THE HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, CHAPTERS L & LI, MANORS AND LARGE LAND GRANTS; NEGRO SLAVERY IN BUCKS COUNTY. 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 L, 1876 Edition or CHAPTER XXI, 1905 Edition MANORS AND LARGE LAND GRANTS. Reserved tracts of land. -Pennsbury manor. -The Indian owner. -Granted to Captain Hyde and others. -Manor of Grimstead. -Penn succeeded to it. -Area. -Biddle's island. -Free Society of Traders. -Privileges of the corporation. -Its location. -Manor of Richlands. -Its contents. -Opened to settlers. -Manor of Perkasie. -A grant to University of Pennsylvania. -Manor of Highlands. -The London company. -Theirs lands in Tinicum. -Their sale and purchase. At the settlement of the state, William Penn reserved, within the present limits of Bucks county, several large tracts which were laid off into proprietary manors, and for other purposes. These were the manors of Pennsbury, Highlands, Perkasie, and Richlands, and the large tracts owned by the Free Society of Traders and the London company. All these tracts have long since been cut up and sold to numerous purchases. Pennsbury manor, the home of William Penn, and the most important and interesting of the manors, was situated in Falls, and embraced nearly half the township. It was once a royal domain, call "Sepessin," or "Sepessing," and was purchased of an old Indian king, the reputed owner, but probably not until after Penn's arrival. There are several opinions as to the derivation of this name. That which comes nearest to it among the aborigines is "Nipissings," the name of a band of Algonquins, who lived on the banks of Lake Nipissing, near Lake Huron, when Champlain first penetrated these wilds in 1615. The name is the same that Lindstrom gives on his map of 1655, to the small stream in Falls which Penn afterward named Welcome creek. Robert Crozier remembered when small vessels came up this creek, and the tides are now kept out by embankments. The tract which formed the manor of Pennsbury appears to have been granted at different times to others, before it came into the possession of Penn. The 10th of October, 1664, Sir Robert Carre, in consideration of their services in conquering the Dutch on the Delaware, granted to Captains Thomas Hyde and Thomas Morley, of the frigates Guinea and William and Nicholas, and to their heirs and assigns forever, "all that tract of land known or called by the Indian name of Chipussen, and now called by the name of the mannour of Grimstead, situated near the head of the said river of Delaware in America." The grantees pleged themselves to "plant and stock the said mannour" inside of six years, otherwise to be dispossessed. Captain Hyde was empowered to establish courts, and was clothed with all the rights and privileges of a Lord of the Manor. The grant which covered the Manor of Pennsbury was probably never confirmed by the king. At that day the falls at Morrisville were known as "the head of the Delaware," and so spoken of in numerous documents. The 26th of January, 1672, eight years afterward, Colonel Richard Nicholls granted to his nephew, Matthias Nicholls [Nicolls*], by patent, a tract of land on the south side of the Delaware below the falls, called by the Indian name of "Chiepissing" or "Sepessing," (1) which covered the Hyde and Morley grant, and what was afterward Pennsbury. Three years afterward (1675) Nicholls [Nicolls*] conveyed it to John Barry and company, who were allowed three years to settle it, owing to its distance from other plantations. Nothing came of these grants, for the respective grantees neither planted a colonist nor cleared an acre, and it was included in the tract that Sir Edmund Andros located for the Duke of York in 1675. The journal of the journey of Dankers [Danker*] and Sluyter down the Delaware, in 1679, speaks of a grant, on the west side of the river between the falls and Burlington, made by Andros to one M. Arnout de la Grange, (2) a shopkeeper of New York, which refers to the same tract of country, but we hear nothing more of it. As the terms of none of these conveyances had been carried out by the grantees, William Penn succeeded to all rights of the crown. (1) William Penn says "Chipussen" was the Indian name of Pennsbury. (2) The father of De la Grange bought Tinicum island of Govern Printz's daughter several years before, and the title was confirmed to the son by the court at Upland after the country had passed to William Penn. In 1684 the manor contained 8,431 acres, and some addition was made to it afterward. At different times in the next twenty years 1,888 acres were sold, including 1,400 acres to Arthur Cook, of Philadelphia, about 1699. In 1703 William Penn, by deed of trust, settled the mansion-house, which he calls a "palace," with the land attached to it, on the elder branch of the family. According to the survey of Surveyor-General Eastburn, the manor contained, in 1733, but 5,832 acres, exclusive of the six per centum reserved for roads. In 1764 John Hughes sued out a writ of common recovery against the manor, and was put in possession, but his title was not sustained. Three years afterward Edward Pennington, attorney for Ann Penn, advertised the manor for sale, when the provincial authorities laid claim to 2,000 acres, and tried to impeach her title. The quantity of land still varied. In 1764 we find it contained two gardens, two orchards, 7,000 acres of land, 500 of meadow, and 200 of pasture. In 1777, it contained 6,558, except the mansion portion of 300 acresÐ in the possession of Joseph Kirkbride, of Bordentown, and Thomas Riche, "by virtue of certain articles of agreement, and a certain indenture of bargain and sale, or feofment." On the 19th of March it was divided between Kirkbride and Riche by virtue of a deed of partition. The island in the Delaware, now called Newbold's, or Biddle's island, was let to William Biddle for two lives, who was in possession in 1708. It was included in the manor, and Penn said it always belonged to the Indians on this side the river, who lived at Sepessin, or Pennsbury, and that he would not part with it for a thousand pounds, English money. In 1792 the manor-house and 300 acres, reserved in the sale to Kirkbride and Riche, were sold by the heirs of Penn to Robert Crozier. The deed recites "all that capital messuage or manor-house, erected by William Penn, esquire, first proprietor and Governor-in-chief of the province of Pennsylvania," etc. The Crozier mansion was erected where the manor-house has stood. The tract was divided between the two sons of Robert Crozier, Robert and Thomas, the former getting the part belonging to the mansion. The norther boundary of the manor was the road leading from the north corner of Bristol township, by the way of Tyburn, to the Delaware opposite the lower end of Biles's island. It is now divided into many farms, which are among the most highly cultivated and productive in the county. Certain lands in this county were sold to be holden in "free and common socage, and of the manor of Pennsbury," paying to William Penn, his heirs and assigns, on the first day of March in every year, "at the town of Pennsbury," one English silver penny for every 100 acres. The oldest grant in the county was that to the "Free Society of Traders," made the 22d and 23d of March, 1682, covering 20,000 acres. The object of the company, mostly composed of gentlemen of London, of which Nicholas Moore was president, was to carry on trading operations on an extensive scale. The charter, executed the 24th of March, conferred the most liberal privileges ever given to a corporation in this state. They were singular and extraordinary, and made it "imperium in imperio." The grant was erec ted into a manor by the name of the "Manor of Franks," with the right to hold "a court-baron, court-leet, and view of frank-pledge;" to determine all pleas and controversies, civil and criminal, and other officers and justices were prohibited intermeddling in its affairs; it had power to hold two courts yearly; to lay taxes and impose fines within the manor, and to appoint its own officers. The corporation was to pay to William Penn the yearly sum of one shilling upon the day of the vernal equinox, or within 20 days thereafter. The society was to send settlers and mechanics to the grant, to establish factories, and to have a monopoly of peltries. Negro servants were to be free after 14 years service, on