THE HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, CHAPTER XIV, WARMINSTER, 1703. from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time by W. W. H. Davis, A.M., 1876 and 1905* editions.. Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Donna Bluemink. dbluemink@cox.net USGENWEB NOTICE: Printing this file by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites requires permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of contents. ___________________________________________________________________________________ Transcriber's note: Liberty has been taken with numbering footnotes so as to include all footnotes from both the 1876 and 1905 editions, plus any additional text and pictures in the 1905 edition. All 1905 material will be noted with an asterisk. Note: Where names differ, the 1905 edition spelling is applied. ___________________________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER XIV WARMINSTER 1703 The twin of Southampton. One of the earliest settled. -John Rush. -John Hart. -Bartholomew Longstreth. -Henry Comly. -The Nobles. -Their family mansion. -Noble burying ground. -The Cravens. -The Yerkes family. -Thomas B. Montanye. -John Fitch. -Comes to Bucks county. -Mends clocks. -Goes west and returns. -Model of steamboat. -Floats it on Arthur Watts's dam. -Cobe Scout. A notable character. -Vansant graveyard. -Doctor William Bachelor. - The Log college. -Johnsville. -Hart's school-house. -Hartsville. -Schools. - Public inn. -Horse racing. -No grist mills. -Roads. -African and Indian school. - Earliest enumeration of inhabitants. -Present population. -First post office. - Hatboro. -John Dawson. -David Reese. -Battle of Crooked Billet. (See map in chapter XIII) Warminster (1) is the twin township of Southampton, of which lies immediately northwest and adjoining. The two elected but one constable and overseer for several years, and they were not entirely separated in their municipal administration until about 1712. On the three other sides it is bounded by Northampton, Warwick and Warrington townships, and Montgomery county, from which it is separated by public roads. It has the same limits as when originally laid out, with an area of 6,099 acres. (1) The name is probably a compound of war and minster, both of Saxon origin, the first meaning a fortress, the latter the church of a monastery. Warminster is a market town and parish in England, County Wilts, at the western extremity of Salisbury Plain, on the Willey, 21 miles W. N. W. of Salisbury. Population, 1851, 4,220. Warminster was one of the earliest townships settled, and judging from Holme's map the greater part of the land was taken up in 1684, generally in large tracts (2). Some of these land-owners were not actual residents of the township at this time, nor afterward. Of these was John Rush, connected with the early Harts by marriage, who settled in Byberry, where he lived and died. He was the ancestor of all bearing this name in Pennsylvania. He commanded a troop of horse in Cromwell's army, and after the war married Susannah Lucas, of Oxfordshire, in 1648. In 1660 he embraced the principles of the Friends, and in 1682 he immigrated to Pennsylvania with his wife and children. Himself and his whole family became Keithians in 1691, and in 1697 they joined the Baptists. John Rush died in 1699. He owned 500 acres in Byberry, and the same quantity in Warminster. (2) Landholders, in 1684: William and Mary Bingley, John Rush, Sr., John Hart, Nathaniel Allen, George Randall, James Potter, John Jones, Henry Comly, Sarah Woolman, Henry English and Abel Noble. John Hart and John Rush were probably neighbors in England, both coming from Oxfordshire, where Mr. Hart was born, at the town of Whitney [Witney*], November 16, 1651. Whitney is situated on the Windrush river, five miles above its junction with the Isis, twenty-nine miles from Oxford. There was a town there at the time of the ancient Britains, and the population is now 3,000. The church dates back to the twelfth century, and is one of the handsomest of its class in England. For several centuries it has been the seat of extensive blanket manufactories. Mr. Hart came to Pennsylvania in the latter part of the summer, or early fall, of 1682, preceding William Penn a couple of months. The 11th of October, 1681, he purchased 1,000 acres of the Proprietary for the consideration of £20 (3), and on his arrival he located 500 acres in Byberry, and the same quantity in Warminster (4). He settled on the banks of the Poquessing, [on Byberry, Philadelphia county,*]and in 1683 married Susannah, the daughter of his friend John Rush (5). Mr. Hart was a distinguished minister among Friends, but went off with George Keith, and subsequently became a Baptist. He preached to a small congregation at John Swift's, in Southampton, where he laid the foundation of the Southampton Baptist church. About 1695 Mr. Hart removed from Byberry to his tract in Warminster between the Bristol and Streets roads, adjoining Johnsville, where he lived the rest of his life, dying there, 1714. Proud says he was a man "of rank, character and reputation, and a great preacher." His eldest son, John Hart, married Eleanor Crispin, of Byberry, in 1708. On the maternal side she was a granddaughter of Thomas Holme, surveyor-general of the Province, while her paternal grandfather was William Crispin, a captain under Cromwell, an officer of the fleet of Admiral Penn, his brother-in-law, and the first appointed surveyor-general [chief justice*] of the Province, but did not live to arrive. John Hart's wife was descended, on the maternal side, from a sister of William Penn's mother. [who was Margaret Jasper, daughter of a Rotterdam merchant.*] John and Eleanor Hart had a family of ten children, whose descendants now number thousands, and are found in all the states south and west of Pennsylvania. Two of their sons reached positions of distinction; Oliver, who studied theology with William Tennent, of Freehold, New Jersey, and became a famous Baptist minister in South Carolina, and Joseph, of Warminster township, a patriot and officer of the Revolutionary army, who filled many important places in civil life. The Committee of Safety of South Carolina appointed Oliver Hart, in conjunction with [Reverend William Tennent (6), and Honorable William Drayton, to visit the western part of the state, to try and reconcile the inhabitants to the new order of things. A descendant of John Hart, Samuel Preston Moore, of Richmond, Virginia, was surgeon-general [of the Confederate army during the Civil War, and his brother, Stephen West Moore, a graduate of West Point, was inspector-general *] of Louisiana. They were both officers of the United States army before the war. The Hart homestead, in Warminster, remained in the family 170 years, descending from father to son. John Hart, the elder, was one of the first men of this state to write and publish a book. While living in Byberry, in 1692, he and Thomas Budd published an "Essay on the Subject of Oaths." We have never seen a copy of this work, and do not know that one is in existence. The Hart tract was owned by the families of Wynkoop, Twining, Kirk, Hobensack, and others. Bingley's tract lay in the southeast corner of the township, adjoining John Hart, and contained 500 acres. It probably extended southwest of the Street road. [The village of Ivyland is built on the Hart tract. The Hart mansion, the second on the site, built by John Hart the second, 1750, is still standing and in good condition. On the west end is a date stone of the following shape and inscription. The initials stand for John and Eleanor Hart, and he undoubtedly built it, as he was there in actual life, and did not die until 1763. It was wainscoted inside and the half-tone (See illustration of the Hart homestead, built 1750) (See illustration of Hart initials) illustration shows the present appearance. At the same time it was built it was probably the best house in the neighborhood. The mansion was the home of Colonel John Hart, son of Colonel Joseph Hart of Revolutionary memory, and was built, 1817, on the homestead tract, but is not owned by any member of the family. He was born April 9, 1787, died June 18, 1840. He was a prominent man, was a member of Assembly, and served an enlistment in the war of 1812-15. Two of his sons served in the Civil War: James H., a major in the First New Jersey Cavalry, was killed, and Thompson D., lieutenant-colonel of the One Hundred and Fourth Pennsylvania.*] (3) The author has the deed of William Penn to John Hart, executed 1681, at Worminghurst, conveying 1,000 acres to him.* The author is a descendant of John Hart on the maternal side (not mentioned in 1905 edition). (4) Return of survey is dated May 2, 1709. (5) There has been some confusion as to John Hart's wife, whether she was the daughter of William or John Rush. That he married Susannah Rush there is no question. As John Rush was not married until 1648, he could hardly have a son old enough to have a daughter of marriageable age in 1683. The Rushes, father, son William and wife Aurelia, with three children, came over, 1682, doubtless at the same time as John Hart and may have come in the same ship, as they lived neighbors in Oxfordshire, and it is possible he may have courted his future wife on the voyage. Joseph C. Martindale, in his "History of Byberry and Moreland," speaks of John Rush as "an elderly Friend." As there is no evidence he brought a wife with him, she may have been dead. We get our information from the Hart family papers and believe it to be correct.