Presented by the Author
\'\\o

THE OLD PARRY MANSION
¦ AtfKew Hope, Bucks county, - which was erected for Benjamin parry In 1784: Jt
was dn Saturday the scone of a meeting of the Pennsylvania Society Sons of the

3S.

CORYELLS FERRY
(NOW NEW HOPE, BUCKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA)
IN THE REVOLUTION

9ln atitiress
DELIVERED BEFORE THE PENNSYLVANIA
SOCIETY, SONS of the REVOLUTION
AT "CORYELL'S FERRY"
" JUNE iSth, 1907

RICHARD RANDOLPH PARRY

NEW HOPE, PENNSYLVANIA
1907

Ckt4.4o

CORYELL'S FERRY IN THE REVOLUTION
An Address Delivered Before the
PENNSYLVANIA SOCIETY OF SONS OF THE REVOLUTION
By Richard Randolph Parry
at " Coryell's Ferry," on June 15th, igo?

In welcoming you, Mr. President and gentlemen of the
Pennsylvania Society of the Sons of the Revolution, to " Coryell's
Ferry," you are welcomed to historic ground, nearly every inch
of which is closely interwoven with, and forms a part of, the
Chronicles of the Revolution. We are met here on a spot familiar
to all students of American history and the period of the Revo
lutionary War, and here the ancestors of many of you present
to-day, under far different and most trying circumstances, anx
iously, and often doubtingly, awaited the development and con
summation of the warlike plans and designs with which " Cory
ell's Ferry " (now New Hope) was closely connected and formed
an important part one hundred and thirty years ago. To the
consideration of some of these events it is proposed to briefly call
your attention at this time.
" Coryell's Ferry," the best ferry on the Delaware River,
north of Trenton, and located on the main line of travel to East
Jersey and New York, became at the commencement of hostili
ties at once an important strategic point of value to both the
American and British Armies, both of which, on several occa
sions, were most desirous to hold and control it, and especially
was this so just prior to the " Battle of Trenton," when, upon
Lord Cornwallis' army failing to effect a crossing of the Dela
ware into Pennsylvania at Trenton, a considerable detachment
of troops were sent sixteen miles further up the river, to make
the attempt at " Coryell's Ferry," and which attempt doubtless
would have been successful but for the wisdom and foresight
of General Washington, who, notwithstanding the condition of

the river, and foreseeing just such a contingency, had planned
against it, and thus defeated the designs of the British com
mander. To better realize this, however, we must go backward
somewhat in memory to the 20th of November, 1776, when
Washington, having evacuated " Fort Lee," on the Hudson
River, and retreating before Lord Cornwallis's troops through
New Jersey, arrived on the 3d day of December at the eastern
bank of the Delaware River, to find boats and floats ready to con
vey the American Army to Pennsylvania on the other side. All
these had been secured by and through the activity of two patri
otic young men named Jerry Black and Captain (afterwards
General) Daniel Bray, to whom, acting under military orders,
and to their correct knowledge of every boat and boat owner
from Trenton to Easton, General Washington was to be, several
weeks later, further indebted, for the larger fleet procured, which
ferried the Continental troops over the river just above the pres
ent Taylorsville, at the point now world famous as " Washing
ton's Crossing." The celebrated painting of this perilous ven
ture and crossing, and the many engravings and prints made
from it since, are to be seen almost everywhere, in shop windows
and private houses.
Cornwallis leisurely following our army through New Jer
sey doubtless felt confident of its capture or destruction at this
critical period, and with the turbulent waters of the Delaware in
front of the Continentals, and (as he supposed), no transportation
or ferriage to carry them over, with an overwhelming force of
trained regular troops in their rear it appeared that the war then
and there might come to an untimely end for the raw army he
considered but little more than a rebellious mob.
All attempts of the British, however, to enter Pennsylvania
either at Trenton or Coryell's Ferry having failed, the two hos
tile armies remained facing each other, on opposite sides of the
river, from the eighth to the twenty-fifth of December, 1776, and
the cause of independence was saved, as history states. Lord
Cornwallis (who could never have dreamed of a battle at Tren
ton) seemed to feel sure of his prey, having, no doubt, bright
visions float through his mind of our army marching on to its
annihilation, and but little reckoned the true picture the camera

