"William Penn said his ancestor, JOHN TUDOR, came from Wales to England"
http://books.google.com/books?id=ulkBs-vkB3wC&pg=PA206&lpg=PA206&dq=William+Penn+and+Joseph+Todd&source=bl&ots=GCwvvoYW4z&sig=cp6nyvWcG95WGTMjQEpx6PnOyzU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=4gYjUfylFsK-igKymoDIBA&ved=0CDQQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=Joseph%20Todd&f=falsehttp://books.google.com/books?id=ulkBs-vkB3wC&pg=PA206&lpg=PA206&dq=William+Penn+and+Joseph+Todd&source=bl&ots=GCwvvoYW4z&sig=cp6nyvWcG95WGTMjQEpx6PnOyzU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=4gYjUfylFsK-igKymoDIBA&ved=0CDQQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=Joseph%20Todd&f=false
The Family of William Penn: Founder of Pennsylvania, Ancestry and Descendants
By Howard Malcolm Jenkins
Page 2:
...The Founder (William Penn) is reported as saying
that his ancestor, JOHN TUDOR,
"lived upon the top of a hill or mountain in Wales",
and was generally called John Penmunrith,
or (in English) John on the top of the hill;
hence, ultimately, John Penn.
(Elsewhere it also states that he said
that his ancestor, JOHN TUDOR, had come from Wales
to England.)
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?client=opera&rls=en&q=cache:L3TIFiFslrcJ:http://www.hallvworthington.com/Penn/FamilyHistory.html%2B%22John+Penmunrith%22&oe=utf-8&channel=suggest&hl=en&ct=clnkhttp://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?client=opera&rls=en&q=cache:L3TIFiFslrcJ:http://www.hallvworthington.com/Penn/FamilyHistory.html%2B%22John+Penmunrith%22&oe=utf-8&channel=suggest&hl=en&ct=clnk
....John Penmunrith which in English is
‘John
on the top of a hill.'
`````````````````
* In the section on down below, Delaware section, which talks about:
"Pencader" Hundred,
it states:
The greater part of the Welsh tract
and a small portion of what in early days was known as St. Augustine Manor
comprise the territory of Pencader.
The early Welsh families settled in this hundred, principally around Iron Hill.
> This being a hill of
considerable elevation,
gave rise to the name Pencader,
which is a Welsh term and signifies "THE HIGHEST SEAT." <
````````````````````````
Page 133:
..., the Reverend Hugh David, who visited Thomas Penn to read him a congratulatory poem recalling
the honorable connection of the Penns with the royal house of Tudor,
..................
William Penn told the Reverend Hugh David:
"I am a Welshman myself."
`````````````````
Page 205:
(There is more)
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
http://www.themcs.org/timeline.htmhttp://www.themcs.org/timeline.htm
Timeline of Edward III
...1339 April 17 Penne surrenders to the French
`````
Notes and queries - Google Books Result
books.google.com/books?id=gwRpmm51c_cC
Oxford Journals (Firm) - ?1874
Sir John Penn attended Edward III into France and distinguished himself in biswars,
for which the king knighted him.
"The family continued at Penn till the year ...
`````````
Sir William Penn, knight, admiral and general at sea: great ... - Google Books Result
books.google.com/books?id=TOALAAAAYAAJ
Philip Syng Physick Conner - ?1876 - 64 pages
... heiress carried on the succession to the Penn-Curzon- Howes, whose chief, ...in the train of Edward III, from whose sword Sir John Penn received the honor of ...
``````````````
http://www.delawareroots.org/index.php/new-castle/24-new-castle-county-history/60-pencader-hundred-historyhttp://www.delawareroots.org/index.php/new-castle/24-new-castle-county-history/60-pencader-hundred-history
Delaware Roots
New Castle County
New Castle County History
Pencader Hundred History
Source:Scharf, Thomas J., History of Delaware, 1609-1888, Volume Two- pp. 854-880.
CHAPTER XLVIII.
PENCADER HUNDRED.
THIS hundred is a long, narrow strip of land on the Maryland line, and is bounded on the north, east and south by the hundreds of White Clay Creek, New Castle, Red Lyon and St. George's. It is the only division of New Castle County that is not confined within natural boundaries.
The greater part of the Welsh tract
and a small portion of what in early days was known as St. Augustine Manor
comprise the territory of Pencader.
The early Welsh families settled in this hundred, principally around Iron Hill.
This being a hill of considerable elevation,
>>> gave rise to the name Pencader,
which is a Welsh term and signifies "the highest seat." <<<
The larger portion of the land is in a state of cultivation, and the remainder, chiefly in the vicinity of Iron and Chestnut Hills, is well wooded. The soil is a red loam with a clay sub-soil, and yields well. The land is watered by several small streams which flow through it.
The southern part of Pencader is land that in 1671 was granted by Lord Baltimore to Augustine HERMAN, and was part of what was known as St. Augustine Manor, and embraced land from the Delaware, between Appoquinimink and St. George's Creek, westward to Bohemia Manor.
This land, however, was in dispute,
and Governor Lovelace protested against the usurpation of Herman and others, in taking up this land. The land west of the Delaware State line retained the name.
The Welsh tract is a large tract of land, the greater part of which is in Pencader Hundred, and the remainder in Cecil County, Maryland. Settlers were upon the land in 1684,
and were driven off by George TALBOT, the Governor of Maryland,
who claimed the land as within his territory.
An instance of Talbot's proceedings
was furnished to the Council at Philadelphia in a letter from Samuel LAND of New Castle, dated May 30th. He acquainted them that the colonel had visited the houses of Jonas ERSKINE, Andrew TILLE and a widow named OGLE, all residing near New Castle; and, accompanied by three musketeers, to add force to his demands, had informed them that unless they would acknowledge Lord Baltimore as their proprietor within three weeks, and pay their rents to him in the future, they would be dispossessed of their land and turned out of their homes.
The testimony of Joseph BOWLE before the Council, recounting his experience with Talbot, gives a vivid idea of the extent to which the abuses were carried.
Bowle, who lived at Iron Hill, about eight miles distant from New Castle, attested that
"Colonel Talbot ridd up to my house and was ready to ride over me, and said,
'Dam you, you Dogg, whom do you seat under here, you dogg! You seat under noe body;
you have noe Warrant from Penn nor my Lord;
therefore gett you gone or Else I'le sent you to St. Murry's (St. Mary's), and I being frighted, says he, 'you Brazen-faced, Impudent, Confident Dogg, I'l Sharten (shorten) Penn's Territories by and by.'
The distinguishing feature of the tract is Iron Hill, which was known by that name in 1661,
and is mentioned in a letter from Vice-Director Alexander D. HINIJOSSA, May 15th, as being the place where four Englishmen were murdered by the Indians in April preceding.
It is evident that iron ore was then known to be at the place in considerable quantity; hence the name.
William DAVIS, David EVANS and William WILLIS petitioned Penn for a tract of 30,000 acres,
the land to be divided divided and deeded to settlers from South Wales,
some of whom had at that time settled in Radnor Township, Chester Co., PA.
The petition was granted October 15, 1701,
This tract was ever after known at the Welsh Tract.
The grant stated that they were to have "thirty thousand acres if there be so much vacant in the place hereafter expressed; that is to say, behind the town of New Castle westward, extending northward and southward, beginning to the westward seven miles from the said town of New Castle, and extending upward and downward as there shall be found room by regular strait lines as near as may be."
A few settlers were upon the tract at the time of purchase and had made some improvements,
but without any show of title; they were soon dispossessed and the Welsh immediately after survey began to locate upon the land.
Soon after the survey was completed, John WELCH selected 561 acres, and a little later 530 acres.
Of the latter, he sold 500 acres, August 17, 1727, to Thomas LEWIS.
Another part of this land was sold to James SYKES, and by his executors 281 3/4 acres was conveyed to Robert FARIES on February 16, 1730.
Robert Faries was a native of Ireland, who came to this country and purchased land in Red Lyon Hundred. After his death in 1749, the above-mentioned tract was inherited by his son William.
In the following year William Faries purchased from Henry WHITESIDE a tract of land containing 113 acres. In 1760 he died intestate, leaving two sons and a daughter,- Jacob, Samuel and Margaret. In 1770 Jacob purchased his sister's share, and three years later his brother's portion. He also purchased several other tracts adjoining his land. He died September 1, 1818, leaving seven surviving children. The property was next owned by Jacob, Jr., who procured it by descent and purchase. The next owner was William W., who obtained possession after the decease of Jacob Faries, Jr. D.B. FERRIS is the present owner of nearly all the land above mentioned.
One of the first to choose was James JAMES, who selected Iron Hill and northward to the Christiana Creek, embracing 1244 acres of land.
A deed was granted by Davis, Evans and Willis, June 27, 1702,
and confirmed by Penn February 21, 1703.
Thomas JAMES took up 1250 acres by a deed dated October 8, 1702,
and David PRICE 1050 acres, deeded June 5, 1702.
John MORGAN took 1030 acres April 22, 1702,
and also 1023 acres on the head-waters of Dragon Creek nearly to the boundary of Red Lyon Hundred, and John THOMAS took 632 acres, March 16, 1702.
John GRIFFITH took up 222 acres,
William JONES 1368 acres, and in 1702, 1379 acres.
Howel JAMES took up 1040 acres, and Philip JAMES 525 acres the same year.
Howel JAMES, by his will bearing date August 17, 1717,
devised 250 acres to his son, Howel,
and 200 acres each to his other sons, James and Philip.
James sold his portion to his brother Philip, May 12, 1735.
Philip conveyed 200 acres on which a mill was located, to John JONES, bolster, of Philadelphia, May 10, 1737, and 210 acres-lying on the north side of Christiana Creek to Samuel ALLEN, November 8th, of the same year. Among other things devised by Howel James, Sr., to his wife, was an annuity of ten pounds to be paid out of his mills and plantation. Some difficulty arose concerning this, and Alexander HAMILTON was consulted. His opinion was as follows:
"I am of opinion that the devise by Howell James of ten Pounds to his wife Phebe, to be layed out of his mills and plantation in such proportion as in the said Will hereunto annexed is directed, and to be paid yearly, is a good devise to Phebe for her life. But she cannot arrest the possessor of the mills or Land for the money, the same being a charge against the Estate and not against the person of the heir or possessor of the mills and Land.
"A. HAMILTON. "Philadelphia, March 13, 1726."
John WATKINS and many others selected lands from the Welsh tract.
One hundred and sixty-seven acres of the land of John Watkins passed to David WILLIAMS, August 6, 1736; Thomas JOHNS, on November 10, 1729, bought 1156 acres; Philip JAMES sold to Francis LAND, January 6, 1729, 400 acres on the southeast side of Iron Hill; David EVANS, November 15, 1723, sold to John EDWARDS 450 acres in two tracts, and the next day 300 acres to William REES.
Before 1736 David EVANS removed to Cape Fear, North Carolina.
In a deed to his son Samuel, dated April 10, 1736, he conveyed to him 200 acres, "whereon I have lived, formerly of Pencader, now of Cape Fear, North Carolina." April 21, 1738, Solomon and David EVANS unite in conveying 594 acres of land to Thomas EVANS, the 200 acres formerly conveyed to Solomon being part of the original tract. A part of the James JAMES land came to his son Samuel by deed of gift, June 3, 1723, on which soon after he built a forge, and, by his success and the fact of there being plenty of ore near at hand, interested the leading iron-masters of Pennsylvania to the locality to such an extent that on October 15, 1725, an octopartite agreement was drawn up and signed by Samuel JAMES, millwright; Rees JONES, tanner, of Pencader; Samuel NUTT, of Chester County, ironmonger; Evan OWEN and William BRANSON, merchants, both of Philadelphia; Thomas and John RUTTER, smiths, also of Philadelphia; and Caspar WISTAR, brass-button maker, also of the same city. These men formed a company, each holding an eighth interest, for the purpose of erecting a furnace to be known as the "ABBINGTON FURNACE," and to purchase lands in connection with it for the use of the furnace. They made arrangements for the purchase of over 1000 acres of land in the vicinity, and on one acre and three-quarters of it on the bank of Christiana Creek, which was purchased of Samuel James, and conveyed by deed to Evan Owen and William Branson, on May 28, 1726, they erected the furnace and a forge, which were called "ABBINGTON IRON WORKS." At the time the deed for the furnace lot was made out, the eighth parts had been divided into sixteenths, and John LEACOCK, William FISHBOURN, Edward BRADLEYand William MONINGTON were partners in interest in the Iron Works Company.
On October 21, 1727, Gabriel GOULDNEY, of Bristol, England, became the purchaser of one-sixteenth interest, and from the deed of conveyance made at that time, the above-recited facts are obtained. It is not ascertained how long the works were maintained by the company, but probably not for many years. It was continued by Samuel JAMES until 1734, when upon a judgment obtained against him in the February term of court of that year, his property was ordered to be seized and sold. The sale was made by Henry NEWTON, sheriff of New Castle County, September 18, 1735, to Abraham TAYLOR and John WHITE the owners of the judgment. The property is then mentioned as "THE FORGE" commonly called Samuel JAMES', with all the tools and utensils of the same, a lot of blacksmith tools, and also the one-eighth interest in the "furnace commonly called or known by the name of the Samuel James or the Abbington Iron Works," together with the eighth part of land, tenements and appurtenances belonging to the furnace. It does not appear that the forge or furnace was continued by the purchasing parties, but it is still mentioned as such when sold by the sheriff January 4, 1768, to Andrew FISHER, miller. The land on which the furnace was situated is now (1888) owned by William McCONAUGHEY. A part of the old wall and a heap of cinders on land now owned by COOCH Bros. marks the site of the old forge.
A short time after purchasing this property FISHER erected thereon a grist-mill and a saw-mill. This, after his death in 1804, passed into the hands of his sons, John and Samuel. The mill property and 45 acres of land was sold August 19, 1808, to Thomas BRADLEY, and May 23, 1810, to Alexander FORESTER. In both of these cases the property came back to the grantors, and in 1815 vested solely in John Fisher. On the 11th of April of the same year he conveyed this estate to Jacob TYSON. Since that period the mills have been successively owned by William SHAKESPEARE, Azariah SMITH, Thomas BRADLEY, and Joel P. WOODWARD. In 1863 the overshot wheel was replaced with iron wheels, the old saw-mill torn down, and a department for sawing arranged in the space formerly occupied by the overshot wheel. The gristmill was a two-and-a-half-story building, forty by sixty feet, with a capacity of twenty-five barrels per day. The capacity of the saw-mill was 200,000 feet of lumber per year. In July, 1883, the mill was burned and it has never been rebuilt.
Among the settlers in Pencader in the vicinity of Iron Hill, from 1709 to 1720, are found the following names:
John DEVONALT,
Lewis PHILLIPS,
Philip TRUEAX,
David MILES,
Rees DAVID,
Thomas EVANS,
Thomas EDMUND,
Arthur EDWARD,
John PHILLIPS.
Thomas MORRIS,
Jenkins JONES,
John BOULTON,
Richard EDWARD,
John GRIFFITH,
Hugh EVAN,
David LEWIS,
Samuel EVAN,
Hugh DAVID,
Anthony MATHEW,
Simon MATHEW,
Simon BUTLER,
Arthur MELCHOIR,
George EATON,
Elias THOMAS,
Thomas EVAN Philip REES,
John BENTLEY,
David JOHN,
Richard LEWIS,
Benjamin GRIFFITH,
Emlin DAVID,
John MILLER,
John JONES,
Richard WITTEN,
Griffith THOMAS,
David DAVIS,
Thomas RICHARD,
Cornelius VANSANT,
and Richard HERBERT.