* (6) Rev. Tennent is not named in 1905 edition. [The following are the first three generations of the Hart family of Warminster, including the first two after their arrival in Pennsylvania: Christopher and Mary Hart of Witney, Oxfordshire, England, issue: First Generation John, born November 16, 1651, died September 1714, married Susannah, Robert, born August 1, 1655, Mary, born April 1, 1658, Joseph, born October 24, 1661, John and Susannah's issue: Second Generation John, born July 16, 1684, died March 23, 1763, married Eleanor, Thomas, Joseph, died 1714, Josiah, Mary, died 1721. John and Eleanor's issue: Third Generation John, born September 10, 1709, died June 11, 1743, Susannah, born April 20, 1711, died March 30, 1733, William, born March 7, 1713, died October 6, 1714, Joseph, born September 1, 1715, died February 25, 1788, Silas, born May 5, 1718, died October 29,1795, Lucretia, born July 22, 1720, died December 15, 1760, Oliver, born July 5, 1723, died December 31, 1795, Edith, born May 4, 1727, died March 27, 1805, Seth, born June 11, 1731, died October 31, 1740, Olive, born July 3, 1734, died August 13, 1734.*] [Joseph Todd, one of the early settlers of Warminster, took up a tract of 224 acres, and was conveyed to him by patent, 1701. It lay on the Street road where the York road intersects it. The consideration was £30.10s. We know nothing of Joseph Todd, whence he came or whither he went, but his descendants are probably in the county. Since then the property has changed hands several times, and been considerably reduced in acreage. It was in the Todd family for sixty-eight years, they building a stone house on it 1719, two of the rooms remaining in good condition, with the date stone. The subsequent owners were Samuel Lloyd, 1769, consideration £955; the Waltons, the Reverend John Magoffin, Thomas Dixey, $6,500, and after passing through several additional hands to J. Johnson Beans, who sold it, 1897, to Edward W. Adams, of New York. The latter sold the property, 1900, to Richard H. Chapman, of Chestnut Hill. Mr. Chapman has entirely remodeled the old homestead, skilled architects converting it into an elegant, modern mansion. The original building was erected, 1719, but by whom is not known. While owned by Mr. Magoffin, seventy-five years ago, he made some alterations, while the present owner has preserved some of the old walls and timbers. There are few superior dwellings in the county.*] Bartholomew Longstreth (7), a Friend, son of Christopher Longstreth, born at Longstreth Dale, Yorkshire, England, August 24, 1679, immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1698. He purchased 300 acres on Edge Hill, which he began to improve, but soon sold it, with the intention of returning to England. Changing his mind he purchased 500 acres of Thomas Fairman, in Warminster, for £175, and came into the township, 1710. This tract lay in the square bounded by the Bristol, Street, Southern line, the township and the Jo hnsville roads. He added to his acres until, at his death, he owned [a little over*] 1,000. He immediately built a log [home, and subsequently a stone one, the second in the neighborhood, the joist being sawed out on the premises with a whip saw.*] In 1727 he married Ann Dawson, of Hatboro, then the Crooked Billet, [his age forty-nine, she twenty-three*] and after leading a useful and active life he died suddenly, August 8, 1749, and was buried at Horsham. His widow married Robert Tompkins (or Thompkins*), of Warrington, who both ill-used her and wasted her fortune. She died in 1783 [1785*]. Bartholomew Longstreth had eleven children, and at his death left the homestead farm to Daniel, the eldest son living, who was born in 1732. He occupied his father's place in society, and was twice married: to Grace Michener, of Moreland, 5th month, 22d, 1753, who died 4th month, 16th, 1775, and then to Martha Bye, of Buckingham, 2d month, 2d, 1779. He had nine children by his first wife, and died in 1803. [Rachel, daughter of Daniel Longstreth, married Thomas Ross, son of John Ross and Mary Duer, Solebury, and grandson of Thomas Ross, the Quaker preacher. Thomas Ross was a distinguished lawyer and was usually called "Lawyer Tom." He settled in West Chester, but practiced extensively throughout the eastern circuit. By his first wife, Rachel Longstreth, he had a daughter, Rachel, born 3d month, 23d, 1782, died 7th month, 6th, 1875, who married Richard Maris. The late George G. Maris, Buckingham, was a son of this marriage. Lawyer Thomas Ross' second wife was Mary Thomas. They had several children.*] (7) It is said that Bartholomew Longstreth opened the road from County Line across to the Street road, thence by his own land to the Bristol road. Subsequently, and while supervisor of Warminster, he opened the York road from the County Line to Hartville and down to Hatboro.* (See illustration of Longstreth homestead) His son Joseph, born in 1765, inherited the homestead, but learned the hat- making business, which he followed several years at Hatboro [Crooked Billet*]. He married Sarah Thomas in 1797, had six children, and died in the house where he was born, in 1840. Daniel, the eldest son of Joseph Longstreth, born, in 1800 and died in 1846, was a man of intelligence and culture, and a useful citizen. He was twice married: to Elizabeth Lancaster, of Philadelphia, in 1827, and to Hannah Townsend in 1832, and was the father of nine children. In 1840 he opened a boarding school in his house at Warminster, which he conducted with success for several years. [A majority of his pupils were from adjoining counties, among them David M. Zook, Montgomery, brother of General Samuel Kosciusco Zook, who fell at the battle of Gettysburg. Daniel Longstreth's sister Anna, who subsequently married Charles Rabb, kept a school for boys and girls in the homestead about the close of the 20's, and the author was one of her pupils.*] Daniel Longstreth devoted considerable time to surveying and conveyancing, [had a good knowledge of the sciences, wrote considerably for the county press,*] and died in the home of his ancestors March 30, 1846 (8). [Daniel Longstreth was quite a mechanic and methodical in his habits. He recorded, in a book kept for the purpose, the deaths of the neighborhood from 1818 to his own, 1,035 in all. Among them were Reverend Thomas B. Montanye, September 27, 1829, aged sixty; Thomas Purdy, Esquire, sheriff, November 10, 1844, aged forty-four; Dr. Isaac Chapman, February 17, 1837, aged seventy-seven; Dr. John Wilson, Buckingham, October 16, 1835, aged sixty- three; Reverend Jacob Larzelere, July 19, 1834, aged seventy; Enos Morris, Esquire, Newtown, February 18, 1831; Dr. John H. Hill, Hatboro, January 3, 1831. The Longstreths were advanced farmers, Joseph using the first hay rake in the county, 1812- 13. Daniel, the elder, used lime on his land about 1775, and Daniel's uncle, John, and great uncle, Joseph, were among the first to sow clover seed and plaster on it.*] Of his five living children, four, John, Samuel, Edward L., and Anna reside in Philadelphia (9). The old homestead, owned by five generations of Longstreths, passed out of the family many years ago. The house was built at three different times, the middle part by Bartholomew, in 1713, the east end by his son Daniel, in 1750, and the west end by the same in 1766. It was built by Philadelphia workmen, and when finished was considered the finest house in that section. In 1850 it was sold to Isaac Rush Kirk, and is now owned by his widow. In 1873 she had the middle and eastern parts taken down, and erected a new dwelling on their site. The Longstreth family retain the metal-molds in which Bartholomew run his pewter spoons, like other farmers of that day, and have also the iron old John Dawson used to smooth beaver hats. Bartholomew Longstreth was a man of influence in his generation. [He first opened the York road from the Neshaminy down to Hatboro (10).] The Longstreths owned land in other townships. (8) In a commonplace book, among the Longstreths' manuscripts, we find the following stanza, one of several verses written after Daniel Longstreth's death, by Elizabeth Hutchinson, his wife's sister: "And dearest Daniel, art thou gone To travel o'er the spangled lawn, With pleasure and delight; Where one perpetual blaze of day Shines forth with undiminished ray Nor sees the fall of night."* (9) Departed this life in Philadelphia, on the evening of the 7th of 3d months, 1833, Margaret Longstreth, at the advanced age of 97 years, 3 months and 14 days, having outlived the most of her contemporaries. She was the widow of Daniel Longstreth, Warminster, Bucks county.