Current Newsletter - Bethel Township Preservation Society

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