><7V«* A <> *o.** <6* \b, *^7vT* A 4>H* *: *°** * o &W* % * o ^ *>^^o* -oF o V^P '*TvT* A «f -o,„* 0^ V ♦*7?f* A W** /% --SK-' ♦****♦ : -™- : ^ ,XXc. No & 14- ff 4W COPY A. Copyright, 1902, by Site and Relic Society, Germantown SITE AND RELIC SOCIETY. GUIDE BOOK COMMITTEE. William H. Lambert, Chairtnan. W. Seymour Runk, William J. Campbell, Morris Llewellyn Cooke, j ames F. Fahnestock, Jr., Francis Heyl, Harold Pc irce. Guernsey Moore. Printed by Innes & Sons, Philadelphia a a § CONTENTS § Chronology of Germantown 7 Bibliography of Germantown 9 Preface 1 1 How to Reach Germantown 14 The Settlement of Germantown 17 The Ancient Town 24 Main Street of Germantown 29 Excursion, East Side of Germantown 133 Excursion, West Side of Germantown 144 Short Account of Battle of Germantown 153 Francis Daniel Pastorius 162 Streets of Germantown 167 Index 169 a q, § LIST of ILLUSTRATIONS § rr rr Chew House, 2 Stenton, 1 9 Wagner House, 25 Thones Kunder' s House, 3 1 Wister House, 39 Price Homestead. Ladies' Club House, Manheim, 47 Germantown Academy, 55 Carlton, 63 Morris House, 7 1 Picture of Market Square, 79 Spencer House. Home of Thomas Godfrey, 85 Green Tree Tavern, 91 Wyck, 95 Blair House, 10 1 Mennonite Meeting House, 107 Johnson House, 1 1 1 Grave Stone in Upper Burying Ground, 1 1 7 David Rittenhouse's Birthplace, 123 Ship House, 129 Hall of Chew House, 135 Billmyer House, 141 Parsonage of Dunkard Church, 149 Old Doors of Chew House. 157 George Hesser's House (Bayard House). 165 a a a C H RONOLOGY O F v GERMANTOWN a *§ August 16, 1683, October 6, 1683, October 12, 1683, October 24, 1683, October 25, 1683, 1683, 1688, 1690, May 31, 1691, 1705* 1707, 1708, February 17 , I7i9> J 7i9> April 8, 1732, 1743, Francis Daniel Pastorius reaches Philadelphia. Thirteen emigrants from Crefeld with their families reached Philadelphia. A Warrant was issued to Pastorius for land on behalf of the Germantown purchase. Thomas Fairman surveyed the land. Meeting in cave of Pastorius, where lots were drawn for the land and settlement was at once begun. First flour mill in Philadelphia County, erected near Germantown. Friends issue first public protest in America against human slavery. First paper mill in America erected in Germantown. Germantown incorporated. What is believed to be the first portrait in oil painted in America made in Germantown by Dr. Chris- topher Witt. Town looses its charter and is no longer incorporated. First Mennonite meeting house in America built in Germantown. Francis Daniel Pastorius died. Arrival in Germantown of the first body of Dunk- ards in America. David Rittenhouse born. First Bible in America, in an European language, printed in Germantown by Christopher Sauer. HISTORIC GERMANTOWN Germantown Academy founded. " Cliveden," the Chew House, built. Sauer began the publication of the first religious maga- zine in America. Invasion of Paxtang Boys. Dr. Christopher Witt died. First American book on Pedagogy published in Ger- mantown. First type ever cast in America made in Germantown. Washington's army encamped near Germantown. Washington's army returns to camp near Germantown. British army occupies Germantown. Battle of Germantown. British army leaves Germantown, moving into Phila- delphia. Yellow fever drives many citizens, President Wash- ington and members of his Cabinet from Phila- delphia to Germantown. Washington spends two months in Germantown to escape heat of summer. Yellow fever again fills Germantown with refugees from Philadelphia Germantown Turnpike incorporated. Lafayette visits Germantown. Steam railroad to Germantown opened. Germantown ceases to be an independent borough and is made part of Philadelphia. 1760, 1 761, 1764, 1764, 1769, 1770, 1772- -1773, August 1-8, 1777, Sept. 12-14, 1777, September 25, 1777, October 4, 1777, October 1 9, 1777, 1793, 1794, 1798, February 12, 1801, July 20, 1825, June 6, 1832, 1854, aeacfcfqaacsac^^ a a g A PARTIAL BIBLIOGRA- g % PHY OF GERMANTOWN ^ u tr Those who may wish to learn more of the history of Ger- mantown and its vicinity are referred to the following works : "The Settlement of Germantown," by the Hon. Samuel W. Pennypacker, published by W. J. Campbell, 1 8 9-. "Watson's Annals," Volume II, pages 16 to 72, and elsewhere. " Walks in Germantown," by Townsend Ward, published in the " Pennsyl- vania Magazine of History and Biography," beginning Vol. V, No. 1. *i Germantown, Mount Airy and Chestnut Hill," by the Rev. S. F. Hotch- kin, published by P. W. Ziegler & Co., 1889. "History of Germantown Academy," edited by Horace W. Smith, pub- lished 1882. "The German Pietists of Pennsylvania," by Julius F. Sachse, published 1895. "The German Sectarians of Pennsylvania," by Julius F. Sachse. Two vol- umes. Volume I, published 1889, covers 1 708-1 742. Volume II, published 1900, covers 1742— 1800. "A History of the German Baptist Brethren (Dunkards), by Martin G. Brumbaugh, Ph.D. Brethren Publishing House, Elgin, 111., 1899, "The Old York Road and Its Early Associations," 1670— 1870, by Mrs. Anne de B. Mears, published in Philadelphia, 1890, by Harper & Brother. " A Century of Germantown Methodism," by Robert Thomas, published by ' ' Germantown Independent, " 1895. "The Battle of Germantown," by Dr. A. C. Lambdin, published in the "Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography," Vol. I, No. 1. In addition to this there are other articles in the Pennsylva- nia Magazine relating to Germantown, reference to which may be had by consulting the indices of the various volumes. HISTORIC GERMANTOWN The following genealogies relating to Germantown families contain some local historical information : "The Shoemaker Family," by Thomas H. Shoemaker, Philadelphia, 1893. "History of the Bringhurst Family," by Josiah Granville Leach, Philadel- phia, 1 90 1. "Genealogy of the Fisher Family," by Anna Wharton Smith, Philadelphia, 1896. " History of the Conard Family," by Henry C. Conrad, Wilmington, Del. " Genealogy of the Roberdeau Family," by Roberdeau Buchanan, 1876. "Christopher Sower and His Descendants," (chart), by Charles S. Sower, P887. " Genea-Biographical History of the Rittenhouse Family," by Daniel K. Cas- sel, 1897. "The Levering Family," by Colonel John Levering, 1897. (Wigard Lev- ering, the immigrant, settled first in Germantown but removed to Rox- borough ) . "The Keyser Family," compiled by Charles S. Keyser, 1889. "History of the Cassel Family," by Daniel K. Cassel, 1896. " Kulp Family History," by Daniel K. Cassel, 1895. The following works of fiction have more or less connection with Germantown : " Pemberton ; or, A Hundred Years Ago." "Hugh Wynne," bv Dr. S. Weir Mitchell. " The Legends of the American Revolution, 1776," by George Lippard. " Washington and His Men," by George Lippard. " The Passing of Thomas," by Thomas A. Janvier. IO & a I PREFACE g FEW towns or cities of our country possess the historical associations of Colonial and Revolutionary times that attach to our suburb of Germantown. Its conception and settlement, the nationality and character of its early settlers, its archi- tecture, its industrial life and enterprise (for it was the cradle of some of our greatest industries), all early gave it marked indi- viduality. It was the threshold over which entered the great German immigration which brought many modifications in lan- guage, manners and religion to the commonwealth and nation. Germantown was the scene of a fierce conflict which had con- siderable influence on the destiny of the infant nation. It was the home, on two occasions, of the President of the United States and members of his cabinet, making it, to that extent, the seat of Government of the country. All these incidents and more make it an important spot in our country's history and growth. Fortunately during the period which brought so many changes, and obliterated so many of the historical landmarks in all our old cities, Germantown slumbered quietly, off from the path of so- called progress and improvement and there are, consequently, left in it many landmarks of the last century. 1 1 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN A complete history of Germantown is yet to be written. In no no one place can be found a full and consecutive account of the settlement, rise and progress of the town. Hon. Samuel W. Pennypacker, in his "Settlement of Germantown," has covered with great thoroughness the causes which led to the German imigration and the settlement itself; Mr. Julius F. Sachse in his several histories of the German sects makes unnec- essary any further research in this direction ; the Rev. S. F. Hotchkin, in his " Germantown and Chestnut Hill," has brought together much valuable local information ; Townsend Ward in his " Walks in Germantown," published in the Penn- sylvania Magazine, Volumes V and VI, gives a wealth of local incident and tradition, but unfortunately he died before his labors were completed, his walks extending only to near the centre of the town. In "Watson's Annals" are many incidents of local history. Dr. Alfred C. Lambdin, in his admirable address on the " One Hundreth Anniversary of the Battle of German- town," gives a full and comprehensive account of this important incident in the town's history, and in many other places are to be found scraps of historical material, but no one has as yet brought all together in a complete and harmonious whole. This little book is not a history of Germantown. Its aim is to present in as brief a way as possible the main historic facts connected with the town and to arrange these facts in such a 12 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN way that the sightseer may have no trouble in finding and iden- tifying each particular site. The thanks and indebtedness of the Society are due to Mr. Thomas H. Shoemaker, whose unequalled store of information and collection of photographs and prints of ancient Germantown has been largely drawn upon. Also to the Rev. Francis Heyl, to whose care was committed a portion of the work of writing ; to Dr. Naaman H. Keyser, a life-long student of the town's history, whose collections of material have been freely placed at the disposal of the writer, and to General Louis Wagner, Mr. Francis Howard Williams, and Miss Anne H. Cresson for val- uable information. i^ §HOW TO REACH § 8 'GERMANTOWN v xj xj GERMANTOWN is reached by steam cars via the Pennsylvania Railroad from Broad Street Station and the Philadelphia and Reading Road from the Reading Terminal. The former road skirts the west of the town and the latter the east. On the Pennsylvania Railroad, Queen Lane Station is near the Manheim cricket grounds and makes a good starting point to visit the places discovered in the chapter, page 144. Chelten Avenue Station is near the centre of the town and nearest the Rittenhouse House and site of the first paper mill, while Upsal Station is nearest the Chew House. Wayne Junction Station, on the Reading Road, is located at the extreme lower end of the Main Street of Germantown and is a very good starting point for a sight-seeing tour. Chelten Avenue Station on the Read- ing Road will bring the tourist near the centre of the town. Germantown may also be reached by the trolley cars on Eighth Street (take cars marked Chestnut Hill or German- town) and by the Germantown trolley on Thirteenth Street. The "Germantown" and "Chestnut Hill" cars on Eighth Street traverse the Main Street, or the old and historic portion of the town, while the Thirteenth Street cars traverse Wayne H HISTORIC GERMANTOWN Street (which is two long squares west of the Main Street) passing through the modern residence section. The trip out by trolley takes from fifty minutes to an hour. Fare, 5 cents. The Reading Railroad to Germantown was the first rail- road operated in Philadelphia. In 1827 Edward H. Bonsall and Joseph Leibert visited Mauch Chunk to see the great marvel, the gravity road. On their return they proceeded to awaken public interest in a railroad to Germantown. A charter was obtained and so eager were the public to invest that for every five shares subscribed three were allotted. John G. Watmough was elected President and Edward H. Bonsall, Treasurer. The road was opened June 6th, 1832. The cars made six trips a day, drawn by horses. November 23d, following, the first locomotive, " Old Ironsides," probably the first made in the United States, made by Matthias W. Baldwin, the founder of the Baldwin locomotive works, was placed on the road. Crowds assembled at 9th and Green Streets, the Philadelphia Commons, to see the train pass. Farmers came long distances to see its arrival in Germantown. Almost every one is now familiar with the notice which stated that when it rained horses would draw the train, as the engine was not taken out in the wet. For an illustration and short account of " Old Ironsides " see Pennsylvania Magazine, Vol. XI, p. 80. 15 From the Latin of Francis Daniel Pastorius in the German- town Records. 1688. Hail to posterity! Hail, future men of Germanoplis! Let the young generations yet to be Look kindly upon this. Think how your fathers left their native land, — Dear German-land ! O sacred hearths and homes ! — And, where the wild beast roams, In patience planned New forrest-homes beyond the mighty sea, Then undisturbed and free To live as brothers of one family. What pains and cares befell, What trials and what fears, Remember, and wherein we have done well Follow our footsteps, men of coming years! Where we have failed to do Aright, or wisely live, , Be warned by us, the better way pursue, And, knowing we were human, even as you, Pity us and forgive! Farewell, Posterity! Farewell, dear Germany! Forevermore farewell! John G. Whittier. HISTORIC GERMANTOWN THE SETTLEMENT OF GERMANTOWN THE first settlers of Germantown came from the country of the lower Rhine, not far from the borders of Holland. The purchase of land was made through the Frankfort Company, of which Francis Daniel Pastorius was the agent in America for a number of years. In 1683 thirteen families, including in all thirty-three persons, set out from Crefeld, their native town, for London, where passage had been engaged for them to Pennsylvania in the ship Concord, by James Claypole, a Quaker merchant of that city, who was to be their fellow passenger. On the 24th of July they sailed from London, and arrived in Philadelphia the 6th of October. They were met on landing by Pastorius who had preceded them a few weeks. On the 24th of October Thomas Fairman, the surveyor of the Province, laid out their land in the township, afterwards called Germantown, and on the next day the immigrants met in the cave of Pastorius on the bank of the Delaware and made selections of the plots «7 HISTORIC GERMANTOJVN of land by lot. Having done this, they proceeded at once to clear their land and erect dwellings before the winter should overtake them. The following are the names of the thirteen settlers : Abraham Op den GraefF, Thones Kunders, Herman Op den GraefF, Reynier Tyson, Lenart Arets, Jan Lucken, Jan Seimens, Johannes Bleikers, Willem Streypers, Peter Keurlis, Jan Lensen, Abraham Tunes. Dirck Op den GraefF, They were all Friends or Mennonites, but just how they were divided between these two bodies is not known. Before their departure from Germany there had been a Friends' Monthly Meeting held at Crefeld, which was discontinued im- mediately after their departure, indicating that all or nearly all the full body of members had gone. By 1690 when the vil- lage of Germantown had grown to forty-four families, twenty- eight of them were Friends and the other sixteen of other re- ligious faiths. The next year (1684) other immigrants arrived and there- after a steady flow of settlers from Germany and the Rhine provinces came to Pennsylvania, the majority passing through 18 c o c 4-J C/J ! 9 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN Germantown. Many remained in the town, among them the ancestors of some of our present day families, — the Keysers, Shoemakers, Johnsons, Rittenhouses, Leverings, Sauers, etc. Germantown was the threshold over which entered the new country the various German sects, the Dunkards, Lutherans, Swenkfelders, etc., now occupying the southeastern portion of Pennsylvania. On the 13th of February, 1694, a number of Pietists, origi- nally from Germany, embarked at London on the ship Sarah Maria for Pennsylvania. After many adventures the ship entered the Chesapeake and landed the immigrants in Maryland, whence they journeyed overland to Germantown. These men, with Johannes Kelpius, as their Superior, took up their residence on the Ridge, as the high land between the Wissahickon and Schuylkill is called. Here they built a tabernacle of logs. They spent their time mostly in seclusion, engaged in religious devotion, in the study of astronomy and the occult arts. These men gradually passed away, the Hermitage in Hermits' Lane, near the Wissahickon, being one of the few reminders of then- existence. The early settlers brought with them the habits of industry and thrift which characterize the German race. In addition to the cultivation of the soil, which was never their main de- pendence, they brought various trades with them. Many 21 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN were linen weavers. In 1686 Abraham Op den Greaff pe- titioned the Council to grant him the Governor's premium for "The first and finest piece of linen cloth," and as early as 1692 Richard Fraeme wrote : * * The Germantown of which I spoke before Which is at least in length one mile or more, Where lives High German people and Low Dutch Whose trade in weaving cloth is much, — Here grows the Flax as also you may know That from the same they do divide the tow. ' ' Later the manufacture of stockings from the famous Ger- mantown wool was begun and by 1760 the Rev. Andrew Burnaby writes : — " The Germantown thread stockings are in high estimation and the year before last I have been credibly in- formed there were manufactured in that town alone above 60,000 dozen pairs, their common retail price a dollar per pair." " The earliest settlers used to make good linens and vend them in Philadelphia. They were also distinguished, even till modern times, for their fabric of Germantown stockings. This fact induced the Bank of Germantown to adopt a seal, with such a loom upon it. The linen sellers and weavers used to stand with the goods for sale on the edge of the pavement in Market Street, on the north side, near to Second street corner. The cheapness of imported stockings is now ruining their business." — Watson* s Annals. 22 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN The Borough of Germantown early adopted a label to mark their goods so that their excellent quality would be more easily recognized. About this time the tanning industry had assumed consider- able importance, as the following letter from John Morgan, Jr., dated at Reading, Pa., December 23, 1777, while Philadelphia was occupied by the British Army, shows : * ' I understand that all the stocking weavers at Germantown with their looms and out of work supposed to be one hundred, also six or seven tanners who have large tan yards full of leather, part of which is nearly tanned ; they might easily be removed. Query : — Are they not objects worthy of notice of Council ? Should the enemy determine to stay or leave Philadelphia this winter they will probably destroy them which would be a great loss to this State/ ' As has been pointed out elsewhere, the manufacture of paper was first begun in Germantown in 1690. This pre-eminence in manufacturing, first encouraged by the character and skill of the early settlers and carried on by them in their homes, has continued to the present time, as the great number of factories and important manufacturing plants in the neighborhood testify. 