>>> These formed the nucleus of the WELSH TRACT BAPTIST CHURCH,
and many of them, after residing here a few years,
moved to other places for the purpose of founding new churches. <<<
Rev. Morgan EDWARDS, author of the "Materials towards a history of the Baptists in Delaware State," was born May 9, 1822 (Has to be a typo. 1722?), in the parish of Trevethin, Monmouthshire, Wales.
He obtained his early education in Wales, and was a student at the Bristol Academy, under the celebrated Dr. Bernard FOSKETT.
In 1738 he became a member of the Baptist Church, and nineteen years later was ordained a minister of that church in Ireland, where he remained for nine years.
Upon the recommendation of John HILL D.D., he was called to the pastorate of the Baptist Church of Philadelphia, where he arrived May 23, 1761. In 1771 he resigned,
and moved to Pencader Hundred, Delaware, where he resided until his death, January 28, 1795.
In 1736, Samuel KERR came from Scotland,
and purchased two hundred acres of the Welsh Tract from Rees JONES. He resided there until his death, when the premises came into the possession of his son, Andrew, who devised them to his son, Andrew. The premises, with a few changes made by purchase or sale, are now owned by George G. Kerr, whose residence and adjoining property is in White Clay Creek Hundred.
Thomas COOCH came from England
and, in 1746, purchased a tract of land in Pencader, containing two hundred acres, being a part of the land warranted to William JAMES. He resided in this hundred, and purchased other lands in the vicinity of the tract above-mentioned. On the 8th of July, 1776, there was resurveyed to him to hundred and twenty-nine acres on a warrant of resurvey granted June 5, 1776. In September of the same year, while the BRITISH were in this neighborhood just previous to the skirmish (the battle of Cooch's bridge) , they had their headquarters on land of Thomas Cooch, at the present site of J. Wilkins Cooch's residence. During this skirmish the mill on these premises was burned by the British.
At the time of his death, in 1791, Mr. Cooch was the owner of eight hundred and fifty acres and one hundred and forty-two perches of land in the Welsh Tract. This property was divided among his heirs, and the larger part of it has descended and is now (1888) in the possession of William and J. Wilkins Cooch. The old forge, erected in connection with the "Abbington Iron Works," is on land owned by them.* Among the papers of Thomas Cooch was found an assessment list of Pencader Hundred, with the amount of tax paid by each person. The assessment was made by Thos. JAMES, and contained the following names and amounts:
£
Richard Thomas22
John Wattson18
Thomas Cooch22
David John18
Daniel Howells12
David Rees8
David John (smith)8
John Williams12
Nathaniel Williams22
John David (cooper)10
Rachel Griffith (widow)8
John Elder10
John Porter10
James Read12
William Moore8
David Davies8
David Barr20
David Hutton10
John Lattimore8
John Mitchell12
James Pierson8
John Thomas15
Enoch Morgan10
Daniel Oborn16
John Steel14
John Griffith8
Thomas Wilson10
Thomas Rees10
James Anderson20
Philip Grimes10
James Grimes8
William Williams10
Robert Stewart10
John Hill8
Jane David (widow)8
Alexander Faires12
Robert Jonson8
Simon James22
Thomas James, Jr.8
Mary Evans (widow)8
John Henderson10
Benjamin Underwood14
Alexander Porter10
John Crafford8
William Faires, Jr15
Richard Griffith20
John Davies16
David Evans10
John McWhorter10
John Fairis12
Denis David (widow)10
Moris Morgan10
Thomas Williams20
David Thomas10
Benjamin Evans8
Joseph Moore8
John Griffith10
Thomas Lewis14
Howel Williams14
John Miller14
Francis Alexander8
William Fairis10
Thomas James22
James Jones18
Nathaniel Evans22
William Addear10
Hugh Haughey8
Joseph Thomas18
Thomas Thomas16
John Evans8
Henry Rowland10
David Rowland8
David Howels14
James McSparence8
John Brown (weaver)8
James Brefford8
Daniel Griffith8
Thomas Wattson8
Joseph Holland8
Joseph Oborn8
Rees Jones's estate12
Ezekiel Deniston8
Morris Evans8
Thomas Coleman8
David James8
James Fairis8
Jonathan John8
William Lewelin8
Darby McDade8
Mickel Law8
Samuel Eakins8
Edward Gin8
John Brown8
Adam Barr8
Andrew Boyde10
John Stewart8
Hugh Stewart8
Tobyas Burk8
David Thomas (batchiler)10
Daniel Jones18
John Gofforth8
Morgan Jones10
Jenet Davies (widow)8
John Ladly8
Sidney Jonson8
John Stewart8
William Read8
Hugh Stewart8
Jeremiah Ryne8
William Quigley8
Jacob John8
William McMechan8
William Price8
James Price8
John Ladly8
David Anderson8
John Carney8
Alexander Robinson8
William Wilson8
Morris Williams10
David John8
£1094
*This land, and money for its preservation, was granted, in 2003, to the State or Delaware by the Cooch family.
The population steadily increased, and in 1798 the following names were on the assessment list as taxables:
Arch. Abererombie.William Adair’s est. Daniel
J. Adams est.
George Adams.Matthew Aiken, Esq. Eleanor Alexander.
James Alexander.Jacob Allen.
Charles Allen’s est.
Robert Allen.Samuel Allen. Andrew Allison.
John Anderson.Sarah Armitage’s est.
Robert Armstrong’s est.
Nicholas Ash.Stephen Augustus David Austin.
James Austin.Isaac Bailey. James Baker.
Benj. Barvard’s est.Henry Bassett.
Zebulon Basten.
James Beard.John L. Beard’s est. Jacob
Below’s est.
Nicholas Belveal.Bouldin Biddle. Stephen Biddle.
Samuel Biddle.Joseph Blacke. Margaret Black.
William BlackGeorge Blaney. John
Bogg’s est.
Jonathan Booth’s est.Richard Boulden.
Elijah Boulden’s est.
Elisha Boulden.James Boulden, Sr. James Boulden, Jr.
Jesse Boulden.Levi Boulden. Nathan Boulden.
Thos. Boulden, Jr.Thomas Boulden, Sr., est. John Bowen’s
est.
Benjamin Boyd.Thomas Bradley. James Brady.
Samuel Bradey.Isaac Brannon. Benjamin Bratton.
Daniel Brison.Barnabas Brooks. Thomas Bryans.
Stout Buckhanan.William Bunker. John Cambell.
Michael Cambell.Patterson Cantwell. John
Carnan’s est.
Andrew Carr’s est.Andrew Carrey. John
Carter.
Edward Cartey.John Cavender. Alexander Cavenoor.
Jacob Cazier.George Chapman. Wm. Chealy.
Wm. Chealy.Jared Chestnut. William Chestnut
John Cirgin.Edward Cordon. Ann Conn
John Conner.Benjamin Cooch. Daniel Cooch
James Cooche.William Cooch, mills, &c. Patrick Coulter.
Joseph Couthrin.John Cowen. Samuel Cowen.
John Crawford.John Crouch’s est. John
Cruson
John Cuddy.David Culbertson. John Culbertson.
James Curlett.Jean Curlett. Lewis Curlett.
William Curlett.Henry Clark. Wm. Davies.
Elisha David.Joseph David’s est. Joshua
David
Benjamin Davies’ est.David Davies’ est. Ann
Dawson.
Mary Dawson.Zachariah Derrickson. Charles Devin.
Archibald Doughley’s est.Wm. Dunlap. John
Ellis.
Benjamin Elsberry.Frederick Elsberry. John English.
Francis L. Evans.Howell Evans. Joel Evans.
Elizabeth Evans.Jenkin Evans. Isaac
Evans’ est.
Peter Evans’ est.Richard Evans.
Thomas Evans’ est.
Jacob Faries.Jacob Faries, Jr. James Faries.
John Faries.Wm.
Faries. Andrew Fisher,mills, etc.
John Ford.John Freeman. James Gallaher.
Andrew Garretson.Richard Garretson. George Glanton.
Samuel Glenn’s est.Thomas Glenn.
Griffith Griffith’s est.
Benjamin Griffith.James Griffith. John Griffith.
Richard Griffith.Richard Griffith, Jr.
Richard Groves.
Robert Guthrey.Samuel Guthrey. Joseph Hagins.
Wm. Hamilton.Clem Harred.
Alexander Harrison.
Job Harvey’s est.Anna Haughey. Francis
Haughey’s est.
Robert Haughey’s est.Wm. Haughey’s est. Wm. W.
Hazlett.
Thomas Henderson’s est.Wm. Henderson’s est. Wm. Hickey.
David Higgins’ est.Isaac
Hill. Isaac Holland.
John Holland.George Homes. John Homes.
Peter Hossinger.David Howell’s est.
Oliver R. Howell.
Sarah Howell.Benjamin Hugg. Samuel Huggins.
Spencer Hukill.Andrew Hutton John Hutton.
John Hyatt, Esq., est.John
Jack. Benjamin D. Jackson.
Jacob Jackson’s est.John T. Jackson.
Christopher James.
Elisha James.James James’ est. John
James.
Samuel James.Shem James. Tamer James.
William James’ est.Daniel Jeams’ est.
Jacob Jenkins.
Isaiah Johnson.Wm. Johnson.
Enoch Jones’ est.
Evan Jones.Morgan, Jones, mills, &c. James Kanedy
Thos. Kelley.William Kelley Henry Kimble
Benjamin King’s est.James Kinkead.
Jesse Kinkead.
Wm. KinkeadAndrew Knox. John Laws.
Philip Levies’ estMoses Levies’ est.
Joseph Lewis.
Wm. Linsey.Joseph Lockhart John Mason.
Robert McAntier’s est.Alexander McCall. George
McCandless.
Sweesey McCandless’ est.Edward McClelland. Walter
McClelland.
Richard McClureJms. McHellom (McCollom) James McKinsey
Samuel McCombesWm. McCombes Wm. McCommens
John McCormick.Elijah McCreas’ est.
Alexander McDaniel’s est.
Samuel McIntire.David McMecken’s est. James
McMullen.
Thomas McMullen.Robert McMullen. Wm. McMullen.
Neal McNeil.John Meginn.
Alexander Megahey.
Robert MiddletonHance Milier.
Thos. Milier.
Wm. Millegan.Wm. Millegan, Sr Samuel Miller.
Alexander Moody.Robert Moody’s est.
Alexander Moore’s est.
John Moore’s est.Rebecca Moore Thomas
Moore.
Wm. Moore (farmer).Wm.
Moore. Benjamin Morgan’s est.
Wm. MorrisonArchibald Morton. Thomas Morrow.
John MuldrochJohn Mullen. Peter Mullett.
James Murray.Wm. Nielson. Sarah Owens.
James Panteney.John
Parnall. Joseph Patterson.
John Patton.Benjamin Pennington John
Pennington’s est.
Nimrod Pennington.Robert Pennington. Joshua Pensey.
Nathan Persons’ estJohn Porter, mills, etc.
Wm. Porter.
James Powell.Hugh Powers. Wm. Price.
James Price.Sarah
Price. Sarah Price’s est.
Stephen Price.William Price’s est.
James Primos.
Jacob Pritchard.John Pritchett’s est.
Thomas Pritchett.
John Quinn.James Reaper. John Redman.
John Reed’s est.Thomas Reece’s est.
Charles Reily.
Anthony Roab.John Robinson. John
Robinson (miller).
James Robinson.William Robinson. John Rogers.
Aaron Ross, mills, etc.Hugh Russell’s est.
William Ryan.
David SeboWilliam
See. John Shakespear.
Chud Sharp.Samuel Sharpe.
Robert Shields’ est.
Abraham Short’s est.John Simonton’s est.
William Simonton’s est.
Nathaniel Simpes.Uriah Slake.
Francis Smith.
Hugh Smith’s est.James Smith.
Robert Smith.
Robert Smith.Thomas Smith’s est. William
Smith.
James Snow.Dunevan Spencer. Benjamin Stanton.
Stephen Stanton.Benjamin Stewart.
Charles Stewart.
John Stewart.Jacob Stewart. John Sturgis.
John Stuart.John
Tate. John Tate, Jr.
John Tayler.Lettice
Taylor. William Taylor’s est.
David Thomas’ est.John Thomas’ est.
Joseph Thomas.
Quilles Thomas’ est.Richard Thomas’ est.
Thomas Thomas’ est.
William Thomas’ est.Alexander Thomson,
Ephraim Thompson’s est.
James Thompson,Jean Thompson, Sarah
Thompson’s est.
Richard Thompson’s est.David Townsend. Thomas
Townslay.
David Tweedy,Nathan Underwood. Samuel
Underwood’s est.
Solomon Underwood.Alexander Vail. John Vail.
Thomas Vail.Philip Vansandt. Asa Vansandt.
Joseph Waggoner.Alexander Walker’s est. John
Warner.
James Warnocis.David Warnock.
John Watson’s est.
William Watson.James Wattson. Lewis Wattson.
Robert Wattson.Thomas Weir. William Whann.
William Willes.Isaac
Williams. Peter Williams.
Roger Williams.Thomas Williams.
Abraham Willson.
John Willson.Mathew Willson.
SCHOOLS.— In the early history of Pencader the schools were few, and these chiefly held in private residences. As the population increased, school buildings were erected, and subscription schools were opened. Among the early teachers are found the names of Robert PORTER, William JACKSON, Mr. DEAN and Mr. PIPPIN. The advantages of the scholars were very limited, and their progress accordingly. On January 27, 1803, an act was passed to incorporate trustees of "Glasgow Grammar School, in the County of New Castle." John HYATT, William COOCH, Jacob FARIS, Solomon UNDERWOD and Robert MIDDLETON, as trustees, were empowered to take subscriptions.
William JACKSON was one of the most widely-known school-teachers in the hundred, and taught many years under the common-school system. Curtis B. ELLISON was the first public school-teacher in the southern part of Pencader. The building in which he taught was an old-fashioned octagonal structure, and was built of brick.
ROADS.— The early ways of entrance and exit in this hundred were mere paths. As the number of settlers increased, the roads were improved and new ones constructed. The earliest roads in Pencader were the ones extending from New Castle and Christiana to the head of Elk River, and were constructed as State roads. The former are mentioned in the chapter on White Clay Creek Hundred, and the latter in the chapter on Internal Improvements. In 1806 the Levy Court ordered a review to be made of the road from Glasgow to New Castle, intersecting at Glasgow the road from that place to Buck's Tavern. On March 8, 1825, three hundred dollars were appropriated for building a bridge over Shive Run, near Glasgow, and in February of the next year, two hundred and thirty nine dollars more were appropriated for closing the account. In 1832 a bridge was needed over Christiana Creek, near Cooch’s Mill. The commissioners reported that a stone-fording would answer every purpose, and in the following March one hundred and fifty dollars were appropriated for this work.
