Powelton History Blog: A Collective Biography of a Philadelphia Neighborhood

Rev. Chauncey Giles, Leader of the Swedenbourgian Church in America

2011-11-20T15:20:00.000-05:00

Rev. Chauncey Giles was the leader of the New Jerusalem Church (Swedenbourgian) in the United States. He was born in Massachusetts in 1813 and educated at Williams College. He spent a number of years as a struggling school teacher moving from town to town in Pennsylvania and Ohio. He was so dissatisfied with teaching that at one time he attempted to become a dentist. He then tried giving public lectures on chemistry – a subject about which he knew nothing. He attempted to demonstrate some experiments, but ended up burning his hand and inhaling chlorine gas. He finally found his true calling when he became a clergyman in Cincinnati. After eleven years, he moved to New York. In 1875, he was elected President of the General Conference of the Church of the New Jerusalem in the United States and continued in that position until his death in 1893. For a number of years, he was also editor of the New Jerusalem Messenger.

Eunice and Chauncey Giles, about 1883

       In 1877, Giles began was having health problems and decided he could no longer continue all of his duties. He decided he required a lighter work load and accepted the call to become pastor of the New Church Society in Philadelphia. He took up his position in Philadelphia in early 1878 and moved his family to 3609 Hamilton St. He wrote that: “[w]e are delightfully situated here. West Philadelphia is a city in the country. The streets are like green lanes. Many of the houses have beautiful gardens with shrubbery and flowers. We have some city sounds, but they are not numerous and loud enough to drown the sounds of birds and other country notes. We have enjoyed the quiet and beauty of our home very much.” In March, 1878, he reported that “I am often asked if I feel at home, and I am compelled to answer, ‘No.’ I know I am at home and I am satisfied, but there is so great a difference between Philadelphia and New York that it will take time to accommodate myself to all the new ways and feel contented. The people are very kind and do all in their power to make me feel at home. There are many people of culture here, and I think they are more sociable than they were in New York. I really think we have received more invitations to dine and take tea since we came here than we did in the fourteen years in New York.”
       Soon after his arrival in Philadelphia, Giles made several trips to London and to Paris where he helped a group trying to establish the New Church of Jerusalem in France. This trip consumed much of 1878 and for the next few years he continued spending several months a year in Europe. In later years, he traveled to a number of cities in the U.S. often in connection with annual meetings of the General Conference. The trips to Europe were made possible by the generosity of anonymous donors which also allowed him and Mrs. Giles to spend summers at Lake George.
       After he returned to the U.S. and his home in Philadelphia, he wrote to a friend in Europe inviting her to come for a visit. By this time, the Rev. and Mrs. Giles seem settled into their new setting. In December, 1878, he wrote: “We have a good cheerful fire in the grate, my study lamp gives a soft and pleasant light, and we can offer you an easy chair. There is also a basket of delicious fruit, a present from the Sunday school, on my desk, and on the side table there is a very large and beautiful bouquet, covering nearly the whole of the table, a present from the ladies of the society. Come, you shall share in them all. Mrs. Giles will lay aside her book, and I will put away my writing, and we will have a good talk.”
       Building a successful congregation must not have been an easy task. Years later, his daughter wrote that: “Among its members were many earnest and devoted New Churchmen who, because of tenacious and opposite opinions held by other equally sincere members, had refrained from active participation in the affairs of the Society, so that conflict might be avoided. Some who had come into the Church from the Quakers wished little or no ritual; others there were who liked a more elaborate service. Some would like to join the General Convention and work with the Church at large; others opposed it. Mr. Giles's one aim was useful work in harmony for the Church.” Giles brought the congregation together to raise money first for church windows then for a new organ.
       During the years 1879-1881 the Church lacked a regular meeting place. However, by 1881, they had collected sufficient funds to purchased land at the corner of 22nd and Chestnut Streets where they built the church that still stands today. When the building was completed in 1883, Giles reported that “[t]he completion of this church and the Sunday School building and their dedication to the Lord will be in one way the crowning success of my life. I do not know of anyone who thought it to be possible when I came here. I do not think anyone even dreamed of it, but there they stand, an ornament to the city and a beautiful and convenient home for our society.” By this time, the Church had a number of prominent members who lived in Powelton. (See my previous blog, Swedenborgians in Powelton.)

In the spring of 1882, Giles was able to buy 3502 Hamilton St. with help from friends. Years later, his daughter wrote that “[f]or the first time in his life [he] owned a home of his very own. This fact was a constant source of gratitude. I have heard my mother say that it is the only material blessing for which he ever prayed. The home was a comfort to them both in their declining years and a blessing most deeply appreciated.”

In 1885, Giles was having increasing health problems associated with rheumatism, bronchitis, and a broken rib. Therefore, the Church hired William L. Worcester as his assistant. Worcester was ordained in late 1885 and later succeeded Giles as pastor. He lived with the Giles family until 1899 when he married Edith Burnham, daughter of William and granddaughter of George Burnham (3401 Powelton Ave.), and moved in with her parents. The Burnhams were prominent members of the New Church.
Giles published several books and a large number of sermons. He also wrote stories for children in “an attempt to embody some useful truths in a form to interest the young.” These were published in “The Wonderful Pocket” (available for download from Google books).

Chauncey Giles died at his home in 1893. Mrs. Giles continued living there until her death in 1912. Mr. Giles’s obituary in the New Church Messenger noted that “[i]n the removal of Mr. Giles we have taken from us the most widely known man of the New Church. He was beyond all comparison the leader in the work of the New Church propagandism, and has doubtless said, published, and done more for making known to the world the doctrines of the New Church than any other man in its history.” In 1897, the Philadelphia Church added a new chancel and dedicated it to his memory.

The People Behind the Census Listings

2011-11-06T15:13:00.001-05:00

       When I started looking into Powelton history, I began with the censuses. They give the name of each resident plus a few words to describe them in terms of their marital status, occupation, place of birth, etc. I have since discovered that some of individuals were quite prominent. However, most Poweltonians didn't head national organizations or large companies, didn't write books, and weren't heroes of the Civil War. Digging deeper using a wider variety of sources, I have occasionally found brief insights into the lives of less prominent, more typical Poweltonians. This might be some of their history, details about their jobs or social life, or hints about what happened to them in later years.
       Here are three examples from the 3600 block of Hamilton St. around WWI. These families were neighbors who probably saw each other on a regular basis while walking down the street or waiting for a trolley.

3618 Hamilton St.
       The 1910 census lists a widow, Emma Southgate (age 58), her unmarried daughter, Eva (34), and a boarder, Samuel Zacharias (70). Zacharias is listed as a widower who was the superintendent of a trust co. A brief obituary for him provides insights into his varied past.
       1915: "Samuel M Zacharias, 74 years old, who died Sunday night at his home, 3618 Hamilton street, was for 30 years superintendent of vaults of the Guarantee Trust and Safe Deposit Company. Mr. Zacharias was born in Lingletown, Dauphin County, and was graduated from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy in 1863. That year he joined the Union Army, serving in the Sixth Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry. Following this he entered the grain business with his father, and later was appointed Deputy Collector of Internal Revenue for Juanita, Mifflin and Snyder Counties." (Evening Public Ledger, Jan. 26, 1915)

3624 Hamilton St.
       A few doors down the block in 1920, we find Bridget Connor (age 75). She lives with her son, Bernard (38), her married (but separated?) daughter, Genevieve, and two granddaughters. Bernard was single and the manager of a fertilizer company. However, a newspaper story about a robbery offers some interesting details.
       1921: "FOUR AUTO BANDITS ROB ONE-ARMED MAN OF $4000.
       "Jewelry Taken From Crippled Victim Near His Home.
       "A one-armed man was held up by four men in a motor and robbed of jewelry valued at $4000 within a half block of his home at midnight. The victim is Bernard Connor, 3624 Hamilton street, owner of a fertilizing business at Twenty-sixth and York streets. The hold-up was at Thirty-seventh and Hamilton streets.
       "Connor looked over his shoulder when he heard the motor approaching. He saw it slow down, and three men jumped out. With his only arm, his right, he struck and knocked down the lending man.
       "The others drew revolvers and threatened their victim.
       "One of them snatched a diamond stickpin from Connor's necktie, another took off a diamond ring and the third went through his vest pockets and found a gold watch. They did not bother with his wallet which contained $45.
       "The highwaymen left in their car and Connor ran along Hamilton street until he stopped a motor and persuaded the driver to give chase. The two machines sped out to Fortieth and Baring streets where the bandits' car eluded the pursuing one" (Phila. Inquirer, March 1, 1921)
       So here we see Bernard as a feisty company owner, missing one arm, and walking down the street at midnight wearing jewelry worth $4,000.

3629 Hamilton St.
       Across the street, was Augustus Keil (age 39) and his family: wife, Rebecca (31), son Robert (l0) and daughters, Henrietta (8) and Anna (2). They also have a nanny, a 35 year-old black woman who was widowed. In 1920, they have another daughter, Rebecca. Robert was then 19 and working as an electrical engineer building organs. However, two newspaper articles give some idea of what his life was like between the censuses.
       August, 1918: “Private Keil., Company M, 109th Infantry. Reported missing in action on July 15, 1918. He was eighteen years old, and enlisted in the old First Regiment, N. G. P., in May, 1917. He received his training at Camp Hancock, and sailed for France in May, 1918. The last letter received by his parents was dated June 27, 1918. Prior to enlisting he was a student at West Philadelphia High School. He lived with his father, at 3629 Hamilton street.” (Evening Public Ledger, 8/16/1918)
       January, 1919: "The War Department announced today the names of one officer and 264 enlisted men of the American expeditionary force, who have arrived in France after being released from the German prison camp at Rastatt.... Among the enlisted men from this city ... Roger H Keil, 3629 Hamilton street...." (Phila. Inquirer, Jan. 4, 1919)

       A death, a robbery, and a POW returning home are not everyday occurrences. These events reveal something about these individuals. However, they also give us some feel for the neighborhood. These events were known to all the neighbors and, to some extent, they were shared losses and celebrated victories -- shared experiences that make a neighborhood (or a village) more than a list of names with ages, occupations and places of birth.

Our Dr. Frankenstein? A True Tale for Halloween

2011-10-22T19:46:00.001-04:00

Dr. Albert P. Brubaker (1852-1943) was a physiologist. Following in the footsteps of his father, Henry Brubaker who received a degree in medicine from Jefferson Medical College, Albert received his degree from Jefferson in 1874. Henry had returned to western Pennsylvania to provide medical services in Somerset County. Albert stayed in Philadelphia to teach and do research beginning his career at the Charity Hospital of Philadelphia. In 1880, he joined the faculty of the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery (later merged into the University of Pennsylvania Dental School), a position he held for 22 years.

Dr. Albert P. Brubaker (1852-1943)

       In 1883, he married Edith Needles, the daughter of a druggist. They lived with her family for a number of years. When the Drexel Institute was opened, he became the lecturer on Physiology and Hygiene. It was probably about this time that they moved to 105 N. 34th St. where they lived for about 35 years. Edith, meanwhile, continued her studies by taking courses in biology at the University of Pennsylvania.
       In 1897, Albert joined the faculty at Jefferson. He had already held various positions there and it was at Jefferson that he pursued his research on physiology. He also published several textbooks that were widely used and republished numerous times. He was a member of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, the Academy of Natural Sciences, the American Physiological Society and the American Philosophical Society. In his later years, he was active in the Ethical Culture Society. In 1916, the graduating class at Jefferson dedicated a volume to him. In it they described him as a “strict disciplinarian… yet most affable and considerate towards students and colleagues; tolerant of all truths, endowed with singularly happy equipoise, broad sympathies and all-around completeness.” Edith was active in the New Century Club and became its president in 1905. Later, she was very active in the Visiting Nurses Association. In about 1918, they moved to 3426 Powelton Ave. where they lived for many years.
       Brubaker was a scientist who wanted to understand the workings of the human body. One of his more unusual experiments examined the role of electricity in animating the body. It was observed by a reporter from the Philadelphia Inquirer and described in an article on the front page in January 1900. Although it was a serious investigation, the story reads more like the script for a scary silent film.

"When the negro policy dealer, Robert W. Brown, who murdered his wife, Lucinda, more than a year ago, was being dragged to the gallows in Moyamensing Prison on Thursday, he shudderingly shrieked, ‘My body will go to the dissecting table – to the dissecting table!’

(Phila. Inquirer, Jan. 12, 1900)

     "His religious advisers admonished him to think of his soul and not of his body.
     "Pleading for delay for both soul and body, the wretched stabber fell through the fatal trap of the very moment when he turned his head to implore the keeper at his side for more time to speak.
     "In this act the knot back of his left ear slipped to the base of the brain, midway between the ears, and consciousness expired instantaneously at the end of the rope.
     "There were those who wanted, in the interest of science, to give the murder is wished for opportunity to complete the suspended speech. Not a second was wasted after he was pronounced dead. An ambulance, with clanging bell and the right-of-way, flew through the streets to the Jefferson College. In ten minutes after he was legally dead he was resting on a table in the physiological laboratory.
     "Around the table were three of the most famous physiologists in the scientific world. They were Drs. Judson Deland, Albert P. Brubaker and A. Hewson. Dr. Deland had charge of the demonstration.

"A Startling Question.

     "Could motion and life be restored to that inanimate body?
     "For an answer to this question the three scientists devoted their energies and resources of their skill and genius.
     “They had all taught that certain nerve centres controlled motion and action. In that eminent body, the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, of which the professors are members, the theory has often been advanced that there is no physiological necessity for early death. Here was a subject dead to all ordinary tests. Was he scientifically dead?
     "A sharp wire, charged with electricity, was applied to the various nerve centres of the body and brain. A superstitious layman would have been horrified at the result. Brown raised first his right arm and then his left. His had moved. His mouth twitched in a compulsive grin. the cords of the neck swelled and the mouth opened as if he would complete his interrupted speech on the scaffold. The hands clenched one after the other. A leg was drawn up and then extended.
     “Unceasingly electric wire prodded centre after centre in the nervous organism. One would have thought that a new Cagliostro was at work. At a fresh touch from the thaumaturgist plying the needle the body sat upright.

