Xans^ownc past an6 |p>icecnt 1888 1908 GEORGE C. JOHNSON Editor and Proprietor Lansdowne, Pa. Patronize Home iDstitutions What Helps Your Neighborhood Helps You INTEREST PAID ON ALL DEPOSITS The Lansdowne and Darby Saving Fund and Trust Co. Assets, $662,928.69 Xanebowne j^aet anb (bresent 1888 1908 (iK' GBORGB C. JOHNSON Editor and Publisher Lansdowne, Pa. 5^ u-^ Copyright, iqo8. By George C. Johnson, I^ansdowne, Pa. LIBRARY of CONGRESS Two CODies Received APR 26 1809 CLASS ^^ XXc. No, c6py s. / FIRST JNT^TIOISr^L B AIsTK OF CLIFTON HEIOHTS Capital, - - $50,000 United States Government Depository. Depository for the Commonweath of Pennsylvania. Offer? first class up-to date banking facilities. Solicits Accounts from Business Firms, Individuals, and Public Officials. Time Certifi cates of Deposits bearing interest at three per cent. '-^ SAFE DEPOSIT FOR SILVER AND VALUABLES AT SMALL COST Saving Fund Department open during Banking Hours. Three per cent interest allowed on Saving Fund Deposits HENRY T. KENT, President. J. MILTON LUTZ, Vice President. E. E. BARRY. Cashier. DIRECTORS Henry T. Kent, J. Milton Lutz, H. H. Haines. George T. Wadas Nelson Kershaw, John Wolfenden, W.Frank English, Frederic Schoff, William H Jones, David M. Taylor, Charles P. Doane. Safe Deposit Boxes in Burglar Proof Vaults, $2.00 per Year. Do You Live in Lansdowne? Well, you ought to be a BOOSTER for the Borough, simply on General Principles We are boosting for profit^ it's true. But we're doing it right, and we're going to be proud of that fifty acres improving at Marshall Road and Lansdowne Avenue. So are you. You may join in the profits if you care to. It's a new, snappy, breezy way of handling Real Estate. The Wayne Title and Trust Co. TRUSTEES Lansdowne Land Syndicate 5013 PINE STREET, PHILA., PA. or on the property, cor. Lansdowne Avenue and Marshall Road, Lansdowne, Pa. ^BOROUGH FLASHLIGHTS^ PARAGRAPHIC PICTURiNGS OF LANSDOWNE Application for borough incorporation was made by Isaac Johnson, Esq., Solicitor, March 6, 1893. The first directory of the Borough of vLansdowne was worlced up in 1900 and issued for the year 1901 by Henry S. Barker, and each succeeding year Mr. Barlcer issued a revised directory, except for the year 1902. 1. The borough of Lansdowne was incorporated June 7, 1893. 2. Territorially Lansdowne is chronologically viewed, synonymous with "V^^illiam Fern's time, havirg teen 'a part of Upper Evarby Township, form- erly Darby, which was settled in the early stages of the formation of the forma<-ion of the proprietary government of Penn. At tne time of its incorporation the Borough assumed as its proportion of the indebtedness of Upper Darby Township the sum of $55,000.00, not to mention the necessarily heavy expenditures entailed in meeting the immed- iate deroands of early corporation and administrative requirements. 3. Lansdowne is situated in Delaware County, six and four-tenths mMes from the City Hall. Philadelphia, on the Central Division of the Philadel- phia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad, a. member of the Lines of the Pennsylvania Railroad System East of Pittsburgh and Erie. Pa., with 48 trains daily, the average running time being twelve minutes for express trains and twenty minutes for accomodation trains: the following rates of fare obtaining .rn limits, on T.ansdowne avenue, is the Lansdowne Avenue Station of thp Fhil^rt-^l'^h-'a <^ Parrptffnrd Eioctrio Railway, where rars mav b*^ taken at frequent intervals for Philadelphia via 6.''>d and Market streets terminaii of tn^ Pnilad^ipnia Rapid Transit Company, the ride being made via Elevated and Subway LANBDOWNE PAST AND PRESENT lines. A' this latter terminal may also be taken, the ca.rs of the Philadelphia & Western Electric Railroad, which traverses the fairest sections of nearoy counties. 5. Tne topog-raphical characteristics of the Borough are particularly at- tractive, ofiering- a pleasing succession of hills richly clad with monarchs of the forest, dales invested with a wealth of landscape loveliness, and sinuous streams golden in the sunlight and silvery neath moonbeam caresses; a plentitude of noble shade trees line the principal thoroughfares; and withal there is ever present the subable atmosphere of suburban retiracw far re moved from the madding- crowd and noise and confusion of the large muni- cipality. Rural beauties and .sequestration invest the locality with all the seductive and elevating attributes so dear to the poetic mind and the amily in quest of reposefui and healthful rest and recreation, the scenic entourage being comparable with the famed charms of more noted localities both at home and abroad. 6. The improvements consist of a high class of suburban homes, mostly detached, and tastefully laid out on liberal ground areas. There are about twenty-two (22) miles of avenue, seventeen (17) miles of which are, at the present time, pavd with telford or macadam. 7. There are about ten (10) miles of improved sidewalks in the Borough, consisting for the most part of pranolithic construction. 8. The Borough has nine (9) miles of sewers which cost approximately $E5,CC0, and at the present time the outlet is into Darby Creek at a point in Darby Borough almost one mile below tidei water. The sewer varies in sizes from six (6) inches to twenty-four (24) inches, and is intended to drain the sewage from tne houses, and not to include the storm water which is tak^n care of, generally, by streams which traverse the Borough at several points. 9. During the current year, 1908, about 10,000 feet of blwe stone curb and vitrified block gutters were constructed, together, with about one mile of re-surfacing, on Lansdowne avenue (from Baltimore to Stewart avenues) and Wycombe avenue ( from Baltimore avenue to junction of Union and Wrcombe avenues). 10. A model volunteer fire department, the Lansdowne Fire Company, with a membership drawn from the citizenship at large and including many of the most prominent townsmen, affords adequate protection against loss by fire. 11. A day and night police force patrols every qua.rter of the borough throughout the entire day. and keeps a constant surveillance on all matters related to full police duties. 12. The water supply, furnished by the Springfield Consolidated Water Company, is up to the most exacting requirements, the water being drawn from springs and enjoying widespread fame for its purity and healthfulness. 13. Religious worship is splendidly provided for, the following denom- inations, with beautiful church edifices, being represented within the bor- ough, viz: The Lansdowne First Presbyterian Church. Rev. William Boyd, Rastor; the Lansdowne Baptist Church, Rev. Thomas Bird, Pastor; the Church of St. John the Evangelist, Rev. Crosswell McBee, Rector; the Lansdowne Methodist Episcopal Church, Rev. J. R. T. Gray. Pastor; the Orthodox Friends' Meeting; the Hicksite Friends' Meeting; St. Philomena's Roman Catholic Church. Rev. Francis J. Markee, Rector, and Rev. W. 1. Lallou. /.ssistant Rector; there being also two Afro-American Churches, one south and the other north of the railroad. The churches are all central- ly located. 14. The educational a.dvantag-es of the Borough are especiallly attractive These include the Public School system, Prof. Walter L. Philips. Principal, Which stands on an equal footing with any Other in the State of Pennsvi- vania, being splendidly housed, thoroughly equipped with school fixtures and supplies, and ably conducted by a corps of teachers specially selected for their demonstrated fitness; other schools are St. Philomena's Parchial School, which has already won deservedly high praise for all-around educa- tional work; the Friends' School; the Maplewood School, Miss Alden, Prin- LAXSDOWXE PAST AND PRESENT cipal; not to mention several preparatory schools conducted by educators of established ability and success. The Social, Athletic and Club life of the community are provided for by numerous societies and organizations, among the more prominent of which may be mentioned the Lansdowne Country Club, the Twentieth Century Club, the Natural History Club, the Lansdowne Republican Club, the Union Athletic Association, the Knights o Columbus, the Lansdowne Civic Associa- tion, the Lansdowne Minstrel Troupe; the Church Brotherhoods. 15. A local banking institution, the Lansdowne and Uarby Trust and Saving Company, afiords ample banking facilities. 16. Ihe Lansdowne Building and Loan Association has contricutert largely toward the physical development of the Borough, and ranks as one of the strongest building associations in the State. 17. Philadelphia merchants have free delivery to all parts of tne Bor- ougn. 18. The Lansdowne Storage Wa.rehouse is a grea. convenience to resi- dents desiring storage acilities for household goods and other personal ef- 19. Two liverymen, Richardson Shoemaker, proprietor of the Lansdowne Stables, and R. James Robinson, proprietor of the Villa Stables, are well equipped to furnish teams for carriage or horseback rides, or for hauling. 20 P'or social and other forms of entertainment there are the BarKor Buildinp,. the Borough Hall, and St. Philomena's Hall. 21. Borough growth has been of the really phenomenal type. In the eighties, before incorporation, the territory, then a village, represented sn assessed valuation of about $100,000.00. One year after incorporation, in 1894, the valuation had reached the handsome sum of $1,257, 873, with a bordusrh tax of 41/2 mills on the dollar and a sinking fund tax of 2 mills, while in 1908 the assessed valuation stands at the splendid sum of $3,148,875, with a bor- ough tax of 5 mills and a sinking fund tax of ZVz mills. 22. The population has kept pace with the physical development of Ihe borough having increase from upwards of 200 in the eighties to approxi- mately 4,500 in 1908. Exceptional local and long-distance telephone ser^^ice is provided by the Bell Telephone Company, which has thoroughly equipped exchang-e quarters in the Davis Building, at the corner of Lansdowne and Baltimore avenues. The Suburban Gas Company of Philadelphia has a large clientage in the borough. LANSDOWNE PAST AND PRESENT PLAN OF LANSDOWNE LANSDOAYXE PAST AND PRESENT LANSOOWNE HIGHWAYS. Austin, W. from Union, between Nyack and Pennsylvania Railroad. Baltimore, iD. and W. from Lansoowne. iinrt.am, K. fiom Wycombe, S. of Nyack. Berkley, ^^ . from Uwtn, abo\e ijrecn'A cod. Drexei, VV. from Lansaowne, seccna avenue from Greenwood. Dudley, E. from Lansdowne, second avenue S. of Pennsylvania R. R. Edenheld (N. Maple), W. from Wycombe, between Poweiton avenue and Marshall Road. Elbeion, from JNyack to Railroad, E. of Lansdowne. Essex, E. and W. from Lansdowne, above Greenwood. Fail view, E. from Lanscowne, fourth avenue below Railroad. Greenwood, (formerly Blackberry Lane), E. and W. from Lansdowne, fourth avenue N. of Baltimore. Highland, (formerly ^jd^l-oh's Avenue), N. and S. from Baltimore, lirst ave- nue E. of Lansdowne. La Crosse, (formerly hum.mit Avenue), E. from Lansdowne and W. from Owen; N. of Baltimore. Lansdowne, (Darby and Radnor Road), N. and S. from Baltimore. Madison E. from Lansdowne to Highland, first aveniie above Railroad. Marshall Road, E. and W. from Lansdowne; northern boundry lino of Borough. Maple, L. from Railroad, N. from Baltimore. McKinley, E. from Wycombe to Union, above Stewart. Nyack, E. from Lansdowne, below Railroad. Owen, N. from Baltimore, first avenus W. of Lansdowne. Penncck Terrace, W. from Lansdowne, near Linden. , Plumstead, W. from Wycombe belcw Marshall Hoad, and W. from Lans- downe above Drexei. Powelton, W. from Wycombe, between Wycombe and Wildwood. Price, E. from Highland, between Stewart and Greenwood. Rigby, N. from Baltimore, third avenue E. from Lansdowne. Runnymede, N. from Baltimore, second avenue W. of Lansdowne. Schappet Terrace, S. from Railroad, between Nyack and Railroad. Scottdale. (Matthew Hollow Road), second avenue N. of Baltimore. Shadeland. N. from bridge over Darby Cr^fk at BurmnL Stewart, E. and "W. from Lansdowne, third avenue N. of Baltimore. Stratford, E. and W. from Lansdowne, second avenue N. of Baltimore. TTnion, N- and S. from Baltimore, fourth avenue, E. of Lansdowne. Windermere, (formerly) Waverley), third avenue W. of La.nsdowne. Wycombe, (Kenny's Lane), N. and S. from Baltimore, second avenue E. of Lansdowne. First, N from Essex (Johnson), Lansdowne Highlands. Second, N. from Essex, Lansdowne Hig'hlands. Third, (See Highland). Fourth. N. from Essex, Lansdowne Highlands. Fifth, N. from Essex, Lansdowne Highlands. Sixth. N. from Essex. Lansdowne Highlands. E-West. W-West. S-South. N-North. L-Lower. 10 LANSDOWXE 1»AST AND 1>HESENT LANSDOWNE-PAST AND PRESENT 1875—1908 To understand the Present we must study the productive influences of the Past. * In reviewing, though never so briefly, the past of Lansdowne, it is emin- ently proper that its relations with contiguous territory, which necessarily contributed to its growth, should be touched upon. To do this it will not be obligatory, for purposes of lucid and compdehensive statement, to delve too far into historical archives, hence the absence of occasion for mjention of the usual "transportation pets" of the ambitious historian, such as "the Conestoga wagon," "the pony express", "the 'bus line," "the stage coach," "the ferry line," and so on. A close study of local conditions, so far as they may be looked into through authoritative mediums, unavoidably in- ducesthe conclusion, that the great and greatest factors in the development of Lansdowne were the railroads centering in, running through, and pass- ing near the local boundaries. In a. word, long before the name "Lans- downe" was thought of in connection with the place, the steel rails had been laid in and the "iron horse snorted" through local territory, providing from the start the "sinews of war" that have wrought the beautiful and progressive municipality now the pride and boast of its citizens. LANSDOWXE PAST AND PREJ^EXT 11 PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD HAS A CLAIM ON LANSDOWNE To the Pennsj'lvania Railroad Company, as the parent operating, owning or leasing com- pany, must be given due meed of credit for the borough's genesis, its rapid and healthy rise, and the splendid advantages and develop- ment evidenced in the Lansdowne of to-day. Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad. (Now the Philadelphia, Baltimore & Washing- ton Railroad, by merger and consolidation! of November 1. 1902) "William H. Barker First Chief Burgess of Lansdowne. The Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad Company, (the ultimate owing, operat- ing and leasing company of the several rail- road companies that played an important part in the rise and expansion of the locality now known as Lansoowne), was a consoiidatc-a company organized vender the laws ot tbe States of Pennsylva.nia, Delaware and Mary- land, and was formed by merger dated March 1S77. The Philadelphia & Delaware County Railroad company, cn-^rtered by Act of the State of Pennsylvania of April 2, 1831, was the oldest member of the merger. The Philadelphia. AVilmington & Baltimore Raih^oad Company, which was a party to the merger, was organized February 6, 18:3, by the consolidation, under Act of Delaware of February 4. 1833. of Maryland of January 20, 1838, and of Pennsylvania of December 19, 1837. The first pas- senger ststion in Philadelphia was located at the corner of Eleventh and Market streets where the Bingham House now stands. It was started in the spring of 1842 and put into use during the summer of 1843. Horse power was employed to haul trains to and from it, and the inconvenience and deplay consequent upon this manner of service induced the Company to purchase a site at Broad and Prme streets (Washngton avenue) for a new station in connection with which steam power service could be used. The operation was begun September 30, 1851, and the station finished and put into use May 17, 1852. Lansdowne has many citizens who can recall the "old Broad and Prime Street Depot." Another and still more direct factor in local transportation facilities will now be offered, namely, the West Chester and Philadelphia Railroad. On October 15, 1881, the West Chester & Philadelphia Railroad Company, which \\as chartered in Pennsylvania, August 11, 1848. to build a. road from Philadelphia to West Chester, Pa., via Media, a distance of 27.4 miles, was consolid.'.ted with the Philadelphia & Baltimore Central Railroad Company. The West Chester & Philadelphia Road was opened as far as Media,, 14 miles, in 1854, and operated a number of years between that point and Philadelohia only; but, on November 11, 1858, having been completed to West Chester, its first train passed over the road to that point then, hav- 12 lansdovnxe past and present ing been drawn by the engine "Rockdale" the tram-conductor having been Edward Miller, who was born in West Chester, February 24, 1824. It is an easy step from this road to what is now known as the Central Division P. B. & W. R R. The road was originally a single track one with light rails, light engines, small cars, wooden bridges, and poor stations. The Central Division was formed September 1, 1881, with headquarters at 31st and Chestnut streets, Philadelphia, to which points all passeiager trains ran until January 1. 1881^. when th^y began running into and out of Broad Street Station, Philadelphia. On SepLember 4, 1882, the Superintendent office was removed to Media, Pa During ;.he changes at Broad Street Station— the remodelling of tracks, tho enlargement of station, and erection of the General Office building— the trains resumed' running to and from 31st and Chestnut streets, commencing on January 1, 1893. The first train to return to Broad Street StaLion, went in Marcn 27, 1893, and from then until September 11, 1893, additional trains returned from time to time, all trains having returned on that date. Philadelphia and Delaware County Railroad. The Philadelphia & Delaware Count Railroad, extending from Fernwood Pa., 5.5 miles from Philadelphia, to Newtown qSuare, Pa., a distance of 9V2 miles, y^as organized April 2, 1890, and opened January 2, 1894, traffic and travel orer the line having been started about July 1, 1894. The road pene- trates the most fertile portion of Delaware County, and opened up to su- burban settlement a most picturesque and healthful section. *LANSDOWNE." HOW LANSDOWNE OBTAINED ITS NAME. Probably not more than a corporal's guard of the present residents of Lansdowne can recall the time when the place was known as "Darby Road Station," and to most of them it will no doubt be a revelation to learn that it was ever known by any other than its present familiar title. It was so named, however, in the summer of 1875, when Mr. Richard Griffith mov- ed from Philadelphia to a home he had erected for himself on the plot of ground east of Kenney's Lane extending from Nyack avenue to the rail- road, thus adding another to the few scattered residences then exislting in the vicinity. In having furniture, etc., sent out for his new home, Mr. Grif- fith was very much annoyed by constaat errors in the delivc^ry of his goods to Darby station on P. W. & B. R. R., due to the similarity of names of the two stations, and tried to interest other residents in an effort to have the name changed. Not meeting with the encouragement he had expected, he decided to make an individual attempt to see what he could do by a per- sonal application to Col. Thos. A. Scott, who was then President of the Pennsylvania R. R. Co., having his country home just across Darby Creek. Aside from the confusion incident to the similarity of names, Mr. Griffith contended that the place would not develop with such a name as "Darby Road Station." Col. Scott, after listening pleasantly to the reasons present- ed, said- "Well what do you want to call it?" Mr." Griffith submitted a list LA^^SDOA^•^E past and pki^sent i:^ of names, headed with "Scotland" and including- "Lansdowne." Col. Scott objected to the lirst and Mr. Griffith expressed a preference for "l^ans- down^". whereupon the Colonel replied, "Well, if you like that, call it that," and suggested that he see Mr. Smith, the Superintendent of the road about the matter; but Mr. Smith not seeming to talce kindly to the change, Mr. Griffith, not to be balked in his undertakmg, decided to "take the bull by the horns" and immediately ordered a suitable sign with the name "Lans- downe" in gilt script letters on a black ground, and had it delivered at his home, and at night had his colored man carry the sign and a ladder to the station, he following with a hatchet and nails, and fastened the sign just above the old name, paying the entire cost from his own pocket. When he stopped at Superintendent Smith's office, the next morning and announced what had been done, that gentleman resented the action as an unwarranted assumption of authority, and wanted to know what business he had to put a sign up at the station. Mr. Griffith replied that Col. Scott had told him to go ahead, so he had done so, and would be obliged to him if he would issue the necessary instructions as to the change of name, which evidently was done as the same sign remained in place for some years. Mr. Griffith lived to see the early development of this beautiful village of homes, that owes its name to his energy a.nd perseverance. THE FIRST RAILROAD STATION. Mr. Charles S. Price, a highly esteemed citizen, recently sketched the early Lansdowne (then Darby Road) Railroad Station in the following brief but com.prehensive manner: Previous to 1868 the station stood on the west side of L-ansdowne avenue where the freight station now stands. It was only a platform and small shed. In ISfT the Railroad Company tried for nearly a year to buy the property back of the then station where the L.evis coal yard now is. Being unable to come to terms with Mrs. Davis, they bought the property where the station now stands from the Kenney Estate, and erected the frame station house M^hich was finished in the spring ofl8f8. The station contained a cellar for coal on one side of the stairway to the waiting-room from the platform, and on the other side was a room with lockers c.nd closets for the use of patrons of the road, where could be kept umbrellas, overshoes, etc. The first floor was used as a station office and living quarters, the second floor and the attic being devoted exclusively to living qtiarters. The tract was a triangvilar one which had been cut oft from the Kenney place by the Railroad. Mr. Price's father and the Rail- road CoTipany traded land to square up the tract and make it more avail- abltt for railroad purposes. 