1 January 2009 The Rest is History
Anthony Palmer's Family Life
Previous columns told us of Kensington’s founder Anthony Palmer, his English background, his life as a merchant/trader in Barbados, and his first purchases in Pennsylvania when he decided to finally immigrate to Philadelphia. What was not mentioned was that when Palmer moved to Pennsylvania we brought with him a family and enlarged it considerably once he settled here.
On June 25th, 1696, Anthony Palmer married Thomasine Dodd, the daughter of Thomas Dodd, a gentleman of St. Michael's Parish, Barbados. Not much is known of Thomasine Dodd's family. When her father died in 1701 his will listed Peter Hassell as a son-in-law and John Jones as a friend. A merchant named Samuel Hassell arrived in Philadelphia from Barbados in 1716 and a merchant John Jones also came to Philadelphia from Barbados. Palmer's brother-in-law Peter Hassell is very likely a relative of Samuel Hassell, who later became a mayor of Philadelphia (1731-33).
Proof of Palmer being actively trading in Pennsylvania before his immigration, comes by way of his father-in-law’s will. After Palmer married Dodd's daughter, Dodd gave them slaves that Palmer reportedly sold in Pennsylvania. This would have had to take place some time before 1701 when Dodd died. The fact that Dodd signed his name with the title "Gentleman" shows Palmer marrying amongst the higher classes of society.
While living at Bridgetown (Barbados), Palmer attended the church at St. Michael's Parish. Palmer's first four children were all baptized at St. Michael's between the years of 1697 and 1704. His first child, Thomas, was born in 1697 and was possibly named after a brother or uncle. A Thomas Palmer shows up on Anthony Palmer's father-in-laws will. The next child born to Anthony and Thomasine was a boy named Anthony. The next child was James and finally the fourth was a girl, Mary, who died soon after and was interred at St. Michael's.
As a father Palmer may have begun to wonder where he should raise his children. Mortality was frightfully high in the sugar islands. Life expectancy was only 35 years in 17th century England. When an Englishman moved to the islands it was even briefer. St. Michael's Parish, where Palmer lived, had the worst figures for death between the years 1648 and 1694. For every four whites that died only one was born. When the yellow fever hit in 1694 only four people were baptized that year compared to 354 being buried. These conditions would have probably played a factor in Palmer's immigration to Philadelphia, as the city’s climate was far more bearable than that of the islands.
Not too long after their arrival in Philadelphia, the Palmers had their fifth child. In 1710 their son William was born. Unfortunately, William soon died and was buried at Christ Church, Philadelphia, on September 6th 1710. The Palmer’s had a number of children over a long period of time. It has been estimated by the annalist John F. Watson that Mr. & Mrs. Palmer had 21 children during their marriage, all of who died of consumption.
Only nine of Palmer’s children have been identified and only six of their children lived into adulthood. His three daughters that were born in Pennsylvania were Thomasine, Jane, and Elizabeth. All lived long enough to marry. Besides his son Anthony who married in Barbados, Palmer's two sons that were born in Pennsylvania, Francis and John, also lived long enough to marry. Between his three sons however, they bore only one male child. This child, Samuel, the son of Francis, appears not to have had any issue to whom to pass on the family name. This son Samuel is often confused with an elder Samuel Palmer, a kinsman, who married Anthony Palmer's daughter Jane Palmer. The direct Palmer lineage then was passed down through his daughters’ families.
Anthony Palmer's first wife, Thomasine, died in May of 1745. She was buried at Christ Church, Philadelphia, on May 17th. The bells of the church tower were first rung for her death.
Even though Anthony Palmer was aged, he began to look for another wife. On August 13th, 1748, Palmer, at the age of 84 married Catherine Allaire Carter, who while only 20 years old, was already a widow. Palmer, having outlived all his children, except Thomasine and Elizabeth, had hopes of having another child. In a letter written by Palmer's minister, the Reverend Richard Peters of Christ Church, Peters wrote to the proprietor Thomas Penn on May 3rd, 1749, stating, "She is likely to bring him a child this year."
No doubt Palmer would have liked to have a son before he died. However, no child ever came to Palmer and his second wife. Palmer died a month after Peters letter to Penn.
8 January 2009 The Rest is History
The last five columns have all been on the life of Anthony Palmer, Kensington’s founder. We read about his mercantile life in Barbados, his English ancestry, his family, and his immigration to Philadelphia with the purchase of Hope Farm, the estate that evolved into today’s Port Richmond. Over the next couple of weeks we will take a look at Palmer’s political life, a chapter of his life that played an integral role in the history of 18th Century Pennsylvania and also a time that showcased Kensington (at least for one day) acting as the working capital of the Pennsylvania Colony.
There were two groups of elites that dominated Pennsylvanian in the first half of the eighteenth-century. The first group was the Quakers, who, being the founders of the colony, controlled much of the political and business institutions and had a lock on the Provincial Council and Assembly. The second group contained the church going families of Anglican and Presbyterian persuasion, plus ex-Quakers who had departed the Society of Friends during the Keithian schism of the 1690's. This group tended to "gain definition by membership in the Provincial Council and the Philadelphia Corporation," and by their opposition towards the Quakers.
As an Anglican, Palmer joined Christ Church at 2nd & Market Streets upon his arrival to Philadelphia. By the year 1712 Palmer had become a churchwarden and vestrymen. He continued as vestrymen off and on until 1731 at which time he withdrew his service and retired to his new enterprise, the founding of the town of Kensington.
As Anthony Palmer moved up the socio-economic ladder so did his possibilities of taking part in the political and social institutions of the colony. In the year 1708, being "thought of as a proper person," he was called by the Provincial Council to be a member. Although a church-goer, Palmer was seen as an independent element to be added to the Council. Accepting membership and taking the oath, Palmer took his seat on Council and remained a member for forty years until his death in 1749.
Although Palmer showed interest in serving on the Provincial Council when he was first called, he soon became embroiled in the factional disputes of the governing body. In 1709, his first year in Council, he attended the majority of Council meetings as might be expected of a new member. The next year he attended only 2 of the 11 meetings. In 1711, he attended two thirds of the meetings. For the next five years he does not appear to have attended any Council meetings at all. His lack of attendance during these 5 years was the result of an incident, which took place on November 19th, 1711.
