West Chester History to 1830

West Chester History to 1830
by Jim Jones

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The land between tributaries of the Delaware River

The location of early settlements, both native American and European, was determined by the location of the Delaware River and its tributaries. For native Americans, the river provided fish and trade routes, while its tributaries provided year-round water and their fords determined the route of paths. For Europeans, the Delaware provided access to eastern Pennsylvania for ocean-going ships, and its tributaries provided sheltered anchorages for ports of Wilmington, Chester and Philadelphia, as well as water access to the interior.

West Chester is located on a flattened portion of the ridge that separates the Chester and Brandywine watersheds. It is drained by five small creeks: Goose Creek on the east, two branches of Taylor Run on the north (N. High Street) and northwest (along Hannum Ave.), Blackhorse Run on the west (Everhart Park), and Plum Run in the southwest (Route 52 north of Rosedale Ave.)

West Chester has two high points at Chapel Hill (St. Agnes) and Quaker Hill (N. High Street to Marshall Square). A third hill, Cottage Hill, lies east of town at the intersection of Paoli Pike and West Chester Pike. The southwest corner of Marshall Square Park is the highest point within the Borough, and was once the site of a reservoir for the Borough's water supply.

Early peoples of southeastern Pennsylvania

The original inhabitants called themselves the "Lenni Lenape" ("Common People") and the Europeans called the Delaware Indians, after the Delaware River, which was named after Lord De La War. The Lenni Lenape were migratory hunter-gatherers who lived in temporary camps which moved with the seasons. In the West Chester area, their camps tended to be located near springs.

The arrival of the Europeans and the trade opportunities they offered attracted the attention of better organized groups from the interior, especially from the northern Susquehanna Valley. First the Susquehannocks (a.k.a. the Minquas) moved into the lower Susquehanna Valley around 1640 and in a series of wars, conquered other groups as far east as the Delaware River by 1670. Then, the Iroquois followed them south and did the same after 1674. In each case, the Lenni Lenape ended up as subjects of the winners.

One product of the Susquehannock conquest was the consolidation of the beaver fur trade between the Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers. Over time, a fixed overland route developed between the two rivers that passed a few hundred yards south of the Borough -- the "Great Minquas Trail." It was still visible as late as 1880 when Philip Sharpless found dozens of artifacts at one of the camp sites along the trail.

Other traces of native American influence barely survived. The Mecoponacka became the Chester Creek, and the Wawassan became the Brandywine, but no names for the tributaries that flow from the Borough have survived.

The Lenni Lenape remained in the year until the end of the French and Indian War (Seven Years War, 1756-1763). Several sources describe intense anti-Indian feeling among the English colonists after that war which drove native Americans to move westward.

The last native American resident in the County was "Indian Hanna" who lived near the Anvil Inn (now Hugo's) on US Route 1 in Kennett, then moved to a cabin near Northbrook Station, and ended her years at the County Poor House in Embreeville. She died in 1802 at about age 71.

William Penn's original three counties

The Dutch and Swedes both sailed in the Delaware River in the 17th century, but the Thirty Years ar took its toll on their efforts in this region. In 1674, the Dutch signed a treaty which gave their claims the English, and King Charles granted control over New York and New Jersey to his brother James, the Duke of York. By 1676, James' governor of New York, Governor Edmund Andros, established control over the west bank of the lower Delaware River through a court situated at Upland (near Chester).

In 1680, William Penn convinced Charles II to grant a portion of the Duke of York's land to him. In 1681, Penn sent a governor, William Markham, to take over the court at Upland.

The first colonists arrived by ship just before the end of the year and landed at Chester. Penn also sent four commissioners with instructions to lay out a "great city." Colonists continued to arrive in 1682 and their names appear in court records. Penn himself arrived on October 27, 1682. One of his first acts was to rename Upland "Chester" at the suggestion of his friend Pearson, who came from that city.

Originally, all government was located in Philadelphia. But as ne arrivals settled outside of the city, they began to demand better access to government. The result was a series of decisions that divided the original Philadelphia County into the modern Philadelphia, Delaware, Chester, Montgomery and Bucks Counties.

Chester County was the first, after farmers petitioned the Pennsylvania assembly in 1720. They justified their request in terms of the distance and time that it took to reach the market and courthouse in Philadelphia. The assembly agreed and created Chester County, comprising the modern counties of Chester and Delaware, with a courthouse at Chester on the Delaware River. In 1729, the assembly authorized a survey to determine the western boundary of Chester County, and coincidentally, the eastern boundary of Lancaster County.

That is how things remained until after the Revolutionary War. On September 10, 1784, another portion of Philadelphia County was split off to form Montgomery County. Five years later on Sept. 26, 1789, the state assembly divided Chester County to create the modern Chester and Delaware Counties.

