THE SHIPPEN HOUSE,

FOREWORD.

On the evening of February 21,1910, by invitation of the mistress ofthe Shippen School for Girls, a largecompany assembled at the home ofthe School, the famous old Shippenhouse, at the northwest corner ofLime and Orange streets, in the Cityof Lancaster, Pa., to commemoratethe anniversary of Washington'sbirth. There was a programme ofmusical and literary exercises, in thecourse of which the following paperon "The Day We Celebrate and thePlace We Celebrate It" was read byW. U. Henselr

THE SHIPPEN HOUSE.

I trust the time will never comewhen any patriotic citizen of theseUnited States, called to make anypublic utterance, anywhere, suggest-ed by the anniversary, on the eve ofwhich we stand now and here, shallbe unmindful of "the day wecelebrate," or inconsiderate of theway in which it is observedr

Although more than a hundred andten years have passed since GeorgeWashington died, none has been sobold as to challenge his right to beremembered and recalled as the"Father of his Country." Even in animpatient era of impetuous

statesmanship, none has yet arisen so brashas to deny that as a soldier he was"first in war," as a statesman he was"first in peace," and as a citizen hewas "first in the hearts of his coun-trymen."

He stood so high among his con-temporaries, and he has lasted sowell among his successors, that nooccasion should be lost to point anymoral and to impress any lesson thatmay fairly be gleaned from his lifeand character; and no assemblage ofAmerican people, however mingledin years and creed and political be-lief, should ever fail or falter whencalled upon to do homage to hisblessed memory.

To have been either the success-ful captain in a great war or masterin a great political revolution wouldmerit "fame to fill the earth;" tohave been the wisest of constructivestatesmen and the most blameless ofchief magistrates took nothing fromhis laurels as a soldier, while it add-ed new claims to his immortality offame as a leader of men. But tohave so survived in the honor and af-fection of his countrymen that aftera century generations tottering tothe grave tell the story of his worth,with ever-increasing adoration, totheir lisping grandchildren, is to haverounded out the nearly perfect earth-ly career.

Had he been less human in those"personal characteristics" to whoserecital we have just listened withsuch interest and instruction, per-haps even the loftiest and stateliestsentiments of his "Farewell Address"might have endured less firmly in theminds and memory, in the hopes andhearts of his countrymenr He hasbeen fitly described as "a man withgood red blood in his veins; goodcommon sense in his head; goodkindly feeling in his heart." It wasbecause he was a man in the statureof his mind and soul, as well as inhis body, that youth and age, pupils,teachers and patrons of an institution

of refined learning meet here to-night,alike glad to do him honor; and it isright fit, too, that we should brieflyrecall the history of a house andhome that were founded not longafter he was born, have enduredthrough all the intervening year;and around which cluster personaland historic associations of everyperiod of our country's fruitful ex-perience.

Washington in Lancaster.

And, as it has long been the highrenown of old Antioch that the dis-ciples of the early church were therefirst called "Christians" so here, inthis good city of Lancaster wasoriginally bestowed upon our chiefnational hero the title of "Des LandesVater;" and, of all the chaplets laidupon his tomb to-morrow: none willhe more fragrant than that of Lan-caster's gifted authoress,* which I ampermitted to read for the first time:

"Des Landes Vater!" Little Baileythought

He gave eternal glory to this name,How it would live upon the scroll of

Fame,Nor dreamed the tribute which his

brain had wrought.The Father of His Country! Time has

broughtA mighty nation proudly to proclaimThe meed of gratitude which he can

claimThe gift of Liberty, for which he

fought!In former days we knew his presence

here,What time he trod our old historic

streets;To-day we venerate and hold him dear.As this his birthday our fair city

greets,In honor of the Nation's noblest sonThe Father of our Country! Washing-

ton.