“Every Sign of Life.

     “Amazing enough was all this. There was more. The eyes opened. The heart beat. There seems to be breath, for the organs of respiration were agitated.
     “Would he walk? Would he talk?
     “But, placed on the floor, the body fell back limp. The lips opened without sound. Science has demonstrated wonders, but life could not be brought back with motion. The soul has gone beyond returning breath. The electric needle and made Brown do everything but walk and talk.
     “In less than an hour the nerve centres themselves became dead. The three scientists surrendered the effort at resuscitation. The limp body of the murder was removed to the anatomical department on the top floor.
     “There Dr. Brubaker, who is the demonstrator of physiology in the Jefferson Medical College, and the author of text books used in that institution, lectured yesterday afternoon to the second and third year men on Brown's body. He explained to them the operations practiced upon the subject, and the resulting phenomena. Brown had died in a religious hysteria. By the slipping of the noose the neck had not been broken. The brain had been congested. The heart has been remarkably strong, beating fifteen minutes after drop fell, and artificial resuscitation afterward did not seem difficult."
     (Phila. Inquirer, Jan. 13, 1900, pg. 1)

The Fight Against Electric Trolleys on Baring St.

2011-10-16T11:30:00.002-04:00

     Powelton is a classic example of a “streetcar suburb.” However, for nineteenth century Poweltonians this meant horse-drawn streetcars. In the early 1890s, a furor erupted over plans to replace horse-drawn cars with electric trolleys. One of the first lines to be electrified was the Baring St. line which ran from Market St. up 33rd St. to Baring, then 37th St. to Fairmount Ave. and on to 44th St. and on the return from Fairmount to Baring along 36th St.
     In 1892, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that:
     “There is talk along Baring street, Fairmount avenue and other streets traversed by the Baring street division of the Traction Company of a mass meeting to protest against the defacing presence of trolley poles and wires. Aside from the physical danger of the system and other potent objections, the erection of the poles along the Baring street route would disfigure one of the fairest portions of Philadelphia county. The great charm of West Philadelphia’s residence section, which lies largely along or adjacent to this route, is the semi-rural aspect of the streets and houses.
     “The horse-cars are an abomination, but 99 per cent. of the residents and property owners feel that even these easy-going vehicles are preferable to the unsightly appurtenances of the trolley cars with their attendant noises. At any rate the attractive vistas of the streets are unmarred, and everyone wants them to remain so.” (Phila. Inquirer, March 27, 1892)

Philadelphia Inquirer, April 19, 1892

The same issue of the Inquirer included a petition against the trolleys on its front page and encouraged readers to sign it. It stated, in part: “We believe the trolleys to be dangerous to life, limb and property. The franchises have been granted without any adequate restrictions or compensation. They allow the increase of poles and dangerous overhead wires to an alarming extent.”
A few months later, 15 prominent residents of Baring St. took the lead in a law suit to prevent the Philadelphia Traction Co. from electrifying its trolleys through West Philadelphia. The action was brought by Howard Watkin [3305 Baring], Henry D. Justi [3401 Baring], Thomas Scott [3437 Woodlands], Marcus H. Darrow [3413 Baring], Samuel H. Troth [3309 Baring], David Masters [3308 Baring], Theophilus Hassenbruch [3316Baring], Edward M. Willard [718 N 40th], George G. Erickson [3955 Wallace], Joseph S. Erickson [720 N 40th], William Garrett [3404 Baring], George W. Kendrick, Jr. [3507 Baring], Walter Erben [3415 Baring], Samuel R. Skillern [3509 Baring], William H. Brown [3510 Baring], John F. Craig [3417 Baring], William J. McCahan [3419 Baring], Elijah Pugh, Jr. [3501 Baring], and Charles H. Alexander [3626 Baring] against the West Philadelphia Passenger Railway Company, the Philadelphia & Darby Railroad Company, the Philadelphia Traction Company, the city of Philadelphia, and Abraham M. Beitler, director of public safety of the city of Philadelphia.

An Earlier Cartoon Against the Street Car Companies (Phila. Inquirer, May 22, 1889)

     The suit alleged that “this overhead electric trolley system, if so erected upon the streets of West Philadelphia as set forth in the plans, will not only be a public nuisance, dangerous to both life and property, but will inflict private injuries upon your orators by largely decreasing the values of the various properties owned by them, and rendering them undesirable as residences….” Part of the argument was that the charter of the West Philadelphia Passenger Railway Co. (which had been granted the route) only authorized it “to lay a double or single track of railway, to be used exclusively with horse-power….”
     Surprisingly, the list of claimants includes several Poweltonians whose professions would suggest more acceptance of modernization. William H. Brown was Chief Engineer for the Pennsylvania Railroad. William Garrett was a paper manufacturer who was only about 38 at the time the suit was brought. Henry D. Justi owned a large factory that made dental supplies and he was a member of the Franklin Institute. Walter Erben was a wool merchant who was elected to the Academy of Natural Sciences in 1895. In addition, they were all neighbors of the Brill family which controlled J. G. Brill & Co., the largest producer of the electric trolleys.
   The West Philadelphia Passenger Railway Co. was among the first of many lines leased by the Philadelphia Traction Co. (PTC) which in 1902 became the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Co. Who was behind the PTC? The list of principals includes some of Philadelphia chief moguls: William H. Kemble (who was known for his close ties with many powerful officials), Peter A. B. Widener, William L. Elkins, George R. Yarrow, George W. Elkins and George D. Widener.
     In January, 1893, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania ruled in favor of the trolley owners quoting a previous decision that a railway "is bound to keep pace with the progress of the age in which it continues to exercise its corporate rights."

Evening Public Ledger (Philadelphia) Feb. 16, 1920 (click to enlarge)

J. Henry Scattergood's Letter Home from War-Torn France, March 1919

2011-10-11T18:31:00.002-04:00

J. Henry Scattergood (1877-1953) grew up in Powelton. His family moved to 3515 Powelton Ave. in 1880 when he was a few years old and he lived there for more than 40 years. The Scattergoods were a prominent Quaker family whose members were associated with numerous Quaker causes. After several years in business, Henry became treasurer of Haverford College in 1916 and treasurer of Bryn Mawr College in 1927. He also served as U. S. Commissioner of Indian Affairs under President Herbert Hoover.

J. Henry Scattergood, c1919

After WWI, he went to France as a member of the Society of Friends’ Committee of the National Red Cross to coordinate food aid. When Herbert Hoover invited the American Friends Service Committee to take charge of feeding German child, Henry’s brother, Alfred G. Scattergood, became chief of that unit.

Henry wrote the following letter to his wife on March 14, 1919 at a pivotal moment in European history. The letter describes the scene immediately around him, the broader situation in France, Germany and Austria, American politics, the hope for a new “league of nations” and his fears for “another struggle of the future“ if the league was not designed with the proper intent. It is an amazing, insightful document written by one of Powelton’s finest. It is copied here in full as it was printed in the Evening Public Ledger in April, 1919.

"I started a letter two days ago from Paris, but was interrupted by interviews, and then suddenly found I had to leave that evening for Neufchateau, in the east of France, to see some United States army officers about materials which we need in the Verdun area. So yesterday was spent on trains and at Neufchateau and today again on trains on my way to Charmont (our new headquarters in the Verdun area). I have an hour before the connecting train leaves for Bar le Duc. Hundreds of ‘Yanks’ are all around us – typical scene. There is a constant string in one door to the canteen and out another, each fellow getting his can full of hot coffee and a sandwich. He pays a trifle if he has the money, otherwise it is given.

"Besides cold corned beef and hard bread it is all they often get on a journey from one place to another.

"Last evening at Neufchateau, while I was getting supper at the A. R. C. [American Red Cross] station canteen, I watched a girl I felt sure I knew hand out coffee and sandwiches. She proved to be Ruth Gibbons, of Haverford Meeting, and she had just fed 1700 boys in forty-five minutes – two trainloads. One feels for these fellows, and all of them sick and tired of the army and all anxious to get home and back to their usual work.

"Many towns like this one, and most of those in northeast France, are full of Americans. This applies to the sectors taken over by the United States from the French. In every little village they are stationed; with too little to do now, and tired of the French and the French of them.

"Today I have seen Russians, who were prisoners in Germany, brought by the French and Americans to work here for their keep, I suppose. A French soldier told me they are still really the same as prisoners. I can't just place their legal status, but as some one is feeding them they probably are willing to stay rather than go to Russia or Germany with all the uncertainties in those countries.

"What strange situations the war has made. The individual work habit has been lost by hundreds of thousands of men. They have been fed for so long now in many cases one, two or three years of compulsory service before the war and then four and a half years of war itself – that they have come to depend upon state employment, and have lost the habit of individual work.

"This is especially true of Germany and Austria. In the former, the present government has had to make a general appeal to the citizens to work, saying that on work depends the whole welfare of the state. Think of what it means to have the work-loving German nation of the past reduced to this. Those unemployed, I understand, are being paid for the moment by the state eight marks a day. They would rather take this and not hunt work than find work and get more.

"In Austria, reports from Switzerland say, the conditions are even worse, and chaos and the break-up of the state and civilization are threatened. Soldiers form committees and get food themselves because of quasi-governmental powers and don't care if others suffer. It is a case of every one for himself, and a scramble with no real general coherence or state authority.

"This god that the central empires have worshiped – the state – has crumbled to pieces and they feel lost.

"The desperate straits of starvation and unemployment and demoralization have, of course, hastened the process of proletariat unrest which breeds Bolshevist philosophy, and those returning from the Berne conference state that the Moderates from Germany, whom they saw there expressed the view that the revolution in Germany and Austria is just beginning, not ending.

"The Allied powers have been late in realizing the facts to which they have been blind because of feelings arising from the war. England awoke first through its members of the inter-Allied food commission and gave the warning three weeks ago. Its leading member even resigned because of lack of support for his view at the time. Now even the French appear to see the danger of delay. Mr. Lansing, two nights ago in a speech in Paris, repeated the warning of the instant need of feeding Germany, or there would be no Germany to feed.

"But none of the United States $100,000,000 for the Hoover Food Commission can be used because of restrictions passed by our ‘enlightened’ Congress, prohibiting help being given to the central powers. And yet they wonder at the growth of Bolshevism. But not so with those who see on this side the strain and stress of conditions caused by the war.

"The more one watches the frenzied struggle with the present problems of national interests, of internal finances and budgets, of demobilization and the re-starting of industry, etc., the more one realizes that the war has made more problems than it settled. I am having an eye to the national budgets now in the making, and I look for interesting realizations to dawn therefrom upon the consciousness of some of the nations that have withstood thus far any new developments in the international and social orders.

"How lamentable it seems at this juncture for Senator Lodge and others to be ‘throwing monkey wrenches into the gears.’ It is taken in Europe as meaning that America is much divided. But it is encouraging to find that the league-of-nations idea has made such headway in France that Senator Lodge's views are generally given very little space in the French newspapers now, and that enlightened European opinion sees the new opportunity more and more.

"The great struggle is still ahead, however, to make the league of nations a real league and not merely a camouflage alliance of one group assuming counter-interests against another group. This last conception would, of course, have in it the seeds of another struggle of the future.

"Yet people ‘taking counsel of their fears,’ both in the United States and in Europe seem prone to seek immediate safety in the latter kind of a league, or rather alliance, and have difficulty in seeing through into a greater conception of trust in the deeper moral forces underlying all humanity in which rests the real security for all."

(Reprinted from the Evening Public Ledger, April 4, 1919. P. 20)

J. G. Brill and the Brill Brothers

2011-10-09T13:25:00.003-04:00

John G. Brill (1817-1888)

Johann Georg Brill was born in Cassel, Germany in 1817. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1847 along with his wife, Juliane, a daughter, Anna, and an infant son, George Martin Brill. Fifty years later, his sons ran the J. G. Brill Co., the largest manufacturer of street cars in North America.
Soon after John G. Brill arrived in Philadelphia (with his Americanized name), he began working for Murphy and Allison, manufacturers of railroad cars at their plant at 32nd and Chestnut Streets. In 1866, Murphy & Allison became W. C. Allison & Sons. In 1868, they stopped manufacturing horse-drawn passenger cars. J. G. Brill and his oldest son, G. Martin Brill set up a small shop across the street and started making parts for passenger cars under the name J. G. Brill & Son. In the 1870 census, J.G. and Martin reported that they were carpenters. For the first few years, they did not have a proper workshop. Mrs. Brill and three of their sons became confectioners to help support the family. In 1872, J. G. Brill &; Co. acquired a third partner, John Rawl, who brought them much needed capital and important business contacts. They quickly started getting orders for complete cars. In 1873, they had their first foreign sale, to Mexico.

Early Horse Car Built by the J. G. Brill Co. in 1873

In the 1870s, J.G. moved his family to 3601 Spring Garden St., a large house. (It has later replaced by a row of three houses.) During the 1880s, the car building shops grew to cover 4½ acres. In 1887, Brill began building a new factory at 62nd St. and Woodland Ave. (now the site of a shopping mall). J. G. Brill died in 1888 at the age of 71 before the new factory was completed.

J. G. Brill Co. Factory, 62nd St. & Woodland Ave.

In 1890, the company moved to their new factory. The site was ideal being situated between two rail lines. It made possible a big increase in production.

George Martin Brill (1846-1906)

After the death of J.G., the firm was run by Martin and two of his brothers, John and Edward, along with John Rawle. Martin had worked with his father to build the company. He now became president and oversaw general operations. He was also issued over 20 patents. He had moved his family to 414 N. 32nd St. and then, in 1889, to 3613 Hamilton St. (which he purchased for $9,250). In 1895, he purchased the estate at 3500 Powelton Ave. that had recently been owned by the Du Pont family for $21,000 plus $39,000 for the adjacent land along Powelton Ave.. In 1900, he lived there with his wife, Mary, their three daughters, their son and three servants.

