Aston Township.

young ladies at Aston Ridge, which soon acquired popularity, the scholars being drawn largely from the Southern States. The principal, however, was constantly enlarging the building until finally he became bankrupt.

An interesting incident occurred in June, 1851, when, in removing an old house adjoining the seminary building to make room for proposed improvements, a beam was found on which was distinctly marked the date, "February 26, 1704," and in the cellar wall was discovered a leaden medal of unknown date, but evidently of great age. This house, which was built of hewed logs of yellow poplar, was erected by Thomas Dutton (born in England in 1679) at the date mentioned, and was located on part of the original Dutton tract of five hundred and ninety acres. On Jan. 14, 1859, Benjamin S. Huntington sold the estate to William Moronoy, and the latter conveyed it, on May 4th of the same year, to "The Philadelphia Theological Seminary of St. Charles Borromeo," where, while the new seminary was building at Overbrooke, the educational work of this institution of learning was conducted, Rev. Jeremiah F. Shanahan, the present bishop of Harrisburg, occupying the presidential chair in the college while it remained in Aston. When the new building was completed in the summer of 1871, the estate near Village Green, comprising twenty-eight and a half acres, was offered for sale. On September 7th of that year the property was sold to "The Sisters of St. Francis" of Philadelphia. For a time the old seminary building was used for the novitiate of the community, but it soon became too small to meet the demands of the order, and by permission of Archbishop James F. Wood a new convent was erected, the corner-stone of which was laid May 29, 1873, Archbishop Wood officiating. On May 29, 1879, the corner-stone of the new chapel was laid, and on Oct. 4, 1881, the chapel of "Our Lady of Angels" was dedicated by the Very Rev. John White, of St. Peter's Church, Philadelphia, he being authorized thereto by Archbishop Wood. The convent is under the supervision of Mother Mary Agnes, general superior, and here those wishing to join the community are received and trained for their future calling to minister at the bedside of the sick in hospitals or in private houses, or teaching children in parochial schools. There are upwards of two hundred and fifty sisters in the community, all of whom come every year to this novitiate to make their annual retreat. The present beautiful edifice, "The Convent of Our Lady of the Angels," is a conspicuous object in the charming rural picture which strikes the eye as you approach it from any direction.

About 1857, J. Harvey Barton established a seminary at Aston Ridge in a large brick building still on the Rockdale road, near by the Baptist Church. It was an institute in which both sexes were received and educated, and deservedly ranked high, many of its pupils having risen in the battle of life to prominent positions. For several years Hon. James Barton, Jr., Stephen C. Hall, and other well-known citizens of the county were employed as instructors at the seminary. In 1866, J. Harvey Barton discontinued the school, since which time the building has been occupied as a dwelling.

Churches - Mount Hope Methodist Church. - This sanctuary is situated on the Concord road, just above Village Green, on the noted "Aston Ridge," and its story begins three-quarters of a century ago, in 1807, when the original building was erected on a lot of land given for that purpose by Aaron Mattson, a noted paper-manufacturer in the township in those early days, and within that quiet "God's Acre" the body of the generous donor, at an advanced age, was laid to rest many years ago. The deed from Mattson to Powell Clayton, Edward Carter, Daniel Carter, Robert Johnson, John Little, George Sneath, and Peter Longacre recites that the lot shall be held "forever in trust, that they shall erect and build . . . thereon a house or place of worship for the use of the members of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States of America, only those preachers appointed by the General Conference, and none others, to preach and expound God's holy word therein." The church was of stone, in size thirty by forty feet, and, as was the case with all the early churches, particularly those built by the Methodist society, was plainly finished and furnished, wanting in almost all the accessories of comfort now deemed so essential to a place of worship. For years the church was dependent on the services of the circuit preacher, and when his duties called him to other places the local minister led the congregation in religious exercises. During its early struggles Rev. James Caughey, a noted revivalist from England, visited the United States, and during his journeyings preached in the remote Mount Hope Church, and for miles around the people gathered there to hear his sermon. The result of his preaching was a noticeable increase in the membership of Mount Hope, and the building soon became too small to accommodate the congregation. In 1838 an addition of twenty feet was made to the edifice, the building entirely remodeled, and six acres of ground purchased, in addition to that already comprised in the churchyard. In May, 1847, Rev. John Mills, who was then the pastor in charge, died, and was buried in the graveyard at Corner Ketch. Mr. Mills was by birth an Englishman, and had served fifteen years as a soldier in the British army, but being converted to the gospel teachings, had devoted the remainder of his life to the ministry of the Methodist Church.

Sept. 3, 1860, Mount Hope Methodist Church was incorporated, and in 1877 the commodious parsonage was erected near the sanctuary, the sum expended being partly the purchase-money received from the sale of the old parsonage lot at Marcus Hook to the Wilmington Circuit by Lewis Massay, which is more