HISTOPvY OF OKTGOMERY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. KDITED HV THEODORE W. KEAX. PHILADELPHIA: EVERTS cV PECK. 1884. \ PREFACE. ; The "History of Montgomery County" is presented to the public as a memorial of the first century of its corporate existence. Material facts have been diligently sought after and patient labor cheerfully bestowed upon the work. Events are chronicled in narrative rather than in controversial form, and truth, gleaned from a thousand sources, has been condensed in order to make it a valuable work of reference for the presenf and future generations. It has been prepared with care and liberality and a determination to make it as complete and accurate as possible. It is submitted to a generous and intelligent people, in the belief that it will meet their approval. The labor of the editor has been shared by William .J. Buck, who has devoted many years of his life to the collection of material for the history of the county. Although in enfeebled health, his contributions exceed in number those originally contemplated for the work. His chapter upon Bibliography, the first published in the county, is one of the most valuable contributions to the volume. For assistance furnished him in his jiresent labors, he expresses acknowledgments to John Jordan, Jr., and F. D. Stone, of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania ; to Samuel L. Smcd'ey, Howard M. Jenkins, and Prof. O. Seidensticker, of Philadelphia; M. Auge, of Norristo\ n; Dr. George W. Holstein, of Bridgeport; Mark H. Richards ana B. M. Schmucker, P.D., of Pottstown ; William Henry Cresson, of Conshohocken ; Hon. William A. Yeakle, of Whitemarsh ; S. K. Griraley, of Upper Salford; A. H. Cassel and James Y. Heckler, of Lower Salford, and Charles Mather, of Jenkintown. The acknowledgments of tlie editor are due to Prof. Oscar C. S. Carter, for his contribution on Geology and Mineralogy; to Charles Z. Weber, M.D., for the history of the Medi<:\l Profession ; to P. Y. Eiseubci-g, M.D , for the chapter upon Botany ; to J. P. Hale Jenkins, Esq., for the history of Charitable and Benevolent Associations ; to Rev. J. S. Hughes, for the history of Methodism in Montgomery County ; to Hon, Jones Detwiler, for the history of Whitpain ; to Henry S. Dotterer, for the history of Frederick ; to F. G. Hobson, Esq., for the history of Providence, Upper and Lower; to Mrs. Anna M. Holstein and Mrs. Sarah S. Rex, for information concerning the Patrons of Husbandry; to Hon. Isaac F. Yost and Philip Super, Esq., for valuable information and suggestions concerning the early German settlements and church hietory "f the northern townships, and to Professors R. F. HoiFecker and J. K. Gotwals, for assistance in the collection of historical data of common schools. The thanks of the editor are gratefull ' adered to Hiram Corson^ M.D., Hon. Hiram C. Hoover, William M. Clift, E.sq., L. H. Davi .; ;.. George Vt . Holstein, M.D., Rev. Charles Collins, D. M. Casselberry, Esq., J. K. Har! : George Lower, Esq. To Moses Auge, author of "Biographies of Men of PREFACE. I Montgomer}- County," the eilitor and publishers return special acknowledgments for the free uf Tif the work tendered. To tlie editors and publishers of the local Press of the county our sens( (if obligation is herein expressed for their aid and encouragement in the work, and for the use ol their i-etained files, when in search of valuable material for township histories. To F. G. Hobson. William J. Buck and Henry S. Dotterer, committee on publieation of proceedings and antiquariac display of the County Centennial, acknowledgments are due and credit given for the arrangement and classification of the exhibits, the order of which is pre';erved in this work. And finally, to my daughter, I owe the deepest obligations for a careful and intelligem co-operation and cheerful assistance in the revision of both manuscript and proof, and for many suggestions and notations of important historical facts. T. W. B. • CONTENTS. CHAPTEE I. (liy . PAGE 1 CHAPTER n. "rals, Geologj' and Lime , CHAPTER m. The Abuiigines 33 CHAPTER IT. Early Voyagers and Traders — First Settlements on the Delaware aud Schuylkill RiTers 49 CHAPTEE V. I'he First Swedish Settlements 57 CHAPTER VI. William Penn— " The Holy E.\periment, a Free Colony for all Man- , Religious Denominations— Church History . kind" 82 CHAPTER Vn. Penn'ti Arrival in_ America — His Colony Founded on the Delaware, 91 CHAPTER Vni. 9Iaterial Improvements 102 CHAPTER IX. The Schuylkill 118 CHAPTEE X. Stage Lines 129 CHAPTER XI. The&'rmans 133 CHAPTEE XII. The Welsh 139 CHAPTER Xm. The Colonial Era • 143 CHAPTER XTV. Tlie Eevolution 158 CHAPTEE XV. The War of 1812 and the Mexican War 180 CHAPTEE XVI. The Great Rebellion 195 CHAPTER XVU. TheGi-and Army of the Republic 285 CHAPTER XVLEI. ' ji lioners, Slavery and the Underground Railway 297 CHAPTER XIX. i.lii-ii.?8of the United Stat« Military and Naval Academies. . . 313 CHAPTER XX. PAGE Montgomery County Established — Municipal Government — The "Country Squire," 317 CHAPTER XXI. Bailroads CHAPTEE XXn. Manners and Customs — Sports and Pastimes —Local Superstitions — Inns, CHAPTEE XXin. Bibliography 348 CHAPTEE XXrV. Early Poetry 360 CHAPTER XXV, CH.KPTER XXVI, Educational • 392 CHAPTER XX^TI, Flora of Montgomery County 423 CHAPTER XXVIII, Zoology of Montgomer7 County 435 CHAPTEE XXLS:. Agriculture 439 CHAPTER XXX, Township and Borough Organization — Post-OflBces — Roads . , , . 447 CHAPTEE XXXI. Journalism 458 CH.vpTEu xxxn. Banks aud Banking 470 CHAPTEE XXXm. Charitable and Benevolent Associations 488 CHAPTEE XXXIV. The Insane Hospital and Poor-House 498 CHAPTEE XXXV. Past and Present Politics of Montgomery County 502 CHAPTEE XXX\a. The Bench and Bar • 528 CHAPTER XXXVII. Manufacturing Industries 563 CHAPTEE XXXVIII. The Medical Profession M VI CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXXIX. PAGE Abington Townebip 6V8 CHAPTER XL. Borough of Bridgeport 707 CHAPTER XLI. Borough of Conshohocken 713 CHAPTER XLII. Borough of East Greenville 710 CHAPTER XLIII. Borough of Green Lane 72i CHAPTER XLIV. Borough of Hatboro' 721 CHAPTER XLV. Borough of Jenkintown 733 CHAPTER XLVI. Borough of Lansdale 742 CHAPTER XLVII. Borough of Norristown 747 CHAPTER XLVIIL Borough of North Wales 777 CHAPTER XLIX. Borough of Pottetown 784 CHAPTER L. Borough of Royer'fi Ford ' 797 CHAPTER LI. Borough of West Conshohocken 799 CHAPTER LII. ClieltenhaDl Township 802 CHAPTER Lin. Douglas Township 825 CHAPTER LIV. Franconia Township 827 CHAPTER LV. Frederick Township 831 CHAPTER LVI. Gwynedii Township 853 CHAPTER LXI. Lower Salford Township . CHAPTER LXII, Marlborough Township . CHAPTER LXIII. Montgomerj' Township CHAPTER LXIV. Moreland Township . CHAPTER LXV. New Hanover Township . CHAPTER LXVI. Non-iton Township CHAPTER LVII. Hatfield Township . CHAPTER LVIII. Horsham Township gy^ CHAPTER LIX. Limerick Township 915 CHAPTER LX. Lower Merion Township 923 CHAPTER LXVII. Perkiomen Township nog CHAPTER LXVIII. Plymouth Township i(i28 CHAPTER LXIX. Pottsgrove Township 1041 CHAPTER LXX. Providence Township 1044 CHAPTER LXXI. Lower Providence Township ]iv]9 CHAPTER LXXII. Upper Providence Township 105G CHAPTER LXXIII. Springfield Township 1071 CHAPTER LXXI V. Towamencin Township iot4 CHAPTER LXXY. Upper Dablln Township 1092 CHAPTER LXXVI. Upper Hanover Township 1105 CHAPTER LXXVII. Upper Merion Township mg CHAPTER LXXVIII. Upper Salford Township c . . . . lirtl CHAPTER LXXIX. Whitemarah Township 11:J7 CHAPTER LXXX. Whitpain Township 1162 CHAPTER LXXXL Worcester Township . Appendix — Centennial Celebration. Index ILLUSTRATIONS. PAO£ Aaron, Samuel 404 Albertson, J. M 477 Ambler, David J 1102 Antes, Col. Frederick, residence of 852 Apple, JohnD..* 959 Ashbridge, Joshua 940 Ashbourne Presbyterian Church 803 Auge, Moses 776 Autographs Williain Penn and witnesses to charter 145 Bank of Montgomery County 473 Baldwin, Norman B , 965 Barley Sheaf Barn 317 Bate, William T 595 Bean, Theodore W 554 Beaver, D. R 6G7 Bellows, H. M 670 Berkhimer, Allen 867 Betts, Sarah T 816 Biddle, Thomas A., residence of 1162 Binder, Samuel B 955 Binder, W.J 464 'X;; Bisson, James W 86G Blake, William 699 Bomberger, J. H 411 Boorse, John C 1091 Bosler, Charles 634 Bouquet, Henry 150 Boyd, James 549 Bradfield, Abner 704 Branin, George 813 British Stamp 151 Brunner, S. U 4'22 Brooke, William 1043 Buckman, Thomas, Sr ; 702 Buck, William J 351 Bullock, George 601 Bullock, George, residence of 800 Burd-Wilson Mansion 405 Cascadcn, Robert ." 677 Casselberry, John W « 481 Chadwick, Robert .: 615 Chase, Thomas 418 Clay, J. C 1128 Conard, James P 1182 Cleaver, Silas 1156 Cleaver, John 1156 Corson, Alan W 1034 PAGE Corson, E. H... 1153 Corson, Hiram 643 Cotson, William 646 Coulston, James M 1158 County Court-House 326 Cra^vford, John Y 937 Custer, Anthony V 1071 Custer, David 1191 Custer, Jacob G 1055 Davis, John J 739 Davis, William 801 Delaware Indian Fort 48 Delaware Indian Family 4i> Delaware Indian 41 De Vries, David Pielersen 56 Diagram of Bone Cave, Port Kennedy 18 Diagram of Transit of Venus 6 Dismant, Benjamin F 673 Dodd, Robert J - 641 Ely, Gilbert W 911 Engle, A. J 815 Ervien, John A 034 Evans, David 921 Evans, Oliver 330 Evans, Oliver, Steam-Carriage 331 Evans, Thomas B ! 920 Farmar, Edward, seal of 1139 Fegely, Isaac 604 Fenton, John M 814 First National Bank, Norristown 478 Flat Rock Dam 126 Fort Casimir 68 Fort Christiana 59 Fort Mifflin 164 Franklin, Benjamin 149 Franklin's Press 458 Freas, Jesse W 1155 Freas, Joseph 1154 Freedley, Samuel 640 Friends' Meeting-House, Lower Merion 928 Geatrell, Thomaa B 914 Geller, Jacob S 743 Geological Map 8 Germantown, Map of Approaches to 165 Germantown, Map of Battle of 166 Godshall, A. C 622 Goentner, William K 729 vii vm ILLUSTEATIONS. Goshenhoppen Church, Old Graeme Coat of Arms Graeme, Elizabeth, Book-Plate of. Grieme Park Grmme Park, Vane at Gneme, Dr. Thomas Gresh, W. K Hallowell, Beiyamin T Hallowell, Israel Hallowell, Joho J Hallowell, Jonas W Hallowell, Joseph W Hallowell, William J Ilamel, George Hamer, James Hamilton, Andrew Hamilton, W. C Hamilton, W. C. & Sons, Paper-Mills.. Hancock, General Winfleld S Harley, Jonas M Harper, Smith Hartranft, General John F Harry, Benjamin Heobner, Christopher Heebner, Isaac D Heist, David Heller, G. K Henzey, W. P., residi-nce of. Hillegass, John G Ilobart, .lohn H....: Hobson, Frank M Hoffman, John Hood, John M Hooven, James Hoover, Hiram C Hudson, Henrj' Hughes, Benjamin B Humphry's, Seth llnnsicker, Abrajiam Hunsicker, Charles Hunsicker, Henry A Hunsicker, Henry G Hunsicker, Philip M Hunter, Joseph W Independence Bell Indian Signatures Iredell, Kobert Jarrett, Samuel F Jarrett, William L Jenkins, Charles Todd Johnson, B, K Jones, John Jones, John B Jones, .fohn L Jones, Jonathan Jones, Colonel Owen Jones, Colonel Owen, residence of. Keely, Ephraim P Keith, Sir WiUiam, Seal of. Keith, Sir William P.\GE , 1135 892 891 901 9(i0 637 689 690 989 691 988 692 909 697 649 530 624 1148 314 783 629 196 718 \ T- , PAGE Kendall, Daniel „„_ Kennedy, John jjgg Kennedy, William E j^jg Kenderdine, Benjamin jj„. Kenworthy, James ^,. gg- Kepner, D. K Kinzie, Daniel Kirk, Jacob Kirk, Joseph ^^ '^"<""''' A 462 Knipe, Jacob g.^ 664 1015 540 .. 620 .. 812 . 820 .. 926 . 655 . 548 . 1066 . 1019 . 922 . 478 . 1O07 50 712 617 1068 552 407 1069 1028 738 158 40 461 1018 908 964 663 719 731 1103 1039 200 930 799 900 884 793 1131 912 Knipe, Jacob 0, Knight, William, Sr Krause, David Kratz, Henry W j^.^^ Krieble, Charles Kulp, Samuel N Larzelere, J. B Larzelere, N. H Leedom, E. C Lefferts, Simon V..., Lenhart, John F.... Livezey, Thomas.... Lloyd, John Lodge, Thomas G... Loller Academy Longaker, Daniel.... Longaker, R. B Loux, Hiram R Lowe, T. S. C Lukens, Abel Lnkens, Joshua P.... Lukens, Lewis A Map of New Sweden, Map of West Jereey and Penn^lvania, 1698 120 Markley, A. D March, T. J May, Benjamin May, Selden T McDermott, William.. McFarland, Blbridgo.. McLane, A. W Meschter, G. K Meschianza Procession Meschianza Ticket Miles, William Miles, Samuel Miller, Charles T Miutzer, William Missimer, George .. _ Mitchell, Joseph, Jr Moir, James Monument Marking Site of Treaty Tree Moore, George W More, Nicholas, Seal of. Morgan, Andrew Morris, Oliver G Morison, William T Moorhead, J. Barlow Mowday, David Y 1183 698 987 557 648 990 817 1038 992 941 728 773 795 675 579 781 904 596 70 661 609 771 770 482 611 177 672 178 178 942 651 480 970 602 144 632 978 1193 871 693 600 772 ILLUSTRATIONS. IX PAGE Mud Island 162 Muhlenberg, Henry M 1063 Muhlenberg, Peter, Tomb of 1064 Myers, Jacob 633 Nace, Francis 1017 Newberry, Milton 659 New Hanover Lutheran Church 793 Newport, David 694 Noble, Samuel W 484 Norrietowu High School 753 Norristown Churches 750 Norriton Presbyterian Church lOiJS North Wales Academy 421 Oath of Allegiance I(i8 O'Brien, Michael 598 Outline Map of Montgomery County 1 Paoli Monument 163 PaxsoD, Charles X. ,. 1099 Penrose, Abel 906 Penrose, Jarrett 905 Penn Coat of Arms 88 Peon, John 150 Penn's Treaty Tree 143 Penn, William 82 Pennsylvanische Geschicht Schreiber 136 Perkiomen Bridge 1045 Potts, Joseph D 605 Potts, William C 1100 Providence Friends' Meeting li 61 Handle. William H 676 Ratrliffe, Thomas 591 Rea«i, L. W 657 Reading, Edward 659 Reed, Michael H lOU Reese, John L 1013 Reese, William 1014 Reid, John K 656 Rennyson, William 468 Rex, Sarah S 44G Rhoads, Jacob B 865 Rice, Andrew J 703 Richardson, William 746 RittenhoTise, Christopher 578 Rittenhouse, David Frontispiece Rittenhouse Observatory 4 Rittenhouse, Samuel 1009 Rittenhouse, William 1010 Robeson, Samuel L 944 Roberts. Enos 1184 Roberts, Jesse 1012 Roberts, Richard K 967 Rogers, George W 550 Rorer, Charles S 903 Rosenberger, Isaac R 873 Royer, J. Warren 654 Royer, Lewis 522 Rowland, Thomaa 635 St. Peters Church, Barren Hill 1150 Sanitary Fair Buildings 296 Sargent, G. P 666 Saylor, Andrew J 1195 Scheetz, J. H 662 Schlatter, Michael 1166 SchoU, Seth L 745 Schrack, David 668 Schrack, John (;53 Selser, John 968 Shannon, George 479 Shaw, James 554 Shaw, Robert ggcj Shtarer, A. K 7^0 Shearer, A, W 108O Shepard, Jesse 1040 Shoemaker, Charles 651 Shoemaker, C. K 1179 Shoemaker, Enoch i083 Shoemaker, Joseph A 741 Shoemaker, Mathiaa 1177 Shunk Monument 1065 Sibley, William 94;j Singerly, William M 1175 Singerly, William M., sheep farm of 858 Singerly, William M., home farm « 1176 Slingluff, John 475 Slingluff, W. H 474 Smith, Isaac W 592 Smith, John 701 Smith, John C o23 Smith, Jonas 79t> Smith, Oliver P jo6() Soldiei-s' Monument 768 Soldiers of 1812 187 St. James' Episcopal Church, Perkiomen 1051 Stabler, William 774 State Hospital for the Insane 498 State House, Philadelphia, 1744 154 Steele, J. Button 606 Stiles, George M 669 Stineon, Mar>" H 674 Stuj'vesant, Peter 67 Super, Philip 1115 Super, Henry W 414 Sutton, W. Henry 5I8 Swedes' Church "11 Swedes' Ford 711 Swedish Block-House 57 Thomas, Allen 868 Thomson, Charles 172 Thomson, Charles, residence of 172 Thropp, Joseph E 627 Todd, John 660 Trappe Church 1059 Trappe Church (interior) 1059 Tremper, Jacob 830 Trucksess, David 1197 Tyson, Jacob P 696 Van Buskirk, Wilham A 650 Upland Meeting-Place 101 Van Pelt, John 732 Walt, Henry S 922 ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE Wiiltou, John 984 M'asliiiigtun's Headquarters, Worcester 164 Washington's Headquarters, Valley Forge 170 Washington Headquartere, "James Morris'" 1164 Watt, William 683 Weaver, C. P 575 Weaver, Joseph K 671 Weinberger, J. Shelly 415 Weiser, Clement Z 1112 Wentz Kcformed Church 1186 Wentz, Abrara 1180 Wertsner, Beiijamin P 485 Wheeler, Charles 936 White, Bishop William 1052 Whitefield, G 373 Williams, Anthony 824 Williams, Charles 1160 Williams, Henry J 1077 Williams, John J 810 Williams, Thomas 811 PAGE Wills, Morgan R 460 Wilson, S. M 819 Wilson, Thomas 972 Wood, James 594 W^oodward, Evan M 985 Wright, Charles B 822 Yeakle, Chailes 1081 Yeakle, Christopher, residence of. 1073 Yeakel, Daniel 1078 Teakle, Jacob 1079 Yeakel, David W 1157 Yeakle, Joseph 1080 Yeakle, Samuel 775 Yeakle, Thomas C 818 Yeakle, William 1082 Yeakle, William A 521 Yost, D. M 277 Yost, Isaac F 998 Yost, Jacobs 52 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. CHAPTER I. TOPOGRAPHY. MoNTGOMERF CouNTY, originally a part of Phil- adelphia County, was created by act of the General Assembly approved the 10th day of September, 1784.' ^ As Act for erecting part of the County of PhUaeUIphia into a separate county. Sect. I. Wheeeas a great number of tbe iDhabitanta of the county of Philadelphia by their petition have humbly represented to the Aei> Bemblyof this State the great inconvenience they labor under by reason of their distance from the seat of judicature in the said county: For remedy whereof, Sect. II, Be it enacted, and it is hereby enacted by the Representativis of the Freemen of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania^ in Gmt^ral Axifemiihi met, and btj the autJtorili/ of the same. That all and singular the lands lying within that part of Philadelphia County bounded as liereinafter described, beginning on the line of Byberry township and the township of the manor of Moreland where it intersects the line of Bucks County; thence westward along the northern lines of Byberry, Low^r Dublin, and Oxford townships to the line dividing the townships of Cheltenham and Bristol ; and thence along the said line dividing Germantown town- flhip from the township of Springfield; aud thence along said line to the line dividing the township of Springtield aforesaid frum the town- ship of Roxbury to the river Schuylkill ; thence down the said river to the line dividing the townships of Blockley and Lower Merion ; and thence along said line to the line of the county of Chester; thence by the line of Chester County to the line of Berks County ; thence hy the line of Berks County to the line of Northampton County ; thence by part of the line of Northampton County and the line of Bucks County ; thence along the said line of Bucks County to the place of beginning ; be, and hereby are, erected into a county, named, and hereafter to be called, "Montgomery County." Sect. III. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid. That the inhabitants of said county of Montgomery shall, at all times hereafter, have and enjoy all and singular the jurisdictions, powers, rights, liberties, and privileges whatsoever which the inhabitants of any other county in this State do, may, or ought to enjoy by any charter of privileges, or the lawB of this State, or by any other ways and means whatsoever. Sect. IV. A»d be it further etuicted by the authority aforesaid, That the inhabitants of each township or district within the said county quali- fied by law to elect shall meet at some convenient place within their respective townships or districts, at the same time the inhabitants of the several township? of the other counties within this State shall meet for like purposes, and choose inspectors ; aud at the time appointed by law the freemen of said county of Montgomery shall meet at the house of Hannah Thomson, innkeeper, in the township of Norriton,and there elect representatives; and the freemen of the county of Philadelphia shall meet at the State-House, in the city of Philadelphia, and there elect representatives to serve them in Assembly [one counselor], two fit persons for sheriffs, two fit persons for coroners, and three commis- eionere, as by the Constitution and laws of this State are directed in respect to other counties, which representatives so chosen shall be Euembens of the General Assembly of the Commoawealtb of Pennsyl- 1 It is bounded on the southeast by the line of the city of Philadelphia, on the northeast by Bucks, on the north and northwest by Lehigh and Berks, and on the west and southwest by Chester and Delaware Counties. It is thirty miles in length from the south- east to the northwest line, and about fifteen miles in breadth from the northeast to the southwest line. vania, and shall sit and act as such, as fully and as freely as any of the other representatives of this State do, may, can, or ought to do ; [and the said counselor, when so chosen, shall sit and act as fully aud as freely as any of the other members of tbe Supreme Executive Council of this State do, may, can, or ought to do. [Secf. V. And be it ftirlh^'r enacted hy the authoriiy aforesaid. That the county of Montgomery shall, until otherwise altered by the Legislature of the State, be represented in the General Assembly by four members, and the county of Philadelphia shall be represented in the General As- sembly by five members.] Sect. VII. And be U further enacted by the aulhority aforemid. That the justices of theSupreineCourt of this State shall have like powers, juris- dictions, and authorities within the said county of Montgomery as by law they are vested with and entitled unto in the other counties within this State; and are hereby authorized and empowered, from time to time, to deliver the goal of the said county of capital or other offenders, in like manner as they are authorized to do in other counties of this State. Sect. X. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, Tbatitsball and may be lawful to and for Henry Pawling, Jun., Jonathan Roberts, George Smith, Robert Shannon, and Henry Cunuard, of Whitpaine town- ship, all of the aforesaid county, yeomen, or any three of them, to pur- chase aud take assurance to them, aud Their heirs, in the name of the commonwealth, of a piece of land situated in some convenient place in the neighborhood of Stoney-run, contiguous to the river Schuylkill, in Norriton township, in trust and for the use of the inhabitants of the said county, and thereon to erect and build a court-house and prison sufficient to accommodate the public service of said county. Sect. XI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid. That such part of the money as shall arise from the sale of tlieoldjirison and work- house, and lot of ground thereto belonging, in the city of Philadelphia, as directed by an act of General Assembly of this commonwealth to be sold for the use of the city and county aforesaid, he apportioned for the defraying the charges of purchasing the land, building and erecting the court-house and prison aforesaid, in the ratio or proportion of taxes as paid between the said county of Montgomery and the county of Phila- delphia and this city ; but in case the same should not be sufficient, it shall and may be lawful to and for the commissioners and assessors of the said county, or a majority of them, to assess and levy, aud they are hereby required to assess and levy, in the same manner as is directed by the act for raising county rates and levies, so much money as the said trustees, or any three of them, shall judge necessary for purchasing the said land and finishing the said court-house and prison. Sect. XII. Provided, always. That the sum of money so to be raised does not exceed three thousand pounds current money of this State. Sect. XIII. Provided, aleo,and be it further enacted by the autiionty afore- «iid, That no action or suit now commenced or depending in Uie county of Philadelphia against any person living within the bounds of the said cmnty of Montgomery shall be stayed or discontinued, but that the 1 HISTORY OF MONTGOiMERY COUNTY. The lands are agreeably diversified by well-marked ranges of bills, and with beautiful and fertile valleys. In the southeastern portion of the county these ele- vations are known as the "Gulf Hills," "Barren Hills," and " Chelten Hills." In the centre of the county the " Providence" and " Skippack Hills" are most notable, and in the northern part the "Stone Hills" are prominent, rugged, and somewhat inoun- tainous in their character and appearance. All of these ranges of hills are habitable, and all but the Stone Hills are in a high state of cultivation. The latter are heavily timbered, and when cleared of trees and rocks respond liberally to the husbandmen who possess and till them. The valley lands of the county have been a source of perpetual wealth to agriculturists, who prize them not only for their surface products, but also for the useful minerals that abound in them. The Schuyl- kill, Plymouth, and Perkiomen Valleys are the most noted in the county, and present the most beautiful and picturesque scenery. But there is much to ad- mire in following the Wissahickon, Indian, Swamp, and Manatawny Creeks to their sources, draining as they do large areas of rolling country, improved by elegant and commodious residences and farm-houses, with barns and improvements unsurpassed by any agricultural people on the face of the globe. Montgomery County has an approximate area of four hundred and seventy-three square miles, or about three hundred and three thousand and eighty acres. It is divided into thirty townships and sixty election districts. There are twelve boroughs in the county, all of which will be referred to in subsequent chapters of this work. The Schuylkill River forms the southwestern boundary line between Montgomery and Chester Counties until it reaches the Merion Fame action or actions already commenced or depending may be prose- cnted and judgment tliereupon rendered, as if tliis act Imd not been made; and tliat it sliall and maybe lawful for the justices of the county of Pliiladeljiliia to issue any judicial process, to be directed to the sheriff or coroner of Philadelphia County, for carrying on and obtaining the effect of the aforesaid suits, which slierifF and coroner shall and are hereby obliged to yield obedience in executing the said writs, and make due return thereof before the justices of the said court for the said county of Pluladel|ihia, as if the parties were living and residing within the same. Sect. XXI. And whkreas it is represented, by petition to the General Assembly, that by the lines hereinbefore mentioned a long, narrow neck or point of land, beingpart of the manor of Moreland, and lying between the townships of Byberry and Lower Dublin, in the cunnty of Philadel- phia, would be included in the county of Montgomery, to the great in- convenience and injury of the inhabitants of the said neck of land, who have prayed that they may remain within the county of Philadelphia. Sect. XXII. Be it therefore enacted by the authoritij u/oremitl^ That the boundary line of the said county of Montgomery shall be as follows: that is to say, beginning in the line of Bucks Couuty where the same is intei'sected by the line which divides the townships of Byberry and the manor of Moreland; thence southwesterly along the last-mentioned line to the first corner or turning thereof; and thence on the sanio south- westerly course to the lino of Lower Dublin ; and thence westwardly along the uortherii line of Lower Dublin, and so on, as the lines of the said couuty of Montgomery are hereinbefore described, to the place of beginning; anything hereinbefore contained to the contrary in anywise notwithstanding. Passed Sept. 10, 1784. townships; from thence it passes through the country in a southeasterly course until it reaches the Phila- delphia line. The county is watered by many streams flowing into the Schuylkill River, — Wissahickon, Plymouth, Sandy Run, Mill, Rock Hill, Oulf, Valley, Indian, Stony, Skippack, Perkiomen, and Manatawny Creeks. The Pennypack and Neshaminy Creeks rise in Montgomery County, and pass through Bucks County to the Delaware River. The water-flow and fall of these streams and their tributaries, which form a network of irrigation, fed by thousands of perennial springs, rising in every part of the county, were early utilized by the settlers, who erected dams, and built on the shores grist-, saw-, fulling-, oil-, paper-, powder-, and rolling-mills, forges, factories, and tanneries. In 1795 there were reported ninety- six grist-mills, sixty-one saw-mills, four forges, six fulling-mills, and ten paper-mills. Many of these grist-mills existed prior to and during the Revolu- tionary war, doing active service for the contending armies while in occupancy of this section of the country. In the early era of public improvements Montgomery County was well marked by public roads leading from the city of Philadelphia to the interior settlements of the colony and State. The Lancaster road and similar highways leading to Reading and Bethlehem, with many parallel cart- ways, opened up the county settlements at a very early period. These great thoroughfares were soon intersected by public roads running from the Dela- ware to the Schuylkill Rivers, increasing in number and importance until the region now comprising the county was accessible from all points by well-graded roads leading in the direction of Philadelphia, then the capital of the couuty and of the State as late as 1799, and the capital city of the nation as late as 1800. The general conformation of the face of tlje coun- try in Montgomery County repeats in miniature that which has rendered the natural scenery of New York, Pennsylvania, JIaryland, and West Virginia so nota- ble. The ranges of hills run uniformly northeast and southwest, as do the more distant line of the Cats- kills, Blue Ridge, and AUeghanies. As the Hudson River forces itself through the Narrows, the Dela- ware at the Water Gap, the Susquehanna between Harrisburg and Port Deposit, the Potomac at Har- per's Ferry, so the Schuylkill River in finding its way to the Delaware, in the same direction, cuts its way through rock-hills at Conshohocken and again at Fairmouut, Philadelphia. The primitive condition of the area of country now known as Montgomery County was land heavily timbered with oak, hickory, and chestnut. The consumption of wood for fuel prior to the introduction of anthracite and bitumi- nous coal, was very great in Eastern Pennsylvania. Large quantities were used in making charcoal for furnaces ; all lime was made by use of wood for fuel ; every household had its " wood-pile," while the sup- ply of Philadelphia City constituted a trade of vital TOPOGRAPHY. interest to those owning and residing upon lands within twenty and thirty miles of the great city. Time was, and possibly is within the remembrance of those still living among us, when it was the work of each succeeding year to clear one or more acres of woodland, and the wood sold counted as a part of the yearly profit of the farm. This wealth of primitive forest was the foundation of many substantial fortunes in years past, where, by means of judicious purchases made, the sale of the "wood-leaf" paid for the farm, and opened up an increasing acreage for the growtli of grass and cereals. Tradition says this stump or " new land" was a test point in the character of the owner. If he was a provident, industrious man, his "new land" would seasonably blossom with buck- wheat ; if thriftless, selling his wood to pay taxes and incidental expenses of his attendance upon militia trainings and horse-races, his new land would be left uncultivated and overgrown with briers and brush. Fifty years ago farms denuded of woodland were ex- ceptional, and their marketable value greatly depre- ciated. The old characteristic farmer of Montgom- ery County took a commendable pride in maintaining from ten to twenty acres of primitive forest. It was useful in many ways, for fuel, building, and fencing, and, whether deemed ornamental or not, had a rare charm for him. It was these parks of woodlands that preserved to hunters until within the last quarter of a century choice haunts for squirrel and bird; but the close of the first century of the county witnesses the final obliteration of all hunting-grounds lying between the Delaware and the Schuylkill. The surface soil varies greatly in different parts of the county. In passing inland from tide-water levels, alluvial flats, and submarine formations, rock-faced bluffs are found at Chestnut Hill, four hundred feet above tide-water mark. The northwestern slope of these hills descends to the basin of the Plymouth Valley, through which runs a belt of limestone some two miles in width, with rich beds of hematite iron ore, white and blue marble, limestone, soapstone, and large masses of gray rock, easily quarried, and largely used in heavy masonry. This limestone belt crosses the Schuylkill River between Conshohocken and Swedes' Ford, and extends in a westerly direction to Howeltown, in the Schuylkill Valley. The soil of this locality is very productive, and is considered by many the most valuable in the county for agricul- tural purposes. Contiguous to the Plymouth Valley are the Sandy Hills, a light, luminous soil, easily worked and productive, but often seriously affected by drought. The rolling lands northwest of the val- ley, drained by Indian, Skippack, Perkiomen, and Manatawny Creeks and their tributaries, are princi- pally of the red shales and sandstones of the " middle secondary" formation, with many intervening areas of clay soil. The primitive condition of this soil was unproductive as compared with that of the Schuyl- kill and Plymouth Valleys ; but under the skillful husbandry of the modern farmer, and a liberal use of lime, manure, and fertilizers, this vast region of country yields abundant harvests, and supports a prosperous population equal in numbers to the square mile with the more favored limestone or valley lands. The scenery abounding along the Schuylkill, Wissa- hickon, Perkiomen, and their tributaries is among the most picturesque in the Middle States, while the land- scape, from the successive ranges of hills, is extended, and conveys to the observing eye a vision of pastoral peace and plenty. The topography of the county, as shown by accompanying maps, — that of Holme's orig- inal survey and the recent one prepared for this work, — shows the progress of two centuries in the matter of public roads and highways, and the subdivisions of the county into townships and boroughs. In 1681 it consisted of manors and large tracts, or proprietary grants, held by comparatively few persons, who lived a frontier life, in almost daily contact with native tribes of Indians. Since then its square miles and broad acres, under the equalizing operation of our laws of descent, have passed through at least six generations, and thousands of purchasers have ac- ' quired titles to soil that have always been a prize in the inventory of worldly possessions of those who lived and died on the hills and in the valleys of Montgomery. The first era of public improvement demanded macadamized highways from tide-water to the in- terior. These highways still exist, monuments of early engineering, traversing the hills and mountains of the State. The increased tonnage of merchandise on these roads, and the costly character of teams and means of transportation, — the old Conestoga wagon, — soon induced the bridging of all important streams, many of which crossed these highways, as surveyed northwest of Philadelphia, within the lines now con- stituting Montgomery County. The spirit of public improvement seized on the Schuylkill River, and by a system of dams, locks, and canals connected it with the Susquehanna, by means of which lumber, coal, and all manner of merchandise found its way through the county to Philadelphia. Many travelers sought the " fast packet line," pulled through at a trot, with frequent changes of horses, it being thought a far more luxurious way of reaching the interior than by stage. This system of navigation still exists on the Schuylkill, but is now confined to ooal, lumber, lime, and stone. It is no longer a rival for mail, fast freight, or passenger traffic. The use of steam opened up a new era of public improvement. The construction of railroads speedily followed. These modern highways of travel and traffic found easy grades and eligible locations on the shores of streams and over depres- sions upon the face of the country, sought out by skillful engineers. The topographical face of Mont- gomery County is traversed by three of the best-con- structed and most liberally equipped railroads in the country, with a number of lateral roads connecting HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. these parallel trunk lines. The Philadelphia and Reading Company drain the Schuylkill Valley, with branch roads in Plymouth, Stony Creek, Perkiomen, Pickering, and Oley Valleys. The North Pennsyl- vania Railroad, now under the management of the Philadelphia and Reading, crosses the " divide" between the Schuylkill and Delaware Rivers, and extends to Bethlehem, having connections with the Bound Brook, New Hope, and Doylestown Railroads, and with the Lehigh Valley system of railroads. The trunk line of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company passes through Lower Merion township. The Phila- delphia and Schuylkill Valley Railroad Company, now leased to the Pennsylvania Company, is con- structing a new line of road from their main track at Fifty-first Street, Philadelphia, thence up the Schuyl- kill Valley, leaving the county at the line opposite Phrenixville. When this road is completed, Mont- gomery County will be most advantageously traversed with these modern highways. There are accompaniments to these public improve- ments of novel and increasing interest to the popu- lous districts of country through which they pass, — the telegraph and, later, the telephone. No system of railroading is now deemed complete without these necessary adjuncts to the safety of public travel, the prompt movement of freights, and the methodical dispatch of business accumulating at centres of pro- duction, trade, and transatlantic shipment. These means of direct and rapid communication with all parts of the country, focalizing as they pass through the county and converging at the contiguous seaport city of Philadelphia, gives to the locality important topographical advantages. Lines of rapid transit, capable of transporting large bodies of men and cor- responding tonnage of freight, are now essential agencies in travel and in conducting the exchange of commodities of the continent in time of peace as well as in time of war. They are anchored in the capital- ized enterprise of the country, and are indispensabli to the success of the industrial pursuits in agriculture, manufacture, and commerce. Their adaptation to the necessities and exigencies of war was well illus- trated in the late Rebellion. The facility with which troops and supplies were transported to the line of the Susquehanna in the summer of 1863 was of great importance in connection with movements relied upon to check the invasion of Gen. Lee, and in making the great battle of Gettysburg the turning-point of the war. In the event of foreign war, hostile agencies would first be directed to the capture or destruction of our seaport towns and cities. In that event Phila- delphia and all the commercial advantages centring there would be a tempting prize to a maritime enemy. In such a contingency, one that may occur, all can readily see the importance that would be attached to the present topographical face of the county, check- ered as it is with a network of trunk and lateral lines of railroads. What our common roads were to Gen. Washington and Lord Howe in 1777-78 in the stra- tegical movement of troops from the Brandywine to the Delaware for the defense and capture of the City of Penn, our railroads in an enlarged sense would be in possible warlike movements, involving issues of greater importance than those referred to in the early history of the country. The surface elevations and topographical structure of Montgomery County has been heretofore made contributory to the growth and development of the region by utilizing its flowing waters for purposes of irrigation and propelling mills and factories. The sanitary requirements of Philadelphia demand a liberal extension of its water-works, and skillful en- gineers have ascertained, by levels made and in prog- ress, that the upper Perkiomen Valley has an eleva- tion with a volume of water and storage capacity suf- ficient to meet present and future wants of the great city for a century to come, and furnish a healthful and perpetual supply of pure water. The true latitude and longitude of Montgomery County appears to have been ascertained with great precision in 1769-70 by David Rittenhouse and his distinguished scientific contemporaries. The astro- nomical observations which preceded the terrestrial measurements were made, taking the " Norriton Ob- servatory" as a place of beginning. The extraor- dinary importance attached at the time to the work of these learned men, and the high standard of authority since conceded to them, renders of historical interest some account of their labors and the circumstances connected with the event. Latitude and Longitude, Norriton Observa- tory. — Norriton township, created by judicial pro- ceedings, 1730, then becoming a geographical subdi- l: ITTENHOUSE OBSERVATOKY. vision of Philadelphia, enjoys a world-wide celebrity in having had situated within its boundaries the "Norriton Observatory," at which place astronomical observations were made, and reported as " An Account of the Transitof Venus over the Sun's Disk, observed at Norriton, in the County of Philadelphia and Prov- TOPOGRAPHY. ince of Pennsylvania, June 3, 1769."^ It was at the point where then stood the "Norriton Observatory," about fifty feet north of the famous old residence, 1 The following gentlemRn were appointed by the American Philo- aopliical Society, locatefl at Philadelphia, to make the observations and astronomical c;iIciilatious : William Smith, D.D., Provost of the College of Philadelphia; John Lukens, Esq., Surveyor-General of Pennsylvania; David Rittenhrmse, A.M., of Norriton ; and John Sellers, Esq., Repre- sentative in Assembly for Chester. Communicated to the society July 20, 1769, by direction and in behalf of the committee, by Dr. Smith. "Gentlemen, — Among the various public-spirited designs that have engaged the attention of this society since its first institution none does them more honor than their early resolution to appoint committees of their own members to make as many observations, in different places, of the rare phenomenon, the transit of Venus over the sun's disk, as they had any probability of being able to defray the expense of, either from their own funds or the public assistance they expected. As the mt^m- bers of the Nurriton Committee live at some distance from each other, I am therefore, at their request, now to digest and lay before you in one view the whole of our observations in that place, distinguishing, how- ever, the part of each observer, and going back to the first preparations ; for I am persuaded that tlie dependence which the learned world may place on any particular transit account will be in proportion to the pre- vious and subsequent care which is found to have lieen taken in a series of accurate and well-conducted observations for ascertaining the going of the time-pieces, and fixing the latitude and longitude of the place of observations, etc. And I am the more desirous to be particular in these points in order to do justice to Mr. Rittenhouse, one of our committee, to whose extraordinary skill and diligence is owing whatever advantage maybe derived in these respects to our observation of the transit itself. It is further presumed that astronomers in distant countries will be de- sinms to have not only the work and reBults belonging to each particu- lar transit observation, but the materials also, that they may examine and conclude for themselves. And this may be more particularly requi- site in a new observatory, such as Norriti>n, the name of which has per- liaps never before been heard of by distant astroimmers, and therefore its latitude and longitude are to be once fixed from principles that may be satisfactory on the present as well as on any future occasion. " Our great discouragement at our first appointment was the want of proper apparatus, especially good telescopes with micrometers. The generosity of our Provincial Assemblysoun removed a great partof this discouragement, not only by their vote to purchase one of the best re- flecting telescopes, with a Dolland'a micrometer, but likewise by their subsequent donation of one hundred pounds for erecting observatories and defraying other incidental expenses. It was foreseen that on the arrival of this telescope, added tn such private ones as might be pro- cured in the city, together with fitting up the instruments belonging to the honorable the Proprietaries of the province, viz., the equal-alti- tude and transit instrument and the largo astronomical sector, nothing would be wanting for the city observatory in the State-House Square but a good time-piece, which was easily to be procured. We remained, however, still at a loss how to furnish the Norriton Observatory, but even this difficulty gradually vanished. Early in September, 17GS, soon after the nomination of our committee, I received a letter fi'oni that worthy and honorable gentleman, Thomas Penn, Esq., one of the Proprietaries of thisprovince, which he wrote at the desire of the Rev. Mr. Makelyne, Astronomer Royal, expressing their desire 'that we would exert ourselves in observing the transit, fi.ir which our situation would be so favorable,' and inclosing some copies of Mr. Makelyne's printed directions for that purpose. Tins gave me an opportunity, which I inmiediately embraced, of acquainting Mr. Penn what preparation we had already made, and what encouragement the Assembly had given in voting one hundred pounds sterling for the purchase of one reflecting telescope and mi- crometer for the city observatory ; but that we would be at a great loss for a telescope of the like construction for the Norriton Observatory, and requesting him to order a reflector of two or two and a half feet, with Dolland's micrometer, to be got ready as soon as possible in London. It was not long before I had the pleasure of hearing that Mr. Penn had ordered such a telescope, which came to hand about the middle of May, with a most obliging letter, expressing the satisfaction he had in hearing of the spirit shown at Philadelphia for observing this curious phenome- non when it should happen, and concluding as follows: * I have sent by Capt. Sparks a reflecting telescope, with Dolland's micrometer, exact to your request, which 1 hope will come safe to hand. After making your observations, I desire you will present it, in my name, to the college. still standing, that David Rittenhouse, assisted by Archibald McKean and Jesse Lukens, met on July 2, 1770, to commence the work of surveying a line Messrs. Mason and Dixon tell me they never used a better than that which I formerly sent to the Library Company of Philadelphia, with which a good observation may be made, though it has no micrometer.