Christmas in the colonies was celebrated differently, and sometimes not at all, by each ethnic group who settled here, bringing traditions from their homeland. Graeme Park was home to the Scottish Keith and Graeme families, Irish and German servants, enslaved workers, and later the Quaker Penroses. As you tour the rooms of the Keith House, […]
Join us Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays beginning April 30 to tour the historic Keith House at Graeme Park. A knowledgeable tour guide will lead you through the summer kitchen and three story preserved structure, engaging you with the history of the former residents of Graeme Park. Due to Covid restrictions, groups will be limited in […]
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 […]
Governor William Keith, the first owner of Graeme Park, helped to rid the port of Philadelphia from the scourge of Blackbeard the Pirate. The Schooner Pursuit Historical Society will be here with their mobile museum to educate visitors on the difference between pirates and privateers, sign up recruits, and tell you about life at sea […]
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’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 […]