historical 50ciety - Historical Society of Montgomery County, PA

Transcription

BULLETIN
HISTORICAL 50CIETY
MONTGOMERY COUNTY
PENNSYLVANIA
jvôNN/srowjv
&
SSMERY
PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY
AT 1X5 ROOM5 IS EAST PENN STREET
NORRISTOWN.PA.
APRIL, 1940
NUMBER 2
VOLUME II
PRICE 50 CENTS
Historical Society oF Montgomery County
OFFICERS
Nelson P. Fegley, Esq., President
S. Cameron Corson, First Vice-president
Charles Harper Smith, Second Vice-President
George K. Breght, Esq., Third Vice-President
Mrs. Rebecca W. Brecht, Recording Secretary
Ella Slinglufp, Corresponding Secretary
Annie B. Molony, Financial Secretary
Lyman a. Kratz, Treasurer
Emily K. Preston, Librarian
TRUSTEES
Franklin A. Stickler, Chairman
Mrs. a. Conrad Jones
Katharine Preston
H. H. Gansbr
Nancy P. Highley
The Old Hughes Mill—1900
THE BULLETIN
of the
Historical Society of Montgomery County
Published Semi-Annually—October and April
Volume II
April, 1940
Number 2
CONTENTS
The Old Hughes Mill
Annie Brooke Simpson ....
71
Dr. John B. Carrell
78
Four Miles of Historic
Road
Annual Excursion to
Atlantic City in 1873. . .Francis E. Collins
87
The Old Burlal-Ground
near Erdenheim
William R. Yeakle
95
Washington's Headquarters
at Skippack
.B. Witman Dambly
105
Where Washington Crossed
the Skippack
B. Witman Dambly
Pennsylvania German
Folk-Lore
112
B. E. Schultz Gerhard, M.A. 117
Tribute to Annie Jarrett
Reed and Willoughby
H. Reed
Franklin A. Stickler
138
Charles R. Barker
143
Willoughby Henry Reed,
1856-1939
Bible Records (continued)
145
Reports
160
Publication Committee
Charles R. Barker
Chester P. Cook
Hannah Gerhard
Bertha S. Harry
EMHiY K. Preston, Editor
69
The Old Hughes Mill*
By Annie Brooke Simpson
The old Hughes Saw Mill was located in Upper Merion, in
the extreme southwestern corner of Montgomery county, on
the Chester county line and one mile from the Delaware
county line.
The exact site formerly occupied by the mill is now in the
lower parking space of the Colonial Village Swimming and
Skating Club, just above Martin's Dam on Croton road at
Hughes road, about two miles north of Wayne.
The first person named Hughes to own the mill was Abner
Hughes. He came from Wales, was the son of William and
Mary Hughes, and brother of Phoebe, unmarried; Hannah,
who married Hance Supplee, and Elizabeth, who married
William Carver.
On November 1, 1800, Abner Hughes and William Carver
bought from Isaac Bewley and wife, Ann, 211/^ acres of
ground, including the mill site, for the sum of £700.
Eight and one half months earlier, January 14, 1800, for
£50 less money, Isaac and Ann Bewley had purchased said
tract of land from Henry Zook and wife.
Henry Zook, on July 8,1799, had "become legally seized in
fee of two plantations and tracts of land in Upper Merion
township, containing 225 A, bounded by land owned himself,
John Elliott and Joseph Conrad."
This part of Henry Zook's land had been purchased from
William George and his wife, Ann, on July 8, 1791. William
George's grandfather, William George, in a will made
March 8, 1763, bequeathed to this grandson 100 acres in
Upper Merion township. The land bought by William Carver
and Abner Hughes in 1800 was a part of this tract of 100
acres. It is interesting to follow further purchases of land
♦Read before the Society November 18, 1939.
71
72
BULLETIN OP HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
from the same owners by Abner Hughes and by his son, Wil
liam Hughes, but we are concerned, now, only with the mill
site.
William Carver and Abner Hughes traded as Carver and
Company from 1800 until 1809. Having made their purchase
on November 1, 1800, we find their account book opened upon
November 15,1800, their first account being with John Elliott.
A faithful accounting with careful balancing followed. The
last entry appeared on March 16, 1809, reading:
"Then settled Thomas Walker's account between Carver
& Hughes."
On April 3, 1809, Abner purchased William Carver's share
of the property for £850, thus becoming sole owner of the mill.
It is of particular interest to find in the deed from Henry
Zook to Isaac Bewley, January 14, 1800, that a saw mill was
on the property at that time. This also appears in the deed
from Isaac Bewley to William Carver and Abner Hughes; also
in the deed from William Carver to Abner Hughes, with cer
tain provisions regarding water-rights appearing in each deed.
On November 1, 1800, "Isaac Bewley and his wife, Ann
Bewley, for the sum of £700 current la'wful money unto them
in hand well and truly paid by the said William Carver and
Abner Hughes of the township of Upper Merion in the County
of Montgomery and State of Pennsylvania, yeomen, do grant,
bargain, sell, release and confirm unto William Carver and
Abner Hughes, their heirs and assigns, the aforesaid Messuage
or Tenement, Sawmill and tract of land described, containing
21Y2 A. of land.
"Together also with all and singular the sawmill and other
buildings, improvements, ways, woods, water courses, rights,
privileges, liberties. Hereditaments and Appurtenances what
soever thereunto belonging or in any ways appertaining. And
it is mutually agreed on by the said parties to these presents
that the Water shall not be confined by the said Wm^ Carver
and Abner Hughes or any other person acting under them,
their heirs or assigns, from falling into its natural course
leading to the said Henry Zook's Mill Dam more than fortyeight Hours at any one time; but should the Water be longer
THE OLD HUGHES MILL
73
Detained the said Henry Zook his heirs or assigns shall have
free liberty to enter on the hereby conveyed Premises and draw
or open any flood gate or gates that may be erected thereon
and give the water full liberty to flow into the said Course
or Ditch, the said Henry Zook, his heirs or assigns observing
to do no Damage to the Saw-mill works or other works thereon
erected but to have the liberties aforesaid, And it is further
agreed on and consented to by the said Henry Zook that the
said Wm. Carver and Abner Hughes their heirs and assigns
shall have free egress and regress to and from a Spring near
the head of the said Henry Zook's Mill Dam which riseth at
the distance of about nineteen perches from the Northeasterly
corner of the said Wm. Carver and Abner Hughes' land and
thereon to erect a Springhouse and to have the liberty of a
Footpath or Passage to the same the nearest and most con
venient way from the hereby granted premises with full
liberty and privilege to dig and follow the Spring up the bank
and make a Ditch or Barrier against the rising or overflowing
of the Water in the said Mill Dam or other floods,"
The Henry Zook Dam is now Martin's Dam. The springhouse was built and stands today. The spring, which bears the
reputation of never having failed, still supplies all the water
used at the house.
From early childhood, we had been told that prior to the
building of the Mill, before water-power was used, logs were
sawed by hand, A rip saw was used by two men, one above
and one below the log, which was placed across the mouth of
a pit. The log was stripped of bark and scribed above and
below, and then sawed by hand. This primitive method must
have been used much earlier, because water-power was in use
in 1800 at the old mill which stood at the time of the purchase.
In 1801, Abner Hughes wrote in his account book:
Mar. 2. Credit to Isaac Harrison.
To 97 days at 2s per day
9£
July 25. To 6 days at the Barrack
2£
July 29. To 1 day cutting to make the waterwheel
To 1 day taking the old wheel out
I4s
2s
5s
5s
74
BULLETIN OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
Sept. 2. To 19 Days work and boarding mak
ing the waterwheel at 7s per day ...
6£
13s
James Stone's and John Davis' board ...
£
16s
Isaac Harrison. To 1% dajrs work at the
Dam
To Boarding the Barrack and putting lin
£
10s
£
12s
20£
17s
ing on side of the waterwheel
This totaled
6d
6d
It proves conclusively that water-power was used at that
time.
In 1816, Abner Hughes built the new mill. The dam built
by him is now the Colonial Village Swimming Pool, changed
of course. He had the race dug; and the race bank still stands,
lined with yellow clay, which never leaked. This clay he had
dug from the field above the present upper garage, opposite
the mill site. The clay hole became a stump hole; as ground was
cleared and stumps were removed they were put into the hole
with stones and earth, and from time to time were set on fire
in order to let the ground level up.
From wild cherry, white oak, poplar, walnut and logs of
other kinds of wood were sawed a variety of "stuff," as it was
called. From 1800 on, we note the sawing of planks, boards,
pieces of scantling, (5) 11s 3d, lath, sled-runners, @ 5^2^, and
sleigh runners.
One item reads: "To sawing 1076 ft. of Bedstead stuff
@ 3s 9d per hundred 2£ Os 3d;" another: "2 prs. bedstead
stuff @ 6s per set; 86 ft. for wagon bodies @ 3s 9d per hun
dred, 8s li/2d."
On March 2, 1805, Jonanthan Roberts paid 46 £ 11s 8d for
sawed scantling boards and lath. June 21, 1806, he paid 19£
9s 4d for 330 ft. of lath. There was: "To sawing 169 posts
@ 5d per post. To 722 rails and gate stuff @ 25s per 100
rails, boards, slabs and sled-runners," and there remained
"due him 18s 9d for one acre of clover Abner got."
In 1804-5, Samuel Henderson purchased "planks, 81 cogs
@ 4d per cog; plank for cider trough (5) 1£ 7s 5^d; 448 ft. of
lath for a crib, stuff for apple mill and press, waterwheel
trunk and pennstock, 22 Vaney (sometimes spelled vainney)
pieces @ 5i/^s per piece, etc. amounting to 47 £ 17s lO^d."
THE OLD HUGHES MILL
75
When we read that Henry Zook, in 1806, was paid 5s 7^d
for oxen used 1^ days, and that John Supplee was employed
for 4 days "Braking Flax" in 1808, we wonder how the records
of our day will appear one hundred and thirty years hence.
Abner Hughes married Catharine Layman. Three
daughters, Sara, Phoebe and Mary, were born; then, on
June 10, 1816, a son, William, named for Abner's father was
born. In less than a month his mother died. It was in that year
that Abner built his saw mill. Four years later, in 1820, he
moved his family from the log house located on the rear of the
lot upon which his newly-built stone house stood, to the house
which stands today opposite to the mill site. Its rafters are
pegged together, its floors are of heavy oak timber, its mantles,
hand-carved. A bakeoven is in the big fireplace of the former
kitchen, and fireplaces in nearly every room.
As William grew, he, too, learned to run the saw mill; and
when Abner died at the old home, at an advanced age, on
March 4, 1844, the mill and all its appurtenances, along with
the land adjacent thereto including the house, were left to his
only son. To each of his daughters, who were all married, he
left a house and grounds. These are all on Groton road, in
Chester county. Croton road was formerly Reeseville road,
leading from Reeseville—now Berwyn—to the Schuylkill at
Old Swedes Church.
In 1841, William Hughes, son of Abner, married Hannah
Maris, of Chester county, whose grandfather, Christian Maris,
came from Holland. To them were born five children: Annie,
Sarah, William, Jr., Rebecca and Frank. In 1855 William
Hughes built the grist mill, adjoining the saw mill at the rear.
A new waterwheel of the overshot type was installed, this
being the kind that gave more power than any other.
To run two mills, more water-power was needed. What
had been "Hughes' Saw Mill" was now known as "Union
Mills." A Manayunk millwright, William Hutton, built the
grist mill. Mr. Cresson, a millwright from Barren Hill, built
the waterwheel. For his labor alone he charged $500.00. This
wheel was replaced in 1887 by a new waterwheel, the last one
to be installed.
76
Joseph Brown, a nephew of William Hughes, was the first
one to run the grist mill. Joseph was the son of William's
sister, Phoebe Brown. Farmers brought grain to be ground.
Graham flour, or whole wheat flour, was made here, and oats
were ground, with corn, wheat and rye. Cracked corn and
corn meal were also ground.
Mark Supplee was later engaged to run the grist mill. He
was a brother of Abram Supplee, a school director, formerly
of Matsunk, which is now known as Swedeland. William
Hughes, too, was a school director, serving in that capacity
for many years.
For five years, William Hudson leased the grist mill, and
manufactured spools, bobbins and croquet sets. Bobbins and
spools were furnished to Bullock's Mill, Conshohocken, and
to Norristown mills.
In 1860, William Hughes built the barn, which is still
standing. Croton road separated the house from the barn.
Formerly the road ran between the house and the saw mill
below the barn, which was on the same side as the house.
During the Civil War gun stocks were sawed by William
Hughes for the government, 2" x 3", and two feet long.
William's son, William, Jr., born April 2, 1848; and Frank,
born nine years later, January 30, 1857, attended Treemount
Seminary. William, Jr., worked later in the saw mill with his
father, hauling logs, sawing and delivering lumber.
In those days, splendid trees, for miles around in the
counties of Montgomery, Chester and Delaware, were bought,
hauled to the mill, sawed and cured by drying in the mill
yard, piled carefully so that the air could circulate about each
board. The sun, rain, snow and wind seasoned the lumber,
which was then ready to be sold and delivered to the cabinet
makers and undertakers. Walnut trees were in great demand,
and lumber made from these was regularly purchased by
Mowday, of Norristown, and Kirk & Nyce, of Germantown.
Trees, which had been plentiful, grew scarce and had to
be found at greater distances, purchased and transported by
log teams, consisting of horses driven to a log wagon, one
in the shafts and others ahead in single file. As many as nine
THE OLD HUGHES MILL
77
horses were used at one time in this way. As trees grew on
hillsides, and oftimes in places difficult to reach, the wagon
often was overturned, carrying the "shafter" or shaft horse
over with it. This flourishing business had necessitated em
ployment of men, horses and wagons; but in time there were
no more walnut trees to be had.
William Hughes, Jr., had married S. Emma Marshall, of
Chester county, whose father, William Marshall, was born in
Richmond, Virginia. They, my parents and I, were living in
the house that William Hughes, Jr., built on the farm his
father gave him at the time of his marriage, in 1877. This
house is located on Croton road below Martin's Dam.
William Hughes, Jr., died in 1906. Frank Hughes, son of
William Hughes, Sr., learned his trade as a miller at the
Arcola Mills and for many years he operated the grist mill.
When his father died, in 1899, Frank inherited the house and
the land, including the mill and the quarry. In 1929, he sold
the site of the dam and most of his land to be developed as a
part of Colonial Village. On March 9, 1939, he, the last one
to bear the name of Hughes, died at the old home in his 83rd
year.
In 1922, the saw mill, unused, had fallen into decay and
was torn down; at the same time the grist mill also was razed.
Nothing remains today to suggest the "Old Hughes Mill," unless
one pauses to observe the water flowing from the Swimming
Pool, which still runs merrily along the race bank that Abner
Hughes "lined with yellow clay that never leaked."
Beyond the former log yard one sees the springhouse,
above the "spring that never failed." Across the road from
the mill site stands the old house. With dignity and with a
certain nobility, it faces the woods known as "the One Hun
dred Mile Woods." Four generations have called it home, and
each one in turn has followed Abner Hughes to rest in the
Burying Ground at the Valley Friends' Meeting.
The old house, sheltered by the hills, basks in the sunshine
and looks out upon one of the loveliest of scenes, with the
Swimming Pool and Martin's Dam on either side and the
wooded hill between.
Four Miles of Historic R-oad*
By Dr. John B. Carrell
Few stop to think what roads mean to the life and history
of a nation, but roads are the clearest index to the civilization
and progress of a people. A nation's history is written in the
condition of its roads. Primeval man had no use for roads,
for he was self contained. Barter and exchange being the first
signs of awakening civilization, as civilization advances the
necessity for roads increases, and finally for more and better
roads. Roads are not alone utilitarian, they are defensive and
offensive as well—note the history of the expansion of the
Roman Empire with its system of roads, many of which
have endured through 2000 years till now.
Could roads speak, what stories they could tell! All the
life of generations passes over them; laughing children frolic
and play over their surface as they wend their way to and
from the little school house, plucking the daisies and violets
from the wayside bank; the marriage procession wends its
way to the village church, happy in the prospect which love
alone can give; the funeral cortege is seen, as it plods its dole
ful way to the burial place, man's last long, long home. Historic
roads are those which—^besides all this span of life—have
echoed to the measured tramp of armed troops; along and
over which all the hopes and activities of centuries have been
enacted. Such a road and its environments we now attempt
to describe.
When Philadelphia was but a village, as we now regard
size, it was, even more than now, the center of the business
activity among the surrounding communities. Trails, rather
than roads, led from the countryside towards this center of
commerce. As population and commerce increased, the
necessity for better communication in the locality, as well as
*Read before the Society April 30, 1932.
78
FOUR MILES OF HISTORIC ROAD
79
between the two greatest cities in the colony, resulted in the
building of the Old York Road, one of the most historic roads
in America.
These old roads were dotted along their way by little
villages, which in time grew into towns. The crossing of two
main arteries of traffic resulted in the placing of a tavern on
one corner and a store on the other; the change in the method
of transportation has resulted in the placing of oil stations on
the other two corners, sometimes even in supplanting the old
tavern. Development invariably follows the best lines of com
munication, the better the condition, the more rapid the
development.
It is particularly about events of nation-wide interest,
which occurred in the four miles of York road between Hat-
boro and across the Neshaminy creek, that I wish to speak
to you this afternoon. Within these four miles, I am satisfied,
more events and more varied have occurred than in any
other stretch of similar highway in the country—events
national, educational, mechanical, religious, patriotic and his
toric; events which have meant much, not only to the com
munity in which they happened, but which were national in
their influence.
The settlers in the vicinity of Hatboro, within a radius of
three miles, were in the main Friends, mainly from England
with a sprinkling of Scotch-Irish; but near Hartsville the
emigration was almost exclusively of the latter nationality.
They were of the cream of the early emigration, alert, keen,
ambitious. They realized the necessity of educational ad
vantages, and early in the history of the community they
resolved to found a library, as they quaintly said, "To dispel
the gloom of darkness which covered the land;" and so began
the Hatboro Library, the third library founded in Pennsyl
vania, and the seventh in America.
It was in the year 1755 that this project materialized, and
for more than 175 years there has been a continuous growth
and development, until today the institution ranks with any
of the city libraries. After 175 years, it continues as it has
through the years, the centre of the cultural and educational
go
development of the community. The patrons of this ancient
library are justly proud of their beautiful building and its
irreplaceable contents.
Passing through the town, we come to the old Crooked
Billet Tavern, now a dwelling house, on the walls of which
your Society, through the efforts of Mrs. Mary Robinson,
neighbors, and civic committee, have placed a bronze tablet
with a suitable inscription. It was one of the earliest taverns
in the country. Washington stopped on his way up and down
the York road to refresh himself with a glass of wine at this
hotel. Hatboro was for many years known as Crooked Billet,
taking its name from the sign before the Crooked Billet
Tavern, which was a crooked billet or stick. This manner of
naming inns is not unusual in this locality, as for instance
Bear, Sorrel Horse, Anchor, Bush, Cross Keys, etc., following
an ancient custom in England years ago.
In the northern section of Hatboro stands a Battle Monu
ment, erected in memory of the Battle of Crooked Billet, which
was not so much a pitched battle as an attempt to escape a sur
prise attack of the British forces, sent out as a punitive force
to attack the camp of General Lacey. Coming upon the camp
by night, they attacked it on three sides and, because of the
failure of the outposts to give an alarm, the Colonials were
totally unprepared for defence and retreated through the
only available outlet. This was towards the County Line road
and into Bucks county, where most of the over thirty casualties
occurred. It was the only battle ever fought on the soil of
Bucks county. A movement to have the site of this battle made
into a National Park is being sponsored by a committee under
the leadership of Dr. John B. Carrell, of Hatboro. The project
has gotten so far as to have the proposed Park incorporated
in the recommendations of the Tri-State Regional Planning
Commission.
