New Garden Historical Commission - Book - Once Upon A Time In New Garden Township

<body text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" link="#0000FF" alink="#FF0000" vlink="#990099" lang=EN-US> <table border="0" cellpadding="5" width="100%" bgcolor="#999999"> <tr> <td><p align="center"><img src="../lyceum/lyceum.jpg" width="200" height="114"></p> </td> <td align="center"> <h1><font color=black>New Garden Historical Commission</font></h1> <p><a href="../index.htm" target="_top"><font color=black>Click here</font></a> <font color=black> to return to the home page and links to other articles</font></p> </td> </tr> </table> <div class=Section1> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><span style='font-size:20.0pt'>Once Upon A Time</span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><span style='font-size:20.0pt'>In New Garden Township</span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt'> </span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt'>by Ann Hagerty</span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt'>1977</span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal> </p> <div align=center> <table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 style='border-collapse:collapse'> <tr> <td width=295 valign=top style='width:221.4pt;padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt'> <p class=MsoNormal>We are pleased to be able to publish on this website the text of Ann Hagerty's long out of print history of New Garden Township.  This history, published in 1977, is a fascinating account of the people that settled here in bygone centuries and the industries of the area.  We are thankful to Robert Simon who did the tedious OCR work necessary to ready the book for web publication.</p> <p class=MsoNormal> </p> <p class=MsoNormal>The book itself contained many historic photographs. Unfortunately, we will be unable to include these photographs on this website until we obtain permission from their current owners. We will seek permission to publish these photographs as we identify their owners, but expect this will be a lengthy process.  In the meantime, please enjoy the text of the book itself.</p> </td> <td width=399 valign=top style='width:299.55pt;padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt'> <p class=MsoNormal><img width=385 height=575 id="Picture 1" src="main_files/image003.jpg" alt=Page000.jpg></p> </td> </tr> </table> </div> <div style='border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in'> <h1><a name="_Toc189384579">FOREWORD</a>   <span style='font-size: 12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman";font-weight:normal'>by the author</span></h1> </div> <p class=MsoNormal>ONCE UPON A TIME... A phrase that conjures visions of knights and princesses, goblins, and ghouls, fairy godmothers and witches seemed an appropriate title for this story of New Garden Township, for often the whole account seemed like a fairy tale. I hesitate to call it a history for much trivia is included to "lighten the load," and many important facts have been omitted. This can be attributed to lassitude. </p> <p class=MsoNormal> </p> <p class=MsoNormal>Interest in New Garden Township began as we heard local stories of events, people, and places well-remembered and well-loved. After twenty years, we have decided that New Gardeners are delightfully maverick in much they do or say! We thought this attitude was engendered by those who arrived long after the "staid and somber" Quakers, but after research, I am convinced that "our" Friends, while certainly devout and firm in their beliefs, were mavericks themselves as they first went to Ireland and then came to America - hardly the somber, staid, patterned individuals they were pictured. </p> <p class=MsoNormal> </p> <p class=MsoNormal>An attempt was made to write of the early Quaker families, but that project was soon abandoned because of the enormity of the task. Our whole early Township story is theirs. Much information is readily available at the Chester County Historical Society library and in repositories of the Society of Friends for those wishing more detail. Greater space has, therefore, been given to the story of those who arrived later and of whom little is written, for their part in our story is equally important. Generally, the tale stops with the advent of the Twentieth Century excepting the sections on mushrooms, a product so vital to our Township, and on those who grow them. </p> <p class=MsoNormal> </p> <p class=MsoNormal>Many lament the passing of "the good old days," but they weren't so good in some ways. With our mixture of people of various backgrounds and cultures, perhaps we can select the best parts and adapt them to current times and "live happily ever after." </p> <p class=MsoNormal> </p> <p class=MsoNormal>Ann Hagerty</p> <p class=MsoNormal>May 1977</p> <p class=MsoNormal> </p> <div style='border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in'> <h1><a name="_Toc189384663">ACKNOWLEDGMENTS</a> </h1> </div> <p class=MsoNormal>Many people helped with this project and to them go great thanks. In addition to those listed