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 »» 
 
 CORYELL'S FERRY" 
 
 (NOW NEW HOPE, BUCKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA..) 
 
 in the REVOLUTION 
 
 delivered he fore Fori Washington Gnapier, 
 d)au0niers of me American Revoluziori- 
 Nay Zl 3 -?, 1915. 
 
 BY 
 
 OLIVER RANDOLPH PARRY 
 
 LARGELY TAKEN FROM. THAT BY 
 
 RICHARD RANDOLPH PARRY 
 DELIVERED. JUNE 15*-* 19G7. 
 
 TMB • FANWOOD • PRESS 
 •1915- 
 
159 
 N42 P2 
 
 opy 2 
 
 *t 
 
 CORYELL'S FERRY" 
 
 (NOW NEW HOPE, BUCKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.) 
 
 in the REVOLUTION 
 
 delivered hef ore Fori Washington Ghapier, 
 Daughters of the American Kevo/ution, 
 May &£, MS. 
 
 BY 
 
 OLIVER RANDOLPH PARRY 
 
 LARGELY TAKEN FROi^t TMA.T BY 
 
 RICHARD RANDOLPH PARRY 
 DELIVERED. JUNE 15* 1907. 
 
 THE • FAMWOOD • PRESS 
 •1915- 
 
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"CORYELL'S FERRY IN THE REVOLUTION." 
 
 An Address delivered before the Fort Washington Chapter, Daughters 
 of the American Revolution, by Oliver Randolph Parry, at Isham 
 Mansion, Isham Park, 211th Street, New York City, N. Y., on 
 May 21st, 1915. 
 
 President, General, Regents and members of the Fort Wash- 
 ington Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution : The 
 speaker is indeed honored at being asked to deliver an address 
 before your Society, near spots as historical as the Battles of 
 "Fort Washington," and of "Fort Lee," fought over one 
 hundred and thirty-eight years ago, and not far distant from 
 the headquarters of the then Commander-in-Chief of the 
 American Army of the Revolution, and subsequently the First 
 President of this our glorious country. There is also a 
 matter of personal sentiment in the address, about to be de- 
 livered, as it has been largely taken from that delivered by 
 the speaker's father before the Pennsylvania Society Sons of 
 the Revolution, at " Coryell's Ferry," Pa., on June 15th, 1907, 
 the occasion of their annual pilgrimage. 
 
 To students of American History and the period of the 
 Revolutionary War, this ground, as well as " Coryell's Ferry," 
 is indeed most familiar, and is interwoven with that great 
 struggle which culminated in the independence of the colonies 
 and the permanent establishment of this our glorious country. 
 At " Fort Washington" and " Coryell's Ferry," the ancestors of 
 many of you here to-day, no doubt under far different and most 
 trying circumstances, anxiously awaited, often doubtingly, the 
 development and consummation of the warlike plans and 
 designs with which both places were closely connected and 
 formed a part of one hundred and thirty-eight years ago. 
 
Cornell's JFercg 
 
 You are all familiar with the Battle of "Fort Washington" 
 and the events leading up to and immediately following, which 
 were so ably noted in the address at your recent Anniversary 
 Meeting, by Rev. Wm. Montague Geer, S.T.D., therefore I 
 will confine this address to consideration of some of those 
 events, pertaining particularly to "Coryell's Ferry" (now New 
 Hope, Bucks Co., Pa.) of the Revolution. 
 
 "Coryell's Ferry," the best ferry on the Delaware River, 
 north of Trenton, and located on the main line of travel from 
 Philadelphia to East Jersey and New York, became at the 
 commencement of hostilities at once an important strategic point 
 of value to the American and British armies, both of which, on 
 several occasions, were most desirous to hold and control it, and 
 especially was this so just prior to the "Battle of Trenton," 
 when, upon Lord Cornwallis's army failing to effect a crossing 
 of the Delaware into Pennsylvania, at Trenton, a considerable 
 detachment of troops was sent sixteen miles further up the 
 river, to make the attempt at " Coryell's Ferry," and which 
 attempt doubtless would have been successful but for the wisdom 
 and foresight of General Washington, who, notwithstand- 
 ing the condition of the river, and foreseeing just such a 
 contingency, had planned against it, and thus defeated the designs 
 of the British commander. To better realize this, however, we 
 must go backward somewhat in memory to the 20th of November, 
 1776, when Washington, having evacuated " Fort L,ee " yonder 
 on the Hudson River, and retreating before L,ord Cornwallis's 
 troops through New Jersey, arrived, on the 3d day of December, 
 at the Eastern bank of the Delaware River, to find boats and 
 floats ready to convey the American Army to Pennsylvania on 
 the other side. All these had been secured by and through the 
 activity of two patriotic young men, named Jerry Black and 
 
fn tbe "Revolution 
 
 Captain (afterwards General) Daniel Bray, to whom, acting 
 under military orders, and to their correct knowledge of every 
 boat and boat owner from Trenton to Kaston, General Washing- 
 ton was to be, several weeks later, further indebted for the 
 larger fleet procured, which ferried the Continental troops over 
 the river just above the present Taylorsville, at the point now 
 world famous as "Washington's Crossing." The celebrated 
 painting of this perilous venture and crossing, and the many 
 engravings and prints made from it since, are to be seen almost 
 everywhere, in shop windows and private houses. 
 
