Qass - __! Rnnk .C b At' / ^.?^ V ^ssvsjzsmziMi'jojm'ssNiiK/f: c/m%tJ//t '■h A'T£I} IS.LmZIF6' M .; HISTORICAL SKETCH Shester, on Delaware, Bl- HENRY GrImM ISHMEAD, MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS, A FULL ACCOUNT OF THE WORK OF THE GENERAL COMMITTEE OF THE PENN BI-CENTENNIAL ASSOCIATION OF CHESTER; NAMES OF MEMBERS OF SAME AND OF SUB-COMMITTEES; LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS TO THE FUND; COMMEMORATIVE EXERCISES OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS, CHESTER, FIRST DAY, lOTH MONTH 22D, 1882; BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION, OCT. 23D, 1882; UNVEILING OF MEMORIAL STONE, NOV. 9TH, 1882, AND A LIST OF INDUSTRIES, BY WILLI4MJII.LER JOHNSON. Published Undej^ the y\usPicES of the Historisal Sojviwiittee. CHESTER, PA. PRINTED AT THE REPUBLICAN STEAM PRINTING HOUSE 1883. o^r} HISTORIGAL GOMMITTEE, OLIVER TROTH, Chairman. WILLIAM SHy\LER JOHNSON, Secretary. H. G. ASHMEAD, Chester. Henry Frysinger, John Spencer, Geo. W. Whitlock, Isaiah H. Mirkil Thomas Lees, Col. Frank M. Etting, Concord, R. M. Johnson, Lower Chichester- ■John B, Okie, " " Joseph Chadwick, Media. Adawi C. Eckfeldt, North Chester, Ward R. Bliss, Upland. PREFACE. The Historical Committee of the Penn Bi-Centennial Associa- tion of Chester, in the discharge of the duties confided to them, thought it but fitting that the people should have some enduring memorial of the celebration in our city of the Two Hundredth an- niversary of the landing of William Penn, the Founder of the Com- monwealth of Pennsylvania — a memorial which could pass from father to son and keep alive, to some extent at least, the interest which the event had aroused and the lessons it had taught. That memorial has taken the form of the pr-esent book. Be- ginning with small things it has grown to its present proportions — grown so that the Committee is actually giving to its subscribers a work of nearly double the size r.nd quadruple the value of that at first contemplated. In the hurry of preparation — for it must be borne in mind that all these materials have been gathered and put into their present form within three months, and by those actively engaged in the daily duties of life and business, and who also were deeply interested in the work of the Bi-Centennial Committee — it has been impos- sible to avoid some errors of construction and typography which would not have occurred had the book had, what it has been im- possible to give it, a thorough and careful revision. To John M. Broomall, Wm. H. Egle, LL. D., Daniel B. Thomson, William Ward, William B. Broomall, David 31. Johnson, John B. Hinkson, Henry B. Edwards, Edmund Pennell, George M. Booth and others, are due thanks for information given. The Historical Society of Pennsylvania and individual members have also kindly given assistance, and the Society has increased the obligation by IV Preface. permitting the use of the two original letters of William Penn, which appear mfac simile in this book, one of which has been but lately recovered and not before published in this form. Smith's Atlas of Delaware County, Flavill's Map of Chester, with original deeds and surveys, have been the authorities for two of the maps while the third is almost a/ac simile copy of a rough draft belonging to William B. "Broomall, Esq., dated about 1765. We are also indebted to the Evening News Publishing Company for the use of several plates kindly loaned by them.. The Maps. THE MAPS. The first map represents the older or Historical part of the city of Chester. The heavy black lines are the boundaries of old grants and patents of the Swedish Gov- ernment and the Proprietary. The lighter black lines define the course of the old roads. The dotted lines shov/ the present course of Chester creek and the water front and the streets of the modern city. The notable historic spots are as follows: ^—Landing place of William Penn on Front street, fifty feet east of the east line of Penn street. The spot is now marked by the Memorial Stone presented to the city by members of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and the Penn Club. 5— Old Well, Essex House. C — Site of Essex House. D — Site of Boar's Head Inn. E — Site of the Sandeland Double House, in which the First Assembly convened. Be- tween this and the old Prison stood the first Friends Meeting House, built 1693. F — Site of Work House, 1724. G — Site of Prison, 1724. .^— Site of David Lloyd's House, afterwards known as the Porter Mansion, built 1721. /—Site of Market House, Market Square. JT— Site of old House of Defence. XXX — Jasper Yeates' Granary. BUILDINGS STILL STANDING. I — Prothonotary's Office. II — Court House, 1724. HI — Richard Barry's Tavern, 1735, now Columbia House. IV — Pennsylvania Arms, now Washington Hotel, built 1747. V — Hope Anchor Inn. David Cowpland. VI— Morgan (Dr. Terrill) House. VII — David Cowpland House, now Stacey House. VIII — James Sandeland's prior to 1700, now Lafayette House. IX — Cobourn (Flickwir) House. VI The Maps. X— Old Log House. XI — Blue Ball Inn. Francis Richardson. 1765. XII — Francis Richardson, 1760, now Steamboat Hotel. XIII — Thomas Barber's House. XIV — Logan House. Jasper Yeates. 1700. XV— Dick House. Robert Barber. 1700. XVI — David Lloyd's first House prior to 1703. XVII — Francis Richardson. 1765. XVIII — Ashbridge House. 1725. XIX — The Anderson Mansion. 1803. XX — Graham House. Built by John Hoskins, 1688. Oldest house in Chester. XXI — Henry Hale Graham's Office. XXII— Old Prison. 1695. -XXIII— Old Court House. 1685. XXIV — Pennsylvania Arms. 1720, now City Hotel. XXV — Jacob Howell's House. XXVI — Isaac Eyre's House. XXVII — Johnson Tavern. XXVIII — Jonas Sandelands. 1723. XXIX — Black Bear Inn. Early part of last century. XXXI — Friends' Meeting House. 1736. The second map is also historical, giving the lines of old grants and patents and name of grantee, with dates; also oldnamesof streams and roads. The scale, how- ever, is so reduced as to cover the entire ground now occupied by the city of Chester and adjacent boroughs. The third map is almost 2ifac simile copy on a greatly reduced scale, of a rough draft in possession of W. B. Broomall, Esq., of Chester. It must date about 1765, and historically is very interesting. ■ ^--f-i^^-y O'y^ ^ys^ UNPUBLISHED LETTER OF WILLIAJM PENJM. ^^- .^-irW^ Q^..:>^^ Q-A^^ <^-e e:'^' A ^ - ^ .^>^/i ^ Z^*^"^ -><- «^5 PENN'S LETTEF^ FROM UPLAND. ERRATA Page 8, line-23. Fort Cassimere is located near Wilmington— should be New Castle' " 9, " 31, Hard-Knobbing Peter should be Hard-Kopping Peet. " 19, " 34, for Proud's History of Penna., read Clarlt son's Life of Penn. •' 27, " S7, for Old Mixon read Oldmixon. " 31, " 23, for Col. Custer, of 3d Va. Infantry, read Col. Cropper, 9th Va. Infantry. ' 38, " 26, for Northeasterly direction read Southeasterly. " 39, '' 7, for ten bushels read ten barrels. " 44, " 25, for Abgadon Mills read Algodon Mills. " 45, '• 36, for "to the coming of the first settlers of their names will be almost coeval wh'ch was of Penn himself," read "first settlers of their name which was almost coeval with that of Penn himself." " 48, " 3, date 1665, read 1695. '.' 52, " 15, for date "1874" read 1724;. also line 28, for "William Beatty" read Frank Beatty. •' 54, " 28. the date "1819" should be October, 1821. Dr. Egle, the Historian, in- informs me that William Wilson lived and died in the Hummels-- town cave, in the Swatara mountains, Dauphin county, at the time mentioned above. " 70, for Zedemiah Wyatt read Zedekiah Wyatt. " 78, " 15, for "Charles Jackson," read Charles Thomson, " 83, " 13, 14, 19, for Aubury Bevan read Aubrey Bevan. " 86, " 16, for June 1, 1871, read June 1, 1870. " 97, " 18, it isstated that Jane Mather, after the death of her first husband. Dr. Paul Jackson, the following year marriea Dr. David Jackson, and on page 193, line 12, it is said that Jane married the latter three years after her first' husband's death. The latter statement is correct. Her first husband died in 1767, and her second mar- riage took place in 1770. " 100, " 27, for date "1686'.' read 1689.' " 106, " 16, for Northeast of Second and Market streets, read Northeast corner of ' Second and Market streets " 144, " 4, "the present building, as well as the house in which Mrs. Gray still resides," Should readi"the present building in which Mrs. Gray .still resides." " 145, " 35, for in April, 1798, read 1789, and in line 38, for "it was in this year," read "it was in the year 1798. " 181, " 12, for "Joseph Teates," read "Jasper Yeates." " 198, " 29, for "1776" read 1876. " 212, " 15, for "composed of honorably discharged soldiers of the United States Army," read "'composed of honorably discharged soldiers and sailors of the TTnited States Army and Navy during the War of the Rebellion." " 221, " 3, for "free public institutions," read "free public instruction." m n ° w p W v^ EIGHT HISTORICAL SKETCH OF CHESTER, 1644--1682. €Mm&Tmm ®efq>em tme ^Mmir^m @f Wm» 'Peww^ THE City of Chester, located on the West bank of the Delaware river, is about four miles to the northward of the Delaware State line, and about eighteen miles below Philadelphia, when measured by the river from Market street wharf in one city, to the wharf of the like name in the other ; while by the Philadelphia and Baltimore Post-road, from Front and Market streets, Philadelphia, where the Court House formerly stood, to the old Court House on Market street, in our city, the distance is fifteen miles. The stone, thus marked, is still to be seen against the foundation walls of the building, near the door at the foot of the staircase leading to the Mayor's office. It is our boast that the first permanent colonization of Euro- peans in Pennsylvania was made in Delaware county, and certainly the first settlement, of which we have any authentic record, was at Tinicum Island, about four miles above the present City of Chester. The claim of Monroe county, that long before the arrival of Gover- nor Printz and the Swedes on the Delaware, the Dutch had made a permanent lodgement at Minisink, and had built a road extending from Esopus— founded, as we know, on the Hudson, in 1616 — to the Delaware, communicating with mines near the Blue Mountains, and with numerous Dutch settlements along the flats above the Kit- 2 Historical Sketch of Chester. tatinny, is not wanting in evidence to sustain tlie assertion. But, be that as it may, it is not germane to my purpose to discuss the early settlement on the Delaware, but shall limit myself to the City of Chester proper, and a few of the surrounding localities. The recent exhaustive historical researches into the records of the early colonists in this vicinity by Prof. Gregory B. Keen, furnishes us with much light on the early days of Upland, while it was a Swe- dish province, and I have freely drawn upon his labor. In 1644, the present site of Chester, East of the creek of that name, was a tobacco plantation, occupied by farm servants in the employment of the Swedish company. About that time many of the colonists began to seek grants of the broad acres on the main lands, and the ground between Bidley and Chester creeks was se- lected by Joran Keen, and to him the Swedish government granted a patent for a tract of land one and a half miles inland, following the right bank of Chester creek above its mouth, and reaching along the Delaware eastward as far as Ridley creek. The plot at its north-western limit at the present "Crozer Theological Semi- nary," was a half mile in breadth, and a diagonal line ran thence eastwardly to Ridley creek. Joran Keen, or Kyn, (as his name was written by the Swedes and also from his peculiar complexion, known as "snohuitt" or "snow white") was one of the earliest European residents upon the Delaware river within the boundaries of the present State of Pennsylvania, and for more than a quarter of a century, was the chief proprietor of lands at Upland, after- wards Chester. He was born in Sweden about 1620, and came to America, in company with Governor Printz, in the ship " Fama," which arrived at New Castle, February 15th, 1643, at " 2 o'clock in the afternoon," of that day. The new Governor removed to the more commanding port of Tutaeaenungh, or Tinicum, where he built a fort, provided it with considerable armament, which he named Nya Gortheborg, and " also caused to be built a mansion house and other conveniences," which was called by the proprietor Printzhoff." Here resided Joran Keen, a soldier whose duty was to attend daily upon the governor and travel with that dignitary wherever he might go, as one of his Excellency's body guard. As before stated, Keen received the grant of a royal tract of ground, and, it is believed, that when Colonel Printz left the colony to return Chester before the Arrival of Wm. Penn, 1644-1682. 8 to Swederij Keen resigned his military position and gave his undi- vided attention to agriculture. The land on the West bank of Chester creek, extending along the river as far as Marcus Hook, Queen Christina, of Sweden, granted to Captain John Ammundson Besk, " his wife and heirs," by patent, dated August 20, 1653, in consideration of faithful ser- vices he had rendered to the State. Besk, who is believed to have been a man of large means, never entered into possession of thiS' vast tract of ground, and it seems to have been held and claime:! by Armigart Papegoya, the daughter of the first Swedish Gover- nor, Printz. In a letter from the Dutch Vice Director, Beekman. under date of September 14, 1662, he writes : " I inquired into the situation of a certain lot of land on the Southwest side of Upland Kill, and was informed by the Swedish Commissaries and other an- cient inhabitants of said nation, that the aforesaid is called Printz's village, which has always been in possession during 16 years of the Swedish Governor, John Printz, and his daughter who owns it." Many of the early Swedish settlers were not of a class to be de- sired as founders of a new empire, for the recent investigation of Professor Odhner. of the University of Lund, Sweden, among the archives of that nation, discloses the fact that quite a number of criminals and forest-destroying Finns were transported to the Delaware river settlements to rid the mother country of their pre- sence. The Finns just mentioned, had, m violation of the man- dates of the royal government, set fire to the forests in Yarmland and Dal, that they might free the ground of trees to sow grain in the ashes, and for this act they were banished to the New World. Professor Odhner directly asserts that, in the Province of Skara- borg, a trooper, who was condemned to death for having broken into the monastery gardens at Varnhem, was permitted to make his selection between being hanged or embarking for New Sweden, and as late as 1653 a criminal, who had been convicted of killing an elk on the island D'Auland, was sentenced to transportation hither. I have no doubt many of these felons safely landed, notwith- •standing the assertion of Campanius that ''when the European in- habitants (along the Delaware) perceived it, they would not suffer them to set foot on shore, but they were all obliged to return, so 4 Historical Sketch of Chester. that a great many of them perished on the voyage." Nor is it strictly correct, that conveying convicts here " was after this for- bidden under a penalty * * * lest Almighty God should let His vengeance fall on the ships and goods, and the virtuous people that were on board." There can be no question that the better class of Swedes made earnest efforts to prevent the importation of these obnoxious emigrants, but at the same time it should not be overlooked that the inhuman criminal code of every European na- tion, at that period, punished severely the encroachments of the people on the exclusive privileges of the wealthy, as the governing class looked upon the dawning spirit of liberty among the masses to be, and hence many of those who were transported, in our day would have been regarded as innocent of any real crime against morals or the State. Indeed, Lieutenant-Colonel Johan Printz, the first Governor of the colony, so far as the permanent settlement of Pennsylvania was concerned, had himself been dismissed the ser- vice, because of his dishonorable capitulation of the fortress of Chemnitz during the war between Sweden and Germany. What- ever had been his conduct as a soldier in Europe, his administra- tion of affairs in this country was that of a wise and able executive. It is, doubtless, due to this criminal element among the early resi- dents of Upland — including at that time the whole settled part of Pennsylvania — that we find in that remote period of our history, in- temperance as a distinguishing infirmity, and, as I shall hereafter show, a vice in which the clergyman and the schoolmaster of that day indulged to a noticeable degree. The houses of the early Swedish settlers were built of logs, and the doors were so low that a person of ordinary stature was com- pelled to stoop in entering or leaving the buildings, while the apart- ments within had low ceilings, hardly over six feet in the clear, and the roughly hewed joists supporting the attic, wherein a child could hardly stand upright, were devoid of laths and plaster. The windows were small, mere frames set in the logs, and although the families who indulged in more costly luxuries than their neighbors had the openings glazed with isinglass, in general only a rough board slide shut out the cold on extreme winter days, and was usu- ally closed during the night. The chimneys with huge fire-places, were occasionally built of gray sandstone, in the corners of the Chester before the Arrival of Wm. Penn, 1644-1682. 5 rooms, but oftener the stacks were erected of turf on the outside of the houses and in the middle of the gables. In many of the early dwellings, small rooms just large enough to spread a bed were partitioned off from the main lower apartments, and the floors Avere laid in stone, or, oftener, simply clay, which by constant use be- came very hard. The usual dress of the Swedish people on the Delaware, of those primitive days, was strongly but rudely fashioned of sliins of ani- mals, and their heads were covered with caps of the same material^ the hair clinging to the hide. Their shoes, very similar in form to the Indian moccasins, were made from the skins of animals slain in^ the chase. The women were also compelled to employ the same material in making their jackets and petticoats, and the beds were covered with deer, wolf and bear skins. Many of the heads of families had the apparel they had worn at home in Europe safely packed away, which, on occasions of public festivals, were ceremo- niously brought forth and donned by the owner, to the admiration of the young people born in the colony. Unfortunately the Swedes, both men and women, were addicted to an over indulgence in in- toxicating liquors, and frequent mention is made of the trouble this propensity occasioned them in trivial suits and complaints be- fore the Courts of that day. Among the most prominent of the early Swedish settlers was Dominie Laurence Lock — his name appears in several ways on the old records — who comported himself with such freedom of behavior in his ministerial office that even, although nearly two centuries have elapsed since his death, the scandal which his deeds occa- sioned has descended to the present time. He is stated by Mr. Clay, in his Annals — most excellent authority on all matters apper- taining to the Swedish Church on the Delaware — to have come to this country during the time of Governor Printz; that he had preached at Tinicum and Christiana, and was for many years " the only clergyman the Swedes had." In the year 1661, the Dominie's wife, yielding to the dulcet pleading and more youthful attraction of one Jacob Young — or as it was sometimes written, Jacob Jougb — fled with the latter to the dwelling of Andries Hendricssen, a Finn, of notoriously bad character in Upland. The clergyman, when he discovered that his wife had eloped and had gone to Hen- 6 Historical Sketch of Chester. cTricssen's house, followed them thither, but too late to overtake the runaways. The Dominie, finiling that the door to one of the rooms was closed, broke it open with an axe, and with the sxuie imple- ment unlocked a trunk belonging to Jacob Young, which he found in the apartment The trunk contained very little of value belong- ing to his wife, save a few pairs of stockings, which the clergyman carried away with him, leaving an inventory of the articles he had taken. The keen sense of the magisterial dignity among the justi- ces was shocked by this attempt on the part of the Dominie to take the righting of his wrongs in his own hands, and the Dutch Vice Di- rector Beekman, as Sheriff, brought suit against the clergyman for having infringed on his office. The case was tried at Altona (now New Castle, Del.) Vice Director Beekman was the Presiding Judge, with three others as associate justices. The unfortunate defendant was convicted of usurping the authority of the Court, and the manner in which the Presiding Judge managed to settle all of the male fu- gitive's outstanding accounts in the sentence was remarkable. Jacob Young, it seems, had been intrusted with two hundred gild- ers to buy corn for the Dutch Company, and he also owed a Mr. Dicker, and Judge Beekman, forty beaver skins, and, as he had fled Avith Lock's wife, the abandoned husband, for having broken open Young's trunk, was compelled to make good all the debts Avhich the latter had left unpaid, and " besides, an award of forty guilders for having usurped the authority of the Court." The justices believed that the fugitives had fled to Maryland, and sent an express there in search of them. In that opinion the Court was correct, for, in 1698, this Jacob Young, who had settled in Cecil county, was appointed one of the Commissioners of Mary- land to treat with the Delaware Indians. The impetuous Dominie, believing that it was not good for man to live alone, in three weeks after his wife eloped, procured a divorce, and by his authority as minister, on Sunday married himself — personally performing the ceremony — to a young girl of about seventeen summers. The di- vorce, seeming to be irregular, at his trial Andreas Hudde, as Sec- retary, informed him that his last marriage was illegal. The per- plexed clergyman petitioned the Governor for relief, but with what success I have failed to learn. In 1664, Rev. Abelius Zetscoven was called by the congregation, Chester before the Arrival of Wm. Penn, 1644-1682. 7 who had become weary of Dominie Lock and desired a new minis- ter and schoolmaster, but the latter was loath to relinquish his charge The new clergyman preached at Tinicum Church on the last Monday of Pentecost, at the request of the Swedish Commis- sioners, but the opposition of the incumbent was so vehement that the Commissioners had to threaten Mr. Lock with a protest to the Government, before he would permit the candidate to occupy the pulpit. The Dominie was the owner of much land in Chester, and seems to have had an eye to turning a penny wherever he could, which inclination brought him before the Court in 1676, on a charge of selling liquor to the Indians, which was prohibited by law. Not only did he sell it, but as one of the annalists of those early times narrates, his '< great infirmity seems to have been an over-fondness for intoxicating drinks. It may, however, be in- ferred that he became reformed in his later years, for in 1674, he purchased property formerly occupied by UUe Stille, at the mouth of Ridley creek, (now Eddystone,) and, we are informed by Cam- panius, that he died in the Lord, in 1688." Three years before his death, in a case tried at a Court held January 11, 1685, the Reve- rend gentleman was, in the testimony, accused of attempting to suborn a witness in respect to a b irgain and sale he had made of his house in Upland, to Justa Anderson. The jury found a verdict in favor of the plaintiff, with costs of suit and twenty pounds damages. Chester, in 1645-'46, was a place of such insignificance that An- dreas Hudde, an agent of the Dutch, who was sent by Grovernor Kieft, as a spy, to learn the condition and number of the Swedes on the Delaware river, as well as to ascertain the strength, armament and military force of the latter, makes no mention of it in his re- port to his superior officer. It is even doubtful, whether, at that time, Joran Keen had erected a house on his land, inasmuch as in the " Rulla," dated by Printz at "Kihrstina" (Christiana,) June 20, 1644, the statement appears that Upland was a tobacco planta- tion, as already mentioned. Between the years 1646 and 1648, a considerable settlement must have been made at this point, for in Hudde's interview with the Passyunk Indians, in that year, they spoke of Upland, among other places, in the possession of the Swedes, and charge the latter with having stolen the land from 8 Historical Sketch of Chester. them, while in Campanius' account of New Sweden, " Mecopo- nacka," or Upland, is mentioned in the year 1648, (the date of the elder Campanius' return to Sweden,) "as an unfortified place, but some houses were built there. It was situated between Fort Chris- tina, (near Wilmington) and New Gottenburg — Tinicum — but nearer the latter. There was a fort built there some time dfter its settlement, it is good even land along the river shore." Ebeling, in his History of Pennsylvania, says that about 1650 there were two Swedish and Finnish settlements in this vicinity, called Upland and Finland — the former afterwards received the name of Chester ; " none of these settlements, however, were of im- portance, not even excepting Upland, which was made the chief place of a judicial district by the Dutch in 1668." The Indian name of the site of the present City of Chester was Mecoponacka : the Swedish, Upland ; the Dutch, Oplandt ; and the English, Chester and Upland indifferently until the former entirely absorbed the latter in designating the borough, about the middle of the last century. The proper Indian name of Chester creek was Meechoppenackhan, according to Heckewelder, in his " Indian Names," which signified the large potato stream, " or the stream along which large potatoes grow." This was corrupted into Maco- panachan, Macopanackhan, and finally into Mecopanacha. The In- dian tribe which owned the land whereon Chester stands, according to John Hill Martin, was the Okehockings, and were subsequently removed by the order of William Penn, in 1702, to <' the tract in Chester county, formerly laid out to GrrifFy Jones, but now vacant." Many of the Indians were soon reduced to menial servitude by the Euro])ean settlers, and previous to 1657 negro slaves had been brought to the colony and used as laborers. In the year 1655, the Swedish power on the Delaware ceased, when, in September of that year, Peter Stuyvesant, the redoubtable Dutch Governor of New Amsterdam, appeared off Fort Cassimer — near the present Wilmington — with seven vessels carrying about six hundred soldiers, and compelled the fort to capitulate on the 11th of that month. The wonderful deeds of arms performed on that occasion are duly heralded in the philosophical history of the late Mr. Diedrich Knickerbocker, but, for our purpose, it is necessary merely to state that the whole Swedish provinces along the Dela- Chester before (lie Arrival of Wm. fV?^??, 1644-1682. 9 ware fell with that fortress, and Upland, among the others, passed into the ownership of the Dutch. The conquerors were the veriest wantons in their victory. They killed the cattle, goats, swine and poultry of the Swedish settlers, broke open their houses, and robbed them of all they had that was valuable. Rysingh, the Swedish Governor, in his letter to Stuyvesant, particularly mentions the plundering of Upland, as well as other hamlets further up the riv- er, and at Tinicum, he says, " they robbed Mr Papegoya's wife" (daughter of Governor Printz) " of all she had." It should be re- membered that the Swedes, before the arrival of Penn, always set- tled near the tide water, and their usual means of communication and transportation was by boats. Indeed, it is recorded that they would come from New Castle to Tinicum in this way to attend di- vine service on Sundays, when the Dominie preached at the latter church, and as they rarely traveled by land, no highways were ne- cessary from settlement to settlement other than the Indian trails through the forests, which, owing to the latter's habit of firing the woodlands every Fall, was free from under-brush. The Dutch found their conquest a costly one, and earnest were their efforts to govern the^^territory without bringing on a collision between the conquered and the conquerors. To this end they or- dered that all the Swedes should gather themselves together in vil- lages, at several designated points, one of which was Upland. The Swedes, however, seemed to quietly neglect to obey this order, and rightly so, for it would have compelled them to have abandoned many of their homesteads and improvements absolutely. Al- though Stuyvesant believed that the Swedes, in their dislike of the Dutch, were anxious that England might acquire the Province, and had for that reason issued the order alluded to, William Beek- man, the Lieutenant-Governor, did not attempt to compel compli- ance with this mandate of " Hard-Kopping Piet." The settlement of the territory was tardy, not more than seven- teen hundred Europeans, all told, are believed to have been on the Delaware river in the year 1659. The number of inhabitants at this place could not have exceeded a hundred souls. Dr. Smith thinks that Upland was at this time the most considerable settle- ment in the Province, which afterwards became Pennsylvania, and that Hendrick Huygens, the Dutch Commissioner, four years later 10 Historical Sketch of Chester. had taken up his residence here, because he reported to Vice Di- rector Beekman, in the year 1663, " a horrid deed " that was com- mitted at this place by a Finn, named Jan Hendrickson, against "the honest Juriaen Kuys Sneart, whom he had cruelly beaten." The letter of Huygens, in which he alludes to the violent assault upon " the pious Juriaen Snewit," — Jurian Keen — snohuitt, (snow white) " a man who has never irritated a child even," by " a miscreant " of Upland, is dated at " Tinnackunk, 29th M'ch, 1663." The desperado, it seemed, had made an assault on Joran Keen, previous to the one mentioned, and had threatened his life ; but the good- hearted Swede had promised to overlook it, if he, Hendrickson, made no further trouble, lie did, however, and the evidence on the trial shows that the Finn was a terror to the people of Upland. The judges banished Hendrickson fi'om the jurisdiction of the (Jourt, and he seems to have removed to the vicinity of New Cas- tle, where he was afterwards connected with acts of violence and disorder. In September, 1664, Col. Richard Nicolls captured New Amster- dam, and, of course, the dependencies on the Delaware river passed into the ownership of the English without further resistance — an event which was welcomed by the Swedes and Finns with manifes- tations of pleasure. Near the close of the year 1669, an attempt at "insurrection" was made by Marcus Jacobson, alias "John Binckton," &c,, but popularly known to the people as the " Long Finn, or Swede," which name was given him because of his lofty stature. He was an adventurer who represented himself to be a son of the noted Swedish General, Conneugsraark. It is the gene- ral opinion of historians that his intention was to bring about a general insurrection of the dissatisfied settlers against the authority of Great Britain, and the re-establishraent of the Swedish power on the Delaware. His chief associate in this effort was Henry Coleman, a Finn, who was a wealthy man, as wealth was then re- garded, and Mrs. Pappegoya and the Reverend Laurence Lock, both looked kindly on the enterprise. Captain Carre, having in- formed Governor Lovelace, the then English Governor, of the brewing rebellion, he was instructed to have the "Long Finn" and his associates arrested, which was done. The leader was put in "Chester before the arrival of Wnu Penw, 1644-1682. 11 irons, while the others were bound over to answer the charge to be made against them when required to do so. Henry Coleman, however, fled to the Indians, with whom he had much influence, abandoning his property absolutely. What became of him after his flight is unknown. The "Long Finn" was tried at New Castle, December 6, 1669, and, as was to be expected, he was found guilty, but, by order of the Governor, the death penalty was not enforced, because "many would suffer if the rigor of the law should be extended, and among them divers simple and io^norant people; it is thought fit and ordered that the said 'Long Finn' shall be publicly and severely whipped, and stigmatized or branded in the face with the letter 'R ;' with an inscription written in oreat letters and put upon his breast ; that he receive that punishment for attempted rebellion ; after which he be secured until he can be sent and sold to the Barbadoes or some other of the remoter plan- tations." On the 28th of January, following, he was placed on board the ship "Fort Albany," to be transported and sold at the Barbadoes, in accordance with his sentence, which had been an- nounced to the Commissioners to try the case, before the hearino^ by the Governor in New York. Coleman's property was forfeited to His Majesty, the King, while the others implicated in his at- tempted disturbances, were fined in the discretion of the Court. In 1671, the inhabitants along the Delaware were apprehensive that an Indian war was imminent, inasmuch as two whites had been murdered by the savages, and it was generally reported that the Indians were making preparations to massacre all the Europeans settled along the river. The authorities took active measures to prepare for the emergency. Every male that could bear arms be- tween the ages of sixteen and sixty, was instructed to be always provided "with a convenient proportion of powder and bullets," while sale of ammunition to the Indians was interdicted, and no corn or other provision was permitted to be exported. A meeting between the Indian Sachems and the whites was held at Upland, at the house of Peter Rambo — a prominent man of his time — in Octo- ber of that year, and the Indians agreed to bring the murderers to the whites within six days thereafter, that they might be punished for their crime. At any rate they agreed that they would deliver their bodies to the authorities dead or alive. One of the guilty 12 Historical Sketch of Chester. braves escaped from his people and could not be delivered as promised, but the other was captured. It is reported that one of the two Indians who had taken him was a personal friend and was loath to kill his captive, but when the latter learned that the Sach- ems had determined he must die, he requested that their order should be immediatly obeyed. His body was taken to Wiccaco and delivered to the whites who transported it to New Castle, where it was hung in chains. The Sachems faithfully notified the tribes that any of their people who should murder a white person would be similarly dealt with, and with that annunciation the war cloud drifted by March 21, 1675, Amigard Papegoya conveyed the estate known as Printzdorp — which included a large part of the now South ward • — to Robert Wade. The latter person and his wife, Lydia, are said by Dr. Smith and Martin to have come over to this country in the ship "Griffin," with John Fenwick, in 1675, and were the first mem- bers of the Society of Friends known to reside in Upland. The au- thors cited are wrong in their first statement as to the date of Wade's arrival here, having fallen into that error by a mistaken deduction from the statement of William Edmundson, an eminent minister of the Society of Friends, who in the year 1675 visited Upland, and held a meeting at W ade's house. Both the authors cited state that Mrs. Papegoya, in all probability built the Essex House, and that Wade purchased from her, or some other person, the estate with the improvements thereon. In this, however, they are mistaken, for Mrs. Papegoya lived at Tinicum until she returned to Sweden, and was so desperately poor from inability to procure farm labor- ers, that the authorities were compelled to assist her with supplies of food. The subsequent fine imposed upon her for her complicity in the "Long Finn's" Rebellion rendered her means even more lim- ited than they were before, and it was impossible that she could have erected a building of the character of the famous Essex House. Martin states that the name of this Robert Wade appears in the list of the passengers in the "Grriffin," which arrived in the Dela- ware, 23d of 9th month, (November,) 1675. This we know is in- correct for Wade was in this country long before the date given, while Lydia, his wife, was in England, for letters are extant from him, addressed to his wife, informing her of his purchase of land. Chester before the Arrival of Wm. Perm, 1644-1682. 13 In the year 1673, the colony of New York and its dependencies on the Delaware was re-captured by the Dutch, but before six months had elapsed the red-crossed banner of St. George waved once more over the territory, never to be supplanted except by the standard of the United States of America. With the con- quest of New York and New Sweden, the charter of the Duke of York revived, and the English authority was re-established in the provinces, with Edmund Andross, Esq., as Governor, under His Royal Highness, James, Duke of York and Albany, with Captain Carre as Commander on the Delaware. It was during the latter's term of office that the "Duke's Book of Lawes" was promulgated. Under this new order of affairs three judicial districts were estab- lished, one of which was at Upland. On March 4th, 1681, Charles II. signed the Great Charter which conveyed to William Penn the enormous tract of land now known as Pennsylvania, and from that period our early annals become more interesting, for from that time we may date the actual found- ing of this great Commonwealth. Almost immediately thereafter Penn sent his first cousin, William Markham, to the colony as his Deputy Governor. It is presumed that he came over in the ship •'John and Sarah," from London, commanded by Henry Smith, which was the first to arrive here after the grant was made to Penn. for previous to June 21, 1681, the new Governor had presented hi& commission from Penn to the authorities at New York, and had assumed the reins of government on the Delaware. On August 3, 1681, Governor Markham was at Upland, for he not only had appointed his Council, but on the date last mentioned the members took and subscribed to the oath of office. Governor Markham was intrusted by the King with a letter to Lord Baltimore, which stated that his commission authorized him to settle all disputes respecting the boundary of the territory granted to Penn with his neighbors, and inasmuch as the King's letter required that the parties should meet to adjust these boundaries, Lord Baltimore came to Upland, where, during his interview with Markham, it was found by astro- nomical observation that this place was twelve miles south of the parallel of 40 degrees, which was the southern boundary of Penn- sylvania. This fact effectually put an end to the purposes of the meeting, and from it arose the long controversy between the Penns 14 Historical Sketch of Chester. and Lords Baltimore, which was only set at rest by the running of the celebrated "Mason and Dixon line." After Penn acquired ownership of the Province he brought the colony into such prominence that the influx of settlers became so sreat that during the year 1681 twenty-three English ships arrived in the Delaware, and as Upland was the most considerable place within the Province of Pennsylvania, most of them anchored here and disembarked their passengers. So large was the demand thus made upon the hamlet that the new comers were compelled, in many instances, to dig caves in the ground, near the river bank, wherein they took up their abode until they could construct perma- nent habitations. These caves were mere excavations, or cellars in the bank, and were about three feet in depth, while over these openings brush was placed so as to form an arched roof about six feet in the clear, which was covered with sods. In such a cave as this Emanuel Grrubb was born, near Upland, in 1683. The suffer- ings of these settlers were great, for it should be remembered that most of them were "not people of low circumstances, but substan- tial livers," and in the work of constructing these rude habitations, women who had been used to all the refinements and comforts of English life at that day were compelled to take part, and aided their husbands and fathers therein, for hired labor was scarce and could hardly be had at any price. The winter of 1681 was extremely cold, and on the 11th of De- cember, when the ship "Bristol Factor," Rodger Drew, Command- er, came to Chester, the passengers, seeing the small cluster of dwellings, landed near the Essex House, and, as the river was sol- idly frozen over the night following the ship's arrival, the passen- gers were compelled to remain in Upland "all winter." On September 12, 1682, Deputy Grovernor Markham presided in pet son at the Court held on that date at Upland, and the first Grand Jury ever known in Pennsylvania was summoned to attend its ses- sion, while several other important incidents of judicial procedure are for the first time noted in our history in the records of that tribunal. Penn, who in the meanwhile had been extremely busy with many schemes looking to the advancement of his colonial possessions, at length determined to embark for Pennsylvania, and, on the 30th Chester before the Arrival of Wm. Penn, 1644-1682. 15 clay of the sixth month, (August— for the Friends of those clays computed the year as beginning on the first of March,) he sailed from Deal in the ship " Welcome," of three hundred tons burthen, Robert Greenaway, Commander, accompanied by about one hun- dred companions, mostly Friends, from e^\issex, England. The voyage was lengthy, (small-pox having broken out on the vessel, of which disease thirty of the emigrants died on the passage), and on the 27th day of October, 1682, the " Welcome" stopped at New Castle, where Penn landed, and took possession of the three lower counties, with all the pomp and circumstance usual at that time, in the formal transfer of estates. It is known he stayed at New Castle all night, and the next day the vessel stood up the river and cast anchor off the mouth of Chester creek, opposite the house of Robert Wade, for, as is stated in the manuscript book of Evan Oliver, a passenger on the " Welcome," " We arrived at Uplan in pensilvania in America, ye 28th of ye 8 month, '82." CHESTER FROM THE ARRIVAL OF WM. PENN TO THE YEAR 1850. VERY little is known of the general history of Chester, at the time of the arrival of Penti at this place, October 28, 1682, and a plan of the settled part of the then town would disclose a mere cluster of dwellings near the mouth of Chester creek, and a few houses might have been discerned here and there peeping out from among the forest trees. Certain it is, that the settlement was very small, for in 1702, two decades after Penn's first visit to his colony, Holm tells us " Macoponaca, which is called Chester, was a bare place, without a Fort, but there were some stone houses built there " Doubtless as the sturdy group of emigrants — who gathered at the side of their tall, slender, but graceful, leader, then in his thirty-eighth year — gazed from the deck of the " Welcome" over to the little hamlet of which they had heard so much in " merry England" — three thousand miles away — their hearts sank for a moment when they contrasted the realization with the picture their fancy had drawn of the New World to which they had come. And yet at that time Nature had painted the forests in every variety of .rainbow hue. The yellow leaves of the dog-wood, the deep orange of the oak, the maple with its red and golden foliage, the thousand shades which only an American Autumn can disclose, were present, while here and there could be seen among the trees the brilliantly fire-tinted sumach, and the wild creeping vines that entwined them- selves about the trunks of the towering oaks, gorgeous in their chromatic mass of tints, greeting the eyes of the emigrants, while the Delaware — a river the like of which they never before beheld, PEx^ CO IT OP AR"\r«i Chester from the Arrival of Win. Penn to the year 1850. 17 spreading nearly three miles to the further shore, shimmered and glistened under the afternoon sun of that October — really Novem- ber day. How they landed, where they were housed, or how entertained at that time, is not known: we have simply the record that William Penn was received by Robert Wade, at the Essex House. Wade had been nearly ten years settled at Upland, and the fact that he was a member of the Society of Friends, and a personal acquaint- ance in England, was doubtless the reason that Penn accepted his hospitality temporarily, for the dwelling of Kobert Wade was not at that time the most pretentious building in the hamlet, since we know that James Sandeland's " Double House" was more spa- cious; but he being a Churchman, was not drawn towards the Proprietary in the same manner as Wade I have heard the state- ment made that when a part of the cargo was being discharged from the " Welcome " on that occasion, a large cask or bale fell upon the arm or leg of one of the crew, and injured it so seriously that it became necessary to amputate the limb. It is said that there was but one surgeon at that time in the colony at Upland. The operation of taking off the limb is said to have been per- formed successfully under some trees near the present line of Front street, a short distance east of Essex street, now Concord avenue. The flow of blood was arrested by the application of boiling pitch to the stump of the limb. In doing this the doctor unfortunately dropped some of the pitch on his own clothes which ignited them, and he was burned so severely that he died shortly after, in great agony. This story has been told me several times by intelligent persons, descendants of the English settlers of that day, but I have been unable to find the slightest indication from . my researches that the event ever took place as narrated. I be- lieve the story is confused with an incident connected with the second coming of Penn, in 1699, to which I will refer in the pro- gress of the narrative. Before the year 1682, the present City of Chester was called by its inhabitants Upland, and is referred to in all the records under that title. It received that designation because the greater part of the early Swedish settlers in this neighborhood came from Up- land, a province in Middle Sweden, on the Baltic Sea, and their 1 8 Historical Sketch of Chester. new home was thus named by reason of their love for the place of their birth, and because the natural appearance of the land here was strikingly similar to that of their fatherland. Dr. Smith, in referring to the landing of Penn, sxys : " He land- ed at Upland, but the place was to bear that familiar name no more forever. Without reflection, Penn determined that the name of the place should be changed. Turning round to his friend Pear- son, one of his own Society, who had accompanied him in the ship " Welcome," he said : ' Providence has brought us here safe. Thou hast been the companion of my perils. What wilt thou that I should call this place?' Pearson said, • Chester,' in remembrance of the city from whence he came. William Penn replied that it should be called Chester, and that when he divided the land into counties, one of them should be called by the same name. Thus -for a mere whim, the name of the oldest town ; the name of the whole settled part of the Province ; the name that woald have a place in the affections of a large majority of the inhabitants of the .new Province was effaced to gratify the capriee or vanity of a friend. All great men occasionally do little things." Although Dr. Smith cites Clarkson's Life of Penn, and Hazard's Annals, in support of this statement, it will not bear investigation. We know that Penn issued his proclamation three weeks after his arrival at Chester, to the several Sheriffs of the counties of Ches- ter, Philadelphia and Bucks, as well as the three Lower Counties, to hold an election for a Greneral Assembly, to convene at " Upland." The original letter of Penn, now in the Historical Society of Penn- sylvania, addressed to several gentlemen requesting them to meet him on the following "so-called Thursday, November 2, 1682," is dated "Upland, October 29, 1682," the day after his arrival, clear- ly indicates that he did not change the name of this city, in the dramatic manner tradition has stated. But more conclusive is the fact that in the list of the passengers on the "Welcome," Thomas Pearson's name does not appear, although in Armstrong's list the iname of Pearson is found, to which is added, "supposed to be Robert," a statement that may well be questioned. As this mythi- cal personage is represented to be an eminent member of the So- ciety of Friends, the records of meetings ought to disclose his Christian name, but it has never been found among the list of the Chester from the Arrival of Wm. Penn to the year 1850. 1& early settlers. Hence we have reason to believe that the first per- son of the name of Pearson in this Province was Thomas, and we know that neither of the Thomas Pearsons — for there were two of that name — came here until the following year, 1683. Thesecond of that cognomen in a diary memorandum written by himself, also in the Historical Society's collection, clearly states when he came. To quote his own words, after setting forth his various adventures, he says: — "On ye '25th day of July, in ye year 1683, I set sail from Kingroad, in ye ' Comfort,' John Reed, Master, and arrived at Up- land in Pennsylvania ye 28th of September 1683," almost a year after Penn's arrival. In the report of the vestry of St. Paul's Church, Chester, to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, in the year 1 704, occurs this sentence: "The people of Ches- ter county showed very early zeal to have the Church of England worship settled airiong them. This county is so called because most of the inhabitants of it came from Cheshire, in England. Chester the chief town of the county is finely situated on the river Delaware." Bampfylde Moore Carew, the celebrated "King of the Mendi- cants," who, while escaping from banishment in Virginia, passed through Chester in 1739, in relating his adventures, records that he came "to Chester, so called because the people who first settled there came for the most part from Cheshire. * * * The place is also called Upland." In fact the name of Chester, we know, was given to the county when Penn, shortly after his arrival, divided the settled parts of Pennsylvania into three divisions, in deference to the desire of the English settlers, the major part of whom had come from that locality in England, as stated in the extracts quoted; and the name of the shire town soon assumed that title, although its ancient name did not entirely disappear from familiar use until nearly three- quarters of a century had elapsed after William Penn's first visit to the Province. The Pearson story, for the first time, appeared / " in our Annals in Proud's History of Pennsylvania^ a work which (fXi^CMy /H4rV was not published until more than a century had elapsed after the incident is said to have occurred. On the 18th day of November, 1682, three weeks after his ar- rival, William Penn issued his writs to the SheriiTs of the three 20 Historical Sketch of Chester. original counties of Pennsylvania, as well the three lower counties^ requiring them in their respective bailiwicks, '-'to summon all free- holders to meet on the '20th instant and elect out of themselves, seven persons of most note for wisdom, sobriety and integrity to serve as their deputies and representatives in General assembly, to- be held at Upland, in Pennsylvania, December 6 (4th?) next " In pursuance of this proclamation the Assembly met at Chester on the day designated, December 4, 1682, and organized by the elec- tion of Nicholas Moore, of Philadelphia county, President of the "Free Society of Traders," as Chairman of that body. The first two days of the session were consumed in hearing cases of contested election, the adoption of rules governing the meeting, passing the act of Union, which annexed "the three lower counties," (those comprising the present State of Delaware) and providing for the naturalization of the inhabitants thereof, as well as the Swedes, Finns and Dutch settlers in Pennsylvania. On the third day they received from William Penn the " Printed Laws, and the " Writ- ten Laws, or Constitutions." The "Printed Laws" were "the laws agreed upon in England," which had been prepared by learned counsel there, at Penn's desire, and printed in that country, and the " Written Laws, or Constitutions," were the ninety bills pre- sented to the Assembly by the Proprietary, out of which the meet- ing passed the sixty-one chapters of " the great body of the laws." A strange fact is that not one of those enactments, as adopted, is now in force in this Commonwealth. As soon as the statutes had been acted on. the members from the lower counties particularly, became anxious to return to their homes, and so intimated to the Assembly. The speaker considered this desire to adjourn as unbe- coming in the members, and bordering on an insult to the Governor. A committee of two of the deputies was appointed to wait upon Penn respecting it, and he consented " that the Assembly be ad- journed for twenty-one days, which was accordingly ordered by the Speaker." The body failed to meet again at the time designated by adjournment, and at the next regular Assembly in Philadelphia it is recorded that the Speaker " reproves several members for ne- glecting to convene at the time appointed when the House last ad- journed." A quarter of a century since an old structure stood on the west- Chester from the Arrival of Wm. Penn to the year 1850. 21 em side of Edgmont avenue, north of Second street, which was commonly termed " The Old Assembly House," because of the popular belief that it was in this building that the first Assembly convened in Pennsylvania, December 4, 1682. Dr. G-eorge Smith, in his valuable History of Delaware County, conclusively establish- es the fact that this building was the first Meeting House of Friends in Chester, and was not erected until 1693, hence the first Assem- bly, which held its session more than ten years before that date, could not have met in that structure. We know that on the 6th day of the 1st month, 1687, Joran Kyn, or Keen, made a deed con- veying a lot in Chester, adjoining his " lot or garding," to certain persons in trust " to use and behoof of the said Chester — the peo- ple of God called Quakers, and their successors forever," and on this lot, now included in William P. Eyre's ground, on Edgmont avenue, the ancient Meeting House was built. Dr. Smith thereupon argues that the Assembly must have met in the Court House, or as it was then known " The House of Defence," which stood on the eastern side of Edgmont avenue, above Second street, and so projected into the roadway, that when Edgmont ave- nue was regularly laid out as a street, it had to be removed. The Doctor rightly thinks, « It was the only public building in Upland, at the time, of which we have any knowledge." Martin, in his History of Chester, accepts the Doctor's conclusions as unquestion- ably accurate. Nevertheless, both of these able historians are in error in this. The thought escaped them that perhaps Penn saw- that the " House of Defence" was too small for tlje purpose in- tended, and, therefore, a private dwelling was used for the meeting of the members. Mrs. Deborah Logan informs us in her notes to the "Penn and Logan Correspondence," that the Assembly con- vened in the large, or, as then termed, « The Double House," by- way of distinction, which James Sandilands, the elder, had erected for his own dwelling, which stood near the creek, and, subsequently, when the road to Philadelphia was laid out, near that highway. On an old plan of the Borough of Chester, made about 1765, now owned by William B. Broomall, Esq., of this city — a copy of which has. been engraved for this work — the lot on which "The Double House " stood, is designated as beginning about two hundred feet southerly from the intersection of the present Edgmont avenue and 22 Historical Sketch of Chester. Third street. The lot itsalf is about one hunilred and twenty feet front on the west side of Edgmont avenue. This House, which was spacious if not pretentious for those times — and would even now be regarded as an unusually large dwelling — had unfortunately been built with mortar made of oyster shell lime, which proved ut- terly valueless. In a few years the building showed signs of decay, then became a ruin, and as such continued until the beginning of the present century, when its foundations were removed. In time its very existence was generally forgotten, so much so that, as is mentioned, some of our most accurate and painstaking historians were unacquainted with the fact that it had ever performed the im- portant part it did in our early Colonial annals. Penn, shortly after his arrival at Chester, sent for James Sandi- lands, the elder, to confer with him to the end that the capitol of the Province should be located at this point, for it was " talkt among the people " of that day " that it was Intent to have built a City (at Upland,) but that he and Sanderlin could not agree." The conclusion of this interview was that Penn had to look else- where for a site for the future metropolis of Pennsylvania. This error of the chief owner of land at Chester was disastrous in its results, and was discovered when too late to avoid its consequences, although an attempt was made to correct it, in a measure, on No- vember 19, 1700, Avhen the petition of James Sandiland, the young- er, was presented to Governor William Penn — on his second visit to the Colonies — and his Council, in session at New Castle, setting forth that the Royal Patent to the Proprietary gave him " absolute power to * * * erect and incorporate Towns, Hundreds and Counties and to incorporate Towns in Boroughs, & Boroughs into Cities & to make & counstitute Fairs & Markets herein, with all other covenient privileges & Immunities according to the merits of the Inhabitants & fitness of ye places. * * * And whereas ye Petitioner is possessed of a certain spot of land lying in sd Countie of Chester, verie fitt & naturally commodious for a Town & to that end lately caused ye sd spot of Land to be divided & Laid out into Lotts, Streets & Market place, a Draft & Model whereof (the gene- rallie desired & Leiked of by ye sd Inhabitants of sd Countie) is not- withstanding herewith presented & submitted to your honors for your approbation and consent " The same day, it was ordered, after Chester from the Ai^nval of Wm. Penn to the year 1850. 23 the heirs of James Sandilands, the elder, had appeared before Council, that " the Proprietary & Grovernor & Council having ap- proved of the within Petition & of the design thereof & Looking upon the place within propose:! to be fitt for a Town did not onlie approve of ye within & annexed model, but also did erect & do hereby erect the said spot of Lxnd so modelled & Laid outt Into a Town provided the same do not encroach upon other men's Land ■without their express consent under thoir Hands and Seals, an.l saving to the Proprietor & Governor & everie one their right." It is now generally accepted as an historical fact that Philadelphia was not determined on as the site of Penn's city until he found that no arrangement could be made with Sandilands for lands for that purpose, at this place. The first street laid out by authority was ordered by the Grand Jury, 8th month 2, 1686, which body reports that they "doe lay out a street and a landing upon the creak to the corner lot far as over against the north west corner of the Court House fifty foote in breadth and from thence up the said Chester town for a street 30 foote in breadthe." This highway was at first called Chester street, then Front street, that runs along the creek, and now Edgmont street, or avenue. In 1689, the Grand Jury continued the street from the present Second street to low water mark on the Delaware river, and from the north-western corner of the then Court House, to low water mark on the creek. This latter short street seems to have been closed at a later date, perhaps before the year 1690, for David Lloyd had the Governor and Council, about that time, to lay out a street thirty-eight feet wide, on the line of the present Sec- ond street, from Chester creek to the plantation he had purchased from Neeles Laerson's heirs in 1689. The plot of the town approved by Penn, November 19, 1700, as shown by many ancient deeds, is almost exactly the plan of the old parts of this city as now laid out on the official map. Penn remained but a short time at the Essex House as the guest of Robert Wade, and after his return to Chester from New York — whither he had gone to " pay his duty " to the Duke of York, by a visit to the latter's representatives in that place — he lodged for the winter at the Boar's Head Inn, a noted public house at that ■24 Historical Sketch of Chester. time, a description of which appears under its appropriate title else- where in this volume. Martin informs us on the authority of Mrs. Sarah Shoemaker, aged 92 years, who died near Chester in 1825, and who had heard her grandfather, James Lownes, often speak of the times of which I am now writing, that during the winters of 1682-'83, Upland presented a very animated appearance. It was the only place then in the Province known to English ship-owners, and consequently, as the destination of the vessels was this port, most of the emigrants landed here and several ships often rode at anchor at the same time off the hamlet. It is stated that the water at that time was deep near the western shore, and vessels could approach so closely to land that the trees would often brush their upper rigging. The name of Chester, the seat of justice for the new county of Chester, (for the whole territory heretofore termed Upland, had been divided by Penn into the three counties— Chester, Philadelphia and Bucks — which division is said to have been ordered by the Proprie- tary, November 25, 1682,) now appears to have been used in all official documents and public records. Certain it is that at the Court, which convened here February 14, 1683, that name is em- ployed to designate the place where its session was held. Penn himself in several letters written from this town — for he did not re- move to Philadelphia until after March 10, 1683 — dated them sometimes Upland, but oftener Chester. Respecting the occur- rences of public interest during Penn's residence here, very little has been preserved, and the records are in a large degree devoted to matters pending before the Courts. It is stated that the Proprie- tary was present at Chester Creek Mills— now Upland — -when the first dam was built, which in all probability was before the spring freshets of 1683, at which time the dam was swept away. Gabriel Thomas, in his History of Pennsylvania, written in 1698, in describing the condition of the Province at that time, presents an exhaustive list of the wild game and fruit which abounded near the settlements, and speaks in glowing terms of the plentiful har- vest which rewarded the farmer for his toil. In 1683, fish were abundant, for it is recorded that the early fishermen could take six hundred fine fish at one draught. Richard Townsend states that, at Chester, in the year 1682, he and " Joshua Tittery made a net Chester from the. Arrival of Wm. Penn to the year 1850. 25 and caught great quantities of fish, which supplied ourselves and many others ; so that, notwithstanding it was thought near 3,000 persons came in the first year, we were so providentially provided for that we could buy a deer for about two shillings, and a large turkey for about one shilling," Quaint Gabriel Thomas, in striving to account for the fact that female wages were exorbitant at that period, remarks- " They (women) are not very numerous, which makes them stand upon high terms for their several services, in sempstermg, washing, spinning, knitting, sewing, and in all the other parts of their employments. ' * * Moreover, they are usuallj- marry'd before they are twenty years of age, and when once in thdt noose, are for the most part a little uneasy, and make their husbands so too, till they procure them a maid servant to bear the burden of the work, as also in some measure to wait on them too '" The dispute between Penn and Lord Baltimore, respecting the boundary line of their colonies, had assumed such a form in a short period that it compelled the return of the former to England. To represent him in his absence he appointed Thomas Lloyd Presi- dent ot Council, to whom he delegated the executive authority in the Province, established a Provincial Court and a commission to sell and transfer the title of his lands to purchasers, and on Au- gust 12, 1684, sailed for Europe. The history of Chester from this time until the return of William Penn, in 1700, is very meagre and what little is known between those years, will be noted under the ai'ticle entitled Court Houses and Prisons, elsewhere in this volume, for it is simply in the records of Court, that any incident of public interest is found. In 1688, the inhabitants of the Province were greatly alarmed by reason of a rumor diligently circulated, that an Indian woman from New Jersey had informed an old Dutch resident near Chester, that the Aborigines had determined, on a designated day, to attack and massacre all the white settlers on the Delaware. To add to the general consternation about ten o'clock at night of the evening fixed upon by the savages to begin the attack, a messenger came hurriedly into Chester with the report that three families residing about nine miles distant, had been murdered by the Indians. The people of the town gathered to consider the startling intelligence, and at midnight a Quaker, resident here, accompanied by two young 26 Historical Sketch of Chester. men, went to the place mentioned, and found that the parties there^ alarmed by this rumor, had abandoned their dwellings and fled to the homes of their parents at Ridley creek. The report had beeu also carried to Philadelphia — had reached there while the Provin- cial Council was in session — and one of the members, from Chester county, volunteered to go to the Indian encampment on the Bran- dywine, provided five other persons would accompany him. They there learned that there was no truth in the rumor, and were well received by the Indians, who assured them that they had no cause of complaint against the English. From the evidence in a contested election case in 1689, we learn that the ballot-box was in use here at that early day, for Grriff Jones testified that " at Upland & all the Lower Countyes * * black and white beanes (were) put in a hatt, wch is a balloting in his sense & canot be denyed by the Charter when it is demanded." Chester at this time had considerable trade, and so great was the pressure upon it for entertaining travelers and strangers, that it is said almost every dwelling in the town was then a public house. In the fall of 1699, the yellow fever visited Philadelphia as a pestilence. Many of the inhabitants died of the disease, and the utmost alarm prevailed throughout the Province. Although we have no direct record that the malady made its appearance at Ches- ter, that such was the case may be inferentially concluded from the fact that the September Court adjourned without transacting any business, an incident without a parallel in our county's history. Later on, in November of that year, William Penn made his sec- ond visit to his Colony, although before leaving England he an- nounced that it was his intention to make it his permanent resi- dence. As the vessel sailed up the Delaware, the Proprietary caused it to be anchored off the town, and 'coming ashore he, for a second time, became an honored guest at the Essex House. Robert Wade, his friend, was dead, but Lydia, his widow, welcomed Penn, and here he met Thomas Story, who had recently returned from a religious journey to Virginia. The next morning, as is related by Clarkson, Penn was rowed across the creek in a boat to the eastern side, " and as he landed, some young men officiously, and contrary to express orders of some of the magistrates, fired two small sea pieces of cannon, and being ambitious to make three out of two, li'- Chester from the Arrival of Wm. Penn to the year 1850. 27 by firing one twice, one of them darting in a cartridge of powder before the piece was sponged, had his left arm shot to pieces ; upon which, a surgeon being sent for, an amputation took place." The young man, Bevan, thus injured, died the following April, and the expenses attending the nursing and ultimate burial of the wounded lad, were discharged by Penn. This, I believe, is the incident in which the traditionary account, before mentioned, of the injury to one of the crew of the " Welcome," and the death of the sur- geon, had its origin, and that story is simply a fictitious outgrowth founded on the actual facts, just narrated. Penn was not destined to remain in his Colony. William III. is believed to have regarded him in no friendly spirit, and when the Proprietary learned that the ministry, with the intention of con- verting the Provincial government into a Regal one, had introdued a bill to that effect in Parliament, the urgency of affairs compelled his prompt return to England. He sailed from Philadelphia, No- vember 1, 1701, never to return to the Commonwealth he had founded. Before his departure he established a Council of State, and appointed Andrew Hamilton as Deputy Governor. He had also, October 13, 1701, granted a charter to Chester as a Borough, with the privilege of a market town, and declares, in defining the limits of the municipality, that it " shall ever hereafter be called Chester." Hon. Joseph J. Lewis, in his sketches of Chester county, states that an old woman at this place, many years after the events, re- lated that Edward Hyde, Lord Cornbury, Governor of the Colony of New York from 1702 to 1708, visited Chester during the fall of the year first given, and that she remembers him because he was the Queen's cousin, and a Lord, and that he wore leather stockings. A more abandoned, infamous scoundrel than this same cousin of two Queen Regents of England, never cursed a people by his mis- rule. I merely allude to this visit of the Royal Governor, to de- monstrate that while our city in its earlier days has entertained dis- tinguished and noble men, its hospitality has also been extended to a rogue, in whom the gallows was cheated of its just due. Very little of interest attaches to the annals of this city for many years after this event. The Borough grew slowly, for in 1708 Old Mixon refers to it as containing " one hundred houses." Bamp- 28 Historical Sketch of Chester. fylde Moore (larew, in 1739, states that Chester " contains about a hundred houses, and a very good road for shipping." In 1754, Acrelius said " it had 120 houses," a statement which fully estab- lishes the accuracy of Lewis Evan's assertion, in a letter written in 1 753, quoted by Martin, that " Chester, Bristol and Newtown have been long at a stand." Peter Kalm, the Swedish naturalist, in the fall of 1748, journeying from Wilmington to Philadelphia, mentions in his journal, " Chester, a little market town which lies on the Delaware. Tho houses stand dispersed. Most of them are built of stone, and two or three stories high, some are, however, made of wood." In 1713, the inhabitants of Chester county petitioned Grovernor Goodkin and Council " that ye Borough of the Town of Chester, in this Province may be made a free Port." The petition was referred to William Penn, who took no action in the matter ; the partial paralysis from Avhich he suffered for several years before his death, had benumbed his faculties in a measure and sapped the energies that were once so elastic under adversities. His health gradually declined until July 30, 1718, at which date he died. At an early time in the Proprietary administration, a public pound was located on the lands of Robert Wade, and he was au- thorized to act as master. After his death it must have fallen into disuse. In 1722, an application was made to Court " for a Pound in said Chester ; whereupon the Court orders, that there be a Pound erected in the Market Place * * * 40 feet square well fenced with posts and railings, and a good rack in the middle of sd pound, and that Richd Marsden be keeper of the pound." In lat- ter years, as will be seen from an inspection of the old map of the Borough, in 1 765 the pound was located on the triangular lot made by the intersection of Market street and Edgmont avenue. On the afternoon of August 11, 1732, Thomas Penn, the son of the Proprietary, landed at Chester, and a messenger was dispatched to Philadelphia to apprise the Council, then in session, of his arri- val. The Secretary of that body immediately came to Chester, with the congratulations of the authorities, and " to acquaint him — Penn — that to-morrow they would in person pay their respects to him." The following day the Council, accompanied by a large number of gentlemen, visited the Borough, and " after dinner the Chester fy-om- the Arrival of Wm. Penn to the year 1850. 