RELIGIOUS MATTERS.— Welsh Tract Baptist Church,— In June, 1701 Thomas GRIFFITH ("minister"), Griffith NICHOLAS, Evan EDMOND, John EDWARD, Elisha THOMAS, Enoch MORGAN, Richard DAVID, James DAVID, Elizabeth GRIFFITH, Lewis EDMOND, Mary JOHN, Mary THOMAS, Elizabeth GRIFFITH, Jr., Jennet DAVID, Margaret MATHIAS and Jennet MORRIS, having previously been constituted a church, sailed from Milford, England and landed at Philadelphia, September 8th. They were advised by their friends to settle at Pennepek, which advice they followed, and there remained a year and a half, when they procured land in New Castle County, from Messrs. EVANS, DAVIS and WILLIE, the grantees of the Welsh Tract.
While at Pennepek, in 1701/2, the following accessions were made: Rees RHYDDARCH, Catherine RHYDDARCH, Esther THOMAS, Thomas MORRIS, Hugh MORRIS, Peter CHAMBERLAIN, Mary CHAMBERLAIN, Mary CHAMBERLAIN, JR, Mary SORENSEE, Magdalen MORGAN, Henry DAVID, Elizabeth DAVID, Samuel GRIFFITHS, Richard SUREY /SEREE, Rebecca MARPOLE, John GRINWATER, Edward EDWARDS, John JAMES, Mary THOMAS, Thomas JOHN, Judith GRIFFITH and Mary JOHN, JR., and Thomas THOMAS.
In 1703 they removed to the land purchased by them in Pencader Hundred, and built a meeting-house on the site of the present church. In the same year the membership was increased by the addition of Thomas JOHN, and Rebecca, from Wales; and by profession of faith and baptism, John WILD, Thomas WILD, James JAMES, Sarah JAMES, Jaen (Shuan) MORGAN, Samuel WILD, Mary NICHOLAS, Richard BOEN (Bowen), David THOMAS, Mary BENTLY and Jaen EDWARDS.
In 1709 were added by lettter from Pembrokeshire: Samuel JOHN, minister, John and Mary DEVONALLT, Lewis PHILIP, Catherine EDWARD. From East Jersey: Philip TRUAX, Elizabeth TILTON. By letter from Pennepek: David MILES Aand Alce MILES. (Philip Truax "dismembers" Jan. 6, 1721. Neglecting to come to church meeting for several years, neglecting his business to the hurt of his family and creditirs and others.)
During the next few years numerous accessions were made, both by members from the churches in Wales and by conversions. In 1736 a portion of this church went to South Carolina, and founded a church there, on the banks of the Pedee River, in a portion of the country now bearing the name Welsh Neck. In 1746 the present church was built on a lot containing six acres, four of which were given by James JAMES, and the other two purchased from Abraham EMMET. The edifice is a neat brick building, thirty feet square. At various times, portions of the congregation separated themselves from the main church for the purpose of organizing other bands of worshippers. It is the mother church whence sprung the Pedee above mentioned, London Tract, Duck Creek, Wilmington, Cowmarsh and Mispillion Churches, concerning which information will be found elsewhere. "Welsh Tract Church was the principal, if not the sole means of introducing singing, imposition of hands, ruling elders and church covenants in the Middle States." An act of Assembly was passed February 8, 1783, enabling religious denominations to be incorporated. On the 9th day of February, of the following year, this church was incorporated with Abel DAVIS, Robert SHIELDS, Ebenezer MORTON, Andrew MORTON and Francis GATTIER as trustees of the Welsh Tract Baptist Church and Congregation, at the foot of Iron Hill. The church has steadily increased since its organization, and regular services have been held nearly the entire time. The church is at present in a prosperous condition. The following pastors have labored here since its organization.
Rev. Thomas GRIFFITH the first pastor, was born in 1645 in parish of Lanvernach and county of Pembroke. He was one of the constituents of the church at its organization, and arrived at Philadelphia with his church September 8, 1701. He died at Pennepek and was there interred July 25, 1725.
Rev. Elisha THOMAS was the successor of Rev. Griffith. He was born in Carmarthen County in 1674, and came to Philadelphia with the church in 1701. He died November 7, 1730.
Rev. Enoch MORGAN succeeded Rev. Thomas. He was born at Allt-goch, in the county of Caerdigan, Wales, in 1676, and was also one of the constituents of this church. He died March 25, 1740.
After the decease of Rev. Morgan the Rev. Owen THOMAS took charge of the church. He was born in 1676 at Gwrgodllys, in the county of Pembroke, and came to America in 1707. He filled the pulpit here till May 27, 1748, when he resigned, and moved to Yellow Springs, where he died November 12, 1760.
Rev. David DAVIS was the next pastor. He was born in the parish of Whitechurch and county of Pembroke in 1708. In 1710 came with his parents to America; was baptized in 1725, and ordained in 1734, when he became pastor of the church. He continued his pastorate until his death, August 19, 1769.
Rev. Mr. Davis’ successor was Rev. John SUTTON, who labored from November 3, 1770, until 1777, when he resigned, for the purpose of going to Virginia.
Rev. John BOGGS was born in East Nottingham, April 9, 1714, and was brought up as a Presbyterian. In 1771 he became a Baptist, and at his ordination December 5, 1781, he took charge of this church, and died there in 1802.
The Rev. Gideon FARREL was born in Talbot County, Md., in 1763, of Quaker parents, but was baptized in 1770 by Rev. Philip HUGHES. He was ordained to the ministry at Churchill in 1779. He assisted the Rev. John Boggs as pastor of the church for several years before his death, and became his successor, and continued until his death, in 1820 or 1821. His successors were as follows: Rev. Stephen W. WOOLFORD, from 1822 to 1830; Rev. Samuel TROTT, 1831 to 1832; Rev. William K. ROBINSON, from 1833 to 1836, and possibly later; Rev. Thomas BARTON, 1839 until his death in 1869 or 1870 (he had spent forty-five years of his ministerial life as pastor of three of the churches in the bounds of the Delaware Association; Rev. G.W. STATON, 1871 to 1872; Rev. William GRAFTON was pastor in 1879. He was succeeded by Rev. Joseph L. STATON, the present minister.
The Pencader Presbyterian Church.— The Presbyterians of the Welsh Tract were constituted a church as early as 1710. Rev. David EVANS, son of David Evans, one of the grantees of the Welsh Tract, was the first pastor. He was licensed in 1711 and ministered to the church for a short time and then took a course at Yale College and was graduated in 1713. He returned to this congregation and was ordained and installed on November 3, 1714. He served the church as pastor until 1720, and then went to Pennsylvania and New Jersey. He continued preaching until his death in 1751. He was succeeded by Rev. Thomas EVANS, a relative and native of Wales, who filled the pulpit until 1743. According to tradition, he opened an academy here which he conducted until his death in 1743. On November 2, 1742, Margaret WILLIAMS, widow, of Roger WILLIAMS, of Pencader Hundred, conveyed to David HOWEL, Thomas THOMAS, Joseph THOMAS, Thomas JAMES, Simon JAMES, Nathaniel EVANS and Nathaniel WILLIAMS, all of Pencader, a lot of ground containing one acre and thirty-eight perches, on the road from New Castle to Head of Elk. This was part of a larger tract granted to Roger WILLIAMS by William DAVIS and David EVANS.
It was given for the purpose of allowing "full and peaceable liberty to the Presbyterian congregation belonging to the meeting-house that is builded upon the above sd tract of land . . . for the true worship of God in the sd place according to the presbyterian Rule, Discipline and Doctrine . . . and will be submissive to the rules and direction of the Presbytery of New Castle and the Synod of Philadelphia." Rev. Timothy Griffith, the successor of Rev. Mr. EVANS, filled the pulpit from 1743 until death put an end to his labors in 1754. For the following twelve years the church had no regular pastor. From 1767 to 1773 the pulpit was filled by Rev. Alexander McDOWELL at that time principal of Newark Academy (later the University of Delaware.) The following ministers have been stationed here since that period: Rev. Samuel EAKIN from 1776 to 1783; Rev. Thomas SMITH from 1783 to 1801; Rev. John BURTON from 1801 to 1808; Rev. Samuel BELL from 1808 to 1833; Rev. Hugh HAMILL from 1833 to 1837; Rev. James McINTIRE from 1837 to 1849; Rev. Horatio S. HOWELL from 1849 to 1852; Rev. J.B. JERVIS from 1852 to 1857; Rev. George FOOT from 1857 to 1866; Rev. Edward WEBB from 1866 to 1871; Rev. Jason ROGERS from 1871 to 1879; Rev. George RODGERS from 1880 to 1882; Rev. T. ANDERSON, the present pastor, began his labors here in 1882. The present church is a two-story brick building, sixty by one hundred feet, situated in the village of Glasgow. It was erected in 1852 at a cost of five thousand dollars. The church is in a prosperous condition and has a membership of ninety. The present officers are: Elder, D.B. FERRIS; Trustees, Samuel ALRICHS, W.T. SKINNER, M.D; F. JANVIER, J.W. COOCH, John McIINTIRE, Robert McCANN.
The First Methodist Episcopal Church at Glasgow was a brick building erected in 1832 and dedicated in 1833. Rev. Mathew SORIN conducted the services. The membership at that time numbered thirteen, of whom Isaiah STANTON, Joseph ROOP and Abraham EVES were the first officers. In 1857 the brick church was torn down and a sandstone one built at a cost of three thousand two hundred dollars. This building was dedicated by Rev. Mr. HICKMAN, of New Jersey. In 1884 the present edifice was erected at a cost of two thousand five hundred dollars. It is a two-story frame building and was dedicated in October, 1884, by Rev. Andrew MANSHIP. The number of members at the time of the erection of the church building was thirty, but recent additions have increased the number to seventy-five communicants. The following is a list of the pastors who have ministered here:
Revs. Jno. D. OWENS A. REED, John D. CURTIS, William RIDER, William THOMAS, John W. PIERSON, William FOLKS, Thomas MILLER, Stephen TOWNSEND, John GRINERD, Samuel GRACE, Thomas TIBLES, John LEDNUM, Robert McNAMEE, William BRISBANE, J. McCARTER, James B. AYRES, Alfred COOKMAN, J. JONES, J.B. McCULLOUGH, George BRINDELL, T. Snowden THOMAS, John THOMPSON, Thomas SIMPSON, John POWERS, J. COOK, Samuel PANCOAST, Alfred SCOTT, David McKEE, John THUSTING, John E. CESLER, Robert TODD, Joseph DAVE, Joseph BROWN, S.R. GILLINGHAM, W.T. TULL, Francis HARVEY, George SHAFER, John B. DENISON, John HOOFMAN, James LANDRETH, H. SANDERSON, A.J. CROZIER, J.E. KIDNEY, H.P. BODINE, E.E. WHITE, L.E. BARRETT, D.T. WADELL, L.W. LAYFIELD, H.H. COLCLAZER, E.C. ATKINS, J.T. VANBURKLOW, and Asbury BURKE. Trustees; Adam DAYETT, John H. THORNTON, Thomas LINDELL, Wilson MAHAN, W.T. DAYETT, George SHELDON, Jno. R. DAVIDSON. Class-Leaders, W.T. DAYETT, Wilson MAHAN, Jno. H. THORTON.
Summit Methodist Episcopal Church.— Previous to 1876 the Methodists in the southern portion of this hundred held services in Boulden’s Church, in St. George’s Hundred. This was originally erected for the use of the Baptists, and it was through their kindness that other denominations were allowed to worship there. During 1874 and 1875 the building was in need of repair, and the Methodists endeavored to purchase it, with the intention of remodeling it. Their offer was refused and this led to the erection of the present edifice. The corner-stone was laid August 18, 1876, with appropriate ceremonies conducted by Bishop SCOTT. The building was completed in 1876, and dedication services were conducted in the morning by Bishop Scott, in the afternoon by Rev. George R. BRISTON, and in the evening by Rev. J. H. CALDWELL. It is a one-story frame building, sixty by thirty feet, with a capacity for seating four hundred persons and was erected at a cost of $5000. The membership at the erection of the church was one hundred, and is now sixty. Services are held every Sunday afternoon.
The following ministers have officiated since the organization of the church in 1867: Revs. Wm. B. WALTON, H.S. THOMPSON, T.S. WILLIAMS, C.F. SHEPPERD, George R. BRISTOR, L.C. MATLACK, John FRANCE, J. Owen SYPHERD, George R. PHOEBUS, F.J. COCHRAN, L.W. LAYFIELD.
The officers of the church are as follows: Class-Leaders, T.W. McCracken and J.F. Kane; Trustees, T.W. McCracken, Wm. Cleaver, P.B. Alrichs, L. Catts and J.F. Kane.
The Sunday-school in connection with the church is under the superintendence of Mr. S.T. Davis.
MANUFACTORIES.— On October 25, 1701, William JAMES obtained a warrant for a tract of land containing 1300 acres, which were surveyed June 3, 1702. This land was purchased from the proprietors of the Welsh Tract and was part of the 30,000 acres of land granted to DAVIS, EVANS and WILLIS. In 1707 execution was issued on a judgment against William JAMES, and two hundred acres, on which had been erected in the interval since his purchase a grist and saw-mill, were seized and sold at public sale. Howel JAMES, Sr., was the purchaser. He, by his will bearing date August 17, 1717, devised this tract to his son, Philip JAMES. The mills were managed by Philip JAMES, and on the 2d of December, 1725, he desired P I to be recorded as his brand mark. On May 10, 1737, he sold the mills and premises to John JONES, of Philadelphia, who four days afterwards conveyed them to Joseph BROWN. Brown successfully operated the mills until the 20th of January, 1746, when he sold to Thomas COOCH, a native of England.
He made application to the February term of court in 1770 to have some land viewed and condemned for use of a grist-mill. The freeholders made a view and condemned six acres adjoining land on which Thomas COOCH’s "present mill stands." In his application he states that the water, corn or grist-mill now wants rebuilding or altering and needs more water-rights.
The mills were operated until September, 1776, at which time they were burned by the British. In 1791 this property came into the hands of his grandson, William COOCH, and the following year a new grist-mill was erected by him. This mill was managed by William Cooch until his decease in 1838, when the property was inherited by his son, William COOCH, JR. In this year a new location was selected and the present mill erected at a short distance from the old mill, which is still standing, but no longer used. In 1870 the mill tract became vested in the heirs of Levi G. COOCH, and in the following year they conveyed it to J. WILKINS and William COOCH. They are the present owners and proprietors, and trade under the style of COOCH BROS. The mill is a five-story brick building, fifty feet square. It is situated on the Christiana Creek and is run generally by waterpower. In 1884 the building was remodeled and refitted with machinery. A boiler and engine were attached to be used when the water supply is insufficient. It is now a full roller-mill with a capacity of seventy-five barrels per day. Four men are required to operate it. Some of the flour is sold in this neighborhood, but the larger part is shipped to Wilmington and other points.
