Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden and the Invention of the National Park

Yellowstone National Park is a geologist’s paradise: the nearly three and a half thousand square miles of land include the largest volcanic system in North America, extensive geothermal activity caused by a subterranean magma chamber and the highest concentration of geysers in the world. Yet the park is also appreciated by millions of visitors each year for its sheer beauty and pristine landscape. The double appeal of Yellowstone goes all the way back to its early history when a team of scientists and artists were dispatched to explore the yet-uncharted region. The combination of their academic and creative accomplishments was instrumental in the establishment of Yellowstone as the first national park of the United States.

A photograph of the Summit of Jupiter Terraces taken by William H. Jackson. Paintings and photographs of Yellowstone were crucial to its establishment as a national park.

Ferdinand Hayden, the leader of an 1871 surveying expedition to the Yellowstone area. 

In the years following the Civil War, the region that is today Yellowstone was a mystery to most Americans. Could accounts of hot water spouting from the ground or rumblings underfoot possibly be credible? And more importantly, was the land suitable for agricultural development? In 1871, the General Land Office turned to Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden, an expert geologist and professor at the University of Pennsylvania (who is now buried at The Woodlands Cemetery) to answer these questions. Hayden put together a team of over thirty men, wisely including Civil War photographer William H. Jackson and esteemed painter Thomas Moran, and set off on what would be the largest of four “Great Surveys” of the American West.

After a long cross-country voyage, the explorers arrived in Yellowstone and were amazed with what they found. While the paleontologists, geophysicists and lithologists in the group set about collecting geological data and rock samples, Jackson and Moran visually recorded the natural landscape. By Moran’s account, he “took great pains with delineation of the form and texture of the rocks” which he “realized to the farthest point I could carry them”. This creative approach is exhibited in The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone which Moran completed in 1872. The dramatic oil painting highlights the formations and stratifications of the rock with great accuracy while capturing, as Moran hoped to, “the character of that region.”

In Moran's The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone sunlight falls on the park's spectacular rock formations, which are depicted with geological accuracy.

When Ferdinand Hayden returned to the East from his expedition, he had a vision for Yellowstone that was unprecedented amid the pioneer mentality of the 19th century United States. Hayden wanted Yellowstone to remain undeveloped, as a natural space available to generations of future Americans. Along with the proposal he submitted to Congress, Hayden included Jackson’s photographs and some of Moran’s watercolors. These beautiful visual depictions of the region were crucial in persuading congressmen (most of whom had not seen for themselves the magnificence of the West) to establish Yellowstone as “a public park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people” in 1872.

Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden is buried at The Woodlands Cemetery in Section H, Lot 301. 

Thanks to the enthusiasm and determination that Hayden brought to his lobbying for Yellowstone National Park, this model became broadly accepted both in the United States and around the world. Over the course of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, thirty-five natural places within the U.S. were granted this status before the National Park Service was formally signed into being in 1916. In honor of the bureau’s 100th birthday, this year’s Philadelphia Flower Show will celebrate the beauty of our national parks. Although Philadelphia and Yellowstone may not appear to have much in common, the early history of the park was determined by a resident of this city. If you’re visiting for the Flower Show this week, consider stopping by Penn’s Hayden Hall or The Woodlands to pay a visit to the final resting place of Ferdinand Vendeveer Hayden, the scientist behind America’s national parks.

By Rive Cadwallader

You can find more information about Hayden's expedition and the art it inspired from: 

Jackson, W. Turrentine. "The Creation of Yellowstone National Park," The Mississippi Valley Historical Review, Vol. 29, No. 2 (1942): 187-206

Wagner, Virginia L. "Geological Time in Nineteenth-Century Landscape Paintings," Winterthur Portfolio, Vol. 24, No. 2/3 (1989): 153-163

The Great Electrobat

When the Tesla Roadster was released in 2008, the car was praised as a remarkable feat of engineering that could change transportation in the 21st century. As innovative as the Roadster may have been, it was far from the first electric car to be developed. That award goes to the 1894 Electrobat and its creator, Pedro G. Salom, who is buried at The Woodlands Cemetery.

