-fearing men who had an abiding faith in the efficacy of their treatment. You could give the practitioner any fee you felt like giv ing; there was no fixed charge. To have had one would have been against the "rules of the game," it would have been un professional ; and worst of all it would have broken the charm or spell. And so the treatment seemingly cost nothing, and it was worthless. Some of the practitioners, in addition to their pow-wow ing, prescribed home made remedies consisting of herbs, salves, ointments, and liniment; occasionally there was some PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN FOLK-LORE 127 relief found, whether it resulted from the pow-wowing or the additional medical treatment we will let others judge. Probably Bucks county, Pennsylvania, in time, had the Prince of Pow-wowers in the person of Abraham Wenhold who, according to newspaper accounts, died in 1918, aged eighty-four years. He was noted during many years for his homely wit, his rustic philosophy, pow-wow practice, and sharp trading tricks—^he was the delight of the countryside. He had students in a half-dozen neighboring villages, and had been called on to do pow-wowing in four different counties. Sons of sick men are said to have travelled twenty-five miles to secure his treatment for their fathers' benefit. He learned the art from his mother; but he knew more than she, and so he developed her instruction. Though he was a tailor by trade he supported himself and a family of eight children mainly by practice as a pow-wower. His favorite ailments for treatment were consumption and warts, while his "specialties" were rheumatism and nervous com plaints. He was clever enough to let cancer and erysipelas severely alone. He practiced not only on humans but also on cattle, horses, "sheep and dogs—^pow-wowing to the bow-wows. He treated them for colds, sore throat, stomach troubles and such like, supplementing his practice by his medicines of roots, barks, herbs and leaves. He charged no fee for reasons already stated; he depended almost entirely on the free-will offering of money, fruits and vegetables. You could make your first visit on any day but "repeat" visits had to be made on a Friday. An income of $12 on a Friday was considered good business. Warts, how ever, could be removed by mail or telephone upon his spoken or written advice—and usually that a man rub his wart on a woman's shoe sole and vice versa! He did not believe in soliciting trade; it should come voluntary, even though boosted by his friends and recommended by his patients. Occasionally, however, pow-wowers fell into disrepute as did this one in Lancaster county. A physician was called to treat a child for membranous croup, for which he left powders to be given the child every half-hour, until he came 128 bulletin of historical society of MONTGOMERY COUNTY again; and when he did come again he found a pow-wower in attendance, who maintained that it was not necessary to administer any powders; in fact the child had been given only one dose. When the anxious mother asked the physician, "Don't you think the child is better?" he said, after examin ing the child, he did not think it would live two hours. It died; and the doctor vowed that he would never again prac tice in conjunction with pow-wowers. On another occasion a man fell from a load of hay and was impaled upon the prongs of a fork. A pow-wower greased and bandaged the prongs carefully and placed the fork in a dark room, and mumbled a few incoherent words over the injured man—a doctor arrived in time to save the man's life. Some twenty years ago a pow-wow doctor in Philadelphia gained some notoriety by being summoned before the coroner in the case of a four-months-old child suffering from maras mus. After two physicianshad given up all hope for the child, the mother, out of sheer desperation, took it to this pow- wower. He smeared the body of the child all over with mud and prescribed a herb concoction one drop of which was to be given the child three times daily. Its clothing he ordered to be shaken out of the window and never to be used twice. The childwas to be placedout of doors as soon as the sun appeared and to be left there until the stars stood in the sky! The child died and he was accused by the coronor of preying upon the ignorant and foolish, and for receiving money under false pretense, though he claimed he had no fixed charges and guaranteed no cure. All in all, we felt confident that those whom we knew as practitioners were devout, pious people who believed in the efficacy of their treatment just as much as they did in the Apostles' Creed. They seem to look upon it as a divine gift, like the Charism of healing in the early church. Almost a thousand years ago, long before any Germans ever thought of coming to America, the English king, Edward the Confessor (1042) began "to touch" for the King's evil, namely scrofula. This treatment was supposed to be a divine PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN FOLK-LORE 129 gift transmitted to the royal sovereign and made effective through his touch. Another trait which is believed to be peculiar to Pennsyl vania Germans is their belief in omens, portents and prognos tications. Portents as forerunners of evil were numerous among them and were readily believed by them. Of these, comets seem to have inspired the greatest dread in the minds of both young and old. A comet was likened to a flaming sword, or to a bundle of fiery switches displaying a sign of divine displeasure and impending punishment. It was looked upon as a forerunner of war, pestilence and plague. The writer still remembers as a small boy the consternation whicharosebythesuddenandunexpected appearanceofa comet. The dread which comets aroused was increased and strengthened by a series of strange coincidences that occurred during the latter years of the seventeenth century, for comets appeared just previous to the French invasion of Germany and especially of the Palatinate, causing untold misery. It is said that these comets were a great factor in stimulating migration to Pennsylvania. It is not easy to realize the dread the wonderful signs and phenomena in the sky produced, distorted as they were by the imagination of the superstitious observer during the first part of the eighteenth century both in Europe and in America. As the German peasant was of a sanguine temperament, he was easily impressed by celestial phenomena; comets, eclipses of the sun or of the moon and the aurora borealis (German Nachtschein). Eclipses always portended great calamities; pestilence, death, famine; while the aurora borealis symbolized lakes of blood, trampled fields of grain, myriads of lances, spears, swords, and armed hosts opposing one another—a foreboding of war. Of all the heavenly bodies the moon was supposed to exert the heaviest influence."^ During the full moon snails, oysters,

TThe influence of the moon's phases is as old as German history itself. In the times of Ariovistus the German matrons declared that it was not the divine will that the Germans should conquer if they engaged in battle before the new moon. Caesar's Commentaries. Bk. I, Ch. 50. 130 bulletin of historical society of MONTGOMERY COUNTY crabs, mussels were said to be fatter than during any other phase of the moon. Cattle slaughtered during the increase of the moon gave more juicy meat—it also lasted longer! But root crops must be planted when the horns of the moon point downward, otherwise the whole plant will turn to foliage. A boardwalk and a shingle roof must likewise be put down in the same sign of the moon so that the boards and the shingles will not curl up. Many of these prognostications, or rather superstitious beliefs, are again thousands of years old, and are not the inventions of the Pennsylvania Germans any more than many other beliefs and customs are. Many of them are as old as recorded history. The Chaldeans had their astrologers; the Persians had magic; the Greeks had oracles and the Romans had augurs, haruspices and soothsayers. We also read in Lucretius; "Some birds change their harsh-toned song with the weather, such as the generations of ancient ravens or flocks of rooks, when they are said to call for water and rain, or sometimes to cry for wind and breeze."® And concerning the power of the moon, a farmer during the Roman Empire has this to say: "I was taught by my father not to shear the sheep nor to have my hair cut during the decrease of the moon for fear of becoming bald." Many people, especially in the rural communities, still be lieve that a rooster crowing early in the evening, a ring around the moon, the sun's rays visible in the clouds, aching corns and bunions, noises heard from afar and ever so many other "observations" are sure indicators of a change of weather; and oftentimes they may be as infallible as the weatherman's forecastings. While the goose-bone and ground hog are proverbial weather prognosticators the wide country over. There are some rare and noteworthy occult books on this •subject; chief among them is the "Seventh Book of Moses," supposed to contain the seals, signs, and emblems of Moses, of Aaron, of the Israelites, and of the Egyptians. The book deals

