History: Local: CHAPTERS LXXVII - LXXVIII: Upper Merion & Upper Salford Townships: Bean's 1884 History of Montgomery Co, PA

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                                BEAN'S  HISTORY  OF

                          MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

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1116

                                CHAPTER LXXVII.

                             UPPER MERION TOWNSHIP.

                                By Wm. J. Buck.

    THIS township is situated on the south side of the Schuylkill, and 
is bounded on the northwest, north and northeast by the same, on the 
northeast by Bridgeport, on the southeast by West Conshohocken and Lower 
Merion, on the south by the counties of Chester and Delaware, and on the 
southwest by Chester.  Its greatest length is eight and a quarter miles, 
greatest width three and a half miles, and the area ten thousand two 
hundred acres, having been reduced, in 1851, four hundred and fifty acres 
by the erection of Bridgeport into a borough, and again, in 1874, about two 
hundred and ninety acres, by the erection of West Conshohocken.  As will be 
observed on the map, its form is very irregular.  The surface is rolling and 
the soil generally loam and lime-stone.

    The principal elevations in Upper Merion are called
Mount Joy
Red Hill
Flint Hill
North Valley Hill
Rebel Hill
Conshohocken or Gulf Hill.
Mount Joy is of a conical form, and is wooded to its top, and forms a 
beautiful feature in the landscape.  It gave name to a manor that belonged 
to Letitia, daughter of William Penn.  Tradition states that he gave the 
hill this name while on a visit to the neighborhood.  It is supposed to be 
the highest eminence in Upper Merion in the vicinity of Valley Forge.  In 
the time of the Revolution it was strongly fortified, and the remains of 
intrenchments are still visible on its top.  Red Hill is an eminence 
somewhat over a mile southwest of Bridgeport.  It is a well-known tradition, 
handed down by several families in the neighborhood, that two panthers were 
shot on it in the time of the early settlement.  The Conshohocken or Gulf 
Hill is a long, narrow range that runs a great way into Chester County; it 
is a continuation of Edge Hill, which crosses the Schuylkill at Spring 
Mill, and extends east and west.  Nowhere in Montgomery County, on its south 
side, are iron-ore, limestone or marble found.  Geologically speaking, it 
forms a narrow belt of the primary rocks, with gneiss and talcon slate.  The 
name of Gulf Hill has only been applied in this vicinity from the deep, 
narrow passage of Gulf Creek through it in its course to the Schuylkill.  
This natural curiosity will be subsequently described.  The North Valley 
Hill is a range following the Schuylkill, and commences a short distance 
above Bridgeport.  It is only of moderate elevation, and is the highest 
between Port Kennedy and Valley Forge.  Rebel Hill is just outside of the 
borough line of West Conshohocken, and between the Township Line road and 
Gulf Creek.

    Probably one of the most fertile tracts of land in Montgomery County is 
that portion of the township lying along the Schuylkill, between Bridgeport 
and Gulf Creek, and extending west for about a mile and a half.  Within this 
space limestone and iron-ore are obtained in abundance, and the stranger 
views with regret the disfigurations occasioned in obtaining these 
materials from such beautiful and productive fields.  Indeed, in few 
neighborhoods has nature been so lavish of her choicest gifts.  The soil is 
a loose loam, nearly level on its surface, and so free from stones that no 
country can produce, probably, any land of easier cultivation.  The Swedes, 
in taking up and settling this tract, showed considerable foresight as to 
its future importance.  In proceeding along the Schuylkill Canal from 
Bridgeport to Port Kennedy the land is chiefly cultivated to the river, 
with an occasional margin of trees, making it a shady and agreeable walk.

  When we come to consider its size, this is not a well-watered township.  
The streams do not rise from many springs, and are, therefore too weak to 
furnish much valuable water-power.  Elliott's Run, by some called Crow Creek, 
rises from two branches near the Chester-County line, is three and a half 
miles in length and propels only a saw-mill near its mouth.  Frog Run, two 
and a half miles long, and Matsunk, a smaller stream, and both emptying 
into the Schuylkill below Swedesburg, propel no mills.  Mashilmac Creek 
rises in Chester County, and, after a course of about two miles, empties 
into the Schuylkill at the Catfish Locks, below Port Kennedy.  For its 
length it is a pretty strong stream, and, on account of rising from several 
large springs, is not liable to be affected by drought or cold weather.  
Near its mouth it turns a grist-mill.  The largest and most important stream 
is Gulf Creek, in the southeast part, near the Lower Merion line.  It is a 
rapid stream, which rises in Delaware County, and, after a course of nearly 
four miles, empties into the Schuylkill at West Conshohocken, about half a 
mile above the Matson's Ford bridge, furnishing power to several cotton and 
woolen-mills.  The East Valley Creek for the distance of a mile, forms the 
western boundary of the township and propels a paper-mill.  The aforesaid 
furnish all the waterpower and are much the largest streams.  There is a 
fine spring at Port Kennedy and several near Bridgeport.  

  The wealth that the inhabitants of Upper Merion derive from its mines and 
quarries is probably not exceeded by that of any other township in the 
county.  It contains three large furnaces for the manufacture of iron, -one 
at Port Kennedy and the other two on the Schuylkill, a mile below Bridgeport. 
The ore is obtained in considerable quantities in the vicinity of Valley 
Forge, Gulf Mills and King of Prussia.  It can be safely estimated that one-
fifth of the area of the township abounds more or less in this mineral, 
which has been pretty extensively worked in the past thirty-five years.

1117

    This township is noted for the manufacture and quality of its lime.  The 
limestone belt crosses the Schuylkill at and below Swedesburg, and has an 
average breadth of a mile, running in a western direction into Chester 
County.  Its length in Upper Merion is nearly six miles.  The marble prevails 
on its southern edge and on its northern line the softer limestone.  It has 
been satisfactorily ascertained that the lime made from its northern side 
is the best.  The quarries of William B. Rambo, near Swedesburg, and those 
at Port Kennedy have this position: While approaching the opposite edge, it 
increases in hardness till it terminates in white marble, which merges into 
the still harder blue marble.  This limestone is placed in the primitive 
formation, and, as may be supposed from the aforesaid remarks, is by no 
means uniform in its quality, some of its beds yielding lime of much 
greater purity than others.  But, taken collectively, no lime in the United 
States surpasses it, especially for mechanical purposes.  Mr. Trego says, in 
his "Geography,"-

     "It is scarcely possible to form an estimate of the incalculable 
advantages derived by Pennsylvania from the limestones so extensively 
diffused throughout the State.  They impart fertility to the soil wherever 
found; they are used as a building-stone for houses, barns, bridges, canal-
locks, etc., and they constitute an indispensable article of use in our 
furnace for smelting iron-ores.  When burned into lime they yield a 
necessary ingredient in the motor for stone-masons, bricklayers, 
plasterers, for whitewashing, and for several purposes in the manufactures 
and the arts.

    "But it is from the benefits derived to our agriculture, from the use of 
lime as a manure for the soil, that our State is destined to be most 
enriched by this important article, of her productions.  At several points 
on our canals and railroad vast quantities of limestone are quarried and 
transported to places where it is required for use, and from the rapidly 
increasing demand, it is becoming a considerable item in the tolls upon our 
public works."

    Oldmixon, in his "British Empire in America," published in 1708, speaks 
of limestone being procured quite early in America, on Letitia Penn's manor 
of Mount Joy.  This probably may have been near the present Swedesburg.  The 
census of 1840 values the lime then manufactured in Upper Merion at 
$74,772, or about one-third of that produced in the entire county.  This 
business, of course, has since greatly increased through the additional 
facilities afforded for its transportation.  It is said that Port Kennedy, 
for the year ending with June 1, 1857, exported lime, to the value of 
$140,000.  The whole county is represented in 1840 to have produced lime to 
the amount of $236,162.  This sum, we have no doubt, is now surpassed in 
value by Upper Merion alone.

    Marble is composed of crystallized carbonate of lime, and the two are 
always found combined, more or less, together.  The marble worked in this 
township runs in a long, narrow, perpendicular scam, extending down, no 
doubt, to a considerable depth.  It is said the deeper it is obtained the 
better is its quality what was formerly and so long known as Henderson's 
quarry, is now owned and worked by Daniel 0. Hitner.  It is situated two 
miles southwest of Bridgeport and was worked before 1782.  There is here an 
extensive steam mill for sawing marble.  The greatest depth reached in 
obtaining it is considerably over one hundred feet.  Thirty-five hands were 
employed in the mill and quarry in 1858.  Immense quantities have been taken 
out here within the last forty-six years.  A portion of the material used in 
the construction of Girard College was from this place.  The depth made 
could not have been reached without the aid of several pumps propelled by 
steam.  The ingress of water is a serious obstacle to the successful working 
of marble quarries, entailing considerable expense.  That there is an 
abundance of this beautiful material in this township there is no doubt and 
it is believed, as the demand for it increases, this difficulty may be the 
easier prevented.  About half a mile from the King of Prussia, and near the 
Chester Valley Railroad, is the quarry formerly worked by J. Brooke, in 
1858 to 1876 or later by Derr & Adams, but now by Schweyer & Leias.  There 
is also here a steam saw-mill.  These two are the only marble-quarries that 
have been worked in the township.  The census of 1840 states that nine men 
were employed in the business, producing marble to the amount of six 
thousand seven hundred and sixty dollars.

    According to the census of 1800, its population was 993
in 1840, 2804
and in 1880, 3275.
The real estate and personal property for taxable purposes was valued in 
1882 at $1,935,840 with 745 taxables, averaging $2598.  

In May, 1876, licenses were issued to
three inns
eight stores
three coal-yards and three dealers in flour and feed.

In 1858 it contained
three inns
nine stores
four grist-mills
three saw-mills
three iron furnaces
two marble-mills and 
seven or eight cotton and woolen manufactories.

The census of 1850 returned
624 houses
108 farms;

In 1785
three inns
four grist-mills
three saw-mills
one forge and a fulling-mill
three churches,-
one Episcopal
a Presbyterian and a 
Christian Baptist, -besides a Union Chapel.  The public 
schools for the year ending June 1, 1883, were twelve, open ten months with 
four hundred and eighteen enrolled pupils.  In 1857 it contained nine 
schools, with ten teachers, and attended by, five hundred and sixty-six 
scholars.  In the latter year seven of the teachers were males; now they are 
all females.  The post-offices are four located at Port Kennedy, King of 
Prussia, Gulf Mills and Abrams.  From what is stated, it will be observed 
that, independent of the production of lime, marble, iron and brick, this 
township is also extensively engaged in other manufactures.

    In the way of public improvements, Upper Merion has been pretty well 
provided, and they have tended still further to develop its resources.  
Besides the canal, the railroad runs its entire length on the Schuylkill, a 
distance of nine miles, with stations at Swedeland, Merion, Port Kennedy 
and Valley Forge.  The Chester Valley Railroad, which was finished in 1853, 
extends through its entire width from east to west, about four miles, with 
stations at King of Prussia, Henderson and Shainline.  It commences at 
Bridgeport, and connects with the Pennsylvania Railroad at Downingtown.  
There are, besides, six or seven short branches erected by private 
enterprise, leading from mines and quarries towards the Schuylkill, two of 
which are over a mile in length.  A turnpike extends from Bridgeport to the 
King of Prussia, three miles, finished in 1853.

1118

    Swedesburg is pleasantly situated on the banks of the Schuylkill, 
adjoining the eastern line of Bridgeport.  It contains about sixty-five 
houses, chiefly two-story frame, a church, school-house, several stores and 
a blacksmith and wheelwright-shops.  

    The census of 1850 gives it three hundred and eighty-eight inhabitants, 
and that of 1870 three hundred and eighty-six.  This place has chiefly grown 
up since 1840, and owes much of its prosperity to the manufacturing 
business carried on in its neighborhood.  About half a mile below this 
village William B. Rambo carries on the lime business quite extensively, 
employing here in his operations eighty hands.  He uses his own boats, some 
of which are calculated for sailing on the rivers and bays as well as along 
the coast and up the Schuylkill to the coal regions.  To facilitate its 
shipment he has a railroad from his quarries and kilns to the river, half a 
mile in length.  Considerable of his lime is sent to New Jersey, Delaware 
and Maryland.

    Matsunk is the name of a village that has chiefly grown up since 1846, and 
is situated on a small stream of the same name, near the Schuylkill, about 
a mile below Swedesburg.  It contains about forty houses, several of which 
are handsome residences, surrounded with fine, shady lawns and gardens and 
inclosed with iron railing.  In 1858 the place had increased to nineteen 
dwelling-houses.  The extensive works of the Swede Iron Company are here, 
comprising two large furnaces, a railroad leading from the mines to the 
furnaces, a mile in length, numerous out-buildings and a tract of land, on 
which there is an abundance of iron-ore and limestone of the best quality.  
The total cost of the improvements here is stated to have been considerably 
over two hundred thousand dollars.  A woolen-factory has also been in 
operation here for some time.  Swedeland post-office was established here 
before 1876, but several years ago was merged with the one at Bridgeport.  
The station bears the aforesaid name.  The land in this vicinity is of 
superior quality and ranks with the best in the county.

    King of Prussia is situated near the centre of the township, at the 
intersection of the Gulf and State roads.  This name was derived more than a 
century ago from and inn here, kept by John Elliott in 1786.  It contains a 
public-house, store, post-office, library, blacksmith and wheelwright-shops 
and seven houses.  Five roads centre here, one of which was turnpiked in 
1852 to Bridgeport.  The stone bridge over Elliott's Run was built in 1835.  
The township elections have been held here for some time.  In 1871 two 
districts were formed, the Upper since voting here.  The post-office was 
established before 1827, and originally called Reesville, was changed 
previous to 1851 to its present name.  The public library was founded in 
1852, and contains three thousand volumes.  Miss Ella Thomas is librarian.  
Charles J. Elliott, one of its founders and first librarian, quite a 
promising young man, died here February 24, 1861, aged thirty-six years.

    Gulf Mills is located at the intersection of the Gulf road with Gulf 
Creek, where an inn was kept in 1786 by John Roberts.  It had for its sign 
the "Bird-in-Hand," and that is still the popular name of the place.  
Including Mechanicsville, only half a mile distant, it may be estimated to 
contain about fifty houses.  It is a business place, containing several 
woolen-mills, saw and planing-mill, besides other establishments, also an 
inn, store, post-office and a church.  The Bird-in-Hand post-office was 
located here before 1827, and retained this name until 1830, when it was 
changed to its present one of Gulf Mills.  The Christian Baptists, or 
Plummerites, erected in 1835 a one-story stone meeting-house, about one-
quarter of a mile southeast from Gulf Mills

    Among the pastors who have served the church are the Revs. Godfrey Hawk, 
Charles Plummer, ____ Noble, Jacob Rodenbaugh and John Conard, the present 
pastor, who has been in charge since 1870.  George McFarland has for some 
time carried on here extensively the manufacture of woolen goods.  The 
venerable stone bridge over Gulf Creek bears no date, but is supposed to 
have been erected before the Revolution.  The elections for the Lower 
District of the township are held at the schoolhouse at this place.

