A Special Friendship: Bees and their Medical Uses in the Colonial Period
This blog post is an adaptation of a History Happy Hour talk given last year during the 2019 season, “Bees, their Friends, and their Uses” by Tim Betz, Morgan Log House Executive Director. Keep an eye out for more History Happy Hours (both online and in person) in the...
The Morgan Log House: An Agricultural History
The Morgan Log House is always researching and adding to its historic narratives regarding the house, its families, and associated larger historic contexts. Because family documents, like diaries, letters, receipts, newspaper advertisements, or budget books ,...
Keeping a COVID-19 Journal
For many of us, we often do not think that we will be living history: yet here we are. The spread of COVID-19, our subsequent national social distancing and self quarantining, and the effects of this pandemic on all aspects of our life is only starting to become...
When Artichoke Was King
In transcribing William Leister’s diaries from the early twentieth century, little details occasionally pop out at the reader and we ask ourselves, “What’s the story behind this?” For us, that occurred when we began transcribing Mr. Leister’s diaries beginning in 1923...
Dendrochronology: How Old is It?
When looking at an old building, it can be difficult to determine the age of a building. The building’s construction materials and decorative elements like trim, mouldings, and windows can provide a date range of of when it was built. Some buildings like stone farm...
Meet William Leister, Local Farmer and Diarist
In 2018, Brian Hagey, the author of Paper, Quill and Ink: The Diaries of George Lukens, Towamencin Township Quaker, Farmer, Schoolmaster, Abolitionist; with A History of Towamencin Township, donated family diaries of local resident...