Haverford Township.

To show that the justices took the condition of the applicant into account in dispensing the judicial crumbs, on the clerk's list of successful petitions in the year 1734 appears, instead of the party's name, this entry: "A widdow in Haverford - Beer & Syder," and a like statement in the following year, 1735, when it disappears from the list.

Thomas Ashbridge, of Goshen, Feb. 28, 1737/8, in his petition stated that that he had "taken a place in Haverford, which has been a place of publick entertainment for a considerable time." Possibly that of the widow mentioned above. He was refused, but at May court, 1738, he again tried to obtain a favorable hearing, and succeeded so far as being allowed to sell "Beer & Cyder." Ashbridge, however, seemed not to be content with the bench's bounty, for at the. August court following he appeared again, asking full license, which the judges accorded him. In March (25), 1743, Matthew Beard, of Haverford, presented his petition, that he "hath lately Rented or Leased a Plantation or Tenement adjoining to the Great Road from Goshen to Philadelphia, in which Tenement there hath been for several years past a House of Entertainment." He was granted leave to sell "bear and Syder," but at the August court he received full license, and it was continued until 1746, after which his name does not appear of record.

In 1748, William Rusk, a renter, asked license for a public-house, stating that a tavern had been kept there; doubtless Beard's old place. In 1761, Philip Foreman was successful in his application, and in 1762, Adam Boyle received the court's favor. In 1764, Evan Watkins had license granted him, and in 1767, Peter Pechin was permitted to keep an inn. In his petition for 1770 the name Fox Chase appears for the first time. Pechin was succeeded, in 1771, by John Richards, and the latter, in 1774, by Aaron Coates, and he in turn, in 1778, gave place to David Quinn. David Lyons, in 1782, obtained license, and continued to secure him from the court until the new county of Delaware was created, and after that period until 1791, when Zacharias Loud had license for that and a part of the following year (1792). He was followed, in 1793, by Frederick Bittle, and in 1795, William Bittle became the landlord of the inn, which he called the Eagle and Compass. In 1809 his petition speaks of the house as the Compass. In 1813, Bittle having removed to a new house he had built, Martin Wise took it, and kept it until the old building was destroyed. However, in 1813, David Lyons states in his petition that he has "lately built a commodious house in the aforesaid township, situated at the intersection of the road leading from the borough of Chester to Germantown, and from Darby to Newtown Square and through the township of Radnor, formerly known as a place of entertainment by the name of the Fox Chase." He desired license for the same. The court granted it, and continued annually to allow it until 1832, when it also ceased to be a tavern.

William Bittle, whose removal from the old Fox Chase Tavern we have just related, in 1813 made application for license. His petition sets forth that "Having built and removed to the commodious building on the road leading from Norristown to Chester, where the West Chester road crosses said road," he wishes the court's permission to keep a hotel there. His application was rejected, but at the January court, 1814, it was approved, and the Spread Eagle Tavern on the West Chester road was established. In 1827, William Bittle was succeeded by Robert Dunn, and he being dead, in 1829, the license was issued to his widow, Susannah Dunn. The following year Lewis Bennett was landlord, and in 1831 William Bittle once more was "mine host" of the Eagle. In 1832 the latter gave place to J. S. Atkinson, and he in turn, in 1834, was followed by John Williams. In 1836, David Quinn had license, and in 1838, Andrew Steel, to be followed, in 1841, by William Bittle. In 1850, James P. Afflick, having purchased the property, made application to continue an inn at that place, the Eagle not having been licensed in 1848 or 1849. It was met with a remonstrance signed by William B. Lindsay, Adam C. Eckfeldt, James Smith, Vincent D. Litzenberg, Thomas L. Cochrane, Charles H. LaMar, and forty-five other persons, setting forth that "the subscribers, citizens, and legal voters of the township of Haverford . . . report that your memorialists have learned with deep regret that applications will be made to your Honorable Court . . . by James D. Afflick and William Y. Stackhouse for 'Tavern licenses,' or, in other words, for the privilege of vending intoxicating drinks under the sanction of law in our township, and inasmuch as we believe it to be our bounden duty to do what we may to prevent a consummation so much to be dreaded, we would therefore ask leave most earnestly but respectfully to remonstrate against the granting of the priviledge asked for, because we believe the sale and use of strong drink to be fraught with the most fatal consequences to the best interests of mankind, present and future, and because a very large majority of our citizens are and have been for years opposed to the granting of any license in the township of Haverford. Inasmuch, therefore, as no one is expected to be benefitted in the granting of the applications referred to but the persons above named (and even their ultimate advantage in such a calling is extremely doubtful), whilst many might be exposed to the deepest suffering in consequence of this multiplication of the places and sources of temptation. We appeal