Thee bob tail; car required only one horse and fares were collected by the driver.

The second son, George, didn’t play a major role in building up the business. About 1870, he moved to Williamsport, Pa. with his wife and worked as a baker. He returned to Philadelphia and the family business about 20 years later.

Edward Brill (1850-1914)

The third son, Edward, joined the company in 1880. He was in charge of buying and the storing of lumber and other material. He later became treasurer and vice president. In the 1880s, Edward and brother John moved to 3411 Baring St. In 1889, he married Cecilia Shipper, daughter of Francis and Clara Shipper (3313 Baring St.). He had just turned 39 and she was about 23. They did not have any children. In 1900, they lived at 3465 Chestnut St.

John A. Brill (1852-1908)

John A. Brill was credited with much of the success of the business. He was responsible for many of the most important innovations and he traveled tirelessly selling cars all over the world. He was apparently a great salesman. He never married. During his last years, he suffered from a terribly disabling condition. In 1900, he lived with his divorced younger sister, Amelia, at 1110 S. 47th St.

Brill was a leading innovator in "trucks." This 1895 model was for 8-wheeled cars.

By 1902, J. G. Brill Co. was the largest manufacturer of street cars in the U.S. They began acquiring other companies and opened a factory in France. At the same time, the Brill family’s association with Powelton was coming to an end. Martin sold 3500 Powelton and moved to Lower Merion. When he died in 1906, his obituary was featured on the front page of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Brill made many specialty cars such as this car for export to South Africa in 1895

The Brill family was among the most successful entrepreneurial families that ever lived in Powelton.

Two important references:
John A. Brill. "The development of the street car from horses to electricity." Cassier's Magazine, Electric Railway Number. Vol. 16.. 1899: 389-424.

Debra Brill.. History of the J.G. Brill Company. Indiana University Press, 2001.

100 Years Ago in Powelton: The New Friends' School Building

2011-09-27T11:32:00.002-04:00

The Philadelphia Inquirer carried the following story on September 25, 1901:

“FRIENDS’ NEW SCHOOL BUILDING

“The Friends’ West Philadelphia School building, at Thirty-fifth and Lancaster avenue, is fast nearing completion and will be ready for occupancy, it is believed, by Oct. 14. The building is thoroughly modern, and the committee in charge has given special care to the heating, ventilation, and plumbing arrangements. The drinking water for the entire plant will be filtered through stone and boiled before it enters the coolers.

“This building will now comfortably accommodate 165 pupils, divided into kindergarten, primary and intermediate grades, promoting finally to the Friends’ Central School at Fifteenth and Race streets, of which graded system it is a part. The principal is now enrolling pupils at her temporary office, 3507 Lancaster avenue, where she or her assistants may be consulted between the hours of 8:30 A. M. and 4 P. M. every weekday except Saturday.”

Note: the arrangements for clean water were especially important. There was a serious problem with typhoid fever until Philadelphia finally completed the installation of sand filters for the city's water supply in 1912 and began chlorination in 1913.

Powelton's Movie Starlet

2011-09-10T13:01:00.000-04:00

The following article appeared in the Evening Public Ledger, March 17, 1915:

“U. OF P. INSTRUCTOR AND ‘MOVIE’ STAR TO WED
“Dr. John P. Chapman and Miss Mary J. Huff to Marry

      “An introduction at a dance a year ago, which was followed by ardent courtship, will culminate in the wedding, next Friday, of Dr. John Patrick Chapman, an instructor of anatomy at the University of Pennsylvania, and Miss Mary Justina Huff, a moving picture star. The ceremony will be performed at St. Patrick's Church, 20th and Spruce streets.
      “Miss Huff, who resides at the Powelton Apartments, 36th street and Powelton avenue, is a native of Columbus Ga. For several years she has been appearing as a star in many famous moving picture productions. She is now posing for the Lubin Film Manufacturing Company. She has appeared as leading woman in ’Love of Women,’ ‘Men of the Mountains’ and other plays.
      “Doctor Chapman first met Miss Huff at a dance given by the members of the Merion Cricket Club a year ago, at Haverford. They were introduced by friends. A courtship followed. Miss Huff, who is 21 years old, will continue to appear as leading woman in the ‘movies’ after her marriage. Before she agreed to accept Doctor Chapman’s proposal she insisted that her marriage should not interfere with her career. Doctor Chapman is 27 years old. He resides at 1700 Pine street. He is well known as a practitioner in this city. He and his fiancée obtained their marriage license yesterday afternoon."

      Justina Huff (1893 – 1977) made 21 films with the Lubin Film Manufacturing Co. which had their studios on North Broad Street. Her younger sister, Louise Huff (1895 – 1973), had a slightly longer (1910-1922) and more celebrated career.
      John Chapman graduate from Penn Medical School in 1911. He was born in St. Louis. He was orphaned at age 8 and was raised by an aunt and uncle in Watertown, N.Y. Three younger siblings were sent to live with another aunt and uncle in Portland City, Oregon.
      Justina made her last film in 1916. In 1920, the couple was living on S. Latches Lane, Lower Merion with two young children.

The Fullerton Family, Redux

2011-09-04T13:30:00.001-04:00

Robert Fullerton and Martha White Fullerton, c1850

My recent post on the Fullerton family (Born in "Hindustan) caught the eye of a descendant of Dora Fullerton. She and her cousin were in the process of researching their Fullerton roots. This led to a very interesting exchange of information about this fascinating family. They also sent me great photos of the Fullertsons (including the one shown above) most of which were taken around the time they lived in Powelton. The photos and more extensive biographies are posted on the interactive map for 3307 Hamilton St..

The photo above shows Robert and Martha Fullerton about the time of their marriage. They left for India in 1852 as Presbyterian missionaries. Robert died (apparently of cancer) in India before they could return to the U.S. Martha returned with their six surviving children and settled at 3307 Hamilton St. Her sister and brother-in-law lived a few blocks away at 3412 Baring St. were he ran the Mantua Female Seminary. Perhaps the most interesting new information posted there concerns George Fullerton's internment in Austrian and German prison of war camps for four years during WWI.

Powelton in 1880: The Managers

2011-08-21T12:10:00.000-04:00

In 1880, Poweltonians were generally what we would call upper middle class. The largest occupation category for male heads of households was “managers” (37%). Almost all of them were business owners. The next two largest categories were “skilled workers” and “professionals” (16% and 15%). However, there were also some lower income families such as “clerical workers” (most of whom work for the Pennsylvania Railroad) and “unskilled labor” (generally factory workers) which each accounted for 7%. Males headed 85% of households. Almost all of the women who headed households were listed as “keeping house” which provides little information about their social class. (I’ll deal with those households in a later blog.)

Occupations of Male Household Heads, Powelton and Philadelphia, 1880

     I like statistics, partly because I’m used to looking at them and interpreting them – I am a demographer, after all. However, with this blog and the Interactive Map, I’m aiming for a “collective biography” not a statistical abstract. Therefore, I’ve selected about 15 individual male household heads at random with proper numbers from each occupation category. I hope these few cases (with occasional references to other families) will provide a balanced view of the economic groups that first settled here.

Powelton’s Businessmen
     Here are brief bios of six male household heads selected at random from the group of “managers.”
     Thomas Martindale was the subject of a recent blog, but a brief summary is helpful. Martindale was born in England in 1845 and immigrated as a young boy. In 1880, he was 35 years old and had lived in Philadelphia for 11 years. He had moved his family to 413 N. 33rd St. where he lived out his life. He owned a single whole-foods store and lunch room. He was a strong advocate of a vegetarian diet and exercise and he later wrote several books about his hunting expeditions. He also became a big booster of infrastructure improvements that would aid businesses such as telephone systems and canals. In 1880, there were 10 other household heads who were grocers; three specifically stated they were wholesale dealers. There were also 8 who were dealers in “dry goods.”


James W. Campbell lived at 3200 Arch st. in the 1860s.

     Alfred Seal started life better off than Martindale, but wasn’t as fortunate as an adult. He was a partner in Reese, Seal & Co., one of the major wool merchants in Philadelphia, New York and Boston which was founded by his grandfather. Alfred’s father died in 1857 when Seal was about 17. In 1860, he was living with his grandfather who claimed real estate valued at $50,000 and personal property worth $30,000. Alfred’s wife died very young during the 1860s leaving him with two small children. In 1870, he and his children were living in New York. In 1880, Alfred was 40 years-old and he and his brother had inherited the family business, now named Seal Brothers. He lived at 3509 Hamilton St. with his children, his brother-in-law and sister-in-law (his wife’s relatives) and his mother-in-law. They had two servants. The 1880 census notes that his brother-in-law was blind and “insane.” Alfred died three years later at about age 43. His son, Alfred Newlin Seal, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1889 and received a Ph.D. in 1895. He became Professor and Head of the Department of Science at Girard College. There were 2 other households headed by wool merchants.
     Samuel C. Woolman was born in Burlington Co., N.J. near Mt. Holly. In 1860, he was a 21 year-old farmer with real estate valued at $6,000 and personal property worth $1,300. In 1872, he married Lucy Keen, daughter of John Sidney Keen. She had grown up at 32nd and Chestnut, now the site of the Drexel Institute building. The newlyweds moved to 3312 Race St. Samuel was in business with Lucy’s brother, Joseph S. Keen, as flour and grain merchants. (Joseph and his family lived next door at 3310 Race St.) In 1879, a fire raged through their warehouse at 2106-2108 Market St. Fortunately, the losses were covered by insurance. Sometime in the 1880s, Joseph Keen left the grain business to become General Manager of the American Pipe Co. Samuel Woolman continued in the grain business. From 1896 to 1899, he served as President of the Commercial Exchange, the commodity exchange for grain. His two sons, Walter and Clarence, also became grain merchants. There were 5 other households head by flour and/or grain merchants in Powelton in 1880.
     Elijah Pugh was 80 years old in 1880. He was a Quaker coal dealer from Lancaster County. He moved to Philadelphia in the late 1860s to live with his son, Charles E. Pugh, at 3716 Baring St. In 1880, he was listed as the head of the household at 3501 Baring St., but the house belonged to Charles. Elijah continued as a coal deal at 3807 Market St. until the mid-1880s. When he died in 1887, the Philadelphia Inquirer identified him as “father of General Manager [Charles E.] Pugh, of the Pennsylvania Railroad” and listed several of the top officials of the railroad who attended the funeral. (Charles was included in my earlier blog about the Penn. R.R., but he deserves a blog of his own.) In 1880, there were 2 other coal dealers (and one retired coal dealer) in Powelton.
     Frank R. Tobey lived at 3502 Race St. in 1880. He came from a family of businessmen -- his father and his uncle were among the earliest manufacturers of envelopes. In 1880, he was the purchasing agent for W. C. Allison and Sons (renamed Allison Manufacturing Co. in 1883) which manufactured railroad cars and a variety of related items such as iron tubing and boiler flus. W.C. Allison was one of the first builders of passenger cars but they ceased production of passenger cars in 1866. (One of their employees, J. G. Brill set up his own shop to build passenger cars. By 1900, the Brill family was one of Powelton’s wealthiest.) Frank Tobey became president of Allison Manufacturing about 1891. He was apparently quite close to the Allison family and was mentioned in William C. Allison will. Frank Toby never married and always lived with his unmarried sister, Laura. They were both active in the Unitarian Church. Frank Toby was apparently a prime example of a “company man.”
     These are just six examples of the 155 managers and business owners who headed households in Powelton in 1880. In addition to the merchants mentioned above, there were 35 other merchants and “dealers” in such items as hardware, lumber (for example, the McIlvain family), cattle and shoes. An additional 24 were listed as manufacturers of various items. Some had relatively large businesses such as the Andrews brothers and the Justi family (3401 Baring St.). Some business grew to be quite large by 1900 such as the Brill family’s street car manufacturing business (see 414 N. 32nd St.) but others were probably near their peak influence such as the Seller’s family machine tool business. It was only in the late 1880s that wealthier business owners (e.g., Lamot DuPont at 3500 Powelton Ave., George Burnham at 3401 Powelton Ave.) and officers of the Pennsylvania Railroad started building large houses here.

Owners and managers in medium sizes enterprises were the backbone of this middle-class community in 1880. They were generally not from the old-money Philadelphia families. A few were from old Quaker families (generally from outside Philadelphia such as Elijah Pugh and Samuel Woolman), but they were just as likely to be Presbyterian or Episcopalian. They produced innovations in manufacturing and business practices that fed industrialization during the middle of the century. They built the trade networks that fed the growing city and the nation. They built up medium sized firms that were later eclipsed by the large corporations that became dominant during the next 40 years. They were hard-working businessmen of comfortable means. The obituary in 1916 in the Philadelphia Inquirer for Thomas Martindale captures this spirit of enterprise:

“His energy was tireless. He believed in the sixteen-hour day until his business reached proportion where shorter hours were possible. He was a man of infinite detail and of such shrewd comprehension that he early amassed what was for those days a comfortable fortune although this was only the beginning of his business career.”

Hannah Schoff In Her Own Words

2011-07-31T13:26:00.000-04:00

My previous post gives an introduction to Hanna Kent Schoff. I think her success as a national spokesperson for child rights and maternal education was a product of her deep commitment to these issues and to her skills with the written and spoken word. Her writings are quite emphatic and she must have been an inspirational speaker.

The following interview with her was published in the Philadelphia Inquirer, April 3, 1917. The accompanying graphic highlights many of her comments.

"MOTHER" OF NATION'S ORGANIZED' MOTHERS
OPPOSES "MILITARY DRAFT" FOR CHILDREN
Mrs. Frederic Schoff, President of National Congress, Not a Pacifist, but Indignantly Scores Desire of Militants of U. S. to Put Universal Training in the Schools of the Country Has Four Sons

By M'LISS
"NOT a nation in the world, not even the mad, war-torn ones, not even Germany has drafted Its children Into military service, and yet the militarists of America, in the most crucial time of our history, lose their heads and threaten us with this thing!"

