bought a plantation near Frankford, in Oxford Township, from members of the Waln family, who had extensive holdings in that neighbourhood, and this estate he called Port Royal after the name of his birthplace in Bermuda. Here he lived in summer, surrounded by his slaves, assuming the state becoming a great shipping merchant, one of the "nobles of Pennsylvania" as John Adams called the prosperous, luxury-loving citizens of Philadelphia whose style of life and elegant establishments completely amazed him when he first came here with his strong New England notions of frugality.

In 1775 the inhabitants of Bermuda, owing to the distress occasioned by the Non-Importation Agreement among the American Colonies, petitioned the Continental Congress for relief from the straits into which they were thrown for lack of supplies that had hitherto been sent from American sources. Congress thereupon granted permission, in November, 1775, to Edward Stiles, to send the Sea Nymph, Samuel Stobel master, laden with certain provisions such as Indian corn, flour, bread, pork, beef, soap, and apples, to Bermuda for the immediate supply of the inhabitants. The cargo was to be considered a part of the annual allowance for the Colony of Pennsylvania for the ensuing year. The exportation, however, was to be under the superintendence of the Committee of Safety, and the people of Bermuda were to pay for the provisions in salt or else they could turn over in exchange arms, ammunition, saltpetre, sulphur, and field pieces. As a Bermudian, it was natural that Edward Stiles should be deeply interested in the condition of affairs in his old home, especially when that try

ing condition was precipitated by the action of the Colony of his adoption.

During the occupation of Philadelphia by the British in the fall and winter of 1777 and 1778, Frankford and the vicinity fared badly under the depredations of the contending armies. Being in the middle ground it was at the mercy of both. This was particularly true of the Port Royal plantation. As an instance of the pillage to which people were subjected, we may cite the case of Mrs. Stiles, who, on December 6, 1777, drove out from the city with a boy servant, having borrowed Henry Drinker's horse for the occasion. Just as she was about to get into her chaise to drive back to town, a troop of British Light Horse came along and took both horse and chaise from her and she was obliged to walk back to the city. Before this the place had been robbed of all the valuable furniture, provisions, coach horses, and eight or ten negro slaves.

By his will Edward Stiles provided that his slaves should be freed and educated at the expense of his estate. It is said, although the story cannot be vouched for, that Stephen Girard, as a young man, was in the employ of Stiles.

In 1853 the Lukens family bought Port Royal House and its plantation from the Stiles family and for some years the Reverend Mr. Lukens conducted a boarding school there. When Frankford became a busy manufacturing centre the desirability of Port Royal House as a place of residence ceased, and its owners moved away, leaving it to whatever tenancy chance might bring.

ANDALUSIA, ON THE DELAWARE, BENSALEM TOWNSHIP, BUCKS Built in 1794 by John Craig; enlarged 1882 by Nicholas Biddle

BENSALEM TOWNSHIP, BUCKS

CRAIG-BIDDLE

POING up the Delaware River by boat, not long after passing Torresdale Landing and about sixteen miles from the city, there suddenly breaks on the view what appears to be the gable end of a gleaming white Greek temple showing out from the thick surrounding foliage. This is the library wing of Andalusia, for more than a century past the home of a branch of the Biddle family.

In 1794, John Craig, a merchant of Philadelphia, bought this tract of land on the river bank. When he acquired the place it was merely a farm. His wife, an Irish lady of great good taste, herself planned the spacious mansion with octagonal ends which Mr. Craig built here.

Nicholas Biddle married the only daughter of John Craig, and Andalusia became his residence about 1810. Born in 1786, Nicholas Biddle attended the University of Pennsylvania and Princeton, graduating in his fifteenth year. His history as a lawyer and financier is too well known to need reiteration. Suffice it to say that he was a man of most cultivated tastes and considerable architectural knowledge and ability. To his Grecian taste the city owes the Custom House, formerly the United States Bank, of which he was president, and also Girard College.

In 1832 Mr. Biddle enlarged Andalusia and added the eastern or Grecian wing which makes such a striking ap