History: Local: CHAPTERS LVI - LVII: Gwynedd & Hatfield Townships : Bean's 1884 History of Montgomery Co, PA Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Susan Walters 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. http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/montgomery/beantoc.htm URL of html Table of Contents and illustrations. 技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技 BEAN'S HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA 技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技技 853 (cont.) CHAPTER LVI. GWYNEDD TOWNSHIP. By Wm. J. Buck. GWYNEDD is the central townships of the county, and is bounded on the north by the borough of Lansdale, Hatfield and Montgomery, east by Horsham, south by Whitpain, southeast by Upper Dublin, west by Worcester and northeast by Towamencin. It is six an one-half miles long, three miles wide and contains an area of about twelve thousand one hundred and fifty acres, having been reduced in 1869, ninety-two acres by the incorporation of North Wales, whose boundaries were boundaries enlarged in October, 1884, taking in the academy, Baptist Church, shirt-factory and upwards of twenty-one houses. It was further reduced in 1872, one hundred and forty-five acres by the erection or the borough of Lansdale. The surface is rolling and the soil generally clay, with some loam. The Wissahickon Creek rises but little over a mile from the line, in Montgomery township, its general come being southerly, and it propels three grist-mills and a saw-mill within the township. The Treweryn is the next considerable stream, about three miles in length, with several branches. Willow Run flows by the Spring House and empties into the Wissahickon at the Whitpain line, but neither of the aforesaid furnish waterpower. 854 The Chestnut Hill and Spring House turnpike was chartered March 5, 1804, and was finished the following year. Its total length is eight miles, of which one and a half are in Gwynedd. In 1813, and the following year this turnpike was extended from the Spring House into Bucks County, and is commonly called the Bethlehem road. The Sumneytown and Spring House turnpike was incorporated March 17, 1845, and finished in 1848, and has a course through the township of nearly five and one-half miles, or about one-third its total length. The pike from Blue Bell, through Penllyn to the Spring House was constructed in 1872, and is three and one-half miles long. A turnpike was made in 1884 from the Sumneytown pike, near Kneedler Station, to the Morris road, passing through the village of West Point, a mile and a quarter in length. The stone bridge where the Sumneytown pike crosses the Wissahickon was built in 1819; where the State road crosses it in 1833, and the Plymouth road bridge in 1839. The most important improvement, and the one that has done the most for the prosperity of this section, is the North Pennsylvania Railroad, which was opened for travel to Gwynedd Station June 19, 1856. Nearly a mile above this is the Gwynedd tunnel, five hundred feet in length, and, including the cut, three thousand six hundred feet, its greatest depth being sixty feet. It was made through the hardest rock, involving considerable labor and expense, and it retarded for awhile the progress of the road, which was opened through to the Lehigh River January 1, 1857. It has a course through the township of about six miles, with stations at Penllyn and Gwynedd. The Stony Creek Railroad has a course of three and one half miles in the township, and forms a junction with the North Pennsylvania Railroad at Lansdale. This road was finished in 1874, and its stations in the township are called Acorn, Lukens or West Point, and Kneedler. According to the census of 1800, Gwynedd contained 906 inhabitants in 1840, 1589 in 1880, 2041 The real estate in 1882 was valued at $1,617,212, and including the personal property, $1,728,547, the aggregate per taxable being $3000, an average very nearly equal to that of Lower Merion. Three hotels and three general stores were licensed for 1883. In May 1876, it contained seven stores, three dealers in flour and feed, three coal-yards and one lumber-yard. The census of 1850 returned 262 dwelling-houses, 278 families and 193 farms. In 1785 it contained within its limits five taverns, three grist-mills, two saw-mills and one tannery. There are post-offices at the villages of Gwynedd, Spring House, Penllyn, West Point and Gwynedd Station. At the latter place it is called Hoyt, and not long established. The public schools in 1876 numbered five; for the school year ending June 1, 1883, six, open nine months, containing three hundred and thirty-four pupils. Gwynedd, in 1838, formed the Tenth Election District in the county, voting for many years at the village of the aforesaid name. By order of the Court of Quarter Sessions, March 25, 1876, the township was divided into two districts, the elections for the lower district being held at the Spring House. The Friends and the Episcopalians have each a house of worship, and the Baptists and the Colored Methodists occasional services, the latter in a small building below the Spring House. The Church of the Messiah, located at Gwynedd, was organized in 1870 as a mission under the care of the Board of Domestic Missions of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and of the diocese of Pennsylvania. Services were first held in the school-house. Soon after the organization, the present lot was purchased of Jacob Acuff, and the cornerstone of the present church edifice was laid by Bishop William B. Stevens. A bell was placed in the chapel in 1876 by Mrs. John Gilbert, of Philadelphia. The mission was placed under the charge of the Rev. Samuel Edwards. The pulpit was later supplied for a time by students from the Theological School, in Philadelphia. The rectors who have since served the church have been the Revs Henry C. Pastorius John J. Fury Henry K. Boyer and the present rector the Rev. R. T. B. Winskill. The church has thirty-five communicants, and a large summer attendance from visitors in the neighborhood. West Point is now the largest village in Gwynedd it contains a store, hotel, mill, lumber and brick-yards, several machine-shops and about thirty houses. Here are also the West Point Engine-Works and Machine-Shops, erected within the last seven Years. The post-office has been only recently established. On the completion of the Stony Creek Railroad, in 1874, this place became known as Lukens Station. Its present name was given it about 1876, when it contained seven or eight houses. During the summer and fall of 1884 a turnpike was constructed through the village, connecting it with the Sumneytown road and making now a continuous pike from here to the borough of North Wales. Gwynedd, situated at the intersection of the Sumneytown turnpike and State road, contains a store, hotel, two places of worship, school-house and about ten houses. Here the early Welsh immigrants made the first settlement in the township, known as North Wales, and is so mentioned on Lewis Evans' map of 1749. Gordon, in his "Gazetteer" of 1832, also calls it by said name, and states "where there is a Quaker Meeting-House, a tavern, three dwelling, and a post-office." The latter we know was established here before 1830. The place has been long and popularly known throughout that section as "Acuff's Tavern," where the elections were held for some time previous to the division of the township, in 1876. A public-house must have been established before 1769. A store was kept here by Owen Evans before 1765. The Episcopal Church of the Messiah was built in 1872, at present without a pastor. The venerable Friends' Meeting-house will form the subject of an article. 855 Penllyn is a station on the North Pennsylvania Railroad, sixteen miles from the city, and is situated on the turnpike leading from the Blue Bell to the Spring House; it contains a store, fourteen dwellings and several mechanic schools. It is in the midst of an improving country. The post-office was located here in July, 1861. The name signifies in Welsh the head of a dam or the beginning of a stream of water. The first grist-mill in the township, it is supposed, was built near this by William Foulke, and was probably the same owned by Jesse Foulke in 1776. The Spring House is all old, settlement, the intersection of the road here dating back to 1735. It contains a store, hotel, several mechanic shops and about twelve houses. The post-office was established here in March, 1829, John W. Murray being appointed postmaster. Gwynedd Station contains a store, seven houses and Hoyt post-office. Kneedler is a station on the Stony Creek Railroad, with in inn and a house or two. Near this is a small Baptist Church belonging to the society in North Wales, but no stated services are held. Gwynedd is a corruption of the Welsh word "Gwineth," signifying North Wales, and also the name of a river there. It is also called in early records here "Gwinedith." According to Holme's map of original surveys, the upper half of the township, adjoining Hatfield, Montgomery and Horsham, was purchased by John Gee & Co., and the other half by James Peters and Robert Turner, the latter being a well-known merchant in Philadelphia. Owing to the good reports received from the settlers of the Welsh tract on the west side of the Schuylkill, more and more the attention of those they had left behind was excited. The return of Hugh Roberts from Merion to his native section, in 1697, tended largely to promote further emigration. Among these may he mentioned William, John and Thomas ap Evan, who, near the close of that year, had arrived in Philadelphia with a view of taking up some large tract upon which, those who were to follow, might thus the better be enabled to dwell together. After some inquiry and a brief examination, they purchased, March 10, 1698, from Robert Turner, who had now become the sole owner, a tract containing seven thousand eight hundred and twenty acres, which was further confirmed to them by Edward Shippen, Thomas Story, Griffith Owen and James Logan, Penn's commissioners of property, March 8, 1702. The tract was stated at the latter date to be "situate in the township of Gwinned, in the county of Philadelphia." This is most probably the earliest mention yet found of the name. There is every reason to believe that at the date of this purchase not a single European had yet dwelt on the tract, the earliest settlements having not yet quite extended this far northwards from the city. Some of the immigrants from Wales left Liverpool in the ship "Robert and Elizabeth," Ralph Williams, master, having on board Edward Foulke and family, Hugh Roberts, Robert Owen and Cadwallader Evan, brothers of Thomas ap Evan the purchaser, Hugh Griffith, John Hugh, John Humphrey and probably Robert John. The name of Edward David has also been mentioned by some writers. They arrived in Philadelphia July 17, 1698, fifteen weeks after leaving their homes in Wales. They were kindly treated by their kindred and former acquaintances in the city and Merion, leaving their women and children among them until some accommodations would be prepared for their reception on the new purchase. Edward Foulke, in his narrative, states that it was "at the beginning of November" that he settled in his new home in the wilderness, and that "divers others of our company, who came over sea with us, settled near us at the same time." Supplies of food, it is very likely, were procured from their nearest neighbors, in Whitemarsh, whom they would have to pass in their several journeys to and from the city, where, however, many of the most necessary articles were alone procurable. To the recently-published work of Howard M. Jenkins [See NOTE] we are indebted for an account and estimate of the number of early settlers in Gwynedd previous to the close of 1698: Edward Foulke and family, 11 persons Thomas Evan, 10 Robert Evan, 10 Robert Evan, 9 Cadwallader Evan, 4 Owen Evan, 8 William John, 8 John Humphreys, 6 John Hughs, 5 Hugh Griffith, 5 making a total of 66 inhabitants, the last two being partly conjectural. Respecting the families of Evan Roberts and Ellis David nothing positive is ascertained. It is most probable that there were also a few others, besides some servants, who generally, more or less, accompanied the immigrants to assist in making their first improvements. In a petition for a road from here to Philadelphia, in June, 1704, they state that they number "in said township above thirty families already settled." The taxables in 1741 had reached ninety-three, showing a considerable degree of prosperity within forty-three years of its first settlement. [NOTE: "Historical Collection, relating to Gwynedd," chiefly confined to the early Welsh Friends and their descendants. We are also under obligations to the researches of Edward Mathews, of the "North Wales Record".] Although the Gwynedd tract had been conveyed to William, John and Thomas Evan as containing 7820 acres through Thomas Fairman's measurement, made 2d of twelfth Month, 1694, a re-survey was ordered by Penn's commissioners of property, September 29, 1701, which, on being completed, in December, 1702, was found to comprise 11,449 acres. The commissioners issued patents to the holders of the several tracts in the township based on this last survey and confirming the title acquired through Turner. Such proceedings were only too common in those days, and show a wrong somewhere. According to this, Thomas Evan received 1049 acres William John, 2866 Evan ap Hugh, 1068 Robert John, 720 Robert ap Hugh, 232 Robert Evan, 1034 Cadwallader Evan, 609 Owen Evan, 538 Edward Foulke, 712 Evan ap Hughes (lower tract), 110 John Humphrey, 574 William John (lower tract), 322 Robert Evan (lower tract), 250 Hugh and Evan Griffith, 376 Ellis David, 231 Evan Robert, 110 John Hugh, 648. 