CHAPTER XII.

MIDDLETOWN — NEWTOWN — WRIGHTSTOWN.

THE intelligent student of history cannot fail to observe an intimate connection between the topography of a country and the progress of civilization. Without referring to any one of the innumerable instances in European and oriental countries illustrative of this, it may be stated that every river from the St. Lawrence to the Mississippi has been a highway of primary importance in the settlement and development of this continent. Thus is equally true of the numerous tributary streams that comprise a great river system. They converge in their progress to the sea, and enter it by a single channel, but this order is reversed in the process of populating a new country. The tide of colonization advances with the main artery, but at every point of divergence of a smaller stream immigration receives an impetus in a different direction. And thus, while the main body of settlers established themselves as near the Delaware as circumstances would permit, the valleys of the Schuylkill, the Perkiomen, and the Neshaminy were successively peopled at a contemporary period.

The last-named stream is the largest in Bucks county, and drains more than one-third of its area. Its course is exceedingly tortuous and not infrequently marked by rugged hills, although the slope of the country is generally gradual. This is particularly the case in the southern interior section of the county, southward from Buckingham township, in the region comprehended between the Neshaminy and the watershed which defines the sources of streams flowing eastward toward the Delaware. The surface is gently undulating, the soil fertile, and the aspect of the country as a whole most agreeable. Local roads are numerous and usually in good repair. Villages do not occur with as much frequency as in other localities, but in size, importance, and business enterprise compare favorably with those of any other part of the county. If the first settlers of two centuries ago could appreciate natural beauty and material resources as keenly as their descendants of the present day, it is not surprising that they turned their steps toward the eastern bank of the noble stream that divides southern Bucks county.

MIDDLETOWN, at the time of Holme’s survey, was apportioned among upwards of thirty landowners, some of whom never resided within its boundaries. The tract of George White adjoined the Bristol line and the creek, and thence, in regular order, were the surveys of John White, Richard Amor, William Carter, Henry Paxson, Henry Paulin, Edward Samway, William Wiggins, Francis Dove, Richard Davis, ----- Wood, John Towne, Nicholas Walne, John Scarborough, Richard Thatcher, ----- Hurst, James Dilworth, Thomas Stackhouse, Sr., Thomas Stackhouse, Robert Heaton, ----- Bond, Alexander Giles, Robert Holdgate, ----- Croasdale, Thomas Constable, and Walter Bridgeman, whose lands adjoined the creek, and Thomas Marle, William Paxson, James Paxson, Jonathan Fleckne, Joshua Boar, William Brian, and Robert Carter, whose lands were some distance inland. But little is known regarding the individual characteristics of the first settlers. After the lapse of two hundred years even traditional information is meagre. Among those who arrived in the province prior to William Penn in 1682 were Richard Amor, of Buckleberry, Berkshire, and Henry Paxson, of Slow, Oxford. The latter was severely afflicted in the death of his wife, son, and brother, a daughter only surviving to reach their home beyond the sea. Among the Welcome passengers were Nicholas Walne, of Yorkshire, and a family of three children. He was a member of the first assembly, and in that capacity affixed his signature to the great charter. He was also a zealous Friend and prominent in county affairs. Thomas Croasdale and Thomas Stackhouse, of Yorkshire, were also among the one hundred immigrants who accompanied Penn. James Dilworth arrived from Thornbury, in Lancashire, August 22, 1682. David Davis, one of the first surgeons in the county, located in Middletown in 1683, and died three years later. John Scarborough settled there in 1682 with his son John, a young man. He returned to England two years later to bring his family, but as his wife was not a Friend and did not wish to accompany him, he thought it best to yield to her wishes rather than engage in the diplomacy necessary to change them. John Scarborough, Jr., thus succeeded to the property of his father in this country. Thomas Langhorne, of Westmoreland, arrived in 1684. He was an "eminent preacher," member of the first and subsequent assemblies, and the father of Jeremiah Langhorne, an eminent jurist and one of the chief-justices of the province. He owned extensive tracts of land in the central part of the county and on the Lehigh. His country-seat, known as Langhorne park, comprised eight hundred acres and was situated on the Durham road near Attleborough. The mansion was located near the old road leading from Philadelphia to Trenton. It descended from the original proprietor to Thomas Biles, his nephew, but has long since gone out of the possession of the family. William Carter was another prominent resident of the township in the earlier years of its history. He was successively alderman and mayor of Philadelphia, having been elected to the latter position in 1711. Upon the expiration of his official incumbency, he retired to his estates in Middletown. The celebrity of Gilbert Hicks is of a less enviable character, he was high sheriff of the county in 1776 and an ardent tory. Even after the declaration of independence had been promulgated he proclaimed the opening of court in the name of the king. This offended the patriotic citizens beyond measure. A large number of people assembled at Newtown, then the county-seat, on the first day of the session. Hicks was then living at Four Lanes’ Ends and had sufficient discretion to remain at his home. A number of his friends mingled with the crowd to discover the drift of their deliberations, while a negro slave was mounted on a fleet horse to apprise him of the result. When it was learned that the popular indignation was such as to endanger his life the negro started for home with this intelligence as fast as be could go. When his object became apparent several horsemen started in hot pursuit, but failed to overtake him. It is said that Hicks was secreted in the garret of a neighbor for several days, but finally made his escape to Nova Scotia, when the British government rewarded his loyalty with a gift of land and an annual pension. The house built by him in 1763 at Attleborough was subsequently used as a hospital in the revolution. A number of corpses were buried in the adjoining common in the winter, and as it was impossible to dig the graves a proper depth, it is related that the emanations from these graves in the succeeding summer were so offensive as to require their filling up with ground. John Cutler, well known as a surveyor, and employed in that capacity by the Penns, arrived at Philadelphia October 31, 1685, and afterward made his home in Middletown.