    Merion Station is on the Reading Railroad, about two miles above 
Bridgeport, where Crow Creek empties into the Schuylkill.  It contains a 
saw-mill, Union Chapel, school-house, five or six dwellings and a post-
office, called Abrams.  Port Kennedy and Valley Forge will be treated of in 
separate articles near the close of this chapter.

    Gulf Hill rises immediately on the south side of the creek, opposite the 
village of Gulf Mills, is quite steep, and is wooded to the top.  About 
three-quarters of a mile from this place a grist-mill is standing in a 
romantic situation, on the west side of the Gulf road, and to the antiquary 
is an object of interest.  It was built in 1747, and is known as the "Old 
Gulf Mill."  In 1858 it was owned by Rebecca Thomas, and now belongs to 
Henderson Supplee.  This is probably the oldest mill now standing in 
Montgomery County, and, excepting some of its machinery, it is believed to 
have undergone no alteration since its erection.  It is built of stone, and 
may yet with care stand for centuries.

1119

It was, no doubt, in its day considered a great affair.  On William 
Scull's, map of Pennsylvania published in 1770, the "Gulf Forge" is marked 
as being in this vicinity.  

    As we have now spoken of the name of Gulf being applied to a road, a
creek, a bill, a mill, a forge, and a post-office, it is perhaps time that we
inform the reader what this word implies, or rather how it originated.  What
is understood to be the Gulf is where the Gulf Creek passes through the Gulf
Hill, and to effect a passage has cleft it to its base.  The stream and the
road by its side wind through it somewhat in the shape of an S, and at the
narrowest part there is just room enough for both, the whole width not being
more than forty feet.  The hills on either side are pretty steep, and are
covered with rocks, bushes and trees to their summits; the hill on the East
Side is about one hundred and fifty feet high, and on the West Side of less
elevation.  Near the old Gulf Mill, on the south side of the entrance, a rock
juts out at the road elevation of about fifteen feet, which has sheltered
people from the rain.  As this hill runs a considerable distance west of the
Schuylkill, and as the road through it is perfectly level, it will at once
appear obvious that, from the earliest period of the settlement above this
passage was of great advantage in passing to and from the city.  Hence its
name is mentioned from an early date.  To be in such a place in the dreary
hour of midnight, with the roar of the troubled waters among the rocks, and
the gloom of the wood-covered gorge, is enough to arouse in the solitary
traveler feelings of an unusual kind. 

    From Bridgeport to Valley Forge is six miles, and few walks in 
Pennsylvania are more interesting than that along the tow-path by the river 
for this distance.  The towns, villages, manufactories and scenery on each 
side, at every turn of the river, present something new and beautiful, 
which, were we to describe it at length, would occupy too much of our 
space.  A quarter of a mile below the Catfish Dam, and three miles above 
Bridgeport, is presented one of the most beautiful landscapes; we remember 
seeing almost anywhere.  If it is worth, as Thomas Jefferson has said, a 
voyage across the Atlantic to see the scenery of the Potomac at Harper's 
Ferry, then we say, it is, at least, worth traveling from Norristown, on 
any fine day, to this spot to view the scenery of the Schuylkill Valley.  In 
standing at a certain point here and looking up the stream, the falls of 
the Catfish Dam are seen extending across the river, and about three-
fourths of a mile beyond is seen nestled in the hills a portion of Port 
Kennedy, with its bridge; and still beyond, and for the background, in the 
centre, and as if springing from the river, the picturesque and fine wooded 
hill-tops of Valley Forge, four miles off -the whole forming such a 
combination of objects, so advantageously connected, as are seldom found in 
any one view.  At the dam aforesaid are two locks, placed side, by side, 
which are called the Catfish Locks.  These, as well as the dam, were built 
by the Navigation Company.

    Upper and Lower Merion appear to have been originally one township called 
Merion, or rather by the early Welsh settlers Merioneth, after a county in 
North Wales.  At what exact time it was divided has not been ascertained, 
but it must have been before 1714; for in this year we find the earliest 
mention in records of Upper Merion as a township.  From Thomas Holme's map of 
original surveys, commenced in 1682, we learn that the upper half of the 
township was included in Letitia Penn's manor of Mount Joy, the middle 
portion in William Penn, Jr's., and the lower part, adjoining Lower Merion, 
in John Pennington and company's.  The remaining portion of the manor lay in 
the adjoining township of Tredyffrin, in Chester County, and included in 
all seven thousand eight hundred acres.  It was patented to his daughter by 
William Penn, 24th of Eighth Month, 1701, and he retained possession of it 
until 1736.  The land belonging to John Pennington and company, it is 
probable, formed a part of the Welsh tract, which we know extended through 
a portion of the township into Chester County, comprising in the whole 
forty thousand acres, and of which mention was made in the history of Lower 
Merion.  It was chiefly through this last great purchase that the original 
settlers were Welsh, and named it after a shire from whence many of them 
had come.

    Although the Swedes had settled near the mouth of the Schuylkill in 
1642, and four years later erected a church there, yet no evidence exists 
of their having located early anywhere within the present limits of the 
county.  It has been recently ascertained that Peter Cox had made a purchase 
of land within the present limits of Upper Merion before 1702, and that 
Gunnar Rambo in said year had endeavored to secure a tract beside him.  The 
Swedes came into the township about 1712, and settled on a large tract 
which they purchased from the Welsh, who had for some time preceded them.  
The names of these settlers were
Mats Holstein
Gunnar Rambo
Peter Rambo
Peter Yocum
John Matson.
They took up several hundred acres each, which lay from the present borough 
of Bridgeport down to the Lower Merion line, and back nearly two miles from 
the river.  This tract, for fertility, is almost unequaled in Pennsylvania, 
and is still chiefly in the hands of their descendants, and comprises 
nearly one-fourth of the present area of the township.  On this tract the 
names of Swedes' Ford, Swedes' Church, Swedesburg, Swedeland and Matson's Ford 
sufficiently indicate the presence of these settlers.  Near the close of 
this subject some additional information will be given respecting those 
Swedish families.

1120

    The following possesses interest, being a list or settlers residing in 
Upper Merion in 1734, thirty-two in number, and with the amount of land 
returned as belonging to each:
 
Mats Holstein, 252 acres
Hugh Hughs, 200
Morris Edwards, 150
Owen Thomas, 100
Griffith Phillips, 50
John Moor, 150
Owen Jones, 100
Thomas Jenkens, 100
John David, 100
Alexander Henderson, 100
Mounce Rambo, 100
John Rambo, 100
Gabriel Rambo, 150
Elias Rambo, 150
Peter Yocum, 50
Andrew Supplee, 50 
Hugh Williams, 100
Benjamin Davis, 100
John Sturgis, 100
Isaac Rees, 100
Richard Bevan, 200
David Jaynes, 100
William Rees, 150
Edward Roberts 100
Mathew Roberts, 100
William George, 150
Thomas Rees, 100
Harry Griffith, 100
Hannah Jones, 100
Griffith Rees, 50
David Lewis, 100 and 
Jones Rees, 40 acres.

Of this list, it will be observed that nearly two-thirds are Welsh.  In the 
assessment of 1780, out of one hundred and thirty-eight names, but very 
little over one-fourth are found to be of the aforesaid origin.  This 
denotes a considerable diminution in the Welsh element during a period of 
forty-six years.  Within the past fifty years the Irish population has 
increased through the encouragement given them as laborers in the lime, 
marble and iron industries.  Descendants and land-holders of the name of
 
Holstein
Hughes
Moore
David
Henderson
Rambo
Supplee
Jones
Roberts
Griffith
Phillips
Thomas and 
Davis are found scattered over the township, many of whom still 
occupy their ancestral tracts.

    Mathew Roberts was the son of John Roberts, one of the early settlers of 
Lower Merion, who removed to the Swamp Vrass farm, near the present King of 
Prussia, which bad been bequeathed to him by his father about 1727.  His son 
Jonathan was in the Colonial Assembly, and elected to Congress in 1790, 
besides holding other positions.  The latter was the father of Jonathan 
Roberts, of the United States Senate.  Richard Bevan, mentioned in the list 
of 1734, advertises in the Pennsylvania Gazette of July 24, 1751, that he 
has for sale, "near the Gulf Mill, a likely negro, male thirty years of 
age, fit for town or country business.  Also a negro girl about fifteen 
years of age."  Evan Jones was appointed by the county commissioners 
collector of taxes in the township for 1719, the amount assessed being 
£5 12d. 8d.

In 1742 Thomas Jones was collector,
Peter Holston in 1780 and the following year George George.
John Johnson was appointed constable in 1767 and 
Isaac Hughes assessor for 1780.

    A road was laid out from Whiteland in Chester County, in 1723, to the 
Swedes' Ford, now the borough of Bridgeport, by way of the preset King of 
Prussia, thus showing that the travel at its early period must have been 
considerable in this direction.  The Gulf road, as it is called, leading 
from Valley Forge through the King of Prussia and the Gulf Mills towards 
the city, is denoted on Lewis Evans' map of the Middle Colonies, published 
in 1749, thus clearly indicating that this, too, was an early highway.  
Along this road may be seen the Penn mile-stones, as they are called, 
having on one side the distance to the city and on the other the Penn coat-
of-arms.  The uppermost one now standing is three miles below Valley Forge, 
known from its figures as the eighteenth milestone.  Were the proper 
researches made, we entertain no doubt but that this road would be found to 
possess an interesting history, which, it is hoped, some diligent antiquary 
will take in hand.

    The first school-house built by the Welsh in the township was in Matthew 
Roberts' woods, about 1740, on the present State road, not half a mile east 
of the King of Prussia.  It was a log structure and lasted some fifty 
years, when a stone building was erected to take its place on the land of 
William Cleaver, about one hundred yards from the former, who deeded half
an acre to trustees in 1810, when they were incorporated.  Through a 
bequest, these trustees erected the present edifice, containing a school-
room, library and hall.  Another school-house stood on the Gulf road, near 
the Lower Merion line, where Jonathan Roberts went to school in 1785 and 
part of the following year to Edward Ferris, walking the distance of four 
miles from his father's house.  This was known as the Gulf School, and has 
been continued down to this day.  His son, William B. Roberts, now in 
advanced years retains in his possession some of the school-books used by 
his great-grandfather, Mathew Roberts, about 1708-14.

  The Revolutionary history of Upper Merion is not without interest, for 
nearly all the leading events connected with Valley Forge happened within 
its limits.  On the 11th of December, 1778, Washington, with his army, left 
Whitemarsh, and on the afternoon of the 13th crossed at Swedes' Ford and 
proceeded towards the Gulf and the vicinity of the King of Prussia, where 
they remained until the 19th, when they arrived at Valley Forge, where they 
were to remain until the following 18th day of June, exactly six months.  
Owing to the lateness of the season they at once set about building huts to 
shelter them from the rigors of winter.  General Potter, who had been 
stationed at the Gulf in November, now marched towards Swedes' Ford and 
joined Washington's army, when a court-martial was held to try such men as 
threw away their arms and equipments for the purpose of facilitating their 
escape in the late attack made on them at the Gulf by the British from the 
city.  A number were sentenced to be publicly whipped, which was carried 
into effect, and produced not a little excitement in the camp.  Although at 
some distance from Philadelphia, the citizens suffered considerably the 
marauding expeditions of the British army.  The assessor appointed for this 
purpose rated the damages done by them in Upper Merion at £1517.
Among the claimants may be mentioned 
Isaac Matson who was allowed £64; 
Peter Matson, £26
Cephas Bartleson, £127
Benjamin Eastburn, £119
John Johnson, £269
Isaac Knight,£340.

    From the assessment of Upper Merion in 171O we are enabled to obtain some 
additional information.  Abraham Griffith carried on the grist-mill belonging 
to Jacob Walker and Samuel Kelly, to which was attached one hundred and 
twenty-five acres of land; on Isaac Potts' estate of thirty-five acres, at 
Valley Forge, was a grist and saw-mill; George George had a saw-mill and 
four hundred and seventy acres; John Roberts, a mill and twenty-three 
acres, now known as the old Gulf Mill, carried on in the beginning of this 
century by Richard Roberts; William Gabb, a mill which we are unable to 
locate; Amos Willets, a fulling-mill, probably on Gulf Creek.  Inns were 
kept by James Barry, George Savage and Cephas Bartleson.  The latter had 
this year rented the "Swedes Ford" tavern from Peter Holstein.  John Pugh, 
probably at the present Gulf Mills, is the only store-keeper mentioned.

1121

    Hon. Jonathan Roberts was a native and resident of this township, and 
died in July, 1854, at the advanced age of eighty-three years, and at his 
request was buried on a part of his place called "Red Hill," where he had 
appropriated two acres of land for the poor of the neighborhood to bury 
their dead free of charge.  Mr. Roberts was elected a member of Congress in 
1811, and in February 1814, was chosen a member of the United States 
Senate, which office he filled until 1821.

    PORT KENNEDY.  -The village of Port Kennedy is situated on the south bank 
of the Schuylkill, and is twenty-one miles from Philadelphia and four from 
Norristown.  The country in its vicinity is rolling and the soil fertile.  It 
is noted for the vast quantities of lime burned there and exported to other 
places.  Through this business it owes its chief prosperity.  In 1828 it was 
almost a waste, with nothing on it to attract attention but a fine spring 
of excellent water.  In 1858 it contained one hotel, two stores, a furnace, 
church, school-house, blacksmith and wheel-wright shop and forty-two 
dwelling-houses.  The census in 1850 returned four hundred and forty-nine 
inhabitants, and in 1870 five hundred and sixteen.  We doubt the correctness 
of said enumeration; the number of houses is too small to warrant such a 
conclusion.  From the hill on the road to Valley Forge, a short distance 
from the village, there is a fine prospect of the place and surrounding 
country, as well as of the Schuylkill for several miles down its course.

