Chapter One: A Gentleman’s Farm, 1771 to 1835

1771 to 1794: The Creation of the Farm, the Opening of Market Street and the Significance of Philadelphia’s Yellow Fever Epidemic

Blockley Township Roads in 1777

Blockley Township Roads in 1777

Featuring property owned by Harrison, the future site of the Institute of Pennsylvania Hospital.

University Archives | University of Pennsylvania

It was a prosperous Quaker tailor (and radical social reformer) who consolidated the land.  Beginning in October 1771, Thomas Harrison1 made three purchases2 in less than six months.  By April 1772 he had assembled a ninety-acre estate on the south side of "the road leading from Philadelphia to Haverford."  Harrison improved the place by building a house and barn and by planting orchards.  In February 1776 he advertised his country farm for rent:3

Philadelphia, Strawberry-alley, Feb. 26, 1776.

To Be Rented, and entered on the twenty-fifth of March next, a Plantation in the township of Blockley, three miles and a half from the court-house, containing ninety acres, about seventy whereof are cleared, about twelve acres of meadow, and much more may be made, a Stone House two story high, an excellent spring house two story high, a large stone barn, with stalls for eighteen head of cattle, a garden containing about an acre of ground, all well paled in, and a young orchard of about five hundred trees of choice fruit.  The subscriber will treat with any person that can produce a good character for industry, sobriety, and ability, and none other need apply.

Thomas Harrison

N.B.  A German would be preferred.

It is not known if Harrison found an industrious, sober, and able German renter for his farm, but there is additional evidence that Harrison understood the value of the place.  Three years later, in the midst of the Revolutionary War, Harrison increased the size of his estate to 112 acres by making one more purchase of contiguous land.4 His property now extended from modern-day 42nd Street on the east to modern-day 49th Street on the west and from Haverford Avenue on the north to Marshall’s Road on the south (this irregularly-aligned road was located south of modern-day Market Street).  In the decades immediately preceding and following the Revolutionary War, Thomas Harrison was among the elite Philadelphians who bought up land along the Schuylkill River and deep into modern-day West Philadelphia and created gentlemen’s farms, country showplaces of wealth and fashionable taste.  His was perhaps somewhat more "plain" than some of the other estates, but Harrison’s successors would see to it that the place became every bit as "fancy" as any other gentleman’s farm.

In Harrison’s time the City of Philadelphia extended only from Vine Street on the north to South Street on the south, from the Delaware River on the east to the Schuylkill River on the west.  In the City William Penn’s grid pattern of streets was the rule, but in the remainder of the County of Philadelphia, the roads were few and haphazard and did not serve the rural residents well.  In the latter part of the year 1787 a number of local residents – "diverse Landholders and Inhabitants of the Township of Blockley" – petitioned the Court of Quarter Sessions for Philadelphia County to open a new and perfectly straight road from the west bank of the Schuylkill River to the county limits.5 The Court appointed six men to survey the land and to issue a recommendation.  In February 1788 this group submitted a report saying6 that it was

absolutely necessary (on account of the Trade from the Western Country and likewise in all probability to render useless a great part of Marshall’s and Haverford Roads) that a road should be laid out from the City of Philadelphia to the Chester County line, beginning at the West end of High Street  …  thence [along] the exact course of Market or High Street  …  nine hundred and ninety-six perches to Cobb’s Creek, the Line separating Philadelphia and Chester Counties, to the road [already] laid out through Chester County  …  which road we conceive will be of great utility, as being a strait Road through the County  …

In June 1788 the Court ordered "the Supervisors of the Highways" of Blockley Township to open the road,7 but two years later, in September 1790, two petitions originating in Chester County complained that the Blockley Township officials had failed to complete "about one mile and an half" of the road.8 The Court issued a second order and threatened a legal proceeding if the Blockley Township Supervisors did not comply.  The road was promptly completed.9 Sometimes called the West Chester Road and sometimes called the Lancaster Road, this 1790 thoroughfare is the modern-day Market Street.  It has – and continues – to serve Philadelphians very well.  The new road did, however, run directly through the southern side of Harrison’s farm, effectively cutting off a little more than ten acres from the house, barn, orchards, and remainder of the property.  This would eventually lead Harrison’s successors to sell off that portion of the estate.

In the late summer of 1793, Philadelphia was struck by a deadly epidemic of historic proportions.10 It was called "yellow fever" and physicians were powerless to treat it.  Most of those infected with the disease soon died of it.  The yellow fever did not extend, however, much beyond the city.  As a direct result, Philadelphians who could afford to do so fled to the country in large numbers.  Thomas Harrison was no exception.  He left the city in mid or late September.11

Then, with the first hard frost, the yellow fever subsided.  By November people began to return to Philadelphia.  Work and the regular rhythms of life resumed, but the yellow fever epidemic had caused a huge increase in the value of real estate in the rural townships of Philadelphia County.  Harrison’s estate was suddenly worth much more than he had paid for it, probably much more than his total investment in land and improvements.