The township’s name, Middletown, which has lost its early significance, was given by virtue of its location midway between the river farms and those farther inland. The territory was known as "Middle township," and "Middle lots," until some time in the last century, when the present designation gradually came into use. It was applied in 1692, however; and the boundaries were thus described in the report of the jury which met at Neshaminy meeting-house in September of that year: "The middle township, called Middletown, to begin at the upper end of Robert Hall’s land, and so up Neshaminah to Newtown, and from thence to take in the lands of John Hough, Jonathan Graife, the Paxsons, and Jonathan Smith’s land, and so to take in the back part of White’s land, and by these lands to the place of beginning," comprising an area of more than twelve thousand five hundred acres. The population was one thousand six hundred and sixty-three in 1810; one thousand eight hundred and ninety-one in 1820; two thousand one hundred and seventy-eight in 1830; two thousand one hundred and twenty-four in 1840; two thousand two hundred and twenty-three in 1850; two thousand two hundred and sixty-five in 1860; two thousand three hundred and sixty in 1870; one thousand three hundred and sixty in 1880. This apparently remarkable decrease in the last decade is explained by the exclusion of Langhorne and Hulmeville in 1880 from the township census. The population of the former at that time was five hundred and eighty-eight; of the latter, three hundred and seventy-six.

Langhorne is the largest and most important. Its earliest name was Four Lanes’ Ends, derived from the fact that the Durham road was here intersected by that from Philadelphia to Trenton. This was changed to Attleborough in 1809, where the post-office was established. And when the officials of the Bound-Brook railroad established a station under the name of Langhorne, that name was forthwith applied to the village also. This last change occurred in 1877, and the present name will probably be permanent. The earliest settlers at this point were Abraham and Christian Vanhorne and William Huddleston. The Vanhornes built a portion of the hotel as it stands at present. This was then a small hipped-roof, brick and stone house with log kitchen attached. It was here that the first store in the place, and north of Bristol probably, was opened in 1732 by Joseph Richardson. He came from Healaugh, England, in 1724, and his worldly possessions then consisted of one groat, a small bundle of clothes, and a flail. With the latter he presented himself to William Paxson, and secured work at threshing all the winter. He married Paxson’s daughter in 1732, and then removed to Four Lanes’ Ends. In 1738 he built the stone and brick house opposite the hotel and removed his store to the southeast room, an apartment about twelve feet square. This house was two years in building, and it is said that all the wood work was carved by hand. It was considered a fine house when finished, and is today one of the most substantial in the town. Among other old buildings is that of Mr. Minster, which was built in 1763 by Gilbert Hicks; the Standard building, recently removed, which was built in 1782; and Kirk’s store building, which bears the date 1802. Attleborough was an important point on the stage route from Philadelphia. After a jaunt of twenty-one miles from the city travellers stopped here for breakfast. The growth of the town was not rapid. It was a mere straggling hamlet at the beginning of the century, and first attracted population as a desirable residence. For healthfulness the location is unsurpassed. The village is situated on a level area at the summit of Edge hill, and from this elevation commands a fine view of the surrounding country. The population is composed largely of retired farmers, and hence the appearance of the town indicates wealth. It presents little in the way of manufacturing enterprise, and does not possess more than local business importance. When Joseph Richardson kept store, the people came thither from Durham; now they go from Langhorne to the city. The People’s National Bank was organized July 21, 1883, with John Wildman president, Gove Mitchell cashier, Pierson Mitchell, J.W. Gilliam, C. Watson Spenser, I.W. Gearhart, G.W. Comfort, John Johnson, Alfred Johnson, and Henry W. Watson directors. The first meeting to consider the subject was held April 8, 1883. The bank was incorporated October 24, 1883, with a capital of fifty thousand dollars. It has been a great convenience to the people, and so far quite successful in its workings.

The town was incorporated in 1874. The borough council, consisting of H.G. Wells, J.H. Harding, J.B. Candy, J.R. Hibbs, E.C. Neeld, and J.W. Newbold, met for the first time February 19, 1875. John Wildman was the first burgess. The efforts of the borough officers have resulted in preserving the regularity of the streets, securing adequate protection in case of fires, and promoting those objects for which local government is usually designed.

It is probable that important changes will occur within the next decade in the appearance of Langhorne hill. The Langhorne Improvement Company, incorporated in 1886, originated with Messrs. Samuel C. Eastburn and Henry W. Watson, who secured options for the purchase of several large farms on the southern slope of Edge hill on both sides of the railroad at Langhorne station. The company was organized in January, 1886, and negotiations for the purchase of four hundred and fifteen acres of land were forthwith consummated. In the year that has since elapsed, between four and five miles of streets have been laid out, planted with trees, and partially graded. A number of houses have been built, and others are in course of erection. An abundance of pure water is supplied from springs in the vicinity by the Langhorne Spring Water Company. The water is forced by powerful engines to a reservoir, having a capacity of forty thousand gallons at the top of a massive stone tower fifty-four feet high, with walls five feet thick, twenty-five in diameter at the top, and thirty-three at the base, whence it is distributed to all parts of the town, and the town that is to be. Besides Messrs. Eastburn and Watson (the former of whom is secretary and superintendent of both corporations), the principal promoters of this enterprise are Messrs. George S. Graham, D. Newlin Fell, Charles Hill, Thomas Harris, Benjamin Taylor, and Charles W. Sharpless.

