Middletown Township.

welfare, and was ever earnest in their assistance when needed. He was the author of several standard theological works, and had also published a number of sermons which had wide circulation. Dr. Dale died in April, 1881, at which time he was pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Glen Riddle.

In 1871, Rev. Thomas Donaldson Jester became the pastor of Middletown Church. During the Centennial year, 1876, at the request of the Presbyterian Church throughout the United States, every church of that denomination in the United States made an effort to collect the historical incidents connected with the church for preservation. In that year Rev. Mr. Jester preached an interesting and instructive sermon, presenting in an attractive form much of the historical matters connected with Middletown Church. On Saturday afternoon, Feb. 1, 1879, the janitor built fires in the stoves, and some of the pipes became hot, burst, and set fire to the roof. No chimney had ever been built in the church, but the pipes passed through the roof into a terra-cotta chimney-piece. A heavy gale was blowing at the time, which soon fanned the flames into a furious blaze, which in a short time enveloped the building in a mass of fire. Nothing could be done to arrest the conflagration, and in less than two hours only the wall remained. Immediate steps were taken to rebuild the church, the old walls being utilized, and so rapidly was the work pushed that on Sunday, July 13, 1879, the church, a building sixty by forty feet, was dedicated, Rev. T. D. Jester, the pastor, conducting the ceremonies, assisted by Revs. J. W. Dale, D.D., P. H. Mowry, and Thomas McCauley. P. Frazer Smith, of West Chester, also delivered an address. The rebuilding cost two thousand dollars, and as a little over that amount was subscribed, the church was dedicated free of debt. The church has at the present a membership of sixty persons, and is in prosperous condition.

The old God's acre, connected with the church, contains the mouldering remains of many generations of the Presbyterian families who made and supported the struggling congregation when it was located "out in the wilderness." The oldest gravestone whose inscription can be deciphered is that of "James Cooper, deceased the 4th day of November in the Fear [or Year] of God, 1731." In point of time the next mortuary notice we desire to direct attention to is that of one of the Buchanan family, which, a century and a quarter later, gave a President to the United States. The old stone bears this inscription:

On another stone the inscription reads, -

On an ancient tombstone in that quiet burial-place can still easily be read the announcement, -

"Here lyeth the body of John, the son of Martha Moore, who departed this life the 17th day of December, 1754, aged 13 years and 8 months.

A noticeable tablet is that which marks the burial spot of a centenarian, -

"Here lieth the body of Bernhard Vanleer, M.D.¹ Physsissian in Physick, who departed this life, January 26, 1790, aged 104 years.

And beneath are the words, -

"His wife Christiana - died March 29th, 1815, aged 88 years and 7 months."

At the southwest corner of the church is the grave of Rev. James Anderson, the first pastor, who died Sept. 22, 1793, aged fifty-four years. When the alteration was made to the church, in 1846, this stone was temporarily removed, and in doing so was broken in the middle. Rev. Mr. Anderson was beloved by his congregation, and the stone informs us, -

The stone which marks the resting-place of one who by his name should be a Presbyterian informs us that it was placed there

Of Jane Calvert, who had died the preceding year, aged sixty-six years, we are told, -

Presbyterian Church at Glen Riddle. - On Oct. 19, 1880, a Presbyterian Church, with twenty members, was organized at Glen Riddle, delegates being appointed for that purpose by the Presbytery of Chester. Rev. James W. Dale, D.D., of Media, preached on that occasion. In the year preceding, 1879, Samuel Riddle had begun the erection of a handsome brick church, laid in black cement, with yellow trimmings, the windows being of stained glass