Marple Township.

scendant of Capt. William Brooke, of the Revolution. The house, which was erected in 1833, has never had a coat of paint since the year it was built, and yet the woodwork is in as good preservation as any building of the like age in the county, notwithstanding the repeated assertions of painters that linseed-oil is absolutely necessary to prevent the decay of wood exposed to the air. Within this dwelling are many interesting relics. An old, tall eight-day clock still marks the passing hour, connected with which there is an interesting scrap of Revolutionary history. During one of the numerous raids of the British soldiers in the winter of 1777-78 this old clock, which had then been in the family more than a half-century, was taken to Philadelphia by the English troops. A chest of drawers, which was made in 1736 and was fastened by peculiar and secret springs, baffling every effort of the red-coats to get access to its hidden recesses, is among the relics in the old mansion. The eight-day clock, which was taken to Philadelphia, after the British army evacuated that city was recovered by Capt. Brooke. During the time it was in other hands the cord supporting one of the weights was broken and tied, the knot thus made causing the old time-piece to run irregularly, but a small stone added to the weight overcame that difficulty, and for more than a hundred years it has so remained in constant use. A number of cannon-balls found at Valley Forge, and other relics of the Revolutionary war, are preserved among the historical treasures of the Brooke house.

Bartholomew Coppock, Sr., from Cheshire, England, with his wife Margaret and family were among the early emigrants to Delaware County. He settled in Springfield in 1685, and two years later purchased four hundred and forty-eight acres of land in Marple township of John Nixon, where he resided until his death, in 1719, aged seventy-three years. For the tract he received a deed from William Penn, with the great seal of the province affixed, and bearing the signature of his commissioners, - Edward Shippen, Griffith Owen, Thomas Story, and James Logan, - the conditions of this grant being that the borough of Chester, on the first day of the first month in every year, pay to the heirs of William Penn, for each and every year, the sum of four English shillings and threepence, or value thereof in coin current, to such person or persons as shall be appointed to receive the same. This deed is still in possession of the Pancoast family in excellent preservation. On the 22d of the Sixth month he deeded the same tract to Bartholomew Coppock, Jr., his son and heir apparent. He built a brick house on this tract in 1732, which is a part of the present edifice, and the Springfield Friends' Meeting was regularly held at this house until a meeting-house was erected, in 1738, on two acres deeded by him for the purpose in 1703. Bartholomew Coppock was for many years member of the Provincial Council, and frequently represented Chester County in the Assembly. He married, in 1710, Phoebe, daughter of Robert Taylor, of Springfield, and had two sons and four daughters, - Jonathan, Moses, Rebecca, Sarah, Margaret, and Esther. Esther married Seth Pancoast, son of William and Hannah Pancoast, of Mansfield, county of Burlington, West Jersey, on the 21st day of the Third month, 1741. By will was bequeathed "to my son-in-law, Seth Pancoast, all that my plantation lying and being in Marple township, containing 188 acres, which includes the homestead." To Seth and Esther Pancoast were born Sarah, who married Thomas j Levis, of Springfield, afterwards a colonel during the Revolutionary war. Phebe married Isaac Levis, of Providence. Samuel, who inherited the homestead, married Mary, daughter of John and Rebecca Davis Levis, on the 18th day of the Fourth month, 1782. He was an elder of Springfield Particular and Chester Monthly Meetings of Friends, and held in high esteem by the society. Seth married Abigail Ogden, of Springfield. Esther Pancoast, wife of Seth Pancoast, Sr., died on the 26th day of the Tenth month, 1764, aged fifty years. He subsequently married Ann Wooley, and had three daughters, - Esther, Eliza, and Hannah. Esther married William Levis, of Springfield. Eliza married Henry Harrison, of Middletown, and, after his decease, John Worrall, of Providence. Hannah died unmarried. Samuel and Mary Pancoast had four sons and one daughter, as follows: John, married to Hannah Thomas, of Philadelphia, who had two sons, - Robert and Samuel; by a second marriage to Sarah Ogden, of West Chester, were born two daughters and one son, - Hannah, Elizabeth, and John, - of whom Rev. Samuel Pancoast, of Philadelphia, is the only survivor. William married Margaret Bishop, of Upper Providence, and had three daughters, Mary, Priscilla, and Rebecca. Rebecca Pancoast, Sr., an exemplary member of the society of Friends, was born the 24th day of the Eighth month, 1789, and died unmarried the 20th day of the Tenth month, 1877. Seth Pancoast, born the 24th day of the Sixth month, 1793, married Margaretta Levis in 1821, and died on the 24th day of the Sixth month, 1880. Their children were J. Levis, Mary, Sarah T., Margaret B., Seth, William, Samuel F., and Henry, - of whom six survive. Seth, Sr., above mentioned, was an elder and an active member of Providence Particular Meeting and Chester Monthly Meeting, and led an exemplary Christian life.

Samuel Pancoast, who is the subject of this biographical sketch, was the grandson of Seth and Esther Pancoast, and the son of Samuel and Mary