 Cornwallis, leisurely following our army through New Jersey, 
 doubtless felt confident of its capture or destruction at this 
 critical period. With the turbulent waters of the Delaware in 
 front of the Continentals, and (as he supposed) no transpor- 
 tation or ferriage to carry them over, with an overwhelming 
 force of trained regular troops in their rear, it appeared that the 
 war then and there might come to an untimely end, for the raw 
 army he considered but little more than a rebellious mob. 
 
 All attempts of the British, however, to enter Pennsylvania 
 either at Trenton or " Coryell's Ferry," having failed, the two 
 hostile armies remained facing each other, on opposite sides of 
 the river, from the eighth to the twenty-fifth of December, 1776, 
 and the cause of independence was saved, as history states. 
 Iyord Cornwallis (who could never have dreamed of a battle at 
 Trenton), seemed to feel sure of his prey, having, no doubt, 
 bright visions float through his mind of our army marching on 
 to its annihilation, and but little reckoned the true picture the 
 camera revealed when turned on the scene of his own troops, 
 defeated and broken, many wounded and killed, stores, arms 
 and cannon surrendered, and all that went to make glorious the 
 battle and victory at Trenton. Many circumstances make It 
 
Cornell's fferrs 
 
 appear not unlikely at this period that Cornwallis believed 
 Washington would be forced to surrender his army on reaching 
 the banks of the Delaware, at Trenton, and the war be of 
 short duration, nor dreamed of his own sun setting at York- 
 town long after. How different from this situation results 
 might have been had the British succeeded in entering 
 Pennsylvania at "Coryell's Ferry," we can now only imagine, 
 and, with grateful hearts, be thankful. 
 
 So sure was Cornwallis of the defeat of Washington at this 
 juncture, that it has been stated he had obtained leave of ab- 
 sence to return to England, and that his luggage was packed 
 and ready for shipment, when a dispatch rider from Count 
 Donop informed him of the Trenton disaster; and here it may 
 be interesting to note that the house in which the Hessian 
 commander, Colonel Rahl, died of his wounds, stood on the 
 site of the present Roman Catholic Cathedral, on Warren 
 Street, Trenton, on which is a tablet, reciting the fact, erected 
 by the Cathedral corporation. 
 
 It has been the popular belief that General Washington never 
 
 was wounded, but an original letter found in an old trunk in 
 
 Virginia, during the Civil War, would indicate differently, and 
 
 that he must have been (at least slightly) wounded in the Battle 
 
 of Trenton. A copy of this letter was published in the Doyles- 
 
 town (Bucks County), Pa., Democrat of May 19th, 1899. It 
 
 is from Colonel William Palfrey, at Newtown, Pennsylvania, 
 
 fifth of January, 1777, an & * s addressed to Henry Jackson, Esq., 
 
 Boston, Mass., per Captain Goodrich, and is as follows : " Doctor 
 
 Edwards writes from Trenton that General Washington is 
 
 slightly wounded, and General Mercer is missing," etc., etc.* 
 
 * The original of the above noted letter now hangs upon the walls of the 
 Bucks County Historical Society at Doylestown, Pa., deposited by W. W. H, 
 Davis — Deceased . 
 
in tbe "Revolution 
 
 New Hope, on the Delaware ("Coryell's Ferry") has much 
 to make it interesting. The site of the borough was a part of a 
 grant of one thousand acres to Robert Heath in a.d. 1700; 
 surveyed in 1703 and 1704, and patented to R. Heath in a.d. 
 1 7 10. " The Old York Road " was opened from Philadelphia to 
 the Delaware in 1711, and in 1719 John Wells was granted by 
 the Pennsylvania Assembly the privilege, for seven years, of 
 establishing a ferry at New Hope, which then became known as 
 "Wells' Ferry," later being termed "Coryell's Ferry," for 
 George Coryell, who was the owner of half the ferry rights on 
 the New Jersey side. All these rights and privileges are now 
 (1915) vested in the New Hope Delaware Bridge Company, 
 organized in 1811, chartered by Pennsylvania and New Jersey in 
 1 8 12, and now one hundred and three years old. The grant of 
 the ferry rights to John Wells expired in 1733, when John Penn, 
 Thomas Penn and Richard Penn, Proprietors of the Province of 
 Pennsylvania, granted Wells further rights and privileges, 
 among which was the excluding and prohibiting of all other fer- 
 ries within a distance of four miles above and below Wells' 
 Ferry. The latter grant is recorded in Philadelphia, August 
 10th, 1733, in Patent Book " A," Vol. 6, Page 185, etc., and 
 certified to by C. D. Brockden, Recorder. 
 
 The ferry rights on the New Jersey side of the river were 
 granted in 1733, by King George the Second, to Emmanuel Cor- 
 yell, of Am well, in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, and were 
 to operate a ferry, at a place called " Coates Ferry," New Jersey, 
 opposite " Wells Ferry," on the Pennsylvania side, and exclud- 
 ing any other person or persons from operating a ferry at this 
 point. Both Wells and Coryell kept inns, or taverns, near their 
 ferry landings. 
 
 As " Wells' Ferry " the settlement was known down to 1770, 
 
Cornell's ffettB 
 
 when it was changed to " Coryell's Ferry," as previously stat- 
 ed ; and this name it bore until towards the close of the eight- 
 eenth century, as a letter (still existent) to Benjamin Parry, 
 addressed " Coryell's Ferry," and dated the 6th of July, a.d. 
 1787, is in the possession of the speaker's father ; and in 18 10 
 it was described as New Hope, lately " Coryell's Ferry." An 
 ancient private map of New Hope, made for Benjamin Parry, 
 bears in colors as follows : "Map of New Hope, 1798." The 
 change was made probably about a.d. 1790, and for reasons 
 noted later on. 
 
