Caleb Pusey House
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The Caleb Pusey House, built in 1683 in
Upland, Pennsylvania Upland is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Upland is governed by an elected seven-member borough council. The population was 3,239 at the 2010 census, up from 2,974 at the 2000 census. Geography Upland is located in so ...
, is the second oldest English house in Pennsylvania open to the public ( Wall House in
Cheltenham Township Cheltenham Township is a home rule township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. Cheltenham's population density ranges from over 10,000 per square mile (25,900 per square kilometer) in rowhouses and high-rise apartments along Chelte ...
is the oldest). Built in a vernacular English yeoman's style, it is the only remaining house where
William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...
is known to have visited. It stood on near Chester Creek which Penn granted Pusey, a plantation which the latter named "Landing Ford". Since the 1950s, the building and grounds (now 9 acres) have been owned by the Friends of the Caleb Pusey House, Inc. The house was restored and the property is operated as a historic house museum. ''Note:'' This includes It was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1971.


Caleb Pusey

Caleb Pusey, formally Caleb Bartholomew alias Pusey,Professor Mitchell Rothman, "Caleb Pusey House, Upland, PA"
Old Chester, PA.com, accessed 30 May 2010
(c. 1650–1727) was a Quaker lastmaker (a maker of wooden foot molds for cobblers) and a friend and business partner of
William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...
, the founder of the colony of
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. Pusey came to the colony from England in 1682, having been born in the parish of Lambourn, to manage Chester Mills for Penn. Situated on Chester Creek west of
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, they were the first Proprietary
grist mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...
and
sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...
in the colony. From 1701, Pusey served as a justice of the provincial supreme court. Pusey became involved with the local
Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
community, as well as local government. He wrote a number of
pamphlet A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a hard cover or binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' or it may consist of a ...
s, several in defense of William Penn. The Caleb Pusey house, at 15 Race Street,
Upland, Pennsylvania Upland is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Upland is governed by an elected seven-member borough council. The population was 3,239 at the 2010 census, up from 2,974 at the 2000 census. Geography Upland is located in so ...
, is likely the oldest house in the state. Caleb Pusey, a Quaker, came to Pennsylvania from England in 1682 with his wife Anne Worley and her two sons, Francis and Henry, from her first marriage. He and Penn had arranged to ship a prefabricated mill on ''The Welcome'', in order to erect it in the colony. By the first winter in Pennsylvania they had only completed a
pit-house A pit-house (or ''pit house'', ''pithouse'') is a house built in the ground and used for shelter. Besides providing shelter from the most extreme of weather conditions, these structures may also be used to store food (just like a pantry, a larder ...
as a residence, and lived in severe conditions. Anne had a miscarriage that winter. Pusey began their one-story house in 1683. It was constructed in two stages, probably finished a couple of years apart. A storage attic is above the main level. By 1696 Pusey and his family occupied the completed house and hosted the
Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
services of the Chester Monthly Meeting. It is built from native stone in the vernacular tradition of yeomen's houses of
Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
, England, Pusey's home county. Bricks have been interspersed randomly through the construction, probably replacing missing stones. In 1717, the Pusey family moved to East Marlborough Township, where he was involved in politics. The Landingford property was later owned by a succession of people, including industrialist John Price Crozer. The house was privately owned and occupied until about 1950. Also on the property are the Pennock Log House, built by a descendant of Pusey's in 1790; and the Crozer School, built by Crozer for the children of millworkers at his factory. Some of the many thousands of artifacts found during twentieth-century excavations on the property are on display in the Crozer School. Crozer also built the
Upland Baptist Church Upland Baptist Church is a Baptist church built in 1851 in Upland Borough, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. History John Price Crozer, a textile manufacturer and philanthropist from Upland, funded the construction of the church in ...
and millworker housing in the area.


Weather vane

In the late 1840s, a resident discovered an iron
weather vane A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , m ...
, believed to be from Pusey's mill. Initials on the weather vane are those of the partners
William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...
, Samuel Carpenter, and Caleb Pusey. The weather vane was donated to the Philadelphia Historical Society, then gilded and displayed on a roof in
Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the List of c ...
. It is now occasionally displayed at the
Atwater Kent Museum of Philadelphia The Philadelphia History Museum was a public history museum located in Center City, Philadelphia from 1938 until 2018. The museum occupied architect John Haviland's landmark Greek Revival structure built in 1824–1826 for the Franklin Institute. ...
. The Friends of the Caleb Pusey House are trying to arrange for the weather vane to be returned or loaned to the house museum. "The Friends of the Caleb Pusey House, Inc."
/ref>


See also

*
South Brook Farm South Brook Farm, also known as the Charles A. Higgins Estate and New Bolton Center for Veterinary Medicine, is a historic estate (land), estate located in East Marlborough Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, East Marlborough Township, Cheste ...
*
List of the oldest buildings in Pennsylvania This article lists the oldest buildings in the state of Pennsylvania in the United States, including the oldest houses in the state and certain other extant structures. Some dates are approximate, based upon dendrochronology, architectural stud ...


References


External links


Google Street View
Caleb Pusey House
Caleb Pusey House and Landingford Plantation
History of Delaware County
"Caleb Pusey House & Landingford Plantation"
The Friends of the Caleb Pusey House, Inc.
Caleb Pusey House
at the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) (Library of Congress) {{DEFAULTSORT:Pusey, Caleb, House Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Historic American Buildings Survey in Pennsylvania Houses completed in 1683 Museums in Delaware County, Pennsylvania Historic house museums in Pennsylvania Houses in Delaware County, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania state historical marker significations National Register of Historic Places in Delaware County, Pennsylvania 1683 establishments in Pennsylvania