    The furnace belongs to the Montgomery Iron Company, of which Abraham S. 
Patterson is president, Joseph J  Patterson secretary and treasurer, and 
John W. Eckman manager.  It was commenced in 1854 and went into operation in 
1856.  It possesses one stack, fifty by fourteen feet, and two roasters for 
magnetic ores, added in 1880.  The annual capacity is twelve thousand net 
tons of forge pig-iron, for which magnetic and hematite ores are equally 
used.  A considerable portion of the ore is obtained in the vicinity.  The 
First Presbyterian Church of Port Kennedy was organized in the summer of 
1845, mostly from members of the Great Valley Presbyterian Church, of 
Chester County.  The corner-stone of the present church edifice was laid the 
same year, and the building was dedicated January 1, 1846, since which time 
it has been used without material change.  The church, from the time of its 
organization until 1873, was in connection with the Lower Providence 
Presbyterian Church, and under the charge of the Rev. Henry S. Rodenbough.  
In 1873 the church called to the pastorate Charles Anderson, a recent 
graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary and a licentiate of Burlington 
Presbytery.  He was ordained and installed pastor in May, 1874, and served 
about one year and was succeeded by the Rev. Edward P. Howes, who served 
two years and resigned on account of ill health, since which time the 
church has had a stated supply, -Rev. Yates Hickey, for two years, and the 
present incumbent, the Rev. Belleville Roberts, of Norristown.  The church 
has fifty-five members.  The hotel, which is the only one in the place, is a 
large three-story stone building, upwards of forty feet square.  It has an 
elevated position on the river bank, and the Reading Railroad has a station 
near by.  The Port Kennedy Bridge Company was incorporated by an act of 
Assembly passed March 9, 1846.  It is a covered frame bridge, resting on 
three stone piers and is of sufficient width to admit of two wagons 
passing.  It was not completed till the close of the year 1849.  The post-
office was established here before 1851.  It is the lime business that has 
given this place its present importance, and probably in this respect it is 
not exceeded by any other in the valley of the Schuylkill.  The lime 
manufactured is of superior quality, and most of it is shipped off by the 
canal to New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland; a considerable quantity is also 
sent to Philadelphia and New York.  When we were here in August 1858, three 
schooners, one sloop and a canal-boat were loading at the wharves.  One of 
these a schooner, was a neat and beautiful craft, and so symmetrical in 
form that one might have supposed that it had been intended rather as a 
pleasure-yacht than for the more useful purposes of trade.  As the vessels, 
in order to reach this place from the city, have to pass under bridges, it 
becomes necessary for them to have falling masts, which are raised while 
loading.

    According to the census of 1840, Upper Merion produced lime to the amount 
of seventy-four thousand seven hundred and seventy-two dollars.  At this 
time Port Kennedy alone produces fully double that amount, thus showing 
that this business has greatly increased and will yet rise to much greater 
importance.  The burning of lime is carried on here the most extensively by 
Andrew Blair & Co., by Mrs. Violetta, widow of Robinson Kennedy, and by 
Messrs. Hunter & Roberts.  The business was carried on here very extensively 
for many years by the late John Kennedy, who died here September 4, 1877, 
aged sixty-one years.  His kilns were the nearest to the village, and in 
1858 he had fourteen in operation, some of the largest containing as much 
as two thousand five hundred bushels, giving employment to sixty or seventy 
men.  David R. Kennedy, brother of the aforesaid, and David Zook, at said 
date, were also extensively concerned in the business.  Considerable 
limestone is also quarried here and sent off by navigation to the extensive 
furnaces at Phoenixville, six miles distant.

1122

    Alexander Kennedy, the founder of this place, and after whom it was 
called, was a native of Ireland and came to this country poor.  He was first 
employed by a person of wealth in this vicinity.  Through his industry and 
business qualifications he accumulated, in the course of years, a handsome 
fortune.  The property on which this village is located belonged to Mordecai 
Moore, who died in 1803, at an advanced age.  It was then purchased by Mr. 
Kennedy, who moved on it in the spring of 1805.  He continued to reside here 
until in the fall of 1824, when he died at the age of about sixty-three 
years, and was interred at the Great Valley Presbyterian Church.  He was a 
highly-respected and useful man, and his loss was lamented by a large 
circle of friends.  

    He has four sons, -John and David R. Kennedy, who resided here, and 
became the principal property-holders of the village and vicinity;
William, removed to Kent County, Md.;
Alexander, to East Pikeland, Chester Co.  
Before this village had attained its present size it was called by the less 
dignified name of "Kennedy's Hollow;" but time, the changer of all things, 
has transformed this uncouthness into its present more euphonious name.

    In working in the limestone quarries here an extensive cavern was 
reached, which had an area equal to many of our largest public buildings.  
It contained a considerable number of stalactites of calcareous matter, 
some of which extended to the floor and formed several conical arches, with 
borders of variegated colors; also pyramidal columns of various sizes.  This 
cavern, from the, singularity of its chambers, was an object of 
considerable curiosity during the brief period it was open to visitors.  A 
concert was held in one of its largest chambers on the 4th of July, 1846, 
at which several hundred persons were present.  Its existence has now become 
only a matter of the past, for its walls have been quarried away these 
several years. No doubt it lay here concealed for ages, even before creation 
of man himself, and his industry has only lately revealed and destroyed it in 
the process of the beneficial purpose of enriching his fields.

    VALLEY FORGE. -The village of Valley Forge is situated on the south bank 
of the Schuylkill and at the north of East Valley Creek, which here forms for 
nearly a mile and it half the boundary between the counties of Montgomery 
and Chester.  It is six miles above Norristown and twenty-three from 
Philadelphia.  That portion of it comprised within the limits of Upper 
Merion contain a store, grist-mill, paper-mill and ten houses.  The 
Methodists have held services at the place since 1870.  The Rev. C. I. 
Thompson, a resident, served from that time for about ten years.  The Rev.  
T. K. Peterson is now in charge.  On the Chester County side there are a 
factory, store, post-office and fifteen houses.  Palm Paper-Mill is under 
the management of Colonel Joseph Jordan, and does an extensive business.  
The Reading Railroad has a station here, and crosses the creek near its 
mouth on bridge some thirty feet above the water, from which beautiful view 
is offered looking up the stream.  Among the interesting objects seen are 
the falls of the dams of the grist-mill and paper-mill, a short distance 
above each other, and of the venerable stone bridge crossing it about one 
hundred yards above; these, with the deep gorge of the stream and the high 
and rugged hills rising on either side and hemming in the village, form an 
interesting sight.  Stolid, indeed, must be the person that has the 
recollections of the past stirring within him that can gaze on such a scene 
unmoved.  The hills on both sides of the creek are generally steep, rugged 
and wooded to their summits, and present a wild appearance, much more so 
than one might expect from the populousness of the surrounding country.

    In June, 1701, William Penn, in company with Isaac Norris, made a journey 
to the Susquehanna to treat with the Indians at Conestoga.  On his return he
came across the country to the Schuylkill and got lost among the woods on 
the hill near the present Valley Forge, and did not know where he was till 
he got on the hill this side of East Valley Creek, when, by a glimpse of 
the Schuylkill and the Country to the southward, he regained his way, and 
in consequence named the former hill Mount Misery and the latter Mount 
Joy, which names they respectively bear to this day.  On this occasion there 
is reason to believe he selected the tract, constituting in consequence 
the manor of Mount Joy, containing seven thousand eight hundred acres, 
located on the south or southwest side of the, Schuylkill, adjoining the 
Welsh tract, patented to his daughter, Letitia, 24th of the following 
October, only ten days before his last return to England.  In this grant 
Penn states as included, "all the powers of Court Baron, Court Leet and 
Frankplege."  Oldmixon, in 1708, speaks of this manor and of limestone 
having been procured thereon some time before.  From Holme's map of original 
surveys we learn that it composed all of the upper portion of Upper Merion 
and part of the adjoining township of Tredyffirin, in Chester County.

    The name of this place was derived from a forge erected here by Isaac 
Potts, a son of John Potts, and the founder of Pottstown.  How early this 
forge was erected we cannot say, but it must have been before 1759, for it 
is denoted on Nicholas Scull's map of the province, published in said year, 
as being on the Upper Merion side of the stream, which is confirmed on 
William Scull's map of 1770.  On September 19, 1777, it detachment of the 
British army encamped here and burned the mansion-house of Colonel Dewees and
the iron-works, leaving the grist-mill uninjured.  In the assessment of Upper 
Merion of 1780 we find Isaac Potts taxed here for a grist and saw-mill.  In 
1789 he is assessed here for one hundred and seventy-five acres of land, a 
forge, grist and saw will and eight horses, the forge having since been 
rebuilt.  In these several authorities there is certainly sufficient 
evidence that the forge did stand on the Montgomery County side and not on 
the west of East Valley Creek, as a few writers have persisted.  In 
addition, it is reasonable to suppose that as the residence of Isaac Potts 
was in Upper Merion, as well as the iron-ore obtained near by, that 
necessarily, for convenience, the forge would also be on the same side.

1123

    Both Washington and his officers were satisfied that Whitemarsh was not the 
proper place for a winter encampment.  The former, therefore, requested his 
general officers to communicate to him, in writing, their sentiments respecting 
the most eligible site for that purpose.  A council of war was held on the 30th, 
of November, at which a wide difference of opinion prevailed as to the 
locality and the best manner of cantoning, the troops.  So various and 
contradictory were the opinions and councils that unanimity could not be 
hoped for, and it was necessary for Washington to act according to his own 
judgment and upon his own responsibility.  He decided to form an encampment 
at Valley Forge, where he might be near enough to the British army to watch 
its movements, keep its foraging-parties in check, and protect the country 
from the depredations of the enemy.  For this purpose the patriot army left 
Whitemarsh December 11, 1777, but did not arrive at Valley Forge until the 
19th.  Two days before Washington issued a proclamation to the army, in 
which he gave his reasons for the course he was about to pursue.  It is an 
interesting document, and breathes throughout the language of devoted 
patriotism, while at the same time it evinces the cool determination to 
conduct the war to a happy close.  Owing to its length, we shall only give 
place to an extract, -

    "The General ardently wishes it were now in his power to conduct the 
troops into the best winter-quarters; but where are they to be found? 
Should we retire to the interior of the State, we should find them crowded 
with virtuous citizens, who, sacrificing their all, have left Philadelphia 
and fled hither for protection; to their distresses humanity forbids us to 
add.  This is not all.  We should leave a vast extent of fertile country to 
be despoiled and ravaged by the enemy, from which they would draw vast 
supplies, and where many of our firm friends would be exposed to all the 
miseries of an insulting and wanton depredation.  A train of evils ought be 
enumerated, but these will suffice.  These considerations make it 
indispensably necessary for the army to take such a position as will enable 
it most effectually to prevent distress and give the most extensive 
security; and in that position we must make ourselves the best shelter in 
our power.  With alacrity and diligence, huts may be erected that will be 
warm and dry.  In these the troops will be compact, more secure against 
surprises than if in a divided state and at hand to protect the country.  
These cogent reasons have determined the General to take post in the 
neighborhood of this camp, and, influenced by them, he persuades himself 
that the officers and soldiers, with one heart and one mind, will resolve 
to surmount every difficulty with a fortitude and patience becoming their 
profession and the sacred cause, in which they are engaged.  He himself will 
share the hardships and partake of every inconvenience."

    It is not our intention here to enter into the details of the important 
events that transpired at Valley Forge during the six months' encampment, 
for that belongs rather to the Revolutionary history of the county, but 
merely mention a few local facts outside of that subject.  Washington, in 
the latter part of the summer of 1796 when his second term as President 
of the United States had nearly expired, and he was about to return to 
private life, concluded once more to visit this place, the scene of so many 
toils and struggles.  This information as furnished the writer by the late 
Henry Woodman, a native of the vicinity, in 1858, then aged sixty-three 
years, as obtained from his father, who at the time was engaged in plowing 
on his farm, near the place of the encampment.  In the afternoon he 
observed an elderly man, of dignified appearance, on horseback, dressed in 
a plain suit of black, accompanied by a colored servant, ride to a place in 
the road nearly opposite, where he alighted from his horse and came into the 
field.  He stated he had called to make some inquiry concerning the owners 
and occupants of the different places about there, and also in regard to 
the system of farming practiced in that part of the country, and numerous 
other questions, relating to agriculture.  He also made inquiry after 
certain families in the neighborhood.  As answers were given, he noted them 
down in a book.  Mr. Woodman informed him that he could not give as correct 
answers as he wished, as he had only moved in the neighborhood since the 
war, though he had been in the army while it was encamped here.  This gave a 
new turn to the conversation.  The stranger informed him that he had also 
been in the army and at the camp, and as he expected to leave the city in a 
few months, with the prospect of never returning, he had taken this journey 
to visit the place which had been the scene of so much suffering, and 
distress, and to see how far the inhabitants had recovered from its effects. 
On learning it was Washington, he told him that his appearance had so 
altered that he did not recognize him, or else he would have paid more 
respect to his late commander, now the chief magistrate of the nation.  He 
replied that to see the people happy and the desolate fields recovering 
from the disasters they had experienced, and to meet with any of his old 
companions, now peaceably engaged in the most useful of all employments, 
afforded him more satisfaction than all the homage that could be paid to 
his person or station.  He then said that pressing engagements rendered it 
necessary for him to be in the city that night, and taking him by the hand, 
bade him an affectionate farewell.

    Among the prisoners of General Burgoyne's army was Captain Thomas Anbury, 
who gives the following interesting account of his stay here overnight in 
December, 1778, while on the march to Virginia under escort, exactly six 
months after the Americans had vacated it.

1124 

Some of this information is new and no doubt reliable, and also 
corroborates the great suffering and hardships of our army here, -

    "Our troops slept in the huts at Valley Forge, which had been constructed 
by the Americans, and we remained till late the next day for the delivery 
of provisions before we marched.  I had a full opportunity to reconnoiter 
the whole camp.  On the east and south side were entrenchments, with a ditch 
six feet wide and three deep, the mounds not four feet high, very narrow, 
and easily to have been beat down with a cannon; two redoubts were also 
began, but not completed.  The Schuylkill was on the left, and, as I before 
observed, with a bridge across it; the rear was mostly covered by an 
impassable precipice formed by Valley Creek, having only a narrow passage 
near the river.  This camp was by no means difficult of access, for the 
right was attainable, and in one part of the front the ascent was scarcely 
to be perceived.  The defenses were exceedingly weak, and this is the only 
instance I ever saw of the Americans having such slight works, these being 
such that a six-pounder could easily have battered down.  The ditches were 
not more than three feet deep, and so narrow that a drummer-boy might with 
ease leap over.

    "A Loyalist, at whose house I was quartered, at Valley Forge, and who 
resided here at the time Washington's army was encamped, told me that when 
General Washington chose that spot for his winter-quarters his men were 
obliged to build their huts with round logs and suffered exceedingly from 
the inclemency of the season.  The greater part of them were in a manner 
naked at that severe season of the year without shoes and stockings, and 
very few, except the Virginia troops, with the necessary clothing.  His army 
was wasting away with sickness, that raged with extreme mortality in all 
his different hospitals, which were no less than eleven.  His army was 
likewise so diminished by constant desertions in companies, from ten to 
fifteen at a time that at one period it was reduced to four thousand, and 
those with propriety could not be called effective."

