THE HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, CHAPTER XLVII, OUR COURTS; COUNTY-SEAT; DIVISION OF COUNTY; BUILDING OF ALMS-HOUSE. 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. Transcriptionist's note: Because an additional chapter (on Bridgeton) was added to the 1905 edition, the chapter numbers for the 1905 edition will be one number ahead of 1876 addition. _____________________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER XLVII, 1876 Edition or CHAPTER XVIII, 1905 Edition OUR COURTS; COUNTY-SEAT; DIVISION OF COUNTY; BUILDING OF ALMS-HOUSE Justice under Swedes and Dutch. -Earliest courts at Upland. -First lawsuit in Bucks county. -Penn's courts. -First court in the county. -Our quarter sessions. -Derrick Jonson. -First execution. -A verdict by lot. -Attorneys. -Pleadings. -Seal of county. -Our early judge.* -Bird Wilson and successors. -Members of the bar. -The Chapmans, father and son. -Fox, Ross, et al. -Griffiths. The present bar. -Early court houses. -County seat at Bristol. -Removed to Newtown. -Public buildings. -County-seat changed to Doylestown. -The opposition. -Buildings erected. -Attempts to divide county. -Erection of alms house. -Previous care of the poor. -New court house, 1877.* -Bicentennial celebration, 1882.* Under the Swedes and Dutch the administration of justice on the Delaware was a very simple thing. The population was sparse and offenses few, and some of these were punished in a summary way. When the river fell into the hands of the English, in 1664, Governor Lovelace attempted to establish the English system of courts, but he encountered many difficulties, and the machinery of civil administration was not fairly in operation until 1670. Three judicial districts were organized, that of Upland extending up the [Delaware*] river to the falls, and embracing Bucks county to that point. Down to the arrival of William Penn the few inhabitants of this county were obliged to go down to Upland, now Chester, to transact their public business. Upland is first mentioned as a settlement in 1648, but it was probably settled by the Swedes as early as 1643, and was named after a province in middle Sweden. The earliest court held there was in 1672. Sir Edmund Andros remodeled the judicial system of Governor Lovelace, and to him we are really indebted for the introduction of English jurisprudence on the Delaware. His courts, held at Upland, new Castle, and Whorekill, had the power of courts of sessions, and could decide all matters under £20 without appeal, and under £5 without a jury. An appeal could be had to the court of assize where the matter in dispute was £20, and, in criminal matters where the punishment extended to loss of life or limb, or banishment. The courts met once a month, or oftener if there were occasion. Constables were chosen annually in each vicinity to hear and determine small cases. Previous to February 1677, all wills had to be proved, and letters of administration granted, at New York. The Upland court now petitioned Governor Andros to clothe it, or the commander on the Delaware, with this power, on the ground that the estates were too small to bear so great expense. The court was allowed to grant letters where the estate was under £30, but where it was of more value it had to go to New York as formerly. The first action to recover a debt, brought by an inhabitant of Bucks county, was by James Sanderling, of Bensalem, who sued John Edmunds, of Maryland, November 12, 1678, for the value of 1200 pounds of tobacco, and the scales of justice inclined to the plaintiff's side. In 1679 Duncan Williamson and Edmund Draufton, who likewise lived in Bensalem, were parties to a suit. Draufton, who was something of a schoolmaster, and probably the first of that honorable calling in the county, agreed to teach Williamson's children to read the Bible for 200 guilders, and was a allowed a year to complete the task, if that length of time were required. When the work was done Williamson refused to pay the bill, when Draufton sued him before the Upland court, and recovered his wages. The regulations relating to the ear-marks of cattle were adopted by the courts under Andros's administration, and we find that at the session held at "Kingssesse," June 14, 1681, Claes Jansen [Jensen*] brought in the ear-marks of his cattle, and desired they might be recorded, which was done accordingly. The "Frame of government," adopted by Penn before he left England, empowered the provincial government and council to erect courts, from time to time, as they might be required. This was changed in 1683, so as to give the governor the right to appoint to office, but at the Proprietary's death it was changed back as it stood at first. The courts were modeled after those of England: A supreme court, with law and equity jurisdiction, courts of common pleas, with the same double authority, and courts of quarter sessions holden by the justices of the peace or any of them. Courts of oyer and terminer, for the trial of capital cases, were frequently held by commissioners specially appointed. The permanent foundation of the colonial judiciary was established by act of 1722, which differed little from the courts as now constituted. (1) (1) In the course of our investigation, an old commission turn up, appointing Mahlon Kirkbride, John Watson, Jr., Langhorne Biles, William Yeardly and Joseph Kirkbride justices of the first court of common pleas, under the date of 1759 "for establishing courts of judicature."* [The first court held in Bucks county, of which we have any record, was at "ye new seated towne" on the Delaware below the falls, not far from where Morrisville stands. The place was called "Crewcorne," and the court the "Court of Crewcorne (spelled Creekehorne) at the falls." The court was opened prior to April, 1680, but how much earlier we have no means of telling. William Biles was a member of the court. On April 12th the court sent to the Governor of New York, under whose jurisdiction the settlements on the Delaware then were, the names of four persons for magistrates "according to order," but the names are not given.*] The first court held in this county was an orphans' court at the house of Gilbert Wheeler, who lived just below the falls, March 4, 1683. (2) There were present on the bench, William Penn, James Harrison, John Otter, William Yardley, William Biles, and Thomas Fitzwater, with Phineas Pemberton as clerk, which office he held to his death. Pemberton was clerk of all the courts of the county. His commission was dated at Pennsbury the 5th of second-month, 1686, and issued by Thomas Lloyd, and directed "To my Loveing Friend Phineas Pemberton, near Delaware Falls." The first business transacted was the making disposition of the estate of John Spencer, a settler lately deceased, and binding out his children. The next term of the court, March 3, 1684, was held "in the court-house for said county." The first court of common pleas was held the 11th day of December, 1684, and the first case called was Robert Lucas against Thomas Bowman, "for withholding £7 , wages due to the said plaintiff in the third-month last past." The summons was served by Luke Brindley, the deputy sheriff, who was "Ranger" at Pennsbury, and judgment was given in favor of the plaintiff, with costs. The fourth case was that of Ann Wilson, who sues Edward and William Smith for "one pound nine shillings unjustly detained from her," which she recovered. The first court of quarter sessions was held eleventh-month 12th, 1684, (3) with the same justices that held the orphans' court, but the business transacted was unimportant. The first punishment inflicted, by virtue of a sentence pronounced the 11th day of the fourth-month, 1685, was on Charles Thomas, who received "twenty lashes upon his bare back well laid on," and, after sentence, was fined five shillings for behaving rudely to the court. The 10th of twelfth-month, 