The colony had been without any laws for two years regarding the authorizations of affirmations instead of oaths. The Quaker dominated Council and Assembly had passed a law which did not require taking oaths, but only to say "yea" or "yes" to a statement read aloud in order to hold political or professional positions. At the November 19th Council meeting Palmer, along with 4 other church-going nominees, declined to serve as justices on the court without the Queen's approval of the oaths and affirmations laws. One of the Churchmen changed their mind and decided to serve. But Palmer and the others held out. A month later the Queen ruled the law void, but it had already been presented under Penn's charter and was not formally disallowed until 1714. This incident appears to have kept Palmer out of the Council meetings until things became so bad for Lieut. Governor Gookin that he was replaced.
Palmer came back to Council meetings in 1717 when Gookin was replaced by Lieut. Governor Sir William Keith. Palmer had more of an interest in attending Council meetings when the new Lieut. Governor took over. Palmer's daughter Thomasine married Alexander Henry Keith, Esquire, son and heir-apparent of Sir William Keith, of Ludquhairn, Baronet.
After the marriage of Palmer’s daughter to Keith’s son, he aligned himself with Keith supporting him when he called to raise taxes and proposed a bill for the death sentence. Palmer's loyalty and patronage was rewarded when he was nominated for the position of Commissioner of Peace for Philadelphia County in 1717. Shortly after he was appointed Judge of the Court of Common Pleas and later in1720 was nominated by Keith as one of the first Masters of the Court of Chancery. For Palmer, it paid to have his daughter married to the Lieut. Governor’s son.
By the mid 1720s, the period just before Palmer purchased the Fairman estate and founded Kensington, he had become a well established member of Pennsylvania’s political elite.
15 January 2009 The Rest is History
Following the political career of Anthony Palmer’s (Kensington’s founder), we first saw that he began serving on the Pennsylvania Provincial Council (the then ruling body of the colony) in 1709. After his alignment with Governor Keith (his daughter married Keith’s son) and his appointments by Keith to Commissioner of Peace (1717) and to Masters of the Court Chancery (1720), Palmer’s attendance at Council began to decline as he regularly attended less than half of the Council meetings for the next eight years, 1717-1728.
The reason for him not appearing at the Council meetings is unclear. There was on average only one Council meeting a month in the years between 1717 and 1725.
By 1726, when Patrick Gordon replaced Lieut Governor Keith, Palmer's attendance at Council began to decline even further. In August of 1730, Gordon requested a list of the ranking Council members. The list finds Palmer as the fourth ranking member in Council. The lackadaisical attitude towards attendance of Council meetings by Palmer resulted in a Provincial Council summons in 1730. Palmer had not been to a Council meeting in almost 3 years. He had only been to 8 meetings overall in 5 years. Lieut. Governor Gordon made Council members aware that business was being delayed for lack of a quorum. After being summoned to attend Council meetings, Palmer began to make more regular appearances. But by the middle of 1731, he went back to his non-attendance ways and did not appear at Council again until the death of Lieut. Governor Gordon in August of 1736.
Palmer, getting on in years and beginning to be preoccupied with his founding of the town of Kensington (he had purchased the Fairman estate in 1729 and began breaking it up and selling lots off in the 1730s), maintained his poor attendance record at Council. For the period of 1736 to 1742, when Council met on average 23 times per year, Palmer was present less than 30 percent of the time. For the years 1743 through May of 1746, Palmer did not appear at all.
When Lieut. Governor George Thomas left the colony to return to England for health reasons; Palmer resumed his attendance at Council meetings. Because of Palmer's longevity (he lived to be eighty-six years old) and his time spent as a member of Council (he served on Council for forty years), he found himself the longest ranking member of Council. When James Logan, President of Council, retired in 1747, Palmer took his place as President of the Provincial Council of Pennsylvania.
One has to wonder why Palmer kept active in Council if he did not give it much priority. His non-attendance at Council meetings may be that he was not interested in a full-time career in politics. Unlike many of his peers, he never attempted to become a member of the Provincial Assembly. Men such as Samuel Carpenter, Thomas Masters, Griffith Jones, Clement Plumstead, William Trent, Isaac Norris, Edward Shippen and 12 other prominent merchants of Palmer’s generation were all members at one time or another of the Assembly and of the Council. Most of these men were either friends or colleagues of Palmer. It appears that Palmer, except for the occasional Council meeting and his duties on the courts, was content to stay out of the political limelight.
After acquiring and building his estate of "Hope Farm," Palmer lived the life of a gentleman and only occasionally felt obliged to be active in the political life of Pennsylvania. The answer to Palmer’s behavior in Council cannot simply be written off as the result of old age, even though he turned sixty years old in 1726, an age when most people in colonial times were lucky to be alive. His non-attendance at meetings started well before that.
As President of Council, Palmer became the Acting-Governor of Pennsylvania when Lieut. Governor George Thomas left for England to care for his health. Once Palmer became Acting-Governor on June 8th 1747, his attendance at Council meetings changed dramatically. In the eighteen-month period from June 1747 to December of 1748, Palmer attended 111 of a possible 124 meetings. Although not considered a very forceful leader, Palmer took his position of President of Council far more seriously than he did that of a lower ranking Council member. Deprived by law of any legislative power, Palmer as acting-governor was limited to a supervisory role. His ability in overseeing the colony until the new governor arrived is shown by the fine way he handled the major problems of the day.
Next week we will take a look at the trouble Palmer faced as acting-governor, mainly the wars between England, France, and Spain, that resulted in pirates invading the Delaware Valley.
22 January 2009 The Rest is History
A continuing biography of Kensington founder Anthony Palmer:
When Palmer took over the governing of Pennsylvania he found himself confronted with a pressing situation due to war between England, Spain and France. The war was commonly known as King George's War. Spanish and French privateers regularly raided the Delaware Valley carrying off slaves and other booty as well as capturing local shipping vessels and taking them as prizes. The assembly, still dominated by pacifist Quakers, would not appropriate funds for the defense of the colony. Another problem for Palmer was to keep the Indians of the Six Nations and the Twightees on the Wabash, out of the war, or if possible, to fight for the English against the French. With his hands full, Palmer set about to stabilize the situation.