    "The horses, from being constantly exposed to showers of rain and falls of 
snow, both day and night, were in such a condition that many of them died, and 
the rest were so emaciated as to be unfit for labor; had he been attacked or 
repulsed he must have left behind all his artillery, for want of horses to 
convey it.  In addition to all those distresses, Washington had not in camp 
at any one time a week's provisions for man and horse, and sometimes he was 
totally destitute.  The Loyalists greatly censure General Howe in suffering 
Washington to continue in this weak and dangerous state from December till 
May, and equally astonished what could be the motive he did not attack, 
surround or take by siege the whole army when the severity of the weather 
was gone.  They expected that in the month of March, April and May they 
should hear of the camp being stormed or besieged.  But it seems that 
General Howe was exactly in the same situation as General Burgoyne 
respecting intelligence, obtaining none he could place a perfect reliance on."

    The house occupied by Washington as his headquarters is still standing, 
having undergone but little alteration since that time.  It was owned in the 
Revolution by Isaac Potts, the proprietor of the forge.  It is a two-story 
stone building, situated near the Reading Railroad.  The main portion of it 
has a front of about twenty-four feet and is thirty-three in depth.  The 
outside is of dressed stone, pointed.  The interior wood-work is still in a 
good state of preservation, and with care this building may be made to last 
for centuries, as its walls appear as durable as when first built.  No one 
familiar with our Revolutionary history can enter the room which served the 
great chief for nearly half a year, both as a reception-room and bed-
chamber, and where he wrote many important dispatches, without feelings of 
the deepest emotion.  In the sill of the east window of this room, and out 
of which can be seen a considerable portion of the camping-ground, is still 
pointed out a small, rough box, as having contained his papers and writing 
material.  We gazed at this depository and other objects around with 
considerable interest, hallowed as they are by so many associations of t he 
times that "tried men's souls."  Adjoining is a wing one and a half stories 
high and about twenty-four feet in length, which has been built since the 
war, but it occupies the site of a smaller structure that was erected for 
the accommodation of Mrs. Washington.  In a letter to a friend this lady 
remarks: "The General's apartment is very small, -he has had a log-cabin 
built to dine in, which has made our quarters much more tolerable than they 
were at first."  This property was long owned and carefully preserved by 
Mrs. Hannah Ogden, of whom, in 1878, it was purchased by the Centennial and 
Memorial Association of Valley Forge, which was specially organized for 
this purpose, and it can therefore be no longer regarded as private 
property.

     There are various remains of the encampment still visible.  On the road to 
Port Kennedy is a portion of land uninclosed, where the foundations of the 
hut occupied by Baron Steuben are still visible, and the ground is 
undisturbed on which he drilled his soldiers.  At the distance of half a 
mile from the headquarters a line of entrenchments crosses the road, 
beginning near the Schuylkill, and extending southwards fully a mile, 
terminating near the Chester County line.  On the farm of William Stephens, 
a few yards north of this road is a redoubt, not quite a quarter of a mile 
from the Schuylkill, placed there to command Sullivan's bridge, which was just 
below Catfish Island, in case of an attempt being made to enter the 
encampment from the north side of the river.  This redoubt is about a mile 
from the headquarters.  On the south side of the road, and in front of these 
entrenchments, is a redoubt called Fort Hamilton, and another called Fort 
Washington nearly a mile south and close to the Chester County line.  These 
are now the most prominent remains existing, and were among the most 
important.  As most of the encampment-ground is still in a state of nature, 
it has therefore generally remained undisturbed to this day, though more 
than a century has passed away since that eventful period.

  Relics are still occasionally found by persons living in that vicinity.  
Wm. Henry, Jr., found a number on his father's farm, which were shown to 
the writer in 1858.  Among these were, pewter bottons, having on them the 
figures seven, eight and ten, no doubt intended to show the regiment or 
brigade to which they belonged; also, spoons, bayonets and fragments of 
musket-locks, looking considerably time-worn, besides a variety of musket-
balls, some of which were of a large size.  Wm. R. Kennedy, in the spring of 
1857, turned up with the plow, on his farm, several twelve and sixteen-
pound cannon-balls and several hatchets.  The latter were about the usual 
size, but shaped precisely like a modern chopping-axe.  At the Montgomery 
County Centennial exhibit, Norristown, in September 1884, a considerable 
display of relies was made, many of them having been obtained in and around 
the place of this encampment.

1125

    THE SWEDES IN UPPER MERION.  -The credit is due to the Swedes of having 
made the first permanent settlement in Pennsylvania.  In the fall of 1637 two 
vessels arrived from, Goettenburg, called the "Key of Calmar" and the "Bird 
Grip."  A purchase was made by those colonists from the Indians the 
following year of the lands on the west side of the bay and river from Cape 
Henlopen to Santhicon, or the falls of the Delaware, which they called New 
Sweden.  Tradition has it that the ancestors of the Rambos, Holsteins, 
Yocums and Matsons came in these vessels.  After more arrivals, in February, 
1643, Governor Printz, selected for settlement the low alluvial island in 
the Delaware, called Tinicum or Tinnekonk, situated below, but near the 
mouth of the Schuylkill.  Here a settlement was made and a fort and a church 
built.  Peter Lindstrom, the royal Swedish engineer, in 1654, made a map of 
New Sweden, on which the Schuylkill is denoted as far up as to Contain a 
Small part of the territory now comprised in Montgomery County.  But no 
evidence, strange to say, exists of any early settlement or explorations up 
or along this river by the Swedes, even thirteen years after the arrival of 
Penn.

    In 1696, John and Gunnar Rambo had secured by purchase a tract of land in 
the present Upper Merion, which had also been previously granted, to Lasse 
Cock and company in 1684.  Subsequent to any settlement it was ascertained 
that William Penn had granted the aforesaid tract, containing in all seven 
thousand eight hundred acres, October 24, 1701, to his daughter, Letitia, 
as the manor of Mount Joy.  Upon investigation Penn's attorneys restored two 
hundred and fifty acres to John Rambo, March 6, 1709.  A tract was surveyed 
to Gunnar Rambo, April 11, 1702, containing six hundred and fourteen acres, 
which is stated to have been bounded on the north by Peter Cock's and the 
south by Widow Yocum's land.  It appears that afterwards a different survey 
was ordered, because "being within the bounds of Letitia Penn's Manor."  
How these matters were afterwards adjusted we have not definitely 
ascertained, but it is certain that what is known as the Swedes' Tract was 
located on the west side of the Schuylkill, between the present borough of 
Bridgeport and the Lower Merion line, and extending from the same a mile 
or more westwards, and came in possession of Mats Holstein, Gunnar Rambo, 
Peter Rambo, Peter Yocum and probably John Matson in 1712, and upon which 
they soon after settled and made the first improvements.  It was a judicious 
selection, and their descendants to this day still retain a considerable 
portion of the same.  According to tradition, these settlers commenced 
clearing away the trees and underbrush along the river early in the spring 
of this year and erected rude log dwellings, into which they moved with 
their families in June.  Further additions were made by purchase form Robert 
Llewellyn, Evan Hughes and perhaps other Welsh settlers in this vicinity, 
who had preceded them nearly a quarter of a century.  The Swedes called this 
section Ammasland, probably after some district or place in Sweden.

    Of these, Mats Holstein settled the farthest to the northwest of 
Philadelphia.  His wife was Brita Gostenberg.  His family consisted of sons, 
Andrew, Mathias and Frederick, and daughters, Deborah and Brita.  His 
original dwelling stood beside the Schuylkill, within the present limits of 
Bridgeport.  He died in 1738, aged sixty-one, when his eldest son, Andrew, 
inherited the home place, which we know in 1723 if not earlier, bore the name 
of Swedes' Ford.  He married Mary Jones, of Lower Merion, and at his death
left the property to his only son, Peter, who was rated in 1780 as holding 
here one hundred and ninety-seven acres, and was at this time, the township 
collector.  He died in 1785, and the property descended to his only child, 
Mary, who had married Levi Bartleson.  On account of the French and Indian 
troubles in 1747, a company of volunteers was formed, of which Mathias 
Holstein was lieutenant and Frederick Holstein ensign.

    Mats Holstein, the first settler, in 1714, built a stone house, about a 
mile from the river, to which he removed, with his family.  Four generations 
of his descendants were born here, and its walls still stand, though they 
have been built upon and added to several times since.  His second son, 
Mathias, already mentioned, who was born in 1717, married Magdalena, 
daughter of Marcus Hulings, of Morlatton, a Swedish settlement on the 
Schuylkill, four miles above the present borough of Pottstown.  Mrs.  
Holstein survived her husband many years and related several incidents in 
her early life which at this day seem curious.  She well remembered, when 
quite young, being carried some distance on a squaw's back.  The traveling 
was then chiefly performed in canoes.  When married and brought to Swedes' 
Ford near where her husband resided, she and all her wedding friends came 
down the river in canoes.  Mathias Holstein died December 10, 1768, aged 
fifty-one years, and was buried at the Swedes' Church.  He is stated to have 
been one of the most active in its erection in 1760.

    Samuel Holstein, son of the latter, was rated in 1780 as holding two 
hundred and seventy-eight acres.  It is said that on this tract he shot deer 
as late as 1760.  He had four sons,-
Major Mathias
Charles
Colonel George W.
William.
Some account of the former is given in the history of Bridgeport.  The 
latter became the owner of the homestead, remained unmarried, and after his 
death the property was sold, and thus, after a long possession, it passed 
out of the family.  George W. Holstein resided on Peach Farm, adjoining the 
old homestead.  In 1812 he was secretary of the Mount Joy Horse Company, 
became captain of the Second Troop of Montgomery County and lieutenant-
colonel of the Second Battalion.  At a meeting held at Norristown August 25, 
1824, he was appointed one of a committee of six to invite Lafayette to 
visit Montgomery County, particularly Whitemarsh, Barren Hill and Valley 
Forge.  In November 1827, he was elected one of the first managers of the De 
Kalb Street Bridge, since declared free.  He died February 10, 1841, aged 
sixty-three years.  He left three sons
Isaac
William H.
Dr. George W., the former being lately deceased.

1126

    Of our early Swedish families, perhaps none are now so numerous as that 
of Rambo.  The first ancestor, Peter Rambo, appears to have been a 
conspicuous man in the early settlement.  In 1657 he was appointed one of 
the magistrates of the colony; he was also a commissary, which office he 
resigned in 1661.

    In May, 1668, was made one of the counselors of Robert Carr, Deputy-
Governor; appointed a justice of the peace, with five others, October 3, 
1676, for the jurisdiction of the Delaware River.  He was a native of 
Goettenburg and had a sister living there in 1692, and the following year is 
mentioned, with Andrew Bonde, as perhaps the only survivor of those that 
came over in the first expedition, which would show that he must then have 
been pretty well advanced in years.  He had four sons then living; these 
were Peter, Gunnar, Andrew and John.  Peter Rambo, Jr., was present at the 
landing of Penn at Upland (now Chester) November 8, 1682.  He is mentioned as 
having in 1693 six persons in his family.  Charmed with the beauty and 
fertility of the Schuylkill Valley, he removed with his family from the 
vicinity of Upland, and settled on his tract in Upper Merion, with the 
others, in 1712, on which he spent the remainder of his days.  Gunnar Rambo, 
in 1685, represented Philadelphia County in the Assembly; is mentioned in 
the list of 1693 as having also six in family.  He arrived with his brother 
and settled on a large tract just below the present Bridgeport.  A lot of 
land was purchased from his estate in 1758, upon which a school-house had 
been erected and subsequently the church.

    Mons or Mounce Rambo was the son of Gunnar Rambo, and was born in 1693, 
and accompanied his father to Upper Merion, where he spent the remainder of 
his days.  He was a famous hunter, and his exploits still live in the 
traditions of the neighborhood.  He used to say that when he first came here 
there were numbers of friendly Indians about and among them.  He stated that 
be had shot deer in the vicinity as late as the year 1770.  Once he shot a 
panther which he discovered attempting to attack his dog.  Another time he 
wounded a large deer, and, stepping across it to cut its throat with a 
knife, the deer made off with him at full speed; however, he clung to its 
back, and in this position succeeded in killing the animal.  In the 
graveyard of the Swedes' Church may be seen a large stone which has 
inscribed on it, "In Memory of Mons Rambo, who departed this life October 
23d, 1782, aged 89 years."  In the list of settlers of Upper Merion, in 
1734, we find the names of Mounce, Gabriel, John and Elias Rambo, and for 
the same year Peter Rambo, holding two hundred acres in Providence 
township.  

  On the ancient tombstones we find the names of
Diana Rambo, who died January 30, 1744-45, aged thirty-six years
Peter Rambo, June 18, 1767, aged forty-two years
Mathias Rambo, October 10, 1782, aged sixty-six years

  In the assessor's list of Upper Merion for 1780 we find
Ezekiel Rambo rated for 45 acres
Sarah Rambo, 40
John Rambo, 90
George Rambo, 200
Tobias Rambo, 57
Mounce Rambo, 100; and 
Abraham Rambo; 

as single men.
Gunnar Rambo, 
James Rambo and 
Benjamin Rambo.  

Gunnar Rambo was assessed in Limerick township, in 1776, for one hundred and 
seventy acres, and Moses Rambo, a single man, probably a son.  In the list of 
voters in Upper Merion in 1858, six Rambos are registered and the same number 
in Upper Providence.

    Peter Yocum is mentioned in the Upland Court records as being on a jury 
held there in December, 1681.   In March, 1682, he was appointed overseer of 
highways for one year, from Karker's Mills to the Falls of Schuylkill.  The 
list of 1693 represents his having nine persons in his family.  He also 
removed to Upper Merion, and settled immediately below the Rambo brothers.  
In the list of 1734 we still find the name of Peter Yocum; whether the same 
person or a son we are not able to state.  In the assessor's list of the 
township for 1780, Moses Yocum is rated for one hundred acres and James 
Yocum twenty-five acres.  Swan Yocum was a resident of Towamencin Township 
in 1780.  A stone in Swedes' Churchyard informs us that the aforesaid Moses 
Yocum died March 1, 1787, aged sixty-seven years.  At Morlatton, Peter Yocum 
resided, and died July 13, 1794, aged seventy-six.  The voter's list of 
Upper Merion for 1858 shows that the family has here become extinct, but is 
found in Upper Providence and several of the adjoining townships.

