CHAPTER XXX

BETHEL TOWNSHIP

This municipal district, which was the smallest township in the original county of Chester, is about three miles in length and a mile and a half in breadth at the widest part, the whole area being scarcely five miles square, is mentioned as early as 1683,* and again at the court held on the Eleventh month 6, 1684, the inhabitants of, “Concord, Bethell, and Chichester, were ordered to meet on the third day of the next weeke,” at the tavern of Henry Reynolds, in Chichester, and confer as to the maintenance of a poor woman and her child. This township is on the summit between the Delaware and the noted Brandywine Creek. The soil, which is lighter than that nearer the river, and in some places stony, is very productive, yielding abundant harvests of wheat and corn. Clay, used for making fire-bricks, and kaolin abound in the western part of the township bordering on Concord. Dr. Smith states that “the name of this township, for anything that is known to the contrary, was imported directly from Palestine. This word is said to signify ‘House of God,’ Beth being the name of the second Hebrew letter, which is made after the fashion of a Hebrew house. Bethel hamlet had an existence at a very early date, and was probably composed of the first rudely-constructed dwellings of the early emigrants, who built them near together for safety.”** At the September court, 1686, Edward “Beasar” was appointed constable “ffor Bethell Lyberty.” In 1683, Edward. Bezer and Edward Brown had five hundred acres surveyed to them in the northeasterly end of the township. On this estate Bethel hamlet, afterwards known as Corner Catch or “Ketch” the name having, it is said, originated from the fact that so many roads centred there that five corners are the result, and a traveler could easily be confused as to the proper highway he should take, and at present the village of Chelsea is located. Southeast of this tract, in the same year, Francis Smith had three hundred acres set apart to him by the provincial surveyor. Adjoining Bezer’s and Brown’s land to the west, on the line of Concord township, was a plot of one hundred and fifty acres which had been surveyed in 1683 for John Gibbons, and south of that tract was an estate of the like size, part of five hundred acres purchased from Penn by Gibbons, which in the year mentioned he transferred to Robert Southey, to whom it was surveyed. West of these last-mentioned estates, and divided from them by the road leading from Concord to Booth’s Corner, was an oddly-shaped tract of two hundred acres, which was patented to Francis Harrison in 1686. South of the Wilmington road, from Booth’s Corner to the circular line of Delaware State, was a tract of a hundred and odd acres, which was part of a large holding of four hundred acres, the greater part in Delaware, which had been surveyed to Isaac Warner in 1683, while on the middle branch of Naaman’s Creek, and crossing over the line into Upper Chichester, was a tract of about one hundred acres, being about half the tract of two hundred acres surveyed to Robert Cloud in 1685, and by him transferred to William Cloud the year following.

At a court held the third day of the first week, Fourth month, 1686, the grand jury reported that they had laid out the road from Bethel to Chichester (Marcus Hook). The ancient return is exceedingly interesting, and is as follows:
“The Grand Inquest made returne of a Highway from Bethel! to Chichester of sixty foote broad as followes (viz) Beginning at the Side of Concord towards the River on the street or Highway of Concord first through the land of John Gibbons his House on the Right Side then through the land of Robert Southey late Deceased his house on the left Side thence through Robert Piles Land his house on the right hand then through Joseph Bushells land his House on the Left hand, thence through ffrancis Smith’s land thence through Thomas Garretts Land, his house on ye Right hand thence through ffrancis Harrison and Jacob Chandlers Land downe the Point to a small branch of Namans creek thence up ye Hill to the first Inclosed of ffrancis Harrisons, the field on ye left hand Then through James Brownes land thence downe to another Branch of Naman’s Creeke through Walter Martens land up the Point his House on ye right hand thence through Jeremy Colletts land Bearing towards the left hand his house Standing on ye left hand from thence to the lands of Chichester beginning att the head of a small swamp on the left hand thence downs Cross the Kings road or Highway towards ye foote of ye Hill to a lyne tree marked with 5 notches thence downe to ye Rivers Side the line between James Browne and William Clayton Junior. Whereunto wee the Present grand Jury of ye County of Chester have sett our Hands.

The action of the grand jury seemed to have met the approval of the public, for at the court on the “3d day of 1st week of ye 7 mo. 1686 The Inhabitance of Bethell and Concord Presented a Paper to the Court Signifying their good liking of the Road lately laid out by the Grand Jury to Chichester.”