29 Proprietary with his company, now grown very numerous, sett out for Philadelphia." On September 19, of the following year, John Penn arrived at Chester, from England, and was here met and Avelcomed by his younger brother, Thomas, and a large number of gentlemen who had come from Philadelphia to greet the eldest son of the Founder. In 1739, the noted clergyman, George Whitfield, preached in Chester, and so great was his fame and the excitement throughout the Colony, occasioned by his eloquence, that about seven thousand persons gathered here to listen to his sermon. It is said that a cavalcade of one hundred and fifty horsemen accompanied the no- ted divine hither. It was during this year that Bampfylde Moore Carew, heretofore mentioned, passed through Chester, and he re- lates how the people for many miles round flocked to the places where Whitfield was to preach. Carew came here on Sunday, " stayed all night, and the next morning he inquired of one Mrs. Turner, a Quakeress, who formerly lived at Embercomb, by Mine- head, in Somersetshire. From her he got a bill (money) and a re- commendation to some Quakers at Darby, about five miles further." At the time mentioned, this Mrs. Turner lived at the north-east corner of Third street and Concord avenue, iii part of the house now owned by Mrs. Shaw. In 1739, when England declared w^ar against Spain, an expedi- tion was proposed from the Colonies against the West Indies, and the Governor, in a proclamation calling for recruits, " to inlist in the Important Expedition now on Foot for attacking and plunder- ing the most valuable Part of the Spanish West Indies," notified the people of Chester and vicinity that those, who proposed to recruit, should call on James Mather in the Borough. The revolutionary period was rapidly approaching, and the peo- ple throughout the thirteen Colonies were aroused by the spirit of oppression which seemed to animate the English ministry in its dealings with the American Provinces, The First Continental Con- gress in Philadelphia, had, among other means to protect the liber- ties of the Colonies, resolved that committees should be chosen in every county, city and town, to observe the conduct of all people respecting the suspension of trade with the mother country, and it was responded to by Chester county, December 20, 1774, in the old BO Historical Sketch of Chester. Court House in this city, when a committee was appointed consist- ing of sixty-nine of the most prominent men of the day, many of whom afterwards attained reputation in the State by their conduct during the struggle with Great Britain ; and one, the chairman, Anthony Wayne, achieved world-wide fame. The committee had frequent meetings thereafter at the public house of David Coup- land, still standing at the south-west corner of Fourth and Market streets. (An account of the building will be found elsewhere in this volume.) In December, 1776, it was proposed to institute hospitals for the sick soldiers of the American army, at Darby, Chester, Marcus Hook, Wilmington and New Castle Tradition states that the old school house, torn down in 1874, and the house now owned and oc- cupied by Jonathan Pennell, on Edgmont avenue, were used for that purpose, and subsequently, as barracks for soldiers. During the year 1776 and part of '77, the signal and alarm Post, No. 8, was located at this place The war cloud, however, did not actually drift in this direction until 1777, although during the preceding year, when the destina- tion of the English army which had evacuated Boston, was unknown, so large a body of soldiers was stationed at Chester and Marcus Hook that in both towns there were not sufficient houses to supply the troops with shelter, and hence, April 13th, 1776, the Commit- tee of Safety furnished " 100 good tents," for that purpose. In May of the same year the force in cantonment at this place num- bered nearly a thousand men, and one thousand pounds of gunpow- der, two thousand pounds of lead and twenty thousand musket car- tridges were ordered to be delivered to Col. Samuel Miles, com- manding the Associators of Chester county, while on the following day, the commissary was ordered by the Committee of Safety to " send down to Chester, for the use of the Provincial Troops under Col. Miles, sixty-five locks." On July 2, 1776, after it became evident that New York and not Philadelphia was the point menaced by the British Fleet and Army, Col. Miles was ordered to march his battalions to the latter city, and this town again was removed from the hourly dread of battle in its neighborhood. In July, 1777, Chester again became the rendezvous of the raw levies from the county. While General Howe was at sea, and his Chester from the Arrival of Wm. Penn to the year 1850. 31 destination unknown, the alarm was intense among the people of the seaboard cities, and in this neighborhood it was not lessened when they comprehended that the English Commander, with a well disciplined and equipped army of eighteen thousand men had land- ed at the head of Elk river, and that Philadelphia was his objective point. In accordance with the request of Congress in the preced- ing April, a call had been made by Pennsylvania for 3,000 militia, and half of that number was encamped in Chester, which force General Armstrong had been assigned to command. On August 1, 1777, Washington passed through this place, southward, to check, if possible, the enemy's advance. September 11, 1777, that of the battle of Brandywine, was one of if not the most intensely anxious days Chester has ever known. The noise of the distant cannonading could be distinctly heard, like far away mutterings of thunder, and after the battle had been lost, the bearers of ill tidings traveled fast with their unwelcoraed intelligence. Early in the afternoon, the first of the discomfited American forces began to straggle in, spreading all sorts of rumors regarding the results of the contest. When Lafayette, wounded in the foot, was brought hither, before he would permit his injuries to be dressed, he stationed a guard at Chester bridge to arrest the disorganized men and return them to their commands. Far into the night the retreating army kept marching into the town, and it is related that Col. Custer, of the Thircl Virginia Infantry, because of the darkness and to prevent his men being crowded off the approaches to the bridge, at the creek, fastened his handkerchief to a ramrod, and stood there holding it aloft as a signal, until his command had filed by. At midnight, Washington addressed a letter to Congress, apprising that body of the loss of the battle. The missive is dated Chester, and tradition- ally in the Kerlin family, it is said, he wrote the letter at the Wash- ington House, on Market street. The disordered American army assembled back of the town, and the next day retreated to Philadel- phia. On September 15, Lord Cornwallis occupied Chester, and while here the residents of the Borough suffered severely from the depredations of the English soldiers. From thirty-one persons, nearly fifteen thousand dollars' worth of property was taken. Af- ter Philadelphia had been captured, Greneral Howe landed a body of troops from New York here November 18. Lord CornwalliSy 32 Historical Sketch of Chester. with three thousand men, uniting with those already at this point, embarked on transports, and crossed the river to Biliingsport. General Green, learning that his adversary outnumbered him, re- treated, abandoning the fort. In 1777, while the enemy had con- trol of Chester, it must have presented an animated appearance, for Major Clark, in a letter dated from Mrs. Withey's Tavern, No- vember 19, 1777, states that '■'■ eighty sail lie opposite this place, and eighty opposite Bridgeport " Joseph Bishop, an octogenarian, who died many years since, stated that when a boy, he stood on the porch of the old Salkeld house, now the Perkins' mansion, in South ward, and watched the fleet practicing, and on several occasions, when receiving distinguished personages, the yard arms were man- ned and the vessels gaily dressed with many flags and streamers. It may have been that on one of these occasions, by mistake, a few shots were fired into the town, one of which struck the Steamboat Hotel, another the Graham House, and a third the Richardson House, north-east corner of Market and Second streets, although it is stated to have been an intentional act on the part of the Com- mander of the frigate " Augusta." During the winter of 1777, the " Vulture," the vessel noted in our national annals as having carried Major Andre, when he ascended the Hudson to meet Arnold, laid off Chester, and on her several prominent Whigs, of this neighborhood, were imprisoned. On April 8, 1782, the remarkable action between the Pennsylva- nia vessel of war, " Hyder Ali," commanded by Capt. Joshua Bar- ney, and the British ship, " General Monk," took place in Delaware Bay. Notwithstanding the latter outnumbered the former both in men and armament, she was compelled to strike her flag to the Continental vessel. The American commander brought his ship and prize to Chester, where he left the " Hyder Ali," and in the « General Monk " sailed to Philadelphia. Capt. Jackson, the Eng- lish commander, who was seriously wounded, was brought to Ches- ter and placed in the family of a Quaker lady who nursed him un- til he entirely recovered from his wounds. At the close of the war, Chester, as all other localities, suffered greatly in the depreciation of the Continental currency, and many estates which had been in the families of their owners for half a Chester from the Arrival of Wm. Penn to the year 1850. 3S century were sold by the Sheriff, while business in the disturbed condition of affairs, was uncertain and precarious. The history of the removal of the seat of justice from Chester, is related in the article, Court Houses and Prisons, elsewhere in this volume, hence it requires no further notice here. In 1699, the yellow fever first appeared in Chester, and again in 1793, when the contagion was brought here by some boys who went in a boat to a vessel lying in the stream, on which there were seve- ral persons ill with the disease. In 1798, it again visited the Bo- rough. On that occasion, it is said, a woman who fled from Phila- delphia to escape the scourge there, died in this place, and as she had requested, previovis to her death, that her body should be taken to the latter city for interment, the corpse, while being conveyed through the streets of this town, thus spread the seeds of disease. On Edgmont avenue, from Fourth street to the river, more than' thirty persons died, and in the house adjoining Jonathan Pennell's residence, on Edgmont avenue, all the family, excepting a boy of five years, died from the malady. In 1789, the new county of Delaware was erected, and with that exception, very little of public interest occurred in our annals until the year 1794, when the Whisky Insurrection broke out in Western Pennsylvania, at which time William Graham, in command of a company of cavalry from this neighborhood, responded to the call of President Washington In 1789, the latter passed through Ches- ter, in a coach-and-four with outriders, and received a congratula- tory address from the citizens of the town. The annals of our city are very meagre for the following half century, and for many years no new buildings were erected, while the poi)ulation seemed to remain without any material increase. In October, 1814, an encampment of several thousand militia was es- tablished at Marcus Hook, and on the 14th of that month the com- pany of Capt. Morgan marched to Chester, where it remained for nearly two weeks awaiting the forwarding of camp equipage by the State authorities. The war, however, was nearly at its close, and these troops never took part in any engagement. In the same year the Bank of Delaware County was chartered. During the year 1836, the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Balti- 34 Historical Sketch of Chester. more railroad was surveyed, and in 1838 was opened for public travel. On Aug. 5, 1843, occurred the " Lammas Flood," which wrought immense damage in Delaware county and in Chester Borough. The day had been rainy, but about half past five o'clock in the after- noon the water fell in torrents for the space of a half hour. The earth, water-soaked, turned off the rain into the feeders of the creeks, and the latter rose with unexampled rapidity. It is stated that a wave, several feet in height, moved down Chester creek like a wall, sweeping everything before it. The water rose here a foot a minute until it had reached a point twenty-three feet higher than the ordinary high water mark, and horses, wagons, animals and trees were hurled into the Delaware river. The railroad and the county bridge at Third street were both swept away. The loss of property along the stream in the Borough amounted to many thousands of dollars. In the fall of 1845, the agitation of the removal of the county seat from Chester to a more central location began, and the contest ended in favor of the removalists, by a decided popular vote at the election held in October, 1847, and in May, 1851, the Courts of Delaware county were for the last time held in the ancient Borough. CHESTER FROM THE YEAR 1850 TO 1882. THE majority of the inhabitants of the venerable Borough be- lieved that the removal of the county seat to Media would be a fatal blow to the prosperity of the town, and that it would rapidly sink in population and as a business point. Few persons compre- hended that the hour for its advancement had come. The purchase by John P Crozer of the old Chester mill site to the north-west of the Borough, the erection at that place of a cotton mill, and the lo- cation of James Campbell at Leiperville, to the northeast, where he built up a large business in manufacturing cotton goods, had di- rected the attention of a few thoughtful men to the possibilities and advantages of Chester as a manufacturing centre. To properly ap- preciate the position of the then Borough, in narrating the awaken- ing of the oldest town in Pennsylvania from the lethargy of a cen- tury and a half, it will be necessary to present a short sketch of the men who were to bring about this great change in our local history, as well as to introduce a brief description of Chester as it appeared thirty-two years ago. John Price Crozer was a Delaware countian by birth. His early life was passed on a farm, until he was twenty-seven years old, when he formed a partnership with George Gr. Leiper, and em- barked in business at the grist and saw mill on Ridley creek. Be- coming dissatisfied with that occupation, Mr. Crozer and John Lewis rented part of the grist mill from Judge Leiper, and em- barked in cotton spinning. The new enterprise trembled often on the brink of disaster, but, ultimately, it began to return a profit, and when assured that he might venture to enlarge his business, he 36 Historical Sketch of Chester. purchased Mattson's paper mill and farm, on the west branch of Chester creek. From that hour his career was one of continued success, for so lucrative had his occupation become that, although in the freshet of 1843 his new factory, at Knowlton, was swept away, involving a loss of $50,000, yet within two years thereafter he pur- chased from John W, Ashmead the noted Chester Mills, together with some sixty odd acres of land, on which he began extensive im- provements. His subsequent career, how he attained great wealth, how he distributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to public charities, educational and religious institutions, is well known to most of our citizens and need not be recapitulated here. James Campbell, of Stockport, England, came to this country a young man and sought employment in the factory of Mr. Phillips, at Rockdale. He subsequently was manager of the mills owned by James Howton, at Pennsgrove, now Grlen Riddle, until 1837, when the latter removed to Groveville, New Jersey, and the former de- clined to go to that point, although the position he held was ten- dered him at the new location. Thereupon Campbell started in business as a manufacturer in the machine shop of John Garsed, at Pennsgrove, with only six looms — which had been made by his fa- ther-in-law, Mr. Garsed, for a party who became embarrassed and could not take them. From this small beginning his business in- creased until the opportunity was presented him to obtain the bark mill at Leiperville, to which building Hon. George G. Leiper erect- ed an additional story, to afford space for the machinery required in a cotton factory. At this locality Campbell was very success- ful and had accumulated considerable capital, when he removed to Chester, with the avowed object of developing the Borough into a manufacturing town. John Larkin, Jr., was born in Concord township, Delaware county, in 1804, where he worked at farming until he was twenty-three years of age, when he built a vessel and followed the water for seven years, during which time he sailed his own craft and worked hard at his calling. In 1840 he was elected Sheriff of Delaware county; in 1845-'46 he represented the district in the Legislature, and after the city of Chester was incorporated, he was elected its first Mayor in 1866 and again in 1869, and during the term of six years in which he held the office he refused to accept any salary for his ser- Vhester from the year 1850 to 1882. "37 vices. He was one of the originators of the Chester Rural Ceme- tery, and the President of that Company since the death of Joshua P. Eyre. He is also President of the Chester Mutual rnsurince Company, and of the First National Bank of this city, John M. Broomall is anative of this county, and in his busy life has been teacher, lawyer, Legislator, Representative in Congress, Presi- dent Judge of the county, and a member of the Constitutional Con- vention of 1874. Mr. Broomall is a man of vast attainments in history, science, law and literature, in fact, no intellectual pur- suit in which he has engaged but evidences his mental powers and remarkable erudition. In 1840, the population of the Borough was seven hundred and forty persons of all ages and sexes. The town occupied, in a scat- tered manner, the space extending from the Philadelphia, Wil- mington and Baltimore railroad to the river, and fx'om Welsh street to Chester creek. But a small part was built upon, and in the area given, most of the houses— many of them dilapidated — had been erected in the preceding century, and the place showed all the features of a finished town. The residence of Dr. William Gray, then but recently built, was an exception, as also that of Ma- jor William Anderson, and the mansion of Hon. Samuel Edwards, at the north end of Market street, and that of Joshua P., and Wil- liam Eyre, at the west end of Fifth street, which were large, mod- ern and comfortable dwellings. A strange coincidence, however, was that each of the two latter houses stood directly in the way of an extension of the streets mentioned, showing that at the time they were built the popular belief was that Chester would never grow sufficiently to require the use of these thoroughfares, and, in fact, no streets at those points were ever laid down on any map, previous to the year 1860. Many of the inhabitants owned the houses they occupied, and there was singularly little desire either to buy or sell land. It was remarked that a property held for sale would not bring a fifth of its value, while a person wishing to buy would have to give ten prices for what he wanted, so loath were the owners to part with their real estate. The change which has since that time so developed the little fishing village, for Chester was scarcely more than that, first began to show itself about 1842. A few properties then changed owners at fair prices. What such 38 Historical Sketch of Chester. prices were may be gathered from the fact that about 1844 the hotel now owned by Henry Abbott, with the ground extending from Fifth street to Dr. Monroe's office, and from Market street to the rear of the stables, was offered for $2700, and only an accident prevented the sale. The great difficulty in the way of Chester was, that it was surrounded by large farms held by persons in easy cir- cumstances, who would not sell a foot of ground at any price, and who looked upon those who proposed to build a city here as visionary men, who would run themselves in debt and ultimately fail. Time, however, brought these farms into the market. Death and debt have no respect for conservatism, and by degrees these agencies worked in behalf of the change that was dawning. The first of these tracts of land that came into the hands of the progressive spirits who were guiding the new order of things, was that of Wil- liam Kerlin, a fifty-acre plot, lying between the Post road and the river, on the west bank of Chester creek. On this tract the famous Essex House stood, and a few of the trees which grew on the river bank when Penn landed, were still standing, although much decayed, marking the spot where his feet first trod on the land of the great Commonwealth he founded. The Essex House stood on the site of the present brick dwelling at the north-west corner of Front and Penn streets. It was a story and a half in height, its south-east gable fronting the river, the rear or south-west side facing (Concord avenue, and its front, with a com- modious porch, was to the creek. About one hundred and ten feet in a north-easterly direction from the porch, stood the trees under which Penn landed. This estate, then containing five hundred and sixty acres, had been granted by Richard Nichols, Governor Greneral under the Duke of York, by patent, dated June 1, 1668, to " Justina Armguard alias vpo Papegay of Prinse Doope " daughter of Gover- nor Printz, in fee, and she, March 21, 1673, for eighty pounds ster- ling, srtld the estate to Robert Wade, who built the house where Penn was entertained in 1682. The Proprietary, by letters patent, June 5, 1684, confirmed this tract of land to Wade. On January 9, 1689, Wade made his will, in which he devised three hundred and sixty acres of the estate to Robert Wade and Lydia Wade, the children of his brother Thomas. His nephew, Robert, dying un- married and without issue, his interest vested in his sister Lydia, Chester from the year 1850/0 1882. 39 who had married Philip Eilhirz. The latter and his wife, June 1, 1702, conveyed the estate to John Wade, in fee, and he, with his wife Frances, August 24 and 25, 1733, transferred it to Joseph Parker, in fee, and the latter, July 5, 1736, leased the tract of fifty acres, afterwards the estate of William Kerlin, to John Wade, for the term of nine hundred and ninety-nine years, at a yearly rent of twelve pounds sterling, two barrels of cider and ten bushels of apples. Wade conveyed the lease to James Mather, who died Jan- uary 11, 1780, and his estate proving insolvent, his interest in the leasehold was sold by Ezekiel Leonard, Sheriff, 5th mo., 27, 1789, to Eleazer Oswald, who in turn, the same day conveyed it to Wil- liam Kerlin, who by his will dated November 28, 1804, devised the leasehold to his son William It was he who owned the estate in 1850. John M. Broomall, then residing in Upper Chichester, supposed that he had bought the farm in 1846, at one hundred and fifty dol- lars an acre, but the agent, Charles D. Manley, though authorized to sell at that price, was, to his great mortification, unable to get his principal to execute the deed, and the sale fell through. In the early part of 1849, Mr. Broomall, who had in the meanwhile re- moved to Chester, purchased the farm again of Mr, Kerlin himself after considerable negotiation, at two hundred dollars an acre. A time was fixed for executing the contract of sale, but before the day came, Mr. Kerlin again changed his mind. In December, fol- lowing, John Edward Clyde, who was quite anxious that a sale should be effected, meeting Mr. Kerlin on the street, agreed to purchase the farm, and insisted that the former should go at once to the office of Mr. Broomall. The latter declined to enter into a negotiation except upon the condition that the deed should be forth- with executed and the sale consummated, if d price could be agreed upon. The condition was accepted, Hon. Edward Darlington was sent for as counsel for Mr. Kerlin, and in half an hour the deed was executed, the price paid being two hundred and fifty dollars an acre. During the negotiations in the early part of 1849, Mr. Broomall had offered to John P. Crozer and John Larkin, Jr., each an equal interest with himself in the farm he then believed he had purchased from Mr. Kerlin. Both of these gentlemen were natives of the county of Delaware, whose attention had been attracted to 40 Historical Sketch of Chester. Chester as the site of a future city if it could only get room to- grow, and tbey basd been looking at the Kerlin farm as a possible outlet. Before the actual purchase took place, Mr. Larkin had the opportunity of buying a large part of the farm belonging to John Cochran, to the north of the town, now forming a considerable portion of the North ward. He therefore declined to accept Mr. Broomall's proposal, and the Kerlin farm was acquired by Mr. Cro- zer and Mr. Broomall in equal shares, the latter taking upon him- self the management of it, with the advice and pecuniary aid of the former. On January 5, 1850, John Larkin, Jr., purchased eighth-three acrea of land, which had formerly been a race-course, from John Cochran. This tract had been included in the estate of David Lloyd, and the greater part of it was embraced in the purchase, May 1, 1741, made by Joseph Hoskins from Grace Lloyd, and which he devised to his nephew, John Hoskins, of Bvirlington, New Jersey. The latter sold the property to his son, Raper Hoskins, March 22, 1791, and he dying, seized of the property, his widow, Eleanor, administered to the estate, and sold it, April 27, 1799, to Thomas Laycock. The latter dying, and his heirs making default in payment, the property was sold by John Odenheimer, Sheriff, October 26, 1806, to Anthony Morris, who in turn sold it to Major William Anderson, and the latter conveyed it to John CochraUy- May 26, 1823, who, dying intestate, the estate was conveyed by the heirs to John Cochran, the younger, who sold it to John Larkin, Jr., at the time already stated. The entire tract was in one en- closure, the only improvement so far as buildings were concerned, was the small stone house, still standing, with its gable end to Edg- mont avenue, below Twelfth street, and a frame stable. The land, after it ceased to be a race-course, had been used as a grazing lot for cattle. Both tracts were laid out in streets and squares, and almost im- mediately signs of improvement began to manifest themselves in the present North and South wards. Many of the old residents looked on in amazement, and often the quiet remark went round, " These men will lose every dollar they have in this ^iDusiness." The enterprising men, however, paid little attention to these prog- nostications of misfortune. Dwelling houses were erected, streets Chester from the year 1850 to 1882. 41 laid out and graded, and capital was invited to locate in this vi- cinity. Early in the year IS-'iO, James Campbell, of Ridley, pur- chased the lot and bowling alley formerly belonging to the Dela- ware County Hotel, which lot was located on the north side of Fourth street where part of the Market House now stands This building he altered to receive looms, and in March, 1850, within three months of the purchase of the Kerlin and Cochran farms, for the first time the nois?; of the shuttle was heard in the Borough. When the public buildings were sold, Mr. Campbell bought the prison and workhouse, and at much expense he changed the ancient structure into a cotton mill, thus making the first permanent es- tablishment in which textile fabrics were woven within the bounds of the present city of Chester. In 1856, John P. Crozer conveyed his interest in the joint pro- perty to Mr. Broomall for the cost and legal interest thereon reserv- ing only the half-square of gronnd on Penn anl Second streets, where the Baptist church now stands. This was Mr Crozer's own proposition, and on being reminded that more than enough land had been sold to pay the entire costs, leaving four-fifths of it as clear profit, he replied that he had gonejnto the enterprise not to make money but to aid in the development of Chester, and he was quite content that the profits should go to Mr. Broomall who had done the chief part of the work ; that his assistance was no longer neces- sary, but that he would let liis capital remain to be repaid by Mr. Broomall, with interest, at his own time and convenience. Of course this offer was gratefully accepted. Shortly after, when Mr. Broomall learned that the fee simple title to the Kerlin tract could be purchased for nine hundred and twenty dollars, from the execu- tors of the estate of Dr. Albanus C. Logan, the great-grandson of Joseph Parker, he availed himself of the offer, and on August 24, 1858, bought the rent and reversions in the leasehold he had ac- quired from William Kerlin nearly ten years before that date. In the present North ward, Mr. Larkin, in spite of great opposi- tion, carried out his designs fully. It is related that although he laid out the streets in that part of the town and dedicated them to the public, the Borough authorities refused to keep the highways in repair, and at his own expense he maintained a force of men at work upon them. On one occasion when a member of the Town 42 Historical Sketch of Chester. Council complained that the streets in the old part of the Borough were neglected, contrasting them with those of Larkintown, which were neat and well kept, and declaring that the public moneys shoxild not all be expended in one locality, another member in- formed the speaker that Chester had never contributed a dollar for that purpose, and that Mr, Larkin had personally paid for all the highwaj-s made as well as maintaining them in repair, ^lot only did he do this, but he constantly built houses, stores, foundries, shops and mills, in conformity with a rule he had adopted at the beginning of his enterprise, that every dollar he received from the sale of lands or buildings should be expended in further improve- ments ; and hence, for any person desiring to start in business, he would erect the required structure, and lease it to him or them, with the privilege of purchasing the property at its cost price with- in ten years. Mr. Larkin has built over five hundred houses and places of business, several being large cotton mills. In 1881, he sold the last vacant building lot remaining out of the original eighty-three acres he had bought as an unimproved tract, thirty-one years before. More than thirty years Mr. Larkin spent industriously and earnestly in making the North ward what it is, and only during the last ten years did he receive much assistance, from the labor of others to the same end, in dotting it all over with dwellings and in- dustrial establishments. To I'eturn to the river front ; Mr. Broomall, in conjunction with William Ward, in 1862, purchased the farms of Edward Pennell, James Laws and John Jeffery, and in 1863, together with Mr. Ward and Messrs. Seyfert & McManus, of Reading, he purchased the farms of George Wilson, John J. Thurlow and William John- son, and in 1871, as a member of the Chester Improvement Com- pany, he bought the farms of William H. Morton and Isaac Eyre. He laid out and named the streets between the old Post road and the river, and between Chester creek and Trainer's Third street mills, and only two of the forty-one names have since been changed, Essex street and Salkeld street, the citizens refusing to take, but by a common movement, the former became Concord street, and the latter Broomall street. The first manufacturing establishment in Chester was the ma- chine shop and foundry of Kitts & Kerlin, and there, in 1837, was Chester from the year 1850 to 1882. 4S erected the first stationary steam engine, " and its advent," says Mr. Broomall, in a sketch of Chester, in 1872, "produced more sensation among the simple villagers than did the downfall of the French Monarchy." The next engine introduced was one built by this firm about 1840, and used by the late Judge Frederick J. Hinkson in the old Brobson tannery, on Edgmont avenue. The first manufactory of textile goods was that of James Campbell, in the old bowling alley before mentioned, in 1850, shortly after en- larged by his purchase of the county property, a description of which will be found under the title Court Houses and Prisons, in Chester. The first business establishment below Chester creek was the saw mill and lumber yard of Thomas M. Smith, who about 1851, purchased the square of ground between Penn and Concord streets, on the south side of Front street, for $900. Then followed the sash factory of Lewis Thatcher ; a small mill built by the late Alderman Joseph Entwisle, for bleaching cotton ; the dye works of John Grartside and Samuel Cliff, and Benjamin Grartside's mill, all in the South ward. In 1854, Dr Bonsai and Abraham Blakeley built what is now the Arasapha mills in North ward, and Samuel Montgomery erected the first mill put up by him, known afterwards as Lilley & Montgomery's, in South ward. John Larkin, Jr., built the Broad street mill for James Campbell, and Mr. Broomall erected for T. B Price the machine shop at Third and Franklin streets. South ward, which Samuel Eccles, Jr., chdnged into the Mohawk mills, now operated by Robert Hall & Son. The ship yards of Thomas Reaney and William Frick, since of John Roach & Sons, and other industrial establishments followed in rapid succession in all parts of the city until Chester has now upwards of thirty-five cotton and woolen mills, logwood works, the extensive machine shops of Robert Wetherill & Co. ; the Combination Iron and Steel Works : the Eureka Cast Steel Company; H. B. Black's Edge Tool Works ; H. C. Eyre & Co., and James Massey's machine shops ; Morton, Black & Bro.'s planing mill; the sash factories of Miller Cox, Stroud & Co., and Henry M. Hinkson ; several carriage factories and many other industries which have given to this city a national repu- tation as a manufacturing centre. The entire river front in South ward is now occupied with flourishing business establishments ex- tending along and beyond the city limits for more than three miles. 44 Historical Sketch of Chester. The or iduates of the Pennsylvania Military Academy have spread the reputation of Chester, as an educational point, in every State in the Union ; Crozer Theological Seminary stands second to no similar institution in the land in preparing young men for the min- istry, and Prof. Gilbert's Academy is noted for thoroughness in intellectual training. Few eastern toAvns have exhibited the enterprise and vitality which have characterized Chester since the energetic men I have mentioned aroused it from its inertness thirty odd years ago, and began to invade the slumbers of the venerable hamlet. In 1852, F. & A. Wiggin, of New York, purchased the remain- der of the Cochran estate in North ward, and laid it out in streets and offered the property for sale in lots. In 1862, Crosby P. Mor- ton — from whom Morton avenue takes its name — laid out the large tract of ground south of the old Queen's Eoad, in Middle ward, in streets and squares. He erected the Chester Dock Mills, (now Lewis & Roop's) cut a dock and built the saw and planing mill at that point, since known as Morton, Black & Brother's, and erected fifteen dwelling houses. His death was a public misfortune, inas- much as he proposed to make greater improvements had his health not entirely broken down. In 1864, Spencer Mcllvain laid out twenty-six acres of the old Caldwell farm in North ward, in streets, and in 1865, John Hinkson and Henry Mcllvain made extensive improvements on this tract of ground. They built the Continental cotton mills for John Glreen, the Abgadon mills for Barton k Cot- ton, the Sunnyside mills for James Ledward, and about thirty dwel- ling houses. This enterprise was followed by John Cochran and John Barton, who purchased part of the Eyre farm in South ward, and brought it into market. Mr. Cochran built many houses, as did also Lewis Ladomus and others in various parts of the town, and G-en, Edward F. Beale, within a few years, has sold many valu- able lots in the business part of the city, on easy terms, and sup- plied the money to those wishing to build thereon, which has greatly improved Edgmont avenue above the railroad, and has re- sulted in the erection of many imposing dwellings and roomy stores. In 1856, gas was introduced into Chester, and twelve years later water was distributed to the public by the Water Board from the basin on Concord Avenue. Previous to that, wells and pumps sup- Chester from the year 1850 to 1882. 45- plied the people, and the scarcety of that element in the Borough, frequently caused much inconvenient to the large manufactures. When Mr. Campbell first established his mill, he was compelled to draw all the water used in the mill from the creek. During the civil war, Chester's records is excelled by no town of a like size in the nation. She gave freely of her men and means for the preservation of the government. In the early days of the Re- bellion, when the news of the firing on Fort Sumpter had just startled the loyal North into activity, the intelligence was one even- ing brought to Chester, that a low black schooner was coming up the river to destroy the town and burn the bridges on the railroad. The citizens turned out promptly, organized themselves into a mili- tary company for defense, and, that that body did not cover itself with heroic laurels is simply due to the fact, that the enemy learning of the preparations made to receive them, discreetly refused to as- cend the Delaware as far as this place. The Crum creek campaign, however, deserves a chapter in the unwritten history of that trying period in our country's story. Subsequently John P. Grozer ten- dered the buildings since known as the Crozer Theological Seminary as a hospital for wounded soldiers, and many maimed men, both in the North and South, to this day greet the name of this city with grateful recollections of the thousand kindnesses shown them by its residents, while they Avere mmates of the national hospital here. By Act of Assembly, February 13, 1866, the ancient Borough was incorporated into a city. Hon. John Larkin, Jr., was elected the first Mayor, serving two consecutive terms from 1866 to 1872, and was succeeded by Dr. J. L. Forwood, who was honored in being the executive of the city during the National Centennial, holding the office for three terms, from 1872 to 1881. He in turn was fol- lowed by Hon. James Barton, Jr., the present incumbent, whose term will include the observances of the Bi-Centennial Landing of William Penn at Chester. A peculiar circumstance is that each of the persons who have been Mayors of this city, are representatives of old Delaware county families, and the ancestry of all of them can be traced backward in our county's annals to the coming of the first settlers of their name will be almost coeval which was of Penn himself. COURT HOUSES AND PRISONS AT CHESTER. THE Swedish settlers at Upland must have had a crude but generally accepted system of judicial authority reposed in some person or persons, to preserve the public peace, at least, if no power to enforce right between parties in civil disputes was recognized. In the lapse of time we have lost all record or tradition even respect- ing the tribunal which administered even-handed justice according to the rude notions of those early times. The first mention we have of a Court being held at Upland is found in the " Records of Up- land Court" itself, from 1676 to 1681, edited and annotated by Edward Armstrong, Esq., and published by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. From this valuable work the greater part of our present knowledge of the judicial proceedings of the early days of the Province is derived. At the session of Upland Court, November 14, 1676, an order was made providing that Neeles Laerson be paid " for his charges for keeping the Court last year," and that the former clerk, William Tom, " deliver to the present clerk, Eph. Herman, the records and other public books and writing belonging to the Court." This order was obeyed, but the documents were found to be in such confusion that Tom was order to properly arrange them before he transferred them to his successor. Tom, however, died in 1677, and the records, being still in his possession at the time, are now lost to posterity. The inn of Laerson is believed to have been on Edgmont avenue, north of the present Second street. He was the owner of 181 acres of land in Chester, covering a large part of the present thickly built up portion of the city to which I am now referring. Neeles Laer- Court Houses and Prisons at Chester. 47 son was a quarelsome neighbor, as will be seen by an examination of the records. In 1678, James Sandilands, on behalf of the inhabit- ants of Upland, called the attention of the Court to the fact that Laerson had built a fence closing the old and usual way to the mea- dow, which obsti'uction the Court ordered the latter to remove. On the same day the church wardens complained that in taking posses- sion of two lots in ( Chester, which he had bought from Dominie Lasse Carolus, he had included some of the church or glebe lands. The Court ordered that he should be allowed that which he had bought, but, if it was found that he had taken more than was by right his, it should be annexed to the church lots. The first Court of which we have information was, as shown, held at Learson's inn, but the justice ordered November 13, 1677, that Captain Hans Jargin, who had been occupying the building as a bar- racks for his company, should " fit up " the House of Defence or Block House and furnish it "fitt for the Court to sitt in against ye next Court." Although there is no positive record showing that the House of Defence was used by the Court for its sessions, it is now generally conceded that the evidence fully established the fact that it was so occupied. This building, which was constructed of logs, stood on the east side of Edgmont avenue, about eighty-four feet from the present Second street ; was rectangular in shape, and was fourteen by fifteen feet in dimension. It was erected at an angle to Second street and extended into the roadway of Edgmont avenue. Neeles Learson, March 13, 1678, was ordered by the Court " to make or leave a lane or street from Upland creek to ye House of Defence or County House " between that time and the next Court, and in default to be fined at the discretion of the judges. As the early settlers traveled almost wholly by water, it was very essential that there should be free access from the creek to the public build- ings, and this means of communication the pugnacious Laerson seems to have interrupted until the strong arm of the law dealt sum- marily with him. How long the House of Defence was used as the public buildings of the county, I cannot say, but in 1703, after two other building in succession had been occupied by the Court, the Grand Jury presented the old Block House " as being a nuisance and dangerous of taking fire, and so would endanger the town." " The Court," so runs the old entry on the docket, " in deliberate 48 Historical Sketch of Chester. consideration, ordered the siid house to be pulled down and that Jasper Yeates, Chief. Burgess of the Borough of Chester, shall see the order performed." Previous to 1665, there seems to have been no place for the detention of prisoners in Chester for two years be- fore that date, " John Ward for sundry Felons, committed to the custody of the Sheriff, and made his escape with irons upon him." The third Court House, or the third building wherein Court was held, was built in 1684-'85. Dr. Smith, the late able historian of Delaware county says : '' A jail was erected at the same time, but there is reason to believe that it was built near the creek, and that there was a street laid out between the two buildings." Henry Eollingsworth, who was a Friend, "for cutting the eaves of the new prison," was dealt with by meeting the same year. This Court House, both Dr. Smith and John' Hill Martin believe, was located on the east side of Edgmont avenue ; and in the draft of the first settled part of Chester, in Smith's History, it is marked as being between the House of Defence and the Hoskin's house, known to us of the present generation as the Grraham house. The student of our ancient anuals will find more confusion in the authorities re- specting the sites of the several Court Houses, than in any other details of the early days of the Colony. This last building, after it was no longer used for county purposes, was ordered by the Court, at the March session, 1701, " to be set on sale the 6th day of the third month next, papers to be set up to give notice that it is to be sold at Vandew." Whether the sale was had, according to order, I do not know, but the property must have passed to Ralph Fishbourn, of Chester, gentleman, for in the latter part of the year 1705, the Legislature passed an act " to assure, grant and convey unto Ralph Fishbourn one messuage, cottage house, or tenement, and lot of ground there- unto belonging, situated in Chester, in the county of Chester, for- merly known by the name of the ' Old Court House.' " The fourth Court House, so far as its foundation is concerned, is still standing on the west side of Edgmont avenue, nearly opposite the House of Defence, its precise location being two hundred and fifty-six feet six inches from the south-west corner of Edgmont avenue and Third street. It was built by John Hoskins, in 1695, and he conveyed the lot to the county the same year. The old ^^':S^^ ^M .J' ~^. Vourt Houses and Prisons al Ohesler, 49 feuilding, now owned by Jonathan Pennell, has a part of the wall of this Court House standing in the nortliern gable of the preserit structure, between the two end windows, and extending up nearly to the second story. The old part of the wall and that which was added after it ceased to be the county building, is still easily dis- cernible. The jail was in the cellar, and the iron rods which for- merly barred the prisoners' escape from confinement, while admit- ting fresh air to the cells, still remain in the weather-stained frames in the foundation walls. The Court room and Jury rooms were in the first and second stories. At the same Court, March 1701, at which the sale of the old Court House erected in 1684 was ordered, the prison being found inadequate to retain the culprits, Jasper Yeates, Ralph Fishbourn, Joseph Cobourn and Andrew Jobe, were appointed supervisors to build a new prison on the grounds of James Sandilancls, the young- er, and were instructed that the erection should be twenty-five feet in length by eighteen feet in width in the clear. This structure, so far as the prison was concerned, was built, for the old draft of Chester, now owned by William B. Broomall, Esq., locates this building as south of the Court House built by Hoskins in 1695, and Sandilands, by his attorney, David Lloyd, in open Court, de- livered a deed for the land to the commissioners of the county. Within the walls of the old goal, languished, in 1718, Hugh Pugh and Lazarus Thomas, who were hung May 9, of that year for the murder of Jonathan Hays ; and here, too, in 1722, were detained William Hill, Mary Woolvin, and James Battin, under sentence of death. The first two were reprieved for twelve months by Sir William Keith, Deputy Governor, but Battin was directed to be executed and hung in irons in the most public place. I have serious doubt whether the Court House alluded to in the report of the Grand Jury of the 24th of Februai*y, 1701, was ever built. The Grand Inquest, on that occasion, called the attention of the Court to " the necessity of a Court Hous and prison hous," but stated also that " there is little money in the bank, and that many have not paid their moiety i rate of the last assessment, de- sire that such may be forced." They also recommended the speedy gathering of the county tax remaining unpaid, and requested the Justices to issue warrants therefor, and end their report with the 50 Historical Sketch of Chester. declaration that in their opinion " Law and Justice cannot have its perfect courc without such housis for tlieir distribution as afore- said." We know that at the December Court, 1701, the Justices ordered repairs to be made " to the court and prison hous," and appointed Walter Martin, John Hoskins and Henry Worley to be supervisors and oversee the work, with power to provide materialSy employ workmen, and to finish the repairs as speedily as possible. The supervisors were also instructed to provide a pair of stocks and a whipping post. Whether the expense of the building of the new Court, as desired by the Grand Jury, in 1701-'2, was greater than the county could undertake, cannot now be determined, but there is no documentary evidence to show that such a structure was ever erected, and, I endorse the opinion of Dr. Smith and John Hill Martin, that the next Court House, in chronological order, was the old building on Market street, known to us of the present day as the City Hall. The fifth Court House, including the tavern of Neeles LaersoUy in the number, was the massive stone structure still standing on the west side of Market street, which was built in 1724, the date stone being in the south wall, but covered with the dull brownish preparation which still defaces the ancient edifice, and hides the numerals from sight. The building has the pent roof projections over the first-story windows, as was the style of architecture of that day, and as originally constructed was surmounted with a small belfry rising from the centre of the roof, in which formerly hung a bell, with the words " Chester, 1729," cast in the metal. The bay or serai-circular projection at the north side, in the rear of the Judges' bench, was added at a latter date. The jury rooms were in the second story of the building. Dr. Smith tell us that tradi- tion has handed down an incident •' as having happened during the building of the Court House, or some other public building in Ches- ter," which he relates as follows : " During the progress of the work a young lady was observed to pass and repass the building daily, dressed in very gay attire. After the promenade had been continued for some time, one of the work- men, less mannerly than his associates, upon the appearance of the lady, called out : "In silk and scarlet walks many a harlot." Court Houses and Prisons at Chester. 51 The young lady, feeling indignant at the insult, promptly replied : " By line and rule works many a fool." Unfortunately for the tradition connecting this incident with ■Chester, the same story is told respecting the erection of an edifice in York, England, which building antedates the discovery of America by the Genoese mariner, and the anecdote is related of several localities in Great Britain years before we have knowledge that any European had settled at Upland, When the new Court House was finished an Act of Assembly was procured, " to enable the trustee to sell the old Court House and prison belonging to the borough and county of Chester," and in 1725, the building mentioned, the one built in 1695, and part of the wall of which stands in the house now owoed by Jonathan Pennell, on Edgmont avenue, was sold to Wm. Preston, of Philadelphia, mariner, for j£27. The presumption is that the old jail and workhouse, which stood at the north-west corner of Fourth and Market streets, were built in the same year as the Court House, but we knew that the old Prothonotary's office, which still stands, falling back from the pre- sent building line of Market street, and now owned by Jas. Hampson, was not erected in that year, for at " the private session " of the Court, held at the house of John Hannum, in Concord, December 15, 1724, Joseph Parker petitioned the Court, "setting forth ye great danger ye records of ye county lay in, as well as by casualities of fire, as other accidents;" the Court "allows ye petition to be reasonable, and orders ye clerk to present ye same before ye com- missioners and assessors of ye same county, in order that they may fit a room in ye new Court House for keeping ye said records in ; and when prepared order ye old clerk to transmit all ye said records to ye place so appropriated accordingly, and not to be removed with- out ye Court's direction." Indeed, I much doubt whether that building of Mr. Hampson antedates the Revolutionary war, and my reasons for that conclusion are these : Joseph Parker succeed- ed David Lloyd, as Prothonotary of the Courts, and at his death, in 1766, was succeeded by Henry Hale Graham, who retained that office until March 26, 1777, when Thomas Taylor was appointed to succeed Mr. Graham. Taylor never assumed the duties of the posi- tion, and Benjamin Jacobs was appointed April 4, of the same year. 52 Historical Sketch of Chester. On the 28th of July, the records of the county were still in Mr, Grraham's possession, for on that date, the Executive Council au- thorized Caleb Davis — Benjamin Jacobs not having qualified — who was appointed in Jacob's stead, to " enter the dwelling and out- houses of H. H. Graham, take possession of the books and papers of the county, and remove them to a place of safety," Joseph Parker had kept the records in an office alongside his dwelling house — the old Logan house on Second street — and Henry Hale Grraham had after that deposited the records in his office, the one- story building on Edgmont avenue, north of Grraham street, now belonging to the estate of Henry Abbott, deceased. It seems that in the growth of the business before the county Court, the rooms in the second story of the Court House were necessary for the use of the Grand and Petit juries, and hence the order of the Court of December 15, \WIA, had to be disregarded. The Prothonotary's office, I am of opinion, must necessarily have been erected subse- quent to the battle of Brandywine, for it was the dread of the threatened British attack on Philadelphia, which occasioned the alarm of Council as to the safety of the county records, and called forth the order to Caleb Davis. The old county prison and workhouse, as I said before, were built at about the same time as the Court House. The jail was two-stories high, built of square cut stone, and extended westwardly along Fourth street. In the front part of the building was the Sheriff's house. This was a structure two stories and an attic in height, presenting in the front to the street, the general style of the Court House. Back of the prison and extending along Fourth street was the workhouse, also of stone. (Mr. William Beatty has recently from memory prepared an excellent picture of the old prison and workhouse.) In 1741, the Court House and Jail were repaired and painted, and a well dug in the Court House yard. The old pump, with a heavy iron handle, stood, within the memory of many of our older residents, a nuisance in winter, because of the drippings there- from forming ice and rendering its locality a dangerous one to pe- destrians. Many years ago the trunk was taken out and the well filled in. Part of the old brickwork of the well is under the front foundation of the store No. 404 Market street. During the year just mentioned, the commissioners paid Nathan Worley j610 for Covrt Houses and Prif^ons at Chester. 53 planks used in flooring the two dungeons on the east side of the prison, and Thomas Morgan was paid £5 lis. 6d. for 150 pounds of spikes used in laying the dungeon floors. In front of the goal and extending to the Court House doors was a double row of Lom- bardy poplars, which afforded a pleasant shady walk in the summer, and frequently during periods of political excitement, here the ora- tor of the day held forth and saved the nation by his noisy mouth- ings. The old trees at length grew so unsightly, many of their branches having died, that over half a century ago the poplars were cut down and a double row of lindens were planted to replace the ancient trees under whose towering branches our Revolutionary sires discussed the Boston Port Bill and other measures preceding the actual outbreak of hostilities between the Colonies and the mo- ther country, and within the venerable structure proceedings were had to I'aise the quota of the Continental troops required from Chester county, as in after years similar meetings were held to pro- vide soldiers during the Rebellion. In 1 728, John and Walter Winter were convicted of the murder of an Indian woman, Quilee, anil they were executed July 3, of that year. At the bar of the old Court House, in 1752, Thomas Kelly was convicted of the murder of Eleanor Davis, and in less than a month thereafter paid the penalty of his crime. In 1760, John Lewis was convicted of the murder of his wife, Ann, and four years after Jane Ewing was convicted of infanticide. In 1764, Phebe, a slave of Joseph Richardson, was hung for robbery, and her master received jG55 from the Colonial treasury, her appraised value. In 1768, Thomas Vaughan and John Dowdle were convict- ed of the murder of Thomas Sharpe ; in 1770, Matthew McMahon was convicted of the murder of John McClester ; in 1772, Pat- rick Kennedy, Thomas Fryer, Neal McCariher and James Dever were convicted of rape — the three last were reprieved during Lieut. Grovernor Richard Penn's pleasure — but Kennedy was executed :- the same year Henry Phillips was convicted of the murder of Richard Kelley ; in 1775, James Willis was sentenced to death for the murder of David Culin, and the sentence was duly executed. In 1778, James Fitzpatrick, the noted outlaw of Chester county, was arraigned and plead guilty of larceny and burglary, and was executed on the 26th of September, 1778. While in the old jail, 54 Historical Sketch of Chester. Fitzpatrick attempted to escape and had almost succeeded, when the noise of falling stone attracted attention and he was discovered. The next day he was removed to Philadelphia for greater safety, and returned to Chester jail the night preceding his execution. At the December Oyer and Terminer of 1785, Elizabeth Wilson was convicted of the murder of her two natural sons, twins, and, while in the cell in the old jail, she made her confession at the solicita- tion of her brother, to Judge Atlee, Attorney General Bradford, Elder Fleeson, the rector of St. Paul's Church, Sheriif Gibbons and her counsel, on which the Executive Council was petitioned to grant her a reprieve for thirty days, in order that the real culprit might be brought to justice. Her sad story lingers in the tradi- tions of our county. Indeed, long years ago the residents of Ches- ter would frequently relate the occasional appearance of a spectral white horse and rider, which on stormy nights could be seen and heard clattering along Fourth street at a headlong pace to the pris- on door, and that reached, the noise ceased and the apparition fad- ed into the darkness. Many of the superstitious people of that day believed that the phantom steed bore the unhappy William Wi'son, whose ride to Philadelphia, in January, 1786, to procure a respite for his sister, his return hither, owing to unavoidable de- Jays, just a quarter of an hour after she had been executed, crushed out his love for human society. For the last half century no one has been bold enough to assert they had seen the mounted ghost, and many of those who, in former yeai's made such declarations, seem to have entirely overlooked the fact that William, " The Her- mit of the Welsh Mountain," for such William Wilson became, did not die until lr819. In May, 1780, Joseph Bates, who was convicted of burglary, was sentenced to be hanged at the usual place of execution at Chester, at 2 o'clock, P. M., on the 20th day of that month; and on the 26th of June of the same year, Robert Smith and John Smith were sentenced to be hung on Saturday, July 1st, at the same place where such executions usually took place. The locality where the extreme penalty of the law was enforced, I have been unable to as- certain, although we know the place where Elizabeth Wilson was hung. In January, 1786, Robert Wilson was in jail under sentence of death for burglary, but February 7, the Executive Council grant- Covrt Houses and Prison'' at Chester. 55 ed him a pardon on condition that " he transport himself beyond the seas, not to return to the United States." On June 5, 1786, John McDonough and Uichard Shirtliffe, who had been convicted of rape and were confined in the old jail under sentence of death, were ordered to be executed, but the Executive Council reprieved Shirtliffe, instructing the Sheriff, however, that the fact should not be communicated to the condemned man until he had been taken under the gallows. At the close of the Revolution the residents of the upper part of Chester county began to protest against the distance they had to travel to reach the county seat, and Col. John Hannum, a brave Revolutionary officer, (during the war he was captured at his house in Goshen township, one night by the British light horse, and taken prisoner to Philadelphia,) who subsequently became a shrewd poli- tician, was the leading spirit in the movement, which assumed de- cided proportion, when the Legislature passed the act of March 20, 1780, authorizing William Clingan, Thomas Bull, John Kinkead, Roger Kink, John Sellers, John and Joseph Davis, or any four of them, to build a new Court House and Prison in the county of Chester, and to sell the old Court House and Prison in the Borough of Chester. The commissioners thus appointed, being composed largely of persons opposed to removal, failed to take any action, and a supplement to the act of 1780 was adopted March 22, 1784, authorizing John Hannum^ Isaac Taylor and John Jacobs, or any two of them, to carry the act into execution. The three gentle- men thus named were ardent removalists, and went promptly to work to carry the law into effect. By the wording of the supple- ment they were restricted from erecting the buildings at a greater distance than one mile and a half from the Turk's Head Tavern, in the township of Goshen. This location, it seems, was inserted in the bill through the influence of Col. Hannum, who, with an eye to his personal advantage, believed that it would bring his land within the site designated. In this, however, he made an error, for his premises proved to be more than two miles from the Turk's Head, The commissioners, notwithstanding Hanmim's mistake, began the erection of a Court House and Prison adjacent, and connected by a jail yard. After the buildings had progressed until the walls were nearly completed, and while work was suspended because of 56 Historical Sketch of Chester. the cold winter, the people of old Chester succeeded, March 30, 1785, in having an act passed suspending the supplement under which the new structures were being erected. To make themselves sure in retaining the county seat in the an- cient Borough, a number of the anti-removalists gathered in Ches- ter under command of Major John Harper, then landlord of the City Hotel, in this city, and provided with arms, a field-piece, a barrel of whisky and other necessary munitions of war, took up the line of march for the Turk's Head, intent on razing the walls of the proposed Court House and jail to the earth. In the meanwhile Col. Hannum, learning of the hostile designs of the Chester peo- ple, dispatched couriers in all directions, calling on the friends of removal to rally to the protection of the half-completed buildings, and Thomas Beaumont is said to have ridden all night from farm- house to farmiiouse in Goshen and Bradford townships, summoning the clan. The forces under command of Major Harper were march- ing toward the Turk's Head, and at night had encamped at the General Green Tavern, a few miles east of West Chester, when Col. Hannum was first apprised of their approach. The latter col- lected his men within the building. The next morning the Chester people came in sight of the fortification, when Major Harper planted his artillery on an eminence known as Quaker Hill, commanding the Court House. The absurdity of the matter dawning on the minds of some of the persons in the ranks of Harper's men, they contrived to bring about a cessation of hostilities, and the whole affair ended in a jollification, during which the cannon was repeatedly discharged in rejoicing over peace restored. The armistice was based on the agreement of the removalists that they would wait further opera- tions on the building until the Legislature should take action on the matter. Although the removalists desisted from work only un- til the anti-removalists were out of hearing, they were not long de- layed, for, at the next session, March 18, 1786, the following curi- ously entitled Act became a law : " An act to repeal an act entitled an act to suspend an act of the General Assembly of this Common- wealth, entitled an act to enable Wm. Clingan, etc.," and under the provision the buildings at the new county seat were finished. On the 25th of September, 1786, a law was passed empowering Wil- liam Gibbon, the then Sheriff of Chester county, to remove the Court Houses avd Prisons at Chester. 57 •" prisoners from the old jail in the town of Chester, to the new jail in Goshen township, in the said county — and to indemnify him for the same." The old Court House and county buildings in Chester were sold on the 18th of March, 1788, to William Kerlin, for ^415. After the passage of the Act of September 26, 1789, creating the county of Delaware, Kerlin sold the property November 3, 1789, to the county for j£693 3s. 8d., and Henry Hale Graham was appointed President Judge of the several Courts of Delaware county. Judge Grraham, who was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1790, died January 23, of that year, in I'hiladelphia, while attend- ing a meeting of that body, hence he never presided over the Courts of the new county, the first session of which was held February 9, 1790. In 1817, John H. Craig was convicted of the murder of Edward Hunter, of Newtown. Squire Hunter and Isaac Cochran were wit- nesses to a will which was unsatisfactory to Craig. He believed that if the w-itnesses were removed the will would become inope- rative, and so believing, he laid in wait to murder them. Hunter was shot in the evening as he was taking his horse to the stable. The murderer concealed himself at the foot of .some rolling ground, and the figure of his victim was brought prominently into view by the brilliant sunset back of him. After he fired the fatal shot, Craig's presence of mind forsook him. He threw away his gun in the bushes near by and fled. The gun, found where he had cast it, led to his arrest and final conviction. In his confession Craig sta- ted that several times he had attempted to take the life of Coch- ran, but each time he raised his gun to shoot, the person walking with Cochran stepped to his side in such a way as to interpose him- self between the murderer and his proposed victim. Craig was executed near Munday's run, in the summer of 1817. In the fall of the year 1824, William Bonsall, of Upper Darby, who was ill at the time, was brutally murdered by three men. Michael Monroe, alias James Wellington, Washington Labbe and Abraham Boys, were arrested and tried at Chester for the crime. Hon. Edward Darlington, who is still living at Media, was prosecuting officer of the Commonwealth, and Wellington was defended by Benjamin Tilghman. The jury, which rendered its verdict on Sunday morn- 58 Historical SkAck of Chester. ing, October 29, 1824, convicted Wellington of murder in the first degree, Washington Labbe of murder in the second degree, and acquitted Abraham Boys. Wellington was hanged Friday, Decem- ber 17, 1824, on Mrs. Bartholomew's comnton, on the Concord road, above the present water works. It is said that five years after W^ellington's execution, a convict dying in Sing Sing prison, stated under oath, that he and two other men were the real murderers of Bonsall The sworn confession being presented to the proper au- thorities, Labbe, who had been sentenced to ten years' imprison- ment, was pardoned, but his long incarceration had so undermined his health, that he died shortly after his release. In 1824, when Joseph Weaver was Sheriff", a convict named Tom Low succeeded in making his escape from confinement. He had been in the jail yard, as Avas usual, at a certain time of the day, and, being forgotten, he managed to get possession of a spade, with which he burrowed under the yard wall, coming out about fif- teen feet from the Court House. He was never recaptured. On Tuesday, October 5, 1824, Gen. Lafayette was the guest of Chester. He was accompanied by Gov. Shulze and staff, General Cadwallader and stafl", and many of the dignitaries of Philadelphia. The steamboat did not reach the landing until eleven o'clock at night, but a line of boys, each bearing a lighted candle, was formed extending, it is said, from the wharf to the Washington House. Most of the houses in the town were brilliantly lighted, and the windows decorated with transparencies and designs. At one o'clock in the morning the Generel and friends were " regaled with a sump- tuous entertainment " at the Court House, which had been pre- pared by the ladies of Chester. Lafayette remained in the ancient Borough during Wednesday when he reviewed the volunteers of Delaware and Chester counties, and on Thursday, at 7 o'clock in the morning, he started in a coach and four for Wilmington, ac- companied by a suitable escort. In 1841, Thomas Cropper, a colored man, for the murder of Mar- tin Hollis, in Birmingham township, was hung in the jail yard. Hon. John Larkin, Jr., was Sheriff" at that time. Cropper, as the day fixed for his execution drew near, made several attempts to escape, and in doing so filed some of the bars in the chimney in his cell apart. His hair was crisp and abundant, and he had concealed Court Houses and Prisons at Chester. 