CRAven haLL NEWSletter
PO Box 2042, Street and Newtown Roads, Warminster, PA, 18940 215 675 -4698
E
Volume 15 Issue 1 April 2016
m
F
i
President:
Corp. Secretary/Treasurer
Corresponding Secretary:
Photographer:
Editor:
Erik Fleischer
Laura Garrison
Terry Stone
Kent Sloan
Jeanette Fusco
General Harmon Vansant
(aka Otto Blavier and wife, Ruth)
Craven Hall and The John Fitch Steamboat Museum
P. 5
Well represented in local Parades
P. 5
We have marketed Craven Hall and the John Fitch Steamboat Museum for the last few years with floats in
the Ivyland, Warminster Memorial Day and the 4th of July Parade in Upper Southampton. Our floats include a
replica of Craven Hall, expertly crafted by our former Historian, Paul Bailey, with a trailer that carries our
working copy of John Fitch’s Steamboat.
1
r the
CRAVEN - VANSANT BURYING GROUND
Update
With the purchase of the former William Tennent Athletic Fields that abut the Craven/Vansant Burying Ground,
the Society has decided to reactivate our efforts to fully
restore this historic burying ground. The Count Builders
Housing Group has purchased the property and they plan to
construct a housing development on the site. Site plans
indicate that the land adjacent to the grounds is designated
for open space.
A Visit from Abraham Lincoln
We were honored with a visit from Abraham Lincoln on February 14th, 2016 in commemoration of his
207th birthday. Our 16th President was portrayed by Dr.
Fred Antil, a former Marine Corps officer and university educator who recently joined our Society.
President Lincoln regaled a large audience of visitors with numerous anecdotes of his own life and drew
a parallel comparison with our John Fitch, steamboat
inventor,
with the President’s own strong
interests in
navigation. In fact, he is the only
President
to hold a patent – a device for
lifting vessels that had become grounded
on
the
shoals of the Great Lakes. It’s
fascinating
to imagine how these two individuals would have interacted had they lived in the
same time period. Fitch invented the steamboat; Lincoln spent a great deal of time on the rivers and was
keenly interested in technology and inventions. They were each born with
minimal means and were both selfeducated. Lincoln’s
hero
was
George
Washington – Fitch
actually
met with Washington in an attempt to
secure funding
for his steamboat. Both
men had been
surveyors; both died in their mid-fifties. Fitch was buried in Bardstown, Kentucky within 20 miles of Lincoln’s birthplace. Lincoln would have been impressed
with Fitch’s inventive genius.
The Craven Hall Historical Society, Inc. owns and
maintains the Craven/
Vansant
Burying
Ground which contain
the graves of more than
60 early settlers. The
grounds also include 11
veterans of the American Revolution and a
veteran of the Civil
War. The earliest grave of
Harmon Vansant dates
from 1769. Other notable
persons buried there
include: Jacobus “Code”
Scout, a close friend
and confidant of John Fitch,
Steamboat Inventor and
Dr. William Bachelor, a Revolutionary War Surgeon, who
participated in the Battle of Saratoga. Many felt that the
Battle of Saratoga was the turning point of the Revolution
and brought the French to the American side. Over the
years, the original gravestones were vandalized and remains are housed in the basement of Craven Hall. We have
made several upgrades to the site, including the rebuild of
60% of the surrounding wall and the installation of replacement gravestones from the Veterans Administration for
veterans interred there. Two Eagle Scout Projects were
also instrumental in clearing up a large portion of the
grounds that had been neglected and overgrown. We also
have plans to rebuild the North Wall of the burying
ground.and construct a platform stand to support a tablet,
designating the names of all those who are buried there.
2
The Mystery Surrounding
Antique Ogee Clock
Thomas McDowell and his Cipher Books
Donated to Craven Hall
As presented in a previous newsletter, we
had the good fortune of obtaining two cipher
books of Thomas McDowell, who attended a
Warminster School between 1772 and 1778. His
cipher books demonstrate excellent penmanship
and a good knowledge of mathematics. We have,
to date been unable to trace Thomas McDowell,
as he does not show up in any records for
Warminster Township. However we have uncovered the signature of a Giles McDowell in one of
Thomas McDowell’s cipher books.
Giles
McDowell is buried in the Craven Vansant Burying Ground.
We recently received the donation of a beautifully restored antique Ogee clock, circa 1840 from
Orland Bergere of Doylestown, PA. The clock will
grace the mantle over the fireplace in the 2nd floor
bedroom of Craven Hall.
Research on Giles McDowell
Spruance Library
Research on Giles McDowell at the Spruance
library in Doylestown has uncovered a cipher
book for a Thomas Warner (1801-1881) with the
signature of his Teacher, Giles McDowell. A further comparison of Giles McDowell’s signature in
the two different cipher books appear identical!!
Was Giles a younger relative of Thomas? Further
research in Montgomery County Historical records may give us some answers, as we know that
there were McDowell properties just across the
County Line Rd, separating Bucks and Montgomery counties.
.
Thomas McDowell’s Cipher Book
3
President’s Letter
The past year was filled with a number of memorable events and some challenges, as we moved forward into our
19th year as a historical society. We again hosted 18 Third Grade classes from the recently consolidated Centennial Elementary schools – McDonald, Willowdale and Davis.