 Amid the present quiet and peaceful surroundings about us 
 to-day, it is difficult to realize that at several periods of the Re- 
 volution the whole section around Coryell's Ferry was bristling 
 with arms and the tramp and tread of armed men, as our patriot 
 sires advanced into, or were driven out of New Jersey, and that 
 during most of the month of December, 1776 (just prior to the 
 battle of Trenton), a large portion of the Continental Army were 
 there and in close proximity. Within the limits of that ancient 
 borough the eye rested everywhere upon the valley, hillside and 
 fields, dotted with the tents of the Continental soldiers, and 
 " Coryell's Ferry" became a military camp. Within ten minutes' 
 ride, below New Hope, at the Neeley (Thompson) farmhouse, 
 were quartered Lieut. James Monroe, aftewards President of the 
 United States, and other officers, including Captain James 
 Moore, of the New York Artillery, who died there of camp fever 
 and lies buried on the farm with a number of others, including 
 several officers whose graves are unmarked. Nearby, at 
 " Chapman's," were General Knox and Captain Alexander 
 Hamilton (killed later on by Aaron Burr in their memorable 
 duel). At "Merrick's" farmhouse were General Greene and 
 his staff, and the General (especially fond of good cheer) de- 
 
in tbe "Revolution 
 
 voured the poultry, etc., on the farm, to the horror and dismay of 
 the family ; while a few fields away General Sullivan and staff 
 occupied the " Hay hurst " home. 
 
 General Washington's headquarters were at the "Keith" 
 house and farm, on the road from Brownsburgh (below New 
 Hope) towards Newton ; and Generals Stirling and De Fermoy, 
 with their troops, at "Beaumont's" and "Coryell's Ferry." 
 These officers were all in close touch with each other, all watch- 
 ing and waiting, eager and anxious to bear their part in the 
 bloody engagement, which they well knew was near at hand. 
 
 President Monroe never forgot his friends at the Thompson 
 (Neeley) farmhouse, where he had stayed in 1776, and always 
 inquired about them whenever opportunity offered. 
 
 Captain James Moore, who died at the "Neeley" (Thomp- 
 son) farmhouse, lies buried on the farm, with other officers, as 
 stated. Their graves are enclosed within an iron fence. Out- 
 side of this enclosure are a number of other graves, some with 
 rude headstones set up and some without. There are at least 
 eleven that are discernible to this day, and the speaker, in his 
 youth, recalls having counted possibly as many as thirty un- 
 marked graves outside, the latter evidently being of private 
 soldiers. The tombstones of Captain Moore are the original 
 ones, and are thus marked : " To ye memory of Captain James 
 Moore of Ye New York Artillery, Son of Benjamin and Cornelia 
 Moore, of New York. He died December ye 25th, a.d. 1776, 
 aged 24 years and eight months. ' ' The headstone is much de- 
 faced from chippings by relic hunters. These graves are close to 
 the bank of the Delaware River, east of the canal. At Doyles- 
 town, in the rooms of the Bucks County Historical Society, 
 there is a photograph of Captain Moore's grave, and my father 
 has a print of it from a newspaper. 
 
8 Cornell's ffect*? 
 
 The account comes handed down to us, as family history, that 
 under " The Old Washington Tree," in New Hope, which stood 
 for one hundred and fifty years on the estate of the Paxon 
 family (cousins of the speaker), of "Maple Grove," in a field 
 opposite General De Fermoy's and Lord Stirling's headquarters 
 (and known as "The Old Fort "), General Washington and his 
 trusted Generals, Knox, Stirling, Sullivan and Greene, first 
 talked over, and first outlined, a plan for the Battle of Trenton ; 
 and from the time of the Revolution to November 28th, 1893, 
 when it was cut down (to make room for improvements), it was 
 always known and spoken of as "The Old Washington Tree," 
 from this circumstance. Incidentally, the speaker has numerous 
 newspaper clippings of the time, denouncing its destruction. 
 
 We are also informed, from the same source, that under the 
 shade of this wide-spreading chestnut tree, General Washington 
 and his staff stopped at noon for refreshments, in 1778, when 
 his army crossed the Delaware, on its road to attack the British 
 under General Clinton at Monmouth, New Jersey. 
 
 In " Davis's History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania" (Revis- 
 ed Edition), it is stated that in the spring of 1778 General 
 Washington, believing that the banks of the Delaware River 
 would again become the scene of conflict (in an attempt of the 
 British to reach Philadelphia), appointed General Benedict 
 Arnold, the traitor, to the command of the river, when "Cor- 
 yell's Ferry" was again, for the second time, placed in a state of 
 security, as were also the other fords and crossings of the 
 Delaware. 
 