     In ringing tones of Indignation, Mrs. Frederic Schoff, for the last fifteen years president of the National Congress of Mothers and Parent Teachers' Association, an organization representing more than 100,000 mothers, denounced the agitators who would legislate the rifle and the musket into the hands of the school children and left no doubt as to the scale Into which she would throw her Influence when the all-Important subject of universal military training is brought up at the annual gathering of the association, to be held In Washington this month.
     It is quite possible that in her gentle, retiring way, this little white-haired Philadelphia woman molds opinion in as great a degree as many a nationally prominent statesman. For almost two decades in a benign and motherly fashion she has been engaged in educating mothers the country over out of the state of passivity over public questions into which she thought they had fallen.
     She is the mother of the organized mothers of the United States, and if she declares against universal military training it's a safe bet that the militarists of the country will have to sit up nights to offset her influence.

DENIES PACIFISM
     "Please do not think I am a pacifist," she said and the flag in the window at her home in Baring street was a concrete exhibition of her patriotism "I believe firmly and stanchly In being prepared. Three of my ancestors came over in the Mayflower; I am an American first, last and
all the time, but I believe America must point a newer and better way, not follow in the footsteps of mad, insane nations which are wiping each other off the face of the earth.
     "Experts will tell you," she continued earnestly, "that military training, in its strict sense, is not the best thing for children. I am not speaking of its spiritual effect now, but of Its purely physical effect. Why inject it into the schools? Later on, perhaps, at college, or when a man reaches his majority it would be well to have a military course. It should not take long to teach a healthy man the methods of warfare. But spare the children.
     "Give them a compulsory physical training, both the girls and the boys. That is real preparedness. Militarists will try and make you believe that the bill passed by New York recently putting physical training into the schools is military. It is not. It is simply a health measure, and as such could be copied in every other State with good effect.
     "But before we talk of a greater army, should we not better the condition of those already in it? Is it patriotic for us to sit back and criticise [sic.] men for not enlisting when they are expected to enlist at something like $15 a month?
     "Put the army and navy on the basis of a decent profession and then talk about enlistments.”
     "Mrs. Schoff is just back from a tour of the western States, where she spoke before the local mothers' organizations in the interest of child welfare, and to speak of child welfare at the present time without mentioning war and militarism was, she declared, more than she was capable of.
     "But I found many women who do not believe as I believe, some who are for war at any price and some for peace at any price. This augurs for a stormy convention In April. Do not magnify my influence I am but one woman among a hundred thousand or more represented in the mothers' association. They may go on record for universal military training."
     "But knowing mothers as she does, it was plain to see that she doubted that they would. Mrs. Schoff herself is the mother of seven children, four of whom are boys of war-going age.
     "One of my boys served on the border," she said, "and I believe the sending of those 150,000 boys down to Mexico did as much for the mothers of them as it did for the boys themselves. It made them learn things It brought the atmosphere of war Into their homes and opened their eyes to the seriousness of life. [Note: during her tour of western states, she visited her son, Albert, who was serving with the First Pennsylvania Cavalry in El Paso Texas.]

     "The trouble with most women has been that they haven't thought, they haven't studied. Federal bills are being considered the passage of which will touch every home and affect millions of lives. Yet few women know anything about these bills.
     "Great Britain and Europe are demonstrating that in times of war the women play almost as strenuous a part as the men. It behooves us to be prepared. Physically the women of America can pass muster with the men, but If It comes to a question of service we should put a little sane thinking into our expressions of loyalty and patriotism."
     "Millions for defense, but not one penny, not one man for aggression, is the message that its president will take to the annual convention of the National Congress of Mothers, which is to meet for the week beginning April 21 in Washington, D. C."

Hannah Schoff - The "Mother" of the Nation's Organized Mothers

2011-07-31T12:45:00.000-04:00

Frederick and Hannah Schoff raised their seven children at 3418 Baring St. They moved there in the early 1880s and expanded the house to fit their family's needs. Hannah lived there until her death in 1940, almost 60 years later.

Frederic and Hannah Schoff, their three sons (L to R: Harold, Wilfred, and Alfred), one their daughters and son-in-laws (Edith and John Boericke) and granddauther Beatrice taken at 3418 Baring St.

Leonard and Hannah were very industrious. Frederick ran Stow Flexible Shaft Co. which was co-founded by George Burnham, Jr. (214 N. 34th). Their flexible shafts and variable speed motors were widely used in industry and made possible such innovations as the dentist's drill. He was a member of the Church of the New Jerusalem (Swedenborg), the Union League, and the Sons of the Revolution.

Annie's picture from the Philadelphia Inquirer

      Hannah was by far the more interesting. In 1899, she read about an eight-year-old girl who set fire to a house. The girl’s mother died when she was two, she was sent to an orphanage and then put to work in a boarding house. A front page article in the Inquirer gave the girl's name and included a picture of her [at right]. It stated that experts “acknowledged her to be one of the most clever and accomplished of natural-born criminals.” Phrenology showed that “three prominences of the back head… [which] form the basis of our selfish properties, are well developed” on the girl. The consensus was that she was a “degenerate.” She confessed to setting the fire and to numerous petty crimes and was tried in a regular court and sentenced to a House of Refuge along with adults. Hannah Schoff convinced the judge to place the girl in a good home.
       Hannah credited this incident with setting her on a twenty-five-year battle to change the court system and focus attention on strengthening families and educating mothers. She declared that “there is no criminal class of children, but their faults come from faults of schools, church, and State.” (Phila. Inquirer, Nov. 28, 1911) She repeatedly stated that children who commit crimes “are not criminals. They are children who, by loving intelligent help at this time, may have their lives turned into the right direction.” (Phila. Inquirer, Nov. 3, 1912) She urged the legal system, schools and churches to develop approaches to supporting these children and their families.
       Her first step was to set about reforming the treatment of juveniles in the criminal justice system in Philadelphia. Working with other members of the New Century Club in Philadelphia, she began the campaign that led in 1901 to the establishment of a juvenile court system (only the second, after Chicago's), separate detention homes, and a system of (volunteer) probation officers. During the first eight years, she observed almost every session of the new court. She pushed for a similar system in Pittsburgh and for the whole Commonwealth. One of the New Century Club members who worked with her on this was Mrs. Elizabeth W. Garrett (3613 Powelton Ave.). Hannah also assisted successful efforts in other states including Connecticut, Louisiana, and Idaho as well as in Canada. Her efforts in Canada led to her becoming the first woman ever invited to address the Canadian Parliament.
       At the same time, she was involved in the establishment of the National Congress of Mothers in 1897. She served as its president from 1902 to 1920. During this time, the organization's name was changed to the National Congress of Mothers and Parent Teacher Associations and she is credited with turning the PTA into a national organization with many state affiliates. She founded its journal, Child Welfare (later National Parent-Teacher) and edited it from her home. She was instrumental in getting Theodore Roosevelt to serve on an advisory board throughout her presidency.
       A major focus of the National Congress of Women was keeping children from falling into a life of crime. For example, they opposed complete bans on child labor on the grounds that some children should work to keep them out of trouble. Hannah oversaw a large-scale investigation into the childhood circumstances that led to criminal incarceration. Her study of 8,000 questionnaires filled out by prisoners and her years of observing the criminal justice system and visiting prisons led to her book The Wayward Child (1915). In it, she wrote that over the years she had been in touch with the so-called incorrigible children and she had seen many who were regarded as hopelessly wicked respond to the love and care given them.

Hannah was very Victorian in that she stressed childrearing as "the highest, holiest duty of womanhood.” She felt women needed to be better prepared for this task. This focus on childrearing put her at odds with the more radical feminists of her day. For example, in an impromptu speech in Harrisburg in 1913, she declared that “With so much work waiting to be done, so many great and good undertakings that fall flat for lack of competent persons to assume control, it does not seem to me that our women of today may better devote themselves to the things which may be accomplished rather than bewail the fact that they are hampered in their actions for civic good by the lack of a vote.”
Hannah Schoff was widely recognized as a national leader on many of the issues of her day involving the health and welfare of children. An article in the New York Tribune in 1917 about child nutrition referred to “the great progressive army of mothers and educators organized under the leadership of Mrs. Frederick Schoff.” The same year in an interview with her about proposals to give military training to school children, the Philadelphia Inquirer called her the “’mother’ of [the] nation’s organized mothers.” That interview (which I will post in my next blog) reveals in her own words Hannah Schoff’s strength, character and political acuteness. In her day, Hannah Schoff was a true force to be reckoned with. In terms of national prominence and influence on her times, she was certainly one of Powelton’s finest.

Defense of the River, April, 1861

2011-07-23T14:20:00.000-04:00

     One hundred years ago, the U.S. was at the start of a long, very bloody Civil War. Philadelphians were organizing and sending off troops to fight. However, they also had to be prepared to wage a defensive battle if Confederate troops broke through to the North. This was a very real possibility - in 1863, the Battle of Gettysburg was fought to prevent Lee from moving on Harrisburg and Philadelphia.
     On April 30, 1861, the Philadelphia Inquirer published the following letter from an unnamed Navy Officer:

"Ed. Phila. Inquirer: …
     {The first paragraph deals with the stationing of ships to defend several forts and the Navy Yard.]
     "Some of our heavy artillery, 68 and 32 pounders, ought, I think, to be placed in charge of at least an artillery company, at Gray’s Ferry bridge, and men always stationed, armed the draw. Others should be located at the Railroad and Girard Bridges; as also, at the Market Street; on Market Street in the Lancaster Turnpike hills, and Fairmont; but, perhaps, Bridge [Spring Garden] and Thirty-sixth streets, Mantua, would be the most eligible site for a first defense of that crossing….
     "Should we be defeated at Washington, and have to leave, the advance of the Confederate Army will be made as much of a surprise as possible, I presume; and if my ideas of warfare and the probable Southern tactics are correct, without these precautions our beloved city may be surprised. I know that our God will defend us, as we are in the right; but we must have organized, immediately, a strong well armed Home Guard. And, although the sick and physically weak by organization, find themselves disappointed in not been received into the present volunteer force, let them neither despond nor disband, for there may be a time coming when even the oldest and most infirm among us can aid to sustain the Government and our blessed flag. Let each and all, young and old, sick or well, if they can, organize themselves and seek and buy arms of some kind, so that no raid of 'plug uglies' upon our city, our beloved city, can succeed. Let all remember that Philadelphia is within one hundred miles of Baltimore, where such atrocious rebellion has recently displayed its horrid front, and but one hundred and forty miles from Washington, the capital of our country, and upon which the eyes of both North and South are fixed – the first for defense, the last for rapine, murder and rebellion.
     "Philadelphia calls upon her sons to arm. Let all do it, (Quakers and other sects alike). We can beat the southern cohorts if we manfully try; for Pennsylvania don't crow coward's. Let, too, the holders of arms in Philadelphia sell them at not over cost price, even if their patriotism will not prompt them to do more. They know not how soon they may wish they had given rifles, revolvers, &c, away, and bitterly repent their desire for lucre.
     "[Signed] A Navy Officer"
[italics in original, bold added]

   Powelton and Mantua did act. One part of their response was the formation of the Mantua Home Guard which I plan to describe in a future blog.

The History of the Powelton Club

2011-07-18T13:31:00.001-04:00

Before the "Roaring '20s" there were the "Gay '90s." It was a big decade for sports, games and social clubs, For more than a dozen years around the turn of the century, the Powelton Club offered it all. It began as a men’s club, but then introduced regular ladies nights. It offered whist, billiards, bowling, and more. Its tournaments, socials, and ladies' nights were regularly noted in the society column. Every year the Philadelphia Inquirer reported on the election of new officers and board members. For most of its history, the club was house at the old Butcher estate [207 N. 35th St. gives links to pictures of the mansion in the early 1880s.], one of the oldest houses in Powelton. The following is a basic history of the Club as offered by the Inquirer.

December 3, 1893, Pg. 14
“The new club has been inaugurated in West Philadelphia.
“The property 3314 Race st. has been rented and the building is being fitted up as temporary quarters. The members now number about 100. A peculiarity of this club and one that every member takes a personal pride in is the fact that no liquors of any kind will be sold, given away or allowed on the premises. Another rule in the by-laws states of the club will be entirely free from gambling, and even card playing for simple amusement will not be permitted on Sundays. It has been given the name of the Powelton Club, and the membership will be limited to 150. The temporary officers are Charles Gilpin, Jr., president, a son of ex-Mayor Gilpin: Samuel C. Woolman [3312 Race], vice-president; William Barratt, secretary, and Howard Watkin [3305 Baring], treasurer. Among those instrumental in the formation of the organization were E. L. Rogers [3411 Race], Max Riebenack [227 N. 34th], A. P. Flint [3214 Baring], L. G. Fouse [3613 Baring], and the temporary officers. The club will be managed on a plan similar to that of the Hamilton Club. The total expense to each member will be $10 entrance fee and $10 annual dues.”

December 3, 1893, pg. 2
“The Powelton Club Organized.
"The Powelton Club, the social organization of businessman residing in West Philadelphia, last evening permanently organized at 3314 Race street by the election of the following officers: President, John F. Craig [3417 Baring]; vice-president, S. C. Woolman [3312 Race]; treasurer, H. Z. Ziegler [110 N. 34th]; secretary, W. C. Barratt [3605 Hamilton]; directors to serve one year, Ellwood Bonsall [219 N. 34th], Arthur D. Smith [3615 Hamilton] and Lewis H. Trimble [3409 Baring]; for two years, J. E. Goodman [3309 Arch], W. J. Peale [3607 Hamilton] and R. H. Watson [3605 Hamilton]; for three years, George A. Fletcher [216 N. 34th], Charles Gilpin, Jr. [212 N. 33rd], and John A. Wiedersheim [200 N. 34th].”