condition that they gave the society two-thirds of the product of the land allotted them. On the manor was to be erected a society-house, where the officers were to live, and the books and papers were to be kept under three locks and keys. The officers were to continue in office seven years. Such, in brief, were the provisions of this extraordinary corporation, which were probably never carried out, as the "Manor of Franks" has neither location nor history. Nearly one-half of this grant was located in central Bucks county, in what are now the townships of New Britain, Doylestown, and Warwick. It originally contained 8,612 acres, and its northeast boundary ran along the line of Doylestown, Buckingham and Plumstead, 1,068 perches, or nearly 3-3/4 miles, which would bring its northeast corner pretty well up to the line of Plumstead and Hilltown, and it probably included part of the latter township. The upper line from the northeast corner ran southwest for the distance of four miles. The area was twice reduced while held by the company, first by 1,232 acres being taken off on the northwest side, and afterward in 1706 another slice, of 2,390 acres, was cut off on the north-eastern and south-western sides, leaving 4,984 acres. About 1726 the remainder of the tract was authorized, by an act of Assembly, to be sold by trustees. At the sale Jeremiah Langhorne bought 2,000 acres, of which 700 lay in Warwick township, including all that part of the borough of Doylestown east of Court street. The Penns caused a large tract to be laid off to them in the northwest part of the county, afterward called the Manor of Richlands, which embraced the greater part of the township of Richland and portions of neighboring townships. The original survey was made by John Cutler and John Chapman, but the date is not known. It was afterward surveyed by Nicholas Scull, the 3d of September, 1735, by virtue of a warrant dated March 5, 1734, probably when the land was divided for sale and settlement. The contents, according to the original survey, were 16,749 acres, but when 5,736 acres had been sold, and 10,577 returned as unsold, there appeared a deficit of 436 acres, which was supposed to arise from too large surveys. There does not appear to have been any attempt, by the Penns, to hold and cultivate this tract, for it was only a manor in name, and it was thrown open for settlement as soon as the condition of things warranted it. The first sale of this land was made December 10, 1738, to John Bright, of 174 acres and 80 perches, and it was gradually brought into market, and down to February 16, 1775, there were 56 purchasers, in quantities ranging from 313 acres down to 33 acres. Four tracts were sold between 1785 and 1788, which make up all the transfers that we can find of record. The heaviest purchaser was Hugh Foulke, 313 acres and 80 perches. The manor of Perkasie, a tract of 10,000 acres, lying in the townships of Rockhill and Hilltown, was granted by William Penn, October 25, 1701, to Samuel Carpenter, Edward Pennington and Isaac Norris, in trust. The trustees granted it to John Penn when it became known as "John Penn's manor of Perkasie, in the county of Bucks." Afterward, by deed of partition, it was divided among the three sons and daughters of William Penn, each one getting the allotment of a fourth part, or 2,500 acres. When an effort was made in 1759 to raise funds for the institution that has since grown into the University of Pennsylvania, Thomas Penn, besides a liberal donation in money, conveyed to the "trustees of the college, academy, and charitable school of Philadelphia," the whole of his one-fourth part of Perkasie. The deed contained several restrictions. The fee could not be disposed of, nor could the property be leased for a longer term than 99 years, or three lives in being. The college was obliged to educate and clothe two students to be nominated by Penn or his assigns, as follows: To educate them when the income reaches £50 annually, to clothe one of them with a £100 income, and to clothe both when it reached £200. The cost of clothing was not to exceed £25 each, annually. In default of these conditions the land was to revert to Penn and his heirs. At the time of its conveyance the rental was but £45. When the institution received a new charter from the legislature, in 1806, under the name of the "University of Pennsylvania," John Penn, the son of Thomas, was asked to release the new corporation of the restrictions in the deed, which he cheerfully complied with, and a new conveyance, in fee simple, was executed to the university. The remainder of these manor lands was sold to settlers, and in the course of a few years passed out of the Penn family. Besides these Perkasie lands, the university owned real estate in Tinicum and Middletown, which was confiscated in 1779 and 1785, and were granted to it by the legislature. In all, it owns about 3,000 acres in the county. We have seen no estimate of its value since 1835, when it was set down as being worth $64,594. About 1695, Thomas Holme, the surveyor-general, laid off for William Penn a tract of about 7,000 acres, more or less, in vacant territory north of Makefield, which fell principally in what is now Upper Makefield, but extended into the edge of Solebury and the eastern part of Wrightstown. This was called the Manor of Highlands. There is evidence that Penn intended to keep this for his children, and he complained to James Logan that the greater part of this tract had been taken up by "encroachers," as he called them. This probably induced him to sell it, and thus get rid of the trouble of keeping squatters off of it. In 1709 he conveyed 5,000 acres to three gentlemen of London, Tobias Collet, Daniel Quere, and Henry Goldney, who were known as the "London Company," the survey being made the 19th of August, by Thomas Fairman, by virtue of a warrant dated April 17th. Then re-surveyed in 1756, by John Watson, the lines were found to run nearly with those of the first survey. The western line abutted on Wrightstown, the southern was about the present boundary between the two Makefields, and the Delaware the eastern boundary. The map of these lands taken from Fairman's survey of 1709, differs from that of 1756 in the names of land-owners. On the latter we have, outside the London Company's tract, within and immediately adjoining it, John Pidcock, 508 acres, and next, on the west, Thomas Ross 230, Jeffery Burges and William Blackfan. William Smith owned a tract next the one marked by John Clark. Inside the London tract are marked J. H. 44 acres, Matthias Harvey 100 acres, on the Delaware, Samuel Baker 552, Henry Baker 100, S. B. 100 acres, all in the southwest corner. The manor lands not included in the London Company's grant were brought into the market and sold to settlers. The London company owned a large tract in Tinicum, besides grants elsewhere. In 1750 Parliament authorized the sale of all the company's land, and John Fothergill, Daniel Zachary, Thomas How, Devereaux Bowly, Luke Hinde, Richard How, Jacob Hagen, Silvanus Grove, and William Heron, of London, were appointed trustees, who constituted Jacob Cooper, Samuel Shoemaker, and Joshua Howell, of Pennsylvania, their attorneys to sell. A good deal of their land in the Manor of Highlands had already been sold to individual purchasers, and in several instances their descendants still own the whole or part, but the remainder of the land was sold by the company's attorneys. In November, 1761, 237 acres were bought at public sale, by William Smith, of Wrightstown, for £713. 15s. The company owned some 2,500 acres in Tinicum, part of which had been already disposed of, and of the remainder, 1,568 acres, were purchased by Arthur Erwin at the trustees' sale. It is impossible to determine the correct number of acres of the London Company in Tinicum, as the deed is not on record, but they were not fewer than we have given. 5,000 acres of the "Free Society of Traders" tract was in Durham township and came into possession of the Durham Company at its first purchase. END OF CHAPTER L or XXI, 1905 EDITION. _____________________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER LI, 1876 Edition or CHAPTER XXII, 1905 Edition NEGRO SLAVERY IN BUCKS COUNTY. First slaves on the Delaware. -Penn a slave-holder. -Slaves in Bucks. -Slaves' graveyard. -Mingo. -Friends favor their freedom. -Action of yearly meeting, and the council. -Practice to liberate slaves. -Samuel Hart. -Slavery abolished. -Number of slaves held and where. -Distribution of slaves. -All registered. -But few among Germans. -Age of slaves. -Matthew Hughes. -Slaves gradually decrease. -Priam. -Alice. -Jack. -Old slave-woman. -Margaret. Fugitive slave law.