revealed when turned on the scene of his own troops defeated and
broken, many wounded and killed, stores, arms and cannon sur
rendered, and all that went to make glorious the battle and vic
tory at Trenton, Many circumstances make it appear not un
likely at this period that Cornwallis believed Washington would
be forced to surrender his army on reaching the banks of the
Delaware, at Trenton, and the war be of but short duration, nor
dreamed of his own sun setting at Yorktown long after. How
different from this situation results might have been had the
British succeeded in entering Pennsylvania at Coryell's Ferry,
we can now only imagine, and, with grateful hearts, be thankful.
So sure was Cornwallis of the defeat of Washington at this
juncture that it has been stated he had obtained leave of absence
to return to England, and that his luggage was packed and ready
for shipment, when a dispatch rider from Count Donop informed
him of the Trenton disaster; and here it may be interesting to
note that the house in which the Hessian commander. Colonel
Rahl, died of his wounds, stood on the site of the present Roman
Catholic Cathedral, on Warren Street, Trenton, on which is a
tablet, reciting the fact, and erected by the Cathedral corporation.
It has been the popular belief that General Washington never
was wounded, but an original letter found in an old trunk in
Virginia, during the Civil War, would indicate differently, and
that he must have been (at least slightly) wounded in the Battle
of Trenton. A copy of this letter was published in the Doyles-
town (Bucks County) Democrat of May 19, 1899. It is from
Col. William Palfrey, at Newtown, Pennsylvania, 5th of January,
1777, and is addressed to Henry Jackson, Esq., Boston, Mass.,
per Captain Goodrich, and is as follows : " Doctor Edwards writes
from Trenton that General Washington is slightly wounded, and
General Mercer is missing," etc., etc.*
New Hope, on the Delaware ( Coryell's Ferry) , has much to
make it interesting. The site of the borough was a part of a
grant of one thousand acres to Robert Heath in A.D. 1700; sur
veyed in 1703 and 1704, and patented to R. Heath in A.D. 1710.
"The Old York Road" was opened from Philadelphia to the

* The original of the above noted letter now hangs upon the walls of the Bucks
County Historical Society at Doylestown, Pa. Deposited by General W. W.-H. Davis.

Delaware River in 171 1, and in 1719 John Wells was granted by
the Pennsylvania Assembly the privilege, for seven years, of
establishing a ferry at New Hope, which then became known as
"Wells' Ferry," later being termed "Coryell's Ferry," for
George Coryell, who was the owner of half the ferry rights on
the New Jersey side. All these rights and privileges are now
(1907) vested in the New Hope Delaware Bridge Company,
organized in 181 1, and chartered by Pennsylvania and New Jer
sey in 1812, and now almost one hundred years old. The grant
of the ferry rights to John Wells expired in 1733, when John
Penn, Thomas Penn and Richard Penn, Proprietors of the Prov
ince of Pennsylvania, granted Wells further rights and privileges,
among which was the excluding and prohibiting of all other
ferries within a distance of four miles above and below Wells'
Ferry. The latter grant is recorded at Philadelphia, August 10,
1733, in Patent Book " A," Vol. 6, page 185, etc., and certified to
by C. D. Brockden^ Recorder.
The ferry rights on the New Jersey side of the river were
granted in 1733 by King George the Second, to Emanuel Coryell,
of Amwell, in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, and were to
operate a ferry, at a place called " Coates Ferry," New Jersey,
opposite " Wells' Ferry," on the Pennsylvania side, and exclud
ing any other person or persons from operating a ferry at this
point. Both Wells and Coryell kept inns, or taverns, near their
ferry landings.
As "Wells' Ferry" the settlement was known, down to
1770, when it was changed to " Coryell's Ferry," as previously
stated ; and this name it bore until towards the close of the eigh
teenth century; as a letter (still existent) to Benjamin Parry,
addressed " Coryell's Ferry," and dated the 6th of July, A.D.
1787, is in possession of the writer; and in 1810 it was described
as New Hope, lately Coryell's Ferry. An ancient private map
of New Hope, made for Benjamin Parry, bears in colors as fol
lows : " Map of New Hope 1798." The change was made prob
ably about A.D. 1790, and for reasons noted later on.
Amid the present quiet and peaceful surroundings about us
to-day, it is difficult to realize that at several periods of the revo
lution this whole section was bristling with arms and the tramp

