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The Mermaid Tavern In the previous post, I gave a somewhat (for me, at least) brief overview of one of the Walker families in Mill Creek Hundred. This was a clan that can be traced back at least to James Walker (1744-1796), and possibly to an older James Walker who might have been his father. Members of this family line owned several properties in the Mermaid area north of Milltown, on both sides of Limestone Road. By the end of the 19th Century, they would own the Mermaid itself. However, for most of the century, the Mermaid Tavern was owned by another set of Walkers -- a set whose connection to the James Walker family is not quite clear. Although there is evidence that a James Walker acquired a liquor license for the Mermaid as far back as 1746, the actual tavern was owned by the Ball family until the late 1820's. In March 1829, the property was purchased by Samuel C. and Sarah Ann Walker of Chester County, PA, and it would stay in their direct family for the next 66 years. The

Yes, it’s my birthday (“for reals”, as my little sister would say), and I’m so thrilled that my Hoydens and hoyden friends are here to share it with me. If there were a way to offer cupcakes through the internet, I would be sharing pink icing with you right now. Since there doesn’t seem to be (or, if there is, it’s a jealously guarded secret in a bunker in New Mexico somewhere), I’ll just have to share words instead and leave you to acquire the cupcakes on your own. Out of curiosity, I did a little poking around on the historical origins of birthday celebrations. What I discovered was… that no one really knows. Oh, there are all sorts of theories, but it’s like my old Magic 8 ball used to say: “Hazy”. One argument is that birthday celebrations date back to ancient Greece and the candles on the birthday cake are somehow tangled up with worship of the goddess Artemis (who, frankly, from those old myths doesn’t seem the sort who would bring enough cupcakes to share with the class. J

Circa 1835 Robert Walker Barn I was going to call this "The Mermaid Walkers", until I realized that it probably works better as a horror movie title than a blog post title. Researching this part of this family wasn't quite a horror, but it did get frustrating at times. I attempted to gather as much information as I could and to make as much sense out of it as I could, but there are still some gaps in the story and some unidentified people, including a few major ones. Making it worse, most of the holes are from the 18th and early 19th Centuries, when the records are less numerous. Instead of waiting until I have everything completely nailed down (which could be never), I'll just lay out what I know, what I think I know, what I'm guessing at, and what I have no idea about. At minimum, it should provide a base for further research and help clarify a few historic sites in the Mermaid (or what we'd now call Pike Creek) area. In the previous post about the Little Ba

This Saturday I went to Mystic, Connecticut, a small recreation of a shipbuilding and whaling town (like Williamsburg, but for mid- to late-19th century shipping).  I could have easily spent another full day there and not seen everything! A photo opportunity! On the left is my friend Matti (who I dedicated A Lily Among Thorns  to--she met me in Mystic with her fiancé, which was wonderful because I haven't seen them in forever) and on the right is me. All pictures, by the way, are taken by my uncle, David Lerner. I really, really love tall ships. In case you can't read this sign, it says: "1876 Witness to History: Meet a Person from the 19th Century!" And then written in chalk is "Saturday March 24, 1876. Miss Marsh is enjoying a day of respite from her work in the Mill."  And then to clarify, there was this sign: "The Staff in this exhibit are ROLEPLAYERS portraying people living in 1876. Please come in and converse with them about Life and the Sea in t

It is my hope that the instructions contained in today's blog post will help introduce my neighbors and other residents of historic properties to the joys of uncovering their home's past. Much of what follows can apply to old Detroit houses in general, but Corktown is ideal, having been part of the city longer than any surviving neighborhood. As an example of why that is important, an acquaintance of mine lives in an old house on Cadieux near Warren, but that area did not become part of the city until 1917, and his house would not have appeared in the Detroit city directories until then. (By now I'm sure you've seen the famous Detroit annexation map .) All of Corktown, however, has been part of the city since at least 1857. It's possible to research an old Detroit house outside of Corktown, of course, but you will have more resources at your disposal the closer your property is to the city center. I've been told by well-meaning individuals that I should cha

When I was growing up, family vacations always consisted of visiting the relatives. Well, that was the official story, anyway. In reality, they were just a thin excuse for my father to meet another one of his great passions – steam trains. We’d drive for hours through high mountain passes, above steep precipices, along tumbling rivers, over narrow logging roads – just to catch a glimpse of one of those beauties, sailing along, her whistle caroling out across the wilderness. My father always stopped to watch and listen. Oh, he’d talk to the engineer and the fireman, too, about their magnificent example of a bygone era. But he didn’t need to inspect their innards or get his hands on the wheel. He wanted to ride them, wherever they went for as long as possible. He grew up during the Depression in a boarding house his mother ran for college students. The only man in the family, he faced a lot of hard work, while he listened to the trains passing through the great rail

Ocasson today In the recent post about John Mitchell , it was related that in 1868 the venerable Quaker purchased an even-then-historic home near Hockessin, which is still in the possession of his family today. In fact, during its 286 year history, the Cox-Mitchell House has been owned exclusively by members of the Society of Friends. Not only has the house been owned by a number of the most prominent Quaker families in the area, it has a deeper connection to the local Friends community, as we'll see in just a moment. For two different (yet related) reasons, in my opinion the Cox-Mitchell House can rightly be called "The Birthplace of Hockessin". The story (and the Quaker connection) begins, of course, with the most important Quaker family -- the Penns. In 1701, William Penn granted 15,500 acres in Chester and New Castle Counties to his daughter Letitia, which she would slowly sell off over the subsequent several decades. In 1721, for £ 86, she sold 300 acres to William a

I felt quite behind on movie watching at the Academy Awards, but I have managed to go to the movies a couple of times since my daughter Mélanie was born (Mélanie cooperated by sleeping in my lap). One of the movies we saw was Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy . I loved it, despite having vivid memories of the miniseries with Alec Guinness. In fact, watching the movie I was amazed at how well I remembered the story. Names of characters, plot twists, and even fragments of dialogue came back to me. I was fourteen when I saw the original Tinker, Tailor (which led me to the book), and I was fascinated. In fact, watching the movie I realized that this story began my fascination with spies whether it's Le Carré's murky world of moral ambiguity, James Bond adventures, or Lauren's flower spies (just finished and loved The Garden Intrigue ). Spies play roles (in The Garden Intrigue Lauren's spies are actually putting on a masque). Only spies roles don't end when the curtain come

This is an excerpt from the handout for my History of the Kilt workshop. I was discussing the issue on Twitter the other day (with the wonderful Maili) and thought I'd go ahead do a post on the topic since so many people are under the incorrect impression that that clan tartans are an ancient, historic fact. 1618 The first recognizable effort to enforce uniformity throughout an entire clan milita 1707 Act of Union; Tartan becomes symbol of Scottish nationalism 1740s First formal Scottish regiments, need for identifying tartan 1746 (post Jacobite rebellion) Highland dress banned 1782 ban rescinded, soon the kilt adopted by even the lowland/border Scots (went into effect in 1783) 1822 George IV wears Highland dress on a Royal visit to Scotland H. F. McClintock and J. Telfer Dunbar state specifically: “Before 1746 [when Highland dress was outlawed] we have not yet come upon a single authentic reference to clan tartans or any system whereby persons of particular name wore a particular