1685, a special term was held by order of the provincial council to try David Davis, under arrest for killing his servant, the first murder trial in the county, but the records do not give the result. The first grand jury was empaneled at the June term, 1685, and consisted of 22 men. At the September term Gilbert Wheeler was presented for "turning of the high road where it was laid out, and fencing it up." (2) The records from that day to this are complete in the office at Doylestown. (3) January 12, 1685, new style. At that early day our infant quarter sessions was hard on negroes guilty of larceny. At the December term, 1688, a runaway from Virginia, named George, indicted for stealing two turkeys, worth six shillings, from Thomas Janney, Jr., was found guilty on three indictments, and sentenced to pay the value of the goods, to be sold into servitude, and whipped with forty lashes on his bare back in presence of the court. He was bought by Stephen Howell, and was to serve fourteen years, but if his master should make demand he was to be returned to him at the end of ten years. The first coroner's inquest was the 15th of May, 1692, on the body of Elizabeth Chappel, who was drowned by falling off her horse into the Neshaminy. The first judicial execution in this county, and probably in the state, was in the month of July, 1693, when Derrick Jonson, alias Closson, was hanged for murder. On the 8th of May, 1692, the body of an unknown man was found floating in the Neshaminy near its month, which bore evidence of foul play, on which an inquest was held on the 12th, and returned into court on the 8th of June. It appearing from the evidence before the coroner, that a considerable quantity of blood was found on the wall of Jonson's house, and on his bed, he was arrested. He and his wife Brighta were examined at the August term. He tried to explain the appearance of the blood, saying that it came from a man's nose three years before, and that he had mentioned it about the time. Although there was strong circumstantial evidence that a murder had been committed, the court discharged Jonson on his own recognizance of £100, and his wife on security in the same amount, to answer at the next term. A true bill was found against him at April term, 1693, and he was tried and found guilty of murder, and sentenced to be hanged. His wife and neighbors petitioned for his pardon, or commutation of sentence, but without avail, and he was executed about the middle of July, by the sheriff, Israel Taylor. (4) A few days afterward Taylor appeared before the provincial council and asked to be relieved from his office, which was done. (5) The convict was a person of considerable property, and the council looked after his crops, allowing Robert Cole £7. 15s. for securing them, to be paid from the estate. Jonson had been in the courts before, having been bound over at the June term, 1685, for striking his servant, Jasper Lunn [Lun*]. He was a Swede, and no doubt had been in the country several years. (6) There is a tradition, although a cruel one, that he was confined in the old jail at the falls, then in a very dilapidated condition, and that it was hoped he would break out and run away, but not doing so, the authorities hung him to get rid of him. (7) (4) It is believed that Jonson was hanged at Tyburn, in Falls township, which gave the name to the place, after its English namesake. (5) Israel Taylor was the son of Christopher Taylor, and was appointed sheriff April 29, 1693. A man of his name was the first surgeon mentioned as living in the county. (6) Derrick Jonson was brother of Claus Jonson, who is mentioned in the early annals on the Delaware. Among other employments he was overseer of highways from the Poquessing to Bristol, before the arrival of William Penn. (7) Doctor Buckman thinks the murder was committed in an old house that used to stand on the Neshaminy above Schenck's ferry. A case was tried at the September term, 1698, which deserves a passing notice. Francis White sued James Alman to recover the value of a horse, and a verdict was rendered for defendant. On a complaint of illegal proceedings in the jury-room, the jury was bound over to answer at the December term. On examination, the jurors confessed, that being divided in opinion and not able to agree upon a verdict, they concluded to see which way it would go by lot, and so ordered the constable, John Darke [Dark*], to cast a piece of money into his hat [and on that*] agreed upon a verdict, and brought it into court. They jury said the casting of the lot had given them great trouble, but that they had paid both plaintiff and defendant money enough to satisfy them and all parties concerned. The court fined the jury two pounds ten shillings each, and Constable Darke [Dark*] was let off with ten shillings. (8) (8) An early capital trial in the county was that of negro Dick, at Bristol, 1709, before Thomas Stephenson and John Rowland, two justices of the peace, appointed special commissioners to try him. The jury was composed of six freeholders. The prisoner was the slave of William Williamson, Bensalem, and his offense burning his master's barn and outbuildings. He was convicted and sentenced to be hanged on a tree, but there is no evidence on record that he was executed.* The attorneys who practiced at the Bucks county bar at that early day were not always "learned in the law," but often neighbors and friends, who know not the crooks and turns of the legal profession. Patrick Robinson was one of the very earliest whose name appears upon the dockets. He lived in Philadelphia, and was clerk to the Provincial Council, but giving some offense about 1685, he was dismissed, and then turned his attention to the law. In 1698 Mahlon Stacy, who lived across the Delaware where Trenton stands, and Henry Ackerman appeared for the plaintiffs in a suit of ejectment. The same year William Biles appeared as attorney for Thomas Hudson, and likewise Joseph Chorley, Samuel Beakes, and Samuel Carpenter, none of whom were professional men. In 1705 one J. Moore was attorney for Thomas Revel, executor of Tatham, of Bensalem, in a suit of ejectment against Joseph Growden. Then the pleadings were very simple, the English common law syst em not being in force in this province, and the declaration contained only a concise statement of the plaintiff's cause of action. At the settlement of the State, when the court gave judgment contrary to law, it was fined by the council. Among the practicing attorneys in this county was the celebrated James Logan, the friend and confidant of William Penn. In March, 1702, we find him at court when a suit in ejectment between Thomas Revel and Joseph Growden was being tried. He was not a lawyer by profession, but was a man of great learning and ability. [Much curious learning confronts the student, in his attempt to investigate the history of our county seal or seals. (9) After Penn had divided the settled parts of the province into counties, he authorized a seal for each, and was granted a meeting of council, held at Philadelphia, "ye 23d of ye 1st month, 1683." These were, respectively: The "Anchor" for Philadelphia; "Tree and a vine" for Bucks; (10) the "Plow" for Chester; a "Castle" for New Castle; "Three ears of Indian corn" for Kent, and "one wheat sheaf" for Sussex. Charles II conferred on William Penn the right to use his own arms on the Proprietary seal, and it formed the basis of the Colonial seal. The Proprietary and his officers had their own seal, using them in executing documents of importance and value. In making treaties with the Indians the latter made use of curious hieroglyphics for seals attesting their faith. After a careful examination of old documents, Judge Yerkes came to the conclusion that the Bucks county seal, "A tree and a vine," designated by the executive council, 1683, and ordered by the Assembly, was not in used as such after the outbreak of the Revolution. In this connection he cites two impressions as specimens of "A tree and a vine" seal, one in wax, attached by Jeremiah Landhome to a writ in partition between Thomas Stackhouse and Robert Cobbert, dated December 15, 1729; the other to a similar writ, impressed on paper, and attested by Gilbert Hicks, March 17, 1774. Both are clear and distinct. In technical heraldry the seal is thus described: "Argent, on a fesse sable, three plates; a crescent for difference, above the shield (in position of a crest) a fruit tree; in support of a vine; in exergue, the legend; William Penn, Proprietary and Governor, Bucks." The impression of the original county seal, a "Tree and a vine," inserted in this work, vol. i, p. 44, was taken from a cut made by Mr. Charles Young, who has charge of the Heraldry Department of Bailey, Bank & Biddle, Philadelphia, and is a very fine specimen.