THE HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, CHAPTER XXVIII, RICHLAND, 1734. 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 XXVIII RICHLAND 1734 The Great Swamp. -"Rich lands." -English Friends first settlers. -GriffithJ ones. -Manor of Richland. -Peter Lester. -Edward Foulke. -Morris Morris. -Edward Roberts. -Thomas Lancaster. -Growden's tract. -Settlers of 1733. -Benjamin Gilbert. -Randall Iden. -Earliest mention of Richland. -Sucking creek. -Petitioners for road. -Movement to organize township. -Friends'meeting. -Land-owners. -The Matts family. -Jacob Strawn or Strawhen.* -Pursell.* -Andrew Snyder. -Population. -Poor-tax. -Quakertown. -Its situation. -Nucleus of town. -McCook's tavern. -Public library. -Industrial establishments. -State Normal school. -Richland Centre. -Its population. -Richlandtown. -Saint John's church. -Oldest house. -Bunker Hill. -Lottery land. -Opening of roads. -The Fluck log house.* -A German township. (See Map of Richland Township, 1754) In the early day of large scope of country in the northwest corner of the county, including Richland and Milford, with Quakertown for the centre, was known as the "Great swamp." (1) The origin of the name is not known, but probably because the surface is flat, and before it was cleared and cultivated, water stood upon it at certain seasons of the year. It bore this name for three-quarters of a century, and those who were not familiar with the country believed it to be a veritable swamp. But the true character of this section was soon ascertained by those in search of new homes, for shortly after 1720 it began to be called "Rich lands," no doubt from the fertility of the soil, and in the course of time this designation gave the name to the township. Tradition tells us that this section was heavily timbered, with a luxurious growth of grass under the great trees instead of bushes, with occasional small clearings, or "oak-openings," called by the early settlers "Indian fields." It abounded in wild animals, bears, wolves, panthers, etc., and rattlesnakes were so plenty that the early mowers had to wrap their legs to the knee to protect them from their poisonous fangs. The Indian wigwams were built along the Swamp, Tohickon and other creeks, which then swarmed with shad. They lived on good terms with the early settlers, and lingered about their favorite hunting grounds after white men had become quite numerous. There were deer licks on some of the streams, whither this beautiful animal resorted, and where they were watched and shot by the hunter. An Indian path, the line of communication between distant tribes, ran nearly north and south through the Great swamp. (1) Probably the earliest mention of this locality is in a letter of James Logan to William Penn, March 17, 1705, wherein he writes of the "Great Swamp environed by Rocks." PA Archives, Series, II, Vol. VII, p. 29. It is a feature of interest in the settlement of Richland, that it was first peopled by English Friends, who located far away from their kindred in the lower section of the county, and who reached their new homes over the route afterward traversed by the Germans who settle Milford. The English preceded the Germans into Richland several years, and while the descendants of the former are quite numerous, those of the latter predominate, and Richland is a German township. Griffith Jones was probably the first man to own land in Richland. October 12, 1681, and before either of them came to Pennsylvania, William Penn granted 6,000 acres to Jones, to be taken up in his new province on the Delaware. What time he arrived is not known, but in 1689 he purchased several hundred acres near the North Wales settlement, but it was adjudged to belong to others by virtue of previous surveys, which he was not aware of when he purchased. He now determined to locate his grant in the Great swamp, and in 1701 the whole 6,000 acres were surveyed to him in what is now Richland township, and in 1703 2,600 acres were patented. This was the first land surveyed in this section of the county, and it embraced nearly one-half the area of the township. So highly was the land of the Great Swamp esteemed by those who managed Penn's interest in the province, that it was selected for the location of one of the Proprietary's manors. In March 1703 James Logan directed Thomas Fairman and David Powell, surveyors, who were about to make a journey to this section, "to lay out either in one or two tracts, as it shall best suit the place, 10,000 acres of good land under certain bounds and certain marked lines and courses, for the Proprietary." The tract laid off under these instructions was called the "Manor of Richland." In 1738 Thomas Penn estimated these lands to be worth £15 per hundred acres. By virtue of a warrant of September 1, 1700, 500 acres were directed to be laid off, in this and every other township of 5,000 acres, or more, that should be surveyed, to the Proprietary, and in 1733 Thomas Penn directed his Surveyor-General, Benjamin Eastburn, to inquire about this reservation in Richland. Of the result of the inquiry we are not informed. It is not certain that Griffith Jones ever became a resident of the township, but probably he did not. Peter Lester, or Leister, of Leicestershire, England, is thought to have been the first actual settler in Richland. He [came to Chester in 1682, was married here to Mary Duncof, in 1685, and in 1716, with wife and children, became a member of Gwynedd monthly meeting, "having already settled in the Great Swamp."