The Chadds Ford Historical Society is launching a major celebration in honor of the 300th anniversary of the Barns-Brinton House. The tavern on Route 1 in Pennsbury Township was built in 1714.
“A Toast to the Tavern: 300 Years” is an exhibit on display at the society’s Barn Visitors’ Center that shows centuries-old legal papers pertaining to the building as well as photographs the CFHS acquired over the years. The society bought the old tavern in 1966.
“The exhibition pulls out some of the high points of the history of the house since the Historical Society has taken over,” said Lora Englehart. Englehart is on the board of directors of the society.
The ceded transfer of the Barns-Brinton Hoiuse from Elizabeth Barns to James Few, 1731.
Barns was a blacksmith and Englehart said some of the iron work — door handles and hinges — is original.
“We think he put this beautiful hardware in his home as a showroom so he could show people what he could do,” she said.
There is also a wall on the upper floor separating the two sides. She said the wall was probably built to keep guests away from the family’s living quarters.
William Barns built the house as a tavern on “Ye Olde Great Road to Nottingham” in 1714 but over the years it changed hands. In 1731, Elizabeth Barns, William’s widow, sold the property to James Few. The original handwritten bill of sale, along with a typed version, is on display as part of the exhibit.
Few sold the property to James Brinton in 1753. At that time, she said, it was no longer used as a tavern and stopover. The house stayed in the Brinton family for 100 years. One of the more significant pieces of history surrounding the house is that on Sept. 11, 1777, Hessian troops marched by on their way to engage American forces to begin the Battle of Brandywine.
The Brinton family eventually sold the house. Over all, there have been 20 owners according to guest curator Laura Heemer who researched and put the exhibit together.
Heemer, an assistant curator at the Wharton-Esherick Museum in Paoli, said brick was expensive and Barns put everything he had into building the house. She said he owed money to more than 100 people.
Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.
The tattoo of drums, the booming eruptions of cannon and the smaller punctuating reports of musket fire reverberated across the field at Sandy Hollow Heritage Park in Birmingham Township on May 17 and 18.
Hundreds of re-enactors and thousands of visitors either took part in or watched a re-enactment of the 1777 Battle of Brandywine on the same ground where the actual fighting took place.
Retired British Col. Michael Vernon Powell repays a debt of honor to the decedents of some of the Quaker families that lost property to the British following the Battle of Brandywine.
“On Hallowed Ground” was the first re-enactment of the largest land battle of the War for Independence in seven years. The Brandywine Battlefield Park used to host the annual Rev Times event, but that stopped in 2007. This past weekend’s event was the first time in decades that the event was at Sandy Hollow, where British and American forces clashed on Sept. 11 when British Gen. Sir Wm. Howe made the first move in a bid to take Philadelphia and end the rebellion.
The event, however, was not just about fighting. There was also a debt of honor to be repaid.
In the aftermath of the battle, members of various families submitted a bill to the British general for their property that had been “appropriated” by Howe’s soldiers. Cattle, horses, oxen and various foodstuffs valued at £ 500 were taken from the civilians. As per the story, Howe said the bill would be paid.
It wasn’t, though, at least not until this past Saturday when, in a symbolic move, retired British Col. Michael Vernon Powell, of the 49th Regiment of Foot — the regiment that fought at Brandywine — repaid the debt of honor by giving a bag of coins to descendants of some of the original families.
Powell joking referred to “this supposed debt,” but acknowledged it was time to make restitution.
In another acknowledgement to the civilian population that had to endure the battle and its aftermath, members of the Birmingham Friends Meeting put on a small play, “The Riddle of Penncroft Farm,” based on Dorthea Jensen’s book of the same title.
Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.
The monstrous rain on April 30 did more than cause the Brandywine Creek to spill its banks. Torrents of water also blasted through a 15-foot section of rock dam at the Newlin Grist Mill Park.