and tread of armed men, as our patriot sires advanced into, or
were driven out of New Jersey, and that during most of the
month of December, 1776 (just prior to the battle of Trenton),
a large portion of the Continental Army were here and in close
proximity. Within the limits of this ancient borough the eye rested
everywhere upon the valley, hillside and fields, dotted with the
tents of the Continental soldiers, and " Coryell's Ferry " became
a military camp. Within ten minutes' ride, below New Hope, at
the Neeley (Thompson's) farmhouse, were quartered Lieut. James
Monroe, afterwards President of the United States, and other
officers, including Captain James Moore, of the New York Ar
tillery, who died there of camp fever and lies buried on the
farm with a number of others, including several officers whose
graves are unmarked. Near by, at " Chapman's," were General
Knox and Captain Alexander Hamilton (killed later on by Aaron
Burr in their memorable duel). At "Merrick's" farmhouse
were General Greene and his staff, and the General (especially
fond of good cheer) devoured the poultry, etc., on the farm, to
the horror and dismay of the family; while a few fields away
General Sullivan and staff occupied the " Hayhurst " home.
General Washington's headquarters were at the " Keith "
house and farm, on the road from Brownsburg (below New
Hope) towards Newtown; and Generals Stirling and De Fer-
moy, with their troops, at " Beaumont's " and " Coryell's Ferry."
These officers were all in close touch with each other, all watch
ing and waiting, eager and anxious, to bear their part in the
bloody engagement which they well knew was near at hand.
President Monroe never forgot his friends at the Thompson
(Neeley) farmhouse, where he had stayed in 1776, and always
inquired about them whenever opportunity offered.
Captain James Moore, who died at the " Neeley " (Thomp
son) farmhouse, lies buried on the farm, with other officers, as
stated. Their graves are enclosed within an iron fence. Outside
of this enclosure are a number of other graves, some with rude
headstones set up and some without. There are at least eleven,
and some claim to have counted as many as sixty unmarked
graves outside, the latter evidently being of private soldiers.
The tombstones of Captain Moore are the original ones and are