1794 to 1806: The Great Brick House of Matthew McConnell

In February 1794, Thomas Harrison sold his entire property, all 112 acres, to Matthew McConnell,12 a Philadelphia merchant and stockbroker.13  Now McConnell had his own country place should he need refuge from yellow fever in the future.  It was a wise decision on his part, as yellow fever visited Philadelphia again in 1794 and then several more times in the late 1790s and the first decade of the 1800s.

Harrison and McConnell, however, acted in haste.  Harrison’s wife, Sarah, was a part owner of the estate, but she was in England, where she stayed several years.14 She did not sign the deed and therefore did not convey her property rights to McConnell.15 McConnell, knowing that his deed was defective, did not record it in the Philadelphia deed books.  He nevertheless occupied the estate; built a great brick mansion on it; and in January 1796 was successful in mortgaging the house and land to the Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania.16 Legal title to the land was thereby compromised and more than a decade would pass before the problem was remedied.

McConnell, despite his flawed deed, invested in the estate like he enjoyed clear title to it.  He built – apparently the same year he bought the place – the magnificent brick mansion which still stands today.17  In 1798, when the Federal government levied a direct tax on land and improvements, the following information was recorded:18

Matthew McConnell, owner, and occupant,
111 acres and several buildings:

55’ x 33’ – two story, brick house
14’ x 16’ – one story, stone wash house
10’ x 12’ – one story, brick spring house
20’ x 14’ – one story, frame carriage house, cart house, & corn crib

18’ x 16’ – two story, stone house ("The Tenant")

40’ x 24’ – stone barn
40’ x 18’ – frame hay shed

The 1798 Direct Tax also documented a second Blockley Township estate owned by Matthew McConnell:

Matthew McConnell, owner, and William McConnell, occupant,
108 acres and several buildings:

36’ x 18’ – two story, log and frame house
8’ x 10’ – one story, spring house

40’ x 12’ – log barn and stables

McConnell had purchased this second property in March 1795.19  It was located about three miles farther west on the Haverford Road.  It straddled Cobb’s Creek and extended across the boundary of Philadelphia County into Delaware County.  McConnell did not improve this property, but apparently rented it to a relative, one William McConnell.  Though both estates appear on the tax list as the property of Matthew McConnell, they should not be confused with one another.

McConnell seemed to have the pretensions of a gentleman farmer – he named his twin estates "Mill Creek Farm" and "Cobb’s Creek Farm" – but his enjoyment of elite status did not last long.  In the summer of 1798 his creditors sued him for debt totaling $30,696.46 and won their case in court.20 A court order dated 29 December 1798 forced a sale of all his property21 and in March 1799 the following advertisement was printed in the Philadelphia newspapers:22

Sheriff’s Sale.

Philadelphia, March 12, 1799

By virtue of a writ of venditioni exponas to me directed, will be sold at the merchant’s coffee house, on Wednesday, the 27th of March inst. at 6 o’clock in the evening, all that messuage or tenement and two several tracts or parcels of land, both of them situate, lying and being in Blockley township, on the west side of the river Schuylkill, in the county of Philadelphia; one of them above three miles and a half from the city, called mill creek farm, bounded by lands by the Haverford road and lands of George Ogden, Richard Crean, Sarah Robinson and Joseph Cochran, the new Lancaster road23 running through part thereof; containing 112 acres, 25 perches be the same more or less – and the other of them, called Cobb’s creek farm, situate on the Haverford road aforesaid, about 424 miles from the said city; bounded by Mill creek and Indian creek and by lands of John Seller, John Thomas, James Jones, Conrad Hoover, Jonas Suple, Adam Roads and others; containing 109 acres and a half, be the same more or less.

Seized and taken in execution as the property of Matthew McConnell, and sold by Jonathan Penrose, Sheriff. 

On Mill Creek Farms are two25 brick dwelling houses, 57 feet front by 37 feet deep; two stories of 12 feet high each, four rooms on a floor, fire places in each room, and four convenient chambers in the garret, a hall 10 feet wide, a remarkably dry and commodious cellar, divided into sundry apartments, pantry, kitchen 20 feet square, &c. with bake ovens and other conveniences, a stone farm house and barn, with good stabling and carriage house; a pump of excellent water at the kitchen door; a never failing spring over which there is a milk house, wash and smoke house; two large Gardens, in high order and containing a variety of the best fruit; two apple orchards in their prime, containing upwards of 700 trees.  The soil is good, and produces remarkably well, and a large quantity now under clover.  About 7 acres of meadow, adjoining a creek which runs through the place, and on which there is a site for water works.  The situation High and remarkably healthy.

