During the Revolutionary War, Thomas Cheyney of Thornbury Township emerged as a prominent patriot and public servant. While Washington's troops were encamped at Valley Forge, Cheyney said he heard in a dream the words later known as "Squire Cheyney's Dream," a verse remembered for its patriotic spirit. In the prime of his life, with a wife, nine children, and a 150-acre farm, he was highly regarded by his neighbors, who later gave him the honorary title of Squire. On September 11, 1777, as the British Army massed against General Washington's Continental Army near Chadd's Ford, Cheyney warned Washington of a British flanking movement to the north that would have enveloped and destroyed the rebel army. Although Washington delayed acting until his generals verified the threat because he was unsure of Cheyney's allegiance, his response, though not enough to win the battle, saved his army. Soon after casting his lot for independence, Cheyney helped organize and equip the county's militia, was appointed a commissioner to seize Loyalists' property, and took subscriptions to finance the Continental Army. After the war, he served for many years as a justice of peace and was commissioned judge of the Court of Common Pleas. In 1787 he voted at Pennsylvania's Ratifying Convention to adopt the U.S. Constitution, making the state the second to do so. Regarded as Thornbury Township's most eminent citizen of the eighteenth century, he died in 1811 at age 79 and was buried in the family graveyard atop the hill.