8
thus marked : " To ye memory of Captain James Moore of Ye
New York Artillery, Son of Benjamin and Cornelia Moore of
New York. He died December ye 25th A.D. 1776, aged 24
years, and eight mons." The headstone is much defaced from
chippings by relic hunters. These graves are close to the bank of
the Delaware River, east of the canal. At Doylestown, in the
rooms of the Bucks County Historical Society, there is a photo
graph of Captain Moore's grave, and I have a print of it from
a newspaper myself.
The account comes handed down to us that under " The
Old Washington Tree," in New Hope, which stood for one hun
dred and fifty years on the Paxson's estate of " Maple Grove,"
in a field opposite General De Fermoy's and Lord Stirling's
headquarters (and known as "The Old Fort"), General Wash
ington and his trusted Generals, Knox, Stirling, Sullivan and
Greene, first talked over, and first outlined, a plan for the Battle
of Trenton; and from the time of the Revolution to November
28, 1893, when it was cut down (to make room for improve
ments), it was always known and spoken of as " The Old Wash
ington Tree," from this circumstance.
We are also informed, from the same source, that under the
shade of this wide-spreading chestnut tree General Washington
and his staff stopped at noon for refreshment, in 1778, when his
army crossed the Delaware here, on its road to attack the British
under Gen'^ral Clinton at Monmouth, New Jersey.
In " Davis's History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania " (Re
vised Edition), it is stated that in the spring of 1778 General
Washington, believing that the banks of the Delaware River
would again become the scene of conflict (in an attempt of the
British to reach Philadelphia), appointed General Benedict Ar
nold, the traitor, to the command of the river, when " Coryell's
Ferry " was again, for the second time, placed in a state of secur
ity, as were also the other fords and crossings of the Delaware.
From Philadelphia and Branchtown to New Hope, on the
Delaware, the whole line of the historic " Old York Road "
speaks to us in clarion notes of these stirring and eventful days,
ever singing the song of the Revolution. At Branchtown we
are reminded of the Battle of Germantown nearby, three Ameri-

can soldiers (part of a picket guard) being killed there in a
skirmish with the British, and were buried upon what afterwards
became the estate of the artist Russell Smith, who had their
graves designated by headstones. At Hatboro, called the
" Crooked Billet," in 1776 and later, was fought what is known
as the " Battle of the Crooked Billet," on May i, 1778, when
General Lacey, a Bucks County man, fought a strong detachment
of British infantry and cavalry under Major- (subsequently Gen
eral) Simcoe unsuccessfully, and was almost surrounded and
hardly escaped capture himself. A tall marble shaft at the north
end of Hatboro, a few feet off the Old York Road, to the right
(looking towards New Hope), commemorates this engagement,
which was had, by order of General Howe, whose troops had
been much harassed in Bucks County by Lacey's soldiers for
some time previous. At Hartsville, on the Neshaminy, one-half
mile from the present village of Hartsville, Bucks County. Wash
ington had his headquarters at a farm house, in which both the
young Marquis de Lafayette and Count Pulaski reported for
military duty. At Centerville we find " Bogart's Tavern " stilL
standing, as in Revolutionary days, when the Bucks County Com
mittee of Safety held its frequent meetings there. It was also
General Greene's headquarters at one time.
At Buckingham, as my lifelong friend. General W. W. H.
Davis informs us : " The Friends' Meeting house was used as a
hospital during a portion of the Revolutionary War, and several
soldiers were buried about where the turnpike crosses the hill,
some of whose remains were uncovered when the pike was made.
On meeting days the soldiers put one-half of the house in order
for Friends, many of them attending the services."
" Paxson's Corner " (now Aquetong) also has its connec
tions with the days of the Revolution, for here some of the
American soldiers stayed over night, at the home of the then
owner, Benjamin Paxson; one of the soldiers leaving his camp
mug behind in the morning, which is still preserved in the Paxson
family, who still own the property, one hundred and thirty-one
years later, and known as " Rolling Green."
When the soldiers were leaving, a good marksman shot
off a branch, at the very top of a tree, in front of this house oni

