Edgmont Township.

went to the desk and opened the drawer. Her action was observed by one of the men, who compelled her to deliver to him the savings of many months. The desk, still showing the marks of the force used to open its apartments, is now in possession of Burgess Green, of Media.

The house now belonging to David H. Stitter, on the road from Bishop's mills to Howellsville, during the Revolution, was owned by Abel Green, and in one of the putlog-holes in the east end of the house, which had never been filled in after the scaffolding was removed, Green secreted a large amount of Continental currency, and filled the opening in with a stone. For several months the money remained there undisturbed. A barrel of whiskey in the cellar, however, was not so secure, for a British soldier shot a musket-ball into the head, and through the opening thus made poured out round after round to his thirsty companions, without failing, however, to minister to his own appetite.

On Crum Creek, where the West Chester road crosses that stream, was the tract of two hundred and forty acres laid out to Samuel Bradshaw, April 10-11, 1682. Part of this estate is known as "Castle Rock," because located on the farm is a cluster of peculiar rocks rising in picturesque confusion, bowlder upon bowlder, to the height of two hundred feet above the level of the land at its basis. This rock, pierced through and through with fissures and caverns, is a remarkable natural curiosity. It was on this farm, now the property of William Taylor, that James Fitzpatrick, the outlaw, was captured in 1778, as narrated in the chapter on crimes and punishments. The dwelling of the present owner occupies almost the very site where William McAfee's house then stood.

The land on which the village of Howellville is located, about 1759 was purchased by Christian Workizer, a German, who, a colonel in the English army, came to America as an aide-de-camp to Gen. Wolfe. After the capture of Quebec, Col. Workizer resigned, and having married, purchased a farm where Howellville is now, the hotel building being the homestead of the family. During the Revolutionary war the colonel, having held military rank in the English service, declined to take part in that struggle. It is related that during the British occupation of Philadelphia Mrs. Workizer walked from Howellville to the former place, eluding the sentinels, and returned without being molested, her enormous pockets, strapped to a girdle worn beneath her dress, filled with medicines, salt, and articles of that description which were difficult to be procured. John Sheridan Workizer, to whom the Howellville farm descended, sold it about the beginning of this century.

Edgmont Temperance Hall was erected near the centre of the township, on the Chester road, in the year 1843; and sold to the Methodists for a church in 1859. Among the pastors who have served there are W. C. Johnson, George Alcorn, ----- Jennings, William F. Shepherd, G. J. Burns, J. E. Grawley, A. N. Millison, and ----- Turrentine, the present pastor.

Edgmont post-office, near the old "President," is kept at the store which was started by Lewis Verdreis more than fifty years ago. A post-office was established some years ago, and Pusey Pennock and William Worrell were postmasters. Edgar Prene is the present officer. John and James Aitkin at that time kept the store where the Howellville post-office was established in 1832, which was noted in its day, and drew a large patronage from distant parts of the county for many years. It subsequently passed into the hands of William W. and Ellis Smedley, who gave new life to the place by running stages to Chester, which became a popular line of travel to Philadelphia. Another line ran through the place between the city and Westtown boarding-school, and a third along the West Chester road, from West Chester to Philadelphia. The opening of the railroad between those points, via Media, made these enterprises unprofitable, and they have long since been abandoned.

John Atkins, Ellis Smedley, William T. Kirk, Elwood Baldwin, Thomas Worrall, Joseph Pratt, William F. Matthews, William McCall, I. B. Taylor, and Jesse R. Baker have in succession been the post-masters at Howellville. James Atkin studied medicine and became the principal physician of that section for nearly half a century, and now survives at West Chester at the advanced age of ninety years. Fifty years ago, in September, 1834, Dr. Atkin found a young snake with two heads in Edgmont, which he presented to the museum of the Delaware County Institute of Science.

An accident occurred in Edgmont in May, 1851, which, from the peculiar circumstances connected with it, is still recalled in that section of the county. A large water-snake had taken up its quarters near the spring-house on John H. Taylor's farm, which so alarmed the females of the family that he determined to kill the reptile. The old fowling-gun he used for that purpose exploded, the breech blew out, striking Taylor in face, breaking his nose, putting out one of his eyes, and otherwise injuring him. Two months subsquent, when the frightful wound in the face had healed sufficiently to permit him to walk about the farm, he complained of great soreness and shooting pains in his head. An examination disclosed the breech-pan of the gun still in the wound, where it bad remained since the accident. Dr. Huddleson removed the iron, which was two and a half inches in length, over half an inch in thickness, and weighing three ounces.

The following-named persons have served as justices of the peace for Edgmont township since the year 1791: