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Stephen Atkinson Log House
Copyright 2012
the Conestoga Area Historical Society
(717) 872-1699
cahs@pennmanorhistory.org
the Conestoga Area Historical Society
(717) 872-1699
cahs@pennmanorhistory.org
Preserving the History
of the Penn Manor Area
Conestoga, Manor, Martic, Pequea Townships
and the borough of Millersville,
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
since 1990
of the Penn Manor Area
Conestoga, Manor, Martic, Pequea Townships
and the borough of Millersville,
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
since 1990
The Conestoga Area Historical Society
History of the Stephen Atkinson House
In the autumn of 1997, the city of Lancaster offered free to the Society this condemned property, log house covered with German lap siding and fish scale tar paper siding and fish scale tar paper siding. It was located on Reedy Road (off the South Duke Street Bridge in the Sunnyside section of town).
The Society's members (volunteers) dismantled, transported, reconstructed and restored the house (the first of the complex's out buildings). Remarkably, the house was opened to the public on Thursday, June 18 1998,
The exact construction date of the house is unknown. A log with 1733 carved on it was found during the reconstruction; it is preserved on the porch wall. Early Lancaster tax records are incomplete. That date would seem to be correct, however.
Atkinson was a wealthy Philadelphia English Quaker. He was a friend of the Penn family, Susanna Wright (of the Wright's Ferry Mansion, Columbia), and Benjamin Franklin. He owned a wool processing business - textile weaving and fulling (felt making). When the farmers in the immediate area around Philadelphia were unable to produce enough wool for the growing industry, the raw resources had to be secured from locations farther from the city. Atkinson came to Lancaster County to purchase wool from the local farmers and transport it back to Philadelphia in Conestoga Wagons.
He needed a place to live while doing business here. He had this house built. Herein lies a mystery - why did an Englishman have a Germanic house built? The most plausible answer - he could only find German Craftsmen here. They did not know how to construct an English house; he took what he could get. The floor plan is identical to the nearby Hans Herr House (1719), the oldest house still standing in Lancaster County. It is unknown whether his family accompanied him here and lived here with him.
The house is constructed of poplar logs, a wood that does not have good weathering properties. Most log houses used oak or chestnut. This possibly indicates 1) the house was quickly built. The poplar trees were nearby. There was no need to search the forests for oaks and chestnuts and drag them to the building site. 2) He thought of his house as place to do business when he was in the area and therefore, did not feel there was a need for a more substantial structure - he simply did not consider it too important.
The most common log house construction technique was the overlapping saddle notch corner joint. The Atkinson house differs in that it has pegged mortise and tenon joints and corner posts. This enabled the utilization of shorter logs.
The original logs show vertical saw marks that result from having been cut by a water powered saw. Mr. Atkinson built the first mill on the Conestoga River. Possibly the mill pre-dated the house and the logs were sawed there. His neighbors complained about the dam he built across the Conestoga River that was necessary to produce the water power. The dam, however, prevented the anadromous (migratory) shad, a member of the herring family of fish, from going farther upstream. One night they tore out his dam.
The house's interior was plastered. This indicates that it was a "rich man's home". The log chinking, normally composed of mud and horse hair, utilized the sheep wool scrap instead.
Current Funishings in the house:
Mr. Atkinson left no property inventory. We do not know how the house was furnished. It is furnished now to reflect current decorating tastes - certainly more dense than the 18th century country style. However, if Mr. Atkinson were to return he would be at home. Each object, a faithful copy of a period piece, was hand made by a modern Lancaster County craftsperson, the very source that someone in the first half of the 18th century would have relied upon.
It was this very thinking that amazed the editors of Early American Life magazine. The house could be furnished with authentic objects all made by master crafts persons living in the same small geographic area today - over 250 years since its construction. It was featured in the August 1999 issue of that publication. A book containing an inventory of the items is in a wall pocket in each room of the house.
The only antique items are the stove in the stube (stove room). It was found in a local tobacco shed cellar. It was cast at a furnace in Lebanon County near Fort Indiantown Gap Army Base. The other item is the Bible in the cammer (the bed chamber). It is a Martin Luther edition printed in Geneva, Switzerland in 1778 and was brought here by members of the Huber family who settled in Martic Township. Their walnut bible box copied from one in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. A Pennsylvania German family considered it the most important possession; therefore it was protected from rodents that might gnaw it.