lO
the Old York Road, and the disfigurement was plainly to be
seen until very recent years.
New Hope, on the Delaware ("Coryell's Ferry" of the Revo
lution), the termination of the Old York Road in Pennsylvania,.
at the Delaware River, was, as before noted, a most important
strategic point during the first few years of the Revolutionary
War, and in December, 1776, became a military camp.
General William Alexander (more commonly known as
Lord Stirling), who, although he bore a title, was none the less
an ardent American, and intensely patriotic, caused two different'
parts of the property on which we are to-day assembled, to be
placed in a state of armed defence ; one of these was on the hillside
across the pond made by the Great Spring or Ingham's Spring
Creek beside us, and in a southwesterly direction from this house,
there, from a point easterly from where the yellow public school
house now stands, he had a line of earthworks thrown up, which
extended in an easterly direction along and well up the hillside,
towards the Delaware River — the outline of these earthworks
could be quite plainly seen and traced, within my recollection,
but have now disappeared. At the river's brink (the termina
tion of the " Old York Road" in Pennsylvania), just below the
ferry landing, and also a part of this property (purchased from
the "^odds), stockade entrenchments were erected, and batteries
were placed; as was also the case above the ferry landing, some
distance along the river front. General Alexander (Lord Stir
ling) also had another redoubt thrown up on the Old York
Road — at the corner of Ferry Street and the present Bridge
Street (which latter street did not, however, then exist) — a little
southeasterly of where the " old Washington tree," cut down
November 28th, 1893, then stood. The site of this defence is easily
recognized, being where the present Presbyterian chapel and
an ancient stone house (both on the south side of the Old York
Road) now stand. This stone house was once owned by Captain
Edward F. Randolph, a " patriot of 1776 " and citizen of Phila
delphia, who purchased it for his son Charles, then a practicing
physician in New Hope. Captain Randolph, as first lieutenant
in Colonel William Butler's Fourth Pennsylvania Regiment, Con
tinental Army, commanded the outlying picket guard at " The

OLD PARRY MANSION

II

Massacre of Paoli," where he was desperately wounded and left
upon the field for dead, escaping by the merest chance. A sightless
eye in its socket was one of the mementoes of that affair, which
he carried with him through life. His portrait hangs upon the
walls of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia,
and his bio§;raphy appears in " Lives of Eminent Philadelphians,
Deceased," published nearly fifty years ago (1859). His sword
is still in existence, and among the treasured possessions of his
great-grandson, Evan Randolph, of Philadelphia. An old silver
spoon, used by him in camp, and marked with his initial and crest,
has come handed down to the writer. A fuller notice of this
Revolutionary patriot appears in a foot note at the end of this
paper, on page 15.
At Malta Island, at the southern end of New Hope, and
which is now main land, but was in 1776 surrounded by water
and covered by timber, the most of the boats were collected and
secreted and floated down by night to Knowles Cove, above Tay
lorsville, and were used in making the famous " Washington's
Crossing of the Delaware," on Christmas night and morning of
1776. At " Malta Island " these boats were watched over and pro
tected by a military guard. " Malta Island " was at one time
owned by the late Daniel Parry, a younger brother of Benjamin
Parry, for whom the " Old Parry Mansion " was built in A.D.
1784; and here it may not perhaps be inappropriate to mention
that among many interesting events connected with this house
was the unusual circumstance of a grandchild of its present
owner having been born in one of its chambers in A.D. 1901, in
the same room in which her great-grandfather, Oliver Parry,
was born in A.D. 1794, one hundred and seven years before, it
being the same house in which her great-great-grandfather, Ben
jamin Parry, lived and died, five generations earlier, and this
important young lady (Margaret K. Parry), daughter of a later
Oliver Randolph Parry, I am happy to have here with me to-day.
The importance of " Coryell's Ferry " in the Revolution can
easily be realized and appreciated when we know the great care
and attention which General Washington gave to it, and how
very necessary its possession was to the American cause at scv-