59 a watch spring file therein so adroitly that for a long time the au- thorities could not discover the tool with which he accomplished his work. This was the last case of capital punishment in Dela- ware county. * During the forties the old prison was the scene of a practical joke perpetrated on Major Peck, a military magnate of the State, who had been ordered to Chester to review the militia here. The influence of Friends was such that public opinion was adverse to warlike education, and the visitation of the Major was regarded iu no friendly spirit. T apprehend that Hon. John M. Broomall, then a young man, had more to do with the peculiar circumstances at- tending the military hero's visit than he cared to have known at the time it took place. However, several of the practical jokers, who then infested Chester, induced the Major to visit the prison on the pretext that within its ancient precincts were several relics of the long ago, worthy of inspection by a stranger visiting Chester. The plan worked to a charm. After the party had gained admission to the jail and the door was locked behind them, the keys were con- cealed, and all that day until evening the military gentleman and two of the roysters of Chester stood looking through a grated win- dow in the second story, callino to the people below in the street, to procure their release. The keys could not be found until night had nearly come, but several times during the day the imprisoned men lowered strings to the crowd below and drew them up with pro- visions and other refreshments pendant thereto. After his release Major Peck had several other joKes played upon him before he shook the dust of Chester from his feet, never to revisit it. In 1845 began the agitation of the removal of the county seat to a more central location, and in November of that year a meeting was held at the Black Horse Hotel, in Middletown, to consider the topic. The Grand Jury at the November Court, as had been done by a former Grand Inquest, recommended the building of a new jail, and the removalists were anxious that no steps should be taken to- wards that end umtil the people had an opportunity to consider the mooted point, and hence they petitioned the Assembly to enact a law that the question should be submitted to a vote of the people. In 1847 the Legislature passed an act to that eifect and after a bit- ter struggle, the election held October 12, 1847, resulted in a ma- 60 Historical Sketch of Chester, jority of 752 in favor of removal. The question of the constitu- tionality of the law being raised, the Supreme Court in 1849, sus- tained the statute, and Media was selected as the new county seat. Thus Chester, after being the seat of justice of Delaware county for sixty- two years, was again shorn of its honors. Court was held in the old Court House for the last time by Judge Chapman, Presi- dent, and Leiper and Engle, Associate Judges, May 26, 1851. The session continued until Friday, May 30, 1851, when the Crier, for the last time in the ancient building proclaimed the Court adjourned sine die. The records were removed to Media in Juiie 1851 On August 25, of the same year. Court was held at Media for the first time. During that session Robert E Hannum, Robert McCay, Jr., and Charles D. Manley, Esquires, were appointed Examiners on the application of Thomas J Clayton, to be admitted as an at- torney of the several Courts of Delaware county. Twenty-three years later Mr. Clayton was elected President Judge of the county, which position he now holds. After the change of the county seat was settled beyond cavil, the old buildings and grounds in this city were sold December 9, 1850, in three lots. The Court House and two lots were sold to the Bo- rough authorities for $2601, the Prothonotary's office and lot ad- joining it on the north, to James Hampson, for $1525, and the jail and lots adjoining to James Campbell, for $3520. Previous to the purchase, Mr. Campbell, who had been a success- ful manufacturer at Leiperville, saw the natural advantages of Chester, and had determined to locate here. In The Delaware County Republican of April 5, 1850, appeared the following local : "Pioneer Factory.— The new manufacturing establishment projected in the Borough by Mr. James Campbell, of Ridley, was put in partial operation last week, and the puffing of the steam en- gine and the music of the shuttle are daily heard in our midst, causing us increased wonder why a town, possessing so many and rare advantages as our own was not years ago converted into a great manufacturing mart. Mr. Campbell is about to extend his buildings, and in a short time will have one hundred looms in ac- tive operation. The machinery used is handsomely finished and of a superior kind. We have examined a specimen of the goods made by it and predict that they will find a ready sale in whatever mar- ket they may be off'ered." In this article Mr. Walter alludes to the old bowling alley which Court Houses awl Prisons at Chester. 61 stood on the north side of Fourth street, where part of the Market House is now located. The Republican failed to record an incident which happened when the first loom was started in the Pioneer mill, by the late James Ledward, then in Campbell's employ. A number of citizens of Chester were present when the machinery first began to move, and as they saw it in motion, all present broke into a cheer, and afterward, they one and all sang " Hail Colum- bia." Many who were then employed in the first manufacture of textile goods in Chester, will recall this incident to memory. Af- ter Mr. (!ampbell purchased the jail and workhouse, he tore down the northern wall of the old structure and built out in that direc* tion, so that his mill, retaining the name " Pioneer Mills," extend- ed over to and included the prison yard walls. In the new addition he kept the Jacquard looms, and thereon were woven quilts and fabrics of a like character. The great difficulty he had to contend with was the scarcity of water, and to meet this want he expended thousands of dollars in sinking wells in the yard. The new enter- prise, which had required a large outlay of means, was getting well established when the panic of 1856 came upon the country, spread- ing ruin in all directions and crushing down industrial establish- ments by the thousands. Mr. Campbell at that time .became financially embarrassed, and in 1858 the " Pioneer Mills" passed into the ownership of the late General Robert E. Patterson, The latter sold a lot on Market street to Amos Holt, who erected a brick building, now occupied by Rorer & Mingin, as well as the adjoming lot to the present own- er, John Gregg, who built a store for the book and stationery business. Holt's building was subsequently sold to William Pow- ell, and in succession it became the property of Wiss Willey, Charles Roberts, and at present is owned by Mr. Cook. The mill, after Campbell's failure, was occupied by Jame& Stephens until about 1863, when Messrs. Roberts, Wilson &, Willey carried on the manufacturing business therein. In 1865, Gen. Patterson sold the Market street front to James Chadwick, who in 1866 tore down the old building and erected Lincoln Hall. While taking down the tall flag pole which stood on the sidewalk at Fourth and Market streets, the halyards had been drawn through the block, and Charles Martine clambered up to make a rope fast so that the pole, lower 62 Historical Sketch of Chester. and topmast, might be pulled over into the street. After he had climbed a goodly distance, the pole which had rotted where it en- tered the ground, broke off level with the sidewalk and fell, fa- tally crushing Martine beneath it. The rear part of the old prison passed into the ownership of John Cochran, and on part of the lot the Market House now stands. Chadwick sold the property to Messrs. Gartside & Sons, and they in turn conveyed it to Chester Lodge, No. 236, F. A. M., who now own it. After the Borough authorities acquired the old (yourt House they made many changes, provided a commodious hall in the second story for the use of the Council, which is to-day used by their suc- cessors, the Council of the City of Chester : they also removed the old belfry and built a steeple in which was placed a four-dialed clock and a new bell. The old one, which had called together judges, lawyers, jurors and suitors for nearly a century and a quar- ter was removed to the ancient school house at Fifth and Welsh streets. HISTORIC BlilLDlNGS IN CHESTER. M^iMF jfmwi€w^ ^F Tmmi® ®w^Em& m^i The BoHV 's Eea.d Inn. 11 HIS ancient hostelry stood in the line of the present Penn street, on an eminence, the footway approaching it having a slight ascent to the building. It was one story and a half high, with peaked roof, the gable end standing toward Third street, and from it, just below the eaves, projected the crane from which the old sign of a boar's head was suspended. The house was construct-' ed of heavy frame timber, filled in with brick, and outside as well as inside the laths which were interlaced in a kind of basket pat- tern, were covered with plaster made of oyster shell lime and mud, while in place of hair, swamp grass was employed to hold the com-' position together. The doors were peculiar in the manner in which they were hung, a peg or projection from the door above and below fitted into holes made in the frames, and on these they swung in-^ stead of hinges. The windows, with the exception of the one in the kitchen were small ; the glasses, 4 by 3 in size, were set in lead. The sashes were not hung with weights, a comparatively modern improvement, and when it was desired that the lower sashes should be raised, they were supported by pieces of wood which fitted into the grooves in the frames, or a turn buckle placed half way up sus- tained the weight. The large window in the kitchen was made to slide one sash past the other. The roof was of split shingles, and 64 Historical Sketch of Chester. the kitchen floor was laid in flagging some of which were as large as 6 by 8 feet, and under these was a body of eighteen inches of sand on which tliey rested. In the kitchen on the side opening to the west was a large double door through which a cart load of wo(td could be drawn if desired. The chimney was an enorriious affair, nearly sixteen feet in width, and the wide-mouthed o'd fireplace was spacious enough to hold entire cord wood sticks on great iron dogs, while on either side in the fireplace were benches, where, on excessively cold days the chilled inmates of the house could rest themselves, while enjoying the blazing fire on the hearth. The cel- lar, which was under the front part of the building, was a model, and its like would be difficult to find among even the most impo- sing structures of this day. It was of dressed stone, the joints were true, every stone set square and as carefully laid as the ma- sonry of the City Hall. The workmen might well have been proud of this exhibition of their skill. The front room, which was used as a sleeping room, was spacious, as was also the sitting room back of it, but both these apartments, as well as the ones above, were without means of warmth in the winter. The well was noted for its clear, pure water, and often in the evening the residents of Chester, in the first half of the present century, who were com- pelled to use the mineral waters of the town, would walk over to the ancient well to enjoy a cheering draught from its refreshing depths. The old house was shaded by many varieties of fruit trees, such as cherries, apricots, pears and plums, and apples, of the ap- proved varieties of our early days, were abundant in the garden, where many flowers perfumed the air with their delightful odors. It was in this house that William Penn passed the Avinter of 1682-'83, and, doubtless, as he sat in the kitchen, watching the flaming wood in the fireplace, he could not but contrast the dreari- ness of his then surroundings with the brilliant courts of the Grand Monarch of France and that of his unscrupulous and subservient tool, Charles II. of England, in which he had often been received. Notwithstanding, nowhere in his spoken or written words do we find that he gave utterance to his regrets at the change in his mode of living, from the elegant refinement of that day, (which in ours would have been rude and boisterous,) to the frequent want of even the very necessaries of life he was then undergoing. Historic Buildings in Chester. 65 We do not know who it was who had the honor, as the then land- lord, to receive under his roof the founder of a great Common- wealth, but doubtless it was Jonathan Ogden, who in his will, da- ted August 17, 1727, and probated thirteen days thereafter, styles himself inn keeper. In the early deeds from Wade, his land is mentioned, and I presume that he acquired it previous to Penn's coming, although I ha-ve been unable to establish this fact from the record. He devised this property to his sons David and Joseph Odgen and Katharine, his daughter, share and share alike. The executors named, George Ashbridge and Jacob Howell, failed to carry out the testator's intention, inasmch as he directed them to sell his real estate as soon as possible and divide the proceeds among his children mentioned. How Katharine's share became absorbed in those of her brothers I do not know, but the title remained in equal share in the two sons and their descendants until purchased by Isaac E. Engle, December W, 1826, from the children and grandchildren of David and Joseph Ogden. The descendants of the latter liad all removed from this neighborhood, but the children of David Ogden, excepting his son David, who resided in Wilmington ■; his daughters, Sarah Pyle, Ann Siddons, Mary Cotter, all lived in Chester, and during the greater part of her widowhood Polly Cotter, as she was familiarly called, resided in the old house She vacated it because of Increasing age^ and the house was rented to William Baggs, who lived there until he died. Mr. Baggs was at one time offered the whole property for several hundred dollars, but declined to purchase it, as he was not sure the investment would have been a good one, and, so far as he was concerned, it would not have been, for Chester did not awaken from its lethargy until several years after his death. James Baggs, the only son, removed to Philadelphia, and Katharine married Samuel Ulrich in 1828. The Squire, for such Samuel Ulrich afterwards became, and is remembered more particularly by that title, was a genial, jovial gen- tleman, who loved a pleasing joke but never played a practical one to the injury or inconvenience of his neighbors, a pattern of a ma- gistrate in that he never fanned the flame of dispute between suit- ors, but ever sought to settle the difficulty in such a way as to re- move all rancor from the minds of the parties. He abounded in recollections of the olden times of Chester, and related his remi- 66 Historical Sketch of Chester. niscences of the past with all intonation and emphasis necessary to give point and expression to his narrative. He died December 5, 1871. Jane Baggs married Jeremiah Stevenson, but died many years ago. " Jerry " Stevenson is one of our best known citizens. When Hon. John Larkin, Jr., was Sheriff, he was one of his depu- ties during the execution of Thomas Cropper, in the jail yard, and after the trip had been sprung and the prisoner's struggles unfast- ened the ropes that bound his arms, he it was who pinioned his arms again. A merciful act, for the half-hanged man clutched wildly with his hands at the rope by which he was suspended, and his suffering was rendered more intense because of that effort. " Jerry " was a noted shot in his younger days. Mary Baggs became the wife of Hon. John Larkin, Jr., whose active, energetic life, memorable for its public usefulness, I have mentioned fully elsewhere After the family of Mr. Baggs moved away from the old dwel- ling it had several tenants, and at last a colored family, Warner Pryor's occupied it. On the morning of March 20, 1848, the Pryor family vacated it, and the same evening the old building was found in flames. The fire was supposed to be an incendiary one. "J erry" Stevenson who was employed to remove the ruins of the old dwel- ling, when he came to take up the flagging in the kitchen, found deeply embedded in the sand on which they rested, an old hatchet, peculiar in its shape, but of good steel, which had been dropped there by one of the workmen when the building was erected — cer- tainly before the arrival of Penn. The old historic structure having disappeared, when Crozer and Broomall began the improvement of Chester, south of the bridge, in 1850, the present Penn street was laid out by order of Court, August 29, 1850, and the well, so noted for its water, was in the course of the street. I am told that the old well, walled over, al- most in the middle of Penn street, exists to this day. Part of the site of the Boar's Head Inn having been taken by the public for a highway, the remaining premises belonging to the estate of Capt. Isaac E. Engle, who had died in 1844, while on a voyage to China, was conveyed December 21, 1863, by John C. Davis, trustee to sell the real estate, to Samuel Ulrich, for $1,363. On the lot thus pur- Historic Buildings in Chester. 67 chased the latter erected the Delaware House, an 1 the property is still in the ownership of his heirs. TAe Old Eoskins {^raliam] House, John Simcock, of Ridley, received a patent from tlie Duke of York for sixteen yards, fronting upon Chester creek and running back into the land of Neeles Laerson, bounded on the north by lands of Jurian Keen, and on the south by land of Neeles Laerson. On the 5th day of 6th month, 1684, Simcock sold to John Hoskins, then spelled Hodgkins, the tract of land, and the latter in the year 1688, built the house now standing at the south-east corner of Edg- mont avenue and Graham street. The house thus erected was used by him as an inn, and was a substantial structure, as is evidenced even in its present declina- tion by an inspection of the building. It is two stories in height, with attics ; the steps and porch which were located before the street line was definitely fixed, extend a goodly distance into the sidewalk. A hallway runs through the centre of the building : a wide, easily ascended staircase rises from the rear of the entry at the south side to the apartments above. The balustrade is fash- ioned of hard wood and is very massive, while the steps of ash, in many places, show marks of worms who have eaten deep grooves in the solid planking. The windows in the lower rooms are deeply re- cessed within the apartments and old-time seats constructed there- in. The heavy beams supporting the upper floors stand promi- nently out from the ceiling. In the rooms on the first and second floors on the north side of the house, the high old-fashioned wooden mantels over the large fireplaces are flanked by enormous closets, which are lighted by small windows in the outer walls — those in the southern end have been walled up — and in a closet in the room over the dining room to the north, when a friend and myself visited ^8 Historical Sketch of Chester. the old house in September last, a bed was spread, just as nearly as two hundred years ago similar beds were made for the children of the early settlers of the Province, who stopped at the old hotel in 1688 — the year of the Great Revolution in England. The floors are laid in hard wood, and the flooring boards are wide, almost the entire width of the trees from which they were cut. The ceilings are lofty for the time when the building was erected, and the house is divided into numerous sleeping apartments intended to accom- modate many guests. The steep roof externally would indicate that the attics were so low that they would be uncomfortable to the inmates, whereas the contrary is the fact. The kitchen, which is built in an L on the north-eastern end of the house, is large, the fireplace comprising almost the entire eastern end — now enclosed as a closet — is of that ample size usual among our ancestors, that the benumbed wayfarers could seat themselves at either side of the chimney, on benches provided for that purpose, and enjoy the warmth of the roaring fire of huge logs, formerly the only way em- ployed to heat that part of the building. In the days of its an- cient grandeur there was a portico or veranda in the rear of the main building extending ten or twelve feet outward, which was en- closed with lattice work, where, in the summer time the hospitable table was spread. An old oven, long since torn down, was attached to the house on the north side of the kitchen, and a well of good water, now abandoned, was located in the rear and at some distance from the portico. John Hoskins and Mary, his wife, were natives of Cheshire, Eng- land, and came to this country in the year 1682. In August, 1684, he purchased from John Simcock, the property whereon he after- wards built the house : and he had purchased 9th month, 21, 1681, from Penn, before leaving England, two hundred and fifty acres of land, which was laid out to him in Middletown township, between the lands of Richard Crosby and David Ogden, 4th month, 27, 1684. He was a member of the General Assembly which sat March 12, 1683. His will dated 11th month, 2, 1694-5, and probated Au- gust 15, 1698, in Philadelphia, is signed John Hodgskins, but the renunciation of the Executors named therein, dated 12th of 6 mo. —'98, speak of him as John Hoskins. He left two children, John and Hannah, and* his widow, who although aged, married in 1700, Historic Buildings in Chester. Q% George Woodier, of Chester. His daughter Hannah married in 1698, Charles Whitaker. His estate was a large one for those times, the appraisement amounting to j6450 12s. 2d., and the dif- ferent articles set forth therein, as contained in the various rooms- of the house wherein he died, answer to the number in the present Graham House. His son, John Hoskins, married in 1698, Ruth Atkinson, and in 1700, when only 23 years of age, was elected Sheriff of the county, an office the duties of which he discharged so successfully that for fifteen years in succession, excepting during the year 1708, he was continued in that office To him the old homestead descended, and here he lived until his death, October 26, 1716. He was the father of four sons and one daughter, Mary, who married John Mather. One of the sons I suppose died before their mother, for in the will of Ruth Hoskins, dated July 3, 1739, she mentions only her sons Stephen and Joseph Hoskins — -although John was still living, and I presume had taken the estate of 250 acres patented to his grand- father, in Middletown township — and devised to her son-in-law, Mather, a house and lot. Stephen Hoskins was born in Chester, 12 mo. 18, 1701-2, and Joseph was born in the same place, 4 mo., 30, 1705. Stephen Hoskins married in 1727, Sarah Warner, of Maryland, and moved into that Province, but returned to Chester, 1730, and was elected Coroner of Chester county. About 1743, he re- moved to Philadelphia, and it Avas to his son John, of Burlington, that Joseph Hoskins, of the Porter House, devised the real estate, of which he died seized. To Joseph Hoskins, respecting whom I have more fully alluded in the notice of the Porter House, the old homestead descended, and he, June 4, 1762, sold the property to Henry Hale Graham. Henry Hale Graham, the son of William Graham, and grandson of Richard Graham, of the manor of Blackhouse, in the county of Cumberland, England, and nephew of George Graham, the maker of the noted clock at Greenwich which regulates the time of the world, and the discoverer of the mercurial pendulum, by which the differences in the temperature of the seasons is overcome, was born in London, July 1, 1731, and came to the Colony when an infant. His father first settled at Darby, but before the year 1 740 removed 70 Historical Sketch of Chester. to Chester, where he died August 6, 1758. His mother, Eleanor, \/ a daughter of Zedemiah Wyatt, of London, who it is said by Mrs. Deborah Logan, in her manuscript notes to John F. Watson's « Visit to Chester, in 1 824," " was a woman of excellent sense, a gentlewoman born, and had received the best education herself in England. She was like a parent to my mother (Mary Parker) and the other young persons of that time, at Chester, who enjoyed greater advantages than could be found in most other places." We know very little of the early life of Henry Hale Graham except that he was a hard student and one of the best penmen in the county, whose peculiar but clear and beautiful chirography the re- cords of Delaware and Chester counties even now attest. In 1761, he was appointed one of the Justices of the county of Chester. Again in 1775 to the same office and to the like position in 1789. He was appointed Register, Recorder, Prothonotary, and Clerk of the several Courts of Chester county, in 1766, on the oc- casion of the death of Joseph Parker, in whose office previous to that time he is believed to have been employed. In the report made to Governor Richard Penn on the condition of the Province, in 1775, the compensation of the offices of Register, Recorder, &c., then held by Mr. Graham, is given as .£120 per annum. Henry Hale Graham married Abigail, daughter of Thomas and Mary Pen- nell, July 1, 1760. In March, 1777, Thomas Taylor was appointed to succeed Mr. Graham in office, but he never assumed its duties, and in April of the same year, Benjamin Jacob was appointed to the same position, but he refusing to accept it, Caleb Davis was therefore appointed, and on the 11th of June following was quali- fied for the place. On July 28, the records were still in the pos- session of Mr. Graham, for at that time Caleb Davis was instructed to '* enter the dwelling and outhouses of H. H. Graham, take pos- session of the books and papers of the county and remove them to a place of safety." In 1777, when the British frigate " Augusta " opened fire on the town, the family in the Graham House sought safety in the ceUar, and it is traditionally reported that one of the shots struck the building, doing considerable damage. When the English army marched through Chester, in 1777, they destroyed much property, and Mr. Graham's loss from that cause amounted Historic Buildings in Chester. 71 to over j£25. He seems to have taken no active part during the Revolutionary war. In 1789, he was named, with others, one of the trustees to pur- chase the old public buildings at Chester, and was appointed Presi- dent Judge of the newly created county of Delaware ; was a mem- ber of the second State Constitutional Convention, that of 1790, and died while attending the deliberations of that body. In the Pennsylvania Packet, January 26, 1790, is the following item : "On Saturday, the 23d inst., departed this life at Philadelphia, after a short illness, Henry Hale Graham, Esq., in the 59th year of his age, President of the Courts of Common Pleas and Quarter Sessions for Delaware county, and one of the Delegates in Conven- tion for altering and amending the Constitution of the State. And on Tuesday morning his remains were interred in Friends' burial ground at Chester, attended by his family and a very large collec- tion of relatives and acquaintances and a committee of the Conven- tion." The estate thereupon descended to William Graham, the only son of Henry Hale Graham, who was born in Chester in the old house, in 1766. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1788, in which year he was married to Jane Robinson, a sister of Captain Thomas Robinson, who subsequently married William Graham's sis- ter Catharine. During the Whisky Insurrection in Western Penn- sylvania, in 1 794, he commanded a troop of cavalry from Delaware county, and while in that command his exposure brought on a dis- ease of the throat which affected his voice, at times, so that he could not speak above a whisper. This vocal difficulty became per- manent several years after, owing to the fact that in company with several gentlemen, he went gunning to Chester Island, and became separated from his companions. When dark came he could not be found, and his friends returned to Chester, determining at early dawn to resume their search for him. All t%at night he remained on the bar, and as he was short in stature, the water rose until his head and shoulders were alone out of the water. When rescued next morning his voice was entirely gone, and he never again re- covered it so as to be able to speak in public, and even in conver- sation he was often almost inaudible. He died December 19, 1821, and in his will, dated March 4, 1820, he devised to his wife « the house and lot where I now dwell, with all the outhouses and appur- tenances for and during the term of her natural life, this devise to 72 Historical Sketch of Chester. include all the land in the square on which the house now stands as I now occupy the same," with remainder to his four sisters. Jane Graham, the widow, lived in the old dwelling for a year or so after the death of her husband, when she removed to Philadel- phia, and the house was leased to Dr. William Gray, who, then re- cently married, resided there for several years. He was followed by Samuel Smith, and in time by Mrs. Sarah P. Combe, one of the heirs of the estate of William Graham, until the death of Jane Graham, the widow, December 10, 1855, after which the estate was sold by order of Court, and the old house and lot was conveyed April 9. 1857, to John G. Dyer, whose heirs still own it. After the premises passed into the ownership of Mr. Dyer, the house was occupied by Mrs. Darlington, and subsequently by Col. W. C. Gray until within the last ten years, since which time the old dwelling has had numerous tenants, and is now occupied by W. T. Jenkins as a restaurant. There is an mdistinct tradition that early in the last century when John Hoskins, the younger, was Sheriff, and resided in this house, he arrested a person of some prominence, and took him to his own dwelling for safe keeping, rather than place him in the common jail. It is stated that in the night-time, when it was very dark, the prisoner came out from his room, opened the back win- dow at the stair landing, in the second story, and jumped from the window on the inclosed portico beneath. The distance was not very great, but he slipped on the roof and fell to the ground be- low, sustaining such injuries that he died in a few minutes there- after. This is the vague story of a century and a half ago which has descended to us, and it is impossible at this late day to furnish fuller particulars of the event, or in fact to declare with absolute certainty whether there is any truth in the narrative whatever. Historic Buildings in Chester. 73 The Logan, Bouse. This dwelling was built by Jasper Yeates, in the year 1700, on ground purchased fi-om David Lloyd, December 11, 1699, and for- merly a stone on which was cut the initials " J. & C. Y." with the date 1700 underneath, similar in appearance to the date stone of the old Porter House, was set in one of the gables. These initials stood for the names Jasper and Catharine Yeates. The ancient structure was massively built of brick, which material is frequently said to have been brought from Europe, a statement which is not worthy of much consideration, since we know that at the time the house was erected, several brickyards were in operation on the Delaware, in Philadelphia, and at Burlington, New Jersey, and freights were active to the Colonies, so that it is not to be supposed that the owners of vessels would ship such heavy and bulky mate- rials to the exclusion of lighter and better paying freights, particu- larly when the latter was seeking transportation. It was two sto- ries in height, with a tent-like roof forming an attic within, with steep sides. Over the first-story windows was a pent roof, similar to that remaining on the old City Hall, and a porch at the front door, with seals at each side of the door, at right angles to the building. A wide doorway gave access to the spacious hall, many small diamond-shaped panes of glass set in lead, in the large win- dow sashes, gave light to the several apartments, and casements at the head of the stair landing furnished the same to the wainscoted hallway. All the rooms were wainscoted also, and the panels were painted or stained in imitation of mahogany. Large closets were on each side of the wide chimney places, lighted by windows in the outer walls. Under the high wooden mantel pieces in the parlor and the room opposite, across the hall, the fireplaces were lined with illuminated tiles, delineating incidents of Scriptural history. Large buttresses were built against the gables for stength, and smaller ones to guard the brick walls on each side of the main building. These buttresses were subsequently removed. An incident connected with this old house has descended to us through more than a century and a half of years. The winter of 1 740-1 was memorable for its extremely cold weather. It is rela- 74 Hisiorwal Sketch, of Chester. ted by Mrs. Deborah Logan, whose ancestors at that time resided in the ancient mansion house, that one night an old man-servant, a constant smoker, rose from his bed and went to the kitchen to light his pipe. Angry growlings by the watch-dog caused him to look out of the window. The moon was up, but partly obscured by clouds, and by that light the old man saw an animal which he took for " a big black calf" in the yard. He thereupon drove the crea- ture out of the enclosure, when it turned and looked at him, and he then learned that it was a black bear. The beast, it is sup- posed, had been in some way aroused from its winter torpor, and had sought shelter from the cold, which may account for its appa- rent docility. The next morning it was killed in a wood about half a mile distant from the Logan House. Jasper Yeates, of Philadelphia, a native of Yorkshire, England, married Catharine, daughter of James Sandilands, the elder, and in 1697, puixhased mills and a tract of ground at the mouth of Naaman's creek. The next year he built a goodly sized structure between Chester creek and Edgmont avenue, for a granary or store- house for grain on the second floor, and established a bakery in the lower room. It should be recollected that two hundred years ago, Chester creek, at that point, was considerably to the westward of the present stream. He was a prominent man of his day. He was appointed by Penn, when the Proprietary created the Borough of Chester, October 13, 1701, one of its four Burgesses. In 1703, he was chosen Chief Burgess of the Borough, and is believed to have been the first person holding that office. He was one of the Justices of Chester county, afterwards one of the Justices of the Supreme Court of the Province ; a member of the Provincial Coun- cil and a member of the General Assembly. He and his brother- in-law, James Sandilands, the younger, were the principal promo- ters of the building of St. Paul's church. He died previously to May 2, 1720, for his will was probated at New Castle, Del., at the date last given. He left six children surviving him, four sons and two daughters. John Yeates, the third son of Jasper and Catharine Yeates, was born at Chester, March 1, 1705. He inherited from his father the "dwelling house" at Chester, with the « boulting " wharf, gar- dens and lots near the same town, " bought of Jonas Sandilands Historic Buildings in Chester. 75 and Edward Henneston." He was a shipping merchant, and resid- ed for a time in the islands of Barbadoes, and afterwards in Phila- delphia, where he acquired considerable real estate. Later in life he sustained large pecuniary losses in business ventures, and through the influence of friends, in 1 764 was appointed Comptroller of Cus- toms, at Pocomoke, Maryland. He died there the following year. Under date of September 4, 1733, John Yeates and Elizabeth (Sid- botham,) his wife, conveyed the mansion house and lot, of which I am speaking, to Joseph Parner, as well as other lands in Chester. Joseph Parker was a nephew of the noted and eccentric Quaker preacher, John Salkeld. He was a native of (Cumberland, P^ngland, and in 1714, at the age of twenty-five, came to the Province and settled at Chester, to be near his uncle. He entered the office of David Lloyd, and after Lloyd's death, he succeeded him as Regis- ter and Recorder of Chester county. In 1724 he was Prothonotary of the Courts, and in 17-38 he was commissioned a Justice of the Peace, a position of much dignity in Colonial days. In 1730, he married Mary, daughter of James Ladd, of Gloucester county. New Jersey. His wife died the following year, leaving one child, a daughter, Mary. Joseph Parker died May 21, 1766. Mary Parker, born April 21, 1731, at Chester, to whom the Lo- gan House descended, was married to Charles Norris, of Philadel- phia, in the old Quaker Meeting House, on Market street, 6th mo., 21, 1759. Her husband died January 15, 1766, and she returned to Chester and resided in the parental mansion until her death, December 4, 1799. She was the mother of three sons and one daughter, Deborah, to whom by will, she devised the Logan House. Deborah Norris was born in Philadelphia, October 19, 1761, and was a small child when her widowed mother returned to Chester. She was married to Dr. George Logan, a grandson of James Logan, Penn's Secretary and intimate personal friend, September 6, 1781, and went to reside at the Logan family seat, Stenton, until her death, February 2, 1839. Deborah Logan was a woman of much literary ability, and a historian of great attainments. Indeed her remarkable store of antiquarian information justly entitled her to the appellation of " The Female Historian of the Colonial Times." She had mingled freely with the leading spirits of the Revolution- ary period, and her cousin, Charles Thomson, the first and long con- 76 Historical Skdch of Chester. fidential Secretary of the Continental Congress, was through life anp intimate visitor at her house, and from him she learned much of the inner history of those times. In 1814, Mrs Logan came to the conclusion that the correspondence of William Penn and James- Logan contained much valuable information respecting the early history of the Commonwealth, and she began the task of coUatingy deciphering and copying the manuscripts in her possession, many of the documents being much decayed and difficult to read; but she industriously set herself to work, rising in the winter time before sunrise and at daylight in the summer, for a period of several years. Her manuscripts made eleven large quarto volumes, and formed two clever sized octavo volumes, when published by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. John F. Watson, the annalist, obtained many of the interesting items in his popular work, from Mrs Lo- gan. During her ownership of the Logan House, she rented it to Miss Eliza Finch, who kept a school there for several years, which was well attended. Deborah Logatt left four sons, to the eldest of whom, Dr. xllbanus C. Logan, she devised by will, the old mansion on Second street. March 25, 1842y he conveyed it to Samuel Ul- rich, the property having been in the ownership of his family one hundred and nine years. Samuel Ulrich in turn conveyed the pro- perty to Hon. John M. Broomall. Mr. Broomall never resided in the old Logan House, but sold the property to Mrs. Rebecca Ross — wife of Captain Richard Ross, deceased — who still owns it. An important incident somewhat connected with this ancient dwelling, is the fact that the original records of the Upland Court, which have since been published, by the Historical Society of Penn- sylvania, and are of such importance to the student of our early annals, were found hj Deborah Logan, in an old bookcase, which had formerly belonged to her grandfather, Joseph Parker, and which had stood for many years in the Logan House, until it was removed to Stenton. The existence of the document was unknown almost for a century, until accidentally discovered in a secret drawer in this old bookcase. Historic. Buildings in Chester. 11 The Citjr Hotel. On the 10th of December, 1700, James Sandilands, the younger, conveyed the land on the northwest corner of Third street and Edg- mont avenue, on which this building was afterwards erected, to David Roberts, and on May 26, 1714, Jonas Sandilands, the brother of James, and Mary, his wife, confirmed the tract of ground to Ro- berts reserving, however, a yearly ground rent of three shillings to his heirs. I believe the building was erected by David Roberts shortly after his purchase from James Sandilands. However that may be, it was certainly built before 1723, for in a deed from David Roberts and Susanna, his wife, to Ruth Hoskins, widow of Sheriff John Hoskins, dated the 19th and 20th days of August of that year, the structure is mentioned and described in the indenture. The hotel at that time was kept by Aubrey Bevan, and designated as the " Pennsylvania Arms," for in the will of Ruth Hoskins, da- ted July 3, 1739, she devised the premises to her granddaughter, Ruth Mather, daughter of John and Mary (Hoskins) Mather, as " the house and lot where Aubrey Bevan now lives and commonly known by the name of Pennsylvania Arms." There appears to be some contradiction in the record, for by lease and release dated March 5 and 6, 1738, Ruth Hoskins conveyed the property to her son-in-law, John Mather. He was a prominent citizen, a Justice of the Peace — an important dignitary in those days — and at the expiration of Bevan's term became the landlord of the house. Bevan thereupon purchased the ground on Market street, and built the Washington House. Mary Hoskins, who had married John Mather, was a most admi- rable wife and mother. Her careful training of her daughters is evidenced by the fact that both of them became the wives of dis- tinguished men, and are alluded to by writers of acknowledged po- sition on several occasions, for their personal excellence and woman- ly worth. Ruth Mather, to whom the property was devised by her grand- mother, married Charles Thomson, one of the most noted men in our national annals. He was a native of Ireland, and during all the diflSculties with the mother country was an ardent Whig, He 78 Historical Sketch of Chester. was the first Secretary of the Continental Congress of 1774, and continued in that office during the long struggle of the Revolution. It was he who first read the Declaration of Independence to the people from the steps of the old hall wherein that document was signed. In recognition of the faithful discharge of his duties, he was chosen to bear to Washington the intelligence of the latter's nomination to the Presidency of the United States. Of him, John Adams, in his diary writes : " Charles Thomson is the Sam. Adams of Philadelphia, the life of the cause of liberty." He retired from public office and during his latter days translated the Septuagint, which was published in four volumes, in 1808. He died in Lower Merion, Montgomery county, in 1824, in his ninety-fifth year. Ruth Thomson died without children surviving her, and by the will of John Mather, May 28, 1768, he devised the premises to his daughter, Ruth, and his son-in-law, Charles Jackson : and in the event of the death of Ruth, without children, then to his grand- daughter, Mary Jackson. He mentions the tenancy of Valentine Weaver, and named his daughters, Jane Jackson and Ruth Thom- son, as his executors. Jane alone took out letters testamentary. Charles Thomson, after the death of Ruth, his wife, without child- ren, March 5, 1785, released to Mary Jackson all his right and title in the premises, and Mary Jackson, March 5, 1785, conveyed the estate to John Harper, who was then in occupancy of the hotel. Tradition tells us that so extreme was his opposition to the pro- posed removal of the county seat to West Chester, that he collected and commanded the armed force which marched from Chester to demolish the partly-built Court House and Jail at the Turk's Head, during the summer of 1785. The author of " Lament over Ches- ter's Mother," refers to Major John Harper thus : Cries little Jack, the youngest son, Who just began to crawl — " If mamma lives, I soon shall run; If not, I soon shall fall. " Oh ! may Jack Hannum quickly die — And die in grievous pain — Be sent into eternity That mamma may remain. Historic Buildings in Chester. 79 "May all his projects fall, likewise— That we may live again !" Then every one rolled up his eyes, And cried aloud, " Amen !" After the county seat was removed to West Chester, Major Har- per, believing that the sun of Chester's prosperity had set, never to rise again, emigrated to the new local capitol, and became the landlord of the Turk's Head Hotel there. That old tavern, which displayed the head of the Grand Turk on its sign, from which it took its name, continued to be a public house until 1854, when it was enlarged and used as a seminary for young ladies. At the present time it is used as a hotel as of yore Harper having made default in the payment of the mortgage on the property, suit was brought by the executor of Mary Jackson deceased, and on August 1 , 1 788, Ezekiel Leonard, Sheriff, deeded the property to her executor. Dr. David Jackson, of Philadelphia. Who was the landlord of the old house at this time I have not learned, but Dr. Jackson and Susanna, his wife, conveyed the pro- perty by deed, dated January 14, 1793, to Matthias Kerlin, Jr., of Trenton, New Jersey. Matthias Kerlin, Jr., was the brother of William Kerlin, the owner and host of the Washington House, and subsequently re- turned to Delaware county to reside. He seems to have retired from business at the date of Jackson's deed to him, for he is desig- nated as " gentleman," meaning one living on the income from in- vestments. March 30, 1793, Matthias Kerlin, Jr., and Sarah, his wife, conveyed the property to William Pierce, of Lower Chiches- ter, gentleman. Pierce had married Mary, the then widow of John Dennis, by whom she had a daughter, Hannah Dennis, and in order to provide for her and to contribute to the education and maintain- ance of Hannah Dennis, etc.. Pierce and his wife made a deed, August 13, 1793, in trust to Eliphaz Daizey and Matthias Kerlin, Jr., for the purpose therein stated, but, by deed of revocation, da- ted December 16, 1797, the trusts were declared null and void. William Pierce died previously to March 1799, for his widow Mary executed a mortgage on the property at that time, and recites that in his will, dated August 9, 1798, he had devised the estate to her. Mary Pierce a third time entered into the marriage relation, for on 80 Historical Sketch of Chester. the 27th day of February, 1802, David Coats, of Philadelphia, and Mary, his wife — late Mary Pierce, she being the late widow and the sole devisee and executrix named in the last will of William Pierce — conveyed the premises to Abraham See, of Saint George's Hun- dred, Delaware, and he in turn, March 22, 1803, sold the property to Edward Engle, who kept the hotel until he died — about 1810 — and his vi^idow, Mary Engle, continued the business until the years 1832 or 1833, when she retired and leased the premises to John J. Thurlow. The ancient hostelry under Mrs. Engle's supervision was the fashionable and popular hotel of the Borough. In 1824, when Gren, Lafayette was the guest of Chester, the First City Troop, of Philadelphia, was quartered at her house, then known as the Eagle Tavern ; for in a description of a journey from old Ireland to Chester, written in verse by Philip Sexton, who lived at Squire Eyre's, on Edgmont avenue, during the early part of this century, he refered to this hotel thus : " If you stand on the bridge And look to the east, You'll there see an eagle, As big as a beast. Call at this tavern, Without any dread ; You'll there get chicken, Good mutton and bread." "~ Mrs. Engle was the mother of the late Rear Admiral Frederick Engle, who died in 1866, and of Capt Isaac E. Engle, of the Mer- chant Service, who died in 1844. Her daughter Mary married the late Hon. Samuel Edwards, a member of the bar and representa- tive in Congress from this district, from 1819-21, and again from 1825-27, who died, leaving surviving him, his son, Henry B. Ed- wards, Esq., a member of the bar, and at this writing a leading- citizen of Chester, and a daughter, Mary Engle Edwards, who in- termarried with Edward Fitzgerald Beale, at that time Lieutenant in the Navy, and noted for his celebrated ride across Mexico with dispatches from Commodore Stockton, during our war with that country, and subsequently prominent before the nation as Superin- tendent of Indian Affairs, and in exploring expeditions, construct- ing public highways, and in surveys for projected railroads. In Historic Buildings in Chester. 81 1860, he was appointed Surveyor General of California, and under General Grant's second administration he was United States Min- ister to Austria. Gen. Beale is one of the largest land owners in the world, his estate in California comprising two hundred thousand acres of land. Mary Engle's other daughter, Abby, married John Kerlin, Esq.,. a member of the Delaware county bar, and for many years Presi- dent of the Bank of Delaware County. Mrs. Kerlin now resides with her nephew, H. B. Edwards, Esq., in this city. Her son, Frederick E. Kerlin, died in California over twenty odd years ago, and Capt. Charles Kerlin, a well-known merchant captain, now re- tired from service, lives in New Jersey. Mrs. Engle was succeeded in business by John J. Thurlow, about 1833, and I quote from Martin's History of Chester, the following graphic description of the old hotel in its palmiest days as a stop- ping place for one of the lines of stages that then passed through Chester for Baltimore, Washington and the South. He says : " How well I remember ' Thurlow's,' in the days of its busy greatness ; well I remember how, when I was a boy, I lingered near its hospitable doors to see the handsome horses of the Reeside, Stockton k Stokes, Murdeck & Sharp^ and Janvier's rival lines of stage coaches changed ; the smoking steeds detached by active host- lers, and the new relay of well-groomed horses substituted, and saw the ' Stage driver,' an important man in those days, with his great coat of many capes and long whip ; the well dressed travelers sauntering about talking and smoking after their meal, waiting for . the stage. Oft I have peeped into the small, clean bar-room, in the centre of which stood a large coal stove (in winter) in a large sand box, that served as a huge spittoon. In one corner of the room stood a semi-circular bar, with its red railings reaching to the ceiling, into whose diminutive precincts the jolly landlady could scarcely get her buxom person, while her husbaiid with his velvet- een shooting coat, with its large buttons and its many pockets, ex- cited my intense admiration. At his heels there were always two or three handsome setter dogs, of the finest breed and well trained. Sometimes I got a glimpse of the south-west room. This was the parlor ; back of it was a room where travelers wrote their letters ; and back of the bar was a cozy little room, mine hostess' sanctum, into which only special friends were admitted. All these are now one large American bar-room. " In reading accounts of the old English inns of coaching days, my mind involuntarily reverts to ' Thurlow's,' for there on the walls were hanging the quaint old coaching and hunting prints imported 82 Historical Sketch of Chester. from England, and around the house was ' Boots,' and the ' Host- ler,' and the 'pretty waiting maid with rosy cheeks,' all from Old England. The horses are all hitched, the passengers are < all aboard,' the driver has taken his seat, (the guard is blowing his horn, having taken one inside,) is gathering up his many reins ; now he feels for his whip, flourishes it over his four-in-hand, making a graceful curve with its lash, taking care not to touch his horses ; but does it with a report like a rifle shot, the hostlers jump aside, and with a bound and a rush, the coach is off for Washington, or Philadelphia, carrying perchance within it Clay, Webster or Cal- houn. And of a winter's evening when I have stolen out from home, I have passed the 'Tavern,' and seen seated around its cheerful fire the magnates of the town, telling stories of other days (as I now could tell their names.) And sometimes peeping through the green blinds, I have seen a quiet game of whist going on ; per- haps it was ' all fours,' or else a game of checkers or dominoes." Mr. Thurlow retired from business about 1840, and was succeed- ed by Maurice W. Deshong, who kept the house for a few years and was followed by Major Samuel A. Price, who continued the business until about 1853, when the late George Wilson became its host. After a few years Mr. Wilson retired, and was in turn suc- ceeded by Lewis A. Sweetwood. The death of Mrs. Mary Engle, in 1870, at the advanced age of 94 years, compelled a sale of the hotel and other property, by order of Orphans' Court, to settle her estate, and in that year William Ward, as trustee to make the sale, conveyed the hotel property to Jonathan Pennell, who in turn, the same year, sold the premises to Paul Klotz, the present owner, who has made important additions and improvements to the eastern end of the ancient building. Tlie Washington House. The title to the ancient hostelry on Market street, known for al- most a century to the denizens of Chester as the Washington Hotel, extends back to the Proprietary, for by patent dated May Historic Buildings in Chester, 83 31, 1686, the commissioners of William Penn conveyed to James Sandelands, in fee, twenty acres of land in Chester, and on a part of this tract the hotel buildings were subsequently erected. This property descended to Jonas Sandelands, in the distribution of his father's estate, and was by him sold to John Wright, in 1720, on ground rent, for four shillings lawful money of America, payable on the twenty-fifth day of March of each and every year thereafter, forever. Wright, after holding the premises for seven years, con- veyed the land to William Pennell, who in turn sold it to James Trego The latter died seized of the property, and in 1746 his son James — to whom it had been allotted in proceedings in partition, his mother Elizabeth joining in the deed — conveyed the property to Aubury Bevan. The plot of ground up to this date is believed to have been used as a pasture lot. In the following year Aubury Bevan erected the present hotel building and gave it the title " Pennsylvania Arms," as will be seen by an inspection of his will. He was an active and leading citizen of Chester, and the structure, considering the time wdien it was built, evidences fully the progres- sive spirit which controlled his efforts. Aubury Bevan died in 1761, and by will devised this property to his daughter Mary; she, together with her husband, William Forbes, by deed dated April 1, 1772, conveyed the estate to William Kerlin, a wealthy man, as wealth was then regarded, and a fervent Whig during the Revolu- tionary struggle After the evacuation of Philadelphia by the British army, Ker- lin named his hostelry " The Washington House," a name it has been continually known by to this day. General Washington often in passing through Chester on his way to and from Mount Vernon to the seat of government in New York and Philadelphia, stopped at this hotel, and on those occasions a certain room, the best in the house, was assigned to his use. The ancient mahogany chairs which stood in the room occupied by the first President, during these visits, are still preserved among the descendants of William Kerlin. He took an active part in the discussion from 1780 to 1786, as to the removal of the county seat to West Chester, and in a doggerel rhyme of that time, entitled " Lament over Chester's Mother," written by Joseph Hickman, an earnest removalist, Ker- lin is thus referred to : ■84 Historical Sketch of Chester. " And then poor helpless Billy cries — ' Oh, how shall I be fed? What shall I do if mamma dies? I cannot work for bread. These little hands have never wrough\ Oh, how I am oppressed! For I have never yet done aught, But hang on mamma's breast.' " After the county seat had been finally removed from Chester, he labored energetically to bring about the formation of the present county of Delaware. Kerlin, having purchased the old Court House, Jail and public buildings in this city in 1786, for j£415, after the division was made he sold them to Delaware county at a slight advance. He did not remain, however, mine host of the Washington House until his death, for by his will, proved April 29, 1805, he alluded — in his devise to his daughter, Sarah Piper — to " the tavern house " being at that time " in the tenure of Isaac Tucker." Major Joseph Piper, who held a position in the Philadelphia Custom House, under General Steele, the then collector, after the death of his father-in-law, resigned his office, removed to Chester and kept the Washington House, owned by his wife, until his death in 1827. By tradition. Piper is said to have been a Revolutionary soldier, but as he was only 50 years of age when he died, it is not a supposable case that he could have taken any part in that memo- rable war. It is related that Major Piper, being in Chester, saw Sarah Odenheimer — formerly Sarah Kerlin — a well-formed, bloom- ing" widow, on horseback, and was so impressed with her appear- ance that he wooed, won and wed her for his wife. After his death his widow continued the business at the hotel for several years, but ultimately becoming weary of it she leased the premises to Evan S. Way, who had formerly kept a tavern in Nether Providence. He was a conspicuous man in the military affairs of the county a half century ago ; an officer in the Delaware county troop, and kept the hotel imtil he was elected Sheriff, in 1837. The house was then rented to Major Samuel A. Price, who was an influential citizen of Chester, having formerly been in the hat business in the ancient Borough. He was a genial gentleman, who is yet remembered by many of our old residents; an earnest politician, and in 1834 was Historic Buildivgs in Chester. 85 elected Sheriff of the county. In early life he was noted for his manly beauty. An interesting item respecting the old hostelry during Major Price's occupancy, was related in The Delaware Coun- ty Advocate.) several years ago. The article stated that General Harrison, in 1840, after he had received the Whig nomination for the Presidency, was returning from Washington, accompanied by a number of gentlemen from New York, stopped for dinner at the Washington House, and while there received the congratulations of the citizens of Chester. After dinner had been served, the cloth was drawn, wine, as usual on such occasions, was placed on the table, and several toasts were drunk. It was observed that Harrison drank water, and being thereupon pressed to take wine, he rose and said : " Gentlemen, I have refused twice to partake of the wine cup, that should have been sufficient : though you press the cup to my lips not a drop shall pass their portals. I made a resolve when I started in life that I would avoid strong drink, anl I hive never broken it. I am one of a class of seventeen young men who gradu- ated, and the other sixteen fill drunkard's graves, all through the habit of social wine drinkiiig. I owe all my health, happiness d,nd prosperity to that resolution. Will you urge me now ?" The circumstance and remarks made by Harrison were related by one of the gentlemen present nearly forty years afterwards, hence the language used on that occasion may not be accurately re- ported, although the substance is doubtless correctly rendered. Sarah Piper, by her will, proved September 13, 1841, directed that " the tavern house and thereto belonging, be sold within one year after my decease." In compliance with that request, although there was a longer interval than one year, her executors sold, April 2, 1844, the premises to Henry L. Powell, who in turn, October 11, of the same year, conveyed it to Edward E. Flavill. Mr. Flavill conducted the hotel as a temperance house, and Samuel West, an earnest temperance advocate, employed Edward Hicks, a Quaker artist, to paint a swinging sign — one side presenting a delineation of Penn's Landing at Chester, and the other Penn's treaty (?) with the Indians, which he presented to the landlord. This old sign is still in good preservation and owned by the present proprietor of the Washington House, Henry Abbott. The business proving unre- munerative, Flavill sold the property to Thomas Clyde, January 1, 1849. Mr. Clyde had formerly kept an extensive country store at the S6 Hi}^torical Sketch of Chester. north-east corner of Market Square, the building now owned and occupied by John C Williams and the eating house of Mr. Dixon adjoining, havine been erected by him for his dwelling and store. He was also largely interested in quarries on Ridley creek. Mr. Clyde continued the hotel as a temperance house with indifferent succes for over nine years, when he conveyed the property, April 12, 1856, to John G. Dyer. Mr. Dyer had formerly been a clerk in the store of the late Joshua P. Eyre, and subsequently had carried on the dry goods and grocery business in Philadelphia, Chester and Rockdale, was Custom officer at the Lazaretto and was connected with the late James Campbell, in the manufacture of cotton goods at Leiperville. He Avas a man of fine conversational powers, possessing a ready, copious vocabulary and pleasing address, which particulary fitted him for the business of keeping a hotel. He died October 26, 1881. In 1868, John G Dyer conveyed the estate to Samuel A. Dyer, and he, June 1, 18X1, sold it to Henry Abbott, who still owns the property and is the popular host of the Washington House at this time. Both of these gentlemen are well known, active and influential citizens of Chester. The ground rent spoken of herein, created by Jonas Sandelands, in his deed to John Wright, January 21, 1720, has been fully dis- charged and extinguished of record. The Columbia House. The land on which this ancient building stands, was included In the patent dated May 31, 1686, whereby the commissioners of Wil- liam Penn conveyed to James Sandelands, the elder, in fee, twenty acres of ground in Chester, and is a part of the same tract on which the Washington House was built. The land descended to Jonas Sandilands in the distribution of his father's estate. Jonas Sandelands died subsequent to 1721, for at that time he held the Historic Buildings in Chester. 87 office of Coroner of Chester county, and his widow, Mary, married before 1731 Arthur Shields. August 31, 1732, Arthur Shields and Mary, his wife, the administrators of Jonas Sandleands' estate, conveyed a tract of land containing over two acres to William Trehorn, subject to a yearly ground rent of five shillings, to be paid to the heirs of Jonas Sandelands. Trehorn and Catharine, his wife, sold the land, November 14, 1733, to Richard Barry, who built the present building previous to December 7, 1736, and lived therein, for at the last mentioned date he mortgaged the premises, and it is stated in that instrument that he had " erected a new brick messuage upon the lot." Barry, who kept the house as a tavern, conveyed the estate to John Hanley, who had in the meanwhile married the widow of William Trehorn She died previous to 1764, and Hanley married again, for September 13, of that year, he and Eleanor, his wife, transferred the hotel to James Coultas. The lat- ter and wife conveyed it, August 6, 1766, to George Gray, in trust, and he sold it to George Harkins, subject to a mortgage of j£250 given to Henry Hale Graham, but no deed was made to Harkins, and he, seeming to be in possession, the premises were taken in exe- cution as his property and sold by Jesse Maris, Sheriff, November 6, 1769, to Robert Moore, subject to the mortgage above mentioned, and j£255 due the estate of James Coultas, deceased. Robert Moore endorsed, April 28, 1770, on the back of the Sheriff's deed, that he conveyed the premises to Nicholas Barnard, who on paying ^£250 due Coultas' estate, to George Gray, the latter, May 5, 1770, made a deed to Barnard, subject to the mortgage held by Graham. Mary Withy, the widow of James Withy, an English officer, and a pensioner of the British government for j£60 per annum, pur- chased the hotel, July 18, 1771, and during the time she was host- ess it was reported to be the best kept tavern in America, and as such is frequently referred to in publications of that day. This reputation brought to her house numbers of prominent personages when journeying between the seat of Government and points south of Chester. She appears to have realized a snug fortune and must have contemplated the abandonment of the business several years before she actually retired from it, for during the late decade of the eighteenth century, she purchased the Lamokin farm — now belonging to the estate of Abram R. Perkins, deceased — and made 88 Historical Sketch of Chester. the eastern addition to the old house. Her son, Samuel, maintained the most aristocratic notions, and became very unpopular with the mechanics and workmen by declaring that people in their condition should be restricted from dressing in the same fabrics as used by their more pecuniarily fortunate neighbors, so that the wealthy and the laboring citizens could be designated by their apparel. When Lafayette was wounded at the battle of Brandywine, he was brought to Chester, and his wounds dressed by Mary (Gorman) Lyons. In a letter written by the late Joseph Weaver, Jr., at one time Sheriff of the county, dated April 3, 1843, and addressed to Hon. Calvin Blythe, he states that it was at Mrs. Withy's tavern, {now the Columbia House,) where the wound was cared for. Mr. John C. Beatty, however, locates the incident as having happened in the old Barber House, an account of which will be found else- where On September 1, 1796, Mary Withy sold the premises to Major William Anderson, who at the date of his purchase had been landlord of the hotel for some time, for it is stated that he had built a frame summer house and an ice house, while the property was in his possession as tenant. Mfjor William Anderson was a native of Virginia, who when only fiften years of age, had joined the Continental army, serving therein five years, and was present at the siege of Yorktown and the sur- render of Lord Cornwallis. He married Elizabeth Dixon, whose personal appearance in early womanhood was so attractive that she and her two sisters were termed "the three beauties of Virginia." The precise time when Anderson came to Chester I have failed to learn, but I presume shortly after the close of the war. While keeping the hotel he is said to have been elected to Congress, an as- sertion I much doubt, notwithstanding the late John K. Zeilin — in an obituary of Mr. Anderson, published by him in the Upland Union, December 22, 1829 — says that he was a member of that body, and Martin, in his History of Chester, states that he served eighteen years as representative from this district. The name of William Anderson does not appear in the list of members of Congress of Pennsylvania, extending back to 1789, as officially published in " Smull's Hand Book." In 1808, he built the old Anderson man- sion on Welsh street, but still kept the hotel for Richard S. Smith, in an interesting sketch of a ride from Philadelphia to New Castle, Historic Buildings in Chester. 89 in the year 1808, published in Martin's History of Chester, says : " I got to Chester about one o'clock, A. M., and stopped at the tavern kept by iMajor Anderson, and got my horse fed. The hotel dinner was over, but the Major asked me to dine with his family. At the table I noticed quite a handsome young lady, who read a novel all the time we were at dinner. She was the Major's daughter, and afterwards became the wife of the celebrated Commodore David Porter." Major Anderson was, however, Associate Judge of the Courts of Delaware county, and at the time of his death, December 15, 1829, he held a position in the Custom House in Philadelphia. March 2, 1814, he sold the hotel to Nimrod Maxwell, of Huntingdon, who carried on the business there for several years, when he leased the house to John J. Thurlow, (now a hale and hearty octogenarian, who possesses a rich fund of recollection of the history of Chester and its- former residents) who kept it until 1830, when he removed to the National Hotel, at Edgmont avenue and Third street. Max- well having died insolvent, suit was brought against his executors, and April 12, 1830, Jehu Broomall, Sheriff, sold the estate to the Delaware County Bank, Avhich corporation held the title for several years, during which time Samuel Lamplugh was landlord. March 13, 1833, the Bank sold the property to Thomas Ewing, and Eliza, his Avife. During the latter ownership, the hotel was kept by Jolm Richards, the late Prothonotary, and he was succeeded by Frank Lloyd, who, still living near Dai'by, loves to recount the pranks and sports of the olden time, when woe awaited a stranger at the hands of the madcap roytserers of the ancient Borough. Thomas Ewing and wife conveyed the estate, January 17, 1839, to Captain Elisha S. Howes. He was a veritable " salt," who had earned his title as master of merchant ships, and he kept it for several years, until he relinquished it to embark in the grocery business, and March 27, 1848, sold it to James Campbell, who, after making extensive repairs to the building, conveyed it, March 13, 1854, to John Har- rison Hill, who had kept the tavern at Leiperville. The property being sold by the Sheriff, was purchased May 27, 1856, by Mark B. Hannum, who conveyed it, April 1, 1857, to Mrs. Elizabeth Appleby, who now owns it. Under the able management of the present landlord, Thomas Appleby, the old hostelry has in a mea- sure regained its prestige of nearly a century ago. 90 Historical Sketch of Chester. It might be interesting to some of our readers to mention, that tradition states that one of tlie owners of the old building, in early times, had an inmate of his family, who was a violent maniac, and at that time, as there was no place for the detention of persons thus afflicted, he was compelled to keep the lunatic in his own house. To prevent his escaping, and to render it impossible for him to reach the windows, a large and strong iron ring was placed in the floor of one of the upper rooms, and to this ring the de- ranged person Avas made fast by a heavy chain or rope, and for many years was kept confined in that apartment. Madame Rumor, as is often the case, may have located the incidents in the wrong place. T do not vouch for its trutli. Tlie Steamboat Hotel. Grace Lloyd, by her will, dated the 6th day of fourth month, 1760, devised unto her cousin, Francis Richardson, of Philadelphia, after certain specific devises of lands and bequests of personal pro- perty to other parties named therein, "all the rest, residue and re- mainder of my lands, plantations, lots of ground, rents, tenements, hereditaments and real estate whatsoever and wheresoever." This Francis Richardson entered into possession of the real estate thus devised to him, and began very extensive improvements. He erect- ed between the years 1761 and 1770, the substantial building at the north-east corner of MarKet and Front streets, now known as the Steamboat Hotel, for a dwelling for his family, built extensive ware- houses and a wharf at the site of the present upper Grovernment pier, which wharf stood until the year 1816, and was known as "Richardson's wharf," and made preparations for a large business as a shipper of grain and other produce. While he was making these improvements he was remonstrated with by many of his friends for his outlay of money in the undertaking, and he was much incensed Historic Buildings in Chester. 