*Mrs. Mary N. Robinsonr

William Penn, proprietor and found-er of the Commonwealth, was the firstperson, responsive to organized soclety, who owned his lot; and the Ham-iltons, founders of Lancaster, wereacquiring title to it and plotting thissection Just about the time Washing-ton was born. When James Hamil-ton made title to Thomas Cooksonfor the piece of ground now occupiedby this home and schoolhouse, in1750, he conveyed the exact dimen-sions and area which comprise it to-day, and its integrity has never beendisturbed in the one hundred andsixty intervening years—either by en-largement or diminution. ThatThomas Cookson, like many of theforemost men of old Lancaster, camefrom Englandr He was a justice ofthe peace, register and surveyor andearly member of StrJames,' where hismemorial tombstone is yet to be readof all men.* His widow's second hus-band, George Stevenson,laid out Yorkand Carlisle, which, like most goodplaces west of us, are step-childrenof Lancaster. Cookson's one daugh-ter dying in her minority, two-thirds

• Thomas Cookson's gravestone is inthe Robing Room of the Church, andthe inscription upon it is as follows:

"Here are interred the Remains of

THOMAS COOKSON

(Late of Richmond, in Yorkshire, GreatBritain), Esquire.

He held and discharged with integrityseveral of the first offices

in this County of Lancaster,and thereby,

And by his generous Benefaction tothis Church, as well as many goodoffices to his Neighbours,

he deservedly acquiredthe esteem of Mankind.

He died the 20th day of March, 1753,Aged 43 yearsr"

The monument to Edward Shippenis in the churchyard, behind the chan-cel, but the inscription upon it is il-legibler

of his estate in this and other exten-sive properties went to his daughter,Hannah, who had married JosephGalloway, of Maryland. Partition pro-ceedings vested the title in her andher husband. She died childless, andGalloway got it first for life, as hersurviving husband,and then the wholeestate by purchase from Cookson'ssurviving nieces and heirs in Eng-land.

The price paid for the fee in 1768was 2,500 pounds sterling, from whichI infer that the terms of Hamilton'sgrant to Cookson had been compliedwith, vizr, "making, erecting, build-ing and finishing upon the said twolots of ground two substantial dwell-ing-houses of the dimensions of twen-ty feet square, each with a good chim-ney of brick or stone, to be laid inor built with lime and sand."

Two Joseph Galloways.

I should like to be certain thisJoseph Galloway was the noted manof that day, born in Maryland, earlyremoved to Philadelphia to practicelaw, Speaker of the PennsylvaniaAssembly, and a member of the firstCongress. Like Franklin, he advo-cated a royal Government for the colony, but, unlike him, he abandonedthe Whig cause, became a zealousTory, wore the British uniform, andfrom 1778 to 1803 dwelt in England,with his motherless daughter. Hewas a ready writer, a conspicuouspamphleteer, an unsparing critic ofSir William Howe. His writings, andespecially his testimony before theHouse of Commons on the conduct ofthe war in America, are standard au-thorities for the historians in bothcountries of that eventful period inour history. He has been styled "thegiant and corypheus of the Loyalistpamphleteers." Lecky quotes him;

Trevelyan praises him highly and re-lies on his judgment; and in the Bib-liography appended to Moses Coit Ty-ler's "Literary History of the Amer-ican Revolution" he appears withtwenty-two titles. His scheme toavert the war with England was pro-nounced perfect by Edward Rutledge;it failed by the narrow vote of onecolony. Despite his loyalty to theCrown's cause, it would add to Lan-caster's many claims to distinction tobe certain he lived on this spotfor even a brief part of the ten yearsits title was in his name. The bestauthority 1 know on Lancaster's Rev-olutionary history tells me there weretwo Joseph Galloways—and that theMarylander and Philadelphian of thatname were different personsr I sawtwo pictures of Joseph Galloway inPhiladelphia the other day, as hardto reconcile as Peary and Cook, butthey were both of Congressman Gal-loway; the man who went to Europewas a widower, as was Cookson'sson-in-law; this property was deededaway just about the time the ToryCongressman left. The fact, how-ever, that the latter was born in Kentcounty, Maryland, and lived a lawyerin Philadelphia in 1778, whereasCookson's son-in-law is described asa "gentleman" and of Anne Arundelcounty; also that the acknowledg-ment to the next deed was taken inLancaster, in December, whereas theTory Galloway likely had sailed forEngland in the early fall, make ushesitate to determine that they werethe same personr

Very likely neither ever lived herehimselfr Of one thing I am quite sure—if he did, like most of the otherTories of his time, he was not a pillarof cloud by day and a pillar of fire atnight in the church I attend—because

when Joseph Galloway got safely toEngland he bore cheerful testimonythat his dislike of the Revolutionwas intensified by an aversion to Pres-byterians, who in his own mind he "as-sociated with rioters and the baser ele-ments of society."