* We were now enabled t) furnish the Norriton Observatory as follows, viz. : "1. A Gregorian reflector, about 2 f. focal length, with a Dolland's micrometer. This telescope has four different magnifying powers, viz. : 55, 95, 130, and 200 times, by means of two tubes, containing eye-glasses that magnify differently, and two small speculuma of differeot focal distances. Made by Nairne; used by Dr. Smith. *' 2. A refractor of 42 f., its magnifying power about 140. The glasses were sent from London witli the large reflector, and belonged to Har- vard College, New England; but as they did not arrive time enough to be sent to that place before the transit, they were fitted up here by Mr. Rittenhouse and used by Mr. Lukens. "3. Mr. Rittonhouse's refractor, with an object-glass of 36 f. focus, and a convt-x eye-glasa of 3 inches, magnifying about 144 times. Used by himself. Bdth these refractors, as well as the reflector, were in most exquisite order. "4. An equal-altitude instrument, its telescope three and a half feet focal length, with two horizontal hairs, and a vertical one in its focus, firmly supported on a stone pedestal, and easily adjusted to a plummet wire 4 feet in length by 2 screws, one moving it in a north and south, the other in an east and west direction. "r». A transit telescope, fixed in the meridian on an axis with fine steel points, so that the hair in its focus can move in no other direction than along the meridian; in which are two marks, south and north, about 330 yards distance each, to which it can be readily adjusted in a horizontal position by one screw, as it can in a vertical position by another screw. "6. An excellent time-piece, having for its pendulum a flat steel bar, with a bob weighing about 12 pounds, and vibrating in a final arch. It goes eight days, does not flop when wound up, beats dead seconds, and is kept in motion by a weight of 5 pounds. These last three articles were also Mr, Rittenhouse 's property, and made by himself. *'7. An astronomical quadrant, two and a half f. radius, made by Sisson, the property of the East Jersey Proprietors, under the care of the Right Honorable Wiljiam Earl of Stirling surveyor-general of tliat province, from whom Mr. Lukens procured the use of it, and sent it up to Mr. Rittenhouse for ascertaining the latitu'le of the observatory. Thus we were at length completely furnished with every instnmient proper for our work. As Mr. Rittenhonse's dwelling at Norriton is about 20 miles nortliwest of Philadelpliia, our other engagements did not permit Mr. Lukens or myself to pay much attention to the neces- sary preparations. But vk knew that we had intrusted them to a gen- tleman on the spot, ^^UlO had, joined to a complete skill in mechanic8,8o extensive an astronomical and mathematical knowledge that the use, management, and even the construction of the necessary apparatus were perfectly familiar to him. Mr. Lukens and myself could not set out till Thursday, June 1st; but tfn our arrival there we found every prepara- tion so forward that we had little to do but to examine and adjust our respective telescopes to distinct vision. He had fitted up the different instruments', and made a great number of observations to ascertain the going of his time-piece, and so determined the latitude and longitude of the observatory. The laudable pains he had taken in these material articles will best appear from the work itself, which he has committed into my hands, with the following modest introduction, giving me a liberty which his own accuracy, care, and abilities leave no room to exercise : "' Norriton, July 18,1709. "'Dear Sir, — The inclosed is the best account I can give of the con- tacts as I observed them and of what I saw during the interval between them. I should be glad you would contract them, and also the other papers, into a smaller compass, as I would have done myself if I had known how, I beg you would not copy anything merely because I have written it, but leave out what you think superfluous. '" I am, with great esteem and affection, " ' Yours, etc., David Rittenhouse. '**To Rev. Dr. Smith.'" Exbyicl from David Rittenhomf'' 8 Report of the Transit of Venus, June 3^ 1769, observed at the Nvrrilon Observatory.—" ' Early in November, 17*58, 1 began to erect an observatory, agreeable to the resolutions of the Ameri- 6 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. from the observatory to tlie State-House Square at Philadelphia. Mr. Rittenbouse having ascertained the latitude and longitude at the point with acknowl- cxn Philosophical Society, but, through various disappointnienta from ■workmen and weather, could not complete it till the middle of April, 1769. I had for some time expectpd the use of an equal-altitude instru- ment from Philadelphia ; hut finding Icunld not depend on having it, I felt to work and made one of as Kiini)lea construction as I could. March '2uth the instrument was finished and put up out of doors, the observa- tory not hL'ing yet ready. "'I had for some weeks before this, however, with my 36 f. re- fractor, observed eclipsea of Jupiter's satellites in such a manner that, though my equal-altitude instrument was not finished, and conse- «]nently I could not set my time-piece to the true noon, I should, never- theless, be able to tell the time of those eclipses afterwards when the instruments sliould be ready. Fur this purpose I observed almost every fair evening the time by the clock when the bright star in Orion disap- peared behind a fixeil obstacle, by applying my eye to a small sight-hole made through a piece of brass fastened to a strong post. From this time to May 20 the clock was altered several times, once taken down and cleaned, removed back to the observatory, and regulated anew. Care was taken, however, to observe equal altitudes of the sun on the days preceding and following any visible eclipse of the 1st satellite, when the weather would permit. May 20, in the morning, the clock was set up for the last time pretty near the mean time. It had no provision for preventing the irregularities arising from heat and cold, nor could I find leisure to apply any contrivance of this sort. This day I likewise put wires instead of hairs in the telescope of the equal-altitude instrument. Tlie ill state of my health would not permit me to sit up at nights to take equal altitudes of the stars. I was, therefore, obliged to content myself with those of the sun only.' *'It has been mentioned before that it was on Thursday afternoon, June 1, that Mr. Lnkena and myself arrived at Norriton, with a design to continue with Mr. Rittenhouse till the transit should be over. The prospect before us was very discouraging. That day and several pre- ceding had been generally overcast with clouds and frequent heavy rains, a thing not very common for so long a period at that season of the year in this part of America. But by one of those transitions which we often experience here, on Thursday evening the weather became per- fectly clear, and continued the day fi>llowing, as well as the day of the transit, in ench a state of serenity, splendor of sunshine, and purity of atmosphere that nut the least appearance of a cluud was to be seen. June 2 and the forenoon of June 3 were spent in making necessary preparations, such as examining and marking the foci of our several telescopes, particularly the reflector, with and without the micrometer. The reflector was also placed on a polar axis, and such supports con- trived for resisting the ends of the refractors as might give them a mo- tion as nearly parallel to the equator as such hasty preparations' would admit. Several diameters of the sun were taken, and the micrometer examined by such other methods as the shortness of the time would allow. The sun was so intensely bright on the day of the transit that, instead of using the colored glasses sent fi-oni England with the re- flector, I put on a deeply-smoked glass prepared by Mr. Lukens, which gave a much more beautiful, natural, and well-defined appearance of the Bun's disk. The smoked glass was fastened on the eye-tube with a little beeswax, and there wjis no occasion to change it the whole day, as there was not tho least cloud or intermission of the sun's splendor. Mr. Rittenhouse, in his previous projection, had made the first external contact to be June 3, 2 h. 11' for lat. 40° N., and long. 5'^ W. of Green- wich, on a supposition of the sun's parallitx being 8". He happened to be very near the truth, for at '.i'' 10'3:i", mean time, the fiist external contact was at Norriton, lat. 40° 9' 56" N., and long. S"" 1'31" West. Other calculations made it generally from C to 8' later for the latitude and longitude. Though this calculatiou was not given to be entirely dependedon.yetit was sufficient to make us keep what, in the sea phrase, would he called a good look-out ; and therefore at one o'clock we took off the micrometer, which had been fitted to the reflector with a power of 95, and adjusted it to distinct vision, with the sumo power to observe the contacts, and during thi* hour that was to intervene from one to two we resolved to keep an alternate watch tlirough the reflector on that half of the sun's limb where Venus was certainly expected totouch, while the uthera not thus employed were fixing what more remained to be done, as follows, viz. : First, That each uf us might the belter exercise our own judjiinent without being influenced or thrown into any agitation by the edged precision, and his reputation for exactness in all astronomical observations and calculations being duly credited in scientific and official circles in this others, it was agreed to transact everything by signals, and that one should not know what another was doing. The situation of the tele- scopes, the two refractors being at some distance without tho observa- tory, and the reflector within, favored this design. Secondly, two per- sons, Mr. Sellers, one of our committee, and Mr. Archibald McClean, both well accustomed to matters of this kind, were placed atone window of the observatory, to count the clock and take the signal from Mr. Ln- kens. Two of Mr. Rittenhonse's family, whom he had often employed to count the clock for him in his observations, were placed at another window to take his signal. My telescope was placed near the clock, and I was to count its beats and set down my own time. These prelim- inaries being settled, we prepared at two o'clock to sit down to our re- si>ective telescopes, or, I should rather say, lie down to the refractors, on account of the sun's greatheight. As there was a large concourse of the inhabitants of the county, and many from the city, we wore appre- hensive that our scheme for silence would be defeated by sume of them speaking when they should see any of the signals for the contacts, and therefore we found it necessary to tell them that the success of ourobser- vation would depend on their keeping a profound silence till the contacts were over. And, to do them justice, during the 12' that ensued there could not have been a more solemn pause of silence and expectation if each individual had been waiting for the sentence that was to give him life or death. So regular and quiet was the whole that, far from hear- ing a whisper or word spoken, I did not even hear the feet of tlie count, era who passed behind me from the windows to the clock, and was sur- prised, when I turned from my telescope to the clock, to find them all there before me, counting up their seconds to an even number, as 1 im- agined, froui the deep silence, that my associates had yet seen nothing of Venus. As the contacts are among the most essential articles rela- tive to this phenomenon, it is material, before we set down the times, to give a particular account of the manner in which they were observed and the circumstances attending them." Mr. Ititlenhouse^ a Account of the Contacts. — " At 2i» 11' 39" per clock, the Rev. Mr. Barton, of Lanca^^ter, who assisted me at the telescope, on re- ceiving my signal, as had been agreed, instantaneously communicated it to the counters at the window by waving a handkerchief, who, walk- ing softly to the clock, counting seconds as they went along, noted down their times separately, agreeing to the same second; and three seconds sooner than this, to tho best of my judgment, was the time when the least impression made by Venus on the sun's limb could be seen by my telescope. When the planet had advanced about one-third of its diam- eter on the Bun,as I was steadily viewing its progress, my sight was sud- denly attracted by a beam of light which broke through on that side of Venus yet off" the sun. Its figure was that of a broad-based pyramid, situated about 40 or 45 degrees on the limb of Venus, from a line passing through her centre and the sun's, and to the left hand of that line as seen through my telescope, which inverted. About the same time the sun's light began to spread round Venus on each side from the points where their limbs intei^ected each other. As Venus advanced the point of the pyramid still grew lower, its circular base wider,until it met the light which crept round from the points of intersection of the two limbs, 80 that when half the planet appeared on the sun, the other half yet off the sun was entirely suriounded by a semicircular light, best defined on the side next to the body of Venus, which continually grew brighter till the time of the internal contact. Imagination caunot form anything more beautifully serene and quiet than was the air during the whole time, nor did I oversee the sun's limb more perfectly defined or more free from any tremulous motion, to which his great altitude undouht- odly contributed much. When the internal contact, as it is called.drew nigh, I foresaw that it would be very difficult to fix the time with any certainty, on account of the great breadth and brightness of the light which surrounded that part of Venus yet off the sun. After some con- sideration I r'esolved to judge as well as I could of the coincidence of the limbs, and accordingly gave the signal for the internal contact at 'l** 28' 45" by the clock, and immediately began to count seconds, which any one who has been accustomed to it may do for a minute or two pretty near the truth. In this manner I counted no less than 1' 32" before the effect of the atmosphere of Venus on the sun's limb wholly disappeared, leaving that part of the limb as well defined as the rest. From this I concluded that I had given the internal contact too soon, and the times given by the other observers at Norriton confirm me in this opinion." TOPOGRAPHY. country and in Europe, he was selected to report the difference of latitude and longitude between the *'Norriton Observiitory" and the State-House Square at Philadelphia, and harmonize the work with that of Mason and Dixon's Observatory at the soutli point of said city. "ACCOUNT OF THE TERKESTRIAL MEASUREMENT OF THE DIFFERENCE OF LONGITUDE AND LATITUDE BETWEEN THE OBSERVATORIES OF NOBRITON AND PHILADELPHIA. ** To thn American Philosophical Society, etc. : "Gkntlemen, — Agreeable to the appointment you made (at the request of the Astruuumer Ruyal), Mr. Lukens, Mr. Rilteuhouse, and myself, furnished with proper insirmuents, met at Norriton, early on Monday, July 2(1, for the above service, and took to our assistance two able and experienced surveyors, viz. : Mr. Archibald McClean and Mr. Jesso Lukens. ^ The first tiling we did was accurately to a^iceitain the varia- tiou of our compass, which we found 3° 8' by Mr. Ritteu house's meridian line. We then carefully measured our chain, and adjusted itto the exact standard of OG feet. In the execution of the work, whenever the in- Etruuient was duly set, each course was taken off and entered down sep- arately by three different peraons, who likewise kept separate accounts of all the distances, and superinteniled the stretching of every chain, and the leveling and plumbing it whenever there was any ascent or de- scent in the road. July 1th we tinished the survey, and Mr. McClean, Mr. Jesse Lukens, and myself then agreed to bring out the difference of latitude and departure separately on each cour^se and distance to four or five decimal places ; and theie was so great an agreement in this part of the work when executed th;it we had all tlie samo results to a few links, and the whole was at last brought to agree in every figure by comparing the few places whore there was any difference, which scarce ever went further than the last decimal place. Mr. McClean and Mr. Lukena took Ihe trouble to bring out their work by multiplying each distance by the natural sine of the course to tlie radius unity for the departure, and by the co-sine for the latitude. Mine was done by Rob- ertson's tables, and the following results obtained : Distances. Korthing. Southing. Easting. Wpsting. Chains, Links. 1030.79 00.1447 1206.8095 00.1447 891.3616 39.5180 39.5180 Total Southing 1205.0648 851.8436 Total Easting. Chains. "Then N A, dif. of lat 1205 0048 To A E, depart 861.8435 As rad To tang, of E N A, the course 35° 14' 33".08 of the And sine of 35° 14' 33".08 To rad As 861. 8436 Tu N B. the distance in a straight line = 1476.2330 chains Log. 3.0812265 2.9303699 10 9.8491334 9.7612048 10 2.9303599 3.1091551 But the course of N E being 35° 14' 33"E., With respect only to N A, the magnetic fourth, add the variation 3° 8' 0" Which gives 38° 22' 33" E. for the course of N E with respect to N S, the true meridian. "So that the true course and distance from Norriton Observatory to Philadelphia Observatory in a straight line, N E, is S. 38° 22' 33" E. 147G.2336 chains. "Then rad 10 To co-sine of. 38*^ 22' 33" 9.S942913 As N E 1476.2336 3.1b915ol To N S true diff. of lat 1157.3013 3.0634464 And rad 10 To sine of. 38° 22' 33" 9.7929G37 As N E 1476.2336 3.1691551 ToSE, true diff. of long 91G.4713 2 9621188 "Thus we have — "Norriton Observatory from Philadelphia Observatory: Chains. Feet. North 1157.30 = 76381.8 =12'35".7 diff. of lat. West 916.47 = 60487.02 = 00' 52" of time = 13' diff. of longitude^ 9'.95 of a great circle or geographical mile. "But the observatory in State-House Square, with respect to the fourth part of the city of Philadelphia (to which Messrs. Mason and Dixon refer their observation), is : Chains. Feet. N. 40.0685 = 2644.5 = 26".16diff. of lat. W. 28.7695 = 1898.8= 1".6 of time. "Therefore Norriton Observatory, with respect to the southernmost point of Philadelphia, is: Chains. Feet. North 1157.30 + 40.0685 =1197.3685 = 79,026.3 = 13' 01 ".86 diff. of lat West 916.47 + 28.7695= 945.2395 = 62,385.8 = 00' 53".6 of time. *' Hence by the above measurement and work we get Norriton Observa- tory 52" of time west of the observatory in the State-House Square, which is exactly what we got by that excellent element, the external contact of Mercury with the sun, Nov. 9, 1769. The internal contact gaveitsome- thing more, owing, no doubt, to the difference that will arise among ob- servers in determining the exact moment when the thread of light is completed ; and the mean of all our other observations gives the differ- ence of meridians between Norriton and Philadelphia only 4" of time more than the terrestrial measurement and the external contact of Mer- cury gave it, which may be taken as a very great degree of exactness for celestial observations, if we consider that the difference of meridians between the long-established observatories of Greenwich and Paris, as Mr. De La Lande writes, Nov. 18, 1762, was not then determined within 20" of time ; fur he says, 'Some called it 9' 15", others 9' 40", hut that he himself commonly used 9' 20", though he could not tell from what- ubservations it was deduced.' And it may be needless to add that a short distance is as liable to the differences arising from the use of in- struments in celestial observations as a greater one. Nevertheless, if we apply the difference of meridians between Philadelphia and Norriton got by this nieasurement (viz., 52" instead of 56") to the Rev. Mr. Ewing's collection of Jupiter's satellites, rejecting those of the 2d sat., and also the immersions of May 5th, as too near the opposition, we shall get Philadelphia 5h.0'37" and Norriton 5h. 1' 29" west from Green- wich. This result is what ought to arise from a diminution of 4" of time in tlie difference of meridians by dividing that difference, and bringing the meridian 2" more west and the other 2" more east, and we ludieve future observations will confirm this as exceeding near the tmth." "The latitude of Norriton comes out by the meas- urement 25^^.09 less north, witli- respect to the south- ernmost point of the city of Philadelphia, than Mr. Rittenhouse's observations give it ; and if the latitude of that point of the city be taken, as fixed by Messrs. Mason and Dixon, at 39° 56' 29'' A, then the lat. of Norriton (neglecting fractions of seconds) will be 40° 9' SV, instead of 40° 9' 5&'\ However, as both were fixed by celestial observations and experienced men. 8 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. the small difference ought perhaps to be divided; and 31 a mean be taken to reconcile it with the terrestrial measurements, the lat. of the south point of Philadel- phia would be 39° 56' 42", and that of Norriton 40° 9' 43". But as Mr. Rittenhouse had only Sisson's two and a half feet quadrant, and Messrs. Mason and Dixon were furnished with a complete astronomical sector, and did their work to fix the lines of two prov- inces, it may be thought that their determination is most to be relied upon. Nevertheless, the whole dif- ference of 25" in the celestial arc is so inconsidera- ble as not to give 40 chains on the surface of the earth. All the results in the above work are got without any sensible error, by plain trigonometry, as the different arcs are so very small. In estimating the length of a degree to deduce the difference of latitude between the two observations, the spheroidal figure of the earth was taken into consideration, and the degree measured by Messrs. Mason and Dixon, in mean latitude 39° 12', — 363,771 feet, — was made the standard, which being lengthened in the ratio of 59.7866 to 59.8035, gave 363,874 for a degree of the meridian in the mean latitude between Philadelphia and Norriton, which is only 103 feet more than the deg. in lat. 39° 12', and makes but a fraction of a second difference in the latitude, so that it might have been disregarded. With respect to seconds of time in longitude, no sensible difference can be obtained in the small difference of about 11 miles, whether we consider the earth as a sphere or spheroid. In bring- ing out the 52" of time diff. of long., a degree of the equator was taken in proportion to Messrs. Mason and Dixon's degree of the merid. in lat. 39". 12, in the ratio of 60 to 59.7866 (agreeable to Mr. Simspon's table), which gave 365,070 for a degree of the equator. By taking a degree of longitude as fixed at the middle point by Mr. Maskelyne in lat. 38° 7' 35", and saying astheco-sineof that lat. is to co-sine of mean latitude between Philadelphia and Norriton, so is the length of adegree of long, at the middle point (viz., 284,869.5 feet) to the length of a degree in mean lat. between Norri- ton and Philadelphia, the result was got 52". 13, being only thirteen hundredth parts of a second more." Philadelphia, Aug. 17, 1770, William Smith, Nor- riton Observatory, N. Latitude, 40° 9' 43". Note. — The true latitude and longitude of Phila- delphia we give from a compilation made by Prof. B. A. Gould for one of the numbers of " The American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac." The data are determined for the observatories in each case (Inde- pendence Hall being here taken) : Philadelphia, N. Latitude, 39° 57' 7.5". (MS. communication from Prof. Kendall) : Longitude E. from Washington (U. S. Coast Survey) : m. 8. By 5 sets Eastern clock-signals . . 7 33.66 By " Western " . . 33.60 Mean 7 33.68 The mean, by comparison with the next East station (Jersey City), is 7 33.64 Hence the longitude in arc is 358° 6' 35.4" from Washington, and from Greenwich, 75° 9' 23.4".' CHAPTER IL ORES, MINERALS, AND GEOLOGY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. BY PROFESSOR OSCAR C. S. CARTER, CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL, PHILAD3LFH1A. Gold. — The precious metals have been found throughout Montgomery County, but in such small quantities that their occurrence is more of scientific interest than of any practical value. Gold occurs disseminated throughout the azoic rocks, the oldest rocks with which we are acquainted. It is also found in the sands of rivers or in alluvial deposits which have been formed by the weathering and disintegra- tion of the oldest formations. Southern Montgomery County, from Philadelphia as far north as Consho- hocken, is made up almost entirely of strata of the oldest rocks, but only traces of gold have been found, 1 On July 5, 1773, the Right Honorable the Earl of Dartmouth, who waa at that time Colonial Secretary (he had succeeded Lord Hillebor^ ongh one year before) in the cabinet of George HI., wrote to the Deputy Governor of Pennsylvania (John Penn, the son of Richard Penn, who was the fifth child of William Penn by his second wife, Hannah Callow, hill) propounding certain " Heads of Enquiry relative to the present StHte and Condition"of Pennsylvania. The answers to these inquiries were transmitted to Lord Dartmouth under date of Jan. 30, 1775, Id the communication the following occurs: " The City of Philadelphia, sit, uated near the Conflux of Delaware and one of its chief Branches, the Schuylkill, is the most considerable Town in the Province, or indeed in North America. The State-House in this City lies in North Latitude, 39^ 56' 53"; its Longitude from the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, computed "West, 75° S' 45"; or, in time, 5 hours and 35 seconds. This Latitude and Longitude were both fi.xed by accurate astronomical Ob- servation at the Transit of Venus, 17G9." In the Journal of Mason and Dixon, November, 1763, we learn tliat these surveyors established aa observatory in the southern part of Philadelphia, in order to find the starting-point of the parallel which they were to run off. Their point of departure was*' the most Southern part of Philadelphia," which they ascertained to be the north wall of a house on Cedar Street, occupied by Thomas Plunistead and Joseph Huddle, and their observatory must have been immediately adjacent to this. The latitude of this point they de- termined to be 390 50' 29" nortii. In 1845, when the northeast corner- stone of Maryland could not be found (it had been undermined by a freshet, and was then taken and built into the chimney of a neighbor- ing farm-house), the Legislatures of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Dela- ware appointed a joint commission, who employed Col. Graham, of the United States Topographical Engineers, to review Mason and Dixou'a woi k so far as was requisite in order to restore the displaced corner. Col. Graham, in thecourseof his measurements, determined thelatituda of the Cedar Street observatory to be 39° 66' 37.4" north. This is 8.3" more than the latitude given by Mason and Dixon. If we add the dis- tance from Cedar Street to Chestnut Street, 2650 feet, we have for Inde- pendence Hal 1 latitude as determined by Mason and Dixon, 39° 56' 55" ; as determined by Col. Graham, 39° 57' 03". Tlie slight variation id these calculations is surpiising. That reported by Governor Penn may have beeu based upon data differing from those of the surveys of 1761 and of Mason and Dixon. The greatest variation, however, is only about 1260 feet, or less than the fourth of a mile ; the least is only 2(K1 feet. — Schar/^a HiHtorij of Philadtljthia. CUES, MINERALS, AND GEOLOGY. notwithstanding frequent reports of rich deposits being discovered. Dr. Charles M. Wetherill found traces of gold on the property of Mr. Yoder, in Franconia township, Montgomery Co. The gold was found in quartz- rock and in iron pyrites. In the sand and gravel thrown out while digging a well he found brilliant scales of gold. From an analysis he found that every hundred pounds, of gravel contained a quantity of gold worth twenty-six and one-half cents. A workman who had washed the sands of the Bhine in his native country for gold found in the gravel of the Delaware River at Bridesburg native gold in scales. The gold was extracted from the sands by mercury and purified. It was estimated that one man could wash from the Delaware sands from twenty-five to sixty cents' worth of gold per day. From aipaper on the "Natural Dissemination of Gold," by Messrs. Dubois and Eckfeldt, the following is taken : " There is a deposit of clay underneath the city of Philadelphia ten miles square, with an average depth of fifteen feet. The inquiry was started whether gold was diffused in this earthy bed. From the cellar of a new market- house in Market Street, near Eleventh Street, we dug out some clay at the depth of four- teen feet, where it could not have been an artificial deposit. The weight of one hundred and thirty grammes was dried and duly treated, and yielded one- eighth of a milligramme of gold, a very decided quan- tity on a fine assay balance. It was afterwards as- certained that the clay in its natural moisture loses about fifteen per cent, by drying, so that as it lies in the ground the clay contains one part in one million two hundred and twenty-four thousand. This ex- periment was repeated upon clay taken from a brick- yard in the suburbs of the city with nearly the same result. In order to calculate with some accuracy the value of this body of wealth we cut out blocks of the clay, and found that on an average a cubic foot as it lies in the ground weighs one hundred and twenty pounds, as near as may be, making the specific grav- ity 1.92. The assay gives seven-tenths of a grain — say three cents' worth — of gold to the cubic foot. As- suming the data already given, we get four thousand one hundred aud eighty millions of cubic feet of clay under our streets and houses, in which securely lies one hundred and twenty-six millions of dollars. And if, as is pretty certain, the corporate limits of the city would afl'ord eight times this bulk of clay, we have more gold than has yet (18G1) been brought, according to the statistics, from California and Aus- tralia. The gravel which underlies this auriferous clay is always richer than the clay above it in gold, hence if the gravel were assayed instead of the clay it would yield still more gold, but be of no practical value." Silver. — Silver generally occurs associated with lead ores. The rich Leadville deposits of Colorado are found in carbonate of lead, and in most of the richest mining districts of the West the silver is con- tained in either sulphide of lead or carbonate of lead. In Montgomery County only traces of silver have been found, associated with a sulphide of lead which is known as argentiferous galenite. This lead ore holding silver was found at the Ecton mine, Shan- nonville, Montgomery Co., about four miles from Norristowu. This mine has not been worked since the war. Several beautiful lead minerals, now quite rare, were found at this mine. Professor Geuth has assayed nearly all the lead ores holding silver in Pennsylvania. According to his assays, the lead ores from the Pequea mines in Lan- caster County contain more silver than any in the State. The Lancaster County ores will yield from two hundred aud fifty to three hundred ounces of the metal silver per ton of ore. The Wheatley lead-mines of Chester County have these silver-bearing lead ores, which when assayed yield from ten to forty ounces of silver per ton. At the Wheatley mines silver has been found in its native state, — that is, as the pure metal. It has not been found native in Montgomery County. The Ecton mine, Montgomery County, yields silver in such exceedingly small quantities that it would not pay to extract the metal ; when assayed, the ores yield only from five to ten ounces of silver per ton. Copper. — Copper occurs native and in a variety of ores. Tlie only place in the United States where it has been found native in great quantities is in North- ern Michigan, near Lake Superior. The Michigan mines are vertical veins, mostly in trap-rock which intersect the red sandstone. The Clifi" mine in that locality has yielded great quantities of native copper. Que large mass was quarried out forty feet long, six feet deep, and averaged six inches in thickness. This copper contains mixed with it about three-tenths per cent, of silver. Copper occurs in crystalline azoic rocks, such as gneiss, mica-schist, and in chloritic formations. It is also found in the new red sand- stone. In the oldest rocks, such as the schists and gneisses, it does not occur in veins, but in beds which are parallel to the strata in which it is found. It might be regarded as an accessory constituent in those rocks. You may find chalcopyrite and magnetic iron ore disseminated throughout the rock, but always conformable. Such deposits are called lenticular de- posits, and are found in Tennessee and North Caro- lina. These deposits are very deceptive ; in one bed you may find a good deposit of copper ore, and in the next bed you may find only a few crystals. Surface indications in these deposits are not reliable ; the best way is to sink a shaft and run adits in the direction of the ore. Deposits like these are supposed to have formed at the same time the gneiss-rock which holds them formed. The two carbonates of copper known under the names of azurite and malachite are surface ores, nnd 10 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. are generally found near the top. These ores are probably altered from other ores of copper by the action of the carbonic acid in the air. Copper ores are often found as true veins in quartz. Such are the extensive deposits found in Montgomery County, which occur in quartz veins which have been depos- ited in fissures in the shale by means of infiltrating thermal waters. These ores occur in the new red sandstone and shale. Montgomery County Deposits of Copper. — In the vi- cinity of Shannonville, Montgomery Co., indications of copper ore were discovered many years ago. As early as the year 1800 it was known that copper ore occurred in this locality. It is not known with cer- tainty who first discovered the ore, or who it was that sunk the first shaft or dug the ore from this neighborhood. On the property known as the Weth- erill estate ore was first discovered by some teamsters; it was turned up with the mud by the wheels of the wagons. Stephen Girard became interested in these surface indications, and he had a shaft sunk, with the hope of obtaining rich ore in abundance. His efforts proved fruitless. Some ore was taken out as- sociated with lead ores, but copper was not found in payingquantities. Samuel Wetherill sunk shafts along the Perkiomen Creek near WetheriU's mill, but ore was not yet found in paying quantities. From time to time copper ore had been found in considerable quantities at Shannonville, along the creek which empties into the Perkiomen. Several parties became interested at different times in these deposits. At last the ore was found in such abundance, and the indications were so promising, that the attention of practical miners was directed to this locality. About the year 1829, John and Robert Rowe, who were English miners from the Cornwall mines, became interested in these mines and sunk shafts. They ob- tained copper ore of a good quality. The mines changed hands several times during the next twenty years. The Ecton mine was managed by the Ecton Consolidated Mining Company, who sunk a shaft two hundred and forty feet deep, and drove a few levels. The Perkiomen mine was managed by the Perkiomen Mining Association, who sunk a shaft over three hundred feet deep, and mined much more success- fully and extensively than the Ecton Company. They erected Cornish pumping-engines of great value, and were provided with all the necessary run- ning machinery. These two companies were finally bought out by a new company, known as the Perki- omen Consolidated Mining Company. They pur- chased the real estate, mines, machinery, and other property of the Perkiomen Mining Association for the sum of one hundred and nine thousand dollars; and they purchased the property of the Ecton Asso- ciation for one hundred and eleven thousand dollars. This new company carried on mining operations very extensively. It was a stock company. George Cadwalader, of Philadelphia, was president, and Samuel Wilcox, secretary. The directors were George Cadwalader, Charles Macalester, David Longenecker, of Lancaster, and Samuel F. Tracy and Horatio Allen, of New York. This company was organized in 1852, and they issued fifty thousand shares of stock ; the par value of each share was six dollars. At the Perkiomen shaft there was some valuable machinery, — a fifty-inch cylinder Cornish pumping-engine of one hundred horse-power ; at the Ecton shaft, a one hundred horse-power high- pressure pumping-engine, twenty and a half inch cylinder. Besides these pumping-engines there was a whim-engine at both of the mines. Powerful crushers were on the mine, and other machinery at the surface, such as tram-roads and wagons, capstans and shears, whims and whim-chains, pulley-stands, etc. The value of the machinery at the surface was thirty thou- sand two hundred and twelve dollars. The value of the underground machinery — plungers and drawing lifts, main-rods, bobs, ladders, bucket-rods, etc. — was about nine thousand eight hundred and forty-two dollars. The Perkiomen mine was situated on low ground near the creek, while the Ecton mine was situated on high ground about eighteen hundred feet distant. The method of mining was to sink shafts, and then to drive levels in the direction of the ore. When a bed of ore was reached it would be taken out, and this would leave an open chamber of rock known as a stope, which is shown on the map. Levels were generally driven out from the main shaft at distances of ten, twenty, thirty, forty, and fifty fathoms from the sur- face of the mine, so that there would be no danger of caving in. This would leave a distance of sixty feet between each level. After the main shaft of the Perkiomen mine had been sunk two hundred and forty feet, and the main shaft of the Ecton mine had reached a depth of three hundi-ed and thirty feet, it was determined to connect these two shafts by a level or tunnel which would be eighteen hundred feet in length. This level was af- terwards completed and the mines were connected under ground. The extent of these levels and shafts and the position of the slopes are shown on the map. The various depths of the levels from the surface and the depths of the shafts are marked in fathoms. In the Perkiomen mine, at the ten-fathom level the lode varies from one to fifteen feet in width, and is com- posed of gossan, quartz, malachite, and heavy spar; at the twenty-fathom level the lode varies from two to fifteen feet in width, and is composed of gossan, quartz, malachite, and heavy spar; at the twenty- fathom level the lode varies from two to fifteen feet in width, and is composed of gossan, quartz, malachite, chalcopyrite, and heavy spar; at the forty-fathom level the lode varies from four to twelve feet in width, and is composed of quartz, chalcopyrite, and heavy spar ; at the fifty-fathom level the lode varies from four to nine feet in width, and is composed of quartz, gos- san, heavy spar, malachite, and chalcopyrite. But ORES, MINERALS, AND GEOLOGY. 11 few lodes or mineral Teins were found at the Ecton mine. The miners were Englishmen who had been brought over from the Cornwall mines in England. In 1852 about two hundred men were employed at the mines. The miners were not under a regular sa:lary by the week or month, but a number of them would club together and agree to extend a level or a stope so many feet for a certain sum. This method of work- ing sometimes proved profitable to the men, but occa- sionall}' they would be losers by the contract. The men went to work in the mines with candles in their hats, which is a rather primitive mode of illumination. One great difficulty they had to contend with was the water which accumulated in the shafts and inter- fered with their mining. The pumping-engines at both shafts were kept at work draining the mines. The farmers in the vicinity, also, were sorely tried, as their well3*(vere drained dry, and no water could be procured unless it was pumped from the mines. Charles M. Wheatley, who was manager in 1851, says "that all persons acquainted with mining opera- ions that have examined the workings at Perkiomen have expressed astonishment at the regularity, size, strength, and productiveness of the veins, and the high percentage of the copper ore obtained from them. The Perkiomen is the first regular copper lode opened in this country, and bears a true resemblance to the Cornish system." Professor H. D. Rogers, former State Geologist, in speaking of the mines, says, '"I hesitate not to declare that I entertain a very firm belief that your region is destined to become an im- portant mining district, and that the ores of lead and copper will return remunerative profits upon the ex- ercise of skill and prudence. The remarkable regu- larity and parallelism of the lodes is an excellent indication of their consistency. Another fact is the exceedingly well-defined character of these mineral lodes, which do not spread and lose themselves or their ores in the adjoining strata, but insulate them- selves from the rocks of the country by plainly-marked parallel walls, between which all the metallic ores of the region and associated gangue-stones are found. The veins are true and regular metalliferous lodes. A very important feature is the gradation in passing downwards from the outcrops of these veins. First we have only the vein-stones, the metals being weath- ered out or dissolved; then at a few fathoms below the surface we find mingled with these vein-stones those metallic ores of lead, copper, and zinc which are readily vaporized by heat; and deeper still the same vein-stones contain the sulphurets and other permanent ores of copper." There were no smelting- furnaces at the mines, and none of the copper ores were smelted in the neighborhood, but were sent to New York and Baltimore for reduction. The ore was first sent to Umpstead's Landing, at Green Tree, and then to Philadelphia by canal-boats, and from there to New York. The following table, taken from the annual report of the directors, shows the amount, percentage, and value of the ores mined : OKE SOLD BT PERKIOMEN CONSOLIDATED MINES FKOM AUGUST, 1851, TO APRIL, 1S52. To Whom Sold. 1851. 1 Aug. 5.... Samuel F. Tracy.. Company.. Oct. 28... Snuiuel F. Tracy., 65."*« 25.1129 Sept. 24.. Baltimore Copper Smelting Compauy j 75.'=' Baltimore Copper Smeltiugi i 18.14111 18.«ia I 59.l»i!> 40." 97. 2M Dec. 16.. Baltimore Copper Smeitiog Compaoy Baltimore Copper Smelting Company 1852. AprillT. Samuel F. Tracy.. Tone.. 21 7 20i% 8l% S19.10 85.10 17.50 64.25 2;s.2S 68.68 22.94 23/^5^ 84.00 lOjVol 30.00 52i.mi.. 82,767.86 2,190.39 325 08 4,870.24 425.11 4,103.86 917.92 8,156.21 l,7oi.02 $30,573.80 During the year 1853 one hundred and forty-three tons were raised and sold for nine thousand nine hun- dred and eighty-nine dollars and thirty-nine cents. The principal copper ores and minerals which have been mined at this locality are chalcopyrite, covellite, cuprite, nielaconite, chrysocolla, libethenite, mala- chite, and azurite. The most abundant ores were chalcopyrite and malachite ; of these two ores of copper the sulphide was the more abundant. These ores of copper were mixed with an ore of zinc known as zincblende, or sulphide of zinc, which made the metallurgy of the ores more difficult and expensive. The ores were crushed and freed from zincblende by mechanical means as much as possible before ship- ment. The mines were worked until the year 1858, when they were closed, — not enough ore was taken out to meet the running expenses. The shafts had been sunk much deeper, that of the Perkiomen mine being over four hundred and eighty feet in depth, while thatof the Ecton was oversix hundred feetdeep. The mines from the time they were opened until they were closed never paid the amount of money invested in them. Many interested in the mines were heavy losers. It is said that George Cadwalader, of Phila- delphia, who was president of the company in 1851, invested one hundred thousand dollars, and many others invested large sums in the enterprise. It seems to be the general opinion that the mines were managed extravagantly and without prudence, and that there were too many needless officers drawing high salaries. In 18G5 a quantity of refuse ore was worked at a profit by C. M. Wheatley, of Phosnix- ville, and Capt. Cocking, of Cornwall, England. The property is now owned by Richard Ricard, of New York, who purchased it for forty thousand dollars. The shafts are now full of water, and the machinery and buildings are in a state of decay. 12 HISTORY OF iMONTGOMERY COUNTY. Copper ore has been found and mined in Upper Salford township. Tliis vein of copper ore is found on Abraham Kober's farm, situated on the Ridge road, about four and a half miles west of Tylersport, and in the vicinity of Sumneytown. The ore was first discovered on the surface in a small outcrop, and these surface indications led to further developments. Excavations were immediately begun, and at a depth of fifteen feet a vein eight inches in thickness was discovered. The farm was afterwards leased by Mr. Samuel Milligan, of Phoenixville, who set a force of men digging deeper, and finally a rich vein of ore was reached, which at the beginning was only an inch in thickness, but which increased in width until a thickness of three feet was reached, when the rock was cleared away for several feet. About four tons of copper ore were taken out. The ore is found asso- ciated with quartz, which is characteristic of some copper deposits. It occurs in the new red sandstone belt. The ore appears to be chalcopyrite, or copper pyrites, which is a sulphide of copper and iron, CujS -\- FejSj, containing when pure 34.6 copper, 30.5 iron, and sulphur 34.9 ; color, brass-yellow, often iridescent. The other ore is bornite, which varies in color from brown to copper-red, but is mostly tarnished to purplish color. This ore is purer than chalcopyrite, but is also a sulphide of copper and iron, SCu^S -)- Fe,S3. It contains when pure copper 55.58, iron lt>.37, and sulphur 28.05. This is a valuable copper ore. Mr. William F. Dannehower informs me that native copper was also taken from this mine. The mine was finally abandoned, as the process of mining was expensive, and ore in paying quantities was not found after a depth of thirty feet was reached. Mining operations were first begun in Upper Salford in 1878, and the mine was abandoned in 1880. The ore taken from this mine was of a very good quality, but it does not exist in paying quanti- ties. The next locality in the county where copper was found is about one and a half miles below Norris- town, along the line of the new Pennsylvania Schuyl- kill Valley Railroad. This very small deposit was found in the limestone belt, and was thrown out by a dynamite blast. It is unusual to find copper in limestone deposits. From an examination of the specimens I found them to be chalcopyrite, with very thin coatings of malachite. There is, however, no regular vein in this locality, but the mineral is dis- seminated through a vein of quartz which runs through bastard marble in the limestone. So far it has been found only in very small quantities. Tin. — Tin is generally found in rocks of the oldest formations, and very often in the same rocks and gravels in which gold is found. The Cornwall mines in England are the richest and most valuable in the world. But little tin has been found as yet in the United States. ' It is interesting to observe that this exceedingly rare metal is found in its native state of purity in the gravel of Franconia township, Montgomery Co. It occurs in the same gravel in which scales of native gold were found. The largest pieces of tin were found adhering to the gravel and forming a rounded mass of a white malleable metal, which was analyzed and found to be pure tin. By panning more spangles of native tin were obtained. Tin was first noticed in the county by Dr. C. M. Wetherill. These slight traces are the only instances on record of the occurrence of tin in Pennsylvania. Iron Ores. — The principal ores of iron are mag- netic oxide, known as magnetite ; red hematite, also called specular ore ; brown hematite, known under the name of limonite ; spathic iron ore, known as sider- ite ; titanic iron ore, which contains titanium ; and chromic iron ore, which contains chromium. Among the ores of iron might be included iron pyrites, a compound of iron and sulphur, which is quite worth- less for the manufacture of iron on account of the sulphur it contains. Magnetic Ikon Ore, FEjO,. — The purest and most important ore of iron is magnetite. Pure mag- netite is a combination of ferric and ferrous oxides, and is represented by the formula FcjO,. It contains when pure 72.4 per cent, of iron and 27.6 per cent, of oxygen. It is seldom found free from impurities, some of which influence its value as a source of iron. The minerals generally found with magnetite are feldspar, hornblende, quartz, sahlite, and apatite. This ore is strongly magnetic, attracting soft iron and the magnetic needle, and many masses of this ore are true native magnets, and from this interesting fact the ore derives its name. It occurs in crystals, the usual form being the octahedron ; it also occurs in dodecahedral crystals. The hardness is 5.5, and the specific gravity about 5. The color is iron-black, and the lustre metallic. The magnetic ores are found in the oldest rocks in the Huronian and Laurentian formations. The ore occurs in beds, which are often parallel, and they generally coincide with the inclination and direction of the crystalline strata between which they lie. They are generally found in beds of gneiss, schist, or in other granitic rocks that have been metamorphosed by heat. These ores are supposed to have reached their positions between layers of granitic rocks while they were in a melted state, their intrusion being due to a force which ruptured the earth's crust in the di- rection of the strata and pressed the liquid ore and other fused mineral matters into the open fissures. The way these ores are mined when the dip is not steep is to leave numerous solid pillars of ore stand- ing to prop up the rock and act as a support, and then remove by blasting the ore which intervenes. Another supposition in regard to these ores is that they were once hematite ores, and have taken up an extra supply of oxygen and been altered by heat into magnetite. Beds of magnetic ore are searched i'ur ORES, MINERALS, AND GEOLOGY. 