14 LAXSDOWNE PAST AND PRESENT LANSDOWNE'S BUSINESS CENTRE TWENTY YEARS AGO. Early Conditions on East Side of Lansdowno Avenue North of the Railroad Bridge. The block of ground bounded by Lansdowne, Highland and Madison ave- nues and the Railroad was in the year 1888 occupied, for the most part, as a nursery by Caspar Pennock, the owner, who in the same year and the year followins?- rented to diiferent persons small spaces of g^round on Lansdowne avenue upon whi'-h the tenants erected tneir own buildings, mostly of frame con- struction and small in size. One of these buildings, at the corner of Lansdowne avenue and the Railroad, where the inclined walk now leads from the sta- tion platform to the avenue, was occupied as an ofRce by the Lansdowne Heights Land Com- pany, which was at the time re- presented locally by John W. Gibson, Jr., part of the build- ing- being also occupied by Daniel D. Mullin as a plumbing shop. The next building was occupied by William Saunders as a builder's ofRce. The third structure was used as a barber shop by Charles Bropny. In the fourth building' M-'.s>. Louisa Grabau conducted a notion store. On December 18, 1890, the entire row of buildings was destroyed by fire. A short time afterward Mr.Pennock began the erection of the present Post Office Buildiiijr, which was completed for occup- ancy Augrust 1, 1891. The first tenants in the new building were as follows: On the Rail- road front, Charles Levis, real estate; the Lansdowne Heights Company, (John TV. Gibson, agent.) building lots, a.nd George H. Robbins, harness maker. Rear of the building, S. Fredericks, barber shop, and Charles McLaughlin, shoe shop, Lansdowne avenue front, W". H. Yocum & Son, grocers; Charles W. Mer- kle, cigars, and Mrs. Louisa Grabau, dry goods and shoes. The block bounded by Lansdowne, Baltimore, and Madison avenues and twenty-foot alley about one hundred and twenty feet east of Lansdowne avenue, con- tained l>ut one building, at the southeast corner of l^ansdowne and Balti- more avenues, (now occupied by the Knights of Columbus, on East Balti- more avenvie.) known in those days as Brennan's Drug Store. 'J'his build- ing was erected on the site formerly occupied by a small frame dwelling known as the "toll-gate house," which is still standing and tenanted, be- > ^^M j^^Bfcjiniiiii iiiiiiiir"iHP^i"" f iim irimk^^< ^ ■ Homer C. Stewart Prominent in Lansdowne' s Early Development. LANSDOWNE PAST AND PRESENT 15 ing locaLed en Church street near Kellj^ville Church. The Brennaai JJrug Store iD^^opeTty fronted atout 120 feet on Baltimore avenue and south on L,ansdownt avenue to the present building- of William H. Worrell, the re- maining lots southward to Madison avenue being devoted to tennis courts, from v;hich a fine view of Lansdowne avenue was afforded at the residence of Caspar Pennock, now occupied by David Muncer. in the rear of the Pen- nock lieme stood the water-tank house which was the origin of the L,ans- downe AVater Company and its successor the present JSpringheld Consoli- dated Water Company, of which mention will be found elsewhere in this publication. Resuming the account of the block on Lansdowne avenue ex- tending from Madison avenue to the confectionery establishment of George N. Storch, 105 feet front, Edward F. Pearson purchased from Mr. Pennock property at the corner of Madison avenue with a frontage of 25 feet, M-^. AVil- liam H. Worrell purchased 30 feet, and later William ShafCner bought the remain-ng GO feet and erected thereon the building now occupied by tne well known grocers Beatty Bros. Mr. Pearson paid iSlOO per front foot and the other purchasers ?80., about 1^:91; this land was valued at $300 for lots with a fifty foot frontage in 1888, or $6 a front foot; if vacant today they would sell for $300 per front foot. The Pearson building was erected by William Saunders, the Shaffner building by R. K. Ingram & Bro., and the Worrell structure was moved from Fernwood, having been previously used in that nearby suburb as a public school building and later as a church, and was bought by the later Homer C. Stewart by whom it was sold to Mr. Worrell at the ime of its removal from Fernwood by the veteran house mover, Mr. Hancock, of Darby, Pa. The business of the Brennan Drug Store was sold to Dr. William E. Hinkson, who conducted the business for some time, re- tiring after the structure had been removed by its new owner, the late Henry C. Stazell, to its present location, the present quarters of De L-a Salle Council, Knights of Columbus, on the south side of East Baltimore avenue, ad.ioining the Borough Building, in the winter of 1899 and 1900. Wil- liam Saunders erected the row of stores now occupied by Karry M. Davis, pharmacy, MacDonnel & Co., dry-goods and notions, Edwin B. Dewis, reai estate, and George N. Storch, confectionery. A button-ball tree of immense girth and heighth, with enormous limbs, stood at the southeast corner of Lansdowne and Madison avenue, and this tree Mr. Pennock had cut down in the fall of 1S91, the great stump, too bulky for removal, was undermined and buried in a deep trench far below the present sidewalk in front of Mrs. Grabau"s store, the work being done by Frank Cuft, a colored man of gig- antic stature, who now resides near Darby, Pa. In 1883 there were on this side of Lansdowne avenue between the rail- road bridge and Marshall Road, the northern boundary line of the present borough, only two buildings. One of these was a toll-gate house on Balti- more avenue where now stands the Davis and Jessup pharmacy, and, at a long interval, the present residence of W. Albert Johnson near Marshall road. On the north side of Baltimore avenue, in the present limits of the borough, there were at this time only three buildings— the plaster-coated hnusp near Union avenne, built by T. Elwood Bartram; the ancient structure built with imported brick, corner of Baltimore and Owen avenues, in 1732, said to have been occupied during the war of Revolution by Washington and Lafayette, and known as the "Runnymede Club House," and the residence of Dr. De- Forest Williard near Windermere avenue, originally built by John B. Aus- tin, who used it as a country-seat. On the south side of Baltimore avenue stood three houses. The house formerly occupied as a residence by its owner, J. Wesley Harris, and enlarged bv him into "The Evergreen Lodge" a boarding house; the mansion of Ivan Fox, many squares distant, and the residence of the late Philip J. Welsh, IG LANSPOWNE TAST AND PRESENT Some Early Conditions on West Side of Lansdowne Avenue, North of the Railroad Bridge. The property known as the "Lansdowne Villa", originally built by T. 1^1- wood Bartram, was owned in 188S by the late William Mecouch, a Philadel- phia builder, and was occupied by Joseph Walker and wife, the latter being a daughter of Mr. Mecouch. Mr. Walker conducted a plumbing business. The house at that time was a two story and attic, g'able-roofed buiidmg. Upon Mr. Walker's vacation of the premises in 1891. Mr. Mecouch had tne house enlarged in the winter and early spring of 1892, adding to it the three story "French roof" addition, and in June o that year it wa,s ooened as a a first-class summer boarding house by James Mecouch, by whom it was operated for two years, when he was succeeded in business by a Mrs. Baker who died while conducting it. After her decease the business wa^ c-i up by P. W. Custeed, who moved to Reading, Pa., April 1, 1902, when Freder- ick Lang took possession, he having purchased the property in January of that year. During the summer of 1902 Mr. Lang sold to the Lansdowne and Darby Trust and Saving Fund Company the land now occupied by th'^ir banking house immediately adjoining- the railroad bridge. Mr. Lang carried on the baking business on the premises until April. 1906, when he retired, having- leased the property to R. James Robinson the present tenant, and selling the property later to Daniel D. Mullin, by whom it was conveyed to Thomas H. Cullinan the present owner. The next property was occuoied by Garrett H. Levis as a residence, which was fronted by a large, shady lawn now covered by the three stores occupied by respectively the tonsorial parlor of Frank Trommer, the plumbing establishment of Pharaoh, and the tailoring business of N. M. Talone. These stores were built by Daniel D. Mullin ater he bought the property from Mr. Levis. The next property, ex- tending to Baltimore avenue and along the latter to the line of propertv be- longing to Thomas P. Conard, was owned by the later Homer C. Stewart, who occupied the house on the corner. Mr. Stewart was in the real estate busine^JS, and his office a one story frame structure, stood in his door yard on Lansdowne avenue, about where McGonigle's oyster house now stands, on a bank about four feet above the sidewalk. About 1891 Mr. Stewart built the four stores on Lansdowne avenue, and occupied as a real estate otiice. until the time of his death in November, 1904, the one now used bv David J. Muncer as a plumbing shop. Mr. Stewart then, in 1891, sold to Richard- son Shoemaker the remainder of the property, the later having built a brick and frame stable in the rear of the stores, and this stable having been later destroyed, Mr. Shoemaker erected the handsome building-, for ware- housing and stabling- business, on Baltimore avenue which he now owns and conducts. In 1904 Mr. Shoemaker sold to Dr. John A. McKenna the house and incidental lot at the corner of Baltimore and Lansdowne ave- nues. In 1883, a quarter of a century ago, north of the railroad bridge, on the west Side of Lansdowne avenue (then the Darby and Radnor roadK stood the Bartram house, subseciuently the "Lansdowne Villa," above mentioned; next beyond was the house at the corner of Baltimore and Lansdowne avenues,' built by Mary Owen, for Stephen Pancoast, during- the year 1885, and now owned and occupied by Dr. McKenna, also hereina.fter announced; beyond this structiye was the Friends" Meeting House, and still furter on was the farm-house of W. Albert Johnson. Early Conditions South of the Railroad. That section of La.nsdowne formerly known as AustinvUle, or West Fernwood comprised in the early eighties, upwards of thirty houses, and a LANSDOWNE PAST AiXTD PRESENT 17 tin-mill operated by W. Austin Obdyke & Co. In those days it was a tliriv- ing little village. Obdyke & Co. removed their plant to No. ^4 Broad street, i-hiladelphia, about 1887. Next to Austinville was located the home of a Mr. Selheimer, which embraced three acres of land, with a large residence in the centre, the same being now owned and occupied by John C. Schappett, who purchased the property from the heirs of the late Mr. Selheimer. On a part of this property were built the houses on what is known as Schappett Ter- race. The next property, extending to Wycombe avenue, (then Kenney's Lane) was owned by the late Richard C. Griffith, the originator of the name "Lansdowne," who was a member of the sect of Friends, and this property-, now occupiet. by the Ranna Kennels, is still owned by the Griffith Estate. The brick mill and warehouse on the west side of Wycombe ave- nue, between the railroad and Nyack avenue, was owned by Keeler, Jf'arley & Phipps, who conducted a "down quilt" factory. The frame warehouse and siding were used by "William Taylor as a feed warehouse and coal yard, he being succeeded in business by "Robert Black, who, in turn, gave place to Samuel L. Hibberd, by whom the business was carried on until the property passed into possession of the American Ice and Coal Company. LANSDOWNE HIGHLANDS. In the northeastern section of the borough is located the tract of land known as the "Lansdowne Highlands", which was formerly owned by Richard Plumstead, who conducted theron a farm, from 1842 until the time of his death, after which the place was owneo and occupied by Mary E. Plumstead who subsequently married the late Dr. Elwood Baker, who ran the farm and also attended to a large professional business. The property was sold to "The Highland Mutual Land Association in 1888 (Dr. and Mrs. Baker removing October 9 of that year to "Sunset View," built about this time bv Samuel B. Bartram, at the corner of Lansdowne and Fairview avenues, where they resided until the death of the Doctor on March 1, 189", at the age of fifty-seven). Plumstead avenue was named in honor of the late Richard Plumstead. In 1892 the farm was split up into 8?9 building lots, the old Plumstead mansion being at the time occupied by William H. Ryan, by whom it was enlarged and modern improvements were introduced- Mr. Rvan was a member of the borough council, he was also a successful business man, and contributed in a substantial degree to borough improve- ment and general development. He was President and Manager of the Lansdowne Real Estate Company, and besides developing the tract under consideration, also gave it the name "Lansdowne Highlands." The Mansion was sold by Real Estate Agent John W. Gibson to W^. Frank Eno:lish. the present \iwner and occupant. September 21. 1905, Mr. Ryan's family having removed to Philadelphia. The original Plumstead mansion was erected in 1761. and is the oldest building in T ansdowne excepting the Runnymede Club building mentioned elsewher herein. LANSDOWNE HEIGHTS LAND COMPANY. Twenty years ago that section of Lansdowne between Greenwood avenue and the Marshall Road and Lan.sdowne avenue, (then known as the Darby Road), and Shadeland avenue was considered "out in the country," there being only beven houses in the territory. These were No. 192 N. Lansdowne avenue, now occupied by Mr. Geissenger; the old "farm house," (still stand- ing), row No. [9 Drcxel avenue, and th^n occupied by Isaac Carr, who worked the Johnson farm for the owner, ^Villiam Albert Johnson-— this house 18 LANSDOWNE PAST AND PRESENT was reached by a lane which ran diagonally from Lansdowne avenue, north of the present Essex avenue, across the ground now owned by H. R. Burt and Robert Irwin, ana passed a point being- now Owen and Drexel avenues, (and when Drexel avenue was graded in 18!:9 by the Lansdowne Heights Land Company, they having purchased the Johnson farm and laid it out into lots, the soil from it was used in filling up the lane); the next house was a small stone dwelling occupied for many years by a man and wife who were mutes— this house is supposed to be over two hundred years old, and was located on the Jackson farm, which was also purchased by the L.and Company and turned into building lots along with the Johnson tract; in 1889. J. Walter Carpenter, the present occupant of the premises, purchased the same from the Land Company and had it remodelled and enlarged, it being now No. 215 Berkley avenue; two large frame houses on the east side of Shadeland avenue, south of Drexel avenue, owned by the late Jr'hilip J. Walsh; and the residence of the late Charles Wagner, Esq., adjoining a small house, on the same side of Shadeland avenue, north of I3rexel avenue, a tenant house on the Jackson farm. These seven houses were the only ones standing in the territory named twenty years ago, with a population of possibly about 40 people. The first house erected upon ground sold by the Land Company is now known as No. 75 West Greenwood avenue; it was built by Elija^h Marshall for his sister, Mrs. De Negre, who still owns ana occupies the premises. This section of the Borough is no longer "out in the country," but has hundreds of inhabitants, miles of streets, sidewalks, sewers, water and gas mains, is also lighted by electricity, and is other- wise supplied with all the latest and best municipal improvements. It is considered one of the most promising sections of Lansdowne. WYCOMBE LAND COMPANY. OLD COUNTRY CLUB. Immediately adjoining the Plumstead property, and extending' from that p-:operty to Wycombe avenue, was the farm owned and occupied by Loren2,o D. Black, who vacated the premises about 1893, after selling the tract to what was known as the "Wycombe Land Company," of which John J. White and Henry S. Paul were the moving principals. Mf. Black had lived on the property for thirty-nine years. The old brick farm-house, standing at the corner of Wycombe and Essex aA^enues, was enlarged and used as a club bouse in the early nineties, having been vacated when the club, now known as the "Lansdowne Country Club," secured its prese.nt handsome and extensive quarters on south Lansdowne avenue. The Land Company, in 1893, divided the property into building- lots, numbering abouv 201 lots, and these were duly planned and oftered for sale by John J. White, whose office was at 925 Chestnut street, Bhiladelphia. The lots raced on the following thoroughfares, viz: Marshall Road. Railroad Avenue, Eighth Avenue, Windsor Avenue, Sixth Avenue, Wildwood Avenue, Wycombe Ave- nue, Johnson Avenue, Wabash Avenue, Edenfl'eld Avenue, Blackbume Ave- nue, Midway Avenu and Plumstad Avenue. John J. White was a member of the Borough Council, and a lawyer of high standing, built his home, "Wycombe," in this section, the most erevated of the borough. Wycombe station, on the Philadelphia & Delaware County^ branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad, being but a few hundred yards distant therefrom. From the porches surrounding the residence could be seen the tower of Philadelphia's City Hall, while there was also afforded a fine view up the valley of Nay- lor's Run. along which nestled many beautiful places, including that of the late Anthony J. Drexel, the elder Fallon, a former owner, having been at one time American eaunsel of the Queen, of Spain. Mr. White besides LANSDOWNE PAST AND PRESENT 11) being- one of the counsel of the Philadelphia & Delaware County Railroad, was largely instrumental in procuring' its contruction. He was heavily in- terested along- its line, not only in Lansdowne, where he owned some fifty acres of ground, but in Llanerch, some two miles further out on the West Chester Turpike and trolley, where he owned about one hundred and tifty acres of desirable ground. Ad,)oining the Black property, above outlined, on the south, was what was known as the "Haaisell property," occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Haaisell for many years. The house and four acres of ground were sold to C. E. Flutcher in 1905 and in that and the succeeding year were improved by the erection of twenty-eight two-story and attic twin suburban houses, which became known a,s the "Powelton District", the houses being built on Powelton and Marple (formerly Edenfield) avenues. The old Hansell farm- house is now a grocery store, conducted by C. E. Jackson & Co., who suc- ceeded Shields & Co., early in 1908, the latter firm having started the busi- early in 1907. Mrs. Hansell, while occupying the old farm-house, became famous, many years ago, for her "home-made bread," and from a small beginnnig ^rew the well known Hansen's Bakery now located at No. 0)25 Market street. West Philadelphia, SKETCH OF BOROUGH LOAN ISSUES. Loan Issues of the Borough of Lansdowne have been as Follows. YEAR PURPOSE OF 3X)AN AMOUNT 1893 Upper Darby Highway Bonds $55,200 1896 Sewers 25,000 1896 Sidewalks, $2,000; Highways, $8,000 10,000 1898 ,. Highways 15,000 1900 Sewers 15,000 1903 Sidewalks, $1,GU0; Gutters, $2,000; Sewers, $4,000; Town Hall, $12,000 19,000 1904 Highways 5,000 Total $144,200 SUMMARY OF LOAN PURPOSES. Sewers, $44,000. Sidewalks, $3,000. Gutters, $2,000. Town Hall, $12,000. High- ways, $28,000. Upper Darby Highways, $55,000. The total bonded indebtedness, $144,200, has been reduced to $124,200, by payments from the Sinking Fund, as of March 1, 1'908, on which date the cash balance of the Fund stood at $19,273.50 exclusive o estimated receipts placed at $3,413.28, HIGH^VAY EXPENDITURES. 1905, $3,768.52. 1906, $4,677.93. 1907, Highways, $7,370.29. Sidewalks, $875.72; total, $8,246.01. 1908, $7,000 appropriated, of which $1,000 had been already expended. 20 LANSDOWNE PAST AND PRESENT HISTORY OF BOROUGH TAX RATES. The followmg table showing the annual tax rate of the Borough of Lans- downe for Sinking Fund and Borough purposes will prove interesting and instructive; Year 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 190R 1907 1908 Borough Purposes Mills .,.A 1-2 ....4 1-2 ....5 ...A 1-2 „..5 5 ....5 ...A ...A 1-t ...A 1-6 „..3 7-10 ....3 7-10 ..,A ...A 1-2 ....5 Interest and Sinking Fund: Mills: 2 2 2 1-2 2 3-4 3 1-2 3 1-2 3 1-2 4 1-2 4 1-3 4 1-3 4 S-'IO 4 8-10 4 1-2 4 3 1-2 Total Tax Rate Mills: .. 6 1-2 . . 6 1-2 . . 7 1-2 .. 7 1-4 . . 8 1-2 . . 8 1-2 ., 8 1-2 . . 8 1-2 . . 8 1-2 . . 8 1-2 . . 8 1-2 .. 8 1-2 . . 8 1-2 ... 8 1-2 . . 8 1-2 SKETCH OF BOROUGH ASSESSMENTS, MARVELOUS INCREASE IN REALTY VALUES. It is not an unwan-anted stretch of imagination to announce that com- parative statistics show conclusively that Lansdowne property values have advanced with really marvelous rapidity as if impelled by the constant energy of financial wizardry. In exemplification of this statement the toi- lowLng figures are presented: In the 89's th? valuation of local property was scarcely $100,000. The accompanying tabulated data exhibit great strides: Increase Over Year Total Assessment Previous Year 1894 $1,257,873 ,....., 1902 1.97S,350 , $720,477 ISD? ..,„ , 2.0:5,500 56.150 1904 2.187,150 „.., , 151.650 1905 , ,..,. 