Cobb’s Creek Farm is well situated for being divided into two plantations, both with respect to a sufficient supply of timber and water.  On the lower part, adjoining the creek, and towards the West-Chester road are convenient buildings for a farmer: an orchard, 7 acres of meadow, and an excellent spring.  On the upper part, adjoining the Haverford road, is a fine situation for building, with a view of the city, and a good spring of water.

March 19         23-27

At the Sheriff’s Sale, Thomas McEuen, a Philadelphia stock broker,26 purchased both estates in a single transaction.27 McEuen was one of McConnell’s creditors, along with Thomas Hale and William Davidson.  They had sued him and won judgment against him in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.28 This is what forced the Sheriff’s Sale.  McEuen paid $14,604.93 for the two properties (less than half the outstanding debt!).29 He then sub-divided Mill Creek Farm – offering for sale 103 acres, 67 perches on the north side of the West Chester Road / Market Street thoroughfare and retaining 10 acres, 139 perches on the south side of the new road – and in July 1799 sold the land north of West Chester Road / Market Street to William Parkinson.30 Parkinson, described in the deed as a "Gent.," living in "the Township of Blockley," seems to be an obscure historical figure.  In any case, he was dead by May 1804, when Mill Creek Farm was again being advertised for sale:31

FOR SALE

THAT elegant commodious mansion house on Mill Creek Farm, late the residence of William Parkinson, Esq., deceased, together with out-houses and plantation containing One Hundred and Twelve Acres or thereabouts, situate between Haverford and West-Chester roads, within half a mile of the Turnpike, and one and a quarter mile of Schuylkill Bridge.
The mansion house is 52 by 38 feet, with four rooms on each floor, piazza full length on south side and portico in front.  Garden well stocked with asparagus, strawberries, currants, raspberries, gooseberries, ornamental evergreens, &c.
Out buildings, consisting of tenants, wash, spring, and coach houses, stone barn, very commodious frame stable nearly new, sheds, &c.
There are on the plantation three orchards, containing about 530 full bearing apple trees, peach, plumb, and cherry trees, chiefly of the best kinds, several fields in grain and fit for tilling.
Abundant pasture ground and a good portion of woodland, the situation for salubrity of air and convenience to the city, exceeded by few if any in its vicinity. – Further description being deemed unnecessary, as no person will purchase without viewing the premises.  Such may learn the terms by applying to the subscriber, who will give an indisputable title.

Wm. Buckley.
January 2.

Despite the advertising, Mill Creek Farm did not sell.  Perhaps this was due to an inability to "give an indisputable title."  In any case, the 1796 mortgage was still not paid and this time it was the Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania who sued and won judgment.32  A court order was issued on 8 March 1806 and in May the following advertisement was printed in the Philadelphia newspapers:33

SHERIFF’S SALE

Philadelphia, April 30, 1806

By virtue of a Writ of Levari Facias, to me
directed, will be sold at public vendue,

ON TUESDAY

The 20th day of May next, at 7 o’clock in the
evening, at the Merchants’ Coffee House.

ALL that certain messuage and tenement, and six contiguous tracts or pieces of land and meadow ground, situate, lying and being in the township of Blockley, in the County of Philadelphia, one of them beginning  …  [here follows a metes and bounds description of the six parcels of land consolidated by Thomas Harrison in the 1770s]  …  Which said 6 tracts contain all together one hundred and twelve acres and twenty-five perches: -- (it being the same premises which Thomas Harrison and wife, by indenture, dated the 11th day of February, 1794, granted unto the said Matthew M’Connell, in fee) together with the hereditaments and appurtenances.  Seized and taken in execution and sold by

JOHN BARKER, Sheriff

May 7

At the Sheriff’s Sale on 20 May 1806, Paul Busti34 purchased, for $14,500.00, the entire Mill Creek Farm property of 112 acres and 25 perches.35 The mortgage was finally paid36 and Busti took additional steps to secure his title to the land.  Recognizing that the sale from Thomas Harrison to Matthew McConnell was defective and the deed never recorded, Busti obtained, in December 1806, a deed of release from Thomas and Sarah Harrison.37 Recognizing also that Thomas McEuen had withheld 10 acres and 139 perches from his sale to William Parkinson, Busti obtained, in February 1808, a deed of release from McEuen.38 It took nearly two years and a total of three transactions, but Paul Busti finally re-consolidated the title to the land that Thomas Harrison had originally assembled.