On the 18th of May, 1760, Hugh MULDRACH sold to Alexander PORTER a tract of land in Pencader. At this time there was no mention of a mill on this tract. Alexander PORTER, by his will bearing date December 15, 1769, devised this land to his two sons, David and Samuel, as well as a grist-mill thereon erected. The mill and eighty-two acres of land were sold by them, May 31, 1781, to Hugh BOLTON, and Jacob WIRT, Jr. On July 31, 1789, BOLTON purchased the half-part belonging to Jacob WIRT, Jr., and became sole owner. He, by his deed dated June 9th, sold this property to Morgan JONES and Robert SHIELDS. After the death of Shields his undivided one-half part was sold by his executors, August 28, 1793, to Isaac HERSEY, who conveyed the same to Morgan JONES, September 11, 1794. In 1799, Samuel ECCLES purchased this property, and it continued in his possession until March 21, 1834, when it came into the possession of Joseph S. GILBERT, who, April 11th of the same year, sold it to Jonathan SHAKESPEARE. On March 11th of the following year Shakespeare sold to Jesse GILBERT, who retained possession until April 2, 1845, when he sold to William McNAMEE. He was the owner until his death, and then it vested in his heirs, who conveyed it to Adam DAYETT, the present owner, March 24, 1853. The building was remodeled in 1880, and again in 1886, at which time it was refitted with full roller machinery. The mill at present is a frame building, twenty-eight by fifty-four feet, and two and a half stories high. Three men are required to operate it. The capacity is thirty-six barrels of flour per day. Most of the flour and feed manufactured by this mill is consumed in the immediate vicinity. There is a cider-mill in connection with the grist-mill with a capacity of forty barrels per day. On the assessment list of 1823 mention is made of a nail-factory on James SNOW’s estate. When the factory was built, what its capacity was and how long it was managed have not been learned. Jacob CASHO, of Newark, remembers fishing in the pool above the factory when a boy. The nail-factory has not been in use for the past sixty years.
The first authentic information obtained in regard to BATTEN’s Mills is contained in a deed from John JANVIER to William B. and George McCRONE, dated March 5, 1839. In the recital of the title of the tract of land containing one hundred and twenty-nine and a half acres, with a grist-mill and a saw-mill thereon, it is mentioned as the same premises and mills that were conveyed by Kensey JOHNS to John and Thomas JANVIER, April 5, 1812, and that afterwards Thomas JANVIER conveyed his portion to John Janvier. These latter conveyances are not recorded. On the assessment roll of 1798, John PORTER is mentioned as the owner of a mill. On the measures used in the mill is the brand-mark J.P., and as Kensey JOHNS purchased land of John PORTER in 1799, it is fair to conclude that the mills were one and the same. The mills were next owned respectively by James A. KENDAL, Edward TATNALL and William KYLE, the present owner. The mills derived their name from the BATTEN family, who have operated them for many years. The saw-mill was torn down in 1865. The grist-mill is a two-story building, fifty by twenty-five feet. The grinding is all done by stones and no flour is manufactured.
SAW-MILL.— A saw-mill was built on the Christiana Creek by William McCONAUGHEY in 1841. The mill is a frame building, eighteen by ninety feet, with a capacity of two thousand feet per day. For many years it was a merchant mill, and shipped large quantities of lumber. Eight men were employed in operating it. During the past five years timber has become scarce in this neighborhood, and the mill has only been used for custom-work. Mr. McConaughey is yet the owner.
The Delaware Wagon-Works are located at Summit Bridge, and were opened in 1868 by A.P. CARNAGY, the present owner. In addition to the manufacture of wagons, farming implements are also made and repaired. Four men are employed, and the capacity is a wagon per day, and from five thousand to seven thousand dollars’ worth of agricultural implements per year. The products of the manufactory are disposed of in the vicinity.
ORE-PITS.— The finding of iron ore on Iron Hill undoubtedly attracted the early settlers to this neighborhood. The ore was mined in small quantities at a very early date, and quite extensively from 1725 to 1734, during which time the Abbington Iron-Works were managed. After the discontinuation of the ironworks the ore-pits came into the possession of Abel DAVIS, who, by his will, bearing date April 13, 1780, devised them to his heirs. In the course of descent they passed into the hands of Isaac DAVIS, who sold a tract of land on Iron Hill, containing ninety-four acres and embracing the pits. to David C. WOOD, an iron-master of Philadelphia, October 28, 1841. They were worked by him for a number of years. In 1862, George P. WHITTAKER, the owner of Principio Furnace, became the possessor of this land. The ore was mined by him until December 25, 1884, since which time nothing has been done. Employment was given to about twenty men in mining and washing the ore, which was then shipped to Principio Furnace, Maryland. The property is part of the Geo. P. WHITTAKER estate, and contains an abundance of ore.
VILLAGES.— Glasgow is a small hamlet situated near the centre of Pencader Hundred. It was formerly known as Aikentown, being so-called after Mathew AIKEN, who, June 14, 1791, purchased from James STEWART a large brick house, store house and lot of ground at this place and kept a hotel. In 1801 a feeder for the Delaware and Chesapeake Canal was commenced near this village, but discontinued two years later. The village has no railroad communications and has increased slowly. At present (1888) there are two churches, a school-house, a post-office, two stores, kept respectively by George BOULDEN and Samuel ALRICHS, a hotel, a blacksmith and wheelwright-shop, and about twenty-five residences.
Kirkwood is a small village in the southeastern part of this hundred. A portion of the hamlet also lies in Red Lion Hundred. It was originally called Kemp’s Corner and afterwards St. George’s Station. This name was changed in 1862 and the present one given in honor of Colonel Robert KIRKWOOD. At present there are here a passenger and freight depot of the Delaware Railroad; three stores, kept respectively by J.A. BENSON, R.T. CANN and W.C. CARNAGY, a hotel, a school-house, a blacksmith and wheelwright-shop, and about fifteen dwellings.
Summit Bridge is situated in this hundred south of the Delaware and Chesapeake Canal. It is near the boundary lines of Red Lion, St. George’s and Pencader Hundreds. The village was so called because of its proximity to the canal above mentioned, over which was constructed a very high bridge on the road leading to this place from Kirkwood. It contains a church, a post-office, the Delaware Wagon Works, two blacksmith-shops, a hotel, three stores, the proprietors of which are A.P. ALRICHS and Harry SALMON, and about fifteen residences.
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http://archive.org/stream/recordsofwelshtr00wels/recordsofwelshtr00wels_djvu.txthttp://archive.org/stream/recordsofwelshtr00wels/recordsofwelshtr00wels_djvu.txt
Full text of
"Records of the Welsh Tract Baptist meeting, Pencader Hundred, New Castle County, Delaware, 1701 to 1828 .."
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Bucks County (PA)
sits along the South Eastern part of Pennsylvania and is bordered by ...
Berks, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton and Philadelphia County.
One of three original Pennsylvania Counties
- Formed in 1682
(Bucks Co. is stated to be the "oldest" county in PA.)
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http://files.usgwarchives.net/pa/bucks/wills/willabstbk1.txthttp://files.usgwarchives.net/pa/bucks/wills/willabstbk1.txt
Wills: Abstracts: Books A and 1 : Bucks Co, PA1685-1739
1.11.JOHN HART of Warmister Twp. Bucks County.
September 14, 1713.Proved November 5, 1714.
Wife. --- 200 acres heretofore given to son John Hart.
Son Thomas 200 acres as per agreement.
Son Josiah Lots in Phila.
Dau. Mary.
Son John, sole exr.
Wit: John Morris, Thomas Reed, Joseph Todd.
http://files.usgwarchives.net/pa/bucks/history/local/davis/davis14.txthttp://files.usgwarchives.net/pa/bucks/history/local/davis/davis14.txt
THE HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, CHAPTER XIV, WARMINSTER, 1703.
from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time by W. W. H. Davis, A.M.,
1876 and 1905* editions..
Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Donna Bluemink.
[email protected]
USGENWEB NOTICE: Printing this file by non-commercial individuals and
libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information
is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites
requires permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other
sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of contents.
___________________________________________________________________________________
Transcriber's note: Liberty has been taken with numbering footnotes so as
to include all footnotes from both the 1876 and 1905 editions, plus any
additional text and pictures in the 1905 edition. All 1905 material will
be noted with an asterisk.
Note: Where names differ, the 1905 edition spelling is applied.
___________________________________________________________________________________
CHAPTER XIV
WARMINSTER
1703
The twin of Southampton.One of the earliest settled.-John Rush.-John Hart.
-Bartholomew Longstreth.-Henry Comly.-The Nobles.-Their family
mansion.-Noble burying ground.-The Cravens.-The Yerkes family.
-Thomas B. Montanye.-John Fitch.-Comes to Bucks county.-Mends
clocks.-Goes west and returns.-Model of steamboat.-Floats it on
Arthur Watts's dam.-Cobe Scout.A notable character.-Vansant
graveyard.-Doctor William Bachelor.- The Log college.-Johnsville.
-Hart's school-house.-Hartsville.-Schools.- Public inn.-Horse
racing.-No grist mills.-Roads.-African and Indian school.-
Earliest enumeration of inhabitants.-Present population.-First post
office.- Hatboro.-John Dawson.-David Reese.-Battle of Crooked
Billet.
(See map in chapter XIII)
Warminster (1) is the twin township of Southampton,
of which lies immediately northwest and adjoining.
The two elected but one constable and overseer for several years,
and they were not entirely separated in their municipal administration until about 1712.
On the three other sides it is bounded by Northampton, Warwick and Warrington townships, and Montgomery county, from which it is separated by public roads.
It has the same limits as when originally laid out, with an area of 6,099 acres.
(1)The name is probably a compound of war and minster, both of Saxon
origin, the first meaning a fortress, the latter the church of a
monastery. Warminster is a market town and parish in England, County
Wilts, at the western extremity of Salisbury Plain, on the Willey, 21
miles W. N. W. of Salisbury. Population, 1851, 4,220.
Warminster was one of the earliest townships settled,
and judging from Holme's map the greater part of the land was taken up in 1684,
generally in large tracts (2).
Some of these land-owners were not actual residents of the township at this time, nor afterward.
Of these was John Rush,
connected with the early Harts by marriage,
who settled in Byberry, where he lived and died.
He was the ancestor of all bearing this name in Pennsylvania.
He commanded a troop of horse in Cromwell's army,
and after the war married Susannah Lucas, of Oxfordshire, in 1648.
In 1660 he embraced the principles of the Friends,
and in 1682 he immigrated to Pennsylvania with his wife and children.
Himself and his whole family became Keithians in 1691,
and in 1697 they joined the Baptists.
John Rush died in 1699.
He owned 500 acres in Byberry,
and the same quantity in Warminster.
(2)Landholders, in 1684:
William and Mary Bingley,
John Rush, Sr.,
John Hart,
Nathaniel Allen,
George Randall,
James Potter,
John Jones,
Henry Comly,
Sarah Woolman,
Henry English
and Abel Noble.
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John Hart and John Rush were probably neighbors in England,
both coming from Oxfordshire, where Mr. Hart was born, at the town of Whitney
[Witney*], November 16, 1651. Whitney is situated on the Windrush river,
five miles above its junction with the Isis, twenty-nine miles from
Oxford. There was a town there at the time of the ancient Britains, and
the population is now 3,000. The church dates back to the twelfth century,
and is one of the handsomest of its class in England. For several
centuries it has been the seat of extensive blanket manufactories.
Mr. Hart came to Pennsylvania in the latter part of the summer, or early fall, of 1682,
preceding William Penn a couple of months.
The 11th of October, 1681, he purchased 1,000 acres of the Proprietary for the consideration of
£20 (3), and on his arrival
he located 500 acres in Byberry,
and the same quantity in Warminster (4).
He settled on the banks of the Poquessing, [on Byberry, Philadelphia county,*]
and in 1683 married Susannah, the daughter of his friend John Rush (5).
>>>>> Mr. Hart was a distinguished minister among Friends,
but went off with George Keith, and
subsequently became a Baptist.
He preached to a small congregation at John Swift's, in Southampton,
where he laid the foundation of the Southampton Baptist church. <<<
About 1695 Mr. Hart removed from Byberry to his tract in Warminster
between the Bristol and Streets roads, adjoining Johnsville, where he lived the rest of his life, dying there, 1714.
Proud says he was a man "of rank, character and reputation, and a great preacher."
His eldest son, John Hart,
married Eleanor Crispin, of Byberry, in 1708.
On the maternal side she was a granddaughter of Thomas Holme, surveyor-general of the Province, while
her paternal grandfather was William Crispin,
a captain under Cromwell, an officer of the fleet of Admiral Penn, his brother-in-law,
and the first appointed surveyor-general [chief justice*] of the Province, but did not live to arrive.
John Hart's wife
was descended, on the maternal side, from
a sister of William Penn's mother. [who was Margaret Jasper, daughter of a Rotterdam merchant.*]
``````````````````````````
John and Eleanor Hart had a family of ten children, whose descendants now number thousands, and are found in all the states south and west of Pennsylvania.
Two of their sons reached positions of distinction;
Oliver, who studied theology with William Tennent, of Freehold, New Jersey, and became a famous Baptist minister in South Carolina,
and
Joseph, of Warminster township, a patriot and officer of the Revolutionary army, who filled many important places in civil life.
The Committee of Safety of South Carolina appointed Oliver Hart, in conjunction with [Reverend William Tennent (6), and Honorable William Drayton, to visit the western
part of the state, to try and reconcile the inhabitants to the new order of things.
A descendant of John Hart,
Samuel Preston Moore, of Richmond, Virginia, was surgeon-general [of the Confederate army during the Civil War,
and his brother, Stephen West Moore, a graduate of West Point, was inspector-general *] of Louisiana. They were both officers of the United States army before the war.
The Hart homestead, in Warminster,
remained in the family 170 years, descending from father to son.
John Hart, the elder, was one of the first men of this state to write and publish a book.
While living in Byberry, in 1692, he and Thomas Budd published an "Essay on the Subject of Oaths."
We have never seen a copy of this work, and do not know that one is in existence.
The Hart tract was owned by the families of Wynkoop, Twining, Kirk,Hobensack, and others.
Bingley's tract lay in the southeast corner of the township, adjoining John Hart, and contained 500 acres. It probably extended southwest of the Street road. [The village of Ivyland is built on the Hart tract.
The Hart mansion, the second on the site, built by John Hart the second, 1750,
is still standing and in good condition. On the west end is a date stone of the following shape and inscription. The initials stand for John and Eleanor Hart, and he undoubtedly built it, as he was there in actual life, and did not die until 1763. It was wainscoted inside and the half-tone
(See illustration of the Hart homestead, built 1750)
(See illustration of Hart initials)
illustration shows the present appearance.
At the same time it was built it was probably the best house in the neighborhood.
The mansion was the home of Colonel John Hart, son of Colonel Joseph Hart of Revolutionary
memory, and was built, 1817, on the homestead tract, but is not owned by
any member of the family. He was born April 9, 1787, died June 18, 1840.
He was a prominent man, was a member of Assembly, and served an enlistment
in the war of 1812-15. Two of his sons served in the Civil War: James H., a
major in the First New Jersey Cavalry, was killed, and Thompson D.,
lieutenant-colonel of the One Hundred and Fourth Pennsylvania.*]
(3)The author has the deed of William Penn to John Hart, executed 1681,
at Worminghurst, conveying 1,000 acres to him.* The author is a descendant
of John Hart on the maternal side (not mentioned in 1905 edition).
(4)Return of survey is dated May 2, 1709.
(5)There has been some confusion as to John Hart's wife, whether she
was the daughter of William or John Rush.
That he married Susannah Rush there is no question.
As John Rush was not married until 1648,
he could hardly have a son old enough to have a daughter of marriageable age in 1683.
The Rushes, father, son William and wife Aurelia, with three children, came over, 1682,
doubtless at the same time as John Hart and may have come in the same ship, as they lived neighbors in Oxfordshire, and it is possible he may have courted his future wife on the voyage.
