Chapter XXX Click
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Bethel Township.
1840, Nathaniel Pratt, Nathaniel Cloud; 1842, Foulk Cloud, Nelson Clayton;
1843, Moses Pyle, Thomas Zebley; 1844, Samuel Regester, 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 Zebley; 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 far, but his object was more to have the larger pebbles
set in gold as personal ornaments than for use in industrial pursuits.
John H. Smedley, of Middletown, a noted geologist and mineralogist,
believing that the large deposits of garnet 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 Click
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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 care 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 Click
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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 a 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 Jane
James, whose son Mifflin Hall, father of Mrs. Cheyney, was born in 1808,
and married Lydia McCullough in 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. Click
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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 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 house 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 staunch 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.
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