The Daniel Boone Homestead

I have been pet sitting in Macungie, Pa for the past few days, and so today I decided to take advantage of my time in Southeastern Pennsylvania and meet up with my former co-worker Ryan and visit our old place of employment, the Daniel Boone Homestead. Boone has always been a healing sort of place for me, it's extremely quiet, secluded, and the landscape and architecture is beautiful. I found that aspect of the site intact for me, but much else had changed. Boone has been essentially closed by the PHMC because of funding issues. To give the Commission some credit, it is still funding the maintenance of the site, it just won't pay people to operate it anymore.

You may remember hearing about the PHMC's closures of other sites last summer. These included the Conrad Wiser Homestead, Joseph Priestly House, and Brandywine Battlefield. I thought that the closures would end there, but this fall Daniel Boone was also closed, all of its staff laid off, and it's site administrator (my former boss Jim Lewars) transferred to Landis Valley State Historic Site.

When I visited Boone today I found one former staff member behind the counter at the visitor's center. She explained to me that the Friends of the Daniel Boone Homestead, an auxiliary organization that partially funded the site, was paying her to keep Boone open on Sundays in December. She was not sure how long this would go on or what the schedule would be like as the busy summer season approached. She complained that without anyone being in the office, it was impossible to schedule school group visits, which is a major part of the visitation revenue each spring.

If that wasn't enough I found that two of my favorite animals at the site had been euthanized due to old age and chronic illness. Reds, the 27 year old, ornery, former race horse, had to be put down last summer and our old calico barn cat, Kitten, suffered the same fate.

Happily they found another horse to replace Reds, named Axle, because they didn't want to leave 30 year old Dancer (who nearly broke my jaw today I might add. Don't ask.) all alone with nobody but three extremely lazy sheep and a few grumpy geese for company.

Anyway, here are some pictures I took of the place, as if you haven't seen enough on this blog already.

Axle


Dancer

A few shots of the buildings, graves, and the landscape.

Gary B. Nash

He's my new hero. Half way through this semester I decided that I should have written my historiography paper on him and not on Charles Beard. I am writing a paper currently on interracial mob activity during the American Revolution, and Nash's name appears in my footnotes an obscene amount of times. The man got his PhD from Princeton in 1964 so he's had a long career and published a ton of stuff. Read Urban Crucible and it will change the way you think about the American Revolution. His article "social change and the growth of prerevolutionary urban radicalism," is also a good one, because he sheds light on a great deal of the social tensions and increasing urban poverty that other historians tended to gloss over when they characterized social and economic life in the 18th century.

Sadness

Well, I forgot to factor in one thing when I posted last about being able to leave Vermont on the 17th. I am a teaching assistant and my students are taking their final exam on Tuesday. I was hoping to have the finals graded by Thursday, which, depending on how my paper for my seminar on slavery goes, may or may not be feasible. But I neglected to factor in one thing: the professor I work with has a schedule of her own. She cannot meet to go over final grades and submit everything until Friday the 18th. So it looks like I will be here another day, possibly two, depending on how late we have to meet on Friday.

I am off to work on my intellectual biography of Charles Beard, which is due on Monday.

New, Fun Posts Coming Soon

I know that I have not been blogging much lately. If you had 75 pages of writing and three books to read per week hanging over your head you wouldn't have much time to blog either. But I have exciting news! On December 17 I will be done with my first semester in graduate school!! This means that I will have an ENTIRE MONTH to do absolutely nothing but visit historic sites and blog about it. And believe me, after this semester, I will be in no condition to do anything else for a good long while. I won't spoil the surprise, but I may be visiting a few places in Vermont and New York. Think Ethan Allen, if you want a hint.

Transcribing Documents

I have always loved transcribing historical documents. My love of editing began when I took a class on public history at Kutztown and was assigned an Ethan Allen letter to transcribe and footnote. Since then I have prided myself on my ability to read highly illegible handwriting and my enthusiasm for hunting down the most insignificant historical details, names, and circumstances that documents allude to.

Yesterday, just before he left, my coworker Paul asked me if I would transcribe a few photocopies of letters written to Gifford Pinchot. I jumped at the chance, since I finished my cemetery project I have been looking for other things to do in my downtime at work. He told me that the letters were from a man named "Martinez" to Gifford Pinchot, but today when I read them I realized that they were not. Two of the letters were from John Muir to Gifford Pinchot, and one was from Bernard Fernow to Gifford Pinchot. Paul thought they were from someone named Martinez because that word appeared at the top of the letter next to the date, but I soon figured out that Martinez refered to the place the John Muir was writing from, probably Martinez, California.

If I really wanted to give myself a project I could do a little research on some of the people and events that were alluded to in the letters and add footnotes explaining them, but I think I will leave that to the next researcher who needs to use these letters.

Here are the letters as I transribed them:
Martinez, Oct. 28th 1896

My dear Pinchot,

I look back with pure pleasure to our pleasant times this last summer especially to our own big day of sunshine + starshine ??? the verge of the tremendous + awesome Colorado Canyon with heads level + hearts level + eyes upside down
I shall be very glad to get the report of the grand Commission from which only good can come to the noble forests we so joyfully wandered through this last summer
I’ll look up the copy of your pine book first time I go to the city. Never mind Fernow go ahead with your own work + very soon he will become polite + good. Remember me to your Mother + father the delightful evenings I enjoyed with them in New York home I shall never forget
With kindest regards + best wishes I am dear Pinchot ever yours John Muir



Martinez, 17, Dec, 1896

My Dear Pinchot,
Your handsome little pine book just arrived + I promise much pleasure + grin in reading it. I inquired for the other copy at the Sierra Club room but could not find it.

You do just right “going ahead full steam” with other work instead of wrangling with F. or any other fellow. “ Twill soon be dark, up, mind thine own aim + God speed the mark.”

I doubt not the wisdom of the commission in withholding their report from the coming Congress but had hoped a few more forest reservations might have been made by Cleveland in his term of office expired

I’ll be delighted as you know well to see as much of you as possible when you next go into God’s woods. The memory of last summer’s tramps is delightful
Remember me to your mother + father + beloved
Ever cordially yours John Muir

Oct 4/90
My Dear Pinchot,
My last letter will have been a disappointment to you, so I wish try to put on salve!
I have agreed + decided to allow the position of Assistant Chief which is now officially filled as you know, by Mr. Egleston, to remain vacant until you are fully prepared to take it, inviting meanwhile all of the applicants for the position to act as agents for the division and with the anticipation that they are not fit for the place + that you will be in time reserving it for you. This decision was arrived at by Mr. Willet + myself because from what I know of you + told him, we were convinced that you would be the proper man, when the time came. Now I want you to finish up as fast as you can – and as thoroughly as you may in a short time – your studies in Europe and then come over and in some way get the knowledge which you can only acquire here namely knowledge of the country’s flora. How to do this may depend upon circumstances perhaps with this division, but I should prefer outside of it. Attaching yourself to some firm or expedition or traveling on your own book. Over time you may feel assured of that you made no mistake in your course so far that your future success assured as the first American forester.
Sincerely Yours,
B. E. Fernow
Let me know how you mean to dispose of your time.
Very busy here!


As you can see these letters were written early in Pinchot's career. It was before he and Muir had their falling out because Muir is very warm and friendly towards Pinchot. The Fernow letter was obviously written to Pinchot when he was still studying in France. Pinchot would go on to refuse the job as the assistant cheif that Fernow offered him in the letter.

I will post a picture of the letters so that you can get a sense of what the handwriting was like soon.

Grey Towers and the Arts

At Grey Towers we have lots of special programs that involve the literary and visual arts. Over the last few weeks I have been able to observe two of these programs. The first was a story telling program aimed at children. There were two people switching off telling stories and singing songs, mostly about the environment. I listened to one story that was about Johnny Appleseed and his friend coyote. The moral of the story was that planting trees gave us resources for years to come, while just chopping them down and not replantng isn't a good idea because we won't have any resources in the future. Here are a couple pictures I took of the event.



The next week we had a poetry reading which was held by the Green Heron poetry society. It was mostly composed of retired women and one man who composed and read poetry about the environment. I enjoyed some of the poems. Usually the person who wrote the poem read it, bus occasionally they needed another person to help read certain lines. Some of the people there were good readers, and they even interjected with bird noises and things like that at the appropriate times during certian poems.

Our Basic Informational Brochure in Spanish

I just put this in a word format for now but here it is. I know most of you don't read Spanish all that well, but if you do, let me know if it makes sense.

Información para Turistas

Grey Towers
Museo Nacional

Bienvenida
Grey Towers es la casa de los antepasados de Gifford Pinchot, el primero jefe del Servicio de Bosque de los Estados Unidos y el gobernador de Pennsylvania por dos mandatos. Programas públicos y recorridos de la casa y el jardín introducen turistas a la familia de los Pinchots y sus influencia a conservación en los Estados Unidos. Grupos de recusros naturales y grupos de conservación usan Grey Towers para conferencias y reuniónes. El Servicio de Bosque suministra Dirección Desarolla programas aquí. Turistas de todas las edades disfrutan caminos, artes, y programas educativas.

Entradas Gratuitas
Individuos
Adultos $6.00
Los Ancionos $5.00
Jovenes $3.00
Jovenes menos de 12 gratuito
Grupos reciben un descuento de $1.00 por persona.
Pase annual de turista frecuente $15.00

Nosotros aceptamos todos los pases de las otras agencias.

Programa Para Recorridos
Reorridos incluyen el primero piso del museo y el jardín histórico.

Los Fines de Semanas en mayo y noviembre reorridos turísticos ocurren a 1 y 3 de la tarde.
Todos los Días del fin de semana del día de los caídos en la Guerra al fin de semana ultimo en octubre, reorridos ocurren en la hora de 11 de la mañana a 4 de la tarde.
Diciembre: Especial estación festivo acontecimientos y programas.
El Suelo está abierto todos los días para peatonos amanecer a atartdecer. Entradas están abiertos para vehículos 9 de la mañana a 5:30 de la tarde, a menos que pegó de otra manero (gratuito).
Nosotros ofrecemos varios días cuando no es necesario pagar por sus entradas en el museo.
Un Calendario de recorridos especial, programas, y acontecimientos está disponible.

Otras Programas Públicos

Conservación y Los Artes: Música, y programas de arte y literatura.
Educación de Conservación: Escuela y grupos de jovenes, y talleres para maestros (gratuito).
Programas de Conservación: Programas de historia del Bosque y silvicultura para jovenes y adultos.
Caminos: Silvicultura, azulejos, hábitat, identificación de árboles, y el Pinchot Camino de tiempo.
Tienda: Libros y artículos de conservación en vienda.

El Centro de Conferencias

Disponsible para grupos de conservación recursos naturales.

Para más información nos contacte a:
(570)296-9630
O por correo electrónico a:
greytowers@fs.fed.us

Spanish Language Brochures

On Mondays Grey Towers is pretty slow. To keep myself occupied today I have volunteered to translate teh Grey Towers rack card into Spanish. The rack card is just a double sided piece of paper that gives a little general information about the site, it's programs, fees, and hours of operation. We have some German-Language literature already, but I think that Spanish literature would be very useful. Plus I need the practice.

My Laurel Hill Cemetery Project

I am almost finished with the project I was assigned on the Laurel Hill Cemetery. I researched the people who were buried in the Pinchot family plot. These were Gifford Pinchot's Great-Grandparents, Grandparents, and a couple Great Uncles. Here is the text that I want to put on the sign:

Gifford Pinchot was the first Chief of the USDA Forest Service from1905-1910, and also served two non-consecutive terms as the governor of Pennsylvania. Gifford Pinchot’s ancestors originated in Breteuil, France. Constantien and Marie Pinchot, Gifford’s great-grandfather and great-grandmother, immigrated to the United States in 1816 with their son Cyrile Constantien Desire Pinchot. The family initially moved to New York City, but established themselves in Milford, Pennsylvania, a settlement that was composed largely of French émigrés, in 1819. There, father and son embarked on numerous economic ventures, including running a general store, and buying up large tracts of land that tenants farmed for them. The town of Milford was situated on the Delaware River and served as a hub for communication and transportation. The Pinchot’s store was located at the central crossroad of this important town (the store building still stands at the corner of Harford and Broad Street), and thus, the business and family thrived economically. Cyrile also took part in land speculation in eastern states like Pennsylvania and New York, and later in the western states of Michigan and Wisconsin. Clear-cutting the forests on newly purchased, virgin land was common in the nineteenth century, and Cyrile became prosperous from this practice.
Cyrile Pinchot married twice, his first wife, Sarah Dimmick, died childless in 1821. Shortly after her death, Cyrile married Sarah Dimmick’s cousin, Eliza Cross. The grandfather of both of these women had been a Belgian nobleman who held a commission in the Continental Army during the American Revolution, and who, after the War, settled his family in Pennsylvania. Cyrile and Eliza raised five children together, named Edgar, James, John F., Mary, and Cyrile H. As young men Edgar and James moved to New York City and each made fortunes in their respective industries. Edgar sold pharmaceuticals and speculated on land, while James imported wall paper. Mary married an attorney and moved to Bridgeport, Connecticut. John F. Pinchot stayed in Milford and continued both his father’s mercantile business, and his land speculation practices.
Buried in the Laurel Hill cemetery are three generations of Pinchots. The first generation, Constantien and Marie Pinchot died in 1830 and 1840 respectively. Their son, Cyrile C.D. Pinchot is buried next to his two wives, Sarah Dimmick and Eliza Cross. Sarah Dimmick died at the age of 18, in 1821. Cyrile died in 1874 leaving all of his estate to his second wife, Eliza. Eliza Cross died on September 15, 1886, at the age of 76. Her obituary noted that her cause of death was a long-suffered illness coupled with a broken hip, the surgery on which she “could not endure.” In her will she left her entire estate to her daughter, Mary Pinchot Warner, and her son John F. Pinchot. Two of Cyrile and Eliza’s children are buried here in the Laurel Hill Cemetery. Cyrile H. Pinchot was born in 1838 and studied at the Hudson River Institute and Claverack Academy from 1856 to 1857. He was enrolled in Union College from 1857 until his death from Tuberculosis in 1860. John F. Pinchot never married and died heirless in 1900.

The Fourth of July

Yesterday was July 4th, America's birthday. Consequentially we had a "fee free" day at Grey Towers. We kept the doors of the mansion open all day, and had staff stationed in each room to talk to visitors about what they were seeing. I was stationed in the sitting room. Overall the day was hectic. We had 388 visitors total, and I learned one very important thing: unless people start asking you questions about something, keep it simple.

The sitting room is basically the Pinchot's living room. There are a few things that everybody should know about the room. 1). It was origianlly two rooms, consisting of a breakfast room and formal dining room. Cornelia took out the diving wall in the early 1920s and after that the Pinchots never had an indoor dining room. 2). The paintings on the walls are on canvas that were attached to the wall, they are not murals. 3). The embelishments on the walls (there's a lot of them) are painted on the wall. They look 3-dimesional, but they aren't.

That's basically what I said to people most of the day. By the end of the day I was so sick of talking that I would only bring up those things is people asked me, or showed interest. Otherwise I just let people walk around unattended.

There were several things that happened throughout the day that really puzzled and amazed me. People were really interested in riding our very slow elevator, even though there are only three stories to the house. I was supposed to help people with the elevator because it has two stops that open to admoinistrative offices and if they pushed the wrong button they would be wandering around our offices. People would often come through the door of the mansion and make a bee-line for the elevator. They would get on and get the door shut before I even had a chance to warn them about the various stops. So I found a few groups of people wandering around in parts of the building that they shouldn't have been. There was one couple with a little boy in a stoller that rode the elevator up and down about five times. They kept walking around the various floors and then moving on, then going back to the same floor and looking around again. They visited the sitting room four times.

There were also people who told us the furninshings were in bad shape. There were people who gave me there business cards because they could do something to help Grey Towers, if we could pay them. There was one man who I asked to stop leafing through a 19th century book because we weren't allowed to handle them without gloves who asked me if I could lend him gloves so he could continue to look through it. I told him that I didn't have any gloves with me, but what I wanted to say was "I can't just let a random stranger walk into the house and start handling the antiques, gloves or no gloves."

So that was my fourth of July. People never cease to amaze me with their poor judgement, their sense of entitlement. By the end of the day I was tired, cranky, and sick of talking about the sitting room.

The Zimmerman House

I have been hiking around the Zimmerman House for the past few years. It's located in the middle of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, which seems a little strange to a hiker who walks through miles of forest, and suddenly comes upon a rather imposing house and outbuildings in the middle of the woods. The house is maintained by the National Park Service, and there is a Pennsylvania Historic Marker on the property.