From this report, following the road from the Concord line to that of Upper Chichester, we can form an idea of the location of the early settlers’ houses in the western end of the township at that date. We learn that John Gibbons’ dwelling was on the right side of the road, and that Robert Southey had died, but his late dwelling stood on the left-hand side of the highway, near a little feeder of Green’s Creek; that Robert Pyle had his house on the right side of the road, and above the present highway leading from Booth’s Corner to Chelsea. (At the dwelling of Robert Pyle and Edward Bezer, the monthly assemblings of Chichester Friends’ Meeting were frequently held.) Joseph Bushel at that time owned a tract of one hundred and forty acres south of Robert Pyle’s plantation, and his dwelling stood on the right side of the road. At this time Thomas Garrett had taken up on rent two hundred acres of land, now part of the farms of Charles M. Cheyney and William Goodey, and had built a house thereon to the right of the road as a person moved in a southerly course. Thus it seems at that date there were five settlements made along the road thus laid out, which crossed the township in a northwesterly direction.

Notwithstanding the unusual demonstration of pleasure by which the people of Bethel and Concord expressed their satisfaction with the road, they certainly did not improve their opportunities, for at the court held 3d day, 1st week, First month, 1688, it appears that “Wee of ye Grand Inquest doe psent ye Townships of Bethell and Chichester for neglecting ye clearing of a Road in ye respective Libertyes between Concord and Chester,” and further, that “Wee alsoe psent ye Road lying between ye Townships of Bethell and Chichester for not being Cleared and made passable.” This presentment was due to the fact that a change had been made in the course of the road, for on the 3d day of 1st week, Tenth month, 1688, the grand jury altered the line of the highway decided on in 1686, as follows:
“Beginning at Concord street end and so along ye Road formerly laid out to a marked White Oake below Walter Martens by a lyne of marked trees on ye South West Side of ye Old Road to a marked great White oake from thence along ye road formerly laid out to Delaware by or near James Brown’s House.”

Although the change in the highway to Marcus Hook was made in the township of Upper Chichester, doubtless to please Walter Martin, it aroused such public opposition in the townships bordering on the circular line between New Castle and Chester County that, at the June court, 1689, “The Inhabitances of Concord, Bethell and Chichester Petitioned against ye Highway lately laid out from Concord and Bethell to ye River for that between Walter Martens and Jeremy Colletts the way is not soe good and Passable as the former Road. Ordered that the former way be there Continued.”

John Gibbons, who settled on the tract of one hundred and fifty acres in Bethel, lying south of the boundary line of Concord township, in 1683, was the founder of one of the largest and most respectable families of the old county of Chester. He was a man of superior education to that of most of his neighbors, and as his wife had had similar advantages in England, the couple were regarded as leaders of thought in this section of Chester County. He was one of the jury on the trial of Margaret Mattson for witchcraft, already mentioned, and the family tradition asserts that he it was who framed the compromise verdict which prevented a disagreement of the jury, and secured her from the ordeal of a second trial. Notwithstanding the high repute in which John and Margery Gibbons were held by the early settlers, the adherence which they gave to George Keith’s religious teaching caused them to be disowned by Friends. In 1700 the Bethel homestead was conveyed to John Gibbons by his parents. The latter was equally as outspoken in his views as his parents, and as his mother was in no-wise chary in giving expression to her convictions, her son was often compelled to advocate and defend her opinions. In 1702 he was disowned for accepting his mother’s views, as well as at the close of meeting standing up and declaring that John Lea was no gospel minister. Among his other transgressions which induced the society to disown him was because he “declined to take off his hat in time of prayer.” The stubborn offender died in 1706, his mother subsequent to that year; and John Gibbons, the elder, lived on the Bethel plantation until his death, about 1721.