Friends’ meetings were first established at Middletown in 1682, and held at the houses of Nicholas Walne, John Otter, and Robert Hall. The first meeting-house was built in 1690, near Neshaminy creek, a mile west of Langhorne, whither it was removed in l734, the present house in the town being the third. Both branches of the society are represented here. An important adjunct of the society, a Friends’ school for girls, was conducted here for some years. It was established by the "Middletown Boarding School Association" in 1835, but was suspended for a time and passed out of possession of the original owners. Israel J. Graham conducted it with great success from 1862 to 1867, when the property known as Bellevue Institute was purchased by William T. Seal. It was bought in 1882 by Mr. A.D. Bytes, who has converted it into a summer boarding-house. The school was widely patronized during Mr. Graham’s management.

The Methodist church edifice was built in 1829 and enlarged in 1852. The first class was formed in 1806 by Reverends James Akens and Samuel Harvey. William Bailey was one of the most active of the first members. The old Attleborough circuit was formed after Bristol became a station, and embraced a large section of country. Orionto Lodge, No. 177, I.O.O.F., was instituted April 20, 1846, with Isaac C. Briggs, N.G., William Krumback, V.G., Benjamin T. Roue, Sec., and Israel G. Hibbs, Treas. Present membership, seventy-five. A hall is in course of erection at an estimated cost of nine thousand dollars.

Sergeant Hugh A. Martindell Post, No. 366, G.A.R., was instituted August 18, 1883, with the following members: Oscar Jacoby, Alfred Marple, P.E. Williamson, P.M. Minster, William Robbins, J.R. Hibbs, S.A. Bushnell, S.B. Mott, J.H. Williams, Lyman Johnson, George Tomlinson, Thomas Simms, John Dyer, Benjamin Stradling, Martin Johnson, J.K. Delany, Joseph Milner, Albertis Eagle, J.J. Leach, H.C. Hellings, Christian Schlitt, and S.H. Hackett.

Hulmeville is situated on the east bank of Neshaminy creek, about a mile from Langhorne station. Its earliest name was Milford, which was changed in 1809 for the opening of a post-office, for which the present name was adopted. The town was laid out in 1799 and 1803, and incorporated in 1872. It was provided in the charter that the selling of intoxicating drinks should be forever prohibited, but this clause was declared unconstitutional. The town continues as a part of the borough as far as schools are concerned, so that the principal exercise of its corporate functions is the control of the streets. There was a grist-mill near the site of Mr. Silas Barkley’s as early as 1725. John Hulme became proprietor in 1795, and from his efforts the town derived its early impetus. He established shops, factories, and a bank, the first in the county. He became a member of the legislature and was otherwise prominent in political affairs. At the time of his death (1817), the town of which he was the founder was the most active and prosperous in the southern part of the county. But it possesses no other advantage than the water-power afforded by the creek, and other places which were insignificant at the time when it was prosperous have now derived such importance from railroad facilities as to far exceed it in size. It still possesses to a limited extent the elements of prosperous advancement. There are three industrial establishments, of which the oldest, Middlesex mills, is operated by John Garsed. The factory consists of a stone building one hundred and four by fifty-two feet in dimensions, containing two full sets of machinery for the manufacture of cotton yarns. Ferdinand Reitz’s haircloth manufactory, one of five similar establishments in this country, was removed to this place from Philadelphia in 1884. The plant consists of twenty-two automatic looms. The raw material is imported from Russia by way of England, and the product is used for upholstery purposes. The mill of Markgraf & Henry, manufacturers of raw silk and Turcoman curtains, was first operated in 1885. Twenty-two hand looms, chenille cutters, etc., comprise the machinery.

Neshaminy Lodge, No. 422, I.O.O.F., was instituted January 20, 1851, with John P. Thompson, N.G., Jacob H. Goforth, V.G., James H. Edams, Sec., William A. Ridge, A.S., Henry O. Sheetz, Treas. Present membership, two hundred and thirteen.

Hulmeville Encampment, No. 223, I.O.O.F., was instituted February 17, 1872, with Hugh B. Webster, C.P., James R. Edams, H.P., Andrew J. Brown, S.W., John Foster, J.W., William P. Tilton, Sec., Joseph Bunting, Treas. Metamora Lodge, No. 136, K. of P., was instituted with eleven members, and Hulmeville Division, No. 122, Sons of Temperance, with twenty-six members.

Grace Protestant Episcopal church was established as a mission by Reverend J.W. Ridgeley, of Bristol. Among the most active of its original members were William Johnson, George Harrison, Esther Rodman, G.W. Rue, and Elizabeth Gill. Reverends W.G.P. Brinckloe, W.M. Jarrett, John G. Furey, and John A. Jerome have been the rectors within recent years. The present membership is fifty-seven. The Methodist Episcopal church edifice was built in 1844.

Oxford Valley, a post village in the southeastern part of Middletown, presents no feature of special importance.