91 at wha*, he believe 1 to be their short-sightedness Unfortunately for his enterprise, the brewing troubles with the mother country worked disastrously for his speculations, and resulted in entirely ruining him. His daughter, Deborah, was married at Chester, June 10, 1773, to Joseph Mifflin, and the same year Deborah, Hannah and John, together with their father, became members of Chester Friends' Meeting. Hannah married Samuel Fairlamb: Grace married Isaac Potts, and Frances married Clement Biddle. The four daughters of Francis Richardson were much admired for their beauty, and the exquisite transparencies of their complexion was so remarkable that the gallants of that day reported that, when they drank a glass of wine, "it might be seen trickling down their fair throats." An elder son, who was born in Philadelphia, and named after his fa- ther Francis, we are told by the Annalist, Watson, "was a person of great personal beauty," a statement Mrs. Deborah Logan fully corroborates. About 1770 this son went to London, having formed a passionate longing for military life from associating with the Brit- ish officers in Philadelphia, and secured a commission in the King'& Life Guard, of Avhich crack regiment he subsequently became Col- onel. His brother John, who was a Friend, when the Revolution- ary War broke out, was quite active in military movements, and for that cause was disowned by Chester Meeting in 1775. Francis Richardson died subsequently to the year 1779, for in April of that year he was the lessee of a frame store house on the east side of Market, south of Fourth street, which afterwards became the pro- perty of Dr. Job Terrill, and now of Mrs. John 0. Deshong. He died insolvent, and his real estate, dwelling and warehouses were sold after his death by Kzekiel Leonard, High Sheriff, July 2, 1787, to Robert Eaglesfield Griffith, a lawyer of Philadelphia, who, on May 4, 1789, conveyed the estate to Davis Bevan. This Davis Bevan was of Welsh descent, and was one of the most conspicuous characters in our city's annals. He was married to Agnes Coupland, daughter of David Coupland, and was thirty-seven years of age when the battles of Lexington and Concord were fought. He was commissioned Captain in the Continental Army, and served faithfully throughout the war. Martin, in his History of Chester, furnishes the following pleasing incidents in the life of Captain Davis Bevan:— 92 Historical Sketch of Chester. " He was with Washington at the battle of Brandywine, in 1777, and after the defeat of the American forces he carried dispatches from General Washinston to the President of the (Continental Con- gress, then sitting in Philadelphia, announcing the result of the en- gagement. A gentleman by the name of Sharp, accompanied Capt. Beven. Proceeding some distance from the army they observed they were pursued by a party of British light horse. Mr. Sharp was not so well mounted as Captain Bevan, who had a thorough- bred mare of great action and endurance. Finding that the light horse were gaining on them constantly, and that Mr. Sharp would persist in urging his nag up the hills in spite of his advice to the contrary, Capt. Bevan said : ' Sharp, if we keep together our capture is certain, therefore, I think you ha.l better take the next cross road that we come to, and I will continue on. They will follow me, but I am confident they cannot capture me.' This proposal was agreed to, and as soon as Mr. Sharp bad turned off, Capt. Bevan gave the rein to his mare, and his pursuers soon finding themselves distanced, gave up the chase. When Capt. Bevan reached the Schuylkill du- ring the night, he found, owing to a heavy freshet, the ferry boat was either vuiable to run, or had been carried down the river. A boatman, however, rowed him over, while his mare swam by the side of the boat. He landed safely on the Philadelphia shore, and replacing his saddle, he hastened to deliver his dispatches. This of- ficer had various adventures, and often ran great risks while the American army was at Valley Forge. On one occasion he went to visit his wife at the house of a Mr. Vernon, where she had come from Philadelphia, for the purpose of seeing him. Mr. Vernon's house was but a short distance from the British lines, and it was therefore necessary that considerable caution should be exercised to prevent capture by the numerous parties of British foragers scouring the country. Mr. Vernon's sons were posted around the house at convenient points for observation to give warning of the approach of enemies, and Capt. Bevan went to bed. About the middle of the night one of the boys came to his room, and informed him that a mounted party were approaching the house, and he had better prepare to take his departure. Being rather an obstinate man he did not seem to believe the report, but presently another picket came in and told him that he would certainly be captured if he remained any longer. He sprang out of bed, hurried on his regi- mentals and reached the back door just as the British party knocked at the front. He got to the stable, where he found his mare already saddled, and leading her out and mounting, he leaped the fai"m-yard enclosure, and being perfectly familiar with the country he had no difficulty in evading his enemies. " The crew of the Brigantine ' Holker ' was enlisted at Chester, by Capt. Davis Bevan, to sail as a privateer. He was Captain of Marines. The ' Holker ' was commanded by Capt. Matthew Law- Historic Buildings in Chester. '93 iler, Lis son-in-law, and captured some valuable prizes, one laden with lead, which was invaluable to the army, as at that time the supply for making bullets was about exhausted. Most of the en- listments were made in Jvily, 1779, as appears by the receipt book ■of Capt Bevan, now in possession of the Delaware County Insti- tute of Science. The bounty paid for a single cruise was from $50 to $100, most probably Continental money." During the Revolutionary War, the house, whose southern gable end, as we know, stood near the river, which at that time was a bold, gravelly shore, was a conspicuous mark: and when the Brit- ish frigate "Augusta," in 1777, sailed up the Delaware to be sunk afterwards in the attack on Fort Mifflin, her commander, in sheer wantonness, opened fire on the defenseless town. One of the shot shattered the wall in the gable end towards the river, and the owner repaired the breach by placing a circular window in the opening thus made. It still remains there. The house for many years was unproductive ; various tenants oc- cupied it, but because of the tradition that shortly after the Revo- lution a negro named Laban had been killed in the dwelling by a blow with an axe on the head, wlwse blood was said to have made an indelible stain l^ehind the door where he fell, and whose spirit wandered around the place of his untimely death, they were of a class that could not afford to pay remunerative rent for the prem- ises. Davis Bevan died March 30, 1818, and in the distribution of his estate the Steamboat Hotel passed to his son, Matthew Lawler Bevan. He, September 27, 1826, sold the property to John Ford, who named it the Steamboat Hotel, and among the attractions to bring custom to this house, he set up a bagatelle table, the first ever owned in Chester. For some time it drew many of the men of the place to the hotel, and so annoying did it prove to the good wives of that day (who were permitted to remain home while the heads of the family were playing the new game) that the women of Chester christened the table "the bag of hell." Ford, too, was excessively jealous of his wife, and frequently became so demon- strative that for days together he locked his better half in one of the upper chambers and would carry her meals to the room, per- mitting no one to speak with her until his ill humor had expended itself. He seems not to have been successful in the business, for 94 Historical Sketch of Chester. the property was sold by Jehu Broomall, Sheriff, June 1831, to Samuel Smith. The new owner leased the premises to Welcome I). Niles, for eighteen months, but in the meantime he was making efforts to secure a new tenant. The house, as it was at that time,, is described in an advertisement headed " for rent," which ap- peared in the Weekly Visitor of January 29, 1 832. It states : " It is most advantageously located, being but a few yards distant from the landing of the numerous steamboats which ply up and down the river. There are seventeen fine rooms in the building, which are large, airy and very comfortable. The bar-room is fitted up in the neatest manner. A two-story piazza, extending nearly around the house, is sufficient to accommodate nearly 100 persons to dine, and affords a delightful promenade, and an extensive view on the Delaware, the Lazaretto, etc. There is stabling on the premises sufficient for 20 horses, with a fine shed attached. A spring of excellent water on the premises and a good garden, con- taining three acres of excellent land." The hotel was shortly afterwards rented to Henry Rease, who will be remembered by many of our elder residents, as one of the people from Chester, saved from death when the steamboat William Penn caught fire, March 4, 1834, off the Point House, near Philadelphia, and was burned to the water's edge. After Rease's term had expired the property was leased to Grossman Lyons, a well known citizen of Chester, the son of a Revolutionary soldier, who when a young man had joined Washington's army in its retreat through New Jersey, had followed the fortunes of the Continental troops through the war until its close, when he settled in Chester and married Mary Gorman, a woman of extraordinary nerve, whose busy hands dressed many of those wounded at the battle of Brandy- wine, who were brought to this city for attention. She it was who waited on and dressed the wounds of Marquis de Lafayette, on the evening of that disastrous day. Crossman Lyons, October 12, 1844, purchased the property, and a fcAv years subsequent he leased it to Howard Roberts, who, after keeping the hotel for about three years, declined to continue the business longer, and Mr. Lyons re- sumed the post of "mine host" until November 12, 1851, when John Goff, of Philadelphia, purchased the property and became its landlord. The following year the new proprietor made extensive improve- ments, laid out the grove as an ice cream garden, built a pavilion, Historic BuikHvgs in Chester. 95 and among other attractions procured a live black bear, which for several years was one of the features of the preniJses, for among his other accomplishments, Bruin had learned to enjoy a '■ quiet snifter," and seemed to be perfectly happy when he could take a bottle of porter and let the liquid gurgle down his throat. In the fall of the year 1856, the bear having grown cross, it was deter- mined to kill it, and Mortimer H. Bickley was assigned to shoot the animal, which he did. The tables of many Chester people, for several days thereafter, were garnished with bear meat in every jstyle in which the cooks could prepare it. Mr. GofF died in August, 1857, and on December 13, 1859, his administrator, Hon. John Larkin, Jr., sold the estate to his widow, Mary Ann GofF, who still owns it. John Goff, the present landlord, has recently had many improvements made to the ancient building, which still bears about it the evidence that it was erected by a wealthy man of the Colo- nial days, whose genial hospitality gave open-hearted welcome to his friends in the " Auld Lang Syne." 7Uie Lafajette House. The house at the southwest corner of Third street and Edgmont avenue, is one of the oldest buildings in our city, and in a deed from James Sandelands, the younger, September 10, 1700, to Stephen Jackson, the property is described as a house and lot, thus showing that the structure antedates that instrument. Stephen Jackson, on June 17, of the following year, transferred the property to John Worrilow, and he in turn, conveyed it, August 29, 1704, to Philip Yarnall. The latter, after retaining title to the estate for 29 years, sold the dwelling and lot to John Mather, September 26, 1733, wdio at the time of his purchase was in occupation of the house and kept a tavern there. After the death of Ruth Hoskins, who in her will dated July 3, 1739, devised the present City Hotel to her grand- 96 Historical Sketch of Chester. daughter Ruth, daughter of John Mather — the latter took posses- sion of the larger building directly opposite to that he had occupied^ although he does not seem to have made use of the dwelling at that time as a hotel. He, however^ did not part with the house he pur- chased from Yarnall, but leased it to James Mather, perhaps hi& brother, since John Mather named his only son James, probably for the person mentioned. That James Mather kept the tavern here In 1746 we know, for he was one of the number of innkeepers who petitioned the Legislature for payment of certain claims, more fully referred to in the account of the Black Bear Inn, and in the Journal of William Black, who was the Notary of the Commissioners ap- pointed by Governor Goocb, of Virginia, to unite with those frons the colonies of Pennsylvania and Maryland, to treat with the Iro- quois, or six nations of Indians, in reference to the land west of the Allegheny mountains, in describing the journey of the Commission- ers from Virginia and Maryland to Philadelphia, under date of Saturday, May 25, 1744, he records: "Nine miles from Wilmington, and at; the line dividing New Castle and Chester counties, were waiting the High Sheriff, Coro- ner and under Sheriff of Chester county, who conducted us to Ches- ter Town, six miles further, where we arrived a few minutes before nine at night, and put up at Mr. James Mathew, (Mather) the most considerable house in the town ; most of the company being very much fatigued with the day's ride being very warm, they inclin'd for beds soon after they alighted, and tho' for my part I was not very much tir'd, yet I agreed to hug the pillow with the rest." The next entry in his Journal, doubtless after refresing slumber^ is headed " Chester in Pennsylvania, Sunday, the 26," and he re- cords his doings in, and impression of, Chester, of that day, thus: " This morning, by the time the sun retum'd to Enlighten My Bed Chamber, I got up with a Design to take a view of the town. It is not so large as Wilmington, neither are the Buildings so large in General, the Town stands on a Mouth of a Creek of the same name, running out the Delaware and has a very large wooden Bridge over it, in the middle of the Town-, the Delaware is reckon'd three miles over at this place, and is a very good Road for Shipping; the Court House and Prison is two tolerable large Buildings of Stone, there are in the Town a Church dedicated to St. Paul, the Congregation are after the manner of the Church of England ; A Quaker Meeting and a Sweed's " (?) " Church ; about 10 of the Clock, forenoon, Comm'rs and us of their Leeve went to St. Paul's ; where we heard a Ser- mon Preach'd by the Reverend Mr. Backhouse, on the 16th Chapt. Historic Buildings in Chrster. 97 of St. Luke, 30 & 3 1st Vers3s, from this some of us paid a Visit to the Friends' who were then in Meeting, but as it happened to be a Silent One, after we had sat about 15 niin., they Shook hands and we parted, from this Return'd to our Inn, where we had a very good Dinner, and about 4 in the Evening Set out for Philadelphia, Ac- companied by the ShfFs, Coroner, and several Grentlemen of the Town, past thro' Darby a Town 7 miless from Chester, Standing on a creek or the same name and at a Stone Bridge about half a mile further, was met by the Sheriff, Coroner, and Sub-Sheriff" of Phila- delphia County Here the Company from Chester took their leave of Us and return'd." James Mather afterwards purchased the ground where National Hall stands, with the building thereon, which William and Joshua P. Eyre tore down to make room for the present structure. Here he continued the occupation of an innkeeper. In his will. May 28, 1768, John Mather devised it to his daughter Jane. She first married Dr. Paul Jackson, who, dying in 1767, the following year she married Dr. David Jackson. The latter and his wife, February 27, 1 775, conveyed the property to James Sparks, a merchant of Philadelphia. There is no evidence to show that Dr. David Jackson ever resided there, and, as he was a physician in Philadelphia, the probabilities are that he never personally occu- pied the dwelling, and the same is true of Sparks, notwithstanding he owned it nine years. Who dwelt therein, I have failed to learn, but May 13, 1784, Sparks sold it to William KerHn, \vho made it his residence, and dying seized of the estate, in his will, November 28, 1804, devised it to his wife Catharine, for life, with remainder to his son, John Kerlin. This son John owned the property at hi& death, and on July 5, 1817, his executors, William Kerlin and Jonathan Pennell, sold it to James Chadwick, who, in turn, dying seized of the property, it descended to his only child, John Chad- wick, subject to the dower of his widow, Rebecca. John Chadwick, while owning the property, purchased two frame buildings at Mar- cus Hook, and placing them on scows, had them floated up to Ches- ter, where he erected them on the eastern end of his property on Third street. Both of these houses are now owned by the estate of Henry Abbott, Sr., deceased This was considered a marvellous feat in those days. John, however, January 15, 1829, conveyed his title to his mother, and, October 7, 1880, Rebecca Chadwick sold the estate to Charles Alexander Ladomus. The latter was French 98 Historical Sketch of Chester. by birth, and at the outbreak of the French Revolution of 1793, his mother, (being of an aristocratic family,) was compelled to flee in the night time to Germany with her children. Charles was at that time a lad of ten years. All the family remained in the land of re- fuge, and after the battle of Jena, October 14, 1805, Charles A. Ladomus was in Berlin when the defeated Prussian army fled through that city. When the French occupied it, he acted as an interpreter for Napoleon. He subsequently made a tour of Europe on foot, which, as he practiced his occupation as a watchmaker in the mean- time, consumed twelve years. About 1828, he came to the United States, married Catharine Schey, a widow, and settled in Chester, where he followed the business of a jeweler and watchmaker in the old building under consideration, until several years before his death, December 30, 1857, in his 76th year. By his will, Decem- ber 15, 1853, he devised his estate to his wife for life, and at her death to his three sons, Jacob, Lewis and Joseph, and to his grand- son Charles Burkheimer, the only child of his daughter Rosanna, in equal shares. The title to the property is still held by the sons, their mother's life estate having determined, April 10, 1874, at which time she died, aged 84 years. After Mr. Ladomus' death, the old building was occupied by James Chadwick, who did a large business therein. He accumukted considerable , means, but his purchase of the lots at Fourth and Market streets, and the erection of Lincoln Hall, in 1866, resulted in financial ruin. (Chadwick was succeeded by B. Bauer, who kept a clothing store there until 1875, when the house was rented to Caleb P. Clayton, and after nearly a century had gone by, became once more a public house. Historic Buildings in Chester, 99 Tlie Black Bear Inn. The hipped-roof house at the north-east corner of Third and Penn streets, was erected early in the last century, for in the will of John Salkeld, Sr., February 17, 1733-4, five years before his death, he devised the premises to his son Thomas, and designated it as " the house and lot wherein my son-in-law, Anthony Shaw, now dwells." How long Shaw lived there after the date mentioned I have not learned, but in 1746 it was kept as a public liouse by John Salkeld, the younger, for in that year he, among other inn- keepers, presented a petition to the Legislature, asking compensa- tion for the " diet of Capt Shannon's company of soldiers," quar- tered here during the early part of the French war. At this time he was a tenant of his brother Thomas, for the latter, in his will June 21, 1749, after making specific devises of other lands, gave the residue of his estate to his brother John Salkeld. The latter^ by his will, December 14, 1775, gave an eighth part of his estate, which was large, to his daughter Sarah. He died early in 1776, for his will was probated January 29, of the same year. In the distri- bution of her father's estate, the Black Bear Inn became her por- tion. Sarah Salkeld had married George Gill, an Englishman, several years before her father's death, for in the latter's will he leaves j610 to his grandson, John Gill, and in all probability she was then landlady. George Gill was an outspoken Tory in the Revolutionary struggle, anil so ardent was he in the defence of the English army and ministry, that after the battle of Brandywine, at the time the residents of Chester were smarting under the outrages perpetrated on them by the royal troops, he was compelled to leave this neighborhood when the enemy abandoned Philadelphia, and was proclaimed a traitor to the Colonies. When the British forces evacuated New York at the close of the war, Gill followed them to Halifax. Subsequently he returned to Chester, was arrested and thrown into prison, but was discharged therefrom by the Act of Assembly, which, under certain conditions, allowed free pardon to proclaimed traitors to the United Colonies. William Whitehead, in the History of the Borough, published in his Directory of Ches- ter, in 1859, states from information furnished by Mrs. Rebecca 100 Histoiical Sketch of Chester. Brobson, then owning and residing in the dwelling, i,hat " at the period in which the inn flourished, the people of Chester made their own malt, and a malt-house stood upon the same lot ; this was a brick building, and in a dilapidated condition fifty years," (73 years ago.) John Gill, the grandson mentioned in John Salkeld's (the younger) will, on October 26, 1809, conveyed the premises to Thomas B Dick, and mentions in the deed that the estate descended to hitn as heir-at-law of his mother, Sarah Gill. Thomas Barnard Dick was an attorney, admitted to the Delaware County bar, February 9, 1790, but removed to Easton shortly after, where for several years he practiced law. He, however, returned to Chester, and was drowned in the Delaware, April 21, 1811. How the accident hap- pened is not known, since he was on the river alone in a row-boat, durin purchased and enclosed a suit- able lot, located on the west side of Edgmont avenue, above Sixth street, for a burial place, and on the 5th of the 9th month, 1683, John Hastings and Thomas Vernon were appointed to " fence the burial grounds as soon as may." This ancient God's Acre was, af- ter almost a century had elapsed, walled about as we now see ity and to that end Grace Lloyd, by her will, 6th of 4th month, 1760, directed her executors to "pay j£ 10 toward walling in the front part of the graveyard belonging to the people called Quakers in Chester with brick or stone." Joseph Hoskins, in his will, 31st of 12th month, 1769, bequeathed ,£10 "for the use of enclosing or fencing the burying ground belonging to the friends of Chester Meeting in such manner as their Preparative Meeting of Chester shall direct and appoint, which said sum of j£10 I order to be paid by my executor * * into the hands of John Eyre for the uses aforesaid," which proves that at the date of Joseph Hoskins' will the burial place had not been enclosed as it is now. Within its walls lie the bodies of most of the noted personages of the an- cient Borough. David Lloyd and Grace, his wife, Caleb and David Coupland, Henry Hale Graham, Davis Bevan, John Salkeld, John Mather and almost all the first settlers of the old family names of Chester sleep in that neglected plot, where the remains of hundreds of men who fled hither to escape persecution in Europe lie forgot- ten, because of the prohibition by the Society of stones to mark the graves of those who slumber within the burial grounds belong- ing to their meetings. Churches ai Chester. 179 ST. PAUL'S CHURCH AND BURIAL CROltND. A tract of ground was donated to the Swedish Church by " Arm- gardt Pappegoya " for glebe or church land in Upland, early in the history of the settlement. The plot of land on the south side of Third street, east of Market Square, where the old burial ground now is and where the first St. Paul's Church building was erected, was, previous to that stracture being placed there, a burying place for the dead of the Swedish colonists at Upland. This fact is es- tablished by the report of Mr. Ross, to the "Society for Propaga- ting the Gospel in Foreign Parts," in 1714, wherein he distinctly makes this declaration. He also states, they (the Swedes) "had likewise a Church endowed with a valuable Glebe not far from the place of burial, but of this building there remains no sign at this day." John Hill Martin thinks this reference is to the Blockhouse or House of Defence, which was torn down by order of Court in 1703, an opinion which is doubtless correct. Acrelius tells us that the Swedes held religious services usually in the forts and House of Defence. The fact is satisfactorily established that the Swedes were obliged to have sentinels regularly posted during public wor- ship to apprise the congregation within of any attempted attack by the Indians, of which the early settlers seemed to be constantly apprehensive. Every student of our early annals is aware that after the cargo of the " Black Cat," which had been ladened with articles of merchandise for the Indians, became exhausted, and the Swedish settlers' capacity for making presents had ceased, the savages seriously considered in Council whether the Europeans should be exterminated or permitted to remain. An old Indian succeeded in preventing a breach between the two races by assur- ing the young braves that courageous and vigilent men, armed with swords and muskets, would be difficult to subdue. The clergymen were particularly obnoxious to the savages, because the latter be- lieved that during divine services the minister — he alone speaking and all the rest remaining silent — was exhorting the congregation against the Indians. Acrelius also tells us that a blockhouse an- swered the purpose very well (as a church.) The Indians were not always to be depended upon that they would not make an incursion, 180 Historical Sketch of Chester, fall upon the Christians, and capture «lieir whole flock. It was, therefore, necessary for them to have the religious houses as a place of defense for the body as well as the soul. The churches were so built that after a suitable elevation, like any other house, a projection was made some courses higher, out of which they could shoot ; so that if the heathen fell upon them, which could not be done Avithout their coming up to the house, the Swedes could shoot down upon them continually, and the heathen who used only bows and arrows, could do them little or no injury. That the blockhouse at Wicaco was used as a church we have record, bence, in all probability the like structure at Upland was employed for a similar purpose. In 1700, Rev. Mr. Evans was sent to Pennsylvania by the "So- ciety for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts," and lo- cated in Philadelphia. He is frequently mentioned in the History of the Society, as going to Chester, Chichester, Concord and Rad- nor, each about twenty miles distant from Philadelphia, and while constant allusion is made to a church edifice existing in that city, no intimation is given of any such building in either of the other places designated. I am aware that in taking down the old St. Paul's Church building in July, 1850, after it had stood one hun- dred and forty-eight years, two bricks, burned exceedingly hard and considerably larger in size than those in use at the present day, closely cemented together and with the figures 1 642 cut upon them were found. These numerals must have been made upon them many years subsequent to that date, for in 1644 there was not a house standing in the present limits of Chester. Independently of that fact we have documentary record of the exact date of the building, so circumstantially set forth, that there is no room re- maining for doubt. In '• An Account of the Building of St. Paul's Church, Chester," furnished to the " Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts," Mr. Ross, the then Missionary of the Society, in his report June 25, 1714, says: "In the Swedish Dormitory— the old Swedish burial ground — James Sandelands, of Chester, (or as it was first called, Upland,) Merchant, a man of good reputation in the country, was on account of affinity interred to keep up the memory of this founder of a growing family; twas agreed amongst his relations that his grave, Churches at Chester. 181 as also that of his kindred and family, who were or might be buried there should be distinguished & set apart from the rest of the burying ground by an enclosure or wall of stone. This design was no sooner formed & noised abroad, but it was happily suggested by a projecting fellow in Town, that, if it seemed good to Mr. Sande- lands' relations, the intended stone wall about the place of the in- terment might be with somewhat more charges carried up and formed into a small chapel or church. Tliis new motion was well liked by ye sd relr.tions and encouraged by everybody in the neigh- borhood that wished well to the church of England, but they who put life into this proposal & prosperously brought it to pass were Joseph Yeates, merchant in Chester, and James Sandelands, son to the above named Mr. Sandelands, the latter of which two gentle- men, besides other gifts, gave some land to enlarge the church yard, but the former, to wit: Mr. Yeates, a zealous asserter of our constitution in church and State, must be allowed to have been the main promoter of the founding of St. Paul's upon Delaware." The report further alludes to other persons " Parishers who were chief helpers to carry on the work" — Jeremy CoUett, John Han- mim, Henry Pierce, Ralph Pile and Thomas Barnsly, but especially does he commend Thomas Powell for the gift of a valuable piece of land, '-'for a minister's house, garden and other conveniences." He also applauds Hon. Colonel Francis Nicholson, of whom he says : " We may safely say no man parted more freely with his money to promote the interest of the Church, in these parts, nor contributed so universally towards ye erection of Christian synagogues in dif- ferent and distant plantations in America." The "small but compact fabric of brick," thus erected and said to be "one of the neatest on this Continent," was forty-nine feet in length by twenty-six feet in breadth, and was well and substan- tially finished inside. The main entrance which was wide and spa- cious, closed by double doors, was at the north side of the Church, and the access to the building was from Market street, through the yard. Queen Anne, whom Horace Walpole dubbed '' the wet nurse of the church," presented to the parish a handsome pulpit, a commu- nion table " well rail'd in and set out with a rich cloth, and a neat chalice;" the two former articles were located at the east end of the edifice. This chalice and salver, the Queen's gift, as well as a similar chalice, presented to the congregation by Sir Jeffrey Jef- fries, are still in possession of the Church Wardens, and employed 182 Historical Sketch of (Jhester. in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper to this d ly, but the pulpit and connnunion table have long since been removed and their present whereabouts, if in existence, is entirely forgotten. The chalices and their salvers are of hammered and very pure silver, and the one presented by the Queen has engraved upon it the words, " Annte Reginae." The inside of the Church was divided into four parts by two aisles, one extending from the double doors and the other from the pulpit to the extreme western part of the Church. The roof was oak, and the rafters white oak, hewed with a broad axe. The chancel was spacious and paved with brick, as were also the aisles In the west end of the Church and directly opposite the pulpit, built into the wall, was the well-known slab of gray sand stone, six feet in length by three in breadth, now in the Sunday School room of the new Church edifice, erected to the memory of James San- delands, the elder. Along the borders of the old slab in large capital letters are the words : Here lies interred the bodie of James Sandelands, Merchant IN Upland, in Pensilvania, WHO departed this mortail life Apeile te 12, 1692, aged 56 tears, and his wife, Ann Sandelands. "Its face is divided into two parts, the upper bearing in cypher the initials J. S. and A. S., the arms of the Sandelands family — Argent, a band Azure, on the border dividing the upper from the lower part are the words, « Vive Memor Lethi FFugit Hora.' The lower half contains many emblems of mortality, the tolling bell, the passing bell, the skull and cross bones, the empty hour-glass, an upright coffin bearing on its side the words ' Memento Mori,' < Time Deum,' and in either corner crossed, a scepter and mattock, and a mattock and spade." The tablet at the present writing is disintegrating, and in a few years more will, in all probability, crumble away. James Sandelands, tlie elder, was a Scotchman, and there is some reason to believe that his father was Captain Jacob Everson Sande- lyii — the name perhaps incorrectly spelled by the early annalists — who, as master of the ship " Scotch Dutchman," visited the Swed- Churches at Chester. 183 ish settlements on the Delaware in the year 1646, and sold to the Governor "duffel cloth and other goods" to the value of 2,500 guilders. His mother we know lived here in February 1683, for she is mentioned in the trial of Margaret Matson, of Ridley, for witchcraft before William Penn and the Provincial Council in th vt year. The first allusion to James Sandelands, is in the patent of August 6, 1665, "for two lots of land in Upland at Delaware, upon the North side of the creek or kill." On June 13, 1670, patents were granted to him for two other lots similarly situated, adjoining the property of his father-in-law, Joran Keen. Sande- lands was a soldier, for in 1669 his name occurs in the List of Dis- charged Soldiers, now in the office of the Secretary of State, at Albany, New York. In 1675, he was captain of a company of mi- litia, recruited from the territory within the jurisfliction of the Up- land Court. While in command of this company he was accused of "being the cause of the death of an Indyan," and pleading not guilty, was " cleared by proclamation." Subsequently he was found guilty of some misdemeanor which Prof. Gregory B. Keen thinks may have been the same charge revived, and " it was or- dered that he pay the sum of 300 guilders — the one-halfe to bee towards the building of the new Church at Weckakoe, and the other to the Sheriff" and was " put off from being Captain." In a deed in 1680, he is designated as " merchant," but there is no evidence to show what particular goods he dealt in, excepting a record that having purchased tobacco in Maryland, which was not de- livered according to agreement, "a Certayne great Boate or Siallop," belonging to the delinquent consignor, wais attached and " publicqly sould " The records of the early Courts show that he frequently appeared as attorney for the suitors before that tribunal. In 1677, he is mentioned as the only person on the Delaware river, from Upland, northwardly, who owned a slave, and is recorded as one of the " responsible housekeepers" at this place. He was appointed by Col. William Markham, one of the Deputy Governor's Council in 1681, and was constituted one of the Justices of the newly or- ganized Upland Court. When William Penn arrived in the " Wel- come," he visited Sandelands, as the latter then owned the largest part of the present Middle and North Wards of Chester, and it was " talkt among the people " of that day " that it was with In- 184 Historical Sketch, of Chester. tent to have built a City " at Upland, " but that he and Sanderlin could not agree." Hence it is due to his action that the metropo- lis of Pennsylvania was not located at this point. From 1688 to 1690, he was a member of the General Assembly of the Province of Pennsylvania. He would seem to have been of a jovial tem- perament, which contrasted decidedly with the Quaker stillness and sobriety of his English neighbors. He was presented by the Grand Jury ''■ for keeping an ordinary att Chester without Lysence, as also for keeping disorders in his house upon the 1st day of the week. The Court dispences with his Keeping the ordinary until the Provincial Council shall sit, & remit the other on his promising not to do so any more." However, at a meeting of the Council, " ye 18th of ye 3d mo., 1686, upon ye Petition of James Sander- ling, for a Lycence to Keep an Ordinary, it was granted him." The house thus licensed was the Double House, heretofore men- tioned. James Sandelands died April 12, 1692, aged fifty-six years. I am thus particular in giving the circumstances of the Jife of this early colonist, as far as known, because St. Paul's was a memorial church, erected to keep him in the recollection of the in- habitants of Chester, wherein he had passed a busy and enterpris- ing life. His wife, Ann, after a brief widowhood, married Peter Baynton, who subsequently abandoned her and returned to England, leaving her in such destitute circumstances that the Provincial Council, May 19, 1698, ordered her to appropriate the residue of his pro- perty in Chester for her support. He returned subsequently, and appai'ently was repentant for his misdeeds. Ann died, and Octo- ber 5, 1704, was buried by the side of her first husband, James Sandelands. As her name appears on the old tablet, in St. Paul's Church, it proves that the stone was not set up by the descendants of Sandelands until after thit date. The old church must have had a sun dial, perhaps over its main door, such as is still to be seen at the Court House of Somerset county, Maryland, tor in 1704 the wardens claim credit for " cash pd ye ferymen for Bringing Down ye Dyal, Is. 8d., ac of nayles for setting up ye Dyall, Is. 2d., money spent and pd ye men for setting It up, 4s." In the early times a bell, to remind the congregation that the time for public worship was at hand, had to be rung, as SANBBLANDS TABLET IN ST PAUL'S CHURCH, CHE?TB.R. Churches at Chester. 185 very few persons in the Colony owned watches, and in the houses of the wealthy only the high eight-day clocks, imported from Enjjland, ticked the passing hours. Hence we find an entry in the warden's book, under date "25 xber, (Christmas) 1713, as follows : '• CufFy was paid 6s. 6d., and Dick, David Roberts' boy, one shilling for ringing the church bell." This bell, I believe, was a small one, such as the auctioneers now use, the sound of which on a clear, quiet day, could be heard at considerable distance. I am aware that there is a tradition that Queen Anne presented the church with a bell, but there is no evidence to show this, although, as is well known, the sovereign lady made gifts to all the Episcopal churches in the Colonies, and the testimony of the church books tends to disprove the story of the Queen Anne bell. At a meeting of the vestry, March 30, 1741, twenty-three members of the congregation subscribed funds to " & for in consideration of purchasing a bell for said church," and at a meeting of the same body, April 15, 1745, a bell tower, or turret, to hang the bell was ordered "to be built of stone in the foundation from out to out, Twelve by Four- teen foot." The belfry, built according to these directions, was to the west of and entirely detached from the Church. The bell, which was made iu England, and had cast on it the words " Roger Rice, Chester, 1748," was paid for in advance in 1742, by a bill of exchange for ,£30, and, as the sum obtained by subscription amounted to only half that amount, John Mather donated the re- maining j615. The stonework, twenty- five feet in height, was surmounted by a frame structure, in which the bell hung. The tower, including the wooden addition, was oyer fifty feet. The belfry was entered by a door on the south side. The frame super-structure was square until it reached the plate on which the rafters rested, and the roof faced four ways receding to a point which was ornamented with a weather vane. In each side of the framework was a slatted win- dow, so that the sound of the bell would not be obstructed any more than necessary. Within the interior was a rough ladder, which the sexton had to climb when he tolled the bell, although for church services it was rung by a long rope, which descended to within a few feet of the ground floor. The foundation of the ancient structure was laid July, 1 702, and \S6 Historical Sketch of Ghesien on Sunday, January 24, 1703, (new style) St. Paul's day, the edifice was opened to public worship, Rev. John Talbot preaching the first sermon in the church. The general impression is that Rev. George Keith was the first clergyman to hold divine services in St. Paul's, but in that gentleman's '• Journal and Travels," published in Lon- don, 1706, occurs- this passage: "Sunday, January 24, 1702,"^ (1703 N. S.) "I preached at Philadelphia, on Matthew, V., 17, both in the forenoon and afternoon, Mr. Evans, tliC minister, hav- ing that day been at Chester, in Pennsylvania, to accompany Mr, Talbot, who was to preach the first sermon in the church after it was built." Mr. Keith did preach here on February 7, and August 3, of that year, and records: " We were kindly entertained at the house of Jasper Yeats there," and, on "Sunday, April 9, 1704, I preached at Chester, on John iv. 24, being my last sermon there.'^ In 1704, Rev. Henry Nichols was appointed missionary to St. Paul's Parish, by the " Society for the Propagation of the Grospel," and reported that the people were well inclined to the Church of England, although they had previous to that time no " fixed min- ister till now," and that the congregation had made a subscription of j£60 a year toward the support of their rector. In 1718, Rev. John Humphrey, who was in charge of the parish, reported to the Society, that he could not get a house in Chester to live in and therefore had to buy a plantation of a thousand acres, about three miles distant. He was not altogether accep table to parishioners, and on April 5, 1717, they petitioned the Society to appoint another person, which was done, and Samuel Hesselins was substituted in his stead. Thirty-four years after Mr. Humphreys had complained of the absence of a parsonage, in 1752, the Rev. Thomas Thompson writes to the Society : " I found no Church wardens or vestry, no house for the minister to live in, nay, not a fit house to hire." Mr. Thomp- son, it seems, formed no better opinion of the people than the peo- ple did of the rector, for in " Rev. Dr. Perry's papers relating to the History of the Church in Pennsylvania, 1680 to 1778," Rev. Thomas Thompson is referred to as a man of bad character. The congregation, however, failed to provide for the Missionaries, as the rules of the Society required, and in 1762 a notice was given them, that if they did not procure better accommodations for their Churches at Chester. 187 ^clergyman and " maintain a glebe, a dwelling liouse, andj their Church and burying grounds in decent order and repair," the So- ciety would withdraw its mission from them. To accomplish these ends the congregation issued a scheme in January of that year, to raise ,£562 10s. Od., by a lottery. The advertisement, after set- ting forth these facts, states : " They," the congregation, " find themselves under the disagi-eeable necessity to apply to the publick by way of a Lottery, not doubting that it will meet with all suit- able encouragement from the well-disposed of every denomination, as it is intended for the G-lory of God and consequently for the good of the Province." There were 1,733 prizes and 3,267 blanks, making 5,000 tickets in all. The drawing was to take place either in Chester or Philadelphia, on March 1, 1762, and continue until all the tickets were drawn. The managers add this addenda to their advertisement : "N. B, — As the above sum will fall vastly short of completing everything as could be wished, it is hoped that if any are scrupu- lous as to the method of raising money, yet wish well to the Desion, and are willing to promote the same, if such Persons^will deliver their Liberality into the hands of Mr. Charles Thomson, Merchant, in Philadelphia, or to any of the Managers aforesaid, it will be gratefully acknowledged and carefully applied accordingly." There is little of interest connected with the Church for more than twenty years following the lottery. The brewing trouble with the Mother Country and the stormy days of the Revolution seem to have so engrossed the attention of the people, that many things which must have occurred during that period and which should have been noted, have been omitted. This statement applies equally to the county records, and the student of our annals will be surprised to find how little can be gathered from an examination of them. In 1784, after peace was assured, an effort was made to form the various parishes in the Colonies into dioceses, and St, Paul's, of Chester, was one of the churches which joined in the Act of Asso- ciation, and sent Dr. William Currie and James Withey to repre- sent the parish in the preliminary meeting in Philadelphia, March 29, 1784, to bring about such form of church government, and at the meeting in Christ Church, in that city, May 24, 1785, when the Diocese of Pennsylvania was formed, the delegates from St. Paul's were John Crosby, Jr., and John Shaw. 188 Historical Sketch of Chester. In the summer of 1826, two strangers without means, died in the Borough, and, being no Potter's Field here, their bodies were burio I on the western side of Welsh street, or Love Lane, as it Avas then calkd, below Third street, and just outside of St. Paul's church- yard. The bmk then, as with country liighways, was higher than the roadway, and the dead strangers were buried therein. The Philadelphia papers of that date contained several articles reflect- ing on the Borough authorities, for not providing a suitable place to deposit the bodies of these unfortunate men. For many years their graves could be pointed out and the superstitious colored peo- ple always passed the spot with rapid steps, the beating of their hearts much accelerated, and they looked backward frequently as they hurried by It is said that the lassies, as they neared the spot while walking with the gallants of that day, drew more close to the sides of their male companions, as if for shelter against some imagined horror. In time the coffins and bodies crumbled away, not a vestige of them being found when the sidewalk was cut down. In ISdS, the old Church proving too small for the accommoda- tion of the congregation, extensive repairs were made to the an- cient edifice. The old pews were increased in number, each of the large square ones were made into two small ones, the high backs lowered, the double doors walled up, a gallery built across the west- ern end, and under it the main entrance to the Church was made. The old pulpit with the sounding board was not removed, and the great oriel window to the east, in the rear of the clergyman's desk, was not disturbed. These changes made it necessary to remove the old Sandelands tablet. It was placed in the wall on the out- side of the building, and during the spring, when the stonework was being whitewashed, it was repeatedly treated to a coat of that abominable compound by the sexton's wife, who did all chores of that character about the Church. The ancient bell tower was torn down and a small belfry built in the roof, at the western end of the building. The bell, which with such difficulty had been procured from England more than a century before, had become damaged by long service, and it was determined to have it recast. Greorge W. Piper and J. Gilford .Johnson took the bell in a wagon to Philadel- phia, to M^'iltbank's foundry, for that purpose. Before this bell was recast the foundry was destroyed by fire, and the heat was so Churches at Chester. 189 great that tons of metal were fused into a mass. Wiltbank, how- ever, fm-nished a bell, but it is more than probable that not an ounce of the material in the old one cast by Roger Eice entered into the composition of the one which hangs in the belfry of the present Church. No doubt but that the good people of that day believed they were doing a Avise act in disturbing the antiquated appearance of th ancient structure and decking it out in modern toggery, just as their successors fifteen years afterwards were ac- tuated by the same idea when they razed the entire building to the ground, and that, too, without getting enough stones from the ruins to lay a third of the basement of the new edifice. Matters drifted on with the Parish until 1850, when the change in the cur- rent set in, and Chester, after slumbering a century and a half, started into activity. St. Paul's Church awakened with the rest, and began to make provisions for the new order of things But the error of that day, and it was a serious one, consisted in de- stroying absolutely the old sanctuary. The new Church structure, which was erected on the north side of Third street, was built after a plan prepared by T. U. Walter, architect of Philadelphia, and the cost, it was believed, would not exceed five thousand dollars, although it ultimately cost nearly double that sum. The corner stone was laid July 25, 1859. The building was in the Gothic style, and was approached by a flight of stone steps, one of which was the slab whi.ch had formerly covered the remains of Robert French, and to-day is one of the flagging in the sidewalk to the Sunday School on the east side of the Church. Robert French was a native of Scotland, and was the second husband of James Sandelands' daughter Mary. He was a promi- nent man in his times in the Lower Counties, and was one of the three gentlemen to whom William Penn addressed his noted letter respecting the pirates, who were reported to have landed near New Castle, "full of gold," about the beginning of the year 1700, and whom he instructed French to discover and arrest, if possible. He was a member of the Church of England, and one of the founders of Immanuel Church, at New Castle. He filled many important offices in the Colonial Government, and after a lengthened illness died in Phikdelphia, September 7, 1713, and was interred in St. Paul's Church, in this city. His tombstone, which is the oldest 190 Historical Sketch of Chester. except that of James Sandelancls, and Francis Brooks, to whom I will refer hereafter, in St. Paul's, was an ordinary slab of syenite, six feet long and three and a half feet wide, and the inscription, now almost obliterated, read : " Robert French, obt, Sept. the 7th, 1713." His widow married in about a year after his death, for the third time, Robert Gordon, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Lower Counties on the Delaware. David, the son of Robert and Mary (Sandelands) French, was a poet of no slight attainments, and his verses are spoken of with wainn commendation by Duyckinck Brothers, in their " Cyclopedia of American Literature." "The smoothness and elegance of the versification," they say, " testify to the accomplished scholarship of the writer." He was Attorney General for the Lower Counties, and in 1728, was Prothonotary of the Courts of Delaware, an office he retained during life. He was also Speaker of the Assembly, and was appointed by the High Courts of Chancery in England, one of the Examiners in the case of Penn vs. Lord Baltunore. He died in August, 1742, and was buried in St. Paul's Church, on the 26th of the same month, " by the side of his father." The Pennsylva- nia Gazette, for August 26, 1742, states: " The Beginning of this Week died at New Castle, David French, Esq , late Speaker of the Assembly of that Government, et., a young Gentleman of uncommon Parts, Learning and Probiety, join'd with the most consummate Good Nature ; and therefore uni- versally beloved and regretted. The Corps was brought up to Ches- ter, and yesterday interred in the Church there, the Funeral being attended by many Gentlemen, his Friends, from this city." The place where the remains of the noted father and son lie in the graveyard is now unknown. In all probability they were in- terred in the chancel of the old Church building. The new building was opened Sunday, May 4, 1851, Rev. Mr. Balch, officiating. The constant growth of our busy city and the increase in the number of the worshippers soon began to tax the seating capacity of the new structure, and for several years after the close of the war it became evident that additional room must be provided to meet this want. In 1872, the demand was so im- perative that the congregation determined that the Church building must be remodeled, and steps were taken promptly to carry out that end. On Sunday, June 14, 1872, services were held in the Churches at Chester. 191 sanctuary for the last time previous to the changes being made, and for ten months the edifice was closed during the alterations. The south end of the Church was demolished, and a new addition, con- siderably increasing the seating capacity, a handsome Gothic front, which approaches closely to the sidewalk, and a towering steeple and belfry erected. On Sunday, April 13, 1873, the congregation renewed religious services in St Paul's, and Rev. Henry Brown, the rector, preached a historical sermon. John Hill Martin, in his " History of Chester," gives the follow- ing list of ministers of St. Paul's, from 1702 to the present time: Rev. Evan Evans _ . _ 1702 to 1704 a Henry Nichols, _ _ _ - 1704 " 1708 a George Ross, - - - . 1708 " 1714 a John Humphreys, - - - - 1714 " 1726 u Samuel Hesselius, 1726 " 1728 a Richard Backhouse, - 1728 " 1749 a Thomas Thompson, , - 1751 " a Israel Acrelius, _ _ _ - 1756 " a George Craig, 1758 " 1781 a James Conner, _ - _ - 1788 « 1791 a Joseph Turner, 1791 « 1798 i( Levi Heath, _ _ _ - 1796 « 1798 it Joshua Reece, 1803 " 1805 ti William Pryce, _ _ _ - 1815 " 1818 a Jacob Morgan Douglass, 1818 « 1822 i( Rich'd Umstead Morgan, - 1822 « 1831 (( John Baker Clemson, D, D., 1831 « 1835 a Richard D. Hall, - 1835 « 1837 ii Mortimer Richmond Talbot, 1837 « 1841 a Greenberry W. Ridgely, - 1842 « 1843 ii Anson B. Hard, Associate Rector, 1844 " 1848 a Charles W. Quick, - . 1849 « 1850 i( Lewis P. W. Balch, D. D., 1850 " 1853 a Nicholas Sayre Harris, - 1853 " 1855 a Daniel Kendig, 1855 « 1859 a M. Richmond Talbot, - 1859 « 1861 a J. Pinckney Hammond, 1861 " 1863 li Henry Brown, _ _ _ - 1863 « Within the old churchyard are gathered many generations of our people, and therein mingles with the earth the ashes of the earliest proprietors of our city. I believe Joran Keen, the original Swed- ish settler of Chester, lies in that ancient God's Acre, and to that 192 Historical Sketch of Chester. fact I ascribe the inclination his descendants and connections mani- fested for many years to be interred in the present Saint Paul's burial ground. However, it is not my purpose to speculate on the unknown, but to refer briefly to the distinguished dead who lie therein. Ten years ago, after the addition to the front part of the Church was begun, Dr. Allen showed me, in a closet in the Sunday School, the noted tombstone which for many years attracted the attention of all strangers visiting the old chui'ch yard, because of its an- tiquity, the manner in which the sculptor had performed his work, and the singularity of the inscription. The stone was cracked and in bad condition. The inscription reads: — FOR THE MEMORY OF FRANCIS BROOKS, who died August the 19, 1704 Aged 50 years. In Barbarian bondage And cruel tyranny For ten years together I served in Slavery After this Mercy brought me To my country fair And last I drowned was In River Delaware. John Hill Martin states that Francis Brooks was a negro. The inscription would seem to indicate that Brooks was a native of the American Colonies, and as his age at death precludes the idea of his birth in Upland, the chances are that he was a New Englander, or Virginian. One of the most interesting monuments is that on which is cut the following inscription : Here lieth Paul Jackson, A. M. He was the first who received a Degree In the College of Philadelphia. A Man of virtue, worth and knowledge. Died 1767, aged 36 years. Dr. Paul Jackson was noted as one of the most accomplished Churches at Chestrr. 193 schoTl irs oF his day in the Colony. When quite a young man he was appointed to the professorship of the Grreek and Latin Lan- guages in the College of Philadelphia, now the University of Penn- sylvania. His studious application impaired his health, and iu 1758, when General Forbes led the expedition against Fort Du Quesne, he joined the army as a captain of one of the companies of Royal Americans. His active life as a soldier restoring him, he determined to study medicine. After he had received his degree he came to Chester, where he married Jane, daughter of John Mather, and practiced his profession with marked success. He "was Chief Burgess of the Borough at the time of his death. His widow, in three years after his decease, married Dr. David Jack- son, a brother of her first husband, and who, during the Revolu- tionary War, was Surgeon General of the Pennsylvania troops. One of the most noted graves in St. Paul's Ground — at least within recent years, for, strange as it may appear, neither Trego in his "Geography and Historical Accounts of Pennsylvania," or Burrowes' " State Book of Pennsylvania," both published within the last forty years, make any mention of John Morton — is that of the signer of the Declaration of Independence, whose remains lie beneath a plain shaft of marble, nine feet in height, its four sides forming precisely the four cardinal points of the compass. The inscription on the west side of the monolith is as follows : Dedicated to the memory of John Morton, A member of the First American Congress from the State of Penn- sylvania, Assembled in New York in 1765, and of the next Congress, assembled in Philadelphia in 1774. Born A. D., 1724— Died April 1777. On the east side of the shaft is as follows : " In voting by States upon the question of the Independence of the American Colonies, there was a tie until the vote of Pennsyl- vania was given, two members of which voted in the affirmative, and two in the negative. The tie continued until the vote of the last member, John Morton, decided the promulgation of the Glo- rious Diploma of American Freedom." On the south side of the stone is cut the statement : " In 1775, while speaker of the Assembly of Pennsylvania, John Morton was elected a Member of Congress, and in the ever me- morable session of 1776, he attended that august body for the last 194 Historical Sketch of Chester. Jime, establishing his name in the grateful remembrance of the American People by signing the Declaration of Independence." On the north side of the shaft is inscribed the following sentence^ to which I desire particularly to direct the attention of the reader. It is • " John Morton being censured by his friends for his boldness in giving his casting vote for the Declaration of Independence, his- prophetic spirit dictated from his death bed the following message to them : ' Tell them they shall live to see the hour when they shall acknowledge it to have been the most glorious service I ever rendered to my country." A little over nine months after the Declaration was signed, John Morton died, his act in voting for the great Charter of American Freedom having hastened his end. It is well known that vi^hen the Declaration was made it wa& accepted by more than two-thirds of the United Colonies as a mistake, and as for a time reverses seemed to wait upon the American arms, the feeling that a fatal error had been made became general Even the army did not receive the news of the act with enthusiasmj for it will be recalled that when the Continental forces were at Fort Washington and the news of the Declaration reached them, they were ordered to form in a square. ;Vft3r pnyer by Rev. Dr. Magaw, the document was read to the soldiers. When it was finished there was, for an instant, a death-like silence. G-en. Thomas Mifflin, who was a gifted speak- er, knowing there was no time for reflection, sprang on a cannon, and in a clear, full voice, exclaimed : " My lads, the Rubicon is crossed ! Let us- give three cheers for the Declaration." The ef- fect was electrical. The men cheered enthusiastically, and although not a note of dissatisfaction was heard, still the correspondence and diaries of that period show how doubtful the measure was believed to be, Morton was in a neighborhood and among friends who de^ &ired the war should cease, whose religious conviction was against strife, and hence he was met on all sides with the opinion that he had done a wrong to his country in his vote. The series of disas- ters which followed immediately after the Declaration was pro- claimed, lent additional earnestness to the statement of these "friends" — as the monument designates them — ^and his sensitive nature could not bear up against their reproaches. John Morton's last year of life was an unhappy one, and although it gave him Churches at Chester. 1'95 Immortality of fame, it added not to his joy, for lie was_liarassed and annoyed by the reproaches of many of his constituents. His last words show how deeply their censure had impressed itself upon his mind. ST. LUKE'S P. E. CHURCH. The Gothic edifice, located at the south-east corner of Third and Broomall streets, was built of granite, in 1866, the cornerstone being laid February 1, of the same year, with appropriate ceremo- nies. Right Rev. William Bacon Stevens, Bishop of Pennsylva- nia, officiated, assisted by Rev. Henry Brown and other clergymen. The funds of the building committee having become exhausted be- fore the Church was completed, the congregation for a time wor- shipped in the edifice which was then without pews, settees being used in their places, and the unplastercd walls presenting a rough and uninviting appearance. After Sunday, May 8, 1870, services were held there in the morning and evening, Thomas R. List, a student at the Divinity School of Philadelphia, being employed as lay reader, which duties he discharged until June 19, 1873, when he became rector of the parish. The Church now firmly established, was due largely to the efforts of John Burrows McKeever, Wm. Ward, Samuel Archbold, Samuel Eccles, Jr., Wm, H. Green, Wm. A. Todd, Major Joseph R. T. Coates, and their wives and other la- dies of St. Paul's Church, the South Ward, and South Chester. Edward A. Price and wife presented the parish with a handsome communion service — silver tankard, paten, chalices and plates for alms, while F. Stanhope Hill and Mrs. Hannah Depue gave the pulpit Bible. On May 19, 1874, St. Luke's Church was admitted into the Diocesan Convention, Samuel Archbold and William Ward being the first lay deputies. In 1874, John Burrows McKeever, who was an ardent friend of the new parish, died, and through the efforts of Rev. Mr. List a memorial font was placed in the church in whose behalf he labored so zealously. In September, 1875, Rev. Mr- List, having received a call to a church in Philadelphia, re- IM Historical' Sketch of Chester. signed the rectorship. In October of the same year, Rev. (xeorge Clifford Moore, the present rector, was called, and almest immedi- ately after his installation, he began the advocacy of the abolition of pew rents substituting therefor voluntary contributions — or en- velope system. In 1876, Charles Kenworthy bequeathed $350 to the parish, which sum was applied towards liquidating a mortgage debt, and the following year, Elizabeth Kerlin, by will, gave $150, which was used in a like manner, until in 1880, the entire debt was extinguiihad. The parish, at present, is in a flourishing condition. ST. MICHAEL, THE ARCHANGEL. The imposing Catholic Church of St. Michael's is the second sanctuary erected on the site, the first having been razed in 1874 to make room for the present edifice. The church organization ex- tends backward in the history of our city forty years. In 1842 a number of Catholics, employed in this neighborhood — the nearest church being locited nine miles distant — determined to establish one of that denomination in the borough. Application was made to Rt. Rev. Francis Patrick Kendrick, Bishop of Philadelphia, for permission to organize a congregation and ei-ect a church in Ches- ter. In response to the request the Bishop assigned Rev. Philip Sheridan to the parish, and earnestly did he labor to accomplish the end in view. July 12, 1842, a lot was purchased on Edgmont road and September 23, of the same year, the corner stone was laid by Bishop Kendrick. June 25, of the year following the church was dedicated to Almighty God under the patronage of St. Michael, the Archangel, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Moriarty preaching the dedicatory sermon. For many years the building was the most noticable in Chester, and so conspicuous was it that the gilded cross, surmount- ing the lofty spire, could be seen glittering many miles away, as the town was approached in any direction. For nearly seven years no regular pastor was assigned to the parish. Occasional visits were made by Fathers Sheridan, Lane, Souren, Walsh, Amat, and Dr. O'Hara, until July 12, 1850, when Rev. Arthur P. Haviland, who Churches at Chester. 197 had been ordained a priest in Philadelphia, June 29, of the same year, was appointed to the charge of St. Michael's parish. So faith- fully did he labor, that in a short time the building became too small to accommodate the worshipers, and for many years the parish struggled under that difficulty In 1854, the parsonage adjoining the sanctuary was built and the same year Father Haviland was assigned an assistant. Rev Patrick McEnroe. On September 20, 1858, a bell, the present one, weigh- ing 1,000 pounds, was raised to its designated place in the tower, and for almost a quarter of a century its well-known tones have daily be n heard ia our thriving town. On the occasion of raising the bell to its allotted place a large concourse of people was pres- ent, and the services were conducted by the Right Rev. Bishop Wood. In 1867, Father Haviland went to Europe, and during his absence the parish was in charge of his assistant. Rev. Edward McKee, Father McEnroe having been removed to Mauch Chunk. On the return of Father Haviland, Father McKee was assigned to Catasauqua, and Rev. Father Shankey became his assistant tor a brief period, to be followed in succession by Rev. Fathers William F. Cook, Thomas McGlynn, Hugh McGlynh, James Timmins and Patrick J . Mackin. Early in 1873, notwithstanding the parish had been divided and the Church of the Immaculate Heart erected in the South Ward, it became evident that the old edifice was insufficient to accommo- date the congregation, and it was resolved to erect a new sanctuary. Before the plans to this end could be fully matured, the financial disturbances in the fall of that year so paralyzed business that it was deemed inexpedient to begin the demolition of the old and the erection of the new edifice until the industrial dejection had, in a measure, abated. In the summer of the following year, permission was granted by the Right Rev. Bishop Wood to demolish the old structure, and rear in its stead a larger and more attractive build- ing. To that end, on July 29, 1874, the pews were taken out of the Church, and the parochial school house, which had been erected in 1866, was prepared for use as a temporary chapel. August 11, following, the excavations for the foundation of the new edifice were made, and on the 31st of the same month the old building was leveled to the earth. The corner stone of the new Church was 198 Historical Sketh of Chester. laid Sunday, November 1, 1874, by the Right Rev. Bishop Wood. The new structure is 1 78 feet in length and tlie facade 42 feet. Its height from the pavement to the eves is 68 feet, while from the centre of the facade rises a tower of 92 feet in height. The structure is built of Leiperville granite with polished granite trimmings and columns from Maine. Externally and internally the edifice is artistically and handsomely finished, while the altar and furniture is elaborate and beautiful, making as a whole the most imposing building in the county. Sunday, November 5, 1882, the llhurch was dedicated with appropriate ceremonies by Right Rev. Bishop Shanahan, of Harrisburg. CHURCH OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY. In the spring of 1873, the parish of St. Michael's having become so densely populated and the congregation attending the old sanc- tuary had grown so large, it was deemed expedient to institute a new Catholic Church in South Ward, and a committee waited on Right Rev. Bishop Wood to that end. After several interviews with the committee the Bishop consented to the division and July 1873, he appointed Rev. John B. Kelley the pastor in charge of the parish, which was named the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Two days after his appointment Father Kelley was drowned while bathing at At- lantic City, and Rev. Thomas J. McGlynn was assigned to the pas- torate. The parishioners immediately erected a frame chapel and the congregation was organized therein. Prompt steps were taken toward the building of a permanent Church edifice, and the follow- ing fall, September 23, 1874, the corner stone of the brick Gothic Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, at the north-west cor- ner of Second and Norris streets, was laid by the Right Rev. Bishop Wood. The work went steadily onward, and the Church was dedi- cated the first Sunday of October, 1 876. The edifice is 64 feet on Second street, by 108 feet in depth on Norris street. The parson- age on the left of the sanctuary, and in the same order of archi- tecture, was erected in 1877. The parish is now building a three Churches at Chester. . 199 story brick parochial school house which will conform in style ex- ternally to the Church edifice. Rev. Father McGlynn has been in charge of the parish ever since it was organized, and under his immediate supervision all the permanent improvements have been made. FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH. The Kerlin farm was purchased in 1850 by John M. Broomall and the late John P. Crozer in equal shares, and after a large part of the real estate had been sold so as to repay the original outlay, Mr. Crozer, in 1856, conveyed his interest in all the land remain- ing to Mr. Broomall, reserving, however, the absolute title in the half square of ground on Penn and Second streets. Mr. Crozer stated at the time of the conveyance that he designed that locality as a site for a Baptist Church. This intention was doubtless due to the fact that previous to the autumn of 1854, occasional reli- gious exercises by Baptist clergymen had been held in Chester, but it was not until the fall of the year mentioned that any regularly stated services were had, when Rev. William Wilder, of the Up- land Baptist Church, established worship in the Court House, and it was continued under Mr. Wilder's supervision for four years. In the spring of 1858, Mr. Crozer donated the ground at the north- west corner of Second and Penn streets, seventy feet on the first and one hundred and twenty-seven on the latter, for a Church. During the summer of the same year Benjamin Glartside, at his personal cost, built a chapel 28 by 40 feet, which building, now stand- ing in the rear of the Church, was completed during the month of August, and worship was held there every Sunday afternoon. Rev. Miller Jones, then stationed at Marcus Hook, and Rev. William Vrilder, conducted the services. In the spring of 1863, an effort was made to erect a building and to have the congregation recog- nized as a Church, but the public excitement consequent on the bat- tle of Gettysburg postponed definite action until September 24, 1863, when the chapel, built by Mr. Grartside, was dedicated as the 200 Historical Sketch of Chester. First Baptist Church of Chester, and Rev. Levi Gr. Beck was, May 24, 1864, ordained its first pastor. The same year a sufficient sum was pledged to the building fund to justify the building of a sanctuary. The corner stone was laid July 2, 1 864, and in the fall the edifice was so far advanced that the lecture room could be used for religious services. The work on the Church was continued, and in the fall of the following year all had been completed, but as it had been decided that the main apartment should not be used until the debt of the building com- mittee, amounting in all to $16,000, had been discharged, it re- quired several weeks to gather the fund. This was done, and De- cember 28, 1865, the Church was dedicated, Rev. J. Wheaton Smith, D. D., officiating on that occasion. After two years' pastor- ate. Rev. Mr. Beck was elected Secretary of the Baptist General Association of Pennsylvania, which office he accepted, and resigned his charge of the Church in April, 1866. For several months the congregation was without a regular minister, until November, 1866, when Rev. Andrew Fuller Shanafelt was called and assumed the duties of the pastorate in December of the same year. During his ministry, James Irving presented the lot on Second street, imme- diately adjoining the Church, for a parsonage, and Benjamin Grart- side erected the present building at his personal cost. In 1874, Mr. Shanafelt's health was so much impaired that he was granted a vacation to travel in Europe and the Holy Land. He returned in the fall apparently much improved, but his application to duty brought on a return of his physical weakness, causing his death March, 1875, The following July, Rev. Z. T. Dowen became the pastor and for two years remained in charge, when he resigned Au- gust, 1877, and returned to England. In November of the same year, Rev. A. Gr. Thomas, the present pastor, was called and began his ministerial work in the following December. ? : Churches at Chester. 