Farther up the York road, at the crossing of the Street
road, there stands a granite marker, which perpetuates one of
the most interesting and peculiar events on record, and yet
an event which was to revolutionize transportation on the
water and thereby has done more to add to the comforts and
gl
intercourse between nations than anything before or since.
This stone, which was placed upon this spot by the Bucks
County Historical Society through the generosity of Edwin
Longstreth, is to commemorate an idea which flashed through
the mind of John Fitch as he stood to one side, allowing the
chaise of 'Squire White to pass. As it passed the thought
flashed through Fitch's mind, "Why could not a boat be
propelled by steam?" Now if you can see any relationship
between the chaise of 'Squire White and a steamboat, then
perhaps you can explain the character of this peculiar and
erratic yet undoubtedly gifted character, John Fitch.
Fitch was a genius, but apparently lacked the practicality
to carry to a successful conclusion his idea. With a friend, he
was on his way home on a Sunday afternoon from service
at the Old Neshaminy Church near Hartsville, where he had
gone to hear a sermon by the Rev. Nathaniel Irwin. He had
walked four miles from Johnsville to hear an hour to hourand-half sermon, which goes to show that they took their
religion more seriously then than at the present time. When
this idea came to him, he at once began to put it into practice.
A model boat was made in the log shop of Sutphin McDowell.
The boat had brass gears and was sailed, or rather run, on
the creek near Davisville. The trial was a success and a com
pany was organized to build a large boat. The record of the
organization of the company and the names of the incorporators are deposited in the archives of the Philosophical
Society of Philadelphia. It is said that Robert Fulton, for so
many years accredited with the honor of being the inventor
of the steamboat, was a workman employed in the building of
Fitch's boat and stole the idea; but be it said to his credit, he
never claimed to have been the inventor.
Fitch was a peculiar character, but without doubt a genius.
He built clocks, made silverware, made rifles for the Colonial
Army, made maps—^which he printed on a cider press—mar
ried a woman 24 years older than himself, then ran off and
deserted her; but he was the inventor of the steamboat. Long
years after his death. Congress appropriated $50,000 to erect
for him a monument in the State of Kentucky, where he spent
32
BULLETIN OF HISTOBICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
his last years and finally committed suicide, a disappointed
man.
Nor is the field in which is set this stone to Fitch's honor
without other historical interest, for it, is a part of the farm
of Thomas Beans, keeper of the Warminister Tavern, one of
our oldest hostelries. He was not only the hotel keeper, but
a deacon in the Old Southampton Baptist Church, and happens
to have been the writer's great-grandfather on the maternal
side. His tavern was not only a stopping place, but a relay
station for the Philadelphia-New York Stage Coach, which
carried the mail between the two greatest cities. The tavern
was in those days the communal center; at the time of the
coming of the mail the countryside gathered to hear the
news—no one took a newspaper in those days. A quarter of
a mile below the tavern the driver of the coach would blow his
horn and, on a gallop, the coach would come up to the great
stone step in front. There the hostlers would unhitch the steam
ing horses, hitch four fresh horses to the coach, a crack of the
whip and they were off on a run. We think the old York road
is no feather-bed now, but then, oh my! My, grandfather,
who remembered those old days, said that he had seen
the time when the axle of the mail coach dragged on the
mud.
Thomas Beans was the only one of the family who seemed
to have any sporting blood in him. He was a breeder of rac
ing horses and had a half-mile track on his farm of more than
200 acres. In the field back of the Fitch stone was the muster
field where, to escape a fine, the men of military age met once
a year to drill in military tactics. My paternal grandfather,
Joseph Carrell, who was a First Lieutendant in the Militia,
told an amusing incident of this drill. One of the manoeuvres
was to form the squad into a straight line, but the squad was
so anxious to see what the ones below him were doing that
they kept pushing out and out, until the line became the
segment of a circle. The only way they could hold a straight
line was to get a team of horses and a plow and strike a
furrow, and make the men toe the furrow. After the passing
of the Beans race track, the Street road was the race course
83
for the bloods of the community, it being just a measured mile
from the York road to Stephen Yerkes* gate.
Pushing on up the York road about three quarters of a
mile, on the east side stands a monument in memory of the
Log College. This was erected a few years ago by the Presby
terian Historical Society to commemorate the founding of
the college by William Tennent, pastor of the Neshaminy
Church. Tennent was an Episcopal minister from England,
who became at outs with his Church and came to the Bensalem
Dutch Church in about 1720, after the resignation of Paulus
Van Vleck, who founded this Church in 1710. A manuscript
written by Rev. Nathaniel Irwin, then pastor at Neshaminy,
says that Tennent began his preaching in this community in
the barn of James Craven in 1724; in 1727 the erection of a
church building was begun, and finished in 1728. Before this
he had joined the Presbyterian Synod in Philadelphia. While
Tennent was a noted preacher, he is more remembered by his
educational work; for from that little old Log College, only
about twenty feet square, went forth some of the most noted
divines in American Presbyterian history. More than sixty
Presbjrterian colleges all over the United States trace their
lineage back to that little old Log College, foremost among
them being the Princeton University. Without doubt no other
college in the United States is of such historic interest as
this little house of logs, known as the "School of the
Prophets."
Another three quarters of a mile farther up the York road
is Hartsville, named after the Hart family, which at one
time was a large and influential one. It is no smaller than it
was 100 years ago, and not a great deal larger; yet in and
about this little hamlet are many points of interest. Here is
another historic tavern, where the "Warren Company for the
Detection of Horse Thieves and Other Villians," as the charter
has it—but more generally known as the Warren Horse Com
pany—^held their first meeting 105 years ago. In the same
room, for a greater part of this century, they have met, and
still meet there. Not only is the place of meeting the same,
but the ancient and honorable rules still prevail. A fine of
g4
12^ cents is imposed for late attendance, and for smoking or
leaving the room without the consent of the president, a fine
of 61/4 cents is imposed; and the membership would as soon
be seen wearing a straw hat in winter time as to see one of
these old rules changed.
About a quarter of a mile west of Hartsville, on the Bristol
road, is the Old Neshaminy Church. Two hundred and five
years it has stood, a mute testimonial to the stability of
Christianity. The present church building is not the original
one, it being only about 142 years old; but I must confess
that it is, even then, much like a wheelbarrow which I once
owned. When I sold it at my sale, after using it for 33 years,
all that remained of the original barrow was the wooden rim
and tire of the wheel. So it is with this old church. It has
been renovated three times; but the original contours still
remain, sequestered in a grove of ancient oaks—^the primitive
forest trees—probably more than four hundred years old—
by the banks of the Neshaminy creek, away from the hustle
and bustle of every-day life, where only the rippling of the
waters and the song of birds break the Sabbath hush. A
sturdy, stable band of Presbyterians gather here for worship,
as did some of their ancestors 200 years ago.
The original church building in which Tennent spoke was
in the grave yard a few hundred yards west. The original
building was standing when Irwin wrote of the founding; it
was not a log church, but a stone building, with the front of
dressed stone and galleries on the three sides. Here Tennent
preached, and by its front he lies buried. Some years later this
old building was torn down and the stone used to build the
wall in front the yard. Set in the wall is the old date stone,
with the date 1727 cut in it. It was little less than vandalism
to have destroyed this old building, for it could have stood for
centuries more, as it was a splendid piece of masonry, covered
with tiles brought from England. In the old graveyard lie the
remains of many Revolutionary soldiers, more than a score of
them, for these Scotch-Irish Presbyterians were fighting stock,
so much so that the Revolution itself was at times called the
Scotch-Irish Revolt.
85
Again we journey up the York road, crossing the
Neshaminy by the old mill. Along the banks of the creek
stands the Moland House, now the property of Mr. Sherman
Bobbins. On the end of the house facing the York road is a
bronze plate, put there in memory of this being the head
quarters of Washington. He was here on July 31, 1777, and
later from August 10,1777, till August 23,1777, a longer time
than the army was encamped at any point in Pennsylvania,
Whitemarsh and Valley Forge excepted.
Ten thousand troops were encamped along Kerr's Hill dur
ing this time, while the wounded were billeted among the farm
houses of the vicinity. It was at this encampment that the
first American flag, the Stars and Stripes madeby Betsy Ross,
was first unfurled, and at the same place the noted French
soldier Marquis de Lafayette was given his commission as an
American Major General.
The Colonial forces were here encamped awaiting tidings
as to where the British forces which had embarked from
New York were bound, and during this time perhaps one of
the most important councils of the Revolution was held to
plan the campaign which culminated in the defeat of General
Oornwallis and his surrender at Yorktown, which was the
practical ending of the war and the sundering of the ties
which bound this Republic to the mother country. At this
council of war there were the following distinguished officers:
General George Washington
Major General Marquis de Lafayette
Major General Nathaniel Greene
Major General Lord Stirling
Major General Adam Stephen
Brigadier General Peter Muhlenberg
Brigadier General G. Weedon
Brigadier General W. Woodford
Brigadier General Charles Scott
Brigadier General T. Conway
Brigadier General William Maxwell
Brigadier General H. Knox, Artillery
Brigadier General Anthony Wayne
80
BULLETIN OP HISTOBICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMEEY COUNTY
At no time or in no place have we a record of such a dis
tinguished and important meeting of officers during the
Revolution. While at the encampment at the Moland House,
tradition says that Washington attended church atNeshaminy.
As this was his custom, there can be no doubt that this tradi
tion was correct. In the light of these well authenticated bits
of history we again make the assertion that these four miles
along the Yord road are richer in more and varied history
than any other in this country.
Annual Excursion to Atlantic City in 1873*
By Francis E. Collins
With the advent of spring, preparations were made for
the one big outing. Drum corps paraded the streets and
fire-bells aroused the excursionists for the great trip. Industries
closed and the town was evacuated for a day.
The spring of 1873 had come. There were many evidences,
marks and signs that the gracious season was at hand. The
vari-colored stuffings had been removed from the broken
panes of Banjo Hallow's windows, the Hickorytown Corre
spondent reported the'first bashful violet, in modest tints
arrayed, in a sequestered nook in Marple's orchard. The
Spring Poet had released his touching effusion of welcome
to the approaching vernal season. The annual war-like chicken
argument between neighbors Brown and Black, threatening a
renewal of hostilities between their respective forces, had oc
curred. The first canal boat of the season had swept majestic
ally through the raging canal. The entire crew, consisting of
the captain, bowsman and a large red-headed boy, stood at
attention on the hurricane deck as they passed the historic
Matson's Ford over which Washington's heroic army marched
on that memorable day in September, 1777. The tame wild
duck with the broken leg had returned to the waters in Frog
Hollow, and those happy harbingers of balmy days—^the robbin and blackbird—^had come up from the southland, and
were industriously engaged in building their summer homes
and anixiously scanning the conflicting reports regarding
the prospective cherry crop.
Anticipated joys were in the air; the Washington Fire
Company, recently organized and ambitious to cope success
fully with that insidious enemy—fire—^was making strenuous
efforts to secure a second-hand fire engine. Street and house
♦Read before the Society April 26, 1930.
87
88
bulletin of historical society of MONTGOMERY COUNTY
illumination by gas were promised soon. The days, or rather
the nights, of the coal-oil lamp were numbered. That old
reliable and essential beacon of safety—^the family lantern,
which had lighted the pathway of the townsfolks as they ven
tured forth into the darkness of the night, was nearing the
end of its illuminating career and would soon take its place
among the family antiques as the "light of other days."
The Conshohocken Water Company would begin supply
ing water to the residents in December. The old town pumps
with their shining handles, mute evidence of the many
friendly hands that had grasped them, were soon to lose
their friends and take their places among the discarded
machinery of other days. The old oaken buckets that hung in
the wells of many of the residences and in several notable
springs in town would also lose the patronage of the
people.
The Santa Anna Guards would parade again on the
Fourth. This burlesque mounted company was organized soon
after the borough was incorporated, and had in its ranks
several men who had served in the Mexican War. The nonde
script company represented General Santa Anna's Mexican
mounted troops, the cavalry-arm of their army. In the war
with this country, their troops made several masterly ad
vances on their capital city, and in every engagement with
Uncle Sam's boys in blue, they were awarded second money.
After the surrender of their forces to General Scott, their
army was in a very shattered condition, consisting of General
Santa Anna, two army mules and a bass drum.
The outlandish make-up of the local company contributed
greatly to the entertainment of the people early on the
Fourth of July morning when they paraded through the
town. The hospitality of the different landlords had its effect
on the gallant troopers, who, long before the close of the
march, found it difficult to maintain any semblance of military
discipline, while the intrepid warrior, General Santa Anna,
sad to relate, was unable to give any commands that could be
understood. The people rejoiced that the time-honored organ
ization would parade on the Fourth again. To fill the cup of
ANNUAL EXCURSION TO ATLANTIC CITY IN 1873
gg
happiness to overflowing, the I. 0. 0. F., at their regular
stated meeting, decided to give an excursion to Atlantic City
in August. This announcement was hailed with delight by
the townspeople, the excursion to Atlantic City being the
event of the year, an epoch in the social life of the community.
Neighbors and friends talked to each other about it, and all
quickly decided to go and enjoy the trip and a dip in the
restless ocean.
The committee decided on up-to-date advertising, and
along with spreading the news in the advertising columns of
the newspaper engaged a rising young artist who could paint
letters. Every board fence that could be secured was blazoned
in large letters by this talented young man with the invitation
to go to Atlantic City with I. 0. 0. F. on Saturday,
August 22nd. Preparations began at once especially among
the women to have their costumes made up. The dressmakers
in town had a busy time of it. Calico was then in style and
made here in the Albion Print Works in many pleasing pat
terns, colors, and shades. It took many hundred yards of this
material to array the feminine portion of the inhabitants in
becoming gowns for the great excursion to the growing city
by the sea.
The men-folks were not slow in their preparations. No
man was dressed up unless he had a pair of fine boots and a
box of paper collars handy. A straw hat, a long linen duster,
and other minor requisites added completeness to his attire,
according to the correct tastes of that period. Thus arrayed he
was indeed the glass of fashion, the mould of form, the ob
served of all observers. The shoemakers made the footwear
entirely by hand. While they were menders of bad soles, they
enjoyed an enviable reputation for fine work, and during the
summer they were as busy as nailers, pegging away on the
important work that must be finished before the 22nd of
August.
Alarm-clocks not having made their appearance in town, the
Committee, leaving no stone unturned in their efforts to make
the excursion a success and guarding against the possibility
of missing the train by that great invention sleep, had taken
90
time by the forelock and engaged the town drum corps, an
institution guaranteed to awaken the seven sleepers of
Ephesus. The contract with this sleep-destroying organization
was that they should take the field at two o'clock in the morn
ing and march through the town. The Committee urgently
requested the leader to omit the dulcet strains so effectively
used by the sirens of the fabled islands to woo the unwary
mariner to their realms, and instead to play his blithest
measures free. The leader assured the Committee that sleep
would be at a premium in the town ere the first strain was
finished, and added that if his band were tried in any court of
justice in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania on the charge
of "murdering sleep," the jury would convict them without
leaving their seats.
Several musicians of note were in this band; it was ad
mitted that the bass-drummer was the star performer of the
aggregation, and, though he did not have a tooth in his head,
was the best drummer in the county.
The eve of the great day was at hand and, in the "very
witching time of night when grave-yards yawn and ghosts
troop forth," the band assembled at Blackburn's Hotel. The
proprietor, a lover of music, welcomed the players and pro
posed their health, lauding the power of music, its "sweet
concord of sounds," its dulcet strains, bearing humanity to the
elysian fields in realms celestial, eulogizing the master minds
of melody—Bach, Mozart, Schubert—and the rich legacy of
harmonies bequeathed by them to a discordant world. By
way of limbering up and to make a good impression on the
generous landlord, the band played the following appropriate
selections: "Oft in the Stilly Night," "If You're Waking,
Call me Early," "Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep," "Come
Where My Love Lies Dreaming," in which occurred a beauti
ful duet for the bass drum and the cymbals, "Go away and let
me sleep," "What are the Wild Waves Saying," and the finale,
"A Life on the Ocean Wave, a Home on the Rolling Deep." At
this point, a hilarious youth who had no music in his soul, but
whose system was well filled with that invisible spirit so
touchingly referred to by Michael Cas-okhelo sio, requested
ANNUAL EXCURSION TO ATLANTIC CITY IN 187S
91
the band to play "How Dry I Am." The disgusting request was
frowned upon by the artistic leader, who rebuked the young
man for his lack of taste and his frequent visits to the shrine
of Bacchus.
At two o'clock the band started out. The leader, impressed
with the important part the band was to play in this great
event, requested the players to make every note count, to
accent the forte passages vigorously, the leader selecting for
the first piece, number fifteen in the black book, "Marching
through Georgia." Through the town they went playing con
tinuously. The roll of drums, the squeaking fifes, the deep
sounding bass drum and cymbals soon routed sleep from the
town. Quickly the houses became illuminated and final pre
parations for the great day began.
The commissary department in each household had been
active for days, and final packing of the baskets was finished
on the eve of the excursion, no basket being complete without
something stowed carefully within its folds to take off the
chill before and after the bath in the ocean. When the "Mom
in russet mantle clad walked o'er the dew from yon high
eastern hill," the excursionists began converging from all
points to the old Reading Station, long known in song and
story as "Cologne Castle," reminding one of Moore's beautiful
lines, "You may break, you may shatter the vase if you
will, but the scent of the roses will cling to it still." In style
and architecture, this remarkable building resembled a dry-
goods box, the architect no doubt paying more attention to
strength than to the wishes and designs of the old masters.
The old Schuylkill Canal, that's westward from the station,
was then one of the busy haunts of men, mules and canalboats.
As the Conshohockenites gathered at the station, they were
regaled by the sweet music of the reveille, played on the
long boat horns by the captains to rouse their drowsy crews
to action to resume their journey to that haven of rest, Penn's
holy experiment, the City of Brotherly Love. The Union Army
Mule was then extant, and used in large numbers on the
canal. He brought up with him to the tow path from the Army
of the Potomac a wealth of knowledge gleaned in the cam-
92
paigns from the Peninsula to the Wilderness to which was
added horse-sense of a high order.
Thoroughly conversant, in defensive and offensive tactics,
he was a match for the most hardened denizen of the towpath. He understood the language of the driver. It was the
same brand as that used by the teamsters in the army, abusive
from start to finish. The poor opinion the driver and mule had
for each other was mutual. No man was his friend; abuse
was heaped upon him and his ancestors in unmeasured terms
by the driver. Through it all he held his peace, not rushing off
blindly to challenge his tormentor or ancestry, knowing full
well he was not listed in Noah's catalogue, and that he would
make a jackass of himself if he went down the line very far.
Instead, he chose to bear "the slings and arrows of out
rageous fortune, the haughty captain's contumely, the whips
and scorn of the driver," hoping for an opportunity to catch
him off his guard and kick him into the canal.
The gathering crowd at the station was evidence of the
successful mission of the band through the town. Those who
came from the townships told of the happenings of the night;
how, long before the first gray streaks that tell of the coming
morn had appeared in the east, their slumbers were broken by
the sound of music, borne on the night wind from the town
hard by. What a happy crowd filled with delightful anticipa
tions, greeted each other with joyous salutations and ex
pressed wishes that all might enjoy the trip and their visit
to the seashore. Conshohocken was going well prepared. The
family and individual baskets seemed without number, packed
full of the best in the land, including the chill remedy.
