Mount Royal, New Jersey

Today, my brother came up from West Virginia to have Thanksgiving dinner with his two sisters.  My sister, Susan, who has lived in Mickleton for many years and now lives on the Platt's farm property, will cook the dinner.  Joe and Sue went to the Mount Royal Inn for lunch today.  My sister called to ask me to join them.  My brother said, "Jo Ann will never come here, it's a bar!"  My sister replied, "She'll come because it was built in 1762."  She was right.

I have passed this old Inn so many times and read the date on the corner of the roof and wondered about it.  Sadly, no one, not even google seems to know much about it, but I am going to try my History of Gloucester County book next.
Turns out one of the reasons I had so much trouble finding information was that the name it was historical known for was Rising Sun Tavern, NOT Mount Royal Inn:

Rising Sun Tavern (Mount Royal Inn) 

North West corner of intersection of Rt. 551, and Mantua-Paulsboro Road, Mount Royal 

This 18th century brick tavern has been known by many names through its long history. It has been called the Heart and Hand Tavern, the Sickler House, and the Blue Anchor Hotel. In 1869 it served briefly as a headquarters for the army.

 Meanwhile though every lead that my google search offered turned out to be a dud, I found a few other things of great interest to me.  I am going back to one site for information on the home of the parents of Ann Cooper Whitall, which I never saw and didn't know was still standing.  Here is the link where I found a great deal of information on historic sites in that area. 

The Cooper-Griscom House
Griscom Lane in Greenfields Village, West Deptford Township 

This famous landmark was built in the 1740's by Ann Clark Cooper, the mother of Ann Cooper Whitall. The original stone was later covered with brick, and still later with stucco. One of the most famous holly trees in America once stood on the front lawn; this 300-year-old tree was almost destroyed by lightning several years ago. In the 1860's the house and plantation were bought by the Griscom family, who lived there for eight generations. 

My sister used to live right up the street, Kings Highway, from the Bodo Otto House, and here is some information on that site:
This house was the home of Dr. Bodo Otto, Jr., who served as a surgeon and militia colonel in Colonel Read's Battalion in the Revolutionary War. He was born in 1748 in Germany. His family immigrated to Philadelphia in the 1750s. 

Otto's father, Bodo Otto, Sr., who was also a doctor, served as a senior surgeon in the Revolutionary War. In 1777, Bodo Otto, Sr. ran a hospital in the Old Barracks in Trenton. In 1778, the elder Bodo was placed in charge of the hospital at Yellow Springs, where many of the sick soldiers from the Valley Forge, Pennsylvania encampment were treated. Bodo Jr. went to work at the hospital as well, and continued to work there until 1781. In 1778, while Otto Bodo, Jr. was at Yellow Springs, this house was burned and damaged by Loyalists, and subsequently rebuilt.

Dr. Bodo Otto, Jr., died on January 20, 1782, and is buried several miles from here in the Trinity Episcopal Church Cemetery in Swedesboro. [1]

Nicholas Collin, the Reverend at Trinity Church in Swedesboro, preached Otto's funeral sermon. Otto had been a friend of Collin, and he had once posted bail for Collin when he had been arrested by the militia for suspicion of being pro-British. In Collin's journal, he wrote of the type of person Otto was, including the remarkable fact that Otto helped get a pardon for one of the men who had burnt his house. Collin wrote:  [2]

"[I] preached a funeral sermon for the Med. Doctor Bodo Otto in his house, a short mile from Raccoon [now Swedesboro], and buried him at the church... He was in all respects an honorable man, and he had so far as he was able to, prevented much evil during the war. Among praiseworthy actions he obtained pardon for one of the refugees, who had burnt down his house and who for this and other [crimes] would otherwise have been hung... A great crowd of people of all sects was gathered, for he was generally respected. His old father stood trembling at his beloved son's grave, weeping bitterly."

I may have mentioned in earlier posts that I have been reading THE BRITISH ARE COMING by Rick Atkinson.  It is a huge and marvelous book and so imspiring that I have decided to become a volunteer at Red Bank Battlefield again after taking a few years off.  I no longer have my costume but I understand that now volunteers are only required to wear a state parks shirt, no costumes needed which is good because I sold all my pieces when I stopped volunteering.
On January 3rd, Whitall House volunteers will be having a History Club meeting and I will attend, then in spring when they open the house to visitors again, I will return as a docent  And all of this is because I was so inspired by the Atkinson book!  It re-awakend my interest in the war that gave birth to our nation!  

If you too are interested in the Revolution, then you probably know about CROSSROADS OF THE REVOLUTION.  They are having an event in December you may find interesting:

Tuesday, Dec. 10, 7:15 pm
Burlington County Lyceum of History and Natural Sciences
307 High St., Mt. Holly, NJ
**Please Note: $5 admission for nonmembers** Provisioning the Continental Army, by Dr. Elliott

Rancocas Christmas this weekend 11/23 & 24, 2019

I won't be able to enjoy this as I have other plans for both weekend days, however, I hope it helps you and helps with your Christmas Shopping.  I do a lot of my Christmas Shopping at Rancocas because it is perfect for the little special things, hand-made fragrant soaps for stocking stuffers, mittens made from re-purposed sweaters, doll clothes for American Girl Dolls - these are a few of the things I have found there for Christmas past.  ENJOY!

Hi Friends! 
The Rancocas Woods Craft Show is here again,,,Saturday, Nov 23rd 
10-4pm. Come stroll the woods and find Handmade Christmas gifts, delicious food and even entertainment!! 
Stop in the Craft Co-Op where you'll find over 60 vendors with their beautiful handmade wares! We'll also be serving some yummy refreshments!! Raindate: Sunday Nov 24th. ⛄🎄All of this is located on Creek Road🎁

Fun Christmas Ideas

It is so hard these days when everyone has everything they need, to figure out what is the best or most novel  gift to give a friend for Christmas.  

Here are two novel ideas:  Eiland Arts, Merchantville's old railroad station converted into a gallery and music venue coffee shop is holding an artists and artisans Christmas Market December 13 and 14, so you can pick up something special for your loved one or friend, and see some lovely and unique items too!

OR

JolaBokaFlod

Imagine this: It's Christmas Eve and after receiving a brand-new book from your family, you wrap yourself up in a blanket in front of the fire with a mug of hot cocoa and spend the rest of the evening reading.