November 15, 1894
“THE POWELTON CLUB
“ITS NEW HOME WILL BE FORMALLY OPENED TO-NIGHT
     “Success of the Social Organization Which Carries on Its Rolls Many of West Philadelphia's Best Citizens
“The new building of the Powelton Club, at Thirty-Fifth and Powelton avenue, one of the finest and handsomest buildings of its kind in West Philadelphia, will be formally opened to-night. A public reception, to which a large number of West Philadelphia's and the city's prominent residents have been invited, will be held.
     "The club house stands in a commanding position, facing Powelton avenue and Thirty-fifth street and surrounded by a handsome avenue of trees.
     “The building is 50 feet front by 100 feet deep, and stands on a plot 89 x 212 feet. It has been entirely renovated and rearranged, so as to insure all the conveniences and comforts of club life. The wide hallway is one of the striking points of the interior arrangements that give the building a quaint and yet pleasant effect. On either side of the hallway are the reception room and library, with accommodation for those who may want to either read or write. In the basement is a fine gymnasium, with all the modern appliances, together with shuffleboard, billiard and pool room and bowling alleys. Close beside these are the bath rooms, lavatories, etc.
     “The second floor rooms are devoted to whist parlors, elegantly furnished. The third story is devoted entirely to apartments of the steward and store rooms. All the rooms have the old style of grate. The lighting throughout is by electricity and the building is heated by steam. The outside grounds will be used in summer for tennis and other sports.
     “The Powelton Club was organized on November 18, 1893. With a small membership, which has increased from time to time until to-day there are 220 on the rolls. The officers are John F. Craig, president; Samuel C. Woolman, vice-president; Henry Z. Ziegler, treasurer, and Dr. W. C. Barratt, secretary, with a Governing Committee consisting of J. E. Goodman [3416 Race], Charles Gilpin, Jr., Richard H. Watson [3605 Hamilton], W. J. Peale, George A. Fletcher, Howard Watkin, R. D. Allen, George W. Kendrick, Jr. [3507 Baring] and John A. Wiedersheim.”

November 18, 1894
     "The Powelton Club, now located at the corner of Thirty-fifth and race streets, was formally opened Thursday evening by a most successful reception. The house was decorated with ferns, chrysanthemums, and potted plants. In the reception room and library long festoons of smilax and chrysanthemums were hung. In one of the corners an orchestra, hidden from view by ferns and flowers, rendered an enjoyable musical program. Prominent in the hallway was a handsomely embellished design representing the club's coat of arms. The committee in charge of the reception comprised E. L. Rogers, George Burnham, Jr. [214 N. 34th], William W. Allen, Ellwood Bonsall, Charles A. Bean [3603 Powelton], Richard A. Watson, Samuel C. Woolman, Charles L. Dexter [3404 Powelton], J. G. Rittenhouse, Jr. [22 S. 34th], J. E. Frymier [114 N. 34th], Charles R. Hardt [422 N. 32nd], H. M. Justi [3401 Baring], George Masters [3308 Baring], and W. B. Seeley [3624 Baring]. At the close of the reception supper was served. Among the prominent guests were:
     “Mayor Stuart, Judge and Mrs. W. N. Ashman, Judge Gordon, Judge and Mrs. Finletter, Judge and Mrs. W. P. Hanna, the Misses Hanna, Judge M. Arnold, Mr. and Mrs. John F. Craig,…., John A. Powel…, Rev. and Mrs. Charles M. Armstrong, Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Cook, [and] Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Fulton….” [The full list of guests numbers 128.]

December 20, 1901
“Powelton Club’s Smoker
     “Mirth, wit and good fellowship reigned supreme at the Powelton Club, Thirty-fifth street below Powelton avenue, last night, when the last smoker of the year was given. And entertainment, consisting of instrumental and vocal numbers, had been arranged by the committee in charge, and that the conclusion they were congratulated for their selection. The committee consisted of James Hogan [3204 Powelton], RH Watson, R. A. Schartz, R. Montgomery, and James Lazarus. During the intermission refreshments were served in the basement of the club house. The Powelton Club’s membership is recruited from the most wealthy circles of West Philadelphia, some of the most prominent businessman of the city being on its roll. The newly elected officers of the club are: Samuel C. Woolman, president; George A. Fletcher, vice president; Dr. W. C. Barrett, secretary, and H. Z. Ziegler, treasurer."

[Note: Smoker - "(U.S.) A social gathering of men, sometimes with organized entertainment." OED. The term first appeared in the late 1880s.]

May 12, 1906
Samuel T. Freeman & Co. offered the residence and grounds of the Powelton Club for sale at auction.

June 4, 1907“Valuable Properties Including the Old Powelton Clubhouse Sold Yesterday by Sheriff
     "The grounds and buildings of the Powelton Club, perhaps the largest club house in West Philadelphia, were sold yesterday at the monthly sale of real estate by the Sheriff in City Hall. The property consists of two lots on the east side of Thirty-fifth street south of Powelton avenue, the entire lot of ground measuring about 100 x 150 feet. The building is the old Dupont mansion [although they lived across the street at 3500 Powelton], which was one of the famous old mansions of the city in days before the residential district had gone west of the Schuylkill. The building is three stories high and was purchased by the Powelton Club about fifteen years ago and remodeled. The total expenditure being about $40,000. The property was sold yesterday to Charles H. Beecher, of Pottstown, for $13,530. Mr. Beecher has until noon today to post his full deposit. When seen yesterday the purchaser said he would remodel the building and make it his residence."

The Powelton Club was only active for about a dozen years, but its history provides a glimpse of the era when Powelton was at its peak in Philadelphia business and social life.

Maj. Zalmon Ludington and Brigadier Gen. Marshall Independence Ludington

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"The body of Major Sealman [sic.] Ludington, who died in Philadelphia at the residence of his son, Marshall J. [sic.] Ludington [3406 Powelton Ave.]. on Sunday, was buried here to-day. Major Ludington was a soldier in the war of 1812 and was president of the Philadelphia Survivor's Association of Veterans of that war, which at its last meeting, three years ago, contained only six members." (Phila. Inquirer, April 25, 1889)

The Zalman family had a long history of serving in the army. Zalmon Ludington was the grandson of Comfort Ludington who was a Captain in the Dutchess Co. Militia during the Revolutionary War. Zalman served as a Private in Col. Churchill’s Regiment of the New York Militia from 1812 to 1815. After the War, he settled in Uniontown, Pa. where he had a shoe and leather business. He was awarded two patents for improvements to machinery for pressing peat into molds and drying it. All four of his sons fought in the Civil War.

Marshall I. Ludington was born in Smithfield, Pa. on Independence Day, 1839. He joined the Army during the Civil War as a Captain and assistant quartermaster of volunteers. He participated in the battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and the Battle of the Wilderness. After the war, he joined the Regular Army as an assistant Quartermaster and served in New Mexico, Washington, D.C. and Nebraska.

In 1883, Ludington was appointed Depot Quartermaster in Philadelphia. It was the main depot for the purchase of clothing, tenting, and other equipment for the Army. He and his wife moved to 3406 Powelton Ave. which provided easy travel to his office at 1428 Arch St. He served here for 6 years before being transferred to San Francisco. After several promotions, he became Chief Quartermaster of the Department of the East. President McKinley appointed him Quartermaster General on February 3, 1898, just twelve days before the destruction of the battleship Maine in Havana harbor. Months before his appointment, he is credited with pushing preparations for a possible war and quickly reversing a long period of low funding for the Army during decades of peace. In 1903, Gen. and Mrs. Ludington retired to her childhood hometown, Skaneateles, N.Y.

George B. Evans – A Merchandiser for All Seasons

2011-07-10T11:49:00.000-04:00

It seems that every time I start to post what I think will be a nice simple piece, the story suddenly turns into something more interesting and more difficult to summarize.

I had planned a piece about George Evans and Philadelphia summers. For some time I have had a few paragraphs on the Interactive Map about that fact that Evan was one of the largest sellers of refrigerated, cold soda at his drug store (see below). I also discovered that he was the producer of Mum’s deodorant. (Those of you who have read my earliest blogs may remember John Powers and the ads he developed for Mums.) I figured cold soda and deodorant were enough for a July blog. However, I couldn’t leave well enough alone. I searched the archives of the Philadelphia Inquirer (available on-line through the Free Library of Philadelphia) and discovered that he deserves a place in the pantheon of Philadelphia merchandizers.

The Soda Fountain at George B. Evans's Store at 1106 Chestnut st. (c1906)

Powelton residents included numerous pharmacists. George B. Evans was not one of them. He sold patent medicines and hired trained pharmacists. He opened his first store at 1104 Chestnut St. about 1884. He later explained that "In 1887 I rented next door. I needed more room, but it then began to seem as though I had acquired too much room. The new store looked bare, so I purchased some pictures and hung them on the walls. They must've been pretty attractive pictures, because customers when they came in to buy drugs insisted on buying them. Well, that gave me the tip. I laid in more pictures and I've been laying them in ever since.” By 1895, his wares included “dainty bits of chinaware, sparkling cut glass, artistic bronzes, beautiful lamps, rich silver, handsome silver-plated ware, [and] clocks of various kinds.…”

In 1890, George married Lucy M. Hickman and they moved to 3621 Powelton Ave. The same year, he opened a second shop at 2330 N. Front St. and in 1893, he opened one at 8th and Arch Streets. By then George and Lucy had moved to 206 N. 34th St. About 1898, they moved across the street to a new house at 223 N. 34th St. that was probably designed and built by the Wilson brothers. Business must have been very good – he owned the house without a mortgage. He soon opened two more stores on Market St. (in 1902) and on Chestnut St. (1903).

In 1898, the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote about the expansion of Evans’s store at Eighth and Arch:

“Every Philadelphian who is proud of the business growth of the city should visit the newly enlarged drugstore of George B. Evans, at the northeast corner of Eighth and Arch streets…. Philadelphia is to-day possessor of a system of drug stores which for size, completeness and efficiency are not excelled in this country.

“Some fourteen years ago Mr. Evans opened a drug store near Eleventh and Chestnut streets. It's growth was phenomenal, and needs no description. Evans’ soda, Evans’ drugs, and not the least Evans’ prices, have long been household words in this city. [Evans was a leader in discounting the price of patent medicines.] Not satisfied with this success, a few years ago he determined to open a branch store on Eighth Street, and to this end secured a corner store, about forty feet square, one of six others into which the old Heller dry goods establishment was divided. Since then he has gradually enlarged by absorbing the remaining rooms of the building, and has just opened a mammoth drug store which includes the whole six stores mentioned, or the entire ground floor and basement of Heller building….

“The main entrance on Eighth street, which is a model of artistic skill, surrounded on each side with mahogany encased mirrors, sparkling with attractive displays of the world's finest perfumes and toilet waters… gives one the impression of a crystal maze entering into a crystal palace. The soda fountain occupies a prominent position in the centre of the store, and presents a marvelous combination of Mexican onyx, Sienna and Italian marbles, encased with large and handsome mirrors, finished in mahogany…

“[T]he prescription department… occupies a suspended gallery running the entire length of the store. Here were watched the dispensing chemists… mixing various decoctions and potions, making pills, ointments, spreading plasters, etc. Everything presented an appearance of great carefulness, with the system of checking which renders mistakes almost impossible, and nothing but the finest, chemically pure drugs are used in prescription work.

“The system of receiving cash by means of electric cable lines is well-nigh perfect, and the average length of time occupied in making change and returning same to customer is about twenty seconds.

“In addition to the drugs, patent medicines, toilet articles of all descriptions, the finest perfumes from the best manufacturers throughout the world and all accessories of a first-class drug store, there is connected with each of his stores an art department, where may be found choice articles for gifts, including china and bric-a-bracs, leather goods, sterling silver, cut glass, stationery etc. Mr. Evans is now in Europe searching the various commercial centres for choice novelties in the above lines for next fall's trade.” (Philadelphia Inquirer, April 6, 1898)

Ad for Evans Drug Stores, Philadelphia Inquirer, Dec. 30, 1893

This article and several similar articles in the Inquirer may have been from press releases written by John O. Powers (who also lived at 206 N. 34th St. at one time). Evans’s stores were also prominently mentioned in numerous ads for such products as hair restorers and medicinal inhalers. These may also have been arranged by Powers.

Evans was a grand showman. In 1902, he hired Addison Hutton to design alterations to his store at 1012 Market St. In 1910, he opened a newer store at 1221 Market St. that occupied 7,200 square feet. The store was decorated with “replica statuettes and floral garlands with fixtures in mahogany.” The ceiling had four stained-glass skylights and in the evening the store was lighted by 1,000 incandescent lights. In 1906, Evans’ original store on Chestnut St. had a soda fountain that sold an average of 2,000 drinks a day.

It appears that the Evans family was doing quite well. In 1910, the family included their four children, Edith (age 19), George B., Jr. (17), Harold F. (15), and Wayne H. (11), as well as a secretary, a cook, a chambermaid, and a waitress. George had been Vice President of the Union League and Lucy’s name frequently appeared in the social columns. In 1906, they bought a beach front property on Longport where they built a beach house.

In 1916, Edith married John Lawrence Pancoast, an insurance broker. Her engagement was celebrated at a bridge party given by Mrs. Paxon Deeter, a friend of hers from the Philadelphia Fencers’ Club. After their marriage, the Pancoasts moved to Lower Merion. By 1920, they had an infant son, Evans Pancoast, as well as a maid, a cook, a nurse and a waitress.


Ensign George B. Evans, Jr.

Tragedy struck in 1918. When WWI started, George, Jr. joined the Naval Reserves and was transferred to the naval air service. He trained to become a navy airman. In June, 1918, he was killed during a training flight near Miami when his plane fell apart at an altitude of 500 feet. He was 26 and had graduated from the Hill School and Cornell. His mother became heavily involved in the Canteen Committee of the Red Cross and worked to provide hospitality to soldiers coming through Philadelphia.