The commander of the 28th Division would have con
gratulated his commissary department had he beheld such
an array of rations for a month's campaign. At 5 o'clock the
whistle of the wide-stacked locomotive, "Union," run by Dad
Cooper, voiced loudly its aproach as it rounded the curve at
the upper locks. In a few minutes the excursion train pulled
into the station, and a vdld rush is made for the cars, and
amid much confusion and noise, families and friends get set
tled in their seats. The stay-at-homes gathered, gave them a
ANNUAL EXCURSION TO ATLANTIC CITY IN 1873
93
noisy send-off, and the excursion is on its way. At Ninth and
Green streets, Philadelphia, they leave the cars with light
hearts and heavy baskets to make their way on foot to Vine
street ferry. Their joyous mood and loud talking startle the
sedate natives of Penn's quiet city, who, drawing aside their
curtains, look down on the multitude filling the streets, their
thoughts going back to the exciting times in the Summer of
'63, when word flashed through the city that Lee was coming
into Pennsylvania to dictate terms of peace in Philadelphia.
Their fears were quickly allayed when they beheld the peace
ful crowd on pleasure bent, moving toward the ferry.
Crossing the river, on the Jersey side, they embarked on
the old-time excursion train that was to take them to the
shores of the Atlantic. Hardly had the train started ere the
ambitious youths decided that, in order to fully enjoy the
beautiful scenery, they must go higher, and accordingly they
mounted to the tops of the cars, the roofs of these being nearly
flat, and much lower than the passenger cars of today. At
frequent intervals, by reason of the single track, the train
pulled in on the long sidings for fuel and water and to await
the passing of the up trains.
The Conshohockenites made use of the stops to gather
huckleberries growing in the nearby woods. Four long blasts
of the whistle announced that the train was ready to go, but
unless everyone was on board, the train did not start, for
the boys on the train manned the brakes, which they held until
every Conshohockenite was aboard before the train resumed
its journey to the sea.
The engines used wood as fuel, and were known to that
generation as the "wood-burners." The dense, heavy-cutting
smoke from the locomotives drenched the excursionists on the
tops of the cars, and their joyous mood began to change.
Handkerchiefs were seen in evidence, wiping away tears from
eyes distressed by the villainous smoke. But after many miles
of exciting Jersey scenery, their joyous mood returned, when
their keen nostrils scenting the salty air told them they were
nearing the end of their trip and would soon behold "The
ocean old—centuries old."
94
They arrived at Atlantic City about 11 o'clock and lost no
time in fortifying themselves against the coldness of the
•water by partaking liberally of the "chill remedy." When
about 6 o'clock the train began its homeward journey, the bot
tles which had contained the "chill remedy" were now filled
with water from the ocean for those who were not so fortun
ate as to experience the joys of the excursionists. The tired
travelers reached Conshohocken about 1 A.M. Sunday. For
many months afterward, all happenings in and around the
town were dated as taking place either before or after
the excursion to Atlantic City.
The Old Burial-Ground Near Erdenheim*
By William R. Ybakle
In writing of the old burial-ground near Erdenheim, we
recognize at least two facts, first, that it difltered from many
of the old cemeteries in both its origin and its history; second,
that it deserved a better fate than its destruction at the
hands of unscrupulous persons.
The site of this burial-ground is just above a southern
slope, close by the location of the original Erdenheim, and at
a spot which commands a view of the lower Whitemarsh
valley.
It was in use as a burying-ground more than two centuries
ago, and for more than one hundred and thirty years it was
enclosed with a stone wall with gates at either end. Today
there is not a trace of it l^t above ground, although the
remains of men, prominent through the century from 1700 to
1800, repose there.
There is no one living today, perhaps, who knows when
the plot was first used as a cemetery, but the earliest marked
grave was "John Nichols Knight, died December 29, 1722,
aged 40 years, 10 months."
There is an authentic record, however, in the form of a
deed, dated in 1746, which gives us a definite knowledge of the
intent and purpose for which the ground was to be used, and
also that it was not to be destroyed.
The contents of this deed follows:
DEED
Sam'l Farmer & Ux.
To Henry Bartleson, Peter Knight
in Company, &c
THIS INDENTURE Made the second day of September in the
Year of Our Lord One thousand and Seven hundred and fourty Six Be
tween Samuel Farmer of the Township of Whitemarsh in the County
*Read before the Society February 22, 1936.
95
90
of Philadelphia in the Province of Pennsylvania Yeoman and Mary his
Wife of the one part And Henry Bartleson Peter Knight James Stroud
in Company &c. of the County of Philadelphia & Province of Pennsyl
vania Afors'd Yeomen of the other part. WHEREAS Edward Farmer
late of Whitemarsh afors'd Genfn Deceased by a certain Deed of the
Eighth day of January in the Year Of Our Lord One thousand Seven
hundred and fourty four for the considerations therein mentioned did
grant and confirm unto the Said Samuel Farmer (his oldest Son) A cer
tain piece or parcell of Land containing Twenty four Acres and three
quarters of an Acre of Land Scituate in Whitemarsh aforesaid (being
part of five thousand Acres which William Penn Proprietor of ye Said
Province granted to Major Jasper Farmer (father to ye Said Edward)
& to his two Sons Richard & Jasper by Patent of the thirty first day of
January Anno. Dom. 1683 Recorded in Patent book A. page 3. &c may
appear And ye Sd. Major being of one Moiety or half part of the Sd.
five thousand Acres Seized in Fee devised the Same to Mary his Wife
& to ye Sd. Edward by his last Will and Testament duly proved &
Remaining in the Register Generals Ofiice may appear & the Sd. Mary &
Edward purchased one fourth part of the Sd. five thousand Acres
of one Thomas Webb who had purchased the Same of ye Sd. Richard
Farmer, and afterwards ye Sd. Mary dyed. Whereupon ye Sd. Edward
became Seized of the three fourths of the Sd. five thousand Acres in Fee.
NOW THIS INDENTURE WITNESSETH that they the said
Samuel Farmer & Mary his Wife for and in consideration of the Sum
of five pounds Lawfull money of Pennsylvania to them in hand paid the
receipt whereof they do hereby Acknowledge And thereof & therefrom do
Acquit and forever Discharge the Sd. Henry Bartleson & Peter Knight
in Company and every of them their Heirs & Assigns by these Presents.
HAVE granted Bargained Sold Aliened Enfeoffed Released & Confirmed
and by these presents Do grant Bargain Sell Alien EnfeofF Release &
Confirm Unto the Sd. Heni*y Bartleson Peter Knight in Company &c
their Heirs & Assigns a Certain Lot or piece of Land Beginning at a
black Oak thence North three degrees East thirteen perches & six feet
to a Small Hickery Thence North Eighty Seven degrees West Six perches
to a Stone Thence South three degrees West thirteen perches & Six
feet to a Stone. Thence South Eighty Seven degrees East Six perches to
ye place of Beginning Containing half an Acre of Land (being part of ye
above mentioned twenty four Acres & three quarters of an Acre)
Together also with all and Singular the Buildings Edifices Waters
Woods Ways Rights Privileges Improvements Hereditaments & Ap
purtenances whatsoever thereunto belonging or in any wise appertaining
And the Reversions & Remainders Rents Issues & Profits thereof To
Have and to Hold the Sd. described half Acre of Land Hereditaments of
Premises hereby granted or mentioned to be granted with the appurte-
THE OLD BURIAL-GROUND NEAR ERDBNHBIM
nances &c to the Sd. Henry Bartleson & Peter Knight in Company &c.
their Heirs & Assigns to ye only proper Use & behoof of them the Sd.
Henry Bartleson & Peter Knight in Company &c. And their Heirs and
Assigms for Ever (for the only Use of a Grave Yard Notwithstanding)
Under the proportionable part of ye Yearly Quit-Rent hereafter
Accruing for the Same to the chief Lord of the Fee thereof and the
Sd. Samuel Farmer & Mary his wife and their Heirs the Sd. half Acre
of Land & premises hereby granted or mentioned to be granted with the
appurtenances Unto the Sd. Henry Bartleson & Peter Knight in Com
pany & their Heirs & Assigns against them the Sd. Samuel Farmer
& Mary his Wife to their Heirs & Assigns (& more Especialy against
ye Heirs & Assigns of her the Sd. Mary) & against all and Every
other persons whomsoever lawfully claiming or to claim the Sd. Land &
premises hereby grant or mentioned to be granted with the appurte
nances or any part thereof by from or Under him her them or any or
either of them Shall &will Warrant & for Ever defend by these presents.
And the Sd. Samuel Farmer & Mary his Wife for themselves their Heirs
Execut's. & Administ's doth Covenant promise & grant to & with the
Said Henry Bartleson & Peter Knight in Company their Heirs & As
signs by these presents in Manner following (to Say) that ye Sd.
Land & premises hereby granted or mentioned So to be with the appurte
nances Now are free & clear & freely & clearly Acquitted & discharged
of from all & all manner of former & other gifts grants bargains Sales
Jointures Dowers M'ortgages Rents Arrearages of Rents & all other
Incumbrances whatsoever And the Sd. Samuel Farmer & Mary his
Wife their Heirs & Assigns & all & every other person & persons whom
soever lawfully claiming or to claim any Estate Right Title or Interest
of in or to the Sd. half Acre of Land & premises hereby granted or
mentioned So to be with ye appurtenances or any part or parcel thereof
by from or under him her or them or any or either of them Shall & will
from time to time and at all times hereafter at ye Reasonable Request
Costs & charges in the Law of them the Sd. Henry Bartleson Peter
Knight in Company their Heirs or Assigns make Execute & Acknowledge
or Cause So be all and every other Such further <6 other Reasonable Act
& Acts Deed & Deeds Device or Devices in the Law whatsoever for
the further & better Assurance & Confirmation of ye half Acre of Land
& premises hereby granted with the appurtenances unto the Sd. Henry
Bartleson & Peter Knight in Company their Heirs or Assigns as by
him them or their counsil learned in the Law shall be Reasonably
devised advised or required IN WITNESS Whereof the Sd. Parties to
these Presents have Interchangeable Set their hands & Seals hereunto
dated the day & year first above written
Saml. Farmer
Mary Farmer
(Seal)
(Seal)
9g
Sealed and Delivered
In the presence of us.
John Burk
Nicholas Knight
Pat Menan
A subsequent deed, continuing the trusteeship, reads:
A DECLARATION OP TRUST.
Acre in
J Whitemarsh for a
Peter Knight
/Grave Yard&e.
to
George Hooker, Nicholas Kline & Com. Viz.,
Patrick Menan, Bart'l Bartleson & Peter Bartleson
THIS INDENTURE and declaration of trust. Made the second day
of August in the Eleventh Year of the Independence of the United
States of North America, and in the Year of Our Lord one thousand
Seven hundred & Eighty Six. Between Peter Knight of the City of Phila
delphia Merchant, (the only surviving trustee of the burying ground
Situate in Isaac Williams land in Whitemarsh) of one part. And George
Hocker, Nicholas Kline, Patrick Menan, Peter Bartleson and Barth
Bartleson, all Yoemen of the other part, Inhabitants of the County of
Montgomery in the State of Pennsylvania and chosen trustees to be for
the future of & for the Said burying ground &c. Whereas Samuel
Parmar and Mary his wife by their deed dated the second day of
September in the Year One thousand Seven hundred and fourty Six
did grant and confirm unto Henry Batleson late of Whitemarsh aforesd.
deceased & to the Said Peter Knight trustees, A certain Lot of one half
Acre of Land in Whitemarsh aforesaid for a Burying ground and for no
other Use whatsoever as in and by the Said Recited Deed upon Record in
the Rolls Office at Philadelphia in Book H. Vol. 16 page 557 &c. may at
larg appear Now This Indenture Witnesseth that the Sd. Peter Knight
for and in consideration of five Shillings lawful money of the Said
Province or State of Pennsylvania to him in hand paid by the Said
Trustees the Receipt whereof he doth hereby acknowledge and thereof
& and therefrom do Acquit & forEver discharge the Said Trustees
their Heirs & Assigns and Successors by these presents. And for divers
other good causes & considerations him thereunto Especially moving
Hath granted bargained and Sold Released and Confirmed, and by these
presents doth grant bargain and Sell Release and Confirm unto the
Said George Hocker, Nicholas Cline, Patrick Menan. Peter Bartleson
and Barth Bartleson and to their Heirs and Assigns & Successors the
Said burying ground Beginning at a Stone where a black Oak Stood
THE OLD BURIAL-GRCtrND NEAR ERDENHBIM
99
about a half perch from the South East Corner thereof, thence North
three degrees East thirteen perches and Six feet to a Small Hickory,
thence North Eighty Seven degrees West Six perches to a stone, thence
South three degrees West thirteen perches & Six feet to a stone Thence
South Eighty Seven degrees East six perches to the place of Beginning
containing Eighty perches of Land being one half an Acre be the Same,
more or less Together also with all and Singular the buildings Improve
ments way woods waters Bights liberties Privileges Hereditaments &
Appurtenances thereunto belonging or in anywise appertaining, and the
Eeversions and Remainders Rents Issues & profits thereof. Together
with all the Donations that are given or may be given to the Use of the
Said Burying ground To have and to hold the Said half an Acre
of Land Hereditaments & Premises hereby granted or mentioned to
be granted with the appurtenances unto the Said George Hocker,
Nicholas Eline, Patrick Menan Peter Bartleson and Bartle bartleson,
and to their Heirs & Assigns, to the only proper Use and behoof of
them the Said George Hocker, Nicholas Klyne, Patrick Menan, Peter
Bartleson and Bartle Bartleson and to their Heirs and Assigns for
Ever, In Trust Nevertheless for the Use of the Said Burying Ground,
and building a House of Worship thereon, and keeping the Said House
and the walls around the Said burying ground and the Roofs &
Gates with Locks & Keys in decent order and repair; to the only
proper Use and behoof of the Said Burying ground' & for keeping
in good order & decent repair the Said House, Walls, Roofs and Gates
& Locks forever. And for no other Use intent or purpose whatsoever,
any thing herein contained to the Contrary in any wise Notwithstand
ing. Under and subject to the yearly Proprietary Quit Rent hereafter
accrueing for the same to the Chief Lord or Lords of the Fee thereof,
And the Said Trustees do hereby promise Covenant and grant by these
presents (Each for himself his Executors & Administrators & not
jointly nor one for another) that they will truely Use their utmost
care and Endeavours at all times hereafter during their trust to oc-
complish fulfill & perform faithfully the trust and confidence reposed
in them, (when it is needful) with Honour & fidelity. And at any time
When required they shall render a just and true Accompt of all the
money, gifts, grants & donations that is, or hereafter may or will be
given, or devised, to the Use of the Sd. burying ground, all which
Accompts shall be kept in a fair book for the purpose. And when the
Sd. Trustees, by age or infirmity become unable to perform the duties
of the Sd. trust; then they Shall Transfere and Convey the Said
trust to some other fit persons that may be able to do the Same In
Witness the Said Parties to these presents Interchangeably have Set
their hands and Seals hereunto. Dated the day and Year first above
written.
Peter Knight
(Seal)
IQO
Sealed & Delivered
in the presence of us.
Jacob Wagner
Henry Bartleson
The Twenty Sixth Day of
September came before me the Subscriber
one of the Justices in and for Montgomery
County—Peter Knight and acknowledged
above Indenture to be his act and Deed
Desired it May be Recorded as Such;
Witness my Hand and Seal
Henry Scheetz (Seal)
We have, therefore, conclusive proof that on this plot
was established a burial-ground and that it was to be con
tinued as such.
William A. Yeakle, in his History of Whitemarsh, mentioned
this burying-ground and fortunately listed the names and
dates which he found on the tombstones. The following is
quoted from his writings: "On the property owned by Lewis
A. Lukens of Conshohocken, adjoining the Williams school, is
an old grave-yard that dates far back into the early days of
the township and has never, to my knowledge, been referred
to by any one curious in old-time things. It contains the graves
of quite a number of persons prominent in their day and gen
eration. It was originally enclosed by a substantial wall, and
was of quite considerable size. The walls are at present in a
dilapidated condition and at some time, and probably in the
near future, the walls may find their way into fences and
buildings and the land be devoted to agricultural purposes, as
it appears that none of the descendants give it any considera
tion or care. I will here give a list of those buried in the yard,
as in a few years it may not be known who repose in its
limits, viz.:
John Nichol Knight, died December 29, 1722, aged 40 yrs., 10 mos.
Susanne Menan (child), died February 20, 1763.
Susanne Menan, died October 28, 1787, aged 71 years.
Sarah Menen, died December 12, 1796, aged 39 years.
THE OLD BURIAL-GROUND NEAR ERDENHEIM
John, son of Patrick and Susanne Menan, died at Penn's Neck, Octo
ber 12, 1768, aged 25 years.
Patrick Menan, died February 5, 1791, aged 80 years.
Levi Trump, died November 8, 1784, aged 29 monttis.
Mary, wife of Jacob Siddon, Died May 24, 1797, aged 26 years.
Bartle Bartleson, died February 17, 1777, aged 80 years.
Elizabeth Bartleson, died March 24, 1769, aged 60 years.
Cephas Bartleson, died September 15, 1783, in his 56th year.
Elizabeth Bartleson, died August 13, 1783, aged 43 years.
Susanne Bartleson, aged 1 year, 3 months.
George Bartleson. Aged 9 months.
Margaret Heinch, died November 11, 1763 or 5.
Nicholas Knight, died November 7, 1787, aged 69 years.
J. K. (probably Knight), died 1758.
Elizabeth Colemen, died August 29, 1746, aged 68 years.
Catherine Coleman, died April 11, 1746, aged 3 years.
Elizabeth Colemen, died April 26, 1746, aged 19 months.
Christopher Mason, died December 3, 1780, aged 46 years.
Ann Mason, died May 6, 1802, in her 75th year.
Peter Mason, died October 30, 1804, aged 38 years.
Charles Bilger, died August 9, 1821, aged 6 years.
e. q.
Mention is made, in the same article, that there were a
number of unmarked graves and that persons by the name of
Kline and a George Heydrick were buried there.
Patrick Menan, whose name appears in the list, was a
surveyor, school-master and a writer of deeds. He was a
witness to the deed first mentioned in this sketch. He taught
a school somewhere within the present limits of Whitemarsh
township and historians have it that Dr. Rittenhouse and
other prominent men attended his school, when young men,
to receive his teachings in the higher branches of learning.
Referring again to the grave of John Nichols Knight I will
quote once more from the writings of W. A. Yeakle: "John
Nichols Knight, whose grave is marked with a curiously
wrought stone, with lettering in quite old style, both in spell
ing and form, lies in this yard. The stone is quite large and
deeply paneled and indicates a gentleman of wealth. His death
accurred December 29,1722—thus recording one of the oldest
marked graves in the county, with few exceptions." e. q.
102 bulletin of historical society of MONTGOMERY COUNTY
At this point I might relate my personal and first-hand
knowledge of the cemetery. I can remember when, as a pupil
at the Williams school which stood about three hundred yards
distant, being in and around the burylng-ground many times
and reading the inscriptions on the stones. I remember at that
time (1904-1908), the stone wall had partially fallen at sev
eral points and I have a recollection of an iron gate swung
open against the wall. The enclosure contained many marked
graves and several of the stones seemed to be unusually large.
One, in particular, stood out from the rest. It was larger and
more elaborate and bore certain symbols, carved in bold
relief, around the top. Evidently I had been told that the work
was done in Europe as I always associated that thought with
the stone, and the story seems to be authentic as records exist
which corroborate it. This-record will be mentioned later.
During the time I attended Williams school and a number
of years previous, the surrounding ground was owned by
Robert N. Carson and the school-children were allowed to play
over the property at will. Sheep grazed over the land and also
kept the grass closely cropped in and about the grave-yard;
consequently, during my recollection, the cemetery never pre
sented an unkempt appearance in that respect.
After the death of Robert Carson the property changed
ownership and sometime during the course of transfer, in
1916, it was discovered that the old burial-ground had sud
denly disappeared—wiped from the face of the earth.
There followed an investigation on the part of my father,
Samuel Yeakle, who had been interested in the cemetery.