23 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN a a §THE ANCIENT TOWN § FOR many years Germantown consisted of a long, straggling village extending for nearly two miles along the Main Street. The appearance of the town was thoroughly German and continued so down through the period of the Revolution. The language of conversation among the inhabitants was mainly in German, until even a later period. The prevalence of yellow fever in Philadelphia in 1793 and again in later years caused many Philadelphians to take up their residence in Germantown, which made many changes in the language and customs of the town. As originally laid out there were to be four distinct villages along the Main road, all within the limits of what is now Ger- mantown. Roughly their boundaries were : Germantown from the present Wayne Junction to the Abington Road, now Washing- ton Lane, Cresheim from this point to about the Mermaid Tavern, Sommerhausen to about one-eighth of a mile above Chestnut Hill and Crefeldt to Streeper's Mill, which was where the turnpike crosses the Wissahickon at the foot of Chestnut Hill. 24 b o 00 2 5 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN In later years the settlement above Upsal Street, surround- ing the Dunkard Church, was called Beggarstown, for the origin of which name there are several theories. This name has, however, passed entirely away, but in the dispatches and descriptions of the Battle of Germantown, it is frequently used. The early homes of the settlers were first of logs and later of the rough, dark, native stone. Built with their gables in the road they had over-hanging hipped roofs and a projecting pent over the doorstep, as is still seen in the Engle house, No. 5938 Main Street ; the door was divided in the middle to keep out stray animals, but with the upper portion open to admit air and light ; on either side of the front door were little benches ; the windows were small, usually swinging on hinges. The sombre coloring of the houses, the solidity and air of comfort and thrift surrounding them, the rows of trees along the streets, the orchards and spacious farm buildings in the rear, are mentioned as prominent characteristics by many of the early travelers who have described the village. As the tracts of land along the Main street were sold and divided up they usually retained their full depth so that the owners might have their wood and pasture lots in the rear with the house on the Main street. As more land was sold, these strips became still more narrow, so that at the time of 27 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN the Revolution it was over and through these dividing walls and fences that the divisions of the American Army were compelled to advance, greatly retarding their progress and affording pro- tection to the retreating British. At the centre of the town was the market place and at the upper and lower ends were the two public burial grounds. On the east were several mills run by the waters of the Wingo- hocking, then a considerable stream, and on the west were even a greater number scattered along the Wissahickon. The cross roads of the town connected it with these mills and the ferry over the Schuylkill. The Abington Road, now Washington Lane, led to Abington Meeting. It was many years before any streets parallel with the Main street were opened. About the middle of the eighteenth century, owing to the increase in wealth in Pennsylvania and particularly in German- town and the coming to the town of wealthy Philadelphians who made their summer homes here, larger and better houses were built, of which the Dirck Keyser house, No. 6205 Main Street, is an example. There are yet many of these well built houses remaining and it is to arouse public sentiment to an ap- preciation of their artistic beauty, that they may be spared for many years as monuments of the early architecture, that the Site and Relic Society of Germantown has been formed. 28 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN & a fi THE MAIN STREET § GERMANTOWN Avenue, Germantown Road, or the Great Road, as it was anciently called, is said to follow what was an old Indian trail. It is still quite crooked although it has been straightened some. As late as 1777, the year of the Battle, there were less than six cross roads. It therefore fol- lows that what is of most historic interest is centered in the buildings along the Main Street, those on the cross streets being comparatively modern. But outlying at some distance, both on the east and west, there are historic points which come within the compass of what is now Germantown. It is proposed, as a matter of convenience, to take the visitor along the Main Street with very short side trips from it and then refer to the historic sites on each side of the town which can best be visited in separate expeditions. Years ago the Germantown Road was called the worst road in the United States. The soil was of such a nature that in summer it was ground to fine, choking dust, while in winter and spring it was almost impassable on account of the mud for wheeled vehicles. The story is told of a gentleman who was 29 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN building a house on the other side of the road from his home, and saddled his horse to ride across in safety. In 1 800-1 the road was macadamized, forming part of the Germantown and Perkiomen Turnpike. The old toll house stood at Rittenhouse Street. Some of the mile stones erected by the Turnpike Company are still standing, one being at the corner of Main Street and Cliveden Avenue. " Another great era of public benefit, now but little con- sidered, was the formation of the Germantown turnpike — a measure got up chiefly through the exertions of Casper Haines. The common road through Germantown, before this time, at the breaking up of the winter, as well as at some other times, was impassable for wheel carriages. To that cause it was that most of the marketing, going through the place to Philadelphia, was all carried on horseback with side panniers and hampers, and the most of the horses were ridden by women. Think what a relief they have had since those days! It is a well known fact that horses and carriages have been swamped and lost! In going through the town, (now all well paved), their horses would enter the mud to their knees at every step, and not being able to progress faster than two or three miles an hour, and then often endangered. Now what a change do we wit- ness! No men or women now on horseback with marketing, but going with easy spring dearborns at five and six miles an hour, as easy and safe as if in state carriages. Even wagon loads of hay can be seen sometimes passing in a trot ! ' ' — Watson's Annals. 3° Thones Kunder's House, 5109 Main Street HISTORIC GERMANTOWN Starting at Wayne Junction, which we may well consider the southern boundry of the town, we should first make a short excursion to Stenton, four or five squares distant. The Penn- sylvania Society of Colonial Dames has erected a sign post under the railroad bridge and one at each corner until Stenton is reached. The property is now in their charge and open at any time on application to the caretaker, but the best time to visit it is Saturday afternoons during May and June, and again in October, when the building is open and tea is served by the ladies of the Society to their guests. The house is partially furnished. The admission fee is 1 5 cents. Stenton was erected by James Logan, for many years William Penn's able and faithful secretary, in 1727-34. The house is 55 feet front by 42 feet deep, with servants' quarters attached at the rear. From the cellar is an underground passage- way leading to the stables, and some say, to the family burial ground beyond. Stenton was occupied by General Washington on the evening of August 23, 1777, when the American Army was on its way to oppose Howe at Brandywine, and General Howe was quartered here later at the time of the Battle. Washington also dined with Dr. Logan, Sunday, July 8th, 1787, when he was attending the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. 33 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN During the winter of British occupation an order was issued to burn all the mansions between Germantown and Philadelphia and seventeen were consumed at one time. Stenton is said to have been saved by the ready wit of the old colored woman left in charge. The two British dragoons who came to burn it went to the barn to get some straw to start the flames. While they were gone a British officer rode up looking for deserters. The old woman, in answer to his question, said she had seen two men who looked like deserters and that they had just gone to the barn. Just then the soldiers returned and despite their indignant protests and explanations the officer seized them and marched them off to the provost guard. Stenton was saved for the time and the efforts to burn it were not repeated. Nos. 4518 and 4520 Main Street is the old house of the Neglees. At the time of the Battle it was occupied by two sisters. As one of them was feeding the chickens she was startled by the noise of firearms. She quickly retired to the . house and locked the windows and doors. After the battle two straggling * ' Red Coats ' ' entered the house and asked for some- thing to eat. When they left they took all they could carry with them. One of the soldiers asked " Had the army gone down yet?" to which one of the sisters replied: "Which 34 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN army, the American or British ? ' ' This so angered the ques- tioner that he drew his bayonet, and, rushing toward her, would have injured her had not her sister interfered. After the war the sister first named married John Harshey, a Hessian, who was captured by Washington at Trenton and who settled in this country, becoming a valued citizen. The hill which starts at this point has been called Logan's Hill, but the common name is Neglee's Hill, from the Neglee family whose house appears nearby on a map of 1750. The large house standing out on the brow of the hill, north- west corner of Apsley and Main Streets, was built in 1801 by Thomas Armat for his son. It is called "Loudoun" from that fact that Thomas Armat first settled in Loudoun County, Va. At the time of the Battle the wounded Americans were carried to the top of the hill on which the house stands, and later removed in wagons to the city. It is said many of the dead were buried here. The house is now occupied by the Logan family, descendants alike of James Logan, of Stenton, and Thomas Armat. No. 4810 Main Street, is the Toland house, built about 1 740. At the time of the Battle the house was the home of George Miller, an officer in the American army. On the night 35 HISTORIC GERMAmOWN of the arrival of the British army in Germantown more than a dozen officers were quartered here. Jacob Miller, the son of George, related in later life his experience with them. Among other incidents one of the officers was taken ill, and Jacob, armed with a pass, was sent for assistance. At every little distance along the road he was challenged by a sentinel, but he got what was wanted and returned in safety. Jacob's mother was set to work baking bread for the officers. She was required to re- turn in weight an amount equal to the flour she received, and as ioo pounds of flour will make about 130 pounds of bread, she had considerable flour left to pay her for her trouble. No. 4817 Main Street has been called the Mehl house for the family that occupied it a hundred years ago. Some soldiers killed in the Battle are said to have been buried at the gateway. No. 482$, the Ottinger house, was built in 1 7 8 1 by Chris- topher Ottinger, a soldier of the Pennsylvania line, who vol- unteered at the age of 1 7 . The walls are two feet thick, even the partition on the first floor being of stone. The rafters of the rear building are of unhewn trees. Captain Douglas Ottinger, son of the above, the inventor of the Ottinger life car, was born here December nth, 1804. In 1 849 he equipped eight life-saving stations on the New Jersey 36 HISTORIC GERMANTOJVN coast with complete and effective life-saving apparatus. He was a captain in the U. S. Revenue Marine. No. 4.840 Main Street ', called the Wagner house, was used as one of the main hospitals after the Battle. The big wooden doors of the stable in the rear were taken from their hinges and arranged as operating tables. The house belonged to Samuel Mechlin and his family, who left Germantown on the arrival of the British army. Mechlin was a tanner and everything of value about the house was seized, including a quantity of hides which were afterward recovered. The floors still show the blood stains of the wounded. Many died here and were bur- ied in a trench in the rear. Seventy years ago some workmen in digging a post hole unearthed a number of relics which evi- dently had belonged to Hessian soldiers. The house was built in 1747. No. 4008 Main Street is called the Henry house, having been in possession of that family for many years. The oldest portion was erected in 1760, but additions were made later. In 1828 it was bought by John S. Henry, the father of Alex- ander Henry, three times mayor of the city and member of Congress. The latter passed here the greater portion of his youth. 37 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN Opposite the Henry house, occupying the northeast corner of East Logan Street and Main Street, is the Lower German- town Burial Ground, sometimes called Hood's Burying Ground. Here are the remains of many of the early families of German- town and their descendants. Note the quaint old gravestone built in the corner of the wall with its inscription, " Memendo Mory " and symbolic cross-bones. Also the stone some thirty feet from Main Street and ten from the north wall, erected by John F. Watson, the annalist, over the gaves of General Agnew and Colonel Bird, British officers, killed at the Battle of Ger- mantown. Near the front gateway is the grave of Christian Frederick Post, a noted Moravian missionary to the Indians. The oldest stone in the yard is that of Joseph Coulston, 1707—8. Note also the stone with the inscription : " He was noble hearted & amiable & Intelligent, having been awarded A silver goblet for a literary Production at the age of 18." The marble wall at the front was erected with money left for the purpose by William Hood, a resident of Germantown, who accumulated wealth and died in Paris in 1850. The graveyard was presented to the borough of German- town in 1693 by Jan Streepers. 38 39 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN No. 5109 Main Street occupies the site of Thones Kunder's home, one of the original settlers of Germantown, and, so far as we know, the only house of an original immigrant that can be accurately located. Notice the north wall of the building ; while it has all been plastered over you will observe that a por- tion of it, about ten feet high and extending back, is of a differ- ent shade from the remainder of the wall. It is thought that this is the old wall of Thones Kunder's original dwelling, and it is said, in the many plasterings the house has had, they have never been able to get the old portion and the new to be exactly the same shade. The first meetings of the Society of Friends in Germantown were held at this house, and it was from the members of this little meeting that a public protest against slavery was issued as early as 1688. The paper was written by Pastorius, signed by him and three others, and, being appropriately referred to their monthly and quarterly meetings, it was forwarded to and weightily considered in the yearly meeting held at Burlington. Thones Kunders was a dyer by trade. His death occured in the fall of 1729. He was the ancestor of the Conard and Conrad families. Among his descendants is included Sir Samuel Cunard, the founder of the Cunard Steamship Line. One square west, on the south side of Manheim Street, at 4 1 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN the southwest corner of Manheim and Portico Streets, is the house once owned by Jacques Marie Roset, born in France in 1765, who came to this country 1792. While passing up Chestnut Street on his arrival, with several of his countrymen, they met General Washington, who, recognizing them as French- men, saluted them in French, " Bien vien en Amerique," an incident which Roset remembered with pleasure during his life. He died in his 80th year and is buried in the Lutheran ground. A daughter of his oldest son, Mr. John Roset, mar- ried the late Anthony J. Drexel. Notice the stone on the Spring Alley side of the house ; also the one in front naming the street Manheim Square. Mr. Roset lived on the opposte side of the street. It was he who first introduced the tomato plant into Germantown. Somewhat farther out, No. 15J Manheim street, is White Cottage, the home of the Betton family. Dr. Samuel Betton married a daughter of Colonel Thomas Forrest. Immediately opposite the house in Revolutionary times was Taggart's field, where the British infantry were hutted. No. 5106 Main Street was occupied by Commodore James Barron in 1842, when in command of the Philadelphia Navy Yard. It was he who was in command of the Chesapeake when 42 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN she was fired upon by the British ship Leopard, June 23rd, 1807, and who killed Stephen Decatur in a duel in the famous duelling ground at Bladensburg, Md., March 23, 1820. The giant buttonwood tree, on the west side of Main street above Manheim, stood in front of what early in the last century was the Buttonwood Tavern, which succeeded "Ye Roebuck Inn," which was its name in Revolutionary times. There were two of these trees standing side by side. George Heft bought the property in 18 19. The old inn was torn down to make way for the present house. The property is still in possession of the Heft family. No. 5151 Main Street was the home of Philip R. Freas, who in 1830 started the Village Telegraphy later the German- town Telegraph, for many years one of the most influential papers in the country adjacent to Philadelphia. When the Native American riots broke out in Philadelphia in 1844 t ^ ie Telegraph was the only paper in Philadelphia which fearlessly upheld Sheriff Morton McMichael in his efforts to promptly subdue the riot. He edited the paper until 1885, when he retired. The little building next door was the newspaper office. In the rear of his home was a beautiful garden with rare trees and shrub- bery, but this has now made way for rows of dwelling houses. Philip R. Freas died April 1st, 1886. 