President Palmer wrote to the administrators of Massachusetts, Maryland, Virginia, and New York, of the visiting Ohio Indians. For the first time the Indians came to Philadelphia. Palmer let the other colonial leaders know of the need for a coalition in order to raise a substantial gift to pacify the Indians. Palmer along with Governor Shirley of Massachusetts, officials from Maryland, Indian negotiator Conrad Weiser, as well as other members of the Pennsylvania Council and Assembly, were successful in raising 400 pounds of an eventually larger gift to help keep the Indians out of the war. For Palmer it could not have been a more successful enterprise. From an address to the Assembly, Palmer echoed his pleasure, "This is an extraordinary event in our favour which ought to be improved to the greatest advantage. From the situation of these people (Indians) ...they are capable of doing or preventing the greatest mischiefs..."
Trying to change the assembly's attitude towards appropriation of funds for defense was a much harder matter. Eventually Palmer was saved by Benjamin Franklin. While the Quaker dominated Assembly and the Anthony Palmer led Council found themselves deadlocked over providing funds for defense, Franklin wrote and printed an influential pamphlet, which he entitled "Plain Truth or Serious Considerations on the Present State of the City of Philadelphia and Province of Pennsylvania." The pamphlet was an immediate success and practically overnight a third party was formed. The pamphlet called for the creation of "Articles of Association" which would create a volunteer armed citizenry to fight the French and Spanish. Franklin's plan was unique in that the volunteers took the place of the militia. The volunteer army elected all officers below the rank of colonel. Through a series of measures Franklin was able to galvanize mass support and finance, to succeed where Palmer and the Assembly failed. The Proprietors of Pennsylvania were upset when they heard of what Franklin had done. The "populace had taken up arms independently of the government’s initiative."
With the population mobilized and the "military skills as far exceeds our expectations," Palmer set about fortifying the city and acquiring canon. Palmer showed real skill in diplomacy when negotiating arms from neighboring colonies. He dispatched two Councilors to New York in hopes that sending them in person would hold more weight. Palmer wrote to the Governors of Virginia and Massachusetts to try to acquire heavy artillery. Palmer even wrote to the Governor of Jamaica in hopes of fortifying Philadelphia. In a short time Palmer had the province "render'd capable, with the blessing of God, of defending itselfe against the Designs of our Enemies." Although Palmer had Philadelphia ready for an invasion, it was not to be attempted. On the 29th of October in the year 1748 the news of the end of hostilities finally reached Philadelphia. Palmer read the preliminary treaty for the restoration of peace to the Council. The treaty signed earlier on October 7th at Aix-la-Chapelle, ended the war.
In evaluating this short administration of Anthony Palmer in the years 1747 to 1748, it is clear that he was an efficient diplomat. Palmer with the help of Benjamin Franklin was able to get the warring factions in Philadelphia and her neighboring colonies, to pool together their resources in a great time of need. Sidestepping the stubborn Assembly to arm the citizens and fortify the city, the maritime trade of the Delaware Valley, so vital to the colony, was spared the frequent plundering by the French and Spanish pirates that had been taking place earlier in the war. Not only did Palmer help with the protection of the Delaware Valley from the French and Spanish, he was also instrumental in sending Conrad Weiser to Ohio to negotiate with the Indians. Until then, (1748) the French had "undisputed influence among the western Indians beyond the Ohio." With the securing of the western borders of Pennsylvania, Palmer helped to give the English the opportunity for the final conquest of Ohio.
29 January 2009 The Rest is History
A continuation of the life of Kensington founder Anthony Palmer
In 1729 Anthony Palmer began the proceedings for selling his estate of "Hope Farm."
(In a previous Rest is History column, May 11th, 2006, I wrote about the history of this estate) Palmer probably decided to give up "Hope Farm" when he found out that innholder Robert Worthington's property was coming up for sale. Worthington owned the much-desired Fairman Mansion estate (at today’s Penn Treaty Park). William Penn himself thought of acquiring this property in 1708. Penn's idea for the property was to "live there out of the noise of Philadelphia but in sight of it."
The buyer for the "Hope Farm" estate was William Ball. Ball was a local merchant who bought "Hope Farm" from Palmer on April 22nd 1729, for 2,140 pounds Pennsylvania currency. This represented a substantial profit for Palmer since he either bought or inherited most of the estate for 500 Barbados pounds. Along with the 676 acres of land, Ball acquired the messuage house, outhouses, orchard gardens, remaining rents and three slaves. The three slaves were said to belong to the messuage house and they were named Abraham, Hannibal and Phillis.
Ball built a mansion near today’s intersection of Richmond and Cumberland Streets, calling it Richmond Hall, after a suburb of London. The southeastern area of "Hope Farm" near the meeting of Gunnars Run (Dyott Street) and the Delaware River came to be known as Balltown. There was some manufacturing established here by the time of the American Revolution. The area evolved into the present day neighborhood of Port Richmond.
Using the money acquired from his sale of "Hope Farm," Palmer in early January of 1730 paid cash for the former Fairman Mansion from Robert Worthington. Along with the mansion house the estate had a surrounding 191 1/2 acres containing outhouses, stables, orchid gardens and a working plantation. Palmer was able to buy the property for 925 pounds Pennsylvania money. The Fairman mansion property was located directly south of "Hope Farm," on the Delaware River. The creek “Gunnars Run" was the dividing line between "Hope Farm" and the Fairman property. This new tract was situated northeast of the emerging district of Northern Liberties and southeast of the great estates of Isaac Norris.
Similar to Palmer, Isaac Norris began buying tracts of land in the Delaware Valley early in the settlement of the colony. By the year 1713, Norris had amassed an estate of 834 acres in the Northern Liberties section of Philadelphia County. The property was actually divided into two estates. West of Frankford Road to Germantown Road was the Fairhill estate named after the Quaker meeting nearby. Here he built a large mansion. The other estate stretched from Frankford Avenue east to Aramingo Avenue. This estate was called the Sepviva estate and consisted of 155 acres. It was a working plantation.
With the purchasing of the Fairman estate Palmer came into a property that was one of the more desirable and famous estates in the area. Thomas Fairman had been the original owner of the house. Fairman was the deputy of Thomas Holme, Surveyor General for William Penn. The mansion was built for him in 1702. Fairman is believed to have lived on the site before the mansion was built, as there is evidence of a Quaker meeting taking place in his home in the 1680's. It is here at Fairman's home in the 1680's, that Penn first came to make the famous treaty with the Indians. The "Treaty Tree" was located in front of the Fairman mansion.
