BULLETIN
HISTORICAL 50CIETY
MONTGOMERY COUNTY
PENNSYLVANIA
JVOJ^RISTOWN
SSWERY
PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY
AT IT5 R00M5 18 EAST PENN STREET
NORRISTOWN.PA.
OCTOBER,
1936
VOLUME I
NUMBER 1
PRICE 50 CENTS
Historical Society of Montgomery County
OFFICERS
Nelson P. Fegley, Esq., President
S. Cameron Corson, First Vice-President
Hon. George C. Corson, Second Vice-President
Mrs. John Fabeb Miller, Third Vice-President
George K. Brecht, Esq., Recording Secretary
Ella Slinglupp, Corresponding Secretary
Mrs. WH.L1AM M. Gearhart, Financial Secretary
Dr. W. H. Reed, Treasurer
Emily K. Preston, Librarian
TRUSTEES
Franklin A. Stickler, Chairman
Mrs. a. Conrad Jones
Katharine Preston
H. H. Gansee
Lyman a. Kratz
Thomas R. Beebbr
1848-1930
THE BULLETIN
of the
Historical Society of Montgomery County
Published Semi-Annually—October and April
Volume I
Octobee, 1936
Number 1
CONTENTS
Introduction
3
In Memoriam: Thomas R. Beeber
4
Annie Jarrett Reed
William M. Gearhart
Montgomery Square and Its
Traditions
A Few Remarks Relating to
Belmont Driving Park
Sampler-Lore
Chauncey B. Knapp
Milton R. Yerkes
Laura Riegel Cook
Glass Paper-Weights and What- Not
5
6
• 7
13
19
Mrs. William P. Moyer27
Backed Against the Hundred
Miles Hills — The Spirit of
Pennsylvania
Reports
Irvin P. Knipe
35
43
Publication Committee
Charles R. Barker
Howard W. Kriebel
Chester P. Cook
Dr. W. H. Reed
Emily K. Preston, Editor
RECOGNITION
The artistic etching appearing on the cover of this magazine is the
•work of Howard H. Darnell, 2918 Horth 12th Stnreet, Philadelphia, Penn
sylvania. The Historical Society of Montgomery County sincerely appre
ciates Mr. Darnell's kindness in preparing the design and the artistic
ability displayed in its execution.
1
THE BULLETIN
Volume I
October, 1936
Number 1
Introduction
With the first issue of The Bulletin the Historical Society
of Montgomery County begins a new series of publications
under a new name and,in new form.
The seven volumes of Historical Sketches, in which have
been published all the available papers read before the
Society up to 1926, are a source of pride to us all. That they
occupy a worthy place among historical reference books is
shown by the fact that they may be found in the libraries of
many of the leading universities and historical societies of
the country, as well as in those of private individuals.
Volume I has long been out of print, but is still much sought
after, and increasing interest is being shown in the whole
series.
However, to many members of the Society the wealth of
material in these volumes is not available, and it was with
this in mind that the change was decided on, in order to
make possible the distribution of all future publications of
the Society to members free and to others at a nominal
charge. The hope is to keep abreast with the work of the
Society by the publication of the papers read at the meet
ings immediately preceding the date of publication, and to
include in each issue selected material from the reserves
accumulated between 1926 and 1936. This selection must,
of necessity, conform to the restrictions of space and to such
other rules as the committee may adopt.
In presenting the first issue the Publication Committee
hopes that The Bulletin may find a kindly welcome among
the Society members, and that they will at all times co
operate in the effort to make it a success. Its pages will
keep them informed on the work, progress and needs of the
Society, but the work can only be done, progress made and
needs satisfied by an interested and loyal membership.
3
In Memoriam
Thomas R. Beeber ,
Dr. Thomas R. Beeber, former president of the Histori
cal Society of Montgomery County, was born at Muncy,
Lycoming County, Pa., June 18, 1848, the son of Teter D.
and Mary J. (Artley) Beeber. His childhood was passed at
Muncy. After a preparatory course at Selinsgrove, Pa., he
entered, in 1865, Pennsylvania College, at Gettysburg, from
which he graduated, with second honors, in 1869. The same
year, he matriculated at Andover Theological Seminary,
Andover, Mass., where, having graduated in 1872, he
rounded out his course with post-graduate studies.
In 1873, Dr. Beeber became associate pastor with Rev.
Charles Beecher (brother of Henry Ward Beecher), of the
First Congregational Church of Georgetown, Mass., a
charge which he resigned about two years later to accept a
call from the Mahoning Presbyterian Church, of Danville, Pa.
In 1880, a call from the Second Presbyterian Church of
Scranton, Pa., was likewise accepted by Dr. Beeber; and
during his pastorate there, which lasted about seven years,
a handsome stone church was built by the congregation.
Finally, in 1887, in response to a call from the First
Presbyterian Church of Norristown, Pa., Dr. Beeber be
came its pastor; and only failing health at last obliged him,
in 1918, to relinquish his charge, after a continuous pastor
ate of thirty-one years. On his retirement, he was elected
pastor emeritus. It was during his incumbency here that he
received his degree of Doctor of Divinity (Lafayette, 1891).
Soon after his call to the First Presbyterian Church of
Norristown, Dr. Beeber became associated with the Histori
cal Society of Montgomery County, and his active partici
pation in its work culminated, in 1918 in his election as
president of the Socieiy. His faithful service, and his char
acter as a man and a friend, made him much loved and
4
IN UEMOBIAM
5
respected by all its members, who only regretted his retire
ment, occasioned by ill health, in 1921. He was then elected
president emeritus.
Dr. Beeber was also a member of the Presb3d:erian His
torical Society, and was the author of histories of the First
Congregational Church of Georgetown, Mass., and the
Second Presbyterian Church of Scranton, Pa., as well as of
a pamphlet, "History of the Presbyterian Church in the
United States."
He was a member of the Board of Ministerial Relief of
the Presbyterian Church. During his pastorate at Scranton,
he became a director of the .Oral School for the Deaf, of
that city.
He was married, August 17, 1874, to Mrs. Mary F.
Haley, of Georgetown, Mass., daughter of J. K. Harriman.
To them were born two children: John Artley (b. Aug. 22,
1875; d. Jan. 11, 1889), and Whitman Boynton (b. May 26,
1877; d. June 27, 1885).
Dr. Beeber died in Philadelphia, April 24, 1930.
Annie Jarrett Reed
Among the dear members of our Historical Society to
pass to the Great Beyond during the year was Mrs. Annie
Jarrett Reed, wife of Dr. W. H. Reed, who died at her
winter home in Orange City, Florida, February 2, 1936,
her remains being interred a short time later in the ceme
tery of the Presbyterian Church at Jeffersonville, Pa. She
was the daughter of Samuel F. and Amanda (Crawford)
Jarrett, of Jeffersonville.
In her modest, unassuming manner, Mrs. Reed always
took part in the activities of the Society. She was one of the
first to become a life member. Unostentatiously, she was
ever alert to aid in the Society's progress and advancement,
and faltered not in any work that might help it to succeed
in its purpose. In her demise, we lose a dear and considerate
friend.
BULLETIN OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
In Memoriam — William M. Gearhart
Among the faithful officers of the Historical Society
removed by death was William M. Gearhart, late librarian
and curator, who for many years labored untiringly, in his
modest and sincere way, for its advancement, development
and success. Mr. Gearhart was a man of strong personality
and genial disposition, whose right hand of fellowship, ex
tended to members and visitors alike, never failed to make
them welcome and feel at home, during their visits to the
Society's rooms. It was largely due to his good judgment,
and to his efforts to perfect the arrangement of these rooms,
that they present the attractive appearance of today.
In the hallway of the Society's building has been placed
a tablet whose inscription reads:
In Grateful Recognition
of the
Faithful Services
of
WILLIAM M. GEARHART
Librarian — Curator
of the
Historical Society op Montgomery County
Pbnnsylvanu
1922
1933
Montgomery Square and Its Traditions'
By Chauncey B. Knapp
The name Montgomery has been applied from a county
in North Wales, also a borough and parish there. It origi
nated from Roger de Montgomery, a Norman knight who,
in 1067, was made Earl of Arundel, Sussex and Shrewsbury,
and built a castle which was destroyed by the Welsh in
1095. This was afterwards rebuilt by Henry III, who
granted it the privileges of a borough. From this originated
the name of Montgomery township and, fully three-quarters
of a century later, the name of the county. Rev. Evan
Evans, in a letter to the Bishop of London in 1707, mentions
a Welsh settlement called Montgomery, twenty miles dis
tant from Philadelphia.
In those days of travel by stage coach, the hotels were
the centres of the community life, for the arrival of the
stage meant the coming or departure of friends, relatives
or strangers, as well as the arrival of the mail, the bustle
of -changing horses, the furnishing of meals, and so on.
Montgomery Square, with its two hotels, was one of these
important stopping places. Here, in olden times, we find
coaches from Bethlehem to Philadelphia stopping on
schedule for refreshment. Later the mail came from Norris-
town, the Post Ofiice being established here before 1827-8.