 From Philadelphia and Branchtown to New Hope, on the Dela- 
 ware, the whole line of the historic "Old York Road" connect- 
 ing Philadelphia with New York, speaks to us in clarion notes 
 of these stirring and eventful days, ever singing the song of the 
 

 
 -— — <r— — 
 
in tbe devolution 
 
 Revolution. At Branchtown, we are reminded of the Battle of 
 Germantown nearby, three American soldiers (part of a picket 
 guard) being killed there in a skirmish with the British, and 
 were buried upon what afterwards became the estate of the artist 
 Russell Smith, who had their graves designated by headstones. 
 At Hatboro, called the "Crooked Billet," in 1776 and later, 
 was fought what is known as the " Battle of the Crooked Billet," 
 on May 1st, 1778, when General Lacey, a Bucks County man, 
 fought a strong detachment of British infantry and cavalry 
 under Major (subsequently General) Simcoe unsuccessfully, and 
 was almost surrounded and hardly escaped capture himself. A 
 tall marble shaft at the north end of Hatboro, a few feet off the 
 Old York Road, to the right (looking toward New Hope), 
 commemorates this engagement, which was had, by order of 
 General Howe, whose troops had been much harassed in Bucks 
 County by Lacey 's soldiers for some time previous. At Harts- 
 ville, on the Neshaminy, one-half mile from the present village 
 of Hartsville, Bucks County, Washington had his headquarters 
 at a farmhouse, in which both the young Marquis de Lafayette 
 and Count Pulaski reported for military duty. At Centerville 
 we find "Bogart's Tavern" still standing, as in Revolutionary 
 days, when the Bucks County Committee of Safety held its 
 frequent meetings there. It was also General Greene's head- 
 quarters at one time. 
 
 At Buckingham, as the lifelong friend of the speaker's father, 
 General W. W. H. Davis, deceased, informs us : " The Friends' 
 Meeting House was used as a hospital during a portion of the 
 Revolutionary War, and several soldiers were buried about 
 where the turnpike crosses the hill, some of whose remains were 
 uncovered when the pike was made. On Meeting days the sol- 
 diers put one-half of the house in order for Friends, many of 
 
10 Cornell's ffertE 
 
 them attending the services. Blood stains may still be seen upon 
 the floor. 
 
 " Paxon's Corner" (now Aquetong) also has its connection 
 with the days of the Revolution, for here some of the American 
 soldiers stayed over-night, at the home of the then owner, Ben- 
 jamin Paxon ; one of the soldiers leaving his camp-mug behind in 
 the morning, which is still preserved in the Paxon family, who 
 still own the property one hundred and thirty-nine years later, 
 and known as " Rolling Green." 
 
 When the soldiers were leaving, a good marksman shot off a 
 branch at the very top of a tree, in front of this house on the 
 Old York Road, and the disfigurement was plainly to be seen 
 until very recent years. 
 
 New Hope, on the Delaware (" Coryell's Ferry" of the Re- 
 volution), the termination of the Old York Road of Penn- 
 sylvania, at the Delaware River, was, as before noted, a most im- 
 portant strategic point during the first few years of the Revolu- 
 tionary War, and in December, 1776, became a military camp. 
 
 General William Alexander (more commonly known as Lord 
 Stirling), who, although he bore a title, was none the less an ar- 
 dent American, and intensely patriotic, caused two different parts 
 of the property owned by the speaker's family to be placed in a 
 state of armed defense. One of these was on a hillside across 
 the pond made by the Great Spring or Ingham's Creek ; and in 
 its southwesterly direction from the Old Parry Mansion there, 
 from a point easterly from where the yellow schoolhouse now 
 stands, he had a line of earthworks thrown up, which extended 
 in an easterly direction along and well up the hillside, towards 
 the Delaware River. The outline of these earthworks could be 
 quite plainly seen and traced, within my earliest recollection, 
 but have now disappeared. At the river's brink (the termina- 
 
in tbe "Revolution 11 
 
 tion of the "Old York Road" in Pennsylvania), just below, 
 the ferry landing, and also a part of this property (purchased 
 from the Todds), stockade entrenchments were erected, and 
 batteries were placed ; as was also the case above the ferry 
 landing, some distance along the river front. General Alexander 
 (Lord Stirling) also had another redoubt thrown up on the Old 
 York Road — at the corner of Ferry Street and the present Bridge 
 Street (which latter street did not, however, then exist)— a little 
 southeasterly of where the " Old Washington Tree," cut down 
 November 28th, 1893, then stood. The site of this defense is 
 easily recognized, being where the present Presbyterian chapel 
 and an ancient stone house (both on the south side of the Old 
 York Road) now stand. This stone house was once owned by 
 Captain Edward F. Randolph, a "patriot of 1776" and citizen 
 of Philadelphia, who purchased it for his son, Charles, then a 
 practicing physician in New Hope. Captain Randolph, as first 
 lieutenant in Colonel William Butler's Fourth Pennsylvania 
 Regiment, Continental Army, commanded the outlying picket 
 guard at "The Massacre of Paoli," where he was desperately 
 wounded and left upon the field for dead, escaping by the merest 
 chance. A sightless eye in its socket was one of the mementos 
 of that affair, which he carried with him through life. His 
 portrait hangs upon the walls of the Historical Society of Penn- 
 sylvania in Philadelphia, and his biography appears in " Lives of 
 Eminent Philadelphians, Deceased," published over fifty-six 
 years ago (1859). His sword is still in existence, and among 
 the treasured possessions of his great-grandson, Evan Randolph, 
 of Philadelphia. An old silver spoon, used by him in camp, and 
 marked with his initial and crest, has come handed down to the 
 writer's father. A fuller notice of this Revolutionary patriot 
 has been prepared in an appendix to this paper. 
 