NEWTOWN was probably the only township regularly laid out and entirely disposed of to purchasers prior to the publication of Holme’s map in 1684. William Penn’s favorite theory of promoting settlements and encouraging improvement by laying out townsteads is nowhere more fully exemplified than in this instance. In one of the articles of agreement between the proprietor and purchasers, it was provided that they should be allowed to form a township when the amount of land jointly owned should aggregate five or ten thousand acres. In the case of Newtown, probably the only instance in which this provision was fully carried out, the location was first selected, then the purchase was made, and lastly the survey, ten per centum being allowed for the townstead. Sixteen wedge-shaped farms were laid out, varying in area from two hundred to seven hundred acres, and in length from three-fourths to two and one-half miles. Richard Price was the owner of the largest, which stretched across the Middletown border; the land of Thomas Rowland adjoined this, being separated from it by Newtown creek; thence in regular order were the tracts of John Rowland, Eli Braber, Thomas Revel, Christopher Taylor, William Bennet, "Governor’s," Arthur Cook, John Otter, Jonathan Eldrey, Abraham Wharley, Benjamin Roberts, Shadrach Walley, William Sneed, and Israel Taylor, "to the place of beginning," viz., Richard Price’s, at the corner of Lower Makefield, Middletown, and Newtown. Scarcely anything is known concerning these original owners of the soil. It seems evident that they must have coincided with Penn in his plans regarding the new experiment in town-founding. Christopher Taylor was a Yorkshire Puritan until 1652, when he became a Friend and endured severe persecution for the zeal with which he defended that sect. He lived at Bristol, was a member of assembly in 1682, and his son performed the first execution in the county. William Bennet, of Hammondsworth, in Middlesex, arrived in November, 1683, and died in March, 1684. It is disputed whether he lived in Newtown, counter-evidence seeming to indicate that it was Falls instead. A comparison of John Cutler’s survey of 1702 with that of 1684 shows that "the survival of the fittest" as a principle applies to land ownership as well as to natural phenomena. Thomas Rowland’s five hundred acres had passed into possession of Stephen Twining, and William Buckman owned seven hundred acres formerly in possession of John Rowland. Shadrach Walley had absorbed the possessions of five of his former neighbors and become the proprietor of one thousand two hundred acres. Samuel Hough, Ezra Croasdale, Henry Paxson, Israel Morris, Thomas Hilborn, James Eldridge, and Mary Hayworth owned the land adjoining the Wrightstown and Upper Makefield borders. Yates is supposed to have been the father of James Yates who participated in the Indian war of 1737. He built a mill some time prior to 1728, when he sold it. William Buckman, of Billinghurst, in Sussex, settled first upon a patent of three hundred acres in Northampton, but purchased land in Newtown of Robert Webb and removed thither in 1695. The family of this name is one of the most numerously represented of the old families in the county.

The jury of 1792 referred to the township north of Middletown in one brief line, "Newtown and Wrightstown one township," thus showing that they were also known by their present names at that time. Tradition asserts that the former name was suggested by a remark of William Penn to the effect that it was the place designed for his new town. Names were not regarded as important at that early date as at present. It not infrequently occurred that when a township was erected in the early period of a county’s history it was popularly referred to as "the new township" in the absence of a more appropriate designation, and in this case temporary usage may have crystallized into permanence without disturbing the general indifference on the subject. The area of Newtown is about seven thousand three hundred acres. Population, in 1810, nine hundred and eighty-two; in 1820, one thousand and sixty; in 1830, one thousand three hundred and forty-four; in 1840, one thousand four hundred and forty; in 1850, eight hundred and forty-two; in 1860, one thousand; in 1870, nine hundred and eighty-three; in 1880, nine hundred and seventy.

The most important town in this section of country in point of historical associations, religious and educational advantages, and business and industrial interests is Newtown. With the possible exception of Bristol, it is the oldest in the county, and has probably borne its present name longer than any other. It is said that the first house was built by Penn’s personal orders at the corner of State and Mercer streets, and that Cornelius Spring was living there in 1692; although he may not have been the first inhabitant, he was the only one at that time. Under the conditions established by the survey of the townstead and adjacent farms, it would have been almost impossible for the town not to have come into existence. A number of roads, at present numbering eleven, were opened on the dividing lines between the farms, necessarily converging toward the town-plot in the center. The road to Bristol was laid out in 1693, this being the first link in the great Durham road. A second outlet to the river, by way of Dolington, was opened in 1723, and a third in 1724 to the falls. The village at that time consisted of some eight or ten log-houses. It derived a considerable impetus from the removal of the county-seat thither from Bristol in 1725. The center of population of the county had by that time moved northward to the extent of requiring this change. The court-house was located on Court street, near Sullivan, the prison directly west, and the county offices on the opposite side of State street. Five acres were bought for county purposes from John Walley and laid off into six squares of equal size. This was done in 1733, and is the earliest mention of any part of the town being regularly laid off. Strickland’s lane, now known as Washington avenue, was laid out in 1784 eastward from Sycamore street. The square bounded by Washington, Liberty, Jefferson, and State streets was laid off by Joseph Archambault in 1835. The streets in regular order from east to west are Lincoln, Chancellor, Congress, Liberty (north of Washington), Court (south of Washington), State, and Sycamore; from north to south, Jefferson, Green, Washington avenue, Sullivan, Mercer, and Penn. Newtown became a borough by act of assembly of April 13, 1838, the officers being a chief burgess and assistant burgess, elected annually, and nine councilmen, three of whom are elected triennially. The borough limits excluded Lincoln and Sycamore streets and all that part of the town north of Jefferson and south of a line extending from the creek to Chancellor street, crossing the Bristol road at right angles. A considerable addition to this on all sides was made in 1882. The population in 1850 was five hundred and eighty; in 1860, six hundred and fifty-two; in 1870, eight hundred and fifty-nine; in 1880, one thousand and one.

The "Newtown common" has been the subject of much discussion, and possesses an interesting history. To encourage settlement, Penn arranged that purchasers should be allowed to locate in the townstead one-tenth as much land as they owned outside of it (the townstead was a mile square and contained six hundred and forty acres, nearly one-tenth of the area of the township). But, as the course of Newtown creek was considered too winding to be a boundary between lots, a strip of land containing forty acres was reserved on either side, known as the "common." August 16, 1716, this was conveyed to Shadrach Walley, William Buckman, and John Frost, in trust for the people of the township "for the convenience of roads, passage to ye water, and other benefits to ye said township." The only proceeding of these commissioners of which anything is known is the grant of ten acres to Thomas Mawberry, for a site to locate his shop. Whether this was intended to be a self-perpetuating trusteeship, or whether the conveyance to Walley, Buckman, and Frost was merely a matter of form, those persons died without appointing their successors or providing in any way for a succession to the trust. The common thus became a common again, in more than one sense of the word. It could not be farmed, occupied, or owned by any individual, and yet its joint ownership was distributed among so many people, liable to so many abuses and productive of so little benefit, that it became a virtual public nuisance. At this juncture of affairs, William Buckman, Francis Murray; James Hanna, Thomas Storey, William Linton, and John D. Murray were vested with authority to procure the title from the state dispose of the lands in question in such a way as to procure revenue from them, and apply the sum to the academy and schools. A patent was issued by the proper state authorities, July 8, 1796. The common was found to contain forty acres and ninety-seven perches. It was divided into fifty-five lots, all of which were sold at public auction, August 1, 1796, the titles for some being given in fee simple absolute, while ground-rents were reserved on ethers. Further legislation was rendered necessary by the failure of many of the purchasers to comply with the conditions of the sale, and in 1818, Enos Morris, Thomas Kennedy, Jacob Janney, Phineas Jenks, Joseph Worstall, and Thomas Buckman were appointed trustees of the common by act of the legislature, and under their administration the property was finally disposed of. It is probably fortunate for the regularity of the streets that the disposition of the common was thus delayed and amply discussed.