At the house of Robert Pyle, hereinbefore mentioned, the Friends of Concord, Bethel, Chichester, and Birmingham frequently held their Monthly Meeting, and it was there, on the 12th of the First month (March), 1688, that the first movement in the county by the society of Friends designed to prevent the sale of liquors to the Indians was made. Chester Meeting does not appear to have acted as promptly, for it was not until ye 2d of ye 5 month (July), 1688,” at the meeting held at the house of Walter Faucits, that a similar entry is found on its minutes. The record of the proceedings of this meeting at Pyle’s dwelling, so far as it relates to the sale of strong drink to the Indians, is interesting, and as the testimony was signed by those Friends who were present, the names of many of the first settlers in the southwestern section of Delaware County were attached thereto. It read:
“From our Yearly Meeting held at Philadelphia the 7th of the 7th month, 1687, it being recommended to us by the Quarterly Meeting of Philadelphia, the great evil and bad effect that hath appeared by selling Indians Rum and other strong Liquors, and a paper being by them presented, which was read amongst us, relating thereto, which upon due consideration was approved of, and in concurrence therewith we give forth this Following Testimony, being deeply sensible and heartily grieved with a business of this nature, which is too frequently up and down amongst us, Especially in that as some go under the profession of Truth, whom it was expected should have been better examples, whom we fear are not wholly clear of it, and therefore we give forth this as our Testimony. As our sense that the practice of selling Rum and other strong Liquors to the Indians directly or indirectly, or exchanging rum or other strong liquors for any goods or merchandise with them, considering the abuse they make of it, is a thing contrary to the Lord and a great grief and burthen to his people, and a great reflection and dishonor to the truth, so far as any professing it are concerned; and for the more effective preventing of this evil practice we advise as aforesaid that our testimony may be entered in every monthly meeting book, and every Friend belonging to their monthly meeting to subscribe the same.

“Signed in the behalf of the meeting

“ANTHONY MORRIS”

“Wee the members of this monthly meeting having united wth the above Testimony do subscribe our names to it as followeth:

The list of taxables of Bethel township for 1693 shows that the following persons had settled there or, in the case of two persons on the list, owned real estate on which they did not reside:

In the next quarter of a century the number of settlers had doubled, for the taxables of Bethel in 1715 are thus given: Robert Pyle, John Grist, Robert Booth, Edward Beazer, John Cannady, Benjamin Moulder, Joseph Pyle, John Hickman, Edward Dutton, Edward Pennock, William Griffith, John Hopton, John Gibbons, Thomas Durnell.

In 1759, when Gen. John Forbes made demand on Chester and the other counties in the province for teams to be used in transporting the baggage of the army about to march under his command to the site of Fort Du Quesne, Edward Whitaker paid “a bounty” of ten pounds “in behalf of the township” of Bethel, John Cooper was credited with a wagon entered in the service, and John Wilson with the cartage of oats and flour from Carlisle to Loudon.***

A short distance below the Concord line, on part of the old Gibbons tract, is the estate of Albin Baldwin, deceased (at one time county treasurer). The old house still standing on this property, on the right side of the Bethel and Chichester road, is one of the earliest brick buildings in that section of the county. As is usual, tradition tells us the bricks were imported from Europe, which it is proper to state is one of those deeply-seated and widely-diffused popular errors the historian encounters in all old settlements in the Middle and Eastern States. The fact is that the clay was dug and the bricks burned near where the house stands, a general custom in the last century. The original structure was a story and a half in height, the bricks being laid in headers and stretchers, in the style known as “Flemish bond,” the black-glazed ends of the headers alternating with the red stretchers laid lengthwise for the purpose of ornamentation, as was frequent in early days. The old building has been raised in height and added to in recent years.

During the few days the British were encamped in Birmingham and Aston, after the battle of Brandywine, the good people of Bethel were annoyed and plundered by the foraging parties of the enemy. The latter appropriated the personal property which the Continentals had forgotten to impress, for many of the Revolutionary soldiers swore and stole equally to any troopers under the sun. After both armies had marched away it was a lucky household that could boast of a pair of blankets, while poultry and pork, silverware and silver money, whiskey (essential as bread in those days) and watches had almost wholly disappeared. That section of country was swept comparatively clear of horses and neat cattle, while in a number of cases the residents were left entirely destitute of food. This loss occasioned by the presence of armed forces was large in Bethel,, but the value of the articles taken by the British plundering parties cannot now be ascertained, for no returns were made, so far as has been learned, in that township, in conformity with the act of Assembly providing for the filing of sworn statements of the damages sustained by the people in those sections of the State through which the invading army made its way.

