Revolution to Civil War (1800-1870)

A.M.E. Church Gravestones

Partial List of Gravestones

Wesley Miller P(?  ) Co. B. 3rd U.SC.T. Died April 21, 1899, aged 87 years ( private Co B 3 Reg date of discharge 10/31/1865, born 1812, date of enlist 6/30/1863, colored,laborer)

James Raymond Co B. 8 Reg U.S.C.T. Died May 15 1892, aged 50 years  ( private B 3 Reg, date of discharge 10/31/1865, born 1842, enlist date 6/30/1863, colored)

Geo. Bush Co. I. 45th U.S.C.T (enlist date 8/12/1864 discharge nov 4, 1865 absent sick of MO of Co, colored, laborer, private)

Salle M. Wife of Archie D. Mooney

Article #49 - Devoted to Literature

 

 

 

In this busy season of the year having so much other business to attend to I have had but little time to devote to selecting matter for this journal.

            To the donors of the communications which I have received I feel thankful.    J B

 

            The Skies      -- Bryant

Ay, gloriously thou standest there,

            Beautiful boundless firmament!

That, swelling wide o’er earth and air

Lenape

Lenape is another village associated with Pocopson, although the formation of the township out of part of Birmingham Township essentially divides the village.  It grew from a locality named Wister’s or Shunk’s Ford before a bridge was built over the Brandywine.  Then John P. Sager erected a mill on the east side of the creek, and the name changed to Sager’s Mill.  Eventually, that name changed to Sager’s Station when the Wilmington and Northern Railroad built a station on the west side of the creek.

Locust Grove

The village of Locust Grove was the dream of businessman Pennock Marshall, who wanted to establish a settlement that would resemble William Penn’s “greene country towne.”  He laid out three streets in a stand of locust trees and planned a total of twenty-nine lots.  But he was to be disappointed, and the village never had more than two dozen families. By 1847, the village could boast only a smithy and wheelwright shop, a shoemaker shop and a general store. 

Lenape/Pocopson School

The Lenape School, also called Pocopson School, was constructed on ground given by John Huey from his farm, now Brandywine Hills.  Lenape School was built in what is now Route 52 to serve the children in the southeastern section of the township. The date given for construction of this building is 1882, but there are school attendance records for “Pocopson School” as early as 1865.

Baker School

Helen Steward teacher

 

Baker’s School, also referred to as State Road School, was one of the first three public one room schoolhouses in Pocopson Township.  The school was built in a wooded area along State Road (now Route 842) on the George Baker farm (now part of the Myrick Conservancy).  Regrettably, this building has fallen in decay, and only the basement walls remain.

Mills of Pocopson Township

 

 

 The modern reader may well puzzle over the fact that the creek running through much of the township was named after the Indian word pocaupsing, meaning “roaring waters,” because much of today’s Pocopson Creek drifts lazily through the countryside.  Nonetheless, during the township’s history, Pocopson Creek provided power for a number of grain and sawmills—starting in the early 1700’s, when Joseph Taylor built a mill there.   

Quakers

 

 

 

Formal records are sketchy, but it seems likely that many residents of Pocopson belonged to the Society of Friends, or Quakers.  There is no evidence of Quaker Meetings within the current township boundaries, but the locals might well have participated in Quarterly or Annual Meetings recorded as having taken place in Birmingham, West Chester, Kennett or Kennett Square, Longwood, Marlborough, Unionville, or Bradford. 

Pennsbury A.M.E. Church

 

Early Schools

 Schooling was an important issue from the earliest days of Pennsylvania.  William Penn decreed in 1682 that the Governor and Council “shall erect and order all public schools and encourage and regard the authors of useful sciences and laudable inventions.”  Churches probably served as the first schoolhouses, with the Bible (more often than not the only available book) serving as the main textbook, and the minister taking on the role of teacher.

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