*] He settled below Quakertown, and six or seven generations of the family have lived and died in the township. His first location was on land now, or lately, owned by Samuel Getman, but in a few years he removed to the upper part of Quakertown, where his descendants now live. If Peter Lester was the first actual settler, Abraham Griffith, of Byberry, could not have been long behind him. He married a daughter of Lester in 1708, and shortly afterward he removed to the southern part of the township where the same year he purchased that part of Griffith Jones's tract known as the "bog," and on it erected a shelter beside a leaning rock. In this rude dwelling was born the first white child in the settlement, a son, named after his father. Edward Foulke, the first of the name in Pennsylvania, and among the earliest settlers in Richland, was born in North Wales, Great Britain, July 13, 1651. He was the son of Thomas Foulke, who descended through twelve generation from Lord Penllyn, married Eleanor, daughter of Hugh Cadwallader, and had nine children, Thomas, Hugh, Cadwallader, Evan, Gwently, Grace, Jane, Catharine and Margaret. He came to America with his family in 1698, landing at Philadelphia July 17th. He bought 700 acres in Gwynedd township, Montgomery county, where he settled the following November, with a number of other immigrants who came about the same time. [His second son, Hugh, born 1685, on his marriage in 1713] removed to Richland and settled in the neighborhood of Quakertown. Numerous descendants of Edward Foulke are living in this and adjoining counties and states, among which is [the late Benjamin G.*] Foulke, of Quakertown. The family has always been one of consideration and influence, and several of its members have occupied responsible positions of public trust. Thomas Foulke, son of the first Edward, died in 1786, at the age of 63, and his daughter Jane [the widow of Thomas, died June*] 1822, at the age of 93. The Foulkes are members of the society of Friends. [See Foulke Family, vol. iii*] Between 1710 and 1716 a number of settlers came into the township and took up land, of which we can name the following: In 1714 100 acres were granted to James McVeagh, or McVaugh, convenient for building a mill, at one shilling quit-rent, and 1,000 to Morris Morris, "at or near the tract called Great Swamp in Bucks county," in 1715 200 acres to John Moore, and the same quantity to John Morris, of Shackamaxon, in March 1706, and 250 acres to Michael Atkinson, adjoining Moore, and 350 acres to Michael Lightcap, in two tracts, one of 150 acres, between Edward Roberts' and Thomas Nixon's land, and the other of 200 acres, on the west side of Arthur Jones's land. These tracts were not confirmed to Lightcap until 1732-33. (See autograph of Morris Morris) In the spring of 1716 Edward Roberts, with his wife, Mary, and daughter, and all their worldly goods, came up through the woods by Byberry on horseback, and located the property now owned by Stephen Foulke. He was married in 1714 to a daughter of Everard and Elizabeth Bolton, who immigrated from England, and settled at Cheltenham in 1682, where she was born November 4, 1687. They had seven children, two of the daughters marrying Foulkes. The ancestry of the Boltons is traced back to the Lord of Bolton, the lineal representative of the Saxon Earls of Murcia. The late ex-Judge Roberts, of Doylestown, is a descendant of Edward Roberts. The wife of Edward Roberts was taken sick with small-pox soon after their arrival in Richland, and he was obliged to return with her to Gwynedd, the nearest settlement where she could be properly nursed. On her recovery and their return to Richland, he erected a temporary shelter of bark against some of the large trees that covered the ground, until he was able to build a more comfortable dwelling place. In this they lived until 1728, when he built the southeast end of the dwelling lately taken down by Stephen Foulke. At that time there were several Indian wigwams on the creek, and shad were caught close to his door. Among the earliest settlers in Richland were, William Nixon, who was born in 1680, and died in 1747, Thomas Lancaster, who owned 400 acres in the township, which were divided among his children at his death, in 1751, on his return from a missionary visit to the island of Barbadoes, and Samuel Thomas, born in 1695, and died in 1755, an elder in the Richland meeting. Hugh Foulke, born in 1685, and died in 1760, purchased 313-1/2 acres, which were surveyed to him on a verbal order of the Proprietary. He was in the ministry 40 years. John Edwards came with his wife, Mary, and their children, from Abington. Their son William became a prominent minister among Friends, and died in 1764, at the age of 52 [62*]. His wife was Martha Foulke, likewise an accepted minister, who was appointed an elder in the Richland meeting in 1745, the first woman who held that position. After the death of her husband she married John Roberts in 1771, and died in 1781, in her 65th year. Among the large tracts taken up in the township were, 1,000 acres by James Logan, 3,000 in two tracts by Joseph Growden, 1,000 by a man named Pike, a large tract by Joseph Gilbert, and 500 acres by George McCall, adjoining lands of James Logan. These large tracts were sold to actual settlers, and in a few years the bulk of them