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Home , Frank Schoonover, Harvey Dunn, Howard Pyle, Samuel Bancroft

QQuuaakkeerr HHiillll HHiisttoorriicc Prreeseervvaattiioon FFoouunnddaattiioonn VVooll.. 33,, NNuummbbeerr 11,, WWiinntteerr,, 22-01144 552211 NN.. WWeesstt SSttrreeeett ((330022))665555--22550000 QuakerQuakerWWiillmiinnggttonn DDEE 119980011 HillHill wwQuillQuillwww..qquuaakkeerrhiilllhhiisttoorriicc..oorrg , Media Star (1853 - 1911) by Carol Clapham th th at Drexel Institute of Art, Science and Industry, gave At the turn of the 19 to the 20 century, Howard periodic classes at the Art Students League in New Pyle was a media persona of the entertainment world, York City, and ultimately, the Howard Pyle School of akin to a “Rock Star” today. In times before TV, Art in Wilmington, with summer classes radio, and movies, children and adults both waited in Chadds Ford. Among his students were Maxfield with anticipation for the latest magazine article or Parrish, , Stanley Arthur, , book illustrated by Howard Pyle, or even authored by , Jessie Wilcox Smith, Ellen Pyle. According to Henry C. Pitz, author of The Bernard Thompson Pyle, NC Wyeth, and Frank Brandywine Schoonover. At a time when few women were taught School, Pyle “commercial art”, 40 of his students were women. He “used ground- helped students secure contracts to illustrate books breaking color, and magazines and create book and magazine covers. dramatic compo- After her husband’s death, sister-in-law Ellen Pyle sition, and emo- supported her children with income from covers for tional impact”; The Saturday Evening Post. his Howard Pyle’s parents, William and Margaret Pyle, are full of move- were Quakers, but Margaret was read out of Meeting ment and visual because of her interest in the teachings of Emanuel excitement Swedenborg, and the family became Swedenborgian; which stimulate Howard attended Wilmington Friends School at the imagination Fourth and West streets even today. Pyle until his lack of interest in loved stories and studying led his parents to myths, and give up on college, and introduced send him at age 16 to study America to the with Adolph Van der Arthurian Howard Pyle & his daughter Phoebe, photo by Frances Benjamin Johnson. (Library of Weilen in Philadelphia for Legend, Robin Congress) 3 years. He then set up a Hood, and tales studio in Wilmington while of pirates. He illustrated histories by Henry Cabot helping his father in his Lodge and , poetry for William Dean leather business, badly Howells, fiction for Mark Twain, Robert Lewis impacted by the Civil War. Stevenson, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and other major He was published in authors of the time. Scribner’s Monthly in 1876 and moved to New York Artists continue to portray pirates as Pyle painted City where his association them, in movies (Pirates of the Caribbean), books, Pirates were among PyleÕs with the Art Students most famous, iconic images. and cartoons (Sponge Bob Square Pants). Norman League during 1876-79 Rockwell named him his hero. Contemporary artists continued on page 2 such as (Dinotopia), Peter de Seve (New Yorker magazine covers and characters in the In this issue: movie Ice Age), and the Pixar production designer w Howard Pyle, Media Star by Carol Clapham Page 1 Ralph Eggleston (Toy Story, Finding Nemo and WALL-E) cite Pyle as influencing their art and meth- w Origins of the Friends Meeting House , Part 2 ods. by Lisa Samson Page 2 Pyle created such exciting illustrations that other w Upcoming Events by Mary Starkweather-White Page 3 artists of the time came to learn from him; he taught w A View From the Hill by Jim Bierbaum Page 5