1806 to 1835: Paul Busti and John Buckman; Busti’s "Blockley Retreat" and Buckman’s woolen factory, "Good Intent"

Busti gave his farm a new name – Blockley Retreat – and under his direction the place became known as one of the finest country estates in the entire Philadelphia region.  His success, however, did not lead him to expand his holdings.  In fact, he sold the land south of the West Chester Road / Market Street in January 1811 for just $1,000.00.39 Busti concentrated his work on that part of the estate east of Mill Creek, that is, between modern-day 42nd Street on the east and modern-day 46th Street on the west.

Paul Busti died in 1824 and in May 1825 the executor of his estate sold Blockley Retreat – that is, the remaining 103 acres and 67 perches – for $20,000 to John Buckman,"40 of the City of Philadelphia, Gentleman."41 Buckman seems to have had two Philadelphia businesses, both apparently quite successful.  He is found first in Philadelphia newspapers as a flour merchant, transporting large quantities of his commodity from the Appoquinimink Creek region of New Castle County, Delaware.42 In November 1813 he advertised his business in Poulson’s American Daily Advertiser as follows:43

200 Barrels
WHITE WHEAT FLOUR

The subscriber has on hand and intends keeping a constant supply of Flour from WHITE WHEAT, and made particularly nice.  Private families, Bakers, Confectioners, and Muffin bakers, will find it to their advantage to make a trial of it, as it is said to be equal if not superior to the noted Morrisville flour.

JOHN BUCKMAN
No. 270 Market street
nov 6

Then, in January 1819, he entered into the "stock and exchange business," in partnership with Alexander Benson:44

EXCHANGE OFFICE

John Buckman & Alexander Benson, having entered into partnership in the

Stock & Exchange Business,

Offer their services to the public under the firm of

Buckman & Benson
No. 2 South Third street
Jan 8

The Philadelphia city directories described John Buckman as a merchant and banker until the year 1825, when he was first listed as "gentleman."  This suggests that he sold his share in the twin businesses about 1824 and turned his attention to the retired life.  The Busti estate beckoned and he bought it, but his interest in making money was not at an end.  Instead of tending to the gardens and orchards, it seems clear that he took an entrepreneurial interest in the industrial opportunities offered by Mill Creek.

Mill Creek was a major tributary of the Schuylkill River.  Its headwaters were out near the Philadelphia county line and it wound its way through Blockley Township to the Schuylkill at the modern-day Woodlands Cemetery.  It cut directly through the Buckman estate, flowing south from a point at the modern-day intersection of Haverford Avenue and 46th Street to the modern-day intersection of the West Chester Road / Market Street and 46th Street.  Buckman no doubt studied the volume of water passing through his property and determined that it was sufficient to power a major new mill.  With ample capital at his disposal, he wasted no time in putting his idea into action.  In March 1826, just ten months after he acquired the Busti estate, Buckman purchased half an acre of unimproved land on the south side of the West Chester Road at the intersection of Mill Creek.45 There he built a new mill or "factory."  He powered his mill by building a ninety-foot dam across Mill Creek and diverting its water into a twelve-foot-wide mill race, which ran parallel to the Creek for approximately 1,100 feet and into a "forebay," thirty feet wide by sixty feet long.46 The water then passed under the West Chester Road / Market Street and through the waterwheels in the mill building.   In March 1834, Buckman purchased an additional fifty-one perches (approximately one-third an acre) on Mill Creek "to have full privileges of opening said Mill Creek for the purpose of a tail race from the said John Buckman’s Mill."47 Immediately after purchasing the land for a "tail race," Buckman leased "all that woolen factory called ‘Good Intent’ and the land thereunto belonging" to Edward Wrigley, a Philadelphia merchant.48 Two years later, in June 1836, Buckman sold the mill property to Wrigley for $6,500.49

After ten years in Blockley Township, John Buckman decided to move elsewhere.  His reasons are not known, but he left Philadelphia altogether.  In April 1835 he paid for a survey of his estate, which determined that it measured "one hundred and one acres, more or less" and a month later he sold the property for $23,000 to Matthew Arrison,"50 of the City of Philadelphia, Gentleman."51 As described above, Buckman retained ownership of his woolen mill, "Good Intent," for another year before selling it also.  By that time, June 1836, he was a resident of Burlington, New Jersey.  It seems that John Buckman remained in Burlington for the rest of his life.52

• 1. Thomas Harrison (1741-1815) was born in Thurstonfield, Cumberland County, England and arrived in Philadelphia in 1763.  He married Sarah Richards in 1764, at the Philadelphia Monthly Meeting.  They became the parents of nine children, one of whom, John Harrison, became a prominent chemist and manufacturer in Philadelphia.  In the 1780s and 1790s Thomas Harrison was active in Philadelphia as an advocate for the abolition of slavery and prison reform.  As early as 1787 he was a member of the "Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery" and in 1789 he was one of the incorporators of the Society.  For additional information, see William Welsh Harrison, Harrison Waples and Allied Families (Philadelphia: Printed for Private Circulation Only, 1910), at pages 9-14.
• 2. a) 31 October 1771.  Richard Mason, and Elizabeth, his wife, to Thomas Harrison, "taylor."  Two parcels of land "and meadow ground."  The first measuring 26 acres, 103 perches (26.64 acres).  The second measuring 3 acres, 20 perches (3.125 acres).  £208, 7s, and 7d.  Recorded in Philadelphia Deed Book D.24.235.

