The crimes, follies, and misfortunes of Chester County- the arsons of the 1840's

In previous posts I have said history is something of an unsolvable mystery, and Father Time is a shadowy figure, here and then gone, always a step ahead of those who seek to solve his riddles. Unfortunately, this view seems particularly suited to the series of arsons that occurred in West Chester from August 1844 to September 1845. 

According to the book West Chester to 1865: That Elegant and Notorious Place, the first in a series of suspicious fires in the borough occurred on August 8th, 1844, when the barn of Mr. Anthony Bolmar was set ablaze. A $100 reward was offered for the arrest and conviction of the arsonist. An arrest was never made. 

The winter of 1844-1845 passed quietly, with no suspicious fires occurring in the borough. Then, on the night of Monday June 2 1845, the barn of the Black Bear Tavern was set ablaze. The Tavern was located in the center of town, and embers from the fire whirled eerily through the night sky onto the rooftops of nearby buildings, including the county courthouse and the county records building. Miraculously, firemen were able to contain the blaze, and the borough was spared a major disaster. However, residents were sufficiently spooked by the incident that on July 3rd, a town watch was established in response to "numerous attempts at incendiarism."

Unfortunately, the arsonist was undeterred- on the night of Sunday, August 31st, Enos Smedley's barn on West Gay Street was set on fire. The following Wednesday the borough burgesses posted a reward of $200 dollars for the person whose tip led to the arrest and conviction of the firebug.No arrest was made, and on September 11th, the stables of the Washington House Hotel, located in the most densely populated part of the borough, were set ablaze. Once again, the fire was contained, and the town dodged a bullet. No one was certain this was a case of arson, but the circumstances of the fire were suspicious, and the incident further frayed the nerves of already anxious borough residents.

The situation was by now reaching a fever pitch, but just when it seemed the residents could take no more, the arsons suddenly stopped. Though many were relieved the ordeal seemed to be over, an arrest was never made in the case, and there was no sense of closure for the residents. The identity of the arsonist remained  a mystery.   

While the identity of the arsonist will never be known, modern psychology and criminology allow us to make some educated guesses about the type of person who committed the crimes. According to psychologists, arsonists typically have a low IQ (between 70 and 90), and report feelings of intense anger. They turn to arson because they are unable to express their anger through appropriate channels. Many of them claim they had neglectful parents, who physically abused and humiliated them.

FBI statistics indicate that half of all arsonists are under the age of 18. Many of the remaining half are in their late 20's. Older arsonists are often motivated by profit (i.e., insurance money or putting a competitor out of business). 90% of arsonists are white males. Like the firebug of the 1840's, many of them are never caught.

The crimes, follies, and misfortunes of Chester County- the John Reed murder trials

The John Reed murder trials, which took place in 1821, offer clear support for Gibbon's wry assessment that "History..., is indeed, little more than a register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind." But not for the reasons you may think.

John Reed, an African American, had been a slave in Maryland before he came to live in Kennet Square. According to Reed, he was freed from slavery by the will of his master, and he came to Chester County around 1817 to start a new life as a free man.

On the night of December 14th, 1820, a group of men arrived at Reed's home. One of the men, Samuel G. Griffith, claimed that Reed was a runaway slave, and that Reed was his property. Reed was asked to come outside. He refused, and the men tried to force their way into his house. Reed shot Griffith as he tried to enter, and bludgeoned another man, Peter Shipley, with a club. Both men eventually died from their wounds. They had in their possession handcuffs and a length of rope.

Reed was arrested and put on trial for two counts of murder. He was acquitted in the murder of Griffith, but found guilty for the manslaughter of Peter Shipley. As punishment, Reed was sentenced to spend nine years in the Penitentiary house of Philadelphia.

Though Reed was convicted of manslaughter, the real crime in this case was slavery, the folly was putting a man on trial because he used force to protect his life and liberty, and though two men lost their lives as a result of what transpired the night of December 14th, 1820, one could argue they got what they deserved, and the real misfortune was Reed's, who ended up losing his freedom because he fought to keep it.

Father Time- The crimes, follies, and misfortunes of Chester County

The great historian Edward Gibbon once noted that "History...is, indeed, little more than a register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind." Though cynical, Gibbon's observation contains a certain kind of beauty, for the simple but all important reason that it rings true. Indeed, what would history be without the wars, the scandals, and all the unwisdom that pervades human affairs? It would be a scant tale, a short story of dull, vanilla flavored fiction, rather than the long, rambling, and scandalous record of a species too clever by half.

Though as my comments indicate, studying history has made me a bit of a cynic, to me the subject is still worth learning, not for the cliche reason that "those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it", but for the simple reason that the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind often make for a great read. You don't believe me? Read about the lives of the Roman Emperors, or the twisted tale of Henry the VIII. I guarantee you, the history is stranger than any fiction you could conjure up.

Of course, Roman rulers and English Kings didn't have a monopoly on human foibles and folly, and there has been no shortage of misbehavior right here in Chester County. Indeed, what could be more interesting than the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of the place we call home? Accordingly, I am going to go through some of the early scandals and court cases in Chester County and see what I can find. Some of the names may ring a bell, and reading about the disputes that needed to be settled would do much to illuminate the type of world early residents of the county were living in. 