How do the students reflect on their visits? The notes below, from one of the students at Davis Elementary School
is typical of the feedback we receive and which spurs us on to continue improving our program of early life in the 17th
and 18th Centuries. Our early local schools’ exhibits presents a mystery, as to the life of Thomas McDowell, author of
our two cipher books from the late 1700’s. As you will note, we haven’t been able to trace McDowell’s life journey, but
we have found a likely connection to a relative named Giles McDowell who is buried in our Craven Vansant Burying
Ground. This connection will be further investigated.
We have received extraordinary support from several Quester chapters in 2015; Featherbed Hill Questers and Newtown Commoners Questers have provided the funding to restore our 1840’s album quilt. The Neshaminy Creekers
Questers have funded the outfitting of our Queen’s Ranger soldier as part of our new exhibit, the Battle of Crooked Billet.
We will be taking on a major new project at our historic Craven/Vansant Burying Ground. The adjacent property
will be developed, providing better security for this sacred ground.
It is well documented that John Fitch conducted trials in 1785, on a pond off Davisville and Street Roads prior to
going to Philadelphia to construct his steamboats. We have gained approval from The Upper Southampton officials to
reenact that event with our model steamboat and now need Mother Nature to provide us with sufficient water depth to
accomplish the task. Hopefully this spring will be kind.
We welcome Dr. Fred Antil as a new member of our Society. He has portrayed Abraham Lincoln for more then
thirty years and we look forward to incorporating his passion into our Education programs.
As we have stated before, we need additional volunteers who have a passion for history - so if you have that passion, please let us know your interest on the tear-off part of this newsletter.
In closing, please consider taking out or renewing your membership in our Society. There is a nominal membership
fee of only $10 for a family. Donations to support our efforts are always appreciated. We are a 501c-3 non-profit corporation and your donations are tax deductible. Thank you for your past support and be sure to visit us on the web at Craven-Hall.org and on Facebook.
Erik Fleischer, President
From Grace
4
Queen’s Ranger Manikin
Ready for Battle!
Thanks to the generous support of the
Neshshaminy Creekers Questers, and additional support from the Pennsylvania State
Questers, our long desired Exhibit to recognize the Revolutionary Battle of Crooked
Billet is finally coming to fruition with the
Queen’s Ranger Manikin.
1840’s Album Quilt Restoration Complete
Display Case under construction
Our 1840’s Album Quilt donated by Anne Haggerty
of Hatboro has been beautifully restored by Kate Sahmel,
Textile Conservationist, associated with The Wintertur
Museum. We are grateful to: Featherbed Hill Questers,
Newtown Commoners Questers, Pennsylvania State
Questers Organization, and Willowdale Elementary
School of Warminster, Pennsylvania for providing the
funding needed to restore and prepare a mounting display case.
We originally identified only 48 names on the quilt,
but since restoration we now have been
able to identify almost all of the names on
this 64 block quilt. Further research has
revealed that William L. Craven of
Johnsville, whose square appears on the
quilt, resided on Newtown Road just a
few hundred yards south of Craven Hall! Two additional
squares, not previously identifiable, list Louisa Craven
— Johnsville and Ann Eliz.Craven — Johnsville. Were
they family members of William L. Craven? We would
love to have a Craven relative interested in genealogy do
the research and inform us of their findings. We will post
the 64 names listed on the quilt on our web site,
WWW.CRAVEN-Hall.org.
Our Exhibit raises the question:
Was the American Revolution Our
First Civil War?
The Battle of Crooked Billet pitted
American Militia against British Regular
Troops and a Queen’s Ranger Detachment of
American Loyalist troops. These Loyalists
were committed to King George of England,
resulting in Americans fighting Americans.
Our fight for independence was not favored
by many Colonists who desired continued
rule by Mother England.
Our board member, Jim Krueger, is currently constructing our Album Quilt Display Case and we hope to
have it installed by early this summer.
5
NAME: ______________________________________________________________________________________
STREET: _______________________________________________________________________
CITY:
____________________________________________STATE:________________ZIP__________________
TELEPHONE:__________________________________________________________________________________
E-MAIL ADDRESS: _____________________________________________________________________________
- - -- - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL
MEMBERSHIP
( ) Individual or Family
$10.00 Annually
( ) Small Business
$25.00 Annually
( ) Corporate
$100.00 Annually
( ) Donation Assistance for Burying Ground Project
VOLUNTEERS
I am interested in working with the following at Craven Hall:
( ) Restoration/Repairs
( ) Docent (Tour Guide)
( ) Fund Raising
( ) Membership/Public Relations
( ) Historic Research/Library
( ) Special Events
( ) Centralizing Records
( ) Gravestone Restoration
( ) Other
( ) Volunteer
If you are interested in volunteering, please also check that off. We really need you. Thanks.
CONTRIBUTION TO THE FITCH MUSEUM ( ) Amount: __________________
DVD of Craven Hall
Thank you.
Amount: By Check: 17.50 check to address below.
Amount:
Pick Up: 15.00 at Craven Hall. Please leave a message to arrange: 215-675-4698.
Contributions to aid in the restoration and operation of Craven Hall are always welcome. Please make your check payable to:
Craven Hall Society, Inc. P.O. Box 2042, Warminster, PA 18974. The Society is a non-profit corporation registered in Pennsylvania; your
contribution is tax deductible.
Craven Hall 1900’s
Craven Hall Historical Society
P.O. Box 2042
Street and Newtown Roads
Warminster, Pa 18974
6
7