Chadds Ford Life Fall/Winter 2023 Edition

Fall/Winter 2023

Chadds Ford Life

Magazine

Margaux Kent: The art of capturing and gathering Page 42

Inside: • Q & A with Anthony and Katie Young of Hank’s Place • Historic schoolhouses of Chadds Ford • Chadds Ford Days: Bringing history to life

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Chadds Ford Life Fall/Winter 2023

Chadds Ford Life Table of Contents 10

Chadds Ford Days brings history – and memories – to life

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Q & A with Anthony and Katie Young, owners of Hank’s Place

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Sale of mountains of books help fund Unionville High PTO

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Historic schoolhouses of Chadds Ford

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Kuerner and Mowday team up on new book

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Photo essay: Margaux Kent

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Searching for the caretaker

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Chadds Ford Life Fall/Winter 2023

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Letter from the Editor: One of the best annual events in Chester County—Chadds Ford Days—is a featured part of this edition of Chadds Ford Life.

In her story about the event, writer Monica Fragale explores how Chadds Ford Days brings history and memories to life. She even found two longtime friends—Heidi Murtagh Brennan and Sandra Spoehr Dreisbach—who used Chadds Ford Days as a way to reconnect—to each other and to an event that they enjoyed as children.

The Q & A is with Anthony and Katie Young, owners of Hank’s Place. We ask the owners about the fateful day in September of 2021 when Hank’s Place was severely damaged by Hurricane Ida. They also took time to talk about the new Hank’s Place home in Kennett Square and the future of the Chadds Ford restaurant.

Writer Ken Mammarella takes a look at a tradition and an important fundraiser in the UnionvilleChadds Ford School District—the annual Unionville High School PTO Book Sale. There is usually a line of shoppers waiting for the doors to open as the sale fills several rooms of the high school. This book sale often raises more than $40,000, making it the largest PTO fundraiser each year.

Writer and local historian Gene Pisasale offers a look back at the historic schoolhouses of Chadds Ford. They date from the early-mid 19th century, when chalk boards were a major visual prop and different age groups were often combined in one school building. These “one room schoolhouses” are almost gone from the landscape, but you can still see their remnants and get a sense of what it was like to learn more than 150 years ago.

Artist Karl J. Kuerner teamed up with author Bruce E. Mowday on a new book, Emotional Brandywine that focuses on the Battle of the Brandywine. Kuerner created 22 paintings depicting the essence of the largest land battle of the American Revolution. Kuerner and Mowday previously combined to create the highly successful Emotional Gettysburg on the fateful Civil War engagement.

The subject of the photo essay is Margaux Kent who, with her husband Walter and their sons Søren and Silas, lives in a 1700s house north of Chadds Ford. The home is wedged between the workshop that houses Peg and Awl – the company she owns with her husband that creates fine, sustainable products from reclaimed items and natural materials – and a studio space that serves as the incubator for her creative life.

For nearly three years, two second cousins went on a journey to find a similar connection to their family’s past. It took them to an historic farm and homestead in Birmingham Township. In “Searching for the caretaker,” writer Richard L. Gaw explores how second cousins Karen Barnes Jenkins of Durham, N.C. and Elaine Brooks of Landenberg unlocked the stories of their family’s history to arrive at the former farm of Samuel Jones near Chadds Ford earlier this year. The property today is known as the Linden Farm, and it is steeped in history—the farm is where the first shots of the Battle of the Brandywine were fired.

We hope that you enjoy these stories, and we’re already hard at work planning the next issue of Chadds Ford Life, which will arrive in the first half of 2024.

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Sincerely, Randy Lieberman, Publisher randyl@chestercounty.com, 610-869-5553 Steve Hoffman, Editor editor@chestercounty.com, 610-869-5553, Ext. 13 Cover photo: Jie Deng Cover Design: Tricia Hoadley www.chestercounty.com | Fall/Winter 2023 | Chadds Ford Life

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|Chadds Ford Spotlight|

Chadds Ford Days brings history – and memories – to life

By Monica Fragale Contributing Writer For Heidi Murtagh Brennan and Sandra Spoehr Dreisbach, history came alive in more ways than one at this year’s Historic Chadds Ford Days and Battle of Brandywine reenactment.

The friends of 55 years, who first went to Chadds Ford Days as children and then as adults, returned to their old stomping grounds Sept. 16.

Dreisbach has a photo on her phone of her and Brennan as children, dressed up as young reenactors, that she showed one of the vendors at the event, recalling the friends’ long history with Chadds Ford Days.

“Our mothers always dressed us up in colonial garb, when we were really little,” Brennan said.

“I remember it being a good time for our families,” Dreisbach said.

Brennan said it was fun to join with the reenactors, adding, “We felt like we were part of the whole reenactment, and a part of what was going on.”

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Photo by Monica Fragale

For Sandra Spoehr Dreisbach and Heidi Murtagh Brennan, history came alive in more ways than one at this year’s Historic Chadds Ford Days and Battle of Brandywine reenactment. The friends of 55 years, who first went to Chadds Ford Days as children and then as adults, returned to their old stomping grounds on Sept. 16.

Courtesy photo

Courtesy photo

Sandra Spoehr Dreisbach is pictured with her family in the 1970s.

Sandra Spoehr Dreisbach with her mother in a photo taken in the 1960s.

Chadds Ford Days Continued from Page 10

Photo by Monica Fragale

There were plenty of activities for children and families during the event.

Brennan’s and Dreisbach’s parents were both involved with Chadds Ford Days – one of the major fundraisers for the Chadds Ford Historical Society – and having the families join the reenactors or volunteer or help plan the event was a precious part of their childhoods. Brennan’s father was president of the historical society, and Brennan later ran the kids’ area with her father in the late 1990s and early 2000s, introducing today’s youth to the toys of old.