43 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN No. 5140 Main Street was occupied by Gilbert Stuart, the famous painter, 1794-5. While living in Philadelphia his daughter says : " My father at this time was so inundated with visitors, he found it impossible to attend to his profession." He consequently removed to Germantown, occupying this house and fitting up a barn in the rear as his studio. The second story or barn floor was used as the studio proper, while the lower floor was used to mix paints, etc. For many years, indeed until the barn was destroyed by an in- cendiary fire, marks of paint were observable on the walls. A small portion of the walls of the barn remained after the fire and these were carefully preserved and covered with ivy until within a year or two, when they were removed. Here, on the authority of Gilbert Stuart's daughter, was painted the famous portrait of Washington, now in possession of the Athenasum of Boston. The story is told that when Washington visited the studio for his sittings he was in the habit of walking into the garden and eating fruit from an apple tree which was standing within a few years. On the authority of Watson here also was executed a full length portrait of Cornplanter the famous Indian chief. Nos. J20J and 5205 Main Street, formerly one dwelling 44 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN house, is now well on to a century old. At one time it was occupied by Dr. Theodore Ashmead and later by Dr. Betton. Here July 14, i860, was born Owen Wister, the distinguished story writer. His parents were Dr. Owen J. and Sarah Butler Wister, the latter a daughter of Pierce and Fanny Kemble Butler. The family were residing here temporarily while the house 5253 Main Street was being built by Dr. Wister. The Wisters continued living at 5253 Main Street until 1870, when they removed to Butler Place on the York Road. See reference to the latter in another chapter. St. Stephen's Methodist Church was opened in 1856. The story is told that it was then such a plain and unpre- tentious building that it was often mistaken for a factory. When in 1857 a new pastor came to take charge, bringing his family with him, his daughter on catching sight of the building, exclaimed, "Oh! Papa, what factory is that?" "That, my daughter," he replied "is the factory I am going to work in." The present attractive building gives no indi- cation of its plain beginning. On this site stood the carpenter shop of Frederick Fraley. Tradition says that these shops were used for the manufacture of gun carriages for the American army and that they were burned by the British during the Revolution. Watson 45 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN mentions that Washington was a frequent visitor at Fraley's car- penter shops. In later years the latter was a drum maker. No. 5214 Main Street has been called the Hacker house, from the fact that for a long period it was occupied by Isaiah Hacker. It was at one time the home of David Hayfield Conyngham. It marks a position of the British Army's en- campment in Germantown, as the following paragraph will dis- close : " The main body of the British occupied ground nearly at right angles with the main street. The front line on the School- house Lane to the west, and the Church Lane (its opposite) to the east. The park was in the area, south of the market-house, and fronting the house of David Deshler (now S. B. Morris'), in which General Howe had his quarters. The second line formed a parallel, at about one-fourth of a mile in the rear, and flanking the road near the old six-mile stone, before the door of H. Conyngham, Esq." — Watson* s Annals. No. 5219 Main Street was owned from 1775 until his death in 1795 by John Bringhurst. He was a prominent citizen of Germantown and one of the founders of the Academy. He was among the first to engage in the building of the well- known "Germantown" wagons. In 1780 he built a "chari- ot ' ' for General Washington, the price of which was £2 1 o in 46 47 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN gold. Washington was particular that it have his " arms and crest properly disp'd of on the chariot." When Martha Wash- ington set out for Mount Vernon in June, 1780, she rode in the new vehicle. Bringhurst' s "Big House," southeast corner Main and Bringhurst Streets, now occupied by a store, is where Colonel Bird, one of the British officers wounded in the Battle, died, saying as he passed away : " Woman, pray for me. I leave a wife and four children in England." In 1760 John Bringhurst and his brother George conveyed the ground used by the school to the trustees of the German- town Academy. For many years John was one of the trustees. The house 5253 Main Street occupies the site of what was Christopher Sauer's home and printing establishment. Christo- pher Sauer, his wife and their son Christopher reached German- town in 1724. Later they removed to Lancaster County, but father and son returned to Germantown in 1 7 3 1 . In 1 7 3 8 he secured a printing outfit from Germany and in 1739 he began to issue the first German newspaper in America. In 1 743 he issued the first Bible in an European language printed in America. This was forty years before an English Bible was printed in the colonies. Subsequent editions were issued by Christopher Sauer, 2d, in 1763 and 1776. Here also was printed in 1770 the first book in America on the subject of education. 49 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN Christopher Sauer, the father, died September 25th, 1758. The son had become a Bishop of the Dunkard Church in 1753, but continued printing until the Revolution, when, because he would not take the oath of allegiance to the State, his printing effects were seized and sold. He died August 26th, 1784, poor. The old house stood close to the street, with a building in the rear, where was the printing plant. The Sauers cast the first type made in America about the year 1772 or 1773. * c As Printing Types are now made to a considerable de- gree of perfection by an ingenious Artist in Germantown ; it is recommended to the Printers to use such Types, in preference to any which may be hereafter imported. — Pennsylvania Ga- zette, February 1, I J J 5* The house and outbuildings were removed and replaced by the present dwelling about the year i860. Nos. 5242 and 5244. Main Street, now a store, was form- erly the Indian Queen, a noted tavern, which gave name to the street alongside. This was formerly Bowman's Lane, then Indian Queen Lane, and now Queen Street. It was about at this point the following incident occurred : " The British, shortly after the Battle, concentrated in Phila- delphia and vicinity. Directly after they left Germantown a troop of American horsemen came through the town upon their rear, so closely that a British surgeon, who had just left dressing the 50 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN wounds of three American officers, prisoners in the widow Hess' house, was overtaken on foot in the street. When they were about to arrest him, W. FryhofFer, who saw it, and knew the facts of the case, proclaimed his useful services, and he was told to walk to the city at his ease. In the meantime the three offi- cers were taken as prizes and thus unexpectedly liberated. The same troop, advancing a little further, encountered a Quaker- looking man in a chaise, who, in trepidation, made a short turn at Bowman's Lane and upset, and thus exposed a large basket- full of plate. He and his treasure were captured and ordered off to headquarters." — Watson* 's Annals. The Wister house, No. 5261 Main Street, was erected by John Wister in 1 744, and the property is now in possession of his great grandson, Mr. Charles J. Wister. The stones for the building were quarried from a hill in the rear of the property and the joists hewn from oaks in the Wister woods, a portion of which is still standing. It was so much larger than the average house of the time that it was known as Wister' s "big" house. During the fall of 1777 the house had been left in charge of a German servant, Justina. The family had gone to Penllyn, Montgomery County, to escape possible annoyance by the British army, and it was while here that Sally Wister, a daugh- ter of the house, wrote the ever charming Diary * giving * Sally Wister' s Journal will be found in Pennsylvania Magazine, Vols. IX and X j also in Howard M. Jenkins' Historical Collections Relating to Gwynedd. 51 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN vivid accounts of country life at that trying and exciting time. When the British entered Germantown the house was occu- pied by General James Agnew. On the morning of the Battle Justina was at work in the garden and as General Agnew rode away he advised her to seek a place of safety. Justina, however, worked away unmindful of the happenings around her, and it was not long before General Agnew was carried back to the house "bleeding at every vein." He was laid on the floor in the northwest parlor. His blood still stains the floor boards, having resisted a century and more of spring and fall cleanings. General Agnew was buried with Colonel Bird in the Lower Burial Ground. No. 5267 Mam Street, while one of the oldest-looking houses along the Main Street, seems not to possess any par- ticular historical interest. Seventy-five years ago one Anthony Gilbert, a blacksmith who lived here, was noted for his great physical strength. He was known to write his name on a board fence with a piece of chalk with five fifty-six-pound weights hanging on his arm. The house No. 5J00 Main ' Street, now the parsonage of the Trinity Lutheran Church, was one of the Sauer properties. (See mention of the Sauers.) The Sauers were accused of 52 HISTORIC GERMANTOJVN aiding the enemy, and Christopher Sauer, the elder, suffered many indignities at the hands of the American soldiers. There is a tradition that the type which was cast by the Sauers, the first to be cast in America in 1772— 1773, was made in the cellar of this building. Nos. 5275 and 52J7 Main Street was occupied by the Germantown National Bank from 1825 to 1868. The An- nalist, Watson, who was the cashier, is authority for the state- ment that this building had been at one time occupied by Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State, and Edmund Randolph, Attorney General of the United States. The yellow fever prevailing in Philadelphia, and Congress being soon to meet, Jefferson proceeded to Germantown, arriv- ing there in company with President Washington, November 1st, 1793. The next day he wrote to his friend, James Madison : "According to present appearances this place cannot lodge a single person more. As a great favor I got a bed in the corner of the public room of a tavern ; and must continue till some of the Philadelphians make a vacancy by removing into the city. Then we must give him from 4 to 6 or 8 dollars a week for cuddies without a bed, and sometimes without a chair or table. There is not a single lodging house in the place (vacant ?)." 53 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN Jefferson no doubt was successful in finding a lodging in this house, for on November 1 7th he again wrote to Madison : «* I have got good lodging for Monroe and yourself; that is to say, a good room with a fire place and two beds, in a pleasant and convenient position, with a quiet family. They will break- fast you, but you must mess in a tavern ; there is a good one across the street. This is the way all must do, and all I think will not be able to get even half beds." About the first of December danger from the fever having abated Washington and the members of his cabinet moved into Philadelphia. East Penn Street used to be called Shoemaker's Lane for Shoemaker's big house which stood on the northeast corner of this and the Main Street. A short distance beyond the Read- ing Railway on the left hand side going out is the Rock House. Its origin is unknown, but it is said to be one of the oldest houses in Philadelphia. The low ground behind it at one time was called Mehl's meadow, and, with the Wingohocking Creek winding through it, it was a delightful spot. William Penn is said to have preached at one time from this elevation to the people assembled below him in the meadow. In this meadow before the Battle some of the British cavalry had their encampment. 54 55 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN St. Luke's Church, at northeast corner of Main and Coulter Streets, was the first Episcopal congregation organized in Ger- mantown ( 1 8 1 1 ) . The church then contained about twelve families in and about Germantown. The first building on the present site was erected in 1 8 1 8 and it has been enlarged and altered many times since. The Friends' Meeting (connected with Arch Street Yearly Meeting), occupies the grounds in the rear of the Linden hotel, northwest corner of Coulter and Main Streets. It has never been fully determined just how many of the first settlers of Germantown were members of the Society of Friends, but a meeting was established very soon after their arrival. It first met at the home of Thones Kunders, now 5 1 09 Main Street, and at other private houses. Jacob Shoemaker early gave the meeting three square perches of land, and the pre- sumption is a log meeting house was erected on it. In 1693 he conveyed to the meeting fifty acres, of which the three square perches was a portion, and on this lot in the present old grave- yard, along the Main Street, a stone meeting house was erected in 1705. This was replaced in 18 12 by another building, which stood where the present school building stands, and this in turn was succeeded by the present building. The old stone has been placed in an adjoining committee building. 57 . HISTORIC GERMANTOWN " Philadelphia, June 5. Yesterday forenoon in the Meet- ing House of the People called Quakers at Germantown, died suddenly of an Apopletic Fit, Isaac Norris of Fairhill, Esq. ; who for a long time most worthily presided in the County Court of Quarter Sessions and Common Pleas, Philadelphia, was a Member of Council upwards of 30 years and been often chosen one of the People's Representations in the Legislature of this Province, as he was in this Year for the County of Philadelphia. His great Abilities in the Discharge of his Duty in each of these Stations, made him to be justly esteemed one of the most con- iderable men in this Government. ' ' — American Weekly Mer- cury, June 5th, 1735. In the Free Library, which is under the care of Friends of this meeting, will be found a photograph of the Protest against Slavery which has been referred to. (See 5109 Main Street). The Masonic Hall, No. 5425 Main Street, occupies the site of a building in which at one time A. Bronson Alcott lived, and here the distinguished authoress, Louisa M. Alcott, was born. Mr. Alcott came to Germantown to take charge of a school. The following letter to Colonel May, dated German- town, November 29th, 1832, gives the information in regard to the interesting event : "Dear Sir: — It is with great pleasure that I announce to you the birth of a second daughter. She was born at half past 12 this morning, on my birthday (33) and is a very fine 58 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN healthful child, and has a fine foundation for health and energy of character. Abba, inclines to have her called Louisa May, a name to her full of every association connected with amiable benevolence and exalted worth. I hope its present possessor may rise to equal attainment and deserve a place in the esti- mation of Society. Yours, A. Bronson Alcott." The t family removed from Germantown when Louisa Alcott was about two years of age. No. 5430 Main Street was the home of Captain Albert Ashmead. His father, John Ashmead, lived next door above, 5434. When the British army entered Germantown, Thursday morning, September 25th, 1777, little John Ashmead, then a boy of twelve, sat on the front stoop and saw them pass — tired and covered with dust. While the Battle was in progress he ran out into the street, but was captured and taken to the cellar of 'Squire Ferree's home, nearly opposite. After the Battle he sallied forth and recovered two cannon balls, one an English and the other American, which have remained in pos- session of the family since. Captain Albert Ashmead commanded a troop of country cavalry and escorted General Lafayette from Trenton to Phila- delphia, when the latter visited this country. William Ashmead, grandfather of Albert, was the first, soon 59 HISTORIC GERMANIOWN after the Revolution, to manufacture the well known German- town wagons, his shop being in the rear of these houses, and the house, No. 5430, was used as a show room, the ceilings being made high particularly for this purpose. When Captain Albert Ashmead married, the house was altered to accommodate him. " The first introduction of carriage building was somewhat curious. Mr. William Ashmead, a smith, observing the heavy build of the coaches of his day, and that they were mostly im- ported, if intended to be of a superior kind, bethought him to form an open-front light carriage, on his own plan. When it was done, it was admired by many, and was often called for by the wealthy who wished to travel to distances ; — among these was Mr. Bingham. They engaged it at a dollar a day, and it was in constant demand. At last, a gentleman from Maryland, who had seen it, came to the place to buy it. It was not for sale ; but he offered £120 for it, and took it. Then another and another was built, and orders were renewed upon Mr. Ash- mead. Soon, increased demand occurred ; and his son John being made a carriage maker, received numerous orders for many kinds of light carriages, and especially for phaetons. About the same time (the time of the Revolution and afterwards), Mr. Bringhurst, who was at the time a chaise maker, went largely into the making of carriages. Coaches and chariots were made for ^200 and phaetons for ^100. "The same William Ashmead, as a smith, had made him- self a plough with a wrought iron mould-board, which was found to be a great improvement ; and so much admired by Laf- 60 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN ayette, who saw its utility, that he purchased four of them for his La Grange farm in France. No patent was taken ; and in time some other person, following the hint, made the same thing of cast iron — such as is now in general use." — Watson'' s Annals. The Market Square, now occupied as an open park, was the centre of the activity of the town. There was originally an acre of ground reserved from the Frankfort Company's land, but it was not centrally located, and was subsequently sold, and at the same time, in 1703-4, the Bailiff's, etc., "For the common good and to purchase a place nearer the now midst in the centre of said town," bought of James De La Plaine, a half acre representing the present Market Square. Here for many years and until recent times, was the market house. Here also was the engine house of the Fellowship Fire Engine Company, one of the three early volunteer companies of the town. For a complete account of this fire company see ' « Pennsylvania Maga- zine of History," Vol. xviii, page 429. The fire company re- moved to Armat Street in 1850 and the little old engine house was removed to the rear of 164 School House Lane, were it still serves as a play house. Here also at one time was the prison, the stocks and the public scales. Delegations of Indians on their way to the city would stop in Germantown and were fed at the Market Square. 61 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN II [ ■■■ ■ ■HI M PMIIMWI I llll I III11III1 H WIM'^— IIMIIB^MMIIIIIM I1 I H II I I ■■■■ ■!