In June, 1872, a reunion of the descendants of John Larkin, Sr., and Martha, his wife, took place at the old homestead in Bethel. There were eighty persons present, among whom were three brothers and four sisters, the eldest being seventy-seven and the youngest sixty-three years old. John Larkin, the first of the family in Delaware County, was born in Lower Chichester early in the eighteenth century, and after his marriage with Esther Shelley, of Chichester, in 1731, he removed to Bethel. In 1799 his two sons, Isaac and —-, were living in the township, the first owning a farm of two hundred and seven acres, and the latter one hundred and twenty-one acres. Ex-Mayor Larkin, of Chester, as well as all the Larkins in Delaware County, are descended from John, who settled in Bethel about 1750. I have failed to learn when the first of the family came to the American colonies, but it was certainly before the coming of Penn. That this is so the records of Cecil County establish. In a deed made by Ephraim Augustus Hermen to Thomas Larkin of eight hundred and eighty-three acres of land in 1715, the indenture recites that previous to Aug. 14, 1682, John Larkin, father of Thomas, had patented that number of acres, which tract was afterwards, including many more acres, patented to Augustine Hermen. In the deed made in 1715 it is stated, “and that the said Thomas Larkin had made his right to the said land appear to be prior to the right of the Hermens, for these reasons, and for divers other good and valuable considerations, Hermen, who was then lord of Bohemia Manor, and his wife, conveyed their interest in the land to Larkin.”

Bethel has two villages and one Corner. Chelsea, which is in the north part of the township, was formerly known as Corner Ketch (Catch). In 1833, Reece Pyle sold the land at the Corner to Robert McCall, who, in that year, built the stone dwelling he now occupies, and in the following year built the frame store. Previous to the purchase by McCall, in the last century, Caleb Perkins had a store and shoemaker’s shop at the Corner; and about 1820 a small store was located, then kept by Norris Hannum, but he had discontinued business before 1833. At the latter date Mrs. Sturgis was conducting a little shop in a building occupying the lot now owned by Samuel Jester. Robert McCall continued in business there for many years, and was succeeded by John Hoffman, who in time gave place to Daniel Dutton, he to George Adams, he to James C. Armstrong, and the latter to Samuel H. Pierce, who is now conducting it, as well as discharging the office of postmaster of the village. About 1858 Chelsea was accorded the dignity of a postal station, and John Hoffman appointed its first postmaster.

Booth’s Corner is located in the western part of the township, almost midway between Concord and Upper Chichester townships. In 1831, William Mousley had a log blacksmith-shop on the corner where the store of Isaac Booth is now located. In that year Wesley Clark purchased the opposite corner, and erected a wheelwright- and blacksmith-shop. In 1835, Isaac Booth purchased the ground whereon Mousley’s shop stood, erected the store building, and from that time the corner took its present name.

Zebley’s Corner is at the extreme southern part of the township, bordering on the Delaware State line, and boasts a store and a few dwelling-houses.

The following is a list of justices of the peace for Bethel township:

Siloam Methodist Church is a branch of the Bethel Church of Delaware, the former having been organized in 1852, at which time about fifty persons formed the membership of Siloam. A lot of ground, comprising an acre and a half, was given to the congregation by Samuel Hanby and Samuel Hance, each contributing three-quarters of an acre. The handsome stone sanctuary, forty-two by sixty feet, was hastened forward, and in the latter part of 1852 the building had so far progressed that the basement-story was dedicated, and services regularly held therein. On Sept. 24, 1854, the church, then completed, was dedicated, Revs. Mr. Hurey and Andrew Manship, of Philadelphia, conducting the services on that occasion. The building was erected at a cost of four thousand five hundred dollars, of which sum one-half had been contributed from time to time while it was in process of construction, and the remainder was collected on the dedication day. The church was embraced in the Mount Lebanon Circuit, and was under the pastoral charge of Rev. William H. Burrell. He has been followed by the following pastors: James Hand, Thomas Newman, Francis B. Harvey, Isaac Merrill, —-Smith, John France, John Dyson, Joseph S. Lane, William W. McMichael, Edward F. Kenney, George W. Lybrand, William T. Magee, and Mans Graves, the present incumbent. During Mr. Kenney’s pastorate serious charges of gross immoral conduct were made against him, and the long investigation and subsequent trial before the ecclesiastical court aroused great interest in the immediate neighborhood and surrounding districts. His acquittal on all the charges by the Annual Conference, in 1876, was particularly gratifying to Siloam Church, and when the announcement was made of the result of the trial, the congregation expressed their sympathy in applause, an unusual occurrence in a religious meeting. The present membership of the Siloam is one hundred and fifty, and the Sunday-school connected with the church has one hundred pupils. James C. Hinkson is the present superintendent. The church was incorporated by the court of Delaware County, Nov. 23, 1868.

