Haycock Becomes a Township

The inhabitants of this unorganized district petitioned for a township several times before they were successful, the first attempt being made soon after 1740 (the walking purchase of 1737 had conveyed this area to William Penn's sons), but the exact year is not known.  They petitioned a second time in December 1745, when they stated that the district contained "twenty dwellers". This petition was denied and the area we know as Haycock township did not become a township until 1762.  There were other petitions presented where the names applied to the area were: Rock Bearry and Mansfield.  In the early years people did not refer to the "hill" in Haycock as Haycock Mountain, it was just called "The Haycock".

The Old Bethlehem Road which runs north and south through Haycock was the main trail leading from the site of Philadelphia to the Lehigh River.  This was the same trail the Minsi Indians used in returning from below to their homes beyond the Blue Mountains.  It is the route suggested for the 1737 walking purchase, but later the route was changed to use Durham Road, (611).  When the Stokes came to Haycock to build their home in 1740 they used this road and when Daniel Nitehaman led his company of one hundred Moravians to Bethlehem in 1742, they traveled this path on foot, with pack horses carrying the necessary implements to commence the new settlement.  The road was turnpike, the second in the county, in 1805-6, and the books were opened for stock at the taverns of George Weaver and William Strawn, at Strawntown, the 11th and 12th of June of that year.  How long this company lasted or how much of the road was under turnpike control is not known at this time. 

In 1768 the son who was born at Stokes Meadow returned to the farm with his wife Susanna. At this time we speculate the summer kitchen was added to the house. John Stokes ( 1747-1809)               and Susanna (1751-1790) had eight children. The family was active in the Richland Friends Meeting.