*] (9) We are indebted to an interesting paper Judge Yerkes read before the Bucks County Historical Society, on the "Original County Seals," at the midsummer meeting, July 16, 1895, for information on this subject.* (10) The Tree and the Vine seal is thus described: "The original seal of Bucks county is the size of a silver half dollar, with the escutcheon or shield of the Penn family as the central figure. The background of the shield is white, with a black band and three plates thereon, and above a half moon. A low, broad tree having rather a heavy trunk, surmounts the shield, with thickly clustered branches. From the base of the tree, around the shield, is a distinctly defined vine, resembling the old-fashioned trumpet vine, common about the old homes of Bucks. Within double dotted lines, on the outer circle, is the inscription, William Penn, Proprietor and Governor, Bucks."* [During our investigation for the first edition of THE HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY we found an impression of a seal attached to a document in the prothonotary's office, as given below. The document, to which it was attached, bore the date of 1738. Bearing the name "The county seal," although not the "Tree and the vine," we had a cut made and an impression inserted in the book, and again present it in the second edition, because it belongs to the history of the county. Despite the evidence in its favor, some discredit it. As will be noticed, the shield is the same as that of 1683, corresponding with that of the Penn coat-of-arms. The legend "The county seal," was on the impression as given below. We vouch for nothing but the simple fact that we found the impression of such a seal, and had a cut made of it. Because others have never seen it, among the court papers, is no evidence it never had existence.*] (See illustration of County Seal.) [During our investigation for this edition of THE HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY an impression of the seal of the register's office came into our possession, on letters of administration granted by the register of the county to Sarah Searle, widow of the Thomas Searle, husbandman, dated October 14, 1714, and signed by Jer. Langhorne, deputy register, Phineas Pemberton being then register. The seal is the size of an half dollar. Starting at the top of the circle and reading round by the right, we make out: W. P. P. & G., of Pennsylvania - gestry offis, meaning "seal of register's office," etc. The date is 1683. The wax is much broken. In the center is the Penn escutcheon, with a vine on either side; on the face three bolts between chevrons, and above them a plate. The seal is surrounded by a double dotted line. As a matter of fact, Bucks county has no county seal at this time and may not have had one since the "Tree and the vine" passed out of use. Instead of a "county seal" each county office has a seal of its own, six in number. We have them all before us. Each has a facsimile of the Penn escutcheon, surmounted by an eagle; under the eagle, at the top of the escutcheon or shield, is a ship under full sail; at the bottom three sheaves of wheat; on either side of the shield is what resembles a sprig of a bush and a vine. Between the sheaves of wheat and the ship is a plow. Within the circle, in raised letters, and surrounding the shield, is the name of the respective office. There is nothing like a "tree" on either of these seals. By using the "plow" and the "wheat sheaf" they combine the insignia of Chester county and Sussex.*] In May 1703, the coroner held an inquest upon the body of Mary, the daughter of Matthias Harvey, whose verdict was that "being under seven years of age, that she, attempting to go over a narrow foot-bridge, fell into the creek and was drowned. The court was addressed in petitions as "The worshipful justices" as late as 1785. (11) (11) This paragraph does not appear in the 1905 edition. The courts of Bucks county were not presided over by judges "learned in the law" propr to 1790. [The first of these was James Biddle, of Philadelphia, appointed 1790, and served until 1797, dying in office. He was succeeded by John Cox, of Philadelphia, same year, and died in 1805; William Tilghman, of Philadelphia, 1805-6;*] Bird Wilson was appointed judge, in 1806, and took his seat in April. Judge Wilson resigned in January 1818 because of conscientious scruples about trying a man for murder who must necessarily be convicted and hanged. He entered the ministry, and was chosen rector of Saint John's Episcopal church, Norristown, in 1819, where he remained until the autumn of 1821, when he removed to New York, and deceased several years ago [in Connecticut.*] Bucks was then in the Seventh judicial district, with Delaware, Chester, and Montgomery. [Of these four early president judges: Biddle, born February 18, 1731, died June 15, 1797; Cox, born -----, died, 1805; Tilghman, born August 12, 1756, died April 30, 1827, and Wilson, born January 8, 1777, died April 4, 1859. He was a son of James Wilson, signer of the Declaration and member of the convention that framed the Constitution of the United States. Washington styled him the "Father of the Constitution. (12) Judge Wilson*] was succeeded on the bench by John Ross, who took his seat January 13, 1818, who was president-judge of the district until 1830, when he was raised to the supreme bench [State Supreme court.*] (12) In 1734 Dr. Thomas Graeme was appointed a "Justice of Oyer and Terminer and General Jail Delivery for Philadelphia, Bucks and Chester counties." At the same time he was one of the three Justices of the Supreme court of the Colony, a position he occupied for nearly twenty years. * A little episode connected with the career of Judge Ross shows the bright side of the human character. When a young man he went up to Durham furnace, then owned by Richard Backhouse, and took charge of the school. At the expiration of his time he was about to leave and go south, when Mr. Backhouse persuaded him to study law at Easton, and pledging himself to pay his expenses, and afterward support him until he was able to support himself. The offer was accepted, the poor schoolmaster became a distinguished lawyer and judge, and this little incident no doubt changed the destiny of this branch of the Ross family. Judge Ross was succeeded by John Fox, a member of the Bucks county bar, who presided over our courts for ten years. The adoption of the new constitution of [1838*] making the appointment of new judges necessary, Judge Fox was superseded by Thomas Burnside, of Centre county, who took his seat April 27, 1841. He, too, was raised to the supreme bench, in 1844, when David Krause, of Dauphin county, was appointed his successor, and took his seat the 3d of February the same year. He was the last of the appointed judges, and went out of office before his commission expired, to make way for Daniel M. Smyser, of Adams county, who was elected in the fall of 1851. Judge Smyser was followed by Henry Chapman, in 1861, who served out his full term of ten years, and declined a re-election. About 1847 Mr. Chapman was appointed president-judge of the Chester and Delaware district, and served until the election in 1851, when he declined the nomination. He was likewise the recipient of political honors, being elected to the State Senate in 1843, and served one term, and to the House of Representatives of the United Stated in 1856 [1854*], to which he declined re-election, [1856.