That's exactly how Icelandic people celebrate Christmas each year. This tradition is known as Jolabokaflod, which translates roughly to "Christmas book flood" in English.

Jolabokaflod started during World War II, when paper was one of the few things not rationed in Iceland. Because of this, Icelanders gave books as gifts while other commodities were in short supply, turning them into a country of bookaholics to this day, according to jolabokaflod.org. In fact, a 2013 study conducted at Bifröst University found that 50 percent of Icelanders read more than eight books a year and 93 percent read at least one.

You can buy or make a book for a loved one.  Okay, unless you are an artist with some hand-made book experience behind you, you are probably going to buy a book.  A friend and I were in A. C. Moore the other day and he bought his niece an artists sketchbook and an art set.  What a great idea!  A. C. Moore, located in Deptford as well as on Cuthbert Boulevard in Collingswood, just opposite Newton Creek Park, has writing journals as well as sketch diaries, but the sketch books are such a fun idea.  There are all kinds of art supplies and craft supplies there to get for gifts too!  As a child, I was delighted when my mother bought me paint by number sets and art supplies.  I can't tell you how proud and delighted I was the year she bought me an easel and a paint box with paints plus a How To Draw workbook.  So I suggest you think outside the toy box and go for arts and crafts, for grown-ups too!

Forgotten History - the Oneida and the American Revolution

This year, as with other years before, I choose to remember and honor the original people of America, the Native Americans who through coerced and broken treaties, broken promises, and violence were deprived of their lands and the history of their part in the creation of the American Republic.

Tonight I am watching a documentary, Oneida:  And the American Revolution, free with amazon prime.  As a member of another group of people whose history has been willfully left out in the telling of the American story in the past, I empathize with my neighbors and I honor their memory in my own personal way.

The Oneida fought alongside George Washington in defending the frontier and in defiance of the rest of the federation of tribes who fought with the British.  

I have read a great many books of history about Native Americans and some contemporary novels by Native Americans, but I have had very little experience with Native Americans and the Revolution.  I will let you know what I learn from this documentary film.

Happy Trails!
Jo Ann
wrightj45@yahoo.com

Watching on rv, Reading magazines, books, newspaper

My Sunday morning ritual for some time now, has been to make a pot of coffee and red the Sunday New York Times.  I can't tell you what a luxury and a treat it is for me!  The original reason I subscribed to delivery of the Sun.NYT was for the book review.  I couldn't possibly read all the books I would like to read and the bk rev gives me summaries that keep me up to date and also show me how to think about books.  One of the two features that tickle me about the bk rev are the questions for guests on page 6 and the graphic review on the end page.  The graphic reviews are often hilarious and ALWAYS creative and thought provoking.  Two of my favorites were drawings of the animals reviewing books and drawings of favorite protagonists.  It got me to thinking of my all-time favorite main characters such as Anne of Green Gables, Jane Eyre, Hans Brinker of the Silver Skates, the girls in the Oudoor Girls on a Hike and later, Billy Pilgrim from Slaughterhouse Five, and the fireman Montage in Fahrenheit 451, just to name the ones who popped into mind right off.

I like the questions in the guest reviewers page:
1.What books are on your nightstand?
2.What was the last Great book you read?
3.Are there any classic novels you read for the first time?
4.Describe your ideal reading experience (when,where,what,how).
5.What's your favorite book no one has heard of?
6.Which writers working today do you admire most?
7.What genre do you enjoy reading most?
8.What 'classic' did you think was overrated?
9.What 3 writers would you invite to a dinner party (living or dead).
And I would like to add a question:
10.What writer or book do you think was underrated?

The article I liked most this Sunday was a review of the work of two British painters: Celia Paul and Cecily Brown, neither of whom I had ever heard of before.  I looked up their work on my computer and took great interest in their lives and careers and their paintings.

There are generally four or five articles in the paper that catch my attention, sometimes more.  The Sun.NYT is so good there are often articles in sections that I would NEVER read, articles in the Sports section or the Real Estate sections.  Often the articles I read there populate my conversation for the next few weeks or even years such as an article I read on how to get rid of your antiques so you can sell your place.  It fit in with a series of review of books on "Swedish Death Cleaning" and Marie Kondo's Tidying Up, that really got on my nerves. and in sports, I was interested in reading about the Williams sisters always, and also about how football is facing up to the reveation of the consequences of  traumatic concussion.

On Television this week, I watched, spellbound, a newly released series on Netflix WORLD WAR II GREATEST EVENTS, in film footage from all over the world newly restored and colorized.  It covered all the classic battles such as DDay, the Battle of Britain, The Ardenne Forest, Stalingrad, Midway and many more.  An interesting fact of which I was not aware was that the result of a plea from Stalin for citizens to enlist was that ONE MILLION WOMEN enlisted as combat soldiers and that they specialized as snipers due to "dexterity, precision, and patience."  They were a big factor in the street fighting at Stalingrad.  I knew from the many movies I had seen on Stalingrad that women fought, but didn't know the number or about the snipers.

The other show I watched right after WWII was THE DEVIL NEXT DOOR about the arrest and trial of John Demjanjuk, the retired autoworker in the Midwest who was accused of being Ivan the Terrible, a sadistic gas chamber guard at Treblinka.  A very interesting character in the series was the Israeli lawyer who defended him on trial in Israel.  The lawyer took so much heat from his community over this as Demjanjuk was already convicted in everyone's minds and the most hated man in the country.  No one wanted to see him defended, they wanted to string him up and kill him with their own bare hands!  The lawyer was such a complex mix of ego, contrariness, courage and legal devotion, that he was a literary character all on his own.

By the way, I was never fully convinced that Demjanjuk was Ivan.  I couldn't imagine that a man could be a sadistic psychopath for a year or two then be a normal good citizen and family man for 44 years, but my brother, who had been a marine in Vietnam said he could easily understand how a man can be bent by war and return to normal when returned to normal living.  He had a good point.  

Well, I am on my second cup of coffee and my second day with the paper, I save the Book Review for another day, so goodbye, it is time to get back to my reading!

Happy Trails,
Jo Ann 
wrightj45@yahoo.com

Interested in learning more about immigrants in South Jersey?