12 Cornell's jferrE 
 
 At Malta Island, at the southern end of New Hope, and which 
 is now main land, but was, in 1776, surrounded by water and 
 covered by timber, the most of the boats were collected and 
 secreted and floated down by night to Knowles Cove, above 
 Taylorville, and were used in making the famous "Washing- 
 ton's Crossing of the Delaware," on Christmas night and 
 morning of 1776. 
 
 At "Malta Island" these boats were watched over and 
 protected by a military guard. " Malta Island" was at one time 
 owned by the late Daniel Parry, a younger brother of Benjamin 
 Parry, for whom the "Old Parry Mansion" was built in a.d. 
 1784 ; and here it may not perhaps be inappropriate to mention 
 that among many interesting events connected with this house 
 was the unusual circumstance of a grandchild of its present 
 owner, Richard Randolph Parry, having been born in one of its 
 chambers in a.d. 1901, in the same room in which her great- 
 grandfather, Oliver Parry, was born a.d. 1794, one hundred 
 and seven years before, it being the same house in which her 
 great-great-grandfather, Benjamin Parry, lived and died, five 
 generations earlier, and this important young lady (Margaret K. 
 Parry) is the daughter of the speaker. 
 
 The importance of "Coryell's Ferry" in the Revolution can 
 easily be realized and appreciated when we know the great care 
 and attention which General Washington gave to it, and how 
 very necessary its possession was to the American cause at 
 several periods of the war. Its defences in 1776 were so well 
 planned that it would have been most difficult for the British to 
 have captured it ; for, even if their troops could have effected 
 a landing at the Ferry, the firing by the American square in their 
 faces, down the Old York Road (the only approach) at the stone 
 house mentioned, and a raking" side fire from thejiillside across 
 
in tbe devolution 13 
 
 the pond, would have caused them great slaughter before they 
 could have accomplished their purpose. It is much to be regret- 
 ted that the old name of " Coryell's Ferry" should ever have 
 been dropped. "Fort Washington," "Fort Lee," "King's 
 Bridge," " Dobb's Ferry," etc., having revolutionary interest, 
 have never been altered or changed. And here it may be well 
 to explain how the change came about. Benjamin Parry, an in- 
 fluential citizen of Bucks County and a man of means, owner of 
 the " Prime Hope Mills," on the opposite bank of the Delaware 
 River, in New Jersey, was also the owner of the flour, linseed oil 
 and saw mills on the Pennsylvania side, at New Hope (then 
 Coryell's Ferry"), which, in the year a.d. 1790, were all de- 
 stroyed by fire and burned to the ground. The linseed oil mill 
 was never rebuilt, but the others were, and, as the mill in New 
 Jersey was termed " Prime Hope," it was determined that the 
 new mills is Pennsylvania should be called ' ' New Hope' ' and 
 commence operations with new and fresh hopes for the future. 
 With this change also came the change in the name of the vil- 
 lage. A growing patriotic sentiment makes it not unlikely that 
 the old name may yet be restored and New Hope again become 
 known to the world by its old style of " Coryell's Ferry" ; and 
 in this growing sentiment and feeling I am sure can be seen and 
 felt some reflection of the patriotic efforts and work of the 
 " Sons of the Revolution," Daughters of the American Revo- 
 lution, and kindred bodies. Interesting spots other than those 
 which have been named in New Hope — " Coryell's Ferry" — are 
 the site of the "Old Fort," as the headquarters of Generals 
 Stirling and De Fermoy were known, only a few yards to the 
 west of the Presbyterian Chapel. 
 
 This spot is easily known and recognized by the new hip roof 
 house, which stands upon the foundations of " The Old Hip 
 
14 Cornell's Jferrfi 
 
 Roof House," which was termed " The Old Fort" at the time 
 of the Revolution. General Alexander (Lord Stirling) was 
 beloved and much trusted always by General Washington ; he 
 had recently for his bravery been advanced to the rank of 
 Major-General, and, as stated in " Washington and his 
 Generals," Vol. I., page 175, in that capacity took part in the 
 operations on the Delaware River, where he again signalized 
 himself by the successful defence of "Coryell's Ferry." L,ord 
 Stirling was also at this period part of the time at Beaumont's 
 farmhouse, next the Thompson (Neeley) place. 
 
 Immediately across the Old York Road from the Old Fort, 
 in a field of the Paxsons, troops were encamped, as well as on 
 the hillside south of the pond ; and also on the river front, below 
 and above the ferry ; and a strong detail at " Malta Island" 
 guarded the boats collected there. On the Old York Road, near 
 the ferry landing, stood in 1776, and still stands, though enlarg- 
 ed, " The Ferry Tavern," which appears to have been so named 
 until 1829, when it was kept by a Mr. Steele, as the speaker's 
 father was informed by William Murray, of New Hope, at that 
 time an aged man, and its oldest citizen, Abraham D. Meyers, 
 succeeded Mr. Steel as landlord, and gave it the name of the 
 " Logan House," which it has ever since retained. Since 1829 
 it has had divers owners. Michael A. Van Hart, deceased, was 
 owner and landlord for a long term, and until recently it was 
 and may still be owned by his heirs. This old hostelry was 
 much frequented in the days of the Revolution, and here, in 
 December, 1776, the Continental soldiers made wassail, and 
 drank to the the success of their cause and the downfall of King 
 George the Third in his American Colonies. 
 
