"Until about thirty years ago," said the author of the 1909 "Publication No. 5" of the City Historical Society of Philadelphia, "Bainbridge Street bore the aristocratic name of Shippen Street, but it had gained such an unenviable reputation for vice and crime that when its reform was attempted it was thought wise to wipe out its old name with its old record, and Commodore Bainbridge was chosen titular patron." Shippen Street, or Bainbridge Street, as it has indeed been called since 1870, was and is a street in Southwark. It was named for the Shippen family, through whose lands it passed. Though the Commissioners of Survey did not lay it out as a public highway (as Shippen's Lane) until 1787, according to Robert Alotta's work on Philadelphia street names, the public was quite clearly way ahead of the government, as is often the case: quite a few people lived on it even by 1785.
It was not covered by Francis White, and so the only listings would be those of John MacPherson in 1785 and Clement Biddle in 1791. It mostly having been the "lower sort," as they were called, who lived in Southwark and Northern Liberties, they mostly rented, and so moved around a good deal. Therefore, there are few matchups and a good deal of speculation.
SOUTH SIDE
(1785) #1, Sinclair, Robert
(1791) #4 Shippen St., no listing
(1785) #5, Barbrains, Francis
(1791) #6 Shippen St., no listing
(1785) #6, Bevans, Evan
(1791) #8 Shippen St., Ashbourn, John, ship-caulker
(1785) #7, Trested, Richard
(1791) #10 Shippen St., Moore, James, taylor
(1785) #8, Mason, Arabella
(1791) #12 Shippen St., Buoy, James, labourer
(1785) #10, McDonald, Charles
(1791) #16 Shippen St., no listing
(1785) #11, Webster, Richard
(1791) #18 Shippen St., Bell, Thomas, joiner
(1785) #13, Cartwright, Daniel
(1791) #20 Shippen St., Carter, Daniel, cabinet and chair maker
(1785) #14, Dunkin, James
(1791) #22 Shippen St., Duncan, James, carter
(1785) #15, Gore, Samuel
(1791) #24 Shippen St., Snyder, John, labourer
(1785) #16, O'Neil, Henry
(1791) #26 Shippen St., Wilkins, Elizabeth, shopkeeper
(1785) #18, Connelly, Patrick
(1791) #30 Shippen St., Crost, Robert, biscuit baker
(1785) #21, Casleton, Richard
(1791) #36 Shippen St., no listing
(1785) #30, Tremble, Francis
(1791) #46 Shippen St., Keehmle, Jacob, surgeon barber
(1785) #31, Bedwell, Thomas
(1791) #48 Shippen St., Jones, Robert, house carpenter
(1785) #32, vacant or residents would not give name
(1791) #50 Shippen St., Priest, Emanuel, ship caulker
(1785) #33, Moriarty, Dennis
(1791) #52 Shippen St., Nutter, Mary, spinster
(1785) #34, Amer, Mathew
(1791) #54 Shippen St., Wharton, Joseph, Esq., also at 56 Spruce St.
(1785) #35, Hall, John
(1791) #56 Shippen St., Ramsey, Charles, labourer
(1785) #36, Moffet, John
(1791) #60 Shippen St., Stacy, John, innkeeper
(1785) #37, Lisle, Henry
(1791) #62 Shippen St., Butler, Joseph, cordwainer
(1785) #40, vacant or residents would not give name
(1791) #64 Shippen St., Powell, Ann, seamstress
(1785) #41, Debost, Charles
(1791) #66 Shippen St., no listing
(1785) #42, Mease, Mrs.