Harold Evans received training at Officer Candidate School at Ft. Benjamin Harrison. Its not clear whether he saw combat. When he turned 21, the Philadelphia Inquirer published his photo and identified him only as “a well-known business man.”

Five months after his brother’s death, Harold Hickman Evans changed his birthday from June, 1899 to November, 1898. He then enlisted in the Marne Corp on his new 20th birthday. He served as a Gunnery Sergeant during both WWI and WWII.

In the 1920s, George and Lucy Evans left Powelton and moved to Thornbrook Rd. in Lower Merion where they lived in retirement with their secretary, cook, assistant cook and chamber maid.

The Hamilton Tennis Club

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There have always been Poweltonians ready to organize a club or organization and the Powelton Tot Lot is not the first time Poweltonians have found a way to make use of a vacant property. The following appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer on May 16, 1915. It was part of a column entitled “Tennis Tangoing” written by “Billy Chalkline.”

"The Hamilton Tennis Club has its two courts at… [3608-3612 Spring Garden St., now the site of the El-Rae Apartments] in first-class condition and Horace G. Hill, Jr. [3419 Hamilton St.], the president, plans to arrange a number of interclub matches. This West Philadelphia organization claims a membership of only twenty members, but what it lacks in numbers it makes up for in enthusiasm.

“The courts have been in use for five years and are conveniently located, so that the businessman who are members may reach home in good time, slip into tennis togs and get in two or three good sets before dinner. Earlier in the day the court is used by the Junior Tennis Club members, who pay Junior dues. Among the Juniors who play practically every afternoon in the week are Horace Kirk [3206 Hamilton St.], Richard S. Zinn [3325 Spring Garden St.], Frank Trimble [407 N. 32nd St.], Howard Leathem [3513 Haverford Ave.], Max Riebenack [227 N. 34th St.], Ray Barton [3623 Hamilton St.], and Henry Rife [3604 Hamilton St.].

“Among the Senior club players are Joseph Bennett, Jack Rich [412 N. 32nd St.], Horace Hill, [J.] Bennett Hill [409 N. 36th St.] and Charles Harlan [3411 Spring Garden]. This year some of the women in the neighborhood took a fancy to lawn tennis and a Ladies’ Auxiliary was organized. The women have the use of the courts in the mornings and they make good use of them. In various sections of the city similar clubs have been formed and many vacant lots have been fitted up and used for tennis purposes."

(Note: Horace Kirk, who was a Junior member, stayed close to home. In 1942, he was living a block away from the site of the old courts at 3723 Spring Garden St.)

Of Church and Family

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The growth of Powelton after 1860 was reflected in the growth of its churches. The two most prominent reminders of that are the Metropolitan Baptist church, which was originally the Northminster Presbyterian Church, and St. Andrew and Monica’s Protestant Episcopal Church. Both churches were originally small congregations serving the population of Mantua. Powelton families played central roles in the growth of both after 1860. The long-term association of the Andrews family with Northminster Presbyterian is a part of that story.

Northminster Presbyterian Church c1900

Northminster Presbyterian began about 1837 as a small “Sabbath-school” that met at a house near 33rd and Spring Garden Sts. In 1846, it moved to a new, small church at 3500 Spring Garden which is still in use as a church today. It was organized under the name The First Presbyterian Church of Mantua. With the growth of Powelton, the church purchased the lot at 3500 Baring St. and in 1875 they moved into the substantial building we see today. With the declining importance of Mantua, the church was renamed Northminster Presbyterian. (More information about its history is available from the Interactive Map for 3500 Baring St.)

Undoubtedly there were many families in Mantua and Powelton that played important roles in the growth of Northminster Presbyterian. However, one family in particular seems to have been at the center of the church’s growth after 1860. The Alexander Andrews family was one of the first to move into the heart of Powelton. One daughter married the pastor who oversaw the building of the new church and the other daughter married a future treasurer and elder of the church.

Alexander Andrews (1812-1887)

Alexander J. Andrews was born in 1812 in Upper Oxford, Chester Co., Pa. In 1838, he married Amelia D. Van Amringe of Philadelphia. Her father was born in the Netherlands and her mother was born in England. Both parents died before her 10th birthday. Alexander worked as an engraver in Philadelphia and as a machinist and machine manufacturer in Providence, R.I. and Philadelphia. In 1851, his business failed wiping out his resources. In 1856, he turned to the grain business at 31st and Market Sts. and from then on, he was quite successful.

Amelia Van Amringe Andrews (1810-1873)

In 1859, the family acquired the land at 3507 Baring St. through a trust administered for Amelia by Henry S. Cochran. (This was not the Henry Cochran who later built a house down the block at 3511 Baring St.) In the 1860 census, Amelia claimed $8,000 in real estate and $1,000 in personal property. Alexander didn’t list any assets. When they moved to the north side of Baring St., the south side of the block and most of the neighboring blocks were probably still wooded lots.
In 1866, their daughter, Louisa (age 19), married Rev. Henry Augustus Smith, D.D., Pastor of the First Mantua Presbyterian Church (also called the New School Presbyterian Church) at 35th & Spring Garden. In 1870, he oversaw the purchase of the lot at 3500 Baring St. across the street from the Andrews home. The new church, now named Northminster Presbyterian, was opened there in 1875. Henry and Louisa lived at 3413 Hamilton St. with their son and two daughters. Louisa died in the late 1870s and in 1880, Henry and the three children (ages 11, 8, and 4) were living at 3705 Hamilton St. He resigned his pastorate at the Northminster Church in 1882 claiming ill health. He died the next year at age 50.

The Andrews’ second child, Frederick, was born in 1851. He entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1867, but left after his freshman year. In 1869, his father built a new warehouse and grain elevator at the southwest corner of 30th and Market St. He made Fred a partner and renamed the business Alexander J. Andrews & Son. Fred married Mary Schoonmaker, the daughter of a prominent Civil War hero and business man from Pittsburg. They moved to Haverford. In 1900, they were living Plainfield, N.J. where he was in the produce exchange business.

Amelia Andrews died in 1873 at age 63. In 1882, Frederick and Euretta sold 3507 Baring St. which they had inherited from their mother. Alexander was apparently retired and living with either Fred in Haverford or Euretta on 35th St. Alexander Andrews died in 1887.

Euretta Andrews Alexander (1853-1823)

The year following her mother’s death, their second daughter, Euretta (age 20), married Edward P. Alexander. He had been living with his brothers, Charles and Henry, at 3626 Baring St. They ran Alexander Brothers Leather Belting Co. In 1873, Edward had purchased the back of the church’s lot from the Northminster Church of which he was a prominent member. Edward and Euretta built a house there (306 N. 35th St.), renovated it several times, and lived there until 1922. Euretta died the next year at age 70.

Edward P. Alexander (1844-1927)

Edward and Euretta Alexander were active members of Northampton Presbyterian. In 1873, a list of churches contributing to temperance meetings lists Edward as treasurer of Northampton. In 1891, he was elected one of the three church elders and in 1897, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that a candidate for the position of pastor was entertained at the Alexander’s home. (The candidate was apparently unsuccessful.) Edward and Euretta had four children: two boys and two girls. Both sons went into the family business.

One son, Julian, married a local girl, Virginia Hill, at Northminster Presbyterian in 1914. Virginia grew up at 3416 Baring St. and her father, Horace G. Hill, grew up at 3405 Hamilton St. Her grandfather, Horace Hill was an accountant and served as auditor for several Presbyterian churches in Philadelphia. Horace G. Hill was a physician at Jefferson hospital and chief medical director of Fidelity Mutual Life Insurance. He died in 1901 at age 42 from “la grippe.” At the time of the marriage, Virginia’s mother was living at 409 N. 36th St.

After Julian and Virginia were married, they moved into their new home at 3417 Race St. They had two daughters, Juliana and Louisa, who were the great-granddaughters of Poweltonians Alexander and Amelia Andrews and Horace and Mary Hill. Virginia was still living at 3417 Race St. in 1950.

Northminster Presbyterian moved to Drexel Hill in 1946, taking the church’s cherished bells from the tower. In 1975, they merged with St. Paul’s United Church of Christ to form the Collenbrook United Church. The church at 3500 Baring was sold to Metropolitan Baptist church in 1956.

The Death of Lammot du Pont

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       In 1881, Lammot du Pont moved his family from the du Pont family residence, Nemours, on the Brandywine to 3500 Powelton Ave. in Powelton. The move brought him to within commuting distance of a company he had founded on the New Jersey side of the Delaware for the manufacture of nitro-glycerine. On Saturday, February 29, 1884, du Pont was working at his office when an employee burst in to tell him they were having trouble cooling a vat being used in the production of nitro-glycerine. Mr. du Pont and a visiting colleague ran over to the manufacturing building. As they arrived, the vat exploded killing them and four others. The blast was heard as far away as Chester and South Broad St. Du Pont was one of the wealthiest men in the country with an estimated wealth at the time of his death of at least $30 million.
       As was the custom, du Pont was buried from his home. The Philadelphia Inquirer described the funeral as follows:
       "The remains of the late Lammot Dupont… were laid to rest at three o'clock yesterday… in the private burial ground of the Dupont family on the banks of the Brandywine, below Wilmington. The body was laid in a black cloth casket, with plain silver mountings. The casket was placed in a cedar coffin, and, after brief services…, the remains were removed from Mr. DuPont's late residence, on Powelton avenue, to the Broad street station, where they were put on the 11:50 train for Wilmington. A special car was attached to the rear of the train for the accommodation of about fifty male friends and relatives of the immediate family, most of whom were prominent business and professional men….
       "On the arrival… the casket was removed to a hearse at the station, and those present were provided with carriages, of which there were about thirty, including a number of private equipages. There were no flowers, in accordance with the wishes of the family, and all ostentation was carefully avoided. The funeral cortege started shortly after the arrival of the train, going directly to the place of burial on the Dupont estate....
       "The spot when the burial took place is a beautiful one. It is situated on a high slope overlooking the Brandywine and the country for miles around. In the distance can be seen the church spires and the house tops of Wilmington and the broad, winding stream of the Delaware.... The ceremonies were brief and the mourners immediately returned to Wilmington, taking the four o'clock train for Philadelphia.""
       The family apparently remained in Powelton for a number of years. Mary du Pont was still listed at 3500 Powelton in the 1891 city directory. They sold the property in 1892.

       Note: The Hagley Museum (Hagley.org) has several pictures of the house and the du Pont family when they lived in Powelton. For links and more information, visit the Powelton Interactive Map for 3500 Powelton Ave.

Born in "Hindustan"

2011-06-05T12:09:00.000-04:00

In 1870, Martha White Fullerton (age 44) lived at 3307 Hamilton St. with her mother, Nancy (82) and her six children: Anna (16), Dora (15), Mary (14), Emma (12), George (10), and Edward (6). The census listed the children’s birthplace as “Hindustan.”

Martha White came from a family of Presbyterian ministers. She taught for a while at the Young Ladies’ Seminary in Norristown before marrying Robert Fullerton, also a Presbyterian minister. In 1852, they moved with their infant son, Robert, to India where they were missionaries in Fatehgarh near Agra. Robert died a year later.

The Front Gate of the Fort at Agra, India

The family’s story was told by John S. Harris. “During the Indian mutiny in 1857, Mr. and Mrs. Fullerton were shut up for several months in the English fort at Agra, the three older children having been sent to a place of safety in the mountains.” Emma was born in the fort during the siege. “Agra held out successfully against the mutineers, but all the missionaries in Fatehgarh were killed. After the mutiny, Mr. Fullerton spent many months gathering together the scattered native Christians and reorganizing the mission at Fatehgarh…. His health failed from the hardships of this life… and he was preparing to return to America when he died, October 4, 1865.” Mary returned to the States and moved to Philadelphia to be near her sister, Ann Eliza Moore, whose husband was head of the Female Seminary near Pottstown. Martha purchased 3307 Hamilton in 1866 and owned it until 1883. She died in 1895 at the age of 69.

Anna Fullerton, circa 1899
(Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania
Photograph Collection, Photo ID p0210.)

       Anna Martha Fullerton graduated from Girls’ High and worked as a teacher while attending Women’s Medical School. She graduated as an M.D. and became a professor of medicine. She was in charge of Women’s Hospital from 1886-1896. After a few years in private practice she returned to India in 1899. She was on the faculty at the Medical School for Women in Ludhiana and had charge of the hospital. In 1902, she joined her sister Mary in Fatehgarh and was involved in medical work at the mission where their parents had worked. She wrote two books for nurses.

        Dora married Leonard Waldo who was in charge of the railroad time service at the astronomical observatory at Cambridge, Massachusetts. Mary returned to India as a missionary and taught in the school for the children of missionaries at Woodstock, in the Himalaya Mountains. She returned to America on furlough in 1887 and remained to care for her mother. She then returned to mission work in India.

       Emma studied art at the Philadelphia School of Design and taught for a while at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts. She died at the early age of 27.

George S. Fullerton, 1879
(University of Pennsylvania Archives)

       George Stuart Fullerton was only 6 years old when his father died. He was old enough to be scared, but too young to understand the whirlwind that surrounded them in India. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, studied at Princeton Theological Seminary and earned a degree in divinity from Yale. He returned to the Philosophy Department at Penn where he became head of the department, dean of the college, and vice-provost. He married in 1884 Rebekah Daingerfield, but she died very young in 1891. In 1897, he married Julia Winslow. In 1904, he moved to Columbia University. In 1925, the Atlanta Constitution reported that “The gradual decay of one of the most brilliant minds among eastern college faculties was halted Monday when Professor George Stuart Fullerton committed suicide here at his home.” He was 65.