Upon being questioned on the matter, the new owner informed
him that he knew nothing about it and that he supposed the
executors of the Carson estate might know, if any one did. A
respresentative of the Carson estate was next seen and he
declared that the new purchaser had stipulated, in the condi
tions of sale, that the old grave-yard must be destroyed. This
same representative also said that he did not know what had
become of the walls or the grave-stones but that possibly the
contractor, who did the work, might know. The contractor
was next questioned and replied that he did not know where
THE OLD BURIAL-GROTJIO) NEAR ERDENHEIM
IQS
the stones were and that, in all probability, the workmen had
broken them and thrown them away. Those were built for
permanence and were not easily demolished and necessitated
speedy and laborious action to accomplish the destruction
almost "over night." This briefly is the story as far as we
know it.
It is regrettable that the old burying-ground should come
to such an end, and a whim of fate emphasized this more
forcibly, six years later, when Mr. and Mrs. McAllister, of
Media, called at the home of my father. Mrs. McAllister was
searching for the grave of her ancestor, John Nicholas Knight,
and had, with her, complete records of her lineage.
There are some hastily written notes which my father
apparently jotted down at the time and I will quote from them
in part: "On Sunday, June 18, 1922, Mr. and Mrs. J, Cook
McAllister and family called on us, at Fort Washington, about
an old burying-ground in Whitemarsh township which she
called the Knight burying-ground from the fact that her
ancestor, John Nicholas Knight, was buried somewhere in a
private burying-ground in this vicinity but did not know
where. I was very sorry to inform her that this old grave
yard was entirely destroyed and the beautiful tomb-stone of
her ancestor was no more to be seen but had been ruthlessly
taken away and broken up together with all the stones still
remaining in the yard at that time, a sad occurrence, indeed,
to relate. The above Mrs. McAllister is a lineal descendant of
the above John .Nicholas Knight.
"John Nicholas Knight married Margaret Hillseebach,
daughter of the Mr. and Mrs. Hillseebach, who came from
Germany to America, about the year 1700, with John Nicholas
Knight and his wife, the daughter of these parents. Mr. and
Mrs. Hillseebach were buried, it is said, in the above burying-
ground. John Nicholas Knight died and was buried in the old
burying-ground, which Mrs. McAllister's records say was
near the farm and it is inferred that he gave the ground for
a burying-place and house of worship. Mrs. McAllister's
records state that the widow of John Nicholas Knight sent to
Germany for the tomb-stone of elaborate workmanship, which
104
was a bluish white marble slab, ornamented with hour-glass,
cross-bones, rosettes of hearts and much chisel-work, which
agrees with my recollection of this old stone. Margaret, wife
of J. N. K., born in Germany August 13, 1684, died June 3,
1745, and was also buried in this old yard. She was a very
worthy woman and kind neighbor, and a most estimable
Christian. From a quarry, on her own land, the stone was
used in the erection of the Plymouth Meeting House.
"Mrs. McAllister says J. N. K. settled near Hickorytown,
and not far from this old grave-yard, which needs some ex
planation. J. N. K. and wife had seven children. Elizabeth, the
oldest daughter, married Bartle Bartleson and both were
buried in this old grave-yard. Cephas Bartleson, a son of
Bartle Bartleson, died and was buried in the same yard, as
we have the records also. Susanne Knight, daughter of
J. N. K., married Patrick Menan, the Irish school-master, a
man well educated. In the list of W. A. Yeakle's History, a
daughter, Susanne, of P. Menan and wife, died and was buried
in the grave-yard (marked), another daughter, Margaret,
buried in the same burylng-ground (not marked in W. A. Y.
record)."
We have, in the above, a sad example of what can happen
through the ruthless destruction of the only tangible connec
tion between those living today and the ancestors whom they
honor.
Many who were buried in this cemetery were men actively
interested in the betterment of their community—substantial,
dependable men, leaders in the cause of advancement among
the early inhabitants—^yet the ground in which lie their re
mains was desecrated through selfish ideas without consult
ing or considering any one who might have had an interest
in that plot of ground, and whatever the motive for such an
act, the fact remains that the memories of these men will
live, despite the efforts of those who sought to erase the
evidence of their last resting place.
Washington's Headquarters at Skippack*
By B. WiTMAN Dambly
The Skippack road has been traveled for two centuries.
For 150 years its historic interest in Skippack township and
village consisted in the fact that Washington's Army traversed
the old road more than once at the time of the Battle of Ger-
mantown. It was not known to a certainty that the marching
army, advancing or retreating, halted for any length of time
at any point along Skippack road between the Worcester
Headquarters and the Schwenksville Headquarters, a dis
tance of between 7 and 8 miles, according to the old mile
stones erected about 1760.
True, while mention of the encampment of Skippack in
authentic documents was more than a suggestion, and served
to raise the question, it did not mean much. The real story was
a mystery. The solution came by chance. We are told that
"chance is a word void of sense. Nothing can exist without a
cause." In this instance we had the element of chance, but we
also had the cause. The successive steps are interesting, and
the historic chain wrought'by welding together a number of
small links is complete beyond the peradventure of a doubt.
Before I was born, a Johnson family, sturdy people, known
for their native intelligence and patriotism, lived on the 45acre farm on Skippack road where stands the 24th milestone.
I first learned to know the Johnsons after their removal
from that farm. Elizabeth, married to a Fuss and later to a
Hallman, was bom on that farm February 1, 1820, and died
at Lansdale, September 14, 1917, aged 97 years, 7 months, 13
days. She told us that her parents told her that the children
went from the home through their own field to Skippack road,
where the milestone stands, to see the soldiers going up and
down the road. Elizabeth (or Aunt Betsy) Hallman, as she
*Bead before the Society February 22, 1936.
105
100
was affectionately called by everybody who knew her, related,
and other members of the Johnson family agreed in this, that
on one occasion several sick soldiers were lying on the bank
at the roadside near the milestone. Here an old lane leads
to the farm buildings. The patriotic mother (a Johnson) came
out to the road with soup and other food for the sick men.
Another version is that the Johnson family took the sick
soldiers to their house and nursed them until well enough to
join the rest of the army.
Little stories like these are about all we knew about
Washington's army in Skippack. However, within a week I
was told by a citizen of Towamencin township, a former pupil
of Fry's school in that township (the school that is nearest
to the headquarters farm) that the children were taught that
Washington stopped on this farm. The rest of the story was
discovered in 1927—the year of the 150th anniversary of the
Battle of Germantown, in fact, as a result of that celebration.
The discovery started with the question, "Who was Joseph
Smith?" Mr. E. W. Hooker, a member of this Society, and an
inquisitive newspaper man, asked the question. The "Mont
gomery Transcript," at Skippack, permitted the use of its
columns to make the same inquiry—"Who was Joseph Smith?"
Not merely wn answer, but the answer, and the key that
unlocked the secret, came from Robert B. Souder, of Souderton. His father, the late Jacob G. Souder, until 10 or 12 years
ago owned and farmed about 30 acres of the headquarters
farm about to be described. When the late Mr. Souder sold
his farm and moved to Souderton, he had in his possession
a number of old papers. One was a draft of a farm in Skippack
township owned by Joseph Smith prior to the Revolution.
Examination of the draft proved that here was the beginning
of a story that led to an important discovery.
The draft was made by David Schultz, a Schwenkfelder,
of the upper end of Montgomery county, a widely known and
excellent surveyor who lived near the present borough of
East Greenville. The draft was made in 1775 for Joseph
Smith, and the location of the farm was in Bebber township,
the original name of Skippack township. This farm of 127
WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS AT SKIPPACK
IQT
acres and 120 perches during the Revolutionary period contained
but one set of buildings—Joseph Smith's stone house and
probably other out buildings. Today, there are four sets of
buildings on the tract, and the land- is owned by seven
owners—^Kulp, Cassel, Kerr, Kulka, Wilkie, Bean and Speller.
Three of the owners are newcomers, with names not native
to the soil of Skippack township.
Who was Joseph Smith? In addition to the name of
Joseph Smith, the owner of 127 acres, and presumably a
farmer, the assessor's list of Skippack township for 1766
(11 years after the Schultz survey) contained the name of
Joseph Smith, Sr., tailor. His children were Jacob, Henry,
Joseph, Katherine, and John. Joseph Smith, Sr., died August 8,
1782 (5 years after he was host to Washington), aged 76
years, 9 months, and 8 days. He is buried in the Lower Mennonite burial-ground south of the village of Skippack. John
Smith, son of Joseph, was captain of a company of militia
from the region of Skippack. This fact is probably the reason
why Washington established headquarters at the Smith
house, and camped his army on ground adjacent to the head
quarters. This Captain John Smith was killed or wounded in
the battle of Germantown.
One Joseph Smith, beyond doubt son of Joseph Smith,
served in the regiment of Pennsylvania artillery commanded
by Colonel John Eyre, and was taken prisoner at the battle of
Germantown. Thus, Joseph Smith had two sons in that battle.
It is not far-fetched to assume that this was one reason
why Washington and his army occupied the Joseph Smith
premises. But there may be an additional explanation. The
Smith house stood (and still stands) within a short distance
of a stream, in fact two streams. The Towamencin creek,
flowing in an easterly direction, empties into the Skippack
creek precisely at the point where the Smith house stood, and
near where the waters of the two streams were dammed, and
furnished power for a mill. The eastern end of the dam was
on Joseph Smith's land.
Washington's camp at-Falls of Schuylkill was close to a
stream; at Schwenksville he had the Perkiomen; at Worcester
108
bulletin op historical society op MONTGOMERY COUNTY
he was near Zacharias creek, and at Skippack he had the
waters of the Skippack and the Towamencin. In 1755, when
the David Schultz draft was made, the Towamencin creek, it
appears, was unnamed. The David Schultz draft shows the
stream but designates it only as a "branch of the Skippack."
The former Joseph Smith tract, now established beyond
questions as the Skippack headquarters, today is still intact,
excepting that a public road has been cut through it from
Skippack road (a short distance below where the milestone
stands) in an easterly direction to the Towamencin line. The
length of this cross-road is about one-fourth of a mile. The
ownership of the tract in 1755 extended (and of course to this
date extends) to the middle of the Skippack creek.
The headquarters tract, or site, was marked by three signs
and a flag when the pilgrimage was made during the Germantown anniversary celebration October 1, 1927,
The encampment ground had a good elevation. The Joseph
Smith house was on the extreme northwestern end and was
the lowest point. No doubt much of the tract was wooded. The
oldest residents in 1928 remember when there were several
small tracts of woodland on what was the original 127-acretract.
Describing it from the David Schultz draft the tract had
a frontage of 255 perches, or more than 4000 feet on Skippack
road, or as the description reads "by the road that leads to
Philadelphia;" it has a uniform depth of 1280 feet, or 80
perches, to the Towamencin line, and forms part of the divid
ing line between Skippack and Towamencin townships for
4224 feet, or 264 perches.
Joseph Smith's was the only house on the tract, to the best
of my information. The original Joseph Smith home and head
quarters is still standing. It is the home of the owner of 45
acres of the original tract. The owner is Francis F. Kulp. The
home has two stories and, of course, is built of stone. It was
plastered during the recollection of the oldest residents. I am
told there is a date stone, but it is covered over. From several
sources I have it that the house was built between 1700 and
1800. All agree that it is the same house that stood when
Washington was there.
^09
Descendants of two former owners of the farm inform
me that the house had one-story frame addition; that this
frame part was moved about a hundred feet and placed over
a walled-up spring and that Washington occupied that springhouse also. In another location, not far from the house, stood
a log house that is still well remembered by the oldest resi
dents "with whom I recently spoke.
I spent some time at the headquarters house on Friday,
February 17, 1928. I have always known the property, but
looked upon it with more information, a new and different
interest and greater admiration than ever before—perhaps
because "the place where shining souls have passed imbibes
a grace beyond mere earth, and some sweetness of his fames
leaves in the soil its unextinguished trace that penetrates our
lives."
The Joseph Smith house was five miles from Schwenksville and two and a half miles from the Worcester head
quarters at the Wentz house. Washington occupied the Smith
house between September 29 and October 2, 1777. On the
first named date his army left Pennypacker's mills and arrived
at the Wentz house in Worcester on the latter date.
Washington's account books, as annotated by John C.
Fitzpatrick, assistant chief of the manuscript division of the
Library of Congress, a trustworthy source, furnish the link
that connects the entire story and removes all doubt of its
authenticity. These records say that on October 2,1777, Wash
ington paid Joseph Smith 2 pounds and 15 shillings "for the
use of his house and the trouble caused" while quartered there.
Under the same date there is the record of an additional pay
ment made to Joseph Smith of 11 pounds, 19 shillings and 6
pense for sundries—evidently supplies of various kinds.
While the records thus far searched furnish meagre infor
mation on the headquarters, there is sufficient to excite inter
est in the subject and to stimulate further investigation. As
time passes we are likely to learn more about the subject.
What has been discovered and narrated here, however, settles
the question of the whereabouts of the army between Sep
tember 29 and October 2,1777.
110
bulletin op historical society of MONTGOMERY COUNTY
Most of the information about the Joseph Smith family
must be credited to a Germantown genealogist, Miss Marian
A. McGrath. Miss McGrath is engaged in tracing the gene
alogy of a well known Smith family in Philadelphia. The ex
change of questions and information on the numerous Smith
families in eastern Pennsylvania in conferences between Miss
McGrath and Mr. E. W. Hocker have made it possible to pre
sent much that you have just listened to. My debt to both is
cheerfully acknowledged.
To bring down to date the transfers of the historic Smith
ground and to connect its ownership with living descendants
of former owners may not tje uninteresting, although I realize
that to do this will add little to its permanent historic value.
Joseph Smith, in 1786, sold part of his holdings to his
son Jacob and part to Casper Johnson and Joseph Eaton.
Casper Johnson conveyed to Joseph Johnson. Later the 45
acres was owned by Wm. Johnson, who died at Skippack
July 17, 1897, aged 87 years. Two sons of William Johnson
are still living—Charles H. Johnson, of Bridgeport, aged 78,
and Joseph Johnson, of Royersford, aged 74. Miss Edith
Fryer, of Bridgeport, aged daughter of Barney Fryer who
was also an owner of the former Joseph Smith homestead, is
still living. These three persons have good memories, and have
furnished links in the chain of information here presented.
They retain a lively interest in the Revolutionary history of
Skippack, especially the Smith headquarters farm, formerly
owned and occupied (as I have just stated) by their sturdy
forebears. One of their chief characteristics, without regard
to sex, was ardent patriotism. They are fine examples of man
hood and womanhood.
My personal tribute to the dead of these patriotic families
and to the few members still living, is that "duty to country,
support of its Constitution, obedience to its laws, respect to its
flag, its defense against all enemies, was their abiding creed—
the highest standard of citizenship."
Twenty-two years after the army was encamped at Skippack, and Washington was quartered there, he passed away
three years short of the time allotted to man.
m
EXTRACTS FROM DRAUGHTS
A Draught of a Tract of Land Situate in Bebber Township in the
County of Philadelphia and Province of Pennsylvania Beginning at a
White Oack in the Line of Robert Jones's Land Thence by the Same
South West, 80 Perches to a Black Oack a Comer of Henry Cassels'
Land, Thence by the Same and upwards by the Road That Leads to
Philadelphia. North West 266 Perches to the Middle of Skippack Creek.
Thence by the Same upwards North East. 30 perches to a Mill Damm,
in a Line Late of Gerrit de hofens Land, Thence by the Same South
60** East 8 Perches to a marked hiccory. Thence by the Same North
East 20 perches to a Stone and North 56° West 12 Perches to the Middle
of Skippack Creek. Thence by the Same and by land of George Merkle
North 36 Degrees, East, 31 perches to the Line of Henry and Christian
Brennemans Land, Thence by the Same and by Land of Jacob Godshalck
'South East 264 Perches to the Place of Beginning Containing One hun
dred and Twenty Seven Acres and 120 Perches of Land Surveyed for
Shmith on the 8th day of April Anno 1755
David Shultze
A draught of a Tract of Land Situate in Skippack Township, being
part of 140 acres conveyed by Joseph Smith to his son Jacob Smith, and
reserved by him, said Jacob Smith, as he sold the other part thereof to
Casper Johnson, and five acres thereof sometime ago to Joseph Eaton,
containing twenty six acres, and joining Lands as you see in the drafft
Set down and surveyed at the request of said Jacob Smith the 26th day
of June, 1786
Henry Sweitzer
Count not the cost of honor to the dead I
The tribute that a mighty nation pays
To those who loved her well in former days
Means more than gratitude for glories fled;
For, every noble man that she hath bred
Lives in the bronze and marble that we raise.
To lead our sons as he our fathers led.
These monuments of manhood strong and high
Do more than battleships to keep our dearbought liberty
They fortify the heart of youth with valor ivise and deep;
They buUd eternal bulwarks and command
Eternal strength to guard our native land.
Where Washington Crossed the Skippaek*
By B. WiTMAN Dambly
Washinôn crossed the Skippack 150 years ago. This
statement immediately arouses interest, and our interest is
heightened by the further fact that after the disastrous battle
of Germantown the army retreated up Skippack road, going
to Pennypacker's Mills, and pursued as far as Blue Bell by the
English cavalry. The wounded were taken into private houses
on and off Skippack road and into churches in Whitpain,
Worcester and Skippack townships.
Going toward Skippack, and on the south side of the
creek, the milestone stands that says 24 miles to Philadelphia.
Here the Skippack road in Washington's time veered to the
left, and crossed the Skippack creek about two hundred feet
below the present bridge. This bridge, be it noted, was built in
1827 (one hundred years ago this year). Crossing the stream,
the road continued in a westerly direction and passed in front
of the oldest house in Skippack. At present, and since 1827,
the road passes about 100 yards in the rear of this house.
This is the Skippack road as we at present know it. The jury
that fixed the site for the bridge naturally chose the narrowest
point on the stream and the road was re-located. On the old
road, then, Washington crossed the Skippack, 24 miles from
the center of Philadelphia, about 17 from Germantown and
10 from Norristown.
In crossing the Skippack, and following the Skippack road,
he soon reached the center of the township. An authentic
record says, no township within the limits of the present
county was settled so early; and it was settled by the plain
people. Let us pause for a moment at the point where Wash
ington crossed the Skippack. Here the Forty-foot road inter
sects the Skippack road. On each of the four corners stands
Read before the Society November 19, 1927.
112
WHERE WASHINGTON CROSSED THE SKIPPACK
a house. On the west is the oldest house in Skippack, just re
ferred to. It was built in 1783, and still is a most substantial
building. Before Washington crossed the Skippack here, this
old stone building was a hotel. On Sundays church services
were held in a portion of the building. One of the pioneer
Reformed preachers (either Michael Weiss or Jacob Schlat-
ter) rode on horseback from Germantown to preach here, and
frequently his wife rode with him on the same horse. The
farm on which stands this one-time hotel and place of wor
ship, now the dwelling place of the present owner, during my
boyhood was owned by Jesse N. Scholl. It is now owned by
Warren Z. Cole.
The houses on the north, east and south corners are old
brick homes,, and the brick came from a clay deposit and
brickyard on the farm on the north corner, about 500 feet
from Skippack road. This square, with a property on each
corner, during my boyhood was called Lincoln Square, and
here's the reason. The owner of the farm on the north, con
taining the brickyard, was Barney B. Fryer. He was very tall
(more than 6 feet) and slender, and reminded everybody of
Abraham Lincoln. He was, of course, a northern sympathizer
during the Civil War and an ardent Republican, and was a
striking figure astride a little horse in political or patriotic
parades in Skippack. Hence, Lincoln Square. The last of
Barney Fryer's children (a daughter) is still living in Norristown.
In the attic or garret of the Fryer home a war-time organ
ization met, which called itself Union League. It was a secret
patriotic organization, and the doors were guarded and barred
during the meetings. The parent organization met at Trappe,
with about 30 members. The age limit was 18 to 60 years.
