Current Newsletter - Bethel Township Preservation Society
Transcription
Current Newsletter - Bethel Township Preservation Society
VOLUME XIIX ISSUE III Volume XIIX September 2016 Page BETHEL PRESERVATION SOCIETY JOURNAL Issue III Mission Statement The mission of the Bethel Township Preservation Society is to preserve the history of Bethel Township through the preservation of historic structures and features, community education and guidance, and the creation of archival records. Upcoming Events 9/24 Western Delaware County Life & Times 9/27 - BTPS General Meeting 10/8 - FOUNDER'S DAY (see this page & page 8) 10/13 - BTPS Research Meeting 10/15 - Massey House, Collenbrook, Trolleyfest 10/25 - BTPS General Meeting 10/29 - Caleb Pusey - Welcome Day Check out the Bethel Township Preservation Society ‘s website for current information. >> www.BTPS-Pa.com << 19th Annual Founders’ Day, October 8, 2016 and more this year If you have never been to Bethel's Founders’ Day you're missing a rare treat for the last 18 years. We have come together to display colonial crafts and how people worked and lived in Bethel when it was founded in the late 1600s. We have a wood carver and a chair caner. In the past we had done candle making and made Apple butter. This year is proving to be just as interesting. Please see Founders’ Day insert in this publication for a list of all planned activities. We actually have a bookbinder doing paper marbling from the nearby historical town of Sugartown. Did you know Garnet Valley sits on the only circular boundary in the United States? We have a map and pictures that shows this boundary September 2016 that separates Pennsylvania from Delaware and parts of Maryland. This event is at the Bethel Township Firehouse, is a rain or shine, free and open to the public. There is reasonably priced food for lunch as well as a bake table. Save the date Saturday October 8th from 10 am until 3 pm. This year Bethel Township Preservation Society is not doing house tours the day of Founders’ Day. Instead we and several other historic groups in south western Delaware County have come together to provide a 2 day tour to showcase local schools, (Continued on next page) VOLUME XIIX ISSUE III September 2016 Founders’ Day (Continued from previous page) churches, and cemeteries in the area. Sites in Garnet Valley – Siloam Methodist Church and cemetery, Bethel School at Briggs Auction, Concord Friends Meeting House, and the Pierce-Willits house. There will be 10 sites in all with in a 10 mile radius. The tour will be Saturday, September 24 from 10 am to 3 pm. The Saturday tour is free and open to the public. There will be interpreters at each site in period clothing. The following day, Sunday, September 25 the tour continues with an encampment at Brandywine Battle Field from noon to 4pm. Normal fees will be in place at the battle field. All activities are rain or shine. Please check out our website www.BTPSPA.com under events for more details. “Japan decided to give this country a very precious form of cherry tree …” Yokio and Doug Klepfer of Ardmore Rotary Club Story on page 7 Page 2 Memorial Day Celebration in Bethel Township by Beth McCarrick For the past few Memorial Day Celebrations the Bethel Township Preservation Society has taken part in the parade. We assemble at Brigg’s Auction and make the long trek down Naaman’s Creek Rd. to the corner of Foulk and head toward Siloam United Methodist Church. We are dressed in our colonial garb and we carry our banner. Not only are we remembering our veterans who gave so much but we also make people think about the past of our township. We are proud and privileged to participate in this parade. After the parade we gather at the back of Siloam and there is a short service to lay flowers on the graves of veterans and to have a 21 gun salute in honor of them. This year the national anthem was sung by Liz Healy, daughter of Joe and Renee Healy who have helped us in the past with Founder’s Day especially with the Boy Scouts helping up set up and tear down. The speech was given by James R. Hanby and was a thorough and concise history of Memorial Day and its meaning. So next year if you are in town and would like to dress like a colonial please contact us – we would love to have you! VOLUME XIIX ISSUE III September 2016 BTPS -Christian Sanderson Museum One of our field trips this summer was to the Christian Sanderson Museum in Chadds Ford. A small museum that fills a house to the rafters, there are plenty of things to see and one could go back a number of times and never see them all. The nice thing about the museum is that they have two sets of scavenger hunts. We were given the one when we arrived for small children and were able to find all the items in a couple of hours. If you can accomplish this then on your next visit you can do the two sided scavenger hunt. J Some of the special things I saw were Jennie Wade’s purse, Geronimo’s autograph, melted ice from the South Pole and Billy Sunday sawdust. Chris Sanderson collected everything to the extreme. He kept the matches that were used each year to light his birthday cakes. It appeared he had the ticket stub from any event he ever attended. While his mother was alive she seemed to keep his collection is some semblance of order. After Chris died it took quite a while to catalogue the contents of the house but I’m so thankful that someone did because it truly is a sight to be seen and you should take time to visit this museum. The Sanderson Museum represents a man’s life and a nation’s history. Visit them at 1755 Creek Road, Chadds Ford, Pa. (Continued on next page) Page 3 Ramon Townsend Paper Marbling Demonstrations at Founder’s Day by Faith McCarrick We are excited to have Ramon Townsend