It was removed after an interval to Montgomeryville, but in
1869 again came to Montgomery Square. For a number of
years Johnny Banes, the diminutive mail carrier, trudged
through all Idnds of weather carrying the mail from Colmar
to Montgomery Square after the advent of the railroad. Still
later the Post Ofiice was again moved to Montgomeryville,
•Read before the Society, April 25, 1936.
7
g
BULLETIN OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
where it has remained, and some of the residents of the
Square succeeded in obtaining one of the first rural delivery
routes in the state.
Among the first settlers of Montgomery township, at the
Square, were Alexander Edwards, Gerret Peters and John
Bartholomew.
Edwards bought 996 acres in 1699, and moved there
soon afterward, coming from Radnor, Delaware county.
His tract was located on the northwest corner of Bethlehem
pike and State road, and it is supposed that his home was
what is now known as the Knapp house. During the Revolu
tion this was the property of Preston Moore, a former Vir
ginia friend of General Washington, who once visited him
there and spent the night. The property has been in posses
sion of the Knapp family for the past century.
Gerret Peters bought 340 acres in 1702. This lay on the
south side of the State road and on both sides of the Beth
lehem pike, and included the Peter Wager farm, later
owned by William Armstrong, who was a
breeder of
thoroughbred horses. This Peters farm was bequeathed to
Moses Peters in 1747, and he erected a tannery on it. It
was located on the land now owned by Irvin K. Moore. The
building was one of the first erected in the vicinity, and
the tannery was operated continuously from 1747 to 1866.
John Bartholomew bought 150 acres at Montgomery
Square in 1717. Here he established the first inn, and
resided there until his death in 1756. This was on the north
east corner of the Square. His widow, Mary Bartholomew,
continued the business until 1760, when the property was
sold to Blaize Weaver.
The Bethlehem road was laid out about the time that
John Bartholomew came into possession of his land. It
began at the Welsh road in the southern corner of the
township, and extended as far as the present village of
Line Lexington. In 1735 it was extended southward to the
Springhouse tavern, and northward from Line Lexington to
Lehigh county.
At the Weaver inn on this comer books were opened in
1805-6 to receive subscriptions for stock for making the
MONTGOMERY SQUARE AND ITS TRADITIONS
0
turnpike, which was constructed on this road in 1814 from
Springhouse to Hilltown.^
In 1731 a road was laid out from David's Corner on the
Bucks county line to Montgomery Square. It commenced at
Buckingham Meeting house and was afterward called State
road, the present DeKalb street pike. This was widened in
1830 to forty feet.
About the time the State road was opened, an inn was
also established at the southeast corner of the Square by
Rowland Roberts, who lived at the present Heckler home
stead. At what date he opened his inn is not known, but it
is mentioned in his will in 1749. The next year the property
passed into the hands of Blaize Weaver, who conducted the
inn until 1760, when he also bought the land on the north
east comer from Mary Bartholomew and built the store,
since destroyed by fire. This building stood between the inn
and the State road, and to the east of it was the old dance
hall, still standing.
The old inn is portrayed in a book describing old high
ways in and around Philadelphia, and was demolished
about 1920, the stone being used for the foundation of the
new Methodist church of Lansdale.
At any important stopping place for horses and vehicles,
naturally the services of a blacksmith and wheelwright
would be.in demand, so the building north of the Weaver
barn was the very necessary blacksmith and wheelwright
shop, still standing and used at present as an antique shop.
North of this again was the home of these two workmen.
Weaver continued the business of the inn until his
death in 1774, after which his widow kept it through the
Revolutionary war. It was then sold to her son, George
Weaver, who continued in business at this stand about fifty
years.
Both taverns continued to flourish until about 1860,
when the travel on this route from Philadelphia to Beth-
1 The record books of the Springhouse and Hilltovm Turnpike Com
pany are in possession of the Historical Society.
10
BULLETIN OP HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
lehem was diverted to the North Penn Railroad. At the
height of travel along the pike, farmers hauling hay or
produce to Philadelphia always took the precaution of
carrying arms to protect themselves from highwaymen.
A gruesome tragedy is connected with the inn kept by
George Weaver. Weaver was a man of importance in the
community, a Justice of the Peace and a member of the
State Legislature. His son Henry had been to Norristown
on October 5, 1805, and while walking home along the
State road beside his team loaded with store goods, he was
shot and killed about three-quarters of a mile from home.
This was one of the unsolved mysteries of the township.
Young Weaver was buried with military honors in the
Yellow Church cemetery. North Wales.^
The first school hoiise erected in the village was a log
building on land purchased from Samuel Griffith. The
Friends, however, also opened a school here at an early
period. A grant of a school house lot was made, September
15, 1727, to four trustees of Gwynedd meeting — John
Jones, George Lewis, Richard L. Lewis and John Roberts—
and a stone school house was built the same year. The
school was altered in 1821, and the dwelling house was
probably added to the rear at that time. From 1850 to 1925
the directors of Montgomery township had charge of .the
school, while the dwelling was rented to various parties.
A distinguished teacher of this school was Benjamin
Hancock, who lived in the dwelling. He was born in Phila
delphia in 1800, the son of Richard Hancock, a British
sailor. He was reared by Squire John Roberts, who owned
the farm to the east. Benjamin Hancock's twin sons, Winfield Scott Hancock and Hilary Hancock, were born here
February 14, 1824, and the following year the family moved
to Norristown. Winfield Scott Hancock, of course, is wellknown to every student of American history.
Samuel Medary, a native of this vicinity, also attended
Montgomery Square School. He afterward became Gover
nor of Ohio. William Collum, an accomplished scholar.
2 St. Peter's Lutheran Church.
MONTGOMERY SQUARE AND ITS TRADITIONS
^
resided here and taught sehool from 1805 to 1819. He cal
culated the almanacs printed by Asher Miner at Doylestown.
The vicinity has a trace of Kevolutionary tragedy con
nected with it. A body of American troops were stationed
near, a short time before the battle of Germantown. They
were under the command of General McDougal. It is said
that from the limb of a large walnut tree that projected
over the State road a short distance east of the old tavern
the Hatfield Tory, Abijah Wright, was hung for committing
depredations upon the persons and property of those loyal
to the cause of American independence.
While Washington was encamped at Valley Forge, the
supply of provisions in the surrounding country became
pretty well exhausted, and agents were sent to New York
and other eastern states to purchase beef cattle for the
army. A drove of 130 head on their way to Valley Forge
were captured at Montgomery Square by a detachment of
British troops from Philadelphia, February 24, 1778. It is
presumed that spies informed the British in Philadelphia,
and thus dealt this heavy blow to Washington's starving
troops.
The history of the remaining or southwest comer of
Montgomery Square is the history of the Methodist church
and cemetery. Starting with a Sunday School service in the
school house early Sunday morning, the movement to build
a church resulted in contributions of money, labor and
teams. The land, about two acres, was donated by Thomas
Rogers, and the church was finally completed and dedi
cated October, 1842. At various times many improvements
have been added, and it is the mother of several other
churches of the same denominations.
Sacn'l M. Carrlgues, C. E.
Sept. 1874
rlMl"'
^
"
rtn
ToaiC^Tir
IS
Map of Roads Approaching Belmont Driving Park Race Course
A Few Remarks Relating to Belmont
Driving Park*
By Milton R. Yerkes
This paper is merely what it purports to be, "Remarks,"
and if it strays a little more than 3 feet from the pole in
this race — though its trainer did his best — please be
patient, a green jockey is taking us back to horse and buggy
days.
Looking at the picture of "Jay-eye-See" drawing the
high-wheel sulkey—his tail laid over his driver^s knee, his
nose reaching for his 2-10 record — can you imagine the
thud of pounding feet, the blasts of throbbing breath?
Thrilling? And what about a little on the nose of your
favorite ?
Belmont Driving Park first appeared on a map of Roads
Leading to Belmont Driving Park in Lower Merion Town
ship, on the west side of Meeting House lane, north of
Montgomery avenue. This map was made, according to the
date, in 1874, the track being opened in 1876. Atlas maps
published in 1877 show the track. It was planned to be 80
feet wide and one mile in length, measured 3 feet from the
pole. The straight away in front of the club house and view
ing stands was wide, the opposite side and ends about half
that width or less. The track approximated a rectangle with
curving ends, A ground plan or topographical map was made
by Franklin & Company in 1924 when preparing for the
development.
Mr. Garrigues remeasured the track in 1890, finding it
to be three-quarters of an inch more than one mile, meas
ured three feet from the pole. About this time the half-mile
track was introduced inside the mile track.
*Read before the Society, April 25, 1936.
13
]^4
BULLETIN OP HISTOBICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
I am informed by a reliable racing master the track was
built for "Smuggler," a racing stallion of note, he being the
first of a series of record makers along, with "Jay-eye-See."
"Jay-eye-See" for a time was blind and part of his racing
was by instinct. The female of the species included Maud S.
and Nancy Hanks. Mr. George Supplee (Philadelphia hard
ware merchant) has a recollection of accompanying his
father about 1880 to one of the races, and stroking the beau
tiful soft nose of Maud S., she being much admired and
vamping all the men. Shall I use the word "typical?"