^Lucretius, "De Eerum Natura." Bk. V 1080. PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN FOLK-LORE 131 with the magic of second-sight, healing the sick, and spiritual- and sensual auction, and with divine inspiration and mes- merio clairvoyance. It has always been considered the great occult book. Another noted book is "The Long Lost Friend," or book of pow-wows. It was printed for the first time in the United States in 1820 and has just lately been reissued. It is by John George Hohman, necromancer, who claims that whosoever carries this book with him is safe from all enemies, visible or invisible, will not drown in any water nor bum in any fire, and no unjust sentence can be passed upon him. Still another book of note is "White and Black Art" by Albertus Magnus, a Swabian who died at Cologne in 1280. He was a most profound scholar, philosopher, chemist and magician. Thomas Aquinas was one of his pupils. He was a most prolific writer, for his writings fill twenty-one volumes i These books, among many others, were still for sale in a popular book store in Harrisburg, Pa., in 1925, but this fact alone should not be taken as something unusual, for one can see signs of spiritual mediums, and occult and metaphysical books in the windows of many city streets. Some of the formulas in these books were based on texts in Holy Writ; e.g. James 5;14, 15, while others again were based on the Gloria Patri. We remember that it was said in our younger days that a novice in reading these books was apt to read himself to a standstill, that is, he would come to a point where he could not get any farther, and if he did not know the secret to retrace his steps, he would see and feel all sorts of creeping things—that is, the goblins would get him, if nothing worse! When we come to the subject of witchcraft we meet with something very intangible, and, may we say, unprovable, but something which has caused more ill-feeling, more quarrels, more litigation, and more unwarranted suffering than any other aspect of superstition the wide world over. Probably nothing is more inconsiderate, more unjust and more worthy of condemnation than to accuse someone else of being in league with the Prince of the Power of Darkness, assuming 132 bulletin of historical society of MONTGOMERY COUNTY of course that whoever has sold his soul to him has been given all power in heaven and on earth—and in other places. The literature on this subject is most voluminous; in fact, it is immense, and dates way back to the past ages. Many of the world's most learned and noted men have written and dis coursed on this subject. And so the belief of the Pennsylvania Germans in this old time magic of witchcraft is nothing new; nor is it in the least original with them; it is rather the com mon heritage of humanity. Their ancestors brought this lore from Germany, while the immigrants from the British Isles, contemporaneous with the Germans brought their contribu tions, so that years ago many a quiet town in Pennsylvania had its pow-wower, witch, and witch doctor. There are any number of witchcraft cases to be found in all the counties in the eastern part of the state; it is impos sible to give anything like a list. Some cases are matters of court records; there are charges and counter charges, hear ings before magistrates and justices of the peace, and court trials. The only witchcraft trial in the Province of Pennsylvania occurred before the Council, previous to the organization of the Provincial Court, on December 27, 1683.® This was almost a half-century before there was a class of people known as the Pennsylvania Germans. Cases of more recent date have also been found elsewhere. In 1906 such a trial took place at Kaiserslautern, South Germany. A witch doctor had been engaged to find the witch that seemingly tortured a neighbor's horse. So the "doctor" entered the stable at the dead of night and fixed a crucifix with two burning candles at the horse's head; then he wrote some mysterious letters on the wall with consecrated chalk and drew a magic circle around himself, after which he opened his book and started incantations in some unknown jargon until he shivered from the violence of his own emotions. After three-quarters of an hour he named

9Mrs. Amelia Mott Gummere, "Witchcraft and Quakerism," Phila delphia, 1908. PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN FOLK-LORE a certain woman as the witch. He was condemned to four months imprisonment as an impostor. In the same year, 1906, a witchcraft trial took place in London; it was the most famous trial in the British Courts in two centuries. A woman was accused of having obtained money by means of "malicious witchcraft." She was sentenced to nine months imprisonment! And as late as January, 1927, we found this news item in a foreign newspaper: "Haltern, Westphalia—^Frau Martha Lande died here three weeks after her marriage because of the efforts of neighbors to drive out the devils bewitching her. She was whipped and confined in a dark room for ten days. Neighbors* cattle had been getting sick as a direct result, they believed, of the devils inhabiting Frau Lande." The litigations, if any, were not always instituted by the supposed sufferer from the craft of bewitchery, but very frequently by the person accused of being a witch. The ac cused one would resent the charge and bring suit for slander and defamation of character. In 1905 a woman in Reading, Pa., entered suit against a man for $20,000 on such a charge. And in 1922 a woman in Pottstown, Pa., had a man hauled up before a magistrate for a similar reason. She charged that the man had spread the rumor that she was a witch and that she had filled him with mysterious pains. A witness testi fied that he had driven witches and devils out of the possessed man by praying and by placing a Bible on the man's breast. Physicians claimed it was rheumatism and not bewitchery that ailed the man. He was made to pay a fine and to promise not to spread any more such stories. We will recount one more "witch" story as told by a farmer from York County, Pa., who in 1905 tried to bring before an alderman a case against a supposed witch. We will give it in his own words.

"I had gone to the woods to work when a stranger appeared at the house and asked my wife to lend him a pair of trace chains. Though he was a stranger and my wife was averse to give him the chains she could not resist the strange power which the man seemed to exercise over her; and so he got the chains. 134 bulletin op histoeical society of montgomeey county

"These chains were gone three days when all kinds of trouble over took me and mine. The baby got sick, and my wife was seized with fainting fits, and I lost my appetite and could not sleep because of the strange noises in the house and in the bam. Both my cows became sick and my horse became unmanageable. Even the chickens seemed to be affected, for they stood around drooping and would not eat. "In the morning when I would go to the garden I would find plants and flowers torn from the ground and replanted with roots inverted and exposed. "I sent for a witch doctor who said he would put a spell on the witch. The trace chains were found back in my bam the next day. They had been returned during the night. My neighbor had been seen by other neighbors to have them in use and to have returned them. "Now witches have the power to change their appearance so that those who are familiar with them cannot know them. That is exactly what my neighbor resorted to when he came to borrow the trace chains. I know that he is a witch and that he has 'verhexed' other neighbors. When the traces were returned to my barn, all my troubles in the house and on the farm ended."

