SNIPPETS
of History – Volume 1

Link to contents of “HATBORO-Images of America”

Link to Snippets Vol. 2, Nos. 400 - …

Summaries, quotes and quips by Gerald D. Ames, Editor of the Grist for The Millbrook Society, Hatboro, PA.

Should one wish to search this file, use of your browser word search provides an easy and quick method.

1. Van Doren, Carl. “Benjamin Franklin”. [No summary] [Additional biography from the Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia attached]

 

2. Pena, Abe. “Memories of Cibola”. New Mexico Univ. Press. 1997. P.83: Sister Lydia Mendoza at Regis Univ. Sister of Loretto- teaches. Pena’s father, Pablo sang: En una mesa te puse, Una ramillete de flores, Maria, no seas ingrata, Regalame tus amores (I placed for you on the table, a bouquet of flowers. Maria, don’t be ungrateful, Give me your love).P.164: Acuma, NM is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the U.S.

 

3. --. ALPHA FIVE for @ Windows95/NT. The program originally use setting up this file.

 

4. Gearino, G.D. “Counting Coup”. SIMON & SCHUSTER. 1997. Told in the first person of someone very like himself(?), Gearino tells the story as if by a mercurial, self-depreciating, marginal, albeit Pulitzer Prize Winner, newspaper feature writer. “From Voltaire to Vonnegut, comic authors have created naive characters through whom they cast satirical light upon the foibles of whatever folk they want to make fun of. Voltaire did it in France. Vonnegut did it in Indiana. Now newspaperman and author G. D. Gearino has done it in Georgia.... Gearino has produced a tasty satire, seasoned with a side dish of Southern revenge.” --Winston-Salem Journal. Benjamin Franklin also used the method very effectively.

 

5. Gladding, Effie Price. “ACROSS THE CONT’T by THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY”. New York BRENTANO’S. 1915. Full photocopy record as well as notes.

 

6. Scharr, Adela Riek. “Sisters In The Sky Vol. 1. Patrice Press, Inc.. . The early-WW2 experiences of a St. Louise ferry pilot who became the first woman to fly the deadly P-39 Aircobra.

 

7. Scharr, Adela Riek. “Sisters In The Sky Vol. 2”. Patrice Press, Inc.. . The veteran pilot ferries the P-51 Mustang from California to New Jersey, time and again.

 

8. --. “Lincoln Highway, the Automobile Quarterly”. Brochure, folded. Lincoln Highway case file.

 

9. Langdon, Philip. “Westward on the Old Lincoln Highway”. American Heritage Vol. 46/No. 2. Photocopied section of American Heritage Magazine.

 

10. Lavender, David. “Westward Vision”. McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc.. 1963. This is the fifth book in the American Trails series. Lavender tells of the beginnings of the Oregon Trail, which at least physically, had its origin in St. Louis and, with its several branches, traveled through Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, south Dakota, Montana, and Idaho, to Oregon. Selected photocopied pages.

 

11. Brooke, Bob. “Wagon Tracks West”. Wild West Magazine. 1993. Missionary/physician Marcus Whitman’s advice to his weary fellow travelers along the Oregon Trail was simple and to the point: “Keep traveling! If it is only a few miles a day. Keep moving!” Photocopied article.

 

12. Kimball, Stanley B. “Historic Resource Study—Mormon Pioneer”. USDI/NPS. Photocopies of some pages showing old maps.

 

13. Hokenson, Drake. “The Lincoln Highway”. U. of Iowa Press. 1995. 1951. Ames notes + some photocopied pages.

 

14. Stegner, Wallace. “The Gathering of Zion”. McGraw-Hill, Inc. Ames notes. Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. 1995. Printed copy.

 

16. Colton, Joel. “Parkman, Francis”. Grolier Electronic Publishing. 1995. Printed copy in the file drawer.

 

17. West, Eliott. “Bozeman Trail”. National Park Service. http://www.nps.gov/

 

18. --. “Missouri State History”. Grolier Electronic Encyclopedia. Print Summary in History Drawer.

 

19. --. “Wyoming State”. Grolier CD encyclopedia. Printed copy.

 

20. --. “Casper”. Grolier Electronic Encyclopedia. Printed Copy.

 

21. --. “Facts About Idaho”. Grolier Electronic Encyclopedia. Printed Copy.

 

22. --. “Boise”. Grolier Electronic Encyclopedia. Printed Copy.

 

23. West, Elliott. “Fitzpatrick, Thomas”. Grolier Electronic Encyclopedia. Printed copy.

 

24. Allen, John L.. “Fremont, John C.”. Grolier Electronic Encyclopedia. Printed copy.

 

25. Duncan, David. “Pedaling the Ends of the Earth”. SIMON & SCHUSTER. 1985. Four young fellows ride bikes around the world, starting in Madrid, David Duncan, his brother, Don, Jim Logan and David French cross Spain, France, Italy, then from Jerusalem to Cairo and down to Khartoum. Looping in Africa here back up to Port Sudan and Jeddah. They fly then to Karachi and bike to New Delhi and on to Katmandu. Then they hop down and ride the peninsula to Singapore. They fly up to Japan and ride the upper half of the Country. Now they fly the Pacific and ride the US southern route and back to WDC.

 

26. Roberts, Steven K.. “Computing Across America”. 1988. This is a Bicycle Odyssey of A high-tech Nomad, that I Read in late 1997. Roberts is a true troubadour of the road. He is not care free, however, as he many times referred to the constraints and worry to be able to continue due to publishing deadlines and money flow. Some worries were debts to get the equipment made and purchased to pursue a hastily conceived dream. If he did not do it then, he felt he probably never would. Some broken hearts along the way ensued. Bicycling magazine and various newspapers had update articles as well as did computing magazines. He acted as an independent computer magazine contributing writer, so had to wait to see if he had sold the article and received the payment, before paying debts.

 

27., Savage, Barbara. “Miles From Nowhere: Around-the-World Bicycle Adventure”. 1983. Read 1997. Enjoyable travelogue of the journey. It was so tragic that she was killed by an automobile while training for a triathlon race near her home in CA before the book made it to publication.

 

28. Williams, John Hoyt. “A Great and Shining Road”. Times Books, A Div. of Random. 1988. Some copied pages.

The Railroad, is a huge new inventive venture, far reaching and dramatic, as seen from the changes taking place during mid-to late 1800’s and early 1900s: Free public schools; Free library system; Homestead Act; Transcontinental railroad; Transcontinental highway (Lincoln Highway); Reunification (Civil War) of the Union. Many of these movements started under Abe Lincoln.

Of the Ameses, Hoyt writes: “…Credit Mobilier picked up both speed and cash. Because it soon controlled almost all outstanding Union Pacific stock, the would-be construction company was attracting serious attention from serious men.

Among the most serious were Oakes and Oliver Ames, whose three shovel factories and Iowa railroad projects were hemorrhaging money. Their grandfather, Captain John Ames, had started the family business, making entrenching tools and weapons for George Washington’s Revolutionary army, and the Ames brothers were among the ‘finest families’ of Massachusetts. Sober types (Oliver was for decades vice-presidential Abstinence Society), the Ames boys had a great deal of influence with other wealthy investors. Oakes, at age sixty, was a congressman and served on the House Committee on the Pacific Railroad from 1863 to 1869. Futher, he was something of a confidant of President Lincoln, for he had cont heavily to the 1864 Republican campaign. A 220-pound six-footer who dressed like a Quaker, the taciturn Oakes often boasted of not having taken a day’s vacation for over forty years. Early in 1865, he was asked by Prsident Lincoln to do something to help the faltering Union Pacific get under way. This request just happened to coincide with the lure of the evolving Credit Mobilier, which the Ameses were watching like hawks< and< perhaps more important, the fact that the brothers” own cedar Rapids & Missouri River Railroad, with tracks ending 150 miles short of Council Bluffs, was cebe the first eastern feeder for the Union Pacific, still isolated at Omaha. In fact, it would indeed be the first of the competing railroads to arrive at Council Bluffs (on January 17, 1867), after which the Ameses collected a half-million-dollar bonus, offered by the Union Pacific’s own Dr. Durant to any railroad that could reach Council Bluffs within eighteen months. The Ameses barely made it.”

In a telegram to President Grant, came word of the ending of the ceremony honoring the completion of the transcontinental railroad, Union Pacific.  “Promontory summit, May 10, 1869
The last rail is laid! The last spike is driven! THE PACIFIC RAILROAD IS COMPLETID! THE POINT OF JUNCTION IS 1086 MILES WHE MISSOURI RIVER AND 690 MILES EAST OF SACROMENTO CITY.” Ironically (or perhaps, tellingly or ominously), the Ameses, the top directors, and a number of other government dignitaries, were absent from the celebration ceremonies.

The Credit Mobilier and the Ameses later became embroiled in a scandal of government money and influence manipulation and were called to account on several counts. The Ameses were not completely cleared till a generation later.

29. Fleming, Thomas. “The Man Who Dared The Lightning”. William Morrow an Hatboro Public Lib. 1970. Selected photocopied pages in desk file drawer. Fleming concentrates upon the mature Franklin, the man who lived almost thirty years beyond the point where he ended his famous “Autobiography.” In scene after vivid scene, Fleming shows us how Franklin’s unique blend of faith and courage, humor and wisdom presided over the birth of the American nation. Conflict between Franklin and his Son William, the royal governor of new Jersey, the “thorough courtier,” as Franklin called him, is illustrated. In all the by-play, personal and political, one theme is dominant: Franklin’s devotion to America.

                        

30.

 

31. Blinker, Mark. “Making Historic Moland House a place Washington would recall”. Philadelphia Inquirer. 1998. [History Drawer, In the Moland File]A Memorial Day recognition piece on local history.

 

32. Newcott, William R. “America’s First Highway”. National Geographic Magazine. 1998. The 591 mile National Road from Cumberland, MD to Vandalia, IL, Rte. 40 today, follows old Indian trails. In 1794 the Whiskey Rebellion and possible loss of settlers allegiance influenced Pres. George Washington to urge the highway.

 

33. Riedman, Sarah R. & Clarence C. Green. “Benjamin Rush, Patriot, Father”. 1964. Abelard-Schuman, London, NY. TORONTO. Borrowed from Hatboro Library and read 6/19/1998. [Several copied pages]

 

34. Millbrook Soc. (Ed: David Shannon, Exec. Dir.). “Moland House At Headquarters Farm National Historic Site”. Millbrook Soc.. 1997. [History Drawer, Moland House file] “This, the first annual report on The Millbrook Society’s archeological investigation of the Moland House at Headquarters Farm National Historical Site, has been prepared for the Township of Warwick in the County of Bucks, and for the Warwick Historical Society, to detail our operations and present the results of the past year. ‘The excavations this year were structured as a survey, to aid in the determination of the architects, John Milner Architects, and their restoration of the Moland House and its dependencies. Work at the site during the summer and fall of 1997 was centered on the section of the twelve acres that surrounds the Moland House. This section was chosen for exploration, as findings in this area, around the house and its dependencies, may have a direct impact on the restoration work currently underway. During every phase of the exploratory process our staff was in constant contact with Dr. David Orr of the United States National Park Service, whose council was of vast importance as the work progressed. Not only was he able to guide the field crew to those areas that could shed the most light on the site, but he also confirmed findings based on similar sites and history. After our first season, we have few answers, and even more questions about the site than at the beginning. The findings in the area of the survey indicate the need for a more detailed exploration in 1998. We also plan to expand to aerial photography and radar scanning as aids in the location of below ground features and obstructions. All research, both archeological and archival, gives no doubt to the eminent value this site has in the study and preservation of local, state and national history.”

 

35. Quillman, Catherine. “Revolutionary War’s Global Side”. Philadelphia Inquirer. 1998. A newly opened Valley Forge Memorial Chapel exhibit is based on a collector’s gift. Herman Benninghoff.

 

36. --. “Thirteen Days at Warwick Crossroads”. Millbrook Soc. 1997. [History Drawer, Moland House File] Story of George Washington’s stay at the Moland house in Warwick near the “Crossroads” of York Rd. & Bristol Rd. Approximately 11,000 men were encamped here during August 11 to 24, 1777. Across the York Rd. was a home occupied by General Greene. The troops were in encampments mostly south of the “Neshamini Creek” and along Bristol Rd. Washington was trying to determine whether the British were going to go up the Hudson River to meet The Hessian Force after it’s capture of Fort Ticonderoga, or south to Philadelphia. On the 24th, they had decided to march to defend Philadelphia, believing the British to have gone south out of The Hudson’s Bay. A long Column marched through Hatboro that day.

 

37. --. Grist, Millbrook Soc. Newsletter. The Millbrook Soc.. . Editions: Winter 1992 8:1, Spring 1992 8:2, Summer 1992 8:3, Sp. 1993 9:2, Su. 1993 9:3, Fall 1995 11:3, Su. 1996 12:3, Su. 1997 13:3, Sp. 1998 14:1, Su. 1998 14:2, Fall 1998 14:3, W. 1998 14:4, Sp. 1999 15:1, Su. 1999 15:2, F. 1999 15:3, W. 1999/2000 15:4. [See Grist file]

 

38. --. “The Lincoln Highway Association”. Lincoln Highway Assoc.. . Materials in The Lincoln Highway Association File Box.

 

39.

 

40.

 

41. Head, Vic - Editor. “Grist”. The Millbrook Soc.. . [See See Grist file]

 

42. Lincoln Highway Assoc. 4th Annual Conf.. “Welcome to Nevada”. Lincoln Highway Assoc.. 1996. Holiday Inn Downtown, 1000 E. 6th St., Reno, NA 89512.

 

43. Santangelo, Augustus. “Recapture the Spirit of the Oregon Trail”. 1996. Travel Mag. Six-state Sesquicentennial celebration trail coverage.

 

44. --. “Fort Bedford Museum”. Fort Bedford Museum. Fort Bedford Museum, P.O. Box 1758, Fort Bedford Drive, Bedford, PA 15522, tel. 814-623-8891, 1-800-259-4284.

 

45. Kennedy, Joseph S. Philadelphia Inquirer. “During the Civil War, imposition of draft drew local opposition.” 1998.

 

46. Kennedy, Joseph S. “Civil War General more than a passing footnote”. Philadelphia Inquirer. 1998. “Ignored by history, a locally born brigadier general played an notable role in the Battle of Gettysburg. One of two local men who played a notable role there is better known, Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock.

“Zook was born in Chester County in 1822, the son of David and Eleanor Zook. Shortly after, the family moved to Port Kennedy. where young Samuel received his basic education in the local public schools.” He worked in the young telegraph industry, working up and starting a family. He also joined the local militia. In 1851, he moved the family to New York and there also joined the militia and working as a stockbroker. In 1861, when the Civil War began and President Lincoln called for volunteers, Zook recruited enough men to form the 57th New York volunteer Regiment and entered the army as a Colonel of the unit.

“Historian Albert M. Gambone, in the Bulletin of the Historical Society of Montgomery County (fall 1993), wrote that Zook proved ‘an intrepid fighter.’” He fought at Fredricksburg, Chancellorsville and as Brigadier General Samuel Zook, at Gettysburg in command of the Third Brigade, First Div. of the Second Corps of the Army of the Potomac, under Gen. George Meade.

Late in the afternoon of July 1, 1863, bringing up the rear of the divisions line, he commanded his men into a saving and fortification of a hole in the lines “…in one of the deadliest fights of the entire battle.” “Gambone reported that the fight lasted more than four hours, involving 22,000 Union troops with a casualty list of 6,000 to 7,000 soldiers. Zook’s brigade suffered more than 357 casualties, including Zook, who was mortally wounded. He was taken from the field and died the next day at age 41. But the line held and turned back the attacking Southern forces.

 

47. Yant, Monica. “Heard Anew: ‘Remember Paoli!’”. Philadelphia Inquirer. Historian & Teacher, Tom McGuire is also a member of the Paoli Battlefield Preservation Fund. The monument at right [in picture], put up in 1817, commemorates the 53 Revolutionary War soldiers buried there. In that place, more than a 1000 bayonet wielding British troops charged into a sleeping Gen. Wayne encampment in the middle of a 40 acre corn field. They stabbed and slashed to death 53, wounded 150 and captured 75 men.

 

48. http://users.aimnet.com:8000/~tcolson/pa. “Henry Chapman Mercer & the Moravian Pottery Co.”. 1995[Internet page]

 

49. Mercer. “Henry Chapman Mercer & the Moravian Pottery Co.”. 1998. [Internet page]. The Legend of Henry Chapman Mercer from the web page on the Internet entitled: Henry Chapman Mercer and the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works. The Tile Works. Fonthill, Mercer’s home, and the Spruance Library are all in Doylestown, PA. The material on the web page was taken from a folder titled “Castles Full of Treasures”.

 

50. Kennedy, Joseph S., Inquirer Correspondent. “In 19th century, Montgomery County Officials responded to a call to alms”. Philadelphia Inquirer. 1998 ...Officials responded to a call to alms. Upper Providence township officials built a “poor house” to house and care for the poor of Montgomery County.

 

51. Ripp, Bart. “Sam Hill: Evangelist to Modern Transportation”. 1998. The Goldendale Sentinel . Good Roads were mission of Sam Hill. He was the founder of the “Good Roads Movement” in WA and the final leg of what is now Rte. I-90 segment across Washington for the Boston to Seattle route. He persuaded Oregon to build the south bank Columbia River Gorge highway when Washington snubbed his efforts. He bought 7000 acres on the north bank and hillside for orchards and a town site, Maryhill. He built the first US memorial to the veterans of World War I in the form of a Stonehenge (but, of concrete—he failed to find suitable stone in the area).

 

52. Kennedy, Joseph S.. “What Happened to the Schuylkill ~. Philadelphia Inquirer. 1998. What happened to the Schuylkill during the 1800s is no fish story. Dams were being built to fill navigation canals around rapids and falls and to fill millponds. It was thought that it would not affect fishing interests, both commercial and private of great importance too at the time. However, the dams plus the added pollution brought the fishing rather swiftly to a largely barren river.

 

53. Burgwardt. “Bicycle Pedaling History Museum”. 1995. Brochure. The Burgwardt Bicycle Museum, 3943 N. Buffalo Rd. (Rtes. 240|277), Orchard Park, NY 14127-1841. Hours Daily: 11:00 to 5:00, Sun: 1:30 to 5:00. “Take a ride into America’s bicycle history center!”—Where you’ll experience the overlooked history, technology, nostalgia and romance of the bicycle.

 

54. Albertson, Karla Klein. “Man Against Machine in the Art ~. Philadelphia Inquirer. 1998. Man against Machine in the art of tile making, Henry Chapman Mercer’s works in a new exhibit. Exhibited through 1998 at the James A. Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, PA

 

55. --. “FAIRMOUNT Phila. Park System”. Philadelphia Ranger Corps. 1987. Philadelphia’s 33 Park System includes: Bartram’s Garden, Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Benjamin Rush Park, Burholm Park, Center City Squares, Cobbs Creek, Fairmount Park, F.D.R. Park, Hunting Park, Pennypack Park, Tacony Park, Wissahickon Valley, & 21 other Neighborhood Parks. Most of these parks are administered by the Fairmount Park Board.

 

56. Northwood, J. D’Arcy, Dir.. “Mill Grove”. Lower Providence Township. 1951. First home in America of John James Audubon. A Historic Shrine and Wildlife Sanctuary, established and maintained by the Commissioners of Montgomery Co.

 

57. --. “Central Perkiomen Valley Park”. Montgomery Co. Dept. of Parks. 1996. The old Mill House on the Perkiomen Creek. There are many natural scenic trails for mountain biking and your hiking/ walking pleasure. A Rails-to-trails Reading RR right-of-way follows along the Perkiomen on the west side, having crossed the creek ~1km above and passing under Rte. 29 just below the park. {See Eastern Montgomery. Co. Park for another old Conrail trail conversion on the Perkiomen from Green Lane to Swenksville, also “routes” database.}

 

58. --. “Mill Grove”. Lower Providence Tnp. First Home in America of John James Audubon. A historic shrine and wildlife sanctuary was established and is maintained by the Commissioners of Montgomery Co.

 

59. Rinehart, Norman. “New Mercer Museum tiles may go on sale”. The Public Spirit. 1971. This is a report found in Ames files of the first reissue of some of the original Mercer Tiles using notes from records found in Dr. Henry Chapman Mercer’s files. D. Backlund and Mike Reabold experimented by trial and error using Dr. Mercer’s old formulae to produce the tiles like one of a sailing schooner on our coffee table. Dr. Mercer died in 1930.

 

60. Kay, Robert J., Photo. “Washington Crossing The Delaware”. Philadelphia Inquirer. 1968. A full newspaper page picture reproduction of the painting by Emanuel Leutze, loaned to the Washington crossing Memorial Building by the Metropolitan Museum of New York.

 

61. --. “Washington’s Retreat Traced in Montgomery”. Philadelphia Inquirer. 1971. Washington’s Retreat Traced in Montgomery County: Markers have been installed so tourists can retrace the continental Army’s march from Whitemarsh to Valley Forge 193 years ago.

 

62. --. “Montco Buys Colonial Site”. Philadelphia Inquirer. 1970. The Montgomery County Commissioners have purchase an historic homestead and grist mill on a 125-acre plot in Upper Frederick Township for development as an historic site and recreation facility.

 

63. Higgins, Dennis M.. “Who We Are—One community of 5.6 Million”. Philadelphia Inquirer. 1966. Courage, Fears, Religious Zeal Make a People. Valley Is Nurtured By Its Land, Water. Our 5.6 million people: Today and Yesterday. Valley of Tomorrow: Growth Will Continue.

 

64. Hilferty, John. “Old Covered Bridges Still Survive in Chester County”. Philadelphia Inquirer. 19

 

65. Guest, Edmund J.. “Canal of the Tranquil Valley”. Camping Journal. 1970. U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas [pictured] is among notables thundering defense of canal. Interior Secretary Hickel hopes canal will receive full National Historic Park status soon.

 

66. Dunphy, Joseph. “Work on Keith House Nears End”. Philadelphia Inquirer. 1970. Article describing the preparations to open the house and grounds to the public. Also, the Brochure for the William Keith House, a colonial mansion on the property administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. (see also record # 158).

 

67. Storm, William J.. “Sluice way is Canoeist Death Trap”. Daily Bulletin. 1975. Lambertville Mayor and Police Chief are pictured beside and describe the Delaware River Rapids at the site of the sluiceway caused by a backup dam constructed to raise the water level to generate power for the factories that lined the river’s banks. This was saved by Nancy Gallagher for me after I had described the experiences we had going though this same sluiceway in our home constructed folding kayaks. Chuck LeKites and one of his children, two others of his kids, and I in three kayaks bobbed through this rapids area. Admittedly, these kayaks were not made for this type of action. The kayak with only the two kids was the driest afterward, the other two had to be dumped to continue.

 

68. --. “Historic Bucks County buildings on registry”. Daily Intelligencer. 1978. Historic Bucks County buildings on registry: 29 listings, one picture, that of Durham Mill and furnace, built in 1727 and located off Route 212 in Durham Township.

 

69. --. .Wissahickon Valley Watershed Assoc.: . Wissahickon Valley Watershed Assoc.. 1998. [History Drawer, WVWA file]Acquisition of the 96 acre Harris farm in Gwynedd Valley, Third Decade of Green Ribbon Preserve, and alien plant invaders among us. Separately included is a History of the Assoc. and a map of the watershed.

 

70. --. “Valley Forge Scenic RR Co.”. Valley Forge Scenic RR Co.. . Valley Forge Scenic RR Co., P.O. Box 373, Kimberton, PA. “The Steam Railroad That’s Different”

 

71. --. “New Hope and Ivyland Railroad”. Philadelphia Inquirer. 1969. Brochure

 

72. --. “Philadelphia Fire Museum”. Philadelphia Fire Museum. First Fire truck built in America, Antique firemarks, Spider hose reel, Metropolitan Steamer, early Water Cannon, Scale models of fire engines and fireboats all at 2nd & Quarry St., above Arch, in Philadelphia.

 

73. --. “Weisel Hostel, a hideaway haven on Nockamixon”. 1975. Write-up on Weisel Hostel on the banks of the Nockamixon Lake, tucked away off Rte. 563, operated by Bucks County.

 

74. Roberts, Monty. “The Man Who Listens to Horses”. Random House, Inc.. 1997. Attached, is Barnes and Noble Internet download of chapters 1 & 2 and a synopsis.

 

75. --. “Moran, Thomas”. Seattle Art Museum. 1998. Special Moran art showing. Seen in company with Leo & Lela Ames in Seattle near the end of August, 1998 on a visit to Mom Ruth. Six week, 7000 mile R/V trip.

 

76. --. “Aboard the Underground Railroad, A National Park Service”. Nat’l. Park Serv. Internet page. 1998. A Nat’l. Register Travel Itinerary Introduces travelers, researchers, historians, preservationists, and anyone interested in African American history to the fascinating people and places associated with the Underground Railroad.

 

77. --. “Walt Whitman Cultural Arts Center”. Camden, NJ Internet article. 1997. Walt Whitman’s life and work are a chronicle of an individual’s quest to embrace the diversity of humanity.

 

78. Keystone Automotive Club, AAA . “Tour of Penn. Dutch Heartland Leads to Paradise”. Philadelphia Inquirer. Tour of the Week Column

 

79. --. “Kutztown, Barnesville Fairs”. Philadelphia Inquirer. 1970. This is a 174 mile Dutch summer tour. “Kutztown, Barnesville Fairs Will Lure Tourists in July.” The Pennsylvania Dutch Folk Festival at Kutztown, Pa—It wonders all!. Little “Dutch “ town fair in July. Held in 85-Acre Lakewood Park on Rte. 54 midway between Tamaqua and Mahanoy City.

 

80. --. “Bucks—Key County of the Keystone State”. Bucks Co. Hist. Comm.. 1976. Highways of History Bucks County, Pa. Map and relevant pictures. National Park Serv.

 

81. “Independence Nat’l. Historical Park”. 1972. Nat’l. Park Service. City map & description of the Independence National Historical Park.

 

82. --. “Hope Lodge”. Pa. Historical & Mus. Comm. A Colonial Mansion in the Finest Georgian Tradition, it is located on Old Bethlehem Pike south of Ambler. Daylight savings time hours: 8:30 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. weekdays exc. Monday. 1:00 to 5:00 Sunday. Winter: 9:00 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. weekdays exc. Monday. 1:00 to 4:30. Telephone: 215-646-1595.

 

83. --. “Hopewell Village”. Nat’l. Park Serv. 1963. Hopewell Village was one of the earliest of many small iron furnaces in colonial southeastern Pennsylvania. It is located 5 miles south of Birdsboro, PA, and 10 miles from the Morgantown Interchange of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

 

84. --. “Philadelphia”. Philadelphia. Parks, palaces, plays and panthers. Music and Monuments. museums, theaters, night clubs and special activities almost daily.

 

85. --. “Montgomery County”. Montgomery County Commissioners. Follow the trails and history and progress through Montgomery County.

 

86. Evans, Nickolas. “The Horse Whisperer”. . 1995. A horse “Whisperer”: Often seen as witches, horse whisperers/healers, those with the touch, could see into the creature’s soul and soothe the wounds they found there, for it was said that he who drove the devil out might also drive him in. The owner of a horse you calmed might shake your hand then dance around the flames while they burned you in the village square. The Whisperer was a novel inspired by the author’s long conversations with Monty Roberts, Tom Dorrance, Ray Hunt, Buck Brannaman, and others. It is a novel about hope, but mostly it’s a novel about horses, and connecting with horses. “I don’t do it for the people,” the whisperer explains. “I do it for the horse. ”Sift through the words of actual gentlers and you hear echoes: gentlers talk, not about people with horse problems, but about horses with people problems. About the horse as teacher, about the slow way with horses as the quickest way. This is a horse-centered world view that gentlers say offers a nice spin-off: It makes humans more humane. Horses, creatures of flight, are so sensitive and aware. humans, more inclined to fight, have lost that acuity. The horse has much to teach humans about listening.

 

87. Solomon, Alan. “Exploring fields where Americans crossed”. Civil War Battlefields: 1995. Ten were visited over an extended weekend covering Gettysburg, Antietam, Monocacy, Mnaassas, The Wilderness, Chancellorsville, Fredricksburg, Spotsylvania, Petersburg, & Appomattox. Washington, the Federalist’s Capitol and Richmond, the Capitol of the Confederacy, did not have battles fought there, but are listed in addition to the battlefield sites.

 

88.

 

89. --. “Clearfield Historical Society”. Clearfield Historical Society. 1978. Names prominent in the county’s history — Reed, Bigler, Kerr — owned the land on which the Historical Society is housed, or lived in the stately structure that provides one of the county’s strongest links between the past and the present. This was known as the Kerr house until 1926. While visiting the museum in the old section of Clearfield, PA, I was impressed with the fact that there was an open and staffed museum in such a small town. And furthermore that it was very well stocked with interesting articles of the past, from the Indian culture through the most recent history of the area.

 

90. BERKS COUNTY, PA. “Reading - Berks County, Pennsylvania”. Berks Co.. 1997. Museums: Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles. Mouns Jones. Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site. Daniel Boone Homestead. Historical Soc. in Reading. Reading Public Museum & Art Gallery. Heritage Center. Mid-Atlantic Air Museum. Reading Co. Tech. & Hist. Soc.. Old Dry Road Farm. Conrad Weiser Homestead.

 

91. --. “SCHUYLKILL RIVER HERITAGE CORRIDOR”. PA Dept. C. Affairs & Meridian. PA Dept. C. Affairs & Meridian. 1997. Schuylkill River Valley paths, waterway, transportation canals, museums, etc.  The Brochure covers the valley’s Culture Hearth of America: Anthracite Reach, Agricultural Reach, Industrial Reach, Urban Gateway. The Schuylkill River begins in Pennsylvania’s Frackville and Weiser State Forests. It flows through Pottsville, Schuylkill Haven, Port Clinton, Reading (gathering from Blue Marsh Res. of the Little Northkill and Tulpehocken Creeks), Birdsboro, Pottstown, Phoenixville (picking up more volume from French Creek & Pickering Creek), Valley Forge Nat’l. Hist. Park (with Valley Creek added), Norristown, Bridgeport, Conshohocken, Fort Washington State Park (adding waters of Wissahickon Creek), Fairmount Park, Philadelphia & entering the Delaware River at Fort Mifflin.

 

92. --. “PENNSYLVANIA TRAIL OF HISTORY”. PA Hist. & Museum Comm.. 1997. PHMC sites and 20 locally administered sites throughout the state of Pennsylvania are depicted in text, picture and map in the brochure.

 

93. --. Sisters of the Road—“Pioneering women~”. American Motorcyclist. 19 An article on the VanBuren Sisters doing their 33,000 mile, 1916 cross-country motorcycle ride. In 1988, four women motorcyclists of another generation—Patty Mills, Darol Auster, Courtney Caldwell and Jeanne Mare Werle—honored the Van Burens through the Van Buren TransCon ride, a cross-country motorcycle journey from New York to Los Angeles.

