Market Square & Hotels, New Castle, New Castle Hundred, New Castle County, Delaware
Inns
and
Hotels
In the early history of New Castle the
inns, ordinaries or public-houses were prominent factors in the
social and business life of the community. It was at such places
that important public gatherings, including even religious
meetings, were held, and the best citizens of the town met there
for social con venation and to hear and discuss the news
received from travelers. The keeper was frequently a man of
marked characteristics, prominent in the affairs of the place,
and one whose opinions were usually courted. Occasionally,
however, an inn-keeper would be found who did not meet the
requirements of the age, and his hostelry soon declined.
Fopp Jansen Outhout, who was a
magistrate from 1676-83, was an inn-keeper in New Amstel in
1662, as is mentioned in a trial of that date in which he is
mentioned as one of the witnesses.
Ralph Hutchinson was an ordinary keeper
at New Castle as early as 1677, and was probably one of the
first in that vocation. His place was afterwards kept by his
brother, Robberd, who, unfortunately, was charged with dishonest
practices, and, as he was also a constable, his case became an
object of public consideration. On June 3, 1679, a letter
containing the following facts was sent to the Governor asking
his advice:
"One Adam Wolles, a mariner,
come to this place from Maryland with his chest, and
stopped at the house of Robberd Hutchinson. After he had
been there a day or two he found that the chest had been
opened, things taken out, and again locked. He made the
theft known and gave a list of articles be had in the
chest. Suspicion was attached to Hutchinson, who, when
closely examined, owned up, and the most of the articles
were found. After other witnesses were examined he again
disclosed more, and threw himself upon the court. He was
put in prison." |
The Governor in reply commented at
length upon, the enormity of the offense, but left the
punishment to the court. Hutchinson was dismissed from the ''constablewick,
'' and the court "doe order and sentence that hee, the sd
Robberd Hutchinson, for example to others, bee brought to the
forte gate and there publicquely whipt thirty and nine strokes
or lashes; that hee pay unto Adam Wolles the remainder of ye
goods stolen out of ye chest not yet found, together with all
the charges and fees of this action, and doe further forever
banish ye sd Robberd Hutchinson out of this River of Delaware
and partes adjacent, hee to depart within three days now next
ensuing, with leave to choose and appoint any person as his
attorney to receive and pay his debts. God save the King." This
above sd sentence was put in execution And Robberd Hutchinson
publicquely whipt ye same day in New Castle, etc."
Hutchinson was succeeded June 4, 1679,
by John Darby. The property was described as ''bounded on the
east by the strand, or river; south, by the house of John
Hendrickson, drover; west, by the moat; and north, by the house
and lot of Isaac Tayne." Darby's license was granted with the
proviso that "he performs what he now promises which is viz:
That he will keep a good and orderly house; that hee will now
begin with six beds and within twelve months procure six beds
more; to have only privilege to sell drink by retayle. In case
none other be admitted more by the Court."
Prior to 1709 John Brewster was an "Innholder"
at New Castle, and on February 28, 1709, he and Elizabeth, his
wife, sold to "Richard Halliwell, of New Castle, merchant, the
lot fifty by two hundred and fifty feet, bounded southwesterly
with Thomas Janvier's lot; northeasterly with burying-ground;
northwesterly with Presbyterian meeting-house and southeasterly
with ye street. He also gave to Richard Halliwell one silver
quart tankard and seven silver spoons."
In the latter part of the eighteenth
century Robert Furness was the keeper of an ordinary at New
Castle, and it was at his house that the first Methodist
meetings in New Castle were held. He was a man of determined
purpose and great force of character.
In 1802 Captain Caleb P. Bennett was an
inn-keeper, and at his place the county elections were held. In
1803 he bought "the late residence of George Read, Esq., comer
Front and Delaware Streets, and then used it as a tavern,
calling it the ''Delaware Hotel.'' In 1824 the hotels on Water
Street were burned down, and one of them, after being rebuilt
and carried as the "Stockton House," was again burned in 1870.
For many years it was the office of stage lines passing out of
New Castle. In the rear of this building there was a steamboat
landing which has long since been abandoned. In 1828 Henry
Steele was the keeper of the "Spread Eagle Hotel," and James
Steele was a landlord later. This place is still kept as a
hostelry under another name. John Crow was for many years a
keeper of the "Delaware House." The present "Jefferson House"
was originally the store and residence of Elihu Jefferson, and
was remodeled for hotel purposes. It is the property of William
Herbert.
The Gilpin House, located opposite the
old courthouse, is now the oldest hotel in continuous use in the
town. It took its present name from the late Chief Justice
Gilpin, and for years was the stopping-place of the judges and
attorneys of the court.