(1791) #68 Shippen St., Wymer, George, taylor
(1785) #44, Conrad, Henry
(1791) #70 Shippen St., Marker, Frederick, taylor
(1785) #45, Rhodes, Widow
(1791) #72 Shippen St., Rhoads, Ann, seamstress
(1785) #46, Dickson, Patrick
(1791) #74 Shippen St., no listing
(1785) #49, no listing
(1791) #80 Shippen St., Stoots, William, taylor
(1785) #50, no listing
(1791) #82 Shippen St., Sermon, Benjamin, mariner
(1785) #51, Ignew, John
(1791) #84 Shippen St., Reese, Jacob, labourer
(1785) #52, Treiner, Peter
(1791) #86 Shippen St., Jemmison, John, labourer
(1785) #53, Chapman, William
(1791) #88 Shippen St., Chapman, William, labourer
(1785) #54, Brown, John
(1791) #90 Shippen St., Brown, John, mariner
(1785) #55, Logan, John
(1791) #92 Shippen St., Barrett, James, mariner
(1785) #57, Treger, John
(1791) #94 Shippen St., no listing
(1785) #58, Caldwell, William
(1791) #96 Shippen St., Davis, William, cordwainer
(1785) #60, Durie, John
(1791) #100 Shippen St., Eckart, Conrad, labourer
(1785) #62, Davis, Griffiths
(1791) #106 Shippen St., Dixon, Patrick, constable
(1785) #63, Matson, Israel
(1791) #108 Shippen St., Copeland, Margaret, schoolmistress
(1785) #74, Brown, James
(1791) #130 Shippen St., no listing
(1785) #78, vacant or residents would not give name
(1791) #138 Shippen St., no listing
(1785) #84, Wiser, Jacob
(1791) #150 Shippen St., no listing
NORTH SIDE
As above, many of these listings are quite speculative.
(1785) #240, Lasher, Leonard
(1791) #123 Shippen St., no listing
(1785) #247, Lasher, Frederick
(1791) #109 Shippen St., no listing
(1785) #248, Menafelt, John
(1791) #107 Shippen St., Jemmison, John, cooper
This alignment is a guess at best, based on numbering.
(1785) #259, Jackson, Nathaniel
(1791) #93 Shippen St., no listing
(1785) #270, Timmins, Philip
(1791) #71 Shippen St., Timmons, Philip, innkeeper
(1785) #271, no listing
(1791) #69 Shippen St., Lyndall, Richard, carter
(1785) #274, Ingles, Silas
(1791) #66 Shippen St., Engles, Silas, house carpenter, also at 236 S. 3rd St.
(1785) #278, Anderson, Thomas
(1791) #63 Shippen St., Anderson, Thomas, sea captain
(1785) #279, vacant or residents would not give name
(1791) #61 Shippen St., no listing
(1785) #280, vacant or residents would not give name
(1791) #59 Shippen St., no listing
(1785) #282, Quality, Widow
(1791) #55 Shippen St., Low, Nicholas, mariner
(1785) #285, Pew, Thomas
(1791) #53 Shippen St., Pusey, Joshua, gentleman
(1785) #286, Evans, Widow
(1791) #47 Shippen St., McMullen, William, silversmith
(1785) #287, Crow, Elizha
(1791) #45 Shippen St., Crowell, Elisha, pilot
(1785) #288, Valentine, Henry
(1791) #43 Shippen St., Woodman, Joseph, mariner
(1785) #289, Meirikins, Peter
(1791) #41 Shippen St., Miercken, Peter, sugar refiner
(1785) #294, McKay, George
(1791) #35 Shippen St., Morris & Miercken, sugar refiners
(1785) #295, Hyatt, Ephraim
(1791) #33 Shippen St., no listing
(1785) #296, Roan, Culip
(1791) #31 Shippen St., Rigley, Frances, spinster
(1785) #297, Lasham, John
(1791) #29 Shippen St., Weatherby, Benjamin, cooper
(1785) #298, Price, William
(1791) #27 Shippen St., no listing
(1785) #300, Boker, John
(1791) #23 Shippen St., Skellen, William, bricklayer
(1785) #302, Timmins, Daniel
(1791) #19 Shippen St., Smith, Robert, sail maker
(1785) #303, Brawdy, Alexander
(1791) #17 Shippen St., Humphreys, Clement, deputy inspector of lumber
(1785) #304, Thomson, William
(1791) #15 Shippen St., Falconer, Joseph, labourer
(1785) #305, Black, Mr.
