Colonial Phila

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Colonial Philadelphia No. 14—Cedar Grove

By HAROLD DONALDSON EBER-LEIN and CORTLANDT VAN

DYKE HUBBARD

SINCE 1927 Cedar Grove hasbeen one of the Colonial and post-Colonial houses preserved inFairmount Park. At that time itwas taken down, stone by stone,removed from its original site atHarrogate, near Frankford, andwith meticulous care re-erected on

Lansdowne Drive, hard by Memo-rial Hall.

In 1714, Thomas Coates, of Philadelphia, bought and farmednearly 300 acres of land, adjoin-ing the lands of Chalkley Hall onthe east. At his death in 1719, theinventory of his property shows,this farm at Harrogate was wellstocked with domestic animals andimplements but had no dwellingexcept farmer's quarters. Eliza-

beth Coates, who inherited a partof her father's Harrogate prop-erty, married Joseph Paschall in1721 and built the oldest part of Cedar Grove, three principal rooms—the parlor or living room (nowthe dining room), the bedroomabove, and the original kitchen inthe one-story extension at therear.

Rest ShelterSmall and unpractical, it was

not intended for a dwelling, merelya shelter for rest and refreshmentwhen the owner or any membersof the family spent the day at thefarm.

Mrs. Paschall's accounts for ma-terials bought and work done showthat she made substantial addi-tions to Cedar Grove in 1752. In1767 Elizabeth Coates Paschall'sson Isaac married Patience Mif-flin and Cedar Grove ultimatelywent to their daughter Sarah,who married Isaac Wistar Morrisin 1795. It was at this time thatCedar Grove took its present form.

A joint in the masonry up themiddle of the front indicates thewidth was doubled and six win-dows provided across the upperfloor. On the ground floor of thenew part were a parlor and, back of it, a large kitchen; the upperfloor provided two more bedrooms,with an attic. The former living-

room became the dining room.reached through the old kitchen;the latter became the "ironingroom" and its great fireplace





looked about and exclaimed, "I'vegot the pen; all I want now is thesow." This indelicate speech gotto the ears of his betrothed andshe promptly broke the engage-ment. The story of Morris'blasted betrothal was well knownin the eighteenth century, and in1753 some verses were written

alluding to it. The repentantMorris seems to have lived anexemplary life afterward; he be-came a Justice of the Peace inWhitemarsh and was an overseerof Plymouth Meeting. He diedin 1770, leaving various charitablebequests; the estate went to hisbrother, Joshua, who, in 1776, soldit to William West, a relative of the Lords de la Warr, who hadsettled in Pennsylvania about 1750and become a shipping merchant.

At Hope Lodge, the alarms of war frequently interrupted anypeace and quiet of retirement Mr.West had expected. The house isonly a stone's throw from St.Thomas' Hill and when the Brit-ish forces were encamped roundabout and Howe had mounted hiscannon in the windows of the oldchurch, it could not have been anytoo pleasant for the Wests. Tra-dition says that Hope Lodgeserved as an emergency hospitalafter the Battle of Germantown.

Mr. West is said to have beenaLoyalist, though of that there isno certainty. He was given togenerous hospitality and there islittle doubt that Washington wasa guest at Hope Lodge more thanonce while the Continental Army

Courtesy of J. B. Lippincott Compan

lay at Whitemarsh. It was proably due to the "good entertaiment" extended by his hospitablehost that Washington gave tprotection to Mr. West's woodsshown by an order still extathe soldiers were forbidden to felltrees on the property and orderedto seek their supplies of woelsewhere.

After Mr, West's deathexecutors sold the property,1784, to Henry Hope, ofamous London and Amsterdabanking firm of Hope &Henry Hope never lived in thouse and ultimately deeded thproperty to his second cousJames Horatio Watmough. It wasMr. Watmough who named thhouse Hope Lodge. James HoratioWatmough's second daughtMargaretta, married John Sgeant, the eminent lawyer, after-ward a Representative in Congressand in 1832 Whig candidate foVice President on the ticket withHenry Clay.

In 1832 Hope Lodge was sold toJacob Wentz and the Wentz fam-ily continued in possession unti1922, when William L. Dbought the property. For a lontime before Mr. Degn bought HopeLodge the house had been fallinginto disrepair and it was even idanger of being demolished. Mr.Degn has put it in thorouggood order and maintains it withpraiseworthy regard for its hitoric character.

This is the second of a series

Sy HAROLD DONALDSON EBER-LEIN AND CORTLANDT VAN

DYKE HUBBARD

HOPE LODGE, in the White-marsh Valley close by St. Thomas'Church, is on the Bethlehem Pike just northeast of its junction withthe Skippack Pike. In its ampledignity and in the purity of itsearly Georgian architecture, it issecond to none in the neighbor-hood of Philadelphia. In everyparticular it is typical of thephase prevalent at the era whenit was built; it is likewise typicalof the sort of large brick countryseat peculiar to SoutheasternPennsylvania.

An avenue of overarching treesleads from the road to the house,which stands on a slight rise. Alittle to the southwest is St.Thomas' Hill, thrice held by sol-diers during the Revolutionarystruggle. In front, to the north-

east across the pike, the Wissa-hickon winds through peacefulmeadows; beyond, rises the longslope of Militia Hill—every rood of land full of historic memories. Bythe banks of the stream, withmoss-grown dam and placid leat,is an ancient stone mill that onceground corn for all the Colonists,far and near.

Samuel Morris, the son of Morris Morris, a Welsh Quakerwho lived near Abington, bought500 acres from Edward Farmer—who held extensive land there-abouts by grant from WilliamPenn—and built Hope Lodge toreceive an expected bride. Never-theless, Samuel Morris lived anddied a bachelor. And this waswhy: His mother, SusannahHeath Morris, a prominent minis-ter among Friends, was given tomaking "religious visits." Samuelwent with his mother on a "re-ligious visit" across the Atlanticand became affianced to a youngQuakeress in England. The be-trothed pair fell to planning theirfuture home, and the design of thehouse has been attributed to SirChristopher Wren. Though the

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