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was regarded as a man of undoubted skill in his profession and possessing a thorough knowledge of the county to which his labors were chiefly confined. He evinced qualities which won the respect and affection of all who knew him, and was no less regarded for his unquestioned integrity and probity than for his generous instincts and warm sympathies. Having been reared in the Quaker faith his inclinations were for the Society of Friends, though a frequent worshiper with other denominations and a profound listener to an earnest discourse. Mr. Taylor married Miss Hannah Berdett Taylor, daughter of Joseph Taylor, of Upper Providence township, a soldier of the Revolution, who was taken prisoner and held as a hostage at St. John's, New Brunswick, until the close of the war. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Taylor are Henry B., John H., Annie W. (Mrs. Richard Stevenson), of Atchison, Kan.; William, cashier of the First National Bank of Chester; Catherine R. (Mrs. H. M. Hinkson), and Alfred. John H. joined the Pennsylvania Reserves during the late war as lieutenant of Company C, First Regiment, and fell at the battle of South Mountain. The death of Mr. Taylor occurred on the 27th of February, 1884, in his eightysecond year.
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This municipal district, which originally included within its boundaries the present thriving boroughs of North and South Chester, Upland, and the city of Chester, was one of the first municipal districts erected shortly after Penn's first visit to the province, in 1682, when he divided the territory in counties; but the lines and bounds then separating it from the adjacent townships are not of record. The first official recognition of the section afterwards known as Chester township was at the court held Oct. 17, 1683, when a grand jury of seventeen persons were "Impannelled to take out a Convenient Highway leading from Providence to Chester." At the court held July 1, 1684, Richard Crosby and Edward Carter were appointed collectors of the county levies for Chester, and at the same court Richard Few was appointed constable. Richard Few was the owner of two hundred and twenty-seven acres of land, which was surveyed to him Oct. 27, 1682. This tract began at Bridgewater, and ran then directly across the township, through the Cobourn, Springer, and Engle farm to Ridley Creek. Following that stream in a north course, it extended to the southern point of Samuel Bancroft's land, - a straight westerly line, thence crossing the township to a point just beyond where the run that empties into Chester Creek divides into two branches, when that stream became the western boundary of the land until it empties into Chester Creek, and by the latter to Bridgewater, thus including in the tract the greater part of the old Mullen farm, that of McCay, the southern half of the Caldwell, all of the Jones, and the greater part of the Culbert farm. Sneath's Corner was of course included within this tract. The remaining portion of this township to the north of that tract, except the upper parts of the Afflick and Bancroft's land, was included in the three hundred and seventeen acres surveyed to Thomas Coebourn, Nov. 28, 1682; and on that tract, above Morgan's Station, just over the Middletown township line, in 1686, Coebourn erected the second grist-mill on Chester Creek. An account of this mill will be given in the history of Middletown. On March 29, 1684, three hundred and eighty-five acres of land was surveyed to Thomas Brassey, which included all the land lying in the great bend of Chester Creek, from Bridgewater to the western line of the borough of Upland, on which are now the farms of Stephen M. Trimble, of Elias West, the property of William Maris, north of the Upland road, and part of that belonging to Joseph Engle, lying west of Edgmont road. That part of the farm of William Maris south of Upland road, and the farm of Abraham C. Lukins, part of the estate of Mary Kelley, and the remainder of Joseph Engle's farm was included in the patent of June 7, 1672, to Neals Mattson, of one hundred and sixty-four acres, during the government under the Duke of York. The remainder of the land on the east side of Edgmont road, and the residue of the Kelley estate, were on the land patented March 31, 1686, to James Sandelands.
Sneath's Corner, which is located in that portion of Chester township east of Chester Creek, already mentioned, is formed by the road from Hinkson's Corner, crossing the Edgmont great road at that point. In 1816 the property at the corners was owned by George Sneath, Justina Harlan, and Caleb Cobourn. It has been for years noted as a residence for physicians, Dr. Ellis C. Harlan, Dr. Jesse Young, Dr. J. S. Hill, and Dr. David Rose having in succession lived at the corner. The cross-road store at this point has always been a profitable location. Prior to 1816, George Sneath, who owned and occupied the dwelling (now the residence of Dr. David Rose), opened a store in that building. He kept it several years, and at his death his daughter, Mary Sneath, continued the business for some time, when it was discontinued. In 1823, Joseph Engle, the elder, who had a few years previous purchased the property at the corner from Joshua Harlan, erected the present store-building there, and it was first occupied by his son, William Engle. He was succeeded by Thompson Hawkins, he by D. Reese Esrey, who subsequently embarked in manufacturing at the Pennellton Mills, and William Engle again returned to the store. Frank Johnson, however, soon
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