Graeme Park, located about twenty miles north of
Philadelphia, in Horsham, Pennsylvania, was originally named Fountain Low due
to the many springs on the property. The manor house’s construction began in
1722 under the direction of Sir William Keith, the lieutenant provincial
governor under Hannah Callowhill Penn (widow of Pennsylvania’s founder, William
Penn). The original estate, which became Governor Keith’s summer home to escape
the heat and diseases of Philadelphia, included the house, the barn, a “long
house” for servants, a malthouse, and other outbuildings.
Unfortunately, Sir William Keith did not exude the honesty and integrity of
Pennsylvania’s founder, and in 1726 Hannah Callowhill Penn removed him as
governor. Keith remained in the province for two years but then returned to
England, probably to escape creditors in the Colonies, leaving behind his wife,
Lady Anne Keith.
Lady Ann remained at Fountain Low, though she lived in much
less extravagance. She gradually sold off the 1,700+-acre property to
pay her husband’s debts, but the estate came back into the family in 1739,
when Dr. Thomas Graeme bought Fountain Low and its remaining 834 acres. (Dr.
Graeme was the husband of Ann Diggs Graeme, Lady Ann’s daughter by her first
husband.) Despite this, Lady Ann returned to Philadelphia and lived in “penury”
until she died in 1749, two years after Sir William Keith’s death in a debtor’s
prison in England.
Dr. Graeme, a port physician in Philadelphia, renamed the
estate Graeme Park and began using it as a summer home for his family. From
1739 until his death in 1772, the estate was a popular vacation of luxury for many
British officials and members of Philadelphia’s high society. (An interesting
contrast, since Horsham was a primarily Quaker community.)
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| The Manor House |
Upon Dr. Graeme’s death, the estate was granted to his
daughter Elizabeth, who was at the time considered the most learned woman in
America. Sadly, she experienced many difficulties in life as well due to health
issues and her marriage to a Tory by the name of Henry Hugh Fergusson. She lost
Graeme Park when it was confiscated as a result of her husband’s convicted
treason during the Revolutionary War, but then the property was restored to her
in 1781. Financial troubles then led her to eventually sell off Graeme Park,
but she stayed in Horsham, where she was much loved by the neighbors, and
eventually died in 1801 in the home of Seneca Lukens (one of my ancestors).
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| The Summer Kitchen and Physic Garden |
The estate then remained in the hands of the Penrose family
and later the Strawbridge family, until it was bought by Horsham Township in
1997. Fortunately, Graeme Park’s buildings have remained mostly intact since
the late eighteenth century. Currently the estate contains the manor house, the
barn, a pond and stream, a summer kitchen that was reconstructed by the
Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission on the original summer kitchen
foundation, a physic garden, and walking trails. Photography is discouraged
within the manor house, so I couldn’t take inside pictures, but I can describe
the interior.
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| The Barn |
The first floor contains Dr. Graeme’s office, the dining room
(this room was the kitchen until Dr. Graeme had the summer kitchen built), and
the formal parlor, which boasts eighteenth-century paint and many period
paintings of the home’s original owners. A staircase (which replaced the
original winder staircase) leads to the upper two floors, which include
bedchambers (both for the family and some of their staff) and storage rooms.
From the third floor, a ladder leads to the roof, and this access was used to
douse any roof fires started by embers expelled from the chimneys. Period furniture
and décor grace most rooms, and Dr. Graeme’s Port of Philadelphia logbooks are
exhibited in the barn along with other educational displays.
Today Graeme Park is a historical site dedicated to
continuing the legacy of its owning families and the history of Horsham. It offers
educational programs throughout the year, and is also a popular venue for
weddings and family photography (as its grounds are truly lovely) and ghost
hunts (as long-held local lore claims that Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson still
walks the wide-width floorboards of the house and the site’s grounds). Tours
are available from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and from
12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Sundays.