below, members of individual families and owners of older homes furnished much information. Special thanks to my husband, Edward, who has never complained of inconveniences caused by piles of papers and endless telephone calls; to my friends, Alice Aurig and Lorraine Crossan, who supported the project and listened when the need arose; to my friend, Dorothy Powell, who lent material and endless support and designed and drew the cover in addition. Some others were: </p> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>Mrs. Christopher Vandegrift                             Mr. and Mrs. Leon Wilkinson <br> Mrs. Mary Douglas                                          Mrs. Chester Dickerschied <br> Mr. and Mrs. Thomas DeCecco                       Ernest Crossan, Sr. <br> Mr. and Mrs. James Bacino                              Ernest Crossan, Jr. <br> Mr. and Mrs. Louis Pia                                     Mrs. Nora McComsey (deceased) <br> Mr. and Mrs. Robert Mendenhall                      George Holton (deceased) <br> Charles Williams                                               G. Pownall Jones <br> Mr. and Mrs. W. Thomas Kelleher                   Smedley Thomas <br> Augie Testa                                                      Benjamin J. Reynolds (deceased) <br> Mrs. Lyle Amberg                                            Mr. and Mrs. Charles Ciarrocchi <br> Mrs. Ernest McMaster                                     Louis Toto <br> J Raymond Crossan                                          Leone Pizzini <br> Miss Johanna Kelleher                                      Mrs. Anne S. Wood <br> J. Louis Landenberger                                      Mrs. Rita Brackin <br> Ernest W. Haines                                              John "Tibbie" Connell <br> Edward "Ted" Strode                                       Maurice "Skip" Reynolds <br> Charles Murray                                                Charles Sproat <br> Charles Wagner                                                Mrs. Paul Wollaston </p> <b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial'><br clear=all style='page-break-before:always'> </span></b> <h1><a name="_Toc189384664">SOURCES</a> </h1> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'>Some sources of information other than those listed in the text were: </p> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt'>"History of Chester County" by Futhey and Cope </p> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt'>"Little Known History of Newark, Delaware and Its Environs" by Francis A, Cooch </p> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt'>"Immigration of Irish Quakers In Pennsylvania" by Albert Cook Myers </p> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt'>New Garden Civic Association booklet </p> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt'>New Garden Meeting histories by Eleanor Cooper, Eleanor Parrish, Vera Schrader </p> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt'>"The Ethnic Experience in Pennsylvania" edited by John E, Bodnar </p> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt'>"Quaker Meeting Houses" by Horace Mather Lippincott </p> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt'>"Underground Railroad" by Smedley </p> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt'>"Manual of Mushroom Culture" by G, Raymond Rettew; published by Mushroom Supply Co.</p> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt'>"Some Recent Changes In the American Mushroom Industry" by Richard Bucksar in<br>             "The Journal of Geography" - March 1966. </p> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt'>"The Outline of History" by H. G. Wells </p> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt'>"The Indestructible Irish" by John Philip Cohane </p> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt'>"The Education of an American" by Mark Sullivan </p> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt'>All of the New Garden files - Chester County Historical Society Library </p> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt'>Various Encyclopedia </p> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt'>"Autobiographical Notes of Ezra Michener, M.D." </p> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt'>"Indians in Pennsylvania" by Paul A, Wallace </p> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt'>"Delaware's Buried Past" by C. A. Weslager </p> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt'>"The Story of the Wilmington and Western Railroad" by Arthur G. Volkman </p> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt'>"Historical Background" In Centennial Memorial of St. Patrick's Church by <br>             Rev. Robert J. Cassidy </p> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt'>"The Negro In Pennsylvania History" by Ira V, Brown </p> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt'>"Pennsylvania's Architecture" by Irwin Richman </p> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt'>"Early Domestic Architecture of Pennsylvania" by Eleanor Raymond FAIA </p> <p class=MsoNormal> </p> </div> </body>