In 1871 a mission of Siloam Church was established at Chelsea, in a chapel which had been built by Dr. Phineas Price, on the Chester and Concord road, east of the village, many years before. The building was purchased by the congregation of Siloam Church, and was formally dedicated July 22, 1871, Rev. Mr. Lane conducting the services on that occasion.

Schools. About the beginning of this century Caesar Paschal, a colored servant of Mark Wilcox, owned a tract of ground in the angle formed by the intersection of the Chester and Concord road with the Chichester and Concord road at Corner Catch (Chelsea). He sold an acre of land to a committee for the purpose of erecting thereon a school building. A log house was located in the middle of this lot, so as to afford ample play-ground for the children. How long this building was occupied for school purposes is unknown, but it certainly was not used as such for any considerable length of time, but was sold to Robert R. Hall, who moved the log structure to the roadside and converted it into a dwelling. The premises are now owned by Samuel Regester.

Previous to 1780 a subscription stone school-house was built on the corner of Kirk road, where Thomas Booth’s shops now are John Foulk, Powell Clayton, and another resident of the township whose name is forgotten, were the trustees. At one time Nathaniel Cloud was the teacher, and the mother of Wesley Poole was a pupil under his instruction. The floor of the building was laid in bricks, and was cold and cheerless in the winter days, the roaring wood-fire being insufficient to warm it thoroughly. Powell Clayton, who was the surviving trustee, sold the lot to Isaac Booth, who tore the building down in 1825, but for several years before that date schools had ceased to be held there. In 1824 a school was opened in a stone building erected on a lot purchased from John Larkin, on the Bethel road, east of Booth’s Corner, afterwards known as number one public school. It was likewise a subscription school, Nathaniel Larkin, Thomas Booth, and John Larkin being the trustees. Charles Willis was the first teacher there, and subsequently by George Walters and Adam Mendenhal. In this school-house one United States senator and Governor of Arkansas (Gen. Powell Clayton) and two judges (William Clayton, of the Ninth District Court of Arkansas, and Thomas J. Clayton, president judge of Delaware County) were educated, as were many of the present residents of Bethel. The old building remained until 1868, when it was torn down and the present structure, twenty-eight by thirty-five feet, was erected at a cost of sixteen hundred and sixty-one dollars. Osborn Booth was the builder.

On Sept. 9, 1839, a lot containing fifty-five perches was purchased from Foulk Cloud, at Booth’s Corner, for $27.50. (The latter, it will be recalled, while trimming peach-trees at his residence, at Booth’s Corner, on the afternoon of Dec. 15, 1870, was stricken with paralysis, and died in a few hours.) On this lot a one-story octagon house was erected and used as a public school for several years, when it was burned. The directors rebuilt it, using the old wall, and it continued in use until 1870, when it was torn down, the present structure, known as school number two, being erected on its site at a cost of seventeen hundred and eighty-nine dollars. Nelson G. Green was the contractor.

On May 22, 1860, a lot containing eighty-four square perches was purchased from Curtis Barlow, on the Bethel road, a short distance west of Chelsea, and the present school-house, known as number three, erected.

Under the act of 1834 the court appointed in that year Robert McCall and John Larkin inspectors. Following is a list of the school directors of Bethel since 1840:

1840, Nathaniel Pratt, Nathaniel Cloud; 1842, Foulk Cloud, Nelson Clayton; 1843, Moses Pyle, Thomas Zebley; 1844, Samuel Register, Nelson Clayton; 1845, John Clayton, Jonas Eyre; 1846, Moses Pyle, Albin Baldwin; 1847, Nelson Clayton, Nathaniel Williams; 1848, Wesley Poole, John Clayton; 1849, Albin Baldwin, Thomas Booth; 1850, Foulk Cloud, Wesley Poole; 1851, Wesley Clark, Benjamin Larkin; 1852, Samuel F. Larkin, Albin Baldwin; 1853, Thomas Booth, Sharpless Green; 1854, Benjamin Larkin, Thomas S. Philips; 1855, Albin Baldwin, Owen Zobley; 1856, Robert W. Barton, John H. Cheyney; 1857, Nathan L. Eyre, Reese Baldwin; 1858, no report; 1859, Samuel Goodley, Robert Logan ; 1860, J.W. Hance, Robert H. Barlow; 1861, Albin Baldwin, Sharpless Green; 1862, Robert Logan, Wesley Poole; 1863, Robert H. Barlow, Benjamin Worrilow; 1864, Clarkson Way, J.J. Shields; 1865, Charles M. Cheyney, Samuel Dalton; 1866, James S. Peters, Robert H. Barlow; 1867, Albin Baldwin, Benjamin Worrilow; 1868, William S. Goodley, Joseph Larkin; 1869, Charles W. Poole, Reece Baldwin; 1870, Charles M. Cheyney, Sharpless Green; 1871, William S. Goodley, Joseph Larkin; 1872, C.W. Poole, R. Baldwin; 1873, Nathan Cloud, Wesley Poole; 1874, William S. Goodley, Joseph Larkin; 1875, Thomas Talley, James Booth; 1876, Thomas Booth, George Ebright; 1877, Charles M. Cheyney, Charles Young; 1878, C.W. Poole, A. Pierce; 1879, Thomas Hinkson, Charles Young; 1880, Charles M. Cheyney, Charles Young; 1881, C.W. Poole, Alban Pierce; 1882, Thomas Hinkson, Clark W. Baldwin; 1883, Charles M. Cheyney, William Mathews; 1884, C.W. Poole, Alban Pierce.

Nearly a mile west of Chelsea, on the Bethel road, is the “Lancaster” farm, where are now the noted garnet-mines. About 1873, Charles Williams, who then owned the estate, directed considerable attention to the garnet sand found on the farm, but his object was more to have the larger pebbles set in gold as personal ornaments than for any use in industrial pursuits. John H. Smedley, of Middletown, a noted geologist and mineralogist, believing that the large deposits of garnets in Bethel could be utilized in all trades in which emery was used for grinding, shaping, and burnishing of metal goods, early in the following year urged upon several firms in Philadelphia the development of the mines to that end, but without success. Five years after this discouraging attempt to utilize the deposits of garnets in Bethel, an agent of a New York firm, largely engaged in the manufacture of sand-paper and emery, visited Mr. Smedley to consult with him respecting the corundum of Delaware County and its use in their business. Smedley informed him that he believed the garnet sand would be of much greater value to them than corundum. The result was a visit to the “Lancaster” farm, and its ultimate purchase by Herman, Behr & Co., of New York, of the forty-seven-acre tract, at a cost of one hundred dollars an acre. In the fall of the year 1879 the work of digging was begun, and has been prosecuted with success. The value of the garnet-sand varies from thirty to one hundred dollars a ton. The first quality is used in making emery-wheels the second in sand-paper, and the third is sold to stone-cutters for polishing marble.

Bethel Lodge, No. 191, Knights of Pythias, is located at Booth’s Corner.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

ROBERT McCALL.

Mr. McCall is of Scotch lineage, and the grandson of Thomas McCall, who resided in Concord township. The children of the latter were seven in number, of whom George, the youngest, married Margaret McKay, daughter of Robert McKay, and had children, William, Joseph, Rebecca, Robert, Mary, Thomas, and Margaret. Robert, the third son, was born on the 14th of July, 1802, in Concord township, and during the period of his early life resided in the county of his birth. He improved the slight advantages of education offered, and on attaining his majority developed the exceptional business capacity which has since made his career a successful one. Opening a general store at Thornton, Delaware Co., he remained six years in that locality, and then removed to another location in Thornbury, where he also became the proprietor of a similar store, and founded an extensive trade. In 1834 he came to Chelsea, Bethel township, erected a store, and conducted a thriving business until 1862, when he retired from mercantile ventures, and purchased a farm to which for a brief period he devoted his energies. He, however, continues to occupy the residence in Chelsea he erected fifty years ago, having relinquished the cares of business. Mr. McCall during his extended life has maintained a reputation for integrity and scrupulous honesty, while his judgment and keen perceptions have aided greatly in the success which has attended his mercantile pursuits. He married, March 13, 1834, Mrs. Anna M., widow of Dr. Jesse Hamer, of Thornbury, and daughter of Dr. John H. Cheyney, of Delaware. County. She died in April, 1875, and he was again married to Mrs. Lydia P., widow of Thomas P. Powel, of Concord. Mr. McCall was formerly a Democrat in his political predilections, but later espoused the principles of the Republican party. He has not been the recipient of any distinguished political honors from the fact of his indifference to such marks of deference. He is a member and rector’s warden of St. John’s Protestant Episcopal Church of Concord.

