CHAPTER  I.
 

FROM TLIE DISCOVERY OF THE DELAWARE TO THE ARRIVAL OF

ENGLISH IMMIGRANTS.
 

1609    TO    167'8.
 

Bucks an original county.—Size and situation.—Hudson's discoveries.—County first
traversed by Europeans.—Holland plants settlements.—First settlers.—New Al¬
bion.—The Swedes arrive.—The English appear.—Van DerDonk.—Lindstrom.—
Dutch drive out Swedes.—The English seize the Delaware.—Government estab¬
lished.—William Tom.—Overland communication.—Richard Gorsuch.—Gover¬
nor Lovelace visits Delaware.—George Fox.—Sir Edmund Andros.—William
Edmonson.—Wampum.—Settlers arrive.—First grand jury.—Lands surveyed.—
Population.—Burlington island.

Bucks County, one of the three original counties of Pennsylvania,
is bounded on the northeast and southeast by the Delaware, south¬
west by Philadelphia, and ]\Iontgomery county, and on the north by
Lehigh and Northampton counties. The surface is uneven and
rolling;, and the soil fertile. It is watered by several tributaries of
the Delaware, the principal of which are the Neshaminy, Penny-
pack, Poquessing, Tohickon, and a branch of the Perkiomen which
empties into the Schuylkill. Limestone in large quantities is found
in the central region of the county, and valuable deposits of iron ore
in that section and in the northeast. The inhabitants are almost ex¬
clusively employed in agricultural pursuits. In 1790 the population
was 25,401; 1800, 27,496; 1810, 32,371; 1820, 37,842; 1830,
45,745; 1840, 43,107, and 64,336 in 1870. The length is forty
2