Happy Holidays!

Whatever your family traditions, the Hoydens would like to wish you a happy holiday season. We'll be back in the new year with more history and more books!

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Brandywine Springs Tour -- September 21

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Alright, I hope this isn't too last-minute of a notice, but I think we've come to a consensus. Although I did say I'd do a tour with just a few people, it seems that there are several people who can't make it this week, but can make it next week. Since this isn't anything where there's a reservation or set plans involved, I've decided to wait the extra week in order to allow more people to attend. I hope this isn't a problem for those who said they could come this week. And for what it's worth, the Weather Channel's long-term forecast has it in the 70's with a 0% chance of rain on the 21st. All in all, this seems like the best thing to do. We can nail down a time that's best for everyone, but since a few seemed to indicate that early afternoon was good, I'm suggesting 1:00 for now. The tour should take somewhere between an hour and an hour and a half, depending on how much I ramble on. As I mentioned before, we'll walk through the
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N. Dushane Cloward

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N. Dushane Cloward, 1899 There have been many people over the years who, while they may not have been born or raised in Mill Creek Hundred, have nonetheless made a significant contribution to some aspect of its history. One such person was N. Dushane Cloward. It's easy to think of Brandywine Springs Amusement Park as consisting of no more than the rides, attractions, and buildings that once stood in the glen along Hyde Run. Of course, the park was much more than just its physical structures -- it was conceived, built, and operated by real people (a simple statement, I know, but one that often gets overlooked). Like any business today, it was populated by all kinds of people, some with simple stories, and some with more interesting backgrounds. One of the more interesting people involved with park was N. Dushane Cloward. Cloward was a musician, an artist, and a showman, and he was integral to the success of the amusement park. Nathan Dushane Cloward was born on August 11, 1865 to W
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The wilder shores of love - Part I

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Jane Digby was known in her later years as “Engleysi,” the Madwoman. Unbelievable as it may seem, this is the true story of a Regency-era woman, born into nobility in 1807 in Norfolk, England. She grew up in comfort, in a serene pastoral countryside before the Industrial Revolution, and she gave her governess heart failure: Jane loved life; she had perfect health, a reckless and ardent temperament; and (in her later years) she thrived on scandal. Throughout her life a “scarlet thread of exoticism” pulled her into a yen for adventurous travel (not surprising since her father was a buccaneering admiral). A child of the Regency, she was enamored of romantic curiosities–Turkish slippers, Arab daggers, Moorish-style gazebos, onion-shaped domes. Jane was married (though not consulted) at age 17 to Lord Ellenborough, a man twice her age who neglected her. In 1821 she had a fling with her cousin, Captain George Anson, conceived a child, whom Lord Ellenborough accepted as his heir. Jan
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