■! ■ MM A table often used for their dinner is still preserved by the Ashmeads. Here, February 6th, 1764, several hundred Paxtang boys from the banks of the Conestoga and Susquehanna, then the frontier, on their way to murder the peaceful Moravian Indians who had taken shelter in Philadelphia, were met by Benjamin Franklin, Benjamin Chew, Thomas Willing, Thomas Galloway and others and persuaded to return to their homes. Philadelphia had been thrown into a state of great excitement which must in a measure have been communicated to Germantown, for the Lutheran pastor in the city came out to Germantown to warn his people not to take part with the mob. The monument now occupying the square was erected in 1883 by Germantown to her soldiers in the Civil War. The principal part of the monument is built of Quincy granite. The top block, on which the soldier stands, is a piece of granite from Devil's Den, Gettysburg. The soldier is cut from Westerly granite. The four mortars were used for coast defence during the Civil War. The two bronze cannon on wheels were taken from the United States arsenal by Southern sympathizers during the war but were subsequently recovered by Union troops. One of them has cut upon it a Confederate flag and the name of a Confed- erate officer who was killed while serving the gun. The enclosure is made of musket barrels and bayonets used during the war. 62 o 63 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN The broken cannon on the north side was part of the arma- ment of the British frigate Augusta, sunk by the American bat- teries while the vessel was attempting to reach Philadelphia dur- ing the Revolutionary War. The crown and British monogram " G. R." are on it. The muzzle was blown away by an American cannon ball. Some thirty years ago in removing ob- structions from the river channel the vessel was raised and this gun recovered. The shell on the south side was presented to the Con- federacy by some friends in England in connection with a bat- tery of Whit worth guns. The cannon on the east of the monument has been in Ger- mantown for many years and was used to fire salutes, etc. On the sides of the monument are found : Coat of Arms of the United States, with a quotation from one of Webster's speeches. Coat of Arms of Pennsylvania, with a quotation from Will- iam Penn's writings. Coat of Arms of the City of Philadelphia, with a quotation from the Gospel by Luke. A badge of the Grand Army of the Republic. The Memorial Tablets at the corners contain the names of Soldiers and Sailors serving for the Suppression of the Rebellion, and residents at the time of their enlistment in the 2 2d and 42d 65 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN Wards, or who subsequent to this war moved into this territory and died there. Tablet I contains, in chronological and alphabetical order, the names of those who died or were killed during the years 1861-65. Tablet 2 contains, in alphabetical order, the names of those who died after 1865 and before May 30, 1900. Tablet 3 the same, with the latter half of the alphabet, and Tablet 4 the names of those who died between May 30, 1900, and January 1, 1901. No. 5442 Main Street t the Morris house, opposite the square, was the residence of Washington during a portion of 1793 and 1794. It was built in 1772-3 by David Deshler. "As honest as David Deshler" is remembered of him. After the Battle Sir William Howe, who before the event had made his headquarters at Stenton, occupied this house. The house was later bought by Colonel Isaac Franks and by him leased to Washington who occupied it during the month of Novem- ber, 1793, when the yellow fever drove many of the in- habitants of the city to safe places. An item in Colonel Frank's cash account is of interest : " Cash paid for cleaning my house and putting it in the same condition the President re- ceived it in, $2.50." The total payment, including the rent, 66 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN was $131.56, which covered Colonel Frank's traveling ex- penses to and from Bethlehem, the hire of furniture and bedding for his own family, the loss of one flat iron, valued at one shill- ing, of one large fork, four plates, three ducks, four fowls, one bushel of potatoes and one hundred of hay." In the following year, 1 794, Washington occupied it during the heated period of the summer from July 30th to September 20th. Under date of September 24, 1794, the following entry occurs in his cash book : <* Isaac Franks in Full for House rent &c. at Germantown pr rect, $201.60." The house is about forty feet square, and it is said the front would have been wider had David Deshler not wanted to spare a plum tree which stood at the side. The yard at the side and rear has been kept in the simple elegance of the colonial time and is altogether a charming spot. " General Washington while residing here in 1793 was a frequent walker abroad up the Main Street, and daily rode out on horseback, or in his phaeton. So that everybody here was familiar with the personal appearance of that eminent man. When he and his family attended the English preaching, in the Dutch Church, at the market house, they always occupied the seat fronting the pulpit. It was also his own practice to attend the German preaching, thus showing he had some knowledge of that language. His home was closed on the Sabbath, until the 67 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN bell tolled, when it was opened just as he was seen coming to the church. . . . " Many remember his very civil and courteous demeanor to all classes in the town, as he occasionally had intercourse with them. He had been seen several times at Henry Fraley's car- penter shop, and at Bringhurst's blacksmith shop, talking freely and cordially with both. They had both been in some of his campaigns. His lady endeared herself to many by her uniform gentleness and kindness. Neither of them showed pride or austerity. I could illustrate the assertion by several remembered incidents in proof." — Wat so?? 's Annals. No. 5448 Main Street was built about 1760 by John Bringhurst, who has been mentioned (p. 46). It later passed into possession of the Ashmead family. No. 5450 Main Street, built about 1790, was for a time the residence of Thomas Armat. It is said of him that during the war of 18 12, when calling upon tenants for rent, if they were unable to pay, he would not only forgo his claim but aid them besides. He presented the town with hay scales in the square opposite, the revenue from which was turned over to certain beneficial societies. He kept a room in the house known as the " Ministers ' ' room. He gave the land and was instru- mental in founding St. Luke's Episcopal Church. 68 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN Nos. 5452 and 5454 are also Ashmead houses. When they were built is not definitely known, but it is thought No. 5452 was erected about 171 1, by John Ashmead, who came to Germantown from Cheltenham township in that year, purchas- ing a tract of 500 acres, of which a portion still remains in the family. The front of the house was rebuilt in 1790. In March, 1742, Count Zinzendorf occupied No. 5454 and on the 14th of May he opened a school for young women with twenty-five girls and teachers. In June of the same year it was transfered to Bethlehem, where it still is in existence as the Moravian Seminary. Like many of the properties along the Main Street, the land for these extended back a considerable distance from the Main Street. ** A large body of Hessians were hutted in Ashmead' s field, out the school lane, near the woods ; their huts were constructed of the rails from fences, set up at an angle of 45 °, resting on a crossbeam centre ; over these were laid straw, and above the straw grass sod — they were close and warm. Those for the officers had wicker doors, with a glass light, and interwoven with plaited straw ; they had also chimneys made of grass sod. They no doubt had prepared so to pass the winter, but the battle broke up their plans. One of the Hessians afterwards became Wash- ington's coachman." — Watson's Annals. There is a story in the Ashmead family that during the 69 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN occupation of the town by the British a young British officer was attracted by little ' ' Polly ' ' Ashmead and frequently visited the house. One day he stood before an open fire warming his back when the tail of his coat caught fire. Polly saw it but as he was a British officer she said nothing. When he discovered his coat was burning, and at the same time saw that Polly was laughing, he shook his finger at her, upbraided her for not tell- ing him and called her a "little rebel." From this family are descended, through Sophia Ashmead, who married, in 1843, Ellis Bartlett, an American merchant, the late Sir Ellis Ashmead Bartlett, a member of the English Parliament, and his brother, William Lehman Ashmead Bartlett, the husband of the Baroness Burdett-Coutts. They were both born in America but were educated in England and became British subjects. William Penn once preached in the house of Jacob Tellner, which stood where the Savings Fund Building now stands, on the southwest corner of School Lane and Main Street. Dr. George Bensell pulled this house down to erect a handsome residence about 1795. This stood until 1880, when it was torn down to make way for the present building. The old doorway which stood in the Bensell house was removed through the efforts of Dr. William R. Dunton and placed in the house southeast cor- 70 7i HISTORIC GERMANrOJVN ner of Main Street and Walnut Lane. There is a tradition that Jacob Tellner's house was the first stone house built in German- town, and that William Penn was present at the raising of the roof. The Woman's Christian Association building, fronting on the square, corner of Mill Street, was at one time occupied by one of the banks from Philadelphia, when the latter was driven out of Philadelphia by the yellow fever epidemic. Massive vaults had been constructed in the cellar to which the money was conveyed. This house was used for five years by the Episcopalians as a place of worship until the erection of St. Luke's Church. Market Square Presbyterian Church is the third church building erected on this site. Originally built by the German Reformed Church in 1733, it was enlarged in 1762 and a steeple added. This building made way for a larger structure in 1839, which in turn was replaced by the present structure. Its first bell, cast in 1725, is still preserved in the church. Its weather vane, made of metal, represented a crowing cock. When the Paxtang were encamped in the square they amused themselves firing at the weathercock on the church. It still bears the marks of these bullets. It was removed when the present building was erected and is carefully preserved by Mr. 73 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN Charles J. Wister. Count Zinzendorf preached his first sermon on landing in America here, December 31st 1741, and on June 17th, 1742, his last on leaving. At the time of the Battle a battalion of Virginians was captured and confined in the church building by the British until they were marched into the city. Here their tall figures, their wounds and powder-stained faces attracted much attention from the townspeople. " The Ninth Regiment was in the hottest of the fight, and nearly one-half the whole regiment was killed and wounded. It drove every portion of the British Army with which it came in contact before it, and I was told by one of the officers that in the excitement of the moment, supposing every part of the American Army had been as successful as themselves, they had no doubt of reaching Philadelphia, the headquarters of General Howe. When the retreat of the American army was ordered, the Ninth Regiment was so far in advance of the rest of the army, that before they could join the main body they were sur- rounded and made prisoners. When surrounded they had made more prisoners than the whole number of the regiment. On the morning after the Battle of Germantown the prisoners were marched to Philadelphia." — Joyne* 's Account, Ninth Virginia Continental Line, President Washington attended here when living in the Morris house opposite. The Mutual Fire Insurance Company, northeast corner 74 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN School House Lane and Main Street, occupies the site of the old De La Plaine house. At the time of the Battle it was occu- pied by ' Squire Joseph Ferree, and a number of weeping women and children found refuge in the cellar while the fight was in progress. The Pennsylvania Council of Safety in 1776 ordered that the supply of salt and saltpetre be removed to Germantown, and presumably stored in Squire Ferree' s cellar, as he was in charge of it. On the 8th of July of that year it was "Resolved that Dr. Charles Bensell, Joseph Ferree and Leonard Stoneburner be appointed to collect all the leaden window weights, clock- weights and other lead in Germantown and its neighborhood," for which the liberal price of six pence per pound will be allowed. When Whitfield visited Germantown he preached from a little balcony to a great crowd gathered in the Market Square below. *' On Friday last the Rev. Mr. White field arrived here with his Friends from New York t where he preached eight Times ; . . . He has preach' d here twice every Day, since his arrival, in the Church to great Crowds, except Tuesday, when he Preach* d at German Town from a Balcony to about 5000 People." — American Weekly Mercury, Nov. 22 to Nov. ?9> T 739- Visitors should see the Shag Rag, the old hand engine be- 75 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN longing to the Middle Ward Fire Company, which is now carefully preserved by the Insurance Company in their office. It was imported from England in 1764. Water was carried to it in leather buckets, of which each member kept two hanging in his hallway ready for instant service. Three or four men standing on each side of the engine and working the handles up and down industriously could throw a stream of half an inch in diameter a distance of fifty feet or more. The Germantown Bank, northwest corner Main Street and School House Lane, was chartered in 1 8 1 3 , and began business in 1 8 1 4. It was first located in a house next to the corner, 5504 Main Street, but in 1825 it removed to 5277 Main Street. In 1868 it returned to its present location and later bought and absorbed 5504, the building in which it first started. The corner house was known as Bensell's house, having been erected early in the eighteenth century by Carl Benzelius. The house was occupied for several years, until about 1 806, by the Germantown Library. " The Members of the Library Company of Germantown are desired to meet on Monday, the 6th Day of May, at the House of Daniel Mackenet, to choose three Directors and a Treasurer, and to make their tenth annual payment.' ' — Penna. Gazette, April 25th y 1754. 76 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN It was later altered into a store. In 1776 Lieutenant George Ball, of the British Navy, a pris- oner of war, was sent to Germantown by the Council of Safety. A letter was sent at the same time to Dr. Charles Bensell, desir- ing him to * * provide proper lodging for the Lieutenant. ' ' For a brief period, during the yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia, 1798, Elizabeth Drinker and her son boarded with the widow Bensell. Elizabeth Drinker writes in her well-known Journal, August 22d, 1798 : " Half of her house is taken by other persons, but we are entirely separated, ye doors between locked up. Aug. 23 d. Two Frenchmen lodge in the room adjoining us, with a door which opens into our room, which is locked and ye old lady has ye key. They were jabbering last night, but I could not understand them. They are nearer than I like ; I stopped the keyhole this morning with paper." Watson is authority for the statement that Generals Wash- ington, Knox and Greene slept in 5504, which was next to the corner. This building was occupied by the Bank of the United States during a portion of 1798. Elizabeth Drinker records, September 25 th : " Ye United States Bank removed ye contents thereof, from Philada. ye 22nd inst. to Germantown — to the house lately occupied by Rochardet as a Coffee house or Tavern next door to 77 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN S. Rhoads, escorted by a body of Light-horse. It occasioned a great stir in that neighborhood, where there was great abund- ance of it before." One square west of the Main Street is the Germantown Academy (southwest corner School House Lane and Greene Street), founded January ist, 1760. With the exception of a period during the Revolution, school has been held here con- tinuously since. It was originally called the Germantown Union School house. The little buildings were constructed for the masters. The school started with 1 3 1 pupils — 6 1 in the English and 70 in the German department. The following is an extract from an advertisement of the school in the Pennsylvania Gazette ', March 5th, 1761 : " The School- House consists of 80 Feet in Front, and 40 Feet in Depth, two Stories in Height, with six commodious Rooms for the Use of the several Schools. To which are added as Wings, two convenient Dwelling-houses, with a lot of Ground to each, for the Residence of the Masters and their Boarders. " The Advantages of the School, with respect to Situation, must, if duly considered, contribute not a little to its Promotion and Encouragement. The House is built on a fine airy Hill, a little removed from the Public or Main street. The Air is known, from long Experience, to be pure and healthy ; often recommended, by the best Physicians, to Invalids ; and indeed the Place, without Exaggeration, may be justly termed the 78 79 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN Montpelier of Pennsylvania. The Opportunities and Examples of Vice and Immorality, which ever prevail in large Cities, here will seldom present themselves, to decoy the youthful Mind from its natural Inclination of Virtue. Its Retirement, for want of Objects to divert the Attention will fix the Mind to Appli- cation and Study. Its small Distance from the City of Phila- delphia will enable the Citizen, in some Measure, to superintend both the Health and Education of his Child." After the Battle the building was used as a hospital for the wounded, and several British soldiers are buried in the yard at the rear. The school was chartered by the State in 1786 as the Public School at Germantown. The bell in the belfry has a romantic history. It was brought to Philadelphia in 1774 in the tea ship Polly, which was not allowed to land by the indignant citizens of Philadel- phia. The cargo, including the bell, was carried back to England, where it remained until the war was over, when it was again brought over and put in place. A part of the weather vane is a crown representing the royal insignia of England, which has never been disturbed. In the Academy's possession are the telescope used by Washington at the time of the Battle and other interesting relics. The house on School House Lane opposite the Academy was bought in 18 10. The Gymnasium along Greene Street is a modern building. The public is admitted to the school. 