 

94. Martin, Joseph Plumb. YANKEE DOODLE BOY. W. R. Scott, Inc.. 1964. This is a story of the Revolutionary War from the experiences remembered by a Connecticut lad through twenty-eight nearly unbearable tired, hot or cold and hunger seasons largely in the open. “Bells and alarm guns summon Joseph Martin from his grandfather’s fields to Milford. The village is astir with the news: British soldiers and Massachusetts colonists have fired on each other at Lexington and at Concord. The American Revolution has begun. Milford men march off to aid their countrymen at Boston and at New York, but fourteen-year-old Joseph is too young to enlist.” However, he did enlist, fudging his age to do so. P. 69-- Following a fortnight of siege on Fort Mifflin, only to cede it, and now in Mt. Holly, NJ: “The leaves and ground were as wet as water could make them. It was then foggy and the water dropping from the trees like a shower. We endeavor to get fire by flashing powder on the leaves, but this and every other expedient that we could employ failing, we were forced by our old master, Necessity, to lay down and sleep if we could, with three other of our constant companions, Fatigue, Hunger, and Cold. From Fort Mifflin, he retreated to Mt. Holly, NJ and then crossed the Delaware River between Burlington and Bristol, and on to Chestnut Hill and Valley Forge by the 18th of Dec., 1777. He was starving, cold and fatigued, but jumped at a foraging party into Milltown, halfway between Philadelphia and Lancaster. During the campaign of 1778, he passes through Trenton, Princeton and Monmouth Court House on the way back up to New York, Kings Bridge, and to White Plains again. He spent a record severe winter near Morristown, NJ at Basking Ridge during the campaign of 1779. The campaign of 1780 finds the now well-seasoned Joseph Martin, joining a Corps of Sappers and Miners, of which group; he finishes his campaigns, but not yet the war, after the surrender of General Cornwallis’ sword at Yorktown, Virginia. It is while here that he sees General Washington. From the Editor’s afterward, we find, “Martin then marched north with his corps of Sappers and Miners into New Jersey for the winter. In the spring of 1782, the corps went to West Point. In summer it moved to Constitution Island in the Hudson to repair fortifications. There, one day, some of the Sappers and Miners decided to play a reckless prank. Martin, a Sergeant in the Corps, seeing their prank canteen bomb could easily kill or maim the commander, dissuaded them.’ ‘At length the eleventh day of June, 1783, arrived.' ‘The old man,’ our Captain, came into our room, with his hands full of papers, and first ordered us to empty all our cartridge boxes upon the floor (this was the last order he ever gave us) and then told us that if we needed them we might take some of them again. They were all immediately gathered up and returned to our boxes. Government had given us our arms and we considered the ammunition as belonging to them, and he had neither right nor orders to take them from us. He then handed us our discharges, or rather furloughs. to discharge us absolutely in our present pitiful, forlorn condition, it was feared, might cause some difficulties which might be too hard for government to get easily over.” “I confess, after all, that my anticipation of the happiness I should experience upon such a day as this was not realized. I can assure the reader that there was as much sorrow as joy transfused on the occasion.” Comrades in arms through thick and thin, hot and freezing, were closer than family. He was discharged on December 25, 1776, and went home. “...I thought, to keep me at home for the future. Indeed, I was then fully determined to rest easy with the knowledge I had acquired in the affairs of the army.”

 

95. Gauntt, Dave. “Historia: Annual Dinner meeting will f~”. 1998. Annual Dinner meeting will feature a talk on the historic Moland House-The Moland House: A history originally written by Dave Gauntt, Warwick Historical Society. “On July 25, 1777, Washington, located near Morristown, New Jersey, received word that the British fleet under General Howe had sailed with about 18,000 men.” “Joining Washington at his headquarters on August 19th was the young Marquis de LaFayette. ”Additional reference material is shown to be: The Bucks County Historical Society Journal - Fall 1975, The thirteen days of August, Helen H. Gemmill, Washington’s Encampment at Neshaminy, William Buck, 1896

 

96. --. “PUBLIC SPIRIT”. PUBLIC SPIRIT. 1998. 25th “PUBLIC SPIRIT” Anniversary Issue 1873 - 1998.

 

97. --. “Peter Wentz Farmstead Candlelight Tour”. Millbrook Society. 1998.

 

98. Wheeler, Richard. “VOICES OF 1776”. Thomas Y. Crowell Co.. 1972. The American Revolutionary War told in the words of those that were there, from both sides, with interpretations and set-ups by the author.

 

99. MacKay, Nicci. “Spoken In Whispers: The Autobiography of a Horse Whisperer”. . 1998. The autobiography of a Horse Whisperer. Ms MacKay is English and the setting is of her experiences while living on several English Farms. From the attached Amazon Book reviewer the is: “...MacKay communicated with all animals and just assumed that everyone had the same gift. It was not until she began to work seriously with horses that she discovered that she had a unique talent, and it took her a long time to speak out about what she could “hear” from horses for fear of ridicule from all the expert horse trainers. The book describes her life of helping horses and their owners after her coming out and is full of interesting vignettes of troubled horses and her solutions to their problems. Although few believe in psychic communication with animals, it is clear that Mackay has good animal sense, and she is able to explain her findings to a general audience, which recommends her story to all libraries. Nancy Bent: “Many times the communication was by vision and by symptom transmittal, she describes.” Some times she just could not understand an animal at all, or until much later, may have come into some belief of it’s problem.

 

100. --. “African American Biography”. WSES: Biographies. A fifth grade review turned up on the Excite search on the Internet. See attached.

 

101. --. “Arches”. University Puget Sound Alumni. 1998. “Van Gogh’s Van Gogh, Masterpieces from the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam. We viewed this exhibit in Philadelphia a couple of years ago at its first stop.

 

102. --. “NORTHAMPTON TNP. HIST. SOC. BUCKS CO. PA”. Internet web page. 1998. Topics: Spread Eagle Inn information Historia Newsletter Info. on the Society Meeting dates. Join the Soc. Further information

 

103. Eckert, Fred J.. “In the Footsteps of Giants”. Philadelphia Inquirer, Sunday Travel Section. 1999. “George Washington grew up there. Thomas Jefferson and George Mason hung out there. And that’s only the beginning. Fredericksburg, Va., is the most historical small city in America.”

 

104. Kramer, William E.. “Blackhorse Tavern”. . . Evaluation of Flourtown tavern, the BLACKHORSE TAVERN, 2/4/1999.

 

105. --. “A Brief History of 7159 Camp Hill Rd, Whitemarsh Township “. . A Brief History of 7159 Camp Hill Rd, Whitemarsh Township. AKA = LUKENS/SHEETZ House. Marble fireplace mantles and brass lock sets have been removed by vandals. A large slab marble tank in the basement was used at one time to store milk and cheese when the house was apparently a dairy & cheesery.

 

106. --. “Pryor Dodge Collection”. Internet. 1998. San Diego Historical Society, 1649 El Prado, San Diego, CA 92101, tel. 610-232-6203. Exhibition of May 9, 1998 to Aug. 16, 1998 - Bicycles: History - Beauty - Fantasy.

 

107. Quattrone, Frank D.. “Oreland’s Colonial Inn is a Winner”. Public Spirit News, “Ticket” sec.. 1998. Thirty-one Park Place in Oreland, PA is the site of a renovated 100+ year old building that has had a number of owners and served in several capacities. It is now called “Winning Smith’s Colonial Inn”.

 

108. Quattrone, Frank D.. “Manayunk reveals her (not so) secret history”. Public Sprit “Ticket” Sec.. 1996. Manayunk reveals her (not so) secret history - Manayunk, Philadelphia’s quaint urban village is metamorphosing from 19th century mill town to a haven for exciting dining, shopping and culture. Manayunk hosts the Core States U.S. Pro Cycling Championship bicycle race, situated on the Schuylkill River Canal and tow path to Valley Forge and the Philadelphia Art Museum, this city first called “Flat Rock” derives it’s present name form a Lenape Indian phrase meaning “where we go to drink.”

 

109. --. “HOPE LODGE”. Penn. Historical & Museum Comm. 1996. This beautiful Georgian Mansion was built between 1743 & 1748 and is located at 553 Bethlehem Pike, Fort Washington, PA

 

110. --. “MATHER MILL”. Penn. Historical & Museum Comm. 1996. Farmar/Mather Mill was probably built in the late 17th century by Edward Farmar and was included in the 150 acres purchased by Samuel Morris on which he built his Mansion. (See Hope Lodge).

 

111. --. “WHARTON ESHERICK STUDIO”. WHARTON ESHERICK MUSEUM. 1996. Wharton Esherick, a painter/sculptor (1887-1970) built the home that now serves as the museum and a garage/shop, now the reception room, and the furnishings throughout the house in very free-style form, never having two items the same and largely eschewing straight lines and square corners. His was not an ortho world. Located on HorseShoe Trail Rd. off Country Club Dr. about half way between Paoli and Valley Forge, PA

 

112. --. “EPHRATA CLOISTER”. PA Historical & Museum Comm. The Ephrata Cloister was a radical 18th century religious communal society best known for it’s original art and music, distinctive medieval Germanic architecture and it’s significant publishing center. It is located on Rte. 272 off exit 23 of the PA TPK, in Ephrata, PA.

 

113. --. “NATIONAL CANAL MUSEUM”. Hugh Moore Historical Park. 1998. Besides the Canal Museum, there is the Canal, Hugh Moore Historical Park, Lock Tender’s House, the tow path and a canal boat. From the Park, one can walk or bicycle the tow path and a rail-trail to Easton, or west to Bethlehem and Allentown.

 

114. --. “COLONIAL PENNSYLVANIA PLANTATION”. Ridley Creek State Park. 1997. Mission: the Colonial Pennsylvania Plantation is a living history museum whose purpose is to enhance understanding of 1760-1790 farm life in Southeastern Pennsylvania by providing a high quality, research-based experience to the public.

 

115. --. “THOMAS L. KANE Memorial Chapel”. L.D.S. Church. 1983. Historic site of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints honor the memory of Thomas L. Kane, a young lawyer when he came in contact with the “Mormons”. After being impressed with what he learned of them and their treatment, fought, often a peril of his life, for nearly 40 years, till his death for rights of what he felt was an oppressed and maligned people. His efforts had a profound impact on the history of the Church, and he is gratefully remembered by church members and the citizens of Utah.

 

116. --. “Horsham Houses of 1900 & Earlier”. from Montgomery County Tax Records. Records for the Millbrook Society.

 

117. --. “Pennsylvania’s First Surveyor General”. Public Spirit. 1998. Pennsylvania’s First Surveyor General Subject of Historical Meeting of Upper Moreland Historical Society at public meeting. Nicholas O. Scull, eighth generation descendent of Nicholas Scull II. He was actually the 2nd Surveyor General, corrected Mr. Scull at the meeting.

 

118. --. “FOUR MILLS BARN”. W.V.W.A.. 1998. The Four Mills Barn is the HQ for the Wissahickon Valley Watershed Assoc. and is located at 12 Morris Rd, Ambler, PA 19040.

 

119. Rocco, Michael - Public Spirit Correspondent. “Location, location, location”: 1999. The reason Mason’s Mill survived. Location, location, location: The reason Mason’s Mill survived.

“Mason’s Mill Park in Upper Moreland was home to a water-powered grist mill that once was threatened by the British during the Battle of Crooked Billet.” Built in 1762, it lasted well into the middle of the 1900s.

 

120. Wood, Bill. “West Virginia’s Route 66”. American Motorcycle Assoc.. 1998. West Virginia’s Route 66 (Highland Scenic Highway) runs generally north/south in the middle of the eastern Cheat Mountain Range.

 

121. Kay, Jane Holtz. “Asphalt Nation”. Crown Publishers, Inc.. 1997. Additional notes to those in the book starting on page 359: p.67- a pedestrian requires 5 SF standing, 10 on the move. A car requires 300 standing and 3000 on the move. Each shopper 70 X his space to drive & park. [That’s why it is called sprawl.] p. 77- Boston: Monster design in spite of great thinking and planning. p.160- Omstead & Grosventor Atterbury designed “Forest Hills Gardens” in Queens as a model balanced transport community. p. 292- “It’s never ending, Meeky Blizzard said ruefully, as highway people keep the plans for roads ‘on artificial life support.’” p. 293- “Blizzard holds that: “as long as we provide capacity for cars, we provide for more cars.’” p.336- Three books: Bernard Rudolfsky. “Streets for People.” Simon Breives & William J. Dean. “The Pedestrian Revolution.” Edmund Bacon. “Design of Cities.” p. 338- Exemplar walkways: Benton McKaye’s Appalachian Trail, Boston’s Emerald Necklace, Gwynn’s Falls trail- Baltimore, Florida’s Pinellas Trail, Seattle’s Gillman-Burke Trail, an urban offspring of the AT- Karen Votova’ East Coast Greenway, Boston’s Minuteman Trail, Hartford’s Farmington Canal RR Trail, Olmstead’s Mall in DC. An ambitious east-west project is the American Discovery Trail similar to the Lincoln Highway’s scheme. p.346- “Driving’s not just a free lunch” say’s one activist, “It’s a free lunch you’re getting paid to eat.” And whether through selfishness, ignorance, or indifference, we devour our landscape and cityscape, aggravate our lives, and destroy our environment. With $25M a year of fed. taxes in auto dominated transportation, it is time to correct the imbalance, provide funding for alternate and more environment friendly means. In the fifties it was fun to just go out for a drive (“go for a spin”), but it is no longer fun. Like everything else, the automobile is nearing the end of it’s era. The only real endurance is walking. The next best is a simple self-powered vehicle -the bike.

 

122. --. “Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Historic Society”. Montco Dept. of History & Culture. 1998. A brochure featuring Montgomery County Historic sites of: Mill Grove, (Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary) - As the first home in America of John James Audubon, the museum features examples of every major work published by the famous artist/naturalist, including the “Double Elephant Folio Birds of America.” Mill Grove is a National Historic Landmark and was Audubon’s residence between 1803 and 1806. Here he conducted the first experiments with bird banding in America. Audubon and Pawlings Roads, Audubon. Pennypacker Mills - The colonial revival, summer estate of former Pennsylvania Governor Samuel Pennypacker. Created in 1901, it is a 135 acre gentleman’s farm with 15 acres of English natural style landscape, a wide verandah, exhibit galleries, and Pennypacker family furnishings displayed in period rooms. Washington’s army encamped here before and after the battle of Germantown. Rt. 73 and Haldeman Road, Schwenksville. Peter Wentz Farmstead - A Georgian mansion with Germanic details built in 1758. Twice used by Washington as headquarters during the Pennsylvania Campaign of 1777. Reconstructed barn houses farm animals typical of the period. Shearer Road. Just east of intersections PA 73 and 363, Worcester (Center Point). Pottsgrove Manor - An early Georgian stone manor was built, beginning in 1752. Home of the colonial ironmaster John Potts, founder of Pottstown, Pottsgrove has been recently restored and is furnished with period pieces according to Potts’ 1768 probate inventory. Noted for its Georgian architecture and beautiful period rooms. Slave quarters. Located at West King Street and Route 100, Pottstown.

 

123. Anastasi, John. “Old House Slated For Demolition”. PUBLIC SPIRIT. 1999. The house on the corner of Dresher and Mill roads may be demolished as part of the Dresher Road widening. The original structure is about 250 years old, and was built at the same time as the Iredell-Lukens Grist Mill across the road, probably for use as the miller’s house, one local historian said.

 

124. --. “THE NATIONAL BICYCLING AND WALKING STUDY”. FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION. Final Report U.S. Dept. of Transportation (USDOT), Federal Highway Administration. Pub.# FHWA-PD-94-023.

 

125. Kremer, Gloria Hayes. “Take a theme tour of Bucks County”. Montgomery News-Ticket. 1999. Places covered are: Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve at Washington’s Crossing Nat’l. Historic Park, Valley Forge Nat’l. Monument, Moods Covered Bridge, Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, Lahaska, Mercer Museum and his Font Hill Mansion & Moravian Pottery & Tile Works, Doylestown, as is the Michener Museum. In Morrisville is Pennsbury Manor, the country home of William Penn. In Langhorne, Sesame Place boasts characters from Sesame Place. In New Hope is the Parry Mansion, reflecting 125 years of decorative changes and the Hew Hope & Ivyland Railroad, offering a 50 minute narrated ride in a 1925 locomotive. In Perkasie, the Pearl S. Buck House has guided tours. In Lumberville, there is the General Store, Black Bass Hotel and the Delaware River Walking Bridge.

 

126. Quattrone, Frank D.. “Edison’s ‘Invention Factory’“. Montgomery News-Ticket. 1999. In the same issue as Record #125. The article is about the Edison Tower & Museum in Menlo Park, NJ and Genmont—the Edison family estate in Llewellyn Park, West Orange, NJ. It offers insights into the mind that defined our century. Numbered among his inventions are the electric light bulb, the phonograph, the strip kinetograph, safe rechargeable nickel-iron-alkaline storage battery. Thomas Alva Edison was granted 1, 093 US patents. Besides all this there is evidence of a true family man. His true legacy may have been “team research and development.” He is quoted as saying: “I always invent to obtain money so I can go on inventing.”

 

127. Smith, Charles Harper. “THE SETTLEMENT OF HORSHAM TOWNSHIP”. Trinity Press, 708 Bethlehem Pike, Ambler, PA 19002. 1975. Two pictures by A. C. Nuessle of the Kenderdine Mill, Keith Valley Rd (Still standing) and 29 plat maps of secondary owners and succession through 1800. Horsham taxables 1769-1783 are appended. The book reviewed herein is in the Amy Yerkes Memorial Library of The Hatboro Baptist Church.

 

128. Schaffer, Michael D.. “The Pa. frontier’s unsung heroes”. Philadelphia Inquirer “Books”. 1999. “They helped to keep the peace between colonists and Indians, at least for a while.” A review of the book: Into “The American Woods” by James H. Morrell. W.W. Norton. 315pp. $25. Requested from the Hatboro Library 3/24/1999.

 

129. Polk, James. “How the Civil War’s ‘grand adventure’ became a horrifying struggle to survive “. Review of the book: 1999. “A Brotherhood of Valor” by Jeffrey D. Wert. Simon & Schuster. 413 pp. $25.

 

 

130. --. “CROOKED BILLET BATTLE MONUMENT”. . . Several views of the Monument to General Lacy’s troops who died at the Revolutionary War Battle of Crooked Billet.

 

131. --. “Hatboro History”. Dawson, J.D.[ostensibly].  Pages copied from the Hatboro History written as if by John D. Dawson, founder of Hatboro. Dawson, a hatmaker in England came to North America and hacked a roadway from Jenkintown to the present location of Hatboro before the York Road was opened in 1712, or about 1705. Once that road was opened, several people entered the area and settled.

 

132. Millbrook Society. “HATBORO”. Acadia Press, LTD.. 1999. Historic Postcards of Hatboro’. Notes on pictures to be included in the “Year 2000 Hatboro Historic Postcard Booklet.”

 

133. Whitehead, Mary Anne. “Creek Furnished Power For Numerous Grist mills”. Today’s Spirit. 1973. “The Indians called it Pennepecka: the Swedes called it the Penickpacka, by 1850 the common spelling was Pennepack. Today we call this stream that travels Montgomery County the Pennypack. The Original source of the creek is a tiny brook south of Maple Glen...”

 

134. O’Brien, Nancy Mortimer. “Couple at home with history in Georgian House“. Montgomery Newspapers. 1999. Joseph Galanti and Gail Devereaux are faithfully restoring the early 1700’s 3-story house at 451 Germantown Pike. Since they have copies of some of the original house plans, which was part of a farm in the area of the Blue Marble Quarry, Montgomery Co., Gail and Joe were able to maintain and restore authentic details.

 

135. --. “The Philadelphia Motor Speedway Associates”. Antique Automobile Mag.. 1999. This two-mile Speedway was proposed to be built from York Road east to the RR and from County Line Rd, north to Street Rd. It was begun, but never used.  In fact some traces are still visible from the air. Courtesy of J. Linden Heacock, Jr.

 

136. --. “COUNCIL OF WAR (Picture)”. Warwick Township. 1998. Present at the Moland House at the “Council of War,” was: Gen. Stephen, Gen. Wayne, John Laurens, Gen. Maxwell, Gen. Greene, Gen. Alexander, Commander-in-Chief Gen. Geo. Washington, Gen. Knox, Henry Lee, James Monroe, Gen. Muhlenberg, Count Pulaski, Gen. Weedon, Alexander Hamilton, Gen. Lafayette, Gen. Woodford, Gen. Scott, Gen. Conway, & John Marshall.

 

137. White, John I.. “American Vignettes”. Travel Vision, Div. Gen. Drafting Co., Inc., Convent Station, NJ. 1967.

Contents:

Preface...........................................................8

1. Travels of a Roll of Parchment...............................9

The Declaration survives nearly two centuries of neglect and abuse.

Benjamin Franklin................................................12

The unique on-going legacy of a great statesman

3. Battle of the Pigtail.......................17    

An 1801 army rule on hair length sparks a one-man mutiny

4. International Iceman.....................................20   

A Bostonian astonishes the world by shipping natural ice

5. Royalty in Exile.....................................22 

An ex-king enjoys life as a New Jersey country squire

6. Living Laboratory.................................24    

Fate gives an army doctor the first look at the digestive process

7. A Close Call for Lafayette....................27  

An accident almost spoils a triumphal tour of America

8. Turkish Grand Master.........................35   

A “mechanical” chessman defeats the world’s best players

9. Happiness Was an Octagon.................37 

A phrenologist promotes the 1850’s fad for eight-sided houses

10. Frenchman Up in the Air.................41 

High-wire artist Blondin wins fame with his dangerous capers

11. A Remarkable Little Lady...............43  

Amelia Bloomer fights for women’s rights and dress reform

12. Lincoln Wanted Only One War......46  

The Trent Affair comes close to bringing on another

13. Mission from Muscovy..................50   

Russian naval squadrons surprise New York and San Francisco

14. Confederates South of the Border..56 

Rather than surrender, Gen. Shelby leads his men to Mexico City

15. Trouble in the Treasury................60  

Why our paper currency never carries the faces of living persons

16. The Collins Overland Telegraph..63   

Linking the U.S. with Europe via Alaska was a great idea, but...

17. Brides for Seattle.........................68    

 

Amazing Asa Mercer delivers a shipload of marriageable women

18. Alaska Puzzle.............................73     

Russia’s minister finds “Seward’s Ice Box” a “hot potato”

19. Century-Old Superman...............81

A buried stone giant puzzles the scientists, becomes a celebrity

20. Strangers in Pharaoh-Land..........4 

Former Confederate and Union officers toil side by side in Egypt

21. “The Old Chisholm Trail”..........88 

A song preserves the memory of the great cattle drives

22.   General Sheridan Entertains a Grand Duke......................................................92     

Custer and Cody also participate in an unusual buffalo hunt

23.   Home Sweet Soddy...........................99  

Sod blocks were standard building material on the prairies

24.   Elisha Gray, Telephone Pioneer......104  

A distinguished engineer misses.....

25.   Mystery Motor................................106     
“Inventor” John Keely mystifies the public.......

26.   A Hand for General Grant.....................111     
Writer-publisher Mark Twin rescues a national hero........

27.   Brodie Did It the Hard Way..................115
The life and times of New York’s notorious bridge-jumper..

28.   He Said “Goodbye” to the “Hello Girl”..................................................118 
A mortician invents a device for switching phone calls

29.   Our Nellie Made It.......................121   
Joseph Pulitzer’s star woman reporter circles the globe

30. Big Wheel...................................124  
The checkered career of America’s first and largest Ferris Wheel

31.   Henry blew the Whistle...............127 
Ford wins the Selden patent fight, after eight years of litigation

32.   No Turkey for the Duryeas..........135   
Two brothers spend Thanksgiving winning the first U.S. car race

33.   When Feathers Were in Fashion..140 
Ostrich farming takes over, temporarily, in the Southwest

34.   Dr. Jackson, First Transcontinental Motorist............................................147    
A Vermonter drives from San Francisco to New York on a bet

35.   How Not to make a Lake..............151  
California gets its biggest lake, Salton Sea, unexpectedly

36.   Nude in Hot Water................................................158      Comstock puts “September Morn” on the best seller list

37.   The Zipper, A twenty-year Sleeper...160  
Ups and downs of the slide fastener before it becomes a success

38.   Cent-A-Gallon Gasoline...................165   
Louis Enricht’s “discovery” takes in several tycoons of note

39.   Woodrow Wilson Considered Stepping Down.....................................................169     
In 1916, he was prepared to resign if...

40.   Bank by Mail....................................................172     
A Utah town puts one over on the Post Office

41.   Return of the Texas Longhorn.......175   
Fifty years ago the famed breed was virtually extinct

42.   One Way to Share the Wealth.......183    
A wealthy oilman keeps a play running even though nobody cares

43. When Turkey day Was Twins......186   
F.D.R. shifts the date for Thanksgiving, with interesting results About the Author..............................................189
Acknowledgments............................190
For Further Reading............................................192

 

138. --. “The Historic Morgan Log House”. Welsh Valley Preservation Soc`. 1998. Welsh Valley Preservation Soc. for Towamencin Township administers this Morgan Log House. It is located two miles off Lansdale exit 31 Rte. 476 (NE ext. PATPK). Take Rte. 63 east, continue on Sumneytown Pike at the light, turn left on Troxel Rd., turn right on Snyder Rd., and left on Weikel Rd. to #850 (between Snyder and Allentown Roads).

 

139. --. “Schwenkfelder Library and museum”. Schwenkfelder Museum. 1999. The Schwenkfelder Museum and Library are open Sundays May - Aug., 1:30 - 4:00 p.m. Location in Pennsburg, Pa: The Museum is at 100 Seminary St. in the Carnegie Library, Perkiomen School, & the Library at 105. West up 4 th St. and right on Seminary from the intersection of routes 29 & 663.

 

140. Bean, Theodore. “History of Montgomery Co. I & II”. . 1955. Copied Hatboro section from History of Montgomery Co., The First 100 Years & from the Second 100 Years. [see also: #201]

 

141. Ames, Gerald D. “Bank President Presents Plans for Development”. Montgomery Newspapers. - Printed in the 14/23/1999 issue of the weekly Public Spirit concerning the demolition and reconstruction of a facade of the Potts House, Hatboro, PA.

 

142. McReynolds, George. “PLACE NAMES IN BUCKS COUNTY”. . . Photocopied from the book, sections covering Warminster, Warminster Township and Warrington, PA.

 

143. Regenhard, Jack. “CHRIST HOME, WARMINSTER, PA”. . 1998. Article and postcard picture for a publication. The institution was started in 1903 as a home of children, the aged and missionaries who would rest here before returning to the mission field. Picture also of a horse-drawn lorrie of children, circa 1910.

 

144. --. “Horsham resident digs...Penrose-Strawbridge House”. Montgomery News/Public Spirit. 1999. Horsham Resident digs to reveal age of Penrose-Strawbridge house at park—Margaret Choate, the head of the Horsham Township Preservation and Historical Association, believes the age of the Penrose-Strawbridge House may be older than the Keith House at Graeme Park. It was possibly employed as a stop on the Underground Railroad.

 

145. Anastasi, John. “Keith, Charismatic Colonial Gov. paved way for today’s politicians”. Public Spirit. 1999. Sir William Keith, born 1669, Colonial governor of Pennsylvania in the 1700’s was often involved in money problems and once even bilked Benjamin Franklin out of letters of credit to fund a trip to London. “William Keith, plagued by old debts and living the life of a discarded public official, died in 1749 in the Old Bailey, a liberty of parole section of the Fleet Street Prison,” according to the Graime Park Volunteer Manual.

 

146. Shannon, Jr., D. T. “Writer looks to save Potts House”. Public Spirit. 1999. “Built in 1743 for the Rev. Josha Potts by his father, it also served as the first home of the Union Library Co. of Hatboro. He is arguably the person responsible for the beginnings of what is now the Hatboro-Horsham public schools dating to 1734. This structure is one of the last two buildings built before 1750 that remain in the center of Hatboro, the Hatboro Federal Savings and Loan being the other.

 

147. Anastasi, John. “Demolition of Hatboro’s Potts House to proceed as planned despite protest “. Public Spirit. 1999. Hatboro Federal Savings President Joe Tryon defended the bank’s decision to demolish the Joshua Potts house on York Road at the Hatboro Committee Meeting May 10.

 

148. Bogaert, Pauline Pinard. “Her house was their house. now it is open to everyone“. Philadelphia Inquirer. 1999. Glen Echo Farm features the work of three dozen interior and exterior designers and is open until May 30, 1999 in the 24th annual Bucks County Designer House series. In 1692, Irish immigrants Revecca and Edward Doyle bought a land grant from William Penn where Glen Echo now is. The area later became known as Doyle’s Town, subsequently Doylestown.

 

149. Albright, Stan, Superintendent Yosemite. “Yosemite National Park”. National Park Service. 1999. “The five goals—to reclaim priceless natural beauty, reduce traffic congestion, allow natural processes to prevail, reduce crowding, and promote visitor understanding and enjoyment—are still valid, and making progress toward achieving them is even more critical now than it was in 1980. The challenge remains as to how to translate these goals into specific actions. ”Planning Update of the Yosemite National Park Reconstruction - In the aftermath of considerable damage and flooding in 1997, but stemming from a 1980 General Management Plan, and a 1998 Judges injunction, an all inclusive Valley study and plan for reconstruction is taking place. Present at this time is Volumes 13 & 14. Quotation: John Muir, “My First Summer in the Sierra, 1869.” “When we try to pick out anything by itself we find it hitched to everything in the universe.”

 

150. Kennedy, Joseph S., Inquirer Correspondent.. “Food source or free way? Settlers dispute”. Philadelphia Inquirer. 1999. The Schuylkill provided fishing and transportation. But the traps blocked boats, causing conflicts. Montgomery County Historical Society’s records are noted. An area map of 1698 is shown. Gov. Patrick Gordon was in office during the conflicting years of 1734 and 1740 and favored transportation over fishing.

 

151. Shoup, Mike. “With waterfalls and cliffs, this secret”. Philadelphia Inquirer. . A quiet State Park, Ricketts Glen, near Red Rock at Rtes. 487 & 118, and mostly in Luzerne County, wants to be just that way, so only those desiring strongly will visit. “It’s a real nice park, a natural park,” its superintendent, Brent Semmel, is quoted as saying. Fall is a perfect time to visit Ricketts Glen. Most of the campers have departed. All of the swimmers are gone from the shore of Lake Jean, and so are all but the most hardy of fishermen and boaters. Above Ricketts Glen itself, along Kitchen Creek, one will find virgin timber.

 

152. Crawford, John. “Scrapping history is a real shame”. Public Spirit. 1999. “A bank wants to tear down York Road’s Joshua Potts house, the oldest section of which was built in 1743.” “Hatboro ought to act fast if they don’t want to lose other historic structures. If development continues to creep into the borough, Main Street will be full of 7-11s and Wawas, and the only thing of character left will be Ed Galing and his typewriter.”

 

153. Trachtenberg, Diane - Record Corespondent.. “Historians shed light on Hatboro-Horsham”. Public Spirit. 1999. “Historians shed light on Hatboro-Horsham’s dark days of slavery. The Warwick home of John Moland contains evidence of slavery that was there. Under the leader ship of David T. Shannon, Millbrook historians found pre-Revolutionary War slave quarters at the Warwick home of John Moland.” “An advertisement in the Pennsylvania Gazette, Oct. 12, 1752, features a notice posted by john Jones of the ‘Manor of Moreland near Crooked Billet’ for the sale of ‘a likely Negro woman, about 29 years of age, had the smallpox, and understands country business as well. Also a Negro child, a boy one year old.” “In the same issue Dr. Thomas Graeme of Horsham announced ‘a mulatto slave, named Will, about 29 years of age, being of a Negro father and an Indian mother, ran away from his plantation in Horsham township. Whoever sees him in any goal shall have five pounds reward and reasonable charges paid.” After January 1775 slave ownership decreased till in 10 years there was only one reported in Horsham. The participants in a Philadelphia Convention brought this about when they prohibited the importation of slaves.

 

154. Ames, Gerald D.. “Millbrook Society Studies History on the Appalachian Trail, Segment #7”. Grist. 1999. (See also the Bike Ride Files under Appalachian Trl. 7 for the map of the hike)

 

155. Boasberg, Leonard W.. “First In War, First In Peace, First To Be Castigated By His Public”. Philadelphia Inquirer. 1999. An exhibit at Rosenbach Museum through July includes letters, locks of hair,, and the will of George Washington.

 

156. --. “Hatboro Federal Savings Will Replicate Potts Building Facade”. Life Newspapers-Horsham. 1999. The banking institution’s intention was to restore the two-story Potts house when it bought the property two years ago. It is on the south side of Hatboro Federal’s main office, and is boarded up and vacant. Its most recent use was as a pizza parlor [Longhitono’s, later Joe’s Pizza run by Joe Tardino, later his son-in-law and daughter, Jim & Laura]. This will be the third building of the period that the bank has restored. The building next to it on the east is the restored (?) building converted as the main office, the 200 year old John Barclay.  Lynn Taylor, architect, is to act as a consultant and is a member of the Heritage Conservancy, Historic Certification Committee for Bucks County. A noted preservationist for projects throughout the Northeast, His Doylestown firm is known locally for restoration of the 19th century Lenape Hall building in Doylestown. It helped spark revitalization in the downtown area. Taylors’s firm saved an old prison by converting it into the James A. Michener Art Museum. Toby Hoffman, of T.A. Hoffman Architects, who has worked with Lynn Taylor for 15 years, designed the replacement building. A sketch as per old pictures is included, as was presented to Borough Council earlier.