Old Buildings
Few very old buildings remain in New
Castle. It is believed that the back building of the present
Gilpin House is as ancient as any structure in the place, and
that it was the meeting-place of the first courts. It was also
one of the first places of public entertainment. Nearby is a
brick building, erected in 1681, where William Penn was
entertained by his host Lagrange, when he visited the town in
1682. It had originally a hip-roof, but, in 1858, was remodeled
by the present owner, George W. Turner. The famous old tile
house was built in 1687, but by whom, or for what purpose, is
not known. It was three stories high and its roof was very steep
and covered with tile brought from Holland. The rafters were
made like the knees of a vessel, all cut out of crooked timber.
The brick in its walls were of small size and made of "whitish
earth." The building was used for a number of purposes, and
became very dilapidated before it was demolished in 1884.
The John Bird house was also built
before 1700 and is still standing. It was long the property of
Major John Moody. The house of George Read, signer of the
Declaration of Independence, was on Water Street, and was
removed many years ago. For a short time it was used as a bank
building. George Read, the second, built the house now occupied
by the family of Samuel Couper. The building, occupied in part
by M. C. Rogers as a tobacco shop, antedates the struggle for
independence many years. In the time of the Revolution it was
occupied by a Dr. Finney.
A part of the old Courthouse, used as a
State building in William Penn's time, was erected prior to
1680. Two years later Penn met the court in this building. The
building has been enlarged and the interior changed. Some very
large timbers have been used in its construction, the main
girder consist-ing of a single piece of timber resting on two
pillars opposite the doors. On these pillars it was customary in
olden times to place the hands of criminals who had committed
manslaughter, while they were branded with the letters M. S. A.
The red-hot iron was applied until the room was filled with
fumes from the burning flesh. The last person so branded was a
colored man by the name of Jacob Battle, apprehended for the
killing of one Clark.
Market Square
New Castle Commons. This market-house
was built by the trustees of New Castle Common, [has not been
much used for market purposes in recent years. The lot on which
it stands is part of a tract of land reserved for public uses as
early as the seventeenth century. It has been controlled by
various authorities, generally by trustees for the people of New
Castle. This office, in the course of years, was neglected, and
with a view of placing the property in the care of a perpetual
board of trustees, the Assembly on Jane 13, 1 772, appointed a
board of Market Square trustees, consisting of David Finney,
John Thompson, George Read, Thomas McKean and George Munro. The
surviving trustee was empowered to name his successors. This was
first done by Thomas McKean in August, 1809, when he appointed
James R. Black, Kensey Johns, James Rogers, James Riddle,
William C. Frazier, George Read and George Munro. On March 13,
1851, James Rogers, the surviving trustee, named Wm. T. Read,
John Janvier, Wm. Couper, Charles H. Black and James Mansfield.
On April 30, 1877, John Janvier, survivor, by deed appointed
George Gray, John H. Rodney, Richard G. Cooper, Joseph H. Rogers
and Julian D. Janvier.
On February 20, 1883, the Assembly
enlarged the powers of the trustees and authorized them to hold
the property for the city of New Castle, the rights of the
county to the buildings, if it should want to use them for the
purposes originally intended, being reserved^ Under this act the
square and its improvements have since been controlled.
The citizens of New Castle have also
been much benefited by the income arising from the common lands,
which, in the last forty years especially, has aided materially
in supporting the schools and in improving the city. Ever since
the settlement of New Castle the lands lying north of the town
have been regarded as the common property of the citizens, and
for nearly a century and a half have been held in trust for
their common good. Under Swedish and Dutch rule individual
rights to the wood and pasture on these lands were exercised,
and it has only been within a comparatively recent period that a
systematic effort was made to improve the lands with a view to
making them more productive. The limits of these common lands
were not defined prior to the eighteenth century, but on October
31, 1701, William Penn, as proprietor, "directed Edward
Penington, Surveyor-General of the Province of Pennsylvania and
Territories, by a warrant, to survey one thousand acres of land
for a common for the use of the inhabitants of the town of New
Castle. On April 10, 1704, George Deakyne, surveyor, made a
return of the survey, which included one thousand and
sixty-eight acres north of New Castle."
The acreage of the common lands having
been fixed and the location established, "nothing further of
importance seems to have been done in the matter until November
17, 1764, when Thomas and Richard Penn, sons of William Penn,
and 'true and absolute proprietaries and governors in chief of
the counties of New Castle, Kent and Sussex, in Delaware, and
Province of Pennsylvania, recorded a charter incorporating, 'in
pursuance of a warrant from our late father, William Penn,
Esquire, the trustees of the common. The inhabitants of New
Castle had complained that persons having property contiguous to
the common were encroaching upon the town's tract, wasting the
timber, etc., and they urged Thomas and Richard Penn to
'incorporate a certain number of them, the said inhabitants of
New Castle, and give them perpetual succession, and to confirm
to them the said tract of land in common for the use and behoof
of all the inhabitants of the said town.'