* -Underground railroad. -Big Ben. The negro in politics.* -Redemptioners. -Lord Altham. -Peter Williamson. -English indentured servants. -Apprenticeship. Negro slavery was introduced into Pennsylvania by the early Holland settlers. We find negroes on the west bank of the Delaware as early as 1636, but neither their number nor location is given. In 1639 one Coinclisse was sentenced to serve "along with the blacks," besides paying a fine for wounding a soldier. In 1657 Vice-director Alricks was complained of "for using the company's oxen and negroes;" and five years afterward Vice-director Beekman wants Governor Stuyvesant to "accommodate him with a company of negroes," which he needs. These negroes were slaves, for at that time black men, everywhere, were in bondage. Long before the arrival of William Penn the English and Dutch were actively engaged in the African slave-trade, which the demand for labor in this and adjoining colonies made profitable. It was under the protection of the English government, and he had no control over it. A number of slaves came into the possession of the Quaker immigrants, and even the great founder himself was a slave-holder, but we venture nothing in saying that he was a kind master. Negro slavery in Pennsylvania was always of a mild type, and slaves were well-treated when they behaved themselves. Hector St. John writing of negro slavery just before the Revolutionary war, says: "In Pennsylvania they enjoy as much liberty as their masters, are as well fed and as well clad, and in sickness are tenderly taken care of, for, living under the same roof, they are in effect a part of the family. Being the companions of their labors, and treated as such, they do not work more than ourselves, and think themselves happier than many of the lower class of whites." Nevertheless the police regulations were necessarily severe. When slaves were found abroad without passes they were taken up and imprisoned to await reclamation by their owners, but if not claimed they were sold at public sale to defray expenses. Negro slaves were held in this county as early as 1684, and no doubt earlier. In that year, among the goods of William Pomfret levied upon to satisfy a debt due Gilbert Wheeler, of Falls, was "one man." In June, 1685, William Penn hearing that James Harrison, then engaged in erecting his manor-house, had great difficulty in retaining laborers, wrote him: "It were better they were blacks, for then we might have them for life." He writes to Harrison, December 4th, same year: "The blacks of Captain Allen I have as good as bought, so part not with them without my order." Penn was careful to provide for the freedom of his slaves at his death. On the eve of his return to England, in 1701, he made a will liberating those in Pennsylvania, which he left with James Logan. To "old Sam" he bequeathed "one hundred acres of land, to be his children's after he and his wife are dead, forever." At that time the prejudice of Friends was so strong that they would not allow slaves to be buried in the same enclosure with themselves. In 1703 Middletown monthly meeting appointed Robert Heaton and Thomas Stackhouse to fence off a portion of the ground to bury negroes in. In 1738 that meeting forbade the burying of negroes in their ground. Indian slaves were imported into the colony from the Carolinas before 1709, and a few were held in this county. In February of that year the council took action in the case of an Indian boy, called Mingo, who had been brought into the province contrary to law. James Heaton, of this county, who claimed some property in him, was cited to bring him before the council. Friends were not only the first to advocate the abolition of slavery, but the first to ameliorate the condition of the negroes while in bondage. The German Friends at Germantown urged its abolition as early as 1688, an hundred years before it was brought about, and in 1693 the meeting of Philadelphia counseled Friends only "to buy to set free." An article in the corporation of the Free Society of Traders provides that, "if the society should receive blacks for servants, they shall make them free at fourteen years," on certain conditions. As this charter was granted by Penn, it shows his early disposition to ameliorate their hard fate. At his suggestion a meeting was appointed for negroes in 1700, and about that time he introduced a bill into the legislature "for regulating negroes in their morals and marriages." In 1705 an act was passed for the trial and punishment of negroes, lashes were inflected for petty offenses, and death for crimes of magnitude. They were not allowed to carry a gun, under a penalty of twenty-one lashes, nor were four to meet together, and they were liable to be whipped if found abroad after nine o'clock at night, without a pass. They were tried by a tribunal composed of two justices and a jury of six freeholders. In 1723 an act was passed to prevent blacks and whites marrying. In 1696 the yearly meeting advised Friends not "to encourage the bringing in of any more negroes," and recommended that they "be careful of them, bring them to meeting, and have meetings with them in their families." In 1700 the Provincial Council passed an act forbidding the importation of slaves, but the Privy Council annulled it, as they did a subsequent act imposing a fine of £20 on each slave brought into the province. As the century wore on, the Assembly tried in vain to get rid of the slave trade, but the English government was with it, and the spirit of trade was against its abolition. At the Falls monthly meeting, August, 1730, a proposition was entertained from the Chester quarterly, whether Friends should not be prohibited buying negroes when imported, as they were restrained importing them, and after debate it was referred to the respective quarterly meetings. It was quite common for Bucks county masters to liberate their slaves by will, and some followed Penn's example and made provision for their support. Jeremiah Langhorne, who died in Middletown, in 1742, provided in his will for the freedom of all his slaves, between thirty and forty in number. Colonel Henry Wynkoop, of Northampton, set all his slaves free a few years before his death in 1816, but they refused to leave the homestead. It was the custom to advertise them for sale like other property. In 1751 James Gilkyson, of Southampton, advertised his farm and two slaves at public sale. When they ran away a reward was offered for their apprehension, and in 1818, Garret Vanartsdalen, or Northampton township, offered five dollars reward for his negro slave "Bill," who was "well set, and of a good appearance." He announces that "he may be purchased at a reasonable price." Most farmers had one or more, and some held several. The men were relied on for out-door work, and the women for in-doors, and at one time or another slaves were found in nearly every household that could afford them. The late Samuel Hart, in a communication to the Pennsylvania Historical Society, in 1845, says: "From fifty to sixty years ago, I could stand on a corner of my father's farm, (twenty miles from Philadelphia, on the Old York road,) commanding an extensive view of a country beautifully situated, and naturally of excellent quality, and from that spot I could count sixteen farmhouses, and in every house were slaves more or less." Under the operation of the abolition law, the slaves gradually disappeared. About the time of the Revolution Friends took more advanced ground against slavery. In 1776 the yearly meeting adopted a minute directing the monthly meetings to disown those who held slaves, and subordinate meetings appointed committees to carry out these views. The report of the Bucks quarterly in 1777, says: "Some have complied so far as to give those they had in bondage their liberty, by instruments of writing under their hands and seals, but there are others who still persist in holding them as slaves." In 1778 Sarah Growden and Joseph Lovett, both members of Falls meeting, were dealt with because they refused to set their negroes free. The efforts of Friends and others opposed to negro slavery were finally