Milford chronicle. [volume] (Milford, Del.) 1878-1974, 1901-08-16
Nv RecoIlcetiOns Of Olden Times
in MurderkiIl Neck.
BY JOSEPH BURcHENAL

Neck a young man who had I
run away from a ship in Philadelphia,
an Englshman, and hired himself tc
Samuel Warren, Sr. The story goes
that he was sent out to haul wood with
a yoke Of oxen and a horse ahead
While in the woods the oxen became
unmanageable and turned in the yoke;
he ran to the house in great state Of
excitement, and in sailor phraseology
tried to explain the situation by saying.
the larboard OK was on the starboard
side and the starboard OK was on the
larboard side, and that Jennie was all
tangled up in the rigging. This young
man was James Grier, destined to be-
come a substantial citizen, large land
and vessel owner, and an important
f9ctoT in all that pertained to the gen
eral welfare of the people of Murderkill /
Neck. He soon left the employ of Mr..
Warren for other fields of industry. To
use a local saying Of the times, che
went to following the water" and soon
I became master of q vessel running from
the creek along the western shore Of
the Delaware Bay. His integrity and
industry coupled with his strong per
sonality and with the various signs and
evidences of prosperity, soon brought
him to the front in the community
! Those who possessed capital were will
ing to intrust it to the management OF
this young Englishman, and it was an
open secret that he would he an accept
able sutton for the hand of any young
lady in the land. and his offer of mar
rage to a young lady of one Of the best
families was not refused, and Tabitha
Simple became the wife of Captain
James Grier. There was a littl ro-
nance connected with the marriage
which took place before l was born.
l remember hearing my mother tell 1t.
INV mother died when / was ten years
old. Richard Norris had married an
, older sister, and she (Tabitha lived with
them on the farm opposite my fathers
known in after years as the Henry Will
liam farm. 1t was common in those
days for farmers to turn their cattleOu
on what was known as the "COm
= mons" and often the cows would b'
= MIXED at the road-gate and left out al
u night. 1t seems Tabitha went to mill
, the cows under big tree on the mail
u road which stood at my fathers road
gate. Mrs. Norris said she though
u Tabitha dressed mighty well to go milk
% ing, but did not suspect anything
However she took the milk bucket, an
Il when she reached the road instead {
- milking the cows she set the mil
- bucket on top of our gate post; and
has never been known whether it ws
3, mere chance, a combination Of circun
- stances, or by special arrangement, bl
Il y Captain Grier did come along III wh'
- would now be called an Cld-fashiOne
two-wheeled gig, and Tabitha disa
" peared, presumably "liberum -arbi
- rum" He bought the old Barra
farm, near Barratt's Chapel, carried {
Nc farming, sailed vessel, bought and G
the wood from large tracts of timbC
y kept store at what was known
-, "Grier's Corners" and attained
u wealth and position in the cOmmunit
l remember Tabitha Grier with gre
~ deal of satisfaction. She was the bt
~ of mothers, and the best of women. II
- smiling face was a benediction;
IN salutations used to make my boyi
~ heart leap for JOY, they were so hear
~ and seemed to proceed from matt
"a: 80 overlooking with kindness. 1t was
- delight to see her children and tn
~. associates happy. Her pleasant dis
sitlon made her home desirable, iif'
joy,and her household an earthly pa
=, disc. This estimable lady passed to
-, reward more than a half century a
The captain sent to England for his
father and stepmother, and broul
y them to this country, cared for the
~ and saw them laid away in the cel
~. terry at Barratt's Chapel. A tombst
- marks their last resting-place and t
- something of their history. The q
,-te tain lived to the full time allotted TO n
&c and was gathered with the immune
BILE company beyond the confines
ole, time, honored and respected by
-, community that had known him
80, long. James w. and Eugene q
are his male representatives..
daughter Wilhelmina, who mar
DR.. James Stanton is, believe,
living-at least l hope so. As DO
- 10 or Is, thought she was most b
- tiful. and l loved her with all the a
~ of boy desperately in love. Mrs.
= bel Baker, another sister,i is think,
- living.
ai1v About 1912 or 1913 there came to !
con derkill Neck a man from New Je
will VINO purchased a large tract of
,dav lying ON both sides of what was
odel known as Sand Tavern Lane, calleC
,ited Mil1iin farm The land was KIN
1ter- throughout the country as being
"standard for poor land" so poor
1dav even the proyerbial pea refused to sI
heir The people ofthe neighborhood tho
The Thomas James a foolish Jersey
rain when ne invested five thousand dc
niov for over eight hundred acres of
finer with perhaps two hundred acres o
omit same well set in good timber. Blu
thousand dollars in those DAYS 10
,erso like large sum of money, and |
DING Wan guano and commercial fert
was unknown. The land was lite
DDed worthless because of the poverty {
2 ON soil, which had been reduced by
each. and continuous cropping. The di
Incl cry Of guano made this large ira
, and land valuable. 1t made Mr. jaime
e in of the ablest men financially il
raar community. In truth, guanO put
lo;ro life into the land, also the land-o,
1o,C3 The fact began to dawn upon the
~, pie that there was real value in
,,b;ob old worn out land. The change
wore like magic. To take a handful 0
q an brown dust and put on the poor
c1,,h land, produced amazing results
,ho,,t when harvest came the blade, the
aimed and the full ear bearing a hundred
,r the came forth to gladden. the heart
husbandman, the country went tn
the a transformation. Old methods
store abandoned From sowing the
,entv. by hand and ploughing it in, can