The dam channels water along the millrace to operate the mill. In addition to stopping mill operations, the lack of water flow along the millrace also dried up the fishponds and turned off the water at the small falls. It’s almost as if a spigot was turned off.
Without water flowing through the millrace, the small waterfall at the park looks as if someone has turned off the spigot.
Tony Shahan, park director, and his staff have been spending time filling sandbags for a temporary fix until contractors can come in and re-establish the rock front of the main dam for the Concord Creek.
Shahan said on May 20 that he hoped to have the temporary repair done by the end of this week, about May 24, and be back in full operation in about six weeks.
“We have 60 days from May 8 to finish under the emergency permit,” he said.
The cost for the project is expected to be about $35,000, Shahan said, but the site only has $25,000 and is seeking donations. For more information on the dam, go here.
Newlin Grist Mill will host Rock the Music Festival on June 14.
Main photo: Sandbags are being installed as a temporary fix for the broken dam along Concord Creek at the Newlin Grist Mill Park.
Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.
Police Log May 22: Accidents, thefts, child seats and heightened patrols
• One person was transported for medical treatment following a two-vehicle accident on Route 1 near Brandywine Drive in Chadds Ford Township on May 20. No details have yet been released on what caused the accident or if anyone was cited. (See photo.)
• Lauren Elizabeth Cool, of Berlin, N.J., was arrested for DUI on May 20. Police said she was determined to be under the influence after a traffic stop on Route 1 at Evergreen Drive in Concord Township at 9:15 p.m.
• Police accused James Joseph Kane, 26, of Wilmington, with DUI after he was pulled over for a registration violation. The stop was made 1:22 a.m. on May 18.
• State police said Michael Joseph Spencer, 42, of Wilmington, was arrested on several charges following a hit and run accident on May 17 on Route 202 at Watkins Lane in Concord Township. According to a press release, Spencer crashed into another vehicle and fled the scene. He then crashed into another vehicle and was determined to be under the influence when found, police said.
• State police from Troop J, Avondale barracks, are investigating a $16,000 robbery in East Marlborough Township. Sometime between 5 p.m. on May 18 and 7:10 a.m. on May 19, someone burglarized a Franklin Mint Credit Union and an Atlantic Cellular AT&T office at 826 E. Baltimore Pike. The report said $16,000 worth of inventory was stolen.
• A 25-year-old from West Chester was injured in a two-vehicle accident in Pennsbury Township on May 17. Police said Carlo A. Lombardi, 41, reportedly from Chadds Ford, failed to yield the right of way to oncoming traffic when he tried to make a left hand turn onto Route 52 N from Balmoral Drive. Lombardi struck a 2006 Volkswagen that was traveling south on 52. The injured driver was transported to Chester County Hospital. The accident happened at 3 p.m.
• No injuries were reported in a two-vehicle accident on Route 926 at Cartmel Drive in Pennsbury Township on May 16, but one driver was cited for driving at an unsafe speed. According to a police report, William H. Laird, 42, of Lincoln University, was driving a 2007 Chevrolet Trailblazer south on 926 when he struck another vehicle that was stopped in the road because of a downed tree. The impact caused the second vehicle, a 1999 Toyota, Camry, to slide about 20 feet. The three occupants of the Toyota — including a 2-year-old girl— are from Corvallis, Ore.
• State police in Chester County will hold a child safety seat inspection at the Avondale Fire Co. — 23 Firehouse Way in Avondale — from 2-8 p.m. on May 27. Inspections are by appointment only. To schedule an inspection, call Tpr. Samantha Minnucci at 610-268-2102. Troopers certified as child safety seat technicians will assist parents and caregivers with the installation of seats and offer information on best practices and common misuse issues.
• Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Pennsylvania State and local police are partnering for a nationwide “Click It or Ticket” seat-belt enforcement that runs through June 8. Pennsylvania is one of 11 states and Ontario, Canada, participating in the “Border-to-Border” seat-belt initiative. The enforcement effort involves 350 law enforcement agencies across the northeast with increased enforcement at state borders. Throughout the “Click It or Ticket” mobilization, enforcement will focus on nighttime operations, using Traffic Enforcement Zones, and roving patrols. If motorists are stopped for a traffic violation and are not wearing their seat belt, they can receive a second ticket and second fine.