The membership fee was $80.00. The object of the organiza
tion was to find substitutes for drafted men, who for their
own reasons did not want to go to war. Three of the reasons
given to me by a former member of the League were: some
men were married and did not want to go; some were hired
men on farms and were needed; some did not want to go on
general principles. When one of their number was called who
did not want to go, the League sent to Philadelphia and hired
a substitute, paying $250 for the substitute. This kept the
members at home. One drafted man who would not join the
League, but did not want to go to war, was obliged to pay
$1100 for a substitute. The Union League at Skippack was a
branch of the Trappe League. It had about 20. members.
Regular meetings were held and the Bible, prayer books and
singing books were used. The passwords at the door were
Lincoln, Liberty, Law, League. The organization was started
by Barney Fryer late in 1861, and he was its president. News
of the progress of war was furnished the League by private
methods, which kept it fully informed at all times; but the
public did not know how. The Trappe Union League furnished
five and the Skippack League two substitutes.
The Trappe and Skippack Leaguers frequently attended
the meetings of the Philadelphia Union League, so that it is
correct to say that in 1861 to 1865 the Philadelphia and the
Trappe and Skippack Union Leagues had much in common.
Not so in 1927.
In the old brick house on the east corner of the square on
Skippack road, near where Washington crossed the Skippack,
during my boyhood and early manhood lived a millwright
of more than county-wide reputation. His name was Frederick
D. Zandt. He was expert in his line. After fitting up a grist
mill from top floor to big water wheel, the entire mill works
would be put in motion as a try-out. The old millwright would
stand and listen and, notwithstanding the hum and noise, was
able to detect by his sharp ear the least fault (if any) in the
construction of any part of the running machinery. He built
practically all the large old-style wooden overshot and under
shot water wheels that preceded the later turbines in central
Montgomery county. He also built mills in the South. Only
one old water wheel remains in the Skippack section, and
that is at Center Point, I think it is an 18-foot wheel. It is an
overshot wheel and is run by a single inch of water. This
wheel propels a run of chopping stones, the housewife's wash
ing machine and a grindstone at the same time. In winter,
when coated with ice, this majestic old wheel, a reminder of
WHERE WASHINGTON CROSSED THE SKIPPACK
1^5
other days, is a thing of beauty. The old millwright followed
his trade for 50 years. His earthly wheels stopped turning in
1901.
On the south, or fourth corner of Lincoln Square, still
nearer where Washington crossed the Skippack, is an old
brick house (now plastered). When I was a boy this was the
dwelling of George Shoemaker whose little old frame mill,
located a hundred yards south of the dwelling on a mill race,
was a busy place. Only the race remains. Mr. Shoemaker was
a fine old gentleman and gentle miller, whose kindly face,
white hair and meal-covered hat any boy would always re
member. The old miller belonged to the Shoemakers long
prominent in Philadelphia's commercial life.
Thus I have covered the four corners of Lincoln Square,
near where Washington crossed the Skippack in 1777, 150
years ago.
This is the east or south gateway to old Skippack, through
which the retreating army of Washington passed toward
Pennypacker's Mills and made the old road and village his
toric. Both the road and the village were here as early as 1714.
The temptation is strong to wander off the main street of the
old village and again recite the story of the plain people, and
why and how they came to Van Bebber's township. For, 'tis
a story all too little known outside this Society, and too
important in its consequences not to be well known.
In conclusion, word about the old village on the old road
just above where Washington crossed the Skippack. After
the Civil War a tall victory pole was erected in the school
grounds. I do not know how high it was, but it seemed like
a hundred feet to a little school boy. The school ground was
and still is about two city blocks from Lincoln Square and
the house where the Union League met. This may account for
the victory pole on the school ground.
The two oldest buildings in the village are stone houses,
one with 1818 on the date stone and the other built in 1822.
The latter was a hotel, literally a roadhouse during coveredwagon days, before the railroads, when grain and flour were
hauled from upper counties down Skippack road to Philadel-
116
phia in wagon trains and all kinds of merchandise was
teamed back. In the rear of the old hotel, built in 1822, during
my boyhood stood a stone barn or hotel shed, at least 100 feet
in length with many stable doors. This stable room was re
quired for the many horses on the road. I am told the old
road was lined with loaded covered wagons, and that the
teamsters, in mild weather, slept on blankets alongside their
wagons to guard their freight.
Yes, the old town was an important place. When Washing
ton crossed the Skippack, the old village was the largest
town on Skippack road between Germantown and Allentown.
There were two or three hotels or roadhouses, a tobacco works
or cigar factory, a wholesale liquor store, a hat factory, a
Literary Hall, a printing office that published an influential
German newspaper from 1844 to 1898, and published num
erous religious books for the plain people. For a century, a
property on the old main street has been and is today a
physician's stand. The importance of the old town is further
shown in the fact that, before Norristown was chosen as the
county seat at a meeting at the old Jeffersonville Inn, I am
told Skippack was proposed as a suitable (because central)
location for the county seat.
I close with Bacon's tribute to the Historical Society of
Montgomery County and all similar organizations today. He
says: "Industrious persons, by an exact and scrupulous dili
gence and observation, out of monuments, names, words, pro
verbs, traditions, private records and evidences, fragments
of stones, passages in books that concern not story, and the
like, do save and receive somewhat from the deluge of time."
And of the old Skippack road and the place where Washing
ton crossed the Skippack this truthful quotation: "Men's
monuments grown old forget the names they should eternalize,
but the place where shining souls have passed imbibes a grace
beyond mere earth. Some sweetness of their fame leaves in the
soil its inextinguished trace, that penetrates our lives and
brightens them or shames."
Pennsylvania German Folk-Lore*
By B. E. ScHXJLTz Gerhard, M.A.
This last year the writer met people from the far west,
who were of the firm but erroneous opinion that the Pennsyl
vania Germans were the direct descendants of the Hessians
who fought in the American Revolution! Such an impression
seems passing strange; but when one hears the same remark
made by people in Philadelphia, credulity might well blush!
The mass of misinformation and crass ignorance regarding
these people is at times as provoking as it is ridiculous; and
one needs not to go far west, or in any direction, to find such
a condition of affairs.
Probably there is no class of people in the eastern section
of this country about whom there is a greater amount of
misinformation than there is about the Pennsylvania Ger
mans ("Dutch"). They have been slurred and maligned time
and again; and not infrequently have they been referred to
as being ignorant, uncouth, uncultured, and exceedingly su
perstitious, and especially so by people who fail to inform
themselves of the real character and commendable traits of
these people. It is with the hope of correcting some such mis
conceptions and slurs that this article has been written.
The early German settlers came chiefly from the Pala
tinate; a few came from Baden, from Swabia and from
Switzerland. All of them settled in the southeastern counties
of Pennsylvania, and all spoke the dialect peculiar to the
section of Germany from which they migrated. From these
various dialects there developed in a very short time the Penn
sylvania German dialect, a blending of the various forms of
speech which the different German immigrants brought with
them, but in which the forceful and expressive Palatinate
dialect predominates. Anyone speaking Pennsylvania German
Read before the Society November 17, 1928.
117
118
"Will find himself at ease in the Palatinate region even today.
Whatever the Pennsylvania German dialect may or may not
be it is assuredly never garbled English.
These people have undoubtedly the most extensive folk
lore, rich and poetic, of any people in this country. It consists
of charms, witchcraft, pow-wowing, legendary romances,
beliefs in hob-goblins and ghosts, in lucky and unlucky days
and in the curative power of magic. These and many other
forms of superstitious belief, which have been handed down
from generation to generation, are a common heritage from
the great Germanic races once occupying the immense expanse
of country of northwestern Europe as far as Ultima Thule;
the land of fancy, the land of impenetrable and illimitable
forests, of merciless winters, of bleakness, of gloom, of fog,
the land of the Nibelungens—i.e. the people of the land of
the mists—^the land of Siegfried and Brunhild, of King Arthur
and his Round Table, the land of Beowulf, and of the Druids
of eld whose customs and traits both Caesar and Tacitus have
described. Living in an atmosphere such as these people did,
is it any wonder that their progeny should be somewhat
superstitious under the spell of the supernatural?
Consequently it is to be noted that these characteristics
and forms of supersitious belief are not necessarily original
with the Pennsylvania Germans; they are not peculiar to
them alone; they are in the main not indigenous to Pennsyl
vania. Of over two thousand superstitions, gathered and
recorded by a friend of the writer, "only twenty per cent are
of Pennsylvania German origin, a percentage which can
easily be accounted for by the large number of variants, many
of them occuring only in a single county. The rest are exact
survivals of importations from the old country."^ And there
are seemingly other sections of this big country which are
equally superstitious.^ It is remarkable how much of ancient
IE. M. Pogel, "Beliefs and Superstitions of the Pennsylvania Ger
mans." Philadelphia, 1916.
2Daniel Lindsey Thomas, "Kentucky Superstitions." Danville, Ken
tucky.
PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN FOLK-LORE
HQ
folk-lore is even today believed in by intelligent people, as well
as by the illiterate, who know nothing of Pennsylvania Ger
man. There are hosts of people who hesitate to set out on a
long sea voyage on a Friday, or even to pass under a stand
ing ladder!
Many superstitious notions are the result of keen observa
tion (a noticeable Germanic trait), and all too frequently of
erroneous deductions. Finally these notions were crystalized
into pithy sayings and phrases. They might be well worth
studying, for they show the mental development and dominat
ing principles of the people making and using them. They
cover a wide range of subjects; they touch life and its activi
ties at many points from birth to death—at the birth or
baptism of a child, at a wedding or at a funeral, in the sowing
of seed or in the reaping of grain, or in the curing of disorder
in man or beast. Many phases of common life were inter
spersed with these beliefs.
The belief in the supernatural is virtually as old as the
human race; and man's curiosty and eagerness to fathom
the mysteries of life and to gain foreknowledge of what is
seemingly forbidden is equally as old. It is this element of
curiosity and daringness, this feeling of eagerness and the
desire to know that raises him above the lower creatures. It
adds zest to life, whether with Milton we "eat the fruit of that
forbidden tree," or with Saul we go to consult the Witch of
Endor. It is worthy of note also that many of the greatest
dramas of modern life begin under the spell of the super
natural.
And again, verily all the people who settled in the Penn
sylvania German section of this commonwealth in times past
came here to escape religious persecution. Their faith was
boundless, staunch, unflinching. They were of the tribe of
Stephen of old, willing to be stoned rather than give up their
religious principles. They verily believed that faith is the
substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
With the same religious fervor with which they clung
to their Christian belief, they cherished and actually took for
gospel truth some of the simplest and plainest superstitious
120
beliefs looked upon by succeeding" generations as surpassingly
incredible. Burton says in his "Anatomy of Melacholy,"
"Where there is any religion, the devil will plant supersti
tion."
Some of these "charms," "cures," and "formulas" they
guarded and revered as they did Holy Writ, actually believing,
as many people still do, that if you take two lighted con
secrated wax candles, one in each hand, and walk around
the house with them during a thunder storm, lightning will
not strike your house. And yet thunder storms come and go
where they list, wax candles or none.
And furthermore, two hundred years ago settlements in
this region were very sparse compared to what they are
now. People then lived for the most part on the frontier—
that is to say in the back woods—miles and miles away from
a doctor or any medical aid whatever, or even from a neigh
bor. There may be some excuse then for the practice of some
mysterious performances and divinations.
Just as a drowning man will grasp at the last straw, so
will a person in agony frequently resort for relief from
anguish and pain to agencies which turn out to be naught
but superstition and humbug. What would you do, living
away from the haunts and habitations of men, with a child
sick unto death with the most loathsome disease, diphtheria,
and no medical aid whatever to be had? You would move
heaven and earth to get relief from pain and anguish; you
would resort to the simplest, the most innocent and most
harmless, nay, the most foolish treatment. You would prob
ably have a woolen string dipped in goose fat tied around the
child's neck, the act to be performed by a married woman
who had not changed her maiden name.
Where faith is strong and the imagination is lively and
alert, cures which seem to border on the miraculous are often
effected; and this is indeed often the basis of miracles as
applied to bodily afflictions. Really, to what extent does the
medical profession believe in the virtue, power, and efficacy
of medicine? Probably the most of us are agreed on the
proposition that the rubbing is half the liniment. We once
^21
came into a doctor's office as a woman patient was leaving.
The doctor had a perplexed or annoyed look on his face. "A
serious case?" we asked. "No," he said; "there is nothing
wrong with her, only she thinks there is. I prescribed a little
sugar water for her; she feels better if she knows she is tak
ing medicine."
Probably the most innocent of these superstitious beliefs
is the efficacy attributed to charms and witchery; they have
thrown a spell over all peoples at all times. Thus we read in
ancient Latin, "Terra, Terra pestem teneto, Salus hie
maneto!" This was the Roman's charm to cure footache.
"Earth, oh Earth thou shalt hold this pest, and Health, you
here remain!" Many a jargon of words is spoken and many
a superstitious practice is indulged in to effect some simple
cure or to gain a little foreknowledge.
Here is a charm that comes from Lebanon county, take a
looking glass and go backward down the cellar steps and you
will see in the glass the form of your future spouse.^ And
really, how many people have laid a piece of wedding cake
under their pillow or have tugged at a wishbone for the same
purpose?
In another section of the state salt-cake used to be eaten.
It was made extremely salty and eaten by girls, who then
went to bed backward and without drinking. Of course the
young man of whom they dreamt was to be their future hus
band ! If you melt lead and pour it into a cup of cold water you
will discover some sign of the occupation of the same in
dividual.^
Some women are careful never to remove their wedding
rings; others again are cautious not to look at the moon over
their left shoulders. Some men carry a rabbit's foot in their
pocket to insure good luck; others wear an iron linger ring
made from a horeshoe they found with all the nails in it as a
preventive against rheumatism. And the horseshoe itself as
^Gibbons, "Pennsylvania Dutch and other Essays." Phila., 1882.
4See also Prof. Karl Knortz, "Amerikanischer Aberglaube der
Gengenwart." Leipzig, 1913.
a symbol of good luck has become proverbial. Many of these
charms and talismans were used for the purpose of curing
bodily ailments. Here are a few of them.
To cure toothache—Take a needle and stab the aching
tooth with it until you bring blood; then take vinegar and
meal and some of the blood and mix; then put this batter
in a piece of cloth and wrap it around the root of an apple
tree, wind the thread around it very tight and cover the root
with earth. To check hemorrhage—Begin at 50 and count
backward to 3, when you have come to 3 you are done. To
cure baldness—^Rub the scalp with the hemispheres of a
divided onion (this was a strong charm if the vegetable was
fresh). To cure fits—Take off the child's shirt, turning the
shirt inside out while doing so, and then burn the garment.
To destroy warts—Stick a pin through the wart and then
give the pin away, the wart will follow the pin. Wart Lore
is voluminous. To remove them rub them over with a black
snail, then impale the snail on a hawthorn tree; or fill a bag
with as many pebbles as you have warts, then throw the same
over the left shoulder; the warts will pass on to the person
who picks up the bag. Tie as many knots in a string as you
have warts, then bury the string under the eaves; as the string
rots the wart will disappear. The cures for warts are legion.
To cure whooping cough—Âs this disease was called the
"blue cough" (the one afflicted usually becomes black and blue
in the face), and acting on the principle that "like cures like,"
let the child drink from a blue glass tumbler to cure the "blue
cough"! To cure mumps—^Rub the swelling against a pig's
trough. If the patient is too ill to be taken to the pig sty, take
a chip from the trough to the house and rub it on the swelling.
To prevent accidents—Carry with you the right eye of
a wolf, and have it sewed to your right sleeve. The charms
believed in by soldiers of old to escape harm (to be "Kugelfest," "Shot-proof") are likewise legion.
To make the best cider vinegar—After the cider is put into
the barrel, call up the names of the three crossest and most
sour-tempered women in the community, and in a loud voice
utter their names into the bung hole and cork it up at once.
X23
You will have the best and the strongest vinegar in the
neighborhood.
Erysipelas was far more prevalent and more common
formerly than it is now. Everybody had erysipelas formerly,
just as everybody has tonsilities and appendicitis now; for
diseases, like fashions, have their day. According to the
dialect it is known as "wild fire." And to cure it you take three
shovelfuls of "live" coals and throw them over the patient, at
the same time whispering, "Wild fire, I drive you, chase your
self in the name of the Trinity." Erysipelas, hemorrhage,
nose-bleeding and bleeding from wounds were very common
ailments treated by charms and amulets.
To recover stolen property and to bring the thief to con
fession was another favorite theme on which to practice some
forms of magic. From the doorsill over which the thief has
passed, take three splinters in the name of the Holy Trinity.
Fasten them to a wagon wheel removed from the spindle and
through the hub pronounce this prayer, "I pray thee. Thou
Holy Trinity, to constrain the thief who has stolen my prop
erty to be stung by remorse so that he returns the article to
its rightful owner " The wheel was then replaced and fastened
and given three revolutions, after which the stolen goods were
expected to be returned.
We have been informed on good authority that this in
cantation was used ony a few years ago by a Pennsylvania
veterinary surgeon who had been robbed of some money. His
son had assisted him in turning the wheel, but without results.
Verily, how the son must have laughed up his sleeve, for he
himself was the thief! And here is another of recent date and
rather "colorful." In 1916 negroes had a picnic at Mt. Joy,
Pa., and white mothers brought their little children there
to have them kissed by the little negro boys and girls to ward
off the whooping cough which was prevalent in the neighbor
hood!
Garlic is still used as a charm against vampire bats in the
wilds of modern Bolivia and, according to legend, was used
against human vampires in medieval Hungary, although the
countries are far apart and communication between them is
124
unlikely. The malignant bats suck the blood of animals and of
human beings in the South American jungles. The natives
put strings of garlic around the necks of their cows, horses
and mules. The people of Central Europe in early times are
said to have believed in human vampires and to have hung
garlic over the beds of victims.
It is not yet a hundred years since the rural inhabitants
of North Carolina stealthily placed Bibles under the pillows
of their sleeping children to charm away the same witches
that people hanged in old Salem a hundred years before, when
they thought they had found witches in human form.
Many of our customs go back to the Dark Ages; they are
beyond doubt based on superstition. Many people still sit
up with their dead at night, because long ago our forebears
kept vigil—held a "wake" by night lest evil spirits bear the
corpse away. The hilarity, enlivened by a bottle of "schnapps"
passing back and forth over the bier, was at times gruesome.®
This ancestral belief in omens and charms seems to run
through the veins of all humanity. "The Northener listens for
the werwolf; the Eastern housewife carefully sets the head
of her bed to the north; the Southern negro sings over his
dead to charm away evil spirits; and the cattleman on the
Western Plains watches for suspicious signs in the mood of
his restless cattle."
Probably one of the strangest and yet most interesting
of all these quaint customs was that of pow-wowing, or the
use of magic formulas for the cure of certain diseases. The
word "pow-wow" is of Indian origin. In English it is "con
juring" for sickness, and means a mumbling or muttering.
The German word is "brauchen," a simple and common
word, but it is difficult to give it its proper connotation in this
connection. It comes from the Gothic "brukjan," to use, to
enjoy the usufruct thereof; the English equivalent is "to
brook," to use, to enjoy, to endure.
BJust at this writing a member of the writer's Night School class
asked to be excused in order to attend a "wake."