* (10) This was not documented in the 1905 edition. The land located by John Rush was probably not confirmed to him, or he may have sold it to Bingley, to whom it was patented, for the tract of the latter covered what is in Rush's name on Holme's map. Henry Comly, who came with wife and son from Bristol, England, in 1682, located 500 acres in the northwest corner of the township, between the county line and Street road, and adjoining Warrington. The grant was made to him by William Penn before leaving England. Comly died in 1684, and his wife who re-married in 1685, died in 1689. His son Henry married Agnes Heaton in 1695, and soon afterward purchased 500 acres in Moreland, near Smithfield, where he died in 1727, leaving eleven children. He is thought to have been the ancestor of all who bear the name of Comly in this state. Sarah Woolman's tract of 250 acres joined that of Henry Comly, but we do not know what year she came into the township, but before 1684. Nathaniel Allen was also a large landowner in Bristol township, but probably never lived in Warminster. The Nobles were among the very earliest settlers in Bucks county. We find Richard noble (11) on the Delaware in 1675, where he held a local office under the Duke of York. He settled in Bristol township, and took up a tract of land on the river above the mouth of Neshaminy, and was a surveyor. His son Abel was an original purchaser in Warminster, where he owned 695 acres at the re-survey in 1702 (12). The original Noble tract lay on both sides of the York road, that on the upper side running up the county line, and not reaching the Street road, and that on the lower side extending down it to within half a mile of Johnsville. In 1743 Abel Noble conveyed 165 acres to his son Joseph, who in turn sold it and a few acres more in 1763 to Harman Yerkes, the first of that family in Warminster. Abel and Job Noble, sons of the first purchases, were owners of considerable of the ancestral tract at that time. Job was a man of many peculiarities. He left the grain ungathered in the corners of his fields for the birds. At the family mansion, in English style, with hip-roof, on the site of the dwelling of the late Andrew Yerkes, on the York road, he built a stone apiary with the back to the road, and intended to have cut upon it the ten commandments, but it was never done. The story is told of one of his Irish servants, who, discovering a tortoise in the field, ran breathless to the house and reported that he had found "a snake in a box," nor would he return to work until someone went out to "demolish the craiture." He died in 1775, leaving two daughters, one of whom married a Gilbert and the other a Moland. [A daughter of the Molands married a Wood, and their daughter was the wife of Barzilla Gregg, Doylestown, who was a well-known school teacher. Descendants of the Gilberts live in Philadelphia. Job Noble's father joined George Keith and became*] a Seventh Day Baptist. The remains of the Noble family burying-ground are below the York road, and near the county line, on the farm now owned by Justice Mitchell, on a knoll that overlooks a meadow in front. Half a dozen graves, with a few feet of the old wall, are all that mark the final resting place of theses Warminster pioneers. [The Nobles were related to the Longstreths*] (11) He came from England in the Joseph and Mary, Captain Matthew Payne, the first vessel that landed passengers at Salem, New Jersey, May 13, 1675. (12) Abel Nobel was a son of William and Frances Noble, of Bristol, England. In 1752 he owned 700 acres in Warminster, the tract being cut by the York road and extending from the county line to the Street road. In 1750 Herman Yerkes bought land of the Nobles. Abel Noble married Mary Garrett, daughter of William and Ann Kirke Garrett. William Garrett lived at Harby, County Leicester, England, 1672-1684. In 1684-88 Abel Noble had land surveyed to him between Second and Third streets, Philadelphia. He landed at Salem, N. J., 1675, May 13, and was owner of lands in Bristol, near the confluence of Neshaminy and the Delaware. Mrs. Anna Longstreth Tilney. Abel Noble's only daughter, Anna, married David Thomas, a blacksmith from Wales, who settled at Darby, Delaware county, and removed to Providence.* John and Isaac Cadwallader were in the township quite early. John bought 250 acres on the county line. Isaac died in 1739. Warminster had a sprinkling of Hollanders at an early day, who probably came from Long or Staten Island instead of direct from Holland. Among them we find the Cravens, Vansants, Garrisons, Corsons, and other families. The Cravens probably came first, and James was an owner of land in the township as early as 1685, for we find that the 9th of April, 1740, he paid to James Steel, receiver of taxes for the Proprietaries, "four pounds, two shillings and six-pence, in full for fifty-five years" quit-rent due on 150 acres of land in Warminster. The Cravens were living in the township in 1712, and James and Thomas were there in 1730 and 1737 (13). In 1726 one of the name came into Warminster from Richmond county, Staten Island. In January, 1725, he bought a farm of 150 acres of William Stockdell, adjoining lands of Peter Chamberlain and Bartholomew Longstreth, for £290. Possession was given the 1st of June, 1726. The Corsons came from Long Island, the first of the name being Benjamin, whose receipt of July 1, 1723, states that he had received £7. 6s. of one Wessells, "on account of Jacob Kraven." Harman Vansant was Brigade-Inspector in 1821, afterward Brigadier-General, and died September 13, 1823, aged sixty-six years. (13) In Warminster, May 11, 1835, Isaac Cravens, aged 76. He was born on the premises where he died and was a soldier of the Revolution. He was probably born and died on the farm, on the county line, where the British burned General Lacey's wounded, at the battle of the Crooked Billet.* The Yerkes (14) family made their first appearance in Bucks county about 150 years ago, settling in Warminster, where Herman, or Harman, bought 181 acres of the Noble tract on the Street road. (14) The name is of German origin, and has been variously spelled Jerghes, Gerjhes, Gerches, Yerkas, Jerghjes, Sherkes, and otherwise. [About 1700, Anthony Yerkes, with wife Margaret, and sons Herman, Adolphus and John, came from Germany and settled on the Schuylkill. He was one of the Burgesses of Germantown, 1703 and 1709, bought of John Holme 300 acres at Shelmire's mills on the Pennypack, in the manor of Moreland, Philadelphia county, now Montgomery. After the death of his first wife, Anthony Yerkes married Sarah Eaton, widow of Rev. John Watts, who died June 27, 1725. Anthony Yerkes had three children, Herman, born1689, died 1750-1, Adolphus, living, 1744, and John who probably died unmarried. Herman, who doubtless came with his father from Germany, married Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. John Watts, February 11, 1711, becoming the son-in-law of his step-mother. They had ten children, and at the father's death, he divided 800 acres on the Pennypack among them. Silas, sixth child, born February 15, 1725, died September 25, 1795, married Hannah, daughter of Thomas Dungan, Warminster, and for a time lived there. They had ten children, from one of which, the late William L. Elkins, of Philadelphia, was descended, and was buried at Southampton. His brother Herman born January 18, 1720, and died about 1800, was the first Yerkes to settle in Bucks county, about 1750. He married Mary Stroud, daughter of Edward Stroud, Whitemarsh, Montgomery county, March 26, 1750, who died in Warminster, 1770. All his children were by her. For his second wife, he married Mary Houghton, widow of Richard Clayton, New Britain, September 30, 1773, who died January, 1785. In her will she left money to build a wall around the Southampton graveyard which is still standing. For his third wife he married Elizabeth Ball, widow of John Tompkins, and died 1819. Herman had eight children, Elizabeth, Catharine, Edward, Sarah, Stephen, Mary, Harman and William. Elizabeth married John Hufdale, April 14, 1770, and has descendants in western Pennsylvania. Catharine, born June 19, 1755, married Reading Howell, March 28, 1782, who was born in Hunterdon county, New Jersey, 1743, and died November 26, 1827, in Warminster. He was a noted engineer, and served in the Revolution as quartermaster of the Second Regiment, Hunterdon county militia. He was prominent in several walks of life; a commissioner to survey the Delaware and Lehigh rivers, projected the map of Pennsylvania bears his name, 1792, surveyor of Philadelphia, 1804, to his death, and built the first railroad in the United States, 1809, from Leiper's quarries to Ridley Creek, Delaware county. Reading Howell and his wife Catharine Yerkes were the parents of eight children, of whom the youngest, Catharine Augusta, born August, 1800, married Brigadier General Thomas Flourney, United States Army, War 1812-15, of Augusta Georgia, and died in Philadelphia, November 21, 1900, aged over 100 years, the last of the family of that generation.