    Nils Matson was a native of Sweden, and very probably the ancestor of 
John Matson, mentioned in the list of 1693.  The latter is represented at 
that date, as having eleven persons in his family.  One of the same name, 
who was probably a son, is represented as having moved into Upper Merion on 
a large tract of land adjoining Lower Merion.  As the country became 
settled a ford was established here, and thus received the name of 
Matson's Ford.  During the Revolution the American army crossed several 
times at this place.  It was then owned by Peter Matson, and on his death 
the land was divided among his sons, leaving each a farm.  In the assessment 
of 1780, Peter Matson bad here one hundred and seventy-nine acres, a 
portion being then farmed by his son, Isaac Matson.  Jacob Matson at this 
date resided in Lower Merion, and was probably a brother of the latter.  The 
land here has for sometime passed out of the family.  In the Upper Merion 
voters' list for 1858 one of the name is mentioned.

    William Penn, it appears, was delighted with the kind reception he 
received from the gentle-hearted Swedes.  After his departure from this 
country he sent a letter from London, dated the 16th of First Month, 1684-
85, to Thomas Lloyd, president of the Council, in which he says, "Salute me 
to the Swedes, Captain Cock, old Peter Cock and Rambo and their sons, the 
Swansons, Andrew Binkson, P. Yoakum, and the rest of them.  Their ambassador 
here dined with me the other day."  Again, in his "Present State of 
America," printed in London in 1687, at page 106, says, "I must need 
commend the Swedes' respect to authority and kind behavior to the English; 
they do not degenerate from the old friendship between both kingdoms.  As 
they are people proper and strong of body, so they have fine children, and 
almost every house full, rare to find one of them without three or four 
boys and as many girls; some, six, seven, eight sons.  And I must do them 
that right: I see few young men more sober and industrious."

1127

  In connection with this subject are a few matters deserving mention.  
The Swedish language, it appears, was still spoken by their descendants 
here as late as the Revolution.  Mathias Holstein, who died in 1768, spoke 
it in his family.  Andrew Rambo, aged seventy years, informed the writer at 
Swedesburg, in 1858, that when a young man he attended worship at Gloria 
Dei Church, at Wicaco, and heard the Rev. Dr. Colin preach there in 
Swedish, but was unable to understand it.  He also stated that his 
grandfather, Tobias Rambo, spoke the language.  It is supposed that no 
preaching in Swedish was ever done in the Swedes' or Christ Church here, 
but that Dr. Colin, would now and then, from habit, use a Swedish word in 
his sermon, which he would endeavor afterwards to explain.  From the 
earliest period the Swedes and their descendants have shown a predilection 
to reside along the valleys of the Delaware and Schuylkill, and where they 
still hold most fertile tracts.  As a people they have been honest and 
industrious, and remarkable for pursuing the even tenor of their way to 
prosperity, rarely venturing in any undertaking that partook of mere 
speculation.  In consequence they have been rarely affected by those 
disastrous convulsions that now and then occur to wreck the more 
venturesome.

    CHRIST CHURCH. -The early Swedes were undoubtedly a moral and religious 
people, and under the most adverse circumstances never lost sight of their 
faith.  On Tinicum Island, in 1646, they erected the first house of worship 
in Pennsylvania.  At Wicaco, now in the lower part of Philadelphia, they 
converted a blockhouse to this purpose in 1677, which was torn down in 
1700, and a commodious brick church, called Gloria Dei, built in its place.  
A patent was granted to Rev. Andrew Rudman and other Swedes, October 2, 
1701, for ten thousand acres situated on the east bank of the Schuylkill, 
about four miles above the present borough of Pottstown.  On this tract a 
settlement was made, very probably the following year, which was called 
Morlatton, but now known as Douglasville.  They had worship here in private 
houses until 1735, when a church, denominated St. Gabriel's, was commenced 
and finished in 1737.  The graveyard, however, was used as a place of 
interment, according to the tombstones, at least as early as 1719.

    About 1730 the Rev. Samuel Hesselius, the pastor of Morlatton, on his 
return from Wicaco, made a visit to the Swedes of Upper Merion, and at the 
house of Gunnar Rambo held services, at which there was a good attendance 
from the surrounding neighborhood.  On this occasion he advised the erection 
of a school-house, that their children might enjoy the advantages of a 
better education than they had heretofore received in their home 
instruction, as well as for holding therein religious services.  His 
suggestions were so well received that arrangements were soon afterwards 
made to carry out the project.  A committee was appointed to secure the site 
and erect the building.  An acre of ground was obtained from Gunnar Rambo, 
which was inclosed with a post and rail fence, which no doubt led to the 
origin of the burial-ground.  The school-house was completed in 1735, if not 
earlier, but no regular teacher was employed for some time.  Religious 
worship was now held here several times a year and at private houses, 
generally conducted by lay members.  The Rev. Olif Parlin, a missionary 
stationed at Wicaco, it is known preached here at least on one occasion, in 
1756.  Before this marriages and baptisms had been performed at Gloria Dei, 
with which this congregation was united, as well as the one at Kingsessing.

    With a view of building a church, the school-house lot was purchased, for 
eleven pounds sterling, from the estate of Gunnar Rambo, deceased.  The deed 
therefor was dated May 7, 1758, and was executed by Ezekiel Rambo and wife 
to Mounce Rambo, Andrew Holstein, Peter Rambo and George Rambo, who had 
been chosen trustees on behalf of the Swedish Lutheran congregation.  It 
conveys the lot to them "in trust for the use of the said Lutheran 
congregation, their heirs and successors forever, and that for the use of a 
burying-ground, a church, a school-house and other buildings hereafter to 
be erected thereon, as the said congregation and their successors forever 
shall or will think meet or proper, and for no other use, intent or 
purpose whatsoever."  Arrangements were now made for the erection of the 
church, and were so actively entered into that it was completed and 
dedicated as Christ Church June 24, 1760.  On this occasion the sermon was 
preached by the Rev. Charles Magnus Wrangle, who had been sent over the 
previous year to take charge of the three congregations already mentioned 
as constituting the mission.  His sermon on this occasion was based on the 
text from Isaiah, "Thus saith the Lord, the heaven is my throne and the 
earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where 
is the place of my rest?"  He returned to Sweden in 1708 and was there made 
a bishop.  He was a popular and eloquent divine, and because of the numbers 
that frequently attended to hear his discourses, often preached in the open 
air.  During his ministry in Pennsylvania he generally held services here 
once a month.  On these occasions numbers would come hither in canoes, even 
from Morlatton, and also by the same means to hear him at Wicaco.  At this 
time the church and yard were inclosed by a stone wall, leaving the school-
house outside the same.

1128

    The Rev. Andrew Goeranson succeeded in the charge, and continued therein 
until the close of 1779.  In 1774, Rev. Charles Lute, of the Episcopal 
Church, was appointed his assistant.  He was a warm patriot during the 
Revolution, and animated his hearers by introducing the subject in his 
sermons.  It is a tradition that when Washington was in the vicinity with 
his army he attended worship here on one occasion, if not afterwards.  In 
January, 1780, Rev. Mathias Hultgrew succeeded Mr. Goeranson, and officiated 
until May, 1786.  In July of that year Rev. Nicholas Colin received the 
charge of the mission, which he held until his death, in 1831, the long 
period of forty-five years, and retained the high regard of his 
congregation to the close.  In this interval he was occasionally assisted in 
his ministrations by several pastors of the Episcopal Church.  Although Dr.  
Colin resided at Wicaco, he always took an interest in his Upper Merion 
congregation, whom he visited monthly on horseback.  He loved his calling 
and the church flourished under his pastorate.  He was buried at Gloria Dei, 
where a tablet has been placed to his memory, he being one of the last of a 
long line of missionaries sent out from Sweden to sustain in the faith her 
colonists and descendants.

    Owing to a petition from the members of this and the other churches at 
Wicaco and Kingsessing, they were all three unitedly incorporated by 
Governor John Penn, September 25, 1765, as "Swedish Lutheran Churches."  At 
a meeting of the vestry in July, 1786, it was resolved that whenever His 
Majesty, the King of Sweden, shall deem it proper or convenient to recall 
the Rev. Mr. Colin, "the mission to the congregations will undoubtedly 
cease."  In consequence, application was made to the State Legislature for 
an amendment to the charter, which was passed September 10, 1787, which 
makes a provision in the fifth section for the election of a rector or 
other ministers and "that such rector or other ministers shall be in the 
ministry of the Lutheran or Episcopal Churches."  The union of the three 
churches prior to 1765 was continued till 1843, when it was dissolved by a 
petition from the several congregations, through an act of Assembly, which 
severed their connection with each other as a corporate body, forming them 
into three distinct parishes, with their respective rectors.

    After the death of Dr. Colin, the Rev. Jehu C. Clay became the rector of 
the three churches from January, 1832, until their separation, in 1843.  
Rev. Edwin N. Lightner succeeded in the sole charge in July, 1844, and 
continued until February, 1855.  In the spring of said year Rev. William 
Henry Rees became the rector, which relation he sustained for six years.  
The Rev. Thomas S. Yocum, of Swedish descent, followed in May, 1861; and 
remained till the summer of 1870.  Rev. 0. Perinchief, in July of said 
year, held the charge to September 8, 1873.  The Rev. E. A. Warriner 
immediately assumed the rectorship until February 21, 1875.  Mr. Perinchief 
resumed the charge in the following April, which he retained until his 
death, April 29, 1877.  The Rev. A. A. Marple became his successor September 
9, 1877, and is the present incumbent.




                     PICTURE OF JEHU C. CLAY, APPEARS HERE.




    The graveyard having become too small, with a desire to its enlargement 
and making other improvements, a meeting was held at the church March 12, 1837, 
the vestry consisting of
George W. Holstein
Benjamin B. Hughes
Andrew Shainline and
J. Cleaver Rambo, to who were added a committee consisting of William H. 
Holstein, Nathan Rambo, Ivins Rambo and Samuel H. Coates, to attend to the 
necessary arrangements.  It was now agreed to enlarge the church.  C. Ramsey 
& Sons were engaged to do the mason-work, and Andrew Rambo to superintend 
the carpentry.  On the 1st of February, 1838, the church was consecrated by 
Bishop Onderdonk, assisted by Revs. J. C. Clay, William N. Deihl, William 
H. Rees and others.  On this occasion the rite of confirmation was 
administered for the first time within its walls to eleven persons.  In 1845 
the parsonage was erected at a cost of upwards of seventeen hundred 
dollars, and the Sunday-school building previous to 1870.

1129

    The church is a handsome, plain, stone, Gothic edifice, built in the 
form of a cross, with a square tower upwards of fifty feet high, in which 
a bell was placed in 1855.  Few houses of worship have a more beautiful 
situation, being on an elevated, sloping, shady bank of the Schuylkill and 
to the traveler on the eastern side of the river forming a picturesque 
object, through some resemblance reminding one of the old church at 
Stratford-on-Avon.  It is surrounded by a large graveyard, inclosed by a 
wall, in which grow maple, poplar and cedar-trees.  A great many, as may be 
well supposed, have been buried here, one of the tombstones bearing the 
date of 1745, showing that it must have been thus used some time before the 
erection of the church.  Among the names found here may be mentioned 
Broades
Brook
Holstein
Gartley
Supplee
Novioch
Custer
Ramsey
Thomas
Amies
Jones
Clay
Hughes
Munson
Learnard
Pastorius
Dehaven
Rambo
Engle
Coates
Roberts
Famous
Henderson.

Though the term of worship is Episcopal, yet this church is not attached to 
the diocese, this right having been reserved by its members.  Of all the 
Swedish Lutheran Churches in Pennsylvania, this is now the only one that 
has retained the privilege.  Major Mathias Holstein related that down to 
1780 the worshipers that came from any distance, and lived away from 
navigation, came to attend service here on horseback, which practice was 
pretty generally maintained down to 1830.  Indeed, for this purpose, the 
side-saddle formed a portion of the young bride's outfit.


                  ASSESSMENT OF UPPER MERION FOR 1780.

      Isaac Hughs assessor; Samuel Holstein assistant assessor, and
                      Peter Holstein, collector.

Adam Eve, tailor, 32 acres 1 horse and 2 cows

Leonard Shaline's estate, 22 a

John Famous, 1 h.  2 c

Evan Evans, 2 h.  2 c

Margaret Bell, 125 a

Joshua Phillips, 200 a.  2 h.  6 c

James Abraham, 190 a.  3 h.  8 c

John Cleaver, 80 a.  2 h.  3 c

Benjamin Ramsey, 2 h.  5 c

William Long's estate, 20 a

Peter Wells, farmer, 112 a.  2 h 2 c

Isaac Davis, 250 a.  2 h.  2 c

John Moore,  3 h 2 c.

Abraham Griffith, miller, 1 h.  1 c.  

for Jacob Walker and Samuel Jelly, 195 a.  and a grist-mill

Daniel Thompson, tailor, 1 c

Jane Moore, 275 a.  2 h.  5 c

James Hazelton's estate, 125 a

Michael Sher, 1h.  3 c

Henry Casselberry, 2 h.  2 c

Morris Stephens, 150 a., 1 negro

David Stephens, 300 a.  2 h.  2c

Mordecai Moore, 50 a.  2 h. 2 c

Bernard Vanhorne, 1 h.  2 c

George Hart, 2 c

John Pugh, store-keeper, 1 h.  150 gals. rum  200 lbs. brown sugar 100 lbs. coffee

Isaac Potts' estate, 35a.  grist and saw-mill

James Berry, tavern-keeper, 2a.  2 c

John Britton, 190 a.  2 h.  5 c.  1 riding-chair

Henry Braunaman, 50 a.  2 h 1 c

Lawrence Stuart, 100 a.  4 h 5 c

William Terrance, 31 a, 5 c., rents on shares

Robert Bluden, weaver, 1 c

Thomas Sturges, 100a.  2 h.  3 c. 1 negro wench

Amos Sturges

John Sturges, 100 a.  2 h 2c

John Lyle, 160 a.  3 h.  4 c

Thomas Edward, shoemaker, 6 a.  2 h.  2 c

William Farr, in the army, 150a., 2 h 1 c

John Dugun, 2 h  2 c

Thomas Rees, 300 a.  4 h.  8c., 1 negro

Benjamin Jones, 15 a 

Arthur Campell, weaver, 2 h.  2c

George George,  470 a.  2 h.  6 c.  saw-mill

Thomas Davis, 135 a., 2 h.  1 c

Peter Whiteside's estate, 90 a  

Isaac Supplee, 80 a.  2 h

Jobn Ingels, 115 a.  2 h.  2 c

Griffith Powell, 100 2h., 6c.