Page 2 Quaker Hill Qu ill v Wint er, 2014 Howard Pyle Pyle died unexpectedly of continued from page 1 Bright’s Disease in Florence, , having helped him to become more commer- moved his family there to cially viable. Some of his fellow stu- study frescos by the dents were Ernest l. Durand, Edwin Renaissance masters so he Austin Abbey, William Merritt Chase, could improve his murals. F.S.Church, and J. Alden Weir. His was early illustrations, short stories and instrumental in saving his poems appeared in periodicals such as unsold paintings for Harper’s Weekly. Wilmington by helping wrote his brother Theo that “there are form Wilmington Cultural things in (Harper’s) which strike me Society to buy and exhibit dumb with admiration, including the paintings so that Anne sketches of a Quaker town in the olden did not have support herself days by Howard Pyle.” by selling them off piece- Pyle grew up at Goodstay Manor, meal. Later this collection known as Green Hill when he was became part of the - born in 1853, and now part of the UD ing collection of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. Art Museum, When the leather business hit hard along with the Pre- times, they moved to 714 West Street. Raphaelite collection left He married Anne Poole in a Quaker by . ceremony April 12, 1881; they moved Carol Clapham is Vice in with her mother at 607 Washington President of the QHHPF Street (no longer standing), and opened In ÒTory RefugeesÓ Pyle depicts loyalists fleeing Board and a Docent at a studio at 1305 Franklin Street, now north, an often ignored facet of the American the Delaware Art used and maintained by women artists Revolution, but one that touched Wilmington, Museum. (All images called Art Students League. Del. (Library of Congresss) are public doman) Origins of the Friends Meetinghouse at 4th & West (Part 2) by Lisa Samson 1

College's Friends Historical Library. In the November, 2012 Quill readers were prom- The more formally constructed parts of the ised a number of articles focused on documents building narrative are found in reports presented describing the building of the Friends at monthly Business Meetings, minutes of commit- Meetinghouse at 4th and West Streets in tee and sub-committee meetings, memos of agree- Wilmington. This second article examines some of ment with tradesmen, a check register, check the documentation that helps us to understand the stubs, an account book, and lists 2of members' building process that began with an idea for a new donations.On the 26th of 10th mo. 1815 a concern was meetinghouse in 1815 and ended with its comple- Fromopened one in ofthe the Preparative reports we meeting learn when relative to tion in 1817. Wilmingtonthe state of Friends our present first discussedmeetinghouse, the idea and fora a newnumber meetinghouse: of Friends in the course of the discussion Beginning in the fall of 1815, Quakers with well- of the subject having freely expressed their known names, such as Benjamin Ferris and views, it clearly appeared, that Friends of this Samuel Canby, and not-so-well-known names, meeting were not comfortably accommodated such as Thomas Spackman and Jesse Betts, were with a meeting place - that our meetings of First entrusted with overseeing the process of building day3 morning were unsuitably crowded and a new meetinghouse for Wilmington Friends. It's that some of our religiously disposed neighbors through the variety of documents these men gen- were restrained from sitting with us when erated as they worked on the project that we assembled for Divine Worship from a fear of know the story of its construction. They created a incommoding our own members. mix of what might be considered both formally created documents and more informal records, continued on page 4 with both types contributing to our understanding of how this meetinghouse came to be built. Today, almost two centuries after the first Meeting for Worship was held in the new meetinghouse, these And we learn who was initially charged with documents can be accessed at Swarthmore