 

157. Rocco, Michael - Public Spirit Correspondent. “US Historical commission aims to educate community”. Public Spirit. 1999. The Upper Southampton Historical Commission is looking to persuade owners of historic properties to preserve the structures on their land. “A lot of this is about education. You can’t preserve everything. You have to try to educate people on what they have,” said commission chairman James Day. A building that could be used as an education center would be the Harness Shop on Second Street Pike. The shop, estimated to have been built between 1885 and 1890, is on property approved to be the site of a new Walgreens Pharmacy. Walgreen has pledged $20,000 to aid in moving the building. The Commission is working to define a more practical way to identify historical structures before they become threatened with destruction.

 

158. --. “Graeme Park”. PA Historical & Museum Comm. 1999. Built in 1722, Graeme Park changed only once—in the 1750’s—since construction. The mansion is the only surviving residence of a colonial Pennsylvania governor. Built for Provincial Governor of Pennsylvania, Sir William Keith, the house was originally called “Fountain Low” because of its many natural springs. (see also record # 66).

 

159. --. “ALHFAM”. Montgomery County Comm.. . Pennypacker Mills, Montgomery County, is the Colonial Revival Home of Former Pennsylvania Governor, Samuel W. Pennypacker built prior to 1910.

 

160.

 

161. --. “Pennypacker Mills”. Montgomery County Comm.. 1999. Pennypacker Mills, Montgomery County, is the Colonial Revival Home of Former Pennsylvania Governor, Samuel W. Pennypacker built prior to 1910.

 

162. --. “Fort Mifflin”. National Historic Landmark. 1999. Fort Mifflin is located just north of the Philadelphia International Airport in Pennsylvania. It is the oldest fort in continuous use 1771 to 1954. where 340 men lost their lives for the cause of freedom.

 

163. Long, Beth. “Diggers find treasures in the dirt”. The Record. 1999. Picture caption: “Ron Beifuss (left) and Jerry Ames, members of the Millbrook Society, dig at the Moland House. Acting as archeological agents for Warwick, the Society will conduct about 30 digs this year.” Article included.

 

164. Yanoshak, Harry. “Renovation of the Moland House windows provides a look into the home where Washington stayed.”. The Record. 1999. A first home to bear written proof that “Washington slept here,” the Moland house has a real claim. The work on the windows provides the Rosetta Stone, because the old timbers revealed the original windows’ molding profile and size. The jambs also showed evidence that there were no shutters on the second floor and that the window panes were nine over six. Microscopic analysis of a chip of paint taken from the jambs told workers that the windows had been painted a dull red oxide color. The new windows now sport that same color.

 

165. Provance, Jim. “Son or WAM: State hands out $11.5 million”. The Record. 1999. Their critics dubbed them WAMs, or Walking Around Money. Today they are called Communities Capitalization Grants, and they put baseball bats in the hands of little Leaguers, buy new police cars and build monuments to veterans. The Warwick Township Historical Society will make renovations to the Moland House with its $50,000 grant, a portion of this years $45 million WAM/CCG. The Washington Crossing Historic Associates will acquire a replica of a Durham boat.

 

166. Wartenberg, Steve. “Washington Slept Here”. The Record. 1999. Some times legends really are true, say the number of places where George Washington supposedly slept. Especially around here. They don’t call one Bucks community Washington Crossing - and another in Montgomery County Fort Washington - for nothing. There are herein, references to: Summerset mansion in Morrisville, Keith House, McConkey Ferry, Harris House in Newtown, Moland House, Crooked Billet Tavern, Pennypacker Mills, Peter Wentz Farmstead, Emlen House, Fell Home, and Lady Washington Hotel (a private home once, as the circa 1761 building was known for a time).

 

167. Matheson, Glen C.. “Lincoln Highway Association Brochure”. Lincoln Highway Assoc.. 1996. Lincoln Highway Association Organized in Detroit, Michigan July 1, 1913. The US Transcontinental route was proclaimed September 14, 1913. It traverses twelve states: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, & California. A route change added West Virginia in 1928.

 

168. --. “Fording the Lincoln Highway in the Ten Millionth Model T—Again”. http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/. 1999. The 10 millionth Model T rolled off the assembly line just seventy-five years ago in 1924. To celebrate the event, the car was specially painted and then driven coast to coast on the Lincoln Highway. The route ran from New York City through NJ, PA, OH, IN, IL, IO, NE, WY, UT, NV, and CA. It began in Times Square and ended in San Francisco’s Lincoln Park overlooking the Pacific. This Weekend the same vehicle will make its 75th anniversary trip across the Lincoln Highway. Owner Dr. Alan Hathaway will leave from Times Square in New York City early on Sunday Morning, June 6th. He estimates he will arrive at the Calhoun Street Bridge between Trenton and Morrisville at about noon. He will arrive in Philadelphia in the early afternoon. His top speed is about 33 mph.[note: because of the lateness of the hour, the many route closures, detours, and crowds in Philadelphia due to the First Union Professional Bicycle Races, the entourage went right across the Schuylkill River on the Route 1/City Line Ave. Bridge on out Route 30/Lancaster Ave.]

 

169. Handler, Mimi. “MILESTONES”. Early American Homes. 1997. In spite of their size, weight, and relative impermiability, milestones are ephemeral, casualties of time. The few that remain are on roads less traveled, or they are relics, mounted on plinths or preserved in museums. Their information is irrelevant because the road from here to there has been straightened, connected, put elsewhere. This is primarily about The Old Bay Road, laid out in 1639, from Boston to the NH border. Similarly the Bay Path, which ran west from Boston to Springfield, was ordered by law in 1767. The “Joseph Wait Esq. Bay Road sign [37], one on the grounds of Governor Dummer Academy in Byfield, MA [33], one at Adams St., Quincy, MA [B9], & B8 showing that Boston was eight miles from East Milton Square in 1723.

 

170. Kennedy, Joseph S. Inquirer Correspondent. “Building a British estate in Pa. - piece by piece”. Philadelphia Inquirer. 1999. The Allethaire Ludlow Rotan estate on Gravers Lane in Wyndmoor has more recently been known as the Sinkler Estate in it’s area. Terry Buckalew lives in the house and who for many years was facilities manager at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Sinkler Conference Center, housed at Lane’s End since 1971, researched records and interviewed Rotan’s two adopted daughters, former workers at the estate and neighbors who knew both Allethaire Ludlow Rotan and her husband, Samuel Rotan. The university subdivided the 32-acre estate into seven lots for sale last summer. In May, the Springfield Township Historical Society made a $1 Million bid for 12.6 acres, including Rotan’s manor house, but the property remains on the market.

 

171. Anastasi, John.. “Hatboro’s love affair with Hollywood dates back to the turn of the century”. Public Spirit. 1999. Ernest and Penrose Robinson built Hatboro’s second movie house in the early 1900’s. It was called The Hatboro Auditorium and charged 25 cents for each person to watch a film. It was located south of Moreland on the west side of York Rd. where the CVS Pharmacy is today (the old Berlin’s variety store). George Rife renovated his blacksmith barn on East Montgomery Ave. into a motion picture house as the first building devoted to showing the new silent movies. He also showed lanternslides as well.

 

172. Kennedy, Joseph S. - Inquirer Correspondent. “A look at the legacy of the Country Inns”. Philadelphia Inquirer. 1999. By 1786, Montgomery County had 71 inns and taverns. They provided lodging, food and drink, and they served as centers for information from travelers and teamsters. Among the key roads were Germantown Pike (built 1687), ...York Road (1693), ... Ridge Pike (1706), ...and Lancaster Pike (1741). Some of the inns are still standing, notably the Perkiomen Bridge Hotel in Collegeville, Dewee’s Tavern in Trappe and the King of Prussia Inn in King of Prussia. It was with the development of new technologies in transportation and new modes of communication that the inns and taverns of the area lost their primacy as information centers.

 

173. Rocco, Michael - Public Spirit Correspondent. “Local post office really got around during its 185-year history”. Public Spirit. 1999. The Willow Grove Post Office moved six times after it was established in 1811 in the Red Lion Inn between Easton and York Roads, close to where the Willow Inn stands today. Willow Grove is not really a place, but a postal designation covering half of Upper Moreland and parts of Upper Dublin and Abington townships. The Willow Grove Post Office moved six times after it was established. The last and final move was on May 12, 1962 into a building built specifically for the Willow Grove Post Office at 611 N. Easton Road.

 

174. Ames, Gerald D. “Inspection of the Penrose-Strawbridge Mansion”. Unpublished (for Millbrook Soc.). 1999. Inspection of the Penrose-Strawbridge Manor, 902 Governor Rd. Warminster, PA 18974 The front of the house faces southeast with a southwest-northeast ridge. It is a grand colonial stone structure with a full-length flagstone-on-slab front porch having four round pillars and well-joined pole guttered roof. There is a second wing of the same height, joined off the northwest flush with the northeast end. Though there are signs that this is the older structure, it may have been added to in height after the front structure was constructed, because the windows in the attic of the main front building are cut by the gabled roof line of this west wing. The date stone on the front structure may read about 1858, while the one on the main portion of the west wing is 1830. There is a later room added to the whole of the width and height of this wing, continuing to the west. There are two 160 year-old trees in front. The one at the left near the stone fence line across the front is a Cucumber Magnolia (Magnolia acuminata) , the largest I can remember ever seeing, at nearly a 100 feet in height and about seven feet in girth at breast-height. The one to the south is an English Walnut (Juglans cinerea) of about the same age. They were probably planted about 1830, the date of the wooden date block on the west gable (inside the west additional room. The building is a three story colonial that has many features unchanged, including doors, windows and hardware. The sink in the kitchen occupying the first floor of that west addition, is a stone sink, set into the wall at it’s drain through the wall, which has been capped outside by an inch copper pipe straight into the ground. This pipe is somewhat protected by a wooden boxing, which could have had insulation around the pipe. There are two and a half baths, with the half bath on the main floor, one full bath above on the second floor and the second full bath in the west wing third floor. It is now fully alarmed, has two dial type telephones, and wired for lighting at about the 1930s standard, except for a breaker panel in the east wing basement. That is also where the furnace is located. It is a rather modern oil fired hot water furnace feeding a perimeter radiator system. There is a deep jet-pump water system that is functional from a well apparently just outside on the north. There are two chimneys. The one in the west wing is badly in need of rebuilding and lining. It is the main chimney fed by both the grand old double oven wood/coal cook stove, but the furnace as well. An old oil tank of approximately 500 to 700 gallons is still in place, but not used. The current tank is apparently buried outside on the south of the wing. The other chimney is also a fireplace fed chimney, but, located outside the main building to the south. It is separated now from the building by profuse vine segments from a vine trimmed away and no longer growing on the building. If the vine segments behind the chimney could be removed totally, it is possible the chimney would settle back closer to the structure again. The main problem is the under pinning and support of the center of the main structure at the main entrance hallway. The beams are poor, rotting and very poorly designed for their load. Any shoring up was also inadequate and lacking in strength, design and construction. This is the weakest point in the whole of the structure. The whole north wing is very serviceable as is, and can be easily improved and repaired. The chimney is the first and main thing to look to there. As well as the old range in the kitchen, mentioned above, there is an electric range of about 1930s vintage. There are innumerable closets, small in-the-wall storage compartments, and drawers built into the structure. There are serviceable attics, accessible to each of the wings. The attics can be accessed, one from the other at a stairwell at the angle, but the basements can not. They are joined only by a ventilation window. Access must be gained to each from their respective wings. The west wing has a very interesting stepped-out, brick corbel support for the roof rafter tails and eaves. There was once a pole gutter on this wing as well as in the main roof at the east and the main front porch. The township probably stabilized things by repairing the roof, installing new galvanized half round gutters and downspouts, and repointing in places. There are some very interesting outbuildings of several types. Interesting stone pillars, which once supported a roof, stone watering trough, stone twin-tub laundry sink, etc. Enough to keep many people busy and interested for quite some time.[Inspected by David Shannon, Scott Shannon, Richard Poole and Gerald Ames on Friday, July 2, 1999 at 7:00 to about 10:00 p.m.]

 

175. Merrill, James H.. “Into The American Woods”. W.W. Norton & Co.. 1999. Montgomery County-Norristown Public Library Loan. Subtitled: Negotiators on the Pennsylvania Frontier. Never shown in paintings and depictions of the treaties, the go-betweens, were very valuable, if not in the long run successful in maintaining the long peace of the colonists and Indians in Pennsylvania. That the coexistence ultimately failed, more a testimony of the widely divergent (and not directly noted in early dealings) view of the ultimate state of the land and civilization for the Indians and for the colonists. Though each professed to the love of coexistence and to live together in peace, each really desired to have their own lands free of the other’s interference. In the view of the land: to the colonists land was something to dominate and mold to their use. They saw the woods and meadows as evidence of rich farming lands to be cleared, the streams as valuable sources of power for mills, mining, etc., and the mountains as impediments. The Indians saw the land as a vessel given to them to support them, with clearings interspersed in the woods and along the waterways, all things having a spirit to speak to, worship and respect. Nearly all treaties instigated by the colonists were for the purpose of acquiring land. The treaties to the Indian were for discourse, peace, appeasement. The original peaceful kingdom treaty between William Penn and the Indians (Conestoga, Delaware, Conoy, Iroquois nation) was slowly eroded over about 60 years and three generations to end in the mid eighteenth century. The “Walking Purchase” negotiated by John Penn, son of William, was a particular sore point, being known to the Indians as “Ye running walk land grab.” It was not carried out as William Penn would have done, nor were treaties hence forth as sensitive to the Indians feelings. The Indians continually tried to evoke the spirit of the original Penn Treaty into negotiations. The original copy of the treaty was last found in a bag, somehow spared from the fire in the burned ruins of a peaceful Conestoga village, a wanton, savage attack by the Paxton Boys. “Inside [the bag] were two wampum belts and six ancient documents. The longest (and probably the oldest) of these papers was the treaty Conestogas and other Indians had made with William Penn in the City of Brotherly Love in 1701 when the two sides pledged ‘that they shall forever hereafter be as One Head & One Heart, & live in true Friendship & Amity as one People.’” The complex nature of the different cultures and rituals, the religions, and view of the nature of the land itself, made the negotiators so necessary in any meeting of the two. That their views could never be reconciled, led to the ultimate war and decimation of the Indian and the overwhelming numbers, land greed, and domination of the European (primarily British).

 

176. Rocco, Michael. “Historic inn slated for demolition began as a school, ended as tavern”.Public Spirit. The Hartsville Inn was originally built as a classical school for boys in 1832 by Rev. James P. Wilson. It may be torn down to make way for a business campus. “..., Hartsville was known as a place of educational activity and advantages. Prior to the introduction of the public school system, many churches started schools, mainly so young men could be prepared for ministry.” “While pastor, Wilson lost his grip on his school and the school became the Roseland Female Institute, or Roseland seminary, in 1850 under Jacob Belville, son of Robert Belville.” “Rumors have circulated as to what the inn became after it was a school, such as a church, a meeting place, restaurant, inn and even a brothel. But most people remember the Hartsville Inn as Duffy’s Place, a place of lodging and a local watering hole run by Minnie Duffy.”

 

177. Shane III, Leo. “Historic property’s fate still undecided”. Record. 1999. Historic property’s fate still undecided - The Horsham Park and Recreation Board wants more public input on what to do with the Penrose/Strawbridge house. “One of the township’s oldest structures may have to wait a little longer than anticipated for its fate to be decided.” “After researching the property for the past two years, Choate said she found documentation that suggests the center section of the Penrose/Strawbridge house was a distillery for Sir William Keith, Provincial governor of Pennsylvania in the early 1700’s. Other papers show that Governor’s Road, a direct route from Philadelphia to Keith’s colonial plantation in Horsham, probably led to the building.”

 

178. McElroy, Ph.D., Janice H. (Editor). “Our Hidden Heritage”. Assistant Editors: Mary Ann Stangil and Margaret D. Druse. 1983. “Our Hidden Heritage” - p. 204,205. Eliza Ambler Foulke, b. 1893 - d. “Eliza Foulke is a woman whose life has been devoted to the service of others. Her grandmother was Mary Johnson Ambler, the heroine of the ‘Terrible Train Wreck’ of 1856, for whom the town of ambler is named.” “Following her belief that documentation of the past helps us understand the community we live in today, Eliza Foulke has worked to chronicle local history, in which her ancestors played a major part. she wrote histories of the Foulke and Ambler families, dating back to their origins in Wales and England. She also wrote a history of the Gwynedd Friends meeting, noting that there has always been a Foulke in the organization since its establishment in 1699.”

 

179. Rocco, Michael. “Despite progress, legacy of Potts still lives on”. Public Spirit. 1999. Despite progress, legacy of Potts still stands in Upper Moreland. Joshua Potts’ house on York Road in Hatboro was recently torn down, but the pastor built a second house down the road. The house built in 1755, once easily visible, cannot now be seen from either York Road or from Newington. It is the second on a long lane leading off York Rd., just south of Newington Rd., south of the Pennypack Creek Bridge. John and Marge Connell bought the property in 1995. There is a long and illustrious line of owners since Rev. Potts. William Folwell bought the property from Ann Potts in 1762, and willed the property to Joseph Folwell, who sold it to his father-in-law, Issac Boileau, in 1797. The assets at that time were one house, the land, two carriages, four horses, two cows and three black slaves. Nathaniel Boileau inherited the Property from his father, Issac, and became quite an influential man in Hatboro, Pennsylvania, and the nation. Joseph Yerkes bought the house from Boileau in 1843 and added to the size of the farm and the house.

 

180. Kennedy, Joseph S.. “Still no verdict on disputed site of first county court session”. Philadelphia Inquirer. 1999. “One historian [Judith A. Meier] is trying to prove that the Barley Sheaf Inn did not host legal proceedings in 1784.” “A second tavern, however, was located on what is now Main Street near Stoney Creek in Norristown. this site, Meier wrote, was much nearer the activities of the county government and was operated by [John] Shannon himself. ”A mural was installed in the Montgomery County Court House depicting that first court session at the Barley Sheaf, so that may be affected by the research, yet continuing.

 

181. Zukowski, John A.. “Retirement community was site of Loyal Orangemen”. Public Spirit. 1999. “Pilgrimage for Almost 100 years ago, the Orange Home was started by a Northern Ireland native to house both retired people and orphans.” Reverend George Worrel, the original president of the [Loyal Orangemen of the United States] organization, in 1901, purchased the 68 acres along Byberry Road, known as the Osborne Farm from the Ritchie and Rhoades estate for $15,000, raised through the organization. “The 42-room, four-story granite building was completed in 1903.” “Finally, in 1995, the property was sold to Maple Village, which is managed by Evangelical Manor, which is related to the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church.”

 

182. Ruppel, Paul. “Former orphanage being made into a retirement community”. Record. 1999. “The $21 Million project in Upper Moreland includes 38 cottages, 76 one- and two-bedroom apartments and a 32-bed assisted living facility.” The apartment building, an addition on the original Orangemen’s Home for orphans and retired members of the Loyal Orangemen of the United States, should be done by May of 2000, according to Carol Luther, president of Maple Village. The Orangemen were a fraternal organization of Irish Protestants. When the Evangelical Service for the Aging, the parent company of Maple Village, bought the 14-acre property in 1995, Stein said, Founders Hall had already been converted into a 52-bed personal care home with an adult day center .“Evangelical Service for the Aging, a nonprofit organization, already has three other retirement communities in the Philadelphia area—Heritage Towers in Doylestown, Evangelical Manor on Roosevelt Boulevard in Philadelphia and Pilgrim Towers on Rising Sun Avenue in Philadelphia.”

 

183. Zukowski, John A.. “Upper Moreland House built by early English pioneers still stands”. Public Spirit. 1999. The house was built by the Thomas Lloyd’s oldest son, John, in 1758”. Upper Moreland House built by early English pioneers still stands. The house was built by the Thomas Lloyd’s oldest son, John, in 1758. The owner who lives there today very much enjoys the house. It was William Penn who sold the American land to the Lloyd family. A glover from Radnorshire, John Lloyd, bought 100 acres in Radnor, Pa. from Penn. However, Lloyd never came to America to see his property. Both his son, Thomas, and his daughter, Martha, came to America about 1720. Thomas sold the 100 acres in Radnor, bought 112 acres in Moreland from Martha’s husband, Thomas Wood, and purchased another 40 acres a few years later. The present house at 3840 Davisville Road was built by Thomas’ oldest son, John Lloyd II, in 1758 after he purchased 92 acres from his father.

 

184. Zukowski, John A.. Clockmaker contributed timepieces for buildings in Hatboro, Philadelphia”. Public Spirit. 1999. Twenty seven years after Isaiah Lukens was engaged to build the clock in the Loller Academy at 410 S. York Road in Hatboro in 1811, he built the clock in the State House of Philadelphia, now Independence Hall.  He had relatives on the Union Library board of Hatboro. Throughout his life, Lukens was a creative inventor and craftsman. Among the many things he constructed were windmills and airguns. Lukens also became one of the founders of the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.

 

185. Kennedy, Joseph S.. “How a physician met a pharmacist, found a fortune in Ambler”. Philadelphia Inquirer. 1999. “’Dr. Richard V. Mattison and Henry G. Keasbey turned the tiny burg into a thriving company town. He was a man who was either loved or hated, depending on who you talked to,’ local historian Bernadette Dougherty said in a recent interview.”[Notes also in the Biking “Routes” files.]

 

186. Rocco, Michael. “Mills took muscle out of Pennypack”. Public Spirit. 1999. The demand for the mills to produce more and more products would ultimately be the Pennypack Creed’s demise.

 

187. Zukowski, John A.. “Creator wanted Public Spirit to be ‘Welcome in every household’”. Public Spirit. 1999. Hatboro doctor W.T. Robinson felt the Hatboro area needed a newspaper. When no one started one, he decided to start one himself 126 years ago on a Saturday in 1873, Hatboro doctor W.T. Robinson stood before a steam-power press and watched copies of the 24 X 28 inch four page newspaper print out picture is included of the ~1920 Public Spirit building on the corner of York Road and Montgomery Ave.

 

188. --. “Friends of the Wissahickon Web page”. MRB Communications. 1997. Photograph of The covered Bridge by John Groom & Students from Friends Central School cleaning up the creek. E-mail to “friendswis@aol.com”Included: Friends of the Wissahickon paper 8:1 (75 year)

 

189. Russell, Elizabeth. Commissioners canoe trip hopes to paddle. 1999. “Commissioners canoe trip hopes to paddle up more river visitors” “The Montgomery County Commissioners took a two-day trip down the Schuylkill river to see firsthand potential recreational attractions the river holds. ”The float trip, a rather closed participation event, was for the purpose of acquainting the Montgomery County Commissioners with the possibilities of recreational sites along the River in sort of linear riverside park corridor.[See also routes files under Schuylkill Float]

 

190. Durantine, Peter (Assoc. Press). “A two-month journey that led to the interstate highways”. The Intelligencer Record. 1999. Eisenhower traveled coast to coast in 1919, and proposed the system nearly four decades later, while serving as President of the US. “To those who have known only concrete and macadam highways of gentle grades and engineered curves, such a trip might seem humdrum, “ Eisenhower recounted in a 1967 memoir. “In those days, we were not sure it could be accomplished at all. Nothing of the sort had ever been attempted.” They had to pull trucks out of mud holes, repair &/or reinforce bridges and repair vehicles enroute.

 

191. --. “Cross-country skiing in Penn. St. Pk, For”. Bureau of Travel, DER. Cross-country skiing in Pennsylvania State Parks & Forests. 1982 “YOU’VE GOT A FRIEND IN PENNSYLVANIA Cross-country skiing sites are divided into: Southwestern, South-central, Southeast, Northeast, North-central, & Northwest regions.

 

192. Burkholder, Kenneth C., Ed.. “Pennsylvania Trail Guide”. Commonwealth of PA, DER. 1989. Coverage is of: National Trails, Major & Well-Known Trails, Bicycle Routes, Water Trails. The Bicycling Routes section mostly refers to Adventure Cycling (previously Bike Centennial) routes and the regional PA Bicycling maps. Water routes are for canoeing & kayakable waters.

 

193. --. “State Parks & Forest In New Jersey”. NJ Dept. of Env. Protection & Recreation“. . New Jersey by 4 regions covering Historic sites, Natural Areas, & State Parks & Forests.

 

194. Merritt, J. J. “Gamboling, not gambling”. Philadelphia Inquirer. 1999. Wyoming’s Atlantic City was built on a gamble in the 1860s, but the gold petered out, and so did the population. Now it mines tourism for survival. Just 13 miles south of Atlantic City, WY, is the South Pass, over which more than 300,000 immigrants crossed between 1841 and 1860 on their way to Oregon or California, or to Salt Lake City. In Pinedale, WY, at the base of the Wind River Mountains, there is a museum of the Mountain Man, honoring the likes of Jim Bridger, Kit Carson, Fremont, and etc.

 

195. Brady, Thomas J.. “The Professor just keeps moving ahead”. Philadelphia Inquirer. 1999. Witold Rybczynski, who wrote “The Most Beautiful House in the World,” about a house he had built for himself outside Montreal, explained during a recent interview that, he had just moved from one old stone home in Chestnut Hill, to another larger one. His other books have been: Home: the Short History of an Idea, City Life, Looking Around, and Waiting For the Weekend. He will have “A Clearing in the Distance: Fredrick Law Olmsted and America in the Nineteenth Century (Scribner, $28), out before the end of the century.

 

196. Rocco, Michael. “Bank celebrates serving community for 90”. Public Spirit. 1999. Bank celebrates serving community for 90 years. “Willow Grove Bank started as the Willow Grove Building and Loan Association in 1909 and was located in a back room of Rothwell’s drug store on the corner of Davisville and York roads.” ‘We have 60 employees involved in more than 180 community involvement’s. We work here, we live here and we play here. And we’re giving back to the community,’ Marcell said.” “From 1996 through 1998, the bank, through the enrichment program, donated $500,000 to the community.” “I personally hope we will not lose something I call ‘personal touch,” said Joyce Magyar, Willow Grove Bank’s administrative assistant. “It’s a lasting quality that separates us from the larger banks.”

 

197. Rocco, Michael - Public Spirit. “One dime bought riders a trip to the ‘Musical Capital of the World.’” Public Spirit Newspapers. 1999. One dime bought riders a trip to the ‘Musical Capital of the World. ’In the late 19th and 20th centuries, trolleys provided transportation from Philadelphia to Willow Grove Park. Sometimes cars driving fast enough can feel the bumps underneath them. On Easton Road especially, the bumps have been paved over time and time again with the same result: slowly, tracks protrude through the asphalt to raise an eyebrow or two from curious passers by. The first trolley came to Willow Grove on May 11, 1895, one year before the grand opening of Willow Grove Park. Early photos show the Willow Grove Trolley Terminal as a small-scale equivalent to 30th Street Station, with rows and rows of track coming and going in both directions, north and south. The Philadelphia Rapid Transit Co. ran a special car for carrying bicycles so female passengers might pedal out to Willow Grove by wheel, but ride comfortably home if overly fatigued. The cars still are around in some form, many turned into diners, and the tracks remain as the bumps underneath the road.

 

198. Kennedy, Joseph S. “19th-century Linfield artist turned to history for his subject“. Philadelphia Inquirer. 1999. Peter Frederick Rothermel, known for his depiction of the Battle of Gettysburg, first became a painter in Philadelphia. In the 18th and 19th centuries, when history painting was popular, this region produced a number of artists who excelled in the genre. Notable among them was Peter Frederick Rothermel, a Linfield resident. Among his paintings are: Columbus Before the Queen, DeSoto’s Discovery of the Mississippi, Cortez Addressing his troops, Cortez urging His Fleet, and The Battle of Gettysburg. The latter painting, commissioned by the General Assembly of Pennsylvania, took three years to complete in a 16 by 32 foot layout. He was paid $25,000 for his effort. Today that painting hangs at the Pennsylvania State Museum in Harrisburg, PA.

 

199. Reed, Lois, for the Dallas Morning News. “Touring old ruins of a deadly quake”. Philadelphia Inquirer. 1999. A lake and seven sites recall the ‘59 disaster. Earthquake (sic) Lake, Mont. [I think it is simply called “Quake” Lake.] The lake is a deep blue, deeper than azure and otherworldly. Bleached spines of evergreens—drowning victims—rise from the water lilies mere seconds near midnight of Aug. 17, 1959, three huge blocks of earth heaved and dropped along old fault lines around the canyon. The south side of the canyon—more than 80 million tons of rock—slid into the Madison River and pushed boulders 400 feet up the north wall. The quake registered 7.5 on the Richter scale, shaking ranches and mountain ranges for miles and damaging the town of West Yellowstone, southeast of the canyon where U.S. Highways 287, 191 and 20 meet. Twenty-eight men, women and children perished when the shock wave and tidal wave blasted through the campgrounds down stream on the Madison River.

 

200. Rose, Kathy. “Volunteers praised”. Public Spirit, Montgomery Newspapers. Fort Washington, PA. Opinion Sec. 1998. This is a clipping from the paper of a praise letter for the people who aided him in a last wish at the end of his life. On March 24, 1998 Bill Rose died of colon cancer at the age of 54. Bill was a fellow SCUBA diving companion of mine when we were in the Lansdale YMCA SCUBA Club. He was always and upbeat interesting person, and it sounds like, from the article, he was to the end.

 

201. Bean, Theodore W. “Montgomery County: The First Hundred Years” . . . Montgomery County: The First Hundred Years. 1884. ed. Theodore W. Bean. Selected copied pages from the section covering the Manor of Moreland. [See also: #140]

 

202. Smith, Charles Harper. “THE SETTLEMENT OF HORSHAM TOWNSHIP”. Trinity Press, Ambler, PA 19002. 1975. Book borrowed from the Millbrook Soc. Lib. [Cat. # 947.814 Smith]

 

203. Fesmire, Sylvia M. “WINDOW ON THE PAST”. Albert J. Becker. 1978. A history of the Huntingdon Valley Area and Bryn Athyn for the Pennickpacka Historical Society. The Huntingdon Valley Fire Co. held their 1st. meeting in the Odd Fellows Hall half way up the Huntingdon Pike hill above Red lion Rd. on June 9, 1911. The Fire Co. procured ground next to the Baptist church, turned Library and built a terra cotta building 20 X 28 feet in 1913. Transportation in a county like Montgomery, situated north and west of Philadelphia, must of necessity have roads like a fan grill. It is said that by 1760, traffic on the roads must have exceeded 6000 wagons a year. “The first means of transportation, aside from walking, was by horseback. Martindale says that for 75 years the people traveled chiefly by this means through Indian trails or very primitive paths. William J. Buck records sleighs, gigs, and chairs for conveyance on business or pleasure. ”The Welsh Rd., one of three most noteworthy, was laid out in 1711 from Gwynedd to present Huntingdon Valley, to enable the people (the Welsh settlers) to reach the mills along the Pennypack. The Byberry Rd. by which the people of the two townships had contact between the Byberry Quaker Meetinghouse and school, and the Horsham Meetinghouse was extended its length by 1720. The Middle Road or Fox Chase-Huntingdon turnpike had been completed as far as Huntingdon Valley before 1848 for it was extended to the sorrel horse in that year. The earliest RR serving Huntingdon Valley was part of a road proposed as early as 1860, for on April 2, 1860, a charter was granted to the Philadelphia and Montgomery County Railroad Co. The outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 caused a delay till the June 8, 1872 ground breaking. It became the Philadelphia and Newtown Railroad and then, 1873, the Philadelphia, Newtown, and New York Railroad. In 1945, it became wholly owned by the Reading Railroad. For Communications, telephones were mentioned in 1899 and by 1904, 17 subscribers in the area were known. An act was passed June 30, 1836, establishing public schools throughout the state, which this district (Moreland Township) by a vote, did not accept. By the act of April 11, 1848, the common school system was enforced on the unaccepting districts. Originally, there were five schools, located at Willow Grove, Huntingdon Valley, Paper Mill Hill, Wood’s Hill, and Walnut Valley. They had commonly held classes for 10-month terms by 1850. However, certain earlier historians tell of schools in Moreland by 1776 -- five are listed:

1. Hatborough, established in 1730

2. Southwest corner of Moreland on Welsh Road

3. Near Parr’s mill on Newtown Road one mile northeast of Willow Grove

4. Middle Road Schoolhouse below Sorrel Horse Hotel built before 1745 (and still in use at Martindale’s writing in 1853.)