In the late nineteenth century, Pedro Salom, an electrochemical engineer, teamed up with inventor Henry G. Morris under the common goal of creating the world’s first battery-powered automobile. Both men had been involved in the electrification of urban streetcars, which eliminated the messes and hassles of animal-powered public transportation. Using the same lead-acid batteries that powered the new streetcars, Salom and Morris developed the first prototype of their electric automobile in a mere two months and patented the vehicle on August 31, 1894.

Salom and Morris in an early Electrobat (1896).

When the two inventors took their electric car out for its first test run that summer, they had to receive a special permit from City Hall. Accompanied by a police officer tasked with conducting carriages away from the automobile (which was liable to frighten horses), the car made its way down busy, cobblestoned Broad Street. The precautions taken on this first ride were called for: the first model of the Electrobat was unwieldy and unpredictable. Looking something like a cross between a Radio Flyer wagon and an equipage, the car was encumbered with a battery that weighed a full 1,600 pounds.

However, within a year, Pedro Salom and Henry Morris had refined their original model significantly. The fourth prototype of the car had a 350 pound battery, a fraction of the weight of the original, which allowed the steel wheels of the first Electrobat to be replaced with pneumatic tires. Armed with cutting-edge technology, the engineers founded the Morris and Salom Electric Wagon and Carriage Company and began promoting their invention as a modern kind of hansom cab.

An Electrobat cab, ready to navigate the bustling streets of Manhattan.

Before long, the company had dozens of Electrobat cabs operating in New York City, and was effectively competing with horse-drawn cabs in Philadelphia and Boston as well. The addition of electric automobiles to the late nineteenth century urban environment caused quite a stir. One newspaper claimed that “no modern development is fraught with greater possibilities than the motor-propelled road vehicle.” Another acknowledged the growth of Morris and Salom's company, but maintained that "the American mechanical public at large is viewing the horseless carriage a dream of the dreamers."

Memorial for Pedro Salom and Emma Grotjan, parents of Pedro Salom, the inventor of the first battery powered car.

Automotive technology may not be the first thing that comes to mind when considering The Woodlands but a great contributor to this field is buried in the cemetery. Long before twenty first century iterations of the electric car, Salom and his Electrobat changed the face of urban transportation and added to the Philadelphia’s list of innovations in science and engineering. 

By Rive Cadwallader

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To learn more about the Electrobat, see: 

Bruce Duffie. "Charging Up the Electric Cabs." http://www.kcstudio.com/colcharging.html

Bruce Duffie. "Prologue: Preparing the way for the Columbia cars, and the formation of the Electric Vehicle Company." http://www.kcstudio.com/electrobat.html

Alexis C. Madrigal. "The Electric Taxi Company You Could Have Called in 1900." The Atlantic (March 2011). http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/03/the-electric-taxi-company-you-could-have-called-in-1900/72481/

Countdown to Halloween Fun Day

We're counting down the top 10 Reasons to come to The Woodlands Halloween Family Fun Day!

Sunday, October 25th from 12:00pm - 4:00pm

#10: All Hallow's Read Philadelphia' Spooky Book Swap! Get a spooky book this Halloween - don't forget to bring a book to swap!

#9: Join us on Halloween Family Fun Day for a pet costume contest sponsored by Baltimore Avenue Pet Shoppe! Dress your pup in their Halloween finest and compete to win a basket from Baltimore Avenue Pet Shoppe and a Dog Walker’s Membership to The Woodlands! 

#8: The Philadelphia chapter of the Harry Potter Alliance, The Society for Philadelphian’s Encouraging Wizardry (SPEW) will be joining All Hallow’s Read at the Riddle Monument. 

#7: A Mini Mutter Museum pop-up will be on display in the mansion. Come see leeches, brains, and the medical tools used to remove them! 

#6: See what it took to be a nurse in the 1800’s! Penn Nursing will be hanging out at the grave of Alice Fischer and you can make old school nursing hats while learning about what nurses do! 

#5: Don’t have a costume for Halloween Family Fun Day? That’s ok! Get turned into a work of art with face painter, Golden Brownie.