Check back with you soon.

Father Time- Paleo-Indians update, and an unexpected find.

Let's begin with an update. I looked for the quartz outcrop (located northeast of the intersection of West Chester Pike and Delchester Road) the Paleo-Indians may have cut spearpoints from, but I didn't find anything. I am going to keep looking, and I will let you know if anything turns up.

My search for the soapstone quarry in Embreeville Center, which the Paleo-Indians apparently mined for bowl making material, was also unsuccessful. However, while I was there I did come across something interesting. The resting place of "Indian Hannah", described as the "Last of the Lenni Lenape in Chester County" is located on the grounds of Embreeville Center.

Hannah was born in 1730, and died in 1802. No doubt the Chester County she knew was a far cry from the one we know today. Indeed, during her lifetime, it was still common for bears to steal piglets from the pens of local farmers. I'm sure one of the problems facing residents today- the swelling deer population- would be one she wouldn't have minded having.

I am not learned enough to know if Hannah's Lenni Lenape tribe is directly related to the Paleo-Indians who first came to this area around 16,000 years ago. But it's interesting to think that despite the passage of so many years, the Chester County Hannah knew in her youth was largely as unspoiled a wilderness as the one encountered by her ice age predecessors. Of course, things would change quite a bit during her lifetime, and even more so in the comparatively few years that have passed since her death.

I am disappointed that I didn't find the Paleo-Indian sites I was looking for, but I am glad to have discovered Hannah. In life you have to play the hand you are dealt, and take advantage of opportunities as they arise. I'm sure that's something the Paleo-Indians and the Lenni Lenape understood very well. Somethings never change.

Father Time- in the footsteps of the Paleo-Indians

If you are like me, you sometimes think about the distant past. For example, I occasionally wonder, what was the world like in prehistoric times? How did people live thousands of years ago? What kind of world did they inhabit?

Of course, those questions can never be fully answered. In our minds, the past will always remain elusive - a product not only of what we know, but what we cannot know, and which is properly considered the realm of conjecture rather than certainty. As a result, history is something of an unsolvable mystery, and Father Time will forever be a shadowy figure, here and then gone, always a step ahead of those who seek to solve his riddles.  

For me, the mystery of the past is deepened by familiarity; thus, I am usually more intrigued by things that happened in places I have been than I am by events that took place in a land I have never visited. Indeed, it seems as if being in a place breeds an even greater fascination with its past, or to state this more abstractly, there is something about being in a space that serves to deepen the mysteries of time.

Which brings me, in a roundabout way, to the Paleo-Indians who inhabited Chester County. I have always been interested in what they were like, and what this region was like when they inhabited it. To this end, I have been trying to locate some of the places they frequented in the area. According to the book West Chester to 1865: That Elegant and Notorious Place, the Paleo-Indians used to mine a couple of locations in Chester and Delaware counties for materials to build stone tools. For example, they may have made spearpoints out of a quartz outcrop located northeast of where West Chester Pike intersects Delchester Road, and they seem to have mined a soapstone quarry located in Embreeville Center for the purpose of creating bowls.

I am going to try and visit these locations this week and report back on what I find. Hopefully, I can get some pictures of the stone formations and post them for you to see.

Why is it so windy today?

Click here to see a short video clip from Accuweather on why today will be so windy.  

Mother Nature: A portrait of the painted turtle.

It seems as if spring has finally sprung. The dreary, drab grays and browns of winter have been replaced by the lush greens of spring in Pennsylvania. With life once again teeming around us, what better time to examine some of the wildlife Mother Nature has to offer in Chester County.

In this installment, let's examine one of the reptiles commonly found in this area, the painted turtle. I happened across the one seen in the photo when I went to get some sun at Broad Run Park. It was lying by the edge of a pond when I rudely interrupted its lazy bask and it had to scramble for the water.

The painted turtle, or Chrysemys picta, can actually be divided into a number of subspecies. Two of these subspecies, the eastern painted turtle and the midland painted turtle, are commonly found in Pennsylvania.

As their names suggest, the eastern painted turtle originally inhabited the eastern half of Pennsylvania, and its midland counter part was largely confined to the interior of the state. In recent years, however, the range of the midland painted turtle has expanded eastward. Where the ranges of the two subspecies now overlap, they frequently interbreed, and most of the painted turtles found in eastern Pennsylvania (including Chester County) are an intergrade of the two subspecies.

Painted turtles can be distinguished from the other turtles that inhabit Pennsylvania by their distinctive set of colorful markings. For example, their heads are marked by a myriad of stripes, which are typically yellow in younger animals and red and yellow in a mature adult.

This species displays sexual dimorphism, with females typically growing larger than males. The largest painted turtles can reach a length of around 10 inches.

Painted turtles typically prefer ponds and still water to fast moving rivers or streams. They are omnivorous, and eat amphibians, insects, duckweed and filamentous algae.