The Northern Liberties Neighborhood: Henry Disston's Start in America

Henry Disston arrived in Philadelphia in 1833 after a two month crossing from England with his father and sister.  As noted in the previous article, Thomas Disston died three days later, leaving the teenagers orphaned and in what would seem a difficult position.  The Disstons were not hopeless, though.  They were staying with acquaintances the Disston parents knew from England, the William Quantrells, who owned a grocery store at 124 N. 3rd Street in the Northern Liberties section of the city.  The Quantrells helped find Henry employment as a saw maker's apprentice with William and Charles Johnson, where he stayed for the next seven years.  Marianna Disston would live with the Quantrells until she was married. 

After having traveled so far, Henry Disston was to stay in a remarkably narrow sphere for the next 14 years of his life.

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When you see on a map what a small world Disston lived in, it's easy to see how his work and personal life progressed the way it did.  To get a sense of how Disston started out in America, imagine stepping out of the building that was the Quantrells shop and residence (red letter "A" on the map).   We'll take the scenic route.  Walk out their door, turn right and walk down 3rd Street.  Turn left at Arch Street.  Walk past the Betsy Ross house, which is on your left, just before Bread Street.  (Although the famous seamstress lived there in the 1770's, it would not have been a landmark until the 20th century)  Turn right at 2nd Street.  Walk past Christ Church, where Benjamin Franklin worshipped, and turn right onto Church Alley.  Number 17 was the Johnson Brothers' shop (B), located somewhere along that one block.  That's a three or four minute walk.  In the 1840's, Charles Johnson produced saws at a location on the parallel street, Legrange, and later with William Conaway in a shop on Cherry Street (C).

After leaving the Johnsons' employ in 1840, Henry Disston married Amanda Bickley, who lived with her mother and brother on New Street (G).  He opened his first shop on Arch Street, somewhere on the block "below 2nd Street" (D), according to his brother-in-law and first apprentice, David Bickley.  Soon Disston moved his shop to 21 Bread Street (F), located near Fetter Lane.  He was listed in the Philadelphia directory at that address in 1842.  By 1844 they moved to 99 Mulberry Street (E) -- the name later was changed to Arch Street.  In his 1890 written statement, published in the trade journal Manufacturer and Builder, Bickley had the chronology reversed for the second and third locations of their shop.  By the time he written his short memoir, he had been hammering saws for fifty years.

During their second year of marriage, Disston's wife fell in their house and died from her injuries in January 1842.  The following year he married Mary Steelman at St. George's Methodist Church (H), which still stands at the corner of 4th and New Streets.  Mary was born in Atlantic County New Jersey, and her family remained there.  There is no record of where in Philadelphia she lived before meeting Henry, but her cousin Benjamin Leeds owned a shoe store at 186 2nd Street (J), which was across the courtyard from the back of Disston's shop on Bread Street.  Henry and Mary Disston lived on 5th Street, shown at the far left edge of the map, which is now the location of the U.S. mint.

By 1846, Henry Disston's saw business had grown enough that he needed a larger shop with a steam engine to run machinery.  This is what prompted his move from Northern Liberties to the Kensington section, about a mile to the north.  This move will be described in another article.