2.278,365 91.215 1906 2.427.200 „..., 148.733 1907 ...,^. 3,054,020 , 626 820 1908 3,148,875 94,855 $1,169,425 The average annual increase for the first eight vears, from 1854 to 1902, was $90,059.62. The increase in assessment in 14 years was $1,891,002. The average annual increase for the last six years, 1902 to 1908^ was $194,904.16. LANSDOWNE PAST AND PRESENT 21 LANSDOWNE BOARD OF HEALTH. The Board of Health of Lansdowne was organized November 1, 1893, the President of Borough Council appointing- the fo. lowing- Oxticers: President, Dr. William D. Kennedy, J. A. MBartram, Jno. W. Davis, H. Grim, and C. H. Dix. Jno. W. Davis as eleoted as Secretary, and M. T. Vandevere as Health OfRcer. The duties and povvers oi! tha Board were deflned in an "Ordinance of the Burgess and Council of the Borough of Lansdowne, for the better preservation of the public health and to prevent the spread of communicable disease," passed in Ibyi, and baei on i:Ov\ers cmfirrei by Act of Assembly of April 3, 1S51, Article 1, P. L. 8J0 of the Laws of Pennsylvania. The present personel of the Board, 19C8 includes: President Dr. William D. Kennedy, C. E. Ebrey, Samuel F. Irwin, JolKn C. Roberts, and Wm. A. McEwen. John J. H. Phillips is secretary, and Thomas G. Janvier, Health OfRcer. THE FIRST BOROUGH POLITICAL BATTLE. The following reprint of a news item a month after Borough incorporation, w days, and will, also, no doubt prove inte citizens: The four tickets in the field BURGESS: Republican George M. Wagner Citizens' Wm. H. Barker, D. Democrat Wm. H. Barker, D. Conserv. Local Govt. Wm. H. Barker, D. COUNCIL: Republican Jas. Garrett TA . A. Johnson S. B. Brosius S. B. Cunnnigham A. H. Postel C. M. Wagner Citizens' Casper Pennock, Pro. H. C. Stewart. R. George W. Thrope, R. F. M. Longstreth, D. A. H. Po-stel, R. vVm H. Ryan, D. Democrat Caspar Pennock, Pro. H. C. Stewart, Rep. Geo. W. Thorpe, R. F. M. Longstreth. D. A. H. Postel, R. Wm. H. Ryan, D. Conserv. Local '"ovt. Jas. Garrett, R. W. A. Johnson, R. S. G. Brosius, R. F. M. Longstreth, D. S. B. Cunningham, R. Caspar Pennock, Pro. published June 20, 1898, a little over ill show how politics stood in those resting reaciing to many ot the hrst stood as follows: SCHOOL DIRECTORS: Rer»ublican I. P. Garrett M. T- Van d ever Jos. Fleming F. R. Fackler E. B. Lewis W. P. Freeborn Citizens' I. P. Garrett. R. Rebecca S. Conrad, Pro. Jas. P. Brepn. R. E. B. Lewis, R. W. F. English, R. Democrat I. P. Garrett. R Rebecca S. Conrad, Pro. Jas. P. Breen, R. E. B. T.ewip p W. F. English, R. Conserv. Local Govt. I. P. Garrett. R. E. V. Kane. Ind. Dem. Rebecca S. Conrad. Pro. E. R. Fackler. R. .Jo'=!. Fipm'ng. P. M. T. Vandever, R. TAX COLLECTOR & ASSESSOR Republican William Bartram Citizen.s' William Saunders, R. Democrat Henry Albertson. R. William Saunders, R. Conserv. Local Govt. William Bartram, R, LANSDOWNE PAST AND PRESENT ASSISTANT ASSESSORS. Republican Henry Albertson S. B. Bartram Citizens' Henry Albertson, R. John S. Wilson, R. Democrat Henry Albertson, R. John S. Wilson, R. Conserv. Local Govt. Henry Albertson, R. S. E. Bartram, R. JUSTICE OF PEACE: Republican Charles Janvier Citizens' Charles Janvier Democrat Charles Janvier Conserv. Local Govt. Charles Janvier AUDITORS: Republican L. Marshall J. W. Davis H. B. Stiles Citizens' L. Marshall, R. Democrat L. Marshall, R. J. W. Davis, R. Thomas Hughes, D. Conserv. Local Govt. L. Marshall, R. J. W. Davis, R. H. B. Stiles, R. CONSTABLE: Republican Willia^n Re^-nenter Citizens' William Rementer, R. Democrat. William Rementer, R. Conserv. Local Govt. William Rementer, R. DARBY AND HAVERFORD ROAD. Att a Court held att Chester for ye County of Chester ye 3d day in ye 1st Weeke of the 10th moneth 1687." (Dec. 6th, 1687.) "Ordered that ye Township of Darby finde out a Convenient Hig-h way from thence to ye Township of Hartford." "Ordered alsoe that High wayes be laid out by ye Grand Inquest or any five of them from Newtowne Marple and Spring-field to ye landing att Amos Land." "Att a Court held att Chester for ye County o Chester ye sixth day of ye 1st moneth 1687." (1688, N. S.) "A High way laid out by ye g-rand Jury and other neighbors betwixt Hartford and Darby upon ye 7th day of the twelfe moneth 1687, Beginning at Widdow Panthirs (Painter's) and from thence on ye head lyne betwixt ye said Widdows land and ye land of John Lewis from thence Crosse ye land of William Howell from thence acrosse ye land of Arthur Bruce from thence crosse ye land of Henry Lewis thence Entring the Town- ship of Darby " from thence Crosse ye land of Adam Roads thence crosse ye land of John Kirk then Crosse ye land of Mathew Gratton then crosse ye land of Joshua ffirme then crosse ye land of AVilliam Garrett then Crosse ye land of Michael Blunstone then crosse ye land of George Wood then Crosse ye land of Robert Smith then Crosse ye land of Thomas Worth thence Coming vpon the land of Joshua ffirne soe downe ye Towne Street of Darby to ye Kings road and soe to ye Landing this High way to be sixty foote as need reouires. William Garrett Thomas Bradshaw Richard Parker Thomas ffox Edmond Cartledge LANSDOWNE PAST AND PRESENT 2'd SOME EARLY ENGINEERING FACTS, THIS ENGINEER CORPS SURVEYED AND LAID OUT LANSDOWNB BOROUGH. (Reading- from right to left: Thomas G. Janvier, Boroug-h Engineer; Henry A. Burkholder and Oscar Evans, assistants.) This survey was commenced in February, 1893, embraced about 640 acres and 23 miles of streets. First boroug-h survey -was started in February, 1893. Territory embraced by first borough survey covered about 640 acres. First borough survey embraced about 23 miles of streets. First sewer was laid on Lansdowne avenue, in April and May, 1892. First cement sidewalk was laid on Lansdowne avenue in July, 1895. First roadway construction was in 1888 and 1889, previous to borough incorporation, rom Darby to Garrettford Road, representing Lansdowne avenue, or Darby and Radnor Road. The work was the result of efforts of the Lansdowne Drive Improvemtnt Comp. ny, com_os:d cf such wellknown and prominent men as Messrs. A. J. Drexel, Joel J. Baily, Richard i. Cook and others. The cost of construction was about $10,000 per mile, and was met by private subscription. Length of sewer system, main and branch, laid by the first borough engineers was 8 miles,' and the cost approximated $30,000. 24 LANSDOWNE PAST AND PRESENT HISTORY OF BOROUGH OFFICIALS CHRONO- LOGICALLY OFFERED. BOROUGH BUILDING, LANSDOWNE. Headquarters Lansdowne Fire Company. June 7, 1893. The Borough of Lansdowne was incoporated June 7, 1893. July 9, 1893: The first Borough Council was organized in the School House, with the following personnel, viz:— W. Albert Johnson, Frank M. Longstreth, S. B. Cunningham, Caspar Pennock, S. G. Brosius, and A. H. Postel. Chief Burgess, William H. Barker. President of Council, W. Albert Johnson. Temporary Secretary, A. H. Postel. Borough Solicitor, L. L. Smith. (July 11, 1S93: H. L. Warren elected Secretary. C. B. Shoemaker elected Treasurer. August 9, 1893: Borough borrowed on Note of Caspar Pennock, drawn to order of VV. Albert Johnson and C. B. Shoemaker, $4Q0 from the Darbv, Pa., Bank at 6 per cent, interest. LANSDOWNE TAST AND TUESENT The Provident Life Life and Trust Company, of Philadelphia, Pa., was the depository of the first Borough funds. Thomas G. Janvier elected Borough Surveyor. February, 1894: James Garrett elected to Council . William Bartram elected Tax Collector. February, 1895: Francis G. Taylor, G. W. Thorp, B. Hallowell, Jr., J. A. Bartram, W. H. Clawson, and S. G. Brosius elected to Council. July, 1896; Edwin B. Lewis appointed Tax Collector by the Court to fill the un- expired term of William Bartram,. February, 1897: Homer C. Stewart elected to Council. J. J. White elected to Council in place of W. Frank English, Chief Burg-ess, W. Frank English. President of Council, Homer C. Stewart. Borough Solicitor, ir.ank M. Cody. Tax Collector, Edwin B. Lewis. March, 1898: Joseph S. Vanzandt and John M. Ridings and William H. Ryan entered Council. President of Council, Francis G. Taylor. 1899: Frank T. Davis, Sr., C. Kirby, J. M. Andrew.s, and W. H. Clawson elected to Council. President of Council, John M. Ridings. Borough Solicitor, Fred Taylor Pusey. Highway Commissioner, Benj. Walters. 1900: John Jackson elected to Council. Chief Burg-ess, Frank T. Davis, Sr. President of Council, John M. Riding's. Borough Solicitor, L. L. Smith, on 21st ballot. Building Inspector. William Saunders. Highway Commissioner, Wm. C. Smith. 1901 : C. Wilfred Conard elected to Council. W. H. Barker was appointed March 4, 1301, to All the place of W. H, Clawson, 1902: John W. Davis, Leiinder Marshall, and Edward F. Pearson els-cted to Council President of Council, Edward F. Pearson, Borough Treasurer, Walter C. Powell. Borough Surv'eyor, R. P. Green. 1903: John A. McKenna elected to Council. Borough Solicitor, Francis G. Taylor, Building Inspector, James A. Magruire. September 9, 1903: John W. Da-yis appointed Secretary of Borough Council vice H. L. War- ren, resigned. Edwin B. Lewis a,ppointed architect of the Boroug-h Town Hall. Reynolds and Caldwell, contractors. October 9. 1903: Robert Crawford elected to Council to fill the unexpired term of John W. Davis. 1904: C. H. Eppelsheimer elected to Council. E. D. Salter, Building In.spector, appointed in 1903. 20 LAXSDOWXE PAST AND l^KESEXT 1905: William H. Hirst, Jno. C. Hines, and S. John Pyle entered Council. 1906: W. Frank Eng-lish elected to Council. Chief Burgess, Robert Crawford. Borough Solicitor, Frank M. Cody. Fire Marshall, Louis J. Eagle. 19G7: Claude A. Simpler and John Jackson elected to Council. Borough Surveyor, A. F. Damon. Highway Commissioner, Samuel L. Hibberd. 1908: A. Culver Boyd, ^Villiam C. Shuster, Jr., and Harry M. Davis elected to Council. Borough Solicitor, Fred Taylor Pusey. Borough Surveyor, A. F. Damon. Building nspector, Cornelius McCullough. Highway Commissioner, William C. Smith. February 16, 1909: Benjamin W. Carskaddon elected Chief Burgess. William A. McEwen elected to Council. • BOROUGH OFFICERS IN 1908. Chief Burg-ess, Capt. Robert Crawford. Members or council, Clauae A. simpler, John A. McKenna, John Jack- son, W. Frank English, A. v^ulver Boyd, William C. Shuster, Jr., and Harry M. Davis. President of Council, Claude A. Simpler. Secretary of Council, John ^V. Davis. Treasurer, W^alter C. Powell. Borough Solicitor, Fred Taylor Pusey. Borough Engineer, A. F. Damon, Jr. Reial Estate Assessor, John C. HiJbert. Tax Collector, Edwin B. Lewis. Building Inspector, Cornelius McCullough. Highway Commissioner, William C. Smith. Highway Inspectors, (Temporary), Arthur Moorshead and J. Park Steen. Justice of the Peace, Charles Janvier and Edward I-,. Donnelly. Constable, R. James Robinson. ANDERSON TRACT. (SEE ADV.) 1'his beautiful traet of land about 22 acres, is distant 6 V2 miles from the City HaJl, Philadelphia, and, under building improvements now being stead- ily prosecuted by the owner, Mr. George W. Statzell, will erelong stand out as a splendid example of the ideal suburoan. residential spot of Delaware County. The following brief historic sketch of the tra.ct speaks volumes on local increase in real estate Volume^. April 2, 18-:9. \Yilliam Lincoln conveyed to Robert M. Smith 21 acres more or less, the cbhsideratibn being' $4, 850. This was what is now known as the Anderson Tract, beginhing- on the nortn side o Marshall Road and ex- tending along Lansdowne avenue to the Garrett Road. May 27, 1868, Robert M. Smith conveyed this property to Archibald Ah- LANSDOWXE I'AST AND I'KESEXT derson, the consideration being- $9,950, and the deed of conveyance was at- tached a $10 internal revenue stamp used to provide for liquida,tion of na- tional indebtedness incurred by the Civil \v ar. September >H, 1905, Robert Anderson and Mary Ann Anderson, executors of the Estate of Archibald Anderson, deceased, conveyed the property to Georg-e W. Statzell, the consideration being- $30,72^5. THE LOBB FARM. (THE JOHNSON TliACT.) The Lobb farm embraced over 100 acres in Upper Darby Township, now in the northern section of L,ansdowne Boroug^h. The first stone farm-house and residence of the family still stands on the west side of L-ansdowne av- nue. Mrs. "W^illiam Albert Johnson's great-g-randfather, Thomas Lobb, re- sided in the old dwelling-. The son, named Thomas, and his son John, Mrs. Johnson's father, lived in this hciuse. In 1858 John Lobb built the large house on the east side of the avenue, at the edge of the, Boroug-h. It is of stone, colored white, surrounded by a broad, well-kept lawn, trees and shrubbery lending a special charm to the grounds. John Lobb died in 1877, and the place is now the home of Mr. and Mrs. Johnson. The farm around the mansion was known as "Thorough Plain." During the year 1908 up- wards of SO acres of the Johnson farm were sold o the Lansdowne Lead Syndicate and the McWater West Company, these parties cutting their ac- quisitions up into building lots, many of which have been sold and some already improved by the erection of fine residences. The east side of tha tract has curbs and gutters and cement pavement from Essex avenue up to the mansion g-rounds, one square south of Mershall Kof'd, and from L-an-^- dowiie avenue to First avenue, the latter thoroughfare having been opened northward from Essex avenue in December, 1908. On the south side of Es- sex avenue, between Lansdowne and First avenues six suburban houses were started bv W. C. Shuster, Jr., in December, 1908. PART OF ORIGINAL POWELL FARM. The propertv on which stands the row of houses bounded by Stewart, Mc- Ivinley, Union ' & Wycombe avenues was part or the original Foweil farm. Ths four acres passed into the possession of Nicholas Milloy, father of James Milloy, an old Borough resident, upwards of thirty years ago. Mr. Milloy conducted a dairy and tilled the soil until old age compelled him to retire from active pursuits. Shortly after his death the property was sold to a syn- dicate, and from them passed into the possession of Edgar T. Bishop, who began the building operation in the fall of IS98, and completing it the follow- ing spring. 2S LAXSDOWXE PAi^T AND PRESENT THE BARKER BUILDING. The Barker Building', a,t the northwest corner of Baltimore and Lans- downe avenues, was erected by William H. Barker in 1893. Morgan Bunting was the architect. The building, a three-story one, is of local gray stone, With trimmings of India limestone, and is equpped with modern improve- ments. It fronts 150 feet on Lansdowne avenue and CO feet on Baltimore ave^ nue. Among the early occupants were the. St. John's Club, an audience hall, and builders, lawyers, a dressmaker, an artist, and a printer, on the second floor, and a hardware store, stove store, pnarmacy, the Lansdowne Water Company office, and the Borough Tax Collector's Office, on the first floor. Mr. Barker, who is engaged in the granite and marble business with offices in Philadelphia, was the first Burgess of Lansdowne BorOugh, and now re- sides in one of the most attractive homes in the Borough, at 117 North Lansdowne avenue. BLANCHPiERRE The home of Francis 0. Taylor, Esq., known a§ "Blanchpierre'* built on a two-and-one-half-acre lawn, at the corner of LaCrosse and Lansdowne avenues, was erected in 1S91, by Edgar T. Bishop, builder, of Lansdowne» on designs by Hazelhxirst & Huckel. The material is Avondale marble. LAN8D0WXE PAST AND PRESENT 1*9 RLNNYMEOE The 'old estttt'e on the Garrett Read, west t»f the Darby Tlt)ad, wa,s pur- chased of William V. Black by Christopher Fallon, Esq.^ of Philadelphia, in 1850, who constructed a stone mansion. The pine trees were broug-ht from Ireland. The name came from the old family seat of the Fallons in Rose- 'common County, Ireland. Queen Christiana, of Spain, had made Mr. Fallon her lawyer, in this county, she owing- to government disturbances having thought of seeking refuge in the United States, and as Mr. Fallon built the house about that time, a rumor, that contniued for a generation, made the new house her property, and her proposed haven of Safety. This was, how- ever, an error. The Queen's hushand was the Duke of Rianzares. Mr. P'^al- lon\s widow sold the property to Athony J. Drexel in 1882. ORIGINAL SHOEMAKER HOUSE. Tne orig-inal RichardsoTi Shoemaker home, at the corner of Baltimore and Lansdcwne avenues, was built by Mary Owen in 1835, and occupied by Stephen Pancoast, who conducted therein for several years a general store; it was also used for store and business purposes hy Thomas Gracy, Thomas Snyder, J. BrOgan and A. Powell & Son, until 1844, 'when Dr. Small occupied it as a residence. Homer C. Stewart hought the property in 1883, and, after remodelling the interior, occupied it for .'several years, and Hachardson Shoe- maker purchased it from him in 1S9L FEDERAL INTERESTS- POST OFFICE In IS'88. the LansdowYie Post Office \«^as located at the intersection of the railroad and Elberon avenue, in the door-yard of the present home of Squire Charles Janvier, and consisted of a frame build- ing 10x12 teet, in charge of Mrs. Maryanna Bliss appointed November 14, 1882, who occupied the ad- .ioining house, and the Post Office force at the time included herself and a hoy, named Harry Kahler, who carried the mail bags to and from the trains. Tn 188*9 th^ Post Office was removed to the old railroad station; this huilding contained station and dwelling, and was occupied by John C. Hilbert, Ticlcet Agent, and family-. When Mr. Hilbert Was appointed Postmaster, July 22, 1889, he turned what had been his parlor into a Post Office, where it remained until the appointment of the late H. A. N'oecKel as Postmaster, January 15, 18S6, the office hein'g then removed to its present location. Mr, Noeckel was succeeded July ^, 1897, by the preseJit Postmaste-r, Hon, Isaao P. Garrett, After the office had been transferred to the rail- road station the little frame building used as an office by Mrs. Eliss was purchased by Hichardson Shoemaker, and stood for a Tiutnbef of years in his dioor-yard at Lansdowne and Baltimore ave- nues, and was occupied by Charles Janvier as a Hon. I-saac P. Garrett Real Estate t)ffice and in performance of his duties Postmaster. Lansdowne, Pa. as Justice of the Peace. The bnilding is now locat- President ed at Ko. 8 West Baltimore avenue, Mr. Shoe- X>ajisdow-ne School Board. maker having removed to this point after seliinjj tils corne-T home to Dr. John A. McKenna. It is LANSDOWXE PAST AND PRESENT now occupied by J. R. Roberts as a harne: |, shop. The Post Office was es- tablished in Lansdowne with the appointment of George C. Dickinson, as Postmaster on January 20, 1880. He was succeeded by G. BUss, who was appointed November 1, 1882, and the latter' s successor, Mrs. Maryanna BUss, was appointed November 14, 1882- EDUCATIONAL. LANSDOWNE PUBLIC SCHOOL Of the various Institutions of Lansdowne none can compare with the pub' lie school n the number of persons daily employed throughout the school year, and in the importance of th.3 work done. Situated on Baltimore avenue near the centre of the borough, the property presents an attractive appearance with its beautiful lawn, well kept buildings, and general en- tourage. Citizens should be justly proud of the manner in which the Board of School Directors and the Principal of the School look after every detail of repair, improvement, curriclum, and such other features as are essential to the proper hous- ing, entertainment, and education and training: of children of the borough. The aim of th-3 school is to establish in girls and boys the ele- ments of character that will warrant success in life— to equip them with a good elementary- and secondary school education. The oldest part of the school building was completed in 1891, having been bviilt jointly by the Upper Darby Township school district and several citizens of Lansdowne who subscribed i'2,500, towards building the hall now used for high school purposes. The Upper Darby School Board paid these citizens for the hall, and when Lansdowne became a borough in 189.3 the school building became the property of the newly incorporated borough. At this time there were 92 pupils and three teachers, and of these Miss Edna Hall, now teacher of the high school, was the second teacher appointed. Owing to the rapid increase in population and the enroll- ment of pupils it became necessarj^ to build an" addition of four rooms, which was' done in 1893. the number of pupils having increased to 2oO and of teachers to six. In 1898. in order to keep pace with still further growth in population, another addition had to be built, the number of pupils then being 450 and teachers 16. In anticipation of future needs, the School Boarl very wisely in 1898 purchased the ground which now forms the largest part of the school campus. In June. 1892, Miss Emilie Groce, now teacher of mathematics in the high school, was transferred by the Upper Darby School Board to the Lansdowne School to assume charge of the high school about to be es- tablished. Miss Elizabeth Lyster, teacher of English in the present high school, was added to the tea'ching force in the fall of 1892. Physical Culture was introduced into the curriculum in 1893, and Miss Carter, now the wife of Mrs. \Tilliam H. Worrell of this borough, was placed in charge of it; she also taught Drawing and Penmanship in the schools. Music was added in 1894. For a year, in 1893, Lansdowne was some- what conspicuous in having two school boards, one elected by Upper Dar- by Township and the other by Lansdowne. Report has it that entire har- mony cannot be said to have existed. The Upper Dkrby members were Prof Walter L. Philips Principal Lansdowne Public School. LANSDOWXE PAST AND PRESENT 81 elected on the first Monday of June, which preceded June 7, 1893, when the Boroug-h of Lansdowne was incorporated and therefore entitled to its own members. During the year 1893 the financial matters of the School Board were under the full control of the Upper Darby members of the Board. The ensuing years brought changes in teachers and pupils, classes were graduated annually until in 1895 an even hundred diplomas had been award- ed. Since that time 22 more have been granted. A list of graduates, by years, will be next announced: 1895, Emily L. Hibberd, Elsie Robertson, Kate A. Beale. 