The Site of the Elizabeth Haddon House - Haddonfield, NJ
N 39° 54.233 W 075° 02.166
18S E 496914 N 4417089
Much has changed since this was written almost sixty years ago. In fact, everything has changed except for the street names. Everyone I asked had no clue as to the historical significance of this site.
Waymark Code: WM4CXH
Location: New Jersey, United States
Date Posted: 08/07/2008
Views: 32
The Site of the Elizabeth Haddon House (private), NE cor. Wood Lane and Marion Avenue, is on a small hill rising unexpectedly from the midst of modern homes in the northeastern part of town. The grounds and the buildings have retained their colonial appearance, but the log home Elizabeth Haddon built burned in 1742. The sedate three-story brick house, built on the site in 1845, has a flat roof with great chimney, solid white shutters, and a Classic Revival porch. before the house are two English yew trees brought over in 1712 by Elizabeth, and on the door is her silver knocker. IN the garden stands the original STILLHOUSE built by Elizabeth; it is probably the oldest structure in the community. The young woman won the lasting gratitude of neighboring Indian through the manufacture of medicinal whiskey. From the very first the enterprise was so successful that the sick and the ailing beat an almost constant tattoo on Elizabeth's silver knocker. Although the suffering tribesmen underwent treatment for prolonged periods, complete cures were rarely effected." --- New Jersey, a Guide to Its Present and Past: Page 627-628, Tour 27. 1939
I don't know of the reason for undertaking the writing of the American Guide series was solely based on economics and employment. I hope that Franklin Delano Roosevelt New Deal project, in thinking of this, sought to preserve history as well as employ Americans. Perhaps he knew with expansionism, 18th century America was about to disappear. perhaps he could care less. One thing is for sure, without this narrative, I would never have discovered this site. The current house which sits on the hill certainly belies the import of this land and its overall history and connection to haddonfield.
Anyway, I did manage to find this on the internet which I thought was relevant to this waymark:
""The front door opened into a large hall with a fireplace at one end orna-
mented with tile, on each side of which was a cupboard with glass doors. The
small parlor had a marble mantel and hearth and opened into the garden by a
glass door and another with Venetian blinds. An entry back of the hall had a
spiral staircase leading from it. At one end of this entry was a bedroom and the
other a kitchen, with a room back of it. In the cellar was a large fireplace and
dresser and a vault under the kitchen four or five steps deeper.
Fire destroyed this house in 1842. In the garden the yew trees brought
from England still remain, silent spectators of changing times and scenes."
Source
Although the above site is where I found the quoted citation, the source has a source as well. The website received their information from, Haddonfield Publication Committee. The Two Hundredth Anniversary of the Settlement of Haddonfield, New Jersey : Celebrated October Eighteenth, Nineteen Hundred and Thirteen. Philadelphia: Franklin Printing Company, 1913. a much more reliable source I think.