*] [Stephen Yerkes, son of the Warminster Herman, born October 20, 1762, and died 1823, spent his life in this township, and married his cousin Alice Watson, granddaughter of John Yerkes, son of the first Herman. She was born November 17, 1787, and died November 17, 1859, on her seventy-second birthday. Their children, born in Warminster, all became prominent; Edward, died 1825, major in a Bucks county regiment, War 1812, with Samuel D. Ingham, was a man of wide influence. He married Mary Shelmire, who became the wife of Moore Stevens. John W. Yerkes, born December 22, 1811, died January 24, 1884, was a miller and in 1875 was elected Prothonotary of Montgomery county, serving two terms. Mary Yerkes, daughter of Stephen, born September 27, 1815, and died July 15, 1896, married John McNair, born June 8, 1800, died at Aquia Creek, Virginia, August 12, 1861. At one time he was principal of a famous school for boys in Montgomery county; then read law, was admitted to the bar and subsequently practiced at Norristown. He was elected to Congress in the Montgomery district and served two terms, 1851-55. His son, F. V. McNair, born January 15, 1839, a graduate of the Annapolis Naval Academy, served with great distinction through the Civil War, 1861-65, a portion of the time on Admiral Farragut's flag ship in the Mississippi, became the senior Rear Admiral of the U. S. Navy, and died at Washington, D. C., November 28, 1900. He is credited with having prepared the Asiatic fleet for the naval victory Admiral Dewey achieved at Manila Bay, which he turned over to his successor shortly before the Spanish-American war. The remaining child of Stephen Yerkes, the Rev. Stephen Yerkes, born June 27, 1817, died March 28, 1896, was educated at Yale, became a Presbyterian clergyman, removed to Kentucky, where he acquired distinction as Professor of Greek in the Transylvania University, and occupied the chair of Hebrew and Oriental languages in the Theological Seminary for forty years. His son, John W. Yerkes, was the Republican candidate for Governor of Kentucky, 1900, and was recently appointed by the President, commissioner of Internal Revenue. Harman Yerkes, son of the third Harman, born July 25, 1767, died February 12, 1857, married 1790, Margaret, born January 8, 1771, died March 4, 1849, daughter of Capt. Andrew Long, second son of Andrew and Mary Long, born about 1730, and died in Warrington township, November 4, 1812. He served in Colonel Samuel Miles's regiment, Continental Army, and in 1779 was appointed a justice of the Bucks county court, serving several years.*] [Of the ten children of Harman and Margaret Long Yerkes, William, born July 8, 1792, married Penelope, daughter of Giles McDowell, a noted school teacher of ye olden time. Their daughter married William H. Force. Andrew L. Yerkes, born August 25, 1795, died July 14, 1862, a soldier in the war of 1812, married Eliza Everhart, 1800. They had seven children, one of whom, Dr. H. P. Yerkes, lives in Doylestown. Elizabeth Yerkes, born May 26, 1800, died May 24, 1875, married John C. Beans, and were the parents of nine children, mostly living in Warminster township. Their son, J. Johnson, was elected sheriff 1890, and served one term. Clarissa Yerkes, born October 12, 1802, died December 12, 1875, married Samuel Montanye and had six children, Edwin H. Yerkes, born November 26, 1804, died June 26, 1864, married Catharine Williamson, and died without children. Harman Yerkes, born March 9, 1807, died 1889, married Rebecca Valentine and had eleven children. Stephen Yerkes, youngest son of Harman and Margaret Long, born in Warminster, May 19, 1809, died July 25, 1865, married January 13, 1831, Amy Hart Montanye, daughter of Rev. Thomas B. Montanye, of Southampton. She was born October 23, 1811, died March 22, 1860, and was the mother of Judge Harman Yerkes, Doylestown. Another son of the third, or Warminster settler, Herman Yerkes, was William, born in Warminster, June 29, 1769, and died there 1823. He married January 2, 1795, Letitia Esther, daughter of Captain Andrew Long and sister of Margaret, the wife of his brother Harman. Of their sons, Harman died in Washington, D. C., 1860, aged sixty-five. Joseph Ball Yerkes, born April 29, 1797, and died at Hatboro, was the father of Judge William H. Yerkes, Philadelphia, major of 199th Pennsylvania regiment, Civil War, died October 10, 1885, and of Rev. David J. Yerkes, a distinguished Baptist divine. Andrew Long Yerkes, son of William, died in Cecil county, Maryland, 1889. The daughter of William married John Thornton, and their son is a prominent journalist in Illinois. He learned the printing trade in the office of the Doylestown (Pa.) "Democrat."*] [The Yerkes family furnished several soldiers to the Revolution, and on the rolls are found the names of John, Silas, Herman, Elias, George, Anthony, Jonathan and Stephen, of Philadelphia, and Harman, Henry and Edward of Bucks. A son of Stephen married Sarah Purdy, descended from the common ancestor of the family of this name of Bucks and Montgomery counties. In 1799 several of the descendants of Stephen Yerkes, son of the first Herman, and some of the Purdys, removed to Seneca county, New York, and thence to Michigan.*] The celebrated John Fitch (15) to whom justly belongs the honor of propelling boats by steam, spent several years of his life in Warminster, and this was his home until he finally took up his residence in Kentucky. Fitch was born in Connecticut January 21, 1743, inherited a fondness for reading and study from his father, who had a genius for astronomy, mathematics and natural philosophy. He learned clock making after marrying a woman older than himself at twenty-four, whom he deserted in 1769, and came to Trenton, New Jersey, where he established himself as a silversmith. On the breaking out of the Revolution he turned his talents to gunsmithing. The British destroyed his tools and other property, valued at £3,000, when they took possession of Trenton, December 1776. He afterward made his home in Bucks county, following the trade of a silversmith, frequently traveling though the country. He was a patriot, an officer of the first company raised at Trenton; he held the same rank in the army at Valley Forge, and was afterwards a sutler in the army in the west. At one time he served as armourer or gunsmith. He led an unsettled life. He went to Kentucky in 1780, to survey public lands and located a large tract, but afterward lost the title to it, and was captured by the Indians in 1782, while preparing to make a trip to New Orleans with flour. He visited London in 1793, and died in Nelson county, Kentucky, about 1798. In person Fitch was tall, six feet two inches, straight and spare, with tawny complexion, black hair and piercing eyes. His countenance was pleasing, and his temper quick. He was a man of good morals, and truthful and honorable in all his dealings. He was the father of two children, a son and daughter; the former, Shaler Fitch, died in Trumbull county, Ohio, in 1842, and latter, Lucy, married Colonel James Kilbourne, Franklin county, Ohio. (15) The complete account of John Fitch is from the 1905 edition. (See autograph of John Fitch) When John Fitch was driven from Trenton by the British, 1776, he came into Bucks county, first to the house of John Mitchell, Four Lanes End, now Langhorne, and afterward to Charles Garrison's, Warminster, half a mile west of Davisville. During his sojourn in this township he earned a livelihood by repairing clocks and silver-smithing, making his home at Garrison's or in the neighborhood. He was recognized as a man of genius, and associated with the most intelligent people. He was on intimate terms with Reverend Mr. Irwin, the pastor at Neshaminy, who took much interest in his mechanical contrivances, and encouraged him. Fitch frequently walked four miles to hear him preach. One of his intimates was Cobe Scout, a man as eccentric as himself, a wheelwright, gunsmith and silversmith, who was "Everything by turn, But nothing long." It was at Scout's shop Fitch suddenly appeared one rainy Saturday afternoon, on his return from his captivity among the Indians. After a glance of recognition, they rushed into each other's arms in tears, and the next day they went together to the Southampton Baptist church where public thanks were returned for Fitch's safe delivery by the Rev. David Jones, former chaplain in the Continental army. While living at Charles Garrison's Fitch engraved a map of the "Northwestern part of the United States," in Cobe Scout's shop, and printed it on Mr. Garrison's cider press. The first model of a steamboat that ever floated was made by John Fitch in Warminster, in a log shop where Sutphin McDowell carried on weaving on the farm lately owned by Mitchell Wood, 400 yards east of the Montgomery County line. He said the idea of a steamboat first occurred to him as he and James Ogilbee were walking home from Neshaminy church on a Sunday and were passed by a Mr. Sinton and wife in a riding chair at the intersection of the York and Street roads (16). After pondering the matter a few days, he made a model and submitted it to his friend Daniel Longstreth, the Rev. Nathaniel Irwin and others (17). When completed the machinery was of brass, the paddle wheels of wood made by the late N. B. Boileau (18), who lived on the county line near by, then a student of Princeton college, at home at the time. The late Abraham McDowell, of Warminster, who claimed to have witnessed the trial trip of the model, said it took place on a pond, or dam, below the present Davisville, in Southampton township, and that the party consisted of Fitch, Cobe Scout, Abraham Sutphin, Anthony Scout, John McDowell, William Vansant and Charles Garrison. A couple of hours were spent in the experiment; at the end of the time the little boat was declared a success, when the witnesses to the trial returned home. Since that time the application of steam to the propulsion of vessels has revolutionized commerce and naval warfare. In 1786-7 Fitch built a steamboat that made several successful trips on the Delaware between Philadelphia and Burlington. This was done with the assistance of a number of public- spirited Philadelphia and Burlington citizens who subscribed to the enterprise. The "Indenture of Agreement," after being executed was deposited in the archives of the Philadelphia Philosophical Society, where the author saw it recently. It is dated February 9, 1787, and to it are signed the names of the following subscribers for stock with the number of shares each one took, although the value of the share is not given: Samuel Vaughan, one share; Richard Wells, one share; Benjamin W. Morris, one share; Rich. Stockton, three shares; J. Morris, one share; Joseph Budd, one share; Benjamin Say, two shares; J. H. Hart, one share; Mags. Miller, one share; Isaac W. Morris, one share; G. Hill Wells, one share; Thomas Hutchins, one share; Richard Wells, one share, Richard Stockton, for John Stockton, one share; Israel Israel, one share; William Rubel, one share; Edward Brooks, Harvey Voight, five shares; Henry Toland, one share; Tho. Palmer, one share. (16) In April, 1902, the Bucks County Historical Society erected a granite monument to mark the spot where John Fitch conceived the idea of propelling boats in the water by steam. The monument stands at the southwest corner of the York and Street roads, Warminster township.