This farmer was much disappointed when told by the alderman that he had no case against his neighbor; so he berated the law-makers of the State for not providing laws to punish witches. Witch cases cannot stand court trial; you cannot produce the evidence. When is a person a witch and when not? The counterpart to the witch is the witch doctor, who is supposed to possess the art of breaking the spell and of bring ing the witch to terms. If Bucks county had the Prince of Pow-wowers, then Berks county had the Prince of Witch Doctors, and that in the person of Joseph Hagenman, of Reading. He died in 1905, at the age of 73; his taking away was an occasion of mourn ing throughout that whole region. He was undoubtedly the most respected, the most popular and well-to-do witch doctor in his day in the entire State. He was the high priest and prophet of the craft. His dingy office, we are told, was frequently crowded with patients, many of them having come miles to seek his prayers and potions, his charms and talismans. These persons went to Hagenman in the utmost confidence and simplicity to get PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN FOLK-LOBE 135 their bewitched children and livestock released from the spell which supposedly hovered over then. And just mere medicine would not suiRce to restore them to health and sanity. To accomplish this it was seemingly necessary that some myster ious talisman be hung around neck or leg, and that some hocus pocus be performed over the subject, and mystifying cabalistic sentences or nine days soothsaying be mumbled. We are told, furthermore, that to see a dozen farmers' teams in front of his house on market day was a usual sight. These people paid good money, and thought it well invested, and for years afterwards continued to trust in his charms. If the patient persistently did not get well and stubbornly died— well, that was all in the course of a lifetime. They had gone to Hagenman, the last resort when all other efforts had failed—and that settled it. When he had diagnosed a case he turned to the regions of alchemy for the cure-all charm. This was his chief stock in trade. This charm consisted of a small canvas bag pinned at both ends and bearing on one side the letters "I.N.R.J." and three crosses. The letters stood for "Jesus of Nazareth, king of the Jews," in Latin. To most people even Latin is "Greek"! Inside of the bag was a card containing inscriptions in Greek, Latin, German and Hebrew. This very likely was a charm or prayer. This talisman was hung around the neck or some other part of the body. The ills of babies were among his specialties. Here is a case in point. A woman took her,baby to him and said it was hypnotized or bewitched; so he gave her two powders, order ing her to give them to the child when the clock on St. Paul's Catholic Church struck six. He directed her, furthermore, to make the sign of the cross with salt at the foot of the cradle. To the father he gave brimstone which he was to place in a crock, set it on fire, then strip the child of its clothing and to hold the child as near the flames as possible without burning it. This ordeal was to be repeated nine times. The object was to find thewitch. We are not told whether she was found or not. This witch doctor had previously treated a young child of the same family. In this case he gave the mother a razor which 136 bulletin of historical society of MONTGOMERY COUNTY

she was to place under the child's pillow with the edge turned up and then to wait for a sign. At midnight there was a sound as if a heavy person had fallen out of bed. And this was the sign. The next morning the woman's landlady came to the house and complained she could not sleep. Hagenman declared the landlady was the witch; and so the family moved out of the house. This witch doctor also pretended to cure animals. A prosperous cattle dealer in the vicinity of Reading found that his pigs were sick and that his horses and cows were "off their feed." So he sent for Hagenman who of course declared they were bewitched. He bored holes in their feed trough and stuffed in something wrapped in muslin. He told the man not to borrow or loan out anything for nine days.^® When Hagenman came the next time he brought along some papers containing the symbols "I.N.R.J." and nailed them up in the stables. The cattle dealer declared that immediately after this treatment his animals got well and that he sold as nice stock as any dealer in the county. Indisposed cattle of other farmers were treated by this "doctor" in a similar way. A woman in Reading had trouble to get her bread to raise; she at once concluded it was bewitched. So she bought one of Hagenman's charms and placed it in the bottom of the bread tray and the loaves immediately began to swell up and get better—and such bread! And so one might continue ad infinitum, but probably enough evidence has been produced to show that, although there are still various forms of superstition among these people, these forms are in the main far from being original with them, that many items of their folklore are the common heritage of past ages, and that variant forms of superstitious belief still exist in many parts of Europe as well as in this country where Pennsylvania German is not known. And yet many newspapers, especially in their Sunday editions, take every opportunity to tell the gullible public how the Penn sylvania Germans worship the pow-wow man, and send for

lOQrders of this kind "were very eomiuon. PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN FOLK-LORE I37

the witch doctor, and how they believe in fortune tellers and all sorts of foolish superstitions. Such beliefs are prevalent among many peoples; even the highly educated have their pet superstitious beliefs as well as the "Dumb Dutch." There is far more of the debased kind of superstition in the heart of many a city than there is in the whole Pennsylvania German country. Charlatans, fortune tellers, clairvoyants, and spiritualistic mediums and other frauds still thrive, without number, upon the gullibility of the educated as well as of the supposedly ignorant. The practice of witchcraft among the Pennsylvania Ger mans never came within reach of the fanatic cruelty once so prevalent in parts of Europe, and which gave Salem, Massa chusetts, such an unenviable notoriety in American history, seemingly a blot in the escutcheon of that state for all time. They never burned any witches,^ nor have they even hanged any. It is to be expected that with the diffusion of knowledge and of general enlightenment many superstitious beliefs and practices will disappear. But it is also probable that many of them which have endured for thousands of years through all the varying forms of government and religion, which have shaken civilization from its very foundations, will continue for all time to come, for man*s belief in the supernatural will never wholly vanish from the earth. In the saecula saecularum man will still believe with Hamlet that the earth hath bubbles and that these are of them, and that "there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

^No witches were burned at Salem, Mass., in spite of the popular superstition to that effect. Ed. "They Have Not Died" Tribute to Annie Jarrett Reed and Willoughby H. Reed

By Franklin A. Stickler

Mr. President, Members and Friends of the Historical Society of Montgomery County: When one day in the closing years of the Nineteenth Cen tury there came into my office in the DeKalb Street Station of the Pennsylvania Railroad an unassuming, pleasant faced, mild mannered and soft spoken gentlemenwho introduced him self as Dr. W. H. Reed and his errand as seeking information relative to a proposed trip Mrs. Reed and himself .were con templating, I do not believe that either of us realized that that casual meeting was the entering link of what proved to be a lasting chain of friendship, a chain to be forged link by link throughout the years through our mutual interest in travel, genealogy research, and the preservation of local his torical data pertaining to Montgomery county and the Perkio- men region. This chain remained unbroken until Decem ber 19th, 1939, when at "Will-Anna," his winter home in the land of flowers, the final link was severed when the good doctor was called to serve in the Great Beyond. From that same home in Orange City, Florida, his be loved spouse, Annie Jarrett Reed, had preceded him into the Land of the Afternoon on February 2nd, 1936. However, as Dickens so aptly says in Little Dorritt: "In our journey through life we are constantly meeting the people that are coming to meet us, from many strange places and by many strange roads, and what it is set to us to do to them, and what it is set to them to do to us, will all be done. You may be sure that there are men and women already on their

•Read before the Society February 22, 1940.