from The Colonial Bindery demonstrating traditional Paper Marbling during this year’s Bethel Township Founder’s Day. Ramon Townsend studied hand bookbinding in the 1970's and 80's under the Master and Journeymen bookbinders at Colonial Williamsburg. Colonial Williamsburg has an apprenticeship program where it passes on traditional handcrafts. Part of his training was to demonstrate and teach the crafts to visitors. In addition to bookbinding, Ramon learned other book-related arts such as paper marbling, paper making, and hand set printing. For the past four decades Ramon has been bookbinding, marbling, rebinding and restoring used and rare books. During founder’s day, Ramon Townsend will be demonstrating the art of paper marbling. Marbling is the art of floating and designing watercolors on a base fluid then permanently transferring the design to paper. The Persians developed this technique in the 15th century. (Continued on next page) VOLUME XIIX ISSUE III September 2016 Page 4 Sanderson Museum (Continued from previous page) Open: March – November, Thursday through Sunday Hours: 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. Admission: free to Members of the museum; otherwise, $8 for Adult Non-Members; $5 for children ages 6-12; Paper Marbling (Continued from previous page) Ramon will demonstrate mixing the colors for marbling, floating the colors on the base, designing patterns in the colors and transferring the design to paper. Ramon has recently partnered with Historic Sugartown, a 19th century historic crossroads village in Malvern, PA, to offer full day workshops on hand bookbinding, paper marbling and book restoration. Historic Sugartown houses a collection of over 2,500 19th-century bookbinding tools in it Book Bindery, where the workshops take place. There are four workshop dates left in the 2016 season and more to come in 2017. Paper Marbling workshop dates are September 17th and November 5th. Bookbinding workshop dates are October 1st and November 19th. More information about these workshops and how to register for them can be found on Historic Sugartown’s website, HistoricSugartown.org. Guided tours of the historic village including the Book Bindery continue on weekends until the first weekend in December. And don’t forget, if you have any old books in need of repair, Ramon can help! Through his business, The Colonial Bindery, he offers book repair and rebinding services. Visit his website, ColonialBindery.com, call (610) 507-0827 or stop by his booth at Founder’s Day for more information! Old Time Measurements Chain=100 links in surveying Chain=a unit of length equal to 66 feet Mile=5,280 feet, 320 rods, 1,760 yards Rod=5.50 yards, 16.5 feet Square Mile=640 acres, 122,400 square rods Acre=4,840 square yards, 43,560 sq. feet, 160 sq. rods Sq. Rod=30.25 sq. yards, 0.006 acres Sq. Yard=1296 sq. inches, 9 sq. feet Sq. Foot=144 sq. inches, 0.111 sq. yards Sq. Inch=0.007 sq. feet, 0.00077 sq. yards Rod, Pole, and Perch=5.5 yards, or 16.5 feet Furlong=40 rods, or 1/8th mile League=3 miles Perch-used in Masonry=24.75 cu. feet (Surveyors or Gunters Chain) Link=7.92 inches Chain=100 links Furlong=10 chains 1 Statute Mile=8 furlongs (5,280 feet) Sq. Link=62.73 sq. inches Sq. Pole=625 sq. link, 30.25 sq. yard Sq. Chain=16sq. perch, 484 sq. yard Acre=10 sq. chain, 4840 sq. yard Section=640 acres, 1 sq. mile Township=36 sections, 36 sq. miles Rood=1/4 acre Vara=33 inches VOLUME XIIX ISSUE III September 2016 Page 5 (Continued on next page) Calling All Bakers! Help out with the Founders' Day Bake Table! Bake your favorite treats and bring them to Founders' Day Bake Table by 10:00AM on October 8th. Please have your items individually wrapped. VOLUME XIIX ISSUE III (Continued from previous page) September 2016 Page 6 VOLUME XIIX ISSUE III September 2016 Page 7 Concord Historic Society & Bethel Township Preservation Society's spring lecture In cooperation with Concord Historic Society, we were delighted to have historian Nancy Webster as our guest speaker early this year. On September 24th Nancy will be the tour guide on the Life & Times History Tour. In the spring lecture, Nancy brought back many memories of my mother who was very much into the development of horticulture in our area. When I was a child, there were many trips to the "Star Rose Garden" and discussions with people about history and the development and promotion of the "Peace Rose." Nancy mentioned that "Prior to WWI, and because we can grow anything in this area, Japan decided to give this country a very precious form of cherry tree which when planted in DC immediately died.” Nancy said, "It was very embarrassing. They were then tested to see if they could survive by sending samples to the Omsted family in Rose Valley. The first color photograph was taken there among the flowering cherry trees by Kodak. The trees were then reintroduced to DC where they flourish to this day." During WWII a new kind of rose was being developed by a Jewish Frenchman, who realized he would not be able to bring it to market. He quickly shipped out clippings of his experimental plant to Turkey, Germany and the United States. He was later caught and sent to Auschwitz, where he survived, but the historical records did not. According to Nancy, "The people he sent clippings to, denied that he sent them anything ... with the exception of the Pyles who admitted that he had sent them the clippings." In early 1945 rose grower Meilland wrote to Field Marshal Alan Brooke and asked to name the rose "Peace."The Peace Rose was officially introduced to the world on the day that Berlin fell. May 8, 1945, when Germany signed its surrender, the 49 delegates who met to form the United Nations were each presented with a bloom of "Peace" and