1896, May E. Pearson, Amelia V. Lavender, Elizabeth Kaigh, William M. Dill, Gertrude Vandever, Carrie Cunningham, Amos Beadle, Samuel L. Hibberd, Jr. 1897, Anna M. Powell, Debbie Garrett, Mary JNewton, Alice Mannoid, M. So- phronia Beatty. 1898, Emma L. Lyster, Lena Powell, Alice Beadle. 1899, Lewis B. Custer, Lenore D. Dowdell, May H. Edwards, Bertha T. Freeborn, Endora Preston Hagy, Anna M. Hall, Robert S. Hunter, Gertrude S. Patter- son, Dora Pearson, Elizabeth Pearson, Emma W. Powell, Alice M. Ridings, Bertha Powell Smith, Helen A. Strangher, Edith Vandever Walker, Eleanor W. Woods, Jeanne W. Nichols. 1900, Florence Amelia Freeborn, Ethel T. Hetherington, Alma L. Janvier, Ella G. Steen, Edith H. Powell, John Shaffner, Jr., William LeR. Robertson, Robert D. Taylor, Frank T. Davis, y Baker, Grace B. Maxwell, Ethel J. B. McLaughlin, W. Raymond Evans, Florence Schap- pett, Edith A. Corbin. Laura G. Wagenknight, Lillian D. Taylor, Edith A. Lauer. 1905, Edith M. Brown, Dorothy Lloyd. Edna M. Neil, Anna E. Pal- mer, Emma T. Schappett, Velma T. Simins. Verona A. Spicer, Rebecca S. Stackhouse. 1906, Florence A. Garrett, M. Clara Hertel, Miriam W. Hines, Elma C. Kirk, Marie G. Loughney, Mary J. Sullivan, Helen S. Thomas, Mabel Wallace, Emma AVarrell, M. Carleton Cowles, Ralph P. Earle. 1907. Elisabeth K. Clothier, Ella H. "^^allace, Helen Levis. Katharine S. Myers. 1918, Alma P. Wallace, William H. Blester. Ella Clark, Helen Cook, Lydia W. Reinstein, R. Bon Davis, Clement A. Fowler. The first school board of Lansdowne consisted of the folloing members: Isaac P. Garrett, President; Edwin B. Lewis. Secretary; Matthew Van- dever, Treasurer; William P. Freeborn; Joseph Fleming, and Edward Fack- ler. The preset school board is made up as follows: Isaac P. Garrett, Presi- dent; William P. Freeborn. Secretary; James T. Stewart, Treasurer; Frank T. Davis, Sr. ; J. Eug-ene Baker; and John D. S. Brooks. Other persons who have served on the school board are: Charles M. Corbin. Henry C. Statzell, Nathan D. Bartram, Frederick A. Genth. and Walter R. Linvingston. Those who will pause to consider will admit that much credit is due those who have served the district faithfully as directors and teachers, and who acted as pioneers in one of the greatest fields of human endeavor. A mo- dern school system is now in operation and open to th inspection of critics of all degrees. Instruction and practice in a complete and up-to-date Physical Training department are given four days of the week in all grades. Manual Training and Drawing are appropriately combined in one department, training being given throughout all the grades and the high •school, ^^ork in a thorough Music department likewise extends through- t)ut the schools. Exhibitions of work in these three latter departments were given in 1908. when patrons were afforded an opportunity of seeing the pos- sibilities allied to the branches. "With the addition of German in the high school curriculum, and laboratory work in physics; with the supplementing 32 LANSDOVrXE PAST AND PRESENT of advanced courses in History and EnglisJi, together with courses formerly established, the high school oilers training equivalent to that provided by the best known similar educational institutons. The manual trauTing shops and physical laboratory' are equipped with high grade apparatus. Four new typewriters were added to the Commercial Department in 1308, and large space was given to this branch. An Athletic .^.ssociatiou, recently or- ganized, offers opportunities to boys to participate in manly sports, also to meet teams of equal standing from other representative schools. G Iris as well as bovs plav basketball, engage in track and field sports, and take part in work of the gymnasium. All athletic w©rk is under careful andi capable supervision. The number of pupils in the high school on October I, 190g, was 14Z, near- ly twice the number enrolled two years previous. The upper grades espec- ially are full and the time is not far distant when it will be necessary to» have more spacious rooms for high school development. A larger building and a large faculty will justify and call for a riper and higher cuTricuIum and more thorough training. With the introdusfion of departmental work: in grades and high school better training of teachers is reqi^red and speciaE ists wiir erelong be demanded for all departments of school work:, to insure LANSDOWNE PUBLIC SCHOOL. the greatest efficiency. There is- a stamding- csrdiar in^ntation to patrons-- to visit and inspect the schools,, as the school ofRciaLs and teachers desire- the fullest p©ssibl"e oe -operatic n of citizens in all that relates to the maJLa.- tenance and upbuilding "of the borough educational system.. LANiSDOWNE PAST AND PRESENT 3'3 The school tax prior to organization of the boroug-h and for 1894 the first year that the borough authorities fixed the rate was B^/^ mills, in 1895 it was 4I/2 mills, and continued to increase, with normal developement of local educiitional interests and requirements until in 1505 it was 9 mills, in 1906 it was 9 mills, and in 1307 and 1908, notwithstanding- the school system has largely grown in all essential and important directions, it was S inills. LANSDOWNE FREE LIBRARY. Under the provisions of the Act of June 28, 18^, the Lansdowne Public Library was organized March 29, 1899, with the following officers: Frederic M. Spiers, chairman; Henry C. Statzell, vice-chairman; \v'illiam P. Free- born, ex-officio Secretary; Charles M. Corbin, ex-officio Treasurer; Hon. Isaac P. Garrett, (President of School Board), ex-offlcio; Edward V. Kane; Charles M. \\^agner; Mrs. Rebecca S. Conard; Miss Anna Woolman; and Miss Annie Sinclair Regester, Librarian. The Library- was opened to the public June 3, 1S99. with 1,345 books. It occupied rooms in the public school building until October 3, 1905, when it was removed with 3,190 volumes and an enrolled membership of 675, to its present quarters at the north-east corner of the school campus fronting on lialtimore and Highland avenues, and William P. Drew succeeded Miss Regester as Librarian. In May, 1904, pressure being brought upon the school board to secure further school ac- commodations, and in order to meet the demands for the proper housing of the Free Pviblic Library, as well also as being confronted with the fact of another possible purchaser therefor being in the field, they decided it was judicious and, indeed, necessary to acquire the corner properly herein referred to, in order to prevent encroachment upon the school site. The price paid was $8,000, there being at thi-? time a building erected thereon which had cost $6,000. To fit up this building to meet the requirements of the Library also for two class-rooms on the second floor and an ample store room on the third floor, the board entered into a contract with 34 LANSDOWNE PAST AND I'RBSENT William C. Shuster, Jr., representing $2,530. Bonds amounting to $8,000 were issued May ^^, 1904, to pay for this corner property, and on June 3, 1904, a $4,000 ground-rent was executed for the same purpose. About this time a proposition was considered involving the acceptance of $10,000, for a Caxnegie Library Building, to which was incident a guaranteed annual mantenance fund of $1,000, and other requirements usually allied to this manner of gift. For various good reasons, duly announced at a special pub- lic meeting held for the purpose, the offer was declined, and the course above outlined was pursued. The Library in October, 1908, contained 4,467 books, and an erollment of 1,437 members. The present officers are: Trustees, Capt. Robert Crawford, Chairman; Claude A. Simpler, Vice-Chairman; Rev. Crosswell McBee, Sec- retary; Joseph Fleming , Treasurer; Hon. Isaac P. Garrett, ex-otticio; J. Herbert Ogden; Prof. George H. Hallett; and William P. Drew, Librarians. ST. PHILOMENA'S PAROCHIAL SCHOOL St. Philomena's Parochial School is located on the Church property im- mediatelv adjoining St. Philomena's R. C. Church, at the corner of Balti- more and Highland avenues. The school had its initial opening Tuesday, September 3, 1907, with the following corps of teacncrs: Principal, the Rev. Mother M. Raymond, assisted by Sister M. Luigi who was also in charge of the Commercial course; Sister M. Kdna; Sister M. Perpetua; Sister M. Basil; and Sister M. Mercedes, who had charge of the musical course. There teachers were appointed Saturday, August 17, 1907, and opening day marked their first day in Lansdowne. The new school building was conse- crated to educational purposes Wednesday evening. May 29, 19D7, when a brilliant and largely attended progressive" euchre and dance was given in the spacious hall, all parts of the building being at the same time thrown open for inspection. P. J. Hurley, of Philadelphia, was the builder. The structure was started i July 1906, and was erected on a site with a frontage of 50 feet and a depth of 112 feet. It is of straight range work, exclusively Pont Deposit stone being used. The interior throughout is finished in oak and is fully provided with the most approved modern facilities. There are eight class rooms on the first floor. On the second floor is the auditorium, with a seating capacity lOr 8(X) persons, and a spacious stage, both electri- cally illuminated, the auditorium having 22 electric lights of the drop pat- tern, and the stage 16 foot-lights, fireproofed with asbestos and tin, there being also good side-lights. Each class room on the first floor has two large combined fixtures, 4 electric lights and 4 gas jets, and each room is well ventilated with a large transom over each door and three large windows to a room. Toilet rooms with wash-stands and all accersories are located on the second floor. At the rear of the building is a lavatory complete in every detail. In the attic are commodious storage rooms. The roof is slated, with copper cornices and copper rain conductors. The building cost a.bout S.'jO.OO. The. idea of erecting a school building originated with the Rector of the Parish, the Rev. Francis J. Markee, who began his Borough Church work on January 28, 1S9S. The school is now one of Lansdowne" s most prominent educational centres, as is it one of the handsomest build- ings in the Borough. The School was formally dedicated by Archibishop Ryan on Sxinday, September 22^ 1907. LANSDOWNE PA8T AND I'KESEXT :35 FIRE DEPARTMENT LANSDOWNE FIRE COMPANY. The Lansdowne Fire Company, with quarters on the first or g-round floor of the Borough Building", on East Baltimore ave- nue, was organized December 8, 1894, and in- coporated and chartered November 9, 1897. The first officers of the Company were: President, Joseph S. Vanzandt; Vice-Presi- dent, B. H. Archer; Secretary, T^^illiam C. Smith; Treasurer, Charles M. Wagner; Chief JosephL. Lowden; 1st Assistant Chief, Robert Gllfillan; 2nd A.ssistant Chief, H. B. Stites; other officers: John C. Hilbert, Geo. M. Wag-ner, Chas. M. Corbin, Harry Hibbitt, Wm. Smedley, Wm. F. Shaffner, A. M. Brown, John M. Ridings, J. W. War- ren, \A^. P. Freeborn. The officers as of October 1, 1908, were: President, James T. Stewart; Vice-President, J. Herbert Ogden; Secretary, Wm. F. Shaffner; Treasurer, B. H. Shoemaker, 3rd; Chief, Cornelius Mc- Culloug-h; 1st Assistant Chief, John Hefner; 2nd Assistant Chief, James J. McCullough; Executive Committee, Daniel D. Mullin, Dr. John A. McKenna, and Georg-e N. Storch. Finance Committee, Louis J. Eagle, Charles J. Wocher, and J. W. Kershaw. House Committee, A. J. Hefner, Wm. J. Hall and P. Richards. The following- com- ment appeared in a local paper September 29, 1906: The building- in which the Company is housed cost $13,000, and is owned by the boroug-h. The rolling-stock, or purely vehicular equipment, called for total expenditures of about $3,500; the apparatus, general equipment and uniforms about $3,500. The entire operating" outfit, according to the fire marshal, represents ap- proimately $8,000. The membership roll contains the names of upwards of 175 active and contributing- members, the active members numbering- about 70. TheFire Company owned the lot on w^hich the Boroug-h Building stands, and sold it to the Borough for $2,000, to be paid off at the rate of $100 a year. The Fire Company pay the Borough a nominal rental of One Dollar per annum. James T. Stewart, Manufacturer. President Lansdowne Fire Co. Member and Treasurer Lansdowne School Board. Firemen's Relief Association, Lansdowne, Pa. Lansdowne Fire Company. The Firemen's Relief Association, conducted in the interest of mem- bers of the Lansdowne Fire Company, was org-anized August 16, 1899, and incoporated December 20, in the same year. The first officers were: Presi- dent, Joseph L. Low^den; Vice-President, B. H. ^^rcher; Secretarv, Wm. C. Smitn; Treasurer, William F. Shaffner; Trustees, Robert Gilfillan, J. \V. Warren, James J. McCullough, Wm. Bradley, and B. H. Shoemaker, 3rd. The officers as of October 1, 1908, were: President, B. H. Archer; Vice- m LANSDOWNE PAST AND PRESENT President, John Hefner; Secretary, Fred J. Riley; Treasurer. Wm. F. Shaftner; Trustees, H. B. Miller, James T. Stewart and Louis J. Lagrle. The object of the Association is the accumulation of a fund, from ihe annual dues of its members, legacies, bequests, gitti^ and other sources, for the purpose of relieving firemen who may be uisabled, through siclcness or accident, while in the performance of their duties as active firemen of the Borough of Lansdowne, and in case of death for the benefit of a mem- ber's widow, orphans, or es.tate. Stated m.eetings are held monthly, on Iha first Monday of each month, imnaediately after the regular meeting of the Fire Company, LANSDOWNE BUILDING AND LOAN ASSOCIATION. The Lansdowne Building & Loan Association was formed m 18C9, its nineteenth annual statement having been issued as of January, 1908. This statement showed a net amount for distribution amounting to $3^7,406.93. The chief ass-ets consisted of Real Estate Loans, 1st Mortgages, $340,5L)iJ.U0; Stock Loans, $16,750.00; Cash on hand, $3,222.76; Real Estate, $930.00. The officers are; President, Morgan Bunting; Vice-President, John Jackson; Secretary, George Foster White; Treasurer, Anna Wooiman; Directors, Morgan Bunting, Johji Jackson, George Foster White, Anna Wooiman, Arthur Shrigley, Sam.uel S. Pennock, Arthur S. Garrett, Fred C. Gretz, John A. Keestaerry, C. Wilfred Conard, S. John Pyle, William J. Hilbert, C. C. Lippincott; Auditors, Evan E. Bartlesou and Benjamin M. Shoe- maker, 2rd. PUBLIC UTILITIES. LANSDOWNE WATER COMPANY In the early Eighties Caspar Pennock, who located in Lansdowne vil- lage in 1872, ran a private water works to supply houses he had built, also those of neighbors, a,nd at the time the Lansdowne Water Company was chartered in 1889, upwards of 75 houses were being supplied. In the rear of the Pennock home, now occupied by David Muncer, stood the water tank house, a frame structure about three stories in heighth, erected over an artesian well. A large tank was enclosed in th.9 top of the strucCure, and water was forced into this tank, by a pump, from the ground floor of the building. The Water Company was conducted mainly by members of the Pennock family and Daniel D. Mullin. The plant .soon became too small, and another larger tank was erected on a lot on Highland avenue, north of Stratford avenue, now occupied by Mt. Sinai Bapt.st Church. Later on this plant also failed to meet the increasing demand for water, whereupon a tank, with a capacity of 200,000 gallons, was built on a piece of land* on Lansdowne avenue opposite the Arlington Cemetery and next to the Upper Darby School building; a pumping station being erected in the valley, at State Road and Lansdowne avenue, from which the tank on the hill was supplied with water. Early one morning the hoops of this large tank gave way, the escaping water flooding Lansdowne avenue and overflowing the cellars of nearby houses. After this accident the old Company sold out to the Springfield Water Company in February, 189a. LANSDOWXE PAST AND PRESENT 37 SPRINGFIELD CONSOLIDATED WATER COMPANY The Springfield Water Company ac- quired ine property of the I^ansdowne Water Company, hereinbefore mentioned, m Feoru- ary, loytJ. The plant of this Company is locat- ed on ihe banks of Crum Creek, at Marple, Springfield Township. Delaware County, about five and one-half miles west of Lans- downe. It embraces three pumping stations, a filter station, a wheel house, and a reser- voir with a capacity of about 10,000,000 gal- lons. 1 he water is pumped direct from Crum Creek to the filter station where it is thoroughly treated and then forced through cemeiit-lmed pipes to the reservoir on Mar- ple Hill, from which point distribution is made through cement-lined mains to Lans- downe and vicinity. The water has been subjected to chemical analysis from time to time bv experts, and pronounced to be of very high excellence from the standpoint of pur'itv. The maximum pumping capacity of the plant is approximately 12,u00,0OJ gallons per day, but the normal capacity ranges from 5,000,000 to 8.000,000 gra.llons a day. The average water pressure is about 65 pounds per square inch. The pressure for fire protection varies in different localities. George A. Nitzky, Jr. Supt. Springfield Consoli- dated Water Company PUMPING STATION. SPRlN( iFlKLl ) roX. U'ATeR CO, MARPLE HILL, DELAWARE COUNTY. running anywhere from 60 to 98 pounds per square inch. The Company has about eighteen (IS) miles of water mains in Lansdowne, and thirty-four (^i) 38 LANSDOWNE PAST AND PRESENT fire hydrants. The officers are: James T. Keen, President; Georg-e M Bunting, Trea,surer; H. B. Hodg-e, Secretary; Wm. H. Roth, Assistant Se- cretary; and George A. Nitzky, Jr., Superintendent. The title of the Company was changed to "Springfield Consolidated Water ComDany" on September 28, 1908. A. M. GETZ Manager, The Philadelphia Suburban Electric Company. Philadelphia Suburban Electric Company. Lansdowne Electric Light Company. The Lansdowne Electric Light Company was organized August 22, 1898, with the following officers: President, Henry C. Statzell; Vice-President, J. Milton Lutz; Secretary and Treasurer, Edwin B. Lewis; Directors, Richardson Shoemaker, Edgar T. Bishop, M. J. Kelly, N. J. Mitchell, and Tam- many P. Street. The plant was located on Bartram avenue, be- tween Union and Wycombe ave- nues. The Company sold its plant to the Philadelphia Subur- ban Electric Company January 1, 1906. In December, 1908, the pre- sent Company had in operation in the Borough 174 incandescent lights of 25 candle power each, and street lamps, distributed about 300 feet apart, and also had 484 electric lights located in Borough residences. In January, 1906, there were 166 street lights and lamps and 266 consumers. The officers of the Company are: President and Vice-President, J. Lord Rigby, of Media; Secretary Media; Manager, A. M. Getz, and Treasurer, H, J. Makiver, of of Morton. Thie main office of the Company is located in the Barker Building, Lansdowne, with Manager Getz in charge. Delaware County and Philadelphia Electric Railway Co. The Delaware County and Philadelphia Electric Railway Company en- tered Lansdowne snortly before its incorporation as a Borough under the terms of an agreement between George S. Garrett and Reuben Grant, Su- pervisors of Upper Darby Township, and the Trolley Company, dated April 19, 1893. LANSDOWNE PAST AND PRr^SENT 89 Lansdowne Sewage Company, The Lansdowne Sewage Company was organized May 2, 1892, and char- tered June 16, 1892. The first officers were: President, Dr. Ei T. Darby; Vice-President, Abraham L. Pennock; Secretary, Charles Kerby, Jr.; Treas- urer, David H. Garrett; Directors, Dr. E. T. Darby, Abraham' L. Pennock, Dr. S. H. Guilford, Chaxles Kerby, Garrett H. Levis, Homer C. Stewart, John J. White, Aldrich J. Pennock, George W. Thorpe, John C. Lewis. The present officers are: President, Dr. E. T. Darby; Vice-President, Aoraham L. Pennock; Secretary, John Shaffner; Treasurer, Caspar Pennock; Direc- tors, Dr. E. T. Darby, Abraham L. Pennock, Dr. S. H. Guilford, John J. White, Garrett H. Levis, Aldrich J. Pennock. The work done by the Com- pany consisted of the laying of terra-cotta pipe a,nd draining into a well on the property of Abraham L. Pennock, where the sewage was disinfect- ed. The work represented an expenditure of about $2,000. The property was leased to the Borough of Lansdowne May 21, 1S91, at a rental of $100 per year, the Borough Council agreeing to keep it in repair during the contin- uance of the lease, and also enjoying the privilege of acquiring it by pur- chase. The sewer has been incorporated in the Borough system, tne Bor- ough authorities having made attachments to it. It runs 'into the Darby sewer. SHRINES OF WORSHIP. Lansdowne Presbyterian Church The First Presbyterian Church of Lansdowne was organized May 26, 1887. The Rev. James Roberts, D. D., at that time pastor of Darby Borough Presbyterian Church, of Darby, Pa., had his attention attracted to the field as offering a promising outlook for Presbyterianism. Calling into his coun- sel Elder Joseph L. Davis, who had moved