Dreisbach’s mother volunteered with the festival as well when the girls were growing up.

As adults, Brennan and Dreisbach have brought their own families to see the reenactors and learn more about the role Chadds Ford played in history, joining generations who attend the annual event.

“It is beautiful,” Dreisbach said, looking around at the reenactors’ tents and the vendors with their unique wares.

“When you look around you see the teeny tots all the way up to the older generations, and they’re all enjoying it.”

This year’s reenactment brought visitors back in time to Sept. 11, 1777. Held on the historical society’s grounds, the event helped visitors “get a glimpse of what it was like to experience the largest single-day battle of the American Revolution,” according to the historical society’s website at chaddsfordhistory.org, where during the Battle of Brandywine Continued on Page 14 12

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Photo by Monica Fragale

Photo by Monica Fragale

This year’s reenactment brought visitors back in Held on the Chadds Ford Historical Society’s grounds, the reenactment event helped visitors get a time to Sept. 11, 1777. glimpse of what it was like to experience the largest single-day battle of the American Revolution.

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Chadds Ford Days Continued from Page 12

“an estimated 30,000 American and British soldiers reconvened in Chads’ Ford, then a crossing along the Brandywine River.”

Historic Chadds Ford Days also introduced visitors to “living history,” such as the candle-making by volunteer Katelyn Johnson. Dressed in period garb, she demonstrated to the crowds how candles were made by carefully dipping a wooden paddle containing a set of wax-coated wicks in the heated wax and hanging it back on the circular wooden drying rack.

She reached for another paddle with wicks and wax that were already drying and repeated the process.

Johnson explained that once there was enough wax on the wicks, usually after a couple of hours, the bottoms were trimmed so the candles would be flat.

For her, Chadds Ford Days “brings the history to life.”

Vendor Rae Tamashausky had a tent filled with redware that 18th century residents in this area likely would have used. She made the pottery from local clay that is fired in an electric kiln so it can be used as earthenware.

“It’s red clay that’s found all the way from Connecticut to Georgia, through Pennsylvania to Ohio,” she said, adding that it’s either Cedar Heights Red or powdered clay.

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Photo by Monica Fragale

Dressed in period garb, Katelyn Johnson demonstrated to the crowds how candles were made.

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Chadds Ford Days Continued from Page 14

Tamashausky, also dressed in a colonial outfit, gestured to some of the pottery she was selling to show how she uses a mixture of clay and water called slip to decorate the redware.

“It’s highly decorated because people wanted but maybe couldn’t afford fancy pottery,” she said.

In previous decades, Chadds Ford Days was held the first weekend after Labor Day. But it competed for crowds with the Mushroom Festival in Kennett and was eventually moved to the second weekend following Labor Day, according to Brennan.

“They’ve gotten some really good weather since they’ve shifted it,” she said, “and I think it’ll continue to grow back up to be more like it was when we were kids – when it was very popular and everybody in the community was a part of it.”

Dreisbach pulled up another picture on her phone of a 1968 newspaper article about Chadds Ford Days, reading how it sold out in one day.

Photo by Monica Fragale

Vendor Rae Tamashausky had a tent filled with redware that 18th century residents in this area likely would have used. She made the pottery from local clay that is fired in an electric kiln so it can be used as earthenware.

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“As in the past year the celebration involved the whole village of Chadds Ford,” she read. “Residents dressed for the occasion and marched in the parade. They sold out in one day and attracted a crowd of 7,000 visitors.”

Brennan and Dreisbach talked about the passion of the reenactors and living history demonstrators at this year’s event.

“When we were over there talking, there are people from Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and they’re doing what their passion is,” Dreisbach said.

“What their state kind of represented back then is how they’re representing here,” Brennan said.

Both women said they appreciated the more intimate setting, where reenactors’ tents were stationed near where the reenactments took place, and food vendors and living history demonstrators were mixed in.

“I think it’ll continue to grow as far as people wanting to see it more in this element,” Brennan said.

For more information on the Chadds Ford Historical Society go to www.chaddsfordhistory.org.

Photo by Monica Fragale

There were plenty of demonstrations throughout the day.

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|Chadds Ford Q Life| & A|

On the fateful morning of September 2, 2021, the veritable institution known as Hank’s Place was severely damaged by Hurricane Ida. Shocked, saddened but undaunted, owners Anthony and Katie Young -- who have owned the restaurant since 2017 -- moved their new location to Kennett Square in October of 2022.

Recently, they met with Chadds Ford Life to talk about the flood, their new home and the future of the Chadds Ford restaurant.

Chadds Ford Life: Take the readers of Chadds Ford Life back to the morning of September 2, 2021, when Hurricane Ida swept through Chadds Ford and left a horrible mark on homes and businesses, most especially, Hank’s Place. So much of reacting effectively to an emergency is thinking slowly and deliberately while moving quickly. What steps did you take when the rains came?

Anthony: We did not even get to the property until later in the day, and since we were south of the river, getting to the northern side of the river was a challenge. The first thing we learned was that everyone was safe. Our first reaction was that of complete shock, and 24 hours later, we began to figure out what the next step was going to be.

That took a lot of soul-searching, and within that period, a ton of people reached out to us – our staff, community members and our neighbors – all volunteering to help us.

Katie: I watched the flood happen on the cameras, and it was like watching history. We then began settling into, ‘What do we do? Where do we go?’ It was our livelihood.

We began to have a lot of deep conversations. This was going to be a much larger project than we had originally anticipated.

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In October of 2022, you arrived in Kennett Square, and took the Hank’s Place tradition a few miles to the west.

Was relocating to Kennett Square your primary initiative, or were you simply looking for a new place to call home?

Share a bit of your business plan in the aftermath of being forced to close the Chadds Ford location.