Sold to the Shippens.

Be this as it may, the next and verydistinguished owner of the propertywas Jasper Yeates, lawyer and Judge,for a long period probably the fore-most citizen of the town. His name islinked with all our city's history ofthe later eighteenth and early nine-teenth century, and is now associatedwith a famous local boys' school.Sarah Burd, wife of Jasper Yeates,was the daughter of James Burd andhis wife, Sarah Shippen, who was thedaughter of Edward Shippen, "of Lan-caster." Hence the Yeates, Conyng-ham, Burd and kindred families. Bythe marriage of their daughter, MaryShippen Burd, with Peter Grubb,"Shippen of Lancaster" became theprogenitor of unnumbered Bates andGrubbs and Buckleys and Parkers,even to the third and fourth genera-tion of ironmongers and iron-masters.Both Edward Shippen's and JudgeYeates' lineal descendants still haverepresentation at the Lancaster Barin the person of Redmond Conyngham,Esq.,Counsellor and Referee in Bank-ruptcy. Judge Yeates owned this cor-ner for less than two months—henever occupied it, and, likely,was onlythe medium through which it passed in1779 to his wife's mother's

brother, Edward Shippen, Jr., of Philadelphia, for£3,030—thirty more than Yeates paidfor it. The new purchaser was thefirst of the family name this house andschool now bear to acquire title to theproperty. But none associated with it

has left deeper and more enduring im-press on the early history of Lancas-ter and of this house.

We can trace the Edward Shippensback to England, the first born therein 1639; the next of the name, in Bos-ton, in 1674, died in infancy. Another,born 1678, died in Philadelphia in1714; he was Associate Justice of theSupreme Court of Pennsylvania asearly as 1699, and the first Mayor ofPhiladelphia. He was President of theCouncil that governed the Province in1703-4; one of Penn's "keepers of theGreat Seal," who, with Thomas Story,his son-in-law, and Griffith Owen,signed and sealed the early deeds forLancaster county landsr One of theseI submit to you to-night as a good ex-ample for penmanship as it is nottaught in our later day schools—forboys.

Driven from Boston by persecutionof the Quakers, Edward Shippen'sthird marriage later separated himfrom the Society of Friends in Phila-delphia. His splendid house and homewere celebrated throughout all theColonies. Though located as far downtown as South and Broad streets, hisorchard was "great and famous," a"herd of tranquil deer" reposed onhis lawn; tulips, carnations and rosesgrew in wild profusion in his fields;his daughters went to the assembliesin full dress on horseback, and theirvisiting cards, after the universalfashion of the day, were written onthe face of imported playing cards.He had "the biggest person, the big-gest house and the biggest coach"—and of such are the Kingdom ofHeaven in Philadelphia even to thisday.

Joseph Shippen was his brother, andit was his son, Edward IV., born inBoston in 1703, who spent most of his

public life here, and died in Lancasterin 1781; Edward V., or Junior, whoowned this property, was born in Phil-adelphia in 1729, and died there In1806.

His father, Edward IV., had been amerchant, furrier, Councilman andMayor of Philadelphia, before he be-came Prothonotary,Recorder and Reg-ister in Lancaster county,which placeshe held variously from 1745 until afterthe Declaration of Independence. Itwas he, I assume—and who knowsbut, as a tenant of these very prem-ises, sitting out on this fragrant lawn—that balmy Sunday afternoon, July26, 1778, whom Christopher Marshallgreeted on his way home fromchurch! Remembering that Mar-shall lived only a few doors up EastOrange street from here, you willbear with me to hear this brief butdelicious extract from his famousdiary:

"Sunday, July 26, 1778. Fine sun-shine; clear, pleasant morning. Iarose past seven; wind eastwardly.took my walk in (the) orchard andobserved the little concerns in ourrural plantation. A general stillnessnow from the noise of drums, fires,&c. The little birds, with their mates,chirping from tree to tree; the fruitsand vegetables; plenty and gay; theharvest got in, having been blest withfine crops of grass and grain, and fineweather. Thus has kind Heaven blestand (is) blessing us! Oh! saith mysoul, that a universal hymn of praiseand thanksgiving may arise andspread in and over our soul to ourgreat and blessed Benefactor! Amen.In (the) afternoon I went to the DutchPresbyterian Meeting House, where asuitable and good discourse was de-livered on this text, Corinthians, II.,Chap. 4:17, by one — Fifer, minis-

ter of the Church of England livingat Frederickstown or Fredericksburg,I did not learn (which)r Returnedwith Ed. Shippen, who pressed me tostop at his house, and drank (a) glassof beer of his own brewing Afterdrinking tea, past seven, took (a)walk to Robert Taggert's, from thereto the above mentioned meetinghouse, where the aforesaid parsonpreached to (a) large collection ofpeople on this text, Eccles. 12:1,whichheld till past niner"

A morning walk, a chorus of birds,a song of praise, a little beer, a lit-tle tea, two sermons in one after-noon! Those old forbears of ours,after all, were not a half bad lot. Lan-caster won't be Lancaster any morewhen it fails to mingle good cheerwith sound religion, and to appreclate that good living is a real part ofthe better lifer

A Pioneer Presbyterian.

It was this same Edward Shippen—the fourth, remember—who, aschief burgess of the town, was calledout of church that bloody Sunday ofthe blessed Christmas-tide, 1763,whenthe sudden foray of the Paxton boysand their massacre of the ConestogaIndians on the site of our presentopera house disturbed the worship-ping congregations of Lancaster'schurch people and stained our soilwith a tragedy that has never had alocal parallel. Though the victimsfound sepulture no further from herethan just back of where the BaptistChurch stands on East Chestnutstreet, near Lime, it was described asa location "not far from the town."

Be it noted that when John Wood-hull came here as the first pastor ofthe Presbyterian Church—and whenit had no mansard-roofed manse in

sight—E. Shippen, Esq., was "one ofthe leading men among the Presby-terians," and when George Whitfieldvisited America in 1754 the Shippenswere his staunchest friends. WhenLancaster—then, as now, generous toevery worthy appeal—raised a fund"for the distresses of the poor inhab-itants of Boston," Edw. Shippen wasin the chair, and was entrusted withthe forwarding of the money.

His son, the younger Edward, wasa lawyer of mildly Tory proclivitiesduring the Revolution. When he for-bade his daughters attending the fa-mous British meschianza, it was dueto a "feeling of shame at the indel-icacy of the costume" expected, rath-er than to any patriotic sentiment.It was his daughter, Peggy, who be-came Benedict Arnold's second wife;and, though she no doubt often visit-ed her grandparents in Lancaster, herfather bought this house mostlikely as a home for hisfather—soon after her betrothalto Arnold, but two months be-fore her marriage. He owned it whenher husband's treason shocked andstirred the Revolutionary cause. Theone bright spot in that sickening andtragic story is Arnold's perfect loyaltyto her even to death; and Lecky inhis history says, "There is somethinginexpressibly touching in the tenderaffection and undeviating admirationfor her husband which she retainedthrough all the vicissitudes of his darkand troubled life."*

*In the huge volumes of delightfulgossip which make up "Watson's An-nals of Philadelphia," the recollectionsof Mrs. Ann Willing Morris include thisreference to Peggy Shippen Arnold."Mrs. Morris as a petted child was per-mitted to be present at the marriageof General Arnold with the daughterof Chief Justice Shippen. Of the char-acter and exploits of the traitor shein after life spoke in detestation; and

Was Peggy Shippen Here?