856 Edward Foulke, mentioned among the early settlers, came from Coedyfoel, in Merionethshire, North Wales. He embarked at Liverpool with his wife, Eleanor, and children,- Thomas Hugh Cadwallader Evan Gwen Grace Jane Catharine Margaret,- and arrived in Philadelphia as aforesaid, where he was kindly received by his former acquaintances that had preceded him. Having purchased a tract of over seven hundred acres in Gwynedd he erected a house thereon near the present Penllyn Station, into which he removed the following autumn. In 1702 he wrote in Welsh an account and genealogy of his family, which was afterwards translated by his grandson, Samuel Foulke, of Richland, a member of the Provincial Assembly from 1761 to 1768. He also wrote an exhortation late in life addressed to his children, which was published in "The Friends Miscellany" for 1832. He was a man of literary taste, which seems to hive been transmitted to several of his descendants. He died in 1741, aged ninety years. William John, whose surname has been since changed to Jones and a joint purchaser with Thomas Evan of the Gwynedd tract, still retained, in 1694, two thousand eight hundred and sixty-six acres, and at his death he was much the largest landholder in the township. He had children,- Gwen, Margaret, Gainor, Catharine, Ellen and John. He settled near the present Kneedler Station, and a two story stone house standing near by, bearing the date of 1712, is supposed to have been erected by him. He died in that year, leaving to his only son, John, who was one of the executors, fourteen hundred acres, including the plantation and dwelling. John Humphrey's tract of five hundred and seventy-four acres lay just north of the present Spring House. At his place the early Friends occasionally held meetings for worship, of which he subsequently became an elder. A bridge is mentioned at or near his house in 1709, no doubt being one of the earliest in that section. He died the 14th of sixth Mouth, 1738, aged seventy years. It appears he accumulated considerable property and was regarded as the banker of the neighborhood, his personal property amounting to above one thousand pounds, his bonds and notes being eighty-two in number. Mr. Jenkins, in his recent work, relates that "a Friend from Richland attended the Monthly Meeting it Gwynedd, and in the afternoon rode to his home, twenty miles distant, under great exercise of mind concerning John Humphrey. He passed a restless night at home and rode back to John Evans' in the morning. Arriving there, he would not eat or drink until be had delivered his message; so, taking John Evan, with him, they went to John Humphrey and told him he had better burn all his bonds and mortgages than preserve them; that it would be much better for himself and his posterity, and this was the word of the Lord to him." He had a son, who was called Humphrey Jones, after the Welsh custom, which mode, however, was not long retained in this section, much to the relief of our recent genealogists. At the request of Thomas Penn, in 1734 a list of resident freeholders of Gwynedd was returned by the constable, being forty-eight in number, whose names were as follows: Evan Griffith John Jones (penman) John Griffith Robert Hugh John Harris Theodorus Ellis John David Eliza Robert Rees Harry Evan Evans Owen Evans Thomas Evans, Jr Thomas Wyat Leonard Hartling Peter Wells John Jones (Robert's son) John Parker Hugh Evans Morris Roberts William Roberts Robert Evans Catharine Williams Thomas Evans Cadwallader Evans Robert Parry John Jones (weaver) Cadwallader Jones Hugh Griffith Hugh Jones (tanner) Robert Evan Edward Foulke Robert Roberts Robert Humphrey Gainor Jones John Humphrey Rowland Hugh Jenkin Morris Evan Foulke Edward Roberts Rees Nanna Evan Roberts Thomas David Hugh Jones John Chilcott John Wood William Williams Lewis Williams Thomas Foulke. Mention is made in the same that "the township of Gwinedeth have hitherto refused to give the constables the account of their lands, for which reason it is not known what they hold." We do not wonder at this, evidently brought about by the resurveys, in which they had some experience, as has been stated. After a settlement now of more than a third of a century, through the aforesaid we are enabled to make an interesting estimate respecting the nationality of its several settlers. Of the forty-eight names given all at said date were Welsh, probably excepting six, Leonard Hartling being the only German. Cadwallader Evans died 30th of Third Month, 1745, aged eighty-one years. John Evans, was born in Denbiglishire, Wales, in 1669 arrived in Pennsylvania with his parents, in 1698; was a minister for forty-nine years; died in 1756. Evan Evans was born in Merionethshire in 1684, and in 1698 emigrated with his parents to Gwynedd. He died in 1747, having traveled extensively through the several colonies in the ministry. Robert Evans, one of the early settlers, died in 1731, aged upwards of eighty. A malignant disease prevailed throughout this section from July 1st to August 24, 1745, of which sixty-three died within the bounds of the Monthly Meeting, the majority being young persons. This was certainly a great number when we come to consider the population at that time. Robert Humphreys was collector of taxes in 1722 Cadwallader Roberts in 1723 Thomas Evans in 1742 Henry Bergy in 1776 John Hoot in 1781. Robert Jones was commissioned a justice of the peace in 1718 Owen Evans, of "North Wales," one of the justices of the County Court in 1726, and Cadwallader Foulke in 1738. Jacob Albright was constable in 1767 and Nicholas Selser in 1774; John Jenkins assessor for 1776. Among the surnames mentioned in the list of 1704 who are still landholders in the township, may be mentioned the Foulke, Jones, Jenkins, Roberts, Evans and Davis families; the rest probably no longer exist here. 857 As has been mentioned, for the third of a century Gwynedd was almost exclusively settled by the Welsh, as we can infer from the list of 1734, wherein but one German name is found. Leonard Hartling or Harthein, therefore, can be regarded as the pioneer settler of the latter. This element has since become a very important one, probably now constituting three-fourths of its total population. In the assessment of 1776, out of a total of one hundred and fourteen names, the Germans numbered already fifty-five, or almost one-half, while the Welsh had barely made an increase, either in taxables or landholders, within the preceding thirty- two years. Many of these early Germans, it appears, had removed from the upper townships, particularly Towamencin, Lower Salford and Perkiomen, and consequently located themselves at first chiefly in the upper or northwestern section of the township. Melchior Kreible came about 1735; Christopher Neuman or Neiman purchased, in 1751, two hundred and twenty-five acres in its western corner from the executors of Edward Williams' estate. Henry Snyder was married to a daughter of Neuman, and was returned in 1776 as holding one hundred and seventy-five acres, and having ten children in his family, whose names were Rosina George Christopher Henry Christian Abraham Isaac Susanna John Regina. George Snyder at the same date possessed a farm of one hundred and fifty acres, and was taxed for a servant. This place was situated on the Upper Dublin line, he having purchased it from Francis Peters, in 1762. He died 1792, leaving three sons, Adam Jacob John. Abraham Danehower, the ancestor of an extensive landholding family, came from Germany before 1755, purchased one hundred and thirty-six acres in 1762, of David and Sarah Cumming. He died in 1789, aged sixty-seven years, and his wife, Catharine, in 1798, aged seventy-four years. His children were George Abraham Henry John Catharine Elizabeth Sarah. George died in 1793, aged forty-five years. Abraham resided on a farm he purchased from Samuel Evans, on the West Side of the Bethlehem road above the Spring House. Catharine married Jacob Snyder; Elizabeth, Philip Hurst; and Sarah, Philip Fetterman. Isaac Kolb (now Kulp) purchased a farm before 1709 to the east of North Wales. He was rated in 1776 as holding one hundred and forty-three acres, and his son Isaac, Jr., for the same amount. The latter was born in 1750, married Rachel Johnson in 1778, and died in 1828. He had seven children,- Benjamin Elizabeth Catharine Mary Jacob Sophia John. Benjamin Kulp married Ellen, daughter of Edward and Mary Hoxworth, of Hatfield. She was a sister of General W. S. Hancock's mother. He died May 16, 1862, aged eighty-three years. He had eight children; among these were Isaac, Enos, Simon, Oliver and Ann. The latter was married to Asa Thomas. William Kulp, mentioned in 1776 as a single man, was no doubt a son of Isaac, Sr. Philip Hoot came from New Hanover in 1768 and purchased a farm of two hundred and twenty-five acres from David Neuman in the western corner of Gwynedd; in 1776 he was assessed for three hundred acres. He died in 1798, aged sixty-eight years, and left his homestead to his son Peter. The latter, in 1792, married Barbara Kriger. John Hoot, who was collector of Gwynedd in 1781, was probably his son. Philip Heist, is rated in 1776 as holder of one hundred and twenty acres of land, fifty-one acres of which were purchased in 1772 of Abraham Lukens, Sr., which was situated just below the present borough of North Wales. He died before 1780, and his executors conveyed half an acre to the trustees for the erection thereon of St. Peter's Church, now the cemetery ground. Garret Clements, or Clemens, resided in the east corner of the township, on the Welsh road, and was rated for one hundred and thirty-six acres. He was a Mennonite, and on account of his conscientious for not bearing arms was fined by the authorities several times. His wifes name was Keturah, and his daughter Mary married Charles Hubbs. His large two-story stone house is still standing close beside the road, and as it has been for some time abandoned, attracts the attention of passing travelers. John Frey, or Fry, of Towamencin, in 1735, purchased a tract of one hundred acres from Jane Jones, situated about a mile southeast of Lansdale. In 1742 he sold it to Paul Brunner, of Salford, whose widow, about 1757, married George Gossinger, a "redemptioner," who had followed the occupation of a tanner, and it thus passed into his control. John Troxal, in 1776, was the owner of two tracts, containing one hundred and five acres, and a grist and saw-mill. This property was situated at the intersection of the Swedes' Ford road and the Wissahickon Creek, near the Wbitpain line. It was sold in 1777 to Samuel Wheeler, and the mill is now owned by H. Mumbower. Peter Troxal was rated at that time for one hundred and seventy acres. John Everhart, who was rated for one hundred and fifty acres, purchased in 1762 from George Klippenger and sold it to David Lukens in 1793. This property is now owned by Charles Lower, and adjoins the Upper Dublin line. Martin Raker, who was rated in 1776 for fifty-seven acres, resided near the present borough of Lansdale, the place being now owned by Charles S. Jenkins. He was one of the first four trustees of St. Peter's Church. 