Qu ak er Hill Quill v Winte r, 2014 Page 3 Quaker Hill Historic Preservation Foundationn Upcoming Quaker Hill Events Honorary Board Three Underground Railroad Edward Asner Workshops for Children Lloyd S. Casson, M. Div Reuben Greenberg, M.A. Carter L. Hudgins, Ph.D. Thomas F. Schutte, Ph.D. Louis Stokes, J.D., M.C. The Quaker Hill Historic Preservation Foundation Advisory Board offers three, free Underground Railroad workshops David Ames, Ph.D. for children at 10:00 a.m. on certain Saturdays in Barbara Benson, Ph.D. January and February 2014 at the Wilmington Friends Daniel E. Bockover Meeting at 401 North West Street, Wilmington, DE. Paula Si. Chadis, M.A. The first workshop, presented by Patricia Lewis James C. Curtis, Ph.D. and Mia Muratori on January 25, 2014, the anniver- James McC. Geddes, Ph.D. sary of his death, features a story about a real-life Carol Hoffecker, Ph.D. Underground Railroad Stationmaster Thomas Garrett Patricia P. Lewis and Harriet Tubman, whose three brothers they Sonia Marin, M.A. helped escape at Christmas 160 years ago; artwork Timothy J. Mullin concerning the period; a visit to the gravesite of Barry Schnoll Thomas Garrett; and refreshments. Earl M. White, M.A., M.S.W. The second workshop, presented by Darleen Amobi Francis X. Tannian, Ph.D. on February 1, 2014, will feature the story of Harriet Tubman, both read aloud and on video; a craft; a re- Directors enactment by Willis Phelps of the life and times of a President Civil War veteran; a visit to the grave of Thomas Bayard Marin, J.D., Ph.D. Garrett; and refreshments. Vice President The third workshop, presented by Darlene Bonney Carol Clapham on February 22, 2014, will feature a dramatic story about Harriet Tubman; an arts-and-crafts project; Secretary and refreshments. Evelyn Brownlee 3/29/14The programs Solomon are free and and Thamar open to the Bayley public. Talk For Board Members more information, call Mary Starkweather-White at James Bierbaum (302) 299-5600. Evelyn Brownlee The programs are free and open to the public. George Callahan Carol Clapham Curtis Clapham This talk by Dr. Peter Dalleo at the Wilmington John Kurth Friends Meeting House at 401 West Street, Thomas McGivney Wilmington, DE 19801, at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, Terence Maguire 3/29/14, follows the excitement, tension, disappoint- Cassandra Marshall ment and joy of Solomon Bayley and his wife Thamar Priscilla Rakestraw during5/10/14 their journey Tour from enslavement of Quaker to freedom, Hill Lisa Samson from Virginia to Delaware to Africa, with the help of Robert Seeley the Underground Railroad and early Quakers and Norma Zumsteg Methodists. Executive Director Mary Starkweather-White, MS On May 10,2104 take a tour of Quaker Hill peopled Quaker Hill Quill published quarterly by costumed9/20/14 interpreters Lafayette offering the history Talk of his- ©2014 Quaker Hill Historic Preservation Foundation toric buildings in the neighborhood, followed by 521 N. West St., Wilmington, DE 19801 refreshments at the Wilmington Friends Meeting Mary Starkweather-White, Executive Editor House at 401 West Street. Jim Bierbaum, Editor continued on page 6 ÒMarquis de Lafayette and the Battle of the BrandywineÓ is a talk that will be given by Gene Pisale at the Wilmington Friends Meeting House, 401 West

v Page 4 Quaker Hill Quill Winter, 2014 continued from page 2

Benj(amin) Ferris were appointed to prepare a ground-plan and elevation of a house of the size aforemen- tion'd together with plans for stabling and other outhous- es, and report to next meeting. What we learn from legal docu- ments such as work contracts, and financial documents such as the check Samuel Canby register, check Jacob Alrichs Cyrus Newlin stubs, and the examining the concern and how they proceeded: account book, is that those members tasked with OnThomas the 28th Spackman of same month this committee Thomas Lea met developing estimates, Spackman, Rea, and Betts, beingWilliam composed Gibbons of the following Friends William viz Poole then provided construction services for the build- James Canby Joseph Shipley ing. Thomas Spackman, given the contract for Evan Lewis Moses Rea stone and brickwork, was paid $1,337.58 for his Benjamin Ferris Jesse Betts work, and Jesse Betts, a carpenter, was paid (absent) Ashton Richardson James Brian $3,067.84, more than any other contractor. As members of the Meeting these men also donated to the building fund, which was recorded in the document titled ÒA List of the Names of the Contributors to the Fund for building a new meet- ing house.Ó In fact, of the $13,605 raised for the meetinghouse, almost 30% of the donations for After a free interchange of sentiment it was concluded to appoint Thomas Spackman, Moses Rea and Jesse Betts to make estimates of the building 75 feet front by 50 feet deep suitable for a meeting house together with the necessary appurtenances and William Poole, Jacob Alrichs and