John Johnson, 90 a.  3 h.  4 c.  1 servant

William Crawford, 100 a 2h 1c.  1 servant girl

Abraham Thomas, smith, 1 c

Isaac Matson, 2 h 1 c

Anthony Sturges, 90 a.  1h 1 c

Amos Willet, fuller, 39 a.  1h.  2 c.  fulling-mill

Peter Matson, 179 a.  1 h.  2 c

Isaac Knight, 2 h.  3 c.  rents from Edward Shippen's estate 230 a

David Jordan, 1a.  2 c

Henry Coldflesh, 100 a.  2 h.  2 c

John Rees, 100a 3 h.  4 c

Andrew Supplee, 64 a.  2 h.  3 c

Moses Yocum, 100a.  3 h.  3 c

Benjamin Ramsey, 1 c

Ezekiel Rambo, 45 a.  2 h.  2.1 servant girl

Absalom Priest, tailor, 1 h.  1 c

Jonas Yocum's estate, 25 a

William Gabb, miller, 2 c

Sarah Rambo, 40 a.  2 h.  1 c.

John Rambo, 90 a.  2 h.  3 c

Dennis Collins, weaver, 2 h.  2 c

George Savage, inn-keeper, 2 h.  1 c

Philip Rees' estate, 28 a.  2 h  2 c

John Roberts, miller, 23 a.  grist-mill 2 h.  2 c

Joseph Williams, 200 a.  4 h.  3 c

Jonathan Roberts, 300 a.  3 h.  6 c

William Cleaver, 180 a.  3 h.  3 c

William Wilson, 1h.  1 c

Samuel Phillips, 150 a.  3 h.  5 c

Jacob Eagy, 2 h.  2 c

Jonathan Tucker, 93a.  3 h  2 c

Moses Davis, 1 h.  1 c

George Rambo, 200 a.  2 h.  5 c 

Jehu Jones, 250 a.  3 h.  5 c

Nathan Sturges, joiner, 100 a.  2 h.  2c

Thomas Martin, tailor, 1 h.  1 c

John Horn's estate, 60 a

John Henderson, 100 a.  3 h.  1 c

Benjamin Eastburn, 200 a.  3 h.  5 c.  1 servant

Henry 0. Neal, 2 h.  2 c

George Woolmore, weaver, 2c

Sarah Bryn's estate, 71 a

Michael Wals, 1 h.  2 c

Isaac Abraham's estate, 60 a

Tobias Rambo, 57 a.  2 h.  2 c

Andrew Shainline, shoemaker, 100 a.  3 h  4 c

Mounce Rambo, 100 a.  2 h.  2 c

Abraham Rambo, 1 h

Samuel Ramsey, smith, 1 h.  2 c

William Dewees' estate, 120 a

James Jones, 17 a

Abijah Stevens, 60 a

Jacob Ballets, 1 c

Andrew Hammon, 1 c

Henry Priest, mason, 2 h.  3 c

Cephus Bartleson, inn-keeper, 4 h.  6 c.  pays 200 bu of wheat rent to Peter Holstein

Peter Holstein, 197 a., 1 h

Samuel Holstein, 278 a.  5 h.  9 c.  1 negro

Isaac Hughes, 489 1/2 a.  3 h.  5 c.  1 negro wench

Abraham Nanna's estate, 196 a

Lindsay Coats, 130 3/4 a 3h 2 c.  negro boy and girl

Jesse Roberts, stiller, 1 h.  2 c.  still holds 90 gals

John Jones, 29a

Samuel Miles, 160 a

Rev. William Smith, 125a.  


SINGLE MEN

Jesse Roberts
Jonas Rambo
William George
David George
Nicholas Bower
William Stuart
Arthur Rice
Levi Priest
Leonard Spade
George Cool
Jonathan Phillips
Israel Davis
Enoch Enox
Morris Rowland
William McClure
Benjamin Rambo
Henry Brinsly
Mathis Coldfiesh
Nathan Cook
John Pugh
Henry Cassleberry
Jonathan Cleaver
Richard Moore
Morris Stephens.


                             BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

                                JOHN KENNEDY.

    John Kennedy, the youngest of eight children of Alexander and Margaret 
Robison Kennedy, was born on the 18th of October, 1815, in Upper Merion 
township, Montgomery Co., Pa., and spent his youth on the homestead farm, 
located in the above township.  The common schools, and, later, a boarding-
school, afforded opportunities for more than a rudimentary education, after 
which his time and energies, until the attainment of his majority, were 
given to the farm.  He then began the purchase and sale of stock, which in 
after-years reached such proportions as to become an important feature of 
business in the county.  Mr. Kennedy was, on the 27th of November, 1841, 
married to Miss Margaret S., daughter of Moore Connell, of Lancaster 
County, Pa.  Their children are
Josephine, wife of M. M. Ellis, of Phoenixville, Pa
Maggie S., wife of N. D. Cortwright, Jr., of Mauch Chunk, Pa.
Moore C., and five who are deceased

    Mr. Kennedy, after engaging for several years, in the purchase and sale 
of stock, secured, in 1842, the lime-works at Port Kennedy, which he 
continued during his lifetime to operate.  He erected wharves on the 
Schuylkill River, and owned many schooners, which were constantly plying 
between this and other ports bearing the products of his extensive 
limekilns.  With his advent the neighborhood assumed an aspect of business 
life before unknown, dwellings being erected, as also structures for the 
prosecution of various commercial enterprises.


1130 

In all this activity he was the leading spirit which directed and 
encouraged, by capital and personal effort, the growth and development of 
the place.  In 1855, Mr. Kennedy purchased five farms in Kent and other 
counties in Maryland, and, although not a resident of the State, gave his 
supervision to their cultivation and improvement, and gave special 
attention to the growth of peaches.  He still retained his extensive 
interests at Port Kennedy, and engaged largely in the sale of blooded 
stock, the superior quality of the horses and cattle offered at these sales 
making Port Kennedy an objective-point for buyers throughout the State.  

    Mr. Kennedy was identified with most of the important interests in the 
county.  He was president of the Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank, of Phoenixville, 
president of the Montgomery Agricultural Society, in which he felt a deep 
interest, and largely identified with the Grange Movement in the county.  He 
assisted in the construction of the Reading Railroad having been awarded 
a contract for grading a section of the road.  He was one of the 
originators of the Port Kennedy Bridge Company, with which he was for years 
officially connected.  Mr. Kennedy was, in politics, formerly a Democrat, 
and later affiliated with the Republican party.  He cared little for office, 
and although, from motives of public spirit, occasionally accepting minor 
township positions, be declined more important honors tendered him.  His 
death, which was felt by the community to be a public, loss, occurred on 
the 4th of September 1877, in his sixty-second year.




                  PICTURE OF JOHN KENNEDY, APPEARS HERE.




                              DANIEL KINZIE.

    Mr. Kinzie is of Scotch antecedents, Alexander McKinzie, his great-
grandfather, having immigrated in 1775 to America in company with his son 
Donald, who was born May 23, 1763, in the parish of Inverness.  The latter 
was a soldier in the war of the Revolution, and was wounded while in service 
on board a privateer.  He subsequently became a farmer and died in 1843 in 
possession of much valuable land, a portion of which is still in 
possession of the family.  His children were John and Ann by a first 
marriage, and by a second union
Rebecca
Christiana
Peter Davies
Mary
Alexander.
John was born in 1786 in Delaware County, find first engaged in labor on 
the farm, after which he was employed in teaching.  He served with the 
Norristown Rifles, under Captain Robinson, in the war of 1812, having been 
stationed at Sandy Hook.

1131

Mr. Kinzie married, in 1811, Mary, daughter of William Sheaff, of 
Haverford, Delaware Co., and had children, -
Emily
Sabina
Daniel
Susan
William
Isabella
Rebecca
Charles
John
Horatio G.

Daniel was born on the 7th of April, 1818, in Lower Merion township, and 
devoted his boyhood to acquiring a common-school education, after which he, 
in 1836, entered a store in Manayunk, Philadelphia Co., and remained two 
years as clerk.  He then became a resident of Upper Merion, and filled the 
same position at Bird-in-Hand, in that township.  In 1847 he formed a co-
partnership with Perry M. Hunter, which continued until 1859, when he 
retired from business.  Mr. Kinzie having previously studied surveying with 
his father, he adopted it as a profession, and has since his retirement 
from commercial life found his services much in demand as a civil engineer 
and surveyor.  He has during his whole life been a Democrat, and active in 
local political issues, having served for nine years as a member of the 
school board, and in other positions of trust, and since 1875 filled the 
office of justice of the peace.  He was educated in the faith of the Baptist 
Church.




                 PICTURE OF DANIEL KINZIE, APPEARS HERE.




                            CHAPTER LXXVIII.

                         UPPER SALFORD TOWNSHIP.

                             By Wm. J. Buck.

    THIS township is bounded on the north and northwest by Marlborough, 
south by Perkiomen and Lower Salford, west by Frederick, northeast by Bucks 
County and east by Franconia.  Its greatest length is above eight miles, and 
breadth nearly four, with an area of twelve thousand seven hundred and 
fifty-five acres, and in extent it is the fourth in the county.  The surface 
is rolling and several hills extend through it whose surface is stony; the 
soil consists of loam and red shale.  The principal streams are the East 
Branch, the Ridge Valley and Perkiomen.  The latter forms its western 
boundary nearly four miles, and propels in the township four grist-mills 
and several other manufacturing establishments.  The East Branch rises in 
Bucks County and forms its eastern boundary for nearly four miles, and, 
like Ridge Valley Creek, furnishes water-power to several mills.

    One mile north of Schwenksville, on the east side of the Perkiomen Creek 
is Stone Hill, probably the highest elevation in the township.  On measurement 
it is ascertained to be two hundred and forty feet above the adjacent 
stream.  Its top affords a fine prospect of the surrounding country and is 
covered with timber, abounding in huge rocks, which renders it at places 
unfit for tillage.  Foxes, raccoons, opossums and pheasants are still found 
there.  In 1852 five full grown red foxes were captured here that had lived 
upon the poultry of the neighborhood; they have now become scarce.  On the 
west side of Ridge Valley Creek is also a wild, rocky range, following its 
course, covered with timber and abounding in all of the aforesaid animals.  
on the farm of Abraham G. Kober, about half a mile north of Mechanicsville  
a copper-mine was opened in 1879.  It has been leased for a royalty to 
Tetham & Brothers, of New York, who made excavations to a depth of twenty-
three feet in the fall of 1883, It was discovered in plowing by traces of 
the ore existing in the stones near the surface.  It is evidently a 
continuation of the same vein discovered and worked long ago near 
Zeiglersville, four miles distant.

1132

    The Spring House and Sumneytown turnpike crosses the central part for 
upwards of three miles.  The Perkiomen Railroad enters Upper Salford about a 
mile above Schwenksville, following close along the east bank of the stream 
for three miles, in which distance it has three stations, called Salford, 
Hendricks and Kratz.  The villages are Salfordville, Tylersport, Hendricks, 
Salford Station, Branchville and Mechanicsville, the first four containing 
post-offices.

    According to the census of 1800 it possessed 676 inhabitants
in 1840, 1301
in 1880, 1866.
The real estate for taxable purposes was valued in 1882 at $979,230, and 
including the personal property, $979,230, [sic] the average per taxable being 
$2429.  In May, 1883, five hotels, four general stores, twelve flour and 
feed, one boot and shoe, one stove and one furniture-store, one coal-yard 
and two restaurants were licensed.  The township contains eight public 
schools, open five months, with an average attendance of 305 pupils for the 
school year ending June 1, 1882.

    The census of 1850 returned 277 houses, 277 families and 195 farms.  
A small portion of the territory of the township in the vicinity of 
Sumneytown and the adjoining part in Marlborough was formed into an 
independent school district in October, 1882.

    The township of Salford was originally formed in March, 1727, and then 
contained upwards of thirty thousand acres of land, including all of the 
present townships or Marlborough, Upper and Lower Salford and a part of 
Franconia.  In the beginning of 1741 a petition was sent to the Court of 
Quarter Sessions, signed by a number of the residents, wherein they state 
"that said township is settled with many inhabitants, some of whom escape 
being taxed for want of the true bounds being ascertained, praying this 
court would be pleased to view a draught to the said petition annexed, 
being part of the land of said township of Salford, which contains about 
ten thousand acres, and that the same may be erected into a township by the 
name of Upper Salford."  The court having taken the said petition into 
consideration, and examined said draught and bounds, erected the same into 
a township to be called by the name of Upper Salford, and the bounds were 
as follows, viz:

    "Beginning at a White Oak on the East Branch of Perkiomy Creek, at 
corner of Marlborough township, thence by the same North East 91 perches to a 
Post, thence by the same South East 30 perches to a White Oak, thence by 
the same North East 160 perches to a stone, thence by the same South East 
96 perches to a Black Oak sapling, thence by the same North East 106 
perches to a Post, thence by the same South East 10 perches to a Black Oak, 
thence by the same North East 26 perches to the Swamp Creek, thence up the 
same 150 perches, thence by the township aforesaid North East 22 perches to 
a Post, thence by the same North East 1200 perches to a Post in a line 
dividing the counties of Philadelphia and Bucks, thence down the same by 
Franconia township about 1300 perches, thence by Franconia township South 
East 184 perches to a Post at a corner of Salford township, thence by the 
same South West 165 perches to a White Oak, thence by the same South East 
89 perches to a Post, thence by the same South West 772 perches to a Post, 
thence by the same South East 18 perches to a stone, thence by the same 
South West 78 perches to a Post, thence by the same South West 126 perches 
to a Post, thence by Perkiomen and Skippack townships North West 430 
perches to Perkiomy Creek aforesaid, thence up the same about 1560 perches 
to the place of beginning, containing 10,000 acres.  Erected at March 
Sessions, 1741."

    The townships of Lower Salford and Marlborough were also established at 
this time, and subsequently occupied all the remaining territory of Salford 
since the formation of Franconia, in 1731.

    The records of the Old Goshenhoppen Church furnish us with a partial list 
of the early settlers of this township and vicinity, who were members of 
the same, with the places, in most instances, of their nativity, and the 
year of their arrival.
 
