From the Archives

If you have an old photo or a special memory of Hulmeville that you would like to share, contact Tammy Schmid at hulmeville.events@gmail.com.

From the Jan/Feb/March 2024 Newsletter

A little bit of Hulmeville History – Slavery in Hulmeville

Some may be surprised to learn that the institution of slavery was practiced in Hulmeville but in fact, enslaved people lived, worked, had children, were sold, and attempted escaped throughout the 1700s and into early 1800s in Milford Mills which was the name of the village that became Hulmeville. The numbers were small, but the presence of slavery was consistent throughout this era. There were two well documented instances of residents who held enslaved people. Stephen Williams and John Praul and his son both claimed ownership of enslaved people. Williams and Praul were two of the wealthiest men in Middletown Township in the 18 th century and the houses where they lived and kept these enslaved people still stand in Hulmeville today.

Stephen Williams owned the mills along the creek and the house that is now 2 Water Street from the early 1750s through the 1770s. He placed numerous advertisements in Philadelphia newspapers related to enslaved people. Most of the ads reference one man named Plymouth. Plymouth ran away from Williams in 1753 and 1756. From the advertisements he seems to have worked as a miller. He also played the fiddle very well. Plymouth must have been captured and returned because he is advertised for sale in 1758. That same year for some reason he and four other people broke out of the jail in Newtown. It’s possible that’s where he was being held after he had been recaptured. In 1760 Williams didn’t used his name but advertised that he was selling two negro men, one of whom was a miller. In addition to Plymouth, Williams mentions a number of other people that he is selling. The largest number he advertised at one time was in 1758 when he offered a total of six people for sale. The ad (shown above) said he had three negro men, a negro woman and “a negro boy or two.”

While Williams held enslaved people on the banks of the Neshaminy, the Praul family enslaved people on the top of the hill in Hulmeville. The Praul’s owned hundreds of acres of land, mostly in the area that is now the center of Hulmeville. They lived in the house known as Bunting’s Farm or Black’s Farm. John Praul purchased this land and moved onto the property in the 1720s and it stayed in his family for 200 years until the Buntings purchased it in the 1920s. It’s not clear how many enslaved people he had living there with him but as show in his 1771 will depicted above, he left a portion of the house and an enslaved woman name Hager to his wife Jane “to hold to her… forever.” Additionally, his son Peter, who inherited a farm in Southampton, was left an enslaved man named Cato. John Praul’s oldest son who was also named John inherited the farm and house in Hulmeville. He also owned enslaved people. In 1780 Pennsylvania passed a gradual abolition law which required slave owners to register their slaves and to eventually free any children born to enslaved women after 1780. The registration records show that John Praul owned seven enslaved people when he completed his registration. They were Cato (38 yrs.), Jack (35 yrs.), Nan (32 yrs.), Luce (8 yrs.), Jud (6 yrs.) Sam (3 yrs.) and Suk (3 mos.). This John Praul was very wealthy and also a judge on the PA court of common pleas. However, he also had two hundred acres around his home that was farmed, and it is likely that these enslaved people helped with that farm work once they were old enough. It was common for enslaved people to live in a section of the owner’s home and so it’s quite possible that these people lived in the Praul’s house. Another common practice was for them to be buried on the edge of the property in unmarked graves, but we do not know for certain if that was the case on the Praul farm. In the 1790 census John Praul registered only three enslaved people living with him. Documents show that in 1798 John Praul Jr. freed both Luce at the age of twenty-one and Jud, who was eighteen in accordance with the gradual abolition law, but it is unclear what happened with the other five people.

From the July/August/September 2021 Newsletter

Impressions of Summers in the 1970s. Submitted by Kurt Ludwig

Fishing – Anywhere on the Neshaminy Creek was fair game, but the dam behind the Old Colonial Inn on Beaver St. was a prime spot. We would hunt for crayfsh to use as bait in the old Mill Race along Water St. which still had flowing water in it then. At night, we would fsh for catfish, eels & carp with a cornmeal ball and a weight.