13 by means of the magnetic compass. Whenever the compass is in the vicinity of a bed of magnetite the needle exhibits a strong disturbance. This, together with a geological clue and an inspection of the dip and direction of the adjoining gneiss, are necessary data for finding the outcrop of the ore. This ore is largely developed through Canada westward to Lake Huron. Extensive beds occur in New York, and a locality at Lake Champlain fur- nishes many puddling-furnaces in this State with large blocks of crystallized magnetite. It is found in some of the New England States, and in the mountainous districts of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The world-renowned Swedish ore, which is so pure, is massive magnetite. No very important deposits of magnetic ore are found in Montgomery County. Fine octahedral crystals are found at the soapstone-quarries near Lafayette, and on the oppo- site side of the river, near the abandoned soapstone- quarry, I have noticed quite perfect crystals of the same form. In many of the creeks and brooks of the county, and in the Schuylkill River sometimes, is found a black sand which is composed mainly of fine particles of magnetite. Crystals are found at Chest- nut Hill. Although no large beds are found in the county, yet at Boyertown, which is but a few miles from the county line, several mines of magnetic ore are worked. These mines have been worked for many years, both by shaft and slope ; some of the veins are over twenty feet in thickness. The ore contains a high percentage of sulphur, and is roasted before using; many blast-furnaces in the county use the Boyertown ore. There are mines of magnetic ore at Lebanon, Reading, and on an island in the river near Reading. These mines contain impor- tant and valuable deposits of magnetite. Magnetic ore is indispensable in puddling opera- tions to burn the carbon out of the pig-iron. The large blocks of crystallized magnetite are arranged by the puddlers, who term the process " building the fur- nace." The Lake Champlain ore is used by many puddling-furnaces in this county. It is more diflicult to melt than the hematites, but is purer and richer in iron. The following analyses were made by Dr. Koenig, of the University of Pennsylvania, and show the composition of Lake Champlain magnetic ore : New Bfd Mine. Magnetic oxide of iron 98. "20 coiitaios 71.11 per cent, of iron. Phosphate of lime 104 contains .0208 pho8i)horus. Titanium oxide 46 Silica, chlorite, etc 1.04 99.804 Old Bed Mine, ViOOftet below New Bed Mine. Magnetic oxide of iron 97.00 contains 70,24 per cent, of iron. Phosphate of lime 383 contains .076 phosphorus. Titjiniuir oxide 250 Silica, chlorite, etc 2.45 100.083 The following analyses are of Boyertown magnetic ore, furnished by the Pottstown Iron Company, phos- phorus and sulphur not estimated : (1) (2) Iron 46.36 40.159 Silica 11.90 9.09 Alumina 5.22 15.173 Lime 8.37 7.529 Magnesia 1.18 Trace. Browx Hematite, 2FeX>3,3B.fi. — This wide- spread ore of iron occurs massive, and often occurs in botryoidal, stalactitic, fibrous, and radiating masses. The color varies from dark-brown to ochre-yellow; very often specimens have a black, lustrous appear- ance on the surface and are perfectly smooth, and sometimes they show a silky lustre ; this is noticeable in the fibrous varieties, which are often called fibrous hematite. The massive varieties have an earthy or clayey lustre. This ore contains when pure 85.6 per cent, of Fefi^ (oxide of iron) and 14.4 per cent, of water ; this would be equivalent to about 59.92 per cent, of metallic iron. Whenever brown hematite is heated in a glass tube it will give ofi" water, which will form in drops on the side of the tube. This fact distinguishes it from magnetic iron ore and red hematite, neither of which contain any water. Another peculiarity of this ore is it always contains phosphoric acid and manganese, besides the clay and sand which generally accompany it. It is much softer than the other iron ores ; its hardness is 5 to 5.5, specific gravity 3.6 to 4. The stalactitic and botryoidal forms which it frequently assumes are characteristic, and serve to distinguish it from other ores of iron. It melts more readily in a blast-furnace than either of the preceding ores. Brown hematite is also known under the name of limonite. Brown ochre and yellow ochre are varieties of this ore ; they are clayej' and ochreous. Bog-iron ore occurs in swamps, bogs, and in low grounds. It is a porous, earthy ore, of a brownish-black color. It is supposed that this ore was deposited from water which was charged with iron in solution, and when exposed to oxidation by air and the reducing action of decomposing organic matter, it was thrown down in layers and formed bog-iron ore. When brown hematite occurs stalac- titic it forms what is commonly known as pipe-ore; the ore looks like a collection of little pipes, which sometimes are hollow ; sometimes it forms hollow spherical masses, commonly known as pot or bomb- shell ore. These hollow bombs often contain water or masses of soft clay. The interior often presents a varnish-like appearance which is quite lustrous ; this is due to a fine coating of oxide of mangane.se which covers the ore. This ore generally occurs in pieces, which have to be separated from the clay and quartz by washing. Brown hematite is a common ore in Montgomery County, and many thousand tons of this ore have been taken out. The ore occurs in the lime- stone belt from Edge Hill westward to the Chester County line. It is found in extensive deposits of clay. It is said the first ore ever dug in this valley east of the Schuylkill was near Spring Mill, on the farm of J. Kirkner; this was in the year 1828. From Hitner's mine, near Marble Hall, immense 14 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. quantities of ore have been taken. In the year 1853 about twelve thousand tons were taken from this mine. It is estimated that from the time iron ore was first mined in the county up to the year 1858, over sixty thousand tons of brown liematite ore were taken from the ore-pits which are situated in the limestone belt on the east side of the Schuylkill. The iron-ore belt begins in the neighborhood of Edge Hill and Oreland. In this vicinity there are quite a number of iron-ore pits, which furnish large quantities of ore ; many of the pits have been exhausted, but new ones are constantly started. The ore from this locality is a highly sili- cious brown hematite; the silica varies from 10 to 30 per cent., and the average percentageof silica in these ores is about 24 per cent., which is high. These ores contain phosphorus; the percentage of this injurious impurity varies in different ores, but the average Edge Hill ore contains from .18 to .3 per cent, phos- phorus. The percentage of metallic iron in the ores of Edge Hill and vicinity varies from 35 to 50 per ",eut. The following analysis will give an idea of the composition of the Edge Hill ores. This brown hematite is known as the Harvey ore, taken from Oreland : Silica 27.16 Iron «.91 Alumina 40 Phospiiorua 25 Lime and magnesia Traces. The extensive blast-furnace at Edge Hill uses this ore; they enrich on magnetic ore from Spain, which contains only .025 per cent, of phosphorus, and they also use a foreign hematite of great purity. This Edge Hill ore contains so much silica that a lime- stone must be used to flux the ore, which is as free as possible from silica. The next important deposits of hematite are in the vicinity of Marble Hall, and are owned by Daniel O. Hitner. The pits in this neighborhood have been worked for a great many years, and have furnished thousands of tons of ore. The mines at the present time are furnishing an excellent quality of ore, which is screened before using at Mr. Fulton's blast-furnace, in Coushohocken. This ore does not seem to contain as much phos- phorus as the ore from the extreme eastern part of the iron-ore belt. It is highly silicious, like the Edge Hill ores, and contains a high percentage of iron. The following analysis is of ore from Hitner's pit, above Marble Hall : Silica. 20.00 Iron 45.00 Pliosphorus 10 Lime ami magnesia Traces. The next neighborhood in the limestone valley where brown hematite is dug is at Tracey's iron-ore pit. This locality is about one mile east of Consho- hocken. The ore was first dug there in 1860, and from that time until the present a great deal of ore has Deen taken out. There is one large open pit where the ore was formerly dug, which shows the rude way in which the ore was mined in former times. Shafts are now sunk vertically, and when a deposit of ore is found the opening is made in the direction in which the ore extends. The shaft is five feet square gener- ally, and sometimes extends down in a vertical direc- tion for one hundred feet, and then levels are driven in the direction of the ore. The ore, clay, etc., are drawn from the bottom of the shaft in buckets, which are attached to a windlass. There are two or three shafts at this deposit, one of which is ninety feet deep. They strike water ab a depth of about one hundred feet. This deposit yields about two thousand five hundred tons of ore per year. Hallman's mine ad- joins Tracey's and has not been worked quite as ex- tensively. It also is worked by shafts, one of which is over eighty-seven feet deep. They strike water sooner at this mine. As high iis sixteen hundred tons of ore per year have been taken from this mine. Neither of these two deposits are being worked exten- sively at present. The ores are brown hematites of good quality, which are screened before using. Red hematite is found here also, but not in such large quantities. In an adjoining field a new bed of ore has been opened, and is worked by Mr. Hitner. The next deposit of iron ore is between Potts' Land- ing and Harmanville. On Mr. Freedley's property, near Potts' Landing, a new mine was opened in Au- gust, 1883. The ore is found a few feet from the sur- face in the clay ; about two hundred and fifty tons of ore have been dug from this deposit during August and September. The ore is brown hematite, and is shipped to the Pottstown blast-furnaces. It is mixed with clay to a considerable extent, and has to be screened before using. An iron-ore mine was opened on the property of William Wills, situated near Ridge Road Station, on the Plymouth Railroad. Ore was dug here in 1872, and the mines were bought by the Phcenix Iron Company, who went to consider- able expense in erecting machinery and engines. It seems that the project was not a paying- one, and finally the machinery and engines were abandoned. In 1880 the mines were again worked. This ends the principal localities where ore is dug east of the Schuylkill River. West of the Schuylkill River, in Upper Merion township, are extensive deposits of brown hematite, which were worked years ago. Be- tween Henderson Station and Gulf Mills there are many abandoned ore- pits, which show the direction of the iron-ore belt. A short distance from Henderson's marble-quarries ore was mined quite extensively. Engines, washers, and screens were used, as the ore was mixed with a large amount of clay. It was screened and washed before it was sent to the blast- furnaces. Many of these pits are neglected, and some are exhausted. The amount of hematite ore dug in Upper Merion township at the present time is very small when compared with what was dug in former years. Throughout tlie Jlontgomery County limestone valley we find extensive deposits of clay, and ;t is in ORES, MINERALS, AND GEOLOGY. 15 these deposits of clay that the brown hematite ore occurs. lu fact, nearly all the beds which have been worked thus far occur in this clay. The deposits in the neighborhood of Marble Hall, Potts' Landing, and Gulf Mills are found in clay. Another noticeable fact is that both the clays and iron ores are generally found in the vicinity of the quartzose mica-schists or the slates. These rocks contain quartz, mica, and oxide of iron. They are especially rich in o.xide of iron (hematite), often containing as high as nine per cent. It is supposed that the iron-ore deposits and clay-beds have resulted from the decomposition of these mica- schists and mica-slates. This is extremely probable, because these hydro-mica schists and slates contain not only oxide of iron, but also hydro-mica, which contains the very elements clay is composed of, namely, silica, alumina, and potash. These schists and slates are generally of a grayish tint, and of a some- what silky lustre ; sometimes they are colored red by ferric oxide. They have an unctuous, soapy feel ; on exposure to weather they soon decompose, and are converted into a soft, unctuous clay. All of these slates contain free silica or sand, hence when these mica-slates decompose they yield clay, brown hematite, or oxide of iron, and free silica, or sand. Another fact which goes far to prove that this is the true origin of the ores and clays, is that near many of the clay deposits we find a pure white sand, composed of very fine grains, although some- times the sand has a faint brown or red tint. This sand bears no resemblance whatever to the new red sandstone, as it is often perfectly white, and is made up of exceedingly fine particles of silica, containing no admixture of feldspar. This is exactly the same kind of sand or free silica which these mica-slates contain, and it is extremely probable that these de- posits of fine white sand found near the clay have re- sulted from the rotting and decomposing of the slates. This fine sand cannot be melted, and it is mined and shipped to the iron-works, where it is used when a substance that will stand a high heat without melting is required; its principal use is to line puddling- fur- naces and heating-furnaces. I noticed a deposit of the sand back of Potts' marble-quarries; it is near the mica-slates, and is shipped to the furnaces at Con- shohocken. A deposit is also found at Lynch's clay- beds on the Ridge road. I have been informed that, on Mr. Freedley's property, near Potts' Landing, in the vicinity of the mica-.slates, a bed of this sand was worked. It will be noticed that these deposits are in the vicinity of mica-slates. Red Hematite, FcjOj. — -This important ore of iron is named from its red color. When pure it is ferric oxide, Fe^Oj, and contains seventy per cent, of iron and thirty per cent, of oxygen. It crystallizes in the hexagonal system, and the crystals are often thin and tabular. It also occurs massive, granular, foliated, micaceous, and sometimes botryoidal and stalactitic. It is of about the same hardness as magnetite, 5.5 to 6.5, and its specific gravity is from 4.5 to 5.3. There are several varieties of red hematite. Specular iron is a variety of red hematite which has a highly brilliant lustre, showing the Spiegel or mir- ror ; color, dark steel-gray or iron-black ; composi- tion, FcoOs ; lustre, metallic. Notwithstanding the steel-gray color of this ore, when it is reduced to a powder the color of it is red. When specular iron has a foliated structure it is called micaceous iron. The finest specimens of crystallized specular ore come from the island of Elba. Red ochre and red chalk containing clay are varieties of red hematite. The fossil ores are the most interesting of red hema- tites. There are extensive deposits of fossil ore in Tioga, Bradford, Blair, Huntingdon, Juniata, and other counties in Pennsylvania. This ore is red, and is made of masses of little shells or bivalves, which are plainly visible, and the middle bed of this ore contains remains of fishes, which are visible in the ore. This bed is known as the fish-bed, and the ore is ground and used for paint. These shells are supposed to have lived in a mud which contained an abundance of iron in some form, and when they died the organic matter decomposed and set up a galvanic action, which precipitated the iron on the shells. The organic matter may have re- duced and precipitated the iron from solution. This ore occurs in layers, and is mined like a coal-bed. The deposits are generally thin, varying from a few inches to three feet or more in thickness, and run in a zigzag style for over one hundred miles. These ores contain sulphur and rather a high percentage of phos- phorus. Red hematite occurs both in the crystalline and stratified rocks, and is of all ages. The most ex- tensive beds, however, occur in the oldest rocks, while the clayey varieties occur in stratified rocks. It is found in the new red and also the old red sandstone, and is found also in the limestone belt near Consho- hocken. In Montgomery County red hematite has been found in several localities in the iron-ore belt. At Edge Hill, where the iron-ore belt begins in Montgomery County, a variety containing titanium oxide has been found. It has also been found at the Perkiomen copper-mine, near Shannonville, Mont- gomery Co. ; the variety found here is micaceous. Oa the road from Jarrettown to Camp Hill, in Upper Dub- lin township, I found several large blocks of an impure micaceous hematite mixed with an iron-black strati- fied rock. The ore has never been found here in large quantities, but these surfoce indications warrant further investigation. At Tracey's mine, near Con- shohocken, which is described under brown hematite, I noticed considerable red hematite interspersed with brown hematite, which had been thrown out. Mr. Hallman, whose mine adjoins this one, informed me that quite a considerable quantity had been taken from his mine. The samples secured were massive and compact, and of a bright red color all over. Tlie red sandstone which covers the northern and central 16 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. jiortions of Montgomery County owes its color to the j)resence of red hematite. The red soils which are prevalent in many localities in the county contain a small amount of red hematite, which gives them their color, although in many cases, where the soil is de- rived from red shale, the percentage of hematite is considerable. The red shales of the county contain quite a high percentage of red hematite. Along the Stony Creek Railroad from Norristown to Lansdale are found beds of red shale, alternating with sand- stone. At Belfry and Acorn Stations particularly the district is very shaly. I secured a sample of shale on this road near Norristown, and found on analysis that ityielded ten per cent, of red hematite. In case of any scarcity of ore perhajjs these shales could be utilized. Red ochre has been found in the iron-ore pits which are south of Henderson's marble-quarry, in Upper Merion township, and red hematite associated with brown hematite is also noticed there. Impurities. — -The impurities in iron ores are those substances which tend to deteriorate or render unfit for use the iron made from the ore. The impurities often found in iron ores are phosphorus, sulphur, tita- nium oxide, copper, and zinc, all of which are injuri- ous constituents. Phosphorus is the worst impurity we have to deal with and the most difficult to elimi- nate. A high percentage of phosphorus in iron produces cold-shortne.ss, and makes both iron and steel exceedingly brittle. A pencil of cold-short iron containing one per cent, of phosphorus is so brittle that it will readily snap in pieces when dropped on a piece of metal. In the manufacture of steel, ores free from phosphorus must be used, as .030 of one per cent, phosphorus is the maximum amount allowed in a good steel. It is on this account that such large quantities of ore are shipped to this country from Spain, Africa, and Sweden, — these foreign ores con- taining but little phosphorus. Sulphur produces red- shortness in iron when heated to a red heat, and the iron has a tendency to crumble when passed through the rollers. Much of the sulphur in ores can be gotten rid of by roasting, and much is eliminated in the blast-furnace by the use of a basic slag like lime. Titanium oxide generally goes into the slag ; five or six per cent, of this impurity makes a very tough blue slag. It is apparently of no value to iron ores, notwithstanding the fact that for a while there was great excitement about titanium steel made from ores containing titanium oxide. The titanium oxide does not alloy with the iron but goes into the slag, as the oxide is not reduced to titanium very readily. There seems to be a difference of opinion about copper as an impurity. The Bessemer Steel-Works at Bethlehem prefer a magnetic ore from Lebanon which contains a considerable percentage of copper; but the Midvale Steel-Works at Nicetown prefer foreign ores free from copper. It is known that arsenic, antimony, and tin make iron cold-short and brittle; they act like phosphorus and are very injurious impurities. Sometimes iron ores contain vanadium and tungsten. These elements go into the slag a.nd color it ; they are not injurious, but make slags of a high fusing-point. Clay and sand are not regarded as impurities, as they go into the slag. The following analyses of Mont- gomery County ores, kindly furnished by the Potts- town Iron Company, and the analysis of African ore made by myself, are given for comparison : t o a 1 It III SB McGuire Ore, near Edge Hill. .18.24 6.55 44.62 26.45 1.30 Trace. Trace. I .263 40.682 24.35 4.326 .277 Trace. .137 60.11 10.85 Trace. .405 Trace. 41 319 Silica 20 40 0.10 Trace. f .027 { .028 1 .029 0.265 1.69 0.946 Graphite. — Graphite, or plumbago, is one of the numerous forms of carbon. It is sometimes called black-lead, but this name is apt to mislead, as no lead enters into its composition. It is sometimes found crystallized in flat hexagonal tables, but usually oc- curs in black scales or flakes. Sometimes it occurs as a fine powder, which in the earth looks very much like black mud. It is very soft, and the scales can be readily cut with a knife. It has a soft, soapy feel, very much like soapstone ; color, iron-black to dark steel-gray ; lustre, metallic. Fire has very little effect on it, as it is infusible. It is rarely found pure, and when found thus consists entirely of pure car- bon. When mined it generally occurs mechanically mixed with mica-schist, quartz, clay, oxide of iron, and other earthy impurities. These impurities can be separated from graphite by washing. As graphite is very light and the earthy impurities heavy, the graphite floats away in the water, leaving the im- purities behind. No mention is made in the most recent geological survey of Montgomery County of the occurrence of this valuable mineral in the county. I have found several localities in the county where there are indications of this mineral ; I have also found two extensive deposits of it. In an abandoned iron-ore pit near Henderson's Station, near the Chester Valley Railroad, there occurs a deposit of graphite. In that locality the graphite is found as an impal- pable powder, which in rainy weather comes oozing out from the sides of the pit, resembling very much a deposit of black mud. One side of the pit for a distance of seventy-five feet is stained black by the graphite. Wishing to know whether the deposit ex- tended beyond the pit or whether it was simply a pocket, I determined to dig about twenty feet distant from the pit where there was no exposure. On clear- ing away the soil to a depth of about two feet tlie graphite was exposed, thus showing that the deposit ORES, MINERALS, AND GEOLOGY. 17 extended for some distance, and was very near the sur- face. I made an analysis of a surface sample which was mostly made up of earthy impurities ; it is prob- able if a sample were secured at a much greater depth that it would contain more graphite. The analysis gave the following result : Carbon, 7.50 per cent., the residue consisted of mica, oxide of iron, silica, and clay. Graphite in this form can be readily washed. Workmen from the neighboring quarries have used this material as a mineral paint in their houses, not knowing the nature of it. Another de- posit occurs in a field near Henderson Station, at about the junction of the small strip of Potsdam sandstone marked on the map and the limestone. This deposit is not visible, as it is covered with from four to six feet of soil ; it seems to cover almost the entire field. On digging,in ditferent parts of the field, graphite would always be found at a depth of a few feet. This deposit seems to be of the nature of a bed, and is mixed with sand, oxide of iron, and mica ; it occurs as a fine powder, and has a very soapy feel. The surface deposit of this bed is not pure. It is not known to what depth the bed extends ; it does not seem to extend beyond this field. At Henderson's marble-quarry, about two and a half miles from Bridgeport, theVe is a beautiful vein of highly crystalline black marble, susceptible of a high polish. This vein is on the south side of the quarry, and is said to be very pure, analyzing ninety-eight per cent, of carbonate of lime. It is very interesting to observe that this marble is colored black by graphite. I found, on dissolving the marble in hydrochloric acid, that very small specks of graphite were left as a residue. All the black marble in this vicinity owes its color to graphite. I found traces of graphite between Bridgeport and King of Prussia, in the small belt of Potsdam sand- stone marked on the geological map. On James Coulston's farm, near Chestnut Hill, in an iron-ore pit, graphite occurs. Several tons of it were thrown out. It is an impure variety, occurring in small scales and mixed with earthy impurities. The purest graphite is used in the manufacture of graphite pencils, commonly called lead-pencils. When it is in the form of a very fine powder, free from grit, it is mixed with oil, and makes a most excellent lubri- cator. Being very soft, its hardness only 2, there is no friction worth mentioning with the machinery. Hessian crucibles were formerly used in melting steel, but would soon melt away; now graphite crucibles are made from clay and graphite. They will stand several heats or fusions and very high temperatures without melting. Graphite is also used in the manu- facture of stove-polish and shoe-blacking. Rich de- posits of this mineral are valuable. Coal. — In the triassic formation, commonly known as the new red sandstone, small veins of coal from one to two inches in thickness have been found in several localities in Montgomery County. No large 2 workable veins have been discovered; only these ex- ceedingly small deposits are found in the new red sandstone, although in Virginia, near Richmond, and in the Deep River Region in North Carolina, in the same formation of new red sandstone that we find in Montgomery County, there are thick beds of good mineral coal. The triassic coals are exceedingly in- teresting from a geological stand-point, because they occur in more recent formations than the coals of the carboniferous period, and are of an earlier age. In Norristown, on Elm Street, near the Stony Creek Rail- road, a vein of coal was found about one inch thick in the new red sandstone; the vein extended only a few feet, and was not very wide. It was found during the grading of the sfreet, about twelve feet below the surface. I secured samples of this coal for Professor Genth, of the University of Pennsylvania, and found in the sandstone the stem of a fossil plant. This coal was of a deep black color, with a somewhat pitchy ap- pearance, was very brittle, with conchoidal fracture, and seemed to burn very well. At Gwynedd, in Montgomery County, in the same formation, is found a bed of carbonaceous shale col- ored black by traces of coal which it contains, and it is also said to contain vegetable remains. CoL, Bean mentions a vein of coal found in Lower Prov^ dence township, Montgomery Co., about one-half of a mile west of the Trooper. This vein, like the others, was found in the new red sandstone ; it was from two to three inches in thickness and from eigh- teen to twenty inches in length. During the summer of 1883 hands working upon the new tunnel near Phoenixville discovered a two-inch vein of coal in the sandstone. These triassic coals yield volatile mat- ters, which burn with a non-luminous flame, but they have not the slightest tendency to form a coherent coke. They contain sometimes as high as seventy- four per cent, of fixed carbon, eighteen per cent, of volatile matter, and about two per cent, of ash. Lignite. — Lignite, or brown coal, as it is sometimes called, has not been perfectly formed ; the lamellar or woody structure can be seen distinctly. In composi- tion it is more like wood than true coal. It yields a powdery coke in the form of the original lumps. It is brittle, burns easily, and often contains from thirty to forty per cent, of water. It is of recent geological origin, and was evidently not formed like true coal. Dr. Leidy mentions it as being found on Plymouth Creek near Norristown. Fossils and Organic Remains.— Fossils are found in stratified rocks, such as sandstones, limestones, and slates. These rocks were evidently in a soft state at one time, like the sand, mud, and gravel which form many of our river-beds, and they were also covered with water. Corals, crinoids, shells, and other organ- isms lived in these seas, and when they died their re- mains became imbedded in the soft mud and sand which formed the bottom of these seas and oceans. In the course of time, under the influence of press- 18 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. ure and other forces, the mud and sand were con- verted into stratified rocks, and it is in these rocks, which have at one time been ancient ocean-beds, that we find fossils. Tlie highest mountains have been at one time the ocean's bottom, for even their peaks con- tain fossils. On the Himalayas at the height of nearly three miles organic remains are found. In Montgomery County there are very extensive de- posits of igneous rocks, such as granites, gneisses, mica-schists, and syenites, and in rocks of this nature fossils are not found, because they are igneous rocks; and their structure shows that they have at one time been subjected to an intense heat, and it may be they were in a molten state, so that any traces of organic life that might have existed would be destroyed. The red shale and sandstone formations are the only strata in which organic remains are found in this county. This rock covers the upper and middle portions of the county, and although but few fossils have been found, yet these remains are very interesting and in- structive. The reptilian relics found in Montgomery County are the teeth and bones of large lizard-like animals which lived in the ancient seas. These re- mains have been found at the Phcenixville tunnel, Montgomery County. Specimens of coprolite have also been found imbedded in the same rock. The vertebral bones of these large lizard-like reptiles are slightly concave, or hollowed out, at their articulating surfaces. Mr. Lea has named this reptile the Chp- sisaunis Pennsyhanicus. Remains of fishes have been found in this tunnel which belong to the order known as ganoids. These are fishes which have a cartilaginous skeleton, and are covered with enameled scales or with bony plates. The sturgeons and gar-pikes are living representa- tives of this order. Batrachian remains, such as bones and teeth, are found in this locality. But few fossil plants have been found in the new red sand- stone in this county. Specimens of coniferous wood, either petrified or having the nature of coal, and still retaining the woody structure, have been found. This is termed lignite, and is mentioned by Dr. Leidy as being found on Plymouth Creek near Norristown. When the small coal vein was found at Norristown, on Elm Street, near the Stony Creek Railroad, I secured a piece of sandstone from the bottom of the vein, which bore the imprint of a fossil plant. Near Gwynedd is found a bed of carbonaceous shale which is said to contain vegetable remains. The oldest fossil yet discovered in Pennsylvania is the Scolithus linearis. This fossil is found in the Potsdam sand- stone at Edge Hill, and in the vicinity of Willow Grove and Rubicam Station. " It consists of a straight, cylindrical, stem-like impression in the sandstone, usually smooth, but sometimes grooved transversely to its axis. Its diameter varies from one-eighth to a half an inch, and its length from a few inches to two or three feet. Its position in the- rock is perpendicular to the bedding, and from this fact many think that the impression was produced by the boring of a marine worm. The end of the fossil terminates in a head, which is always found at the upper surface of the sandstone enclosing it. The im- pression looks like a large pin. These fossils are very abundant in the Potsdam sandstone in Mont- gomery County." Bone Cave of Port Kennedy. — The following account of the cave is taken from the American Journal of Science and Arts, vol. i. 1871, p. 235 : MESOZOIC RED SHALE. " Before the discovery of remains in the Port Ken- nedy Cave nearly the whole of the walls had been removed in quarrying. A tooth of a mastodon hav- ing been found by one of the workmen. Dr. Quick, of Phamixville, showed it to Mr. Charles Wheatley, and these two gentlemen immediately visited the cave and commenced the search for remains. They found one end of the cave still remaining, and having the form in transverse section shown by the figure. The width at the top is about twenty feet ; below it grad- ually expands to thirty feet, and then there is a rapid contraction downward until, at a depth of about forty feet, it is ten feet wide. The whole of the space above this level is filled with the debris of the ad- joining mesozoic red shale, with occasional angular fragments of auroral limestone, without any trace of organic remains. Where the cave narrows to ten feet the floor is composed entirely of a black clay eighteen inches thick, filled with leaves, stems, and seed-vessels of post-tertiary plants. Scattered all through this mass of vegetable remains, and also in a red tough clay underneath for six to eight inches in depth, are found the fossils. The vertebrate remains are as follows (taken from the proceedingsof the Amer- ican Philosophical Society for April 7, 1871, where Professor Cope describes the remains so far identified) : " Mammalia. — Megalonij.v loxodon, Cope ; M. Wlieat- leiji, C. ; M. dissimilis, Leidy ; M. sphenodon, C. ; M. ORES, MINERALS, AND GEOLOGY. 19 tortiUvt, C. ; Mylodon (?) Harlani, Owen ; Sdurus caly- cinus, C. ; Jacnlus (?) Hudsonius, Zimm. ; Hesperomys, Waterhouse; Arvicola speolhen,C.; A. ielradelta, C; A. didelta, C. ; A. involuta, C. ; A. sigmoides, C. ; A. hiaiidem, C. ; Erethizon chacinum, C. ; Lepus sylvaf- icus, Bachm.; Praotherium palatinum, C. ; Scalops ; Verpertilio (?)/ Mastodon A7nericanm,C\iv.; Tapirus Americanus, Auct. ; T. Haysii, Leidy ; Eqiius ; Bos; Uritis pristinm, Leidy ; Canis (?) ; Felis. " Aves. — Meleagris ; Scolopax. "Jlepfilia.— Crotahis (I); Coluber {1) ; Tropidonotus (?); Cistudo (•>) ; Emysl'!). " Batrachia. — Rana (?). "Dr. Horn has examined the insects, and gives a preliminary list of the coleoptera, as follows (orthop- tera were also found) : "Carabidce. — Cychrus Wfieafkyi; C. minor ; Cymindis aurora; Chlttnius punctatissimus ; Pterostichus Iwviya- tus ; Pt. longipennis ; Dicmlus alutaceus. " ScarabaeidiE. — Aphodius scuteHaris; A. micans; Pha- nceus antiquus; Coprk punctulatus. " Jlisterida'. — Saprimis (?) ebeninus. "The remains of mylodon, ursus, and tapirus have been mostly obtained from the tough red clay di- rectly under the plant-bed, but the remains of rodents, snakes, tortoises, birds, plants, and insects are mostly confined to the plant-bed." Minerals. — Minerals and fossils seldom occur to- gether, because many minerals are the result of fusion which would burn out any traces of organic remains, but occasionally remains of plants are preserved in rocks which contain minerals ; for example, mica-schist sometimes contains a mineral called made and the fos- sils orthis and spiriferes, but in this case the mica-schist is not an ancient igneous rock, but is of sedimentary origin, and has been formed of rocks of recent origin which contain fossils. Many minerals in nature have crystallized out of water which held them in solu- tion at a high temperature. Of recent years science has so imitated nature that many minerals are made artificially by fusion, and by the action of water at a high temperature. Marble has been made from limestone experimentally. A Frenchman, operating with the aid of water at a temperature of from one hundred and thirty to three hundred degrees centi- grade, succeeded in producing in a crystallized state the principal minerals found in metallic veins, among others quartz, spathic iron, carbonates of manganese and zinc, heavy spar, sulphide of antimony, mispickel, and red silver. He also produced some of the copper minerals found at Shannonville in the same way. Facts like these show how nature has formed these metallic veins. In France, during the last century, nearly all the mineral species have been reproduced artificially by various methods. When fusion was resorted to the apparatus was simple, consisting of a furnace, heated by a blow-pipe, supplied with illu- minating gas, and driven by a blast. The substances to be fused were put in platinum crucibles encased in fire-clay. Not only were minerals formed, but also lavas and trap-rocks. All attempts to make rocks containing quartz, feldspar, and mica, or hornblende (such as granite and syenite), by fusion, proved un- successful. Montgomery County contains a variety of minerals. But few specimens are found in the new red sandstone, except in the localities where metallic veins of copper are found. Here we not only find copper minerals but ores of zinc and lead. The copper-mines near Shannonville have yielded many mineral species, such as copper, mispickel, iron pyrites, covellite, cuprite, melaconite, hematite, quartz, chrysocolla, breunnerite, libethenite, malachite, copper pyrites, azurite, wulfenite, galenite, zincblende, calamine, pyromorphite, anglesite, cerussite. These species were found when the mines were in operation, and even at the present time many of them can be secured. At the copper-mine in Upper Salford township native copper and several copper minerals are found. At Henderson's marble-quarry, near Bridgeport, graphite and crystals of dolomite which are finely striated are found, and occasionally small pieces of malachite. At Conshohocken, quartz, flint, chalcedony, chlori- toid, and cacoxenite are found; at Bullock's quarry, fibrolite, calcite, and occasionally a small seam of iron pyrites are found. At O'Brien's quarry beautiful crystals of calcite, sometimes oearly transparent, are found. At the iron-ore mines near Conshohocken the hematite is sometimes coated with a manganese mineral called pyrolusite. Edge Hill furnishes speci- mens of hematite, braunite, pyrolusite, turgite, and gcethite. The soapstone-quarries at Lafayette have yielded many mineral species. The following copper minerals have been found there, bornite and chalcopy- rite. Iron minerals found there are magnetite, pyrrho- tite, and titanium iron ore. The silicates found there are asbestos, hornblende, garnet, zoisite, albite, talc, serpentine, staurolite, jefferisite, enstatite. The sul- phates found there are epsoraite and calcanthite. Phosphate of lime (apatite) and carbonate of lime and magnesia (dolomite) are found. On the other side of the river, at the abandoned soapstone-quarry, talc, asbestos, and very fine octa- hedral crystals of magnetite are found. At Hitner's marble-quarry calcite, strontianite, dolomite, heavy spar, and iron pyrites are found. Quartz. — Quartz is known under the names of silica, silex, sand, silicic acid, flint, etc. It crystal- lizes in the hexagonal system, mostly in the form of hexagonal prisms, terminated with hexagonal pyra- mids. It is one of the hardest of minerals, the point of a knife-blade or edge of a file making no im- pression on it. The highest heat of a furnace will not melt it ; the common acids have no action on it. It readily scratches glass. Its hardness is 7. Quartz occurs of various colors,— white, brown, yellow, blue, gray, green, black, violet, and often color- less. These colors are generally due to some mineral 20 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. oxide whicb the quartz has taken up. The lustre is vitreous, the fracture is conchoidal and uneven. The composition of quartz when pure is silicic acid = Sioj. The mineral quartz occurs in many varieties. Rock crystal, smoky quartz, milky quartz, aventurine quartz, ferruginous quartz, and amethyst are the crystallized varieties. Chalcedony, carnelian, prase, agate, flint, hornstone, jasper, and opal are the varieties of quartz which do not exhibit a crystalline structure. The colorless variety known as rock crys- tal is found in many localities. I have noticed very fine crystals on Eastburn's Hill, Bridgeport. They have been found in abundance here, but the best specimens have been secured. Very large crystals, having a pyramid on each end, have been found at King of Prussia, and from this place to the Schuyl- kill River very fine crystals are found. I have no- ticed a peculiar variety of quartz crystals in Shain- line's marble-quarry, near Bridgeport. The crystals are three-quarters of an inch long, and taper from the base to the apex of the crystal. Quartz crystals are found in the limestone-quarries near by. Aventurine quartz has been found in Conshohocken. Ferruginous quartz, colored brown, red, or yellow by oxide of iron, I have noticed in the vicinity of Bridgeport. Chal- cedony has often been found as a coating on other rocks near Conshohocken and Bridgeport. The arrow- heads found in many localities are generally com- posed of jasper. There is a valuable deposit of sand near Valley Forge, which is used as a lining or covering for the bottom of the heating-furnaces in the pipe- mill, Reading, Pa. Most linings would not stand the heat of these furnaces, but this sand is infusible. I was requested to examine it, and found on analysis that it is composed of fine grains of very pure quartz, free from iron, and not a trace of feldspar or any mate- rial that would flux with it was found. Quartz is one of the most abundant minerals in nature, and the most common constituent of rocks. The granites and gneisses, which are composed of quartz, feldspar, and mica, often contain as high as forty per cent, of quartz. The mica-schists, garnetifer- ous schists, syenites, and granitic rocks, which com- prise the southern end of Montgomery County, from Philadelphia to the limestone belt, are made up to a great extent of quartz. Mica-schist contains from forty to seventy per cent, of quartz, and sometimes a still higher percentage of quartz is found in certain varieties; the other constituent is mica. The large belt of new red sandstone which is found north of the Montgomery County line stone belt, extending from the Delaware River as far westward as Valley Forge, is made up almost entirely of quartz colored red by oxide of iron. While existing in rocks abun- dantly as quartz, it also makes, on an average, a third of many other minerals ; that is, it is chemically com- bined with other substances making various common minerals. These minerals are known as silicates. Of recent years quartz has a new use in tlie arts : when found pure and white and free from impurities it is mined and made into sand-paper, and is used as a polisher of metals softer than steel. It has been mined at Bridgeport and Valley Forge for this pur- pose. The purest rock crystals are made into lenses. Amethysts of fine quality are used in jewelry. Suilding Stones of the County. — The best and most desirable building stones are those which are compact and yet can be readily cut into any desired shape. The stone must not be soluble in water, or must not be acted on or altered by the impurities which are found in the atmosphere. Building stones which meet the above requirements are exceedingly lasting. The most durable building stones now employed are granite, gneiss, basalt, porphyry, ser- pentine and compact sandstones. All of these rocks are highly silicious, and but little acted on by the weather. The hardness of the first four of these rocks is so great that it is diflicult to dress them, but even this obstacle does not prevent their general use. Besides the silicious building stones we have the calcareous stones, which are carbonate of lime principally. The difiierent colored varieties of marble and limestone come under this class ; they are much softer than the silicious stones. Of late years granite is much used, especially for public buildings ; the Masonic Temple and the new post-office building at Philadelphia are built of a variety of granite. The granites have been employed for too short a time as a building stone to measure approximately its rate of weathering. The feldspar in granite begins to weather first, while the quartz and mica are not so readily at- tacked. It has been found that a polished surface of granite will weather more rapidly than a rough one, but the decay of a polished granite surface is not ap- parent after exposure for twenty years or more ; there is no doubt but that the polish will finally dis- appear and the surface roughen when the weather begins to act on the crystals of feldspar. The pol- ished columns and surftices of granite, syenite, etc., in the new Public Buildings at Philadelphia will fur- nish points of observation for the future study of the weathering qualities of these stones. We have extensive beds of syenite and granitic rocks in Montgomery County, which have been little used as yet for building stones. They are very hard and compact, and are not the fine-grade building stone. The new red sandstone, which covers the greater portion of Montgomery County, is much used as a building stone, and nearly all the stone houses in the upper portion of the county are built of this rock. The finest silicious sandstones are more durable than granite. The best varieties are those which are nearly a pure, fine, silicious sand, as free as possible from iron or lime. Sandstones are composed of grains of sand, which are bound together by a cement. This cement, or matrix, may be clay, lime, oxide of iron, feldspar, or even gelatinous silica. The grains of sand in sandstone are not affected by weathering, but OKES, MliVERALS, AND GEOLOGY. 