Mt. Airy: Yesterday and Today_Archive
The Greek Revival Movement
by Burt Froom
It surprised me to learn that Carpenter Lane is not named for George Carpenter of Phil-Ellena, but for Samuel Carpenter (1649-1714)! This Carpenter was esteemed as the most wealthy and influential citizen of William Penn’s new colony. He was a shipping merchant, a deputy to Penn, a Quaker, and he built himself a brick mansion near 2nd and Chestnut. Samuel Carpenter’s name is mentioned on Holme’s map of 1682 near Carpenter Lane. It was Samuel who leased (in 1690) the land on Monoshone Creek to William Rittenhouse where America’s first paper mill was built.
In his expansive 1989 work, Greek Revival America, Roger Kennedy says
that Phil-Ellena, George Carpenter’s 1841 mansion, named for his young
wife Ellen, was “the largest of America’s Greek Revival palaces.”
The Greek Revival style was in full swing from 1825 to 1855. Where did
it come from? America’s founding fathers of our country grew up with the
Georgian architectural style, imported from their mother country,
England. But the succeeding generations of Americans rejected the style
as too English and imperial.
Greek Revival buildings, whether public buildings or private homes,
often emphasize a columned and pedimented entrance. Philadelphia was at
the center of this movement that swept the country’s public and
domestic building until it was succeeded by the Picturesque Italianate
and Gothic styles in the 1850s.
Nicholas Biddle (1786-1844), a Philadelphian, was the great champion of Greek Revival architecture. Biddle traveled to Greece in 1805, and fell in love with Greek architecture for the freshness and simplicity that expressed the new American values of democracy and freedom. He became president of the Second Bank of the United States in 1823. and aspired to make Philadelphia the “Athens of America.” Biddle’s competition for the design the Second Bank was won by William Strickland. His Greek temple (1824), which still stands on Chestnut Street between 4th and 5th, was based on the Parthenon in Athens.
Other noted architects of the American Greek Revival style were Benjamin
Latrobe, William Strickland and Thomas Ustick Walter. The English-born
Latrobe (1764-1820) introduced the style to the U.S. He worked with
Thomas Jefferson on the Virginia state capitol, and was the third
architect of the U.S. Capitol building. He designed the north portico of
the White House and the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Baltimore.
Strickland (1787-1854) was a student of Latrobe, and also designed the
Merchant’s Exchange (1834) at 132 South 3rd Street with its
semi-circular portico, and the Tennessee State Capitol Building in
Nashville. Walter (1804-1887) was trained by Strickland. He designed the
Greek Revival buildings of Girard College (1833), under the patronage
of Biddle the extension of the House and Senate wings of the U.S.
Capitol building, and its cast-iron dome (1855-63). Biddle also chose
Walter to transform his simple 18th century home, Andalusia, in Bucks
County, with porticos of fluted white Doric columns (1834).
The Fairmount Water Works (1812-15) are also early Greek Revival style.
Phil-Ellena is a part of this august company. It was not unusual for
George Carpenter to not employ a noted architect for Phil-Ellena. Our
West Mt. Airy neighbor, Jon Farnham, who is Acting Historic Preservation
Officer of the Philadelphia Historical Commission, told me that
professional architects were not common until after the Civil War, and
that wealthy men often designed their own homes. Carpenter’s draftsman,
William Johnston, was a more prominent architect than Carpenter
admitted. (See previous Yesterday and Today column, “Phil-Ellena; Greek
Revival Palace”.)
The presence of so many columned porches among homes in Pelham and
elsewhere in West Mt. Airy is testimony to continuing Greek Revival
influence at the end of the 19th century.
In my next article, we will walk into the Phil-Ellena mansion to explore its interior.
PHIL-ELLENA: GREEK REVIVAL PALACE
by Burt Froom
I have shared with you in articles so far an overview of the George Carpenter’s career and family at their estate, Phil-Ellena, in West Mt. Airy. This month, let us consider George Carpenter’s mansion, Phil-Ellen Enjoy! – Burt Froom
Imagine yourselves walking north on Germantown Avenue some time between 1844 and 1894. As you glance left where Pelham Road now begins, you will note a stonewall 600 feet long, pierced by three large circular gateways. Behind green lawns planted with specimen trees lies the mansion, more than 200 feet from the Avenue.
