On June 14, 2014 we had a visitor who worked for Mr. Strawbridge in 1954 — he shared the following memories with us: Mr. Strawbridge was in his 70s and the visitor was 15 at the time of his employment. He was paid $1/hour and his job was to sweep out the fireplaces in the […]
We were recently presented with a few artifacts that a park visitor had found on the grounds – a metal shank button and what appears to be a handle from a piece of furniture. Please note, as a state property, we do not allow digging or metal detecting, and any remains that may wash up […]
History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes. (Attributed to Mark Twain) In the summer and fall of 1793 yellow fever gripped Philadelphia, the capital of the United States. Benjamin Rush, the most prominent doctor in Philadelphia, wrote to his wife Julia Stockton in Trenton on September 13, 1793. “My Dear Julia, Alive! And tho […]
Mention Graeme Park to a Horsham resident, and most will tell you it’s haunted! The stories of Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson’s ghost have been circulating since her death in 1801 and continue to be experienced by our staff and volunteers today. The Horsham police dread the nighttime alarms they are sometimes called upon to answer at […]
Following is a charming note addressed to Mrs. Strawbridge after a visit to Graeme Park. June 30, 1946 My Dear Mrs. Strawbridge Many are the colonial buildings I have examined, perhaps not as many as I would have liked, yet I don’t remember, anywhere, a place where there was such dignity as “Graeme Park.” I […]
We’ve recently been contacted by representatives of the Samuel Johnson Society in Lichfield, England regarding planting a cutting of the Lichfield Willow (also known as Johnson’s Willow) at Graeme Park. The Willow is a 4th generation descendant of one that stood during Johnson’s time and of which he was very fond, but what makes it exciting for […]
We have heard the word “fever” a lot this year because of the new virus in our midst, but fever itself is not a new phenomenon. In colonial days there was no COVID-19 virus to cause fever but there were certainly plenty of fevers due to moderate illnesses such as common colds or more serious […]
We’ve been contacted by a researcher, Ken Nairn, in Scotland who’s been researching Elizabeth Graeme’s husband, Henry Hugh Fergusson. He’s provided us with a picture of his tombstone and a transcription of the inscription, which was made back in 1997 when it was less deteriorated. The inscription reads as follows: “Here is interred HUGH FERGUSSON […]
Quarantine, social distancing, and community spread are very much on our minds these days, but the concepts were not unknown to earlier doctors, including our own Dr. Graeme. Even though disease vectors were not always understood or accurately identified (bad air was often blamed), it was observed that those who avoided the sick escaped disease. While […]
It is not uncommon for people to live in Horsham or some place very near Horsham for years and years before they somehow happen to discover Graeme Park. But when Wendy Stanley moved here from Canada a decade ago it took her only a few weeks to find it and only minutes to become excited […]