  b) 10 February 1772.  Joseph George, and Ann, his wife, to Thomas Harrison, "taylor."  15 acres.  £140.  Recorded in Philadelphia Deed Book D.24.233.

  c) 14 April 1772.  David Rose, and Abigail, his wife, to Thomas Harrison, "taylor."  Two parcels of land.  The first measuring 40 acres, 145 perches (40.91 acres).  The second measuring 4 acres, 129 perches (4.81 acres).  £410.  Recorded in Philadelphia Deed Book D.24.230.

• 3. Transcribed from the Pennsylvania Evening Post for 27 February 1776 (Vol. 2, Issue 172), at page 102.
• 4. 30 January 1779.  Edward Shippen, Jr., and Margaret, his wife, to Thomas Harrison, "taylor."  21 acres, 108 perches (21.675 acres).  £1,080.  Recorded in Philadelphia Deed Book D.28.242.
• 5. Recorded in the Road Dockets of the Court of Quarter Sessions for Philadelphia County at Road Docket, Vol. 4 (1772-1795), pages 201-02 (December Sessions, 1787).  The Road Dockets may be found in Record Group 21, "Clerk of Quarter Sessions Court," at the Philadelphia City Archives.
• 6. Recorded in the Road Dockets of the Court of Quarter Sessions for Philadelphia County at Road Docket, Vol. 4 (1772-1795), pages 204-06 (March Sessions, 1788).  The Road Dockets may be found in Record Group 21, "Clerk of Quarter Sessions Court," at the Philadelphia City Archives.
• 7. Recorded in the Road Dockets of the Court of Quarter Sessions for Philadelphia County at Road Docket, Vol. 4 (1772-1795), pages 209-10 (June Sessions, 1788).  The Road Dockets may be found in Record Group 21, "Clerk of Quarter Sessions Court," at the Philadelphia City Archives.
• 8. Recorded in the Road Dockets of the Court of Quarter Sessions for Philadelphia County at Road Docket, Vol. 4 (1772-1795), page 243 (September Sessions, 1790).  The Road Dockets may be found in Record Group 21, "Clerk of Quarter Sessions Court," at the Philadelphia City Archives.
• 9. Recorded in the Road Dockets of the Court of Quarter Sessions for Philadelphia County at Road Docket, Vol. 4 (1772-1795), pages 311-12 (June Sessions, 1794).  The Road Dockets may be found in Record Group 21, "Clerk of Quarter Sessions Court," at the Philadelphia City Archives.
• 10. See John Harvey Powell, Bring Out Your Dead: The Great Plague of Yellow Fever in Philadelphia in 1793, Reprint Edition with a New Introduction (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1993).
• 11. See William Welsh Harrison, Harrison Waples and Allied Families (Philadelphia: Printed for Private Circulation Only, 1910), at pages 9-14.
• 12. 11 February 1794.  Thomas Harrison to Matthew McConnell.  112 acres, 25 perches (112.16 acres).  Sale price not found.  The deed documenting this transaction has not been found (it was not recorded in the Office of the Recorder of Deeds, County of Philadelphia), but the information presented here is taken from the recital contained in a subsequent sale: 26 June 1806; John Barker, Sheriff of the City and County of Philadelphia, to Paul Busti; recorded in Philadelphia Deed Book EF.28.629.  See also 31 December 1806; Thomas Harrison, and Sarah, his wife, to Paul Busti; recorded in Philadelphia Deed Book RLL.11.304.  The Harrison to Busti deed explains that the Harrison to McConnell deed was defective, because "Sarah Harrison, wife of the said Thomas Harrison, was at the time of making the above-recited conveyance absent beyond [the] seas and could not join her husband in making the same to the said Matthew McConnell …" In Anglo-American law the wife held certain property rights in all real estate owned by her husband.  The 1794 deed, executed without the wife’s consent or signature, did not convey those rights.  This explains why the Harrison to McConnell deed was never recorded.
• 13. Matthew McConnell (1748-1816), a native of Chester County, Pennsylvania, was a Revolutionary War hero who had subsequently settled in Philadelphia and become quite prosperous.  During the war he had served in Washington’s Continental Army, advancing in rank from Corporal to Second Lieutenant to First Lieutenant to Captain.  On 2 November 1780 he married Ruth Hall in the First Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia.  In 1784, he was a dry goods merchant on Market Street, near Second.  From 1789 to 1794 he was both a merchant and a stockbroker.  In 1790, when the Philadelphia Board of Brokers was established, he was elected its first president (this organization was the predecessor to the Philadelphia Stock Exchange).  McConnell’s success in life reached its high point in 1794 when he was elected a Director of the Bank of the United States and Captain of the Third Troop of Light Horse in Philadelphia.  In December 1798 McConnell lost his property to his creditors, but in November 1799 he re-opened an office as a stockbroker.  He was an original and active member of the Pennsylvania Society of the Cincinnati.  See W.A. Newman Dorland, "The Second Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry," in the Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 46, published in 1922, at pages 362-63.  See also the guide to the "Philadelphia Stock Exchange Papers, 1746 – 2005," at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