The revolutionary associations of the town are interesting. A pathetic story is told of a soldier boy, who, being sick, was obliged to remain behind his regiment, and placed with others to guard a number of persons engaged in making clothes for the continental army. They were at work in a house on State street below Washington, and he was in the garret, while the militia were dispersed at different places. The latter were obliged to retreat by a sudden attack of the tories, but the boy, from his garret window, shot several of the enemy before he himself received a mortal wound. He was buried in a vacant lot at the upper end of the town, but as no tombstone marks the spot, its exact location is not known. General Greene’s headquarters during the campaign in this state were at the Brick hotel, then known as Hinkle’s. It was from this, place that he went in 1776 to the battle of Trenton, and upon his return some days later, the prisoners were confined in the Presbyterian church. Washington stopped at the house of John Harris, across the creek, for nearly a week, and troops were quartered in the vicinity. Human bones were discovered in the church in making some alterations years ago, supposed to have been the remains of one of the prisoners buried there.

Newtown was famous a century ago for the number of its hotels. The place must have been quite a village before the revolution. It is said that five hotels were in operation at that time. The oldest of these, and the only one that is continued as a hotel, is known as the "Brick." It was owned by Joseph Walby in 1748, and leased to Amos Strickland for twenty years from that date. The tenant became proprietor before the expiration of his lease, and at his death in 1779 was succeeded by his son-in-law, Mark Hapenny. It has passed through many vicissitudes of fortune in its long career. Its most distinguished proprietor was Joseph Archambault, a native Frenchman, born at Fontainebleau in 1796; he became a ward of the empire, a page of the emperor, and one of the twelve of his attendants who were permitted to accompany him to St. Helena, of whom he was the last survivor. He was not permitted to remain with his royal master, but sent to New York in 1817, having barely attained his majority. He was successful in business, and although the quiet pursuits of the country village in which he had made his home seemed to engross his attention, he always manifested an interest in training days, and although an old man at the time of the civil war, he engaged in it as a captain and major. He died at Philadelphia in 1874.

Newtown has received quite an impetus in recent years from the opening of the Philadelphia, Newtown & New York railroad. This has given it direct communication with Philadelphia; it was opened in 1877, and although not a success financially, has done much to develop and sustain the industries and business of the town at its eastern terminus. An extensive manufactory of agricultural implements, tannery, mills, foundries, carriage works, and cigar factories are among the principal industrial establishments. The usual lines of business are well represented. Several fine business blocks have been built within recent years. If Newtown had continued as the county-seat, it might now hold the same position among the towns of the county it did at the beginning of the century. If Bucks county had been divided, its prestige and importance as the most central place in its southern division might still be unimpaired. But such speculations do not remedy the misfortunes they deplore; and in the recent industrial and business activity manifested, there is sufficient to indicate that this fact is being recognized.

The first National Bank of Newtown (No. 324) was authorized to do a banking business, March 17, 1864, with a capital of sixty thousand dollars, the original holders of which were thirty-five in number. The first charter having expired, a second was issued February 25, 1883. The bank organized March 4, 1864, with Kinsey B. Tomlinson president, and Barclay J. Smith cashier. The present officers are as follows: president, Edward Atkinson; cashier, S.C. Case; directors, Edward Atkinson, John L. Atkinson, John P. Agnew, Lewis Buckman, George W. Craven, Jonathan W. Gillam, Charles G. Knight, Niles Martin, William K. Walker. The present capital is one hundred thousand dollars; the surplus fund, equal to three-fourths of that amount, has accumulated in the main since 1878.

A number of well-sustained secret and benevolent societies are represented. Lodge No. 57, Free and Accepted Masons, was instituted March 4, 1793, with Reading Beatty, M., James Hanna, S.W., and Nicholas Wynkoop, J.W. The "Red House" was built for lodge purposes in 1796. This fraternity was disbanded in the anti-masonic agitation of 1821—30. Newtown Lodge, No. 427, was constituted November 6, 1868, with George A. Jenks, W.M., Eugene Smith, S.W., J. Miles Jamison, J.W., Lewis Buckman, T., and Owen W. Worstall, S. The members numbered fifteen. The following have been Mr. Jenks’s successors: Eugene Smith, J. Miles Jamison, John Stackhouse, Joseph Willard, Joseph B. Roberts, John T. Gilkyson, Amos W. Buckman, I. Wilson Merrick, Robert Shields, E.P. Feaster, Thomas C. Knowles, J.B. Lovett, C.S. Fetter, T.B. Scott, and Marcus Lippus.

Newtown Chapter, H.R.A.M., No. 229, was instituted September 6, 1870, with George A. Jenks, H.P., J. Miles Jamison, K., John Stackhouse, S., Samuel Reed, T., and Owen W. Worstall, S.

