Delaware County

CHAPTER XII THE SECOND WAR WITH ENGLAND In a work such as this it is not to be expected that space can be given to a discussion of the causes which led the Congress of the United States, on June 18, 1812, to a declaration of war against Great Britain, but it is sufficient to … Read more

CHAPTER XI FROM THE ERECTION OF THE COUNTY OF DELAWARE TO THE SECOND WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN The sparsely-peopled territory, which in the anger of defeat at the removal of the court-house from “Old Chester”—for so the ancient borough now began to be termed, to distinguish it from the newly-born West Chester—had formed a separate … Read more

CHAPTER X FROM THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR TO THE ERECTION OF DELAWARE COUNTY When the storm of war had subsided, Chester County, with the whole country, suffered severely in the process of adjustment from a warlike to a peaceful condition which naturally followed the recognition by the King of England of the independence of the confederate … Read more

CHAPTER IX FROM THE DEFEAT AT BRANDYWINE TO THE CONCLUSION OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR On the afternoon of September 12th, the, day succeeding the battle, Maj. Gen. Grant, with the First and Second Brigades of the English army, marched from Chad’s Ford to Concord meeting-house, whence he sent out foraging-parties to bring in wagons, horses, … Read more

CHAPTER VIII THE BATTLE OF BRANDYWINE “The Brandywine Creek, as it is called, commences with two branches called the East and West branches, which unite in one stream, flowing from West to East about twenty-two miles, and emptying itself into the Delaware about twenty-five miles below Philadelphia.”* The union of these branches takes place over … Read more

CHAPTER VII THE REVOLUTIONARY STRUGGLE TO THE BATTLE OF BRANDYWINE [Please note that this chapter is heavely footnoted.  The footnotes are indicated by an “*” and “(number*).] The thoughtful men of that period who stopped in the midst of the popular clamor to consider the probable termination of the controversy between the mother-country and her … Read more

CHAPTER VI THE COLONIAL HISTORY TO THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION [Please note that this chapter is heavely footnoted.  The footnotes are indicated by an “*” and “(number*).] The only hamlet in Pennsylvania which had received a distinctive name that was known to persons in England at the time Penn acquired title to the territory … Read more

CHAPTER V THE FIRST ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA, AND THE HOUSE WHEREIN IT MET On the 18th day of November, 1682, three weeks after his arrival in the colony, William Penn issued his writs requiring the sheriffs of the several counties, in their respective bailiwicks, “to summon all the freeholders to meet on the 20th inst … Read more

CHAPTER IV WILLIAM PENN’S FIRST VOYAGE TO HIS PROVINCE IN 1682 – THE CHANGE OF THE NAME UPLAND TO CHESTER, AND THE REASON IT WAS MADE As stated in the preceding chapter, as soon as Penn had acquired title to the three lower counties,* the present State of Delaware, he made his arrangements to visit … Read more

CHAPTER III THE CIRCULAR BOUNDARY LINE BETWEEN DELAWARE COUNTY AND THE STATE OF DELAWARE That Lord Baltimore, long before the royal grant to Penn, during the Dutch ascendency on the Delaware, had made demand upon the Hollanders for all the land lying to the south of the fortieth degree north latitude is fully attested by … Read more