 At the corner of "The Old York Road" and the "Old 
 Trenton or River Road ' ' (severally called Ferry Street and 
 
In tbe "Revolution 15 
 
 Main Street within the borough limits), and, walking south- 
 ward across the iron bridge, over the pond, we come to the 
 "Town Hall," almost opposite which, on Mechanics Street, 
 stands the "Old Vansant House," believed to be the oldest 
 in New Hope. On the removal of a decayed roof years ago, 
 it was found full of rifle marks and bullets shot into it by a 
 party of British soldiers, who passed through the village 
 and encamped at " Bowman's Hill," below town, and said to 
 have been in charge of gold to pay the British soldiers. Be- 
 ing surprised, they left hastily, and, burying the treasure on 
 top of the hill, expected to return for it some time ; but the 
 chances of war or leaving the country prevented, and from that 
 time to this natives dug all over the hill for the money, hoping, 
 but never having found it. 
 
 The United States Government several years ago provided 
 New Hope with cannon and cannon balls, which are set up in 
 the Borough as memorials of the events which occurred there in 
 the " days of '76." Perhaps, as a result of the 1907 pilgrimage 
 of "The Sons of the Revolution," they or some other similar 
 patriotic Society may also deem some other historic spots of 
 ancient " Coryell Ferry" worthy of being marked by them with 
 one or more memorial tablets. 
 
 Jericho Hill, below New Hope, joins Bowman's Hill, and, in 
 addition to the interest given it from having had the quarters of 
 the distinguished officers previously named located upon it, the 
 crest of the hill was cleared and used as a signal station by our 
 army ; and, being in winter and the trees leafless, the various 
 generals easily communicated with each other, up and down the 
 river, from this point. 
 
 And here, in connection with the Delaware River, jl might 
 mention the interesting fact that further up, near Port Jervis, 
 
t6 Cornell's Ifetrg 
 
 there is a rock standing on which you can, at one and the same 
 time, be in the three States of Pennsylvania, New York and New 
 Jersey, with one foot or one hand covering the spot where 
 the three States join and come together. L,et us trust that 
 these three States will ever remain as united in a, some day, com- 
 prehensive plan to mark their joint historical spots. 
 
 I have endeavored to picture to you the situation at " Coryell's 
 Ferry," in " the times which tried men's souls," and that they 
 were most trying is evidenced in man 5^ ways ; the hardships and 
 sufferings endured by our patriot sires in 1776 at "Coryell's 
 Ferry," and along the banks of the Delaware River, being a fit 
 preparatory school for their later and longer experience in 
 1777-78 at "Valley Forge." 
 
 The winter of 1776 was an exceptionally severe one, and the 
 whole face of the country was covered with ice and snow ; the 
 air was keen and biting, and the men insufficiently clothed and 
 badly protected in their tents. Major Enion Williams, of the 
 First Pennsylvania Rifles, stationed at the Neeley-Thompson 
 farm, wrote, December 13th, 1776, that many of his men were 
 barefooted, and General Washington wrote to Congress from his 
 headquarters at Keith's, on December 16th, 1776, asking its 
 help, and stating many of his troops were almost naked and most 
 of them unfit for service. He also appealed to " The Bucks 
 County Committee of Safety" for old clothes and blankets for 
 the soldiers, which the Committee furnished, and received his 
 written thanks. 
 
 Of all the actors in these stirring scenes, not one survives to- 
 day ; but the Delaware (noble river, as the Founder Penn de- 
 scribed it) and the beautiful Hudson, yonder, each still flows on 
 in their tireless courses to the sea, as they did in Revolutionary 
 days, mute reminders of the acts and deeds performed on their 
 
tn tbe "Revolution 17 
 
 banks, and which have made their names and their memories 
 imperishable. In taking leave of my subject, I might add that 
 History, dealing only with plain facts, sometimes becomes dull 
 and prosy; but the "Annals of the Revolution" breathe the 
 very atmosphere of Poetry, Romance and History combined ; 
 and, though their recital must ever be but the old, old story of 
 a patriotism unsurpassed, yet to each succeeding generation it 
 comes with an added freshness and interest, and into willing ears 
 are poured those tales of long ago. 
 
 Let us, of this generation, then, appreciate those deeds of our 
 sires ; that made possible this great United States of America, 
 through the War of the Revolution, and later kept our country 
 intact, through the Civil War, and, in turn, perform our 
 patriotic duty, as well and as faithfully as they who have gone 
 before us. 
 
 Each of us, in gratitude to our forbears and as a duty to our 
 country, owe our best efforts to see that the Government of the 
 United States of America and each of its historical States, pro- 
 perly and adequately, preserve and mark the historical spots 
 within its and their confines ; that the generations to follow may 
 not lack for patriotic reminders to serve for all time as an 
 incentive to equally great patriotism. 
 
 Such monuments of gratitude live forever as object lessons in 
 patriotism, not alone to us of this generation, but to those to 
 follow, and further serve to install that love of country our 
 ancestors possessed and which history teaches us is so necessary 
 for the unity and preservation of all nations. 
 
 Without detracting from the greatness of Valley Forge — the 
 winter quarters of the Continental Army in my own State of 
 Pennsylvania — the speaker remains sensible of the fact that 
 there would have been no " Valley Forge;" nor "Battle of 
 
 2 
 
18 Cornell's Jerne 
 
 Trenton," nor other similar historical spots of later date — which 
 were the trying points in the struggle of the Revolution — had 
 not Washington with his Continental Army performed the 
 remarkable and unexpected feat of crossing the Delaware and 
 camping at " Coryell's Ferry" and adjacent sections, thus making 
 possible the subsequent events that ultimately brought Victory. 
 