5. Near the Byberry line in the lower end of the township. Of three libraries in the last 120 years, the first is indicated on a Scott map dated 1871, and located on Huntingdon Turnpike near the present Gulf Station. The 2nd was started by the Community Club in 1919. In 1953, The Women’s Club of Huntingdon Valley started the 3rd library as their community project. This library continued and in 1960 gained tax support as a non-profit organization, gaining its home in the purchased Memorial Baptist Church building on Red Lion Rd. in 1962. A large remodeling project in 1967 allowed all three floors to be used. The first church building was the Huntingdon Valley Presbyterian Church on land purchased from John Walton in 1862. In 1903, the first services were held in the newly completed First Baptist Church on Murray Ave. While Methodism came to Bethayres and Huntingdon Valley in 1892, they met in the Odd Fellows Hall until Oct. 15, 1892 when the church on Rd Lion Rd and Murray Ave. was dedicated. St. John’s Episcopal Church on the corner of Welsh Rd. & Washington Lane was built in 1848. Lutherans worshipped in the Fire Hall first in 1956, and St. John’s Episcopal, and the Lower Moreland Elem. Sch., until their new Gloria Dei Lutheran building was dedicated Nov. 13, 1960. An educational wing, youth center, Chapel followed, culminating in the last building, the Gloria Dei Towers, for 268 retired persons in 1972. The Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses at 375 Byberry Rd was competed Nov. 14, 1970. In 1964, St. Alberts Church was begun. The earliest inn was the Sorrel Horse Hotel in the SW angle of Byberry and Middle Rd. (Huntingdon Pike) and Spur Road in the mid-Eighteenth century. It was razed in the 1930s. The second inn and the only one still standing is the Lady Washington Hotel (1761) on the SW corner of the Pike and Fettersmill Road. The bank building is built on the immediate corner on some of the ground where once were the inn sheds. There is yet an old pump in the front yard. The thirties inn was the Spread Eagle Hotel, licensed in 1793 and operated till 1936, when it was torn down for the building of the road overpass of the Reading RR line. Several mills operated on the Pennypack and tributaries. The Iredell saw-mill of circa 1850 near Prospectville, Fulmore’s grist mill above Hatboro and the Yerkes mill, now a restaurant below Hatboro. The latter was owned by Emanuel Dungan in 1719 (error—Dungworth). In Moreland, Mason’s mill was east of the present Pennsylvania Turnpike and “Trenton Cutoff.” The Upper Moreland township park site necessitated the ruins of this mill being torn down. In 1913, three abandoned stone houses were standing along Creek Rd. Mr. Joseph Pearson, noted artist, bought and renovated/restored/modernized the Shelmire property. The Fetter’s Mill jutting into the bend of the Pennypack bridge approach from the west is a newer mill than one across the creek where the RR Station house now stands. Near Welsh road there was the Walton’s mill. Further down, Paul’s Mill (now known as Hallowell Mill) stood on what is now known as Paul Creek, about where the Huntingdon Pike crosses the creek. Lastly, the Bouchers G. and S. Mill—grist and sawmill was on Tomlinson Road on property now owned by the Phlmont Country Club. The cut and embankment for the mill-race are still visible and recognizable as such. John Brock may have owned it during the Revolutionary War. It was razed by fire in the 1810s. McMahon’s and LaRue’s Blacksmith shops and wheelwright shops were also along the main roads here. General stores were run by Mrs. Elizabeth Shelmire, Mr. Sam Nice, McMahon, Doering, Charles Price, and Seymour Clayton. A rather common Pennsylvania home building structure came to dominate after the initial log cabins in the Manor of Moreland. It was two rooms over two rooms, with possibly two rooms again in the attic. Family increases may then necessitate an ell addition having the new kitchen, with perhaps a second floor bedroom over it. Interesting early houses in the area are described, are some notable people who visited or lived in the area.

 

204. Good Times Magazine editors. “Thirty Best Bets in Bucks County”. Good Times Magazine. The following is featured: River Rd.|Rte.32 along the Del. River, Tabora Farm and Orchard, Quaker Antique Mall, Farley’s Bookshop, Lumberville Store, Washington Crossing State Park, Peace Valley Park Nature Center, Nockamixon State Park, Delaware Canal State Park, Sesame Place, Carousel Village at Indian Walk, Ringing Rocks, Buckingham Valley Vineyards and Winery, Peddler’s Village, Evermay on the Delaware, 1740 House, Rice’s Sale and Country Market, Feeney’s Nursery, Byer’s Choice Ltd., James A Michener Art Museum, Mercer Museum, Fonthill, The Landing, Plumsteadville Inn, Havana, B. Maxwell’s Restaurant & Victoria Pub, Wildflowers Garden Restaurant and Thai Corner, Annie’s Water Ice, Goodnoe Farm Family Restaurant and dairy Bar, and Odette’s.

 

205. Millbrook Society, David Shannon exec. dir.. “The Moland House at Headquarters Farm National Historical Site.” Millbrook Society. 1997. The first annual report of the Millbrook Society’s archeological investigation of the Moland House at Headquarters Farm National Historical Site. Trial excavations of at least four square feet were done over all the upper yard area, except where buildings and driveway or trees interfered, on a platted 20’ X 20’ grid network.

Very little is actually known of John Moland, though he was the foremost attorney in the province after the death of Alexander Hamilton in 1741, on a level with Tench Francis and John Ross. John Dickinson studied law under John Moland and later became the Moland Family’s attorney. John Moland and his wife, Catherine Hutchinson of New Castle, Delaware, had eight children, five boys and three girls.

It was at this thirteen-day encampment by Washington and 11,000 troops in mid August 1777, that Lafayette officially assumed his command, where Count Pulaski was introduced to Washington, and Where Betsy Ross’ flag is said to have flown for the first time.

The Thirteen Days of August by Helen H. Gemmill is reprinted herein. She gives: “Special thanks to Mr. William Pennebaker of Hartsville, whose in-depth knowledge of Warwick township history has been invaluable.

”Of some 6185 artifacts found in the excavations, there were 1469 glass shards (1130 clr. flat), 2836 pottery pieces (2084 red), 757 metal items (684 nails), and 1123 other artifacts (528 bone, shell or teeth & 526 coal, charcoal or remnant thereof).

 

206. --. “TREES FOR AMERICAN GARDENS”. . . General list of recommended trees: Ulmus parvalolia, var. simpevirens—Chinese Elm variety having varigated & scaled bark. Pages 351,352.

Reason for the research was the observation of a couple of large old elms on the grounds of the Ponderosa Inn in Royal Oak, MD. While at a bicycling weekend, these large, obviously elms interested me. I asked the owner and was told they were Chinese Elms, but, I could hardly believe him. They are apparently a vegetatively propagated cultivar of Ulmus parvifolia.

Pages 351 & 352 of the book were copied for the pictures of the bark of “mottled and often exfoliating in irregular spots, exposing a much lighter colored bark underneath.”

 

207. Halligan, Richard, et.al.. “OLD TREES OF WHITPAIN TOWNSHIP”. Whitpain Tnp. Shade Tree Comm.. 1987. 300+ year old trees: American Elm, Sycamore, Red Oak, White Oak.

 

208. --. “Redman’s Hall“. Redman’s Hall is a 3-story red brick building ~2/3 block south of Rte. 63, on Rte. 29 in Green Lane, PA.It is near a gas station. It is open April to Nov. Sundays > 1:00 p.m. It houses the Goschenhoppen Folklife Museum.

It is the former Lodge of Redman’s. Pennsylvania Dutch founders of social & insurance interests. Rituals of a secret lodge were performed by members that included elaborate Indian costumes, campfires, teepees, etc.

 

209. --. “Hibernia Mansion”. Chester Co. Parks & Rec. Comm.. 1991. A restored 19th Century Mansion Open to the Public.

Hiburnia Park is an 800 acre beautifully located woodland and meadow setting. The first deed dates back to October 1, 1765. It included approximately 162 acres and was owned by James Guthrie. Samuel Downing built the first forge on the property to convert pig iron into bar iron in 1821.

 

210. Alfelt, Anders. “Greenway News -- 1995”. Newtown Greenway Coalition. 1995. The Newtown Greenway was a coalition of individuals interested in seeing the Old Reading RR R8 “Foxchase-Newtown Line” made into a hiking and biking trail. It connects Bucks County has always balked somewhat from support, but Montgomery County is committing itself to conversion.

 

211. Hebard, Fredrick V, Ph.D.. “AMERICAN CHESTNUT Foundation”. Internet site. 1999. E-mail answer to query on American Chestnut: Hebard, Frederick V., Ph.D., Staff Pathologist, Meadowview Research Farms, American Chestnut Foundation, 14005 Glenbrood Ave., Meadowview, VA 24361.

 

212. Rocco, Michael. “Warminster was once made up of many towns”. Public Spirit. 1999. Warminster Township, incorporated in 1711, is one of the oldest townships in Bucks County. Men like John Hart, Bartholomew Longstreth, Abel Noble, William Tenent, Robert Durrah and James Craven bought land, built houses and established Johnsville and Hartsville.

Robert Darrah, another early settler in Hartsville, started one of the area’s first public schools in 1835. Darrah was the first teacher and remained there for a long time.

The families of Bartholomew Longstreth and James Craven together helped to establish Johnsville. The name literally comes from James Craven’s son, John, but it was Longstreth that opened up Newtown Road, from Street to Bristol, to bring traffic into the community.

Robert Beans built the Agricultural Implement Factory in Johnsville in the 1850’s. It was one of the leading industrial works in the surrounding area. Breadyville, Babytown, and possibly other smaller town names may be known in the community. Some of these names live on in the people and the street names of the township yet.

 

213. Eelman, A. H., Pres. ACF-PA Chapter. “The American Chestnut Foundation”. ACF. . The American Chestnut Foundation, Pa Chapter replied to my inquiry and e-mail of our back-yard American Chestnut Tree [now identified as a Chinese Chestnut by the Foundation]. I sent a specimen and answered questionnaire on the tree. Information is in the “Trees, Woods & Forests file.

 

214. Smith, Charles Harper. “Locale of the battle of the billet map”. Ambler Press. . Photocopy of a map showing “LOCALE of The BATTLE of The BILLET” from his book.

 

215. --. “US NEW JERSEY’S HOMECOMING”. Internet Home page. http://www.battleship-newjersey.org/1999. The State of New Jersey’s Role in USS New Jersey’s Homecoming. It docked at the Old US Navy Ship Yard where it was built and commissioned in early 1943 at the end of Broad Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The hope in this part of the world is that it will be permanently berthed near Camden, NJ. Home at last!

 

216. Quatrone, Frank D.. “Revolutionary War fires up again during Hope Lodge Living History Weekend”. Public Spirit. 1999. Colonial soldiers and camp followers demonstrate camp life at their tents. The color page of pictures of the enactments is attached.

 

217. Hebard, Frederick V., Ph.D.. “American Chestnut treatments for fungus”. e-mail. 1999. Subj:  Re: My American Chestnut [Now identified by the Foundation as a Chinese Chestnut]

Date: 11/8/99 9:43:22 PM EST.

From: fred@acf.org (Fred Hebard)

To:   AMESG@aol.com>In a message

dated 11/8/99 0:28:22 AM EST, fred@acf.org writes:>

<<

•I don’t expect the Penna. Chapter would want to inoculate the tree to test whether it is blight resistant, but I expect they would like to use it for pollinations if it is an American chestnut. It would not be that unusual for the tree to have survived this long. I am glad you got in contact with the PA Chapter. >>

<Thank you for your prompt and helpful replies. I do not want to be a nuscence, but I have a couple of questions that I found no answer to on the web page or any other source I have found so far.>

1. How is the infection spread to uninfected trees. Is it propagated into the seed and just takes a long time to manifest itself in the tree?

It can be seed borne, but mostly spreads from one tree to another by spores released by the infected tree.>>

2. Once infection in the form of the canker is manifest, is there any trimming or other cultural practice that can slow or inhibit the continuing spread in the tree?

Yes, mudpacking, but it slows, not stops the fungus.>>

3. Is there any practice that, even if diligently adherred to, can proscribe infection? For example early fungicide drenchs or soap solution drench? I presume nonapropiconizole may give good results. not practical on a large scale.>

Gerald Ames

Frederick V. Hebard, Ph.D. Staff Pathologist, Meadowview Research Farms American Chestnut Foundation 14005 Glenbrook Ave., Meadowview, VA 24361(540) 944-4631

 

218. --. “Brandywine Creek State Park”. Internet web page. 1999. Downloaded information on the park.

 

219. --. “BRANDYWINE BATTLEFIELD 1777”. PA Hist. & Mus. Comm.. 1997A self-guided tour guide & facts card.

 

220. Elfman, Sheri, Midweek Staff Writer. “Support local artists at the Woodmere Art”. Midweek, Montco Wed.. 1999. Support local artists at the Woodmere Art Museum. The Woodmere Art Museum supports local and international artists with its gallery exhibits and many special events. The Woodmere Art Museum is a beautiful 19th-century stone mansion. Open to public since 1940. The museum was founded by Kensington resident Charles Knox Smith in Chestnut Hill, PA, at 9201 Germantown Ave. It has eight galleries for exhibits. Tel. 215-247-0476.

 

221. Seltzer, Maurice. “AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A CREEK: THE PENNYPACK”. Tri-County Press, Jenkintown. 1980. A Creek’s Adventure With History. Told as if the Pennypack Creek related its observations since its birth before the Wisconsin Ice Age (-60,000 years), the first appearance of man (Asian, -35,000 to -25,000 yr.), and the Indian and Europeans (-8000 & ~-400 yr.).It is supposed to be a young peoples read, but the author is rather obtuse. He has trouble defining his own role as the “creek,” whether it is a single drop, the whole of the water body, or the water that only originates at the head. This is manifest in descriptions of others that join me, strangers told me, and consorting with some along only a very limited length of the Creek course over a period of time. Periods of several thousand years confusing with hours and only minutes passing at other times raises some problem. However, I did read it to the end and was not feeling it a waste of my time.

 

222. --. “Chester County Pennsylvania Attractions”. Chestco Conf. & Visitors Bur. 1999. Chester County Pennsylvania Index of Attractions [53 listed]

 

223. --. “Bucks County Pennsylvania Attractions”. Bucks Co. Parks & Rec. Dept.. 1999. Bucks County Parks. Article explaining Ringing Rocks County Park. Map showing all County Parks and addresses.

 

224. Alderfer, E. Gordon. “The Montgomery County Story”. Commissioner of Montgomery Co. 1951. Montgomery County 1784 history is related based upon the historical data of Edward W. Hocker. Picture of Washington’s headquarters at Valley Forge.

 

225. Sessinger, Lou,. “FOR HISTORY LOVER, THIS IS THE PLACE TO BE”. The Intelligencer Record.. 1999. A commentary.On Nov. 20, 1777, Washington was at Camp Whitemarsh near what is now called Fort Washington in Montgomery County. On that day he wrote letters to two of his generals, informing them that in succeeding days their messengers could probably find him “at the Crooked Billet.” [Picture 1999 of the bronze plaque on the wall of building approx. at location of the Crooked Billet Tavern on York Road, east side between Byberry Rd. and Moreland Ave. (foot of Williams Ln.)]

 

226. --. “Route of the Hiawatha - Rail-Trail, Idaho”. RTC - Internet. 1999. Photo on one of the nine steel trestles along this scenic trail. There are also 11 tunnels along the 46-mile old Milwaukee RR line from St. Regis, Mont., to Pearse, Idaho. 25 miles east of Wallace. The centerpiece is the 1.7-mile St. Paul Pass, or Taft Tunnel crossing the State border. The Fall/Winter 1999 edition of the Tails-To-Trail magazine features the trail, the Route of the famous Hiawatha scenic dome viewing cars. Views of this and many other trails are available on the website and the hyperlinked Trails & Greenways: http://www.railtrails.org/

 

227. Long, Beth. “George hung his hat in Hatboro”. Intelligencer Record. New research suggests George Washington spent a few days in Hatboro in 1777. Local historians have not nailed down an exact location yet. The team of local volunteers has been conducting an archaeological dig at the Moland House in Warwick Township, the site where Washington made his headquarters from Aug. 10-23, 1777. Documents recently discovered by The Millbrook Society show the general bunked here for possibly three days in late 1777. “This suddenly puts a new spin on Hatboro’s history, said David Shannon, Exec. Dir. of the historical society and borough historian. “In Colonial times, if you were traveling north, Hatboro was the last town of substance until you reached Coryell’s Ferry (now known as New Hope and Lambertville, N.J.). Hatboro had a library (founded in 1755), a public school (1734), grist mills, a gas works, a tannery and a saddle works. Hatboro provided Washington’s army with something more substantial than a farm here or there.”

 

228. Shane III, Leo, for the Record. “Horsham’s history may have a board”. Intelligencer Record. 1999. The panel would advise council on how to handle historic properties in the township. Council Vice Pres. Getty Steele, who initiated the idea, said she would like to see the council oversee and recommend action on various Horsham properties, including the township-owned Penrose/Strawgridge house. She said the board could lend advice on privately held properties, like the former Culf house on Norristown Road. That property, part of the Carpenter’s Glen development, was found to have Underground Railroad tunnels still existing in its basement.

 

229. Gambardello, Joseph A. “USS NEW JERSEY RETURNS, HAS ONE LAST TRIP”. Philadelphia Inquirer. 1999. Picture and short summary of the New Jersey being towed and guided along the Delaware in route to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, from which it was launched in early 1943.

 

230. Gemmill, Helen H.. “The Thirteen Days of August”. Warwick Hist. Soc.. 1995. Reprint in the Appendix of the Archeological Report for 1997, The Moland House at Headquarters Farm National Historic Site prepared by the Millbrook Society, Hatboro, Pennsylvania.[see said Report]

 

231. Shannon, David, of the Millbrook Soc. “The Moland House at Headquarters”. Farm Annual Report”. Millbrook Society. 1997. The Moland House at Headquarters’ Farm National Historic Site Archeological Report for 1997. Picture of Moland House with Historic Highway Marker in foreground form York Road, looking east. Acknowledgments. Introduction. Objectives. Methodology. Diagnostic Artifacts. The Moland House - Missing Bowl of History. Conclusions. Artifact Tables -- (1) Glass (2) Pottery (3) Metal (4) Other. Site Map. People and Days Worked. Letter from Dr. David Orr. Appendices of The Thirteen Days of August by Helen H. Gemmill, Selected photos and artifacts, Selected artifact drawings, Gallery of personages.

 

232. Foley, Denise & Donna Franklin. “John Jones, Wealthy Land Owner, Donated ~”. Public Spirit (clippings). 1971. John Jones, Wealthy Land Owner, Donated First School in Hatboro. It was 1738. He was Hohn Jones, a Wealthy land owner, ignorant, but practical enough to wed a well-to-do wife and donate a portion of his 153 acres fronting on Byberry Rd. near Warminster Rd. for a school that his small children could attend. The first teacher in John Jones’ little stone schoolhouse was the Rev. Joshua Potts, “a person of great usefulness and having lost one arm. ”In 1801 Nathaniel Boileau, a widower for many years, moved into the rambling mansion he built on York Road next to his long time friend, Robert Loller. The Loller Academy was built in 1811 & 1812 next to the Loller homestead on York Road by his executor, Nathaiel Boileau according to the will of Mr. Loller. At least two Loller principals organized private schools in the borough, Hugh Morrow and George Hand.

 

233. --. “First Cashier Sashayed With Bank’s Funds”. Public Spirit (Clippings). 1971. “S. Carey Ball’s bank in Hatboro is an assured success. In three weeks he has had 93 depositors. ”Mr. S. C. Ball had previously started his first banking house in a building on the northeast corner of York and Byberry Roads, called the S. C. Ball & Co. He advertised widely in the Public Spirit. He then moved across to the west side of York Road and began to build a new bank. The Hatboro Bank acquired his site and erected its own bank, hiring Mr. Ball as the first cashier. In 1876, Mr. Ball absconded with $23,000 of the bank’s and depositor’s money. Mr. Ball, after being caught and tried, made restitution and after a few more minor scrapes, was still considered a respected member of the community and became secretary and subsequently held an interest in an electric light company.  In December of 1955, the bank merged with the Philadelphia National Bank, and became the First Union Bank in 1998.

 

234. --. “Hannah Yerkes Responsible for Opening Hatboro Baptist Church”. Public Spirit (Clippings). 1973. The first church organized in Hatboro was at the instigation of Hannah Yerkes, and the first Sunday School was founded September 5,1824. The Baptist Church was constituted September 8, 1835. What would have been the first church building in Hatboro, was delayed till 1840. A newer building was constructed as an addition to the first, and serves its community today (2000 AD). (Hannah Yerkes is credited with spearheading the effort to organize both that first Sunday School and the Baptist Church in Hatboro).

*236. Beavers

 

235. Millbrook Soc. - Jack Regenhard, et.al. “HATBORO”. Acadia Publishing. 1999. A 3.5” disk copy of the final edit as submitted to the publisher, Acadia Publishing Co. [Front cover] Hatboro -- Images of America. The Millbrook Soc. & Regenhard Collection [Drawing of Hatboro sign by John I. DeFabio][Inside front cover: blank][For this site, the book’s image captions are herein linked above.]

 

236. Beavers, Cary D. , News Editor. “Famous family found home centuries ago ~”. Public Spirit (Clippings). 1999. Famous family found home centuries ago in, around Hatboro. The family, still thriving and growing today, was first represented in Hatboro by Isaac Walton, according to Millie Wintz, who is connected with the Upper Moreland Historical Society. Many followed. “There were a whole gang of Waltons,” Wintz said. The Friendship Society, so named for the ship that came over from England in the late 1600s with four Waltons—and William Penn—aboard, has always counted Waltons among its members.

 

237. Rocco, Michael, Staff Writer. “Society discovers George was here”. Public Spirit (Clippings). 1999. The Millbrook Society came across information indicating that our first president spent time in Hatboro 222 years ago. By Accident, the Millbrook Society has stumbled upon information stating George Washington and members of his Continental Army stayed in Hatboro for at least three days between Nov. 20 and Dec. 11, 1777. The Internet hits that provided the information were on the American Memory Web site linked to records held by the Library of Congress (more than 80 million), showing that letters dated Nov. 20, 1777, and written by John Laurens for Washington, tell Generals Enoch Poor and John Paterson to march their armies toward Washington and that Washington could be reached at the Crooked Billet (now Hatboro).

 

238. --. “Leave history alone”. Public Spirit (Editorial). 1999. Hatboro residents have one more reason to be proud of their town.It is believed that Washington stayed in a private residence during his visit to the borough. Two possibilities include Gen. John Lacy’s headquarters or the Joshua Pott’s house. Many will easily recall that the Joshua Pott’s house was demolished this past summer despite protests from historical organizations and others in the community calling for the preservation of the Colonial-era home. It will be unfortunate if we learn that Washington actually did stay at the Pott’s house, which was built in 1743. Although such a finding would highlight a great loss to the borough, it would also stand as a reminder that once torn down, history cannot be rebuilt, no matter how similar a recreation can be made.

 

239. Levy, Paul R.. “Finishing the job on the Parkway”. Philadelphia Inquirer. 1999. New plans aim to restore balance between people and cars and create new parks. Top picture: Master planner Jacques Breber’s 1917-1918 vision of an avenue of the arts walkway, on which pedestrians could amble their way to Eakins Oval and the Art Museum. Bottom Picture: The Central Philadelphia Development Corp. proposed redevelopment of the Parkway with a new Logan Square in the foreground.

 

240. Finnarelli, Linda, Staff Writer. “Pennsylvania Senate looking... sprawl~”. Philadelphia Inquirer. 1999. Pennsylvania Senate looking to attack sprawl from original angle. Traffic jams, disappearing green space, dwindling natural resources—complaints associated with “sprawl” are increasingly becoming the focus of area residents looking to control development as a quality of life issue. S.B. 300, set for a vote this month, allows for more regional planning, said the Chester County legislator, Sen. James Gerlach, R-44. “Sometimes a municipality can’t provide for every type of zoning,” said state Sen. Stewart J. Greenleaf, R-12, who is “leaning toward voting for [the bill]. This is more flexible.” The bill aims to promote preservation of natural and historic resources, open space and farmland, and greater consistency in land planning and zoning. While not mandatory, it would give municipalities additional means to deal with growth and development issues. “Concurrence would allow municipalities to delay approving land development applications up to five years while off-site public infrastructure improvements identified in a comprehensive plan to correct deficiencies and accommodate the new development were put in place.”

 

242. --. “Tyler Arboretum”. Internet web page. 1996. Tyler Arboretum, 515 Pinter Road, Media, PA 19063-4424.This 650 acre property in central Delaware Co. is one of the oldest and largest arboreta in the northeastern United States. The history of Tyler can be traced back to 1681 when William Penn signed a “lease and purchase agreement” with Thomas Minshall, an English Quaker, for property in Pennsylvania that contained the site now occupied by the Arboretum. Tyler Arboretum is a private non-profit institution that depends on the support of members and friends.

 

243. Bean, Theodore W. “History of Montgomery County”. 1884. pp. 874-875 to prelude a set of page-mounted pictures and captions by Al Young. Some are also by Mrs. A. DeWar. The originals are in the Millbrook Society Library, Hatboro, PA.

 

244. Beavers, Cary D., News Editor. “A full century of getting here to there”. Public Spirit. 1999. A full century of getting from here to there. The trolley came first to Willow Grove and then the Willow Grove Park was created to provide an attraction to have people use the trolley, owned by the Pennsylvania Traction Co. “People used to come to Willow Grove to spend weeks and months in the summer,” said Millie Wintz, a woman well versed in local history. “It became a natural spot for the trolley cars.” There were many different routes traveled by the trolley, each owned by someone different. The confusion ended when William Elkens linked all the routes. “He had enough money and clout to unite the trolley lines into one,” Wintz said. The trolley first came to Willow Grove on May 11, 1895. The Park opened May 30, 1896. The Northeast Penn Railroad ran a train to Hatboro in 1870, according to SEPTA spokesman, Jim Whitaker. In 1891 it extended to New Hope. In 1982 SEPTA took over. Amtrack ran it from 1976 to 1982, electrifying the line. Trolleys even assisted those who sought other forms of transportation. A special car was offered to women who enjoyed biking. The car was not for the riders, but for the bikes.

 

245.--. “Thomas Jefferson’s POPULAR FOREST” (a video tape). Blue Ridge Public Television. 1998. The step-by-step method and the vision of archeological restoration of Thomas Jefferson’s retreat and private relaxation home about 90 miles (three days travel by coach or two by horse) from Montecello, in the region of New London. This 1806 octagon house, built in a rotunda (20 X 20 X 20 foot cube inner room, with 16’ skylight), with shorter rooms radiating around it, had a unique welding of Roman, Greek and English styles. In 1984, the property was rescued by the Corporation for Jefferson’s Poplar-Forest. The careful and documented peeling away of vertical features to reveal the original defines Architectural Restoration. Great pains were taken to employ the best people, to use the closest original materials, and methods of restoration.

 

246. --. “Moland House, Research Summary”. 1995. Property chronology from July 10, 1682 to May 19, 1989.c.1876 - Oil painting by Thomas P. Otter shows the Moland House from the SW. 1903, 1907 - Historic photographs show the house from the SW. The covered porches remain but have been given decorative wood brackets at the posts. 1905 - 2nd edition of W.W.H. Davis’ History of Bucks County includes a description of the Moland House (not included in his 1876 edition).c.1930 - Historic photograph shows the house from the SW. The west section is stuccoed with what appears to be a very rough textured coating. “THIRTEEN DAYS IN AUGUST AT THE MOLAND HOUSE”

 

248. Salisbury, Stephan. “Dwarfing Billy Penn: A tale a century L~”. Philadelphia Inquirer. 1999. Dwarfing Billy Penn: A tale a century Long - At the beginning of the century, 1901, the Philadelphia, Second Empire-style City Hall was the tallest building, at 510’ in the city, and only shorter than the Washington Monument and the Eiffel Tower. The grand Pennsylvania Railroad’s Broad Street Station, designed by Frank Furness, disgorged passengers right across from City Hall. It was torn down in 1954 for the office towers of Penn Center. Logan Circle, Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia Museum of Art (1928), Independence Mall (1950s &60s), Penns Landing, neoclassical Free Library (1927), Family Court (1941), Franklin Institute (1934), and Fairmount Park are all mentioned. Across the Schuylkill River, there is 30th St. Station (1933), and the U.S. Post Office (1930). All were in the second wave of a grand scheme, replacing a smaller, more intimate scene of small homes, businesses, streets and trees. The grand scheme did not continue. The Parkway is planned for revamping, Independence Mall and Logan Circle are planned for retro engineering.

 

249. Kells, Laura J., et. al., editors. “Marquis De Lafayette, microfilm Register”. Library of Congress. 1996. Internet Download: “Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert Du Motier, Marquis De Lafayette, A Register of the Microfilm of His Papers in Chateau La Grange. An Edited Full Draft

 

250. Shane, III, Leo. “Historic house to be mothballed”. The Record Intellegencer. 1999. The Penrose/Strawbridge property will remain under Horsham control and will be sealed up while its historic significance is researched. Council Pres. Jim Doherty stated in accepting the proposal by the Horsham Preservation and Historical Assoc. and dropping the Millbrook Society’s proposal that “This way, it still remains our property.” Margaret Choate, Pres. of the Horsham Assoc. stated “I think after three years, we’re going to know where we want this to go.”

 

251. Rocco, Michael, staff writer. “Christmas past to be revisited”. Public Spirit Newspapers. 1999. Five years ago, the first of the annual “Colonial Christmas” programs featured the year 1759, because of some of the historical work the Millbrook Society was doing in 1994. This year the feature is 1777 because of new evidence uncovered about George Washington and some of the army being in Hatboro for about three days in November of 1777. Shown in a picture is Tony Horst (L) and (?).

 

252. Franklin, Benjamin. “The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin”. Airmont Publishing Co.. 1965. [Gift from David & Kathy Ames, obtained from The Original Book Swap, Horsham, PA] Franklin’s biography was of the earliest known written of the genera. It is a sorry state for us all, that he did not do an update, much later in his life.

 

253. Franklin, Ben. Japikse, Carl, Edited by. “Fart proudly”. Enthea Press. 1990. [Gift from David & Kathy Ames, obtained from Borders in Montgomeryville, PA] “Writings of Benjamin Franklin You Never Read in school” Compiled & Edited by Carl Japikse.1. A letter to the Royal Academy 1781, when asked to entreat the question: “Given any single figure, inscribe therein another smaller figure, which is also given, as many times as possible.” Ben answered by posing a more utilitarian question to ponder: ...”In digesting our common food, there is created or produced in the Bowles of Humane Creatures, a great Quantity Wind.” He suggested studies to find a suitable way of making that Wind tolerable, and perhaps enjoyable by affecting the odor to a more pleasurable essence.

 

253. Davis, Raymond E. & Frances S. Price. “Surveying”. McGraw-Hill Book Co. Inc. 1953. Book is in the care of the Millbrook Society. Table of Corrections for Slope Distance (S)  Ø °   Height (h)  + Correction for S ( š ). 

________________________________________________________________________

      1°    0.44’ 0.004’(0.05”)     25’  

      2°    0.87’ 0.015’(0.2”)      25’  

      5°    2.19’ 0.096’(1.1”)      25’  

      7°    3.07’ 0.19’(2.3”) 25’  

 

      10°   4.37’ 0.38’(4.6”) 50’        

      1°    0.9’        0.01’(0.1”) 50’  

      2°    1.74’ 0.03’(0.4”) 50’  

      5°    4.37’ 0.19’(2.3”) 50’  

      7°    6.14’ 0.38’(4.6”) 50’  

 

      10°   8.8’        0.77’(9.2”) 100’ 

      1°    1.76’ 0.015’(0.2”)      100’ 

      2°    3.49’       0.06’(0.7”) 100’ 

      5°    8.75’ 0.38’(4.6”) 100’ 

      7°    12.28’      0.75’(9.0”) 100’ 

      10°   17.6’ 1.55’(18.6”)      100’

In Metric system

25m  

2°    0.87m 1.5cm   50m

2°    1.75m 3.1cm  100m

2°    3.49m 6.1cm  100m

10°   17.6m 1.55m (155cm)

_______________________________________________

tan degree slope X distance, S=h. Approx. corrections for distance from: Davis “Surveying.” McGraw-Hill. 1953.

 

254. Shultz, . “Charley Brown and gang”. United Feature Syndicate. 1999. The last of Charley Brown in the comics at the end of the century.The whole gang is shown and identified: Charley Brown, Pigpen, Peppermint Patty, Schroeder, Linus, Franklin, Snoopy, Sally, Lucy, Marcie and Woodstock. A beloved comic strip created and drawn solely by Charles Shulz.

 

255. --. “The Betsy Ross Homepage”. www.ushistory.org. 1999. Within US History.org web page, select Betsy Ross House. Among the hyper-links on the page are: Betsy Ross sewed the first American Flag. The story of Betsy Ross’s life. The Betsy Ross House. Quotes and notes. Flag etiquette. Flag Trivia. Picture gallery. Step-by-step directions to cut a 5-pointed star in one snip. Flag Facts and Timeline. Links (to other web sites of interest about the flag and Betsy Ross). FAQ.

 

256. --, Grist. [See # 37 & See Grist file]

 

257. Campbell, Kate for the Inquirer Suburban. 1999. “builders setting their sights on historical.” Philadelphia Inquirer. Builders setting their sights on historic Flourtown inn. The Colonial-style structure, built in 1744, is a significant piece of local history, being a watering hole for farmers and lime burners and a stage stop back when grain was taken to the local flourmills around Flourtown. The building has now been vacant for 30 years and is deteriorating. Plans for a restaurant fell through and now a development company wants to restore the building as a bank and add several strip stores along its three-acre property.

 

258. Halper, Evan. “Once again, across the Delaware”. Philadelphia Inquirer. 1999. Onlookers cheered for Congress as they watched the annual reenactment of Washington’s journey. Annually, since 1953, the reenactment of Washington’s Crossing of the Delaware River Christmas eve. of 1776 for the taking of Trenton from the Hessians under British General Howe, occurs. Bob Gerenser has been resurrecting George Washington for this and many other events for some time. This year he was present at the Hatboro Baptist Church for the “Colonial Christmas,” along with Betsy Ross and Benjamin Franklin impersonators (see # 251).

 

259. --. “Phila. Inquirer’s Century in Pictures”. Philadelphia Inquirer. 1999. Three pages of the Century in Pictures with Rosa Parks (2/22/1956), Sommalia (12/16/1992), Bill Clinton (1997-1999), the Berlin Wall (11/12/1989), atomic bomb on Nagasaki (8/9/1945), Edwin (Buzz) Aldrin with Apollo 11 on the moon (7/20/1969), assassination of Pres. John F. Kennedy (11/f22/1963), Hindenburg zeppelin crash and burning (5/6/1937), Wright Bros. flight (12/17/1903), Mohandas Gandhi & Jawaharial Nehru of India (7/6/1946), U.S. Marines raise the flag over Iwo Jima (2/23/1946). Liberation of Buchenwald at the end of WW II 1945, Elvis Presley in 1956, Marilyn Monroe (9/9/1954), John F. Kennedy, Jr. salutes his fathers coffin (11/25/1963), Richard Millhouse Nixon waves fairwell (8/9/1974), Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. after the famous “I have a dream” speech (8/28/1963), Pham Thi Kim Phuc, Vietnamese child after napalm bombing (6/8/1972), huge Aids quilt at W.D.C. (10/11/1996), Tiananmem Square, Beijing, China (6/5/1989), explosion of Challenger Shuttle (1/28/1986), Chris Fields carrying out dead Baylee Almon after Oklahoma City bombing (4/19/1995), and Inquirer front page of 12/27/1960, 132d year).

 

260. Pettit, James, Staff Writer. “150-year-old church in Hatboro schoolhouse”. Public Spirit. 150-year-old church in Hatboro started in a small schoolhouse. The founders of another landmark church in Hatboro, the Hatboro Baptist Church, founded the Lehman Methodist Church. Services were held in a small red schoolhouse at Moreland Ave. & York Road, breaking away from the combined small Sunday school meetings in the Loller Academy. This occurred when Peter and Henry Eisenbrey, farmers from Lumberville, arrived in Hatboro.  It was at the urging of Hannah Yerkes that both the first churches in Hatboro came into being, and further more that the Baptist Church Building would be built. “In the summer of 1835, the Rev. William K. Goentner, pastor of the Fairview Methodist Episcopal Church on Hamilton Village, Philadelphia, became friends with his Methodist neighbors, Dr. and Mrs. Joseph Lehman.” “According to the directory, when the Lehmans’ only son drowned in the Wissahickon Creek at age 15, Deborah Lehman mentioned to the Goentners that she wanted to erect a memorial in their son’s memory.” Dr. Lehman purchased 1.5 acres of land from Robert Radcliffe, inn keeper of the Crooked Billet Inn, for $300. Shortly thereafter, a plain stone chapel of 40 by 65 feet was constructed in 1836 for $2,700. Goentner was appointed as first full-time pastor and the Lehman church saw it’s membership jump from 5, in 1835, to 55 in 1837.

 

261. Rocco, Michael, staff writer. “Warminster Township, learning in 1600s." Public Spirit. 2000. Warminster Township had lots to learn in 1600s. Education in Warminster goes back almost 300 years. William Tennent was one of the first pioneers who came to Warminster from Ireland in 1673. He founded Log College in the 1720s. Most of these early educators were ministers of the Neshaminy-Warwick Presbyterian Church, which has the distinction of being the first church in the Warminster area, one of earliest religious organizations in Pennsylvania and the second Presbyterian society in Bucks County. Early ministers and educators were: James P. Wilson built a boys school that became the Roseland Female Inst., or Roseland Seminary in 1850 under the Rev. Jacob Belville and Daniel Longstreth, a great grandson of Bartholomew Longstreth. John Beans built a school on his property, and there was the Oak Grove School, Prospect Hill, also known as the Johnsville School and the Willow Dale School, all public schools of the 1840s. An interesting note from another source seen in the Moland papers at the Millbrook Society Library, is that the above mentioned Bartholomew Longstreth, was quite taken by the industry and appearance of the daughter of John Dawson, founder of Hatboro, when he saw her helping her father building the Crooked Billet Inn on York Road, their second home in the area. He courted and married her. She rode horse behind her father to the wedding and then rode off second up behind Bartholomew to his estate.

 

262. Hoke, Donald S. “An echo on the Brandywine." Echo, Pocopson, PA. 1994. “The Battle of Brandywine as experienced by Private Henry Fissel who fought with Gen. Washington’s Army in September, 1777. ”Because he was a farmer from York County, Henry was assigned to a foraging unit in the 10th Pennsylvania Brigade of the 4th Division of the Revolutionary Army, under the command of Brigadier General Anthony Wayne of Pennsylvania. The author is a direct descendant of Henry Fissel and set out this fictional narrative, based on actual events that occurred during the a Battle of Brandywine, as told by Henry Fissel, Sr., a farmer from York Pennsylvania. It was during this battle at Brandywine, that Gen. Layfayette was wounded in the leg and thereby won respect of the men, many of whom would be under his command. Gen. Washington, having Layfayette join him at the Neshaminy Quarters, made him an aid and he was housed here in the Gideon Gilpin Home, now on the grounds of the Brandywine Battlefield State Park. Pictures included, are of: The Birmingam Meeting House, Gideon Gilpin Home, Benjamin Ring Home, Kennett Hotel, Unicorn Inn, Welch’s Tavern, and Kennett Friends Meeting House.

 

263. Schosinger, John. “The Brandywine Spirit”. Brandywine Battlefield Park. 1975. This document was discovered among the papers of Mayor John Schosinger, revolutionary patriot. It records the discourse delivered by the Reverend Jacob Troute on the evening of the Battle of Brandywine, 11th September, 1777, in the presence of General Washington, General Wayne, other distinguished officers, and the body of the American Army. “They That Take the Sword Shall Perish by the Sword.” At the end of the discourse, a prayer is offered and recorded herein.

 

264. --. “Ames Collection of Covered Bridge Info.”. various. Apalachee Creek, GE Covered Bridge Cabin Run Covered Bridge, Bucks Co., PADoe Run Covered Bridge near Coatsville. Speakman Bridge No. 1 & No. 2 span Buck Creek. Mortonville Covered Bridge along the Brandywine River. Gibson on East Brandywine Creek. Mercer’s over Octorara Creek. McCreary’s AKA Black Run Bridge. Bellbank Covered Bridge over the Octorara Creek. Seeder (Hall). Kennedy. Rapps. Knox Covered Bridge on Valley Creek, Valley Forge. Artram. Larkin. Pine Grove. Linton Stevens. Glen Hope. Rudolph and Arthurs Covered Bridges. (Chester Co.) PA. Mood’s Covered Bridge, over the Perkiomen Creek. is an example of Teflon use in Covered Bridge preservation. A number of greeting and post cards of Covered Bridges, predominately Bucks County, PA.

 

265. Skow, John. “Farewell to HELLS CANYON." Saturday Evening Post. 1960s. Farewell to HELLS CANYON. [Ames Library in the folder with “The Last of The Mountain Men”]. When the seething Snake River is tamed by a new dam, the stark beauty of Hells Canyon will be buried forever under tons of water—and a part of America’s wild heritage will die with it. Idaho Power Co. has Oxbow and Brownlee upstream of this proposed dam, and others below. The Hells Canyon area is a dry barren chunk of waste, but in some ways ruggedly beautiful. The known past is recent here, with someone knowing a grandfather with first hand knowledge of the area. Capt. Dick Rivers of the Idaho Queen series of jetboats (52’ twin recessed screw boats), draw only 23” of water and travel up and down the Hells Canyon section for hire. Dick points out the Ken Johnson Ranch, Bill Rankins Mine, Suicide Point, and Dug Bar, where Chief Joseph took his tribe across the river in Seventy Seven, and other sites along the area that will be flooded. Other names, less grim than Freezeout Saddle, Dead Failure, and a trail called Suicide is Dry Diggens Ridge, Dead Horse Butte, Rheumantiz Gulch, and more for creek names. Hells (not Hell’s) is the deepest canyon in North America, at 7,900 feet, and the grimmest.

 

266. Peterson, Harold. “THE LAST OF THE MOUNTAIN MEN.” In a yellow folder accompanied by a Saturday Evening Post article, “Farewell to Hells Canyon.” For the past 34 years, a 20th-century frontiersman named Sylvan Hart has lived an 18th-century life in the wilderness of Idaho. On the River of No Return, in the country named "Light on the Mountains," there lives a gray-bearded man who has turned back time. At Five Mile Bar, beyond which no human soul dwells, Jedediah Smith and Christopher Carson have but recently passed by, and the year is, 1844, forever. To pay for infrequent trips to Bugdorf (pop. summer 6, winter 0), where he purchased only gunpowder, books and Darjeeling tea, he panned gold. Armed only with an ax, a few staples, a rifle and a U. of Oklahoma degree, this “Buckskin Bill” had made himself a home, several flintlock rifles, his buckskin clothing and whatever else he needed. He made the flintlocks because bullets were too dear. He made his own rifle-boring machine.

 

267. Stoiber, Julie. “Frenchman’s {Phila. home...Historic site." Philadelphia Inquirer. 2000. Frenchman’s Phila. home to be hailed as historic site. Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon’s brother, the onetime king of Spain and Naples, AKA The Good Bonaparte, needed a grand space for his exile after the 1815, defeat of Waterloo. There was an influx of French refugees, who centered on his new mansard roofed, buff-colored home at 260 S. Ninth Street, Philadelphia. The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission recently installed a familiar blue and yellow historic marker because of the former resident signifying a period of significant French immigration. Monsieur Bonaparte was an affable and generous person during his 17-year residence, giving away a number of vast painting collections, handed out coins at Christmas time, and employed locals in his household and for various tasks. He was friend of Stephen Girard.

 

268. Storm, Jonathan. “A rousing crossing by Gen. Washington”. Philadelphia Inquirer. 2000. Almost everybody around here has seen the gloriously patriotic painting by Emanuel Leutze, “Washington Crossing the Delaware.” Of course, “’twarnt like that.'” On Monday, Jan. 10, 2000, A&E cable will air a film of the crossing and Capture of the Hessians at Trenton, NJ in a truer version of the events. The landscape near Toronto stands in for Pennsylvania and new Jersey in the TV film. The fact that the Army was rapidly depleting (most enlistments were to expire in 6 days, the first of January) and the string of retreats and losses Washington had suffered meant it was then or never. Gen. Mercer was one of few willing to stand by him. John Glover’s loyal and skilled men from Marblehead, Mass (“wherever that cold and godforsaken Yankee place is,” says Washington), with the most capable Durham boats really saved the day, as John had for the earlier retreat crossing. Of course any other boats up and down the river were confiscated or demolished wherever found.

 

269. Ames, Gerald D. “Writer: Foot traffic still important”. Public Spirit -- Letters Editor. 2000. Borough Parks and Rec. Dir. of Eastern Montgomery Co. Cities, PA. 18975, 190xx1999.12.20RE: More open Human Accesses. Dear Sir/Ms.:Since the advent of Malls and suburban shopping centers, it is quite well documented that this orientation toward automobile accessibility has been to the determent of towns and cities throughout the country. Yes, all things change and adaptations must be made. You are undoubtedly also aware that these sprawl developments, among innumerable other projects, are largely not person-friendly. There is little thought generally of how someone might access the facilities by foot or pedicycle from streets other than the highest volume roadways. Indeed, even how someone may move comfortably from one's car to the stores of the mall or shopping center. The borough has some control over the design requirements by developers through its zoning board, and must exert for more person friendly facilities. Often a completed shopping center will find fencing opened and a path of access from a bordering neighborhood created by someone needing more human-friendly access. In time the center may relent and improve (ever so slightly) that access. I have seen it in most of the shopping centers that have opened in the area. Indeed, I use those accesses as I try to curb my car use as much as possible, doing most of my shopping by bicycle or on foot. I find it less stressful, in fact enjoyable, and an inexpensive and profitable form of increasing physical health and fitness. There are even times when it is more expedient in time and energy.

There are yet existing, a number of public access-ways in our towns and cities that are not open to motor vehicles, or unimproved in some cases, that should be protected from loss as people-friendly pedestrian and bicycle ways. The recent loss of a historic trolley route between Easton Road and Horsham road is a case in point. It is my understanding that the short section between Hatboro Rd. in Upper Moreland and Moroboro Rd. in Hatboro were relinquished to a private home built there. I believe the portion of easement lost was in Hatboro. That requires one on foot or by bicycle, to travel about six blocks further in making a connection. I believe and feel this to be lamentable. I write this letter to make you aware that people do use these accesses, because they are on low traffic routes, the neighborhoods are friendly and beautiful, and the way shortened somewhat by the passageway. Most of the improved ways were originally done for use of students on the way from or to schools, that a safer passage be provided. Even should students be transported now, as seems to be the case more nowadays, they still use these byways for local traffic and access to the school grounds at other than school hours. Others use them also.

Yours, Gerald D. Ames

CC: Sue McNamara, Bicycle Coalition of the Delaware Valley (BCDV)

John Wood, Montgomery County Planning (MPC)

John Madera, Delaware Valley Reginal Planning Commission (DVRPC)

 

270. Pettit, James, Staff Writer. “Two towns, two families: Histories tied”. Public Spirit. 2000. Two towns, two families: Histories tied together. Hatboro and Warminster, the Dawsons and the Longstreths. John Dawson first set foot in Hatboro in 1717. Bartholomew Longstreth’s home still stands today. According to the book, “A History of Warminster Township,” Bartholomew Longstreth, born in Longstrethdale, England in 1679, immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1698. In 1710, Longstreth bought 500 acres from Thomas Fairman in Warminster and built a log cabin. Bartholemew saw Dawson’s daughter, Ann, helping carry stone and mortar for building their home (later, also to become their inn). He was taken by her strength and industry and asked for her hand in marriage. Descendants of both families stretch from here to California.

 

271. --. “The HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY CO.” Brochure for: The HISTORICAL SOCIETY of MONTGOMERY COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA. Museum & Library Hours: M, W, Th & F - 10 - 4. Tu - 1 - 9. Closed weekends and legal Holidays. 1654 DeKalb St., Norristown, PA 19401. 610.272.0297. Montgomery County was set off from Philadelphia County September 10, 1784.

 

272. --. “WINEMAKERS’ PARANOIA." Philadelphia Inquirer. 2000. “Worth Repeating”: WINEMAKERS’ PARANOIA republished by permission: “A survey of the 20th Century,” The Economist, September 1999. While Monarchies and Communism may curb liberties, so may democracies! For the rule of the majority is always against the will of a minority. “Things can go wrong, not just because of the acts of chance or God ... but also because of the many acts of man that, deliberately or in error, threaten our liberties and our freedom of choice, that are liable through false claims of certainty to send us in new and dangerous directions, even in the most mature democracies.”

 

273. Pettit, James, Staff Writer. “Maryland shoemaker, part of Hatboro Hist." Public Spirit. 2000. Maryland shoemaker became part of Hatboro History.  John B. Jones learned the trade of shoemaking in his Worcester, MD hometown at the age of 12, after losing his parents. At 19 in 1844, he came to Philadelphia to work as a stage coach driver. In 1852, Jones purchased the Swiftsure Line after his employer, Jacob Peters, Sr. died. One of his stops in Hatboro had been the Walton Hotel on South York Road. He purchased this hotel in 1858, continuing to contract out and increase his stage lines. He became highly regarded as a respected Hotel owner, Stage line owner (profit shared), Loller Academy trustee, and member of Hatboro Council.

 

274. O’Brien, Nancy Mortimer. “Suburban Drama”. Public Spirit. 2000. Suburban Drama - Grandiose mansion features columns, large rooms and fireplaces. Built in the early years of this century, this wonderfully dramatic mansion on Melmar Road in Huntingdon Valley has long been a focal point in the history of Montgomery County. Often referred to as the “Biddle” house, it was built by J.B. Lippincott, founder of the famous Philadelphia-based publishing empire. Mrs. Biddle, the former Sarah Lippincott, announced her daughter’s debut at this home of Nicholas Biddle in 1934, according to a newspaper clipping in the Montgomery County Historical Society records. At one time the estate, now on 2 acres, comprised 140 acres.

 

275. Rocco, Michael, staff writer. “Historical groups...for Strawbridge House." Public Spirit. 1999. Historical groups strengthening resolve for Strawbridge House. The Penrose/Strawbridge house has drawn attention from both the Horsham Preservation and Historical Association and the Millbrook Society. Fresh off the 50th anniversary conference of the National Trust for Historic Prevention [sic] held in Washington DC, Horsham Preservation and Historical Association president Margaret Choate is strengthening her charge for acquiring the Penrose/Strawbridge house. The Millbrook Society, a historical Association based in Hatboro but founded in Horsham, would also like to acquire the home, preserve it and use it as a headquarters. According to an early 18th century map and a stone marker with “18 M to P” etched on it, Governor’s Road (Easton Road, generally), the original boundary of Graeme Park, may have begun just past the Strawbridge house and stretched all the way to Philadelphia.

 

276. Ames, Gerald. “Brandywine Field Trip Notes”. Unpublished (communiqué). 1999. E-mail notes after a field trip 11/13/1999 to Brandywine Battlefield Museum and auto tour of the area. Noted, were acorns of Bur Oak in the cemetery, Kentucky Coffee Tree in the parking lot, books of the Revolutionary War progress from July 1777 through the stay in Valley Forge that Winter, George Washington, Birmingham Meeting House, Crossroads, Moland house, Neshaminy, Swedes Ford, Brandywine, etc., for search purposes.

 

278. --. “Pennsylvania Parks”. Internet, Fairmount Park Comm.. 1997. Letter and rules of conduct in Fairmount Parks. (1999)List of Pennsylvania Parks by City, Park Name, Date, Contact person, Organization, and phone #. (1997)

 

279. --. “EDGEWORTH PRESERVATION”. EDGEWORTH PRESERVATION. 1995. Quarterly Newsletter of the EDGEWORTH PRESERVATION. IV: 2 - Annual meeting, Wrought by Human Hand about the industrialization in 1851 vs. hand crafted items, Oxford Univ., William Morris (1834-1896) & “Earthly Paradise,” John Ruskin, The Lincoln Highway in the Sewickley Valley with some photos. IV: 3 - Houses of the Sewickley Valley, Early motor transport in Edgeworth (Lincoln Highway 1913 - 1915 and the Army Transport Co. caravan), Edgeworth’s Gems on Colonial Revival 1880 and still going. Mentioned in the last article, are architects: McKim, Mead, White, and Bigelow and Longfellow, Alden, and Harlow.

 

280. Kennedy, Joseph S., Inquirer Correspdt.. “Geography, culture held keys to growth”. Philadelphia Inquirer. 2000. The rivers and immigrants helped form the dynamics that still exist between city and suburb, historians say. Current political boundaries bear little relationship to the historic heritage of our region. The Pennsylvania Germans in the second wave of immigration, the first quarter of the 18th century, settled a distance from Philadelphia. Germantown and beyond was the area chosen. They nearly outnumbered the original English and Welsh Penn colonists. For almost a century they maintained stronger ties to Montgomery County than to Philadelphia. Historian David Costosta, in his book Suburbs in the City: Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, 1850-1990, notes: “For a century or more it [the village on Chestnut Hill] had served the needs of surrounding farms and mills, as well as travelers and teamsters passing through on their way to the city below.”

 

281. Gambardello, Joseph A. Inquirer staff. “Focus shifts from ship to shore." Philadelphia Inquirer. 2000. The New Jersey is home. Now there is money to raise and a big boat to restore. Having won the USS New Jersey for Camden, the Home Port Alliance Predicts $13 million to $15 million will be needed to get the 887-foot dreadnought ready for public display by summer 2001. $3.2 million in bonds issued by Camden county, $1 million from Camden’s federal empowerment zone funding and $6 million from the State has been committed. McBuigan, a retired Navy Captain and president of the alliance, said they planned to launch a fund raising campaign similar to those of other museums to cover the operation costs and expand exhibits. In order for the museum to open as planned, work will have to progress on three tracks—at the same time: On refurbishing the ship, the “T” shaped pier, and the plaza on shore. The museum could draw 250,000 to 300,000 visitors a year and employ 30 to 100 people. The Seaport Museum draws about 125,000 visitors annually, and would expect to attract even more with the New Jersey. That will make the New Jersey, the Olympia and the Becuna all within a short ferry ride of each other. Meanwhile, 275 miles to the South, Norfolk, Va., is preparing to put the USS Wisconsin on display within the year. Unlike the New Jersey, also an Iowa-class battleship, the Wisconsin has not been stricken from the Naval registry and will be maintained by the Navy in reserve. It is not clear what effect it will have on the drawing power of the New Jersey, which will depend on ticket sales.

 

282. Pettit, James, Staff Writer. “Charles S. Rorer...farmer...Public Serv~”. Public Spirit. 2000. Charles S. Rorer was more than a farmer—he was a public servant.  Back when roads were only footpaths and horses were common transportation, Charles S. Rorer helped shape the nation with his public service and industries influence. Born in Philadelphia in 1811, Rorer, a farmer who moved to Horsham, followed in his father, Joseph Rorer’s footsteps and contrasted his daily farming duties with a life dedicated to public service and the spotlight. Much taken from the “History of Montgomery County” by William Buck. He led the Whig party in 1840 as a candidate for the State Legislature. He lost, but continued to throw his energies in that direction, served on the Horsham School Board, became a director of the Hatboro National Bank and served strongly in the temperance movement.

 

283. Vosseler, Bill. “Union Library Civil War Round Table”. Flyer, Union Library CWRT. 2000. The CWRT is an organization structured to promote and further stimulate interest in that “defining moment in our Nation’s history” known as the American Civil War. Meetings are held every third Wednesday in the Hatboro, PA Union Library and are open to the public.

 

284. -- . Pennypack Ecological Restoration Trust. < www.libertynet.org/pert >. 2000. PERT [Pennypack Ecological Restoration Trust] [also see: Bike routes file “Pennypack ERT”]

 

285. Kennedy, Joseph S. “Irish artist conveyed dignity of black subjects in 1800s."Philadelphia Inquirer. 2000. It is likely that Thomas Hovenden painted his Plymouth Meeting neighbors. Most painters paint what they know best. During the 1880s, when his career was on the rise, Hovenden produced several remarkable story paintings portraying black Americans, three are believed to portray Chloe and Sam Jones. The couple were free people who came to Philadelphia in 1849 from Maryland. Hovenden (1840-95), while studying art in Paris, met Helen Corson from a prominent Philadelphia family, uncompromising in their belief in the opposition of slavery, a fact that undoubtedly influenced him after they returned and married. The Plymouth Meeting barn that became his studio was once an important stop on the Underground Railroad.

 

286. Kennedy, Joseph S. “Book recalls black Civil War regiment trained in Cheltenham." Philadelphia Inquirer. 2/6/00. The Sixth United States Colored Infantry was the second unit from Camp William Penn. It suffered many casualties. Only one was honored, $40.00 conferred much later. The Rev. Jeremiah Asher, one of 14 African-Americans among 113 chaplains, wrote about this and much more in his memoirs. This account and muster roles, service records, and official orders of the Sixth, were among the primary sources James M. Paradis used for a new book from White Mane Books, 1999, called: “Strike the Blow for Freedom.”

 

287. --. “Dear Reader,…” Philadelphia Inquirer. 2/13/00. Charles schultz, the creator of “Peanuts,” with Charley Brown, Snoopy, Linus, Lucy…has announced the retirement of the strip along with himself. He felt his hand had become too shaky as a result of colon cancer and the family felt the strip should not be done by anyone else. He died Sunday night, the day of the farewell run of his strip.

 

288. Pettit, James. “Cemetery tower once served as attraction, landmark for pilots." Public Spirit. 2/17/00. At 156 feet, the 1936 tower by famous architect Paul Phillip Crete, was a comforting sight to a local pilot searching for the now defunct, Turner Field, on a low visibility day. Now closed for legal reasons, people used to go to the observation deck of this tower on the highest ground in the area, for a good view of the surrounding countryside.

 

289. --. “1776-1976 Bicentennial place-mat.” Depicted, are England Acts of: 1763 for standing British army, restriction of Colonial shipping trade, Sugar tax of 1764. Quartering Act of 1765. Stamp Act of 1765, Declaratory Act of 1766, Townshend taxation of tea, paper, lead, and paint of 1767. Boston Massacre of 1770. Tea Act of 1773. Boston Tea Party of 1773. Intolerable Acts of 1774. and Restraining Act of 1775, all causes for the Revolution for liberty and freedom.

 

290. --. “Our Flag” place-mat. . . Depicts eight flags from the Viking Flag of 1000 AD to the present (1960) 50 star flag.

 

291. Allin, Michael. “Zarafa." Walker Publishing Co., Inc. 1998. An account of the historic trek of the magnificant gift of a young Giraffe by Mahammed Ali, Pasha of Sudan, to King Charles X of France. It was captured very young and carefully nurtured, requiring about 25 gallons of cows milk a day. It became very gentle and tolerant of people, which drew around it in huge crowds at every place they were encountered. Hamlet and Atir were its two devoted handers though out. The very dark African, Atir continued to be her constant companion during the remainder of Zarafa’s life. It was mounted at death and still resides in a museum in France, noted in the book. A formal portrait painted in the 1840s in copied in the file.

 

292. Janney, Werner L. and Asa Moore Janney, Editors. “John Jay Janney’s Virginia”. EPM Publications, Inc., McLean, Virginia. 1978. Mr. Janney set down some to the things he remembered as a youth in Virgina as three entire memoirs, each time thinking the former had been lost. The last, as he was laid up at the age of 90, the final year of his life in 1907, in Columbus, Ohio. This book merges the three versions into one to give a look at a “backwoods” Virginia farming life of the early 19th century. Selected copies from the loaned book are referenced and include the Table of Contents, Chapter 1 About John Janney, his Prefatory note, a picture of his birthplace home, Schools, Superstitions which indicate the Friends giving not practice to them, Interviews with Abraham Lincoln, Appendix A about John Janney’s family, Appendix B about the memoir versions, Bibliography, and Bibliography and Textual Notes. The editors, Asa Moor Janney and his brother, Werner, grew up on a farm in Loudoun County, Virginia, near where their cousin, John Jay Janney, had lived as a boy and found it to be much has his had been 100 years before. Werner left the farm to become an editor of National Geographic. Though he has retired as Postmaster, Asa continues to farm. The Janney’s love local history and by presenting their cousin’s memoirs, they help him accomplish what he wanted it to do—let others know his way of life.

 

293. Pettit, James. “John Van Pelt: Hatboro success story." Public Spirit. 20000

 

294. Bierbaum, Martin A. “Holmes, Oliver Wendell, Jr.” Grolier Electronic Encyclopedi. 1995. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., b. Boston, Mar. 8, 1841, d. Mar. 6, 1935, was a justice of the U.S. Supreme Court so well known for the eloquence, pungency, and abundance of his dissenting opinions that he was called the “Great Dissenter.” The son of the physician and literary figure Oliver Wendell Holmes, he graduated from Harvard University in 1861 as class poet and served in the Massachusetts Volunteers during the Civil War. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1866, and opened a private law practice, but devoted most of his energies to legal scholarship. From 1870 to 1873, he served as editor of the American Law Review and taught constitutional law at Harvard. He published “The Common Law,” representing a new legal philosophy. The opening sentence captures the pragmatic theme of that work and Holmes’s philosophy of law: “The life of the law has not been logic, it has been experience.” It 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt plucked him from the Massachusetts Supreme Court, where he had served for 20 years, and appointed him to the U.S. Supreme Court. He is quoted in the dissenting opinion in Lochner V. New York (1904) and wrote the majority opinion in Shenck V. United States (1919). In the latter, stating that judicial review was necessary in cases involving FREEDOM OF SPEECH and presented the “clear and present danger” doctrine associated with his name. Bibliography given.

 

295. Shane III, Leo. “Book speaks volumes on Hatboro’s history." The Record Intellegencer. 20000301. Photos in the 128-page paperback, authored by the Millbrook society, cover the period from the 1860s to the 1960s. Along with streetscapes and building shots, the society also gathered photos of well-known events such as the flood of 1938 and people such as Ike Jarrett, the original owner of Jarrett Dodge. Stories such as that of the skeleton used in Odd Fellow Lodge rites spins itself out in the captions of the book. Dave Shannon, Executive director of the Millbrook Society, said the project could lead to other paperbacks, since the society has numerous historical records for other local municipalities. The Hatboro book is the first stage. [This is a front-page story and picture of Jack Regenhard, Frank Sorace and Gerald Ames.]

 

296. Millbrook Society - Jack Regenhard. “Hatboro”. Acadia Publishing. 2000. [see also: #235 for reference to the final edit as submitted to the publisher, Acadia Publishing Co.]

 

297. Fast, Howard. “The Crossings”. ibooks, NY by Simon & Schuster. 1999. Mary Porter purchased this book for the Amy B. Yerkes Museum, Millbrook Society, Hatboro, PA. Borrowed in February and read. This is a very good and interesting view of the Revolutionary War campaign emphasizing the importance of the Delaware River Crossings, one in retreat in order to be able to fight for the cause another day, and one in attack. These crossings and the intervening 21 days out of an eight-year War, were crucial to the final outcome of the War. Washington is painted about as factual, flaws and attributes alike, as I can imagine. His heavy dependence and the ultimate value of John Glover and his men were vital. Washington’s devotion to the cause and his charisma certainly won the trust of the majority of his men to follow him, possibly into death. This is well documented.

 

298. Salisbury, Stephan. “Library Company gets rare early documents”. Philadelphia Inquirer. 2000/03/05. With little fan-fare and early notice, The Library Company of Philadelphia became immensely enriched in early historic documents. These included letters, flyers, posters, original ordinances, and etc., catapulting the library into the forefront of research data on colonial and revolutionary America. The Michael Zinman collection of over 9000 titles is regarded as one of the most comprehensive collections of early American printed matter. The acquisition at $5 million leaves a Zinman donation of $3 million on the $8 million collection. Some titles are worth $250,000 (William Hubbard “Narrative of the troubles with the Indians in New England”-- 1677), $25 (a broadside sheet), and everything in between. Mr. Zinman has given collections to this library before, such as the unparalleled collection of 19th--century “American trade bindings"-- books in their original bindings, and his collection of American “canvassing” books—sample books used by salesmen.

 

299. Beans, Theodore. “John Van Pelt’s life as a Hatboro entrepreneur was the result of a pioneering family that left Europe in search of the opportunities America provided.” Arriving about 1750 in Flatbush, Long Island, he trained in the carriage making business, moving and advancing, buying and selling, as he went. He and his brother Samuel P., came to Hatboro and built a hardware store and a house in 1884. He added groceries, found it profitable, held the office of burgess of the borough, and was elected to borough council. The descendent, John, had in his possession a gold watch that once belonged to the Marquis de Lafayette. In 1882, Mr. Van Pelt met and married Martha Sprogell, of Hatboro, the editress and life of the Public Spirit.