21 it is the weathering of the cement which binds the grains that causes sandstones to crumble. If the cement be at all soluble in water then the weather- ing commences. When a sandstone is composed of thin layers or planes of stratification, then it is very apt to split up along these planes under the action of the weather. This fact is well known to builders, who are always careful to lay the stone on its bed. The Potsdam sandstone, which is found in Moreland, Upper Dublin, Springfield, White Marsh, and Plym- outh townships, is a fine-grained white or gray sand- stone, with scales of a light-colored mica. It occurs in narrow belts, and is composed of thin layers as mentioned above. This fact unfits it for a good build- ing stone, and it is used but very little. It is the new red sandstone which is in such general use as a building stone in this county, particularly in the country. Quarries of this stone are worked in nearly every township in the northern and central portions of the county. In some localities the stone is white, and makes a beautiful building stone. This white stone is extensively quarried on Main Street, near the ea.stern limits of Xorristown. The red and the white sandstones are found in these quarries; the lower strata are white and the upper red, with an occasional layer of red shale. The white contains a pink feldspar and scales of a pearly mica, and is free from iron. This stone makes a very handsome building stone, and is much used. Although it con- tains the constituents of granite, it is not granite, but sandstone with a matrix of feldspar. Stone of the same nature is found in Bridgeport. In the northern part of Upper Dublin township there is a sandstone containing a feldspar, which weathers rap- idly and soon disintegrates. One of the best stones for bridge-building and foundations and heavy ma- sonry of all kinds is extensively quarried at Consho- hocken, on both sides of the river. The West Con- shohocken quarries were worked sixteen years ago, and now they daily average over one hundred tons of rock for shipment. The rock is blasted out in huge pieces, which are cut by steam drills, and after- wai-ds dressed. The shipment of stone from this quarry on Sept. 6, 1883, was one hundred and seventy- seven tons. Boyd, Stintson & O'Brien's quarry, in EastConshohocken, yields the same kind of stone, and is a continuation of the strata. This rock is a tough quartzose mica-schist, composed of quartz and mica mostly, and extends from the county line, in the southern portion of Upper Jlerion township, across the Schuylkill in a narrow belt and extends into White Marsh township. The handsome new railroad bridge across the Wissahickon was built of this Con- shohocken stone. The blasting at these quarries is done by dynamite. The most important building stone Montgomery County furnishes is marble. The many valuable marble-quarries in the county are described under limestone in the geology. Hitner's, Potts', Hender- son's, and Derr's marble-quarries are the principal ones in the county, and they furnish not only the county with marble but also Philadelphia. Nearly all the marble used in Philadelphia, with the excep- tion of the imported, is brought from these quarries. It is used principally in building. The handsome county court-house at Norristown is built of Mont- gomery County marble, and many handsome private residences are built of like marble. Notwithstanding the general use of marble as a building stone, it is more acted on by the weather than any stone in general use in large cities. When marble is used for building pur- poses it has, at first, a fine polished surface ; exposure of two years in a large city sufiices to remove this polish, and to give the surface a rough granular char- acter. The grains which have been bruised in pol- ishing are first attacked, and soon drop out of the stone. If the marble be not cared for it soon be- comes covered with a dirty crust, beneath which the stone seems to be a mass of loose, crumbling calcite granules. When this crust is broken the decay is rapid. The crust varies from the thickness of writ- ing paper to a millimetre, and is of a dirty gray or brownish-black color. When examined under the microscope it is found to consist of particles of coal and soot, grains of quartz sand, fragments of red brick or tile, and organic fibres, which are held to- gether by an amorphous cement of sulphate of lime. This decay and disintegration of marble in large cities is due to several causes. The most active de- stroyer is rain-water containing carbonic acid gas, which dissolves marble. Eain-water always con- tains carbonic acid, and in large cities, where com- bustion produces an extra amount of this gas, rain-water will have an extra amount in solution. When rain falls on marble it begins to dissolve very slowly, and the grains of marble lose their cohe- sion. Marble exposed to rain always weathers more rapidly than marble that is sheltered. Another very active destroying agent is the sulphuric acid that is always present in the air of cities where much coal is burned. All coal contains sulphur, mostly in the form of iron pyrites, and when it is burnt it is con- verted finally on oxidation into sulphuric acid. This acid is extremely corrosive. Sulphuric acid is present in the air in a considerable quantity in large cities, where thousands of chimneys and furnaces send forth their smoke. It acts on marble by dissolving it and forming sulphate of lime, which is the cement which binds the dirty outer crust together. Marble in the country, free from this destroyer, lasts much longer. The marble columns of the Philadelphia Mint had become so corroded and rotten that they were recently replaced by granite columns. The marble columns of the Custom-House show plainly the action of the weather. It is very evident that white marble in large cities is utterly unsuited for out-of-door use, and its employment for works of art which are meant to stand in the open air ought to be strenuously re- 22 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. sisted. The tombstones in our graveyards are con- structed of white saccliaroid Italian marble. They are generally destroyed in less tlian a century, and very often the inscription becomes illegible inside of forty years. A walk through the cemeteries will show many examples. Granite and syenite are much used of late years. Soils. — Soil is formed by tlie decomposition and erosion of the underlying rocky strata. It is always mixed more or less with vegetable mould and decom- posing woody fibre which have resulted from the crops. When rocks under the soil are exposed, so that air, as well as moisture, has free access to them, they become changed, and begin to decompose and crumble to sand or clayey earth, and begin to form soil. Gneiss and mica-schist are very durable rocks, and yet much of the gneiss and mica-schist has undergone altera- tion, so that in some localities it has rotted down and decomposed so as to form soil of earth or gravel to the depth of one hundred feet, and in the tropical regions soils of much greater depth have been formed by the wearing away of rocky masses. It must not be supposed that this erosion is the work of a few years; centuries rather have elapsed before these rocky masses have been worn down and decomposed. Gran- ite is an enduring rock, and granite hills, it might be supposed, would last forever, and yet when the oxygen and moisture commence their work, and the heat of summer and the frost of winter lend a helping hand, the erosion begins, and the hillsides and plains below derive their soil from the constituents of the granite. Sandstone rock, in which the grains are cemented together by clay or some other binding material, also gradually wears away, and the grains of sand do their part in forming soils. The enormous beds and clifts of limestone also suffer erosion and form a soil un- surpassed for fertility. Limestone is readily worn away by water containing free carbonic acid gas, in which limestone is slightly soluble ; pure water has no action on limestone, but when rain-water derives carbonic acid gas from the atmosphere and other sources, then its action on limestone begins, and it will begin its dissolution, however slow it may be. It must not be supposed that air and moisture are the only agents at work on the rocks to form soils. Frost and ice are actively engaged year after year in splitting and breaking up rocks. When the crevices in a rock become filled with water and the water freezes, the tendency is to split the rock into fragments which in course of time form soil ; porous rocks, such as sand- stones, loose shales and schists, which readily absorb water, are often broken apart when the water con- geals, so that fresh surfaces are exposed to weather- ing. Heat also in a quiet way does its work in form- ing soil, — it hastens any chemical change which the rock may undergo, tending to its decomposition. During the day the rocks are exposed to the rays of the sun and become heated and expand; towards evening when it becomes cool they contract, and this alternate expansion and contraction has a tend- ency to loosen the grains of rock, and often splits off an outer layer when the rock has become weath- ered and softened. All of the above agencies are active in forming soils ; the action may be slow, yet it is none the less sure. Thus we see how soils are formed, and how they derive their mineral constitu- ents from the rocks. The vegetable matter of soils is derived from the decay of plant life which the soil has nourished. On the Western prairies the grass grows luxuriantly and then rots, and the next spring a new crop grows. This growth and decay has been going on for years, and every year furnishes the soil a supply of vegetable matter, until in many places the soil is twenty feet deep and of great richness and fer- tility. The vegetable matter in soil generally colors it black, which is due to the carbon it contains. The soil of the prairies is of a dark color. The Eastern soils which are cultivated yearly are being exhausted of vegetable mould, and its place is supplied by barn- yard manure. Why are some soils fertile and others barren 7 All grains and vegetables require for their growth certain mineral elements in the soil; when these elements are absent the plants cannot grow, but will wither and die ; but when the soil contains an abundance of tliese mineral substances, and in a soluble form so that the plants can feed on them, then the soil is fertile and will yield abundant crops. What mineral constitu- ents of soils are necessary to plants? All plants cul- tivated as food require for their healthy growth the alkalies, potash and ammonia, and the alkaline earths, lime and magnesia, each in a certain proportion. In addition to these, cereals or grains cannot attain a healthy growth unless silica is present in a soluble form suitable for assimilation. But of all the ele- ments furnished to plants by the soil, and offering nourishment of the richest kind, phosphate of lime and the alkaline phosphates generally are the most important. A field in which phosphate of lime or the alkaline phosphates form no part of the soil is totally incapable of raising grains, peas, or beans. Wheat especially cannot flourish without phosphates in the soil. We find these phosphates in the kernels of wheat and in the hulls surrounding the kernels. Nearly all vegetables contain phosphates to a greater or less degree, and scarcely any plants are wholly without them ; and tho.se parts of plants which ex- perience has taught us are the most nutritious con- tain the largest proportion of phosphates ; for example, seeds, grain, and especially the varieties of bread- corn, peas, beans, and lentils. And if we incinerate these and analyze the ashes we can dissolve the alka- line phosphates with water, and there will remain in the ashes the insoluble phosphates of lime and magnesia which are essential to the plant. The phos- phates are as necessary to man as to the plants, and a deficiency of them in the blood is accompanied al- ORES, MINERALS, AND GEOLOGY. 23 ■ways with some form of debility or nervous pros- tration. They are much used in medicine. If we analyze the ashes of blood we will find phosphate of soda and potash present, and also the insoluble pho.s- phates of lime and magnesia, the very salts we find in wheat, etc. Hence we are brought to the conclu- sion that no seed suitable to become food for man or animals can be formed in any plant without the pres- ence and co-operation of the phosphates, and man derives his supply of this nourishing element from plants he uses for food. The cereal.9 require the alka- lies, potash and ammonia, and in addition the sili- cates of potash and soda; these silicates are derived from the rock which in a fine state of subdivision forms the soil. When the rock decomposes it yields these silicates of potash and soda, which are soluble in water and which are taken up by the plant. Some soils»contain silicates which are decomposed so easily that in every two years enough silicate or potash is set free to furnish nourishment for the leaves and straw of a crop of wheat. In Hungary there are extensive districts where wheat and tobacco are grown alternately on the same soil for centuries, and both of these plants rob the soil of immense quantities of potash, tobacco particularly; about twenty-five per cent, of the ashes of tobacco are composed of potash. But districts like this are the exception. In Virginia the tobacco-growing soils are exhausted, because tobacco cannot grow in a soil unless there is a plentiful supply of potash, and all the potash of these soils has been withdrawn. Silica, so necessary to wheat, is not required by potatoes or turnips, since these crops do not abstract a particle of silica. From what source does the soil derive its sup- ply of potash for the nourishment of plant-life? and what rocks contain potash ? The soil derives its supply of potash from minerals, such as feldspars and micas principally, and from many other silicates. The rocks containing potash are granite, gneiss, syenite, mica-schist, trap rock, mica-slate, and many others; in fact, nearly all micaceous and feldspathic rocks contain this important element. The feldspars contain potash, soda, and lime, combined with alumina and silicic acid. There are several varieties of feldspar,- — orthoclase, in which potash predominates ; albite, in which soda predominates; anorthite, having a base of lime ; and oligoclase and Labradorite, having bases of soda and lime. The above bases are always combined with silica and alumina, and form what are known as sili- cates. The variety known as orthoclase contains often as high as fifteen per cent, of potash ; a pure orthoclase will yield silica, 64.20; alumina, 18.40; potash, 16.95. Thus we see that these feldspars con- tain the very elements that the crops feed on ; but these elements are in an insoluble form, and are bound up in combination in such a form that the plant cannot feed on them unless they are decom- posed and rendered soluble in water. On long ex- posure to air, moisture, and heat these rocks become rotten and crumble and decompose ; silicate of pot- ash is formed, which tlie rain-water dissolves, and the roots of the plants absorb as food. Silicate of alumina is also formed which will not dissolve, and forms the familiar substance known as clay. The feldspars have a pearly lustre, are scratched by quartz, and cleave very readily; this property distin- guishes them from quartz. The other mineral mentioned as containing potash is mica. There are several varieties of mica, and in composition they are silicates of alumina and potash; sometimes part of the alumina is replaced by mag- nesia, iron, or soda. Certain rocks, such as granite, gneiss, syenite, etc., have been mentioned as contain- ing potash. This becomes evident when we consider that granite and gneiss are composed of quartz, feld- spar, and mica; syenite, of quartz, feldspar, and horn- blende ; and mica-schist is composed of quartz, mica, and a small proportion of feldspar. These rocks con- tain the very minerals that are necessary to form good soil. The soil derives its supply of phosphates from the rocks also. The Philadelphia and the Montgomery County granites aud mica-schists contain from one- tenth to four-tenths per cent, of phosphoric acid. The syenites, gneisses, trap rocks, and even the new red sandstone contain small quantities of phosphates. In order to get a correct understanding of the soils of Montgomery County we must study the rocks that underlie the soil and from which the soil has been formed ; we must know whether the minerals compos- ing the rock are such as contain plant-food. From this study we can get a most intelligent idea of the fertility of a soil. Montgomery County has a great variety of rocky strata, and hence a variety of soils. The limestone soils are generally the most fertile and productive. More wheat to the acre is raised on the limestone soils than on any other, and corn seems to attain a greater size. Many of the sandstone soils are productive, but this is probably due to the fact that they often contain feldspar and sometimes mica. These rocks often con- tain little white specks, which seem to be loose and crumbling, and are decomposed feldspar. When the soil is made up of pure sand it is not fertile, as the plants cannot live on silica alone. When the under- lying rock is red shale the soil does not amount to much, and small crops are raised. Quite a number of the townships abound with this red shale, which often contains as high as seven per cent of iron. A red shale along the Stony Creek, which I analyzed, yielded seven per cent, of iron. The red color of this shale is due to the oxide of iron it contains. When superphosphate is applied to a red shale soil, or one containing much oxide of iron, a great deal of the phosphoric acid is wasted ; it combines with the iron, forming phos- phate of iron, which is insoluble and not readily de- composed, so that it is of no use to the plant. The red shale generally accompanies the sandstone, and 24 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. the red soils are often derived from shale, although sometimes from sandstone. It must not be inferred that the soils in the sandstone district are not fertile, as they generally yield good crops. Some townships contain four different kinds of soil. The following is a list of townships and the. beds of rock that underlie them. The rocky strata mentioned first is the most abundant, and the others are men- tioned according to the extent of the deposit in the township. The townships not mentioned below are included in the sandstone district. Lower Merion. — Mica-schist, garnet-schist, syenite and granitic rocks. Upper Merion. — Limestone, sandstone, and slates. Sprinrjfiehl. — Limestone, mica-schist and gneisses, syenite and granitic rocks, and sandstone. Cheltenham. — Garnet- and mica-schist, syenite and granitic rocks, and sandstone. Ahincjion. — Mica- and garnet-schist, syenite and granitic rocks, sandstone and limestone. Moreland. — Syenite and granitic rocks, sandstone and mica-schist. Plymouth. — Limestone and new red sandstone. White Marsh. — Limestone, sandstone, syenite and granitic rocks, mica-schist. Upper Dublin. — Sandstone, limestone, syenite and granitic rocks. Horsham. — Red sandstone. Gwynedd. — Red sandstone and shale. Whitpain. — Red sandstone. Loioer Providence. — -Red sandstone. Norriton. — Red sandstone. Worcester. — Red sandstone. Clay and Kaolin Deposits. — The composition of kaolin is a hydrous silicate of alumina. It contains forty-five per cent, of silica, forty per cent, of alum- ina, and fifteen per cent, of water; when pure it is as infusible as sand. It is very plastic, and can be kneaded into almost any shape when mixed with water. It is seldom found pure ; it generally contains feldspar, mica, oxide of iron, or calcite, and any one of these impurities will make the clay melt. The best kinds of clay contain scarcely any of tliese sub- stances which tend to make the clay less refractory. The tests for a good refractory clay are : It must not effervesce when moistened with acid, as this shows the presence of carbonates which make it fusible; it must not contain more than two per cent, of iron ; it must be as free as possible from feldspar, which contains potash and makes it fusible. As a rule, the less alkali you find the more refractory the clay, and six-tenths of one per cent, of potash is the maximum amount allowed in a good refractory fire-clay. The best way, however, to test a fire-clay is to make a brick of it, and put it in a shaft-furnace supplied with a blast and fed with anthracite coal. In a fur- nace like this steel will melt. After the brick has been in the furnace about one hour take it out and examine it; if it has melted or crumbled or fused much on the edges it is not the kind of clay suitable for making fire-bricks. After a successful test of this kind an analysis is not necessary. The clay-beds of Montgomery County are found ia the limestone belt, generally in the vicinity of the mica-slates and schists, and it is in these deposits of clay that we find the extensive deposits of brown hematite ore. The principal clay-beds are found in Upper Merion, Plymouth, White Marsh, and Spring- field townships. The clay in all of these townships is found in the limestone. There seems to be a de- pression in the limestone, which may have been the former bed of a stream, and the clay is found resting on the limestone and filling up this depression or bed. Most of the clay, however, has been derived from the mica-slates and schists, and the beds are parallel to the limestone, and occupy the position of those rocks from which they have been derived. These are the old clays, while the clay which is found occupying the depressions of the limestone and is not parallel to it is said to be a more recent clay. The most im- portant bed of kaolin now worked in Montgomery County is found at Lynch's Kaolin Pit, situated in Plymouth township, on the Ridge pike, about two and a half miles from the borough of Conshohocken. This pit was opened in 1877, and Mr. Lynch informs me that over seven thousand tons of kaolin and clay have been mined ; the average yield at present is about fifteen hundred tons per year. This deposit is of local importance, as it supplies clay for the terra- cotta works at Spring Mill, owned by Mr. Morehead, and also the works owned by Mr. Scharff. At these works terra-cotta pipes of all sizes are made. Various clay ornaments and chimneys are manufactured here. There are several different kinds of clay at this pit: First a beautiful white kaolin, which is free from iron and is quite coherent ; this variety is used for making pottery and also for lining blast-furnaces and pud- dling-furnaces, where it has to stand a very high tem- perature without melting. This kaolin contains ex- ceedingly minute scales of mica, which are scarcely visible to the eye. The next clay is the red clay used in the manufacture of terra-cotta and also for lining and fixing puddling-furnaces. This clay contains a little oxide of iron. The next variety is a blue clay, and is known as the new clay, and makes most excel- lent fire-bricks. It is more coherent and plastic than any of the others. Formerly the clay used for making the large cylindrical pots in which glass is melted was imported from Germany, but recently this blue clay was tried, and served the purpose very well, standing the high temperature without crumbling or fusing. This clay is now used by J. M. Albertson & Sons at the Star Glass- Works, Norristown. The extent of this deposit is not known ; the bed is about seventy feet in thickness and extends over the entire field. The clay is shipped to Philadelphia, Norris- town, Pottstown, and Conshohocken. Near the clay is found a bed of fine white sand. ORES, MINERALS, AND GEOLOGY. 25 Limestone Valley of Montgomery County. — The great limestone belt of Montgomery County, which has furnished such immense quantities of marble and lime, commences in Abington township, about a mile and a half north of Abington ; at this point it is quite a narrow belt, but it widens as it extends westward, entering the northern corner of Cheltenham town- ship, aud becoming a. broad belt of limestone as it extends through White Marsh, Plymouth, and Upper Merion townships. In Montgomery County it extends as far south as Conshohocken and Spring Mill, and it extends to within a short distance of the towns of Barren Hill and Edge Hill. It extends along the Schuylkill River from Conshohocken to Norristown, and crosses the river, extending into Chester County, and forming the beautiful Chester Valley. But this limestone belt does not end here, it passes entirely through Chester County, and extends into Lancaster County as far as the -source of the Big Beaver Creek. The total length of this immense limestone belt from near Abington, Montgomery Co., its eastern ex- tremity, to the Big Beaver Creek, in Lancaster County, its western extremity, is fifty-eight miles. The widest portion of the belt is three miles, while the average width of limestone is two and a half miles. In Chester County, at Downingtown, the belt is not so wide, being only three-fourths of a mile in width. The greatest width of the limestone in Lancaster County is not much more than half a mile. The general struc- ture of this first main belt of limestone is that of a long slender basin or synclinal trough, the southern side of which is much steeper than the northern. From the neighborhood of the Gulf Mills, a little west of the Schuylkill, to its western end this oblique symmetry prevails with scarcely any interruption. The strata of the north side of the valley, or from the synclinal axis northward, dip at an average incli- nation of about 45° southward, or more strictly S. 20° E. But this inclination is not constant east of the Schuylkill River. There are two well-defined synclinal basins, flanked by the Potsdam sandstone. West of the river a synclinal basin extends to the northwestward between Bridgeport and Henderson Station, and is also flanked on both sides by the Potsdam sandstone. The south side of the limestone belt between Spring Mill and its eastern extremity is bounded by the Potsdam sandstone. But from Spring Mill west to the Chester County line the South Valley Hill quartzose mica-schists form the remainder of the southern boundary in Montgomery County. The limestone belt is bounded on the north by the Pots- dam sandstone and by the new red sandstone. Folds of Potsdam sandstone extend in a diagonal direction across the main belt of limestone at Oreland, Cold Point, and Henderson. Here we find the Potsdam sandstone extending into the limestone. According to Professor Rogers, "The southern steeply upturned outcrop has been more metamorphosed by heat than the northern, aud this alteration is greater when they are in a nearly vertical position or inverted. It is chiefly within these limits that the blue and yellow limestone has been altered by heat and changed into crystalline and granular marble of different colors. Nearly all the marble-quarries opened are included within this steeply upturned or overturned outcrop. It is likewise along this convulsed and metamorphosed side of the trough that nearly all of the largest, deep- est, and richest deposits of brown hematite have been met with." The color of the limestone varies in dif- ferent localities, — pale grayish-blue, white, pale straw- yellow, and bluish-white. The marble is of various colors, — white, black, and often mottled. The thick- ness of the limestone belt is not known. Professor Hall says, " The probability is that it is not far from two thousand feet thick, but it may be much less." I have noticed that from Potts' Landing to Consho- liocken the prevailing color of the limestone is blue, and from Potts' to Norristown we have a variety of colors, — gray, white, yellow, and blue. Gray is the prevailing color. Between these two points there are two small veins of mica-schist which are very narrow. The limestone directly in contact with these I have found has been metamorphosed into a white marble. The color of limestones is generally due to organic matter which they contain, although not always; the black marbles are colored by graphite or carbona- ceous matter ; the yellow or brown limestones gen- erally contain iron as oxide or carbonate. Very often in the same quarry will be found several veins, each vein having a different color. The limestones of Montgomery County are highly magnesian ; many veins contain enough carbonate of magnesia to form what is known as dolomite. Dolomite contains about 45 per cent, of carbonate of magnesia and 55 per cent, of carbonate of lime when pure, although the percentage of lime and magnesia may be less and still be dolomite. Dolomites are harder and tougher than limestone, and usually present a finer grain ; a true dolomite will not eflfervesce with acetic or hydro- chloric acid in the cold, while limestone, composed of carbonate of lime only, will effervesce at once with either of these acids. The hardness of limestone is about 2, while that of dolomite is about 3.5. The more magnesia carbonate enters into combination with carbonate of lime the more the nature changes; it will not effervesce so freely. From an examination of a large number of limestones from quarries in the county, I find that the. more carbonate of magnesia enters into their composition the less readily will they effervesce with hydrochloric acid in the cold; and when the percentage of carbonate of magnesia is small they will effervesce quite freely with hydro- chloric acid. This might be an approximate method of determining whether a limestone be highly mag- nesian. Most of the county limestones are highly magnesian, containing from 10 to 35 per cent, of car- bonate of magnesia, although many veins contain very little, if any, magnesia, and are mostly carbonate 26 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. of lime. The limestones of Port Kennedy are highly magnesian, containing as high as 42 per cent, car- bonate of magnesia. Another sample yielded 38.40 per cent, of carbonate of magnesia. The first sample might be called a dolomite. The limestone near Con- shohocken does not contain so much carbonate of magnesia. A sample from O'Brien's quarry yielded 17 per cent, carbonate of magnesia. The limestones from Norristown to Potts' Landing along the river are highly silicious, at least some veins are more so than in the vicinity of Conshohocken. No rule, however, can be laid down about this, for very often in the same quarry one vein will contain 3 per cent, of silica and the next vein 9 per cent, of silica. The variation is so great that it is a source of much trouble and in- convenience when the limestone is used as a flux in the blast-furnace. When so used it is advantageous to secure limestone as free from silica as possible, because the object of the limestone is to combine with thesilica and clay in the iron ore and form a slag, and if the limestone used contain a high percentage of silica it will necessitate the use of an extra amount of lime- stone. Marble is simply limestone which is changed in structure and rendered crystalline and granular; by this metamorphosis the organic matter of the lime- stone is burnt out and it become^ white, and changes from a morphous to a crystalline form. If limestone be broken into small pieces and ex- amined under the microscope the fragments will be found to be of irregular shape, and are not crystal- line; but when marble is examined it will be found to consist of a mass of crystals or grains, very often like loaf-sugar. Marble and limestone are both car- bonate of lime, but marble generally has less of for- eign impurities, such as silica, iron, and alumina. Nearly all the marble-quarries hitherto opened in Montgomery County are included within or near the southern edge of the limestone belt. The largest marble-quarries in Montgomery County are at Marble Hall. Marble was first quarried at this place one hundred years ago, and immense quantities have been shipped all over the country. It has furnished Philadelphia with a considerable quantity for build- ing and architectural purposes. The quarry is about four hundred feet long and nearly three hundred feet in depth. The beautiful white marble used to build the great monument at Washington was obtained from this quarry. It came from a vein about five feet in thickness near the bottom of the quarry. The present owner of these quarries is Mr. Daniel O. Hitner. This quarry is especially interesting, as it contains the only layer of statuary marble found in the county. It was found at a depth of one hundred and twenty feet, and is only six inches wide. It is of a. yellowish-white color. Nearly all marble dealers import the fine white statuary marble used for head- stones, etc., from Italy. This marble is very fine- grained and white, and can be readily cut and carved into ornamental figures. Our Montgomery County marble is too coarse-grained for this fine work. In the vicinity of Spring Mill there is a marble-quarry, next in position to the westward. This is owned by Mr. Channing Potts, and has been worked for many years, and has furnished an immense amount of marble. White, blue, and mottled marble have been mined from this quarry. The next quarry to the westward where marble is obtained is west of the Schuylkill, near Henderson Station, in Upper Merion township. This quarry is now worked by Daniel O. Hitner, and was opened about 1869. It is now in active operation, and is being extended. Both the gray and the blue varieties of marble are mined here. About two hundred yards from this quarry, on the opposite side of the road, there is Henderson's quarry. This is the next marble-quarry in order to the west- ward. It was opened about the year 1808. There are three kinds of marble mined here, — the blue and the gray varieties and a very interesting bed of black mar- ble. This black marble occupies the south side of the quarry, and is susceptible of a very fine polish. It is very coarse-grained and crystalline. On analysis I found the black color is due to graphite. When the marble is dissolved in muriatic acid these small specks of graphite can be readily seen. The amount of silica present in this marble is very small. It is quite pure, and when burned in a kiln turns white, the graphite being burned out. Tlie black marble of the limestone belt seems to be confined to this quarry and vicinity, where graphite is found. At the beginning of the belt in Abington township the limestone is very slaty and highly silicious, and where the surface has de- composed it looks like a white sand. As you proceed westward this is no longer noticed. Between the Schuylkill River and the eastern end of the lime- stone belt a great many limestone-quarries have been opened and are in active operation, supplying an ex- cellent quality of lime for building purposes. These quarries are located principally in Plymouth, White Marsh, and Springfield townships, and are owned by L. K. Graver & Co., George Corson & Brother, George Hagy & Brother, Daniel Williams, Joseph Smith, Thomas Phipps, C. A. Cox, Frank Ramsey, David Marple, Charles Marple, and D. M. Leedom. About one mile north from Conshohocken there is O'Brien's limestone and marble quarry. It was opened aljout fifty years ago, and is within a short distance of the stone-quarry. This limestone does not con- tain as much magnesia as many others. Mr. Fulton says the stone seldom contains under seventy per cent, of carbonate of lime. The silica varies from three to nine per cent., and the phosphorus generally runs below .01. On analysis the stone yields : Carbonate of lime 75,00= Lime, 42.00. Carbonate of magnesia 17.00^ Magnesia, 8.09* Ferric oxide and alumina 3.00 Phogpborus 01 Silicic acid 5.00 Sulphur Trace. 100.01 ORES, MINERALS, AND GEOLOGY. 2T This stone has been much used as a flux in the blast-furnaces of Conshohocl^en and vicinity. At Norristown is Mogee's quarry, situated between a small belt of Potsdam sandstone and the new red sandstone. This is the end of the limestone belt east of the Schuylkill. At Swedesburg are the most extensive quarries and limekilns in Montgomery County. They are owned by William Rambo. They have been operated for many years, and the stone is highly magnesian. Thomas Rambo and Nathan Rambo own valuable quarries near by. Mclnnes' limestone-quarry, near Bridgeport, is highly magnesian, and yields three varieties of stone. Derr's marble-quarries, near the Chester County line, furnished the marble of the Nor- ristown court-house. They are extensively worked. The following analyses of Montgomery County lime- stones were kindly furnished by the Pottstown Iron Company and the Phoenix Iron Company: i h S ES s s a €o.'8 Quarries. c g J ■ I'^.s M W ss-s ?r , 1 n u til, t. *; p. P. a. ?5 9i (I) (2) (1) (2) 4964 42 00 53.21 38.40 66.50 30.00 49.25 41.72 61.73 Carbonate of magnesia... 42.84 .38 1 1.02 J 4.30 0.18 0.92 Ferric oxide 6.57 4.22 2.40 4.22 1.50 The county limestones contain so much magnesia that at Ambler Station chemical -works manufacture Epsom salts and all other magnesia compounds from our county limestone. Trap Rock and Trap Dikes of Montgomery County. — Trap is an igneous rock that came to the surface in a melted state through a fissure or opening from a place where the rock was liquid. AVhen the opening becomes filled with the rock it is called a dike; these dikes vary in width from a few inches to many feet, or they may form immense masses of rock, like the Palisades along the Hudson River. Some- times the trap, when cooling from a molten state, has assumed a columnar structure instead of being in sharp, irregular masses. The Giant's Causeway, Ire- land, and Fingal's Cave, island of Staffa, are exam- ples of trap rock crystallizing in columns. Very often, when the fissure became full of liquid rock, it would overflow, and the rock would run out over the surface of the adjoining country; this accounts for the many bowlders of trap rock that are found some distance from the trap dike of Montgomery County. Trap dikes are of various lengths; some- times they extend across the country for several miles in a straight line, and very often the dikes are curved. Trap is commonly known under the name of mun- dock ; this term is applied to it at several localities throughout the county. In appearance it is a dark- colored rock, quite heavy, and exceedingly tough and difficult to break, and when broken splits into pieces of an irregular shape, very often rounded and curved. It may be broken by a hammer or by another piece of trap ; ordinary rock will not break it. It is com- posed of two minerals, feldspar and augite. The feldspar is the variety known as Labradorile, which is the lime and soda feldspar. Augite is a mineral resembling hornblende, and in composition is a sili- cate of lime, magnesia, iron, and alumina; it is of a black color. A great many lavas from volcanoes, and many other igneous rocks, although not of the same structure as trap, are similar in composition. Trap is a rock that weathers very slowly; the ele- ments seem to have but little action on it, yet many of the trap bowlders of the county are coated with a brown covering about one-sixteenth of an inch in thickness, which it has taken many years' exposure to form. The brown color of this coating is probably due to oxide of iron. When this coating is broken ofl" and a fresh fracture surface exposed, it is found to be granular and rather brilliant in appearance. Montgomery County has a trap dike running through the limestone belt for several miles. This exten- sive trap dike commences in Springfield township at Flourtown, in the limestone belt, and extends west- ward in a straight line through White Marsh town- ship ; it follows the southern end of the limestone belt through to Conshohocken, where it crosses the river, and can be seen in its bed. It outcrops again in West Conshohocken below the stone-quarries, and extends through Upper Merion township, where it can be traced without interruption to the Chester County line, being a short distance above the Gulf Creek. From the Chester County line to the Schuyl- kill at West Conshohocken there is no difficulty what- ever in finding excellent exposures of trap, especially along the river at West Conshohocken, where there is an abutment of trap and numerous weathered bowlders along the railroad. Between Conshohocken and Marble Hall the dike can be traced easily. It passes directly through Conshohocken, and crosses five of the county roads before it reaches Marble Hall ; between these two points there are many loose bowlders of this rock. From Marble Hall to the Wissahickon Creek the dike cannot be seen, as it is covered with a deposit of clay ; but there is a fine exposure on the Wissahickon Creek, where it cuts through the dike, and the creek is turned from its course at one point by contact with the dike. From Flourtown to Marble Hall the trap runs through limestone and clay ; from Marble Hall to Conshohocken it is found between the southern por- tion of the limestone belt and the mica-slates ; from Conshohocken through Mechanicsville to the Chester County line it extends through the mica-slates of the South Yallev Hill. The dike crosses the Bethlehem 28 HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY. turnpike near the meeting-house. It also crosses the Perkiomen turnpike and the Norristown or Ridge turnpike. Tliis dike does not end in Chester County, but extends on into Delaware County, ending near a road leading from the Lancaster turnpike to the King of Prussia village.- This is the largest trap dike in the county. Where it crosses the Perkiomen turnpike, between Marble Hall and Barren Hill, this dike is thirty feet in width. Numerous bowlders and exposures of trap are found between Camp Hill and Jarrettown, and these probably mark the continua- tion of the dike. According to the most recent sur- vey, " there are exposures of trap in several locali- ties northeast of Flourtown, but it has not been traced continuously." During the summer of 1883 I found almost a continuous line of trap bowlders and expo- sures between Jarrettown and Camp Hill, which is about one and a quarter miles from Flourtown. The school-house at Jarrettown, Upper Dublin township, is situated on what is known as Mundoek Ridge. Trap rocks are scattered around in great abundance on this ridge. They are of various sizes, from quite small blocks up to large bowlders which are three and four feet in thickness. On the road through the ridge which leads to Camp Hill, especially in the woods near the school-house, there are many bowlders of immense size. In many places between Jarret- town and Camp Hill the fields are enclosed by walls which are made of trap bowlders of irregular size. Some of these blocks are weathered, but most of them have fresh black surfaces exposed, and are not browned by the weather. Between these two points trap bowlders are found along the road. Sometimes for a short distance no blocks are found ; for instance, at the north base of Camp Hill, and for a short distance beyond, we find no bowlders; but on the south side of the hill, where this road joins the road leading to Edge Hill, I found several large trap rocks. These exposures do not end at Jarrettown, butare found farther on along the road leading to Horshamville. I have since been in- formed that trap exposures are found at Horsham- ville, which is about two and a half miles northeast of Jarrettown. All of these exposures between Flourtown and Horshamville indicate that the dike, after leaving the limestone, enters the new red sand- stone, and probably extends in a northeasterly direc- tion as far as Horshamville, and it may be that the dike does not end here. Future investigation will prove whether the course indicated after the dike leaves Flourtown is the true one, but I believe that it is. The length of the trap dike from Flourtown to Mechanicsville is about eight miles, and if it be true that the dike continues as far as Horsham- ville, the entire length would be about fifteen miles. There are several smaller dikes in the county, but none of these compare in size to the dike of the lime- stone belt. In Marlborough township near Sumney- town there is a small trap dike. In Pottsgrove township a short distance from Potts- town is the natural curiosity known as the " Ringing Rocks." These rocks are widely known throughout the county, and are visited frequently by curiosity- seekers. Some of the rocks are small, while many are the size of a hogshead or larger. These bowlders are scattered around the surface for a considerable area ; some are weathered, and many have fresh surfaces exposed. When these rocks are struck with a ham- mer or a piece of metal they give forth a musical sound. Different tones are produced by striking dif- ferent rocks ; the sound seems to vary with the size of the rock. Hence the name Ringing Rocks. These rocks are sonorous, and when they are struck with a piece of metal the rock is set in vibration, and these vibrations are communicated to the air, and sound waves are formed. These rocks are trap rocks of the same kind as those which form the large dike. The popular idea is that this locality is the only one where these Ringing Rocks will produce sound. But any of the trap bowlders, no matter where found, when they rest on a good foundation (for example, another piece of trap), will produce musical tones. Those near Jarrettown give good tones when struck with a hammer. There are two or three small trap dikes near Potts- town, which extend through the new red sandstone, and the bowlders belonging to one of these dikes comprise the Ringing Rocks. There are several va- rieties of trap rock ; those of the county are known under the name of dolerite. This rock is defined as a granular mixture of a bluish-black or gray color, having a density of about 3, and con- taining Labradorite and augite, and sometimes a small amount of magnetic iron ore. This rock is studied sometimes under the microscope. In order to do this the rock is ground on an emery-wheel until a thin slice is obtained, and when this thin section of rock is examined under the microscope the minerals composing the rock can be seen and identi- fied. The augite occurs often in crystals of a bright black color, and the magnetic iron occurs in tlie form of irregular grains or crystals, arranged sometimes in regular rows or disposed in files. The Labradorite is also found in crystals. A sample of trap rock found near the " Bird-in- Hand" tavern, on the road from Gulf Mills to Bryn Mawr, which is near the end of the dike, was analyzed by F. A. Genth, Jr., of the University of Pennsylvania, who found Per cent Loss by ignition 2.15 Silicic acid 51.56 Titanic acid 1.63 Phosplioiic acid 0.13 Alumina IV-.'JS Ferric oxide 6.57 Ferrous oxide 3.85 Magnesia 3.42 Lime 10.19 Litbia Trace. Soda 2.19 Potash 1.41) 1C0.53 ORES, MINERALS, AND GEOLOGY. 