Nancy Hanks was reputed to have been guided for a
time in one of her races by the pressure of her trainer's feet
upon the shaft as she was trotting wild, due to the reins
breaking in the heat of the race. When the track attendants
noticed the trouble they ran out across the track with a
white tape to stop the mare, but the driver waved them
back shouting, "I am guiding her with my feet." The story
is not quite perfect because she did not win, coming in
third.
"Mike" Goodin, who nursed Maud S. into fame, made so
much money as a result of his venture that he went to Phila
delphia and bought the old "Bingham House," and lived
happily ever after so far as we know, until he was carried
out to St. Denis' cemetery, south of Ardmore, and laid under
a great monument he had previously erected. Michael
Goodin was born in 1836 and died in 1890. Michael had a
friend, Edward Gallagher, who, not to be outdone, built a
bigger, and he thought better, monument with a slightly
higher shaft (some 80 feet above ground) immedately
alongside Michael's. Both men were products of the Emerald
Isle, both successful and both popular. Edward was born in
1834, died 1915. When driving along Wynnewood road,
those two tall marble shafts tell the story. They stand near
the roadside and near St. Denis' Church.
"Smuggler" was trained by Charles Marvin. He after
ward trained record-makers for Leland Stanford, of Stan
ford University fame, at Palo Alto, California.
Quoting from Collier's, April 26, 1936: "The greatest
jockey in history was Fred Archer, of England, who from
A FEW REMARKS RELATING TO BELMONT DRIVING PARK
1870 to 1886, between the ages of 13 and 29 years; rode
2,775 winners out of 8,082 mounts."
Incidentally, according to that same number, in the
month of February, 1936, there were five issues of Collier's.
It will be thousands of years before there are again five
issues in the month of February. What has that to do with
racing? Well, perhaps nothing, except that it will be a long
time before there is another Driving Park at Belmont, in
Lower Merion.
The title deeds for the ground on which the track was
built, recorded at Norristown, Deed-book 234, page 2, show
a conveyance from Wm; L. McDowell, July 15, 1876.
The McDowell land came from the Prices, descendants
from the original land holders. The mansion house in which
General Washington lodged has been removed to make way
for improvements? Well, I don't know—changes any way.
The house did not stand on land acquired for the track.
Our attention is directed to the handsome granite monu
ment near the northwest corner of Montgomery avenue and
Meeting House lane, calling attention to the encampment of
regiments of Colonial troops on this site. The original
Friends Merion Meeting House stands onthenortheastcorner.
Many other interesting events have been lost with the
passing of the individuals creating the sport and carrying
it on. They and their equine friends covered a period
approximating 50 years of tremendous history with the give
and take of tragedy and comedy.
It has been said the "owner drove his horse to the park
and the horse drew his master home." Same has been tried
with an auto, but not successfully.
Your scribe, though familiar with the surroundings, was
not identified with the Association. Inspired by my friend,
Chester P. Cook, who owns a picture of "Jay-eye-See," I
have endeavored to catch some recollections from "Steve"
Deviney, George Markle, George Supplee, Joseph L. Serrill
and others. That incomparable writer "Girard" in one of his
"Talks of the Days," quotes an expression used by Watson
when writing his "Annals of Philadelphia." "Sorry some
one had not earlier done a similar thing."
Ig
BULLETIN OF HISTOBICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
The increasing use of the horse and buggy in the United States at
the beginning of the 19th century apparently hurt church attendance,
for in Philadelphia the church authorities became so perplexed by it that
they had permission, between 1798 and 1881, to stop all vehicular traffic
on Sundays by hanging large chains across the principal streets.
NOTES OF MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 25, 1924
September 25, 1924, at a meeting of stoekholders in the
office of Ferdinand D. Fleming, president, 1516 Chestnut
street, by a vote of 590 shares against 205 in opposition, the
members decided to part with the track for $300,000 to a
real estate developer, Mr. Martin Molony.
Mr. George W. Moore added his 980 shares to the affir
mative vote, making the total vote for the sale 1570, he
having agreed to withhold his vote and place it with the
winning faction. There having been a difference of opinion
concerning the sale, Mr. Fleming led those who wished to
continue the club's existence, while Joseph Evans, former
president, led the stockholders who wanted to dispose of the
75-acre property.
John W. Emery, a former police captain, was in favor of
selling, but for a higher price—$400,000.
Others argued for the sale, the shares having cost origin
ally $50 each and thus returning at the price ($300,000) 200
per cent on the investment. Mr. Evans urged the sale be
ratified at once. "Horse racing has not proved profitable
here," said Mr. Evans, "the property of the Belmont Driving
Club, therefore, is a burden. The Club is not making any
money now, so why continue a losing venture, when
$300,000 is knocking at the door?"
In the spring of the year the track was rented to the
promoters of the automobile racing for a series of eight
races, the last of which was held the Saturday preceding
September 18. At times these fire-eating Speed Kings were
paced by an airplane. A public sale of building fixtures and
equipment was held later. Many trophies were secured by
those who loved the old days. The judges' stand was bought
for the Doylestown Fair.
A PEW REMARKS RELATING TO BBLMONT DRIVING PARK
RULES AND REGULATIONS OF THE
BELMONT DRIVING CLUB
1. Members have the privilege of driving on the track, except on
Race days and while the track is being put in condition. On Race days
permission to drive must be obtained from the Judges.
2. TO AVOID ACCIDENTS, AFTER 2 P.M., ALL PERSONS
MUST DRIVE THE RIGHT WAY OF THE COURSE (left hand to
the pole or inside rail). On Sundays all persons must drive the right
way of the course. ALL PERSONS DRIVING ON THE COURSE
MUST APPEAR PROPERLY CLOTHED.
3. No Races shall be permitted (except between members) unless
previous permission has been granted by the Executive Committee, appli
cation for which must be made on blank forma, which can be procured
at the Club House.
4. All Judges of Races must be members of the Club, or such other
persons as may be specially designated by the Executive Committee.
5. The privilege of stabling and training must be granted by the
Executive Committee, and application for the same may be made through
the Lessee.
6. All occupants will be required to keep their respective stables and
surroundings in good order and repair.
7. Boisterous and profane language will not be tolerated, and Train
ers will be held responsible for the action of their Employees.
By order of the Executive Committee,
John Strickland, Chaimum
George W. Cook
C. Henderson Supplee
B. F. A. Fleming
Walter S. Hine
18
BULLETIN OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY
The Deed conveying the property to Martin Maloney
for today's development is recited as follows:
Deed
William L. McDowell and j D.B. 234 page 2
Mary, his wife
I Dated July 15, 1876
to
J Rec. September 5, 1876
William H. Jackson, Tinsmith, to The Belmont Driving
Park Association
Meeting House Road, Lower Merion Township
Containing 71A. 13 Sq.P.
Wm. Sibley, Surveyor
Consideration
Subject to Mtge
$ 5,000.00
62,527.19
Total
$67,527.19
Sheriff's Deed
Henry C. Kline, Sheriff
1
A. Louden Snowden
j
71A. 13 Sq.P.
Deed
A. Louden Snowden and
Elizabeth R., his wife
to
^ D.B. 334 page 225
I Dated March 19, 1889
J Rec. April 12,1889
Belmont Driving Club
71A. 18 Sq.P.
Deed
Belmont Driving Club
to
H. Martin Molony
71A. 13 Sq.P.
j D.B. 931 page 132
I Dated October 2, 1924
j Rec. October 6, 1924
Sampler-Lore*
By Laura Riegel Cook
There are not many of us who find the quaint and often
lovely sampler of bygone days lacking in interest. When I
was a small girl a delightful magazine by the name of
"Wide Awake" was given to me by some thoughtful rela
tive. In one number was an article on "Samplers," and so
strongly was their charm impressed upon my child-mind,
that I decided then and there to have some samplers of my
own some day, and to learn all that I could about them.
Let me say in passing, I have never deviated one iota from
that childish resolution.
Samplers have an especial claim on our interest, aside
from their sentimental value, for they seem to have pro
vided the foundation upon which all textile design rests. It
is marvelous what elaborate, decorative and really artistic
designs can be achieved by the simple crossing of stitches
at even intervals. It is also the oldest form of decoration in
which the needle was used. The sampler world was a real
and living world in those days, although it is difficult to
ascertain just when the first sampler came into being. Per
sonally I think, like most all other crafts, it was a matter
of growth. I imagine a narrow piece of linen, from 6 to 9
inches wide, a yard or more long, and attached to a cylin
drical piece of wood or ivory upon which it could be rolled
and neatly disposed of, was always in evidence, ready to be
used for a sample of this stitch or that design, known to
some generous neighbor. These samplers, sometimes called
"Examplers," "Samples," "Samp-cloths," or "Samplets,"
were without name or date. They were, in effect books" of
design, and were very beautiful, especially those with
drawn-work and lace stitches.
•Read tefore the Society, April 25, 1936.
