Middletown Township.

and county topics, and it may be asserted that no tavern within the limits of Delaware County was better known than that in Middletown. In 1835, Hickman Myers became the landlord, and he, in 1839, gave place to George Russell, Jr. During the time that Russell was mine host of the Black Horse it was brought, if possible, into greater prominence, for here in November, 1845, a meeting was held "to take into consideration the propriety of removing the seat of justice to a more central position," and on the mooted point of selecting a proper location "the Black Horse, in Middletown," the highest elevation in the county, was strongly urged as the proper site of the local capital. Russell died in 1847, and the following year Martha Ann Russell, his widow, received license. In 1849, Malin Bishop kept the house and continued there until 1856, when Allen Chandler became the landlord, to be followed in 1858 by Samuel S. McCall. George W. Hill superseded McCall in 1864, and in 1866, when Mr. Lyons purchased the property, Hill transferred the license to Edgar C. Lyons. In 1867 the hotel was controlled by Lyons & Ford, Edgar C. Lyons having associated with him in the business James E. Ford, but in the latter part of the year 1870 Ford retired, since which time Edgar C. Lyons has been the landlord of the noted Black Horse Hotel.

The Pine-Apple. - In 1806, Philip Yarnall, who, the preceding year, had kept a tavern at Chester, was granted privilege to keep a public-house at Middletown Cross-Roads, at the locality known to the present generation as Lima. The frequenters of the Pine-Apple, for so the inn was called, were either of the belligerent element of society, or the whiskey vended there was unusually exhilarating, for the character of the debates and the arguments employed soon earned for the locality the name of Wrangletown, and so generally was it recognized by this appellation that the maps and charts of the day and for many years subsequently designated it under that title. The court the following year refused to continue the license, and, although application was frequently made to that end, the judges seemed fixed in their determination to discontinue a public-house in that neighborhood. With remarkable pertinacity, Joseph Yarnall urged his suit until 1816, when he was gratified by a favorable response, and annually thereafter he appears as a successful aspirant for the judicial favor until 1819, when William Spear, who seems to be met with a remonstrance whenever he presented a petition for license, became the landlord, and the following year the court withdrew absolutely its approval of the house. In 1836, Abel Lodge, who had purchased the real estate of the late Jacob Yarnall, states in his petition that there were about eight acres of land, adjoining properties of Samuel Jobson, David Cummings, and others, "in the neighborhood of Lima Post-Office (formerly Wrangletown), upon which property is erected a good house, with six rooms on the first floor, good stabling, and other conveniences well adapted for the accommodation of strangers and travelers," but the court rejected the application. Three years thereafter, in 1839, Lodge made another effort, but a lengthy remonstrance being presented protesting against the license it was refused. All endeavors to locate an inn at Lima thereafter ceased.

Lima. - In 1806, Philip Yarnall obtained license to keep a tavern at the Middletown Cross-Roads, which house was known as "The Pine-Apple." The sale of whiskey at this place was extensive, an elderly gentleman stating that at this place, at night and on rainy days, a number of men from the neighborhood would gather, and, as whiskey was cheap, there would soon be a noisy crowd, usually ending in a broil. The men, seated round a table with a dirty pack of cards, would sing a song composed by a local jingler of rude verses, one of which, for it had a dozen or more stanzas, was:

Joseph Yarnall was then the landlord of the hotel, and the name Wrangletown was popularly applied to the locality because of the quarrels, disputations, and disputes which took place there at that time. In 1829, Dr. Richard Gregg built a store at the crossroads, and Nicholas Mendenhall established a lumberyard there. The lumber was bought in Columbia, Lancaster Co., rafted to Chester, and drawn thence by wagons. The store was first occupied by Nicholas Mendenhall & Caleb D. West. In 1832 a post-office had been there, known as Hamor's Store, and Caleb D. West was postmaster. Prior to 1836 the locality was known as Lima Post-Office. In 1833, Walter J. Hooker as a boy was employed as a clerk by Nicholas Mendenhall, and in the spring of that year Mendenhall sold the store to John Van Leer & Isaac Charnel. This firm failed in 1836, and on August 24th of that year Walker F. Hooper rented the store and began business there, continuing it until 1868, when he was succeeded by his son, Homer Hooper, who associated Azariah Barnes with him in the business, and in 1872, William M. Thomas succeeded them there, and in 1882, ------ Ogden, the present. In 1842, Miss Ann Jobson had a millinery-store at Lima, and in 1845 she was succeeded by Miss E. Butler.

Lima Temperance Hall Association. - In 1847 an association of persons favorable to the temperance or Washingtonian movement of that period was chartered, and in 1848 the organization purchased a lot at Lima and erected the two-story brick building known as Lima Temperance Hall. It was dedicated Dec. 25, 1848, by the Sons of Temperance. John F. Taylor, of Humane Division, made an address, as did also Mr. Paxson, of Philadelphia. The visitors on the day of the dedication of the hall were supplied with a sumptuous dinner, presented gratuitously by the