858 Jacob Heisler's farm of one hundred and forty-seven acres was located on the Allentown road, near the present Kneedler Station. It is known that he kept a licensed inn here in 1779, if not some time earlier, and it has been continue] as such unto this day. Martin Schwenk's farm of one hundred and sixty acres was located on the present Sumneytown pike, below the borough of North Wales. This was the residence of Thomas Evans, the first settler. George Heist set up a public-house on this place in 1784. Thomas Shoemaker, who was rated for one hundred and ten acres in 1776, was the son of George, and was married to Mary, daughter of Joseph Ambler. This farm lay to the northeast of North Wales, and remained many years in the family. Adam Fleck, who was rated for one hundred and forty acres, was one of the building committee, with George Gossinger and Peter Young, of Gwynedd, in the erection of St. John's Church, Whitpain, in 1773. Nicholas Selser's farm was assessed as one hundred acres. He was constable of Gwynedd in 1774. It is probable that Henry and John, mentioned as single men, were his sons. Henry Bergy (fifty acres) was collector in 1776; Michael Hoffman, two hundred acres; John Conrad, sixty; Conrad Gerhart, one hundred; John Shelmire, fourteen; George Shelmire, ninety-six acres (the latter had a son George, who was a taxable); Matthew Lukens, one hundred and thirty acres and a saw-mill. Jacob Albright, constable in 1767, appears as a renter, taxed for two horses and two cows. Ezekiel Cleaver one hundred and forty acres was the son of Peter and Mary, of Upper Dublin, and a descendant of Peter Cleaver, of Germantown, who was naturalized in 1691. The descendants of the early German settlers of Germantown and vicinity are also now quite numerous in Gwynedd, namely, -the Shoemakers Cleavers Lukens Tysons Custers Snyders and Rittenhouses, concerning whom the want of space prevents us here from entering into details. A glance at the map of Gwynedd, as published in Scott's Atlas in 1877, will convince any one that the German element are extensive holders of real estate here at the present time. Soon after the settlement of Gwynedd, efforts were made to have public highways laid out and opened for their general advantage and intercourse, especially to Philadelphia. In June, 1704, a petition was presented to the Court of Quarter Sessions wherein it was stated that there were "in said township about thirty families already settled, and probably many more to settle in and about the same, especially to the northward thereof, and is yet there is no road laid out to accommodate your petitioners, but what Roads and Paths have formerly been marked are removed by some and stopped by others." They therefore ask an order from the court for "a Road or Cartway from Philadelphia, through Germantown, to the utmost portion of their above mentioned Township of North Wales." The court appointed six persons to lay out the road, but it appears not to have been fully opened until June, 1714. This is the present road leading by way of the Spring House and Chestnut Hill to the city. At March Sessions, 1711, a petition was presented to the court stating, that a road had been laid out nine years before from a bridge between the lands of John Humphreys and Edward Foulke, in Gwynedd, to the mills on Pennypack, and that it be now confirmed as a public highway. Viewers were appointed, who, on March 28, 1712, went over the ground and their report was adopted. This is the present Welsh road, forming the line between Upper Dublin and Horsham; it terminated in Moreland, where is now Huntington Valley. In June, 1714, a petition was presented for a road from Richland to John Humphreys', near the present Spring House, which was confirmed in 1717. In March 1715, a road was desired by the "inhabitants of Gwynedd, Montgomery and Skippack," leading to the mill of David Williams, at the present Spring Mill, in Whitemarsh. Portions of the distance, they stated, had been in use as roads for ten or twelve years previous. This was confirmed and soon after opened. The road from the present Spring House to Horsham Meeting-house was laid out and confirmed in 1723. The road from the present Montgomery Square to Gwynedd Meeting-house was confirmed in 1728. The Goshenhoppen or Sumneytown road was surveyed and confirmed in June, 1735, commencing at the present Spring House. This old and important highway has milestones on its course bearing the date of 1767. What is now known as the Swedes' Ford road, leading to said place from Gwynodd Meeting-house, was ordered to be opened in 1738. In a survey of 1751 the distance from the Gwynedd meeting-house to Plymouth Meeting-house is stated to be seven miles and twenty-four perches. The State road crosses the centre of the township in a southwest course; it was laid out in 1830, forty feet wide. The people of Gwynedd were fortunate in escaping many of the disasters of the Revolution, which befel some of their not very distant neighbors. The sympathies of the Welsh element, like the German, was generally inclined to the patriotic side. This may be more particularly observed in the residents of Lower Merion, who successfully maintained their neutrality though so near the city and between the contending armies. At this period the Society of Friends, with the Mennonites, Schwenkfelders and Dunkards, who were opposed to bearing arms through conscientious scruples, constituted a decided majority of the population. To their credit, however, not one was arrested here for treason or any property confiscated. No battle took place within its limits, nor was any marauding done by the contending parties. Small divisions of the American army several times passed over its territory, but this was all, with the exception of the breaking up of the camp at Valley Forge, June 19 and 20, 1778, when Washington and his whole command moved over the Swedes' Ford road, by way of Doylestown, to Wells' Ferry, now New Hope, where they crossed into New Jersey in pursuit of the retreating British, whom they encountered at Monmouth on the 28th. Miss Sally Wister, of Philadelphia, who was at that time staying with her relatives near the present Penllyn, states in her journal that on this march "Washington was escorted by fifty of the life-guard with drawn swords." 859 All men residing in the township liable to military duty were enrolled into two companies. Captain Christian Dull had the lower command and Captain Stephen Bloom the upper, and both were attached to the Fourth Battalion of Philadelphia County militia, of whom William Dean, of Moreland, was colonel. For refusing to attend the musters of the aforesaid companies, sixty-eight persons were fined in one year two thousand seven hundred and sixty-eight pounds Continental currency, equivalent to seven thousand eight hundred and eighty dollars of our present money. As the total number of taxables in 1776 was one hundred and fourteen, we thus perceive that those fined must have considerably exceeded half the enrolled population liable to the service. The making out and collecting of those fines, as may be well imagined, imposed an unpleasant duty on the officers, the prejudices against whom have not yet died out or been forgotten in some of the old neutral families. It is a tradition that the old Friends' Meeting-house was used as a hospital immediately after the battle of Germantown, and that several solders who had died there were interred in the grave-yard beside the road. A school-house was mentioned, in a road petition for 1721, as being situated near the dwellings of Rowland Hughes, Robert Humphreys and not far from the old road to Philadelphia, which, probably, was about half-way between the present Spring House and the Upper Dublin line. Mr. Jenkins, in his "Historical Collections or Gwynedd," mentions Marmaduke Pardo, a native of Wales, a teacher here in 1729, who may have taught in the aforesaid school-house. The Friends had charge of a school at the meeting-house in 1793, which it is supposed was there for some time before. Joseph Foulke, a respected minister among Friends, who for some time kept a boarding-school for boys on his farm, on the Bethlehem road, about a mile above the Spring House, states that when he went here to school, prior to 1795, the principal books used were the Bible and Testament, Dilworth's spelling-book and arithmetic. On and after that date he went to school to Hannah Lukens and Joshua Foulke, his uncle. They taught in a log school-house about half a mile above the Spring House. They were succeeded by William Coggins Hannah Foulke Benjamin Albertson Hugh Foulke John Chamberlain Christian Dull, Jr. Daniel Price Samuel Jones, all of whom taught at that place prior to 1859. Joseph Foulke died February 15, 1863, in his seventy-seventh year. Hugh Foulke, mentioned, was a brother of the latter, and at his house, in October, 1855, he exhibited to the writer the family Bible of his great grandfather, Hugh Griffith, one of the early settlers of Gwynedd, and which be had brought over with him, in the Welsh language, printed at London in 1654. Hugh Foulke died in 1864, aged seventy-six years. The common-school system in Pennsylvania dates its origin to an act of the Legislature passed in 1834. The six school directors of Gwynedd for that year declined its acceptance, and opposition to it was maintained until 1840, when, through the influence of State appropriations, it was carried by a vote of eighty-six to eighty. In 1844 there were four schools, taught by four male teachers, with four hundred and fifty-two enrolled pupils. The average compensation to the teachers was twenty dollars per month; nine months open in the year. Two of the school-houses were "eight- square" or octagonal, a form of building then common. In 1856 the public schools in the township numbered six, eight months open, taught by six male teachers, with four hundred and thirty pupils enrolled and an average attendance of one hundred and fifty-five. The amount of tax levied for the support of the schools was $1444.48. With the loss of North Wales and half of Lansdale, six schools are still maintained, however, nine months open, with only three hundred and thirty-four pupils enrolled, teachers' wages now being forty dollars. FRIENDS' MEETING HOUSE AT GWYNEDD, owing to its antiquity and long-extended influence, is deemed well worthy a separate article. From its being almost in the exact centre of the township or original purchase it was the third house of worship erected in the county, being preceded a few years only by those erected in Lower Merion and Abington. Nearly two centuries have now passed away since these occurrences, producing great changes in almost everything, and from which even their ancient meetings have not been by any means exempt. Hallowed and venerable associations cluster around them, the impress of which should by no means be entirely lost on their numerous and respected descendants. Posterity owes much to the past, and as long as gratitude exists it will remain a serious question as to the best or most proper method to meet such obligations. The labors of the historian are certainly not calculated to weaken such ties, but to ennoble or exalt them. The minute-book of Gwynedd Monthly Meeting commences in 1714, but it is stated therein that this place was settled "and called by the name of Gwynedd Township in the latter end of the year 1698 and the beginning of the year 1699. The principal settlers and purchasers, among others, were William Jones Thomas Evans Robert Evans Owens Evans Cadwallder Evans Hugh Griffith John Hugh Edward Foulke John Humphrey Robert Jones. 