It requires a vivid imagination toassociate Peggy Shippen with theghostly memories of this house andgrounds—and the fact that her fathersold it the next year after his father'sdeath confirms the impression thatit was bought as a home for him. Butis it not pardonable to momentarilyindulge the fancy that if Arnold andhis bride had come up here to nursethe wound he felt when Congress or-dered his courtmartial, the week be-fore his wedding—if they had dranktea with Christopher Marshall for aweek or two of respite from militaryand political intrigue, and had for ashort season looked at and listened

for far more serious cause did shethen sympathize with her grandmother,the aunt of 'the beautiful bride,' in hersorrow and surprise that so great asacrifice was permitted to one so muchher senior, a widower with children,and who, by herself at least, was notregarded with the confidence and re-spect necessary to render the connec-tion desirable or agreeable. Owing toa recent wound, received under circum-stances which alone would have estab-lished a claim to grateful remembrancehad not his subsequent extraordinarydefection obliterated his name fromthe roll of his country's heroes, Arnoldduring the marriage ceremony wassupported by a soldier, and whenseated his disabled limb was proppedupon a camp-stool. 'These woundsperhaps may have made him more in-teresting to the lovely but unfortunatebride. At all events, her 'hero,' ex-cept for his character for extravagance,was then regarded with a share of pub-lic favor, if not with any feeling ofpopular affection. He had rendered'some service to the State,' and wasdistinguished for gallantry among thebravest of the landr It is as unjust asvain to urge, as some have done, inpalliation of his stupendous crime, thefashionable and expensive propensitiesof his accomplished wife. That shewas addicted to displays of wealth in-consistent with the spirit of her timeand the condition of public affairs maynot with propriety be questioned; butno external influence can move a trulygreat and honorable mind and heartfrom a fixed purpose of patriotic orsocial duty."

to "the little birds with their mateschirping from tree to tree on thesegrounds," and had watched the mag-nolias unfold their rich and velvetypurple to the balmy air of earlyspring, and marked "the patientstars" "climb the midnight sky" asthey glittered through the dark pinesthat stood just back of yon rearmostkitchen, and maybe heard a sermonor two at the "Dutch PresbyterianChurch," things might have gone dif-ferently—poor Andre would havebeen spared from the gibbet and Ar-nold from everlasting disgrace.

That the people of the Common-wealth harbored no resentmentagainst Shippen for his son-in-law'scrime appears from the fact that hehad been Chief Justice of the Statefor more than six years preceding hisdeath.

He had studied law at the Inns ofCourt in London, and prepared withhis own hand the first "common re-covery" ever suffered in Pennsyl-vania. It was to his pen we owe thefirst law reports published in thisState. He had been an Admiraltyand Common Pleas Judge in Philadel-phia, and an associate on the HighCourt of Errors and Appealsr Hepacified the tumultuous popular as-semblage gathered at Lancaster inApril, 1756, to resent and avenge theIndian massacres to the west of us.

After his father died he sold thisplace to his brother, Joseph, of Ken-nett Square, who kept it from 1782until his death, February 11, 1810.His wife, who was one of the Mary-land Galloways, died in 1801, and herhusband's executors sold it for 1,100pounds in 1810 to Edward ShippenBurd, a grandson, who at once trans-ferred it to a son, Robert Shippen.He held the place for seventeen

years, when it passed to Hon. WalterFranklin, for the consideration of$2,500.

Poet and Judge.

Joseph Shippen was a man of nomean distinction. He had served asa trooper in the expedition that cap-tured Fort Duquesne. He cultivatedhimself by European travel and study.He recruited his health in rural pur-suits about Kennett, and was appoint-ed justice of Lancaster county in 1786.He was a scholar and a poet—in aday when Lancaster county poetswere even rarer than now. He wasa patron of Benjamin West and hadI the time to read some of his verses—which I shall ask "leave to print"*

'He is said to have written the fol-lowing lines, which give us the namesof the belles of the day:

LINES WRITTEN IN AN ASSEMBLYROOMr

"In lovely White's most pleasing form.What various graces meet!

How blest with every striking charm!How languishingly sweet!

"With just such elegance and grace,Fair, charming Swift appears;

Thus Willing, whilst she awes, canplease;

Thus Polly Franks endears.