Other items of special interest are:
In the Kukka (kitchen):
The iron bread toaster by the fireplace.
The trammel (a device for raising and lowering hanging pots to control degrees of heating in the fireplace).
The raised brick hearth that provides far safer and more comfortable cooking, the iron spiders that raise the cooking container above the fire
The soap stone (steatite) blocks were foot warmers. After they were heated by the fireplace they were wrapped in cloth and used as a footrest in a carriage or sleigh.
The spice box on the mantle
The salt box for taking out "a pinch of salt" that hangs beside the fireplace.
On the kitchen table:
The pewter pabboat that was used to feed an infant pabulum
A small salt bowl with a pewter spoon
A sugar cone (an expensive luxury). In the British West Indies sugar was molded into cones and brought here by ships. It was scrapped with a knife or nipped with a sugar tongue
The pewter porringer was used to feed porridge to a young child.
The marrow spoon (pewter) was used to ream or extract marrow (the fatty tissue inside ones that makes blood vessels). It was considered a delicacy. The bones were broken to gain access to the marrow. The small end of the spoon was for fowl bones and the large for animal bones. This was a common utensil shared by all who sat at the table.
A dippin - wood spoon for sampling liquids
Three gourd utensils - gourds were grown for various purposes - examples: a ladle, a small basket and water jug that was used b small children to carry water to workers in the fields.
In the stube (stove room):
The tiger maple circular tilt top table has a top made of one piece of wood with a turned, not applied edge. The birdcage at the top of the pedestal holds a candle when the top is tilted to protect the flame from drafts. The feet end in snake heads - the sign of a country design; a sophisticated city table would have ball and claw feet.
The tall case desk is made from cherry wood harvested from trees that were growing in Conestoga Township. Note that the doors and bonnet repeat the design of the clock.
On the desk"
A sander - sand was sprinkled on fresh ink to speed the drying; the sand was then shaken back into the container for re-use until it was in need tob e replaced
A pocket watch safe
The leather bound book is constructed with the Ephrata Cloister syle of spine.
In the kammer (the bed chamber):
A mammily - a tin container to suckle an infant. The nipple was unfortunately made of lead. A piece of rag covered it.
Schrank (correct name Kleidenschrank - clothes press). The English name for this item - wardrobe; New York Dutch - Kas; Louisiana French - armoire; in eighteenth century, homes with built in closets were a rarity. Schrank could be disassembled (because it could not be carried upstairs in one piece) and then be re=assembled
Bed - the mattress was stuffed with chopped straw or corn fodder. This originated the saying, "sleep tight, don't let the bed buds bite." When the plant material stuffing was brought into a warm house, insect eggs, that were laid on the material, hatched. The stuffing had to be changed 2 or 3 times yearly. Rope was stretched over pegs on the bed frame. If the roe is not periodically checked for tightness, it will become undone causing the sleeper to fall to the floor.
The single panel wood walls are original to the house. They are painted with reproduction 18th century casein (milk base) paint. The colors were determined by scraping down to the original colors.
Changes and alterations to the original house:
The house did not have a porch. One was added to protect the only original window and to provide a venue for re-enactors during special events. Although the original stones were reused, the foundation wall was pierced with an outside door for convenient entrance to the cellar Museum shop. The basement dirt floor was replaced with bricks. Notice a dog's foot print that are in two bricks inside the door. A fireplace was added in the basement. The one in the kitchen had previously been torn out. Its configuration could be determined by the marks in the plaster of the walls and ceiling. The reconstruction was made easy. The basement was excavated only under the cammer and stube. This indicated the kitchen had a brick floor. The basement area now is the same size as the main floor. Steel I beams support the weight of the reconstructed brick floor.
The German four-square garden - a country settler's garden is behind the Atkinson house. Only vegetables grown here in the 18th century to early 20th century are planted in the four center beds which are raised to enable easier planting, weeding and harvesting. The four beds represent the four Biblical Apostles. Flowers and herbs grow in the raised border beds. A sundial is in the center of the garden. It is surrounded by Yucca (Adam's needle) indicating it is a Protestant garden. Rosemary would be planted here if it were a Catholic garden. A privy (out house) left and a smoke house used to cure meats is on the right. The privy came from a farm in Conestoga Township; the smoke house was located on a property in the Village of Conestoga. By PA German tradition, the Sedum "Autumn Joy: is planted beside the garden's entrance gate post. According to PA German superstition it protected the garden and house from lightning strikes. A rye straw bee skep is located in the lower right border bed.