Walking through the field to feed the horses on the Black Farm a carrot or an apple Somehow, they always knew when you would be at the fence with a treat for them.

Bikes – Your bike meant the freedom to go anywhere in town, fast. Penndel could be part of your daily patrols. We developed an intimate familiarity with every bumpy manhole cover on the sidewalks before that knowledge was relevant to serving on the Municipal Authority. We would ride on the jeep track that ran through the field on the Black Farm, over the trickle of a creek into the woods. There a network of trails ran crisscross, taking you behind Herbert Hoover Elementary School, or exiting onto the Pennsylvania Ave. extension. If you were feeling adventurous, the off road paradise of the quarry at the terminus of Reetz Ave. promised excitement and danger! A town wide skirmish of Capture the Flag might enlist dozens of Hulmeville kids, with the boundaries of the Borough as the battlefield.

Sports – Basketball on the court behind the Hulmeville School (now Borough Hall), or maybe street hockey. There were always two hoops, but not always two nets... What is now the soccer field we used for basically everything except for soccer. A pickup game of baseball only required a few balls, a couple of bats and a big enough pile of gloves to field one team at a time. There were two homeplate back stops at opposite ends of the field, so the outfield could be dicey if there were two games going at once. Football was also an option, as was frisbee. Where there are now houses on Reetz Ave. was another field, across from what is now Preston’s Garage, but then the old brick Textiles Mill. This could be utilized for overflow sporting activities, if needed.

From the April/May/June 2021 Newsletter

This may look unfamiliar to most, but this is one of the old bridges that spanned the Neshaminy Creek at Trenton Rd. and Hulmeville Rd. next to the old mill. There were several wooden bridges before the one pictured here. The bridge was built in 1899 and was replaced by a concrete bridge in 1918 then subsequently replaced by the current standing bridge in 1989. View seen here is looking toward Bensalem. Notice the wall in the lower left of the photo? A portion of the wall still stands next to the mill behind the monument at Heritage Park. Look for it next time you are out driving!

Click the image for a larger view.

From the November/December 2020 Newsletter

This is an aerial view of Hulmeville taken on March 3, 1950. Main St. is to the right of the photo. Visit Google Maps and go to the satellite view to compare and see how the borough has changed.

Click here to see a Google map view of Hulmeville today.

Click the adjacent photo to see a larger image.

From the September/October 2020 Newsletter

Keeping with the topic of Hulmeville merchant Samuel J. Illick, here are some pictures of his store at 231 Main Street. These photos were probably taken in the late 1930’s or in the 1940’s. Mr. Illick operated general stores at various locations in Hulmeville throughout the early 20th century starting with his store at 214 Main St., then in Johnson Hall (3 Hulme Ave) and finally at 231 Main St.; which is where both photos shown below were taken. The building currently serves as a residence.

Inside of Illick''s store at 231 Main Street

Outside of Illick''s store at 231 Main Street

From the July/August 2020 Newsletter

Samuel J. Illick was a Hulmeville merchant who operated a store first on Main St. before partnering with Edward Henry, Sr. in the early 1900’s where they ran a popular general store in Johnson Hall. Mr. Illick took over the business in 1910 when Mr. Henry passed away. He continued to run his store until new owners took the store over around 1934. Illick's store would deliver groceries to local residence via horse and buggy. Pictured in this photo is Sam Illick, Walter McElwee, and Sam the horse. This photo is taken in the back of Johnson Hall facing Main St

From the May/June 2020 Newsletter

Everyone who lives in Hulmeville has passed this house many times, although it looks slightly different in this photo. This house is at 1 Trenton Ave., right across from the Hulmeville Inn. We don’t know the exact date this photo was taken but it was most likely from the early 20th century. This was the office of the Delaware Valley Advance Newspaper (notice the sign on the front of the house) which was established in 1877. The home was also the early residence of the prominent painter, Edward Hicks and his wife Sarah. The Hicks rented a room here, when Hulmeville was then known as Milford Mills. The home is presently owned by Britt and Marie Bartlett