12
eral periods of the war. Its defences in 1776 were so well
planned that it would have been most difficult for the British
to have captured it ; for, even if their troops could have effected
a landing at the ferry, the firing by the Americans square in their
faces, down the Old York Road (the only approach) at the stone
house mentioned, and a raking side fire from the hillside across
the pond, would have caused them great slaughter before they
could have accomplished their purpose. It is much to be
regretted that the old name of " Coryell's Ferry " should ever
have been dropped. " King's Bridge," " Dobbs Ferry," etc., hav
ing revolutionary interest, have never been altered or changed.
And here it may be well to explain how the change came about.
Benjamin Parry, an influential citizen of Bucks County and a
man of means, owner of the " Prime Hope Mills," on the oppo-
side of the Delaware River, in New Jersey, was also the owner
of the flour, linseed oil and saw mills on the Pennsylvania side,
at New Hope (then Coryell's Ferry), which, in the year A.D.
1790, were all destroyed by fire and burned to the ground. The
linseed oil mill was never rebuilt, but the others were, and, as the
mill in New Jersey was termed " Prime Hope," it was determined
that the new mills in Pennsylvania should be called " New Hope "
and commence operations with new and fresh hopes for the
future. With this change also came the change in the name of
the village. A growing patriotic sentiment makes it not unlikely
that the old name may yet be restored and New Hope again
become known to the world by its old style of " Coryell's Ferry " ;
and in this growing sentiment and feeling I am sure can be seen
and felt some reflection of the patriotic efforts and work of the
" Sons of the Revolution " and kindred bodies. Interesting
spots other than those have been named in New Hope —
" Coryell's Ferry "—are the site of the " Old Fort," as the head
quarters of Generals Stirling and De Fermoy were known, only
a few yards to the west of the Presbyterian Chapel.
This spot is easily known and recognized by the new hip
roof house, owned and occupied by P. R. Slack and which stands
upon the foundations of " The Old Hip Roof House," which was
termed " The Old Fort " at the time of the Revolution. General
Alexander (Lord Stirling) was beloved and much trusted always

13
by General Washington; he had recently for his bravery been
advanced to the rank of Major-General, and, as stated in " Wash
ington and His Generals," Vol. I, page 175, " in that capacity
took part in the operations on the Delaware River, where he
again signalized himself by the successful defence of Coryell's
Ferry." Lord Stirling was also at this period part of the time
at Beaumont's farm house, next the Thompson (Neeley) place.
Immediately across the Old York Road from the Old Fort, in
a field of the Paxson's, troops were encamped, as well as on the
hillside south of the pond ; and also on the river front, below and
above the ferry ; and a strong detail at " Malta Island " guarded
the boats collected there. On the Old York Road, near the ferry
landing, stood in 1776, and still stands, though enlarged, " The
Ferry Tavern," which appears to have been so named until 1829,
when it was kept by a Mr. Steel, as I was informed by the late
William Murray, of New Hope, an aged man, and its oldest
citizen. Abraham D. Meyers succeeded Mr. Steel as landlord, and
gave it the name of the " Logan House," which it has ever since
retained. Since 1829 it has had divers owners. Michael A. Van
Hart, deceased, was owner and landlord for a long term, and it
is still owned by his heirs. This old hostelry was much fre
quented in the days of the Revolution, and here, in December,
1776, the Continental soldiers made wassail and drank to the suc
cess of their cause and the downfall of King George the Third
in his Amercan colonies.
At tlie corner of "The Old York Road" and the "Old
Trenton or River Road " (severally called Ferry Street and Main
Street within the borough limits), and, walking southwards
across the iron bridge, over the pond, we come to the " Town
Hall," almost opposite which, on Mechanics Street, stands the
" Old Vansant House," believed to be the oldest in New Hope.
On the removal of a decayed roof years ago it was found full of
rifle marks and bullets shot into it by a party of British soldiers
who passed through the village and encamped at " Bowman's
Hill," below town, and said to have been in charge of gold to
pay the British soldiers. Being surprised, they left hastily, and,
burying the treasure on top of the hill, expected to return for it
some time; but the chances of war or leaving the country pre-