       In a remembrance, a professor at Penn and former student of George Fullerton, E. A. Singer, Jr., gives a sharp impression of his old teacher and fellow philosopher: “Cool analytic thinking, too conscientious with the thinker's conscience to shun the dangerous or avoid the dry, how should this not spoil the day for minds still warm and unformed, not yet thoughtful, of a courage untried? Such thinking might have taken the light out of our sky: if it did not, if on the contrary it so sunned things as to make its hour an hour to be waited for, must not Fullerton have owned some teacher's secret any teacher would sell his soul to share?” He describes Fullerton as a preacher who sought practical proofs for the existence of God.

      Edward also graduated from Penn and earned an M.A. and a Bachelors in Divinity at Princeton. He also earned a Ph.D. from Yale and a D.D. at Lafayette. He became the pastor at the First Presbyterian Church in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

       The Fullerton children’s roots were in Hindustan, but their home in America was Philadelphia and Powelton.

(An version of this appeared in the Powelton Post, Nov. 2008. For more information, see the Powelton Village Interactive Map for 3307 Hamilton St.)

An Improved Cake of Soap

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Anthony Van Haagen was born in Germany and immigrated to the U.S. in 1855 at about age 29. He quickly established himself as a manufacturer of soap. He was also an inventor. In 1870, he and William Adamson were granted patents for “soap product from glue residuum” and “fertilizer from glue residuum.” In 1872, he and Claus Van Haagen patented an improvement in drilling machines.

In 1880, he and his wife Edmonia (who was born in Virginia) lived with their four children at 3408 Spring Garden St.

In 1882, Van Haagen received a patent for a new design for a cake of soap which had several advantages over the typical spherical shape. He produced a flattened cake that would “not roll away from the spot where it is placed” and which provided “the extended surface so desirable in a cake of soap used for hand washing.” By introducing grooves around the edges, he produced a cake that afforded “the means of retaining the soap in one hand and preventing it from turning while it is being applied to the other hand.”

Although Van Haagen didn’t build railroads or machine tools, he was a man of his age who was focused on the technological advancement that defined Victorian Philadelphia.

Murphy-Anderson Marriage

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“The other [interracial] couple was babysitter Mary L. Anderson, 29, of 3218 Baring st., and sexton Robert A. Murphy, also 29, of 3501 Hamilton st.” (from “Marriage Licenses; Lady Barber and Boat captain Mixed Couple,” Phila. Tribune, Dec. 4, 1965.)

The Philadelphia Tribune is the “premier black newspaper serving the greater Philadelphia region since 1884.”

Powelton and the 1876 Centennial Exhibition

2011-05-22T12:53:00.000-04:00

The 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Fairmount Park celebrated the nation’s birth and highlighted America’s new found industrial strength. Millions of attendees approached the Exhibition traveling from Market St. through Powelton on trolley lines. Powelton was still quite young - most of the houses were less than ten years old. Probably hundreds of attendees rented houses or rooms here during their stay. (The Swedish Commission rented a house on 33rd St. near Baring.) Several Poweltonians played central roles in the planning and building of the Exhibition grounds. Coleman Sellers (3301 Baring St.) was one of the Exhibition Commissioners and the moving spirit behind Mechanical Hall. Samuel J. Levick (405 N. 33rd St.) was a member of the Executive Committee.

Charles E. Pugh

Many visitors arrived through a new, larger Pennsylvania Railroad station at 32nd and Market (see photo). The PRR’s efforts were overseen by Charles E. Pugh. (3716 and later 3501 Baring St.). The History of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company (1895) reports that “[o]ver 3,000,000 of passengers were received at and dispatched from the stations during the continuance of the Exhibition and so admirably had he arranged for the comfort and safety of the people that not one accident occurred.” Pugh was only about 30 at the time and rose rapidly to become PRR’s Second Vice President.
George W. Hancock’s family had long roots in the neighborhood. In 1860, he was living on 33rd St. above Baring. Later he lived at 3202 Hamilton St. and 3216 Baring St. He was a surveyor and became City Surveyor in 1872. He was responsible for the grading and paving of the streets at the Exposition and for engineering the passenger railway lines leading to the Centennial grounds.

The Alexander Bros. Exhibit of Industrial Belts

    A more visible contribution was made by Joseph Wilson (3501 Powelton Ave.). Wilson and Henry Pettit were architects and engineers who had done extensive work for the PRR. Their design for the Main Exhibition Building came in third. However, the first two designs were far too expensive and they got the contract. The Main Exhibition Building (shown above) was massive covering more than 20 acres – twelve times as large as Memorial Hall. They completed it on schedule for less than a sixth of the cost estimate for the top ranked design. They also designed and built the second largest building, Machinery Hall. A central element of Machinery Hall was a giant engine that powered hundreds of other machines. The power was transmitted using industrial leather belts like those exhibited by Alexander Brothers. Charles Alexander lived at 3626 Baring St. and Edward lived at 306 N. 35th St.

    Poweltonians also played a major role in supplying the Exhibition. The McIlvain’s lumber yards on Lancaster Ave. provided a great deal of lumber. They were long-time residents of Powelton. Samuel J. Cresswell (317 N. 35th St.) provided the ornamental iron work for Horticultural Hall. Also, Powelton’s numerous wholesale grocers, butchers and provisioners like John Laughlin (3406 Baring St.) and William McCahen (334 N. 32ndSt.) must have worked overtime to meet the increased demand.
    It is not possible to overestimate the effect of the Centennial Exhibition on Powelton or Poweltonians’ contributions to the Exhibition.

[This is a revised version of a piece that I wrote for the Powelton Post.]

From Powelton Pioneer to First Developer of Wayne

2011-05-20T14:04:00.000-04:00

After the turn of the last century, some of the more successful Poweltonians moved out to Main Line suburbs. James Henry Askin was a pioneer – he was one of the first to settle in Powelton and probably the first to move the Main Line.
Askin and his extended family moved to 3509 Baring St. about 1858 from the 3600 block of Haverford Ave. in neighboring Mantua. He was a real estate agent with an office at 112 S. 4th St. In 1860, he valued his real estate holdings at $16,000 and his personal property at $2,500. By 1870, his wealth had increased tenfold with $75,000 in real estate and $125,000 in personal property.

John H. Askin's holdings in Radnor Township, 1870

In the years following the Civil War, Askin purchased 293 acres of farm land in Radnor Township where the town of Wayne now stands. The Lancaster Turnpike formed the western border and the property extended from Spring Mill Rd. in the south up past Wayne Ave. The Pennsylvania Railroad cut through the middle. He planned to build a new community named “Louella” after his daughters, Louisa and Ella. In about 1865, he built a large mansion with that name placing it next to the Wayne railroad station. (It is now the Louella Apartments.) The Askins sold their Powelton home in April, 1867. He also built the Wayne Presbyterian Church, Lyceum Hall (now the Colonial Building at the northeast corner of E. Lancaster and N. Wayne) and a row of mansard-roofed villas on Bloomingdale Avenue.

The Louella Apartments, Wayne, Pa.

Askin got caught in the economic panic of 1873 and had to sell his holdings in Radnor to A. J. Drexel and George W. Childs who turned the area in a model suburban community.

The Domestic Talking Machine

2011-05-18T16:04:00.000-04:00

The Domestic Talking Machine Corp. was located at 33rd and Arch Sts. from its founding in 1916 until 1919 when they moved to Latrobe, Pa. In 1919, they had 46 male employees, 4 female employees and an office staff of 14.
This wasn't Powelton's first involvement with "talking machines." The 1910 census listed Octavia, Jason and Sylvester Geiger (3402 Powelton Ave.) working for a talking machine maker. Ocatvia and Sylvester were artists and Jason was a salesman.

Swedenborgians in Powelton

2011-05-18T15:32:00.000-04:00

Charles W. Harvey (1870-1952), c1900

The Swedenborgian Church of North America (also known as the Church of the New Jerusalem) draws its faith from the Bible as illuminated by the teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772). According to Wikipedia, it had about 5,440 members in 1925. Several Poweltonians were members. Hannah and Frederick Schoff (3418 Baring St.) were members of the New Jerusalem Church in Upper Darby. The Burnham family (3401 Powelton Ave. and 214 N. 34th St.) were members of the New Church, (Swedenborgian) Society at 22nd & Chestnut.
Charles W. Harvey was a Swedenborgian minister who was hired as pastor of the church at 22nd. He was born in Wivenhoe, Essex, England in 1870 and migrated to Boston in 1896. He attended Harvard, graduating in 1899 and earning an M.A. degree in 1902. He trained at the Swedenborgian college in Newton, Mass. In 1910, he married Leslie Carter who was from Newton. They moved to Philadelphia in 1911 and lived with the George Burnham, Jr. family at 214 N. 34th St. until about 1919. In January, 1920, they were living at 315 N. 35th St. which they purchased later that year. They had a son, John, born in 1915 and a daughter, Dorthea, born in 1922. They sold the house in 1943. Harvey wrote a few books including The Problem of Suicide (1945).

Caroline Kateznstein and Woman's Suffrage

2011-05-15T10:31:00.000-04:00

The General Assembly of Pennsylvania, House Resolution 81, Session of 2011: Recognizing the month of March 2011 as "National Women's History Month" in Pennsylvania reads, in part:

“WHEREAS, It was the lesser-known suffragists, such as Pennsylvanians Dora Kelly Lewis and Caroline Katzenstein, who inherited the struggle from Anthony, Stanton and Mott and oversaw the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which gave women the right to vote on August 18, 1920;…”

Caroline Katenstein lived in an apartment at 3411 Powelton Ave. from the 1920s until the 1950s. Her papers on women’s suffrage are available at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Their website offers a very good biosketch of her. The Abstract reads in part:

Photo: HSP.ORG

“Caroline Katzenstein (1888-1968) was a leader in the Pennsylvania suffrage movement. She served in official positions for the Equal Franchise Society of Philadelphia, the National American Woman Suffrage Association, and the National Woman’s Party. After women won the vote in 1920, Katzenstein continued to fight for women’s rights and lobbied tirelessly for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment for over twenty years. In 1919, Katzenstein used her expertise in publicity to aid the Women Teachers Organization of Philadelphia in their efforts to increase salary for women teachers. Additionally, Katzenstein was a successful insurance agent for the Equitable Life Insurance Society of New York, the Massachusetts Bonding and Insurance Company (Philadelphia Branch), and the Philadelphia Life Insurance Company.”

In 1955, she published a book entitled: Lifting the Curtain; the State and National Woman Suffrage Campaigns in Pennsylvania as I Saw Them.

Katenstein was also concerned about world peace. Melissa Klapper wrote in the Journal of American History in 2010: “In addition to working for peace in ways that emphasized Jewish identities and values, American Jewish women also drew liberally on maternalist ideals…. As the former suffragist Caroline Katzenstein wrote, ‘we women, because we are the mothers of the race, know perhaps better than men the true value of life, and it is up to us to show that war and the causes that lead to it can be abolished.’ Framing the issue as an appeal to mothers made it a message to which all women could presumably subscribe.”

"DESIRABLE BUILDING LOTS"

2011-05-14T10:21:00.000-04:00

"For sale or to let… Several desirable lots of the Baring Estate, West Philadelphia. Also lots on the W. Green st. and Broad street, suitable for first-class dwellings. E. H. & J. Bonsall, Goldsmith’s Hall, Liberty street" Philadelphia Inquirer, Jan. 19, 1857.

Opening the West for Development

2011-05-14T09:55:00.000-04:00

This appeared in the Powelton Post in February, 2010.

“Now available for home building: undeveloped land zoned for large lots and tree-lined streets that make for comfortable, modern homes removed from the dirt and bustle of the city. Easy access to highways and the two bridges that bring the city within minutes of your home.”

No, we haven’t found this ad yet. However, when we look at the early home-buyers in what is now Powelton, we can imagine that a vision like this is what brought them here. For example, thirty-year-old Thomas Butcher, his wife Elizabeth and their three children (the first of seven) were perhaps the first Poweltonians. In 1845, they moved to a large lot with a big new house ideal for raising a large family. Butcher was a merchant whose office was at 112 S. 4^th St. His eighteen-year-old son was a broker who certainly worked in what we now call center city. In 1865, his daughter, Elizabeth, married Robert Glendenning, Jr. In 1850, the Glendenning family lived on Bridge St. (Spring Garden) west of 6^th St. (now 35^th). Robert senior was an accountant who in 1856 traveled to work at an office at 72 Market St.

These are not isolated cases. In 1859-‘60, Charles Pascal and his wife moved with their two young children to a new house at 315 N. 35thSt. He was a hat maker whose shop was at 6 S. 6^th St. Their neighbors, the Campbells, were a young couple with five children under age 7. In 1858, he was working at 38 S. 3^rd St. James Bateman first lived at 35^th and Hamilton (1861) before moving to 206 N. 35^th St. where he and his wife raised their five children. His wool merchandising business was at 122 S. Front St. Charles Marot moved his family to 317 N. 33rdSt. about 1866. He was the publisher of a garden magazine with offices at 25 N. 6^th St.

Not all early Poweltonians worked in what we now call center city. Quite a few had local business. But many were what we now call “commuters” with young families.

What drew these families to Powelton? In part, they were probably moving to get out of the downtown congestion. There was no “residential zoning” per se. However, our deed carries an addendum that is common to many deeds originating on the Bingham-Baring lands. It prohibits “slaughter house, skin dressing establishment,... glue, soap, candle, or starch manufactury, livery stable or other offensive occupations....” The lots were laid out with substantial setbacks from the street. Baring and Hamilton were developed with large, comfortable twin houses with nice side- and backyards. A number of houses were set on double lots like 3301 and 3305 Baring St. Some were built on even larger lots such as the home of Theophilus Hessenbruch and his family which occupied 3308-3310 Baring St. and 315-333 N. 34thSt. In addition, as late as 1885 there were many vacant lots, at least some of which were heavily wooded. This was in contrast to the row homes being built downtown on Walnut, Spruce and Pine Streets at the same time.