860 Of this number those who were Friends met together "at the houses of John Hugh and John Humphrey, until more were added to their numbers." With the exception of the latter two and most probably Hugh Griffin the remainder were attached to the Established Church of England. An identity of interests in this new settlement was calculated to draw them closer together. It is evident that the meetings held at the aforesaid houses led to the organization of this congregation. The churchmen for a brief term did assemble for worship at the house of Robert Evans, where his brother Cadwallader supplied in part the place of minister, by reading to them portions of the services and passages from his Welsh Bible. This may not have been maintained much beyond a year, for on building the first small log meeting-house in 1700, on the site of the present edifice, they all united, assisted by later immigrants, who, must have also increased the body of Friends. The relation is that Robert and Cadwallader Evans first sought them by attending at their place of worship, and finally through their influence the rest were brought over, on which the meeting-house was agreed upon. It is a well-settled tradition that William Penn and his daughter Letitia and a servant came out on horseback to visit the settlement shortly after its erection and that he preached in it, staying on this occasion overnight at the house of his friend, Thomas Evans, the first settler, who resided nearby. As he returned in November, 1701, to England, we may determine nearly the time that this transient visit was made. In consequence of this change in their religious principles, it would seem that the Rev. Evan Evans, a Welsh Episcopalian minister, was sent over here, in 1700, to make efforts to reclaim them. In a letter to the bishop of London, in 1707, he mentioned this settlement as "twenty miles distant from the city, where are considerable numbers of Welsh people, formerly, in their native country, of the communion of the Church of England; but about the year 1698 -two years after my arrival in that country-most of them joined with the Quakers; but by God's blessing some of them were induced to return, and I have baptized their children and preached often to them." In the "Collections of the Episcopal Church in Pennsylvania," edited by Rev. W. S. Perry and published in 1861, considerable may be seen on this subject, which appears to have attracted some attention at the time. There is a tinge of exaggeration running through Mr. Evans' correspondence, (prompted, no doubt by his zeal,) that cannot now be substantiated by records. Partly in corroboration, Mr. Millet, in his "History of St. Thomas' Church, Whitemarsh," states that the "Rev. Evan Evans, who came to this country in 1700, for many years rector of Christ Church, Philadelphia, within two years after his arrival more than five hundred followers of George Fox joined themselves to the Church of England." The log meeting-house proving inadequate for the accommodation of the society, which was no doubt in part brought about by the influx of immigration and the continuous prosperity of the settlement, a subscription paper was drawn up in the Welsh language, in 1710-11, to which were singed sixty-six names headed by William John and Thomas Evans. The sums ranged from one to eleven pounds each, the total reaching to about two hundred pounds. Hugh Griffith assisted in its building and it was completed in 1712. It was considerably larger than the former and was built of stone with two galleries and a hip-roof. It occupied the former site, and the ground was a portion of Robert Evans' purchase still covered with the original forest. The subscription paper mentioned is an interesting relic and has long been preserved and retained in the Foulke family. Rowland Ellis, in behalf of Haverford, represented, on the 10th of Fourth Month, 1699, to the Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, about this Welsh settlement, twenty miles distant, who had for some, time held a First-day Meeting by their advice and consent, and, as they do not understand the English language, desired to be joined to Haverford Monthly Meeting, to which consent was given. At the Monthly Meeting held at Radnor Meeting-house on the 9th of Tenth Month, 1714, it was left for consideration as to what time the Monthly Meeting of Gwynedd and Plymouth be left to the appointment of this meeting by the Quarterly Meeting held in Philadelphia. The Third- day of every month was proposed and agreed upon. Being now constituted a Monthly Meeting, then were allowed the privilege of recording all their births, marriages, deaths and removals, which had heretofore been entered in the records of Haverford. Plymouth Friends being few in numbers and the meetings being chiefly held here, it was called Gwynedd Monthly Meeting, which name has been ever since retained. John Evans was appointed the first clerk, and Edward Foulke and Robert Jones overseers. On the 26th of Second Month, 1715, Friends in Providence were allowed to hold a meeting on the first First-day of every month, and a few months thereafter liberty was given to have a burying-place. But the meeting-house again proving too small, it was decided, the 28th of Tenth Month, 1725, to have it enlarged, John Cadwallader, John Jones and John Evans being appointed a committee to have charge of the same. The first ministers were Robert and Cadwallader Evans, of whom it is stated by Samuel Smith, in his "History of the Province of Pennsylvania," that "they could neither read nor write in any but the Welsh language." The former died in First Month, 1738, and was aged upwards of eighty years. Thomas Chalkley, in his journal, mentions being present at his burial. 861 Among other early ministers belonging here may be mentioned Evan Evans Alice Griffith Ann Roberts John Evans Hugh Foulke Ellis, Hugh and Mary Evans. Evan Evans died in 1747, aged sixty-three years, and John Evans died in September 1756, having been in the ministry forty-nine years. John Fothergill, of England, visited this meeting several times in 1721, and again, on his return to America, in 1736. Alice Griffith was the wife of Hugh Griffith, and died in Second Month, 1749. Gwynedd Monthly Meeting remained in Philadelphia Quarter until 1786, when it comprised, with Abington, Horsham, Richland and Byberry, Abington Quarter, whose meetings are now held at Abington in Second Month, Horsham in the Fifth, Gwynedd in the Eighth and Byberry in the Eleventh. The present meeting-house was built in 1823. It is a plain, substantial, two- story stone structure, forty by seventy-five feet in dimensions. When first built here, in 1700, the spot must have been very secluded. In the ample yard and burial-ground attached several original forest-trees, are still preserved, one of these, a chestnut, nearly four feet in diameter. Near the southern corner of the yard is a stone bearing the name of Mary Bate, daughter of Humphrey and Ann Bate, who died in 1714. The many associations of the past that, cluster around this spot, where for three-quarters of a century was the only house of worship in the township, make it an object of much interest to the antiquary. That it is no longer flourishing is to be regretted, even by those not in membership. Respecting this subject, Mr. Jenkins, in his recent work, thus expresses himself: "At the time of its erection the number of members and others who habitually attended warranted so large a house; but the time is long since past when its benches are filled, except upon very extraordinary occasions. For a number of years it has been the custom to open only half the house- the southern end--on First-days, and even this to more than sufficient for the congregations that usually assemble." ST. PETER'S CHURCH. -On the upper side of the Sumneytown turnpike, and but a short distance southeast of the incorporated limits of North Wales, may be observed it cemetery, which was the site of a church wherein worship was maintained jointly by the Lutherans and German Reformed for nearly a century. Though the spot may be now only pointed out within the inclosure, yet the result has been two flourishing and distinct congregations, each possessing a lot and church situated within less than half a mile's distance. Here was erected the second house of worship in the township, out of which they respectively originated. Before the building of this church the members of the German Reformed denomination attended at Wentz's or Boehm's, and the Lutherans at St. John's, the former being in Worcester and the latter two in Whitpain. Among the prominent members of St. John's can be mentioned Michael Haenge, George Gossinger, Adam Fleck, Peter Young and Abraham Danehower. These all resided in Gwynedd, and, of course, from its convenience, would take an active part in the erection of a house of worship in their vicinity. Philip Heist, having purchased of Abraham Lukens, Sr., fifty-one acres in 1772, on the upper side of the Old Goshenhoppen road, immediately below the present borough of North Wales, proffered half an acre from it for the use of a church, which was very probably erected thereon before 1775. Having died, his executors made a deed to the trustees of the church dated June 10, 1780, which states that said lot of ground is hereby granted for a house of worship, erected thereon for the use of the German Lutheran and Reformed denominations. Tradition states that this church was a small frame building, and answered the purposes of these denominations until about 1817. It becoming too small for their numbers, a committee was appointed in the fall of 1815, consisting of George Neuvil, Jacob Kneedler, Conrad Shimmel, Joseph Knipe and Philip Lewis, to procure subscriptions and make collections for the erection of a larger and more commodious stone edifice. The corner-stone was probably not laid till near the beginning of May, 1817, and the church not finished until the following fall or winter. Among the other members who did much to aid the enterprise can, be mentioned Philip Hurst John Hurst Abraham Dannehower Jacob Schwenk John Martin Adam Fleck Christian Rex Henry Hallman and George, Joseph, Adam, Samuel and Daniel Kneedler. In consequence of its walls having been plastered with an ochre color, it received the name of the "Yellow Church." Its ceiling was lofty and galleries were placed on three of its sides. The pulpit was elevated and set directly against the wall, after the manner of that day. For the want of records considerable obscurity is involved in the early history of this church. It is very probable that the first Lutheran pastor Rev. Jacob Van Buskirk, of Germantown, who had charge of the Upper Dublin or Puff's Church, not five miles distant, from 1769 to 1785, and may have thus preached here, as we know he subsequently did. The earliest officiating pastor known was Anthony Hecht, the Lutheran portion of this congregation with that at Tohickon, having applied to the Ministerium for his ordination in 1785. He had been a schoolmaster in the neighborhood, and thus became known. The request was refused for several successive years. He, however, succeeded in being ordained by an independent preacher, and through this the congregation gave him the charge about 1787 until the close of 1792. This will account for his name not appearing on the regular records. The Rev. Jacob Van Buskirk became pastor in 1793, and of St. John's, in Whitpain, till 1795. The next was the Rev. Henry A. Geissenhainer, who was licensed at the request of the Upper Dublin and North Wales congregations, and continued in the charge until 1801. He soon after removed, and was probably succeeded by Rev. Frederick David Schaefler, assisted by his sons, David and Solomon, from Germantown, which arrangement was maintained to about 1810 or a little later. 