Anthony: Just prior to the flood, I went into the financials and realized that we had just made a profit through the two-year period of COVID-19, and it was a huge relief for us. Then September 2 came, and this was not the governor telling us that we couldn’t operate our business. Now, there was no more business. We began operating a food trailer that kept us front-and-center in the community. We also began to meet with architects and engineers, because while I can tell you how to make food, I am not going to tell you how to build a building.

By the spring of 2022, we were really lining up the design of the new building. Spring came and went with delays in the land development process and by the summer, we began to pursue alternative ideas.

Katie: There was also the priority of keeping our legacy staff because they are so much more a part of Hank’s than we are, and we wanted to keep them as part of the family.

Because of that, we began to look at potential properties all over. We were going as far north as Exton and as far south as Wilmington.

To say that the Birch Street restaurant in Kennett Square has been a success over the course of the last year is a vast understatement. Talk about the reception you’ve had from new customers, and those who have followed you down Route 1.

Hank’s Place owners Katie and Anthony Young in front of their Kennett Square restaurant.

Katie: Kennett Square has been so welcoming with gracious open arms and helping us find this location. There were a lot of hands who helped build us up and carry us through this process. Our Kennett customers tell us that they can simply walk here, and our Chadds Ford customers have traveled to us in Kennett Square, and they’ve also supported us. They like our resiliency in that we have chosen to persevere through this, while those in Kennett Square are refreshed because there was a need that we have filled, and they feel at home.

Photo by Richard L. Gaw

In March of 2022, you unveiled initial plans that called for the rebuilding of the Chadds Ford location that will have an entrance ramp for customers, and an outdoor deck that will increase the restaurant’s seating capacity from 65 to 95. Without getting into specifics, what can you share at this time about the progress of the rebuild?

Katie: We are currently in land development, and with that comes a lot of benchmarks that need to be reached.

Do I feel that we are nearing a critical benchmark point that Continued on Page 20

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Chadds Ford Life Q & A Continued from Page 19

will tip the scales toward having something tangible to see at that location? Yes, and I think we are a lot closer to that than we were a month ago. We continue to be as transparent as possible with our customers, because without them, I don’t think we would have been able to make it as far as we have in rebuilding.

With every cloud, there is a silver lining. Do you ever look at that horrible day as a gateway to something that will ultimately take the brand image of Hank’s Place into an even better future?

Anthony: There are a lot of different silver linings, but one of the biggest for me is that Hank’s Place has been in Chadds Ford since the 1950s, and this will be its fourth rebuild. This last flood did its best to wipe Hank’s Place off the map forever. When we purchased the restaurant in 2017, we did so to keep the legacy of the restaurant for generations to come. The fact that the previous owners – our dear friends – chose to sell the restaurant to us helped us to solidify the fact that we wanted to save it for years to come.

When we took over, we came to the realization that this building moving forward was not savable, but it was also our opportunity to reimagine Hank’s Place for the future and what the future holds. I don’t like change, but after the flood, we were forced to change, so we thought that with the help of our architects and everyone else on our team, we may as well use our vision to reimagine what Hank’s Place will look like for the next several years.

We knew that if we were going to do this, we were going to do it responsibly and build it to last.

What’s the secret to running a successful restaurant?

Katie: It is having trust in your core team and surrounding yourself with the right people. We call them the Legacy Staff – Vicky, Sissy, Pablo, Kirsten, Tracy, Carmen and Julio – who all know what Hank’s has been and remain behind us as we move forward. When we first got to Kennett Square, they were there with paintbrushes. They were scrubbing the kitchen. They were printing out new menus. The artwork on the walls of the new restaurant has been donated from their own homes.

Anthony: It comes down to one word: Integrity. It is about having the right people around you to do the right things: to hold the door open for a customer, and to not serve the burger that is overcooked.

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A rendering of the planned design for the rebuilt Hank’s Place in Chadds Ford.

When the Chadds Ford restaurant re-opens, what will your plans be for the Kennett Square location?

Anthony: Two locations are now part of our business plan. The plan is to remain at the corner of Birch and Broad streets. We really like this location, and we don’t think Kennett Square will let go of us very easily.

What is your favorite spot in Chadds Ford?

Katie: It would have to be Hank’s Place in Chadds Ford.

Anthony: On Saturday mornings, Katie and I would have date breakfasts together.

Katie: At that time, we lived two separate lives. Anthony was a chef and I worked in the corporate world, so Saturday mornings were the time we could carve out to see each

Image courtesy of Katie Young, Dever Architects and Register Associates

other. That was our time, sitting at the counter at Hank’s.

If you were to host a dinner party, who would you like to see around that table? (They can be famous or not, living or not.)

Katie: That would be all our family. We’ve lost parents and grandparents and that’s who we would want to sit at our table. We would also like to see Charlie Trotter and Julia Child because they are our culinary icons along with 20th century artists like Pablo Picassco, for example.

What items can always be found in the Youngs’ home refrigerator?

Anthony: Leftover chicken and chicken stock.

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|Around the Area|

Sale of mountain fund Unionvil All photos Courtesy of Angel Brown

The biggest fundraiser for the Unionville High School PTO is its sale of used books.

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ins of books help ville High PTO

By Ken Mammarella Contributing Writer The kickoff for the Unionville High School PTO’s biggest fundraiser occurs on a Saturday in January when students and other volunteers fan across the community to pick up books.

“Books in bags. Books in laundry baskets. Books in boxes.

Any way to get them out of the house,” said Angel Brown, chairman of the PTO’s sale of used-books and related items.

For the next few weeks, more volunteers sort 80,000 or so items.

And in one intense weekend, starting with a line of shop-

pers waiting for doors to open, the sale fills several rooms of the high school, often raising more than $40,000 each year.