to Lansdowne on October 9, 1883, it was th^ought advisable to invite James S. Austin and H. H. Cooke at a preliminary conference, at which the advisability of starting a. Sab- bath-school and preaching station should be considered. Homer C. Stewart who is entitled to great credit for the part he played in the early develop- ment of the settlement, had publicly announced his intention of donating a lot of ground to any church which would erect upon it a suitable build- ing for worship. Application was at once made to Mr. Stewart for the gift, but the Baptist brethren, then worshipping at Yeadon, had already secured an option on the lot. A confrence was held and a meeting called, to be held at the Railroad station the evening of February 18, 1887, but the evening appointed was so inclement that but 10 persons wer present, namely, James S. Austin, Joseph L. Davis, John W. Davis, William McMurray, E. W. Wickets, H. H. Cooke, William P. Freeborn, Homer C. Stewart, William L. Wilson, and J. M. Macauley. As the outcome of that meeting tlie vacant warehouse of Joseph Powell was secured and flitted up for Sunday-school purposes, and on February 27, 1887, a school of 51 members was organized and preaching regularly instituted. Upon the Sabbath following 120 persons were present, and it was at once perceived that the erection of a church edifice would eerlong become a necessity. The offer of Mr. and Mrs. W. Al- bert Johnson to donate an acre of ground for church purposes, led to the organization of a Board of Trustees, and the application for a charter, which was duly recorded and issued June 6, 1887. Ground was broken shortly after September 20, 1887, the first spadeful being removed by the son of Mr. W. A. Johnson. On October 18,1887, the corner-stone of the new structure was laid in the presence of a large and enthusiastic audience, Dr. Roberts being assisted in the service by the Rev. Drs. S. W. 40 LANSDOWNE PAST AND PRESENT Dana and Josepli Addigon Henry, of i^hiladelphia, and Philip ^ H. Mowry and Thomas ivicv^auley, oi Cnester, and on ounaay, i^eo- luary 2(, 1888, vne congregauon tooK possession of tne buila- ing, dedicating- it to Divme use free from deot. Meanwhile the Pres- bytery of Chester, acceding- to th request of o7 petitioners, had reg-uiariy or- ganized a church May '^7, 1687, of which Joseph L. Davis and George J. Haven had Deen elected ii,lders and Dr. KoDeris had been appointtu paipic supply. Dr. KoDerts otticiated in this capacity until April 4, ii&y, when tha meinuership having grown to 97 persons, it was deemed advisaoie to secure a pastor who could give his undivided attention to the aevelopment of the field. On October 3, 1&89, the Kev. T. D. Jester was installed into this office, and continued therein until April 12, 189J. The present minister, tne itev. William Boyd, began his labors in Lansdowne on Ma^rch 12, 18yd. and was inaucted into the pastorate in the month of May succeeding. The seating capacity of the church has been enlarged twice, a substantial adaition in vh^ shape of a church parlor and library room has been built at an outlay of $l,7u0, and in 1897 an additional acre of ground was purchased for $5,500, upon •whicu it is proposed to erect a beautiful church. In matters temperal, also, the congregation, in addition to the erection of a fine chaipel, have built an elegant and commodious "manse." 'Ihe church property represented ori- ginally a valuation, inclusive of improvements, approximately !^25,000; but this value has, under the spell of borougn growth and development, become a matter of comparative insignificance. The first Board of Trustees was appointed at a meeting held at the home of J. S. Austin, March 8, 3887, to consider ths advisability of accepting the lot offered by Mr. and Mrs. W. Albert Johnson. The Trustees were: Homer C. Stewart, President; J. S. Austin, Treasurer; J. M. Macauley. Secretary; W. Albert Johnson, J. L. Appleton, Leander Marshall, Jno. W. Davis, David H. Garrett, W. L. Wilson. These were the first 12 Apostles of the Church temporalities. The lot in question was duly accepted at a meeting of the Trustees held March 29, 1887. Church of St. John the Evangelist The mission out of which St. John's Parish grew was established near- 28 years ago at Fernwood, Delaware County, Pa., and subsequently, because of growth in population, removed to Lansdowne. The first service was held at Fernwood, January 2, 1881, at 7.30 p. m. by the Rev. F. Nalbro Robm.son, Rector of St. George's Church, West End, Philadelphia, with the assistance of the Rev. Dr. Mason, of Kingsessing, the Rev. Dr. Fiske, and others. After the withdrawal of the Rev. Mr. Robinson, the Rev. R. F. Innes be- came the missionary, and under his charge the mission was removed to Lansdowne. Rev. Robert F. Innes began his work as minister in charge April 7, 1882. Ground was broken for the foundation of the church edifice, corner of Baltimore and Union avenues, May 28, 1888, the corner-stone was laid by Bishop Whittaker, June 19, 1888, and the first service held Novem- ber 11 in the same year. In 1889 the Rev. E. Gaines Nock was placed in charge. He preached the sermon at the first anniversary service of the opening of the church and was later appointed priest-in-charge by the Bishop of the Diocese. He was succeeded in November, 1891, by the Rev. Charles H. De Garms, who con- tinued until July 16, 1896, when the Rev. William T. Manning assumed charge. He began his work July 19, the Seventh Sunday after Trinity, and on February 3, 1897, the requisite steps having been taken, and a petition, signed by 45 ma.le communicants of full age, having been presented, the consent of the Bishop and Standing Committee was given for the organiza- tion of St. John the Evangelist as an independent parish. In May, 1897. a charter of incorporation was applied for, and it was granted June 7, 1897. The Rev. Mr. Manning retired November 1, 1898. for the Rectorship of Christ Ch^urch, Nashville, Tenn. He wag at one time an instructor in the LANyDO^YNE PAST AND PRESENT 41 University of the South, at Sewanee. Tenn. During his tenure the lot for the site of the present beautiful church building-, on West Baltimore avenue, immediately adjoining the Barker Building, was purchased for the sum of ^9,U00, and plans devised for raising the necessary amount toward erecting the new church. Mr. Manning is now Rector of Trinity Church, Nevv "iork City. The Rev. Mr. Manning wag succeeded by the Rev. Lyman P. Powell, November 1, 1SS8, and owing to the latter' s eftbrts the amount need- ed for the erection of the parish church was raised. Ground was broken August 27, 190U, and the corner-stone laid October 6 in the same year by Bishop O. AV. Whittaker. The church w^as ^completed and the first service held on Easter Sunday, 1901. The architecture of the structure is perpen- dicular v^othic of the later Tudor period. On DeDcember 25, 1903, the Rev. Mr. Powell resigned to take charge of the Rectorship of St. John's Church, Northampton in the Diocese of Western Massachusetts, when the Rev. F, B. Hodgins, who had been for some time acting as his assistant, was minister-in-charge. so continuing until the present Rector, the Rev. Cross- well McBee, was called by the Vestery, commencing his Rectorship on Palm Sunday, March 27, 1904, having formerly been Rector of the Church of the Nativity, Union, South Carolina. THE ST. JOHN'S CLUB Among the earlv social organizations of Lansdowne none enjoyed greater popularity than thD St. John's Club, organized September 4, lS9d, and which included the representative citizens of the borough. The club was located in the Barker Building, and comprehended a reading room well provided with the best current literature, and also conducted a public lecture course at each meeting. Pool table and shuffleboards were features of membership enter^^^^^'n- ment, while upwards of four and one-half acres of ground, at the corner of Baltimore and Union avenues were secured for use of the Club's Ath- letic Department. The officers in 1900 were: President, Rev. Lyman P. Pow- ell; Vice-president, John M. Ridings; Scretary, H. T. Lavender: T'-ea surer, William I. Austin. Board of Directors. Morley Underhill, Frank T. Davis, Sr., Wm. H. Barker, Edwin W. Hetherington. and Jpmes T. Stewart. The membership in the same year was approximately 230. Lansdowne Methodist Episcopal Church The Lansdowne Methodist Episcopal Church occupies one of the most desirable and attractive sites in the Borough, at the corner of Lansdowne and Stratford avenues. It was organized June 11, 1S91, meeting in Garrett's Hall; afterward removing to Central Hall, service being held in the latter hall until completion of the church edifice. The corner-stone was laid on Thanksgiving Day, 1894, the church dedication, by Bishop E. G. Andrews, D. D. LL. D., of New York, taking place on Sunday, June 2. 1895. Samuel T. Milligan, of Philadelpnia, Pa., was the architect, and Frank S. Riggs, of Clifton. Delaware County, was the builder. The Rev. George Boddis, 1893, and 1894, and the Rev. T. Norton Hyde, 1895, were the first pastors, in the order named. The Rev. Hyde was succeeded by pastors in the following or- der, namely, the Rev. A. D. Mink, 1E96 and 1897, the Rev. W. E. Sargeant, in 1898, and 1899, theRev. Charles Wesley Burns, 19)0 to 19')4, inclusive, th;- Rev. Charles Wesley Straw, 1905, the Rev. William H. Lindemuth, 1906, and the Rev. J. R. T. Grav. in 1907 and 190S. Lansdowne Baptist Chufch The Lansdowne Baptist Church, located on the lot at the corner of Lansdowne and LaCrosse (formerly Summit) avenues, was organized Febru- ary 14, 1887. On January 25, of the same year a meeting was hald at tne 42 LANSDOWNE PAST AND PRESENT of J. D. Mitchell totalk over the project of organizing a church, those pre- sent being Casper Garrett, W. H. Robertson, James French, J. D. Mitchell John Curtis, Annie Kccher.pergtr, Catherine Mitn. 1, Aania Koba^rtson, M S3 Annie Robertson, and Lillie Robertson; and the following temporary' officers were elected, namely: Treasurer, Casper Garrett; Clerk, J. D. Mitchell, February 6, 1887, a meeting was held to select a site for the new building. A meeting was held eight days later, when the following persons were re- ceived from sister churches: J. D. Mitchell, Alfred Fhipps, Amanda A. Phipps, Annie Kochersperger, Mary Hebrew, J. Milton Lutz,( Casper Gar- rett, John Garrett, Ella Garrett, Wm. H. Robertson, W. J. Robertson, Jas. W. Pennepacker, Lizzie Pennepacker. The site above mejitioned was then selected. The corner-stone was laid May 24, 1887, the Rev. Dr. Galley of the Lehigh Avenue Church, officiating. Recognition services were held in the temporary building June 25, 1887, and the first service was held in the new chapel on Thanksgiving Day, 1887. The first pastor of the church was Robert M. Green, called July 16, 1894, and who retired June 3, 1893. He was succeeded by T. C. Skinner, who entered upon the work July 1, 1896, and resigned in 1898, being succeeded the same year by the Rev. Wm. Carey Cald- er. The Rev. John T. Anderson became pastor in 1901, and the present pas- tor, the Rev. Thomas C. Bird, assumed the pastorate in February, 1904. Lansdowne Friends' Meeting (Orthodox) NORTH LANSDOWNE AVENUE. Willia-m Penn's work in advancing the Friends' was not more effectively sustained by any of his successors than by John Woolman, who died in 1772, a lineal descendant of whom is a resident of Lansdowne. The Orthodox Friends occupied as a meeting-house, after proper alterations had been made thereto, a wheelwright shop that stood on the lot now Covered by the the Barker Building. In this improvised structure Thomas P. Cope was married. He was a< noted Philadelphia shipping merchant in his day, operating a line of packets to Liverpool, England, and other foreign ports, a business in which representatives of the fa.mily are still engaged. At that time John and Naomi Woolman, parents of John Woolman, were elders of the meeting. The local Society was organized in 1827. In 1831 the present meeting-house was built on the Darby and Radnor Road (Lans- downe Avenue.) For the last seventy-seven years divine worship has been uninterruptedly conducted, in it.^ most simple but impressive form, in this plain, Substantial, comfortable, and withal attractive meeting-house. Among the "leaders" since 1831 may be mentioned Jacob Elfreth and Mary Garrett, as "overseers"; Henry Longstreth, as minister; John and Naomi Woolman; Abraham Pennock, 'father of Abram L. Pennock; Edward Garrett, father of George S. Garrett; Ann Garrett, who died in her ninety- fourth year; Samuel Rhoads; Isaac P. Garrett, uncle of the present Post- master of Lansdowne; and Thomas Garrett, father of Edward and Isaac Garrett. When the present meeting-house was erected the only houses within view "were the farm house, still standing, of John Lobb, father of Mrs. William Albert Johnson; the farm-house of Mr. Kenney, known since as "The Mansion," an old house afterward converted Into the residence of Ivan Fox on Baltimore avenue; the Owen farm-house; and a log-and-plaster house on the lot on which was built the house of Abraham Powell, on Stewart ave- nue, which thoroughfares was named for Homer C Stewart Friends' Meeting House, Owen Avenue (Hicksite) The Friends' Meeting House at the corner of Owen and Stratford ave- nues was erected in 1903, free of debt, by the Lansdowne Monthly Meet- ing of Friends. The building is of stone and contains, in addition to the LANSDOWNE PAST AND PRESENT 43 auditorium, five class rooms and a library for the use of the First-day School. A larg-e room in the basement is equipped for serving- luncheon or other refreshments on occasions calling- for such entertainments. The for- mation of Lansdowne Monthly Meeting-, which is the org-anization controlling' the various activities incidental to the religious Meeting and First-day School, was the outgrowth of a concern felt by a number of residents of the borough, who, finding themselves removed from easy access to older Meet- ings had some years before begun meeting- for religious worship on JFii'st- day morning-. The first session for business was held 9th month, 23rd, 1901, in Barker Hall, the initial membership being 28, the membership at the close of 1908 being- 115. The first clerk was Sarah B. Bartram, and the office is at present filled by William H. Fogg. The Trustees are Frank Maris, Sumner G. Brosius, William W. Kester, J. Alfred Bartram, Edward B. Tem- ple, Abram G. Powell. St. Philomena's R. C. Church St. Philomena's Roman Catholic Church, of which the basement and first story only are completed, was dedicated in 1S98, and when completed it ,will be one of the handsomest relig-ious edifices in the county. The Rector is the Rev. Francis J. Markee, who is assisted by the Rev. William T. T..al- lou. The status of the church is best told in the following' description of the orig-in of St. Philomena's Parochial School, which appeared in The Progress" of June 1, 1907: "The school had its beg"inning- in the active mind of the popular rector of the parish, the Rev. Francis J. Markee, who beg-an his labors in 1898, almost one decade age. When hjs first visited the bor- ough he interview eighty families on the possibilities of advancing- relg-ious work in the community. From that day down to the present hour he has ceaselessly striven to promote and maintain a healthy and vig-orous endeai- vor in thje undertaking-. How well he has succeeded is attested by the statement that from the original eighty families his parishioners have in- creased over three-fold and now number 250 families. This means from the standpoint of five members to each family, a parish of 1,250 souls. But this is not the total for there are upwards of 350 other persons identified with the parish, which swells the total to 1,500 persons." CATHOLIC MUTUAL BENEFIT ASSOCIATION This society was organized March 20, 1900 and had a membership of about 20, The officers were: President, Wm. S. Culhane; Recording- Secretary, Albert J. Crawford; Financial Secretar;^-, Michael J. Nolan; Treasurer, Ber nard Doherty. Trustees: John C, Schappett, Rev. F. J. Markee. Dr John A. McKenna, Bernard Doherty, John J. Manley, Jr. ST. PHILOMENA'S R. C. CHURCH St. Philomena's Roman Catholic Church wa,s organized January 29, 1898; the cornerstone was laid November 29, 1898, and the church was dedi- cated May 27, 1900, 44 LAXBDOWXE PAST AND PRE.^ENT CLUBS AND SOCIAL ASSOCIATIONS. Unlike New York City, the first clubs formed in Lansdowne were not taverns, nor have taverns ever secured a foothold in the beautiful Borough Club life in the Borough has been very similar to that common to the career of other communities of like size; tnat is, many have been organized and started and many have been dissolved and passed away. Those re- maining are, for the" most part, substantially inaugurated and represent distinct factors in municipal advancement in all important directions: Country Club of Lansdowne i.ANSD;^)\VNE cui-s-niY cia:u liuisi-:. The Country Club of Lansdowne Was incorporated in 1902, and was grounded upon substantial support energetically extended by a group of the older residents, who recognized that Lansdowne needed somfe manner of concentering point of local sociability to which would be incident the advantages and benefits of a country club promotive of out-door sports and exercise. The moving spirit in the Club's foundation was VV^illiam F. Read; the first President and incumbent of that office until th? present occupant, George W. Statzell, assumed the reins in 1907. Mr. Read contributed liber- ally toward the maintenance of the club until it reached the point at Which its membership placed its finances in a stable condition. Associated with him in the oundation of the Club, and upon whom largely rested the labor LANSDOWNE PAST AND PRESENT 45 of inaug-uration, were William F, Read, Jr., N. B. Kelly and Joel Bailey Davis. These men, withj Wharton E. JJarris, J. R. i^incoln Edwaras and George W. Ca.rr, the Ciub charter otlicers, brought to the org-anization the prosperity it now enjoys. The club house is in fact an old residential seat built by Isaac T. Jones, and the original attractive home aspect has not been disturbed, and a^s a consequence the spot is invested with tlie physical environments and social characteristics ever so desirable in out-of-town life. The selection of t-he Jones estate proved to be a happy one. Within the Club's seventy-two acres of ground there is presented a most charm- ing variety of rural landscape. Directly back of the club-hous©, in a deep hollow, flow the waters of Darby Creek, and from tlie club verandahs and room windows Nature disports in her fairest and wildest moods, the eye resting upon and roving over vitas of woodland, meadow and stream. The Club forms the social centre of suburban Lansdowne, and is situated about one mile south of the Pennsylvania Railroad Station on Laaisdowne avenue. It is also regularly visited by members residing in conteuous suburbs plons^ the Central Division of the railroad, as well as by Philadelphia members. The premier sport of the club is golf, and the club is justly nroud of its beautiful course, which ranks as one of the finest in or around Philadelphia, It is a nine-hole course, 30C1 yards in length, and for the most part runs over rolling hill.s. No other club expends more care npon keeping its golf course in condition. The course is in charge of an energetic grounds commit- tee composed of Frank M. I^onp:streth. chairman. J. B. Gibb. W. H. Fol- ^-ell. Jr.. R. W. Wistar and Frank M. Camp. For many of the members of the The premier snort of the club is g-olf, and the Club is justly proud of its beautiful course, which ranks as one of the finest in or around Philadel- phia. It is a nine-hole course. 3O01 yards in length, and for the most part runs over rolling hills. No other clnb expends more care upon keeping its g-olf course in condition. The coiirse is in charge of an enegetic grounds rommittee composed of Frank M. Camp. For many of the mebUers of the Club tennis is the major sport, and for this the Club has a. fine string of courts, newly constniQted and built in the most up-to-date fashion, to secure ■speed and rapid drainage. In tennis the women of the Club have been particularly active, and among the best players in the Club m.ay be men- tioned Mrs. C. Fdwin Hunter. Mrs. Nathan F. Stauffer. Mrs. E. A. Sloan, tlie Misses Griffith. Hney, Walsh. Stauffer. Guilford, and Dongstreth. Hock- P"c is another branch of sport to which the women members are devotea. The Club is active at all seasons of the year Bridge parties, dinner parties, r'-ances. and all kinds of social entertainments are constantly being lield. The present officers of the Club are: President. George W. StatzeO; Vice President. ^V. Lane Verlejiden; Secretar>\ J. R. Lincoln Edwards: Treasurer, C. Wilfred Cunninj?liam; Governors, C. Edwin Hunter, William H. Folwell, Paul A. Griffith. J. Burnett Gibb, Walter E Hoag. W. Vernon PhiUios. Frank M. Longstreth. WTiarton E. Harris. Frank M. Camp, Harry E. John- son, Jules J. ICeenaiw George M, l^'^agoier. 