National Republican., 1883-11-23
RANDALL'S HOME.
Quaint Old Berwyn and Its Historic Surround
ings.
PaolI, Valley Forge, and Mad Anthony
Wayne-A Curious Story.
special Letter.

BERwYN, PA, Nov. 19.-One of the prettiest
spots in Pennsylvania is the country con-
tiguous to this village in the county Of Ches-
ter. Not only is it pretty place naturally
and artifcially but the whole neighborhood
bristles with historic "reminiscences of the
"times that tried mems souls" would not
have written about Berwyn if ex-Speaker
Randalls gout had not been announced in
some of the papers Of the country as some-
thing terrible. Mr.. Randall lives "up the
road a piece" from here, Mt place called
Leopard. Here in an humble country home,
about eighteen miles from Philadelphia, he
enjoys life in the summer with his matronly
wife and family, including little Sammy, the
baby, youth of 3 or 10 years of age, who,
suppose, is just as apt to hook watermelons,
tie tin cans to dogs tails, and play hockey as
the sons of men who are not statesmen. The
ex-speaker's gout is not troublesome enough
to keep him at home in these stirring demo-
cratic dog days. He left hero last week for
Washington, and expects to be the next
speaker, gout or no gout. The disease which
occasionally attacks him is hereditary. Jo-
siah, his father who was one of the most
prominent politicians of his day in Philadel-
phia, suffered from IL, as did his
father before HIM. Berwyn, formerly
Reeseville, is q station on the
Il
the Quaker City. Three miles back Of it,
away from the railway, is Leopard, strag-
Cling village, upward of a hundred years
old. Near by is Paoli, the scene of a massacre
by British soldiers during the revolutionary
war. monument to commemorate the
butchery has been erected, and the
old barn, the scene of the surprise, and
the spots of blood on the floor, (which will
not out" are still shown to visitors. ERE
member Paolp was the watchword Of
Wayne's soldiers after the massacre and
mo quarter" rang out on the air as they
afterward dashed into the British camps. A
few miles below Berwyn, toward the city, is
Ardmore, the home of j. j. MacElhone, the
Official stenographer of the house of repre-
sentatives; while at Bryn Mawr. within sight
of Ardmore, the prettiest station on the
Pennsylvaia railway, is the magnificent home
of George w. Childs of the Public Ledger. The
whole road from Philadelphia to Harrisburg
abounds with beautiful stopping places, to
which the company has given Welsh names.
Facing Berwyn, over the hill about two
miles off, is Chester valley, and running into
this valley is Valley creek, a sluggish stream
which makes in from the Schuylkill, and
upon which is located Valley Forge. In a
narrow defile, nearly where the Reading rail.
way now passes, from December until May
the continental army, under Washington,
were encamped in wooden huts, thatched
u
almost impossible precipice; on the east and
south weak entrenchment was made rThe
Schuylkil was on the left, with bridge
across On the right the camp was accessi-
BILE with some difficulty, but the approach in
front, facing toward busy Phoenixville, was
nearly on a level with the camp, with the
creek between.
The sutferings and hardships of the patriot
army haves esbeen well told by the historian.
The men were destitute of almost all the
necessary articles Of clothing, nearly naked
in fact. Provisions were short, an extreme
mortality ragged in the hospitals without
proper medicines to relieve the sick, and not
less than 800 horses perished from want and
the severity of the season. Desertions were
frequent. and Sir William Howe was in Phil
dclphia, not twenty miles distant, with the
flower of the British army. Schuyler and
Gates were in the north thrashing Burgoyne.
The screech of the iron horse upon three
lines of railways leading from the Quaker
City into the heart of Pennsylvania can now
be heard at the forge. Directly facing the
ancient looking stone house in which Wash
lngton and his staff were quartered is O paper
mill in active operation. Ten cents must be
paid for admission into the old headquarters
An old lady opens the dilapidated double
door and ushers you in An ancient flint
lock musket hangs over the1mantel, pieces of
rusty shell, small cannon balls eaten into by
rust, andirons century old, and other
relics repose in the old fireplace. settee,
bookcase, and many quaint articles of furni-
ture in use by Washington and his staff are
shown. The mansion must have been a COM
Portable home hundred years ago, and with
proper care 1T will stand for many years TO
come. A daily record book for visitors to
enter their names lies upon table in the
rear room. Not far off is the Valley Forge
inn, part of which was hospital when the
patrioJ army lay there, and within sight is
the old forge, still standing, from which the
little valley derived its name, and where the
troopers of the continental army were wont
to have their horses shod.
Con. Anthony Wayne, who was born and
reared within sight of the old Forge doubt
less urged Washington to select the sight for
the encampment of his army in that terrible
winter Of 1777-'7S. Among his descendants
in this neighborhood is Capt. j. w. Wayne, a
member of the state legislature and the legal
executor of the old family estate.
curious story is told about the remains of
Mad Anthony, who, it is said, could swear
longer, louder, and more effectively when
alive and angry than any trooper in Flanders.
He is said to have been honored with o two
fold burial-his flesh in Erie and his bones in
eastern Pennsylvania. This is how it came
about Wayne died at Erie in December
1896, and was buried at the foot of the flag
staff near the old block house. In 1909 his
son gave directions to physician in Erie to
take up the remains and send them to this
county lChester) for reburial. On opening the
grave the body was found to be in good
state of preservation. 1t being very difficult
to forward the remains by the routes and
meaps of conveyance then in use he pro-
ceeded to cut the flesh from the bones, boiled
the bones in large iron kettle, and, when
properly cleaned, boxed them and forwarded
them as directed. These bones were coffined
and honorably buried at the old home of the
general, in Chester county. The flesh, to-
gether with the two knives used in the cut
ting, were replaced in the coffin in which the
body was found, and reburied in the original
grave The two knives, all rust eaten, are
preserved in the frame containing the re-
mains of the coffin lid. Tho iron kettle in
which the bones We're boiled is an heirloom
IN family living in the vicinity of Erie.
The old block house at Fort Erie has passed
away, together with the flagstaff aud all
traces of the generals grave. An old woman,
remembering the fact of his burial. pointed
out the location. Search was made, remains
of the decayed ends of the flagstaff were
found, and near it the decayed parts of the
coffin and two knives.
The memory of brave Anthony Wayne is
revered by the good people of Chester county
and of Pennsylvania. The legislature of this
state scarcely did the fair thing toward her
gallant son in sending down TO the hall of
statues in the capitol at Washington the mar
BILE figures of Fulton and Muhlenberg Wayne
and Franklin would have represented the
evolutionary history of the Keystone state
much hettar