81 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN In 1793, when, on account of the yellow fever in Philadel- phia, it seemed as if Congress would meet in Germantown, the the use of the Academy was tendered, November 6th, to Wash- ington as a meeting place, but owing to the abatement of the disease Congress assembled in Philadelphia December 2d. In 1798, when yellow fever again drove the citizens of Philadelphia to the suburbs and country, the Academy building was occupied by the Banks of North America and of Pennsyl- vania. Elizabeth Drinker, who was then in Germantown, writes in her Journal : " September 4 (1798). The Bank of Pennsylvania was this afternoon removed from Philadelphia, where it has lately been robbed of a considerable amount, to the school house in this town, escorted by McPherson's Blues. " September 5. Germantown is like a beehive — the people swarm. About two o'clock, four wagons loaded with the cash, &c, from the Bank of North America arrived here guarded by the Light-horse men. They are also deposited in the same school house where the contents of ye other was yesterday lodged. This draws great numbers to this place. Fifteen or twenty people are guarding ye Banks." No. 5506 Main Street, now modernized with a Mansard roof, was occupied during one of the yellow fever visitations by the officers of the State government, Governor Mifflin and Alexander J. Dallas, Secretary of the Commonwealth, having 82 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN their offices here. When the building next south was torn down to make way for the addition to the Germantown National Bank, a doorway was disclosed, indicating that there was a con- nection between the two buildings. Built in the wall of the rear building of this house is the head of an Indian made of some dark stone. It may be seen from the alleyway just north of the next house. Its origin and his- tory are unknown, although there is a tradition that it was unearthed when the foundations of the house were dug. Nos. 5516— 5518-5520 Main Street, in Revolutionary times, was the King of Prussia Tavern. Its sign, which is still preserved, is said to have shown King Frederick on horseback and to have been painted by Gilbert Stuart while he was a tem- porary resident of Germantown. It was later painted over. In the rear there formerly stood a large barn which was used as a slaughter house by the British at the time of the Battle. The first stage coach with an awning was run from the King of Prussia to the George Inn, Second and Arch Streets, three times a week. About 1834 its use as a tavern ceased. The door- way on the second floor, at the south end, which has been closed up, shows where at one time it had been connected with the next house below. 83 HISTORIC GEKMANTOWN " Andrew Weckeser begs leave to inform the Publick, " That he has opened a House of entertainment in German- town, at the Sign of the King-of- Prussia, near John Jones's, Esq : where all Gentlemen, Ladies, Travellers, &c. may depend on the best usage. Their favors will be gratefully acknowl- edged by their humble Servant. Andrew Weckeser." — Pennsylvania Gazette, Dec. Ijt/i, 1757. Standing back from the street next above the King of Prussia is an old hipped roof building, occupied at one time by Christian Lehman, who came to America with his father in 1 7 3 1 with a passport written with gold ink on parchment. Christian Lehman was an importer of tulip and hyacinth bulbs, and is said to have imported the first English walnuts brought to this country. One tree of this variety still stands on the place. In this connection the following advertisement appeared in the Pemisylvania Gazette, August 4th, 1763 : ' ' To be sold during the latter Part of this Summer only, an Assortment of English double Hyacinth Roots, of a variety of Colours, as well as sundry other Sorts of Flower Roots, of var- ious Prices, by Christian Lehman, in Germantown. ft N. B. He also keeps constantly for Sale some of the best English Walnut Trees, as well as other Fruit and Flowering Trees, of a Size fit to plant out, etc., etc. etc." The First Presbyterian Church, Chelton Avenue west of 84 85 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN — ^—— — ——————— me— ^mm ^ — .a^ miwmiii^i *— nwim^M Main Street, stands where at one time was a famous orchard, and the steeple is directly over a spring. In digging the foun- dation it was necessary to drive piles on which the foundations were constructed. The orchard referred to was that of a Ger- man named Kurtz, whose house stood on the west of the Main Street where Chelton Avenue has been opened through. Kurtz was a great horticulturalist and botanist and his gardens contained many rare specimens. He was a friend of Matthias Kin, an eccentric man who was employed by German horticulturalists to collect seeds and plants for them. He spent most of the time exploring the wilds of North America, and it was to him that Kurtz was indebted for many of his specimens. The First Presbyterian Church was formally located where is now the Young Mens' Christian Association Building, and the first meetings of the body were, before the erection of a church building, held in the Blair house, southeast corner of Main Street and Walnut Lane. Vernon Park, on the West side of Main Street just above Chelten Avenue, now includes the old Wister mansion and some adjoining properties. Most of this land formerly belonged to Melchoir Meng, whose house stood along the main street immediately adjoining what is now No. 5708 Main Street. Melchoir Meng shared with his neighbor Kurtz a great love for 87 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN trees and plants, and John Wister, who bought the property and lived here for many years, preserved and added to the collection. Some of these rare specimens are still standing, particularly noticeable being several great holly trees. Melchoir Meng was one of the founders of the Germantown Academy, and at the Battle his house was occupied by the wounded soldiers. His three daughters were alone in the house at the time, and the British officers assured them if they would go up stairs and stay there no harm would befall them. The house had been selected as a hospital on account of the numerous barrels of vinegar stored in the cellar, this being used to stanch the flow of blood. They saw the stricken Colonel Bird brought in and laid upon the porch, and soon the house was filled with wounded men. Melchoir Meng's house was taken down when the city bought the property a few years ago. Vernon Mansion was erected in 1803 by James Matthews, who, a few years later, sold it to John Wister, who lived here until his death. His son, John Wister, was a member of Con- gress and occupied Vernon until his death in 1883. The property now belongs to the city, and the mansion is oc- cupied by the Germantown branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia. No. 5845 Main Street was standing at the time of the Bat- 88 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN tie. There is a tradition that at one time a mounted British soldier rode up to the door and demanded something. On being refused, he tried to urge his horse into the doorway, which was then guarded by a Dutch or double door. The tollgate for the turnpike stood in the street just below this house and opposite Rittenhouse Street. The Young Mens' Christian Association stands where for many years was the First Presbyterian Church. It was organ- ized in 1809 as the "English Church" of Germantown. In 181 1 the site was chosen, and in July, 18 12, the building was dedicated. The church remained here until 1870, when it was removed to Chelten Avenue, the building after that date being occupied by the Young Men's Christian Association. The First Methodist Church of Germantown was, until within a few years, located on East Haines' Street, a square or more east of the main street. The church was organized in 1796. There had been meetings of this body for some time previous to this date held, among other places, in the Academy Building. The first meeting house was on the south side of East Haines Street (formerly Pickius Lane, later Methodist Lane, or Meeting House Lane) and was erected in 1804. In 18 12 a large lot further out Haines Street was bought. On this lot a meeting 89 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN house was built in 1823. The church building was later sold to the city and is now used as a public school. On the south side of Haines Street, the first house east of Chew Street (about three- fourths of a mile east of Main Street), still stands a farm house that belonged to Christopher Ludwig. In 1777 he was appointed Baker General to the American army. He was an ardent patriot, possessed considerable influ- ence, and is said to have been the original of Harvey Birch in Cooper's novel t( The Spy." He was respected by Washing- ton, and the latter, in 1785, gave him a certificate of good conduct, of which Christopher Ludwig was very proud and which he had framed and hung in his parlor. He was born in Germany in 1720. He had been a soldier in the Austrian and Prussian armies. He was a baker by trade and amassed a for- tune in his business, an important part of which was making gingerbread. At his death he left much to charities. His grave is in St. Michael's Lutheran yard and consists of a granite top- stone on granite pillars, with a long inscription giving an account of the principal events of his life. He died in 1801. For further details see ' * Life of Christopher Ludwig, ' ' by Dr. Benjamin Rush. The Town Hall during the war of the Rebellion was used as a hospital. Numerous frame wards were also constructed at 90 9 1 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN the side and rear, so that eventually the hospital accommodated 630 beds. The hospital was organized July, 1862. It was called the Cuyler Hospital, in honor of John M. Cuyler, M.D., Medical Director, U. S. A. The hospital was used until the end of the war. The clock in the Town Hall was made by Lukens, of Montgomery County, and was formerly in the State House, Philadelphia. The Bell was the second one in the history of the State House, and is said to contain considerable silver to give it a " silvery* ' tone. The steeple was erected for it and the clock started in Germantown, October 4th, 1878. No. 5pj8 Main Street is the Engle house, built by Ben- jamin Engle in 1758 and remains in the possession of this family to this day. The Engles were tanners in early days, and the tannery stood in the rear until modern times. The tradition is that Elizabeth Engle, standing in the doorway after the Battle, saw the wounded General Agnew carried by on a door. After the Battle the British soldiers were seen gathering up the American muskets and breaking them one by one over a cubical quartz stone which stood for many years at the gateway along- side the house to keep the wagon wheels from hitting the post. A good Engle horse was taken from the stable and a poor old English hack substituted. 93 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN The house at the southeast corner of Main Street and High Street is known as the Morris-Littell house. Mrs. Ann Willing Morris lived here from 1812 until her death, in 1832. Of her two daughters who occupied the house, one was Margaret H. Morris, the first woman elected a member of the Academy of Natural Sciences. She was a noted naturalist, and it is said that to her belongs the credit of discovering the habits of the seventeen-year locusts, enabling her to predict their reappearance. It was on these grounds that the investigations were made. This house, or a portion of it, was the home at one time of Dr. Christopher Witt, further mention of whom will be found in the succeeding paragraphs. No. 25 High Street, just in the rear of the Methodist Church, was built about 1796 by Daniel Pastorius, a great grandson of Francis Daniel Pastorius. It then stood on the Main Street, next to the Morris-Littell house, with only a car- riage drive separating them. When High Street was opened it was moved some fifty feet northward, and a few years ago it was moved once more to its present location. Some thirty years ago Dr. Dunton tore down the old Pas- torius house, which formerly stood between his house and No. 6019 Main Street, and used the stone in building the rear wing of this house. 94 95 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN Dr. Dimton has carved over his doorway the Latin motto, Procul este profani t which Whittier says was carved over Pastorius' door. " Then through the vine-draped door whose legend read, * Procul este profani!' Anna led To where their child upon his little bed " Looked up and smiled. ' Dear heart,' she said, 'if we Must bearers of a heavy burden be, Our boy, God willing, yet the day shall see < t * When from the gallery to the farthest seat Slave and slave-owner shall no longer meet, But all sit equal at the Master's feet.' " — From Whittier* s Pemisylvania Pilgrim. In the rear, almost adjoining the church, is an old building, formerly a Pastorius farm house. The doorway, which is a particularly handsome one, was formerly in one of the Bensell houses on the Main Street above School Lane, torn down to make way for the Germantown National Bank. St. Michael's Episcopal Church, on the south side of High Street, two squares east of the Main Street, occupies the site of the old Warner burying ground. Its walls may be traced by the stone foundation still showing through the sod. In ad- dition to the graves of the two Doctor Warners, for whom sub- tantial headstones are still standing, there are numerous other 97 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN mounds without stones. Here is also buried, in a now un- marked grave, Dr. Christopher Witt (or Dewit, as it is some- times spelled), who died in 1765, aged ninety years. " Last week died at Germantown Dr. Christopher Dewit ; a gentleman long and well known throughout this and the neigh- boring Provinces, for his great Services and Abilities in the Pro- fession of a Physician. " — Pennsylvania Gazette, February 7, 1765' It is said that some of the dead from the Battle, English as well as Americans, are buried here, and for many years before the church was built the graveyard and the surrounding ground was called "Spook Hill." No. 6019 Main Street was formerly the Green Tree Tav- ern. It was built in 1748. The letters << D. S. P" in the date stone stand for Daniel and Sarah Pastorius. The house was a public one kept by Daniel Pastorius until his death in 1754- There is a well-founded tradition that during the Battle the attacking Americans, on the east side of the Main Street, under General Wayne, penetrated this far towards the centre of the town. It is referred to in the chronicles of the time as the " Widow Mackinnett' s Tavern," and it was a famous resort for driving and sleighing parties from the city. Later it was called the " Hornets' Nest," from an immense hornets' nest that was 98 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN kept here as a curiosity. The tavern was the resting place of many curiosities of the town and vicinity. In 1825, when Lafayette was invited to visit Germantown, the intention was to entertain him at dinner at this inn. The evening before the day he was expected it was concluded that the tavern would not accommodate the party, so a deputation visited the Chew House, where arrangements were made for the dinner, over which Miss Ann Chew, then a young lady of sixteen, presided. Nos. 6021 and 602J Main Street are Warner houses. The Warners were early identified with the Pietist hermits of the Wissahickon, and particularly with Dr. Christopher Witt, the survivor of this remarkable body. Watson is authority for the statement that Dr. Witt's interest in the Warners was first aroused by their giving him a hat to replace his, which had blown away. Be this as it may, the relations were very close between the old doctor and the family, and when the former died he left his big house to Christian Warner. Dr. Witt was born in England in 1675 anc ^ came to Penn- sylvania in 1704. He was one of the most remarkable men who lived in Germantown. He was a physician, botanist, scholar, musician, astronomer and lover of nature, originally one of the hermits of the Wissahickon, a friend of John Bartram, the botanist, and of other noted men. 99 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN An oil portrait of Johannes Kelpius, the Hermit of the Wissahickon, painted by Dr. Christopher Witt, is believed to be the first oil portrait painted in America, 1705. It is in the possession of the Pennsylvania Historical Society. " Dr. Witt was a skilled botanist, and upon his removal to Germantown, after the death of Kelpius, he started a large gar- den for his own study and amusement, and to him probably is due the honor of starting the first botanical garden in America. This was about twenty years prior to Bartram's purchase on the Schuylkill for a like purpose." — The German Pietists of Penn- sylvania, p. 406. It was no doubt through Dr. Witt's influence that two of the Warners, father and son, became physicians. The latter died during the yellow fever epidemic of 1793. Their graves are referred to in a preceding paragraph. A portion of " Wyck," southwest corner of Walnut Lane and Main Street, is thought to be the oldest house still standing in Germantown. The present building was originally two houses with a driveway between them. Its halls were used as a hospital and operating room after the Battle and blood stains still remain upon the floors. Reuben Haines, who in- herited the property, was a prominent man of his day. He greatly aided in the building of the turnpike from Chestnut Hill 100 IOI HISTORIC GERMANTOJVN to the city, and was active in other ways. When the Marquis of Lafayette visited Germantown, July 20th, 1825, he was entertained at "Wyck." Lafayette and his suite had pre- viously visited the Chew House, then the Mount Airy College. On their return they stopped at " Wyck," where a reception was tendered him. He was addressed by Charles Pierce, Esq., and John F. Watson, the annalist, who presented him with a "box of great curiosity and value." During the reception Lafayette was seated in a chair that had belonged to Benjamin Franklin and which is still in possession of the family. The guests entered the front door and filed out at the back. From < * Wyck ' ' Lafayette went to the Academy and from there re- turned to the city. Among the trees on the lawn of "Wyck" is a Spanish chestnut, a seedling from a tree General Washington planted for Judge Peters at Belmont. In the rear of "Wyck" was the large old-fashioned barn erected in 1796 which, in 1890, was altered into a beautiful and comfortable dwelling standing on Walnut Lane. No. 6043 Main Street, southeast corner Main Street and Walnut Lane, is a house of very considerable historic interest. The property was bought in 1775 D 7 Dr. William Shippen as a summer home. Tradition has it that this was the first three- 103 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN story house built in Germantown. It was the centre of a fierce skirmish during the Battle, and its plaster and woodwork for many years bore the marks of bullets, and the print in blood of a man's foot remained on one of the floors for some time. The c house was also occupied by Dr. Shippen's son-in-law, the Reverend Samuel Blair, who was instrumental in establishing in Germantown the First Presbyterian Church. Services were at one time held in this house. Dr. Blair was elected Presi- dent of Princeton College, but voluntarily made way for the famous Dr. Witherspoon. He was also a chaplain in the American army. Later the Pennsylvania Manual Labor School was located here under the charge of Dr. George Junkin, afterward President of Washington and Lee University. One of his daughters married the famous Confederate General " Stonewall " Jackson. In 1832 Dr. Junkin removed to Easton to assume the duties of President of Lafayette College. The property in 1 8 5 1 was owned by Charlotte Cushman, the famous actress. It was she who opened the East Walnut Lane, which she called Chestnut Street. The beautiful doorway was formerly that of a house which belonged to Dr. Bensell, at the corner of Main Street and School House Lane, now occupied by the Savings Fund. 104 HISTORIC GEKMANTOWN The house on the northeast corner of Main and East Walnut Lane was built in 1806 by the Rev. Samuel Blair, for his son, Samuel Blair, Jr. The Mennonite