The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1895-11-29
ANCIENT LOG CABIN.
STANDS ON LAND THAT ONCE BE-
LONGED TIC WILLIAM PENN.

With Additions It Is Ono of tho Old Manor
incnt Notwithstanding an English Coin
of 40 Years Ago.
III tho northwestern part of the pretty
little own of Media, the county seat of
Delaware county, Pa, OH a tract of land
known rs "Star Mount" owned by
Samuel w. Powell, is located n genuine
curiosity i'll tho form of an old log
house, which contains much t. interest
tho antiquarian, and to afford material
for the historian. The structure meas
ures % feet in length md is go feet
wido and 10 feet high. 1t is said to be
one of the original manor houses con-
structed shortly after the arrival of Will
liam Penn md his colony on the banks
Of the Delaware river. Circumstances
point toward that belief, and prove the
claim to antiquity, which makes the
old log house al important link connect
ing the distant past with the present.
This house is constructed of oak and
chestnut legs hewn from the primeval
forest, while standing beside it is a
giant oak, the largest by all odds i'll tho
surrounding country, which is Il living
witness of the age Of tho lowly dwell
ing which finds shelter beneath its huge
outspreading arms. Tree and house are
each the complement of the other, and
seem destined TO continue their intima-
cy during succeeding years, and perhaps
ages.
In the year 1851 A. D., on the I'd
day of March, Peter and William Tay-
lOr purchased the land upon which these
objects of interest stand from William
Penn i'll England, and on the 22d inst.
Thomas Powell took title to the land
upon which the house and tree stand
and adjacent tracts, and after numerous
transfers it finally came into the pos
session of Mr.. Powell, who formerly
resided in this city, but who now lives
in "Star Mount. " in northwest Media.
Upon discovering the historic value of
the house and oak, he subsequently took
precautions to preserve the objects Of a
past ago and civilization.
The house is constructed of logs, and
to prevent the entrance of cold air they
were chinked with mortar. The small
windows and doors were hand made,
from the primitive oak cut from the
forest. The faces and ends of these logs
arc scared and dcfaced by exposure to
tho storms Of at least two centuries,
and show plainly tho ravaGes of the
'tOoth of time" but at heart are as
hard and sound as when first placed in
position to form n house for one of
PENIS followers.
The present owner, desiring to both
preserve this ancient structure and to
improve it's surroundings, added some
seven or eight years ago several addi-
ticnal rooms to the original mansion,
but outside the massive old chimney is
exposed to view, and inside the logs
with their plaatering, the windows and
doors with their wooden latches and
strings may be seen, while the low cell
ing of homemade boards point to a date
when the AK and saw were almost uni
v~crsally used by Il forefathers.
AT the time when the additions above
mentioned wero made an old English
coin was found. Upon examination the
coin proved to be n penny of the reign
Of King George I, and while the date is
almost illeGible, it seems to BIO 1924, or
perhaps an earlier date. This old Eng
lish penny was lying under the old
wooden door sill, and had become i'm
beddcd i'll the ground, and was only
brought to light by the usc of pick and
shovel. History and tradition unto in
tho story i'll relation to this old house.
Beginning with the river Delaware
and reaching as far as portions of Ches-
ter county, and bounded also by Ridley
and Crum creeks, were some two tracts
Of land decided to tho Taylors, Powells
and others i'll 1851 by the proprietor
and founder of Il state, William Penn.
Upon each OF these two tracts or parcels
of land log houses were erected, and one
Of them was destroyed by fire. Ono of
these houses, the one now owned by Mr..
Powell i'll Upper Providence township,
adjoining tho town of Media, is the sole
survivor, ana it is correspondingly
priced by him.
The house and old oak, together with
tho curiosities connected with them,
arc very antique, and there is no doubt
but that the claim of antiquity is well
founded. III 1915 it was in the old log
cabin that John Powell changed from
the Quaker To tho Baptist faith, and or
Sanized the First Baptist church of Del
aware county, known as the Brandy
wine church. The congregation was
formed on June II, l715, with 10 mem
bers, and among tho delegates were
Abel Morgan of this city and James
Jones and Joseph Eaton of Delaware.
Thus tho old house, constructed by u
first settler from the virgin forest, which
extended from far inland to the shores
of tho Delaware river, has both a civil
II a religious history, aud has been