• 14. See William Welsh Harrison, Harrison Waples and Allied Families (Philadelphia: Printed for Private Circulation Only, 1910), at pages 9-14.
• 15. The property rights Sarah (Richards) Harrison held in the estate are explained in a deed of release dated 31 December 1806.  See Philadelphia Deed Book RLL.11.304, which states, in part, "  …  and the said Thomas Harrison and Sarah his wife are willing and desirous to make and execute a release or other sufficient assurance in the law to bar all the Dower and Thirds and right and title of Dower and Thirds which she the said Sarah Harrison may or might have or claim of in or to the aforesaid Messuage or Tenement and six contiguous tracts or pieces of land  …"
• 16. 16 January 1796.  Matthew McConnell, mortgagor, to the Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania, mortgagee.  $8,000.  Recorded in Philadelphia Mortgage Book X.20.407.  See also the recital found in Philadelphia Deed Book EF.28.629, at page 631.
• 17. See the Historic American Buildings Survey, number HABS PA-1628, "Paul Busti House, Forty-sixth Street and Haverford Avenue, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA."  The HABS documentation includes an "Architectural Data Form," which states that the "Date of Construction" was 1794 (but does not provide evidence supporting that date).  At the present time (2009), this great brick house houses the administrative offices of the John A. Lee Recreation Center of the City of Philadelphia.
• 18. National Archives and Records Administration.  Record Group 58: Records of the Internal Revenue Service.  Microfilm Publications M372: U.S. Direct Tax of 1798; Tax Lists for the State of Pennsylvania, 1798.  24 rolls of microfilm.
• 19. 31 March 1795.  Edward Williams to Matthew McConnell.  Acreage?  Sale price?  Recorded in Philadelphia Deed Book D.47.401-09.
• 20. Recited in Philadelphia Deed Book D.76.389.
• 21. Ibid.
• 22. Transcribed from the Porcupine’s Gazette for 23 March 1799 (Vol. 4, Issue 637), at page 2.  The same text appeared in the Aurora General Advertiser for 22, 23, 27, and 28 March 1799 (Issues 2508, 2509, 2512, and 2513) at pages 2, 3, 4, and 4, respectively.
• 23. Also known as the West-Chester Road, that is, modern-day Market Street.
• 24. Described elsewhere as six miles from Philadelphia.
• 25.  This is mistaken; there was only one brick "mansion house."
• 26. An initial search for biographical information on Thomas McEuen found very little.  In 1790 McEuen was one of the founders of the Philadelphia Board of Brokers, the predecessor organization to the Philadelphia Stock Exchange.  See the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Papers collection at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.  McEuen was later in partnership with Thomas Hale and William Davidson.
• 27. 27 March 1799.  Jonathan Penrose, Sheriff, to Thomas McEuen.  Both "Mill Creek Farm" (112 acres, 25 perches) and "Cobb’s Creek Farm" (109½ acres).  $14,604.93.  Recorded in Philadelphia Deed Book D.76.389.
• 28. Recited in Philadelphia Deed Book D.76.389.
• 29. Ibid.
• 30. 2 July 1799.  Thomas McEuen and Hannah, his wife, to William Parkinson.  103 acres, 67 perches (103.42 acres).  $13,338 "Spanish milled" dollars and 69 cents "lawful Money of the United States of America."  Subject to "the payment of a certain Mortgage Debt or principal Sum of eight thousand Dollars with lawful interest."  Recorded in Philadelphia Deed Book D.76.391.
• 31. Transcribed from the United States’ Gazette for 14 May 1804 (Vol. 25, Issue 3614), at page 4.  The same text appeared in the same United States’ Gazette for 4 September 1804 (Vol. 26, Issue 3708) at page 4.
• 32. Recited in Philadelphia Deed Book EF.28.629, at page 631.
• 33. Transcribed from the Aurora General Advertiser for 14 May 1806 (Issue 4793), at page 4.  The same text also appeared in the Aurora General Advertiser for 15 May 1806 (Issues 4794) at page 4, and in Poulson’s American Daily Advertiser for 20 May 1806 (Vol. 35, Issue 9190) at page 4.