*] In 1869 Henry P. Ross was elected additional-law-judge of the district, as president-judge in 1871 as the successor of Judge Chapman. The promotion of Judge Ross left a vacancy in the office of additional-law-judge, which was filled by the governor appointing O. G. Olmstead, of Potter county. At the October election, 1872, Stokes L. Roberts, of Doylestown, was elected to the office, but resigned shortly after he took his seat, when Richard Watson, of the same place, was appointed to the vacancy, and elected in the fall of 1873 for the term of ten years. Meanwhile each of the two counties of the district, Bucks and Montgomery, was created a separate district, and the president-judge having the right to elect in which he would preside, Judge Ross chose Montgomery, leaving Judge Watson in Bucks. [Harman Yerkes succeeded Judge Watson and served two terms.*] Under the new constitution the office of associate-judge is abolished with the expiration of the terms of those now holding commissions. [Between the Revolution and the adoption of the constitution of 1900, our county courts were presided over by "lay justices" - men not learned in the law - appointed by the Supreme Executive Council of the State, and commissioned for seven years or "during good behavior," and associate judges sat with them. The first to be appointed for this county was Henry Wynkoop, of Northampton township, who was commissioned December 2, 1777. He was president, and re-appointed in 1784. Among the other lay judges who sat on our bench were James Benezet, John Long, Joseph Hart, John Chapman, Andrew Long, John Barclay, President Judge, Andrew Long, Richard Backhouse. These sat on our county bench, in the long past, but others filled that honorable position who will be remembered by the present generation. Among them are Francis Murry, Samuel Hart, William Watts, John Ruckman, Michael H. Jenks, William S. Hendrie, Stephen N. Bartine, Andrew Apple, John S. Bryan, John Wildman, Joseph Morrison, William Godshalk, and others that could be named. These latter were associate judges. Henry Wynkoop, and a few others named, were really the president judges of the period. It was the practice, at the middle of the eighteenth century, for the outgoing constable to return the names of their successors, but whether there was any law for it we are not informed. At that day the stave carried by the constable of the court was a more significant badge of authority than at present. At the September term, 1784, the court recommended the grand jury to take into consideration "the device on the constables' stave, and the jury said, in their report, that the present "devize" ought to be obliterated and that the arms of the State of Pennsylvania, with such additions as the court shall think fit, be placed in the room thereof." The court concurs with the grand jury, with the addition that a "buck be added, by way of a crest, to denote the county." (Signed) Henry Wynkoop, president.*] We regret that we have not the information at hand, nor the space to spare, to give the Bucks County Bar the notice it deserves. It has ranked for many years as one of the ablest in the state, and its members are the equals of their fellows in legal learning. When Fox, Chapman, DuBois, Ross, and McDowell were in their prime it was hard to find their equals or superiors, while those who have succeeded them maintain the prestige of their fathers. The families of Chapman and Ross have each produced three generations of lawyers, some of whom still have the harness on. (13) Many now living remember the late venerable Abraham Chapman, admitted March 9, 1790, for many years the father of the Bucks County Bar, a lawyer of the old school, who practiced long at Newtown, and came to Doylestown with the removal of the county-seat. He is the author's earliest recollection of a man "learned in the law," and at that day he was about the close of a long and successful career at the bar, of the Rosses, grandfather and grandson have worn the ermine. Several of the name were bred to the law. William Ross was a practicing attorney at Newtown in 1767. George Ross, a son of John, was admitted to the bar in 1819, and Thomas Ross, a brother of John, was admitted to the bar in 1819, and Thomas Ross, a brother of John, a fine lawyer in his day, died at Norristown, October 20, 1822, at the age of 66, and his widow in Solebury, aged 90 years. The late Thomas Ross, admitted to the bar in 1829, served two terms in Congress, and died in 1865. Judge Fox has two sons at the bar in neighboring counties, and Charles E. DuBois had a son at our bar to keep up the father's reputation. Eleazar T. McDowell, the contemporary of Fox, DuBois, Chapman, and Ross, an eloquent advocate, and a man of fine social qualities, died early, and fate probably cheated him of the honors that should have been his. The late Abel M. Griffith, well-remembered by some, missed his opportunity by deserting the dignified profession of the law for the noisy arena of politics. He was elected to the Legislature, and served one term, in 1841, but that unfitted him for the companionship of law-books and clients. Some of the present generation will call to mind [the cane*] his great "peace-maker," which he was wont to flourish around, oftentimes to the alarm of small boys. He read law with Mr. Ross, had good abilities, and should have made a respectable figure in the world, but wrecked his fortunes on the rock that has proved fatal to so many. (13) Since the above was written another generation of the Ross family has given two lawyers to our bar. [Ex-Judge Justice Edward M. Paxson read law with Judge Chapman, and was admitted to the bar in 1850. He practiced here some little time prior to settling in Philadelphia, which has since been his home. George Lear, born in Warwick township, and admitted to the bar, 1844, had been 40 years at the bar at his death, 1884. He was several years at the head of the Bucks County Bar, and reached the honorable station of attorney general of Pennsylvania. He was an excellent lawyer and eloquent speaker. The present bar, in the main, is composed of young men who have their spurs to win. Of them we do not purpose to speak further than to say there is talent enough among them, if properly directed and cultivated, to enable them to reach distinction. The father of the bar was Elias Carver, admitted 1845, and who practiced until his death in 1904. Since 1790, 151 young men have read law here and been admitted to practice in our courts, while a number, admitted elsewhere, have settled here. Our bar and county have furnished five judges to the State Supreme court, named in a subsequent chapter. The Bucks County legal Association, organized almost 50 years ago, has done considerable to advance the professional "esprit de corps" of the bar. Nathan C. James, admitted, 1853, was the next oldest member in active practice, and president of the association at his death. (14)*] (14) Mr. James, born, 1825, was a member of the largest and influential Welsh family of New Britain, and died at Doylestown August 9, 1900, after a long and painful illness, at the age of 75. He read law with the late George H. Michener, and was in practice 47 years. He was the only member of the Bucks County Bar who filled two consecutive terms of the District Attorney's office, both by popular election.