CONTEMPT AT THE CROSS-ROADS

A

"Grow old along with me,

The best is yet to be.”

BROWNING, Rabbi Ben Esra.

CROSS-ROADS in Goshen Township! that and little more, was West Chester

in the middle of the Eighteenth Century.

The township in which it lay was organized about 1704, and like several of its neighbors experienced difficulty in getting some of its boundary lines reduced to certainty.

In 1732, its inhabitants represented to his Majesty's Justices of the Court of Quarter Sessions, held at Chester, that in consequence of such uncertainty the township was "in great danger of being infested with profligate persons fleeing from neighboring provinces."

Eight years later, some settlers on a strip of land, "lying between the Townships of Caln, Bradford, Goshen and Whiteland," presented a similar petition, informing the Court that "profligate persons often settle

upon poor barren spots of land.”

Apparently Goshen apprehended danger only How many, if any, of

to its northern part. such undesirable characters wandered southward and located at or near the Cross-roads, the records of that time do not disclose. Doubtless, for the most part, they went to other sections of the county where more congenial companions could be found; but the early history of Goshen hardly justifies the pleasing delusion that none of these northern barbarians settled in it.

"Where was the Cross-roads," does some stranger ask?

At the point where Gay and High Streets now intersect. One road led eastwardly to Philadelphia and westwardly to Jefferis's Ford; the other led northwardly to the Great Valley and southwardly to Wilmington.

For an interesting description of the Crossroads, West Chester owes a debt of gratitude to Joseph Townsend:

"The first knowledge that I had of the ground on which West Chester stands," says he, "was about 1760. The northeasterly field at the Cross-roads between the Philadelphia and Great Valley roads was owned by Phineas Eachus; the northwesterly one, between

the Valley and Brandywine roads, by Daniel Hoopes; the ground southwesterly, between the Brandywine and Wilmington roads, had an orchard thereon and belonged to the estate of David Haines; the ground southeasterly was a lot laid off for a tavern or establishment on which was a small one-story wooden house with a small shed room attached

to the east part of

it, in which a tavern

was kept by the aforesaid Phineas Eachus.

DANIEL
HOOPES

TO G'T VALLEY

PHINEAS
EACHUS

the shed belonging to the tavern for the accommodation of horses, with open front, on the Wilmington road, reached nearly half the distance from the dwelling house yard to the road leading to Philadelphia; the remaining front on the road with the ground back of said dwelling was occupied for a garden.

"There was a small log building connected with the south end of the shed and tavern yard in which was a store for the retailing of merchandise.

"Some of the inhabitants of the neighbor

hood had obtained leave of Daniel Hoopes to erect a school-house in the corner of his field at the intersection of the roads leading to Brandywine and the Great Valley; the fence was removed, leaving an angular piece of ground for that purpose, sufficient for the building and space northwesterly of it for the children to play on.

"The house was built of logs, was filled in between with mortar, and furnished with a few tables and benches.

"The school-master was an Irishman by birth and lived in the stone house of David Haines." While the school-house was small and appli

ances

were few, Ralph Torrester conducted the school in such a manner that "many of the rising generation" of Townsend's day "received a plain and useful education."

In 1761, Phineas Eachus made application for a liquor license at his tavern and was refused. The

Thinchas Cachus next year he

renewed his

application, representing to the court that both roads (particularly the one leading to Wilmington) "were occupied by Travellers from Distant Parts and being destitute of

a Public House for Many Miles together is therefore Inconvenient for those who travel from Remote Parts and Burdensome to the Adjacent Inhabitants."

The argument proved effective and Phineas opened up his bar.

"He was a cooper by profession, as well as a tavern-keeper, and had the business carried on at a small log house that was built for the purpose about the same time that the schoolhouse was put up. It stood on the corner of the field at the intersection of the two roads leading to Philadelphia and the Great Valley; but in time he became

facts gleaned from dockets and records. John Eachus, his father, was the owner of two hundred and fifty acres of land in Goshen Township. In 1753, he deeded Phineas one hundred and fifty