In rural Marple in the late 19th century, men of learning were rare. But from 1859 till his untimely death in 1878, the Reverend Beriah Bishop Hotchkin was the most learned man in the Township. He was not a native of the area, but a 3rd generation preacher, from a Revolutionary War soldier turned preacher from Connecticut. He received his degree in theology from Lafayette College, and was ordained as a Presbyterian minister. In 1845 he was named pastor of a church in New Jersey, where he served until called to be the pastor at Marple Presbyterian Church in 1859, arriving with a wife and two adult daughters.
Wife Elizabeth Alice Fitch was a Mayflower descendant of Governor William Bradford. She was described as “a lady of excellent family, of attractive person, engaging manners, and fine natural abilities.” A high class family had moved into Marple! Her son recalled that his mother had heard all three generations of Hotchkins, grandfather, father and her husband, all preach on the same day.
There was no suitable housing for the new minister, so he purchased land on Church Lane (today 61 Church Lane), and a beautiful parsonage was built, within walking distance of the church. Daughters Helen and Alice conducted the private Hillcroft School from 1870 to 1900 at the parsonage. Adult sons Gurdon and Samuel Fitch Hotchkiss enjoyed successful careers as a doctor and 4th generation preacher respectively.
Reverend Hotchkins was, in the words of his son Samuel, “an incessant and useful writer.” His works include Upward from Sin Through Grace to Glory, Manliness for Young Men and Their Well-Wishers, Infidelity Against Itself, The Soldier’s Scrap-Book and A Church Catechism for Children and Youth in the Presbyterian Church.
His most lasting contribution to Marple began when he was irked by having to travel by horse and buggy to the nearest post office in Newtown Square for his mail. “Why don’t we have a post office of our own?” he said to his friend and neighbor, John F. Taylor. Taylor had friends in high places, and so traveled to Washington, DC to ask that question of his friend, Congressman John Broomall. A deal was struck, and the Broomall post office was created, at the general store right up the road from Reverend Hotchkin’s house.
The beloved Reverend and his wife rest today at the Marple Presbyterian cemetery with their two daughters.
For more on the history of Marple, visit the Marple Historical Society website and Facebook page, and join the Society to keep up to date on coming events: www.MarpleHistoricalSociety.org.