Washington House

This ancient hostelry was erected on a part of the twenty acres which by patent dated May 31, 1686, the commissioner for William Penn conveyed to James Sandelands. In 1720, Sandelands sold the land to John Wright, he in turn conveyed it to William Pennell, he to James Trego, who died the owner of the ground. In 1746, Aubrey Bevan purchased the lot, which had been used to pasture cattle, from the widow and son of Trego. In the following year Aubrey Bevan erected the present hotel building and gave it the title " Pennsylvania Arms," as will be seen by an inspection of his will. He was an active and leading citizen of Chester, and the structure, considering the time when it was built, evidences fully the progressive spirit which controlled his efforts. Aubrey Bevan died in 1761, and by will devised this property to his daughter, Mary; she, together with her husband, William Forbes, by deed dated April 1, 1772, conveyed the estate to William Kerlin, a wealthy man, as wealth was then regarded, and a fervent Whig during the Revolutionary struggle. After the evacuation of Philadelphia by the British army, Kerlin named his hostelry " The Washington House," a name it has been continuously known by to this day. Gen. Washington often, in passing through Chester on his way to and from Mount Vernon to the seat of government in New York and Philadelphia, stopped at this hotel, and on those occasions a certain room, the best in the house, was assigned to his use. The ancient mahogany chairs which stood in the room occupied by the first President during these visits are still preserved among the descendants of William Kerlin. He took an active part in the discussion from 1780 to 1786 respecting the proposed removal of the county-seat to West Chester, and after the county-seat had been finally removed from Chester he labored energetically to bring about the formation of the present county of Delaware. Kerlin did not remain mine host of the Washington House until his death, for by his will, proved April 29, 1805, he alluded, in his devise to his daughter, Sarah Piper, to " the tavern house" being at that time " in the tenure of Isaac Tucker." Maj. Joseph Piper, who held a position in the Philadelphia custom-house, under Gen. Steele, the then collector, after the death of his father-in-law resigned his office, removed to Chester, and kept the Washington House, owned by his wife, until his death, in 1827. It is related that Maj. Piper, being in Chester, saw Sarah Odenheinier, — formerly Sarah Kerlin, — a well-formed, blooming widow, on horseback, and was so impressed with her appearance that he wooed, won, and wedded her for his wife. After his death his widow continued the business at the hotel for several years, but ultimately becoming weary of it, she leased the premises to Evan S. Way, who had formerly kept a tavern in Nether Providence. He was a conspicuous man in the military affairs of the county a half-century ago, an officer in the Delaware County troop, and kept the hotel until he was elected sheriff, in 1837.

The house was then rented to Maj. Samuel A. Price. He was a genial gentleman, who is yet remembered by many of our old residents, an earnest politician, and in 1834 was elected sheriff of the county. In early life he was noted for his manly beauty. An interesting item respecting the old hostelry during Maj. Price's occupancy was related in The Delaware County Advocate several years ago. The article stated that Gen. Harrison, in 1840, after he had received the Whig nomination for the Presidency, was returning from Washington, accompanied by a number of gentlemen from New York, stopped for dinner at the Washington House, and while there received the congratulations of the citizens of Chester. After dinner had been served the cloth was drawn, wine, as usual on such occasions, was placed on the table, and several toasts were drunk. It was observed that Harrison drank water, and being thereupon pressed to take wine, he rose and said, " Gentlemen, I have refused twice to partake of the wine cup ; that should have been sufficient; though you press the cup to my lips, not a drop shall pass their portals. I made a resolve when I started in life that I would avoid strong drink, and I have never broken it. I am one of a class of seventeen young men who graduated, and the other sixteen fill drunkards' graves, all through the habit of .social wine-drinking. I owe all my health, happiness, and prosperity to that resolution. Will you urge me now?" The circumstance and remarks made by Harrison were related by one of the gentlemen present nearly forty years afterwards, hence the language used on that occasion may not be accurately reported, although the substance is doubtless correctly rendered. Sarah Piper, by her will, proved Sept. 13, 1841, directed that " the tavern-house and thereto belonging, be sold within one year after my decease." In compliance with that request, although there was a longer interval than one year, her executors sold, April 2, 1844, the premises to Henry L. Powell, who in turn, October 11th of the same year, conveyed it to Edward E. Flavill. Mr. Flavill conducted the hotel as a temperance house, and Samuel West, an earnest temperance advocate, employed Edward Hicks, a Quaker artist, to paint a swinging sign, — one side presenting a delineation of Penn's landing at Chester, and the other Penn's treaty with the Indians, — which he presented to the landlord. This old sign, still in good preservation, is owned by the present proprietor of the Washington House, Henry Abbott. The business proving unremunerative, Flavill sold the property, Jan. 1, 1849, to Thomas Clyde. Mr. Clyde had formerly kept an extensive country store at the northeast corner of Market Square, the building now owned and occupied by John C. Williams, and the eating-house of Mr. Dixon, adjoining, having been erected by him for his dwelling and store. He was also largely interested in quarries on Ridley Creek. Mr. Clyde continued the hotel as a temperance house with indifferent success for over nine years, when he conveyed the property, April 12, 1856, to John G. Dyer. Mr. Dyer had formerly been a clerk in the store of the late Joshua P. Eyre, and subsequently had carried on the dry-goods and grocery business in Philadelphia, Chester, and Rockdale, was customs-officer at the Lazaretto, and was connected with the late James Campbell in the manufacture of cotton goods at Leiperville. He was a man of fine conversational powers, possessing a ready, copious vocabulary and pleasing address, which particularly fitted him for the business of keeping a hotel. He died Oct. 26, 1881. In 1868, John G. Dyer conveyed the estate to Samuel A. Dyer, and he, June 1, 1871, sold it to Henry Abbott, who still owns the property, and is the popular host of the Washington House at this time. In 1883, Henry Abbott, Jr., at an outlay of many thousand dollars modernized the old structure internally, and made extensive additions in the rear of the building, preserving, however, its time-honored appearance on Market Street.[bib]703[/bib]