19
20
BULLETIN OP HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
The earliest mention of a sampler so far found, agreed
to by all authorities, is in 1502, when Elizabeth, of York,
paid 8 pence for an ell of linen cloth with which to make
one, an entry in her account-book providing the basis for
this bit of history. John Skelton (1460-1529), wrote in his
"Garlande of Laurell," "The sampler to sowe on, the lacis
to embroider," ... In 1546, Margaret Thompson, of Lincoln
shire, left a will in which she says, "I gyve to Alys Pynchbeck, my sister's daughter, my sawmpler with semes."
Toward the middle of the sixteenth century, samplers grew
increasingly in favor, so much so that an inventory taken
in the early years of Edward VFs reign (1546-1553), men
tions first, "Item, . . XII Samplers," and then again, "Item,
. . One Sampler of Normandie Canvas wrought with green
and black silk." These were still the long and narrow affaire
of earlier days, although by now borders, alphabets, and
human figures were beginning to put in their appearance,
thus compelling a gradual change to a more square or
oblong shape.
Books of designs were practically non-existent in the
early days of sampler-making. Peter Quentil printed a book
of patterns in 1527, but there is no copy of it remaining. We
only know of it from a book of designs printed in 1701,
which gave him credit for certain border and corner
designs. The Germans published a pattern-book in Nurem
berg in 1748.
The different stitches were used to decorate handker
chiefs, table-cloths, napkins, towels, household linen. of
every sort, curtains, clothing and chairs, almost everything
in fact which could serve as a vehicle for such lovely
embellishment. A fine balance between the decorative and
the practical was always maintained. A new design was
carefully cherished, shared with one's friends, and copied
on the sampler for future use, perhaps to mark the linen
with which they were wont to fill the beautiful old oak
dower or marriage chests. Without sitches and designs there
could be no ornament of embroidery.
The patterns are supposed not to have been of English
origin, but of Italian, or other foreign source. One early
SAMPLER-LOKE
21
English sampler is a facsimile of the .design used upon a
towel of Italian workmanship. From 1700 on, we find ineluded among the old patterns elaborate running designs of
flowers, conventionalized roses, tulips, strawberries, clover,
Indian pinks, geometric designs and a greater variety of
human figures, the famous "boxers" being very frequently
used. These were men holding various unknown articles,
but standing in a boxing position. It is not known exactly
what they represent. Alphabets were used to mark linen to
indicate the owner thereof, a necessary part of the house
hold tasks, their color and fine stitches adding beauty and
finish to the hand-woven material. They also helped the
childish needle-worker to learn his "A, B, abs," texts from
the Bible, hymns such as were written by Watts and Doddridge, and moral instruction generally.
Sir Philip Sidney in his book, "Arcadia," speaks of his
love's beautiful sampler. Shakespeare, in "Midsummer
Night's Dream," makes Helena say to Hermia, "We,. . have
with one needle created both one flower, both on one
sampler, sitting on one cushion." Again, in "Titus Ardronicus he says, "Fair Philomela, she has lost her tongue and
in a tedious sampler sewed her mind."
The earliest English dated sampler was made in 1643.
America claims the oldest dated sampler of all, though
made in England. But Anne Gower, an English girl, mar
ried Governor Endicott and came with him to America in
1628, and died about a year later. She brought her sampler
with her, however, so we can claim it as American, and it
can be seen at the Essex Institute, Salem, Massachusetts.
The English themselves put the date of this sampler around
1610. We have Loara Standish's sampler, also, probably th§
first sampler made in America, which is in Pilgrim's Hall,
Plymouth, Massachusetts. She was the daughter of Captain
Miles Standish, was bom in 1623, and died before 1656.
Anne Gower's sampler is made up of drawn-work, filet, and
flat stitch in white on damask, beautifully executed. That
of Loara Standish is worked in blues and browns in intri
cate designs exquisitely worked. She also here began that
long file of pious and mournful verse that persisted in both
22
BULLETIN OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
English and American samplers to the very end. She was
the first to mark her sampler thus, "Loara Standish is my
name," a custom which also persisted, though with greater
elaboration and with the date of accomplishment added.
Mary Hollingsworth, a Salem girl bom about 1650,
made a sampler about 1665, bearing an alphabet and her
name. She married a Salem merchant about 1675. In 1692
she was accused of witchcraft, and her life was saved by a
timely escape to New York, where she died shortly after
her arrival, overcome by the shock of the accusation.
Sarah Lord, another New England girl, made a sampler
of extremely fine needlework, using patterns. One pattern
especially is unique, showing the petals of a rose raised and
free from the groundwork and done in buttonhole stitch.
English samplers of this date also show this type of work
and it was likewise used in the raised draperies of ladies'
dresses and men's coats.
About 1650 Elizabeth Roberts was bora in London, Eng
land. She embroidered two samplers in her youth; one was
made up of colored designs, and the other of lace stitches.
She signed the lace one Elizabeth Robert, and repeated her
initials, E. R., on the other many times. She married a Mr.
Breeder, who died, and in 1672 she married Colonel Shrimpton, of Boston, a wealthy merchant, and when he brought
her to Boston from her native country, she thriftily brought
her samplers with her. The Colonel dying, she again mar
ried, choosing another merchant by the name of Simeon
Stoddard. The principal interest we have in her career and
her samplers lies in the fact that her portrait has survived
as well as her samplers, the first instance of the kind. (She
died in 1713.)
The Quincy family brought a sampler to New England
before 1700, of a more pictorial nature than heretofore,
showing three ladies standing together, on one side of the
sampler, and just below them a man and a woman under
a tree with a somewhat restless-looking lion between them.
The three ladies represent three of the Quincy family and
and are so marked, their heads are stuffed and their dresses
sewed on, thus hiding three ladies worked on the fabric
SAMPIiER-LORE
23
itself, wearing clothes of an extremely ancient style and
marked "Fleetwood." The man and woman are marked
Miles and Abigail Fleetwood. The connection between the
two families has never been unravelled nor the reason for
the substitution, which shows plainly on the back of the
sampler. The rest of the sampler is filled up with unusual
and lovely designs in very fine work, with a verse so sadly
true, "In prosperity friends will be plenty, but in adversity
not one in twenty."
From this time on the making of samplers increased by
leaps and bounds, though losing some of its elaboration, and
becoming more utilitarian, ranging from the crude work of
little girls, and not a few little boys, to the more ambitious
work of their elders. The American sampler gradually
departed from the style set by its English forbears, becom
ing broader than long with a border worked on all sides.
Within, one found stitches resembling fret-work, conven
tionalized fiowers, vines, alphabets, genealogies, tributes to
those who had passed away shown by funereal urns, tombs
and weeping-willow trees, with the name of the deceased
somewhere appended, birds, really almost everything per
taining to their daily lives. Then a desire arose to ornament
the bare walls of their primitive homes, and since they
could not afford the French tapestries, from their natural
longing for relief from cheerlessness and their love of color,
came needlework pictures, pictures that told stories and
which were often remarkably beautiful. In America, the
invention of this form of needlework is credited to the
Moravians of Bethlehem. These pictures were often more
quaint than beautiful, especially when all idea of perspec
tive was lost. Thus we find the flowers on the lawn larger
than the sheep disporting there, the birds larger or .too
heavy for the trees upon which they perch, the dogs larger
than their masters and the same masters larger than the
houses in which they were supposed to dwell. Nevertheless
they had the quality of their defects, they were quaint, gay
and interesting. Religious subjects were also highly re
garded, such as Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, with
the Tree, upon which the serpent is usually seen twining
24
BULLETIN OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
himself about the trunk, and bearing apples so large that
any farmer would become envious at once, just looking at
them. The most Interesting sampler of this type that we
have is the one made by Abigail Adams, in 1789, the daugh
ter of John Adams.
It is interesting to know what kind of material fell to
the lot of these early needle-women. "Let none despise the
criss-cross row," said Sarah Troup in 1738, "nor that upon
which it is laid." The greater number of samplers in all
periods were worked on linen, fine or coarse as it may have
been. The early looms, as we have said before, wove linen
from 6 to 9 inches wide, but there were a few early samp
lers with the selvages at the top and bottom. These were
supposedly on materials of foreign origin, as their looms,
particularly those of the French, were wider than those
used in England. In the latter part of the 17th century a
mustard-colored linen was used, not very attractive to mod
ern taste. American-made linen was considerably coarser
and rougher than the English linen. A dark green linen is
often found, also light blue, brown and grey, and a some
what elaborately woven bird's-eye linen.
Some of the samplers were bound with silk tape, some
with ribbon used either plain or quilled, the latter style
coming from the Pennsylvania German. Rosettes of ribbon
were often placed in the comers. Some children sewed
their samplers to paper. Another material, a kind of canvas,
was called "catgut," but it never seems to have been used
in America. About 1750 the English began to use tammy
cloth, a disappointing material, for being made of wool, it
curled and shrank when washed, and worst of all became
the easy prey of moths, which doubtless ended many a lovely
sampler. Despite its drawbacks, this material, resembling
our mohair, was liked because its threads were so much
more evenly woven than those in linen fabrics. Canary can
vas and Penelope canvas were used in the 19th century,
then another woolen material appeared, a very transparent
woolen gauze, used to bolt flour, and even more to the lik
ing of the ubiquitous moth. Satin was largely used for
mourning pieces, because the tombs and inscriptions could
SAMPLER-LORE
25
be more easily painted in. This applied, too, to the making
of human figures, as their faces, hands and arms were usu
ally painted.
