Milford chronicle., 1931-02-06

, market price at that time was from
ten to twelve dollars a thousand foi
lumber; taking three days for {
team and driver to deliver a thous-
and feet. And at the present time
the trucks loading four or five
thousand feet make a round trip tC
Philadelphia in twelve hours, a dis
tance of one hundred and thirty
miles. What change.
The Town OF SelbyViIle
The town of Selbyville now stands
on the land once owned by the pio-
neer Arthur McCabe. Sandy Branch
was a tract of land containing about
two hundred and fifty acres which is
incorporated in the town of Selby-
Vile The land was divided between
his three sons, w. S. McCabe's part
being on the east side of the old In
dian Trail, or Kings Highway as it
was called when this country was
ruled by the King of England. The
road is now called the main street
in Selbyyille. Amos McCabes part
on the west side of the said street,
and John d. McCabe's part on each
side of the railroad. w. S. McCabe,
the smallest land heir, his father
started him in country store about
! 1850 He was operating the store
and farming at the same time. If
you wanted anything from the store,
you had to call McCabe from the
! field. He would hitch his horse to
the fence and come wait on you,
lock the door and go back to his
work i'm the field. This business con
tinued until 1867. I was a young
man not quite twcnty-Onc and a
house carpenter by trade, at the
time when w. S. McCabe said to me,
d. J. Long, let us see if we can't
start some business here. l will sell
you one acre of land off the corner
of my field which was in the woods
at that time for twenty-five dollars. |
You build a dwelling and start a
wheelwright shop and l will build !
a dwelling and start blacksmith |
shop. l thought of the offer and de- |
cided to buy the acre of land, the |
day I was twenty-one, which was |
December 6, 1867, and is now owned /
by Mrs Bet DcrricksOn and Elijah |
Lynch. The next year we built as
we had planned to do. rented mine
to Alfred Clendaniel and Mr.. Nc
Cabe rented his to John Dukes.
About that time two bachelors nam
ed Davis and Williams bought a lot
on the west side of the said road and
started store. In 1890, !, ID. J.
Long, bought two lots of w. S. Nc
Ca.be and built the house | now oc
cupy Along came Elizabeth and
Addie Furman, two young ladies
who bought lot on the west side Of
the road and started a millinery
shop. In 1871 | sold my first house
and lot to Sacker Murray, and in
1872 l bought two lots of John Davis
& Brother, and built two houses;
traded one with Levin McCabe for
piece of timber land, and sold-tbe~
other one to Asbury Murray. In 1873
John Davis & Brother bought the
Amos McCabe tract of land and had
part of it laid off in building lots,
with two streets to be opened when
needed. In the spring Of 1874 they
opened an alley about one hundred
yards and put a gate across it, to
give his tenant a chance to get out,
which is Church Street now. John
Davis built a house on the north
side of the alley for himself; l built
one ON the south side of the alley
for Frank Hickman. Clendaniel
built one for Jane Hickman on the
south side of the alley.e~.
In 1874 the railroad was extended
from Georgetown to the Delaware
and Maryland line Then the ques-
tiOn arose whether the depot should
be on the line between the two
States, or abreast of SeIbyville,
which was a half-mile from the line.
John McCabe, owning the land
abreast of Selbyville, didn't want to
give the land for the depot. He had
to give the right of way to the rail
road which split his farm His bro
ther, w. S. McCabc, thought the de-
pot should be in front of Selbyville,
SO he bought the land where thc de-
pot now stands from his brother; for
one hundred dollars and gave il to
the railroad company. Then the gate
across the alley was done away
with, and the street opened up to
the depot which is Church Street
now. Albert Parker bought the first
lot and built after the street was
opened in 1874. John Davis & Bro
lher sold to Levin Davis what land
they owned OH the south side of
Church Street. Then | traded a
piece of timber land with Davis for
i've lots and some cash. The selling
price of the lots was $33.33h a lot,
One lot faced Main Street and four
lots faced Church Street.
About that time Levin and Harb
Holloway bought lot and built on
Main Street, and I, d. J. Long,
bought a lot and built on Main
street and sold to Captain Thomas
Rogers, which at present is the
property of widow Watson About
hat time ] leased my corner lot to
ie0rge Evans. He built a small
store house aud ran il for while,
hen sold the store house to me.
rhen | rented it to |. w. Long for
several years. | sold fifty foot fac
ng on Church Street to Isaiah
3reasure for $4,000, then sold the
'emainder of the lot to l. w. Long,
or $4,000; later the building was
destroyed by fire and the vacant lot
vas sold for $5,0O0.00; which proves
he old saying there are people who
ave acres of diamonds but cannot
&c them