a message of peace from the Secretary of the American Rose Society. When what would become the UN, first met in San Francisco, a plant was given to each member and told "I hope this will inspire you to always work together so that we never have a war again." So, Nancy's spring talk on horticulture brought back many fond memories of cherry trees, photography and the miracle of the Peace Rose. More information can be found at [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Rosa_Peace#Naming ] or by taking the Life & Times" history tour on September 24 and simply asking Nancy. VOLUME XIIX ISSUE III September 2016 Page 8 October 8th, 2016 ~ 10 am to 3 pm 2nd Saturday in October [Rain or Shine] Quilt Demonstrations other Historical Societies Butter Making local Churches Weaving & Spinning free Admission Colonial Spices & Herbs Food collection for local New this year - paper marbling food cupboards Old Style Toys to Try Pottery Punched Tin Antique Dealers Antique Appraisals wood carving Early Bethel Maps Make your own scare crow Chair Caning Local Honey Food Available Antique Cars and more Location: Bethel Fire Co. 3737 Foulk Rd, Garnet Valley, PA 19060 Call (610) 459 4183 or 610-485-0586 www.BTPS-Pa.com VOLUME XIIX ISSUE III September 2016 Page 9 Informal get-togethers for people interested in Local History If you have old photographs that you want restored or just scanned onto a jumpdrive, … if you would like to investigate colonial crafts, … if you are interested in making colonial clothing … or if you would just like to share your memories and see what projects we are currently doing, please join us at the Bethel Township Building on most Saturdays from 9 to 3. . Everyone is welcome! For meeting questions eMail: [email protected] or call (610) 459 4183 BTPS - Chester County Village Walks and Town Talks by Faith McCarrick I’ve written about these in the past and this year the focus was mainly on Iron and Steel production in Chester County. These are excellent history tours that are available for free. The only problem is that they are so far away! My family has gotten used to the idea that if it’s a Thursday night during the summer there is a pretty good chance that there is a Village Walk going on. On August 18th everyone got home from work at a reasonable hour and it was decided at 5:30 pm that we would try to go to the walk that night. So the race was on as we had to get to Pickering Creek before the last tour started at 7pm. The following is taken from their brochure “The Middle Pickering National Register Historic District along Pickering Creek is home to buildings and people who define the transformation of early industry in Chester County to the towering urban achievements of mid-20th century Philadelphia. The village of Merlin was an important crossroads for industry and agriculture in the 18th and 19th centuries. Oscar Stonorov architect, and Ed Bacon, planner, made their homes in this area 50 years later, bringing progressive modernism with them. The tour begins in the Stonorov residence with the history of the family in architecture and education then follows the creek back in time to end at the Merlin crossroads.” After a slight mishap involving the GPS we managed to tag on to the last tour that had already visited the Stonorov home. We started with the Bacon house and had an architect explain to us from the outside how the past and future were merged when additions were made to the original house to keep its integrity but allow for modern conveniences. We then learned the history of mills that were on the local waterways and what they milled. We continue our walk down a road that I found hard to believe was a two way street. The township had blocked it off for the evening and it made for a lovely walk in the woods. The walk ended with the crossroad village of Merlin which I had never heard of before but still contains historic houses on 3 out of 4 corners. Too soon it was going to be dark so we headed back to where our cars were parked along the creek. I look forward to where the walks are going to be next summer. For more information and to see images goto http://PickeringCreek.audubon.org VOLUME XIIX September 2016 ISSUE III Page 10 ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED BETHEL TOWNSHIP PRESERVATION SOCIETY JOURNAL C/O 3149 LAUGHEAD LANE GARNET VALLEY, PA 19060 The Bethel Journal Published by Bethel Township Preservation Society Beth McCarrick Chairman & Glenn Johnson Co Chair Jay Childress Graphic and Technical Support Visit us on the web at www.BTPS-Pa.com Regular meetings: last Tuesday of every month, except December, unless otherwise noted - 7:30 PM at the John L. Myers Memorial Township Building, 1082 Bethel Road Garnet Valley, PA 19060 Research meetings: second Thursday of each month 7:30 PM Location TBD, consult website Renew or Join Now! Please support your local historical society by becoming a member. The mission of The Bethel Township Preservation Society is to preserve the history of Bethel Township, encourage the preservation of historic structures, provide community education and guidance, and maintain archival records. Cost is $10 for an individual and $15 for families Please make checks payable to the Bethel Township Preservation Society Name______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Address____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Phone_________________________ Email______________________________________________________________________ Own Historic House? Yes ⎕ No ⎕ If you require a receipt, please include stamped self addressed envelope. ⎕ Alternately, we can email a receipt to you. ⎕ Send to BTPS Secretary, 5020 Concord PA 19014 Dr Mead Shaffer; Founder and advisor to the group