• 34. Paul Busti (1749-1824) was the rich and famous General Agent of the Holland Land Company.  Born in Milan, Italy, Busti moved to Amsterdam and worked as a banker.  In 1797 he became associated with the consortium of Dutch banks which had formed the Holland Land Company and in 1799 he was appointed General Agent.  He lived in Philadelphia, where he managed the Company’s holdings and in 1804 became a naturalized U.S. citizen.  After his purchase of Mill Creek Farm, Busti introduced several crops and techniques of Italian farming to Philadelphians.  He was soon elected a member of the Philadelphia Society for the Promotion of Agriculture, which helped bring him a very high standing in the social circles of elite Philadelphia.  He left the Roman Catholic Church and joined the Episcopal Church.  He also gave Mill Creek Farm a new name – Blockley Retreat – and maintained a daybook of his activity at the farm.  The daybook is now in the collections of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.  For additional biographical information see Richard N. Juliani, Building Little Italy: Philadelphia’s Italians Before Mass Migration (University Park, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1998), at pages 35-42.
• 35. 20 May 1806.  John Barker, Sheriff, to Paul Busti.  112 acres, 25 perches (112.16 acres).  $14,500.00.  Recorded in Philadelphia Deed Book EF.28.629.
• 36. 30 July 1806.  See marginal annotation in Philadelphia Mortgage Book X.20.407, at page 408: "On the 30th [day of] July 1806, Before me, Edward Fox, Esqr., Recorder &c., personally appeared James S. Cox, attorney in fact of the Insurance Company of Pennsylvania, who acknowledged to have received for the use of said Company, all the Monies, principal and interest, in the Bond herein recited in full payment and discharge of this Mortgage.  [signed] Edward Fox, Recorder; [signed] James S. Cox, Atty."
• 37. 31 December 1806.  Thomas Harrison and Sarah, his wife, to Paul Busti.  Release of the Harrisons’ claim to the 112 acres and 25 perches.  $1.00.  Recorded in Philadelphia Deed Book RLL.11.304.
• 38. 22 February 1808.  Thomas McEuen and Hannah, his wife, to Paul Busti.  Release of the McEuens’ claim to 10 acres and 139 perches.  $600.00.  Recorded in Philadelphia Deed Book EF.28.632.
• 39. 25 January 1811.  Paul Busti and Elizabeth, his wife, to Martin Walters.  10 acres, 139 perches (10.87 acres).  $1,000.00.  Recorded in Philadelphia Deed Book IC.12.459.
• 40. John Buckman (ca. 1784-ca. 1855).  Whitely’s Philadelphia Register for 1820 lists John Buckman as a partner in "Buckman & Benson, stock and exchange brokers, 2 S 3d [Street]."  He lived at "19 Sansom [Street]."  Robert Desilver’s Philadelphia Index, or Directory for 1823 lists the same information.  The Philadelphia Directory and Stranger’s Guide [for] 1825, however, lists John Buckman as "Gentleman," still living at 19 Sansom Street.   By 1828 Buckman is no longer listed in the Philadelphia city directories.  While living in Blockley Township, Buckman was very active in the Methodist Church, serving in 1829-30 as sole trustee for the "Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church in Hamilton Village, County of Philadelphia" (on the north side of Chestnut Street, between 33rd and 34th Streets) and three years later, as one of seven trustees for the "Haddington Methodist Episcopal Church" (at the northeast corner of 67th Street and Haverford Avenue).   He purchased the Chestnut Street site, in trust for the Asbury Methodist Church in 1829 (see Philadelphia Deed Book GWR.27.277) and sold it to the Asbury church corporation in 1830 (see Philadelphia Deed Book AM.8.221).  He was one of seven trustees who purchased the Haverford Avenue site for the Haddington Methodist Church in 1833 (see Philadelphia Deed Book AM.38.617).
• 41. 1 May 1825.  John Jacob Vanderkemp, Executor "of the Last Will and Testament of Paul Busti," to John Buckman.  $20,000.  103 acres, 67 perches (103.42 acres).  Recorded in Philadelphia Deed Book GWR.4.455.
• 42. See, for example, the information found at "Abstract of Merchandize entered at the Custom House" printed in Grotjan’s Philadelphia Public Sale Report for 15 November 1813 (Vol. 2, No. 28), at page two and again in the issue for 2 May 1814 (Vol. 2, No. 52), at page three.
• 43. Transcribed from Poulson’s American Daily Advertiser for 11 November 1813 (Vol. 42, Issue 11536), at page 3.
• 44. Transcribed from Poulson’s American Daily Advertiser for Friday, 8 January 1819 (Vol. 48, No. 13,145), at page three and again, in the same newspaper, for Thursday, 21 January 1819 (Vol. 48, No. 13,156), at page one.