Blogging Along the Brandywine: A Lenape among the Quakers
Within the past five years, Hannah Freeman, known in local lore by the pejorative name of “Indian Hannah,” has become Chester County’s “in” person of 2014, and an eye-opening book on her life has come along just in time!
Chief Dennis Coker offers a prayer during the May 15 ceremony during which the stone monument to Hannah Freeman was rededicated.
On May 15, a large stone marker was re-dedicated at the Chester County Visitor Center near the main entrance to Longwood Gardens. Once located on Route 52 near Longwood, a few hundred yards from Freeman’s cabin birthplace, the marker had been cutoff from public access when Route 52 was re-located in 2011.
The stone marker originally dedicated in 1925, reads in part, “Indian Hannah 1732 – 1802, the last of the Indians in Chester County….”
Enter myth-buster Dawn G. Marsh. (I love Myth Busters.)
On April 30, Marsh, assistant professor of history at Perdue spoke at the Chester County Historical Society focusing on the most important sources used for her new book, “A Lenape Among the Quakers — The Life of Hannah Freeman.”
Marsh’s first major discovery came with the help of Marshall Becker, Professor Emeritus (anthropology) at West Chester University.
“The Examination of Indian Hannah alias Hannah Freeman,” wasan interview of Freeman gave on July 28, 1797. In it Freeman gives a narration of her family including her mother Sarah, grandmother Jane, two aunts Betty and Nanny and two younger brothers. Unfortunately, establishing her residency paved the way for her later removal to the poorhouse being built in Newlin Township, where Freeman died and was interred in a Potters Field in 1802.
The examination definitively attests to Freeman’s adaptability. For in addition to wearing European-style clothing, she mentions a recent visit to her aunts where she realizes she had almost forgotten how to speak “Indian” and did not like their manner of living.
Of the 1797 interview Marsh said, “I understood how significant it was to get the voice of a Native American woman.
Marsh’s second discovery was “Kindness Extended,” a contract written in March 1798, a few months after “The Examination.” Signers with now familiar last names like Buffington, Embree, Marshall, Harlan, Pennock and Pyle came together pledging to care for Freeman in her final years when she was plagued with rheumatism and could no longer get around.
Indeed, Hannah Freeman was respected so much by her Quaker neighbors that they entrusted their children to her care. In addition they sought out her healing skills, being more knowledgeable about herbal medicines than doctors of that day who practiced “bleeding” to help balance the four “humours.”
Marsh’s third major discovery was the Albert Cook Myers (1874-1960) collection of interviews of Quakers who knew Hannah Freeman. The collection is now housed at the Chester County Historical Society where Myers was a member.
Marsh criticizes the 1925 Longwood marker as well as one in Newlin Township dedicated in 1909, (recently moved and re-dedicated in 2009) for characterizing Freeman as the last of the Lenni-Lenape people.
“Hannah Freeman was not the last of her kind,” Marsh emphasized.
“This was part of the myth created by the settler population that forced out the original population,” Marsh explained. “Within a generation of her death, she was romanticized and entered into legend as an artifact of the past”.
According to Marsh, this fantasy helped turn-of-the century Americans put “the Indian problem” in the past.
In addition, Marsh takes exception with a popular 1909 poem written by John Russell Hayes (1866-1945) that includes the lines “last of her race.” The poem was read at the 2009 re-dedication of the Newlin marker and indeed at Wednesday’s re- dedication of the Longwood marker.
According to Marsh, “Hayes’ poem reflected the popular sentiment legitimized by late 19th century historians and anthropologists who confidently embraced the rhetoric of conquest and racial superiority.”