had passed from the possession of the original owners. Although the manor was called "Richland," it was only partly in this township. (See autograph of Edward Roberts) About 1730 there was an additional influx of settlers to the neighborhood of Quakertown, a few of which were Germans, John Adamson, Arnold Heacock, John Phillips, William Morris, Joshua Richardson, William Jamison, Edmund Phillips, John Paul, John Edwards, Arthur Jones, and others. John Klemmer was in the township as early as 1730, and in 1738-39 he was the owner of land. George Bachman bought 234 acres in 1737, and Bernard Steinback took up 50 acres in 1742. In 1737 John Bond located 250 acres, and about the same time Casper Wister, of Philadelphia, purchased one tract in Richland, and another on the south bank of the Lehigh. Grace Growden was the owner of 525 acres, which she received from her father's estate, which were sold in 1785, but its location we do not know. Benjamin Gilbert, son of Joseph and Rachel Gilbert, of Byberry, Philadelphia, removed to Richland about 1735, where he remained until 1749, when he went to Makefield, and back again to Byberry, in 1755. The life of Mr. Gilbert had an unfortunate termination. In 1775, at the age of 64, he removed with his family to Mahoning creek, a frontier settlement then in Northampton county, where he erected saw and grist-mills, and carried on an extensive and prosperous business. In 1780 a party of hostile Indians burned his buildings, and carried himself and family prisoners to Canada. He died while going down the St. Lawrence, but his wife and children, after suffering many hardships, returned to Byberry in 1782, where his widow died in 1810. Mr. Gilbert was an author of some merit, and wrote and published several works on religious subjects. The ancestor of James C. Iden, of Buckingham, was an early settler in the "bog" of Richland. Randall Iden, the great-grandfather of James C., was born in Bristol harbor, England, on shipboard, about 1684 or 1686, on the eve of the family sailing for America. The father died on the voyage, leaving a widow with nine children. On their arrival in the Delaware, or soon afterward, the mother and two youngest children went to live at Joseph Kirkbride's. The youngest son, Randall, married Margaret Greenfield, who was brought up at Kirkbride's, and removed to Richland, where he spent his life, raised a family of children, and died at a good old age. In 1816 his [grandson Samuel, the father of James C., removed to Buckingham, where he died. Samuel was a son of Randal (3) who married Eleanor Foulke.*] Although the township was not laid out and organized by the court until the fall of 1734, it had a quasi existence, for municipal purposes, several years before. The earliest mention of it, even for this purpose, was in 1729, when the inhabitants of "Rich lands" township petitioned the court to have a road "laid out from the upper part of said township, near a creek called "Sacking, or Sucking, (Saucon*) to the place where the Quaker meeting-house is building, and from thence to the end of Abraham Griffith's lane." In 1730 thirty-two of the inhabitants of "Rich lands," one-half of whom were German, namely: Hugh Foulke, John Lester, John Adamson, Arnall Hancocks, John Phillips, George Phillips, Jr., William Morris, Edward Roberts, Arthur Jones, William Nixon, John Ball, John Edwards, Thomas Roberts, Joshua Richards, William Jamison, Edmund Phillips, Johannes Bleiler, Michael Everhart, Joseph Everhart, Abraham Hill, Johannes Landis, Jacob Klein, John Jacob Klemmer, Jacob Musselman, Jacob Sutar, Peter Cutz, Jacob Drissel, Henry Walp, Samuel Yoder, George Hix, John Jacob Zeits, and Heinrich Ditterly, petitioned for a road "from the new meeting-house on the county line near William Thomas's, in order to go to Philadelphia by the Montgomery road." Before this road was opened the nearest way for the inhabitants of Richland to go to Philadelphia was round by the York road, which they say "is marshy, the ground not fitting for carts or loaded horses." [As the "Great Swamp" was an objective point in Richland, the following reference to additional locations of lands thereabouts, and kindred matters will be of interest.*] (See autograph of Hugh Foulke) [April 9, 1720, John Leatherbe, who had begun to build a mill on a branch of the Tohickon, near the Great Swamp, by permission of some of the inhabitants, now desired a grant of land; December 22, same year, Christian Allebaugh desired to purchase 150 acres, the inhabitants being desirous he should settle there, being a good weaver by trade. January 13, 1724-5. Duke Jackson, a whip maker, requests the grant of 100 acres, having pitched on a spot called "Chestnut Hill." He must have settled there, as he was a petitioner for township organization, in 1734; February 6, 1718, a warrant for 300 acres was granted to Peter Wisehart; Edward Roberts' warrant for survey was issued January 2, 1715-16, and the patent granted November 21, 1716, February 14, 1737, a patent was issued to John George Bachman for 334 acres; Benjamin Seigle, carpenter, Lower Milford, purchased a tract May 26, 1760, and settled on it. He was a member of the "Committee of Safety," during the Revolution, and was living, 1793. One of his sons was the founder of the village of Seigletown, New Jersey, in the Musconetcong Valley near Finesville, where members of the family still live. It is recorded in Col. Records, Vol. XI, page 463, that on April 10, 1778, an order was drawn on the treasurer in favor of Joseph Carson, for the sum of £9,043. 