Elias Long and wife, from Wurtemberg, in 1716

John George Gankler and wife, Anna Barbara, from near Zurich, in 1717

John Henry Boyer, from the Pfaltz or Palatinate

John George Weiker and wife, Elizabeth, from Darmstadt, 1724

John Martin Derr and wife from Rheinbaiern, in 1728

John George Wagner, wife and son, George Martin, from Baiern, in 1731

John Michael Reichert from Wurtemberg

John Philip Gabel and wife, from Zweibrucken

Mathias Waltner, from the Pfaltz

John Christopher Bickel, from Wurtemberg

John George Underkoffler, in 1732

Andreas Boyer from the Pfaltz

Valentine Nungesser in 1733

Isaac Klein

John Klein

George Weigert

John Jacob Fillman, wife and son Philip, in 1736

John William Daub and wife from near Worms, in 1737

George Michael Wonnkessel and wife, from Wurtemberg, in 1718

Henry Worman purchased a tract of land here in 1742

Henry Bomborger one hundred and fifty-acres the year following, and 

Jacob Eck one hundred and twenty-five acres in 1747.

  In the list of land-holders and tenants of Salford in 1734 the following, 
through the assistance of James Y. Heckler, of Harleysville, have been 
located as residents of Upper Salford;

Peter Kuntz, 100 acres
Hans Michael Wagley, 100
Valentine Kratz, 100
Hans Wollyberge, 100
Jacob Ingress, 100
Ulrich Steffe, 50
Martin Hideble
Dewalt Young, 100
Christopher Lehman, 100
Hans Adam Maurer, 100
Rudolph Drake, 50
Yost Cope, 100
Christopher Ankabrant
George Cochler, 100
William Smith, 100
Philip Read, 50
Christian Younglin, 20
Hans Underkoffler, 100
John Lebo
Abraham Titloe, 50
Michael Moll, 50
Mathias Haas, 100
Samuel Moyer, 100;
Samuel Moyer, Jr.
Hans Moyer, Jr., 100
Hans Freed, 100
Jacob Cook, 100
John Henry Snyder, 100
Jacob Preuss or Price, 150 acres.

Descendants of the name of
Scholl
Moyer
Freed
Kratz
Hildebidle still hold lands here.

1133

    As this section of country from an early period has been called 
Goshenhoppen, and the first church erected in this township known only by 
this name, we deem the subject of sufficient importance to give some 
attention as to its origin and claims.  The name has also been bestowed on 
several other places, as in Frederick and Upper Hanover townships and in 
the neighboring parts of Berks.  It has puzzled numbers as to whether it is 
of Indian or German origin.  By the modern spelling it would seem to belong 
to the latter, but the test of historical investigation indicates the 
former.  The map accompanying Gabriel Thomas' "Account of Pennsylvania," 
published in London in 1698, establishes the fact, from the manner that 
the Perkiomen and its several branches are delineated thereon, that even 
previously to that date this section or country must have been pretty well 
explored, or it could not have been given with such correctness.  A short 
distance north of Schwenksville, where the road crosses over Swamp Creek, 
veins of copper-ore are readily seen in the neighboring rocks, which is 
just below the, mouth of what lots been long known as Goshenhoppen Run, a 
stream about four miles in length.  There is strong reason to believe that 
copper-mining was pursued here some time before any actual settlement was 
made for other purposes.  In 1730 or thereabouts a large tract was taken up 
here for this especial object by a company, who sunk various shafts and 
entered into extensive operations.  This was finally relinquished as not 
proving profitable.  Hence it is our opinion that through these early labors 
the name of the aforesaid stream, in the absence of any other, became 
applied to this section of country, and it has been impossible to ascribe 
it to any other source.  Nicholas Scull, in his map of the province, 
published in 1759, denotes these copper-mines.  The earliest mention yet 
found of the name in records is in a petition of the inhabitants of 
Colebrookdale and parts adjacent, dated May 10, 1728, wherein it is called 
"Coshahapopin," and in another of 1735, "Quesohopin."  In a petition to the 
court from this section for a road in March, 1751 it is "Cussaoppin."  In an 
address of Rev. George Michael Weiss November 2, 1754, he styles himself as  
residing in "Goshenhoppe."  The name of Goshenhoppen Run has been round in 
deeds of 1732, but further research can no doubt reveal it earlier.  Some  
have supposed the name to be derived from Shakhoppa, one of four chiefs of 
whom a considerable purchase of lands was made in 1685, in the present limits 
of Philadelphia, Montgomery, Chester, and Delaware.   There was a school 
district in this township so called which was abolished by an act of 
Assembly passed in 1859.

    The earliest road at Upper Salford, according to the records, was one 
laid out and confirmed in June, 1728, from Skippack, through the present 
Lederachsville and Salfordville, to Sumneytown, where it terminated.  It was 
then called the Skippack and Salford road.  The road from the present Spring 
House to Sumneytown was confirmed and opened in June, 1735, and turnpiked in 
1848.  What is now known as the Ridge road was opened in 1766, and.  
commenced at a corner of Detrich Rudy's land, on the Bucks County line; 
thence through the present Tylersport, by lands of
William Mayberry, deceased
Frederick Wentz
Woolrich Hertzell
Philip Zeigler
John Eck
Widow Philmon
Bastian Heap
Valentine Boyer
Jacob Landis
John Gans and
George Doctor; thence through, Sumneytown, Perkiomenville, Fagleysville, 
terminating through the present Sanitoga Station on the Schuylkill.  

John Hildebidle and Philip Wentz were township supervisors in 1767
Richard Klein in 1773
Valetine Kratz and Michael Scholl in 1776
Frederick Berndt and Abraham Scholl in 1810.
John Eck was constable in 1767, Adam Hildebiddle in 1774
Phillip Gable assessor and George Frederick collector in 1776.

    In the assessment for 1776 mention is made of 
John Bergy owning 180 acres and a grist and saw-mill
Jacob Graff, 200 acres and a fulling-mill
Ludwig Moyer, 50 acres and a grist-mill
George Moyer, 50 acres and a grist and saw-mill
Henry Deetz, 125 acres and a grist and saw-mill
Jacob Kulp, 88 acres and a fulling-mill
Daniel Heister, 130 acres and a tannery
Robert Coleman, ironmaster, one servant and ten horses
Conrad Epler, forgeman
Godfrey Kerstieck and Henry Croll, saddlers
John Brown and Sebastian Nell, smiths
Henry Sander, weaver
George Walt, tailor
William Antich, shoemaker
Joseph Warner, fuller.

Jacob Graff's fulling-mill is now the property of Jesse Zeigler, at Salford 
Station, and Jacob Kulp's fulling-mill was on the Ridge Valley Creek, about 
a mile from Sumneytown, on the property now owned by William Nice.  A 
licensed inn was kept by Michael Croll in 1767
by Philip Gable from 1776 on to 1790
by Jacob Rudy in 1790
by Frederick Rudy
Peter Wagoner and Jacob Croll in 1807.

    On the east side of the turnpike, close to Ridge Valley Creek, stands a 
fine brick house bearing the date of 1757, and now the property of D. Krouse.  
A new slate roof has been recently put on it by the present proprietor, and 
its walls appear durable enough to last at least another century.  Nicholas 
Scull, in his map of Pennsylvania, published in 1759, thought it of 
sufficient importance to have it denoted thereon as, "Heister's."  This was 
the property of Daniel Heister, a native of Elsoff, in Westphalia, who 
arrived in Pennsylvania in 1737 with his brother Joseph, having been 
preceded a few years by his elder brother, John.  Daniel settled on this 
tract, which was then known as Goshenhoppen, and raised a family of four 
sons and one daughter.  He was rated for holding here, in 1776, one hundred 
and thirty acres of land, one negro, three horses, three cows and a 
tannery.  He died in 1795, aged eighty-two years, and was the uncle of 
Governor Joseph Heister.  Daniel Heister's sons were
John
Daniel
Gabriel
William, who were born on this homestead.  They all served in the army of 
the Revolution, the first three being officers.  John and Daniel Heister 
afterwards became members of Congress, the former from Chester and the 
latter from Berks County, where they had removed.

1134

    From 1785 to 1807 Upper Salford belonged to the Third Election District, 
and the people voted at Creps' tavern at the present village of New Hanover 
Square, distant from the central part of this township about six miles, and 
having to cross the Perkiomen, which at this period was bridged.  In 1838 it 
was placed in the Fifth District, voting at the house of John Hartranft, 
Sumneytown.  In July, 1878, the township, from its great length, was 
divided into two districts, called East Upper Salford, voting at 
Tylersport, and West Upper Salford, voting at Mechanicsville.

    Tylersport is the largest village, and is situated in the northern part 
of the township, near the Bucks County line.  It contains a store, hotel, 
post-office, meeting-house and about fifty houses, and, according to the 
census of 1880, two hundred and twenty-four inhabitants.  In 1849 the place 
contained only a few houses.  R. R. Cressman carries on extensively the 
manufacture of segars; his taxes on the same for 1882 amounted to twenty-
seven thousand seven hundred and seven dollars.  There are here also several 
mechanic shops.

    Salfordville contains a store, hotel, post-office and nineteen houses.  
T. W. Cressman has a cigar manufactory here, besides the usual mechanic shops.  
A creamery has been recently established about a quarter of a mile to the 
northeast of the village.  This place in 1858 possessed eleven houses.  It 
was at the upper end of this village where Michael Croll, in 1767, kept an 
inn and owned a farm of two hundred and sixty acres.  He was long a justice 
of the peace, and died about 1810.

    Mechanicsville contains one hotel, a restaurant, hall, shoe shop, wheel-
wright shop, store and twelve houses.  At the north or upper end of this 
village a splendid view is offered of the Oley Hills, Methacton and of 
Bucks County for many miles.  The elections for West Upper Salford are held 
at this place.  About half a mile west of this is the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, built about 1858.  It has no regular stationed minister.  It was at 
the sign of the "Black Horse" here where Jacob and Frederick Rudy so long 
kept an inn.  This village formerly bore the name of Croppa Stettle, or 
Crowtown.

    Salford Station, on the Perkiomen Railroad, contains a merchant mill, a 
grain and feed-store, coal yard and five or six houses.  Rudy post-office 
has recently been established here, called after the late Samuel D. Rudy, 
sheriff of the county in 1856-59.  Branchville contains a store, hotel, 
several mechanic shops and three houses.

    THE OLD GOSHENHOPPEN CHURCH.  -This long established place of worship 
is situated but little over half a mile northeast of Salford Station and 
nearly midway between Salfordville and Mechanicsville.  It dates back 
nearly to the early settlement of this section, when the country for miles 
around was only known as Goshenhoppen, and hence applied to denote the 
locality of this church, and which it has ever since retained.  The settlers 
of the Lutheran and German Reformed faith united, in 1732, to procure by 
warrant a tract of land, upon which they erected a log school-house in the 
fall of that year, which was also used as a place of worship.  However, the 
tract was not surveyed until January 26, 1737, when thirty-eight and one-
quarter acres, with allowances, were taken up for the express purpose 
mentioned, and the deed recorded the following 7th of February.  Michael 
Royer, on the part of the Lutherans, and Jacob Keller, for the German 
Reformed, made final payment for the same January 12, 1738, the cost being 
£8 9s. 3d., equivalent to $23.34 of our present currency.

    As the German Reformed members were without a pastor, they worshiped 
together in the aforesaid building until the spring of 1744, when it was 
decided to proceed to the erection of a church.  The masons commenced their 
work the 9th of May, and on the following 14th the corner-stone was laid.  
It was erected that year, but the interior wood-work was not finished until 
1748.  An agreement was made with a carpenter to complete the same for 
fifteen pounds which included a gallery, pews, benches and painting.  The 
pulpit was made by Gabriel Schuler, of Lower Salford, as a present to the 
church.  The expense incurred in the erection of the building, is not 
exactly known, the members doing considerable of the work without charge.  
At the settlement, in 1751, a debt of thirty pounds remained, which was 
subsequently paid off.  The building committee on the part of the Lutherans 
was composed of
Michael Reyer
Balthasar Gerlach
John Philip Gable
Conrad Schneider.

And for the German Reformed
Christian Schneider
Christian Lehman
Bernhard Arndt 
John Servier.

The first Lutheran elders were
John Michael Reisser and John Philip Gabel

Deacons
William Ganckler
John Lenhart Durkheimer

The German Reformed elders were
Jacob Hauck
John Getz

Deacons
Isaac Summers
Andreas Ohl.

1135

    The first Lutheran members of this congregation were
Conrad Schneider
John Martin Derr
Elias Long
John William Daub
John Jacob Nuss
John George Weikel
Heinrich Schmidt
Isaac Klein
John Klein
George Weikel
John Christopher Bickel
Ludwig Adam Bickel
John Jacob Fillman
Philip Fillman
John George Wagner.

The German Reformed members were
Jacob Hauck
John Getz
Gabriel Schuler
Heinrich Bomberger
Daniel Kuster
Jacob Isett
Samuel Schuler
Jost Keller
John Nice
Christian Hollebush
Peter Hollebush
John Faust
John Knouss
Nicholas Wolfart
Frederick Getz
Christopher Dickenscheit.

The pastor's book commences in 1751, and the entries since have been made by 
the several clergymen.  Mr. Raus, who commenced the record, was evidently a 
well-educated man, his writing being excellent, and on the title-page he 
made a considerable inscription in Hebrew characters.  In 1751 there were 
forty-six members composing the two denominations.  The Lutheran population 
was estimated at one hundred and ninety-five and the German Reformed one 
hundred and five.




           PICTURE OF THE OLD GOSHENHOPPEN CHURCH, APPEARS HERE.




    The congregation was originally formed by the Rev. J. Conrad Andreas, an 
expelled Lutheran clergyman in Germany, who, without any recommendation so 
insinuated himself into their confidence as to become their pastor, but who 
was soon after discharged for immoral conduct.  The first regular Lutheran 
minister was the 
Rev. Lucas Raus, from 1751-53
Rev. Frederick Schultz, 1753-59
Rev. John Joseph Roth, 1759-71
Rev. Frederick Neimer, 1771-72
Rev. Conrad Roeller, 1772-95
Rev. Frederick Geisenhainer, 1795-97
Rev. John George Roeller, son of Conrad, 1797-1840
Rev. Engelbrecht Peixto, 1841-64
Rev. Frederick Waltz, from 1865 to the present time.

The first German Reformed pastor was Rev. Jacob Reisz, 1751-66
Rev. John Thomas Faber, 1766-80;
Rev. John Wm. Ingold, 1780-81
Rev. Frederick Dilleker, 1781-84
Rev. Frederick Wm. Vonder Schlotte, 1784-86
Rev. John Thomas Faber, Jr., 1786-88 [sic]
Rev. Albert Helfenstein, 1808-11
Rev. Albert Zent, six months in 1811
Rev. Frederick Wm. Vonder Schlotte, Jr., 1812-18
Rev. Jacob Wm. Dechant, 1818-33
Rev. Andreas Hoffman, 1833-56
Rev. Robert Vancourt, 1856-63
Rev. Augustus L. Dechant, since 1863.