“A Lenape Among the Quakers” is an absolute must read and a passionate narrative of a remarkable Native American woman. It is available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble or the museum store at the Chester County Historical Society.
(Featured photo: A recreation of the photo taken in 1925 when the Hannah Freeman monument was originally dedicated.)
Sally Denk Hoey, is a Gemini - one part music and one part history. She holds a masters degree cum laude from the School of Music at West Chester University. She taught 14 years in both public and private school. Her CD "Bard of the Brandywine" was critically received during her almost 30 years as a folk singer. She currently cantors masses at St Agnes Church in West Chester where she also performs with the select Motet Choir. A recognized historian, Sally serves as a judge-captain for the south-east Pennsylvania regionals of the National History Day Competition. She has served as president of the Brandywine Battlefield Park Associates as well as the Sanderson Museum in Chadds Ford where she now curates the violin collection. Sally re-enacted with the 43rd Regiment of Foot and the 2nd Pennsylvania Regiment for 19 years where she interpreted the role of a campfollower at encampments in Valley Forge, Williamsburg, Va., Monmouth, N.J. and Lexington and Concord, Mass. Sally is married to her college classmate, Thomas Hoey, otherwise known as "Mr. Sousa.”
Jay is a neutered male orange tabby cat and this fellow is quite the entertainer. It’s odd to think that this friendly guy was found as a stray because nothing makes him happier than the presence of people. He has a fun personality and he can fill a room full of laughter within seconds. When Jay isn’t busy being a comedian, he will find a window to relax by and enjoy the scenic view. He is also a curious guy and he will enjoy exploring the rooms in his new home. If you’re interested in Jay, please come by the Chester County SPCA for a visit or call at 610-692-6113 for more information.
Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.
Unionville-Chadds Ford School Board directors bid farewell to one of their own on a night when they agreed to spend money on benefits and some needed repairs.
The May 19 board meeting was the last one for Region B representative Eileen Bushelow. She announced her resignation for personal reasons during the April board meeting. Her resignation is effective May 28 so she will not be on the board in June when directors vote on the budget for the next academic year.
Director Keith Knauss said that even with their differences of opinion, he always knew Bushelow’s primary interest was what was best for the students, and Jeff Hellrung called Bushelow a caring person.
Kathy Do referenced a quote that it’s better to matter than to be happy, but said to Bushelow “I hope you’ve been happy, but you have mattered…You made a real impact.”
Gregg Lindner echoed Do’s comment saying Busheklow made “a large contribution.”
Board President Vic Dupuis read a citation from state Rep. Stephen Barrar praising Bushelow for her time on the board.
The board is actively seeking a replacement for Bushelow. The person chosen would serve through Dec. 7, 2015. As of the May 19 meeting, however, no one has applied for the position, according to one of the directors.
Bushelow was not silent during her swan song. She voted no on two measures her colleagues approved when the board got down to business.
The board voted 7-1 to approve a new benefit agreement for district support personnel that included a new healthcare plan with enhanced health and disability benefits. It’s a cost increase of 2 percent per year that also includes a free smoking cessation program.
There was also a 7-1 vote on a measure extending a teacher’s ability to opt out of the district health plan. That opt-out procedure calls for the district to pay teachers $2,400 if they opt out of the district plan to go with one offered through their spouse. Originally the buyout was offered only for one year, but has now been extended.
Among other expenditures were a contract to replace the fire alarm system at Hillendale Elementary School for almost $91,000 and for a $421,000 energy project at Charles F. Patton Middle School.
Directors also approved spending more than $120,000 for a variety of supply contracts.
Also approved was a kitchen equipment replacement to the tune of more than $72,600 for Hillendale. As previously reported, that project will be paid for from the cafeteria fund.
Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.
• The annual Memorial Day ceremony at Brandywine Baptist Church is scheduled for 8:45 a.m., May 26.
