Historical Sketch of Chester

While we're on a Henry Graham Ashmead run we'll discuss his book, 'Historical Sketch on Chester'. Published in 1883 by the Historical Committee of the Penn Bi-Centennial Association of Chester, Ashmead describes the book as follows:

The Historical Committee of the Penn Bi-Centennial Association of Chester, in the discharge of the duties confided to them, thought it but fitting that the people should have some enduring memorial of the celebration in our city of the Two Hundredth anniversary of the landing of William Penn, the Founder of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania - a memorial which could pass from father to son and keep alive, to some extent at least the interest which the even aroused and the lessons it taught.I find it fitting to be sitting here, a great-grandson of a father who participated in the Penn Bi-Centennial, studying and writing about this book. Utah wouldn't be a state for another 13 years, I wouldn't be born for another 84 years and the internet wouldn't be invented for another 79 years. Yet Mr. Ashmead and the Historical Committee had the foresight to document the great history of the City of Chester so that someone like me could learn and write about its history.

William Penn first landed in America on October 27, 1682 in New Castle, Delaware. There he preformed a traditional turf and twig ceremony. A turf and twig ceremony was an English common law, to convey property. The common law in those jurisdictions once provided that a valid conveyance of a fee interest in land required the physical transfer by the seller to the buyer, in the presence of witnesses, of a piece of the ground, a twig, key, or other symbol. Two days later he landed in Upland, Pennsylvania and promptly renamed it Chester.

Two hundred years later the members of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and the Penn Club to mark the 200th anniversary of the landing erected a granite monument, standing about five feet tall and has Penn's coat of arms on the side facing inland. The site is now about 100 feet inland, with railroad tracks separating it from the Delaware River in an industrial section of Chester, just south of Chester Creek.

This book in particular has several unique features that any book collector would admire. Ashmead inscribed it to its owner Amos C. Brinton and the book plate indicates it was donated at one point to the Chester County Historical Society by Bart Anderson. Bart Anderson is the famous Delaware/Chester county historian. Two great signatures in one!

History of Delaware County (Ashmead)

While George Smith stands as the father of all Delco histories, Henry Graham Ashmead perfected the work started by Dr. Smith. Of the dozens of books, pamphlets and plays published by Mr. Ashmead; the book that he is most remembered for is 'History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania'. Published in 1884, it is a comprehensive documentary of Delaware County - its people, history and culture. Henry Ashmead writes, "The present history has been written with the purpose of presenting, as far as could be done in a single volume, an authentic, exhaustive and unbiased narrative of the events which have occurred in Delaware Count from the period of the early settlements within its territory to the present time".

Though only published 22 years after George Smith's similar title, Mr. Ashmead had an entire nation and county behind him. In his own words he explains, "Since the publication of the admirable History of Delaware County, written by Dr. George Smith, nearly a quarter of a century ago, the interest awakened in the National Centennial resulted in directing general attention in almost every locality through the country to its early annals, and as a consequence in Delaware County, at least, much historical material was reclaim from the past of which Dr. Smith could have had no information while preparing his works for the press." The great national excitement stirred up in 1876 from our nations 100th anniversary brought to light a great wealth of information, leaving George Smith's history obsolete.

Henry Ashmead's career was as diverse and impressive as any 19th century historian. He attended private schools in West Chester and practiced law, he extensively traveled around the country and wrote many diverse styles of literature. It was once written of him:

His writings have ever been characterized by that which is approved by the highest standards - clearness of style and smoothly flowing diction. It is to be said in all truthfulness that his pen has never been used in an unworthy cause. Whether as editor, writer or speaker, his one object has been the exploitation, forcefully, yet never outside the bounds of truthfulness, the accomplishments of those men of the past and of the present, too, who have stood for the best that there is in citizenship in their devotion to public interests and worthy causes, and all that goes to the establishment and development of an ideal community. To his tasks he has brought a wide range of abilities. A deep student of books, a close observer of events and a rare judge of men, and uniting the knowledge of the historian, the wise discrimination of the critic, and the well tempered judgment of the philosopher. He has through a long and peculiarly useful life, endowed himself with all the equipment necessary for his labors in promoting the up building of the historic city and county in which he takes a genuinely hearty pride.

