George (1753-1821) and Deborah (1761-1839) Logan

Deborah Norris, a skilled historian and writer, married George Logan in 1781 and together they lived at Stenton well into the 19th century. Deborah’s seventeen volumes of diaries provide us with a superb account of life in Philadelphia after the Revolution, the formative years of the United States. Deborah Logan participated in literary and poetic circles, and she wrote in her diary nearly every day for almost forty years. She trained girls in housekeeping skills. Her husband, Dr. George Logan, was a medical doctor and great friend to Jefferson and painter Charles Willson Peale. Indeed, Thomas Jefferson called George Logan “the best farmer in Pennsylvania, both in theory and practice.” A founder of the Pennsylvania Society for the Promotion of Agriculture, George Logan’s barn constructed in 1787 today contains a remarkable collection of farm tools. After George Logan died in 1821, Deborah kept alive the memory of the early generations of the family. She transcribed many of James Logan’s papers and was elected the first woman member of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Her diaries are now housed in the HSP archive collection.