* Next to our courts, the history of the changes and removals of the county-seat is of interest. We find that as the settlements extended back into the interior from the Delaware, the county-seat sought the centre of population. It is difficult to locate the first court-house. It was built by Jeremiah Langhorne before, or by 1686, and was probably in Falls township, for in July of that year it was proposed to hold Falls meeting for four months in the new court-house, and pay the county ten shillings rent, but it was not done, because there was "no convenience of seats and water." Several points claim the honor of the parent court-house. Doctor Edward Buckman places it on the farm late of Jacob Smith, below Morrisville, and near the mouth of a creek that empties into the Delaware at Moon's island, where an old building is still standing, 20x30 feet, two stories high. Tradition tells us the first court-house stood at the angle of the Newtown and Fallsington roads. Falls meeting was frequently held in William Biles's kitchen, on the river just below Morrisville, and we know that court was held there a few times. On the east end of the new building are "W. B., 1726." The elections were held at the falls down to 1705, and it was the custom of that day to hold them in the court-house. When the first group of townships was organized, in 1692, court was held in Friends' meeting-house in Middletown. At April term, 1700, the grand jury presented the necessity "of the placing a court-house near the middle of the county, which we esteem to be near Neshaminy meeting-house," now at Attleborough [Langhorne*]. In 1702 court was held at the house of George Biles, probably in Falls. (15) In 1705 the county-seat was changed to Bristol, the new buildings erected being on a lot 100 feet square on Cedar street, the gift of Samuel Carpenter. Court was first held at "New Bristol," as the place was then called, June 13th, that year, but the buildings were probably not finished at this time. The old court-house and jail, wherever situated, were sold at public sale. The new court-house at Bristol was ordered to be a two-story brick, and stood nearly opposite the present Masonic hall, with court-room above, prison below, and whipping-post attached to the outside wall. A new house of correction, with whipping-post, was erected in 1722. (16) (15) We doubt if the exact location of the first court house is known. Some say it stood 300 yards below the line of Morrisville borough, on property owned by Thomas Van Hart, 1881, that it was a log house, torn down 1860, that the previous owner was Jacob Smith, who bought it of John Carlisle, that the latter had bought it some 80 years ago, and the old wall could be seen in the cellar that had not been filled up.* (16) In the early days some branches of the court business were very meager, especially that pertaining to the sheriff's office. From 1734 to 1750 only six sheriffs deeds were acknowledged, from 1750 to 1776, 176, and but one to, and including, 1784. The number of deeds acknowledged from 1782 to 1882 was 3,045.* When the removal of the county-seat from Bristol to Newtown was agitated, in 1723, in the petition presented to the Assembly, it is stated that Newtown was about the centre of the inhabitants of the county. The 24th of March, 1724, an act was passed authorizing Jeremiah Langhorne and others to purchase a piece of land at some convenient place in Newtown township, in trust for the use of the county, and to build thereon a court-house and prison, at an expense not to exceed £300. They purchased about five acres where the village of Newtown stands, on which the public buildings were erected shortly afterward. The lot of five acres, which embraced the heart of the town, in the vicinity of the National Bank and on both sides of State street, was purchased of John Walley the 17th of July, 1725. It was part of 200 acres that Israel Taylor located in 1689, who sold it the same year to John Coat, thence to his son Samuel in 1699, who sold it to Shadrick [Shadrack*] Walley in 1702, from whom it descended to John Walle y, his son and heir. (17) A new prison was erected in 1745, when the old one was taken for a workshop for the prisoners, and opened about December, 1746, with Benjamin Field, of Middletown, president of the board of managers. Samuel Smith, of Newtown, was at one time keeper of the workshop. A portion of the lot, over and above that required for public purposes, was disposed of for a yearly rent, to be paid to the trustees named in the act of Assembly, or their successors, "for the public use of the said county forever." Within a few years John Bond and one other have paid ground-rent, but it would be well to know who should account to the county in this behalf. The act which authorized the removal of the county-seat provided for holding the elections in the court-house, where they were holden for the whole county until 1786. In 1796 the handsome stone building, now occupied by the First National Bank, [Newtown*] was erected for a pubic record office, and had two rooms for offices on the south, and two vaults on the north side. Down to 1772 the county officers kept the records at their dwellings, where they transacted their official business, but in that year a strong fire-proof building, 12x16 feet, with walls two feet thick and arched with brick, was built near the court-house, where the records were to be kept, under a penalty of £300. This venerable little building was torn down in May, 1873. The only data about it was the name "H. Rockhill" cut on a facestone, without date. During a portion of the Revolution this little building was occupied as a magazine for powder and other warlike stores. The last trace of the old jail is the stone wall on the east side of State street, opposite the National Bank. The kitchen of D. B. Heilig stood against the end of the jail, and tradition hands it down as the office and bar-room of that institution, where everybody, within and without the jail, could get rum if they had the money to pay for it. Patrick Hunter, a hard case, who was jailor and bar-tender during this laxity of morals, found it difficult to keep the prisoners in jail. At his death Asa Carey succeeded him, who stopped the sale of rum and the escape of prisoners. He was the last jailor at Newtown, and the first at Doylestown. On his return to Newtown he married Tamer Worstall, and moved to the Bird-in-hand tavern. [When the old Phillips house was torn down, 1877, there was found in the wall a stone that had stood at the corner of the jail wall. The upper part, only, was left, and on it were the following figures and letters in the order given below: 1761 24M. 64P. To P.*] [The stone was broken off across the last P, as shown above. The figures and letters, doubtless, stood for "24 miles and 64 perches to Philadelphia." (18)*] (17) The last court held at Bristol was March 17, 1725, and the first at Newtown, June 16, 1726, both old style.* (18) The ancient courts of the county, relatively speaking, were much more largely attended than at the present day. This is indicated by the large number of eating and drinking booths set up about the court house during the sessions. At that day there were no local newspapers and paragraphers to go over the field of gossip and small talk and rake in the last shred of information. The news of that period was carried by word of mouth, and court time was the great occasion to trade bits of news afloat in far off neighborhoods. Court time was the exchange where the man from the wilderness of the Blue Ridge, and the more highly-favored citizen, living along the lower reaches of the Delaware, traded the twaddle of the widely sundered localities. We blush to add that old Newtown was frequently the scene of many a downright matter-of-fact spree on these interesting occasions. A good deal of metheglin and rum were sold on the sly. In October, 1755, fifteen booth keepers were "scooped in" by the faithful Dogberry of his time, Constable Tom Doughty, for selling liquor without a license. Sad to say, five of these people were foremothers, who figure in the old records as Jane Neale, Hannah Stackhouse, Susannah Stokes, Jane Lachiel, Mary Stephens and Elisha Welsh. The grand jury made these arrests the subject of a presentment to the justices, who broke up the business, and the fifteen bar-rooms disappeared." "Iron Mask." GERMANTOWN TELEGRAPH.