10s, the balance due him for a quantity of woolens seized by the council in the "Great Swamp," in the county of Bucks, and to be applied to the clothing of the Continental troops.*] The first movement toward a township organization was in September 1734 when Peter Lester, Duke Jackson, Lawrence Growden, not a resident, John Ball, George Hyat, John Phillips, Edward Roberts, John Lester, and Thomas Heed, petitioned the court "to lay out a township by the name of 'Richland.'" The metes and bounds given make it five and a half miles from north to south, and four and a half from east to west. The court, which confirmed the first survey of Lower Milford about this time, ordered the lines of Richland to be run according to that survey where the two townships touch. On the draft returned into court were marked the following real estate owners: Joseph Gilbert, James Logan, Joseph Pike, Lawrence Growden, Griffith Jones, Michael Lightfoot, Samuel Pierson, and Henry Taylor, but there were others. The land of Griffith Jones at this time comprised more than one-fifth of the township.* A meeting for worship was held at the house of Peter Lester, several years before the Gwynedd monthly granted the Richland preparative meeting, about 1721 or 1723, when a small meeting-house was erected a mile below Quakertown, on the property lately belonging to William Shaw. The increase of Friends made a larger house necessary, and, in 1729, a lot was purchased in the middle of the settlement, on which a new meeting-house was built. The Swamp Friends wanted a stone one, but the monthly meeting advised that it be built of wood, as more consistent with their means. A monthly meeting was established in 1742. (2) In 1744 Saucon Friends were granted permission to hold meetings for worship, and, Springfield 1745. Richland being the mother meeting; and in 1746, or 1747, Abraham Griffith, Samuel Thomas and Lewis Lewis, were appointed to assist the Friends of Springfield to select a place for building a meeting-house. An addition was built to the Richland meeting-house in 1749, the sum required being raised by 38 subscribers, among which we find the names of William Logan, and Israel Pemberton, Jr., both land owners but non-residents. In 1762 an addition, 20x26 feet, was added to the north end, money being borrowed to complete it; and there was a further addition in 1795, leaving the house substantially as we now see it. Among those most active in religious matters, from the first establishment of the meeting, we find the names of Foulke, Roberts, Moore, Ball, Shaw, Iden, Ritter and Dennis. The Foulke family has furnished six elders, six clerks, and two accepted ministers. In 1781 a meeting was held at the Milford school-house, once in three weeks. In 1786 the monthly meeting was transferred to Abington quarterly. In 1781 eleven of the leading members of the Richland meeting, viz: Samuel Foulke, James Chapman, Thomas Edwards, Enoch Roberts, Everard Foulke, Thomas Thomas, John Thomas, John Foulke, Thomas Foulke, John Lester and William Edwards, were disowned for subscribing the oath of allegiance to the colonies, but the yearly meeting failing to concur, most of them retained their membership. The same year Elizabeth Potts was disowned for holding slaves. The first marriage in the monthly meeting took place September 24, 1743, between Samuel Foulke and Annie Greasly. The earliest certificate of marriage in this section is that of William Edwards, of Milford, and Martha, daughter of Hugh Foulke, October 4, 1738, and among the witnesses are the names of Edwards, Foulke, Roberts, Griffith, Lester, Ball and others well known in this section. (3) We are told that during the Revolution the men about Quakertown organized themselves into a company to enter the patriot service, and used to meet to drill under the large oak tree that stands near the Friends' meeting-house. (2) At Richland meeting was organized the first society for maintaining friends relations with the Red men, called "Ye Friendly Association for Regaining and Preserving Peace with Ye Indians." It was maintained until the peace of 1759, and during this long period of frontier wars peaceful relations were maintained by the two races.* (3) Gilbert Cope, of West Chester, wrote us: "I have note of the marriage of Thomas Heed, of Solebury, widower, and Diana Hulings, of Richland, widow, 11, 20, 1730-31, at Richland meeting, and among the witnesses are the names of Abraham Griffith, Hannah Griffith, Patience Phillips, John Heed, George Phillips, John Griffith, Abraham Griffith, Jr., Duke Jackson, Peter Ball, Jr., Deborah Phillips, Katherine Ball et al. Edward Phillips, of Richland, and Elizabeth Davis, of Montgomery, were married 2, 25, 1729, at Gwynedd meeting, and among the witnesses were George and Patience Phillips, John and Mary Davis, John and George Phillips, David Davies, Abraham Griffith, Arnold Hancock, et al.