#4: Take a Civil War Medicine Tour at 2:00pm with Civil War Historian and Director of the Mutter Museum, Robert Hicks!

#3: Fight cavities this Halloween with Penn Dental. They will be at Thomas Evans’ obelisk (father of modern dentistry) with great tooth care tips and free toothbrushes! 

#2: Explore the grounds on our Family Fun Scavenger Hunt! Complete the hunt and get fun prizes at the Hamilton Mansion!

#1: What better way is there to spend a Sunday in the Fall than at The Woodlands?! 

You Are What You Eat: Understanding Hamilton’s World through Culinary History

My name is Chelse and I am a former culinary arts student who decided to get out of the kitchen and into the archives (it's much cooler). As a graduate student, I have been able to combine my love for history and people with my affinity for food and drink. This past summer I began my journey at The Woodlands, using culinary history, food history, and public history to tell new stories about William Hamilton and his household staff.

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Beneath the terrace of the Hamilton mansion spans a brick-covered passageway that servants used to move discretely throughout the house. Providing access to three main areas in the cellar, the Cryptoporticus functioned as a connector from the service spaces beneath the mansion to the stable and kitchen gardens. The tunnel stretched from beneath the terrace, and through the lawn to the stable! Researchers will begin an archaeological project this year to locate the footprint of the subterranean pathway and excavate the site to learn more about Hamilton’s world.

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During the current construction project, contractors have carefully removed the bricks from the arch of the tunnel, numbered them accordingly, and reset them. Rehabilitating the structure has led to a number of opportunities for researchers and staff at The Woodlands. The most exciting news so far is the discovery of a secret set of stairs! The steps align with the original 1770 structure, showing us where Hamilton’s servants would have exited the tunnel before the wings we see today were added to both sides of the mansion. The rehabilitated Cryptoporticus helps tell the story about the people who cleaned, cooked, and supported Hamilton’s genteel world.

In an effort to expand our understanding, I embarked on a mission to answer the question: What did William Hamilton eat? Trying to find an answer forced me to consider Hamilton’s relationship with his service staff, who sustained his world from the bottom-up. Uncovering the types of domestic systems that were in place to sustain such a refined household will add another layer to the complex history of Hamilton and the Woodlands, and open a window into studies of race, class, and gender in eighteenth-century Philadelphia, as well as urban history and public history.

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The Woodlands Household Accounts, George Smith Collection at The Historical Society of Pennsylvania. (click to enlarge)

To date, there is no record of any dinner menus from The Woodlands, so I began with a collection of Hamilton’s receipts held in the George Smith Collection at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Hamilton, like many genteel males of the period, was a meticulous note-taker of payments and purchases. Unfortunately, a large number of household accounts remain uninvestigated at this time, leaving only a faint trail of documents to follow. Speculating about what types of dishes he served his guests based on available sources highlights the influences that shaped Hamilton as an individual. We are lucky because this also conveys the number of historical contexts in which The Woodlands mansion, especially the service spaces and dining room, can be interpreted to the public.

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Kislak Center Rare Books and Manuscripts Collection, University of Pennsylvania. (click to enlarge)

Listed on his receipts are individual items and foodstuffs, causing me to wonder what dishes Hamilton’s cook was making with these ingredients. To figure this out, I looked to the University of Pennsylvania’s Kislak Center for Rare Books and Manuscripts, and hit a culinary history goldmine. To be honest, at some points in my research I felt like I was preparing for an eighteenth-century version of Food Network’s “Chopped!” With the help of Dr. Mitch Fraas, the Curator of Special Collections at Penn, I was able to mine through eighteenth-century manuscripts and published cookbooks to learn more about eighteenth-century American and English cuisine. I took the ingredients listed on Hamilton’s receipts and used both textual sources and my imagination to speculate about the types of dishes Hamilton could have been eating and/or serving his guests. 