14
vented, and from that time to this the natives have dug all over
the hill for the money, hoping, but never having found it.
The United States Government has recently donated (or
loaned) to New Hope cannon and cannon balls to set up in the
borough as memorials of the events which occurred here in the
" days of '76." Perhaps, as a result of this day's pilgrimage,
" The Sons of the Revolution " may also deem some of the his
toric spots of ancient " Coryell's Ferry " worthy of being marked
by them with one or more memorial tablets.
Jericho Hill, below New Hope, joins Bowman's Hill, and,
in addition to the interest given it from having had the quarters
of the distinguished officers previously named located upon
it, the crest of the hill was cleared and used as a signal station
by our army; and, being irt winter and the trees leafless, the
various generals easily communicated with each other, up and
down the river, from this point.
And here, in connection with the Delaware River, I might
mention the interesting fact that further up, near Port Jervis,
there is a rock standing on which you can, at one and the same
time, be in the three States of Pennsylvania, New York and New
Jersey, with one foot or one hand covering the spot where the
three States join and come together.
I have endeavored to picture to you the situation here in
" the times which tried men's souls," and that they were most
trying is evidenced in many ways; the hardships and sufferings
endured by our patriot sires in 1776 at " Coryell's Ferry " and
along the banks of the Delaware River being a fit preparatory
school for their later and longer experience in 1777-78 at Valley
Forge." The winter of 1776 was an exceptionally severe one, and the
whole face of the country was covered with ice and snow ; the air
was keen and biting and the men insufficiently clothed and badly
protected in their tents. Major Enion Williams, of the First
Pennsylvania Rifles, stationed at the Neeley-Thompson farm,
wrote, December 13th, 1776, that many of his men were bare
footed. And General Washington wrote to Congress from his
headquarters at Keith's, on December i6th, 1776, asking its help,
and stating many of his troops were almost naked and most of

15
them unfit for service. He also appealed to " The Bucks County
Committee of Safety " for old clothes and blankets for the sol
diers, which the committee furnished, and received his written
thanks. Of all the actors in these stirring scenes, not one survives
to-day ; but the Delaware beside us (noble river, as the Founder
Penn described it) still flows on in its tireless course to the sea, as
it did in their time, mute reminder of the acts and deeds per
formed on its banks, and which have made their names and their
memories imperishable.
In taking leave of my subject, I might add that History,
dealing only with plain facts, sometimes becomes dull and prosy ;
but the " Annals of the Revolution " breathe the very atmosphere
of Poetry, Romance and History combined; and, though their
recital must ever be but the old, old story of a patriotism unsur
passed, yet to each succeeding generation it comes with an added
freshness and interest, and into willing ears are poured these tales
of the long ago.

EDWARD F, RANDOLPH
Note. — The Captain Randolph mentioned earlier in this paper
as owner of an ancient stone house on " The Old York Road,"
marking a historic spot in this borough, was a brave and gallant
officer in the Revolutionary War, about whom much might be
written. As previously noted, as First Lieutenant in Colonel Wil
liam Butler's Fourth Pennsylvania Regiment, Continental Army,
he commanded the outlying guard at " The Massacre of Paoli,"
where he was desperately wounded and left upon the field for
dead. Doctor Stille's " Major-General Wayne and the Pennsyl
vania Line " mentions that Colonel William Butler's Fourth Penn
sylvania Regiment received the attack of the enemy at Paoli, but,
in speaking of the officer in command of the picket guard, omits
to mention his name, although he places Lieutenant Randolph
correctly in Colonel William Butler's Regiment. This omission