South Jersey Immigration Forum:  Supporting Integration of refugees & Other Immigrants

Wednesday, Nov 20 2019 from 7 pm to 9 pm

Medford Meeting House, 14 Union St. Medford 08055

Facebook:  South Jersey Immigration Forum

blog:  SouthJerseyImmigrationForum.Blogspot.com

CoHosts - NOW, Medford Quaker Friends Meeting, Medford Volunteer Ctr.

Registration requested - call 609-969-2480

Topics:

=Which immigrant groups make their homes in NJ?

=What challenges do these groups face?

=Can volunteers work within existing programs to help?

=Are forum participants interested in developing new         programs to help?

Presentations, discussions, time to visit information tables

free and open to the public

Dory Dickson 609-969-2480

Dead and Buried: Secrets of South Jersey's Hidden Cemeteries

Dead and Buried: Secrets of South Jersey's Hidden Cemeteries

November 2 & 3 | 1 PM - 4 PM

46 N. Main Street, Mullica Hill

Join the Harrison Township Historical Society for Dead and Buried: Secrets of South Jersey's Hidden Cemeteries in the Old Town Hall this fall. Peruse this free exhibit, featuring photography by Lori Nichols, every weekend through December 8! 

Magnolia Model Train Show

Any of my frequent blog visitors know that I am a big model train fan.  From my early childhood when my father put up the most magical big platform that took up our whole living room, I have been enchanted by that little world of mirror pond ice skaters, the hooting train disappearing into the tunnel, crisscrossing the other trains, and stopping at the station to pick up the lead figures waiting with their umbrellas and newspapers.  

Actually, I have a little 'n' gauge set and a tiny German village complete with a military post and red coated soldiers that I used to put up before I adopted my kittens 3 years ago.  Although they aren't kittens anymore, I have no doubt they would find my trains too much like mice to resist so for the present, no train display at my house.  

So, I satisfy my wish to see the model trains by going to train shows of which there are quite a number these days.  There are Railroad Day displays at various sites in Burlington, and I have been to exhibitions in Brooklawn, and Haddon Heights in past years, also the American Museum in Deptford where I saw one of the most interesting, to me, model railroad  accessories EVER - skaters sledders and other figures molded out of World War II bullet casings.  I love the idea of melting down the accessories of death to create fanciful figures of fun!  One of the early members of our Mt. Ephraim Seniors Group has a model lead soldier molding set-up at his house.  If he ever comes back, I am going to try to persuade him to invite me over to see it!

Details:  DATE - November 16, 2019 (date confirmed via facebook)
TIME:  from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
LOCATION:  Magnolia Community Hall
                       425 West Brooke Ave.
                       Magnolia, NJ 08049

I got this information from my group e-mail from the Camden County History Alliance and I believe you can find this information and more on their Facebook page!  There were other events on the flyer, so check out the page as there may be something you will like that I didn't write here on this blog post.

Early American Life Magazine & SOUP

The first time I saw Early American Life Magazine (from here on to be called EAL) I was at the Cherry Hill Library either picking up or dropping off a friend who used to work there but was retired.  Sometimes I borrowed books on his card although most of the time, I buy m books from amazon.  I like to keep them, like friends!

Anyhow, it was love at first sight.  At that time, I was a volunteer at the James and Ann Whitall house an enamored of all things Early American.  I had the full kit, shift, petticoat, fichu, autumn cape, winter hooded woolen cape, stockings and buckle shoes, aprons, bonnets, market basket.  I did NOT have a corset and was determined not to get that authentic.  EAL Magazine fit beautifully with my new volunteer work.

Along the way, after I stopped volunteering due to back and knee issues, I let my subscription slip, but recently renewed it hoping to get the Christmas issue, always my favorite.  It came today and along with a number of fascinating articles, there was one on SOUP!

Let me say right up front - I don't cook!  I don't like cooking, or food preperation and although there have been periods in my life that more or less necessitated that I do some cooking, I never took to it.  But come winter and the cold, like the cooks of old, I will forage around the kitchen for a couple of old favorites to take the chill off.  I make vegetable soup and I make vegetarian chili.

Vegetable soup: I always keep one or two cartons of vegetable bullion (low sodium) in the cupboard.  In the freezer, I always keep an assortment of vegetables that I choose from according to my momentary taste:  peas, corn, lima beans, green beans, carrots.
Also, I keep a few kinds of frozen pasta such as gnocchi or small cheese ravioli, and I like to choose one or two of these to throw into the soup pot.  In the cupboard again, I always keep canned spiced and diced tomatoes, lentils and beans:  red kidney beans, white cannoli, black beans.

For my super easy chili, I use all three kinds of beans, one can of spiced/diced tomatoes, a large jar of salsa, and a tablespoon of chili powder.  I buy a bag of lime flavored tortilla chips to crumble and put on the bottom of the bowl with two heaping soup spoons of chili on top and grated cheese sprinkled on top of that.

My super easy vegetarian lentil soup is simply two cans of lentils, a can of sliced potatoes, and frozen carrots.

Stay Warm my friends!
Jo Ann
wrightj45@yahoo.com

October Camden County History Month and the Quaker Store

If you have driven down the White Horse Pike towards the seashore, you can't have missed seeing The Quaker Store in Stratford on the north side of the road, perched on a patch of green in front of a spreading modern shopping center.  I have always wanted to visit the Quaker Store but it was rarely open, staffed by history volunteers as are most of the historic sites that have somehow managed to be saved from the wrecker's ball.  I LOVE the past in its remaining evidence of lives lived and the Quaker store was stocked with all manner of interesting items and a delightful band of volunteer tour guides.

Our guide, Rosey, told us that the store was in operation until early 1990's which was a surprise to me.  It's neighbor to the west had been the White Horse Tavern, which was demolished by developers who also had their eye on the Quaker Store, but it was rescued.  Sadly, I didn't have a chance to inquire further into the rescue story as just when we got there, a number of other visitors were arriving and my history trekking pal, Barb Solem and I wandered around on our own admiring things like the wringer washers, which my mother used when we lived in Philadelphia in the last 4 years of the 1940's and the first five of 1950's.  I remember it well, sitting in the basement.  It was quite a process, doing the laundry then.  My mother would pre-soak in a chloral and water washtub, then into the 'agitator' and through the wringer into a rinse tub, then back through the wringer and most went into a starch bath, then onto the clothes line in the backyard.  