crowned with success, and by act of Assembly, of March 1, 1780, the institution was abolished in Pennsylvania. The act provided, among other things, that all slaves then in the state should be registered before the 1st of November, 1782. The owners of slaves in this county complied promptly with the law, and as a failure to register worked the forfeiture of the slaves, no doubt the number put on record is correct. The whole number registered in the prothonotary's office at Newtown, was five hundred and twenty. As a matter of interest to the present generation, we give the names of the registered owners in Bucks county, with the number of slaves and the townships in which they lived: BRISTOL. John Clark, 8 Joseph McIlvaine, 7 William Coxe, 4 George Gillespie, 3 William Walton, 7 Joseph Lovett, 3 Abraham Britton, 1 John Barnley, 2 Cornelius Vancourt, 1 Isaac Wykoff, 5 Total=41 BRISTOL BOROUGH. William McIlvaine, 6 Charles Bessonett, 1 Archibald McElroy, 2 Joshua Wright, 2 Christian Minnick, 5 Joseph Brown, 1 William Brodnax, 2 Timothy Merrick, 1 John Dowdney, 3 Total=23 BEDMINSTER. Robert Robinson, 1 Total=1 BUCKINGHAM. Adam Barr, 4 William Bennet, 4 Total=8 BENSALEM. Joseph Vandygrift [Vandegrift*], 2 John Swift, 7 James Benezet, 6 Isaac Larrew, 1 Richard Rue, 7 William Rodman, 6 John Kidd, 10 Elizabeth Vanartsdalen, 5 John Vandygrift [Vandegrift*], 3 Henry Limebacker, 1 Abraham Larrew, 2 David Dungan, Jr., 2 James Vanartsdalen, 2 Lawrence Johnson, 1 Samuel Benezet, 1 Augustin Willett, 1 Matthias Fenton, 2 Harman Vansant, 1 Daniel Severns, 1 Abraham Vandygrift [Vandegrift*], 5 Total=66 DURHAM. James Morgan, 7 Richard Backhouse, 3 Total=10 FALLS. Daniel Larrew, 5 Samuel Richardson, 1 Sarah Haney, 2 Thomas Riche, 19 Thomas Barclay, 11 Total=38 NEW BRITAIN. Joseph Grier, 1 John Grier, 2 James Grier, 1 William Roberts, 1 Thomas Hockley, 2 Robert Shewell, 2 Total=9 WARWICK. Thomas West, 1 John Ramsey, 4 John Grier, 1 John Jamison, 1 John Carr, 3 Hugh Mearns, 1 Joshua Dungan, 3 Hugh Ramsey, 1 Ann Brady, 1 Jonathan Dungan, 3 William Ramsey, 1 Total=20 WRIGHTSTOWN. Joseph Sacket, 1 William Thompson, 6 Total=7 WARMINSTER. Isaac Beans, 2 Robert Miller, 1 Estate of John Earle, 3 Joseph Hart, 5 Joseph Hart, 1 Thomas Craven, 9 Total=21 WARRINGTON. Andrew Long, 1 Nathaniel Erwin, 3 Richard Walker, 5 William Long, 1 Abraham Hollas, 1 Total=11 MILFORD. George Hillegas, 1 Total=1 NORTHAMPTON. Clement Dungan, 2 Gilliam Cornell, 9 Elias Dungan, 6 Phoege Spear, 1 Charles Garrison, 3 Richard Leedom, 1 Gerardus Wynkoop, 1 Derrick Kroesen, 6 Gilliam Cornell, Jr., 4 George Parsons, 6 Ann Lefferts, 9 Henry Wynkoop, 10 Catharine Tenant, 7 Helena DuBois, 1 John Kroesen, 4 David Dungan, 2 James Edams, 2 Enoch Marple, 1 Rem Cornell, 4 William Bennet, 4 Isaac Bennet, 2 Jacob Bennet, 1 John Bennet, 2 David Feaster, 1 Mary Corson, 2 Arthur Lefferts, 3 Isaac Bennet, 1 Isaac Vanhorne, 1 Jeremiah Dungan, Jr., 2 John Hegeman, 2 Joseph Fenton, 2 Total=101 MIDDLETOWN. Richard Rue, 8 Anthony Tate, 3 James Boyd, 4 Daniel Larrew, Jr., 3 Gershom Johnson, 1 Total=19 LOWER MAKEFIELD. John Jones, 3 Wheeler Clark, 1 Joshua Anderson, 1 Richard Stillwell, 2 James Winder, 4 Thomas Yardley, 9 John Duer, 4 James Jolly, 1 Peter Vansant, 5 Total=30 UPPER MAKEFIELD. Bernard Vanhorne, 1 Robert Grigg, 1 Total=2 NEWTOWN. Hannah Harris, 11 Samuel Yardley, 4 Lamb Torbert, 1 Margaret Strickland, 3 Martha Murray, 1 Peter Lefferts, 2 Thomas Buckman, 1 Total=23 PLUMSTEAD. William Hart, 1 Joseph Thomas, 1 James Ruckman, 1 Total=3 SOUTHAMPTON. Wilhelmus Cornell, 4 Arthur Watts, 2 Derrick Hogeland, 3 Nicholas Vanartsdalen, 3 Jacob Vansant, 2 Simon Vanartsdalen, 3 Nicholas Vanzant, 3 Jacob Vandike, 8 Thomas Folwell, 1 John Fenton, 2 Derrick Kroesen, 4 Jonathan Willett, 6 Total=41 TINICUM. William Davis, 1 Robert Ramsey, 1 Nicholas Patterson, 5 William McIntyre, 1 Alexander Mitchell, 3 Thomas Stewart, 1 Thomas Ramsey, 1 Robert Stewart, 1 Arthur Irwin, 6 Total=20 Registered without residence: Joseph Thornton, 4 Elizabeth Praul, 1 children of Langhorne Biles, 4 Hugh Tombs, 8 John Praul, 7 Francis Wilson, 1 Total=25 The distribution of the slave population in Bucks county, in 1780, is worth a moment's consideration. It was concentrated in 20 townships and one borough, and there were no slaves held in Springfield, Hilltown, or Rockhill. As a rule they were the most numerous in the townships settled by Hollanders, namely: Northampton had 101, nearly one-fifth of the whole, while three-fourths of the 41 in Southampton were owned by descendants of the same race, and one-third of the 66 in Bensalem. The largest individual slave-holder was Thomas Riche, of Falls, who owned 19, while in the townships where the Friends were the most numerous, namely: Falls, Middletown, Lower and Upper Makefield, Bristol borough and township, and Wrightstown, there were 163, nearly one-third of the whole. But few slaves were owned in the townships settled by the Baptists and Presbyterians, namely: Warminster, Warwick, Warrington, New Britain, Newtown and Bedminster. In all the German townships, including Durham, which was hardly one at that day, there were but 32 slaves. This indicates that the Germans were averse to the institution, and true to their Teutonic ancestors' love of personal liberty. Six of the seven owned by James Morgan, of Durham, are reported "supposed to be in New York with the enemy." The age, as well as the name, was registered. We find the oldest to be 82 years, owned by Peter Vansant, of Lower Makefield, and named "Richard Gibbs," while the youngest was four months. Few of them, male or female, were above the age of 45, and only one was above 70. From this it might be argued that the mild type of slavery in Bucks county was not conducive to long life. After this period a slave was occasionally manumitted by his master and turned out into the world to shift for himself. This was done by deed under seal and properly acknowledged. Thus, May 23, 1787, Smith Price, "of the township of Plumstead, storekeeper," freed his female slave Esther, "about 25 years of age." The same day Nathaniel Ellicott, of Buckingham, set free his slave woman Rachel McDaniel; April 5, 1788, Anthony Burton, of Bristol township, set free seven slaves, probably all he owned; June 24, 1809, William Rodman, of Bensalem, set free his negro woman Rosetta Grant and her two children. There has fallen under our notice a deed of sale for a "certain mulatto woman slave, called Nance, aged 20 years or thereabouts," by David Kinsey, administrator of David Kinsey, of Solebury, deceased, executed February 25, 1761. The last recorded case of manumission in this county is that of Ann Bering, of Doylestown township, "but late from Charleston, South Carolina," who, on December 9, 1824, set free two girls aged ten and eight years, and a boy aged six, on condition that they bind themselves by indenture to serve the said Ann Bering, her heirs and assigns, until 28 years of age, which was recorded August 13, 1830. Matthew Hughes, born in Buckingham in 1733, has the credit of being the first person to move a law in the Assembly, while he was a member for this county, for the abolition of slavery in Pennsylvania. He died at nearly 100, and was buried in the Buckingham graveyard. The slaves sensibly decreased in the next seven years, for when the census was taken in 1790, the number reported in the county was but 254, against 520 in 1783 Ð a falling off of a little over one-half. The cause of this is not apparent, unless it be found in the numerous manumissions, especially among Friends. The largest owner of slaves in 1790 was Henry Wynkoop, of Northampton, while the name of Thomas Riche, who owned 19 in 1783, does not appear upon the list. The act of 1780 gradually extinguished slavery in Pennsylvania. In 1790 there were but 3,737; in 1800, 2000 less; in 1810, 795, and in 1820 there were only 211 in the whole state. Many interesting facts in the lives of the negro slaves of Bucks county might be collected with proper effort, but we have no leisure to pursue such investigation. They were not an unimportant part of the population in their day and generation, but their lives have passed beyond the realms of history. (1) (1) An official return of the population of Bucks county in 1784, gives the white inhabitants, 19,580, and the negroes, slave and free, 529, total 20,119.