201 MADISON STREET M. E. CHURCH. The name "Chester" appears in the minutes of the Philadel- phia Conference in the list of appointments of preachers as early as the year 1783, when Revs. Robert Cann and John Milburn were assigned to that circuit. They, in 1789, were succeeded by Revs. William Dougherty and James Campbell, and the latter, in turn, in 1790, were followed by Revs. Sylvester Hutchinson and John Cooper. Notwithstanding these appointments it is very doubtful whether, at those times, there were any Methodists in the ancient Borough of Chester, the name being given to a circuit extending in territory from the river Delaware nearly to the Susquehanna, and from Philadelphia county to the Maryland line. The first absolute knowledge we have of a meeting of that de- nomination is in 1818, when John Kelley and his wife, Esther, moved to this place. Mr. Kelley had been a local preacher in St. George's Church, Philadelphia, and shortly after locating in Chester held services in his own house, where he organized a class. The circuit preacher soon afterwards established a regular appointment for preaching, and on Sundays religious services were held in the Court House for many years. In that structure the noted Bishop Asbury, it is said, preached on several occasions. The denomina- tion grew gradually, and several attempts were made to raise funds sufficient to build a house to meet in, but all efforts failed to that end, until in 1830, sufficient means had been obtained to justify the congregation in erecting, not without considerable difficulty, a stone Church on Second street, at the corner of Bevan's Court, which building was greatly due to the energy and efforts of the late David Abbott, and was named in honor of the Bishop, " Asbury Chapel." The society was still largely dependent on the circuit minister, although more frequently the services were conducted en- tirely by the local preachers. The congregation attending the Church had grown so large in 1845 that Chester was made a station and Rev. Isaac R. Merrill was appointed pastor in that year. During his pastorate, in 1846, the congregation erected the sec- 202 Historical Sketch of Chester. oncl stone meeting house, on Fifth street, below Market, which, m 1 873 they sold to Tuscarora Tribe of Red Men, No. 29, who changed it into a hall. At the present time the old building has again been devoted to t'.ie purposes for which it was built, and is occupied by the congregation of the Grerman Evangelical Lutheran Church. In 1847, Mr. Merrill was succeeded by Rev. Levi Storks,* who, in 1848, was followed by Rev. John Shields. In 1849, Rev. Newton Heston* was appointed, and continued until 1851. In 1850, the year when Chester began to develop rapidly, the Church had 302 members. Rev Samuel Gr. Hare* was appointed in 1851, and was followed the succeeding year by Rev John B. Maddux,* who con- tinued pastor until 1854, when Rev. Wm. Mullin was appointed in his stead, and in 1856 was followed by Rev. John W. Arthur.* Rev. Allen Johns'' was appointed pastor in 1858 and the following year was succeeded by Rev. John Ruth.* During the latter's pas^ torate, in 1860, the membership had grown to 322. Rev. William Urie' was assigned to the charge of the Church in 1861, and was succeeded in 1863, by Rev, James E. Meredith, who, after he ceased to be its pastor became a clergyman of the Episcopal Church and at the present time is located in Texas, as rector of a parish of that denomination. Mr. Meredith was followed in 1866 by Rev. Henry E, Gilroy, and in 1869, Rev. James Cunningham was appointed to succeed him. The old meeting house on Fifth street was now un- able to accommodate the number of worshippers, and it was deter- mined to erect a new edifice. To that end a lot on the north-east corner of Seventh and Madison streets was purchased, and the cor- ner stone of the new Church building laid on Wednesday, July 17, 1872, Rev. Henry Brown, rector of St. Paul's, and Rev. A. W. SprouU, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, assisting Rev. James Cunningham in the ceremonial and religious services on that occasion. The new Church, which was built of green serpentine stone, with granite trimmings and corner blocks and finished very tastefully and at much expense, was dedicated May 3, 1874. Du- ring the greater part of the time the building of the edifice was going on Rev. John B. Maddux* was the minister, having succeed- ed Mr. Cunningham in the fall of 1872. In 1875, Rev. Jos. Welsh was appointed pastor, and was succeeded in 1878 by Rev. William ■Deceased. Churches at Chester. 203 C. Robinson. In 1881, Rev. William J. Paxson, the present p vs- tor, was appointed. The Church is in a most fl.nirishino coirlitioii, its membership in 1880 being 626, and it has I:iroely increased in that respect since that time. TRINITY M. E. CHURCH. In 1865, the membership and congregation of the Fifth Street Methodist Church had so increased that it was deemed proper by the Quarterly Conference to effect a Church organization in South Ward, and to that end thirty members held regular religious wor- ship in the Crozer Academy, on Second street, west of Franklin. In the summer of the same year, the congregation began the build- ing at the corner of Third and Parker streets, known as Trinity Church, Rev. Mr. Twiggs, now of Wilmington Conference, being then pastor in charge. The edifice had been roofed in, when, in October, 1 865, a terrific north-east storm utterly demolished the building, heaping it into the cellar a mass of ruins. There the debris remained until 1866, when the congregation, under the di- rection of Rev. Wm McCombs, as pastor, erected a frame chapel on the ground to the west, now used by D. H. Burns, as a marble yard, and the same year built what is now the Sunday School. The main structure during the same year was re-commenced and pushed forward until it was roofed in. The debt of the congrega- tion amounted to $20,000 In the fall of the year the chapel was completed and dedicated, on which occasion a sum of $5,000 was raised, and to that amount the debt was extinguished. In the spring of 1867, Rev. Isaac Mast was appointed, and continued in charge for two years, during which period $5,000 additional of the debt was paid off, the floors of the main Church laid, and the mem- bership largely increased. In 1869, Rev. George W. F. Graff be- came the pastor, and continued in that relationship three years. During his ministry the Church proper was completed and dedicat- ed by Bishop Simpson. It had cost $6,000 additional, but of that sum $5,000 was subscribed on dedication day. The congregation 204 Historical Sketch of Chester. during that period built what is now known as the South Chester M. E. Church, then styled the mission chapel. Independent of the sums mentioned, the congregation raised $10,000, and applied it towards liquidating the indebtedness of the Church. In the spring of 1872, Rev. Samuel Pancoast was assigned to the pastorate, and during his term of three years the entire debt was discharged. In 1875 Rev. Samuel W. Kurts was appointed and was followed in 1878 by Rev. John F. Crouch, during w^hose pastorate many im- portant improvements were made to the Church. In 1880 Rev. Noble Frame was assigned to the Church, and in the spring of 1 882, Rev. Thomas Kelly, the present pastor, was appointed. UNION A. M. E. CHURCH. Early in this century Robert Morris, a slave in the lower part of Delaware, was told by his master, with whom he was a favorite, that his property was about to be levied on by the Sheriff, to make his escape to Chester, and, if possible, get some one to buy him. The latter fled and Charles Lloyd, of the Blue Bell Tavern, Kingses- sing, purchased him from his master for $300 conditioned that when he attained thirty years he was to be free. Morris, who was a re- ligious man, after he was free came to Chester, where he organized this Church. At first only four persons could be found to attend meetings, which were held in a house occupied by a man named Williams, on Third street, west of Concord avenue, but by degrees the movement spread until about 1831, when sufficient means were collected to purchase from Matthew L. Bevan, a lot on Welsh street, and to build a frame Church. The following year Rev. Sam- uel Smith was appointed local preacher and continued in charge un- til 1837. His pastorate, however, was financially unsuccessful in- asmuch as the expenses of the organization created a burdensome debt, so that Robert Morris once more came to Chester to its as- sistance and Rev. Benjamin Jefferson was assigned as its pastor, in which capacity he continued until 1 874. The latter strove energet- ically to liquidate the incumbrance and succeeded in clearing the Churches at Chester. 205 Church of debt. He was followed in 1875 by Rev. Lorenzo D. Blackston, and the following year Eev. Henry Mode was appointed pastor. Again in 1877, Rev. Benjamin Jefferson was assigned to the charge of the Church and continued until 1880. It was during his second pastorate that the edifice was rebuilt as it is to-day, al- though many years before a stone building had taken the place of the original frame structure. From 1880 to 1881, Rev. Lewis J. Jones was in charge. In the latter year Rev. Francis H. Norton, the present pastor was appointed. Fifteen or twenty years ago a mission Church was organized in Media, under the supervision of Union Church and is now a flourish- ing body, while the membership of the parent Church has largely increased. ASBURY A. M. E. CHURCH, This religious body was organized by Rev. Stephen Smith, of Philadelphia, October 26, 1845. The same year the congregation purchased the Church property on Second street, east of Market, for $700, at which location they have continued to worship for nearly forty years. At first, as with all Methodist Churches in this city, the body was supplied at times by circuit preachers, but gene- rally the services were conducted by local clergymen. In 1849j Rev. Henry Davis was appointed the first regular pastor and was succeeded in 1850 by Rev. H. G. Young, who in turn was followed in 1853 by Rev. J. G. Bulah. In May, 1854, Rev. James Holland was assigned to the Church and was succeeded in 1 856 by Rev. Adam Driver, who was followed in 1858 by Rev. J. Gr. Bulah. In 1860, Rev. J. Gr. Carrish was appointed, and in 1861, Rev. G. W. Johnson became pastor. The next year Rev. W. D. N. Schureraan was assigned to the Church, and in 1863, Rev. Jeremiah Young was appointed pastor, and during his ministry the Church wfis rebuilt. He was followed in 1869 by Rev. G. Boyer, and in 1871 Rev. G. T, Waters became pastor. He was followed in 1874 by Rev. L. C. Chambers, and in 1877, Rev. T. Gould succeeded him. In ISTQ, 206 Historical Sketch of Chester. Rev. J. S. Thompson was assigned to the Church and in 1881, the present pastor, Rev. C C. Felts, was appointed, and during his ministry the congregation purchased a parsonage on Madison street, above Sixth. The Church has also sent out its mission body in the William Murphy Church, on Engle street, below Second, in South Chester. That Church was named by Hon John M. Broomall, in commemoration of the active religious life work of Rev. William Murphy, of this city, and the organization is in a flourishing con- dition. Its pastors since it was instituted are as follows : Revs G. W. Warter, Jacob P Davis, Henderson Davis, John W. Davis and John W. Norris. FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. The Presbyi,erian residents of Chester, previous to 1850, often attended divine services at Leiper's Church, in Ridley, but more frequently the Episcopal or Methodist Churches, both of which de- nominations had "a local habitation and a name" in the ancient Borough. In the fall of the year stated, the late Rev. James W. Dale, every Sunday afternoon, conducted divine services in the Court House, according to the Presbyterian formula, and continued to preach therein for more than a year. In 1851, I. E. Cochran, Sr., gave the lot, part of the land taken by him in partition of his father's, (John Cochran, the elder,) estate, at the south-east corner of Fourth and Welsh streets, on which to build a Presbyterian Church, and he, together with the late Joseph H. Hinkson, contributed largely of their means towards the erection of the present edifice. Rev. Mr. Dale, who had also labored indomitably in its behalf, dedi- cated the Church, and in 1853 organized a congregation with seven- teen communicants. Mrs. Henrietta Mifflin Clyde, who died September 28, 1874, aged eighty-two years, was the last survivor. Robert Benedict was ordained as the first ruling elder. In the sanctuary since it was renovated, enlarged and adorned about eight years ago, the handsome stained glass memorial windows then placed in the church, in most cases bear the names of persons who Churches at Chester. 207 were among its original founders. After it was organized, for two years Rev. J. 0. Stedman supplied the pulpit every Sunday. He was followed by Rev. George Van Wyck until 1856, when Rev. Alexander W. Sproull was called and installed as the first regula. pastor there. In 1873, the present pastor, Rev. Philip H. IMowry was called, and installel December 11, of that year. CHESTER CITY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. The influx of population, west of the Thir 1 street bridge was par- ticularly noticeable after the establishment of Reaney's ship yard just previous to the breaking out of the Rebellion, and efforts were made by several gentlemen to organize a Sunday School for religious in- struction of the many children in that neighborhood. To that end a school was begun December 14, 1862, in the Academy building, now the Second street Grammar School, with John L. Entwisle, Superintendent; Joseph Hinkson, Assistant; and Abram R Perkins, Treasurer. The school thus founded grew speedily, and those in- strumental in its beginning soon determined to establish the Ches- ter City Presbyterian Church, to be located in the South Ward. The great difficulty was in obtaining a suitable building, which im- pediment was 'overcome by the gift of a lot at the southeast corner of Third and Ulrich streets, by Reaney, Son & Archbold, upon w hich Thomas Reaney, who was warmly interested in the undertak- ing, built the present edifice at his personal cost. The Church was begun in the summer of 1865 and completed the following year. The furnishing and upholstering of the sanctuary was principally done at the joint expense of Mr. Perkins and Mr. Reaney. While the congregation was worshipping in the lecture room, the Church proper being unfinished, an application was made to the Presbytery of Philadelphia for organization, and on February 15, 1866, the con- gregation elected John X. Miller and Peter G. Rambo, elders, who were thereupon ordained in those offi ces by a committee appointed by Presbytery. February 25, 1866, the congregation called Rev. Martin P. Jones as pastor at a salary of $1000, and the committee 208 Historical Sketch of Chester. was empowered, at their discretion, to advance the sum to $1200 a year. He accepted the call and was ordained April 12, 1866. He remained in charge of the Church until January 1, 1869, he having tendered his resignation several months before. The Church was without a minister from that date until June 22 of the same year, when Rev. Augustus T. Dobson, who had been called the 25th of the previous March, at a salary of $1500, was installed. The sub- sequent failure of the firm of Reaney, Son & Archbold crippled the Church greatly, but the earnest efforts of the congregation, in con- junction with the pastor, relieved it from its em harassment. John Henry Askin contributed $500, and Abram R. Perkins, $150. The congregation notified the pastor that, under the circumstances, his salary must be reduced to $1000 a year, and at that sum it con- tinued until he resigned in October, 1881 . Rev. Thomas J. Aikin, the present pastor, was called December 6, 1881, and installed April 12, 1882. :; THIRD PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. This memorial church — it was built to commemorate the reunion of the old and new school Churches — is located at the southwest cor- ner of Twelfth and Upland streets. The lot was purchased .in 1871, and the building was erected as a Mission Sunday School by the First Presbyterian Church, but when the division in that congrega- tion took place, those who withdrew accepted the Sunday School building in unfinished condition, determining to constitute therein a Third Presbyterian Church, which was fully consummated October 16, 1872, with forty-two persons enrolled as members. The con- gregation, after it was organized worshiped in the chapel until July of the following year, when the western end of the building was re- moved and twenty-five additional feet added to its length. The lot and building had cost nearly $15,000. After the organization of the Church, Rev. Dr. Edwin W. Bower, of Lincoln University, offi- ciated as temporary minister until February 13, 1873, when Rev. Charles F. Thomas was unanimously elected to the pastorate. He Churehes at "Chester^ was Installed April 16, 1873, at a salary of $1600, which was sub- ■sequently increased by the congregation to $1800, but his health failing he resigned February 20, 1878, Rev. Dr. Bower was called April 3, 1878, but he declined and the congregation, May 31th, of the same year, called Eev. Thomas McCaidey, the present pastor, at the same salary received by Mr. Thomas. Mr. McCauley accept- ed October 1^ and was installed Ihe 10th of -the same month. 21 () Historical Sketch (yf Chester. MILITARY ORGANIZATIONS. |REVI()US to the Revolution the Associators, a body of troops wasriisecl in Chester county, in 1748, to resist the depredations of French and Spanish privateers, w^hich seems to have preserved its organization until the War of Independence, but it is hardly poss- ible at this late day to designate accurately the men from Chester who were members of the several companies. During the Whisky Insurrection, a troop of horsemen from Chester, commanded by William G-r ih im, joined the forces under Governor Lee, of Virginiay who was ordered by Washington to suppress that outbreak. In the war of 1812, the Delaware County Fencibles, commanded by Cap- tain James Serrill, and the Mifflin Gruards, Captain Samuel Ander- son, volunteered for the war, but being sent, with other troops, in- to cantonment at Camp Dupont, to defend the Delaware from Ad- miral Cockburn and General Ross' threatened attack in the summer of 1814, they did not take active part in any engagement. The Delaware County Troop was organized during that war with Dr. Joseph Wilson, Captain, which continued under Captain Pearson Smith, Captain John Hinkson, and subsequently Captain Samuel M. Leiper, until 1836, when it was disbanded. The Delaware County Blues was raised during the war of 1812, and was encamp- ed at Marcus Hook under the command of Captain George Haw- kins, and afterwards by Captain George Litzenberg. It preserved its organization until 1836, when it was disbanded. The Penn- sylvania Artillerists was organized about 1819 or 1820. Its first Captain was John James Richards, whose widow — an Anderson — died recently in the old family mansion on Fifth street. He held the office until his death, in 1822, when he was succeeded in com- Military Organizations. 211 mand by Joseph Weaver, Jr., then William Martin, Samuel A. Price, and finally John K. Zeilin. It was disbanded just previous to the Mexican War, in 1844 or '45. A Rifle Company was organized about 1822, with Henry Myers, Captain, and con- tinued until 1827, when it disbanderl. Fidui its fragments a new company — The Harmony Rangers — was formed. Captain Jesse L. •Green, commanding, who was succeeded by Captain Simon Leany. It was disbanded in 1842. In the late ('ivil War the record of the city of Chester and county of Delaware is most honorable. Of the troops that responded to the call of the Government I append the following resume: — April 29, 1861, the Union Blues, com- manded by Captain Henry B. Edwards, were mustered into the 9th Pennsylvania. Company K, of the 26th Pennsylvania, was re- cruited in this county and commanded by Captain William L. Grubb. The Delaware County Fusileers, Captain Simon Litzen- berg, became Company B, of the 124th Pennsylvania. Company E, 119th Regiment, was recruited and commanded by Captain Wil- liam C. Gray. The "Archy Dick Guards," Captain Wm. Cooper Talley, became Company F, 13th Pennsylvania Regiment, while Gideon's Band, Captain Norris L. Yarnall, became Company D, and the Delaware County Volunteers, Captain James Barton, Jr., became Company H, of the same Regiment. The Slifer Phalanx, Captain Samuel A. Dyer, became Company F, of the 1st Pennsylvania Reserves or 13th of the line. In July, 1861, Captain W. L. Laws recruited a cavalry company which was mustered into service as Company I, €Oth Regiment, 3d Pennsylvania Cavalry, William K. Grant being substituted as Captain. Besides these organizations there were emergency companies that responded previous to the battles of An- tietara and Gettysburg, "Chester Guards," Company K, 10th Pennsylvania Militia, Captain William R. Thatcher; Company B, 16th Regiment, "The Mechanic Rifles of Chester," Captain Jona- than Kershaw; "Delaware County Guard," Company D, 16th Penn- sylvania Militia, Captain John H. Barton; Company P, 16th Penn- sylvania Militia, Captain Joseph Wilcox; "Darby Rangers," Com- pany H, 16th Pennsylvania Militia, Captain John C. Andrews; Company A, 37th Pennsylvania Militia, Captain William Frick; Company A, 197th Pennsylvania Volunteers, or hundred-days' men, 212' Historical Sketch of Chester. Captain James Barton, Jr ; "Upland Volunteers," Captain George K. Crozer; Company C, Captain John M. Broomall; Company G^. Captain Alfred Buntings Company H, Captain J. C. Andrews;. Company I, Captain C. D. M. Broomhall, were all part of the 29tb Emergency Volunteer Regiment, and Company A, Captain William Frick; Company F, Captain Henry Huddleson, composed those numbers in the 37th Regiment of ninety-days' militia, and were all recruited in Delaware (-ounty, and the major part of them in the City of Chester. Among the officers from this county who attained the command of regiments by promotion, were Brevet Brigadier General William Cooper Talley, Brevet Brigadier Gen- eral Charles L. Leiper, Colonel Samuel A. Dyer, Lieutenant Colonel William C. Gray, and Lieutenant Colonel Simon Litzenberg. Jan. 29, 1867, Post Wilde, No. 25, Grand ^rmy of the,RepubliCy composed of honorably discharged soldiers, of the United States Army, was organized at Chester, and among its members are persons who are entitled to wear the stars of a Brigadier General and the gold and silver eagles of Colonel and Lieutenant Colonel, with many others who attained lesser grades in the military services of the country. The Chester City Safeguards was the name of a colored company of militia, organized in 1870, and commanded in succession by An- drew Johnson, Isaac B. Colwell, and Isaac Emory, until the com- pany, in the fall of 1872, was disbanded. September 12. 1872, Company A of the Gartside Rifle Battalion was organized with Captain Daniel Brown commanding. Captain Brown subsequently was appointed Major, and George F. Springer was elected Captain of Company A in his stead. Company B or- ganized March 19, 1873, Captain David S. Gwynn commanding, but he resigned, and the company elected William A. Todd as Cap- tain. The organization finally disbanded. In July, 1875, the Mor- ton Rifles, so called in honor of John Morton, the Signer of the Declaration of Independence, was organized with James Barton, Jr., as Captain, and in August, 1875, was mustered into the 11th Regiment, National Guard of Pennsylvania. Captain Barton was subsequently promoted aid to General Dobson, and Charles A, Story, Jr., was elected to the captaincy. Subsequently Captain Story resigned and John M. Householder was chosen to succeed Miliiary Organizations. 213 him. During the riots of July, 1877, the company was ordered to Pittsburg, where it did good service, but was the next year mus- tered out. The llartranft Rifles were organized January, 1876, by Captain Perry M. Washabaugh, and April 20, 1876, were mustered into service as Company B. 11th Regiment, and subsequently, af- ter the appointment of Captain Washabaugh to the staff of the Brigadier General commanding the division, he was succeeded by Robert H. Wood, and followed by William H Williams. This company was also called into active duty during the Pittsburg riots, and was finally mustered out of service. Company A, llth Regiment, National Guards of Pennsylvania, was mustered into service March .30, 1881, with B, F. Morley, Cap- tain; Frank G. Sweeney, First 1 ieutenant; and John J. Hare, Se- cond Lieutenant. The company soon showed such efficiency in drJll, that when the State authorities consolidated the military force of the Commonwealth, that, although the youngest company in the State, by general order No. 11, July 8, 1881, the title of the company was changed to B, 6th Regiment, First Brigade, National Guards of Pennsylvania. In the summer of the same year a scheme was broached by Lieutenant Colonel Washabaugh towards erecting an armory, and to that end a charter was obtained, stock was taken by several prominent citizen, a lot, 60 feet in front by 120 feet in depth, was purchased, and an armory, after a design by P. A, Welsh, was built. The structure begun August 4, 1881, cost- ing, including land, about $15,000, is too recent to require fuller description here. Sufficient it is to say that the home of one of the best, if not the best drilled company in the service of the State, is an ornament and credit to our city. The building, located on the south side of Fifth street, east of Crosby street, was opened on Tuesday, December 7, 1881, with a fair which lasted ten days and yielded several thousand dollars towards the liquidation of the debt of the armory company. The roll of Company B at the present time is as follows: Captain, Frank G. Sweeney; First Lieutenant, Edward D. Sparks; Second Lieutenant, James A. Campbell. Sergeants — First, William C. Gray; Second, George C. de Lan- noy; Third, J. Engle Baker; Fourth, T. Edward Clyde; Fifth, J. Frank Fairlamb. 214 Historical Sketch of Chester. Corporals — First, Horace F. Larkin; Second, D. Edwin Irving; Third, John A. Ladomus; Fourth, Harwell A. Cloud; Fifth, James Alexander Cochran; Sixth, William J Morgan; Seventh, Charles B. floss; Eighth, S. Ulrich Ward. Privates — Milton M. Allen, James H. Birtwell, Theodore Blake- ley, W. Irving Babcock, Frank L. Brown, Alfred E. Hinkson, Lewis L. Hinkson, Carleton Y. James, Samuel A. Price, W. N. Sparks, Harry E. Wilson, David M. Unangst, S. Warren Barnes, William S. Broughton, Charles B. Carling, William H. Derbyshire, William J. Dickson, George C. Johnson, Henry T. Johnson, Ed- ward B. Kirkman, Matthew F. Ross, Anson Rawnsley, Garrett G. Slawter, George C. Worrall, John M. B. Ward, Dean J. Deakyne, Frank B. Eddy, Ulysses S. Grant, Emil 0. Haas, George B. Min- nick, Robinson McCurdy, Henry S. Mcllvain, William H. Schure- man, George B. Smedley, Horace F. Temple, Robert P. Wilson, William H. Lodge, Edward A. Price, Arthur G. Rose. Newspapers of Chester. 215 NOTES RESPECTING NEWSPAPERS OF CHESTER. PERHAPS there is not a town of like population in this Com° nionwealth which can show as many newspapers born and died therein, as will be found in the annals of Chester. The earliest publication was the Post Boy. It was a weekly folio, 154 by 94 inch's in size, and an inspection of its columns show how little atten-* tion was at that time given to passing events in the immediate neigh- borhood. It was published by Butler & Worthington, November 19, 1817, and so continued until the latter part of the year 1824, when Butler sold his interest to Eliphalet B. Worthington, who continued its issue until 1826, when he transferred it to Joseph M. C. Lescure, who, after his purchase, changed the title to the Up- land Union, and increased the size of the paper. Mr. Lescure con- tinued its publication under the last name until 1838, with indif- ferent success, when he sold it to Joseph Williams and Charles T. (UUUAJjLlS ^ SffS]jia!uULjIlLllK lMS^^^ Li:Uj ?ZS!3^CE33C^i;^va urniiviiiiniimiifiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitfiJiiijT'rru- 'mnniiiiir''"" WILLIAM PENIM, AGE 52 YEARS. [Prom Portrait in yational Museum, Philadfli>>i\a.] CHI.IiBKATION ()!•• THE -£Bi-ci:ntenary^ OF THR LANDINf; OF WILLIAM PENN AT UPLAND, (NOW CHESTER,) ()CT()]51:K 28, 1682. Prelbnivary Work of the General Committee. 235 PRELIMINARY WORK OF THE GENERAL COMMITTEE. TFIK idea of celebrating the Bi-Centennial Anniversary of the landing of William Penn, the Founder of this Commonwealth, had been for some time a subject of interest to its citizens, but it was not until the early spring of 1 882, that it took definite shape. The actual time of the landing is somewhat in doubt. We know that the "good ship, Welcome, Robert Greenaway, Master," which brought Penn and his associates to this country, sighted the Capes of the Delaware, about the 24th of October, 1682. We know that Penn landed at New Castle on the 27th, and that he was there on the morning of the 28th and in Upland — now Chester — on the 29th. Whether he arrived here on the evening of the 28th, or the morning of the 29th is uncertain, the balance of evidence being slightly in favor of the latter. That he was here on the 29th of October, 0. S., we are certain, for the letters, /ac similes of which are given in this volume, were dated here on that day. The 29th of October,* 0. S., 1682, may, therefore, be fairly accepted as the actual an- niversary of his landing at Upland, in the absence of more conclu- sive evidence, and the 8th of November, N. S., 1882, in fact com- pleted the two hundredth year since the landing and should have been the day selected for the Celebration here. As will be seen, however, Chester had no voice in this matter, the date being fixed by the State Bi-Centennial Association. On April 4, 1882, C. W. Alexander, Secretary of the State Bi-Centennial Association, visited our city and conferred with Mayor James Barton, Jr., and a few citizens, and on June 12, ■'■■in this opinion of Mr. Johnson's, Mr. Ashmead does not concur. 236 Historical SkHch of Chester. 1882, a formal call was issued by a Committee, consisting of James Barton, Jr., jMayor; H. B. Black, President of Council: D. M. John- son, Frank S. Baker, Isaiah H. Mirkil and Richard Miller, for a meeting of citizens to consider the part which Chester should take in tlie proposed celebration. The call was as follows: To the ciiisem of Chester and vicinity : The Bi-Centennial Association of Pennsylvania have fixed upon the week commen- cing October 22, 1882, for the general celebration of the 200th anniversary of the founding of the Commonwealth by William Penn, and have outlined a programme of exercises as follows : Sunday, October 22, introductory religious services appropriate to the event throughout the State ; Monday, October 23, formal opening of the ceremonies of the week and celebration at Chester ; October 24, 25, 26, and 27, are set apart for pro- cessions, trades' displays, musical festivals, parades, &c., in the city of Philadelphia. The Executive Committee of the said Associaton are looking to the people of Ches- ter and vicinity to arrange and perfect plans for the suitable observance of the 23rd, to which the said committee will lend its co-operation. The undersigned were constituted a committee by the Council of Chester to take this subject into consideration, and they, after deliberation, deem it most important first that a public meeting of citizens should be called for the purpose of devising the best means of carrying out the designs of the State Committee, so far as they relate to the celebration in this city. We, therefore, invite you to assemble for that purpose in the City Hall, on the 15th inst., at 7.30, P, M. The following gentlemen have been invited and are expected to be present: Hon. John M. Broomall, Hon. Wm. Ward, Hon. Washington Townsend, Hon Thomas J. Clayton, Hon. J. Smith Futhey, Robert E. Monaghan, Esq., Samuel A. Crozer, John Roach, Samuel Riddle, John B. Rhodes, Esq., Ex-Mayor Larkin, Ex-Mayor Forwood, Dr. Elwood Harvey and A. Lewis Smith, Esq. C. W. Ale.xander, Secre- tary, Alexander P. Colesbury, Manager, and Thomas M. Thompson, of the Bi-Cen- tennial Committee of Philadelphia, will be present. JAMES BARTON, JR., Mayor. H. B. BLACK, President of Council. D. M. JOHNSON, FRANK S. BAKER, ISAIAH H. MIRKIL, RICHARD MILLER. Chester, yunc ^th, 1882. Committee. On the evening of the 15th about a hundred of the prominent citizens of the place met at the City Hall, and on motion of H. B. Black, Mayor Barton was chosen Chairman, Messrs. J. L. Forwood, M. D., H. B. Black, R. P. Mercer, M. D., and William Appleby, Vice-Presidents, and J. Craig, Jr., William Shaler Johnson and Edmund Jones, Esq., Secretaries. Preliminary Work of the Geveral Committee. 237 Speeches were then made by Alexander P. Colesbury, General Manager- Clifford P. McCalla, Corresponding Secretary and Thomas M. Thompson, Manager of the Civic Display, all of the State As- sociation and by Ex-Mayor J. L. Forwood and others, and letters of regret from C. W. Alexander, of Philadelphia ; John B. Roach, of Chester, and Hon. Washington Townsend and R. E. Monaghan, of West Chester, were read. The following resolutions were then offered by D. M. Johnson, Esq., and unanimously adopted : "Resolved, That this meeting deem it advisable that the two hundredth anniver- sary of the landing of William Penn in Chester, should be observed and celebrated with appropriate ceremonies, and that the proposed celebration shall take place on the 23d of October next. "Resolved, That a Committee of persons be appointed by the Chairman of this meeting which Committee shall have full power to collect and disburse funds, and make all necessary arrangements for a becoming and general celebration of said anni- versary, and that said Committee shall have power to add to its members, if found necessary." The number of the Committee was left to the Mayor's discretion, and he was made Chairman for the purpose of calling the Commit- tee together for organization. On the 19th of June, the Mayor appointed the following gentle- men to serve on the General Committee under the above resolution: Henry B. Black, Henry Palmer, Isaiah H. Mirkil, Ex-Mayor John Larkin, Jr., David M. Johnson, Ex-Mayor J. L. Forwood, Richard Miller, J. Newton Shanafelt. Frank S. Baker, William P. Ladomus, William B. Broomall. Prof. Charles F. Foster, John C. Price, Samuel H. Seeds, Daniel Robinson, William Appleby. J. Craig, Jr., Dr. Robert P. Mercer, William Shaler Johnson, Edmund Jones. Lewis D. Wheaton, Charles Creamer, Col. Simon Litzenberg. G. P. Dennis, Edward W. DeSilver, Orlando Harvey, Edward Johnson, John Sanville, William McCallum, John Wilde, William H. Martin, John A. Wallace, John Spencer, 238 Historical Sketch of Chester. Oliver Troth, Henry Fry singer. Jolin B Roach, Amos Gartside, Henry Graham Ashmead, Robert Wetherill, Hon. Robert Chadwick, Benjamin F. Baker, Henry Abbott, WiiHam I. Leiper, Benjamin W. Blakeley, William H. Eves, Thomas V. Cooper, Joseph Chadwick, George W. Whitlock, Charles Roberts, John Lilley, Joseph Deering, Henry B. Taylor, Frank W. Thomas, John J. Ledward, Robert Howarth, Oliver C. McClure, Col. William C. Gray, f. William Lewis, J ohn O. Deshong. Col. Perry M. Wasbabaugh. Lieut. Edward D. Sparks, Captain Charles E. Hyatt. William J. Oglesby, John Fountain, James Buckley, William S. Sykes, Col. David F. Houston, Gasoway O. Yarnall, James Fields, William Worrell, W. Lane Verlinden, Thomas J. Osborne, George W. Beatty, Humphrey Y. Ash, Ephraim J. Ridgway. J. Howard Lewis, Chalkley Harvey, Edgar C. Lyons. Thomas }. Ross. Prof. John R. Sweney. Joel Hollingsworth, Edward S. McKeever, Stephen L. Armour, Mordecai Lewis. William E. Trainer, Benjamin F. Miller, D. Reese Esrey. Col. Samuel A. Dyer, John P. Crozer, Ward R. Bliss, George E, Darlington, Horace R. Manley, John B. Rhodes, Clarence Larkin, John H. Kerlin, Henry Riddle, William Burnley. At the same time a call was issueJ for a meeting of this Commit- tee for the purpose of organization, and for such other business as might come before them, on Thursday evening, June 22. The Com- mittee met on that evening, in City Hall, On motion of Orlando Har- vey, Mayor Barton was unanimously elected Chairman and the fol- lowing officers chosen: Vice Chairman; George E. Darlington; Re- cording Secretary, J. Craig, Jr.; Corresponding Secretary, H. G. Preliminary Work of the General Committee. "239 Ashmead ; Treasurer, H. B. Black. At this meeting it was de- cided tliat fifteen members should constitute a quorum. A motion to appoint a Committee to take into consideration the best methods for raising funds and to name the necessary Sub-Committees for carrying out the details of the work subject to the consideration of the General Committee, was carried ; and on motion of Dr. K. P. Mercer, the permanent officers of the General Committee were in- structed to name a Committee of five to carry out the above resolu- tion. The gentlemen named were Ex-Mayor Forwood, D. M. John- son, Col. W. C. Gray, F. S. Baker and Edward S. McKeever, and the Committee adjourned to meet on Tuesday evening, June 29th. At the meeting June 29th, these gentlemen made an exhaustive report. In it they gave an outline of the exercises proposed for the celebration and a list of Sub-Committees. As these Sub-Com- mittees were somewhat changed, and in many cases members add- ed, the list of those composing them is omitted here, and will be* found at the close of this article. The persons first named on the several Sub-Committees were authorized to call them together, but their pernianent organization was left to themselves. From this time the work of preparation for the important event, went steadily on, the Sub-Committees working in unison with and under control of the General Committee, the latter holding meet- ings once a week. The general feeling manifested became stronger as the object and scope of the celebration became known, and to the gentlemen forming the sub-divisions of the General Committee, as well as to the officers of that Committee, and to those citizens who aided with their means, the City of Chester is indebted for the success of the celebration. The newspapers, with commendable liberality, opened iheir columns to the advertisements of the several Committees with- cut charge, and the civic societies and organizations were prompt in their response to the invitation to participate. The work of the General Committee closed, so far as preparation for the event was concerned, Thursday evening, October 19th, but that of the Sub- Committees ended only with the day. The meetings of the General and Sub-Committees, after the event were simply formal, and the business transacted was but the closing act of a well managed and well executed memorial drama. 240 Historical Sketch of Chester. Below is given a list of the officers of the General Committee and the officers and members of the Sub-Committees. As these, with the honorary members, make up the General Committee, a list of the latter would be superfluous: OFFICERS OF GENERAL COMMITTEE. Hon. James Barton, Jr., Chairman; George E. Darlington, Vice Chairman; J. Craig, Jr., Recording Secretary; H. G. Ashmead, Corresponding Secretary; H. B. Blacli, Treasurer; Col. W. C. Gray, Chief Marshal. SUB-COMMITTEES — FINANCE. R. P. Mercer, M. D., Chairman, Ciiester. J. Craig, Jr., Secretary, Chester. Rich- ard Miller, Treasurer, Chester. Aston, Samuel Rhodes. Birmingham, Richard Baldwin. Bethel. J. Ellwood Larkin. Concord, EUwood Hannum. Chester, Wil- liam H. Eves, John J. Ledward William H. Martin, Henry Abbott, B. F. Baker, Isaiah H. Mirkil, John A, Wallace, O. C. McClure. South Chester, G. O. Yarnall, William J. McDowell; Chester Township, George W. Beatty. North Chester. C. S. Esrey. Z^a/'^j, W. Lane Verlenden. j£'(f^OT(?«^', G. Leiper Green. Haverford, ]."Q. Leedom. Lower Providence, WiWiBm Osborne. Lower Chichester, John H. Ker- lin. Newtown, William Rhodes. Marple, J. Hunter Moore. Media, Horace R. Manley. Middletown, William Burnley. Radnor, D. C. Abrahams. Spriyigfield, J. Edgar Miller. Ridley, Bethel M. Custer, William Worrall. Tinir.um,V,. F. Miller. Upland, John P. Crozer. Upper Darby, Isaac Garrett, Humphrey Y. Ash. Upper Chichester, John B. McCay, Jr, Upper Providence, Fallon C. Lewis. INDUSTRIAL. Amos Gartside, Chairman, Chester. J. Craig, Jr., Secretary, Chester. Angora, John Wolfenden. Chester, G. P. Denis, H. B. Black, F. W. Thomas, W. I. Leiper, Henry Palmer, B. W. Blakeley, Robert Chadwick, Charles Roberts, James W. Wat- son, T. J. Houston, John Sanville, John Fountain, Tliomas Clough. Clifton Heights, Albert Levis. Glen Mills, Mark Wilco.x. Lower Chichester, Clarence Larkin. Mid- dletown, Henry Riddle, William Burnley. North Chester, D. Reese Esrey, William A. Irving, C. W. Andrews, E. S. Worrell. Nether Providence, Thomas J. Osborne. South Chester, Col. D. F. Houston, Richard Peters, Jr., J. E. Dermody. Ridley, Joseph Ward. CIVIC DISPLAY. J. Newton Shanafelt, Chairman, Chester. William S. Sykes, Secretary, Chester. Chester, John Wilde, G. P. Denis, Orlando Harvey, Edward W. DeSilver, Edward Johnson, William McCallum, W. H. Martin, P. Bradley, John Fountain, Joel Hol- lingsworth, S. L. Armour, Mordecai Lewis, John Wallis, Stephen J. Dowrick, Robert Watson, J. P. Volkhardt, N. W. Pennell, Robert Auter. South Chester, E. S. Ro- binson. Media, Joseph G. Cummins. ', Preliminary Work of the General Committee. 241 TRADES DISPLAY. H. B. Taylor, Chairman, Chester. H. A. Eisenbise, Secretary, Chester. Chester, Robert Howarth, John Wilde, Joseph Deering, Nathan Larkin, Joseph McAIdon, Joseph Messick, Charles Creamer, James F. Stewart, Samuel Oglesby. MILITARY. Col W. C. Gray, Chairman, Chester. Chester, Col. P. M. Washabaugh, Capt. C. E. Hyatt. Lieut. Edward D. Sparks. Media, Capt. Jesse M. Baker. EDUCATIONAL. Prof. C. F. Foster, Chairman, Chester. Prof. George Gilbert, Secretary, Chester. Chester, Col. Theodore Hyatt, Samuel H. Seeds, John C. Price, Daniel Robinson. Elwyn, Dr. I. N. Kerlin. Media, Prof. S. C. Shortlidge. Ridley, Prof. A. B. Stewart. MUSIC. William J. Oglesby, Chairman, Chester. Dr. R. P, Mercer, Secretary, Chester. Chester, Prof John R. Sweney, Prof. C. F Foster, William McCoUura, William P. Ladomus, Thomas Ross. HISTORICAL. Oliver Troth, Chairman, Chester. William S. Johnson, Secretary, Chester. Ches- ter, H. G. Ashmead, Henry Frysinger, John Spencer, George W. Whitlock, Isaiah H. Mirkil, Thomas Lees. Concord, Col. Frank M. Etting. Lower Chichester R. Morgan Johnson, John B. Okie. Media, Joseph Chadwick. North Chester. Adam C. Eckfeldt. Upland, Ward R. Bliss. firemen's display. William Ewing, Chairman, Chester. Chester, William Kelley, A. J. Bowers, John L. Hoffman, William Dolton. ORATORY, invitation AND RECEPTION. Orlando Harvey, Chairman, Chester. Frank G. Sweeney, Secretary, Chester. Chester, G. P. Denis, William Appleby, John O. Deshong, William B. Broomall, Col. W. C. Gray, Hon. J. L. Forwood, Hon. WiUiam Ward, H. B. Black, Dr. Ell- wood Harvey. Media, Hon. Thomas V. Cooper. Middletown, E. C. Lyons. PENN LANDING. B. F. Baker, Chairman, Chester. Edward S. McKeever, Secretary, Chester. Chester, D. M. Johnson, Edmund Jones, Col. Simon Litzenberg, Capt. F. S. Baker, Hon. William Ward, Robert Anderson, Lorenzo Nugent. Upper Chichester, Job Green. 242 Historical Sketch of Chester. FIRE WORKS. William H. iVlart:n, Chairman. Chester. Chester, Col. W. C. Gray, Charles Ro- berts, H. B. Black, Samuel Greenwood. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. / Amos Gartside. Chairman, Chester. Chester, William Appleby, Richard Miller, Capt. F. S. Baker, Col. Simon Litzenberg. HONORABLE MEMBERS OF GENERAL COMMITTEE Chester. )ohn B. Roach, L. D. Wheaton, Edmund Pennell, Spencer Mclivain, James Barton, Sr., Joseph Taylor, William V. Black, John Geltson, Thomas Moore, Benjamin Gartside, Hon. John Larkin, Jr., John Roach, Edward H. Engle, William Murphy, John Eves, Pennock Mercer. North Chester, Col. Samuel A. Dyer. Media, Hon. Edward Darlington. Middletoion, Samuel Riddle, Richard S. Smith. Rid- ley, Jacob Worr.^11, James Each'jis. South Chester, John J. Thurlow. SU.SSC??iBER3 TO THE FUND. CHESTER. Thomas Appleby $10 00 William Appleby 10 00 Henry Abbott 10 00 Robert Anderson 5 00 W. B. Broomall 10 00 John Brooks 5 00 G. W. Beatty 5 i^O A. Buclianan 1 00 W. Bagsbaw 3 00 J. M. Burke 2(0 Mr.'*, Booth 2 00 D. S. Bunting 10 00 T. C. Burke 1 00 Baker & Culbert 5 00 John M. Broom 11 2 00 J. B. Bergmann 1 00 George M. Bootli 5 00 John iVI. Booth 1 00 William Beaver 2 00 B. K.Baker 5 00 H. B. Black 10 00 William V. Black 10 00 A. Blakeley & Son 25 00 F. S. Baker 5 00 J. Brewster 2 00 I. P. Branin 5 00 Bowers & Son 10 00 Samuel Black 1 0'> Charles Cheetham 5 00 B. Chadwick 10 00 S.J. Cochran 5 00 Thomas Coulter 2 00 J. E. Cardwell 100 J. Cheetham 2 50 James Culbert 2 00 E. G. Conwell 1 00 M. ConnoUv 1 00 J. P. Clayton 5 00 (lash 16 50' H. B. Davis 5 00 J. Deny 100 A. O. D'eshong 20 00 J. O. De hong 20 00 P. P. Derric son... , 5 00 S. D. Danlield 5 00 S.A.Dyer 20 00 H. L. Donaldson 3 00 Joseph Deering 2 00 G. P. Denis 25 00 J, L. Entwisle 5 00 Adam C. Eckfeldt 10 00 William H. Eves 10 00 J.J. Evans 2 00 William P. Eyre 10 00 Eisenbise & Bro 6 00 ^W. B. Edwards 5 00 C. Emlen 2(0 T. D. Finegan 5 00 Samuel Greenwood 20 00 Benjamin Gartside & Sons 50 (lO Henry Gofi' 5 00 J. Girtside 10 CO William Gregg 25 George Gilbert 3 00 John Genther 5 00 John Gardner 2 00 G. Gerstley 1 00 John Gofl'. 5 00 John P. Gartside 5 00 Orlando Harvey — 6 00 S. P. Howard 2 00 Hugb Hatton 5 00 Mrs. Hardy 2 00 W. Hunter, Jr 1 00 D. G. Hendricks 100 Headley & Manon 2 00 Preliymnary Work of the General Committee. 24S JoLn Hamilton 10 ' Charles E. Hyatt 10 00 .lohn B. Hannum 2 00 Irvinsj & Leiper 25 00 Edmund Jones 5 00 Dr. Johnson 5 00 L. G. James 5 00 J. K Johnson- 2 00 D. M. Johnson 5 on F. Kroneberger..., 2 00 Dr. Kish 6 00 Edward Kelly 2 00 Mrs. Kershaw 1 Oo Paul Klotz 2 00 William Kurer 2 00 J. C Kepner 1 00 Lilley & Sons 10 00 L. I . Lukens & Co „ 5 00 Samuel Lyons 2 OO J. William Lewis 20 00 ,T. H. Ladomus 1 00 Thomas Lytle 5 00 J. A. Ladomu- 1 00 John Lee- 1 00 J. Larkiu, Jr 5 00 H. G. Mason 5 00 W. H. Iiiartin 3 75 Key. Thomas McCauley 5 00 Joseph Messick 5 00 Benjamin Morris ..« 2 00 F. it. McCollum 5 00 Mrs. Morrison - 5 00 Morton & Black 10 00 Eichard Miller 5 dO Thomas Mirkil 5 00 Samuel Mcllyain 5 00 D. McCurdy 5 00 McOall & Yurnall 5 00 William McClure...... 100 N. P. Moyer 1 00 Not to know 10 00 Lorenzo Nugent 1 00 William J. Oglesby 5 00 M. Ocheltree 3 00 CD. Pennell 10 00 D. P. Paiste 1 00 Samuel Powell S 00 Ann Pike 1 Oo Dr. Parsons 3 00 S. J. Rose & Son 5 0© R.E. Boss„ 5 00 Borer & Mingin ... 2 00 C. E Bodges 1 00 Cliarles Roberts 5 00 J. W. Bawcliffe 10' J. Rodgers 5 00 Shaw, E rey & Co §(• fO J . H. Stroud & Co 10 00 E. D. Sparks 10 00 K. Simon 1 00 J Stewart 100 J. M. Stoever 2 00 Dr. Samuel Starr 2 00 John Stewart 5 00 J. Stephens 5 00 R. L. Thomas 100 H. B. Taylor 5 00 T. Turner 1 00 Jonathan Taylor 5 00 R. E. Turner 2 00 F. C Torpey 100 Dr. Ulrich 10 00 A. Uhlenbrock , 5 00 D. M. Ulrich „.. 2 00 William H Williams 5 00 G. B Wilson lo 00 C. Willis 2 00 E. S. Worrell 10 00 J. Whitehead 5 00 H. N. Weid er 2 00 J. E. Woodbridge 5 00 C. B. Wight 100 John Wilde 2 00 George W.Wood 100 Robert Wetherill & Co 20 00 William Wilson 100 Total— Chester- $950 00 SOUTH CHESTER, John Benton $2 00 E. T. Bvrne 1 00 Z. T. Bartleson 1 « Michael Burk 1 00 Chester Oil Works 25 00 T. J. Clayton 10 00 Chester Boiling Mills 25 00 Samuel Cotton... 3 00 P. Conarty 100 C. A. Dubhorn 1 00 T. Doyle 1 00 S. M. Felton 25 00 Edward Ferry 5 00 Scott Grace 100 William Grannan 1 Oo D. P. Houston 10 00 • William J. Hewes 1 00 William Hawley 100 Samuel Hewes 100 Edward Harkins 1 00 M. Knight 1 00 F. Kohle 1 00 Law & Deveney 20 00 William Lewis 5 00 J. Lamplugh 100 William H. Major 5 00 C. G. Neal 1 00 herbert Norton 1 00 Mrs. O'Donnell 1 00 P irker & Matlack 1 00 H. J. Riley 5 00 J. J. Ryan 1 00 John Roberts 1 00 H. J, Reiley.. 1 00 P. Reiley 100 W. G. Sears 1 00 Samuel P. Stevenson..... 100 George Travner 1 00 L. A. Tucker 1 00 L. Zebley • 1 00 Total— South Chester^ ..$168 00 RADNOR. Arthur & Warner $10 00 D. C. Abrahams 500 L. W. Adams 5 00 Martha Brown 15 00 244 Historical Sketch of Chester. R. Beaumont 2 00 Lewis T. Brooke 5 00 George W. Childs 25 00 John Conner 5 00 T. T. Crosley 2 00 Joseph H. Childs 2 00 Cash 5 00 Maskel Ewing 10 00 James G. Francis^, 5 00 F. Fennimore 5 00 I, ewis Garrett 5 00 Jesse Gyger 5 00 Dr. C. w. Horner 10 00 George Hunter 5 00 Thomas B. Jones 2 00 And rson Kirk.... 5 00 Benjamin Kirk 2 00 Tryon Lewis 5 00 A. Montgomery 10 00 T. H. Morris 5 00 F. W. Mc^ris 5 00 W. "W". Montgomery 5 00 H Pleasants, Jr 5 00 Philip P. Place 10 00 Charles Pugh 100 Peter Pechin 2 00 James Bawle 15 00 Theodore D. Rand... 5 00 W. H. Ramsey 5 00 T. F. Ramsey 2 00 John S acker 5 00 W. G. Thomas 20 00 J. K. Valentine 10 00 W. W. Whiing 5 00 Total— Radnor $250 00 CONCORD. M. Buckley 25 S. E. Buckley 50 B. Hannum 101 R. M. Harvey 100 John Hart 50 W. B. Hannum 25 Anna Hannum 25 S. A. McCall 50 N. Y. Scott 2 00 J. B. Scot' 1 00 Jesse Scott 50 W. p. Yarnall 1 00 Total— Concord S8 75 ASTON. A. C. England $1 00 Sharpless & Jenkins 3 00 J. B. Khodes , 5 00 Ellwood Tyson 3 00 Samuel Rhodes 10 50 C. B. Rhodes - 2 00 Total— Aston S25 00 Hugh Ray 50 LOWER CHICHESTER. C. Larkin.. ; 00 D. Trainer & Son , Total-Lower Chichester SflO 00 MEDIA. J. VI. Broomall, Jr. I CO B. N. Lehman , 5 00 100 Cash 14 00 Total— Media S25 00 NEWTOWN. Jesse Brooks. 1 00 William Rhodes 5 00 Total— Newtown $8 00 MARPLE. Total— Marple. $25 00 RIDLEY. Total— Ridley .....$40 00 UPLAND, S. A. Crozer . I 00 J. P. Crozer 50 00 Total— Upland $100 00 Preliminary Work of the General Committee. 245 ADDITIONAL SUBSCRIPTIONS. Pennsylvania Railroad Company ...$500 00 Prof. C. F. Foster 10 00 SPhila., Wil. & Bait. Railroad Co 250 00 — Bddystone Manufacturing Co 50 no Tot^l »2,569 75 William Simpson & Son 50 00 Appropriated by city of Chester.... 400 00 John Roach & Son ., 100 00 $2,969 75 The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company kindly dis- continued the runnino of their freight trains on the Front Street Branch on the day of the Celebration, and planked over their bridge over Chester creek, at Front street, for the accommodation of the people who desired to cross at that point, a courtesy which was thoroughly appreciated. Donations as follows were received by the Committee and thank- fully acknowledged. These may be regarded also as subscriptions for the general purpose' — Evening News, advertising $72 01 School Board, music stand $15 00 Times and Gazette, '■ 52 45 Headley & Mabon, reduction 5 13 Advocate, •' 29 32 Col. W. C. Gray, badges 3 50 Democrat, '< 26 80 Volkhart Bros 70 Republican, " 25 00 Record, " 16 50 Total.. $26141 American, " 15 00 Total................. ....$237 ©8 246 Historical Sketch vf Chester. FRIENDS AND THE BI-CENTENNIAL [Korjtrikted by Sarat] B, Flitcraft.] First day, lOthino., 22cl, 1882. AT the close of a meeting for worship of the Religious Society of Friends, on First day, lOth mo. ]st, 1882, at their Meeting House, on Market Street, Chester, Pennsylvania, they conferred together in reference to holding a Bi-Centennial in commemoration of the landing of William Penn at this place. After a full express- ion and interchange of sentiment all agreed it would be proper and appropriate for Friends to have such an occasion, wherein they could hold forth to the community, the virtues and practical life of this distinguished man, who founded the Colony of Pennsylvania up- on a just and equitable basis, and conducted it on the principles of Peace as long as he and his friends had the management and con- trol of the government. The time and place agreed upon was 10th mo. 22d, at 2.30, P. M., in their Meeting House, on Market street, being the First day prior to the State Bi-Centennial. The following com- mittee was appointed to make arrangements for the proposed meet- ing : Sarah B. Flitcraft, Thomas J. Houston, Elias H. West, Rachel P. Leys, Arabella M. Miller, Sallie R. Milner, Arabella Hinkson, Allen Flitcraft, Isaac T. Lewis, Kate D. West, Jennie S. Lamborn, George M. Booth, Alfred Lamborn, Susanna S. Houston and Arthur H. Middleton. Long before the appointed time the Meeting House was filled to overflowing, hundreds being unable to gain admission. The exer- cises were interestmg throughout and were conducted in a plain un- ostentatious way. JOHN M, BROOM ALL, of Media, Pa., opened the meeting with a brief address, in which he eulogized William Penn as a sound practi" cal statesman and a representative Friend, He spoke of the event Friends and the Bi-Centennial. 247 we commemorate as one of the highest interest, being the only in- stance in which the principles of Christianity, as taught in the Ser- mon on the Mount, were ever applied to the founding of a State or Nation. Those principles were then put forth upon their trial as rules of human conduct. If they filled, Christianity is a failure; but they did not fail A State was founded among a barbarous people, in which the sword was expressly and openly repudiated, and kindness, forbearance and love, made the corner-stones of the structure in its stead. For seventy years, and as long as those principles were acted upon, the State enjoyed profound peace, without armies, forts or arsenals. It is to the credit of both races, that for forty years no blood on either side was shed by the hand of the other, and it is to the credit of the ruder race that the first violation of the sanctity of life across the line of the races, was committed by a white man. Penn's colony without the sword enjoyed a tran- quility far beyond that of any other colony with it. In the face of this success of the first and only experiment, it will not do to call Christianity a failure in the founding of a State. In fact the law of kindnes.s has succeeded wherever it has been tried; the inebriate, the lunatic, the 'imbecile, the waifs and strays of humanity, all yield to its power. It is well known that vengeance and cruelty are failures in the suppression of crime; courts and prisons are schools for criminals and will remain so until we learn to treat the criminal as a brother and minister to his "mind diseased," in the spirit of kindness. Society is largely responsible for his condition, and it owes itself, as well as him, the duty of taking care of him for his good and its safety. He spoke of war in strong and earnest language. It is the sub- mission of the cause of quarrel to the arbitrary will of the stronger party. There is no legal limit to the power of the conqueror ; by the laws of war, prisoners may be enslaved and sold, or killed and eaten at the pleasure of the victor, and no law of war is violated. The business of war is to burn, to ravage, to destroy, to kill ; and the fact that the customs of modern belligerents are less bad than this, is proof that the world is outgrowing some of its wickedness, and is approaching, though still a great way off, the standard set up by the Divine Master. He spoke of national arbitrament as a means of 248 Historical Sketch of Chester. avoiding war, and gave instances of its adoption and success. In- dividual disputes w^ere once settled by the sword: now nearly all of them are settled by submission to the judgment of disinterested men. If nations would practice the rule they enforce on their subjects and citizens, would set the example instead of prescribing the law they refuse to obey themselves, armies would soon be classed among the things that were, the sword would "be beaten into a ploughshare and the spear into a pruning hook." The following letter and poem from John G. Whittier were then read by ELLA HOOD, of West Chester: Oak Knoll, Danvers, Mass., loth mo., jtli, 1882. To Sarah B. Flitcraft, Chester, Pa. My Dear Friend— \i is well that Friends should commemorate the landing of the Founder of Pennsylvania, and the great apostle of their faith, on the pleasant shores of Chester two centuries ago. The event so picturesque in its surroundings and cir- cumstances, so important in its results and influence, is a subject worthy of the poet's pen or the painter's pencil, I should be glad if it were possible for me to put into fit- ting metrical form the thoughts and emotions which it awakens. But the burden of years begins to rest heavily upon me and I shrink from the effort of handling such a theme. In spite of the endeavor of a historian more regardful of the display of his rhetoric and sarcasm than of historical accuracy and justice, the memory of William Penn is secure in its grand outlines. He stands, and will forever stand, with the sages, statesmen and philanthropists, of whom the world of their day was not worthy. He lived and thought centuries in advance of his contemporaries; and, slowly but surely, the generations since have been approaching the moral and political standard which he set up on the shores of the Delaware. Looking over some old papers recently, I found some verses written by me when a boy of sixteen —nearly sixty years ago. Of course the circumstances under which they were penned, alone entitle them to notice, but I venture to send them, as the only response to thy request which I can make. I am truly thy friend, JOHN G. Whittier. WULIilAM P£IliN. The tyrant on his gilded throne, The warrior in his battle dress, The holier triumph ne'er have known Of justice an'l of righteousness. Founder of Pennsylvania! Thou Didst feel it, when thy words of peace Smoothed the stern chieftain's swarthy brow, And bade the dreadful war-dance cease. On Schuylkill's banks no fortress frowned, The peaceful cot alone was there: No beacon fires the hilltops crowned, No death shot swept the Delaware. In manners meek, in precepts mild. Thou and thy friends serenely taught The savage huntsman, fierce and wild. To raise to Heaven his erring thought. How all unlike the bloody band That unrelenting Cortez led To princely Montezuma's land, And ruin 'round his pathway shed. Wriends avd the Bi-Centemiial. 24*9 With hearts that knew not how to spare, Disdaining milder means to try, The crimson sword alone was there, The Indian's choice to yield or die! But thou, meek Pennsylvanian sire. Unarmed, alotie, from terror free, Taught by the heathen council fire The lessons of Christianity. Founder of Pennsylvania's State! Not on the blood- wet rolls of fame. But with the wise, the good, the great, The world shall place thy sainted name! SARAH L. UBERHOLTZER, of Cambria, Pa., then read the following original poem: A BI-CENTBUflBIAI. FOEW. The broad and placid Delaware glides on its outward way To meet the vessels that anon come sailing up the Bay. Two hundred years ago, the same, its silvery ripples met The good ship "Welcome" and the Friends whose footsteps halo yet Their landing place. The Autumn wood, though nearer then and dense, Waved with its banners, bright as now, salute of deference. Calm Nature's pulse beats ever on the same measure true; 'Tis only we who come and go, meet, love and bid adieu. Favored are we, whose ancestors paused here with William Penn, To see the soft October light fall on the place as when They from the vessel reached the shore and thanked the living Lord That He unto the friends of peace such haven did accord. I see them now, through fancy's mist, upon the river's breast Lower their sails, and near the land with relief manifest. The mute thanksgiving of their souls I seem almost to feel As land is reached and on the sward they press possession's seal. It was then Chester, christened fair, assumed her English name At Penn's desire, when Pearson said he from that city came; And peace, transplanted, grew apace; philanthropy bloomed free; Unfolding and expanding fast within the Colony. The Friends in Pennsylvania, had right of thought and speech.- No poison bars their spirits tried, but conscience wrought for each. They founded homes with altars wide wherein the inward light Burned as love's incense, and illumed privation's darkest night; They founded temples plain of prayer, where words were sometimes given To lead the pilgrims meeting there closer to Christ and Heaven; They blessed the state which blessed again the stranger in its turn; They pushed the forest from the shore and bade the corn sojourn. Early, 'neath Shackamaxon's elm of shadows soft and brown Good William Penn the fragrant piece of olive branch laid down. The Indian Chiefs inhale'd its breath and each with smiling face, Acknowledged friendship's covenant for the Algonquin race. The treaty, perfect in its bonds and. wise in every clause, Was more effectually kept than any modern laws. The Algonquins loved William Penn and all his Colony; Their better natures he unlocked with his great kindness key. For love is best and peace is safe, whate'er we wish to gain, And balm is better cure for ill, forevermore than pain. 250 Historical Sketch of Chester. His " Golden Rule " they understood, through intellectual nighf,. And kept the friendly promises close as a sacred right. Penii planned the city of his love, a " country towne and greene,"^ Where the glad Schuylkill waters with the Delaware's convene. He left the garden plots, the squares, which rest our eyes to-day As we walk down the pavements red of Philadelphia. Dear City ! she, with pageantry and pardonable pride. Now celebrates her Patron's care through a vast human tide. The plain, the wise, the Christian man would scarcely know his owra If he could see his fair green towns their limits long outgrown; His broad 'Sylvania's forests wide hemmed in by well tilled fields To playtime patches, which no game from the late sportsman shields" His land abloom with villages; his rivers glad and rills Low voiced, their merriment all gone to quench the thirst of mills; His people sown, as by the wind, about the broad domain, Not always marked by cut of coat yet of religion plain; His mountains broken in their height, tunneled for ore or trade; And, far beneath the surface line, the thud of miners' spade. The coal, the iran, the oil and more, earth's jewels hidden then, Are burnished now and beautiful with light and warmth to men. Could the great Founder of our State, whose memory we revere. Have foreseen these developments the day he landed here? His thanks to kindly Providence, that sailing perils o'er, He and his fellow pilgrims were ^afe upon the shore. Had been e'en greater than they were, albeit they were great, - For in the Union Arch I ween there is no richer State. And we, whose fathers came with Penn, take- voice for them to-day. Feeling their thoughts within us live though they have passed away; That thanks we give and prayers we breathe are supplement to their's-. Although two hundred years have slept safe in their silent lairs. The years must sleep as Winters come, and so it seems with men. We lose them in the snows of time to meet in Heaven again. Our gratitude for blessings great we thread on passing air Dear Lord of hosts ! dear Lord of love, our thanks are every where I We feel Thy watchfulness and care. Thy mercy when we err, Thy omnipresence, the rewards Thou doth administer. Our ancestors were safe with Thee upon the ocean wide Before the steamships plowed the main or wrestled with the tide. Our love for Thee, our pride in them, we blend together here And thank Thee we were spared to see this Bi-Centennial year. O I may our State grow worthier still of vast and full increase, 'Till, all wrong thrown aside, she wears the rose ot righteous peace ! SAMUEL J. LEYICK, of Philadelphia, then addressed the audi, ence as follows: Friends and Citizens of Chester: It is very meet that here in this Meeting House of the Religious Society of Friends, should be commemorated the ceremonies attend- ant upon the arrival of William Penn and his friends in North Ame- rica, for it is reasonable to suppose that here they first met, pub- licly, together to worship Almighty Grod and reverently to acknowl- edge thanks to Him, for their safe arrival in the "Land of Promise" Friends and the Bi-CentennioL 251 smd their escape from the pestilence that "walketh in darkness," and the dangers of storm and tempest. It is well for us to have these occasions. They are not new in the world's history. The Israelites commemorated by Holy Feasts their Passover and their exodus from the "=Land of Bondage." And shall not we, the descendants of an equally worthy race, have our holy days and feasts commemorative of the Lord's doings for us; especi- ally in moving our Fathers to come to this goodly land, and bequeath- ing it to us, for an inheritance — especially as it marks an important era in the world's history, the planting of a colony on the shores of the New World, second in point of time, and that only a few years subsequent to the first settlement at Burlington, N J., in the year 1676 — wherein were established principles and forms of government, which were new and untried, not only of a civil, but of a religious character, and which in their several particulars are acknowledged, and under which, not only the two millions of people who reside in our own State, but the fifty millions that inhabit the United States of North America, live in the peaceful enjoyment of, and now have the opportunity of enjoying Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happi- ness, with none to make them afraid. These sturdy pioneers and men of peace with that eminent philanthropic lawgiver and Christian minister at their head, having failed to obtain in their native land a hearing and recognition of the principles that they believed themselvescalled to present to the world, and having suffered numerous persecutions and cruelties im- posed on them and looking to the benefits of cheir posterity, in the inspiration that pressed itself upon them, were willing to leave their homes — many of them reared in afiluence — and friends, and all that was dear by ties of kindred, to begin life anew on the shores of the New World, even though inhabited by the wild Indians of the forest, and there to establish a government, subdue the wilder- ness and to present the religion of their Lord and Master in such a form and under such surroundings as was denied to them in the land of their Fathers. Before alluding to the landing of William Penn and his friends on the shores of the Delaware, it may not be uninteresting to men- tion some of the early events connected with the discovery and set- tlements along the shores of this historic river. In doing so I must needs present much that has been collated from the writings of the past. The supposed discoverer of the Delaware was Lord De La Warr, from whom the name is derived. This right of discovery, however, was resisted by the Dutch, who called it the "South" river, and made early settlements on its shores. At the same time the Swedes, (as far back as 1651,) made settlements also, and for many years ex- ercised their authority along its banks, as well as the Schuylkill, having erected forts and carried on quite an extensive trade with 252 Historical Sketch of Chester. the Indians. The Governor was named Printz, who erected a fort on Tinicum Island, near the mouth of the Schuylkill and we are told that "Printz Hall," on Tinicum Island was, at that time, the "(Jap- itol" of this noble principality. Beside the fort, New Gottenberg, on tliat islandj and another not far off Elsingborg, at the mouth of Salem creek, and still another, Fort Christiana, were the strong- holds, whereby the Swedish Governor overawed the natives of the country and kept out intruders. The Dutch, however, never forgot their claims by right of prior discovery to the "South" river, and the beautiful region watered by its many affluents. "Hudde," from his fort a mile below Gloucester" Point, could watch the growth and progress of the Swedes, and ob- ject to their occupation of territory belonging to them. The rivalry and jealousy between the Dutch and Swedes tor pos- session of this fruitful country, was only held within bounds by fear of the English, and it was agreed between Stuyvesant, the Dutch Governor, on the Hudson, and Printz, the Swedish (Tovernor, on the Delaware, that they should not engage in hostilities, but act a& friends and allies. This condition of things did not last long, for a short time after a Swedish Ship of War, sailed up the Delaware and demanded the surrender of the Dutch fort. The Commander said : "What can I do ? There is no powder." Again, the Dutch hearing of what had taken place, the Governor — Stuyvesant — sent a fleetof seven vessels from New />msterdam,(now New York) with six or seven hundred men, who attacked the Swe- dish fort at Christiana, at the mouth of the Brandywine. A siege was- commenced which lasted twelve days. But little fighting was done. Only a few shots were exchanged, the time being occupied in mak- ing negotiations — (much to their credit). The Dutch prevailed. Articles of capitulation were signed, all in the interest of the Dutch. "This was the end of Swedish rule in America." Many of the Swedes remained along the banks of the Delaware and did much to develop, by their industry and thrift, the best resources of that fertile region. The new possessors, the Dutch, made vigorous efforts to colonize the country, and several expeditions were made, but were prevented by loss of ships, sickness^ etc., and thus their sanguine anticipations of planting colonies on the South river were never fulfilled. It would appear that this fertile region was to be the home of Englishmen, and a colony was to be planted to present such thoughts and views of government, as would in their development, lay the foundation for rearing the grandest, most humane and enlightened system of government, that is known in the world's history. We now turn to the events which are directly connected with the subject of my address, the landing of William Penn. The causes that led to the planting of this Colony grew out of one of the most interesting periods of English history. The effort of Charles I. to make secure the Crown, by an assumption of power Friends and the Bi-Cfntennial. 