All the effort – Brown figures that she worked almost every day for seven weeks in early 2023, trying to compensate for a shortage of volunteers – is definitely worth it, both in how it supports the school’s teachers and students and how it perpetuates the thrill of reading.

“You see how excited the kids are,” said Brown, who said she would read more if she had the time. “You see them sitting down to read. They ask ‘Can I buy these?’ It’s a wonderful event, and it needs to stay. Most importantly, we want kids to read.”

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Book Sale Continued from Page 23

What the sale benefits The sale began in 1996, she said, and has been an annual fixture, except for the two years it was on hiatus for the pandemic. The 2024 sale is Feb. 24-25, with updates posted on https://uhs.ucfsd. org/pto.

Sale proceeds go to “curriculum enrichment grants,” meaning money to meet requests from teachers and then student groups. Recent grants have funded iPads, 3D printers, chair alternatives, 3D glasses, a boat for the rowing team, machinery to clean floors, a gazebo for the tech The 2024 book sale will take place on Feb. 24 and 25, but will kick off on Jan. 13, when volunteers fan out over the area to collect donations and bring them to the school. department to create, kitchen equipment and tower garden for the family and consumer science department, a flag- DVDs and video games,” reads a flyer to be sent out. “We pole, microscopes, sheds for the PTO and drone program do not accept anything molded, waterlogged or damaged expansion for the tech ed department. or Reader’s Digest, encyclopedias, computer manuals and The sale has also helped outfit the library at Charles F. software, music CDs, magazines or VHS tapes.”

Patton Middle School across the parking lot.

Book donations are accepted at all Unionville-Chadds The sale has evolved over the decades, and the selection Ford school buildings Jan. 16 to Feb. 16 during school differs each year, since it’s all donated. In 2024, Brown hours. A drop box in the back of Unionville High will be expects to stop selling CDs. “We can only sell what people available for evening and weekend donations starting Jan. want to buy,” she said.

15.

The sale just started taking credit cards, which were a big Volunteers sort donations into dozens of categories, with hit and speeded up checkouts. the most popular being children’s books, popular fiction, In a way, planning for a sale starts as soon as the last cookbooks and books of local interest. Books in poor sale is over, in which volunteers decide if they want to try physical shape are trashed or recycled. The good stuff is selling collectible items a second year. A few boxes from boxed, placed on pallets, shrink-wrapped and moved into 2023 made the cut for 2024. storage.

Really good stuff – the volunteers continually go online How the sale comes together for pricing – is set aside for a collectibles room. Really, really good stuff is extracted to sell online ahead of time, During the year, they get occasional requests to accept for potentially more money. donations from companies, estates and readers, and by Highlights over the years have included books signed by September of 2023, those special circumstances netted lyricist Bernie Taupin and statesman Henry Kissinger and more than 100 boxes. a letter written during the Civil War. Then there’s the kickoff, with mountains of books colBooks that don’t sell at the sale are preferably donated to lected and delivered on Jan. 13, 2024 in time for the deserving nonprofits or wholesaled.

Continued on Page 26 2024 sale in February. “We do accept books, audiobooks,

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Book Sale Continued from Page 24

The joy of volunteering Brown moved to the area in 2008 and soon was an active volunteer in the district. “I just like to get involved,” she said, citing a lot of time devoted to the Patton carnival.

She started volunteering with the book sale in 2019, ran the children’s section in 2020 and stepped up to lead the whole thing in 2023, after the hiatus in 2021 and 2022. The 2024 sale will be her last as chair; Brown will be leaving the PTO after her youngest child graduates in 2024. In 2025, she anticipates volunteering as an alumna to guide the new chair and offer advice.

She said it’s been tough getting volunteers, especially since they need to have children attending district schools and must have clearances to be in the school.

Not enough volunteers (and not enough interest by students) led to the cancellation of the high school afterprom in 2023, and it’s not in the works for 2024, either.

Continued on Page 28

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More volunteers are needed to help with the sale, chair Angel Brown said.

“It’s a wonderful event.”

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Book Sale Continued from Page 26

To help compensate for the volunteer shortage for the sale, Brown has been working to streamline operations, including reducing the number of times each book is handled.

“It’s always changing,” said Sharon Hanrahan, who co-chaired the sale with Wendy Harris for several years around the turn of the century. She recalled they did their sorting in a room nicknamed by students as “the black hole,” for the wall colors, painted black for audiovisual work.

“You never know what was going to be donated,” said Harris, citing “a lumpy book with a petrified, flattened brownie” and books selling online for hundreds of dollars.

“Books are interesting, so much more than the printed page,” she said. “They hold memories. And people who like to read are curious and interesting people to know.”

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A mountain of boxes dominate a sorting area.

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|Chadds Ford History|

Where kids learned historic schoolhous

By Gene Pisasale Contributing Writer When people think of “our old school,” many conjure up memories from the 1950s to the 1980s, but to get an idea of what the environment for learning was like in a bygone era, it’s worth taking a drive around Chadds Ford to see some historic schoolhouses.

They date from the early-mid 19th century, when chalk boards were a major visual prop and different age groups were often combined in one school building. These “one room schoolhouses” are almost gone from the landscape, but you can still see their remnants and get a sense of what

Mother Archie’s Church in 1930, courtesy Chadds Ford Historical Society.

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it was like to learn more than 150 years ago.

