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Logan Descendant Purchases Logan and Norris Documents for Stenton
Last November, when much of Jay T. Snider’s collection of Philadelphiana was to be sold at Bloomsbury Auctions in New York, Stenton expressed an interest in a number of lots with Logan and Norris provenances that would deepen our portrayal of the Logans and Norrises as closely allied Quaker families. With limited collections funds, Mrs. Hannah Henderson, a Stenton Committee member, generously stepped forward and offered to help acquire the document we were most interested in. Then, just before the auction, we were delighted to learn that Mr. David F. Hickok, a Logan descendant heretofore unknown to us, had it in mind to purchase and donate them to Stenton. After discussion with Mr. Hickok, we determined that his offer was indeed an exciting proposition! As with any auction, one never knows how it will proceed and whether the funds gathered in advance will be sufficient to secure the desired objects. With luck on our side, Mr. Hickok was entirely successful in obtaining the items he set out to acquire. The items we have received are: a 1739 marriage certificate celebrating the marriage of James Logan’s daughter Sarah to Isaac Norris II; a 17th-century thirty-year almanac that belonged to Isaac Norris I, beginning when he was still in Jamaica prior to coming to Philadelphia; a 1699 letter from Richard Stafford to James Logan wishing him well as he departed for Pennsylvania at age 25 (the oldest known piece of correspondence related to James Logan); a register for the fitting out of a ship, Mary Galley, owned by James Logan and other investors; and several documents related to Jonathan Dickinson and the slave trade, cataloged by Deborah Logan at Stenton on the early 19th century. The marriage certificate and the almanac are especially fascinating family artifacts as they were used beyond their original intended functions as places to record subsequent genealogical information. The almanac even includes a card onto which is stitched a square of Deborah Logan’s wedding dress, labeled in Fanny Armatt Logan’s hand. As a group, these documentary artifacts help to put the Logans of Stenton into context among their Quaker peers and in shipping and trade. And in Isaac Norris II’s recording the death of his wife onto their marriage certificate, noting the years they had spent “mutually happy in each other,” a very human picture of the Logans and Norrises emerges. The NSCDA/PA has plans to reproduce the almanac and documents for display and study at Stenton and will deposit them at the Library Company of Philadelphia, where then can be properly stored and will be accessible to scholars. Until then, the originals remain on-view at Stenton, so please make a special trip to come and see them. As a group, these additions to the Stenton collection serve as artifacts that speak to multiple generations of the Logan and Norris families—their business interests, their personal relationships, and their devotion to the preservation of their family heritage. These documents serve to illustrate components of the Stenton story and in so doing enrich our interpretation and presentation of the site and further bolster our already rich holdings of family objects. We are deeply grateful to David Hickok for making it possible to preserve these treasured elements of Stenton’s history. New Furnishings on-loan to Stenton from the Dietrich Foundation
The Dietrich American Foundation has loaned furniture from its collections to Stenton for many years. In 2002, the Foundation played a key role in Stenton’s ability to have two original Logan side chairs for the house, as it purchased one of the pair and added it to the roster of long-term loans. Since the 2007 passing of its founder, philanthropist and collector H. Richard Dietrich, the Foundation has remained committed to keeping as much of its holdings on view to the public as possible. As a result, the Foundation placed two additional pieces of early 18th century Philadelphia furniture at Stenton this spring. The first is a Queen Anne-style easy chair, which allows Stenton to better approximate the easy chair owned by James Logan, now in a private collection. On the 1752 inventory of Stenton following James Logan’s 1751 death, the Logan easy chair was listed among the furnishings of the parlor, an unusual location for the time. Easy chairs, with their comfortable wings and fully upholstered seats were most often found in bedchambers in the 18th century as they were specifically for the elderly and infirm, and were used and kept where food was less likely to be spilled on them than might be in a parlor where victuals were consumed. The presence of Logan’s easy chair in the parlor speaks to Logan’s continued engagement with visitors to Stenton late in life, when he was not only lame (as he had been for over 20 years), but disabled by a series of strokes that greatly reduced his ability to communicate. For Stenton, the presence of an easy chair of the second quarter of the 18th century in the parlor speaks volumes about Logan’s public force of character even at the close of his life.
The second object on loan from the Foundation is one of the largest Pennsylvania oval-top gate leg tables from c. 1710-1735. For the moment, this table resides in a closed position against the wall in the entry, just outside the parlor, occupying space where an “oval table” stood on the 1752 inventory of the contents of Stenton. The oval tables in the entry and stair hall were stored in these spaces for use in the parlor on the occasions when that space served as the best dining room. In the future, we plan to use the table to exhibit some of our recently mended archeological artifacts as we recreate a dinner as might have been served in the Stenton best parlor. The Chalfant Challenge for the Chair
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A third object, a c. 1730 Queen-Anne style side chair, is on loan to Stenton on a more temporary basis for one year until the end of March, 2010. Local West Chester dealer and Friend of Stenton, Skip Chalfant, has offered this chair, which is nearly visually identical and is structurally identical to the pair of Logan side chairs purchased in 2002. This is an incentive loan to help Stenton raise the funds to purchase the chair for the permanent collection. Skip has made his own $4,000 donation to the cause, and we have $15,000 to raise.
Sets of chairs were important in 18th century houses. They were kept at the edges of the rooms resting against the chair rails until needed. James Logan’s 1752 inventory indicates that there were three sets of Queen Anne-style side chairs in the best rooms at Stenton. These chairs were described by their upholstery as “leather bottom” for the chairs in the entry and parlor on the first floor, and as maple chairs having “yellow worsted damask bottoms” in the Yellow Lodging Room.
Currently, Stenton has only five Queen Anne-style chairs in its collection, a commode (potty) chair with arms, the two Logan side chairs, one of which is on long-term loan, and a pair of Irish side chairs. Because the furnishings of James Logan’s Stenton included 3 sets of Queen Anne-style side chairs totaling 30 chairs, chairs of this early type constitute a high priority for Stenton’s collection.
In addition to helping us get one chair closer to more accurately portraying Logan’s furnishings in the best parlor, this chair may play a role in our research on the Logan chairs already at Stenton and provide design links that help us eventually understand more about the Philadelphia furniture of the c. 1730 period and its English precedents.
Please contact Laura C. Keim, curator, (215- 329-7312; laura.keim@stenton.org) if you can help us in this fundraising challenge!
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