* General Augustin Willett, of Bensalem, had a favorite old slave who bore the high-sounding name of Priam, who was with his master in the Revolutionary army, and accompanied him in all his goings. The general's estate was charged with his support. In 1802, a black woman, named Alice, died near Bristol at the reputed age of 116. She was born in Philadelphia, of slave parents from Barbados, and at 10 years of age removed with her master to Dunk's ferry, near where she died. She remembered seeing William Penn and James Logan. She lost her eyesight between 90 and 100, but it returned to her. She received the ferriage at Dunk's ferry for 40 years, and when 115 she made a visit to Philadelphia. In 1805 a negro man, named Jack, the slave of Colonel William Chambers, died in Middletown, about the same age as Alice. About 1863 an old slave woman, whose name, as well as that of her master, has escaped us, died in the Bucks county alms-house, upward of 100 years of age. She said that she was present at the reception of Washington at Trenton, at the close of the Revolution. We believe she came from Upper Makefield. In September, 1872, a negro woman, named Margaret, died in Philadelphia, upward of 100, who had an eventful life. She was the granddaughter of a king and queen on the Guinea coast, who were sold to a Vandygrift [Vandegrift*], of Bensalem. When slavery was abolished,[in 1783, (2)] was bound out for a term of years, but afterward re-sold into slavery and carried to Virginia. (2) Not in 1905 edition. (The following paragraph appears only in the 1876 edition. The paragraphs in brackets after that are new material from the 1905 edition which would take the place of the 1876 material at this point.) During the later years of the slavery agitation a branch of the "underground railroad," a mythical corporation to help runaway slaves toward the North Pole, passed through Bucks county. It was "narrow gauge," and starting from Bristol ran up through the county via Attleborough, Newtown, Buckingham to New Hope, where the through passengers were transferred to another line. The company had many stock-holders in this county, and at various points along the line were "way stations" and "agents." The train wooded and watered "down 'bout de mountin," where the passengers were treated to a "cold bite." Strange negroes mysteriously appeared along the line one day, and as mysteriously disappeared the next, none knowing "whence they come nor whither they goeth." Occasionally a fugitive was overtaken, and returned to slavery. The case of "Big Ben" created an unusual excitement Ð whose master attempted to arrest him after he had lived several years in Buckingham. He fought a good fight, ax in hand, for his liberty, and finally triumphed, and spent the evening of his day in the Bucks county alms-house, where he lately died. He was properly named, being seven feet tall, with feet of monstrous proportions. Another fugitive, named Dorsey, was arrested and brought before the court to be formally restored to his master, but he was discharged because of some informality in the proceedings, and before a new process could issue the underground railroad had carried him to parts unknown. The adventures of some of these runaways would make an interesting page. Among these fugitives who settled in Bucks county and prospered, was Jacob Merritt, who made his home in Buckingham, where he lives in independence, owning a lot of eleven and a half acres, with good improvements, fruits, etc. [Soon after the introduction of negro slavery into America, regulation were made for the return of fugitives, and, from this, grew our "Fugitive Slave Law" under the constitution. These Colonial regulations only applied, at first, to the respective Colonies, but were extended to neighboring Colonies, and the Indian tribes. In 1627, the West India Company promised to return the slaves of all masters who settled in New Netherlands, and a little later, the Swedish Colonists asked the same privilege. An act against fugitives was passed in East Jersey in 1686, and, in a short time, similar laws were extended to all the Colonies. In New England they were applied to every description of servants. The authorities cite a number of international cases. The return of fugitives was prohibited in England by the famous Somersett case, 1771, when the court declared slavery could no longer exist by positive law. Our Articles of Confederation, 1781, the Treaty of Peace, 1783, and our treaties with the Indian tribes, all recognized the right of arresting fugitives. The claim in the Federal Constitution settled the question in its favor, until the amendment of 1865 prohibited forever, and wiped out all statutes, State and Federal.*] [During the latter year of the slavery agitation and down to the Civil war, the "Underground Railroad, (3) so called, played an important part in keeping alive the excitement and embroiling the North and South. The name, "Underground Railroad" is said to have been first used by some baffled Southern masters in the early days of escaped slaves, who, when the trail suddenly disappeared at Columbia, Pennsylvania, angrily exclaimed, "There must be an underground railroad in the neighborhood," and so there was.*] (3) The material that enables us to make this interesting addition to the chapter is taken from Dr. Edward H. Magill's paper on the "Underground Railroad," read before the Bucks County Historical Society in January, 1898, and which he placed at our disposal. Sometimes we quote the exact text, at others were are obliged to condense to bring it within our space. We hope this will not be considered a mutilation Ð when resorting to this we have endeavored to give the exact substance. It makes a valuable addition to the history of Bucks county.* ["Before the end of the first decade of the 19th century, the hegira of the Southern slaves, toward the promised land of Canada, had fairly set in. When the hunted fugitives started on their northern pilgrimage, following the light of the North Star by night and hiding during the day in barns, deep woods, under hay stacks, corn shocks, or any other available place of concealment found on their route, they but little appreciated the long and weary way before them. Many were grievously disappointed, on reaching a free State, by finding they were still within easy reach of their pursuing masters; and the fact of their being sold to the far South the almost certain penalty of an attempt to secure their freedom, greatly increased their fear of recapture. The northward migration toward the land of freedom was naturally through Pennsylvania, and in this State, perhaps no counties were traversed by so large a number of fugitives as York, Adams, Chester and Lancaster. Nearly all who were accounted Abolitionists, in these and other counties, were members of the Society of Friends. A noted exception, and prominent among them, many years ago, was the Rev. Samuel Aaron of Norristown, who was a native of New Britain, this county.*] ["As the principal line of escape through Pennsylvania was by the way of York, Adams, Chester and Lancaster counties, the 'Underground Railroad' through Bucks was less used, and less perfectly organized. Still many slaves escaped through this county, reaching it over the northern Chester county line, by way of Norristown, coming up through Philadelphia, and there very frequently found homes and occupation with Bucks county farmers, some remaining several years. At the home of my father, Jonathan P. Magill, Solebury, many were thus received, beginning as far back as my memory goes. Many stories of their experience as slaves and their efforts to escape were told my brother Watson and myself by our hired colored men, which stories are more or less in my memory."*] [The slavery agitation was increased, and business on the "underground Railroad" stimulated, after the issue of William Lloyd Garrison's "Liberator," Boston, 1832, followed by the "Genius of Universal Emancipation," Baltimore. The latter's motto, "No Union with Slaveholders," was equivalent to a declaration of war against human servitude, and it was not long before the bold editor occupied a cell in the county jail. This declaration of principles was signed by 50, but only one from Bucks county, the late Robert Purvis, Bensalem. It is related, that when these pioneers in the cause were about to affix their signatures, a friend of James Mott remarked to him, "Remember thou art engaged in business with the South; it may ruin thy trade to sign it;" whereupon his wife, sitting by, said to her husband, "Put down thy name, James," and down it went, not the first time a woman's voice had turned the scale when principle was at stake.