Meeting House is on the Main Street, above Herman Street. As has been stated elsewhere, the little band of first settlers was composed of Friends and Mennonites. Here in 1708 the latter built a little log meeting house, the first to be erected in America, succeeded in 1770 by the present building. From behind a wall at this point a party of citizens fired upon the British troops as they marched up the Main Street during the Battle and mortally wounded Brigadier General Agnew, riding at the head. William Rittenhouse, famous as being the first paper maker in the colonies, was the first pastor of the congregation. No. 620S Main Street was built in 1 7 3 8 by Dirck Keyser, who came from Amsterdam with his son, Peter Dirck Keyser, in 1688. There is a tradition that this was the first two-story house erected in Germantown. Notice the initials '* D. K. 1 738," cut in the stones on the front of the house alongside of one of the windows. Dirck Keyser was connected with the Mennonite Church. In Amsterdam he had been a silk merchant, and after he arrived io 5 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN here he wore a silk coat, which caused his neighbors some dis- gust. Some of the brethren calling to talk over his worldliness, found him in his garden. As he advanced to meet them he wiped his hands on his coat. They concluded, on seeing this, that he did not value it unduly and so said nothing of the ob- ject of their visit. The Washington Tavern, No. 6239 Mam Street, is an old building, and was known by this name as early as 1793. It is the type of a large number of taverns which in the early days lined the Main Street of Germantown. The Buck, Sadler's Arms, Green Tree, Indian King, Indian Queen, Crown and Cushion, Roebuck, Buttonwood, Fountain, Black Horse, White Horse, Lamb, White Lamb, Treaty Elm, and King of Prussia are some of the names of taverns that have now passed away. In the early times the capacious yard of the Washington Tavern could not accommodate all the teams putting up there for the night, and there would be an overflow row of wagons along the Main Street. No. 6306 Main Sreet, the Johnson house, stood in the thickest of the fight at the time of the Battle. John Johnson, the occupant at this time, alarmed by the noise, went to his door to look out. A British officer riding by advised the family to seek 106 io7 HISTORIC GERMANTOJVN a place of safety. It was early in the morning and the maids had just brought in the morning's milk from the barn. They hastily left it and quickly sought refuge in the cellar. After the Battle the British soldiers swarmed through the house, drank the milk and cleared the kitchen of everything eatable. A rifle ball passed through the house and the hole through the parlor door is still visible. A cannon ball knocked a chip out of the north corner of the house about two feet above the fence. The house is still in possession of the Johnson family. The house was one of the largest and most substantial in Germantown when it was built, and on this account its building gave some concern to members of the Society of Friends, of which body the Johnsons were also members. No. 6jl6 Main Street, now occupied by Mr. Ellwood Johnson, was formerly a Keyser property and back of it is still standing a cedar fence that was riddled with bullets at the Bat- tle. The engagement back of this and the adjoining houses was particularly severe. The old fence, its bullet holes worn much larger by the winds and storms of a century and more, is now protected by another fence. During the engagement a bullet passed clear through the barn, striking an officer, who was carried to the rear of the tannery, where he died. Separating this property from the Johnsons', adjoining, is a 109 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN stone wall which was used as a breastwork, and this was one of the many obstacles that hampered the advance of the American army. The Keysers were tanners and a portion of the tannery buildings still remains. There is also a millstone used for grind- ing bark which weighs nearly a ton, and which Nathan Keyser is said to have been able to lift at one time. Honey Run, a considerable little stream, used to flow across the garden in the rear. No. 6joy Main Street was built in 1760 by Jacob Knorr. It stood in the thick of the fight at the Battle. The fourth building above Washington Lane, on the east side adjoining the burying ground, is the Concord School House, built in 1775 for the upper residents of Germantown, who found the Academy on School Lane too far away. It was used as a school for many years and is at present occupied by the Charter Oak Library. Query : Why was it called Concord ? Was it because the first German immigrants had come over in the ship Concord, or was it because its foundations were laid at the time when the shot that was heard around the world was being fired at Concord, Mass. ? The Upper Burying Ground of Germantown, sometimes called Ax's burying ground, from John Frederick Ax, who had 1 10 1 1 1 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN charge of it from 1724 to 1756, is on the east side of Main Street, above the Concord School. Here are buried many of the early settlers of Germantown and their descendants. The oldest known grave is that of Cornelius Tyson, who died in 1 7 16. Judge Penny packer takes this to be the oldest existing tombstone to the memory of a Dutchman or German in Penn- sylvania. Just inside the gateway are the graves of the Lippard family, ancestors of George Lippard, a writer of some con- siderable activity. In the east corner of the yard are the graves of several American soldiers killed at the Battle, including Lieutenant Colonel Henry Irwin, of a North Carolina regi- ment ; Captain Turner, of North Carolina, and Adjutant Lucas. Over their neglected and almost unknown graves the annalist Watson erected a plain marble stone. The little stone built into the wall at the right of the gateway gives the various dates when the wall was built and repaired. For a detailed account, including a list of burials, see an article by Peter D. Keyser, in the " Pennsylvania Magazine of History^ Vol. VIII, No. 4, and Vol. IX. No. 1. The vacant lot adjoining the Upper Burial Ground is all that remains of Pomona, once a handsome estate extending along the Main Street to Duval Street and as far back as Morton Street. After the Revolution Pomona was the home of Colonel Thomas JI 3 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN Forrest, an artillery officer from Germantown, later a member of the XVI and XVII Congresses. The Ship House, No. 6jj8 Main Street, is so called from the plaster representation of a ship showing on its south gable. In early times it was a hotel with a sign showing William Penn's treaty with the Indians under the Shackamaxon Elm. The tra- dition is that the front part was built about 1760. In the rear was a large building, the first public hall in Germantown. The ' ' Bulldog, ' ' one of the first three hand fire engines, was kept here. It is now in possession of the Bockius family. No. 6347 Main Street was the residence for many years of Rev. John Rodney, who was the rector of St. Luke's Episcopal Church from 1825 to 1867, and rector emeritus until his death in 1886. The upper portion of the house was built by John Keyser and at the time of the Battle was occupied by him and his family. As the house was high up above the street, the family from their refuge in the cellar were able, by placing an apple under the outside cellar door, to witness the Battle in the opposite field. There is a tradition that a soldier officer fell near the cellar door and the Keysers, at his burial, saved the silver shoe buckles which he wore. Years after one of his descendants, searching for information as to his ancestor, was directed to the Keysers. It then developed that the officer they 114 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN had helped bury was the person searched for and the buckles were given to the rightful owner. The Chew House occupies the square bounded by the Main Street, Johnson and Morton Streets and Cliveden Avenue. It was the scene of the most important incident con- nected with the Battle. Indeed, the house and grounds have for a century and a quarter been pointed out as the Germantown Battle Ground. The place is called " Cliveden." The man- sion was built about 1760 by Benjamin Chew, who at different times was Attorney- General of the Province, a member of the Provincial Council and later, Chief Justice. Cliveden is two and one-half stories high and built of solid and heavy masonry. Back of it are two wings used for ser- vants' quarters and kitchen and laundry ; one wing is semi- detached and the other entirely so. Still further in the rear is the old stable, the whole forming a natural and admirable fortifi- cation, almost impregnable against any artillery which in that day could be brought against it. Along the front of the lawn there was, as there is to-day, a low terrace wall, and leading up to the house was a lane of good-sized cherry trees. Opposite was an open field stretching away to the banks of Paper Mill Run. The important part played by "Cliveden" in turning the fortunes of the day in the Battle of Germantown has been ex- plained in another chapter. 115 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN When Colonel Musgrave with his soldiers entered the house he ordered all the shutters on the first floor closed ; a few men were placed at each window and the doors, with orders to bay- onet anyone trying to enter. Most of the men then ascended to the second floor. He instructed them how to cover them- selves and at the same time direct their fire out of the windows, adding that their only safety was in the defense of the house, that the situation was by no means a bad one, as there had been instances of only a few men defending a house against superior numbers ; that he had no doubt of their being supported and delivered by their friends, but in any event they must sell them- selves as dearly as possible. Some of the men climbed out of the back windows on to the roof and lying flat, fired over the front, and all disposed themselves to make a vigorous defense. At the very first shot of the Continental cannon the front doors were burst open and some of the men were wounded with pieces of splintered stone. Captain Haines, a brave and intelli- gent officer commanding on the ground floor, ordered tables and chairs and everything available in the way of furniture, piled against the doors. The Continental soldiers advanced under cover of the cherry trees in the lane and crouched behind the trees and marble statues as they fired at the windows above. One observer says the fir- ing from the house was tremendous. The balls seemed to come 116 Grave Stone in Upper Burying Ground 117 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN in showers. Several efforts were made to set fire to the house, and Major White, of Sullivan's staff, was killed in making the attempt. A bundle of straw was piled against the cellar win- dow, but it failed to ignite the woodwork. All efforts so bravely put forth by the Americans were unavailing. The house resisted every attack and Colonel Mus- grave maintained his position until relieved by reinforcements. It is said the only man he had killed was in the northwest cham- ber on the second floor. No less than forty-six officers and men were killed in Maxwell's attacking brigade. It was a sorry looking house that remained. The walls and ceilings were blackened with smoke and the floor stained with blood. In the front hall many holes are to be seen filled with plaster, plainly showing because not' quite of the same color as the original. Not alone in the hall but everywhere, the plaster had been broken by cannon and rifle balls, the woodwork was splintered and the stonework shattered, the marble statues were knocked over, broken and disfigured. One six-pound cannon ball had entered the front window, passed through four partitions and had gone out at the back. Five carpenters, as well as other mechanics, were employed all the next winter putting it in order. The third story suffered more than the second, and the second more than the first. The ceiling of the second story was, and is, literally peppered with the bullets from the muskets 119 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN of those who crept up as close as they could and fired into the second-story windows. Around the base of the column in the hall are still to be seen marks which are supposed to have been made by the butts of muskets stacked up around them. The Chew family was away from home at the time of the Battle and the house but partly furnished had been left in the care of the gardener and probably other servants. There was among these a pretty dairy maid whom the gardener much ad- mired. The dairy maid was rather pleased than otherwise when the red coats took possession of the house and was not in- clined to resent their tender familiarities. Seeing this, the gar- dener remonstated with her, but without effect, and a ** tifF' * soon resulted. When the firing became heavy he urged her in vain to go to the cellar, and it was not until a cannon ball went through the house, making a great commotion, that the gardener, thinking further argument unnecessary, gave her a push which sent her headlong to the bottom of the stairs. He then turned the lock and left her in the cellar. Where he hid is not known, but they both came through the attack in safety. The best position to view the house is from the gateway on Johnson Street. The house and grounds are not open to the public, but Mrs. Chew has not heretofore objected to amateur photographers and sightseers, who have a proper regard for the property, entering the grounds for a nearer view of the house. 1 20 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN When Johnson Street was opened the graves of a number of soldiers were discovered who had been buried in the grounds. Miss Ann Chew had the remains removed, and they now rest under the clump of shrubbery close to the fence at the corner of Johnson and Morton Streets. Upsala, on the west side of Main Street, almost opposite the Chew House, is thought to be one of the finest examples of the so-called " Colonial " architecture in this part of the country. The house was erected in 1798 by John Johnson, ancestor of the present occupants. It was three years in building. The cannon trained on the Chew Mansion, nearly opposite, were first placed where now is the front lawn of this house. For many years Upsala has been famous for its rare and beautiful trees. The little old house at the northwest corner of Main and Upsal Streets was standing at the time of the Battle. It was for a long time the home of a certain Englishman, John Bardsley, a painter by trade, who some thirty years ago was sent to England through the influence of Germantown's then Coun- cilman, William F. Smith, to bring over a lot of English sparrows to destroy the caterpillars, then infesting the trees of the city. It is believed that this was the first introduction of the sparrow on any great scale. The house has since been called Sparrow Jack's House. 121 HISTORIC GERMANfOWN The Billmyer house stands at the northeast corner of Main and Upsal Streets. It was erected about 1727, and formerly was one house. At the time of the Battle it was owned and occupied by the widow Deshler and her family. It was at this house that Washington paused in his march down the Main Street at the time of the Battle, having discovered that the Chew mansion was occupied by the British. At that time there was no house between this and the Chew house. The tradi- tion is that Washington stood on a horse block, telescope in hand, trying in vain to penetrate the smoke and fog and discover the force of the enemy entrenched in the Chew mansion. The stone cap of the horse block on which he stood is still preserved, and the telescope, is now in possession of the Germantown Academy. The house later suffered greatly at the hands of the British soldiers who were quartered here. Its woodwork yet bears the marks of bullets and of attempts made by the soldiers to set it on fire. About 1788 it was bought by Michael Billmyer, a cele- brated German printer, who here carried on his trade. The upper portion is still in possession of his family. Note the tablet erected by the Site and Relic Society. The odd building adjoining the Meeting House, No. 661 1 Main Street, was used as the parsonage, and parts of it are 1 22 Wfriu. '/ ( 123 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN said to be two hundred years old. Near it, in the Main Street, at the Battle of Germantown General Nash was mortally- wounded and Major Witherspoon was killed by the same can- non ball. Major Witherspoon was buried in the yard adjoining. In later years his brother and sister came on from Princeton to secure his remains, but they were in such a condition that the attempts were abandoned and the body was again buried in the graveyard of the Lutheran Church, a short distance above. . The Church of the Brethern, or Dunkards, 66ij Main Street, above Sharpnack Street, is the mother congregation of this sect in America. The Dunkards came to this country in 1 7 19 and were gathered into a church organization in 1723 by Peter Becker, who was their first elder and pastor. They worshipped for many years in the homes of their members until about 1760, when they occupied a log building which stood in front of the meeting house. The front portion of the present building was erected in 1770 and the rear portion in 1897. In the Meeting House a tablet has been erected to the memory of Christopher Sauer by Charles G. Sower, as follows: 125 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN In Memory of Christopher Sauer Bishop of Church of the Brethren. Born 1 72 1 Died 1784 Baptized 1737 Deacon 1747 Minister 1748 Bishop 1753. Published the Holy Bible Second Edition 1763. Third Edition 1776. Only son of Christopher Sauer Born 1693 in Laasphe, Germany Came to America in 1724. Commenced Publishing in Germantown 1738. Published First Am Ouarto Edition of the Holy Bible 1743- Died in Germantown 1758. In the graveyard are the graves of Alexander Mack, the founder of the Dunkard sect, who came to America in 1729, and of Harriet Livermore, the Pilgrim Stranger who is alluded to in Whittier's " Snow Bound," an eccentric religious en- thusiast, the daughter of a Senator from New Hampshire. Her last days were spent in poverty in Philadelphia and as she was 126 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN about to be buried in a pauper's grave a member of the Dunkard Church took her body and had it interred here. At the Battle of Germantown this meeting house was a witness of the fighting. In the loft Christopher Sauer had stored some sheets of the third edition of the Sauer Bible. These were taken by the British cavalrymen who were en- camped about and used as litter for their horses. Afterwards Sauer gathered as many as he could find together and had enough sheets to make complete Bibles for each of his children. Some of the paper is also said to have been used as wadding for the muskets of the combatants. The old house No. 6669 Main Street belongs to the Luthe- ran Church, just above, and was used for many years as a home for the sexton. It is very old, but the date of its erection is not known. St. Michael's Lutheran Church is at the southeast corner of Main and Phil-ellena Streets. It was founded about 1737. In 1742 the Rev. Henry Melchior Muhlenberg took charge