From the March/April 2020 Newsletter

This is a photo of the General Store at Johnson Hall. It was operated by Samuel Illick who ran the store between 1910-1934. You can see a porch over the general store, which is now home to Johnson Hall Coffee House. Built in 1871 by John Johnson as a general store, meeting place and residence, Johnson Hall has been the host of many businesses throughout the years and thanks to the recent renovations by the current owners, it continues to successfully thrive.

From the Oct/Nov 2019 Newsletter

Here is a photo from our archives. Recognize this place? This is Fricke’s Mill (at the corner of Hulme Ave. and Trenton Rd. and across from the Hulmeville Inn). Date unknown. The photo was taken looking toward the mill at Trenton Rd. from Bellevue Ave. To the right of the mill is the wall leading to the bridge that spans the Neshaminy Creek. Take a good look and you will see a horse and carriage at the base of the bridge wall. Note that the streets are not paved, so we can at least date this photo as being well before 1924 (which is when our town finally had it’s roads paved... we have another photo on THAT subject saved for another issue).

A Blast From Hulmeville's Past

The following is a condensed excerpt from a lengthy piece entitled, "Boyhood in Hulmeville", written May 15, 1972, by former Hulmeville resident, Harry Schneider "Pat" Gill (1897-1982) and provided by former Archivist Don Haefner.

“Hulmeville was the greatest place in the whole world far a boy. As I recall, the first place to go was up to the Hibbs compound (where the fire house is now) where the big feed bins full of grain and all kind of machinery and chutes. At the entrance was a small office and weighing platform and outside, one or two horses were hitched to a beautiful wagon. Inside the office one would find Spence Hibbs dressed in clothes that made him outstanding as did his whole posture and appearance. He was a gentleman, one would never forget. Among the buildings were several skilled men. One was a wheelwright, Alex Crossen, who would take rough oak logs and make the very important wheels, all by hand and muscle. He also made fine furniture. Next was a blacksmith shop, and here many hours were spent watching the huge bellows heat the fire in which were various size horseshoes.

From here a boy would head for Goheen’s (on Green St near the stream) and watch them slaughter beef or kill pigs. The next stop was LaRos harness shop on the opposite side of Trenton Ave. The next stop was the blacksmith shop halfway down Main Street near Oyster Shell Lane (Water Street), where we had our hoops made. Every boy had a hoop to roll. I believe this shop was run by a Civil war veteran, Mr. MacCorkle, who also spoke at school, giving us stories of the Civil War.

The next stop would be Affletbach’s bakery (across Main St from the current Neshamony UMC), and any story without Affleibach’s bakery would be dull, because for 1 cent one could get the best sugar or molasses cookie ever made. And when I say cookie— these were as big as a small pie. Then on Thursday, the fish man would come through with the weirdest sounding horn I ever heard. Then in summer, the melon wagon came through from Mount Holly, NJ, and somehow a couple of melons always fell off. Hulmeville was (along) an artery between Philadelphia and New York, and most cars passed up Trenton Ave. Traffic was heavy when Princeton had a football game.

Perhaps the next stop was Illick’s store (in the current Johnson hall building), another great man one could write a book about. He could be called head of welfare, as no one ever went hungry in Hulmeville. Then we go to lower Trenton Avenue and look into the windows of the home of the great Delaware Valley advance (the site of Britt Bartlett’s home currently), run then by another fine man, William Ellis. As a small boy, I remember seeing the pressmen standing in water over their knees during the flooding of the Neshaminy, running the presses, I am sure by hand. We then go to the old iron bridge on the way to the pond. If it was winter, on the way to the pond, we would stop at the persimmon tree and pick up fruit from the snow. The pond was great for skating, as it was protected from wind and we always had a big fire.”