In 1838, a small octagonal structure was built near the corner of Ring and Bullock roads in Chadds Ford. It was known as Bullock School, one of several schools then serving the area. After being utilized as a school for several decades, it was purchased in 1891 by Lydia Archie and became known as Mother Archie’s Church. The building was an African Union Church for the nearby black community and affectionately known as “Archie’s Corner.” After Archie passed away in 1932, the congregation slowly disbanded. The property was put up for auction at a Sheriff’s Sale in 1944.

ed way back when: uses of Chadds Ford In Andrew Wyeth: A Secret Life, author Richard Meryman notes that Wyeth tried to purchase the Archie property when he heard it was up for sale, but was unsuccessful. The new owner planned to tear down the house which adjoined the octagonal building. Apparently Wyeth wanted to capture the scene before it vanished completely, so he rushed out in the snow to get it on canvas. His work “The Corner” depicts Mother Archie’s Church and its adjoining building circa 1953. In Chadds Ford Then and Now, author Phyllis Recca highlights the structures, beginning with a photograph of Mother Archie’s Church circa 1930, as well as the stonewall ruins as of 2015.

It seems eight-sided structures were popular in Chadds Ford. A former resident of the region, Robert Craig, said, “Octagon schoolhouses were built almost exclusively within 25 miles of the Delaware River.” In “Chadds Ford

Mother Archie’s Church in 2015, courtesy Phyllis Recca.

Then and Now II” Recca mentions that the Frame No. 1 Octagonal Schoolhouse was also built around 1838, at the corner of Ridge and Heyburn roads. The building was known as the Frame School, adjacent to land owned by local farmer Robert Frame. The octagonal shape allowed for superior acoustics, as well as ease of locating a center stove for heating the room.

Mother Archie’s Church kiosk in 2015. Photo courtesy of Phyllis Recca.

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Frame No 1 School circa 1910. www.chestercounty.com | Fall/Winter 2023 | Chadds Ford Life

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Historic schoolhouses Continued from Page 31

The building was used as a school for about 50 years until 1888, when it was sold to Reverend William Cook and converted into St. Clementine Roman Catholic Church. It remained a church for 30 years until 1918, when, according to Recca, the church moved to a site on Wilmington Pike.

After the relocation, the former church site became a private residence and a rectangular house was attached to the original

Frame School No 1 in 2016 showing interior floor.

Frame No 1 School, circa 2005. Photo courtesy of Delaware County Planning Dept. and Kathy Wandersee.

school. Marjorie Powell purchased the property in 1958. A 2005 appraisal listed it as “just livable at best,” after it had been abandoned. A collapsed interior room floor indicates that the building is deteriorating and may not survive much longer if left to the elements.

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Historic schoolhouses Continued from Page 32

One other local structure off of Baltimore Pike began its life as a school, but later was used for adults.

Recently known as Reyburn’s Tavern, the building was constructed in 1848 and used as the Central Schoolhouse. According to Recca, the building was enlarged in 1864 to allow extra space for use during elections. When local schools were consolidated

Central School circa 1917.

in 1925, the schoolhouse was sold.

Paul L. Reyburn, a World War II veteran opened Reyburn’s Tavern in a building next to the school in 1937. Reyburn was a Freemason, as well as a member of the American Legion.

In 1961, Baltimore Pike was widened and Reyburn’s Tavern was demolished.

Reyburn converted the basement of the old schoolhouse—which was still standing—into the ‘new’ Reyburn’s Tavern. He attracted a Continued on Page 36

Schoolhouse Building circa 2016.

View from Baltimore Pike in 2016.

Wedding & Special Event Venue

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Historic schoolhouses Continued from Page 34

lot of attention from locals who wanted to enjoy the rustic ambience of a 19th century building. Reyburn acted as bartender for many years.

At age 100 he was considered to have been the oldest bartender in the United States when he passed away on October 29, 2008. His approach to running a bar was, shall we say, a bit “different.” He did not have beer kegs on tap—he kept his drinks on ice and served them straight from the cooler. He had cards printed which said: “Reyburn Tavern: Good Food; Tasty Sandwiches; Beer; Wine: Liquor; Route 1- 1 Mile West of Chadds Ford, Pa.” Since his passing in 2008, the building has been vacant and deteriorated. Vandals have broken in, stealing the copper piping and other fixtures. All that remains are the bar area, a ladies bathroom, old bottle caps and a pencil sharpener.

Andy Bell knew Reyburn well. He said, “He was like a father to me.”

As you drive past the building on Baltimore Pike, you can see it is being enveloped by trees and overgrowth. If you peer inside, you just might see a mummified box turtle who must have crawled into the space, perhaps hoping for one last drink.

Gene Pisasale is an historian, author and lecturer based in Kennett Square. His 11 books focus mostly on the history of the Chester County/ mid-Atlantic region. Gene’s latest book is Heritage of the Brandywine

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Chadds Ford Life | Fall/Winter 2023 | www.chestercounty.com

Pool Rack and mummified Box Turtle inside Reyburn’s Tavern.

Valley, a beautifully illustrated hardcover book with over 250 images showcasing the fascinating people, places and events of this region over more than 300 years. His books are available on his website at www.GenePisasale.com and also on www.Amazon.com. Gene can be reached via e-mail at Gene@GenePisasale.com.

Andy Bell with Reyburn Bar sign in 2016.

www.chestercounty.com | Fall/Winter 2023 | Chadds Ford Life

37

|Chadds Ford Art|

Courtesy image

Emotional Brandywine

Kuerner and Mowday team up on new book On a warm, late summer day—September 11, 1777— American troops under the command of General George Washington bravely fought the British army across the fields of Chadds Ford.

For their new book, Emotional Brandywine, artist Karl J. Kuerner created 22 paintings depicting the essence of the largest land battle of the American Revolution. Author Bruce E. Mowday captured the history of the historic engagement and the emotion fashioned by Kuerner’s paintings.

“The area covered by the battle, from the village of Kennett Square, across the fields of Chadds Ford and on to the town of Chester, is special today and in history,” Mowday said. “Karl creates special, thoughtful paintings. Karl’s paintings are impressive in Emotional Brandywine.”