* Newtown remained the county-seat for nearly a century. The cutting off of Northampton county, in 1752, had a good deal to do with keeping the county-seat at Newtown for so many years. The more distant inhabitants were now brought within easy reach of a seat of justice, and many of the complaints, of the great distance to go to court, ceased. By the beginning of the present century the population had become so well distributed over the county, that those in the more remote townships felt it a hardship to be obliged to go down to Newtown to attend court. The inhabitants of the middle and upper townships now began to agitate the removal of the county-seat to some point nearer the centre of population. Petitions for the removal to a point higher up were presented to the Legislature as early as 1795. The project of building a new jail and court-house at Newtown, in 1800, gave shape to the removal question, and on December 25th a meeting was held at John Shaw's inn, Bedminster, to protest against the erection of new pubic buildings at Newtown, and "thereby permanently fix the seat of justice at that place." Their principal objection was because Newtown "is about 13 miles from the centre of the county, and because the roads through the place are so unpopular as never to support a sufficient number of public houses to accommodate the many that will be obliged to attend court." A committee was appointed to prepare a petition to the legislature for the removal of the county-seat. A meeting was held in the upper end in the fall of 1808, and an adjourned meeting at John Ahlum's, in Haycock, Robert Smith chairman, and Paul Apple secretary, at which a form of petition was reported, and a committee recommended in each township to procure signatures favorable to removal. At a meeting held at Cornelius Vanhorne's tavern, Buckingham, (19) Samuel Johnson in the chair and Thomas Walton's secretary, it was recommended that petitions in favor or removal be sent to the Legislature, and that the new site be selected by ballot. (19) Centreville - now kept by Peter L. Righter [John L. Righter*]. The agitation for removal was continued, and at the following session of the legislature a bill (20) was introduced which passed both houses, and was signed by the governor, the 28th of February, 1810. The act authorized the governor to appoint "three discreet and disinterested persons" not holding any real estate in the county, to select a site for the public buildings, which shall not be "more than three miles from Bradshaw's corner, (21) where the road leading from Wilkinson's tavern to the Cross Keys intersects with the public road leading from Doylestown to Vanhorne's tavern." The governor appointed Edward Darlington, of Chester county, Gabriel Hiester, Jr., of Berks, and Nicholas Kern, of Northampton, commissioners to locate the site for the public buildings, their commission bearing date March 30, 1810. They met at Doylestown the 12th of May, following, and viewed all the locations recommended. Strong influence was brought in favor of Bradshaw's corner, and the Turk, but Doylestown, already a considerable hamlet, with an academy and a newspaper, and near the geographical centre of the county, was chosen. They selected the lot of two acres and 121 perches owned by Nathaniel Shewell, then lying in New Britain, on which the public buildings stand. It was surveyed by George Burges, and was part of 30 acres that Joseph Fell bought at sheriff's sale in 1788, and whose administrators sold it to Mr. Shewell in 1802. It was conveyed to the commissioners of the county, May 12, 1810, [for one dollar.*] (20) The bill was offered by Joseph Hart, who then represented Bucks county in the Senate. Mr. Hart was of Warminster, and a member of the Senate as early as 1804. His father was Col. Joseph Hart, same township, who was conspicuous in the Revolution and had also been a member of the Senate.* (21) Now Pool's corner, at the toll-gate, a mile from Doylestown, on the New Hope pike. Wilkinson's tavern was at Bushington. Work was commenced on the public buildings as soon as practicable, but they were not finished until the spring of 1813, the first court being held in the new house the 12th of May, three years from the time the site was selected. (22) The carpenter work was done by Levi Bond, of Newtown, and the mason work by Timothy Smith, the wages being one dollar a day, and the hands worked without regard to hours. The [marble block, in front of the portico*] date-stone in front of the court-house bears the figures 18 12. [The plans were drawn by Jonathan Smith, of Mount Holly, New Jersey, and he was allowed $349.28 for his services, and 131 days for personal attendance; the whole cost of the court house and jail being $43,700.02, a considerable sum for that day. The records of that day give little information of the building of the court house and jail of 1812.*] Samuel Q. Holt, a journeyman carpenter, is the only known survivor of those who worked at the buildings. [Robert Smith and Francis Smith were the associate judges, and Samuel Sellers, sheriff, when the county seat was changed. The old building were sold at public sale in January, 1813, reserving the bell, iron doors to the office, stoves, books, chairs, etc., and among the bidders were John Hulme, of Hulmeville, and William Watts, who bought to the value of $2,500.*] (22) April 28, 1813, President Judge Bird Wilson issued a proclamation, from Newtown, for a criminal court to be held at Doylestown, May 11, 1813, the first court in the new Court House, the regular term probably beginning on the 12th. The last business transacted at the public office, Newtown, was on May 10, the records being immediately thereafter removed to Doylestown.* Immediately after the removal of the county-seat, those opposed to it began to agitate for a division of the county, hoping, in case of success, to fix the seat of the new county at Newtown. The change was very distasteful to many in the lower end, and efforts to divide the county were made for many years. In January, 1814, John Fox and John Hulme went to Harrisburg with petitions bearing 1,522 signatures in favor of a division, which were presented on the 12th, and referred to a committee, but probably never heard of afterward. An opposition meeting was held in Doylestown, January 18th, Derrick K. Hogeland in the chair, when a committee of five in each township was appointed to get signers to a remonstrance against a division. A second attempt was made in 1816. A meeting in favor of division was held at Attleborough [Langhorne*], November 6th, John Hulme in the chair, which resolved that "Bucks county ought to be divided," and appointed a meeting at Newtown on the 16th, to consult on the most efficient means of accomplishing it. A meeting in opposition was held in Bensalem on the 30th, Gilbert Rodman, chairman, which declared the project of a division "inexpedient and improper," and committees were appointed to get signers to remonstrances. At the following session, 1816-17, numerous petitions in favor of a division of the county, and fixing the county-seat at Newtown, were presented and on the 2d of January, 1817, Doctor Phineas Jenks, member from this county, chairman of the House committee to which the petitions were referred, obtained leave to bring in a bill for a division, the new county to be called "Penn." The line was to start at the point on the Delaware, "at or between Upper Makefield and Centre Bridge," and run across to the Montgomery line, but the bill never came to vote. The question