* (17) The late Daniel Longstreth, Jr., thinks this was April 1785. (18) John L. Longstreth, son of Daniel, Jr., told the author in recent years that, on one occasion, when a boy, walking with his father, they met Nathaniel B. Boileau, then living at Hatboro, who said he made the paddle wheels for Fitch's model.* (See illustration of Fitch's steamboat on the Delaware) In the proceedings of the Philosophical Society of the date September 27, 1785, Tuesday, a "special occasion," at which Benjamin Franklin and eighteen other members were present, we find the following entry: "The model, with a drawing and description, of a machine for working a boat against the stream by means of a steam engine, was laid before the society by Mr. John Fitch." This was probably the model that is still there. Daniel Longstreth writes in his diary, under date of 2 mo., 18, 1845: "I visited uncle Isaac Longstreth, who told me that Robert Fulton was apprenticed to the person that built John Fitch's large steamboat, and was then in his twentieth year." While there is no dispute as to who conceived and built a model of and made a successful experimental trip with it, there is a difference of opinion as to the exact spot where the model was first tired, and although it is not important whether the boat was first tried here or there, we give it consideration by examining the question. The witnesses all agree the trial was not made in Warminster, but on the creek known as Southampton run, in the vicinity of the present Davisville. The Longstreth manuscript and the articles written by Daniel Longstreth, the younger, for the Bucks County "Intelligencer" of February 12, 1845, agree in saying that "It was first tried in Southampton run a short distance east from Cobe Scout's wheelwright shop where it was built." When the author of "Watson's Annuals" made inquiry of Mr. Longstreth for information on the subject, he made the same statement. In a letter John L. Longstreth wrote the author, he claims the initial experiment was made in "Southampton run about half a mile below Davisville in Joseph Longstreth's meadow. Mr. Longstreth was living in Southampton township as late as 1792. His farm of two hundred and sixty-seven and one-half acres fronted the County Line and the road to Davisville, and subsequently belonged to the Rev. Thomas B. Montanye." On the other side, Abraham McDowell, a boy of about eight years, claimed that he accompanied the party, and the trial experiment was made in a dam, then on the Watts farm, fed by the Southampton run, and a few hundred yards nearer Davisville. We repeat, it makes no difference where, in that same creek the first and successful trial was made of Fitch's model of a steamboat. It was made thereabouts and was a success, and all who furthered its interests are equally honored. But for the encouragement Fitch received from the Longstreth family, we doubt if his invention had proved a success. Mr. Longstreth, Daniel the elder, says the Fitch family came originally from Saxony, crossed the channel into England, and settled in Essex, where it was respectable, if not noble, each branch having a coat of arms. He gives the arms of John Fitch as follows: "A chev between three leopards heads, or, crest a leopard's head embossed or, in the mouth a sword hilt or." In a letter written by Mr. Longstreth about this period, 10 mo., 11, 1791, he says: "I have paid John Fitch for the surveying instruments and maps, about £10, or £12. 15s." One of these maps is said to have been worked off on Charles Garrison's cider press, in Warminster township, and is in the Pennsylvania Historical Society. The Longstreth manuscript throws additional light on the personal history of John Fitch. Mr. Longstreth was on intimate terms with the family and whatever he says of this remarkable man may be relied on implicitly. As we have already remarked, Fitch came into Bucks county after the British occupied Philadelphia, Fitch buried his gold and silver under a large chestnut tree on Charles Garrison's farm at night. He was watched by a negro, who dug up the treasure and divided it with the son of a respectable farmer. After the British had left, Fitch went to get his money, but was surprised to find it had been stolen. The young man's father agreed to refund part of it which Fitch accepted on condition the rogue should leave and never return. While the Continental army lay at Valley Forge, the winter of 1777-78, Fitch assisted to keep it supplied with provisions, receiving his pay in continental money, which he kept until $1,000 were only worth $100 in specie. After the armies had left this section, Fitch returned to Trenton, gathered up the tools he had left there, brought them over to Cobe Scout's shop at Charles Garrison's where he carried on business until the spring of 1780, when he went West (19). The Longstreth manuscript describes the personal appearance of John Fitch as follows: "He had a piercing eye, tall and thin, six feet in his stockings, could outwalk a horse a long or short distance, had a shining face, of tawny complexion, very black short hair, walked with a great swing, pitched forward, was a smiling, not a grum man, quick tempered, but soon over, honest in his dealings and free from falsehood." While at Charles Garrison's Fitch joined the Masonic Lodge at Trenton." (19) Bartholomew L. Fussell, nephew of Daniel Longstreth, the elder, and John Fitch, made brass wire from old kettles belonging to Joseph Longstreth, as wire could not be bought during the Revolutionary war. They used it for making buttons. They also made wooden buttons at Joseph Longstreth's. Fussell, in conversation with Daniel Longstreth, the younger, who died, 1846, stated that he turned out, polished and shanked a gross of buttons one morning by 11 o'clock. This "points a moral and adorns a tale," in evidence of the deprivations our fathers had to endure in the times that "tried men's souls."* "Cobe" Scout, mentioned in connection with Fitch, his friend and intimate companion, was an eccentric character in Warminster, made his home part of the time with Charles Garrison, who lived on the road from Davisville to the Montgomery county line in the first house on the west side. Fitch taught Scout the art of silversmithing to which he added gunmaking. Occasionally a few of his silver spoons, or one of his long rifles, turn up in some old homestead. Three quarters of a century ago the good housewives of Warminster and Southampton held Scout's silver spoons in the higher estimation than any other make, and a few have been handed down from mother to daughter as precious heirlooms. His rifles were equally celebrated, one of which he carried in the Revolution. While the American army lay on the west bank of the Delaware, 1776, and the enemy occupied Trenton, Scout shot a Hessian dead across the river, in punishment for some insulting gesture, and John Davis, grandfather of the author witnessed it. This added greatly to Scout's reputation. He died 1829, at the age of ninety-three, and was buried in the Vansant graveyard, Warminster, and many years after the late Josiah Hart, Doylestown, erected tomb stones at the grave. Scout's Christian name was James, or Jacobus. The first steamboats on the Delaware after John Fitch's experiment of 1788, carrying passengers between Philadelphia and Trenton, were the Phoenix and Philadelphia. The Phoenix, built at Hoboken, N. J., by John C. Stevens, 1807, made her first trip to Bristol, Sunday, July 30, 1809. She was commanded by Captain Davis, or Davidson, and the engineer, Robert Stevens, son of the builder. She was the first steam vessel to navigate the ocean between New York and Philadelphia. Her speed on the river was eight miles an hour with the tides. After running a few years her machinery gave out, and was taken out of her. She was laid up and finally rotted down on the Kensington flats. Hundreds of people at Bristol went down to witness the first arrival, among them the late William Kinsy. The Philadelphia, familiarly called "Old Sal," also built by Stevens, commenced running between the same points, 1815. She was commanded by Abisha Jenkins, leaving Trenton at 7 a.m. and Philadelphia on her return trip at 2 p.m. Her speed, with the tides, was ten miles an hour, and on her arrival at Bristol and Burlington, she fired a small brass cannon mounted on her forward deck. It burst on one occasion, killing one of the hands, and after that, a gun was dispensed with. Burlington and Bristol were the only stopping places, and passengers were received and landed in small boats by signals from the shore. Many people believed there would never be a boat built that could make better time. The Philadelphia was followed in the early thirties by a boat called the "New Philadelphia," which had the same run. Many efforts have been made to rob John Fitch of the