46 LANSDOWNE PAST AND PRESENT LANSBOWNE PA&T AND PRESENT 47 Union Athletic Association Since its organization, in 1S04, the Union Athletic Association has filled a, conspicuous place in the public and sporting- life of Lansdowne. Each recurring Memorial Day and Fourth of July has been the occasion of patriotic public exercises, held under the auspices of the Association, in which the orators of the day have been from the ranks of the Association's member- ship, and the citizens of Lansdowne have taken part with a high degree of satisfaction. Thegam es and field sports on the grounds on Union avenue north of McKinley avenue have afforded the youth of the Borough a splen- did opportunity for the development of physical skill and fostered a love for manly sports, while the monthly sessions of the Association have been a feature in local social circles. Its membership includes a high standard and broad range in the religious, professional, public and business life of the community, while its good fellowship is of the most sincere kind. The Association was organized on October 24, 1904, by the election of the following officers: President— Louis A. Warren. Vice President— William A. Leonard. Secretary-Treasurer— John C. Hines. Manager— Samuel H. Dyer. Captain— Isaac H. Rhoads. These officers served until November, 1907, when they were succeeded by the following officers President— Claude A. Simpler. Vice President— Robert Crawford. Secretary- Thomas J. Lindsey. Treasurer— Tliomas S. Bishop. Historian- Thomas J. Lindsey. Matiagei^Samuel H. Dyer. Vice Manager— William A. Leonard. Captain— Isaac H. Rhoads. Vice Captain— George F. Lewis. The Association has grounds for base ball, foot ball and beautifully ar- ranged tennis courts. An es.sential feature of the organization is the Junior Branch, composed of the sons and daughters of the members and such, others as are elected by ballot. When a lunior member reaches the age of twenty-one he is eligible to become a senior member on the payment of the fee and an election by unanimous ballot. i February 20, 1874; was made Passeu Assistant Engineer (Lieutenant) Februarq 24, 1874. n- structor in engineering branches tn the Naval Academy, 18fc9-lS73 and 187g-1S78; on duty at Spring Garden- Institute, Philadelphia (by or- der of the Navy I>epartm.ent), organizing Man- ual Training as a new feature of the work of the school, 1882-1885; organizer and s-upennLen- dent of the first Manual Training School of Philadelphia, 1885-1887; organizer and superin- tendent of the Williamson PYee School oi Mechanical Traues, Delaware County, Pa.;, builder and organizer of Reform. School to • Boys and School of Agricultural and Industrial Arts for Boys of Cuba., 1900-1902; retired f -•( m U. S, Navy, January SO 1892. Now on inspec- tion duty for the Bureau of Steam Engineer- ing, U. S. Navy, as assistant to the Inspec- tor of Machinery at Cramp's Shipyard. Philadelphia. Promoted to grade of Chief Engineer, with rank of Lieutenant-Commander, June 29, 190O. Capt. Craw- ford was elected a member of the Borough Council in 1903, and was elected Chief Burgess in 1906. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of t'h's Lansdowne Free Library, and. a Director of the La:nsdowne Civic Associa- tion. He is prominently identified with many clubs and organizations. He is also a member of the Pennsylvania Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion. The Borough has no more loyaC or highly esteemed citizen than Capt. Crawford, who is ever actively concerned in every m-ovement aiming at local u-plift and development. Capt. Robert Crawford. U. S. N., Retired. Chief Burgess of Lansdowne Hon, Fred Tayfar PmneT' Hon. Fred Tiaylor Pusey was bom in Philadelphia, Pa., June Z', ISTL His early education was had in the publixj schools of Chegter County, iMs being supplemented by attendance alt the Friends' Central School, Phila- delphia,, from which he was graduated in 188Z. Mr. Pusey located in Del- aware County in 1888, residing on a farm at Lima, Middletown lownshipv and settled in Lansdowne in 1895. He studied law and was admitted t& the Philadelphia bar in February, 1894, and is- also a member of the Dela- ware County bar, being also an active and successful practitioner in the courts of both counties. He has been admitted to practfce before tft© Superior and Supreme Courts of the State of Pennsylvania. Mr. Pusey has been active in the National Guard of Pennsylvania for many years, having- been Ad.iutant of the First Regiment during 1906 and 1907. when he was? appointed an. Aide on the Staff of. Governor Stuart with, the rank, of Lieu.- LAXSDOWXE PAST AND PRESENT 53 tenant-Colonel. He is a member of the Union League of Philadelphia and many other clubs ana organizations, ueing at this time President of tne Lansdowne KepuDlican Club. He was elected to the House of Kepresen- taiives of the totate Legislature in iyi»2, and re-elected in I9a4, serving aur- ing th^e sessions of 19^^, 19Uo, and special session of iyii3, and auring his stay in the Legislature was sponser for much valuable legislation that found a place in the statute books. He was Borough Solicitor in Ib99-19o0, and was again elected in 19l8 to discharge the auties of the same oince for a period of three years. Colonel Pusey is really at the starting point of a life career. Brief as has been his appearance as a public man, he has crowded into the period a continuous series of substantial professional and public achievements of the highest order. Devoid of ostentation, ever accessible and receptive. Colonel Pusey is the ideal type of public man of the hour. In all that he under- takes, in every cause he espouses, he brings a profound enthusiasm and charm of personal magnetism that have won -or him a most enviable place in the esteem of hiis fellow citizens. For all that reiatesi to Bor- ough advancement, he has ever been a fearless, open and capable champion. Few young men have so early in life secured so many substantial prizes in public accomplishment, and it is fair to assume that the future will tind Colonel Pusey still further advanced in public relations. Hon. John Milton Lutz. The subject of the following brief sketchy the Hon. John Milton Lutz, resides on the Pike, in Upper Darby Township, and has for years been actively identified as a property owner and otherwise, with the interests of Lansdowne Borough, where he is g'eneia'ly known and held in highest esteem. Mr. Lutz was born in Ambler, Montgomery County, Pa-, October 18, 1857; removed to Philadelphia in 18G3, and was educated in the public schools of that city and Delaware County. He is Vice-President and one of the organizers of the First National Bank of Clifton Heights; has been a school director of Upper Darby Township since 1883, and Secretary of the School Board for several years. Mr. Lutz was chairman of the Republican County Com- mittee from 1890 to 1897; served as Director of the Poor and Treasurer of the Board during 1905 and 1906. He was elected to the House of Representatives of the Pennsylvania S.ate Legislature in November 1906, Mr. Lutz is a mai? in the full vigor of life, and has attained signal success through purely personal effort. He possesses in the highest degree the qualities that go to constitute noble and admirable manhood. He takes a prominent and active part in church work, contributes financially and by personal activity to all movements, public or private, aiming at the betterment of the conditions of his fellow-men, and w'ithal is loyal to his friendships. Lansdowne is, indeed, fortunate in having as a friend and supporter a man of such ripe experience, sterling character, and good judgment. ,^ Hon. J. Milton Lutz, Ex-Member Pennsylvania State Legislature. A^ice-President, First Na- tional Bank, of Clifton Heights. 54 LANSDOWNE PAST ASD PRESENT John Herbert Ogden. John Herbert Ogden has been a resident of Lansdowne for upwards of twenty-two years. His parents were John Worrall and Hannah (Rhoads) Og-den. His paternal grandfather, for whom he was named, was John Ogden. The Ogdens are members of one of Delaware County's oldest and most highly esteemed families. "Herbert" Ogden's early education was in the public schools. Later he attended the Friends' School at Providence, R. I. Subsequently he took a course in a Philadelphia business college. In 1S70 he entered the service of the Sharpless Dyewood and Extract Co., m which his promotion was rapid until he became a director and stockholder. This Company is now known as the American Dye Works, the foremost enterprise of the kind in the country. In 1900 Mr. Ogden was a delegate to the Na.tional Convention held in Philadelphia, at which the late William McKinley was nominated for the residency. He was married to Louise Passmore, of Paschalville, October 20, 1886. He is a member of the Union League of Philadelphia, and is First Vice-President, and was one of tne incorporators of the Lansdowne Republican Club. He is a prominent mem- ber of the Lansdov/ne Country Club, and many other well known social, business and athletic organizations. Mr. Ogden's square-dealing tendencies, unvarying liberality, unostentations, philanthropy, and unswerving loyalty to friends and local interests, have combined to make him one of the most popular and highly esteemed men residents in Lansdowne, and these same splendid personal qualities have endeared him to all who have met him. He believes in Lansdowne, and is ever in the front rank of every movement aimed at advancing Borough interests in any direction. Hon. Isaac Price Garrett. In presenting mention of the Hon. Isaac Price Garrett. Postmaster at Lansdowne, which office he has held continuously since his appointment on July 8, 1897, it is considered a distinct contribution is made to the history of the Borough's prominent citizens who have materially aided in the promotion and maintenance of its general betterment aind deve- lopment ever since its corporate inception. Mr. Garrett was born at Stanton, New Castle County, Delaware, August 4, 1844, and was the son of Benjamin and Mary Carrett. In September, 1849, Mr. Garrett removed to Upper Darby, residing on a farm containing about ninety acres, the tract being now occupied by the cemetery of the Arlington Cemetery Company. He remained on the farm until' 1890, when he removed to his present cosy home on North Lansdowne avenue. Until his thirteenth year Mr. Garrett attended the public schools of Upper Darby, and then spent four and one-half years at Westtown Friends' Boarding School, Chester County. After leaving this institution Mr. Garrett, as already intimated, devoted a number of years to agricultural life on the LTpper Darby farm. At the age of 21 he was elected a delegate to the Republican County Convention, and later was elected a member of the Repviblican County Executive Committee for Upper Darby Township, an office he held for sixteen consecutive years. Mr. Garrett was a senatorial delegate for Delaware County to the State Convention at Harrisburg, Pat, at the time the county delegates were instructed to vote for national deilegates pledged to vote for the late Hon. James G. Blaine for President. He was a delegate to the State Convention the following year, with instructions to vote for Samuel Butler, father of the Hon. Thomas S. Butler, for State Treasurer. In 1876 and 1877 Mr. Garrett was Super\'isor of Upper Darby Township. He was a member of the State Central Committee in 1880. In 1881 he was elected from the Eastern District of Delaware Coun- ty to the State Legislature, for the unexpired term of the Hon. Nathan Garrett, deceased, and was also elected for the term of 1889-1900. He re- signed his seat in the Legislature n August, 1889, to assume the duties LAXSDOWXE PAST AivD PRESENT of Cashier of the Philadelphia Custom House, where he remained for four years and eight months. He was elected a member of the School Board of Upper Darby Township in 18S1, occupying the presidency during- the seven years previous to incorporation of the present Borough of Lans- downe, when he resigned from the Upper Darby Board and was elected to the Borough Board, and has served as President of the latter since its creation. Mr. Garrett is a descendent of The original Garretts, William and his wife, Ann, and several children, who came to America from Leicestershire, England, in 1C84, and settled in Upper Darby in 1685. Mr. CfiKtl' s ,ia1heri "v\£s^ ic'in in 1791, his grandfather in 1748, and his great- grandfather in 1720. On November 12, 1868, the subject of this sketch was married at Germantown, Philadelphia, Pa., to Sarah Emlen Bell, of Bloomington, Illinois. By this union there were three children two of whom are deceased, the remaining child being a married daughter, Mrs. James A. Kell, who resides in Germantown, Philadelphia, Pa. Mr. Garrett is a man of sterling qualities. His long and varied relations with all phases of local life have placed him in the front rank of active and progressive citizenship. He enjoys widespread popularity and esteem, and no towns- man has been more closely, continuously, or intelligently identified with Borough affairs than he. James T. Stewart. If any man ever attained genuine popularity, in the highest sense of the term, among his fellowmen, and particularly among his fellow towns- men, the subject of this sketch, James T. Stewart, is one of the men in that category. He is the real type of true American citizen, and the real type of loyal and progressive townsman. He is the maamer of citizen who will always exert his influence on the side of justice, of morality, of law and order, and in keeping with the best interests and with the honor and dignity of his home town. Steadfast and prompt in business inter- course, alert and willing to assist through his meaais and influence in every good enterprise, and yet withal retiring and unobtrusive, he com- bines in his dispositon rare and valued qualities which make him ev%ry inch a man. Mr. Stewart came to Lansdowne in June, 1893, and has been actively identified with evevy step of borough growth since that time. He has always been devoted, in business, to the textile industry'. In this field he served a long and faithful apprenticeship, mastering every essen- tial detail. In the prosecution of knowledge therein he was a student of the Philadelphia Textile School, Broad and Pine streets, Philadelphia, and is now a member of the Advisory Committee of that widely known institution. Starting in a subordinate way Mr. Stewart rose until he became the President of the Caledonia Mills Company, of Clifton Heights, a contiguous borough, and in the latter part of 1938 hs ascended higher and became the proprietor of the mills. He is President of the i-.ans- downe Fire Company, a prominent member and officer of the Lansdowne Republican Club, a member of the Lansdowne School Board, also of the Board of Trustee of the Lansdowne Free Public Library-, and a director of the Lansdowne Civic Association, and is, besides, identified with a number of other prominent organizaticns. Socially Mr. Stewart^ is a prince of entertainers, ranking as one of the best local raconteurs. In his relaties with his fellow man he is uniformly candid and fair. He is ain approachable man, and at all times a frank and plain spoken man. Mr. Stewart has a deep and abiding faith in Lansdowne's future, and believes in the advocacy of the recognized interests of the majority. No citizen has done more to promote the development of the borough, and none has displayed a more intelligent,, energetic, and continuous activity in sustaining every movement that had for its aim the uplift and better- ment of the borough. 5G LANSDOWNE PAST AND PRESENT A. Culver Boyd, Esq. One of the rising young men of Lansdowne is A. Culver Boyd, Esq., son of the Rev. William Boyd, Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of the Borough. Mr. Boyd*has been a resident of the Borough since 1893. Apart from preliminary educational advantages enjoyed in public and private schools, Mr. Boyd graduated from the col- lege department of Princeton University, and from the law school of the University of Pennsylvania. He early applied himself to the study of law, and is now a well known and successful practitioner at the bars of Philadelphia and Delaware Coun- ties. He is a Director of the Trades- men's Trust Company, of Philadelphia. He has always taken an active part in club life in the borough, having been Vice-Pre- sident of the Lansdowne Republican Club, of which organization he is now a Direc- tor, being a member of the well known Neighbors' Club and Vice-President of the Lansdowne Civic Association. Mr, Boyd was elected a member of the Borough Council in 1908 and was appointed chairman of the Ordinance Committee of that body, which is one of the most important of the councilmanic committees. He is devoted to athletics and out-door sports and exer- cise. His name is always prominently identified with all movements look- ing to the uplift of the Borough. A. Culver Boyd, Esq., Chairman, Ordina>nce Com- mittee, Boro. Council. Frank Thomas Davis. Frank T. Davis, Sr., Pre'sident of the Lansdowne Civic Association, has been a resident of Lansdowne for about twelve years. Mr. Davis ac- quired his early education in thepublic schools, following this up with terms at Shortledge's Academy and the State Normal School. When scarcely emerged from his "teens" Mr. Davis started out to make his own way in the world. Among the early experiences of his training for business were con- nection with a national bank, a western sojourn, and the re-indexing of the old records that were made when Chester and Delaware County were one, extending from 1680 to 1880. Upon the completion of the latter important and onerous task in 1884, Mr. Davis became identified with the Phoenix Bridge Company as its Treasurer, a position he has ever since held. Mr. Davis has served as Chief Burgess and a member of Council of the Bor- ough, and is now serving as a member of the I^ansdowne School Board. He is a member of the Manufacturer's Club of Philadelphia. He is re- cognized as one of the Borough's foremost citizens, and is one of its staunchest and most consistent supporters. He is a fine type of self-made man, and enjoys the fullest confidence and esteem of his fellow townsmen. LAKSDOWXE PAST AND PRESENT Richardson Shoemaker. There is not a resident in the Borough of Lansdowne a citizen who has done more in a substantial way toward the upbuilding- of the locality than Richardson Shoemaker, the proprietor of the well known Lansdowne Storage Warehouse and Livery Stables on W. Baltimore avenue, who has been located in the immediate vicinity for over a quarter of a century. When it is stated that Mr. Shoe- maker built the first roadways, laid the first pavements, and constructed the first main seM er system, further comment is unneces- sary. No man has become more thoroughly interested with the life and welfare of the community than he. Although yet a young' man, he has attained a full measure of de- served business success and won a permanent place in the high esteem of his fellow towns- men. Mr. Shoemaker grew up to his present business. From 18S3 to 1892 he was a clerk in the lumber yard office of J. Alfred Bar- tram, which was located where the present Hoopes lumber yard now stands, at Balti- more and Union avenues. While in the em- ploy of Mr. Bartram the subject of this sketch started in the livery business, at Bar- tram Lodge, in 1889, and at the same time inaugurated the stags line running to and from the railroad station this line having been con- ducted continuously ever since. It originated fbr the purpose of carrying summ<^r nipsts to and from the Bartram Lodge which at that time was occupied by Mr. Shoemaker's mother as a suburban summer apartment house. The Bar- tram Lodge, which was torn down in 1908 to make room for modern improvements, was built in the year 1800, the stable on the premises having been erected in 1799. Mr. Shoemaker resided in the lodge for three years, 1889 to 1892. removing in the latter year to th property at the corner of Baltimore and Lansdowne avenues now owned and occupied by Dr. John A. Mclvenna. Mr. Shoemaker owns considerable valuable real estate, improved and unimproved, in all parts of the borough. He built the houses at Nos. 93 and 98 Nyack avenue in 1885 and thehouse in which Charles Janvier resides No. 30 Elberon avenue, in 1888, and is the owner of the property occupied by the Crucible Steel Casting Company, S. Union avenue and the Railroad. Mr. Shoemaker is a lover of horses, and alwaj'S keens his stables stocked with the best of horse flesh. He has never been an aspirant for political ofl^ce, but served as (Judge of Election in tbe borough during th ten years 1892 to 1902, inclu- sive. There is no better known or more popular man in the borough. He enjoys a most enviable reputation for square dealing, and rigidly pursues that policy in all his relations both in business and socially. Mr. Shoe- maker is an eminently practical man. His business conceptions and meth- ods are solidly founded and have been carefully cultivated. In him Lans- downe has a loval citizen, a public-siprited townsman, a successful and progressive business man, and a resident who is ever striving to intelligent- Iv promote the best interests of the borough in all directions. Richardson Shoemaker, Liveryman and Warehouseman. 