* (See illustration of Richland Friends' Meeting House, Quakertown) The Matts family, Richland - the original name being Metz, then changed to Matz, and afterwards to the present spelling - is descended from John Michael Metz, who was born in the city of Metz, Germany, 1750, and came to Philadelphia before, 1760. He learned the trade of tanner and currier with one Allibone, and married Barbara Fayman. During the Revolution he was impressed into the American army, and was at the battle of Germantown. After the battle he was engaged in finishing leather for knapsacks at Allentown. Of his seven children, two son and three daughters died young, Sarah and John living to between eighty and ninety. In 1798 John Michael Metz settled in Springfield township, and in 1800 removed to Richland, four miles northeast of Quakertown, where he followed tanning to his death, in 1813, at the age of sixty-three. His sister Sarah married and removed to Northampton county. On the death of the father the son, John Matts, came into possession of the property, where he followed the same trade to his death, January 14, 1875, at the age of eighty-nine. He was a man of considerable prominence, and in 1824 was elected to the Legislature, serving four sessions. He was likewise Colonel of militia. He left ten children, seven sons and three daughters, eight of whom were married and had families. Four of the sons were lately living in Wisconsin, one daughter in Iowa and another in Kansas. Elias H. Matts, the fourth son, lived at the old homestead. The children married into the families of Flick, Dickson, Hartzell, Uttley, Erdman, Dunkel, Anthony and Servates, of this county and elsewhere. [Jacob Strawn, or Strawhen, ancestor of the family of this name in Richland, was born in Middletown, 1719, where his father, Launcelot Strawhen died 1720. His mother was Mary, second daughter of William Buckman, Sussex, England, who arrived in the Welcome, 1682. Mary Buckman's first husband was Henry Cooper, Newtown, and married Launcelot Strawhen prior to 1716, for which she was disowned by the Society of Friends. Jacob Strawn married Christina Purcell (4) mentioned in the Richland meeting records as "Staunchy" 1741 and removed to Richland where he became useful and prominent and a large land holder. They had nine sons and seven daughters: Thomas born 1742 John born 1744 Jacob born 1747 William born 1749 Daniel born 1752 Hannah born 1756, married John White Isaiah born 1758 Job born 1760 Jerusha born 1762, married Jeremiah Reed Abel born 1765 Enoch born 1768 who intermarried with families of Heacock, Dennis, VanBuskirk, Van Horn, Roudenbush, Purcell, Moore and others. John married Keziah Dennis, and removed to Westmoreland county, and later to Kentucky. He was the father of nineteen children. (5) When William Buckman was candidate for sheriff, 1766, about sixty young new members of the Strawn family and their friends came down to the election at Newtown to vote for him and stayed with him all night. Some of the children of Jacob and Christina settled in Haycock.*] (4) This name is spelled Pursell, Purcell and Purcel.* (5) Warren S. Ely.* Andrew Snyder was among the early settlers of Richland. He was the eldest son of a noble family of the Duchy of Deux Ponts of Rheinish Bavaria where he was born in 1739, and, in order to obtain money to come to America, sold his title to the immunities of nobility to a younger brother. He arrived at Philadelphia, 1759, and apprenticed himself to Benjamin Chew, with whom he remained three years. At the end of this time the Chews assisted him to purchase 400 acres in Richland, and, marrying Margaret Jacoby, in 1765, settled down to a farmer's life. He entered the army at the breaking out of the Revolution, and was present at Trenton, Germantown, and other battles, and, at the end of five years' service was paid in worthless Continental currency. He was appointed collector for Richland and probably other townships, about the close of the war, and was rendered penniless by going security for others, but his old friends, the Chews, came to his aid again. Mr. Snyder died October 26, 1815, at the age of seventy-six. He had a family of eleven children, five sons and six daughters, but Amos H. Snyder, the son of John, and his family, of Richland, are the only descendants of the name who reside near the old homestead. His son Frederick settled in Hilltown, Andrew in Philadelphia and George in Ohio. Richland is in the northwestern part of the county, 35 miles from Philadelphia, and bounded by Springfield, Haycock, Rockhill and Milford, with an area of 13,986 acres. The surface is generally level and the soil fertile. In the northwest corner is a rocky eminence, bare of vegetation, covering some five acres. The rocks are thrown together pell-mell, and, when struck by iron, give a ringing sound. Here some of the headwaters of the Tohickon rise, and a rocky ledge follows either bank some distance. With these exceptions there is but little broken land in the township, and it is well-watered by the Tohickon and branches of the Perkiomen. By clearing up the land and cultivating it, a large scope of county, that was considered a swamp at its first settlement, has been changed into good farm land, among the best in the upper end of the county. By the census of 1784, the township contained a population of 860, and 147 dwellings; in 1810, 1,317; 1820, 1,385; 1830, 1,1719, and 344 taxables; 1840, 1,781; 1850, 1,729; 1860, 2,058 white and 16 colored; 1870, 2,104 white and 7 colored, of which 93 were of foreign birth; [1880, 1,994; 1890, 2,088; 1900, 1,826.*] The township book of Richland shows that in 1765 the overseers received £14. 9. 