Being one of the only decent homes for a gentleman to stay made the Fairman Mansion a popular place for visiting dignitaries. As mentioned above, Penn thought of acquiring it. Later, upon retirement, Governor John Evans lived in the mansion house for a while. After Palmer made it his residence and subsequently became Acting-Governor, the house was nicknamed the "Governor’s Mansion."
A previous column that I wrote described in detail the architecture and design of Fairman’s Mansion (Rest is History, August 7th, 2008). You can view this on my website (kennethwmilano.com) as you can all my previous columns.
Palmer took up residence in the old Fairman Mansion and in the 1730's he started to lie out streets and carve up the estate into various size lots. This real estate venture marked the beginnings of the town of Kensington. Like William Ball's "Richmond," Palmer's town of "Kensington" was also named after a suburb of London. With the Philadelphia economy in a boom state during the 1730's, Palmer had no difficulty finding renters or buyers for his lots.
Next week we will take a look at the first residents of Kensington.
5 February 2009 The Rest is History
Last week we left off with Kensington’s founder Anthony Palmer buying the Fairman Mansion estate and the surrounding 191 ½ acres and using it to found his town of Kensington. This week we will take a look at those early residents of Kensington.
Between the years 1724 and 1740, Pennsylvania experienced a rapid growth in population as well as a tremendous increase in the economy. A large German and Scots-Irish immigration marked this period. Many of these immigrants moved on into the interior to seek out a livelihood as farmers. With the rise of farmers in the hinterland there was a corresponding rise for the need of shipping, shipbuilding and other related shipbuilding trades. The decade of the 1730's saw the shipbuilding production double in Philadelphia. As shipbuilders looked to expand their shipyards they found either that the riverfront property was not available, or that Philadelphia riverfront was too expensive. As Palmer laid out his lots in Kensington, its proximity to the city and it's location on the Delaware River, was quite inviting to the shipbuilding industry.
Before Palmer acquired the Fairman estate, the area had already had individuals involved in the shipbuilding trades residing there. John Bowyer, a shipwright, who had bought land from Gunnar Rambo in the late 17th-century, is believed to be the first shipwright in the Shackamaxon area.
Once Palmer began selling lots in Kensington a number of shipbuilders quickly invested. Shipwrights John Spencer, John Norris and James Parrock all invested in waterfront lots in Kensington. Spencer was located at the foot of Cherry (Montgomery) Street. John Norris bought a lot with a 200-foot frontage on the river at the foot of Palmer Street. Parrock was two lots south of Norris and also had 200 feet of frontage on the Delaware.
Ship Joiners, Nicholas Cassell and John George Ranseer also bought lots on the riverfront. Cassell’s lot was between Parrock and Norris (mentioned above) and Ranseer had a thin lot at the foot of Otis (Susquehanna) Street.
By far the largest shipbuilder to invest in Kensington was Palmer’s friend, Charles West. West acquired a lot with a 362-foot frontage on the river. His lot ran almost the entire length of the riverfront between Palmer and Montgomery.
The fishermen family of George, John and Conrad Baker owned a combined riverfront frontage of 355 feet. This property was divided into four separate lots. The Baker family’s properties were located slightly south of Vienna (Berks) Street and ran just northward of Otis (Susquehanna) Street. This family appears to be the first fishermen family to locate on the Kensington waterfront in the area that would later become known as Fishtown.
When combined, the riverfront properties of those shipbuilders and fishermen accounted for almost all the available riverfront property in Kensington (from today’s Columbia Avenue to Dyott Street, or where the old Gunnar’s Run Creek emptied into the river). These riverfront lots started on the east side of Queen (Richmond) Street and went eastward to low water mark.
Other individuals whose skills and trades were required by the shipbuilders, tended to rent or buy lots near the shipbuilders. Blacksmiths, shipwrights, millers, coopers, and carpenters were all well represented in and near the river area. Other trades that one would expect to be needed in the founding of a town were also present; house carpenters, saddlers, bakers, a butcher, yeomen, husbandmen and innkeepers. There was even a doctor, a wig maker and oddly enough, an organ maker. A German, Johann Klemm set up his organ making business on Frankford Road in 1738, the founder of the Frankford Avenue Arts Corridor!
As for those who needed lodging they were able to stay at John Bood's, an innkeeper, who bought a large lot near the river. Bood's inn was located on the west side of Richmond Street between Hanover (Columbia) and Palmer Streets.
Between 1730 when Palmer first acquired the Fairman estate and his death in 1749, Palmer rented out over fifty properties and sold more than thirty-five. His busiest years were between 1743 and 1746. Palmer's village of Kensington was growing and the property values were rising. Although it might not have been Palmer's intention, his plan of Kensington fell within the framework of William Penn's idea of how big a village should be. In the beginning Penn's plan for those wishing to settle in groups was that a 200 acre village should be set apart in a land tract of 10,000 acres. Towns and villages were to be connected by highways with the right of way donated by the proprietor. Palmer's district of Kensington was 191 1/2 acres and it had the road to Frankford, which was provided by the proprietors.
12 February 2009 The Rest is History
The last is a series on the life of Anthony Palmer:
Around the year 1745 Anthony Palmer began to think of setting up annuities for his wife and children. His health was poor and he wanted to provide an income for his family when he was gone. By using a system of granting ground rents he endowed his widow with an annuity of £60. His two surviving children were also given annuities of approximately £40 each through this same system of ground rents.
Palmer died June 2, 1749. He was buried at Christ Church Cemetery, Philadelphia. His estate when settled on April 28th, 1750 was valued at £2,341. The Fairman Mansion house was valued at £700. The value of the property lots still in Palmer's possession that were not being rented was £1,641.
His estate was divided up amongst his heirs by giving Samuel Palmer, his grandson, one fourth of the mansion house and three eighths of the lots in Kensington. The total value of Samuel's inheritance was slightly over £790. Elizabeth Allaire, Palmer’s daughter, and her husband Alexander Allaire, were left one half of the mansion house and two eighths of the lots in Kensington valued together at just over £760. Palmer's other daughter, Eleanor Berkeley, inherited one quarter of the mansion house and three eighths of the lots in Kensington, totaling about £793.
Samuel Palmer and Eleanor Berkeley gave their shares of the house to Elizabeth and Alexander Allaire, thus giving them the mansion house in full. Elizabeth had previously inherited the extra one-quarter share when her sister Thomasina Keith died before their father’s will was executed. Samuel Palmer and Eleanor Berkeley were given extra ground lots to make up the difference in giving up their share of the house. With the house valued at £700, each quarter share was worth £175, thus this money was replaced with the extra ground lots.