Like I said, I've hiked around the Zimmerman House for years and never gave it much of a thought. The other day I was walking my dog there and I realized, "My God, there's history to this place, what have I been overlooking?" So I googled it. Apparently the Zimmerman house was built by a man named John Zimmerman, and it was inherited by Marie Zimmerman, his daughter, in the mid to late 1930s. Marie Zimmerman was an artist with a studio in Gramarcy Park, who worked with many different media. She made jewlery, cabinets, and even blacksmithed. After she moved into her father's country estate, Marie stopped working as an artist and took up hunting, marksmanship, and fishing.

Here are some photos I have taken of the Zimmerman house over the years.

The House. I guess you could call it eclectic in its architectural style. There are definitely some Dutch elements there is that gambrel roof and kicked eve, but the house is much more complex than to call it a Dutch revival.


There are numerous outbuildings on the property in various states of repair and disrepair. When I first started hiking near the Zimmerman House some of the outbuildings were full of garbage that modern visitors to the house had left behind. Now the property is cleaner.




There is still some agricultural equipment laying around.


The tree-lined alee.


A copper beech! And it's not fairing too well I must say, half of it has broken off, and I shudder to think of the state that it's in right now after the storms we've been getting.


I don't know that the NPS has any plans to open up the Zimmerman house as a historic site. The house does not contain anything valuable, and it appears that the NPS is more concerned simply with maintaining it. Although it would be nice to someday see the inside of the house, I give the NPS a lot of credit for maintaining the site so well. The concept of stewardship has been lost on many of us in this economy, and I am glad that for once someone isn't turning their back on a site just because it isn't turning a profit.

Hyde Park

The staff of Grey Towers took a field trip the other day to Hyde Park, one of the homes of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The goal of the trip was to understand how other sites interpret history to the public. My boss told me that at the end of the tour I needed to tell her one technique that I wanted to incorperate into my tour.

Our visit started out with a trip to the visitor's center where there was a gift shop, museum displays, and a movie theater where we watched an introductory film. Teh museum displays held few objects; they consisted mostly of curving, wall-like displays with pictures and texts that you could walk around and read. This reminded me of the displays at Valley Forge, minus the objects. The introductory film was very well-done. It showed a human side to Roosevlet and his wife, Eleanor. The Roosevelt's granschildren spoke of their memories of the house, and the lives of their grandparents. They spoke of FDR's courageous attitudes when faced with paralysis, and about Eleanor's humanitarian work. They also touched on numerous events in history like the great depression.

After the movie had ended we met our tour guide in the visitor's center. She explained the lay of the land around Hyde Park to us and told us where we were going to go on our tour. She encouraged all of us to visit ValKill, the home of Eleanor Roosevelt. The first place she took us was the flower garden where she told us a few annecdotes about the Roosevelts, and encouaged us all to visit his grave on our own time. After the tour, I did, and here are some photos of the garden and graves.


Two of their dogs are buried under the sundial. That's how I want to be interred: in a garden with my pets.

Pretty flowers.




We weren't allowed to take photos inside of the house. I don't know why some historic sites are afraid that the flash will hurt the objects and some aren't. We have much older stuff at Grey Towers and we let people -photograph it.

FDR's House.


Overall I was not terribly impressed with the tour. I guess I could have asked more questions so that the tour guide would have given us more information. Overall she liked to tell a lot of stories (which I thoroughly enjoyed) but she was not really concerned with teaching her audience a whole lot about the Roosevelts. There were numerous ways to learn about FDR and his family at the site, so I still came away feeling like I learned a lot, just not from my tour guide.

You exited the house via the fire escape. It was a good way to keep the traffic flowing through the house, but once you got outside people just sort of trickled wherever they decided to go. There was no conlcusion to the tour. I was left thinking what's next?



We then went to look at the FDR Presidential library. At first I didn't realize that this was a museum, and I was wondering if I was going to get to look at his books and papers. I didn't. Instead there were rooms upon rooms of museum displays on FDR. I thought this was the most educational part of the whole trip.




There were many aspects of Hyde Park that both impressed and disapointed me. The brand-new visitor's center, as well as many extremely well-done and informative displays in the Presidential Library were eye opening and made the whole trip worthwhile. I learned more through those two things than I did through getting a tour of the house. Overall I was very moved by my trip to Hyde Park. It made me want to read up on the Roosevelts. Our tour guide reminded us that they call the men and women who participated in WWII the "greatest generation," and that FDR was the person who inspired that generation. I guess that is what made being there so impressive.

