Doylestown Historical Society

Volume 2 of our local literary journal "Neshaminy" is now available at our gift shop, and at Doylestown Bookshop. Makes a great gift!

Celebrating #internationalwomensday. Perhaps Margaret Mead’s most famous quote. She was from Doylestown, and lived in the house near Court and West Streets. A historical marker honors her there.

For #ThrowbackThursday: In the early 20th century, the Pennsylvania Society for the Advancement of the Deaf opened a retreat for infirm and aged deaf persons. The location was 181 E. Court Street in Doylestown, the former Shellenberger mansion built in 1886. Dedicated in August,1902, the building opened to residents on December 3, and the first residents arrived the next week. The annual report of 1903 listed 19 inmates average age 70 years. The home never received assis...tance from the state; voluntary contributions, gifts, legacies, holiday events, charity sales all contributed to its upkeep. Endorsed by Henry Chapman Mercer and other prominent citizens, the home was supported by local churches and a Ladies Committee. The community at large donated groceries, canned fruit, and vegetables. Merchants, local and statewide, provided benevolences and warm sympathy manifested in the cause of ameliorating the condition of defective and dependent members of the human family. Admission was regulated by a board of trustees. Those able to pay made a contribution; those without financial resources were exempted from payment. Women residents assisted in household duties and in making clothing for fellow residents as well as useful and fancy articles for sale. Men assisted in outdoor work, laundering, housecleaning and other duties. The home had only two counterparts in the United States: one in Ohio and the other in New York State. The Pennsylvania facility was so successful that by 1925 there was a need for more space, and the home moved to Torresdale (Philadelphia). Today, 181 East Court Street is the Charles F. Freeman Hall of the Salem United Church of Christ. #localhistory

For #ThrowbackThursday: This photograph was taken at the Bucks County Almshouse in Doylestown Township. The arrow points to the image of freed slave Benjamin Big Ben Jones. He was known as Big Ben because of his size; and one of his huge shoes is in the collection of the Mercer Museum in Doylestown. The donor of the shoe, Lewis H. Clemens, told the following story in 1917. "Worn by Big Ben, a slave who ran away from his owner in Maryland and came to Solebury Township where ...he worked for various farmers until found by his owner and taken back to Maryland. There he was severely punished and ill-treated until some of his Quaker friends of Solebury and Buckingham raised enough money to buy him and bring him north again. He worked among the farmers until he grew old and disagreeable. He was then placed in the Bucks County Almshouse and remained there until he died. He was buried in the Potter's field at the Almshouse and has no marker. History tells us that Ben came to Bucks County in 1826 and was recaptured by his former owner in 1837. A local movement sprang up to gain his freedom and area residents eventually raised enough money to bring him back. He moved into the Bucks County Almshouse when he was 65 years old and died there in 1875. #BlackHistoryMonth #localhistory Source: Bucks County Historical Society http://starweb.mercermuseum.org/

Snow Days With The Doylestown Historical Society. https://conta.cc/3pByJns

For #ThrowbackThursday: The Story of a former slave who became Doylestown’s Town Crier: Sammy was born a slave on a plantation in Virginia. Not wishing to live a life of bondage, he fled North and came to Doylestown in the 1850s. He filled his days shining shoes for locals; weekends were spent making a tour of nearby hotels to accommodate visiting guests. Sammy was a good worker, but when business was slow he supplemented his income as a handyman and gardener for residents. T...wo families in particular, the Halls [Samuel Hall was a mason and builder] and the Kachlines [he was a carpenter], took a strong interest in Sammy and greatly influenced his life." [Price worked at the Centennial in Philadelphia in 1876, and evidently made enough money to buy the Beek Street lot for $125]. Price is now made the town crier, appointed by the Town Council, of which Samuel Hall was a member. Whenever an important event was about to happen or word needed to be spread, it was the crier' s job to take to the streets of town and call out in a loud voice so that all could hear the latest news. On June 17, 1884, Sammy died. He was buried on June 20 next to his wife in the cemetery on East Court Street. (Doylestown Presbyterian). His obituary in The Intelligencer said: 'Sammy Price, our aged townsman, known by every man, woman, and child, died Wednesday. He was a polite, and respected man.' Samuel Price died without leaving a will. As there were no heirs to handle his estate, his life-long friend Samuel Hall & his son Charles H. Hall, a lawyer, took care of the funeral and legal proceedings. Sammy Price’s home still exists today as the blue house on Beek Street. (Taken as an excerpt from a report by Wilma Rezer) Clarification of the gravestone photo: According to records, the gravestone pictured here is possibly one of Samuel's sons, who passed at age 19. Samuel's burial site does not have a gravestone marker, although it possibly is located near his son and wife Susan. Doylestown Presbyterian has highlighted ten gravesites including their history, to commemorate Black History Month. Wreaths were placed to highlight the sites. You can read about them here: https://www.dtownpc.org/celebrating-b/voices-from-the-past/ #BlackHistoryMonth #localhistory