 

300. Kennedy, Joseph S. “Quaker person foiled British plan." Philadelphia Inquirer. 20000319. After troop in her home discussed a surprise attack on the Continental army, Lydia Darrah acted quickly. According to information in the Old York Historical Society archives, after the British asked the family to go to bed, Lydia crept back up and listened at the keyhole, overhearing plan to make a night march the next night (Dec. 4) and early morning raid on Washington’s troops. She returned to bed and feigned sleepiness when checked on later by the British Maj. John Andre, occupying the house. She then stole out and, on the pretext of needing flour, walked north to purchase 25 pounds of flour from Pearson’s Mill in Frankford, then continued to encounter Lt. Col. Craig (of whom she was acquainted), telling him of the plans overheard. She had dared not discuss this with her stauncher Quaker husband. She died in 1789, unsung and unrewarded for her role in the ultimate victory, which she had no doubt aided.

 

301. Rocco, Michael. “An oft-traveled but forgotten hero of Revolution: Old York Road." Public Spirit. 20000323. Paul Revere, Nathan Hale, John Paul Jones and George Washington were all colonists known for various roes in helping the states win the Revolutionary War. The Old York Road transported Washington’s Continental Army many times up and down Coastline. The road is unique because it was the first cut through from west to east, from Philadelphia on the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers to Elizebethtown Point, NY, just north of Staten Island through NJ. “Until the war was over, Old York Road was used almost entirely for the movement of troops and supplies, and by the couriers who kept the line of communication open,” wrote Jim and Margaret Crawly in their book, “Along the Old York Road.”

 

302. Varick Transcripts. “George Washington Papers Series 3b Varick Transcripts”. Library of Congress. 17771120. Two letters by George Washington, one to John Paterson, and the other to Enoch Poor, indicate that he and his Safety force spent some time in Hatboro (The Crooked Billet) in November between the Battle of Germantown and the wintering at Valley Forge. This is indicated in “...will probably find me at the Crooked Billet.” A third letter is a bill of clothing and leather goods for use of the Cavalry under the command of General Polaski. This letter is dated February 4, 1778, and is commanded by Easton, obtained in Easton, or written from Easton [?].

 

303. --. “Montgomery County: History & More”. Internet http://www.sellhigh.com/philanet/mont.html. 1999. Historic site listed: Hope Lodge 1743, Matter Mill 1820, Peter Wentz Farm 1758, Pennpacker Mills 18th century, Pottsgrove Manor, Valley Forge NHP, John James Audubon’s Mill Grove, Bryn Athyn Cathedral, Beth Sholom.

 

304. Rocco, Michael. “Warminster high school students once called different building home”. Public Spirit. 20000330. The upper Southampton High School opened in 1931. Warminster students were encouraged to attend, which they did. Before 1931, schooling in Upper Southampton and other areas only went up to 10th grade and older students were usually grouped together with students all the way down to sixth grade. Eugene Klinger was supervising principal of the Southampton schools from 1928 to 1954. The Klinger Middle School in Southampton, built in 1965, was named in his honor. In 1954, the Centennial School District was formed and included the school districts of Ivyland, Warminster and Upper Southampton. When the William Tennent High School was built in 1960, all the high school students moved to that high school and the Upper Southampton High School became an elementary school, being renamed George C. Shelmire Elementary School to honor the former school board president.

 

305. Rocco, Michael. “Couple rewarded for restoration of Potts’ 2nd house”. Public Spirit. 20000330. The Upper Moreland Historical Association presented its first Historic Preservation Award to Upper Moreland residents Margaret and john Connell for their efforts in restoring Joshua Potts’ second house, built about 1759. The Connells have lived in the house, located just off York Road near Newington Drive, for the past five years and have done some masonry work and painted the house. The first house built by Joshua Potts, civic leader of early Hatboro, teacher, one of the organizers and first Librarian of the Union Library of Hatborough, was razed by the Hatboro Federal Savings Bank for further bank expansion. The larger portion of the Connell home was added by William Yerkes in 1784, it then passed to his son, Joseph, who named the property “Ashland Farms.”

 

306. Pettit, James. “Old pictures in a brand new book”. Public Spirit. 20000330. “Hatboro—Images of America,” a book by Millbrook Society Director Jack Reganhard [sic], has hit local bookstores. Ever want to see what Hatboro and surrounding communities looked like in their early stages of development? If so, the Millbrook Society, Hatboro’s historical society, has answered the call by printing a book filled with historical photos. According to Regenhard and the publisher, Arcadia Press, the book sold at a record pace.

 

307. --. Craven Hall Newsletter 2:1. Craven Hall Historical Society. 2000.02.00. Work is under way in planning the first May Faire for May 6 & 7th. The revised application of placement of the Craven Hall on the National Register of Historic Places has been returned with specific questions to be answered. The 4th Annual 5K Crooked Billet Race last October was a huge success and educational days for the Centennial third grade and McDonald School children was delightful. In restoration, shutters were repaired and rehung on the Newtown Road side and the kitchen painted, among other things. Window and shutter restoration and repair will be finished in 2000. Reminiscences of 100+ years ago show Newtown road continuous through to Bristol Road and even 60 years ago, as related by Sam Walker, whose farm was taken for the extension of the Johnsville Naval Base airfield runway. All roads were mudways or dustways. Newtown Road businesses included a hat and ribbon shop, where the ladies and girls went to get their Spring and Fall headgear. The McDonald property had a carpentry and undertaker business, depending on the need. The present Johnsville Reformed Church stands in place of the old blacksmith shop and the original Johnsville Chapel is still on Newtown Road across the street. The will and testament of Thomas Craven is reprinted, witnessed by Anthony Scont, Abraham Supthim and Jonathan Delany.

 

308. --.“Gift of History”. Public Spirit. 20000406. Picture with the caption: “Hatboro Federal Savings Bank presents a framed copy of an 1893 map of Hatboro to the Upper Moreland Historical Association for public display. Shown, from left, are Joseph L. Hagy 3rd, senior vice president of the bank. Joseph J. Tryon Jr., president of the bank. and Joe Thomas, president of the historical association.”

 

309. --. “THE OLD MILL INN”. Hatboro Life. 20000417. Ad with picture as the old mill looks at the beginning of year 2000. “Compare to Images of America - Hatboro,” page 20.

 

310.--. “Club to Dissolve”. Hatboro Life. 200004--. The Neighbor’s of Hatboro Women’s Club was organized in May of 1910. It will hold its farewell luncheon at Williamson’s restaurant on May 3, 2000.

 

311. --. “Upper Moreland Historical Association." Hatboro Life. 200004--. Picture with the caption: “Upper Moreland Historical Association vice president, Ray Stahl presents a certificate of appreciation to Mrs. Bonnie Rivera following her presentation at their public meeting on the research necessary to put Fetters Mill in Bryn Athyn on the National Register. Additionally on 8/30/00, Bonney Vincent sent an illustrated copy of the talk given. [see attached]

 

312. --. “Historical Signing…” Public Spirit. 20000420. Members of the Millbrook Society were on hand at the Union Library of Hatboro Saturday to sign the new history book on Hatboro. From left in the picture, are: Mary Van Pelt, Gerald Ames, Frank Sorace and Jack Regenhard. Bill Shriver, sign books for Bill Shriver, standing, David Fox and Christopher Shriver, 7. [Mr. Fox bought an extra book for young Shriver to give to his school class.]

 

313. Veliner, Greg. “Southampton harness shop on its way to making history”. Public Spirit. 20000420. Last October, a Southampton shop was moved from the address it called home for more than a century to a location in the township away from the wrecking ball that threatened its existence. It's now on the Bucks County register of historic places. It was once a harness shop, but a 1907 postcard shows it with a sign over the door proclaiming “Emma H. Saurman Dry Goods and Trimmings.” This 1880s 15 X 40 foot frame building will be known as “Southampton Dry Goods Store, because that is the purpose it first served."

 

314. Rocco, Michael. “Charles Beatty left his lasting mark on Warminster." Public Spirit. 20000427. William Tennent can easily be characterized as one of the founding fathers of Warminster Township, and not just because he has a high school named after him. Tennent was responsible for forming the famous Log College, which sent many educated students into the world and formed schools all over the country. It was in these two capacities that Charles Beatty would become a strong influence in the township. Besides his classical education given to him by his mother, Beatty decided his way through life would be as a peddler, selling items throughout the land until he came to a small school on York Road—Log College. He so impressed Tennent that he was persuaded to stay for more education. Beatty was ordained, and after Tennent’s retirement, took over master of Log College as well as serving as pastor of the Neshaminy-Warwick Presbyterian Church in 1743. Beatty, along with Joshua Potts of Hatboro, Joseph Hart of Warminster, and mathematician John Lukens of Horsham, formed the Union Library of Hatboro in 1755. He served as Chaplain for a colonel Benjamin Franklin in the French and Indian War in 1756. After aiding in increasing enlistment’s, he served in the campaigns against Fort Duquesne and was sent to convert Indians west of there. He returned and built a home for their family of 11 children on the SW corner of Bristol and York Roads. He died of Yellow Fever on Barbados Island on Aug. 3, 1772 at age 57 and was buried there.

 

315. O’Brien, Nancy Mortimer. “Designer Show House -- 1870 manor house decorated for college fund-raiser." Public Spirit. 20000429. La Salle College High School will host a Designer Show House in Wyndmoor. Set back from the road, this gracious home majestically sits on the crest of Cheltenham Ave., centered between Paper Mill Road and Willow Grove Ave. accessed by a circular driveway. The Christian Brothers who run the school, may live there. The Mothers’ Club, always having an interest in the house, persuaded the school to purchase the property and to do the Designer Show House project. This really went over big with the businesses. The College was interested in the property to increase parking and to use the home.

 

316. Beideman, Don. “In Upper Bucks, territory that is historic, even primeval." Philadelphia Inquirer. 20000430. Tinicum Township’s residents seem to share a love for the land and a commitment to preserve it. Mitch Bunkin bought an early 1700’s house that has an addition built in 1813 in 80% original condition. He helped found in 1992, and is now president of the Tinicum Conservancy, to act as a recipient for voluntary conservation easements. Bunkin teaches at Bucks County Community College also. “There was a growing sensitivity to how uniquely beautiful and fragile the township is. Our second goal is to do everything we can to maintain the quality of our streams and water courses.” “Almost 10% of the land in the township is protected in some way or other.” Doug Hahn is head of the township’s Park and Recreation Commission. From eight acres donated by a developer, they are working at building a park using volunteer labor. Tinicum Park (126 acres) and Tohickon Park (606 acres) are Bucks County parks in the township, while Ralph Stover Park is a State Park. Preserving the rural, rustic quality of the area is a major effort.

 

317. Paulette Mark, NPS. “Archeology at Valley Forge!.” National Park Service. 20000606. June and July of 2000 will see excavation on some Brigade hut sites. Additional fieldwork and lab work will progress during the month of August.

 

318. Stewart, Dr. Michael, “Temple U. Society For Pennsylvania Archaeology, Sp. Society For Pennsylvania Archaeology.” 20000606. 71st SPA Meeting, May 5-7, 2000 with the theme of “Pennsylvania Archaeology: From B. C. to Y2K.” Meetings will be held at the Radisson Inn, 100 Pine St., Williamsport, PA. The Annual Meeting of the Eastern States Archaeology Federation will be at the Holiday Inn Select, Solomons, Maryland, and in WDC on November 2-5, 2000.

 

319. Nord, Philip. Wentz Post. Peter Wentz Farmstead Society. XVIII:43. The Peter Wentz Farmstead Tour—We welcome you to take a journey into the past. Your guide will introduce you to some of the fascinating stories of what it might have been like to live on a Pennsylvania German farm during the American revolutionary period. Ongoing research, documentation and restoration of the site has resulted in a unique and beautiful interpretation of a colonial farm -- perhaps as General George Washington might have seen it in 1777 when he stayed here for a few days before and after the Battle of Germantown. “Pot Shots” mentions among other things, the Archaeology programs under “Indiana Rich.

”This heavy coarse paper eight page newsletter is full of pictures, drawings and interesting notes.

Peter Wentz Farmstead Society

Route 73 and Shearer Rd.

PO Box 240

Worcester, PA 19490

 

320. Flam, Faye. “Beneath us, the city’s past.” 20000501. Science. Five years ago a team of archaeologists used backhoes and jackhammers and plenty of their own muscle to dig down into the past of Seventh and Arch Streets, a requirement of building a new $68 million prison. As the 12-story prison is nearing completion, Joe Dent and his colleagues have issued their report on the layers of history they found in the dirt below—bustling Victorian factories, homes of rich Quakers who wore powdered wigs and buckled shoes, colonial artisans who created distinctive pottery, raised horses and brewed beer. In 1776, Thomas Jefferson would have had a view of people walking on this block from his upstairs room at the Graff House at Seventh an Market, where he drafted the Declaration of Independence.  The discards tell the intricate details.  Arch Street was called Mulberry Street and there were factories turning out needs of the day. Development, Dent says, goes back as far as 1690, when historical records show that John Brooks built the first house here. In 1766 a developer named Isaac Zane bought the Brooks house and land and divided, anticipating city expansion. What had been the Clayton outhouse, yielded discarded marbles, slate pencils, pieces of a hand-painted tea set, and miniature cooking vessels that may have belonged to the children. There were engraved glasses, kerosene lamps, beads, glass thimbles, and wine decanters, a bone-handled knife and toothbrushes, a pewter tea spoon, combs and clay wig-curlers. This privy was illegally deep, being placed over an unused well, sure to contaminate the water table, the ordinance was intended to protect.

 

321. Turner, D. K., Rev. “History of Neshaminy Presbyterian Church of Warwick, Hartsville, Bucks County, PA 1726-1876.” Culbertson & Bache, Printers, 727 Jayne Street, Philadelphia, PA. 1876. This is a very interesting narration of people of the time titled, particularly related to the Neshaminy Church, the property and interesting anecdotes related to those portrayed and their families and with the community. There is list of all in the cemetery to 1876. He provides a list of the Bucks County Militia.

I have copies of pages 76, 77, 114, & 115 detailing the feelings and actions of Rev. Beatty upon the need of a library: “…he was painfully moved by the ignorance and want of mental culture of many of the inhabitants of the region around his home. In order to do something to remove this great evil, it was proposed to establish a public library at Hatborough, four miles south of his residence. He earnestly favored the plan, and measures were taken such that in 1756, it was opened in a private house in that village. A building was subsequently purchased for it, where it remained for many years. And in 1850, through a legacy of five thousand dollars of Nathan Holtz of Horsham, a new Library building was erected at an expense of over $4,000, and an endowment of five thousand dollars secured. Now it is one of the most valuable and extensive libraries outside of Philadelphia, in the southeastern part of Pennsylvania.” Related too, is that Mr. Beatty’s sixth child, Euridius Beatty served in the 4th Battalion Pennsylvania under Lt. Col. Cadwallader. He fought in the Battle of Brandywine, Sept. 11, 1777, and was severely wounded by a shot in the thigh October 4th, in the battle of Germantown. “He was taken by a Mr. Irwin to his home '…not far from Crooked Billet, now Hatborough.'” He healed and went with the army to Valley Forge winter quarters, then to Monmouth and the Hudson campaigns. The Neshaminy church and its pastors and elders seemed always strongly on the National side.

 

322. Cawthon, Raad. “War memorial will rise from its sickbed.” Philadelphia Inquirer. 20000312. In 1921, with the unprecedented carnage of World War I fresh in their minds, more than 250,000 people came to America’s heartland to dedicate a three-acre site on newly named memorial Hill for a monument to the Great War’s 10 million dead. Among the throng were the five military leaders of the victorious Allies, including France’s Marshal Ferdinand Foch and U.S. Gen. John “Black Jack” Pershing. It was the only time the five were ever in the same place at the same time. The Liberty Memorial museum of World War I, dedicated five years later by President Calvin Coolidge, remains the nations largest to that war and among the three largest in the world. With its 217-foot tower (plus 90’ set in bedrock) and sweeping view of downtown Kansas City, it seems destined never to be forgotten. But in 1994, it closed, its limestone and steel structure threatening to collapse. After being saved by a voter instituted sales tax, it will be rededicated on November 11, 2001, the 75th anniversary of its original dedication. It will have to be enlarged as in 1918; both of the twin 2,500 SF buildings were filled, though only one was designed as a museum. “‘The veterans die, and we continue to get things we never knew existed,’ Cart said. ‘Things are handed down to children. Or they turn up in forgotten trunks in attics. People don’t know what to do with it, but they want it preserved. They send it to us.’” The collection includes the only known Bavarian howitzer extant, the only Austrian bronze-tube gun, 12,000 photographs, 2,000 postcards mailed home, more than 600 battlefield maps, and exhaustive battle accounts, and possibly the only complete W.W.I Japanese infantryman’s uniform.

 

323. --. ”Incredible Castles.” Bucks County Historical Society. 2000. An eight page newsprint edition of Spring and Fall events commemorating 27 years of Folk Festival on the grounds of Fonthill, the Henry Chapman Mercer home and museum of his collections of tile and artifacts of his years of travel and collecting. There is the Mercer museum, a reinforced concrete castle Mercer built with much of his and his maid’s manual labor. There is also the Mercer Tile Works, again made of reinforced concrete, in place for the housing of his tile manufactory. He produced collectable and unique tiles known the world over.

 

324. Quattone, Frank D. “There was a time when Concord (Mass.) conquered the nation—it still does!” Public Spirit. 20000511. For a relatively brief, shining “moment” in the mid-19th century, the tiny town of Concord, Massachusetts was the literary capital of the nation. This “flowering of New England” and America’s literary life was a transcendent, defining period for our whole culture. The avuncular genius of Ralph Waldo Emerson and his fiercely independent “disciple, “ Henry David Thoreau, no less than the contributions to modern fiction of artists like Nathaniel Hawthorn and Louisa May Alcott, put Concord back on the map—a feat it had first accomplished in 1775 when a ragtag band of Minutemen took on the hated Redcoats at the old North Bridge. Walden Pond was inhabited by Thoreau in 1845-47, living as a free frontiersman of the spirit. “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and to see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” Pictures of the Rev. William Emerson Manse, where he watched the battle of Concord unfold on April 19, 1775. Later Nathaniel Hawthorne lived there. One can also see the Ralph Waldo Emerson house.

 

325. Shane, Leo III. “Police seek leads after cannon theft.” The Record. 20000504. Police seek leads after cannon theft. The historic artifact was stolen from Crooked Billet Elementary just hours before a memorial ceremony was to begin. Vandals sawed through the mountings and made off with one of the two remaining cannon flanking the memorial obelisk to the Battle of Crooked Billet. Dave Shannon, exec. dir. of the Millbrook Society, stated: “The intrinsic value of it to the community is worth far more than its financial value.” He added, “The cannon has been part of the borough since 1861, when the memorial was dedicated the Revolutionary War Battle. On April 30, 1778, British Maj. John Simcoe’s troops ambushed a force under the command of Brig. Gen. John Lacey inside the borough, killing 26 and capturing 58 Continental Army soldiers. The remaining cannon has now been removed to the inside of the Crooked Billet Elementary School building for safekeeping.

 

326. Rosenbaum, Jeremy. “Keeping the family name.” Public Spirit. 20000608. Keeping the family name. Hidden from the light, in a closet in Warminster’s Longstreth Elementary School is a centuries old deed for the school’s land, a little crumpled, but still legible. Signed by Bartholomew Longstreth and Ann Dawson Longstreth who were selling land to William Spencer in 1738, the document is just one link between many of today’s area institutions and the colonial-era Longstreths. Longstreth came from Longstroth, England, Ann from the house of her father, John Dawson, founder of Hatboro. The deed reads very much as it would today, except dating it to “the eleventh year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord, King George II.”  While the deed may defer to the king, decades later, their son, Isaac would take a leading role in fighting for American independence from the throne. Daniel, whose signed deed can be seen hanging in the Union Library of Hatboro, hid that library’s collection in the attic of the family home, known ad “the Homestead.” Isaac fought at Trenton and Princeton in 1776-77, which may have been contrary to their Quaker religion. Daniel’s son relates an interesting tale of wits with a loyalist soldier demanding at sword point his silver shoe buckles. Daniel is said to have appealed to the soldier’s companions “...is it fair to demand of me my shoe buckles, as I have no others?” Shamed, the soldier fled. Later, Daniel’s grandson, also Daniel, joined the Society for Abolition of Slavery and made his home a station on the Underground Railroad that spirited runaway slaves to the North and Canada.

 

327. Beideman, Don. “Residents would tip their hats to this venerable small town.” Philadelphia Inquirer. 20000521. Though the name is not so old, it has just spent about $1 million renewing itself. Harriet Ehrsam, Librarian of the Hatboro Union Library, says there is something special about growing up in a small town like Hatboro. “It’s just great to be able to walk the main street,” says Ehrsam, who moved to the Montgomery County borough in 1951 when she was 5. “It’s a very comfortable feeling. People know you by name and now they’re learning to know my grandchildren.” The library is the second oldest in the Pennsylvania, founded in 1755 and the building built in 1849. The borough is finishing a beautification project that included colonial-style street lamps and attractive brick pavers along York Road.

Mayor Celano says the project was designed to save and highlight the town's uniqueness. “It’s a quaint town.” Dave Shannon, exec. dir. of the Millbrook Society, Hatboro Historic organization, which delves into the abundant history of the area and the borough, known originally as the Crooked Billet, then Hatborough, and Hatboro after John Dawson, Hat-maker and one of the first residents of the small community beginning at the Pennypack Creek on the old York Road. “Washington took a meal at the tavern in town,” Shannon said. He was in Hatboro for three days in 1777. There were probably 35 buildings in the township in the Revolutionary War period. Another significant part of the town’s history, Shannon said is its public school system, which dates to 1734. “There’s never been a break in education—no strikes, no stoppages of any sort. …I don’t believe any other town can say that.” Until 1925, the population didn’t exceed 500, but the borough grew rapidly during World War II. York Road bustles today as a result of that growth, but the side streets, with older, well-maintained homes, offer a contrast. Vital statistics are quoted for the 1.2 square mile borough.

 

328. Kennedy, Joseph S. “Montco twister cut swath of ruins”. Philadelphia Inquirer. 20000618. On the afternoon of May 28, 1896, with little warning, a deadly tornado touched down at the village of Jarrettown in Upper Dublin Township. “The storm lasted probably just a few seconds, but there was thunder and perhaps five minutes of hard rain. …from out school windows … [it] looked like a wall of muddy water going at a terrific rate …,” describes T. Everett Kiark in his eyewitness account written 33 years after the event in 1929. This, from a news account in the archives of the Historical Society of Montgomery County, describes a tornado touch-down. Alfred Moffett, a village hostler and William Emsley, a teamster, were killed by the demolition of the hotel stable, under which several had run for shelter.  With winds of from 200 to 300 miles per hour, they usually last only a few minutes. A picture of the de-roofed Methodist Church, built in 1867, provides an idea of the destructive force of this tornado cutting a swath of devastation 300-600 yards wide from the Ambler area, eastward. Through the aid of neighbors (no government aid or insurance was available at this time) reconstruction was swiftly initiated and the church reopened a year later.

 

329. Kennedy, Joseph S. “Battling for high ground.” Philadelphia Inquirer. 20000625. On the first day of the fight at Gettysburg, seizing control of certain terrain may have been the key to the Union’s victory. Many Civil War historians believe that one of the key factors in determining the Union’s victory in the Battle of Gettysburg was control of the battlefield high ground. This terrain became the Union’s main defensive line thanks to the action of Brig. Gen. John Buford and his brigades of cavalry early in the morning of July 1, 1863. Company L, Fifth Squadron of the Seventh Regiment, was commanded by the redoubtable Capt. (later Col.) Theodore W. Bean of Norristown. He laid the foundation for a later career that included founding the Montgomery County Historical Society, writing two tomes of that history, and otherwise serving in many public and civic offices in the county. While the strategy and movements are herein succinctly set forth for your more in depth reading, it should be mentioned that contribution was made to the accounting by Henry M. Kieffer, a local historian writing in “Sketches” (1920), a volume of bulletins from the Historical Society of Montgomery County.

 

330. Raftery, Kay. “A disputed shopping center is open, and everybody is happy”. Philadelphia Inquirer. 20000625. With Witchwood Farm preserved in the Montgomery Square deal, even the local historical society is pleased. Pictures of before and after renovation and interior reworking.The building was built in the 1700s, according to research by Vesterra Corp. of Blue Bell, builders of the Mall and development. It was on a farm of 235 acres and passed through the hands of such illustrious personages as the builder of the Schyulkill Bridge at Conshohocken, Peter Wager. William W. Armstrong, who built the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia and more than 50 churches. Philip J. Baur in 1936, who, with Herbert C. Morris, started Tasty Baking Co. One apocryphal story of how the name “Witchwood Farm” came to be is that one day Baur asked some laborers to do some work in his woods, and they responded, “Which Woods?”

 

331. Sanchez, Robert. “Unearthing a piece of her past.” Philadelphia Inquirer. 20000723. “Unearthing a piece of her past”. Houses may go where a Horsham woman says her family lived. Mary Hoyt-Mann [picture] here with preservationist Margaret Choate, outside a house Hoyt-Mann says was once in her family. She would look out over the endless golden fields in the summer, from her perch in the tire swing, and wonder what it must have been like in 1u54, when the farmhouse was built. Only recently did she find out there was another family home hidden in the trees. “It’s like we found a missing part of our life,” Hoyt-Mann, 76, said of the two-story white stucco home built sometime before 1830. ”According to Hoyt-Mann’s family records, the home probably belonged to Josiah Mann, who inherited it from his mother, Margaret. Isaac, Josiah’s older brother, inherited Arbormeade. That farm house was sold outside the family in 1937, ending six generations of Mann ownership.

Horsham Township Manager Michael McGee said the property’s owner, Advanta Corp. Chairman Dennis Alter, reached an agreement with Bensalem developer Orleans Constr. Corp. two months ago to sell the land. “You’d like to save everything, but you just can’t,” McGee said. “You have to have someone who is willing to refurbish it, and the township sure isn’t going to pay.” “There’s no protection for homes that aren’t on some type of state or national register,” said Ann Safley, historic-preservationist for the Pennsylvania historic and Museum Commission in Harrisburg.

 

332. Massimilla, Edna. “HATBORO Pennsylvania.” This Is Our Life Publications. 2000. HATBORO Pennsylvania. Pen & ink drawings early Hatboro buildings and scenes along with text by Edna Massimilla in a self published little booklet.

 

333. Kennedy, Joseph S.. “‘Baron’ DeKalb helped on the road to independence." Philadelphia Inquirer. 20000704. Of the many soldiers of fortune who served the patriot cause during the American Revolution, “Baron” John DeKalb may be amount the least remembered.

Today, those who daily use DeKalb Street in Norristown and DeKalb Pike in Upper Merion May know nothing of the baron’s exploits. Yet his service contributed in significant ways to the colonies’ fight for freedom. On a South Carolina monument erected to DeKalb, a native of Alsace, now a part of France, are written these words: “His love of liberty induced him to leave the old world to aid the citizens of the new in their struggle for independence.”

A Washington Aide recorded his orders during The Valley Forge encampment, instructing each brigade to establish sick bays and that the officers in charge of rifle units examine each soldier’s ammunition daily. Kennedy takes some of this article from the Picket Post journal of the Valley Forge Historical Society (1978), written by Charles Heathcote. During the French and Indian War (1754-63), when France was on the verge of losing the battle for north America, DeKalb was sent as a spy to the British American colonies. His mission was to determine the attitude of the Americans to their British rulers. He reported that there was “…much dissatisfaction in the colonies at the autocratic attitude of the English government,” Heathcote writes. Although they served in separate sections of the continental army, LaFayette and DeKalb remained close comrades.

 

334. Jenkins, Naomi L. “Digging into history.” Bucks County Courier Times. 20000712. An archaeologist from Lower Makefield is among the team of scientists finding secrets from what history books have called the “Winter of Dispair.” Beneath the hiking trails, picnic areas and winding roads of Valley Forge National Park, lay remnants of a temporary city forged by war. From December 1777 to June 1778, between 10,000 and 12,000 members of George Washington’s Continental Army lived on a plot of land in what is how Valley Forge National park. Lower Makefield’s Julia Steele is one of three people leading the archaeological team that is slowly uncovering the 18th century military base they have come to call log City. “We’re not just trying to collect the relics,” Steele said recently. “This is History.” Shown in a picture, is a button from an officer’s uniform, one of the treasures unearthed during an archaeological dig. Dr. David Orr, one of the Park Archaeologists, stated they want to map the whole area to understand how they lived, what they ate and how they got along. The many huts housing about 6 men were only about six feet square, much smaller than most of the huts sprinkled around the grounds. The dig team already has unearthed remains of several log huts, some wineglasses, liquor bottles, nails and a porcelain cufflink. Last week, a young volunteer unearthed a thin brass button dated 1774. The design resembled a Spanish coin. A $150,000 grant form Aurora Foods, the maker of Log Cabin Syrup, provided the funding to excavate. Government funding usually pays for only surveying, mapping and other research of suspected historic sites. The best of their finds will be displayed in the park’s museum, tattered links to America’s history.

 

335. --. “Card raises funds”. The Intelligencer Record. 20000808. Moland House in Hartsville is featured on Bucks Association for Retarded Citizens’ 2000 holiday card. The card will be introduced and sold at a reception 2:30 to 5:00 p.m. Sunday at Moland House to meet the artist, Tataiana Alexeeva. Raffle tickets for the original painting can be purchased and afternoon activities include an auction of the original painting for the 1999 holiday card, Pennsbury Manor, by Bonnie Porter. There will be a tour of Moland House, door prizes, and refreshments. Information: (215) 794-0800, Ext. 310.

 

336. --. “Bycot Railroad Station Post Card photo.” http://qrstuv.home.mindspring.com/9474.jpg.c. 1920s. The card is #126 of the Charles M. Arnold series. [Jack Regenard of the Millbrook Society placed a bid on it.]

 

337. Kennedy, Joseph S. “Furness, an architect—of the suburbs”, Philadelphia Inquirer. 20000806. While many of his grand buildings grace the city, much of the noted architect’s work is in Montgomery County. In the 1983 work, Montgomery County: The Second Hundred Years, noted art historian Vincent Scully called Philadelphia architect Frank Furness “The first great architect in America after Jefferson and certainly the most original architect of his time. ”Though Furness’ projects don’t rival the City Library of the University of Pennsylvania or the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts building, there are a number of buildings that express his special vision in architecture.

Pictured, is the Bryn Mawr Hotel, now a part of the Baldwin School in Montgomery County. Churches that are examples of Furness’ work include the Church of Our Savior, Jenkintown, St. Mary’s P.E. Church, Ardmore. and All Hallows Episcopal Church in Wyncote. Furness was born in Philadelphia in 1839, the son of a liberal minister. He studied architecture at the studio of Robert Morris Hunt in New York City, a learn-by-doing type of education. Interrupted by the Civil War, he joined Rush’s Lancers of the Sixth Pennsylvania Cavalry, serving in northern Virginia and earning the Medal of Honor. Thomas, et al wrote Frank Furness: the Complete Works, reported in depth on his work. At about the turn on the century his vision fell out of demand. He died in 1912, at the age of 73.

 

338. Hill, Mary Loise. “Geology of the Wissahickon Creek Area”. http://wissahickon.rier.org/wissgeology.html. 20000729. The bedrock of the Wissahickon Creek area is a metamorphic rock unit known as Wissahickon schist, the Temple University, Department of Geology Professor, writes. Florence Bascom (1863-1945), was one of the earliest geologists to study the schist and led many field trips along the Wissahickon Creek during her years at Bryn Mawr College and the U.S. Geological Survey. This Schist contains abundant mica, a mineral that contains a high proportion of aluminum, in addition to other aluminous minerals such as garnet, staurolite, and kyanite. This indicates a protolith (the base rock before it metamorphosed) for all pelitic (aluminous, rich in aluminum) rocks are shale, a sedimentary rock composed predominantly of clay minerals derived from the chemical weathering of rock exposed at the Earth’s surface.. This shale would form at a depth of about 20 Km, giving evidence of a mountainous eastern terrain that has weathered away at least that much to date.