253 which n )t eviin tho pri Is of Henry VIII. ha:l clai iie I, ha 1 en lei in failure. England was comp irativeiy at peace, but violence an I strife, contention and sedition marked this peculiar epoch. Keheious fa- naticism was one of tne features of this period. The strupgles of the Cavaliers and the Eoundheads, aroused feelings which were personil and bitter. "Families were divided among themselves, and every man was in arms against his neighbor." Thus this struggling, surging tide of thought on religious subjects, went on lor years. The Englishman of that day, [1650] free Irom political tyranny from within, would not brook even the sem- blance of interference in religious matters from without. But in the fierce controversies of Englishmen with each other, liberty of con- science meant to the zealous theologian of that day, when all men claimed to be theologians, only, the rights of all other men, to yield their own opiydons and agree with him. "It was soon observed that the sincere bigotry of the Roman Catho- lics and the proud intolerance of the English Churchmen, had only given place to a fervent, but narrcw piety, wdiich like them, Avould brook no opposition, mistook differences of opinion for hostility, and watched all other creeds with a jealous and unchristian eye. Forgetful of the truth that all cannot think alike : mixing essentials with non-essentials in blind confusion, and armed with the cant and loose learning of the day, men went forth to controversy as the Knights errant of an earlier and more chivalric, but not more zea- lous age, went forth to battle Each sect became a political party and every party a political sect. Each, in its turn, according to its power, persecuted the other, and all united to persecute the Quakers." It was in this age and stage of English history that William Penn was born and educated, for he was an educated man, his position and his father's wealth gave him the opportunity of storing his mind with knowledge, such as the schools of that day afforded. It is scarcely necessary for me to occupy your time in dwelling on the ancestry of William Penn, as historians have placed it on record. But I would remark that he was the son of Admiral Sir William Penn, a distinguished naval officer of Great Britain. A family that had preserved an honorable station and record for fourteen genera- tions His son, of whom )ve are speaking, was born October M, 1644. of a pious and high minded mother. It was to her early training and thoughtful religious care, that Penn owed that element of character which marked his after life. It would appear from the records that it was near the thirty-eighth anniversary of his birth, that Penn first landed on our shores, in the very meridian of his life, with a heart and mind cultivated, chastened and fitted to perform the great work of building a Com- monwealth and be the Law Uiver, not only of his own colony, but in his wisdom, framing a code of laws founded on such enlarged views of justice, equity and truth, that they became the source from 254 Historical Sketch of Chester. whence were taken, nearly a century afterwards, the leading princi- ples that have become the foundation on which this Nation has built her temple of Liberty, Equality and Justice. Penn inherited from his father a claim against the Crown for arrears of pay and for various loans to the Admiralty, amounting in lt)81 to j£l 6,000 sterling. Penn proposed to the Government to liquidate this debt by a grant of laud to him in America. This was strongly opposed by the Privy Council, but the Duke of York favored the petition, and Penn, who was skilled in the methods of Courts, carefully waited, still pressing his claim, till the King, de- sirous of ridding himself of so great a debt, with an empty treasury, thought favorably of transferring unto him lands in the western wilderness in liquidation of the debt. The Lords' Committee on Colonies and the Board of Trade, were quite contemptuous over the idea of establishing over Indians and amidst foreign rivals, a sect of non-resistants. Penn ultimately prevailed and a charter, with specifications and boundaries, was signed March 4, 1681, In con- sideration of two beaver skins annually and a fifth part of all the gold and silver that might be mined, a territory of forty thousand square miles was awarded to him by the King, who gave the name of Pennsylvania to the new grant, in honor of Sir William Penn. "Penn desired it should be called New Wales, as his family origi- nated in that country, and used every effort to have it changed, but the King was inexorable and said, "I am Grod-father to the territory and will bestow a name." Shortly after Penn secured his title from the King, he made deeds to many of his friends and those desiring to emigrate to the new colony, and some of them arrived as early as 1681. Three vessels came over in that year. It had always been his object to live in his Province and manage his affairs. When the ship in which he was to embark was nearly ready, he requested an audience with the King. Said King Charles, "It will not be long before I hear that you have gone into the savages' war kettle. What is to prevent it ?" "Their own inward light," said Penn. "Moreover, as I intend equi- tably to buy their lands, I shall not be molested." "Buy their lands! Why? Is not the whole land mine"?" "No, Your Majesty. We have no right to their land ; they are the original occupants of the soil." "What ! have I not the right of discovery ?" "Well just suppose that a canoe full of savages should by some accident dis- cover Great Britain, would you vacate or sell 1" The King was as- tonished at the retort and no less at the policy which soon bore such durable fruit. After his visit to the King, and a day passed with his family in devout exercises and domestic converse, on September 1st, 1682, he set sail in the ship "Welcome," with a hundred passengers, nearly all of whom were Friends from his own county, Sussex. After an unpropitious voyage, they landed on the banks of the Del- Friends and the Bi- Centennial. 255 aware, just Two Hundred years ago. The Dutch and Swedes gave the heartiest welcome to the new Governor. His first act was to naturalize all these inhabitants of the Province. They were duly summoned to the Court House, and he addressed them on the true nature and functions of government. The first session lasted four days. He adopted the rule among the speakers (perhaps it would be well if some legislatures would adopt the same) that none speak but once before the question is put, nor after but once. Penn pre- sided. No four days were ever more harmoniously spent in laying the foundations of society. Having thus secured proprietary jurisdiction he issued a liberal advertisement of the inducements for emigration : "He declared among other things that he wished to establish a just and righteous government in his Province, that others might take example by it. That there was not room enough in England for such a holy experiment. Grovernment is a part of religion it- self. A thing sacred in its institution and end. Any government is free to the people under it, whatever be the frame where the law- rules and the 'people are a party to those laws/' Governments depend upon men, not men upon governments. His new code recognized liberty of conscience. All persons ac- knowledging the One Eternal God, living peaceably and justly were not to be molested or prejudiced in matters of faith and worship. He went further than this. He added that "nobody shall be com- pelled at any time to frequent or maintain any religious worship, place or ministry whatsoever. Only murder and treason were to be punished with death." That, at least, was insisted on by Chief Justice North. But during the administration and life of Penn, no gallows was erected in his Province. He said that prisons should be schools of reformation and education, that litigation ought to give way to some regular appointed arbitration. That an oath was a su- perfluity. So also were cock-pits, bull bating, card playing, theatres and drunkenness. Lying was punishable as a crime. This was strik- ing at the root of the matter for all nations from the earliest time have acknowledged that "a lie is the parent of a horde of vices." Trial by jury was to be established and in all cases which involved an Indian, the jury must be composed of six whites and six In- dians, and no planter was to take the law in his own hands, though he felt aggrieved by an Indian, but apply to a magistrate and he was to confer with the Indian's chief. The person of the Indian was declared sacred. Such was the man and such were the characters of the Founder of our State. Permit me to close my remarks by quoting a portion of the elo- quent address delivered by the eminent Deponceau at the 140th anniversary of the landing of William Penn at Philadelphia, at a meeting called to organize a society to commemorate the landing 256 Historical Sketch of Chester. of William Penn, held at the old house of Peiin in "Letitia Court," as it was then called. He said: "We feel his spirit in the atmosphere we breathe; we seek in every nook and corner of it for some trace of the illustrious man; we see, in imagination, the spot where he used to sit, while dictating laws to a virtuous and happy people; we have a right to fancy we are sitting in the same place where he used to take his frugal repast. If the souls of the blest can look down from Heaven on the spots of this earth that were once dear to them, this meet- ing must be a pleasing spectacle to our sainted patriarch. "A beneficent Providence permits, from time to time, the ap- pearance on earth of one of those privileged mortals whose mind's being infused with a more than ordinary portion of celestial fire, affords the strongest proof of the Divine origin of our species, and of the imperishable nature of the human soul. But men of this description are very rare, and whenever they appear they are either a scourge or a blessing to mankind For to them it is given, no doubt, for wise purposes to ruio the destiny of nations by an irre- sistible ascendancy of a powerful mind. The fame of such a man is a crown of glory to the country to which he belongs; therefore, every nation strives to trace its origin to some great and distin- guished character. "We are certain that we are acting in unison with the popular feeling of this enlightened State, when we meet together to give a public testimony of our respect for the memory of William Penn, and to commemorate his first landing on our shores with the worthy companions of his labors. By this we not only pay a just debt of gratitude, but we raise and exalt the character and dignity of our own State, which came into existence, rose and flourished under the auspices of that great man. If the citizens of Massachusetts have just cause to be proud of their Pilgrims, whose landing on their shores they annually celebrate with a solemnity worthy of the oc- casion, how much more have we not reason to pride ourselves on our own Pilgrims and their illustrious leader, whose fame is only bounded by the extremities of the earth, and what greater name can we select as a rallying point for Pennsylvanians than that of William Penn"? It is only to be regretted that it has not been done sooner, but that may be accounted for from various motives. But while, as citizens of this empire, we pay a deserved tribute to the illustrious men whom our Union has produced, while every revolv- ing year sees us commemorate with festivity and song the day which gave birth to a Washington, and while the echo of the ac- clamations with which we have but a few days since greeted the great and good Lafayette has not yet ceased to reverberate, why should we be forgetful of that admirable man to whom, as a State, we are indebted for our political existence, of that sage, who, by the unanimous voice of mankind, has long since been ranked with Friends and the Bi-Centennial. 251 Numa and Confucious, and with the greatest among the legislators of ancient or modern times? "Surely it cannot be said that we do not duly appreciate his merits; that we do not venerate his memory; that we are not sensi- ble of the immense benefits that we have received at his hands, and of the honor that we derive from being entitled to call him peculiar- ly our own. Let us not doubt, therefore, that the example that we set will hereafter be regularly and extensively followed, and that this day will every year be set apart by every true Pennsylvanian for the commemoration of the first landing on our shores of William Penn and his virtuous followers." The speaker continued his address, without notes, for some time, presenting to his hearers the importance of maintaining the same principles that were so successfully established by the great Founder, and to do this we must, like Imn, submit ourselves to be guided and directed by the same Almighty power, even "Christ Jesus, the True Light, that eulighteneth every man that cometh into the world." "Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people." MARY P. FAWKES, of West Grove, Pa., read the following selections, compiled for the occasion : Dear friends, we have met on this bright autumn day, A tribute of love to our hero to pay; And as we have gathered from far and from near, I trust each will feel 'tis good to be here. Like pilgrims we come and gather around The home of our fathers, to us hallowed ground, For this place is our Mecca, this spot is the shrine. The altar on which to lay giits, yours and mine. Let our gifts be the symbols of honor to those Who first 'neath these shades sought peace and repose. Who suffered with bravery the truth to uphold: To whom freedom of conscience was better than gold When the heart of George Fox was touched, as with fire. He hastened to Prelate and Priest to inquire The way of Salvation, but nought could he find That brought rest to his soul, or gave peace to his mind. Then his spirit, enshrouded in shadows of night, Was quickly illumined by the true inward light, When he clearly discerned he must closely abide With the spirit of truth — hence his teacher and guidar. Then gathered about him such truth-seeking men As EUwood and Pennington, Barclay and Penn; They founded a sect, and we freely must own We are reaping rich fruit from the seed they have sown. 258 Historical Sketch of Chester. The hand of oppression soon on them was laid, But from duty none shrank, not one heart was afraid; They were true to their faith, with united accord, Their trust was reposed in the arm of the Lord. 'Twas trust ne'er betrayed, for His arm was their stay. His finger it was that oft pointed the way; His voice that gave comfort, they knew it was He, Whose voice stilled the waves of the wild Galilee. His spirit moved all o'er the scene, where darkened waters flow. And on its face the power Divine was seen in light to glow; And then it spread o'er all the earth and tripped the billows crest. Upheaved the granite mountains and gave to life a zest. • The light that dawned on Fox's mind illumined all his way. And o'er his prison walls had shed his bright and peaceful ray: Clothed with this light ?enn, too, had found no power could withstand The simple truths which he proclaimed throughout his native land. And thousands left the outward church where priest by man ordained. Proclaimed a ritualistic creed that could not be sustained By those who, by the spirit led, Ijelieved that He alome, Who crowned all true assemblies, could make His presence known. And in that light these champions moved! true soldiers of the cross. And gathered many to the truth, despite their worldly loss. Across the sea on German shores the truth spread far and wide, As they pointed to the higher law — the spirit's surest guide. Penn found the fields already white, the harvest nigh at hand. To scatter seeds of righteousness broadcast throughout the land; And many gathered at his call, of high and low degree. To listen to the truth first taught on the shores of Galilee. Though worldly men had sought to crush beneath a lifeless form The truth proclaimed on Olivet by Him who ruled the storm. And, like the power that reigned o'er all when Rome possessed the land, They tried by prison walls to crush the little martyr band: Although they could not raise the stake, nor fire the faggot pile. They sought to crush the light of truth from out Britannia's isle, The humble followers of Him who had no place to rest Left their humble homes behind them for the forest in the west, Where they could build an altar that should forever be A shrine on which the human soul could have the conscience free. And no one in that forest land to priest-craft should atone, But might worship God in spirit and worship Him alone. The Red men in their wilderness bade them welcome to their shore — Made a simple treaty without oath which bound them evermore; No force was used to bind them, but the word between them spoken Was the simple law of justice! a law that ne'er was broken. In this land o'er the sea, Penn was founding a State, An asylum for all, both the poor and the great; Two centuries have seen its prosperity grow And millions to-day own the debt that they owe. Let us ever step forward and mark on our shield The symbol of faith to the Christian revealed. In place of the sword, that its power may decrease, For our crest we'll have only the emblem of peace. Friends and the Bi-Cevtennial. 259 Let us strive, as our fathers before us have striven, To win and to merit the favor of Heaven, To be true to our fai'-.h. May we never neglect To cherish the good and the evil reject. Let us learn well the lessons their living has taught, Let us thank the dear Lord for the good they have wrought, Let us cherish the virtues their memory inspires, . That the world may declare we are worthy our sires. HENRY S. KENT, of Hockessin, Delaware, then read an origi- inal poem: He came, he saw, he conquered with a sway Grander than Caesar's on his grandest day: His loins were girded for a nobler fight Than ever graced the tilt of feudal knight. The trophies of his conquest richer far Than Alexander ever brought from war. He heard deep voices calling from on high And quickly answered, here, O Lord ! am I; I drop these carnal weapons from my side, For in Thy strength I safely shall abide, I bow no more before these man-made kings, Henceforth I put away all childish things. He landed on this shore, and with him came Such blessings ab immortalize his name. He spread amid the forest wild and chill ^ The gospel of glad tidings and good will. Lo! how around his manly form they press, The untutored children of the wilderness; Drawn by some magic force or sweet command. Which all could feel but none could understand, And opening wide the treasures of his heart Gave, and received, from the Diviner part. Waved with love's wand the savage soul aside, And on the "angel heart" of man relied. Unlocked the hidden keys, that only move To music, at the touch of faith and love; And 'neath the elm tree's friendly shadows, made A covenant that never was betrayed. And taught the lesson we so slowly learn , That like from like will evermore return: That he who sows the whirlwind, reaps the storm. Who scatters joy, shall gather sunshine warm. ., That even the rudest soul Ihat God has made Is with his holy nature underlaid. In man, in brute, in plant, in earth and air God leaves himself for witness everywhere. He felt the wisdom of the Prophet's words, "The earth with all its fullness is the Lord's." He came, he saw, he conquered. Where had stood' The savage wigwam in the darksome wood A splendid city rose at his command, To-day a glory of this western land. With marts of trade, and parks and gardens fair. Blue bordered by the noble Delaware. Here on old Upland too, where now we stand, We see the impress of his shaping hand, And hear, even yet, the echo of his voice, Christening these early children of his choice. 260 Historical Sketch of Chester. Two hundred years blot many a memory; Two hundred years are naught to such as he, His name is written on our fields and groves, Where still we dream his i,tately spirit moves. His thoughts still linger in our written laws. His words respoken, champion our cause. The simple faith and worship that he loved, Is still within our heart of hearts approved. The path of duty he so bravely trod. Leading through crosses to the Crown of God. Laying the vanities of life aside. Taking the light within for guide. Shoals under foot, and thorns upon his head, Exiled from home, to loathsome dungeons led, Is still a story that we love to tell, And children yet unborn shall learn it well. He built and kept a state, upon a plan Till then unthought of and untried by man, The astonished nations turned their eyes and gazed, Some archly smiled and others stood amazed. A State it was whose corner stone was laid In justice and whose every stone was made Plumb to the line of truth, that could not move, Set in the cement of fraternal love And, grandly midst the warring nations, stood This peaceful state of Penn unstained by blood. One only state the whole wide world could count, That yet had tried the Gospel of the Mount. .4nd did it fail ? Nay never while his hand Was at the helm, his voice in the command. Two generations came and passed away Before the advent of that evil day. Then in the place of that high ruler stood Men of the vengeful spirit, men of blood ; Unfitted for a place of trust so high. Let fall this star of promise from our sky ; Failure ! Nay, never till the soul of man Shall be remodeled on another plan. The law of love is not a mere device Framed in a senate, purchased for a price. Suited to human need a little while, Good for to-day, to-morrow out of style — But God's Eternal Power that cannot fail. That ^as, and is, and ever shall prevail. Illustrious sage, thy spirit still is here. We feel thy presence in our atmosphere. For lo 1 the Lord's true prophet never dies — From the deep earth immortal voices rise. The holy Christ is slain, and it may stay In a closed sepulchre perchance a day ; But soon the martyred truth shall rise again, And eat and drink an honored guest with men. Already 'midst the clang of strife we hear Deep undervoices sounding rich and clear, Bidding the listening nations pave the way For the incoming of a better day. When war no more shall raise his bloody hands, But white-winged peace shall hover o'er the lands ; When in the court of nations, states decide Friends and the Bi-Centennial. 261 To arbitrate their claims, and so abide When justice, truth and love shall rule alone And God's great families shall be as one. And it were shame on his memorial day A single warlike emblem to display. Let every martial sound and symbol cease, And let the pageant show the arts of peace-; Each industry its finest triumph bring, Let spindles hum, and ceaseless hammers ring; Let each brave workman show his brawny hand. The bone and sinew of our growing land ; Light up the streets with bright electric fire. But let the flash of powder all retire ; 'If any ensign to the breeze we throw. Let it be spotless as the driven snow. Peace, Justice, Progress, are the words to say With emphasis on his memorial day. And let us trust, the heavenly bread he cast Upon our waters may return at last. Bringing the nations nourishment and health, Replacing vice with virtue, waste with wealth, Strength'ning the bonds of human brotherhood. Closing forevermore the reign of blood. His purer, wiser statesmanship renewed. That simply sought for all the highest good. Our jurists tutored in a higher school. Our statutes fashioned by the Golden Rule, Works meet for Heaven upon the earth be done. The higher and the lower law made one. May his large sacrifice for human weal Inflame our spirits with a finer zeal To do our work while it is yet our day. And walk where Truth's stern finger points the way. Not stepping feebly in the tracks he trod, But walking firmly in our hght from God, Copying no man as he did well express, Save in the matter of true faithfulness. This caution from his sainted lips we hear : " Mind ye your light, for God to each is near. His revelation as directly given As in the very light and heat of Heaven, No man-made priest has ever reconciled The Heavenly Parent and the Earthly Child. Let modes of worship change, or pass away, They are not vital and they will not stay. But cherish ever with a jealous care The basal structure of our house of prayer, The faith in simple goodness, and the light Within the soul, to lead our steps aright. The largest liberty to seek, and find The mission of our hand, and heart, and mind," True to his light he won this honored place Among the benefactors of his race, Nor for the age in which he lived alone, But for all coming time his work was done. His name is written with the Angel's pen In living letters, in the hearts of men, And still while generations come and go, 262 Historical Sketch of Chester. His name and fame perennial shall grow. Peace, Truth, Love, Justice, will be lovely when Our children's children meet to honor Penn. These are enduring things and meant to stay. Which Bi-Centennials cannot wear away. Brief and appropriate addresses were made by Dr. Elwood Har- vey and Allen Flitcraft, of Chester, Pa., Alfred H. Love, Presi- dent of the Universal Peace Union, Samuel S. Ash and T. Elwood Longshore, of Philadelphia. After a short season of silence, with feelings of gratitude and thankfulness to the Griver of every good and perfect gift, the inte- resting and profitable occasion closed. 2he Celebration. 263 MONDAY, OCTOBER 2;, 1882. THE MORNING. THE day fixed for the celebration of the Bi-Centenary of the Land- ing of William Penn in Chester, was ushered in soon after mid- night by the ringing of all the bells in the city, each bell giving two hundred strokes. The morning was cloudy and threatening but as the day advanced the weather changed for the better. The city put on its gala dress, at an early hour the houses being handsomely dec- orated and flags flying from every available point. The Histori- cal Committee had designated all the important historical sites with banners, on which the name and date of construction were plainly marked, while at the Landing place a staff*, eighty feet high, car- ried the American colors, and it was evident from the beginning that the citizens had given themselves up heartily to the enjoyment of the great anniversary. All the mills and industrial establishments in the city and many of those in the county were closed, and, as a con- sequence, people had little else to do than to participate in the ex- ercises of the day. Residents of the city and county, and hundreds of visitors, who had arrived on Saturday, to spend the Bi-Centen- nial season with friends, thronged the streets long before the hour for the celebration to begin, and each incoming train, from the north and south, brought thousands to the city. As early as eight o'clock people began to assemble in the vicinity of Front and Penn streets, on the spot on which Penn actually land- ed, October 28th, 1682, and where a representation of that landing was to be given as nearly as it could be reproduced. A half hour before the appointed time— 9.30 o'clock — for the ex- 264 Historical Sketch of Chester. ercises to take place the vicinity was crowded. Thousands of peo- ple had gathered there, on the streets, on house tops, on porches, on fences, on freight cars, in Charles D. Pennell's lumber yard, on trees, and the wharves along the river. The river itself was gay Avith steamers, tugs, sail and small boats of every description, and the Revenue Cutter Hamilton, brought down from Philadelphia a large party of distinguished citizens of the State. As the large, high sided, full bottomed yawl boat came up the river, rowed by six sturdy seamen, appropriately dressed, with the representatives of Penn and his friends standing in the stern, the excitement visibly increased, and as it headed for the landing place,^ amid the ringing of bells, the sounding of whistles and the music of bands, the people on shore cheered and crowded forward to witness the landing, which was successfully effected with no accident or delay to mar the picture. William Penn was represented by John J. Hare, of Chester, and the other characters were supported by members of the Chester Dramatic Association and the organizations of Red Men. The en- tire scene, which followed the landing, was very well acted and the participants in the mimic scene never once forgot the characters they had taken. All was quiet and dignified and this portion of the day's exercises, like all the rest, passed off admirably. Penn with his companions, Richard Townsend, (R. P. Wilson:) Evan Oliver, (William Irving;) John Stackhouse, (JohnF. Wright;) William Bradford, (P. E. Reiley;) Nicholas Wahn, (J. H. Wilson;) and the Master of the "Welcome," Robert Greenaway, (William P. Mason;) landed and were met by William Markham, (Vniliam P. Ladomus;) and the resident English Friends; Robert Wade, (Wm. H. Schureman;) Jotin Sharpless, (Joseph Hinkson;) Robert Pear- son, (Joseph Martin;) and the Scotchman, James Sandelands, (Wm. Ewing.) A group in the rear was composed of Swedes and Dutch. Charles Jansen, (Moses Hewitt;) Neals Mattson, (George Compton;) Johan Stille, (William Hinkson;) Jurian Kyn, (Samuel Wheaton;) Neals Larson, (George Morris;) Hans Volsen, (Samuel Jones.) As Penn landed Markham stepped forward and greeted him as follows : "Friend William, I welcome thee to thy new possessions. It has pleased God, through his instrument, Charles, to give to thee and Ihe Celebratwn. 265 thy fellows a fair and rich land and to bring thee in safety to the end of thy perilous voyage and to the fruition of thy labors. Thou art surely welcome among us," Pemi replied: "I thank thee, friend William, for thy kindly greeting and welcome to this far land. Truly it hath pleased G-od to bring our ships safely to these pleasant shores. Sometimes we thought we might scarcely reach them, for the hand of death hath been busy amongst us, and the pestilence hath taken home many of our number. Is it well with thee, friend William, and with those of our faith, who have crossed before us; I have heard, as thou knowest, somewhat from our friend George Fox of the country to which I am now come and of the bright future it holds out for those of our faith; and here, too, are some of thy old friends wait- ing to greet thee." Markham turned and greeted the associates of Penn cordially and by name, but with grave courtesy. All the proceedings were marked by deliberation, a dignified demeanor and a subdued man- ner, while the warmth of the meeting ©f old friends was also borne in mind, Penn gazed around him until Markham returned to his side, when he said: "And now, friend William, do thou make me known to these friends who have gathered to meet me." Robert Wade and Pearson then pressed forward to meet Penn, whom they had known in England. Then Markham introduced Sandelands, Jurian Kyn, Johan Stille, Neals Mattson, Neals Larson and Charles Jansen, &c., who ap- proached and met Penn with an appearance of warmth, but evi- dently with some uneasiness, till Penn spoke, and as he continued their demeanor changed to one of sincere welcome: Penn: "These then are the men who first braved the dangers and toils of settlement in this far land. They are welcome to me and we may hope that they may prove our good allies and neighbors. As for our part sure it is that we shall not seek aught but amity and brotherly love. It is but right they should reap the harvest where they have sown with so much toil and pain, and their lands and houses shall be confirmed to them, and in no wise shall they be disturbed in their rights by us. Their possession shall be as- sured to them in full freedom as much as if they were of our own granting. We will ask for nothing but their love and brotherly help." Then Markham, after a short pause, said: "But, friend William, here are others for thee to meet. That people who of right owned the fair hills and valleys of the great river. Yonder sits their wise and good chief, Tamanand. It seems but fitting that thou shouldst, 266 Historical Sketch of Chester. as soon as may be, greet these warriors of the Lenni Lenape, for they are curiously jealous of the vanities of form and ceremojny, and deem no king even should take precedence of their great chief.." Penn: "So it ought to be, and I will straightway follow thee, for I long to see the man of whose bravery, virtue and wisdom even we in England have heard." The entire party then, Penn and Markham leading, followed im- mediately by the resident Friends and Penn's companions, and at a little distance by the other characters, including the seamen, walk- ed slowly to where Tamanand was sitting, surrounded by his noted chiefs. The other Indians gathered about in a circle. Penn seated himself on a stone opposite the chief. Then one of the younger chiefs rose slowly and with dignity spoke thus: "1 am called Bears Meat. I am not old. When I was a child the white man first came to this shore in his big canoe with wings. I have lived to see many things First came one tribe. They built forts an:l sometimes took our land. The hatchet was not al- ways buried. Sometimes it was very red. Then came Corlaer. They were just men. The chain was not often dull. There were few clouds between us. Then came the Yengese. The chain that Corlaer held they took. They, too, were just. The stranger was always welcome to the Lenni Lenape for the sake of Corlaer. We have been told that a great chief was coming He is here. It was whispered that he was a great and good and just man; a warrior whose words were not blown away about the Council fire. It is so; we can see it in his face: he Avill keep the chain bright. Here is Tamanand of many years. The Father of his people will welcome the stranger who comes as the friend of the Delawares." A short silence followed, after which Tamanand rose slowly and addressed Penn: "My young man has spoken truly. He is a wise chief. I am Tamanand of many years: the Father of the Delawares; the world rests upon ray turtle. When Tamanand was a little child there was no white man in the land. When the white man came he ^vas welcome. My people gave him venison and corn. The Great Spirit has brought this chief here. The Manitou of our Fathers is now among us listening to our words and looking at our hearts. This is not a Council. All should be said and thought for the best. Tamanand has always been the friend of the stranger. He cannot now make himself a liar. The Great White Chief is welcome. We have heard he is good and just. That is well. The Manitou loves just men. Tamanand had a vision many summers ago. He dream- ed he saw these hills and valleys covered with white men, many as the sand on the shore, but he saw no Lenape. At first his heart Ihe Celebration. 267 -was hot within him; then it became as the heart of a little child. It was the will of the Manitou. The Lenape Avill go back to their homes, near the setting sun, when that time comes. The stranger is w^elcome. It is the wind of the Manitou that has blown his canoe to our shore. He is welcome." Tamanand then resumed his seat. A short silence followed, with gutteral murmurs of assent from the Indians, and then with a dignity equal to that of Tamanand, William Penn rose: Penn: ''It is pleasant to hear the words of wisdom and of peace from the lips of the old. Thy words, Tamanand, have gone deep into my heart; thou art a good and wise chief; the chain shall be kept bright; the hatchet shall be buried forever between me and thee; if the white man wishes for land to plant corn, he will come to thee and say: 'Give me land where thou wilt and I will pay thee.' It shall be justly done. The stranger shall not take that which is not his own. Thy treaties with Corlaer shall be as they have been. What Corlaer promised Ave will do. What the stranger needs he shall pay for, there shall be no cloud of unjust dealing between thee and me; only the broad sunshine of justice and peace. I, too, have looked far away into the dream world; into that land of clouds when you and I shall have passed away to the Happy Hunting Grounds, as thou wouldst term the Heaven of our God. I saw a great town where we now stand. I saw noble industries and broad farms about it. I saw countless ships at its wharves and strange forms of new devices which I could not understand. I saw a just and a free people honoring God and their own manhood. But I, too, saw none of thy people. Thou art right. When that time comes they will have gone back to their far off homes bearing gifts and kind words from their white brothers. That time has not yet come. Thou art the owner here. Thou hast welcomed us. For myself and these, my friends, I thank thee and thy people. God shall judge between us, if either wrong the other." Another murmur of approval from the Indians. Then Robert Wade approached and said: "Will it please thee, friend William, to eat thy food in my poor house? Thou shalt be right welcome. Thou and thy people." Penn: "1 am right willing to do so, friend Robert, and it is but right that we should seek refreshment for these weak bodies of ours. Lead thou the way and I shall follow." Then followed a courteous and dignified farewell to the Indians, Penn touching hands with the principal chiefs, and the whole party, headed by Penn and Wade, crossed to the site of the Essex House. The part of Tamanand was well taken by Arthur Martin, and that of Bears Meat by Henry Greenwood. The braves, all of whom 268 Historical Sketoh of Chester, with their cMefs were in full Indian costume, were personated by Herbert Tunnicliffe, Terrill T. Williams, Henry P. Haney, John Coffin, James Thompson, C. George Hiorth, Eli M. Weest and Frazer S. Stanley. After this successful inauguration of the day the crowd made its way to the open lot, corner of Concord avenue and Second street, where the grand stand had been erected and seats for two thous- and public school children arranged on the two sides of the square fronting the stand, with a raised platform for the band, in the cor- ner of the square. The sight of those eager young faces of children,, dressed in holiday garb, with their school flags, badges and medals, was one that will not easily be forgotten, and the music of those hundreds of sweet young voices will long linger in the memory of those who listened. On the grand stand were a number of prominent citizens, includ- ing the invited guests from Philadelphia and elsewhere, and the civic dignitaries from surrounding cities. Among these were Governor Hoyt, Col. A. Wilson Norris, Adjutant General James W. Latta, Col. D. Stanley Hassinger, Col. Campbell Tucker, Chief Engineer Samuel L. Smedley, the Executive Committee of the Bi-Centennial Association, Captain Dean, U. S. E,. M.; Col. M. Richards Muckle, Major Charles K. Ide, President John McDonald, of the Produce Exchange, Frederick Lovejoy, Charles Lain, Carl Edelhein and S. J. Linch, Hugh J. Hamill, Galloway C. Morris, John E. Ford, Lewis Wiener and Alexander Barrows, of Baltimore. Mayor Barton, ex- Mayors Larkin and Forwood, Messrs. G. P. Denis and D. F. Hous- ton, Hons. William Ward and Robert Chadwick, Cols. W. C. Gray and P. M. Washabaugh, of Chester ; George E. Darlington, of Me- dia ; Hon. W. B. Waddell and Robert E. Monaghan, of West Ches- ter ; William Simpson, Benjamin Gartside, Samuel Riddle, Daniel C. Abrams, Samuel Lewis, Hon. John M. Broomall, George Broom- all, David S. Bunting, Charles Roberts, Hugh Shaw, John B. Roach, Abram Blakeley, Richard Miller, H. B. Black, Orlando Harvey, Revs. Thos. J. McCauley, Wm. J. Paxson, Henry Brown and others. The number of people assembled in the square and streets near by must have exceeded ten thousand. They thronged upon the ground, the fences and the porches of the neighboring dwellings, while all convenient windows and housetops were filled with expec- The Celebration. 269 tant faces, and the trees and lamp-posts bore a large crop of the ubi- quitous small boy. The exercises began with some fine music by Oglesby's band of fifty pieces, stationed on the music stand, and when the last strains had died away, JAMES BARTON, Jr., Mayor of the City of Ches- ter, stepped forward and spoke as follows : "Benjamin Ferris, in a letter written by him December 31st, 1851, which letter is now in the possession of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, refers to an old manuscript book or diary of Evan Oliver, one of the passengers on the ship 'Welcome,' in which is found the following passage: 'We came out of Radnorshire, in Wales, about the beginning of the 6th month, ( August ) 1682, and arrived at Upland, in Pennsylvania, in America, the 28th of the 8th month, 1682.' "We know from William Penn's own manuscript that he was in the town of Upland the next day, namely the 29th. It is therefore probable that W illiam Penn landed in Upland, now Chester, on the 28th. "By an Act of the English Parliament, passed in 1751, for equal- izing the style of computation of time with the other countries €*f Europe, eleven days were omitted from the calendar, and the legal year was made to begin on the first day of January, instead of the 25th day of March. In consequence of the passage of that Act, the 200th anniversary of the landing of Penn falls on the 7th of No- vember, 1882. "It may be asked why the citizens of Chester celebrate the land- ing on the 23d of October, fifteen days in advance of the admitted time. "Without entering into a discussion of the propriety or impro- priety of celebrating an event upon any other day than its anniver- sary, I may say that the date for this celebration was fixed at the re- quest of the Bi-Centennial Association of Pennsylvania. At a meet- ing of that association, held last May, in Philadelphia, a resolution was adopted requesting the people of Chester to observe the 23d of October, and off"ering their co-operation. They had fixed upon the week commencing October 22d for the general celebration, leav- ing Monday open for Chester, that the ceremonies might properly commence upon the spot where the landing actually occurred. We adopted the suggestion contained in their resolutions, deeming it ex- pedient that the celebrations in the two cities should be continuous and uninterrupted even by the interval of a few days. "For some reason best known to themselves, the gentlemen having in charge the details of the ceremonies on the 24th in Philadelphia, concluded to have a landing for themselves on that day, notwith- standing the fact that the first landing that William Penn ever made in their town was in 1683, when he went to Philadelphia, possibly 270 Historical Sketch of Chester. on horseback, after having decided to change his seat of govern- ment from the former to the latter place. "As a natural sequence, the encouragement and co-operation as- sured to us by the State Association in its earlier history have not been extended by the subordinate officers, namely by those in whose power it has been recently to render substantial assistance without trouble to themselves, and without interference with their own na- val display designed to commemorate the landing of Penn — trom horseback, possibly — in their city in 1683. Therefore, while to-mor- row Philadelphia will indulge in a fiction of a Penn's Landing, Ches- ter to-day reproduces the counterpart of the original that history recognizes. The naval display which Ave had expected up to with- in a few days we could present to you as an interesting feature of the ceremonies in commemoration of the original landing, is denied us, while a large fleet is at this very moment lying quietly at anchor within a few miles of us; lacking only the consent of the gentlemen before refered to, to enable them to appear in the waters before our city. "To our visitors 1 desire to extend a cordial welcome. I trust that you may be interested in our exercises and that you may return to your homes without accident, and with a pleasant recollection of your visit among us." On the conclusion of this address the Rev. Henry Brown, Rector of St. Paul's Church, Chester, made the following prayer : "Almighty Grod, our Heavenly Father, who art the author and giver of all good things, we desire to bless Thee for -Thy merciful kindness towards us in the past and to pray that Thou wilt gra- ciously continue Thy goodness to us in the future ; that Thou wilt be with us as Thou wast with our fathers. "We thank Thee, Lord, for the good examples of all those, Thy servants, who having finished their course in faith, do now rest from their labors, especially for the good example and good deeds of Thy servant, the Proprietor and first Governor of this great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, who two centuries ago land- ed upon these shores, and was enabled by Thy help to lay founda- tions deep and broad upon principles of truth, justice and peace for the maintenance of peace, for the maintenance of law and good Government, with equal rights for all, and that every man should have liberty to worship Thee according to the dictates of his OAvn conscience, with none to make him afraid. It is of such. Thou hast said, they shall be had in everlasting remembrance. We come to do honor to-day to the memory of William Penn in calling to mind his pure life, his faith in God, his wise, beneficent gov- ernment, and to thank Thee for the blessings we now enjoy through his instrumentality. Be with us in the exercises of this day. May we not fail into sin, or run into any kind of danger. The Celebration, 271 "Bless our rulers — the President of these United States, the Governors of each State, our Senators and Representatives, the Legislators of the State of Pennsylvania, and all who bear office among us — may they be men fearing God and working righteous- ness. Direct them in all their doings with Thy most gracious favor and further them with Thy continual help. And graciously incline the hearts of all the people of our land to Thy fear and love, that it may be well with them in the land which Thou gavest unto their fathers, and when our work on earth is done receive us unto Thy kingdom in Heaven through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen." The school children then sang very sweetly and in good time the well known hymn, "America." The singing by two thousand of these little ones, under the able direction of Prof. John R. Sweney, and accompanied by Oglesby's band, was one of the most effective features of the day. After this Governor Hoyt was introduced to the assemblage and as soon as the applause which greeted his appearance subsided, made a brief address, in which he thanked the Committee for their invitation to be present and congratulated his hearers upon the pro- gress that had been made in the past two hundred years, at the same time expressing the conviction that the humanizing principles upon which Penn had founded this grand old Commonwealth had spread among the people of the different nationalities who made up its sturdy and industrious population and still had active existence. When the Governor had concluded his remarks the band gave a fine selection, and this was followed by an original poem by the Rev. SAMUEL PANCOAST, of Conshohocken M. E Church : With reverent steps we tread this ground, While sacred memories cluster round, And gather o'er historic lines, The past and present in our minds. Hail, sacred morn, whose rosy light Dawns on our land so rich and briglit, Where dwells the truths in hearts of men, Bequeathed us by our Founder Penn. Borne to this river's quiet side. By gentle winds and flowing tide. Was that true man, so good and great. Whose landing now we celebrate. A forest vast, stretched far away Beyond the hills of setting day,' Where treasures vast were locked in store Of mountain wood and buried ore. The Sylvan groves, without a bound, For which a name had not been found. This good man saw like parchment fair. And placed his name forever there. 272 Historical Sketch of Chester. In honesty the bounds he laid With lines well drawn and clearly made, With treaty true and title sure. Should stand through centuries secure. He had not come in guest of wealth, The fruit of avarice, fraud and stealth, But to enrich all hearts and hands, Who sought a home within these lands. He had not come with cruel heart, To play with shame the Tyrant's part, But that in this domain should be The glorious reign of liberty. He left a land where men did groan Beneath the power of despotic throne, Where prisons dark and towers strong Were scenes of infamy and wrong. He taught that conscience should be free. And all mankind should equal be, Before that God, who rules o'er all With love alike to great and small. In prison cells he learned to prize The rights of all beneath the skies. And sought this land beyond the sea, Where men forever should be free. Like peaceful suns which rise to bless, And clothe the world with beauteous dress, So came this man to break the gloom. And make the desert sing and bloom. With head so wise, with heart so pure. He framed the laws that should endure. That truth and justice should prevail. And righteousness should never fail. No stars so bright had ever shone Around an earthly mon trch's throne. As gathered in the precepts rare In which his colony should share. Here patient toil rewards should gain And gather wealth from fertile plain. In peaceful homes the land abound And plenty everywhere be found. For dazzling court no place was made. For titled rank no plan was laid. But every man a sovereign born. Whom truth and virtue should adorn. No ranks of men, with burnished arms, To shelter men from fancied harms, Stood round this band of honest men, Who shared the faith of William Penn. The brotherhood of men they taught That war with cruelty was naught. And conquest higher they could show Without an arrow from the bow. No fettered slave among them stood And handed with ignoble blood, No unpaid toil they sought to gain, Secured by stripes or threats of pain. But every man by birth was free, Whate'er his clime or color be. And thus proclaimed no power can Give right to property in man. No one was forced by oath to say These truthful precepts they'd obey, For with the good there never needs An oath to bind to sacred deeds. We learn to-day from many a page Our progress made from age to age, The Celehraiion. 278 •dince first our Fathers landed here, "Until this Bi-Centennial year. IFrom forest deep came fertile lields, Which year by year rich harvest yields, And mines of wealth which constant pour Their treasures vast in bounteous store. Wh^re then were wastes now cities stand, And bounteous towns dot all the land, And industry and watchful care Have scattered plenty everywhere. And science, too, her seat hath spread. And wisdom in her light doth tread, TJpon her record names now stand. The peers of any other land. And in these centuries which have gone What tongue can tell the labor done, Or what the progress mind hag made, 'Or what the gathered stores of trade. How mines of wealth have been explored, How streams of oil like rivers poured, From mountain side to cities great, Throughout this grand and mighty State. The peace that early was bestowed Has found with us a safe abode. And yet we stood with courage brave, The wrong to crush, the right to save. The right to save the earth has drank The blood of men by rank in rank. And their brave deeds gave us renown At Brandy wine and Germantown. Along our valleys thick are spread The graves of our heroic dead, Whose sacred du.st we guard with care, And in whose fame we all do share. And step by step our Nation's power Has risen like a lofty tower, And spread an arch from sea to sea, "While Penn's great State has been the key. ,And through the Nation's wondrous life, Of burdened cares and bitter strife. Our Keystone stood, with strength and grace. Which not a hand could e'er eflace- Now while the past we bid adieu, And to the future cast our view, Our vision sweeps the prospect bright, 'That everywhere breaks on our sight. Our vast resources now revealed, Is pouring wealth from every field And causing rich supplies to come Around the hearth of every home. By products of our brain and hand We build our homes and till our land, By lightning, too, our letter write. And chase the darkness from the night, T'he near and distant now come nigh, While words o'er lengthened wires fly. And miles awav the listening ear, ",_ "j The words of love and profit hear. And where the ship once anchor cast, With wooden sides and slender mast, And from whose deck the little band Of Penn first looked upon this land, We build great ships of lengthened keel, With iron sides and ribs of steel, Whose giant prows can ever brave The greatest force of ocean's wave. Tf4 Historical Sketch of Chesten- What now is past so strange doth seem, As story told of fairy's dream. But coming men will yet relate Of greater progress in this State. By our great schools, in number vast, The future shall exceed the past, And cultured care shall make sublime The glory of the coming time. And when has passed a century more, And others gather on this shore To tell of further triumphs, then They'll b'ess the mme of William Penn. Then the children sang again "Two Hundred Years have Rolled!' Away;"' words by George Cooper, of New York, music by Professor Sweney, and after this the Orator of the day, Hon. JOHN M. BROOMALL, of Media, was introduced and spoke as follows : The event we commemorate stands alone. It has no parallel in the history of the founding of States and ^Nations. 'Two centuries ago a few men, back- ed by no military power and proposing to use none, landed here, in a country possessed by barbarous tribes, rendered suspicious and inimical by the treat- ment they had received at the hands of the kindred of the immigrants for more than a century, and by pure force of kindness and justice oVjtained possession of the country and founded a State. To render the enterprise more difficult, set- tlements had been made at the same place by civilized men of two other na- tions, hostile to one another and to the immigrants, and not living upon the best terms with the natives, men who had left their homes in Europe from a spirit of restlessnes if not lawlessness; and who had effected a precarious lodg- ment among the natives by force or threat of arms, meeting cruelty with cruelty, crime with crime, the tomahawk and scalping knife with the gUK and sword. And yet in a few months all these discordant elements had been reduced to peaceable and willing submission to a single master mind. William Penn was no ordinary man. Living in an age of superstition and bigotry, with the fires of the inquisition hardly extinguished, with the prison and the gallows still the recognized means of advancing the cause of Chris- tianity, he became the champion of universal liberty of conscience, a measure then looked upon as the most insidious form of heresy. When the nations of Europe knew no mode of settling their disputes except by the sword, and when a depraved public taste made war the only occupation of a gentleman, he urged upon the Rulers, both by tongue and pen, the establishment of an in- ternational tribunal, to decide their controversies; thus anticipating by two hundred years, the measure which is now demanding the attention of the civilized world in terms that will not long be denied or evaded. War means national debt; and there is a limit to the ability of nations to borrow. When that limit is reached, Europe must break down in anarchy or quit fighting. When even the churches taught that uncivilized men have no rights which Christians are bound to respect; and that the only way to deal with a weaker people is with brute force, Penn refused to receive the property of the In- dians except by fair purchase. And he met them, not with ships bristling with cannon, not with armed legions, but as friend meets friend, with hand as open as his heart, inviting the fraternal feeling he extended, the love he felt, in the name of the universal Father, the Grod of Love. In short he taught the principles inculcated in the Sermon on the Mount were not glit- tering generalities, the eflFusions of a mere dreamer, but were intended as a rule of human conduct for States and Nations as well as individuals. Will the Christian world in its nineteenth century say he was wrong ? There are two modes of obtaining the property of another. One is by The Celebration. 275 (Stealing it. If the job is small this is called larceny; if large it is called war. In the former case the perpetrator is locked up; in the latter he is crowned. The other modp is by buying it. This requires the assent of two minds, {mutually agreeing tothechange of ownership. The watchword of the reform mode is: "To the victors belong the spoils," while that of the latter mode is; "Do unto others as you would have them c^o unto you." There are two modes of settling disputes, whether individual or national. One is by sub- >mitting them to the arbitrary will of the stronger. In this also, the nomen- clature differs with the magnitude of the jo'b. If small it is called assault and battery, if large it is called war. The other is by agreement. This may be either an agreement to settle, or an agreement to submit the cause of ■quarrel to the arbitrament of disinterested men. On both these subjects Fenn bad decided convictions and they governed his conduct through life. As far as we know he was the first to stiggest the settlement of national disputes by arbitration. In an essay entitled the -"Present and Future Peace of Europe," he proposed that Europe should have its Congress, as has already been stated, to which all disputes among the various nations should be sub- fnitted for final arbitration. He spoke of a time when individual disputes were settled by fighting, and argued that as all that had changed with ad- vancing civilization, so that almost all such disputes are now settled by peace- ful means, nations also if they would set about it in real earnest, might pro- vide a triJsunal that would settle peaceably nine cases of war out of every ten. It would have gladdened his heart if he could have foreseen that his native England within two centuries would adopt his plan substantially, and would settle all her disputes with equal nations by arbitration; though the effect might have been weakened if he could also have foreseen that England still ■reserves war as a means of bringing a weaker people to her way of thinking. William Penn was born on the fourteenth day of October, 1644. His fa- ther, who afterwards became Sir William Penn, a few days before the birth of the child had accepted the command of a man-of war destined to cruise in the Irish seas, in the interests of the Parliament, then engaged in its struggles with the king — a struggle which terminated by the deposition and judicial •murder of that unfortunate monarch. The elder Penn certainly had no •hostility to the Stuarts, for he was suspected with good reason of intriguing with the second Charles long before his restoration; and he became after- wards personally attached to both Charles and James, and appointed the lat- ter guardian of his son. He probably thought with reason that the navy, to be efficient, should be on the side of the government de facto. Hence, when the Parliament had triumphed over the king, he sided with the Parliament. When the Protector had dispersed the Parliament he took employment un- der the Protector, and when the signs of the times began to point toward a restoration of the Stuart dynasty he was among the earliest to take upon him- self the allegiance of Charles II. For his services in this regard he was knighted and created "Great Captain Commander," a title which was invent- ed for him, which died with him and was never revived. The services rendered by the gallant Captain to the Commonwealth were invaluable, he being a most efficient naval officer. They continued for about eleven years, wh^n they were abruptly brought to a close by his arrest and •commitme-nt to the Tower. This was not for the offence of which he was really guilty, his correspondence with the exiled royal family, an offence known to the Protector and overlooked on account of the valuable services of the offender, but for the failure of an attack on Hispaniola, for which he was in no way responsible. On being released, which was done without a trial, he took his family to his estates in Ireland, where his son William re- ceived instruction preparatory to his entering at Oxford, which he did in 1659. In the meantime the Protector died, his son, after a short term of power, was set aside and Charles Stuart restored to the throne. The services ren- dered by the elder Penn in the restoration were gratefully acknowledged by 276' Historical Sketch of Chester. the gay and fickle monarch and by his more serious, but less fortunate bro- ther, who succeeded him to the throne; and a friendship sprang up betweei> the Stuarts and the Penns which greatly aided the younger Penn in carrying- out, at least for a time, his favorite political dogma of universal toleration. While at Oxford the idea of founding a Commonwealth, where rights should be equal and religion free, first entered Penn's mind . The New World seemed to invite such an undertaking. His position at college was far from being agreeable. Simple in his tastes and habits, and impatient of arbitrary restraint, the dress, the ceremonies and observances, forced upon the students by the State church, were exceedingly irksome to him, and he at last refused to conform to its requirements. This resulted in his expulsion at the age of eighteen, and he returned home to meet the angry frowns of his father, who could neither appreciate nor understand the fact that a mere boy should be governed by a sense of duty other than the duty imposed by parents and teachers. Finally the boy was beaten and turned out of doors. Through the intercession of his mother, hrwever, he was soon brought home and forgiven; and after a time he was sent to Paris, where he com- pleted his education and acquired graces and accomplishments of mind and manners for which he was ever afterwards distinguished. At the age of twenty he returned to London, where his father then resided, and remained there with the family until the plague broke out in 1665. This devastating scourge cast a gloom over the whole city. Terror and despair marked every countenance; and to a mind like Penn's it was no wonder that the awful solemnity took the shape of an inquiry into the state of his confcience. What ought he to do? What duty did he owe to his Maker and his fellow-men? Having been sent to Ireland to attend to the family estates there, he met with Thomas Loe, an eminent minister of the Society of Friends. The prin- ciples of that Society, as expounded by the preacher, seemed to be in accord- ance with his own convictions. Their love of peace, their advocacy of hu- man rights, their hatred of State religions, their denial of the divine right of kings and priests, met answering responses in the heart of the young philan- thropist. They stimulated his hatred of rituals and priestly requirements and his dreams of republican equality among men. In short, Penn became a Quaker, and his father recalled him, expostulated with him angrily, but vainly, and turned him out of doors a second time. This defection of his son was the more severe upon the Admiral from the fact that he had the offer of the Peerage under the title of Lord Weymouth. But his son refused to be the heir apparent to a title of nobility, and the Admiral, deeply mortified, felt constrained to decline the profi'ered honor. It is said that we are what we are very much by reason of our antecedents and surroundings. If this be true, it would be curious to inquire how much of Penn's mental constitution came to him by inheritance. His love of Peace hardly descended from his father who spent half a life time in the naval service of Great Britain, nor from his grandfather a captain in the merchant service, then almost as warlike as the navy; and his love of justice and fair- ness and honor was not likely to come in the blood of the man who, while enjoying the confidence of the Protector and receiving his pay, proposed to surrender the royal navy to Charles Stuart, and was only prevented from doing so by that fugitive Prince having no port or harbor to shelter it. Possibly his gentleness and kindness of heart, as well as other attributes of higher and better life were inherited from his mother, Margaret Jasper, who was the daughter of a merchant of Rotterdam. However this may be, she seems to have understood her son better than his father did and to have frequently softened the asperities which their exceedingly discordant mental constitutions caused by their paternal and filial intercourse. But from the fact that he transmitted so little of himself to his descendants it is not unlikely that he owed as little to his antecedents. His surroundings were such as to develop, for good or evil, all the force of Ihe Celebration. 211 character he had. Coming to the age of thought when England was in a state of peculiar ferment from theological controversies, and being himself drawn into the vortex, his sufferings which failed to crush, him, modified and shaped his whole career. A man of less moral and religious convictions and less force of will, under the treatment he received, would have sunk into the criminal. Cruelty and oppression are powerful elements in the formation of character; and whether they make the subject a saint or a fiend depends upon whether or not he has sufficient mental and moral force to rise above the demoralizing influences. It is well it Like some tall cliff that rears its awful form, Swells from the vale and midway leaves the storm, Though round its base the rolling clouds are spread, Eternal sunshine settles on its head. But suppose there should not be enough in the head to rise above the rolling clouds? Society is responsible for the downfall of many a man whom it might have saved. Penn, however, was not at the mercy of circumstances. Injustice and persecution could not debase him or make him cruel; almost unlimited power in his province could not make him a tyrant, and the seductive flatteries of court life could not destroy his republican simplicity. The severe ordeal through which Penn passed and which contributed largely to make him what he was, is an interesting historical study. The Church of England, occupying a position midway between the Catholics and advanced Protestants, looked with a jealous eye upon both. Having control of the civil power, it determined to hold its advantage against both extremes. The royal family was suspected of leaning toward Popery; and the State Church, instead of combining all Protestantism against Rome, aflfected to be- lieve that the Dissentt^rs were in league with the Pope; and that every meeting in the name of religion, unless under the authority of the civil law and supported by tythes collected by legal machinery was in the interest of the Babylonish harlot. In 1664, these reverend zealots compelled the Parliament to pass the Con- venticle Act and to renew it again in 1670. This act made it a penal ofl'ense for more than five persons, exclusive of the family to meet for religious wor- ship, unless conducted by a person in holy orders and according to the State ritual. The punishment for the first offense was a fine of five pounds or three month's imprisonment. For the second offense the punishment was doubled, and for the third offense the culprit was subjected to a fine of a hundred pounds or to banishment for seven years, and every subsequent offense added a hundred pounds to the fine. Of course such a law could not have been generally enforced, otherwise it would have depopulated the kingdom. But from religious bigotry or a desire to reap a portion of the fine or to wreak vengeance upon a real or fancied enemy, men were found ready to report violations of the law; and the Quakers and other Dissenters suffered terribly for some years. Among other instances, Penn was arrested in 1667 and confined in the Tower for more than eight months, when he was set at liberty by the King. In 1670 he was again arrested under the same act and after some months he was brought to trial. But so ably did he and his fellow prisoner, William Mead, defend themselves that the jury refused to convict though they were sent back with a severe reprimand again and again, and were finally imprisoned themselves because they would not let the Court make their verdict. James, who had then succeeded his brother, was slow in enforcing this in- iquitous act. He interfered frequently by means of his royal prerogative, to mitigate its horrors, and the State Church was displeased with his clem- ency. It is believed with good reason that his leading object was to protect his Catholic friends; and yet it refused to relieve the dissenters. It is some satis- faction to read that William of Orange, whom the advocates of religious in- tolerance invited over in order to secure the more rigid enforcement of the 278 Historical Sketch of Chester. Conyenticle Act, no sooner found timself firmly seated on the British throne than he caused the repeal of that odious law and granted universal toleration. But before its repeal that law had worked great injury to England and great corresponding benefit to the American colonies. A few words will explain this. It is always the most energetic who voluntarily emigrate. The degraded, the debased, the ignorant the imbecile may be banished but they never vol- untarily expatriate themselves. Emigration therefore always lessens the energy of the parent stock for the benefit of the new country. This alone would have given the population of America a great advantage in mental efficiency and enterprise over that of the mother country. But the intolerant legislation of the mother country incrt^asHd this advantage many fold. As a rule the Dissenters of England wpre neither the very high nor the very low. They belonged to that great middle class that contains almost all the use- fulness of every population. The very low were content to let the State Church do their thinking, and the very high held their position by the combination of Church and State, and their interests r* quired them to support both. It was impossible to enforce the law against all Dissenters. Indeed it was not every Dissenter that was worth the trouble of a prosecution. But the pro- minent ones, the leaders, those the prosecution of whom would pay, these were fair and profitable game. A wealthy man, a man of influence among his neigh- bors, a man who had sufficient mental force and obstioate convictions to make enemies, was sure to be informed against and fined or imprisoned. The consequence was that such men flocked to the new country very rapidly. This built up Puritan New England, Quaker Pennsylvania and Episcopal Virginia. For the State Church was under a cloud during the Protectorate occupying, though in a much less degree, the position of the Dissenters under Charles and James. The masterminds that controlled the destinies of Ameri- ca in 1776 were the sons and grandsons of the men whom religious in- tolerance had driven from England to seek freedom of thought, freedom of speech and freedom of religion in the New World. Indeed it is quite within the bounds of possibility that if it had not been for the Conventicle Act and other similar despotic laws, our country might to-day have been as Canada is, a dependency of Great Britain, So true is it that nations like individuals cannot aiford to do a wrong. Retributive justice may be slow, but it is sure. The day of reckoning may be put oflF, but it cannot be evaded. For some years Penn had been talking with Algernon Sidney and others of advanced opinions, of a possible Utopia in America. He had been dreaming of a country where kings and priests should be unknown, where rights should be equal, and thought and speech free. He had brooded in prison and out of it over his own wrongs and the wrongs of his fellow Dissenters. As early as 1675 he became interested, partly as owner and partly as agent, in the settlement of western New Jersey. He had counseled and aided emi- gration there, and the colonists were mostly Quakers who had fled from religious persecution at home. In the meantime the death of his father left him with a large claim against the Crown. The profligate and dissolute Charles, always in want of money, was glad to exchange wild lands three thousand miles away for freedom from this troublesome debt at home. Be- side this he knew and esteemed Penn, and had no bad feeling against the Quakers, except such feeling as every monarch who wishes to be absolute, may be presumed to enter against men who do their own thinking. And so the bargain was made and Pennsylvania sprang into being — upon paper. This event occurred on March 4th, 1681. Charles, or his advisers, seemed to have had a correct appreciation of Penn's mental characteristics; for the charter speaks of his laudable desire to "reduce the savage natives, by jnst and gentle manners, to the love of civil society and the Christian religion." No words could have better charac- The Celebration. 