Bonsai
• The Brandywine Bonsai Society will display their ornamental trees and shrubs whose growth is trained using an ancient Japanese craft in the Brandywine River Museum of Art courtyard. Members of the society will demonstrate handling techniques and answer questions regarding special care of the trees. The event is included in the price of admission to the museum. It runs May 31 and June 1 from with 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• There will be a community conversation on June 2 regarding the proposed Chadds Ford Trail along Chadds Ford Elementary School property. The 6 p.m. session at the school will discuss a leg of the walking trail that proponents want for a link to a trail running from the Delaware state line to Honeybrook.
• The Kennett Area Senior Center sponsors a free Medicare counseling session on Thursday, June 5 and 19 from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sign up to meet with a Department of Aging volunteer from APPRISE who can help you with any questions you have about Medicare and your individual coverage. Please contact the KASC at 610-444-4819 to make an appointment.
• It may be hot in June, but it’s frozen at the Delaware Museum of Natural History. Visitors can catch the chill during “Frozen Friday” on June 6, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Featuring the hit Disney film “Frozen,” follows the story of fearless optimist Anna (voiced by Kristen Bell) as she teams up with rugged mountain man Kristoff (voiced by Jonathan Groff) and his loyal reindeer Sven in an epic journey. Encountering Everest-like conditions, mystical trolls, and a snowman named Olaf, Anna and Kristoff must battle the elements in a race to find Anna’s sister Elsa (voiced by Idina Menzel), whose icy powers have trapped the kingdom of Arendelle in eternal winter. Tickets are $5 for museum members and $8 for non-members. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., and the film begins promptly at 6:15 p.m. in the Museum’s Ederic Exhibit Hall. Pre-registration via the museum’s Web site is strongly encouraged, as this event is limited to 120 tickets.
Fellini’s is open again.
• After almost three weeks, Fellini’s Café is open to the public again. The restaurant was shout down due to a flooded basement that resulted from the heavy rain on April 30.
• The deadline for buying tickets for the Wilmington Blue Rocks ballgame to benefit the Brandywine Battlefield Park is Friday, June 13. Tickets are $20 per person for the July 11 game between the Blue Rocks and the Salem Red Sox. Contributions will be doubled this year, as the Phyllis Recca Foundation will match each one. To buy tickets, visit staging.chaddsfordlive.com/shop
• Kids will be geared up for fun summer during Camp Shehaqua, a week-long summer camping experience sponsored by Penn State Extension and Chester County 4-H. Camp dates are July 14 –18, 2014. Camp Shehaqua is a five-day camping experience that gives youth the opportunity to learn about nature, meet new friends, gain responsibility, and learn to live and work with others while having fun. Activities include hikes, campfires, skits, a ropes challenge course, swimming, archery, crafts and recreation. The camp is open to all youth ages 8 – 14. Campers ages 13 and 14 years of age will be able to participate in a leadership camp program as Counselors in Training. The cost of this camp is $260.00 per camper and includes all meals, lodging and bus transportation to and from camp. 4-H membership is not required. All registrations may be completed securely at http://www.cvent.com/events/4-h-camp-shehaqua-chester-county/event-summary-02cb44a3cef742ec8ad9c512a9b99b8d.aspx.
I write this on my mother’s birthday, remembering when, years ago, she was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Denial is no stranger to me, but when I heard the news, I was stunned into reality immediately, maybe because I had been having an uneasy feeling about some of her behaviors preceding the diagnosis.
The first red flag was when she had block printed a note and had written the letter E empty of its middle stem. I pondered that, not knowing what to do. Later another red flag popped up when she went to grandparents’ day at my children’s school and fell asleep in class. For some other 84-year-olds this would have been the norm; not for her, the quintessential grandmother actively engaged in all matters of her little loves. These were just a few of the few clues I was witnessing.
However, my family of origin hadn’t been reading her behavior as I had; and so when the diagnosis came, they were in denial, adamant that a second opinion be gotten. This was no easy task given the rate of physical decline that began to appear. Nevertheless, even with the second opinion, it seemed to me that the denial prevailed.