3d poor-tax. That year the mayor of Philadelphia sent home a female pauper to be supported by the township. Lewis Lewis, one of the overseers, kept her six months for £5, with an extra five shillings a week for four weeks when she "was sick and troublesome more than common." In 1772 the township sent Susannah Boys to Ireland, and paid her passage and sundry expenses, amounting to £16. 6s. 3. In 1776 two shillings were spent by the township for a "bottle of licker" for John Morrison, who sat up with a sick man. In 1801 the poor-tax levied amounted to £37. 5s. 10d. The villages of Richland are Quakertown and Richland Centre, now united under one municipal government, in the western section of the township, Richlandtown, two miles and a half to the northeast, and Bunker Hill in the southern part. The site of Quakertown is a basin, with a diameter of from two to three miles, with a rim of higher ground running around it, and drained by the tributaries of the Tohickon to the Delaware on the southeast, and by the Swamp creek on the southwest emptying into the Perkiomen, and thence into the Schuylkill. On the northwest side of the town is a little rivulet called Licking run, emptying into the Tohickon, which is said to have got its name from a salt lick on its bank. Half a century ago a company was formed and some stock subscribed to work the lick. The first settlers at this point located on the elevated ground around the basin, then a swampy meadow where their cattle were turned to pasture; and, within the memory of those living, the land around the town was still a swamp, and covered with a heavy growth of timber down to the railroad station. The road between these points became almost impassable in the spring of the year. A hamlet first began to form at the intersection of what is known as the Milford Square and Newtown and Hellertown and Philadelphia roads, all opened at an early day. We have no date when this collection of early dwellings first developed into a village. It was probably called Quakertown from the first, possibly as a slur upon the Friends who settled it; and very likely was first called "the Quaker's town." In 1770 Walter McCoole kept tavern at the cross-roads but a post-office was not established until 1803, with William Green, postmaster. McCoole built one of the first mills in the township, the same lately owned by Wolf, but we do not know the present owner. The Friends opened a school of a higher grade at Quakertown, the only one in the upper end of the county, shortly after the monthly meeting was established, which became popular with the Germans, who sent their children to it from Berks and Northampton. In 1795 a public library was established, with Abraham Stout, Everard Foulke, Joseph Lester, Isaac Lancaster and Samuel Sellers, directors, and 32 members, of whom Stogdale Stokes, of Stroudsburg, was the last survivor. Among the names we find six Foulkes, four Robertses, three Greens and three Lesters, these three families furnishing one-half the members, no better evidence being required to prove who were the early patrons of reading about Quakertown. This is the third oldest library in the county, and is still kept within a mile of the cross roads. Quakertown was incorporated 1855 with 45 freeholders, [and at the election in March, Edward Foulke was elected chief burgess with a full compliment of borough officers.*] It has largely increased in population and wealth since the opening of the North Penn railroad, 1856. At that time it had 62 dwellings, and 150 additional were added prior to 1876, 212 in all. In 1870 the population was 863; [1888, 769, and 2,169, 1890; 1900, 3,014. In 1893 the borough was divided into three wards, the first two embracing original Quakertown, the third village is Richland Centre, that part of the borough east of the railroad. The present population is about 3,000, the first and second wards 1,800, the third 1,200.*] (See illustration of Lancaster House, Quakertown, 1747-1891) (See illustration of the Reformed Church, Quakertown) [In the past 25 years Quakertown has undergone great change and development. It has 10 churches, representing the Friends, Lutheran, (6) Reformed, Methodist, and Roman Catholic, and five hotels. In industrial and mechanical pursuits, it has kept pace with the most prosperous sections of the county; among the plants are Roberts, Winner & Co.'s stove works, the Eagle silk mill, giving employment to about 100 hands each; several cigar manufactories, large and small, employing 500 hands, the industry prospering during the late depression; shoe manufacturing, etc. A national bank was chartered 1876, with a paid up capital of $100,000; it has a surplus of $175,000 and $450,000 deposits. Among the secret societies, the Masons, Odd Fellows, American Mechanics, Red Men, Knights of the Golden Eagle, and the Brotherhood of the Union have flourishing lodges. In addition to the industries named, are a foundry, ax handle, spoke and felloe factory, tannery and hay press.*] (6) The Lutheran church, St. John's, erected 1860, was the second house of worship in Quakertown. It was remodeled and enlarged, 1899, and occupied the following spring. It is finished with all modern comforts and conveniences; has a seating capacity of 300 in auditorium and 150 in gallery; in basement are Sunday-school room and other apartments, heated with steam, lighted with electricity, and has a pipe organ. The church has had five pastors; The Revs. Berkemyer, George W. Lazarus, J. F. Ohl, George G. Gardner, and B. F. Fretz.