^25
Seemingly the custom is as old as the Germanic tongue
itself, for some of the earliest remains of Old High German
and Old Saxon poetry are the "Segensformen," i.e., set forms
for a benediction, etc. Here we have the "Hundesegen" and
"Bienensegen," formulas to cure dog bite and bee sting. These
differ but slightly from the formulas for pow-wowing and
date back to the tenth century. The art is still practiced by
people of German descent in North Carolina, and is therefore
also not peculiar to the Pennsylvania Germans alone. It is
also still practiced in certain parts of Germany.®
Pow-wowing is more of an art than these simple charms
and prescriptions of harmless, homely, and home-made
remedies and the repitition of a jargon of words; it has its
formulas and prescribed methods of application. Though
based on ancient superstition it possesses a grain of scientific
truth, for it approaches hypnotism in that the practitioner
undertakes to effect cures of various ailments of man and
beast by making certain movements with his hands and
mumbling formal cabalistic sentences. It is, we may say, more
"scientific."
The method of practice was held in great secrecy, almost
as much as any obligation a person may take in joining a
secret order. It was a subject not to be made light of or even
to be talked about. Nor was the art transmitted indiscrimi
nately, but always to one of the opposite sex; from man to
woman, and then again from woman to man. The treatment
was applied to both man and beast, and invariably for
chronic diseases only: rheumatism, sprains, skin disease,
erysipelas, sweeny, marasmus, goitre, and the like; and then
also to ease the pain from cuts, burns, bruises, and to stop
nosebleeding and blood flow. The treatment was usually given
in conjunction with some force or aspect of nature; under
the spell of the sun or the moon, or some sign of the zodiac.
Not infrequently one can write best from one's own ex
perience and observation; and so the writer feels constrained
6Kuhns, "The German and Swiss Settlements of Colonial Pennsyl
vania." Henry Hoet and Co., New York, 1901.
to admit that he remembers that when a boy, just old enough
to sit astride a horse, he was sent with an animal afflicted
with sweeny to a practitioner, who applied his treatment at
sunrise and at sunset, and always three times in succession;
one morning and two evenings, or two evenings and one
morning, and always when the sun was just peeping up be
hind the horizon or was dropping down behind it. The afflicted
part of the animal was always turned toward the sun.
The practitioner stroked the afflicted part with the flat
of his hand, beginning at the top of the horse's neck down
over the front shoulder, over the foreleg, over the hoof, and
he was sure to touch the ground. This would seem to serve
as a lightning conductor or ground wire for leading off the
devil or disease. And all the while he was muttering to him
self—^he was pow-wowing. He went three times over the
afflicted part at each treatment.
We also knew another practitioner who applied his craft
under the influence of the moon. If man or beast were afflicted
with sweeny or marasmus, both of which indicate a wasting
away of the flesh, it was self evident that the treatment in
order to be efficacious, had to be administered during the in
crease of the moon so as to get the wasting flesh to return.
If on the other hand it was a case of rheumatism, erysipelas,
or the like, it was only reasonable to apply treatment when
the moon was decreasing so that the ailment would decrease
along with it. We hapepned to know in times past four such
practitioners in a distance of six miles. They were all wellmeaning, God-fearing men who had an abiding faith in the
efficacy of their treatment.
You could give the practitioner any fee you felt like giv
ing; there was no fixed charge. To have had one would have
been against the "rules of the game," it would have been un
professional ; and worst of all it would have broken the charm
or spell. And so the treatment seemingly cost nothing, and
it was worthless.
Some of the practitioners, in addition to their pow-wow
ing, prescribed home made remedies consisting of herbs,
salves, ointments, and liniment; occasionally there was some
127
relief found, whether it resulted from the pow-wowing or the
additional medical treatment we will let others judge.
Probably Bucks county, Pennsylvania, in time, had the
Prince of Pow-wowers in the person of Abraham Wenhold
who, according to newspaper accounts, died in 1918, aged
eighty-four years. He was noted during many years for his
homely wit, his rustic philosophy, pow-wow practice, and
sharp trading tricks—^he was the delight of the countryside.
He had students in a half-dozen neighboring villages, and had
been called on to do pow-wowing in four different counties.
Sons of sick men are said to have travelled twenty-five miles
to secure his treatment for their fathers' benefit.
He learned the art from his mother; but he knew more
than she, and so he developed her instruction. Though he
was a tailor by trade he supported himself and a family of
eight children mainly by practice as a pow-wower. His
favorite ailments for treatment were consumption and warts,
while his "specialties" were rheumatism and nervous com
plaints. He was clever enough to let cancer and erysipelas
severely alone. He practiced not only on humans but also on
cattle, horses, "sheep and dogs—^pow-wowing to the bow-wows.
He treated them for colds, sore throat, stomach troubles and
such like, supplementing his practice by his medicines of
roots, barks, herbs and leaves.
He charged no fee for reasons already stated; he depended
almost entirely on the free-will offering of money, fruits and
vegetables. You could make your first visit on any day but
"repeat" visits had to be made on a Friday. An income of
$12 on a Friday was considered good business. Warts, how
ever, could be removed by mail or telephone upon his spoken
or written advice—and usually that a man rub his wart on
a woman's shoe sole and vice versa! He did not believe in
soliciting trade; it should come voluntary, even though boosted
by his friends and recommended by his patients.
Occasionally, however, pow-wowers fell into disrepute
as did this one in Lancaster county. A physician was called to
treat a child for membranous croup, for which he left
powders to be given the child every half-hour, until he came
128
again; and when he did come again he found a pow-wower
in attendance, who maintained that it was not necessary to
administer any powders; in fact the child had been given
only one dose. When the anxious mother asked the physician,
"Don't you think the child is better?" he said, after examin
ing the child, he did not think it would live two hours. It
died; and the doctor vowed that he would never again prac
tice in conjunction with pow-wowers.
On another occasion a man fell from a load of hay and
was impaled upon the prongs of a fork. A pow-wower greased
and bandaged the prongs carefully and placed the fork in
a dark room, and mumbled a few incoherent words over the
injured man—a doctor arrived in time to save the man's
life.
Some twenty years ago a pow-wow doctor in Philadelphia
gained some notoriety by being summoned before the coroner
in the case of a four-months-old child suffering from maras
mus. After two physicians had given up all hope for the child,
the mother, out of sheer desperation, took it to this powwower. He smeared the body of the child all over with mud
and prescribed a herb concoction one drop of which was to be
given the child three times daily. Its clothing he ordered to be
shaken out of the window and never to be used twice. The
childwas to be placedout of doors as soon as the sun appeared
and to be left there until the stars stood in the sky! The child
died and he was accused by the coronor of preying upon
the ignorant and foolish, and for receiving money under
false pretense, though he claimed he had no fixed charges and
guaranteed no cure.
All in all, we felt confident that those whom we knew as
practitioners were devout, pious people who believed in the
efficacy of their treatment just as much as they did in the
Apostles' Creed. They seem to look upon it as a divine gift,
like the Charism of healing in the early church.
Almost a thousand years ago, long before any Germans
ever thought of coming to America, the English king, Edward
the Confessor (1042) began "to touch" for the King's evil,
namely scrofula. This treatment was supposed to be a divine
129
gift transmitted to the royal sovereign and made effective
through his touch.
Another trait which is believed to be peculiar to Pennsyl
vania Germans is their belief in omens, portents and prognos
tications. Portents as forerunners of evil were numerous
among them and were readily believed by them. Of these,
comets seem to have inspired the greatest dread in the minds
of both young and old. A comet was likened to a flaming
sword, or to a bundle of fiery switches displaying a sign
of divine displeasure and impending punishment. It was
looked upon as a forerunner of war, pestilence and plague.
The writer still remembers as a small boy the consternation
which arose by the sudden and unexpected appearance of a comet.
The
dread which
comets
aroused
was
increased
and
strengthened by a series of strange coincidences that occurred
during the latter years of the seventeenth century, for comets
appeared just previous to the French invasion of Germany
and especially of the Palatinate, causing untold misery. It is
said that these comets were a great factor in stimulating
migration to Pennsylvania. It is not easy to realize the dread
the wonderful signs and phenomena in the sky produced,
distorted as they were by the imagination of the superstitious
observer during the first part of the eighteenth century both
in Europe and in America.
As the German peasant was of a sanguine temperament,
he was easily impressed by celestial phenomena; comets,
eclipses of the sun or of the moon and the aurora borealis
(German Nachtschein). Eclipses always portended great
calamities; pestilence, death, famine; while the aurora borealis
symbolized lakes of blood, trampled fields of grain, myriads
of lances, spears, swords, and armed hosts opposing one
another—a foreboding of war.
Of all the heavenly bodies the moon was supposed to exert
the heaviest influence."^ During the full moon snails, oysters,
TThe influence of the moon's phases is as old as German history itself.
In the times of Ariovistus the German matrons declared that it was not
the divine will that the Germans should conquer if they engaged in battle
before the new moon. Caesar's Commentaries. Bk. I, Ch. 50.
130
crabs, mussels were said to be fatter than during any other
phase of the moon. Cattle slaughtered during the increase of
the moon gave more juicy meat—it also lasted longer! But
root crops must be planted when the horns of the moon point
downward, otherwise the whole plant will turn to foliage. A
boardwalk and a shingle roof must likewise be put down in
the same sign of the moon so that the boards and the shingles
will not curl up.
Many of these prognostications, or rather superstitious
beliefs, are again thousands of years old, and are not the
inventions of the Pennsylvania Germans any more than many
other beliefs and customs are. Many of them are as old as
recorded history. The Chaldeans had their astrologers; the
Persians had magic; the Greeks had oracles and the Romans
had augurs, haruspices and soothsayers. We also read in
Lucretius; "Some birds change their harsh-toned song with
the weather, such as the generations of ancient ravens or
flocks of rooks, when they are said to call for water and rain,
or sometimes to cry for wind and breeze."® And concerning
the power of the moon, a farmer during the Roman Empire
has this to say: "I was taught by my father not to shear the
sheep nor to have my hair cut during the decrease of the
moon for fear of becoming bald."
Many people, especially in the rural communities, still be
lieve that a rooster crowing early in the evening, a ring
around the moon, the sun's rays visible in the clouds, aching
corns and bunions, noises heard from afar and ever so many
other "observations" are sure indicators of a change of
weather; and oftentimes they may be as infallible as the
weatherman's forecastings. While the goose-bone and ground
hog are proverbial weather prognosticators the wide country
over.
There are some rare and noteworthy occult books on this
•subject; chief among them is the "Seventh Book of Moses,"
supposed to contain the seals, signs, and emblems of Moses, of
Aaron, of the Israelites, and of the Egyptians. The book deals
^Lucretius, "De Eerum Natura." Bk. V 1080.
131
with the magic of second-sight, healing the sick, and spiritualand sensual auction, and with divine inspiration and mesmerio clairvoyance. It has always been considered the great
occult book.
Another noted book is "The Long Lost Friend," or book of
pow-wows. It was printed for the first time in the United
States in 1820 and has just lately been reissued. It is by John
George Hohman, necromancer, who claims that whosoever
carries this book with him is safe from all enemies, visible
or invisible, will not drown in any water nor bum in any fire,
and no unjust sentence can be passed upon him.
Still another book of note is "White and Black Art" by
Albertus Magnus, a Swabian who died at Cologne in 1280.
He was a most profound scholar, philosopher, chemist and
magician. Thomas Aquinas was one of his pupils. He was a
most prolific writer, for his writings fill twenty-one volumes i
These books, among many others, were still for sale in a
popular book store in Harrisburg, Pa., in 1925, but this fact
alone should not be taken as something unusual, for one can
see signs of spiritual mediums, and occult and metaphysical
books in the windows of many city streets.
Some of the formulas in these books were based on texts
in Holy Writ; e.g. James 5;14, 15, while others again were
based on the Gloria Patri. We remember that it was said in
our younger days that a novice in reading these books was
apt to read himself to a standstill, that is, he would come to a
point where he could not get any farther, and if he did not
know the secret to retrace his steps, he would see and feel
all sorts of creeping things—that is, the goblins would get
him, if nothing worse!
When we come to the subject of witchcraft we meet with
something very intangible, and, may we say, unprovable, but
something which has caused more ill-feeling, more quarrels,
more litigation, and more unwarranted suffering than any
other aspect of superstition the wide world over. Probably
nothing is more inconsiderate, more unjust and more worthy
of condemnation than to accuse someone else of being in
league with the Prince of the Power of Darkness, assuming
132
of course that whoever has sold his soul to him has been
given all power in heaven and on earth—and in other
places.
The literature on this subject is most voluminous; in fact,
it is immense, and dates way back to the past ages. Many of
the world's most learned and noted men have written and dis
coursed on this subject. And so the belief of the Pennsylvania
Germans in this old time magic of witchcraft is nothing new;
nor is it in the least original with them; it is rather the com
mon heritage of humanity. Their ancestors brought this lore
from Germany, while the immigrants from the British Isles,
contemporaneous with the Germans brought their contribu
tions, so that years ago many a quiet town in Pennsylvania
had its pow-wower, witch, and witch doctor.
There are any number of witchcraft cases to be found in
all the counties in the eastern part of the state; it is impos
sible to give anything like a list. Some cases are matters of
court records; there are charges and counter charges, hear
ings before magistrates and justices of the peace, and court
trials.
The only witchcraft trial in the Province of Pennsylvania
occurred before the Council, previous to the organization of
the Provincial Court, on December 27, 1683.® This was almost
a half-century before there was a class of people known as
the Pennsylvania Germans. Cases of more recent date have
also been found elsewhere. In 1906 such a trial took place at
Kaiserslautern, South Germany. A witch doctor had been
engaged to find the witch that seemingly tortured a neighbor's
horse. So the "doctor" entered the stable at the dead of night
and fixed a crucifix with two burning candles at the horse's
head; then he wrote some mysterious letters on the wall with
consecrated chalk and drew a magic circle around himself,
after which he opened his book and started incantations in
some unknown jargon until he shivered from the violence of
his own emotions. After three-quarters of an hour he named
9Mrs. Amelia Mott Gummere, "Witchcraft and Quakerism," Phila
delphia, 1908.
a certain woman as the witch. He was condemned to four
months imprisonment as an impostor.
In the same year, 1906, a witchcraft trial took place
in London; it was the most famous trial in the British Courts
in two centuries. A woman was accused of having obtained
money by means of "malicious witchcraft." She was sentenced
to nine months imprisonment! And as late as January, 1927,
we found this news item in a foreign newspaper: "Haltern,
Westphalia—^Frau Martha Lande died here three weeks after
her marriage because of the efforts of neighbors to drive out
the devils bewitching her. She was whipped and confined in
a dark room for ten days. Neighbors* cattle had been getting
sick as a direct result, they believed, of the devils inhabiting
Frau Lande."
The litigations, if any, were not always instituted by the
supposed sufferer from the craft of bewitchery, but very
frequently by the person accused of being a witch. The ac
cused one would resent the charge and bring suit for slander
and defamation of character. In 1905 a woman in Reading,
Pa., entered suit against a man for $20,000 on such a charge.
And in 1922 a woman in Pottstown, Pa., had a man hauled
up before a magistrate for a similar reason. She charged
that the man had spread the rumor that she was a witch and
that she had filled him with mysterious pains. A witness testi
fied that he had driven witches and devils out of the possessed
man by praying and by placing a Bible on the man's breast.
Physicians claimed it was rheumatism and not bewitchery
that ailed the man. He was made to pay a fine and to promise
not to spread any more such stories.
We will recount one more "witch" story as told by a
farmer from York County, Pa., who in 1905 tried to bring
before an alderman a case against a supposed witch. We will
give it in his own words.
"I had gone to the woods to work when a stranger appeared at the
house and asked my wife to lend him a pair of trace chains. Though
he was a stranger and my wife was averse to give him the chains she
could not resist the strange power which the man seemed to exercise
over her; and so he got the chains.
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bulletin op histoeical society of montgomeey county
"These chains were gone three days when all kinds of trouble over
took me and mine. The baby got sick, and my wife was seized with
fainting fits, and I lost my appetite and could not sleep because of the
strange noises in the house and in the bam. Both my cows became sick
and my horse became unmanageable. Even the chickens seemed to be
affected, for they stood around drooping and would not eat.
"In the morning when I would go to the garden I would find plants
and flowers torn from the ground and replanted with roots inverted and
exposed.
"I sent for a witch doctor who said he would put a spell on the
witch. The trace chains were found back in my bam the next day.
They had been returned during the night. My neighbor had been seen by
other neighbors to have them in use and to have returned them.
"Now witches have the power to change their appearance so that
those who are familiar with them cannot know them. That is exactly
what my neighbor resorted to when he came to borrow the trace chains.
I know that he is a witch and that he has 'verhexed' other neighbors.
When the traces were returned to my barn, all my troubles in the house
and on the farm ended."
This farmer was much disappointed when told by the
alderman that he had no case against his neighbor; so he
berated the law-makers of the State for not providing laws
to punish witches. Witch cases cannot stand court trial; you
cannot produce the evidence. When is a person a witch and
when not?
The counterpart to the witch is the witch doctor, who is
supposed to possess the art of breaking the spell and of bring
ing the witch to terms.
If Bucks county had the Prince of Pow-wowers, then
Berks county had the Prince of Witch Doctors, and that in
the person of Joseph Hagenman, of Reading. He died in 1905,
at the age of 73; his taking away was an occasion of mourn
ing throughout that whole region. He was undoubtedly the
most respected, the most popular and well-to-do witch doctor
in his day in the entire State. He was the high priest and
prophet of the craft.
His dingy office, we are told, was frequently crowded with
patients, many of them having come miles to seek his prayers
and potions, his charms and talismans. These persons went
to Hagenman in the utmost confidence and simplicity to get
PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN FOLK-LOBE
135
their bewitched children and livestock released from the spell
which supposedly hovered over then. And just mere medicine
would not suiRce to restore them to health and sanity. To
accomplish this it was seemingly necessary that some myster
ious talisman be hung around neck or leg, and that some
hocus pocus be performed over the subject, and mystifying
cabalistic sentences or nine days soothsaying be mumbled.
We are told, furthermore, that to see a dozen farmers'
teams in front of his house on market day was a usual sight.
These people paid good money, and thought it well invested,
and for years afterwards continued to trust in his charms. If
the patient persistently did not get well and stubbornly died—
well, that was all in the course of a lifetime. They had gone
to Hagenman, the last resort when all other efforts had
failed—and that settled it.
When he had diagnosed a case he turned to the regions of
alchemy for the cure-all charm. This was his chief stock in
trade. This charm consisted of a small canvas bag pinned at
both ends and bearing on one side the letters "I.N.R.J." and
three crosses. The letters stood for "Jesus of Nazareth, king
of the Jews," in Latin. To most people even Latin is "Greek"!
Inside of the bag was a card containing inscriptions in Greek,
Latin, German and Hebrew. This very likely was a charm
or prayer. This talisman was hung around the neck or some
other part of the body.
The ills of babies were among his specialties. Here is a
case in point. A woman took her ,baby to him and said it was
hypnotized or bewitched; so he gave her two powders, order
ing her to give them to the child when the clock on St. Paul's
Catholic Church struck six. He directed her, furthermore, to
make the sign of the cross with salt at the foot of the cradle.
To the father he gave brimstone which he was to place in a
crock, set it on fire, then strip the child of its clothing and to
hold the child as near the flames as possible without burning
it. This ordeal was to be repeated nine times. The object was
to find the witch. We are not told whether she was found or not.
This witch doctor had previously treated a young child of
the same family. In this case he gave the mother a razor which
136
she was to place under the child's pillow with the edge turned
up and then to wait for a sign. At midnight there was a sound
as if a heavy person had fallen out of bed. And this was the
sign. The next morning the woman's landlady came to the
house and complained she could not sleep. Hagenman declared
the landlady was the witch; and so the family moved out of
the house.
This witch doctor also pretended to cure animals. A
prosperous cattle dealer in the vicinity of Reading found that
his pigs were sick and that his horses and cows were "off
their feed." So he sent for Hagenman who of course declared
they were bewitched. He bored holes in their feed trough
and stuffed in something wrapped in muslin. He told the man
not to borrow or loan out anything for nine days.^® When
Hagenman came the next time he brought along some papers
containing the symbols "I.N.R.J." and nailed them up in the
stables. The cattle dealer declared that immediately after this
treatment his animals got well and that he sold as nice stock
as any dealer in the county. Indisposed cattle of other farmers
were treated by this "doctor" in a similar way.