(1791) #13 Shippen St., Burkelow, Samuel, watch maker
(1785) #306, Kahan, William
(1791) #11 Shippen St., Harris, James, cordwainer
(1785) #308, Backlow, Peter
(1791) #9 Shippen St., Donnelly, Patrick, labourer
(1785) #309, McDugal, John
(1791) #7 Shippen St., Ferguson, Elizabeth, beerhouse
(1785) #310, Harges, Jacob
(1791) #5 Shippen St., Webster, Richard, labourer
(1785) #311, Morrison, William
(1791) #3 Shippen St., Marshall, Francis, plasterer
(1785) #313, Darby, Daniel
(1791) #1 Shippen St., no listing
NOTES:
According to the 1909 "Publication No. 5" of the City Historical Society of Philadelphia, the market that once occupied Bainbridge Street from 3rd Street to 5th Street was opened in 1834, and was named, first, the Washington Market, and then the New Market, though this term was also used to refer to one or more street markets in Northern Liberties, giving rise to the name of that neighborhood's New Market Street.
The same publication had this to say about the Presbyterian church on Bainbridge Street:
"The Associate Presbyterian Church of Scotland, known as the Seceders, or Secession Church,
arose in 1733, but it had no organization in Philadelphia until 1751, and it was not until
1766 that the first minister of the Burgher Congregation, the Rev. David Telfair, arrived
here. About a year later a piece of land and a farm home were bought on the south side of
Bainbridge Street, east of Fourth Street. The house was for the use of the minister's
family, as well as for public worship, and later when altered, contained a hall 27 feet by
40 feet, which served as a meeting house until the death of the pastor, David Telfair, in
1789, when it became an auction room.
{The Bainbrige Street church is always spoken of as the Old Scots Presbyterian
Church, and must not be confused with the Scots' Presbyterian Church, founded later by the
Rev. John Marshall, on Spruce Street, above Third. The two congregations united about 1782,
and the title for the old burying ground on Shippen Street, adjoining the church, was in the
congregation of the Spruce Street church. The graveyard (on Bainbridge Street adjoining
the church) was known as the "Margaret Duncan Ground." The origin of the name is uncertain.
Margaret Duncan was the mother-in-law of David Telfair, and it is thought she may have given
the ground in 1753. At any rate, she was buried there in 1802 by the side of her husband,
Isaac, who had died in 1770. This was the same Margaret Duncan who devised the ground for
the Margaret Duncan, or "Vow" Church, on Thirteenth Street, above Market Street. The story
runs that once on returning from Scotland the ship on which she was a passenger lost its
course. Provisions becoming exhausted, lots were drawn to see who should be sacrificed
to sustain the rest. The lot fell upon Margaret Duncan, who made a vow that if spared she
would erect a church. Shortly after[,] the ship signed land[,] and the "Vow Church" was the
result of her deliverance.
"About 1892 the old graveyard on Bainbridge Street was cleaned out and the Columbia
Building (328-30 Bainbridge Street) erected upon the site. That the remains of Margaret
Duncan and David Telfair were removed elsewhere we can scarcely doubt, yet no record seems
to have been kept of the fact, and the books of the Mt. Moriah Cemetery, where they are
said to have been interred, fail to mention these burials."
Publication No. 5 continued: "In very early days Shippen Street was eminently respectable, and it was at the southeast corner of Shippen and Penn (now Water) Streets that Thomas Penrose, a member of the well-known Penrose family, built his home in 1755." His grandfather Bartholomew Penrose had built the shipyards near Front and Market Streets in 1706, which Thomas inherited, and when in 1762 England declared war on Spain, the shipyards built the warship "Hero" in seventy-two days. "At the time of the Revolution the Penroses were occupying their house on Shippen Street, and it is said that at every alarm of the coming of the British, Mrs. Penrose buried her silver in the garden adjoining the house on the south side, except the spoons which, with her valuable papers, were hidden among the works of a tall old eight day clock. When the English finally occupied Philadelphia the Penrose family was greatly disturbed to learn that a Hessian chaplain was to be quartered upon them. This Hessian, however, contrary to expectations, proved to be in no way objectionable and became a firm friend of the family. He was given the second story front room, where he received much company, and where he married one hundred couples."