*] [Of the comparatively small band that joined the anti-slavery cause at this early period in Bucks county, all were interested from the beginning in the operation of the "Underground Railroad." Among them, however, were some most efficient workers who did not consider themselves Garrison Abolitionists, being too cautious and conservative to place themselves under his revolutionary banner. The route of northern travel through Bucks, so far as could be ascertained, was less clearly marked than through Chester and Lancaster, and the distance between stations, about 10 miles, less observed. The escaping fugitives usually entered the county from the south by way of Philadelphia, but many came by the Chester county line via Norristown, heading to the northeast. After this lapse of time it is impossible to name all the families active in this humane, but "unlawful," work of aiding slaves to escape through Bucks county, and many of those omitted doubtless performed an equally meritorious part and incurred equal risk.*] [In the lower part of the county, among those every ready to receive with sympathy these unhappy fugitives, to care for them, give or procure them employment on their northern flight, then furnish them proper credentials, take, or send them by others on their way, sometimes covered, or disguised to avoid detection, or, when safe to do so, paying their fares and sending them on by stage. Dr. Magill mentions the following names: Robert Purvis Barclay Ivins the Pearces Swains Beanses Lintons Schofields Buckmans Janneys Twinings Jonathan Palmer William Lloyd William Burgess Jolly Longshore. After a journey northward 10 or 20 miles, the fugitives were received and kindly cared for, until ready to go farther north, by the Atkinsons Browns Tregos Blackfans Smiths Simpsons Paxsons John E. Kenderdine Jonathan P. Magill Jacob Heston William H. Johnson Joseph Fell Edward Williams.*] ["Having but slight acquaintance with friends of the slaves in the northern end of the county, I can only say that the friends of the middle section generally forwarded fugitives to Richard Moore, Quakertown, or sometimes more directly further by stage or private conveyance, to the Vails or Jacob Singmaster, Stroudsburg. On reaching these northern points, having put so many miles of weary travel between them and their masters in the South, their feeling of security generally increased, and still more was this the case on reaching Montrose or Friendsville. In Susquehanna county, under the kind care of Israel Post, Montrose, or Caleb Calmalt, Friendsville, and other Friends to aid them, they had reached ground, on which, in those days of difficult travel, the slave-holder rarely ventured in search of his slaves. A comparatively short journey from these places brought them to the state of New York."] [Quakertown, the home of Richard Moore, was the last important station in Bucks on the "Underground Railroad," and to which the lines of northeastern Chester and most of the Bucks county line converged. This was a point for distribution farther north, to the Lehigh and Susquehanna valleys and then to Canada, the fugitives lying concealed by day and traveling the mountains and forests by night, through a region where slaveholders seldom pursued their runaways. Notwithstanding their comparative safety, such was their terror they wished to reach Canada as soon as possible. Of Richard Moore, Dr. Magill speaks as follows:*] ["I have twice been granted interviews by Alfred Moore, grandson of Richard, and learn from him that Richard Moore, while not ready to unite with the early Abolitionists in their revolutionary motto, 'No Union with slaveholders,' still felt prompted, by kind sympathy, to help on their way the escaping fugitives. His home soon became known to the Friends further south as a place where all fugitives forwarded would receive kindly care and needed assistance in continued flight. Although slaveholders rarely pr oceeded so far as this in pursuit of their slaves, they occasionally did so, and, more than once the master presented himself at the front door of Richard Moore, a few minutes after the object of his search, being warned of his approach, had escaped by a back door to a safe place of concealment in the rear. From a record he kept, the number of fugitive slaves he assisted to escape, down to the Civil war, was about six hundred."*] [One of the slaves, who reached the Quakertown station about the time of the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law, 1850, had escaped from Abraham Shriner, Pipe creek, Maryland. At home he was known as "Bill Budd," but now assumed that of "Henry Franklin." He was employed as Richard Moore's carter several years, and, in this capacity, was enabled to assist on their way to Canada several fugitives. He was employed carting coal from the Lehigh to Quakertown, and, when there were fugitives to be sent forward, he would load his wagon with them in the evening, cover them with straw, take them up to the next station during the night, and return with a load of coal next day. It is thought one of the fugitives who then escaped was Parker, the principal hero of the Christiana tragedy. Franklin afterward became janitor at the Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, where he died.*] [The most noted fugitive that came into Bucks county, via the "Underground Railroad," was 'Big Ben," so called from his great size. This was about 1833. He was the slave of William Anderson, near Little York, Maryland, and known as Benjamin Jones. he and four others, fearing they would be sold and sent to the southern market, started north, and, after many risks and hardships, succeeded in reaching Buckingham, where they found employment. Big Ben worked for Jonathan Fell, Thomas Bye, William Stavely and others for about eleven years. One day, while chopping in the woods near Forestville, William Anderson, his former master with four others, came suddenly upon him. His fellow laborers fled leaving him to fight the battle for freedom alone. He defended himself desperately with his axe, at one time having all his assailants on the ground, but was finally overpowered and carried off without the formality of a hearing. He was so badly injured he was unsalable, much to the chagrin of the master. At a meeting held at Forestville, May 26, 1844, whereof George Chapman was chairman, and R. H. Donatt, secretary, $700, the price asked for Big Ben, was raised, the money paid over, and the former fugitive returned to his Buckingham home. He never recovered from the injury received at his capture. He worked for a time, after his return, in Buckingham and Solebury; then married a woman named Sarah Johnson, of Norristown, and with her, spent the remainder of his days in comfort at the Bucks County Alms House and died there. He was said to be six feet six inches and one-half tall, and his feet were enormously large.*] [John S. Brown, former editor and proprietor of the Bucks county "Intelligencer," unconsciously became a conductor on the "Underground Railroad," soon after he was out of his apprenticeship, and had charge of the train from Doylestown to Plumstead. Being in town one day, he was told by Kirk J. Price, his brother-in-law, who kept the Green Tree tavern, to "keep a sharp lookout as he passed a cornfield out the Academy lane, as a passenger would present herself whom he was to take to the house of Charles and Martha Smith, Plumstead, ask no questions and leave her to their care." Mr. Brown had not gone far when he saw a woman looking cautiously out from the corn rows; he stopped, took her in and conveyed her to her destination. Thence she was doubtless forwarded to the Quakertown distributing station, and so on to safety.*] [The home of Isaac Warner, near Hatboro, was a station on the "Underground Railroad," where passengers stopped off, would hire out for a time and then be forwarded to Quakertown station. Here Richard Moore saw they were properly cared for. About 1835, one Joe Smith, who had worked for Mr. Warner two years, went to Byberry and engaged with a Mr. Walton; married there and had two children. In the spring of 1837-38, hearing his old master was after him, he was forwarded to the Quakertown station and his wife and children sent to Mr. Warner's home, but later to Quakertown. Richard Moore had them put into a wagon, covered with straw and started off. The driver was directed not to stop on the way for fear of detection and to take a bucket to water the horses from the streams. If asked where he was going he was instructed to say "to Richard Moore's pottery," as the straw in the wagon, it would be supposed, was for packing the pottery on his return. The trip was safely made and the man and his family reached a place of safety.