862 The Rev. John K. Weiant continued in the pastorate from 1812 to 1828, and also at Whitpain. Rev. George Heilig, received the charge of the two congregations near the close of 1826 until 1843. He was succeeded by Rev. Jacob Medtart, who was unable to preach in German; thus the English language became introduced, and has since been maintained. Rev. John W. Hassler followed Mr. Medtart in 1856, and continued until 1862, when he resigned for a chaplaincy in the army. Rev. R. M. Rightmeyer officiated from 1863 to 1867. The following year Rev. Ezra L. Reed succeeded, and was the last minister here. For some of the preceding facts we are indebted to the researches of Rev. B. M. Schmucker, of Pottstown. Concerning the German Reformed congregation who worshiped here little is known. Rev. George Wack was ordained to the ministry in October, 1801 and on the 25th of April following, received the charge of Boehm's and Wentz's Reformed Churches and St. Peter's from 1834 to 1845. This last congregation he resumed after resigning his connection with Boehm's church. He later preached occasionally to the North Wales members. He died in Whitpain February 17, 1856, aged eighty years, and was buried in Boehm's churchyard. The Rev. Samuel Helfenstein had charge of the Boehm and Wentz congregations in 1797. The following year he went to Philadelphia, where he officiated in the Race Street Church. In 1832 he removed near North Wales, where he continued to reside until his death, October 17,1866, aged ninety-one years, and where he was buried. He officiated occasionally in this church, but we have not ascertained to what extent. During Mr. Reed's incumbency the old church needed repairs, and in consequence the German Reformed congregation decided to remove and erect a house of worship for themselves in the adjacent village of North Wales. This agitated the Lutheran congregation, who finally determined on the same course. The latter, in the spring of 1867, commenced subscriptions with such success that a lot was also secured within the limits of the present borough, and the new church completed by the close of 1869. As has been stated, for many years one pastor served St. Peter's and St. John's. In 1870 this arrangement was terminated, and since then each church has maintained its own pastor. Rev. L. G. Miller received the charge in 1874, Rev. Wm. H. Meyers in 1876, Rev. Theophilus Heilig in 1878, who was succeeded by the present incumbent, Rev. George D. Foust, in the summer of 1880. A Sunday-school was organized about 1831, to which, a few years later, a library was added, and both have since continued to flourish. The German Reformed Church was built about the same time, and thus old St. Peter's, after a use of upwards of half a century, became abandoned, its walls razed and the recollection thereof left to soon pass away, except what may be preserved in history. THE SPRING HOUSE TAVERN. -In the history of Gwynedd from its earliest period this has been a noted vicinity, around which cluster many memorable occurrences. In 1698 John Humphrey settled here, and the Friends held their first meeting, for worship. Mention is made of a road being in use from here to the Pennypack Mills in 1702. Soon after 1704 the road was extended from the city, by this place, to the North Wales Meeting-house, a mile and a half distant. A bridge near by is mentioned as having been constructed before 1711. The road leading from hereto Richland was confirmed in 1717, and was the commencement of the present Bethlehem road. From this point to Horsham Meeting-house the road was confirmed in 1723, and the Goshenhoppen or Sumneytown road in 1735. We see by this date that through the construction of these several highways and the extension of settlement farther into the interior this spot was calculated before long to become, in consequence, an important traveling centre. The town of Bethlehem, on the Lehigh River, thirty-eight miles distant, was founded in 1741, and all travel from there and the surrounding country as well as from Allentown to Philadelphia was confined to the road passing by this place. It is probable that it was not long after the latter date that the first inn was located here, but at what exact time and by whom we are unable to say. Benjamin Davis kept a public-house at this point from 1758 to 1772. In April, 1758, Daniel Kunckler, on his journey from Bethlehem to Philadelphia, with six Indians in his charge, mentions stopping here. In a table of distances on the Bethlehem road, published in 1769, "Benjamin Davis's" is mentioned as being sixteen miles from the city. The first stage line passing through the present county was started in September 1763, from Bethlehem to Philadelphia, making one weekly trip and stopping at this inn. The road from this place, by the present Penllyn to Boehm's church was laid out in the spring of 1769, and mention is made in the report of its "beginning near a stone spring-house in Gwynedd road." Here we can perceive what has led to the origin of the name. This fact is further confirmed in a description of the tavern in 1827, wherein mention is made of a "durable spring of water a short distance from the door, over which is a stone milk- house." General Lacey mentions the "Spring House Tavern" in his dispatches of 1777, and the name is also mentioned in a report of a raid made in this direction by the British in February, 1778. That it is a striking and peculiar name there is no question and it must therefore have originated here from just some such local cause. Christian Dull, or rather Doll, in the German, of whom we shall give a few additional particulars, succeeded Davis as inn-keeper. 863 He was a native of Perkiomen, and his father, hearing the same name, is mentioned in the census of that township taken in 1756, as having seven children and renting from Solomon Dubois one thousand acres of land, whereof two hundred are cleared. John Dull, who was probably a brother, is mentioned as a taxable and residing there in 1776. It is likely that Catharine Doll was also one of those seven children. She was married, in this county, to Charles J. Krauth. Their son, Charles Porterfield Krauth, D.D., LL.D., who died in 1883, aged sixty years, was one of the most eminent divines and scholars in the Lutheran Church. Christian Dull removed to the Spring House in 1772, where he was rated in 1776 as holding a tavern, eight acres of land, a horse and cow. The Revolution breaking out, he actively espoused the cause of his country. Owing to the connivance of some well-to-do people in this vicinity concerned in furnishing supplies of provisions and information to the British in Philadelphia, General Lacey stationed a portion of his men here for a short time to make arrests and intercept and check such practices. The American army suffering, greatly, in December 1777, for clothing at Valley Forge, he was appointed to collect such supplies in his vicinity and forward them at once for their use. For the part he had taken in the war, on the organization of the Fourth Battalion of Philadelphia County militia, commanded by Colonel William Dean, he was chosen and commissioned a captain of one of the companies to be raised in his township. By accepting these several charges he was placed in a delicate position, much more so through a considerable majority of the surrounding population being bent on remaining neutral during the contest. Among his other duties was to report the fines of delinquents for not attending the musterings. No sooner did the war close than slander was busy to ruin his character and business. In the "Philadelphia Gazette" of February 17, 1783, he was induced in consequence to have inserted an advertisement offering a reward of one hundred guineas for the author of a report that he was "privy in robbing a collector." Some of the neutrals, or, rather, disaffected, in attending the Philadelphia market, reported there that himself and wife had been guilty of murdering one or more travelers, who had stopped at his house, for their property. To this he also replied in the spring of 1789, and again offered a similar reward. He states as to the latter that he had seven children, "several of them young and helpless." That such reports were damaging to the keeper of a public-house we do not wonder, even if they have never been proven. With it all, Christian Dull outlived many of his enemies, throve in business and attained to a good old age, closing his career as the landlord of the Spring House tavern about the beginning of 1822. He made a will appointing John Roberts one of his executors, but Roberts died in 1823, aged seventy-three years, and therefore did not survive long enough to assist in carrying out the trust. John Roberts had been for many years a store-keeper here, and on the friendliest terms with Mr. Dull. The property was advertised at public sale November 8, 1827. It was described as "that well-known stand, commonly called the Spring House tavern, situate at the junction of the Bethlehem pike and the Allentown road, eighteen miles from Philadelphia, containing nineteen acres of land, a commodious stone tavern and stone house, in which store has been kept for more than thirty years past and stabling for more than one hundred horses." Mention is made, besides, of two other dwellings, a blacksmith and wheel-wright shop, and an adjoining farm of one hundred and twenty-six acres, with good buildings. This all denotes that Christian Dull, in his residence here of half a century, certainly did much for the improvement of the place. The extensive stabling will show what an amount of travel and hauling must have then been exclusively confined to the highways, since so much reduced by railroads. An additional stage line was placed on the road from Bethlehem in 1797, which also stopped here. What greatly added to the business of this stand was its suitable distance from the city, for all travelers or market men stopping in coming and going that way. In October, 1804, Alexander Wilson, the distinguished ornithologist, with his two companions, on their pedestrian journey from Philadelphia to the Falls of Niagara, remained overnight here, and in his poem of "The Foresters" gives the following amusing account: "The road was good, the passing scenery gay, Mile after mile passed unperceived away, Till in the west the day began to close, And Spring House tavern furnished us repose. Here two long rows of market folks were seen, Ranged front to front, the table placed between, Where bags of meat, and bones, and crusts of bread, And hunks of bacon all around were spread; One pint of peer from lip to lip went round, And scarce a crumb the hungry house-dog found, Torrents of Dutch from every quarter came, Pigs, calves and sour-crout the important theme; While we, on future plans resolving deep, Discharged our bill and straight retired to sleep." From "the two long rows of market folks" described, we can judge of the extent of Christian Dull's business at that time. This description of the economical arrangement of farmers taking their provisions along in going to market is no doubt true, and was even carried still further, by their sleeping on the bar room floors at night. Gordon, in his "Gazetteer of Pennsylvania," published in 1832, has well said that the Spring House is "a noted tavern." Four incorporated turnpikes meet here, the first constructed from Chestnut Hill in 1804, and the last to Penllyn and the Blue Bell in 1872. John W. Murray had the post-office established in 1829. The completion of the North Pennsylvania Railroad to Bethlehem, in 1857, was the first great blow to the travel on the roads, which has since more and more diminished through the construction of other railroads. The old stand here was kept by David Blyler for some time. On the opposite corner another public-house was established by Thomas Scarlett, and kept as such for many years, now occupied as a store and for the post-office. On the division of Gwynedd into two districts, in 1876, the voters of the lower section were authorized to hold their elections at the present public house on the site of the famous old hostelry, whose name it perpetuates. 864 ASSESSMENT OF GWYNEDD FOR 1776. John Jenkins, assessor and Henry Bergy, collector. Jesse Foulke, 210 acres, 6 horses, 6 cows and a grist and saw-mill Thomas Evans, 230 a., 1 servant, 2 h., 6 c George Snyder, 150 a., 1 servant, 3h., 6 c Michael Hawke, 150 a. 2h. 4 c Jephtha Lewis, 200 a. 2 h. 6 c Eneas Lewis, 160 a. 2 b. 3 c Isaac Lewis, 2h. 3 c. Reese, 200 a. 2 h. 6 c Humphrey Jones, 180 a. 3h. 5 c George Gossinger, 100 a. 2h. 6 c Melchior Kreable, 119 a. 3h 5 c Philip Hood, 300 a. 4 h. 6 c Isaac Kolb, 143 a. 3 . 