 "Coryell's Ferry" should have, in addition to the Government 
 cannon, small parks or squares at the river bank ; where " the 
 Old Fort" and " Washington's Chestnut Tree" stood, at 
 " Malta Island," etc.; with special markings on each and every 
 historical building and spot, whilst the Revolutionary grave- 
 yard, a short distance down the river at Neeleys and " Knowles 
 Cove," a short distance below, should with "Washington's 
 Crossing," be turned into parks while land is still held at farm 
 valuation. 
 
 In this connection it is of interest to recall, that our sister 
 State of New Jersey, at a meeting held in Trenton to celebrate 
 the first Columbus Day as a State legal holiday, called upon 
 Governor Fort, then the Chief Executive of the State, to appoint 
 a representative Committee to bring the matter of a national 
 park at " Washington's Crossing," to the attention of the people 
 of the State and of the nation, and that, subsequently, the com- 
 mittee not having accomplished much in the way of results, the 
 State legislature of 191 2, under Governor Wilson (now President 
 Woodrow Wilson of the United States) , passed a bill supersed- 
 ing it and creating a much smaller commission, composed of the 
 Governor, Controller, and Treasurer of the State, with Colonel 
 William Libby, of Princeton, the Rev. Jesse Joralemon, of Jersey 
 City, Mr. L,. V. Silver, of Trenton, Mr. Charles Blackman, of 
 Atlantic City, and Mr. William L,. Doyle, of Trenton. 
 
 This Committee procured a plan for the erection of a monu- 
 
in tbe "Revolution 19 
 
 ment ; purchased the Blackwell farm of one hundred acres along 
 the road upon which the Continental Troops marched from the 
 the river bank to headquarters at "Bear Tavern," engaged a 
 competent landscape engineer to prepare plans for the proposed 
 park and its environments, entered into negotiations for other 
 land, and applied to the State Legislature for an additional 
 appropriation to the twenty-five thousand dollars originally 
 granted. It is to be regretted that the Legislature did not see 
 its way clear to pass this appropriation, and doubly so that the 
 great State of Pennsylvania should not have found a way to 
 overcome the " legal obstacles," and appoint a joint committee 
 to act with the Committee from the State of New Jersey. 
 
 With the change in Governors and, I trust, an awakening to 
 the importance of suitably marking this spot with a Park, equal 
 to that contemplated for the New Jersey shore, and connecting 
 both with a substantial and artistic memorial bridge, the State of 
 Pennsylvania will also make a start, and thus, with evidence of 
 earnestness, upon the part of both States, be united in a position 
 to successfully call the National Government's attention to this 
 need. 
 
 Starting, here, in New York, the movement of the Continental 
 Troops, during the struggle for freedom, particularly the 
 " Old York Road" connecting us with Philadelphia, and which 
 was the direct stage-coach and shortest route between these two 
 points, should be properly and adequately marked by archways, 
 ornate bridges, tablets, milestones, etc., all of Colonial design. 
 Likewise the entire roadway should reflect appreciation and be 
 constructed of the very best and most lasting materials, and 
 with the markings, reflect the true American patriotism of 
 Nineteen Hundred and Fifteen. Let those who owe single 
 allegiance to our country think, well and long, over the effect 
 
20 Cotsell'e jfettB 
 
 nationally upon the country at large, were our good citizens to 
 rise and make possible this Colonial Roadway as an evidence of 
 their patriotism. 
 
 You, ladies, whose maternal ancestors bore the patriots of 
 "76," could well afford to devote a portion of your spare time 
 to such a course as the marking of what was to many of your 
 sires their graves and to others the scenes of their suffering. 
 It would seem, to the speaker, as though the women patriots 
 could best undertake this great movement for marking those 
 scenes and incidents of the Revolutionary days ; now over one 
 hundred and thirty-eight years ago. 
 
 I appeal to you, Daughters of the American Revolution, as a 
 Patriotic Society, to require a pledge from those who may be 
 candidates for future political offices, that they will use their in- 
 fluences to pass any or all bills brought before their various 
 Legislative bodies proposing to suitably mark the hallowed 
 ground upon which trod " THE CONTINENTAL ARMY OF 
 '76." 
 
 May we have other pilgrimages, similar to the recent one of 
 of the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, marking 
 the route taken by General Washington from Philadelphia to 
 Cambridge, Mass., to assume command of the CONTINENTAL 
 ARMY, June 226. to July 2d, 1775. Perhaps you ladies might 
 find fit to make such a pilgrimage over the Old York Road to 
 Philadelphia, diverting your route at " Coryell's Ferry" to take 
 in " Washington Crossing," before proceeding on to the " City 
 of Brotherly Love." 
 
in the devolution 21 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Edward F. Randolph. 
 