''The request was favored, and John
Finney, Richard McWilliams, David Finney, Thomas McKean, George
Read and George Munro, Esquires, and John Van Gezell, Zachariah
Van Leuvenigh, Slator Clay, John Yeates, Nathaniel Silsbee,
Daniel McLonen, Robert Morrison, gentlemen, were named as
trustees, and they and their successors, forever after, were to
be one body corporate and politic, in deed, by the name of the
Trustees of New Castle Common.'' The tract was deeded to the
trustees for ''the use of the inhabitants of the town of New
Castle.'' The deed, made by the two Penns, declared that the
property was ''to be holden of us, our heirs and successors,
proprietaries of the said counties of New Castle, Kent and
Sussex, in Delaware, as of our manor of Rockland, in free and
common socage, by fealty only in lieu of all other services.
Yielding and paying, therefor, yearly and every year, unto us,
our heirs and successors, at the town of New Castle, aforesaid,
the rent of one ear of Indian corn, if demanded.'
''The trustees were endowed with all the
powers of corporation, to sue and be sued, and to establish such
by-laws, ordinances, etc., deemed just and necessary, provided
they were not ''repugnant to the laws of England or to the
government of the counties aforesaid. '' When a trustee died,
removed from New Castle, or was removed from office for
misbehavior, an election was to be held, within ten days, for a
successor, by such persons as had a freehold interest of forty
shillings in New Castle, or who paid a yearly rental of that
amount. The trustees were not to hold, as a body politic, by
their letters patent, any Other lands or tenements except the
Common, and they had no power to sell any part of the Common,
which were for no other use whatever except for the inhabitants
of New Castle. If the trustees failed to obey the provisions,
the property was to revert to Thomas and Richard Penn, their
heirs and assigns.
"On July 8, 1791 (upon solicitation of
the Trustees of the Common, who claimed that the restrictive
term of the grant of Thomas and Richard Penn prevented the
inhabitants of the town of New Castle from deriving all those
benefits and advantages which would result from a free and
absolute grant thereof), John Penn of Stoke Pogis, in the county
of Bucks, Esquire, and John Penn. late of Wimpole Street, in the
parish of Saint Marylebone, but now of Dover Street, in the
county of Middlesex, Esquire (late Proprietaries of the Province
of Pennsylvania, in America), formally deeded the Common to
Isaac Grantham, Esquire, the Rev. Robert Clay, clerk, and
William Lees, merchant, all of the hundred and county of New
Castle, then successors and heirs, in trust nevertheless, to and
for the use, benefit and behoof of the inhabitants of the town
of New Castle,' to be transferred or conveyed, by legal means,
to the trustees of the Commons. The deed was executed in London
and the seal of that city and of the Lord Mayor were affixed.
"In 1792 the General Assembly of
Delaware passed an act to enlarge the corporate powers of the
Trustees of the Common. It made the trustees a corporate body in
deed and in law, with perpetual succession, vacancies to be
provided for as in the former charter of incorporation; it gave
them power to rent or lease, but not for a longer term than
thirty years from the commencement of a lease or contract, and
it provided that seven trustees were to make a quorum for the
transaction of business, and that they must elect a president
once a year.
"On July 13, 1792, Isaac Grantham,
Robert Clay and William Lees formally deeded the Common to the
trustees as per the deed to them by the two John Penns. The
witnesses to the deed were John Bird, Jno. Willy, Sen., and Mary
Grantham." From this time the title of New Castle in the lands
was absolute.
In 1850 Dr. Charles H. Black and his
co-trustees had the commons divided into farms, and by 1864, the
annual revenue had increased to $7000, and the accumulation
enabled the trustees to pay an old debt of $20,000 due the
Farmers' Bank for money borrowed to build the town hall and
market-house, and for paving streets. During this period the
schools had been supported, the town taxes were very light and
Common farms free from debt. Since that time extensive
improvements have caused a small indebtedness. In 1887 the
Common consisted of nine farms and two lots, north of the city
of New Castle, producing a revenue of more than eight thousand
dollars, which was disbursed by the trustees for the benefit of
the city of New Castle. Among the annual appropriations is one
item of three thousand dollars, guarantee interest at six per
cent., to the New Castle Waterworks Company; and liberal
appropriations are also made to the Fire Department.
In 1887 the
Common trustees were
the following:
John
Janvier Elected June 31, 1847
Ferdinand Leckler Elected May
26, 1856
William Herbert, treasurer
Elected May 14, 1859
John White Elected June 23,
1866
John Mahoney Elected April 3,
1869
James G. Shaw Elected May 8,
1869
John J. Black, M.D.,
president Elected December 30, 1871
John H. Rodney Elected
January 9, 1875
William F. Lane, secretary
Elected December 3, 1878
Elmer W. Clark Elected
January 10, 1882
William J. Ferris Elected May
29, 1883
George A. Maxwell Elected
January 24, 1885
Edward Challenger Elected
June 20, 1885 |
New Castle
County
Source: History of Delaware, 1609-1888,
Volume I, by J. Thomas Scharf, L. J. Richards & Company,
Philadelphia, 1888.
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