138 TEIBUTE TO ANNIE JAREETT EEBD AND WILLOUGHBY H. REED ^39 road, who have their business to do with you, and who will do it. Of a certainty they will do it." For more than forty years it had been my privilege to know and enjoy the personal friendship of Doctor Willoughby H. Reed and his faithful helpmate, Annie Jarrett Reed. Dur ing that period I assisted them in the planning of most of their leisurely journeys in "Seeing America First" that they both enjoyed and prized so much throughout the passing of the years. Notes and observations made on many of these trips are recorded in the volume published by Dr. Reed, for personal distribution, in 1938, an autographed copy of which I prize very highly. For many years, Dr. Reed and myself had also been as sociated with each other in promoting the work of the Penn sylvania German Society, The Perkiomen Region, the Mont gomery County Fish, Game and Forestry Association and our own Historical Society of Montgomery County, of which, for many years, he was the faithful treasurer, while I have served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees; all of these mutual in terests further cementing more closely the ties of our personal friendship. During their lifetime Dr. and Mrs. Reed always gave freely of their time, their talent, and their money, to further the work of this Society, but their interest did not end with their passing into the Higher Life. Through the medium of an irrevocable trust, the income of a fifty thousand dollar fund was given by them jointly for the Society's use in the promotion of its general activities in the gathering and preservation of the local history of Mont gomery County; also various trust funds, the legacies of Dr. Reed personally, will be made available for the Society's publication fund. All of the above becoming a perpetual en dowment by these donors, will always prove their best and most lasting memorial, but in recording our appreciation of these gifts I feel it a privilege and honor to present today the following tribute to Annie Jarrett Reed and Willoughby H. Reed: 140 bulletin of historical society of MONTGOMERY COUNTY

"It singeth low in every heart, We hear it each and all— The song of those who answer not, However we may call; They throng the silence of the breast. We see them as of yore— The good, the true, the brave, the free Who walk with us no more.

"Tis hard to take the burden up When these have laid it down; They brightened all the joys of life, , They softened every frown; But, oh, 'tis good to think of them When we are troubled sore! Thanks be to God that such have been. Although they are no more.

"More homelike seems the vast unknown Since they have entered there; To follow them were not so hard. Wherever they may fare; They cannot be where God is not, On any sea or shore; Whate'er betides, Thy love abides. Our God, for evermore." A few years ago it was my great privilege to stand on the rim of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River, and in reverent and worshipful awe and wonder feast my sight and senses on the glorious panorama unfolded before me. Beautiful beyond Man's description at sunrise and high noon was this miracle in stone, this mighty chasm thirteen miles wide and more than a mile in depth, but the marvelous coloring and glory of the pinnacles and towers of this magnifi cent outdoor Temple of the Divine Creator was further heightened and intensified by the constantly changing lights and shadows cast by the lengthening rays of the setting sun in all its golden splendor. It was a moment for meditation and prayer; a moment when you truly felt that "God was in His Holy Temple and that all the earth should keep silence before Him." TRIBUTE TO ANNIE JARRETT REED AND WILLOUGHBY H. REED 141

As I watched the orb of day slowly sinking below the Western Horizon I tried to visualize what unending sorrow and desolation would be in this world of ours if the gloom and darkness that comes with the fading light of day would last forever. To my mind there came a mental picture of Adam and Eve as the sun sank to rest on their first night in Eden. A vision of what must have been the terror and dread of our first parents as they, for the first time, beheld this strange phenomenon of the Night. Happily for us we know that the darkness is only for a brief period of time, know that the self-same sun that went to rest in the West will in the morning rise in the East with even greater splendor and light us into a more perfect day. So, after our friends leave us for the Silent Land, we children of Light, while hemmed in by the darkness of a desolate hearth, still confidently believe that the darkness is not that of the eternal night, but that the listening ear of love can from somewhere out of the starless night hear faint voices, like echoes from the farther shore, assuring us that "All's Well." Saying that like the sun they have left us only for a bried period. "That while they lie in dust. Life's glory dead; still from the ground there blossoms red. Life that shall endless be." In this spirit of Faith, Hope and Trust in the Eternal Goodness of an all wise God, who Doeth all things well, let us today think of our fellow members, and benefactors of the Historical Society of Montgomery County, Annie Jarrett Reed and Willoughby H. Reed, who have entered into the Higher Life. We shall greatly miss their always genial presence in our midst, their wise, kindly and helpful counsel, their messages of cheer and encouragement, all giving us the inspiration and courage to climb from the valleys of unfulfilled dreams and aspirations into the realization of the glory that crowns the supernal hills that rim the horizon of all earthly endeavor and hopes. "To know them was to love them, to name them was to praise." 142 bulletin op historical SOCrETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY

Paraphrasing the words of the immortal Lincoln: "The members of this Society will little note nor long remember what we say here, but they will never forget what they did here." Other men and women will take the burdens they have laid down, but no one can ever take from them the high place they have achieved, and always will hold in the hearts of the rank and file of the members of the Historical Society of Montgomery County. To us and our successors their message is "Sail on, and on, and on!" In closing I know of no more fitting or finer tribute than the noble and immortal words of O'Hara's Ode "They have not Died": "I tell you they have not died, Their hands clasp yours and mine: They are now but glorified. They have become divine, They live, they know, they see. They shout with every breath: All is Eternal Life I There is no death!" Willoughby Henry Reed

1856 — 1939

Dr. Willoughby H. Heed died at Deland, Florida, Decem ber 19,1939. Dr. Heed joined this Society in 1892, becoming at once a life member; and this life membership seems to presage his intimate connection with the Society, and his unfailing inter est in its welfare, which continued throughout his long life. From 1897 to 1937—a continuous period of forty years, terminated only by his own wish for retirement—Dr. Heed served the Society as Treasurer. To the usual routine of this office, his conscientious interpretation of its duties added some detail not usually required of a treasurer; it was at his own solicitation, while in office, that the by-laws of the Society were so amended so as to further safeguard its funds against possible future mishandling; he was instrumental in securing for the Society from the County Commissioners the annual appropriation which has since been so important an item of its finances; while the sum of his own contributions to the Society, from time to time, may not be known. His gifts to the library have been numerous; the books alone fill many shelves; but the crowning gift made during his lifetime is the collection of photostats, appertaining to the present Montgomery County, of the records of the Court of Quarter Sessions of Philadelphia County—a collection which cost more than $1000, and is unique and invaluable. Healizing the importance to the Society of its publication, Dr. Heed, while chairman of its Publication Committee, per sonally assumed the expense of doubling the size of the BULLETIN, thus insuring the publication of many papers which previous lack of space had regrettably postponed. But he saw farther than this. For by his will, written in 1937, he created a trust to be known as the Dr. Willoughby H. Heed Book Fund, whereby the Society shall receive in perpetuiiy the net income of $5000, "to print and issue its publications and purchase suitable books for its library."

143 144 bulletin op historical society of MONTGOMERY COUNTY

Nor is this all. For by the same instrument there is be queathed to the Society "so much of my library, heirlooms, curios, relics, family and other historical records, old papers and other articles of a similar character as it may select or choose;" while the net income of the residuary estate ulti mately becomes payable to the Society, "to be used to promote its growth and usefulness." To a more appropriate time and to a more eloquent pen must be left the ampler task of faithful portraying the life history of Dr. Willoughby H. Reed. The Society wishes here only to record with sorrow the passing of one whose sincere personality made him the friend of all its membership; and to acknowledge, with deep gratitude, a friendly solicitude and generosity which never failed, but literally, goes on forever.

