Middletown Township.
Assistant Superintendents. - I. N. Kerlin, M.D., 1857-64; Mrs. Louisa P. Ross, 1864-66; Rockwood Brigham, 1865-67; Henry W. Blake, 1867-69; Henry M. Lyon, M.D., 1871-72; Edgar P. Jefferis, 1872-75; Daniel W. Jefferis, M.D., 1878-80; William B. Fish, 1881-84; D. W. Wilmott, 1884.
Alfred L. Elwyn, M.D., was born July 9, 1804, in Portsmouth, N. H., where he attended school under the noted Deacon Tappan. In 1816 he became a pupil of Phillips Exeter Academy, and there remained three years. In 1819 he entered Harvard University, from which he graduated in 1823, after which he read medicine in Boston, under the celebrated Dr. Gorham. He went to England and Edinburgh in October, 1826, and returned to London in April, 1827. He then passed one year in Paris, and in the summer of 1829 returned to America, having, during his sojourn abroad, visited his father's relatives in England, and kept up a continuous course of study. In 1831 he graduated at the University of Pennsylvania, and received his diploma as M.D. He was married Jan. 31, 1832, to Mary Middleton, daughter of Dr. James Mease, and granddaughter of Hon. Pierce Butler, of South Carolina, by whom he had one living child, Rev. Alfred Elwyn. His daughter, Mary Middleton Elwyn, married Dr. S. Weir Mitchell, of Philadelphia, and died in 1862, leaving two sons, both of whom are living. In 1845, Dr. Elwyn, who made Philadelphia his residence, but did not practice his profession, purchased property in East Bradford township, Chester Co., Pa., where he resided during the summer months. He was one of the founders of the State Agricultural Society, in 1850, and largely identified with its progress, as also with that of the Farmers' High School. He was connected with the establishment of the Institution for the Blind of Philadelphia, and was one of the originators of the Training-School for Feeble-Minded Children, located at Elwyn, Delaware Co., and fostered and built by the State of Pennsylvania. He ever manifested the warmest interest in philanthropic institutions, and aided in the creation of many of them. He was before his death the oldest living member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He also belonged to the Academy of Natural Sciences, and was for some years a director of Girard College. He was also vice-president of the Historical Society, and a member of the Philosophical Society. Dr. Elwyn served as president of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and was president of the Old Agricultural Society of Philadelphia. He was one of the Philadelphia board of three for licensing taverns under a special act of the Legislature, in which he acquitted himself with honor, and to the credit of the city. His farm in East Bradford originally belonged to Philip Price, and on this land was used, in 1846, the first guano introduced into Chester County. Dr. Elwyn gave much attention to the natural sciences, philosophical inquiry, and political economy, and contributed largely to the press, reviews, and magazines with his able pen. His varied learning and versatile genius made him one of the most pointed and incisive of our educated men. The death of Dr. Elwyn occurred March 15, 1884.
Licensed Houses. - The first record respecting licenses in Middletown which I have seen is the petition of Charles Crosley, Feb. 27, 1727, which states that living by the great road from Concord to Philadelphia, he desires the privilege of keeping a public-house. His application was indorsed by William Pennell and eleven other signers. He was allowed license until August following, but it was continued annually to him until 1749, and in 1752 John Crosley, probably his son, received license for a public house of entertainment in Middletown.
Jonathan Hunter, May 25, 1731, made application for the privilege to keep a house of entertainment in Middletown, on the "Great road from Chester and the Valley, and no publick house on said road." His petition met with the approval of the court, and the license was continued until his death, for Aug. 23, 1733, William Hill, in his application, sets forth that he "hath taken to ffarm the house with the appurtenances, late of Jonathan Hunter, dec'd, in the township of Middletown, where a house of Entertainment hath been for some Considerable time and now is kept." There Hill continued until his death, for in 1748 license was granted to his widow, Mary, who having been married to James Bennett, in 1749, the license was taken out in his name. In 1750, Joseph Talboth (Talbot) states in his petition that Mary, the widow of William Hill, "entended to decline at the expiration of the license," and asked that it be continued to him, which was done. He kept the house until 1761, when license was granted to James Massey for the years 1761 and 1762, and during 1763 the license was taken out by either Thomas Caldwell or Joshua Bean, who received approval that year. In 1764, John Hill, in all probabilities a son of the former owner, obtained license and continued in the business until 1778, when Bartholomew Sutton became the landlord. John Pitt had the right to sell liquor at this house in 1783, where he continued until 1786, when it ceased to be a public inn.
In 1731, the same year that Jonathan Hunter first obtained license in the township, William Surman made application for leave to sell "Beer & Cyder." He had lived, he stated, "for several years in Middletown, and for the most of the time followed making Malt or brewing of Beer." Although he was strongly recommended by the signers, his petition bears the indorsement "not granted."
William Trego, of Middletown, presented his petition, dated Aug. 28, 1733, in which he declared that "having but a small piece of land, he wants to sell beer and cider by small measure." His application seems to have been granted, or held under consideration, for on November 27th of the same year "a pe-