Siloam Lodge, No. 265, I.O.O.F., was organized November 29, 1847, with C.W. Higgs, N.G., Amos Reeder, V.G., Samuel H. Hough, S., Silas C. Bond, A.S., Joseph Harvey, Treas., G.W. Tunbrook, A. Hubbart, John Fenton, James Tomlinson, George Rigby, and John Barnesby, officers and members. Some time during the first decade of its history the stone building on State street, in which meetings are held, was built and is owned by the lodge.

Curtis Encampment, No. 77, I.O.O.F., was organized at Addisville April 10, 1848, but afterward removed to Newtown. The original officers were Howard L. Sagers, C.P., Christopher H. Leedom, H.P., Nicholas Maloy, S.W., William Hardis, Jr., J.W., Silas H. Transue, S., William Thompson, T., Edwin Knight, G., and John M. Morrison.

Northern Star Lodge, No. 224, K. of P., met for the first time, December 8, 1869, when the following persons were installed by representatives of the Grand Lodge: Palmer McMasters, V.P., Robert Shields, W.C., E.H. Blaker, V.C., M.V. Sickel, G., Joshua P. Vanartsdalen, R.S., Robert McMasters, F.S., G.W. Rutherford, B., William Copeland, I.S., and Samuel Henry, A.S.

Triumph Lodge, No. 564, Independent Order of Good Templars, was instituted March 28, 1868, with Thomas Baker, W.C.T., Jennie Buckman, W.V.S., Willett Lloyd, W.C., Alfred Blaker, Jr., W.S., Laura Rose, W.A.S., Robert B. Stockton, W.F.S., George C. Worstall, W.T., Ashbel Watson, W.M., and Lettie A. Worstall, W.D.M. This is the only lodge of this character in the county.

Newtown Lodge, No. 215, Ancient Order of United Workmen, was instituted June 30, 1885, with Samuel C. Case, R.M., W. Wallace Trego, N.W., Abram B. Harvey, S.F. Willis, G. Worstall, O., James M. Snyder, R., Harry A. Smith, F., Horace B. Hogeland, R., Edward Buckman, G., Harry C. Worstall, J.W., and Edgar P. Smith, O.W.

Northern Star Castle, No. 120, Knights of the Mystic Chain, was instituted May 26, 1886, with Frank Gurney, chaplain, H. Clay Hellings, K.C., John H. Marshall, K.V.C., John H. Cope, K.F.L., Warren G. Roberts, R.S., Israel A. Evans, A.R.S., and Thomas K. Gumper, Treas.

Of  Newtown churches, the Presbyterian was the only one in existence in the last century. The first church building was erected in 1734 on the Swamp road a mile west of the town, where several unmarked graves in the uncultivated corner of a field mark its site. This was a frame building and was sold to John Thompson. It had previously been a school-house in Wrightstown township. The second building, the walls of which are still intact, was erected in 1769. The entrance was on the south side, opposite the pulpit. There were five single pews and one double pew on each side of the pulpit, two blocks of pews in the center, a row on each side, and five pews between the two south doors— sixty-two in all. A plan of the interior in 1818 shows all the pews occupied except two, with an annual rental of six hundred and eighty-six dollars. The front seat on the left side of the middle aisle was reserved for the pastor’s family. Doctor Reading Beatty’s pew was directly opposite that of James North in the northeast corner of the church, while David McNair and James Slack sat opposite the pulpit. The stone wall of the graveyard and a number of sheds for horses were erected in 1791—92. Two stoves were purchased in 1794, prior to which innovation the room was warmed by a charcoal fire. The burial-ground was enlarged in 1796 by the purchase of two lots on the north and east. In 1800 it was arranged that this congregation should receive two-thirds of the pastor’s time and labors, instead of one-half, as formerly. Dollars and cents first appear in the financial records in 1813, supplanting pounds, shillings, and pence, the denominations formerly used. In the same year the services of the minister were divided with Solebury. The property in 1783 consisted of two lots of ground and four thousand dollars in stocks. In 1816 a fee of four dollars was expected for funeral services by the pastor, when the person deceased was not a member of the church. This was reduced one-half thirty years later. Furnaces were first used for heating the church in 1843. The lot upon which the old church building stands was purchased May 13, 1769, from Thomas Buckman and wife by Anthony Tate, of Middletown, Joseph Sackett, of Wrightstown, John Slack, of Lower Makefield, and William Thompson, of Middletown, in consideration of five shillings. Lots No. 45 and 46 of the Newtown common were purchased August 1, 1796, subject to a ground-rent of one pound, fourteen shillings forever. This was reduced to one dollar and a half in 1826, and redeemed two years later by the payment of twenty-five dollars to the trustees of the common. May 30, 1769, John Harris and wife conveyed to the above-mentioned trustees a half-acre of ground adjoining that secured from Thomas Buckman. The church was incorporated March 12, 1783, James McNair, Joseph Sackett, John Thompson, Joshua Anderson, John Burley, and Reverend James Boyd constituting the first board of trustees. The old church has frequently been repaired, particularly in 1838, 1842, 1850, 1857, and 1870. The old academy property was purchased in 1855 and used for religious purposes until Sunday, December 26, 1886. On Wednesday, twenty-ninth instant, the new stone chapel, corner of Washington avenue and Chancellor street, was dedicated with impressive ceremonies. It is one of the most substantial and handsome buildings in the vicinity, of striking architectural design, and commanding from its elevated location a view of the town and surroundings. Its interior arrangement is well adapted to the purposes of Sunday school and lecture-room. The main audience chamber is surrounded by six class-rooms and a library recess. It is finished in white and yellow pine; the windows are of stained glass, and the walls of stone. The old bell that called the congregation together in years gone by does similar duty from the belfry over the vestibule. This building has involved an expenditure approximating ten thousand dollars. Reverends A.M. Wylie, the pastor, D.C. Hanna, S.J. Milliker, E. Birdsail, G.H. Nimmo, W.K. Preston, A.J. Collom, R.H. Wright, T.H. Scott, and T.W.J. Wylie participated in the dedicatory services.