I am going to call my brother Joe, who lives in West Virginia and ask him if he remembers our old Wringer washer.

Anyhow, the old ice box was in the back of the store - a very big one since it served a store, a handsome actual size white wooden horse which had once stood outside  but had been brought indoors to protect it from weather wear, and shelves of old bottles and tins - things I adore!  I have a few at home in a cabinet in the living room and I though "Now I know who to donate them to if I ever move or downsize (UNLIKELY)."

I was supposed to visit the Newton Meeting House and the New York Shipyard and Maritime Museum today, but I am felled by a head cold and on the sofa with tissues. tea. and an old afghan crocheted by my Grandmother Mabel for comfort and warmth.

The efforts to publicize and popularize the Camden County History Alliance offerings but using a History Month strategy is Marvelous!  I have enjoyed several of the open houses and events and a few of my other friends have visited ones I didn't get to.

Happy Trails!
Jo Ann
wrightj45@yahoo.com

Revolutionary October in South Jersey

October 27

Jonas Cattell Run and 18th Century Field Day at Red Bank Battlefield in National Park. Mark the anniversary of the Battle of Red Bank with reenactments, colonial demonstrations, food and fun! 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. More information

Halloween at Batsto Village in Hammonton. Kids ages 12 and younger can celebrate in a non-scary Halloween environment. 12:00 noon to 3:00 p.m. More information. 

Indian King Tavern tours in Haddonfield. Visit the site where New Jersey completed the transition from colony to state. 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. More information.

Railroads in New Jersey

Saddler's Woods MORE and Gabreil Daveis Tavern

Today, SundayOctober 13, 2019, I am headed to the Legacy Diner in Audubon for lunch with a history buff friend, Barb Solem, author of 3 books on the Pines, one on Ghosttowns, one on Batsto and one on The Forks.  After lunch we are going to the open house at Gabreil Daveis Tavern in Glendora, address, Fourth Avenue and Floodgate Road.  Gabriel Daveis Tavern was once a stopping and resting point for boatmen using the Timber Creek to ferry goods to Phladephia, goods such as timber and farm products.  Behind the Tavern House, which is a beautiful building very well preserved, you can walk down a path to the Timber Creek, which, sadly is all silted up from construction on the land beyond the banks, so there isn't much creek left now.

I keep remembering things I learned from the hike in Saddler's Woods yesterday, amazing things such as:  the amount of unbroken nuts left on the ground (accords) beneath a tree, as they deteriorate over time, release a chemical into the ground which tells the tree how much nuts to produce the following year.  As for instance if a lot of nuts are left over and not eaten, the tree produces fewer nuts the next year!  That hike in the woods was so informative, although I knew with my aging memory, I couldn't remember everything, there was so much information that I keep remembering bits as the day goes on, such as, for instance, the shape of the branches at the top of the tree canopy can tell you if it is an old or young tree.  The top branches will be crumpled in a claylike shape if the tree is old, unfurled into a fan shape if the tree is young.  I can't remember if I told you but the guide showed us how to estimate a tree's height using triangulation with  a roll out tape measure and a yardstick and a little geometry.  Unforntuately, I had to take a rest during that part because my back was acting up and I have over done it a little this week.

That brings me to another subject.  Most of the things if not all of them, that I mention in this blog, are things I can do, so you can too!  I am 73, going to be 74 in a month and I have ruined knees a painful hip, and a deteriorating spine.  I expect within this upcoming year, I will be resorting to a cane.  But all of the places and events I have been blogging about are accessible to me and so they would be to you.  Possibly not to a wheelchair (as in the trail in Saddler's Woods) but certainly the workshop the week before - and many of the building I go to are also wheelchair accessible in part if not the whole.  A lot of the houses have stairs, but I can't climb them anymore either, so I usually wait down the first floor if a tour goes up stairs.

Don't forget to get a copy of the calendar of events for October History Month - it is chock full of interesting places to go and things to do!  Get up and get out - the world is waiting!

Happy Trails!
Jo Ann
wrightj45@yahoo.com

Part Two of Saddler's Woods Workshop

Today, Saturday, Oct. 12, I enjoyed part two of the two day Saddler's Woods Workshop.  I wrote a post about part one where we walked in the 'rain garden' identifying native trees and invaders, dissected owl pellets (I found a mole skull in mine) and saw a presentation on the kinds of birds one might see in our area.

This time, boots on, we hiked in the woods and met a 250 year old tree, our old friend the poisonous snake root, which killed Abraham Lincoln's mother who had, sadly, drunk milk from a cow that had eaten the snake root plant.  WE also learned the different kinds of oaks identifiable by the shapes of their leaves, rounded or spike, and the colors they turn.  We found numerous types of acorns some edible by animals and some not!  We saw the spring that travels through Saddler's Woods to find its way to Newton Creek, and we found many kinds of invasive shrubs crowding out the natives.  It was an hour and a half and so I can't begin to tell you all we saw and learned, the berries, the fungi, the beech groves......
And, if like me, you were the kind of teen who pored over booklets about beauty routines, you may have wondered about Witch Hazel, always mentioned in regard to cleansing your face and shrinking your pores!  We found the shrub and learned that in early spring,it spits out its seeds with an actual noise of spitting!

It was exhausting and exhilarating and I cannot begin to tell you how impressed I was with the women who gave the tour and their intimate knowledge of the flora of Saddler's Woods.  I wish more people could have had the benefit of this enlightening experience!

Tomorrow, it's off to Gabreil Daveis Tavern on the Timber Creek, which by the way, has a very extensive watershed range.

Jo Ann
wrightj45@yahoo.com

Burlington County Historical Society-Railroads of New Jersey

Unfortunately I have plans to go to the Garbreil Daveis Open House on Sunday the 20th, so I will be unable to attend the talk by James Alexander on Railroads of New Jersey at the Burlington County Historical Society.  I really wish I could be in two places at one time but I can't.  I already promised my pal, Barb Solem to go to Gabreil Daveis as she hasn't been there yet and unlike me has limited interest in the Railroads of New Jersey.  My interest is unlimited and I am smitten with the railroad stations all along the Atlantic Avenue Line.  I have made photographs of them with the intention of someday doing a series of paintings.  Maybe I will have the opportunity to hear James Alexander at another time.