Regent Press of Berkley, California, announced the book’s release. The cost of the book is $40. A $4 postage and mailing fee will be charged.

Continued on Page 40

www.chestercounty.com | Fall/Winter 2023 | Chadds Ford Life

39

Emotional Brandywine Continued from Page 39

Kuerner and Mowday combined to create the highly successful Emotional Gettysburg on the Civil War engagement, also published by Regent Publishing.

“Readers told us after reading Emotional Gettysburg, they never will view Gettysburg the same,” Kuerner said.

Kuerner was raised on land where skirmishes took place during the battle of Brandywine. His neighbors were the Wyeth family of artists. Kuerner’s artistic talent was recognized and nurtured at a very young age

by Carolyn Wyeth – sister of Andrew Wyeth and a renowned artist in her own right.

Kuerner grew up surrounded by artists and the task of painting. From the age of seven he watched Andrew Wyeth paint some of his greatest works at the Kuerner Farm – Karl’s family homestead for three generations – and a major source of inspiration for more than 1,000 of Wyeth’s works of art – and eventually over 300 of Kuerner’s own works.

As Kuerner matured artistically, Andrew Wyeth took a

“Andres Farm House” by Randall Graham.

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Chadds Ford Life | Fall/Winter 2023 | www.chestercounty.com

keen interest in the young artist and took him under his wing – mentoring and teaching him for more than three decades. “Wyeth looked at Karl Kuerner and said, ‘It’s up to you to carry this on. And it won’t be easy’. . . . Wyeth added, ‘Karl understands what I’m about: pure, deep, emotion. I have always emphasized to Karl that an artist must paint what he loves . . . and Karl has been painting that which he loves for nearly forty years now. His work is inspiring and deeply introspective . . . it exhibits a strong honest quality that comes from deep within and touches the ordinary in a profound way.”

Although Kuerner was initially influenced by the Wyeths, he is certainly not one of them – nor does he want to be. He is described by many as a fine painter of great merit – possessing his own intimate and straightforward style. He paints realistically using strong abstract shapes. He paints portraits of great variety. For more information on Kuerner and his paintings, see www. karljkuerner.com.

Mowday is an award-winning author and newspaper reporter. He has authored more than 20 books on history, sports, business and true crime. Mowday has appeared on numerous television and radio shows, including PBS’ “Counter Culture,” the Discovery ID channel, ReelZ network, C-SPAN, the Pennsylvania Cable Network, “Hollywood and Beyond,” “Our American Heritage,” “Whatcha Got?” “Journey into the Civil War,” “Chronicles of the Civil War” and local television and radio stations.

Mowday was a guest on the Massachusetts Historical Society’s Revolution 250. He was twice featured in the Authors of the American Revolution Congress hosted

by Nathan’s Papers. Mowday is a frequent speaker at various civic and historical groups. The Congress of Civil War Round Tables has named Bruce a “5-Star” speaker. A member of the American Friends of Lafayette, Bruce is the Chester County coordinator for the Lafayette Bicentennial Celebration in 2024 and 2025. He is also a

member of the county’s 250th committee planning for a celebration of our nation’s founding.

A reader commented, “This man reigns from Chester County and always seemed to present a balanced view in his early career covering the courts. I have watched him blossoming into a highly respected author and has not written a boring one yet. We now have another budding celebrity hailing from the region. If you are a book enthusiast, order his books. They are polished and interesting.

“I’m not usually a big history reader but I’ve enjoyed his work. They are interesting as well as informative. I like Bruce because he is talented and a gentleman. I would not push his product if I did not believe it was good work.”

For more information on Mowday and his books, see www.mowday.com. Signed copies, including Emotional Brandywine and Emotional Gettysburg can be ordered by emailing Mowday at mowday@mowday.com.

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www.chestercounty.com | Fall/Winter 2023 | Chadds Ford Life

41

| Chadds Ford Life Photo Essay |

In her studio north of Chadds Ford, Margaux Kent has forged a creative life as a journal writer, a collaborative poet, a photographer, a story writer, a published illustrator, a jewelry designer and the maker of handmade journals.

M A R G A U X K E N T:

The art of capturing and gathering Photos by Jie Deng | Text by Richard L. Gaw Together with her husband Walter and their sons Søren and Silas, Margaux Kent lives in a 1700s house north of Chadds Ford, wedged between the workshop that houses Peg and Awl – the company she V^UZ ^P[O OLY O\ZIHUK [OH[ JYLH[LZ ÄUL Z\Z[HPUHISL WYVK\J[Z MYVT reclaimed items and natural materials – and a studio space that serves as the incubator for her creative life.

Continued on Page 44

www.chestercounty.com | Fall/Winter 2023 | Chadds Ford Life 43

|The art of capturing and gathering |

Continued from Page 43

The studio is the home of Margaux’s ÄUPZOLK HUK \UÄUPZOLK I\ZPULZZ ¶ [OL overloaded, artistic smudge and splash of expression made from pen and ink and colored pencils and paintbrushes onto thickish, cream-colored paper. On the walls, stacks of handmade notebooks contain the curiosities of someone consumed with the everyday astonishments of life. There are poems tucked within their pages, resting side-by-side with stories and snippets and illustrations of people and places. On the ÅVVY SH` MHTPS` ZUHWZOV[Z VU ^OVZL VWWVsite sides contain clues and identities that

will eventually be connected.

Walter, a carpenter, is the pragmatic one, and there is order to the business of hand-producing leather handbags and handcrafted cabinets and tables and chairs.

Margaux is the dreamer, and therefore, her studio offers no beginning and ending point but exists as merely the restless, MV\Y JVYULYLK ZWHJL MVY HU HY[PZ[ ^OV KLÄULZ herself as “a story gatherer and thing maker.”

