A Brief History of Vetta Whiteland Township bestia bo Naa PENNSYLVANIA Urea UCN rhA Brief History of East Whiteland Township CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, 1765 - FEBRUARY 26 - 1965 J. GILMORE WILSON %FOREWORD Counties} townships, or the smallest communities, like in— dividuals, may be old in years yet young and vibrant in spirit; possessing, as could well be said, the power of perennial youth. Many world-shaking events were taking place when our forefathers began coming to this country. The years between Martin Luther ‘end the Cromwellian revol? were fraught with political and econo- mic turmoil that had widespread repercussions. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse had been riding roughshod over all Europe. Yet during this period Jamestown, Virginia, was settledand the Pilgrims established themselves at Plymouth, Massachusetts. In 1624 the Dutch built Fort Nassau on the lower Delaware, and the Swedes, in 1638, constructed a log Trading Post across the river in Pennsylvania. The Dutch moved up toward Philadelphia and into the Germantownarea. The Swedes went into New Jersey, and some traveled up the Schuykill River and settled on its banks as far west as Pottstown. At Douglassville stands the stoneruins of the OldSwedes House dated 1714, which replaced an earlier logcabin such as the Swedes knew how to buildand which they had introduced into this country. These movements were somewhatsiowed down by the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 which terminated the Thirty Years War. This prolonged conflict left a devastated Europe. England emerged os the greatest power of the time, while Sweden and Holland became second-rate nations. Jamestownand Plymouth in themeantime had become suc- cessful colonies. England claimed the entire Atlantic seacoast from New England to Virginia on the basis of the voyage of the Cabots in 1497-'98, extending as far south as the 38th parallel. The small settlements along the Delaware reverted to the British Crown and for a time were under the control of the Duke of York. To pay off a debt to Adniral Penn, the Crown granted the Admiral's son, William, the land which we now know as Pennsy~ Ivania. The grant was very vague and the boundary lines i This is the background and the environment which when Penn arrived at Upland in October, 1682 and it is ginning of our story. 2 It is the saga ofa people who cut # forded the streams tostart a new li E