 Note : — The Captain Randolph mentioned earlier in this 
 paper as owner of an ancient stone house on the "Old York 
 Road," marking a historic spot, was a brave and gallant officer 
 in the Revolutionary War, about whom much might be said and 
 written. As previously noted, as First Lieutenant in Colonel 
 William Butler's Fourth Pennsylvania Regiment, Continental 
 Army, he commanded the outlying guard at " The Massacre of 
 Paoli," where he was desperately wounded and left upon the 
 field for dead. Doctor Stille's " Major-General Wayne and the 
 Pennsylvania Line" mentions that Colonel William Butler's 
 Fourth Pennsylvania Regiment received the attack of the enemy 
 at Paoli, but, in speaking of the officer in command of the picket 
 guard, omits to mention his name, although he places Lieuten- 
 ant Randolph correctly in Colonel William Butler's Regiment. 
 This omission I am glad to be able to supply now and to state 
 that the officer was First Lieutenant Edward F. Randolph, who, 
 later in life, dropped the use of the " F" in his name. These 
 facts are well known to almost all old Philadelphians (including 
 the late John Jordan, Jr., Esq., President of the Historical 
 Society of Pennsylvania), and are also recited in the " Lives of 
 Eminent Philadelphians, Deceased," published fifty-six years ago 
 (1859). Actuated only by patriotic motives, Captain Randolph 
 gave his services to his country without pay ; and when Gover- 
 nor Corwin, of Ohio (whose wife was Sarah Randolph Ross), 
 became connected with the Randolph family, and during his 
 term of office as Secretary of the United States Treasury under 
 President Filmore, he, on divers occasions, informed Captain 
 Randolph's children that they could readily obtain his back pay 
 
22 Cornell's ffetrfi 
 
 if they wished ; but they, of course, never would accept what 
 their father, from high, patriotic motives, had declined to 
 receive. Two of Captain Randolph's grandsons (General 
 Wallace F. Randolph and Major Edward Randolph Parry), both 
 officers of the regular army, served through the whole of the 
 late Civil War, and both were bi°veted for gallantry. 
 
 One of Captain Randolph's swords is still in existence and 
 among the treasured possessions of his great-grandson, Evan 
 Randolph, of Philadelphia, and an old silver spoon used by him 
 in camp and marked with his initial and crest, has come handed 
 down to the speaker's father. In his full regimentals as a Con- 
 tinental officer, he was married. March 16th, 1779, to Anna Juli- 
 anna Steele, and the silk wedding gown she then wore has de- 
 scended to the speaker's father and is still preserved. It was 
 worn by a great-granddaughter at a " Kirmess " at the Phila- 
 delphia Academy of Music, December 16, 1884, and attracted 
 much attention, and was afterwards described in the newspapers. 
 
 Like Colonel Owen Biddle, another Revolutionary patriot, 
 Captain Randolph later adopted the teachings and methods of 
 the Friends (Quakers), and did not care to refer to his military 
 life in his younger days. Though sitting at the head of the 
 Friends meeting, as he did, it was always said he could never, in 
 walking up the aisle, entirely divest himself of the stride and 
 tread of the soldier. Joseph Kite, a Quaker poet, and author of 
 the "Arm Chair," wrote verses upon the death of Edward 
 Randolph, the first verse thus referring to his terrible wounds 
 at Paoli : — 
 
 Edward Randolph. 
 
 ' ' Strong in thy will and purpose — earlier life, 
 Saw thee a combatant in martial strife — 
 Where drums and trumpets fired the angry mood 
 With honors rife, and garments rolled in blood." 
 

in tbe •Revolution 23 
 
 In former times all the voting in Philadelphia was done in the 
 State House, Sixth and Chestnut Streets, making a large crowd 
 (and often disorderly), with a long wait for one's turn in the 
 voting line. As Mr. Randolph was very tenacious of his voting 
 privilege, he made it a point to always cast his vote, and was 
 therefore well known at the polls ; and when he became an old 
 gentleman, it was customary to pass him ahead through the line 
 to the voting window, as a matter of courtesy and out of respect 
 for his age and military history, with which many persons were 
 familiar. On one occasion, however, on stepping out of his car- 
 riage at the polling place, when it was proposed passing him 
 ahead as usual, a raw Irishman, not long in the country, object- 
 ed, saying, " Where was the likes of you, anyhow, Old Quaker, 
 when fighting was done, and this nation was made, that we 
 should stand back for you." To which Mr. Randolph, turning 
 his one eye upon the man, quietly replied, " Well, friend, I was 
 where thee would not have dared to have shown thy naked 
 nose." This was too much for the Irishman, who, amid the 
 jeers and laughter of the crowd, made a hasty retreat, and Mr. 
 Randolph was passed on and cast his vote. 
 
 Strange as it may seem to the younger generation of Philadel- 
 phia, in these days of a great overgrown city, his town house 
 was on Second Street, near Arch, and his country seat at what 
 is now Eleventh and Master Streets ; and the writer's father, 
 when a young lad, made many a short cut to it (over the open 
 fields) from Ninth and Green Streets. For some years the old 
 mansion stood high up in the air, near the corner of Eleventh 
 and Master, when streets were opened and cut through the 
 estate. 
 
 After the war, as a member of the firm of Coates and Ran- 
 dolph, he became largely interested in the East India shipping 
 
24 Cornell's JfcttB 
 
 trade, and, as was then the custom, the church bells of the city 
 were rung when an East India vessel arrived safely in port, a 
 voyage then, in the days of sailing vessels, often taking months 
 to accomplish. 
 
 A portrait in oil of Captain Randolph, painted by Robert 
 Street, hangs on the walls of the Historical Society of Pennsyl- 
 vania, in Philadelphia. Judge Mitchell, of the Pennsylvania 
 Supreme Court, some years ago had an engraving made from 
 this portrait, and one hundred impressions taken from it for 
 private distribution only, and the plate was then destroyed. 
 One of these the speaker's father has in his library. 
 
 From Captain Randolph have descended many of the most 
 prominent citizens of Philadelphia and New York of to-day. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 014 365 016 9 1