In the autumn of 1997, the city of Lancaster offered free to the Society this condemned property, log house covered with German lap siding and fish scale tar paper siding and fish scale tar paper siding. It was located on Reedy Road (off the South Duke Street Bridge in the Sunnyside section of town).
The Society's members (volunteers) dismantled, transported, reconstructed and restored the house (the first of the complex's out buildings). Remarkably, the house was opened to the public on Thursday, June 18 1998,
The exact construction date of the house is unknown. A log with 1733 carved on it was found during the reconstruction; it is preserved on the porch wall. Early Lancaster tax records are incomplete. That date would seem to be correct, however.
Atkinson was a wealthy Philadelphia English Quaker. He was a friend of the Penn family, Susanna Wright (of the Wright's Ferry Mansion, Columbia), and Benjamin Franklin. He owned a wool processing business - textile weaving and fulling (felt making). When the farmers in the immediate area around Philadelphia were unable to produce enough wool for the growing industry, the raw resources had to be secured from locations farther from the city. Atkinson came to Lancaster County to purchase wool from the local farmers and transport it back to Philadelphia in Conestoga Wagons.
He needed a place to live while doing business here. He had this house built. Herein lies a mystery - why did an Englishman have a Germanic house built? The most plausible answer - he could only find German Craftsmen here. They did not know how to construct an English house; he took what he could get. The floor plan is identical to the nearby Hans Herr House (1719), the oldest house still standing in Lancaster County. It is unknown whether his family accompanied him here and lived here with him.
The house is constructed of poplar logs, a wood that does not have good weathering properties. Most log houses used oak or chestnut. This possibly indicates 1) the house was quickly built. The poplar trees were nearby. There was no need to search the forests for oaks and chestnuts and drag them to the building site. 2) He thought of his house as place to do business when he was in the area and therefore, did not feel there was a need for a more substantial structure - he simply did not consider it too important.
The most common log house construction technique was the overlapping saddle notch corner joint. The Atkinson house differs in that it has pegged mortise and tenon joints and corner posts. This enabled the utilization of shorter logs.
The original logs show vertical saw marks that result from having been cut by a water powered saw. Mr. Atkinson built the first mill on the Conestoga River. Possibly the mill pre-dated the house and the logs were sawed there. His neighbors complained about the dam he built across the Conestoga River that was necessary to produce the water power. The dam, however, prevented the anadromous (migratory) shad, a member of the herring family of fish, from going farther upstream. One night they tore out his dam.
The house's interior was plastered. This indicates that it was a "rich man's home". The log chinking, normally composed of mud and horse hair, utilized the sheep wool scrap instead.
Current Funishings in the house:
Mr. Atkinson left no property inventory. We do not know how the house was furnished. It is furnished now to reflect current decorating tastes - certainly more dense than the 18th century country style. However, if Mr. Atkinson were to return he would be at home. Each object, a faithful copy of a period piece, was hand made by a modern Lancaster County craftsperson, the very source that someone in the first half of the 18th century would have relied upon.
It was this very thinking that amazed the editors of Early American Life magazine. The house could be furnished with authentic objects all made by master crafts persons living in the same small geographic area today - over 250 years since its construction. It was featured in the August 1999 issue of that publication. A book containing an inventory of the items is in a wall pocket in each room of the house.
The only antique items are the stove in the stube (stove room). It was found in a local tobacco shed cellar. It was cast at a furnace in Lebanon County near Fort Indiantown Gap Army Base. The other item is the Bible in the cammer (the bed chamber). It is a Martin Luther edition printed in Geneva, Switzerland in 1778 and was brought here by members of the Huber family who settled in Martic Township. Their walnut bible box copied from one in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. A Pennsylvania German family considered it the most important possession; therefore it was protected from rodents that might gnaw it.
Other items of special interest are:
In the Kukka (kitchen):
The iron bread toaster by the fireplace.
The trammel (a device for raising and lowering hanging pots to control degrees of heating in the fireplace).