Joseph C. Martindale, in his "History of Byberry and Moreland,"
speaks of John Rush as "an elderly Friend."
As there is no evidence he brought a wife with him, she may have been dead.
We get our information from the Hart family papers and believe it to be correct.*
(6)Rev. Tennent is not named in 1905 edition.
[The following are the first three generations of the Hart family of Warminster,
including the first two after their arrival in Pennsylvania:
Christopher and Mary Hart of Witney, Oxfordshire, England, issue:
First Generation
John, born November 16, 1651, died September 1714, married Susannah,
Robert, born August 1, 1655,
Mary, born April 1, 1658,
Joseph, born October 24, 1661,
John and Susannah's issue:
Second Generation
John, born July 16, 1684, died March 23, 1763, married Eleanor,
Thomas,
Joseph,died 1714,
Josiah,
Mary, died 1721.
John and Eleanor's issue:
Third Generation
John, born September 10, 1709, died June 11, 1743,
Susannah, born April 20, 1711, died March 30, 1733,
William, born March 7, 1713, died October 6, 1714,
Joseph, born September 1, 1715, died February 25, 1788,
Silas, born May 5, 1718, died October 29,1795,
Lucretia, born July 22, 1720, died December 15, 1760,
Oliver, born July 5, 1723, died December 31, 1795,
Edith, born May 4, 1727, died March 27, 1805,
Seth, born June 11, 1731, died October 31, 1740,
Olive, born July 3, 1734, died August 13, 1734.*]
````````````````
>>>Joseph Todd, one of the early settlers of Warminster, took up a tract of
224 acres, and was conveyed to him by patent, 1701. <<<
It lay on the Street road where the York road intersects it. The consideration was £30.10s.
We know nothing of Joseph Todd, whence he came or whither he went, but his
descendants are probably in the county.
Since then the property has changed hands several times, and been considerably reduced in acreage.
It was in the Todd family for sixty-eight years, they building a stone house on it 1719
, two of the rooms remaining in good condition, with the date stone.
The subsequent owners were
Samuel Lloyd, 1769, consideration £955;
the Waltons,
the Reverend John Magoffin,
Thomas Dixey, $6,500,
and after passing through several additional hands
to J. Johnson Beans, who sold it, 1897,
to Edward W. Adams, of New York. The latter sold the property, 1900,
to Richard H. Chapman, of Chestnut Hill.
Mr. Chapman has entirely remodeled the old homestead, skilled architects converting it into an
elegant, modern mansion.
The original building was erected, 1719, but by whom is not known.
While owned by Mr. Magoffin, seventy-five years ago, he made some alterations,
while the present owner has preserved some of the old walls and timbers.
There are few superior dwellings in the county.*]
```````````````````````````````````
>>>Bartholomew Longstreth (7), a Friend, son of Christopher Longstreth,
born at Longstreth Dale, Yorkshire, England, August 24, 1679,
immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1698. <<<
He purchased 300 acres on Edge Hill, which he began to improve,
but soon sold it, with the intention of returning to England.
Changing his mind he purchased 500 acres of Thomas Fairman, in Warminster,
for £175, and came into the township, 1710.
This tract lay in the square bounded by the Bristol, Street, Southern line,
the township and the Johnsville roads.
He added to his acres until, at his death, he owned [a little over*] 1,000.
He immediately built a log [home, and subsequently a stone one, the second in the neighborhood, the joist being sawed out on the premises with a whip saw.*]
In 1727 he married Ann Dawson, of Hatboro, then the Crooked Billet,
[his age forty-nine, she twenty-three*] and after leading a useful and active life he died suddenly, August 8, 1749, and was buried at Horsham.
His widow married Robert Tompkins (or Thompkins*), of Warrington,
who both ill-used her and wasted her fortune. She died in 1783
[1785*].
Bartholomew Longstreth had eleven children,
and at his death left the homestead farm to Daniel, the eldest son living, who was born in 1732.
He occupied his father's place in society,
and was twice married: to
Grace Michener, of Moreland, 5th month, 22d, 1753, who died 4th month, 16th, 1775,
and then to
Martha Bye, of Buckingham, 2d month, 2d, 1779.
He had nine children by his first wife, and died in 1803.
[Rachel, daughter of Daniel Longstreth,
married Thomas Ross, son of John Ross and Mary Duer,
Solebury, and grandson of Thomas Ross, the Quaker preacher. Thomas Ross
was a distinguished lawyer and was usually called "Lawyer Tom." He settled
in West Chester, but practiced extensively throughout the eastern circuit.
By his first wife, Rachel Longstreth, he had a daughter, Rachel, born 3d
month, 23d, 1782, died 7th month, 6th, 1875, who married Richard Maris.
The late George G. Maris, Buckingham, was a son of this marriage. Lawyer
Thomas Ross' second wife was Mary Thomas. They had several children.*]
(7)It is said that Bartholomew Longstreth opened the road from County
Line across to the Street road, thence by his own land to the Bristol
road. Subsequently, and while supervisor of Warminster, he opened the York
road from the County Line to Hartville and down to Hatboro.*
(See illustration of Longstreth homestead)
His son Joseph, born in 1765, inherited the homestead, but learned the
hat- making business, which he followed several years at Hatboro [Crooked
Billet*]. He married Sarah Thomas in 1797, had six children, and died in
the house where he was born, in 1840.
Daniel, the eldest son of Joseph Longstreth,
born, in 1800 and died in 1846, was a man of intelligence and culture, and a useful citizen.
He was twice married: to Elizabeth Lancaster, of Philadelphia, in 1827, and to Hannah Townsend in 1832, and was the father of nine children. In 1840 he opened a boarding school in his house at Warminster, which he conducted with success for several years. [A majority of his pupils were from adjoining counties, among them
David M. Zook, Montgomery, brother of General Samuel Kosciusco Zook, who
fell at the battle of Gettysburg. Daniel Longstreth's sister Anna, who
subsequently married Charles Rabb, kept a school for boys and girls in the
homestead about the close of the 20's, and the author was one of her pupils.*]
Daniel Longstreth devoted considerable time to surveying and conveyancing,
[had a good knowledge of the sciences, wrote considerably for the county press,*]
and died in the home of his ancestors March 30, 1846 (8).
[Daniel Longstreth was quite a mechanic and methodical in his habits.
He recorded, in a book kept for the purpose, the deaths of the neighborhood from 1818
to his own, 1,035 in all.
Among them were
Reverend Thomas B. Montanye, September 27, 1829, aged sixty;
Thomas Purdy, Esquire, sheriff, November 10, 1844, aged forty-four;
Dr. Isaac Chapman, February 17, 1837, aged seventy-seven;
Dr. John Wilson, Buckingham, October 16, 1835, aged sixty-three;
Reverend Jacob Larzelere, July 19, 1834, aged seventy;
Enos Morris, Esquire, Newtown, February 18, 1831;
Dr. John H. Hill, Hatboro, January 3, 1831.
The Longstreths were advanced farmers,
Joseph using the first hay rake in the county, 1812- 13.
Daniel, the elder, used lime on his land about 1775,
and Daniel's uncle, John, and great uncle, Joseph, were among the first to sow clover seed and plaster on it.*]
Of his five living children, four, John, Samuel, Edward L., and Anna reside in Philadelphia
(9).
The old homestead, owned by five generations of Longstreths,
passed out of the family many years ago.
The house was built at three different times,
the middle part by Bartholomew, in 1713,
the east end by his son Daniel, in 1750, and the west end by the same in 1766.
It was built by Philadelphia workmen, and when finished was considered the finest house in
that section.
In 1850 it was sold to Isaac Rush Kirk, and is now owned by his widow.
In 1873 she had the middle and eastern parts taken down, and erected a new dwelling on their site.
The Longstreth family retain the metal-molds in which Bartholomew run his pewter spoons, like other farmers of that day, and have also the iron old John Dawson used to smooth beaver hats.
Bartholomew Longstreth was a man of influence in his generation. [He
first opened the York road from the Neshaminy down to Hatboro (10).] The
Longstreths owned land in other townships.
(8)In a commonplace book, among the Longstreths' manuscripts, we find
the following stanza, one of several verses written after Daniel
Longstreth's death, by Elizabeth Hutchinson, his wife's sister:
"And dearest Daniel, art thou gone
To travel o'er the spangled lawn,
With pleasure and delight;
Where one perpetual blaze of day
Shines forth with undiminished ray
Nor sees the fall of night."*
(9)Departed this life in Philadelphia, on the evening of the 7th of 3d
months, 1833, Margaret Longstreth, at the advanced age of 97 years, 3
months and 14 days, having outlived the most of her contemporaries. She
was the widow of Daniel Longstreth, Warminster, Bucks county.*
(10)This was not documented in the 1905 edition.
The land located by John Rush was probably not confirmed to him,
or he may have sold it to Bingley, to whom it was patented,
for the tract of the latter covered what is in Rush's name on Holme's map.
```````````````````````````
Henry Comly, who came with wife and son from Bristol, England, in 1682,
located 500 acres in the northwest corner of the township, between the county line and Street road, and adjoining Warrington.
>>> The grant was made to him by William Penn before leaving England. <<<
Comly died in 1684,
and his wife who remarried in 1685, died in 1689.
His son Henry
married Agnes Heaton in 1695, and soon afterward purchased 500 acres in Moreland, near Smithfield, where he died in 1727, leaving eleven children.
He is thought to have been the ancestor of all who bear the name of Comly in this state.
````````````
Sarah Woolman's tract of 250 acres joined that of Henry Comly,
but we do not know what year she came into the township, but before 1684.
````````````
Nathaniel Allen was also a large landowner in Bristol township,
but probably never lived in Warminster.
````````````
>>> The Nobles were among the very earliest settlers in Bucks county. <<<
We find Richard Noble (11) on the Delaware in 1675,
where he held a local office under the Duke of York.
He settled in Bristol township, and took up a tract of land on the river above the mouth of Neshaminy, and was a surveyor.
>>> His son Abel was an original purchaser in Warminster <<<
, where he owned 695 acres at the re-survey in 1702 (12).
The original Noble tract lay on both sides of the York road, that on the upper side running up the county line, and not reaching the Street road, and that on the lower side extending down it to within half a mile of Johnsville.
In 1743 Abel Noble conveyed 165 acres to his son Joseph,
who in turn sold it and a few acres more in 1763
to Harman Yerkes, the first of that family in Warminster.
Abel and Job Noble, sons of the first purchases,
were owners of considerable of the ancestral tract at that time.
Job was a man of many peculiarities.
He left the grain ungathered in the corners of his fields for the birds.
At the family mansion, in English style, with hip-roof, on the site of the dwelling
of the late Andrew Yerkes, on the York road,
he built a stone apiary with the back to the road,
and intended to have cut upon it the ten commandments, but it was never done.
The story is told of one of his Irish servants,
who, discovering a tortoise in the field,
ran breathless to the house and reported that he had found "a snake in a box,"
nor would he return to work until someone went out to "demolish the craiture."
He died in 1775, leaving two daughters, one of whom married a
Gilbert and the other a Moland. [A daughter of the Molands married a Wood,
and their daughter was the wife of Barzilla Gregg, Doylestown, who was a
well-known school teacher. Descendants of the Gilberts live in
Philadelphia.
Job Noble's father joined George Keith and became*] a Seventh Day Baptist.
The remains of the Noble family burying-ground are below the York road, and near the county line, on the farm now owned by Justice Mitchell, on a knoll that overlooks a meadow in front.
Half a dozen graves, with a few feet of the old wall, are all that mark the final resting place
of theses Warminster pioneers.
>>> [The Nobles were related to the Longstreths*] <<<
(11)He came from England in the Joseph and Mary, Captain Matthew Payne,
the first vessel that landed passengers at Salem, New Jersey, May 13, 1675.
(12)Abel Nobel was a son of William and Frances Noble, of Bristol, England.
In 1752 he owned 700 acres in Warminster,
the tract being cut by the York road and extending from the county line to the Street road.
In 1750 Herman Yerkes bought land of the Nobles.
Abel Noble married Mary Garrett, daughter of William and Ann Kirke Garrett.
William Garrett lived at Harby, County Leicester, England, 1672-1684.
In 1684-88 Abel Noble had land surveyed to him between Second and Third streets, Philadelphia.
He landed at Salem, N. J., 1675, May 13,
and was owner of lands in Bristol, near the confluence of Neshaminy and the Delaware.
Mrs. Anna Longstreth Tilney.
Abel Noble's only daughter, Anna,
married David Thomas, a blacksmith from Wales,
who settled at Darby, Delaware county, and removed to Providence.*
``````````````````
John and Isaac Cadwallader were in the township quite early.
John bought 250 acres on the county line.
Isaac died in 1739.
``````````````````
Warminster had a sprinkling of Hollanders at an early day,
who probably came from Long or Staten Island instead of direct from Holland.
Among them we find the Cravens, Vansants, Garrisons, Corsons, and other families.
The Cravens probably came first, and James was an owner of land in the township as
early as 1685, for we find that the 9th of April, 1740, he paid to James Steel, receiver of taxes for the Proprietaries, "four pounds, two shillings and six-pence, in full for fifty-five years" quit-rent due on
150 acres of land in Warminster.
The Cravens were living in the township in 1712,
and James and Thomas were there in 1730 and 1737 (13).
In 1726 one of the name came into Warminster from Richmond county, Staten Island.
In January, 1725, he bought a farm of 150 acres of William Stockdell,
adjoining lands of
>>> Peter Chamberlain <<<
and Bartholomew Longstreth,
for £290.
Possession was given the 1st of June, 1726.
The Corsons came from Long Island, the first of the name being Benjamin, whose receipt of July 1,
1723, states that he had received £7. 6s. of one Wessells, "on account of Jacob Kraven." Harman Vansant was Brigade-Inspector in 1821, afterward Brigadier-General, and died September 13, 1823, aged sixty-six years.
(13)In Warminster, May 11, 1835, Isaac Cravens, aged 76. He was
born on the premises where he died and was a soldier of the Revolution. He
was probably born and died on the farm, on the county line, where the
British burned General Lacey's wounded, at the battle of the Crooked
Billet.*
```````````````````````````````````
The Yerkes (14) family made their first appearance in Bucks county about 150 years ago,
settling inWarminster,
where Herman, or Harman, bought
181 acres of the Noble tract on the Street road.
(14)The name is of German origin,
and has been variously spelled Jerghes, Gerjhes, Gerches, Yerkas, Jerghjes, Sherkes, and otherwise.
[About 1700, Anthony Yerkes, with wife Margaret, and sons Herman,
Adolphus and John, came from Germany
and settled on the Schuylkill. He was one of the Burgesses of Germantown,
1703 and 1709, bought of John Holme 300 acres at Shelmire's mills on the Pennypack,
in the manor of Moreland, Philadelphia county, now Montgomery.
After the death of his first wife,
Anthony Yerkes married
Sarah Eaton, widow of >>> Rev. John Watts, who died June 27, 1725. <<<
Anthony Yerkes had three children,
Herman, born1689, died 1750-1, Adolphus, living, 1744, and John who
probably died unmarried.
Herman, who doubtless came with his father from Germany,
>>> married Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. John Watts, February 11, 1711 <<<
, becoming the son-in-law of his step-mother.
They had ten children, and at the father's death, he divided 800 acres on the Pennypack among
them.