"A female softness, manly sense,And conduct free from art,

With every pleasing excellence,In Inglis charm the heartr

"But see! another fair advance,With love commanding all;

See! happy in the sprightly dance,Sweet, smiling, fair McCallr

"Each blessing which indulgentHeaven

On mortals can bestow,To thee, enchanting maid, is given,

Its masterpiece belowr

"In Sally Coxe's form and face,True index of her mind,

The most exact of human raceNot one defect can find.

—you would believe he was quite agallant. As his second wife died in1801, and his gravestone in St. Jamesrecords that he was not buried until1810, I cannot understand why he didnot wed a third—unless the exampleof his ancestor deterred him withthe fear of being put out of meetingr

An advertisement of the propertyin the Lancaster "Journal" April 28,1810, describes it as "that large two-story brick house and lot of groundon the north side of Orange street,in the borough of Lancaster, late theproperty of Joseph Shippen, Esq.,deceasedr The lot is 51 feet 7 inchesand a half front on Orange streetand 245 feet deep, and has theprivilege of an 8 feet alley on thewest. The house contains fourrooms besides a kitchen on the firstfloor and five on the second story.Also a handsome building lot adjoin-ing the above on the east, measuring34 feet in front on Orange street,and 245 on Lime street. Also anotherlot west of said house measuring 39feet 2 inches front and 245 feet deep.This lot has the privilege of an 8feet alley which is to be in commonbetween this and the house lot." Itwas sold as an entirety, and com-prised what are now the halls, stair-ways and east side of the house.The traditional associations of the

"Thy beauty every breast alarms,And many a swain can prove

That he who views your conqueringcharms

Must soon submit to love.

"With either Chew such beauties dwell,Such charms by each are shared,

No critic's judging eye can tellWhich merits most regard.

"'Tis far beyond the painter's skill,To set their charms to view;

As far beyond the poet's quillTo give the praise that's due."

house with the legal profession andwith owners of high social stationwere maintainedr Judge Franklinhad been Attorney General of theCommonwealth, and was then Presi-dent Judge of the Second JudicialDistrict, including not only Lancas-ter, but also, for part of his term,York, Dauphin, Cumberland and Leb-anon—a district now comprisingnine judges. Upon his death theproperty, still intact, was devised tohis widow, Mrs. Anne Franklin, whocontinued in possession of it untilher death, and it was sold by herexecutors, in 1853, to Emanuel CrReigart, for ;7,910r The names at-tached to his deed, of Judge Frank-lin's two sons, the late Hon. ThomasE. and Col. Emlen Franklin, and hisson-in-law, Dr. John L. Atlee, first,will readily suggest to my patienthearers, without extended sugges-tion, the illustrious company ofLancastrians whose ancestral asso-ciations extend over the twenty-sixyears of Franklin ownership and oc-cupation, and many of whom honorand dignify this occasion by theirpresence.

The Reigart Regime.

The next change of title made itthe property of another leadinglawyer and the home of a conspicu-ous family. Emanuel C. Reigart, ofnotable local and patriotic lineage,from the time of his admission to thebar, in 1822, to his death, in 1869.after twenty-one years' retirementfrom professional activity, was aleading citizen of Lancaster and ofthe Commonwealth, distinguished forhis learning, benevolence, civicspirit and social excellences.To his numerous descendants,of whom several representa-

tives are also here to-night, thisroof tree is a memorable shrine.Mr. Reigart made very considerablealterations and extensions to thehouser There is a current belief—which I have no right and cer-tainly no disposition to disturb—that the east side of the house re-mains a part of the first pro-Revolu-tionary structure erected on thegroundsr The memory of livingman or woman runneth not to thecontrary. The west wing and thepresent back buildings were built byMrr Reigartr The rear kitchen wasoriginally a separate building con-nected by a gallery and joined in theReigart improvements. The front doorin the center of the building, and thefront to the east of the door,containingtwo windows, were undoubtedly theold part of the house, and there mayhave been some small part of abuilding to the west of this, but thiswas torn down by Mrr Reigart. Hehad an office in the front room to thewest, and it formerly had a door en-tering from the front porch into thewest room, this door being now re-placed by one window. There canbe no mistake that the part of theold house now standing is three-fifths of the front building. Since Mr.Reigart's changes there has been nomaterial alteration in the generallines of the building, and it remainsonly to say it is one of the most at-tractive and generally admired ofLancaster's many beautiful homes.