The Samuel F. Jarrett Fund By the death of Dr. Reed, there becomes effective another benefaction of which the Historical Society of Montgomery County is the beneficiary; namely, the Samuel F. Jarrett Fund, created by his wife, Mrs. Annie J. Reed,' through a voluntary deed of trust executed by her, October 23, 1928. By the terms of this perpetual trust, after the death of both Mrs. Reed and her husband, the net income of this trust fund, which nominally amounts to $50,000, is to be paid to the Historical Society of Montgomery County forever.

♦See the BULLETIN, Vol. I, No. 1, page 5. Records from Bibles in Possession of Histori cal Society of Montgomery County

(continued)

MR. AND MRS. JOSEPH JORDAN'S BIBDE

Marriages

Joseph Jordan Jr. and Emma Hockenberg was married at Paterson, N. J. June 21st., 1849. Joseph R. D—(erasure) Lida Jordan were married at Manayunk, Phila. December 16th. 1869.

William A. Van Horn and Eva Jordan were married at Paterson, N. J. August 22nd., 1873.

Samuel A. Kinzie and Lida J. Van Horn were married at Bridgeport, Pa. October 15th., 1896.

Births

Joseph Jordan Jr. was born at Morristown. N.J. Febru ary 11th., 1827. Emma Hockenbery was bom at Sussex, N.J. April 1th., 1828. Lida Jordan was born at Paterson, N.J. March 16th., 1850. Eva Jordan was born at Manchester, Conn. Septem ber 21st., 1852. Mabel Everett Davis was born at Manayunk, Pa. May 15th., 1871. Emilie Laveolet Davis was born an Manayunk, Phila. No vember 7th., 1872.

145 146 bulletin of historical society of MONTGOMERY COUNTY

Lida Josephine Van Horn was born at Chicago, III. July 20th„ 1874. Marion Everett Kinzie was born at Port Indian, Pa. Au gust 20th., 1897. Charles Herbert Kinzie was born at Hartford, Conn. Oc tober 11th., 1898. Donald Rosslyn Kinzie was born at Hartford, Conn., Au gust 28th. 1901. Deaths Anna Hockenbery died at Paterson, N. J. May 3rd., 1868. Aged 72 years. Joseph Jordan, Sr. died at Three Rivers, Mich. Decem ber 20th., 1875. Aged 75 years and 17 days. • Sophia Jordan died at Price's Station, Md. October 26th., 1888. Aged 85 years, 1 month,and 23 days. Mabel Everett Davis died at Wissahickon, Pa. April 8th., 1897. Aged 25 years and 11 months. Charles Herbert Kinzie died at Hartford, Conn. July 14th. 1899. Aged 9 months., and three days. William Hockenberry died at Augusta, N.J. April 18th., 1838. Aged 42 years. Marion Everett Kinzie died at Bridgeport, Pa. June 17th., 1902. Aged 4 years, and 10 months. Col. Joseph Jordan died at Bridgeport, Pa. Nov. 25th., 1903. Aged 76 years, 9 months and 14 days. William A. Van Horn died at Bridgeport, Pa. December 4, 1911. Aged 63 years. Emma Everett Jordan died at Bridgeport, Pa. June 8th., 1917. Aged 89 years and 2 mo. Garrett I. H. Bell departed this life November the 21st., 1873. Aged 54 years, 3 months and 24 days. BIBLE RECORDS 147

Catharine Van Horn departed this life March 15th., 1876. Aged 59 years, 6 months and 12 days. I Ann Salyer departed this life, March 15th., 1879. Aged 87 years, 8 months and 4 days.

Marriages

Garret I. H. Bell was married to Ann Hopper, March 19th., 1808. William M. Bell was married to Mary Ann Baul, Decem ber 25th., 1832. Peter Van Horn was married to Catherine Bell, Decem ber 26th., 1833. William Winters was married to Charity Ann Bell, No vember 4th., 1840. Garret Bell was married to Nancy Adelia Ludlow, July 28th., 1845. Michael Salyer married Ann Bell, February 4th., 1836.

Births

Garret I. H. Bell was bom April 21st., 1784. John H. Bell was born March 22nd., 1809. Wiliam M. Bell was born January 31st., 1811. Andrew A. Bell was bom January 1st., 1813. Catherine Bell was born September 3, 1816. Garret I. H. Bell was born July 28th., 1819. Charity Ann Bell was bom February 25th., 1822. Ann Hopper was bom July 11th., 1791. Peter Van Horn was born April 10th., 1810. David P. Van Horn was bom January 8th., 1835. 148 bulletin op historical SOCIETy OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY

Garret Van Hem was born July 25th., 1836. William Van Horn was born November 5th., 1849. Anna Amelia Van Horn was bom June 30th., 1847. Kate Van Horn Winters was born March 30th., 1855.

Deaths Garret I. H. Bell died January 10th., 1830. Aged 45 years, 8 months, 19 days. Rachel Bell died September 18th., 1833. Aged 80 years, 1 month, 23 days. Michael Salyer died August 29th., 1859. Aged 88 years, 6 months, 29 days. Garret Van Horn died January 19th., 1837. Aged 5 months and 25 days. Anna Amelia Van Horn died August 30th., 1847. Aged 2 years, 2 months. Peter Van Horn died June 8th., 1865. Aged 55 years, 1 month, 28 days.

Copy of Letter Found in Jordan Bible

Rockhill March 29 1886. My Grant Pairents John Kinsey was Born November 16th. 1771 Died March 21th 1850 Aged 78 years, 4 Months and 5 days. His wife Gatrout A. Born Alderfer was Born October 28th 1776. Died April 18th.,1834 Aged 58 years 5 months and 19 days My Pairents John A. Kinsey was Born January lOth.1800 Died February 28th 1855 Aged 55 years 1 Month and 13 days My mother Anna A born Detweiler was Born Septem ber 8th 1791 Died May 8th 1862 Aged 70 years 8 Months BIBLB RECORDS ^49

Children Samuel D. Kinzie was BomMarch 28th 1821Died July10th. 1860 Aged 39 years 3 Months and 13 days His wife Maria a Bora Kinsey was Born April 18th 1827 Died May 2th 1869 Aged 42 years and 14 days. Henry D, Kinsey was Born July 6th.,1823 Died July 19th.,1850 Aged 27 years and 13 days His wife Alivia a Bora Scharich was Born September 7th 1826 John D. Kinsey was Bora October 2th 1825 My wife Cath arine a Born Lay was Born April 13th 1837 Jacob D. Kinsey was Born December 27th 1827 His wife Susana a Bora Detweiler was Bora March 23th 1836 Enos D. Kinsey was Bora August 29th 1830 Died April 29th 1831 Aged 8 months Catharine D. Kinsey was Born May 30th 1832 Her First Husband Lenard D. Detwiler was born December 1th 1826 Died October 12th 1861 Aged 34 years 10 months and lldays Her Second Husband William Johnson was Born July 17 1810 Yours John D. Kinsey Jordan Family Bible has typewritten in front: "The paper of this Bible was made by Col.Joseph Jordan, by hand on Forida Palm paper at the "Inquirer Mills" Mana- yumk in 1865, as an experiment, at request of Harding of Phila. Inquirer." The wedding certificate of Peter Van Horn and Catharine Bell, December 25th. 1833 is attached to the records.