58 LANSDOWNE PAST AND PRESENT William C. tohuster,Jr. Contractor and Buider. Real Estate Operator Member of Boro. Council. William C. Shuster, Jr. In actual life we want things done, not preparations for doing them, and We naturally admire the man who has definite aims and purposes and pro- ceeds in the straightest and shortest way to accomplish his objects. That 13 why William C. Shuster, Jr., in his early thir- ties, stands out, in borough affairs, as a con- spicuous figure, a citizen and business nian of pronounced attainments and perform- ances. He has been a resident of Lansdowne smce May, 1S94. In the first years of his resi- dence he was in the employ of John S. Wilson, the well known local builder, and while thus engaged mastered the aetails of the business and eventually established a business of his own, and in a few years became known far and wide as a builder of artistic and beauti- ful suburban homes. In the conduct of his business he operates his own manufacturing plant, on S. Lansdowne avenue, where also he has an office. He is practically the originator of the strictly modern suburban detached home, and he has built over a hundred of these charming and complete homes in all sections of the borough, whole rows of them in some quarters. These homes range in cost from $4,000 to $10,000 each. This is tantamount to stating, that Mr. Shuster, in those beauti- ful residences, has given to Lansdowne mod- ern, up-to-date improvements approximating a round million of dollars. So popular have become this style of home that the houses built by the sub- ject of this sketch are proudly designated as "The Shuster Type," which is locally synonymous with "the best type," Mr. Shuster is a large owner of unimproved property in the borough. AVith T. Ellwood Bartram and J. Henry Bartram, two well known citizens, he is part owner of what is considered the most beautiful tract in Lansdowne, known as Lansdowne Court, on S. Lansdowne avenue, adjoining the railroad station. This pro- perty was formerly a part of the estate of Col. Thomas A. Scott, deceased, President of the Pnnsylvania Railroad Company, and consists of sixteen acres of beautiful rolling grounds with fine old shade trees, rare shrub- bery, and artistically designed landscape gardening. This property is as- sessed at about $4S,000,but has a re ail value that approaches close to $75,0.0. S3V- eral beautiful homes have already been built on the tract. It also contams "The Devonshire," a fine mansion, originally erected by Col. Scott at much expense, and which has been renovated and convrted into an up-to-date apartment house, the owner, William A. McEwen, having full control of the management. Mr. £huster lives up to the statement that "Time is gold; throw not one manute away, but i:ilace each one to account." In 1908 Mr. Shuster was elected to membershp in Ihe Borough Council, for a term of three yeairs. His public career has been marked thoroughout by unwonted ac- tivity and intelligent enterprise. In no direction has he evidenced more good judgment than in his consistent and unwavering devotion to the work of giving his fellow townsmen flrst-c:ass highways, both as to sewers, drains, roadways and sidewalks. He is inalienably wedded to borough wel- fare and uplift, and can be depended upon to do all in his power to ad- vance borough interests along all avenues of development and improvement. LANSDOWNe past and PKEgENT 50 W. F'fdnk E:rigfish« The offifcifel li^e bt W. Frank Efig-lish, as a member* of the Borough Council, and particularly as Chairman of the Highway Committee of Coun- cil, durihg the year 160S alone eiititlef? him to the highest encomiums of the citizens Of Lansdowne. The outcome of his imc^asing- official performances during the Vear hi dUe^tiOrl showed conclusively that Work aftd occupation had become neces- sary for his comfort and happiftei^s. He de- Voted hig time atld a.bility almost eiCclusively to the deVising and executing' of plans fOr the improVemeht Of borOugh highyways in all directions. Ejitehded Service and varied eX- periettce as a muneipal officer specially equipped him for the big task he not Only essayed but successfully carried out. Mr. English came to La.nsd.Owne in its village era, Oil October 15, 18^7. ^ He resides In the historic Plumstead mansion, located on the avenue of the same name. Although a prom- inent and successful business man, he has found time, during the twenty-one years he has resided in the community, to serve his fellow townsmen as Chief Burgess and as Councilman, and his public Sel-vice is marked throuerhout with monuments of effective ac- complishments in furtherance of public good and municipal advancement. Mr. English has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the Lansdowne Methodist Episcopal Church ever ^ince the Church was organized. It was at his Suggestion that the church secured and located a,t its- present very desir- able place. Mr, English has served on all the committees of Council, at various times, but has given the public the best service during the year 1908 as Chairman of the Highway Committee. In this capacity he originated and introduced what has since been styled a "system of borough highway improvements.' In short, he, after carefully studying all phases of the local highwa,y Situation and after repeated conferences with fellow councilmen and well informed fellow townsmen, inaugurated a system of roadway, sidewalk, SeWer, and drainage, improvement, which when carried out uni- formly, will place the borough in the front rank as a model community in the matter of highway conditions. Mr. English possesses the conragp of his own convictions. He perseveres in the face of discouragement when he becomes convinced he is right. In the faCe of adverse opinion, he. after de- termining Upon a plan of work for borough uplift, stood faithfully, loyally, and conscientiously at his post, and indefatigably promoted every detail essential to proper consummation of the undertaking. Al^-eadv the splendid r?sult§ offered by W y of tX^erlmental c emoitraticn are acco •d'^d du p ais ; by citizens conversant with local needs. No citizen of Lansdowne hPi« de- voted more earnest and intelligent consideration to the borough's condition and the borough's needs. He is a Arm believer in Lansdowne'S future de- velopment. W. Frank English, Chairman, Highway Com- mittee, Borough Council. Manufacturer. Gedf^e W. Statzell. George W. Statzeii, one of Lansdowne's most progressive and promi- nent citizens, was born at Philadelphia, in lO, and Settled in Lansdowne in 1S94. Mr. Statzell recenth- retired from active business, and is now en- gaged in improving one of his properties in the northern section of the borough, known as the "Anderson Tract," containing about 22 acres of ground, GO LANSDOWNE PAST AND PRESENT Dr. John Albert McKenna. Dr. John Albert McKenna is one of the most popular and widely known of the rising- young- men of the Borough of Lansdowne. He has won distinct success both as a medical practitioner and public official. Dr. McKenna came to Lansdowne in the Fall of 1S99. After a g-ood preliminary educa- tion had been obtained, he entered the Medical-Chirurg-ical College, Philadelphia, and graduated from that institution in 1897. In his pro- fession career have been crowded the following importan fields of ac- tivity: Instructor in Surgery and Chief of Surgical Clinic. Medical- Chirurgical Colleg-e. Assistant Sur- g-eon to Medico-Chirurgical and American Stomach Hospitals, Phil- adelphia. Former Resident Surg-eon Medico-Chi Hospital, and Acting As- tant Surgeon, United States Army, Camp Alg-er, Va., 1898. Member of the Philadelphia County Medical So- ciety, Philadelphia. Pathological So- ciety, Philadelphia Medical Club, and American Medical Society. Dr. Mc- Kenna early won distinction in the field of metrouolitan journalism, and is now engag-ed upon a medical work of great interest and worth to his profession, in the preparation of which he has devoted considerable time and extended study and re- search. He has long been a mem- ber of the Borough Council, and during his incumbency has served on practically all of that body's committees. Dr. McKenna is a prominent member of De La Salle Council, Knights of Columbus, of Lansdowne, and is prominently and actively identified with all movements looking- to the uplift of Lansdowne. Dr. John A. McKenna. [ember of Borough Council. John Carl Hilbert. John Carl Hilbert, the popular and efficient Station Ag-ent of the Pennsylvania Railroad Compajiy, at Lansdowne, was born at Buffalo, N. Y., in 18fcl, and was educated in the public schools of that city. About 1880 he removed to Philadelphia to study telegraphy, entering the ser- vice of the Railroad Company for that purpose. At first he was issign- ed to Morton Station in a clerical capacity, remaining: there about three months, when he was transferred to West Chester, where he stayed two years as freight clerk and operator, and at the expiration of that period Was given the position of Station Agent at Burmont, where he remained until transferred to Lansdowne on April 1, 1888. Mr. Hilbert has served as Postmaster in Lansdowne and at present is Borough Real Estate Asses- sor and one of the Borough A.uditors. He is a man of sterling character, and has discharged with fidelitv and thoroughness the duties of all posts, public or private, to which he" has been either elected or appointed. He IS a firm believer in and upholder of Borough interests. LANSDOWNE PAST AND PRESENT 61 C. Edwin Hunter. One of La^iisdowne's most prominent citizejis, although young in shears, is C Edwin Hunter. Mr. Hunter was born in Philadelphia, July 11, 18S0, and was educated in public and pri- vate schools. He started in the real estate business, in which field he has won signal success, at the age of 17, and up to the time of starting in business for himself, in 1904, had been connected with several of Phil- adelphia's largest and best known real estate concerns. At the organi- zation of the Philadelphia & West- ern Railroad Company, he was ap- pointed Tleal Estate Agent and Con- veyancer, and had charge of the ac- quisition of all right of way of the Railroad, and is still retained by the Railroad Company in the same capa- city. Mr. Hunter is also Real Estate Agent and Conveyancer and a Direc- tor of the Homestead Real Estate Company, owning large acreage along the Philadelphia & Western Road. He is also identified as one of the largest real estate brokers and operators in suburban real es- tate and expert appraiser. In T>ans- dowpe and vicinity, he has sold up- wards of $300,000 worth of real estate Two of the most notable sales were of the property helonging to the late Col. Thomas A. Scott, President of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, on which he outlined the project of Lansdowne Court, and of property helong- ing formerly to Joel J. Bailey, located on South T^ansdowne avenue. Mr. Hunter is a prominent officer of the LansdowTie Country Club, a Director of the Lansdowne Civic Association, and is actively identified with many other prominent clubs and oi-ganizations. He is a young man possessed of splendid energy, push, and enterprise, and withal displays at all times sound judgment and tact. Lansdowne's interests find in him a steady, in- telligent, and substantial supporter and promoter. C Edwin Hunter, Prominent Real Estate Operator, John V- Loughney. John V. Longhney ranks among Lansdowne's foremost townsmen. Mr. Loughnev settled in the Borough September 1, 1900. He wa^ the prominent pioneer spirit in the establishment of a local council of the Knights of Columbus, which was done on June 25, 1901, with himself occupying the distinguished position of Grand Knight, it being named De La Salle Coun- cil, No. 590. Mr Loughney is at the present time the District Deputy of to that time conducted by H. M. Whitman. The new owner at once injected modern business procedure .and soon found his quarters too cramped for his growing trade. On March IS, 1907, he purchased from William H. W^or- rell, the local plumber, the property at No. 9 S. Lansdowne avenue, and in August of that year started to remodel the building. A flrst- class ice cream manufacturing plant was in- stalled on the first floor and a complete bak- ing department at the rear of the second floor, both departures being supplied with features realizing the best known system of sanitation and cleanliness, this being the first undertaking of the kind in the borough, as in other cases it was customary to conduct the work in poorly ventilated and lighted cellars or basements. On December 1, 1907, Mr. Storch took possession of the premises. The property was purchased from Mr. Worrell for $7,500, and the alterations made in it before possession was taken footed up approximately $5,000. Among the other changes made since his occupancy the following merit special mention: The ice cream factory is remarkable for its clenaliness and the uniformity of methods observed in the manufacture of ice creain. The ice cream parlor, decorated with rich classic designs, handsomely carpeted, containing rich mahoganv tables and chairs, and provided with beautiful art-glass electric lights, a light being assigned to each table, has a seating capacity of fifty-two persons. It opens directly into the the store department at the front of the building. In the latter department the same eye-pleasing classic designs in decoration ])re- vail, the walls also carrying 'large beveled glass mirrors, while fine glass show cases, filled M^ith sweetmeats of his own manufacture and set off with tastefully arranged bric-a-brac and objects de virtu. — appear on either side of the entrance aisle. It is safe to state there is not another such estab- lishment outside of Philadelphia. During 1908 Mr. Storch added to the store a very beautiful and complete soda fountain at a cost of about $1,200. This estahlishment keeps two delivery teams on the go day and night, and affords employment to eight persons other than the members of the pro- prietor's family. Mr. Storch is the only caterer in the borough, and his ser- vice in this field has been of such uniformly excellent nature that he is in constant demand in connection with public and private functions, the Clifton National Bank having been one of his latest patrons on the occa- sion of the annual meeting of the stockholders in January, 1909. The ice- creams offered by this business enjoy a wide reputation for excellence, and are delivered to customers in all parts of the County and in Philadelphia, He extends to his patrons an invitation to visit and inspect any branch of the bvisiness at any time. The store front is handsome, with plate glass display windows in which are costly drop curtains, the business sign be- ing inwrought artistictly on the transom over the main entrance door. Mr. Storch has contributed substantially a.nd most attractively to the improve- ment of the boroughi, and is a consistent and stalwart champion of aJl George N. Storch. movements aiming at borough development and uplift. fiS LANSDOWNE PAST AND PRESENT William A. Leonard. William A. Leonard. Successful Boro. Florist, William A. Leonard is recognized as one of the foremost exponents of practical floriculture in Delaware County, and admit- tedly stands in the front rank of Lansdowne florists. He has devoted years of unremitted and close study of the history and nurture of flowers. He has been a resident of Lansdowne for a number of years, and has succeeded in building- up one of the most extensive as well as best equipped greenhouse systems in the State. The gTeenhouses now number fourteen, and Mr. Leonard's business is grow- ing so rapidly that this number will not long meet his requirements. He is one of uirf borough's large property owners, and also owns property in East Lansdowne. He is essentially a business man, and by adherance to sound 'business policies has deservedly won distinct success. He is ever among those who are striving for a better and greater Lansdowne, and in the management of his own business affords a most commendable example along this line. Dr. Warran Lawrence Rhoads. Dr. Warren Lawrence Rhoads was born in Delaware County, May 5, 1868. He was educated at the West Chester State Normal School, the Shortlidge Academy, Media, the University of Pennsylvania, and the American Veterinary College, Veterinary Department University of New York, from which he graduated in the spring of 1893. He began the prac- tice of his profession in Lansdowne in September, 1S93, and purchased his present residence of Homer C. Stewart in the spring of 1896, and immed- iately erected a veterinary sanitarium, containing all the latest improve- ments and app*ances; this sanitarium was damaged by fire in 1908. In the fall of 1896 he married Anna M., second daughter of H. Jones and Anna R. Moore, of Broomall, Delaware County, He was unanimously elected for three successive years as Secretary of the Keystone Veterinary Medical Association, the oldest local association in existence, and also served as Secretary of the Pennsylvania State Aassociation. Beniflitiin W. Carskaddon Benj. W. Carskaddon has been a resident of Lansdowne since November, 1892, and has always taken a,n active part in every movement that promised to promote Borough development and betterment. After an extended, varied and successful real estate and conveyancing experience, Mr. Carskaddon was on May 1, 1902, appointed to his present very important official post as Real Estate Agent of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. He is a mem- ber of the Board of Trustees of the Lansdowne Public Library. As this volume goes to press, Mr. Carskaddon stands as the Republican noimnee for Chief Burgess. LANSDOWXE PAST AND PKEJ^EXT G9 Lucian W. Beatty and T. Edgar Beatty. LiUcian W. Beatty, T. Edgar Beatty. The two young local tnerchaiits above named, trading ag Beatty Bros. started in the grocery business at No. 8 East Baltimore avenue, Lans- downp, March 29, 1904, removing to their present quarters on South Lans- downe avenue on Novetnber 22, 1906. They are self-made business men in every sense of the term. These young men started as grocery clerks in the Borough, January 5, 1895, serving at different times with such well known local grocerymen as W. S. Jefferieg, E. P. fearsoh and H. Hibbert. In that way they acquired a practical foundation that has proved a most valuable asset in the success that attended their Subsequent business undertakings. They have always been substantial contributors to the growth and develcyment of lahsdowne in all directions. These young? men located in Lansdowne in 1894, Joseph S. Vanzaiidt* Joseph §. Vanzandt, born at Philadelphia, Pa., in 1850, located in Ldng^ downe, (at the time a village in tapper Darby Towhship,) in the fall of 1884, moving three years later to his present home on North Lansdowne avenue. Mr. Vanzandt has always taken art active interest iii the growth and de^ velopment of the Borough. He was one of the organizers of the first united effort for local government, the Citizens' Association, Serving as its Secre- tary from its organization until it passed out of existence after the in- corporation Of the Borough in 1893. In 1898 Mr. Vanzandt was elected a member of the Borough Council to fill an unexpired term, serving during his incumbency as Chairman of the Finance Committee of Council. He waS also chairman of the committee that organized the local fire company, and was elected the company's first President, an Office he filled for several years. Mr. Vanzandt is oflficially identified with the Treasury Department of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, Mnth which Company he has beeri associated for a number of years. Not only the prominent and effective part he pla: sd in the early career of the Borough, but as well his energetic and broad-minded interest in all that relates to the municipality at th^ present time, place him in the rank of the really representative men &i the locality. LANSDOWNE PAST AND PREgEKT John W .Gib. son, Real Estate Agent. John W. Gibson John W. Gibson, Real Estate Agent, S3ltled ill Lansdowne, June 19, 1889, as a representative of the Lansdowne Heights Land Association. At that time Lansdowne was a small village with a population of about 500. He can point to at least 100 houses in Lansdowne and vicinity that have been erected through his efforts, and during his residence in Lansdowne he has sold upwards of 1,000 lots in Lansdowne and adjoining boroughs. He is a loyal tow^nsman, whose best endeavors are invariably di- rected toward all movements having for their ob- ject local improvement. Dr. Elwood Baker. Dr. Ellwood Bak«^r, who died March 1, 1896, aged 5?, was 0Y\^ of the the best kiiown physicians in Delaware County. He was born at the farm- house on the road from Church Lane to Cardington. He was a graduate of Jefferson Medical College, and Hahnemann College gave him a diploma. He had an entensive practice and was highly esteemed by all. His wife was Miss Mary E. Plumstead, daughter of Robert PlUm.stead, of the "Maple Grove Farm," now a part of Lansdowne. He was interred at the Friends' burying ground at Darby. James §. Austin* James S. Austin wsm bom in Philadelphia. His father, John B. Austin, owned Dr. De Forest Willard's present property, and u.sed it as a country- seat. James S. Austin was President of the Citizens' Electrict Light Com- pany, and was also President of the Delaware County & Philadelphia Trol- ley Company. S Tyson Kinsell, Secretary Of the Lansdowne Civic AgsOciatiort, Mr. Kihsell is a Registered U. S. Patent At- torney, and formerly practiced in Philadelphia. He- entered the Federal Government service in 1803, sev- eral years prior to which he also published the "Delaware County Tribune. "—(1901-03). He spent about four years in the Secret Service and Customs Divisions of the Treasury Department, Washington, D. C, and is now connected with the Customs Ser- vice at the port of Philadelphia. Appointed mem- ber of Board of Health, in iviarch, 1909. S. Tyson Kinsell, Secretary, Lansdowne Civic Asso. LANSDOWXE PAST AND PRESENT Edwin T. Darby, H. D., D. D. S. Dr. Edwin T. Darby's residence on Lansdowne avenue, just below the Providence Road, was named "Darbydeene," and was built in 1884 by Benj. D. Price, architect, and original owner; the ground formerly belonged to the Lincoln estate. Dr. Darby was torn in Binghamton, Broome County, New York, and educated at Cortland Academy, Homer. N. Y. He graduated in dentistry in 18C5 at the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery, Phila- delphia, and in medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in 1879. Hp has been identified with the unhers.ty of Pe .n^yivania as I rof?S3or of ^pe a : e Dentistry and Dental Histology in the Dental Department. Civil Betterment Undertakings. Citizens' Association of Lansdowne. The first movement toward the creation of an "improvement associatioii" in Lansdowne may be said to date from January 