The Samuel Given Quarries

Howellville Quarry

The area northeast of Howellville village was an estate owned by the Davis family¹ since 1708. In 1849 Albert K. Davis inherited his father’s estate (John Morton Davis). In 1872 he sold a triangular tract of 11 acres and 122 perches of land to Hugh & John T. McInnes of Philadelphia². This tract was bounded to the north by the Chester Valley Railroad, and the south by Swedesford road. 

This tract is shown as the H. McGinness property on Breou’s 1883 atlas:

Howellville, 1883

Howellville, 1912

It is not clear whether the McInnes’ quarried this tract. Then the executors of the wills of Hugh and John T. McInnes sold the 11 acres to Samuel Given in 1915 ³. In 1917 Emily Given, purchased much of the Davis estate, as is shown on the 1933 atlas extract below⁴. She subsequently purchased 2 other small tracts⁵, after which the Davis family were no longer involved in the property.

Some authors have suggested that Emily Given was Samuel Given’s wife, but in her purchase deeds she is described as a widow, which makes this unlikely.

Ron Sloto describes the subsequent situation⁶: Both of Sam Given’s arms were blown off in a quarry accident, but he continued to run the quarries, which produced crushed stone (Burns, 1949, p. 39). In 1926, Given sold the quarries to W. Ellis Johnson. In 1923, Given purchased the Dougherty quarry at Valley Store in East Whiteland Township and continued to operate that quarry into the 1930s. Johnson called the [Howellville] property the Blue Stone Farm because of the blue color of the limestone. W.E. Johnson, Inc. produced crushed stone and some building stone (Miller, 1925, p. 303). W.E. Johnson, Inc. was purchased by the Warner Company on February 15, 1957 (Daily Local News, February 16, 1957).

Howellville Quarry, 1927

Howellville, 1933

Howellville Quarries

The Valley Store Quarry

In 1882 Henry Jacobs purchased a tract of land in East Whiteland township comprising 22 acres⁶. The tract can be seen on Breou’s 1883 atlas:

Extract from Breou’s Atlas, 1883

Henry Jacobs did not hold on to the land for long and in 1883 sold it to William Bleakley⁷. No sale of the land by Bleakley has been found in the deeds.

Valley Store Quarry, 1927

Valley Store, 1933

The quarry was later sold and expanded under the name The Knickerbocker Quarry.

References

1. See David Meredith tract deed history
2. Chester County Deed D8-244 (7/23/1872). As well as McGinness on Breou’s 1883 atlas, the surname is spelt McInnis on the map and McInnes on the deed.
3. Deed S14-408 (1/11/1915)
4. Deed E15-164 (10/25/1917)
5. Deeds L15-294 (12/28/1918) and Y15-514 (11/3/1921)
6. Limestone Quarries and Iron Mines of the Eastern Great Valley by Ron L. Sloto, TEHS Quarterly, vol. 48, #2
7. Chester County Deed S14-408.
8. Deeds L15-294 (12/28/1918) and Y15-514 (11/3/1921).
9. Deed P9-290, John Davis to Henry Jacobs, 4/27/1882, 22 acres 45 perches.
10. Deed T9-576, Henry Jacobs to William Bleakley, 3/29/1883, 22 acres 45 perches.