SMITH BIBLE

Marriages Lorenzo D Smith and Jane Supplee were joined together in the holy bonds of Matrimony, by the Rev. James Harmer November 10th 1842. 150 bulletin of historical society of MONTGOMERY COUNTY

Lorenzo D Smith and Hannah M. Dickinson were joined together in the holy bonds of Matrimony by the Rev. Daniel Shields Oct. 15th 1850. Jacob R. Yost and Josephine V Smith were joined together in Holy Matrimony by Rev. L. D. McClintock April 27th 1876

Births Henry Smith—April 21st 1731. Rachel Smith—July 4th 1735.

Children Christian Smith—July 12th 1758. Joseph Smith—^Nov 19th 1760. Mary Smith—Jan 7th 1763. Henry Smith—^April 22nd 1765.

Rachel Smith—Dec. 25th 1767. William Smith—May 25th 1769. John Smith—^Aug. 5th 1771. Rachel Smith—Sept. 15th 1776.

William Smith—May 25th 1769. Phebe Supplee—September 8 1776.

Children

Joel Smith Son of William and Phebe Smith was bom Nov. 16th 1800. Albert Smith son of William & Phebe Smith was bom May 26th 1804. Nathan S Smith son of William & Phebe Smith was born Feb. 21st 1808. BIBLE RECORDS 151

Lorenzo D Smith son of William & Phebe Smith was bom Oct. 15th 1812.

Lorenzo D Smith—Oct. 15th 1812. Jane Supplee—December 20th 1821.

Children Josephine Virginia Smith—June 2nd 1846. Lamartine Supplee Smith—February 13th 1848.

Births

Abraham Supplee—^April 1st 1748. Margaret Supplee—-March 10th 1749.

Children Samuel Supplee—Jan. 23rd 1775. Phebe Supplee—Sep. 8th 1776. Sarah Supplee—June 12th 1778. Nathan Supplee—June 24th 1783.

Deaths

William Smith—June 3rd 1846. Age 77 years & 9 days. Phebe Smith—^Feb. 8th 1864 aged 87 years and 5 mo. Albert Smith—^Aug. 17th 1849 age 45 year 2 mo. 22 Days. Jane Smith wife of Lorenzo D Smith—February 21st 1848 at 11 Oclock in the evening. Age 26 years 2 months & 1 day. Lorenzo D Smith—^Nov 8th 1879 at noon Age 67 years & 24 days. Hannah M Smith—July 15th 1901, Aged 84 years 10 month and 4 days. 152 bulletin of HISTOEICAL society op U0I4TG0MEBY COUNTY

Nathan Smith Died April 21st 1883. Sarah Smith—^April 15th 1874 Aged 95 years 10 Mo & 8 days. John Smith—Nov. 11.1851 Aged 80 years. Lamartine S Smith Died Sep. 3rd 1856. Abraham Supplee—^April 1st 1827 Age 79 years. Margaret Supplee—^Nov.l9th 1840 Age 91 years 8mo & 8 days. Samuel Supplee—-March 28th 1862 Age 88 years 2 mo & 14 days. Nathan Supplee—Feb.22nd 1871 Age 87 years and 8 Mo.

FRANCIS H. AND ANNA L. G. LUBBE BIBLE

Marriages

March 10,1853 Francis H. Lubbe and Anna Louisa Custer. November 26, 1885 David H. Ross and Ella E. Lubbe. June 5,1888 Wilmer F. Lubbe and Katherine E. Comer. December 15, 1917. Frances Lubbe Ross and Irvin Corson Poley. Births

March 14, 1854 Herman Lubbe. (Children of Francis H. and Anna Louisa Lubbe) June 23, 1856 Mary A. Lubbe. June 6,1857 Charles C. Lubbe. September 16, 1859 Anna L. Lubbe. July 2, 1861. Ella E. Lubbe. October 10, 1864. Wilmer F. Lubbe. BIBLE RECORDS

June 7, 1888 Anna Janet Ross. (Dau. of E. L. and D. H. Ross.) May 10,1889 Mary Pauline Lubbe. (Dau. of Wilmer F. and E. Lubbe.) December 2, 1890. Frances Lubbe Ross (Dau. of D. H, and Ella Lubbe Ross.) Anna Louisa Custer February 17, 1831. Francis H. Lubbe April 9, 1820.

Deaths Francis H. Lubbe January 25,1907. In the 87th. year. Anna Louisa Custer Lubbe December 1st.,1917. Francis Lubbe Ross Poley October 12th.,1918. Anna Janet Ross June 11, 1888. Mary Pauline Lubbe July 15,1889. Herman Lubbe March 14, 1854. Mary A. Lubbe June 23, 1856. Anna L. Lubbe September 16,1859. Charles C. Lubbe August 4,1879. Wilmer F. Lubbe February 6, 1889. Ella Lubbe Ross August 22,1933. David H. Ross December 23, 1933.

LUKENS BIBLE

1684 the 28th.of 7th month Elizabeth Luken Born 1686 the 10th of 5th month Elase Lucken was Bom 1688 the 22 of the 12 month William Lucken was Bom 154 bulletin op historical society of MONTGOMERY COUNTY

1689 the 19th of 7th month Sarah Lucken was Born

1691 the 27th of 9th month John Lucken was Born 1693 the 18th of the 11 month Mary Lucken was Born

1696 the 30th of the 1st month Peter Lucken was Born

1698 the 25th of the 5th month Hannah Lucken was Born

1700 the 13th of 8th month Mathias Lucken was Born 1703 the 16th day of the 7th month Abraham Lucken was Born 1705 the 3rd of 9th month Joseph Lucken was Born 1742 Mary Lucken Dyed in the Lord 1744 John Lucken Dyed in the Lord 1771 27th Day of March Susanna Lucken wife of Joseph Lucken Departed this Life a half an hour past ten in the four- noon

JOHN JACOB AND MARY MAGDELINE ENGARD BIBLE

Jesse Engard was born November 27, 1801. Anna Engard was born February 9, 1803. Elizabeth Engard was born March 20, 1804. Maria Engard was bom August 19, 1805. Catharine Engard was born April 11, 1807. George Engard was born September 4, 1808. Hester Engard was born February 2, 1810. Philip R. Engard was born June 30, 1811. Salome Engard was bom January 13, 1813. Samuel Engard was born September 24,1814. Harriet Engard was born January 18, 1810. Died in birth. BIBLE RECORDS 155

Sophia D. Engard was born October 28, 1817. Jacob Engard was born May 20,1820. Died in infancy. Rebecca C. Engard was born May 8, 1822.