This is all past history, but I thought about it tonight as I was driving home from a Delaware Medical Reserve Corps meeting and listening to the radio where a climate scientist was being interviewed. There is a connection in all this; in fact, there is much that intersects with climate change. For now, suffice it to say that denial of climate change is a psychological defense against fear of the reality it portends, and that such denial will not serve us well in the future.
Since I have some knowledge of volunteerism with the Red Cross and with the Medical Reserve Corps, let me relate my concerns about volunteerism and sheltering operations in an emergency. Examples of such emergencies are tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, fires and earthquakes. Tonight’s MRC talk was about serving the needs of people with functional and access needs in such shelters. Thus, people who come to shelters in an evacuation may have mobility impairments, or autism, may be blind or deaf, may have cognitive disabilities, and so on. Also shelter residents can be both elderly and newborn, with every age range in between. Think about it, all these diverse people needing emergency shelter. I am always amazed at the volunteers and others in emergency preparedness who serve those who have been affected by disasters.
However, my abiding concern is that with climate change the intensity and frequency of floods, fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, and, yes, even earthquakes (which can be precipitated by climate change, as well as by fracking) is on the rise. So reflect with me on this: Will there be cumulative burnout of volunteers who respond to more and more disasters? Will we be willing to pay taxes to pay for relief efforts?
Denial as a defense only works for so long. It takes courage to face our fears.
* Kayta Curzie Gajdos holds a doctorate in counseling psychology and is in private practice in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. She welcomes comments at MindMatters@DrGajdos.com or 610-388-2888. Past columns are posted to www.drgajdos.com.
Dr. Kathleen Curzie Gajdos ("Kayta") is a licensed psychologist (Pennsylvania and Delaware) who has worked with individuals, couples, and families with a spectrum of problems. She has experience and training in the fields of alcohol and drug addictions, hypnosis, family therapy, Jungian theory, Gestalt therapy, EMDR, and bereavement. Dr. Gajdos developed a private practice in the Pittsburgh area, and was affiliated with the Family Therapy Institute of Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, having written numerous articles for the Family Therapy Newsletter there. She has published in the American Psychological Association Bulletin, the Family Psychologist, and in the Swedenborgian publications, Chrysalis and The Messenger. Dr. Gajdos has taught at the college level, most recently for West Chester University and Wilmington College, and has served as field faculty for Vermont College of Norwich University the Union Institute's Center for Distance Learning, Cincinnati, Ohio. She has also served as consulting psychologist to the Irene Stacy Community MH/MR Center in Western Pennsylvania where she supervised psychologists in training. Currently active in disaster relief, Dr. Gajdos serves with the American Red Cross and participated in Hurricane Katrina relief efforts as a member of teams from the Department of Health and Human Services' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.Now living in Chadds Ford, in the Brandywine Valley of eastern Pennsylvania, Dr. Gajdos combines her private practice working with individuals, couples and families, with leading workshops on such topics as grief and healing, the impact of multigenerational grief and trauma shame, the shadow and self, Women Who Run with the Wolves, motherless daughters, and mediation and relaxation. Each year at Temenos Retreat Center in West Chester, PA she leads a griefs of birthing ritual for those who have suffered losses of procreation (abortions, miscarriages, infertility, etc.); she also holds yearly A Day of Re-Collection at Temenos.Dr. Gajdos holds Master's degrees in both philosophy and clinical psychology and received her Ph.D. in counseling at the University of Pittsburgh. Among her professional affiliations, she includes having been a founding member and board member of the C.G. Jung Educational Center of Pittsburgh, as well as being listed in Who's Who of American Women. Currently, she is a member of the American Psychological Association, The Pennsylvania Psychological Association, the Delaware Psychological Association, the American Family Therapy Academy, The Association for Death Education and Counseling, and the Delaware County Mental Health and Mental Retardation Board. Woven into her professional career are Dr. Gajdos' pursuits of dancing, singing, and writing poetry.
