Ridley Township.

to sign the deed he could not convey a clear title to the land, and the Supreme Court finally decided that by law she could not be compelled to sign away her right of dower unless by her own free will and consent. On May 26, 1871, Lindley Smith, Samuel M. Felton, Isaac Hinckle, and William Sellers entered into a copartnership under the title of the Ridley Park Association. Plans for the new town of Ridley Park were prepared by R. Morris Copeland, and work on the designed improvements began in July, 1871, and were continued under Copeland's supervision until his death, in 1873. He was succeeded by John Smith, who had been intimately connected with the enterprise almost from its inception, and who has been continued superintendent to the present time. The first train of passenger-cars passing over the new road was on Oct. 19, 1872, when a large number of gentlemen connected with the newspaper press of Philadelphia and Chester visited Ridley Park, but the road was not opened for public travel until late in November of that year. Much work had been done on the ground in grading and macadamizing across the roads, erecting a commodious hotel, and constructing a dam across Little Crum Creek, making a lake covering twenty acres, the water of which, at the outlet, forms a cascade, and over the rock of the dam-breast is built a rustic bridge, the whole forming a picturesque feature of great credit to the taste and skill of the landscape gardener. Until the last three years little effort was made to place the land at Ridley Park in the market, due to the stagnation in real estate following the panic of 1873. Notwithstanding this, the healthfulness of the locality, its freedom from malaria, proximity to Philadelphia, and the liberal plan pursued by the association, commended the park to the public, and the result was a number of handsome houses have been erected, and are generally occupied by their owners. In 1880 the census return gave the population of Ridley Park at four hundred and thirty-nine. Samuel M. Felton was president of the association from its inception until April, 1884, when he resigned, and H. F. Kenny, general superintendent of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad, was elected in his stead.

Baptist Church of Ridley Park. - Meetings of Baptists were held in this and adjoining townships as early as 1825, but no organization was perfected until 1832. Soon after that date William Trites donated a lot of land containing fifty-three perches, on the Lazaretto road, a short distance above the White Horse Tavern. It was conveyed by William Trites to William Trites, Daniel Trites, Thomas Jarman, Israel Belton, and John Stoope, trustees, for the use of Baptists only, and under the control of that religious denomination. On this lot a stone house was erected, which bears the date-stone, "Founded A.D. 1832." It was opened for worship April 19, 1834, and was used until the Baptist Church in Ridley Park was completed, in 1872, when the religious exercises were held at the latter place, and the old church building was altered for a Sunday-school chapel, and is now used as such.

On Dec. 11, 1837, the church purchased of William Trites, for one hundred dollars, one hundred and seventeen square perches of land for burial purposes, adjoining the old church-lot, with the right to dam a run near by for the space of twenty-four hours for baptismal purposes. Prior to this time that service had been performed in Darby Creek, on property now owned by Thomas T. Tasker. The burial-ground is still in use for interments. In 1872 three acres of land adjoining the burial-lot was purchased of Samuel Simes, and a part of the consideration paid was the right to dam the run. This tract, in 1879, was sold to the Prospect Park Association. The church was incorporated Oct. 13, 1840, as the "First Particular Baptist Church," with William Trites, Thomas Jarman, William G. Wood, Thomas Glascoe, William Ridgway, John D. Kelly, and John E. Smith as incorporators.

About the time that the Ridley Park Association commenced work on the improvements of what is now known as Ridley Park, the congregation of the Ridley Park Baptist Church, located on the Lazaretto road near Moore's Station, found that their church was becoming too small, and that a new building had become necessary. The newly-projected town of Ridley Park was chosen as the most central location, and a lot was selected on the, northwest corner of Ridley Avenue and Ward Street, near the railroad station. The Ridley Park Company gave the lot to the church as their donation, and on this site a handsome stone edifice, costing twenty-seven thousand dollars, was erected according to plans prepared by S. D. Button, architect, Philadelphia. The building contains a lecture-room, two class-rooms, and a large audience-room, seating comfortably over four hundred persons.

The corner-stone of the church was laid July 3, 1873, and the church was completed in the spring of 1874.

The pastors who have been in charge of the church are as follows: Revs. Robert Compton, John P. Hall, C. C. Parke, J. W. Gibbs, Mark R. Watkinson, Samuel Zigler, Mark R. Watkinson, Thomas G. Goodwin, G. R. Entreken, C. E. Harden, John R. Downes, and the Rev. Charles M. Dietz, who assumed charge Feb. 1, 1880, and is the present incumbent. Of these pastors, the Revs. Mark R. Watkinson and Samuel Zigler were ordained in this church. The membership of the First Particular Baptist Church at present is one hundred and fifty, and attached to the church is a Sunday-school of one hundred pupils, of which B. F. Measy is superintendent.

Ridley Park Presbyterian Church. - The first attempt to establish a Presbyterian Church at Ridley Park began in 1873, when the Rev. Mr. Ewing, then of the Ridley Presbyterian Church, preached in the depot