* (See illustration of Richland Friends' Meeting House, Quakertown) [Quakertown has been fortunate in her schools. Besides the Friends School, established at an early day, Richard Moore and Thomas Lester opened a boarding school, 1818, that was a success while continued. In 1858 the Rev. A. R. Horne, D.D., opened a Normal and classical school, his assistant being the Rev. H. L. Bougher, D.D., former professor of Green at Pennsylvania College, Gettysburg. It began with three scholars and had forty before the end of the term. During the five years the school continued it had 400 students from half a dozen states, and from one-third of the counties of this state, and 114 of the number were fitted for teachers. The former pupils hold a reunion every five years on August 19. (7) When Mr. Horne left, 1863, Rev. L. Cort became principal, but it was changed into a "Soldiers' Orphans" School, 1865, and continued until 1869, under Joseph Fell and Alfred H. Marple. At the present time the borough has three public school buildings, with an average attendance of 700, the principal being Prof. A. M. Rosenberger, Milford township. The post-office is a distributing office for most parts of the upper end of the county by rail and stage. The village has a water plant, the Tohickon creek furnishing the abundant supply; the streets and houses are lighted with electricity, and a trolley line connects it with Richlandtown. (8)*] (7) In the "National Educator," 1874, Mr. Horne related the following reminiscence of the school: "When the rebellion broke out, 1861, we had charge of the Bucks county Normal and Classical school, Quakertown. A spirit of patriotism was aroused among the students, and they organized a company of 'minute men,' who went through daily drills. The captain of the company was a tall, stalwart student, standing almost head and shoulders above the rest, the drummer boy was a 'wee bit' of a fellow. On Sunday week we met both of these men in their ministerial capacity. The captain, Prof. J. S. Stahr, of Franklin and Marshall college, and the drummer boy, the Rev. C. J. Cooper, of South Bethlehem, also pastor of the Lower Saucon church, Northampton county." * (8) The late Dr. Isaac S. Moyer, one of the most prominent residents of Quakertown, and an accomplished botanist, prepared the catalogue of plants for the first edition of this work. He was born at Harleysville, Montgomery county, 1838, and died, 1898. His wife was a sister of B. Frank Fackenthall, Easton, Pennsylvania.* [Richland Centre, a mile east of what was old Quakertown, and with which it was connected by a broad street, has been consolidated with it into one municipality. Here the station of the North Pennsylvania railroad was established when opened, the road being the dividing line between the two villages until they were united 1874. The post-office was established 1867; and all the building but ten have been built since 1856. The town is mainly built on the farms of Joel B. Roberts and John Strawn, and has a fair share of the industries credited to Quakertown.*] Richlandtown, two and a half miles northeast of Quakertown, is a village of 25 [75*] houses. Among the earliest settlers were John Smith, a soldier of the Revolution; John Berger, Philip Grower and Daniel Walp. Walp built the first dwelling, a frame, 1804, but the oldest house now standing was built by Abraham Oberholtzer, about half a century (75*) years ago and, in recent years, was owned by William Reed. The place was first called "Three Lanes End," and then, in succession "Ducktown," "Frogtown," "Flatland," and the name it bears. It has the usual village industries, including the manufacture of shoes and cigars, stores, etc. There is but one church, St. John's Evangelical, Lutheran and Reformed, organized 1806-7. The lot was the gift of John Smith, the building erected 1808, and rebuilt 1860. A school-house was there prior to the church, and a grave-yard half a mile northeast. Here several of the earliest settlers were buried, but their graves have been plowed over and can no longer be distinguished. The first Lutheran pastor was the Rev. George Keller, then Frederick Waage, four years, William B. Kemmer, 38 years, died in August 1860, E. T. M. Sell, two years, L. Groh, four years, P. B. Kistler, four years, Joseph Hillpot, installed in 1871, [and the Rev. D. H. Reiter, installed 1880, and still the rector. He has also officiated at East Quakertown, since the church's organization, 1890, and at Trumbauersville.*] The first Reformed pastor was the Rev. Samuel Stahr, who served until his death, 1826, then Mr. Berke, two years, Samuel Hess, 40 years, who resigned on account of old age, and the Rev. Henry Hess, who succeeded him, 1868. The post-office at Richlandtown was established 1839, and Christian A. Snyder appointed postmaster. Bunker Hill is situated on the New Bethlehem road, on the line between Richland and Rockhill, and contains a store and about a dozen dwellings. A tavern was licensed there many years, but it has been closed a long time. Within a few years a small hamlet called California has sprung up on the railroad, two miles above Quakertown, which contains a tavern, store, mill, and half a dozen [few*] dwellings. Along the border of the Quakertown basin, near California, there were a few years ago two old log houses, inhabited by the Green family at a very early day. A mile east of Richlandtown, on the road to Doylestown and near the cross-roads at Loux's smith-shop, Haycock, is an old graveyard, where was once a log