The Sawkill Waterfall

The Sawkill Creek runs through the Pinchot estate, and the land still belongs to the Pinchot family. There is a decent sized waterfall on Pinchot land that up until about ten years ago the family allowed the public to visit. They have since asked that people refrain from visiting for security and liability reasons. I don't blame them for being concerned.

In the 19th and 20th centuries the people of Milford would use the falls and creek as a swimming hole and a place to recreate. When the Yale school of Forestry held their summer program at Grey Towers the students would swim there nude. This produced a controversy when young, female townspeople went to bathe there and saw all of the yale students naked.

I used to hike to the falls when I was a little girl, before public access had been denied. I hadn't been there since I was about six. Last Monday my coworker Paul took Meg and I to the falls. Here are some photos.

New Banner

I would like to thank Jacob Smiley, artist and graphic designer out of Scranton, PA, for designing the new banner for this blog. You should all check out Jake's work at http://www.jacobsmileyart.blogspot.com/ and at http://jacobsmiley.com/home.html.

A Mixed Multitude: The Struggle for Toleration in Colonial Pennsylvania

Lately I have been reading A Mixed Multitude: The Struggle for Religous Toleration in Colonial Pennsylvania by Sally Schwartz. This 302 page work gives an overview not only of the policies of Wiliam Penn toward religious toleration but also attempts to outline the way ordinary Pennsylvanians dealt with life in a pluralistic society. In the first chapter Schwartz explains that in the 1790 census 61% of the U.S. popuation was English, 9% were German, 8% were Scotish, 6% were Scots-Irish, and and the remainder consisted of even smaller, unidentified groups. In contrast Pennsylvania's population 35% English, 33% German, 11% were Scots-Irish, and 9 % were Scotish. Pennsylvania had a much more pluralistic society than the rest of the U.S. and probably the rest of the colonies before the U.S. gained independence. This gave Pennsylvanians uniqu opportunities to define norms of toleration that other people did not have, but that would largely be put into practice throughout the U.S. when the seperation of church and state was established.

In the first chapter Schwartz warns us not to think about ethnicity in the eighteenth century through our modern understanding of it. It would be a mistake to consider enthic groups in terms of the "minority" and "majority" status that we label ethnic groups today. In colonial Pennsylvania groups were moving in and creating a new society, not trying to blend into an already established one as would happen with the immigratns of the 19th and 20th centuries.

The greatest drawback to Schwartz's book is the lack of a voice for ordinary eighteenth century Pennsylvanians. This is not the fault of the author, however, because written documents by the common sort in Pa in the 18th century are hard to come by, and when people did leave a written record they were often times not expounding on their feelings about ethnic identity and religous toleration. The sources are mostly from government officials, the better sort of people who outlined their feelings on religious life in colonial Pennsylvania, and numerous minister of different denominations who recorded their feelings on the religious chaos.

Overall, however, Schwartz gives a thought provoking account of religious life in colonial Pennsylvania. She shows the numerous shades of gray that existed when it came to religous identity, and how people in Pennsylvania transitioned fluidly from one religious group to the next. She also does well to illuminate the tensions that existed between groups like Anglicans and Quakers, Moravians and Church Germans, and the Catholics verses everyone else. I would recommend Schwartz's book to anyone who wanted to get an overview of the complex religious situation in colonial Pennsylvania.

Dinner at the Fingerbowl

Occasionally at Grey Towers we allow catered dinners for conference groups to take place around the fingerbowl. And occasionally I have to work those dinners. Here are a few pics.



We decorate the fingerbowl with flowers and it always looks really really pretty.


My part in all of this is setting up table that the food will be served on, putting the food out once it arrives from the caterer, and cleaning it all up.

The grad finale of the night is floating a baked alaska on a raft accross the table.


The cake is delicious. These are two pieces stacked on top of each other. The best part about working these dinners is that I get to eat the food that is left over.

The Laurel Hill Cemetery

One of my projects this summer is to write the text for an interpretive sign for the Laurel Hill Cemetery, which was at one time the town cemetery for Milford. The graveyard us located on Grey Towers' property, and houses 123 graves, including several ancestors of Gifford Pinchot. The sign that I am working on illuminates that relationship between these ancestors and Gifford and gives a little information about who they lived, made their money, etc.