What you would see is a Greek Revival building with a central portico of six enormous fluted columns with Ionic capitals supporting an undecorated pediment about 45 feet high. Beyond the portico are two wings on each side, fronted with shorter Ionic columns. Including the back portico, there are 20 tall columns in all. The entire house is 165 feet long (extending north from about the present day intersection of Pelham and Mower Street) and the main building is about 70 feet deep. On the roof behind the pediment stands an octagonal belvedere observatory that offers views of Philadelphia and boats sailing in the Delaware River!
In his expansive 1989 work, Greek Revival America, Roger Kennedy says that Phil-Ellena was “the largest of America’s Greek Revival palaces.” By 1845, George Carpenter was worth a million dollars, one of seven Philadelphians to reach that mark of success. His estate comprised over a hundred acres. The house he had just completed was an announcement of his wealth, status and artistic taste. He named it to honor his love for his young wife, Ellen.
Who was the architect of Phil-Ellena? It is surprising to find that George Carpenter (in his pamphlet of 1844, A Brief Description of Phil-Ellena) proclaimed himself the architect of his residence. He was intensely involved in this project, as in all his endeavors. Only a carpenter/chief builder, Nathan Smedley, and a draftsman, William Johnston, are listed as Carpenter’s assistants.
William L. Johnston (1811-1849) was a carpenter-architect, who taught architectural drawing at the famed Carpenters’ Company of Philadelphia. He is credited with designing George Carpenter’s Greek Revival mansion (by 1844). In 1849-50, he also designed the Jayne Building at 242-44 Chestnut Street, which was completed by Thomas U. Walter (1804-1887), who designed the U.S. Capitol dome. Charles E. Peterson (1906-2004), who was the founding father of historic preservation in the U.S., argued that Johnston’s Jayne Building was a prototype of the skyscraper. It influenced Chicago architect Louis Sullivan, the “Father of Skyscrapers,” who worked directly across the street from the Jayne building in 1873, in the same office with Frank Furness. The Jayne Building was demolished in 1957.
And what did contemporaries think about Phil-Ellena? Despite its obvious glories, the mansion and its builder did have detractors. Sydney Fisher was a contemporary of Carpenter, from an old respected Quaker family, and was the cousin of George Carpenter Jr’s wife. In his diary, Fisher was critical of the ostentation of Phil-Ellena: “It would not be easy to find anywhere ignorance, pretension, bad taste, and wealth more forcibly expressed…” Yet Fisher does admit that the Greek Revival style, though “unfit for a dwelling,” is “nevertheless in itself beautiful.” Here we see the inevitable clash of old family, money and taste with the new values.
Fifty years after its building, its furnishings were sold in 1894 and the monumental and extravagant Phil-Ellena home of Ellen Carpenter was torn down to make way for the new houses of Pelham. More about that next month.
THE CARPENTER FAMILY
by Burt Froom
If you’ve ever been on Emlen, Phil-Ellena or Quincy Streets - or studied the Civil War - you won’t want to miss this month’s column by Burt Froom. It’s full of famous people, daring escapes, and the adventures of the Carpenter family from the 19th century to today. - Marilyn
It is a pleasure to share the story of the family of George Carpenter and his home at the Phil-Ellena mansion. Sometimes, I feel I am living myself in the 19th century world of the Carpenter family as well as the early 21st century of today! I hope this Yesterday and Today column will lure you into some of the many past worlds that have helped create West Mt. Airy as we know it today. Enjoy! – Burt Froom
During the Pelham Centennial (1991-1994), our neighbors learned some particulars about the Carpenter family from a great-granddaughter of George Carpenter, who then lived in Chestnut Hill. These details will help us to appreciate the people whose names our streets bear. The Carpenter family was part of the landed gentry of 19th century Philadelphia society. They possessed a country seat at Phil-Ellena, land, education and wealth; contributed to the community; and risked their lives in patriotic service to our nation in war.
George Carpenter’s first wife was Annabelle Willbank. She bore a son, George Carpenter, Jr. (1837-1921) who married Mary Rodman, the daughter of Thomas Fisher in 1860. He is said to have managed the family wholesale medicine firm after his father’s death. He was associated with a race course located on the north side of Carpenter Lane, where the Septa Carpenter Station is now.
