History of Chester County,
Pennsylvania
With Genealogical & Biographical Sketches
By J. Smith Futhey and Gilbert Cope, 1881
2,200+ pages, indexed, searchable
- Bonus #1 -
Chester County and Its People
By W. W. Thompson, 1898
955 pages, indexed, searchable
- Bonus #2 -
A Record of the Descendants of John Alexander
By Rev. John E. Alexander, 1878
227 pages, indexed, searchable
- Bonus #3 -
A Genealogical Record of the Descendants
John and Mary Palmer
By Lewis Palmer, 1910
1,236 pages, indexed, searchable
- Bonus #4 -
The McFarlane and Stern Families
of Chester PA and New Castle DE
By Cyrus Stern, 1885
436 pages, indexed, searchable
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ALTHOUGH Chester was the earliest of the counties organized in the Province of Penn, and has ever been
deservedly ranked among the fairest and most prosperous and intelligent of those districts, she has nevertheless
been somewhat strangely neglectful of her history and of the worthies within her borders, who aided in the
noble enterprise of planting a Christian colony and establishing a home for human freedom, and who have brought
her to her present high position. Many good men and true have lived among us, but they have nearly passed
into oblivion for want of vigilant and faithful chroniclers.
As nearly two centuries have elapsed since the establishment of the county, it is meet that such of her history
as has escaped the ravages of time and can now be related should be placed on record for preservation and for the
information of the people, so that they may know what manner of men their fathers were.
The authors of this volume being "native here, and to the manner born," and having for some years a lively interest
in the history of the county, and of her citizens who have devoted themselves to the public service and the cause of
human improvement, have essayed to perform the laborious, but to them delightful, task thus indicated.
How well they have succeeded it is not for them to say. They submit their work to the judgment of the
good people of this ancient bailiwick, regretting that it is not more complete, and only asking that, in passing
judgment upon it, the difficulties surrounding the preparation of such a history will be borne in mind.
CHAPTER I. GENERAL HISTORY 9
CHAPTER II. PROPRIETARY INTERESTS AND LAND TITLES 144
CHAPTER III. BOUNDARY LINES 156
CHAPTER IV. TOWNSHIPS AND BOROUGHS, ETC. 162
CHAPTER V.RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS 229
CHAPTER VI EDUCATIONAL AND LITERARY 302
CHAPTER VII. AGRICULTURAL 335
CHAPTER VIII. MILLS, IRON MANUFACTURE, ETC. 343
CHAPTER IX. INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS 351
CHAPTER X. CIVIL AND JUDICIAL LISTS 362
CHAPTER XI. MISCELLANEOUS 386
CHAPTER XII. NATURAL HISTORY, TOPOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY, ETC. 435
CHAPTER XIII.BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL 461
APPENDIX i