There is continuity between what drew the first residents and what drew many current residents to Powelton. It is this continuity and the rich diversity of Poweltonians that we celebrate this year – the 150 anniversary of the opening of this area for development. As part of this celebration, the Historic Preservation Committee [of the Powelton Village Civic Association] has worked with local artists to design a celebratory banner. In April, [2010] we will begin offering the banner to Poweltonians to display on their homes through the summer. In this way, we hope to celebrate Powelton’s past as well as the sense of community that unites us today.

Powelton before 1860

2011-05-14T09:17:00.001-04:00

This piece appeared in the Powelton Post in October, 2009.

Before 1860, the area we now call Powelton was a combination of farm land, pasture and forest with few buildings. The southern part was owned by the Powel family and the northern part by the Bingham-Baring family. It wasn’t until the 1850s that the estates were sold and the area was surveyed and parceled and roads were paved. We get glimpses of this past from a few contemporaries.

In 1809, Hare Powel was considering buying the Bingham holdings. Elizabeth Powel (his adopted mother) discouraged him writing:

“The front on the old Lancaster Road is very small – not more than four Acres, and even that will I believe be very soon lessened by a publick Road that is at this Moment intended to be run at the West end of Powelton [probably 35^th St.]. It is a large Tract of at least One hundred Acres – the Land bad, – broken and generally uncultivated, worn out and has never by Mr. Bingham been replenished with Stable or other Manure – it is remote from the Roads on which improvements are at present contemplated.” In contrast, the Powel estate included improved farm land and was along Lancaster Ave.

In 1840, H. S. Tanner briefly noted “Powelton, a new village between Philadelphia and Mantua....” He was apparently referring to a small cluster of buildings on the north side of Market St. near the bridge and along the north side of Lancaster Pike to about 35^th St. One of the houses was built by Hugh McIlvain on the north side of Market about 1805. It was 38’ by 34’ and two-stories tall. By about 1840, there were also two large taverns near the Market and Mansion St. (32^nd St.) and at Butcher’s Lane (35^th St.) and the Lancaster Pike.

In the 1840s, there were still no paved roads through the area. Between Bridge St. (Spring Garden) and Lancaster Ave. and Market St., there were only Hamilton and Baring Sts. and Powelton Ave. which were dirt roads without sidewalks. There were no houses on Baring or Hamilton in 1850. North-south travel was limited to Bridegwater St. (31^st St.) and Butcher’s Lane (now 35^th St.).

Martha McIlvain Eastwick (1855-1935) grew up in the neighborhood and her family was central to the area’s development. She wrote that about 1850

“West of the Powel home [near 32^nd St.] on what is now 35^th St., was the home of [Thomas] Tyson Butcher built about 1845.... Hence between the Tyson Butcher house on 35^th St. and the Pennsylvania R.R. at 30^th and Market Streets, there was nothing but fields where were pastured the mules used by the Penna. R.R. [which bought the land in 1852.] A few years later other houses were scattered here and there... the neighbors were almost afraid to visit each other after dark, as wolves sometimes wandered through the Streets, some of the older persons thought they might have been large dogs.” Some blocks were still heavily forested in the 1880s.

These brief descriptions offer a picture of an area that was wide open and ripe for development in 1860 with easy access to the two main bridges over the river.

An Homage to Powelton Gardeners

2011-05-11T15:49:00.001-04:00

This is a slightly revised version of a piece I wrote for the Powelton Post a year ago.

Powelton’s tree-lined streets and its gardens have turned green again. Fortunately, we have some information about the gardens and the gardeners during the Victorian era.

The 1880 census shows seven gardeners/florists living in Powelton. At least three of the larger homes had greenhouses: William Wilson’s house (3501 Powelton), Dr. Edward H. Williams’s (33^rd & Arch), and David Paul’s house (33^rd between Hamilton and Spring Garden). In 1899, the Colton family added a plant “conservatory” to their house at 3407 Powelton. We know there were formal gardens behind the Febiger’s (3421 Powelton) and the Scattergood’s (3515Powelton). Cora Sellers (3301 Baring) had a large garden to the west of their house with a grape arbor that screened the view of the stables. The Du Pont family (3500 Powelton) also had a grape arbor and fruit trees. Notably at one time the drive at the Du Pont’s southern entrance circled a mounded planting area that was probably over 6' high and about 20' in diameter that held giant elephant ear plants.

Alfred Lutz ran a commercial nursery in Powelton for about 45 years beginning about 1875. He built two large hot houses on the 3100 block of Pearl St. (which no longer exists). Each was about 70' by 15'. In 1911, the site had a single 32' by 110' hot house. In 1887, he won first prize for a window box at the Philadelphia Chrysanthemum Show and recognition for hydrangeas at the Spring Show of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society.

The most famous Powelton gardener, was William Dreer (1849-1918). The Dreer Nurseries were started in 1838 by William’s father, Henry, with a nursery at the Woodlands estate and a seed and florist store on Chestnut St. near Front. In 1850, Henry moved the nursery to the 3500 block from Wallace to Mt. Vernon St. in Mantua where they remained until his death in 1873.

The Dreers were “seedsmen.” Henry Dreer had immigrated from Germany and later he sent William to Germany to study the seed business. When Henry died in 1873, his real estate was worth about $100,000 and his personal property about $25,000. William then moved the nursery to Riverton, N.J. where it grew to 295 acres, 14 greenhouses, and 250 employees. He moved to the Aldine Hotel in center city for a few years, then to 3312 Arch St.

Dreer Ad from 1894

In 1887, William and his new bride, Anna Williams, took ownership of her family home at 101 N. 33^rd St. Anna was the daughter of Edward Williams, a partner in the Baldwin Locomotive Works. Williams came to Powelton in the mid-1860s and built the mansion at 101 N. 33^rd St. Later it had a magnificent “Japanese Room” built by the Wilson Brothers. The property was quite large and almost certainly included gardens or a greenhouse.

Dreer Ad from 1908

Henry Dreer was one of the first to introduce color printing to bulb catalogs and seed packets. The nursery specialized in bedding plants, and those great Victorian favorites: palms, ferns and water lilies. At the turn of the century, Dreer was recognized as a pioneer in waterlily hybridization. Unfortunately, the nursery was later known as the inadvertent importer of the Japanese beetle.

Dreer died in 1918 and the nursery closed in 1944.

The Three Faces of Mr. Martindale

2011-05-11T15:04:00.000-04:00

I wrote this article for the March issue of the Powelton Post.

Thomas Martindale was born in England in 1845. He immigrated with his parents at age 9 and started working in a grocery store in Oil City, Pa. Soon it became the largest store in the boom town – and he was the sole owner. He sold it in 1869 and moved to Philadelphia where he opened a food store and lunch room. Sometime in the 1870s, he moved with his wife and two sons to 413 N. 33^rd St. (the second house below Hamilton on the east side of 33^rd). When he died there in 1916, his obituary read:

“Thomas Martindale, probably the best known individual grocer in Philadelphia and one of the best known in the United States, died Sept. 13 in the wilds of Alaska, whence he had gone on one of his yearly hunting expeditions….”

Martindale is best remembered as an early advocate of whole grains, yogurt, vegetable and fruit juices, and avoidance of sugar. He made a coffee substitute and served Bassett’s ice cream sweetened with honey. He encouraged vegetarianism or at least reduced consumption of meat and sugar. For many years, his store was at 10^th and Market. Today the successor store is in Springfield, Pa.

Along with healthy eating, he was a strong advocate of vigorous exercise. In 1912, he lectured to saleswomen at Strawbridge and Clothiers about the importance of springtime walks which would purge the body of the poisonous bodily secretions that build up over the winter. He wrote several books about his trips to the wilds of Maine and the Pacific Northwest urging businessmen to

“Leave your desk and turn your back on the steaming streets of civilization and your thoughts where nature tempts with her trout-streams, her mirrored lakes, and her game-abounding retreats; to her forests, fragrant with balsamic odors, and watered with living streams made wholesome by the leechings of the spruce, and pine, and cedar—nature's own nectar. A draught of it, and you'll need no other stimulant.”

from his book Hunting in the Upper Yukon

Although he advocated vegetarianism, his trips to the wilds presented another face: that of an avid hunter. He wrote extensively about hunting all kinds of game and wrote proudly that his son, James, shot his first moose at age 13. Apparently his interest in vegetarian cooking was not based on a reverence for all forms of life.

A third face was his advocacy of infrastructure that would aid business – although he often picked losers. He chaired a committee on the telephone system and was recognized as an expert on the subject. In the early 1890s, he actively promoted the building of a canal between New York and Philadelphia. He also advocated a system of pneumatic tubes to connect New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore with rapid mail delivery. He reported that with a pressure of 100 pounds, mail could travel at 93 miles per hour.

Thomas Martindale was the very model of a Teddy Roosevelt Republican. His eclectic interests and boundless energy make him a prominent figure in Powelton history. James Martindale was still living in the family house in 1950.

Note: other photos are posted on the interactive map for 413 N. 33rd St.

Mrs. Joseph Ashbrook

2011-04-28T15:37:00.000-04:00

It is much easier to find information about the men of Powelton than to find out anything about their wives. Joseph Ashbrook's achievements are well documented. Fortunately, we also know a lot about his wife's background and the family they formed.

Catherine Sinclair Ashbrook came from a solid Scottish family befitting the wife of an officer of a major insurance firm. Her parents, Thomas and Magdalen Sinclair, were born in Scotland, as was their first born son, William (born c1826). Their second son was born in Philadelphia (c 1829), then came two daughters born in New York. Finally there were three daughters born in Philadelphia including Catherine and Elizabeth.

Thomas Sinclair was a successful lithographer. They lived at 311 Carpenter St. Several of his sons worked in the family business. One son, John C. Sinclair, earned a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1861. In 1862, he enlisted in the Pennsylvania 15^th Cavalry and was taken prisoner during the Second Battle of Murfreesboro in Tennessee.

Catherine and Joseph moved to 3614 Baring St. in 1875 They had three sons. William Sinclair Ashbrook (1868) joined Provident Life and Trust Co. He lived with his parents until he got married at age 45. He then moved to 4431 Spruce, St. with his young wife where they raise three children. Lawrence Ashbrook (b c1876) died young. Donald S. Ashbrook (1880) became a chemist and President of Joseph Bancroft and Sons Co., a manufacturer of cotton cloth in Wilmington, Del. He married and had at least one child before divorcing.

Joseph Ashbrook died in 1918. Catherine sold the house to a neighbor in 1925 and moved to the Garden Court Apartments where she lived past her 85 birthday with a nurse and a servant.

Elizabeth Sinclair never married. In 1870, she was 27 and living with her parents and working as a school teacher. In 1900, she was boarding at 315 N. 37thSt. and later lived with the Ashbrooks at 3614 Baring St.

The Asbrooks lived in Powelton for 50 years.

A Civil War Chronicle: Joseph Ashbrook

2011-04-28T10:52:00.001-04:00

This is a slightly expanded version of my article that appeared in the April issue of the Powelton Post.

In December, 1860, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the Southern Literary Society held a debate on the question “Has any State a right to secede?” Twenty year-old Joseph Ashbrook was assigned to the team to argue the negative. Twenty months later, he enlisted in the 118^th Pennsylvania Infantry to fight to save the Union.

Ashbrook was born in Philadelphia. His father was a successful grocer with a corner storefront at S. 2^nd and Queen Sts. The family lived above the store. (His brother Edward later lived at 3612 Hamilton St. 3603 Baring St. and his brother Lewis at 740 N. 40^th) At age 15, Joseph became a clerk in a stock brokerage firm. He was 22 when he enlisted in the 118th Pennsylvania Volunteers.

The 118^th, known as the “Corn Exchange Regiment,” was formed in August, 1862. It was a volunteer Philadelphia regiment financed by the Corn Exchange. It was first put into service in the Battle of Shepherdstown, West Virginia. At that battle, the Union forces pushed the Confederates back across the Potomac. When they attempted to pursue across the river, the Confederates counterattacked and nearly annihilated the 118^th with 282 casualties out of 800 men. The History of the Corn Exchange Regiment , the 118th PennsylvaniaVolunteers states that: “A few minutes before the retreat [Ashbrook] was shot in the stomach…. he sought a place to lie down. In doing this he fell half-way down the bluff…. Sergeant Ashbrook, although disabled…, reached the river…. With difficulty he gained the slimy, half-submerged dam… was again shot, the ball passing through his left thigh. His wounds were so serious that for some time his recovery was doubtful. After an absence of five months he returned to the regiment…. He had not entirely recovered, but was induced to return by the offer of a second lieutenancy in recognition of his gallantry at Shepherdstown.”

After his return, the 118^th fought at Chancellorsville, again suffering high casualties. They were involved in the Battle at Gettysburg, but didn’t suffer huge losses. In 1864, Ashbrook was brevetted major for his heroism in the Battle of the Wilderness. The 118^th was later involved in numerous campaigns including the final pursuit to Appomattox. By then, Ashbrook had become the Ordnance Officer for the 1^st Division, Fifth Army Corps. In that position, he was in charge of receiving and disposing of the arms surrendered by Lee’s army.

The History of the Corn Exchange Regiment singles Ashbrook out and states that “Major Ashbrook was of that class which fitted him to be ranked among the strong men of the times; of culture, with attainments, of fine soldierly bearing, his presence commanded respect and his courage admiration.”

After the War, Ashbrook married Catherine Sinclair and became First General Agent for the Provident Life & Trust Co. In 1875, the Ashbrook family moved into a new home at 3614 Baring St. He continued to rise within Provident until he became Vice President and Insurance Manager in 1906. He was largely responsible for the large growth in Provident’s life insurance business and for its reputation for integrity and the professionalism of its agents. Joseph died in 1918. His wife, Catherine, sold the house in 1925. Their sons both went to the University of Pennsylvania. William, joined Provident as Agency Secretary. Donald earned a Ph.D. in chemistry from Penn.

In the 1860s, the population of Powelton was very small and few men enlisted from Powelton. (I have identified some interesting cases and will devote future articles to them.) However, the 1890 census recorded more than 100 Poweltonians who had served during the War.