Some records in German in back of book.

Two newspaper clippings pasted in book,— Death of Sarah Bibighaus wife of Jacob Bibighaus and daughter of Philip Read. Services from residence of father in law Rev. Henry Bibighaus. Death of Mr. Jesse Engard, buried at Whit Marsh.

JACOBY BIBLE

Mabruges At Sycamore Grove, Conshohocken, December 9, 1856 by the Rev. Clarke Loudon, Rev. James Martin to Catharine F. daughter of Samuel and Susanna Jacoby. In Norristown by the Rev. Job Halsey D.D. assisted by the Rev. I. Weidman, Samuel D. Powel to Catharine F. Martin, September 11, 1873.

Births Born at Cladybeg, Armagh, Ireland James Martin, son of Robert and Hannah Martin January 22, 1822. Catharine F. daughter of Samuel and Susanna Jacoby was born August 28, 1814 at Norristown.

Deaths Died in Norristown the Rev. James Martin, February 13, 1870, aged 48 years and 22 days. Died in Norristown, January 24, 1885 Aima Jacoby Martin, aged twenty three years, four months. 156 bulletin op historical society of MONTGOMERY COUNTY

Died in Norrlstown, Mrs. Susanna Jacoby, October 17, 1870, aged 82 years Samuel Jacob died December 9th., 1844, aged 59 years, 7 months, 8 days in Plymouth township was buried at Norris- town. Samuel F. Jacoby died April 4th., 1858 aged 38 years in Philadelphia, was buried at Montgomery Cemetery. Mary E. wife of Samuel F. Jacoby died June 14, 1859 aged 30 years, was buried at Montgomery Cemetery. Isabella M. Jacoby daughter of S. F. and M. E. Jacoby died January 10,1857, aged 9 years. Buried at Montgomery Ceme tery. Margaret F. Jacoby, wife of G. M. Jacoby died May 16, 1873, aged 48 years buried at Montgomery Cemetery. Mary Jacoby daughter of Samuel and Susanna Jacoby died February 13th,, 1821 and was buried at Norristown.

Written in back of Bible: Mary Marshall Robison was thirteen years old the eighth of February 1895. Hazel Clair Robison was eleven the twenty first of Novem ber 1894. Hortense Robison was nine the fifteenth of January 1895.

PARRY-PERRY BIBLE

Marriages May tha 1 1826 Owen Parry and Margaret Magor.

Births Mary Jane Parry Bom Septimber 17 1828. Samuel Parry Bora August 10, 1831. John M. Parry Bom January 5, 1834. BIBLE RECORDS 157

Mabruges

On the ninth of September 1863 Sam*l 0. Perry to Carrie B. Bush. On twenty eight of March 1895 William McC. Rogers to Mary Bertha Perry. On the fourteenth day of December 1898 Albert Edward Finn married to Cora R. Perry.

Births Bom to Sam'l 0. Perry and Carrie B. Perry on the four teenth of April 1865, Owen Harvey Perry. Bora to Sam'l 0. Perry and Carrie B. Perry on the 26th of August 1867 Mary Bertha Perry. Bora to Sam'l 0. Perry and Carrie B. Perry. Cora Reiff Perry on the 22d Day Of October 1869. Born to William McC Rogers and Mary Bertha Rogers the twentieth day of January 1896, Carrie Gladys Rogers. Born to William McC. Rogers and Mary Bertha P. Rogers on the 10 day of November 1900. Samuel Perry Rogers. Bora to William McC Rogers and Mary Bertha P. Rogers on the fifteenth day of July 1905, William Raymond Rogers. Born to Albert Edward Finn and Cora Perry Finn on the 21st. of July, William Albert Finn, 1901.

Deaths Died March 2, 1911 Mary J. Perry in her 83 year, written by her brother Sam'l 0. Perry. Died July 21, 1904 John Major Perry in his seventy first year. His son Earnest Perry died a short time before hfTn. Written by S. 0. Perry. 158 bulletin of historical society op MONTGOMERY COUNTY

Died January 26, 1919 Samuel 0. Perry aged 87 years 5 months 16 days.

Owen Harvey Perry Disappeared from his boarding house in Philadelphia on May 14, 1888. He was working in the office of the Pa. R.R.CO. 233 South 4th St. Phila. Pa. Newspaper clipping from the Norristown Herald, May 19, 1888, attached Died August 22, 1916 William M. Rogers, Husband of Bertha Perry Rogers. Aged 46 years, 5 months, 17 days.

FAMILY RECORD OF DANIEL PFLIEGER

The Family Register in the Old Pflieger 1851, July 18, Daniel Pflieger, son of Frederick Pflieger and his wife Anna Maria; bapt. by Frederick Waage (Rev.); sponsors Leonhardt Steinmetz and his wife Sofia.

Children: 1.1855, May 21, b. Kamilla Pflieger, daugh. of Daniel and Maria Anna Pflieger; sponsors John and his wife Lydia. 2.1857, Nov. 28, Andrew Pflieger was born; bapt. Jan. 18, 1858; sponsors was Frederick Pflieger and wife Maria. 3.1860, Sept. 25, Andora Pflieger was born; bapt. June 3, ; sponsors Jacob Pflieger and his wife Lenna. 4.1861, Oct. 4, Daniel Henry Pflieger was born; bapt. Nov. 2, 1862, sponsors Henry Wider and his wife Lydia. 5.1863, Aug. 16, Franklin Pflieger was born. bapt. Nov. 24, 1872; sponsors Daniel Pflieger and his wife Maria. BIBLE RECORDS 159

6.1865, June 14, Sarah Pfiieger was bom; bapt. Nov. 24, 1872 scponsors Parents. 7.1867, July 19, Winfield Pfiieger was bora; bapt. Nov. 24, 1872; sponsors Daniel Pfiieger and wife Maria. 8.1870, June 6, Edwin Pfiieger was bora bapt. Nov. 24, 1872; sponsors Daniel Pfiieger and wife Maria. 9.1871, Apr. 4, George Washington Pfiieger was bom; bapt. Aug. 27,1871; sponsors the parents. George Wash ington Pfiieger died Aug. 31, 1871. Report of Recording Secretary

Rebecca W. Brecht

At the regular meeting of the Society held November 18, 1939, a report was given by S. Cameron Corson of the unveiling of the Ritten- house Marker on the Ballard Estate on Germantown Pike near Pairview Village, June 3, 1939, and Mr. Corson was given a vote of thanks for his untiring efforts to get this work accomplished. The program of the afternoon consisted of a paper by Mrs. Annie Brooke Simpson on "The Old Hughes Mill." Frederick B. Smillie, Esq., District Attorney of Montgomery Co., spoke on the subject, "Falsification of Documents Including Counterfeiting." Miss Ella Slungluff read a paper prepared by Mr. Malcolm Ganser, subject of which was "A History of the Trinity Lutheran Church of Norristown, Pa." The annual meeting was held February 22, 1940, with usual routine of reports. Treasurer Lyman A. Kratz reported a balance in the treasury, Janu ary 1, 1940, of $737.22. A tribute to the memory of Dr. and Mrs. Willoughby H. Reed was presented by Franklin A. Stickler, President of the Board of Trustees.