Silas, sixth child, born February 15, 1725, died September 25, 1795,
married Hannah, daughter of Thomas Dungan, Warminster, and for a time
lived there. They had ten children, from one of which, the late William L.
Elkins, of Philadelphia, was descended, and was buried at Southampton.
His brother Herman born January 18, 1720, and died about 1800,
was the first Yerkes to settle in Bucks county, about 1750.
He married Mary Stroud,
daughter of Edward Stroud, Whitemarsh, Montgomery county, March 26, 1750, who died in Warminster, 1770. All his children were by her.
For his second wife, he married Mary Houghton,
widow of Richard Clayton, New Britain,
September 30, 1773, who died January, 1785.
In her will she left money to build a wall around the Southampton graveyard which is still standing.
For his third wife he married Elizabeth Ball,
widow of John Tompkins, and died 1819.
Herman had eight children, Elizabeth, Catharine, Edward, Sarah, Stephen, Mary, Harman and William. Elizabeth married John Hufdale, April 14, 1770, and has descendants in western Pennsylvania. Catharine, born June 19, 1755, married Reading Howell, March 28, 1782, who was born in Hunterdon county, New Jersey, 1743, and died November 26, 1827, in Warminster. He was a noted engineer, and served in the Revolution as quartermaster of the Second Regiment, Hunterdon county militia. He was
prominent in several walks of life; a commissioner to survey the Delaware and Lehigh rivers, projected the map of Pennsylvania bears his name, 1792, surveyor of Philadelphia, 1804, to his death, and built the first railroad in the United States, 1809, from Leiper's quarries to Ridley Creek, Delaware county.
Reading Howell and his wife Catharine Yerkes were the parents of eight children, of whom the youngest, Catharine Augusta, born August, 1800, married Brigadier General Thomas Flourney, United States Army, War 1812-15, of Augusta Georgia, and died in Philadelphia, November 21, 1900, aged over 100 years, the last of the family of that generation.*]
[Stephen Yerkes, son of the Warminster Herman,
born October 20, 1762, and died 1823, spent his life in this township, and
married his cousin Alice Watson, granddaughter of John Yerkes, son of the first Herman.
She was born November 17, 1787, and died November 17, 1859, on her seventy-second birthday.
Their children, born in Warminster, all became prominent;
Edward, died 1825, major in a Bucks county regiment, War 1812, with Samuel D. Ingham,
was a man of wide influence.
He married Mary Shelmire, who became the wife of Moore Stevens.
John W. Yerkes, born December 22, 1811, died January 24, 1884,
was a miller and in 1875 was elected Prothonotary of Montgomery county, serving two terms.
Mary Yerkes, daughter of Stephen, born September 27, 1815, and died July 15, 1896,
married John McNair, born June 8, 1800, died at Aquia Creek, Virginia, August 12, 1861.
At one time he was principal of a famous school for boys in Montgomery county; then
read law, was admitted to the bar and subsequently practiced at Norristown.
He was elected to Congress in the Montgomery district and served two terms, 1851-55.
His son, F. V. McNair, born January 15, 1839, a graduate of the Annapolis Naval Academy, served with great distinction through the Civil War, 1861-65, a portion of the time on Admiral Farragut's flag ship in the Mississippi, became the senior Rear Admiral of the U. S. Navy, and died at Washington, D. C., November 28, 1900. He is credited with having prepared the Asiatic fleet for the naval victory Admiral Dewey achieved at Manila Bay, which he turned over to his successor shortly before the Spanish-American war.
The remaining child of Stephen Yerkes, the Rev. Stephen Yerkes,
born June 27, 1817, died March 28, 1896,
was educated at Yale, became a Presbyterian clergyman, removed to Kentucky, where he acquired distinction as Professor of Greek in the Transylvania University, and occupied the chair of Hebrew and Oriental languages in the Theological Seminary for forty years.
His son, John W. Yerkes, was the Republican candidate for Governor of Kentucky, 1900, and was recently appointed by the President, commissioner of Internal Revenue. Harman Yerkes, son of the third Harman, born July 25, 1767, died February 12, 1857, married 1790, Margaret, born January 8, 1771, died March 4, 1849, daughter of Capt. Andrew Long, second son of Andrew and Mary Long, born about 1730, and died in Warrington township, November 4, 1812. He served in Colonel Samuel Miles's regiment, Continental Army, and in 1779 was appointed a justice of the Bucks county court, serving several years.*]
[Of the ten children of Harman and Margaret Long Yerkes,
William, born July 8, 1792, married Penelope, daughter of Giles McDowell, a noted school teacher of ye olden time. Their daughter married William H. Force. Andrew L. Yerkes, born August 25, 1795, died July 14, 1862, a soldier in the war of 1812, married Eliza Everhart, 1800. They had seven children, one of whom, Dr. H. P. Yerkes, lives in Doylestown. Elizabeth Yerkes, born May 26, 1800, died May 24, 1875, married John C. Beans, and were the parents of nine children, mostly living in Warminster township. Their son, J. Johnson, was elected sheriff 1890, and served one term. Clarissa Yerkes, born October 12, 1802, died December 12, 1875, married Samuel Montanye and had six children, Edwin H. Yerkes, born November 26, 1804, died June 26, 1864, married Catharine Williamson, and died without children. Harman Yerkes, born March 9, 1807, died 1889, married Rebecca Valentine and had eleven children. Stephen Yerkes, youngest son of Harman and Margaret Long, born in Warminster, May 19, 1809, died July 25, 1865, marriedJanuary 13, 1831, Amy Hart Montanye, daughter of Rev. Thomas B. Montanye, of Southampton. She was born October 23, 1811, died March 22, 1860, and was the mother of Judge Harman Yerkes, Doylestown. Another son of the third, or Warminster settler, Herman Yerkes, was William, born in Warminster, June 29, 1769, and died there 1823. He married January 2, 1795, Letitia
Esther, daughter of Captain Andrew Long and sister of Margaret, the wife of his brother Harman. Of their sons, Harman died in Washington, D. C., 1860, aged sixty-five. Joseph Ball Yerkes, born April 29, 1797, and died at Hatboro, was the father of Judge William H. Yerkes, Philadelphia, major of 199th Pennsylvania regiment, Civil War, died October 10, 1885, and of Rev. David J. Yerkes, a distinguished Baptist divine. Andrew Long Yerkes, son of William, died in Cecil county, Maryland, 1889. The daughter of William married John Thornton, and their son is a prominent journalist in Illinois. He learned the printing trade in the office of the Doylestown (Pa.) "Democrat."*]
[The Yerkes family furnished several soldiers to the Revolution,
and on the rolls are found the names of
John, Silas, Herman, Elias, George, Anthony, Jonathan and Stephen, of Philadelphia,
and Harman, Henry and Edward of Bucks.
A son of Stephen married Sarah Purdy, descended from the common ancestor of the family of this name of Bucks and Montgomery counties.
In 1799 several of the descendants of Stephen Yerkes, son of the first Herman, and some of the Purdys,removed to Seneca county, New York, and thence to Michigan.*]
The celebrated John Fitch (15) to whom justly belongs the honor of
propelling boats by steam, spent several years of his life in Warminster,
and this was his home until he finally took up his residence in Kentucky.
Fitch was born in Connecticut January 21, 1743, inherited a fondness for
reading and study from his father, who had a genius for astronomy,
mathematics and natural philosophy. He learned clock making after marrying
a woman older than himself at twenty-four, whom he deserted in 1769, and
came to Trenton, New Jersey, where he established himself as a
silversmith.
On the breaking out of the Revolution he turned his talents to gunsmithing.
The British destroyed his tools and other property, valued at £3,000,
when they took possession of Trenton, December 1776.
He afterward made his home in Bucks county, following the trade of a silversmith,
frequently traveling though the country.
He was a patriot, an officer of the first company raised at Trenton; he held the same rank in
the army at Valley Forge, and was afterwards a sutler in the army in the west. At one time he served as armourer or gunsmith.
He led an unsettled life.
He went to Kentucky in 1780, to survey public lands and located a large tract,
but afterward lost the title to it,
and was captured by the Indians in 1782, while preparing to make a trip to New Orleans with flour.
He visited London in 1793, and died in Nelson county, Kentucky, about 1798.
In person Fitch was tall, six feet two inches, straight and spare, with tawny complexion, black hair and piercing eyes. His countenance was pleasing, and his temper quick. He was a man of good morals, and truthful and honorable in allhis dealings.
He was the father of two children, a son and daughter; the former, Shaler Fitch, died in Trumbull county, Ohio, in 1842, and latter, Lucy, married Colonel James Kilbourne, Franklin county, Ohio.
(15)The complete account of John Fitchis from the 1905 edition.
(See autograph of John Fitch)
When John Fitch was driven from Trenton by the British, 1776,
he came into Bucks county, first to the house of John Mitchell, Four Lanes End,
now Langhorne, and afterward to Charles Garrison's, Warminster, half a
mile west of Davisville. During his sojourn in this township he earned a
livelihood by repairing clocks and silver-smithing, making his home at
Garrison's or in the neighborhood. He was recognized as a man of genius,
and associated with the most intelligent people. He was on intimate terms
with Reverend Mr. Irwin, the pastor at Neshaminy, who took much interest
in his mechanical contrivances, and encouraged him. Fitch frequently
walked four miles to hear him preach. One of his intimates was Cobe Scout,
a man as eccentric as himself, a wheelwright, gunsmith and silversmith,
who was
"Everything by turn,
But nothing long."
It was at Scout's shop Fitch suddenly appeared one rainy Saturday
afternoon, on his return from his captivity among the Indians. After a
glance of recognition, they rushed into each other's arms in tears, and
the next day they went together to the Southampton Baptist church where
public thanks were returned for Fitch's safe delivery by the Rev. David
Jones, former chaplain in the Continental army. While living at Charles
Garrison's Fitch engraved a map of the "Northwestern part of the United
States," in Cobe Scout's shop, and printed it on Mr. Garrison's cider
press.
The first model of a steamboat that ever floated was made by John Fitch
in Warminster, in a log shop where Sutphin McDowell carried on weaving on
the farm lately owned by Mitchell Wood, 400 yards east of the Montgomery
County line. He said the idea of a steamboat first occurred to him as he
and James Ogilbee were walking home from Neshaminy church on a Sunday and
were passed by a Mr. Sinton and wife in a riding chair at the intersection
of the York and Street roads (16). After pondering the matter a few days,
he made a model and submitted it to his friend Daniel Longstreth, the Rev.
Nathaniel Irwin and others (17). When completed the machinery was of
brass, the paddle wheels of wood made by the late N. B. Boileau (18), who
lived on the county line near by, then a student of Princeton college, at
home at the time. The late Abraham McDowell, of Warminster, who claimed to
have witnessed the trial trip of the model, said it took place on a pond,
or dam, below the present Davisville, in Southampton township, and that
the party consisted of Fitch, Cobe Scout, Abraham Sutphin, Anthony Scout,
John McDowell, William Vansant and Charles Garrison. A couple of hours
were spent in the experiment; at the end of the time the little boat was
declared a success, when the witnesses to the trial returned home. Since
that time the application of steam to the propulsion of vessels has
revolutionized commerce and naval warfare. In 1786-7 Fitch built a
steamboat that made several successful trips on the Delaware between
Philadelphia and Burlington. This was done with the assistance of a number
of public- spirited Philadelphia and Burlington citizens who subscribed to
the enterprise. The "Indenture of Agreement," after being executed was
deposited in the archives of the Philadelphia Philosophical Society, where
the author saw it recently. It is dated February 9, 1787, and to it are
signed the names of the following subscribers for stock with the number of
shares each one took, although the value of the share is not given: Samuel
Vaughan, one share; Richard Wells, one share; Benjamin W. Morris, one
share; Rich. Stockton, three shares; J. Morris, one share; Joseph Budd,
one share; Benjamin Say, two shares; J. H. Hart, one share; Mags. Miller,
one share; Isaac W. Morris, one share; G. Hill Wells, one share; Thomas
Hutchins, one share; Richard Wells, one share, Richard Stockton, for John
Stockton, one share; Israel Israel, one share; William Rubel, one share;
Edward Brooks, Harvey Voight, five shares; Henry Toland, one share; Tho.
Palmer, one share.
(16)In April, 1902, the Bucks County Historical Society erected a
granite monument to mark the spot where John Fitch conceived the idea of
propelling boats in the water by steam. The monument stands at the
southwest corner of the York and Street roads, Warminster township.*
(17)The late Daniel Longstreth, Jr., thinks this was April 1785.
(18)John L. Longstreth, son of Daniel, Jr., told the author in recent
years that, on one occasion, when a boy, walking with his father, they met
Nathaniel B. Boileau, then living at Hatboro, who said he made the paddle
wheels for Fitch's model.*
(See illustration of Fitch's steamboat on the Delaware)
In the proceedings of the Philosophical Society of the date September 27,
1785, Tuesday, a "special occasion," at which Benjamin Franklin and
eighteen other members were present, we find the following entry: "The
model, with a drawing and description, of a machine for working a boat
against the stream by means of a steam engine, was laid before the society
by Mr. John Fitch." This was probably the model that is still there.
Daniel Longstreth writes in his diary, under date of 2 mo., 18, 1845: "I
visited uncle Isaac Longstreth, who told me that Robert Fulton was
apprenticed to the person that built John Fitch's large steamboat, and was
then in his twentieth year."
While there is no dispute as to who conceived and built a model of and
made a successful experimental trip with it, there is a difference of
opinion as to the exact spot where the model was first tired, and although
it is not important whether the boat was first tried here or there, we
give it consideration by examining the question. The witnesses all agree
the trial was not made in Warminster, but on the creek known as
Southampton run, in the vicinity of the present Davisville. The Longstreth
manuscript and the articles written by Daniel Longstreth, the younger, for
the Bucks County "Intelligencer" of February 12, 1845, agree in saying
that "It was first tried in Southampton run a short distance east from
Cobe Scout's wheelwright shop where it was built." When the author of
"Watson's Annuals" made inquiry of Mr. Longstreth for information on the
subject, he made the same statement. In a letter John L. Longstreth wrote
the author, he claims the initial experiment was made in "Southampton run
about half a mile below Davisville in Joseph Longstreth's meadow.Mr.
Longstreth was living in Southampton township as late as 1792. His farm of
two hundred and sixty-seven and one-half acres fronted the County Line and
the road to Davisville, and subsequently belonged to the Rev. Thomas B.
Montanye." On the other side, Abraham McDowell, a boy of about eight
years, claimed that he accompanied the party, and the trial experiment was
made in a dam, then on the Watts farm, fed by the Southampton run, and a
few hundred yards nearer Davisville. We repeat, it makes no difference
where, in that same creek the first and successful trial was made of
Fitch's model of a steamboat. It was made thereabouts and was a success,
and all who furthered its interests are equally honored. But for the
encouragement Fitch received from the Longstreth family, we doubt if his
invention had proved a success.
Mr. Longstreth, Daniel the elder, says the Fitch family came originally
from Saxony, crossed the channel into England, and settled in Essex, where
it was respectable, if not noble, each branch having a coat of arms. He
gives the arms of John Fitch as follows: "A chev between three leopards
heads, or, crest aleopard's head embossed or, in the mouth a sword hilt
or." In a letter written by Mr. Longstreth about this period, 10 mo., 11,
1791, he says: "I have paid John Fitch for the surveying instruments and
maps, about £10, or £12. 15s." One of these maps is said to have been
worked off on Charles Garrison's cider press, in Warminster township, and
is in the Pennsylvania Historical Society.