Methodist church, but taken down half a century ago. On a ruined gravestone can be read the initials, "J. M.," the latter letter being supposed to stand for Mofley, an inhabitant of the neighborhood. This section of the county has been noted for its healthfulness and the longevity of many of its citizens. A few years ago the Provident Life and Trust company, Philadelphia, instituted an inquiry into the age to which people lived in various parts of the county. An examination of Richland meeting records proved that a larger number of its members died at a greater age than of any other meeting. The oldest inhabitant of that section, 1875, was John Heller, near Quakertown, who was 100 the 25th of January, but we do not know when he died. He was born in Rockhill, 1775, and lived 60 years in Milford township. He met with many mishaps, among others falling a distance of 31 feet from the wall of a mill, at the age of 71, which lamed him for life. He was industrious, and in his old age enjoyed good health. There were several lots of land in Richland containing in all 413 acres, and 20 perches, included in the tract known as "Lottery lands;" originally surveyed by John Watson, and re-surveyed, 1773, by Samuel Foulke. A century and a half ago Robert Penrose was the most extensive farmer in Richland. We have met with no record of roads earlier than 1729, when the inhabitants petitioned to have a road laid out "from the upper part of the said township, near a creek called Sacking, or Sucking, to the place where the Quaker meeting-house is building, and from thence to the end of Aaron Griffith's lane." It is impossible to say what road this was, but it was one leading from the upper end of the township to Quakertown. The following year the inhabitants petitioned for a road from Quakertown to the county line, at Perkasie, an early outlet to Philadelphia. The same year Hilltown and Richland asked for a road from the mouth of Pleasant spring, via the most northerly corner of Bernard Young's land, to the county line, near Horsham. The starting may have been near the spring in Pleasant Valley, Springfield. In 1734 a road was laid out from the Great Swamp to the North Wales road leading to Edward Farmer's mill. The Bethlehem road, early laid out through Richland, gave the inhabitants a convenient way to the valley of the Lehigh in one direction, and in the other, opened a new route toward Philadelphia, and the lower end of the county. In 1780 the name of John Fries, the hero of "Milford rebellion," was signed to a petition for a road in Richland. [One of the oldest houses in Richland, possibly in the upper end of the county, is the Fluck log house at the junction of the Swamp road and that to Bunker Hill, two miles east of Quakertown. It is occupied by Charles Moll, grandson of Samuel Fluck, born 1804, had eleven children of which six are living. The house was built at two periods; in the older part the logs are not squared, but left in the rough and chinked. A date, cut in the chimney piece of the more recent structure, is very distinct, 1789, and the other part may be a couple of generations older. Tobias Kile, now in his 94th year, who has lived nearby all his life, and in possession of all his faculties, says he has no knowledge when it was built; that it was an old house in his earliest boyhood. The Kile family is numerous and of great longevity. There were eleven children, four of which are still living at an advanced age. Tobias, Abraham, Sarah Hartranft and Nancy Coar, with one set of triplets, Isaac, Jacob and Abraham, the former dying recently, close on to ninety. The father's name was Abraham Keil, and the mother Catharine M. Souder. The grandfather was Hartman Keil and the grandmother a Souder also. All lived to nearly 100 years. The Keil farm is now owned by Nicholas Kile, a grandson of Tobias. A very old log house on this farm is still occupied.*] In Richland the Teutonic race has practically overwhelmed the descendants of the English and Welsh Friends, the first to invade the wilderness, and have made it a German township. In Quakertown proper the old Quaker families have more nearly held their own, but everywhere else the German is the ruling element of the population. We have been able to get but little information of the German families which first settled in Richland. Many of them have numerous descendants living in the township, who are represented in the Musselmans, Walps, Ditterlys, Ahlums, Biehns, Singmaster's, Diehls, Freeds and others well-known. [Charles Albert Fechter, a distinguished tragedian, spent several years of his life in Richland, on a small farm he bought, 1874, dying there 1879. (9)* (9) Mr. Fechter was born at London, 1824, of German-French parentage, receiving liberal education in France. Choosing the histrionic profession as a life pursuit, after proper preparation he joined a traveling troupe, making the tour of Italy and playing at different times at Paris, Berlin and London. He took leading English characters, including Hamlet and Macbeth. He met with remarkable success and took rank with the leading actors. He came to America, 1870, well indorsed by the press and public; also Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins and Edmund Yates. He received a warm reception in all the leading cities. He was a man of genius and should have achieved greater distinction than he won. He was buried in Philadelphia.* The end of chapter XXVIII.