Monthly Archives: May 2015

saving heritage: the ruins of ebenezer ame on bacton hill road

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ebenezer ame

Two years ago, I wrote three posts on an abandoned church I had stumbled upon:

ebenezer ame church – bacton hill road

it’s palm sunday, so why not post about an abandoned church?

on good friday, remember the churches abandoned by time and man e1

Well, interestingly enough there has been renewed interest in this church, formerly located on Bacton Hill Road in East Whiteland Township, Chester County. Yes, I am writing again about Ebenezer AME Church.

e3For me, this all began as a fascination of a ruined structure that I later received more information on.  Ebenezer AME in Frazer was built in 1835.

e9Apparently the oldest grave stones in the cemetery date back to the 1830s. An Eagle Scout named Matthew Nehring did a project a few years ago now  uncovering the gravestones. (Have no idea if his project is finished.) According to the photos it appears some of the dead buried here are soldiers and veterans.e8

One gravestone is for a Joshua Johnson  (Pvt., Co. K, 45th Reg., United States Colored Troops (USCT) (Civil War). I find this to be incredibly historically significant as the army began to organize African Americans into regimental units known as the United States Colored Troops (USCT) in 1863.

e4According to the East Whiteland Historical Society  this church used to serve as a “hub” of African American society in Frazer. Also according to East Whiteland Historical Society:

Members of this community have been documented as former slaves.  Their ability to construct this church demonstrates the e5prosperity and commitment of this community.

The trustees of the Ebenezer AME church purchased the land in 1831 from James Malin.  The oldest gravestones found in the cemetery date from the early 1830’s.  The congregation disbanded for a time between 1848 and 1871 during which time the building fell into disrepair.  By June 22, 1873 the church had been rebuilt and rededicated.  It continued to be used until 1970; then intermittently until the 1940’s.  Now it is abandoned.

I will note that when Patch covered this in 2012 they showed a lot more gravestones than I was able to locate in 2013.  It is now 2015. The Eagle Scout (Matthew Nehring) put what he found on Find A Grave. On that website it is listed as Ebenezer African Methodist Episcopal Cemetery (Also known as: Chester Valley African Methodist Episcopal Cemetery, Valley Hill Cemetery).e6

On Memorial Day I thought of Joshua Johnson, the  Civil War soldier buried there. He is a valid part of our soldiering and military history in this country, yet who remembers him? Does the East Whiteland Historical Society remember him? Does anyone? Does he have any ancestors still living in Chester County who may not know his grave exists?

On Pennsylvania Gen Web I do not even find this church or cemetery mentioned. Its not listed on other websites on which you would go to look up information. I do not know how to look the property up on Chester County property records to attempt to track a deed, I have tried.

I would venture a guess that this church once upon a time was part of The First Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. But once again, locally some of us know this church existed, but it is very hard to find information.

This church is a definite candidate for a Pennsylvania Historical Marker but in addition wouldn’t it be great to get this site preserved in some way? The graveyard cleaned up and preserved? I think the land is still owned by the AME church, but how to find the records and get them to acknowledge this sacred place escapes me.

This place should MATTER. I have no idea if the National Trust for Historic Places would be interested but they should be.  #thisplacematters

East Whiteland has some fascinating history.  And if we are not careful, it will all fade away.  East Whiteland isn’t just home to business parks along 29 and 202. Between this crumbling church and places like Loch Aerie and Linden Hall, shouldn’t the historical commission  be reaching out to national and state wide preservationists?

If you have any information on Ebenezer AME Church please feel free to post it on a Facebook Page called Living in East Whiteland. Living in East Whiteland is a closed page, but you may request to join. You may also post information on Chester County Ramblings’ Facebook Page.

Together we can try to not only preserve the beauty that is Chester County, PA but the history as well.

Thanks for stopping by.

e7

mashed potato salad 

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🍜Warning: this is not a recipe per se, it’s a “how to” rescue in the kitchen.

So……have you ever wondered what to do when you boil the potatoes for a couple minutes too long when you’re making potato salad? They are a little too cooked to maintain their form as little wedges in a traditional potato salad, so why not mash them up?

Yep, you take the potatoes, mash them roughly with a hand potato masher, and add all your favorite potato salad ingredients. You don’t have to mash the rest of the ingredients just chop them a little more finely. 

Tastes like regular potato salad, only it’s mashed potato salad. Also instead of just using mayonnaise, add a little coarse brown or dijon mustard, a little sherry vinegar, and a tiny bit of olive oil and make a dressing of sorts. The taste is refreshingly different than just mayonnaise. Too that I generally add chopped fresh chives and dill and parsley.

Try it!

  

setting a vintage table

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I had people for lunch this weekend and for dinner. And I got to play with all the vintage stuff ! It’s all locally sourced and didn’t break the bank. And look at the colors? So perfect for summer.  Happy looking.

From thrift shops to consignment stores to yard sales and church sales to garage sale and vintage groups on social media you can do this literally for pennies on the dollar.  

Set a vintage table. These things were meant to be used and often the quality far exceeds their modern counterparts.

Have a great Memorial Day !

“adult” moments…

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  The great thing about social media is that there are groups for just about everything. Dogs, parenting, garage sales, women’s groups, cancer support, cooking, gardening, collecting certain things, you name it. I belong to some parenting groups because, well, I am more of a late stage parent as a step parent, so it’s a great way to learn.

In one parenting group, a post caught my eye. The poster was one of those women whose profile photo was like a head shot. Perfectly coifed hair, professionally done make up and wearing a strapless dress like she was auditioning for a Real Housevives show.

The post was crowd sourcing where to get a dog and bashing a rescue which had turned her down. There were a ton of comments including from her. She was exhibiting shall we say potty mouth. Kind of ironic on a parenting page where there are often comments about how can people get their kids to not curse and not exhibit aggressive and unpleasant behaviors.

Hmmmm.

This woman goes on and on about how wonderful she is and how wronged she was and bashes the rescue some more. When challenged about rescue bashing and potty mouth in a place about parenting and mostly parenting small children, wowza. Super classy…..not. More like a bare knuckles brawler with an expensive manicure.

 If I was a rescue having to decide on her, lordy I feel sorry for them. But truthfully (based upon her comments), her issue seems to be that somewhere in the application and interview process she did not meet their criteria.  Ok pretty simple: rescues and even shelters have rules for a reason. If you don’t meet their criteria move onto a rescue you have better chemistry with or try to politely work it out. Lord knows there are a lot of homeless animals out there.

But the whole thing about a woman who puts forth an image of super coiffed and living on the Main Line and not being able to use their words well enough that they can’t avoid expletives of any level on a group page they don’t own or control where they are basically a guest like everyone else? Unnecessary and poor form. And somewhat distasteful. If they want to do that on their personal page, well that is one thing and basically dumb. But on a group page? Come on and grow up. 

And I also don’t know what it is about dog rescue conversations online but aren’t you sick of them going from zero to nasty in a blink of an eye ?  There are so many animals needing homes, yet some people have to start this controversy constantly basically because they do not like being told in essence,  “no”. Why not try to work with these rescues ? Work through their reservations? Or (again) if you don’t have chemistry with one rescue, move onto another?

And truthfully for me what I don’t care for about these conversations other than the acrimony is the cursing in a public forum like that. Surely other words can be chosen? Or does that also go hand in hand with being told “no” or anything else they don’t want to hear?

How can we teach our children well when the adults in the room are behaving like idiots?

Just saying.