The Longstreth manuscript throws additional light on the personal history
of John Fitch. Mr. Longstreth was on intimate terms with the family and
whatever he says of this remarkable man may be relied on implicitly.As
we have already remarked, Fitch came into Bucks county after the British
occupied Philadelphia, Fitch buried his gold and silver under a large
chestnut tree on Charles Garrison's farm at night. He was watched by a
negro, who dug up the treasure and divided it with the son of a
respectable farmer. After the British had left, Fitch went to get his
money, but was surprised to find it had been stolen. The young man's
father agreed to refund part of it which Fitch accepted on condition the
rogue should leave and never return. While the Continental army lay at
Valley Forge, the winter of 1777-78, Fitch assisted to keep it supplied
with provisions, receiving his pay in continental money, which he kept
until $1,000 were only worth $100 in specie. After the armies had left
this section, Fitch returned to Trenton, gathered up the tools he had left
there, brought them over to Cobe Scout's shop at Charles Garrison's where
he carried on business until the spring of 1780, when he went West (19).
The Longstreth manuscript describes the personal appearance of John Fitch
as follows: "He had a piercing eye, talland thin, six feet in his
stockings, could outwalk a horse a long or short distance, had a shining
face, of tawny complexion, very black short hair, walked with a great
swing, pitched forward, was a smiling, not a grum man, quick tempered, but
soon over, honest in his dealings and free from falsehood." While at
Charles Garrison's Fitch joined the Masonic Lodge at Trenton."
(19)Bartholomew L. Fussell, nephew of Daniel Longstreth, the elder, and
John Fitch, made brass wire from old kettles belonging to Joseph
Longstreth, as wire could not be bought during the Revolutionary war. They
used it for making buttons. They also made wooden buttons at Joseph
Longstreth's. Fussell, in conversation with Daniel Longstreth, the
younger, who died, 1846, stated that he turned out, polished and shanked a
gross of buttons one morning by 11 o'clock. This "points a moral and
adorns a tale," in evidence of the deprivations our fathers had to endure
in the times that "tried men's souls."*
"Cobe" Scout, mentioned in connection with Fitch, his friend and intimate
companion, was an eccentric character in Warminster, made his home part of
the time with Charles Garrison, who lived on the road from Davisville to
the Montgomery county line in the first house on the west side. Fitch
taught Scout the art of silversmithing to which he added gunmaking.
Occasionally a few of his silver spoons, or one of his long rifles, turn
up in some old homestead. Three quarters of a century ago the good
housewives of Warminster and Southampton held Scout's silver spoons in the
higher estimation than any other make, and a few have been handed down
from mother to daughter as precious heirlooms. His rifles were equally
celebrated, one of which he carried in the Revolution. While the American
army lay on the west bank of the Delaware, 1776, and the enemy occupied
Trenton, Scout shot a Hessian dead across the river, in punishment for
some insulting gesture, and John Davis, grandfather of the author
witnessed it. This added greatly to Scout's reputation. He died 1829, at
the age of ninety-three, and was buried in the Vansant graveyard,
Warminster, and many years after the late Josiah Hart, Doylestown, erected
tomb stones at the grave. Scout's Christian name was James, or Jacobus.
The first steamboats on the Delaware after John Fitch's experiment of
1788, carrying passengers between Philadelphia and Trenton, were the
Phoenix and Philadelphia. The Phoenix, built at Hoboken, N. J., by John C.
Stevens, 1807, made her first trip to Bristol, Sunday, July 30, 1809. She
was commanded by Captain Davis, or Davidson, and the engineer, Robert
Stevens, son of the builder. She was the first steam vessel to navigate
the ocean between New York and Philadelphia. Her speed on the river was
eight miles an hour with the tides. After running a few years her
machinery gave out, and was taken out of her. She was laid up and finally
rotted down on the Kensington flats. Hundreds of people at Bristol went
down to witness the first arrival, among them the late William Kinsy. The
Philadelphia, familiarly called "Old Sal," also built by Stevens,
commenced running between the same points, 1815. She was commanded by
Abisha Jenkins, leaving Trenton at 7 a.m. and Philadelphia on her return
trip at 2 p.m. Her speed, with the tides, was ten miles an hour, and on
her arrival at Bristol and Burlington, she fired a small brass cannon
mounted on her forward deck. It burst on one occasion, killing one of the
hands, and after that, a gun was dispensed with. Burlington and Bristol
were the only stopping places, and passengers were received and landed in
small boats by signals from the shore. Many people believed there would
never be a boat built that could make better time. The Philadelphia was
followed in the early thirties by a boat called the "New Philadelphia,"
which had the same run.
Many efforts have been made to rob John Fitch of the honor of inventing
or discovering the art of propelling boats on water by steam, but they
have signally failed. Recent investigations show that John Fitch made a
successful experiment of propelling a model boat by steam, on Collect
Pond, New York city, in 1796. It was called the Perseverance and the
experiment was witnessed by Robert Fulton and Robert Livingston. In 1846,
John Hutchings, who was present, made an affidavit of the facts attending
this experiment. This was six years before Fulton made his experiment on
the river Seine, and ten years before he put his boat, the Clermont, on
the Hudson. A model of Fitch's boat was recently found in the New York
Historical Society, New York City. It is to the credit of Robert Fulton
that he never claimed the discovery of steam propulsion, but only made use
of it for commercial purposes. (End of Fitch story from 1905 edition).
There is a private graveyard near Johnsville, on the farm lately owned by
Eliza Vansant, deceased, to whose family it belonged. In it lie buried the
remains of "the rude forefathers," the early Holland settlers of that
section, the Vansants, Garrisons, Cravens, Sutphins, McDowells, Vandykes,
and others, the relations or immediate friends. The oldest stone marks the
resting place of Harman Vansant, who died in 1769, at the age of
eight-four, and Giles Craven, died September 8, 1798, in his eightieth
year. A handsome marble slab is erected to the memory of Doctor William
Bachelor, a native of Massachusetts, and surgeon in the army of General
Gates, who died September 14, 1823, aged seventy-five years. His wife was
a daughter of Silas Hart, of Warminster. Doctor Bachelor lived [and died*]
in Hatboro, and had an extensive practice. On one occasion he was called
upon to visit a man whose leg was badly hurt. The doctor wanted rum to
bathe it, and a quart was sent for. After the limb had been duly dressed,
the patient, who was fond of a drop, was told by the doctor that he might
take a little internally, whereupon he smiled his blandest smile and said,
"Doctor, I always did admire your judgment."
The famous "Log college" was in Warminster, on the York road half a mile
below Hartsville, on the fifty acre tract given by James Logan to William
Tennent, his cousin, in 1728. When Mr. Tennent first went there Mr. Logan
was obliged to purchase and send him provisions from Philadelphia, which
argues that his congregation provided him a slim living. He lived on the
property that lately belonged to Cornelius Carrell, and the college was on
the lot now owned by George Hanna. In the fireplace of the old Carrell
house (20) is a fire-crane used by William Tennent. Part of the old wall,
two and one- half feet thick, runs across the end of the kitchen. A few
years ago three English pennies, bearing dates from 1710 to 1719, were
found on the premises. Mr. Tennent, who died May 9, 1746, left by will all
his movable estate to his wife "Kathren," and at her death his real estate
was to be sold and the proceeds divided among his heirs. [On September 5,
1889, the founding of the Log College was celebrated on the farm that
formerly belonged to it, under the auspices of the "Presbytery of
Philadelphia, North." The presiding officer was the Reverend Thomas
Murphy, D. D., and the exercises consisted of sacred music, reading of
Scripture, prayer and addresses, followed by a lunch. Among the speakers
was Benjamin Harrison, President of the United States, and
Postmaster-General Wanamaker. The audience was large (21).*]
(See illustration of Log College)
(20)Now owned by J. W. Gwyn.
(21)A full account of the Log College and its distinguished graduates
will be found in Chapter on Historic Churches.*
The most famous school of the period, next to the Log College, was kept
at "Hart's School House," Warminster, on the road from the Street to the
Bristol road, half mile from Johnsville. Three buildings stood on, or
near, the same site, and took its name from an influential family living
near, and active in establishing it. The first house was erected early in
the eighteenth century, probably of logs. It was an old building in 1756,
for, at a meeting of the patrons, held September 13th, it was resolved to
build a new school house, as the one "in which James Stirling doath now
teach, as it is too small, dark and otherwise insufficient to accommodate
the scholars that do at present attend the same, so as to answer the
purpose intended (to-wit) the learning of Latin, Greek, etc, as well as
English." It was to be 33 by 18 feet, one story high, with a good
partition through the same, a good fire-place in one end, and a stove in
the other, Joseph Hart and Daniel Longstreth being appointed "sole
managers." The house was probably built on a new site, as a lot was bought
of Longstreth. The deed was executed May 2, 1757, and acknowledged before
Simon Butler August 11, 1758, and the house erected that fall. The
conveyance was made to William Folwell, Southampton, John Dungan,
Northampton, Anthony Scout, Warminster, and John Vanosdale (Vanartsdalen),
Northampton. A third school house was erected there, 1831, at a cost of
$320.28. This was torn down, 1860-61, when three new houses were erected
for the public schools, at a cost of $1,315.65, on the Street road. James
Stirling, the first teach we know of, probably quit teaching in the spring
of 1765, when a new contract was made with Thomas D. Handcock for the
ensuing year, from June 4, for £63 ($173.33). Elijah Beans and William
Maddock, who taught several years in the 1831 school house, were not new
teachers. The subscriptions for building the 1757 school house were as
follows: Joseph Hart £8, John Dungan £3, Derick Kroesson £3, James
Stirling £2, William Ramsey £1, and James Spencer £2. "Hart's School
House" was the centre of a good deal of the mental activity of the
township in the eighteenth and part of the nineteenth centuries. In
1793-94, and how long continued we know not, the "Moral Society" met there
for debate. Fourteen names are signed to the constitution, including those
of Longstreth, Eyre, Rees and Matlack. Spectators were not admitted and
each mem was obliged to deliver "one sheet of paper, one candle or one
penny, for the use of the society." In 1811-13 a new society sprung up in
thehands of new men. It likewise met for debate, the questions taking a
pretty wide range, and among the members, we find the well-known names of
Hart, Longstreth, Miles, Craven, Ramsey, Prior, Vansant, Crawford, Daniel,
Long, Yerkes, Shelmire and Brady (22).*]
(22)In addition to the schools already mentioned in Warminster, there
was a log school house on the Street road a few hundred yards above the
York road, and another on the York road half a mile below the Warminster
tavern at John C. Bean's gate. *
Warminster has [three*] villages, Johnsville, at the junction of the
Newtown and Street roads, a mile from the lower line of the township,
Hartsville on the York road where it crosses the Warwick line [and
Ivyland, on the Northeast Pennsylvania railroad, half a mile south of the
Bristol road.*] Johnsville had its foundation laid in 1814, when James
Craven built a store-house for his son John on the only corner not covered
with native forest trees, and in which a store is still kept. It took its
name from John Craven. The village contains about twenty dwellings.
[Fifty*] years ago Robert Beans [son of Stephen Beans, Warminster*]
established an agricultural implement factory there, which employed a
number of hands, principally engaged in making mowing and reaping
machines. It was burnt down within a few years and not rebuilt. Hartsville
lays along the York and Bristol roads, the major part of it being in
Warminster. The old name was "Cross Roads," and it was only called
Hartsville within the present generation, after a family ofHarts which
lived there a number of years.
The tavern, in Warwick township was kept for many years, at the close of
the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth century, by William Hart,
and a human heart was painted on the sign board. In 1818 it was known as
the "Sign of the Heart," [and owned by Joseph Carr.*] William Hart died,
1831, at the age of eighty-four. The post office was established, 1826.
The old stone bridge, half a mile above, spanning the Neshaminy where it
crosses the York road, was built 1793, and had a heart cut on the date stone.
[Ivyland, the youngest village of Warminster, was founded by Edwin Lacey,
1873, and he built the first dwelling. Several shortly followed, streets
were opened, named and lighted; station and freight houses were built and
the first train stopped there March 29, 1891. The population has increased
to over 250. The 25th anniversary of it founding was observed August 12,
1898. Among Ivyland's improvements and organizations are a Presbyterian
chapel, Christian Endeavor Society, two lodges, and truck and ladder c
ompany. Breadyville, at the crossing of the Bristol road by the Northeast
Pennsylvania railroad, is a hamlet of half a dozen dwellings, tavern,
store and station.*]
[Hartsville has played a more important part in the social, religious and
educational world than any village of its size in the county.*] The
Hartsville Presbyterian church, which came of the division at Neshaminy in
the war of "schools," forty years ago,is known as the "Neshaminy church
of Warminster," and the constituent members were originally members of the
Neshaminy church in Warwick. In consequence of the choice of Reverend
James P. Wilson by a small majority of this congregation as their pastor,
in November 1838, 100 persons withdrew from this church in a body, on
Saturday, February 10, 1839, and held worship in the school-house at the
graveyard, claiming to be "the Neshaminy church and congregation." On that
day Reverend Mr. Howard preached for them as a supply. They worshiped for
a time in private houses, and then in a temporary frame structure, called
the "Tabernacle," erected in the woods at the top of Long's hill, on the
Bristol road. The question of title to the original church property was
tried in the court of Bucks county, but finally decided by a compromise in
the winter of 1841-42. It was sold and bought by the congregation now
worshiping there. The pastors, in their order have been Reverends Thomas
B. Bradford, installed April 29, 1839, and resigned March 9, 1841; Henry
R. Wilson, from 1842 to his death in 1849; Jacob Belville, from 1850 to
1860; Alexander M. Woods, from 1860 to 1870, Gersham H. Nimmo, [1870 to
1891, when he was called to the Torresdale church, where he died, 1808.