of the two churches, one in Philadelphia and the other in German- town. In 1746 the work of considerably enlarging the church was begun. Pews were placed in it in 1750. In 1752 a par- sonage was bought. The present building is the third successive 127 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN one that has occupied the site. At the Battle the parsonage was seized by the British and the organ was destroyed, the soldiers running along the streets blowing on the pipes. In the graveyard are the remains of Christopher Ludwig, " Baker General " to the American army ; also of Major With- erspoon, son of Rev. John Witherspoon, president of Princeton College, killed in the Battle, as well as those of many of the early settlers of the town. At No. 6749 Main Street, George Hesser, at the time of the Battle, had just completed the cellar for his new house. Such a good-sized excavation proved too great a temptation for those who were burying the dead, and it was used for this pur- pose. Hesser was consequently obliged to abandon this site, and started again farther down the road. The old cellar is sup- posed to be about where the gateway enters on the north. The barn bears the date 1777, and was probably completed before the house. The property is now in possession of the Bayard family. An account of life in Germantown, with some interesting local details during the yellow fever epidemic of 1793, will be found in Elizabeth Drinker's Journal. Henry Drinker, his wife Elizabeth, and a portion of their family, lodged with George ^Hesser from July 8th to November 16th of that year. At 6843 Main Street is the Paul house, occupied at the 128 a. 13 129 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN time of the Battle by the Gorgas family. The door jams con- tain bullet marks and there are other evidences and traces of damage. To save their cows the family penned them up in the kitchen. In the front yard, nearly opposite the window, at the left of the front door, stood a big linden tree in which four cannon balls found lodgment. During the century after the Battle, the heart having rotted away, allowed the balls to fall to the ground inside the hollow trunk. One morning Miss Paul was digging away at the root of the stump to plant some flow- ers, when out rolled the balls. Back in a field in the angle formed by the Reading Railroad and Gorgas Lane and about equidistant from each, is the old Unruh homestead. The house is still roofed with earthen tiles under the later covering of tin. After the Battle wounded soldiers were quartered here. It is not known when the old house was built. The Unruhs came from Germany. On the opposite side of the railroad is another old homestead, with a pond near the house and barn. The tradition is that the retreating soldiers threw their muskets into the water to save them from being captured. The farm is now occupied by a Mr. Wentz. Occupying the site of the Lutheran Theological Seminary, on the east side of the Main Street, at Allen's Lane, was Mount Airy, the summer residence of Chief Justice William Allen. 131 HISTORIC GERMANtOWN Later the house was used as a boarding school. At the time of Lafayette's visit in 1825 it was conducted by Benjamin C. Constant. In 1826 a Colonel Rumford was associated with him, and the institution was called "The American Classical and Military Institute." Many well-known persons received their education here, including Generals Beauregard and Meade, and the latter' s brother. The building was demolished about 1846. Mount Airy is now the name applied to this section of the Twenty-second Ward. The Gowen House, southeast corner Main Street and Gozven Avenue, came into the Gowen family through the maternal line. Joseph Miller was born at Mount Airy, Jan- uary 26th, 1757. In 1792 he built the house in which he subsequently lived and died March 27th, 1825. In it his daughter was born, who married James Gowen. Their son, Franklin B. Gowen, was born here. It was the home of Franklin B. Gowen for some years, then of his brother, James E. Gowen, who lived here until his death. Log house, northeast comer Main Street and Mermaid Lane y is said to have been built in 1743 by Christopher Yeakle, who continued to occupy it until nearly the time of the Revolution, when he sold it and removed to the top of Chestnut Hill. It is the last building of the kind remaining in Germantown. 132 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN g EXCURSION, EAST SIDE § 8 OF GERMANTOWNg rr © (The distance covered by this excursion one way is a little over six miles.) ATER visiting Stenton (see page 33), return to the Main „ Street. Just above Wayne Junction, turn to the right out Stenton Avenue to East Logan Street (formerly Fisher's Lane). Then east along Fisher's Lane, and at the bottom of the hill where the road crosses what used to be the Wingohock- ing Creek, is a little whitewashed stone dwelling said to have been used for the storing of powder and arms during the Revo- lution and also for the manufacture of gunpowder. The mills are the Wakefield Mills, established at an early date by William Logan Fisher. His father, Thomas Fisher, in 1 77 1 married Sarah, daughter of William Logan and grand- daughter of James Logan, of Stenton. To the left, a short dis- tance beyond the mills, standing back on a knoll from Fisher's Lane, is "Wakefield," the home of Thomas and Sarah Fisher, built about 1795, still in the possession of their descendants. After passing Wakefield the Old York Road is soon reached. 133 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN Turning up this road, the Jewish Hospital is passed on the right. Just beyond the tollgate, on the left, with a high wall along the road and a double balconied house with many outbuildings, was the home of Pierce Butler, a member of the Constitutional Con- vention and a Senator from South Carolina, He bought the property in 1812. He died in Philadelphia in 1822. Fanny Kemble, having married Pierce Butler, Jr., lived at this place from 1835 until the fall of 1840. Many incidents in connection with her home here and of the neighborhood will be found in her < « Records of Later Life, ' ' from which the fol- lowing is taken : — "Butler Place — or as I then called it, 'The Farm/ pre- ferring that homely, and far more appropriate, though less dis- tinctive appellation, to the rather more pretentious title, which neither the extent of the property nor size and style of the house warranted — was not then our own, and we inhabited it by the kind allowance of an old relation to whom it belonged, in con- sequence of my decided preference for a country to a town resi- dence. . . . Subsequently, I took great interest and pleasure in endeavoring to improve and beautify the ground round the house ; I made flower-beds and laid out gravel-walks, and left an abiding mark of my sojourn there in a double row of two hundred trees, planted along the side of the place, bordered by the high-road ; many of which, from my and my assistants' combined ignorance, died, or came to no good growth. But those that survived our unskillful operations still form a screen of 134 135 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN shade to the grounds, and protect them in some measure from the dust and glare of the highway." Just about this point a British outpost was stationed along the York Road. Proceeding to Branchtown, on the northeast corner of York Road and Mill Street, is the De Benneville graveyard. The house on the north, just beyond, was built by Joseph Spencer in 1746, bought by Dr. De Benneville in 1758, and named by his son " Silver Pine Farm." The Branchtown Hotel, imme- diately opposite, was erected in 1790 by Joseph Spencer. On the left side of the turnpike beyond Branchtown and at the bottom of the hill is the entrance to Mr. Charles Wharton's place. Just inside the gateway is a rough stone some eight or ten feet in height. Here are buried four American soldiers surprised and shot by the British as they met around their camp fire, 1777. For a further account of the York Road and places beyond this point, see "The Old York Road and its Associa- tions," by Mrs. Anne De Benneville Mears, published in 1890. Returning to Church Lane (Mill Street), which intersects the York Road at Branchtown, and proceeding west (towards Germantown), at the bottom of the hill, about half a mile from Branchtown, the road crosses what used to be Wingohocking Creek. Within a few years the road has been filled up and the J 37 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN creek is barely visible on the left of the road ; in the northeast angle of the creek and the road was Roberts' Mill, built in 1683, the first in the county. It was built by Richard Townsend, one of the passengers in the Welcomer with William Penn. Later it was sold to the Lukens family and it will be found plotted on the Revolutionary maps as Lukens* Mill. Early in the century it passed to Hugh Roberts, and as Roberts' Mill it existed until about 1873. "As soon as Germantown was laid out, I settled my tract of land, which was about a mile from thence, where I set up a barn and a corn mill, which was very useful to the country round. But there being few horses, people generally brought their corn upon their backs, many miles. I remember, one had a bull so gentle, that he used to bring the corn on his back." — From the Testimony of Richard Townsend, 172J. On the rise of ground back of the mill the British had a small redoubt guarding their encampment in Germantown. Here is the Roberts mansion built early in the last century, now unoccupied and fast falling to decay. Retracing our steps a short distance, at the northeast corner of Church Lane and Dunton Street, standing back from the road and fronting west, with a little white spring house in front on the meadow bank, is the old Spencer farm house, which had been the birthplace and home of Thomas Godfrey, the inventor 138 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN of the quadrant. At his death in 1 749 he was buried on the farm, but many years later his remains were removed to Laurel Hill Cemetery through the efforts of John F. Watson, the annalist. During the removal the bones were deposited in the mill just mentioned, and Hugh Roberts, then a boy, relates how he ran for his life on unexpectedly opening the mill door and discovering the grinning skull there in the dusk of the evening. ft To guide the sailor in his wandering way, See Godfrey's toils reverse the beams of day, His lifted Quadrant to the eye displays From adverse skies the counteracting rays ; And marks, as devious sails bewilder' d roll, Each nice gradation from the stedfast pole." — From the Vision of Columbus, by Joel Barlow, 1787. When the yellow fever drove the officers of the govern- ment to Germantown some of them lodged here, and George and Martha Washington were at one time calling. Hepzibah Spencer, the daughter of the house, then a child of four, crept up and peeped in the parlor window to see Mrs. Washington. After taking a look she turned to her companion and remarked in deep disgust : " Why, she's nothing but a woman, after all." Back of the house is the old brew house. Returning to the Limekiln Pike, and turning up it about half a mile, we reach Pittville. Here, occupying the Bayard 139 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN property, northwest corner of Haines Street and Limekiln Turn- pike, is the Philadelphia National Cemetery with many rows of the dead of the War of the Rebellion. The third house above the tollgate on the right, lately re- modeled, is what was called in Revolutionary times the Andrews place, now the home of Mr. Middleton. The left wing of General Washington's army moved down this road and a sharp encounter occurred with an outpost of the British at this point. Isaac Woods, who was standing in a cellar door watching the fighting, was killed by a stray bullet. Returning to Haines Street and continuing on it westward towards Germantown, the Township Line, anciently dividing Germantown from Bristol Township, is crossed in about a quarter of a mile. On the east side of Township Line, about a hundred yards north of Haines Street, high up on the bank above the road, is an old house that at one time was the home of Colonel Thomas Forrest, a resident of Germantown and an artil- lery officer in the Battle. Continuing on Haines Street, about one hundred yards beyond the Township Line, is the old Kulp family burial ground, the walls of which are fast falling to ruin. A quarter of a mile beyond, the first farm house on the left, standing close to the road, is a house that was the home of Christopher Ludwig, " Baker- General " to the American Army. Reference has already been made to this. (Seep. 90.) 140 a I4-I HISTORIC GERMANTOWN Almost opposite is "Awbry," the park-like grounds con- taining the houses of the Cope and Haines families. A short distance beyond is Chew Street. On the east side of Chew Street, some four squares north of Haines Street, standing back from the street, is the Griffith House, which witnessed severe fighting at the time of the Battle. Continuing on to Gorgas Lane and turning east on it, the tourist will find down in a field alout three hundred yards south of Gorgas Lane and as many from the railroad, the little Unruh house. (See p. 131) Having now reached this point, the sightseer, if still am- bitious, may cross over to the west side of Germantown, up Chew Street to Mount Airy Avenue, to Main Street, to Allen's Lane, to Livezey's Lane, and take in reverse order the excursion described in the following chapter. H3 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN § EXCURSION, WEST SIDE g SOF GERMANTOWN 8 (The distance covered by this excursion one way is about six miles. ) STARTING at the Wayne Avenue end of Wayne Junction, thence up Wayne to Apsley, to Pulaski, to West Logan, to Morris, to Clapier, to McKean Street. At the foot of Mc- Kean Street is Fern Hill, formerly the estate of Louis Clapier, a famous merchant in the China and India trade. In 1 8 1 2 one of his ships, the Dorothea, was given up as lost at sea or cap- tured by the English, but she came safely into port, bringing her owner a rich return. On purchasing this property in German- town he placed an iron model of the Dorothea on the barn as a weather vane, where it still remains. The estate was sold to Henry P. McKean in 1842. His son, Thomas McKean, built a yacht which was named the Dorothea ; this boat was pur- chased by the Government during the Spanish War. The story of the vane and its connection with the yacht being made known to Secretary of the Navy Long, he retained the name Dorothea. Watson says : "In the year 1789, a Resolution passed the 144 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN House of Representatives, then in session in New York, that the permanent seat of government ought to be on the banks of the Susquehanna, in Pennsylvania ; but it was amended in the Sen- ate by fixing upon Germantown as its site. Upon being re- turned to the House, the amendment was approved and sent back again to the Senate, for a slight amendment, providing that Pennsylvania laws should continue in force, in such Federal dis- trict, until Congress should legislate otherwise. Thereupon, the subject was postponed until the next session ; and thus, our old Germantown, after being fixed upon by both Houses, was wholly laid aside! " It is the understanding that the plateau and blufF which enjoys an extended outlook over the city and is now occupied by Fern Hill was one of the tracts of land intended for the location of the Capitol. Proceeding northward on McKean Avenue two squares, the grounds of the Germantown Cricket Club are reached. The large old house at the right of the entrance is a Fraley house. In 1798 Henry Fraley and his son John purchased from Joseph Shippen a tract which they proceeded to develop by opening streets and laying out lots. They called it the village of Man- heim. Federal, Columbia and Tammany Streets were among those named and laid out. Either the venture was not a success or the lots were bought by those who wished large H5 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN tracts of land, for all traces of the proposed village long ago dissappeared. The frame building a hundred feet within the entrance form- erly stood close to Manheim Street and was the country seat of the Price family. It is now the Ladies' Club House. Visi- tors should note the bronze tablet the directors have placed on the building and on the old Price stable, now a club house used by the Junior members ; they should also visit the old-fashioned garden with its sun dial and graveled walks. When Germantown was occupied by the British the level plain about here was cov- ered with a portion of the encampment. They destroyed the fences, using them for firewood and for constructing shelters, which they roofed with straw and with sods to hold them in place. Leaving Manheim and proceeding westward to Wissahickon Avenue, or Township Lane, for it divides Germantown from Roxborough, thence along Wissahickon Avenue two squares to Queen Lane, and westward out Queen Lane about two squares, we come to Carlton, a long white building with a beautiful set- ting of trees, on a knoll at the right. This was the mansion of Henry Hill, erected on the site, or perhaps including an old farm house which also belonged to him, and was Washington's head- quarters on two occasions, the first week in August, 1777, and again for two days in September, before and immediately after the Battle of Brandywine. 