The thread used was most often of silk, though we find
linen, cotton and wool. The colors were produced by home-
dyeing, using logwood, cochineal, imported indigo, saffron,
native herbs, etc. Some of the thread was very kinky, and
was used to depict grass. White embroidery was in vogue in
the early 18th century and was used in satin stitch and geo
metric designs; chenille was used after 1800. There were
not so many stitches used, cross-stitch, tent stitch or petit—
point, satin stitch, eyelet stitch round or square, back
stitch and rope stitch being the favorites. Black dye con
tained sulphate of iron, which sooner or later rotted the
thread, making many samplers difficult or impossible to
read. Genealogies, texts and verses were usually worked
with black silk. The Bronte sisters each left a sampler
behind them worked in this mournful silk, matching well
their somber lives. EJmily Jane, at eleven, painstakingly
copied the first nine verses of the 30th chapter of Proverbs,
finishing it March 1, 1829, adding besides a mournful bit
of poetry. Ann, nine year old, copied 18 verses of the ninth
chapter of Proverbs in 1830, while Charlotte, later the
famed authoress, when 13 years old, worked seven verses
from various chapters of Proverbs, beginning with, "A
house divided against itself cannot stand." These samplers
were plain and severe, solemn words, made with solemnhued stitches by solemn little children.
Maps were also made with black silk thread. There are
very few American maps but many of English origin. White
and colored thread are mostly used in the lovely darned
samplers, of which the Dutch are usually considered the
originators.
The designs were often drawn directly on the linen,
but sometimes the outline must have been drawn on thin
paper and placed on the linen, as old samplers often show
bits of paper on them where the paper was not entirely
pulled out from the embroidery. The workers at first were
adults, using their clever stitches and designs for practical.
20
BULLETIN OP HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
household purposes. Then the boarding-school took up the
task of instruction in more elaborate and intricate work.
It is surprising how much we learn about the history of
girls' education from the record of the various schools em
broidered upon these bits of canvas. The little children were
taught at home and we cannot help but feel the pathos of
those little fingers at their daily, and I am quite sure often
distasteful, task. It is well that we cherish these quaint con
ceits of the needle for the very hearts and lives of our ances
tors are stitched into them, in colors somber and gay. The
making of them doubtless wiled many a weary hour away
in their voyage to a new and far country, and we, their
descendants, are all the better for the heritages showing
love of color, beauty and form, which have come to us from
the past.
The material grew coarser, the stitches and designs con
tinually less artistic and elaborate. The fine material of
early days was superseded by the coarse canvas upon which
the impossible dogs, cats, stags, and roses in crude and
vivid coloring were worked, known as "Berlin work." The
perforated cardboard was the last stage of all, for upon it
only the simplest designs could be produced.
It is pleasant to note the revival of interest today in this
art of the needle, shown in work imitating that of the past
and in original work. Exhibitions showing both the art of the
old and the new are not uncommon, and more can be
learned from a study of their exhibits than from many
books. Just as our ancestors left traces of their ingenuity
and skill upon all the fabrics they touched, let us, too, try
to carry on the torch they lighted, and hand to another gen
eration our conception of the gracious art of needle-work.
Authorities consulted:
-American Samplers, by Ethel S. Bolton and Eva J. Goe.
The Development of Embroidery in America, by Candace Wheeler.
Samplers and Tapestry Embroideries, by Marcus Huish.
Glass Paper-Weights and What-Not*
By Mrs. William F. Moyer
Little seems to have been written on the subject of glass
paper-weights. Percival, in his book, "The Glass Collector,"
gives two or three pages to them; and Walter A. Dyer, in
an article entitled "Millefiori," in the June, 1928, number
of "House Beautiful," writes at more length on the subject.
I am indebted to these two for some of my information.
Throughout the years glass-blowers in many lands have
delighted in showing what curious and beautiful effects
could be obtained by the use of their medium. The result
has been a wide variety of glass objects. Curiously enough
many of these were made to look as if they were useful,
while they really were only ornamental. It has been thought
that this came about probably because glass-workers were
aware of the fact "that glass, which is capable of being at
once perfectly adapted to a useful purpose and at the same
time delightfully- ornamental, does not seem really suited
for purely decorative effects, at least when divorced from
the semblance of utility. Ornamental cups, vases and can
dlesticks are often exquisite pieces of decoration, but it
seems there must be this "peg" of service on which to hang
the ornament or the result is unsatisfactory and almost
tawdry." And so the glass-workers made button-hooks,
pipes, glass chains, rolling pins and walking sticks, all of
which would break easily and were of no real use.
But in this great variety of odd or beautiful glass
objects we find some that combine utility with beauty and
that serve well the purpose for which they were made.
These are the paper-weights, and it is of paper-weights
that I wish to tell you most—^when and how they were made
and something of their decoration.
""Read before the Society, April 29, 1938.
27
2g
BULLETIN OP HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
Mention is made of the making of paper-weights before
1800, but it was in the early part of the nineteenth century
that in several countries glass-workers were vying with each
other in making all sorts of curious and unusual designs.
The decoration of these paper-weights varied greatly. In
some whole glass lily-like forms were used, in others birds,
flowers of different kinds (sometimes singly and sometimes
as a bouquet), butterflies or moths, groupings of fruit,
boats, spirals, lacy designs of glass, and so forth. These
decorations "were made of colored, opaque white, silver
and striped glass and then buried in the clear glass. Some
times air bubbles and flakes of tinsel were added by way of
variety."
In some paper-weights the design was etched on the
bottom of the heavy glass (sometimes this was in color)
and in this type you find the heads of presidents of the
United States, rulers of Great Britain, and other prominent
people, also pictures of flowers or animals. Some were made
by pasting photographs face up on the bottom of the heavy
glass—Niagara Falls, your favorite camp-meeting ground,
or perhaps your own photograph. In oth^r cases the paper
weight was used for advertising, and a message pasted
either face up or face down under the glass. Sometimes
raised metal pictures were placed underneath and held in
place by a marble base.
Yet another kind was made hollow and filled with some
product for advertising or with seashells for beauty, or
perhaps — and this brings us to a famous type of old
paper-weight—^the hollow ball of glass contained a small
landscape and the figure of a person, the remaining space
being filled with a liquid in which were flakes of a white
material. On being shaken this was suspended in the liquid
and gradually descended like a small snow storm. I called
this a "famous" type because it is so well remembered and
because many of these paper-weights have been made
recently. It is my idea that the liquid in the old ones has
evaporated by now.
A solid paper-weight, if its upper surface is convex, will
magnify what is beneath (either inside or under it); if its
GLASS PAFEB-WEIGHTS AND WHAT-NOT
29
upper surface is cut in concave facets, each of these will
make what is beneath seem smaller than it is. The use of
facets adds much to the beauty of some weights.
Some heavy kinds were made with a slender stem rising
from the center of the top, which supported a dainty glass
bowl, sometimes etched and decorated in color. This bowl
probably was used as a tray for holding some small articles.
Another type of decoration was that used on the prism
paper-weight or ornament. These prisms varied greatly in
size from very small to a foot or more high. A prism (often
with a square base) was arranged to stand erect and looked
much like a miniature cemetery monument. One long edge
of the prism was cut out in several places, and on the two
faces adjoining this edge were painted flowers of different
colors. When you looked through the remaining face you
saw the two real pictures and two reflections, and the com
bination of cutting and painting and reflection produced
an unusual effect, since it showed a vase of flowers.
Just here let me insert a sort of parenthetical lamenta
tion, It is a sad fact that these beautiful glass creations have
in many cases throughout the years been put to uses that
greatly marred their beauty. Children always have loved
to play with them and always have wanted to get the
objects inside, so many old ones are nicked and chipped
and some even lack large portions. Then, too, many adults
evidently thought these heavy glass objects fine to pound
with. One woman, in speaking to me about a paper-weight
which she held in her hand, said, "Now this hammer. . . !"
No wonder the old ones are chipped and broken!
I have mentioned the use of air bubbles in decoration.
These were made by pricking the mass and sealing the holes
with an outside skin of glass, and were used in several
interesting ways. Sometimes they were of different shapes
and sizes and were irregularly placed throughout the mass
of glass. Sometimes they were round and graduated accord
ing to size, making a symmetrical design. Often they were
used on the petals of flowers as dew drops and always they
caught the light and added brightness. Sometimes they
were present apparently by mistake.
30
BULLETIN OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
Paper-weights vary greatly in size, some almost as large
as door stops, and some so small that they must have been
used for only very small pieces of paper. Many are dis
tinctly personal, and may have been made by the glassblowers for their friends or relatives. Some contain mes
sages of friendship and some say intimate things, like,
"From Jim to Uncle."