The Turk's Head Crossroads

According to an 1843 survey by E. W. Beans and Walter Hibbard, the intersection was located two miles from the Brandywine Creek, near one of the sources of the Chester Creek, five miles south of the great Limestone or Chester Valley, twenty-three miles west of the original city of Philadelphia, about sixteen miles north of Wilmington, Del., and about four hundred and fifty-six feet above tide. Its coordinates are latitude 39ų 57' 31.3" north, and longitude 75ų 36' 32.7" west of Greenwich.

The Turk's Head Tavern developed at the intersection of two colonial wagon roads. One ran north and south between Wilmington and Reading, while the other ran east and west between Philadelphia and Lancaster. It is not clear when the first building was constructed, but the state assembly issued the earliest known tavern license to Phineas Eachus in 1761.

Eachus' tavern was located on the east side of High Street south of Gay Street, on the site of the modern Wachovia and First National Banks. According to Futhey & Cope, it was a "small one-story wooden house, with a small shed-room attached to the east part of it." It also included a small cabin on the south end of the shed which served as a store, and a vegetable garden on the north side.

It was a logical place for a tavern because horse-drawn wagons could cover about 10-15 miles per day, and by the time they reached the top of the ridge west of the Goose Creek, both horses and drivers needed to rest.

Around the same time (1760s), a small log school was built on the northwest corner. There was an orchard on the southwest corner (where the courthouse now stands) and a farm on the northeast corner (where the Greentree Apartments now stand).

By 1770, John Hoopes took over the tavern and replaced it with a brick structure located to the south of the original structure. A few years later, prior to the Revolutionary War, a two-story log store was constructed on the opposite side of High Street.

The rest of the town consisted of about two dozen houses located along the two main roads plus farm houses located away from the intersection. Most of the town's buildings was located within one block of the intersection until 1830, when William Everhart started a wave of development that we will cover next week.

The Town Charter

In 1780, the state assembly authorized the relocation of the Chester County courthouse to the west, but no action was taken because the County Commissioners opposed the move. After elections made the Chester County delegation to the assembly even more strongly in favor of "removal," a second act passed the assembly in 1784 which called for erecting the new county buildings within one mile and a half of the Turk's Head Tavern in the township of Goshen. A series of acts followed which repealed earlier acts, and a battle nearly broke out between removalists and their opponents in early 1786. Finally, on March 18, 1786, the assembly approved "An act to repeal an act entitled an act to suspend an act of the General Assembly of this Commonwealth, entitled an act to enable Wm. Clingan, etc."

During the 1780s, the name "West Chester" first appeared on petitions related to the relocation of the county seat, and on Isaac Webb's tavern license petition in 1787. Then, on March 3, 1788, the state assembly voted to designate West Chester as a "country town" which was still a part of Goshen township but with the right to elect two justices of the peace.

For eleven years, West Chester remained a part of Goshen township, but on Mach 28, 1799 the state legislature (about to move from Philadelphia to Lancaster on April 3) approved a petition from residents to become an independent borough. The reasons are unclear, but Doug Harper thought it was to avoid paying taxes to maintain Goshen roads. In any case, the state legislature agreed.

The new borough was required to elect two burgesses, five assistant burgesses, a constable and a chief clerk. The burgesses were authorized to make laws needed to maintains streets and alleys, and to collect taxes needed to pay for those efforts.

In the first election on May 6, 1799, William Sharpless, the "respected Quaker carpenter," got forty votes and the town doctor, Jacob Ehrenzeller, got twenty-two. The first assistant burgesses were all prosperous farmers: John Rankin (59 votes), William Bennett (49 votes), Richard Jacobs (41), Thomas Hoopes (39), and Joshua Gibbons (30).

The 1800 Census and 1807 List of "Taxables"

The first US census was in 1790, but since West Chester was not incorporated until 1799, its first census was in 1800. It lists 28 heads-of-household including names like William Sharpless and William Price, William Wollerton, and Joseph McClellan. Eleven other heads-of-family were listed on the 1800 Goshen census, including Nathan Sharpless, William Bennett, and Thomas Hoopes, although by 1807 they were listed as living in West Chester. Other names appear on the 1799 election list that do not appear in the 1800 census. In all, a total of 346 people lived in the Borough in 1800, about evenly divided between men and women. None were slaves.

Exercise

1. Look at the list of 1807 taxables sorted by profession. Note that a "vendue cryer" was an auctioneer, a "scrivener" was a notary or scribe, a "hostler" was an innkeeper, and a "mantua maker" was a maker of fancy dresses and gowns. What does the data in the 1807 list tell you about West Chester?

2. Look at the list of 1799 elected officials. How many of them appear on the 1807 list? What were their professions? How much do you think their lives changed as a result of serving on Borough Council?

3. By 1807, William Sharpless was still chief burgess, William Bennett had advanced to Second Burgess, and Richard Jacobs was still an assistant burgess. They were joined by four new assistant burgesses: John Graves (a "framework knitter" and the "assessor" who signed the list of 1807 taxables) and three "innkeepers": John Babb, Thomas Tucker, and Ephraim Buffington. Why were there so many innkeepers on Borough Council?