The Horne history runs throughout the book - Ashmead documents our involvement in Delco civil history - our support of public libraries, petitioning the government for a road and other events that have built Delaware County into the great county it is today. One of my favorite recollections of the Horne's appears on page 284 where he tells a tale of fox hunting (a sport widely practiced in Delaware County):

The old fox-hunters of a past generation used to relate a notable chase on Tinicum, which occurred as long ago as Saturday, Feb. 1, 1824. On that morning, about eleven o'clock, John Irwin and James Burns, George Litzenberg, Philip Rudolph, and others started a fox on the island, and after a warm run the dogs were within fifty yards of him, when he sprang on the roof of an oven, then to a shed adjoining the house of Mr. Horne, jumped in at the second-story window, and neither huntsmen nor hound hand noticed it. A boy looking on told where the fox had gone, and one of the hunters, ascending the shed, entered the room and pushed down the sash. Just as he did this a girl of the family came in the room and shut the door. The fox, finding exit from the apartment by the door closed, ran to the chimney, which he ascended. From its top he sprang to the roof of the house and thence to the ground. He was not captured unil near sunset when he holed at the root of a hollow tree...

It's stories like these that can't be found in census, birth records and other genealogical materials... it's stories like these that fuel a collector's desires. Thank you Mr. Ashmead.

Estate Sale

While we're on the topic of Dr. Smith, I'll include a few paragraphs on a piece of ephemera I acquired a few months ago. It's entitled "Rare American History and Miscellaneous Books Executor's Sale of the Estate of Dr. George Smith". Held by Stan V. Henkels, Auction Commission Merchant the estate sale took place on Wednesday, July 17, 1918. The pamphlet outlines Dr. Smith's broad collection of books and offers an unique glimpse into a turn of the century collection. It's a fun way to compare my collection with that of an original Delaware County book collector. His library illustrates his love of history and science.

Another aspect of the book that I love is the order form that's been sitting between it's pages for the last 100 years. It's a nice edition to the piece. If only I had a time machine and could attend that auction!

History of Delaware County (Smith)

One of the first books I purchased was, 'History of Delaware County Pennsylvania, From the Discovery of the Territory Within Its Limits To 1862' by Dr. George Smith. Published in 1862 (shown is both the original 1862 edition and an edition republished by the Delaware County Institute of Science in 1976) by Henry Graham Ashmead this book served as the original Delaware County history which others later cited and tried to improve (we'll discuss Henry Ashmead's book later). The book have many illustrations of Delaware County landmarks and fold out maps. No Delaware County collection can be complete without George Smith's 'History of Delaware County'.

The Upper Darby Historical Society provides a nice biography of Dr. Smith's life:

Young George Smith began his education in the neighborhood schools. Later, he was sent to the Academy of Jonathan Gause, a boarding school of West Chester. Always a well read and curious boy, particularly in the area of science, George enrolled in the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania. On April 7, 1826, at the age of 22, George received his degree of Doctor of Medicine from Penn. George immediately began practicing medicine in the Boro of Darby. Located a short distance up Darby Creek from the Delaware River and at the junction of the Darby-Paoli Road and the King’s Highway, Darby was one of the liveliest and most prosperous towns in Delware County.