It is this innate sense of curiosity that has carved its way into the narrative that drives Margaux’s work as a journal writer; a collaborative poet with her friend, Katie Marlowe; a photographer; a story writer;

a published illustrator; a jewelry designer and the maker of handmade journals – with dozens of appearances at artisan shows to her credit. She points to a three-acre patch of woods that borders the house, the workshop and the studio.

“We seem so important in our own worlds, but whenever I walk through these woods, I am struck by how small all of us HYL HUK [OH[ [OLYL PZ ZVTL[OPUN THNUPÄJLU[ about humanity’s place within that smallness,” she said. “It’s liberating to know that as an artist, I am merely a little speck in this \UP]LYZL HUK P[ OHZ HSSV^LK TL [V ÅV\YPZO within that space.

“My art is about me being in the world, and saying, ‘Here is my day,’ and all its extractions are connected. I am like a child.

Every day, I am capturing and gathering what I see, and I never run out of things to hold on to. ¸(SS 0 HT KVPUN PZ ÄUKPUN [OL THNPJ [OH[ is already here.”

To learn more about Margaux Kent, visit www.margauxkent.com. To learn more about Peg and Awl and see its line of handmade items, visit www.pegandawlbuilt.com. www.chestercounty.com | Fall/Winter 2023 | Chadds Ford Life 45

|Chadds Ford History|

For nearly three years, two second cousins went on to find a similar connection to their family’s past. It to an historic farm and homestead in Birmingham T

Searching for the caret

By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer The nearly three-year odyssey of second cousins Karen Barnes Jenkins of Durham, N.C. and Elaine Brooks of Landenberg to unlock the stories of their family’s history began with a partially tattered illustration of a farm that Jenkins had received from her mother that had been tucked for decades in a plastic sleeve and inscribed with the words, “The residence of William Jones, Jr.” and “Your great grandfather worked on this farm.”

Neither Jenkins or Brooks knew at the time that this faded

illustration would eventually lead them to the former farm of Samuel Jones near Chadds Ford earlier this year -- now known as Linden Farm on Birmingham Road -- where the first shots of the Battle of the Brandywine were fired, where Commander Marquis de Lafayette was said to have rested beneath a large tree on the property as he nursed his injuries from the Battle, and where their great grandfather John Brooks, Sr. toiled as the farm’s caretaker and manager a century before.

When Jenkins and Brooks began to track down the whereabouts of this farm in 2021 in order to learn about their great grandfather, however, the illustration served as their only clue.

The barn on the Linden Farm property where John Brooks, Sr. worked as a caretaker and manager for the William Jones, Jr. family in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

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Chadds Ford Life | Fall/Winter 2023 | www.chestercounty.com

t on a journey t. It took them m Township

etaker

Photos of Linden Farm courtesy of Virtual Vista Photography

The Linden Farm in Birmingham Township.

The adventure begins As in the case of most genealogical journeys, the early stages of Jenkins’ and Brooks’ search for their great grandfather was ignited by curiosity and fueled in part by Ancestry. com, one of the world’s most prominent finders of past generations, long-lost relatives and builders of the tree-limbed breadth of family histories all over the world.

“I had provided my DNA to Ancestry.com and Elaine came up as one of my matches,” Jenkins said. “Her last name is Brooks – which was my mother’s last name -- so I thought that we had to be related. I had tracked it to the point where I realized that Elaine’s grandfather and my grandfather were brothers, and the sons of John Brooks, Sr. “I was very interested in my genealogy, and as I started, the Brooks side of my family came up immediately. I didn’t know I had so many relatives in Pennsylvania, and it just began to take off from there and led me to Elaine.”

“Being second cousins, I found that Karen and I were very close in lineage, which was important because I never knew much of my father’s side of the family,” Brooks said.

“Karen had pieces of information that just started coming together in an un-made puzzle, that we began putting together. Through this process of discovery, we energized each other in order to learn more.”

The facts they had about John Brooks, Sr. were slim in number: they knew that he was a Quaker; that for about a 40-year stretch between the late 1800s and the early 1900s, he worked as a caretaker-manager of the farm that at the time was owned by William Jones – a descendant of Samuel Jones -- and that he died in 1928.

In 2021, Jenkins, who was then living with her family in Florida, drove to Chester County to meet Brooks for the first time, which set off a sleuthing adventure that was immediately followed by a train of e-mails, texts and Zoom meetings. In 2022 – armed with additional tidbits of data and research -- Jenkins visited Brooks for a second time, a trip that included their visit to the extensive catalog of Quaker history at the Friends Historical Library at Swarthmore College.

“We were both zeroing in on the names of our ancestors through Quaker meeting notes, and every step brought us closer to a place, a location and a life,” Brooks said. “At first, it was just facts and figures but as we began to put these pieces together, people began to take form.”

Finding the farm While they found their great grandfather’s death certificate at Ancestry.com., the location of where he was buried was illegible. Undaunted, Jenkins and Brooks then saw that on Brooks’ wife’s death certificate it read that her final resting place was at the historic LafayetteBirmingham Cemetery on Birmingham Road. They immediately made a visit to the cemetery and found their great grandfather’s gravesite.

One discovery at a time, the growing tree of the Brooks family history added limbs, but questions still remained: Where was the farm of William Jones, where their great grandfather worked? Was it even still standing?

Continued on Page 48 www.chestercounty.com | Fall/Winter 2023 | Chadds Ford Life

47

Linden Farm Continued from Page 47

“We showed Karen’s illustration of the farm to a librarian at Swarthmore, and she then pulled out a book of area landowners from the early part of the 20th Century,” Brooks said. “And there it was, the complete illustration of the Samuel Jones Farm, that indicated the farm was in Birmingham Township.”