Have you seen a copy of the October History Month events?  You can get them at the Camden County Historical Society and I suggest you do that as it is chock full of wonderful history open houses, tours, speakers and events!

Also coming up is Field Day at the James and Ann Whitall House.  This should not be missed by anyone who has an interest in the Revolutionary War, or New Jersey history!  I will get more information and post it asap!

Happy Trails!
Jo Ann Wright
ps.  If you are wondering where the Gabreil Daveis Tavern is located, it is in Blackwood, just off the Black Horse Pike but I can't recall the street now.  The street sign has a historic site marker directly below it.  It could be third?
wrightj45@yahoo.com

Opinion Piece: Antiques, Death Cleaning, Books & home Libraries

Even though it is Tuesday,  I have just gotten around to reading the Sunday New York Times.  It wasn't delivered on Sunday and after I waited until noon in case it was simply late, I went out and bought a copy but I had somewhere to go and therefore, no time to read it.

Among all the interesting articles, one actually stirred a bit of anger that has been building over time, in regard to the new aesthetic in home furnishing.  The article was called "When the antiques have to go."  It was about "staging a place" for sale.  The point was that antiques are no longer in style and the 'new' look is open, spare, and bright light.  I, personally, do not care for the new style at all.  It looks as though it belong in a desert land of heat and dust and transience.  It looks cold and has no trace of the personality of the inhabitant.  

Everyone who visits antique stores knows that the fondness for vintage and antique that was in vogue for so long, is over.  Antique shops are closing up.  Articles on "The kids don't want your old stuff" abound and there is even the "Death Cleaning" movement resulting from a best seller by a Swedish author.  Apparently it is a custom to clear out everything before you die to spare the kids the effort.

I love 'stuff' and I am passionate about books.  I can understand if a reader spends most of her/his time with the fast read popular novels of Tom Clancy or Janet Ivanovich, you may not want to hold on to them because after all, you already know how it turned out.  But I have books that have been like friends, books that have been resources upon which i have drawn many times over the years.  I have book shelves.  I have books on the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, World War II, New Jersey History, to name just a few subjects, and I have books on philosophy and religion to which I have returned over and over again.  It seems to me the disdain for books as 'clutter' goes along with a new disdain for knowledge and education, a resentment towards 'elites.'

I also read a column about a rural town refusing to give the librarian a raise because most of the people in the county get by on $10 to $13 an hour.  Even though she had a masters degree the opinion was that such a high degree wasn't needed for something so easy as running a library.  And they lament that the young are leaving to go to cities.  No wonder.  They even considered letting the library close because, after all, they didn't need it or use it!

My daughter and I have already talked about my intention to not clear out every evidence of my life and my interests before I die.  I am not erasing myself.  And my home is a reflection of my many interest in art, history, literature, and my conservation of the many family heirlooms that have no financial value but, HOLY COW, they belonged to our ancestors!  No one wanted them so I took them in, one by one, GreatGrandmother's sewing machine with which she supported herself and her family, for example.  

It is as if history itself has become considered clutter.  And knowledge is clutter.  Keep the mind empty and transient like those pale, cold, uncomfortable rooms.

Antiques speak of the past and the people who lived and how they lived.  All I can do is hope that this trend, like so many others, will reverse and people will once again begin to value family history, objects from the past that have endured through the coming and going trends, and most of all, BOOKS and KNOWLEDGE!

Happy Trails!
Jo Ann
wrightj45Wyahoo.com

By the way, perhaps the children will be helped in their grieving if they go through the things you leave behind.  And if they are so whiny, maybe they can consider the money you have left them as a salary for the home clearing they have to do instead of just getting money because they are entitled to it as your offspring.  Earn it!

Best Workshop I ever attended: Your Wild Neighbors, Saddlers Woods Flora and Fauna

Today, Saturday, October 5, 2019, two friends and I attended a workshop we had signed up for via the Audubon Adult Evening School brochure which I received about a month ago, September.

It was without question the most perfectly designed workshop in any subject that I have ever attended.  We had a short powerpoint presentation (and it WAS NOT one of those where the writing is so small and the lecturer reads it off).  This one was photos of the males and females of the species the lecture discussed and their bird calls.  My two friends are bird watchers so this was especially interesting to them.  The environmental group also had a number of taidermied models, mostly donated, of various bits such as a hawk and an owl.  Then we were each provided with two short tree branch and the second lecturer talked about the tree and we were to use our branches to identify trees on our walk.  

Our walk, on this especially splendid cool and sunny fall day took us through a rain garden down to the Newton Creek.  All along the way, our trail leader pointed out poisonous shrubs (such as snake root), edible and medicinal shrubs (such as sassafras) and a number of tree varieties, pointing out the invasive ones and the native ones as well as the ones moving up from the south with climate change.  She took a water sample from Newton Creek and under a microscope we were able to see what was living in the sample and she explained to us the difference between a healthy body of water and a contaminated one by what lives in it.  

Next we were each provided with gloves and tools to dismantle an owl pellet.  I found the skull of a small rodent and all it's little bones.  It was fascinating!

So, what made this workshop so perfect was that we sat and watched, then we walked and identified, then we experimented - it was entirely participatory and interactive and lively, so much better than a sit down and listen lecture.  I hated to leave!

Next week we go to Saddlers Woods to hike and further identify and explore.  Saddler's Woods, by the way is one of the last patches of untouched natural forests in South Jersey and in 2003, it was officially designated protected in perpetuity.  That is a good thing because local developers and the nearby school are always angling to get the land, cut down the forest and build more condominiums or stores or soccer fields on it and only the undaunted efforts of local conservationists has protected this 25 acre forest so future generations can know what a woods looked like.

The Environmental Center is located at 143 Ormand Avenue, Haddon Twp.  This two week workshop was only $25.  What a bargain and what a treat!  If you missed this first week, you may be able to get in on the hike next week and pay the fee.  We are meeting at Saddler's Woods at noon.  You can find the woods between the shopping center and the tall towers apartments just off Cuthbert Rd. on MacArthur Blvd.  There is a sign.  It is just opposite the aforementioned landmarks and the Haddon Twp. Library.  