The Palmer estate sold five lots to shipbuilder Charles West to pay off Anthony Palmer's debts.
The amount of ground lots in Kensington that were still in the estates hands totaled over 20 lots. These lots made up 25 to 30 percent of the 191½ -acre district. The amount of lots that were sold during the nine-year period of 1741 to 1749 amounted to roughly 50 percent of the land in Kensington. With a little over £200 in annuity being generated from ground rents and still more land in the Palmer family possession to either rent or sell, the investment by Anthony Palmer in founding Kensington was quite a success.
After Palmer's death, shipbuilder Joseph Lynn bought from the heirs of the Palmer estate the Fairman Mansion and a large tract of land on the northeast side of Hanover (Columbia) Street. Along with this property he bought meadowland on the causeway leading over Gunner's Run (Aramingo Ave). The total that Lynn paid for the two properties was £725. Lynn was married to Sarah Fairman, daughter of Benjamin Fairman, heir to Thomas Fairman the original builder of the Fairman Mansion. This property where the Fairman Mansion stood is the present day Penn Treaty Park.
So ends the series of columns on the life of Anthony Palmer and the founding of Kensington. The series started on December 4th and ran for eleven straight weeks. This represents the most that has ever been published on Anthony Palmer, which is surprising since he was an acting governor of Pennsylvania during the years 1747 to 1748.
Over the next several weeks readers of this column will be reading about a couple of projects that I worked on last year. Those projects have now taken book form and are being published by The History Press, the publisher of my first book (Remembering Kensington & Fishtown).
My second book is called The History of Penn Treaty Park. A book release will be held this Friday (Feb 13th) at Fishtown Airways, a new venue at the northeast corner of Shackamaxon & Girard. I will make myself available between the hours of 5 to 8 p.m. and will be selling and signing the new book. At about 6:30 p.m., I will give a brief talk about the book.
A third book will be released next month (March 2009). It is called, The History of the Kensington Soup Society. The Soup Society will be taking out advertisements in the Fishtown Star regularly over the next month which will reveal the details of the book release and signing, scheduled for Old Brick Church on March 22nd (1-4 p.m.).
I hope to see regular readers of this column at these two events, so stop by and say hello!
19 February 2009 The Rest is History
A reader of my column, Rob Bender, wrote to me asking about the old bank that sits at Front & Norris Streets. This building, plus the one adjacent to it, is in terrible disrepair and just about ready for the bulldozer.
These two structures on the southwest corner of Front & Norris are the remnants of the Ninth National Bank (on the corner) and the Industrial Trust, Title and Savings Company (the building south of the bank). The Ninth Bank was founded by a group of Kensington textile manufacturers. It started its operations on August 1st, 1885. The Industrial Trust, Title and Savings Company had a very similar board with many overlapping members of the Ninth Bank. It presumably was founded soon after the Ninth Bank.
The new bank was meant to replace the old Shackamaxon Bank, which had been suspended in May of 1885. This Bank had originally been located on the east side of Frankford Avenue, just north of Palmer Street and next to the original buildings of St. Mary’s hospital.
The bank’s suspension was due to its accounts being overdrawn by $200,000. The founder of the Shackamaxon Bank, William Bumm, a local politician from an old Philadelphia family, ran the bank as a private affair, keeping much of its internal workings to himself. When he died the true nature of the bank’s finances was revealed. The bank was holding $115,000 worth of notes from Bumm, as well as $88,000 worth of notes from a Joseph Conlin, a street-cleaning contractor, who did not even own a bank account.
A number of Kensington’s textile manufacturers had deposits in the Shackamaxon Bank, thus when it failed, these manufacturers decided to start their own bank, as a way to have easy access to loans, short or long term, when needed.
According to historian Philip Scranton in his book Figured Tapestry; Productions, Markets, and Power in Philadelphia Textiles, 1885-1941, the Ninth National Bank was formed almost entirely by textile capital in 1885. Scranton also states that three of the millmen who founded this bank were also board members of the “old dame” of banking, the Bank of North America.
Ten of the Ninth Bank’s thirteen directors were millmen, who held a third of the bank’s capital stock. Textile families not represented on the board of directors controlled another 30% of the bank’s capital stock.
The Gay brothers (Park Carpet Mills at Norris & Howard), together with John Dickey and Charles Porter (Porter & Dickey, also at Norris & Howard), partners in a “cheviots and cottonades enterprise,” were the largest investors, each business holding over three hundred shares of a possible three thousand available. James Doak (Kensington Standard Worsted Mill, Trenton & Norris), as well as five other textile men who served on bank boards, supported the effort by purchasing five to ten shares of the new bank. The “steady dividends (6-8 percent through 1906, more thereafter) and ease of access to the loan committee, encouraged the leaders to continue their board roles” in the new bank. According to Scranton, “none of these men had visions of financial grandeur. They, like others of their colleagues, simply erected a modest bank to remedy their credit difficulties.”
Scranton tells us, “ownership of the bank was divided among 115 to 120 individuals for the first thirty years. With the death of most of the founders, ca. 1910-1920, and the expansion of stock to 5,000 shares in two steps after 1917, ownership was further dispersed to above 250 after 1920.
In 1923, the Ninth National Bank surrendered its national charter to merge with the Ninth Title and Trust Company as the Ninth Bank and Trust Company (the Trust building next to the bank?) which appears to have lasted until at least 1953 when it was taken over by PNB (Philadelphia National Bank), which in turn was taken over by CoreStates in the mid-1980s.
I am unclear when this bank finally closed, but I remember it being open as a PNB bank at least in the late 1970s. Perhaps a reader might know when it closed?
Rob Bender emailed me a link to flicker.com, a site that hosts photographs. You can view his fantastic photos of the remnants of the grand interior of Trust building at this URL: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rgb/sets/72157613649713639/
If you did not catch my History of Penn Treaty Park book signing and talk at Fishtown Airways last Friday, you can come to Barnes & Noble (18th & Walnut) this Wednesday, Feb 18th, at 5:30 PM, where I will talk about the book and sign copies for the downtown crowd. The book is also available at various merchants on Girard or Frankford Avenues; Sulimay Barbershop, Cornerstone Market, Wilson’s Check Cashing, Acne Skin Care, Germ Books, and several others.