honor of inventing or discovering the art of propelling boats on water by steam, but they have signally failed. Recent investigations show that John Fitch made a successful experiment of propelling a model boat by steam, on Collect Pond, New York city, in 1796. It was called the Perseverance and the experiment was witnessed by Robert Fulton and Robert Livingston. In 1846, John Hutchings, who was present, made an affidavit of the facts attending this experiment. This was six years before Fulton made his experiment on the river Seine, and ten years before he put his boat, the Clermont, on the Hudson. A model of Fitch's boat was recently found in the New York Historical Society, New York City. It is to the credit of Robert Fulton that he never claimed the discovery of steam propulsion, but only made use of it for commercial purposes. (End of Fitch story from 1905 edition). There is a private graveyard near Johnsville, on the farm lately owned by Eliza Vansant, deceased, to whose family it belonged. In it lie buried the remains of "the rude forefathers," the early Holland settlers of that section, the Vansants, Garrisons, Cravens, Sutphins, McDowells, Vandykes, and others, the relations or immediate friends. The oldest stone marks the resting place of Harman Vansant, who died in 1769, at the age of eight-four, and Giles Craven, died September 8, 1798, in his eightieth year. A handsome marble slab is erected to the memory of Doctor William Bachelor, a native of Massachusetts, and surgeon in the army of General Gates, who died September 14, 1823, aged seventy-five years. His wife was a daughter of Silas Hart, of Warminster. Doctor Bachelor lived [and died*] in Hatboro, and had an extensive practice. On one occasion he was called upon to visit a man whose leg was badly hurt. The doctor wanted rum to bathe it, and a quart was sent for. After the limb had been duly dressed, the patient, who was fond of a drop, was told by the doctor that he might take a little internally, whereupon he smiled his blandest smile and said, "Doctor, I always did admire your judgment." The famous "Log college" was in Warminster, on the York road half a mile below Hartsville, on the fifty acre tract given by James Logan to William Tennent, his cousin, in 1728. When Mr. Tennent first went there Mr. Logan was obliged to purchase and send him provisions from Philadelphia, which argues that his congregation provided him a slim living. He lived on the property that lately belonged to Cornelius Carrell, and the college was on the lot now owned by George Hanna. In the fireplace of the old Carrell house (20) is a fire-crane used by William Tennent. Part of the old wall, two and one- half feet thick, runs across the end of the kitchen. A few years ago three English pennies, bearing dates from 1710 to 1719, were found on the premises. Mr. Tennent, who died May 9, 1746, left by will all his movable estate to his wife "Kathren," and at her death his real estate was to be sold and the proceeds divided among his heirs. [On September 5, 1889, the founding of the Log College was celebrated on the farm that formerly belonged to it, under the auspices of the "Presbytery of Philadelphia, North." The presiding officer was the Reverend Thomas Murphy, D. D., and the exercises consisted of sacred music, reading of Scripture, prayer and addresses, followed by a lunch. Among the speakers was Benjamin Harrison, President of the United States, and Postmaster-General Wanamaker. The audience was large (21).*] (See illustration of Log College) (20) Now owned by J. W. Gwyn. (21) A full account of the Log College and its distinguished graduates will be found in Chapter on Historic Churches.* The most famous school of the period, next to the Log College, was kept at "Hart's School House," Warminster, on the road from the Street to the Bristol road, half mile from Johnsville. Three buildings stood on, or near, the same site, and took its name from an influential family living near, and active in establishing it. The first house was erected early in the eighteenth century, probably of logs. It was an old building in 1756, for, at a meeting of the patrons, held September 13th, it was resolved to build a new school house, as the one "in which James Stirling doath now teach, as it is too small, dark and otherwise insufficient to accommodate the scholars that do at present attend the same, so as to answer the purpose intended (to-wit) the learning of Latin, Greek, etc, as well as English." It was to be 33 by 18 feet, one story high, with a good partition through the same, a good fire-place in one end, and a stove in the other, Joseph Hart and Daniel Longstreth being appointed "sole managers." The house was probably built on a new site, as a lot was bought of Longstreth. The deed was executed May 2, 1757, and acknowledged before Simon Butler August 11, 1758, and the house erected that fall. The conveyance was made to William Folwell, Southampton, John Dungan, Northampton, Anthony Scout, Warminster, and John Vanosdale (Vanartsdalen), Northampton. A third school house was erected there, 1831, at a cost of $320.28. This was torn down, 1860-61, when three new houses were erected for the public schools, at a cost of $1,315.65, on the Street road. James Stirling, the first teach we know of, probably quit teaching in the spring of 1765, when a new contract was made with Thomas D. Handcock for the ensuing year, from June 4, for £63 ($173.33). Elijah Beans and William Maddock, who taught several years in the 1831 school house, were not new teachers. The subscriptions for building the 1757 school house were as follows: Joseph Hart £8, John Dungan £3, Derick Kroesson £3, James Stirling £2, William Ramsey £1, and James Spencer £2. "Hart's School House" was the centre of a good deal of the mental activity of the township in the eighteenth and part of the nineteenth centuries. In 1793-94, and how long continued we know not, the "Moral Society" met there for debate. Fourteen names are signed to the constitution, including those of Longstreth, Eyre, Rees and Matlack. Spectators were not admitted and each mem was obliged to deliver "one sheet of paper, one candle or one penny, for the use of the society." In 1811-13 a new society sprung up in the hands of new men. It likewise met for debate, the questions taking a pretty wide range, and among the members, we find the well-known names of Hart, Longstreth, Miles, Craven, Ramsey, Prior, Vansant, Crawford, Daniel, Long, Yerkes, Shelmire and Brady (22).*] (22) In addition to the schools already mentioned in Warminster, there was a log school house on the Street road a few hundred yards above the York road, and another on the York road half a mile below the Warminster tavern at John C. Bean's gate. * Warminster has [three*] villages, Johnsville, at the junction of the Newtown and Street roads, a mile from the lower line of the township, Hartsville on the York road where it crosses the Warwick line [and Ivyland, on the Northeast Pennsylvania railroad, half a mile south of the Bristol road.*] Johnsville had its foundation laid in 1814, when James Craven built a store-house for his son John on the only corner not covered with native forest trees, and in which a store is still kept. It took its name from John Craven. The village contains about twenty dwellings. [Fifty*] years ago Robert Beans [son of Stephen Beans, Warminster*] established an agricultural implement factory there, which employed a number of hands, principally engaged in making mowing and reaping machines. It was burnt down within a few years and not rebuilt. Hartsville lays along the York and Bristol roads, the major part of it being in Warminster. The old name was "Cross Roads," and it was only called Hartsville within the present generation, after a family of Harts which lived there a number of years. The tavern, in Warwick township was kept for many years, at the close of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth century, by William Hart, and a human heart was painted on the sign board. In 1818 it was known as the "Sign of the Heart," [and owned by Joseph Carr.*] William Hart died, 1831, at the age of eighty-four. The post office was established, 1826. The old stone bridge, half a mile above, spanning the Neshaminy where it crosses the York road, was built 1793, and had a heart cut on the date stone. [Ivyland, the youngest village of Warminster, was founded by Edwin Lacey, 1873, and he built the first dwelling. Several shortly followed, streets were opened, named and lighted; station and freight houses were built and the first train stopped there March 29, 1891. The population has increased to over 250. The 25th anniversary of it founding was observed August 12, 1898. Among Ivyland's improvements and organizations are a Presbyterian chapel, Christian Endeavor Society, two lodges, and truck and ladder c ompany. Breadyville, at the crossing of the Bristol road by the Northeast Pennsylvania railroad, is a hamlet of half a dozen dwellings, tavern, store and station.*] [Hartsville has played a more important part in the social, religious and educational world than any village of its size in the county.