Mr. Wood went from Hartsville to Mahanoy City, where he died. The present
pastor is the Reverend W. R. Preston.*] The church edifice was erected in
1842. The congregation is large and flourishing. [The most pleasant
feature, in connection with these congregations, mother and daughter, is
that there is entire harmony between them, and the bitterness of sixty
years ago has been buried deeper than plummit ever sounded.*]
Hartsville wan an education centre going back to the days of the Log
college. The schools of the Reverends James P. Wilson and Robert Belville,
[Jacob Belville, D. K. Turner*] and the Messrs. Long and others enjoyed a
wide reputation for many years, and laid the foundation of the education
of many prominent and useful men. Samuel Long, at one time principal of
one of the schools, met a sad fate in being killed by the limb of a tree
falling upon him [while giving directions to some wood choppers, killing
him instantly. This occurred in December 1835. A Friends' meeting house was
erected nearly fifty years ago on the Street road half a mile above
Johnsville. Gideon Pryor, who died in Warminster, February 14, 1854, was
one of the last Revolutionary soldiers to die in the county. He was born
in Connecticut, August 5, 1764, served in Rochambeau's army at the siege
of Yorktown, 1781, and witnessed Cornwallis' surrender. After the war he
finished his education by graduating at Dartmouth College. He started
south on foot, but was taken sick near Hartsville, and spent his life
there. He lived and died in the first stone house, north side of the
Street road below the York road. One son, Azariah, became a minister of
the gospel, and died at Pottsville. Gideon Pryor was a very fine scholar.*]
So far as we have any means of knowing, Warminster has never had more
than [two taverns in Warwick since its settlement, until in recent years,
a third one was licensed. The oldest was probably on the site of the
present one, known as the "Warminster tavern," on the York road just below
where the Street road crosses it.*] As early as 1730 one Thomas Linter
[Linton*] petitioned the court for a recommendation for license "to keep a
house of entertainment for man and horse." In this he states that he is an
inhabitant of Warminster, "county de Bucks," and owns a house and good
plantation on the York road, near the cross roads, and not far from "ye
forks." In 1732 Thomas Davids, of Northampton, attorney in fact for Thomas
Linton, sold his farm of 100 acres to David Howell, of Philadelphia,
whereupon Linton removed to New York. [This old hostelry became much more
noted and popular in later years. In the twenties of the last century a
Masonic Lodge was instituted and held sessions in the attic of this famous
old inn, where such well-known Masons as Dr. John H. Hill and John Kerr
officiated. It was forced to the wall by the anti-Masonic crusade growing
out of the Morgan affair. Its existence had been almost forgotten until a
few years ago, when the Masonic Lodge at Hatboro was instituted, the late
William Williamson, of Davisville, appeared and presented to the new lodge
the jewels and habiliments of the old one. He had cherished them carefully
for over half a century. Three quarters of a century ago,*] when horse-
racing was much more common than now, this tavern was frequented by those who
indulged in racing. It was then kept by Thomas Beans (23), a famous
horseman. At elections and militia training a half-mile track was cleared
upon the Street road, where favorite nags were put upon their speed. Mr.
Beans had a fine circular half- mile track laid out on his farm, back of
the buildings. The death of a rider at one of the races down the Street
road did much to break up the practice, which was wholly discontinued many
years ago.
(23)In 1796 Thomas Beans owned 200 acres on the north side of the
Street road, extending from Johnsville upward.*
Warminster is the only township in the county without grist mill, nor is
it known that it ever had one. This arises from its surface being so
generally level, that there are no streams of sufficient size and fall to
drive a mill. Many years ago there was a saw mill [built by Robert Durrah
on his farm near Hartsville, which is still in use, the present owner
being John M. Durrah.*] The west branch of Neshaminy cuts across its
northeast corner, near the Warrington line, and affords a good mill site
in the latter township, where a mill was built nearly a century ago.
Warminster is well provided with roads, having one on each of its four
rectilineal sides, three of them, the Bristol and Street roads and the
Montgomery county line, being part of Penn's system of great highways laid
out [on northwestern lines. These are intersected by lateral roads laid
out and opened as they were required.*] Of these cross roads that between
Warminster and Warrington was opened about 1785, by one of the Longs who
had lately built a grist mill, and was then building a saw mill where this
road crosses the Neshaminy. The road that crosses the township half a mile
above Johnsville, and at that time the line of travel between Horsham and
Wrightstown, was opened in 1723, and the one on the Southampton township
line in 1769 (24). As early as 1709 a road was viewed and laid out to
allow the inhabitants of Warminster to reach the new mill on the Pennypack (25).
The road across by Johnsville was probably opened about 1724.
(24)This road was re-surveyed, and the direction probably somewhat
changed, December 10, 1816, the following being the new line: Beginning in
the Street road at the corner between Harman Yerkes and William Craven,
thence between their land south 39 degrees west 160 perches, then through
Henry Puff's land, south 44 degrees, west 110 perches, and the same course
through Isaac Cravens' land to the county line, 59 perches. The jury
composed of Samuel Gillingham, John Watson, Andrew Dunlap, Thomas
Hutchinson, Josiah Shaw and Aaron Eastburn. John Watson was the surveyor.*
(25)Gwinn's mill, below Hatboro.
An institution for the education of male orphan children of African and
Indian descent is located in Warminster, on a farm of 100 acres on the
Street road, a mile below the Warrington line. It was known as the Emlen
Institute, and was founded about fifty years ago by Samuel Emlen, of
Burlington, New Jersey, who gave $20,000 to trustees for this charity. The
institution was first organized in Ohio, soon after the founder's death,
but was afterward removed to a farm of fifty-five acres, in Solebury. In
1872 it was again removed, to Warminster. By careful management the
original fund has been increased to $30,000, several thousand of which
have been expended on the present property, improving the buildings, etc.
The pupils are instructed in the mechanic arts, and other useful pursuits.
The income is sufficient to maintain and educate about twenty pupils (26).
(26)The Institute was closed 1892 and the property sold to James Keith,
Newtown; then to a Mr. Gartenlaub, and he to a syndicate of Episcopalians,
Philadelphia, who in 1897 established on it a charity known as "St.
Stephens' Orphanage."*
The earliest return of the inhabitants of Warminster that has met our
noticewas made over a century [and a quarter ago*], but the exact date
is not given. It comprises a list of housekeepers and single men, with the
quantity of land owned by each, the acres in with corn, with the cattle,
sheep, etc. There were then but fifty-eight housekeepers and twelve single
men in the township. Joseph Hart was the largest land-owner, 435 acres,
with 300 acres cleared and sixty in with corn. He owned twenty-four cattle,
eight horse and thirty-five sheep. Daniel Longstreth was the next, who
owned 410 acres, 200 cleared and forty-four in with corn. He was the owner
of thirteen cattle, three horses and twenty-three sheep. This return gives
2,801 acres of cleared land, of which 607 were planted with corn. The
whole number of domestic animals was 236 cattle, sixty-five horses,
sixty-seven mares, and 278 sheep. There were but eleven negro slaves in
the township. In 1784 the township contained 368 white inhabitants and 28
blacks, with 66 dwellings. The population at stated periods since 1784 was
a follows: 1810, 564; 1820, 695; 1830, 709, and 155 taxables; 1840, 934;
1850, 970; 1860, 987; 1870, 840, of which 32 were of foreign birth; [1880,
1,061; 1891, 969; 1900, 973.*]
The first post office in the township was established in 1823, and Joseph
Warner, who lived on the Street road just above Davisville, was appointed
postmaster. The office was removed to Davisville about 1827. Among the
people who have deceased in Warminster during the last half century may be
mentioned Mary, the widow of Andrew Long, who died January 17, 1821, aged
ninety-five years, and John Harvey, who died the 31st of the same month,
at the age of eighty-seven. Warminster is the middle of the three rect
angular townships bordering the Montgomery line, and is four miles long by
two wide. After rising from the valley where some of the headwaters of the
Pennypack have their source, the surface of the township is generally
level, with little broken or untillable land. There is no better land in
the county than the plains of Warminster, which extend eastward to the
hills of Neshaminy, and the inhabitants are employed in agricultural
pursuits. It can boast of good roads, rich and well-cultivated farms, and
an intelligent and happy population.
Just over the southwest border of Warminster, in Moreland township,
Montgomery county, is the flourishing village of Hatboro, lately
incorporated into a borough, with a bank, weekly newspaper, an academy,
two churches, a valuable library (27), and a population of [1,000*]. It is
thought to have been first settled by John Dawson, of London, who, with
his wife Dorothy, daughter Ann, then five years old, and possibly two
sons, immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1710. He was a hatter, a Friend, and
carried on his trade there several years. The place was then called
"Crooked Billet," from a crooked stick of wood painted on the sign of the
tavern, which he probably kept at one time. He built a stone house, his
daughter Ann carrying the stone and mortar for him in her tow apron. It is
said she was engaged in this occupation when Bartholomew Longstreth
decided to marry her. [He had more courage that the modern swain is
credited with possessing.*] She rode to Horsham meeting on a pillion
behind her father, and after the marriage rode behind her husband to his
home in Warminster. John Dawson had seven children. [Benjamin, the
youngest child, established the iron works at Phoenixville, and died 1798
of yellow fever.*] In 1742 Dawson lived at the southwest corner of Second
street and Church alley, Philadelphia, in the first brick house erected
there. The present name, Hatboro, is said to have been given to the
village out of regard to the occupation of its earliest inhabitant. [On
the evidence of William J. Buck, the earliest name given to the place,
when hardly a hamlet, was "Hatboro," and is found on Lewis Evans' "Map of
the Middle Colonies," published at Philadelphia, 1749.Doubtless the
village took the name of "Crooked Billet" from the sign that swung at the
tavern door, a crooked billet of wood. John Dawson, a maker of hats, was
there soon after 1700, and his occupation had something to do with the
name. Both names were probably applied to it at the same time.*] In 1759
the public house was kept by David Reese, whose daughter, Rebecca, born
1746, married John Hart, of Warminster. This village was the scene of a
conflict between the American militia, under General Lacey, and a
detachment of the British army, May 1, 1778. The retreating militiamen
were pursued across Warminster to the Bristol road, a few killed and
wounded on both sides marking the track of war (28). The descendants of
John and Dorothy Dawson number about 200 names. The Dawson family is an
old one in England. The first of the name, Sir Archibald D'Ossone, aft
erward changed to Dawson, was a Norman nobleman who accompanied William
the Conqueror to England in 1066, and received the grant of an estate for
services rendered in battle. It is not known that John was descended from
him, and probably was not.
(27)The library was organized, 1755, and some of the most active men in
the work were of Warminster, including Joseph Hart and Daniel Longstreth.
During the Revolution the books, for safety, were stored in the Longstreth
garret. This is said to have been the first country district library
established in North America. The library building was erected in 1811, on
a bequest for that purpose, in the will of Robert Loller, was named Loller
Academy," after him, and is still standing. In it a classical school was
kept many years, and became quite famous. The first teacher was George
Murray, the same who subsequently kept a boarding school in Doylestown.
Rev. Robert Belville, many years pastor at Neshaminy, and father of Rev.
Jacob Belville, taught at Loller Academy, 1819. The building was used for
public debates, and some distinguished men have measured political and
polemic swords there. In 1844, during the Polk and Clay campaign, General
John Davis and Hon. Josiah Randall discoursed in the past. *
(See illustration of Loller Academy)
(28)William Carnahan, a Revolutionary soldier, died in Warminster
township, 1839, aged ninety-four, possibly a survivor of the Crooked
Billet fight.*
[The Longstreth manuscripts give additional information on the Crooked
Billet fight of an interesting character. John Tompkins' tavern on the
York road was British headquarters. This was in the stone house, still
standing, on the west side of the road about 300 yards below the county
line as we enter the village. We believe it is used as a dwelling. It is
the tradition that Robert Iredell piloted the enemy, and that Isaac Dillon
and a "Colonel" William Dean had something to do with it. They were
probably Tories. Captain Isaac Longstreth commanded a company of militia
and Abraham Sutphin stood guard on the bridge at the lower part of the
village the night prior to the morning of the attack on Lacey. Lacey and
his aid-de-camp quartered at the house of John Guilbert, a stone dwelling
recently taken down on the west side of the turnpike, about half way from
the county line to where the monument stands, and occupied an end room
next to the road. The night was moonlight and Mrs. Guilbert, not being
able to sleep, got up and on looking out one of the back windows, saw
British soldiers in the apple trees. She dressed, went down and awakened
Lacey and his aide, who got their horses and rode to camp. The refugees
were cruel and gave no quarter. An English officer had his thigh broken
near the Longstreth gate, and two soldiers were sent for a blanket to
sling him between horses. The soldiers began to plunder and an officer who
was sent after them took Daniel Longstreth up the lane to point out his
goods. A refugee demanded his silver shoe buckles, and dismounted to take
them off, threatening to run him through unless he gave them up, but
Longstreth appealed to the soldier's two comrades, who shamed him and he
rode away.*]
[Safety Maghee, of Northampton township, at the age of ninety-three,
related to the author, 1858, what he knew of the battle of the Crooked
Billet. He said: "In 1778 I was living with my uncle, Thomas Folwell, in
Southampton, where Cornell Hobensack lives, on the road from
Davisville to Southampton church. On the morning of the battle I heard the
firing very distinctly, and a black man named Harry and myself concluded
we would go and see what was going on. I was then about thirteen years
old. We started from the house and I went directly toward where the firing
was. When we came near to where Johnsville now stands we heard a heavy
volley there, which brought us to a halt. The firing was in the woods. The
British were in pursuit of our militia and charged them from Johnsville to
the Bristol road, and also through the fields from the Street road to the
Bristol road. They overtook the militia in the woods at the corner of the
Street road and the one that leads across to the Bristol road. When the
firing had ceased we continued on to the woods, where we found three
wounded militiamen near the road. They appeared to have been wounded by
the sword, and were much cut and hacked. When we got to them they were
groaning greatly. They died in a little while, and, I understand, were
buried on the spot. They appeared to be Germans. We then passed on, and,
in a field near by, we saw two horses lying dead. They were British. One
of them had been shot in the head and the gun put so close the hair was
scorched. While we were in the field, Harry picked up a cartouch box, that
had been dropped or torn off the wearer. Shortly after we met some of the
militia returning, and, when they saw the black fellow with the cartouch
box, they became very indignant, and accused him of robbing the dead, and
took it away from him. Three dead horses were on the farm of Colonel
Joseph Hart. Soon after this we returned home. The last man was killed on
the Bristol road at the end of the road that comes across from
Johnsville."*]
[The first Sunday school at Hatboro was opened September 5, 1824, in
Loller Academy. At that time there was no church there. The Baptist
church, the first to be organized, grew out of a woods meeting held in the
summer of 1835, in a grove half a mile below Southampton, and a mile from
that church. During the meeting, the Rev. L. Fletcher, one of the
officiating ministers, preached one evening in the Hatboro Academy.
Several converts having been made at the woods meeting, and the
Southampton Baptist church not being in sympathy, a question arose as to
what was to be done with the new converts. Mrs. Yerkes, wife of the late
Joseph B. Yerkes, who had recently come to Hatboro, solved the problem by
suggesting that a church be organized. The suggestion was accepted and,
out of this movement, the prosperous church at Hatboro grew.*]
End of Chapter XIV.
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[regarding Joseph (jr.), Joseph's son by his 1st wife]:
http://pagenweb.org/~bucks/BIOS_DAVIS/chapmanfamily.htmlhttp://pagenweb.org/~bucks/BIOS_DAVIS/chapmanfamily.html
.....Abraham Chapman, sixth child of Joseph and Ann (Fell) Chapman, was born 8 mo. 18, 1767, at Wrightstown, and died at Doylestown, 2 mo. 24, 1856.
He was an eminent lawyer, being admitted to the Bucks county bar in 1790.
He practiced at Newtown until the removal of the county seat to Doylestown in 1812, when he removed to Doylestown and spent the balance of his days in that town.
He was known for years as the "Father of the Bucks County Bar."
He was the first president of the Doylestown National Bank.
He married 12 mo. 15, 1795, Elizabeth Meredith,
daughter of
Dr. Hugh and Mary (Todd) Meredith,
the former a native of Warwick township, of Welsh descent, and was for many years a practicing attorney at Doylestown,
>>> and the latter was a daughter of Joseph Todd, of Warminster, and of English descent.<<<
(It seems that this is the son of Joseph (of Eling) who he had by his first wife.)
Abraham and Elizabeth (Meredith) Chapman were the parents of eight children, only two of whom lived to grow up: Wilhelmina, born 1 mo. 27, 1801, married Mathias Morris, and Henry, born 4 mo. 2, 1804, died 4 mo. 11, 1891.