The kind of decoration, however, that gives the most
beautiful and most interesting results is that found in cer
tain glass objects (including some paper-weights and other
forms) that are called "millefiori." And here we have a
subject quite worth a study all its own. Here, too, we must
include in our thought other articles made of glass, for,
while paper-weights far outnumber other objects decorated
in this particular way, the complete millefiori collection
would include also certain glass bottles, door stops, ink
stands, door knobs, cologne bottles, bureau and mirror
knobs, marbles, letter seals, button-hooks, decorations for
the tops of newels, walking canes, ornamental balls, bottle
stoppers, pepper pots, spirit flasks, "puzzle bottles" and so
forth.
Let us understand this term "millefiori." It is an Italian
word meaning "a thousand flowers" and well may it be
applied to these crystal-clear objects in many of which
"blossom fairy beds of gayly colored flowers. One never
ceases wondering by what magic they have been introduced
into the center of the hard glass ball. In the same way one
wondered how glass marbles were made, and how the
colored flag got into the middle of the stick of Christmas
candy. As a matter of fact the processes of manufacture are
similar and came down to us from ancient Rome and
Alexandria."
The glass called "millefiori" was "a mechanically
ingenious product of the middle of the last century which
was a revival or development of the ancient Roman art of
glass mosaic." It "enjoyed a great vogue both here and
abroad for twenty-five or thirty years and then went out of
style. It was in 1915 that an antiquarian interest was
aroused in it, and this has been spreading ever since." In
GLASS PAPER-WEIGHTS AND WHAT-NOT
3]^
that year the late Dr. Edwin Atlee Barber, our foremost
pioneer in American glassware and ceramics, arranged at
the Pennsylvania Museum in Philadelphia, an exhibition of
millefiori paper-weights, inkstands, mirror knobs and so
forth, which attracted widespread attention. In connection
with this exhibit. Dr. Barber prepared for the Museum Bul
letin, a monograph on the subject (now out of print) to
which I am indebted for much of the technical data which
follows. It describes not only the methods employed in the
manufacture of millefiori glass, but also, in considerable
detail, the historic mosaics of Rome and Egypt.
Glass mosaics were made in Rome in the time of Aug
ustus, and existing examples of the art are, of course, rare
and valuable. The typical glass mosaic was formed by
arranging side by side and fusing together small glass rods
or threads or filigree canes of different designs and colors,
and from the group thus formed cutting transverse sections
or slices that were used in a variety of different ways. These
slices cut from the ends of the fused rods often formed
minutely perfect patterns of birds, flowers, animals, and so
forth, which showed equally perfect on both sides of the
title.
The art was revived at Venice and Murano in the
twelfth century, and again in the nineteenth, when the
making of millefiori glass was developed by the simple
process of surrounding and covering groups of the little
decorative slices of variegated glass in clear glass. It be
came the custom to arrange the slices or discs in kaleido
scopic patterns, so that they came to bloom inside the clear
glass ball or dome like little marine flower gardens of bril
liant hues.
About 1840-1850 millefiori paper-weights were exten
sively manufactured in Bohemia, in Alsace-Lorraine, and at
Baccarat (the source of some of our finest crystal), and
elsewhere in France, and many of them were imported into
this country. Foreign workmen also brought the methods of
manufacture with them into England and the United
States, and the American-made product was very abun
dant and very popular between 1860 and 1880.
32
BULLETIN OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
At first the American manufacturers imported the pre
pared glass rods from France and Germany, and then the
little glass flowers or filigree disks, ready for use. Soon,
however, American workmen learned how to make the rods
and to conduct the manufacture of millefiori glass in
American factories from beginning to end. The domestic
industry was at its height during the 60's.
In the American process the vari-colored glass rods were
cast in metal moulds, ropes or threads of colored glass being
laid together in such a way as to form a design in cross
section. These canes, when partly cooled, were drawn out
to the desired slenderness, making the design as small as
might be wished. Slices were cut off and patterns arranged
with these highly colored slices or disks.
Into an iron ring the size of the paper-weight was
poured a cushion of clear, molten glass. While this was still
soft the colored disks were laid in or stuck on in the desired
pattern, an endless variety of arrangement being possible.
Clear glass was then poured over the whole and was
moulded into the required shape and finally polished.
Another description of how paper-weights were made is
as follows: "The process is clearly a descendant of the
Roman millefiori glass handed on by way of Venice, and
these things used to be spoken of as being made of 'Vene
tian Ball.' Rods of glass of different colors were arranged
in bundles so that a cross section showed the required pat
tern, though in a larger proportion. They were exposed to
heat, and the air squeezed out till they formed a solid mass.
This was drawn out, the pattern diminishing as the bar
increased in length. When cut across, the design showed
exactly the same at each cross-section; of course, it differed
a little when cut slantways, and this was sometimes done
for the sake of variety. A selection of these pieces was
arranged in some kind of pattern, or sometimes thrown to
gether haphazard, and placed in a pocket or bubble of soft
glass. The air was sucked out, making the sides of the
bubble collapse in on the pieces, and the whole was rolled
together to form a ball, with a smooth outside of clear glass
showing the colored mosaic within. The small pieces which
GLASS PAPER-WEIGHTS AND WHAT-NOT
33
form the pattern are, of course, much magnified by the
rounded surface, and the contrast between the apparent
size as seen on the top and the reality as viewed from
beneath is quite astonishing."
This was the true millefiori glass, but the name is given
also to the lilies, boats and so forth already mentioned.
These are not the true millefiori, having little connection
with the old Roman mosaic or the Venetian revival, but
objects so constructed are classed with millefiori by collec
tors and are much in demand.
The oldest examples we have were imported from St.
Louis in Alsace-Lorraine, and from Baccarat, in France, but
many are now found to have come from Bristol and else
where in England. By far the greater number, however,
are of American origin, having been made at East Cam
bridge and Sandwich, Massachusetts, at various New Jersey
factories, and at Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. A number of
interesting examples have been traced to the factory at
Millville, New Jersey, where so many curious and decora
tive glass toys and ornaments were made.
The finest workmanship, perhaps, is to be found in the
rare paper-weights imported from Baccarat, though the
English pieces are held in high regard by collectors. The
butterfly made in Bristol in the 50's is one of the rarest and
most sought for.
In general, the American-made pieces are less highly
esteemed. Some of those made at Pittsburgh and elsewhere
are somewhat crude and commonplace, but it is scarcely
fair to condemn all the American work as second-rate. Some
of the American paper-weights easily rival those from
abroad in beauty and ingenuity of pattern. In fact, since
none of them is marked, they often encourage speculation
as to their origin. It is quite possible that some of the best
ones were made in this country.
Millefiori paper-weights vary widely, not only in size,
coloring and design, but even in the tiny rods used in their
making; these vary greatly in size, some being so small that
a magnifying glass really is necessary in order to enjoy
fully their minute structure.
34
BULLETIN OP EISTOKICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
Some of the paper-weights are dated and marked with
the initial of the maker, date and initial being of glass and
placed among the tiny, flower-like units of the enclosed
design in such a way as to be almost undiscernable.
Both millefiori and other kinds of paper-weights are
being made today in Italy, France, China, Czecho-Slovakia
and other countries, so, if you are looking for old ones, be
careful what you buy. Of the millefiori "it is possible to own
a large collection without having any two that resemble
each other. It is this varieiy, I think, that accounts in large
measure for the continuing interest among collectors."
Picture a group of these gay little flower gardens in a
glass case with the sunlight shining through. It is a fairy
scene to delight the eyes. "It is in this decorative quality, as
well as in its variety and its historic significance, that the
lure of millefiori lies."
Backed Against the Hundred Miles Hills,
But Ever Facing the Foe, the Continentals
At Valley Forge Typified the Spirit of
Pennsylvania*
By IRVIN P. KNIPE
As Washington led the Continentals up the Gulph road
to Valley Forge on December 19, 1777, they well might
have felt that even Providence had deserted their cause.
Everything had conspired against them. At Brandywine,
forced retreat followed initial success. At Germantown, fog
and confusion, disregard of orders, an incompetent brigade
leader, and delay, deprived them of almost certain victory.
Winter set in early and with severity. Provisions were
scant, clothes and shoes sadly lacking. The non-professional
soldiery could not understand the reason for sending them
to an unprepared camp ground in the wilderness, shelter
less, destitute of the most ordinary comforts, and were
seriously discontented at the prospect of months of want
and suffering—needless want and suffering, many of them
thought.
Things had been bad enough in camp at Fort Washing
ton, despite the available food supplies of two productive
agricultural counties, and numerous converging high roads
to facilitate transport. But after the army crossed the
Schuylkill, and shivered tentless for two days in the.cold
defile at Gulph, the march up the narrow and rough back
road to the wilderness of the Hundred Miles Hills brought
them to the depths of depression and discouragement.
Axes and saws were few. Weeks passed before huts
enough could be built to shelter the soldiers without unsani*Read before the Society, February 22, 1928.
85
36
BULLETIN OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
tary crowding. Oftentime more than half the army was too
sick to answer rollcall, and for months a large proportion
were too poorly clad to brave the weather or too poorly
shod to tramp the frozen snowy ground.
Writes Chief Justice John Marshall:
"At no period of the war had the American Army been reduced to
a situation of greater peril than during the winter at Valley Forge.