*] The Hartsville Presbyterian church, which came of the division at Neshaminy in the war of "schools," forty years ago, is known as the "Neshaminy church of Warminster," and the constituent members were originally members of the Neshaminy church in Warwick. In consequence of the choice of Reverend James P. Wilson by a small majority of this congregation as their pastor, in November 1838, 100 persons withdrew from this church in a body, on Saturday, February 10, 1839, and held worship in the school-house at the graveyard, claiming to be "the Neshaminy church and congregation." On that day Reverend Mr. Howard preached for them as a supply. They worshiped for a time in private houses, and then in a temporary frame structure, called the "Tabernacle," erected in the woods at the top of Long's hill, on the Bristol road. The question of title to the original church property was tried in the court of Bucks county, but finally decided by a compromise in the winter of 1841-42. It was sold and bought by the congregation now worshiping there. The pastors, in their order have been Reverends Thomas B. Bradford, installed April 29, 1839, and resigned March 9, 1841; Henry R. Wilson, from 1842 to his death in 1849; Jacob Belville, from 1850 to 1860; Alexander M. Woods, from 1860 to 1870, Gersham H. Nimmo, [1870 to 1891, when he was called to the Torresdale church, where he died, 1808. Mr. Wood went from Hartsville to Mahanoy City, where he died. The present pastor is the Reverend W. R. Preston.*] The church edifice was erected in 1842. The congregation is large and flourishing. [The most pleasant feature, in connection with these congregations, mother and daughter, is that there is entire harmony between them, and the bitterness of sixty years ago has been buried deeper than plummit ever sounded.*] Hartsville wan an education centre going back to the days of the Log college. The schools of the Reverends James P. Wilson and Robert Belville, [Jacob Belville, D. K. Turner*] and the Messrs. Long and others enjoyed a wide reputation for many years, and laid the foundation of the education of many prominent and useful men. Samuel Long, at one time principal of one of the schools, met a sad fate in being killed by the limb of a tree falling upon him [while giving directions to some wood choppers, killing him instantly. This occurred in December 1835. A Friends' meeting house was erected nearly fifty years ago on the Street road half a mile above Johnsville. Gideon Pryor, who died in Warminster, February 14, 1854, was one of the last Revolutionary soldiers to die in the county. He was born in Connecticut, August 5, 1764, served in Rochambeau's army at the siege of Yorktown, 1781, and witnessed Cornwallis' surrender. After the war he finished his education by graduating at Dartmouth College. He started south on foot, but was taken sick near Hartsville, and spent his life there. He lived and died in the first stone house, north side of the Street road below the York road. One son, Azariah, became a minister of the gospel, and died at Pottsville. Gideon Pryor was a very fine scholar.*] So far as we have any means of knowing, Warminster has never had more than [two taverns in Warwick since its settlement, until in recent years, a third one was licensed. The oldest was probably on the site of the present one, known as the "Warminster tavern," on the York road just below where the Street road crosses it.*] As early as 1730 one Thomas Linter [Linton*] petitioned the court for a recommendation for license "to keep a house of entertainment for man and horse." In this he states that he is an inhabitant of Warminster, "county de Bucks," and owns a house and good plantation on the York road, near the cross roads, and not far from "ye forks." In 1732 Thomas Davids, of Northampton, attorney in fact for Thomas Linton, sold his farm of 100 acres to David Howell, of Philadelphia, whereupon Linton removed to New York. [This old hostelry became much more noted and popular in later years. In the twenties of the last century a Masonic Lodge was instituted and held sessions in the attic of this famous old inn, where such well-known Masons as Dr. John H. Hill and John Kerr officiated. It was forced to the wall by the anti-Masonic crusade growing out of the Morgan affair. Its existence had been almost forgotten until a few years ago, when the Masonic Lodge at Hatboro was instituted, the late William Williamson, of Davisville, appeared and presented to the new lodge the jewels and habiliments of the old one. He had cherished them carefully for over half a century. Three quarters of a century ago,*] when horse- racing was much more common than now, this tavern was frequented by those who indulged in racing. It was then kept by Thomas Beans (23), a famous horseman. At elections and militia training a half-mile track was cleared upon the Street road, where favorite nags were put upon their speed. Mr. Beans had a fine circular half- mile track laid out on his farm, back of the buildings. The death of a rider at one of the races down the Street road did much to break up the practice, which was wholly discontinued many years ago. (23) In 1796 Thomas Beans owned 200 acres on the north side of the Street road, extending from Johnsville upward.* Warminster is the only township in the county without grist mill, nor is it known that it ever had one. This arises from its surface being so generally level, that there are no streams of sufficient size and fall to drive a mill. Many years ago there was a saw mill [built by Robert Durrah on his farm near Hartsville, which is still in use, the present owner being John M. Durrah.*] The west branch of Neshaminy cuts across its northeast corner, near the Warrington line, and affords a good mill site in the latter township, where a mill was built nearly a century ago. Warminster is well provided with roads, having one on each of its four rectilineal sides, three of them, the Bristol and Street roads and the Montgomery county line, being part of Penn's system of great highways laid out [on northwestern lines. These are intersected by lateral roads laid out and opened as they were required.*] Of these cross roads that between Warminster and Warrington was opened about 1785, by one of the Longs who had lately built a grist mill, and was then building a saw mill where this road crosses the Neshaminy. The road that crosses the township half a mile above Johnsville, and at that time the line of travel between Horsham and Wrightstown, was opened in 1723, and the one on the Southampton township line in 1769 (24). As early as 1709 a road was viewed and laid out to allow the inhabitants of Warminster to reach the new mill on the Pennypack (25). The road across by Johnsville was probably opened about 1724. (24) This road was re-surveyed, and the direction probably somewhat changed, December 10, 1816, the following being the new line: Beginning in the Street road at the corner between Harman Yerkes and William Craven, thence between their land south 39 degrees west 160 perches, then through Henry Puff's land, south 44 degrees, west 110 perches, and the same course through Isaac Cravens' land to the county line, 59 perches. The jury composed of Samuel Gillingham, John Watson, Andrew Dunlap, Thomas Hutchinson, Josiah Shaw and Aaron Eastburn. John Watson was the surveyor.* (25) Gwinn's mill, below Hatboro. An institution for the education of male orphan children of African and Indian descent is located in Warminster, on a farm of 100 acres on the Street road, a mile below the Warrington line. It was known as the Emlen Institute, and was founded about fifty years ago by Samuel Emlen, of Burlington, New Jersey, who gave $20,000 to trustees for this charity. The institution was first organized in Ohio, soon after the founder's death, but was afterward removed to a farm of fifty-five acres, in Solebury. In 1872 it was again removed, to Warminster. By careful management the original fund has been increased to $30,000, several thousand of which have been expended on the present property, improving the buildings, etc. The pupils are instructed in the mechanic arts, and other useful pursuits. The income is sufficient to maintain and educate about twenty pupils (26). (26) The Institute was closed 1892 and the property sold to James Keith, Newtown; then to a Mr. Gartenlaub, and he to a syndicate of Episcopalians, Philadelphia, who in 1897 established on it a charity known as "St. Stephens' Orphanage."* The earliest return of the inhabitants of Warminster that has met our notice was made over a century [and a quarter ago*], but the exact date is not given. It comprises a list of housekeepers and single men, with the quantity of land owned by each, the acres in with corn, with the cattle, sheep, etc. There were then but fifty-eight housekeepers and twelve single men in the township. Joseph Hart was the largest land-owner, 435 acres, with 300 acres cleared and sixty in with corn. He owned twenty-four cattle, eight horse and thirty-five sheep. Daniel Longstreth was the next, who owned 410 acres, 200 cleared and forty-four in with corn. He was the owner of thirteen cattle, three horses and twenty-three sheep. This return gives 2,801 acres of cleared land, of which 607 were planted with corn. The whole number of domestic animals was 236 cattle, sixty-five horses, sixty-seven mares, and 278 sheep. There were but eleven negro slaves in the township. In 1784 the township contained 368 white inhabitants and 28 blacks, with 66 dwellings. The population at stated periods since 1784 was a follows: 1810, 564; 1820, 695; 1830, 709, and 155 taxables; 1840, 934; 1850, 970; 1860, 987; 1870, 840, of which 32 were of foreign birth; [1880, 1,061; 1891, 969; 1900, 973.