Van Leer Cabin | |
   | |
| Location | Tredyffrin Township, Pennsylvania |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 40°03′48″N75°22′14″W / 40.06333°N 75.37056°W |
| Area | 6.8 acres (2.8 ha) |
| Built | c. 1759 |
| Architect | Van Leer Family |
| Architectural style | German Log Cabin |
| NRHP reference No. | 83002227 [1] |
Van Leer Cabin, is a historic cabin and one of the last historical dwellings in Tredyffrin Township, Pennsylvania. [2] It still stands on the grounds of Conestoga High School.
The original structure belonged to several homes owned by the Van Leer family who immigrated from Prussia in 1759. [3] Dr. Bernardhus Van Leer a well known doctor bought 109 acres at the location of the Cabin the same year. Dr. Bernardhus Van Leer is considered notable for traveling on horseback until the age of 102, [4] and being one of the first medical doctors in New York. [5] Dr. Van Leer's son Captain Samuel Van Leer and family would later play an important role in American history as a revolutionary war soldier. Van Leers were noted in the anti-slavery cause and built nearby free negro communities for newly freed slaves. [6] [7] Van Leer's also financially supported the Underground Railroad. [8] This Cabin is listed as an underground railroad site. [9]
In the mid-1960s students and volunteers helped restore the cabin, located on Conestoga High School. [10] The Cabin is also utilized as part of an American History Course. [11] [12]
In the Pennsylvania colony, log cabins play a significant part of architectural history. [13] The Van Leer Cabin appears to follow the German type, where logs are set tightly together and even at the corners.
Chester County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the Delaware Valley region, located in the southeastern part of the state. As of the 2020 census, the population was 534,413, increasing by 7.1% from 498,886 in 2010. The county seat and most populated municipality is West Chester. Chester County was one of the three original Pennsylvania counties created by William Penn in 1682. It was named for Chester, England.
Easttown Township is a township in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 10,984 at the 2020 census. The township, which lies in the western half of Philadelphia's Main Line suburbs, is comprised predominantly of parts of two unincorporated areas: Devon and Berwyn. A small portion of the township has a Paoli address.
Tredyffrin Township is a township located in eastern Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 29,332 at the 2010 census.
William Still was an African-American abolitionist based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a conductor of the Underground Railroad and was responsible for aiding and assisting at least 649 slaves to freedom towards North. Still was also a businessman, writer, historian and civil rights activist. Before the American Civil War, Still was chairman of the Vigilance Committee of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, named the Vigilant Association of Philadelphia. He directly aided fugitive slaves and also kept records of the people served in order to help families reunite.
Conestoga High School, located in Tredyffrin Township, Pennsylvania, is the only upper secondary school in the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District. It has a Berwyn post office address, though it is not in the Berwyn census-designated place.
Ercildoun, population about 100, is an unincorporated community in East Fallowfield Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The hamlet was founded by Quakers and was an early center of the abolitionist movement. In 1985 the entire hamlet, including 31 properties, was listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places. Of these properties two were vacant land, 14 were significant buildings, ten were contributing buildings, and five buildings, built in the 1950s, were non-contributing. The Lukens Pierce House, an octagon house listed separately on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, is located about half a mile northwest of the hamlet. Ercildoun is one of about ten hamlets in the township, which has no cities or towns, but has 31 sites listed on the National Register. It is one of the larger hamlets, located near the center of the township, and historically among the best known. The city of Coatesville is about 3 miles north.
Pleasant Hill Plantation, also known as Van Leer Place, is a historic stone farmhouse located near Glen Moore in West Nantmeal Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania.
Bethel AME Church, now known as the Central Pennsylvania African American Museum, is a historic African Methodist Episcopal church at 119 North 10th Street in Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania. It was originally built in 1837, and is a 2½-storey brick and stucco building with a gable roof. It was rebuilt about 1867–1869, and remodeled in 1889. It features a three-storey brick tower with a pyramidal roof topped by a finial. The church is known to have housed fugitive slaves and the congregation was active in the Underground Railroad. The church is now home to a museum dedicated to the history of African Americans in Central Pennsylvania.
Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church is a historic African Methodist Episcopal Church in Springtown, New Jersey, United States. The church was part of two free negro communities, Othello and Springtown, established by local Quaker families, like the Van Leer Family. The congregation was established in 1810 in Greenwich Township as the African Methodist Society and joined the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1817. A previous church building was burned down in the 1830s in an arson incident and the current structure was built between 1838 and 1841.
The Drouillard House is a historic house at Cumberland Furnace, Tennessee. Built in 1868–1870 in the vicinity of Cumberland Furnace, the three-story house was a summer residence for Nashville socialite Mary Florence Kirkman and her husband Captain James Pierre Drouillard. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since December 27, 1977. It is also part of the Cumberland Furnace Historic District.
Bartholomew Fussell (1794–1871) was an American abolitionist who participated in the Underground Railroad by providing refuge for fugitive slaves at his safe house in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, and other locations in Pennsylvania and Ohio. He aided an estimated 2000 slaves in escaping from bondage. He was a founding member of the American Anti-Slavery Society. Fussell was an advocate for women serving as physicians, and he influenced the founding of the Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania. He worked as a practicing physician, including providing medical services for fugitive slaves.
Captain Samuel Van Leer was a military officer from Pennsylvania who served as a captain in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and as a lieutenant in the Chester County Light Horse Volunteers from 1781 to 1785. After his retirement from the military, he owned the Reading Furnace ironworks.
Bernardhus Van Leer was a German-American early settler of the Province of Pennsylvania. He worked as a physician and was father of American Revolutionary War Captain Samuel Van Leer.
The Barnardus Van Leer House, is an historic house in the colonial style. Built for Dr. Bernardhus Van Leer, it is one of the last historical dwellings in Marple Township, Pennsylvania.
Mortonson–Van Leer Log Cabin, also known as Schorn Log Cabin, is a historic cabin and one of the last historical dwellings in Swedesboro, New Jersey, United States. It stands on the grounds of the cemetery of the Trinity Church. It is one of the oldest original log cabins of early Swedish-Finnish architecture in the United States.
Anthony Wayne Van Leer was an American ironmaster and owner of the Cumberland Furnace in Dickson County, Tennessee. He was a member of the influential Van Leer family, the son of Samuel Van Leer, captain in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and nephew of General Anthony Wayne. The town of Vanleer, Tennessee is named after him.
Isaac Van Leer was a Pennsylvania ironmaster and owned the Hibernia Furnace, Springton Forge and historic Hibernia House in West Caln Township, Pennsylvania. He was a member of the influential Van Leer family and was the son of Samuel Van Leer, a captain in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.
John Pugh Van Leer was an American military officer who served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He commanded the 6th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry regiment and was killed during the Battle of Williamsburg. He was a member of the influential Van Leer family and his ancestors were some the earliest settlers of the Pennsylvania Colony.
The Van Leer family, originally spelled Von Lohr, is an influential German-American family that emigrated to the Province of Pennsylvania in the 17th century from the Electorate of Hesse near Isenberg, Germany. The family made their fortune in the United States through the ironworks business. The family includes American business owners, academics, civil rights activists, women's rights activists, university founders, inventors, politicians, and military officers. Earlier spellings include Von Leer, Von Lohr, and the ancient surname Valär.
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