If you can't make part two but would like to go on the next one, contact the environmental group and ask when they might schedule another workshop.  And if you have a group of 6 or so, they may even schedule one for you!  I don't know, just thinking:
janet@saddlerswoods.org
or mail to: Environmental Center, 143 Ormand Ave. Haddon Twp.

I am not sure where you can pick up Audubon Adult Ed. brochures if you are not in their mailing domain, try 
calling 547-7695 ext.4186
You can't drop by Audubon High School to pick them up in person because of security, so it is best to write or call.

Saturday, October 5th

This Saturday, two of my old Outdoor pals will be joining me in a workshop on local flora and fauna at the Environmental Center, Oaklyn, NJ.  The following week, we will hike Saddler's Wood and identify trees and animal signs.  We signed up in advance through the Audubon Adult School bulletin, but if you call the Haddon Twp. Library, they may be able to give more information.  Anyhow there are a whole host of wonderful things to do this weekend.  I hope you get the Crossroads of the Revolution e-mail notifications, or the Visit New Jersey e-ail notifications and you can also visit Camden County Historical Society for the History Month Activities!  Also, Saturday is the Collingswood Book Festival, always a fun experience, especially for a book crazy collector like myself!

Before I posted this, I posted about Matt Eiland playing at the Merchantville Railway Station Cafe' on Friday night.  He is a brilliant performer and a wonderful music teacher.  If you are free, you should check it out and if you always wanted to play an instrument, go get inspired, then sign up for lessons!

Have you seen Country Music, the Ken Burns documentary?  Eight magnificent episodes chronicled the history of our country roots and folk traditions in music right up to the present day.  That will inspire you if you have never been inspired before! 

Happy Trails!
Jo Ann
wrightj45@yahoo.com

This weekend October 4th, 5th

Merchantville First Friday Come out Friday, October 4th for First Friday and a live performance by Mat Eiland!

"The Black Settlements of Salem County and the Underground Railroad"

Greetings--
The Genealogical Society of Salem County will host a 

program entitled "The Black Settlements of Salem County 

and the Underground Railroad" presented by Janet Sheridan 

on Tuesday, October 8, 2019 at 7:00 pm in the Friends 

Village Auditorium in Woodstown, NJ.
Janet Sheridan is a cultural landscape historian based in 

Salem County with 30 years of experience in preservation 

activism, restoration architecture and project management, 

cultural resource survey, National Register listings, and 

historic building documentation. A qualified preservation 

professional, she earned a Master's degree in Historic 

Preservation at the University of Delaware.  Her research 

topics include colonial timber frame architecture, African 

American sites, and farmsteads in southern New Jersey.
Her presentation "The Black Settlements of Salem County 

and the Underground Railroad" will discuss the role of 

African Americans and their settlements in southwestern 

New Jersey in aiding freedom seekers before the Civil War. 

Through the lens of geography, she refines the historically 

understood map of routes through the region.
This program is free and open to the public. For more info, 

visit www.gsscnj.org, 

email genealogicalsocietysalemcounty@gmail.com, 

or call 609-670-0407.

Eiland Arts Pop-Up Dinner, Merchantville, NJ - SPECIAL EVENT CHECK IT OUT!

Fall Pop up dinner October 12th, 6:30pm

Meet the Farmer:
Derek and Vicky Zember, D&V Organics, Swedesboro, NJ

We welcome Derek and Vicky to join us in enjoying the best of the fall harvest from their farm. Chefs Justin Lingl and Matt Moon will head down to the farm to pick produce and then prepare a 4 course dinner.

This meal will be focus on D&V's amazing products and be vegetarian as always, and entirely Gluten-Free for this event. *tentative menu, pending on harvest
First
Lentil Croquette: baby bok choy, yogurt
Second
Charred Little Gem Ceasar: baby romaine, mixed radish, miso-ceasar dressing, cured yolk, parmesan
Third
Harvest Risotto: hearty greens, root vegetables, pea shoots
Dessert
Autumn Baked Alaska: Sweet potato ice cream, torched meringue, salted caramel *Served with coffee or tea.
$55 per person (tax/gratuity included). Reservations limited and are accepted now - email Nicole at ni@eilandarts.com to reserve your seat.

All seating will be communal at large tables, outside (weather permitting). **If weather is poor, dinner will be held inside**

Fun thing to do on Sat. Sept. 28, 2019

If you are looking for a fun thing to do this Saturday, consider driving over to Creek Road in Rancocas Woods for the Craft Show:

Rancocas Woods Craft Co-Op
and Antique Attic

Is that time again!!
Rancocas Woods Craft Show
Saturday, Sept 28th
10-4
handmade crafts, live music 
stroll the woods and
enjoy shopping in all of our 
awesome shops!

Don't forget to stop by the
Craft Co-Op for a chance to 
win our amazing scarecrow!! 
No purchase necessary!!

Save the date...
Rancocas Woods Antique Show will be held 
Sunday, Oct 13th 
9-3

Unfortunately, I have plans for this Saturday and can't go but I can make the 13th and I will because this is such a fun
event.  I was just as Rancocas with a friend two days ago.  She was looking for a table.  I love that place!

