Born a slave on Bonnie Doon Plantation in Southampton County, Virginia, he lived from 1839-1922. His father, Col. Thomas Ridley III, owned the plantation. Cornelius never knew his mother, and he ran away by himself in the spring of 1861. He made his way to Media, Pennsylvania, probably with the help of the Blackwater Quakers of southeastern Virginia. On his arrival in Media, Isaac and Elizabeth Smedley Yarnall, members of Providence Friends Meeting, took him in and helped him get settled.
Back of card reads: "Thirty minutes by R.R. from Philadelphia. Media and Vicinity. Photographed by Samuel McMullin, Landscape Photographer, No. 1128 South Ninth Street, Philadelphia. Taken by request of James R. Cummins, Residence, Media, Penna."
Back of card reads: "Thirty minutes by R.R. from Philadelphia. Media and Vicinity. Photographed by Samuel McMullin, Landscape Photographer, No. 1128 South Ninth Street, Philadelphia. Taken by request of James R. Cummins, Residence, Media, Penna."
Caption also calls this the Victoria Plush Mill Bridge. This view is looking west into Nether Providence A trolley is shown alongside the bridge. Copy of original photo; source not noted.
The 1882 and 1892 atlases of Delaware County show W. C. Brodhead's Livery stables at this location. The 1910 atlas shows this livery business as Doak's.
"Red Ink" photo, series by same photographer named for red ink used for writing descriptions on reverse side of similarly-mounted images. Location uncertain. Same as P-08012B, except wider crop.
"Red Ink" photo, series by same photographer named for red ink used for writing descriptions on reverse side of similarly-mounted images. Location uncertain. This photo was entered in The John Wanamaker Exhibition of Photographs by Amateurs, February 1908. Same as P08012A, except more tightly cropped and with a border.
The caption for this photo, printed in the Philadelphia Inquirer on April 25, 1906, reads: "Wrecked Safe in Media Post Office: Yeggmen set off a charge that demolished the outer part of the receptacle last night. The inner lining was intact. The robbers were scared away when two young women residing nearby screamed after being awakened by the explosion." A yegg or yeggman is slang for a burglar, particularly for one who breaks open safes. Label on safe reads: Manuf'd by Farrel & Co., Philad'a.
See description at AP-8356. A bottle on a ledge by the safe, somehow unbroken after the explosion, bears this label: Pomeroy's Combined Writing & Copying Fluid. Flows Freely, Will Not Mould. Newark, N.J. One letter sits on the floor in front of the safe.
Henry Pearson, in Middletown Township, Delaware County, Pa. (295), writes that the Pratt/Crooks house stood opposite Cumberland Cemetery on Middletown Road (Route 352).
This may have been taken for a legal case related to the condition of the road, perhaps related to the ditch or drainage that seems to be the focus of this series of pictures, AP-8229-8231.
This may have been taken for a legal case related to the condition of the road, perhaps related to the ditch or drainage that seems to be the focus of this series of pictures, AP-8229-8231.
This may have been taken for a legal case related to the condition of the road, perhaps related to the ditch or drainage that seems to be the focus of this series of pictures, AP-8229-8231.
This may have been taken for a legal case related to the condition of the road, perhaps related to the ditch or drainage that seems to be the focus of this series of pictures, AP-8229-8231.
This may have been taken for a legal case related to the condition of the road, perhaps related to the ditch or drainage that seems to be the focus of this series of pictures, AP-8229-8231.
This may have been taken for a legal case related to the condition of the road, perhaps related to the ditch or drainage that seems to be the focus of this series of pictures, AP-8229-8231.