The raised brick hearth that provides far safer and more comfortable cooking, the iron spiders that raise the cooking container above the fire
The soap stone (steatite) blocks were foot warmers. After they were heated by the fireplace they were wrapped in cloth and used as a footrest in a carriage or sleigh.
The spice box on the mantle
The salt box for taking out "a pinch of salt" that hangs beside the fireplace.
On the kitchen table:
The pewter pabboat that was used to feed an infant pabulum
A small salt bowl with a pewter spoon
A sugar cone (an expensive luxury). In the British West Indies sugar was molded into cones and brought here by ships. It was scrapped with a knife or nipped with a sugar tongue
The pewter porringer was used to feed porridge to a young child.
The marrow spoon (pewter) was used to ream or extract marrow (the fatty tissue inside ones that makes blood vessels). It was considered a delicacy. The bones were broken to gain access to the marrow. The small end of the spoon was for fowl bones and the large for animal bones. This was a common utensil shared by all who sat at the table.
A dippin - wood spoon for sampling liquids
Three gourd utensils - gourds were grown for various purposes - examples: a ladle, a small basket and water jug that was used b small children to carry water to workers in the fields.
In the stube (stove room):
The tiger maple circular tilt top table has a top made of one piece of wood with a turned, not applied edge. The birdcage at the top of the pedestal holds a candle when the top is tilted to protect the flame from drafts. The feet end in snake heads - the sign of a country design; a sophisticated city table would have ball and claw feet.
The tall case desk is made from cherry wood harvested from trees that were growing in Conestoga Township. Note that the doors and bonnet repeat the design of the clock.
On the desk"
A sander - sand was sprinkled on fresh ink to speed the drying; the sand was then shaken back into the container for re-use until it was in need tob e replaced
A pocket watch safe
The leather bound book is constructed with the Ephrata Cloister syle of spine.
In the kammer (the bed chamber):
A mammily - a tin container to suckle an infant. The nipple was unfortunately made of lead. A piece of rag covered it.
Schrank (correct name Kleidenschrank - clothes press). The English name for this item - wardrobe; New York Dutch - Kas; Louisiana French - armoire; in eighteenth century, homes with built in closets were a rarity. Schrank could be disassembled (because it could not be carried upstairs in one piece) and then be re=assembled
Bed - the mattress was stuffed with chopped straw or corn fodder. This originated the saying, "sleep tight, don't let the bed buds bite." When the plant material stuffing was brought into a warm house, insect eggs, that were laid on the material, hatched. The stuffing had to be changed 2 or 3 times yearly. Rope was stretched over pegs on the bed frame. If the roe is not periodically checked for tightness, it will become undone causing the sleeper to fall to the floor.
The single panel wood walls are original to the house. They are painted with reproduction 18th century casein (milk base) paint. The colors were determined by scraping down to the original colors.
Changes and alterations to the original house:
The house did not have a porch. One was added to protect the only original window and to provide a venue for re-enactors during special events. Although the original stones were reused, the foundation wall was pierced with an outside door for convenient entrance to the cellar Museum shop. The basement dirt floor was replaced with bricks. Notice a dog's foot print that are in two bricks inside the door. A fireplace was added in the basement. The one in the kitchen had previously been torn out. Its configuration could be determined by the marks in the plaster of the walls and ceiling. The reconstruction was made easy. The basement was excavated only under the cammer and stube. This indicated the kitchen had a brick floor. The basement area now is the same size as the main floor. Steel I beams support the weight of the reconstructed brick floor.
The German four-square garden - a country settler's garden is behind the Atkinson house. Only vegetables grown here in the 18th century to early 20th century are planted in the four center beds which are raised to enable easier planting, weeding and harvesting. The four beds represent the four Biblical Apostles. Flowers and herbs grow in the raised border beds. A sundial is in the center of the garden. It is surrounded by Yucca (Adam's needle) indicating it is a Protestant garden. Rosemary would be planted here if it were a Catholic garden. A privy (out house) left and a smoke house used to cure meats is on the right. The privy came from a farm in Conestoga Township; the smoke house was located on a property in the Village of Conestoga. By PA German tradition, the Sedum "Autumn Joy: is planted beside the garden's entrance gate post. According to PA German superstition it protected the garden and house from lightning strikes. A rye straw bee skep is located in the lower right border bed.