6611 Germantown Avenue, parsonage of Dunkard Meeting House, said to be over two hundred years old; near it, in the battle, General Nash was mortally wounded and Major Witherspoon, son of Rev. John Witherspoon, President of Princeton College, killed by the same cannon ball; they were buried in St. Michael’s Lutheran Churchyard. 6613 Germantown Avenue, mother church of the Brethren, or Dunkards, in America; who came here in 1719; Church was organized by Peter Becker, first pastor, in 1723, present building, erected, 1770, has tablet to Christopher Saur in the meeting house, he published the first American quarto edition of the Bible, 1743; in the graveyard is buried Alexander Mack, founder of the Dunkard sect in Germany, who came to America, 1729.
Southeast corner of Germantown Avenue and Phil-Ellena Street, St. Michael’s Lutheran Church, founded 1737; in 1742, Rev. Henry Melchoir Muhlenberg had charge here, and of St. John’s in Philadelphia; pews were placed in 1750; during the battle, the organ was destroyed by British soldiers, who ran along the streets blowing the pipes; in the graveyard is buried Christopher Ludwig, and other patriots. 6749 Germantown Avenue, residence George Hesser; Elizabeth Drinker’s journal, written while staying here in 1793, during yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia, gives interesting local details of life in Germantown.
7301 Germantown Avenue, opposite Allen’s Lane, Lutheran Theological Seminary, site, “Mount Airy,” summer residence of Chief Justice William Allen; Lafayette was entertained here; later a school was conducted by Benjamin C. Constant, “The American Classical and Military Institute.” General Meade and his brother, also General Beauregard, were educated here. Southeast corner of Germantown and Gowen Avenues, now part of Lutheran Theological Seminary; residence, in 1792, of Joseph Miller, whose daughter was married to James Gowen; their son, Franklin B. Gowen, was born and lived here many years, also his brother, James E. Gowen.
7406 Germantown Avenue, Mount Airy, Pennsylvania Institution for Deaf, semi-deaf and blind-deaf; founded in 1820 by David G. Seixas, who gathered deaf street roamers in his home, taught, fed, and clothed them; a school was planned, Bishop White presiding; constitution adopted, and directors chosen; now a splendidly equipped trade teaching department for boys and girls; articulation, and lip reading taught; architecture, Norman.
INTERESTING PLACES WEST, NOT ON GERMANTOWN AVENUE
Queen Lane, two blocks west on Wissahickon Avenue, Carlton, residence of Henry Hall; Washington’s headquarters, August, 1777, and two days in September, before and immediately after the Battle of Brandywine; when the British occupied Germantown, the Hessian detachment encamped from here to the Schuylkill River: General Kuyphansen’s headquarters: beyond the house, toward Queen Lane reservoir, is a granite monument erected by Sons of the Revolution in 1895 to commemorate the earlier encampment of the American army at this point. Corner of Rittenhouse Street and Lincoln Drive, birthplace of David Rittenhouse, Pennsylvania’s first and greatest astronomer, born April 8, 1732; house erected in 1707; his grandfather, William Rittenhouse, came to America in 1690; first paper maker in America; mill located near the house.
PLACES OF INTEREST EAST
East Logan Street, across Wissahickon Avenue, the picturesque Wakefield Mills and residence of Thomas and Sarah Fisher, née Logan, in 1795, granddaughter of James Logan, of Stenton; passing Wakefield, Old York Road is soon reached. Jewish Hospital on the right. Old York Road, on left, residence of Pierce Butler, bought in 1812; he was a member of the Constitutional Convention, and Senator from South Carolina; his son, Pierce Butler, Jr., married Fanny Kemble; present residence of Owen Wister, their grandson; the British outpost was stationed near here. Church Lane and Wingohocking Creek, site of Roberts Mill, built in 1683; first in the country; built by Richard Townsend, a passenger on the Welcome with William Penn; back of mill, British had a small redoubt, guarding their encampment in Germantown. Northeast corner of Church Lane and Dunton Street, Spencer farmhouse; Thomas Godfrey, inventor of the quadrant, was born here; he died in 1749. Northwest corner of Haines Street and Limekiln Turnpike, Philadelphia National Cemetery, thirteen acres, founded in 1885; soldiers of the War of the Rebellion are buried here. Farther along Limekiln Turnpike left wing of Washington’s army moved down this road, and a sharp encounter occurred with an outpost of British.
II
BUCKS COUNTY
AUTOMOBILE ride of historic interest through Washington’s itinerary to New Hope. Return to Philadelphia via Bristol and Frankford.