29 This analysis gives a good idea of the general com- position of trap. Serpentine and Soapstone Deposits. — Serpentine is a mineral which does not crystallize, but occurs massive in large rocks or beds. The rock is usually some shade of green, and is quite soft, being readily cut by a knife. It makes a very ornamental building stone, and many public buildings and handsome private residences are built of this rock. Serpentine is a magnesian rock; in composition it is a combina- tion of silicate and hj'drate of magnesia, containing from forty to forty-four per cent, of silica, thirty-three to forty-three per cent, of magnesia, ten to fifteen per cent, of water, one to ten per cent, of ferrous and ferric oxides, and from one to six per cent, of alumina, and sometimes a little chromium or nickel oxide. This rock is susceptible of a high polish, and presents a most beautiful appearance when finely polished. One peculiarity of serpentine is it yields up nothing nourishing or sustaining to plant life or vegetation, and nothing except moss and lichens seem to flourish on its surface. Near West Chester are the Serpentine Barrens, so called on account of their unproductive- ness ; these barrens are in the main composed of ser- pentine. In our own county in Lower Merion and Springfield townships, where the serpentine beds are found, we notice loose blocks of serpentine of enor- mous dimensions, and these are covered only by lichens and cryptogamous plants, which are low forms of vegetation. Nothing else seems to flourish on these rocks. In New Caledonia and among the Alps the natives apply the name Dead Mountains to hills of serpen- ti ne, because they can raise but little on them, and they are almost devoid of vegetation. Precious serpentine is of a rich oil-green color, and is much used for inlaid work. Verd antique is a clouded serpentine, used for ornamental purposes and tables. Soapstone. — Soapstone is also a magnesian rock, which contains about sixty-two per cent, of silica, thirty-two to thirty-three per cent, of magnesia, and about five per cent, of water. It has a very soapy or greasy feel, hence the name soapstone. It is of various colors ; white, green, and gray of various shades are the most common. It is very soft, and can be readily cut or carved. Soapstone is also known under the name of steatite. There is a mineral of a green color which separates into scales like mica and which occurs in soapstone; this mineral is called talc. It is of the same composition as soapstone, and is exceedingly soft ; its hardness is 1, being the first member of the scale of hardness. Soapstone occurs associated with serpentine ; very often it is found in the same belt or bed. Many serpentine beds in this State contain soapstone, and most always we find talc associated with serpentine. The deposits of serpen- tine in Montgomery County have yielded an abund- ance of soapstone and many specimens of talc. There are two extensive belts of serpentine in Montgomery County. The longest belt commences on the northern brow of Chestnut Hill, between the two turnpikes, and extends westward across the Wissahickon Creek. It passes through Springfield township; there is an exposure just north of Mana- tawna. This belt crosses the Schuylkill River between Lafayette and Princeton Stations. It extends through Lower Merion township to Bryn Mawr, which is at the county line. This deposit is a straight line of outcrop of steatite or serpentine from Chestnut Hill to Bryn Mawr. Along the eastern and central parts of its course the southern side of the belt consists chiefly of a talcose steatite, the northern side con- taining much serpentine in lumps dispersed through the steatite, but towards the western side this separa- tion seems to disappear. The serpentine belt is plainly seen from Chestnut Hill to Wissahickon Creek, where enormous blocks cover the surface of the bed. Near the Schuylkill the large blocks of serpentine and soapstone are again seen, and they choke the bed of the ravine next north of the soap- stone-quarry. On the west side of the Schuylkill this serpentine and steatite rock is still visible in large blocks a little above the soapstone of that bank of the river. Near Merion Square the exposure is prominent, the surface being strewn with large masses. These rocks may be distinguished from others by the enormous size of the loose blocks, and by the coating of lichens and mosses which flourish on them. The rock is visible in the Pennsylvania Railroad cut south of Bryn Mawr. It is not certain whether this belt from Chestnut Hill to Bryn Mawr is continuous; if this be proved, then the entire length of this serpen- tine belt would be six miles. It is found entirely within the mica-schist belt of rocks. The next ser- pentine belt is found near the Schuylkill River, about one-third of a mile north of Lafayette; it extends east to the brook which flows into the Schuylkill at Lafayette. This belt begins in White Marsh township, and extends westward across the Schuylkill, through Lower Merion township, to the Gulf road about one- third of a mile north of Bryn Mawr. This deposit occurs along the northern edge of the mica-schists, and runs almost parallel to the first belt described ; they are only about a mile apart. It is not known whether this belt is continuous, but if it be continuous the length of it would be about four miles. Another outcrop of serpentine is found south of Gulf Mills, within half a mile from Morgan's Corner. This deposit is found between the slates of the South Valley Hill and the syenite. This exposure has only a length of a few hundred feet, but it is at least three hundred feet wide. It is thought to belong to the belt of serpentines which extend through Delaware County and part of Chester County. The serpentine belt of Bryn Mawr, after leaving Lower Merion township, extends through Delaware County in a curve towards the city of Chester, on the Delaware River. About a mile east of Roxborough, 30 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. near the mouth of Cresheim Creek, there is a small bed of serpentine, which seems to be confined to this locality only, as it has not been observed anywhere else in the neighborhood. There is a quarry near the Schuylkill River, and an abandoned quarry near Merion Square. The soapstone-quarry at Lafayette is owned by Mr. Prince. A great variety of minerals is found here. The soapstone is very soft, and is readily quarried in blocks, which are used for fire- stones in furnaces, and for jambs for fireplaces ; it will stand a high temperature. There is a mineral found in soapstone called pyrophyllite, which when heated will curl like a worm, and sometimes crack the stone. Before marble came into use in the county for door-steps soapstone was used, but was too soft. Mesozoic, or New Red Sandstone.— The familiar red sandstone rocks cover the northern and central portions of the county. They extend from Trenton to Norristown and Valley Forge, and the sandstone and red shale can be traced along the Schuylkill River from Norristown to Pottstown. All that portion of the county north of the limestone belt and north of the Potsdam sandstone and syenite is covered with new red sandstone and shale. The mesozoic forma- tion is composed of reddish-brown shale, sandstone, and in some localities of conglomerate. The shales and sandstones are generally of red color, which is due to the red oxide of iron which they con- tain. There are quite a variety of sandstones in the county belonging to this formation. In some locali- ties we find sandstone mixed with much clay. Else- where is found rock composed mostly of grains of sand, scarcely any clay or oxide of iron with it. At Norristown, Bridgeport, and other localities is found white sandstone, containing feldspar and mica, with not enough oxide of iron to color it red ; it makes an excellent building stone. The red sandstone is more abundant than those which contain feldspar. At Morgan's Mills and Fort Washington conglom- erate is found; A ride over the Stony Creek Railroad from Norristown to Lansdale will show an unusually shaly district, mentioued under soils. The rocks of the red sandstone formation are supposed to have been deposited in an inland sea which once covered this region, in the same way that gravel, sand, and mud are now forming rocks. This was the age of reptiles, and their footprints are preserved to this day. Immense frog-like creatures and bird-like reptiles, whose remains were found in this rock at the Phce- uixville tunnel (see Fossils, etc.), are supposed to have flourished during this age. Trap dikes traverse this formation, and occasionally small veins of coal and lignite are found. Red soils result from the rocks of this formation. The copper deposits at Shannonville and Upper Salford are found in the new red sand- stone. Potsdam Sandstone. — Professor Rogers called this rock the primal sandstone; it is often called the Edge Hill rock. It received the name Potsdam from its great development at Potsdam, N. Y. The principal exposures of this rock in the county are found flank- ing the limestone valley on the north, between Valley Forge and the eastern extremity of the limestone basin east of Fitzwatertown. It encircles the eastern end of the limestone belt, and extends westward as a narrow belt south of the limestone to Spring Mill. At Henderson's Station, Bridgeport, Hickorytown. Cold Point, and Oreland folds of this sandstone are found penetrating the limestone. The historic hills of Valley Forge are Potsdam sandstone. The forma- tion is well developed at Edge Hill, Rubicam Station, and Willow Grove; near the latter place there is a pic- turesque spot known as "The Rocks." They are cliffs of hard conglomerate with pebbles of blue quartz. This is supposed to represent the beach of an ancient sea, and the pebbles are among the first ever made. This Cambrian sea contained no fishes, but only the lowest forms of animal life. Any organic re- mains or fossils which may have belonged to this formation are either obliterated or so flattened that they cannot be recognized. One fossil found in abundance near Willow Grove is the Scolithus line- aris (see Fossils). The Potsdam sandstone does not much resemble the new red sandstone; it is more slaty, and readily broken up into layers, and contains scales of mica, which sometimes make it flexible. It is generally made up of a fine-grained quartz, and contains fine scales of mica, which give it a slaty structure. It is generally of a white or gray color, although some- times red. Occasional beds of conglomerate are met with. Very often this sandstone contains ripple- marks due to water; from this fact it is supposed that this sandstone was formed at the edge of an ancient sea. Bryn Mawr Gravel. — Upon the tops of some of the high hills north of Philadelphia, near Chestnut Hill and Bryn Mawr, there are curious patches of an ancient gravel, which has been studied by Professor H. C. Lewis, who names it the "Bryn Mawr Gravel." It is found at elevations of from three hundred and twenty-five to four hundred and fifty feet above the Schuylkill. It is supposed that these deposits of gravel are the remains of an ancient ocean beach and the remnants of a once continuous formation, and that erosion has swept away everything except these few isolated p.atches. The gravel consists of rounded or sharp pebbles of quartzite or grains of sand ce- mented by iron. Sometimes the gravel is covered with a brownish-black iron glaze. The pebbles are very hard. At Bryn Mawr the gravel is seen in the railroad cut below the station. It is about four hun- dred and thirty feet high and nine miles distant from the river. The gravel is ten feet deep, and rests upon the gneiss-rock, which is decomposed. Near Chestnut Hill, on the City Line road, at its highest elevation, 'four hundred and twenty-five feet above the river, tliere is another deposit of gravel and conglomerate. ORES, MINERALS. AND GEOLOGY. 31 with numerous sharp fragments of quartzite. A sim- ilar gravel is found on some of the high hills of New Jersey and Delaware, and it continues through the Southern States in the same relative position. Pro- fessor Lewis assigns it to the tertiary age. It is the oldest surface formation in Pennsylvania. South Valley Hill Mica-Schists and Slates.— These rocks form a ridge which flanks the Chester Valley limestone on the south, hence the name. In Montgomery County these slates are found in the southern part of Upper Merion township. They cross the Schuylkill at Conshohocken, and extend into White Marsh township. Near the Gulf Mills the hill divides into two spurs. This is the rock of the Conshohocken stone-quarries, which is always in de- mand for bridge-building and heavy masonry. This rock is a quartzose mica-schist, and contains seven per cent, or more of oxide of iron. It is slaty in ap- pearance, and generally of a grayish tint and silky lustre. The deposits of clay in the county are found in the vicinity of the slates, and it is supposed that some of the clay-beds are derived from the decompo- sition of the mica in the slates. This seems prob- able, as beds of fine white sand sometimes accom- pany the clay ; this sand is the quartz of the schists and slates. The deposits of iron ore in the county are found near the mica-slates in the clay. It is thought that some of the brown hematite ores are derived from the slates, as they contain over s?ven per cent, of oxide of iron, and when they decom- pose and form clay the oxide of iron is dejiosited. The rocks of this formation rest on the limestone, and are of more recent age, according to Professor Hall, who assigns them to Hudson River age. Syenite and Granitic Rocks (Laurentian). — The hard crystalline rocks of this group in Montgomery County extend from Moreland township, at the Bucks County line, westward across the Schuylkill River to the Delaware County line. In Moreland and Upper Dublin townships the new red sandstone forms the northern boundary. Between Chestnut Hill and the Delaware County line the mica-schists form the southern boundary, and from the Schuylkill to the Delaware County line the limestone and mica-schists of the South Valley Hill tbrm the northern bound- ary. East of the Schuylkill the Potsdam forms the northern boundary to the vicinity of Willow Grove. These syenite rocks are exceedingly tough and hard, and but little acted on by the weather. Hills of softer rock were in the course of time worn down to the surface, but the syenite ridges remain as monu- ments of the past. The hills known as Spring Mill Heights are syenite. The cuts exposed by the Penn- sylvania Railroad in passing through the Schuylkill Valley offer an excellent opportunity for studying the syenite belt from Spring Mill to the serpentine rock. It was the hardest rock along the line to cut through. The Schuylkill River between West Conshohocken and Spring Mill is turned from its course by the re- sistance offered by the hard syenite rocks. It is the oldest rock in Montgomery County, and contains no fossils. Syenite is composed of quartz, feldspar, and horn- blende. It is composed of the same minerals as granite, only it contains hornblende instead of mica. It makes an excellent building stone. The quartz in this belt of syenite is characteristic, as it is of bluish tint. It is sometimes difficult to determine whether the other rocks of this belt are granites or granitic gneisses. The feldspar is both pinkish and white, and certain bands of this rock contain so much feldspar as to have a structure like porphyry. Philadelphia, Manayunk, and Chestnut Hill Mica-Schists and Gneisses. — The rocks exposed along the Schuylkill River from its mouth to a short distance above Lafayette Station on the Norris- town Branch of the Reading Railroad have been divided into three groups by Professor Hall : First, the Philadelphia group ; second, the Manayunk group ; and third, the Chestnut Hill group. The Philadelphia group underlies the other two, and the Chestnut Hill group is the highest. These rocks extend eastward as far as Trenton, and west- ward into Delaware County. These Schuylkill rocks are not visible in New Jersey, as they sink beneath the surface; but they come to the surface again on Staten Islaud and in New York. Accord- ing to Professor Lesley, these three groups of rock are between ten thousand and twenty thousand feet in thickness. They are known as the azoic rocks, and are the oldest rocks of which we have any knowledge ; most of the other rocks have been formed from them, as they are the foundation rocks of the old continents. They were formed when the lowest forms of animal life were introduced on our globe, and were the beds of the old oceans. Any trace of animal life that may have existed in these rocks has become ob- literated by the heat and pressure to which they were subjected. Many of the minerals of the county are found in these formations. These rocks are mica- schists and gneisses. Gneiss, like granite, is com- posed of quartz, feldspar, and mica ; but the gneiss is arranged in parallel layers, while granite is not. Mica-schist is a crystalline assemblage of mica and quartz, and sometimes feldspar, arranged in layers. The Philadelphia group extends from the Delaware River on the south to the vicinity of Falls of Schuylkill. The rocks of this group are different variety of gneisses and mica-schists. The Manayunk group extends from the vicinity of the Falls of Schuyl- kill to a point half-way between Manayunk and La- fayette Station ; it is exposed along the Schuylkill. The rocks of this belt are schists and gneisses, and are very much weathered, the feldspar especially is often white and chalky in appearance from decom- position ; this is noticeable at Wissahickon Station. The Chestnut Hill group extends from the vicinity of Chestnut Hill to the county line at Bryn Mawr. 32 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. Along the Schuylkill the rocks are exposed from a point between Manayunk and Lafayette to the syen- ite formation, Tlie schists and gneisses of this group contain an abundance of garnets. It is in this group that serpentine and soapstone occur. The division of these Schuylkill .rocks into groups is somewhat geographical and is not definite. It is often difficult to determine whether the rock is a gneiss or schist. Early Accounts of Lime.' — Among the extensive manufactures of Montgomery County can be men- tioned lime, the history of which we are not aware of having been attempted by any other writer. The quantity now used for agricultural, building, and manufacturing purposes has become immense. The annual production here in 1875 was estimated at fully two millions of bushels, and has probably reached now to nearly one-third more. The census of 1840 gave the value of lime manufacture in this county at $236,162, and for Plymouth township, $45,218; White Marsh, S51,458 ; Upper Dublin, $20,275 ; Upper Mer- ion, $74,772; and in Abington township, $11,800. In 18.58 the writer personally visited seventy-five lime- kilns in the township of Plymouth, said to contain the average capacity of fifteen hundred bushels each. This would alone make by one burning considerably over one hundred thousand bushels, and the number of kilns there has since been increased. The earliest mention we have been enabled to find of limestone, and of lime being made therefrom to be used for building purposes, is in a letter written by Robert Turner, of Philadelphia, dated 3d of 6th month, 1685, addressed to William Penn in England, from which we learn that " Samuel Carpenter is our limeburner on his wharf Brave limestone found here, as the workmen say, being proved." The next mention found is in another letter to Penn, written by Nicholas More, dated " Green Spring, the 13th of September, 1686," wherein he states that "Madam Farmer has found out as good limestone on the Schuylkill as any in the world, and is building with it; she offers to sell ten thousand bushels at sixpence the bushel upon her plantation, where there are sev- eral considerable hills, and near to your Manor of Springfield." The aforesaid was evidently the wife of Jasper Farmer, who had arrived here in Novem- ber, 1685, and had taken up in the present White Marsh township a tract of five thousand acres of land, but died soon thereafter. His son, Edward Farmer, subsequently became the owner of about three-fourths of this purchase. For building purposes the Swedes and other early settlers first used lime prepared from oyster shells, of which we find mention made by several writers. Thomas Budd, in his account of Pennsylvania, printed in 1685, says, " We make lime of oyster shells, which by the sea and bay-side are so plentiful that we may load ships with them." He further informs us that there is no limestone " as we yet know of," 1 By Wm. J. Buck. from which we are led to infer that Samuel Carpenter and Madam Farmer, as has been mentioned, must have been among the earliest to convert limestone into lime. Even prior to the summer of 1685 con- siderable building had been done in Philadelphia and its vicinity, which required no small amount of the article as prepared from oyster shells. William Penn, in a letter to the Marquis of Hali- fax, dated 9th of 12th month, 1683, mentions that " about one hundred and fifty very tolerable houses for wooden ones" had been erected in Philadelphia. In his " Further Account of Pennsylvania," written in December, 1685, he states that the number had been increased to three hundred and fifty-seven houses, " divers of them large, well built, with good cellars, three stories, and some with balconies." He also mentions in the same of "divers brickeries going on, and some brick houses going up." Robert Turner, in a letter from Philadelphia, 3d of 6th month, 1685, states that "we are now laying the foundation of a plain brick meeting-house, sixty by forty feet," and that " Pastorius, the German Friend, with his people, are preparing to make brick next year." These state- ments show the necessity of lime, for which purpose no inconsiderable quantities must have been required, and that the discovery of limestone so near the city created at once a demand from its superior quality, ranking, as has since been proven, among the best found in the country. John Goodson wrote from Philadelphia, 24th of 6th month, 1690, "that six carters have teams daily employed to carry and fetch timber, bricks, stone, and lime for building, which goeth on to admiration. We have rocks of limestone, where many hundreds, yea thousands of bushels of lime are made in one year fur this town." John Holme, one of the judges of the Philadelphia County Court, in his poem on "The Flourishing State of Pennsylvania," written in 1696, mentions therein that a few years previously lime had been burned from oyster shells, but since a " great store" of limestone had been discovered in the ground, from which "now is made good stone lime," which was not only superior but cheaper than the former article. He had arrived here from England in 1686, and died in 1701. At a meeting of the Provincial Council, held May 19, 1698, a road was ordered to be laid out from White Marsh, for the purpose of hauling lime from the kilns there to the city, and to meet the Plymouth road near Cresheim, or the upper part of Germantown. In 1703, Nicholas Saul and others, at " Sandy Run," in the " Manor of Springfield," petition that they had formerly received the grant of a road from the limekilns to Philadelphia on the Germantown road, which the court now ordered should be speedily opened. This is evidently the road proposed by the Council aforesaid, and the present highway leading from the village of White Marsh through Chestnut Hill. In 1713 the road was opened from the afore- THE ABORIGINES. 33 said kilns to Skippack, over which also considerable lime was hauled. The Plymouth highway was laid out as "a cart road" in the spring of 1G87. This is tlie road leading from Plymouth to Philadelphia, and now known as the Germantowii and Perkiomen turn- pike, which was laid on its bed and finished in 1804. It is likely that this was the first road opened for the transportation of lime to the city. What is now known as the Limekiln road was laid out from Ger- mantown to Upper Dublin in 1693, and probably also first opened for the purpose of obtaining lime from the vicinity of the present Fitzwatertown. The road from the latter place to Abington meeting-house was confirmed in 1724, and opened the following year. From the petition it is ascertained that Thomas Fitz- water carried on there the business of lime-burning in 1705. Gabriel Thomas, who arrived here in 1683, in his accountof Pennsylvania, published at London in 1698, mentions that here " there is also very good limestone in great abundance plenty and cheap, of great use in buildings, also in manuring lands." The Manor of Mount Joy, containing seven thousand eight hun- dred acres, was granted by Penn to his daughter Letitia the 24th of 8th month, 1701. This tract was partly situated in Upper Merlon, and we have the authority of Oldmixon's " British Empire in Amer- ica," published in 1708, that it abounded in lime; stone, which had been made use of for some time. Edward Farmer, whose settlement in White Marsh was known in 1708 as " Farmer's Town," supplied lime at various times from there for the buildings at Springettsbury, erected by Thomas and Richard Penn, between the years 1732 to the time of his death, in 1745. Francis Rawle, who had settled in Plymouth about 1685, in his " Ways and Means," printed by S. Keimer, of Philadelphia, in 1725, and written the previous year, states on page 54 that of " limestone we have great plenty, of which stone lime is made, which gives the opportunity to the in- habitants to build good stone and brick houses in town and country." The lime used in building the State-House, from 1729 to 17.35, was hauled from the kilns of Ryner Tyson, in Abington township, fourteen miles north of the city. Those kilns and quarries have ever since been in the family, and the business of lime- burning is still carried on by the descendants. The county commissioners in March, 1804, invite pro- posals for " hauling by the bushel a quantity of lime from Plymouth to Pottstown sufficient to complete the bridge" over the Manatawny, a distance of about twenty-three miles. In 1810, if not earlier, the lime- burners of the county formed themselves into an as- sociation, of which Alexander Crawford was presi- dent, and John Fitzwater secretary, meeting for several years, in January, at the house of Philip Sellers, White Marsh. In February, 1S24, they met at the house of Andrew Hart, Plymouth. The members at this time were George Tippen, Samuel Davis, John Shepherd, Daniel Fisher, Benjamin Marple, Eleazer Michener, Enoch Marple, John Hellings, George Egbert, George Lare, Henry John- son, Abraham Marple, William Sands, Joseph Har- mer, and Daniel Davis. It appears they soon after dissolved, their proceedings being deemed unlawful, but we presume no more so than any other combina- tion of a similar character. Among their objects was to fix the price of lime and the wood they either purchased or received in exchange. On so a great a business as the production of lime it is to be regretted that there are so few statistics. It would be interesting to possess a list of the several manufacturers, the number of kilns operated, and the amount respectively made. The quantity sent off by water must be considerable, especially to the States of New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland, as also by railroad to adjoining counties, Philadel- phia, and other places, for building, manufacturing, and agricultural purposes. The townships of Mont- gomery that possess limestone are Abington, Upper Dublin, Springfield, White Marsh, Plymouth, and Upper Merion. The limestone surface here may probably comprise about fifteen square miles. Plym- outh, no doubt, is now the greatest producer; next Upper Merion, followed by White Marsh and Upper Dublin. Norristown, Swedesburg, and Port Ken- nedy are extensive shipping-points of this material. The lime of Montgomery County for all building purposes possesses a high reputation, and is regarded among the very best produced. CHAPTER II L THE ABORIGINES. Three hundred and ninety-one years have elapsed since the commercial nations of the earth first learned of the existence of the North American Indians. From whence they came remains an archaeological problem. Their numbers' were the subject of con- > Robert Proud, historian, estimated the nnmber of fighting men of eighteen given tribes at 27,900, and total number, 139,500. Besides, in an iiistorical account, printed in Philadelphia, of tiie ex- pedition against tlio Oliio Indians in 1764, under command of Col. BuiKjuet, there is a list 4if tlie Indian nations of Canada and Louisiana, saiil to be from good autliority. .and tliat the account may be depended on, so far as a matter of this kind can lie brouglit near the truth, in which it is asserted that there are 50,580 figliting men of such Indians as the French were connected with in Canada and Louisiana. Assuming this number to be one-fifth of the population, tliey would have had at that date 282,000. According to the latest data in the possession of the Interior Depart- ment at Washington the number of Indians in the United States is 202,000, It is claimed that with regard to all Indian tribes receiving supplies from the government reasonably accurate statistics have been cltained, as in making issues of goods to the Indians the individual receipt of each bead of a family is required. The accounts divisiou of 34 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. jecture until after the Revolutionary war, when they became objects of governmental solicitude and care. As a race, they have displayed rare physical powers of endurance, they have shown indomitable courage the Indian Office therefore possesses a register of the names of all heads of families to whom goods, supplies, or annuities are issued Ijy the gov- ernment. Ill must iif the States there are remniningsmall communities of Indians, like the Six Nations in New York, the Eastern Cheiokees in North Carolina, the Miamis in Indiana, etc. Having tribal property they maintain a trihal organization. The Indian Office exercises a sort of guardianship over tliem in the protection of their lands, manage- ment of their funds, limiting the contracts they may make and the fees they may pay to attorneys, deciding questions of membership in the tribf, etc. ; but they are self-supporting, and receive no goods or supplies from the government. The same maybe said of the "five civilized tribes" of the Indian Territory, and of the Indians of the Pacific coast, although tiome of the latter receive about five per cent, of their sub- sistence from the Department. They are not dependent upon the gov- ernment for the supply of tlieir daily wants, and consequently the In- dian Department is not able to obtain from them such minute and detailed reports as are required from the seini-savage tribes. In some cases the government is therefore in possession of better statistics from the " wild" tribes than from such as are partially civilized, or at least self-supporting. Leaving the five civilized tribes of the Indian Territory' out of the question, these statistics show that the Indians are not now, and for sev- eral years past have not been, decreasing in numbers. The births re- ported in all the tribes last year aggregated 2998 ; the number of deaths was 2478. An examination of the reports from all the agencies in de- tail shows many iustancesof decrease, but the general result is as stated. It is not claimed that these figures are either complete or exact, but they are beyund reasonable duubt sufficient to establish the factthatthc Indian race, as a whole, in spite of disadvantageous circumstances, is not dying out. The niDrtnary customs of most of the tribes render it im- probable that many deaths should escape the knowledge of the agent. As regards the death of a relative or friend the Indian is not a stoic; mourning fur the deceased, whether slain in battle or dying from nat- ural causes, is usually loud and long continued, and accompanied with ceremonies likely to make every pei-son within the sound of beating tom-toms and Wailing Voices aware <)f the loss the tribe has sustained. Over births no such demonstrations are ma'le, so that the error in the figures given is probably that of reporting too small an incffease in the tribal numbera. It is easy to find reports from particular tribes showing a decided de- crease during the past year.. The Six Nations, New York, lost '2'ict by dealh, while there were only 187 births. There are 5116 Indians on the several reservaiinus in New York, — the Senecas, Oneidas. CayugJis, Onondagiis, Tonawandas, and Tuscaroras. Tliese Indians are second- rate farmers, as are the Pottawatomies, Kickapoos, and Munsees of Kansas, who al^so lust in numbers last year, the deaths among them ex- ceeding the births by 30 per cent. ; and tlie same is true of Indians sim- ilarly situated in Michigan,— the Chippewas, Ottawas, and Pottawato- mies of the Mackinac agency. In each of these remnants of tribes there was about the same per cent, of loss. These Indians nearly all wear civilized dress, and they are surrounderl by whites. In thelndian Territory, however, nearly all the tribes areincreasing. The agent of the Cheyennes and Arapahoes reports 324 births, 110 deaths among 6769 Indians ; the Kiowa, Comanche, and Wishita agency reports 149 births, 96 deaths. Reports from the twenty-one other tribes in the Indian Territory indicate a small per cent, of increase in all ex- cept two. The ever unfortunate Poncas and the Senecas suffered a fur- ther loss in numbers last year. Outside of t lie Territory, without going into detail, it may be said gen- erally that thii Indians of the Northern plains, the great Sioux tribes and the Crows, are about stationary. There is perhaps a small increase, but reports are not full enough to show more than that there is no de- cided change. Citizens of the Southwest will particularly regret to know that the Utes and the IMescalero Aparhes are annually increasing in numbers. The fi-^heimen along the borders of Puget Sound, the Puyallup, Qiiillehute, Cteur d'Alene, O'Kanagans, etc., are slowly in- creasing, while the S'kokomish and Quinaielt Indians of the same re- gion report a decided loss last year. The generalization indicated by these reports is not a pleasant one. It will be iioriced that the uncivilized Indians, or at least those living and remarkable sagacity. The exceptional among them have been gifted with keen perceptive faculties, creating and preserving tribal relations among them- selves for centuries, recognizing the obligations of truth, virtue, and honor, the omnipotent power of a "Great Spirit," ' andagreat" future hunting-ground." away from the direct influences of the white race, are increasing, while those living in the midst of prosperous white settlements are gradually dying out. Thefivecivilized tribes of thelndian Territory, and especially the Cherokees, who are themselves prosperous, hold tlie theory that In- dians cannot thrive when immediately surrounded by commuuitiesof white men ; that, being unable to compete with their neighbors, the In- dians become hopelessly discouraged. The figures given above appear to confirm this doctrine. Fuller and more accurate statistirs may, how- ever, modify or reverse the conclusions based upon the official reports we have quoted, which afford the best data now obtainable. 1 The following letter of Conraerpendicular. This little circumstance added materially to the outward appearance of ;jravity in the savage's general demeanor. instance, Octockekon, Rancocas, Oricton, Shak, Mar- ian, Poquesian, all which are names of places, and have grandeur in them. Of words of sweetness, anna is mother ; issimus, a brother ; nefeap, friend ; iw- qiieoret, very good ; pane, bread ; mefsa, eat ; mattu, no ; halta, to have ; payo, to come ; Sepassen, Passijon, the names of places ; Tamane, Secane, Menanse, Seca- tareus are the names of persons. If one ask them for anything they have not, they will answer, matta ne hatta, which, to translate, is 'not I have,' instead of ' I have not.' " Of their customs and manners there is much to be said. I will begin with children. So soon as they are born they wash them in water, and while very young and in cold weather to choose, they plunge them in the rivers to harden and embolden them. Having wrapt them in a clout, they lay them on a strait thin board a little more than the length and breadth of the child, and swaddle it fast upon the board to make it straight; wherefore all Indians have flat heads ; and thus they carry them at their backs. The children will go [walk] very young, at nine months commonly. They wear only a small clout around their waist till they are big. If boys, they go a-fishing till ripe for the woods, which is about fifteen. There they hunt; and having given some proofs of their manhood by a good return of skins, they marry; else it is a shame to think of a wife. The girls stay with their mothers, and help to hoe the ground, plant corn, and carry burthens; and they do well to use them to that, while young, which they must do when they are old; for the wives are the true servants of the husbands ; otherwise the men are very afl'ectionate to them. When the young women are fit for marriage they wear something upon their heads for an adver- tisement, but so as their faces are hardly to be seen but when they please. The age they marry at, if women, is about thirteen and fourteen ; if men, seven- teen and eighteen. They are rarely older. Their houses are mats or barks of trees, set on poles in the fashion of an English barn, but out of the power of the winds, for they are hardly higher than a man. They lie on reeds or grass. In travel they lodge in the woods about a great fire, with the mantle of duffils they wear by day wrapt about them and a few boughs stuck round them. Their diet is maize or Indian corn divers ways prepared, sometimes roasted in the aslies, sometimes beaten and boiled with water, which they call homine. They also make cakes not unpleasant to eat. They have likewise several sorts of beans and peas that are good nourishment, and the woods and rivers are their larder. If an European comes to see them, or calls for lodging at their house or wigwam, they give him the best place and first cut. If they come to visit us they salute us with an Itah .' which is as much as to say, ' Good be to you !' and set them down, which is mostly on the ground, close to their heels, their legs upright; it may be they speak not a word, but observe all passages [all that passes]. If THE ABORIGINES. 43 you give them anything to eat or drink, well, for they will not ask ; and, be it little or much, if it be with kindness, they are well pleased; else they go away sullen, but say nothing. They are great concealers of their own resentments, brought to it, I believe, by the revenge that hath been practiced among them. In either of these they are not exceeded by the Italians. A tragical instance fell out since I came into the country. A king's daughter, thinking her- self slighted by her husband in suffering another woman to lie down between them, rose up, went out, plucked a root out the ground, and ate it, upon which she immediately died ; and for which, last week, he made an ofl'ering to her kindred for atonement and liberty of marriage, as two others did to the kindred of their wives, who died a natural death ; for till widowers have done so they must not marry again. Some of the young women are said to take undue liberty before marriage for a portion ; but when mar- ried, chaste. When with child they know their husbands no more till delivered ; and during their month they touch no meat, they eat but with a stick, lest they should defile it; nor do their husbands fre- quent them till that time be expired. " But in liberality they e.xcel ; nothing is too good for their friend ; give them a fine gun, coat, or other thing, it may pass through twenty hands before it sticks; light of heart, strong affections, but soon spent. The most merry creatures that live, feast and dance perpetually ; they never have much, nor want much; wealth circulateth like the blood; all poets partake ; and though none shall want what another hath, yet exact observers of property. Some kings have sold, others presented me with several parcels of land ; the pay or presents I made them were not hoarded by the particular owners ; but the neigh- boring kings and their clans being present when the goods were brought out, the parties chiefly concerned consulted what and to whom they should give them. To every king then, by the hands of a person for that work appointed, is a proportion sent, so sorted and folded, and with that gravity that is admirable. Then that king subdivideth it in like manner among his dependants, they hardly leaving themselves an equal share with one of their subjects; and be it on such occasions as festivals, or at their common meals, the kings distribute, and to themselves last. They care for little, because they want but little ; and the reason is, a little contents them. In this they are sufficiently revenged on us; if they are ignorant of our pleasures, they are also free from our pains. . . . Since the Europeans came into these parts they are grown great lovers of strong liquors, rum especially, and for it they exchange the richest of their skins and furs. If they are heated with liquors they are restless till they have enough to sleep, — that is their cry. Some more and I will go to sleep ; but when drunk one of the most wretched spectacles in the world ! " In sickness, impatient to be cured ; and for it give anything, especially for their children, to whom they are extremely natural. They drink at these times a uilders rather than dwellers in lodges), like the Lenapes, claimed a Western origin, and they were the most warlike race upon the continent, proud and haughty as the Romans whom they so closely resembled, and, like them, enabled to conquer by their compact military and civil organization. Other tribes were split into small bands, between which there was only a feeble and defective concert and unity of action. The Iroquois, on the other hand, were a nation, and wherever we find them we discover that they lived and acted together in co-operative union. In Pennsylvania, for example, in all the land purchases made by Dutch, Swedes, and English, we find the Minquas acting as one tribe, dealing as one people and one name, whereas with the Lenapes each petty chief seemed to do what was best in his own sight. Tamine or Tanianend was probably the great chief of the Lenapes in the time of Penn, and his supreme authority was manifest in the councils, but when it came to selling land he was no more than on a level with the twenty or thirty sachems who signed their marks to the deeds of conveyance for the various tracts. Their industrial arts were of the most primitive character. Their tools and implements were made of stone, many of which are models of proportion, design, and neatness of finish. Campanius says, — " They make their bows wMth the limb of a tree, of about a man's length, and their bow-strings out of the sinews of animals ; they make their arrows out of a reed a yard and a half long, and at one end they fix in a piece of hard wood of about a quarter's length, at the end of which they make a hole to fix in the head of the arrow, which is made of black flint- stone, or of hard bone or horn, or the teeth of large DELAWARE INDIAN EAMILY. [From Campanius* "New Sweden."] fishes or animals, which they fasten in with fish glue in such a manner that the water cannot penetrate; at the other end of the arrow they put feathers. They can also tan and prepare the skins of animals, which they paint afterwards in their own way. They make much use of painted feathers, with which they adorn their skins and bed-covers, binding them with a kind of network, which is very handsome, and fastens the feathers very well. With these they make light and warm clothing and covering for themselves; with the leaves of Indian corn and reeds they make purses, mats, and baskets, and everything else that they want. . . . They make very handsome and strong mats of fine roots, which they paint with all kinds of figures; 46 HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY. they hang their walls with these mats, and make ex- cellent bed-clothes out of them. The women spin thread and yarn out of nettles, hemp, and some plants unknown to us. Governor Printz had a complete set of clothes, with coat, breeches, and belt, made by these barbarians with their wampum, which was curiously wrought with figures of all kinds of ani- mals. . . . They make tobacco-pipes out of reeds Koioyorkhukox, July 15, 1682. ^ Allowkavi. Jul,/ 15, 1682. Tamanen. June 23, 1683. Tajiianen. Jnue 23, 1683. JS Tamaiten {Receipt for Mimey). June 23, 16S3. 1 Ncneahikkei,. hth Mo. 14, 1683. Wmtfcbnue. Jmif 25, 16S3. Mnlebone. bth Mo. 14, 1683. Secane. 5th Mo. 14. 1683. jy Jrqnoquehnn. bth Mo. 14, 1683. C C Essepenaike. Jime 23, 1683. Okettarickvn. June 23, 1683. X wtnipet e 23, I tSictnipees. June 23, 1683. Wtasapoot. June 23, 1683. Kehelappaii . June 23, 1683. Pendatiouf/hah Neshnnnock. 6th Mo. 14, 1683. Hekerapptin. Sept. 20, 1683. Malehoiie. bth Mo. 30, 1683. Mnnghhoughsin. Ath Mo. 3, 1684. Shtikakopptk. bth Mo. 30, 1685. King Tnmauent. June 15, 1692. Meltii niicon. June 7, 1684. June 15, 1692. « about a man's length ; the bowl is made of horn, and to contain a great quantity of tobacco. They gener- ally present these pipes to their good friends when they come to visit them at their houses and wish them to stay some time longer ; then the friends can- not go away without having first smoked out of the pipe. They make them, otherwise, of red, yellow, and blue clay, of which there is a great quantity in the country ; also of white, gray, green, brown, black, and blue stones, which are so soft that they can be cut with a knife. . . . Their boats are made of the bark of cedar and birch trees, bound 'together and lashed very strongly. They carry them along wherever they go, and when they come to some creek that they want to get over they launch them and go whither they please. They also used to make boats out of cedar trees, which they burnt inside and scraped off the coals with sharp stones, bones, or muscle shells." Charles Thompson,' who enjoyed the confidence of the Indians, and whose good offices in effecting pur- chases of land were often invoked, and who frequently spent days and weeks among them unattended, refers to their want of knowledge in the metallic arts. He says,— " They were perfect strangers to the use of iron. The instruments with which they dug up the ground were of wood, or a stone fastened to a handle of wood. Their hatchets for cutting were of stone, sharpened to an edge by rubbing, and fastened to a wooden handle. Their arrows were pointed with flint or bones. What clothing they wore was of the skins of animals took in hunting, and their ornaments were principally of feathers. They all painted or daubed their face with red. The men suffered only a tuft of hair to grow on the crown of their head ; the rest, whether 1 He was in fact adopted by them. He touk minutes of the conference proceedings in shori-liantI,and tiiese were so uccurute as to be preferred by the coniniissioners to tlie official record, and so just to the Indiana as to win tlieir prorouiul gratitude. Tliey adopted liini into the Lenape nation, and gave him the name of Weg/t-wii-law-tco-tfnd, " the man wlio tells tire truth," THE ABORIGINES. 