146 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN When the British army occupied Germantown the Hessian detachment occupied the left wing from the village to the Schuyl- kill and General Knyphausen had his headquarters here. Some years ago the lawn, having become full of weeds, was plowed up, yielding a plentiful crop of English coins. Continuing on past the house towards the Queen Lane reser- voir, we come to a granite stone erected by the Sons of the Revolution in 1895 to commemorate the encampment of the American army at this point. Proceeding one square north to Midvale Avenue, the street back of Carlton, there is a much closer view of the house and the barn. Built in the high stable wall is a stone with this inscription : — This tablet was taken from an old farm house nearby which will soon have crumbled entirely away and placed in its present position by Mr. Smith, the owner of Carlton. Returning to Wissahickon Avenue and turning northward five squares above, at the bottom of a steep hill we come to Rittenhouse Street ; turn to the left and follow it down to Lincoln Drive. Almost directly opposite the junction of the streets is a little house, Ruined by the war *777 rebuilt more firmly by the trusty Isaac Tustin. H7 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN below the level of Lincoln Drive, that was the birthplace of David Rittenhouse, Pennsylvania's first and greatest astron- omer. The house was erected in 1707, and David Ritten- house was born here April 8th, 1732. Soon after his parents moved to near Norristown. David Rittenhouse, besides being a famous astronomer, was elected President of the Philosophical Society in 1 79 1 and served until his death; Treasurer of the State from 1777 to 1789; Director of the Mint from 1792 to 1795. He died 1796. William Rittenhouse, the first of the name in America, ar- rived in 1690, and was the first paper maker in the Colonies. The mill was located near this house. It was washed away by a freshet in 1701 and another built ; this in time was succeeded by another, and it by a fourth in 1780. The little stream was Monoshone Creek, but the popular name is Paper Mill Run. William Rittenhouse was an early Mennonite preacher. His oldest son was Mathias Rittenhouse, whose youngest son was Nicholas Rittenhouse, and David Rittenhouse was the latter' s oldest son. Up to within a few years there was a cluster of houses around the roads at this point and the settlement was called Rit- tenhouse Town. Returning along Lincoln Drive to Wissahickon Avenue, we cross Paper Mill Run over an old county bridge, and continu- 148 i 4 9 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN ing northward past Blue Bell Hill, as the settlement on Wissa- hickon Avhnue at Walnut Lane is called, in about three-quarters of a mile a long white house on the west side of the road is reached, called "Spring Bank," for many years the summer home of the Hon. John Welsh. During his life Mr. Welsh donated several acres to the Park, including Molly Runker's Rock, almost in the rear of Spring Bank, where later he erected the heroic statue of William Penn, which overlooks the Valley of the Wissahickon. It is marked with the single expressive word " Toleration.' ' Mr. Welsh died April ioth, 1886. The property is now in possession of his daughter, Mrs. Smith. Two hundred yards further on Kitchen's Lane is reached. Turning down it at the bottom of the hill is the Wissahickon Valley and Creek. Here on the east bank of the stream, near the summit of a hill and about two hundred yards north of the road, is the "Monastery." It was erected by Joseph Gorgas between the years 1746-52 upon the site of a log cabin erected in 1737, which was used as a community house by German Dunkard enthusiasts and was called on this account the Kloster. This house, so far as known, was never used for any monastic purpose. Right at the foot of the house, along the banks of the stream, was the Baptistry where the Dunkards baptized their converts. The Monastery is now within the limits of the 151 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN Park. It is a short distance from here down the Bridle Path to the statue of William Penn, referred to above. Returning to Wissahickon Avenue and continuing north- ward after crossing another one of the old country bridges and climbing a hill, Allen's Lane is reached, Wissahickon Avenue ending in it. A few hundred feet east Livezey's Lane takes off from it still in a northerly direction. This, too, leads down to the Wissahickon at what was Livezey's Mill, a famous one in its time. The old Livezey house is still standing. During the Revolution Thomas Livezey hid several casks of wine by sink- ing them in his dam. Some of it was still preserved within recent years. At the time of the Battle Thomas Livezey, hear- ing the roar of the cannon, climbed the hill and climbed on a fence to get a view of the fighting, but a stray bullet broke a limb off the tree under which he was. He concluded it was best to return to the house. Descendants of the Livezeys, of the same name, still own considerable land in the vicinity. Not far above the Livezey house, along a pleasant and easy path along the Wissahickon where Cresheim Creek flows into it, is the Devil's Pool. From this point the tourist may either return by the Wissa- hickon Drive or by crossing over to Gorgas Lane on the east side of the Main Street, the excursion planned for the east side of Germantown may be taken reversely, bringing one event- ually back to Wayne Junction. 152 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN a a § BATTLE ^GERMANTOWN § u u /l FTER the defeat of the American Army at the Brandy- [ \ wine in the month of September, 1777, and the occupa- tion of Philadelphia by the British Army, General Washington reinforced by detachments from the Northern army and by the Militia of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, took up a strong posi- tion twenty-five miles from the city near the Perkiomen, a creek emptying into the Schuylkill. The bulk of the British army was posted at Germantown with a view to command the ap- proaches to the city and overawe the surrounding country. The Market Square was the centre of the line. The right ex- tended along Mill street to Luken's (Roberts') mill and was composed of the Grenadier Guards and six battalions of the Line, the whole under General Grant. The left extended along School House Lane to Ridge Avenue, and was composed of the Third and Fourth Brigades under Generals Grey and Agnew, and the Hessians, who were on the extreme left with a picket at the Wissahickon, the whole under Lieutenant Gene- ral Knyphausen. Two battalions of the guard were posted in the rear of the town near to Fisher's Lane. General Howe's 153 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN headquarters were at Stenton, the house of Dr. George Logan, at that time in England. Two battalions were in advance of the centre on the Main Street, the Fortieth Regiment at the Chew house, and the other, the Fifty-second Light Infantry, at Mount Airy, with a picket at the place of Chief Justice Allen, afterwards James Gowen's property. A battalion was stationed in advance of the right on the Limekiln Turnpike at Washing- ton Lane, and the Queen's Rangers, a provincial organization, were posted in the rear of the right on the York Road below Branchtown. The American commander, having received information that a portion of the enemy's force had been detached to assist in the reduction of the forts on the Delaware, determined to strike a sudden blow upon the army posted at Germantown and secure, if possible, a victory. After due consultation it was proposed to march to a point on the Skippack Road, about eighteen miles from the British position in Germantown, arriving on the morning of the 3rd of October, and to give the impres- sion of forming a permanent camp at that place. That night the whole army was ordered to move at seven o'clock down the Skippack Road to the Bethlehem Turnpike and there sepa- rate at certain points into four columns, each to move by a separate route. On the morning of the 3rd of October, 1777, the American army arrived at the proposed distance from the 15 + HISTORIC GERMANTOWN British line and went into camp with headquarters at the house of Mr. J. Wentz, and at 7 o'clock that evening again took up the line of march. At the White Marsh Church General Smallwood with the militia of Maryland and New Jersey moved into the York Road to get in the rear of the British right. General Green with his own division and that of General Stephens and the Brigade of General McDougall marched on to the Limekiln Road to attack the British right. The rest of the army marched on down the Bethlehem Turnpike to Chestnut Hill, near which General Armstrong with the Pennsylvania militia, guided by George Danenhower, a soldier and a native of Germantown, continued over to the Ridge Road, down which they marched to get in the rear of the British left. The remainder of the army, composed of Sullivan's and Wayne's divisions, with the brigade of General Conway, the whole under the command of General Sullivan, followed by the reserve division under Lord Stirling, accompanied by the Commander- in-Chief with his staff, marched by the main road down through Chestnut Hill to the village of Germantown to attack the ene- my's left. You will thus see how extended was the plan of attack and will appreciate how necessary it was in order to achieve success that its different parts should work together with- out friction or failure. The several days preceding October 4th had been fair and 155 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN delightful but the mornings had been noticeably foggy. When General Sullivan's division reached the Mermaid Tavern at the northern boundry of Mount Airy, where Cresheim Creek crosses the Main Street, the sun was just rising above the hills, but it soon buried itself in a bank of cloud, and a fog more dense than usual settled over the town. Some chronicles have stated that at times it was difficult to see a hundred feet away, others have said a hundred yards. It is probable that the shifting fog clouds rolling in waves would now and then lift and give at times a wider range of vision, but soon the smoke of battle and of burning stubble fields, hay and other combustibles, added to the fog, made a darkness in which there was no discovering friend from foe. To prevent mistaking each other, the soldiers and officers had been ordered to place a piece of white paper in their hats, but this precaution if" obeyed was ineffective ; to make matters worse, Thomas Paine, who was present at the Battle, says that the Americans were rendered suspicious of each other by many of them being dressed in red. General Sullivan's division formed on the right of the road, which would be the west, and General Wayne on the east. Sullivan was the first to come into action, attacking the picket at the Allen house and killing all the sentries, he carried all be- fore him and drove the enemy in confusion until at last they, with reinforcements from below, were able to make a stand on 156 Old Doors of Chew House 157 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN both sides of the Main Street at the Mermonite Church below Tulpohocken Street. To the east of the road General Greene also pushed on and passed the Chew House. In the meantime Washington, with the reserve divisions, had arrived at the Billmyer House, about which time it was discovered that six companies of the 40th Regiment under com- mand of Colonel Musgrave, during the retreat from Mount Airy, had taken refuge in the Chew House, and barricad- ing the doors and windows of the first story were keeping up a steady fire from the upper windows upon the road and its vicinity. Both Sullivan's and Greene's divisions had passed the house before its occupancy by the British had been discovered. After a council of war held near the Billmyer House Washing- ton ordered the attack upon the Chew House by Maxwell's Brigade of the reserve and sent the other brigade of the reserve, Nash's, to strengthen Sullivan's line at Washington Lane. Meanwhile General Greene had commenced fighting on the Limekiln road, and after some delay, owing to the fog, in which the division of General Stephen's had gone astray and the brigade of McDougall had gone too far to the left, he formed his own division in line just above Pittville, and mov- ing over the fields, made a vigorous attack upon the British right, capturing the redoubt near Lukens' mill and was in a fair way to penetrate into the town at Market Square. 159 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN By this time also Armstrong, on the Ridge Road, had ar- rived in front of the Hessians and was skirmishing with them, using his field pieces on the heights above the Wissahickon. The battle was now general along the line, except on the York Road, where Smallwood was approaching Branchtown. Sullivan, reinforced by Nash's brigade, began to push the enemy towards the centre of the town. It seemed at this time as if the British army was practically defeated ; the utmost consternation prevailed and orders were actually given for the various corps to rendezvous at Chester. Unfortunately at this moment a panic arose in General Wayne's command by some one calling out that they were surrounded, and the continuons firing at the Chew house, together with the approach in the rear of one of General Greene's brigades, which had gone astray in the fog and was mistaken for the enemy, and the beating of a drum at the Chew house, supposed to be a signal for retreat, all com- bined to throw Wayne's division into confusion, and despite the remonstrances of their officers, the troops began to retreat. The retirement of Wayne uncovered the left of Sullivan, and his line being somewhat extended and disordered and his ammu- nition exhausted, he was compelled to give the order to retire. Washington fearing a general rout, sent messengers to recall Small- wood and Armstrong, as well as Greene, who was still success- fully engaged with the enemy and who was forced also to re- 160 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN ceive an attack from a portion of the left wing of that army. He fell back stubbornly contesting the ground and giving time for the other divisions to withdraw. The retreat was conducted in good order. The British advanced in pursuit, having been reinforced by Lord Cornwallis with the Grenadiers and Light Infantry who had run all the way from the city. Generals Gray and Agnew led up their brigades in columns along the Main Street in pursuit. When the latter, at the head of his troops, reached the Mennonite Meeting House, he was mortally wounded by a shot from some one in ambush in the graveyard, and falling from his horse was carried to the rear. The pursuit was continued to Chest- nut Hill and then given up. The British returned to the city and the American army to its former camping ground on the Perkio- men. The battle lasted from early dawn until after ten o'clock. The loss of the Americans was as follows : Killed, officers, 30; men, 122. Wounded, officers, 117 ; men, 404. Pris- oners, 400. Total, 1073. Of the British : Killed, officers, 13 ; men 58. Wounded, officers, 55 ; men 395. Total, 521. Colonel Matthews with the 9th Virginia Regiment of Greene's division became separated from their command and were captured in Mill Steeet near the Market Square. Many officers and men were slain in the attack upon the Chew House. f. h. 161 § FRANCIS DANIEL § B PASTORIUS | u rr Prelude to the Pennsylvania Pilgrim. I sing the Pilgrim of a softer clime And milder speech than those brave men's who brought To the ice and iron of our winter time A will as firm, a creed as stern, and wrought With one mailed hand, and with the other fought. Simply, as fits my theme, in homely rhyme I sing the blue-eyed German Spener taught, Through whose veiled, mystic faith the Inward Light, Steady and still, an easy brightness, shone, Transfiguring all things in its radiance white. The garland which his meekness never sought I bring him ; over fields of harvest sown With seeds of blessing, now to ripeness grown, I bid the sower pass before the reapers' sight. John G. Whittier. THERE seems no proper place in the description of localities to mention Francis Daniel Pastorius, and any book of Germantown, even a guide book, would be incomplete without some allusion to him. He was born in Sommerhausen, Germany, September 26th, 1651. He reached Philadelphia August 6th, 1683. He first built a little house in Philadelphia, 162 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN but later he moved to Germantown and became the leader, counsellor, lawyer, teacher and conveyancer for his countrymen. He was one of the best educated men in the colonies, being familiar with and writing fluently German, Italian, French, Dutch, English, Spanish, Greek and Latin. He kept the records of the court, was bailiff of the borough, a justice of the peace and member of the Assembly, 1687 and 1691. He looked after the affairs of the Frankfort Company, the company owning the land comprised in Germantown, until 1700. He wrote a primer, which was the first original school book printed in Pennsylvania. Seven of his books were printed, besides which he left forty-three works in manuscript, It was his name which appeared on the protest against slavery, issued in 1688, handed into his meeting and by it referred to the Monthly Meeting as mentioned, and it was written by him. Pastorius married November 25th, 1688, Anna Kloster- mann, in Germantown, They were the parents of two sons, Johann Samuel, born March 30th, 1690, and Henry, born April 1st, 1692. In 1698 Pastorius was master of the Friends School in Philadelphia and his home in Germantown stood idle. His home stood where now is the new Methodist Church, be- tween Dr. Alexis Smith's house, No. 6019 Main Street, and Dr. Dunton's house, which originally stood where High Street 163 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN is now opened through. Dr. Dunton tore the house down some thirty years ago and stones from it were used to build the rear portion of his present house, now No. 25 High Street. (See p. 94.) Dr. Christopher Witt was Pastorius' neighbor and at one time they exchanged verses by throwing them over the fence to each other. They were both interested in flowers and horticulture and their verses related to these subjects. Pastorius left a remarkable book called "The Beehive," a volume of family and miscellaneous matters containing a thousand pages of history, agriculture, philosophy, poetry, laws, etc., written in seven languages. The book is still in pos- session of the family, but is at present deposited in the Library of the University of Pennsylvania. Whittier has immortalized Pastorius and the placid life of the early Germantown settlers in his " Pennsylvania Pilgrim." Pastorius died February 27th, 17 19. It is not known where he was buried, but it is supposed in the Friend's burial ground on the Main Street above Coulter. Some of his descendants of the name Pastorius are still living in Germantown. For much other information concerning this talented and useful man see Judge Pennypacker's "Settlement of Germantown." 164 165 « 9 o o cs ^h 5 C *— 4-1 25 U OJ J-C CD *5a o Ph u ^ O - H o CO to u — 4-t CO 5J d C CO u s_ CO u 0X1 1 .s 3 PL, CO o b 00 J3 CO 2 « L- co co T< as u > « " - O u ^ h w 5 «»y £ »J s.sg Oh > « rt > C :S ~ "u "co CL J CO CO CO CO c J-< i~> > 3 O a; h < c A CO C rt G -a l) 1) ^Z, o Oh* Oh 3 >-1 3 -a O 3 ~P< -Q CO *H o — . CO S CO 4J **" 3) JH co b 1* co 4-1 c 3 c O a; U fa b to ^CO 3 03 c c u 3_) b CO M £ O .£ -g =■ 2 « o M S >, 2 9 rt G > rh U « 9 > ^ o o o o o o vo u-i i/-i b CO XS o is c "J3 o re Ih o o Oh -a U TO 3 O CO ffi fa U s "o o -C V CO CO < & o a c 03 u J 3 CO C " , aj > < CO a T3 M O O j>, £ ~n u t> 3. ,S 03 !- s O fa o o «J l) l) b b b CO CO CO a c c 5 r-H U 3 fa o ° ^ « o ~ c u C •" 03 ft) J c 03 & O fa o o o o b CO X! c O O o o o o b b CO CO CO Ih 3 O 03 c -a h O 3 u J J o X o h ^o 3 <+■ O CO ^j 4-» a; aj y5 u Ih 4_* CO >, >^ OJ PQ l67 267 90 ^^^s-^^s-iTir)r^^^nt5£3&fc^^Dt>t)t>E*3 HISTORIC GERMANTOWN a a § INDEX § xs u gSOcWcfcKMctciac^^ Academy, Alcott, Louisa M., Allen's House, Armat, Thomas, Arrival of Immigrants, Ashmeads, Awbry, Ax's Burying Ground, Bank of North America, Bank of Pennsylvania, Baptistry, Barron, Commodore James, Beauregard, General P. G. T. Bibliography, Billmyer House, Branchtown, Eutler Place, Buttonwood Tavern, Carlton, Carriage Building, Charter Oak Library Chew, Benjamin, Chew House, Church of Brethren, Clapier, Louis, Cliveden, Concord School, Cushman, Charlotte, Dallas, Alexander J., Drinker, Elizabeth, Dunkards, Engle House, PAGE PAGE 78 Fence, Revolutionary, 109 58 Forrest, Colonel Thomas, 113, 140 I?I Friends' Meeting House, 57 35,68 *7 Germantown, Battle of 153 59,69 Germantown, Bibliography of 9 143 Germantown Cricket Club, 145 110 Germantown, How to Reach H Germantown Library, 76 82 . Germantown National Bank, 53,76 82 Germantown, Proposed Capitol U.S., 144 151 Germantown, Streets of 167 42 Germantown Telegraph, 43 132 Godfrey, Thomas, 138 9 Gorgas Family, 131 122 Gowen House, 132 137 Green Tree Tavern, 98 134 Griffith House, . 143 43 Hacker House, 46 146 Henry House, 37 60 Hesser House, 128 no Hill, Henry, Mansion, 146 "5 Hood's Burying Ground, 38 "5 125 Jefferson, Thomas, 53 144 Johnson House, 106 "5 no Kelpius, Johannes, 21 104 Kemble, Fanny, 134 Keyser House, 10$ 82 King of Prussia Tavern. 83 77, 128 Kunders, Thones, House, 41 125 Livezey House, 152 93 Logan, James, 33 169 JUK 902