6 c Isaac Kolb, Jr.,143 a. 2 h. 5 c Philip Helst, 120a. 2 h. 4 c John Thomson, 123a. 3h 4c Thomas Shoemaker, 110 a. 2h. 3 c Margaret Johnson, 100a.. 2h. 4 c Stephen Bloom, 35 a. 2 h. 2 c Daniel Williams, 130 a. 3h. 4 c Amos Roberts, 180 a. 3h 8 c. has 9 children John Davis, 170a. 3 h. 6 c Enoch Morgan, 100a. 2h. 5c Nicholas Selser, 100a 2 h. 4 c Morris Morris, 30a. 1h. 2c Henry Rapp, 1h 1c. George Miller Jacob Albright, 2h 2c Samuel Gamble, 20 a. 1h 1c Martin Schwenk, 160 a. 2 h. 4 c Abraham Donenhaner, 135 a. 2h 6 c Jacob Heisler, 147 a. 4h 4 c Henry Snyder, 175 a. 3h 6 c. has 9 children Peter Troxal, 80 a. 2h 2 c. and grist and saw-mill Thomas Evans, Jr., 140 a. 2h 4 c. supports his mother Baltzer Spinagel, 1c William Williams, 120 a. 3h 5 c George Maris, 450 a. 4h 6 c Conrad Dimond, 40 a. 1h. 2 c Walter Howell, 100 a. 2h 2 c Thomas Leaman, 1 c Michael Hoffman, 200 a. 2 c Jacob Sigfrid, 1h 2 c Barnabas Beaver, 50 a. and grist-mill Matthew Lukens, 130 a. 2h 6c. saw-mill Martin Hoffman, 1c John Jenkins, 252 a. 3h 5 c Sarah Griffth, 300 a. 2 h. 3c Joseph Griffith, 100 a. 2h 2 c Benjamin Rosenberger, 50a 1 h. 2 c John Knipe, 150 a. 1h 3c William Dixey, 10 a. 1 h 1 c. a cripple Garret Clemmens, 136 a 3h. 6 c John Conrad, 60 a. 2h. 3c Christian Dull, 8 a. and tavern 1h 1 c John Shelmire, 14 a. 1h. 1 c Peter Buck, 50 a. 1h 2 c George Shelmire, 90a 1h 1c George Shelmireh, Jr., 3h 2 c William Evans, 100a 2h 2c aged Alexander Major, 150 a 2h 6 c. 8 children Joshua Foulke, 200a 3h. 6 c John Sparcy, 100 a. 2h 5 c George Fleck, 2h. 3 c. Ann Week, 100 a George Week, 7a. 1h 1c Samuel Castner, 50a. 2h 4 c John Everhart, 150a. 2h 4 c Nicholas Rice, 50 a. 2 h 6 c Adam Fleck, 140 a. 3h 6 c John Davis, Jr., 75 a. 1h 1 c. David Davis, 75 a. 3h 3 c Robert Davis, 75 a William Roberts, 100a. 2 h. 4 c Ezekiel Cleaver, 140 a. 4 h. 8 c John Evans, 250a 3h. 8 c Michael Consler, 40a. 2h. 2 c Peter Young, 50 a 1 h. 4c Samuel Kastner, 80 a. 2 c Daniel Leblance, 75 a. 2 h. 2 c. Jacob Smith, 100 a. 1h 2 c Jacob Smith, Jr., 1h. 2 c Jacob Wiant, 130 a. 3h. 4 c Peter Hoffman, 1h 2 c Levi Foulke, 100a 3 h. 6c Martin Raker, 57a. 2h 2 c William Johnson, 123 a. 2h. 2 c. Hugh Foulke, 3 h. 2 c Conrad Gerhart, 120 a. 2 h 5 c John Siddons, 1 c Conrad Smith, 2 h. 2 c William Moore, 2h. 2 c Job Lukens, 20a 1h 1 c Henry Bergy, 50a 2 h 3 c Adam Smith, 1h 1c Mathias Booz, 1 c Wendle Fetter, 15 a. 1 c William Springer, 2 a. 4 c John Singer, 50 a. 1h 2 c Phillip Hurst, 80 a. 2 h. 5 c John Troxal, 25 a. 2h 1c William Hoffman, 2h. 4 c Evan Davis, 15 a. 1c Christian Delacourt Nicholas Shubert, 7 a. 1c Michael Itzel, 1a 1c Jacob Brown, 2 c Jacob Walton, 1h 1c Jacob Preston John Delacourt, 2 c Benjamin Williams Philip Berkheimer SINGLE MEN Hugh Evans John Jenkins Jr John Kidney John Evans Robert Roberts David Harry, Jr Rees Harry Benjamin Harry Joseph Lewis John Johnson Enoch Morgan John Long John William Evans Roberts Eleazer Williams Tillman Kolb Griffith Edwards Jacob Booz William Smith Rees Roberts Robert Roberts Henry Selser John Selser Christian Knipe George Sperry William Oman Samuel Singer Conrad Booz George Ganger Joseph Yost Benjamin Gregory Abraham Donnenhauer. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. JACOB B. RHOADS. Jacob B. Rhoads, one of the thrifty and enterprising farmers of Gwynedd township, and one who has made agriculture a study and a success, was born on the farm he now owns, July 20, 1820. His early life was spent upon the old homestead farm, half a mile from the town of North Wales, and his educational advantages were such as the common schools of that period afforded. He commenced business for himself in 1846, when he rented his father's farm, and attended strictly to that branch of business for several years, or until 1856, laying well the foundation for the future success that has attended his every enterprise. In the latter year he added to the duties and responsibilities of a large farmer that of butchering for the Philadelphia markets, which he has successfully carried on to the present time. At the death of his father, in 1866, he inherited one-half of the old homestead farm, containing one hundred and forty acres, and purchased from the heirs the other half. The farm was formerly owned by Joseph Evans, and purchased by Abraham, father of Jacob B. Rhoads, in 1806. The North Pennsylvania Branch of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad passes through the farm of Mr. Rhoads, and the long, deep cut and tunnel south of North Wales is on or through his farm. Since Mr. Rhoads has owned the old homestead he has remodeled the dwelling and built the large and commodious barns and out-buildings, that are not only a convenience for the farm, but an ornament to that part of the township where they are located. He has also owned two other farms of one hundred acres each, which be sold to George Castner and G. B. Kittlehaus. Mr. Rhoads has by his industry, economy and fair dealing with his fellow- men not only merited but also has received their confidence and esteem in business transactions, and has been honored for six years with a seat in the board of school directors of his township. Mr. Rhoads married, March 13, 1845, Ann Jenkins, who was born November 22, 1818. The result of this union has been as follows: Sarah Amanda, born December 10, 1846, married, October 29,1868, to George W. Castner Mary, born March 18, 1851, married, January 20, 1885, to Charles Jacobs Anna, born June 24, 1857, died December 23, 1857 Abraham J., born September 7, 1859, married, October 23, 1883, to Elizabeth Hood. Abraham, the father of Jacob B. Rhoads, was born December 4, 1782, and died November 22, 1866. His wife, Sarah Baker Rhoads, died April 3, 1840. Their children were as follows: Charles, born February 3, 1816, died October 6, 1820 Jacob B. born July 20, 1820 Elizabeth, born November 5, 1823, February 20, 1949, to Jacob Acuff Annie, born March 7, 1827, married, May 1, 1856, to George Colyer (she died January 17, 1857) Samuel Joseph Morris Issachar Catharine Ellen Ezekiel. Ann, mother of Abraham and grandmother of Jacob B. Rhoads, died March 16, 1839. PICTURE OF J. B. RHOADS, APPEARS HERE. 865 JAMES W. BISSON. Mr. Bisson is of Huguenot ancestry, his great grandfather, Charles, who was born in France in 1756, having come to the United States in his youth, where he followed his trade of tailor. He married Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Evan Roberts. On his death, in 1825, his remains were interred in Bethel Church burial-ground. PICTURE OF JAMES W. BISSON, APPEARS HERE. His son, Evan Bisson, was born in 1779, and died in 1851. He made the township of Gwynedd his residence, and there plied industriously the trade of a stone-mason, in addition to which he cultivated a farm. He married Ann Reiff, of the same county, whose children were Charles Samuel John Richard Hilary Elizabeth Mary Ann Malinda. Hilary was born in Montgomery County and acquired the trade of his father, which he conducted on an extensive scale both in his native town and in the adjacent counties. He married Rebecca Eaton, and had children, -Evan, who served with distinction in the War of the Rebellion, and subsequently removed to Nebraska; and Phebe. By a second marriage, to Hannah Skeen, were children,- James W. Elizabeth Virginia (Mrs. Chalkley Jarrett). The death of Mr. Bisson occurred at his house on the 5th of August, 1876. His son, James W. was born September 17, 1842, in Gwynedd township his present residence. The schools near by afforded opportunities for a common English education, after which he devoted a season to study at Bryant & Stratton's Commercial College, in Philadelphia, and became thoroughly familiar with the principles of business. Returning to his father's farm, he remained a valued assistant until twenty-five years of age, and then by purchase became the owner of the homestead farm, formerly the property of his grandfather. He has since that date devoted his energies to farm employments, meanwhile gratifying his taste for horticulture by propagating rare fruit, and also engaging largely in the breeding of fine fowls, in which he has established an extended reputation and derived much profit. Mr. Bisson was married, February 20, 1868, to Miss Kate, daughter of John S. Danehower, of the same township. They have one child, a daughter, Lilly May, born on the 15th of September, 1884. Mr Bisson is in politics a Republican, but not actively interested in public measures. He is a member of Othello Lodge, No. 50, of Knights of Pythias, and of Montgomery Council, No. 18, of the order of United American Mechanics. 866 ALLEN BERKHIMER. Mr. Berkhimer represents one of the oldest families in Montgomery County. His grandfather, who was Jacob Berkhimer, married Maria Rubican, of Delaware County, Pa., and had children,- George Charles William Julia Ann Susan. PICTURE OF ALLEN BERKHIMER, APPEARS HERE. He purchased, in 1824, the property now occupied by his grandson, and resided upon it until his death, when it came by inheritance to Charles, his eldest son. The latter married Mary Ann, daughter of Jacob Fleck, of Gwynedd Township, and had children,- Mary Ann (Mrs. David Dunnett) Allen Anna (Mrs. Milton Ruch). Allen was born on the 6th of July, 1842, in Upper Dublin township, Montgomery Co., and at an early age removed with his parents to Gwynedd township, where his youth was devoted to acquiring a modest education under such favorable circumstances as were possible in the country at that date. He became familiar with the labor of the farm, and lent a willing hand to the cultivation of his father's land until the occasion of his marriage, when, desiring to be more independent, he for two years worked it on shares, and subsequently spent a brief period at Penllyn. On his return be became the lessee of the property, and the owner on the death of his parent. He was married, on the 4th of March, 1875, to Miss Lizzie P., daughter of Samuel A. and Maria Posey Willetts, of Gwynedd Township. Their children are Charles W., born in 1867 Samuel W., born in 1877 Bessie W., in 1878 Allen W. in 1880. Mr. Berkhimer is a Democrat in politics, but too much engaged in the absorbing duties connected with the farm to devote special attention to the political issues of the day. He was, nevertheless, the incumbent of the office of postmaster while a resident of Penllyn. He is a member of Spring House Lodge, No. 329, of Independent Order of Odd Fellows; of Fort Washington Lodge, No. 308, of Free and Accepted Masons; of Fort Washington Chapter, No. 220; of Fort Washington Lodge, of Knights of Pythias, No. 148; of the Benevolent Society of Fort Washington, of which he is a trustee; and of the Ambler Beneficial Society, of which he is treasurer. He is also a director of the First National Bank of Ambler, and has been for ten years a director of the Ambler Building Association. Mr. Berkheimer was educated in the faith of the German Lutheran Church, and worships at the church of that denomination in Upper Dublin, to the support of which he contributes, as to that of many other worthy causes. 867 ALLEN THOMAS. William Thomas, who was the great-great-grandfather of the subject of this biographical sketch, in the last century emigrated from Wales to America and settled in Hilltown, Bucks Co., Pa., where he acquired twelve hundred and fifty acres of land and filled the double role of a farmer and a Baptist preacher. Among his family of seven children were Thomas, born in Wales and an infant at the time of his father's emigration. PICTURE OF ALLEN THOMAS, APPEARS HERE. Thomas resided on the homestead in Hilltown, where his life was spent in the cultivation of its productive acres. His son Asa succeeded his father on the estate. Abel, the second son of the latter, was born in 1799, and removed when a young man to Montgomery County, where he acquired the trade of a blacksmith, and followed it in connection with the occupations of a farmer. He married Mary, daughter of James Craig, of New Britain, Bucks Co., Pa., and had children,- Albert Allen Charles B. Ashbel C. Ann E. (Mrs. John Lampen) Abel. The death of Mr. Thomas occurred on the 2d of July, 1882. His son Allen was born January 20, 1827, in Gwynedd Township. After a period of youth devoted to study he removed to Bucks County, Pa., and embarked in the lumber business, where the advantages of trade were sufficiently great to make him a resident for fifteen years. Mr. Thomas then' returned to his native county and engaged in the same pursuit in Frederick township. In 1879 he became again a resident of Gwynedd Township, where he conducts an extensive and successful business in hardwood lumber. Mr. Thomas was, in December, 1848, married to Anna R., daughter of John Goucher, and has children,- Emma G. (Mrs. M. K. Gilbert), born in 1849 William B., in 1851 Franklin P., in 1853, deceased Martha K., in 1854, deceased Arthur K., in 1857 Lukens, in 1859 Mary, in 1861 Lizzie L., in 1862 Alfred, in 1865 Edward K. in 1866. Mr. Thomas is in his political preferences a Democrat, though not ambitious for the distinctions of office. He is president of the West Point Turnpike Company, and actively connected as a Mason with Shiloh Lodge, No. 558, of Lansdale, as also with Zieglerville Lodge of Knights of Pythias. Both Mr. and Mrs. Thomas are members of the North Wales Baptist Church. 