The Township Of Tinicum.

sented, which set forth "that the inhabitants of the Island aforesaid, as a part of the township of Ridley, have heretofore paid a great part of the tax for the support of the roads in said township, and also maintained and supported the roads on the Island at their own cost and charge, without the least assistance from the other part of the township. And whereas the dams on said Island, made for the purpose of preventing the tides from overflowing the meadows belonging to your petitioners, were in the year 1777 cut and destroyed, with a view of retarding the progress of the enemy, at that time invading this State, whereby the roads on said Island were greatly damaged, to the very great prejudice of your petitioners, and as it is not in our power to derive any assistance from the inhabitants of the other part of the township, we conceive it to be a hardship to be obliged to support their road."

The petition concluded with a prayer that the court will, for these reasons, proceed "to divide the Island of Tinicum from the township of Ridley and to make a distinct township of it," with the like powers exercised by the other townships in the county.

On Aug. 31, 1780, the court allowed the prayer of the petitioners, and from thenceforth the township of Tinicum became a separate district, having all the rights and obligations of other townships. Indeed more, for while the general act of March 20, 1810,¹ provided that "no peron should be compelled to serve as constable more than once in every fifteen years," in the same law the township of Tinicum was exempt from the operation of the law, because there was not a sufficient number of persons residing on the island eligible to hold that office, unless within fifteen years a person could be compelled to act in that capacity for more than one year.

Several references in our early Swedish annals lead to the conclusion that a school was established on the island of Tinicum in the primitive days of European settlement there, and that the clergyman of the parish acted in a dual capacity, that of the pedagogue being connected with his ministerial duties. As before mentioned, it is generally maintained by historians that Christopher Taylor had there a school in the higher branches of education previous to 1685. The foregoing statement, however, is inferentially arrived at from collateral evidence purely, and is in no wise the subject of direct proof. Indeed, we have no positive knowledge of a school being kept on Tinicum previous to 1843, about which date Elizabeth Griffiths, a daughter of the then physician in charge at the Lazaretto, had a school in the Dutch house, - the first building on the grounds of the Board of Health, on the left-hand side of the road as you approach the river from Morris' Ferry. The title Dutch house was given to the building because of its being used to quarantine the crew and passengers of a Dutch vessel in the early days of the Lazaretto. Miss Griffiths was followed by a male teacher, one Culin, but he remained there only for a brief season, when the school was abandoned. About 1847 another school was established in a small frame house, on the site of the primitive Swedish Church, the land now owned by George McLaughlin, but the teacher, whose name was Wilson, became dissatisfied, and he relinquished its care. It also was abandoned, and in time the building itself was removed. In 1854 the first public school on the island, a small brick structure, was erected, the neighbors gratuitously laboring in its building, so that it cost not more than two hundred dollars in actual money expended. For many years it served its purpose, but in time it became dilapidated, the walls spreading, the plaster fallen from the laths in place, and the floors decayed. It was thoroughly inspected, pronounced hopeless of repair, and the directors decided to remove it, and in its place to put up another - the present school-house - on the site, which was done in 1868, at a cost of about four thousand dollars. The schools maintained there are now in good condition, with the average attendance of pupils.

The following persons have been directors of the schools of Tinicum District. On Nov. 28, 1834, the court, under provision of act of 1834, appointed George W. Bartram and Jabez Bunting inspectors of schools for the township:

1840, Dr. Samuel Anderson, Edward B. Smith; 1842, Thomas Jarman, Minshall Eachus, Jacob Roan; 1843, John Elkins, D. J. W. Griffith; 1844, William Hunter, Thomas M. Smith; 1845, James Howell, William Johnson; 1846, William Johnson; 1847, Stephen Smith, J. Weaver; 1848, John Goff, John Pedrick; 1849, John Goff, William Ward, William Johnson, Stephen Smith, William Hunter; 1850, John G. Dyer, Alexander H. Smith; 1851, William Ward, Humphrey Drooke; 1852, B. E. Carpenter, George Horne; 1853, no report; 1854, William Ward, Amos Johnson; 1855, John Hart, William Hunter; 1856, William Ward; 1857, Amos Johnson, John Holland, Alexander McKeever; 1858, John Hart, Alexander McKeever; 1859, William Ward, Alexander McKeever; 1860, Amos Johnson, Alexander T. Carr; 1861, John Hart, William West; 1862, William Ward ; 1863, Joseph P. Horne, D. A. Middleton; 1864, John Hart; 1865, Charles D. Johnson, John Stewart; 1866, William Glenn, B. F. Miller; 1867, Edward B. Ward, Charles D. Johnson; 1868, no report; 1869, Thomas E. Howard, Thomas O. Stevens; 1870, Edmund B. Ward, Benjamin F. Miller; 1871, J. W. Ward, F. J. Carey; 1872, William Wood, Daniel Dills; 1873, Edward B. Ward, W. H. Wood; 1874, B. F. Miller, James Reed; 1875, William Hiller, Charles H. Horne; 1876, Amos Johnson, Charles D. Johnson; 1877, Richard Wood, Lewis Kugler; 1878, Theodore Lukens, Adam Miller; 1879, Theodore Lukens, J. Miller; 1880, B. Dillmore, Joseph B. Miller; 1881, Charles Horne, Richard P. Ward, William Miller; 1882, B. F. Miller, Charles H. Horne; 1883, George G. Miller, Peter Goff; 1884, William Boyd, William McCall.

The Islands. - During all our colonial administration the government never claimed authority over the river, the crown holding that it had exclusive jurisdiction therein. So fully was this acquiesced in that as late as January, 1775, the Supreme Council declared that the river Delaware, not being included within the body of any county of the province, the jurisdiction of the courts of Chester County did not extend into the river, and respecting it no legal process was valid issued from such court. This as-