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.