More than once they were absolutely without food. Even while their
condition was less desperate in this respect, their stock of provisions
was so scanty that there was seldom at any time in their stores a quan
tity sufficient for the use of the troops for a week. Consequently, had the
enemy moved out in force, the American Army could not have continued
in camp. The want of provisions would have forced them out of it; and
their deplorable condition with respect to clothes disabled them from
keeping the field in winter. The returns of the first of February exhibit
the astonishing number of 3989 men in camp unfit for duty for want of
clothes. Of this number, scarcely a man had a pair of shoes. Even
among those returned capable of duty, very many were so badly clad
that exposure to the colds of the season must have destroyed them.
Although the total of the army exceeded 17,000 men, the present effective
rank and file amounted to only 6012. The returns throughout the winter
did not essentially vary therefrom."
The situation of the camp on the 12th of February was
so critical that General Vamum wrote to General Greene
"that in all human probability, the army must dissolve.
Many of the troops are destitute of meat, and are several
days in arrears. The horses are dying for want of forage.
The country in the vicinity of the camp is exhausted."
It is estimated that 3,000 men perished on the hills of
Valley Forge from suffering and disease during the six
months' encampirient, while in the twenty-six principal
engagements of the Revolution the total number killed and
wounded did not greatly exceed 9,000.
On February 16th, Washington wrote to General
Greene: "For some days past there has been little less than
a famine in camp. A part of the army has been a week with
out any kind of flesh, and the rest three or four days. Naked
and starved as they are, we cannot enough admire the incom
parable patience and fidelity of the soldiery, that they have
BACKED AGAINST THE HUNDBED MILES HILLS—SPIEIT OP PENNA. 37
not been, 'ere this, excited by their sufferings to general
mutiny and desertion."
The entoy in the Orderly Book for February 22, 1778,
one hundred and fifty years ago today, is a direction to
reserve rice for the sick, with corn meal as a substitute if
not enough rice was procurable.
Writers have referred to discontent bordering on mutiny
among the Pennsylvania troops, who numbered between a
third and a half of all the soldiers in camp. Reading only
surface indications, they might be thought to have done
their state no credit.
But consider the facts. There was no "regular army"
of professional soldiers. They were all amateurs at arms,
brought into the war for varying enlistment terms, some as
short as eight weeks, and in many cases their terms had
expired. The Pennsylvanians made up about half of thearmy. They were camped near their homes and families,
probaby none a hundred miles off, most of them within
fifty miles.
The British were comfortably settled in Philadelphia
for the winter and spring. Their army could not move until
summer. There was no possibility of a winter campaign.
The Americans were not stationed at Valley Forge to
defend the back country. Its inaccessibility was its own
defense.
"Why not let us go home for the winter?" said the
Pennsylvanians. "We cannot do any good here. Our families
need us. We can be sheltered and nourished in comfort over
the winter, and do our work. Our going home will relieve
the shortage of supplies, and leave more food for the
Virginians and New Yorkers and New Englanders who can
not make the long journey to their homes. Then, in the
spring, we will come back well clothed, well fed, hearty
and strong, for training and for fighting."
This was not insubordination nor mutiny. It was nothing
more than the natural way of thinking of ordinary provin
cial countrymen, voluntarily enlisted in support of a great
cause, and not for wages nor for loot. They could not
appreciate the danger that the army might never again be
38
BULLETIN OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
re-organized, once it dispersed. They did not realize that it
was necessary to keep that army within striking distance
of the British for the double purpose of preventing the
enemy from over-running the whole Province, and of keep
ing alive in the Americans the spirit of determined
resistance.
The Continental Army encamped at Valley Forge had
its back to the wall.
Washington might have temporarily scattered the units
of his army to be comfortably wintered in the back country,
or in the south, without much likelihood of British pursuit
or harassment; but the psychology of the situation
demanded that the Continental Army should grimly hang
on to the British, going back only from superior force, ever
lastingly hanging on, following, never letting go, suffering,
hungering, thirsty, going shoeless and naked, but doggedly,
grimly, everlastingly hanging on—and gradually getting
under the British hide the conviction that never would
they let go.
And that is why they "hung on" at Valley Forge. And
that's why they had to hang on at Valley Forge. That was
Washington's whole strategy throughout the seven fighting
years of the Revolution.
The discontent of the Pennsylvania soldiers did not last
long. They plunged into the work of constructing the camp,
and of gathering forage and provisions, and of holding their
ground.
"Yet, amidst all this suffering, day after day," says the
historian Lossing, "surrounded by frost and snow, patriot
ism was still warm and hopeful in the hearts of the soldiers,
and thought of self was merged into the holy sentiment of
love of country. Although a few feeble notes of discontent
were heard at times, and symptoms of intention to abandon
the cause were visible, yet the great body of the army was
content to wait for the returning spring, and be ready to
enter anew upon the field of strife for the cause of
freedom."
It was in Pennsylvania that the Continental Army spent
its longest continuous stay. It was Pennsylvania that sup-
BACKED AGAINST THE HUNDRED MILES HILLS—SPIRIT OF PENNA. 39
ported the army. It was Valley Forge that tried men's souls.
It was there that the spirit of invincible determination and
steadfastness was born; and that spirit of Pennsylvania has
ever since been a dominant factor in the great composite
that goes to make up America in its best and fullest sense.
I wonder if we know what "The Spirit of Pennsylvania"
means. The histories of my school boy days were full of
Massachusetts and Virginia, and so scant in their refer
ences to Pennsylvania as to make me almost ashamed of a
state about which so little could be said.
The late Judge Pennypacker's finest and worthiest con
tribution to history is a volume entitled "Pennsylvania in
American History" that ought to be read from cover to
cover by every son and daughter of the Keystone State;
and if my means permitted I would reprint from it and
place in the hands of every school child a 20-page gem
headed "Pennsylvania and Massachusetts," wherein, by
irrefutable facts, he establishes the primacy of our state in
liberality, tolerance, education, the arts, transportation,
manufacture, abolition of slaves, and shows that the Boston
Tea Party's resolutions of 1773 were nothing but a copy of
those adopted in Philadelphia a month earlier.
I sometimes think we Pennsylvanians need self-adver
tising, more than anything else; and I would rejoice to see
rise in our midst some speaker, to stir us up to an adequate
realization and appreciation of ourselves.
Let me paint for you my conception of "The Spirit of
Pennsylvania."
Behind the Speaker's rostrum in the hall of the House
of Representatives at Harrisburg, stands a great picture
called "The Apotheosis of Pennsylvania," depicting in face
and figure many of its great historical personages.
To the thoughtful student who knows the history and
the antecedents of the living subjects portrayed before him
comes the feeling that he is looking at a great composite of
many different elements. There stands a type of Quaker
kindliness and tolerance; here, a representative of ScotchIrish grit and determination; between them, the Pennsyl
vania Dutchman with his characteristic steadfastness and
40
BULLETIN OP HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
adherence to the established order of things. In these
pioneers of Pennsylvania were blended the best of the vir
tues of the Nordic races of the Old World.
Moreover, they were a religious people. There were
Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Baptists, Quakers,
Romanists, Moravians, Bunkers and Mennonites. Theirplaces of worship dotted the hilltops, and their services
were devout and sincere. "In God We Trust," first stamped
in Philadelphia, by our distinguished Montgomery countian,
Rittenhouse, appears upon every coin minted throughout a
century and a half of national existence; and as the nation
trusts, so do its people.
Such was the splendid amalgamation of racial type,
religious inclination and personal uprightness that devel
oped the physique and the determination and the patriotism
which Inspired and enabled the patriots of '76 to dare all at
Trenton, to do against every adversity at Valley Forge, and
which similarly actuated the Pennsylvanians in 1863 to
fight on determinedly at Gettysburg for three long days
until they rolled back the invading hordes and broke the
backbone of rebellion.
This is Pennsylvania's manhood contribution to the
Union.
In ability to contribute material resources, Pennsylvania
has been blessed beyond measure. Nearest of all the states
to being absolutely self-contained, self-reliant, self-support
ing; able to supply to its people from its own resources
practically all of their acutal needs and many of the lux
uries which modern civilization has come to regard almost
as necessities; Pennsylvania has had a vast super-abundance
of everything from which to help its neighbors. From our
unparalelled anthracite deposits are heated homes from
Maine to Minnesota. Our bituminous coal goes everywhere.
The oil which gushes from our northwestern counties oper
ates and lubricates countless motors in many states, and
abroad as well. Textiles made in Philadelphia, "the work
shop of the world," clothe "the world and his wife," and
furnish their homes; and machinery and tools from the
same teeming hive of industry are sent to the four quarters
BACKED AGAINST THE HUNDRED MILES HILLS—SPIRIT OF PENNA. 4^
of the globe. From the smoke of Pittsburgh come the fabri
cated iron and steel for bridges over African rivers; for
that great cathedral of trade, the Woolworth building in
New York; for those towering spider-like masts along our
coasts from whose tops radiate the wonderful, mysterious,
unseeable waves that now carry the human voice clear
across the ocean. Splendid modern highways and great
transcontinental railroads gridiron the commonwealth, and
carry its "people and its products everywhere. The Delaware
is a wide and open path for commerce to the sea. One of
the chain of Great Lakes touches the state's northwestern
comer; and on the broad Ohio barges float to the Missis
sippi) Queen of Waters, and on to the Gulf, the Atlantic
and the Caribbean.