279 terized the new proprietary. He was a man of gentle and just manners. The other laudable desire, to provide a place of refuge from the iron heel of the hybred monster, Church and the State, charter carefully omits to mention. It is a satisfaction to know that Admiral Penn, long before his death, be- came reconciled to his son. Though he never left the State Church, he had no sympathy with the persecution of Dissenters, and the more he saw of it, especially in the person of his son, the more his kindly feelings went out to- ward the oppressed. He especially admired the patience of the Quakers and their forbearance under persecution. He unconsciously adopted their opin- ions and testimonies, and he looked forward hopefully to the time when they should have their reward in the downfall of priests and kings. A year and a half from the date of the charter elapsed before Penn was enabled to take possession of his new domain. Many preparations were need- ed. A frame of government had to be fixed upon. Full access to the bay and ocean had to be secured to the colony. This was done by a grant from the Duke of York, on August 24, 1681, by which he ceded to Penn the town of New Castle and a district of country of twelve miles radius around it, with the islands opposite, north of its lower boundary. The death of his mother, in the meantime, to whom he was tenderly attached, delayed these prepara- tions. At length, on September 1, 1682, the Welcome, a ship of three hundred tons burden, containing Penn and about one hundred of his followers, weighed anchor at Deal; and the colonists bade adieu to the land they still loved through all the wrongs it had inflicted upon them. On the 27th of October, the Welcome anchored off New Castle, and the next day the Founder of Penn- sylvania landed on the spot in front of us, and took possession of a province nearly as large as England, and assumed control of the only American colony that was established without bloodshed. It requires some effort of the imagination to conceive what this vicinity was two hundred years ago. Where there are now miles of brick walls and paved streets, a city in all directions, then was the dense wild, interspersed only occasionally with clearings and cabins, mostly along the river shore. A few miles west of us was the "back woods," a term which has travelled toward the setting sun with each generation until it has become lost to the nomenclature of America in the Pacific ocean. Where now the bustle of business, the puffing of steam engines, the thundering of passing railroad trains, and the hum and clatter of the shuttle and spindle confuse the ear with constantly mingling and changing sounds, then were heard the roar, the howl and the shriek of beasts and birds long since extinct in this locality. All around where we now are was the gorgeous autumn foliage of the oak, the chestnut, the maple, the gum and the dogwood, which are now banished to the streams and hillsides inaccessible to the cupidity of civilized man, or to spots where his good taste or carelessness have left the soil unturned. There were neither streets nor roads, in the proper sense of those terms, in the Province. The first street laid out by legal authority was in 1686. It was on or near the site of Edgmont Avenue, its southern terminus being about Second street. But there were cattle paths, Indian trails and tracks worn by the settlers. Among the chief of these was a tract running parallel to the river and crossing the tributary streams at the head of tide, Chester creek at Upland, Ridley creek at Sharpless' mills, and Crum creek and Darby creek, near where the turnpike road now crosses them. It was called the "King's road" in 1688. As settlements came to be made at the mouths of the streams, bridges were built there, and the road was changed from time to time to suit the bridges, being called the King's highway or the Queen's highway, according to the sex of the British monarch at the time of the change. The Delaware was then a much more convenient highway for small boats than now, and much of the travel was done upon it. The western shore was 280 Historical Sketch of Chester. bold and many of the settlers' huts were built near high-water mark. Each family had its canoe or other small boat moored near the door, ready for all occasions of business or pleasure. On the south west bank of Chester creek stood the residence of Robert Wade. It occupied nearly the site of the northwest corner of Penn and Front streets, and its remains were found in digging the foundation of the dwelling house now standing there. It was then, or afterwards, called the Essex House; and what is now Concord Avenue was doubtless Wade's lane, leading in from the woods and probably from the track that crossed the streams at the head of tide. Its course was that of the avenue above Third street, crossing di- agonally to the aoathwest sid^ of Wade's dwelling. It was afterwards opened to public travel and called Essex street, and it is so cited in the early deeds and marked on the early maps. Bat it had been abandoned and closed long before the Innovators of 1850 awakened Chester from its long slumber. Chester creek at that time was a noble stream, three or four hundred feet wide at its mouth, admitting vessels of considerable size to land their cargoes a little east of the crossing of Penn and Front streets. The plow and the axe, the turning of the soil, and the destruction of the timber, have loaded the tributaries of the Delaware with earth, sand and gravel which have been largely deposited along its western shore; and the building of wharves and banks has increased and retained the deposit. By this means Chester creek has shrunk to a fraction of its former dimensions, and a wide strip of banked meadow and out-lying marsh skirt the river shore where then vessels of from twelve to twenty feet draft could ride comfortably at anchor at low water. The settler could not now step from his front door to his canoe, but would have a long wade through the mud after crossing hundreds of yards of bank- ed meadow before he could reach sufficient water to float his craft. Judging from the nature and extent of the deposits, the mouth of Chester creek, on the southwest side, was at that time about the southeast corner of Penn and Front streets. From that point the shore rounded inwards and passed up nearly parallel with Penn street, and from seventy to a hundred feet from it. The actual place of landing was probably about the southeast corner of Penn and Front streets. As late as 1850 the spring tides covered the spot now occupied by the southeast corner of the dwelling house of Dr. J. L. Forwood, and the bottom of the recent deposits sloped rapidly into deep water. The shore was abrupt and vessels of the usual draft could approach within a short distance of it. Penn was the guest of Robert Wade, and we caa easily imagine him, with his friends, being met at the landing by their host and welcomed as the Ruler of the Province. We can also imagine the presence of Indians, to whom the character of Penn was well known, partly through his management of the colony of West Jersey and partly through his cousin and agent, William Markham, who had preceded him by some months, and had communicated to the natives the pacific disposition and kindly intentions of the new Gov- ernor. Naturally they would desire to see the white man who would neither kill them nor steal their land. Penn had provided in his conditions imposed upon the colonists and his concessions to them that an injury done to an Indian should be punished as if it had been done to a white man; and that offences committed by a native should not be avenged by the sufferer, but should be reported to the eivil authorities, who should communicate with the offender's king or chief with the view of obtaining satisfaction peaceably. He provided also equal rights for all men, and secured to th« Indians the same privilege to improve their land and provide sustenance for their fami- lies which his colonists were to enjoy. He provided that all disputes and differences between men of the different races should be submitted to a jury composed one-half of Indians. In all respects the natives were to be treated as friends and brothers. All paths were to be free and the firesides of eaoh The Celehmtim. 2Si ffface were to "be open to the friendly visits of the otber, and finallj the child- ren of each race were to be told of the friendship between the parnnt?, that the chain might grow stronger and stronger and be kept bright and clean as long as the waters run and thp sun and moon endure. What a contrast this affords with the treatment of the natives of the New World by the European invad^rg of thu fiftaenth century! The history of the conquest of Mexico aodPeru is not fit to be read by any one who wishes to think well of his fellowmen. But may we not look nearer home? The settlement of Virginia and New England was made upon precisnly the same principle, though the actors were less brutal and less atrocious. This princi- ple was that the country belonged to the invaders, and that the natives were ■only tenants by sufferance. The process may be explained in i single para- graph. When a colonist wanted land he took it. If the native resisted he was driven off by force. If be avenged the wrong he was killed', when his tribe took up the quarrel, as was natural, an Indian war ensued, in which blood was shed and deeds of horror perpetrated on both sides. The final Tesult was always in favor of the colonist, who got more land and drove the Indians still farther from the settlements. Would to Heaven that we could not be pointed to a parallel still nearer -home. But truth requires the confession that the same odious principle of the right of the white man to invade, to disposses and exterminate, has characterized the treatment of the Indians from that time until the pre- sent: and the process is still going on. When the white man wants land he takes it. If the Indian resists he is driven off by force. If he avenges the wrong he is killed. If his people take up the quarrel, an .Indian war ensues, with all its horrors, ending always with the white man taking still more land and driving the Indian still farther toward their "manifest destiny." The only esception to this rule is the case we ar« now commemorating, which exhibits the single bright page in a very dark history. The Lenni Lenape has disappeared from the soil of Pennsylvania and from the land of his fathers, but it was through no fault of Penn and his followers. He has been lost in his journey westward in other tribes; but he faithfully carried out his part of the compact. We bear of bim on the banks of the western rivers, on the anniversary of the day we celebrate, selectirg a spot like that where the Elm stood, and spreading his copy of the Treaty upon the ground, explaining it to the children of bis tribe and impressing upon them that the friendship between them and the followers of Penn must be kept in- violate, in the strong language of his race, as i®ng as the sun and moon endure. The experiment of the Founder of Pennsylvania demonstrated that it was not necessary to exterminate the Indians. There was room enough in the country for them and us too. But to the disgrace of the white man we must admit that he has rarely come in contact with a weaker race except to exter- minate or enslave. This may be in accordance with the stern law of "The Survival of the Fittest," and the day when the Indian wrongs shall be aven- ged may be when the white man shall fall before the advance of a stronger Tace yet to be. The success of the experiment certainly would have warranted its repetition and continuance. For seventy years the colony existed in prosperity and pro- found peace without armies, without vessels of war, without forts, without arsenals. Other colonies were kept in constant dread of what they termed the ^'merciless savage." But no Quaker ever lost bis life by the band of an In- dian; and for forty years no blood was shed on either side. Two years after the death of Penn, the first murder across the line of the races occurred, and the murderer was a white man. His Indian victim was slain ander circum- stances of peculiar atrocity. Yet so impressed were the Indians with the kindness aad justice of the colonial government and the humane teachings of its founder, that they petitioned for the life of the offender to be spared, and i4 was spared. 2H2 Historical Sketch &f ChpsteK But the French and Indian war came on; thpn followed the American Eer- oluUon, and then thecolony passed out of the hands of the followers of Penn, in all essHDtials however, the impress of the hand of the Founder is upon the- Constitution of Pennsylvania to day. The absence of a State Church, freedons of conscience in matters of religion, equality of all men under the law and in the making of the law, universal education provided by the State, the equal right of suffrage vested in all freemen, these are elements of Penn's Frame of Government and they have come down to us unchanged. Other Colonies adopted thee^e provisions and they passed into the Constitutions of the several States of the Union. Indeed, that which formed the model from which were taken all our State Governments and the government of the United States was the Frame of Government introduced by William Penn two hundred years ago. It is much to be regretted that the Founder was not permitted to carry out his original intention of locating in the Province permanently with hiS' family. The condition of the Dissenters in England called for his sympathy and assistance; and the difficulty about his southern boundary having been transferred to the home government for settlement, it became necessary for him to return to England, and he left the colony in October, 1684. In 1685, Charles died and the throne devolved upon his brother James, a man of good intentions, but of narrow and bigoted views. Penn's influence with James was understood and appreciated by the Dis- senters of all persuasions, and he was appealed to on every side and urged to procure a suspension of the cruel and unjust laws. An Act of Parliament, passed in the reign of Elizabeth, was revived against the Dissenters, which inflicted a fine of twenty pounds per month upon all persons who neglected or refused to attend the'services of the established Church. This with the- Conventicle Act, it was supposed, would reach and coerce every offender worth prot^eouting. The crushing weight of this law will be seen when we remember that twenty pounds then equalled about four hundred dollars noWj, taking into account the difference in the value of money, making forty-eight hundred dollars a year as the cost of ex&rcising a conscientious choice in the manner of worshiping God. Through the influence of Penn and other men of liberal views, James issued a general pardon of all offenses against these acts, and twelve hundred Quak- ers alone, besides many persons of other dissenting persuasions were dis- charged from prison by it. The laws, however, were still in force, and Penn labored until the downfall of James in mitigating their effect upon all suffer- ers, taking advantage of the fact that James himself was not of the establi- shed church, and subjecting himself to some ill-will among tis fellow Dis- senters by his steady refusal to discriminate against the Catholics. His object was to procure as far as possible, universal freedom of belief and worship. In this he had considerable success, and it is not unlikely that that success contributed to the downfall of the king. Penn was a century in advance of his age. The received opinion at that time was that it was the business of the civil government to compel men to believe right. Upon the advent of William of Orange, Penn fell under the suspicion of favoring the fortunes of the fallen King, and he wae several times arrested, but the most rigid investigation failed to discover a single violation of law or even the smallest suspicion of it. Penn admitted his friendship for James, but denied all idea of assisting him, and even of the possibility of his res- toration. Ho appealed to his past history to shew that what he wanted was universal toleration in matters of religion, and having that under the new king, it would be folly for him to ask the restoration of the old one who, though willing, could not grant it. At length, in 1699 Penn arrived at Philadel phia, proposing to reside in the colony for the remainder of his days. But the tlxreatened war between France and England led to an attempt to take his Province from him, Ihc Cetebretiion. -281 ■mid. TbeTettirned to the motber country to defend tbe rights of the colonists. In ]701 he took what proved be a final leave of his colony. This attempt failed through an appeal to the sense of justice of the king. But pecuniary troubles arising from his having spent so much of his fortune in found- ing the colony, and receiving so little return, and an arrest and imprison- ment for an unjust claim on tbe part of one of his agents, weighed heavily upon him and he became afflicted with paralysis in 1712, from which his -mind never fully recovered. He died in 1718, closing an active and unselfish life and leaving a fame that will last as long as the recollection and approval of the great and good shall be a characteristic of the human mind. Two hundred years have passed away since the landing of the "Welcome" tipon the spot before us, and it will be interesting and instructive to inquire what these tw© hundred years have done for us. The population of Chester at the time of the landing was probably less than a hundred. The taxables live years before numbered sixteen, which would represpnt a population of less than sixty. Up to 1840 the increase was very slow, «he census of that year showing a little over seven hundred. Soon after that date the town took a sudden start, which greatly surprised the older inhabitants. It has now become a great manufacturing city, with a population of twenty-three thousand, including the contiguous Boroughs formed by the overspreading of its boundaries. At the same rate of increase the population at the Tri- Centennial celebration of the landing will exceed twenty-three millions. It was Penn's original idea to locate his city at Chester. Two causes, however, combined to prevent this. 1. The land was in the possession of settlers some of whom refused to sell and 2, There was some doubt whether or not Chester was within Penn's purchase. The southern limit of that pur- chase was the fortieth parallel of n-orth latitude, and Chester is south of that parallel. At the granting of the charter, the fortieth parallel was supposed to be at or near the northern boundary of Maryland as ultimately ^xed. The possessions of the respective parties substantially determined the line between them, but it was not exactly located until 1765, when it was run and marked by Mason and Dixon. If Penn coula have foreseen how much the shipping would increase la size and draft of water, and how rapidly the river would be encroached upon by the land, he might have given less weight to the considerations that induced him to locate his city above the mouth of the Schuylkill. Already nearly all the shipping that passes Chester has to be taken and returned by tug boats. This, however, is of ilttle importance now. The two cities will soon be one, in fact, so rapidly are they approaching, and Chester will then become the port of entry of Philadelphia. In H82 Philadelphia was substantially without inhabitants. In two hun- dred years it has acquired eight hundred and fifty thousand. In extent of territory it is the largest city in America, and second only to New York in population. In 1682 the population of the entire State could not have exceed- ed a few hundreds, while now it numbers four millions and a half; and that of the United States has increased from three millions and a half to fifty millions within the last century. In short, from very small beginnings, two hundred years ago, we have become one of the leading nations "of the world. All this has been largely owing to our liberal institutions, our exemption from priestly interference in matters of religion and our freedom from the crushing weight of the military systems of Europe. The inventions and discoveries of the last twocenturies have been enor- mous, both in number and importance, and we have contributed our full proportion. The steamboat, the printing press, the power loom, friction matches, dynamite, the spectroscope, the electric light, ansesthetics, are some of the things of which Penn and his cotemporaries knew nothing. If the world could be set back in the use of the forces and materials in Nature's '2^4 Historical Sketch ofCheste, workshop to where it was in 1682, one fourth of its population would die of starvation in a year. An f qual progress has been made in moral and social science. We have abol- ished human slavery in almost the entire civilized world. We have abol- ished war as a rncognized means of settling private disputes and are inventingr a civilizf^d mode of settling public ones. We have applied the precepts of Him of Nazareth to the treatment of the waifs and strays of humanity — the pauper, the lunatic and idiot — and have almost discovered that the criminal' is the product of social and natural causes, and is to be taken care of kindly for his own good and for the safety of the community. The world moves. Who shall say to what a summit of human perfection the next two hundred years will bring us ? In all the coming years let us remember and celebrate the day and honor the place of our birth as a civil organization, the place where the power of kindness and justice was first recognized and demonstrated as a means of reaching the hearts and regulating the conduct of communities of men; the day upon which the great principles promulgated on the mountain in Judea were applied for the first and only time to the founding of civil government, principles which, after eighteen hundred years, we are only Just beginning to see must rule the world. Let us remember that in this place and on that day Christianity was put upon its trial as a rule of human conduct, and that it succeeded. Let us remember that the ground whereon we stand is holy. In passing to us from the hands of those to whom Grod gave it, in the dim twiliarht of the past, it was not watered by their blood and tears. Let every son of Pennsylvania treasure up in his heart gratefully and teach his chil- dren that the terrible catalogue of crime registered against the white invaders of America has no application to the State that perpetuates the name of Wil- liam Ppnn. The address speaks for itself and needs no words of commenda- tion. The quiet attention with which it was received by those who' had the good fortune to be near enough to hear it, was sufficient evidence of its in>terest. The children sang the Bi-Centennial Ode^ composed by Prof. CHARLES F. FOSTER, Superintendent of the- Public Schools, and set to music by Prof. JOHN R. SWENEY. It was as follows : THE BI-CENTENNIAI. HYMW. Through a hundred years of toil and strife, And a hundred of the nation 'ij life, Have the centuries trod with step sublime, And are bearing a tale of olden time; How the man of the silent song and prayer, On the forest-shore of the Delaware, In liberty's cause the flag unfurled. Which in triumph shall wave o'er the land and the world. CHORUS. Then a cheer for the Union, grand and great. And a hip-hip-hurrah for the Keystone State, But a joyful song and a tender prayer For the home of Penn by the Uelaware. We honor him who long ago, Witti a brotht-r's love disarmed the foe. And a bloodless battle fought and won On the famous field of Kensington. * nd now, from the falls of Trenton down To the Quaker City, and Chester town, The hearts of the people turn with pride To the spot which Penn has glorified. Oho.— Then a cheer, &c. Ihe Celebration. 285 Now the mountains come to wed the sea . At the river shall the meeting be, As'Jthe ship glides down in stately ptide, With a lover's kiss to greet the tide; And men are toiling with might and inaili, * With the sinewy arm, and the busy brain, That the breezes of ocean everywhere May carry the fame of the Delaware. Cho Then a cheer, &c. Lo! the strength of these two hundred years In our giant growth to-day appears; For the Quaker's word was a title-deed Alike to the Red Man, Dutch and Swede, And the old , old message he uttered then, Of "Peace on earth, good will to men." Is the" gospel of love which shall ever stand As' the pledge of the nation, the hope of the land. Cho — Then a cheer, &c. After music by the band, followed by the closing prayer by Rev. Thomas Macauley, of the Third Presbyterian Church, the assem- blage dispersed, the band playing "William Penn's Grand March," composed by Prof. Sweney, to seek substantial refreshments in the two hours which intervened before the Grand Parade, which was fixed for two o'clock in the afternoon. The guests of the city were entertained at the Chester Republican League House, on Edgmont Avenue. The building was handsomely decorated and its doors thrown hospitably open to the throng of visitors. The dinner was served in excellent style by Mr. Graves, caterer, from Wilmington, Del., and was arranged under direction of the Bi-Centennial Com- mittee on Entertainment and a Committee consisting of William B. Broomall, Thomas I. Leiper, Thomas H. Mirkil,E. S. McKeever, W. Ross Brown and George B. Lindsay, members of the League. There was ample supply of all goods things, and the management was admirable. Others of the visitors to the city were entertained at private houses, while the hotels were filled to overflowing with guests. THE AFTERNOON. The sun shone brightly and long before the time fixed for the Civic, Industrial and Military Parade, the streets were again thronged and every vantage place along the route of march was oc- cupied by those anxious to see the display. They had not long to 286 Historical Sketch of Chester. wait, for in this, as in every other part of the exercises of the d 'y, the management was as nearly perfect as could be. Under the able direction of Chief Marshal, Col. W. C. Gray and his efficient Aids, and that of the different Marshals of divisions, the column was promptly formed and move : within a few moments of the appointed time. When it is considered that there were over 6000 men in line, including every kind of civic and industrial dis- play, firemen and military, and that the parade was over an hour passing a given point, it will be seen how much credit was due to the executive ability of Col. Gray and his assistants, and the intelligent co-operation of all the organizations engaged. There was no delay or confusion at any point on the route and from first to last every- thing moved with the precision of clock work. The line was formed in the South Ward, at Third and Penn streets, all the streets running north and south of Third street, as far as Kerlin, being filled with organizations intending to partici- pate in the parade, and after everything was gotten in readiness the procession moved, a liitle after two o'clock, in the following order: Chief Marshal, Col. W. C. Gray. Aids, WilUam I. Leiper, John G. Price, J. Howard Lewis Jr., William H. Green, John B. Hannum, W. K. Osborne, J. P. Crozer, John Lilley' ("aptain Isaac Johnson, William P. Ladomus, i'. Crossley, William G. Price. Robert Anderson, J. H. Cochran, E. P. Hannum. W. T. Dain, H. R. Jlanley. FIRST DIVISION Oglesby's Band, 41 pieces. Chief Tamanand, Arthur Martin. Aids Robert Campbell, H. P. Harvey, B. f Bucha, John Mott, in Indian costume, mounted. Members of the Order of Red Men, in Indian costume, 65 men. Upland Band 22 pieces. Tuscarora Tribe, No. 29, 75 men; W. B. Lear. Marshal. Franken- tield Band, Philadelphia, 22 pieces. Mocoponaca Tribe, No. 149, 70 men; Adam Pierce, Marshal. Ockhoking Tribe, No. 159, Newtown Square, 20 men; Isaiah Massey, Mar- shal Delegates from Idaho. Wohasset, Wissahicken, No. 32. Coaquanock, No. 49; Seminole, No. 30; Ponemah Tribes, of Philadelphia. Shawnee Tribe, No. 62, of Phila- delphia 92 men. Rockdale Band, 17 pieces. Lenni Tribe, No. 66, of Rockdale, 48 men- William F»-a' ce. Marshal. W. J. McClure, of York, Great Sachem; Thomas A. McDowell, of Gcrmantown, Great Senior Sagamore; Great Chief of Records, Charles C Conley Great Keeper of W ampum, George W. Kreamer, both of Philadelphia; An- drew Zand, of EastoD, Great Meshinewa of the Great Council of Pennsylvania; An- drew J. Baker, P. G. I. of U. S., of Philadelphia; Great Guard of the Wigwam, Chas. C Kambers, of Pittsburg— all of the Great Council of Pennsylvania; also. Great Chief of Records, Joshua Maris, and Great Keeper of Wampum, Joseph Pyle, of the Great Council of the United states, both of Wilmington, in carriages. SECOND DIVISION.— i/orsftoZ, Charles Sykes. Aids, H. Pennell, H. Chadwick, John Marlor, Charles Sharpless, O. C. McClure, John Fullerton, S. W. Logan, JohE T. Morgan. Guests of the Fire Companies in carriages. Keystone Band, of Phila- delphia, 24 pieces. Volunteer Fire Association, of r hiladelphia, 10 » men; John Welsh, Marshal. Old hand engine. Montgomery Hose, Norristown, 20 men; Norristown Band. 25 pieces. Washington Fire Company, of Conshohocken, 48 men; Miles Stem- pie Marshal; hose carriage and steamer; guests in carriages. Centennial Band, Fallg of Schuylkill, 20 pieces. Franklin Fire Company, Chester, 110 men; Samuel Harkin, Marshal- hose carriage and steamer; B. B. Welser, John Pennell and William Cowan in a carriage. Kensington Band, 22 pieces. Hanley Hose, Chester, 90 men; Thomas Berry Marsiial; hose carriage and steamer. Womel^dorf Band, 20 pieces. Junior Fire Company, of Reading, 65 men^ William Boynton, Marshal; hose carriage and steamer. Altoona Band, 28 pieces. Vigilant Fire Company, 52 men, with steamer. Friendship Band, Chester, 20 pieces. Moyamensing Hook and Ladder Company, Chester 120 men, with truck and wagon containing a representation of "Penn" Cabinet*. THIRD DIVISION. — Marshal, J. Newton Shanafelt. Aids, Stephen L. Armour, D. Traub Isaac Rodgers, F. B.Bowers, Horace Fairlamb, M, Hatton, John Lindaay, E. The Celebration. 287 Pennell, D. F. Rose, f^. M. Cox. Excelsior Band, Salem, 20 pieces. Larkin Circle, No. 66, B.U.,and Good Intent, No. 75, Chester, 125 men. West Grove Band. 20 pieces. St. Agnes Cadets, West (Miester, 40 cadets, bovs dressed in blue jackets and white pants, carrying axes and flags. St. Michael's T. A. B. Society, Chester, 105 men and 20 pioneers. Immaculate Heart T. A. B. Society, Ches'er, 40 men. Patriotic Order Sons of America, Chester. 150 men, with band. Scotch Bana, James A. C. Dickson pipe major. Caledonian Club, of Philadelphia, 20 men. Hobert Burns Club, Ches- ter, 30 men; Wil iam McOallum, Marshal. Concordia Band, Philadelphia, 12 pieces. 14 German citizens dressei in costumes, representing burgers, foresters, huzzars and dragoo'S. Germ in Beneficial Society, Chester, 42 men; D. Traub. Marshal. Prussia's first King, Frederick, was represented; also Gambrinus and Bacchus, grotesquely dressed, in a wagon. Hull's Band, Souih Chester, 22 pieces. Industrial Association and Hod Carriers' I'nion, 45 men. FOURTH DIVISION.— 3/ars/iaZ, Samuel Starr, M. D. Aids,T)T. C. C. V.Craw- ford, H. A. Eisenbise, Dr. Theodore S. Christ. Metropolitan Band, Philadelphia, 25 pieces. Cadets P. M. A., 170 rifles; Captains Duval. R. K. barter, B. F. Morley and C. E. Hvatt commanding. Drum Corps. Companv H, 6th Reg., Media, 35 rifles; Captain Jcdsh M. Baker. Wilde Post Fife and Drum'Corps, Chester, 20 pieces. Wilde Post, No. 25, G. A. R , Chester, 80 men; Joel HoUingsworth commander. Bradbury Post, No. 149. Media; Samuel Crozier commander. Smvth Post Drum Corps. Gen- eral Smyth Post. No. 1, Wilmington. 70 men; T. A. Keables commander. Ghnnes Sumner Post, Wilmington. 75 men John Brown Post, Chester; Robert Auter com- mander. First Regiment Band, Wilmington, 20 pieces. Company B, 6th Keg., 60 men, in command of Capt. F. G. Sweeney and Lieuts. Sparks and Campbell. ar- riage" containing Hon. William Ward, Benjamin G^rtside and Samuel Riddle, the two oldest and largest manufacturers in Delaware county; Major I). R. B. Nevin, of Ridley Park; H. G. Ashmead, W. H oss Brown. H. B. Black, President of City Coun- cil; Rev. Thomas Kelley, Rev. George C. Moore, Joseph McAldon, Andrew Hudson, John w. Martin Burgess of North Chester; Henry C. Shock, Edward S. McKeever, Genrge B. Lindsay, Col. David F. Houston, Major Joseph R. T. Coates, Orlando Har- vey, Samuel Oglesby and Henry Riddle. FIFTH I'lVISION.— Mar«7i.aJ, G. P. Denis. Aids, C. Peters, Jr.,E. S.Worrell, William Irving, James Field, G G. Leiper, William Shaw, E. Irving, Sumner Esrey, C. W. Andrews. Harmony Band, of Thurlow, 18 pieces, steamship City of Tokio. Chester Boiling Mills, 400 men, with puddling furnace and hammer; X.J.Houston, Marshal. Peun and companions; Bridgewater display of zephyrs; E. R. Worrel , oil cloths; Wilcox & White, organs; hester Dock Mills, zephvrs and calicoes; E. D. Sparks & Co., belts, etc.; Joseph Messick, furnitAire; E.M.Bruce & Co., Estey or- gans; J. A. Cardwell, furniture; Great National Tea Company; G. P. Denis, cassi meres, etc.; Broad Street Mills, colored goods, and 30 men dressed in the ticking made at the mill, William B. Stevens, Marshal; James Bowers & Son, cotton and wool, in bales; John Armitage. tar, etc.; Chester City Stove Works; D. S. Bunting, 6 coal wajrons; The Irving & leiper Manufacturing Co., cotton in bales, etc.; Powhattan Mills, No. 3, cloths; South Chester High Flyers; Lewis, Kurtz & Co., groceries; F. O. Goodwin, lightning rods; J. S. Schlanka, bread; Model of the old Penn house at Up- land; Crozer's Upland Mills; Lukens & Compton, dry goods, etc.; O. T. Pancoast, printing press at work; Griflith & Co., furniture; M. Ocheltree, carriages; smith shop; Springville Mills. SIXTH DIVISION Marshal, Ch&rles Cavanaugh. J ids, W. H. Graham and Jo- seph Waddell. Kelleyville Band, 2u pieces. William Penn, in a barouche, F. D. Graham. Butchers mounted, 149 men, wearing white smock, high hat and blue sash. George Wunderlich and William Worrell, the oldest butchers m Delaware county, in carriages. Burk & Stewart's wagons; Thomas Johnson's wagon; Edward Firth's wagon; six mounted men. The parade was one of the largest ever witnessed in Delaware County as well as the most orderly and well managed. The proces- sion moved up Third to Market, to Fifth, to Morton avenue, to Broad, to Madison, to Twelfth, to Edgmont, to Seventh, to Kerlin, to Third, to Broomall, countermarching on Third to Kerlin, to Second, to Penn, to Third and dismissed. Some of the important features of the different divisions may be noticed as follows : In the first division the different tribes of the organization known 288 Bistorical Sketch of Chester. as Red Men received deservedly a great deal of applause for then- appearance and excellent deportment. They composed the entire division and with invited guests made a very fine display. The second division, composed entirely of firemen, eliciterl much admiration for their gentlemanly bearing and good marching The Volunteer Fire Association, of Philadelphia, drew after them an en- gine with a history. It was a small, stoutly built machine of wood, with a single pipe, capable of throwing a stream thirty feet It was built in England and brought to this country in 1748, and was pre- sented in 1866, to the William Penn Hose and Steam Fire Company, No. 18, by the Ex-Union and Slambank Company, of Salem, Mass. Three months ago the Penn Company gave it to the Volunteer Fire Association. The engines and carriages of the different companies were very tastefully decorated with garlands of flowers and flags. The men looked and marched well, and while expressing admiration for the appearance of the visiting companies, it must be said that our own firemen were not a whit behind them in any point. The third division was a most interesting one, composed chiefly of the resident and visiting T. A. B. Associations and civic organi- zations. Larkin Circle, No. 66 and G-ood Intent Circle, No. 75, B. U. were conspicuous, and the Caledonian Club, of Philadelphia, and Robert Burns Club, of Chester, with the Scotch band, were the recipients of much flattering notice. The T. A. B, societies turned out in large numbers and our G-erman fellow citizens were a mark- ■ed feature in this division. In the fourth division the Pennsylvania Military Academy Cadets, Companies B, of Chester, and H, of Media, 6th Reg. N. G. P., and Post Wilde, No. 25, G-, A. R., with visiting posts were much ad- mired and formed certainly a very important part of the parade. In the fifth division all the different trades were represented, and some of the designs were novel and interesting, notably those of Q-. P. Denis, Shaw, Esrey & Co., J. Wm. Lewis & Co., Irving & Leiper, and James Stevens. The latter, besides having a wagoK filled with ticking, had thirty men in line dressed in suits of the same material, cut by Robert Adams & Co., of Philadelphia, and they attracted much attention. The men were in command of W. T< Seth, captain, and J. K. Knott, lieutenant, and were drilled on the The Celebration. 289 street. The model of the steamship "City of Toklo," from Roachs ship yard, was wreathed in flowers, and was drawn by four stout horses. It attracted much attention. The masts were too high to pass under Seventh street bridge, consequently the ship had to be taken around to Seventh and Penn streets, where it rejoined the pa rade. The model of the Pusey House at Upland, built in 1683, put in line by the Messrs. Crozer, was an attractive feature. The butch- ers held a position of honor in the sixth division, the rear of the line, and were a fitting conclusion to a procession of upwards of six thou- sand men. The Volunteer Fire Association, of Philadelphia, were the guests of the Chester Fire Department; the Vigilant, of AltoOna, and the Junior, of Keading, the guests of the Hanley; the Washington, of Conshohocken, and the Montgomery Hose, of Norristown, the guests of the Franklin. All were cared for by the above companies. The West Chester Temperance Cadets, and the visiting T. A B. societies were the guests of St. Michael's. They were handsomely entertain- ed at the latter's room over the Post Office. Post Wilde received two hundred visitors and lunched them in Thomas' Hall. The Red Men had a great many visitors whom they entertained most hospita- bly and concluded the day's festivities by a ball given in Armory Hall, which was largely attended and enjoyed to the utmost. THE EVENING. In the evening a fine display of fireworks took place at the corner of Ninth and Parker streets, which was witnessed by a great many people. The display was arranged by Prof Jackson, under the di- rection of the Sub-Committee on Fireworks and v/as, like all the rest of the celebration a success in every way. Every thing went off on time and to the general satisfaction. Throughout the day, from beginning to end, nothing occurred to mar the pleasure of the occasion and everything moved as smoothly as if Delaware County had been in the habit of celebrating Bi-Cen- tennials every year. There was no disorder and very little drunken- 290 Historical Sketch of Chester. ness, if indeed, any that could be fairly called so at any time during the day or evening. All were determined to make the day a plea- sant one and the citizens of Chester and Delaware County may well feel satisfied with and proud of the manner in which the Bi-Cen- tennial anniversary of the landing of William Penn on the shores of Pennsylvania, was observed in Chester. Final Work of General (Committee. 291 FINAL WORK OF GENERAL COMMFrTEE, Monday, Movemier 13, 1882. THIS evening a final meeting of the Penn Bi-Centennial Com- mittee of Chester was held in Council Chamber, Chairman Bar- ton presiding. There was a fair attendance and the Committee pro- ceeded at once to settle up its affairs. The first report was by the Finance Committee, Dr. R. P. Mercer, Chairman, who made the following statement of the collections: p'ennsylvania Kailroad Company...$500 00 J. A. "Wallace, South Ward 24 00 Phila., Wll. & Bait. R. R. Co 250 00 J. H. Kerlin, Lower CMchester 10 00 E. P. Mercer,South Ward &Upland 313 i Ellwood Hannum, Concord 8 75 D. C. Abrams, Radnor 250 00 William Rhodes, Newtown SCO W. H. Eves. North Ward 203 50 Prof. C. F. Foster lo ( Richard Miller, North Ward 173 00 John Roach 100 00 W. J. McDowell and G. O. Yarnall, Eddystone Manufacturing Co 50 00 South Chester 168 00 William Simpson & Son 50 00 I. H- Mirkil, Middle Ward 133 00 B. P. Baker, Middle Ward 103 50 Total by Finance Committee..$2,569 75 C. S. Esrey, North Chester 75 00 Proceeds from sale of lumber in B. M. Custer, Ridlev 40 00 stands..... 103 75 William H. Martin, North Ward 25 CO School Board, for music stand.. 15 00 Samuel Rhodes, Aston 25 00 H. R. Manley, Media 25 00 Total $2,690 50 -J. Hunter Moore, Marple 25 00 The amount, |2,690 .50, is exclusive of $400 appropriated by City Council for entertainment, which would make $3,090.50 entire re- ceipts. The report was accepted and on motion of H. B. Black, the thanks of the Committee tendered the Finance Committee for their successful labors. The report of the Secretary was then read, showing $2,690.50 re- ceived by the Finance Committee, and appropriations amounting to $1,767.51 paid, leaving a balance of $922.99, which the Executive Committee recommended be appropriated to the different societies 292 Historical Sketch of Chester. having visitors, and to defray the cost of erecting stands and others expenses. This absorbed the entire amount contributed, and set- tled up the affairs of the Committee in a satisfactory manner to all The Chairman, Mayor Barton, took occasion to thank the mem- bers of the Committee for the hearty co-operation extended to him and all the officers of the Committee. On motion of D. M. Johnson a vote of thanks was tendered H. G. Ashmead, Wm. Shaler Johnson and other members of the Historical Committee for their valuable services. Dr. Mercer then moved that a vote of thanks be tendered the Sec- retary, J. Craig, Jr., for his services. D. M. Johnson moved to amend by extending the same courtesy to the Chairman, Mayor Barton, and Treasurer, H. B. Black, which was adopted, and the motion, as a:mended, passed. The Committee then adjourned sine die. This meeting in the business like simplicity and brevity which marked it formed a very fitting conclusion to the work of the Gren- eral Committee. Where all was done so intelligently and efficiently it may seem invidious to draw special notice to any Sub-Committee or individual, but it must be acknowledged that to the trying and often self-sacrificing efforts of the Chairman of the Finance Com- mittee, and those of its members who actively interested themselves in the object, and to the Chairman and members of the Executive Committee, whose duties were discharged with exceptional imparti- ality and tact, is due in a large degree the success which attended the work of the Greneral Committee. 4 H UNVEILING OF THE ./Voveinber 9th, 1882 <¥ THE PENN MEMORIAL STONE. The Memorial Stone. 295 THE MEMORIAL STONE. Kovewiber 9, 1882. Ci ERTAIN gentlemen connected with the Historical Society of j Pennsylvania and the Penn Club wishing to celebrate in some appropriate way the Two Hundredth Anniversary of the Landing of William Penn, it was decided to do so by placing a Memorial Stone at the actual spot where the landing occurred in Chester ( then Upland, ) the planting of trees and a few simple commemorative observances. The time fixed for the occasion was the 9th of November, 1882. The following circular was issued by the gentlemen signing it who acted as a Committee of Arrangements : Philadelphia October 31, 1882. It is intended to celebrate on THURSDAY, NOVEMBER gth. 1882, under the aus- pices of a number of gentlemen, chiefly members of the Historical Society of Penn- sylvania and the Penn Club, the Two Himdredth Anniversary of the first landing of William Penn, within the bounds of the present State of PennsyKania, at Chester, on October 28th, 1682, O. S. The ceremonies will consist in the setting of a Memorial Stone on the place where Penn landed, the planting of trees, and a commemorative address. At the close of the ceremonies, the party is invited to a luncheon at Codnor Farm, the residence of Col. Frank M. Etting. A special train will leave Broad Street Station of the Pennsylvania Railroad, at 9.30 o'clock, A. M., precisely, and will return in the afternoon, reaching Broad Street at 5.30. P. PEMBERTON MORRIS, LLOYD P. SMITH, lOHN CADWALADER, "ISAAC MYER, CHARLES CHAUNCEY, Com7niitee . The names of those from Philadelphia accepting the invitation were as follows : P. Pemberton Morris, Cadwalader Biddle, Charles J. Stille, Samuel R. Shipley, Robert Pearsall Smith, John A. Clark, Charles Chauncey, Dr. Thomas Wistar, George M. Conarroe, E. Hunn Hanson, Charles H. Hutchinson, Benjamin G. Godfrey, 296 Historical Sketch of Chester. Frederick Brown, Clifford P. MacCalla, J. M. Power Wallace, Thomas Meehan, W. Moylan Lansdale, Macgregor J. Mitcheson, George Crump, H. B. M. Vice Consul. Charles S. Keyser, Thompson Westcott, Justice Cox, Jr., Louis C. Madeira, Charles H. Cramp, L. Logan Smith, Edward Wetherill, John A. McAllister, Charles W. Ale.xander, John Biddle Porter, Edward R. Wood, Stuart Wood, R. Francis Wood, Lloyd P. Smith, Craig D. Ritchie, Samuel Chew, Samuel L. Smedley, John Cadwalader, Jacob E. Barr, Charles M. Morris, J. M. Stoddart, George BHght, R. M. McWade, Henry S. Lowber, B. Frank Clapp, Samuel Wetherill, C. H. A. Esling. Isaac Myer, William B. Smith, Samuel | Sharpless, James Bateman, Robert W. Smith, J. Sergeant Price, Dr. James J. Levick, EH K. Price, Jr., Thomas Stewardson, Henry T. Coates, E. Dunbar Lockwood, Howard M. Jenkins, Robert Coulton Davis, Robert Lapsiey Pyle, and Roose Jafirn from the Hague. The morning of the Ninth of November dawned brightly and was succeeded by a pleasant autumn day. At half past nine the gen- tlemen above mentioned took a special train on the Pennsylvania Railroad, and after an enjoyable ride of half an hour reached Ches- ter. Here they were received in a very informal way by His Honor Mayor Barton and the City Council, with a number of the promi- nent citizens of the town and escorted to the ground, foot of Penn street, near the residence of Ex-Mayor J. L. Forwood. Col. Frank M. Etting, of Concordville, a gentleman who had taken much in- terest in the suec ess of this celebration, met the party at the depot^ as did also other residents of Delaware county. The Memorial Stone had been erected on the Eighth of Novem- ber, the preceding day, and was covered with the National flag. Permission had been previously obtained from the city authorities .and the owners of the adjacent property to place the stone on and within the curb line, on the northerly side of Front street, which would bring it within a few feet of the actual place where William Penn landed. The stone was of granite about five feet high and three feet by two feet at the base, weighing over two tons. On the northern or inner face was a marble tablet on which was cut the Coat of Arms of Penn and the words, "This Stone marks the spot where William Penn landed October 28—29, 1682." The Memorial Stone. 297 The stone, which was designed by John Struthers, of Philadel- phia, was set upon a foundation of solid masonry, five feet square and three feet deep, the whole resting upon two thicknesses of heavy planks laid transversely Upon reaching the ground the party found a large number of spec- tators assembled, and all were soon gathered about the stone. Mr. CHARLES S. KEYSER, as Director of the Ceremonies, then said : Citizens of Philadelphia and Chester : The Committee by whom this Memorial Stone has been set here, has requested me to say that the ceremonies arranged for the occa- sion will consist of a transfer of the Memorial Stone and the plant- ing of three trees beside it, so as to mark the spot where the Founder of our State first set his foot on the soil of his province of Pennsylva- nia, this day, two hundred years ago. The Committee will tender this granite record to the city of Chester, to be kept in the care of its authorities and citizens, in grateful remembrance of an event of such great import to humanity. They first desire me to request Rev. Henry Brown, D. D., Rector of St. PauPs, the oldest historic church in Chester, to ask the Divine blessing upon what shall here be done. Rev. Dr. BROWN offered the following prayer: Almighty God our Heavenly Father, who dost govern all things in Heaven and earth, we desire to recognize Thy good providence, which hath been over us from the beginning of our existence to the present hour. We thank Thee for our creation, preservation and all the blessings of this life, for the means of grace and for the hope of glory. We bless Thee that the lines have fallen to us in pleasant places, and for the privileges we enjoy as citizens of this renowned Com- monwealth, protected in our civil and religious rights, under wise and just laws, giving to every man freedom of speech and liberty of conscience, with none to make us afraid And while we acknow- ledge with gratitude, Lord, our indebtedness to Thee for the mer- cies we enjoy, may we not forget how much we owe to the fathers who preceded us, and especially to Thy honored servant, the Pro- prietor and first Grovernor of the great State of Pennsylvania, who based his government upon those principles of truth and righteous- ness which are the only sure foundations of States and kingdoms, and upon which Thy favor and blessing may be expected. We come this day to rear a monument to William Penn — who two hundred years ago landed on this spot— that it may remind us, our children and our children's children of the good deeds, and use- ful life, the integrity and uprightness of one who ruled in Thy fear, under guidance of Thy Spirit, for the welfare of his fellow men. 298 Historical Sketch of Chester And now, our Father, as we know that except the Lord build the house, they labor but in vain that build it; except the Lord keep the city, the watchman Avaketh but in vain ; we beseech Thee to look favorably upon our present work, and preserve this monument from harm and destruction, that it may long stand a tribute of grateful praise to the memory of him whom we thus delight to hon- or, and when the waste of time and the ravages of storms shall sweep over it, and it shall be tending to decay, as all earthly things must, may others be found to revive and restore it, so that in future gen- erations many may rise up to call him blessed, who sought to pro- mote peace on earth and good will to men. And now, God of our fathers, take us all under Thy protecting care and love, this State and nation ; our rulers and our whole people ; direct us in all our doings, and further us with Thy continued help; enable us all faith- fully to discharge our duties, and grant us Thy peace upon earth, and save us at last in Thy kingdom in Heaven, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. After a few minutes of impressive silence Mr. Keyser said : CHARLES J. STILLE, LL.D., will now, on behalf of the Commit- tee, tender this Memorial Stone to the city and citizens of Chester. Dr. Stille said: Mr. Mayor and Citizens of Chester: I have been asked to take the place of the Mayor of Philadelphia (who is necessarily absent) in performing the simple but pleasant duty of presenting this Monumental Stone to the city of Chester You are happy, Mr. Mayor, in having within your jurisdiction the very spot on which William Penn, the great founder and law-giver of a Connnon- wealth, now numbering more than five millions of people not sur- passed in prosperity and general intelligence by an equal number on the earth's surface, first landed when he came to these shoi-es. The donors of this monument, many of whom are the descendants of the friends and companions of Penn, wish to place upon this spot a lasting memorial of the great event and they intrust it to your care and custody, not doubting that you in common with all Pennsylva- nians, will take pride in preserving such a land mark. We are all citizens ot a State whose population unlike that of many of the old thirteen, is of a somewdiat composite character, many races of people having contributed their share to make it what it is. Before William Penn was born we had on this very spot the loyal, Grod-fearing Swedes and their tolerant spirit and their merciful treatment of the Indians; then the Dutch who though con- querors of the Swedes lived afterwards in perfect harmony with them. These prepared the way for the great work of Penn, which must be considered as absolutely unique in the annals of history. Then we had the Germans, sturdy Protestants of the Palatinate and The Memorial Stone. 299 Swabia, who have given to the State any conservatism which was lacking in the Quaker element, and lastly that great race, the Scotch- Irish settled like our own Alleghenies from Northeast and South- west, and forming at all periods of ovu* history the moral, as our moun- tains do the physical, back bone of the Commonwealth. All these races join to-day within our border, with the universal sentiment of Christendom, in honoring the memory of William Penn. It was his character that shaped our destiny, and the spirit of his laws more than any thing else which has made us one people. To- day as we try \o recall the scene of his landing here and think how friendly Swedes and Dutch and Indians met him on a day like this, when the soft breeze and the hazy light of the Indian summer made him feel that he had found in very deed a new world, then think upon all the blessings of the last two hundred years, let us be thank- ful, striving to cherish his memory and follow his example. On the conclusion of Dr. Stille's remarks the drapery covering the stone was removed by William Shaler Johnson amid applause, and then Mr Keyser said : His Honor JAMES BARTON, Jr., the Mayor of Chester, will represent the City and citizens on this occasion. I have the honor to introduce him to this assemblage. Mayor Barton said : Gentlemen representing the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and the Penn Club of Philadelphia : In conformity to the jjurposes of your organization to preserve to posterity the landmarks and valuable historical facts connected with the history of the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, you have caused this Memorial Stone to be set upon the spot where William Penn, its founder, landed. In the name of the City of Chester I accept it from your hands, and in doing so I beg to assure you that we shall endeavor to guard it from vandalism, and protect it, to the extent of our power, from the ravages of the elements. But although it may crumble so that the generations that come after us may not even recognize this spot, the influence of the teachings of William Penn's character and writ- ings will continue to roll down the centuries gathering strength from time and continually, though silently, leading men to highef and nobler aspirations. (jrentlemen, I extend to you a cordial welcome to our city. Mayor Barton having thus accepted the memorial on behalf of the city government, Mr. Keyser introduced the Hon. WILLIAM WARD, Representative in Congress from this District, who spoke as follows, representing the citizens at large in his address: 300 Historical Sketch of Chester. Dr. Stille: — His Honor, Mayor Barton, in fitting language has given you official welcome to Chester, and accepted this Memorial Stone into the custody of the municipality. I have been delegated, as the representative of the great body of people at large, to ex- press to you and to the other gentlemen contributors of the His- torical Society and the Penn Club — the high appreciation felt by our citizens for this magnificent memorial; and their pleasure in being permitted by your invitation to join in the ceremonies. We have long known of your societies as the industrious and faithful chroniclers of the traditions and history of the State; al- ways forward in every movement that promised its advancement. You have given us here a new evidence of your spirit. What a scene surrounds us and what memories does it create. Looking back through the vista of years — on this spot at this mo- ment — the Present and the Past are before us. Look at the myriad white-winged messengers of commerce; behold the black smoke of the blast furnace, the rolling mill and foundry; listen to the clang of t,he hammers in the shipyard, and the hum of the looms and spindles in the factories that surround us on every side; see above us the telegraph wires bearing intelligence with a lightning flash; we are standing on the iron rails that form part of a railroad system thousands of miles in length, carrying the iron and coal from the far off" mountains to the waters' edge. Read in all these living signs now in your vision the history of centuries of progress. All has changed from this day two hundred years ago, when William Penn landed on this spot. No, all is not changed; the same sky and the same sun are over us, and the same river that brought him to the landing place, to-day flows on in the same channel to the sea. The small party composed of the settlers of diff"erent nationalities and of Indians that surrounded William Penn on this spot two hundred years ago, was vastly different from the large assemblage I now look upon, but both are alike in the characteristics of loyalty to country and Commonwealth and devotion to the rights of civil and religious liberty for all men. Glentlemen of the Historical Society. In the letter read at your banquet last night from Tennyson, the Poet Laureate, he described William Penn to be "no comet of a season, but the fixed light of a dark and graceless age shining on into the present — a good man and true." The glow of that lighc is shining around us at this moment, and let us here resolve that the observance of the principles of the Founder — which have made the Keystone State great and glorious — shall continue imperishable as this sky and sun under which he pronounced them on that day centuries ago, and implanted deep as the bed of the river on the bank of which he then stood where we are gathered. Ihe Memorial Stove. BOl Dr. Stille. The Mayor has assured you that this Stone will be :zealously cared for by the authorities of Chester. I et me assure you that it will have a surer and more sacred guard in the affec- tions of our people. There will be no brighter page in the Archives of your Society than the one which records the beauty of the senti- ment and the grace of the presentation which will make this spot marked by this Stone hereafter a Mecca, within the borders of the city of Chester, for the pilgrimage of the high appreciation of the liberty-loving, law-abiding and intelligent people. The address of Hon. William Ward concluded the first part of the exercises and Mr. Keyser then spoke as follows : In pursuance of an ancient custom the Committee now propose to plant three trees in memory of three men notably connected with the Founder's time and memory. The first of these men, as the most nearly connected with his work here, was James Logan. To the Founder he was the friend and companion — he was his re- presentative after his departure — holding, as their friend, the Foun- der's place with them to the hour of his death. So dear to them he was that when he was himself sinking under sickness, they said •^'when he dies may God send us just such another." I now call upon his descendant, Mr. LLOYD P.SMITH, to per- form this grateful duty. Mjr. Smith, taking the tree, a linden, and setting it in its place, jsaid : Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen : I have little or nothing to add to the very fitting words in which my friend Dr. Stille, on the part of the contributors, has dedicated this monument. His ancestors, like my own, were resident on the banks of the Delaware before William the Conqueror — if you will allow me so to designate him who conquered all hearts, and whose victories are more renowned than those of war — here set his foot, TheStille's of Upland and the Smith's of Burlington gave a welcome to the good ship Welcome and her precious freight. In their turn William Penn and his followers gave a welcome to the Welsh, the Mennonites,the Scotch-Irish, the United Brethren, the Schwenkfeld- ers, the Irish and the Huguenots. The learned orator has told you how the mingling of these diverse though kindred elements has made Pennsylvania what it is. But there was another element, small, it is true, but most valuable, which should not be forgotten. I mean the New England element. The presence of Napoleon on the field of battle was said to be worth ten thousand men to the French army. It would be hard to say how much the presence of Franklin in Phila- delphia added to the might of our native State. His manly, original and active mind; his extraordinary aptitude for affairs; his common B02 Historical Sketch of Chester. sense carried to the point of genius, his persevering patriotism have* left undying traces on the history of this Commonwealth. I have no- thing but Quaker blood in my own veins and T venerate the memory of the Quaiier Founder of this- State as much as any man, but I say they were too unworldly. Our dear old Commonwealth, with all the virtues of its founders, needed, it may be, the infusion of a more virile element and that it found mainly in the Scotch-Irish, but from the time of Franklin to the present day the men of New Eng- land, in small numbers, have been a most useful, a most valuable part of the population of Pennsylvania. We all remember Samuel Breck, the philanthropist, the legislator, the historian; the Ingersolls^ the Binneys, the Chaunceys are still with us, and I see around me some of New England blood whom I will not name — one of them a descendant of Iloger Williams, whom you all love and respect. Let us then on that Pennsylvania soil where two hundred years a; o the treaty with the Indians was entered into by our gi-eat Founder^ where one hundred years age the Continental Congress made an- other treaty between Sovereign States, let us on this ever memor- able occasion make a final treaty of peace with all our brethren.. United at heart it needs no prophetic eye to discern that this na- tion will soon hold the destinies of the world in its hand. Grentlemen, the Committee has asked me to plant a tree here in memory of James Logan, sometime Chief Justice of this Province, and the friend of Penn. The proper person to perform that duty is my worthy cousin Albanus C, Logan of Stenton, the hereditary Trus- tee and Librarian of the Loganian Library under the will of the Founder and the Act of Assembly of 1792; but as he is not here to- day, I will ask one who bears the name, my nephew, Lloyd Logan Smith, to help me in this pious task. I plant this tree in the name of James Logan, the Founder of the first free public Library, and I pray Grod, who alone giveth the in- crease, to bless the tree and to keep his memory green. Mr. Keyser, introducing Mr. Justice Cox, Jr., said: The second of these trees (an elm) the committee purpose to plant in remembrance of Captain Lasse Cock, as he wrote his name (Law- rence Cock,) a Swedish gentleman, as the Upland Eecords deter- mine him to have been, and very notable in his time. He was the interpreter for the first settlers and the interpreter for the Founder in his great Treaty with the Indians at Shackaniaxon. His descen- dant is with US; he represents a long and honorable line, and 1 call upon him, Mr. Justice Cox, Jr., to plant the second tree in his an- cestor's memory. Mr. COX, placing the tree in position, spoke as follows: Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen: I am proud to be here to-day as a descendant of the Swedes who were here to welcome William Penn and his party when they land- The Memorial Stone. -805 •ed on these shores — to be here to testify to the love he had for the Swedes as his friends; and you will remember that history records that the Swedes formed his body-guard, and when he returned to England he sent his love to Peter Kock and Rambo, the two Swedes whom he remembered as his good friends when he landed on the Delaware. The Sweaes, like the Quakers of those days, lived in friendship with the Indians, and never were known to do any un- fair act to them. This was remembered by the Indians for many years after William Penn and the Swedes had gone to their long home. With all these memories in my mind to-day I now plant this tree, and I hope as it grows and becomes green in the return- ing summer, that it will be a fresh landmark to keep in our memo- ries and those of our children the return of this day and all that it has brought to us and to them. Before the earth was thrown in about the roots of this tree, Mr, Robert Coulton Davis, of the Antiquarian and Numismatic Society of Pennsylvania, deposited among them four medals — one com- memorative of the Landing of William Penn, one of the Treaty with the Indians at Shackamaxon and two of the Bi-Centennial. Mr. KEYSER then said: The third tree (an ash) the committee propose to plant in memory of Anthony Morris, a follower of the Founder and himself the foun- der of a family beloved and esteemed in all the vicissitudes of war and peace through which the Province and the State have passed during the two centuries since he came. In the absence of Mr. Phineas Pemberton Morris, I call upon Mr. Samuel Chew, of Ger- mantown, to pay this tribute to the memory of a noble man Mr. CHEW, holding the ash in the place prepared for it, spoke as follows: Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen: You have conferred a great and unexpected honor in calling up- on me to take an active part in the Commemoration of the Landing of William Penn at Upland two centuries ago. The gentlemen who have preceded me have said so much of the past, and spoken so happily of its worthies who came with Penn, who welcomed Penn and who followed Penn and became, as it were, one with Penn, that I am sure you feel that nothing need be added to what they have said, and that you will permit me to say a few Avords to connect the past with the future You have already heard of Anthony Morris as an early follower of William Penn and his trusted friend. He was a good man. "Ye shall know them by their fruits." His children through all these generations have earned distinction and are to-daj' prominent in nearly every field of honorable and useful effort. In his memory I 304 Historical Sketch &f Chester. plant this tree with the wish that it will grow and flourish and help to keep fresh and green in the minds of you and your children the commemoration we celebrate this day. I know that it can last but a few generations at most, and that it may be blasted by the se- verity of the coming winter^ but I have no such fear for the recol- lection of you and your posterity of the Founder of this great Com- monwealth and of his great characteristics — justice, piety and liberality — and I have no doubt but that these memories will in- cite and stimulate you and yours for countless ages in the future, as they have in the past, to imitate his virtues. Among the roots of this tree one of the Bi-Centennial medals of Chester was placed by Mr. William Shaler Johnson, and when the planting was finished Mr, KEYSER said: We have heard the representatives of the first Swedish settlers and the representatives of the Founder's followers. Permit me now, gentlemen, to introduce to you one who represents a Swedish an- castry, settle 1 on the Delaware in 1638, and a Quaker ancestry which settle 1 in New Jersey cotemparaneously with the arrival of William Penn. The committee have requested Mr. George M. Conarroe to address you and to read also a letter received from Johiir Gr. Whittier. It is an interesting feature of the last two observ- ances of our Bi-Centsnnial that the Bistorical Society of Pennsyl- vania should have received a letter from Alfred Tennyson,* the Laureite of the Crown under whose title our Founder came here^ and this Committee a letter from the Laureate of that whole bro- therhood of hummity whose first forvvard steps were made by our Founder in the government he established under that Crown. Mr. CONARROE said : Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen: I have been requested to read a letter from our distinguished Quaker poet, John Gr. Whittier, expressing his interest in our cele- bration to-day, written to my old friend Colonel Etting, and to say a few words. Mr. Whittier's letter refers in eloquent language to * 86 Eaton Square, London, S. W., March 3, 1882. My Friends: —I would have written ere this to thank you for the honor you have done me by asking me to write a few verses on the celebratian of the 200th Anniver- sary if the Founding of Pennsylvania, but I have had the gout in my right hand and writmg was impossible, and just now it seems to me that a verse upon anything is be- yond my powers, but does that matter much while you have your noble old Long- fellow still among you and other poets who might be more likely than myself to give you a strain that would not fall below the subject. I do not say that I may not make the attempt, but I cannot promise you anything except that I will be with you in spirit on the 8th of November and rejoice with your rejoicing, for since I have been unwell I have read Hepworth Dixon's life of your countryman and mine, William Penn, and find him as there portrayed no comet of a season, but the fixed light of a dark and graceless age shining on into the present, a good man and true. Believe me, yours very heartily, A. TENNYSON. 2he Memorial Stone. 