26 February 2009 The Rest is History
If you have been reading the Fishtown Star over the last several weeks, you’ll have seen an advertisement for a book release celebration for The History of the Kensington Soup Society. This event will be taking place on March 22nd, 2009, from 1 PM to 4 PM, at Old Brick Church. This is my third book, hot on the heels of The History of Penn Treaty Park, which was only just released earlier this month.
The Kensington Soup Society was founded in 1844 and for the first time in 164 years, the soup house did not open this winter. The place is now closed. Previous to the opening of the Kensington Soup Society in 1844, the nearest soup house would have been the Northern Soup Society, whose soup house in 1843 was located at 4th & Coates (Fairmont) Streets and who had a list of 2,200 people they were feeding at that time. The Spring Garden Soup Society was next nearest, located at 11th & Callowhill.
It was reported in March of 1843 that both the Northern Soup Society and the Southwark Soup Society were very low in funding and their services were much restricted. The winter of 1842-1843 had been very bitter and the aid to the poor much more in need. Even the Southern Soup Society at No. 16 Green’s Court (between Spruce & Pine, 4th & 5th Streets) reported the people being in much distress that winter. The Southern Society supplied 31,222 quarts of soup, and over 10,500 loaves of bread, to 2,580 people at a cost of over $1100. The whole of the city and county was still recuperating from the “Panic of 1837,” a bad economic period.
It would appear that the over burdening of the available soup societies was so great during the winter of 1842-1843, that a need was seen for additional soup societies to be created. It must be remembered that, besides the city trying to settle itself from the “Panic of 1837,” Philadelphia began seeing an influx of immigrants from the Irish Potato Famine, many whom were extremely destitute.
A number of philanthropic gentlemen of the district of Moyamensing were reported in January of 1844 to be trying to establish a soup society in that area just south of the city central. The Moyamensing Soup Society was soon founded and opened for business at 9th and Shippen (Bainbridge) Streets. An appeal in the winter of 1846 for aid was reported in the press due to the “extreme severity of the weather [that] has caused an increased demand to an extent not before known.”
The same month that the Moyamensing Soup Society had their benefit lecture was the same month that East Kensington Soup Society (the original name of the society) had their benefit concert at the Chinese Saloon. When Paul Beck died in late 1844 and left money to the “Corporation of Philadelphia in aid of Soup Societies,” it is probable that the newly founded East Kensington Soup Society saw some of this funding, as did the newly formed Moyamensing Soup Society. The money was to come from the $500 per annum from ground rent at No. 60 Market Street, a place apparently owned by Paul Beck.
The Moyamensing, Southwark, Spring Garden, Western, Northern, and Southern Soup Societies all appear in various advertisements posted in The North American and United States Gazette during the mid to late 1840’s and into the 1850’s. However, the Kensington Soup Society does not appear in any advertisements of this paper. This might be due to the fact that previous to 1854, Kensington was not part of the city of Philadelphia and while Moyamensing, Northern, Southwark, and Spring Garden Soup Societies also were located in areas that were not part of the city either, they were adjacent to the core of the city, whereas Kensington was further from the city then any of the other soup societies, and thus those adjacent Soup Societies would have seen more coverage of their activities by the local newspapers.
In the Kensington Soup Society’s 1854 printed Constitution, By Laws, & Officers, there is mentioned the bequest of Charles Mercier. George J. Hamilton, the Soup Society’s treasurer made a special note of the bequest and thanked the executors of Mercier’s estate for the “prompt payment” to the society.
It could very well be that bequest of $1000.00 by Mercier helped the Kensington Soup Society’s Board of Managers in their decision to finally incorporate the Soup Society. It is said that the Kensington Soup Society was founded in 1844, but it was only incorporated on 18 April 1853, at about the time of Mercier’s bequest.
Hopefully you can make the March 22nd event at Old Brick Church.
5 March 2009 The Rest is History
This past weekend I had the opportunity to meet and talk with Kerry Holton, President of the Delaware Nation. The Delaware Nation is the official federally recognized tribe of Lenni-Lenapes, the original peoples of the Delaware Valley. The nation is headquartered at Anadarko, Oklahoma, on an Indian Reservation.
President Holton was visiting Philadelphia and made it a point to visit Penn Treaty Park and to pick up a copy of my new book on the park’s history. John Connors met with Holton, giving him a tour of the collection of the Penn Treaty Museum. President Holton was amazed and obviously delighted to hold in his hands relics of the “Shackamaxon Tree.”
Locally we call the “Shackamaxon Tree” the Treaty Tree, or Treaty Elm, or Great Elm Tree. However, in olden days it was indeed known as the Shackamaxon Tree and amongst the Native Americans. The tree and place continues to play a roll in their conscious as witnessed by President Holton’s visit to the park.
In March of 2010, the fall of the Treaty Tree will have its 200th anniversary. President Holton appears to be excited about this anniversary and willing for the Delaware Nation to play a role in the celebration of this future event.
However this week, on a smaller scale, we have planned an event for the 199th anniversary of the falling of the tree. On Thursday, March 5th, at 7 PM, the community is invited to attend a short presentation at Penn Treaty Park. After some announcements, I will give a talk about the falling of the Treaty Elm on March 5th, 1810. The event will be rain or shine, or even snow. Candles will be provided and the talk (ceremony?) will end with a bagpiper playing Amazing Grace. Why Amazing Grace? You’ll have to come to the talk to find out that connection to the Treaty Tree.
During the talk we will mark out the approximate location of where the original Treaty Tree stood. Believe it or not, the original site of the Treaty Tree has never been marked, not once over the course of almost 200 years of the tree being memorialized. This year just showing where the tree once stood will do, perhaps next years we will place an actual permanent marker.
The historical plaque at Penn Treaty Park actually states that the Treaty Tree fell on March 3rd, 1810. In fact, I even have used this date in my new book on the park’s history (The History of Penn Treaty Park, available at my website: www.kennethwmilano.com). However, further research has shown that the March 3rd date is not correct. In fact, the tree fell on March 5th as witnessed by a March 8th, 1810 newspaper story in Poulson’s American Daily Advertiser, when it was reported that:
“During the tremendous gale of Monday night last, the Great Elm Tree at Kensington, under which, it is said, William Penn, the Founder of Pennsylvania, ratified his first treaty with the Aborigines, was torn up by the roots. This celebrated tree, having stood the blast of more than a century since that memorable event, is at length prostrated to the dust! It had long been used as a land-mark, and handsomely terminated a north-east view of the city and liberties on the Delaware.”
