United States or Liberia ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Thomas Livezey, the progenitor of the Livezey family, and the great-grandfather of Thomas, Junior, came from England in 1680, and the records show that he served on the first grand jury of the first court held in the province, January 2, 1681. Thomas Livezey, Junior, the miller, was a public-spirited and many-sided man.
An officer appeared presently, however, demanded to know who had done so dastardly a thing and instantly split the culprit's head with his saber. Livezey cultivated a large farm on the adjoining hillsides, and a dozen bottles of wine from his vineyard, forwarded by his friend Robert Wharton, elicited praise from Benjamin Franklin.
In the midst of virgin forest at the end of Livezey's Lane in Germantown on the banks of Wissahickon Creek, stands Glen Fern, more commonly known as the Livezey house, with numerous old buildings near by which in years past were mills, granaries and cooper shops.
The old grist mill on Wissahickon Creek, originally a considerable stream, was built by Thomas Shoemaker, and in 1747 conveyed by him to Thomas Livezey, Junior, who operated it the rest of his life and lived at Glen Fern near by.
White-paneled wainscots and fireplaces surrounded by dark marble adorn each of the principal rooms, while the great kitchen fireplace, in an inglenook with a window beside a seat large enough to accommodate several persons, was the "courtin' corner" of three generations of the Livezey family.
Another son, Thomas, continued to run the mill, which about the time of the Civil War was converted to the manufacture of linseed oil. In 1869 the entire property was purchased for Fairmount Park, and Glen Fern is now occupied by the Valley Green Canoe Club, which has restored it under the direction of John Livezey.
This excellent example of the Pennsylvania farmhouse type was built by Dirck Jansen, one of the original settlers of Germantown, for his son John Johnson at the time of his marriage to Rachael Livezey. The work was begun in 1765 and completed in 1768, as indicated by a date stone in the peak of one of the gables.
Word Of The Day