Battle of Brandywine

The English Quakers who settled in Bradford Township in the early 1700s were typical of many Chester County residents of the era. They were enterprising, hard-working and deeply religious people, having agreed to follow William Penn’s settlement guidelines, Certaine Conditions or Concessions. As they carved out a living in the rural landscape, they agreed to take care of the region’s natural resources: no clear-cutting of forests or damning of streams without consulting their neighbors. Most of all, before they cultivated farms, established roads or built mills, the settlers agreed to respect the Native Americans whose lands they were about to encroach.