868 CHAPTER LVII. HATFIELD TOWNSHIP. THIS township is located on the line of Bucks County, and adjoins Montgomery on the east, Towamencin on the southwest, Franconia on the northwest and the borough of Lansdale on the south. It is three and three- quarters miles long and three miles wide, with an area of eleven square miles, or seven thousand and forty acres. The area was reduced by the incorporation of Lansdale as a borough, in 1872, a considerable portion of the borough being taken from this township. The township is located on what is sometimes called the "divide," or highest point between the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers. Streams of water rising and flowing in and through this township empty into both rivers. The head-waters of the Neshaminy rise in this township, also of the Skippack, or rather the tributaries of that stream. The surface is rolling, and has an easy drainage into the creeks named; the prevailing soil is red clay, with surface loam, the productive character of which has been greatly improved by the enterprising farmers within the last quarter of a century. The name of this township is thought by Wm. J. Buck to have been derived from a town and parish in Hertfordshire. He also says that a John Hatfield resided in Norriton Township as early as 1734; there are circumstances that point to the possible derivation of the name from a family long known to have been residents of the county. The following places of business were among the assessed property for 1785: two grist-mills, one saw-mill, one tannery; there was one hotel licensed in the township for the same year. The population in 1800 was 520 in 1830, 835 in 1850, 1135 in 1870, 1512 in 1880, 1694. The taxables in 1828, were 211 in 1858, 346 in 1884, 465. We are unable to state the date when the township was decreed by the Court of Quart Sessions of Philadelphia County. It did not exist prior to 1741, and was known to exist at the close of the Revolution, as it appears that damages were assessed to Jacob Reed, forty-five pounds, and Isaac Wisler, twenty-five pounds, both of Hatfield, resulting from incursions of the enemy; this country was open to the foraging-parties of Lord Howe while wintering his army in Philadelphia, in 1777-78, and the scattered farmers doubtless suffered more or less loss in consequence. John Fries, of "Fries' Rebellion" notoriety, was born in this township about 1750. Fries removed to Bucks County and entered the military service with the patriots. He resisted the "House and Window Tax Law," and subsequently, by his contempt for the authorities authorized to collect it, made himself so obnoxious that he was arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced to be hung, April, 1799. The event was of great local interest at the time, and by the interposition of kind and influential friends, he was pardoned by President John Adams. Mr. Fries died about 1820. 869 The villages in the townships are Line Lexington, situated on the county line, and partly in Bucks County; Hatfield, Colmar, Hockertown. The North Pennsylvania Railroad passes in an almost direct line through the centre of this township, in a northwestern direction. The Doylestown Branch of the same railroad, leaving Lansdale, passes through the northeast portion of the township, with a station at Colmar. These public improvements have been of great advantage to the inhabitants and land-owners, affording improved facilities for the transportation of farm products, and also convenient depots for the shipment of hay, feed, lime, manure, lumber and all those commodities dealt in by an enterprising agricultural community. The township is well provided with public highways intersecting every part of it, all of which are kept in good order, with substantial bridges over the streams crossing them. The main line of railroad, leaving Lansdale, passes through and near lands now or late of A. Swepenhiser J. Reed J. Krupp T. House H. Heckman P. Boyer J. Steiner W. Steiner D. Rosenberger the Evangelical Church grounds J. Rosenberger, reaching Lower Hatfield village, thence, a short distance, Upper Hatfield village, and beyond, through lands of J. H. Rosenberger, E. Kriebler, John Frick, A. H. Rosenberger, S. Shellenberger, C. Gehman and H. Clemmer. The Doylestown Branch passes through lands now or late of P. S. Jenkins H. Hoppel J. Troyard M. Kramer J. M. Gilmer A. Manuel J. Kile P. Hondel J. Allebach G. Garmer M. Bechtel N. Harrar J. M. Jenkins A. H. Fretz and others, reaching Colmar, a station and railroad village. Everything here indicates a place of recent growth. The railroad at this point crosses an old turnpike road, first opened as a common or dirt road in 1735, then called the Bethlehem road. Along this highway are seen many fine old-time farm-houses, large and substantially built, and in striking contrast with the more modern and ornamental residences comprising the village of Colmar. There is a large and commodious hotel, a country store, a large warehouse, under the management of I. R. Rosenberger, who deals extensively in feed, flour, hay and those commodities necessarily connected with such establishments, there being extensive railroad sidings for the shipment of coal, lime, manure, lumber, live stock, etc. Treewigtown, or Hatfield Square, as it is called in Scott's Atlas, is situated on the old Bethlehem road, about a mile northwest of Colmar. The village is formed of residences scattered along the road, and indicates its ancient origin by the old-time Farmers' and Drovers' Hotel, a place of local importance when market men drove to and from Philadelphia with their produce, when stages ran through from Bethlehem to Philadelphia, and dairy and stock cattle were driven through the country and nightly herded at these old-time taverns, like this one, having farm-lands connected with it for pasturage. The old-time industries are here represented by blacksmiths, shoemakers, wood-workers and the toll-gatherer. A half-mile or more northwest of this village is the Line Lexington, a portion of which is situated in this township. This is an old settlement, spoken of by the historian Gordon as early as 1832, who says it contained at that time eight or ten dwellings and a post-office. The place has grown very considerably since then, having upwards of fifty residences, a hotel, two stores and the usual mechanical industries Villages have grown up with rapidity at Upper and Lower Hatfield Stations, on the North Pennsylvania Railroad. Lower Hatfield takes precedence in age. Located at the junction of the "Old Cowpath" and "Forty-Foot" roads, it was many years ago known as a village, and since the location and opening of the railroad it has become a centre of local trade and traffic for the township, finding a sharp rival in its sister village, a short distance from it. Among its places of business are found a hotel a store for the side of general merchandise two hay-presses coal-yard drug-store a number of mechanical industries, all of which appear to be in a prosperous condition at the time we write. Upper Hatfield, though of more recent origin, presents the appearance of a young and promising village. It owes its existence, in some measure, to the enterprising character of Joseph Proctor, Esq., a citizen of Hatfield township who purchased a considerable tract of land where the town and railroad station is located, and divided it into building lots, encouraged improvements and the building of residences. There is here a convenient station for passengers and freight, a hotel, store for the sale of general merchandise, with the post-office, coal and lumber-yard, tinsmith and other industries. H. M. Ziegler is the postmaster at the place. Both Upper and Lower Hatfield villages are of local importance to the township, situated so near its centre, the former affording a convenient point of shipment for milk and general farm produce, and for the distribution of freight and the general supplies consumed and used by an agricultural community. 870 The following exhibit of the mercantile appraiser for the year 1884 illustrates the commercial enterprise of the people of this township: Jeremiah Alderfer, produce George Brecht, merchandise E. K. Blanck, drugs William Bear, butcher James Clark, Jr., stoves Frank Cassel, agricultural implements William B. Fretz, stoves, etc. Isaac R. Hunsberger, organs Earl Jenkins, butcher Jacob Kindig, butcher I. R. Kulp, hay I. R. Kulp, coal, lumber I. R. Kulp, flour and feed Henry Kile, butcher Joseph Landis, lumber William B. Moyer, butcher B. M. Moyer, merchandise Joseph Proctor, live stock I. R. Rosenberger, flour, feed I. R. Rosenberger, hay J. M. Romich, live stock H. Robinson, merchandise F. H. Souders, flour, feed F. H. Souders, coal F. H. Souders, lumber, hay A. Sorver, lumber D. Smith, sewing-machines Philip Swartly, butcher George Snyder, hay George Snyder, coal George Snyder, flour, feed Isaac Tyson, live stock John Treffinger, butcher Ziegler & Meyers, merchandise H. M. Ziegler, merchandise. EDUCATIONAL. -The common-school system is said to have gone into operation about the year 1840. The leading citizens of the township have always taken a lively interest in the education of the young, but it is due to say that a conservative element has always opposed "long terms" and advanced salaries for teachers. This conservatism has recently found expression in the township in opposing the creation of an independent school district for the better accommodation of the progressive inhabitants of Upper and Lower Hatfield villages. The district has been created, and the advantages will doubtless be enjoyed by those seeking the benefit of longer terms and superior teachers, although residing beyond its limits. At present (1884) there are six schools in the township, with three hundred and fifty-nine pupils enrolled. The length of term for the present year is seven months, and the salary paid to teachers is forty dollars per month. Male and female teachers are employed, and equal salaries are paid them. There is an independent school district at Line Lexington, the advantages of which are shared by a portion of the inhabitants of this township. The cost of maintaining it is distributed as follows among the townships out of which it was created; one-fourth from Hatfield township, one-fourth from Hilltown township, and one-half from New Britain Township, the two latter townships being in Bucks County. The average attendance is fifty pupils. ELECTIONS. -By act of the General Assembly, approved March 24, 1818, the township of Hatfield was formed into a separate election district, and the elections ordered to be held at the house of John Buchanan. By a similar act, approved April 11, 1825, the place of holding the elections was changed to the house of Peter Conver, and again, by a similar act of April 23, 1829, the elections were ordered to be held at the house of Jacob C. Bachman. The elections are now held at the public-house of Oliver Althouse, in Lower Hatfield village. RELIGIOUS WORSHIP. -There is a Mennonite meeting-house located on what is locally known as the " Plains," or township line road, between Hatfield and Towamencin, and in the latter township; another of the same denomination, known as the New Mennonite Church, near Hatfield village; both of these places of religious worship are plain, unpretentious structures, such as are in use by this denomination throughout this part of the country; comforts and necessary conveniences are provided for, but all ornate embellishments of exterior and interior are studiously avoided. The Evangelical or German Baptists' Church is situated on the Cow Path road, a short distance south of Hatfield village; this is a plain but substantial structure, corresponding with the habits and tastes of the humble people who worship there. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES HON. OLIVER G. MORRIS. Cadwallader, the lineal ancestor of Oliver G. Morris, immigrated from Wales, located in Pennsylvania and intermarried with the Thomas family, who also came from Wales to this country in the early part of the last century. Morris Morris, son of Cadwallader Morris, married Gwently Thomas, and had seven children,- Cadwallader (second) Abraham William Benjamin Enoch Joseph Morris, Jr. Morris Morris, Sr., husband of Gwently Thomas, inherited two hundred and sixty-seven acres of land lying at Hilltown, which he possessed and bequeathed to his son, Cadwallader (second), the latter paying his brothers different sums of money. A cane which belonged to Morris Morris, was, in 1885, owned by Oliver G. Morris, of Line Lexington, and has been in the family as an heir-loom over one hundred and fifty years. Cadwallader, the eldest son of Morris and Gwently Morris, was born in 1737. He was a man of considerable education for those days. He became a school teacher and surveyor, and was widely known at that early period, and was sought after for his skill and knowledge concerning many things. He married Elizabeth Kastner, of Hilltown, and died August 23, 1812, at the age of seventy-five years. His wife survived him a few years. Their children were Alice Abel William Rebecca Hannah. William, son of Morris and Gwently Morris, the great-grandfather of Oliver G. Morris, was born March 5, 1739. William was married in 1763, to Ann, daughter of Nathaniel Griffith, of Hilltown, where now (1885) stands the Leidytown Hotel, which property William Morris subsequently purchased. William and Ann both died at the house of their son Isaac, in the village of Line Lexington, the former on April 22, 1821, aged eighty-two years, and the latter on July 17, 1821, at the age of seventy-seven years. Their children were Isaac Benjamin, Morris Eliam William, Jr. Griffith Ann Elizabeth and Huldah. 871 Isaac Morris, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born May 5, 1764, and was twice married. He purchased, in 1789, the ancestral homestead of Gwently Morris, his grandmother, adjoining the Lower Hilltown Baptist Church, which be held till about 1805, when he removed to Line Lexington, where he was for many years justice of the peace. Isaac married, October 12, 1786, for his first wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Mathias. She was born Sept. 12, 1765, and died Aug, 28, 1803. The second wife of Isaac was Rachel, daughter of Benjamin Mathews, Esq. She was born Feb. 21, 1771, and married April 6, 1806. She was a person of much intelligence and vivacity of mind, as well as business fact and ability; a good and estimable woman in all the relations of life. She died August 1, 1856, aged eighty-five years. Isaac died Sept. 13, 1843. By his first wife Isaac was the father of three children, Mathias Justus William. The two latter died young. PICTURE OF OLIVER G. MORRIS, APPEARS HERE. Mathias Morris was born Sept. 12, 1787. He possessed unusual abilities, and was proficient in classical literature. He studied law with his cousin, Enoch Morris, and was admitted to the bar at Newtown in 1809, where he lived some time. He married Wilhelmina, daughter of Abraham and Elizabeth Chapman, and sister of Hon. Henry Chapman. In 1828 he was elected to the State Senate, and re-elected for a second term, and was elected two terms to Congress, 1834 and 1836. He died Nov. 9, 1839, aged fifty-two years. His widow lives in Doylestown, with her daughter, Mary Ann, who married John C. Lyman, of Vermont. The children of Isaac Morris, by his second wife, were Oliver Goldsmith and Burgess Allison (twins), and John D. The first-named died in 1826, aged nineteen years. 872 John D. Morris was born April 9, 1811, became a lawyer and practiced his profession for many years, in Stroudsburg. He represented Monroe County in the State Legislature in 1851 and 1852, and subsequently held responsible positions in the Philadelphia Mint and Custom House, under the administrations of Pierce and Buchanan. He was an excellent man, affable and agreeable in manner, and popular among his acquaintances. His wife was Sally, daughter of Stroud and Jeannette Hollinshead of Stroudsburg. He died in Line Lexington, at the house of his nephew, Oliver G. Morris, Jan. 5, 1868. Burgess Madison Morris was born Dec. 23, 1806, and on Jan. 28, 1836, married Mary G., daughter of John, Riale, Esq. She died June 27, 1837, leaving one son, Oliver Goldsmith Morris. John Riale, the father of Mary G. Morris, was for many years a prominent man of New Britain, and long a justice of the peace of that township, and held in just esteem by all who knew him. He was the son of Richard Riale and grandson of John Riale, who emigrated from England about 1725. He was twice married, the second time to Elizabeth Griffith, the mother of Mary G. Morris. The second wife of Burgess A. Morris was Matilda Hoxworth. Oliver Goldsmith Morris was born March 26, 1837, at Line Lexington, on the old homestead. His early life was spent upon the farm, until the death of his father, which occurred December 20, 1847. He was then sent to a boarding-school at New Britain, kept by Rev. John C. Hyde, for a term of three years, then to the Treemount Seminary, at Norristown, Rev. Samuel Aaron, principal, for two years; then returned to the farm, where he has since continued to reside, engaged in farming and such other occupations as are usually connected with that branch of business. He needs no laudations in this connection to prove the, character of the man, nor to show the estimation in which he is held by the citizens of that part of the county in which he lives. His business connections and the suffrages of the people are the best tests of the high esteem in which he is held by his fellow- townsmen. When at the age of twenty-one years he was elected a school director, and in April, 1884, was reelected for the ninth term, of three years each, to the same office, and has been secretary of the board and district superintendent from his first election to the present time. He has been for several years one of the board of managers of the Spring House and Hilltown Turnpike Company, also one of the managers of the Line Lexington Fire Insurance Company. He has been one of the directors of the Stony Creek Railroad Company for fifteen years, secretary of the "Self- Defense Horse Company" of Line Lexington for twenty-three years, a trustee of the Hilltown Baptist Church for twenty-five years, and was a member of the State Legislature for the sessions of 1871,1872 and 1873, and also held the office of assistant assessor of internal revenue under the administration of President Johnson. He was married, October 11, 1858, to Miss Susannah, daughter of Michael and Mary Snyder. She was born Jan. 12, 1840. They are the parents of the following children,- John D., born April 17, 1861, died June 23, 1864 Charles E., born Sept. 14, 1863 Allison M., born March 29, 1866 died July 28, 1866 W. Norman, born Sept. 28, 1867 Mary, born May 17, 1870 Arthur S., born Jan. 4, 1877. The father of Mrs. Morris was a son of Jacob and Elizabeth Snyder, who were born in Bucks County, Pa. The mother of Mrs. Morris, Mary Snyder, was a daughter of Isaac and Susanna Rosenberger, of Hatfield Township, Montgomery Co. ISAAC R. ROSENBERGER. Isaac, the grandfather of Isaac R., was a well to do and highly respected farmer, living in Montgomery County, Pa., near the village of Line Lexington, on the farm now owned by Milton Jenkins. Mr. Rosenberger was of German descent, his parents, Isaac and Christiana, emigrating to this country about the middle of the last century, and located where Isaac lived nearly or quite all his lifetime. He died leaving children as follows: Martin, now living at or near Broad Street, Bucks Co., Pa. Isaac D., now living at North Wales, this county Joseph, father of Isaac R., the subject of this sketch William, who died in Philadelphia John Elizabeth, married, first, a Mr. Eckert, and for her second husband, she married Michael Snyder, also deceased; she is still living, and resides in Bucks County Sarah, deceased, left her husband, Jacob Ruth Mary, married ____ Snyder, and became the mother of Mrs. Oliver G. Morris. Joseph Rosenberger, father of Isaac R. Rosenberger, was born September 15, 1811, and died March 30, 1877, at the age of sixty-five years, six months and fifteen days. He married Mary, daughter of Henry Ruth, of Bucks County. She was born February 4, 1815, and died July 1, 1881, aged sixty- six years, five months and seven days. They were the parents of children as follows: Susannah, married Reuben Alderfer, of Hilltown, Bucks Co., Pa. Emeline, deceased, married, first, Abram Hursberger, and for her second husband, William Souder Anna Mary, married Mahlon Myers, who resides at Perkasie, Bucks Co., Pa Isaac R., born July 15, 1846 Joel, married Sally, daughter of the late Dr. Joseph Moyer, deceased Lizzie, married Edwin Jones, and now resides at Doylestown Charles R., married Amanda Fluck, Of Hilltown, Bucks Co., and is now a partner with his brother, Isaac R., in the coal, flour, feed and bay business, at Colmar and at Doylestown, Pa. Joseph Rosenberger, the father of these children, was a farmer, merchant and lumber dealer at Mount Pleasant, Bucks Co., Pa., where he located after marriage and where he died. He was one of those well and favorably known popular men who always looked upon the bright side of life, beloved and respected by all who knew him, and especially by the poor and needy, who well remember his acts of kindness, many of whom he had, from time to time, in his employ. 873 He was prominently identified with township and county affairs, yet in no sense of the word a politician. He was for many years prior to his death one of the directors of the Doylestown Bank. His demise left a void in the community still unfilled. PICTURE OF I. R. ROSENBERGER, APPEARS HERE. Isaac R. Rosenberger spent his early life upon the farm of his father during the summer months and at the district schools in the winter season, until he was fifteen years of age. From that time until he arrived at the age of twenty-one years he performed such work as was necessary for him to do upon his father's farm, in the store and in the lumber-yard. After that he worked a farm on his own account for six years, and in 1872 he located at Colmar Station, on the North Pennsylvania Railroad, and engaged in the wholesale and retail flour, feed, coal, hay and phosphate business. Here he conducted the business alone until 1881, when he admitted his brother, Charles R., as a partner. They are doing a large and prosperous business, having all the facilities of a large and commodious warehouse, with all the necessary railroad facilities. In the early part of 1885 the Rosenberger Brothers extended their business by building a large warehouse, with railroad accommodations, at Doylestown, where they are also engaged in the same kind of trade as at Colmar Station. Isaac R. was married December 4,1866, to Miss Harriet, daughter of William and Sarah Bruner, of Chalfont, Bucks Co. His wife was born February 16, 1848. They are the parents of children, - Mary Alice, born April 12, 1868, died September 20, 1881 Harrington, born October 27, 1869 Flora Estella, born June 4, 1861, died June 20, 1876 Ella Blanche, born March 4, 1873 Charles Grant, born December 4, 1874 William, born September 20, 1878. William Bruner, father of Mrs. Rosenberger, was a Son of Henry Bruner, who for many years lived in Bucks County, near the county line, and was well and favorably known as one of the substantial, honest old farmers of Bucks County. Her maternal grandparents were of the well-known and highly respected Clymer families of Bucks and Berks Counties.