    The school-house mentioned, in which worship was first held, stood until 
1808, when it was torn down and another erected in its place.  The first 
church was built of stone, two stories high, and in dimensions fifty by 
thirty-five feet.  After standing above one hundred and thirteen years, it 
was resolved by the two congregations to tear it down in the spring of 1858 
and erect a larger and more commodious building in its place.  The writer 
of this account, learning this, proceeded hither a few weeks previous on 
purpose and made a drawing of the same, which has since been ascertained to 
be the only one extant.  By the 1st of May it was leveled to the ground, and 
in the corner-stone was found two silver coins, one dated 1652 and the 
other 1695.  The former proved to be the pine-tree shilling of Massachusetts 
and the other an English shilling bearing the head of William III.  A pint 
bottle contained a tasteless yellow fluid which it was supposed had been 
wine.  All these were replaced in the corner-stone of the new building, 
which was laid, with appropriate ceremonies, May 15th and 16th of said 
year.  The church was completed by the close of 1858, and is a fine two-
story stone structure, sixty-two by fifty feet in size, with a spire one 
hundred feet high, the total cost of which was six thousand one hundred 
dollars.  The church is calculated to hold about eight hundred persons.  It 
possesses a fine organ, made in 1837 by A. Krauss & Son, of Allentown.  The 
bell is of five hundred and thirty-seven pounds weight, and can be heard 
from its elevated position for some distance around.  There is an ample 
churchyard and sheds for horses and carriages, besides a shady, unfenced 
woods of several acres adjoining.

1136 

    The graveyard contains about five acres, and few in the county can 
surpass it in the number of its tombstones.  The oldest graves are near the 
centre of the yard.  The earliest inscription observed was that of "1745, 
H W B H."  One is said to be here bearing the date of 1733.  It had been stated 
on reliable authority that seventy-two persons have been buried here, 
killed by powder-mill explosions in this vicinity previous to 1859.  Three 
Revolutionary soldiers are known to be interred here,-
John Andrew Artman who died in 1843, aged eighty-six years
John Sallide
Jacob Schaeffler, in 1840.
The ground here is hard to dig, being composed of a shelly, red slate-
stone.  The following surnames were copied within the ample inclosure: 

Flieger
Schneider
Geisinger
Hiltebidle
Groff
Wagner
Ruckstuhl
Cope
Humel
Langbein
Schuler
Mayer
Geyer
Heebner
Lunn
Hertzel
Hoffecker
Musselman
Gabel
Gerges
Klein
Boyer
Grimley
Smith
Scholl
Walt
Shied
Miller
Bock
Hillegass
Detweiler
Wambold
Fried
Weishe
Ried
Roudenbush
Gerhab
Borneman
Kehs
Daub
Richards
Meyers
Hutt
Wail
Neidig
Reiman
Zepp
Cressman
Nyce
Pannapacker
Kerr
Ratzel
Shade
Zink
Jacoby
Ache
Johnson
Neitz
Wohlfard
Dietz
Hauberger
Schwartley
Schell
Wandelich
Reichert
Fillman
Sallade
Zeigler
Weidemeier
Erdman
Bibigbaus
Schwartz
Kerwer
Schwenk
Wirth
Roeller
Mayberry
Ettinger
Steiner
Bout
Roshong
Hendricks
Dietz
Ochs
Liedtke
Underkoffler
Sheib
Wisler
Koppelberger
Souder
Kuhlman
Anderson
Herbst
Adrian
Seit
Rahn
Kneezel
Keyser
Faust
Long
Kolb
Sleifer
Schaefer
Emert
Brey
Cressman
Kemerer
Hartranft
Troll.

    JOHN ECK AND REMINISCENCES OF HIS FAMILY. --Jacob Eck, the ancestor of the 
family in this county, with his son John, arrived from Baselbede, in 
Alsace, possibly in 1746 or near the beginning of the following year.  He 
was by occupation a locksmith, and perhaps a widower, his son being then a 
young man and single.  The father took up by patent in Upper Salford, in 
two tracts, one hundred and twenty-five acres.  The survey was made June 3, 
1747, and the deed given April 6th of said year, under the great seal, by 
Governor George Thomas.  The cost of the land was £19 7s. 6d., under a 
yearly quit-rent of a halfpenny sterling for every acre, payable on the 1st 
day of March at the manor of Springgettsbury, near the City of 
Philadelphia.  This tract lay near the northern part of the township, within 
Ridge Valley and near the present Dietz's grist and saw-mill.  Here the 
father and son at once commenced the first improvements not only in 
building, but also in clearing the land to render the same fit for tillage.

    It is likely that within the first ten years Jacob Eck died and the son 
inherited the property and took in marriage for his first wife Savina Ott, 
the daughter of a neighboring farmer.  She died before 1764, leaving him 
several children, when he married Mary Snyder, who died a short time before 
the Revolution, for in the assessment of Upper Salford for 1776, John Eck, 
who it is noted had ten children and had "lost his wife," is rated as 
owning one hundred and twenty-five acres, with a dwelling, two horses, 
three cows and five sheep, taxed £10 7s. 8d.  In 1766 the Ridge road was 
opened from the Bucks County line, through the present Tylersport and along 
the whole length of his farm on to Sumneytown.  In 1767 he was appointed, 
greatly against his will, by the Court of Quarter Sessions at Philadelphia, 
constable of the township.  About the close of the Revolution he married 
Dorothy Yost, who survived him.  He died in the beginning of June 1809, at 
an advanced age.

    His will was made January 30th an proven June 20th of said year.  In it he 
appoints his son Dorus and Nicholas Buck his executors.  He leaves to his 
son John twenty-five acres, with all the improvements thereon; to Dorothy, 
his wife, in addition to her other allowances, he leaves "£150 in lawful 
gold or silver money."  Eleven children are mentioned therein, as follows: 
Conrad
Dorus
John
Anna (widow of Martin Miller)
Catharine (wife of Simon Adams)
Margaret (wife of Joseph Storm)
Magdalena (wife of Nicholas Buck)
Sabilla (wife of Mark Zeigler)
Theresa
Catharine
Fanny.
He had in all fifteen children, a son, Michael, and three daughters having 
previously died.  Although the surviving descendants of John Eck at this day 
may number thousands, the surname has become extinct in the township within 
the past sixty years.  Dorus settled on a farm in Maryland, some moved to 
Berks County, others to Philadelphia and out West.  The witnesses to the 
will were John Keller, Jacob Baer, and Cadwallader Foulke, the last of whom 
very probably wrote it.  Through the descendants of the first two, who still 
exist in the vicinity, the homestead of the Ecks was ascertained and 
visited in September, 1883, in company with Solomon K. Grimley, Esq.

    The original tract has since been divided into several farms, now owned 
by Henry Richards, Andrew Loeb, William L. Nace, Thomas Roth and Frederick 
Beltz.  The latter, who is the owner of the original homestead portion, took 
pleasure, on learning our object, to point out the several remaining 
objects of interest.  The site of the old house is still readily discernible 
about two hundred yards northwest of Mr. Beltz's dwelling, within a few 
yards of which are still standing two venerable pear-trees, about two feet 
in diameter, the fruit of which was then ripe.  We do not question that 
their growth must have begun very close to 1747, or one hundred and 
thirty-six years ago.  The spring was shown, about one hundred and fifty 
yards to the north of the site of the old house.  

1137

Though now long unused, except for cattle it has never been known to fall. 
Strange to say, the original barn still remains in use and must now be one 
of the very few existing in the county that antedate the Revolution.  It is 
part stone and part log, thirty by forty-two feet; and we know of no other 
that has so old and primitive an appearance.  In the beginning of this 
century John Eck built himself a new house, to which he retired, and died 
in 1809, the site of which was also pointed out, and is still discernible 
on the premises of William L. Nace.

    Mary Magdalena was the daughter of John Eck and his second wife, Mary 
Snyder, born on the homestead in June, 1767, where she remained until her 
marriage, in 1793, with Captain Nicholas Buck, a native of Springfield 
township, Bucks Co., and the founder of Bucksville.  She attained the age of 
nearly ninety-one years, and at her death left ninety-five living 
descendents.  Her memory remained unimpaired most to the last.  In 1856 her 
reminiscences were written down by one of her grandsons, and that portion 
relating to her residence in Upper Salford will be briefly given.  In the 
vicinity of Jacob and John Eck's settlement here, in 1747, deer still 
abounded, of which several were shot by the latter.  Wolves were becoming 
scarce, but occasionally destroyed sheep.  Wild fruit was abundant, as 
grapes, red plums, hazel-nuts, shell-barks, huckleberries and crab-apples.  
Her father raised considerable hemp and flax, which was manufactured by the 
family into goods for household and other purposes, their clothing being 
all home-made.  The women assisted considerably in out-door labors connected 
with the farm, and all grain was reaped by sickles, even corn and 
buckwheat.  Her father kept a heavy farm-wagon, but the produce was chiefly 
taken in panniers and wallets, on horseback, to Philadelphia.  Rye was 
chiefly grown for bread, as in Germany, with which beans were ground to 
increase the quantity.  While Washington and his army were encamped by the 
Skippack, in Towamencin, seven miles distant, her father drove down with 
his wagon, taking her and several of his children along to behold so novel 
a sight.  The incidents connected therewith she often related, being at that 
time past her tenth year.  In connection with those reminiscences one fact is 
remarkable, that though John Eck reared so large a family, and was entirely 
dependent on his farming operations for a subsistence, yet, with all the 
disadvantages he labored under and the aid given his children, the inventory 
of his estate, which is still preserved, shows that his effects amounted 
to above eight thousand dollars, which was no inconsiderable sum three-
quarters of a century ago, originating from such limited means, and may 
raise a query whether farming may not have then been more profitable than now.


                      ASSESSMENT OF UPPER SALFORD 1776.

             Philip Gable, assessor, and George Frederick, collector.

John Bergy, 180 acres 3 horses 5 cows and a grist and saw-mill

George Slotterer, 200 a.  3 h.  6 c

Jacob Wagoner, 100 a.  2 h.  2 c

Frederick Rudy, 180 a.  2 h.  3 c

Philip Gable Jr, inn-keeper, 260 a. 4 h.  5 c.  1 servant

Christian Haldeman, 100a., 2 h.  2 c

Philip Zeigler, 376 a., 5 h.  6 c

George Frederick, 100a 4h 8c

Henry Landis, 75a 3h 7c

John Cline, 40 a., 1 h 1 c

Adam Hildebidle, 145 a., 2 h 4 c

Abraham Cassel, 100a 2h 3c

Frederick May, 100a 2h 3c

Jacob Groff, 200 a  4 h 6 c and a fulling-mill

Philip Fisher, 120 a.  2 h  3 c.  

Conrad Grim, 100 a 2 h 3 c 

Valentine Nungesser, 150 a.  2 h  4 c

Leonard Snyder, 150a 2 h 3 c and 7 children

Godfrey Kersneck, saddler, 55 a., 2 c

Henry Streaker, 100a., 2 h.  3 c

Charles Derr and Henry Kepple, 160 a  2 h.  4 c.

John Brown, blacksmith, 2 c

Henry Hersch, 160 a.  2 h.  3 c.

Michael Kroll, innkeeper, 260 a.  4 h.  3 c.

Richard Cline, 150 a.  2 h.  4 c

John Eck, 125 a., 2 h.  3 c.  10 children, and lost his wife

Ulrich Hertzell, 128 a.  2 h.  4 c

John Foust, 140 a

Christian Reiff, 1 c

Caspar Walt, 100 a.  2 h.  3 c

John Hoot, 121 a.  3 h.  6 c

Dorothy Weishey, widow, 50 a.  1 c

Margaret Wentz, widow, 100 a.  2 h.  2 c.  and 6 children

Martin Leightle, 50 a.  1 h.  3 c

Abraham Krider, 1 c

Ludwig Moyer, 50 a.  2 h.  3 c.  and a grist-mill

George Moyer, 50 a.  2 h.  3 c.  and a grist and sawmill

Dewalt Nace, 375 a., 3 h.  4 c

Henry Walt, 250 a.  2 h.  3 c and 9 children

Philip Wentz, 185 a.  2 h.  4 c

George Hertzell, 430 a.  4 h.  10 c

John Fillman, 2 h.  and 150 a. for his father's estate

Sebastian Heap, 10 a.

John Nice, 100 a.  2 h.  3 c

Jost Martin, 120 a., 3 h. 3 c

John Oberholtzer, 158 a., 3 h.  4 c

Jacob Landis, 150 a.  1 h.  2 c

Michael Young, 100 a.  2 h.  2 c

Henry Moyer,  180 a.  4 h.  8 c.  and 8 children

George Wyant, 60 a.  3 c, old and poor

Hans Ulrich, stover,  200 a., 3 h. 8 c  8 children

Henry Deitz, 125 a.  2 h.  4 c and a grist and saw-mill

Jacob Kulp, 88 a.  2 h.  4 c.  and a fulling-mill

Adam Smith, 40 a.  2 h.  2 c

Daniel Heister, tanner, 130 a., 1 negro,  3 h.  3 c

Frederick Koch, 2 c

Elizabeth Wertz, widow, 100 a.  2 h.  1c

Valentine Kratz, 150 a.  2 h.  5 c

Jacob Daub, smith, 60 a.  1 h.  2 c

Jacob Ellinger, 12 a.  1 c

Sebastian Nill, smith, 2 c

Henry Sander, weaver, 2 c

Elizabeth Wentz, widow, 62 a.,  1 c

William Zirkle, 2 c

Henry Zeigler, 1 h.  2 c

Robert Coleman, iron-master, 10 h.  4 c.  1 servant

Conrad Epler, forgeman, 1 c

Jacob Cline, 110 a.  2 h.  3 c

Jacob Landis, Jr, 2 h.  4 c

George Walt, tailor, 2 c

Martin Riddlemier, 1 c

William Antick, shoemaker, 2 c

Henry Ham  

Peter Wentz, 100 a.  2 h.  2 c

Jacob Wyant, 1 c

Christian May

Peter Gerhart, 1 h.  3 c

Henry Strowman 1 c

Joseph Warner, fuller, 1 c

Henry Croll, saddler, 1 c

Jacob Young 

Philip Renn.


SINGLE MEN

Killian Fisher
Jacob Filman
Dewalt Young
Adam Shearer
Henry Foust
George Landis
Michael Swartz
Christian Martin
Valentine Kooker
Abraham Groff
Christopher Streaker
Wilder Bevans
John Moyer
Andrew Zeigler
Christian Bergy
Henry Hartinstine
Anthony Treale
Wendle Wentz
John Nice
Valentine Snyder
Daniel Murray
Peter Kepple
John Landis
Michael Derr.