The Centre reporter. [volume] (Centre Hall, Pa.) 1871-1940, 1871-12-01

Correspondence Of the Reporter.


LAFAYETTE CoLLKoE, EAsroS, Pa,
l Nov. 2ard, 1871. Dear Editor 49, We onen,
and very properly, hevo recourse 90 his
tories to ascertain facts concerning mon,
manners. customs aud events but not In
books alone Is 10 bo found At all timea IN
{ formation sought nor are books tho moat
Truthful aud reliable sources OF lnforma
ltlon. Sometimes word may contain
more truth treasured up Ia itself than the
history Of n campaign. Indeed, words are
sometimes far more ancient monuments
than the documents which employ them
such, Is indeed, In some degree the ease
with "kaston." aud of this word We may
presume now 10 spcak-ot ita history, aud
; the history OF the town which " dos
lgnates
! Three or four centuries ago Robert Farm.
or. or Fermor, an Engllshman, lived In u
manor house not FAR FROM l.oweester, In
Northampton shire. ilo had been n sue
eesSfal merchant aud was one OF the
wealthy gentry ot that country ranking
lust below the ancient baronial families In
his neighhorhood, IL must not be sup
posed that Engllsh gentlemen OF that perl.
cd lived In such large, we'll furnished
houses as persons Of the same rank do now.
! The manor house Of Richard feFmoT was
deyided by long. narrow entrance pas
sage, which ran quite through from front
TO back, on one side OF the entry waa the
hall. This was = large apartment used Tor
fl various purposes. Itwas not until about the
commencement of the reign ot James ], or
a lit:lo earlier. that the English build
ers perceived the superior effect ofdlspens-
ing with the long passage aud making tho
large hall the place OF entrance at hrsi
7 Mr. Fermor lived before those days, and
In this house you went nom the narrow en-
try into the hall. Beyond tho hall Was o
lparlor. Wealth and desire for show led
This oSRer 10 have the room finished on
with wainseOt This was not very COM
mon then la the houses of plain gentlemen.
Besides this, there was not only chairs but
a table in this room. Above were two
chambers In these were two beds-
In another room was an inferior bed for
servant Of the higher grade, the servants OF
THE lower grade slept on mattresses laid on
the doors of the such rooms aS they occu-
pied. Not many men in England, at that
day, had houses as well furnished As hF.
/ Fermor, the rich merchant OF course you
\ would look In vain IN his beat chambers for
chairs, carpets aud mirrors. Such luxnrics
were not then found Ia the sleeping
apartments Of most great, noblemen. Tho
I best apartments in Mr.. Fermors house had
window shutters and curtains. On the
other side of the entry were kitchen, pan
try aud other Offices, such as napery or
/ linen room, batteEy, &c. This manor
house was known as kaston or katnne, al
forwards Eaaton. To this WAS added Nes \
ton 10 distinguish u from kAston mAhdtt
| in the lower part Of the shire where the
2arls Of Sussex had fne residence,
| EastOn seems 20 have been somewhat
favorite name in England. Besides Ras-
ton Neston and EAslOR MAndit just men
toned. there were Easton Grey, In Wilt
Shire and EastOn Suffolk near which WAS a
promontory called EAston-ness. Perhaps
there were other Eastons, but lei un return
20 ERston NestOn.
Richard Fermor, though quite wealthy.
had Of silver plates only sixteen spoons, a.
few goblets and ale pots. This MAS about
as much as a gentleman had in those days.
although a few had still more. For exam
ple. the plate Of John Port who was m &C
lauaintanee of the Fermor family. was vAl-
ued nj 90 pounds. and his jewels ai y pounds
We must multiply these sums ten or twen-
" fold 10 bring them 10 the value OF to-
day. Time passed on the Fermcr family
grew richer and moro important The
head Of the family received knighihood.
They became very influential in North
ampton shire and then FtSe % higher dig
nifty.
