Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-02-06
IN APPRECIATION
OF SOME OLD ALLEYS
Quaint Little Thoroughfares That
Haven't Wholly Lost Their
Olden Charm

"NON pOpULI" who described himself
as "a direct descendant Of three signers
of the Declaration of American tndepend-
encc.' wrote a letter the other day in hot
resentment at the disrespcctfu behavior Of
Charlescon, &. -. at has named" said Ne,
pausnG on his way to Palm Beach, ITS
drtcst and most filthy alley. inhabited by
the lowest class philadelphia Alley"
This, he peroratcs "is only worthy Of an
enemy of our glorious country, and Insist
that this msdemcanor be rectfed at once"
Probably II viii be- Tho alley in question
is the descendant Of n once worthy thor
oughfare fallen upon evil days. II may never
he possible 10 restore It TO the honorable
standing ana the simple but sterling dig
nifty that belonged to it when it was first
named; but Charleston is rcclaiming many
Of it's fine old residence streets, ana this
may he one of them.
Let no one imagine that the word alley
carries any suggestion Of essential or in
nate meanncss. ST. Mchael's Alley, in
Charleston is lined with neat and fashion
able homes and it is stiIl an alley. And
when Philadelphia AHcy was first named
there were many aficctonatc bonds between
the casita Of the Palmetto State and this
old town, bonds which for time prevented
Philadclphia'5 hearty and unanimous cs-
pousal Of the Union cause after the fail
cr Fort Sumter
1t may be that wc lattcr.day Phiadel-
ph'anS have grown u bit uppish and some-
| what too scOHful Of the alleys which were
good enough for the fathers of the town.
The lttI' street upon which originally
| stood the William Penn house. now pro-
| serY"d as shriu" IN tairmount Park, was
! generally called Icttia Court, but it was
| mite NOR" than an alley and was frequently
| 80 designated by early chrOniulcrs. .And N
| that narrow thorourhtaic, after the Rcvo-
| Inllon, many decent folk made their homes.
| Among these was Christopher Ludwck, the
| baker general Of tn" Revolution, VINO passed
| his declining days there in peaceful
| uremcnt. In his house many Tossian
s"ldicr was instructed by the old man in
III" duiicS ci American citizenship, for he
| was Instrumental in inducing scores OF these
| foreigners to take Vi their residence p"rma-
| nhntly III tn" new land. Most oi them turned
| To farming, down in the Neck. The old man.
| himself II llcssian, was one OF the worthless
| of the town. lie left considerable money 20
| charities. and his name until quite recently
| looked down upon passcrsby from the front
| of I.udwi'k Institute, ON Walnut street. above
| sixth
A Chronicler of the Signcrs
In strawberry Alley lived Christopher
| Marshall and his son of the same name
| both decent and respected druggists. Tho
| elder Marshall was the diarist, who handed
| down 10 US ono of the three ContompOrlncOus
| accounts cxtdut of the reading Of that same
| Declaration of Independence which was
| signed by three ancestors Of our indignant
| "NoX populi" Note the curious colnci-
| dcncc Of the thrCcS,
| Marshall was a town officer and he tolls
| how he and his associates assembled at the
| hall of the Philosophical Society upon that
| pregnant July morning and marched, two
| br two. (" tn" steps of the old State House,
| where John Nixon did his duty.
| We must not forget To make passing ref
| crcncc to one Franklin, first name Bcnja-
| min. who resided for part of a long life on
| Franklin Court, which, as everybody knows,
| was little more than an alley
| Black Horse Alley running from Front to
| Second street between Market and Chestnut
| held tn" residence and shop of John Dun
| top. eighteenth century printer, who was a
! maker of som" stir, commercially, in his
| day His nciEhburs, nj least thought well
| of him, ANA since hc lived in amty with
| them and appeared TO appreciate their good
| opinion they may he assumed to have been
rather decent folk themselves.
| \ few steps north of Black Horse Won
| will still find CO0mbcS Alley The sign
| boards now Call it Cuthbert street, but it
| was long known 10y the old name And If
| you should care to nose around there, you
| will come upon number Of houses OF
| colonial typG--.prctty close rcpliCaS of the
! William Penn Housc--Such as worthy Phil
adelphia families were wont to favor for
| II SidenCcs.
| ON the Front street corner of the first
| alley south of Chestnut street whose re-
| spectacle old name isn't at this moment at
| hand stood the mansion of the Morris fam
| lily, maltsters, Of whom our present AmbaS-
! asdor to Japan is a worthy descendant.
But of all these old and still decent alleys
| the one most tenacious Of that nomenclature
| and the one most familiar to the people Of
| today Is WillugS.
At the Third street end OF it, in l7IG,
| Charles Willing, merchant and aferward
| city Councilman and Mayor, erected an
| elegant mansion. In front of this house two
! nnc buttonwOod trees We're planted IN l749
by Thomas Willing and John Palmer They
| grew luXuriantly. and the survivor Of them
was cut down when the Pennsylvania Rail-
| road erected its offices upon the premises
| of the Willing mansion, about 1857.
This alley may never have been a resi-
dcuce street for other fashionable families
but it was traverscd upon Sundays by many
| n SilVcr-buCkled shoe on the way to old ST
paul's Episcopal Church, which fronted the
Third street end for so many years, And
there were others that stopped midway and
turned into the courtyard of old St. Josephs,
which still besses that quiet neighborhood.
! The residence of the Jesuit Fathers, in
charge of the church, even now stands upon
the alleys north side, and at its Fourth street
end may stil be found, on profitable oc-
casions, a character whom poor poet, but
| our own, has thus embalmcd in the song,
| "Cordaylla o the Alley:
| At the corner o. tho alley
| sits COrdaylia McNally.
| At the corner - the alley where the people come
| an go,
| In n pentcnt procession,
| passin to an from confession
| In the oud Church OF st, Joseph that was bulldcd
long ago.
| oh, tits well she knows there's many
| Has the charitable penny
| Moro convenient to their fingers then than any
| other day,
| An her tongue II IL sooth'rin'
| An 50 masthcTful dcludth'rn
| Their, are mortal few whatever she n be lcttip'
| get away,
r. A u