A woman in Reading had trouble to get her bread to
raise; she at once concluded it was bewitched. So she bought
one of Hagenman's charms and placed it in the bottom of the
bread tray and the loaves immediately began to swell up and
get better—and such bread!
And so one might continue ad infinitum, but probably
enough evidence has been produced to show that, although
there are still various forms of superstition among these
people, these forms are in the main far from being original
with them, that many items of their folklore are the common
heritage of past ages, and that variant forms of superstitious
belief still exist in many parts of Europe as well as in this
country where Pennsylvania German is not known. And yet
many newspapers, especially in their Sunday editions, take
every opportunity to tell the gullible public how the Penn
sylvania Germans worship the pow-wow man, and send for
lOQrders of this kind "were very eomiuon.
I37
the witch doctor, and how they believe in fortune tellers and
all sorts of foolish superstitions.
Such beliefs are prevalent among many peoples; even the
highly educated have their pet superstitious beliefs as well
as the "Dumb Dutch." There is far more of the debased kind
of superstition in the heart of many a city than there is in
the whole Pennsylvania German country. Charlatans, fortune
tellers, clairvoyants, and spiritualistic mediums and other
frauds still thrive, without number, upon the gullibility of the
educated as well as of the supposedly ignorant.
The practice of witchcraft among the Pennsylvania Ger
mans never came within reach of the fanatic cruelty once so
prevalent in parts of Europe, and which gave Salem, Massa
chusetts, such an unenviable notoriety in American history,
seemingly a blot in the escutcheon of that state for all time.
They never burned any witches,^ nor have they even hanged
any.
It is to be expected that with the diffusion of knowledge
and of general enlightenment many superstitious beliefs and
practices will disappear. But it is also probable that many of
them which have endured for thousands of years through all
the varying forms of government and religion, which have
shaken civilization from its very foundations, will continue
for all time to come, for man*s belief in the supernatural will
never wholly vanish from the earth. In the saecula saecularum
man will still believe with Hamlet that the earth hath bubbles
and that these are of them, and that "there are more things in
heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
^No witches were burned at Salem, Mass., in spite of the popular
superstition to that effect. Ed.
"They Have Not Died"
Tribute to Annie Jarrett Reed and
Willoughby H. Reed
By Franklin A. Stickler
Mr. President, Members and Friends of the Historical
Society of Montgomery County:
When one day in the closing years of the Nineteenth Cen
tury there came into my office in the DeKalb Street Station of
the Pennsylvania Railroad an unassuming, pleasant faced,
mild mannered and soft spoken gentlemen who introduced him
self as Dr. W. H. Reed and his errand as seeking information
relative to a proposed trip Mrs. Reed and himself .were con
templating, I do not believe that either of us realized that
that casual meeting was the entering link of what proved to
be a lasting chain of friendship, a chain to be forged link by
link throughout the years through our mutual interest in
travel, genealogy research, and the preservation of local his
torical data pertaining to Montgomery county and the Perkiomen region. This chain remained unbroken until Decem
ber 19th, 1939, when at "Will-Anna," his winter home in the
land of flowers, the final link was severed when the good
doctor was called to serve in the Great Beyond.
From that same home in Orange City, Florida, his be
loved spouse, Annie Jarrett Reed, had preceded him into the
Land of the Afternoon on February 2nd, 1936.
However, as Dickens so aptly says in Little Dorritt: "In
our journey through life we are constantly meeting the people
that are coming to meet us, from many strange places and by
many strange roads, and what it is set to us to do to them,
and what it is set to them to do to us, will all be done. You
may be sure that there are men and women already on their
•Read before the Society February 22, 1940.
138
TEIBUTE TO ANNIE JAREETT EEBD AND WILLOUGHBY H. REED
^39
road, who have their business to do with you, and who will do
it. Of a certainty they will do it."
For more than forty years it had been my privilege to
know and enjoy the personal friendship of Doctor Willoughby
H. Reed and his faithful helpmate, Annie Jarrett Reed. Dur
ing that period I assisted them in the planning of most of
their leisurely journeys in "Seeing America First" that they
both enjoyed and prized so much throughout the passing of
the years.
Notes and observations made on many of these trips are
recorded in the volume published by Dr. Reed, for personal
distribution, in 1938, an autographed copy of which I prize
very highly.
For many years, Dr. Reed and myself had also been as
sociated with each other in promoting the work of the Penn
sylvania German Society, The Perkiomen Region, the Mont
gomery County Fish, Game and Forestry Association and our
own Historical Society of Montgomery County, of which, for
many years, he was the faithful treasurer, while I have served
as Chairman of the Board of Trustees; all of these mutual in
terests further cementing more closely the ties of our personal
friendship.
During their lifetime Dr. and Mrs. Reed always gave
freely of their time, their talent, and their money, to further
the work of this Society, but their interest did not end with
their passing into the Higher Life.
Through the medium of an irrevocable trust, the income of
a fifty thousand dollar fund was given by them jointly for the
Society's use in the promotion of its general activities in the
gathering and preservation of the local history of Mont
gomery County; also various trust funds, the legacies of Dr.
Reed personally, will be made available for the Society's
publication fund. All of the above becoming a perpetual en
dowment by these donors, will always prove their best and
most lasting memorial, but in recording our appreciation of
these gifts I feel it a privilege and honor to present today the
following tribute to Annie Jarrett Reed and Willoughby H.
Reed:
140
"It singeth low in every heart,
We hear it each and all—
The song of those who answer not,
However we may call;
They throng the silence of the breast.
We see them as of yore—
The good, the true, the brave, the free
Who walk with us no more.
"Tis hard to take the burden up
When these have laid it down;
They brightened all the joys of life, ,
They softened every frown;
But, oh, 'tis good to think of them
When we are troubled sore!
Thanks be to God that such have been.
Although they are no more.
"More homelike seems the vast unknown
Since they have entered there;
To follow them were not so hard.
Wherever they may fare;
They cannot be where God is not,
On any sea or shore;
Whate'er betides, Thy love abides.
Our God, for evermore."
A few years ago it was my great privilege to stand on
the rim of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River, and in
reverent and worshipful awe and wonder feast my sight and
senses on the glorious panorama unfolded before me.
Beautiful beyond Man's description at sunrise and high
noon was this miracle in stone, this mighty chasm thirteen
miles wide and more than a mile in depth, but the marvelous
coloring and glory of the pinnacles and towers of this magnifi
cent outdoor Temple of the Divine Creator was further
heightened and intensified by the constantly changing lights
and shadows cast by the lengthening rays of the setting sun
in all its golden splendor. It was a moment for meditation and
prayer; a moment when you truly felt that "God was in His
Holy Temple and that all the earth should keep silence before
Him."
TRIBUTE TO ANNIE JARRETT REED AND WILLOUGHBY H. REED
141
As I watched the orb of day slowly sinking below the
Western Horizon I tried to visualize what unending sorrow
and desolation would be in this world of ours if the gloom
and darkness that comes with the fading light of day would
last forever. To my mind there came a mental picture of
Adam and Eve as the sun sank to rest on their first night in
Eden. A vision of what must have been the terror and dread
of our first parents as they, for the first time, beheld this
strange phenomenon of the Night.
Happily for us we know that the darkness is only for a
brief period of time, know that the self-same sun that went
to rest in the West will in the morning rise in the East with
even greater splendor and light us into a more perfect day.
So, after our friends leave us for the Silent Land, we
children of Light, while hemmed in by the darkness of a
desolate hearth, still confidently believe that the darkness is
not that of the eternal night, but that the listening ear of love
can from somewhere out of the starless night hear faint
voices, like echoes from the farther shore, assuring us that
"All's Well." Saying that like the sun they have left us only
for a bried period. "That while they lie in dust. Life's glory
dead; still from the ground there blossoms red. Life that shall
endless be."
In this spirit of Faith, Hope and Trust in the Eternal
Goodness of an all wise God, who Doeth all things well, let
us today think of our fellow members, and benefactors of the
Historical Society of Montgomery County, Annie Jarrett
Reed and Willoughby H. Reed, who have entered into the
Higher Life.
We shall greatly miss their always genial presence in our
midst, their wise, kindly and helpful counsel, their messages
of cheer and encouragement, all giving us the inspiration and
courage to climb from the valleys of unfulfilled dreams and
aspirations into the realization of the glory that crowns the
supernal hills that rim the horizon of all earthly endeavor
and hopes.
"To know them was to love them, to name them was to
praise."
142
bulletin op historical SOCrETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
Paraphrasing the words of the immortal Lincoln: "The
members of this Society will little note nor long remember
what we say here, but they will never forget what they did
here."
Other men and women will take the burdens they have
laid down, but no one can ever take from them the high place
they have achieved, and always will hold in the hearts of the
rank and file of the members of the Historical Society of
Montgomery County. To us and our successors their message
is "Sail on, and on, and on!"
In closing I know of no more fitting or finer tribute than
the noble and immortal words of O'Hara's Ode "They have not
Died":
"I tell you they have not died,
Their hands clasp yours and mine:
They are now but glorified.
They have become divine,
They live, they know, they see.
They shout with every breath:
All is Eternal Life I
There is no death!"
Willoughby Henry Reed
1856 — 1939
Dr. Willoughby H. Heed died at Deland, Florida, Decem
ber 19,1939.
Dr. Heed joined this Society in 1892, becoming at once a
life member; and this life membership seems to presage his
intimate connection with the Society, and his unfailing inter
est in its welfare, which continued throughout his long life.
From 1897 to 1937—a continuous period of forty years,
terminated only by his own wish for retirement—Dr. Heed
served the Society as Treasurer. To the usual routine of this
office, his conscientious interpretation of its duties added
some detail not usually required of a treasurer; it was at his
own solicitation, while in office, that the by-laws of the Society
were so amended so as to further safeguard its funds against
possible future mishandling; he was instrumental in securing
for the Society from the County Commissioners the annual
appropriation which has since been so important an item of
its finances; while the sum of his own contributions to the
Society, from time to time, may not be known.
His gifts to the library have been numerous; the books
alone fill many shelves; but the crowning gift made during
his lifetime is the collection of photostats, appertaining to the
present Montgomery County, of the records of the Court of
Quarter Sessions of Philadelphia County—a collection which
cost more than $1000, and is unique and invaluable.
Healizing the importance to the Society of its publication,
Dr. Heed, while chairman of its Publication Committee, per
sonally assumed the expense of doubling the size of the
BULLETIN, thus insuring the publication of many papers
which previous lack of space had regrettably postponed. But
he saw farther than this. For by his will, written in 1937, he
created a trust to be known as the Dr. Willoughby H. Heed
Book Fund, whereby the Society shall receive in perpetuiiy
the net income of $5000, "to print and issue its publications
and purchase suitable books for its library."
143
144
Nor is this all. For by the same instrument there is be
queathed to the Society "so much of my library, heirlooms,
curios, relics, family and other historical records, old papers
and other articles of a similar character as it may select or
choose;" while the net income of the residuary estate ulti
mately becomes payable to the Society, "to be used to promote
its growth and usefulness."
To a more appropriate time and to a more eloquent pen
must be left the ampler task of faithful portraying the life
history of Dr. Willoughby H. Reed. The Society wishes here
only to record with sorrow the passing of one whose sincere
personality made him the friend of all its membership; and to
acknowledge, with deep gratitude, a friendly solicitude and
generosity which never failed, but literally, goes on forever.
The Samuel F. Jarrett Fund
By the death of Dr. Reed, there becomes effective another
benefaction of which the Historical Society of Montgomery
County is the beneficiary; namely, the Samuel F. Jarrett
Fund, created by his wife, Mrs. Annie J. Reed,' through a
voluntary deed of trust executed by her, October 23, 1928.
By the terms of this perpetual trust, after the death of
both Mrs. Reed and her husband, the net income of this trust
fund, which nominally amounts to $50,000, is to be paid to the
Historical Society of Montgomery County forever.
♦See
the BULLETIN, Vol. I, No. 1, page 5.
Records from Bibles in Possession of Histori
cal Society of Montgomery County
(continued)
MR. AND MRS. JOSEPH JORDAN'S BIBDE
Marriages
Joseph Jordan Jr. and Emma Hockenberg was married at
Paterson, N. J. June 21st., 1849.
Joseph R. D—(erasure) Lida Jordan were married at
Manayunk, Phila. December 16th. 1869.
William A. Van Horn and Eva Jordan were married at
Paterson, N. J. August 22nd., 1873.
Samuel A. Kinzie and Lida J. Van Horn were married at
Bridgeport, Pa. October 15th., 1896.
Births
Joseph Jordan Jr. was born at Morristown. N.J. Febru
ary 11th., 1827.
Emma Hockenbery was bom at Sussex, N.J. April 1th.,
1828.
Lida Jordan was born at Paterson, N.J. March 16th., 1850.
Eva Jordan was born at Manchester, Conn. Septem
ber 21st., 1852.
Mabel Everett Davis was born at Manayunk, Pa. May
15th., 1871.
Emilie Laveolet Davis was born an Manayunk, Phila. No
vember 7th., 1872.
145
Lida Josephine Van Horn was born at Chicago, III. July
20th„ 1874.
Marion Everett Kinzie was born at Port Indian, Pa. Au
gust 20th., 1897.
Charles Herbert Kinzie was born at Hartford, Conn. Oc
tober 11th., 1898.
Donald Rosslyn Kinzie was born at Hartford, Conn., Au
gust 28th. 1901.
Deaths
Anna Hockenbery died at Paterson, N. J. May 3rd., 1868.
Aged 72 years.
Joseph Jordan, Sr. died at Three Rivers, Mich. Decem
ber 20th., 1875. Aged 75 years and 17 days.
• Sophia Jordan died at Price's Station, Md. October 26th.,
1888. Aged 85 years, 1 month,and 23 days.
Mabel Everett Davis died at Wissahickon, Pa. April 8th.,
1897. Aged 25 years and 11 months.
Charles Herbert Kinzie died at Hartford, Conn. July 14th.
1899. Aged 9 months., and three days.
William Hockenberry died at Augusta, N.J. April 18th.,
1838. Aged 42 years.
Marion Everett Kinzie died at Bridgeport, Pa. June 17th.,
1902. Aged 4 years, and 10 months.
Col. Joseph Jordan died at Bridgeport, Pa. Nov. 25th.,
1903. Aged 76 years, 9 months and 14 days.
William A. Van Horn died at Bridgeport, Pa. December 4,
1911. Aged 63 years.
Emma Everett Jordan died at Bridgeport, Pa. June 8th.,
1917. Aged 89 years and 2 mo.
Garrett I. H. Bell departed this life November the 21st.,
1873. Aged 54 years, 3 months and 24 days.
BIBLE RECORDS
147
Catharine Van Horn departed this life March 15th., 1876.
Aged 59 years, 6 months and 12 days.
I
Ann Salyer departed this life, March 15th., 1879. Aged 87
years, 8 months and 4 days.
Marriages
Garret I. H. Bell was married to Ann Hopper, March 19th.,
1808.
William M. Bell was married to Mary Ann Baul, Decem
ber 25th., 1832.
Peter Van Horn was married to Catherine Bell, Decem
ber 26th., 1833.
William Winters was married to Charity Ann Bell, No
vember 4th., 1840.
Garret Bell was
July 28th., 1845.
married to
Nancy Adelia Ludlow,
Michael Salyer married Ann Bell, February 4th., 1836.
Births
Garret I. H. Bell was bom April 21st., 1784.
John H. Bell was born March 22nd., 1809.
Wiliam M. Bell was born January 31st., 1811.
Andrew A. Bell was bom January 1st., 1813.
Catherine Bell was born September 3, 1816.
Garret I. H. Bell was born July 28th., 1819.
Charity Ann Bell was bom February 25th., 1822.
Ann Hopper was bom July 11th., 1791.
Peter Van Horn was born April 10th., 1810.
David P. Van Horn was bom January 8th., 1835.
148
bulletin op historical SOCIETy OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
Garret Van Hem was born July 25th., 1836.
William Van Horn was born November 5th., 1849.
Anna Amelia Van Horn was bom June 30th., 1847.
Kate Van Horn Winters was born March 30th., 1855.
Deaths
Garret I. H. Bell died January 10th., 1830. Aged 45 years,
8 months, 19 days.
Rachel Bell died September 18th., 1833. Aged 80 years,
1 month, 23 days.
Michael Salyer died August 29th., 1859. Aged 88 years, 6
months, 29 days.
Garret Van Horn died January 19th., 1837. Aged 5 months
and 25 days.
Anna Amelia Van Horn died August 30th., 1847. Aged
2 years, 2 months.
Peter Van Horn died June 8th., 1865. Aged 55 years, 1
month, 28 days.
Copy of Letter Found in Jordan Bible
Rockhill March 29 1886.
My Grant Pairents
John Kinsey was Born November 16th. 1771
Died March 21th 1850 Aged 78 years, 4 Months and 5 days.
His wife Gatrout A. Born Alderfer was Born October 28th
1776.
Died April 18th.,1834 Aged 58 years 5 months and 19 days
My Pairents
John A. Kinsey was Born January lOth.1800
Died February 28th 1855 Aged 55 years 1 Month and 13
days My mother Anna A born Detweiler was Born Septem
ber 8th 1791 Died May 8th 1862 Aged 70 years 8 Months
BIBLB RECORDS
^49
Children
Samuel D. Kinzie was Bom March 28th 1821 Died July 10th.
1860 Aged 39 years 3 Months and 13 days His wife Maria a
Bora Kinsey was Born April 18th 1827 Died May 2th 1869
Aged 42 years and 14 days.
Henry D, Kinsey was Born July 6th.,1823
Died July 19th.,1850 Aged 27 years and 13 days His wife
Alivia a Bora Scharich was Born September 7th 1826
John D. Kinsey was Bora October 2th 1825 My wife Cath
arine a Born Lay was Born April 13th 1837
Jacob D. Kinsey was Born December 27th 1827 His wife
Susana a Bora Detweiler was Bora March 23th 1836
Enos D. Kinsey was Bora August 29th 1830 Died April
29th 1831 Aged 8 months
Catharine D. Kinsey was Born May 30th 1832 Her First
Husband Lenard D. Detwiler was born December 1th 1826
Died October 12th 1861 Aged 34 years 10 months and lldays
Her Second Husband William Johnson was Born July 17 1810
Yours
John D. Kinsey
Jordan Family Bible has typewritten in front:
"The paper of this Bible was made by Col.Joseph Jordan,
by hand on Forida Palm paper at the "Inquirer Mills" Mana-
yumk in 1865, as an experiment, at request of Harding of
Phila. Inquirer."
The wedding certificate of Peter Van Horn and Catharine
Bell, December 25th. 1833 is attached to the records.
SMITH BIBLE
Marriages
Lorenzo D Smith and Jane Supplee were joined together
in the holy bonds of Matrimony, by the Rev. James Harmer
November 10th 1842.
Lorenzo D Smith and Hannah M. Dickinson were joined
together in the holy bonds of Matrimony by the Rev. Daniel
Shields Oct. 15th 1850.
Jacob R. Yost and Josephine V Smith were joined together
in Holy Matrimony by Rev. L. D. McClintock April 27th 1876
Births
Henry Smith—April 21st 1731.
Rachel Smith—July 4th 1735.
Children
Christian Smith—July 12th 1758.
Joseph Smith—^Nov 19th 1760.
Mary Smith—Jan 7th 1763.
Henry Smith—Âpril 22nd 1765.
Rachel Smith—Dec. 25th 1767.
William Smith—May 25th 1769.
John Smith—Âug. 5th 1771.
Rachel Smith—Sept. 15th 1776.
William Smith—May 25th 1769.