Camden In his "Brit,AniA" describes the
town OF Lowcestcr aud adds; But at
Easton near Sy tLoweesterl you have the
prospect Of beautiful scat belonging toI
The families ofthe fermor." On the map
OF Northampton shire. In Camdeh's Brit
tAnia, the country seat Just mentioned 10
cd aa EastoH-ncston. lfAppeAFs 90 be
about two miles from LowcesteF aud Ii tho
dimensions given on the map are accurate.
il would seem that the circuit Of the park
and gardens around the house vas then
about two or three miles
Having become lords the Farmers, gave
their name a moro frenchsned form, and
thencefoFth became FermorA. About the
year l72l they advanced still higher and
became Rarls Of Powfrct.
Le; us now change the scene. We go 10
the city Of William Penn, on the banks Of
the Delaware in the year lTS2.
Philadelphia was then In commotion.
One Of the propriesaries, Thomas Penn,
had landed at Chester. below Philadelphia,
and was expected 90 arrive very soon In the
city. The windows and balconies were Gll-
ed with ladies, the mob nlled the streets. A
boy ran through the streets crying out that
the proprietary Was coming on horse back
and that his sceptre MAS carried before him
in the Governors coach. TAtrick Gordon,
Esq, was Governor ruling in the name OF
these proprietorics, John, Richard and
Thomas Penn, commonly resided In Eng
land. About four o'clock Ia the AAernoon
the Governors carriage came with Thom-
as Penn. There was also the eruteh
OF the lame man IN the coach.
which the boy had mistaken for a seeplTe.
as he did the servant on horse back riding
behind Il for the proprietary. The ships nj
the wharf fred Salutcs NIL the bells IN the
city rang during the afternoon aud At
night the city wAs lighted with bonfres.
The Governor took the proprietary TO his
house. Afterwards the city councils had
the colonisl legislatures give him festi-
val The Indian chiefs OF the Five na-
tons" who happened then 10 be in PhilA-
dclphia, reIoiced greatly 10 see one OF the
vice-sovcrcigns of the province and he and
they renewed the treaties made by his do
ceased father, the illustFious William |
Penn. On tha. day the Joy Of the high
contracting parties was expressed by IRE
engines which played all the afternoon 20 |
the especial delight Of the Indian chief
tAins.
But poor Thomas Penn was like n hsh
out Of water William Penn died In great
pecunriaFy embarrassment In his colonial
arrangements. He len his English estate
TO his Oldest son in Penasylvania, which,
taken altogether, was esteemed Of less VAL
ue than the English property 10 his four
younger sons by his sec0ad wife. One OF
these, Dennis died very young.
As the province Of Pennsylvania was not
supposed 10 be sa estate sufficient 20 aup'l
port Of tour boys, Thomas and his broth
er John were apprenticod 20 o linen draper |
in Bristol, England. Both Of these broth |
ers ceased TO DO Friends or Quarkers and
conformed TO the established church.
Both occasionally used the plain lam
RuaRoi for some time Afler this change. |
The Governor and several hundred men
on horseback had received Thomas at
Chester. Before they reached Philadel-
phia this cavalcade reached eight hun
dred. Thomas was quite bewildered at
first He tried TO drink n glass Of wine ai
Chester but his hand trembled so that he
could hardly hold the gl4ss. In due time
he got over this timidity. he be-
came great man lived n somewhat
dissolute life wAstAciturn and unpopularin IN
manners and finally returned TO England. |
Land in PenDtylYsnia began 10 rise IN val
ue The estate OF the proprietaries was
considerable. Thomas Penn after his re-
turn 10 England was wealthy gentleman,
having power as a sort Of lord-lieutsnant
over an important and rapidly improving
province. Years passed by and Penn, then
in middle life, made visits TO Easton New.
ton in Northampton shire. That part of
England had Deen improved much, hills
gradually slooping and alternating with
cultivated farms and occasionally royal for
est. Rivers, brooks and villages diversi-
fed tho face of the country. But II was
not these that attracted Thomas Penn tol
N northampton shire. Neither was Il the
stately architecture nor the parks and gar
dens of Easton Newton. In those halls
and amidst those snowy trees and rare
flowers was the Lady Julianna Fermor,
daughter OF the Earl of Powfrot, and II was
she who allured him 10 that delightful
place. In November 1861 Lady Julianna
4 Al r. r