The following clergymen have been pastors of this church: Hugh Carlisle, D.D., 1743 to 1747; James Campbell, 1747 to 1759; Henry Martin, 1759 to 1769; James Boyd, 1769 to 1813; James Joice, 1813 to 1815; Alexander Boyd, 1815 to 1838; Robert D. Morris, 1835 to 1856; George Burrows, D.D., 1856 to 1859; Henry F. Lee, 1859 to 1861; S.J. Meliken, 1861 to 1866; George C. Bush, 1866 to 1876; A. McElroy Wylie, 1877.

The Newtown academy, established in 1794, was conducted under the auspices of this church for some years. It was opened on Monday, June 16, 1794, in a vacant room in the court-house. It was incorporated April 1, 1797. The trustees of the common transferred ground for the site of a building to the trustees in 1796. Its affairs reached a low ebb in 1820 and again in 1852, when all efforts at resuscitation having failed, the grounds and building were sold and the proceeds divided equally between the schools of the borough and township.

Methodism was introduced into Newtown in 1811 and 1812, when camp-meetings were held in the vicinity. It was not until 1840, however, that an organization was effected, at which time it was embraced in the Doylestown and Attleboro circuit, the existence of which dates from May 29, 1840, when it embraced Doylestown, New Hope, Pennsville, Attleboro, Newtown, Yardley, Morrisville, and Lumberville. Under this arrangement, and subsequently as a circuit and separate station, the pastors at Newtown have been as follows: 1840, C.J. Crouch, William K. Gentner; 1842, Dallas K. Lore, John Ruth; 1844, John M. Arthur, Peter Hallowell; 1845, Joseph Hand, D.L. Patterson; 1846, Joseph Hand, Alfred Cookman; 1847, George S. Quigley; 1849, John Edwards; 1850, John Edwards, W.B. Wood; 1851, M.H. Sisty, R. Owen; 1853, J. Watson, M.A. Day; 1854—56, S. Irwin; 1857, C.J. Crouch; 1858—59, Frank Egan; 1860—61, J.B. Ayars; 1862, M.A. Day, J. Todd; 1866, J.H. McLaughlin, J.L. King; 1868, S.R. Gillingham, E.C. Griffith; 1869, S.R. Gillingharn, Nathaniel Turner; 1870—71, ---- Illman; 1872, W.H. Burrell; 1873—74, G.L. Shaffer; 1875, W.C. Johnson; 1878, L.B. Brown: 1881, J.S. Cook; 1883, G.W. North; 1886, A.I. Collom. The church building was erected in 1842, Frederick Ellenger, T. Jenks, and William Davy being the most active members at that time. The erection of a second and more modern structure has been decided upon. There is also an African Methodist church in the town, of which Reverend Thomas H. Scott is pastor.

St. Luke’s Protestant Episcopal church was founded in 1832 by Reverend Greenbury W. Ridgely, rector at Bristol at that time. It became a corporate body September 7, 1836, Phineas Jenks, Garret Brown, James Worth, William Paff, R.C. Nagel, Daniel Y. Harman, Joseph Whitall, Daniel T. Jenks, Joseph Archambault, Thomas H. Buckman, Amos Vansant, Morris Buckman, and Thomas Hud being the constituent members. The church building was erected in 1832, and consecrated May 15, 1836, by the Right Reverend Henry U. Onderdonk, D.D. Mr. Ridgely, the rector, pronounced the sentence of consecration, while the bishop preached. The following persons succeeded him as rector: R.F. Burnham, 1839—41; William C. Cooley, 1841—43; O.A. Shaw, 1844; Donald Frazier, 1845; C. Wiltburger, 1545—52; W.E. Webb, 1852; William Homanan, 1856; J.N. Leadenham, 1866; J.P. Fugett, 1867; A.O. Taylor, 1870; W.S. Cochran, 1872; Abdiel Ramsey, 1874; William Davidson, 1881; J. Thompson Carpenter, 1883; Robert H. Wright, 1886.

St. Andrew’s Roman Catholic church is an outgrowth of the efforts of Father P.F. Lynch, by whom it was organized about the year 1876. Services were first held at the residence of Nicholas McGowan in the town. Principally through the exertions of Mr. Costigan, a contractor for the building of the Newtown railroad, a lot of ground on the Philadelphia pike just beyond the borough limits was secured, and a church building erected thereon the following year (1877). It is a brown-stone structure sixty by forty feet in dimensions, with a cemetery on the south side and in the rear. The pastoral residence adjoining was erected in 1884. Father Ward, the successor of Father Lynch at Bristol, included this congregation in his charge. The first pastoral appointment was made in 1881 in the person of Father William F. Meagher, whose pastorate ceased in 1884, when Reverend James Ragnery was pastor two years and eight months. Upon his resignation in 1885 the present incumbent, Reverend Hugh P. McGovern, took charge. The present numerical strength of this congregation is about three hundred.

The Friends of Newtown became a separate meeting in 1815 by indulgence of Middletown meeting. They met for worship in the abandoned court-house two years, when, in 1817, the present meeting-house was built.