Happy Trails,
Jo Ann
wrightj45@yahoo.com

A Pine Barrens Festival - Middle of NoWhere

MIDDLE OF NOWHERE 2019 Whitesbog Village.  September 28th. 5-11:45pm. This Saturday!! In collaboration with Atlas Obscura and Whitesbog Preservation Trust, we bring you MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, one-evening outdoor music, site-specific art, and film screening event and a month-long visual art exhibition. Conceived and curated by David Scott Kessler https://www.facebook.com/events/743006486120469/ Featuring: The Pine Barrens feature-length film by David Scott Kessler with live score by The Ruins of Friendship Orchestra. Laraaji - multi-instrumentalist and ambient pioneer, known for his collaboration with Brian Eno Jackson Pines -  a duo from the pine barrens, indie folk, drawing on the melodies and arrangements of bluegrass and mountain music. Grassland - Local bluegrass and regulars of Albert Hall Erik Ruin's Ominous Cloud Ensemble - Shadow performance and musical accompaniment, been lauded by the New York Times for his "spell-binding cut-paper animations." Artwork by: Nancy Holt - 1975 film, "Pine Barrens" seen for the first time in the land that originally inspired it. Kristen Neville Taylor, Emily Carris, Nick Lenker, Raúl Romero, Rebecca Saylor Sack, J. Alex Schechter, Jacob Lunderby, Steven Earl Weber, Theo Mullen, Megan Biddle, Tory Fair, Austen Camille Weymueller, John Vigg, Sarah E. Brook, Steph Mantis, J. Makary, Christina P. Day, Kaitlin Pomerantz, and Rita Leduc co-curator, Jen Brown Optional camping available at Mt. Misery after the event. more info at www.middleofnowhere.us Tickets:  PURCHASE HERE Please note: Tickets are limited! Discounted tickets are available to neighbors of the Pine Barrens. See ticket link for details. Camping:  (add-on price at checkout) We have partnered with Pinelands Center at Mt. Misery to provide a site for attendees to camp after the event. Additional entertainment (to be announced) and breakfast is included Guests will need to provide their own tents and camping supplies.

Peachfields Event Oct. 6, 2019

First Sunday Series:  Susan B. Anthony

October 6, 2019

2:00-4:00 pm

Join us this season in celebrating the 100th Anniversary of Suffrage in the United States with the signing of the 19th Amendment in 1920.

Susan B. Anthony (portrayed by Marjorie Goldman) was an important suffragist who had a lively sense of humor and a passion for justice.  Ms. Anthony's commitment included the abolition of slavery, women's rights to their own property and earnings, and women's right to vote.  

Admission is $10 per person.  Friends of Peachfield are admitted free.  Please make checks payable to: NSCDA-NJ and mail to Peachfield, 180 Burrs Road, Westampton, NJ  08060.  Tickets also available at the door.  Please call (609) 267-6996, or send an email to colonialdamesnj@comcast.net.

      

This event takes place at Peachfield, 180 Burrs Road in Westampton, the Headquarters of The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in The State of New Jersey.

Funding has been made possible in part by the New Jersey Historical Commission, Department of State and the Burlington County Board of Chosen Freeholders, Department of Resource Conservation, Division of Parks.

Additiona info to Stone House Lane Blog post

Just got around to reading the Sunday Inquirer which was dropped off in my drive either by accident or as some marketing ploy.  Every once in awhile, a copy is left here although my regular delivery is the Sunday New York Times.  I used to read the Courier.  I don't read the Inquirer because it isn't as interesting or well informed as the Times and the Courier, same thing.

Anyhow a front page story was about the plans to expand the Phlladelphia airport which as the article states, was built on a series of islands that were the river estuary.  This was interesting to me for two reasons, one of which was the 'islands' they referred to were the farms drained from the swamp by the farmers in the 1700's who created what was called by us South Philadelphia neighbors, "the Neck."  Now at least the farmers used canals and allowed some natural river estuary action to continue but paving it over to make the airport does not allow for ebb and flow with storm surge or natural drainage of flood waters.

They also stated that the river and ocean along the shore has risen 12 inches due to climate change in the 2000's, so they are talking about building "up" the airport, whatever that means.

I am simply a well informed citizen.  I read upwards of half a dozen magazines on news, history, archaeology and science, and the aforementioned Sunday New York Times, but I understand how blocking up the river estuaries has caused such horrors as the Mississippi Flood and the terrible floods in New Orleans where the tidal lands were destroyed and the estuaries filled in.  I don't understand how these planners seem to be uninformed by experts in river ecology and environmental science.

Just found my copy of Rick Atkinson's THE BRITISH ARE COMING which I bought after the book review was published but never got around to reading yet.  After visiting Red Bank, I went looking for it because now I am interested again!

Happy Trails!
Jo Ann
wrightj45@yahoo.com

ps.  isn't it interesting how history and news intersect!

Box of Barbies

It was a fun day in many ways for my old childhood friend, Liz and me.  Our intention for the day was to go to Merchantville for the "town-wide yard sale and exhibition of vintage toys."  We had no idea what to expect and never expected what we saw.

First we stopped off at Salad Works in Collingswood for the super healthy "Pick two" lunch which is soup, salad and a delicious hot wheat roll.  Parking can be a challenge, but I always manage.

My pal, Liz and I take turns driving and since my car is the older and more worse for the wear, Liz is kind enough to take the longer drives while I do the short runs, so today was my turn.  Liz is also very flexible about where we go and how we hop around, a very valuable trait in a travel companion.  

The yard sale turned out to be about 20 or 30 white top kiosks under which were displayed pyramids of plastic modern toys:  super heroes, matchbox cars, and the vintage (I presume) lay in the vast array of Star Wars characters: droids, and one exceptionally interesting item, a three foot tall Darth Vader.  I imagine he was outraged at the low price taped on his chest $15!  Darth Vader, the Lord of the Dark Force, Skywalker's father, discounted down to a ten dollar bill and five ones.  He stood there sulking but he couldn't compare with the pathos of the box of Barbies.

To my friend Liz, I said "Oh Barby has it come to this?  Cast off naked by the dozens in a cardboard box, all that glamour, the ice cream shoppe' and the hair salon, the rock studio, the Bar B'Que shop, the red convertible, the outings on the yacht with playboy Ken - all down to being dumped in a cardboard box with 30 lookalikes.  I almost wanted to buy them and dress them up and give them a little room of their own.

I imagined Darth Vader and the Barbies bemoaning their fallen state in 2019.  They weren't broken or damaged, simply unwanted and cast-off like Donald Trumps' wives.  

However, being at the age where I am divesting myself (or wishing I were divesting myself) of the accumulated flotsam and jetsam of a long life-time, I couldn't rescue these forlorn figures who once led movie marvelous lives, who once were loved and even feared, coveted and purchased and now- - -

We went to the Railroad Station Cafe' and I had a large gelato to drown my sorrows then we drove to a Wawa for a couple of coffee pic-me-ups which we enjoyed down at Red Bank Battlefield, watching the sun glint over the mighty Delaware River.  I ran into an old volunteer friend there, Harry Schaeffer and we caught up on some of the James and Ann Whittal House news, then we headed home.  I had cats and a dog to feed, and Liz had a hungry son to make dinner for.  We agreed we had a marvelous day.  Sometimes the simplest things nearby can be the most fun.  You don't have to take a cruise or a jet to a foreign city to be delighted or to see beautiful scenery or a foreign bazaar, just drive to  a nearby town or river!