*] [Rachel Moore's case was an interesting one, emphasizing the strong love she had for her children, and the cruelty of a system of oppression she was trying to rescue them from. She was a slave woman near Elkton, Maryland, more than fifty years ago. She was manumitted and received her free papers from the Elkton court, but her six children were still slaves. She determined to free them and succeeded. Imagine a mother, unaided, starting with six children for a distant and unknown country, on foot, where she and they could enjoy the blessings of personal liberty. They only traveled by night, resting in concealment during the day; sometimes meeting friends, who took them in by day and sent them on rejoicing at night. After crossing the Pennsylvania line and striking the "Underground Railroad," their burden of travel was lightened. They spent two days with the Lewis family, Phoenixville, whence they were sent in a wagon at night to a friend named Paxson, near Norristown, where they spent two weeks. They were now forwarded to William H. Johnson's, Buckingham, where homes were found for four of the children in the families of Thomas Paxson, Joseph Fell, Edward Williams and John Blackfan, Rachel, with her eldest and youngest children, going to Jonathan P. Magill's, where they remained several years. The details of this escape were obtained from one of the children.*] [The Christiana tragedy, 1851, an early case under the "Fugitive Slave Law" of 1850, is of interest in this connection because some of the slaves passed through the upper end of our county on their way to the north, via the Quakertown branch of the "Underground Railroad." Three of these were among the principal actors, Park, Pinkney and Johnson. Another passed over much more of our "underground" system. He was brought on a Saturday evening to the house of William Lloyd, by William himself on his return from Philadelphia, by virtue of an agreement made, while standing in market. As this was immediately after the Christiana affair, additional precaution had to be taken. Lloyd stated for home later than usual, covering the man completely with straw in the back part of the wagon. He took the slave to a colored family, living in a house near Janney's mill dam in the edge of the wood on the Newtown and Yardleyville turnpike. The following night, Henry M. Twining drove the fugitive to Jonathan P. Magill's, Solebury, where he was kept overnight, being forwarded the following morning via the "Underground Railroad" and Richard Moore's station, Quakertown, or possibly by the more easterly route. Word was received later that the slave had reached Canada in safety.*] [The case of Jane Johnson and her two children, attracted general attention. They were slaves of John H. Wheeler, North Carolina, United States minister to Nicaragua. He had been to Washing on an official visit and was returning to his post with his family. On their arrival at Philadelphia, July, 1855, Passmore Williamson and William Still persuaded the mother to escape with her children. They were arrested, tried and convicted, the mother being used as a witness, but left the court without molestation. She was first taken, well guarded to George Corson's, Plymouth, Montgomery county, and there put aboard a train on the "Underground Railroad" for Mahlon Linton's station beyond Newtown. Here she changed trains for Canada, whither her children had preceded her. Public feeling was wrought up to a high pitch and there was danger of a collision in the court room, between the Federal and State authorities, but was prevented. In a paper read before the Montgomery County Historical Society, by the late Dr. Hiram Corson, reference was made to several interesting cases of escaped slaves whom he forwarded to Richard Moore and others in Bucks county. The road, with its stations and substations, often took a zigzag direction to elude pursuit, or suit the convenience of the road agents.*] [Next to Big Ben's, the case of Basil Dorsey was the most exciting in Bucks county. This was in 1837. His master was Thomas E. Sollers, Frederick county, Maryland, from whom he escaped three years before and was now living with Robert Purvis, (4) Bensalem. His whereabouts was betrayed by a jealous brother-in-law, who had recently visited his victim. He was arrested, taken to Doylestown, and the case heard before Judge John Fox. It had attracted great attention from the first, and a large crowd was present at the trial. The case came up the first time in July, the second time in August, on a habeas corpus, asking for his discharge. Robert Purvis took a deep interest in Dorsey, and his attorneys were David Paul Brown, the most distinguished advocate of the Philadelphia bar, and Thomas Ross, a rising lawyer of Doylestown. Abel M. Griffith appeared for the master. The prisoner was brought into court hand-cuffed, and his young wife and two small children were present. The surroundings made up a dramatic scene. Before the hearing came on, the master had offered to accept one thousand dollars for his slave and the money could easily have been raised, but this Dorsey forbade his friends doing, saying "I am prepared to take my life it the case goes against me, for I will never to back to slavery." The case proceeded, and when partly through the question of Maryland being a slave state came up and on this the court ruled against the master. Time was asked for, but refused and the case was dismissed. The friends of Dorsey now hurried him away and the "Underground Railroad" soon carried him to a place of safety. Subsequently one hundred and fifty dollars were paid the master to prevent future trouble. Dorsey passed the remainder of his life in Massachusetts and prospered.*] (4) Robert Purvis was born at Charleston, S. C., August 10, 1810, and died at Philadelphia April 14, 1898. His grandmother, a full-blooded Moor, was stolen when young and brought to Charleston in a slave ship. She married a German baron and their daughter, his mother, married William Purvis, also a white man, and whatever trace of African blood may have been in his veins, came through his grandmother. He was brought up in Philadelphia, inherited large wealth from his father and was an educated, scholarly man. He was an active Abolitionist from the beginning and was one of the 60 who took part in organizing the American Anti-Slavery Society at Philadelphia, December 4, 1833, and was the last to die. He was first president of the "Underground Railroad," and a life-long champion of the rights of the black man. He was for several years a resident of Bensalem township, Bucks county. [A number of other fugitives escaped through Bucks county by the "Underground Railroad." There was a sub-station at Langhorne, which had connection with the Jersey lines, via Middletown and Crosswicks to New York. William Bargess, of Millville, Pennsylvania, then secretary of the Bucks County Anti-Slavery Society, says that about 1840-45, six fugitives arrived at Langhorne in the night, who had made their escape by water from Albemarle Sound, North Carolina. The next day Bargess drove them to Trenton and delivered them to B. Rush Plumley, then a well-known merchant, but as the emergency was pressing Bargess continued on to Princeton, whence they were forwarded to New York via the Raritan river steamboat. Dr. J. B. Walter, Solebury, says that about the same period, 1847-48, a party of six fugitives from Queen Anne county, Maryland, arrived in his neighborhood and found homes with the farmers. One of this party, an old man of 75, William Scott, is still alive, living in that neighborhood, where he owns a small house and a six-acre lot. No doubt others of the Anti-Slavery hegira were at that time alive, but difficult to reach them. They and the events Dr. Magill so vividly portrayed in his interesting paper, have passed into history, and he is entitled to the thanks of all for rescuing so much of their history from total loss.