The Borough Of Upland.

- Pusey was sheriff of the county at the time, - was required to sell the estate in payment of the debt. The property was assessed at five hundred and fifty pounds. It was offered at public sale, but found no buyers, and on Sept. 13, 1692, the coroner sold the interest of the delinquent parties to Robert Turner at the appraisement, and the latter sold his interest to Samuel Carpenter, who, for thirteen years, until Dec. 19, 1705, was a partner with Penn and Pussy in the milling business. Doubtless when repairs were made to the mill, in 1699, the rude iron vane bearing the initials W. P. (William Penn), S. C. (Samuel Carpenter), C. P. (Caleb Pusey), and the date, 1699, was placed on the building. When Richard Flower owned the property the old vane surmounted the dwelling-house of the owner, but on gusty nights, turning in the wind, it squeaked and groaned so noisily that it was taken down. In 1870, Reese W. Flower presented it to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and it now points the wind on that building, although so added to and gilded that those who remember it as it was in Upland would hardly recognize it now.

In 1705, Carpenter sold his interest to Pussy, and on March 15, 1706, Pusey sold his interest in "all those three water corn-mills and saw-mills, commonly called and known by the name of Chester Mills," to William Penn, and the property subsequently had several owners. About 1745, the old mill having been almost destroyed by an accidental fire, a new stone mill was built by Joseph Pennell, the then owner of the property, and the grandfather of John P. Crozer, who was a builder, worked on the structure, which stood, I think, until 1858, when it in turn was destroyed by fire. The dam-breast was built in 1752 by Samuel Shaw while he was owner of the property.

In 1764, Shaw was returned as constable of Chester township, an office which in colonial days was selected only from owners of real estate. Shaw was not anxious to serve the public in that capacity, and to avoid the honor thus thrust upon him presented the following petition to the court:

"To the Honorable Justices of the Court of Private Sessions, held at Chester on the 26th day of March, 1764:

"The petition of Samuel Shaw, of Chester Township, Miller, Humbly Showeth -

"That your Petitioner understands that he is on the return for the office of Constable of the said Township for the ensuing year: That your Petitioner has formerly served that office, and there are several others places that have never served, and it being a custom that all places in the s^d Township should serve in their turns before any should be obliged to serve again, your Petitioner apprehends it will not fall to his turn to serve for several years yet to come; and your Petitioner has annexed a list of some persons' names who are Inhabitants of the said Township, and have never yet served, as your Petitioner stands instructed.

"That your Petitioner has lived but a few years in the said Township, and now hath a very large family, and is also involved in such a multiplicity of business at present that he cannot serve the said office at this time without greatly prejudicing his own private affairs. That when your Petitioner dwelt in the county of Philadelphia he was commissioned by the Go^v as a Major and Captain of a Company, and being an old regular soldier did discipline several other Companies as well as his own without any reward from the Government, which proved a Considerable Expense to him, as well as a hinderance to his own private concerns.

"Your Petitioner therefore most humbly Prays that your Honors will be pleased to take the premises into consideration and excuse him at present from the said Office of Constable, and appoint some other person to that office in his stead.

"And your Petitioner shall ever pray, etc.
"Samuel Shaw."

Attached to the above quaint document is the following: "List of Persons who have not served as Constables: Jacob Howell, Jr., John Eyre, George Spear, David Jackson, Henry Platt, Thomas Sharpless, Thomas Roman, Philip Roman, Jacob Ridgeway, Valentine Weaver, John Salkeld (part of a year formerly)."

On Oct. 31, 1777, Gen. Washington ordered Gen. Potter to remove the millstones at Chester Mills so that no flour could be ground there for the British army, and we know that these orders were obeyed, but where the stones were removed to is not known. Subsequent to the Revolution, in the shrinkage in the value of real estate, the Chester Mills passed out of the ownership of Samuel Shaw, and were purchased by Henry Hale Graham, who subsequently sold them to his son-in-law, Richard Flower. In 1793, Richard Flower purchased from Oliver Evans the right to use the latter's patent "for elevating grain and meal from the lower to the upper stories, and conveying the same from one part of the mill to another, and for cooling the meal and attending the Bolting Hoppers." The motive-power, we learn from this old document, then consisted "of two Water wheels situate on Chester Creek . . . called Chester Mills." The same year Richard Flower made entry under the act of Assembly at the county court of the brands exclusively used by him at these mills, which were "Chester Superfine," "Chester," "Chester Middlings, No. 2-96," "No. 4-98." While he was still engaged in milling, Richard Flower made several successful ventures in shipping flour to Europe. When the misunderstanding existed between France and the United States, previous to 1800, he, in connection with his brother, John, his half-brother, Reece Wall, and his brother-in-law, Capt. John McKeever, loaded three vessels with flour and cleared them for Liverpool. All three of the ships were captured by French cruisers and condemned in French prize courts, although one of the vessels was within sixty miles of the Delaware Bay when taken. The loss he sustained by French spoliation was so great that he never again attempted to seek a foreign market for his bread-stuff. During the war of 1812 the American troops were instructed to impress all the flour at Chester Mills for the army, but the government paid full value for all that was taken. In 1824 he was succeeded at Chester Mills by his son, William G. Flower, who continued to operate them until the death of Richard Flower, in 1843. The Chester Mills were sold to John W. Ashmead, under proceedings in the Orphans'