305 our great Founder, and his sentiments of admiration are those in which we all heartily join. His letter is as follows: Oak Knoll, Danvers. Mass., lo mo., 8, 1882. Frank M. Etting, Esq. My dear Friend: — It is hardly possible for me to do more than send this greeting of my hearty sympathy with your celebration on the spot where William Penn first trod the New World, two centuries ago. What you propose on that occasion com- mends itself to my sense of what is due to the character and work of the great Foun- der of Pennsylvania. As the world wheels slowly but surely into the light and liberty which he anticipated in advance of his generation, it will more and more honor and revere the memory of a Christian and lawgiver, wiser and greater than those of Greece and Rome. Thy friend, JOHN G. WHITTIER. Reference has been made by some of the previous speakers to the composite character of the population of Pennsylvania. I may refer to the fact that this population has also been, more especially in I'hila- delphia, which for over a hundred years was not only the chief city of the Delaware but of this country, recruited largely from the families of the best settlers of our sister States of New Jersey and Dela- ware. At the time of William Penn's landing the settlements did not extend far back into the interior, but were principally clus- tered along and near the banks of the noble river now before us, and the inhabitants foriueJ a friendly and almost homogeneous pop- ulation, without much regard to present State lines. The territory comprising the present St ite of Delaware was long kno^vn simply as the Lower Counties on Delaware — New Castle, Kent and Sussex. Some of my ancestors used to cross the river in open boats from Penn's Neck, near Salem, to attend the cl^urch, built as early as 1667, at the mouth of Christina creek — which stood, as Ferris tells us, on a beautiful spot close to the shores of the Delaware, so that the people from New Castle and Raccoon creek, (on which Swedes- borough was situated, ) as well as those on the banks of the Chris- tina and Brandywine could come almost to the church door in their boats From that time to this the friendly relations of these river communities have been maintained, and in nothing can the people of the Delaware river unite more appropriately and heartily than in paying honor to the memory of William Penn — whose beneficent principles, enlightened statesmanship, and services to humanity, are more and more appreciated as the centuries roll on. Mr. Conarroe having finished Mr. Keyser said: Dr, Levick is present here. He is well known for his researches into the characteristics and purposes of the first settlers of our State and will in conclusion give a proper place to the Welsh element which was not without its influence on its destinies and claiming even a remote ancestry in Wales for its Founder. I have the honor to introduce to you Dr. JAMES J. LEVICK. §06 Historical Sketch of Chester. Dr. Levick spoke as follows ; Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen: Of the Welsh people, for whom I am so unexpectedly asked t© speak, I can truly say that they filled a very important place in the early life of this colony. There were, it is true, but few Welshmen on the "Welcome." Many had preceded the Proprietor, and a large number came soon after he did. Penn was very fon:l of the Welsh, and, it is said, claimed a Welsh ancestry for himself. He had on board the "Wel- come," as his pliysician, a Welshman — Thomas Wynne, "practitioner of physick," as, in his last will, he styles himself. For Wynne he had a warm personal regard, and gave his name to one of the prin- cipal streets of hisnew city, now known as Chestnut street. Indeed it is quite probable that Philadelphia owes the rectangular form of her streets to the Welsh town of which Dr. Wynne was a native. A very large number of the important offices of the young Com- monwealth were held by Welshmen. Thus, Dr. Wynne was Speaker of the first Provincial Assembly held in Philadelphia. Edward Jones was one of the first surgeons; Thomas Lloyd was the first deputy Grovernor after Penn; Glriffith Owen one of the earliest Mayors; Henry Lewis one of the first "Peacemakers," while the Roberts, Ellis, Cadwaladers, Owens, Georges and other Britons were then, as their descendants now are among her most useful and hon- ored citizens. It is, however, not to one race or to another, but to the harmonious blending and co-operation of them all that the wonderful development of our country is due. And now, one word to our friends of Chester, who have to-day so kindly received us. I do not wonder if it were on such a lovely day as this is, and if his reception were at all so cordial as this has been, that William Penn was a happy man whei he first came ashore at Upland My friend. Dr. George Smith, the historian of Delaware County, always regretted that the name of this place was changed to Chester. Knowing as I do that the old name of Upland has been retained in the higher lands back of the city, I cannot share these regrets William Penn was too good a classical scholar not to know that the old British town of Chester was but another name for Casfra — a camp — the old Roman camp, which it so long was. While obliging his friend Pearson, if that story be a correct one, there doubtless seems a peculiar propriety in giving the name of Chester — a camp — to the place where he was first to pitch his tent in his new domain. Unlike the old Roman camp this was to be a camp of peace. Could he see that Camp now he would find its officers, like himself and his comrades, men of peace, its tents filled with useful wares, its caissons carrying not cannon but calicos, and its artillery made up of hammers and of saws, of shuttles and of looms — a camp, indeed, after William Penn's own heart. Ihe Memorial Stone. .t307 The address of Dr. Levick closed the formal or rather it might be better said, the informal ceremony of the day. Under the foun- dation of the Memorial Stone Samuel L. Smedley placed a small stone taken from the soil over Penn's grave in England. Then the party from Philadelphia, under the guidance of the Chester Committee, examined some of the historical buildings in the city. The site of the Essex House and the old well, the Boar's Head Inn, the old Court House and Prison, site of the House of Defence,' Graham (Hoskins) House, Logan House, Richardson House, tomb of John Morton, Friends^* Meeting House, site of Sandelands Double House and other places of interest were among the points visited. At half past twelve the Philadelphians took the special train for Codnor Farm, Col. Frank M. Etting's place near Concord, to which they had been invited. The party was accompanied by the following gentlemen from Chester and Delaware county : John Larkin, Jr., Adam C. Eckfeldt, William Ward, James Barton, Jr., H. B. Black, Rev. Henry Brown. Rev. Philip Mowry, D. M. Johnson, George B. Lindsay, Dr. Eilwood Harvey, John A. Wallace, Dr. Hilborn Darlington., George M. Booth, George K. Crozer, Dr. F. R. Graham, * P. M. Washabaugh, Dr. R. P. Mercer, Charles E. Hyatt, Dr. Samuel Starr, W. Ross Brown, Willia'ii Shaler JohnsoB, Joseph R. T. Coates, H. G. Ashmead, Edward A. Price, Henry B. Taylor, Oliver Troth, Joseph McAldon, Henry Palmer, Samuel Oglesby, James A. Hargan, R. A. Gilpin. The train reached Woodland station in good time and from thence a short walk brought the party to Codnor Farm and to the old stone mansion now the residence of Col. Etting. The walk was delight- ful, the scenery beautiful — all the glories of the autumn in shade and color, lending enchantment to the country wherever the eye turned, and when the house was reached a simple yet ample repast was served, followed by segars, and a stroll about the grounds by those who wished or visits to the stables and examination of the stock for those who took an interest in farm details. About three o'clock the party was assembled upon the piazza and lawn and Mr. N. W. Bennett, of Germantown, photographed the group, obtaining very good results. 308 Historical Sketch of Chester. In these various ways and in pleasant talk the afternoon passed quickly away and about five o'clock, after kindly congratulations and adieus had been exchanged with the hospitable host, the party walked back to the train and in due time reached their homes in Chester an ■! Philadelphia, well pleased with the success of the day both ceremonially and socially. Among the letters of regret received were the following : Chadd's Fo*d, Pa., ii Mo., 1882. Esteemed Friend, Frank M. Etting .—Thy kind note, with programme of exercises to be held in Chester to morrow, was received yesterday. While thanking thee sin- cerely for the courtesy extended, I regret my inabihty to be present at what I have no doubt will be an interesting occasion. Hoping you may have a pleasant day and all will pass off well on the real anniversary of the .landing of that "great luminary in civil and religious affairs," William Penn, I am. Thy friend, Clement Biddle. The following is an extract from a letter of Benson J. Lossing, the historian: The Ridge. Dover Plains. N. Y., November 7th, 1882. Mv dear Colonel ; — I need not tell you how delighted I should be to accept your kind invitation to Codnor Farm, to participate in the sensible celebration of the Bi- century of the landing of the Founder of your State. But I am deprived of that plea- sure by an engagement which requires me to be in Hartford, Conn., to-night. I hope you will all have a good time as I know you will. Yours as ever, Benson J. Lossing. Major General Hancock writes : Governor's Island, New York, November 6th 1882. My dear Colonel : — I have your note of the 4th instant, inviting me to be present on the gth at the celebration of the Two Hundredth Anniversary of the landing of Wil- liam Penn at Chester. Pa . October 28 1682, (O. S.). On account of the sudden death a short time since of a very near relative, I have declined, for the present, all invitations to appear on social or public occasions: otherwise I should have accepted your invitation with great pleasure. » » » * * * * * With thanks for your courtesy in this matter, I am very truly. Yours, WiNFiELD S. Hancock. DUSTRIES OF THE MTY OF SHESTBRi 1^ AND DELAWARE COUNTY, 1882, Industrial Establishments, 311 INDUSTRIES OF CHESTER AND DELAWARE COUNTY. THE compiler regrets that while the industries of the city of Chester and the surrounding boroughs will be found fairly com- plete in the following description, those of Delaware county, out- side of these limits, should be so meagre. Circulars were sent to all known industries of importance in the county requesting de- tailed information, but the returns made have, for some reason, been very few. He is obliged, therefore, to give a general resume of a part of those industries derived from the censes of 1880, for which he is indebted to the kindness of Hon. William Ward, of Chester, and such other detailed information as it has been possible to obtain, in the midst of other engagements. The primitive industries of this section at the time William Penn bought the Province were of a very simple character. Agricultural pursuits, the culture and exportation of tobacco, and her trade with the Indians, and fishing with some little exchange of com- modity with contiguous sections, seems to have been the extent of the business transacted by the primitive settlers. Later on the list of industries increases and during the next century and a half there was a rapid growth of all kinds of milling and other business. A grist mill was established at Upland, in 1683. The Ivy Paper Mills, in Concord, were established by Thomas Wilcox, in 1729, and others are among the first established. In 1826 a list of Dela- 312 Historical Sketch of Chester. ware county industries showed: 38 flour mills, 53 saw mills, 5 roll- ing mills, 14 woolen factories, 12 cotton factories, 11 paper mills, 2 powder mills, 1 nail factory, 4 tilt blade and edge tool manufac- tories, 1 power loom factory, 2 oil mills, 1 machine factory, 5 snuff mills, 2 plaster or gypsum mills, 3 clover mills, 3 bark mills, 1 mill for sawing stone. In all 158 mills and factories reported in Dela- ware county in 1826, more than half a century ago. The census returns of a part of the industries of Delaware coun- ty, for 1880, show a steady advance in all branches in the time named above. In this report 381 establishments are given. The invested capi- tal is $14,070,920; the average number of hands employed is of males, above 16 years, 6,711; of females, above 15 years, 2,885; of children and youths, 1,788. The amount paid in wages anually is $3,822,434; the value of material $10,872,672, and of products $19,161,663. It must be remembered that this report is only partial. It does not include the statistics of breweries and distilleries, coke, fishery products, flouring and grist mills products, gas and petroleum re- fining, the compilations for which were not completed, nor does it include the oil products and exports, which is a very large trade but which has been located in the county since the preparation of the census. It would be safe to accept $17,000,000 as the amount of capital invested in manufactures in Delaware county. The same report gives the following agricultural satistics : BE LA WARE COUJ\^TY. Improved land, tilled - 87,982 Acres " " meadow ,.» « 7,345 " Unimproved land, woodland 10,766 " " " other 1.''67 " Value of farms •• $18,437,570 " farm implements • ■ 545,091 « livestock. - 1,228,347 Paid for repair offences. 117,668 « fertilizers - '^o'^S^ Live stock of all kinds, numbers 38.121 That is not a bad general showing and we should have liked to have supplemented it by a full description of every important in- dustry in the county, but as has been said the material has not come to hand. Below we give such returns as have come to us, beginning with — industrial EstablishmentB. ^IS CHESTER The Shipyards of John Boadh. "T^lie Delaware River Irou Shipbuilding and Engine Works is well-k-nowr. and Its Qtiistory and usefulness well recorded in tue large number of ships built there. The •works were first established by Reantry «& Son, in 1860. The manufact'ie now com- (prises iron shipSj engines and boilers, and the name of John Roach, the President, is a household word among all interested in American sh pbuiding. Jts value to the •community in which it is located cannot be over-estimated In it are employed 1,296 men and 104 boys, whose weekly pay leaches the sum of $15,000. 'I'he present com- pany have operated thfi work-* for the pHst eleven years, and during this period sixty- four first-class ships and a large number of other vessels have been built and many large contracts for engines and boilers tilled. The yard is always an objective point of anterest to visitors to our city and its reputation is world-wide. ' Lincoln Manufacturing Company. The Lincoln Manufacturing Company is a stock i-ompany, with a paid up capital of SlOOjOOO, incorporated in 1881. The building is a brick structure, 190 by To feet two vstories high, fitted with all modern conveniences. The engine room and boiler house comprise another buikiing, 50 by 60 feet. Cotton yarns are at present manufactured, ■but the companv expect in the near future to engage inweaving. The machinery, consisting of 6,840 spindles and 3 1 Foss-Pevey cards, is driven by a 2 hor.en'"s, Anderson & Co.. ia 1866, removed ta »)hester in 1870, and now occupies substantial stone and brick building, 130 by 20O feet, wit'i six smaller buildings a ijacert» ihe machinery is exceedingly fine, com- prising 38 broad Knowles & rom, toi- looms, 2,280 spindles, 4 sets Engle60 inch cards, 2 woolen dres^sing machines, 3 fulling mills, I wai-her. 3 gigs, a broad shear, dyer and 2 presses. A 120 horse power Corliss engine, fed by three large boilers, drives this ma- chinery. llwomeii,4-l girls and 19 boys are employe<1 at a weekly pay of $l,(i5<'. 2,600- pounds of raw material are used weekly in the manufacture of 3.250 yards of the best fancy cassimeres William Kuier is Superintendent. The Irving & Leiper Manvfaeturing Company. The cotton yarn mills of ' he Irving & Leiper Manufacturing Compa.'ny were es- tablished in April, I8fi9, by James Irving, David Irving and Thomas I. Leiper, with only 2,0 spindle". David Irving died in 1862. The business was continued by James- Irving Hnd Thomas I Leiper until 1878, when it was incorporated as The Irving & Lei- per IVianufacturing Company, with James Irving as President; Thomas 1 Leiper,. 'I'reasurer, and <'harles H. Worthington. Secretary. The main building is 230 by 60 feet, three stories high; engine room, 40 feet square; pifcker rooia, 4 i by SO feet, and a warehouse, 30 by 70 feet, all three stories high and built substantially oif brick. ]2,O0O' spindles and 76 ca^ds compose the machinery, driven by a 400 horse power engine, fed by six boilers. 29 men, 29 women, 29 boys and 20 girls a e employed. 3,000 bales of cotton are eonsumed in a year, giving a weekly production oi 2i!,000 pounds of manu- factured yarn. The works are at the foot of l^Tanklin street, occupying a square or ground, iames Irving, William Ward and Thomas I. Leiper are the Directors. Mohawk Mill. The Mohawk Mills, Third and and Fraiiklin streets, were started about 1856 by- Samuel Eee'es, Jr It passed through several ownerships until May 13, 1871, when it was purchM-ed by Robert Hall & Son. Mr. Hall first began manufacturing at Water- vil'e, in 3863 where he remained for eight years. The mnin building is 137 by 40 feet. 2 stories high. It contains 2 sets of woolen cards, 48 inches, 2 self-acting mules, 330- spindles each, anu inesa in 1847, at Knowlton, in Aston township. "The firm was Lowndes & Blakeley. Lowndes sold to J. Wm Lewis, and in 1854 Mil No. 1 was established on the present sit-i, and additions were naade in 1,>74 and 1877, The main bailding is now 276 by 50 feet; the dye house, luO by 40 feet, with storage shed for 600 btlee of cotfon. Bed ticking, ginghams and cotton goods are m^nufac- ••tured. The machinery comprises 2"6 looms, 8,500 spindles and 36 cnr>is. -driven bv a large Corliss engine, with three sets of boilers. All the machine work is done at the 'mill, th«re being a separate machn® shop for the purpose. 3ii bales of c tton are used and 66.000 yards turned out. 67 men, 69 womem, 36 girts and 25 boys are employed , and $5,000 per month are paid in wages. Mlley Manufacturing Company. The Lilley .<& Sons' Manufacturing Company, Front and Franklin streets, was es- -tablishpd by John Lilley & Son, August 1, 1873, and on January 3, 1880, it was incor- porated under the above name, with John Lilley as President; William. Henry and George Lilley, stockholders. August 20, 1881, John Lilley died, and William l^illey was elected to fill his place, and John Lilley, Jr., Secretary and Treasurtr. The front building is 100 by i4 feet; building connecting front and back building. 81 by 36 teet; 'Iback building, 122 by 40 feet. Cotton and woolen cloths and cotton yarn are manu- factured. The machinery consists of 111 looms, 3,252 spindles, 25 cards, with one en- gine and four boilers, one heating furnace, and the usual appliances of a cotton and woo'en mill, with a full set of machines for making warps 34 men, 36 women, 21girls and 12 boys are employed, at a monthly wage of $3,00 ). The amount of raw material is 12,000 pounds and the weekly production 25,000 yards. John Lilley, Jr,, is Superin- 'tendent. Chester City Mills. The Chester City Mills. Front and Parker streets, were established, in 1877, by Branagan & Lamb. The main bulding is 40 by 42 feet, with picker house and other 'Stru futures adjacent. The firm manufacture woolen and cotton jeans and woolen yarns exclusively. 90 looms. 1,700 spindles, 5 sets of cards and other necessary machinery is driven by a 60 horse power engine. 15 men, 5 women, 7 boys and 13 girls are employed, and $2,100 are paid every four weeks in wages. 1,030 pounds of yarns and 4,700 of cot- 4on are wsedj and 85,000 yards of manufactured goods are turned out per month. Patterson Milla. The Patterson Mills, Sixth and Penn streets, were established by General Robert Patterson, in 1867, and now owned b-y his estate, i he m^in building is of stone, 318 bv ".12 feet. Half of this is three stories and the other half two stories high, and there are store house-' and other buildings connected with it. The machinery consists of 306 looms, about 14,000 spindles, 65 cards and one Corliss engine, with 8 boilers. 2i0 hand* are employed in the manufacture of cotton goods at a monthly wage of $5,000. 72,008 pounds of cotton are used per week, with a weekly production of 64 600 pounds of goods. -James D. Davis is Superintendent. The Mill of James M. Stotesbury. The cotton yarn manufactory of James M. Stotesbury, corner of Fourteenth and Edgmont avenue, was established by Mr. Stotesbury in 1874. The building ts of stone, 165 feet long by €2 feet wide, one story high. The machinery consists of i2 cards ani 3,620 spindles, is of the most improved patternand is driven by a large engine fed from 3 boilers. 28,000 pounds of yarn is spun monthly, consuming 32,000 pounds of raw cot- ton. 14 men, 8 women, 12 girls and 6 boys are employed, and the wages are S1,000 per month. Alexander Struthers is Superintendent. Bowers'' Shoddy Mill. The shoddy mill of James Bowers & Son was established in Waterville, in 1873, and removed to its present site. Sixth and Madison streets, in 1877. The main building is of stone and brick, 80 by 40 feet, two stories high, with engine house and store rooms attached. Prepared wools, shoadies and wun are made, employing 18 hands at $700 per month. The material used is assorted waste, which is manufactured into wool valued at $10,000 per month. ' Log- Wood Milts. The Riverside Dye Wood Mills were established at Waterville, in 1S35, by Smith & Hartshorne, who were shortly succeeded by John M. feharpless, who remained at the head of the concern until his death, in 1875. The present firm is Thomas Scattergood Henry Palmer and John W. Pepper. During 1880 the business was removed to the' S16" Historical Sketch of Chesfen large and substintial buildings in the South Wa d. The dimensions of the main Biiila— ifags are 113 feet, front by 61 feet deep; the red wood mill. 47 by 54 feet, and the extract: buildings, 52 bv 50 feet, giving a total frontage of 212 feet and about 180 feet of wharf- age, witti a depth of 15 feet of water at low tide. The main and extract buildings are- four stories in height, and the adjoiTiing mill two and a half stories. 60 hands are em- ployed at fi/ yearly wage of about S30, 00. I his Is the only industry of its kind in the- State. Chester Chemical Works. The Chester Chemical Works, at the foot of Market street, were established by Mr.- McFntyre, and are now owned by George S. Coyne. Two large buildings, 100 by 50 feet arid one 50 feet square, and a n^imber of lesser struc''ures are on the grounds Two- stills of 5,0 nounds of muriatic aeid capacity per week, and' a nitric acid still of 1,- I 00 pounds I er week, are used in the manufacture of these two commercial acids, as- well as an amonia still of 20i» pounds capa ity per day, and another for making pyro- lignous acid. This latter acid is made from oak wood, a single cord furnishing InO gal- fens. Oxymuriate of antimony, muriate and oxymuriate of tin and muriate of iron are am -ng the products used for calico and other dyeing. About 700 barrels of Geauber's"- salts are annually made from the resid ue left in the muriatic acid stills. 6 men are- amployed at $60 per week. Robert Lidstone is Superintendent. Cocoa Mat and Matting Works. The Chester Cocoa Mat and Matting Factory was established in July, 1879, bj- Black & Worrell. Mr. Black retired from the firm , and Edward S. Worrell now occupies^ the old mill at the Water Works Wharf, which is thoroughly stocked with improved machinery 25,000 pounds of raw cocoa yai n is consumed, tu ning out over 70 dozen. inats and 1,200 yards of matting per week. 40 hands are employed, 11 of whom are- girls, and nearly all the work is done by the piece. $300 is the average weekly pay. Robert Wetherill f the oldest industries in the county, having,- been first established in ShoemakerviHe, in 1806, by William Beatty. In 1840 he as- sociated with him his son, John C. BeatDy, under the firm name of ^'illiam Beatty Ss Son. At the death of William Beatty the business was continued by John C. Beatty. Owing to the failing of water power a d limited facilities, he built extensive works in Chester in 1871. The principal artic'es of manufacture are butchers, railroad andJ car penter.-s' tools. All tools made here bear the old stamp of William- Beatty <& Son. SO han-^s are employed and the monthly pay is $3,0D0. Chester Steel Casting Company. The Clresfer Steel Casting Company, Sixth and Norris streets, was started, in 1870, by S. M. Felton, A. R. Perkins, Amos Gartside and Samuel Archbold. It is novBf controlled by '. S. Waterman, Amos Gartside, E. P. Dwight and the estate of A. R. Perkins, deceased. The buildings consist of a foundrv, 200 by 50 feet, and other build- ings covering an area of 250 square feet. The busimess is steel castings and the ma- chinery consist of two engines with three boilers, one heating furnace and three an- pealing furnaces. 85 men and 15 boys are employed at a monthly wage of S5,000. The raw material used is 1,200 tons and the value of the weekly production $5,000. The character of the work stands high, the steel castings being well known for strengtb and durability. John J. Deemer is Superintendent. Combination Steel and Iron Company. The industry of the Combination Steel and Iron Company was started in Novem- ber, 1880. Operations were begun March 1, 1881, and since then large quantities of bar and flat iron of the best kind have been made. The mam building is 280 by 80 feet, with a wing, 80 by 70 feet. The works contain 8 heating furnaces, a rail mill with a yearly capacity of 30,000 tons; a 12 inch bar mill for making merchant iron, capable Industrial Establishments. 31 T of producing 6,000 tons a year, and a 20 inch mill for angle iron of 10,000 tons capacity, 175 men are employed at $3,000 per week. John Roach is PreS'dent; Mr. Chalfant, Secretary; Charles A. Weed, General Slanager, and James W. Watson, Sup't. Eureka Steel Casting Company. The Kureka Steel Casting Company have been in successful operation at Lanokin station since September i877. They manufacture steel castings solely. The worksare large and substantial, furnished with every facility for carrying on an extensive busi- ness, 'i he principal appliances consists of one heating and 7 annealing furnaces, two shapes, plainer, &c. 80 men and 20 boys are employe ', 120 tons of raw material are nsed per month. Fred rick Baldt is superintent. Phoenix Iron Works. The Phoenix Iron Company, northwest corner of Seventh and Potter streets, was established in 1867. The main building is 100 by 50 feet, two stories high; the foundry, 110 by 30 feet. They manufacture finishing machinery, fulling mill washing machines, tentering machines, stock dryers, dyeing ajid sizing machines, broad looms and gigs, the latter a patent which they control in this a"d seven European countries. The machinery is that generally used in such establishments, driven by one engine with one set of boilers. 27 men and 4 boys are employed and the weekly wages are $314. Chester Iron Works. The Chester Iron Works, on Second street below Market, were started, in 1850, as the Delaware Country Iron Works by William Trout & Co., and have since that time had several owners. On February 1, 1881, they were purchased bv H. C. Eyre & Co. The building of engines and all kinds of m^achine work gives steady employment to 60 men. The main building is 110 by 38 feet, with an addition, 150 by 45 feet, besides a pattern building, 40 feet square. A large amount of pig, plate and bar iron is used weekly. The works are supplied with the most improved machinery, and the wages are $600 weekly. Blagg''s Brass Foundry. In the one story brick building, 16 by 36 feet, in the rear of 315 West Second street* is Frank Blagg's Brass Foundry, which was established June 1, 18i;0. 800 pounds of brass are monthly used in making castings. $400 worth of manufactured goods are produced every month. National Hydraulic Works. This industry is located at the corner of Sixth and Crosby streets, and manufac- tures a new hytlraulic ram of approved construction which may be applied to the fol"' lowing purposes: Irrigating land, supplying dairies, farms, dwellings, factories, en- gine>^, railroad stations, villages, &c. This ram combines the greatest simplicity with the greatest efficiency. The cylinder into which the water passes is i erfectly plain, and'is surmounted by an air chamber equally plain, which is held in place by keys driven under lugs attached to the cylinder. The impetus or waste valve is attached to a head at the outlet end of the cylinder, and is operated by a spring, to which is a regu- lating screw, by which ti e power of the ram is increased or diminished, according to the supply of water. It is more simple, durable and powerful than those of other con- struction,' and is rapidly growing in favor. Henry F. Morrow is the projector of the works. At the same place has also been established, in connection with this industry, another — The Excelsior Brass Works, Where is cairied on brass founding and finishing of every description. Car trimmings are a specialty, while nickel, silver and gold plating and polishing iadone in the best manner. Mr. Morrow is Manager. Chester Morocco Company. The Chester Morocco Company (Limited) is located on Edgmont Avenue, above Third street. They were established May 1, 1879, by Joseph R. T. Coates. The cor- porate name was adopted Kovember 1, 1881. The building is a four story frame, 76 by 32 feet. The most improved machinery is in use, among which are 47 vats with a ca- pacity of 1,500 skins each; 2 tank tubs, giving the woiks a capacity of 50 dozen skim per day. 20 men and 1 girl are employed and the wages are $800 per month. Book Binding and Tablet Making. The Book Bindery of John Spencer is a mew industry in Chester. In the epiiiig 318 Historical Sketch of Chester. of 1882 Mr. Spencer, proprietor of the Delaware. County Advocate, 517 and 619 Edgmont Avenue, placed in his establishment the necessary machinery for book binding. Good "Workmen are employed. A specialty is made of the manufacture of blank books. Branin's Carriage Works. The Carriage Works of I. P. Branin were estiblished in Phil idelphia in 1854, and were removed to Chester, in 1871, to tbe shops at Filth and Welsh streets, and again in May, 1876, to Sixth and Pine streets. A two story building, 8 ) by 84 teet, with an annex, 40 by 80 feet, comprise the shops, where are manufactured carriages and wag- onettes. 20 hands are employed. Stark^s Carriage Works. In May, 1879, Messrs. Davis & Stark established a Carriage Manufactory at Fifth and Welsh streets, and on October 1st, of the same year, Davis withdrew from the firm. Mr. Stark continued the business, turning out about fifty new carriages per week, be- sides doing a large amount of repair work. 8 men are employed, and $86 per week is paid in wages. ■ Ocheltree^s Carriage Works The Carriage Manufactory of M. Ocheltree was first located ou Edgmont Avenue, in 187T, below its present site, but the increase of the business obliged Mr. Ocheltree, in 1879, to erect the present building, which is 120 by 4u feet, two stories, and is suii- plied with all the newest and best appliances for the manufacture of fine carriages. 16 men and 4 boys are employed at an average weekly pay of $190, ard the annual pro- duction reaches $28,000. Taylor's Carriage Works The firm of W. & E. C. Taylor, corner of Twelfth and Eagmont Avenue, is the old- est in Chester. The grandfather of the gentlemen comprising the firm first established the business. The father succeeded him in 1882, and was later succeeded by the sons. It was first located at Fifth and Welsh streets, then at Sixth and Pine streets, and in 1874 moved to its present location. The building is lid by 40 feet. From 6 to 12 hands are employed, and the monthly production averages about $500. E. D. Sparks ber 15, 1881, as the Delaware Oil Heflning Company. There are 8 good sized buildings, of brick and frame, covering about half an acre. They manufacture paraffineoil and wax. The engines are 65 horse power, and there are six stills, the weekly capacity of wiiich is 400 barrels. 18 hands are em- ployed at a weekly wage of $225. 550 barrels of residuum of petroleum oil are used per ■week, and the weekly capacity of the works is of oil 350 and 50 barrels of wax. Vulcan Works. The Vulcan Works at Delaware Avenue and Reaney streets. South Chester, started in 1864. by William H. Green, in a building 40 by 120 and has been enlarged to a hand- some brick structure 144 by 12i, with sub-buildings 30 feet square. The latter are used as a cupola house and oven, and as a casting, cleaning and boiler house. The products manufactmecl here are of steel, iron and brass. A specialty is made in brass and steel valves and cocks of all kinds. A large amount of general machine work is also done. The works have a capacity of $10,000 worth of manufactured goods per month. Fifty men are employed at wages of $2,(jO0 per month Chester Pipe and Tube Company. The Chester Pipe and Tube Company was established at Front and West streets. South Chester, in 1877 It was incorporated by the Legislature with a capital of $30ii,- 000. The grounds comprise 17 acres, which contains two long brick buildings, besides sevB'^al other smaller ones. They manufacture lo,000 tons of wrought iron pipes and tubes annually, consuming 20,00t) tons of skelp iron. 200 hands on an average are em- ployed at a monthly pay of $8,000 to $10,000. W. S. McManus is Superintendent; Geo. H. Potts, President; A. D. Hepburn, Secretary and Treasurer. Centennial Mills. The Centennial Mills occupying a main building 600 feet long by 50 wide at Se- cond and Clayton streets, were established in May, 1876, by Simeon Cotton, and were ready to open on the lOlh of the month, but that being the grand opening of the Cen- tennial exhibition in Philadelphia, the mills were not started until the 11th, hence their name. 14 bales of cotton are used per week in the manufacture of 6,000 pounds Industrial Establishments. 823^ of cotton warps; 3,0S0 spindles and 13 > ards is the macliirery used. 9 men, 9 women, 8 girls and 14 boys find work here on a monthly pay of $850. S. B. Cotion is Superin- tendent. Charles hoherts' Mills. In 1871. Charles Roberts began operaMons in the Water "Works building at the foot of Fulton street. It was removed in"l875. to its present location at the foot of Jefif'ery street in South Chester. 1 he works comprise two mills, one l.'^O bv 66 feet, 2 stories driven by a 90, a 40 and a 12 horse power engine, and comprises 150 looms. 5,500 cotton spinriles, 1,000 woolen spindles, 18 cotton and 2 sets of woolen c^rds. 5 tubular boilers are used in t e gei oration of steam All the dying and finishing is done upon the pre- mises. 8.0i!0 pounds of raw material are consumed every week, producing 36,000 yards of manufactured goods. 35 are men, 60 women, 35 girls and 3(i boys are employed, and the monthly pay ,f3,000. Kobert Wilson is Superintendent. Chester Rolling Mills. The Chester Rolling Mills, mnnufactuiers of steel plate, boiler plate, tank iron, boat plate, steel ingots and pig iron, were establ'shed at Front street between Wilson and Hayes, South Chester, in 1874, bv the Jhester Rolling Mil's Company. John Roach, President; C. B. Houston. Treasurer; L>. F. Houston, Secretary, and T. J. Houston, General Manager. The main building is 320 by 185 feet. The steel works, 140 by 90. The ditt'erent buildings connected with the blast furnance cover about one acre. The combined engine power is 6 000 horse and they have the most complete set of machinery and implements for their business in the ' ountry. They employ 575 men and 25 boys, at weekly wages of ffi6,000. '"hey use 1,000 tons of ore, 735 tons of fuel and 509 tons of limestone in the blast weekly, and the weekly i roduct is 650 tons pig iron, 300 tons steel ingots and 300 tons plate, which, however, does not include other steel production. Auvergne M'lls, The "Auvergne Mills" of South Chester, were established in the fall of '68, at the foot of Flower street by N. L. Yarnal . A two story si one structure, 5f) by 120 feet, forms the main building, the engine house is 20 by 25, picker house, 32 feet square, the dve house, 65 by 70 feet. 88 looms, 4 sets of wi oleu cards, 42 by 48, two self-acting mules with 676 spindles each, together with other necessary machinery are used in the manufacture of Kentucky jeans. 26 men and boys and 43 women and girls are em- ployed at monthly wages of $2,100. 5,700 pounds of cotton and wool are consumed every week in the manufacture of 20,000 yards of cloth. Chester Pottery. In a small two story building, 25 by 35 feet, at Front and Hayes streets, is the Chester Pottery. This was started by G< orge F. Tiapnell, in 1873, and 4 men and a boy are employed at wages of $50 per week. About 150 tons of clay are annually used. Oil Cloth Works. The Oil Cloth Works of F. S. Worrell were started during the summer of 1882, in the frame buildings formerly occupied by Eli D. Pierce as a morocco tannery, at the foot of Tilghman street. The works comprise four frame buildings and are well stock- ed with the most improved machinery. Oliver C. Washburn superintends the works. 5,000 yards of manutactured goods are produced weekly, employing 30 men. Bobinson^s Brickyard. Robinson's Brickyard, 6th and Engle streets, was established by James Caven. The property passed into the hands of Amos Davis, who still owns it. Charles Fair- lamb and Fairlamb & Robinson have since conducted the business. In 1876 Mr. Ro- binson took entire charge. 3,000,000 bricks are turned out annually, giving steady em- ployment to 40 hands and 6 horses and carts, and $400 per week is the pay roll. Palmer^s Brickyard. The Brickyard on Third street, north of West, was established, in 1866, by Mrs. M, Palmer. It comprises 2 kilns with a capacity of 100,000 bricks each. The yard covers 6 acres. Press, hand and salmon bricks are manufactured, and 12 men and 2 boys are employed at a weekly wage of $150. 40,000 bricks per week are turned out. Thomas m B24 Historical Sketch of Chester. Palmer is Superintendent. The owners of this enterprise are lineal aescendants of William Penn. South Chester Shipyard. The Shipyard of Joseph K. Clouser, at the foot of Lamokin street, is used entirely for repair work. The works are fitted witli all the modern appliances for repairing wooden vessels. Employment is here given to 15 men at a weekly pay of $150. Wyoming Mills. The Wyoming Mills, at Third and Booth streets, is operated by Joseph Byram, Jr., in manufacturing cotton yarn. The mill has 56 looms, 1,060 spindles and tjvo sets of cards, driven by a 60 herse power engine, and turns out 13,000 yards per week. 3,000 pounds of cotton "is weekly made into 26,000 pounds of cotton yarn James Byraoi, Sr., is Superintendent. Garfield Mills. The <^arfleld Mills, situated at the corner of Morton streets and P. W. & B. R. B., were built by Mes>rs. Law & Devenney during 1881. The building is a two story brick, sot by 50 feet. 2,8flO pounds of cotton yam is manufactured every week. 1,50C spin- dles and 8 sets of cards > omprised the macVinery up to within a short time — now the capacitv is being doubled by the duplicaiion of their machinery. An 80 horse power «ngine furnishes the motive power. 4 men, 3 women, 6 girls and 3 boys are employed, at a weekly pay of $160. William Whiitaker is Superintendent. Law & Bevi^nney^s Brickyard, Law & Devenney's Brickyard conjprises an eight acre tract on Morton street and P. W. & B. K. R. 3 large kilns, of Philadelphia pattern, daily produce 23,000 bricks. 45 men are employed at *450 weekly wages. South Chester Kindling Works. The Kindling Wood establishment of S. P. Stephenson, wasstarted 4 years ago, at the foot of Lamokin street. 4 men are employ«d on a weekly wage of $60. One thousand cords of oak and pine wood is annually consumed. MARCUS HOOK Eiverview Hosiery Mills. The Biverview Hosiery Mills, at Marcus Hook, were established September 1, 1877, by Clarence Larkin and John G. Campbell, but in October of the same year Mr. Camp- bell withdrew, and with the exception of a period of 8 months, from August 1, 1879, to April 1, 1880, when the business was carried on unaer the title of the "Clarence Larkin Manufacturing o., Limited," it has been conducted by Mr. Larkin. The main build- ing is of I. rick, three stories high, 80 by 33 feet; a brick wing, 16 by 28 feet, three stories high, aud an engine room, 20 by 33 feet, one story high. Cotton yarns, gentlemen's half hose, and ladies and misses' fancy hosiery, are manufactured from cotton yarns. A 40 horse power Corlis= engine and 50 horse power boiler are used. The machinery consists of 7 winding irames, 3 round frame of 6 heads each, 2 four-feeder balmoral frames of 4 heads each, 4 twelve-feeder balmoral trames of 4 heads each, 2 eight-feeder balmoral frames of 4 heads each, 14 rib-tops frames, 4 heeling frames, 4 over-seajning machines, one cutting machine, 12 Wilcox & Gibbs sewing machines, 8 Wil box & Gibbs trimming machines, one welting machine, 2 pressing machines and one tiiiishing machine, invented and built by Mr. Larkin himself and which takes the place of au hydraulic press 8 men, 20 women, 36 girls and 11 boys are employed, and the weekly wages are $350. 12,000 pounds of yam is used a month, and tiie average weekly pro- duction is at present 2,000 dozen pairs, which are bundled, or put up in paper boxeB, Eicely labeled, and these packed in L dozen cases. J^'ETHER PROVIDENCE, The Rose Valley Mills. This business was first established by Antrim Osborne, at Waterville, in 1846, and ambsequently removed to Nether Providence. The firm is A. Osborne & Sons. The main mill is 150 by 55 feet, three stories; No. 2 mill, 60 by 24 feet, three stories; picket industrial EstahUskmenU, :32i room, 80 "by 40 feet, two stories; engine house, 30 bv 20 feet; dyehouKe,60 by 90 f et, ■with a separate ofBce. These buildings are of stone from the quarry of the lirm. f hey ^ilso own the property across the road, a building 60 by 40 feet, formerly a bdbinetmilU but now used as a machine shop. They manufacture cassimeres and jeans, all wool. The machinery comprises 100 looms, ' 300 spindles, 5 sets of cards, one Corliss engine of 65 horse power with 2 sets of boilers. There is als a good water power. 50 men, 40 girls and 35 boys are employed, and the wages averages §2,800 per month About $300,000 worth of raw material is used during the year, with an annual produ-ction of -«340,000 worth of -manufactured goods. CBOZERYILLE. The Crozerviile Mill This industry was establi^hed by the late John P Crozerln 1839. It-was conduct- ed by him up to the tin'€ of His death, in 1866. Samuel A. Crozer then took charge of the mills and at the end of "-ne year associated with himself Samuel C. Lewis, under the Arm name of Crozer * Lewis. In 1875 the firmdissolved S. C. Lewis withdrawing, and Samuel A. Crozer continued the business until 1881, when he rented the mill i« the present proprietor, W. H. H. Robinson. The main building is 100 bv 50 feet, four stories high; one store house, oneengine house anti one « asfe house. All are of stone. They manufacture cotton yarn. There are 5,000 spinn ng spindles, 12 cards, one en- gine and 2 boilers, with water power. 14men, 6 women 29 girls and 16 boys are em- ployed, at an average wage of $l,.'00per month. 39,000 pounds of material are used monthly, with a weekly production of 5,000 pounds of cotton yarns. J.'U s« American vessels captured by tbe French, 140 Amity, ship, 111 .Anderson. Elizabeth, 116; House, 159; Eu.s- ta, 7, 152; Samuel. 21 ; Major William, 37.40,88.89. 116, 157. 159 Andrews, -T. 6.. 211, ■/12 Andross, Edmund, 13 Anecdote of John Caldwell, 153; Isaac Eyre, 1-12, 143; Miss Finch, 156; fashiona. blelady, 127; General Harrison, 85; Court House, building of, 50, 51; John Larkin's enterprise, 41, 42; Mrs. Maddux, 104; Jonathan Pennell, 124; Admiral D. D. Porter, 118; John Salkeld, 139; James Shaw. 149 Antietam. Battle of, 211 A pp eby, Thomas, 89; Elizabeth, 89 Arasapha Mills, 160 Archbold, Samuel. 195 Archy Dick Guards, 211 Arka'nsas, Rebel ram, 117 Asbury, Bishop, 201; chapel, 201; chuTch, 2(15 Armory, The, 213 Armstrong, Edward, 18, 46 Arnold, H. Y., 220 Arrest of citizens by British forces, 103 Arthur, Rev. John W., 202; Mrs. Samuel, 225 Ashbridge, George, 65, 135; house, 135 Ashmead, Henrietta G., 154; John W.,36, 138, 141, 154 Askins, John Henry, 208 Assembly, General, 18, 19, 20, 68; Old House, 176 Association, Declaration of, 102, 163 Associators, The. 210 At Munday's Bun, imuel, 43 Clingliam. William, 55, 56 Clock at Greenwich, 69. Cloud, Harwell A. 214; Stephen ^ 124, 143. Clyde, Henrietta M., 206; John Edward,- 39, 1'3; Thomas, 85; T. Edward, 213. Coates. 'harles T., 146, 215; David, 80; Jo- seph R T , 195. Cobourn, Aaron, 155; Elizabeth, 155; House, 155; Israel, 15 j; Joseph, 49; Mary, 155; Robert, 155. Cochran, Alexander, 159; John, Sr., 40, 159, 206; John, Jr., 40, 44, 62, 105, 159; James Alexander, 214; 1. Engle, Sr.rI59, 206. Cockburn, Admiral, 210. Cocoa Matting Works, 316. Codnor Farm, :95. 307, 308 Cohen, S. E.,2'!0 Coining, private, 152 Cole, Martha, 153; Stephen, 153 Coleman, LUiiiP/ , 10 Collett, deJ'.my, 181 Columbia House, 86, 140, 145 Colwell, Isaac B.,212 Combe, Sarah P., 72, 137, 138 Combination Steel and Iron Works, 43, 316 Commissioners, County, Extraordinary fee of, 141 Oommittee of Safety, 103, 105 Conarroe, George 'W., remarks of, 304, 305 Conneugsmark, Gen., 10. Constitution, f rigate, capture of L'lnsur- gent, 116 Constitutional onvention, 57 <;;ontinental Mills, 44 " Money, 32, 33 " Soldiers best, meal, 164, 165 Convicts pardoned, 55, 58; reprieved under gallows, 55 Cook, Rev. William, 197 Cooper, Rev. Jno., 201 Cope, Gilbert, 158 Coppock, Bartholomew, 176; Phehe, 177 Cornbury, visit of Lord, 27 Corn waliis. Lord , 31 , 88 Oorrespondence, Penn and Logan, 76 Cotter, Mary, "Polly" 65 Coultas, James, 87 County seat changed , 33, 34, 35, 55, 84 Ooupland, Agnes, 91 ; Caleb, lOl, 177, 178 j David, 30, 91. 101. 102, 103. 105, 107, 178;, David, Jr., 104; Joshua, 101, 107; Sarah, 107 Court, curious decree of, 6; Houses, 48, 55,. 5«. 62, 84, 102, 199, 201.307; House, Somer- set Co , Md. , 184; pump, 52; sale of House^ 48, 51. 55, 57, 60. 84 Cox, Jr., Remarks of Justice, 302;^ Miller, sash factory, 319- Craig, J. Jr., 219; John H , executor of, 5T,. 104 Crimes, trivial, punished vrith death, 54 Criminal settler.-*. 3; branding of, 11 Cropper, Col., of "Virginia, 31; execution or Thomas. 66 Crosby, John. 121, 145,161,162: John'sapol- ogy, 161; John, Jr., 187; Pierce, 170: Rich- ard, 68, 161 Cr'zer Academy, 203, 2'i7; Normal School, 22:; family, 227, 231, 232; George K., 212;. John P., 35, 39, 40, 41, 45, 66, 160, 199, 225, 227,231-, Mrs. John P , 225; Mrs. J. Lewis, 225; Samuel A. & Sons, 125; Chester mill, 314; Mrs. S. A., 225; Sallie K..227; Theo- logical Serainarv, 2,44,45, 225; Uoland mill, 32 Orozerville mills, 325 Crum Creek, The, campaign, 45; Forge on, 123 Cutfy, Boy, 18 > Cunningham, Rev, James, 2fl2 Cummings, Alice. 150; Hannah, 150; Tho- mas, Ml), 151, 153, 177 Cunnie, Dr. William, 187 Cutler's, George F., candy factory, 319 Cowgill, John, 109; Joshua C, 109 ; Mar- tha, 109, 156 Daizey, Eliphaz, 79 Dale, Rev. James W., 906 •"^Darby Ram, The," 147; Ranges, 211 Dasey, Jemima, 162 Davis, Benjamin, 102; Caleb, 52, 70; Rev. Henry, 205; Rev. Henderson, 206; Jacob P., 206; John, 55; John C.,66; Rev. John W.,206; Joseph, 55; Robert, 113; Robert Coulton,303 Days' Historical Collection, 23C Deakyne, Dean J., 2H Deans, Charles W., 22t Death, by jumping from a window, 72 DecHtur, Commodore Stephen, 136, 137 Declaration of Independence, How receiv- ed by Colonies, 194; By the Army, 194 Defence, House of, 21, 135, 179, 207 Delaware County Advocat-^, 21''; Blues, 210; Created, 57; Democrat, 216; Fenci- bles, nO; Fusileers, 210; Guards, 211; Ho- tel, *1, 105; Institute of Science, 93; Mail, 22(i; National Bank, 33. 81. 101, 125. 126. 130; Paper, 219,220; Republican, 33,81, 101, 125, 126, 13 >, vl6; Troops, 216 Delaware House, 67; Oil Refining Works, 322 Dennis, Hannah, 79; John, 79; Mary, 79 Derbyshire, William H., 214 Index. 329 De Lannoy, George C, 213 Deshong, Emeline, 91, !■ 3; John O., 162, 163; Mary O., 162; Maurice "W., 83, 105; Peter, 162 DeSilver, Joseph T.. 2i0 Dial, Sun, St. Paul's, 184 Dick, Archibald, 100, 146, 156; John. 122; Peter, 121, 122; Phoebe, 100; Thomas B., 100, 151 Dicker, Mr., 6 Dickson, W. J.. 214 iocese of Penn'a, Formation of, 187 Disaster at Porter Hous-, 120 Dispute." as to Boundary, 2i Destruction of Boar's Head Inn, 66 Dixon, Elizabeth, 88; Mrs. , 86; Mrs. Warner 232 Doflin, Sidney P., 158; William J., 158 "onaldson, Fort, 117 Donath, A., 219 Dominie, Lawrence Lock, 5; his wife's elopement, 6; trial of, 6 Double House, The, 17, 21, 22, 184, 307 Doubtful Tradition, 17 Dougherty, Rev William. 201 Downs, Rev. Z. T., 200 Drew, Captain Rodger, 14 Dress of Swedish Settlers, 5 Driver, Rev. Adam, 205 Duke's Book of Laws, 13 Dupont, Camp, 11 ■, 210 Dupue. Hannah, 195 Dusquense, Fort. 102, 193 T~>utch Settlement at Minisink, 1 Dutton, Aaron L., 168; Ann J., 168; Robert R.. 105 Duvail, Lieut. William P., 224 Duyckinck's Cyclopaedia of Literature, 190 Dver. John G.,72, 86, 165; Col. Samuel A , 86, 152, 154, 155, 211, 212 Eagle Tavern, 80 Eastman, Thomas, 216 Ebeling's History of Pennsylvania, 8 Eccles, Jr., Samuel, 43 Eddy, Frank B., 214 Kddystone, 174; Manufacturing Co., 329 Edemont House. 121 Edmundson, William, '2 Educational Institutions, 221 Edwards. Henrv B., 80, «1, 154, 211; Mary B.. 80; Samuel. 80,81 Eilhorz, Philip, 39 Emory, Isaac, 212 Engle, Abbey. 81; Edward. SO; Frederick, 80,126; Isaac, 65, 66, 80, 165; Mary, 80, 81, 82 English Inn. Martin's Description of Old, 81, 82; Army at Chester, 70 Entwisle, John L., 207; Joseph, 43, 166 Escape of Prisoners, 48 Kssex, Explosion of Steamboat, 137; Gun- boat. 177; House, 12, 14, 17, 23, 26, 38, 229, 307; Sloop of War, 117 Etting, Col. Frank M.,295, 296, 304, 305, 307, 308 Eureka Oast Steel Company, 43, 317 Evans, George, 111; Lewis, 28; Rev. Mr., 180, 186; Oliver, Extract from Diary of, 15 Evening, The, October 23. 1882, 289 Ewing, Eliza, 89; Thomas, 89 Excelsior Brass "Works, 317 Execution of Innocent Man, 58; Tree, 154; of James Batton, 49; John H. Craig, 57; Thomas Cropper, 58, 59, 66; John Dowdle, 53; James Fitzpatrick, 65, 154; Patrick Kennedy, 53; Thomas Kelley, 53; John Lewis, 63; John M'Donoug'h. 55; Mat- thew McMahon, 53; Slave Phebe, 53; Herry Phillips, 53; HughPugh,49; Laz- arus Thomas, 49, ' liomas Vaughan,5l, James Wellington. 58; James Willis, 53; Eliz-ibe John. 115, 149, 166, 178; Jonas, 131, 151; Joshua P., 37, 131; Jo-hua P., Jr., 129, 131. 162; Mary Ann, 149; Preston. 126 j Rebecca C, isi; Robert. 166; William, 37, 131, 155, 166; William, Jr., 162; Wil- liam P., 21, 131 Eyre's Wharf, 173 Fahnestock, Prof. C. S., 224 Fairlamb, John, 177; Jonathan, 122, 166; J. Frank, 213; Nicholas, 145; Robert, 140, 155; Samuel, 91. 107 Fairview Farm, 156 Falls of the Delaware, 175 Fuma, arrival of ship, 2 Fauset. Walter, 176 Fitter, Lieut. Emile L., 224 Felons, emigration of resisted bv settlers, 3,4 Felts, Rev. C. C.,206 Fenn, Jane, 113 Fenwick, John, 12 " Female Historian of Colonial Times," 75 Few, Richard, 176 Finch, Lydia E.,76, 156 Finn, Long, insurrection and trial of, 19, 1! Finney, Walter, 163 Finns, forest destroying, 3 First child born to' H,nglish settlers, 167; cotton mill in Chester, 41; meetinghouse of Friends. 21; National Bank, 37, 128 street laid out, 23 Pishbourne, Ralph. 48, 49, 170 Fisher, capture of Fort, 110 Flavill, Edward E., 85, 128, 220; Jane, 128 Fleeson, Elder, 54 Flickwir, House, 155; Jemima E., 156; Jer- emiah W., 1.66 Flitcraft, Contribution by Sarah B., 246 to 262 Flood of 1843, 24, 36, 146, 173; Flood &^ . len, 163 Flour, shipped to Europe, 14'»; impressed by American troops, 140 Flower. Henrietta G., 140; John, 133,140, 146; Reese W., 232; Richard, 133, 140, 141, 146, 156,. 232; Wm. G., 146; Zedekiah W., 151 Forbes, Expedition, 193; Mary, 83; Wil- liam, 83 Ford, John, 93; Philip, 231 Forest, annual tiring by Indians, 9 Forge on Crum Creek, 121 Fort Du Quense, 1(2, 193 1 George, battle of, 158 Forwood Dr. J. L., 45, 207, 217 Foster, Prof. Charles F., 222; Bi-Centen- nial hymns by, 284 Foulke, Samuel, journal of 135 Frame, Rev. Noble, 204 Free School of Philadelphia, 128; Sooietj of Traders, 20 Freight to Colony, 73 330 Index. French, Uavld, 190; Robert, 189, 190 Friend, Ann, 110; Andrew, 110; Johannes, 110; Gabriel, 110; Laurence, 110 Friends and the Bi-0'^ntennial, 246; divis- ion of Society of, 178 Friends' Asylum, Frankford, 130; burial ground. ITS; meeting house, 175, 307; tes- timonv against jails, 48 Fruit, wild, 24 Frysinger, Edward, 219; Henry, 217 Futhey, J. Smith. 135 Game, wild, 24 Garrett, Josephine L., 164, 165 Garfield Mills, 324 Garsed, John, 36 Gartside, Benj.,43, 199, 200; John, 42; Gart- side & Son, 62; Rifle Battalion, 212 Gatchell, EliPha, 122 Gerhart, Dr. William, 152 Gettysburg, battle of, 199, 211, 226 Gibbons, "William, 54, 56 Gideorfs Band, 211 Gilbert, Prof. George, 224; Mrs. T. M., 224 Gill, George, 99; John, 100 Gilroy, Rev, Henry E.. 202 Gladwin, Frederica E., 222 Goeltz House, 169; Ehreurerh, 170; George, 170 Gofl', John, 94, 95; Mary Ann, 95 Goforth, Robert, 229 Gordon, Robert, 190 Gordon's History of Pennsylvania, 175 Gorteborg, Nya, 2 Gould, Rev. T., 2 5; Gould & Key, Works, 318 Graff, Rev. George M. T., 202 /Graham, Eleanor, 70, 115; George, ey; House, 32, 48, 67, 307; Henry Hale, 51, 52, 67, 69, 70, 71, 115, 122, 124, K6, 145, 157, 178; Jane, 72; Mary, 116; Zedekiah W.. 135, 136; Dr. F. R., 168, 227 ; William, 33, 69, 71, !72, 136, 140, 149, 157, 167 "Granary, The, 74 Grant, William K., 211; W. S., 214 ita- cey, 101; Sandilands, 124; Terrill, 161; Turner, 148; Washington, 82 Houses of Swedish settlers, 4 " towed on scows, 97 Householder, John M., 212 Howe, Admiral Richard, 153, 154 Howes, Elisha S., 89 Howell, Isaac, 108, 109; Jacob, 65, 108, 121, 177 Rowland & Nichol's Works, 318 Hudde, Andreas, 6 Huddleson, Henry, 212 Hudson, Hannah, 121 Huertine, Elizabeth, 126; William, 126 Humphreys, Rev. John, 169, 186 Hung in irons, 49 Hunter's Shoe Factory, 319 Hurst, Anthony A., 155 Huygens, Hendrick. 9 Hy^tt, Col •■harlesE.,224; Col. Theodore, 222, 223, 227 Hyde, Edmund M., 224 Incident of Revolutionary War, 92; at Lo- gan House, 73 Indei endeiice. Declaration of. 78, 194 Indian name-i of Chester, 8; murder of the whites by, 11, 12; re orted hostiliiies by, 25, 26; sale of liquors to, forbidden, 7 Industries of Chester and Delaware Coun- ty, 309 to 325 Infanticide. 53 Inn, Black Bear, 99; Blue Ball, 106; Boar's Head, 63 Innocent man executed, 58 Inscription on Third street bridge, 172 Insurrection of Indians apprehended, 11; of Long Finn, 10 Immanuel <3hurch, Del., 189 Irving, D. Edwin, i:14; James, 200; & Leip- er Manufacturing Company, 314 Irvington Mills, 321 Irwin, -lohn, 104, 105 Jackson, Dr. David, 79, 97, 193 ; John Ma- ther, 126; Mary, 78. 79; Mr., 220; Dr. Paul, 97. 192, 193; Roger, 11', 144; Ste- phen, 95; Susanna, 79; Professor, 119 Jacob, Benjamin, 51, 71; John, 55 Jargiii, C pt. Hans, 47 Jail, 49, 51, 52 James, Carleton Y., 214; Wilmer W., 220 Jealous Husband, A, 93 Jeftery, 42 Jefferies, Sir Jeffery, 181 Jefferson, Rev. Benjamin, ^ Jeffersonian, The, 218 ip Jena, Battle of, 98 Jenkins, William T., 72 Jobe, Andrew. 49 John and Sarah, ship, 13 Johns, Rev. Allen, 203 Johnson, Andrew, 212; resolution by D. M., 237; Francis, 103; Rev. Elias H.,228; Geo. C, 214 ; Rev. George W., 205 ; Henry T., 214; Rev. Miller, 199; R. Morgan, 106; Tavern, 108, Wm. Shaler, 299,304 Jones, Rev. Lewis J., 205; Rev. Martin P., 207 Judges, Chapman, Leiper and Engle, 60 iJury. First Grand, 14; presentment of I Grand, 47, 49, 50, 59 I Justice, Charles, 128, 140 IKalm, Peter. 28, 121 Keebler, Godfrey, 155 Keen, Joran, 2, 27, 67, 175, 183, 191; Prof. Gregory B., 2, 182 Kelley, Edward, 105; Esther, 201; John, 211; Rev. John B., 198; Rev. Thomas, 204; William, 169 Kendrick, Bishop, 169 Kenil worth, 138 Kennedy, James, 176 Kensington, 175 Kent, Poem by Henry S., 259 to 262 Kenworthy, Ciiarles, 196 Keokuk Mills, 313 Kerlin, Abby,8l,225; Catharine, 97; Chas., 81; Frederick E., 81; John, 81, 97; Ma- thias, 79; Sarah, 84; William, 31,38, 39, 57,79, 83 84, 97 Kershaw, Jonathan, 211 Keith, Rev. George, 186 Keyser, remarks of Charles S., 297 to 305 Kill, Upland, 3 Killie, Thomas, 126; Sarah, 126 King's Attorney, First appearance of. 152; Highway, 170; Life Guards, 91; '■King of thH Medicants," 19 Kink. Rodger, 55 Kinkhead, John, 55 Kittatiney, Settlement of Dutch at, 1, 2 Kitts and Kerlin, 42 Kirkman, Edward B., 214 Klotz, Paul 83 Kurtz, Rev. Samuel W., 204 Labee, Washington, 57 Ladd, Mary, 75 Ladomus, Catharine, 98; Charles A,, 97^-. Jacob, 98; Joseph, 98; Jonn A., 214; Lewis, 44, 98, 131; Rosanna, 98 aerson, Neeles, 23, 46, 47, 87, 100, 132; Inn, 46 Fatayette at Chester, 31, 58. 80, 89, 103, 123; House, 95; wound of, 88, 94, l;2 Lament over ''hester's Mother," 83 Lamokin Hall, 87, 138, 156; price paid for, 141 Lamplugh, Samuel, 89, 166 Lancaster o., created, 177 Lane, S. Alex., 224 Larkin, John, Jr., 37, 39, 40, 43. 45,58, 66, 95, 125, 161; Horace F., 214 Law & Devenney's brickyard, 324 Lawler, Matthew, 92, 105 Laws, James, 42; Wm. L., 211 Laycock, Thomas, 40, 116 Leany, Simon, 211 Lease of Wade's land, 39 Le onte. Dr. J. L., 226 Ledward, James, 44, 61 Lee, Governor of Va., 210; John, 129; Marv. 129 > ) . jj Leiper rhurch, 206; General Charles J., 212; family, 159; Geo. G., 35; Samuel M., 210 Leonard, Ezekiel, 39, 91, 107, 108, 168 Lescure. Catharine, 147; Joseph M. G., 146, 147, 155, 215 Levick, Address by Dr. James, 305, 306; ad' dress by Samuel J., 250 to 259 Lewis, Hannah, 129; Henrv, 177; Joseph J., 27, 231; Wm. H., 134; & Hoop, 44 832 Index. License, selling liquor without, 184 Lightfoot; Samuel, 17f i^illey Manufac'uring Co., 315 Linard, Mary. 162 Lincoln Hall, 61, 98; manufactui'g Co., 313 Linden trees. 53 Links of old bridge, 173 'List, Kev. Thomas R , 195 Litzenberg, Geo. 210; Col. Simon, 211, 212 •Lloyd, Charles, 204; David, 2 ,40,49,51,73, 75, 110, 111, 112, 113, 1-/1, 132, 17«; Logan's description of, 112; David's title to church lands, 130,161; Frank, 89; Grace, 40. 90, 106. li:^; 114, 177, 178; Grice'swill, 168,178; her reservations in Hoskin's deed, 1 4; John, 166; Sarah, 111; Thomas, 25 Lock, Dominie Laurence, 5, 10; elopement ot his wife, 6; trial of, 6 Lodge, Willi m H., 214 Logan, Dr. Albanus (3.,41,76; Deborah, 21, 75, 7H, 90, 123, 136 ; House, 52, 73, 121, 132, 157,307; James, 75, 76, 111,112; impeach- ment of James, 112; and Penn correspon- dence, 11 Logwood Mills, 315 Long Finn, Ins Trection of, 10 Long, Hev. .fohn <;.,228 Lo^ising, Letter from Benson J.. 308 Lottery for St. Paul's hurch, 187 Lovelace, Governor, 111 Low, ^ scape of Tom. 58 Lowne.s G> orge B. , 17C; James, 1,50; Phin- eas, 16u; Susanna, 150 Luken's Mills, 318 Lyons, Breese, 155, 159; Grossman, 94, 164, 165; Edgar ■'., 108; Jedediah, 164; Mary Gorman, 122, 16! Mackin.Rev. P. J., 197 MacKeever, Alexander, 215; Samuel A., 215 Maddock, Mordecai, 176 Maddux, Rev. John B., 202; Jesse, 104 Magaw, Rev. Dr., 194 Malin, Sarah, 107 Manley, f'harles D., 39, 60 Maniac, How guarded in early times, 90 March of Chester men to Turk's Head, 66 Marcus Hook, 3, 33. 97, 199 Market House, 4i, (yi Maris, George, 177; Jesse, 87, 148, 177 Markham, Governor, 13, 14, 111, 183 Marquis of Twe°desdale, 158 Marden, Richard, 28 Martin, Kleanor, 146; John Hill, 8, 12, 28, 48, 50, 81, 88, 89, 102, 104, 106, 145, 161, 172, 179, 191, 192; Thomas, 176; Walter, 50; Dr. William, 145; William, 211 Mason and Dixson's line, 14 " ancient custom of, 106; Lodge of, 105 Marline, Death of Charles, 61 Massey, James, 43 Mast, Rev. Isaac, 203 Mather, Jane, 193; James, 29, 39, 96, 97; John, 69,77. 78, 95, 96, 97, 126, 153.178; Mary, 09, 77; Ruth, 77, 96 Maxwell, Nimrod, 39 Mayors of Chester, 36, 45 McOafferty; William, 170 McCall, Ann, 135; George, 135 McCay, John B., 217; Robert, 60 Mc Combs, Rev. William, 203 McCurdy, Robinson, 214 McEnroe, Rev. Patrick, 197 McFeeters, John, 21S' McGlynn, Rev. Hugh, 197; Rev. Thomas d., 197, 198, ir-9 Mcllvain, Henry, 44; Henry S., 214; Hugh, 155; Jeremiah, 109; Spencer, 44. 109 McKee, Rev. Edward, 197 McKeever, Jemima, 146; 'Japtain John, 140; J.B., 146, 154 McLaren, Jennie. 222 Memorial Windows 206 Mendenhall, Cyrus, 109 Merideth, Rev James E., 202 Mechanic Rifles, 211 Mecoponaca. 24 Media, 6'i Michelon, John G,, 217 Middletown Meeting, 176 Mifflin, Fort, 93; Guards, 210; Joseph, 91; Gen. Thomas, 194 Milburn,'4lev. John, 201 Military ( 'rganization, 210 lilitia Shooting Match, 165 Miller, John X., 207 Mirkil, Isaiah H , 123, 173 174 .Minnick, George B,, 214 Minshall, Edward R., 105 Mirror. Chester Business, 219 Mission, Sunday School, 208 Mix, James B., 215 Mo e. Rev. Henry, 205 Mohawk Mills, 314 Monroe, countv sett'ement of, 1; Dr. Wil- liam, 37 Moore, Kev. George Clifford, 196; Nicholas, 20; Robert, 87; Thomas, 128 Moreley, Captaiu B. F., 213, 224 Morgan, Captain, 33; Evan, 161,162; House, 161; John, 162; Thomas House, 165; Tho- mas, •'>2, lii5 Moriarty, Rev. Dr., 196 Morning, The, Oct 23 1882, 263 Morris, A nna, 164; A nthony, 40, 116; House, 164; Captain John, 154; Jonathan, 164; JamisP.,164; Margaret, 164; Rob't, 204 Morton, Black & Bro., 43, 44, 319, Dr. Charles J. ,227; Cr sbyP.,44; John, 167, 193, 194, 307; Rifles, 212; William H., 42 Monk, Capture of Frigate General, 32 Mowry, Rev. Philip H., 207 Mullin, Rev. William, 202 Munday's Run, 57, 154 Murder of William Bonsall,57, 127; David Culin, 53; Eleanor Davis, 53; Jonathan Hays, 49; Martin HoUis, 58; Edward Hun- ter, 57; Richard Kelley, 53; Ann Lewis, 53; JohnMcClister,53; Thomas Morgan, 52; of the Peddler, 133; Indian Quilee, 53; Thomas Sharp, 53 Murphy, Rev. ^vmiam, 206; Church, 206 Musgrave, Aaron, 123, 164; Abigail, 123, 164; John. 126; Mary, 126 "Music of the Shuttle," 60 Musket captured at Trenton, 153 Myers, Henry, 211 Naaman's Creek, 74 Naming of streets, 42 National Hall, 97 ; Hotel, 89 ; Hydraulic Works, 317 Neal, William, 113 Nesbit, Alex., 215 Nevins, Major D. R. B., 219 Newbold, John, 127, 130 Newlin, A., 173 New Orleans, Capture of Ports below, 118 Index. S33 3New8, Chester Evening, 218 Newspapers, Notes respecting, 215 New York, Evacuation of, 99 Nichols, Letter of Be v. Mr., 169; Rev. Hen- ry, 186; Sir Richard. 38 Nicholson, Col. Francis, 181 Niles, Welcome D., 91 Ninth street bridge, 174 Non-importation agreement, 122 Noted ride, A, 80 Norris. Charles, 76; L)eborali,75; Kev. John W , 206; Mary Parker, 7.^, 167 Norton, Rev. Trancis H.. 205 Nugent, Drusilla, 117; William, 107 Oberholt, D. B., 217 Ocheltree's Cairiage Works, 318 Odd Fellows' Lodge, 105 Odenheimer, John, 40, 116, 126 'Odhner, Proif-, 3 Otrden David, 65, 68; Jonathan, 65; Joseph, 65; Katharine 65; Hannab, 150 Okehoclungs, The, 8 01<1 ' ssembly House, 20, 21 Oldest House in Pennsylvania, 229 Oidmixon. 27 Omnibus Bank Act, 126 •O'Neal, William, 168 Orr, "iiiiam, 168 ■Oswald, Eleazer, 39 Ott, Henry, 170 Owens, John, 177; Dr. Joshua, 169 Owl, The, 220 Paiste, D. P , 162 Palmer Brickyard, 323; Strange N., 216 Palo Alto, Battle of, 118 Pancoast, Rev. Samuel, 204 Paregoya Armegart, 3, 8, 9, 10, 12, 38, 132, 16 Parade, Bi-Centennial. 286 to 289 Parker House, 157; Joseph, 39, 41, 51, 52,70, 75. 122, 14 , 157; Mary, 70, 75, 157 Parkinson, John, 106 Parsonages, St. Paul's, 151, 169 Pastors of St. Paul's, List of the. 191 Patent to Eusta Anderson, 152; John Bris- ton, 130; Sandilands, 161, 164, 165; Randle Vernon, 142 Patterson, General Robert E ,61; Mills, 315 Pavement, Fmd of Old, 170 Paxson, Jane, 129; Rev. William J., 203 I*e!ir] Hall 227 Pearson, Ephraim, 149, 168, 169; Thomas, 19: ? 18 Peck, Practical Joke on Major, 59 Peculiar Business Signs, 85, 107, 156 Pedrick, Elizabeth, 151; Rebecca, 167; Roger, 167; Thomas, 167 Pemberton, Phebe, 116 Pendulum, The Mercurial, 69 Penn, Wm., Charter to, 13; Bi-Centenarv Anniversary, J5, 264 to 267; House at Ches. ter, 63; John, 29; Landing of William, 38; Letter from, 111; Opening of Street, 66; Gov. Richurd, 53. 70; - teamboat, 94; Thomas, 28, 29; William, 14, 17, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28. 38, 68, 76, 83, 86, 111, 112, 176, 177, 183, 231, 232; Club, 295, 299, 300. Pennell, Abigail, 70; Edmund, 42, 125; House, 125; James, 104, 108, 109, 124; Jona- than, 33,49, 51. 82, 97, 124, 125, 135, 137, 159, 169; Mary, 70; Nathan, 124; Robert, 108, 109, 124; Samuel, 104; Thomas, 70, 124; William, 83, 108, 124 Pennsylvania Arms, 77. 83; Artillerist, 210; Bank, 130; Extract from Gzette, 190; Hos i al, 130; Magazine of History, 135; Military Academy, 44. 119, 221, 222, 223; Extract from Packet, 71 Pent Roof Houses, 50, 73, 121 Perilous, A Ride, 118, 119 Perkins, AbramR., ij.79 Piers, Gift to State by Pearson, 168 Pioneer Factory, 60. 6j Piper, George W , 151; Joseph, 84; Sarah, 84, 85 Pirates full of gold, 189 Poplars, l.ombardy,53 Popular De onsti ation at the starting of lo ms, 61 Pop'ilation in 1840. 37 Post Boy. The, 146, 166, 215 Porter, Commodo-e David, il3. 116; Ad- miral David D., 118; Dr., 1.54, inQ; Eve- lina. 89, 117; Henry Ogden. 119; House, 69, 110. 159, 162; Fire and Explosion at, 119, 120; Hamilton, 119; Imogene, 117; Theod.Tic, 118 Potter, Bishop i60; House, 16, 159; Sarah B., 160 Potts, Isaac, 91 Pound, Public, 2h Powell. Frederick E., 224; Henry L., 85, 166; Thomas. 132, 144, 169,181: Wm., 61 Powhattan Mills, 3vl Peaching of Penn, 76 Preble's Bombardment of Tripoli, 136 Press, Public, 22G Presbyterian. <'hester Citv, hurch, 207; Firsr, IW; Third, 208 President, Capture of Frigate, 136, 137 Presron, Ann, '31; Jonas, 129, 33, 151, 177; Dr. Jon s, 129, 130, 131; Mary, 121; Packet Jonas, 31; Retreat, 131; William F., 51, 129; Wharf and Storehouse, 133 Price, Catharine, 145; Edward A., 196; Ed- ward A , Jr., 214; ELaha, 122, 164; JoHn, 144, 145; J. C. & W. G., 229, 320; Samuel A., 82, 84, 151, 166,211; Samuel .A., Jr., 214; Sarah B., 161; Thomas B., 43 Printz, Governor, 1, 2, 3; Dorp, 12, 38; Hofl", 2; Vil'age,3 Prisons at Chester, 46 Prisoners, scape of, 53, 58; Picture of Prison, 52; of War Exchanged, 226; Es- lape of, 226 Privateers, French and Spanish, 210 Providence Meeting, 176 Prothonotary's Office, 61, 52 Proud's History of Penna., 175, 230, Pryor, Warner, 66 Public Houses, number of, 26 Pugh, Hugh, 49 PuUen, Samuel, 134 Pyewell, Hannah, 134 Pyle, Addie H., 225; Ralph, 181; Sarah, 65 Quaker Hill, 56 Quare, Daniel, 231 'tS4 l^ueen ChTistiaiiH, 3 '• A.nn''s gift to St. Paul's. ISl, 182 Quickley, F., 173 Rambo, Pe+er. U; Peter G., 20T Rapacity of the Dutch. 9 Raper, Joshua, li5; Mary, 115; Sarah, 115 Slawnsley, Anson, 214- Reaney, Shipyard, -07; Son & Arehbold, 207, 208; Thomas, 43. 207 Re ords of Upland Court, find of, 46, 76 Rectors of St. Paul's Church, list of, 54 Kees, A B., Works, S'M Remoyal of County Seat, 55, 5&, 84-, of pris- oners, 57 Reporter, The Weekly, 219 Revolution, French, 08 Revolutionary Barracks, 124;; Hospital, 124; War, 29; 30; 31, 32, 51, 53, 55,71, 83', 88, 91, 02, 93 Hhodes, William B., 319 Ridley Quarries, 86 Rice, Roger, 185 Richards, John James, 210 Richardson, Deborah, 91-, Francis, 90,91, 106, 107, 162, 168; Grace, 91; Hannah, 91; House, 168, 307; Jacob, 110: John. 91; Wharf, 90, 168 Riots, Pittsburg, 213 Rive' side Hosiery Mills, 324 Roach, John & Sons, 43; "Shipyard of,.313 Roberts, Charles, 61; Mills, 323; David, 77, Serrill, James, 2r6 Settlers, Swedish and Finn, 2;" Criminar^ 4; Opposition to Emigration of Criminalj, 4; Houses of, 4; Dress of, 5; Intemper- ance of, 5 Settlement, Tardiness of Early, 9 Seventh Street Bridge, 174 Sexton, Philip. 80 Seyfert & McManus, 42 Shackamaxon, 175 Slianafelt, Rev. A. F., 290 Shanahan, Bishop, 198 Shannon's, Captain, Company, 89, 102 Sharp, Mr., 92 Sharpless, Ann, 131; George, 100; Martha, 129', 130,132, 149; Thomas, 129, 133, 149y The Meeting Ho ise, 178 Shaw, Anthony, 99;: Emily Ann, 150; Han- nah, 149; Hou-e, 148, 149; James, 148. 149, 167; James, Jr., 150;. Jane, 148, 149; John^ 148», 1H7; John E., 150, 169; Samuel, 148, 149, 168, 229, 232; Samuel, Jr., 150 Sheridan, Rev. Philip, 196 Shields, Rev. John, 202; Arthur, 87, 124j Mary, 87, 124 Ship Aroity, 111 Shoemaker, Sarab, 24 Shooting Match, a Militia, 160 Shulae, Governor, 58, 158 Sidbotham, Elizabeth, 75 Siddons. Ann, 65; William, 133, 134 Sidewalks, Burial of Bodies in, 188 Signs, Business, 79, 85, 107, 15S 185; Hovi'ard,94; Susanna, 79 Robinson, Brick Yard, 323; Ca harine, 13&,i§iBaoock, Jacob, 2&2; John, 67, 68, 175 137; Jane, 71; aptaiB Thomas, 70, 123-, Simpson, Bishop, 203; William & Son, 174;; 36; Rev WiTiiam C, 202, 203 Rorer & Mingin, 61 Rose Valley Mills. 324 Ross, Arthur G., 214; Charles B ,^214; Gen- eral, 210; Edward, 176; Matthew P., 214; Rebecca, 76; Richard, 76; Mr.'s letter to ■Society for Propagation of Gospel. 132. 179, 80 Rulon, Job, 143 Rumford, John, 157 Russell, William, 216 Ruth, Rev John, O'J- Rysingh, Governor, 9 Safe Guards, tock, Pairof, 50 Indesc, S35 StoeHonjCammodere. 80 Stone, Unveiling of the Memorial. 293: Visi tors at unveiling, List of, 295, 296, 307 ■»torks, Rev. Levi, 202 Story, Charles A., Jr., 212; Thomas. 26 Stroud & Co.. 42, 319 Stotesbury. Mill of James M., 315 Stuyves^nt, Governor, 8, 9 ^*;Qr''i''Q7'^ii^"J''^',^^^- ^^^ S^- Michael's, 196.197; St. Paul's, 54,74, 12C, 122, 179 •80. 182, 184, 185, 186, 188, 188 ' ' Subscribers to • nEd, 242 to 245 Sufiering of early settlers, 14 Sunnyside Mills, 44 Sweerwood, Lewis A., 82 Sweden, New. Captured by Englisk, lO: Dutch, Capture of, IS s . ", Swedes, Order fey Dutch to gather at de- signated points. 9; CriEainal settlers, 3: ttiouses, 4; Dress, 5; Intemperance, 5- • hurch, 5, 179; ClergymeE, sT 179 »^eney, Gapt. Frank 6., 213, 214: Prof. John R., 2-4, 271, 284, 28 > Tablet, The Sandelands, 188 Talley, Col. William Cooper, 212, 217 ,lo^^\ Hope"? Anchor, 101; Johnson's, 198; Description of Thurlow's, 81 U V \Vc- .Barnard C, 228; Carriage J^ ^^'v3^,l'^°''yB'J5=^ Isaac, 55; Jo- seph, 159; Thomas, 51, 70; Dr. William, Temple., Horace P., 214 ■Temporary, Friends' Meeting House, 17S lennyson, Alfred, Letter from, 304 ifio'"A^°°^i^O'iisa' 131, 162; Emeline, 162 °"®''' ^^^ ^'■- Job H., 91, 104, I3i; Thatcher, Lewis, 43; William R., 211 Third htr«et Bridge, 171, 172, 173, 174 ^?P™s, Bey. Charles F., 208; Governor, L7; Gabnel, History of Penna., 24, 25 Thompson, Rev. A. G., 200; Rev. J. S., 206; Rev, Thomas, 186 ' Thomson, Charles, 75, 77, 78, 187; Ruth, 78 Thurlow, John J.. 8 , 81, 82, 89 Tiles, Illuminated, 73, 121 TilghmaE, Benjamin, 57 '*'*™es, Chester Daily, 218; Pablishiiig Do Timmins, Rev. Jasaes, 197 Tinnackunk, li| Tinicuca, Island of,l , 2 Tittery, Joshua, 24 Tobacco pouch, 23© Todd, Williaia A., 218 Tombs, New York, 215 Tom, William, 46 Tories, 91, 99 Torpey, F. C, 173 ^' 230° 23°^' ^'^^^'^' 1^^' Richard, 24, 175, Traitors, Arrest of, 97 Trego, Elizabeth, 83; James, 83; Geogra phy of Penna., 195 > ' & Trehorn, Catharine, 87; William, 87 Trial of Col. Pickering, 152 Trinity <'hurch. 203 Tripolitan War, 116, 136 Troops, Cavalry, 71; Raising of, 53 Troth, Oliver, 218 Tucker, Isaac, 84 Turk's Head Hotel, 55, 78, 79 Tuscarora Tribe, 29 Turner, Edward, 148; House, 29, 148; Ro- bert, 231, 232; William, 148 Tweedes.lale, Marquis of, 158 Iwiggs, Rev. Mr., 203 ''D'r^Vima*rK'22f' '"^'^^'' ''' ««' ^«' Unangst, David M., 214 Union Blues. 211; Church, 2^4; Mills 325 University of Penn.sylvanii, 193 ' Upland. 8, g, 10,11,13, 14, 17. 18 19- A«- tronomir-al Observatio sat. 13; Courttt 4'-; Indiiin name of, «; Kill 3- Oninn \^'.lTl''M'' f^ PennVg',v'er^S Srp\^V;4;^ki^n^''°/8'^^14?2^°"^o,Jit^ 2l?ll4 ' ^^^ "'^^ "°* legated at, 22 Urie, Rev. William, 202 Valley Forge. 5 i, 164 Vane, The Penn Weather, 232 Van Dyke, Sarah, 106 Van Wyck, Rev. George, 207 Van Zant, Abraham, 154 Verlenden Bro.'s Mills, 325 i7fi°T'if'^'^'*''1',i2'^' '^'■•'92; Randle,W.2, 176; Thomas, 175, 178 ' ' Vicksburg, Seige of, 118 Victoria Mills, 313 Virginia, Three Beauties of, 88 Visit, John F. Watson's, to Chester 70 Visitor, The Weekly, 94, 216 "''^'®'^' '" Vote, Popular, on removal of County Seat, Vulcan Works, 322 Vulture, British Frigate, 31, 103 ^^il' ■^/*^,l^ ^h 26> 38; John, 39, 128, 167' 16? m '^^a'^'n^I' ^^' 2''' 28> 38, 65 12I; lb(, 175, 229 ThoJHas, 38: Extinx^jiiaTi- ment of charge on land of, '4. 129^"''*' "^Thom^s^sf ' ^''' ^°^°' 33; -Reese, 140; Walpool, Horace, 181 Walter, T. U., 190; Y. S., 60 146 16^ 9ifi WarTSohn^V/ '^T^^ ^^^O^'^^l^l wara,doun,48; John M.B.,214- >; TTlr r-h 299', sTj """ ' ''' '^' ''''' mKern^Xlt', Wartield, Or., 147 Warner, Sarah, 69 Warters, Rev. G. T.,205 Rev. G. W m Washabaugh, Col. P M 213 "'■*''•'-"& Washington chairs, 83; at Chester, 31 33 140; General 83, 92; House, 31, 58 82,' 83 86, Literary Society, 220 Water, Scarcity of, 45 61 Watson, John F., 7. 70 7fi Qi Way, Evan C, 84 ''"''"'^^ Wayne, Anthony, 30, 145; Margaret, 145 Weaver, Joseph, Jr„ 58. 88, 122, 123 on ' '^,eccaco," hurch at, 180, 183 Welcome, Ship, 14, 15, 24, 175, 183, 231 Wellington, James, ExecutioE of, 57 bv 2!8- f"^." ^;' ^'^"^'' ^'^o^"' ^48; Poem nr 7'u S ^®**®'" *rom, 304, 305 1^62 ^^^•'^o«epli'2U2; P. A ,213, Street, West Chester, Records at, 148 167 West, Keziah, 165; Henry G. 228- Sam'i rk WetheriU & rjo., 43, 316 ' ' ^ Wharton, John, 124 Wheaton, Lewis D., 112, 238; Mary A., 137 Whipping Post, The, 50 ^ ' Whiskey Insurrection, 33, 50, 71, 130, 210 Index, White Swan, Sign of, 104 Whiteliead, William, 99, 104 Whitfield, George, 29 Wiggin, Augustus &.< d Frederick, 42j_159 Wiiby's Belting Works, 318 Wilcox, Joseph, 211 Wilde Post, 212 Wilder, Rev. William, 199 Willey, Wiss, 61 Williams, John C, 86; Joseph, 215; Wil- liam H., 213 Williamson, C. D., 218 Wilson, Elizabeth, 54. 154; George, 42, 82; Hugh, lo2; Harry, 214; Dr. Joseph, 210; Robert, 214; Robert P., 214 Winter, old, 14. 73; John, 52; Walter, 52 Witchcraft, Trial for, 183 Withey Farm, 125, 187; James, 87, 140, 145; Marv, 87, 88, 103, 140; Samuel, 88 Wood,"Kev. A., 213; Bishop, 197, 198; Dr. George K., 225 Woodier, George, 69 Wooley, Henry, 138 Woolvin, Mary, 49- Women, dress of the Swedish settlers, 5; Wages, 25 Worley, Daniel, 231; Henry, 50; Nathan, 52 Work-house, 51, 52 Worrall, Col. Alexander, 165; Elizabeth,. 140; George C, 214; Philip, 95 Worthington, Eliphalet B., 146, 155, 214 Wounley, Henry, 179 Wright, John, 83, 177 Wyoming Mills, 324 Yarnall, Abigail, 129; John, 129; Norri& L.,2n Yeadon Mills, 314 Yeates, Catharine, 73, 74; Jasper, 26, 48,. 49, 73, 74, 132, 135, 181, 186; John, 74, 135 Yellow Fever, 33, 116, 136, 142, 145 York, Duke of, 13, 23, 38, 67 Yorktown, Siege of, 88 Young, Jacob, 5, 6; Rev. H. G., 205; Db . Williams., 138 Zeilin, John K., 88, 211 Zetscoven, Rev. Abelius, 6 ^-'■."J