 

339. Schaffer, Michael D.. “The tale of two men and a city they built”. Philadelphia Inquirer. 20000720. More than a century before the Founding Fathers gave Americans a constitution, William Penn gave them a vision. And as the new nation emerged, that greatest of all Philadelphians, Benjamin Franklin—craftsman, scientist, diplomat, cracker-barrel moralist, raconteur, spin master, political hardball artist—peered through his bifocals and offered essential practical wisdom. No two men have been more different, and no two men have done more to make America what it is. No place has done more to shape America than Philadelphia. A Pennsylvania tourism slogan goes: “America Starts Here.”

Above all it was Pennsylvania tolerance in religion, social standing, and place of origin, from the Quaker influence on both men that shaped this new country. Not since the Roman Empire had so much diversity been tolerated. It was not just Europeans who stood in awe of the successful experiment, but James Madison of Virginia, the principal architect of the Constitution and advocate of religious liberty, that also was deeply impressed. Franklin, no Quaker, but a true believer in the human capacity for improvement, who founded virtually every important Philadelphia civic institution, including the Library Company of Philadelphia, the University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Hospital, and the American Philosophical Society. Pennsylvania also led the young country—suddenly aware of the inconsistency between its professed devotion to freedom and the institution of slavery—in recognizing the rights of blacks. Though Pennsylvania was not as clearly open to full liberty as it proscribed, it is hard to imagine what America would have become without Philadelphia and the two main fathers of the land.

 

340. Maas, Peter. “The Terrible Hours.” Harper-Collins Publications. Harper-Collins Publications. 1999. A historical novel of the man, Swede Momsen, that developed the technique and equipment to save people from submarines crippled under the sea, and fought to be able to do so for the Navy against others who didn’t believe it could be done. Then the actual show-down rescue of all of those sailors not immediately killed when in 1939, the Squalus ran into trouble and could not surface from 243 feet, off the coast of Portsmouth Maine. It is a dramatic tale of one who has not been hailed as he deserves, except by those under him and those he rescued. Not one man under his command lost his life in any of the tests or the trying rescue. As if this were not enough, he continued in the submarine service to refine the use of submarines in warfare and to shape the service, as we know it today, with submarines that are at home under the sea, only surfacing occasionally. Very few corrections need be made, but, on page 129, last paragraph, it reads: “The answer—common knowledge today, so unknown then—was that a swimmer diving from the surface starts with a lungful of air that contracts in the increased water pressure he encounters. But someone only eighteen feet down who fills his lungs with air or oxygen takes in over half as much as he would on the surface even though it occupies the same amount of space. If he holds his breath, it immediately begins to expand as he rises.” It should read: “...takes in over half again as much ...” And the last sentence seems to imply that the air doesn’t expand if he does not hold his breath, so would be better to say: The air begins to expand as he rises, increasing the pressure in his already full lungs, if he holds his breath. This not withstanding, Mr. Maas produced a very readable, fact laden and engrossing book.

 

341. --. “History of the Calkins News, a web find.” Calkins Newspapers [YEAR -- 2000 Web page] Home, Auto, Search, Business, Classifieds, Communities, Shopping, Sports, Weather, Neighborhoods, Features, Coupon ClipperE - The People-Food-Forum-Kids-Stuff, Lotteries, Movie Listings, NIE Real Estate, TV Listings, Web Singles, WebHead’s Tips, The AP WIRE Feedback, Guestbook, Our History, Menu, Help, Tips, Calkins Newspapers.

Calkins Newspapers had its start in western Pennsylvania, when the late Stanley W. Calkins, purchased controlling interest in this first newspaper, the Uniontown Daily News-Standard in Uniontown, Pa. on February 15, 1937. The Daily News-Standard later was merged with Uniontown’s other daily newspaper, The Morning Herald, to form the present-day Uniontown Herald-Standard. Published by Uniontown Newspapers Inc., the Herald-Standard has daily circulation of 31,500 and 33,000 on Sunday.

In 1943, Stanley W. Calkins, best known as S. W. Calkins, ventured north to Beaver County, Pa., acquiring the assets of the Aliquippa Gazette. This was the first of several newspapers purchased in Beaver County that led to the publication of the current Beaver County Times, which in 1986 expanded into Allegheny County and with a new edition, the Allegheny Times. Circulation is 47,700 daily and over 60,000 on Sunday. The Calkins organization expanded into the greater Philadelphia market in 1954 with the acquisition of the Bristol Courier, Bristol, Pa. and the Doylestown Intelligencer, Doylestown, Pa. from Senator Joseph Grundy.

The Bristol Courier was later merged with the Levittown Times to form the present Bucks County Courier Times in Levittown, Pa. The Courier Times is the largest Calkins newspaper with daily circulation of 70,000 and 76,000 on Sunday. Levittown is also the site of the corporate headquarters of Calkins Newspapers.

The Intelligencer, still publishing in Doylestown, circulates in central and upper Bucks County and now includes a Montgomery County, Pa. edition. Total circulation is 46,865 daily and 53,565 on Sunday. At the urging of builder William Levitt and to strengthen Calkins Newspapers’ position in the Philadelphia market, S.W. Calkins founded the Levittown, N.J. Times in 1958. The paper was printed initially at the Courier Times plant in Pennsylvania and had offices on Route 130 in Burlington, N.J.

The New Jersey operation, later relocated to Willingboro and was rechristened the Burlington County Times, has the distinction of being the only Calkins newspaper started from scratch which still exists as a separate entity. The Times circulation is 43,000 daily and 48,500 Sunday. In 1961, S. W, Calkins purchased the weekly Homestead, Florida, South Dade News and the Homestead Leader/Perrine Post, another weekly. Now, the South Dade News Leader is published twice weekly and has a circulation of 6,400.S.W. Calkins died in 1973. His three daughters - Shirley C. Ellis, Carolyn C. Smith and Sandra C. Hardy - are the current owners and directors of Calkins Newpapers Inc. Calkins Newspapers now have a total combined daily circulation of more than 234,000 and a combined Sunday circulation of more than 265,000. [back to top]

The Intelligencer and The Record.

The first issue of this daily newspaper, then named The Doylestown Intelligencer, came off the presses on September 6, 1886. When the paper started, the original building was headquarters for Paschall Brothers, a publishing firm consisting of brothers Alfred and Edward Paschall in partnership with Susan Darlington, widow of one of the most influential newspapermen in the county’s history. They put out not only the county’s first daily newspaper, but also the Bucks County Intelligencer Weekly. Six-days-a-week publication was a milestone in the history of a paper that had been growing since way back in July 7, 1804, when a 26-year old printer named Asher Miner launched it as The Pennsylvania Correspondent and Farmers Advertiser. That was a four-page weekly that subscribers could pick up at taverns and general stores in Dublin, Hilltown, Plumstead, New Hope, Solebury, Buckingham and Wrightstown. Miner put together his paper in the back room of a log house.

Bucks County historian W.W.H. Davis wrote that this two-story newspaper office, which had its press on the second floor, was fitted out with huge bins on the ground floor because many subscribers would pay in corn, flour, or oats. Davis also described the old press, which had a stone bed. Leather balls filled with horsehair were used to ink the metal type which, according to Davis, was not only old and worn but insufficient in quantity to set the whole newspaper at one time. Page one and the back page were set and run through the press, and then the type was set again for the two inside pages.

In 1818 the newspaper’s name was changed to The Pennsylvania Correspondent. In September 1824, Asher Miner sold the paper. The two new owners of The Pennsylvania Correspondent were Edmund Morris and Samuel Kramer. Morris and Kramer changed the name to The Bucks County Patriot and Farmers Advertiser. The paper was sold again in 1827 to Elisha B. Jackson and James Kelly, who again changed the name, to The Bucks County Intelligencer and General Advertiser. One year later Jackson died of tuberculosis. In March 1835, William Large became a partner in ownership and eventually bought Kelly out in 1838.

In August of the same year, it was announced that The Intelligencer was moving to a new building directly across from what was then Pettit’s Hotel and is now the Mellon Bank. The paper went into the brick building on the east side of Main Street between State and Court Streets. Intelligencer ownership changed again in 1841 to Samuel S. Fretz of Bedminster. He had worked in the composing room, but decided to buy the paper from Large.

In 1843 there was yet another change of hands. The new owner, John S. Brown of Plumstead, stayed on for 12 years. It was Brown who, in 1848, moved the paper from Main Street back to the site on which Asher Miner had founded it. In 1855 he sold the paper to the partnership of Henry T. Darlington and Enos Prizer. When Prizer died in November of 1864, Darlington became sole owner and publisher.

In 1876, Darlington introduced twice-a-week publication, a precursor of the daily newspaper he intended to launch within two years. In the same year he had the red brick landmark built. The old frame Intelligencer office from 1848 was torn down and the base was laid for a new building.

Along with this growth came the Pashall brothers, who were Darlington’s cousins. Alfred came on as a business manager. Edward moved up from the composing room to become local editor.

Darlington died from a stroke in November of 1878. His widow and the Paschalls formed their partnership, Paschall Brothers, in the summer of 1879. They had to cut back the twice-a-week publication schedule, and the newspaper became a weekly once more.

Seven years later, the daily paper was finally inaugurated. It came out every day except Sunday. Paschall brothers also published a weekly paper, The Bucks County Intelligencer Weekly, which contained everything that ran in the daily papers throughout the week. This paper continued to be published until it merged with the daily paper in 1946.

Sixteen months after the daily paper was started it achieved a circulation of 750 copies. weekly circulation was 4,075. The office staff numbered 22 and recent improvements in the building included steam heat, telephone, and telegraph service. Alfred Paschall bought his brother’s interest in the firm in 1888, and he and Mrs. Darlington formed Alfred Paschall and Company, which carried on the daily and weekly publications until the spring of 1898. At that time a new corporation, The Intelligencer Company, was formed with Alfred Paschall was president. Modern linotype machinery and a press that could print 10,000 copies an hour were installed, and an enlarged newspaper came out on June 1, 1898.

The newspaper was purchased in 1909 by Joseph Grundy, a Bristol industrialist, political boss and eventually U.S. Senator. Grundy also purchased The Bristol Courier, which is now the Bucks County Courier Times. Under Grundy, the newspaper was edited by Clarence Hotchkiss until 1920 when his son George succeeded him and became the newspaper’s business manager.

In 1954, the Intelligencer and the Courier were purchased by the late Stanley W. Calkins in association with Murry Hotchkiss (no relation to Clarence Hotchkiss) and his son, Robert. Calkins had been in the newspaper business for 30 years.

Calkins purchased the Hotchkiss family’s interest in the paper in 1968 and at that time Charles P. Smith became vice president and general manager of the Intelligencer. Calkins died in 1973 and the next year Mr. Smith became publisher of The Intelligencer.

Since moving to our modern plant in 1974, the newspaper has continued to grow. An Upper Bucks edition was introduced in 1978 to provide comprehensive coverage of the news of the Palisades, Pennridge and Quakertown regions. In 1987 a satellite office in downtown Quakertown was opened to better serve our Upper Bucks readers.

The Sunday newspaper was started in 1980, featuring expanded news coverage, color comics, Parade Magazine and a TV listing book. In November 1981, The Intelligencer became a morning publication. The Philadelphia Bulletin discontinued publication in 1982 and that year Calkins Newspapers started the Montgomery County Record to serve Eastern Montgomery County. The newspaper was printed at the Burlington County Times and had offices in Jenkintown. The MCR merged with the Intelligencer in 1983 to become an edition of the Intelligencer. Now known as The Record, its office is located on Route 611 in Horsham Township.

The most recent expansion of The Intelligencer building was in 1985 when a new wing was added for the circulation and distribution departments.

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Bucks County Courier Times

The Bucks County Courier Times will mark its 90th anniversary as a daily newspaper in 2000.

Bristol Borough businessman William C. Watson turned the weekly Bristol Courier into the Bristol Daily Courier on Oct. 3, 1910. The office was a 12-foot wide store-front building at 237 Mill St. The newspaper, which sold for a penny, was produced on a hand-fed press with a maximum capacity of four pages per day. A total of 10 carriers served Bristol’s 9,000 residents. U.S. Sen. Joseph Grundy purchased the paper in 1914 and kept it until 1954 when he sold it to S.W. Calkins.

Mr. Calkins later purchased the weekly Levittown Times and merged them into the Bucks County Courier Times. He passed away in 1973. The Courier Times today is owned by the three daughters of Mr. Calkins, who also owned  the Doylestown Intelligencer/Montgomery County Record, the Burlington County (NJ) Times, the Beaver County (PA) Times, the Uniontown (PA) Herald-Standard, the South Dade News Leader in Homestead, FL, a television station in Sarasota, FL and a commercial printing plant in Pemberton, NJ.Today, the Courier Times’ 500 full-and-part-time employees produce a newspaper Sunday through Friday for a daily and Sunday circulation of more than 70,000 and 77,000, respectively. News is constantly changing. So are the ways to deliver it as the 21st Century nears. In addition to publishing a newspaper, the Courier Times is also providing information to Lower Bucks County residents through its Courier Call audiotext system, Online Courier Times, a computer bulletin board system, and is part of the Calkins Web site, “http://www.phillyburbs.com/” , the latest vehicle on the information superhighway.But some things never change. One of Mr. Calkins’ best-known credos was: “Take care of your customers and they will take care of you.”

The Courier Times intends to continue doing just that!

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Burlington County Times

This year The Burlington County Times marks its fortieth anniversary as the premiere source of local news and information in Burlington County, New Jersey. It is ironic, yet wholly fitting that we commemorate that history here, in the electronic ‘pages’ of a medium of information undreampt of by our founder.

The Burlington County of 1958 would be unrecognizable to our current residents. Largely agricultural, the county’s standing farmlands and pastures were at that time largely unchanged from the original land grants and sublets from the early - mid 1700s. Apart from a few pockets of small-town life, Burlington County was left to the corn and crows. Except for Levittown. The Great Suburban Experiment had reached out from Philadelphia, and the first planned large-scale prefab community in South Jersey took shape in Willingboro Our founder, S.W. Calkins Sr., was the owner/publisher of the Bucks County Courier Times. From the time of the early fifties, he had considered the possibilities of the expansive lands on the other side of the Delaware. He had, in fact, attempted a Burlington County Times edition of his Bucks County paper in 1954. The population density was too low to support publication, and it was discontinued after a few months. As people flocked to the first model homes in the Levittown, Calkins saw his expectations for Burlington County begin to come to life, and he met them squarely. The first edition of our paper, then entitled “The Levittown Times”, was printed on October 6, 1958. It began as 14 well-padded pages. we printed birthdays and lost dogs and cats up in trees along with national news coverage. News in early Suburbia was a rarity. That was one of the reasons people came here. But the work that William Levitt had started was continued in the neighboring townships, and by the time Levittown reclaimed the historic name of Willingboro, our paper was able to rename ourselves The Burlington County Times. We moved to our present location on Route 130 in 1960, our first office becoming the site for Billows Electric in Burlington City.

At the same time, work began on the three-story, 20,000-square foot printing plant that would come to house Big Red, our offset press. In 1968, we freed ourselves from dependence on our sister plant in Levittown PA., and our January 15 issue was the first to be completely produced in-house. After our press had a home, it was time to concern ourselves with creature comforts. And in 1972, our temporary offices were replaced by the sturdy offices you can visit today. Since that time, we’ve added a presence in Mount Holly, and a full service office in Medford. And now, this branch office in Cyberspace. Throughout its history, “The Burlington County Times” has emphasized local news, and it remains the only daily newspaper dedicated exclusively to coverage of New Jersey’s largest county. And we will continue to do so - in print and on the Internet. You are here - so are we. And we’re here for you. 

(Privacy Policy is in action, please honor)

 

342. --. “Cleaning and Stabilizing Metal Artifacts by means of Electrolysis and Protective Coatings.” from Discoveries from the Sea Museum Research and conservation Laboratory, 708 Ocean Highway, Fenwick Island, DE 19944. Electrolytic Reduction - Requires setting up an electrolytic cell creating, in series connection, a battery charger, wire with clips, stainless steel plates operating in a tank of an aqueous electrolyte (sodium hydroxide i.e., caustic soda), wherein the artifact is the cathode (negative) side and the tank, or plates therein are the anode (positive) side. The artifact my be ferrous or non-ferrous. Gold and lead will require no treatment. Preferably, the battery charger should be of a variable voltage type. Little current is required, but up to 2 months or more may be needed to loosen encrustation’s. The electrolyte then is replaced by clear water and continued current applied for a few days. The artifact is then gently picked at to remove encrustation and dried. For interior exposure of the artifact, tannic acid coatings can be sufficient further protection. For exterior and more corrosive environments, phosphoric acid pacification and a coating may be required.

 

343. L. Stuart Ditzen. “City Hall Turns 100”. Philadelphia Inquirer. 20001217. On a Moonlit Night in 1879, Walt Whitman stood at the center of Philadelphia and gazed up at a fantastic construction looming against the sky. To the poets eye, the huge creation before him seemed “a majestic and lovely show there in the moonlight …silent, weird, beautiful.” This author and Carrie Rickey largely wrote this Special Section of the Sunday Review section, bearing on the approaching 100-year anniversary of the City Hall building’s completion. On Jan. 1, 1901, an image display, fireworks and light display at City Hall usher in the beginning of the 20th century. It began construction in 1871, (corner stone in 1774) expecting to take fewer years and $7.5 million, and grew to nearly four decades and $24.5 million. The interior was not finished till 1909, though it was occupied from 1877 progressively from the Supreme Court to other seats of government, and the William Penn statue installed in 1894. The tower clock began timing in 1899. From the time it was completed, calls to tear it down were heard. Weighing in with over 88 million bricks and enough marble, granite and limestone to cover 18 football fields was the main reason it has endured. Now no one speaks seriously of tearing it down.

A planned bottom-to-top exterior renovation is proposed to take eight years and cost $125 million.

 

344. Brooks, H. Fisher, editor. “Small Arms in the Revolution.” The Swan Historical Foundation Inc. 8:3, 2000. The smoothbore flintlock musket was the basic firearm of the Revolution, used by virtually all the troops on both sides. The British “Brown Bess” musket was the most numerous on any revolutionary battlefield since it was the standard weapon of the British army and the state militias were equipped with them before the war. It was heavy and sturdy and made a formidable club after the first (and only shot) was fired, most importantly it could have attached a triangular bayonet. Union troops did not have these, or know how to use them, placing them at a distinct disadvantage.

The Pennsylvania, or American long rifle, contrary to the musket, was more accurate, but slower to reload by about thrice. Since the general warfare of the day called for “throwing lead” and not aiming, the rifleman was often considered a murderer, because he aimed and killed at a distance of 250 - 300 yards, more than twice the useful distance of the musket. However, it could not fit a bayonet and was too fragile as a club.

 

345. Battle, J.H., editor. “History of Bucks County, 1985.” The Reprint Co. Publishers, Spartansburg, SC. p.45 “On the 23rd of May, 1778, President Wharton died suddenly of quinsy, while in attendance upon the council at Lancaster, when George Bryon, the vice-president, became the acting president. Bryan was a philanthropist in deed as well as word. Up to this time African slavery had been tolerated in the colony. In his message of the 9th of November, he said: ’This or some better scheme would tend to abrogate slavery—the opprobrium of America—from among us… In divesting the state of slaves, you will equally serve the cause of humanity and policy, and offer to Hod one of the most proper and best returns of gratitude for his great deliverance of us and our posterity from thralldom. You will also set your character for justice and benevolence in the true point of view to Europe, who are astonished to see a people eager for liberty holding Negroes in bondage.’ He perfected a bill for the extinguishment of claims to slaves which was passed by the assembly, March 1, 1780, by vote of thirty-four to eighteen, providing that no child of slave parents born after that date should be a slave, but a servant till the age of twenty-eight years, when all claim for service should end. Thus by simple enactment resolutely pressed by Bryan, was slavery forever rooted out of Pennsylvania.”

It was noted also that: “In September, 1785, after a long absence in the service of his country abroad, perfecting treaties, and otherwise establishing just relations with other nations, the venerable Benjamin Franklin, then nearly eighty years old,… “ returned to Philadelphia.

 p. 47. Rev. David Moore, D. D. (1787-1856) There is listed among his accomplishments, …”Memorialist to Congress, Senior Surgeon and Director-General of the Southern Department Hospital Service, under commission from the first Continental Congress, who extracted the ball from the wound received by the Marquis de la Fayette at the Battle of Brandywine, who transported to America in one of his own ships, free of charge, the chime of bells for old Christ Church, Philadelphia, cast by Lester & Peck, White Chapel, London, whereupon the corporation of Christ Church, appreciating his generous action, decreed that the bells should be tolled without cost at the death of himself and any of his descendants. …”

 p. 252. …“from 1750 to 1760, the attorneys who seem to have enjoyed the most remunerative practice in the county were John Moland, John Rosa, Benjamin Price, Joseph Galloway, and Benjamin Chew, of these the services of Joseph Galloway were most frequently sought.”p. 691. Roster of the Bench and Bar.p. 692. Attorneys …1751. John Moland…

 

346. Bean, Theodore W. “History of Montgomery County.” 1884. Everts & Peck, Philadelphia, p.977. “Rev. Joshua Potts lived in the house of the late Joseph B. Yerkes near the York Road below Hatboro’, which he built in 1759, and is still standing, containing a stone with his name and the date. He owned here at the time several hundred acres. He was the first pastor of the Southampton Baptist Church, built in 1746, and in which he officiated till the time of his death, which happened June 18,1761, at the age of forty six years. He was one of the founders of the Hatboro’ Library, in 1755.”

 

347. Bean, Theodore W. “History of Montgomery County, the second hundred years.” 1884. Everts & Peck, Philadelphia, p. 205. The oldest building is the gristmill, erected along the Pennypack by Emmanual Dungworth in 1724 (possibly 1719), serviced till 1912, machine shop till 1923. Tea shop 1925, and restaurant ever since. The “…Wunderle House at the lower end of town, since the 1970s, the business offices of the Hatboro Federal Savings and Loan Association, was built in 1741 by John Harrison, a great-great-grandson of Nicholas More. It was the second stone house built by Harrison. John Jones bought it in 1861 and ran a hotel there.”p.205. “Fifteen structures are still standing from colonial times, about 120 from the Victorian era.” A bronze plaque was placed in 1982, by the Hatborough Historical Soc. on the Loller Academy, Union Library, the Old Mill, and at the site [Fratone Jewelry] on east side of York Road, for the Crooked Billet Tavern.

 

348. Kennedy, Joseph S.. “Rewards rarely helped to bring in criminals”. 20000820. Philadelphia Inquirer. “Gov. George Wolf offered a reward for the capture of the killer of Hester Fisher, whose body was found in the Schuylkill [river] near Whitemarsh in 1833.” He was one of the first to try this technique. “In the days when there were no police on the state, county or township levels, rewards sometimes were used in place of detective work to solve murders. But as a crime-fighting technique, reward often did not get the job done.”

In a Montgomery County historical society bulletin, Edward Hocker noted that, “…Gov. Joseph Ritner offered two rewards. One was for $300 for the arrest of the person who killed Henry Trumbower, a Limerick storekeeper ‘who was beaten in a fight started by workers of the Reading Railroad.’

The second reward was for $100 for information about the Norristown murder of James McLaughlin. None of those rewards was collected, Hocker wrote.” A father offered a $500 reward for information on the apparent sidewalk stick-up of his son, Daniel Bruner, but no payment was made.

However, the killer of a German immigrant, Max Hoehne, near the Elm Station of the Pennsylvania RR in 1876, brought in another German immigrant for trial and imprisonment, the result of several $1000 reward offers and the hiring by local residents of a private detective. The murder of Isaac Alder, an elderly resident of Evansburg was not solved despite several reward offers. Rewards were offered less frequently by the 20th century and the instatement of police forces at all government levels.

 

349. McGroarty, Cythia. “A tail of two Aldie mansions emerges from Mercer family lore”. 200008. Philadelphia Inquirer. A caption reads: “A tour group moves toward the entrance of the Aldie Mansion, former home of William Mercer, in Doylestown. William Mercer tore down the original Victorian estate and built this Tudor-style mansion in its place.

Henry Mercer was so upset with his brother William for tearing down the family’s Victorian estate in Doylestown, he refused to speak to him again.”

The old and the new were both called “Aldie Estates,” and were inherited through Elizabeth Chapman, eldest daughter of Judge Henry Chapman. She built the home in the 1850s. Though William and Martha (of a wealthy Boston family) were rather flamboyant and, she, quite eccentrically pompous and possessed of violent temper, they were philanthropists of the area. He was a graduate of Harvard, a sculpturer, and they were known to have hosted the Von Trapp family (of “The Sound of Music” fame) in 1941. William Mercer lived at Aldie until his death in 1939, and Martha till her death at 88 in 1960. “Childless, she bequeathed Aldie to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia which ran a seminary and then a drug-rehabilitation center there, but abandoned the property in the 1980s. After sitting vacant and vandalized for more than a decade, Aldie was acquired by Heritage Conservancy and restored.

 

350. Jakes, John. “the Bastard”. 1974,6. Pyramid Books. This is the first of six novels in this series, carrying the story of an American family forward from its beginning in Revolutionary times to the two-hundredth anniversary of the Republic. In the book’s forward, Jakes writes, quoting 1766: William Pitt the Elder, before Parliament in support of repeal of the Stamp Act “The gentleman tells us that America is obstinate; that America is almost in open rebellion. Sir, I rejoice that America has resisted …‘the gentleman asks when were the colonies emancipated. But I desire to know when they were made slaves…‘They are subjects of this kingdom, equally entitled with yourselves to all the natural rights of mankind, and the peculiar privileges of Englishmen; equally bound by its laws, and equally participating in the constitution of this free country. The Americans are the sons, not the bastards, of England.”

“But the English King, ‘German George,’ had other ideas. And Phillipe found himself plunged into a maelstrom of events–including a blazing battlefield struggle that would bring him face to face with his hated half-brother, Roger …a tempestuous romance with the daughter of an American revolutionary …and a series of exhilarating encounters with a little band of the most revered documents of all time: The U.S. Constitution!”

 

351. –. “51 Years and Still In Business”. 19670706. Public Spirit. (see image above). This article was among several images and statements sent to the Millbrook Society by Ms. Betty Jane Scotty (bjscotty@home.com). She was disappointed that we had nothing in the HATBORO—Images of America book of her Granduncle Wright’s Candy and Card Shop or her Mother’s founding of the first Hatboro Girl Scout Troop. She supplied images that we might have been able to use. See Public Spirit article of July 4, 1967 to the left. “51 Years And Still In Business.”

 

352. Sheila W. Martin. “The Colonial Spirit.” Colonial Press, Warminster, Bucks County, PA. 1975. A light-hearted compilation of articles originally published in the Public Spirit of Hatboro and the Today’s Post of King of Prussia, PA for young readers 8 to 98. The compilation seems chronological from a story of Lady Rebecca, Late of Virginia, of Pocahontas, daughter of Chief Powhatan, through such subjects as Rogues’ Island (Rhode Island), the suffering of New York and New Jersey under Queen Anne’s governor Cornbury, “a peculiar and detestable maggot,” Colonial “Woman’s Work” and the near poisoning of General George Washington (You Wouldn’t Like The Peas, General), to Deborah Sampson, America’s First WAC.

These light stories generally have a bit of a twist, lesser known incident, or humorous quantity to them. At 103 pages, there is hardly any excuse for not reading it.

 

353. Treese, Lorett. “The Storm Gathering: The Penn Family and The American Revolution”. The Pennsylvania State Univ. Press. 1952. The story of the Penn Family, particularly following the William Penn heirs in their roles in “Penn’s Woods,” until after the Revolutionary War, when they no longer held control.

 

354. --. “Monocacy National Battlefield”. National Park Service. . NPS Brochure on the Civil War Battle near Frederick, MD of 1864. Though the Union lost the battle, the ferocity and tenacity they exhibited took such a toll on the energy and the strength of the much greater Confederate army, that it is considered the battle that saved Washington, DC.

Lieutenant General Jubal A Early’s 15,000-troop army was the brilliant General Lee plan to take Washington, or at least act with such threat to force a change of policy and save the practice of slavery. Major General Lew Wallace’s 5800 troops, being all there was to stand in the way of this plan, did manage to buy the time and weaken the Confederates till their goal was not realized and the tide was turned.

Lee, in dividing his troops, drew General Grant south, leaving little defense in the north. Grant was even able to persuade Lincoln to relinquish his defensive troops with the promise that they would be quickly returned if needed. This could have been disastrous to the north had Wallace’s forces not fought so gallantly.

This was the last time the Confederates got as far north as Washington.

 

355. Washburne, Mark. “Elihu Benjamin Washburne Congressman, Secretary of State, Envoy Extraordinary. Volume One: Illinois Whig and Republican Congressman During the Rise of Abraham Lincoln“. ISBN: 0-7388-3858-6 (Trade Paperback) ISBN: 0-7388-3857-8 (Hardback) Pages: 639.

Availability: Trade Paperback $16.00, Hardback      $25.00

Description: “About all I know of Grant I have got from you,” wrote Abraham Lincoln to Congressman Elihu Washburne in 1864.  “I have never seen him. Who else besides you knows anything about Grant?

”Elihu Benjamin Washburne was not only the link between President Abraham Lincoln and Union General Ulysses S. Grant, but Washburne himself played a major role in both their lives as they rose to power and throughout their presidencies. An Illinois Whig from Galena, Washburne was active in the anti-slavery movement and became a Republican as soon as that party was organized. In fact, some sources even credit his brother, then Congressman Israel Washburn, with coining the name Republican for the new Northern anti-slavery party.  Elihu Washburne was an early supporter of Lincoln who advised the future President during the Lincoln-Douglas Senatorial Debates in 1858 and was given the honor of writing Lincoln’s campaign biography for the 1860 Presidential race. Washburne served eight successive terms (1853 to 1869) and was elected to a ninth in the House of Representatives, where he earned the titles “Father of the House” and “Watchdog of the Treasury.” During the Civil War, Washburne was an eyewitness to several battles including the First Battle of Bull Run, Vicksburg, the Wilderness Campaign, Spotsylvania Courthouse, Cold Harbor, and Petersburg. During the Second Battle of Bull Run, Congressman Washburne was with President Lincoln on the roof of the White House, where they could hear the action. Washburne was there when Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s army surrendered at Appomattox Courthouse in April, 1865. Shortly thereafter, he served as a pallbearer at Lincoln’s funeral. After the Civil War, Washburne was a member of the joint Committee on Reconstruction and chairman of the Committee of the Whole in the Impeachment of Andrew Johnson in 1868.  In 1869, President Grant honored his old friend by nominating him Secretary of State and then Ambassador to France. Washburne presented his letters of credence to Napoleon III in May, 1869, and was present the next year for the Franco-German War. During that war, Ambassador Washburne distinguished himself as one of the only foreign diplomats to remain in Paris during the German siege of that city and later the Paris Commune. At the start of that war, Washburne took under his protection some 30,000 German residents in Paris who were citizens from the North German Confederation, Saxony, Darmstadt, and Hesse Grand Duchy after the German Ambassadors were expelled from France. “He was practically the German Minister in France for eleven months, and was in constant official correspondence with the Prince de Bismarck.”

In 1880, Washburne was a candidate for the Republican nomination for President receiving over forty delegate votes in a losing cause to General James Garfield who later became President. At that same Republican convention, Washburne came in second place in the balloting for Vice President. In the contest for the number two spot, Elihu Washburne lost to Chester Arthur, who replaced Garfield as President after that Chief Executive was assassinated in 1881.

Comments on book: “Your research on Elihu Washburne and the rise of Abraham Lincoln is a significant study. As the country approaches the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth (2009), the Lincoln historical community is searching for original research that better illuminates the life and times of America’s 16th president. Most scholars now believe that the authentic Lincoln is best viewed through interactions with his contemporaries. Few people in Lincoln’s life were more instrumental than Elihu Washburne in assisting Abraham Lincoln in his rise to power. Now you have captured that story, and have done it in a readable, penetrating way. Congratulations on a superior accomplishment.”

Joseph E. Garrera, President, The Lincoln Group of New York. ”Thank you for sending a copy of your study of Elihu B. Washburne. I am starting to read this and discovering a great deal about Washburne previously unknown to me. It is quite clear that you have done prodigious research on this topic… I look forward to completing my reading … then I will bring it to the office, where it will serve as a valuable resource for our project.” Dr. John Y. Simon, Ph.D., Executive Director, The Ulysses S. Grant Association.

