382 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 



was constructed, a village has sprung up near that road, and 

 some improvements have been made in the old part of the town. 

 During the fishing season large quantities of shad and herring 

 are sold here as well as at Chester. 



The first establishment of St. Martin's Chiirch at Marcus 

 Hook has already been noticed. It did not bear the name of 

 St. Martin's till 1760, when that name was suggested in inci- 

 dental commemoration of Walter Martin, the donor of the lot 

 upon which it stands. In 1745 the first erected frame church 

 was replaced by a brick edifice, which in its turn, after under- 

 going various modifications, was replaced by the present credit- 

 able building in 1846. In this church-yard is the tomb of 

 Elizabeth Smith, who was born in 1699 and died in 1802, aged 

 103 years. She saw parts of three centuries. 



Besides the Episcopal church there is a neat Baptist church 

 constituted in 1789, and a Methodist church located at Marcus 

 Hook, and two Friends' meeting-houses in Upper Chichester. 



BETHEL. 



Bethel is the smallest of the original townships, and is yet 

 the smallest township in the County except Tinicum. The 

 name of the township, for anything that is known to the con- 

 trary, was imported directly from Palestine. The word is said 

 to signify " House of God," Beth being the name of the second 

 Hebrew letter, which is made after the fashion of a Hebrew 

 house. ^ Bethel Hamlet had an existence at a very early date, 

 and was probably composed of the first rudely constructed 

 dwellings of the early immigrants, who built them near together 

 for safety. 



In 1683 a constable was appointed for " Concord liberty." 

 This included Bethel, which is first named as a township that 

 year. The two townships constituted one municipal district for 

 several years, and it is difficult to ascertain the precise time 

 when Bethel was organized separately. There are two churches 

 in Bethel, both belonging to the Methodists. 



CONCORD. 



This township was originally laid out in a rectangular form, 

 and the author has not learned when or for what reason the 

 irregular portion to the S. W. was appended. The name pro- 

 bably had its origin in the harmonious feelings of some of the 

 first settlers. 



The land for a Friends' meeting at Concord and a grave-yard 

 was conveyed, or rather leased to trustees by John Mendenhall 



1 Philip's New World of Words. 