During his ownership of the placeMr. Reigart made it the seat of gra-cious hospitality, and when hisdaughter, the ever-young Mrs. Brin-ton—long live her ladyship—wasmarried in these parlors, James Bu-chanan, her father's steadfast friend,and then just chosen President of the

United States, led her from the altarto the marriage feast. Indeed, threedaughters of this household weremarried here within a year; and Mr.Reigart used to say, three weddingsin one year, like Franklin said ofthree removals, were as bad as a firerHis great grandchildren are now pu-pils here.

The Shroder Ownership.

Mr. Reigart's executors sold theproperty in 1870 to the late FrancisShroder, and Mrs. Shroder partedwith it for the purpose for which itis now devoted in 1905. Many wit-nesses here can attest that during theShroder proprietorship, the longestin its history, it lost nothing of its re-pute as the home of refined cultureand a center of social pre-eminence.One of the pleasantest recollectionsof the famous Polish actress, Coun-tess Modjeska, whose charming me-moirs are now running through the"Century," was of her entertainmenthere as the guest of the Shroderhomestead. It ceased, with the with-drawal from it of Mrs. Shroder, tobe the private residence of a singlefamily, after a century and a half ofrich historical associations, such ashave attached to no other singleproperty in the town. The last childborn under its roof is a young womanin this company to-eight.

It was the proud boast of an his-toric house in Virginia that none ofour sex "but a gentleman" had evercrossed its threshold; and there is aromantic incident related to provethat this tradition was maintainedeven when the murderous blows of abloody civil war were given and par-ried at its very door, and the battlelines of hostile armies were drawnall about it. So,without odious corn-

parisons or invidious distinctions, itmay be fairly said those who havewrought the chain of title to thisproperty, running from 1750 down tothis day, to our city's lasting credit,have "worn without abuse the grandold name of gentleman."

And if I have taxed your patienceand mayhap "vexed your ears witha twice-told tale," I can only pleadthat, as one fond of this good city,and to whom nothing that concerns itis foreign, I rejoice in the illustrationof stability afforded by a piece ofproperty so handsome and eligible,preserving its exact outlines freefrom spoliation for more than a cen-tury and a half; as a lawyer, it hasbeen a pleasure to recall the associa-tions of this place with the distin-guished Judges and advocates whosenames and families are entwinedthrough its history; and as a neigh-bor, I greet with acclaim the reso-lute purpose of the men who standbehind this enterprise and the en-nobling aspirations of the gifted andgracious women who have pledgedtheir unselfish labors to realize itslofty idealsr

[Since the foregoing went to pressI have ascertained that Joseph Gal-loway, the owner of the ShippenHouse, was the son-in-law of ChiefJustice Benjamin Chew, of the Su-preme Court of Pennsylvania, whowas commissioned April 9, 1774,whereas Joseph Galloway, the loyalist,was a son of his half-brother, and,therefore, a nephew of Joseph, ofAnne Arundel. Edward Shippen was,therefore, a connection by marriagewith both of them. The fine old Gal-loway house, known as "Tulip Hill,"at West River, Anne Arundel county,Md., is still standing, and has re-mained in the hands of the Gallowayfamily for two centuries.—W. U. Hr]

file:///Volumes/LCHS%3BLCHSFS01/OCR%20Journal%20Project/PDF%20Biblio%20Info/Pwebrecon.cgi.txt

Author: Hensel, W. U. (William Uhler), 1851-1915.

Title: The Shippen House / by Hon. W. U. Hensel.

Primary Material: Book

Subject(s): Shippen family. Shippen House (Lancaster, Pa.) Lancaster (Pa.)--Buildings, structures, etc. Lancaster (Pa.)--Biography.

Publisher: Lancaster, Pa. : Lancaster County Historical Society, 1910.

Description: [125]-143 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.

Series: Journal of the Lancaster County Historical Society ; v. 14, no. 4

Call Number: 974.9 L245 v.14Location: LCHSJL -- Journal Article (reading room)

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