Phebe Supplee—September 8 1776.
Children
Joel Smith Son of William and Phebe Smith was bom
Nov. 16th 1800.
Albert Smith son of William & Phebe Smith was bom
May 26th 1804.
Nathan S Smith son of William & Phebe Smith was born
Feb. 21st 1808.
BIBLE RECORDS
151
Lorenzo D Smith son of William & Phebe Smith was bom
Oct. 15th 1812.
Lorenzo D Smith—Oct. 15th 1812.
Jane Supplee—December 20th 1821.
Children
Josephine Virginia Smith—June 2nd 1846.
Lamartine Supplee Smith—February 13th 1848.
Births
Abraham Supplee—Âpril 1st 1748.
Margaret Supplee—-March 10th 1749.
Children
Samuel Supplee—Jan. 23rd 1775.
Phebe Supplee—Sep. 8th 1776.
Sarah Supplee—June 12th 1778.
Nathan Supplee—June 24th 1783.
Deaths
William Smith—June 3rd 1846. Age 77 years & 9 days.
Phebe Smith—^Feb. 8th 1864 aged 87 years and 5 mo.
Albert Smith—Âug. 17th 1849 age 45 year 2 mo. 22 Days.
Jane Smith wife of Lorenzo D Smith—February 21st 1848
at 11 Oclock in the evening. Age 26 years 2 months & 1 day.
Lorenzo D Smith—^Nov 8th 1879 at noon Age 67 years &
24 days.
Hannah M Smith—July 15th 1901, Aged 84 years 10
month and 4 days.
152
bulletin of HISTOEICAL society op U0I4TG0MEBY COUNTY
Nathan Smith Died April 21st 1883.
Sarah Smith—Âpril 15th 1874 Aged 95 years 10 Mo & 8
days.
John Smith—Nov. 11.1851 Aged 80 years.
Lamartine S Smith Died Sep. 3rd 1856.
Abraham Supplee—Âpril 1st 1827 Age 79 years.
Margaret Supplee—^Nov.l9th 1840 Age 91 years 8mo &
8 days.
Samuel Supplee—-March 28th 1862 Age 88 years 2 mo &
14 days.
Nathan Supplee—Feb.22nd 1871 Age 87 years and 8 Mo.
FRANCIS H. AND ANNA L. G. LUBBE BIBLE
Marriages
March 10,1853 Francis H. Lubbe and Anna Louisa Custer.
November 26, 1885 David H. Ross and Ella E. Lubbe.
June 5,1888 Wilmer F. Lubbe and Katherine E. Comer.
December 15, 1917. Frances Lubbe Ross and Irvin Corson
Poley.
Births
March 14, 1854 Herman Lubbe. (Children of Francis H.
and Anna Louisa Lubbe)
June 23, 1856 Mary A. Lubbe.
June 6,1857 Charles C. Lubbe.
September 16, 1859 Anna L. Lubbe.
July 2, 1861. Ella E. Lubbe.
October 10, 1864. Wilmer F. Lubbe.
BIBLE RECORDS
June 7, 1888 Anna Janet Ross. (Dau. of E. L. and D. H.
Ross.)
May 10,1889 Mary Pauline Lubbe. (Dau. of Wilmer F. and
E. Lubbe.)
December 2, 1890. Frances Lubbe Ross (Dau. of D. H,
and Ella Lubbe Ross.)
Anna Louisa Custer February 17, 1831.
Francis H. Lubbe April 9, 1820.
Deaths
Francis H. Lubbe January 25,1907. In the 87th. year.
Anna Louisa Custer Lubbe December 1st.,1917.
Francis Lubbe Ross Poley October 12th.,1918.
Anna Janet Ross June 11, 1888.
Mary Pauline Lubbe July 15,1889.
Herman Lubbe March 14, 1854.
Mary A. Lubbe June 23, 1856.
Anna L. Lubbe September 16,1859.
Charles C. Lubbe August 4,1879.
Wilmer F. Lubbe February 6, 1889.
Ella Lubbe Ross August 22,1933.
David H. Ross December 23, 1933.
LUKENS BIBLE
1684 the 28th.of 7th month Elizabeth Luken Born
1686 the 10th of 5th month Elase Lucken was Bom
1688 the 22 of the 12 month William Lucken was Bom
154 bulletin op historical society of MONTGOMERY COUNTY
1689 the 19th of 7th month Sarah Lucken was Born
1691 the 27th of 9th month John Lucken was Born
1693 the 18th of the 11 month Mary Lucken was Born
1696 the 30th of the 1st month Peter Lucken was Born
1698 the 25th of the 5th month Hannah Lucken was Born
1700 the 13th of 8th month Mathias Lucken was Born
1703 the 16th day of the 7th month Abraham Lucken was
Born
1705 the 3rd of 9th month Joseph Lucken was Born
1742 Mary Lucken Dyed in the Lord
1744 John Lucken Dyed in the Lord
1771 27th Day of March Susanna Lucken wife of Joseph
Lucken Departed this Life a half an hour past ten in the fournoon
JOHN JACOB AND MARY MAGDELINE ENGARD BIBLE
Jesse Engard was born November 27, 1801.
Anna Engard was born February 9, 1803.
Elizabeth Engard was born March 20, 1804.
Maria Engard was bom August 19, 1805.
Catharine Engard was born April 11, 1807.
George Engard was born September 4, 1808.
Hester Engard was born February 2, 1810.
Philip R. Engard was born June 30, 1811.
Salome Engard was bom January 13, 1813.
Samuel Engard was born September 24,1814.
Harriet Engard was born January 18, 1810. Died in birth.
BIBLE RECORDS
155
Sophia D. Engard was born October 28, 1817.
Jacob Engard was born May 20,1820. Died in infancy.
Rebecca C. Engard was born May 8, 1822.
Some records in German in back of book.
Two newspaper clippings pasted in book,—
Death of Sarah Bibighaus wife of Jacob Bibighaus and
daughter of Philip Read. Services from residence of father
in law Rev. Henry Bibighaus.
Death of Mr. Jesse Engard, buried at Whit Marsh.
JACOBY BIBLE
Mabruges
At Sycamore Grove, Conshohocken, December 9, 1856 by
the Rev. Clarke Loudon, Rev. James Martin to Catharine F.
daughter of Samuel and Susanna Jacoby.
In Norristown by the Rev. Job Halsey D.D. assisted by
the Rev. I. Weidman, Samuel D. Powel to Catharine F. Martin,
September 11, 1873.
Births
Born at Cladybeg, Armagh, Ireland James Martin, son of
Robert and Hannah Martin January 22, 1822.
Catharine F. daughter of Samuel and Susanna Jacoby was
born August 28, 1814 at Norristown.
Deaths
Died in Norristown the Rev. James Martin, February 13,
1870, aged 48 years and 22 days.
Died in Norristown, January 24, 1885 Aima Jacoby
Martin, aged twenty three years, four months.
156
Died in Norrlstown, Mrs. Susanna Jacoby, October 17,
1870, aged 82 years
Samuel Jacob died December 9th., 1844, aged 59 years, 7
months, 8 days in Plymouth township was buried at Norristown.
Samuel F. Jacoby died April 4th., 1858 aged 38 years in
Philadelphia, was buried at Montgomery Cemetery.
Mary E. wife of Samuel F. Jacoby died June 14, 1859 aged
30 years, was buried at Montgomery Cemetery.
Isabella M. Jacoby daughter of S. F. and M. E. Jacoby died
January 10,1857, aged 9 years. Buried at Montgomery Ceme
tery.
Margaret F. Jacoby, wife of G. M. Jacoby died May 16,
1873, aged 48 years buried at Montgomery Cemetery.
Mary Jacoby daughter of Samuel and Susanna Jacoby died
February 13th,, 1821 and was buried at Norristown.
Written in back of Bible:
Mary Marshall Robison was thirteen years old the eighth
of February 1895.
Hazel Clair Robison was eleven the twenty first of Novem
ber 1894.
Hortense Robison was nine the fifteenth of January 1895.
PARRY-PERRY BIBLE
Marriages
May tha 1 1826 Owen Parry and Margaret Magor.
Births
Mary Jane Parry Bom Septimber 17 1828.
Samuel Parry Bora August 10, 1831.
John M. Parry Bom January 5, 1834.
BIBLE RECORDS
157
Mabruges
On the ninth of September 1863 Sam*l 0. Perry to Carrie
B. Bush.
On twenty eight of March 1895 William McC. Rogers to
Mary Bertha Perry.
On the fourteenth day of December 1898 Albert Edward
Finn married to Cora R. Perry.
Births
Bom to Sam'l 0. Perry and Carrie B. Perry on the four
teenth of April 1865, Owen Harvey Perry.
Bora to Sam'l 0. Perry and Carrie B. Perry on the 26th of
August 1867 Mary Bertha Perry.
Bora to Sam'l 0. Perry and Carrie B. Perry. Cora Reiff
Perry on the 22d Day Of October 1869.
Born to William McC Rogers and Mary Bertha Rogers the
twentieth day of January 1896, Carrie Gladys Rogers.
Born to William McC. Rogers and Mary Bertha P. Rogers
on the 10 day of November 1900. Samuel Perry Rogers.
Bora to William McC Rogers and Mary Bertha P. Rogers
on the fifteenth day of July 1905, William Raymond Rogers.
Born to Albert Edward Finn and Cora Perry Finn on the
21st. of July, William Albert Finn, 1901.
Deaths
Died March 2, 1911 Mary J. Perry in her 83 year, written
by her brother Sam'l 0. Perry.
Died July 21, 1904 John Major Perry in his seventy first
year.
His son Earnest Perry died a short time before hfTn.
Written by S. 0. Perry.
158
bulletin of historical society op MONTGOMERY COUNTY
Died January 26, 1919 Samuel 0. Perry aged 87 years 5
months 16 days.
Owen Harvey Perry Disappeared from his boarding house
in Philadelphia on May 14, 1888. He was working in the office
of the Pa. R.R.CO. 233 South 4th St. Phila. Pa.
Newspaper clipping from the Norristown Herald, May 19,
1888, attached
Died August 22, 1916 William M. Rogers, Husband of
Bertha Perry Rogers. Aged 46 years, 5 months, 17 days.
FAMILY RECORD OF DANIEL PFLIEGER
The Family Register in the Old Pflieger
1851, July 18, Daniel Pflieger, son of Frederick Pflieger and
his wife Anna Maria; bapt. by Frederick Waage
(Rev.); sponsors Leonhardt Steinmetz and his wife
Sofia.
Children:
1.1855, May 21, b. Kamilla Pflieger, daugh. of Daniel and
Maria Anna Pflieger; sponsors John
and
his wife Lydia.
2.1857, Nov. 28, Andrew Pflieger was born; bapt. Jan. 18,
1858; sponsors was Frederick Pflieger and wife
Maria.
3.1860, Sept. 25, Andora Pflieger was born; bapt. June 3,
;
sponsors Jacob Pflieger and his wife Lenna.
4.1861, Oct. 4, Daniel Henry Pflieger was born; bapt. Nov. 2,
1862, sponsors Henry Wider and his wife Lydia.
5.1863, Aug. 16, Franklin Pflieger was born. bapt. Nov. 24,
1872; sponsors Daniel Pflieger and his wife Maria.
BIBLE RECORDS
159
6.1865, June 14, Sarah Pfiieger was bom; bapt. Nov. 24,
1872 scponsors Parents.
7.1867, July 19, Winfield Pfiieger was bora; bapt. Nov. 24,
1872; sponsors Daniel Pfiieger and wife Maria.
8.1870, June 6, Edwin Pfiieger was bora bapt. Nov. 24, 1872;
sponsors Daniel Pfiieger and wife Maria.
9.1871, Apr. 4, George Washington Pfiieger was bom; bapt.
Aug. 27,1871; sponsors the parents. George Wash
ington Pfiieger died Aug. 31, 1871.
Report of Recording Secretary
Rebecca W. Brecht
At the regular meeting of the Society held November 18, 1939, a
report was given by S. Cameron Corson of the unveiling of the Rittenhouse Marker on the Ballard Estate on Germantown Pike near Pairview
Village, June 3, 1939, and Mr. Corson was given a vote of thanks for his
untiring efforts to get this work accomplished.
The program of the afternoon consisted of a paper by Mrs. Annie
Brooke Simpson on "The Old Hughes Mill." Frederick B. Smillie, Esq.,
District Attorney of Montgomery Co., spoke on the subject, "Falsification
of Documents Including Counterfeiting."
Miss Ella Slungluff read a paper prepared by Mr. Malcolm Ganser,
subject of which was "A History of the Trinity Lutheran Church of
Norristown, Pa."
The annual meeting was held February 22, 1940, with usual
routine of reports.
Treasurer Lyman A. Kratz reported a balance in the treasury, Janu
ary 1, 1940, of $737.22.
A tribute to the memory of Dr. and Mrs. Willoughby H. Reed was
presented by Franklin A. Stickler, President of the Board of Trustees.
The following officers were elected:
President
Nelson P. Fegley, Esq.
First Vice-President
S. Cameron Corson
Second Vice-President
Third Vice-President
Charles Harper Smith
George K. Brecht, Esq.
Recording Secretary
Mrs. Rebecca W. Brecht
Corresponding Secretary
Financial Secretary
Treasurer
Miss Ella Slingluff
Miss Annie B. Molony
Lyman A. Kratz
Trustees
Franklin A. Stickler
Mrs. A. Conrad Jones
Miss Katherine Preston
H. H. Ganser
Miss Nancy P. Highley
160
REPOBTS
161
The following program was presented:
"Some Aspects of the Battle of Crooked Billet" ... Charles Harper Smith
Recitation, "The Flag," by Franklin K. Lane
Miss Lillian Linsenberg
"Flags and Flag Making," accompanied by a display of flags of all
nations
John C. Dettra
Report of Corresponding Secretary
Ella Slinglupp
NEW MEMBERS
Herbert T. Ballard, Jr.
P. Lewis Barroll
Mrs. G. C. Kuemmerle
Leonard T. Beale
Daniel E. Biddle
Thomas Brownback
Mrs. Edward M. Cheston
Dr. Donald MacFarlan
Van Antwerp Lea
Morris Cheston
Mrs. W. E. Markley
George P. Millington
Mrs. George P. Millington
Andrew Morgan
Ralph Morgan
Radclifle Cheston, Jr.
Miss Josephine Clemmer
John Pennypacker
James Cheston, Jr.
Mrs. Laura R. Cook
John DeAngeli
Mrs. John DeAngeli
William W. Doughten
Mrs. William W. Doughten
Mrs. J. Cheston Morris
Pottstown Historical Society
Francis Butler Reeves, Jr.
Ross Y. Rile
W. Morrow Roosevelt
Mrs. Margaret Evans
Theodore E. Seelye
Mrs. Theodore E. Seelye
Paul N. Shellenberger
Percival E. Foerderer
Frederick B. Smillie
Mrs. Percival E. Foerderer
Mrs. Frederick B. Smillie
Mrs. Charles M. Stuard
John Lewis Evans
Reginald D. Forbes
Mrs. Reginald D. Forbes
H. Hallman Fox
Miss Edith Hall
Jeremiah H. Sullivan, Jr.
Mrs. Jeremiah H. Sullivan, Jr.
Miss Jane Supplee
Ernest E. Heim
Roland L. Taylor
Irvin P. Teany
Samuel H. High
Miss Ethel Thomas
C. Jared Ingersoll
Mrs. Edward Ingersoll
Wm. E. Wills
William H. Hart
J. Ira Ereider
Ursinus College Library
102 BULLETIN OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
DEATHS
Dr. W. H. Reed
Jerome G. Sheas
RESIGNATIONS
Mrs. D. A. Bertolette
Francis Beyer
Miss A. May Gougler
Rev. H. R. Gummy
Mrs. Harry J. McCormick
(Margaret Williamson)
Report of Librarian
Emily K. Preston
The following books have been added to the library since the last
issue of the Bulletin:
Memoirs—Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture, Vol. IV.
Enjine! Enjine!—Â Story of Fire Protection, by K. H. Dunshee.
Our Country, Its Dangers and Its Destiny, by W. H. Burleigh.
Congressional History of Berks (Pa.) District, 1789-1939, by B. A. Fryer.
New Historical Atlas of Berks County, Pa., 1876.
Denmark. Book of Views.
The Planting of Civilization in Western Pennsylvania, by S. J. &
E. H. Buck.
Antique Collector's Guide and Reference Handbook.
Wentz. A Record of Some Descendants of Peter Wentz, The Immigrant,
by Helen Wentz and Bertha Earnhart.
Some Colonial Mansions and Those Who Lived in Them, by Thomas
Allen Glenn.
The First Printers and Their Books.
Inventory of the County Archives of Pennsylvania (Delaware Co.)
The Colonial Society of Pennsylvania, Charter, Constitution, By-Laws,
Officers, Committees, Members, etc.
In pamphlet form:
The Only Franklin in Franklin's College, by. J. Bennett Nolan.
Standard Pressed Steel Company.
REPORTS
163
Manuscript
A collection of Tombstone Records from church and family burial
grounds, compiled by Edward W. Hocker, are as follows:
Old Goshenhoppen Lutheran and Reformed Church; Towamencin Mennonite Church; Plain (Mennonite) Church, near Lansdale; Methacton Mennonite Church; Tennis Family; Christ Lutheran Church,
Mainland; Christ (Indian Creek) Reformed Church; Emmanuel
(Leidjr's) Reformed Church; Indianfield Lutheran Church; St.
James Lutheran, Limerick; Evangelical, Limerick; Spiritualist,
Limerick; Abington Presbyterian Church; Methodist Church, Hatboro; Wentz's Reformed Church; St. Peter's (Yellow) Church,
North Wales; Augustus Lutheran Church, Trappe; St. Luke's Re
formed Church, Trappe; Boehm's Reformed Church, Blue Bell;
Upper Dublin Lutheran Church; Upper Dublin Church of the
Brethren; Whitemarsh Union Church; Southampton Baptist Church
(Bucks Co.); Dutch Reformed Church, Churchville (Bucks Co.);
Beechwood Cemetery, Hulmeville (Bucks Co.); Neshaminy M. E.
(Bucks Co.); Trinity Church, Oxford; Lower Dublin (Pennypack)
Baptist Church; and the following in Germantown: Market Square
Presbyterian Church; Lower Burying Ground; St. Luke's Episcopal
Church; Mennonite Church; Church of the Brethren; St. Michael's
Lutheran Church.
The Historical Society of Montgomery County has for
its object the preservation of the civil, political and religious
history of the county, as well as the promotion of the study
of history. The building up of a library for historical
research has been materially aided in the past by donations
of family, church and graveyard records; letters, diaries
and other manuscript material. Valuable files of newspapers
have also been contributed. This public-spirited support has
been highly appreciated and is earnestly desired for the
future.
Membership in the Society is open to all interested per
sons, whether residents of the county or not, and all such
persons are invited to have their names proposed at any
meeting. The annual dues are $2.00; life membership,
$50.00. Every member is entitled to a copy of each issue of
The Bulletin free.
Historical Hall, 18 East Penn Street, Norristown, with
its library and museum, is open for visitors each week day
from 10 to 12 A.M. and 1 to 4 P.M., except Saturday after
noon. The material in the library may be freely consulted
during these hours, but no book may be taken from the
building.
To Our Friends
Our Society needs funds for the furthering of its work, its expansion,
its growth and development. This can very nicely be done through
bequests from members and friends in the disposition of their estates.
The Society needs more funds in investments placed at interest; the
income arising therefrom would give the Society an annual return to
meet its needs. Following is a form that could be used in the making
of wills:
I
HEREBY
GIVE
AND BEQUEATH
TO
THE
HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY,
PENNSYLVANIA, THE SUM OP
DOLLARS ($
)

historical 50ciety - Historical Society of Montgomery County, PA

Transcription

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