18, 1889. when the present borough was a village forming a part of L'pper Darby Township. On that date a meeting was held in Pennocks Hall, at which Joseph Powell offered a resolution providing for the appointment of a committee to consider such matters as w^ere of interest and for the general welfare of the community, The chairman, Joseph E. Thropp, appointed as such coramitte'^ Messrs, Cle- ment M. Biddle. Abram L. Pennock, John W. Davis, F. M. Long-streth, E, St J. Brady. Henry Albertson, J. ^Vesley Harris. Joseph S. Vanzandt and Joseph E. Thropp. Mr. Vanzandt acted as Secretary of this meeting". The question of borough incorporation was discussed and th^ following boundar- ies for Lansdowne were suggested r Commencing at East side of Darby Creek on a line with Fairview ave.; eastwa-dly on said Fai-A-i w are to I'n'nn ave.; northwardly to Kenney's Lane to Marshall Road, th-nce westwardly to Shadeland avenue, thence southwardly to east side of Darbv r'reek to place of beginning. Organization was effected at the meeting of the fore- going committee held February 1?., 18S9. with Clement M. Biddle as chair- man. The committee recommended, inter alia, that the organization be known as the "Citizens' Association of Lansdowne." On Jime 13, 1889, the first regular meeting of this Association was h'^ld in Pennock's Hall. Jam^^s Garrett occupying the chair, with Joseph S. Vanzandt as Secretary. At the meeting held the 18th of the same month the following were elected as the first officers of the Association: President James Garrett. Vice President, Joseph L. Davis Secretary, Joseph S. Vanzandt Treasurer, Leander Marshall The Trustees were Abram L. Pennock, Dr. DeForest Willard and Henry Albertson. and the Executive Committee comprised F. M. Longstreth. Ed- ward V. Kane, A. E. Postel. Joel J. Bailey, Caspar Pennock, Robert F. Ir- win, James Garrett, E. R. Fackler. Frank Morris, Henry Grim. John W, Davis, Joseph S. Vanzandt, John J. White, Howard White and H. H. Cook. This Association included in its m-embership many of Lansdowne's best known citizens, and at the time of its dissolution in 1893 had 83 mem.bers. It did much good and substantial work in the way of local beginnings, im- provements and general uplift. LANSDOWNE PAST AND l^UESEKT Lansdowne Civic Association. The Lansdowne Civic Association had its origin in a movenieiit instituted by citizens of the northern section of the boi'ough who were desirous of promoting and maijitaining a high standard of municipal condtions, and Which culminated in the org-anization on September 13, 1907, of the "East" ern Precinct Improvement Association of Lansdowne." After several meet-' ings it was decided to enlarge the field of activity, to include the borough in its entiretj^ and according'ly the the name was changed to "Lahsdowne Improvement Association" at a meeting held in January, 1908, which title obtained until the adoptioh on October 13, 1908, of the present title "Lans^ downe Civic Association", in order to harmonize with National and State organizations of like character. Although in its infancy the Association has accomplished much substantial good in borough affairs, its work thus faf having been for the most part formulative and suggestive. The officers aret President, Frank T. Davis. Sr. Vice President A. Culver Boyd. Secretary, S. Tyson Kinsell. Treasurer, H. L. Parkinson, DiRBCTOftS, Easter Precinct t Western Prfecintt George C. Johnson. James T. Stewart. Robert Crawford. C. Edwin Hunter. Ezra tlyde Alden. Deforest Willard, M. D. J. Lynn Barnard. Dr. R. W. Gick. gnuthern Precinct: J. Herbert Ogden. John W. Davis. C. Wilfred Conard. Thos. G. Cooper. LAXSDONVXE PAST AND PRESENT 73 Best Gas Range to Buy Cook With Gas ALL the Year The cook stove is the mcst important factor that enters into the kitchen work. Why not have the best? Why not use the the best ALL the time? Where a gas range is used only in summer, its benefits are lost for half the year and two stoves must be maintained. Also the eternal servant problem comes in; and why Should she be obliged to carry coal and smother in ashes? The Eclipse Cabinet Gas Range is the perfection of cooking convenience. broiling, baking and warming ovens there are, ail heated by the same burners and all on a conven- ient ievei. No stooping. There are tour top burners and a simmering burner; also a Icng she.f at ihe bot- tom most useful to hold utensils. Once installed the coal stove will be banished for all tim^. A Cabinet Gois Range is a Coal Stove with a College Education Suburban Gas Company STUART M. BROWNE, Lansdowne Representative. LANSDOWNE PAST AND PRESENT 1 MICHEtLSiMl Bi FLOWER, VEGETABLE AND GRASS ■ "^'■\' Complete Catalogue of Seeds, Bulbs, Garden and Poultry Supplies FREE HENRY F. MICHELL CO., '"'fhiffiyhiJ'"?* VETERINARY SANITARIUM DR. W. L. RHOADS, Veterinarian Driving, Saddle Horses and Dogs Boarded and For Sale Horse Clipping by Power Machine. No. 9 East Baltimore Avenue Lansdowne, Pa, LAXSDOWXE PAST AND PKESEXT 7(; LANSDOWNE TAST AND PRESENT Colonial Mantels Fire Places Andirons Fenders Tiles for Bath Rooms Kitchens, Pantries, Etc. DESIGNS & ESTIMATES FURNISHED Charles A, Suddards, 114 So. I6th St., Phila. LANSDOWNE PAST AND PRESENT 77 THE quality of the every day groceries is what makes the difference in your every-day Hving. WHEN we make our se- lections the quality of the goods comes first- then the price. THAT we are just as particular with the staple articles as we are with our fancy groceries, is one of the reasons why our trade is constantly increasing with those who appreciate good things. BWTHf BROTHERS LANSDOWNE, PA. LANSDOWNE PAST AND PRESENT William A. Leonard The Lansdowne Florist FOR Choice Roses, Ferns and Fern Dishes 147 N- WYCOMBE AVENUE LANSDOWNE, PA, Bell Telephcne LANSDOWXE PAST AND PRESENT 79 R. J. ROBINSON Lansdowne, Pa. Both Phones Two and Four Horse Teams for Coaching and Straw Rides. Station Wagon to Meet Trains. Express to Philadelphia Daily; also Local. Light Driving Rigs and Saddle Horses. Heavy Teams for Moving and Hauling m LANSDOWNE FAST AND 1»KESENT NeaHy Everybody in Lansdowne READS "The Progress" The Best Papep for Loeai News. The Best Advertising Medium. Circulation, Nearly 4,000. TUESDAY cuid FRIDAY $1.00 A YEAR For Advertising Rates, address THE PROGRESS DARBY, PA. >*""'" T' LANSDOWNE PA8T AND PRESENT SI Puys z Per Cent. Interest on Accounts Subject to Check, The Equitable Trust Company BROAD above CHESTNUT Capital and Surplus, $1,225^000 ^lalies Loans tiitoii Approred Collateral. Acts as Trau-^fer Ag'^nt and Registrar of Sioets and Bonds. Ti-ayoliers' Checks and Letters of Credit for sale. Safe Deposit Boxes for Rent, Invites correspondence and solicits your patr-ona^e HOWARD B. FRENCH. Pres. Wn.LLL\M F. HARRrrY. Vice-Pres. JEREMIAH 3. SULLIVAN, Vice-Pros. FBAJS^Iv jr. JOHANN, Secy, and Treas- JOHN V. LOUGHNEY. Asst. Secy, and Tr^as JOHN H. CONNELLAN, Title Officer ^V, H. HARRISON, Jr., Asst. Title Office: C r^EBCY WILL-COX, Trust Otficer Directors Howard B. FreTicli S. Edwm Megarge* William P. Harrity Wintbrop Sniifli Anthony A. Hii-st .Samuel Gustin^e ThompsoH J-eremiah J. Sulliva-a Francis Shunk Brown "Edward F. Beale Aulorcy H. Weiglitmaa Tliomas Devlin Henry C. Loiighlin Clci-istixin A. Hagen J^'tys 3 Per Cent. Interest on Time Deposits 'Subjedt to Two Weeks^ Notice, V. 82 LANSDOWNE PAST AND PxxESENT r: -? Anderson Tract Lansdowne Ave. & Garrettford Road. GEORGE W. STATZELL Rea[ Estate Building IVIiliwork 318 N. Lansdowne Avenue P, O. BOX 2 BELL PHONE 169 Lansdowne^ Pa. Snperb Location, beliiig^ uiucJi higher than LaiiscXowne, over 200 feet above tidewater. 25 minutes from City Hall, PMIadelpIiia, via S-ubway and Elevated Trolley Lines. ii 15 Minute Walk fi-om Lansdowne Station, P. R. R. 6 1-2 Miles from City Hall, aad immediately adjoining: Lang^lowne Bocougfr, Mail Delivered a;t the door, Telford Roa;ds. Four-foot Cement Walks, Telephones. , Springfield Waiter. Old and New Sliade Tree^ Gas-- and Electric Light, Attractive Building, Restrictio'X For Terms; Addi?esB^ of CaJf! or? George W. Statzelt,. Proiirietor^ as above; nr William Saunders^ Builder^ on the premises T.ANSDOWXE PAST AND PRESENT 83 LOUIS T. ROfflAGNOLI Merchant Tailor MEN'S AND LADIES' TAILORING --^=::::=- Barker Building, RQQ^ »» LANSDOWNE, PA. l>liotie-lansdowike. 44-a 84 LANSDOAYNE PASl AND PRESENT Butter and Eggs Tea and Coffee D. L. Mclaughlin Country Sausage and Scrapple, JLard in Season Lansdowne P. O. 273 Send Postal CHARLES U SHURTLEFF 3funeral 2)irector 3825 Market Street, Philadelphia, Pa. 67 N» Lansdowne Avenue, Lansdowne, Pa< BELL PHONES LAXSDOWXE PAST AND PRESENT 85 h ^ fa,^ X ?s 0) <1^ s s <;^ o g 1 .^ 2 ^ ^ H o OW the e epuL Qj § of LOT we have de and t o ^ QJ ^ o CO ingt is a class effort and rw CO 5 ^ ^ Add to th this o 1 1 O LANSDOWNE I'AST AND PRESENT ' LANSDOWNE WET WASH AND CLEANSING COMPANY Telephone No. 14, Lansdowne P. O. Box No. 20, Lansdowne P. O. Box No. 276, Ciifton Heights STOP AND THINK For FIFTY CENTS the Lansdowne Wet Wash and Cleansing Company \^ill do an ordinary family washing and return just damp within thirty-six hours, a large por- tion of which can be ironed at once. It solves the servant problem —save^ you money— removes the most unpleasant feature of wash day. Fill the bag (loaned by the Company) to the full capacity — we will do the rest. Sanitary ftatures very best. Each wash kept separate from others. Form the hibit of sending your wash WEEKLY, No MARKING with our system. No CHEMICALS ustd. Will not injure the most delicate fabric or co'or-s, ALL we ask is a trial. Write or telephone — you will receive prompt attention. We also make the cleansing of BLANKETS AND LACE CURTAINS a Specialty. LANSDOWXE PAST AND PRESENT THE WILSON^ TILE CO. Mosaic Tiles and Marble Decorations. Mantels, Grates and Fireplaces OFFICE AND SEOW ROOMS 414 Perry Bldg, 16th and Chestnut Sts. I'HONE CONNECTIONS. The following is a list of a few of our patrons, to each and all of whom we respectfully refer. Residences C. Cecil Fitler. Riverton, N. J. M. ^Meyer Fitler, Eiyerton, N- J. John H. Converse, IGth and Locust street. S. N. Vauclain, Roseniont, Pa. William H. Steigerwalt, Merion, Pa. Dr. Vandyke, Princeton. N. J. B. F. Clyde, Byrn Mawr. Pa. The Hon. Judge Audenried, Overbrook, Pa. Victor Du Pont, AVilmington. Del. Isaac Clothier, Wynne wood. Pa. Mr. Laird, Chestnut Hill. Pa. Francis R. Strawbridge, Byrn Mawr. Pa. Sanniel Disston, Chestnut Hill, Pa. Mrs. Thos. McKean, Casenovia Lake, N. Y. Alexander Simpson, Merion, Pa. Theo. Vorhees, Melrose, Pa. Clarence N. Clark, Queen Lane. Germantown. P. N. Sharpless, AVe>t Chester. Pa. Samuel H. Austin, 3913 Chestnut street. Mr. Ballard, Chestnut Hill, Pa. Mrs- Thos. McKean, Rosemont. Pa. Sfote!s, Eui'dings, etc. Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, Pliila.. aa. Marlborough Hotel. Atlantic City. N. J, Traymore Hotel, Atlantic City, Pa. National Farm School, Doylestown, Pa. Lafayette Building, 5th and Cliestnut street. Buildings for Girard College, Phila.. Pa. Briar Cliff Manor, on the Hudson, N. Y. 35 Houses in Lansdowne built by W. C. Shuster, Jr. "What is Home without a WILSON FIRE- PLACE?" Ask the :\Ian Next Door. 88 LANSDOWXE TAST AND PRESENT C. McCULLOUGH -t-M Tin, Slag and Slate Rooting HEATERS, RANGES, SKYLIGHTS, CORNICES, SHEET METAL WORK C <€#'^*^ ^.^*^ ig S. Lansdowne Avenue. LAXSbOWXE PAST AND PRESENT 89 Wm, C. ShusteTyJr. BUILDER OF AR TISTIC SUBURBAJS HOMES Entrance to Lansdowne Court. REAL ESTATE Latisdownef . - - « Pentia. 00 LAN>4D()WNE PAST AND PRESENT Lansdowne Tonsorial Parlor 22 S. Lansdowne Ave. LANSDOWNE, PA. FRANK TROMMER, Frank Trcn,„.er PrOprietOr Commodious and Handsome Parlon Complete and Up-to-Date Equipment Expert, Long Experienced and Courteous Barbers. Four Latest Pattern Chairs. Shaving and Hair Dressing in Approved Styles. Children's Hair Cutting a Specialty. Lansdowne Standard and Reliable Barber Shop LAXSnoWNE PAST AND PRESENT D. H. Barrow Tin, Slate and Slag ROOFING-SPOUTING HEATER AND RANGE WORK BRICKS AND GRATES ROOFS REPAIRED AND PAINTED Estimates Cheerfully Furnished 10 S. Lansdowne Ave. Lansdowne, Pa. 92 LAXSDOAVXE PAST AND I'lSESEN'T FREQUENTLY Twenty Payment Life Poli'-ies are mistaken for Twenty Yeai* Endow- ments- The former are payable only at death, while the latter are pjiy- able to the insnred himself if he should live twenty years, or at prior death. The following comparison of rates per thousand wnll be interest ng Twenty Endow- Pa . Life ment. Age 35 20>rs Provident Lifo & Trust $33.28 $46.70 Aetna Life 37.83 50.49 Berkshire 37-13 50.98 Canada Life 38.15 52,05 Connecticut General 34.50 49.13 Connecticut Mutual ...... 35.82 50.36 Equitable of New York 38.34 52.47 Fidelity Mutual . 3G.78 50.12 Germania 37.53 51.17 Hartford Life 37-12 51.82 Home Life 30.22 49.85 John Hancock 34.87 50.14 Manhattan 3G.17 49.74 Massachusetts Mutual 37.13 50.98 Mutal of New York 38.34 52.47 Mutual Benefit 30-22 4985 National of Vermont 37.27 50.90 New England 30.70 50 00 New York Life 38.31 51.91 Northwestern 30.85 50. (U Penn Mutual 37.?5 50.88 Phoenix Mutual 37 16 50.38 State Mutual 30.80 50.40 Sun (Canada^. 80.95 50 55 Fn-'on Central 35.50 50.12 T'nion Mutual 37.35 51.11 The Provident Life and Trust Comctny of Phtiladelphia \ is distinguished for low rates of premium on aM fo^^ms of policies; ' also low expense rate; and its mortality is lower than that of any other American company. All of its policies ar?^ upon the "Participa- tion Plan:" that is. the difference between the premium and the cost of insurance as determined by experience is returned in divi- dends There are companies which insure without dividends, and a comparison between the premium rates for such msiirance and the mutual rates of a company like the Provident, is unfair to the latter. l.OUTS F. PARET, Special Agent 401 CHESTNUT STPEET, OFFICE HOURS PKILA, PA. 12 30 to 2 30 P M LANSDOWNE PAST AND PRESENT 98 RUFUS C. HOOPES DEALER IN Lumber, Coal and Feed Hardware, Drain Pipe, Building Paper, Rcofing Paper, Calcine Plaster, Hair Cement Axle Grease. Nails and Glass, Pratf s Horse, Cattle and Poultry Food Dr, Daniel's Horse Remedies BALTIMORE AND UNION AVENUES LANSDOWNE, PA ; Bell and Keystone Plionei 04 LANSDOWNE PAST AND PRESENT The Philadelphia Suburban Electric Company DAY AND NIGHT SERVICE The Ldnsdowne Station of this Company is Operating Day and Night, giving Continuous Service A BRIGHT LITTLE TIP i V^e electric U.uii-f — s^top scratcliinu' matcTies on yonr I wall. Those streaky match scratches looks mighty ' had on any wail. Electric- light is the only lighC j: for the home. ] Electricity. The ffocfdes-s of health. Electi-ic lig'ht mrcy he n?fed in the s'.Ieiei>iiTg roam withont mjnrion:? results'.. Whenever electrie light is used the air re- mains pnre and sweet. Electric Flat Irons heat qnick and stay hot. A ifnrii of the switch sttcrts it. In a few moments: yonr inn is hot. GET AN ELECTRIC FAN AND KEEP OFF THE FLIES B.ll Phone -26 Lansdowr.e ALONZO M. GETZ, Key^one - 12 - MANAGER. LANSDOWNE PAST AND PRESENT ^5 aEN^ERi^L INDEX Feature Page A. Anderson Tract 27-85 Application for Borough Incorporation 5 Arlington Cemetery .., 85 Alden, Ezra H 72 Austin, James S • 70 B. Beatty Bros., Grocers ..,.,.69-77 Beatty, Lucian W. ^ '69 Beatty, T. Edgar ,,.; 69 Boyd, A. Cl-ilver, 26-56-72 :Boyd, Rev. Wm. ^ •"• 6-40 BorougTi Loan Issues - 13 Borough Tax Rates - 20 Borougli Realty Values ^ 20 Board of HealtTi 21 Borough Officials, List of 24 Barlcer, Wm. H ^ 11-21-24 Brosius, Sumner G 24 Bartram, Nathan B ^ 59 Blanchplerre • - 2^S Barrow, D. H ^^ :Ben Teleplione Co , of Penna., , 7 and Baclc Cover Baranard, Prof, J. Lynn ^ 72 :Bunting, MorgaTi .,..-. .^ Front Cover 36 Bartleson, Br. H. C .-... 66 ^aker, Dr. Elwood -. .- — 70 Baptist ChurcTi - -,,..- .-„,.~ 41 C. ^Country Club of Lansdowne -......,, ^ 44 rjarsWddon, B. W. • ......26-68 ^Carter, John B ,.,..,...., 49 Darby and Haverford Road 22 Damon, Albert F., Jr , 26-66 Darby, Edwin T., M. D 71 Drew, MTilliam P 23-24 Delaware County & Philadelphia Electric Ry. --o.,. S8^ Dougherty, Mrs. X. Byrne 51 E. English, W. Frank 17-21-25-26-31-59^ Engineering Facts, Early .,., 25 Equitable Trust Co., The 8X Ebrey. C. E tt F. First National Bank of Clifton Heights I First Borough Survey 2if First Borough Sewer .• 25 First Cement Sidewalk '^i First Roadway Construction ^i? Firemen's Relief Association 35 Friends' Meeting House, Owen avenue 42 Fackler, Mrs. Edward R bl Garrett, Hon. Isaac V, 2I-3I-3"4-50-54 Getz, Alonzo M., 38-9^ Guilford, Dr. S. H ..-. 33- Garrett, David H 39- Griffith, H. F. , „. 65- Gibson, Jno. W., Jr., „ , 7(r Grabau, Mrs. Louise 14 Garrett, James 21-25-71 H. Hunter, C. Edwin ............ ....... 4-5-61-72- Back Cover Highways. List of ....... . .......... -..^.... 9* Hines, Jno. C. 26-47 Hoopes, Rufus C, (Lumber, Coal & Feed) 9? Hansell Property .. — . 19" Hilbert, John C. a 26-60 Haines, Wm. S. ................ 5o LANSDOV>XE PAST AND PRESENT " 97 General Index — Continued Feature Pag e Irwin, Samuel F zi Irwin, Mrs. Robert F 51 J. Johnson, George C 72 Johnson, W. Albert 16-21-24-27-39 Jackson, -John 25-26 Janvier, Thomas G 23-25 Johnson, Harry E. 45 Janvier, Charles 26 K. Knights of Columbus 48 Kinsell, S. Tyson 70-72 Kennedy, Dr. Wm. D 21 Kent, Mrs. Henry T 51 ly. Lutz, Hon. J. Milton 1-38-53 I.,ansdowne Land Syndicate 2-65 Lansdowne Civic Association 72 Lansdowne Building & Loan Association 3o Lansdowne Borough Outlined in Paragraphs 5 "Lansdowne," Origin of Name 1^ Lansdowne Avenue, North oi Railroad 14-15-16 Lansdowne Avenue, South of Railroad 16-17 Lansdowne Highlands 17 Lansdowne Heights Land C ompany 17 Lansdowne Country Club 44 Lewis, Edwin B 21-25-64 Longstreth, F. M. 21-24-45-71 Lansdowne Drive Improvement Co., 23 Lobb Farm 27 Lansdowne Friends' Meeting 42 Leonard, William A 47-68-78 Lindsey, Thomas J 46-47 Loughney, John V 48-61-81 Lansdowne Natural History Club 43 Lansdowne Republican Club 50 Lansdowne Minstrels 51 Lansdowne Fire Company 35 Lansdowne Water Company 36 Lansdowne Electric Light Company ^•j Lansdowne Sewage Company 39 1)8 LANSDOA\XE PAST AND PRESENT General Index — Continued Feature Page Lansdowne Wet Wash and Cleaning Company 8b Lansdowne & Darby Saving Fund & Trust Co. Front Cover M. Metliodist Episcopal Church 41 Mullin, Daniel D 14-1G-35-36-4S McKenna, Dr. John A 16-25-26-35-43-48-60 McCullough, Cornelius 26-35-48-63-8S McBee, Rev. Crosswell 6-34-41 Markee, Rev. Francis J 6-43-48 Michell Co., Henry F 74 McLaughlin, D. L 84 McEwen, Wm. A. 21-26-58 N. Nitzky, George A., Jr 37-64 Neighbors' Club 50 Nichols, Harley B 50 Nichols, Mrs. Harley B. 51 Natural History Club 49 O. Ogden, J. Herbert 50-54 Original Shoemaker House 29 Old Country Club 18 P. Price, Charles S. 13 Pearson, Edward F. ^& Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore R. R U Pennsylvania R. R. Has Claim on Lansdowne 1* Philadelphia & Delaware County R. R. 12 Post Office '^^ Pennock, Casper 14-24-64 Plumstead Mansion ,... 17 Powell, Walter C, 25 Presbyterian Church 39-40 Postmasters,— Names and Dates of Appointment. Public School System 30 Public School Graduates— List of 31 Philips, Prof. Walter L 30 Public Library 33 Phillips, John J. H 21 Pusey, Hon. Fred Taylor 25-26-50-.52 Pharaoh, The Plumber 75 "Progress, The" 80^ LANSDOWXE PAST AND PRESENT !J') General Index — Continued Feature Pa^g Provident Life & Trust Co., of Philadelphia yj Philadelph a Suburban Electric Co yi Postel, A. H 24 Paul, Emlen C 5^ R. Kobinson, R. J 7-65-7^ Railroad Station, Sketch of i;^ Railroad Transportation, Sketch of 10-11-12 Rhoads, Dr. Warren L bH-ii Ryan, William H, 17-25 Rhoads, Isaac H 4^ Read, William r' 44 Reg-ester, Miss Annie Sinclair 33 Runnymede Club House ' lo Ridings, John M., 25-35 Runnymede vn Romagnoli, Louis T., (Tailor) 83 S. Shoemaker, Richavdson 7-16-T9-57 Stewart, James T 31-35-41-50-72 Storch, George N 35-; 7 School System, Public 30 Shuster, William C , Jr. , 26-34-58 89 Suddards, Charles A V6 St. John's P. E. Church 40 ShurtlefE, Charles L. 84 Suburban Gas Company 7-73 Schappett, John C ,, 17-48 St. Philomena's Parochial School 34 St. Philomena's R. C. Church 43 Statzell, George W 44-59-82 Stewart, Homer C 14-15 Statzell, Henry "Sunset View" Smith, L. L Shoemaker, C. B. School Boards , Saunders, William Salter, E. D Smith, William C Simpler, Claude A , 26- Shoemakerv'* House, Original Shoemaker, Benjamin H., 3rd Street, Tammany P. -16 -21 ii-' 17 24 24 31 21 -25 25 25 -26 A- -47 16- -29 35- -31; 25- -50 100 LANS.DOWNE PAST AND TKESENT APB 26 1909General Index — Continued Feature Page Shaffner, William F , 35-36 Springfield Consolidate Water Co. 37 St. John's Club -.. 41 T. Trolley Transportation ,.. ,, ,, 5- The Wilson Tile Company ...., 81 Trommer, Frank, (Barber) 90 Taylor, Francis G., 25-25- ir. Union Athletic Association .....-.....„.-.-.„ 46-4T Vanzandt, Joseph S. ^-35-69-71 Vandever, M. T. ..» ,. ... 21-31-50^ Verlenden, "W. l>ane Front Cover, W^. White, George Faster .-.......„ Front Cover, 36^ Woolman, Miss Anna ..- - 3K Ware,. Warren F. .- 50 Warren, H. L. 24 "Wilson Tile Company .-. ST "Woolman, John and Naomt .^.. 42^ Warren, Louis A .- .-- 46-4T Wagner, Charles M. _........ 21-33-35-50 White, TVaiter Rhoads - 49' Webb, Walter L 5(* Webb, Mrs. Waltei- L. 51 T\^ycombe Land Company 1^ West Clioster &. PhUadeiphia. R.. R.. ., II ^fiOGRESS PRINT, DARBY, PMn' Suburban REAL ESTATE For Sale, Rent, Rent Furnished, in all Parts of the Suburbs ~->5' C, EDWIN HUNTER Suburban Real Estate J 408-09 North American Building Philadelphia BOTH PHONES TOLL LIBRPRY OF CONGRESS 014 365 172 1 You Will Save Money BY USING THE BELL TO OUT OF TOWN POINTS 1 i^n ^^ An evory^hero Reaching Symtem ALWAYS ON DUTY-USE IT No Other form of Comtnulcatlon SO QUICK AND SO SATISFACTORY Mossafir* «& Ansvifert'Both Ways • IN A TWINKLING' Lansdowne to Philadelphia 10 Cents The Bell ■^ DRAWN BY ANNA GARRETT L Telephone Co OF PENNA.