Some common ingredients listed:

• currants

• raisins

• sugar

• coffee

• tea

• flour

• bread

• limes

• lemons

• wine

• brandy

• almonds

• cream

Less frequent purchases include:

• cheese  

• artichokes

• peas

• pineapple

• fish

• oysters 

• tongue

• anchovies

• mustard

• olives

• pickled walnuts

• prunes

• rice

• ham

• rum

So, why is this important? What does it mean that Hamilton ate a lot of raisins, or that he most likely served his guests a lot of punch? A food-history interpretation is a valuable way to share The Woodlands’ dynamic history in local context. Using menus and household receipts to communicate significant messages about The Woodlands’ notable bachelor, emphasizes the relationships between Hamilton and his service staff, genteel guests, and food merchants in the greater Philadelphia area during the eighteenth century. In order to truly understand who Hamilton was, we must first discover what he ate.

From North to West Philly: Central High School and The Woodlands

Like many other West Philly residents, I've made The Woodlands Cemetery a part of my life; I’ve biked there, walked there, picnicked there, and in 2013, started interning there. When working at The Woodlands and reading through the files of some of the cemetery’s  most remarkable residents, I couldn’t help but notice that many of them shared one hallmark of success: they attended Philadelphia’s Central High School. As a rising senior at Central myself, I wanted to learn more about the connection between my high school and The Woodlands. Here’s what I found:

The original Central High School Building at 13th and Market. Image from the Library Company of Philadelphia.

• There are no female graduates of Central buried in The Woodlands; this is because the majority of Central grads buried here lived in the mid to late 19th and early 20th centuries; Central didn’t go co-ed until 1983, when the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas declared the school’s longstanding male-only admission policy unconstitutional. Six girls integrated the student body that year, and today over half the student population—including me—is female.

• There are dozens of medical professionals who went to Central buried in the Woodlands. This is likely because Central’s 19th century curriculum focused on the sciences, which led many students to Jefferson Medical College (now Thomas Jefferson University). These students were able to attend medical school immediately following their graduation from high school without attending college because of Central’s unique ability to confer bachelors’ degrees upon graduating seniors. This practice continues today; all seniors with a 90% average or above receive a B.A. when they graduate from Central, but this degree is unfortunately no longer as valid as it was in the 19th century.

• The most powerful connections between the Woodlands and Central are the hundreds of Central alumni and former faculty buried in the cemetery. Here are some of the most interesting stories:

Thomas Eakins (38th graduating class, Section C, Lot #513)

Thomas Eakins' school picture, taken at Central High School, 1861. From the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

Eakins is one of the most well-known of the Central’s alumni, as well as one of the Woodlands’ most notable residents. During his time at Central, Eakins focused on what the High School deemed practical skills, studying in mostly technical and scientific fields. Although his art education at Central was limited, it was there that he was introduced to the fields of science he would famously go on to depict later in life. Eakins is known for his paintings of medical scenes; his most famous work, The Gross Clinic, portrays the famous surgeon Dr. Samuel Gross presiding over a surgery at Jefferson Medical College.

William Williams Keen (21st graduating class, Section D, Lot #179-182)

Keen, a Central graduate buried in the Woodlands, was the first American brain surgeon. He worked closely with a number of Presidents, performing a secret operation on Grover Cleveland to remove a jaw tumor. Although President Cleveland would never visit his surgeon’s alma mater, two other presidents, James K. Polk and Theodore Roosevelt, would visit Central in the years following Keen’s graduation.

Top Right: The Keen Clinic depicts Dr. Keen teaching in the surgical amphitheater at Jefferson Medical College. The Gross Clinic by Thomas Eakins depicts Dr. Samuel Gross teaching in the same amphitheater; both Gross and Eakins are buried in the Woodlands. Image from Jefferson Medical College.

Bottom Right: President Theodore Roosevelt at Central High School. From the Mary Gaston Barnwell Association.

The Peales and Belfield:

Self Portrait by Rembrandt Peale. From the Detroit Institute of Arts.

Woodlands resident Rembrandt Peale (Section F, Lot #55) was the son of renowned portrait painter of the American Revolution, Charles Willson Peale and was a distinguished painter himself. After studying under Benjamin West in England and gaining an international reputation for his work, Rembrandt returned to the U.S. where, in 1841, he assumed the post of professor of drawing and writing at the young Central High School, which at the time was desperately in need of faculty members for its growing student body.