The following officers were elected: President Nelson P. Fegley, Esq. First Vice-President S. Cameron Corson Second Vice-President Charles Harper Smith Third Vice-President George K. Brecht, Esq. Recording Secretary Mrs. Rebecca W. Brecht Corresponding Secretary Miss Ella Slingluff Financial Secretary Miss Annie B. Molony Treasurer Lyman A. Kratz

Trustees Franklin A. Stickler Mrs. A. Conrad Jones Miss Katherine Preston H. H. Ganser Miss Nancy P. Highley

160 REPOBTS 161

The following program was presented: "Some Aspects of the Battle of Crooked Billet" ...Charles Harper Smith Recitation, "The Flag," by Franklin K. Lane Miss Lillian Linsenberg "Flags and Flag Making," accompanied by a display of flags of all nations John C. Dettra

Report of Corresponding Secretary

Ella Slinglupp

NEW MEMBERS

Herbert T. Ballard, Jr. Mrs. G. C. Kuemmerle P. Lewis Barroll Van Antwerp Lea Leonard T. Beale Dr. Donald MacFarlan Daniel E. Biddle Mrs. W. E. Markley Thomas Brownback George P. Millington Mrs. Edward M. Cheston Mrs. George P. Millington James Cheston, Jr. Andrew Morgan Morris Cheston Ralph Morgan Radclifle Cheston, Jr. Mrs. J. Cheston Morris Miss Josephine Clemmer John Pennypacker Mrs. Laura R. Cook Pottstown Historical Society John DeAngeli Francis Butler Reeves, Jr. Mrs. John DeAngeli Ross Y. Rile William W. Doughten W. Morrow Roosevelt Mrs. William W. Doughten Theodore E. Seelye John Lewis Evans Mrs. Theodore E. Seelye Mrs. Margaret Evans Paul N. Shellenberger Percival E. Foerderer Frederick B. Smillie Mrs. Percival E. Foerderer Mrs. Frederick B. Smillie Reginald D. Forbes Mrs. Charles M. Stuard Mrs. Reginald D. Forbes Jeremiah H. Sullivan, Jr. H. Hallman Fox Mrs. Jeremiah H. Sullivan, Jr. Miss Edith Hall Miss Jane Supplee William H. Hart Roland L. Taylor Ernest E. Heim Irvin P. Teany Samuel H. High Miss Ethel Thomas C. Jared Ingersoll Ursinus College Library Mrs. Edward Ingersoll Wm. E. Wills J. Ira Ereider 102 BULLETIN OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY

DEATHS

Dr. W. H. Reed Jerome G. Sheas

RESIGNATIONS Mrs. D. A. Bertolette Rev. H. R. Gummy Francis Beyer Mrs. Harry J. McCormick Miss A. May Gougler (Margaret Williamson)

Report of Librarian

Emily K. Preston

The following books have been added to the library since the last issue of the Bulletin: Memoirs—Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture, Vol. IV. Enjine! Enjine!—^A Story of Fire Protection, by K. H. Dunshee. Our Country, Its Dangers and Its Destiny, by W. H. Burleigh. Congressional History of Berks (Pa.) District, 1789-1939, by B. A. Fryer. New Historical Atlas of Berks County, Pa., 1876. Denmark. Book of Views. The Planting of Civilization in Western Pennsylvania, by S. J. & E. H. Buck. Antique Collector's Guide and Reference Handbook. Wentz. A Record of Some Descendants of Peter Wentz, The Immigrant, by Helen Wentz and Bertha Earnhart. Some Colonial Mansions and Those Who Lived in Them, by Thomas Allen Glenn. The First Printers and Their Books. Inventory of the County Archives of Pennsylvania (Delaware Co.) The Colonial Society of Pennsylvania, Charter, Constitution, By-Laws, Officers, Committees, Members, etc.

In pamphlet form: The Only Franklin in Franklin's College, by. J. Bennett Nolan. Standard Pressed Steel Company. REPORTS 163

Manuscript

A collection of Tombstone Records from church and family burial grounds, compiled by Edward W. Hocker, are as follows: Old Goshenhoppen Lutheran and Reformed Church; Towamencin Men- nonite Church; Plain (Mennonite) Church, near Lansdale; Methac- ton Mennonite Church; Tennis Family; Christ Lutheran Church, Mainland; Christ (Indian Creek) Reformed Church; Emmanuel (Leidjr's) Reformed Church; Indianfield Lutheran Church; St. James Lutheran, Limerick; Evangelical, Limerick; Spiritualist, Limerick; Abington Presbyterian Church; Methodist Church, Hat- boro; Wentz's Reformed Church; St. Peter's (Yellow) Church, North Wales; Augustus Lutheran Church, Trappe; St. Luke's Re formed Church, Trappe; Boehm's Reformed Church, Blue Bell; Upper Dublin Lutheran Church; Upper Dublin Church of the Brethren; Whitemarsh Union Church; Southampton Baptist Church (Bucks Co.); Dutch Reformed Church, Churchville (Bucks Co.); Beechwood Cemetery, Hulmeville (Bucks Co.); Neshaminy M. E. (Bucks Co.); Trinity Church, Oxford; Lower Dublin (Pennypack) Baptist Church; and the following in Germantown: Market Square Presbyterian Church; Lower Burying Ground; St. Luke's Episcopal Church; Mennonite Church; Church of the Brethren; St. Michael's Lutheran Church. The Historical Society of Montgomery County has for its object the preservation of the civil, political and religious history of the county, as well as the promotion of the study of history. The building up of a library for historical research has been materially aided in the past by donations of family, church and graveyard records; letters, diaries and other manuscript material. Valuable files of newspapers have also been contributed. This public-spirited support has been highly appreciated and is earnestly desired for the future. Membership in the Society is open to all interested per sons, whether residents of the county or not, and all such persons are invited to have their names proposed at any meeting. The annual dues are $2.00; life membership, $50.00. Every member is entitled to a copy of each issue of The Bulletin free. Historical Hall, 18 East Penn Street, Norristown, with its library and museum, is open for visitors each week day from 10 to 12 A.M. and 1 to 4 P.M., except Saturday after noon. The material in the library may be freely consulted during these hours, but no book may be taken from the building.

To Our Friends

Our Society needs funds for the furthering of its work, its expansion, its growth and development. This can very nicely be done through bequests from members and friends in the disposition of their estates. The Society needs more funds in investments placed at interest; the income arising therefrom would give the Society an annual return to meet its needs. Following is a form that could be used in the making of wills:

I HEREBY GIVE AND BEQUEATH TO THE

HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY,

PENNSYLVANIA, THE SUM OP

DOLLARS ($ )