47 on their head or faces, they prevented from growing by constantly plucking it out by the roots, so that they always appeared as if they were bald and beardless. " Many were in the practice of marking their faces, arms, and breast by pricking the skin with thorns and rubbing the parts with a fine powder made of coal (charcoal), which, penetrating the punctures, left an indelible stain or mark, which remained as long as they lived. The punctures were made in figures according to their several fancies. The only part of the body which they covered was from the waist half-way down the thighs, and their feet they guarded with a kind of shoe made of hides of buffa- loes or deerskin, laced tight over the instep and up to the ankles with thongs. It was and still continues to be a common practice among the men to slit their ears, putting something into the hole to prevent its closing, and then by hanging weights to the lower part to stretch it out, so that it hangs down the cheek like a large ring. They had no knowledge of the use of silver or gold, though some of these metals were found among the Southern Indians. Instead of money they used a kind of beads made of conch-shell, manu- factured in a curious manner. These beads were made, some of the white, some of the black or col- ored parts of the shell. They were formed into cyl- inders about one-quarter of an inch long and a quarter of an inch in diameter. They were round and highly polished and perforated lengthwise with a small hole, by which they strung them together and wove them into belts, some of which, by a proper arrangement of the beads of different colors, were figured like carpeting with different figures, according to the vari- ous uses for which they were designed. These were made use of in their treaties and intercourse with each other, and served to assist their memory and preserve the remembrance of transactions. When different tribes or nations made peace or alliance with each other they exchanged belts of one sort; when they excited each other to war they used another sort. Hence they were distinguished by the name of peace belts or war belts. Every message sent from one tribe to another wa-s accompanied with a string of these beads or a belt, and the string or belt was smaller or greater according to the weight and importance of the subject. These beads were their riches. They were worn as bracelets on the arms and like chains around the neck by wayof orna- ments." When and how the Indians acquired the art of pro- ducing fire by friction, prior to the use of flint and steel, remains a great mystery. This element was absolutely essential to their existence in the northern latitudes, and must of necessity have been in use by them. Nature may have supplied them by volcanic eruptions, and once in their possession they may have retained perpetual fires. The discovery of heat, generated by friction, may have been accidental in fallen forest trees moved or swayed by the wind. " Gen. George Crook has described a fire-stick used by the Indians of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade ranges. ' The fire-stick,' he says, ' consists of two pieces. The horizontal stick is generally from one foot to a foot and a half long, a couple or three inches wide, and about one inch thick, of some soft, dry wood, frequently the sap of the juniper. The upright stick is usually some two feet long and from a quarter to half an inch in diameter, with the lower end round or elliptical, and of the hardest material they can find. In the sage-brush country it is made of " grease- wood." When they make fire they lay the first piece in a horizontal position with the flat side down, and place the round end of the upright near the edge of the other stick ; then taking the upright between the hands they give it a swift rotary motion, and as con- stant use wears a hole in the lower stick, they cut a nick in.its outer edge down to a level with the bottom of the hole. The motion of the upright works the ignited powder out of this nick, and it is there caught and applied to a piece of spunk or some other highly combustible substance, and from this the fire is started.' " Of their tribal relations and intercourse Mr. Thompson seems to have been a close observer : "Almost every nation being divided into tribes, and these tribes subdivided into families, who from relationship or friendship united together and formed towns or clans ; these several tribes, families, and towns have commonly each a particular name and chief, or head man, receive messages, and hold con- ferences with strangers and foreigners, and hence they are frequently considered by strangers and for- eigners as distinct and separate nations. Notwith- standing this, it is found upon closer examination and further inquiry that the nation is composed of several of these tribes, united together under a kind of federal government, with laws and customs by which they are ruled. Their governments, it is true, are verj' lax, except as to peace and war, each individual having in his own hand the power of revenging inju- ries, and when murder is committed the next relation having power to take revenge, by putting to death the murderer, unless he can convince the chiefs and head men that he had just cause, and by their means can pacify the family by a present, and thereby put an end to the feud. The matters which merely regard a town or family are settled by the chiefs and head men of the town ; those which regard the tribe, by a meeting of the chiefs from the several towns; and those that regard the nation, .such as the making war or concluding peace with the neighboring nations, are determined on in a national council, composed of the chiefs and head warriors from every tribe. Every tribe has a chief or head man, and there is one who presides over the nation. In every town they have a council-house, where the chief assembles the old men and advises what is best. In every tribe there is a place, which is commonly the town in which the 48 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. chief resides, where the head men of the towns meet to consult on the business that concerns them ; and in every matter there is a grand council, or what they call a council-fire, where the heads of the tribes and chief warriors convene to determine on peace or war. In these several councils the greatest order and de- corum is observed. In a council of a town all the men of the town may attend, the chief opens the business, and either gives his opinion of what is best or takes the advice of such of the old men as are heads of families, or most remarkable for prudence and knowledge. None of the young men are allowed or ])resume to speak, but the whole assembly at the end of every sentence or speech, if they approve it, express their approbation by a kind of hum or noise in unison with the speaker. The same order is observed in the meetings or councils of the tribes and in the national councils." Like all barbarous nations, the North American Indians were superstitious. Parkman says, " The sorcerer, by charms, magic songs, magic feats, and the beating of his drum, had power over the spirits and those occult influences inherent in animals and inanimate things. He could call to him the souls of his enemies. They appeared before him in the shape of stones. He chopped and bruised them with his hatchet ; blood and flesh issued forth ; and the in- tended victim, however distant, languished and died. Like the sorcerer of the Middle Ages, he made im- ages of those he wished to destroy, and muttering incantations, punctured them with an awl, whereupon the persons represented sickened and pined away." Subjects of fear as they were under the sorcerer's arts and magic when in health, and pliant patients in the hands of the conjurer when stricken with dis- ease, yet their ruling passion seems to have been that of hate and revenge in the redress of insults and in- juries. To gratify this passion of their savage souls time, distance, suffering, peril were but food to feed upon ; disappointment and delay only served to in- crease their thirst for blood when in pursuit of ven- geance. "The stealthy blow, the reeking scalp torn from the prostrate victim, the yell of triumph when the deed was done — this was compensation for all. Nor did death suffice; the enemy, public or private, must be tortured, and nothing but his agony and his groans could satiate the wolfish thirst of the savage for blood. His warfare was conducted by stealth and strategy and surprise; he imitated the panther, not the lion, in his assaults, and he lay by his victim and mangled him like the tiger. Sometimes he ate his victim if he was renowned, that all of the valor and virtue of the slain might not be lost, but some of it pass into the slayer's own person. If conquered or wounded to death his stoicism was indomitable; his enemy might see his back in flight, but never behold him flinch under torture; when his finger-nails were plucked out one by one, and the raw skull from which his scalp was torn seared with live coals, and red-hot gun-barrels thrust into the abdominal cavity after he had been disemboweled, he would still sing his death- song and gather breath to hurl a last yell of defiance at his enemy as he expired." It seems, however, that limitations were imposed upon this passion, at least among themselves, by rules or customs of restraint. Offenses were chiefly against the person, as there were but few property rights to be sinned against among them. Every crime could be condoned. This was possible in case of murder. If murderer and victim belonged to the same clan, it was looked upon as a family quarrel, to be settled by the immediate kin. As a rule, public opinion compelled the acceptance of the atonement in lieu of blood- shed. If the murderer and victim were of different clans, the whole tribe went to work to prevent a feud from arising and leading to more bloodshed. Every effort was made to get the victim's clan to accept the atonement offering. Thirty presents was the price of a man's life, forty for a woman. If the victim be- longed to a foreign tribe, the danger of war led to council meetings, formal embassies, and extensive making of actual and symbolical presents. That the Indians .should place a higher estimate upon the life of a woman than the man is in strange contrast with their general character, — perhaps it was because of her greater value to them as a drudge or laborer. A wild and singular people were the Indians who met our forefathers on the shores of the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers. Evidences of friendship and comity towards our race they certainly mani- fested, as also a consciousness of our superior condi- I)Er,AWARE INDIAN' FORT. [From Campantiis' " New Sweden.*'] tion ; but, withal, their adult people, rulers and ruled, never yielded to the temptations of wealth, the greater power or higher enjoyments of life as seen in the line of civilization, before which they protestingly retreated, league by league, to the Ohio and Mississippi. For almost four centuries they have stolidly looked on the amazing progress and development of the continent over wiiich they roamed as its proud possessors. Eye-witnesses to the plain and simple forms of government cstab- EARLY VOYAGERS AND TRADERS. 49 lished in their very midst upon lands purchased from , them, in daily contact with a number of different Ian- i guages, all far superior to theirs, they remained un- ' affected; not even war, with all its potentialities, with all its destructive agencies, and in which they were used as factors by their cunning and adroit : allies, could wake them frona their barbarous inertia. One hope still remains ; it is for the youth of the race, who can beveducatedJ Through these there may be a final redemption of the tribes now on the Pacific Slope. Note. — About the year 1710 a Swedish missionary preached a sermon at an Indian treaty lield at Conestogoe, in Pennsylvania, in which ser- niuii he set forth original sin, the necessity of a mediator, and endeavored Iiy certain argnments to induce the Indians to embrace tlie Christian religion. After he bad ended his discourse one of the Indian chiefs made a speech in reply to the sermon, and the discourses on both sides wpre made known by interpreters. The missionary, upon his return to Sweden, published his sermon and the Indian's answer. Having written them in Latin, he dedicated them to the University of Upsal, and re- quested them to furnish him witli arguments to confute such strong reasoning of the Indians. The Indian speech, translated frum tlie Latin, is HS fullows : "Since the subject of his (the missionary's) errand is to persuade us to embrace a new doctrine, perhaps it may not be amiss, before we offer liim the reasons why we cannot comply with his request, to accjuaiut him with the grounds and principles of that religion which he would have iia abandon. Our forefathers were under a strong persna«iOTi, as we are, that those who act well in this life shall be rewarded in the next, according to the degree of their virtue; and, on the otLer hand, that those who behave wickedly here will undergo such punishments here- after as are proportionate to the crimes they were guilty of. This hath been constantly and invariably received and acknowledged fur a truth through every successive generation of our ancestors. It could not have tukL'U its rise from fable, for human fiction, however artfully and plau- sibly contrived, can never gain credit long among any people where free inquiry is allowed, which was never denied by our ancestoi-s, who, on the contrary, thouglit it the sacred, inviolable, natural right of every man to exnmine and judge for himself. Therefore we think it evident that our notion concerning future rewards and punishments was either re- vealed immediately from heaven to some of our forefathers, and from them descended to us, or that it was implanted in each of us at our creation by the Creator of all things. Whatever the methods might have been whereby God hath been pleased to make known to us His will, it is still in our sense a divine revelation. Now we desire to propose to him some few qtiestions. Does he believe that our fore- fathers, men eminent for their piety, constant and warm in the pursuit of virtue, hoping thereby to merit everlasting happiness, were all damned? Does he tlnnk that we, who are their zealous imitators in good works, and influenced by the same motives as they were, earnestly endeavoring with the greatest circumspection to tread the paths of in- tegrity, aie in a state of damnation ? If these be his sentimi-nts they are surely as impious as they are bold and daring. In the next place, we beg that he would explain himself more particularly concerning the n'velalion he talks of. If he admits no other than what is contained in his variUen hook, the contrary is evident from what has been shown before. But if he says God has revealed Him- self to us, but not suiEcient for our salvation, then we ask to what purpose should he have revealed Himself to us iu anywise? It is clear that a revelation insufficient to save cannot put ns iu a better condition than we should be in without any revelation at all. We can- not conceive that God should point out to us the end we ought to aim I at without opening to us the way to arrive at that end. But, supposing our understandings to be so far illuminated as to know it to be our iluty | to please God, who yet hath left us under an incapacity of doing it, will I this missionary, therefore, conclude that we shall be eternally damned ? j Will be take upon him to pronounce damnation against us for not doing I those things whicli he himself acknowledges were impossible by us to , be done? It is our opinion that every man is possessed of sufficient knowledge for his salvation. The Almighty, for anything we know, may have communicated the knowledge of Himself to a different race of people iu a different manner. Some say they have the will of God in writing: be it so; their revelation has no advantage above ours, since ' both must be equally sufficient to save, otherwise the end of the reve- lation would be frustrated. Besides, if they both be true they must be the same in substance, and the difference can only lie in the mode of communication. He tells us there are many precepts in his wriLlen reve- lation which we are entirely ignorant of. But these written commands can only be designed for those who have the writings; they cannot pos- sibly regard us. Had the Almighty tboughtso much knowledge neces- sary for our salvation His goodness would not long have deferred the communication of it to us ; and to say that in a manner so necessary he could not at one and the same time equally reveal Himself to all mankind is nothing less than an absolute denial of His omnipotence. Without doubt He can make his will manifest without the help of any book or the assistance of any bookish man whatever. We shall in the next place consider the arguments which arise from a consideration of providence. If we are the wurk of God (which I presume will not be denied), it follows from thence that we are under the care and protec- tion of God ; for it cannot be supposed that the Deity should abandon his own creatures and be utterly regardless of their welfare. Then to say that the Almighty hath permitted us to remain in a fatal error through so many ages is to represent Him as a tyrant. How is it consis- tent with His justice to force life upon a race of mortals without their consent and then damn Owm cttniKiV y . without ever opening to them the duor of salvation ? Our conceptions of the gracious God are more noble, and we think that those who teach otherwise do little less than blaspheme. Again, it is through the care and goodness of the Almighty that from the beginning of time, through many generations to this day, our name has been preserved, unblotted out by enemies, unreduced to nothing By that same care we now enjoy our lives, are served with the necessary means of preserving those lives. But all these things are trifling compared with our salvation. Therefore, since God hath been so careful of us iu matters of liltle consequence, it would be absurd to affirm that He has neglected us in cases of the greatest importance. Admit that He hath forsaken us, yet it could not have been without a just cause. Let us suppose that an henious crime was committed by one of our ancestors, like to that which we are told happened among another race of people. In auch case God would certainly punish the criminal, but would never involve us, who are innocent, in his guilt. Those who think otherwise must make the Almighty a very whimsical, ill-natured being. Once more, are the ChrislianH more virtuous, or, rather, are they not more vicious than we are ? If 8o, how came it to pass that they are tlie objects of God's beneficence, while we are neg- lected? Does the Deity confer His favors without reason, and with so much partiality? In a word, we find the Christians much more de- praved in their morals than ourselves, and we judge of their doctrine by the badness of their lives." The Loan's Prayer in the Lanou.vge of the Six Nation Inoians. Soungwiiuncha, caurounkj'augS, tehseetiiroiin, B."iulwL)neyoufta, esa, sawaneyou, 6k<^ttauhseia, ehn^auwoung, na, carounk5auga, nugh, wonshauga, neittewehnesaiauga, tjiugwaunautoronoantough- sick, tuantangweleewheyouftailng, cheneeyeut, chaqujitaiitaley whey ouftriuona, tough fan, tang waussarC-neh, ■ tawautOttenaugalought- oungga, nris.H,wu6, sacheautaugwasd, cuntehsalohaunzriikjtw, esa, silwauneyou, eei, sashautzta, esa, soungwaaoung, ch6nueauhaiingwa, auwen. CHAPTER IV. EARLY VOYAGERS AND TRADERS— FIRST SETTLE- MENTS ON THE DELAWARE AND SCHUYLKILL RIVERS. The events connected with and resulting from the discovery of the South and North Rivers' by Henry Hudson, from 1609 to 1638, are so interwoven with the settlements of the Swedes on the shores of the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers, as to render some account of the advent of the Dutch or Netherlanders a necessary prelude to the annals of the later settlers. 1 Delaware and Hudson. 50 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. The writer has consulted numerous authorities upon the remarkable events of the period referred to, and has used them freely when deemed essential to a concise narrative of facts.' There is no subject associated with the history of our ancestry more replete with continuing interest than that which relates to the experience and achievements of the early voyagers, traders, and set- tlers who landed upon the shores of the Delaware Eiver. The splendid bay which joins river to ocean invited them to safe anchorage after their long and adventurous passage over a trackless and compara- tively unknown " waste of waters" between two con- tinents. The Delaware River and its confluents were unexplored to them, beyond what they could learn from the savages who met them many miles south of tide-water levels. The period of these early settle- ments, about 1620, was marked by great maritime activity, induced by the discovery of the North Amer- ican continent by Christopher Columbus and the many and remarkable voyagers who subsequently crossed the Atlantic Ocean on exploring expeditions, first and ostensibly to extend the dominion of their " Gracious Sovereigns," and second to gratify their professional ambition in opening up new avenues of trade and the accumulation of wealth.^ The return of these early voyagers and their flattering reports of climate, bays and harbors, rivers, soil, surface prod- ucts, and minerals, with imaginary possibilities and the wild and savage character of the native people, all tended to increase public interest in the New World and attract adventurous spirits vo its shores.' 1 Bancroft, Hist. United States ; Proud, Hist. Pennsylvania; Colonial Archives; Sliernian Day, Hist. Pennsylvania; Davis, Hist. Bucks County; Brodhead, Hist. New York ; Mrs. Martlia J. Lamb, Hist. Nevf York ; Scliarf and Westcolt, Hist, of Pliiladelpliia. -There is no ground for reasonable doubt that John and Sebastian Cabot, natives of Venice, probably sailors almost from birth, but doing business in Bristol, England, at the time of their commission under King Henry VIT., were the iirst navigators, at least of historic times, to discover the actual coast-line of the North American continent, along which they sailed from Newfoundland to the parallel of Gibraltar, that is to say, to about the latitude of Cape Hatteras. John Cabot, tlie senior of these sailors and traders, excited by the news of the great discovery made by Christoplier Columbus, and with the certainty thus warranted of reaching land by sailing westward, obtained a commission under the great seal of Ejigland from King Henry VII., dated March 5, 149G, au- thorizing the navigator and his three sons, or either of them, their heirs or their deputies, to sail into the Eastern, Western, or Northern seas, with a fleet of five ships, at their own expense, in search of unknown lands, islands, or provinces; to plant the banner of England on these when found, and possess and occupy them as vassals of the English crown. Tlie provision that tlie explorers sliould voyage at their own expense was characteristic of tlie tlirilty monarch, but tlie commission of a king at that day was the only safeguard the navigator had to pro- tect him from suspicions of piracy, and the exclusive right of frequent- ing and trading to the new countries when found was a privilege for which nations were soon to contend. 3" Every great European event affected the fortunes of America. Did a State prosper, it souglit an increase ot wealth by plantations in the West ; was a sect persecuted, it escaped to tlie New World. The Refor- mation, fcdlowed by collisions between English Dissenters and the Anglican hierarchy, colonized New England; the Reformation, eman- cipating the Low t^nntries, led to settlements on the Hudson. The Netherlands divide with England the glory of having planted the first colonies in the United States; they also divide the glory of having set This condition of things was suggestive to capitalized ambition, and led to the formation of corporations or companies for the encouragement of transatlantic commerce and the establishment of permanent colo- nies at or near convenient points of shipment on navigable rivers. In 1609, Henry Hudson, an English navigator of great experience and remarkable energy, then in the service of the Dutch East India Company, explored the coast from the Chesapeake Bay to Maine. The Delaware River was first explored by this bold mari- ner. His first officer, Robert Jewett (or Juet), kept a journal of the ship's experience, from which it appears that on Aug. 28, 1609 (new style), they en- tered the mouth of the river. It was on the strength of this discovery, and tliat of the Hudson River by the same officer, that the Dutch based their claim to the lands between the North and South Rivers, as the Hudson and Delaware Rivers were then called, as well as that which was contiguous to their shores. The accounts of this voyage and the discoveries made are said to be accurate, circumstantial, and satisfactory to all historians.' The Dutch did not the example of public freedom. If England gave our fathers the idea of a popular representation, the United Provinces were their model of a Federal Union. " < We know surprisingly little of Henry Hudson. He is said to have been the personal friend of Capt. John Smith, the founder of Virginia, and it is probable that he was of the family of that Henry Hudson who, in 1554, was one of the original incorporators of the English Muscovy Company. This man's son, Christopher, supposed to have been the father of the great navigat^ir, was as early as 15G0 and up to 1601 the factor and agent on the spot of the London Company trading to Russia, and it seems likely that the younger Hudson, from his familiarity with Arctic navigation, and his daring pertinacity in attempting to invade the ice-bound northern Wiistes.niay have served his apprenticeship as a navigator in trading, on behalf the Muscovy Company, from Bristol to Russia, as was then often done through the North Cliiinnel, and round the Hebrides, Orkneys, Shet- lands, and North Cape to the White Sea and Arch- angel. Atany ratewhen Hudson makes his first picturesque appearance before us, in the summer of 16u7, in the Church of St. Etlielliurge, Bish- opsgate Street, London, where he and his crew are present to partakeof the Holy Sacrament to- gether, it is preparatory to a voyage in the ser- vice of the newly-or- ganized " London Com- pany," in Jewetfs own worde,"for to discover a passage by the North Pole to Japan and China." The navigator was at that time a middle-aged man, experienced and trusted. He bad already explored the northeast and the north, and the region between the Chesapeake and Maine. There was no room for hope but to the north of Newfoundland. Pro- ceeding by way of Iceland, where " the famous Hecla" was casting out fire, passing Greenland and Frobisher's Straits, he sailed on the 2d of August, WW, into the straits which bear his name, and into which no one had gone before him. As he came out from the passage upon the wide giiir, he believed that lie beheld " a sea to Ihe westward, "so that the short way to the Pacific was found. How great was his disappoiutmenl HENRV IIUOSO FIRST SETTLEMENTS ON THE DELAWARE AND SCHUYLKILL RIVERS. 51 avail themselves at once of the great advantages of trade and commerce opened up by the wonderful dis- coveries of Hudson, who had ])enetrated the North or Hudson River as far as Albany, visiting the river tribes of Indians and ascertaining the vast resources of valuable furs and skins purchasable from the sav- ages at merely nominal prices.' Hudson's report of the South or Delaware River was that from obser- vations made. He found the land " to trend away towards the northwest, with a great bay and rivers, but the bay was shoal." It is evident that Hudson did not find the Delaware River as inviting in a navigable point of view as the North or Hudson River, and there- fore it was that the Dutch first settled upon the latter river. In 1611 two enterprising men, Hendricks Christiaensen, of Cleves, Holland, a West India trader, and Adrian Block, of Amsterdam, in company with Schipper Rysar, chartered and equipped a ship and made a successful voyage to and up the Hudson River, exchanging commodities with the Indian tribes, and returning with a profitable cargo of furs { and skins. They were also successful in securing two young Indians, said to be the sons of chiefs, whom they christened Valentine and Orson. These sav- ages, not less than the possibilities of large trade in the rude products of their tribes, excited popular in- : terest in the new country. These enterprising traders, joined by a number of merchants, memorialized the Provincial States of Holland and West Friesland by the importance of discoveries made, and it was judged of sufficient consequence to be formally com- municated to the cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, when he found himself in a labyrinth without end. Still confident of ultimate succosb, the determined mariner resolved on wintering in the bay, that he might perfect his discovery in the spring. His crew mur- mured at the sufferings of a winter for which no preparations had been made. At length the late and an.xiousIy-expected spring burst forth; but it opened in vain for Hudson. Provisions were exhausted ; he di- vided the last bread among his men and prepared for them a bill of return, and "he wept as he gave it them," Believing himself almost on the point of succeeding, where Spaniards and English and Danes and Dutch bad failed, be left his anchoring-place to steer for Europe. For two days the ship was encompassed by fields of ice, and the discon- tent of the crew broke forth into mutiny. Hudson was seized, and, with his only son and seven others, four of whom were sick, were thrown into the shallop. Seeing his commander thus exposed, Philip Staife, the carpenter, demanded and gained leave to share his fate, and just as the ship made its way out of the ice, on a miilsunimer day, in a latitude where the sun In that season hardly goes down and evening twilight mingles with the dawn, the shallop was cut loose. What became of Hudson? Dill be die miserably of 8tarv:ttion ? Did he reach land to perish from the fury of the natives ? Was he crushed between ribs of ice? The returning ship encountered storms, by which she was proba- bly overwhelmed. The gloomy waste of waters which bears his name is bis tomb and bis monument. ^ Hudson relates that he was taken to a bou.oe well constructed of oak-bark, circular in form, and arched in the ro.if, the granary of the beans and maize of tlio last year's harvest, while outside enough of them lay drying to load three ships. Two mats were spread out as seats for the strangers ; food was iumiediately served in neat red bowls; men who were sent at once with bows and arrows for game soon returned with pigeons ; a fat dog, too, was killed, and haste made to prepare a feast. When Hudson refused to wait, they supposed him to be afraid of Iheir weapons, and taking their arrows they broke them in pieces and threw Iheni into the fire. Of all binds on which I ever set my foot, says Hudson, this is the best for tillage. Hoorn, and Enckhuysen.^ On the 27th of March, 1614, the States-General ordained " that private ad- venturers might enjoy an exclusive privilege for four successive voyages to any pa.ssage, haven, or country they should thereafter find." With such encourage- ment, a company of merchants in the same year sent five small vessels, of which the " Fortune," of Am- sterdam, had Christiaensen for its commander; the " Tiger," of the same port, Adrian Block ; the " For- tune," of Hoorn, Cornells Jacobsen Mey, to extend the discoveries of Hudson, as well as the trade with the natives. Upon the return of this merchant fleet the officers made report to the States-General, in conformity with the terms of the "ordinance" under which they sailed. This report embraced a detailed account of their exploring efforts on the coast, and entrance to harbors and rivers. Appended to the same were maps representing the topographical face of the country for some miles inland. Armed with this report and " figurative map" these navigators, supported and accompanied by the wealthy mer- chants in whose service they were really employed, proceeded to the Hague to obtain further conces.sions from the "twelve mighty Lords of the States-Gen- eral," presided over by John von Olden Barneveldt, the advocate of Holland. They presented an ad- mirable case, basing their claim for a further and en- larged extension of privileges upon the perils and hardships endured, misfortunes suffered, and advan- tages likely to accrue to the merchants of the Neth- erlands. Barneveldt and his associates were favora- bly impressed with the flattering report, and promptly granted to the united company of merchants and their adventurous Dutch captains a three years' monopoly of trade with the territory between Vir- ginia and New France, from forty to forty-five degrees of latitude. This grant was in the nature of a char- ter, executed on the 11th day of October, 1614, and named the extensive region of country embraced in it as the New Netherlands. While these early monopolists were paying court to the Netherland government, and adroitly laying plans for large acquisitions of lands which they claimed to have discovered between Virginia and the New Eng- land coast, Capt. Cornells Hendricksen manned and equipped the "Unrest," or " Restless," a yacht of six- teen tons, built by Capt. Block, to take the place of the "Tiger," burnt at Manhattan Island, and pro- ceeded to explore the Delaware Bay and River. He is reported to have landed at several places, made soundings, and prepared extensive charts of the shore line, and noting the entrance of many of the conflu- ent streams emptying into this navigable highway. As evidence of the thoroughness of the manner in which Hendricksen did his work on the Delaware, it is related that, while leaving the " Restless" at anchor at the mouth of Christiana Greek, he extended his 2 lirodhe.id, i. p. 46. N. Y. Hist. Coll , 2d series, ii. 3o5. 52 HISTOJIY OF MONTGOMEKY COUNTY. observations inland for some distance, where he came in contact with a small party of Minqua Indians, and rescued three white men, Netherlanders, who had some months prior strayed away from the fort or trading-station at Castle Island, on the Hudson River. These men had lost their way in the forest and had reached the Mohawk Valley. Crossing from thence to the Delaware, they fell in with savages who proved friendly, and, by a providence of life deemed most for- tunate by them, met their friends on the shore of Christiana Creek. Having prepared himself to make an advantageous report, he returned to Holland, and on the 16th of August, 1016, appeared before the States-General, declaring "he had discovered a bay and three rivers, situated between thirty-eight and forty degrees, and did there trade with the Indians, said trade consisting of sables, furs, robes, and other skins. He hath found the said country full of trees, to wit: oak, hickory, and pines, which trees were in some places covered with vines. He hath seen in said country bucks and doe, turkeys and partridges. He hath found the climate of said country very temper- ate, judging it to be as temperate as Holland." On this report Hendricksen claimed further and exten- sive privileges and immunities. In this he was dis- appointed. The authorities refused him upon the ground that a change in their policy was expedient, looking to the permanent colonization of the country he claimed to have explored. This policy compre- hended the organization of a" West Indies Company." The growth, utility, and experience of this company for many subsequent years, resulting from the politi- cal agitation of the Netherlands, affords an interesting theme for comment, and is nowhere more graphically described than in the recently-published " History of New York," by Mrs. Martha J. Lamb. The spirit of religious persecution which prevailed in the seventeenth century was also a factor in the work of colonization. The Puritan exiles, led by John Robinson, William Brewster, and others, who had been living in the Netherlands in the enjoyment of their religious tenets, were looked upon as a migra- tory people, and by a certain class of political econ- omists thought available as colonists for the purpose of founding a flourishing settlement at some point on the Atlantic coast. To these people the New World was painted in glowing colors by the Dutch naviga- tors and capitalists, while they in turn were willing to make unusual sacrifices for the enjoyment of religious liberty. Here were conditions of society and policy which seemed to synchronize and promise the most desirable results to all parties concerned. These exiles had made overtures to the Virginia Col- ony and the Plymouth Company, but in both instances failed to effect arrangements deemed necessary for their permanent welfare as a colony, and therefore applied to the Netherlands through the Amsterdam merchants to settle at some point in the New World under the protection of the States-General. John Robinson prepared the memorial. He proposed to take four hundred families with him, provided they were assured of protection. " They desired to go to the New Netherlands, to plant there the true Christian religion, to convert the savages of those countries to the true knowledge and understanding of the Christian faith, and through the grace of the Lord, and to the glory of the Netherlands' government, to colonize and establish a new empire under the order and command of the Prince of Orange and the High Mighty Lords States-General." The company of merchants heart- ily co-operated with Robinson in his comprehensive purpose, pledging large sums of money to secure transportation for the four luindred families, and all the necessary supplies of stock, implements, seeds, provisions, etc., and when plans were well matured they sent their most influential men to submit the memorial to the Hague, with their endorsement of the project. The Prince of Orange referred the project to the States-General, who, after great consideration, refused to sanction the enterprise or grant them the protection deemed necessary by Robinson and his coadjutors for the success and permanency of the new colony in the wilds of America. It was this refusal of the Dutch to transplant the " Pilgrims" on the Hudson and Delaware Rivers that aroused the re- served energies of their restless souls, and led to their subsequent departure in the "Speedwell" and "May- flower" for Plymouth Rock.' About this time religious controversy was renewed with great vigor. The Calvinists and Puritans were arrayed against the Arminians, who were in control of the States and patronage of the country. The work of the Reformation was producing its j ust fruits, and the freedom of religious thought prevailed. In 1619, after a bitter contest, the Calvinists triumphed, and soon after signalized their success by chartering the West India Company, granting to it extraordinary powers for the encouragement of maritime commerce and the extension of colonial dominion. This charter is dated June 3, 1621, and gave to the West India Company for the period of twenty-four years the ex- clusive monopoly of trade and navigation to the coasts of Africa, between the Cape of Good Hope and the Tropic of Cancer, and to the coasts of America and the West Indies, between the Straits of Magellan and Newfoundland. The company was invested with enormous powers. In the language of Brodhead, it might make in the name of the States-General I John Kobinson's fareweU blessing: '* I cbarge you before God and His blessed angels that you follow me no further than you have seen me follow the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord has more truth yet to break forth out of His holy word. I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the Reformed Churches, who are to come to a period in religion, and will go at present no further than the instruments of their reformation. Luther and Calvin were great and shining lights in their times, yet they penetrated not into the whole counsel of God. I beseech you, remember it, — 'tie an article of your church covenant, — that you be ready to receive whatever truth shall be made known to you from the written word of God." FIRST SETTLEMENTS ON THE DELAWARE AND SCHUYLKILL RIVERS. 53 " contracts aud alliances with the princes and natives of the countries comprehended within the limits of its charter, build forts, appoint and discharge gov- ernors, soldiers, and public officers, administer justice, and promote trade. It was bound to advance the peopling of these fruitful and unsettled parts, and do all that the service of those countries and the profit and increase of trade shall require." The States- General had a sort of general supervision, with the privilege of confirming the appointment of superior officers, but no other powers over it. The govern- ment of the company was vested in five boards of managers, — one at Amsterdam, managing four-ninths of the whole ; one at Middleburg, iu Zealand, man- aging two-ninths; one at Dordrecht, oa the Maese, managing one-ninth ; one in North Holland, one- ninth ; and one in Friesland and Groningen, one- ninth. The general executive power for all purposes, the power to declare war only being reserved for the approval of the States, was confided to a board of nineteen delegates, of whom eight were to come from the Amsterdam chamber, and the rest from the other chambers in proportion to their shares, except that the States-General had one delegate. The States were pledged to defend the company against all comers, to advance to it a million guilders in money, and give it for its a.ssistance sixteen ships of war of three hundred tons each, and foi^r yachts of eighty tons, fully equipped. This fleet was to be main- tained, manned, and supported by the company, which besides was to provide an equal number of vessels on its own part, the whole to be under the command of an admiral selected by the States-Gen- era). Any inhabitant of the Netherlands or of other countries might become a stockholder during 1621, but after that year the subscription books were to be closed, and no new members admitted. Colonization was one object of this great monopoly, but what its chiefs looked to principally for profit was a vast system of legalized piracy against the commerce of Spain and Portugal in Africa and America. The company was not finally organized under the charter until June, 1623, when the subscription books were closed. In the interval between the lapse of the old United Company and the completion of the charter of the new monopoly, several ships were sent on trading ventures of a more or less private character to the North and South Rivers in the New Netherlands, among them vessels which had visited those regions before. King James I. having granted the charter of the Plymouth Company, complaints began to be heard about Dutch intrusions. Sir Samuel Argall, who is represented in the spurious Plantagenet pam- phlet as having forced a Dutch governor in Manhat- tan to yield allegiance to the British king in 1613, is found in 1621 as complaining, in a memorial signed by him. Sir Ferdinando Georges, the Earl of Arun- del, and Capt. John Mason, against the " Dutch in- truders," who are represented as having only settled on the Hudson in 1620. This was claimed by the Plymouth Company as proof of the British king's title to the whole country, j\ire primce occupationis. This led to a protest, in December, 1621, by the Brit- ish government, through Sir Dudley Carleton, ambas- sador at the Hague. The States professed ignorance, and promised to make inquiry, and with that answer, after some fretfulness, the British minister was forced to content himself In fact, the States-General, en- grossed in preparations for the war with Spain, sim- ply delayed matters until the West India Company was organized, when all such questions were referred to it for settlement. It thus became an issue between British Plymouth Company and Dutch West India Company, and the latter was the stronger of the two, both in men and argument. The ships of that company, even before the final ratification of the amended charter, were trading in all the Atlantic waters between Buzzard's Bay (within twenty miles of Plymouth) and the Delaware River, and a plan of colonization was already matured. A number of Walloons (Belgian Protestants of supposed Waelsche or Celtic origin), refugees in Holland from Spanish persecution, had applied to the British min- ister Carleton for leave to emigrate to Virginia. Tlie terms offered them do not seem to have been satisfac- tory. The Holland Provincials heard of the negotia- tions, and suggested to the Amsterdam chamber of the West India Company that these would be good immigrants with whom to begin the permanent set- tlement of the New Netherlands. The suggestion was seized upon, and provision made to carry the Walloons over in the company's ship then about to sail, the " New Netherlands," Capt. Cornells Jacob- .sen Mey, he who had first sailed into South River, and who was going out now as first resident director ' or governor of the colonies. Some thirty families, chiefly Walloons, were accordingly taken on board, and in the beginning of March, 1623, the " New Neth- erlands" sailed from the Texel, Capt. Mey in com- mand, the nest highest officer being Adriaen Joris, of Thienpoint. The course of the ship (and of nearly all vessels making the American voyage at that day) was southward from the British Channel to the Cana- ries, thence across the Atlantic with the trade-winds to Guiana and the Caribbees, then northwest between the Bermudas and Bahamas until the coastof Virginia came in sight. Mey's vessel reached the North River safely and in time to drive ofi' a French vessel which sought to set up the arms of France on Manhattan Island. The Frenchman was foiled in the same way on the Zuydt River. Mey distributed his colonists as far as he could. The greater part of the Walloons were sent up to Albany, several families went to the Dutch factory on the Connecticut; four couples, who had married during the voyage out, several sailors, and some other men were sent to the South River, now also called Prince Hendrick's River. Mey appears 54 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. either to have accompanied them here or visited them soon after their arrival. He selected a site for their settlement, planting the Walloons on Verhulsten Island, near the present city of Trenton, N. J., and hastened the construction of a log fort or stockade for his sailors and soldiers at the mouth of the Tim- iner Kill, on the New Jersey bank of the Delaware, not far from where Gloucester now stands. This fort was called " Nassau." Its exact site is not deter- mined, nor can we decide the original Indian name of the spot, having such a variety to choose from.' This South River colony was soon given up. The men and women of the Walloons grew homesick and returned to New York, certainly within a year or so, the garrison also abandoning the fort to the Indians, who occasionally lodged there during several years, probably while waiting for trading vessels. Such a vessel was sent round to the South River at least once a year from Manhattan Island. Thus, it is supposed in 162.5, the first settlement on the Delaware came to naught.