In 1831, George was elected to the Pennsylvania State Senate representing both Delaware and Chester Counties. When his term began in 1832, George was appointed to the committee that would first make him a well-known figure in Pennsylvania politics-the Education Committee. As a committee member, George dealt with the problem of the Pauper Act of 1809. The Pauper Act provided a free education to the poorest members of Pennsylvania society. Because of the stigma attached to attending the pauper schools, the Pauper Act was not very successful. The Education Committee then came up with the Act of April 1, 1834 law, which guaranteed all children in those districts in Pennsylvania that did not opt out, a free education paid for by tax dollars. While the law passed easily in the legislature, powerful opponents, including the wealthy land owners, who paid most of the real estate taxes that would fund the public schools, and religious schools that felt threatened by the competition, insured that most school districts across the Commonwealth opted out of the new system. When George rose to the position of chair of the committee later in 1834, he was able to craft the Act of 1836, which amended the Act of April 1, 1834. The new act overcame most of the opposition to the 1834 act, thus paving the way for universal public education in the state. Recognizing his role in saving the concept of public education, Delaware County appointed George as the first superintendent of the Common Schools, and Upper Darby appointed him president of its School Board, a position he held for 25 years.

Following the bruising battle for public education, George resigned his office as state senator on December 8, 1836. Governor Joseph Ritner, grateful for George’s efforts and impressed by his wisdom and knowledge, appointed George as an Associate Judge of the court of Common Pleas of Delaware County. George traveled quarterly to the City of Chester, the then county seat, to preside at cases for six years until 1842. When the county seat was moved to Media in 1849, George agreed to serve again on the court, and he did so from 1861 to 1866 during the Civil War years. It was around this time that George bought a house at 410 West State Street in what became known as Brook Row, which had been built in 1855.

During his early years as a state senator, George found time when the Senate was not in session to pursue his life long passion, science. On September 21, 1833, George, along with John Cassin, George Miller, John Miller and Minshall Painter, founded in the home of Isaac Hall of Nether Providence the organization that would define his life – the Delaware County Institute of Science. In May 1834, George was elected the institute’s first president. The association incorporated on February 8, 1836. In 1837, the institute built its first permanent home on Rose Tree Road just off Providence Road. The members met regularly, collecting and displaying specimens of natural history of the county. George donated to the institute his herbarium collection, which was one of the most extensive collections of dried native plants ever assembled. Other members produced research and specimens in the field of botany, mineralogy and geology. Rumored to be a station on the Underground Railroad, the men were never caught harboring fugitive slaves, although there is indeed a mysterious subterranean room underneath the basement of the building whose small entrance was hidden by a large chest of drawers. In February 1868, George and his fellow members moved the institute to a larger and more functional building that they designed and built on Veterans Square, down the street from the county court house. George served as president of the institute until his death.

Dr. Smith was active right up to the end of his life pursuing the various cultural, historical and scientific subjects that he enjoyed and on which he was so knowledgeable. On the 12th of February, 1882, he was seventy-eight years old, and on that day he wrote several letters to friends, each of them marked by the vigor of thought and gentle courtesy which was so characteristic of him. Twelve days later he arose early in the morning, as was his custom; but feeling faint returned to his bed, and in a few minutes, apparently without pain, passed into a state of unconsciousness, which soon deepened into that of death.

Dr. George Smith’s life was an exalted example of service to society, life-long learning, and responsibility to generations yet to come.

His love of science, history and humanity led him to the publication of this book. The book was originally the work of Joseph Edwards, Esq. who began compiling, along with the Delaware County Institute of Science manuscripts and other documents outlining the history of Delaware County. Cut short by an untimely death, Mr. Edwards work of documenting the history of Delaware County went unfinished. In his own words, Dr. Smith writes, "Mr. Edwards engaged energetically in the work, and, at the time his earthly career was so suddenly brought to a close, he had brought his narrative down to the commencement of Penn's government. The task of completing the work was imposed by the Institute upon the author, who assumed it as a duty he owed to his departed friend as well as from a desire to place beyond contingency a multitude of local facts, that were to be found only in ancient manuscripts, many of which it was known were not in safe keeping, nor in a good state of preservation".

The Horne family is mentioned several times throughout the book, one of my favorite passages is on page 487 documenting the subsequent purchase of John Morton's home by Thomas Horne, then owned by his son, Charles Horne.