Happy Trails,
Jo Ann
wrightj45@yahoo.com

Stone House Lane, South Philadelphia, Pa. - a Lost 'Venice'

Lens: Finding Stonehouse Lane, South Philly’s lost neighborhood

By
• Jake Blumgart
September 2, 2016

(Evening Bulletin | Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, PA)

A trip through the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin archives reveals detail on the otherwise lost neighborhood Stonehouse Lane, in deepest southeast Philly, where residents lived on the fringe of city life in semi-rural conditions into the mid-20th century. Hop in the wayback machine with Jake Blumgart:

It’s hard to imagine that South Philly was ever anything besides a great expanse of concrete and brick, with row homes stretching off to the horizon.

But the city fought its way southward through the marshes and farms that used to occupy that land. By the 20th century, the battle was largely over. The exception lay in deepest South Philly, below Oregon Avenue, where an incongruous community of farmers and squatters hung on until the 1950s.

Stonehouse Lane is one of the dozens of forgotten neighborhoods in this old city that have been bulldozed, burned, or otherwise brutalized. One origin story alleges that this particular corner of Philadelphia was formed by Hessian mercenaries who weren’t quite sure what to do when General Cornwallis surrendered.

Despite Stonehouse Lane’s murky origins, by the 20th century it seemed a clear anachronism in a modernizing, industrial city. The road that formed the spine of the community wound its way down from Oregon Avenue past Pattison Avenue to the Pennsylvania Railroad tracks. It was flanked on both sides by canals. Each house featured a bridge that would allow residents to cross from the street to their front doors. There was no running water and the sewer system didn’t stretch down that far south either. The closest trolleys were a mile to the north on Oregon Avenue, and burning piles of trash on its northern border hemmed in the community. This, just six miles from City Hall., Nonetheless, the denizens of Stonehouse Lane kept animals in great abundance until the neighborhood’s destruction. Their micro-herds included cattle, pigs, goats, ducks, horses, and what one reporter described as “an unbelievable number of mongrel dogs romp[ing] among the tin cans that are scattered everywhere.”

The Philadelphia Evening Bulletin periodically sent journalists to Stonehouse Lane for either slice of life stories or to cover the latest eviction attempt.

Stonehouse Lane is “the Venice of Philadelphia, and has the distinction of being the only part of the city that has waterways instead of sidewalk,” enthused one reporter, in the typically florid prose of the 1920s and 1930s. “It is reminiscent of the older days when castles were built with drawbridges, but the knights of long ago never cared more for their pretentious abodes than the inhabitants of these odd little houses care for theirs.”As the edge of the city, the water running past the residents’ doorsteps wasn’t drinkable. There wasn’t much potable water at all, as the wells contained dangerous levels of rust. Instead the residents got it from a fire hydrant on Pattison Avenue.

The other staples of municipal infrastructure weren’t up to snuff either. As late as the 1920s, electricity wasn’t commonplace in Stonehouse Lane yet. All the houses were all lit with kerosene lamps, while the neighborhood’s general store was surrounded by highly flammable barrels of the fuel.

The residents did not own the land but they dutifully voted for the Republican machine—their division was famous because no Democratic vote was ever tallied there until the later 1930s—which no doubt helped them fight off repeated eviction attempts.

One of the attempted dispossession campaigns resulted from a misbegotten attempt to replace the community with a private airport. Many of the residents on Stonehouse Lane owned their homes, but they didn’t own the land underneath it (trailer parks today are operated in much the same way).  But with protest and political support the campaign was defeated. A later attempt resulted in the constables who attempted to enforce the evictions being beaten. The police declined to enforce the evictions themselves, perhaps.

After World War Two, Stonehouse Lane made its last stand. The community had stopped paying even nominal ground rents in the late 1930s.  They were still stealing water from the city and they also weren’t paying taxes. But the neighborhood kept on receiving public services. The houses didn’t bear any addresses, but the mail was delivered to 3500 Stonehouse Lane and the postman knew all the families well enough that the 200 households each got what was coming to them. The school bus picked up those who went to public school, while those in Catholic school walked to Our Lady of Mount Carmel in what is now the Whitman neighborhood.

Despite their antiquated circumstances, the residents also took part in the postwar boom. Those interviewed by the Bulletin included truckers, factory workers, mechanics, train engineers, and longshoremen.  These same families struggled through the Depression years, but by the mid-1950s most on Stonehouse Lane enjoyed telephones, television sets and automobiles (including one family with a Cadillac, the bulletin noted). However, many of these appliances were supported by pirated electricity.

The helter-skelter infrastructure resulted in headaches for any who tried to intervene. A favorite hazing ritual of the Department o Licenses & Inspections was to send rookies down to Stonehouse Lane, where they would spend days writing up all the violations. Then their supervisors would laugh it off, and throw the stacks of paper away.

The Walt Whitman Bridge finally did in Stonehouse Lane because the approaches along Pattison Avenue cut right through the neighborhood. “We always drove away those pests who tried to dispossess us,” a longshoreman told a Bulletin reporter in 1955, “but what can you do against a bulldozer?”

Although there had been calls for the squatter-farmers eviction for the previous fifty years, this time they couldn’t muster the political wherewithal to fight back. By 1955 only 274 people remained, less than half the former population. A 1955 census by the city found 97 occupied houses with 809 violations of the housing code among them. About half had no indoor toilets or proper plumbing, and almost as many relied on dangerous kerosene stoves for heat. Indeed, the neighborhood’s demise was also sped by the deaths of four children in 1954, who were consumed in a fire caused by a jerry-rigged electrical system.  

By the end of 1956 everyone had moved out, or been moved out. The city burned all of the homes. Today Stonehouse Lane is completely paved over. The Oregon diner sits on the northern stretch of where the neighborhood stood. The built environment still bends slightly to its old contours as the blog The Necessity for Ruins once pointed out.  But no other trace remains of the last rural community that survived the forward march of urban South Philadelphia.