WRIGHTSTOWN was peopled by Europeans years before the purchase of 1737 had extinguished the Indian title to a large part of its area. John Chapman, of Yorkshire, England, a Friend, emigrated from that place in 1684, and crossed the wilderness from Philadelphia, making his abode in a cave upon a tract of five hundred acres previously secured. This cave has now disappeared. It was situated on the right-hand side of the road leading from the meeting-house to Penn’s Park. Chapman’s house, the first in the township, is thought to have been in the immediate vicinity. William Smith came to America from Yorkshire in 1684. He first stopped for a while with Phineas Pemberton, but having purchased one hundred acres from Chapman, removed thither the same year (1684). He also owned one hundred and fifty acres extending to the Newtown line and the Neshaminy. The third settler was John Penquite, who secured three hundred acres between the Park and the Neshaminy. Part of this tract is now owned by his descendant, Mr. G.C. Blackfan. Penquite arrived in this country in September, 1683, but did not remove to Wrightstown until the next decade. The fourth settler was John Parsons, who located northwest of the Park. Garret Vansant patented land in the extreme northwestern part of the township in 1690. Richard Lumley and Robert Stuckesbury arrived in 1695, and Peter Johnson in 1697. Among other early settlers were William Lacey, from the Isle of Wight; Zebulon Heston, from New Jersey; Richard Mitchell, proprietor of the first mill; Joseph Warner, from Newcastle, Delaware; Joseph Hampton, a Scotchman; John Linton, from New England; Stephen Twining, who arrived in 1735; and John Laycock, who became a resident in 1722. The landed proprietors in 1719 were John, Abraham, and Joseph Chapman, Smith, Penquite, Parsons, Stuckesbury, Vansant, Johnson, Ambler, Trotter, Pemberton, Clark, Lumley, and Williams. Many of these family names are still numerously represented.

Wrightstown is the smallest township in the county, having an area of about five thousand acres. Its boundaries are quite regular except upon the southwest, where the Neshaminy separates it from Northampton. A very scanty strip of land on the opposite side of that stream is included in this township. Population, in 1810, five hundred and sixty-two; in 1820, six hundred and eighteen; in 1830, six hundred and sixty; in 1840, seven hundred and eight in 1850, eight hundred and twelve; in 1860, eight hundred and sixty-two; in 1870, eight hundred and thirty-three; and in 1880, seven hundred and seventy-three. It would seem that the township was so named by Phineas Pemberton, for, in a letter to Penn in 1687, he thus speaks concerning it: "The land I have in Wrightstown is twelve hundred ackers, and only one settlement upon it. I lately offered to give one hundred ackers if he would have seated there, and he has since bought one hundred at a very high price rather than go so far into the woodes. There is about five hundred ackers yet to take up in the towne. The people hereabout are much disappointed with sd Wright and his cheating tricks he played here. They think much to call it after such a runagadoe’s name. He has not been in these partes several years, therefore, desire thee to give it a name. I have sometimes called it Centertowne, because it lyes near the center of the county, as it may be supposed, and the towne is layd out w’h a center in the middle of six hundred ackers or there. abouts." This explains the origin of the name more fully than has yet been attempted. The mention of Newtown and Wrightstown in 1692 proves conclusively that both were laid out prior to that time; and Holme’s map affords additional evidence if that were necessary. The time at which they were separated for municipal purposes cannot be determined so easily. They were recognized subdivisions of the county at the time of Cutler’s survey in 1703 and as the separation of Southampton and Warminster occurred in that year, there is reason to believe that a similar change occurred with reference to Newtown and Wrightstown at the same time. An effort was made to enlarge the area of the latter in 1720 by annexing the adjacent portion of the manor of highlands, subsequently known as Upper Makefield. The citizens of Wrightstown were generally in favor of this, the reason alleged being that a road through the manor much used by them would thus be better repaired. The proposed territory to be annexed was nine hundred and thirty perches long and four hundred and seventy-four wide. The change was not effected.

Pineville, Wrightstown, and Penn’s Park are the villages of Wrightstown township. A group of thrifty pines at the upper end of the township gave to this locality the name of "The Pines," while a store with dwelling-house attached, school-house, and several others constituted the "Pinetown" of a century ago. John Thompson kept a store there before the revolution. It became Pineville in 1830, when the post-office was established with Samuel Tomlinson as postmaster. Its present population is about one hundred. Wrightstown is situated in the southern part of the township, on the old Durham road, which was opened through this section in 1723. Its site is part of the tract of John Chapman. Midway between these two places is the Anchor, one of the most famous of old-time taverns in central Bucks county. Penn’s Park, otherwise known as Pennsville, is situated about the central part of the township. The original Penn’s Park was a tract of land one mile square, surveyed and designed as a site for a town. It was laid off in 1695; but as the town was slow about coming into existence, and settlement was not so dense as to require a public park, it was divided among the land-holders, fifteen in number at that time. The village at the park consists of about twenty houses, hotel, and Methodist church. The latter was built many years ago, but this sect has not been very favorably received in the "Quaker township." The name is appropriate. Friends’ meetings have been held for two hundred years uninterruptedly. Samuel Smith says that in 1686, James Radcliffe, a noted public Friend, settled near John Chapman, "and for the ease" of these two families, a meeting was held at their houses, which was continued until 1690, when a general meeting for the county was appointed to meet at Chapman’s once a year. It was at first held on first day, but by authority of the county quarterly-meeting, the time was changed to the last fifth day of the fourth month, when, upon the death of John Chapman, the place of meeting was removed to the house of John Penquite. Here it was held until 1721, when a meeting-house was built, four acres having been given for that purpose by the Chapmans. An addition of twenty feet was built in 1735, and the present stone meeting-house was built in 1787. Bucks quarterly meeting convened here for the first time in 1735. In 1765 the monthly meeting was adjourned because it came on election day. People walked and rode horseback; there was one riding-chair in 1780, but in 1832 there were one hundred gigs, some quite expensive. The "Solemn Religious meeting" of three days’ duration to celebrate "The Providential Care of a Bountiful Creator" was continued here more than a century, and largely attended.