i6
I am glad to be able to supply now and to state that the oflScer
was First Lieutenant Edward F. Randolph, who, later in life,
dropped the use of the " F " in his name. These facts were well
known to almost all old Philadelphians (including the late John
Jordan, Jr., Esq., President of the Historical Society of Penn
sylvania), and are also recited in the " Lives of Eminent Philadel
phians, Deceased," published nearly fifty year ago (1859).
Actuated only by patriotic motives. Captain Randolph gave his
services to his country without pay ; and when Governor Corwin,
of Ohio (whose wife was Sarah Randolph Ross), became con
nected with the Randolph family, and during his term of office
as Secretary of the United States Treasury under President Fil-
more, he, on divers occasions, informed Captain Randolph's
children that they could readily obtain his back pay if they
wished ; but they, of course, never would accept what their father,
from high, patriotic motives, had declined to receive. Two of
Captain Randolph's grandsons (General Wallace F. Randolph
and Major Edward Randolph Parry) both officers of the regular
army, served through the whole of the late Civil War, and both
were brevetted for gallantry.
One of Captain Randolph's swords is still in existence and
among the treasured possessions of his great-grandson, Evan
Randolph, of Philadelphia, and an old silver spoon used by him
in camp and marked with his initial and crest, has come handed
down to the writer. In his full regimentals as a Continental
officer he was married March i6th, 1779, to Anna Julianna Steele,
and the silk wedding gown she then wore has descended to me,
and is still preserved. It was worn by a great-granddaughter
at a " Kirmess " at the Philadelphia Academy of Music Decem
ber i6th, 1884, and attracted much attention, and was afterwards
described in the newspapers.
Like Colonel Owen Biddle, another Revolutionary patriot.
Captain Randolph later adopted the teachings and methods of
the Friends (Quakers), and did not care to refer to his military
life in his younger days. Though sitting at the head of tb<^
Friends' Meeting as he did, it was always said he could never in
walking up the aisle entirely divest himself of the stride and tread
of the soldier. Joseph Kite, a Quaker poet, and author of the

17
" Arm Chair," wrote verses upon the death of Edward Randolph,
the first verse thus referring to his terrible wounds at Paoli : —
EDWARD RANDOLPH.
" Strong in thy will and purpose — earlier life.
Saw thee a combatant in martial strife —
Where drums and trumpets fired the angry mood.
With honors rife, and garments rolled in blood."
In former times all the voting in Philadelphia was done at
the State House, Sixth and Chestnut Streets, making a large
crowd (and often disorderly), with a long wait for one's turn
in the voting line. As Mr. Randolph was very tenacious of his
voting privilege, he made it a point to always cast his vote, and
was therefore well known at the polls ; and when he became an
old gentleman it was customary to pass him ahead through the
line to the voting window as a matter of courtesy and out of
respect for his age and miUtary history, with which many per
sons were familiar. On one occasion, however, on stepping out
of his carriage at the polling place, when it was proposed passing
him ahead as usual, a raw Irishman, not long in the country,
objected, saying: "Where was the likes of you, anyhow, old
Quaker, when fighting was done, and this nation was made,
that we should stand back for you ? " to which Mr. Randolph,
turning his one eye upon the man, quietly replied : " Well, friend,
I was where thee would not have dared to have shown thy naked
nose." This was too much for the Irishman, who, amid the
jeers and laughter of the crowd, made a hasty retreat, and Mr.
Randolph was passed on and cast his vote.
Strange as it may seem to the younger generation of Phila
delphia, in these days of a great overgrown city, his town house
was on Second Street, near Arch, and his country seat at what
is now Eleventh and Master Streets; and the writer, when a
young lad, made many a short cut to it (over the open fields) from
Ninth and Green Streets. For some years the old mansion stood
high up in the air, near the corner of Eleventh and Master, when
streets were opened and cut through the estate.
After the war, as a member of the firm of Coates & Ran-

i8
dolph, he became largely engaged in the East India shipping
trade, and, as was then the custom, the church bells of the city
were rung when an East India vessel arrived safely in port, a
voyage then, in the days of sailing vessels, often taking months
to accomplish it.
A portrait ift oil of Captain Randolph, painted by Robert
Street, hangs 'on the walls of the Historical Society of Pennsylr
vania at Philadelphia. Judge Mitchell, of the Pennsylvania
Supreme Court, some years ago had an engraving made from
this portrait, and' one hundred impressions taken from it for pri
vate distribution only, and the plate was then destroyed. One of
these the writer has in his library here. From Captain Randolph
have descended many of the most prominent citizens of Philadel
phia, Pennsylvania, of to-day.

YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

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OLD PARRY MANSION. NEW HOPE.
Date stone: "Benj'n Parn', A. D. 17S4. "