was now allowed to rest until 1821, when the dividers again tried their strength, and meetings were held at Attleborough, in December, 1821, and in the old courthouse at Newtown, January 14th, 1822. The proposed division line was to begin at the northeast corner of Upper Makefield and Solebury, thence on the northern line of Wrightstown, North and Southampton, to the Montgomery line, and down that to the Delaware. A bill was introduced into the senate in February, which proposed, among other things, that the new county should be called "Penn," with the county-seat at Newtown, and the business to be transacted in the old court-house, which was to be purchased for the purpose. The alms-house was to be owned by both count ies, jointly. The attempt was renewed in 1827, and again in 1836, the division to run on about the former proposed line. The new county, according to the census of 1830, would have contained a population of 13, 871, and an area of 95,985 acres. The division of the county was agitated several times subsequently, the last time in 1855, when a strong effort was made on the part of its friends to compass the division. Meetings were held, the question discussed, petitions for, and remonstrances against, were circulated for signatures and sent to Harrisburg. The new county limits were to be enlarged by including in it several township of Philadelphia. The part to be taken from Bucks was the same as heretofore, and the question of county-seat was left open. The following townships and population were to form the new county of Penn, namely: From Bucks: Upper Makefield, 1,701 Wrightstown, 821 Lower Makefield 1,741 Newtown borough, 540 Newtown township, 842 Northampton, 1,843 Southampton, 1,416 Middletown, 2,223 Bensalem, 2,239 Falls, 1,788 Morrisville, 665 Bristol borough, 2,570 Bristol township, 1,810 Making 20,274 From Philadelphia: Byberry, 1,130 Moreland, 472 Dublin, 4,292 Oxford, 1,787 Bridesburg, 915 Whitehall, 489 Making, 9,107 Add, 20,274 Population, 29,381. The bills passed the House of Representatives, but the Senate committee reported against it, and it was not brought up again. (23) (23) This defeat of the county's division, which was final, was effected by the late General Simon Cameron at the instance of his friend General John Davis. The latter went to Harrisburg at the persuasion of Prizer and Darlington who had recently bought the Bucks county "Intelligencer," as the question was of some moment to them. When Davis got to Harrisburg, late on a Sunday evening, preceding the Monday the Senate committee was to vote on it and the friends of the measure expecting it would carry, he cal led on Cameron, explained the situation, and asked him to assist. Cameron assented, promising to "see his friends," and told General Davis they must not be seen together. Cameron was on the "Hill" early, saw his friends, and when the vote was taken, the Senate committee was solid against division. No doubt the previous erection of the alms-house near Doylestown had some influence in locating the county-seat. The question of erecting such an institution was agitated as early as 1790, the main argument in favor of it being that the poor could be maintained at less expense and greater convenience, but it was several years before it was accomplished, and then only after violent opposition. The Germans were generally opposed to it, because they furnished few paupers. The bill was signed by the governor April 10, 1807, approved by the judges, grand jury, and commissioners at the next term of court, and Thomas Long, William Ruckman, David Spinner and William Watts were elected commissioners, to select a site, at the following October election. Several township were exempt from the provisions of the bill, but they were authorized to share its benefits by paying their pro-rata of the cost of erection, 18 being named in it, all below, and including, Plumstead, New Britain and Hilltown. The alms-house war was now waged with greater bitterness than ever, and every possible influence was used to prevent the purchase of a site; and a meeting held at Hough's tavern, Warwick, February 13, 1808, denounced the unlawful combination to defeat the action of the commissioners. (24) But it was of no avail. On December 20, 1808, the commissioners purchased the Spruce hill farm in Warwick of Gilbert Rodman, 360 acres, at £20 per acre, the same which the county now owns. A large portion of it was then covered with timber. The purchase appears to have renewed the opposition, and John Watson wrote several violent articles against it over his own signature. Meetings were held and lampooning hand-bills were circulated. One objection was that there was not enough water to be had to supply the inmates and stock. A meeting to sustain the purchase was held at the public house of Septimus Hough, Warwick, when several depositions were taken to prove that the farm was well-watered, well-timbered, and the soil fertile. All the opposition failed to set aside the purchase, which the court confirmed. The corner-stone of the new edifice was laid the 4th of May, 1809, in the presence of a number of persons, the directors and two other gentlemen providing liquors for the company at their private ex pense. The entire cost of erecting the building, furnishing it, and stocking the farm, was $19,029.13, which, added to the price of the land, $19,280, make, in all, $38,309.13. The directors paid $94.77-1/2 for whiskey for the workmen during its erection. (24) The fight for the erection of the Alms House was bitter as that for a change in the county seat, but not so long. Joseph Hart, Warminster, Senator from Bucks, was chairman of committee and reported the bill, 1805. His nephew, Dr. Wm. Hart, wrote his uncle, at Lancaster, where the Legislature was in session, under date of January, 1810, an account of the excitement over the matter at home: "The Poor House purchase has caused great uproar in some sections of the county; the discontent and opposition originated in Buckingham. Handbills, memorials, etc., are circulating, tending to prejudice the public mind, and truly, if the purchase is, as represented, it is by no means judicious. The soil is stated to be sterile, and incapable of improvement adequate to the object; destitute of a sufficiency of good water, the well and spring, in certain seasons of the year going nearly dry, generating animalcules, worms, tadpoles, etc., in such quantities as to render it necessary to filter the water before using it. Such, say they, is the place humanity sought for the reception and accommodation of the unfortunate poor."* (See illustrations of Bucks County Alms House and Hospital.) The first board of directors was John McMaster, James Chapman and Ralph Stover. Mr. McMaster resigned in his third year, to accept the office of steward. He came to an untimely end the very night of his election to the steward's office for a second term, being thrown from his wagon on the York road, between Hatboro and Hartsville, returning from market, by which his neck was broken. Mr. McMaster, a man of very respectable talent and position in life, who lived in Upper Makefield, on the farm now owned by S amuel M. Slack, was justice of peace, and transacted much public business. James McMaster, his father, was an officer in the Revolution, and his grandfather, Alexander McMaster, was living in the Wyoming valley at the time of the massacre, whence he fled into Maryland, and then came to Bucks county. John McMaster was cousin to the venerable Edward McMaster, of Newtown. Before the erection of the alms-house the county was divided into districts, and each maintained its own poor. June 16, 1806, Amos Gregg, one of the guardians of the poor, announced that he had organized "a house of employment" for the poor of his district, where he can accommodate 40 or 50 more, on moderate terms, each township to have the profit of their own pauper labor, where it can be ascertained. Peter Sine, a German, an inmate of the alms-house, died there April 2, 1820, aged 110 years. The 24th of April, 1826, Doctor William Moland [Dr. William Bachelor*], died in the alms-house, at the age of 76, and was buried in a private graveyard [Vansant*] near the county line, Warminster, [that once belonged to him, and where many of his relatives had been interred. He was a surgeon in the Revolutionary army, and was present with Washington in several of his most important battles. He was a man of culture and talents, and at one time possessed a lucrative practice and a handsome independence, but the love of strong drink drove him to the alms-house, where he died a miserable death. (25)] (25) Information in the last brackets not included in 1905 edition. The first marriage that took place in the institution, was that of Jacob Moore to Jane Brown, both black, and paupers, the 27th of March, 1810, by the Rev. Nathaniel Irwin. [The accommodations have been greatly increased in recent years, including the erection of an hospital shortly after the closing of the Civil war.