Quake r Hill Q uill v Wint er, 2014 Page 6

from information recorded onto scraps of paper. Some of these scraps recorded expenses, others logged deliveries to the building site, and one seems to have been a contract for making and installing gutters. We'll take a look at some of these in the next article about the construction of Wilmington Friends Meetinghouse. 1 DocumentsAll images are are housed from the in two foldersWilmington labeled Monthly ÒBuilding Meeting of Meeting Houserecords, 1815 archived - 1818Ó at andFriends numbered RG2/Ph/W57Historical Library, 6.5 & Swarthmore RG2/Ph/W57 6.6.College, For morePA. information on the Wilmington Meeting's records at Friends Historical Library, here's a link to the finding aid which catalogs the holdings: http://trilogy.brynmawr.edu/speccoll/mm/wilmim m.xml. 2 Quakers chose to refer to the months numeri- the project came from men named to the initial cally, with 1st month referring to January. Hence, committee. the date of this discussion was In addition to the building story being told October 26th 1815. through reading these reports and legal and finan- 3 Quakers also chose to cial documents, part of the story can be gleaned refer to days of the week numerically, with First Day referring to Sunday. Archivist Lisa Samson is Historian of the Wilmington Friends Meeting and a QHHPF Board Member

(All images are from Wilmington Monthly Meeting records, archived at A View From the Hill by the EditorFriends Historical Library, Swarthmore College, Pa. We lead off this time with an article about Howard Kentucky, Director of the John Dickinson Writings Pyle by QHHPF Board member Carol Clapham. In it Project. Dr. Calvert says, “Most Delwareans appreciate she recounts how, in the latter part of the 19th Century John Dickinson because he is one of their own. But and the beginning of the 20th, Pyle was as famous and most don’t know that Dickinson was America’s first popular as any rock star of today. political hero with a reputation surpassed by none.” Dr. Calvert will describe Dickinson’s extraordinary fame Next, Lisa Samson contributes the second part of her and influence in the years before the American series on the origins the present-day Wilmington Friends Revolution. Meeting House. We also have a very full calendar of upcoming events that I urge you to look at. But that’s next time. Mary and I are very, very pleased to bring you another issue of The Quill, & Oh, and by the way, next issue we will continue the hope it helps take away a bit of the winter chill. So curl theme of ‘superstars in their day’ with a similar treat- up with a hot chocolate (or a hot toddy) and enjoy. ment of John Dickinson and his contemporary popularity written by Dr. Jane Calvert of the University of J.B.

Quaker Hill Quill v Winter, 2014 Page 5 Upcoming Events continued from page 3

Support Quaker Hill Support QHHPF Street, Wilmington, DE 19801, on Saturday, Consider Becoming A MemberÑAs a 9/20/14, at 2:00 p.m., highlights the little-known Member you will receive many bene- role of that the Marquis de Lafayette played in America'sDICKINSON war for independence WREATH-LAYING , including his par- fits, including invitations to lectures, ticipation in the Battle of the Brandywine on workshops, and social events, and September 11, 1777, which earned him the title of the satisfaction of knowing you are ÒFounding SonÓ. helping QHHPF be a strong voice for preservation as a means to enhance the economic and cultural health of On Saturday, February 15, 2014, at 10:00 a.m., the the city. For more information, go to Quaker Hill Historic Preservation Foundation and the Friends of John Dickinson Plantation will hold a www.quakerhillhistoric.org & click on wreath-laying at the grave of Founding Father John Òbecome a member.Ó Dickinson at the Wilmington Friends Meeting, 401 N. Make a DonationÑSend a check QHHPF & URCD Reception for made out QHHPF to: West Street, Wilmington, DE 19801. Refreshments Quaker Hill Historic Preservation will beMayor provided. JimFor more Baker-3/7/14 information, call Mary Foundation Starkweather-White at (302) 299-5600. 521 N. West Street Wilmington, DE 19801

The Quaker Hill Historic Preservation Foundation and the Underground Railroad Coalition of Delaware are proud to honor Mayor Jim Baker at a reception at theQuaker Wilmington Hill Friends Historic Meeting Preservation House on March Foundation 7, 2014.521 For N. Westmore information,St. please call Mary Starkweather-WhiteWilmington, DE at (302)19801 299-5600. (302)655-2500 www.quakerhillhistoric.org [email protected]

In this issue: w Howard Pyle, Media Star by Carol Clapham Page 1 w Origins of the Friends Meeting House , Part 2 by Lisa Samson Page 2 w Upcoming Events by Mary Starkweather-White Page 3 w A View From the Hill by Jim Bierbaum Page 5