Witness to the Revolution ...

In the northwest corner of , there is a spot in the middle of Darby Creek where Marple, Haverford and Radnor townships all meet. On the Marple side, the original grant of 330 acres had been designated for a Thomas Ellis, but was then purchased by David Morris. 

In 1756, a 36-year-old Irish farmer named William Burns bought the farm, by then containing about 130 acres, and moved there from Upper Providence with his wife Jane Penrose Burns, and their four young children: Joseph, Rachel, Isaac and William Jr.  Radnor and were largely Quaker communities with active meeting houses, and so the Burns family sought and was eventually granted membership at Radnor Friends Meeting in 1758. 

The Quaker meeting was apparently not to their liking as over time each of the family members drifted away. In 1768, William Sr. was “disowned” by the Meeting for failure to attend with the following note:

"Edward Jones Reports he and Nathan Matlack have visited William Burn, and that he seems desirous of being disowned by Friends. After consideration of the case This Meeting disowns him from being a Member of our society until he shall make such application and satisfaction to Friends as the nature of the case requires, and we sincerely desire he may be favored with the divine influence to see the way that is right." Minutes of Radnor Friends Meeting. 

By fall of 1777, the family lived in a stone farmhouse overlooking Darby Creek from the Marple side, to the west of the road to Radnor (to the left on Sproul Road as you head north on Rt. 320 right before you cross the creek). Oldest son Joseph lived nearby and operated a sawmill along the Darby creek. 

In September, the countryside was in an uproar. The previous summer, the country had declared its independence in Philadelphia but now a year later, those chickens had come home to roost. 

The British army had landed 17,000 troops under the command of  General Sir William Howe at the head of the Chesapeake Bay, and they arrived in Pennsylvania in early September. George Washington and his troops had set up a defensive position along the Brandywine Creek to stop the British advance, but with the aid of local sympathizers, the British had snuck across the creek further north, on September 11, 1777, and then marched south and defeated the American troops in a hard fought battle now called Brandywine. 

Both armies took several days to tend to their wounded and rest after the battle, and then were on the move again through the local countryside. The British aim was to cross the last barrier between them and the country’s largest city of Philadelphia, the Schuylkill river. 

Washington’s aim was to stop them at that crossing if possible. Both armies marched and counter marched through the area, probing to find the other’s intentions. Each army had to eat and care for their horses and oxen pulling their supplies. 

The British had marched all the way from the Chesapeake, and so their supply lines were quite long.  And so they took the obvious available shortcut: they requisitioned what they needed from the countryside. And on Thursday,  September 19th, 1777, with the British army camped near Howellville (close to the current intersection of Rt. 252 and 202), they sent out raiding parties to capture horses, cattle and additional supplies for their army. 

Lt. Colonel William Harcourt was the commanding officer of the 16th Queen's Light Dragoons, a light cavalry unit that was used for scouting, and on this day, raiding.  The unit made the rounds of Newtown, Radnor, Haverford, and the tip of Marple where the Burns farm and sawmill were located.  The Burns farms were visited by the Dragoons that day, and sustained large losses:

£

s.

d.

From William Burns, Sr., September 19

56

0

0

From Daniel Cameron

51

16

6

From Joseph Burns, taken by the adherents of the King of Great Britain, September and December

129

5

5

-----

---

---

217

1

11

Farmers in the way of harm that day in each of the four township all reported substantial losses.  A British officer, Capt. John Montressor, summarized the activity on Sept. 19, 1777 as follows:

"Lt. Col. Harcourt with a party of dragoons and Light Infantry made an Excursion on the Philadelphia road and brought in 150 horses, which were much wanted, got from New Town square 6 miles from hence.”

Much more was taken besides horses.  The horses had the greatest value, but claims filed after the war disclosed extensive losses, best summarized on the American side by Nicholas Pechin of Haverford, who added a note to his claim saying “In a word, a number of things too tedious to mention; as not even a spoon left to eat my victuals, nor a comb to comb my hair; bonds, notes and other accounts, writings, &c., &c.”  The claims that were filed significantly undervalued the losses, as the local Quakers, who were opposed to war, largely did not file claims.

William Burns, Jr., 21 years old, was left hopping mad by the raid.  He had still been in the good graces at the Radnor Friends Meeting, but after this raid and a second one in December,  he could not in good conscience turn the other cheek.  He and another local boy, James Lawrence, joined the local militia.  That fact did not escape the Radnor Quakers, and they noted on Christmas Day 1777:

“The Meetings being called, Radnor brings a complaint against William Burn Junr and James Lawrence for going out in the Militia as Warriers, And as we, ever since we were a People, was for bearing our Testimony against War, looking upon it to be Inconsistent with the Peaceable Spirit of the Gospel, we therefore for the Support of our said Principles do disown said William Burn and James Lawrence to be members of our Society untill they come to a sight & Sense of their Error & make this Meeting such satisfaction as the Nature of their case Requires."  Minutes of Radnor Friends Meeting.

Neither William Sr., nor William Jr. ever came to their senses about their “errors”, and they are buried in the St. David’s Episcopal Church cemetery, where fellow "warrier” General Anthony Wayne is buried.  

The local farmers got off easy that day compared to the American troops:  the day after the Newtown raid, General Wayne and his troops were surprised by a midnight British raid of their camp near what is now Malvern Prep.  The British swept into the darkened camp with only bayonets, and took a fearful toll in American lives.  A memorial to the 53 Americans who died that night stands at the mass grave for those soliders in Malvern.  Go to this site for more details:  http://www.ushistory.org/paoli/about/index.htm.

And the Burn’s house that was visited by the British that September?  It is still standing, and in fact is currently for sale.  I biked past it this morning and was reminded of this story.  See the listing for 450 N. Sproul Road as follows: 

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/450-N-Sproul-Rd_Broomall_PA_19008_M44284-84380?source=web .  Contact Keller Williams realtors for details.