In addition to Rembrandt’s work at the High School, Charles Willson Peale’s grandson, Harry Peale (Section L, Lot #25-29), attended Central and is buried in the Woodlands.

The Artist in his Museum, a self portrait by Charles Willson Peale. From the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

The Peale family is also geographically related to Central; the family’s Germantown estate, Belfield, covered much of the ground now occupied by Central. It was from Belfield, just a few hundred feet away from Central, where Charles Willson Peale corresponded with Thomas Jefferson at Monticello.

When Charles Willson Peale sold his estate, it was bought by entrepreneur William Logan Fisher. Fisher’s woolen mills in Germantown once produced 90% of the country’s hosiery; the crowning glory of his enterprise was his largest mill, Wakefield, which stood immediately southeast of the grounds that now house Central. Although the mill burned down in 1985, Wakefield Park now stands in its place and serves as a practice space for Central’s Ultimate Frisbee and Cross Country teams. 

Joseph William Drexel (13th graduating class, Drexel Mausoleum, Section L, Vault 190)

The Drexel Mausoleum at the Woodlands, where Anthony Joseph Drexel, Joseph William Drexel, and other members of the Drexel Family are buried.

Joseph William Drexel was the director of the Metropolitan Opera, President of the New York Philharmonic Society, a trustee at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and a student at Central High School. Drexel’s brother, Anthony Joseph Drexel, was the founder of Drexel University, and both are buried at the Woodlands. Not only did members of the Drexel family attend Central, but today, more than 50 members of Central’s graduating class matriculate at Drexel annually.

William Bucknell (Section G, Lot #307)

Bust of William Bucknell. From Bucknell University.

William Bucknell became wealthy through his endeavors in the finance and railroad industries. Instead of keeping all his money for himself, however, Bucknell donated one tenth of all his earnings to educational and religious organizations. By the end of his career, Bucknell is said to have donated $1,000 a week, each to a different charitable cause. On one occasion, Bucknell made a $50,000 donation to the then University of Lewisburg and, in 1887, the University was renamed Bucknell in honor of this generous donor. Bucknell is buried in the Woodlands, and Central High School frequently sends students to the university named in his honor.

The Baches

Alexander Dallas Bache, the first President of Central High School. Image from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Archives.

As Philadelphia institutions, both the Woodlands and Central High School are inevitably connected to the city’s very own Renaissance man, Benjamin Franklin. Franklin’s great-grandson, Alexander Dallas Bache, founded Central High School and served as the school’s first president. In addition to his work in education, Dallas Bache was also a Second Lieutenant of the Corps of Engineers and worked as a surveyor, creating detailed maps of the American Coasts. Hartman Bache (Section I, Lot #829-831), also a grandson of Franklin, was likewise a prominent civil engineer and General in the Corps of Engineers. Hartman is buried in the Woodlands along with hundreds of graduates of the high school his cousin founded.

Peter Frederick Rothermel Jr. (49th Graduating Class)

Peter Frederick Rothermel Sr. was a celebrated Philadelphia artist who painted historical scenes ranging from De Soto Discovering the Mississippi to the famous Battle of Gettysburg, which hangs in the Pennsylvania State Museum. Rothermel’s son of the same name attended Central High School and went on to become the Philadelphia District Attorney.

Battle of Gettysburg: Pickett's Charge by Peter Frederick Rothermel. From the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission/State Museum of Pennsylvania. 

William M. Abbey (1st graduating class, Section F, Lot #70):

The Pennsylvania State Capital Rotunda, painted by Edwin Austin Abbey. (Photo by Ad Meskens)

William Abbey was the first student ever listed on the roll at Central High School. He went on to become a merchant after graduating from Central. His son, Edwin Austin Abbey, was a famous illustrator and muralist in the late 19th century, best known for his paintings of Victorian and Shakespearean scenes, as well as for his mural on the Pennsylvania State Capital Rotunda. William M. Abbey is buried in The Woodlands along with Charles M. Cresson and James A. Kirkpatrick, both members of Central’s first graduating class of 63 students. When Central graduates its 275th class this year, nearly 500 students will receive degrees.

Written by Ella Comberg (275th graduating class of Central High School)