*] The first post office in the township was established in 1823, and Joseph Warner, who lived on the Street road just above Davisville, was appointed postmaster. The office was removed to Davisville about 1827. Among the people who have deceased in Warminster during the last half century may be mentioned Mary, the widow of Andrew Long, who died January 17, 1821, aged ninety-five years, and John Harvey, who died the 31st of the same month, at the age of eighty-seven. Warminster is the middle of the three rect angular townships bordering the Montgomery line, and is four miles long by two wide. After rising from the valley where some of the headwaters of the Pennypack have their source, the surface of the township is generally level, with little broken or untillable land. There is no better land in the county than the plains of Warminster, which extend eastward to the hills of Neshaminy, and the inhabitants are employed in agricultural pursuits. It can boast of good roads, rich and well-cultivated farms, and an intelligent and happy population. Just over the southwest border of Warminster, in Moreland township, Montgomery county, is the flourishing village of Hatboro, lately incorporated into a borough, with a bank, weekly newspaper, an academy, two churches, a valuable library (27), and a population of [1,000*]. It is thought to have been first settled by John Dawson, of London, who, with his wife Dorothy, daughter Ann, then five years old, and possibly two sons, immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1710. He was a hatter, a Friend, and carried on his trade there several years. The place was then called "Crooked Billet," from a crooked stick of wood painted on the sign of the tavern, which he probably kept at one time. He built a stone house, his daughter Ann carrying the stone and mortar for him in her tow apron. It is said she was engaged in this occupation when Bartholomew Longstreth decided to marry her. [He had more courage that the modern swain is credited with possessing.*] She rode to Horsham meeting on a pillion behind her father, and after the marriage rode behind her husband to his home in Warminster. John Dawson had seven children. [Benjamin, the youngest child, established the iron works at Phoenixville, and died 1798 of yellow fever.*] In 1742 Dawson lived at the southwest corner of Second street and Church alley, Philadelphia, in the first brick house erected there. The present name, Hatboro, is said to have been given to the village out of regard to the occupation of its earliest inhabitant. [On the evidence of William J. Buck, the earliest name given to the place, when hardly a hamlet, was "Hatboro," and is found on Lewis Evans' "Map of the Middle Colonies," published at Philadelphia, 1749. Doubtless the village took the name of "Crooked Billet" from the sign that swung at the tavern door, a crooked billet of wood. John Dawson, a maker of hats, was there soon after 1700, and his occupation had something to do with the name. Both names were probably applied to it at the same time.*] In 1759 the public house was kept by David Reese, whose daughter, Rebecca, born 1746, married John Hart, of Warminster. This village was the scene of a conflict between the American militia, under General Lacey, and a detachment of the British army, May 1, 1778. The retreating militiamen were pursued across Warminster to the Bristol road, a few killed and wounded on both sides marking the track of war (28). The descendants of John and Dorothy Dawson number about 200 names. The Dawson family is an old one in England. The first of the name, Sir Archibald D'Ossone, aft erward changed to Dawson, was a Norman nobleman who accompanied William the Conqueror to England in 1066, and received the grant of an estate for services rendered in battle. It is not known that John was descended from him, and probably was not. (27) The library was organized, 1755, and some of the most active men in the work were of Warminster, including Joseph Hart and Daniel Longstreth. During the Revolution the books, for safety, were stored in the Longstreth garret. This is said to have been the first country district library established in North America. The library building was erected in 1811, on a bequest for that purpose, in the will of Robert Loller, was named Loller Academy," after him, and is still standing. In it a classical school was kept many years, and became quite famous. The first teacher was George Murray, the same who subsequently kept a boarding school in Doylestown. Rev. Robert Belville, many years pastor at Neshaminy, and father of Rev. Jacob Belville, taught at Loller Academy, 1819. The building was used for public debates, and some distinguished men have measured political and polemic swords there. In 1844, during the Polk and Clay campaign, General John Davis and Hon. Josiah Randall discoursed in the past. * (See illustration of Loller Academy) (28) William Carnahan, a Revolutionary soldier, died in Warminster township, 1839, aged ninety-four, possibly a survivor of the Crooked Billet fight.* [The Longstreth manuscripts give additional information on the Crooked Billet fight of an interesting character. John Tompkins' tavern on the York road was British headquarters. This was in the stone house, still standing, on the west side of the road about 300 yards below the county line as we enter the village. We believe it is used as a dwelling. It is the tradition that Robert Iredell piloted the enemy, and that Isaac Dillon and a "Colonel" William Dean had something to do with it. They were probably Tories. Captain Isaac Longstreth commanded a company of militia and Abraham Sutphin stood guard on the bridge at the lower part of the village the night prior to the morning of the attack on Lacey. Lacey and his aid-de-camp quartered at the house of John Guilbert, a stone dwelling recently taken down on the west side of the turnpike, about half way from the county line to where the monument stands, and occupied an end room next to the road. The night was moonlight and Mrs. Guilbert, not being able to sleep, got up and on looking out one of the back windows, saw British soldiers in the apple trees. She dressed, went down and awakened Lacey and his aide, who got their horses and rode to camp. The refugees were cruel and gave no quarter. An English officer had his thigh broken near the Longstreth gate, and two soldiers were sent for a blanket to sling him between horses. The soldiers began to plunder and an officer who was sent after them took Daniel Longstreth up the lane to point out his goods. A refugee demanded his silver shoe buckles, and dismounted to take them off, threatening to run him through unless he gave them up, but Longstreth appealed to the soldier's two comrades, who shamed him and he rode away.*] [Safety Maghee, of Northampton township, at the age of ninety-three, related to the author, 1858, what he knew of the battle of the Crooked Billet. He said: "In 1778 I was living with my uncle, Thomas Folwell, in Southampton, where Cornell Hobensack lives, on the road from Davisville to Southampton church. On the morning of the battle I heard the firing very distinctly, and a black man named Harry and myself concluded we would go and see what was going on. I was then about thirteen years old. We started from the house and I went directly toward where the firing was. When we came near to where Johnsville now stands we heard a heavy volley there, which brought us to a halt. The firing was in the woods. The British were in pursuit of our militia and charged them from Johnsville to the Bristol road, and also through the fields from the Street road to the Bristol road. They overtook the militia in the woods at the corner of the Street road and the one that leads across to the Bristol road. When the firing had ceased we continued on to the woods, where we found three wounded militiamen near the road. They appeared to have been wounded by the sword, and were much cut and hacked. When we got to them they were groaning greatly. They died in a little while, and, I understand, were buried on the spot. They appeared to be Germans. We then passed on, and, in a field near by, we saw two horses lying dead. They were British. One of them had been shot in the head and the gun put so close the hair was scorched. While we were in the field, Harry picked up a cartouch box, that had been dropped or torn off the wearer. Shortly after we met some of the militia returning, and, when they saw the black fellow with the cartouch box, they became very indignant, and accused him of robbing the dead, and took it away from him. Three dead horses were on the farm of Colonel Joseph Hart. Soon after this we returned home. The last man was killed on the Bristol road at the end of the road that comes across from Johnsville."*] [The first Sunday school at Hatboro was opened September 5, 1824, in Loller Academy. At that time there was no church there. The Baptist church, the first to be organized, grew out of a woods meeting held in the summer of 1835, in a grove half a mile below Southampton, and a mile from that church. During the meeting, the Rev. L. Fletcher, one of the officiating ministers, preached one evening in the Hatboro Academy. Several converts having been made at the woods meeting, and the Southampton Baptist church not being in sympathy, a question arose as to what was to be done with the new converts. Mrs. Yerkes, wife of the late Joseph B. Yerkes, who had recently come to Hatboro, solved the problem by suggesting that a church be organized. The suggestion was accepted and, out of this movement, the prosperous church at Hatboro grew.*] End of Chapter XIV.