*] [Since the above was written the author unearthed another way station of the Bucks county branch of the "Underground Railroad." This was in Wrightstown township, known as the "Pineville Anti-Slavery Society," organized, 1837-38, and auxiliary to the County Society. Charles Magill was secretary, 1838, but we have not been able to get the name of the president. The following names were signed to the constitution and by-laws: Ralph Lee Timothy Atkinson Jacob Heston, Jr. Wm. H. Johnson Joseph Hampton Jonathan P. Magill Jos. Janney Simeon Hampton Charles Magill John Smith Jesse Doan, Jr. Isaac Simpson Moses Blackfan Robert Simpson Benjamin Smith Jonathan Smith. The society had its tribulations. At one time it almost dissolved; then re-organized with a membership of 77, of which 18 were Smiths, 17 Atkinsons, and 13 Tregos. The place of meeting was the "New Prospect school house." The last minute reads: "New Prospect," 5th mo. 20th, 1843, Thomas Trego, secretary."*] [Negroes first appeared as a factor in our county politics, 1837. Their votes were received in a few districts at the October election and it was charged they changed the result. Their right to vote was challenged by the Democrats and measures immediately taken to test the question. A public meeting was held at the Black Bear tavern, Northampton township, October 21, 1837, at which General John Davis presided and speeches were made by C. E. Wright and S. L. Roberts, Esq. A preamble and resolutions, contai ning an able presentation of the political status of the negro since the settlement of the Colony, were adopted, and committee appointed to get signers to a memorial to the Legislature, requesting that body to investigate the charge of illegal voting by negroes, and take steps to contest the election in the court of the county. A general county meeting to consider the subject was held at Doylestown, December 6, 1837. The case came before the court of Quarter Sessions December 28th, on petition and complaint to contest the election of Abraham Fretz, returned elected to office of county commissioner. Judge Fox was on the bench, and after the question had been ably argued, the court rendered an exhaustive and learned opinion, deciding that negroes had no right to vote in Pennsylvania, and directed the complainant to take the means necessary to ascertain the truth of the facts alleged. The agitation continued until the meeting of the convention of the following year, to amend the State constitution, when the word "white" was inserted in the new constitution by a vote of 77 to 45. This was the supreme law of the Commonwealth until the adoption of the Fifteenth amendment to the constitution of the United States. The most ardent Democrat taking part in this movement little dreamed of the events of 1861-65, when a stroke of the pen, in the hand of an unknown man, would undo all their work by giving the ballot to the negro. The episode of 1861-65 began in rebellion and ended in revolution.*] There was another species of servitude on the Delaware besides negro slavery, the subjects of it being called redemptioners, those who were sold or sold themselves for a term of years, to pay their passage. This class of servants was here as early as 1662, when 50 laborers were imported on this condition. Some of them were hired out at from 20 to 30 dollars a year. From this time down to the arrival of Penn, farm, domestic or mechanical labor was seldom obtained for wages. Redemptioners were brought over by the ship-load, frequently on speculation, and when they landed they were sold at public sale. German and Irish immigrants were introduced in this manner. They were sold for a term of years and until the expenses of bringing them over had been repaid, and a record of them was kept in the court of Quarter Sessions. The purchaser had the right of re-sale, and sometimes the poor redemptioner passed through two or three hands before he became a free man. In 1722 German redemptioners sold at public auction, for £10 each, for five years of servitude. At the end of the term each one was to receive a suit of clothes. The Germans sometimes sold their children to the highest bidder. Occasionally the parties sold were convicts or paupers, and thus a bad class of persons was introduced into the colony. In 1728 Lord Altham came to this country while a lad, and worked out his time as an indentured servant with a farmer on the Lancaster turnpike. His rank was discovered, and he went to England to claim his inheritance, but died before he was put into possession. There was a class of men who dealt in these bondmen, whom they bought in lots of 20 or more, and drove through the country for sale. The trade was broken up by so many of them running away, but the sale of redemptioners continued down to the beginning of the present century. Many of them grew rich, and became respected citizens. The story is told of a young fellow who managed to be the last of a lot that the "soul-driver" was taking through the country for sale. They stopped overnight at Easton, and the redemptioner getting up first the next morning, managed to sell his master to the landlord, pocketed the money, and went away. He cautioned the purchaser that as the servant was presumptions at times, and would try to pass himself off for master, he had better keep his eye on him. It was quite common at that day to steal children of tender years, and ship them to America to sell. Many were landed at Philadelphia and sold to farmers and others. "Chambers' Miscellany" contains the interesting history of Peter Williamson, one of the unfortunate children, who was abducted from Aberdeen, Scotland, about 1740, and sold at Philadelphia to one Hugh Wilson, a farmer, for £16, who dying after he had served five years, left him a legacy of £200. He married the daughter of a wealthy landowner of Chester county, who gave him a deed for 200 acres in "Berks county near the Forks of the Delaware," probably in Bucks county. In 1754 his building were burned by the Indians, and he was carried into captivity. He made his escape after several years and returned to Chester county to find his wife dead. After this Peter had several adventures, as soldier and otherwise, which were terminated by his return to Scotland, where he died in 1799. The English settlers who arrived with Penn generally brought with them farm and domestic servants, indentured to serve four years, and to receive 50 acres of land at their discharge. Some served a less period, and occasionally one received a money consideration in addition to land, or a suit of clothes, or both. The descendants of some of these indentured servants are among the most highly respected people in the county. Female servants received less consideration, and did not serve so long. The white servants imported into the province were favorites of the law. Their names, wages, and time of servitude were duly recorded, and at its expiration they were allowed to take up land on easy terms. They were well-cared for, could not be sold out of the province, nor could man and wife be parted. Apprenticeship in the early days of the county was a much more serious business than now. The articles of indenture were drawn with all the care of a conveyancer of real estate, and the corresponding obligations of master and apprentice were specifically set forth. An indenture of this stamp, dated June 21, 1753, by which Robert Cammeron, of Robinson township, Lancaster county, bound himself to Garret Vansant, of Warminster, for the term of three years, "to learn the art, trade and mystery of a blacksmith," fell into our hands. It provides that the apprentice "his said master faithfully shall serve, his secrets keep, his lawful commands everywhere readily obey." He was not to damage his master's goods, nor see them damaged by others, nor waste nor unlawfully lend them, could not play at cards or other games, could neither buy nor sell with his own or his master's goods without his master's consent, could not visit ale-houses or taverns, nor absent himself from his master's service without his consent, day or night. The apprentice was to have eight months' schooling, and when free, his master was to give him "all the iron-work belonging to a pair of bellows, suitable to his trade, one sledge and three hand-hammers, and three pairs of tongs and two suits of clothing, one whereof shall be new." END OF CHAPTER LI or XXII, 1905 EDITION.