*(26) (26) Editorial note: The alms-house is currently known as The Johnson Home. [The Asiatic cholera visited the alms house in the summer of 1849 when it was prevalent in the country. It broke out in July, and, in less than two weeks some 120 deaths occurred in a population of 150 inmates. Among the dead were the steward, William Edwards, Lafayette Nash, Line Lexington, a medical student under Dr. Hendrie, Doylestown, and a few of the nurses. It created great alarm, and for a time travel on the Easton road was almost suspended. There were but four cases outside the institution and only one or two in Doylestown. The dead paupers were hauled out by the cart load and buried in a trench behind the orchard, and after the disease was over the infected clothing was burned and the house thoroughly fumigated. A small band of faithful men, led by Davis E. Brower, Bridge Point, nursed the sick and buried the dead. The cause of this terrible visitation was never investigated, but is thought to have been mainly caused by want of proper sanitary care. One of Mr. Brower's most efficient co-workers was Nelson MacReynolds, of the Turk, a man of courage and intelligence.*] [The present court house, erected, 1877, was built almost on the site of the old one, the second grand jury recommending it at the previous April term. The contract was awarded to James B. Doyle, Philadelphia, (but born in the county) July 9 and executed on the 17th. The contract price was $71,375, but, including heating, lighting and furnishing the entire cost was $100,000. Hutton & Ord, Philadelphia, were the architects. The last public gatherings in the old court house were a temperance meeting the evening of July 16, a cotillion party the evening of the 20th, and a meeting to recruit a company for the State militia, to assist in putting down the railroad riots, Friday evening the 27th. The west wall of the jail yard was set in 25 feet to make room for the new building, and ground was broken the last of July. The corner-stone, in the southeast corner of the front projection, was laid with the appropriate ceremonies October 3, Judge Ross presiding, W. W. H. Davis delivering the address and Judge Watson laying the stone. The building was finished during the summer of 1878, the first court held in it September 9. During its erection a laborer was killed by falling from the square to the hallway below. On breaking ground for the new building the first shovel full of earth was thrown out by George Lear, a member of the bar, and, at that time, attorney general of the State. During a severe rain storm, shortly after the building was finished, some of the heavy glass around the dome was broken and fell through the stained glass skylight over the court room to the floor below. The damage was about $300. The building is a model of convenience and comfort for the court and its officers, and not excelled in the State. (27)*] (27) No one person, probably, had as much to do in giving Bucks county her elegant and commodious court house as the late Henry T. Darlington. At that time he was proprietor and editor of the Bucks County "Intelligencer" and exerted a wide influence. He labored assiduously in favor of giving Penn's old county a court house befitting its wealth and history. He was equally anxious to provide it with proper jail, but, unfortunately did not live to see his wish gratified. The author knows, however, it was built on lines he approved while living. (See illustration of Doylestown Court House built 1877-78.) [One of the most interesting public affairs in the county in the century just closed was the Bi-Centennial celebration of its settlement held 1882 at Doylestown, August 31 and September 1 and 2, and was largely attended. It was first publicly suggested in a paper read by W. W. H. Davis, at a meeting of the Bucks County Historical Society, held at Newtown, October 1, 1881. A committee was appointed with Josiah B. Smith, Newtown, chairman, to take the matter into consideration. It made a favorable report, and from that several committees were organized, with a general committee, of which Hugh B. Eastburn was chairman. Work was immediately begun, and did not cease until its close. Besides the literary features attending the celebration there was an exhibition of the industries of the county and a display of the manners and customs of the past and present, including many curios and relics brought over by the first settlers. To accomplish this families gave up their most priceless treasures to add to the attractions of the occasion. The day exercises were held on the fair grounds, morning and afternoon, and in Lenape Hall in the evening. The instrumental music was furnished by bands from Sellersville, Newtown and Bristol.*] [The literary features opened at 2:30 p.m., Thursday, August 31, in a large canvas pavilion, Judge Richard Watson presiding and delivering the opening address, followed with poems by Dr. Joseph B. Walter, Solebury, and Miss Nellie D. Graham, Upper Makefield. In the evening there was a concert in the hall, several noted vocalists taking part, Brock's orchestra furnishing the instrumental music. The audience was larger on Friday than the day before, the Hon. George Lear presiding, and, among those present was Governor Hoyt. The exercises consisted of an historical address by W. W. H. Davis, the reading of a poem by Samuel Swain, Bristol, and ode by C. E. Wright, Esq., Doylestown, and an oration by Justice Edward M. Paxson, State Supreme court. A banquet took place in Lenape hall in the evening, at which Mr. Lear presided, the intellectual part of the affair consisting of toasts and five minute speeches. Among the distinguished guests present were Governor Hoyt, wife and daughter, Judges Biddle and Briggs, and General B. Frank Fisher, Philadelphia, Jerome Buck, Esq., New York, and Hon. William Godshalk, upper House of Representatives.*] [The interest in the literary features of the occasion reached its climax Saturday afternoon when an audience of 3,000 persons gathered about the speakers stand, Dr. Isaac S. Moyer, Quakertown, presiding, with the following exercises: Papers read - "Bucks County Abroad," by John A. Burton, Philadelphia; "Our Quaker Ancestry," Miss Anna Eastburn, Langhorne; "Domestic Women," Mrs. Cynthia S. Holcomb, Newtown; an address on "Agriculture," Eastburn Reeder; a poem on "Grandfather's Spectacles," Miss Laura W. White, Newtown; and a declamation by Miss Alma Sager. In the evening 800 persons assembled in Lenape hall to participate in "Ye Ancient Tea Drynke," properly costumed and served with music. It was one of the most successful affairs of the kind ever held. All subscribers to the Bi-Centennial fund to the amount of $5 received a handsomely engraved certificate.*] END OF CHAPTER XLVII, 1876 edition, or XVIII, 1905 Edition.