CHARLES M. CHEYNEY.

Charles M. Cheyney, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born in Delaware County in 1781, and married Prudence Dutton, the birth of whose only child (a son), David R., occurred June 1, 1809. He early engaged in teaching and subsequently entered the counting-house of a Philadelphia firm, for whom he was book-keeper. He was not active as a politician, and the incumbent of no official positions other than those connected with the township. He was married to Elleneanor B. Kenney, whose birth occurred in the State of Delaware in 1804, and had children, Anna, Robert (who died in youth), John H. (who entered the service during the late war, and after an active military career of two years and nine months was fatally wounded at the battle of Mine Run), and Charles M. The last named was born in Thornbury township, Delaware Co., Oct. 26, 1835, and received his education at the public schools of the vicinity, with the additional advantage of a brief period at a private school in Media. He then engaged in the labor incident to farm-life, and was thus employed at the, time of his enlistment in Company F, Twentieth Pennsylvania Cavalry, under Col. John E. Wynekoop, for a period of seven months’ service before the close of the late war. Mr. Cheyney was married in 1861 to Sallie J. Hall (born in 1838), whose great grandparents came from their native land with William Penn, and purchased land of him in Concord township, Delaware Co., where they settled. George Hall, her grandfather, married Janet James, whose son, Mifflin Hall, father, of Mrs. Cheyney, was born in 1808, and married Lydia McCulloughin 1835. Mr. and Mrs. Cheyney have had nine children, John H., Arthur B., David M., Lucius L., William T., Charles R., James S., Harrie B., and Albert B. Mr. Cheyney is a Republican in his political views and has filled various township offices, having served for eighteen years as a member of the school board. In religion he is a supporter, though not a member, of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He has since his marriage been engaged in farming in, Delaware County.

THOMAS BOOTH, SR.

Two brothers of the Booth family emigrated from England, if tradition be correct, about two centuries ago, one of them, whose name was Robert, having married, and had among his children a son, Robert, who settled in Bethel township. His son, Thomas, the grandfather of the subject of this biography, married Phoebe Cloud, and had children, James, Joseph, Robert, Nathaniel, Jemima, John, and Isaac. The last-named son is the only survivor of this number. James Booth was born in 1790, on the homestead in Bethel, which he occupied, and the land of which he cultivated until his marriage. He then removed to land purchased by his father, and now owned by the subject of this sketch. He married Lydia Forwood, and had children, Thomas, Mary, Ann, Phoebe, and one who died in infancy. Thomas Booth was born in 1817, in Bethel township, and spent his childhood upon the farm of his father. Having lost that parent when seven years of age, he became an inmate of the home of his uncle, John Booth. After receiving limited advantages of education he entered upon a career of labor, and at twenty-one became owner of the homestead, having inherited his share and purchased the remaining interest. He married, in 1844, Susanna Marshall, daughter of John Marshall, who was of English descent, and has children, Sarah Ann (Mrs. John M. Hinkson, of Concord), Thomas, Samuel (deceased), and Lydia Emma (deceased).

Thomas married Leah Talley, of Delaware, and has children, Laura and Thomas, About 1854, Mr. Booth became a merchant at Booth’s Corner, and continued thus employed for some years, after which he returned to the farm, and again resumed the duties of a farmer. He is in politics a stanch Republican, and has held various township offices, as also the appointment for many years of postmaster at Booth’s Corner. Having now abandoned active labor, he still resides in the township, and by his advice and experience aids his son, who cultivates the farm.

* Futhey and Cope’s “History of Chester County,” p. 102.

** History of Delaware County, p. 382.

*** Futhey and Cope’s “History of Chester County,” p. 55.

(4*) Johnston’s “History of Cecil County, M.,” p. 103.

Source: Page(s) 305-311, History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, by Henry Graham Ashmead, Philadelphia: L.H. Everts & Co. 1884

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