I will be working on this for the next few weeks and will give you information on the ancestors of GP as I find it. For right now I will just give you some background on the history and state of the cemetery, and show you some pictures I took of the Pinchots graves.

The Laurel Hill Cemetery was used primarily between 1820 and 1899, although some internments are later or earlier. Some early Milford residents like the Quick family are buried there. Tom Quick, for those of you unfamiliar with the local lore, was a man who vowed revenge after his father was killed by Indians, and ended up slaying a prolific number of them throughout his life. Nice right? In Milford there is even an Inn named after him. Other families include the Cross, Cadoo, and Metz families. The burials are arranged in family plots. Prior to the cleanup efforts that Grey Towers undertook in 2000-2001 the family plots were surrounded by iron fences and gates. There are two distinct pathways in the cemetery, a hearse road, and another access road.

Over the years the cemetery fell into a state of disrepair. I remember hiking to the cemetery as a kid with my dad and sister, and the graves were shaded by a thick canopy of hemlock and white pines. The trees caused a great deal of damage to the gravestones. Limbs and sometimes entire trees fell on stones and destroyed them. Sap, tannin, and the acidic soil that the trees produced broke down the stones and give them a "sugary" appearance today. Moss grew on many of the stones and caused the inscriptions to deteriorate. Grey Towers has since taken down the trees that were not planted in the cemetery in the 19th century, and they generally try to maintain the site.

Here is the Pinchot plot.


All but one of the stones is legible.



Footstones!! Exciting. I think that they merit attention in my sign. Back in the 18th and 19th centuries the grave was concieved of as a bed for the desceased. The headstone and footstone made the grave look like a bed or cradle.


This Cyrile Pinchot (there are several) died when he was only 22. He has a tombstone and an obelisk. I don't know why someone so young would have all that. I want to research him a little further and try to find out why he died. I'm guessing consumption.


Here's a good example of the damage that's been done to the stones over the years.



More to come on my research. I am excited about this project. I hope I can help make this cemetery more accessible to the public, as I remember it when it was completely run down.

The Gardens: More Pictures. This Time They're Not Just Irises

Grey Towers is known for its gardens. In fact lots of people just come to the Mansion to see the gardens. Cornelia was very interested in landscaping and she loved to garden. A coworker of mine's father-in-law was a plumber who worked for the Pinchots in later years and he said that whenever he would come over, Cornelia would be in her garden.

Mountain Laurel. It's the PA state flower, and it is everywhere at Grey Towers. Must of have something to do with GP being Governor.




Climbing Hydrangea.


There are lots of millstones around the property. Cornelia offered to pay anyone who could get a millstone up to Grey Towers five dollars, which during the great depression was a lot.






After the daphodils bloom and die the hortilcultre people tie them up like this. It supposedly keeps more nutrients in the bulbs so you will have more blooms next year.

A Tour of the Pinchot House:More Stuff I took picutres of and Include on My Tours

The tours I give of Grey Towers include three historic rooms and a few gardens and outbuildings that are on the property. I have already walked you through one of Joe's tours, but I was taking pictures yesterday and decided I would show you all some other things. Some of these things I talk about on my tour, and others are just in the house and I usually only talk about them if people ask.

I always start out by going through the front door and taking people into the Great Hall, which was the first room that anyone would have walked into when they came to the mansion. The front door is actually on the side of the house, and it would be on the left hand side of this photo. Stage coaches would have come up the drive and dropped people off right at the front door.



This is the solid oak front door. Originally Richard Morris Hunt, who was the mansion's architect, wanted there to be French Doors on the house, but James decided to put in this humongous door instead.

The Pinchots were big hunters and fishermen. I stress to people that they were conservationists, not preservationists, and thus, they were ok with hunting. As long as you didn't hunt things to extinction.


I then take people into the library. Here is a neat little ladder that they used in it.


Cornelia's really pretty writing desk. She loved to collect things from Asia. I wish I had one of these.


This is a painting by Alexander Cabanel of Gifford, his mom, and sister.


After I take people through the house we go outside. I show them numerous landscape features including the reflecting pool, at the end of which is the Bait Box. This was a playhouse/teenage hang out for Gifford and Cornelia's son Giffy.