Springfield Township.

but in 1685 it was purchased by Joseph Stidman, who died in 1694, and it subsequently passed into the ownership of George Lownes. South of this tract Elizabeth Stedman, on Oct. 16, 1682, took on rent fifty acres, which subsequently became the property of Joseph Stidman. Below this land, and extending nearly to the northern limit of the present village of Morton, John Stidham purchased one hundred and ten acres, and to the right of the latter plantation, Samuel Hall bought, on Feb. 23, 1702, ninety-nine acres, now part of the I. H. Odgen farm. All the remainder of the land in Springfield, including the village of Morton, the lower part of the Davidson, Edwards, and part of the Shipley farm, as shown on Hopkins' Atlas of 1870, was part of the two thousand two hundred patent to John Simcock, of Ridley.

Remarkable Freak of Lightning. - The following account of noticeable discharge of electric fluid in the form of lightning was abridged by Dr. Smith for the Pennsylvania Chronicle:

"At about seven o'clock in the morning of Nov. 3, 1768, Mr. Samuel Levis' house in Springfield was struck by lightning. The morning was showery, but no thunder was heard nor appearance of lightning seen, either before or after the shock, which produced the following effects: It appears first to have descended on the chimney, which it entirely leveled to the top of the house, dispersing the bricks to a considerable distance, with great part of the roof, fractured the gable end, a stone wall, into sundry pieces, and penetrated in veins or branches down to different parts of the house. In the closet of a lower room, a glass bottle with a pound and a half of gunpowder in it was broken and part of the powder thrown about, which did not take fire; a clock near the closet was overset and the weights found at fifteen feet distance from the place where it stood, and considerable damage was done to the furniture. In passing into the upper chamber by the stack of chimneys, a gun-barrel and some pieces of brass which were in a closet were melted in several places. A young woman (Margaret), a daughter of Mr. Levis, happened to be near the door of the closet, was struck down, and to all appearance, breathless for some time. The father, running immediately upstairs where the greatest signs of violence appeared, was the first who found his daughter in her melancholy situation, amid the ruins of the shattered wainscot and an exceedingly strong smell of sulphur. He carried her down-stairs in his arms, and upon examination there appeared signs of life. A doctor was immediately sent for, who in vain attempted to bleed her, there seeming almost a total stagnation, but being put to a warm bed she bled freely, and revived so as to be able to speak, to the inexpressible joy of her distracted parents, her whole family, and all her friends. In the evening she was able to walk up to her chamber. So instantaneous was the shock, and so sudden the deprivation of her senses that she could give no account of what happened to her at the juncture. When she regained her senses she complained of much pain, and of being sore, as she was very much scratched, the lightning passing from her head, and as it descended rent her clothes, even her garters into a number of pieces, then to her shoes, carrying away the upper leather, which was torn into fragments, and melting part of one of her silver shoe-buckles. In 1773 this lady became the wife of the late Thomas Garrett, of Upper Darby, and was the mother of the late Samuel Garrett, of the same township. A number of her descendants are still living."¹

The Revolutionary history of Springfield is meagre. Doubtless during the raids of the British troops in the winter of 1777-78 the inhabitants suffered from the foraging parties of the enemy; but little respecting that period of our history has been preserved. Maj. John Clark, Jr., in a letter written from Mr. Lewis', near Newtown Square, at four o'clock on the morning of Dec. 19, 1777, addressed to Washington, says, "I must again tell your Excellency that the country people carry in provisions constantly; a number went to-day. One of them caught my spy by the coat, and called him a 'damn'd Rebel' before the enemy's advanced sentries, but clapping spurs to his mare left him lying on the road, since which the villain was returning, and one of our horsemen took him, and he appealed to my spy if he did not know him to be well affected. His name is Edward Hughes, is a papist, and lives in Springfield. I hope an example will be made to deter others. If a troop of Horses was stationed in this quarter and patrole the roads, 'twould be of infinite service."² What ultimately became of Hughes does not appear.

The taxables in Springfield in 1715 were returned as follows:

Sam^l Levis, Bartholomew Coppock, Jun^r, Jonathan Coppock, John Marris, George Marris, Rich^d Marris, Barthow. Coppock, Sen^r, Wm. West, Isaac Taylor, Sen^r, Isaac Taylor, Jun^r, Samuel Hall, James Barrot, Thomas Poe, Thomas Taylor, George James, Rich^d Woodward, John Glere, George Lownes, Nicholas Smith, Thomas Kendall, Mordecai Maddock, William Miller.

Freemen. - John Worrall, William Birran.

In 1799 the taxables in the township were:

James Arnold (cordwainer), Sarah Allen (tavern-keeper), Caleb Bonsell, Richard Crozer, James Caldwell (blacksmith), John Crozer, John Cummings, Robert Crozer (weaver), Isaac Cochran (tavern-keeper), George Davis, James Edwards (carpenter), Abner Edwards, Edward Flounders, Edward Fell (pot-house, and half a saw-mill, cabinet-maker), Joseph Gibbons (tavern-keeper), Abraham Garrett, James Heacock, Benjamin Lobb (cordwainer), Curtiss Lownes (tilt- and blade-mill), Rebecca Levis, Thomas Leiper, Thomas Levis (saw-mill), John Levis (half a paper-mill), Thomas Levis, Jr. (half a paper-mill), Joseph Levis (malt-house), John Lewis (grist- and saw-mill), William Lane, George B. Lownes (stone-shop, cutter), Hugh Lownes, Jane Maris, Elizabeth Morris, John Ogden, Ann Pancoast, William Pennock, William Paist (half a saw-mill), David Rogers, Owen Rhoads, Charles Sankey (tailor and shop-keeper), Thomas Temple, Susanna Thomas, Joshua Thompson, Elisha Worrell, Joseph Worrell, Moses Wells, Matthew Wood, John Worrell.

Inmates. - John Caldwell, George Edwards, Robert McFarlan, William Paist, Jr., William Palmer (paper-maker), Davis Richards (carpenter), Philip Rudolph (paper-maker).

Single Freemen. - James Caldwell (blacksmith), David Caldwell, John Caldwell, George B. Lownes, Seth, Levis, Edward Levis (paper-maker), Charles Levis (tailor), William Marshall (potter), Joseph Parker (carpenter), Jonah Thompson, Joshua Thompson, Mordecai Thompson, Owen Thompson (carpenter), Mordecai Worrell.

Township Lines. - The original boundaries of Springfield did not include all the territory now within its boundaries. On Sept. 1,1837, a petition was presented to court praying for a change in the line between Springfield and Ridley townships. The old line began "at a stone, a corner of said township line, and a corner of lands of Geo. Warner and lands late of the estate of John Lowndes, dec'd, thence running by and near the spring-house and lands of Isaac Newlin, by the Bridge on the said township lines, by the lands and dwelling-house of Wm. Burns, and by the Springfield House to the line of Upper Darby township and cornerstone of the townships of Ridley