George Carpenter then married Ellen Douglas (1823-1900) in 1841. Ellen was a granddaughter of Captain John Douglas (1750-1823) of General George Washington’s staff. Her father was Joseph Douglas (1779-1840), the high sheriff of Philadelphia for 17 years. His funeral attracted a big crowd, including the sitting vice-president of the U.S., Richard Johnson. Johnson was said to have shot and killed the Indian chief Tecumseh at the Battle of Tippecanoe in the War of 1812, and Captain John Douglas was a part of this action.
Ellen and George Carpenter had six children: John Quincy Carpenter (1842-1910); Emlen Newbold Carpenter (1845-1891); Frank Carpenter (1847-1856); Ellen Douglas Carpenter; Frances Graff Carpenter (1853-1940); and Algernon Sidney Carpenter (1856-1912).
John Quincy Carpenter was educated at the Germantown Academy and at Dr. Lyon’s School in Haverford. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. At age 18, Quincy enlisted in the One Hundred and Fiftieth Regiment of Pennsylvania after the Civil War began. He rose in rank to First Lieutenant and had charge of his company on the first day (July 1, 1863) of the Battle of Gettysburg. He was captured by Confederate forces, who marched him to the infamous Libby Prison in Richmond. He was then taken to Columbia, South Carolina. He later escaped Confederate prison with his brother Emlen.
Emlen Newbold Carpenter was also educated at Germantown Academy and at Dr. Lyon’s School. While Emlen was preparing himself to enter Harvard in 1860, the Civil War broke out and he enlisted in the Sixth Pennsylvania Cavalry. He rose to the rank of First Lieutenant in 1862 at age 17 and served with distinction in the Peninsular Campaign and at Chancellorsville. At the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1-3, 1863), he served as aide-de-camp to General George G. Meade (see picture), Commander of the Union Army of the Potomac. At Gettysburg, Emlen “showed such gallantry and efficiency” that he was highly complimented by General Meade. He was promoted to Captain after Gettysburg and then to Lieutenant Colonel after Todd’s Tavern.
General George G. Meade
Commander, Union Army of the Potomac, Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863
In a gallant effort to rescue a fellow officer from the enemy at the Battle of Todd’s Tavern (May 7, 1864), Captain Emlen Carpenter was taken prisoner by the Confederates. While being shipped by rail to Charlotte, he jumped from the train but was recaptured and confined to jail while yellow fever was breaking out among the prisoners.
Emlen and Quincy were reunited as prisoners about October 1864 in Columbia, SC. They sought to escape by jumping off a train, but were recaptured by the Confederates in a swamp, and were taken back to Columbia to be confined in an insane asylum. As General William T. Sherman’s forces were approaching, Emlen and Quincy concealed themselves in the asylum’s ceiling. When the retreating Confederate forces set fire to the building, they made their escape and reached Sherman’s army and safety.
After the war, Quincy Carpenter studied medicine and graduated from the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania in 1867. Quincy married Mary Dorrance, daughter of Robert D. Dunning, a descendent of Governor Bradford, who came to America on the Mayflower.
In 1866, Emlen Carpenter married Hannah Bullock, daughter of William W. Longstreth of Philadelphia. They had seven children. Emlen Carpenter’s health was badly impaired by his wartime hardships. He lived abroad also, devoting himself to the study of art. He then returned to the family home and died at age 46.
The marriages and families of the other children of George and Ellen Carpenter were: their daughter Ellen who married Dr. William Bennett of Philadelphia in 1869; Frances Graff who married John daCosta Newbold and had five children; Algernon Sydney who studied, traveled abroad, and in 1891 married Amanda, the daughter of Florida land developer Hamilton Disston.
Ellen Douglas Carpenter died in 1900, six years after her beloved home “Phil-Ellena,” was demolished by developers. Her friends said she led “the placid even life of an unselfish sincere Christian woman.” She had borne the anxiety of her young sons’ war service and their resulting illnesses, her own declining health, and the loss of her home. An era was ending.
In my next article, we will look at the Phil-Ellena estate and residence.