 

356. --. “Historical association buys deed”. The Intelligencer Record. 5/7/ 2001, News in Brief.. “The Millbrook Society, Hatboro’s historical association, recently purchased a land deed dating back to 1756 for property where the Hatboro Federal Savings bank is situated at 221 South York Road.

The document was found on the on-line auction eBay and purchased for $124.

It states Robert Tomkins and Andrew Long of Warrington and John Beard of Warwick agreed to pay Ann Longstreth, a ‘spinster (one of the daughters of Bartholomew Longstreth late of Warminster yeoman deceased)’ 750 pounds for 1 acre of land. The pound was the ‘lawful current money of Pennsylvania.’

The contract is dated ‘the Twenty ninth year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Second of Great Britain, France and Ireland King’ in 1756.

This is the second item of historical interested [sic] purchased by the Millbrook Society through the Internet auction site. In November, the group bought a colonial-era half-pint mug engraved with the words ‘Crooked Billet’.”

 

357. Rosenbaum, Jeremy. “Council addresses zoning anomaly”. 5/24/2001. Public Spirit. Two ophthalmologists, Dr. Thomas Armstrong and Dr. Frank Clark of Hatboro Opticians, took a step in resolving the zoning anomaly toward fitting into the areas surrounding offices. They want to tear down an old house on one parcel at 399 North York Road and erect a high-tech laser eye center that will straddle the line between that parcel and a second one, which is part floodplain.

Nonetheless, Councilman al Zollers said, “the main question” will have to do with drainage and water issues raised by the planned construction, which lies next to a floodplain on the second parcel. “The only unfortunate thing is that the [old house] will have to come down. That’s certainly something there will be screaming about,” Maschall said. Casting aside objections from council that he might not want to publicize it, he asserted there is not much historical about the structure.

“I don’t think it’s a big deal.” he said.

 

358. --. “Local archeological dig to feature new permeation radar”. 4/18/2001. Ambler Gazette. An archeological dig at the Evans-Mumbower Mill in Lower Gwynedd April 22 from 8:30 a.m. to noon will feature ground-permeating radar, which shows what is beneath the ground.

The dig has been an ongoing project by the Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association and the new technology, developed by Geosight Company of Virginia will be used to try and locate additional large underground relics like old walls or mill equipment. The public is invited to attend. Info: 215-646-8866.

 

359. Armstrong, Thomas, M.D. “Doctor likes his town and history”. Intelligencer/Record. 4/12/2001. In this

“Letter to the Editor,” a doctor professes surprise the house at 399 North York Road that his doctor consortium wants to raze for a high tech office complex, was of historical significance.

 

360. Yanoshak, Harry. “Dime-sized pieces of history spur questions at Moland House”. Intelligencer/Record. 3/20/1998. Thousands of artifacts were unearthed at Washington’s headquarters in Warwick. “Gen. George Washington’s call caught the boy out of uniform. Scared, he scurried about his tent, searching for his coat in the pre-dawn darkness of Aug. 17, 1777.

Barely awake, he fumbled with the top button, popping it off while he worked in haste.

It had not been a good week. A few days before, he lost a belt buckle.

Curse this was, groaned as he hurried down Old York Road to Washington’s side, albeit without a button or belt buckle.

“More than 220 years later, the corrosion-encrusted, dime-sized piece of history spurs stories from those involved in its recovery.

“We don’t know how the button got there,” said David Shannon who supervised last summer’s archaeological dig at Moland House, Washington’s headquarters from Aug. 10, 1777, to Aug. 23, 1777. “We do know it was a military button from that time in history.” On this 12-acre site, over 6,000 artifacts have been uncovered on less than a half-acre, just scratching the surface. Many Native American artifacts have also been found.

Washington and his assistants used widow Catherine Moland’s house while nearly 11,000 of his troops camped nearby on both sides of the Little Neshaminy Creek and up and down Bristol Road from the “cross-roads.”

“The land’s holdings raise many questions”, Shannon said. Among them: How did a 1786 coin from the Connecticut colony (back then, a colony minted its own currency” end up at the Moland House? Maybe the Molands had relatives in Connecticut. That’s the obvious, possible explanation, Shannon said, since the coin was minted 19 years after Washington camped here.

 

361. --. “A Horsham Treasure”. Philly Burbs.com web page. 2000. The Penrose Strawbridge House is a Horsham Treasure that you can help save. This farmhouse represents the very roots of Horsham. It sits on preserved land that is farmed as most land in this township once was. This once beautiful house can be restored and enjoyed by the community. The house is an 1810 stone Georgian style building. It sits on property that can be traced back to the original land grant from William Penn. A portion of the building pre-dates the 1810 house back into the 1700s.

Go to phillyburbs.com and click on communities.

 

362. Kennedy, Joseph S. “Officer returned from the brink of blindness”. Philadelphia Inquirer. 2000/04/01. Lt. John A. Dahlgren, a weapons inventor, suffered from blurred vision but later served as a Union rear admiral. In 1841, Navy Lt. John A. Dahlgren and his wife, Mary, arrived at their new home, a 60-acre farm near Hartsville. Bucks County. Dahlgren was on a medical leave from the navy, facing the loss of both his sight and a promising career.

In just a few years, his sight returned, and he returned to military service in the Union Navy. He was an inventor, engineer, and commander, aiding in the conquering of the Confederate States. He was born in Philadelphia in 1809, where his father was a Swedish consul. He attended schools in the city and showed a proficiency in mathematics. Upon the death of his father, he applied to the secretary of the Navy for an appointment as a midshipman at age 16. Material in the Bucks County Historical Society, written by D. K. Turner in 1909, indicate he shipped out on a brig bound for Cuba while working out a delay in his appointment at that age.

In 1826, upon his return, Dahlgren was appointed acting midshipman and was assigned to the frigate Macedonian for a two-year cruise to South America. He followed that with two years aboard the sloop of war Ontario sailing in the Mediterranean.

During those cruises, he studied and qualified as a Naval Officer, being then promoted to lieutenant. By 1837, he was involved in a coast survey of Long Island, and he began having blurred vision. With rest, he returned to duty in 1843.

From 1847 through 1860, he worked in ordinance at the Washington, DC Navy Yard, where he invented an 11-inch smooth bore cannon and later a bottle-shaped 9-inch rifled cannon. Upon observing the firing of the cannons in 1861, President Lincoln saw to it that Dahlgren was promoted to captain and made chief of the Navy’s Bureau of Ordnance.

In 1863, Dahlgren was promoted to rear admiral and given command of the South Atlantic Blockading squadron. He bombarded Charleston Harbor’s defenses several times but could not reduce them so an invasion force could land, but had better luck against Savannah, Georgia the next year. Two years before his death in 1870 at age 61, he was put in charge of the WDC Navy Yard.

 

363. Lilienthal, Chris. “Discovered paper mill topic of discussion”. Montgomery Newspapers. 2001/12/15. The Wissahickon Creek and its tributaries sustained more than 75 milling complexes in the 18th and early 19th centuries, and although most of them have disappeared over the years, the remains of some continue to garner the interest of local historical organizations today.

The ruins of one 18th century paper mill, recently discovered in Springfield, was the subject of a special presentation of the Springfield Township Historical society on Dec. 7.

Cynthia Hamilton, a member of the historical society and a preservation consultant heard of the site and contacted T. Scott Kreilick, an architectural conservator and metallurgist from Oreland, and they went out to look at the site. Ms. Hamilton obtained a grant from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission Grant Program, allowing Kreilick to study the site.

Schlatter, a German Reformed clergyman, was born in St. Gall, Switzerland, in 1716, settled in Philadelphia in 1746, traveled through the surrounding area assisting struggling congregations, and married Maria Henrica Schleydorn in 1747, producing 9 children.

After a successful yet tumultuous career with the church, Schlatter resigned his duties as clergyman in 1755, acquired 135 acres in Springfield, on which he constructed his milling operation.

The site is all on private property and awaiting funds to do archaeological explorations on this truly significant and exciting site.

 

364. --. “300th anniversary event will honor a master builder”. Philadelphia Inquirer. 7/15/2001. UPPER FREDERICK TOWNSHIP, Pa.—The Goschenhoppen Historians will celebrate the 300th anniversary of the birth of colonial master builder Henry Antes with a free open house and ceremonial hearth lighting today at the Antes House.

Activities include a theatrical production, period music, house tours, and talks on Antes. The ceremonial laying of the fire on the new hearth will follow a 2 p.m. program honoring Antes. The 18th century Antes Homestead, a National Historical Landmark, is the Historic House Museum of the Goschenhoppen Historians Inc. Goschenhoppen is one of the oldest continuously extant Pennsylvania German communities in America. The Antes House is on Colonial Road, just off State Route 73, in Frederick, Montgomery County. For more information, call 215-234-8953.

 

365. Jeffery, Michelle. “Group begins effort for historic house”. Philadelphia Inquirer. 7/15/2001. Frederick Muhlenberg was the first speaker of the U.S. House. His home in Trappe needs preserving. Everyone knows that George Washington was the country’s first president, but Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg, the first speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, is not exactly a household name. An effort is under way to restore the 1745 house, with the help of the current speaker of the House and Rep. Joseph M. Hoeffel 3d (Dl, Pa). The building, on Main Street across from the Trappe Shopping Center, is considered on prime development property.

Muhlenberg, a Lutheran minister, was born in Trappe and moved back to the area from New York City when the Revolutionary War began in 1776. He bought the house in 1781 said Albert Douglas, Chairman of Save the Speaker’s House.

Muhlenberg became involved in government, serving as speaker of the Pennsylvania Assembly and a member of the Continental Congress in 1779He was elected to Congress in 1789 and served four terms, elected as Speaker in his 1st and 3rd terms and in 1789, became the first signer of the joint resolution of Congress that became the Bill of Rights.

The house could cost from $300,000 to $400,000 to buy and a million to restore.

The 19-room white stucco house has been added to and modernized over the years, but the restoration would strip it down to the original 4 or 5 rooms. It could become a “shrine of Americanism” and be dedicated to all past House Speakers.

 

366. Ackerman, Diane. “America’s First Gardener”. Parade Magazine. 7/15/2001. Gardening is a favorite activity in more than 50 million American households, but for Thomas Jefferson—who, in his spare time, was President—it was an all-consuming passion.

Americans are farmers at heart, it seems, spending more than $6 billion a year on flower and vegetable gardening, according to a Gallup poll. The considerable charms and sensory pleasures of the garden are unearthed in Contributing Editor Diane Ackerman’s latest book, “Cultivating delight: A Natural History of My Garden,” to be published in October by HarperCollins. In this excerpt, she explores the horticultural legacy of Thomas Jefferson, America’s third President and first serious gardener: One of the loveliest backyard trees is the redbud, which forms lilac pink flowers in spring, edible pods in the fall and stays covered with heart-shaped leaves all summer.

In his spare time, Thomas Jefferson was President. But his political life, as he often pointed out, was merely “circumstance.” His real passion was for gardening. In 1766, he started his Garden Book, a journal in which he recorded all the details of planting and harvesting, first blossoms, bird study, weather varieties of plants, the layout of the beds and his many botanical experiments. With 55 years of faithful record keeping, the local garden club was able to restore his heirloom gardens. A champion of exploration, he sponsored the Lewis and Clark expedition, choosing Meriwether Lewis because of Lewis’ passion for discovering new plants. He utilized their collection of seeds and the voluminous notes they sent back. His farm didn’t just provide an income he badly needed, when he died, he was $100,000 in debt.

He was largely a vegetarian, considering meat as merely a condiment. The father of American forestry, he would no doubt be an environmental activist today, the sort of person denounced by come as a “tree-hugger.”

Two months before his death on July 4, 1826, he was still designing tree-scapes—an arboretum for the University of Virginia—though, at 83, he knew he would never see its tall spires. “Too old to plant trees for my own gratification, I shall do it for posterity,” he wrote while in retirement at Monticello.

 

367. Kennedy, Joseph S.. “The local inventor of the steamboat who failed to rise”. Philadelphia Inquirer. 3/18/2001. John Fitch had Robert Fulton beat by a few years, history tells us. But poor health and bad habits sank his chances.

It is generally acknowledged by historians that the steamboat was invented not by Robert Fulton, but by John Fitch; when he was living in this region.

The Dictionary of American Biography says Fitch was born in 1743, near Hartford, Conn. His family owned a farm, and after a limited amount of formal education, he was put to work on it. But, because he was not a strong boy, he was apprenticed out to a clock maker and learned the craft of working with brass. During his apprenticeship, he became an avid reader in such subjects as astronomy and mathematics. At 21, he opened a brass shop in East Windsor, married, and started a family. Faced with a failed business and strained marriage, he moved to Trenton, where he opened a brass and silversmith business. When the American Revolution began in 1775, his business was again wiped out.

During the war, Fitch managed to make money selling tobacco and beer to the Continental Army. Taking the profits from these sales, he traveled in 1782 to Kentucky. He was captured by Indians, turned over to the British, who then interned him in Canada for several months. He returned to the states, settling near Langhorne, Bucks County, and began working on an idea for a steamboat.

A year earlier, a Scotsman, James Watt, had invented a steam engine and had begun manufacturing it. Fitch worked on the idea full time from 1785 to 1798. A steam engine was shipped from England to Philadelphia, where Fitch modified it. Then he built a small model boat as a prototype, which he sailed on a dam pond [Longstreth’s pond in Johnsville]. In 1787, he launched in the Delaware River, a 45 foot boat propelled by 12 paddles, six on each side. Both worked well enough, he built a 60’ paddle-wheel driven boat, able to carry 30 passengers. The trial run on the Delaware from Philadelphia to Burlington, N.J. took three hours and 10 minutes for the 20 mile trip, according to Rev. D.K.Turner, writing for the Bucks County Historical Society (Vol. II, 1909). But, being poor, without influential friends, and in poor health, he could not seem to attract investors. He sailed for France and returned in common steerage, having had the same luck there. Having met with failure also on the Ohio River to garner interest, he took to drink and opium and died of an overdose at age 56. In 1815, Fulton launched his steamboat, the Clermont, up the Hudson River and personally benefited in the beginnings of commercial steam navigation.

Fitch, it seems, was the wrong man at the wrong time to exploit his own invention. [A PBS show highlighted a Connecticut inventor of the Steamboat. A web search turned up the American Steamship Museum. Their web site shed additional light on the subject. Has any other invention depended upon the successful commercialization of the idea to claim invention?]

 

368. --. “Short story with a cool ending.” Internet thread. 2001. As we approach the anniversary (Independence Day) of a Country that was later to be called the United States of America, let us all pause for a moment to remember those individuals who placed their names on the Declaration of Independence and what that act met to them. Read on------

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence? 

Ø       Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. 

Ø       Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. 

Ø       Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army.

Ø       Another had two sons captured. 

Ø       Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War. 

They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.  What kind of men were they? 

Ø       Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists.

Ø       Eleven were merchants.

Ø       Nine were farmers and large plantation owners.

Men of means, well educated, but they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags. Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward. Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton. At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife’s bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and a broken heart. Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.

Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. They were soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged: “For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.” They gave you and me a free and independent America. The history books never told you a lot about what happened in the Revolutionary War. We didn’t fight just the British. We were British subjects at that time and we fought our own government! Some of us take these liberties so much for granted, but we shouldn’t. So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday this year and silently thank these patriots. It’s not much to ask for the price they paid. Remember: freedom is never free! And I ask you, would you do what they did? If a poll was taken of the United States Citizens today, what do you think the out come would be? It is a good thing Uncle Sam needs only a FEW good men who aim high and to be all they can be. The rest of you........sit down. We got it.

 

369. Chowdhury, Bernie. “The Last Dive”. Harper-Collins. 2000. 356 pp. ISBN 0-06-019462-6

p.3. Seeker, John Chatterton & Naple’s boat, located an unidentified U-boat (Unterseeboot) 8/30/91. Chris & Chrissy Rouse wanted the ID glory of coming up with the Captains log. They did not get it, but lost their lives in that effort. They were highly regarded in the technical diving community as well qualified and proficient divers with 700 and 600 dives respectively, many of them deep water dives. Deep-water dives are generally regarded as anything below about 130 feet. John & Nagle had dubbed the sub, U-WHO! It was John seven years later and after a near fatal accident on it that persisted and finally retrieved an electronics parts box aft that proved it to be U-869. A dinner knife John found on an earlier dive with “Horenburg” carved into the handle that sent him on a world wide quest for the answers. German U-boat archived records turned up only one “Horenburg,” a radio operator, and indicated that he served on the U-869. But, records indicated that the U-869 was destroyed 2/28/1945, off the coast of Casablanca.

Chowdhury tells of the technical divers drives and sirens, finally relating as much about the people who dive deep, the evolution of mixed gas diving, and artifact collecting as of the Rouses (Chris and his and Sue’s son, Chrissy). Because the Rouses lived in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, trained, worked, and socialized, locally, it is a very pertinent book to this reviewer, who also dove on SCUBA, but within the recreational realm. Underwater World Dive Shop in Horsham is frequently mentioned along with a lot of the local divers.

 

370. -- “Chronicle of a county”

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Terry McNealy, a librarian emeritus for the Spruance Library in Doylestown, offers “Bucks County: An Illustrated History.”

Terry McNealy, an area historian , says his book “Bucks County: An Illustrated History” should be on every coffee table.

(Photo: Donald R. Boorse)

By Naila Francis

Staff Writer

It starts with the area’s Lenni Lenape Indians, prior to their contact with the European settlers, and ends with the opening of the James A. Michener Art Museum.

And in between are sandwiched a series of events, both incidental and historic, and a parade of characters, some flamboyant and some modest in their significance, that have shaped the history of a county created more than 300 years ago.

It’s been more than 100 years since William W.H. Davis offered his three-volume tome documenting Bucks County’s history. The scholarly 1876 collection was updated in 1905, but for the most part, the area’s 20th-century history has been preserved only in various newspaper and magazine clippings, pamphlets, paintings, photographs and artifacts.

Now after three years of perusing and analyzing those materials, Terry McNealy, local historian and librarian emeritus of the Bucks County Historical Society’s Spruance Library, offers “Bucks County: An Illustrated History.”

More than 300 pages of stories, facts, photos and illustrations, the book chronicles the county’s history from the period of its first known inhabitants before 1600 to the suburbanization, political disagreements and land conservation efforts of the early 1990s.

The historical society commissioned McNealy to write the book three years ago, along with Helen H. Gemmill, a local historian and author. When Gemmill died in 1998, McNealy continued with the project, receiving assistance from Elizabeth S. Smith, retired librarian of the Spruance Library.

The book, according to McNealy, is a “popular” history for both longtime residents and new families moving into the county. Its engaging, comprehensive text is accompanied by dozens of paintings by local artists, posters, old and new photos, images of artifacts and illustrations of some of Henry Mercer’s historical tiles.

According to Douglas Dolan, executive director of the historical society, more than 90 percent of that material was culled from the society’s collections.

“We wanted the book to have a timeless appeal for future generations,” he says. “Until this book, there has not been an approachable general public history of Bucks County. This is an easily readable publication and, hopefully, people will feel it’s a beautiful book that just cries to be picked up.”

Since the book’s release in early June, all 500 hardcover copies — going for $69.95 — have been sold. The softcover edition is available for $49.95 in some local bookstores and the Mercer Museum in Doylestown.

McNealy claims to have made no new discoveries in researching and writing the book. But for those whose knowledge of the area is limited to luminaries such as James A. Michener and Henry Chapman Mercer, as well as highlights such as George Washington’s famed crossing of the Delaware River, “Bucks County: An Illustrated History” promises to be an eye-opener.

“The county today clearly takes its character right from its very roots,” says Dolan. “Its founding, its great agricultural tradition, the Quaker groups who came here, the Scotch-Irish heritage — all of these shape what we know as Bucks County today.”

Before its founding in 1683 as part of William Penn’s Holy Experiment to set up a Quaker colony in America as a refuge for those persecuted for their religious beliefs, Bucks County was a wilderness populated by the Lenni Lenape Indians.

Prior to the European invasion of the 1600s, these early inhabitants were farmers, hunters and fishermen. Today, many of the names they used for their streams, hills and villages remain, adopted by European settlers and carried through the centuries. Many of their trails and paths also were widened into roads by the settlers, with some such as Old York Road and Durham Road still in existence today.

The Indians remained even as the Europeans — the Dutch, the Swedish and the English — began to arrive, trading their blankets, metal pots, tools and other items with them in exchange for the beaver pelts that had become the fashionable rage in Europe.

Before the infamous Walking Purchase of 1737 — a land acquisition from the Lenape initiated by Penn’s sons — put an end to friendly relations between Pennsylvania’s government and the Indians, William Penn made several land purchases from the county’s earliest known inhabitants. His first purchase in 1682 included present-day Bristol, Falls, Middletown, Lower and Upper Makefield, Newtown and a small part of Wrightstown. There, he built Pennsbury Manor, his county seat that today is a state historic park in what has become Falls Township.

Bucks County’s trolley era began in the 1890s. Here, a Doylestown and Easton Street Railway Co. trolley crosses the Tohickon Creek bridge north of Doylestown in Tinicum Township.

McNealy’s book is filled with several such firsts in his attempt to give the lay of the land and explore the sentiment of the time during the county’s formative years.

He talks of George Fox, the renowned founder of Quakerism and Bucks County’s reputed first tourist in 1672, and of Bristol Township, at the time two islands in the Delaware when it became the site of the first settlement to arise from a land grant. The waterway became the site of what may have been the first mill in Bucks County.

McNealy also talks of name origins and name changes.

Bucks County — named after the English county of Buckinghamshire, home to Penn’s family seat — was so named in 1682 when Penn divided the colony into the three provinces of Bucks, Chester and Philadelphia counties. Buckingham, one of the first seven townships to be created in 1692 — along with Makefield, Falls, Middletown, Newtown with Wrightstown, Salem, and Southampton with Warminster — actually is Bristol today. And Crewcorne, the first county seat, now is Morrisville.

In charting the evolution of the county, the book takes readers from the American Revolution to the Industrial Revolution, from a primarily rural and agricultural landscape to one in which industries such as the Durham Iron Company sprang up in 1727 and the construction of the railroad and the Delaware Canal paved the way for projects such as the U.S. Steel Corp.’s Fairless Works plant in Falls and the building of Levittown. The rise of the steel works and of Levittown — at the time billed as a pre-planned community like no other — led to much of the dramatic change to sweep Bucks County from 1940 to 1960. That period would be marked by increasing political and ethnic diversity, including a return to a two-party political system after years of Republican control of just about every local office.

From natural disasters, such as the Flood of 1955, to national crises, such as the Great Depression and World Wars I and II, McNealy shows the influence of the wide range of events and people to shape the history of Bucks County.

Along the way, he presents little-known tidbits, such as the fact that Morrisville once was considered the site for the U.S. Capitol, and introduces interesting characters, such as John Fitch, inventor of the steamboat, and Lino Amalia Espos y Mina, the mysterious stranger involved in the county’s most infamous murder case. Mina poisoned William Chapman, husband of Lucretia Winslow, in 1831, and then took off with Chapman’s wife and his money before authorities discovered his crime. Although both Winslow and Mina were tried for murder, Chapman’s widow was acquitted and Mina was hanged in the last public execution in the county.

His tale and the countless others recounted in McNealy’s book are part of what the author refers to as simply a “compilation of good stories.”

“If you know Bucks County,” he says, “and you know the roads and towns and the lay of the land, this book puts things in context. No one’s coffee table should be without it.”

 

371. Anastasi, John. “Former Santerian’s store gets new tenant”. Public Spirit, Montgomery Newspapers. Fort Washington, PA.

Impact Thrift Stores has opened a nonprofit store in Hatboro.

HATBORO - A nonprofit thrift store whose proceeds will benefit three local charities is slated to open late this year in the former Santerian’s Department Store building.

According to Sam Friedman, executive director of Main Street Hatboro, Impact Thrift Stores made settlement Friday for the property that Santerian’s vacated in July.

By Tuesday, the new owners had started work on the building’s interior.

“We’d love to be open in the next four to six weeks,” said Paul Baur, president of Impact. “We are doing some work, a lot of it by choice. We are clearing out some of the shelves to open up the floor a little bit and, while we are at it, we are painting it and freshening it up a bit.”

The store will sell donated clothing, furniture and household items, which they will store at a leased space in the former Naval Air Warfare Center in Warminster until the business opens.

Proceeds from the sale of the items will support Cradle of Hope in Jenkintown, and Bethany Christian Services and Lakeside Educational Network, both based in Fort Washington.

Baur said he is happy to be opening Impact’s first location on East Moreland Road in Hatboro.

“I grew up in the area and this is where my mom used to shop,” he said. “Everyone knows where Santerian’s is. We were having trouble finding a freestanding store and I was thrilled when I heard this one was available. It is a good location.”

While some retailers have voiced concerns about another discount store opening in the borough, Friedman said he believes Impact will use the building much like Santerian’s did for the last 50 years.

“It won’t be new goods, but the department store concept will stay with the building,” Friedman said.

The borough already has a number of discount and thrift stores.

“The rent range, I think, is more conducive to these first-time, mom-and-pop-type businesses that are not being sought after by the strip malls,” Friedman said. “It’s actually something I have started to note has existed in a number of downtowns.”

Owners of similar businesses say Impact’s arrival could be a blessing and a curse.

According to Christina Fotiadis, co-owner of Partners in Time on York Road, it will carry similar products to her business and the thrift store will get theirs through donations. On the other hand, the new business will increase foot-traffic in the area around her store.

“We’re going to be positive about it,” she said. “I hope they bring people into the town by giving them another place to go.”

Jim Campoli, who owns Mr. Jim’s furniture store on South Penn Avenue, said he is not worried. His niche is collectibles and larger furniture items.

“I was concerned at first, but I’m completely happy,” he said. “I’m not afraid of them. They aren’t going to get me out of here.”

He wondered whether the store would survive, however, with more people going to national chains like K-Mart and Wal-Mart for new discount merchandise.

 

372. McCullough, David. “John Adams." Simon & Schuster. 1/31/2001. 751 pp. Review by David Walton, Philadelphia Inquirer, Sunday, June 17, 2001. David McCullough’s biography of the nation’s second president is an unparalleled reading experience, one of this year’s richest and most engaging.

That might seem an unlikely claim, because John Adams is possibly the least distinctive and engaging of the founding fathers. To this generation, he is known primarily for his loving partnership with Abigail Smith Adams, recorded in the hundreds of letters that span the long years of separation in their marriage. Equals in mind and spirit, theirs is the gentrified version of the American Revolution and founding of the republic, giving equal weight to the role of women and family values in mustering the spirit of revolution and forging a new nation.

“Dismounted, he stood five feet seven or eight inches tall—about ‘middle size’ in that day,” reads McCullough’s first description of Adams, as he sets out on horseback in January 1776 for Philadelphia and the Second Continental Congress—“and though verging on portly, he had a straight-up, square-shouldered stance and was, in fact, surprisingly fit and solid. his hands were the hands of man accustomed to pruning his own trees, cutting his own hay, and splitting his own firewood.”

Here one sees the skill and workmanship that have made McCullough our most popular and widely revered historian.: his easy and familiar style of language, his ability to see from the perspective of “that day,” as well as from our own.”

“John Adams was not a man of the world,” he continues, using Adams’ departure for and arrival in Philadelphia as a novelist would, to frame the background of Adams’ boyhood, education at Harvard, years on the Massachusetts law circuit, his courtship and marriage to Abigail and the birth of their four children, and his emergence as a leading voice for independence, all in under 50 pages. “He enjoyed no social standing. He was an awkward dancer and poor at cards. He never learned to flatter.”

Here, too, one glimpses something of the appeal of John Adams as the protagonist for a long biography. Unlike Washington or Jefferson, Adams wasn’t a commanding presence. He did not have the iconic features of Franklin, or the dramatic history of Hamilton or Burr. Probably most Americans would be hard-pressed to conjure up a mental image of John Adams if asked.

Dedicated to the cause of freedom, a master of rhetoric and logic, Adams was a significant figure, in most cases the significant figure, in the debates leading to a declaration of independence, in the management of the Revolutionary War, and in the negotiations leading to peace in 1783. Yet somehow Adams seems an undefined figure, principled and outspoken, but often ineffectual—in contrast to his longtime collaborator, adversary and friend, Thomas Jefferson.

McCullough has said in numerous interviews that he first intended to write a dual biography of Adams and Jefferson, but feared Jefferson would overshadow Adams—only to find it was the other way around. In Adams, one feels, McCullough has found the perfect counterpart to his own gifts as a historian. Adams’ ‘salient strengths—the acute legal mind, his command of the English language, his devotion to the ideals of the good society’—very much reflect McCullough’s own.

Zelig-like, Adams was present at every significant event over the 50 most significant years in American history, and McCullough fills his book with lively, concise portraits of colonial Philadelphia, Paris just before the Revolution, London under the reign of George III. and of Washington, Franklin, and especially Jefferson, whose long life and career were tightly interwoven with Adams’, and who is often McCullough’s point of comparison.

In the spirit of science, Jefferson maintained letter-perfect records of weights, measurements, and daily temperature readings, (Adams is not known even to have owned a thermometer,) “Nothing was too small for him to keep account of,” one of his plantation overseers would remember of Jefferson. Yet he kept no personal diary. For all the hours given to what he called “pen and ink work,” Jefferson rarely divulged his inner feelings in what he wrote. He had little of Adams’s fascination with human peculiarities and passions, and, quite unlike Adams, little or no sense of humor.

This may be the summer’s best book, and, at 751 pages of text plus notes, illustrations, and index, is surely the weightiest. But the pages just flow along. McCullough’s skill as a storyteller is at its highest, and his implicit regard, admiration and affection for his subject pull a reader along. There isn’t a dull page here.

On the state of the country after the war, McCullough writes of the departure of “… perhaps 100,000 Loyalists, and comparatively little immigration during the war years. Philadelphia, still the largest city, had increased to a population of 40,000. New York counted 18,000 and, like Philadelphia, surged with growth. Of the thirteen states, Virginia remained the richest and most populous, and thereby maintained the greatest political influence.

But wages were still low everywhere, and money was scarce. There was no standard American coinage or currency. British, Spanish, French, and German coins were all still in use, along with the coins of the different states, their value varying appreciably from one state to another. In New England, for example, six shillings made a dollar, while in New York eight shillings made a dollar. In the entire country there were only three banks.

Travel was slow and arduous everywhere, the roads appallingly bad and worst in the south. Largely because of bad roads, the new Congress, scheduled to convene in New York on the first Wednesday in March 1789, would not have a sufficient number present to make a quorum in either house until weeks afterward.

The nation had no army to speak of -- about 700 officers and men. The Continental Navy had disappeared. The sea power that Adams had envisioned and worked so hard to attain was nonexistent.

The great majority of Americans lived and worked on farms, and fully two-thirds of the population was concentrated in a narrow band along the eastern seaboard from Maine to Spanish Florida. Nearly everything else was wilderness. The whole country, concluded one visitor, was ‘a vast wood.’ In Massachusetts it was thought that less than a third of the land had been cleared, and it was the same in New York and Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh, at the end of the rough-hewn wagon road over the Allegheny Mountains, was the westernmost town of any consequence in the country and had fewer than 500 souls.[end of Walton review]

Approximately half the territory of the united States in 1789 was still occupied by American Indians, most of whom lived west of the Appalachians, and though no one knew how many there were, they probably numbered 100,000.

That a new America was steadily taking form beyond the Appalachians was one of the clearest signs of the times. Down the same road Adams traveled that spring to New York, came a small caravan from Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Connecticut -- families with Children and household belongings piled onto heavy wagons, bound for Ohio, a journey of more than 700 miles. At the same time, settlers from Virginia and the Carolinas were crossing into Kentucky and Tennessee. George Washington himself, known to have great confidence in the future of the West, had landholdings in the Ohio River country of more than 20,000 acres.”

 

373. Goldstein, Richard. “Desperate Hours”. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.. 2001. 394 pp. On July 25, 1956, in a fog off Nantucket light, the world-rebowned ocean liner Andrea Doria collided with the Swedish liner Stockholm. Eleven hours later, the gorgeous ship, the pride of Italy, in all its opulence, employing the finest maritime technology of her day, and hailed as “a floating art gallery,” tragically sank. But in that brief time the Doria became, after the Titanic, the most storied vessel of the century, as nearly 1700 people were saved in an unforgettable rescue punctuated by countless acts of heroism, amid confusion, terror, and even cowardice. She was only five years old, but had made hundreds of crossings, and, like