- Fort Nassau, to conclude its history, seems to have been alternately occupied and aban- doned by the Dutch until 1650 or 1651, when it was destroyed by the Dutch themselves, as being too high up the river and too much out of the way. The post was then transferred to the new Fort Casimir. In 1633, De Vries found none but Indians there, but it seems to have been restored some time during the same year by Governor Van Twiller, who was ac- cused of incurring extravagant expense in connec- tion with its construction. Arent Corssen was then commissary; he had a clerk, and the Governor or- dered him to select the site for another structure of the same sort on the river. In 1635 an English party attempted but failed to capture this fort. They were thought to be Lord Baltimore's people, but were more likely New Englanders or Virginians. The Swedes repeatedly denied that there was any fort of the Dutch on the Delaware in 1638 ; but the Dutch ac- counts of expenditure for the maintenance of Fort Nassau charged against that year in the West India Company's books disprove this. There was certainly enough of a garrison in the fort to report at once and protest against the Swedish settlement at Christiana 1 HermaomeBsiog, Tachaacbo, Armewamix, Arwames, Tekoke, Ar- menvereus, etc. The year in which the fort was Iiuilt is also disputed, hut ttie circiimstancea mentioned in tiie text niukc* it probable tliat its construction was undertaken very shortly after Capt. Mey's arrival out. - It is not possible to state satisfactorily in what year the settlement was Riven up nor why. The deposition of Peter Lawrenson before Gov- ernor Dongan, of New York, in March, 16S5, says that he came into this colony in 1C28, and in 1030 (actually 1131), by oi-der of the West India Company, he, with some others, was sent in a sloop to the Delaware, where the company had a trading-house, with ten or twelve servants belonging to it, which the deponent himself did see settled there. . . , "And the deponent further saith that upon an island near the falls of that river and near the west side thereof, tlie said company some thn'e or four years before had a trading-house, where there were three or four families of Walloons. The place of their settlement he saw ; and that they had been seated there he was informed by some of the said Wal- l)ons themselves when they were returned from Iheiice." Itisiuthis in i'-finite way that the beginnings of all bistoiy are written. in April, 1638. In 1642 the garrison comprised twenty men, and the fort was continually occupied from this time forth until the Dutch destroyed it. In 1624, Peter Minuet {the name is also spelled Minuit, Minnewit, or Minnewe) came out and suc- ceeded Mey as director of the New Netherlands colo- nies. He held this position until 1632, when he was recalled, and Van Twiller became Governor in his stead. Minuet, as will be seen further on, was a sagacious and enterprising man, but he had to pur- sue a conservative policy as director of the New Netherlands, for the welfare of the colony was neg- lected sadly by the West India Company. But few immigrants and colonists came out, the garrisons were not strengthened, nor was much effort made to ex- tend either the boundaries or the trade of the colony. Some negro slaves indeed were landed on Manhattan Island at least as early as 1628, but their labor was not esteemed. The chief business done was in trading with the Indians for peltries and furs. In fact the West India Company was so puffed with the arro- gance that proceeds from great successes and sudden wealth, that the directors despised the small and plod- ding colonial ways and the slow and meagre profits derived from such sources. It had won brilliant vic- tories at sea. It had taken in two years one hundred and four Spanish prizes. It had paid dividends of fifty per cent. It^had captured the Panama plate fleet. It frequently sent to sea single squadrons of seventy armed vessels. It had captured Bahia in 1624, and Pernambuco in 1630, and it aspired to the conquest of Brazil. These brilliant performances cast the puny interests of the New Netherlands traders into the shade, and the company did not care to be bothered with the discharge of duties which were nevertheless particularly assigned to it in the char- ter. So obvious was this departure from the original purposes of the company that so early even as 1624 we find that William Usselincx, the founder of the company, had abandoned it in disgust, and was seek- ing to persuade King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden to establish a Swedish West India Company, such as would be operated more in accordance with his original plan. There were still some very shrewd heads among the members of the Amsterdam chamber, men who while quite willing to take all the gold and silver and pre- cious stones they could get, yet were fully acquainted with the more abiding virtues of land. Of these were John De Laet, the historian, Killiaan Van Rensselaer, the diamond-cutter, Michael Pauw, Peter Evertsen Hulft, Jonas Witsen, Hendrick Hamel, Samuel Go- dyn, and Samuel Blommaert, all rich, all well in- formed, all interested in the support and develop- ment of the colonies on the North and South Rivers, especially if these could be effected in a w.ay further to enrich themselves. The secretary of Minuet and the colony, Isaac De Rasieres, a keen observer and skillful diplomatist, was devoted to the interests of FIRST SETTLEMENTS ON THE DELAWARE AND SCHUYLKILL RIVERS. 55 Godyn, Van Rensselaer, and Blommaert, and he prob- ably kept them apprised of all that w'as going on in the New Netherlands. While Minuet, with reduced forces, was compelled through fear of Indians to con- centrate his people at Manhattan, abandoning all ex- posed places, the Amsterdam directors, after consult- ing with De Rasieres, whom Minuet had sent home, procured a meeting of the Executive "College" of nineteen, and secured from it a Charter of Freedoms and Exemptions, which the States-General confirmed on June 7, 1629. This was a complete feudal consti- tution, adopted years before Lord Baltimore's charter. It created a landed aristocracy, and handed the State over pretty much to their control. The plan for the colonization of the territory was its subdivision into separate and independent settlements or estates, each to be under the control of a patroon, or feudal lord, who was tb settle it at his own expense in ex- change for many peculiar privileges. The charter provided that any member of the West India Com- pany (to none others were these privileges open) who should within four years plant a colony of fifty adults in any part of New Netherland (except the island of Manhattan, which the company, having bought it from the Indians, reserved to itself) should be acknowledged as a " patroon" or feudal chief of the territory he might thus colonize. The land se- lected for each colony might extend sixteen miles in length if confined to one side of a navigable river, or eight miles on each side if both banks were occupied ; but they might run as far into the country as the sit- uation of the occupiers should permit. More immi- grants entitled the patroon to proportionately more land. The colonists under the patroons were ex- empted from all taxes for ten years; they acquired their estates in fee-simple, with power of disposing by will ; they were magistrates within their own bounds, and each patroon had the exclusive privilege of fish- ing, fowling, and grinding corn within his own do- main ; they could also trade anywhere along the American coast, and to Holland by paying five per cent, duty to the company at its reservation of Man- hattan. The company reserved the fur trade to itself, and none of the colonists were to engage in any man- ufactures. A review of events and circumstances incident to the settlement of Eastern Pennsylvania without ref- erence to the speculative greed of men whose op)>or- tunities misled them would be incomplete. Ordinarj' foresight and sagacity induced the belief in the minds of these first voyagers that settlements would speedily follow the line of commerce, and lands eligibly located would soon have market value. Ambitious capi- talists, such as Samuel Godyn and Samuel Blom- maert, prompted by so keen and observing a resident as Isaac De Rasieres, whose official position gave him peculiar advantages in advising his friends, were not slow in concerting measures to advance their interest in large land enterprises. As early as 1629 they re- tained two purchasing agents to buy lands from the Indians on the south side of the Delaware Bay. Their purchase embraced a tract thirty-two miles in length, extending a distance of two miles into the country from the shore line, the patent thereof being duly reg- istered and confirmed June 1, 1630. Similar pur- chases were made on and near the Hudson River by William Van Rensselaer, Michael Pauw, and John De Laet. These extensive operations were viewed with disfavor, and led to general and unfriendly criti- cism, and naturally excited quarrels among the specu- lators and their retainers. To avoid scandal and ex- posure there seems to have been what was deemed an equitable division of advantages. In a word, there had been over-reaching and sharp practice. Explan- ations and restitution were discreetly made. Fortu- nately for Godyn and Blommaert, who were obliged to improve their land on the Delaware Bay, under the terms of confirmation of their purchase, they fell in with David Pietersen De Vries, who had just re- turned from the East Indies. He was a man of un- couth exterior, but of good heart, and from experience had become observant, not alone in nautical matters, but in all worldly affairs, and was on terms of great personal intimacy with Godyn. His services were deemed so important to the success of the enterprise that he was admitted to equal advantages, — i.e., his experience was deemed equivalent to the capital of those associated in the enterprise. De Vries became a patroon Oct. 16, 1630, and at once set to work to promote the designs of his asso- ciates. The ship " Walvis," or " Whale," of eighteen guns, and a yacht were immediately equipped. They carried out emigrants, cattle, food, and whaling im- plements, De Vries having heard that whales abounded in the Bay of South River (Godyn's Bay, or Newport May Bay, as it now also began to be called), and ex- pecting to establish profitable fisheries there. The expedition sailed from the Texel in December under the command of Pieter Heyes, of Edam. De Vries did not go out at this time, and the voyage was not profitable. De Vries accuses Heyes of incapacity and cowaidice, saying he would not sail through the West Indies in an eigbteen-gun ship. Still, Heyes did a large business for his employers. He reached South River in the spring of 1631, and established his colony on the Horekill, "a fine navigable stream, filled with islands, abounding in good oysters," and surrounded by fertile soil. The place was near the present site of Lewes, Del. Here a palisaded brick house was erected, and the colony of more than thirty souls was called Swaannendael, the Valley of Swans. The Dutch title was inscribed upon a pillar, on a plate of tin, surmounted by the arms of Holland. The fort, named " Oplandt," was given in the com- mand of Gilliss Hossett, Van Rensselaer's agent in buying lands around Albany. Heyes, after he had settled matters at Swaannendael, crossed to the Jer- sey shore and bought from ten chiefs there, on behalf 56 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY of Godyn, Blommaert, and their associates, a tract of land extending from Cape May twelve miles north- ward along the bay and twelve miles inland. This purchase was registered at Manhattan June 3, 1631. The whale fishery having come to naught, in Sep- tember Heyes sailed for home to report to his em- ployers. De Vries now determined to go out to the South River himself, and preparations were made for him to take charge of another ship and yacht. Just as he was about to sail from the Texel, May 24, 1632, Gov- ernor Minuet arrived from New Amsterdam with intelligence of the massacre of the colony at Swaan- nendael. This was cold news for De Vries and his associates. The patroon sailed, however, and after a long and checkered voyage arrived off Swaannendael early in December. The site of the little settlement told a fearful tale; the house itself nearly ruined, the stockade burnt, and the adjacent land strewed with the skulls and bones of the colonists, the remains of cattle, etc. The valley was silent and desolate. De Vries returned on board his yacht and fired a gun to attract attention of the savages. After some mutual mis- trust, communica- tion was opened with tliem, and De Vries was told a cock-and-bull story of a chief having ignorantly removed the coat of arms from the pillar and been murdered by the colonists for doing it, whereupon his tribe, in revenge, massacred the colonists. De Vries knew too much about the Dutch cruelty and harshness to the Indians to believe any such story. He had before him all the evidences of the white man's cruelty and the savage's wild revenge. The fatal deed was irreparable, and De Vries, keeping his own counsel, did what he could to restore confidence and peace by making presents to the Indians of " duffles, bullets, hatchets, and Nuremberg toys," so as to get them to hunt beaver for him, instead of lying in ambush to murder more colonists. The result was a treaty of peace, the first ever made in Delaware waters. On Jan. 1, 1633, the navigation being open, De Vries proceeded up the bay and river in his yacht. At Fort Nassau he heard of the murder of the crew of an English sloop, and met some Indians wearing the Englishmen's jackets. These Indians also made a show of offering peace, but De Vries dealt with them very cautiously, as they greatly outnumbered his men. UAVID PIETERSEN DE VRIES. On January 10th, De Vries cast anchor at the bar of Jacques Eylandt, precisely opposite the present city of Philadelphia, somewhere over against Willow Street, near the site of what is now known as Wind- mill Island.' Thence he went down river again, an- choring half a mile above Minquas Kill, on the look- out for whales. He was finally twice frozen up, and in some danger from Indians, numerous war parties of whom he saw, there being some intestine feud among the adjacent tribes. Released from the ice, he reached Swaannendael on February 20th, and on March 6th sailed for Virginia, returning to South River only to break up the colony at Swaannendael and go home. Once more the Delaware River and Bay were abandoned to the Indians, and once more the attempt at settlement by white men had failed. There were no further efforts made to settle on South River until the Swedes came in 1638, but, as has been stated, there must have been a more or less intermit- tent occupancy at Fort Nassau, and possibly there may have been a permanent garrison from the begin- ning of Van Twiller's director-generalship.'' Note, — If the story of New Albion is other than an )u3torica! myth, tlie Englisli were among the earliest adventurers and settlers on the Delaware. Between 1G23 and 1634, for several dates are mentioned, Charles I. granted an extensive territory to Sir Edmund Plowden, which enihraced Long Island, all of New Jersey, Delaware, and parts of Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, who formed a company of noble- 1 The bar of Jacques Eylandt embraces the spot where the city of Camden is now built. 2 The 'list of June, 1634, is the alleged date of the probably spurious Sir Kdwurd Plowden or Ploydon's charter for impossible territory some- where between the Potomac and Newark Bay. Rev. Edward D. Neill, president of Macalester College, Minn., who has given considerable attention to Maryland history, though from a rather sectarian stand-point, contributed two papers on Plowden to the tifth vol- ume of the Pennsylvania MagaziiiCy conCvicted by the Historical Society of that State. He assumes Plowden's existence, and that he was the lineal descendant of Edmund Plowden, the commentator on English law, who earned Coke's encomiums and who died in 1584. Plowden, according to Neill, did obtain a grant in lG:j'.i, through King Charles I.'s request to the viceroy of Ireland for act-rtain " Isle Plowden" and forty leagues of the mainland, called " New Albion." The island lay between 39° and 40° latitude. Capt. Young, commissioned by the king in September, 1633, sent out an exploring expedition in 1634, which ascended the Del- aware as far as the Falls. ■ If this expedition ever sailed, it must have been the one mentioned by De Vries-as having been massacred by the Indians, There is no proof that Plowden sent out this party or had aught to do with it, Evelyn, who' commanded it, was in the service of Clay- bortie's London partners, Plowden, says Mr, Neill, was living at hisseat at Wanstead in Hampshire in 163.5, unhappy, heating his wife, quarrel- ing with his neighbors, and chatiging his relieion. His wife and his clergyman's wife both had him arrested for assault and battery, and his wife procured a divorce from him. In 1641, Evelyn wrote a pamphlet descriptive of New Albion, dedicated to Plowden's wife. The next year Plowden was on the Chesapeake, This was ten years after he is said to have procured this rich grant. No one can explain why he did not look after such an estate sooner. Plowden lived most of his time in Virginia, but waj* in Maryland, on Delaware Bay, at New York, and in New Eng- land. He was abroad just seven years, say his chroniclers, and then went home to return no more to " New Albion." It is conjectured that his seven years' residence was on account of being transported, and that his New Albion claim was trumped up after the time of his sentence was served out. Plowden is reputed to have died in 1665. Mr. Neill further says (hat in 163.5-40, Plowden was a prisoner in the Fleet Prison, London, fur refusing to jiay his wile's alimony, Mr, Neill must see that the dates of Plowden's adventures are as irreconcilable aa his adven- tures. THE FIRST SWEDISH SETTLEMENTS. 57 men and gentlemen under the title of "The AUdon Knights." The Delaware was the chosen ground to settle, and tlie company pledged itself to introduce tlireo tlionsand trained men into the colony. Colo- nists were actually introduced, and made their homea on the Delaware; but neither the number nor exact location ran be told. Plowden was iord proprietor and captain-general, while one Beauchamp Plantagenet was made agent of this company of knightly settlers. Tlie earl and Plantagenet were here seven years, and became well acquainted with the country and Indian tribes. A government was framed, and the machinery of civil administration put in operation, but its duration is unknown. A history of tlie colony was publisbed in 1048, which con- tained the letter of one "Master Robert Evelin," addressed to Lady Plowden after his return to England. He was four years on the Dela- ware, and i[i his letter he states that "Captain Claybnurn, fourteen years there trading," sustains wliat he says of the country. Evelyn evi- dently sailed up the river to the falls, for he mentions the streams which empty into it, names the tribes which live along it, with their strengtli, with some description of the country and the productions. Six leagues below the falls he speaks of" two fair, woody islands, very pleasant and fit for parks, one of one thousand acres, the other of fourteen hundred or thereabouts." Tliese were probatdy Burlington and Newbold's Islands. Near the falls, he says, " is an isle fit for a city ; all the m:i- teriala there to build, and above the river fair and navigable, as the In- dians informed me, for I went but ten miles higher." The "isle fit for a city" refere, doubtless, to Morris Island, or the one abreast of Morris- ville. It is barely possible that he fell into the popular error of some explorers of the period, that the Delaware branched at the falls, and that the two branches formed a large island above. He says that a ship of one hundred and forty tons can ascend to tlie falls, and that "ten leagues higher are lead mines in stony hills." At the falls he locates the Indian town of Kildorpy, with clear fields to plant and sow, and near it are sweet, large mendows of clover or honeysuckle." The letter speaks of the abundant store of fish in the river, of water-fowl that swim upon its surface, and the game, fruit, and nuts to be found in the woods that line its banks, and of the magnificent forest-trees. Evelyn must have traveled well into the interior,and through portions of Bucks County. He speaks of the new town of the Susquehannocks as a ** rare, healthy, and rich place, and with a crystal, broad river." This must refer to the Susquehanna River and the tribe from which it takes its name. What became of Plowden's colony would be an interesting inquiry if we had the leisure to pursue it or the data necessary to solve it. The late William Rawle, of Philadelphia, who gave the subject a careful and intelligent investigation, believed that some of those who welcomed Penn to the shores of the Delaware were the survivors of the Albion Knights. History offers no (Edipus to unravel the mystery. — Davis, History of Bucks Counti). CHAPTER V. THE FIRST SWEDISH SETTLEMENTS. The ineffectual efforts of the Dutch to secure a per- manent lodgment on the Delaware south of the Schuylkill River left their large landed interests in an unprofitable and precarious condition. It is not seriously pretended by commentators that the Dutcli pioneers had any higher motives than those prompted by commercial advantages and the hope of obtaining wealth. It seems reasonably clear that a tnuling- post was still maintained by them on the Delaware, known as Fort Nassau, but not permanently occupied. It was doubtless an outpost, and for some years after the colony at Swaannendael was broken up was vis- ited by them at seasonable periods of trade and ex- change with the Indians. Tliat they were vigilant in their watch upon the Delaware is proven by the fact that they sent an armed force to dislodge a small party of English who, under George Holmes, had taken possession of Fort Nassau. These adventurers, thirteen in number, were taken prisoners by the Dutch and sent to Virginia, from whence they came, as their captors believed, although it is said by some writers that they came to the fort from the New Eng- land colonies. Samuel Godyn died in the year 1634. , His heirs and legal representatives in adjusting his estate provoked contentions with those who had been engaged in land speculations, which led to discoveries bordering upon scandal. The West India Company came to the rescue of the litigants, and purchased from Godyn's heirs and associates all the territory owned by them on both sides of the Delaware River for the sum of fifteen thousand six hundred guilders. The wide-spread publicity which resulted from the operations of the enterprising Hollanders in estab- lishing trade with the Indians and possessing them- selves of large landed estates in the New World nat- I urally stimulated the ambitious princes of Europe to efforts for the extension of their power and dominion SWEDISH DLOCK-HODSE. [Used for Public Worship in 1677.] on the North American continent. Efforts to estab- lish colonies were always made by royal authority under liberal grants and chartered privileges. Large sums of money in many instances were expended in equipping these expeditions, and in capitalizing and controlling them and the commerce resulting from them. These investments were made upon the ex- pectation of a fair return, and when financial reverses and disappointments occurred changes in the man- agement ensued. Salaried officers were turned out at the home office or recalled from abroad, who be- came important factors in the formation of new pro- jects, and all the more useful by reason of their ex- perience. Such a person was William Usselincx,' a Hollander, born at Antwerp, in Brabant, who as early as 1624 presented himself to King Gustaf Adolph of Sweden, and laid before him a proposition for a trading company to be established in Sweden, and to extend its operations to Asia, Africa, and Magellan's Land (Terra Magellanica), with the assurance that this would be a great source of revenue to the king- 58 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. dom. Full power was given him to carry out this important project, and thereupon a contract of trade was drawn up, to which the company was to agree and subscribe. Usselincx published explanations of this Contract, wherein he also particularly directed attention to the country on the Delaware, its fertility, convenience, and all its imaginable resources. To strengthen the matter a charter was secured to the company, and especially to Usselincx, who was to receive a royalty of one thousandth upon all articles bought or sold by the company. The powerful king, whose zeal for the honor of God was not less ardent than for the welfare of his subjects, availed himself of the opportunity to extend the doctrines of Christ among the heathen, as well as to establish his own power in other parts of the world.' To this end he sent forth letters patent, dated at Stockholm, on the 2d of July, 1G26, wherein all, both high and low, were invited to contribute something to the company, ac- cording to their means. The work was completed in the Diet of the following year, 1627, when the estates of the realm gave their assent and confirmed the measure. Those who took part in this company were his Majesty's mother, the Queen Dowager, Christina, the princess, John Casimir, the Royal Council, the most distinguished of the nobility, the highest officers of the army, the bishops and other clergymen, to- gether with the burgomasters and aldermen of the cities, as well as a large number of the people gener- ally. The time fixed for paying in the subscriptions was the 1st of May of the following year (1628). For the management and working of the plan there were appointed an admiral, vice-admiral, chaplain, under- chaplain, assistants and commissaries, also a body of soldiers, duly officered. But when these arrange- ments were in full progress and duly provided for the German war and the king's death occurred, which caused this important work to be laid aside. The Trading Company was dissolved, its subscriptions nullified, and the whole project seemed about to die J The plans of GuBtavus were both deep and patriotic. "The year 1624," says the historian Geijer, "wasoneof the few ye-irstliat the king vas able to devote to tlie iuternal development of the realm." He looked at the suhject of colonization in America, says Rev. Dr. W. M. Reynolds in the introduction to his translation of Acrelius, " with the eye of a statesman who understood the wants not onlyof liisown country but of the world, and was able with prophetic glance to penetrate into the distant ages of the future." He proposed there to found a free State, where the laborer should reap the fruit of his toil, where the rights of conscience should he inviolate, and which should he open to the whole Protestant world, then engaged in a struggle for existence with all the papal powers of Europe. All should be secure in their persons, their property, and their rights of conscience. It should be an asylum for the persecuted of all nations, a place of security for the honor of the wives and daughters of those who were flying from bloody battle-fields and from homes madedesolate by the fire and sword of the persecutor. No slaves should burden the soil; " for," said Gustavus, — and we realize the pro- found truth of his political economy after an experience of two centuries at the end of which slavery expired amid the death-throes ot our civil war, — "slaves cost a great deal, labor with reluctance, and soon perish from hard usage. But the Swedish nation is industrious and intelligent, and hereby we shall gain more by a free people with wives and cliil- di en." — Scharft History of Philadelphia. with the king. But just as it appeared to be at its end it received new life. Another Hollander, by the name of Peter Menewe, sometimes called Menuet," made his appearance in Sweden. He had been in the service of Holland in America, where he became involved in difficulties with the officers of the West India Company, in consequence of which he was re- called home and dismissed from their service. But he was not discouraged by this, and went over to Sweden, where he renewed the representations which Usselincx had formerly made in regard to the excel- lence of the country, and the advantages that Sweden might derive from it. Queen Christina,' who succeeded her royal father in the government, was glad to have the project thus renewed. The royal chancellor. Count A.xel Oxen- stierna, understood well how to put it in operation. He took the West India Trading Company into his own hands as its president, and encouraged other noblemen to take shares in it. King Charles I. of England had already, in the year 1634, upon repre- sentations made to him by John Oxenstierna, at that time Swedish ambassador in London, renounced in favor of the Swedes all claims and pretensions of the English to that countrj' growing out of their rights as its first discoverers. Hence everything seemed to be settled upon a firm foundation, and all earnestness was employed in the prosecution of the plans for a colony. As a good beginning the first colony was sent off,* and Peter Menewe was placed over it, as being best acquainted in those regions. They set sail from Gottenburg in a ship of war called the " Key of Calmar," followed by a smaller vessel bearing the name of " Bird Griffin," both laden with people, provisions, ammunition, and merchan- dise suitable for traffic and gifts to the Indians. These ships successfully reached their place of desti- nation. The high expectations which the emigrants had of that new land were well met by the first news which they had of it. They made their first landing on the bay or entrance to the river Poutaxat, which they called the river of New Sweden, and the place where they landed they called Paradise Point. A purchase of land was immediately made from the In- dians, and it was determined that all the land on the western side of the river, from the point called Cape Inlopen, or Henlopen, up to the fall called San- tickan,^ and all the country inland, as much as was - An autograph letter found in the royal archives in Stockholm gives the name as commonly written in English, Minuit, 3 Christina succeeded her father, the great Gustaf Adolph, in 1632, when only six years of age, and the kingdom remained uiidera regency until she was ciglitecn,in 1G44. Consequently she was only eleven years of age in 1637, when the .\merican colony was established. * In August, 1637, although it did not reach the Delaware until 1638. ' Se'Odhner, "Sveriges Inre Historia,' p. 302. He reached the Delaware in the middle of April. & Trenton Falls, which Campanius (p. 49 of Translation) calls "the Falls of Assinpink." On Visscher's map of Pennsylvania, given in Du- Iionceau's Translation of Campanius, to face p. 78, we find "SanhiecanV given as the most northern point. THE FIRST SWEDISH SETTLEMENTS. 59 ceded, should belong to the Swedish crown forever. Posts were driven in the ground as landmarks, which were still seen in their places sixty years afterwards. A deed was drawn up for the land thus purchased. This was written in Dutch, for no Swede was yet able to interpret the language of the heathen. The In- dians subscribed their hands and marks. The writ- ing was sent home to Sweden to be preserved in the royal archives. Mans Kling was the surveyor. He laid out the land, and made a map of the whole river, with its tributaries, islands, and points, which is still to be found in the royal archives in Sweden. Their clergyman was Reones Torkillus, of East Gothland. The first abode of the newly-arrived emigrants was at a place called, by the Indians, Hopokahacking. There, in the year 1G38, Peter llenuet built a fortre.ss which he named Fort Christina, after the reigning PLAN OF THE TOWN AND FORT OF CHRISTINA, BESIEGED BY THE DUTCH IN 1053. [Fiom Cainpaiiius' New Sweden.] A, Fort Chriatina. B, Chrislitm Creek. C, Town of Christina Hamn. D, TenneI well-born John Printz, to regulate himself as well during bis voyage as upon hie arrival in that country. Given at Stockholm, the loth of August, 1642. " Inasmuch as some of the subjects of Her Royal Majesty and of the Crown of Sweden have, for some time past, undertaken to sail to the coast of the West Indies, and have already succeeded in conquering and purchasing a considerable tract of land, and in promoting commerce, with the especial object of extending the jurisdiction and greatness of Her Royal Majesty and of the Swedish crown, and have called the coun- try New Sweden ; wherefore and inasmuch as Her Royal Majesty ap- proves and finds this, their undertaking and voyaging, not only laud- able in itself, but reasonable, and likely, iu the courseof time, to benefit and strengthen Her Royal Majesty and the Swedish throne: So has Her Royal Majesty, for the promotion of that work and for the assistance of those who participate therein, furnished them for the making of that important voyage, and also for thecoi^rmingand strengthening of that important work thus begun in New Swedf^n, for said voyage, two ships, named the Tama' and the 'Swan,' as well as some other means neces- sary thereto, under a certain Governor, whom Her Majesty has provided with sufficient and necessary powers, having thereunto appointed and legitimated Lieutenant-Colonel John Printz, whom she has accordingly seen good to instruct upon the points following: **2. The ships above named liaving proceeded to Gittheborg, John Printz, the Governor of New Sweden, shall now, without any delay, take his departure to said place, so arranging his journey by land that he may reach there by the first opportunity. Going down to Giithehorg, he shall assist in ordering and arranging everything iu the best manner possible, and especially in accordance with the best regulations that the members of the company can have made ; and as concerns bis own per- son and that of his attendants, he shall 60 arrange bis aff.iira that he may immediately, in the month of September next following, set sail from this country and proceed to sea. ":i. But either beCore or at the time the ships are about to set sail from Giithehorg, tlie Governor shall consult with the skippers and officers of the ships, considering and deciding, according to the state of the wind and other circumstances, whether he shall direct his course to the north of Scotland or through the channel between France and Eng- land. "4. Under way and on the journ£y,he must see to it that the officers and peoi)le of the ships perform their duties at sea truly and faithfully; and in all important and serious mutters he can always avail himself of tlie aid and coutiselof"the persons aforesaid who usually form thecoun- cilof asliip; he shall also have every important occurrence carefully noted, causing a correct log, or journal, thereof to be kept, of which also he shall, by every opportunity, send hither a correct copy. 2 It was long a favorite usage in Sweden to designate clergymen by the name of the place or province in which they were horn, so that Holm may here be eriuivalent to "a native of Stockholm." THE FIRST SWEDISH SETTLEMENTS. 61 "5. The Governor, Gud willing, liaviiig arrived in New Sweden, he must, fur liis better iiiforniatioii, bear in miTjd that the boundaries of tlie country of wliich onr subjects Iiave taken possession extend, in virtvie of the articles of the contract entered into with the wild inhabit- ants of the country, as its rightful lords, from the sea-coast at Cape Uinlopen,^ upwards along the west side of Godin's Bay,- and so up the Great South River,^ onwards to Miugue's Kil,'* where Fort Christina is built, and tlience still farther along the South river, and up to a place which the wild inhabitants call Sankikans,^ where ttie farthest bounda- ries of New Sweden are to be found. This tract or district of couiitiy extends in length about thirty German miles, but in breadth, and into the interior, it is, in and by the contract, conditioned that Her Royal Majesty's subjects, and the participants in this Company of navigators, may hereafter occupy as much land as they may desire. "6. Recently, and in the year last past, vis., I64I, several English families, probably amounting to sixty persons in all, have settled, and begun to build and cultivate the land elsewhere, namely, upon the etist eide of the above mentiotied South river, on a little stream named Fer- ken's Kil ;« so also have the ahove-nam«d subjects of Her Maji-sty, and participants in the Company, purchased for themselves of the wild in- habitants of the country, the whole eastern side of the river, from the mouth of the aforesaid great river at Cape May np to a stream named Vr'arraticen's Kil,^ wliich tract extends about twelve German miles, in- cluding also the said Feiken's Kil, with the intention of thus drawing to themselves the English aforesaid. This jiurcbase the Governor shall always, with all his power, keep intact, and thus bring these families under the jurisdiction and government of Her Royal Majesty and the Swedish Crown; especially as we are informed that they themselves are not disposed thereto; and should they be induced, as a free people, voluntaiily to submit themselves to a government which can maintain and protect them, it is believed that they might shortly amount to some hundred strong. But however that may be, tlie Governor is to seek to bring these Englisli under the government of the Swedish Crown, inas- much as Her Royal Blajesty finds it to be thus better for herself ami the Crown as partners in tliis undertaking; and they might also, with good reason, be driven out and away from said place; therefore, Ht-r Royal Majesty aforesaid will most graciously leave it to the discretion of Gov- ernor Printz so to consider and act in the premises as can be done with propriety and success. 8 "7. There is no douht that the Holland West India Company will seek to appropriate to tliemselvos the place aforesaid, and the large tract of land upon which the English havesettled,and the whole of the above- named east side of the Great South River, and that so much the rather as their fort or fortification of Nassau, which thry have manned witli about twenty men, is not very far tlierefrom,upon thesame eastern side of the river, just as tliey also make pretensions to the whole western side of the aforesaid South Eiver, and consequently to all that of which our subjects aforesaid have t;»ken possession, which they have seized, relying upon their Fort Nassau, whereby they would take possession of the whole South River, and of the whole country situated on both sides of the same river. It is for this that they have protested against the beginning wliich her before-mention(;d Majesty's subjects have made in settling and building, and, so far as they could, have always opposed and suiight to prevent our people from going up the South River aud past their Fort Nassau. Therefore shall the Governor take measures for 1 ('ape Henlopen ; we follow the orthography of the text. 2 Usually written "Godyn's"; Delaware Bay being so called by the Hollanders after Siimutl Godyn, who in 1G29 received a patent for a large tract of land there as its patroon. 3 The river Delaware . 4 Now Christiana Creek. s Trenton Falls, ninety miles from the mouth of Delaware Bay. ^ Written also" Varken's Kil," i.e.," Hog's Creek," which is now called Salem Creek. The Indians called it Oitsessingh, or W(M)tses3ung8ing. ''Raccoon Creek. The " Naraticongs" are nn^ntioued as an Indian tribe north of the Raritan. (See O'Callaghan, i. 49.) ^ It is not known whence these English settlers came, or the precise time of their coming. According to the text above it was in 1641. Ferris, in his " History of the Original Settlements on the Delaware" (Wilmington, 1S46), p. 65, on what authority he does not tell us, says that it was in 1640, and adds, "Some have supposed they were squatters from New Haven; some, adventurers from Maryland; and others, the pioneers of Sir Edmund Ployden." In all probability they were the samo party of people from New Haven who, in the spring of 1642, set- tled on the Schuylkill. meeting the agents and participants of said Holland West India Com- pany in a proper manner, and with mildness, but firmly remonstrate ami make known to them the upright intentions of Her Roj'al Majesty and her subjects in the premises, that nothing liereJn has been sought, or is now Sought, other than a free opening for commerce ; that Her Royal Majesty's subjects have, in a just and regular manner, purchased of the jtroper owners and possessors of the country thai district of which they have taken possession, and which they have begun to cultivate, and that they cannot, therefore, without injustice oppose Her Royal Majesty or her subjects, or seek to disturb them in their possessions without doing them great injury. But should the same Holland Company, contrary to all better hopes, allow them-. Whatever el^e it may at present be necessary to do in tliat conn- try will be best committed to the handsof the Governor in the country, according to the time and circumstance of the place, more esfpecially a^ the same land of New Sweden is situated in the same climate with Por- tugal ;< so, apparently, it is to be expected lliat salt-works might be ar- ranged on the sea-coasts. But if the salt could not be perfectly evap- 1 " Jaque's Eyland" was in the neighborhood of Fort Nassau, probably between that and where Philadelphia now i8. 3 "Toback" is the Swedish spelling ; in modern Swedish it is" tobak." 3 In the original, "i godt c^we." * Portugal is situated between 37° and 42° N. latitude, and New Swe- den was between 3S° and 41° of the sanie latitude. orated by the heat of the bud, yet, at the least, the salt water might be brought to such a grade that it might afterwards be perfectly condensed by means of fire, without great labor or expense, which the Governor must consider, and make such experiment, and if possible put it into ojieration and make effective. "17. And as almost everywhere in the forests wild grape-vines and grapes are found, and the climate seems to be favorable to the produc- tion of wine, so shall the Governor also direct his thoughts to the timely introduction of this culture, and what might herein be devised and effected. " 18. He can also have careful search made everywhere as to whether metals or minerals are to be found in the country, and if any are dis- covered, send hither correct information, and then await further orders from this place. " 19. Out Ci the abundant forests the Governor shall examine and con- sider how and in what manner profit may be derived from the country, especially what kind of advantages may be expected from oak-trees and walnut-trees, and whether a good quality of them might be sent over here as ballast. So, also, it might be examined whether oil might not be advantageously pressed out of the walnuts. ".0. The Governor shall likewise take into consideration and cor- rectly inform himself how and where fisheries nn'ght be most profitably established, especially as it is 8:iid that at a certain season of the year the whale-finhery can be advantageously prosecuted in the aforesaid Godin's Bay^ and adjacently; lie shall, therefore, have an eye upon this, and send over hither all needed information as to what can be done in this and other matters connected with the country, and what further hopes may be entertained in reference thereto. "21. The Governor shall also carefully inquire and inform himself in regard to the food and convenience for keeping a great number of silk-wonns, wherewith a manufacture might be established, and if he discovers that something useful might thus be accomplished, he shall take measures for the same. "22. Whatever else could he done in connection with the successful cultivation of the land, but cannot be introduced just for the present, this Her Royal Majesty will graciously have entrusted to the fidelity, foresight, and zeal of the Governor, with the earnest command and ad- monition that he seek in all matters to uphold the service and dignity of Her Royal Majesty and the Crown of Sweden, as also to promote the advantage and interest of the members of the company in the conser- vation of the same land of New Sweden, its culture in every way possi- ble, and the increase of its profitable commerce. "23. But far above all this, as to what belongs to the political govern- ment and administration of jnstice, everything of this kind must he conducted under the name of Her Royal Majesty and the Crown of Sweden, for no less re:ison than the country enjoys the protection of Her Royal Majesty and of the crown, and that the interest of the crown isin the highest degree involved in the protection of that country, its cultivation and active trade and commerce. To give the Governor spe- cific information herein cannot so well and effectually be done at so great a distance; it must, therefore, be left to his own discretion and good sense that he, upon the ground, provide, arrange, and execute whatever conduces to bring matters into good order and a proper con- stitution, according as he finds the necessities of the lime and place to require. At first, and until matters can be brought into a better form, the Governor may use his own seal, but in a somewhat larger form, in briefs, contracts, correspondence, and other written documents of a public character, "24. He shall decide all matters i)f controversy which may arise ac- cording to Swedish law and right, custom, and usage ; but in all other matters also, so far as possible, he shall adopt and employ the laudable customs, habits, and usages of this most praiseworthy realm. "25, He shall also have power, through the necessary and proper means of compulsion, to bring to obedience and a quiet life the turbu- lent and disorderly, who will not live quietly and peacefully, and espe- cially gross offenders, who may possibly be found ; lie may punish not only with imprisonment and the like duly proportioned means of cor- rection, but also, according to their misdeeds or crimes, with the loss of life itself, yet not in ahy other than the usual manner, and after ihe l»roper hearing and consideration of the case, with the most respectable people and the most prudent associate judges who can be found in the country as his cuunsellurs. 6 The Dutch under De Vries, in 1^30, tried to prosecute the whale- fishery in the Delaware, but found it unprofitable. (See New York Hist. Cullect,, New Series, vol. i p. 250 ) THE FIRST SWEDISH SETTLEMENTS. 63 "26. Above all tliiii;;s. shiill tlie Governor consider ami see to it that a true and due worBliij), becoming honor, laud, and praise be paid to the Most nigli God in all things, and to that end all proper care shall be tiiken that divine service be zealously performed according to the unal- tered Augsburg Confession, the Council of Upsala, and the ceremonies of the Swedish Church ; and all persons, especially the young, shall be duly instructed in the articles of their Clirislian faith ; and all good church discipline shall in like manner be duly exercised and received But so far as relates to the Holland colonists that live and settle under the government of Her Royal Majesty and the Swedish crown, the Gov- ernor shall not disturb them in the indulgence granted them as to the exercise of the Reformed religion according to the aforesaid royal charter. *'27. In all else which cannot here be set dS to tjtke possession of the country, although he visited some of the islands in 119-2. — Acrelius. 72 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. Note.