All these splendid personal characteristics and all these
great natural and material possessions and advantages have
made and kept the people of Pennsylvania prosperous and
healthy and contented and happy; and by sending its hardy
men and its spendid women to pioneer new states, and by
sharing its surplus wealth of natural resource with neigh
bors less abundantly blest, the state has made untold con
tribution to the welfare and expansion of the whole Union.
But are man-service. and wealth of material and un
equalled avenues of transportation Pennsylvania's greatest
contribution to the Union ?
No!
When the Great Architect of the Universe, in His omnis
cience and omnipotence, determined to set a new constella
tion in the galaxy of world nations. He fashioned an arch
and made Pennsylvania its keystone. By the permanence
and enduring strength of that keystone state must the other
twelve original states, and the many added since, be sup
ported. If it weakens or crumbles, the others must inevit
ably fall. So, the Great Craftsman melted all these Pennsyl
vania men and material resources in the crucible of toil and
travail and adversity. He skimmed oif the dross of intoler
ance, ignorance, dissoluteness, general worthlessness. By
His wonderful alchemy He transmuted this refined molten
metal into a liquid, to still further purify it by distillation.
Reports of the Recording Secretary,
George K. Brecht
ANNUAL MEETING, FEBRUARY 22, 1936
The special committee on Publications of the Society,
consisting of Miss Emily Preston, Howard W. Kriebel,
Charles R. Barker, Chester P. Cook and Dr. W. H. Reed,
made its report, and in it included a recommendation that
the Society issue a semi-annual pamphlet of 48 pages on
October 1st and April 1st each year. The report contained
details as to suggestions for handling this publication.
Included in the report by S. Cameron Corson for the
Marker Committee was the fact that the Barren Hill marker
had been taken care of and that Adolf Muller had been
added to the membership of the committee.
The Society resolved to go on record as opposing the
closing of "Moore Road," near Valley Forge in Upper
Merion township on historical grounds. This matter is now
the subject of proceeding before a jury of view appointed
by the Court of Quarter Sessions of Montgomery County.
The program of the day contained the following papers
and addresses:
1. "Remarks on George Washington," by President Nel
son P. Fegley.
2. "The Old Burying Ground at Erdenheim," by William
R. Yeakle.
3. "History of Footwear," by Floyd Frederick.
Officers elected for ensuing year.
President—^Nelson P. Fegley, Esq.
Vice-Presidents—S. Cameron Corson
Hon. George C. Corson
Mrs. John Faber Miller
Recording Secretary—George K. Brecht, Esq.
48
44
BULLETIN OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
Corresponding Secretary—Miss Ella Slingluff
Treasurer—Dr. W. H. Reed
Financial Secretary—Mrs. William M. Gearhart
Trustees—^Franklin A. Stickler
Miss Katharine Preston
Mrs. A, Conrad Jones
Lyman A. Kratz
H. H. Ganser
REGULAR MEETING OF APRIL 25, 1936
The Publication Committee reported that Volume 7 of
Historical Sketches is ready for distribution.
The President and others discussed the subject of
methods to get the co-operation of groups in different sec
tions of the county with the work of our Society. This arose
out of the information that a Pottstown group is about to
organize a separate organization and that in some other
sections of the county similar plans are being considered for
separate organizations. This resulted in the appointment of
a committee consisting of Miss Bertha Harry, Miss Emeline
Henry Hooven, Howard W. Kriebel, George F. P. Wanger,
Mrs. John Faber Miller and Mrs. A. Conrad Jones, to
endeavor to secure co-operation with our work by the dif
ferent sections of the county.
The matter of securing the interest of the public school
children in the historical work of the county received con
sideration, and arising out of the discussion on the subject
was the offer by Herbert Heebner Smith, of Ardmore, of
$10 as a prize for the best article or essay on some historical
subject by a pupil of a high school of the county.
The President appointed Mrs. Stuart B. Molony, Miss
Margaret Hallman, Miss Ella Slingluff and Miss Emeline
Henry Hooven as a committee to work out the details of
such essay contest.
Rev. J. G. Francis, of Lebanon, solicited the interest of
the Society in assisting to erect a marker at Audubon in
memory of Capt. Arnold Francis and the men of his com-
BEPORTS
45
pany mustered from Providence township during the Revo
lutionary War. Considerable discussion was had on the sub-
ject« and suggestions were made and questions asked by
the members, but the Society took no action on the matter.
The President referred the question to the Marker
Committee.
Report of the Corresponding Secretary,
Miss Ella Slingluif
DEATHS
Mrs. W. H. Reed
Mrs. W. D. Althouse
Mr. Gerald Loeliger
Mrs. Percy Corson
February 1, 1936
March 14, 1936 .
March 26, 1936
April 23, 1936
NEW MEMBERS
Mrs. E. Leidy Brendlinger
Miss Caroline Corson Cresson
Mrs. Henry W. Topley
Mr. William R. Yeakle
Mr. J. B. Yerkes
Mr. Ronald Heaton
Mrs, H. J. MeClelland
Mr. W. C. Nice
Mr. J. H. Rohrbach
Mr. R. R. Titus
February
February
; .February
February
February
April 25,
April 25,
April 25,
April 25,
April 25,
22, 1936
22, 1936
22, 1936
22, 1936
22, 1936
1936
1936
1936
1936
1936
46
BULLETIN OP HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
Report of Librarian
A detailed list of the accessions to the library and
museum would be too long to insert in a limited space, but
the following summary is given:
BOOKS SINCE JANUARY 1ST
Our American Ancestry (Gates and Allied Families), by
Frederick T. Gates.
Petroglyphs (Safe Harbor Report No. 1).
Archffiological Studies of the Susquehannock Indians (Safe
Harbor Report No. 2).
Forges and Furnaces of Provincial Pennsylvania. Prepared
by Colonial Dames.
English Surnames: Their Sources and Signification, by
Charles Wareing Bardsley.
Titles: Being a Guide to the Right Use of British Titles and
Honours, by Armiger.
History of Trinity Lutheran Church, Germantown, Phila
delphia, 1836-1936, by Edward W. Hocker.
History of the Grim Family, by William Gabriel Long.
History of the Long Family, by William Gabriel Long.
The Adams Family, by James Trueslow Adams.
The Pennsylvania Archives, Series VIH and IX.
PAMPHLETS
Newark—One Hundred Years a City.
Catalogue of Old Coins, Stamps, etc.
On the Road to Lancaster in Ye Stage Coach Days, Includ
ing Ye Wayside Inns.
Alms Book of the Skippack Mennonite Church, 1738-1936.
BEPORTS
47
National Genealogical Quarterly, 1919-1928 (Incomplete).
Collection of Old Almanacs.
Collection of School Catalogues, Institute Reports, etc.
Collection of Biographical Pamphlets.
Collection of Political Pamphlets.
Collection of Civil War Pamphlets.
Collection of Railroad, Canal and Coal Co. Reports.
Collection of Church and S. S. Reports.
Collection of Memorial Addresses.
Collection of Sunday School Books.
CURIOS
Box of Quill Pens.
Brick from Libby Prison.
Part of Shutter from Bunker Church, Antietam Battlefield.
Badge worn by Thos. C. Steele at Memorial Services at
Pottstown on the day of President Lincoln's Funeral.
Collection of Civil War and Political Badges.
Collection of Baguerrotypes.
Indenture Paper of Casper Smith to Peter G. Richards,
Nov. 1, 1828.
Erdman Family Chart.
The Historical Society of Montgomery County has for
its object the preservation of the civil, political and religious
history of the county, as well as the promotion of the study
of history. The building up of a library for historical
research has been materially aided in the past by donations
of family, church and graveyard records; letters, diaries
and other manuscript material. Valuable files of newspapers
have also been contributed. This public-spirited support has
been highly appreciated and is earnestly desired for the
future.
Membership in the Society is open to all interested per
sons, whether residents of the county or not, and all such
persons are invited to have their names proposed at any
meeting. The annual dues are $2.00; life membership,
$50.00. Every member is entitled to a copy of each issue of
The Bulletin free.
Historical Hall, 18 East Penn Street, Norristown, with
its library and museum, is open for visitors each week day
from 10 to 12 A.M. and 1 to 4 P.M., except Saturday after
noon. The material in the library may be freely consulted
during these hours, but no book may be taken from the
building.
To Our Friends
Our Society needs funds for the furthering of its work, its expansion,
its growth and development. This can very nicely be done through
bequests from members and friends in the disposition of their estates.
The Society needs more funds in investments placed at interest; the
income arising therefrom would give the Society an annual return to
meet its needs. Following is a form that could be used in the making
of wills:
I
HEREBY
GIVE
AND
BEQUEATH
TO
THE
HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY,
PENNSYLVANIA, THE SUM OF
DOLLARS ($
)