The article states the tree fell “Monday night last” and by checking a calendar for 1810, we find that the Monday before March 8th (when the story was first reported) was March 5th, not March 3rd, thus the recording of this event on the plaque at Penn Treaty Park is incorrect.
Researching through the historical records and we find several other mentions of the Treaty Tree falling on March 3rd, all apparently incorrect. One mistake was followed by another and thus the anniversary of the tree falling has always been honored on the wrong date! It appears that John Fanning Watson’s Annals of Philadelphia is the guilty culprit that started reporting the fall of the Treaty Elm inaccurately. Why the date would be recorded wrongly by Watson is unusual, as he was alive when the tree fell. However the newspaper reporting is explicit in its noting that the tree fell “Monday last” and the “Monday last” was indeed March 5th and not March 3rd. This sort of primary source research is essential when researching historical facts, otherwise one mistake early in time is followed by generations of chroniclers.
Hopefully we will see the whole community come out on Thursday night, March 5th, at 7 PM, to Penn Treaty Park and pay respects to the falling of the “Shackamaxon Tree.” Copies of my book on the park’s history will be available for sale.
12 March 2009 The Rest is History
The financing and construction of the Kensington Soup Society’s Soup House at 1036 Crease Street (at Wildey) appears to have been accomplished with the help of one of the Society’s Board of Managers, Alexander H. McFadden. McFadden was on the original committee of 1868 that looked into building a new Soup House. Locally, he lived at 1029 Shackamaxon Street and became a member of the Board of Managers during the season of 1862.
McFadden had a long commitment to the Soup Society. He became the Vice-President of the Soup Society in 1880 and held that position until he was elected the President of the Soup Society in 1883 upon the death of George J. Hamilton. He remained President until his own death in May of 1900, in all, a thirty-eight relationship serving the Society.
He served on the House Committee for at least the years 1873 to 1883, resigning from the Committee when he became President. He also served on several other committees: Property (1875-76), Entertainment (1878-79), Bath House (1879-80), Real Estate (1882-83), and Church Collections (1884-85).
Alexander H. McFadden made his money in the iron business with the firm of McFadden, Gaulbert & Caskey, located at American & York Streets. When he died, he was considered the oldest ironmaster in the city. He was born in Cecil County, Maryland in 1820. In Maryland, he learned the millwright trade and was very successful building many mills all over that state. He moved to Philadelphia in 1856 and began the manufacture of sheet metal with the firm of Marshall, Philips, & Co., at that time located on Kensington’s Marlborough Street wharf. He closed his partnership with this firm in 1877 and became a partner in the Fairhill Rolling Mills, which later became the firm of McFadden, Gaulbert & Caskey where he remained until his death.
McFadden was always active in charitable work. Besides the Kensington Soup Society, he was one of the oldest members of Kensington M.E. “Old Brick” Church, President of the Penn Widows Asylum, and a manager of the Methodist Episcopal Hospital. He was also a director of Dickinson College, at Carlisle, PA, and a director of the Northern National Bank.
Alexander H. McFadden appears to have advanced the money for the purchase and building of the Crease Street Soup House, as there are a number of receipts from McFadden in which the Secretary of the Soup Society was making regular payments to him with interest on a mortgage that he held against the Soup Society’s Soup House.
Between October of 1871 and March of 1882, there were regular payments paid to McFadden towards a mortgage of $3600.00, which McFadden held on the Soup House. In March of 1882, McFadden was paid $500.00 by the Soup Society against the note he held. There had been a flurry of payments to the principal ($1300.00 between 1880 and 1882), which might mean the loan was coming due, or perhaps that the Soup Society, with McFadden now being the Vice-President of the Society, did not want any conflict of interest and wanted to pay him off.
In addition to this mortgage on the Soup Society’s Soup House, evidence exists in the Society’s files that show the firm of Pancoast & Maule held a note written by McFadden for the Soup Society in 1871, before McFadden was an officer of the Society. It would appear that Pancoast & Maule must have either installed or provided the material for the steam and water heating systems in the new soup house on Crease Street and that McFadden paid for the work and material. There is a receipt for a note of A. H. McFadden for $694.00 owed to Pancoast & Maule, where McFadden carried the note for the Soup Society.
The deed for the purchase of the 1036 Crease Street property shows the Soup Society bought the property for $1000.00. Records of the Society show that McFadden was due $3600.00 by the Soup Society. Further records show Pancoast & Maule had a note against McFadden for the Soup House. Combined, this evidence would appear to conclude that Alexander H. McFadden helped with the purchase of and financing of the construction of the Soup House on Crease Street.
If you haven’t yet picked up a copy of my new book The History of Penn Treaty Park, it is available at Eileen’s Hair Salon (Memphis & Huntingdon) and Sulimay’s Barbershop (Girard & Marlborough), as well as a number of other merchants along Girard and Frankford Avenues. Also, make sure to attend the book release for The History of the Kensington Soup Society on Sunday, March 22nd, at Old Brick Church (Richmond & Marlborough) from 1 to 4 PM. There will be “soup” provided.
19 March 2009 The Rest is History
This Sunday (March 22, 2009) will be the release of my third book, The History of the Kensington Soup Society. Readers of the Fishtown Star will have read parts of this history, as I have published bits and pieces in columns over the last couple of years. While this book is being released only a month after my second book (The History of Penn Treaty Park), it was researched and written simultaneously with the Penn Treaty Park book over the course of the last two years. While it was a lot of work, it was worth I, as we now have more pieces of the puzzle of Kensington’s history.
The event this Sunday afternoon starts at 1 and runs until 4. It is being held at Kensington M. E. “Old Brick” Church. The church, located at Marlborough and Richmond Streets, was the first church founded in Kensington. If you have never visited this church, this Sunday would be a good opportunity to come for a visit. At one time the pipe organ of the church was second only to the Wanamaker organ at the old John Wanamaker’s department store at 13th and Walnut Streets. The church is called Old Brick because they used the “old bricks” to build the current church in 1854.
I will give a talk about the history of the Kensington Soup Society, as well all three of my books will be for sale and a book signing will be going on throughout the afternoon. Historical memorabilia and artifacts of the neighborhood will also be on display and a “soup” buffet will be available.