— The following drinks, according to Acreliua, were used in America during these early times: " French wine, Frontegnac, Pontac, Port a Port, Lisbon wine, phial wine, sherry, Madeira wine, which is al- together the most need. Siingaree is made of wine, water, sugar, a dash of nutmeg, with some leaves of balm put in. Hot wine, warmed wine, is drunk warm, witli sugar, cardamons, and cinnamon in it; sometimes also it has in it the yolks of eggs beaten up together and grains of all- spice, and then it is called mulled wine. Cherry wine: the berries are pressed, the juice strained from them ; Muscovado or raw sugar is put in; then it ferments, and after some months becomes clear. Currant wine, or black raspberry wine, is made in the same manner. Apple wine (cider): apples are ground up in a wooden mill, which is worked by ahorse. Then they are placed under a press until the juice runs off, which is then put in a barrel, where it ferments, and after some time becomes clear. When the apples are not of a good sort, decayed, or fallen off too soon, the cider is boiled, and a few poundsof ground ginger is put into it, and it becomes more wholesome and better for cooking; it keeps longer, and does not ferment so soon, but its taste is not so fresh as when it is unboiled. The fault with cider in that country is that, for the most part, the good and bad are mixed together. Tlie cider is drunk too fresh and too soon ; thus it has come into great dis- esteem, so that many persons refuse to taste it. The strong acid which it contains produces rust and verdigris, and frightens some from its use by the fear that it may liave the same effect upon the body. This liquor is usually unwholesome, causes ague when it is fresh, and colic when it is too old. The common people damask the drink, mix ground ginger with it, or heat it with a red-hot iron. Cider royal is so called when some quarts of brandy are thrown into a barrel of cider, along with sev- eral poundsof Muscovado sugar, whereby it becomes stronger and tastes better. If it is then left alone for a year or so, or taken over the sea, then drawn offinto bottles, with some raisins put in, it may deserve the name of apple wine. Cider royal of another kind is that in which one- half is cider and the other mead, both freshly fermented together. Mulled cider is warmed, with sugar in it, with yolks of eggs and grains of allspice ; sometimes, also, rum is put in to give it greater strength. Rum or sugar-brandy: this is made at the sugar plantations in the West India islands. It is in quality like French brandy, but has no un- pleasant odor. It makes up a large part of the English and French commerce with the West India islands. The strongest comes from Jamaica, is called Jamaica spirits, and is the favorite article for punch. Next in quality to this is the rum from Barbadoes, then that from An- tiquas, Monteerrat, Nevis, St. Christopher, etc. The heaviest consumption is in harvest-time, when the laborers most frequently take a sup, and then immediately a drink of water, from which the body performs its work more easily and perspires better than when rye whisky or malt liquors are used. Raw dram, raw rum, is a drink of rum unmixed with anything. Egg dram, egg nog: the yolk ofan egg is beaten up, and during the beating rum and sugar poured in. Cherry bounce is a drink made of the cherry juice with a quantity of rum in it. Bilberry dram is made in the same way. Punch is made of fresh spring-water, sugar, lemon-juice, and Jamaica spirits. Instead of lemons, a West India fruit called limes, or its juice, which is imported in flasks, is used. Punch is always drunk cold, but sometimes a slice of bread is toasted and placed in it warm to moderate the cold in winter-time, or it is heated with a red-hot iron. Punch is mostly used just before dinner, and is called a 'meridian.' Jtfajnm, made of water, sugar, and rum, is the most common drink in the interior of the country, and has set nj) many a tavern-keeper. Manathan\ is made of small beer, with rum and sugar. Tiff, or flip, ia made of small beer, rum, and sugar, with a slice of bread toasted and buttered. Hot rum,warmed with sugar and grainsof allspice, customary at funerals. Mulled rum, warmed with egg-yolks aud allspice. Hotch pot, warmed beer with rum in it. Sampson ia warmed cider with rum in it. Grog is water and rum. Sling, or long sup, half water and half rum, with sugar in it. Mint-water, distilled from mint, mixed in the rum, to make a drink for strengthening the stomach. Egg punch, of yolkaof eggs, rum, sugar, atid warm water. Milk punch, of milk, rum, sugar, and grated nutmeg over it ; it is much used in the summer-time, and is considered good for dysentery and loose bowels. Sillibul is made of lukewarm milk, wine, and sugar; it is used in Buramer-time as a cooling beverage. Milk and water is the common drink of the people. Still liquor, brandy made of peaches or apples without the addition of any grain, is not regarded as good as rum. Whiskey is brandy made of grain; it is used far up in the interior of the country, where rum is very dear, on account of tlie trausptutation. Beer is brewed in the towns; is brown, thick, and unpalatable; is drunk by the common people. Small beer, from mohisses. When the water is warmed, the molasses is poured in with a little malt or wheat-bran, and is well shaken together; afterwards a lay of bops and yeast is added, and then it is put in a keg, where it ferments, and the next day is clear and ready for use. It is more wholesome, pleasanter to the taste, and milder to the stomach than any small beer of malt. Spnice beer is a kind of small beer, which is called in Swedish "liirda tidningarne" (learned newspapers). The twigs of spruce-pine are boiled in the malt so as to give it a pleasant taste, and then molasses is used as in the preceding. The Swedish pine is thought to be serviceable in the same way. Table beer made of per- simmons. The persimmon is a fruit like our egg-plum. When these have been well frosted, they are pounded along with their seeds, mixed up with wheat-bran, made into large loaves, and baked in the oven; then, whenever desired, pieces of this are taken and moistened, and with these the drink is brewed. Mead is made of honey and water boiled together, which ferments of itself in the cask. The stronger it is of honey the longer it takes to ferment. Drunk in this country too soon it causes sickness of the stomach aud headache. Besides these tliey use tlie liquors called cordials, such as anise-water, cinnamon- water, appelcin-water, and others scarcely to be enumerated, as also drops to pour into wine and brandy almost without end. Tea is a drink very commonly used. No one is so high as to despise it, nor any one so low as not to think himself worthy of it. It is not drunk oftener than twice a day. It is always dnink by the common people with raw sugar in it. Brandy in tea is called Use. Coffee comes from Martinica, St. Dtimingo, and Surinam ; is sold in large quantities, and used for break- fast. Chocolate is in general use for breakfast and supper. It is drunk with a spoon ; sometimes prepared with a little milk, but mostly only with water." In reference to the trees in Pennsylvania, Acrelius continues, "White- oak grows in good soil; light bark, the leaves long, grass-green, blunt- pointed ; the acorn is small, long, with a short cup ; the wood white ; is used for ship-timber, planks, staves for hogsheads or wine-pipes for spirituous liquors, but not for molasses. There is a heavy exportation of it to Europe, Ireland, France, and the West Indies in the form of boards and staves. It is also used for posts, with boards and clap-hoards, around fields and gardens. It burns well, and makes good ashes. White-oak growing upon low land and in swamps is considered mure reliable for ship-building than that which is found upon high ground. Black -oak grows upon any kind of soil ; bark dark ; leaf dark green, very blunt-pointed; the acorn large, with short cup; the wood, when split green, is of a reddish-brown color, when dry, darker. It is used for staves of molasses-hogsheads or barrels for dry-goods, such as wheat- flour, sugar, Muscovado, also for piles or palings built in water, but rots on land within three or four years; does not burn well, but dissolves into smoke and poor ashes. The bark is used in tanning. Spanish oak also grows everywhere ; bark gray ; leaf small, sharp-pointed, and light green; the acorns, which are gall-nuts, are serviceable for ink; the wood whitish, with spots like the beech-tree, is nsed as black-oak, and is considered better; the bark is the best for tanning, and yields a yel- lowish color. There are several species of Spanish oak, which are dis- tinguished by their leaves, but are the same for fuel, hark, and use. Red-oak usually grows upon low land; bark gray; leaf broad, pointed, with saw-like teeth towards the stalk ; the wood, when fresh, reddish, when dry, whitish ; is used as black and Spanish oak. Black, Spanish,, and red-oaks are porous and loose in structure, so that if one takes a piece of their wood three feet long, wets the one end and blows into tho other, bubbles come out. All these species are usually spoken of under the name of black- or red-oak. Few natives of the country know how to distinguish them all correctly. Swamp-oak, water-oak, peach-leaf oak, live-oak grow in swHnipy places; not common ; high trees; bark dark gray ; leaf long as the fingers, narrow, with one point; wood gray, but the liardest of all oak ; id seldom nsed for anything but cog-stocks in cider-mills. Walnut-tree, black-walnut, grqws in dry ground; bark dark gray ; the leaf in pairs on a stalk ; a high tree ; the nuts black, large as apples, rough and sharp on the outside, covered witli a thick green skin ; the shell hard enough to break with a hammer, the kernel very oily, fit for oil for fine paintings; the wood brown, and quite firm when the tree grows in free air and good soil, also valuable, hut iiKignificant and of little value when it is surrounded by thick and closo woods. It is used for furniture of houses, — tables, chairs, bureaus, etc. Boards of it are exported in large quantities. Hickory grows in a rich soil; the leaves arranged in pairs along the branches, with teeth ser- rated at the edges; the nuts white, flat, pointed, large as the culti- vated walnuts ; grows within a thick green hull, which, when ripened in the month of October, opens itself in four clefts, and pushes out the nut; has a division within, as a walnut, but is hard as a bone. The Ivprnel has a pleasant taste, and from it the Indians, as it is said, press an oil for winter use. The wood is tough, white on the outside, brown ia THE FIRST SWEDISH SETTLEMENTS. the heart ; that of young trees is used for hoops, that of old ones for ag- ricultural implementa and wagons, but chiefly for fuel, and makes the best fires, with tho finest ashes. Chestnut-tree grows in dry soil, high, straight, and thick ; the bark ash-gray ; the leaf oblong, pointed, with serrated teeth at the points ; the shell double, llie outer one large as an apple, externally like a burdock-burr, internally with a woolly down ; when ripe, naturally opens itself in four clefts and throws out the nut, of which there are usually two, round upon one side and flat upon the other. If three grow together they are mostly poor, and the middle nut is flat on both sides, tlie other two of the ordinary shape. Some- times seven nuts are found together, then none of them are good. The chestnut-tree, surrounded by thick woods, bears neither large nor numerous nuts; but where they are found in abundance the swine have an excellent food. The wood is ash-gray, is used for posts or rails, but for nothing else except fuel. Poplar grows indiscriminately, high, straight, and rich in foliage ; bark of a greenish gray, the seed in pods, the leaf broad, single, scalloped ; the wood yellowish, brittle, but hard ; used in carpenters' work for door- and window-frames, also fur boards. It ia cut out for canoes, is turned for wooden vessels, such aa pails, dishes, boxes, and the like. Sassafras grows in rich soil ; low trees and bushes. The bark is dark-green, smooth, with a yellow juice; the leaves unlike, even on the same tree, oblong, with one, two, or three stumpy points; the wood yellowish, especially the root, which, as well as the bark, has the smell and taste of saffron. It is used for planks and gate-posts, also for palings on the Susquehanna. Cedar grows chiefly in swamps or low, sandy ground; in smell and bark like the juniper-tree. Its needle-shaped leaves are long and tender. Red- cedar is dark-red, hard ; used for planks and posts, and in New England for cabinet-work, on the Bermuda isles for ship-timber. White-cedar is a soft wood ; used for house-timber, — boards, palings, and shingles. Maple grows in dry ground, high and straight; the bark a gray-green; the leaf small, three-pointed, serrated at the points; the wood whitish, spotted ; used for furniture in houses, — tables, chairs, etc. ; is exported from the country in the form of boards. Sweet-gum grows in low lands; the bark gray, smooth ; the leaves five-pointed, with serrated edges; the wood yellowish, spotted, warps easily when wrought; used for furniture and cabinet-work. Sour-gum grows everywhere; the bark dark, sharp; theleaf oblong, one-pointed; the wood white, cross-grained, does not admit of any splitting, and is used for wheel-naves orliubs. Locust grows in dry , rich soil as a high tree ; the bark greenish ; the seed in long pods; the kernel large, sweet, edible ; the leaf upon a long stalk; the leaves long, one-pointed, in pairs, like the mountain-ash; the wood bright, hard, used for pegs in ship-building, for trundles and cogs in mills. The streets in New York are planted with locusts. Dogwood grows in dry ground, seldom more than four inches in diameter ; the flowers white ; the berries red and small; the wood yellowish, hard, like boxwood, does not burn well; it is used for little else than carpenters' tools. Wild cherry grows in good land, not high, but thick ; the bark and leaf like those of the cultivated cherry-tree, but the berry smaller, sweeter, with seed and no kernel; the wood reddish, is used for cabinet- work. Persimmon grows in good, dry ground, scarcely more thanafoot thick; thebark rough and sharp; the leaf single, oblong, one-pointed, dark'green; the berry like the wild plum ; when frosted it is used for brewing table beer. The fruit and its seed are pounded together, kneaded up with wheat-bran, baked in large loaves in a stove; pieces of it are then taken at pleasure, and from these the drink is brewed, which becomes quite palatable. The wood is white, hard, and used for carpen- ters' tools. The button-tree grows wild, but is planted before the doors of houses; the bark greenish-gray, smooth ; the seed-pods round and large as marbles, hang upon long stems, which when ripe, and one strikes them, all at once separate into small pieces, as if one were to throw a handful of down into the air; the leaf is quite large, broad, single, five-cornered, shari)-pointed; the wuod is brittle; its greatest use is for shading houses from the great heat of the sun. Spicewood grows in dry and sandy soil aa a bush; the flowers yellow ; the berry red, small, mostly single upon the stalks ; the leaves are oblong and one-pointed; the bark is green, has the taste of cinnamon when it is chewed, would probably serve as a medicine. Pine is planted near houses as an orna- ment; boards of it are introduced from other places, where it grows in a poor, sandy soil. Beech, hazel, and birch are rare. Alder is found abun- dantly in the marshes." Israel Acrelius and his translator, William M. Reynolds, D.D., have left a vivid picture of these early pioneers. It is at once quaint, truthful, and life-like, and seems to carry us back among the frugality and wealth of agricultural products that has always characterized the husbandmen of Eastern Pennsylvania. "The farms which were first culti- tivated/' Acrelius writes, "have by constant use be- come impoverished, so that they are now considered of but little value. The people cleared the land, which was new and strong, but did not think of manuring and clearing meadows until of later years. For those who do not keep their animals in stables have no other manure than this, that they place a few hay-stacks on a field, on which the animals are fed during the winter, when they trample as much under their feet as they eat, whereby the manure be- comes alike unequal and insufficient. That Pennsyl- vania is regarded as the best grain country in America arises more from the excellence of the climate than the fertility of the soil. Yet most of the farms are newly cleared. Some miles up in the country but few places are to be seen where the stumps do not still stand thick upon the ground. Not one-half of the forests are cleared off as they ought to be. The clearing is not made by the destructive burning of trees, whereby the fertile soil is converted into ashes and carried away by the winds. Some stocks or stumps may be thus burned, so as to put them almost entirely out of the way. As labor is very high, so sometimes only the bushes and undergrowth are re- moved, but the large trees are still left standing. But around these a score is cut, and they thus dry up within the first year, and thus soon fall down, so that one may often see the fields with dry trees and a heavy crop of grain growing under them. "Theimplementsof agriculture are the plow and the harrow. The plow is so made that from the share two pieces ascend with a handle upon each, about an ell and a half apart from each other. It is put to- gether with screws, light and easy to handle. The plowman holds each handle with one hand, and throws up the field into high * lands,' plowing first on the one side and then on the other side of a 'land,' so that the earth is thrown up high. Im- mediately before the plow a pair of oxen draw, or a pair of horses, which are guided by some little boy either leading or riding on them. The harrow is three-cornered and heavy. The traces are fastened to it with a link, which makes a convenience in turn- ing a pair of horses before the harrow, and a boy on the horse's back smooths the field into fine and even pieces without any great trouble. Sometimes two harrows are fastened together after the same team. The beam of the plow does not come forward between the draught animals. Under the end of the beam is a strong clam with a link, on which is fastened a double-tree back of both the animals. At each end of this double-tree is another shorter one (single- tree), provided with a link for each animal. From these single-trees there go upon both sides of the draught animals ropes or chains forward to the hames. HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. which are held together by a broad strap above and below. In place of ropes or chains, most farmers use straps of raw deerskins twined and twisted together and so dried, which do not chafe the sides of the horses. Out of these also the whole of the harness is made. . "Flax is sown in the beginning of March. The ground is plowed for it some days before, and new or good ground is required. It is pulled in July and much used. Oats are sown at the same time, mostly on good ground, which is plowed some days before; but if the plowing is done in the autumn before, iu November or December, and then again just before the sowing, the oats themselves pay for it, according to the common saying. It is cut in July. It is used a great deal, but only for horses, and is of the thin and white kind. Wheat is the land's chief product. It is sown in the beginning of September, after three plowings preceding, the first in May, then in July, and the last just before the sowing, but always accord- ing to the moisture and quality of the soil. As the autumn is long and warm, the sprouts grow so long that all kinds of cattle are fed on them during the winter. Strong ground is not required for wheat, the middling is good enough. Harvesting is performed in July, in the hottest season. Sickles are used, with the edge sharpened like a file. The stalk is cut just about half its length, so that the stubble is quite high. The sheaves, short and small, are counted in dozens, and a bushel is expected from each dozen. Eye is sown in November, mostly upon some field that has borne a crop during the same summer, and one plow- ing is usually regarded as sufiicient. If the shoots only come up before winter there is hope of a good harvest. Where the sowing is made early there is a supply for pasturage during the winter. It is cut at the same time and in the same manner as wheat. Buckwheat is sown at the end of July. For this is taken some ground which has just before borne rye or wheat. Poor ground and one plowing does very well for it. It ripens in October, and is mostly used for horses and swine. Turnips are not in general use. The seed is sown in the beginning of August. For this is taken either a piece of newly-cleared land or swamp. Those who have neither of these prefer let- ting it alone. The leaves are often exposed to the ravages of small flies, which destroy the whole crop. Maize is planted at the end of April or the beginning of May. Four furrows are placed close to one another, and then five or six steps from these four other fur- rows, and so over the whole field. The plowing is done in the month of March. For the planting is used a broad hoe, wherewith the earth is opened to the depth of three or four inches, into which are cast five grains of corn, which are then covered with the hoe. Some- times also they add two Turkish beans, which thrive very well with the maize and run up its stalks. Each place thus planted is called a hill. An equal distance is kept between each hill, so that the rows may be straight either lengthwise or crosswise. As soon as the young plant comes up it is plowed over, and even harrowed, that it may be free of weeds. When the plants are half an ell high the ground is hoed up around them, and again when they are two ells high. In the month of September, when the maize has at- tained its greatest growth, although not ripe, the strongest blades are cut off for fodder. They then plow between the rows of corn, sow wheat, and har- row it in, and this, in the next year, gives a full crop. By the end of October the ears are ripe, pulled oft" on the field, and carried home. The stocks and roots are torn up during the winter, when the ground is loose, to make the fields clean. Maize is the princi- pal food of the Indians, and it has hence been called 'Indian corn.' " Potatoes are quite common, of two kinds, the Irish and the Maryland. The Irish are also of two kinds, the first round, knotty, whitish, mealy, somewhat porous. They are planted thus : upon a smooth and hard ground a bed of dung is formed ; portions of this are thrown upon the potatoes, which are then covered with ground of even the poorest kind. When the stalks have come up about a fourth of an ell high they are again hilled up with the same kind of earth, in order to strengthen the roots, which are thus con- siderably increased in number. The other kind is long, branching, thick, reddish, juicy, and more porous. For these a long ditch, the depth of a spade, is dug, the bottom of which is covered with manure, set with pieces of potatoes, and covered over with earth. When the stalks come up they are treated as those above mentioned. Maryland potatoes are long, thick, juicy, sweet, and yellow; they are planted from sprouts in hills or round heaps of good earth ; when the stalks come up they are hoed around. These are also wonderfully prolific, so that every- where around and between the hills the fruit is dug up. "Cabbage is planted two or three times a year, but seldom thrives well until towards autumn. Crisped colewart stands through the whole winter. On cab- bage stocks which stand through the winter new leaves come out in the spring, which are used for greens. Tobacco is planted in almost every garden, but not more than for domestic use. It is universal among the Indians. When the leaves are ripe they are cut, cured, and twined together like twists of flax, and are used without any further preparation by the country people for chewing and smoking. The trade in tobacco is permitted only for Maryland and Vir- ginia, although its importation is almost yearly di- minished, as its production is increased in Europe. "Vegetable gardens are kept for almost every house. There are generally cultivated beets, parsnips, onions, parsley, radishes, Turkish beans, large beans, pepper-grass, red peppers, lettuce, head-lettuce, Ger- man lettuce, and scurvy-grass; anything else is re- garded as a rarity. Common herbs for domestic THE FIRST SWEDISH SETTLEMENTS. 75 remedies are wormwood, rue, sage, thyme, chamomile, etc. Peas are also grown in gardens, as they can be eaten while still green. When dry, a worm grows in them, which comes out a fly in spring. And al- though the pea then seems destroyed, yet it still serves as seed for a new growth. That sort is like field peas. Sugar peas are also used, and are free from that evil. Orchards may be regarded as among the highest ad- vantages of the country, but the fruit consists mostly of three sorts, — cherries, peaches, and apples. Pears are rare. Cherry-trees are generally planted here and there around houses and roads, away from the gardens. The berries are generally of the common kind, bright and sour; some black and more juicy. The better sorts are rare, and lately introduced. They bloom in April and ripen in June. Peach-trees stand within an inclosure by themselves, grow even in the stoniest places without culture. The fruit is the most delightful that the mouth can taste, and is often allow- able in fevers. One kind, called clingstones, are con- sidered the best ; in these the stones are not loose from the fruit as in the others. Many have peach-orchards chiefly for the purpose of feeding their swine, which are not allowed to run at large. They first bloom in March, the flowers coming out before the leaves, and are often injured by the frosts; they are ripe to- wards the close of August. This fruit is regarded as indigenous, like maize and tobacco, for as far as any Indians have been seen in the interior of the country these plants are found to extend. Apple-trees make the finest orchards, planted in straight rows with in- tervals of twelve or fifteen paces. The best kind is called the Van der Veer, as a Hollander of that name introduced it ; it serves either for cider or apple brandy. Another sort is the house-apple, which is good for winter fruit. For apple-orchards not less than two or three acres are taken ; some have five or .six. The cultivation consists in grafting and pruning in the spring, and plowing the ground every five or six years, when either maize is planted or rye or oats sowed in the orchard." In reference to stock-raising, Acrelius continues: "The horses are real ponies, and are seldom found over sixteen hands high. He who has a good riding- horse never employs him for draught, which is also the less necessary, as journeys are for the most part made on horseback. It must be the result of this more than of any particular breed in the horses that the country excels in fast horses, so that horse-races are often made for very high stakes. A good horse will go more than a Swedish mile (six and three- quarters English miles) in an hour, and is not to be bought for less than six hundred dollars copper coin- age. The cattle are also of a middling sort, but whence they were first introduced no one can well tell. Where the pasture is fair a cow does not give less than two quarts of milk at a time, that is twice a day. The calf is not taken from the cow until it is four weeks old, — that is, as long as she can keep it fat, — in case it is to be slaughtered, otherwise two or three weeks are regarded as sufficient; and as animals are not kept in the house during winter, so it some- times happens that calves are sometimes caught in the snow, and are none the worse for it; there is no such thing heard of here as calves dying. "The sheep are of the large English sort. They are washed whenever convenient, and then immedi- ately shorn, once a year, towards the end of April; their wool is regarded as better for stockings than the English. The flesh is generally very strong in its taste, especially in old sheep; some persons are un- able to eat it. When the Christians first came to the country the grass was up to the flanks of the animals, and was good for pasture and hay-making, but as soon as the country has been settled the grass has died out from the roots, so that scarcely anything but black earth is left in the forests; back in the country, where the people have not yet settled, the same grass j is found, and is called wild rye. The pasture in the forests, therefore, consists mostly of leaves, but also I of the grass which grows along water-courses. Until pasture comes in the stubble-fields and meadows, the best is in the orchards. Early in the spring there springs up a strong grass-leek (wild garlic), especially on poor ground, which makes the milk and butter unpleasant to the taste, but afterwards the fields are covered with clover, red and white, and make excel- j lent pasture. Some sow clover-seed after they have harrowed in their wheat, to make the crop stronger. Back in the country, where horses and cattle are pas- tured in the wild woods, they become wild, and so live in great numbers. "The clearing for meadows has advanced very slowly, as there was so much new land suitable for cultivation. Upland pastures are scarcely advanta- geous unless they are frequently plowed, manured, sown with good grass-seed along with other seed, and j also irrigated. They conduct the water from streams ; and ditche-s, so far as it is possible to do this with 1 dams, to irrigate the meadows when the drought increases, which must be done in the night-time, when the air is cool. Along the Delaware River and the streams which fall into it there are large tracts of swamp, which within the last fifteen years, to the extent of many thousand acres, have been improved into good meadows, but at a very great expense. The mode of procedure is to inclose a certain amount of swamp with a bank thrown up quite high, so as to keep out the water (the ebh and the flood) or tides. The bank commonly rises as high as five feet, some- times ten feet. Also to make a ditch to carry off the water which comes on it from the land, and at the same time to place drains in the bank to let the water out; and then, again, by agate upon the drains, to prevent it from running. When dry the earth is plowed, some kind of grain is sown in it, and then it is afterwards sown with clover and other English hay-seeds. When people saw the success of such 76 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUxXTY. work, their minds were so taken with it that in the year 1751 the price of an acre of swamp-meadow advanced to six hundred dollars copper coin. But just at the same time it also happened that some high tides came up from the sea and swept away the em- bankments. Numerous muskrats live in these em- bankments and make them leaky, also a kind of crabs, called ' fiddlers,' dig into them, and make the banks like a sieve. Then the ditches were found not to be rightly built so as to answer their purpose. Thus the grass and grain were destroyed, the land returning again to its wild nature, and there was no end of patching and mending. Then the price of the land fell to half its value, and he thought him- self best off who had none of it. Again, in 1755, there came a great drought ; no grass nor pasture was to be found, and as no other plan could be devised, then the price of these lands rose again. The con- clusion was that swampland as well as high land has its advantages as well as its disadvantages. Experi- ence has taught that upland earth improves the swamp land, and swamp land the upland ; also that the vermin flee from the embankments when upland earth is found in them. " Stables and cow-houses are seldom seen on a farm. The first Swedish inhabitants kept their animals under shelter during winter; but it was then said that they were then exposed to vermin and other diseases, which have not been heard of since. Then people went into another extreme, that of letting the animals en- dure the severity of the winter, which, along with the rain, frost, and snow, is sometimes intolerable. A good housekeeper has a stable with thin sides for the horses, and sheds for the cattle and sheep, built near the barn and standing out in the stable-yard, so that they may be protected there when the weather is severe. In milder weather all the cattle run out in the inclosure, and are foddered with hay or straw stacks which are set up there. They also graze on the land around, which is mostly used for young cat- tle. The sheep especially feed themselves on ferns and the young grass which grows up under the snow in warm weather. The lambs skip about in the snow, and stand in danger of being buried under it for want of proper care. The man-servant takes care of the foddering of the cattle, while the housewife and women folks roast themselves by the kitchen-fire, doubting if any one can do better than that them- selves. Hay alone, even of the best kind, is not suf- ficient to keep any horse or cow well ; a considerable amount of grain, such as oats, maize, and buckwheat, is used for horses and wheat-bran for milch cows. " The country is undeniably fruitful, as may be judged from the following examples •} Joseph Cobern, ' Penu con-oboratea Acreliue. He 6uy8, " As they are a people proper and stroug of body, bo they have tine children, and almost every liouae full ; rare to find one of them without three or four boys and as uian.v j^irls, some six, seven, and eight sons. And I must do them tliat right, 1 see few young men mure sober and industrious." — WUtitnn Ptfitn^s lit- /ormaliOH abovX Pennst/Uania^ Aug. 16, 1682. in Chester, twenty years ago had the blessing to have his wife have twins, his cow two calves, and his ewe two lambs, all in one night, in the month of March. All continued to live. Olle Tossa (Thoresson), in Brandywine Hundred, in 1742, had a cow which in the month of March had one calf; at her next calv- ing she had three; the third time, five; altogether, nine calves within two years. Three continued to live, but five died, — two males and three heifers. Thomas Bird, of the same place, had a ewe that yeaned four Iambs within as many days, only one dying. " The land is so settled that each one has his ground separate and, for the most part, fenced in. So far as was possible, the people have taken up their abode by navigable streams, so that the farms stretch from the water in small strips up into the land. No country in the world can be richer in rivers, creeks, rivulets, and good springs. The houses are built of bricks, after the English fashion, without coating, every other brick glazed ; or they are of sandstone, granite, etc., as is mostly the case in the country. Sometimes, also, they build of oak planks five inches thick. To build of wood is not regarded as economy, after everything is paid for. The roof is of cedar shingles. Within the walls and ceilings are plastered, and whitewashed once a year. Straw carpets have lately been introduced in the towns. But the incon- venience of this is that they must soon be cleansed from fly-spots and a multitude of vermin which har- bor in such things, and from the kitchen smoke which is universal. The windows are large, divided into . two pieces, the upper and lower; the latter is opened by raising and shut by lowering. The wood-work is painted or it does not last long. The furniture of the house is usually made of the woods of the country, and consists of a dining-table, tea-table, supper-table, bureaus, cabinets, and chairs, which are made of walnut, mahogany, maple, wild-cherry, or sweet-gum. All these trees are the growth of the country except mahogany, which is brought from South America. "The articles of dress are very little different among city and country people, except that the former procure them from the merchants' shops and the latter make them for themselves, and usually of coarser stuft'. Wool-, weaving-, and fulling-mills are not used for manufacturing broadcloth, camelot, and other woolen cloths, which might be finer if more carefully attended to. The coloring of certain stuffs is very inferior. Silks are rare even in the towns. Plush is general, and satin is very widely used all over the country. Calicoes and cottons are used for women's dresses. Handsome linen is the finest stuff sought by men, as the heat is great and of long con- tinuance. By their dress most people are known, whether of Irish or German birth. The meals are cleanly, and do not consist of a great variety of food. Ham, beef, tongue, roast beef, fowls, with cabbage set round about make one meal. Roast mutton or THE FIRST SWEDISH SETTLEMENTS. 77 veal with potatoes or'turnips form another. Another still is formed by a pastry of chickens, or partridges, or lamb. Beef-steak, veal-cutlets, mutton-chops, or turkey, goose, or fowls, with potatoes set around, with stewed green peas, or Turkish beans, or some other beans, are anotlier meal. Pies of apples, peaches, cher- ries, or cranberries, etc., form another course. When cheese and butter are added one has an ordinary meal. The breakfast is tea or coffee; along with these is eaten long and thin slicesof bread, with thin slices of smoked beef, in summer. In winter, bread roasted, soaked in milk and l)utter, and called toast, or pancakes of buck- wheat, so light that one can scarcely hold them be- tween his fingers, are also used. The afternoon meal (" four-o'clock piece"), taken at four o'clock, is usually the same. Suppers are not much in use. When one is so invited chocolate is the most reliable. Whole pots of it are sometimes made, but little or no milk in it, chiefly of water. Of these articles of food more or less is used in the country according to the ability or luxury of the people. Tea, coffee, and chocolate are so general as to be found in the most remote cabins, if not for daily use yet for visitors, mixed with j Muscovado or raw sugar. Fresh fish for a meal is found nowhere either with high or low. Of soup they think in the same manner. It serves only for ordi- nary household fare. Salt and dried fish are seldom seen ; as few have eaten them they are almost un- known. The arrangement of meals among country people is usually this: for breakfast, in summer, cold milk and bread, rice, milk-pudding, cheese and but- ter, cold meat; in winter, mush and milk and milk porridge, hominy and milk. The same also serves for supper if so desired. For noon, in summer, soup, fresh meat, dried beef, and bacon, with cabbage, apples, potatoes, Turkish beans, large beans, all kinds of roots, mashed turnips, pumpkins, cashaws, and squashes. One or more of these are distributed around the dish ; also boiled or baked pudding, dump- lings, bacon and eggs, pies of apples, cherries, peaches, etc. In winter hominy soup is cooked with salt beef and bacon. Then also pastries of lamb or chicken are used, and can keep cold a whole week ; also pan- cakes of wheat-flour or of buckwheat-meal. Bread is baked once a week or oftener. It is in large loaves, mostly of wheat-flour, seldom of rye. The wheat- flour which is used in the towns for bread or table use is beautiful, like the finest powder. The flour in the country is dark and coarse." A Condensed View of the Ministers who Suc- cessively Presided over the Swedish Churches in America. — l. Reorus Torkillus accompanied Peter Menewe, who brought over the first Swedish colony about the year 1636, and died here in 1643, aged thirty-five years. 2. John Campanius Holm came over in 1642 with Governor Printz, and remained here six years. Cam- panius was his proper surname, Holm having been added because of Stockholm having been his place of residence. He translated Luther's Catechism into the language of the Indians. 3. Laurence Lock came over in the time of Gov- ernor Printz. He preached at Tinicum and Chris- tina. He was for many years the only clergyman the Swedes had. He died in 1688. 4. Israel Holg came about the year 1650, but did not remain long. 5. With Governor Rising, in 1652, a chaplain came over, and returned after the conquest of the Dutch in 1655. 6. Another clergyman came over in the ship " Mer- cury" in the year 1656, and returned home two years afterwards. 7. Jacob Fabritius, who had been preaching for the Dutch in New York, was induced to settle among the Swedes, and preached his first sermon at Wicaco in 1677. He officiated as their pastor fourteen years, nine of which he was blind. He died about 1692. Three clergymen arrived in 1697, from which pe- riod we may date the regular supply of the churches here with Swedish ministers. These were Andreas Rudman, Eric Biork, and Jonas Auren. The first .settled at Wicaco, the second at Christina, and the third at Raccoon and Penn's Neck. Wicaco Church. — 1. Andrew Rudman was the founder of the present church, which was built in 1700. In 1702 he went to preach for the Dutch in New York; afterwards officiated at Oxford Church, n'ear Frankford; then in Christ Church, Philadel- phia, where he died in 1708. 2. Andrew Sandel arrived in 1702 ; returned home in 1719. 3. Jonas Lindman, sent over in 1719; recalled in 1730. The Rev. J. Eneberg took charge of the church during the vacancy. 4. Gabriel Falk, appointed rector in 1733 ; deposed the same year. 5. John Dylander came over in 1737. He died, honored and beloved, in 1741. 6. Gabriel Nesman, appointed rector in 1743 ; re- turned home in 1750. 7. Olof Parlin arrived in 1750 ; died in 1757. 8. Charles Magnus Wrangel came in 1759 ; returned in 1768 ; died 1786. 9. Andrew Goeranson, sent over in 1766; became rector 1768; officiated until the close of 1779; re- turned home in 1785 ; died in 1800. 10. Matthias Hultgren commenced his official du- ties in 1780 ; recalled in 1786. 11. Nicholas Collin, of Upsal, sent over in 1770; appointed to Wicaco in 1786 ; died 1831, close of the Swedish mission. 12. Rev. J. C. Clay, D.D., elected in December, 1831, entered upon his duties the January following. After the separation of the three churches, in 1843, the Rev. Samuel C. Brinkle was chosen rector of this church, and continued to officiate as such until 1850, when be was succeeded by the Rev. J. Brinton Smith. 78 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. The latter resigned in 1856, and was succeeded by Kev. Charles A. Maison. Upper Merion Church. — The first rector of this church, after it became separated from the others, was the Rev. Edward Lightner. He resigned the parish in 1855, and was succeeded by the Kev. Wil- liam H. Rees, D.D., who retained the charge till 1861. The following clergymen have officiated at this church from 1861 to the present time : Revs. Thomas S. Yocum, 1861-70; Octavius Perinchief, 1870-73; Edward A. Warriuer, 1873-76; Octavius Perinchief, 1876-77; A. A. Marple, 1877 to . Church at Christina. — 1. Eric Biork built a new church at Fort Christina, in 1698, in lieu of that at Traubrook. Returned home, 1714; died in 1740. ■ 2. Andreas Hessefius, sent over in 1711 ; provost, 1719; recalled in 1723; died in 1733. 3. Samuel Hesselius, brother to the former, sent over in 1729; returned in 1731 ; died, 1755. 4. John Eneberg, pastor, 1733 ; returned home in 1742. 5. Petrus Tranberg took charge of this church in 1742, and died in 1748. 6. Israel Acrelius, sent over in 1749; returned in 1756; died in 1800, aged eighty-six. He was the author of the work on the Swedish congregations in America. 7. Eric Unander, sent from Raccoon and Penn's Neck to Christina in 1756. 8. Andreas Borell, sent to preside over the Swedish churches in 1757; arrived here in 1759; pastor in 1762 ; received the king's diploma, constituting him provost over all the Swedish churches here, where he died in 1768. 9. The Rev. Laurence Girelius entered upon his duties as assistant October, 1767; became provost of the churches in the place of the Rev. Mr. Borell in May, 1770. He continued in charge until 1791, when he returned to Sweden. He was the last of the Swedish ministers. After the departure of the Rev. Mr. Girelius the church at Christina became connected with the Prot- estant Episcopal Church. For the following details with regard to the succession of Episcopal clergymen who have officiated there I am indebted to my friend, the Rev. Charles Breck : Rev. Joseph Clarkson, 1792-99; Rev. AVilliam Pryce, 1800-12; Rev. Mr. Wickes, 1814-17; Rev. L. Bull, D.D., 1818-19; Rev. Richard D. Hall, 1819-22; Rev. Ralph Williston, 1822-26 ; Rev. Pierce Connelly, 1827-28 ; Rev. Mr. Pardee, 1828-35; Rev. Mr. Adams, 1835-38; Rev. Dr. McCullough, 1838-47; Rev. Dr. Van Dusen, 1848-52 ; Rev. Charles Breck, 1853. Church at Raccoon and Penn's Neck. — The first min- ister was Polfladius. He was drowned in the Del- aware in 1706, and was succeeded by 1. Jonas Auren, who came over with Rudman and Biork in 1697; appointed, 1706 ; died in the exercise of his functions, 1713. 2. Abraham Lidenius, sent over in 1711 ; pastor, 1714; returned home, 1724; died, 1728. 3. Petrus Tranberg and Andreas Windrufua, sent over in 1726. They divided the churches between them, and so continued until 1728, when Windrufua died. Between the time of Tranberg going to Chris- tina and his death, in 1748, these churches had no pastor. 4. John Sandin appointed pastor, 1748 ; died the same year. 5. Professor Kalm, traveling through North Amer- ica under authority from the king of Sweden, sup- plied the church for a few months. He married the widow of Mr. Sandin, and returned to Sweden after a perilous voyage. 6. Eric Unander, sent over in 1749, became pastor in 1751. 7. John Lidenius (son of Abraham above men- tioned), appointed pastor in the place of Unander, 1756 ; died in Pennsylvania. 8. John Wicksell, sent over in 1760; arrived, 1762; returned home in 1774; died, 1800. 9. Nicholas Collin, pastor 1778 ; appointed to Wic- aco in 1786. (See above.) The following clergymen have been at diffisrent times assistant ministers in the Swedish churches: The Rev. Charles Lute was appointed assistant to the Rev. Mr. Georgesen in 1774. While Dr. Collin was rector, he had for his first as- sistant the Rev. Joseph Clarkson, who was appointed in 1787, and continued to officiate until 1792. The Rev. Slater Clay was appointed in 1792, and officiated once a month in Upper Merion, and when there was a fifth Sunday in the month at Kingsessing. Only part of his time was given to the Swedes, for whom he continued to preach until the day of his death, in 1821. The Rev. Joseph Turner was appointed also in 1792, and was for many years connected with the Swedes as one of their assistant ministers. The Rev. J. C. Clay, soon after his ordination, la 1813, was called to the same churches, and officiated therein as an assistant for one year, when he was called to the churches at Norristown and German- town. The Rev. James Wiltbank was appointed to the same office in 1816, and performed its duties for four years, or until 1820. The Rev. M. B. Roche, in 1820, became an assist ant minister to the Swedes, in which situation he offi- ciated for a period of six months. The Rev. J. C. Clay became a second time con- nected with these churches in 1822, having been ap- pointed an assistant for Upper Merion Church, in connection with the Norristown and Perkiomen Churches. He also officiated every fifth Sunday, or four times a year, at Kingsessing. He continued to till tills station until called, in 1831, to the rectorship. i The Rev. Charles M. Diipuy was, in 1822, appointed THE FIRST SWEDISH SETTLEMENTS. 79 the assistant for Wicaco and Kingsessing, and was continued as such until 1828. The Rev. Pierce Connelly succeeded Mr. Dupuy and officiated chiefly at Kingsessing, though part of the time at Wicaco also, till the close of 1831, when he accepted a call to Natchez, Miss. The Rev. Raymond A. Henderson was chosen as- sistant to the Rev, J. C. Clay in 1832, and continued in the churches until the close of 1834, when he was called to the French Protestant Church in New Orleans. The Rev. John Reynolds was assistant for one year at Upper Merion, having been appointed about the same time with Mr. Henderson. After the last two mentioned, the Rev. William Diehl and the Rev. Samuel C. Brinckle acted as assistants until the churches were separated. — Annals of the Swedes : Rev. J. C. Clay. The following is a list of the Swedish families re- siding in New Sweden in the year 1693, with the number of individuals in each family: Namea. Number in/amUy. Hindrick Anderson 5 Johiin Anderssen 9 Julian Aiidersson 7 JoFHU Andersen 5 John Arian ti Joran Brtgnmn. 3 Anders Deiitjstoti 9 Bengt Hi-Dg6ton '-^ And-rsBotui-^ H Johiiu Bot.de 1 Sven Bonde 5 LaraBure 8 Willmm Cobb 6 Cfirisfiiin Chsaen 7 Jacob Cliisson 6 Jacob Clemsun 1 Eric Cock 9 Gabriel Cock 7 JoUun Cock 7 Capt. lAts»e Cock 11 \ Sloens Cock S : otto Ernst Cock 5 Uindrick Coliman 1 Conrad Constantine .'.. *> j Joliaii von Culen 5 I OlloDahlbo 7 I Peter Dahlbo 9 I Uindrick Danielsson 5 Thurnas Dennis 6 Ao'lefB Diedricksson 1 I Olle Diedricksson 7 ' Stcplian Ekhorn 5 \ El io EriosoD 1 GOran Ericsson 1 , Matte Ericsson 3 Hindrick Faske 5 Cagpi>r Fisk li> Matthias do Foff If Andiira Frende 4 Nils Fct-ndes (widow) .. 7 Olle Fransson 7 Eric Cristenberg 7 Nils Gastenberg 3 Eric Goran >3on 2 Brita Go-tiifsson fi Gustal'Giistafsson S Hans Gostafsson 7 J.ilin IJurttiifysun 3 Mans (.Moens) Gostafsson 2 Johan Grantrum 3 Lar^ Hailing 1 MoL-ns Halltou 9 Israel ndiii 5 Jolian HinderssoQ, Jr 3 Aii(lfT9 Uiu'lricksaon 4 Davi.i Hiiidricsson 7 Jacob Jliii'lrickann 5 Johiin Ilindricksson 6 Johan sliiniricsson 5 Matta Hollsten 7 Anders II>mtnian 9 Anni Thomas (widow) 6 Olle Tliomaxnon 9 Olle ThorRson 4 Hindrick Tossa....' 6 Johan Tos^