WHO WAS GEORGE W. CARPENTER?
by Burt Froom
Last month, we started a fascinating new column called Yesterday and Today, written by Burton Froom. Burt has lived in Mt. Airy for over 25 years and has a unique perspective on the history and architecture of this community that we love. You will be enchanted by Burt’s discoveries of Mt. Airy’s 300 year history.- Marilyn
I hope that you enjoyed our kick-off article entitled A Look at Pelham’s Past in WMAN’s the newYesterday and Today column in the December 2011 WMAN eNewsletter. May Mt. Airy’s yesterdays come alive for us to enrich our lives today! - Burt
George Washington Carpenter, builder of the elegant “Phil-Ellena” mansion and estate in West Mt. Airy, left a large heritage to residents (including myself) in the Pelham neighborhood. What follows is fascinating information discovered about George Carpenter during the 1991-1994 Pelham Centennial Celebration. Carpenter’s paternal grandfather, Miles Carpenter, came to the village of Germantown from England in 1763. His father, Conrad Carpenter (1766-1823), became a land speculator. George W. Carpenter (1802-1860) was the fourth of Conrad’s nine children. George received a classical education at Germantown Academy, where he became interested in natural history.
At age 18, George Carpenter entered the wholesale drug business as an assistant. Eight years later, he established his own drug business at 301 Market Street, producing and marketing medicines ordered by physicians throughout the country. One of his popular products was a kind of “home medicine chest” that pioneer families took with them as they settled the frontier.
George Carpenter’s particular leisure interest was the study of
mineralogy. He was elected a member of the Academy of Natural Sciences
of Philadelphia when he was 23 and served as its treasurer from 1828
until his death. He invested widely in real estate and eventually owned 500 acres and
over 400 houses, stores and factories, and three large working farms.
His contemporaries credited him with stimulating the commercial and
residential development of the old and sleepy farming village of
Germantown. His business success led to him becoming a director of six
railroads.
George
Carpenter was a highly organized and focused individual. He rose each
day between 4:00 and 5:00, wrote letters, spent time with his family at
breakfast, and then took the Germantown railroad to the city, where he
worked until 6:00. In the evening, he had tea with his family, and then
finished his business correspondence. His rule was to complete each
day’s work. He attended to all his customers and personally made
decisions about all his properties.
At his death at 58, George Carpenter was one of Philadelphia’s seven
millionaires. It was said that he worked himself to death and had not
been at ease long enough to enjoy the luxury and repose of his
magnificent country estate. You may see the family vault where George W.
Carpenter is buried near the north door of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church,
on Germantown Avenue near Coulter Street. In future articles, I would
like to discuss George Carpenter’s family and then the Phil-Ellena
estate.
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A LOOK AT PELHAM’S PAST
by Burt Froom
Pelham’s historian, Lois Frischling uncovered the forgotten story of this wonderful assemblage of late Victorian homes, in West Mt. Airy. During the Pelham Centennial Celebration, 1991-1994, residents learned that George W. Carpenter (1802-1860) assembled his 500-acre gentleman’s estate, bounded by Germantown Avenue, Upsal Street and Carpenter Lane. Carpenter was a wholesale druggist and land speculator, and became one of Philadelphia’s seven millionaires at his death. He built an enormous Greek revival style mansion in 1844, located along the present Mower Street at Pelham Road. It boasted 14 Ionic columns along its 165-foot front. He called his new home “Phil-Ellena” (“for the love of Ellen”), named after his second wife, Ellen Douglas (1823-1900), who was 20 years younger than him.
George Carpenter died in 1860. In 1893, his widow and children sold 100 acres of the estate to financiers Anthony Drexel and Edward Stotesbury, for $1.00 and a percentage of future home site sales. The developers and builders were Herman Wendell and Willard Smith, and the development of Pelham was expeditious. The wide, graceful Pelham Road was constructed at once and in 1894 the Phil-Ellena mansion was razed.
Homes in a variety of popular revival styles were soon erected in Pelham, including Tudor, Jacobean, Flemish, Italianate, Georgian, Queen Anne, Norman, Classical, and a range of idiosyncratic hybrid styles. Young architects, who later achieved great distinction, designed these stately homes for newly wealthy Philadelphia businessmen and their families.
The Pelham neighborhood survived its first century little changed in character, its mature trees and lovely gardens gracing its largely unaltered homes. Pelham’s present residents are the successors to the world of George Carpenter and his family and to the vision of Pelham’s builders. In future articles, I will discuss the Carpenter family and estate, and the building of Pelham.