With Jenkins back in North Carolina, Brooks, using the illustration as a guide, continued her search for the farm. To help her narrow down its exact location, she purchased an historic map showing landowners in Birmingham Township in the 1800s, and there, wedged along Birmingham Road and not far from the LafayetteBirmingham Cemetery was the location of property owned

by William Jones.

“When I drove back to find the farm, I came out of the

Photo by Vincent Cyr

This tattered illustration of what was originally the Samuel Jones Farm served as the initial clue that eventually enable two cousins to locate where their great grandfather worked.

cemetery and looked on the other side of Birmingham Road, and Linden Farm was right there – a place I had driven past many times on my journey to find it,” she said.

“I immediately texted Karen and told her, ‘I think I found the farm.’”

Brooks returned to the property a few weeks later, saw that it was now for sale, and took down the name of the listing agent.

Vincent Cyr, who with his wife, Jane, owns the Cyr Team at Keller William Real Estate in West Chester, soon became enlisted as the next valuable connector of the journey.

“The Linden Farm property has such a lengthy history that the more history I can either discover or come in contact with enhances the importance of the property,” Cyr said. “It also helps me as a representative of the property to help potential buyers understand the entire context of Linden Farm.

“The farm and homestead have its historical aspects that are known to the public – but it’s over 250 years old and there is a lot of history that took place there before the Battle of the Brandywine and a lot of history that came after it. There is a tremendous amount that we don’t know about Linden Farm, so everyone who reaches out with their own story – such as Karen and Elaine -- enhances the property.”

Connections and understanding

Photo by Vincent Cyr

Cousins John Brooks, Karen Barnes Jenkins and Elaine Brooks were given a tour of the farm in May.

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Chadds Ford Life | Fall/Winter 2023 | www.chestercounty.com

On May 3, 2023, Cyr joined Jenkins, Brooks and their fifth cousin John S. Brooks from Swarthmore – whom Brooks and Jenkins had found through Ancestry.com – for a tour of the Linden Farm.

Continued on Page 50

Linden Farm Continued from Page 48

For more than one hour, the three cousins and Cyr shared history, facts and the gift of being able to travel back in time and touch the barn wood that their great grandfather touched, walk on the same paths he did, and imagine him under an early morning sun, tending to the daily rituals of farming. For Jenkins and Brooks, their time on the farm may have signaled that their nearly three-year journey to touch their family’s past had ended, but it has become a touchstone to a deeper appreciation.

“It’s unbelievable how much I now know about the Brooks family, and I feel closer to them because I know so much now,” Jenkins said. “Our visit to Linden Farm gave us an understanding of what went on there and who John Brooks, Sr. was.”

“Karen and I would not have been able to find that house without that illustration,” Brooks said. “I kind of feel that our great grandfather was behind it all – giving us clues to where he worked for the Jones family, telling us not to give up until we found him.

“I feel pride in having the connection to the Quaker com-

Photo by Christy Green Photography

Vincent and Jane Cyr of the Cyr Real Estate Team.

munity, and I felt a connection to my father, because I don’t think he really knew about the history of his family. I also felt a connection to the community of Chadds Ford and its own history – of what life looked like more than 100 years ago.”

For John S. Brooks, visiting Linden Farm gave him an opportunity to meet his fifth cousins and connect the Catholic and Quaker sides of the Brooks family.

“I have been studying our family’s history for the past 40 to 50 years, and despite our differences in our genealogy, being

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with Elaine and Karen at Linden Farm connected us,” he said.

“I think about the people in our families who went before us, and for the lack of them, none of us would be here.”

Cyr said that he looks at his role as a seller of historic homes as a caretaker to history.

“I try to help all our clients to understand that we don’t own the property but are stewards of it for a period of time,” he said. “Some are good stewards of an historic property, and some are not. If you’re a good steward, the property will last a long time – as evidenced by the history of Linden Farm.”

Cyr said that the Linden Farm was recently purchased by two physicians whom he said intend to raise their children on the property and honor its ties to local history. There are lines of connection within mere footsteps of the farm; the historic Lafayette-Birmingham Cemetery is where several members of the Jones family are buried, as well as John Brooks, Sr., members of his family including two sons who were killed in accidents at the farm, and Brenda and Bob Aiken, who purchased Linden Farm in 1974 and raised

their family there for many years.

“These new owners are now part of that story,” Cyr said.

“They are now in the same lineage as Samuel Jones, the Battle of the Brandywine and Lafayette and Brenda and Bob and three cousins searching for their family’s history, and this is now their chapter to write.”

To learn more about the Friends Historical Library at Swarthmore College, email friends@swarthmore.edu, visit www.swarthmore.edu/friends-historical-library or call 610-328-8496.

To view a 17-minute video about Linden Farm that features former owners Brenda and Bob Aiken, visit “Linden Farm: A Love Story,” available on Facebook.

To learn more about The Cyr Real Estate Team, visit TheCyrTeam.com.

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email rgaw@chestercounty.com.

Continued on Page 52

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Linden Farm Continued from Page 51

The Linden Farm Originally built in 1731, this eight-bedroom home – which later became known as the Samuel Jones Farm – sits on the site of the Battle of the Brandywine and is said to be the location where the first shots of the Battle of Brandywine were fired on September 11, 1777. There is also substantiated fact indicating that Major General Marquis de Lafayette of the Colonial Army – injured during the battle, sought recovery from his wounds by napping beneath a tree on the property.

Now called Linden Farm, the 6,803-square-foot home was expanded in 1814, and thanks to the dedication of former owners Brenda and Bob Aiken who purchased it in 1974, the home was lovingly restored and still features many period details that include original fireplaces, wide-plank hardwood floors, hand-carved moldings, built-in cabinetry, oversized windows and a modern kitchen – as well as a bank barn, carriage house, springhouse, tack house and a shed that were used for farming in the 1800s and early 1900s.

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