Founding of Pocopson Township

Description of the Township when Founded

The 1850 Census gives some picture of the size of the township.  There were 101 dwellings occupied by 104 families.  Total population was 592.  Roughly 70 per cent of workers described themselves as either farmers or laborers.  There were also masons, shoemakers, millers, wheelwrights, blacksmiths, carpenters, merchants, manufacturers, and one tailor.

Founding of the Township

The official story starts with a petition to the Court of Quarter Sessions in late 1848, signed by 28 male inhabitants of Pennsbury, West Bradford, East Marlborough and Newlin Townships, pleading that “they labor under great inconvenience for want of a new township to be composed of part of (their existing) townships.”  Of the 28 signers, some families were heavily represented: the Sellers (Samuel, Samuel W., Isaac, Israel and Johnathan) ; the Barnards (William, Eusebius and Vincent); the Martins (George, Thomas, Simon and Samuel); and the Woods (John and William T.)