The Township Of Tinicum.

the point where the road called River road joins said river to the mouth of Darby Creek in township of Tinicum and right and privilege of hauling and drying seines and nets upon shore of said river from line of garden formerly of Capt. Roe to mouth of Darby Creek with privilege of occupying with nets, seines, boats, and cabin, and space of ground as is necessary in fishery."

For some cause the proceedings seem not to have been pressed to sale, perhaps by reason of the pendency of the suit of Mary Hart against Jacob Hill,¹ in which the question was raised as to what had passed to David Sandelands under Christopher Taylor's will, whether it was a fee simple to the riverbank or merely an easement. The Supreme Court in 1835 held it was the latter. The matter thereupon rested, so far as title to the fishery was concerned, until proceedings in partition were pressed, and on Aug. 24, 1847, Sheriff Robert R. Dutton sold eight-fourteenths of the fishery to Paul B. Carter, and by several deeds thereafter the latter acquired title until, Sept. 19, 1852, he was the owner, in fee, of twelve-fourteenths of the fishery. In 1865, Paul B. Carter began proceedings in partition, the jury appointed returning a report to the February term, 1866, that the fishery could not be devised, and valued it at seven thousand five hundred dollars. Sheriff Vanzant, on March 26, 1866, conveyed the whole title to Paul B. Carter, he having become the purchaser of the easement in partition. From that date until within a few years past the case was in constant litigation.² The question in dispute grew out of an alleged erection of a stone sea-wall and pier by the Tinicum Fishing Company, which resulted in rendering the old Taylor fishery valueless. The company had purchased, in 1856, at sheriff's sale, a tract of about twenty acres, and subsequently they erected a large and commodious house, which was furnished especially for the use of a social club, but the long and tedious lawsuits finally caused the members to lose all interest in the association, the real and personal estates in November, 1879, passing under the sheriff's hammer, and the Tinicum Fishing Company became thereafter merely a topic for the annalist.

² See case reported in 11 Smith (Pa. State) Reports, p. 34; 27th Smith, p. 310, and 9 Norris (Pa. State) Reports, p. 86.

At a court held 3d day 1st week Tenth month, 1687, the grand jury "Presented Thomas Boules of ye Island of Tenecum for killing and converting to his own use divers Hogs and Piggs of Thomas Smith with others belonging to ye King's Leidge People." This is the first reference I find to Thomas Smith, who was then settled in Darby, but subsequently his descendants became large owners of real estate on the island; that portion of Tinicum which connected the present with the story of the past being still owned by Aubrey H. Smith, his direct descendant. In the will of Christopher Taylor, dated Dec. 8, 1748, he mentions William Smith, leaving him "one shilling sterling." This William Smith I presume was the father of the late Thomas Smith, member of Congress from Delaware County. At any rate, the old Taylor mansion-house on the island subsequently became the property of Thomas Smith. It was built of stone, and it is said that while it was building the family resided in an old log hut made of white cedar logs, "cut no doubt in the marshes hard by, though not a tree of that species is now known to grow in Pennsylvania. It was thoroughly repaired some years ago by Aubrey H. Smith, Esq., and bids fair to stand for another century or more."³

It is stated that about the beginning of this century Tinicum Island "was so unhealthy that farmers were compelled to get their work done before September, as by that period the ague and remittent fever left no body able to work, but by banking and draining the water off the meadows the health of the place gradually improved, and from 1821 it has been considered very salubrious."⁴ Ferris records that in Printz's time and later, vessels drawing four or five feet of water could sail from Fort Gottenberg across the meadows to the mouth of the Schuylkill.⁵ About the middle of the last century companies were incorporated by the provincial government and empowered to bank the meadows, while independently of these companies private parties had reclaimed much of the submerged land.

⁵ Ferris' "Original Settlements on the Delaware," p. 70.

Previous to the Revolution, Little Tinicum Island, heretofore mentioned, was partly reclaimed, twelve acres being banked in and inhabited. When the English fleet ascended the river in 1777, the British naval officers were apprehensive that this tract of land might be utilized by the Continental authorities as a site for defensive works to interrupt their retreat, and to prevent such a use being made of it they cut the banks in many places and overflowed them, since which time the banks have never been restored. In heavy tides it is nearly overflowed, but usually presents a large uncovered surface.⁶ Dr. Smith states one of the earthworks on the Delaware River "was near the mouth of Darby Creek, doubtless on the island of Tinicum."⁷ Perhaps it was Little Tinicum Island, which may have caused the English to flood that place.

⁷ History of Delaware County, p. 299.

In the early part of this century the island of Tinicum proper was nearly submerged, consequent on the freshets occasioned by sudden thaws of ice and snow in the spring, or breaks in the banks. In 1819 the banks broke, and the water rusted in overflowing the island road for four miles, and on Feb. 22, 1822, the lowlands were almost inundated, boats sailing within