A unique feature of this Sunday’s event will be the availability of a special “Supplement” to the published history of the Soup Society. This supplement will not be available in stores. The amount of research I did on the Soup House was too much to issue in one publication, thus the Soup Society self published a supplement to the history.
The supplement contains what would have been two appendixes. One includes twenty-seven short biographies of the founders of the Soup Society. These men were the families that built Kensington (Fishtown) and ran her businesses and institutions. They included shipbuilders like William Cramp, Theodore Birely, and the Vaughan and Tees families, the Eyre wharf building family, and a number of lumbermen, Eli Garrison, George Stockham, E.W. Gorgas, amongst other well-known Kensington families. Many of the families represent the descendents of Kensington’s “Spirit of 76” families, those that fought in the American Revolution.
The second appendix is a directory, complete as possible, of all the individuals that ever served as directors, managers, officers, superintendents, stewards, assistant stewards, etc. The directory includes the names and years served and also if they served on any of the various committees that were formed over the years.
The Kensington Soup Society was founded in 1844. A privately supported society, the Society supplied soup, bread and coal for needy families. The book takes a look not only at the history of the organization, but you could also say that it is a social history of the community as well. The statistical analysis of the Society’s charity during the various historical downturns in the economy reveals the hardships encountered by the neighborhood residents.
The first chapter of the book will be of interest to those who are curious about the Kensington Riots. Some of the early managers of the Soup Society were Nativists and they were active in local rallies that preceded the Kensington Anti-Irish Catholic Riots of May of 1844. The book has a very interesting contemporary map (quite rare) of that time, showing just where the riots took place in Kensington, where folks were shot dead, and which homes and structures were fired by the mobs.
This past winter (2008-2009), the Soup House finally closed its doors and Kensington and Fishtown loses one of its finest institutions.
If you are unable to make the event this Sunday’s, the History of the Kensington Soup Society will be available at a number of local merchants on Girard and Frankford Avenues. Also, I have a number of talks coming up where if you miss this Sunday’s event, you could catch me at other events and pick up copies of the book. The events are:
March 26, at 7 PM, Germ Books, Frankford above Norris; April 11, at 2 PM, Fishtown Library, Montgomery west of Girard; April 22, at 6PM, Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, 13th & Locust Streets (in the Historical Society of Pennsylvania’s building); April 25, 11 AM to 5 PM, Shad Festival, at Penn Treaty Park (including historic trolley tours of the neighborhood). Hopefully I’ll see folks at one of these events!
26 March 2009 The Rest is History
A reader of this column recently informed me that a woman from Fishtown was once crowned Miss America. I researched the case and so far I found a likely candidate from Kensington, not Fishtown, one Frances Burke, who very well might have been the Frances Marie Burke that was crowned Miss America in 1940.
Burke was from Philadelphia and was the first Miss America to be crowned at the Boardwalk Hall. She was the third and last Philadelphian to become Miss America. Burke followed fellow Philadelphians Rose Coyle in 1936 and Ruth Malcomson in 1924 in winning the Miss America pageant in 1940.
Rose Coyle (1914-1988) had some theatrical experience when she entered the Miss America contest in 1936. Her tap dance performance (in size 4B shoes) was such a hit that the audience demanded an encore, which the pageant allowed (a first in the competition’s history). She continued in a career in show business, performing with well-known stars like Abbott and Costello. In 1938, she married Leonard Schlessinger, the National General Manager of Warner Brothers Theatres. After the birth of her daughter Diane, she settled down to be a wife and mother.
Ruth Malcomson was born in 1906 and grew up around 55th & Cedar Streets. She attended West Philadelphia High School for Girls. After wining the Miss America pageant in 1925, she decided not to defend her crown in 1925, due to some “professionals” being involved because Hollywood was going to film the 1925 pageant. Controversy ensued with rumors that the pageant was “fixed.” To stem the controversy, the pageant thereafter ruled that you could not be Miss America more then once. Malcomson married Carl Schaubel, a key aide to General Eisenhower in WWII. She enjoyed a “quiet life” in the Philadelphia area. “The simple life for me,” she is quoted as once saying.
A search of the 1930 Census (the most recent census available) for Philadelphia’s Frances Marie Burke shows a likely candidate in Frances Burke, the six year-old daughter of Peter and Margaret Burke found in the 45th Ward (north of Allegheny Avenue) on Atlantic Street near Emerald. While not Fishtown, this area is in nearby Kensington. This Frances Burke’s father was the son of Irish immigrants who worked as a painter and decorator. There were four daughters in the family, with Frances being next to the youngest at six years old. This would place Frances at 16 years of age when she entered the Miss America contest, not an unheard of age back at that time, but reports state that she was 19 years old when she won the crown. It’s unclear if this is the correct Frances Burke.
When Burke won the Miss America crown she stood at five feet nine inches tall and weighed 120 pounds. Her dress size was 12, she wore a 34 bathing suit and a size 6 ½ shoe. She was nineteen years of age and employed as a model. She had never won a beauty contest before. She was described as a high-school graduate, rare in those days for a contestant, who danced and sang but had no professional theatrical experience. For her talent competition piece she sang, “I Can’t Love You Any More,” which “brought down the house.”
Frances Marie Burke was born about 1921, married Lawrence A. Kenney in 1945 and in 1995 they were still said to be married. Burke and Kenney went on to have four children and ten grandchildren. For many years Burke volunteered at the St. Francis Country House, a Catholic nursing home in Darby, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. While her own children were in school, Burke was active in the PTA. Burke was still living in 1995 and her husband appears to have been found living as recently as 2002 at Haverford, Pennsylvania.
In a 1995 interview Burke was quoted as saying:
“The Pageant was the highlight of my young life. The honor of being Miss America launched a successful modeling career, gave a jump-start to my self-esteem, and enabled me to meet many wonderful people along the way. The modeling was fun and exciting and it eventually took me to Hollywood. However, the desire to be near my family in Philadelphia and to settle down and raise my own family took priority over a movie career, and it was the best decision I could have made.”
If any readers have further information on Frances Marie Burke, I would be glad to hear from you to straighten out this story.
Note: Book signing and talk on my new book The History of Penn Treaty Park will be at Germ Books (Frankford above Norris) on March 26th at 7 PM.