• 45. 24 March 1826.  Martin Walter, "farmer," and Mary, his wife, to John Buckman, "gentleman."  $90.  "Half an acre of land."  Recorded in Philadelphia Deed Book GWR.9.148.
• 46. This description of the mill race is recited in Philadelphia Deed Book SHF.3.216, at page 217.
• 47. 10 March 1834.  James Pennell, "blacksmith," and Mary, his wife, to John Buckman, "gentleman."  $70.  "Fifty-one perches of land" (0.318 acres).  Recorded in Philadelphia Deed Book AM.48.297.
• 48. 12 March 1834.  John Buckman, "of the Township of Blockley," to Edward Wrigley, "of the City of Philadelphia, merchant."  $400 per annum, the lease to begin 1 April 1834 and continue for ten years.  Recorded in Philadelphia Deed Book AM.59.500.
• 49. 15 June 1836.  John Buckman, "of the City of Burlington in the State of New Jersey, gentleman," and Susan, his wife to Edward Wrigley, "of the City of Philadelphia, merchant."  $6,500.  "All that Mill or Woolen Factory and lot or piece of ground thereunto belonging, situate on the southwesterly side of the West Chester Road in Blockley Township in the County of Philadelphia  …  the northernmost part of the above described lot or piece of Land on which the said Factory is erected  …  and the southernmost part of the above described lot or piece of Land  … with full Privilege of opening of said Mill Creek for the purpose of a Tail Race from the aforesaid Mill or Factory  …"  Recorded in Philadelphia Deed Book SHF.3.216.
• 50. Matthew Arrison (ca. 1784 – ca. 1855) had apparently made money as a "carter" in Philadelphia.  Benjamin and Thomas Kite’s Philadelphia Directory for 1814 listed a Matthew Arrison as "Matthew Arrison, carter, Geo. bet. Sch. 7th & 8th."  George Street was modern-day Sansom Street.  Schuylkill Seventh Street was modern-day 16th Street.  Schuylkill Eighth Street was modern-day 15th Street.  Edward Dawes’ Philadelphia Directory for 1817 had the same listing for Matthew Arrison.  A year later, however, the listing changed.  John A. Paxton’s Philadelphia Directory and Register for 1818 listed two Matthew Arrisons: "Matthew Arrison, sen. and jun. carters corner George and Schuylkill Eighth."  Edward Whitely’s Philadelphia Register for 1820 also listed two Matthew Arrisons: "Matthew Arrison, sen. and jun. carters corner George and Schuylkill Eighth."  Robert Desilver’s The Philadelphia Index or Directory for 1823 also contained the two Matthew Arrisons.  Robert Desilver’s Philadelphia Directory and Stranger’s Guide [for] 1828, however, listed a single Matthew Arrison at "Sch 8th below Chestnut," but no occupation.  Robert DeSilver’s Philadelphia Directory and Stranger’s Guide [for] 1830 also listed a single Matthew Arrison at "Sch 8th below Chestnut," but no occupation.  Maurice Bywater’s Philadelphia Business Directory and City Guide, For the Year 1850 listed Matthew Arrison as "gent., Sch. 7th and Poplar."   This was in the fashionable Spring Garden district of Philadelphia.  In 1850 Matthew Arrison and his wife, Maria, lived with an extended Arrison family.  See United States of America, Bureau of the Census, Seventh Census of the United States, 1850, Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, Microcopy M432, at Roll 819 and machine-stamped page number 359.
• 51. 15 May 1835.  John Buckman, and Susannah, his wife, to Matthew Arrison.  $23,000.  101 acres, "more or less."  Recorded in Philadelphia Deed Book AM.65.184.  As discussed in the narrative above, Buckman reserved from the sale certain water rights related to Mill Creek and the mill race which ran parallel to it.
• 52. The 1850 U.S. Census enumerated 67-year-old John Buckman and his family in Burlington, New Jersey.  The 1860 U.S. Census, however, enumerated only the family.  By the latter date Buckman’s widow, Mary A. Buckman, was the family head.  John Buckman therefore died ca. 1855.  For the 1850 enumeration, see United States of America, Bureau of the Census.  Seventh Census of the United States, 1850.  Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1850.  Microcopy M432, Roll 443, at handwritten page 108 (machine-stamped page number 54 b) (City of Burlington, Burlington County, New Jersey).  For the 1860 enumeration, see United States of America, Bureau of the Census.  Eighth Census of the United States, 1860.  Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1860.  Microcopy M653, Roll 684, at handwritten page 86 (no machine-stamped page number) (City of Burlington, Burlington County, New Jersey).